smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1871

The example of the late General Lee
in refusing all gifts, and declining TO
receive compensation for services not
rendered, is more worthy to his coun-
try and to all who follow it, than mil.
lions in gold. The facts here stated
will not be forgotten:


In the winter of 1864 the City Coun-
Gil of Richmond rendered General Lee
an elegant mansion as some token of
the high estimation in which he was
held by the city which he had 80 long
defended. But the grand old man re-
Piled: II do not expect to be in Rich
mond during the continuance OF the
war, and my family are as comfortable
as they have right to expect in these
times. i must, therefore, with my
thanks for your consideration, most re-
spectfully decline your offer If you
have money to give, 1 hope you will
bestow it upon my private soldiers, who
are more in need and more deserving
than myself.


AT the close Of the war offers of pc.
cuniary assistance poured in upon him
from all sides, but he steadastly refus-
ed to receive them.


An English nobleman, thinking he
would rejoice in some place of retreat
from his Affections, wrote to offer him
a splendid country seat and handsome
annuity. He nobly replied: "I am
deeply grateful, but cannot consent to
desert my native State in the dark hour
of her adversely. must abide her for
tune and share her fate."


| Soon after he took charge of Wash.
ington College he was visited by the
agent of an insurance company, who
offered him the presidency at salary
Of ten thousand dollars. lie told the
sgent that he could not properly attend
to both. "But, General" said the
agent, tive do not want you to dis
charge any duties. We simply wish
the use of your name. That will abund.
antly compensate u.s."


"Excuse me, sir" was the prompt
and decided rejoinder, 81 cannot con-
sent to receive pay for service, do not
render"


He received many offers of this sort,
and just short time before his death,
a large manufacturing company in New
York offered him a salary of fifteen
thousand dollars year if he would be-
come their president. But to all such
offers he had the same reply-his duty
in the college fully occupied his time,
and he would not receive pay where he
did not render service.


He refused to receive from tho col
lege anything like so large salary as
they desired to pay him, and when, in
1869, the trustees decreed to Mrs. Lee a
house and annuity of three thousand
dollars, the General respectfully declin.
ed, on Mrs. Lees behalf to accept it.
He declined all gratuities, and though
a loving people, for whom he had toiled
so heroically, would most joyously have
settled on him handsome property,
he preferred to earn his daily bread by
his personal exertions, and to set his
, people an example of honest industry.
Christian Observer
Year: 1871

OLD MAZDA quaint and gallant
writer of some fifty years ago says:


81 love an old maid--I do not speak
of an individual, but Of the species-I
use the singular number, as speaking Of
singularity in humanity. An old maid
is not merely an antiquarian, she is an
antiquity not merely record of the
past, but the very past itself, she has
escaped great change, and sympathis-
es not in the ordinary mutations of NOR
tality. She inhabits little eternity of
her own. She is Miss from the begin
ming of the chapter to the end l do
not like them called Mistr esses, as is
sometimes the practice, for that looks
and sounds like the resignation of de-
spair, a voluntary extinction of hope.
| do not know whether marriages are
made in heaven; some people say they
are, but am almost sure old maids are,
There is something about them which
is not of the earth earthly. They are
spectators of the world, not ram blers
nor adventures; perhaps guardians
we say nothing of tattlers, they are ev
identity pedestinated TO be what they
are. They owe not the singularity o
their conditions to any lack of beauty
wisdom, wit, or good temper; there /
no accounting for it but on the princi
pie of fatality. / have known many
old maids, and of them all, not one tina
has not possessed as many good an
amiable qualities as ninety and nine {
a hundred ofmy married acquaintance;


Why, then, are they single? 1t


their fate.
Year: 1871

The relation of teacher and scholar Is
greatly misunderstood, both on the part
of parents and teachers. Yet, it should
not even be debatable, because its every
day life. 1t is decided by the courts,
that it is the business of the teacher TO
exact obedience in school, and it is his
legal right. "He must exercise reason
able judgment and discretion in deter
mining, when to punish and to what
extent" Various reasons unite to
make him the best Judge of the occasion
and extent.


