davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
Napoleon and Josephine.

Napoleon's acquaintance with Josephine
arose from the impression made on him by
her son Eugene Beauharnais, thena little boy.
He came 10 request that his fathers sword,
which had been delivered up, might be re-
stored to him. The boys appearance
earnestness with which he urged his request,
and the tears which could not be STAYED
when he beheld the sword, interested Napo-
leon SO much in his favor that not only was
the sword given to him, but he determined TO
become acquainted with the mother of the
boy. He visited her, and soon his visits be-
came frequent. He delighted to hear the de-
tails which she gave Of the court Of Louis.
Come, he would say, as he sat by her side
of an evening, now let us talk of the old
court-let us make tour to Versailles 1t
was in these frequent and familiar interviews
that the destinations of Josephine won the
heart of Napoleon. 'She is said he, grace
personi6sd-everything she does is with a
grace and delicacy peculiar to herself
The admiration and love of such man
could not fail to make an impression on
a woman like Josephine. 1t has been said,
that it was impossible to be in Napoleon's
company without being struck by his perso-
nal appearance; not so much by the exquisite
symmetry of his features, and the noble head
and forehead, which have furnished the paint.
er and the sculptor with one Of their finest
models; nor even by the mediative look, SC
indicative of intellectual power; but the
magic charm was the varying expression o
countenance, which changed with every pass
I ing thought, and glowed with every feeling
His smile, it is said, always inspired conf
dence. 1T is difficult, if not impossible Sc
the Duchess of Abrantes writes, 'to describe
the charm of his countenance when he smiled
his soul was upon his lips and in his eyes.
The magic power of that expression at a la
ter period is well known. The Emperor o
Russia experienced it when he said, 4 neve
loved any one more than that man. He pos
sessed. too, that greatest Of all charms, al
harmonious voice, whose tones, like hi
countenance, changing frum emphatic i'm
pressiveness to caressing- softness, fount
their way to every heart. 1t may not hav,
been those personal and mental gifts alon
which won Josephine's heart; the ready sym
pathy with which Napoleon entered into he
feelings may have been the greatest charm t
an affectionate nature like hers. bas .t
1t was in the course Of one of those conf
Dental evenings that, as they sat together
she read to him the last letter which she ha
received from her husband: it wasa mos
touching farewell. Napoleon was deepl
affected; and it has been said that that letter
and Josephine's emotion as she read it, had
powerful effect upon his feelings, already S
much excited by.admiration. a
4 fG Frascr's Mdgasine.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
A Plea for short Women.
BY HARTLEY coLERIDaE.


l am brief myself; brief in stature, brief
IN discourse, short Of memory and money,
and far short Of my wishes. In some things,
too, ! am an admirer Of breyity; cannot
|endure long dinners. All the delicate viands
that sea and land, with all the points 'on the
snipmans card produce, are not so irresisti-
bic a temptation to gluttony as the ennui Of
a needless half hour at table: certain motions
q the jaws are undoubtedly infectious; such
lare laughing, yawning and eating. Should
the nightmare, and her nine fold,' de-
Escend visibly upon the dishes--should indi-
lgestion, after the old fashion, assume the
Eshape of Abernethy to admonish me, and
gout appear in the yet more formidable like
Iness of racking toe, the mere dead weight
lof the time would turn the balance of my re-
IEolyes. | am partial to short ladies. Here
shall be told, perhaps, that the Greeks in
lIclude size in their ideal of beauty; that all
ilemer's fairones are large and comely = and
4 that Lord Byron has expressed his detestation
| of 'dumpy women" All this is very true;
but what is it all to me? Women are not
ideals, nor do we love or admire them as
such; Homer makes his heroes tall as we'll as
his heroines; there cannot, as Falstaff says,
be better sympathy And as for his Lord
ship, when | am the Grand Turk he shall
choose for me. revere the sex as much as
any man, but do not like to look up 10 them.
| had rather be consorted with the youngest
wren Of nine," than with any daughter of
Eve whose morning stature was taller than
my evening shadow. Whatever such an
Amazon might condescend to say to me, il
would sound Of nothing but low and little.
Those pretty diminutives, which in all lam
! guages are the terms of affection, from hel
lips would seem like personalities; she could
have but one SET of phrases for fondness ant
scorn. If Iwould whisper soft nonsense ir
her ear must get on my legs, as if wert
going to move resolution; if in walking
, would keep step with her, | must stride as i
were measuring the ground for two duelists
one Of whom was my very good friend, anc
i, the other very good shot. Should dance
,, with her (alas, am past my dancing days.,
! should seem like cock-boat tossing in q
: storm, at the stem of a three-decker. AnC
; should wed her; (proh dolor; am declared
: by signs infallible an old bachelor elect; cats
: the coyest of the breed, leap on my knees
: that saucy knave, called the old bachelor
: falls eternally to my share, and no soft lool
: of contradiction averts the omen; candle
shrink self-extinguished when would snuf
8 them, and no sweet voice will chide my awk
! wardness;) but should wed her, | mus
stand the push of every beardless vain com
!, parative.' The young Etonian jackanape
: would call us Elegiacs, Carmen lugubre y
= the Cantabpedants would talk of their du
plicate ratios; yea, unbreeched urchins, ale
= wives, and coblers in their stalls, would CT
j out after us, there goes eighteen pence: an
: prudential punsters would wish the mate
might prove happy, but it was certainly yer
% unequal.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
The Height of Impudence.

