Newspapers / The Orphans’ Friend (Oxford, … / Sept. 26, 1877, edition 1 / Page 2
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ORPHANS’ FRIEND. Wcdtiosictay, .Si'jiK isibci’86, IS7V. TilU PSt©«l£ESS5VE IN- FEl'EMCE OF WOKK. No law of life is more beautiful than that whicli provides the condition of pi’Ogress, in whatever work is honestly and honorably performed. True work never de grades the mind ; instead of this, it trains tlie rational qualities of our being for vigor and scope in other departments of life. It gradually gives one a greater command over his faculties and over himself. It teaches him submission to wise laws, exercises him in the knowledge acquired by effort and experience, and fits his mind for other and higher tasks. Even the lowliest work may develop a capacity for what lies beyond. No truth, in history IS more strikingly illustrated, than, that toil and service are required of him who is destined to achieve something for his race. The life of a shepherd-boy, trained David for one of the grandest theatres on which man ever acted. Had he not dwelt away from the haunts of men, enjoyed the free dom of nature, and lived in the fellowship of beautiful and sub lime scenes, he would not have felt the presence of God in the material universe. Then, too, how much he owed to his dail}' task. His watchful offices over his sheep, lifted his heart to the Great Shepherd; which awaken ed thoughts and feelings, inspired impulses, and quickened affec tions, that educated the mind of a nation, and have proved, for centuries, a blessing and a joy, to the cultivated intellect, and to the Christian piety of the world. If we would make personal im provement through the instru mentality of work, we must ac cept it as a divine thing. Busi ness may yield profit; but all our ■ work will prove a sad failure, if we do not thereby grow into greater nobility of soul. For the material can never compensate for the loss of the spiritual, and a defrauded heart is infinitely worse than a bankrupt purse. A moral spirit must pervade our work. It will then refine and ennoble our being; and as the six days of toil are tributary to the Sabbath, so all our labor will blend with religion in purifying and exalting our nature. A EESSOSI FOR HARD TIMES. Some years ago, in a financial difficulty, a merchant in Philadel phia had a note of some six thou sand dollars coming due, and the source on which he depended for the money failed him. He was in great distress' of mind, and talked over the matter with his wife very despondenll3^ She was a pra3’ing woman, and she said, “ If there is a power in prayer, I will get that money for you.” He had little faith that a mira cle would bo wrought for his help, and it seemed as if an3'thirig short of that could not serve him. The time was very near, and no money had yet come. Sitting at his place of business, a man came in against wliom he held a mortgage, which had yet two years to run. The man came in to ask if lie was willing to take the money then, and allow him to take up the mortgage. Ver3^ thankfully he accepted the offer, and made the transfer. Still it was much short of the sum he needed. Then the man said he had some money to invest, and asked if he had a good mortgage he would like to sell him. He had, and now the sum was considerabl3'' increased, though not yet enough to pay his note. As he walked towards his home, with spirits considerabl}' lightened, he met another man against whom he held a mortgage which had yet three vmars to run. He too wished to pay it up now, and this made more than enough for his pressing needs. This account was received from the merchant’s own lips a few weeks ago, at a pra3mr meeting service, in which various ansv/ers to prayer were stated. He said he had frequently thought of writing it out for the encourage ment of others, but had never done so. Perhaps it may encourage other business men to look to the Lord for supplies when in similar straits. If the}' do not come, it will be because He does not see it best.—American Messenger. “Mt. Giloail, Montgomery county, gave $62.50 to the Orphan Asylum.” Mistake. The Orphan Asylum received S33.53 from Mt. Gilead, Montgomery county, instead of $62.50, as t’he newspapers report. DOW’T EOSE A MIMUTE. Keep bus}'. The man who has nothing to do is the most miserable of beings. If you have no regular work, do chores as farmers do when it rains too hard to work in the field. In occupa tion wo forget our troubles, and get a respite from sorrow. The man whose mind and hands are busy finds no time to weep and wall. If work is slack spend the time in reading. No man ever knew too much. Lhe hardest students in the world are the old men who know the most. If you lack books, there are free or cheap libraries, at least in cities, at your command.—Church Union. The forests of North Carolina produce twenty-two species of oak, eight of pine, nine of spruce, seven of magnolia, eight ot hick ory and fiv'o each of elm and birch.