Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1876-11-25
RELIGIOUS ITEMS.

ticular church it is.
Old John Sundays dead. He was an In.
dian Chief, and Methodist missionary
among the Ojibways. He was over 80 years
of age, and had done missionary work for
nearly half century.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Phil.
adelphia has issued decree of excommuni.
cation against the rufians in the Schuylkill
coal region of Pennsylvania who call them
selves Molly Maguires."
Four hundred Polish Catholic priests were
sent into exile in Siberia four years ago.
Three hundred of them have been frozen
out, and the other hundred are so debit.
tated and dilapidated as to pass for very
"Oh Hundred"
The American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions has been obliged to
curtail its work to the extent of about
$4,000. No new stations are to be estab-
ished by the missionaries, and some of the
old ones are to be given up.
A new Presbyterian Mission Church is
talked Of for Philadelphia. 1t is to seat
5000 people. and is to be in the northwest
ern part Of the city. It is said that q
Brooklyn church is to lose its pastor, in Or
der that the new church may have fine
preaching.
At St. Louis. the Opera House has been
opened for Sunday evening services. the
Rev. Dr.. Niccolls being the preacher.
The congregations are large and attentive.
and a deep interest is taken in the new
movement by great many downtown
people who are not reached by the churches.
Rev. Mr.. Thompson, missionary of the
Presbyterian Board at Zacatecas, Mexico,
has returned to the United States on short
leave Of absence, and reports the work
under his care as progressing very favor
ably. Mr.. Thompson's church has hum
dred and fifty members.
Bishop Cummins states that the Re.
formed Episcopal Church is working sue
cessfully among the colored population Of
South Carolina. Several churches have
been organized, church buildings nave been
erected, and one of these is free from debt,
most Of the money having been contrib
uted by the colored members. A training.
school for colored theological students is to
be opened in Charleston in January.
The special mission conducted by tho
Episcopal Church among the little Italians
of New York is said to be receiving great
encouragement. The field was apparently
q hopeless one at first. Bootblacks and
newsboys, even when not foreigners, are
not the most promising of material for re.
igious work; but the average attendance
of little Italians at the Sunday services of
the mission exceeds one hundrc and fifty.
The State Prison of Vermont has new
chaplain, who has worked 90 diligently
since the beginning of his engagement in
September, that five Of the prisoners have
made profession Of their religion by being
baptized. Jail seems an unpromising place
for Christian effort, but q Jail chaplain has
advantages in addressing his c,ng.a CATION
not enjoyed by other preachers. His hear
ers are bound to be punctually on hand. re-
gardless Of the weather and their atten.
ton is not distracted by being compelled 20
notice the new fashions in the apparel Of
their fellow worshippers.
There is q church in Japan which has
only twenty male members, and thirteen Of
these are local preachers who preach at
number of neighborhood stations during the
week days. All these preachers work at
their own expense, and the church accepts
no new members except those who pledge
themselves to work on this plan. Hence the
exceeding paucity Of the membership. In
this country there are churches whose MEM
bers are numbered by the hundreds, and
few who count by thousands, where most of
the people whose names adorn the roll are
religious dead-heads, who do no work, and
do not always even report when the hat il
passed round.
It has not been considered the proper
thing in San Francisco to receive Chinese
converts into churches whose members are
white people. Notwithstanding this preju-
dice. Bethany Congregational Church, in
that city. has just taken in three new Chi
nese members. A fourth was ready to be re-
ceived, but his relatives fearing he would
be exposed to some Of the indignities usu-
ally inflicted by white people on his race,
locked him up until after the reception SER
vices had taken place. We send mission.
aries to China to convert the Celestials on
their own ground; but when they come
here, we treat them 80 badly that most
Of them have great contempt for our style
Of Christianity.
The OLDEST BIBLE MANUsca1prs.-The
Two most ancient manuscripts Of the Bible
known are the Codex Sinaiticus Of the I'm.
perial Library at St Petersburg, and tho
Codex Vaticanus Of tbs Vatican Library at
Rome, both Of which are beliesed to have
been written about the middle Of the fourth
century A. D. The Sinaiticus, 30 called
because it was obtained lin 1850 from the
convent Of st. Catharine on Mount Sinai, Is
by Tischendorf, its discoversr, to
be one Of the fifty copies Of the Scriptures
which the Emperor Constantine directed to
70 made for Byxantium. in the year s3l,
,nder the care Of Eusebius Of C@sarea. Il
'oosists Of s543 leaves Of very 6ns vellun.
made either from the skins Of autelopes or
4 asses. each Leaf being IA IS inches high
y l28 inches wide. The early history Of
he Vatican manuscript i not knsvn, but
appears in the first catalogue Of the Vati.
IN Library in 1875. tits quarto volume.
146 leaves of fine thin vellum,
aoh l02 inches high and 10 broad. Both
are written in Greek uncials,
E capital letters, are without spaces ~