ORPHANS’ FRIEND.
Wediipsday, IV'ovcmbcv 7, IST?.
OUU PI.AB( OF OPEKATIOSIS.
In onr last issue, and in the issne
before the last, we published in full
the complete and comprehensive Ite-
liort made by our illustrious brethren.
Speed, Walter, Barry, Patton and
Peed, to the Grand Lodge of Missis
sippi. Wo sincerely admire the speci
men of their work which they have ex
hibited. No one but a true craftsman
can talk in their tongue. The mind
must clearly ailprehend, and the heart
must fully embrace the language and
spirit of Masonry, before the pen can
write the following jiaragraidis:
It neetls no argument to convince any
Mason, who is not dead to all his obligations,
that Masonry has some higher and nobler
mission than the mere conferring of degrees ;
th.at the wmrk of the Lodge room has a greater
scope than the repetition of ceremonies, be
they ever so venerable with age or beautiful
in sentiment; that the records of a Lodge
which do not tell ns of some good deeds per
formed, some acts ot charity, done for charity's
sake, are but the momeutos of w-a.sted hours,
of vain pretensions, of solemn promises bro
ken, of duties neglected.
We know of no nobler channel in which
for a great and powerful Order, like ours, to
display its usefulness and to illustrate its
deachings, than in protecting, sheltering and
fitting for an honorable sttition in this lite and
happiness in the life to come, the helpless or
phans of our brethren."
Noble sentimeuts, expressed with
beauty and force 1
Now let us briefly review the main
points of the Eeport, aud see what les.
sous it teaches in regard to the man
agement of our own work.
The Masons of Canada
have uo Orphan Asylum. They fur
nish private aid to widows and orphans,
and do this so liberally that only six
orphans could be found who would
prefer an Asylum. They say:
“ Masonic schools are rendered unnecessary
by the admirable public school organization
which is in operation in the Province of On
tario, which embraces the jurisdiction of the
Grand Lodge of Canada."
Hapiw Grand Lodge! Fortunate
w'idows aud orphans! Their lines are
fallen unto them in pleasant places.
Still we suspect that if it were made
some one’s business to hunt through
huts and hovels, many cases of deep
(li.strcss would move thedtearts and
hands of our ice-bound brethren.
The Masons of Connecticut
expect to raise a hundred thousand
dollajss land t/mn educate their orphans.
Those now alive must struggle on, as
best they can, witb ignorance and vice,
in order that a magnifieent fund may
erect a splendid monument for the
benefit of future generations. O that
tlie.se bretliren bad been born a hun
dred years ago that orphans now liv
ing might enjoy their benefactions.
The Masons of England
have one institution for boys, one for
girls, and anotber for aged Masons and
widows. These are supported by vol
untary coutributioiis and by endow
ments. Their girls cost them $15 a
month. Their boys cost them $25 a
jnontli. The endowments of these in
stitutions amount to, $729,000, and the
large income of the Grand Lodge of
England will continue to increase it.
But England is a populous Island, and
is enriched by possessions in America,
Europe, Asia, Africa aud the islands
of several oceans. Her people have
enriched themselves by foreign con-
quests, while her own soil has been for
many years free from any military in
vasion. We can rejoioe in her pros
perity and In her noble charities j but
for the present we must be content
with feeble imitations of her magiiitt-
oont benevolent operations.
The Masons of Illinois
are trying, by Grand Lodge appropri
ations, by requiring $3 additional to
Lodge dues, and 23 cents from each
Mason in the State, to raise twenty
thousand dollars, with which to hegin
the work of an Orphan Asylum.
The Masons of Kentucky
have a b Widows’ and Orphans’ Home.’’
Its endowment yields $10,000 a year,
and each of its 128 inmates costs nine
dollars a month. A tornado destroyed
one wing of their building, wlindi
oiu'biue-giassbrelhreu ai'cnow ra.siiig
funds to restore. Nature has made
Kentucky rich, and during the late
war which imiiovei’ishcd so many
States, her people made lucrative con
tracts with both parties, and her soil
suffered but little from hostile invasion.
She is therefore able to be generous to
her widows and orphans.
The Mason.® ot Mis.sourl
have given away their “ Masonic Or
phans’ College,” because it cost four
times as much to educate a boy tliero
a.s at other good schools in the state.
“ Something rotten,’’ &c.
The Masons of Nebraska
have agxeed that each shall pay fifty
cents a j'ear to educate Masonic Or
phans.
