Orphans’ Friend.
Price, $1 a year.)
OXFORD, N. C., MAY 4, 1883.
(VOL. VIII. NO. 49.
A QUESTION AND ANSWER.
BT JULIA H. MAY.
Ah, when they said that yon must
die to morrow,
How did you feel?
Did through your frame a thrill of
solemn sorrow
Unbidden steal?
A prayer, “Oh Father, let this cross
be taken,”
•Murmured you then?
Or did you send to God with faith
unshaken
A glad amen?
All, when they told me I must die
to-morrow,
I cannot tell
Whether it was a thrill of joy or
sorrow
Upon me fell.
The prayer I uttered with white lips
of anguish
1 do not know,
Whether it were, a while in pain to
languish,
Or quickly go.
But, now that night is past and you
are living,
How do you feel ?
Does through your heart a thought
of deep thanksgiving
Unbidden stea'?
.A prayer, “Oh Father, for this gra
cious blessing,”
Murmur you now,
‘I thank Thee, and my wickedness
confessing.
Humbly I bowf”
How, that the night has passed and
I am living,
I cannot tell
Whether alone my thought is glad
thanksgiving
Or fear as well.
I only know th'S prayer I’m Heav
enward sending,
On bended knee,
“Oh, teach me how to live, each day
depending,
Saviour, on Thee.”
DiSRAELrrcbURTBSY TO A
YOUNa MEMBEE.
A little incident which hap-*
pened to Mr. Fawcett shortly
after he took his s^at in par
liament is worth noting. He
had ordered his dinner in the
dining-'room of the house one
evening, when some one came
up to him and said: “Profes-
BOr Fawcett, as you appear to
be alone, have you any objec
tion to my dining at the same
table with youT’ Mr- Faw
cett replied, “Certainly not,”
but with a rather puzzled ex
pression. He could not im
agine who be was, for be
failed altogether to recognize
bis voice. His unknown com
panion, noting his perplexity,
said quietly: “I see you do
not know who I am. I am
Disraeli.” Mr. Fawcett could
hardly believe his ears, and
for once in his life was fairly
taken aback. This little act
of friendly good-nature on the
part of the great Tory leader
toward a young member
whose views were so utterly
and irreconcilably at variance
with his own touched Mr.
Fawcett very much,. and in
spite of their political differs
ences and their passages of
arms in after years, the recol
lection of Mr. Disraeli’s grace
ful courtesy on that occasion
always remained vividly in
his mind.—London TtuxJi.
AN EN&LISH OEPHANAGE-
Man doubles all the evils of
his • fate by meditation upon
them. A scratch becomes a
wound, a slight becomes
injury, a jest an insult, a small
piil a great danger, and a slight
aioknesB often ends in death by
looodmg ^>pFeheDUOQa.
It has been my pleasure
since I last wrote you, to be
able to visit the “Royal Fe
male Orphan Asylum.” The
Honorable Secretary (who
has been a daily visitor for
more than forty years),
kindly showed us over the
institution. This Asylum was
established.in 1839, and from
the first the Queen has been
a .constant supporter. It is in
tended expressly for the or
phans of Sailors, Soldiers and
Royal Marines from all parts
of the Empire; it is therefore
essentially a National Institu
tion. A distinctive feature of
the charity is, that on the oc
casion of all niilitary and na
val events involving loss of
life, tne committee admit at
once a ,'cortesponding number
of orphans; thus more than
one-half of the children elec^
ted since the foundation, lost
their fathers in actual service.
The building is situated on
high ground, and commands
a fine view of Plymouth Sound
and the Cornish H!ills. There
are ‘at present 166 children
(all girls) in the Asylum and’
they are trained for house ser
vants. More thaUbne thou
sand girls have passed through
the Asylum, and are fillihg
respectable positions iu life.
