Price, $1 a year.) OXFORD, N. a, OCTOBER 12,1883. (V0L.IX.no 21. The Friend visits about FO UR EU'^AFF Fok-O^^' in Hiorth Carolina, thus giving dvvsrtisers the advantage of U gekeratf 'ei^cuUtlon. . OBOA^IZATIOJVOF THE OR> J. H. Mills—Superintendent. Miss E. M. Mack—^Teacher of Third Form, Boys. Miss Lula Martin—Teacher Third Form, Girls. MTRa M. F. Jordan—-Second Form, "iffil!^6Rl:):£N-^Tlrst Fonn, Boys. Mbs. Walker—^First Form, Girls. "WTR-a V. V. Walton—Vocal Music and Drawing. Mbs. Rives—Hospital. Mrs. Hutchinson—Boys’ Sewing Room. Mbs. Fowler—Girls’ Sewing Room. SPECIAL DETIES. “GIBLS.^ CHApir^Cosby, Broadway and Mattie Piland. • Ghapel lyAMPS—E. Kelly. Chapel Stove—Douglass and A Keith. Office—H. Erwin.. .Lirrabt^nd BEH.r-L. Hudgins. -Halls—Bovd,M. Gabriel, Young. T. D, B.—llcod, Johnson, E. Wright. C. D.'R.—Beddingfield, Bivins, Hill, J. Hatch, Powers, Watson. Cush—Lee. Boiler—Tufford, S. Barfield. Water SHBPT4Hsywood, Wobdhouse Pigs—Grady, H(dmes. Milkers—Mason, L. Hatch. Girls’ Sewing Room—Knox. Boys’ Sewing Room—M. Hutcliinson. BOYS. Cook Room—Tate; Chambers. T. D. R —D. Batliffe. . Gi &.jB»r7priehard, McLeod, P. White, liem Lynch, Haywood,' E. Woody. Boiler—W. Lynch, Haywood. Lamf-Xi&KTER—Gibson. . Cow^^s^^’Grady, W. Mc Guire. Mule Boys—^Parker, Austin, Wilson, •Jackson, Butler. HoG;Bovs—^Pressou, Poteat. Pig Boys—Cosby, Fowler. Mail Boy-E. Poteat. .^THB-FBINQ'Er-rND CLOSED • : &BNTtAlT. ^WD sisters dwelt beside a Jarook, ■^lue-G^ntiro was 1 heir lif.me,— All this was centuries ago. Ere both were Itpown to iame; And kkh fooS as beautiful, ; . The other proud and airy. 'And in -a, Vpnd^n^r by, theib lived; ■ ■ ' A tricksyH^ttre 4iry. It chanfe^TinjpBinwraatiMBii day This'^iry‘18^4 tfee twH And feigning weariness, he^ .begged 0- them a sip of dow :• The one held up her tiny cup. g0*jjie4aii'y; drfl^M it l^htily .;..; , ; The other cried, “Begone, thou elfl” And clutched ,Jier drop mor^ tightly. T^en,. sprite ..quoth .the. cunning. Shall bring ye forth renown. Sweet maid,.accept this lairy fringe^ j aiure goWn; But thou, rude, selfish one, now take Thy la^loolAl^lie sky, ' For nevermore stuv^t thou or thine Ga^;e into mortal eye!” ' The days sped on : the sisters twain Passed'silontly • away, But' ‘' ■ y ^ . ■■y'e&t, The fairy will obey ; ilinfie, of iiatcliless hue, •' Rarer than ’COstly laces. ' While others fold their garments ■ close. And ever hide their faces, —t^Mabel 0. Fowd, We dad- 'ffecaHon, ^soi .time ago, to allude to ike fact , that very few people, in pub^ lie or in private, keep the rules of'l^ammar in the same invi olate praolad^Hihat a merchant preserves the. multiplication T'&lfe is -aftei?'ail, very much a matter of arbitra* .ry decision, and it happens very often that “points of controversy’’ remain unsettled for^^ 8imp%;%cairSe no^ : bent speakers and writers”^ have decided to do in certain cases. For example, it is plain enoug-h that the word“hone'’i8 a contraction of the two words “no one.’’ Of course, then ‘‘;ione” is in the singular num ber' 'Nevertheless, we can scarcely lay our bands upon a book that does not use the ex pression “none of these men Afl«e‘tvrttten a sentence,’’ or a similar form, clearly removing the w6rd from the distributive to the collective class of terms and giving it a plural signifi cation. Another class of phrases we fihd pointed out by the critics as pure “Soutoernisms.^’ But a -laig-O ' number of these "Southernisms” we meet con stantly in English magazines, review’^s, and books, not in the form of colloquial phrase’s, merely, but in grave criti- icisms of literary works, and in iScientific treatises. Let us name a few of them. We are strongly inclined, in this Southern country, to make an adverb out of the adjective ‘^‘might).’^ We have heard not a few persons say that they were “mighty," weak,'’’ awd now and then this state of health is said to be “powerful weak,” This is very amusing, doubtless, but, far from being peculiar to the South, or even to America, we can find this adverbial use of the word.