The Masons of Scotland
are trying, by voluntary contributions,
to found a “ Eoyal Scottish Masonic
Beucvolent Institution.” It will take
a robust baby to carry suoJi a name;
but they arc almost unanimous for fi
nal perseverauce, and will probably
succeed.
The Masons of Ireland,
yes, poor, down trodden, plague-strick
en Ireland, have a school for orphan
boys, and another for orphan girls.
And both are supixu'ted by volimtary
contributions.
Our Mississippi brethren thus dis
pose of us:
North Carolina—This Gr.vnd Lodge form
erly appropriated $2,000 each year for the
support of two Orphau Asylums, oue at Ox
ford and the other at Asheville. At its last
ComaiuDieaticu the latter was united with the
former, and the annual a])propriation contin
ued. From Bro. J. H. Mills, the Superin
tendent, w-e learn that the two institutions
have fed, clothed arid instructed 14.5 orphans,
taken from the most needy in the State. A
weekly paper is printed at the iu-stitution at
Oxford, called The Orphans’ Friend, from a
copy of which and a letter tronr the Superin
tendent, it appears the revenue, beyond the
annual appropriation by the Grand Lodge, is
derived from that fearfully precarious source—
popular subscriptions, generally sent through
committees of Subordinate Lodges. This in
stitution is a “temporary school”—not “a
home"—where children from six to twelve
are received, to be discharged at fourteen.
The object is to furnish “ a fair Euglish edu
cation." The female children are found homes
in families, and the buys go to trades on be
ing discharged. An effort is being made by
the Grand Lodge to raise an enlowineut fund
hy popular subscription, aud Orphans’ Aid
Societies are recommended to be formed all
over the State to aid in its aecnmplisliment,
aud it i.s proposed to ask the Legislature to
make an appropriation.
So our pilau is ooiidenmed as ‘‘ fear
fully pirccarious.” Well, it is true that
our ciulowmeutis next to nothing, that
we have no Orpthau Aid Societies in
opicration, and there is no piresent
pirobability that the Legislature will
ever assist the orptbaus. But it is also
true that for five years oue hundred
and twenty orpihans (this being the
average number) have been fed, cloth
ed aud taught on these same “ fearful
ly precarious” voluntary contributions.
Their food aud clothing have kepit
them in excellent health, and their in-
striictiou has been such that many pa
rents have apipilied for permission to
seud their own children, aud proposed
to ptay a liberal ptrice for board and
tuition. Aud this has been done with-,
out any collector or piaid agent in the
flekl. And we have been doing this,
while our Mississi]>p>i brethren have
been disregarding the apjpeals of or-
pthans now growing up) in ignorance
aud degradation, and have been devis
ing pflaus to erect a splendid aud costly
Orpdian House for cliildreu belouging
to some distant future generation.
They admit that every Mason now
alive will rap at the door of the grave,
apipiear before the Supiremc Grand Mas
ter, and receive the last sublime de
gree, before their institution will be
ready to opfeu Its doors. They help not
their own generation, nor do good to
those whose necessities they see and
know; but they strain every nerve to
raise a great fund that others may in
vest it and use its income as they will.
O how “ fearfully iirecarious ” have all
such investments been found! How
many Lodges, clinrchcs, colleges aud
individuals have lost their accumula
tions 1 How often do riches unexprcct-
edly wing their everlasting flight 1
When the Lord apqioiuts us his stew
ards on the earth and fills our baskets
with his blessings, shall we witbliold
necessities from those who suffer around
us, in order to lay up) endowments for
others as yet unborn, and who may
enjoy such bounties as to make onr of
ferings (even if ptre-served so long) ap-
piear really insignificant ? Let us rather
take our little orpiban boys and girls
and train them to be wise and virtuous
men and women, and hand them down
as our jioblest and best legacy to fu
ture generations. So shall we do our
duty to our own generation, and gen
erations yet to come will honor our
pu’ecepits, aud imitate our exainpdes.
JUDGE MCKOy AlVD TME
KNIFE
Judive McKo}', while holding
court in Oxford, visited tlie Or
phan Asylum and related to the
children an incident of his youtli.
He was a solitary Calhonn-boy
at school, while his nine little
fellows were all Jackson-bovs.
A gentleman came along and an-
Eoimced his purpose to present a
new knife to every “Jackson-
boy.” He saw the boys receive
their glittering presents, and a
strong temptation was placed be
fore him. Hut he determined not
to sell Ills principles at any price,
and he turned away, though the
tears were in his eyes. The kind
hearted gentleman was moved
by his manly integrity, and called
him to receive a knife, not for
his politics, but as a reward for
his honesty. “And to this day,”
added the Judge “when tempted
to do wrong for gain, I think of
the knife and believe that there
is a Providence guiding the aftairs
of earth and rightly rewarding
all who resist the temptation to
sell their principles.” .
