J
Orphans’ Friend.
Price, $1 a year.)
OXFORD, N. C., AUGUST 31,1883.
(V0L.IX.no 15.
THE MOTHEE.
By a lone and cheerless hearth,
Waite a widow for her child—
Waits her only son’s return,
From the haunts of comrades wild.
Like a statue, pale she sits,
Burning thoughts within her
brain,
List’ning for his well-known step,
But, alas! she lists in vain.
She heareth but the mournful wind.
Sighing, wailing as it goes ;
And the tapping of tne rain,
Which louder at the lattice grows.
No refreshing balmj'’ tears,
Now upspring to calm her grief.
Years of sorrow have drunk up
Those pearly treasures of relief.
Bitter now her cup of life,
And,like the basin at the spring-
Hourly drank from—ever full,
Yet to life she still dol h cling.
One, two, three, comes on the wind
In strange foreboding tone—
Slowly as a funeral march,
Faintly as an infant’s moan.
Still she sits, but heareth not
The bell-notes, nor the wild wind
roar;
Nor her son’s impatient knock,
Oft repeated at the door.
Her long, patient spirit,
Ijongto pain and s.nrow wed,
Hath taken flight, to dwell with
Him,
Who for a sinful people bled.
BEINa OVER-NICE.
BY L. W. ROSE.
Refinement is a quality which
gentlemen and ladies are con
strained to admire. Vulgarity
and bnfiibonery are to be depre
cated even when encircled by
the halo of genius. No man has
any warrant for making a fool
of himself unless be be clown in
a circus, and even in such ease
there are certain proprieties
which he must need observe.
We take still higher grounds.
We would appeal to apostolic
authority, and say with St.
Paul: “Let all things be done
decently and in order.^'
Rut, mark you, we wouldhave
a little discrimination in this
matter. Give us, if yon please,
the order, not of deftth, but of
life, and if you' seek for refine
ment in us seek not for over-
niciety and namby-pambyism.
We would not, on any account,
beset down as“laulLilyfaultless,
icily regular, splendidly null.”
Our aspirations lie in an entirely
different directton. If we are
to choose between the imbecile
elegancies of Blair and the rug
ged periods of Chalmers we will
take Chalmer.-j every time.
You are acquainted with peo
ple, I suppose, good people, am •
iable people, who make it the
first, second and third rule of
their lives to be proper—be prop
er—be proper! They got their
early training in the school of
Mr. Turveydrop, and refiect
credit upon their alrm mater.
Now, while we seek to cultivate
a catholic temper, and to be as
best we can all things to all
men, if by any means we can
please them for their good edi
fication, when we have to deal
with connoisseurs in the arts of
propriety we ever find our.ielves
at fault! We have to imitate
Agag, and approach them “deli
cately,’^ though we are far from
having Agag’s assurance, for sure
are of being in the end “hew
ed in pieces^’ by the battle
of criticism,
The whole subject may be sum
med up briefly. Let it be un
derstood, first of a!I, that we
wish to bear without reproach
“the grand old name of gentle
man.’^ Our ideas, though, may
not always coincide with the
ideas of society as to what con
stitutes a gentleman. It may he
in the line of duty to deviate
into some irregularities. If in
such case proprieties interfere,
why, so much the worse for the
proprieties. Truth and life must
conquer, and the sooner we di
vest them of the grave-clothes
of a vapid sentimentalism the
better for them and for us.
“Rev. Rowland Hill called his
horses Order and Decorum, say
ing he rode on the back of them.
But these things had become
deadly sins, so much decorum
and 80 very orderly that the
church had become like a vault,
in which the dead lay in his
place, and none dared to move
them or to lift bis voice loud
enough to be called a voice.’'
The e.sential characteristics of
Mr. Hill’s day remains the same.
I know of a good woman whseo
fate it was to be tabooed by
most of her social circle because
she descended solow as to become
matron in a Magdalen Asylum.
It is a twice-told tale that you
cannot please everybody. The
friendship of the world is en
mity with God. Your goodness
must have some edge to it or it is
no goodness. Try toplease every
body, and you will meet with
the luck of the man .^sop tells
US about, who in seeking to be
man-pleaser lost his mule. John
the Baptist comes neither eat
ing or drinking, and they say,
He hatha devil. The Son of
Man comes eating and drinking,!
and they (t, e., the same people
who had condemned John) say,
Behold a gluttonous man, and a
wi»ie-bibber, a friend of publi
cans and sinners! So inconsis
tent is that chameleonic thing
we call human nature.
