The Madison family visitor. (Madison, Ga.) 1847-1864, October 25, 1856, Image 1
VOLUME X.
(Original Portrg.
Written for the Visitor;
THE ANGEL’S ECHO.
On the death of Miss * , whose favorite song m
“ Oh ! why do Summer Roses fade f 1
The eye, that thou and rapture owned—
The brow, that love and beauty crowned—
The voice, that bore sweet music’s name—■
The heart, that beat to others’ pain—
(Echo) “ Is still’d to others' pain.
And art thou dead? Ah, ne’er again
Shall we listen to that melting strain;
So sweet each note, in music fell,
E’en untuned hearts obeyed the spell,
“ Obeyed the spell."
That pleasing strain—how oft have we
Listened its thrilling melody,
Aud heard thee “ mourn the rose’s hue,”
Whilst thy sweet bloom was fading too,
“ Alas! was fading too.
And eyes, unused to sorrowing tears,
And hearts, unseared by earthly fears,
Soon, soon, their humane tribute paid,
To see thee thus in beauty lade,
u In quiet beauty fade
Transplanted from a brighter sphere,
Thou could’st not bloom or flourish here;
Thou bloom’st, in brighter place than this,
Where all is love, where all is bliss,
Where all is love and bliss.
SCHWARZBNSKI.
Augusta , Ga.
A SONG FOR OCTOBER.
October strews the woodland o’er
With many a brilliant color;
The world is brighter than before,
Why should our hearts be duller?
Sorrow and the scarlet leaf,
Sad thoughts and sunny weather—
Ah me! this glory and this grief
Agree not well together.
This is the parting season, this
The time when friends are flying;
And lovers now, with many a kiss,
Their long farewell are saying.
Why is earth so gayly dressed?
This pomp that Autumn beareth
A funeral seems, where every guest
A bridal garment weareth.
Each one of us may often here,
On some blue mom hereafter,
Return to view the gaudy year
But not in boyish laughter.
We shall then be wrinkled men,
Our'brows with silver laden,
And thou this glen inay’st seek again,
But never more a maiden.
Nature, perhaps, foresees that Spring
Will touch her teeming bosom,
And think a few brief months will bring
The bird—the bee—the blossom.
Ah! these forests do not know,
Or would less brightly wither,
The virgin that adores them so
Will never more come hither.
THE PEARLY GATES AJ AR.
I gazed down life’s dark labyrinth
A wildering maze to see,
Crossed o’er by many a tangled clue,
And wild as wild could be:
And as we gazed in doubt and dread,
An angel came to me.
I knew him for a heavenly guide,
I knew him even then,
Though meekly as a child he stood
Among the sons of men—
By his deep spirit loveliness,
I knew him even then.
And as I leaned my weary head
Upon his proffered breast,
And scanned the peril haunted wild
From out my place of rest;
I wondered if the shining ones
Os Eden were more blest.
For there was light within my soul,
Light on my peaceful way,
And all around the blue above,
The clustering starlight lay;
And easterly I saw upreared
The pearly gates of day.
So hand in hand we trod the wild,
My angel love and I
His lifted wing all quivering
With tokens from the sky—
Strange my dull thoughts could not divine
’Twas lifted but to fly!
Again, down life’s dark labyriuth,
I grope my way alone,
While wildly through the midnight sky
Black hurrying clouds are blown,
And thickly in my tangled path
The sharp, thick thorns are sown.
Yet firm my foot, for well I know
The goal caDnot he far,
And ever through the rifted clouds
Shines out one steady star—
For, when my guide went up, he left
The pearly gates ajar.
Fanny Forrester.
When love begins to sicken and decay,
It useth an enforced ceremony.
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith:
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle .*
But when they should endure the bloody spur,
They fall their crests, and like deceitful jades,
Sink in the trial.
& Scmtljmt Wcchltj Citmmj ant) RliscfUinuous 3ouvnal, for ilic Ijontc Circle.
21 Capital Start).
“ JUDGE NOT;”
OR
THE DREAM OF CALEB EDMONDS.
