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Montgomery monitor.
D. C. SUTTON, Editor and Proprietor.
REV. DR. TAI.MAGE.
THE BKOOKLV\ DIVINE'S SUV-
I)AV SERMON.
Subject of Discourse: “A December
Christ.”
Text: “When th j y had heard the King
they departed; and 10, the star, which they
law in the cast, went before them, ti l it
stood over where the young child was.' — '■t.
Mathew, ii. t).
At this season all Christen' loin colel>rate3
the incarnation. Step down out of the com
fortable surroundings in which you are into
a chill De ember nigot in Bethlehem. Two
plain people hoteled in a village barn after a
walk of eighty miles, too long for one in
poor health. .Vo lords of state waiting in an
ante- hamberas at the birth of other kings,
no messenger mounted at the doorway rea !y
to herald the advent from city to city, no ]
kindly medical attendance, no satin "lined
cradle to receive the infantilo guest, but a
monarch born in a ho telrv i ailed the House
of——, the night with diamonded linger
pointing to the place, the Boor of Heaven
swung wide open to lookout, from or, bestial
baton dripping overtures of tho Mess ah,
minstrels of God standing on the lowest door
step of Heaven to announce glory and good
will. Soon aft r tho white bearded astrologers
kneel and from leathern pouch chink the
shekels, aud from open sack exhale the tufts
of fransincense aid rustle out tho bundles
of myrrh. The loosened star, the esca; ed
doxol igy of i elestiuls. Our world, a lost
star, aud another star rushing down the s<v
th .t night to beckon it home again. All
tba s oue will yet make ail nations keep
Christmas. Now, are there not some new
lessons coming from this 1 11'story; l.essotis
not hackneyed by o:t repeated: Oh, yo-.
Notice, first of all, it was a sidereal appt ar- |
anee. Ixj, the star went before them. ‘.Vhy I
not a black cloud in ihe shape of a hand or a I
finger pointing down to tho saared birth- j
pla e? Oh, a cloud means trouble. The
world had had trouble enough. Wny not a
shaft of lightning quivering in the sky and
striking down to the sacred birtlipla o'
Lightning means destruction—writhing, all
consuming destruction, and tho world lmd
had destruction enough. It was a star.
That means joy, that means good cheer, that
"uns hope, that means ascendancy. A
: That means cr<|Jaac power, for did
not the uionJlng together when
the po: tfoli >of opened! A star!
That meansd" emu!: for did not tho stars in
their course figlit against Sisera and tor (ho
Lord’s people; A star! That means brilliant
continual! e. for are not the right :ous to shine
as tho s:ars forever and ever: Day star i n
high. Morning star of tho Redeemer. That
unusual appearan ein the sky that night
may have been a stia.ige conjunction of
worlds. You know astronomers calculati d
long years before it occurred the transit of
Venus, and they cau sea a thousands years
ahead and can tell you what will bo the con
junction of w rids in tho year 11)8(5, nnd so
they can i alculate backward, au 1 Chiistian
astronomers go into a calculation aud 1 hey
find that in what we call tho year one there
was a strange appearance in th 1 Heavens;
i.iith- !i:flde!, rejecting the Bible and de
spising Christianity, lie goes into the same
calculation; and iio is compelled t> d claro
that in the year one there was a strange ap
pearance in the Heavens. The Chinese record,
made up, of course, entirely independent of
the Word of God, declares that in what wa
call the year one, there was a strange appear
ance in the Heavens. That, alter
all, it may have been a meteoric
appearance, such a: .you and 1 have
sometimes witnessed, I stood on tin plain
and I saw in the western heavens, some
years ago, a meteor flash with such brillian
cy and precision that 1 thought then that if
I had boynou a bill as high as that of Betblo
hem I could have calculated within a Jew
yards tho place where it alighted. In the
University of lowa aud in tho Briti h Mu- !
seam there aro fragments of rock that have j
been hurled off from meteors as they went 1
trailing their glory on the sky. So it does j
not seem to me at all improbable, this sidereal, j
or. if you will, t as mete ric appearance on j
that Christmas night. < hlam so glad that \
it was not a cloud cf throat but a star of I
hope that shone that night. Ido not wonder
that iho dying college student when he
caught a glimpse of that st \r, took his pen,
and the light s-eniel flashing from his lin
gers and (he star seemed t ouring its lustre
from his lips while Kick White wrote those
immortal words:
When marshaled on the nightly plain,
The glitteriDg h >‘t bestud the sky;
One star alone of all the train
Could fix the sinner’s wandering eye.
Hark, hark to God, the chorus breaks
From every host, from every gem;
But one alone the .Saviour speaks,
It is the star of II thlehem.
Once on the raging sea 1 rode,
The storm was loud, t life night was
And rudely blew tho wind that tossed
My foundering bark.
