University of South Carolina Libraries
HOYT & CO., Proprietors. ANDERSON 0. H., S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 26, 1872. VOLUME TUT.?NO. 25. CHRISTMAS OAROLS It was Christmas Eve all over the world. In a thousand homes loving hearts, happy or sad, were filled with thoughts of kindness, and sym? pathy, and love.. Busy hands were waving of? ferings for the morrow, and busy feet were Has? tening homeward to cheerful, waiting firesides. In a pleasant homestead a young girl of sixteen was busily engaged in adding the finishing touches to some dainty bit of workmanship. She formed a pretty picture herself, as she sat curled up in tue deep window sill, where the fire-light, brightning in the twilight flashed its warm color over her shining hair and delicate cheek. Her soft dark eyes shone with a sub? dued hut earnest light, and the lithe figure managed the dainty material of her work with a graceful and deft manipulation attractive to the beholder. The beholder was a gray-haired mau, who occupied the great arm-chair in the window corner of the fire-place, and who leaned noon his cane and ' vatched the pretty maiden, fair young Rosamond, at her work, and smiled to think now like she was to another Rosamond he had known, and loved, and buried, in the years bo long gone by. "Seep good watch, Grandpa," said the fresh young voice. " Don't let anybody scud along your side unbeknownst," as Biddy says; "I'm afraid Papa will steal a march on me. I would'nt have him to see this for a pretty. Isn't it a beauty 1 Won't he be pleased with it ? Come now, Grandie, dear, don't look so solemn and owlish. It's Christmas Eve. What are you thinking of so deeply." The old man looked up and smiled. "I was thinking, Rosa, of how good and how pleasant it is to have Christmas come, and to have one day in all the year on which there is so much good will. I was thinking how all these love gifts that we make to each other, and all the kind feelings we have towards one another, go to form a precious love-gift to the Lord of Christmas. Indeed, the "peace on earth and good will to man" that prevails on Christmas Day, w the "Glory to God in the Highest" 'That's beautiful, Grandpa, dear," exclaimed the girl. "Its a genuine Christmas Carol. I always did say that my Grandpa's fireside hectares were sermon ana hymn all in one. .Oh, dearie me, here comes Papa up the steps, with his arms full of bundles. Let me run." And gathering up her work Rosamond went from the room. At the same hour that Rosamond's papa as? cended the steps of his beautiful home, another father entered the door of an humble cottage not far distant. He bore no Christmas bundles in his arms. His eyes were sad and his man? ner dejected. Before the cheerful fire, whose ruddy blaze lit up the small, low room, a young girl'was kneeling while she toasted slices of bread for the evening meal. "It's Christmas Eve, Papa," she said, with a lively nod of welcome. "Stoop down and give me a good, sweet kiss; this fire is toasting my cheeks as well as my slices. Mamma is putting Bud to bed. He went soqnd asleep on the rug and icoulda't wake up. Tea is all ready now. I wish Harry was here.,; May, be it was the . cheerful firewarmth, or maybe the bright young, face and cheery tones of the little daughter that wrought the charm ?I only know that the sad eyes brigli tened to a fond smile as the lather looked lovingly into the upturned face of his child. The room was cosy and comfortable, although the furniture was plain and the adornments of the simplest kiud. The table was spread for tea, and the cloth, and cups and saucers, and plates, were speckless and shining, and laid with a scrupu? lous nicety. The ceapot simmered on the hearth, and within a smooth oval of hot ashes lay the' mealy browE Jackets that were to form the evening meal. The mother entered the room and greeted her husband with a smile. At the same moment a boyish voice was heard at the door, and a pair of stamping feet on the doorstep kept time to a sort of rude melody that the boy s voice sang to the words: 4tNow it i? winter, and I am discontent, My coat is somewhat like an ugly rent, And all the snow from on" the top of the house Came down into my bosom?squash-ker-souse." "Harry Minturn, you noisy youngster," ex? claimed the girl, gayly, as she sprang to open the door, "why, where have you been ? You're covered with snow I" "I should say so," said the boy, shaking himself. "Dame Hickley's old slant roof avalanched just as I popped under the eaves?hence my eottchume. I don't care. Ic's Christmas Eve, and I've earned fifty cents carrying bundles, and have got two jobs for to-morrow. We'll have a Christmas supper if we don't have plum pudding and turkey dinner." "S?sn," interrupted his sister. "Get off your coat and come to tea. We've elegant roast'potatoes and toast." Somehow the brave cheery boy, and the equally bright and brave sister, made the home? ly room seem almost radiant, and the sad eyed father and patient mother sat down to the fru? gal meal with a Christmas carol of thankful? ness in their hearts for the peace that was theirs in the gift of their noble-hearted children. True, they