The San Francisco Earthquake.
—The following is a quotation from a letter dated 25th June, by a Scottish subscriber for the F.P. Magazine, who is engaged near San Francisco:—”I certainly do believe the fire and earthquake in San Francisco were a visitation from God; very sure his hand was there. But the earthquake did not do, as far as I know, 5 per cent. of the damage. It was the fire that took three parts of the city and left the fourth part—nothing was left but ashes and twisted iron. God made the quake strong enough to break all the main pipes for the water. It also split chimneys and broke live electric wires and started fires all over, and the city burned for three days. We are 10 or 12 miles from the city, but the ground is very level, and we could see the fires from our house, especially in the night. There was a cloud right above the city all the time—not the smoke that went from the fires, as the wind carried it away in every direction—and as soon as they got control of the fire, it was seen no more. One thing, they have not sold any liquor since, and there is a little more respect for the Sabbath. The most wicked part of the city is gone, and there is nothing left but ashes.” We regret to learn from the press that the moral situation in “Frisco” is not so favourable since above letter was written. The Mayor has consented to allow the saloons to be opened at the payment of £100 license each.
Leighton’s Acceptance of a Bishopric.
—The Laird of Brodie happened to be in London when Leighton and the arch-traitor Sharpe, the Judas of Covenanting times, were offered bishoprics. This is what he says of Leighton:—”I perceived he was not averse from taking on him to be a bishop: all was clear to him; he approved the organs, anthems, music in their worship. He said the greatest error among the Papists was their persecution and want of charity to us. His intention was to do good in that place and not for ambition. He was against defensive arms; men in Popery, holding all their tenets, might be saved. He had no scruple in any thing which they did, repeating oft this word—Religion did not consist in these external things, whether of government or ceremonies, but ‘righteousness, peace, and joy of, etc.’ I prayed for him, as for myself, and was feared that his charity misguided might be a snare to him.”
China Awakening.
—An Imperial Edict has been issued in Pekin, as the result of the recommendations of the returned Commissioners sent to “study the Government system and political economy of Japan and Western countries,” ordering the abolition of the use of opium, both foreign and native, within ten years. The Edict strongly condemns the opium vice, and orders the Council of State to devise regulations for the enforcement of the prohibition of smoking and of the cultivation of the poppy. This step will mean a loss of several millions annually to our Indian revenue, but it is gratifying to those who have conscientiously opposed the pernicious traffic for years that at last such action has been taken, and it is noteworthy that it emanates from China herself.
Crusade Against the Opium Traffic.
—The Anti-Opium Committee of the Representative Meeting of the Society of Friends are putting forth strenuous efforts to awaken public interest in the opium traffic, which is a disgrace to our country. Literature is being freely circulated, and ministers of the gospel are informed that Mr. Rowntree’s The Imperial Drug Trade will be presented free if they send postage (3d.) to the honorary secretary, Miss Braithwaite, 312 Camden Road, London, N. It is interesting to recall that the present House of Commons, in May last, passed unanimously a resolution asking the Government to take steps to bring the Indo-Chinese opium trade to a speedy close.
Durham’s Great Work.
—James Durham, whose memory is still fragrant to the readers of the old Scottish theology, left as a legacy to the Church of Scotland, his Dying Man’s Testament or Treatise concerning Scandal. It is a very remarkable book in its way, and one must be callous indeed who is unmoved by the beautiful spirit which it breathes. Its great purpose is to show the danger of divisions, and the desirability of unity. It is well to remember, however, that the divisions that pained Durham were those between Resolutioner and Protester, neither of whom Durham would acknowledge. To us, whose sympathies must inevitably be with the Protesters, Durham’s pleadings have all the appearance at times of concessions that border on complete surrender. The Protesters may have been rash, they may have used too strong expressions, but history has proved to the full that they had a clearer vision and a better understanding of the times than their more catholic-minded brethren, the Resolutioners. One should bear this in mind in reading Durham, and, along with his famous book, MacCrie’s discourses on the unity of the Church should be read, where the sanest and best-balanced statement in Scottish ecclesiastical literature bearing on this extremely difficult but important subject of the unity of the Church will be found.