—C'/iar/offe Dmocrat. EADY J.iA'E GREY. ISITEKESTSNG FACTS ABOET TSIE CIMMESE. THE BEIMO. There are no two distinguished niches in English history that have been more embarrassed than that of Lady Jane Grey and that of Oliver Cromwell. That both these celebrated personages were sovereigns of England, although under opposite forms of govern ment, we know ; and yet Lady Jane has never been accorded a place as such in the hearts of the English people, or even in mon umental marble, while quite re cently, only, Cromwell has been able to elbow his 'n'ay into a re cognized position in stone in the great English metropolis. The reluctance to accept either of these characters in the light of a ruler has, we imagine, been prompted by John Bull’s innate love of monarchical institutions administered by those who are not only of royal blood, but who stand nearest in a direct line to their immediate predecessor. It was because of the existence of this sentiment that Lady Jane Grey lost her head, and that on the Restoration the remains of Oliver Cromwell were not per mitted to longer rest undisturbed in Henry the Seventh’s chapel. Lady Jane, who was born at Bradgate, in 1637, rvas the great- granddaughter of Henry VII. She was highly educated, and of a disposition most charming. In an evil hour, however, she '^vas prevailed upon by sordid and in terested parties to accept the crown wdiich seemed of right to belong to Mary, the sister of Eli zabeth, and daughter of Henry VIII. Her pretensions were not supported by the English people, and the result was her utter over throw and imprisonment in the Tower, in which she was ulti mately beheaded, and on the same day that her husband. Lord Guildford Dudley was brought to the block on Tower Hill.-—Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine. There are said to be four thou sand characters used in the Chi nese Bible, but of these not more than one-tiiird of the number are in constant use. About one-fifth of the latter number, from their frequent occurrence, constitute the great body of the Bible. Five- sixths of the entire work is made up of one-eighth of the wdiole number of characters. Of the vast population of that densely crowded empire, women and chil dren constitute a large proportion, and these cannot read. In the country districts, not more than one-third of the males can read, and perhaps not more than one- fifth. In the cities it is estimated that seven-tenths of the males are readers; so that, on the whole, the male population may be re garded as a reading people. Ac cording to late statistics, there is one missionary in China to every two millions of its tour hundred millions of inhabitants. The num ber of Christians in China is now increasing six-fold every ten years. It is related of Napoleon that when Marshal Duroo, an avowed infidel, was once telling a very improbable story, giving his opin ion that it was true, the Emperor remarked, “ There are some men W'ho are capable of believing ev erything but the Bible.” This re mark finds abundant illustrations in every age. There are men all about us who say they cannot believe the Bible ; hut their ca pacities for believing all that op pose the Bible are enormous. FAMIEY PK.!i.YER. John Ilow'ard, the philanthro pist, is said never to have neg lected family prayer, even though there was but one, and that one his domestic, to join in it; always declaring that where he had a tent, God should have an altar. This was the case not only in England, but in every part of Europe which they visited to gether ; it being his invariable practice, wherever and with whomsoever he might be, to tell Tomasson to come to him at a certain hour; and well knowing what the direction meant, the lat ter would be sure to find his mas ter in his room, the doors of which he would order him to fasten. Let who would come, nobody was admitted till devotional exer- 1 to In 1 to The total number of blind per sons now living is estimated at over two and a-quarter millions. The proportion of blind persons to the entire population of the United States is 1 to 1,900 or 20,- 041 in a population of 38,115,641 In British North America, 1 to 1,692. In Mexico, 1 to 1,.500. In the West Indies, 1 to 616. In Central and South America, 800. In Europe, 1 to 1,094. Asia, 1 to 431. In Africa, 300. In all the ages of heathenism, asylums for the blind and the helpless wfl'e unknown. The first known public Asylum for the blind was founded in Paris, by Louis IX., in 1260. Now in al most every Christian country, institutions for the blind have been established. Great Britain and Ireland have 24, and there are 27 in the United States. Many persons eminent in history have been blind. Diodotus the phil osopher and preceptor of Cicero; Eusebius the theologian, and Didy mus the rhetorician, among the ancients, were blind. Henry the minstrel poet of Scotland in the 14th century, Zisca the Bohemi an warrior in the 15th, Giovanni Paolo an Italian painter of the 16th, Sanderson the famous Eng lish mathematician of the 17th, and Milton the great English po et of the same century, were blind. Some of them became blind at an adult age, but others were blind from their birth. W. H. Milburn the eminent pulpit orator, and W. H. Churchman, superintendent of an institution for the blind at Indianapolis, are among distinguished living blind persons. Many years ago an English mother heard with inexpressible grief that her little son must lose his sight, and be blind for life. But the blind boy lived and grew up, and consecrated his life to the service