i!
VOL. III.
OXFORD, N. C., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1877.
NO. 16.
SECTS 1S( UCSSIA.
The number of dissenters from
the Established Cliurcli in Eussia
is about 8,000,000, of both sexes.
Tliev furnisli about 52,760 able-
bodied soldiers annually to the
army. The Rus.sian sects are
divided into three clas.ses—the
first with priests, the second with
out priests, and the third lieretic.
Those of the (irst-cluss do not
admit ordinations by the ortho
dox bishops and priests, and they
have, consequently, a special met
ropolitan, Ambrosius, whose seat
was established in 1846, at the
Monastery of Biela-Krinitza, in
Bukovine. Their members pray
for the Emperor, whom they call
Governor, and not Czar, and they
maintain good lelations with the
members of the Orthodox Churcli,
whose ritual they follow. They
are very patriotic. The sects
composing the second class be
lieves tltat Anti-christ has made
bis appearance ; they have a hor
ror of novelties; do not recog
nize the authorities; do not go
to church; abstain front meat
and wine; reject every kind ol
religious solemnity, and are hos
tile to all the occidental nations,
to the Catholics, and tlie Turks.
Among the heretical sects is the
Feodosseyeftcnina, whicli is very
rich, very tolerant to the othei
sects, and to strangers, and fur
nisiies not less than 19,200 an
nual recruits to tlte armyy vvia
are among the bravest ol tin
brave. Tiie Pliilipoflzi are mof
intolerant, and they esteem sui
cide and starvation a- the great
est of Christian virtues. Tiien
exists, also, in Eussia, about 1,
000,000 of individuals belonging
to prohibited sects, such as thtu
of “ murderers ol intants,” wln^
deem it a duty to people Para
dise witli tlie souls of iniioceiil
infants, and that of the “ strang
ers,” who believe that admissiui:
into Paradise can only be gained
through a violent death. 'J'ltese
sects rarely furnish recruits to
the army, as they are composed
of nien advanced iu years, and
the children are killed before
tliey are twenty’ years old. It is
the same with the Glaggelans
and Skopzi, who practice muiila-
tion, and are about 100,000 in
number. The Molokaiis regard
it a sin to c.trry' arms, and they’
believe in the formation of a
kingdom ot Ararat, destined o
destroy Eussia. They furnish,
however, 9,000 recruits, who, ob
stinately refusing to bear arms,
are divided among tlie sanitary’
corps and the trains.—Selected.
A YOITIVO EABV’S lOEAS.
here we are. Behold us, tinished
young ladies. No more is re
quired of us but to fold our hands
and live on thoughts of past
exertions. The reaction is fear
ful. We cannot study’, for we
did not have time to get inter
ested in any one of the branches
we skimmed over, and can do
notliing witl) tliem without tlie
excitement of the class-room and
the aid of a teacher.
But vet our minds are used to
being exorcised and demand
occupation, so we fall back on
flirting and novel.reading as our
)iily resource. And tlien peojile
call us silly, and sneer at the
foolish girls, and wish for the good
old days of our graridniother.“.
You needn’t smile. Cousin Paul,
it’s something' 1 have thought a
great deal about, not only for
myself but for all the other girls
Tnere’s Minnie Elton and Carrie
Eider, the briglitest gii'ls in our
class ; Carrie was valedictorian
and Minnie had the French essay,
and every one was praising them
and congratulating their parents
over their brilliant daughters,
and now Minnie does nothing but
read French novels and flirt with
tjvery mustached fellow she sees,
•iiid Carrie is engaged to Fred
Uarrow, who, I dmi’t believe
itnows vrhetlier the sun goes
nutrid the earth or tlie eartli round
the sun, and who never heard ol
Lord Beacon, but as he’s rathei
good-looking and very wealthy.
Carrie makes a perfect goose ol
herself over him. so that it's the
town talk. Yet I always tlioiiglil
there was a great deal of good
sense in Carrie if it could only be
iironght out, but she has done
ootiiiiig but talk and read non
■sense since she graduated, and
her mind has eaten itself up.
That's my theory about it any
way.”
‘■Well, niy’ fair thebrizer, what
do you propose to do about it V
•‘I don’t know ; I can see the
disease and its cause, but I can’t
rix upon any practical remedy.”
“1 should perscribe work.”
“But what atf In my case
tliere’s no necessity for my help-
ing with the house-vvorlt, and as
for sewing, Mrs. Sniitli, who
does all our plain sewing, needs
all tlie lielp she can get, and as
long as we can'afford to pay iier
tor it, it doesn’t seem to be my
duty’ to sew, now if we were
real poor my' diitv might be
plain.”—Christian InleUujence.
’I'HE
“Well, but what am I to do ?