‘ mighty” in quite a number of the London peri odicals.' Forinstance, the Lon don Saturday ICeview “which is nothing, if not critical^” tells us in h^ecent number, that a certain book is “mighty little” better than, the first/Tproduc xfioivof its- alitborr - 'Between ‘mighty^ and ‘little'’ there is. as ^^$at a contrast as hftw^en the ‘powerful’ and ‘weak’ of the Southerner,so tha^t the En glish wi'iteria as tauch at fault as his American cousins. ■ *I-l)aVe’ beam tell’ is not a graceful expression, but in a ^avH'W6j>k‘of''8eiteficfe^.a:^i:^nt- ly published in London, the accomplished writer says: IWon'tefal tbings, Ihave heard tell, were ‘done by Qpekett,’ S6, also;- in the'sam'o book, we 'fitrd the''’phra8e, ‘pfelty strong muscles,’ which ie precisely the sacne errof;' ‘p'etty^being transformed into an adverb and qualifying ‘Strong.’’ In deed we seern to be grovying tired of the bid adverb^ ‘very^ and substitute a,long list of words for it, probably for the sake of variety. But the English man of scL enco comes still closer to our Southern .^peculiarities,’ and tells us that ajcertaih skeleton of a mastodon ‘would pretty nearly fill tho whole space.’ Here .the adjective character of ^prHtty’ is wholly lost, and it is employed to qualify an- othcF&dverb. “At Newder- sey,’ lie tells us, a curtain dis covery was made, and quotes, ill another place, the follow ing, as a question current in England: ^Whatever is the good of ^-uch an animal?^ 'We leave it to the reader to determine tlje grammatical statics of ‘whatever . iti- this sentence, expressing our per sonal dislike to the use of the phrase, and assuring him t|iat we could fill this page with f similar quotations from the 'vitorks of English authors,who rre among the very best rep resentatives of English thought. The sum of the matter is, that there is u strong teudeiicy toward the oorrup tion o- the English language, and that this tendency is not a development peculiar jto Southern society, but may be found in every country in w hich the language is spoken. ■Lr, H P. Harrison. MEETING- ONE’S OWN INFLU ENCES. Good influences in youth are the angels of later years. They come back. They min ister. They have the gold of lie^iven on their wings As Tennyson says, ‘I am a part of all that 1 have met.’ Mr. Longfellovv sent a rauls titude of good influences, like song-birds, into the world They returned in the autumn of life- He loved the young. His pen sought their highest good. No child was repelled from his door. Only the day he was taken sick when a little girl came asking for his autograph, he hastened to the door himself, and said that her smiling thanks were refreshing. Often during the last win ter of his life his health was so delicate that his friends ob jected to this hospitality, and plead with him to be more chary. But he replied earn- estl)%— ‘Oh, I liketo see my friends: it does me good. And lal. ways think a child that comes to see me is a siue'ere friend.’ Few accounts of the return of good influences' to life are more beautiful than that which the poet gives of a Scene uni- der the old Cambridge chest nut tree where the black- 'Sniith’s sbop used to be. It was written for children: ‘ ‘Cambridge was by no means thickly settled for many years after I came here, and the village was rather straggling, so that the'smithy was quite a prominent object in my daily walk to and from the college, especially, as of- te ,' the children running down the court from their school would cluster round the door way, their f right faces and attitudes i s they stood, group ed under the chestnut tree, forming a strong contrast to the scene within, enhancing the [ucture and the lesson so that tho song came to me- (‘Tlie Village Blacksmith.’) ‘But after the school was moved down on to the street, as I was going home one morriiog, I heard you scholars singing my ‘Psalm of Life,’ and 1 remained uncovered, except for the shade of the chestnut tree, till the music ceased, feeling that it was Holy Ground.’ ‘Holy Ground!’ Tes, the place where the good influ- ences of life meet us again is holy. They will all meet us on ho’y ground at last. Maay persons who seemingly have consumption have perfectly sound lungs, and their distress originates al together from disordered kidneys and liver. .How there'are thousand of rem edies that will relieve kidney,and liver diseases, but there is only dh'e that Can be depended upon for effecting a, per manent cure, and'that is Brown’s'Iron Bitters.' Its efficacy has been satisfac torily proven in thousands of instances after ail Other remedies failed. ' OHOIOB IHOU&HTS OP THE BEST AtJi'HOES. Doing good is the only cer tainly happy action of a man’s life. Tho censure of those that are opDosito to US is tho nicos!, com- ivieiidation that can be given us. As tliey who, for every slight infirmity, take physic to repair their health,do rather impair it; BO tht y who, for every trifle, are eager to vindicate their charac- ler, do rather weaken it. To be happy, tho passion must he ch«erf(il and gay, not gloomy and melancholy. A propon. ity to liopo and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow, real pov erty. , A tender coneeience is an in estimable blessing; that is, a con- cience not only quick to discern what is evil, hut instantly to shim it, as tho eyelid closes it self against a mote. It is very often more necessary to conceal contempt than resentment, the former being never forgiven, but the latter gemetimes forgot. To make others’ wit appear more than one's own, is a good rule in conversation; a necessary one, to lot others take notice of your wit, and never do it your- self. Some men are as covetous as if they were to live forever; and others as prefuse as jf they were to die the next moment. Tho certain way to be cheated, is to f .ncy one’s self more cun ning than others. Where necessity ends, desire aiid curiosity begin; no sooner are we supplied with everything nature-can command, than we ’Bit down, .to coni rive ar'.ificial •appetites. It is certain that either wise bearing or ignorant carnage is caught as men take diseases one of another; therefore, let them take heed of their company. Nothing is so great an instance of ill-manners as flattery. If you flitter all the company, you please none li-you flatter only one or two, you aflront the re^^t. A sbrewe i observer once said that in walking the streets of a slippery morning, one might see where the good iiatured people lived, by tho ashes thrown on the ice before the doors. There are a set of malicious, prattling, prudent gossips, both malo and female, who murder character to kill time; and will rob a young fellow of his good name before he has ye- D’, to know the value of it. If you cannot be happy in one way be in another, and this fa cility of disposition wants but little aid from philosophy, for health and good humor are al- n.ost the whole affair. Many run about after felicity like an absent man hunting for his hat, while it is in bis Land or on his head. If Satan ©vor laughs it must bo at hypocrites. They pro the g eatest dupes ho has They sc-rve him better that any other, but receive no wages. 'Nay,what is^^till'more extraordinary, they submit to great ,r mortificatioDS than the sincercst Christian, Mr. S. A. Womble» Ne.wbem, N. C-: sayg, “I tried bi-owii’sTron Bitters and consider it an excellent tonic and appe tizer.” " FAME AND RECOGNITION. Two geutleaien met in Washington ' last . winter and pissed a week together. T e> had been cbisamates at ool- lego; one was now an obscure farmer, the other is a well- known leader in national af- urs, and had been a candi date for the Presidency. After obsorving his friend carelully for some days, the farmer said, ‘I honestly be-» lieva tint your fame is only an annoyance to you*’ ‘Suppose, G ,’ was the reply, ‘you were to enter a slroit'Car full of sirangors, vulgar, gojsipping folks, and that lh(iy should call out 3 our name loudl}', and state that you liad an idiot brother and that 3’ou had been suspected of stealing in your youth, and that your son was going head- ioi g to the dogs? -Sbouldyou like it? Well, the C( autry is onl3' a big street-car, and fame in it is just such personal gossip from vulgar mouths.’ This was a new -rtnd .start'- lin > view of the subject to the farmer, which he took home to think over. A poor invalid girl, confin ed for many y-errs to a bed oi suffering, wrote, out of' a full heart, the- poem ‘Nearer, my G’d, to thee!’ Befoie she died, that cry of a human soul to its Maker wa echoed all over the world T have lieard it,’ a friend wrote to her, ‘in China wnd from the lips oi Polynesian converts.’ Yet it vva.s not until she was in her grav that even the name of ^liy writer.was known. If the gossip of the street-car repre?- suuts lame, tins echo of a true word is typical of-recogni tion. Every Sophomore at; coU h ge dieamii of becoming, fa mous some lay. , Yet it is probable, if lie is made of he-^ roic stuff, that this noisy bruit, once . gain^-,-. would be dis- tastefu-i to*liim. But every man w)io is gi.y- 011 a mu^'/s port to play has the con:-ciinisoeas tliat he has n word to , speak, which per.' h^ps his own friends or townsmen do not understand. When it is spoken, and the answer comes back to liim fi( la the great world, that he lias been understood and has won recognition from his pee s,ene ot the keenest,high est pleasures which life yields becomes bis. Fame is ther senseless echo of his own name; the otoer a harmony wlioh tells him that he too has stiuck a chord in the di- vino song of humanity. STUDY OF THE POETS*.^- Mr. Adams, in his address at Harvard, . asserted that mental discipline might be ai qu'red as effectively by the slud}^ of the modern lan guages, as by that of the an cient classics. John Jlright is next to Mr. Gladstone, the most eloquent speaker in Par liament, and is noted for the English stvle. The Premier of etjurse, is a master of L itin and Greek, and his style shows that lie. has been train ed b}’ iiis classical studies But Mr. Briglit has had nO uiiiversit\' education, and no discipline from either ancient or modern languages. But he has studied tho English Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress, the E-’glish and Americm with -great care, and made himself familiar with their finest passages. He once told an American gentleman that Mr. Longfellow is one of his favorite poets, and that he had given many evenmgs to reading his poems aloud, and c nnmitting them to memory. He ascribes ins facility in the choice of woid.s to his familiar ac-|uaintaiica with tiie po«ts, and to his habit of reading aloud their passages Young people, therefoie, need not think it indispensa ble to study the cl. ssics, or evuri the modern iauguages,in order to acquire a c-omm-uid >f the English tongue. This may be done i 1 an easier way, i)y a ;:thorougli study of the great Englisli^writers in prose find poetry. B it it is better to on lerstand the classics if one can; the classics are the foiin-^ ladon of a broad edaeatiou. SICKNESS IN FARMERS' FAMILIES. A Massachusetts Health re port gives ihi.s sugsicstive •'U.iitiiary of ill ■ priiicipal ‘•auses of sickness in families -t farmers: 1. Overwork and exposure; the women being UK re frequently overworked. 2- Injproper ami improperly c')r>ked food. 3 Damp loca tion of dwellings. 4. Waiitof cleanliness about their houses, especially in reference to drains, privies, cellars and proximity to barn'-3’ards and hog-pens, 5. Impure drink- eg wafer,'largcdy due to tiie l‘/r« edding cau^e. ' 6. B rouiiis imperfectly ventilated, indAn the ground floor, with liie too general use of leather beds. 7. Insufficient recrea tion. The friendship of a dog that eau be relied ui)oii is of more account tljan the friendship of a man who mint be bo'ught with gifts. S- NORFOLK, Va. FURNITURE, CARPETS, ■Window Shades, Lace Curtains, For twenty years wo have stood at fho liead of our husiness, and this sea son onr assortment exceeds in volume and variety any former display. i immense warerooms contain an area of over 30,000 square feet.“^8 Wc‘ import.and buy from FIRST IIAYDS, and for ( ASH DOWN. No concorn'in this country possesses su perior facilities t.) ourselves, and we guarantee to sell as low as any house in tlic North. Our assortment of PIANOS AND organs is the LAi;CEST IN THE SOUTH, and we sell at Lowest Factory Prices Uur Agency eij.braces the very Unest aiid best Pianos manufactured. We are sole agent for— STEINWAY & SONS, CIIICKERING &SONS, HENRY F. MILLER, EMERSON PIANO CO. Don’t fail fo-con' c ami see us or write to us if needing anytiiing in our line. S. A. STEVENS & CO., NORFOLK, VIRGINIA,