“Do right under all circum
stances and your reward will
surely come.”
ENPBOTEC'l'ED OUPIIANS.
While we were in Onslow, we
heard of a little girl bound out at
Kinston, and so cruelly treated
that outsiders interfered. She
was then sent to Onslow, and re
mains there still in cruel bondage.
The Orphan Asylum was opened
for just such children ; but she is
not allowed to come. The Hen
dersonville Courier gives another
similar case:
“A most horrible affair has come to
light in Polk comity. Early last sum
iner a little orpilian girl was taken in
charge by Thomas Allen, who lives
sear Tryon, in the county of Polk.
Last Friday, 11. Foster, E.sq., an uncle
of the chilli, was informed that Allen
and Ills wife were brutally 'whipipiug
the jioor little waif. On learning this
lie iinmediatel.v went to the house, and
informing them of tlie repiorts he had
lieard, took the cliild to Ids home in
Colnmlras. On the way she related to
lier uncle her heart rending story. She
had been tortured and wldpipied in the
most brutal manner, lier hair pnilled
out of her head, and her legs skinned
and bruised. She was often tied to a
loom and whipipied with a double ropie,
with piieces of timber, spilits, etc., and
time and again they threatened to kill
her and secrete her body in a large hole
near the house. She related that the
woman was more brutal towards her
than the man. Upon reaching his
homo, Mr. Foster had a piliysician. Hr.
J. G. Waldrop, summoned, who exam
ined the child and found her in a most
critical condition. Her little body was
a mass of bruises, and from the suf
fering, fear and excitement she had
expierienced the child was in a state,
of delirium. It will take the utmost
care and attention to restoi'c her.”
A very large audience heard
Mr. Ogburn’s able sermon at the
Orphan Asylum last Sunday eve
ning. The preacher was equal to
the occasion and impressed upon
his hearers many thoughts which,
we hope, will yield good fruit in
time to come.
In a few days he will go to
Conference at Winston, and
thence to Buncombe, to name his
baby boy; and after a season of
rest, we hope to welcome him and
his family to his present field of
labor.
SOMETHING SrUANGE.
The Lord once sent one of his
preachers some meat and bread
bv some ravens, and these glut
tonous birds fed the prophet for
many daj'S without plundering
his food. In our da\ the Lord
has sent bountiful crops to his
deacons and stewards in order
that they may feed his prophets
and his orphans. Will they de
liver in safety, or will they con
sume it by the way? We shall
see.
During the last forty days the
people have been gathering their
crops, and have found themselves
unequal to the ta.sk. The earth
groans under the burden, and the
barns are too small to receive that
which the fields have produced.
The Lord has surely sent some
of these supplies to the orphans
He sends them bv his stewards
Will they be delivered ? Look
at our list of contributions in this
paper and see.
kehiakkabey bjinufe wki-
TING.
Disraeli, in his “Curiosities of
Literature,” records tlie following,
among other instances of'wonder-
fully minute writing:—Peter
Bales, a celebrated cab'graplier in
the reign of Elizabeth, exhibited
the whole Bible in an English
walnut-shell no bigger than a
hen’s egg. The Harleian MSS.,
530, gives the following account
of it: “The nut holdeth the book;
there are as many leaves in his
little book as the great Bible, and
he hath written as much in one of
his little leaves as a great leaf of
the Bible.” This “unreadable vol
ume was seen by many tiumsands.”
Huet proved that the “Iliad” in a
nutshell, which Pliny states Cic
ero to have seen, was bj’ no
means an impossibility; in fact,
he demonstrated that it could be
done. A piece of vellum about ten
inches in length and eight in
width, pliant and firm, can be
folded up and inclosed in the shell
of a large walnut. It can hold in
its breadth one lino which can
contain thirty verses, and in its
length 250 lines. With a crow-
quill the writing can be perfect.
A page of this piece of vellum
will then contain 7,500 verses,
and the reverse as much—the
whole 15,000 verses of the “Iliad.”
And this he pioved by using a
piece of paper, and with a com
mon pen. The thing is possible
to be effected; and if, on any oc
casion, jjaper sliould be exces
sively rare, it may be useful to
know that a volume of matter
may be contained in a single
leaf.—Leslie's Sunday Magazine.
A FREAK OF NATURE.