I think people are too hard on us
poor girls. We are sent to school
and crammed wit ha heterogeneous
mass of knowledge—a little Lat
in, a little French, a thiiiiblefiil
of matheraalies, some liistory, a
smattering of the natural sciences,
a slight acquaintance with music
and drawing, and all this must
be forced into our brains in the
course of three or four years, so
that we shall be ready to enter
society. So we study' and labor
with the mass of ideas and stretcli
our minds to their fullest extent,
and then comes the final examl-
iiatlou tuid graduation. Then
to Pliny (follo'.viiig Cornelius
Valerianus) and liion Cas.sius
(58, -27), but A. D. 34, as Tacitus
reports the date—tlie marvelous
bird was said to reiippear in
Egypt. Tlie truth of the state
ment, however, was questioned
by some, as less than two hun
dred and fifty years had elapsed
since the reign of the third Ptol
emy when it was seen last (Tac.,
Ann., 6, 28). But tlie report
called forth many learned disqui
sitions from saoans in Egypt, both
native and Greek. The main
feature of the account seems to
have been very generally be
lieved by the Eomans. Thus
Mela (3, S), who seemed to have
flourished in the reign of Clau
dius, repeats the marvelous story
without any expression of mis
giving. Pliny, indeed, declines
to pronounce whether it is true
or not (“ hand scio an f'abulose”);
but Tacitus says no doubt is en
tertained of the existence of such
a bird, thougli the account is in
some points uncertain or exag
gerated. Again Millian (Hist.
An., 6, 58), who lived in Hadrian’s
reign, alleges the phoenix as an
instance of the superiority ol
brute instinct over hiiriian reason,
u’lien a bird can tlius reckon the
time and discover the place with
out any guidance; and some
where about the same time, or
later, Celsus (Orlgen c. Cels. 4,
78, 576), arguing against the
Christians, brings it forward to
sliow tlie greater piety of tlie
lower animals .as compared with
maa.—Selected.
ISEUVIA.
MIETOA’S JIEMORY.
The earliest mention ot the
phceuix is in Hesiod (Tragni. 50
ed Gaisf.), who, however, speaks
merely of its longevity. It is
from Herodotus (ii. 73) tliat rve
first hear the marvelous story of
the burial of the parent bird by
the offspring, as it was told him
bv the Egyptian priests; but he
adds cautiously by “telling things
not credible to me.” From the
Greeks the story passed to the
Eoiiiaiis. In B. c. 97 a learned
senator, Maiiilius (Plin., N. H.
10, 2), discoursed at length on
the plioeiiix, stating that the year
in which he wrote was the two
hundred and fifteenth since its
last appearance. He was the
first Eoman who took up the
subject. At the close of the reign
of Tiberins—-v. d. 36 'according
Dean Stanley, in a recent ad
dress, speaking of the second
greatest English poet, said :
“When Milton was quite young,
lie travelled in Halt', and when
at the end of his life he described
a great multitude ‘thick as au
tumnal leaves that strew the
books in Vallombrosa,’ we tiaco
in that the exactness of his mein-
orv. It was national for a poet
to compare a rustling crowd with
fallen leaves in Vallombrosa are
peculiary appropriate. The peas
ants repair ill autumn to this w'ood
to beat the trees for chesnuts.
An extraordinary multitude of
leaves fall. The mountain sides
abound in rills, and all through
the forest they are chocked and
burdened with the chestnet leaves.
What he saw when he went up
to Vallombrosa must have been
in Milton’s mind thiough long
years; throiigli all the troubles
of the Civil Wars it lived in his
memory, till in the period of his
blindness, he reproduced the scene
in "Paradise Lost’ Similarly his
account of sunrise on the Lakes
w'as gathered from no English
experience. It recalled the mist
rising at dawn from Lugano, or
Coir.o, or Maggiore, the beautiful
lakes which he passed on his way
from Venice to Geneva, when he
was going home to serve his
country in Civil War.”
PBAYEBBEFORE UESCESfDIA’G
lATO THE MIJV'E.
The national religion of Servia
is that of the Greek church. The
government pays the archbishop,
the bishops and the rectors ; the
other priests are remunerated for
theirservicesby the people. There
is a special Ministry of National
Education, and a law passed in
the reign of the late Prince Mich
ael obliges the government to
supply and pay a qualified master
for an elementary national school,
to ever'V' community wliich de
clares itself prepared to send
thirt'v boys as scholars, and pro
vides at the same time a building
suitable lor a school. The popu
lation is about 1,300,000. The
soil is very fertile and productiv e,
but tiie greater part is uncultiva
ted. The peasants are averse to
manual labor, and rather than
work, they emjdoy itinerant la
borers, who flock yeaily to Servia
in large numbers from the adja
cent provinces of Albania and
Macdonia. The principal grain
is maize, but hemp, flax, tobacco,
and cotton are tdso produced in
large quantities. Of tiie wild
flowers and weeds are similar to
those of England.
The Porte has proposed the
following conditions to Servia.
The riglit of being diplomatically
represented at Belgrade; that
Catholics and Jews shall enjoy
the same rights as native Servians;
tliat Servia shall not allow the
formation of armed bauds or the
violation of Turkish territory and
that the existence of secret so
cieties shall not be permitted. It
is that Servia will accept these
conditions, and send a special
commissioner to Constantinople.