“Christianity, indeed !” said Mr. Ed
monds, as he looked over his books, in
the little back parlor behind the shop,
“ I ana disgusted with such hypocrisy !”
There was a dark frown upon the
brow of the man of business as he spoke
these words, and an irritability in his
manner of turning over the leaves be
fore him, which spoke of some bad debt
troubling his mind, and robbing him of
his good temper.
“ What is the matter ?” asked a cheer
ful little woman by the fire, at whose
side a basket of stockings told of a large
family, and a consequent demand for
stitchery.
“ Matter!” echoed the husband, “do
you not know that Welsford owes me
four pounds, ten and sixpence?”
“ Well, he will pay, I suppose ?”
“ Not he. The goods were purchased
more than a year ago, and I have not
had a penny yet!”
“ What does ho say when you see
him?” asked Mrs. Edmonds, who evi
dently loved to look at the bright side
“ Say ? he does not say much to me,
I can tell you. I told him net to worry
me with his excuses, but to bring h : s
money : and that be need not cross my
door step again until lie could do that.’’
“lam sorry for his wife,” said the
little stocking mender, presently, “she
appears to l>« a truly pious woman.”
“ I’ious !” retorted her husband, “ yes,
and so is he ; ’tis that disgusts me. Re
ligion, indeed 1 and lie owes me four
pounds, ten and sixpence. I thought
the Bible said, “owe no man anything.”
Christianity forsooth!”
Mr. Caleb Edmonds was a highly re
spectable grocer in the town of Marhly—
in fact, a man of substance, for business
had prospered with him. He was in
dustrious and obliging, rising earlv,
working hard ; and thus from small be
ginnings, he had risen to the possession
of considerable wealth. But although
an excellent man of business. Mr. Ed
monds was a very ordinary Christian.—
Tiue, he had begun the race,but he
did not press towards the mark; alas for
“the cares of this world aud the deceit
fulness of riches !” And as it is charac
teristic of a low standard of piety to
be harsh and censorious in our judge
ment of our fellow Christians, so Mr.
Edmonds, when he heard of any de
fect in the’character of professors around
him, was always the first to exclaim,
“ Christianity, indeed!”
Is not this too common with us all ?
Do we not, even if we give no expression
to our thoughts, doubt and hesitate much
more than we should doubt andjhesitate,
regarding the reality of the religion of
our “• Ready-to-halts” and “Feeble
minds Do we not set up a standard
of perfection for our fellows, which were
too lofty, in our view, as a standard for
ourselves? And are we not too ready
to exclaim against the wanderings of
others, even while we turn aside into for
bidden paths ?
Perhaps such thoughts as these bad
passed through the mind of Mrs. Ed
monds, as she sat over her work, for
when she rose to leave her basket for
some more active household duty, she
bent over her husband for a moment,
and said gently, “ Caleb, I do not like to
hear you say “Christianity indeed!” as
you did just now. Suppose your fellow
Christians were to judge of you as harsh
ly as you do of them ! You often say
it,” she continued hastily, “you doubted
John Watson's religion yesterday be
cause he lent money to your rival; and
Thornton’s because ho opposes you in
business, and you shook your head about
Miss Milwood’s piety, because she argued
with you against total abstinence ? Judge
not that ye he not judged' ”
Long after his wife left him, these
words rang in Caleb’s ears—“ Judge
not!"
MADISON, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1856.
At last, as he sat in the twilight, be
tween sleeping and waking—for busi
ness was very dull, and he could spare
half an hour for rest —a vision stole upon
him, and he passed, in imagination, rap
idly through the scenes which follow.
At first he found himself in a very
quiet neighborhood, and in the preseueo
of three maiden ladies, whose names he
knew very well. They had their feet
upon the fender, and, their knitting laid
aside—were evidently discussing the
affairs of their neighbors.
“Such pride 1” said the elder lady,
whoso name was Rayby, “ what will
come next, I wonder 3”
“ The most fashionable boarding
school in R , I assure you,” said
another—Miss Phillip.
