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IMM VOL. III. OXFORD, N. C., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 1877. NO. 23. sunny hnufi of uhiKihood— How ploasnut, fresh, and bright! But, like the morning sunbeaiiiSj They quieUly take their tiiglit. O'oi hearts tlmt now ate iigiitcst A cloud may soon afise, Aud faces that are Ijrightest Be dimmed by tearful eyes. If we would.glow with gladness, The path of pleasure trace, Then we, to banish sadness, Must gaze on Jesus’ face. iTis sunshine to be dwelling Where all is light and love; And bliss, alt thought excelling, To rest in Christ above. He is the sun and center Of heaven’s delightsome land ; And blest are they Who enter. And ill his presence stand. The Lamb adoring, praising, Who once on earth was slain, To God the Father raising The ever-joyous strain. CtEN. JACKSON COLLECTlNCf A nEBT. Two or tliree weelc! since we published an anecdote of the cel ebrated Irish advocate Curran, showing his adroitne.ss in recov ering for it countryman £100 which he had deposited with a landlord who refused to restore it The Trihune relates tlie following of a somewhat different cliaracter ill regard to Andrew Jackson : When Andrew Jackson was President he was waited upon one day by a Washington board ing-house keeper who complained that a Tennesseean, who had been appointed by him to a clerkship in one of tlie departments, would not pay a hoard bill. “Get Ids note,” said tiie President, “for tlie full amount, inter'es' included, payable in sixty' day's, and bring it to me.” “That will ho of no use,” replied tlie hoarding-house keejier, “for lie never pays ids notes.” “Do as I tell you. Sir,” said Jackson, and turned away. The next day tlie boarding liouse keeper reappeared at the While House and handed the note to tlia President. He took it, read it, yvrote “Andreiv Jackson” across tlie hack in Ids well-known auto graph, and handed it back, say - saving : “Take that to the Bank ot the Metropolis and tell tliem from me that at its maturity it yvill be paid either by the drawer or the indorser. They vvill dis count it tor you.” A feiv da3's afterward the man yvlio had given the note met his creditor and tauntingly said; “Well, I don’t 8uppo.se 3'ou have been able to negotiate my paper ?” “Yes,” replied the boarding-house keeper, “I had no trouble in getting it discounted at legal rates of inter est.” “Who in thufid'er rs willing to discount my notes ?” asked the Tennesseean, “the Bank of the Metropolis discounted the one 3'Ou gave me, upon the assurance that if you did not pay it the indorser would.” “But wlio ivould indorse niy note ?” “Gen. Jackson, and he sent yvord to the bank that if you did not pay the note he would.” It is hardly necessary to state that tlie note was prompt ly paid by the maker. “To make the true poet, as distinguished from the yvriter of FITZ-GREENE HAELECK. verse—tliepoet whose yvords shall live in the Ilearts and on the lips of men—there must he, beside the poetic nature and the faculty' of expression, the latent energy and forceyvhich, when occasion serves, shall be able to seize the passing moment, the present scene, the grand event, and make tiieni sub servient to its use. It is this vigilant readiness to grasp the opportune and instant advantage and turn it to great and lasting ac count, this assertion b3' brave spirits furnished for their work, of their hiden but conscious poiver, yvhich is the constant wonder and admi ration of the world. It is the supreme faculty. When it yvins fortune b3' a hold stroke, we are apt to misname it luck ; yvhen it saves imperilled lives at the risk of its oyvn, or turns defeat into victory on the battle-field, it is heroism : yvhen it make its own thought and its own word the mirror and the voice of the com mon thouglit and the common feelings of mankind, for yvant of a better name, we call it genius. Tills rare gift yvas Halleck’s. Ilis best poems were the ricliest and fullest expressions of his na ture, and the “touch of nature” yvhioli “makes the ivliole yvorld kin” is the talisman attracting to his memory a universal homage. If tliei'e is here, or anywhere, a questioner or a caviller ivho asks; Wh3' rear a statue to Halleck in this jilace of public concourse ?— I reph', in a word, because in him tlie yvorld found that rare gift ot God, a brother man on the common level of luuiianit3', yvitli the full heart of a poet and the fire therein. It is this inspired n ituralne.ss which is the charm and tlie streugtli of lii.s verse. II’s pathos Ls tlie tear and sob of a first, heart-breaking grief ; his fancy has tlie perfume of tlie thicket and the woodland; liis satire is the home-ttirust of an lionest foe ; ids humor is the gay- etv' yvhich must have companion- sliip, and tlie echo of an aiisiver- ing laugh. This patlios, tliis ten der grace, tins liumor, yvere not the mere fringes and furniture of his verse. They yvere inherent in file ver3' impulse and move ment of ids poetic thought. They give it its unique vaiiety and rapid alterations. How often lie surprises us yvith those quick transitions which blend the tear and tlie smile. How often the floyv of his steady rlivtlim keeps its even swell, like a billow seen at a distance, which we fancy will break at our feet with the resounding waves before it, but ’of a sudden, far out fi-om shore, as if b3' an impslse of its own, breaks itito foam and spray-, and seems to gather all the sunlight into a coronet for its sparkling crest.”