mmon people I particularly remember one under the
curious name of a "Joppa Jine" (join); to which I allude from the oddity
of its name, derived from a part of the town so called by the river-side,
when several families of neighbors and friends contributed their
respective quota of a common feast, and repaired to the island at the
mouth of the river to enjoy a day of leisure and merriment.

In a certain class, the ancient pronunciation of many English words was
maintained, doubtless brought by the ancestors of New England families
from "home," and transmitted to their descendants; such as _airth_ for
earth, _fairm_ for firm, _sartain_ for certain, _pint_ for point, en_vy_
for envy, _ax_ with the broad _a_ for ask, _housen_ for houses, _his'n_
and _her'n_ for his and hers, _rare_ for rear; as, for instance, the
horse _rares_ up; and sounding the _l_ in would. Common enough names,
too, were clipped or contracted in English fashion. Thus, the names of
Norwood and Harwood became Norrod in sound and Harrod in spelling; and
the name of Currier, whether with any reference or not to the French
_Cuir_, for leather, was not long since uniformly pronounced _Kiah_, with
the long _[=i]_; Thurlow was strangely transformed into _Thurrill_; and
Pierpont, often formerly spelled Pierpoint, with entire neglect of its
derivation, was pronounced _Pearpint_, by old-fashioned people, the first
syllable approximating to the original formation of _pierre_.

In connection with this modification of language, I observe in a daily
paper how much a worthy old lady puzzled her minister, for a moment, by
inquiring the meaning of "silver shiners for Diana," in the Bible; but a
good deacon, at an evening meeting in the chapel of their house of
worship, in our town, sadly disturbed the gravity of the religious
assembly, by reading it _silver shins for Dinah_!

-----
[10] The late Mr. Edward Everett is authority (with me) for
the story, that on the occasion of the visit of
Washington to New England, in 1789, Parsons was
appointed to deliver the address of welcome, on the part
of the town, and said to his students, "Well, boys, I am
to make this address. Now, go to work and write it, and
I will deliver the best." He chose the one prepared by
Adams.

CHAPTER VII.

I trust it will not be thought inappropriate to the allusion already made
to our reading circles, if I here insert a _jeu d'esprit_,