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The Cardigan Observer and General Advertiser for the Counties of Cardigan Carmarthen and Pembroke

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THE ONLY SON.

THE STRANGE CLAIMANT; OR,…

A LESSON FOR ALL.

LADIES' COLUMN.II

AN IMPORTED HEN.

[No title]

vjLKIBTIBS.

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vjLKIBTIBS. actions are our owh; their eoase- quences belong to heaven.—Francis. THB TOKGTJK.—God gare you that gifted tongue of yours, and set it between your teeth to make known your true meaning to us, not to be rattled like a muffin man'a bell.—Carlyle. SMILES.—A beautiful smile is to the female counte* nance what the sunbeam is to the landscape; it em- bellishes an inferior face, and redeems an ugly one. A smile, however, should not become habitual, or insipidity is the result. In Russia & husband may appear as a witness in a lawsuit against his wife, but a wife is not heard against her husband; a man may oblige his wife to work for him, but a wife cannot sue her husband even for necessaries, and she has no redress against him if he deserts her. THE TIME FOR CAUTION.—In our experience of life, a truth which sounds very much like a paradox has often asserted itself—viz., that a man's worst difficul- ties begin when he is able to do as he likes. So long as a man is struggling with obstacles, he has an excuse for failure or shortcoming; but when fortune removes them all, and gives him the power of doing as he thinks best, then comes the time of trial. There is but one right, and the possibilities of wrong are infinite. The womanly woman is not ambitious of personal display outside the perfect conduct of her house and her own legitimate beauty; she is fond of her home and of her domestic duties, she respects her husband, and she takes care of her children, whom she looks after, guides, influences, and educates into noble men and women. She is not of the silly sisterhood who think housekeeping a degradation, and who would rather do the third-rate work of men than the best of that which nature and society have opportioned to themselves. JAPANESE BREACHES OF PROMISE.—After a Japanese lover has proved false to his vows, the deserted maiden rises at about two o'clock in the morning, and dons a white robe and high sandals or clogs. Her coif is a metal tripod, into which are thrust three lighted candles; around her neck she hangs a mirror, which falls upon her bosom; in her left hand she carries a small straw figure-the effigy of her faithless lover— and in her right she grasps a hammer and nail, with which she nails it to one of the sacred trees that sur- round the shrine. Then she prays for the death of the traitor, vowing that if her petition be heard she will herself pull out the nails which offend the god by wounding the mystic tree. Night after night she comes to the shrine, and strikes in two more nails, believing that every nail will shorten her lover's life, for the god, to save his tree, will surely strike him dead. It is a curious illustration of the hold super- stition yet has on the Japanese. THE WORD YANKEE."—Words peculiar to New England are often called Americanisms." In reality they are Old England words in common use at the time these people [the Puritan Fathers] left for the New World, but are now only seen in Shakspere and the writers of the period. The very word Yankee now vaguely applied to all Americans at the Northern States shows the light in which the early dwellers in New England were looked on by the aborigines. It is, in fact, the Indians' corruption of the term Anglais, or Englishmen, applied to the first settlers by the Frenchmen of the neighbouring country of Canada. Hence Yengees, Yenghes, Yanghis, Yan- kees. It was used at least as early as 1713 by one Jonathan Hastings, a farmer, who applied it to his cider and other wares, as expressive of his intention that the world should believe that they were some- thing very superior. At least such is the legend. 1$ is interesting, and may possibly even be true.—Tht Countries of the World. KINO BABY.—Let me utter my word of protest against the custom which gains in the present day, of bringing infants up either partially or entirely upon artificial food. I know for a fact that there are many j woman who can, but will not, nurse their infants; and j there are many more who fancy they really cannot, but would find they could, if they would give up all! excitement, and lead quiet regular lives, partaking of j a plain but nourishing diet. There are many articles | of food which increase the supply of milk, and by a judicious choice of diet one may do a great deal, Children fed with nature's food have better constitu- tions, and are better able to resist the attacks of in- fantile disease, with which some children are so afflicted. There is no doubt that in nursing her own infant the mother is laying the groundwork of a stronger, healthier constitution than she can ever hope for him if he be artificially nourished. Can any mother, knowing this, refuse to make an effort for her child's sake ? If so, she is a dishonour to her sex. And to you mothers who will not nurse your infanta, I say this: You do not know the close and enthralling affection which exists between a mother and babe. Any one else can fill your place, and you cannot un- derstand the delightful feeling of being all in all, the one necessary object to the little being who is, indeed, part and parcel of yourself. You deserve to have your child love some one else better than yourself, and it is not unlikely that such will be the case.