—W Y. Observer. From Mr. William Allen But ler’s address at the unveiling of the Halleck statue in Central Park, yve take tlie following par agraphs ;— entered his r03'al chamber one fflorning, and the king, wishing to liave a little fun at the expense of his grave courtier, handed liim a short poem, yvhich he had just yvritten, requesting his opinion. “Marshal', read tins, I pray 3'ou, and see if you do not find it veiA' silh'. Some one has Iieard that I like poetr3', and has sent me some of ali sorts.” The Marshal read it, and, turning to the king, said : “Sire, your Majesty judges all things yvell; it is true, that this i.s one of the silliest and most ridi culous poems that I have ever read.” The king burst out laughing and said, “Must it not be true, that he yvho wrote it yvas a great simpleton ?” “Sire, we can give him no other name.” “Ha, ha!” cried the king, “I am delighted that 3'ou have spoken so candidly ; it is I yvho yvrote them !” “0 sire!” what treason you have rendered me ! I read the poem hastily-. Allow me, I pra3- you, to read it again. No doubt, in m3' haste I overlooked tlie true merits that are certainly in it if your Majesty did it the honor to compose it.” “No, M. le Marshall, the first i npressions are alwa3's the most natural.” And he added, as the courtier left him in confusion, “0 that a king could always know as near what his subjects think of yvbat be does ! This is but a little tiling ; but it shoyVS that a monarch but seldom knoyys tlie feelings of his subjects, and then only tlirougli deception, In pri vate, they censure my ever3- act, Hiid curse me for all I do ; in rnv' presence, tliev' cringe and fayvn and flatter, hoping thereby to gain favor, but much more de serving m3- siiicerest contempt.” Thus mused the sage mon arch, winding up yvith the con clusion, that the care-free swain, minding his flock, is far more blessed than the sceptered mon arch.—-Young Folks’ Gem. THE BBINLE'T mAZAltlNE BIBEE. The Erinley copy- is on paper —one of the genuine Gutenberg prints, and it is a marvel of tlie printer’s work. Its equal could not be made to-dav. The ink, tliougli four hundred 3’ears old and more, is as distinct ns ink could be, and tlie paper is still yvhite and clear. The “ register ” is perfect, aud the appearance of tlie page far surpasses that of tlie best modern books. Tlie first letter of each chapter is an illu mination done b3- hand, and there are frequeutl3' full-page illumina tions througii tlie two volumes, also done, of course, by* liand. These are exqui.site specimens of work, and their coloring is as fine and rich as it yvas yvhen put on, finer in some cases than it could 1)6 made now. The yvork is printed in Latin, with a number of curious contract sy’inbols in the text, used to space the lines evenl3-. Three different yva3-8 of the letter “B”—broad, moderate width, and narrow—are examples of the care taken in such respects. This volume was probabl3’bound about a hundred 3’ears after its printing, and must have been bidden ayvay for centuries in some monaster3-. The Mazarine Bible was the first book printed yvith movable ty’pe. Its date is not given, but yvas discovered by means of certain marks upon the manuscripts found yvitli one cop3-. The oldest dated printed book is marked MCCCCLIX. The Watkinson Library' lias a copy of this. A curious feature of the Brlnley CQp3' of the Gutenberg Bible is that unon each page is a faint pin mark at the top and bottom. This solves the hitherto inexplicable problem of bow the register had been made so exact; that is, Itoyv exactly the matter upon opposite sides of tlie same leaf had been made to cover the same space, lines and margins corresponding precisely. —Hart ford Courant. KOl'itlANIA. ANECDOTE OF EOEIS TIV. The following anecdote is told of Louis the Fourteenth. Ho very often amused liimseif, du ring leisure hours, by composing poetr3-, and, not being preserved by liis royal diadem from the fault of many yvould be poets of tiie present da3-, his poetry was often more rhy'me titan reason. Tim Marshal of Grammout At file meeting of the Connect icut Historical Society, a fetv days since, in Hartford, the chief interest gathered about the exhi bition of one of tite rarest and most valuable books in the yvorld. Dr. Trumbull brought out the Mazarine Bible, belonging to tlie eollection of the