HESPERIAN STUDENT
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA.
Vol. XIII.
LINCOLN, NEB., NOVEMBER 15, 1884.
No. rv.
Tlic Current of Chicage, declares t'at "If the working
men of America permit (lie abolition of the 'Puritan Sab
bath' they will prove themselves a nation of dunces."
And qi'oling or inventing the "claim of the millionaire
that he canun? spare the time between Saturday and Mon
day ,"it eavn: "But that Mime millionaire goes from
Florida to Yellow atom- Park, from Bar Harbor and
Mooschead Lake to Santa Barbara, and is often resting
two months at a time. The woikiugman must get 'tis
Santa Barbara and Sun Augustine in weekly instalments;
and if he do not stand by the church in protecting Sunday
the millionaire and the corporations will soon have it
all their own way." Tlu Prctbytrrian.
We are admonished of the approach of winter by the
shortening of the hours of daylight and the coolncfs of
the nights. The family circle is being drawn mere
closely around the cheerful hearthstone. In a comfort
able home, how delightful it is for families to gather dur
ing the long winter evenings in the living rooms, satc
from the cold and storms that beat upon the outer walls.
At such times good books and papers are useful and
highly appreciated by those who, understanding their
value, have provided them for the'r own and others enjoy
ment. It would prove a great blessing to them if every
family could be arowed to the importance ot taking a
good faniiry religious paper, and proviimg a slock of good
books for winter reading. They would be astonished at
the plenuic derived from them, and be slow to neglect
the matter in the future. TJie children of persona in
very humble circumstances have received their first im
pulse toward an education from good books aud the
religious paper. Belectd.
"In the best books, great men talk to ue.wilh up, and
give us their most precious thoughts. Books arc the
voices of the distant and the dead. Books are the true
levelers. They give to all who will faithfully use them, the
tociety and the presence of the best and greatest of our
race. No matter how poor I am; no matter (hough the
prosperous of my own time will not enter my obscure
dwelling, learned men aud poets will enter aud take up
their abode under my roof, if Milton will cross my
threshold to sing to me of Paradise; and 8hakepcare
open to me the world of imagination and (he ivorkiHg
of the human heart; and Franklin enrich mo with his
practical wisdom, I shall not pine tor want of intellect
ual companionship, audi may become a cultivated man,
though excluded from what is called the best oj society in
the place where I live. Nothing can supply the place of
books. They arc chrering and soothing companions in
solitude, illness or affliction. The wealth of both conti
nents could not compensate for the good they imparl."
Ohanning
The government of Japan ha? issued the following
proclamation with drawing official patronage from Shins
toism and Buddhism. "It is hereby notified that the
Shintoist aud Buddhist official priesthood has been abol
ished aud the former of appointing and discharging in
cumbents of religious temples monasteries, and the
promotion and dcgiadatiou in rank ot preceptors, has
been transferred to, and will henceforth be exercised by
religious superintendents of tl ose sects under the follow
ing special provisions." Then follow certain articles in
reference to the duties of the superintendents and reliev
ing the government of all responsibility for tho conduct
of religion.
The Japan Mail says:"The time has nearly come when
complete freedom of conscience must obtain it in Japan
aud as a preliminary to that most desirable condition,
the phun course of liie authorities is to disassociate them
selves Irom all connection with this or that form ot creed.
Buddhism and Shiutoism alike are now connected with
the government by such a slender tie that their statues
may be extended to Christianity without much difficulty."
A recent writer from Japan says: "This movement has
caused a great stir there aud forms the principal topic of
couvcisatitin. The native Christians are grcuily rejoiced
not for what it brings to them now, but for what it foreshadows."
A grand cathedral has been built in Moscow to commem
orate the retreat of Napoleon from Russia. Immediately
on the withdrawal of the French, Alexauder I decreed the
erection of the memorial temple. Foundations were laid,
aud nearly two million dollars were expended or wasted;
and then by thcEmptror Nicholas a new site was chosen,
and work was begun on the present building. The site
cost, with embankment, terrace, etc., the sum of $900,000.
The foundations were laid in 1838, aud the walls were
completed twenty years after. A quarter of a century
more has been expended in fittings and decorations.
The largest bell weighs twenty-six tons. The cost of the
whole peal was upward of $05,000. '1 lie five copper cu
polas cost $850,000. The doors cost $300,000. The inte
rior is very gorgeous. The two rows of candelabra
around the cupola cost $200,000, and the total number of
candles to be lighted throughout the building is upwards
ol 3,000. At the top of the cupola is a painting repre
senting the colossal proportions of the first person of the
Trinity as an old man, with the infant Jesus. The height
of the figure is forty-nine feet, the length of the face seven
feet, aud the height of the infant tweuly-oue feet. Also
below the cupola are a number of fimires of Apostles and
Fathers, each twenty-one feet high. The edifice will ac
commodate 10,000 worshipers, and its total cost was over
eleven million dollars.
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