THE ORPHANS’ FRIEND.
Wednesday, TUnrcIi 15, 1876.
ORPHAIV EIVTERTAINMEIVTS.
With the hope of exciting more
interest in the orphan work, and
for the purpose of transacting
business connected therewith, I
invite the people to attend
FREE ENTERTAINMENTS
to he given by
NINE ORPHAN!^
at the following times and places;
Tuesday, March 21, Mt Tirzah,
Wednesday, “ 22,
Thursday,
Friday,
Saturday,
Monday,
Tuesday, “
AVednesday, “
Thursday, “
Friday,
Roxboro.
23, Leasburg.
“ 24, Milton.
“ 25, Ya.nceyville.
“ 27, Anderson’s Store
“ 28, Prospect Hill.
29, Chapel Hill.
30, Durham.
31, Knap of Reeds.
If these appointments do not
suit, friends will please inform
me. The appointments are for 7
p. m., but other places on the
way-side can be visited at 11 a.
m., if the people so desire.
We shall need at each appoint
ment a church or hall, four beds,
and the usual meals for nine chil
dren and food for two mules.
Friends of the orphan work are
requested to make the necessary
arrangements and give due notice.
J. H. Mills, Supt.
The first page of this paper
contains the legislation of the
Grand Lodge in regard to the or
phan work. The design and man
agement are so distinctly stated
that any misapprehension seems
impossible. Yet we are every
day required to write letters to
explain the reasons for regulations
which have been adopted by
wiser and better men.
Dr. Thornwell, when a poor
orphan boy, was adopted by Mr.
Robbins and the two Generals
Gillespie, who defrayed all the
expenses of his education. Dr.
Palmer, alluding to Dr. Thorn-
well’s life-long love and gratitdde
to his patrons, and to the undying
interest they felt in his welfare
and fame, says:
“ No form of charity, probably,
yields as quick and large returns
as the education of a promising
youth ; and some of the brightest
gems with which society is
adorned were thus rescued from
the rubbish, where they would
have remained buried for ever.
The-affection, too, Wliich springs
up betwixt the beneficiary and
his patron, is often one of the
purest that is known on earth.
The bonds of kindness on the one
hand, and gratitude on the other,
bring the two into I’elations only
less endeared than betwixt parent
and child., ’Flip correspondence
shortly to be introduced, will
show such to have been the affec
tion between Dr. Thornwell and
the friends of his early depend
ence. It will serve to 'illustrate
that entertained by General Gil
lespie, to relate an Incident which
occurred with the writer of these
jrages. At one of-the commence-
niOTts of the South Carolina Col
lege, during the presidency of
Dr. Thornwell, the pressure of
the crowd thrust the writer into
a® uneasy posture, directly be
hind the chair occupied by Gen
eral Gillespie, as a trustee, upon
the rostrum. In one of the pauses
between the speeches, when the
music gave the signal for relaxa
tion, and the hum of conversation
pervaded the house, he leant for
ward and whispered in the ear of
his neighbor : “ General, I would
give a good deal to drop down
into the middle of your heart, and
see exactly how yoii feel, as you
sit there and see and hear that
man, now clothed with the highest
dignities of the State, whom you
helped to occupy that post of
honor.” Turning round, with
eyes brimming with tears, and a
voice tremulous with emotion, he
replied : “Mr. Palmer, you would
have to go down into this heart
to find it out; for I have no
words in which to express the
gratitude and joy which the recol
lection gives me.” Truly there
are cases in which “it is more
blessed to give than to receive
and with a generous nature, a
gratitude for tlie privilege of do
ing good may rise as high as the
gratitude which acknowledges an
obligation. AA^hatever losses may
have accrued from the ravages of
war, this venerable benefactor has
an investment in the usefulness of
his ward, stretching along the
ages yet to come, of which
neither time nor eternity will
ever deprive him.”
For the Orphans’ Friend.
Perhaps the readers of the
Friend would like to hear some
thing about the mountains and
Asheville and the Orphan Asylum
at Asheville. But it isn’t the
right time of the year to describe
the mountains and mountainscen
ery, so I will pass them by for
the present, hoping that many of
the readers of the Friend will
find their way up here next sum
mer and see for themselves how
grand, how beautiful, how pleas
ant they are.
Asheville is a sort of metropolis
of the transmontane portion of
the State, and a place of consid
erable trade, carried on mostly by
wagons. These come here from
all the counties around, and west
as far as the Tennessee line, and
even many from Tennessee come,
all loaded with country produce,
to exchange for such things as
are needed for the farm and
household. The barter trade
here is very extensive. Eggs,
butter, fruit, fowls, flour, corn,
meal, bacon and lumber are
brought in large quantities and
exchanged for salt, sugar, coffee,
plows, dry goods and other ne
cessaries. Most of the country
produce bartered for is shipped to
the eastern part of the State, to
the South ’ Carolina markets and
to Baltimore, but the difficulty,
delay and high price of transpor
tation takes away much of the
profits of the trade.
There are many things in con
nection with Asheville of which
her citizens may be justly proud.
