Orphans
RIEND.
Price, $1 a year.)
OXFORD, N. C., JULY 27,1883.
(VOL. IX. NO. 10,
THE WISH OP TO-DAY,
BY J. Q, WHITTIER.
I ask not now for gold to gild
With mocking shine a weary
frame;
The yearning of the mind is stilled,
I ask not now for Fame.
A rose-cloud, dimly seen a'cove,
Melting in Heaven’s blue depths
away,—
0 sweet, fond dream of hu nan love!
For thee I may not pray.
‘Well, John, what do you
come here for?’
‘I wish to prepare, for col-
But, bowed in h wlii.ess of mind,
I make my humble wishes known,- -
I only wish a will resigned,
0 V ather, to thine own I
To-day, beneath thy chastening eye
I crave alone for peace and rest,
Submissive in thy hand to lie,
And feel that it is best.
A marvel seems the universe,
A miracle our life and death,
A mystery which I cannot pierce,
Around, above, beneath.
Iti vain I task my aching brain,
III vain the Sage s thought I scanj
I only feel how weak and vain,
how poor and blind is man.
And now my spirit sighs for home.
And longs for light whereby to
see,
And, like a weary child, would
come,
' O Father, unto thee.
Though oft, like letters traced on
sand,
My weak resolves have passed
away,
In mercy lend the helping hand
Unto my prayer to-day.
, AN AImTn LITE.
Many years ago, during the
convalescence ot a dear friend
, who had been very ill, the
physicians said a i:roiled, bird
would I e good for him now
and then. It was in early
springtime. We were visiting
at Highland on the Hudson.
There bad been a light fall ot
snow the night before. The
robins were on their way
north. As usual under such
circumstances, they W'ere in
large flocks, and as the sun
rose higher they collected in
, great numbers among the
trees.
As the doctor had said that
my friend needed a bird, I did
not feel that it was wiong to
shoot one or two out of so
large a flock. In a tree not
far from where I was standing,
there were hundreds of robins;
I had often been told by old
hunters that if you fired into
a tree full of birds, and did
not take aim at some ono or
more, you would generally
fail to shoot any. So I said
to myself: ‘I will now try
the experiment.” So 1 aimed
at the whole tree and fired.
When lo! amid a cloud of
feathers they all flew away,
. leav'ng me fully impressed
with the lesson that if you
wish to secure your game, you
must take aim before you fire.
Since then, how much of
this shooting without aim I
have seen among both young
and old*
For many years I conduc*
ted a large classical and com
mercial school. The pupils
who aimed high for good
scholarship were always those
who hit the mark. Let me
give you a few specimens.
It wa.i the first day of
sshool after vacation, when
new pupils generally enter
■chooh
I was glad to hear this, for
here was a I oy with a pur
pose. His aim was to enter
college, and I knew, from
long experience, he would be
a good student, for he had an
aim in coming to my school,
and he was fully determined
to reach it.
Now, Jame is called to my
desk- ,
‘Well, sir, whatha^ brought
you here? What do you in
tend to do w’ith yourself?’
T have come to prepare my •
self for commercial life, and
wish to take ail such studies
as will make tne a successful
mercha; t and a useful man.’
I am equally well pie? sed
with him; he, too; has an aim,
and will succeed.
Now comes a father with
his son.
‘Well, sir, what do you in
tend to do with your boy?’
He replies:
‘I don’t know. I thought
he ought to have a little more
learning; he ought to go to
school a year or so longer, so
I heard you kept a pretty
good school, I thought I would
bring him to you.’
Here is a ease. What can
I do with a boy who does not
know why he has come into
my school? Who is a boy
without aim? I can only say
to the father:
‘From long experience in
the school- room, your son will
make poor progress unless he
studies with some noble aim
in view.’
John C. Calhoun, when at
college, was asked by one of
his mates:
‘John, what do you intend
to make of yourself?’
