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VOL. III.
OXFORD, N. C., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1877.
NO. 24.
HIAWATHA’S WOOINH.
“ As Kiito ttie bo^T t)ie cord is,
So unto tiie mrtil is woman,
Thougli slic bciids liiin, slie obeysliini,
Though she draws him, yet she follows
TJseless each without the other !”
Thus the youthful Hiawatha
Said within himself and pondered,
Much perplexed by various feelings.
Listless, longing, lioping, fearing,
iJreaming still of Minnehaha,
Of the lovely Laughing Water,
In the land of the Dacotahs.
“ Wed a maiden of your people,”
’Warning said the old Sokoinis ;
“ Go not eastward, go not westward.
For a stranger, whom we know not!
Bring not here an idle maiden,
Bring not here, a useless woman.
Hands unskillful, feet unwilling;
Bring a wife with nimble fingers,
Heart and hand that mo\’etogether,
Feet that run on willing errands !
Bring not to my lodge a stra.nger
From the land of the Dacotahs!
'\'ery fierce are the Dacotahs,
Often is there, war between us,
There are feuds yet uuforgotten.
Wounds that aclie and still may open !”
Laughing answered Hiawatha;
“For that reason, if no other,
Would 1 wed the fair Dacotah,
That our tribes might be united,
That old feuds might be fogotten.
And old wounds be healeil forever!”
Thus departed Hiawatha
To the land of the Dacotahs,
At the doorway of his wigwam
S it the ancient Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Making arrow-heads of jasper,
Arrow-lieads of chalcedony.
At his side, in all her beauty.
Sat the lovely Minnehaha,
Sat his daughter, Laughing Whiter,
Bhiiting mats of flags and rushes.
(ll‘tlie ]iast the old man’s thoughts were,
Am! the maiden’s of the future.
He «as thinking, as he Sat there,
if till' days when with such arrows
lie liad struck the deer and bison,
Tiiiiiking of the great war-iiarties.
How they came to buy his arrows.
Could not fight without his arrows.
Ah, 110 more sucli noble wariiors
Could bo found on earth as tliey were !
She was thinking of a liuiiter,
From anotliei' tribe and country,
I’niing and tall and very handsome.
Who one morning, in the Spring-time,
C line to buy lier fathei ari ows,
Sat and rested in tlie wigwam,
Lingered long about the doorway.
Looking back as he departed.
Would lie come again for airows
To the Falls of Minnehalia ?
On the mat lier hands lay idle,
And her eyes w'ere very dreamy.
Suddenly from out the woodlands
Hiawatha stood belbre tliem.
Straight ilio ancient Arrow-maker
Looked ii|) gravely trom ids labor,
Saying, as he rose to meet him,
“ Hiawatha, you are welcome!”
And the maiden looked up at him,
Looked up from her mat of rushes,
Said with gentle look and accent,
“ Yon are welcome, Hiawatha !”
Tlieii uprose tlie Laughing Water,
Laid aside her mat unfinished,
Brought forth food and s it before them;
Listened wliilo the guest was speaking,
Listened while lier father answered,
But not once her lii).s she opened,
Kot a single word she uttered.
“ After many years of warfare,
Many years of strife and bloodshed,
There is peace between the OJibways
And the tribe of the Dacotahs.”
Thus contiiicd Hiawatha,
And then added, speaking slowly,
“ Tliat this peace may last forever,
And our hands be clasped iuotc closely,
And our hearts be more united.
Give me as niy wife this maiden,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water.
And the- ancient Arrow-m.aker
Paused a moment ere lie answered,
Smoked a little wliile in silence,
Looked at Hiawatha proudly,
Fondly looked at Laughing Water,
And made answer very gravely:
“ Yes, if Minneliaha wishes;
Let your heart speak, iMiuueiialia !’■’
And the lovely Laughing Water
Seemed more lovely, as she stood there,
Neitlier willing nor reluctant,
As she went to Hiawatha,
Softly took tlie seat beside biin,
AVhile she said, and blushed to say it,
“ I will follow you, my husband! ”
From tlie wigwam he departed,
Leading with liini Laughing AYater;
Left the old man standing lonely
At tlie doorway of his wigwam,.