“Ah 1” said Miss Rayby, “ and I can
remember the time—of courso I was
very young then, but still I can remem
her—when Caleb Edmonds swept out
his own shop ?”
“ Dear me 1 and now he has the up
start impudence to send his girl to such
a school as that !” exclaimed Miss Sophia
Milwood, spinister who had not yet
spoken. “O, the pride of human
nature.”
“ And he a professor, too !”
“ Professor !” said Miss Rayby ; “ re
ligion does not teach a man such absurd
pride as that!”
Miss Phillip shook her head, and be
gan to lament the increase of false pro
fessors.
“Well,”thought Caleb, “I believed
that in spending some of my cash upon
the education of my children, I could
not go very far wrong; but I find I am
misunderstood even here.”
The next scene was the drawing-room
of John Watson, of whom Mrs. Edmonds
had spoken. A lady was making tea
behind a silver urn, and a gentleman—
her husband—sat beside her.
“Poor Thornton,” said Mrs. Watson,
for it was she, “ I trust he will succeed.”
“He shall, if by God’s blessing I can
compass it.”
“ lie is a very deserving young man,”
continued the lady; “the manner in
which he bore the loss of all bis prop
erty would win esteem, even if lie had
no other claim.”
Mr. Watson did not reply, his mind
had wandered to another branch of
the subject. “That Caleb Edmonds,”
he said at length, “ I am surprised at
the ill-feeling he displays.”
“ Towards Thornton ?”
“ Yes, he is evidently annoyed at the
opening of another shop so near his
own: whereas, in the principal street of
a town like this, he should have expec
ted competition. Besides, be has made
a little fortune, and has nothing to fear,
yet he will not treat George Thornton
with ordinary civility.”
“ I thought be was a religious man,’’
said Mrs. Watson.
“ He pretends to be,” replied her hus
band, “ but I have not much faith in a
religion which brings forth so little fruit.”
Poor Caleb ? his wife’s words—the
Master’s words, still sound in his ears as
they had never done before, meeting
with a responsive echo in his heart.
Again a change, and Mr. Edmonds
found himself beside a sickly looking
woman, who, leaning upon her husband’s
arm, walked slowly towards the house
of prayer. It was impossible to look
without interest upon her pale and anx
ious face, a face which once had been
beautiful and equally impossible to dis
regard the careful tenderness with which
her steps were guided by the strong
man at her Bide. Their conversation,
too, was worthy of remark—they were
speaking of the consolation of the gos
pel.
“ Who knows ” exclaimed the inva
lid, “ perhaps there may be words just
suited to our case this morning. Words
for the poor 1”
“Poor as regards this world only,
Mary !”
Her eyes brightened as she looked up
cheerfully, “ Yes, yes, rich in treasure
far more cqstly than earth’s gold. God
help U3 to look up", and to trust him for
the “ meat that perisheth.’ ”
They walked on for a while ; and then
the wife said mournfully, “ I sometimes
fear that it is pride which makes me
shrink from meeting Mr. Edmonds. I
do shrink from it. O, if wo could
pay but him 1”
“ We shall be able to do so soon, I
hope,” said Welsford; “it has been a
hard struggle, Mary ; starvation almost,
but I think it is nearly over.”
“ Ah, it was all for me ! I am sure
Mr. Edmonds would bo patient, if he
knew how much you spent in medicines
for me, and how little work you have.”
“ He is patient, after a fashion ; and
we have reason to be thankful for that ;
still he said some crushing things to mo
—harsh things which ho may live to
repent; things which have made me
doubt liis Christianity.”
“ Nay,” said Mrs. Welsford, gently,
“I would not judge him; how many
inconsistent things we do.”
“ You are right. Imay not lift up
my voice : alas but little likeness to my
Lord is found in me !”
Again the echoing voice thrilled
through the sou! of the listener—again
ho heard the words, “ Judge not!”—
and as he dwelt upon them tho vision
slowly faded, and he, Bunyan like awoke,
“and it was a dream !” But the lesson
of tho dream was not quite lost upon
him, for ho awoke to a deeper spirit of
Christian charity, a nobler self denial, a
holier humility, a nearer likeness to
Jesus. Ho had been taught in that
brief twilight musing, one of tho grand
old lessons of the Book of God.