He replied:
‘President of the United
States.’
And, but for his nullifica
tion principles, he would have
been.
The great obstacle in the
way of success among our
young men of to day is that
they have no aim in life.
Let a young man carefully
consider his circumstances,
and then resolve that he will
attain some noble end by no
ble means, and how different
ly 1)6 will live from the young
man who drifts along on the
stream of life, waiting for
something to turn up, and
finally floats into some pool
of uselessness and forgetful
ness.
My young friends, it mat
ters little what your business
in life may be, only let your
aim be a noble one. If a
clerk in a store, then aim to
be the best clerk in your de
partment. Are you learning
a trade? Aim to be the t est
workman in that branch of
mechanics.
Do not, I beg you, start out
in life with no aim, now think
ing you will do this and now
that. Remember,- too, that
you have only one life to live,
and that have no time to waste,
in experiments.
If you cannot determine
what shall be your life-work,
seek the advice of those^capa-
ble of assisting you, and hay
ing once settled the all-im
portant question, set your aim
high, and go to work persis
tently and patiently to ac
complish it. And finally, do
not fail at the beginning of
life’s journey to aim—as tlie
eternal result of your life’s
work—to attain unto a seat
among those who, having
laid aside every weight, have
run with diligence and suc
cess the race set before them
in the gospel, looking to Je
sus.— Washington HashroucJc.
THE REASOlV why.
EMPLOYMENT ;F0R CHILDREN.
Here is something which will I The original of the following
give employment to the ci.il- quaint article was recently found
dren on days sometimes dreaded | in an old tower in the very an
PRAYERLESS FATHER.
“One little circumstance,”
said a gentleman in relating
his religious feelings, on his
admission to a Christian
church, “more deenly im
pressed me with th*^ impor'
tance of being a Christian
than any other. It was
question asked me by my 80)x
Henry,a little boy three years
old. My wife and niyselt
had taken great pains to teach
little Henry verses of Scrip
ture and hymns, and he never
went to bed without saying
his little prayer, “Now I lay
me down to sleep.” One
night tired and fretful, he re
fused to do it; and while I was
insisting upon it, telling liim
how wrong it was not to pray
he looked up into my face and
said, in childish simplicity:
“Why do you want me to
pray, father? I ne. er see you
pray.”
“No sermon 1 'had ever
heard, no book or tract I had
ever read, so impressed me as
that rebuke frooi my child, I
determined then, by tlie help
of God, to lead a different life
aud henceforth teach my chiK
dren by example as well as
))recept'’’
The father is now a hum'
ble follower of the Lord Je
sus Christ, an active member
of the church, and he and liis
happy family are gathered
every morning and evening
round the domestic altar.—
Eve'ty Youth's Paper.
Ly quiet loving mothers, when ciont town of Chester, England.
the schools are out and thehou.se
i.-: full of noi'.e and frolics.
(ret feome plaster -of Paris and
water, and provide some molds;
these may be borrowed from the
kitchen—pudding molds, blanc
mange molds, .scalloped cake-
tins, and oven plain hat prettily
shaped bowls, will any and all
answer the purpose. Now sot
the children to work; let them
mix the p aster and water, and
fill the molds.
If any of the articles they
make are of s.'.ch size and shape
that they can be hung on the
wall, provide some loop of rib
bon or of braid, and when the
mould is about half-full of jdas-
ter lay the e id of the loop in
and then , our more plaster over
■ WIN&SBYANDBY.
“Walter,” said a gentleman
on a ferry boat to a poor,
helpless cripple, “how is it
when you cannot walk that
your shoes get w^orn?”
A blush came over thh boy’s
pale face, but after hesitating
a moment he said;
“My mother has younger
children sir; and while she is
out washing I amuse them by
creeping about on the floor
and playing.”
“Poor boy!” said a lady
standing near, not loud enough
as she though i, to be over
heard, “What a life to lead!
What has he in aU the future
to look forward to?”