were poor and in sore trouble, but the trouble came not nigh them in the same manner that it had come to some of their neighbors. They had not ungrateful, rebellious children to wring their hearts with anguish. And they chose to praise God for the blessings He had given them, rather than to repine for what He had denied them. "We must lose the cottage, Mildred," Mr. Minturn said to his wife when alone with her, but we must not lose our trust in God. Let us sing a hymn of praise. Our home will be cold next week, but we can celebrate our last Christ? mas in the dear old place with a pleasant sound of carols, can't we? When Rosamond went from her grand-father she sought her own room to put by her little treasure. "A love-gift to the Lord of Christmas," she repeated to herself. "That is beautiful?but I have no such gift. None of mine are meant for Him. I never think Buch good and holy thoughts of myself." She glanced over tho army of presents she had With such interest prepared. "Something for every one who will be likely to give me something," she said aloud. "And I'd never i a thought of any one else. Christ's birthday, I and no gift for Christ." At the table Rosamond's father said: "I' heard to-day that the Minturn cottage is to be sold next week under a mortgage. Mi qturn's been unfortunate lately?out of employment so ! long. It will go hard with him to lose his home. It won't bring over eight hundred dol? lars at auction, and the mortgage calls for three hundred more. The interest and costs will consume another hundred. He won't have much left." "What a pity," said Mrs. Gale; "such a good man, and such a nice family. Can't something be done?" "I don't see what," said Mr. Gale. "He asked me to leud him four hundred dollars and take a mortgage, but I couldn't just now. It's too near the close of the year. I need the money in my business." "It's too bad. How sad they must be to? night. It quite spoils my Christmas." After tea Grandpa called Rosamond into the library. "Come, Rosie," he said, "what am I to do ? It's too hard for our neighbor Minturn to lose his home this way. I could help him by ma? king a little sacrifice." "Oh, do help him then," said Rosamond. "But if I do somebody must needs do with? out the Christmas present I intended to be? stow." "Well, Grandpa, who woufdbe so selfish as to care?" "I am afraid my little Rosie will," said Grandpa, "My one gift is intended for her, and it is io cost four hundred dollars. I have selected it, and intend buying it to-night, and having it sent up in the morning?unless, in? deed"? "Oh, Grandpa! a present for me to cost four hundred dollars I It is?it is a new piano? Oh, you d ear, beautiful Grandpa. Just what I had so longed for. My old, worn-out hurdy gurdy is a real trial to me." She had quite forgotten everything and eve? rybody save the much wished for piano and the generous and doatiug grandpa. Suddenly she recollected. "Oh, G randpa," she said, "I understand you now. Either I must give up the piano or the Min turns must give up their home." She threw her arms around her grandfather's neck and hid her face, and the tears that would come upon his shoulder. It was a sharp struggle between self-love and Christ-love. The dear grandpa's words came to her mind?"a love-gift to the Lord of Christmas"?and she whispered, as she kissed the old man's silvery locks, "Dear Grandpa, we will not buy the piano. We wir make a love-gift to the Lord instead." "Rose of the world," murmured her grand? father fondly, "you make my heart sing for joy. No music that you could ever have drawn from the piano I had heped to give you could have yielded me such delight as does your sweet voice now, when it speaks in accents of unselfish love. It chimes in my heart a true Christmas Carol." "Then each has snng a carol to the other," said the young girl, her face beaming with smiles, "only mine would never have been sung at all had not yours beea sung first. Aren't we happy, Grandie ? I feel almost as if it were my home that was saved." "We musn't be selfish on Christmas Eve. Get me mir coat. I'll go down and speak a good word* to Minturn," said tkp good old man. Tears were in his eyes now. 'When Grandpa returned Rosamond was sitting at the old piano, and the family were singing a Christmas Carol? "Chime, bells, chime, Glory bo to God above? Christ has come to live and love, Chime, bells, chime." "Tha old hurdy gurdy sounds splendidly to? night, Grandie, dear," cried the young girl. "Rose of the world," said grandpa, softly, "it is because of the love-gift." And the Christmas Carols chimed lovingly all the dreamful night, not only in the hearts of the dwellers in the abode of plenty, but in the grateful hearts of those who sang carols while yet in darkness, and to whom the Lord of Christmas had sent his servant with a promise of help in the time of trouble. "Glory be to God i? the highest, and on earth peace, and good? will toward men." Christmas and the Dying Year. "A merry, merry Christmas, To crown the closing year; Peace and good-will to mortals, And words of holy cheer! What though the dreary landscape Be robed in drifted snow, If on the social hearth-stone The