The house has the usual num
ber of dormitories, a large
school room where part of
the day lessons are learned,,
and then the girls are taught
sewing. All the work is done
by 3’’Oung girls, many of them
scarcely more than fourteen
years old. They make for
themselves every article of
clothing except hats and
shoes and some of the sewing
is most beautifully donb. We
were shown through the wash
house, it being Monday, and
there chatting and laughing
were about twent^^ girls, eR
bow deep in soap-suds, “pre
tending to work very haid”
as the genial Secretary laugh
ingly observed to some of
them. There was only one
woman directing the work.
The laundry, which bad just
been completed, is a roomy,
airy building fitted with all
the modern contrivahces for
hanging and diyfing clothes,
and a record is kept every
week in the laundry book of
the pieces washed.
The kitchen displayed half
a dozen girls under the direc
tion of a cook. One girl was
the “chief” for the day, and
had the direction of the cook
ing of that day s dinner. In
the lavatory is a wash basin
for every child. The basin is
stationary; a towel, with a
bag containing brushes and
combs, hanging from a peg
on a narrow shelf above it,
on which stood the unbreaka
ble, but excellent substitute
for a water bottle and glass;
this contained the tooth-brush
and the necessaries for the
toilet. Monday afternoon be
ing a half-holidpy the friends
of the children are allowed to
see them, and are permitted
to bring with them any little
luxury, such as cake, fruit &c.,
and as there are a number of
little ones without any friends,
these goodies are equally di
vided. Around the winter
play-rooms are ranged a lot
of “lockers’’ or little keyless
cupboards, each bearing the
name of the girl who uses
It. These keyless lock
ers tell a worthy' tale; they
prove that every girl may be
trusted not to pilfer from her
neighbor. They are miniature
cupboards, come-at-able at all
times, yet in all the experience
of the Asylum only two cases
of theft have been recorded
and those many years ago.
The culprits in both cases were
visited with the only punish
ment provided, instant dis
missal. The girls are thus
placed on their honor, and the
principle works without
trouble. I was very much
pleased with this institution,
and the children all looked
well and happy.
Yesterday I went through
another Asylum of only fifty
inmates, but was not very fa
vorably impressed; it did not
look tidy and nice.—Cor. of
Orphans' Friend, Albany, N. Y.
LOUIS JOHN EUDOLPH A&ASSI2
region and the Atlantic coast,
and, in’1852 accepted the pro
fessorship of anatomy in the
medical college of Charles
ton, S. 0. Afterwards he
went on an expedition to
Biazil, which was rich in sci
entific results, traversed the
Rocky Mountain8,and iu 1875
made an ocean voyage
around Cape Horn, in a coast
survey steamer, for deep sea
dredging, the result of which
proved , important in the
study of ocean animals. His
next great work was the es
tablishment of a science
school at a point on the North
Atlantic coast; in which he
continued to teach till his
death, in 1873.—School Jour
nal.
WALKIN& IN SHADOW OE SUN
LIGHT.
BY HOPE LBDYARD.
No man has ever lived who
has studied nature with as
much care and thought, and
who has contributed more to
;he solution ol natural prob
lems than did Louis Agassiz.
At an early age he began the
study of science and his work
was laborious, but he labored
in love to solve the intricacies
of sience and therefore en
dured an amount of work that
would have wrecked the
health of an ordinary man.
He was a man of great men
tal and physical power, in
tense tenacity of purpose and
keen observation.
Louis Agassiz was born in the
parish of Metiers, Switzerland
May 28th 1807, his father
being a Protestant minis
ter in charge of the^ par
ish. Up to the age of ten
years his education was in
charge of his mother who is
said to have been an estiroa
ble and intelligent woman.
He attended the schools of
Bienne, and Lausanne .and
the universities of Heidelburg
and Munich. At the latter
place he formed the acquain
tance of some of the most in
telligent and prominent men
of Europe, and pursued the
study of mineraology and
philosophy under competent
teachers. Subsequently, he
prepared for publication the
ichthyological department of
Martin’s great work on Brazil,
in such a manner that placed
him in the front ranks of nat
uralists.