The tear started in his eye,
and the bright smile that
chased it away showed
that he xlid hear her. As she
passed by him to step on shore
he said in a low voice, but
with a smile:
“I’m looking forward to
having wings some day, la-
fly!”
Happy Walter! poor, crip*-
pled and dependent on charity
yet performing . his mission,
doing io his measure tiie Mas
ter’s will! Patiently waiting
for the future, he shall by and
by ‘‘mount up witli wings as
eagles: shall run aiid not b(i
weary, shall walk ajid not
faint.”
When the plaster has hardened.^
the loop will be found to ‘ be se
curely fastejied in, and capable
of sustaining the weight of the
article. When the plain bowl is
used, or a deep plate, the article
molded' will resemble a plaque,
arid c in be decorated by pa-.ting
some bright picture or painting
some design on it; and, bj the
way, I know of nothing whi. h
will so happily occupy the some •
times tedious hours of a child’s
life when he seems to have ex
hausted his resources, as the em
ployment of a paint-brush and a
few tubes of paint.
It may also be made to con
duce to his education in the mat
ter pf color, and—for I would
furnish him w ith a little bottle
of oil—he may learn to be neat,
to-use his oil an t paints without
soiling his hands or ilothes or
dropping any on the carpet.
It is conceded that it is a moth-
er’s duty to bring up her daugh
ter to bo a good wife, and so it
ought to be conceded that her
son should have some of the
training which will prove of in
estimable benefit as a husband,
and one of the most-wished-for
virtues is that of neatness, 'iliis
we may sorely teach our boys.
THE TOY PISTOL-
Much has been said about
the accidents resulting fr)m
toy piatrila. But this is not
the only evil incident to their
use. There is another serious
one wliich, strange to say, we
do not remember to have seen
mentioned. It is the increase
of the disposition to own and
handle pistols on the part of
our young men of our next
generation. The tastes and
habits acquired in childhcod
are frequently passed on to
young manhood, 'Fhe boy
who takes delight in owning
and using his toy pistol will
be so much more likely, as a
young man, to delight In
handling the dangerous revol
ver. It is passing strange
that parents with all the evil
resulting from the carrying of
pistols .so often and strikingly
brought to their notice will
encourage sucli a taste in their
sons by permitting them to
have these useless and dan
gerous toys.
It was among a lot of old boo ^s,
papers and diversified rubbish
that had just been unoarthed by
some repairs that were being
made upon tho building.
M F. W.
THE “REASON WHY.’’
Mr. A drinks because his doc
tor recommonds him to “take a
little."’’
Mr. B because his.doctor or
ders him not to drink, and ho
hates quackery.
Mr- C takes a drop because
he’s wet.
Mr. 1). J ecause he’s dry.
Mr. E because he feels some
thing rising.
Mr. F because he feels a sink
ing.
Mr. G because he went to see
a friend oft’ to America.
Mr. H because he’s got a friend
jus'.' come from Australia.
Mr. J because he’s so warm in
the G/ening,
Mr. K because he’s so cold in
the morning.
Mr, L because he has a pain in
his head.
Mr. M because he has a pain
in his side.
Mr. N because he has a pain in
his back.
Mr. 0 because he has a pain in
his chest.
Mr. P because he has pains all
over him.
Mr. Q because he feels so light
and happy.
Mr. R because he feels so heavy
an.l miserable.
Mr. 8 because he^s married.
Mr. T because he ins’t,
Mr. V because he likes lo see
his friends.
Mr, W because he^s got no
friends.
Mr. X because his uncle left
him a legacy.
Mr, Y because his aunt out
him off with a shilling.
Mr. Z becaucs ho went to Llan
dudno* yesterday.