Deep low within my vilals froze
Death struck" I ceased the tide to stem,
When suddenly a star arose,
It was the star of Bethlehem.
People are sorry that Kirk White died nf- (
ter writing that. It was enough fora life
time to have written it. and no wonder when j
he completed it tho glories of Heaven swal
lowed him up.
I notice a! o m thats -ene that other worlds
teemed to adore our Lord and Mast r. Bright
star of n ght, wheel on in thine orbit. ‘"No,”
tavs the star. “I must come nearer, I must
bend, 1 must wet li to see what they will do
with Jesus.” Another world in wor-hip.
That star bowed in obedience. I sometimes
hear people tall: as though the few thousand
miles of th s wor dos ours were all of the
Savior's domiuion: but I suppose all the mil
-1 D:llions and quadrillions oi worlds
c.u .u^aoited —pe:haps not by such crea
tures as we are, but iy such creatures as God
designed, ani all those worlds are
the Saviour’s realm. Only one disloyal
world in the universe. You know th t
tho great organ of the universe with its
stofs, its keys, its pedals, its pipes had a
complete harmony save one in ured pedal,
a c one broken key, the vox hurnana of th j
human race. Tbi-. disloyal world. You
know that however grand an instrument, if
there is one broken key it spoils the harmony.
And Chri-t is to mend this broken key,anrl re
store this injured yedal,andtbe work! will be
in accord, and all worlds will be in accord,
isle of Wight, larger in comparison with the
British Empire than our world is compared
with Christ’s domiuion. That Christina!
night astronomy surrendered to Christ.
Our planet lor Christ. Ihe solar
system for Christ, Worlds aila-.e
and worldi burned out all worlds for
Christ. Minutest and keenest ini' io-co a
cannot see the one i.ie of Chri-tdominion,
and iarth st-reaching telescope 'an not sec
the other -lde ol Christ’s d j minion. But I
will teii you the universe is bound eel.
It is bounded on ibo north and south, and
east and wet by God, and God is C. hrist, arid
Christ is God, and thaT <’Cd is ours. On,
m y friends it u t enla- o your ideas or
a Saviour s d r minion to ea.bre that ail t:.e
worlds are only so many ,ar ‘tru •: Iren
His anvil' Tuat the worlds are so many
lieew flocks following the one snepherd?
That all the Is.an Is of 1 ght in im:r.e s.ty are
a ereat archir.eiairo of Christ s dominion !
But InotkeftS. ,nth - science that I have
spoken of th. fact that it was tic, prufonnd
and the learned men of the worid who came
MT. VERNON. MONTGOMERY CO., GA., WEDNESDAY. >1 AN l ARY 1887,
co Christ. Th<) Bible says the wise men of |
tho Hast. We call them the luugi. tho as
trologers, the alchemists, aud wo pronounce i
their names with a depreciating aceontmi- !
tiou Do you know who they were! They j
were the most splendid aud magnificent men
of tho century. They knew all that was |
known. Bo you not i e.-ognize the fact that
astrology is tho mother of astronomy. Bo |
you not recognize the fact that al homy is j
tho mother of chemistry i And you do not j
despise tho mother because you udmiro the i
child. V\ hv these astrologers spent their :
lives in studying the stars; -,30U years be
fore Christ was uoru these astrologersstndied
the procession of the equinox and i aloulated
the orbit and return of the comets. Profes
sor Smith says he thinks they understood the
di-tance between the sun and the earth. \ou
find not only that in Job, but you have sug
gested to you that other niou ill hi-> day knew
that the world was not flat, but globular—
Isaiah knew it; ns though it were a modern dis
cover}", or within a lew centuries, that the
world is round. Isaia.fi knew it. He says of
God: ‘‘Ho sittethou toe circle of tie ear' 11. ’
After the world has progressed in study bun
dle la oi years it may got up to the point
wiieie the ancient, begun to forget. 1 believe
that the lost arts may be us great it ■ tho liv
ing arts. How was it with those alchemists. *
Why, they spent their lives in tue study of
metals and gases and solids and U (Utils. aud
they filled wuole libraries with their discov
ers i. They understood e ulmlmmenb as no
men in our time understand ombalmiueut.
And they were very wise men. They were
not only among wise men, bu. they were tile
three wisest niou. Caspar, a young man;
Balthazar, a man of middle age, and
Melchior, an octogenarian. The three
wisest men of all tho century at
the feet cf Christ. So it is now. Tho
brainiest men of this century are Christians.
Who was the greatest metaphysician of
A iieriea' Jonathan Hdwards, tho Christian.
