VOL. III.
OXFORD, N. C., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1877.
NO. 52,
SHE WOUEH BE A MASOSi.
The finniiest story I ever lieiud,
The fiuinicst thins ttiiit ever oci'ured,
Is the story of Jlrs. Ihdiitablo liyrde,
VVliO wanted to he a mason.
Her liusliand, Tom Byrde is a Mason
true,
’ As good a Mason as any of you;
He is tiler of lodge Cerulian Blue,
And tiles and delivers the summons
due.
And she wanted to be a Jlason too—
This ridieulous Mrs. Byrde.
She followed him round, this inquisi
tive. wife.
And nabbed and teased him half out
of his life;
So to terminate this unhallowed strife.
He consented at last to admit her.
And first, to disguise her from bonnet
to shoon.
The ridiculous lady agreed to put on
His breech—ah! forgive me—1 meant
pantaloon;
And miraculously did they fit her.
The Lodge wi 8 at work on the Mas
ter’s Oegree;
The light was ablaze on the letter G;
High soared the, ])illars ,J. and 1!.;
The ollieers sat like Solomon, wise;
TUBAE CAlIti.
BY CHARLES MCKAY.
The brimstone burned amid horrid
cries;
The goat roamed wildly through the
room;
The candidate begged ’em to let him
go home;
And the devil himself stood up in the
east.
As proud as an alderman at a feast;—
When in came .Mrs. Byrde.
Oh horrible .sounds! oh horrible sight!
Can it be that .Masons take delight
In spending thus the hours of night!
Ah! could their wives and daughters
know
The unutterable things they say and
do,
Their feminine hearts woul burst with
woe;
But this is not all my story.
For those Masons joined in a hideous
ring, .
The candidate howiing like everything.
And thus in tones of death they sing
(Tile candidate’s name was .Morey):
“Blood to drink and bones to crack,
Skulls to smash and lives to take.
Heart,s to crush and souls to burn—
Give old .Morcv another turn,
And make him all grim and gory.
Trembling with horror stood Mrs.
Byrde,
Unable to s|)eak a single word :
She staggered and fell in the nearest
chair.
On the left of the .Tiinior Warden there,
And scarcely noticed, so loud the
groans.
That the chair was made of human
bones. ,
Of human bones! on grmmng skulls
That ghastly throne of horror rolls—
Those skulls, the skulls that Morgan
bore!
Those bones, the bones that Moi gan
wore!
His scalp ata’oss the top was
His teeth around the arms were
strimji’—'
Kever in all romance was Known
Sucli uses made of human bone.
The brimstone ^deamed in lurid tiame,
Just like a iJace we will not name;
Good au^ols, that inquirino- came
From blis.sful courts, looked on with
shame
And Krarful melancholy.
Again they dance, but twice as bad,
They iump and sing like demons mad;
Tile tune is Hunkey l>orey—
“Blood to drink,” etc., etc.
Then came a pause—a iiair ot paws
Eeaehed through the floor, up sliding
doors, Ti i I
And grabbed the unhapiiy candidate'
How can I without tears relate
The lost and ruined Morey’s tate £
She saw him sink in a fiery hole.
She heard him scream, “ My soul, my
soul!”
While roars of fiendish laugiitex roll.
And drown the yells of mercy.
“Blood to drink,” etc., etc.
The ridiculous woman could stand no
more—
She fainted and fell on the checkered
floor,
’Midst all the diabolical roar.
What then, you ash me, did befiill
Mehitable Byrdel Why, nothing at
all— . , ,,
She had dreamed she’d been in the Ma
sons’ hall.
Old Tubal Caiti was a man of
might ill the duj's when eavlh
was yoiins^; by the fierce red
light of his furnace bright the
strokes of liis hammer rung; and
he lifted high his brawnv^ hand
on the iron growing clear, till the
sparks rush’d out in scarlet show
ers, as he fashion’d the sword and
the spear.
To Tubal Cain came many a
one, as he wrought by liis roar'
ing fire, and eacdi one prayed for
a strong steel blade as the crown
of his desire ; and he made them
weapons sliarp and strong, til!
they shouted loud for glee, and
gave him gifts of pearls and gold,
and spoils of the forest free.
But a sudden change came o’er
his heart ere the setting of the
sun, and Tubal Cain was fill’d
with pain for the evil he had
done ; he saw that men, with rage
and hate, made war upon their
kind, that the land was red with
the blood they shed in their lust
for carnage blind. And he said
—“Alas! that ever I made, or
that skill of mine should plan the
spear and the sword tor men
wliose joy is to slay their fellow-
man !’
And for many a day old Tubal
Cain sat brooding o’er his woe,
and Ins hand forbore to smite the
ore, and his furnace smoulder’d
low. But he rose at last with a
cheerful face and a bright, cour
ageous eye, and bared his strong
right arm for work, wliile the
quick flames mounted high. And
he sang—“ Ilurrali tor my liand-
iwurk !" and the red sparks lit the
air ; “ not alone for the blade was
tile briglit steel made;” and he
fishioii’d the first plowshare!