of the blind. To-day, after preparing and printing por tions of God's word in seventy-two languages, in raised letters, so that the blind can read if. Dr. Moon is said to be “ the happiest man in London.” Through his blindness many who sat in darkness have been led to see “ the light of life.” Christ was the great healer of the blind, but the few He healed by the wayside or in the Tem ple were but specimens and illus trations of his wonder-working power which shall be manifest when the wilderness and solitary place shall be glad, and the des ert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. “ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstop- ed.” Isa. XXXV. If any one speaks ill of thee, consider whether he has truth on his side; and if so, reform thyself, that his censures may not effect thee. ‘SOME DAY.’ There are people who are al ways beginning, but who never reach an end. Do you know any cises were over A father once received from his child, not four years old, one of the most severe reproofs he ever met with. Having neglected the duty of family prayer one morn ing, when the father came home the little reprover dimed on his knee, and said, “ Father, you did not pray with us to-day.” “No, my dear, I did not.’’ “ But father, you ought, ought you not ?—tvhy did you not I” The father had not a word to reply, and the child’s rebuke happily proved a lasting blessing.—Baptist Family Magazine. such ? Some new work is taken up with great zeal. For a little time it is pursued with eager in terest, and then it grows tiresome, and presently it drops, and you hear no more about it. Work- baskets get filled up with cast-off novelties, which by and by find their w.iy into some collection of odds and ends, sad reminders of spasmodic zeal. If these unfinished pieces of work could speak, they might tell some such tales as these ;— “ It took too long to make me ; I was not so pretty as I was ex pected to be: something new came along, and I was shoved a,side to make room for it.” But every one would unite in declaring, “01 am to be finished some day.” “ Some day,” all the dropped stitches are to be picked up; “ some day ” all the wrongs aro to be set to rights ; “ some day ” all the neglected and waste places are to be made to blossom like the rose! When will that day come I It will need to be a very long day, will it not? Are you sure that you will be there when it comes? Perhaps when the long-looked-for “so m o day ” dawns, you will not know it from any other day. There is-a risk, ■ you see, in “ putting off ” to an other day. Aro any of our classmates forming such a habit as we have hastily sketched? Don’t do it! Make beginnings, but make end ings as well. If the work that you have undertaken is difficult, so much the more reason why you should work hard, and so much the more will you rejoice over the end. Suppose it is not a perfect end. Make it as perfect as 3 ou can, and try to bo satisfi ed with that until you can do better. Hold fast to the work in hand, whatever it ma3' be, so tliat it be a right and true work, until it is completed, unless you can satisfy your conscience that it should be dropped. The people who falter and be gin over again, and finally con clude to try something else, aro the ones who do not succeed. Do not join the ranks! Resolve to do what you attempt to do if it is at all possible, and so doing you will find each completed work a stepping-stone to something high er. If “ to labor is to pray,” then to labor perseveringly is to pray effectual!}’.—S. 8. Classmate. —How often do we sigh for opportunities of doing good, “0 long expected day begin, Da'wn on this world of woe and sin.” —The Christian. John Milton was a poet at ten. At fifteen his insatiable thirst tor knowledge kept him at his books until long past midnight; and this was the cause of his future blind ness. At the same age he gave many proofs of poetic genius, and among them fie translated the 114th and 115th Psalms into Eng lish verse, that has gained the commendation of all critics.— Family Journal. He that never changed any of his opinions, never corrected any of his mistakes; and he who was never wise enough to find out any mistake in himself, will not be charitable enough to excuse what he reckons mistakes in oth- whilst we neglect the openings of Providence in little things, which would frequently lead to the ac complishment of most important usefulness. Dr. Johnson used to say, “ Ho who wills to do a great deal of good at once, will never do any.” Good is done-by de grees. How'ever small in propor tion the benefit which follows in dividual attempts to do good a great deal may thus be accom plished by perseverance, even in the midst of discouragement and disappointm en t.—Crahhe. ASIMRE. If you aspire to the highest and best, you may not be able to at tain the summit, but you will come much nearer to it than if, in the first instance, clipping the wings of what is really pure, no ble, unselfish ambition, you de termine to sacrifice and surrender all claims to the highest and best, and rest content with some com mon place attainment.
The Orphans’ Friend (Oxford, N.C.)
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Sept. 26, 1877, edition 1
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