Tiiere is a bitumen mine near
Woerth, where France first gave
way before the disciplined forces
ot Germany. It was discovered
in coiiseqnence of tlie bituminous
taste of the waters of a spring,
on the spot, whicli was termed
Biclielbronn or Pitch Spring. A
writer of a period so remote as
1498, tells us that petroleiun was
found and used long before his
time, and that the inhabitants ol
Alcaso lit up their cabins and lu-
bricatedtlieirwheels with it before
Columbus discovered America.
There are now two distinct
groups of mines in thi.s region—
one centering round the Salome
Well, and the other around Made
line and Joseph Wells. The
veins sometimes throw out a high
ly iiiflaraniable gas, which, with
the danger of water, renders the
work of the miners perilous in
deed, and so much so that they
never descend the shaft without
engaging in praj er.
HOW TO BEACH THE POLE.
Captain H. W. Howgate, of the Sig-
B'cil Oftice, sees no grounds of diseour-
ageinenb ui the failure of if are’s expe
dition to reach the iforth Pole. The
seasons, he remarks, vary in the Arc
tic circle as markedly as in more tem
perate latitudes, and iu a favorable
year the ice of the so-ealled “ Pala’oc-
rystic Sea ” might be broken up. Cap
tain Howgate would have a party of
at least twenty hardy, resolute, and
experienced men, with provisions for
three years, stationed at some point
near the borders of the Polar Sea—for
instance, where the Discovery winter
ed last year. These men would seize
the occasion of the opening of the fro
zen sea to push on to the pole. At
the end of three years the party should
bs visited, and, if unsuccessful in ac
complishing the object, should he re-
victualed and left again to their ■work.
With a good, substantial building,
such as (iouhl easily he carried oii
sliipl'oard, they would he as comlort-
able and safe from atmosivlieric dan
ger as the men of tlie Signal Seiwice
on the summit of Jlouiit Washington.
“A good supply of medicine,” adds
Captain Howgate, “ a skillful surgeon,
and such fresh xu'ovisions as could be
found by banting parties, would ena-
able tliem to keep ott' scurvy, and to
maintain as good a saiiitai'y condition
as the inhabitants of Godliaven iu
Greeiihiiid. (lame was found in fair
quantities by the Dolu vis and Discovery
on the mainland to the west, especial
ly ill the vicinity of the last named
vessel, where fifty-four niiisk-oxeii
were killed during the season, with
quantities of other smaller game. A
seam of good coal was also loinid by
the Discovery's iiiirty, which would
render the question of luel a light one,
and thus remove one of the greatest
difficulties hitherto found by Arctic
voyagers. Let an expedition be or
ganized to start in the Spring of 18i i,
and I hi'iiily believe that by 1880 the
geograjihy of the polar circle Avoald be
definitely settled, and that without
loss of life.”—i’opidnr Science 2Ionthly.
Pixs.—The i'l Bowing is from a
recent work on British industries:
“A calculation made 40 years
ago stated that for home use and
export purposes 20,000,000 pins
were required daily in England-
The real quantity now productd
daily is 50,000,000, of whicli
Birmingham produce 37,000,000,
leaving 13,000,000 as the produc
tion of London, Stroud, and Dub
lin where pins are also made.
The weight of wire consumed
annually in the pin manufacture
of England is about 1,275J tons,
or 2,857,120 lbs., one-eighth of
which is iron-wire, used in the
manufacture of mourning and
hair-pins. The brass wire con
sumed amounts to 2,500,000 lbs.,
which at lid. per lb. in money
value reaches the sum of £114,-
583. The iron-wire consumed is
3 14,800 lbs , its value £7,183 6s,
6d., and to be added to these
amounts are the wages, paper and
ornamental envelopes, boxes, wear
and tear ot machinery, manufac
turers’ profits, &c. Mourning,
hair, entomological, and ‘papered^
pins—i. e., stuck in low—real--*
ize a larger profit than pins sold
by weight. 'Baking it altogether,,
the pin manufacture ot the Uni--
ted Kingdom is not over-estima--
tel at the aggregate amount oL
£200,000.”
—The bold statement is. made-
that sixteen people put on their
overcoats iu one of the fashiona-.
ble churches while the doxology
was being .sung. If whoevei’-
made it will count more carefully
he may discover six times six
teen, almost any Sunda}', in any
large church. The time of .sing
ing a closing doxology is looked
on as a pleasant intermission
granted for the express purpose
of putting on overcoats and other
outer garments. Such garments
as are not drawn on at this time
are donned while the benediction
is being pronounced. Then most
of the people run as if there were
an alaim of fire in the street.
A clergyman had just united in
marriage a eonjile whoso names were,
respectfully, Benjamin and Ann, ‘How
did they appear during the ceremony?’
asked a friend. “They appeared both
Anniemated and Benefited,” was the
reply.