The fireside morning worship was just
ended, and Charles Welsford was about
to go forth to bis daily toil, when a gen
tle knock at tho door spoke of a visitor
how great was the surprise of all when
Caleb Edmonds entered !
“ You are come, sir—”
“I am come,”said the grocer, inter
rupting him, “ to express my hope that
you are not under any concern about
the little amount you owe me. Take
your time, my good sir, take vour time.”
The poor man’s eyes wero filled up
with tears, as, grasping the outstretch
ed hand, he tried to speak his thanks.
“My wife,” said Mr. Edmonds, turn"
ing towards Mrs. Welsford, “ put some
thing into my hand, just as I left, for
you ma’am.”
And forth from his pockets came tea,
sugar, biscuits, from the good wife’s am
ple store, till Mary’s eyes, too, filled with
grateful tears.
“ And now,” said the visitor kindly,
“ don’t forsake the shop ; get your little
parcels there, and pay just when it suits
you. By the way, if a sovereign would
be of any service to you, I have one
which will burn a bole in my pocket—
as the saying goes—unless I give it to
somebody.” And before they could re
ply, he had laid the coin upon the table
and was gone.
“ Mary,” said Mr. Welsford, “let us
thank God for this.”
They knelt, and as lie breathed forth
his heart’s gratitude, his wife wept tears
of joy, and even tho little ones murmur
ed the “ Amen.”
But Mr. Edmonds did not slop at this;
it was to him Charles Welsford owed a
situation which soon after placed him
far above the reach of want; it was to
him he owed a host of kindly deeds,
which came like sunshine to his inmost
soul.
We hasten on. Not alone in this re
gard was Caleb Edmonds changed, for
two days after his strange dream, he
walked into his rival’s shop, shook hands,
invited him to drink tea at his house,
spoke pleasantly about their “ opposi
tion,” and even hinted at his own re
tirement at some future day, when his
new friend would have “a better chance !’’
And from that time, the charity which
i‘sufferethlong and is kind, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil, brareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all
things, endureth all things,” held an al
most undisputed sway over the heart of
Caleb Edmonds ; and ever was the max
im of the Bible borne in mind, —“ Judge
not, that ye be not judged /”
Keep your Sabbath Holy.
Bo jealous on this point. Whether
you live in town or country, resolve not
to profane your Sabbath. Ouce give
over caring fortheSabbath, audin theend
you will give over caring for your soul.
The steps which lead to this are easy
and regular. Begin with not honoring
God’s day, and you will soon not honor
God’s house; cease to honor God’s house
and you soon ceaso to honor God’s book;
ceaso to honor God’s book, and by-and
by you will give God no honor at all.
Let any one lay the foundation with no
Sabbath, and I am never surprised if he
finishes with the topstono of no God. It
was a remarkable saying of Judge Hale,
that of the persons convicted of capital
crimes while lie was upon the bench he
found few who did not confess that they
began their career of wickedness by a
neglect of the Sabbath.
A Poor Man’s Wish.
I asked a student what three things ho
most wished.
Ho said, “ give me books, health and
quiet, and I care for nothing more.”
I asked a miser, and lie cried “ Money,
money, money!”
I asked a pauper, and he faintly said
“Bread, bread, brend?”
I asked a drunkard, and ho loudly
called for strong drink.
I asked tho multitude around me, and
they lifted up a confused cry in which I
heard tho words “ wealth, fame and
pleasure.”
I asked a poor man, who had long
borne the character of an exemplary
Christian, he replied that all his wishes
could bo met in Christ, lie spoke seri
ously', and I asked him to explain. Ho
said, “ I greatly desire these three things ;
—first, that I may be found in Christ—
secondly, that I may bo like Christ—
thirdly, that I may be with Christ.
I have thought much of ibis answen
and tho more I think the wiser it seems.
