Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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The Annual of The voice of the angel. Quickly then to him, above from the skies, The glorious spirit of God spoke with words : Abraham, beloved, slay not thy own son, But snatch thou the child Alive from the fire, thine heir. The God of glory grants him. Man of the Hebrews, Through the hand of the Holy One, Of the Heavenly King, Thou thyself shalt receive meeds, True rewards of victory, liberal gifts. The Keeper of Spirits will requite thee with honor, Because his peace and favor Were dearer to thee than thine own child. The fire stood kindled. The Lord of mankind had bles.sed The breast of Abraham, the kinsman of Lot, When he gave to him his child, Isaac, alive. Then the holy warrior, the brother of Haran, Looked over his shoulder, And there he saw a ram Not far thence, standing alone Fast in the brambles. This Abraham seized And raised on the pyre very quickly. In the place of his child. Then he smote it with the sword. He adorned the sacrifice, the alter reeking With the blood of the ram. He offered the sacrifice to God. He gave thanks for the favors. And for all the blessings Which the Lord of gifts had given to him, Earlier and later. Florence Best, Ronceverte, West Virginia.

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The Mary Baldwin Seminary. Then Abraham spoke to his servants : My warriors, rest you here In these places, we will come again After we have performed the errand of us two For the King of spirits. Then the prince departed, and his ow ' n son, To the boundary which the Lord showed him, To travel over the forests ; The son bore the wood. The father the fire and sword. Then the man, young in winters, Began to question Abraham in words : Here, my Lord, we have the fire and the sword. Where is the offering that thou, glorious, to God Thinkest to bring for a sacrifice ? Abraham spoke — he had continuously resolved That he would do as the Lord commanded him : The true King, the Guardian of mankind, Himself will provide as seems to him fit. Then the valiant one mounted a steep hill, up with his heir, As the Eternal One commanded him. Until he stood on the roof of the high land. On that place which to him the strong One, The faithful Lord, showed in words. Then he began to load the pyre, to arouse the fire, And bound the hands and feet of his own son. And then raised into the fiie The 3 oung Lsaac, and quickly grasped His sword by the hilt. He was about to kill his son With his own hand, to quench the fire With the blood of his kinsman. Then a servant of the Lord from above, A certain angel, called Abraham With a loud voice. He, fixed, awaited

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The Mary Bald7vin Seminary. DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. The name of Samuel Johnson sounds very familiar to us, almost as much so as that of one of our immediate friends. When his name is mentioned there is before our mind ' s eye a figure large and uncouth, a face much disfigured by marks of disease, small blinking eyes, a brown coat hanging loosely about his figure, black worsted stockings, and crowning all a gray wig, with a scorched foretop, that barely covers his head. If we could blot out the years that separate our lives from the time in which he lived, and could look in on him, either in his home or elsewhere, we would probably see him sitting with his head inclined on his right shoulder, his vast trunk swaying backward and forward, and his hand keeping up a correspond- ing motion upon his knee. At times we would hear him mak- ing a clucking sound, again uttering a suppressed whistle, and still more frequently a humming sound, accompanied with a vacant smile. Although Johnson was exceedingly unattractive to the eye, he captivated all by his great conversational powers. His friends used to gather about him in the tavern, to which he so frequently resorted, and listen by the hour to the rich and ani- mated conversation of this wise man. Even in the days of comparative obscurity, John.son enjoyed all, or nearly all, that fame can yield a man — the respect and obedience of those about him. The circle of friends, of which he was the centre, gradu- ally enlarged as the report of him .spread. Goldsmith was frequently with him, though it is probable he did not love Johnson, but rather envied him on account of his genius. Then there was chivalrous Topham Beauclerk with his sharp wit and courtly manners, and Bennet Langton, an orthodox gen- tleman. Garrick, too, was a prominent member of this circle of friends, although there was a feeling of jealousy existing between Johnson and himself, and for this reason : Johnson and Garrick had come to London together, both as poor young