She has eight or ten churches,
most of them neat and commodi
ous, the services of which are
well attended. Her hotels—the
Eagle, Bankj Central and Sani
tarium—are not excelled in the
South, and a new hotel of large
dimensions, now being erected
by Pinckney Rollins, will be
ready for the summer travel.
The new Court House here, when
finished, will be another striking
feature of the place. It will be
the finest and best arranged Court
House in the State, when com
pleted. A Mr. Scott, from one of
the Northern States, is the con
tractor.
Another thing of which Ashe
ville may be proud, is the absence
of bar-rooms and liquor establish
ments. You could not buy a
pint of spirits in the whole town,
not even at the drug stores. The
consequence is, there is seldom
any “salt and batter” cases for
the courts ; the country people
come to town, transact their bus
iness, exchange their produce for
time and go home sober to their
wives and children. Altogether
Asheville is a nice, pleasant place
and filled with nice, moral, intel
ligent people.
But I have gone on all this
time and haven’t got to the or
phans yet. I must leave them
for my next letter. I will say
now that they enjoy good health,
haven’t over-eat themselves lately,
and are contented and happy.
J. H. M.
SAMPEES OF FINE ENGEISII.
in
A
something useful, leave in good
Many, no doubt, use “ fine
English” because they have never
considered and never been told
how- foolish it is, and how much
more expressive and beautiful is
real Saxon-English. Others use
“fine English” to be genteel.
“The bastinado,” says Bobadil, in
Ben Johnson’s “Every man in his
Humor,” “how came he by that
word, trow 1” “Nay, indeed,”
answers Matthew, ‘he said cudgel;
I termed it so for my more grace.’
Others, and these the most incur
able, make circumlocutions of
long words do duty for humor ;
as when a popular writer advises
his hero ‘not to give vent to vo
ciferations till he has emerged
from the forest;’ or an Edinburg
review'd’ calls a dining-table ‘the
jirandial mahogany.’
Of fine English the difficulty is
not to find examples, but to
choose them from those that so
many books, newspapers, and
sermons furnish. To begin with
the critics. In the Edinburg Re
view the writer wishes to tell us
that Edgar Allan Poe was an ex
ample of the truth of the old
proverb. In vino veritas. He says:
.“\Ve lean rather to the ancient
proveib, that truth is made man
ifest on convivial occasions.”
Boys are generally called by
the fine writers ‘the juvenile por
tion of the community ;” but in
the Quarterly Review they are
spoken of as ‘the male progeny of
human kind.’ A critic in the
Literary Gazette says that Mr.
Hollingshead spent some forty
pounds among the W'orkmen at
the opera, ‘which reminds us of
an ill-natured proverb about the
speedy separation that arises be
tween certain classes of men and
their available resources.’ I sup
pose it is the same genius who a
few pages after calls a father ‘a
male parent,’ and an uncle “an
avuncular guardian,” and who
w'inds up his criticism by saying
that modern fiction ‘furnishes no
intellectual nutrition whatever to
the adolescent mind.’
Unfortunately, very many of
those to whom our children’s ed
ucation is intrusted are themselves
educated in schools where the pu
pils are taught to be genteel, and
where the chief mark of gentility
is counted to be the using of fine
language. Very sensible was
that dame who, doubtful, I sup
pose, of lier patrons understand
ing the fine inscription, ‘Seminary
for Young Ladies,’ added under
it the translation, ‘A Girl’s School.'
Akin to our subject is the love
of affected finery in titles. You
may see this announcement: ‘The
lady of AY. Smith, Esq.’
Mr. Smith, of course, cannot use
the word ‘wife.’ A friend of mine
was asked in the pit of a theatre
if there was any room for a lady!
He replied, he had no doubt a
lady would find room in the boxes;
but if a woman really' wanted to
sit down, he would make room
for her. The title of ‘esquire’ too,
which every' body now gives to
everybody, and expects himself
in return, is, I think, another sign
of the love of the age for affected
finery. Horace Smith defined
‘esquire,’ ‘a title very much
use among vulgar people.’
horse doctor now calls himself a
‘veterinary surgeon.’ An author
is a ‘literary' gentleman ;’ and a
merchant, ‘a gentleman engaged
in mercantile pursuits.’ A man
used to go to law, he now ‘inst.-
tutes legal proceedings ;’ he used
to go to the doctor, he now ‘con
sults his medical adviser.’ There
is, too, the fine English of the
shop-keeper, who styles himself
‘the proprietor of the establish
ment.’ He that used to sell by
auction,’ now ‘submits to public
competition ;’ instead of ‘giving
notice,’ he ‘intimates to the pub
lic ;’ instead of ‘raising his clerk’s
wages,’ he ‘augments his salary.’
Somebody going into a shop to
buy half-mourning, was referred
by the shopman to the ‘mitigated
affliction department.’ A trades
man of whom I bought some
lamp-oil sent it home ‘with Mr.
Clark’s compliments and solicita
tions.’ One man sells ‘unsophis-
ticsted gin,’ and another lets ‘gen-
I have tried to show by these
examples how destructive of our
beautiful language, and how fool
ish, it is to use fine words and
expressions in common talk and
writing upon common things. ‘To
clothe,’ says Fuller, ‘low creep
ing matter with high-flown lan
guage is not fine fancy, but flat
foolery. It rather loads than
raises a wren to fasten the feath
ers of an ostrich to her wings.