—Family Magazine. POST OF HONOUR.—In the battle of Culloden, so decisive of the cause of the Stuarts, the three Mac- donald regiments were stationed on the extreme left, and went off without striking a blow, although they had drawn their swords for the attack, and were within twenty paces of the enemy. Macdonald of Keppoch, seeing them retreat, rushed sword in hand in the midst of the enemy, bravely fighting, until two musket shots numbered him with the slain. This singular conduct of the Macdonald regiments was chiefly occasioned by a circumstance which, however apparently trivial, was capable of kindling the fiercest rage in the bosom of Highlanders. They were sta- tioned on the left instead of the right of the army, a privilege which they had formerly enjoyed in every battle and struggle in behalf of the Royal family, since the battle of Bannockburn, when Robert Bruce bestowed this honour upon Angus Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, as a reward for his fidelity to that Prince in protecting him above nine months in his countries of Rachlin, Isla, and Uist. This right they had enjoyed ever since, and even in those enterprises during the rebellion which had proved successful, such as the battles of Gladsmuir and Falkirk. At the battle of Culloden, the Duke of Perth stood at the head of the Glengarry regiment, and hearing the loud murmurs of the men on this invasion of the prece- dency, he said if the Macdonalds behaved with their usual valour, they would make a right of the left, and he would call himself Macdonald. But all this proved unavailing. How MALIBRAN TOOK HER PORTER.—In Balfe's next opera, "The Maid of Artois," he had the in- comparable Malibran for his heroine. Two amusing anecdotes are connected with this work. During the last rehearsals he became dissatisfied with the finals; Malibran, on the contrary, insisted that it was the most brilliant piece in the opera, and pronounced it madness to alter it. But Balfe was determined it should be altered. At eight o'clock one morning, he hurried off to her lodgings with a new composition he had written during the night. Madame had not risen had written during the night. Madame had not risen yet, but her husband, De Beriot, was in the drawing- room. To him Balfe played over the air; he was enchanted, and said his wife must hear it at once. But the lady, not caring to be disturbed, and still bent upon singing the first finale, refused. Balfe suggested that the small cottage piano should be carried up to her bed-room, and that, willy-nilly, she should listen. De Beriot assented. The instrument was taken up- stairs, the window curtain opened, and amid the in- dignant protestations of the lady, the stubborn composer began to play the rondo. He had got through only a few bars when Malibran raised herself upon her elbow with an air of attention; and soon her face began to glow with delight. When it was finished the burst out into the most rapturous admiration, and promised to sing the piece at rehearsal that same morning. Its success was immense; and Mr. Kenny, Balfe's biographer, informs us that it carried its composer's name over the whole Continent, and even in Russia became an established favourite, there being known as "Balfe's Air." Years afterwards, when he was presented to the empress at a Court concert, he was asked if he were not Mr. Balfe of the Air." I give the second anecdote on the authority of Bunn:— She had borne along the first two acts in such a flood of triumph, that she was bent by some almost super- human effect to continue its glory to the fall of the curtain. I went to her dressing-room previous to the commencement of the third act to ask her how she felt. Very tired,' she replied; but if you will con- trive to get me a pint of porter into the desert scene, you will have an encore to your finale. So it was arranged that behind a pillar of drifted sand, on which she had to fall in a state of exhaustion towards the close of the desert scene, a small aperture should be made in the stage, and through tnat aperture a pewter pint of porter was conveyed to her lips. This so refreshed her that after the terrible exertion of the previous scene she electrified the audience by repeating the rondo. During the run of the opera a negro slave in one of the processions had a gourd suspended to his neck, containing the same beverage, with which she nightly recruited her exhausted energies." -Belgr{lrJia. "JOUT" PEOPLE.—They may not amount to much, in some ways, as their graver neighbours: but they fill a useful place in the world, notwithstanding The truly merry man knows nothing of care. Life itself is a joke to hun. What a happy disposition it must be that can thus bid defiance to all the vicissitudes of the world, and smile even at pain as nothing but a relief from the monotony of a perpetual ease We envy such people. And yet a constant laugh cannot be so enioy. abie as one that comes occasionally, well matured, and in all the luxuriance of a heartfelt appreciation of humour. Too much of a good thing is pood for nothing, says the proverb; and why not too much mental quietude ? At any rate, it, is well to console trarselves that if we are sometimes wretched it is only because that wretchedness enhances the requisite i enjoyment of those hilarious moments that follow tffcr it. That's true philosophy! HOPE.