A young spark who boarded at one Of our
principal hotels, managed for a long time, by
one artifce or another, to postpone the pay
mentof bis bill. At last the landlord became
quite impatient, and stepping up to his iu-
venile boarder, slapped him gently on the
shoulder, and asked him for some money
"I have not red cent about me at present."
was the laconic reply. But, my dear sir"
said the landlord, Z" cannot afford to keep a
boarding house without being paid. y
"Well, d-n it," exclaimed our young phi
losopher, eff you cannot afford il, sell oft TO
some one that ~ San Francisco Public
Balance.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
BY Hook or bx Crook

The destruction caused by the fire OF Lon
don, A. D., 1866, during which some 49,
200 houses, &C., were burned down. ii. very
many cases obliterated all the boundary
marks requisite to determine the extent of
land, and even the very sites occupied by
buildings previously to this terrible visitation.
When the rubbish was removed, and the
land cleared, the disputes and entangled
claims of those whose houses had been de-
stroyed, both as to the position and extent Of
their property. promised not only intermina-
BILE occupation to the courts of law, but
made the far more serious eyilof delaying
the rebuilding of the city, until these dis
putes were settled. Impelled by the necessi-
ty Of coming to more speedy settlement Of
their respective claims than could behoped
for from legal process, it was determined
that the claims and interest Of all persons
concerned should be referred TO the judgment
and decision of two of the most experienced
land surveyors Of that day-men who had
been thoroughly acquainted with London
previously to the fire; and in order to escape
from the numerous and vast evils which
more delay must occasion, that the decision
OF these two arbitrators should be final and
binding. The surveyors appointed to deter
mine the rights of the various claimants
were Mr.. Hook and Mr., Crook, who, by the
justice of their decisions, gave general salts
faction to the interested parties, and by then
speedy determination Of the different claims
permitted the rebuilding of the city to pro-
ceed without the'least delay. Hence arose
The saying above quoted, usually appliedao
the extrication Of persons or things from .
difficulty. The above anecdote was told tht
other evening by an old citizen upwards o.
eighty, by no means of an imaginative tenn
permanent Notes and Queries.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

Cure FOR BURNS AND ScALDs. Take SCOT
from Kinney. where wood is burned, rub
it fine, and mix one part SCOT to three parts of
hogs lard, spread this on linen or muslin
If in very extensive burns or scalds, the
cloth should be torn into strips before put
ting on the scald; let the remedy be freely
and fully applied, so as perfectly 10 cover the
wound. No other application is required
until the patient is well, except TO apply
fresh applications Of the SCOT and lard, &c.
In steamboat explosions, this remedy can. in
nearly all cases, be at once applied. and If
done, many valuable lives will be saved,
and vast amount of suffering alleviated.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON CoLoR.--The eli.
mate OF Peru has singular effect on the
color Of the different races II bleaches the
black man into the mulatto, and bronzes the
white into the Indian. 1t dwarfs the Euro
pean in stature, in the second or third gen
Grafton, and deprives him Of fire and energy.
The native youth, in their boyhood, exhibit
intelligence and force, but as they grow up
they become feeble in body and iiresolute ID
mind. The Indian who inhabits the ravine.
and table lands in the Cordillens, is the
only one who preserves his vigor. To hi
half-civi!ized enterprise and hardihood, Pc
ru must look for her regeneration.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
LIBERTY, EoUALITY, PROGRESSION.
P0RTsNDgTH, Q. MONDAY EVENING JULY q ISL
The London Times on Americans.

The London Times is the great feature in
newspaper life in England. 1t is conducted
with master-ability, but withhow much fair
ness and candor toward matters Americdn the
following, from one of its articles on the big
fair, will show:
If the Americans do excite a smile, it is
by their pretensions. Whenever they come
out of their own province of rugged utility,
and enter into competition with European
elegance, they certainly do make themselves
ridiculous. Their furniture is grotesque,
their carriages and harness are gingerb cad,
their carpets are tawdry, their patchwork
quilts surpass even the invariable ugliness OF
this fabric their cut glass is clumsy; their
pianos sound of nothing but iron and wood;
their bookbinding is that Of a journeyman
working on his own accountin an English
market town; their daguerreotypes are. the
sternest and gloomiest OF all daguerreotypes;
| their printed calicoes are such as our house
ihaids would otthink itrespectsble q wear.
Even their Ingenuity, great as tits, becomes
ridiculous when i. attempts competition
with Europe.
Complimentary, amt it?
The New York Journal Of Commerce, al
luding to the general sleer that the British
press is aiming at American matters there,
very cutely retorts, that no one conversant
with the state of things here could have ex-
pected from this country adisplay Of jewels
plate and rich silk tissues to match the gilt.
tering stores collected from the old world
There is as much difference between the two
continents in this respect as there was be-
tween the ruff1cd British Grenadier and tn,
ragged, barefooted Continenta. soldier in thC
days Of our fathers; the one was adorned 70
a sacrifce-the other simply girded for
mighty purpose.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
Temperance Statistics.