Coughing in Chukch. —Wo copy
die following from an autobiography
which Hugh Miller is now publishing
in the Witness :
A simple incident which occurred
during my first morning attendance at
Dr. M’Ciie’s chapel strongly impressed
me with a sense of his sagacity. There
was a great deal of coughing in the
place, the effect of a recent change of
weather; and the doctor, whose voice
was not a strong one, and who seemed
somewhat annoyed by the ruthless inter
ruptions, stopping suddenly short in tho
middle of bis argument, made a dead
pause. When people are taken greatly
by surprise, they cease to cough—a
circumstance on which he had evidently
calculated. Every eye was now turned
towards him, and for a full minute so
dead was the silence that one might
have heard a pin drop.
“ I see, my friends,” said the doctor,
resuming speech, with a suppressed
smile—“ I see you can bo all quiet
enough when I am quiet.”
There was not a little genuine strate
gy in the rebuke; and as coughing lies
a good deal more under the influence of
the will than most coughers suppose,
such was its effect during tho rest of the
day there was not a tithe of the previous
coughing.
A Puzzled Irishman. —Mr. O’Flagh
erty undertook to tell bow many were at
the party. Tho two Crogans was one,
myself was two, Miko Finn was three,
and—and—who the devil was four ?
Let me see (counting bis fingers)—tho
two Crogans was one, Miko Finn was two,
meself was three—and—be-dad ! there
was four of us ; but St Patrick couldn’t
tell the of the other. Now it’s
meself that has it : Mike Finn was one,
the two Crogans was two, meself was
three—and—and bo mo soul, I think
there was but three of us after all.
Phoenix—His Last.
This clever wit, in tho following squib,
amusingly takes off the prevalent custom
of giving testimonials to every body,
upon all sorts of occasions, and for all
sorts of things :
On Board steamship California. )
Panama. (
To Capt. R. M. Whiting :
Dear Sir : —I, the undersigned, cabin
passenger, on board the steamship Cali
fornia, during her late trip from San
Francisco, beg to tender you, on behalf
of myself, my hearty and sincere ac
knowledgements of your skill as a sea
man, and varied courtesy as a gentle
man. To your skill and foresight I at.
tribute entirely the favorable weather
that we have enjoyed, and your polite at
tention in invariably giving me the second
joint at dinner, your liberality in help
ing me to pie a second time, and tlie
noble hearted generosity with which you
have at times presented me with one,
and even two cigars, can never bo for
gotten whilst memory bolds her seat.
I beg you will accept, as a slight token
of my esteem and gratitude, a large
silver-mounted guttapercha ear-trumpet
which I shall procure for you, with a
suitable inscription, (as soon as I can
borrow money enough for the purpose)
and that you may long live to enjoy it
in the noble ship which you command
is my earnest, constant, and daily prayer.
I cannot conclude better than by a
quotation from those beautiful lines in
“ Pope’s Paradise Lost
“The stur-spungled banner.
Oil long may it wave—
O’er the land of the free
Aud the home of the brave.”
With the highest sentiments of grati
tude and esteem, I remain your sincere
friend and most obsequious aud very
humble servant,
Geo. 11. Derby, alias
John Phcenix, or, Squibob.
Stray Shot. —There is no adhesive
label like a nickname.
Waiting for dead men’s shoes is in
most measures a bootless affair.
Ladies generally shop in couples-
When a lady lias any money to spend
slio dearly loves taking a friend with her
to see her spend it.
The number of poor poets is, if anv
thing, greater than the number of poets
who are poor 1
Bad works, like bad shilling, are often
brought home to the person who has ut
tered them !
Life, we are told, is a journey—and
to see the way in which some people eat
you would imagine they were taking in
provisions to last them tho whole length
of the journey.— Punch.
A Touching Ditty in Prose. —When
Seth got home from mackereling, he
sought his Sarah Ann, aud found that
she, the heartless one, has found anoth
er man. And then most awful tight he
got, and sohe wentaway and bound him
self to go and cut live oak in Florida.