Christmas tire may glow?" The year is almost finished ; December, for? merly the tenth month, but now the twelfth and last month, has come; winter has spread his snowy mantle over the face of nature, and the short days are carrying us rapidly onward to the end. But although these are the days "When icicles hang by the wall, And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk, comes frozen homo in pail," December is generally a happy month, and it is crowned with the Christmas holidays, now almost universally observed. Like many other festivities and ceremonies, Christmas has a double origin'. As a day set apart in commem? oration of the birth of Christ, its first observ? ance known to history was not far from the close of the second century. There has been much controversy as to the true date of Christ's birth, and although che i!5th of December was at last decided upon as the day of celebration, it is generally conceded that it does not corres? pond with the actnal date of the Saviour's na? tivity. But it is in the spirit, more than a mere date, that is of importance. The heathen nations, far back in antiquity, held various fes? tivals at this time of the year, and the Church, in the early days of Christianity, tried to give a sacred character to them, and thus, while to a certain extent retaining the old customs, ad? vance the interests of true religion. Christmas, and the old and new year, have been favorite themes with the poets, and these lines of Tennyson are well adapted for this place: "Ring out, wild bells, to tho wild sky, The flying cloud, tho frosty light; The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild "bell*, and let him die. "Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow; The year is going, let him go ; Ring out tho false, ring in the true. "Ring in tho valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand ; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in tho Christ that is to bo." A Christmas Thought.?A lecture was de? livered in Boston a few years since by Rev. Wm. B. Wright, and during his remarks he beautifully said: "Most of us remember the day? which are set in the year of childhood as gems arc set in rings. In later life these starting points of time become effulgent days; rising like suns; flushing the household sky with genial tones, warming its gray with color. To unnumbered millions Christmas has been such a day. To sad hearts it has brought gladness. It has stood like a rock by the eea. The dark waves come moaning against it, to be caught and tossed into silver spray and dash of rainbows. Though the drops fall back again and are lost in the joyous ocean, though Christmas laughter soon settles into the moan of care, the next tide shall repeat the benediction. For, when Christ? mas is gone Christmas is coming. Though the vole log bla/.es but once a year, sparks of its sacred flame shall linger on the hearth and mingle with fires daily kindled where it has lain. The benign effect of a merry Christmas does not cease when the tapers arc extin? guished." Christmas. I suppose there are many who would like to have a etory for Christmas more than anything else, and without a doubt it does the heart good, to read stories of that old time which comes to us every year just as fresh and young again, as if time had not made so disastrous a mark upon earth and its generations; for still the charm of Christmas is as indisputable as in the years gone by, when we used to discern its approach through the splendor of our gifts, and the smiles of our loved ones, who now perchance are far from us; dead, or whose interests arc divided in other directions, so that we feel no more the fullest bene?cence of their love. Still, the hours of Christmas Eve gather us in heart I once more around the blisses of gone experien? ces, even though the reality is not to be grasped. ! But though there are advantages in giving you all a Christmas story, I think a little quiet re? flection upon this lesson will not do any one I harm. Everybody will soon be s houting "mer I ry Christmas," but not every one knows what it means. They do not know perhaps, or if they know it, they don't think about it as they ought, that Christmas is a ho', y-day, that its I meaning is at the very origin of Christianity. Our festivities, then, and every joy that now gladdens us at this season, should be nestled at the feet of the Saviour, whose unutterable love has given us so great a privilege, thus to be able without profanity to mingle His name with our happiness. But very few, however, treat the day as it deserves. They remember not its sanctity, they forego its privileges, who use it merely as a time for family and friendly reunions, as an occasion for mirth and worldly display. We must not think of what is at the core of all forgetfulness of God's, days and sea? sons?a heartless turning away from duty, and a following after the relaxations of what is disorderly and without law. He who discards the festivals of the church, or any regularly appointed times meant to be observed devoutly, is on the highroad to disrule and disorganiza? tion of mind and body. We are but children at