Who was th gr. atest as r.momor <d the
w. rld.' Ilerschel. tho Christian. W r h > was
tho greatest poet tho vvorl 1 lias ovor scent
John Miliou, ilio ChriM.iun. Who wrote tlio
mightiest treatises on law that hnvo over
been writtenf l Incest no. tlieCh istian. "Why
is it that in every college and university
liavo a chapel; it is tho place
where tho wise mon bow at tlio
manger. Cotno, now. lot us have it
settle lin ounces anil iu in lies, i’eople say
that the men who believe iu Christianity aro
small-brained men. Let us find tho largest
brain ever known in America. By post mor
tem examination distinguished men have
been measured.. their intellectual capacity
has been calculated, and tlio sizoof the bruin
has been found out. Let us find the largest
brain over known in America, and
find out then what that brain
thought of Christ. We have found
it. it is tho brain weighing some sixty
t :rce ounces. What did that man iu his
lifetime think of Christ; In his dying mo
ment ho sai'l: ‘"’’Lord. 1 believe; help thou
uiiiio unbelief. Almighty God, wlmtover I
do, tt -ee: t mo i t the last for Christ’s sake.
Tibs night i shall be in joy unutti ruble.” So
Daniel Webster bowed at tho man; or. So
the mighty monos the Hast are followed by
tho mighty meu of tho West.
My subject also impresses mo with tho fact
that it was the winter season that God as
sign'd for the nativity of Jlis Son. Had it
been tho month of May, that is tho season of
blossoms: had it been the month <>i June,
that is the Season of roses; had it been the
mouth of July, that is the season of great
harvests; had it been the month of i-’e, tom
ber, that is the seasoned of ripened orchards:
had it been the month of October, that is
tho soason of npholstere 1 forests; b it it was
December, when all tho flowers outdoors are
dead and all tho crops that have not been
gathered are perished, uud there are no
ripening fruits on the hill, and the leave:
are driven ovor tho bare earth, in the
closing days of December, to show that this
Christ is tor people in sharp blasts, for peo
ple of frosted hopes, for po >ple under dark
people with tho thermometer lie
lew zero, for people snowed under. < hrist
heard in His memory tho wind whistling
around the Bethlehem caravansary, and lio
is in sympathy with those who in their pov
erty hoar the shutters clatter ou a cold night.
That was the Christ Washington and his
army worshipped when they lay down without
blankets in the December snow. That was tho
Christ that tha Pilgrim Fathers appealed to
wlien the Mayjtower wharled at Plymouth
Rock, and for years after that 1 ocomber
landing tho grnvesdigged were more in num
ber than the houses built. Not a fair weather
Christ, but a December Christ. <)h, tho
world wants to he solaced and soothed and
lullabied in tho arms of sympathetic omnip
otence and no mother ever with more ten
derness put her foot ou the rocker of a cradle
to hush a sick child than tho tenderness of
this Christ comes to our invalid world, and
He rocks it into placidity and quiet with tho
words: j‘My peace I give unto you; not as
the world giveth, give I unto you,” Oh, yo
burden bearers, oh, ye persecuted and tired
and heartbroken, I doclare to you a Decem
ber Christ.
But hero is a fact which many seem to for
got, perhaps all forget—my subject im
presses me witli the fact that Christ was
born amid' tho slieop, and the cattle, and the
horses, and th ■ camels that Ho might be the
alleviation of the whole brute creation.
Mercy for overdriven, underfed, poorly shel
tered, outraged brute creation. Do you think
that the Christ who compared Himself to
a dove has no indignation at the cruelties of
a pigeon shooting; Do you think that the
Christ who compared Himself to a lamb has
no indignation at the rough tying and tho
contortion of the sheep and tho hanging of
tneir neck over the sharpedgeof tho but' her s
cart, and the cattle * a:n from Omaha to
New York, with no water in summer time,
—1,50 u miles of agony; Do you think that
the Chri-t who said: ‘ Go to the ant,” does
not notice the transfixed insects? Do you
think that the Christ whose tax was paid by
the ssh does not notico the tossing of a fin in
tho fish market? Do you think that the
Christ who raid: ‘‘Behold tho fowls of tlio
airy” hath no sympathy with the brute crea
tion that cannot articulate it: grief; Chri-t,
born ia a stable that He might be tho Sa
viour, not only of the human race but the
alleviation of all the pangs and hard-hips
of thr brute creation.
In the millenial time a child is to lead a
lion and to ptlay with a eocatrice only be
cause biute and reptile will have no more
outrages to avenge." The Lamb of God gave
its first bleat amici tho tired flocks of Beth
lehem. The white horse of eternal victory
stabled in a barn. When you tread on ’ho
brute creation you tread on God. Christ
bora amid tho beasts that He might sympa
thize with the beast , and help the Leasts, and
thunder His indignation and His w/atb
against men who abuse the beasts.
I uoti e also, in this wonderful story of the
text tbr.-o Christmas pros nts brought to
Christ Just three. Gol I, myrrh, Iran cin
c-mse Gold brought to Christ. What does
that mean; It means tha a Iluen'-e of the
world is going to be surrendered to Jesus.
