YOL. III.
OXFORD, N. C., Y/SDMESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1877.
NO. 41.
liV MEMOattfASI.
fTliere lias boon lew more beautiful
iiociiis than this written. It was on
reiwiins it, that Cxooi-ge. I). Prentice
said one might almost wi.sli to die, it he
knew that so beautiful a tribute as this
would be written to lii.s memory.]
On the bosom of a river,
AVhere the sun unloosed its quiver,
And the staiiight gleamed forever,
Sailed a vessel light and free.
Jloruiiig dew-drops hung like manna
On the bright folds of her banner,
And the zephyrs rose to fan her
Softly to the radiant sea.
At her prow a pilot beaming
In the flush of youth, stood dreaming.
And he ivas glorious, seeming
Like an angel from above.
Through his hair the breezes sported.
And as on the wave he floated,
Oft that pilot, angel-throated.
Warbled lays of hope and love.
Through those locks so blithely flow
ing.
Buds of laurel bloom were blowing.
And his hands anon were throwing
Music from a lyre of gold.
Swiftly down the stream he glided,
Soft the purple wave divided.
And a raiuboAV arch divided
On his cativass’ snow'y fold.
Anxious hearts wutU fond devotion,
Watclied liim sailing to the ocean.
Prayed that never wild commotion
■’Midst the elements might rise.
And he seemed some young Apollo,
Charming summer winds to foUow',
While the water flags carol ^
Trembled to his music sighs.
But those purple waves enchanted,
Itolled beside a city haunted
By an awful spell that daunted
Every comer to the shore,
litight shades rank the air encumbered.
And pale marble statues numbered
AVhere the lotus eaters slumbered,
And woke to live no more.
Then there rush ed wdth lightning quick
ness
O’er his face a mortal sickness,
And the dew' in fearful tliickness
Gathered o’er his temple fair.
And there sw'ept a dying murmur
Tlu'Oiigh the lovely Southern summer,
As the beauteous pilot comer
Perished by that city there.
Still rolls on that radiant river,
And the sun unbinds his quiver.
And the starlight streams forever.
On its bossom as before.
Blit that vessel’s rainbow banner
Greets no more the gay savanna,
And that pilot’s lute drops manna
On the purple wave no more.
OOVElSRIESsES.
profession to get on in, and are
fit for nothing else. Thus the
ino.st important of ours, and tlie
higliest of all men’s vocations, are
both degraded—in so far as they
can bo degraded—by the unwor'
thiness and incompetency of their
professors.
If, in the most solemn sense,
not one woman in live thousand
is fit to bo a mother, we may
safely say that not two out of
that number are fit to be gov
ernesses. Consider all that the
office implies: very many of a
mother’s duties, with the addition
of considerable mental attain
ments, firmness of character, good
sense, good temper, good breed
ing : patience, gentleness, loving
kindness. In short, every quality
that goes to make a perfect ivo-
man, is required of her who pre
sumes to undertake the education
of one single little child.
Does any one pause to reflect
what a “little child” is? Not
sentimentally, as a creatnre to be
philosophised upon, painted and
poetised ; nor selfishly, as a kiss-
able, scolda'olo, sugar-plum-feed-
able plaything; but as a human
soul and body, to be moulded,
instructed, and influenced, in or
der that it in its turn may mould,
instruct, and influence unborn
generations. And yet, in face of
this awful responsibility, wherein
each deed and ivord of hers may
bear fruit, good or ill, to indefi
nite ages, does nearly every edu
cated gentlewoman throrvn upon
her own resources, nearly every
. -1 . - / / U
lialf-educatoQ “ young person
The following extract is from
au excellent little volume, A
Woman’s Thoughts about Wo
men,” by Miss Muloch. It is a
book that should be read by ev
ery woman who desires to see
herself as others see her; the
Queens of society, as well as the
cook and housemaid, will find
themselves pictured there, not on
ly as they are, but as they should
be: . • X
“ITonicilG professions, a-s distinct
from what may be termed female
handicrafts, which merit ^separate
classification and discussion, may,
I think, be thus divided ; the in
struction of youth ; painting ^ or
art; literature; and the vocation
of public entertainment—includ
ing actresses, singers, musicians,
and the like.
The first of these, being a call
ing universally wanted,^ and the
easiest in which to win, at all
events, daily bread, is the great
chasm into which the helpless
and penniless of our sex generally
plunge; and this indiscriminate
Quintus Curtiusism, so far from
filling up the gulf, widens it eve
ry hour. It must ho so, while
voung women of all classes and
degrees of capability rush into
governessing, as many young
men enter the church,—because
they think it a “ respectable ”
who wishes by that means to step
out of her own sphere into the
one above it, enter upon the vo
cation of a governess.