"To form correct opinion as to the
necessity and extent of the punishment,
considerable allowance should be made
to the teacher by way of protecting
him in the exercise of his discretion.
Hence the teacher is not liable on the
grounds of excess of punishment, un.
less it is clearly excessive. If there is
any reasonable doubt whether the pun
ishment was excessive, the teacher
should have the benefit of the doubt"


AS to the effect of marks made in
whipping, the following case is the ruI-
ing one on record:


A lady in New York punished small
child to such an extent as to leave marks,
all of which were of such a character as
to pass away and leave no permanent
injury. The judge instructed the Jury
that if they believed the child (six or
seven years oldl had been whipped 50
as to leave marks, the teacher was guilty
of assault and battery. Under the
charge the jury found the lady guilty,


but she appealed to a higher court, in


which Judge Castor in an able and ex.


haustive opinion reversed the decision


of the court below. Hear him:


But any correction, however severe,


which produces temporary pain only,
and no permanent ILL., cannot be pro.
nOunced immoderate, since it may have
3 been necessary for the reformation of
the child, and does not injuriously affect
; its future welfare. Within the sphere
t of his authority, the master is the Judge
] when correction is required, and of the
# degree of correction necessary and like
. all Others trusted with discretion, HI
$ cannot be made penalty responsible fol


error ofjudgment, but only for wicked


ness of purpose. There was an error IL
the instruction given to the jury, that i
the child was whipped by the defend
ant, so as to occasion marks, the teache
had exceeded her authority and wa
5 guilty as charged. The marks We're al
8 temporary, and in short time dissp
y peared, no permanent injury was don
\ to the child"
e This is the law in Pennsylvania, an,
s prosecutors will not find it an easy
n matter to get this decision reversed b
3. any court in the State.
Year: 1871

Ic who Gull the weeds and poisons,
Cropping from the human heart,
Holding up the dross and folly,
Carping ON the vilest part,
Wrapped in self, and self so loving
That we have but hate to spare
For the Weakness of a nature,


Made so frall that IL can err.
Ye are killing all the beauty


That sin and folly hide,
And are crushing out the flowers
With the cruelty of pride
Ye are blotting all the lustre


Of the Jewels hid within,
That perhaps are brightly shining
Meath their covering OF sin.
That which Christ has called the greatest
That without which all is dross,
Ye forgetting, east your venom


Under shadow of the cross.
Teach your heart some kindlier lesson,
Cleanse from soil the robes ye wear,
Judge ye not the lives of others,


Lest yourselves the judgment share.
Year: 1871

the defence of johnson and the decision
of Judge Caldwell was, that it was no differ
ence if the deceased was the child Of q
white woman, II his father was Chero.
kcc and the deceased lived in the Chero-
kee Country, he was in law a Cherokee
Indian--and under the direction Of the
Court. The jury returned a verdict of
"not guilty without leaving the box.


If any credit is due to any Cherokee,
for the settlement Of this question by
Caldwell, it is due to George Johnson
and his fellow prisoners. And it displays
q notable lack of info rmation on the part
Of the editor of the n Adrocdte, to call the
opinion of Judge Caldwell a reversal Of
the opinions Of his predecessor; however,
the editor of that paper seems to think it
hardly worth while to inform himself
correctly upon any subject of real inter
est, which he attempts to handle. He
called Delano an honest man aud IL friend
Of the Indians; and have no doubt next
to him the editor considers Gems Sheri-
dan and Custer, the best friends to the
Indian, and would be able to write many
sweet things about their humane and
tender bearing towards their "red broth
ers."