Ami men, taught wisdom from
the past, in friendship joined their
hands, hung the sword in the hall,
the spear on the wall, and plowed
the willing lands, and sang
“ Hurrah for Tubal Caiu I our
stauiicli good friend is he; and
for the plowshare and the plow to
him our praise shall be. But
while Oppression lifts its head, or
a tyrant would be lord, though
we thank him chiefly for the
plow, we’ll not forget the sword !’’
THE Jl!IET MAN.
“The legs of the lame are not
equal: so is a parable in the
mouth of fools.”
“ What a quiet man v'our hus
band is, Mrs. Smith !”
“Quiet! a snail is ‘an express
train’ to him 1 If the top of the
house should blow off, he would
just sit still and spread his um
brella.
“When he comes in at the
front door, he moves as if the en
try were paved with eggs, and
sits down in his easy chair, as if
there were a nest of kittens under
the cushion. O he will be the
death of me yet. I read to him
all the horrid” accidents, dreadful
collisions, murders, and explo
sions, and he takes it just as easy
as if I were repeating portions of
Mother Goose’s Melodies to little
Tommy.
“ If "a cannon ball should come
through the window where he
was sitting, I do not believe he
would move an eyelash. Why,
if I were to make a voyage round
the world, and return some fine
morning, he’d take off his specta
cles, put them in the ease, fold up
the newspaper, and adjust his
dicky, before he’d be ready to
s n', ‘Good morning, Mrs. Smith.
O I do wonder if all the rest ot
the Smiths are like him. If he
had always lived on poppies he
could not be more soporific. I
tell you what, he is the very ex-
pres.sed essence of chloroform.’
“ Mow, Mrs. Smith, if v'Oii could
onlv see my husband, Solomon
Stillweather, you would never
say another word about chloro
form. It is my firm conviction
he will be the death of me. I am
naturally a happy, bright, ener
getic, impulsive woman; I have
the most capacious heart that
ever throbbed under a silken
bodice; I can love and be grate
ful to one who is kind to me.
S-o-1 o-m-o-n is a perpetual calm.
Nothing ruffles him, nothing dis
turbs him; Mount Vesuvius
couldn’t make him hurry. A
stream of red-hot lava could not
move him.
“ Jle does every thing by rule,
square and compass. IVhen the
proper time comes, then he starts,
but not a fraction of a second be
fore. Were the house on tiro, he
would stop to take the lint off his
coat, and brush his teeth before
starting. If I ask him a question at
breakfast, I never get an answer
before tea. He walks about the
house with a noiseless, velvety
tiead, as if his feet were made of
glass, and lie was afraid of snap
ping off some of his toes.
“ Should the children, in their
phi}’, knock over the tea table
and its contents, lie looks quietly
up from bis book, and drawls out,
‘A-i-n t V’-O'U r-a-t-h-e-r n-o-i-
s-y, c-h-i-l-d r-e-n f
“ One summer evening, in the
counti'V, as he sat on the grass
smoking his cigar, it occurred to
me whether any thing short of an
earthquake would stait him up ;
so I placed a whole string of
crackers directly behind him, and
touched tliem off; and sure as I
am a living woman, he never so
much as winked.
“ 1 never saw S-o-l-o-m-o-n ex
cited. I never saw him laugh.
For the sake of a little variety, I
nave tried to get up a domestic
squabble; but it was of no use.
1 have tried to stir him up on
politics; but he is on the fence,
and would as readily jump one
way as the other.
“I have put on the sulks, and
been distant and dignified; I tell
you ho likes it; besides, you
could not freeze him colder tlian
he is. I have been loving, and
petting iiiin ; it is all a waste ol
ammunition; he can’t be thawed
out.”
dark there
“Yes,” answered the mother,
“ God can see everywhere and in
every place.”
“Tlien God saw me, and he
will toll )'on mother. When v'ou
were gone I got into v-onr closet,
and I took and ate up the cake;
and I am sorry, very sorry,” and
bowing his liead on his mothers
lap he busrt out a crying.
Poor little boy; all day ho had
been wanting to hide from his
mother, just as Adam and Eve
after they had disobeyed God,
tried to hide from his presence in
the garden of Kdeii, Guilt made
them afraid. So the little bo3'’s
sin put a gulf between him and
bis mother. You see how bis
wrong doing sepaiated him from
her. lie was no longer at ease in
her sight. His peace w'as gone.
This is the way sin separates us
from God. \Ve don’t love to be
in bis sight. We liide awaj’ from
Him, and try to forget Him.
How did George get back to
his motherl IIow did he get rid
of his feeling of guilt, and shamel
He took the best, the only true
w'av, by repenting and confessed
it. liis mother forgave, no doubt,
and lie tasted again the sweets of
nestling close beside her, and
loving to be in her dear society.