late George Brin- ley. This is one of the only two copies in America, and tliere are only six in the world. It was printed in 1455. Two years ago two copies were sold at auction, in London in the same sale, and one, printed upon paper, brougiit $14,000 gold ; the other, on vel lum, brought $20,000 gold. Us ually a vellum copy of any- work biings four or five "times as much as a paper one; but the history of the Mazarine Bible raises the value of the paper copies relative ly to those on vellum. Guten berg printed the first copies in 1455, and alt these were on paper; in I45fi Faust got possession of the types, and his edition was partly on vellum. Those, conse quently, are not so completely “ original.” Turk and Muscovite liave taken place. Yet in spite of these dis turbing influences the Moldo- Wallachlan plains have advanced in cultivation. The two provinces togetlier occup3- an area of about 50,000 square miles, aud contain 2,000,000 inhabitants. From the earliest days the}- have produced an amount of food more tlian adequate to tlie yvants of the in habitants ; tliey- yvere regarded as tiie granary of Trajan’s troops as the}- have since been of those of Russia, Of the inhabitants much can not be said that is favorable. Tliey are to be seen standing or lying about, in their loose tunics, red saslies, liigli yvoollen caps and most unyvashed sheepskins,—a common vesture of all the Danu- bian races,—models of pictures que filthiness. It yvould almost appear as if they liad scarcely advanced one step since the da3’s of Trajan, and one gets to feel that ail}- revolution yvliich could rouse their torpor and stimulate tlieir energies—yvhich would liold out a motive to exertion and se cure a return to industry,—al though accompanied yvitli the in gredients of confusion and strife must bring superior advantage in the end. Roumania, or tlie Moldo-Wal- lachian provinces, so often the battlefield of Russian and Turk, yvas declared an independent principality under the suzeraint}’ of tlie Porte by the treaty of Paris, signed on the 30th of March, 1856. The present Prince of Roumania yvas elected in 1866, and comes from the Holienzollern- Sigmarlngen family of Prussia. The industry of this productive principality is sadly injured by tlie frequent contests yvhich have taken place between Russia and Turkey. No feyver than eiglit different times has Russia “ occu pied ” these provinces,—bringing many miseries in lier train after each occupation; for it seems unquestionably true that the spoliation on eacli of these occa sions is great, the Rus.iiian troops seizing on the crops and the herds of the peasantry and leaving as an unsolved problem tlie question of pa3'niont. Again, during these occupations the Russians have never failed to introduce the plague, or at least some bad fever yvliich passes under that name. During the last eighty or ninety years more than thirt}- have been 3-ears of Russian “ occupation ” of this principality; and not less than tyventv campaigns between Tiie Roumanians have neither the bold determination of their neiglibors, the Seroians, nor the spirit of enterprise, combination of firery valor of the Greeks; they more resemble the moujik (serf) of Russia. The principal towns are Bucharest and Galatz, wliich are connected by a rail road The Roumanian army consists of about 20,000 regular troops and 30,000 irregulars ; the nav}', of three steamers and seven gunboats, manned by about 450 men and officers. They have a public debt of £12,000,000 ster ling, yvhich yvill naturally be in creased b}' tlieir present polic}-. yvliicli lias just been defined by- a declaration of yvar against Tur- ko}-, although tliey propose to act iiurel}- on the defensive.— Boston Advertiser. ■WHAT A WOMAN DID WITH HER FEN. In a recent letter to the Balti more American, Jennie Juno yvrote a plaintive true story of yvhat a woman did ; I have one to match it. Tyvo or tliree years, ago an aged mother gave lier daughter several thousand dollars to invest for lier in some safe and productive securities. B3- tho advice of a friend in Wall sffeet; the daugliter was led to pwefeaso certain lYest Virginia railway bonds. This proved: to be a fatal mistake, for in a feyv months the stocks became worthless and the little fortune yvas lost! As soon as the daughter received fha news she determined by her own, exertions to replace every cent of her mother’s money, and never, let the dear old lady knovy that it had been loist.. She did tliis with lier pen, yvorking early and late, denying herself, scouring tlie city- and country for informa tion. And she accomplished the task juaf aa Harriet Martineaq forced success fram the most ad verse circumstances. That yyo-. man yvas “ Jennie June ” Croly herself—Rosfcn Transcrijgt.
The Orphans’ Friend (Oxford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 6, 1877, edition 1
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