For lack of money no more’asylums limping
on the r way like the inva ids they support,
. or feeling theirslow way like the bl.nd whom
they shelter. Milliocs of dollars for Christ
there are now tho isands of dollars. Bail
road c ompanies owned by ? hrKtian «to k
holders and controlled by Christian direc
tors and carrying freights and pxs carters at
Christian price®. Bank of England, Bourse
of F; ar.ee and U. S. Tr usury, ail the world s
moneyed institutions for c hrist. The gold
for Christ. No other meaning to it. The
gold no more pad the way for
Mary and Joseph and tho divine
refugee in Kgypt than the gold shad ray the
way for Christ all round the world. The
t
“SUB DEO FACIO FORTITER.”
gold for Christ, tho silver for Christ, tho
jewels for Christ. Our groat round, beau
tiful world like a soltaiiv set on tho bosom
of Christ. All His, and He is worthy.
But the second Christmas prosont was
the myrrh. Why the myrrh.’ The cattle
snuffed it, but did not eat it. It
wns too bitter. Why tho myrrh? Why this
pungent gumjosin of Abysinnia brought for
Christ? It jaant bitterness. Bitterness of
betrayal, blflyness of persecution, bitterness
of davs of suffering and nights of anguish.
Myrrh. That is w hat they put into His cup
when He was dying. Myrrh. That is what
the women wruqrid in tho shroud of the ern*
ciiied Christ. Myrrh. Aye. says the psalmist,
“nil thy garments smell of myrrh.” OU the
height li, the depth, tho length, the breadth
ot a Baviour's sorrow. No wonder the wise
men brought myrrh But there was oue
other thing they brought. They sh >ok out
from the sack the frankincense. Clear up to
tho rafters of the barn tho perfume rose ami
it floated out to the furthest room, where
tho hostler and the camel drivers were
placed, and it floated out into the open
nir, and people passing by that night won
dere 1 aud said, who could have broken a box
of alabaster at that place by accident " Frank
incense. That was what they put on the con
sers in the ancient temple and burned it.
Frankincense. That moans worship. F.ank
cense. Tlmr, is what wo shake out from out
souls this day until the nostrils of Christ
onco crimsoned with the hemorrhage ot the
cross me tilled with the perfume of a world’s
adoration. Frankincense. That is to till all
tho homes and all tho churches ami all Hie
nations and al! the worlds. From
: ellar of .stalactite cave clear up to tha^Sri 7 or
rafters of tho sunlit dome. Frankincense.
Put it in the song, and the sermon, and the
prayer. Frankincense. No wonder they
brought it. No wonder they put it down at
tho leet of Christ. But do you know
how these censors were employed,
and how tho frankincense was
burned? Hero is a metal pan, nnd hero is the
handle by which it is held. This metal pan
is tilled with living eoais. On the top of it is
put a perforated ( over. Tho frankincense is
brought to the temple in a s piaro box. The
frankincense is taken out and sprinkled over
the coals, and then tho perforated cover is
put on, and thev wait for the beginning
of the service. When they aro all ready
al! tho covers are lifted from nil the censers
and the nnciont temple was filled with the
perfume. It floated up am d tho arches, it
dropped amid tho altars. On the top of the
temple it arose in a column to the throne of
God. Aud so it is to-dav. 1 have two
censers. Here is tho censer of carhtly frank
in enso and hero is the censor of heavenly
frankincense. First of all, tho censer of earth
ly frankincense. Come, peoplo of God, and
put on it your thanks—thanks for the mer
cies of the (iast year, thanks for the mercies
of all the years—individual mercies, family
mercies, national mercies. Bring on more
ceusers. Then lot the perfume float up to
the throne of God. Allelnia, alleluia. Amen!
But hero Is the other censer—the censor of
Heavenly frankincense. Let all tho ro
deemed bring their thanks and put them
on this censer. Let the choruhim bring
theirs, let tho seraphim bring theirs, let the
ono hundred and forty and four thousand
bring theirsflet nil the eternities bring theirs,
au t then I take these two censers and I swine
them before tho throne of God and tho
Lamb, and then I clash them together in one
great alleluia unto him to whom the " iso
men of the Hast brought their gold and
myrrh and frankincense whon tho star that
they saw in tho East wont before them.
A Sad Story.
rriß msTRi Ba caused by imprisoning
A DEBTOR.
A distressing cast: of imprisonment for
debt is at present interesting many resi
dents of Camden, N. J., and some prom
inent members of the Masonic: fraternity
in Philadelphia. Six months ago Henry
H. Barry was imprisoned among crim
inals and roughs as an absconding debt
or, and there lie still remains, though
his family is sufl'ering for the necessaries
of life. A few months ago Mr. Barry
wus a wealthy citizen, lie purchased
the Eagle Glass Works, at Port Eliza
beth, N. J., and began the manufacture
of a ware that was a necessity in tho
community. The works were greatly
out of repair, and he was at a great ex
pense in repairing them. This ate up
his funds. Then a stock company was
to be started. In the meantime Mr.
