—Another bread riot is reported from Spain, this time in the village of Pobladura del Valle, in the province of Zamora.
—It is reported that France intends to occupy Lei Chow, in the Chinese peninsula of Quang Tung, north of Hai-Nan, as a naval base.
—A report from Paris states that the French fleet is being prepared for mobilization in the Orient, with a view to backing Russia against Japan.
—The agrarian revolt in Hungary is spreading. In a conflict between the peasants and gendarmerie on March 13 two peasants were killed and forty wounded.
—During the week 3,300 fresh Spanish troops have arrived in Cuba. Most of these are green peasant boys, to whom the on-coming rainy season will most surely prove fatal.
—A squadron of Spanish war ships sailed from Cadiz, Spain, on March 14. It is understood that the squadron will proceed to Porto Rico and await the orders of Captain General Blanco.
—Emperor Nicholas of Russia has issued an imperial ukase appropriating the vast sum of 90,000,000 rubles ($64,800,000) for the construction of war ships. No loan will be raised to provide the money, but it will be disbursed from the imperial treasury.
—It is expected that the fatal wounding of a famous Mexican bull-fighter at Monterey, Mexico, on March 13, will result in the prohibition of the sport in that republic. It is reported that President Diaz will himself take some action looking to this end.
—It is proposed to send an expedition to the north polar regions in June or July to search for Herr Andree. A number of Swedes from the north of Sweden will accompany the expedition, which will be in charge of Walter B. Wellman, an American explorer.
—It is reported that an earthquake has destroyed the town of Amboina, capital of Amboina Island, one of the Malacca group. Many houses were swallowed up before the occupants could get out. The despatch states that “hundreds were killed and 200 injured.”
—It is stated that Japan has warned Russia that if the latter retains Port Arthur, Japan will retain Weihai-wei and the islands adjacent. The Japanese Government has ordered the cruisers building abroad to be hurried, and has refused to sell those building in America.
—The British minister to China has lodged a forcible protest at the Chinese foreign office against the cession of Port Arthur to Russia, saying that it would destroy the balance of power in China. The Chinese officials, however, have declared their inability to withstand Russia’s demands.
—An English steamer has successfully ascended the Yang-tse rapids as far as Chung Kiang, province of Sze Chwen, at the juncture of the Kia Lin Kiang with the Yang-tse-kiang, thus opening to navigation the most fertile tract of the Yang-tse valley. The Chinese officials have decided to remove all obstacles with dynamite.
—In view of the recent enormous appropriation of Russia for naval expenditure, the press of England is urging the government to keep pace with Russia, and if necessary assert its right of preemption over ships now building in England for foreign governments, and also to fit out the old battle-ships which are sound in hull.
—Despatches from Western Ontario tell of the overflowing of the Grand and Thames Rivers, causing serious damage along their valleys. Sections of London, Brantford, and Galt are submerged to a depth of from five to seven feet. At London, Ontario, 1,500 persons are homeless, and bridges and buildings have been swept away by the raging waters.
—It has been ascertained that the natives of Bombay had planned a general massacre of all Europeans in the city on March 11. The prompt action of the military frustrated the scheme, and the work of searching out victims of the plague still goes on in spite of the open opposition of the Hindus and Mohammedans. Two soldiers and twenty natives were killed during the rioting.
—The revolution against Spanish rule in the Philippines is again progressing with renewed vigor. The whole of the northern province has revolted and the inhabitants have refused to pay taxes. They have destroyed the telegraph lines and captured Atarri and Camarag, important towns connected with Manila by railroad. It is thought that the prospect of trouble between the United States and Spain has caused the increased activity of the rebels, who are now well supplied with arms and ammunition. A recent engagement is reported in which it is said the rebels lost 500 killed. The loss of the other side is not given.
—Orders have been issued from the British War Office for all army reserve men to immediately present themselves for re-enlistment in their regiments. It is stated that this is a precautionary measure taken in view of possible hostilities between the United States and Spain.