'impossible to climb. He had
observed, iu front of the cas
tle, a pair of small cannons,
used for firing salutes on
great days. He procured a
number of tin canisters, filled
them with suitable tree seeds
and then fired them from the
cannon against the face of the
rock. The seeds were scat
tered in all directions; aud
this scheme of planting by ar
tillery proved completely 8UC'»
cessful-”
*Thi8 rcifers to a neighboring town
that long, long ago was a famous re
sort for merry-making, etc.—Ex.
FACT STRANGER THAN
FICTION-
Mr. J.. Ih Walkup, Monroe, N. C.,
says: “1 have derived groat benedt us
ing Brown's Iron Bitters tor palpita
tion of the heart aud dyspepsia.”
So fact is proverbially
said to be, and in reading of
device used by the father of
James Nasmyth, the famous
engineer and inventor, we
find a singular instance in
point
A few years since Porte
Crayon wrote some illustrated
sketches of a.ton? through the
mountains of West Virginia,
East'Tennessee, etc., and rep
resented a stranger, wonder
ing at the cultivatiori of farms
that stood so nearly on edge,
as asking a native how they
managed to plant those pre
cipitous mountain sides. The
native he reports as facetious
ly answering, “Well, stran
ger ,when corn planting time
comes, we just loads our old
shot guns widi our seed corn
and shoots it into the hill
sides”—so much for fictioi.
Now fur Nasmyth s fact. His
son, after giving au instance
of his father’s ingenuity, .idds
the following:
‘‘Another instance is his de
vice for planting with trees
a rock crag in the Duke of
Athole’s grounds which it was
An epidemic of crime and
violence seems to be sweeps
ing over the country, and the
lists of dark and bloody deeds
reported by the daily papers
contains the names of per
sons who are regarded as
teachers not breakers of the
law. Following the killing
of Dukes by Nutt, in PensyU
vania came the killing by
Rev.B. F. Jenkins of a brother
minister. This is now re
garded as an unprovoked and
unjustifiable murder, and
Jenkins and his brother have
been committed to jail with
out bail. Next came the duel
between the Virginia editors
Bierne and Elam in which the
latter was severely if not dan
gerously wounded, and. last
comes the duel between J.
Artnoy Knox, editor of Texas
Siftings, and a sculptor named
Sheehan, on an island near
tho city of New Fork in
which Knox was slightly
H'ounded. From New Hamp
shire there is a report of vio
lence by a company of work
ingmen; lynchings are rojiort •
ed from several quarteis and
other kinds ot crime swell
the record and show that Sa
tan at any rate has not taken
a vacation and gone to the
sea-shore or mountains. Jus
tice, however, is not dead.
Four men wererecently hung
in Arkansas for a murder
committed while aticjiipting
to rob a train. A pioinment
military officer has just en
tered the penitentiary to serve
a sentence at haril work lor
stealing the money that was
ontrusted to his charge, and
another has been been ex
pelled from the army for se
curing a fraudulent divorce
from his wife.
The American esthete is not
as well developed a specimen of
of his species as Punches English
dawdler is. I'he self-made man
in any sphere of life is likely to
bo very imperfect in spots, and
the self-made esthete, as the
American tj^pe must at present
bo, is not as symmetrical as his
English cousin, although he is
fully as great a fool, andfar more
of a hypocrite.—New York Trib
une.
Moses broke the tables
without breaking the law;
but where charity is broke the
law itself is shattered, which '
can not be whole without love
which is the fulfilling of it.—
^ir Thomas Browne.
Strengtti to vigorously push a busi
ness, strength to study lor a profession,
strengtli to regulate a liousehold,
strengtli to do a day’s labor without
physical pain. Do you desire strength!'
If you are broken down, have no ener.
gy, feel as if life was liarely worth llv-
ing, you can be relieved and restored
to robust health andstrenglhby taking
Brown’s Iron B tters, a sure cure for
dyspepsia, malaria, weakness and all
diseases requiring a true, relhible, non-
alcoliolic tonic. It acts on tlie blood,
nerve aud muscies and regulates every
part of the system.