To live and to be useful are
to be synonomons terms with us.
We are not to run into any
stone wall we see merely to grat
ify our natural propensity for
buttiLg. We are to be wise as
serpents and harmless as doves—
politic for Christ’s sake, seeking
to please, and avoiding what
tends to offend wherever such a
course is practicable and expe
dient. But we do well to bear
in mind also that all that vi ould
live godly in Christ Jesus must
suffer persecution of one sort or
another, and if it comes to the
worst we must be willing even
to be accounted fools for Christ’s
sake.
Distillery, Infirmary, and
Cemetery.
(Central Methodist.)
As you approach the city
of Louisville from the east an
impressive scene is presented
to the view. Just beyoudyou,
in the valley, are huge distiL
lerieSjwith a capacity for hun*'
dreds of barrels of whisky per
day. Farther out to the left,
on an elevation, is the city in
firmary, where the victims of
this business ^re cared for at
public expense. A little far
ther on, and in full view, is
the cemetery, where lie the
the bones of thousands of vic
tims of the whisky curse-
WHATr,IT,COSTS.
Between seventeen and
twenty-three there are tens
of thousand of young men
damaging themselves irre-
trivably by tobacco. You ei
ther use very good tobacco or
cheap tobacco. If you use
cheap tobacco, I want to tell
you why it is cheap. It is a
mixture of burdock, lamp
black, sawdust, colt’s-foot,
plantainleaves, fullers’ eartli,
lime, salt, alum, and a little
tobacco. You cannot afford,
my young brother, to take
such a mess as that between
your lips. If, on the other
hand, you use costly tobacco,
let me say I do not think you
can afford it. You take that
which you expend and will
expend, if you keep the habit
all your life, and put it aside,
and it will buy you a house,
and it will buy you a farm,
to make you comfortable in
the afternoon of life.
A merchant of New York
gave this testimony: “In ear
ly life 1 smoked six cigars a
day at six and a half cents
each; they averaged that I
thought to myself one day,
“I’ll just put aside all the
money I am consuming in
cigars, and all I would con
sume if I kept on in the habit
and I will see what it will
come to by compound inter
est” And be gives this tre-1
mendous'statistic: “Last Ju
ly completed thirty-nine
years since, by the grace ot
Grod, I was emancipated from
the filthy habit, and the sav-
ving amounted to the enor
mous sum of $29,102,03. by
compound interest. We liv
ed in the city, but the chil
dren, who had learned some
thing of the enjoyment of
country life from their annu-
al'visits to their grandparents,
longed for a home among the
green fields. I found a very
pleasant place in the country
for sale. The cigar money
now came into requisition,
and I found that it amounted
to a sufficient sum to purchase
the place, and it is mine. I
wish all American boys could
see how my chirdren enjoy
their home as they watch the
vessels with their white sails
that course along the Sound.
Now, boys, you take your
choice, smoking without a
home, or a home without smo
king.”—Bev. Dr. Tahnage.
THE BARTHOLDI STATUE-
Our sun is shining, there
fore, we argue, our day shall
linger,—and we plan more,
and do more, and Time’s
meshes twine thicker round
our hearts,—and it’s all a
mistake !-we are reckoning
by the sun, and not by Him
who controls the sun,—and in
the midst of our work^ aud
the many things we say must
be done, lol our sun goes
down”-wMle it is yet day\ In
complete—'•sudden-—u n e X
pected-—it is always so. Our
watches never mark the aps
pointed hour. They reckon
by tbe sun and the sun reck
ons to Grod. “Te-morrowl”
we say,—
“ 'And to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to
day
To the last syllable of recorded time.”
Mrs.E. Solomon, aged 83 Oxford,
M. C., sajs Brown’s Iron Bitters gives
her a good appetite and makes her food
digest well.