last, who, although the discipline of the school room and the nursery are over, yet stand in constant need of being led. We are left, in one sense of the word, to wander where we will; but in many other ways do we find ourselves hedged in and hemmed up, until it is impossible to do as we wish, that is if we wish to do sinfully, unless we would openly dare the scorn of a tan? talizing world, which has no mercy for the erring. People generally are prone just now to be thinking a great deal more of display and fleshy enjoyments than of devotional exercises and pursuits that tend heavenward. It is so very natural to be thinking of eating, drinking and dressing, that we can hardly take time to reflect that we may overdo ourselves even in this important particular. It is not hard for any sensible person to see that dressing is not of slight consequence. It is a nice mark of position, and it is intended thus to make the indolent or the poor struggle up to it. By the time they attain to their aim, perhaps they have overcome habits of idleness, and learned that they must work if they want the eye of the public to respect them. Again, just there lies a temptation also, but thatl?rks in every apple of gratification that presses our lips. Just then, when they have learned to fear the world's scorn, they are apt to fear it too much; when they have learned to covet its respect, they are apt to set too much value upon it; and here we see the intention of Providence, in assign? ing us new work for every progressive step we take. The same reasoning may be applied to eat? ing, and drinking, and rational amusements. The labor necessary for the purchase of com? forts and luxuries, elevates and lifts us to in? dependence. Why did the poet say "labor is worship ?" He must have had some elevated reasoning in view to make such a declaration reasonable. I have not digressed from my subject. I have kept in my mind all the time how these arguments may be applied usefully to this Sreseut occasion, when too many, in a round of issipation, will not have a Saviour to remem? ber, or that this blessed, sacred season is the first born of His redeeming love. It is a day to cheer the sinner's heart?who is not a sin? ner? Point me out the mortal who is not a sinner, and at the same moment I will show you one who may give to his passions or appe? tites free, uncontrolled vent, because it is Christmas. The greatest misery of poverty is, that it is so apt to forget everything but itself. It has so many unsatisfied desires, and so many hard pinches has it to bear, that it often looks no further than itself for an object of charity.? Should this be the case with the prosperous or the wealthy? One of wealth's richest gifts, is the leisure it affords to look into the wants of the needy ; and the anxiety for them, which in generous bosoms must grow, inspired by what it discovers of distress. There is a burden upon our hours of idle? ness,- then, a beggar upon every day's income, a wail of sorrow from the hungry and the naked to temper our feelings of excess, and anxiety to sober our superabundant ioys as we father round our happy firesides ana our well 11 cd boards. As the old cry of "merry Christmas" greets us, will any of us remember how many there are to whom it will bring no merriness ? Will we have one thought to send forth or one prayer for the poor prisoners, one for the sick, one for the wretched upon whom that day will shed no ray of light? Will we remember the hungry I eyes that are strained in vain (?) hoping that some good angel may send them a little morsel of bread upon that great day when everything seems to teem with plenty? Are they praying for bread ? Why may not some of us answer that call ? I have told you all a Christmas story which is no romance. Would you test its reality, go in search and sec, and you will find that "truth is stranger than fiction." May the shout of "merry Christmas" ascend I from many a heart, won to the love of God through the love of its fellow man. O ! believe me when I say it?I know it from experience? there is nothing can win the wayward soul of man quicker to its God than the love of its fellow mortal; and dicrc is nothing more dan? gerous than the withdrawal of sympathy and Christiau fellowship. The steadiest Christians have been known to falter for want of fellowship. The hand that has been "put to the plow" for years, has been known to grow weak, all because of not receiv? ing encouragement.. Go, then, "into the high? ways and the hedges," and bid them to share your feast. Be careful lest at your door be laid no blame by those who plead excuses, perhaps cither to cover your pride or their own mortifi? cation, for a scornful pity is an insult to tho poor. Back, then, upon tho wings of centuries let us fly, and on the silent plains of Bethle? hem, beneath that guiding star, let ns find our portion with the "wise men"?a Saviour who will ever teach us to be pure, and whose oft re? peated maxim is "Love one another." "Shout the clad tidings," while a world shall listen ! It will indeed be a "memj Christmas" | when all earth responds to the great soul throb i of "redeeming love;" and when