Whether it really is her voca
tion, she never stops to think;
and 5’et, perhaps, in no calling is
a personal bias more indispensa
ble. For knowledge, and the
power of imparting it intelligibly,
are two distinct and often oppo
site qualities; the best student by
no means necessarily makes the
best teacher; na>, when both
faculties are combined, they are
sometimes neutralised by some
fault of disposition, such as want
of temper or of will. And allow
ing all these, granting every pos
sible intellectual and practical
competency, there remains still
doubtful the moral influence,
which, according to the source
from which it springs, mav enno
ble or corrupt a child for life.
All these are facts so trite and
so patent, that one would almost
feel it superfluous to state them,
did we not see how utterly they
are ignored day by day by oven
sensible people; how parents go on
lavishing expense on their house,
dress, and entertainments—every
thing but the education of their
children; sending their boys to
cheap boarding-schools, and en
gaging for their daughters gov
ernesses at 201 a year, or daily
tuition at sixpence an hour ; and
how, as a natural result, thou
sands of incapable girls, and ill-
informed, unscrupulous women,
go on professing to teach every
thing under the sun, adding lie
upon lie, and meanness upon
meanness—often through no vol
untary wickedness, but sheer
helplessness, because they must
either do that ot starve !
Yet, all tlie while wo expict
our rising generation to turn out
perfection ; instead of which wc
find it—wliat?
Unless a woman has a decided
pleasure and facility in teaching,
an liouest knowledge of every
thing she jirofcases to impart, a
liking for children, and above all,
a strong moral sense of her re
sponsibility towaids them, for her
to attempt to enrol lierself in the
scholastic order is absolute pro
fanation. Better turn shopwo-
man, needlewoman, lady’s-maid
—-even become a decent honse.-
maid, and learn how to sweep a
floor, than belie her own soul,
and peril many other souls, hy
entering upon what is, or ought
to be, a female “ ministry,” un-
conseoratod for, and incapable of
the work.
“ But,” sav they, “ work wo
must have. Competition is so
great, tiiat if we did not profess
to do everything, it would_ be
supposed we could do nothing :
and so we should starve.”
Yet, what is competition? A
number of people attempting to
do what most of them can only
half do, and some cannot do at
all—thereby “cutting one an
other’s throats,” as the saying is,
so long as tlieir incapacity is
concealed ; when it is found out,
starving. There may bo excep
tions, from exceeding misfortune
and the like—but in the long run,
I believe it will he found that few
women, really competent to do
what they undertake, be it small or
great, str.rve for want of work to
do. So, in this case, no influence
is so deeply felt in a house, or so
anxiously retained, if only from
self-interest, as the influence of a
good governess over the children.
Among the innumerable throng of
teachers, there is nothing more
difficult to find—or more valuable
when found, to judge by the liigl
terms asked and obtained by
many professors—than a lad}'
who can teach only a single thing,
solidlv, conscientiously, and well.
In this, as in most social ques
tions, where to theorise is easy
and to practise very difficult, it
will often bo found that the silent
undermining of an evil is safer
than the loud outcry against it.
If every governess, so far as her
power extends, would strive to
elevate the character of her pro
fession by elevating its members,
many of the unquestionable
wrongs and miseries ot governess-
ship would gradually right them
selves. A higher standard of
capability would weed out much
cumbersome mediocrity; and,
competition lessened, the value of
labor would rise. I say “ the
value of labor,” because, when
we women do work, we must
learn to rate ourselves at no_ ideal
and picturesque value, but simply
as laborers—fair and honest com
petitors in the field of the world;
and our wares as mere merchan
dise, wliero money’s worth alone
brings money, or has any right
to expect it.
KEEIOIOES EII'EKATERE.
“One of the greatest difficulties
in the proper education of chil
dren is the external influence
brought to bear upon them. Pa
rents have too much help in the
training of their children. They
have help from atheists and infi
dels; they liave help from disso
lute men and had boys; they
have help from the rurasellor and
the dancing master. Tlie training'
of their children is not entirely
in their own liands. Tiioir influ
ence is contradicted, thwarted.
They sow the seeds of virtue ; but
an enemy sows the seed of vice ;
and the crop of vice often out
grows the crop of virtue, overtops
it, chokes it, and causes it to be
come unfruitful.
There is no influence more po
tent for evil in thwarting the ef
forts of pious parents in the rear
ing of tlieir children than that of
a corrupt literature.
This is a reading age, and al-
though many do not read enough,
tliough all who can read, read
something.