He was restored to her confidence
and love.—Baptist Family Maga-
in posse.ssion or in |)rospect, at
anv “iven time, wbellierot world-
Iv sidistance, energies of body,
soul, i.r siiiril ; or even days of
existence i ere on earlli, should
net 1 o regarded b\- us as Wi'aUli.
of Life, fill ot a man’s woi ldlv
substance wliicli has been, in the
exercise of his best ivisdom, and
witli sincere desires to do good,^
exiiended upon tlie interests of
Christ’s cause in the earth—all of
his energies of body, soul, oi'
spirit which have been employed
in works of obedience to His re
vealed will—and all the days of
life here thus numbered, are
saved! Tiicse are treasures laid up
in Heaven ! The question there
fore : How much liave I of life?
is not to be determined coriectly
by what I matr have now in pos~
session, but. rather, bt' what is
laid up in safety, having been
appropriated as indicated. I may
have saved much in a way most
effectually to ensure its being lost
to me. There is meaning, worthy
of more than a passing notice in
the epitaph which one who was
called “ an eccentric man,” di
rected to be placed upon his tomb
stone :
zine.
NBABEK JSOHE,
BY' PlIEBE OABEY.
“ What I gave away, I have;
YVliat I s]iei)t I had;
What 1 liept, I’ve LOST.”
— J. A. 31.,in Bapt. Family Magazine.
MINE IS A ItEEIHION FOIt AEE
WEATHERS.
One sweetly solemn tlionglit
Comes to me o’er and o’er:
I’m nearer my home to-day
Thau 1 ever have been before;
Hearer my Father’s house.
Where the many mansions bo;
Hearer the great white throne,
Hearer the crystal sea ;
Hearer the bound of life
Where we lay onr burdens down ,
Hearer leaving the cross.
Hearer gaining the erowii!
But lying darldy between,
Winding down through the niglit.
Is the silent, unknown stream.
That leads at last to tlie light.
Closer and (floser my step.s
Come to the dread abysm;
Closer Death to my lips
Presses the awful chrism.
Oh, if my mortal feet
Have almost gained the brink-
If it be 1 am nearer home
Even to-day than I think—
Father, perfect my trust;
Let my spirit feel iu death
That her feet are tirmly set
On the Eoek of a living faith 1
There is a fishing village on
the coast of Cornwall, where the
people are very poor, but pious
and intelligent. Last year they
were sorely tried. The winds
were eontraiy, and for nearly a
month they could not put to sea.
At last, one Sabbath morning, the
wind changed, and some of the
men whoso faith was weak, went
out towards the beach, the womeri
and children looking on sadly,
many saying with sighs, “ I am
sorry it is Sunday, but-“if we
were not so poor,”
“ But, if,” said a sturdy fisher
man, starting up and speaking
aloud, “ surely, neighbors, your
huts and ifs do break God’s Law.”
The people gathered around
him, and he added :—
“ Mine is a religion for all
w'eathers, fair wind and foul.
‘ This is the love of God, that ye
keep his law.' ‘ Eemember the
SAVING ANH EOSING.
Sabbath day to keep it holy.’
Tliat’s the law, friends. And our
CAN GOD SEE THUOUGII THE
CKACKl
A lady came home from shop
ping one day', and was not met
as usual by the glad welcome of
her little son. He seemed shy of
her ; skulked into the entry, hung
about the garden, and wanted to
be more with Bridget than was
common. The mother could not
account for his manner.
When she was undressing him
for bed, “Mother,” he asked, “can
God see through the crack in the
closet door ?”
“ Yes,” said his mother.
“ And can he see when it is all
A great want among Christians
of t h e present age, is more
thorough comprehension and act
ual realization of the meaning of
the declaration of the Lord Jesus
Clirist, that, “ he that saveth his
life shall lose it, and he thatloseth
his life for Christ’s sake shall save
it.” The idea conveyed to our
minds by the word ‘dife" iu this
passage of Scripture, is too apt to
be the very lowest signification
of that important word.
The Saviour seems to have
anticipated this tendency of the
human mind, and to have provid-
ded against it by leaving on re
cord the unequivocal assertion
that “ a man’s life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth,” in wdiieh
language, He would have us un
derstand, that what remains to us
Lord came not to brake, but to
fulfill the law. True, we are
poor ; what of that I Better poor
and have God’s smile, than rich
and have his frown. Go, you
that dare ; but I never knew any
good to come of a religion that
changed with the wind.”
These words in season stayed
the purpose o-f the rest. They
went home and made ready for
the house of God, and spent the
day in praise and prayer. In the
evening, just when they would
have been returning, a sudden
storm sprung up that laged terri
bly for two days. After the tem
pest, came settled weather, and
the pilchard fishery was so rich
and abundant, that there was
soon no complaining in the vil
lage. Here was a religion for all
weathers. Remember tire' words:
“ Trust iu the Lord and do
good, and verily tiioii shalt b®
fed.”—Baptist Family Magazine.
mmm