But it is getting late--I must bid you
good night. will call again, b.
Year: 1871

EE We are informed that the Masonic
Fraternity, Of this city, propose to give
another Ball, about the last ofthis month,
the proceeds to be used in the purchase
of Masonic Carpet and Window Cur
tains, having failed to realize the neces-
sary amount from the first ball Further
notice will be given in due time.
Year: 1871

The evening of every mans life is


coming apaee. The day Of life viii


soon be spent. The sun, though it


may be up in mid-heaven, viii pass
swiftly down the western sky, and
disappear. What shall light up mans


path when the sun OF life has gone
down? He must travel on to the


next world but what shall illumine
his footsteps after the nightfall OF
death, amid the darkness of his Jour
ney? What question more impOr-
tant, more practical, more solemn for
each reader of our journal to ask him
self? That is a long journey to travel
without light, without a guide and
without a friend. Yet every man
must perform it. The time is not far
distant when all men viii begin the
journey. There is an evening star in
the natural world. It's radiance il
bright and beautiful, and cheering to
the benighted traveller. But lffe's
evening star is in a good hope Of
Heaven, It's beauty and briIliancy
are reflected from the sun of righteous
ness. whose bright rays light up the
evening Of life, and throw their radi-
anee quite across the darkness Of the
grave into Immanuel's land. 1t has
the footsteps of many q
traveller into eternity. 1t is of price
less value. A thousand worlds can
not purchase it; yet 10 is offered with
out money and without price to him
who will penitently and thankfully
receive.
Year: 1871

Our brains are seventy-year clocks.
The angel Of Life winds them I'D once
for all, then closes the case and gives


the key into the hand of the angel


of Resurrection. Tic-tac! tic-tac! 20


the wheels Of thought; our will can


not stand them madness makes them


go faster; death alone can break into
the case, and seiZing the ever-swing-


ing pendulum, which we call the
heart, silences at last the clinkinp of
the terrible eseapement we have car
ried beneath our wrinkled forehead.
If we can only get at them, as we lie
on our pillows, aud count the dear
beats of thought after thought and
image after image jarring through
the Over-tired organ. Will nobody


block those wheels, uneouple that
piniOn, cut the strings that hold the
weights, blow up the Internal ma
chine with gunpOwder? What a pas
sion comes over US sometimes FOR
silence and rest. that this dreadful


mechanism unwinding the endless
tapestry OF time, embroidered with
spectral figures of life and death,
could have but one brief holiday. III
any body would really contrive some


kind Of a lever that one could thrust
among the works Of this horrid auto


matOn, and check them or alter the


rate Of going, what would the world
give for the discovery. Men are very
apt to try to get at the machine by
some indirect system or other. They
clap on the brakes by means Of OPT |
UNI; they change the maddening
monotOny Of the rhythm by means Of
fermented liquors. It is because the I
brain Is locked up and we cannot /
touch its movements directly, that we .
thrust these coarse tools in through 1
any ereViee by which they may reach /
the interior, alter its rate OF going for
a while, and at last spoil the machine.
Year: 1871

Asno two lives have ever been alike


on earth, 80 no two deaths nave ever


been. There is as vast variety IL


mems dying as in their living.


There are deaths that, apart from


all regrets and sorrows, impress Us


with a painful sense Of discOrd. Tney


come before the work Is done. ihe
story is broken of. The drama mas
no close. The music Jars into sudden


diseOrd, and ends. We stand ABOUT
the grave, and from the earthly side


there is a blank sense Of incomplete
ness. We are cheated by promise


that was never filed. There Is an


other confusion amid the many con-
fusiOns of this lower world another


discomfort, with its apparent lack OF
purpose.


Such are always the deaths Of chill
dren and the very young. With no


vision Of another world, where the
great God Of all worlds has work and
uses, these deaths seem utterly unrea-
sOnable.


And we may add to these deaths
| in opening manhood, Just when the
hand has learned its cunning and the
brain has gained its strength when,
to the young man with promise OF
noble results and high courage, hope
and principle, death comes and ends
the story before the first page is writ
ten, takes the tools away and sus-
pends the labor before the first blow
is struck.