—An unknown steamer was struck by the British bark Princess off the coast of England on March 16, and went down immediately with all on board. The force of the collision was such that the unknown vessel was cut completely in two, and she went down before her name could be discovered.
—Bishop Hartzell, of Liberia, Africa, has been accredited a special confidential emissary to Lord Salisbury and President McKinley, to secure protection for Liberia against France and Germany. It is stated that the German encroachments especially are threatening the integrity of the republic.
—The special agent appointed to investigate the genuineness of the signatures to the petition of native Hawaiians against annexation to the United States has developed the fact that a large portion of the names are forgeries, many others are names of individuals from two to fourteen years of age, while several thousand others are signatures of persons under twenty years of age.
—The debt of the Spanish nation at the present time is $2,014,000,000, or about $115 for every man, woman, and child under the Spanish flag. The annual charge on this debt is $63,000,000, or 41 per cent of the total expense of the government. The greater part of the external debt is held in France, and for this reason the French Government is loath to see Spain go to war with the United States.
—The Korean Government in seeking to release herself from the grasp of Russia, has requested that government to withdraw its representative now officiating in the Korean customs office, and also the Russian military instructors. The Korean foreign minister, contending that the national integrity was only possible with Russia’s assistance, dissented from the decision of the Korean cabinet and resigned.
DOMESTIC.
—The number of patents issued by the patent office at Washington during the year 1897 was 23,729.
—Prince Albert, of Flanders, heir-presumptive to the Belgian throne, was received by the President at the White House on March 11.
—A bill was passed in the Senate on March 14 authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to have constructed eight vessels for the revenue cutter service.
—A report comes from Rome to the effect that the United States Government has purchased the completed war ship Carlo Alberto from an Italian ship-building firm.
—The American war vessels Helena and Bancroft sailed from Lisbon on March 14, and are expected at Key West in about two weeks, to join the squadron of Admiral Sicard.
—The battle-ship Oregon has been ordered to sail from San Francisco, and it is supposed that her destination is the Atlantic Coast. She will touch at Valparaiso, Chile, to communicate with the Secretary of the Navy.
—The American medical mission in the suburbs of Chung Kingfu, province of Szo Chwan, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, has been attacked by a mob of Chinese. One of the native medical attendants was murdered and several of them were maltreated.
—A furious fire occurred in a six-story brick building in Chicago on March 16, reducing the structure in about half an hour, maiming thirty people, and resulting in a considerable loss of life. It is estimated that fifteen perished in the building.
—The House Naval Committee has decided to recommend an appropriation for the construction of three first-class battle-ships. One of these will be specially constructed to take the place of the Maine, and will receive her name in case that vessel is not raised.
—Captain William G. Randle, of the American liner St. Louis, has been decorated by Queen Wilhelmina of Holland with the order of Orange-Nassau, for rescuing the passengers and crew of the sinking Holland-American liner Veendam on the morning of February 7.
—The three-masted ship New York went ashore at Half Moon Bay, California, on the night of March 13, and it is pronounced that the ship and her cargo will be a complete loss. The cargo was composed of tea and rice, and is valued at over $100,000. No lives were lost.
—By the action of the Cabinet, on March 15, $2,500,000 was placed at the disposal of the Ordnance Bureau for the purchase of powder and projectiles. It is expected that much of this will be purchased abroad, and arrangements are progressing for its importation free of duty.
—The Printers’ Union of San Francisco has asked for a nine-hour day with the same pay that they receive now, and threaten a general strike on April 4 if their demands are not complied with. As it is altogether unlikely that the employers will agree to this arrangement, a strike is expected on that date.
—On March 16 the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations recommended to the Senate that the Hawaiian Islands be annexed by legislation in open session, and agreed upon a joint resolution for the accomplishment of this purpose. The resolution was presented by Chairman Davis, of Minnesota.
—The court of inquiry into the cause of the Maine disaster in Havana harbor has completed its work in Havana, and has returned to Key West, from which place its report will be compiled and sent on to Washington. The only American vessel in Havana harbor at the present time is the despatch boat Fern.