He pined upon the live oak lands; he
murmured in the glades; his axe grew
heavy in his hands, ail in the wild wood
shades. Mosquitoes bit him everywhere,
uo comfort did he get ; and oh ! how
terribly lie did get bit. At last despairing
of relief and wishing himself dead, he
went into the woods a piece, and chopped
off his own head.
fidP “How do you get along with your
arithmetic ?” asked a father of his little
boy. “ I’ve cyphered through addition,
partition, substruction, distraction, abom
ination, justification, hallucination, deri
vation, amputation, creation and adop
tion.” lle’d do for an engineer on a
short line railroad.
JtST A gentleman of African extrac
tion, who used to display his grinning
combination of ivory and ebony about
the streets of Indianapolis, was asked by
a white gentleman :
“ How old are you, Sam ?”
“Twenty-five, massa,” was the reply ;
“ but it you counts up de fun I’se seen,
jest call me seventy-five.”
NUMBER 43.
A Hard Hit.— Some years ago,
Roger M. Sherman, and Perry Smith, of
Connecticut, were opposed to each other
as advocates in an important case before
a Cdurt of justice. Smith opened tho
case' with a foolish tirade against Mr.
Sherman’s political character. Sherman
rose in a composed manner, and re
marked :
“I shall not discuss politics before this
court, but I am perfectly willing to argue
questions of law, to chop logic, or even
to split hairs with him.”
“ Split that then,” said Smith, at the
same time pulling out a short, rough
looking hair from his head, and handing
it over to Sherman.
“May it please the honorable court,”
retorted Sherman, “ I didn’t say bristles !”
Not Qualified. —A young law stu
dent who wrote a good, clear and round
hand, and who was just about finishing
up his studies, one day handed an instru
ment which lie had just written out, to
his uncle, a dry wag, who had called in
to see him, and to inquire of his pro
gress in his profession. The uncle took
the ms., and after reading a few lines
of it, gave it back to his nephew, stating
with an arch smile, peculiar to himself:
“ You are not quite a lawyer yet,
James.”
“ What do you find out of tho way in
it, sir J” queried the student, in astonish
ment.
“ Why,” returned the waggish old
critic, “ anybody can read that writing!”
Energy. —“ The longer I live,” says a
great writer, “ the more certain I
am that tho great difference between
men, the great and the insignificant, is
energy—invincible determination—an
honest purpose—once fixed, and then
death or victory. That quality will do
anything that can he done in the world ;
and no talent, no circumstances, no op
portunity, will make a two-legged crea
ture a man without it.”
JBP A fellow entered a place on Sun
day, pretty well fuddled, and asked for
some cider, lie was told they did not sell
the aiticle on Sunday.
“ Wei I,’’says the stranger, “ you should
not be hard-hearted, for you know the
good hook speaks of ‘entertaining angels
Unawares.’ ”
“ Yes,” says the storekeeper, “ but I
never knew that angels drank sour cider
on Sundays.”
One hot day bust summer, as one of
the teachers in New Jersey was speeding
down Broadway, in order to be in time
for the cars, he was accosted by a man,
who, after mumbling in an unintelligible
manner drew forth a card on which was
written, “lam a mute whereupon the
worthy Dominie, pointing to his brow
streaming with perspiration, "wrote; “I
am almost liquid.”
Softening the Expression. —“ That’s
a thundering big lie!” said Tom. “No,”
replied Dick ; “ it’s only a fulminating
enlargement of elongated veracity!”
Harry took off his hat, elevated his eyes,
and held his tongue.
£iT~ “It’s hard tellin,” Aunt Deborah
used to say, “how much a man knows by
the clothes he wears. I’ve seen a great
deal of the world in my day, and I’ve
allers found them that ’pears the smartest
and dress the finest ain’t much after all.”
jJST To drive away vermin, depends
a good deal on what the vermin consists of.
If of bed bugs, hit them on the head with
a hammer ; if of bores, tell them you aro
getting the small pox.
The Two Pictures.—“l have subdued
the nations of the earth; Is there no other
world for me to conquer ?”— Alexander
the Great.
“I have fought the good fight— I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith;
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown
of righteousness.”— St. Paul.