—A Ifright and beautiful bird is HOPE; it will come to us 'mid the darkness, and sings the sweetest song when our spirits are saddest; and when the lone soul is weary, and longs to pass away, it warbles its sunniest notes, and tightens again the slender fibres of our heart that grief has been tearing away. WOMAN AND THE BEAUTIFUL.—Women have a much nicer sense of the beautiful than men. They are, by far, the safer umpires in matters of propriety and grnce. A mere school-girl will be thinking and writing about the beauty of birds and blossoms, "while her brother is robbing the nests and destroying the flowers. A MONKEY KINGDOM.—We are assurec. „fyat not far from here was a sacred wood, inhabited by 600 or 600 monkeys, whom the natives feed with rice and fruits. These monkeys have, it appears, a king, who always eats first of everything alone, while his subjects await his permission at a distance. At the sign of command, the famished troop throw themselves upon the meal, and fight over it tooth and nail. I am greatly dis- tressed that we had no time to witness this urious ap- plication of the theory of personal government" otherwise than with the eyes of faith, and mine, when travelling, are unfortunately remarkably shortsighted. A Voyage Round the World, by the Marquis de lJeau- voir. THE ART OF NOT HEARING.—The art of not hear- uig is fully as important to domestic happiness as a cultivated ear, for which so much time and money are expended. There are so many things which it is pain- ful to hear, many of which, if heard, would disturb the temper and detract from contentment and happiness, that everyone should be educated to take in or shut out sounds at will. If a man falls into a violent pas- sion, and calls me all manner of names, the first word shuts my ears, and I hear no more. If, in my quiet voyage of life, I am caught in one of those domestic whirlwinds or scoldings, I shut my eyes, as a sailor would furl his sails, and making all tight, scud before the gale. Does a gadding, mischief-making fellow begin to inform me what people are saying about me, down drops the portcullis on my ear, and he cannot get in any further. v. A SCOTTISH ARMY IN 1639.—In his 7th volume of the History of England Mr. Burton, through the me- dium of the town clerk of Aberdeen, whose derscrip- tive powers," he says, "had probably been exercised on inventories of furniture and commodities," describes Montrose's army entering the Granite City" in the year 1639. "They came in order of battle, well armed both on horse and foot, ilk horseman having five shots at the least, when he had one carbine in his hand, two pistols by his side, and other two at his saddle toe; the pikemen in their ranks, with musket, musket staff, bandeleer, sword, powder, ball, and match. llk company, both on horse and foot, had their cap- tains, lieutenants, ensigns, sergeants, and other offi- cers and commanders, all for the most part in buffle coats and goodly order." After describing the standards of the army, the garrulous clerk proceeds— They had trumpeters to ilk company of footmen. They had their meat, drink, and other provisions, bag and baggage, carried with them." QUEEN ANNE AND CAVALIER.—His fame had long preceded him, and Queen Anne honoured him with an interview, and treated him with marked attention, till, unfortunately, she asked him if he believed that during his ministration in the Covennes he had really been in- spired by the Holy Spirit. On replying that he did so, the good queen, who seems to have made no allow- ance for the fanaticism which characterised the war of the Covenols, immediately turned her back upon him. So the story goes; but there is another version of it, which runs thus:—It was the common belief of the Camisards that the spirit of inspiration quitted their prophets when they left Languedoc, and that when Cavalier was admitted to the presence of the queen, she asked him if God continued to visit him with in- spirations; and he, deeply affected by the question, bowed his head, wept, but made no reply." Our author says that Cavalier, not being able to exist on the small provision made for him by the English Go- vernment, was nominated Major-General, and appointed to the Governorship of Jersey.—Mrs. Bray's Hugenott «f the Seventeenth Century. SMOKING.—" The smoker," said the late Dr. Marshall Hall, cannot escape the poison of tobacco. It enters into his blood, travels the whole round of his system, weakens his brain and every nerve of his body, and affects every fibre of his frame." Moreover, the poi- soned blood, which makes the flesh, must inevitably sow the seeds of manifold diseases. Besides, smoking leads to drinking. It is said by those who have in- quired into the cause why so many reclaimed tipplers break their teetotal pledge, that thirst and exhaustion have been the admitted cause. Than which nothing can be more natural. Ejected saliva must in some way be substituted, and it would be difficult to conceive of a more unwelcome deposit in a human stomach than water mixed with the foul aroma in the smoker's mouth. Some say they can smoke without drinking or spitting. They must practise long before they come to this, and in the long run such smokers are the greatest sufferers, for all the poison of the tobacco which is retained find its way into the avenues of the body, and the more men are tobaccoised the more dangerous is their con- dition.