There is, in Watauga county,
N. C., near the dwelling house
of Frederick Shook, on Dutch
Creek, a flourishing oak tree of
vigorous growth, the leaves of
which, when they first burst forth
from the bud in the spring, are of
a bright golden yellow color, and
retain this color during their
whole growth and maturit}’. In
autumn, when the coming frost
dyes the other leaves in the wavy
brilliant hues, which give such
wonderful beauty to the moun
tain side, the leaves on this re
markable tree begin at length to
turn gi'een, adopting as its own
the fresli tint which is just de
parting from the others.—Hickory
Press.
—“ What this country needs,”
says one of our ladies, “ is a reli
gion which will make a man feel
that it is just as- cold for his wife
to get up and build the fire as it
is for him.”
PROCEAMATION BV THE PRES
IDENT.
Day of TliaiiB^giivlifig: aad Prayer.
By the Bresident of the United States of
America.
A PEOOLA3IATION.
The coiiqiletecl cycle of Slimmer and
winter, seed-time and harvest, lias
broiisht us to the accustomed season
at which a religions people eelebrate.s
with praise and thanksgiving the en
during mercy of Almighty God. This
devout and public confession of the
constant dependence of man upon the
Divine favor for all the good gifts of
life and health, and peace and liappi-
ues.s, so early in our history made the
habit of our iieojile, finds in tlie survey
of the iiast year new grounds for its
joyful and grateful manifestation.
Ill all the blessings which depend
upon benigiiaiit seasons this has in
deed been a memorable year. Over tlie
wide territory of our country, with all
its diversity of soil and climate and
products, the earth has yielded a boiiii-
tiful return to the labor of the hus
bandman. The health of the people
has been blighted by no prevalent or
wide spread diseases. No great disas
ters of sliipwreok upon our coasts, or to
our commerce on tlie seas liavo brouglit
loss and iiardslii]) to mercliants or inar-
iners, and clouded the happiness of
the coniinniiity with syinpathetie sor
row. In all that concerns our strength
and jieace and greatiiss a.s a nation;
in all that touches the iierinaneiice and
security of onr government and the
beneficent institutions on which it
rests; in all that affects the character
and dispositions of our jieople, and
tests our capacity to enjoy and uphold
the equal and free condition of society,
now perinaiieiit and universal througii-
ont the land, the experience of tlie
last year is couspieiioiisly marked by
the protecting Providence of God, and
is full of promise and hope for the
coming generations.
Under a sen.se of these infinite obli
gations to the great Killer of times and
seasons and events, let ns humbly as
cribe it to our own faults and frailties
if, ill any degree, that perfect con
cord and haiipiiiess, peace and justice,
which such great mercies sliould dif
fuse tliroiigh the hearts aud Hi es of
our pcojile, do not altogetlier and al
ways and everywhere prevail. Let us
with one spirit and witli oue voice
lift up praise aud thanlcsgiving to
God for Ids manifold goodness to our
land, his maidfest care for onr nation.
Now, therefore, I, Kiitherford B.
Hayes, President of the United States,
do apiioiiit Thursday, the 29tli day of
November next, as a day of National
Thanksgiving iiiid Prayer, and I earn
estly recommend that, witlidrawiiig
tlieinselves from secular cares and la
bors, the people of the United States
do meet togetlier on that day in their
respective jilaces of whoshi]i, there to
give tiiaiiks and praise to Almiglity
(iod for ids mercies, and to devoutly
beseech their contiiiiiaiice.
Ill witness whereof, I have hereunto
set iiiy liand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
Hone at the City of Washington,
this twenty-ninth day of Oc
tober, ill the year of our Lord
[L. .s.] one thousand eight hundred
and seventy seven, and ot the
Independence ot the United
States, the one hundred and
second.
E. B. Hayes.
By the President;
V\'3i. M. Evabts, Secretary of State.
The farm which has been
awarded the fir.®t prize of the
English Eoyal Agricultural Soci
ety the present year, is occupied
and managed by a woman, the
widow of the former occupant.
The family have now been ten
ants for thirty-six years. The
condition ot the tarm was very
highly spoken of by the judges,
who declared that it was “like a
great market garden.” Its extent
was two hundred and forty-two
acres. The rotation was grass,
potatoes on sod, wheat, barley or
oats seeded to grass, which
brought the course to the begin
ning again. Fifteen men and boys
were constantly hired, and what
is strange in these days of lua-
cliines, not one of these—not
even a threshing machine—is
kept on the farm.—New State.
-—Pat: “ Mike, and is it yer-
self that can be afther telliu’ me
how they make ice-crames ?”—
Mike : “ I troth I can. Don’t
they bake them in cowld ovens,
to be sure ?”