Barry stiys he had been getting groceries
of a firm in Philadelphia for his work
men. lie paid up all but Slid, which
lie says he promised to pay ns soon us
possible. Then lie was about to go to
look after some property in Ohio, when
he was locked tip in the Camden Jail as
an absconding debtor.
i his was six lponths ago, and there
he has remained ever since. J lis wife
and child were compelled to leave their
comfortable home at No. UI7 North
Second street, Camden, and remove to
two rooms in an alley. She pawned all
her valuables and took in work. Now
she is ill and in want of the necessaries
ot life. Mr. Barry says he was told that
if lie would swear that he was not worth
sllO he would be released from jail.
This he refused to do, as he valued his
stock at nearly SIOO,OOO. Then he
make an tv-si eminent of all this amount
to Edward W. Perot, of No. 2UB North
Front street, Philadelphia, but even yet
he cannot be released, though it is said
that Mr. Perot will secure his liberty in
a few days by paying olf the debt.
Col. McClure Wanted a Stake.
The Cleveland ]sailer tells this 6tory
of a brother editor:—A. K. McClure of
the Philadelphia limes is said to be one
of the kindest hearted, most intelligent
and most geuerous of the noted men of
Philadelphia. He is said to scorn small
things, to be very lavish with his money,
and to be not averse to a good game
of poker. Not long ago, my informant
says, he had been playing a quiet little
game with some of his friends, in which
the stakes were rather high, and had
left the table dead broke. He came
upon the street, and walked jauntily
along until he rnet one es his millionaire
friends.
“How are you of! for money to-day?”
said he. “Jt is too late for me to get
into the bank, and I haven't a cent. <an
you lend me a little until to morrow?
“Certainly,” was the reply, and with
that the man handed .McClure a SSO bill.
McClure took the bill and looked con
temptuously at it. lie then looked at
the man and held up the bill saving
“And do you call SSO money? I call it
only an ante,”
"THE TALE OF RIFE.
Man is to-day what man was yesterday—
Will bo to-morrow: lot him curse or pray
Drink or bo dull, ho learns not, nor shall
loam
Tlio lesson that shall laugh tho world
away.
Tho world ns gray or just ns golden shines,
Tho wine as sweet or just as bitter flows
For you and mo; and you, like me, may
find
Perfume or canker in the reddest rose.
Tho (aloof life is hard to understand;
But while tho cup waits ready to your j
hand
Drink, and declare the summer roses blow
As rod iu London as iu Snnmrcniid.
Lips are ns sweet to kiss and eyes as bright
As ovor flattered Omar with delight:
English or Persian, while tho mouth is fair,
Wliat can it matter how it says good
night?
—Justin McCarthy,
AH ORANGE HUMMOCK
BY HARRIET PRESCOTT BPOFFORD.
Julian could hardly remember the tine
old turns before the war, although it
could not he said to bo tlio fault of his
mother and his elder sisters, or of old
-Mammy Dinah, all of whom kept the j
legends of those times pretty constantly
beioro Ids eyes and cars. Tho splendor, |
the company, the leasts, the slaves, all j
seemed to him the veriest idle story be- i
side the fact of unvarying corn bread, nnd !
bacon now.
The house was tumbling to pieces; lie
wondered if there was a worse ruin in all
Florida; the almost boundless extent of
the lands was uncultivated; tho slaves
Were all gone.
“I don’t see why we should he poor,”
said Julian, having made up his mind
for a good square talk at last, “with all
the land that is hero.”
“That’s half tlio reason,” said his
father.
“But I thought that it was oil the
land people made their money.’
“When they already have money nnd
the hnpds with which to cultivate land.
It takes hands and it takes means to
grow cotton and augur. I can h:> rdly bo
expeeti d to go to work myself! ’’
"Then,” persisted oulian, “why j
couldn't we hire people, and pa v them
from the crop when it comes? ”
" .“You dou t. know what you aro talking
about, my son.”
“1 know we lia o hundreds of acres of
land, and if they were mine, J thunk that
I could <io something with them.”
“You may do what you please with
them,” said his father. “I give you j
carte blanche,” and ho went back to the
reading of (he ('onyi'cnional llccurd. Or
at least lie would have gone back, if
Julian would have let him. But Julian
had not begun to talk without being very
much in earnest, and now lie meant to
go through.