—The United States despatch boat Fern arrived at Key West from Matanzas, Cuba, on March 14, having landed her store of provisions for the starving Cuban pacificos at the two ports of Matanzas and Sagua la Grande. Consul Barker at the latter port stated that there were about 25,000 starving reconcentrados in his district.
—Mrs. Thurston, wife of Senator Thurston, of Nebraska, died on board the yacht Anita at Sagua la Grande, Cuba, on March 13, while on a tour of investigation with her husband and other senators. Mrs. Thurston was a staunch advocate of Cuban liberty, and had gone to Cuba that she might speak from experience in regard to the suffering island.
—The United States Government has completed the purchase of the two Brazilian war ships, now nearly completed in England, viz., the Amazonas and Abroual. The Spanish Government has been anxious to secure these cruisers, but her finances were in such a condition that she was unable to do so. The two ships cost this government $850,000.
—Senator Perkins, of California, has introduced in the Senate an amendment to the Naval Appropriation Bill, setting aside $100,000 for the erection of buildings on Goat Island, in San Francisco Bay, for the naval training school, which it is proposed to establish on that island. The Navy and War Departments have agreed upon joint jurisdiction over the island, and the obstacle which has thus stood in the way of such an undertaking has thus been removed.
—The British minister at Washington has notified the Canadian Ministry that he has arranged a convention with the United States whereby the Alaskan boundary dispute has been settled. Under the terms of the convention the British Government has conceded the claim of the United States that the ten marine leagues should be measured from the shore of the mainland. Both the British and Canadian Governments have hitherto claimed that the ten-league limit should begin on the ocean side of the islands. The report states that the Canadian Government is not at all pleased with the decision, as, according to the claims of the Canadian Government, Juneau would be a Canadian city.
“Christian” Demand for War
Bible Students’ Library No. 151, “Christian” Demand for War.
A striking object lesson. By Dr. E. J. Waggoner, illustrated. 16 pages; 1 cent.
“In God’s name let us raise an army and . . . sweep the old murderer and all his tribe into the sea,” says one correspondent in a leading religious journal, referring to the Turks. Dr. Waggoner quotes such utterances because they indicate the “Christian” sentiment which is really consecrating the spirit of war. He asks those holding such sentiments, “When the name of Christ, the Prince of peace, is used as a war cry, where shall we look for peace on the earth?” It contains some of the most powerful arguments against the use of force by Christians that we have ever read, and if widely distributed will awaken people to the iniquity of the principle involved. One of the illustrations is found on the cover page, and shows the mosque of Omar, where thousands of the Saracens met death at the hands of the “Christian” crusaders.
THE MISSIONARY MAGAZINE
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BIBLE ELECTION.
By M. C. Wilcox
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Action and Reaction
It is a fact that, as between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Europe, almost since the Reformation, the greatest activity in propagating doctrine and making proselytes, has been on the part of Catholics, and Rome has gained much ground that she seemingly lost in the Reformation. Recently, there has been a reaction against Catholicism in France, even among the priests. The Ultramontane Catholic journal, La Verite, thus comments upon it:—
“There always have been deplorable defections from the truth, but these were individual instances. At present, the evil is greater than ever before. We have not only individual cases to deplore, but a regular movement has in this case put in its appearance. Here and there in the ranks of the clergy there appears a party of schism. Our hitherto fixed and firm Catholic priesthood has been shaken, and in its ranks there has begun a movement toward Protestantism. Not only have six priests in recent months taken their places at the feet of the Protestant theological faculty in Paris, but four others have entered the Protestant seminary at Montaubon. This makes ten at once. Nor is this all. We may yet look for more of this kind.”
In this we rejoice if only the priests are converted to true Protestantism. We are glad because of the spirit of investigation which such defection evidences, is going on. The Independent, from which we take the above, tells us that the same paper “gives an account of eighteen young priests, who have lately entered the Protestant Church, and declares that others would follow this example for the purpose of finding in Protestantism the solution of their doubts and conscientious scruples, for which they could find no rest in the Roman Catholic Church.” If only the priests can find rest in French Protestantism? They can if they will look beyond, to the Word and Christ, and to God’s present Gospel message.
