VOL VIII.
OXFORD, N. C., JANUARY 24, 1883.
NO 35.
THE JOY OF PARDON.
The following exquisite hymn was
written by Augustus L. Hillhouse, of
New England, who died near Paris,
1859, It has been seldom if ever sur
passed in the English or any other
language.
Trembling before thine awful throne,
O Lordl in dust my sins I o^yn,
Justice and mercy for my life
Contend ! 0 smile and heal tbe strife.
The Saviour smiles ! upon my soul
New tides of hope tumultirous roll;
His voice proclaims my pardon found ;
Seraphic transport wings the sonnd.
Earth has a joy unknown in heaven,
The new-born peace of sin forgiven !
Tears of such pure and deep dedght,
Ye angels I never dimmed your sight.
Ye saw of old on chaos rise
The beauteous pillars of the skies;
Ye know where morn exulting springs,
And evening folds her drooping wings.
Bright heralds of the Eternal Will,
Abroad his errand ye fulfill;
Or, throned in floods of beamy day,
Symphonious in his presence play.
Loud is the song; the heavenly plain
Is shaken with the choral strain;;
And dying echoes, floating far,
Draw music from each chiming star.
But I amid your choir shall shine,
And all your knowledge shall be mine.
Te on your Uarps must Icaiji to hear
A secret chord that mine bear.
WHISPERER!:^ -
AN EXTRACT FROM T. DE WITT TAL-
MAGE, D. D.
If people would mind thmr
own business we would have the
millennium next week. These
gad-abouts, these tale-bearers,
these back-biters, these snoops—
I hate them with a holy and ve
hement and ever-increasing ha
tred, and I love to hate them.
One of the worst of these creait-
ures is the one who brings to
your ears all the harsh things
they have heard said against
your personal appearance, or
against your family, or against
your style of business. They
gather it up and cackle while they
see you writhe under it. They
tell it in its worst shape, and
leave out the exteuuating cir
cumstances, and first having
made your feelings raw, they
take this brine, this turpentine,
this aqua-fortis, and rub it in
with a coarse towel, and rub it
in till it soaks clear to the bone.
They make you a pin cushion,
into which they stick all the
sharp-pointed things .they have
heard. They beg yon not to say
anything about it. “t^pw, don’t
bring me into the scrawl” They
aggravate you to the point of
profanity, and then wonder that
you don’t go off singing psalm
tunes. They turn you on a spit
before a hot fire, and wonder that
you are not all absorbed in grat
itude to them for turning-you.
Peddlers ot night-shade! Ped
dlers of Canada tbistlel Peddlers
of nux-vomica! They sometimes
get you in a correr, and you
oan^t without rudeness, escape;
and they will tell you all abbut
that one, and all about the other
one, and they talk, and talk, and
talk, and talk, and talk, and tliey
at last go away, leaving the
place like a barn-yard the night
after foxes have been down; here
a wing, and there a claw, and
yonder an eye, and here a’ crop.
How they do make the feathers
fly! Compared with the defama
tion of good name, it would be
quite an innocent and commen
dable business to go round with
a box of matches in your pocket
and a razor in your hand to see
how ’many houses you could
burn down and how many throats
you could cut A woman at con
fession told the priest that she
had been guilty of slandering
'her neighbor. The priest gave
her a thistle and then told her to
go and scatter it on the fields,
and then come back. On her re-
tjurn the priest said: “Go now
and gather up all those thistle-
seeds.” When she declared she
could not, he said to her; “Neith
er can you gather up the evil
words you have spoken.”
There is scarcely a man or
woman on earth but has had the
detractors after him or her. John
Wesley’s wife began to whisper
about him, and whispered all over
England,and whispereduntil they
dissolved partnership. Jesus
Christ was charged with drink
ing too much and keeping bad
company, “a wine bibber, and a
friend ot publicans and sinners.”