AYe may consider it a general
rule, that the best English is that
in which Saxon-derived words are
used the most freely ; that it is
better; for common purposes at
least, to say ‘like’ than ‘similar,’
‘help’ than ‘assist,’ ‘give’ than
‘present,’ ‘beg’ than ‘solicit,’ ‘kins
man’ than ‘relation,’ ‘neighbor
hood’ than ‘vicinity',’ ‘praise’ than
‘encomium.’ That i.s good adN ic
of the author of “Guesses at
Truth ‘AYhen you doubt be
tween two words, choose the
jilainest, the commonest, the most
idiomatic. Eschew fine words as
you would rouge; love simple
ones as you would native roses
on y'our cheeks.’ Let us then
call a spade a spade. Let us use
the plainest and shortest words
that will grammatically and
gracefully express our meanings.’
—Harper's Monthly.
Tlic Vain Ulilnocci'os.
A Rhinoceros who was drink
ing at a limpid Stream observed
therein the reflected image of his
Horns and Legs. ‘Alas !’ quoth
he, ‘that an animal with such
massive Legs should be disfigured
by so insighificant a Horn !’ At
this moment his meditations were
interupted by the baying of
pack of Hounds. Away he fled,
but his Legs refused to convey
him with sufficient speed, and
turning round as the baying pack
gained on him he disseminated
crude Sausage-Meat and Driving
Gloves over that section of the
Continent. ‘I see,’ he cried as he
exalted the last Hound into the
spacious Firmament on high, ‘that
the Legs I admired would have
proved my ruin had not my des
pised Horn insured my safety.’
Moral. Some people don
know whut’s good for them.
The Emperor of Russia is quite
young in comparison with his
most important cotemporaries.
He is in his fifty'-eighth y-ear
His uncle, Kaiser AYilhelm, is
twenty-one years older. AYhile
Alexander is much attached to
his uncle of Germany and his son
and heir hates Germany the
Germans. Hence the Czar’s
comparative y'outh is a good thing
for Europe.
EADV BYIION AND FANNY
KEMBEE.
Lady Byron was a peculiarly
reserved and quiet person, with a
manner habitually deliberate and
measured, a low subdued voice,
and rather diffident hesitation in
expressing herself; and she cer
tainly' conveyed the impression of
natural reticence and caution.
But so far from ever appearing to
me to justify the description often
given of her, of a person excep
tionally cold, hard, measured in
tellect and character, she always
struck me as a woman capable of
profound and fervid enthusiasm,
with a mind of rather a romantic
and visionary order.
She surprised me extremely
ove evening as she w'as accompa
nying me to one of my public
readings, by exclaiming, “Oh,
how I envy y'ou ! AYhat would
I not give to be in your place !”
As my vocation, I am sorry to
say, oftener appeared to me to
justify' my own regret than the
envy of others, I answered,
“What! to read Shakespeare be
fore some hundreds of people ?”
“Oh, no,” she said, “not to read
Shakespeare to them, but to have
all that mass of people under
your control, subject to your in
fluence, and receiving your im
pressions.” She then went on to
say that she would give anything
to lecture upon subjects which
interested her deeply, and that
she would like to advocate with
every power she possessed. Lady
By'ron, like most enthusiasts was
fond of influencing others and
making disciples to her own
views. I made her laugh lir-
telling her that mo e than on' e,
when looking from my reading-
desk over the sea of faces uplifted
towards me, a sudden feeling
seized me that 1 must say' some'
thing from myself to all thi'se
human beings whose attention I
felt at that moment entirely' at
my' command, and between whom
and myself a sense of sympath)'
thrilled powerfully' and strangely
through my' heart, as 1 looke 1
steadfastly' at them before 0(,eii-
ing my bps; but that, on won
dering afterwards what I m'ght,
could, would, or should liavt s id
to them from myself, 1 never
could think ot anything but tno
words: “Be good !” which as a
preface to the reading of one ot
SI akespeare’s plays might haie
have startled them. (jitin and
strongly as the temptation re
curred to me, I never could
t ink of anything better worth
s ying to my audience. I have
some hope that soni'ctimes in the
course of the reading I said it ef-
^ feotuall)', without shocking them
by a departure from my proper
calling, or deserving the rebuke
of “Ne sutor'ultra crepidam.”—
[Old Woman’s Gossip, by' Mrs.
Kemble, March Atlantic.
Give till you feel it—till it in
volves some self-denial, some
stinting of comfort or luxury, for
the sake of Christ and His cause.
How sweet to do something for
one who has done so much for us t
A gentleman who had given very
largely, was inquired of by his
presumptive heir, at his dy'lng
bed, as to the whereabouts of his
fortune. “You will find it," said
the dying man, “in the pockets
of the indigent.
“Call that a kind man V said
an actor, speaking of an acquain
tance ; ‘a man who is away from
his family and never sends them
a farthing ? Call that kindness?
‘Yes, unremitting kindness,’Jer-
rold replied.