The Oxford intelligencer. (Oxford, Miss.) 1860-18??, 1860-10-10
WINNING 4 WIPE, /;

q 3 = WINNING a WIPE. 's
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~ SetiRE H4fbcttlc, Of Hnbottle: court, wa
one Of the strangest humorists in our couu
- ty.aI Having strictly circunseiribed his de
a sires to country life and rural pursuits, il j
atf not wonderful that he derived all his idea
Ii from thence, consisting of small stock 0
feelings and opinions, which, As they were o
~ the exclusive kind, AMI admitted OF no limo
vation, were pf8baBty fkeNvefy same tha
a had employed the intellectnal faculties of hi
. grandfather and great gnsndfather, and beer
,6,suse,ias hereditary property fromtime inrme
.srFmorid. iqqississh "a "a "a .ssuso lisal isdi
SI.a Among these crude doctrines was one ripou p
= which the s9pifs Insisted with a yehepuenc,
II quite apoplectic, and, il whose behosoaf and
:, msintensnes he had .0ftines wcll nigh, ,des'
. treyed the,.table and his own knuckles into
y the shsrgainsbsG ans sAis,v That unless a
a tsaomah swetes eswcll acquainted aud properly
sfcomernmt. With the ssports bfthe' field, an
o1iess Ne delightedit boxing cricket and foot
S7iBal,s and dstctcd Himself With All thc fefyor
W of Au idoat0r the Raiitlhg bowl and the
circulation Of the bottle, he could not in JUS
tice to the race bs-sstsemed human being.
4 Upoh these points he had not only pinned
Y his faitIi but ssewed 1t With the peedlc of
Strong belief and i, would have been as safe
oiaonbt the Legitimate, Of the Hanover sue,
eessiop, or the necessity f,the corn laws, as
to argue with the Squire upon the souudness
q of his premises in the pronuIgstion of the
3 above Hdoctrine.f lsy,n svsS bus ,ysla ncll
stsiDItvas, accordingly,pa matter Of much per
frhxityi1ad c0nccniqto Mrs.'HarbottIc and
t hcf daughter, Mabel, Wen knowing these OBJ
1stiaatc and, 'irreyocable convictions, how 'thc
addresses Of Mr.. Merton would be couuten-.
apeed By the Squire, l,yc, ,ao r. a'ao5,ni
Mr.. Merton was.a-young West Indian of
large fortune who dhring the last london.
d season had been introddeeSi to Mabel, and
had succeeded IN creating what is usually
termed reciprocal passion and had incon-,
sequence been asked BY, Mrs. Harbottlel to
spend few weeks at IIarbottle court. " ,lil
That lady justly~conceived that better
match could not possibly be brought about,
7 but had altogether forgotten or overlooked
the fulniqqatiQps Of the Squire, which Threat
ened utter destruction TO her. cherished
scheme. VI ,bosoa .l,ii+" lliu 41oi,sla 7ol
From that omcular authority, in the msan
while, no further consolation was to be OBJ
tanned than such as could he extracted from
Sayings and inthnations of this nature: ale
Mould sec What was to be made Of the youbg'
felloY-ten to one he is a milksop;"', and in,
vilious reflections of the like character: T..
I Atleugth Mr.. Merton arrived at Harbot-
tie, and met by, the Squire withian apticipa-
tory patcrnal grasp Of the. handy which hc
verify believed hadpsraiyzcd his whole frame.
But in spite Of SO cordial a greeting, Mr..
IIarbottlc encouraged mental reservations of
\ his own, BY no means propitious TO his yis-
itor. .'..i -. = 80. .-.,, .,.,.
7. SNot at all like my friend Burlcy, of the
Grange" thought he. ,"The lad doesn't
weigh more than ten stones, and Bnrleyis
!, sixtce.nn-apd n then he's as thin as hurdle
lITe. .won'tdo for soH;in-law, that's certain"
/, Merton was, in truth, a,young man of fine
taste and elegant accomplishments, but by
no means likely to conciliate the Squire, by
f.'eS.n.dLe or - ,,rcs,,,,no cvb;bitiop of nrof-
cheney in the peculiar practices or feats with
which the old gentleman had been prone to
invest his imaginary idols, But recently ar
rived from the West Indies, he had not yet
dives divestcd himself of those habits Of luxurious
Incidence aud enjoyment common to the ma
Stivcss Of Barbadoes,I and he-could, no more
reconcile IL 10 his inclination to assume the
tSloyes' with "a pugiristic veteran or to dive
I into the mysteries Of the third bottle, than
it to encounter t trumvviratc Of Titans, or to see
Sienus himself -under-thc table. 1t may
readily bc, conceived, then, that the two new
Friends were at first sight far from feeling
| ~. -. oorI;ol;.,, onJ oood will toward