Crying to them from afar ofl’,
“ Faro Uicc t\cll, O Aliunehaha!”
And tlie acient Arrow-maker
Turned again unto ins l.abor,
Sat down by tlie sunny doorway,
Aiiirmuring to liimself, and saying ;
“Tims it is our daugliters leave us,
Tliose we love,and tliose wlio love us,
.Just when tliey have learned to help us,
Wlien we are old and lean upon them,
Comes a youth with flauntiiigfeathers,
Al'ith his lliite of reeds, a stranger
AAA n lers piping through tlie village.
Beckons to the fairest maiden,
And she follows whore he leads her.
Leaving all tilings for the stranger!”
DEACOIV OPHBI.TKEE’S PEW
If tliere is anything Mr, Opliil-
tree is particular about, it is his
own individual corner in his own
particular pew. He can’t half
enjoy the sermon if he has to sit
anywliere else than in the inside
corner of No. 52, right hand side
of the middle aisle. For years
he has occupied this seat as reg-
ularl3^ as Sunday’ morning came
around. He lias lieard the gospel
‘ dispensed witli ” bj’ one minister
after anotlier. From tliat seat he
lias smiled and nodded encour
agement to the Eoanerges who
have preaclied tlie gospel after
the ideas of Deacon Ophiltree,
and has frowned forbiddingly and
terriblj’ at tlie hapless prebendary
who has dared to enunciate doc
trines which were disagreeable to
No. 52. No usher or sexton ever
so far forgot himself as to put
any one in that corner because
the Deacon was a little late. It
s always considered sacred.
Imagine then, the Deacon’samaze-
ment last Sunday morning when
he entered the church, wrapped
in a profound study of tlie doc
trine of regeneration through
sanctification, to see a solemn,
important-looking stranger in his
precious comer. The Deacon
brought up all of a sudden at the
head of his pew and gazed at the
stranger in open-mouthed but
voiceless wonder. The stranger,
never returning his gaze, sat
twirling his thumbs and looking
straight at the pulpit. Deacon
Ophiltree, doubting the evidence
of his senses, backed out into the
aisle, and took out his spectacles,
rubbed them, and placed them on
his nose. Then he tilted back
his head and looked at the pew
number—“52.” Plain as ever a
“ 52 ” was in the world. There
could be no mistake about that.
Then he advanced to the head of
the pew, and bent his head down
until his chin touched his breast,
and gazed fixedly at the stranger
over his spectacles. There was
no mistake about that. The
stranger was there. Then the
Deacon stepped back one pace,
leaving the entrance to the pew
unobstructed, so that the stranger
could get out without any trouble.
But the stranger didn’t appear to
have anj’ idea of evacuating his
position. He grew a little rest
less under the Deacon’s incensed
glances, but he only fidgeted a
little in his seat, and stopped
twirling his thumbs to pick up a
hymn-book, which he opened at
“ Hold the Fort,” and read that
stirring bit of I'eligious military
composition with evident comfort
and edification. The Deacon was
amazed. “Possibly,” he thought,
“ the intruder does not see me.”
Then he took out his handker
chief, a red silk standard, which
looked like a pocket edition of a
garrison flag, and bur3'ing his
nose in this warlike banner, blew
a toot that echoed through the
r.iom like a signal of defiance.
The stranger never moved, but
he bent his e3’es upon the pages
before him and read the line,
“ Flfiar tho biiglo
with much mental unction.
The Deacon was more aston
ished than he would have been if
the end of the church had fallen
out. He crammed his handker
chief into the crown of his hat
with the defiant air of a man who
meant business, and inflated his
lungs, and called'for the stranger’s
attention with a stentorian-^
“ A-hem!”
The stranger fidgeted a little,
turned very red in the face, and
looked up, glanced around and
saw the congregation tittering and
taking it all in, and he evidentl3'
made up his mind to “ hold the
fort,” if he had to sta3’ there all
winter. So he settled himself
again, and, without looking at the
Deacon, turned over to the hymn
“ A charge to keep I liave.’*
The minister rose to give out
the opening h3’mn, but the con
gregation had no e3’es or ears for
an3-thing but the indignant Dea
con and the immovable stranger.