the angels'j song, "good will to men," finds a full echo in ! humanity's selfish heart. SAJfTA CLAUS* VISIT. Who is coming down the chimney With.his pocket hill of toys? Such a pretty lot of presents For my little girls and boys I Did you hear the chimney creaking Willie, Johnny, blue-eyed Nell ? Who, think you, is slyly coming ? Who's the stranger ? quickly tell! Speak up promptly, little children, While I kindly listen?pause! Oh! I hear you all exclaiming: "It is darling Santa Claus !" Will he fill our Nellie's stockings With a doll and candy sweet ? Tut in bright-eyed little Willie's Navy-ship, f?ll rigged, complete! And a soldier, brave and noble, For our Johnny to command, With a sword so brightly gleaming, Poised within his nerveless hand ? Yes, he'll scatter presents freely - On this Christmas Eve so dear ! For he loves the little children, And will bring them happy cheer! From tho frigid northern regions With his reindeer he doth come, And he visits all the country? Finds the children's sunny home! Then he fills their stockings nimbly, And he quickly speeds away, Drawn by little arctic reindeers, In his rustic northern sleigh ! Over hill and over mountain? Over vale and over plain, Santa Claus is ever going? Christmas brings him once again! Not a little mouse doth hear him? Not a child awakes from sleep, As old Santa Claus approaches? At the little ones doth peep! How he yearns to kiss the cherubs, And to tell them who is near; But he knows that morn will bring them All his offerings of cheer I So he leaves them, still and quiet, Jumps into his little sleigh, Gives a chuckle to his reindeers, And is quickly borne away ! A CHRISTMAS CAROL. BY CHARLES DICKENS. I care not for Spring; on his fickle wing Let tho blossoms and buds be borne ; He woos them amain with his treacherous rain And he scatters them ere the morn. An inconstant elf, he knows not himself, Nor his own changing mind an hour, He'll smile in your face, and, with wry grimace, He'll wither your youngest flower. Let the Summer sun to his bright homo run, He shall never be sought by me; When he's dimmed by a cloud I can laugh aloud, And care not how sulky he be! For his darling child is the madness wild That sports in fierce fever's train ; And when love is too strong, it don't last long, As many have found to their pain. A mild harvest night, by the tranquil light Of the modest and gentle moon, Has a far sweeter sheen, for me, I ween, Than the broad and unblushing noon. But every leaf awakens my grief, As it lictn beneath the tree; So let autumn leaves be never so fair, It by no means agrees with me. But my song I troll out, for Christmas stout, The hearty, the true, aud the bold; A bumper I drain, and with might and main Give three cheers for this Christmas old. We'll usher him with a merry din That shall gladden his joyous heart, And we'll keep him up, while.there's bite or sup, And in fellowship good, we'll part. In his fine honest pride, ho scorns to hide, One jot of his hard-weather scars; They're no disgrace, for there's much the same trace On the cheeks of our bravest tars. Then again I'll sing 'till tho roof doth ring, And it echoes from wall to wall? To tho stout old wight, fair wolcome to-night, As the King of the Seasons all! Scripture Readings. As the mind is greatly comforted when read? ing about people and events, to have a definite idea of their geographical location, we will de? vote a brief chapter to this purpose. The garden of Eden is the first place named in the sacred scriptures. Its precise locality is not known, but it was certainly somewhere in the high lands of Armenia near to the head waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Armenia is a part of Turkey, in Asia. This last named country will be forcibly impressed upon the reader by a glance at the inap, where will be seen the notable surroundings of the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Mediterancan Sea. Within their boun? daries lies the wonderful country that saw the birth and fall of man. As nearly all Bible his? tory is located within these limits, it is impor? tant to have this consecrated ground well placed in the mind and memory. As to its longitude and latitude it is interesting for us to know that this country lies within the same parallels with the United States, and is directly opposite to us on the face of the globe. That fjart of Turkey known as Palestine, or the ho y land, is upon the same latitude with Caro? lina and Georgia; and Jerusalem lines with Macon and Savannah. In climate, soil and to? pography, Turkey, in Asia, is very similar to these United States, and embraces about as much territory as lies east of the Mississippi river, and south of the Ohio. It abounds in names familiar to Bible readers. Here we find Mt. Ararat, and Nebo, and Carmel, and Olivet. Here is the Dead Sea, and Lake Genesaret, and the river Jordan. Here are the cities of Jerusalem, and Damascus, and Gaza, and Jop pa, and Hebron. Here is where the Lord plauted his garden, where Adam and Eve lived, and loved, and lamented their fall?where Enoch walked with God, and Noah preached righteousness, and for more than a year was afloat