Newspapers / Masonic Journal (Greensboro, N.C.) / Dec. 15, 1876, edition 1 / Page 3
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S the masonic journal Under the Violets. The following is, we believe, aoknowl edged to be one of the tenderest poems ever written. Itsauthor.as inanyofoiir readers perhaps alreaily know, is that truest, wtttie.st, brightest of .*11 A.merieari poets, the genial and delightful Oliver Wendell Holmes. There is not a line in “Under the Violets” that doe.s not throb with the heart of the true poet: Her lianils are colil; tier face is white; No moi-e her pulses come and go; Her eyes are shut to life, and light; F'Jd tlis white vesture, snow on snow, And lay her wliere the violets blow. But not beneatii a graven stone, To plead for tears witli alien eyes, A slender cross of wixid alone yiiall say tliat liere a maiden lies In peace beneatii the peaceful skies. And gray old trees of liugest limb Shall wlieel their circling sliadows round To make tlie scorcliing sunlight dim, That drinks tlie greenness from the ground. And drop tlieir dead leaves on lier mound. When o'er tlieir bouglis the squirrels run, And through their leaves ttie robins call And, ripening in Mie Autumn sun, Tlie acorns and tlie cliestmits fall. Doubt not that stie will lieed them all. For lier tlie mnrBing choir shall slug Ils inatiiis from the branche.s high. And every minstrel voice of Spring That trills lieneath tlie April sky, Sliall greet her with its earliest cry. Wtien, turning round tlieir dial-track. Eastward tlie lengtiiening sliadows pass; Her little mourners, clad in black, Tiie crickets sliding through tlie grass, Sliall pipe for lier an evening mass. At last tlie rootlets of the trees Shall timi tlie prison wliere she lies. And bear the buried dust tliey seize In leaves and blossoms to the skies. So may the soul lliat warm’d it rise! If any, born of kindlier blood. Should ask, “M'liat maiden lies below?” Say only tin's: “A tender bnd, Tliat tried to blossom in the snow, Lies wither’d wliere the violets blow.” The Desert Island. A rich charitable man being desirous to make one of his slaves happy, bestow- «d upon him freedom, .and also a ship freighted with all kinds of costly wares. “Go,” said he, “and sail to a foreign country where you can trade with these goods and the profits shall be your own.” The slave set off on his voyage, but he had not been long upon the sea, when a violent storm arose, and his ship was east on a rock and wrecked. His pre cious wares sank in the deep and his companions were lost and he alone es caped with great dilEculty, and contriv ed to reach the shore of an island. Hun gry, naked and helpless he wandered further inland and was weeping over his misfortunes, when he observed in the distance a large town, where a number of inhabitants came toward him, and with loud shouts of joy hailed him as their king. Then Surrounding him, with fries of welcome, they placed him in a splendid car and led him to the town. Arrived at the royal palace, they clothed him in a purple mantle, bound a diadem on his brow, and mounted him upon a golden throne. The nobles approached, knelt before him, and swore allegiance in the name of the whole people. The new king at first, believed all this splen dor to be a wondrous dream, until the continuance of his good fortune no longer left any doubt that the extraordinary occurrences were in truth, realities. ”I cannot understand,” said he to him self, “what has bewitched the eyes of these people and induced them to make a forlorn stranger their king. They know not who I am, they ask not whence 1 came, but place me at once on their throne. Thi.s must be a strange country indeed, since such a strange custom pre vails in it.” Thus ho reflected and became so cu rious to know the cause of his elevation, that he determined to ask one of the nobles of liis court, who appeared a clev er man, to solve the riddle for him. Tell me. Vizier,” said he, “why you have made me your king. How could you know of my arrival on your island, and what will be the end of all this ?” ■‘Sire, ’ answered the vizier, “this is land is called the Island of Probation, and is inhabited by beings of a peculiar order. In times gone by they asked the Almighty to send them every year a sou of Adam to rule over them, fhe Almighty has accepted their prayer and every year, at the same time, he causes a man to land upon this Island. The inhabitants hasten joyfully to meet him, as you have seen, and acknowledge him for their ruler ; but his government lasts only for one year. Wlien that period has elapsed, and when ths appointed day comes round he is dejirived of all au thority. His royal attire is taken from him and he again puts on his mean clothing. His servants forcibly carry him to the shore and place him in a ship, built expressly for that purpose, which bears him on to another island. This island is a desert waste; he who was some days before a mighty king arrives there ragged and alone, and finds neither subjects nor friends. There is no one to participate in his misfortune ; and if he has n.ot turned his year to the best ao- count, he will have to pass a sorrow'ful and melancholy life in this desert land. After the banishment of the old king, the people go forth to meet the new one, whom the providence of the Almighty sends in the usual manner, every year withoutexception, and they receive him with the same pleasure as the preceding ones. Such, sire, is the immutable law of this kingdom, which no sovereign can change during his reign. ’ “And were all my predecessors,” sued the king, “made acquainted the short duration of their power?” “To none of them,” answered the ier, “was this law of mutability known ; but some allowed themselves to be dazzeled by the brightness which surrounded their throne; they forgot their sorrowful future in the joyful pres ent, and passed their year without ac quiring wisdom. Others intoxicated by the sweetness of their fortune, d d not dare to reflect upon the end of their reign, and the ensuing abode on the des ert island, lest it should have embittered their present enjoyment; and thus they staggered like drunkards from one pleas ure to another until their allotted time was fled, and they were cast into the vessel. When that unhappy day ar rived, they all began to lament and be moan their blindness, but it was too late ; they were ruthlessly given over to the fate which awaited them, and from which they had not taken thought to defend themselves.” This narration of the vizier filled