“Well,” lie said, laughing, “carte
blanche is a good thing to have, but one
needs some help to do anything with
even that. I think if you will let mo
have the hummock iu Okcmolkokee
Everglade, and will lend old Gy to
DamJridgc and me”
“Old Cyrus! What would your
mother do without him, sind what w-ould
Rachel and Rebecca do? The only one
of all the hands that lias stayed faithful
to us! You can do nothing without
capital.”
“But Northern people come here, and
seem sure of doing well. And wc have j
the land they come to buy. t hat’s cap
ital. if you lend old Gy to Dan und mo,
we won’t ask you for more, for we’ve
been saving our odd pennies lor this,
and we’ve got enough to buy all the
grafts wo want, and Gol. Burbeck will
give us some besides.”
“Grafts?” said his father, pushing up |
his silver-bowed spectacles in perplexity.
“Grafts? ’
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do with
grafts!”
“Look at them,” said Julian, with a
griri. “So I ee you'll lend me Gy. Wliat
if Rachel went along witli us?”
“Your mother might not approve.”
“Mother'll approve fast enough, (j
reckon, when we’r getting live-thousand
a year.”
“i ivc thousand a year!” cried his
father, letting the < oeeyreuioend llr.mil
fall. “Have you gone daft, Julian?”
“Well, father,” said Julian, with a
great laugh, throwing back the dark curl
that was always dropping into his eyes,
“i’ll fen I for you to make us a visit on
the big hummo 'k in Okcmolkokee Ever
glade by-and-by, and then we'll sec.”
“1 don’t know about it; 1 don’t know,” J
said his father, picking up the scattered >
leaves of his cherished document. But
Julian knew that his father would lend
old ? to Hanbridgo and hirn df, and
he made his preparations lor tiic enter
prise, siy ng little or nothing. Rachel
had already agreed to eorne to them
whenever they should send for her.
It was a week from that day that,
with a />ack of simple provisions, with
rifles, picks, hatch:".-s and priming
knives, and 'eino twine hammocks in
addition, Julian and hi patty started on
their excursion, as th y called it, Julian
carrying on hi back greatly to old Gy'
disturbance, but, then, old ( y couldn’t
carry everything himself- a bundle
wrapped iri moss, which he gayly de
clared they must save first in case of . re,
tor it wa 1 - all th' ir fortune.
‘•Brea, y< r heart, honev,” said old Gy,
where’s disycr fire gwinc lo Be, onlest
Mars' I -an knocks my pipe onto a cypress
tree? An’ it's so damp in dcse yer
swamns, s/ ect it'd put de pipe out any
how.’'
They made their beds that night in
the hammocks tha’ they flung hi,"h in
the hougi s and that • uliati had brought
along against the wishes of old Cy, wtiOj
thought a bod of broken boughs fit for
a king, .snakes or not.
Wliat a scene it was on which their
eyes opened in the early morning! Ce
dar: supurb as the cedars of Lebanon,
dropping gi cat circles of shade, the huge
live-oaks, trembling with webs and fic
tions of grey moss, that made sheets of
diamonds as it swung in the sun, here
and there a palm-tree, lifting its green
crown in tho clear air, and vistas into
tho rich vendure of the swamp beyond,
gay with every color, and sweet with
every scent o honeymoon suckle, vanilla,
heliotrope, and great unknown flowers
In and out the thickets flashed wings
like jewels; scarlet flamingoes stood in
the pools, the great white heron rose
heavily, and little alligators, that looked
as if tiicy were living bronzes i rept up
to stm themselves on the hanks.
After they had finished their trtigal
breakfast, and rolled their hammocks in
the smallest knot they could make, they
pushed on after old Cyrus, who knew
the paths and by-paths to everywhere,
and they were only a week on their way.
adding to their larder game brought
down by their rifles before they came up
from the swamp they had skirted, nnd
found themselves on the hummock of
Okcmolkokco Kvcrgladc.
What a strange place it was. and what
a wilderness of wealth it looked to
Julian! It was a slight elevation, but a
few feet in al! above the swamp, and its
rich lands had become a forest of the
bitter wild orange, at present of no good
to anybody, except in its season of
bloom, wh n the rapturously delicious
fragrance drifted for mileson thesoftair.
“Wo wilt explore a mile or two to
day,” said Julian, “and mark tho trees
wc think best to keep, and thin out all
the others, the first thing wo do.”
Tt was a busy day they had of it, and
many a busy day that followed, while
they let sun and air into tlio great
thicket, and, as far as possible, saved
trees in the regularity they would have
lmd if set out iu an orchard. 'l’lltee or
four times before they finished Gyrus
left them and returned for ptovisions,
the second time bringing his son Darius
with him. And nt last the wilderness
was cleared, nnd every tree remaining
in the first section had received the bud
of the sweet orange, which had been the
precious freight of Juliim’s tnoss
wrapped bundle.