And beside these, the deaths that
come in middle life, when tied to
family and friends and social duties,
the center Of thousand Interests
with his work all about him unhn.
ished-a work he is doing wei by all
mems judgment-a work which we
think none but he can do so well, or,
it may be, do at all-death summons
man in the midst Of his highest
uses and most splendid successes, and
all is broken of in the midst and
left fragmentary and chaotic. To the
deepest sense Of loss there is added
this urther strain upon the intellect,
to bear loss that from this side seems
needless and irrational.


These deaths may come suddenly,
by slow decay, or by the accident, as
we call it, of a moment; but they are
none the less to our reason q shock,
and contradiction to our sense of
fitness. We call them untimely
Deaths" unreasonable in doing so,
but that we are taught by faith, and
not by sight.


Again, there are deaths that come
upon US with a sense of completed
harmOny-deathst that end lives as the
sunset ends the day; deaths when the
work is done, when the story Is all
told, when the long, full days travel
is finished. Youth prepared for the
work in a faithful prenticehOOd man
hood did the work like q master. Pa
tiently, as the years passed, the ap-
pointed duty was fulfilled, the pre-
seribed burden borne. And now, at
last, all finished, death comes to sum
mon the labOrer to his rest.


These are the deaths to thank God
for-these deaths that end long and
fruitful life with a perfect close. They
come with the calmness Of summer
sunsets, that end the day with the
dreamy regret Of the Indian summer
that ends the year. They seem 10 be-
long to the diyiner harmOnies Of the
other world, to be visitation Of Gods
eternal order here among the uneer-
tainties and eOnfusiOns Of time.
Year: 1871

The Secretary Of the Treasury
is making more progress in his efforts
70 refund the national debt at q lower
rate Of interest than would have been
believed possible. Some two millions
Of dollars Of the old six per cent.
bonds have already been offered at the
Treasury to be exchanged for the new
five per cent, and the First National
Bank at New York expresses the be-
lief that through its agencies alone
ten millions Of the new bonds can be
placed.
Year: 1871

John Bunyan was once asked a
question about heaven which he
could not answer, because the matter
was not revealed in the Scriptures; /;
and he therefore advised the inquirer
20 live holy life and go and see.
Year: 1871

A bird quite us much disliked by fruit
growers as the Robin is the Cedar Bird, or
Cherry Bird, so called on account of its fond
ness for cherries and the berries of the Red
Cedar. These birds come from the South
quite early in the spring, in small flocks, and
remain all summer. During most of this
time they live upon insects and are all the
while OF great strvce, hut in cherry time
they help themselves to their favorite fruit
and then all their good deeds are forgotten,
and they too often fall victims to unjust con-
demnation. | think that nothing more is
needfu to secure the protection instead of
destruction of these birds than for any one to
watch them closely, not merely during the
cherry season but all the while they are with
u.s. from early spring till autumn. There are
many who rarely if ever see this and other
birds, except during the few days, or weeks
mt most, in which they are injurious, forget
ting entirely to look after them OF to consider
their habits mt other times, and SO great er-
rors very easily arise.


AS the Bobolink is one of our must COM
mon meadow songstcrs and is withal II great
favorite with many; word or two will not
be out of place. So far us agriculture is con-
cerned this bird is of less Importance than
many others, but yet it has some interest
when viewed only in this light In the
South they are usually disliked because they
pay more frequent visits to the rice fields
than is pleasant for the owners, and indeed
they often do much damage to crops, though
they are sometimes very beneficial to the
cotton as we shall see before closing. In
New England however it seems to have left
its love for grain behind it and here it eats,
some grass-seeds indeed, but for the most
part its food consists of beetles, crckets
grasshoppers, and all sorts of insects. They
remain with us only during the warmest part
of the year, not often arriving before the
middle of May and leaving in large hocks
early in September. Even if the Bobolinks
We're not the useful birds they are to us We
could well afford to tolerate their presence
on account of the joyous, tinkling warble thai
they so constantly give us during the first
part of their stay, seeming the very embod
ment of buoyant life and he must be very
melancholy who can long listen to their song
without catching in spite of himself some
thing of its cheeriness and hugging himsel
for very joy.