His next important work
‘was the “Natural History of
the Fresh-Water Fishes of
Europe,” then came his “Fos
sil Fishes,’’ which filled five
volumes and a folio atlas
These publications were con
sidered of great value to the
scientific world and Agassiz
found himself justly appreci
ated by the learned men of
Europe. From 1836 to 1845
he studied the glaciers of the
Alps, and the geological phe-
nomona which they produce.
These researches were pub
lished in 1847, and establish
ed the fact that the immense
bowlders seen in the manj'
parts of the world were con
veyed to the places where
they are now found, by bod
ies of floating ice. In 1846
I was ^ alking along the street
the other day when I saw a young
girl, whom I knew, and a little
tot of three years, crawling along
disconsolately on the shady side
of the way. It was a side street,
and no one was passing, so I call
ed out, “Come over in the sun,
Mollie.”
The girl looked up,cros8ed over,
and we walked on together, the
child dancing along in the hap
piest manner.
“Why, how pleasant it is on
this side!” exclaimed Mollie.
“I had no idea it was so warm
and cheerful. We were half
frozen, and I was going to turn
back-”
How like that is to many a
Christian life. How many find
the “narrow way,, cold and
dreary, and are inclined to turn
back and give it up entirely.
And, yet, there is the Snn, and
they might walk in His light;
there is the bright, sunny path
of entire and full consecration,
of unwavering faith, of perfect
submission to Him who “know-
eth the way that I take.” Let
if we can find the way
out of the shadow into this sun-
light.
The very darkest coldest shad
ow comes from want of faith.
You are wrapping yourself, up in
your feeling, your attainments,
your understanding of God’s
Word. No wonder you shine
dismally, and that the way seems
cold and dark. Look across; see
such as Frances Ridley Haver-
gal, or Hannah Smith, and, I
trust, some among your own
personal friends, walking in
bright sunlight, .never thinking
whether they feel aright or
have yet attained to anything,
never questioning God’s Word.
It is enough that Christ has
been perfect for them, that He
leads them.
“Ah' but,” saye one, “some
lives are full of shadows—full
of trouble.”
Thank God, lives are not like
jjQUses—they can be brought into
the sunlight; and we know that
even this created *8un has power
to break away all shadow—how
mueh more the Uncreated Sun
who longs i;o shine full upon us!
I do think we look upon trouble
in a very unscriptural way now
adays. I am quite sure that in
the apostles’ time there were
many in the church who were
enduring great sorrow and afflic-
may be that great persecution
brings with it an exalted state
of mind, so we will not consid
er that at all. But I am sure
that many a mother, in the apos
tles’ time, was mourning the loss
of her darling, many a wife was
dragging through years of devo
tion to one who was blind to all
her self-sacrifice, many a man
was beset by terrible business dif
ficulties. Yet, did not the apos
tles pity them, and wish it in
their power to take the load of
sorrow, or sacrifice, or anxiety
oflF? “Behold,” says St. James,
“We count them h&ppy which
endure.’
Ah! there is the shadow, and
beyond, looking at the unseen
things, shines the clear light of
that Sun which is risen with
healing—healing for wounded,
tired, discouraged hearts—in His
wings. Is it not foolish,—no, is
it not wicked,—to walk shiver
ing in the shadow, when by one
step, into full faith and accep
tance of God’s will, you may be
in the warmth of his preeence?
■S. S. Tinm,
HELP POE THE POOE.
Georgia certainly never
saw a more imposing funeral
than that of her most distin -
guished citizen, the late Gov
ernor Stephens. The interest
of the occasion centred in the
address of Gen. Toombs, who
for some minutes was unable
to begin for emotion at the
loss of his friend. That was
the most eloquent address;
but the highest eulogy of the
eminent man was spoken by
Chief Justice Crawford, who
said that out of his lirpited
means Mr. Stephens had edu
cated 122 poor young men,
and that a green country boy
went to. Crawfordville to so
licit aid of Mr. Stephens, and
forgetting his narne, asked:
“Whar does the man live that
oddicates poor boys?” and ev
ery hand in the crowd poin
ted the boy to Liberty Hall,
sitting on an adjacent hill.