Religion and Patriotism.
The following we clip from the Independent:—
“A representative Catholic paper, published in Chicago, makes the following extravagant declaration of the loyalty of Catholics to the flag in case of war with Spain:— ‘If once war were declared between this country and Spain, the sentiment of Catholics, as of those of other creeds, would be accurately summarized in those famous words of Stephen Decatur: “Our country: in her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.”’”
“So say not we. We boast not that kind of loyalty. We believe in putting God before country always; religion before patriotism, if the two—which God forbid—should ever clash. John Quincy Adams once rebuked that sentiment of Stephen Decatur’s:—”
“And say not thou, ‘My country right or wrong,’
Nor draw thy sword in an unhallowed cause.
But when thy country wanders from the right,
Fold up her banners, and avert thy sight.”
Let God be first; let His principles control in everything; let the Gospel of Jesus Christ in; and let the soul see Christ dying for him, and for the world, and his heart will expand so as to embrace all men as brothers, children of a common Father, bought by the Saviour of all.
Unordered Copies of the Signs
By Editor
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Professor Kelchner’s Model Sanctuary
The cut on page 3 is from one of Professor Kelchner’s photographs of his model sanctuary, which we reproduce here by his kind permission.
Reasonable Obedience to God’s Law
Is it not reasonable to believe that God should be obeyed? Is it not reasonable to believe that He could best state His own law? Then why not accept it as He has given it and as Jesus Christ lived it?
It Is an Eternal Fact
It is an eternal fact that the Creator made the earth in six days and rested the seventh day, blessed the seventh day, and set apart the seventh day as a holy day unto the Lord. No amount of sophistry or argument can change these facts. Why not believe them?
A Good Ruling.
—Echoes from the Field, published at Denver, Colo., says: “After reviewing the ‘flag salute’ in the public schools, Superintendent Harding has decided that, as it now stands, it is a religious test, and has accordingly ordered that all students expelled for noncompliance with the salute order be reinstated at once. This decision is certainly encouraging.”
The Helping Hand Mission
The Helping Hand Mission.—The work of the Lord is prospering grandly at our Helping Hand Mission. It was dedicated two weeks from the time of its first opening, March 13. During that two weeks it had served penny dishes to the number of over 3,800; it had given baths, fumigations of clothes, and beds to the number of 800; and 64 men had started to seek God under the influence of the Gospel. A report of the dedication services will be given next week.
A Sad Blow
By Editor
A Sad Blow.—We regret to record that the Bowery Mission, 105 Bowery Street, New York, conducted by the Christian Herald, was destroyed by fire the morning of the 12th instant. At first, forty lives were reported lost, but only eleven bodies were found. We are sorry because of those who died, because of the poor who daily received help at its hospitable doors, and we extend hearty sympathy to its managers and supporters. There are none too many such places. Would there were many more.
Camp-meetings for the Pacific Coast
In the order of their occurrence the Seventh-day Adventists will hold camp-meetings on the Pacific Coast in 1898 as follows: California (probably Fresno County), May 5–15; Upper Columbia (probably Walla Walla, Wash.), May 12–22; North Pacific (place not determined), May 19–29; California central meeting (place not determined, perhaps San Jose), June 2–12; California (somewhere in Humboldt County), June 23 to July 3; California southern (San Diego), July 21–31. Places given as soon as determined.
Truth Is Not Invalidated by Its Supporters
It is not against a truth that it is recognized by what are considered by the “orthodox,” evil men. It is not against the principles of civil or religious liberty that these principles are recognized and approved by Paine the infidel, or Jefferson the skeptic. When the Incarnate Truth was upon the earth, He was rejected by those who regarded themselves as sponsors of the people, and was heard gladly by many publicans and sinners, who received Him into their houses. He Himself said to the “orthodox” of that day, “The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”
CATHOLICISM IN FRANCE.