One of our common birds, and one tina
should be highly esteemed, is the Cat Bird
as it is one of the greatest enemies of tn,
various kinds of insects we have. The Blu,
Bird is an universal favorite and deserves S,
to be, as besides being of Il cheerful dsposi
ton it does good service in warning agains
the insects. The Barn, Cliff and Bank swal
Year: 1871


replant large tracts. Certainly they are none
other than thieves during this time. About
this same time too they are watching the
smaller birds in their domestic onerations.
and when the eggs are laid and the Young
Matched they make n meal from them. If
what has been said in regard to these small
er birds he true it is easy to see that in des-
troying their eggs and young the Crow is
preventing the destruction of myriads of in
sects and so is most harmful bird ms long
as he continues in this predatory work. Mr..
Samuels thinks that u Crow takes about
eight ounces OF food daily and so he is able
of course to eat no small number of birds
and eggs during the season. Mr.. Samuel's
calculation gives, as the result of one davis
work for Crow, the destruction of birds
that could fairly be presumed to have des-
troyed during the season nearly 100000 IN
sects had they lived. After the corn has
grown too large and the birds have flown
from the nest the Crow betakes himself
again to the search for insects and becomes
II useful member of society. But. as his evil
deeds are far greater than his good ones, we
must set him down MS mn outlaw. An ingen-
ious mode of catching these birds is piyen bv
Wilson. A live Crow is securely fastened
to the ground with his feet upward In this
condition his cries are loud and frequent.
AS soon rs other Crows tiy down about him
he grasps them hoping to relieve himself of
the fetters that hold him to the ground. and in
this way the prisoner may be taken and the
trap is all act for another.


| The Blue Jay is guilty of similar msde-
meanors, for this bird delights to rob the
nests of the Thrushes and Warblers of both
eggs and young. 1t also devours insects,
beech nuts and other seeds and fruit


Equally as guilty of robbing the nests of in
sect eating birds is the Canada JAY This
bird is not common except in the northern
part of the state Mr. Samues says that he


has known pair of these birds to carry off
the young of four nests of the Snow Bird in


one forenoon.


Besides these three groups, the Crows, the


Backbirds and the Jays, there are Il few


other birds that are to some extent injurious
and in saying this / of course do not mean
! that no others are ever guilty of damaging
fruit or crops, but that in these the injury
done is not compensated by any equivalent


benefit as it is in the case of the others.
Year: 1871

The river is still falling, and from all in
dications general drying up process is
going on all over the country. Several
of the rivers are navigatcd only by the
lightest draft boats, and they generally
have trouble in making the trip. The
Mississippi is falling, and aSout five feet
Is all that can be found with tho stick.


Business ON the landing is improving
A much-needed rain fell during the after
noon, and if it has been general slight
rise in the rivers may be expected.


The snagboat }. j. Albert will devote
several days to pulling up snsgs in this vi
Year: 1871

treatises as are accessible to him, on the subject of lightning and lightning rods. These books agree in one thing, viz. :: That lightning rods properly made. properly put up and properly put down. are means of safety to life and property. Rods con. nected by couplings. making one continu. ous conductor. with good plated or gilt point or points. and instead of two or three feet in sandy ground, at least thirty or forty feet of the rod little under the sur. face of the ground. and if in dry and sandy place, imbedded in charcoal. is the thing needful. Inadequate connection oi lightning rods with the earth is the most common error. A rod however perfect in other particulars, running into bed oi sand. or dry gravel. is as completely insu. lated as if put upon bed of glass, and has no more power than dry stick.-This is not skepticism more prevalent in one place than another. It is common un. belief that should be religiously corrected, Safety to life and church edifices in par. ticular demands it. as part and parcel oi the requirements of the Christian religion

 The foregoing has not been written for the people of any particular church or parish, but for the purpose of calling attention generally to the fact of what the writer be

 lieves to be common danger, arising from lightning rods having very inadequate connection with the earth. A rod to be oi service, should have no small portion of its length under the surface of the ground. and if it be a dry place where it reaches the ground, it should be surrounded with charcoal or other material as good. T.