“Now,” said Julian, “while these are
accommodating themselves to the new
circumstances, we will go ahead and
clear out next year’s extension. I don’t
know exactly how long this hummock
i , but in time I mean to get all the
worthless growth cleared out of so much
of it, as belongs to father, if its ten
miles, and every troo left grafted, and
we’ll have overv sort of orange that
grows; tho blood-red Multe.-e, the spicy
little Mandarin, nnd nil the rest. This
is better than standing behind counters
or over desks, isn’t it, Dan ’
“Heap sweeter work than picking cot
ton on the field honey,” said old Gy.
What a day it was to the boys and the
old servant when the whole orange for
est, as far as eye could see, burst out in
flower, with such a blossoming as would
have wreathed all the brides of the earth
with snowy sprays, and whose rich, rare
odors one would think might have sailed
over the seas themselves, and penetrated
foreign countries witli their sweetness.
‘ Now,” said Julian, to his brother
and confidante, “we want to he fit for
what’s coining. Don’t let’s waste any
time. Dr. Yancey has hooks enough,
and he’ll tell us what to read, and we’ll
go and see him and begin to get an edu
cation.” And so much of their plan as
this they announced to the family.
“1 in sure I don’t, sec what you can he
thinking about,” whimpered Ids sister
Frariiie, “when we’re all hut skirvirig.”
But Rachel "as the only onewhotook
liohl of the books with them, and la
bored along ns near them ns she cold fol
low; and before the year was out it was
surprising how much those lads and the
young girl had put into their memories.
Twice a year Julian and Dan and old <’y
and Darius wont oil on wliat their mother
called their wicked and idle shooting,
for which she didn’t sec why their father
was willing to spare them old Cy. But
the father kept the secret. They believed
it would make the mother happy enough
by-and-by.
Poms years later, they set out early one
morning for the orange hummock, the
father having left a note for the mother,
saying that he was going with the boys,
anil go ng to take Rachel.
Nobody enjoyed the whole enterprise
more than Rachel, who was a helpful
little body, and knew of countless meth
ods of adding to their comfort ori the
way. Her own comfort, was secured by
the little donkey that Gy had borrowed
of Dr. Yancey and oriwhi h she rode.
“Yoiflll have to be a lot of tise, Rachel,
as soon as we get there.” said Jtdian,
“and so has Mr. Father.”
But when she did get there, she found
as romantic a little liut, made of orange
boughs, with two rooms in it, too. that
the boys had made for her the last time
they were there, a; one could have out
of a fairy story; and long before she
reached the place site could have found
the way by the odors blowing toward
her: and when, all n£ once, the orange
forest -not an orange grove or planta
tion. but the orange-forest burst, upon
her in full gorgeous fruit ahe could have
cried with rapture, only she knew her
father liked to have her Maid and quiet.
But Die knew she had come to help them
gather their fortune, and all hands be
gan at once.
‘•Ac made a ra.t. you see, father,”
said Julian, ""the last, time we were here,
to ~ and we '■aa float it: and there is a
raft tied up under the hushes there, nnd
that will let us into the water ways to the
St. John's. If we sell our oranges well,
we'll have a better equipment next year.
Aft‘-r that, p.tience patience, father’
When we’ve rafted down one lot we’ll
come hack for the next. When those
first o ! d Spanish eo onists, three hundred
years brought over a few orange
VOL. I. NO. 40.
shoots from Seville, do you believe it
over occurred to them that such a forest
as this would find a place here?”
It was all a .lulinn laid, and when
they had finished their voyagin'* and
sold the last orange, the boys went back
with tlicir father, and made their mother
a visit, and stoppe I all lev reproaches
hv telling her their story. Shortly after
that, masons and carpenters and garden
ers were at work up. n the house and tho
grounds; and thou the boys had taken
servants and mules with them, nnd had
gone hick to tho Okemolkokee hum
mock, and Haehcl, with her mother's
con-ont, had gone along, to keep the
mildew off, Pan said, while they cleared
out the hummock farther along, grafting
new tree s and tending old ones, and read
their books at night, by the light of
burning pitch-pine knots, before the lit
tle hut in tho centre of their orange
trees, that seemed to hud and bloom as
if they knew tho wo k they were doing
for tire family that had two such sons
and such a daughter as Haehcl, in it.
It was a halt-d /.on years later, that I
met at New Orleans a stately old gentle
man, die ed faultle sly; on his arm was
a pale and graceful ladv whose face,
happy and smiling though it was, bore
traces of old discontent and sorrow.
There was a group of young people in
the distance, busy over t links and bas
kets and wraps,— Frurnie and Itobecca,
and little Haehcl, grown as tall and
handsomo as they, and tlicir pert and
pretty quadroon waiting maid; and
.lames, who had grandly thrown up tho
place under < divornment, anxiety to
keep which had once m arly worn his
life out; and the two boys, who had
forgotten there was such a thing as a
shop counter or an oyster-scow; and
Darius, grinning like a masque and old
l’y, hovering round -I ulinn and I landrigde
a if they were the chief treasures of the
family, and losing tin in otic lost orange
groves and all.