— Considerations in Relation to th$Science of Life. MISMANAGEMENT OP THE FRENCH COMMISSARIAT.— Our author also expresses himself much struck with the bad management of the French Commissariat:— The guilty carelessness of a department that boasted of its good organisation has been certainly one of the principal causes of the French reverses; and the mili- tary intendants of the army ought to be brought be- fore a council of war, to explain their neglect, so fatal to their countrymen; and if proved guilty, they ought to be punished with all the severity of the law." He makes one somewhat astounding statement, which wa remember to have heard at the time, but which re- quires confirmation. He asserts that on the 18th of August, Marshal Canrobert, charging at the head of two divisions, and supported by a powerful fire of mitrailleuses, repulsed a body of 8,000 Prussians, and, after a severe hand-to-hand fight, drove them bodily into the quarries of Jaumont, where they lay muti- lated and destroyed. In his statement of the compara- tive numbers of French and Prussian corpses on the 18th of August, speaking as an eye-witness, he is en- titled to credit. He positively asserts that only three out of every nine corpses on the battle-field were those of Frenchmen, and that in the other battles the same proportion was observable. — Count de La Chapelle't War ef 1870. CURIOUS THEORY ON LANGUAGE.—There is in most languages, but more particularly in those which are losing their consciousness or their vitality, what, by a name borrowed from geology, may be called a meta- morphic process. It consists chiefly in this, that words, as they cease to be properly understood, are slightly changed, generally with the object of impart- ing to them once more an intelligible meaning. This new meaning is mostly a mistaken one, yet it is not only readily accepted, but the word, in its new dress and with, its new character, is frequently made to sup- port facts or fictions which could be supported by no other evidence. Who does not believe that sweetheart has something to do with heart ? Yet it was origi- ginally formed like drunk-ard, dull-ard, andnigg-ard; and poets, not grammarians, are responsible for the mischief it may have done under its plausible disguise. By the same process, shamefast, formed like steadfast, and still properly spelt by Chaucer and in the early editions of the Authorised Version of the Bible, has long become shamefaced, bringing before us the blush- ing roses of a lovely face. The Vikings, mere pirates from the viks or creeks of Scandinavia, have, by the same process, been raised to the dignity of kings; just as coat cards—the king, and queen, and knave, in their gorgeous gowns—were exalted into court cards.—Max- Mullet's Chips from a German Workshop. THE BEARDLESS AGE.—When the great Henry IV., of France, was succeeded by Louis XII. (who never became great), the new king was only nine years of age, consequently beardless. Courtiers have at all times been remarkable for their servility, and as Louis could nave no beard, they resolved to be beardless themselves, and they went forthwith to the barbers. The honest statesman. Sully, was the only man, who dared te appear with his beard in the same form as he cm it in the time of his old master. Crop-lipped coartieBS made merry at the old counsellor's expense, laugsmg at his ancient appearance. Sully bore their irrevi—t jests for some time, and then with dignity he said to the king— Sire, when your father of glorious memory did me the honour to consult me on his great and important affairs, the first thing he did was to send away the buffoons of his Court." Louis XII, however, had no idea about buffoonery. The system of cropping, we are told, was carried so far that even the inferior animals were subjected to the pro- cess, which occasioned Marshal Bassompiere, who had been imprisoned during the last twelve years of the preceding reign, to observe, on coming to Court again, that he saw no other change in the world since he had been secluded from it, than that men had lost their beards and horses their tails. In England, in Queen Elizabeth's time, the growth of beards was re- gulated by statute in Lincoln's-inn, and "it was ordered that no fellow of that house should wear a beard of above a fortnight's growth." What a stubby appearance the learned chins must have exhibited. The prohibition did not last longer than a year. Aftection, like spring flowers, breaks through the most frozen ground at last; and the heart which seeks but for another heart to make it happy will never seek in vain. SOCIAL HONOUR.—Every person should cultivate a nice sense of honour. In a hundred different ways this most fitting adjunct of the true lady or gentleman is often tried. For instance, one is a guest in a family where, perhaps, the domestic machinery does not run smoothly. There is sorrow in the house unsuspected by the outer world. The guest is in honour bound to be blind and deaf, so far as people without are con- cerned. If a gentle word within can do good, it may well be said; but to go forth and reveal the shadow of an unhappy 'secret to anyone, is an act of indelicacy and meanness almost unparalleled. Once in the sacred precincts of any home, admitted to its privacy, "hapng its life, all that you pee and hear snould become < facrod frufc