If good books, good periodicals
and good newspapers are not
placed in the hands of our chil
dren, they will inevitably get
hold of had hooks, had periodicals
and had newspapers. Sncli litera
ture chimes with their fallen na
ture—^it is,;exciting and entertain
ing. It corrupts, poisons, and
blasts all that is virtuous and ot
good report. The day was when
children could be successfully
reared without a religious paper
in the family; hut it was when
the devil was destitute of the
appliances of a corrupt literature.
The day when a man dare attempt
to raise a family without religious
literature has passed. An army
armed with hows and arrows,
javelins and spears might as well
attempt to fight with another
army, armed and equipped with
all tlio appliances of modern
warfare, as for a father to attempt
to raise his children in primitive
style, without the Sunday scliool,
without good books, without the
religious newspaper, wlien tlie
land is flooded with infidel and
immoral literature
The man who makes the at
tempt will fail. His sons will
possibly go astray from Ins good
advice, from the precepts of the
Bible, and from the paths of re
ligious rectitude. His daughter
will possibly bo fond of dress and
show, of dancing and worldly
amusements; will likely discard
the religion of her parents if not
the ways of virtue and morality.
The onl)’ way now to cope
with the world in the training of
our children is to give them a
Christian education, and one
means of doing this is to keep an
excellent religious journal con
stantly before them.
If Christian men should fail to
use all the means within their
reach to give their children the
proper religious bias, and the
children should afterward go
astray, the parents may blame
themselves for it.
A religious paper furnishes the
cheapest education in the world,
and for the cost of it, the best.
No well informed, right think
ing man will attempt to raise a
family without a, newspaper, or
which is nearly as bad, cram
them with political news and
political rancor, while religious
intelligence is withheld from
■heir susceptible and expanding
minds. A course of this kind will
end ill sliamo and sorrow.”—l/ol-
ston Methodist.
A U'OHO SA' MEB’ENEE OE WO
MB W.
Mon loo ofloii malign ivoinen
in accusing tlioiii of extravaganco
ill dres.s. Generalizing is always
dangerous, and particiilai ly so
where women are concerned.
The masses of women are not
spendllirlfts; any sane man will
admit tliat as a rule women are
not even extravagant. They liave
certain pet theories regarding
dress wliich if not admirable are
nevertheless not of sufficient im
portance to warrant a libel to bo
written against them.
The truth is that women are
not, nor ever have been, as a sex,
extravagant; on the contrary,
they are economical many times
to penuriousness. They have no
income of their own, and tlio
money given them by their hus
bands is always for family expen
ses, and goes to the putohaso of
wearing apjiarel and household
goods, and the little that is left is
often less than many men imag
ine.
The trouble is that women buy
for show when they do buy, and
they do their shopping in such
an elaborate and deliberate way
that lookers-on are deceived.—
WeeMy Literary Journal.
A OE M 'J' EtTV E m P E11.
The Neiv Yoah Tribune tells this
incident of a clergyman graced
with a gentle temper;
It is related Iry elderly citizens
of Koohester that on a certain oc
casion the Eev. Dr. Backus, of
blessed memory, had been laying
out and decorating the grounds
about his liouse at a considerable
outlay of labor and expense. On
the very first night after the com
pletion of the work, when the
grounds had been tastefully gri
ded and terraced and sodded and
planted, a herd of vagrant swim-
broke into the inclosuro, and in
dustriously rooted the fair territo
ry into a wilderness of unsightly
gullies. The next morning, astl e
good doctor stepped out upon hi-
porch, one sweeping glance sui-
ficed to furnish a full and appreci
ative conception of the dosolatioi .
llestraining any expression oi
unregenerate wrath, ho stood for
a space in silence, and then re
marked with mournful philoso-
pv, “Well, you (never can l.ay
dirt to suit a hog !”
EBKiEI’l'Y AMM^l'jMUSl'EKIT'E
OF THE JE\VS.
A London letter says: “ The
Jews are indeed ubiquitous. Thev
are everywhere. The Russians
cannot feed their troops without
tliem. The Turks borrow of them
to clothe tlieir armies. Antwerp,
as all the world knows, has just
held a splendid fete in honor of
Rubens. The decorations .and il
luminations cost $300,000. Most
of the money came to London ;
for the same enterprising Jew
who is not above erecting a sin
gle gas star over the door of a
Regent street tradesman, has, by
dint of skill and money, consti
tuted himself the decorative artist
ol all Europe. Defries, who be
came known to all the munici
palities at the peace rejoicings af
ter the fall of Lucknow, wreathed
Antwerp tlio other day with flags,
and at night made it a blaze of
lamps, gas-jets, transparencies
and crystal glories. Three hur-
dred thousand dollars transform-
1 ed the dull city into fairy land.”