Take the best man in the world
and put a detective on his track
and watch him for ten years, see
iug where he goes and how long
he stays, and when he comes,
and all he does, with a desire to
destroy him, and you can make
him appear despicable. But if it
is wrong to despoil a man’s good
name, how much worse to dam
age a woman’s reputation? That
style of infamous work is going
on from century to century—aK
ways by whisperers. One whis-
,perer starts asuspision. The next
whisperer tells the suspicion as
'au established fact, and many a
woman as honorable as your
mother or wife has been whisper-
pered out of all kindly associa
tion, and whispered into the
grave. Now, there are people
who say there is no hell. But if
there be no hell for such an ac-
oikrsed despoiler of woman’s good
name, then it is high time that
we take up a subscription and
have one built. There is such a
place already established, and
what a time they will have when
all the whisperers get together
to rehearse things down there!
What an everlasting ' carnival of
mud! If it were not for their ins
sufferable surroundings, they
would enjoy the new opportuni
ty in that realm of the outcast.
All the bad being there, what a
rich and rare field for exploration
by whisperers! On earth they
had often to belie people in or
der to destroy them, but now
they can say all the bad things
possible about their neighbors
and still speak the truth. Jubi
lee of whisperers! Grand gala-
day of backbiters! Semi-heaven
for scandal-mongers! Only stop
ping their gabble about their di
abolical neighbors long enough
to ask at the Iron gate some"new-
comer from the earth what is the
last bit of gossip from their own
place.
Now, how are we to help quell
this great iniquity? First, by re
fusing to listen or believe any
thing against anybody till it is
positively proven. By all laws of
courts and all common decency
let every one be supposed inno
cent till he or she is proved guil
ty. I do not commend my way
to you, but I will tell you what I
almost always say when I hear
or read anything defamatory of
anybody—“I guess that is a lie.”
The only person that is worse
than the whisperer is the person
who, without protest, accepts
and believes the whisperer. The
trouble is that we hold the sack
while others fill it. The receiver
of stolen goods is just as bad as
the thief. An • ancient author
said that those who uttered slan
der and those who believed it
ought both to be hanged, one by
the tongue, the other by the ear.
When you hear anything about
your neighbors, do not go about
asking questions concerning the
charge made, and so spread it.
Don’t bemean yonraelf by be
coming inspector of warts and
supervisor of carbuncles and
commissioner of gutters and the
holder of stakes at dog-fights.
Allow no defamation at yonr
breakfast, or dinner,or teaTables.
Teach your children not to speak
ill of others. Show them the dif
ference between the bee and the
wasp, the one gathering honey,
and the other thrusting a sting.
I have neard of a household
where they carefully keep what
is called a slander-book, and ev
erything that is said in the house
in the way of detraction is as
carefully recorded as any ledger
is kept. For the first few weeks
there were many entries; now
very seldom is anything written
in that boo^. If you are, any of
you, in the habit of whispering,
let me advise you to desist.
Mount Taurus is a great place
for eagles, and cranes flying
about there cackle so loudly that
the eagles know they are coming,
and pounce upon them to their
destruction. But it is said that
the old cranes have found this
out, and that they take a.sto;;e
in their mouth before they start,
so that it is impossible for them
to cackle,and so.tbey^y in safety.
'Be wise as those old cranesand a.,
void the folly of the young cranes.
Ifen’t cackle! Take courage if you
are maltreated of whisperers, be
cause such creatures soon run
themselves out. They come to
be understood as well in the com
munity as though some one had
chalked on their overcoat or
shawl the words, “Here comes a
whisperer; make room tor the le
per.” You como on and do your
duty, my persecuted friends, and
some day ^ou will be vindicated.
Get down on your knees and put
your reputation and everything
else in God’s keeping.
I solemnly charge all of you
to make right and holy use of
your tongue. Though it is loose
at one end and can swing either
way, it is fastened at the ,other
end to tne Hoor of y'our mouth,
and you are responsible for which
way it swings. The pbilosophe.r
Xanthus ordered his servant to
provide a great dinner of the best
things from the market, as some
friends were coming to dine.
Seated at the table he found that
there was nothing on it but ton
gue, and the guests had tongue
served up to them in a great
many different shapes. The phi
losopher said to his servant:
“What do you mean by giving
us nothing but tongue, when I
told yon to get the best things
you could find in the market?”
He answered: “The tongue is
the best thing. It is the organ of
truth, and the organ of sociality,
and the organ of worsliip.’’ Then
the philosopher said: “To-mor
row I want you to get the worst
things you can find in the mar
ket for our table ” Seated the
next day at the table be found
again nothing upon it but tongue,
served up in various shapes.