We wish to commend this
illustrious example to all who
have meads as not only one
of beneficence, but of wisdom.
There can surely be no strong-
appeal than that of the
youthful mind which, with
just enough light to yearn for
more, cries out to the gener
ous for help as it struggles out
of the darkness. To bestow
one’s benefactions upon mind
culture is wise ; for with due
care in the selection of the
subject,' no investment is so
secure and none yields a rich
er harvest.
One of the things whicii op
press those who travel in
North Carolina in the interest
of education is the large num
ber of worthy and poor young
men who long for an “eddi*
cation/’ but know no Alexan
der H. Stephens from whom
to get aid.—Wake Forest Stu->
dent.
built after the divine patter n,
was the most splendid edifice
of earth, and cost moro than
all the Oliurches in America;
with its ark of the covenant;
in it tlie two tables of stone,
quarried in heaven, and in
scribed by the fingers ol God
with the moral code to gov
ern the world, the wand of
Moses, the rod of Aaron that
budded, and the pot of manna
gathered in the wilderness,
the golden mercy-seat on the
ark of the covenant, and the
resplendent cherubim at each
end of the mercy-seat, and
the Sheki:iah hovering over
the cherubim, and the celes
tial fire flaaiing on the altar,
and the oracular responses of
the Urim ar:d Thummim; yet
abandoned by the Spirit, the
celestial fire expired, the
Soekinah returned to heaven,
the Temple sunk to ruins, and
the Jews were scattered to the
four winds, where they are in
exilo unrepealed. The Apos
tolic Church was framed by
immediate inspiration, in ut-
m St simplicity, without a
symbol, and ^flled with the
Spirit,'^ and, because filled
with the Spirit, expanding
throughout the world in a sinn
gle generation; yet, when
abandoned by the Spirit, it
degenerated into the colossal
papal Church, a warning to
the Church to the end of times
And, last, take heaven itself,
built by Gi.>d himself, with its
walls of precious stone, and
gates of solid pearls, and
streets of gold, and mansions
of glory, and thrones of light,
and crowns and harps of gold,
and robes of white, and rivers
and trees of life, and sea of
glass, and golden altar before
the throne, and great white
throne itself, that city or God,
let it be abandoned by God,
and it is nothing I—Mosaer.
he came to this country and 1 tion, apart from the fierce perse-
explored the Lake Superior I cution which raged, for it
The true glory of the Church
is its spirituality. The Garden
of Eden was planned and
planted by God himself, with
its bowers, and flowers, and
fruit, and birds, and breezes,^
and golden rivers, and tree of
life, in utmost perfection, and
man placed in it, the glory of
creation; but man lost his
spirituality, and Eden wither
ed. The Temple of Solomon,
Judge X ,of Arkansass, had
brought before him a convic
ted folon to be sentenced. The
opportunity to “improve” the
occasion was not to be lost;
and, so, after the usual de
mand for reason why sentence
should not be pronounced,
his Honor slowly, and with
genuine feeling, addressed the
prisoner: “My poor fellow,
you are about to go the pen
itentiary. You are required
to give up, for a long time,
every thing which the great
world values—your family,
and, instead, to take for your
associates only felons like
yourself; your home, and to
take instead what can never
have the semblance of a home;
your will, and so to be subject
to the order of men who have
no sympathy with you. Even
your ordinary clothing 3'ou
exchange for”—here his Hon
or, raising his left arm, point
ed to it with the index finger
of his right hand—“striped
clothes, the stripes not run
ning lengthwise, like those,
but so—round and round, like
a coon’s tail.^’
Dr. Johnson, when making*
his tour of the Hebrides, was
asked to take a little wine. “I
cannot,’"’ was hi8reply:“for with
me moderation is excess.” “But
certainly you can carry off one
glass,” urged the tempter. “No
madam,” said the Doctor, “it
would carry me off.”