The Deacon was about to intro
duce some new tactics, when he
felt a touch upon his arm, and a
gentlemnnl3’-looking church offi
cial said;
“ I will show 3’ou a .=eat, sT, if
you please.”
“ Seat!” said the Deacon, in
such wrathful undertones that he
was nearly choked. “Seat? That,”
pointing to the blushing but ob
stinate stranger, “ that corner is
my seat. The seat I have occu
pied and paid tor, for these nine
3'ears past.”
“ You are merely mistaken,”
said the placid official, “ and you
are interrupting the service and
distracting the minister. The
seats in this church have been
free for the past five years.”
The Deacon looked around'him
as though he expected the ground
to slide trom beneath his feet, and
a gleam of intelligence and dis
may passed over his face.
“ This is—” he gasped, and
could get no further.
“ The Church of the Lost
Sheep,”'explained the official.
The titters of the congregation
followed the mortified Deacon to
the door as he bent his steps to
ward his own Church of the Ran
somed, and v/hen he got there, he
struck everybody dumb with
amazement by dropping into the
seat nearest the door; and if a
cow or an ichthyosaurus had
waltzed in and taken its seat in
the inside corner of No. 62, Dea-
ebn Ophiltree wouldn’t have raised
one single murmur of objection.
AKIEKICAni JUBISTS.
Lord Chief Justice Cockburn,
in a letter to Judge Dillon, ac
knowledging the receipt of the
last-named gentleman’s well-
known work Municipal Corpora
tions, states that “there is scarcely
a discussion of any importance in
which American decisions and
American authors are not cited,
and tlie judgements and dicta oi a
Marshall or a Story are as famil-
i.ar to us as those of a Mansfield
or an Ellenborough.” The Eng
lish law papers take exception to
ibis statomeut as to the value of
American decisions, though the
Solicitors’ Journal says that the3’
are utilized there, not merel3’ as
authorities, but “as a quarry
from which councils hew out argu
ment.’;, the origin of which tlie3’
do not always acknowledge?’
The same paper adds further,
that if a careful investigation were
made “ofthe admirable argumenls
which appear in the various law
reports on certain branches of the
law, we have a strong suspicion
that a transatlantic parentage
ivouldbe found for many of them.”
The/m^ Law Times, however, in
dorses the opinion of tlie Lord
Chief Justice, and says that it is
“to be wished that American
adjudications were moregeneraIl3’
known in the countr3’.” Ameri
can cases have in times past been
sometimes spoken sliglitlv of bv
English judges and lawyers, but
we tliink they are now regarde I
by the bench and bar of England
with a higher respect than those
of ari3’ other foreign country.—
Albany Law Journal.
you to see 3’OU ; but there is One
who will see 3'ou, and find • out
at once if you break the Sabbath-
day.”
The little one was silent, but
kept looking up in the speaker’s
face with a dark, thoughtful eye.
“WllO will aafi Trr.li pQ ask-
Who will see 3’ou
ed after a pause.
“Myself will see me said the
child hr an instant. She would
di.sdain to lie or deceive, even
when alone. She could never
disgrace herself, though it was
only in her own eyes.
OIE YOEKSEEE A EITTEE.
NOlViSEIASE ALPHABET.
A tumLled down and hurt bis Arm against i
Lit of wood,
g said ; - - —
‘My Boy, oh ! do not cry J it can
Hot do yott gfiod.^’
p said; “A Cup of Coffee hot can’t do yon
any liann.”
T\ said ; “A Doctor should be fetched, and
" ho Would cure the ai'in.”
E said ; “An Egg beat up with milk would
quickly make him well.”
said : “A Fish, if broiled, might cure* if
only by the smell.’’
p. said ; “Green Gooseberry fool, the best of
^ cures I hold.”
TT said ; “His hat should be kept on to keep
him from the cold.”
T said : “Sumo Ice upon his head will make
him better soon.”
J said ; “Some Jam, if spread on bread, or
given 111 a spoon."