Then the philosopher said to his
servant: “What do you mean by
giving us nothing but tongue?”
He said: “You told me to get
the worst thing I could find in
the market. The tongue is the
worst, because it is the organ of
lies, the organ of blasphemy, and
the organ of defamation.” My
readers, let your tongue, which
God hath so wonderfully con
structed as the instrument of
taste,as the instrument of degluti
tion, as the instrument of articu
lation, be employed for making
others happy, and iu the service
of God. If you whisper, whisper
good encouiagemeut to the dis
heartened and hope to the lost.
The tiine will soon come when
we will all,have to whisper. The
voice will become feeble in the
last sickness, and though we
could once shout and sing and
lialloa till the forest answered in
echo, wo can only whisper com
fort to those whom we leave be
hind, and whisper about our
hope of heaven. While I am
writing this there are hundreds
whispering their last utterance.
In that solemn hour which will
soon come to us all, may it be
found that we did our best to
serve Christ and cheer our com
rades in earthly struggles, not on
ly our hand, but our tongue con
secrated to God, and so the shad
ows about our dying pillow shall
not be the evening twilight ot a
gathering night, but the twilight
of an everlasting day.
IS YOUR HUSBAND LIKE THAT?
There was a poor woman who
had fallen into a melancholy and
murmuring frame of mind. Her
minister tried in vain to reason
her out of it. She persisted that;
she had nothing to be thankful
for. At last he spoke to her of
her neighbor’s husband, an in
temperate man, who wasted liis
money when he was out, and ill-
treatod his wife when he came
home.
“Now,” be said, “is your hus
band like that?”
“No,” was the reluctant an
swer.
Well, then, should you not
thank God that you have a kind
husband?’’
She was forced to admit this,
and promised that she would
thank God every night and mor
ning for His mercy. Some days
elapsed before her minister revis
ited her dwelling; but when he
did so, he was struck with her
bright look as she greeted him.
“Oh, sir!” she exclaimed, “I
have longed to see you; I have
so wished to thank you! For a
morning or two X did as I proms
ised, but I did - not rightly feel
what I said. But the next day
when I was thanking God that
I had a kind husband, I thought
I should also thank Him that !
had healthy children; and when I
was thanking Him for that, I
thought that I should thank Him
that I had clothes for them to
wear, and a Jiouse to cover their
heads; and so, sir, w*ien I was
thanking God for one thing, an
other came into my head, and
another still; an I now I know
riot where to stop, or hovv to
thank Him enough; and I leel
so happy!”
So it vvill be with vou, my
reader, if you will only try the
experiment; for t-ratitude increas
es with its use. Tlie mo”e thank-
ful we are, tlie more thankful we
shall become,. and the more we
shall have to be thankful for.
THE CROCODILE SYLLOGISM.
Amongst otiier famous ancient
dialectic problems is the following
dilemma, which is framed witu
wonderful ingenuity, .the ncute
ness displayed in its construction
being probably unsurpassed. It is
called Syllogismiis Crocodiius
and may be thus stated: An infant
bile playing on the bank of a
river, was seized by a crocodile
The mother,hearing its cries rush
ed to its assistance, and by her
tearful entreaties obtained a pro
mise from the crocodile (who was
obviously of the highest intelli
gence) tliat he would give it back
to her if she would tell him truly
what wou'd happen to it. On
this the mother (perhaps rashly)
asserted: ■
^vill notgive it hack.''
The crocodile answer.s to this:
If yo'u have spoken truly, t can
not give ba k the child without
destroying the truth of your as
sertion; if you have spoken false
ly, I cannot give back tho child,
because you have not fuIfiUea
the agreement; therefore, 1 can
not give it back whether you
have spoken trul}" or falsely.”
The mother retorted: ‘Hi ha.ve.
spoken truly, you must give back
the child by virtue of your agree
ment; if I have spoken falsely,
that can only be when you liave
given back the child; so that,
whether I have spoken truly or
falsely, the child must be given
back.”
History is silent as to the issue
of this remarkable dispute.
HORNER SCHOOL,
OXFORD, N. C.
The Spring Session of 1883 will l).i-
giii the 2ii(l -Vionilay in January. Terms
as huretolore. 4t
THE
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of the Grand Lodge of Masons
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