the king with alarm, he trembled at the fate of former monarohs, and earnestly wish- pur- with viz- nn- ed to escape their fall. He saw with horror that some weeks of his short year were already gone, and that he must has ten to employ the remaining days better, and endeavor to atone for those already wasted. “Wise vizier,” he replied, “you have discovered to me my future lot and the short duration of my royal state. Tell me also, I pray you, what I must do to escape the misery of my predecessors.” “Bear in mind, sire,” answered the vizier, “that you came naked to this island ; for thus you will depart from it, never more to return. There is there fore, only one w’ay to prevent the want with which your banishment threatens you; that is to cultivate the island and fill it with inhabitants. This our laws allow you to do; and your subjects are so perfectly obedient that they will go wherever you desire. Send, therefore a number of laborers over to the desert is and, and let the waste groun.ls be converted into fruitful meadows; erect towns and storehouses, and provide them with all necessary means of existence. In a word—prepare for yourself a new kingdom, whose inhabitants, after your banishment, will receive you joyfully. Be vigilant, let not a moment pass unem ployed; for the time is short, and the more you do toward the erection of your new dwelling the happier will be your abode there. Constantly figure to your self that to-morrow your year is already passed and take advantage of to-day’s freedom, like a fugitive, who knows that chains aw'ait him on the morrow. If you despise my counsel and give way to procrastination and idleness, you are lost, and eternal misery will be your lot.” The king was a sensible man and the speech of the minister gave wings to his decision. He at once sent off a number of his subjects, whd went willingly and commenced the work with a zeal. The island soon began to improve and before six months had passed there stood fair cities on its blooming plains. But the king was yet unsatisfied. He sent over other inhabitants, and they were even more willing than the first, because they went to a plea.saiit land, inhabited by their friends and countrymen. In the meantime the year was drawing to a close Former kings had trembled at the approach of the moment in which they were to lay aside their transient honors ; but this one looked forward to it \7ith eagerness, for he was bound to a land where by his well-directed exer tions, he had prepared an enduring hab itation. The appointed day at last ar rived The king was seized in his pal ace, despoiled of his diadem and royal attire and placed in that fatal vessej which was to bear him to his place ol banishment. But hardly had he landed on the coast of the island when the in habitants hastened joyfully to mees him, received him with great honor, and in stead of decking his head with a diadem whose splendor lasted but one short year, bound a wreath of unfading flowers around his bro’V. The Almighty re warded his wisdom. He gave him the immortality of his subjects, and made him their immortal king. The rich benificeiit man represents God; the slave who is sent forth by his master is man at his birth. The island where he lands is the world ; the inhab itants who receive him gladly, are the parents who provide for the naked, weep ing stranger. The vizier, who warn.s him of the sorrowful fate which awaits him is wisdom. The year of his reign i.s the course of human life ; and the desert island for which he is destined, is the future world. The laborers whom he sends there are the good deeds he doe.s during his life. But the kings who pre ceded him, and did not consider the mis ery that awaited them are the larger portion of mankind, who are occupied with the earthly pleasures and do not remember the life which follows after death—they were punished with want and misery, whilst the other appeared with full hands before the throne of the Almighty.—8unny South. A Peculiar ColSn. In conversation the other day with our old friend Alexander Douglass, who ha.- been a citizen of Missouii for 66 vear.n, and of Boone county, for 56, he recalled some of the events of early times, and among them the following ; In 1820 there lived in the neighborhood northwest of Smithton (now Columbia), an unmarried man by the name of Thomas Ashur. Be ing subject to fits, he died on the roadside of an attack, and on March 4, 1820. wa.s buried in the woods which now form the north part of the pasture on the old farm of the late James King, three miles from Columbia. Sis grave is yet to be seen near the limekiln of Mr. Cromwell’s. At that time there was not a public grave yard in Boone county, and no underta ker. Having no coffin, or materials out of which to make one, the neighbors— that is, Alex. Douglass, Richard Tiffee, James Mayo, Newberry Stockton ami Matt Douglass, a colored man—felled a walnut tree, out off a piece of it six or eight feet long, split it into two equal parts, and with axes and adzes made troughs of each, put poor Ashur in his shirt sleeves in it, placed the parts togeth er, and in this rude coffin consigned the sleeper to a sleep that knows no waking till the judgement.— Columbia {Mo.) Statesman. That Fetched Him. When a Michigander was brought into conrt on a charge of assault and batterr preferred by his wife his honor asked : “What was the provocation .?” “She called me a worthless, lazy loafer; but that wasn’t it.” “Weli!” “She said our hull family weren’t fit for fish bait; but I didn’t get mad at that.” “What was it, then ?” “She shook her fist under my nose, and said I was too lazy to die; but I knowed she was excited and I let that pass. She's got a fearful temper, your honor,” “I wish to know if you had sufficient cause of provocation,” said the court. “I guess I had, Mr. Judge! She come close up and spit in ray face, and stuck up her noze and said I war meaner than pizen ; but I didn’t hit her her for that.” “What, then ?” “I know’d her temper, and I sot there and whistled 'Carry Me Back,” and 1 was bearing and bearing with her, when she turned round and gin my coon dog the smashingest kick—lifted him right outer doors enter his head 1 That fetched me, judge. If there had been 40 lions and a camel in the road, I'd have wal loped her or died a tiyin.” There is no female in the Vermont State Prison, and has not been for years.
Masonic Journal (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 15, 1876, edition 1
3
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