TT said : “A Kangaroo is here—this picture
lot him sec.”
said : “A Lamp, pray keep alight to make
some barley tea.”
said, “A Mulberry or two might give him
satisfactittn.”
said, “Some XufS) if rolled about, might
be a slight attraction.”
O said, “An Owl might make him laugh, if
only it would vviulc.”
■p said, “Some Poetry might be read
to make him think.”
aloud
a said, “A Quince I recommend—a Quince
or else a Quail.”
R said, “Some Kate iniglit make him move,
it fastened by tlie tail.”
O said, “A Song should now be sung, in
^ hopes to make him laugh.”
rn said, “A Turnip might avail, if sliced or
-*• cut in half.”
TT said, “An Urn, with water hot, placed
underneath his chin.”
y said, “I’ll stand upon a chair and
Violin.”
play a
TP' said, “Some Wliiskey-Whizzigiggsfetch,
some marbles and a ball.”
X said, “Some double XX ale would be the
he?
best of all.”
Ysaid, “Some Yeast mixed up with salt
M’ould make a perfect plaster.”
2 said, “Here is a box of Zinc ! Get in, my
little master!
We’ll shut you up ! We’ll nail you down I
we will, my little master !
We think we’ve all heard quite enough of
this, your aad disaster.”
“MYSELF WILL SEE ME.’»
Once in a Sabbath-school a Yer3'
little girl repeated the twenty-
third Psalm very well, and so
pleased a visitor who was present
and heard her, that he took a
piece of money from his pocket,
and said, “This is for your lesson,
niv' child.”
The child’s eyes flashed with
delight on what she never, per
haps, had in her possession before,
and she clasped her hands tightly
over her prize.
“Now,” said her teacher, “I
see a great many sliops open in
this street, though it is God’s day.
You must on no account spend
that money in an3' of them to
day, but keep it till to-morrow.
You understand, I shan’t be with
Thei'e is true humor in the
following story: Once upon a
time there lived an old gentleman
in a large house. He had ser
vants and everything he wanted,
yet he was not happy, and when
things did not go as he 'ivished,
he was very cross. At last his
servants left him. Quite out of
temper, he went to a neighbor
with a story of his distresses.
“ It seems to me,” said the
neighbor, sagaciously, “ ’twould
be well for you to oil yourself a
little.”
“ To oil myself?”
“ Yes; and I will explain. Some
time ago one of the doors in my
house creaked. Nobody, there
fore, liked to go in or out by it.
One day I oiled its hinges, and it
has been constantly Used by ev
erybody ever since.”
“Then 3-ou think I am like the
crlaking door,” cried the old gen
tleman. “How do you want me to
oil myself ?’
“That’s an easy matter” said
the neighbor. “Go home and
engage^ a servant, and when he
does right, praise him. If, on
the contrary, he does something
amiss, do not be cross j oil your
voice and words with the oil of
love.”
The old gentleman went home,
and no harsh or ugly words were
ever heard in the house afterwards.
Ever3' family should have a
bottle of this precious oil, for
every family is liable to have a
creaking binge in the shape of a
fretful disposition, a cross temjier,
a harsh tone, or a fault-finding
spirit.—Selected.
— A tett- years ago old maids were tho
standing subject of third-rate netvspapor wits.
Now it is inothcrs-in-law. The induigenee
of either is in very bad taste.—JVew North
State.
The maHj who has been unfor-
tunate in the selection of his
mother-in-law, shows a very nar
row soul when lie. vents his spite in
a newspaper. The man who has
secured a good mother-in-law is
mean when he smites her with,
ungrateful insinuations.
“ Ho mug-gin, ho mug-gimfeon*
a forrin’ sho-ore,” is the way tha
words of a popular song, “ Home
again, Home again,” etc.,, were
rendered by a belle at a social
gathering. She should be at the
head of some city choir.
Old Deacon Ransom went to a
circus and took his grand child,
remarking to evei-y acquaintance
he met, that the boy wanted to
see the sacred animals, and he
could’nt find it in his heart to
refuse him. Arriving at the tent
the boy cried to go home, and
the deacon liad to spank him to
make him so in.
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