[Paris Cor. Binghamton Republican,]
Among the ties that bind the
lovers of liberty in America to
those in France at the present
time, even closer than ever is
the idea of Republican fratern
ity embodied in the great Bar
tholdi statue of “Liberty Light
ing the World,” soon to be erec
ted in New York harbor and
now almost completed in a Par
is workshop, or rather workyard,
for no building could contain the
colossus. The statue itself, ris
ing over one hundred feet in the
air, and casting into insignifi
cance the largest of all other ex
isting statutes, is itself a won
derful tight. As one enters the
gate of the yard, which is near
the Monticeau Park, ho is star
tled by the immensity of the gi
gantic image rising before him.
Some possible appreciation may
have been gleaned from a view
of the wrist and' hand holding a
torch alone rising 30 feet high
which stood for some two or
three years in Madison Square,
but which are now in Paris again.
Yet this even gives no a'.fequate
conception of the immensity of
the thing. Contemplate for a
moment these figures: Total
height to the top of the torch,
157 feet; height from the heel to
the head, lllj- feet ; forefinger,
8 feet long ; 4f feet in circum
ference at the second joint; fin
ger nail 1 foot 1 inch by 10 inch
es; head 14| feet high; eye 2 feet
2 inches; nose 3 feet 8 inches
long. During the exposition of
1878 about 40 peraons were in
the head at one time. When
erect 12 persons can stand on the
torch above the hand at once.
The total weight of the statue
will be about 500,000 pounds, of
which 200,000 pounds will he of
copper and 300,000 of iron. It
must be remembered, also, that
the whole is to be mounted on a
pedestal 82 feet high, making
the top then stand 235 feet
above the ground.
“Next tQ the blessedness of
being free from sin, is that of
intense, untiring activity in
tbe service of Grod. Does the
eye of Moses sleep? Does
the harp of David hang un
strung and silent in the
courts of heaven, like the
shields of the mighty in the
halls of the dead? Are Watts,
Payson, Baxter, Whitfield,
Brainard, Dwight, dreaming
away the ages of eternity, or
spending them merely in
psalm-singing? In heaven, as
elsewhere, benevolent action
is the life of the soul. I could
hardly be content to go there,
only to sit by purling streams
on beds of rose, fanned by
fragrant breezes, and lulled to
rest by soft music. The na
ture and laws of the mind
must be reserved before mens
tal inaction can constitute the
blesj'edness of heaven. There
is ro^t there;—but it is the
rest of high, untiring, untram"
melled, persistent energy in
the worship and service of GodJ
Has Paul ceased to itinerate
those heavenly regions, flam
ing like a comet in the work
of his Saviour? Has the
mind of Newton ceased its
profound investigations into
the laws of the universe, and
sunk in ingoble repose?”
EARTH’S MARCH.
Mr. J. H. Foster, SmithQrove, N.C.,
says : “I could find no relict from in
digestion until I used Brown’s Iron
Bitters.”
It is difficult to comprehend
that, in addition to the earth’s
motion around the sun, the
latter is also moving through
space at the rate of 160,000,*
000 miles a year. The as
tronomers of the last country
discovered that our solar sys*
tern was flying through space
in tbe direction of the con
stellation Hercules, in other
words, if the spectator were
to make a stationary point in
the heavens, he would see
our sun with its attending
planets passing through the
space at the rate of 450,000
miles per day. Six thousand
years ago, it is computed,
our solar system was mil
lions of miles farther
from the stars of Hercules
than it is to day. The region
in which we are entering is
more thickly studded with
suns of other solar systems,
than the heavenly regions we
have left behind us. What a
marvelous universe we live in!
When we travel on a railway
car at the rate of fifty miles
an hour, it makes our heads
swim; but when we call to
mind that the earth revolves
on its axis once in twenty-four
hours and around the sun 92,-
000,000 miles distance; in 365
days, and that sun is flying
through space 160,000,000
miles in a year, human con
sciousness cannot comprehend
the mad whirl of worlds by
which we are surrounded.
What fairy tale or Arabian
Night’s story is half so mar
velous as the simplest and
most ordinary facts in astron**
omy.
BLOAT AND MUSCLE.