“Yes,” said tho statelyold gentleman,
“yes, wo aie on the way to seethe hoys
olf to Europe, to give them the advan
tages of the best education. Splendid
1 >yh, sir -deserve the host there is, and I
am aide to give it to them, and they
shall have it.
“Am I still in the cotton business?
Oh, no; the cotton business left me with
the war. lam largely interested in
orange growing. My hoys lino ycung
men early turned their attention to the
wild bitter 01 nice on my waste lands,
and thanks to them—l mean, thanks to
.lulinn and Pandri igc there-you will
hardly believe it, hut I receive morothan
ten thousand dollars a year clear profit
from niy orange groves ”
The steamer bore away over tho old
Spanish main, to Gibraltar and Genoa,
two promising young men, if young they
might he called, when nearly thirty.
Ten years had changed their fortune.
The old huinino k still blossoms and
bears, and becomes a richer income year
ly, and is likely to do so until “the
hoys” are old.— Youth?* Companion.
Thanksgiving in 1721.
I'rom an old newspaper, the Boston
Gantte, of October !>, 1721, the follow
ing quaint and curious proclamation was
copied. It ston has never known a more
doleful Thanksgiving Day than that of
1721; for din ing that year six thousand
persons, out of a population of about
nineteen thousand, had the smallpox,
and one thousand of them died. The
Indiana hud eriously threatened the
peace of tho colony, and Governor Shute,
a gentleman of high tory principles, was
in continual conflict with the Legisla
ture. 'l'lie prominence given in tho proe
lamution to ilie King, George, and tho
royal family, was probably a political
stroke aimed by the Governor at iiis op
ponents. It did not soothe them, and
the Governor soon after left the province.
11:1 i lih CxreUencj
Sami-ei, Khutk, Esq.;
Captain General anil Governotir-in-
Chief, in and over His Majesty’s Province
of tiie Massachusetts Hay in Now Kng
laud, otc. A Proclamation for a General
TIIA.NKHGI VINO.
For as much as amidst the various
awful llehukos of Heaven, witti which
we lire righteously ulfli tod, in tho Con
tagious and Mortal Hieknoss among us,
especially in the Town of Boston; Tho
long and immoderate Bains, which have
ixou i hurtful to tho Husbandry and
J< i hery; And tho threatening Aspect of
Affairs with ib-spect t< our Frontiers;
wo are still under the highest and most
ind Hpoimable (obligations of Gratitude
for the many Instances of the Divine
Goodness in tho Favours vouchsafed to
us m tho Course of tho Year past; Par
ticularly, For the Life of our Grn'-ious
Sovereign Lord the King, Their Itoya(
Ilighm , , the I'rin-e and Princess of
Walt and lle ir i-sue, and the increase
of the Hoyol Family; The Preservation
of Ills Majetty s Kingdoms and JJoiniu
ions from tho terrible and desolating
I a stile nee, which hath for so long a
tine been wasting tho Kingdom of
France: And tho happy Success of His
Majesty's Wi-a Councils for Restoring
and Confirming the Peace of Kurope.
For tlm I .'"iitirriaii • of our valuable
Privileges, both Civil and Ecclesiastical;
and the Divine Blessing upon this Gov
ern cut jn their Ad > ini-.trations; Par
ticularly, in sin v-rding the Methods
tuk n to prevent the !n wilts of tho East
ern Indians; Forgiving so great Meas
uroof Health within this Province, and
Modern ing the M< rtalityof the Bmall-
Pox, o that a gieat Number of Persons
aro Ho overed ire.a that Distemper;
And for granting us so comfortable n
former Harvi -t, and i-o hopeful a Pros
peet of the latter;
1 have therefore, thought fit with the
Advio i • f Hi Majesty's Council, to order
und Appoint Thursday, the Twenty-sixth
instant, to be 1 tl served a- a Dav of Pub
lick Thanksgiving throughout this Prov
ince, strictly forbidding all Servile La
bour then-on. and exhorting both Minis
ters ami Per pie in their respective As
semblies on the sai 1 Day. to offer up
humble anil sin-ere Thanks to Almighty
God, lor His many Favours, as atore
--aid, and for many other Blessings be
: towed on a .inful People.
Givu r.t Uo-ton, tlm Eighteenth Dav
of Scot mber, ! .21. And in the Eighth
Year o the Deign of our Sovereign
I,ord G or e, by the Grace of God of
Great B ituin, 'Franco and Ireland.
King. I "lend r of tho Faith, etc.:
Bv rderot the Govemour, with Ad
vi e of i he Coon oL 8. Shcte.
F. Wat api), N'reh
Got l Harr the King!