If the Church of Rome is the infallible church, it follows that what is taught in France is true here. Now here is an utterance from the organ of the French Catholic clergy. We quote from the Independent:—
“Just how French clericalism proposes to make use of the present state of affairs in that republic, is indicated by the official party election program, as published in the Revue des Clergé Français. It begins as follows:—
“‘The church has the recognized right to govern not only individuals and families, but also nations. In other words, the State is not independent of the church; it is the State’s duty to accept, confess, and protect the Catholic religion. It is the object of the State to protect the secular welfare of the people; but it is the sphere of the church to guard their eternal happiness. The sphere of the church is, accordingly, infinitely higher than that of the State, and the latter sphere is subordinate to the former. This subordination of ends brings with it, also, the subordination of means, and, as a result of this, it is apparent that the State is subordinate to the church. Nothing can overthrow this argument.’”
“As a consequence of this position, the program maintains that it is the duty of the State to render all possible service to the church. The church is both a divine and a human association, and possesses power to teach, to make laws, and to inflict punishment; she has the right to punish heretics with ‘material’ punishments, i. e., fines, etc.; she further has the right to ask of the State to use the powers at her command for carrying out the spiritual interest, which it is the function of the church to preserve and protect. The program concludes with these words:— “‘By divine right the pope is the head of the church, the authority as the exponent of the highest morality, which has the right of prescribing to the princes the directions and rules which they are in duty bound to observe in the government of their States.’”
And this is the doctrine of the Catholic Church in this country, however it may be denied. And it is the object of that church to see that doctrine in operation all over the world. And, for a brief period, her triumph will come; and then?—And then her eternal overthrow, and the reign of Christ forever.
Saints in This Life, or Not At All.—
By W. N. G.
It is quite common in religious circles, especially in religious journals, to hear or see references to deceased persons as the “now sainted” So and So. The idea is that good people become saints when they die, an idea based upon the pagan and papal doctrine of the natural immortality of man. Protestants are prone to make light of the Roman Catholic way of canonizing as saints after death certain persons who were eminent in the church and endowed with certain prescribed qualifications. But the custom of designating as saints, only after death, all good people, as most Protestants do, is outdoing Rome.
The Bible refers to the people of God as saints in this life. “O love the Lord, all ye His saints.” Ps. 31:23. One of the Christian duties enjoined by the apostle Paul is “distributing to the necessity of saints.” Rom. 12:13. A prominent object of the gifts of the Spirit in the church is “the perfecting of the saints.” Eph. 4:12. That saints die is shown by Ps. 116:15: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” As “the dead know not anything,” and “their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished” (Eccl. 9:5, 6), it is evident that dead saints are unconscious.
Then to speak of one who dies as being “now sainted” is to say that he was not a saint before, and therefore was not a Christian. It is also equivalent to saying that in order to become a saint one must die. The Word of God teaches only one probationary period. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2. “As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:27, 28. “Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12. So then no one who is not a saint in this life can ever become a saint. W. N. G.
“The Satanic Press.”
A noted writer in the Catholic Mirror of February 26 speaks of certain popular and sensational newspapers as “the Satanic press” that “fixed upon Spain responsibility of the [Maine] disaster without a particle of evidence to justify them.” Without entering into the merits or discussion of the Maine disaster, it is worthy of note that some, at least, of these sensational papers which compose “the Satanic press” are those most favorable to Roman Catholicism, and give more space to favorable reports of the workings of the Catholic Church than of all Protestant bodies combined.
Hunger and Disease in Cuba
If the Cubans do not soon gain their independence, there will be but few of them left to enjoy it, when it does come; and the most of those who do survive will be so reduced by hunger, disease, and poverty as to have little ambition for recuperation. The population of the island was estimated at 1,200,000—less than that of California—and reports deemed reliable say that 200,000 have died of hunger since the war began, and twice as many more are in imminent danger of sharing the same fate. These figures foot up half the population of the island.