It is no proof, because a
man grows fat, and his face
becomes red under the use of
stimulants, that he is improv
ing in health. The fattest
hog is not the healthiest one;
nor is the biggest man the
strongest. There is a differ
ence between bloat and mus
cle; and a man may pickle
himself in alcohol, and so re
tain all the dead tissue that
should have been expelled
long ago, but he gains in bulk,
not in strength; in unwieldi-
uess, not in vigor and elastic
ity
The man who is a beer-
barrel in the morning, and a
barrel of beer at night, may
have a tint on his nose that
no water'-color can equal; but
it is not the hue of health, but
is rather the token of disease
aud decay Wine is a mock
er, a deceiver; and allalochol-
ic beverages delude and des
troy. They promise health,
strength, and cemfort; but
tliey produce sickness, misery,
■pain, and death. Let them
alone!
DID NOT ENOW IT WAS THERE-
Psalm before you go to bed
to-night.” The deacon con
sented, delivered the wood,
and at night opened the Word
of God and read the passage:
“Blessed is he that consider-
eth the poor; the Lord will
deliver him in time of trouble.
The Lord will preserve him
and keep him alive, and he
shall be blessed upon the
earth; and thou wilt not de
livered him unto the wIIIol
his enemies. The Lord will
strengthen him upon the bed
of languishing; thou wilt
make his bed in his sickness.”
A few days afterward the
pastor met him again. “How
much do I owe you,deacon,for
that cord of woodf’'
“Oh!’, said the newenlight-*
ened man, “do not speak of
payment; I did not know
those promises were in the Bi
ble. I would not take mon
ey for supplying the old wid
ow’s wants
Ancient History speaks of two
brothers, one of whom, found
guilty of a heinous crime, was
condemned to death, and about
to be led forth to execution; the
other patriotic and brav^e,had
signalized himself in the service
(f his country, and had lost a
hand in obtaining an illustrious
victory for the State. Just as
the sentence of condemnation
was pronounced upon his unhap
py brother, he entered the court,
and silently raised his haudless
arm in view of all. The judges
saw it, arrested the execution
and pardoned the guilty one for
the sake of the service and the
sufl'ering of his heroic brother.
So may not our elder Brother,a8
lie appears in our nature before
the throne, silently aud efficient
ly pleaded for us by the very
set rs he bears?—W. Ormiston.
To a little Boston girl, some
one spoke in the most com**
plimentary terms about her
doll, an unfortunate Yankee-
isni marring the pronunci
ation of the word. With the
most perfect assumption of
parental mildness, she an
swered, “Don’t say “dorl’^—
say doll; and if you can’t say
doll, say puppet.’’
A little boy and girl out in
tbe west end of town were
discussing the stars. The
little boy said they were
worlds like ours, and have
people on them. The little
gill, with all the disdain she
could muster, said: “They
are not they are angels’ eyes,
’cause I saw them wink.”
A well-to‘-‘do deacon in
Conneticut was one morning
accosted by his pastor, who
said, “Poor Widow Green’s
wood is out. Gan you not
take her a cord?’' “Well,”
answered the deacon, “1 have
the wood, and I have the
team; but who is to pay me
for it?” The pastor, some
what vexed, replied, “I will
pay you for it, on the condi-*
tion that you read the first
three verses of the forty-first
- Perfect health depends upon a per
fect condition of the blood. Pure blood
conquers every disease and gives new
life to every decayed or affected part.
Strong nerves and perfect digestion
cnal)les the system to stand the shock
(,f sudden climate changes. _ An occa
sional use of Brown’s Iron Bitters will
keep you in perfect health. Don’t be
deceived by other iron preparations
said to be just as good. The genuine
ii made onlybyBrown Chemical Com
pany, Baltimore, Md. Sold by all deal
ers in medicines.
Wilson Collegiate Institute.
[FOE YOONG LADIES),
Strictly Non-Sectarian.
Fall Session begins September 3il -
1883. The Principal expects, _ ProvH
dence permitting, to teach again him
self. He has added to his Faculty Prof.
Wm. H. Finney, of London, England,
a distinguished teacher of Music and
Art. Careful physical, mental and
jaoral training. Unsurpassed advan
tages. Terms from 20 to 30 per cent,
less than at other female_ schools of
equal grade in North Carolina.
For particulars apply to
S. HASSELL, A. M., Principal,
Wilson, N. C.
4-8t