upon the flood. Here is where Abraham lived, aud Isaac and Jacob, and where the twelve tribes, after years of wandering, found a final resting place. Here Moses, the most wonderful of men, ended his career, appointed his successor, took his first and final look at the promised land and died. Samuel and Da? vid, and Solomon and the Kings and Prophets lived here ; and here, too, our Saviour was born, and lived, and preached, and died. All of this is sacred ground. For centuries it drank the blood of the martyrs and crusaders and was the scene of carnage and death most terrible. Millions of treasure have here been spent in the struggles of Kings and Emperors and Sultans over its possession. What force and violence could not accomplish has, how? ever, yielded to the far reaching, all pervading influence of Christian civilization. As the Jews are no longer forbidden the rights of citizens in Christian countries, so neither are the Christians forbidden a foothold in the holy land. The one seems to have followed apace with the other, and now in this blessed time learned Rabbins and Christian antirjuarics are seen working to? gether amid the ruins of the temple searching for the lost records and historic chronicles of the Kings of Judea. Turkey in Asia is still1 under the dominion of the fcfultan. The Mo hamcdon religion is tho same as that of his fathers for twelve centuries past, but the pro? gress of this age and commercial intercourse with other countries is fast extinguishing the bigotry and hostile seclusion which has so long isolated the Moslems from the outer world. It will be remembered that Jacob dwelt in the land of Bethel. This was not far from where Jerusalem was long afterwards built.? From this point it was that he sent his sons down to Egypt to purchase corn during the grievous lamine. The reader will see from the map that Egypt lies some distance South of Palestine, and it was probably three or four hundred miles from Bethel to the granaries of Pharoah upon the banks of the Nile. The Northern extreme of the Red Sea lies between, and it was there that the children of Israel crossed upon dry land on their exodus from Pharoah's bondage. Mt. Sinai will be seen at this Northern point close between two arms of the sea, and in the borders of that country now known as Arabia Petra. This country and that of Egypt had long before the days of Moses been peopled by the descendants of Ham, or Canaan as he is sometimes called.? Fifteen generations from the days of Noah had now become a vast multitude and outside of the direct line through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, there was more hostility than friendship existing between the many clans and tribes. The curses of disobedience and idolatry rested upon them and the weak were a prey to the strong. Twenty millions of turbulent unset? tled human beings were, at the birth of Moses, scattered over this and adjacent country, most of them living like the beasts of the forest and seeking whom they might devour.?Rome {6a.) Commercial. Bill Arp on Bill Tell. Professor Koll has just found out that there never was such a man as William Tell. I don't know that krout-eatin Koll, but I'll bet he's mad with some feller by the name of Tell, and went to work to undermine his family. If there is a passel of folks upon the face of the earth who enjoy my contempt, it is them fellers who are always trying to pull down and never build up. A man may do f. heap of good things, but if he makes one little mistake they'll talk about that and throw it up forever. They al? ways mention it with a but. "He's a very smart man, but. He would be a very great man, but. His intentions are very good, but." Regular sappers and miners they are. They suck all the sap out of a tree to kill it, and then undermine it to throw it down. Now, here's a feller who can't make himself notorious in any other way; and he goes to sappin and minin' Bill Tell. Now, I don't be? lieve one word of it. I was named for Bill, and if there want no such man, then I'm no? body but Arp?that's all. That feller is a fool, and he's got a big job on hand if he thinks he can rob history of its best story, and make a hundred millions of folks believe what he says. He's envious of Bill. Because he ain't shoot an apple, or string a cross-boy, or make himself famous, he don't want anybody else to. Every few years some conceited fool attacks history. I understand they've got a society to bile it down and stew it. Well, it's sorter like wash? ing for gold?they lose more than they catch. Now it aint been very long since one feller denied that Bill Shakespeare ever lived. Well, they are sorter hard on the Bills, aint they ? Another wrote several columns to prove that old Bonaparte died before he was born, and an? other man took up forty pages of a yankee magazine to prove that one of the Bourbons was livin in obscurity on the banks of Lake Michilimackinack. He hated old Bonaparte's family so bad that he was willin to swindle a half-bred Canady Indian onto the throne of France. Now there was a Gesler, and he was a tyrant, and Bill Tell wouldent tip his hat to him, and he put him in jail, and Bill's son Henric was a noble little boy, and Henric was to die unless Bill shot an apple off his head, and little Hen? ric was blindfolded and stood firm as a rock and still as the grave, and there was a prayer and a shot and a shout, and the little boy was saved, and the apple was hit in the center. All that's so, and lell waylaid old Gesler after? wards and killed him and set Switzerland free. Its all so. Its been in the books ever since I was born. I've read it a hundred times, and told it to Bull Run audChickahominy and Bob Lee, and all the little Arps.. and I'm not going to take it back, and if I hr.d found it wasent true, I wouldent have told it for a thousand dollars, and I don't like the man who did tell it, nor the mau, woman or child who believes it, for its like robbiu a dead preacher of his tombstone to rob history of William Tell. My opinion is that the peace and happiness of the country is in danger from these sappers and miners. We'll all have to have a creed and swear to it. I believe in Geo. Washington and his hatchet, and Isaac Newton and his apple tree. I be? lieve in Bonaparte and Shakespeare, aftd Andy Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. I be? lieve in Santa Claus and Pocahontas and John Smith and Ben Franklin aud Jefferson Davis and Dixie, and the 4th of July, 1S76\ I be? lieve that an old man onst found a rude boy up one of his apple trees a steal in apples. I be? lieve the milk maid spilt her milk when she tossed her head and said, "Green it shall be." I believe in Robinson Crusoe and his man Fri? day, and the island of Juan Fernandos. I be? lieve in old mother Goose and Cindcrilla and John Robinson's Circus. I believe in Greeley and Bennett and Prentice, and other dead edi? tors, except Sam Bard, late of the Chattanooga Herald, deceased. I believe most solemnly that Ben Butler stole spoons. I believe in the big battle of Waterloo and Bull Run and Ther mopylec and Dorking and Leather's Ford. That last battle was immortalised in verse by Jack Jones when he wrote, "Big fitin John Sanford, he fit a mity battle, lie fout it at the ford, where Leather's stole the cattle." I believe that Gen. Grant told the truth when he said they had two millions six hundred and eighty eight thousand of soldiers in the field in the late war. I believe that old Sherman marched through Georgia about half a mile behind me and my folks, and that Big John was saved by tieing a knot in his steer's tail. He ucedent deiiy^it for 1 saw the knot. BILL ARP. Cvjkf. for Nervousness.?A correspondent of the Practical Farmer says : "I have known many men, and women too, who, from various causes, had become so much affected with ner? vousness that when they stretched out their hands they shook like aspen leaves on windy days; and by a daily moderate use of the blanched foot stalks of the celery leaves as a salad, they became as strong and steady in the limbs as other people. I have known others so very nervous that the least annoyance put them in a state of agitatiou, who were in al? most constant perplexity and fear, and who were effectually cured by a daily moderate use of blanched celery as a salad at meal times. I have known others cured by using celery for palpitation of the heart." ? The city editor of the Jacksonville Jour- I nal offered to send his girl the paper regularly,! hut she replied, with sweet innocence, that her "nm didn't allow her to wear bustles." The poor girl neve- supposed anybody could want to read the sheet. All Sorts of Paragraphs. ? "When ia a young lady very like a whale? When she's pouting. 1 ? Whiskey is said to be a horn of plenty, because it will com yon copiously. ? A blacksmith cannot only shoe a horse himself, but he can make a horse shoe. ? A punster challenged a sick man's vote at the city election, on the ground that he was an ill-legal voter. ? If this is a borrowed paper you are read? ing, "drop it." Your neighbor don't pay his money to lend to you. ? Men will never know ns by our faith, for that is within us; they know us by our works, which are visible to them. ? A correspondent wants to know whether "civil service rules" mean that civil clerks are always to be employed in public offices. ? A pupil in one of the public schools re? cently revised an old saying found in his gram? mar, as follows: "It is better to give than to receive?a good licking." ? One of the ancient fathers said: "A man should be prepared for death the day before, but as he does not know when that day is to be, he should always be prepared." ? A French horse-dealer was asked if an animal which he offered for sale was timid. "Not at all," said he, "he often passes many nights together by himself in the stable." ? A negro was put on the stand as a witness, and the Judge inquired if he understood the nature of an oath. "For certain, boss," said the citizen ; "If I swear to a lie, I must stick to him." ? Fashion reporters announce that satin dresses are to be worn no longer by brides. They couldn't well be worn any longer thau they have been without tripping up every one in the room. ? A conceited man, who had built a small house in a sequestered part of his grounds for private study, showed it to a friend, remarking, "Here I sit reading from moruuing till night, and nobody a bit the wiser." ? "Who was the meekest man, my son ?" said the superintendent of a boys' Bible class. "Moses, sir." "Very well, my boy; and who was the meekest woman ?" "Please, sir, there never was the meekest woman." ? A St. Louis parent, who happens to be blessed with a prodigal son, according to the Titusviile Press, "rejoices more over oue boy that run away than the whole family who sponge their living off him at home." ? The man who fell from a telegraph pole the other day while engaged in placing a wire, is now so far convalesceut that he has recovered his spirits, aud wittily says that he is only suf? fering a little from the effects of climb it. ? Titusviile girls, with an eye to matrimonial matters, stain their fingers with shoe bronze, and, when their gentlemen acquaintances ask the cause of the same, softly whisper, "I have been helping mother put up canned fruit." ? The Galvestou News remarks that when a prominent American dies the first thing we resolve to do is to build him a monument, and the next thing?we don't. How is that memo? rial relic of the past, the Washington Monu? ment, getting along? ? A gentleman said to an old lady who had brought up a family of children near the Mer rimac River: "I should think you would have lived in constant fear that some of them would have got drowned." "Oh, no," responded the old lady, "we only lost three or four that way." ? A fashion writer says that brides in good society uow-a-days avoid most strictly the tra? ditional gray and brown traveling suits former? ly in vogue, aud dress as unconspicuously as possible so that "all creation need'ut know we've just been married." ? The father of the boy whose veracity is not so marked as his back, asked the teacher why it was his son didn't have a better ac? quaintance with figures, and was considerably electrified when the teacher observed: "I real? ly don't know, unless it is because figures wou't lie." ? Some drummers on a train to Portland recently wished to open a whiskey bottle they had with them, but had no corkscrew. "I'll get one," said one of the number; aud rising, he called out, "Is there a gentleman from Port? land on the train ?" A gentleman responded. "Will you lend me your corkscrew?" said the drummer. The corkscrew was forthcoming. ? A young drug clerk committed suicide in Bristol a few days ago. At the inquest the coroner asked a fellow-clerk of the deceased if he knew of any cause for the euicide. "No," was the reply: "he was getting along nicely, [ and was going to be married next month." "(joing to be married, was he?" exclaimed the coroner. "That will do. We've got at the bottom of the business." ? A Western editor, receiving an invitation to take tea with alady friend, accepted. While at the table the lady observed that he had no spoon for his cup. "Is it possible," said she, "that I forgot to give you a spoon ? 1 Couid not have made such a mistake." "I have no spoon, madam," said the editor, rising from his scat, "and if you don't believe it, you may search me." ? It is said of the late Dr. Duncan, that one day, when visiting at a house some distance from his residence, he had no sooner entered than the inmates began, with hearty hospitali? ty, to set forth refreshments for the minister. Mr. Duncan looked on as the various articles were placed on the table; at last he said, "Oh, you're very kind, and I appreciate your kind? ness; but it grieves me to the heart to think you can be so kind to the servant, and keep the Master so long at the door." The impres? sion made by this speech was never forgotten by one of the members of the family. fcouTHERN Duty.?The sole course of the South to-day is to turn her back resolutely upon the past; to live in the present as best she may; and to keep her eyes steadily fixed upon her material future. She must open her eyes to her practical resources and awaken to the vital fact that in them alone lies her living to-day, her greatness in the future. She must foster aud diversify her industries, and must look keenly into the utilizing of her vast natu? ral resources. She must stop the waste that flows out at her every port and through every railroad depot, by making the products of ber own area pay at home at least a part of those profits that make them the arbiters of the world's commerce. She must preserve her in? dividuality most zealously in order to reap these advantages, but she must not shut her eyes in hide-bound prejudice to the progress, the improvements, and the labor-aids of the North. Far less must she ignore the mutual interest and the mutual usefulness that must ever bind the two sections in bonds too strong for any mere politicnl subjugation to sever, or even to loosen for many days. These are the practical points for the South to ponder to-day. These are the points where? on will turn her future; and if she will but carefully collect the practical pence of thrift, progress and industry, the day will be only the less distant when the pounds of commercial and of political power will have taken core of themselves.?Mobile Register.