The report from foreign countries is favor
able. In Great Britain the consumption in
single year is 2, 1862, ,0l2 gallons Of home
spirits, 3,044,7 of West India rum, 435,-
l39, ,965 of malt beer, 2,l87, 800 Of brandy
and 6,l36,547 of wine, at, a cost of sixty
millions of pounds sterling, resulting in a
frightful amount of pauperism, crime and
premature death is exciting among rejecting
men alarm; and much efficient action Il
check the evil has been put forth in England
and Scotland, with great success. The Ma
val Lord Admiral has reduced the spirit ratio
one-half, and taken it entirely from all undel
l8. The Chancellor of the Exchequer re-
ports an increased consumption of tea, cof
fee and cocoa, and proportional decrease o
drinks which intoxicate. Distinguished
medical men in England, some Of the nobil
! ity, and 800 clergymen in Scotland, are now
commencing total abstinence from all tha
can intoxicate.
Into the Crystal Palace for the great Indus
trial Exhibition no wines, spirits or beer ar
admitted, and the contractors are require
to supply glasses of water gratis to all visit
ors-a temperance lecture for allthe world.
In Sweden the cause prospers under tn
King and Queen; also in Norway, under tn
advocacy of Mr.. Anderson.
In the Netherland Temperance Union
6,028 persons are enrolled,
Liberia excludes all sfirituous liquors, an
uses only the drink which God has made.
In South Africa, at Cape Town and Por
Natal, are fourishing societies.
In the Sandwich Islands there is no reverse
The West Indies show flourishing socie
ties.
In British America the cause is very tri
umphant; 100000 French and Irish Catho
flies and 100000 Protestants stand pledged t
Temperance in Lower Canada; and in Uppe
25, 900 are enrolled in the Order of Sons. A
st. Johns $4,000. In Nova Scotia ten cour
ties are without license.-Cin. NonpareiI.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
HOW to Draw the sinners.

Several years ago we werea resident OF north
western Louisiana, near the confines of Tex
as. The people there, as general thing,
were not much given to godliness, and cared
about as little for their souls as they did for
their bodies, being unconcerned for the safety
Of either. A young itinerant preacher hap
pened along in the neighborhhod during this
dearth of religion, and set about repairing
the walls Of Zion in good earnest. But his
success was poor. Not over half dozen
persons could be got together at his Sunday
meetings, and he began to think the Lord
was frowning upon his earnest heart felt en-
deavors to save the people. Determined,
however, to create an interest before leaving
the neighborhood, he procured some printed
hand -billsand had them posted up in eyeiy
conspicuous place in the district, which read
to the following effect:
RELIGIOUS NoT1cE.-The Rev. Mr. Bla-
ney will preach next Sunday at Dempsey's
Grove at 10 o'clock A. M, and at a O'Clock
P. M, Providence permitting. Between the
services the preacher will run his sorrel mare
Julia, against any nag that can be trotted oui
in this region, for purse of five hundred
dollars.
This had the desired effect. People flock
ed from all quarters, and the anxiety to see
the singular preacher was even greater thar
the excitement following his challenge. He
preached an elegant sermon in the morning
and after dinner he brought out his mare fol
the race. The purse was made up BY five Of
six of the opposing planters, and an oppo'
sing nag produced. The preacher iode hi!
little sorrel and won the day, amid the deaf
ening shouts, screams and yells of The de
lighted people. The congregation all re
NAMED to the afternoon service, and at it
close more than two hundred Joined tn,
church-some from motives of SINCERITY
some for the novelty Of the thing; some from
excitement and some because the prache
was, in the languageo of the country, a might.
good fellow! The finale of the affair was a
fourishing society as can be found in tn
whole region thereabouts. 49,
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
charles Yellowplush on sea-slckness.

Gentle reader av you ever been on the
otion? The sea, the hopen sea as Barry
Cromwell says. AS soon as we entered our
little vessel, and I'd looked to masters lug
glitch and mine, (mine was rapt up in very
small hancherker,) as soon, say, as we en-
tered our little vessel, as soon as saw the
valves, black and frothy. like fresh-drawn
porter, dashing against the ribbs of our gal
liant bark, the keals like wedge, splittin the
billoes in two, the sales fappin in the hair,
the standard of Hengland floating at the
masthead, the steward a gettin ready the ba-
sins and things, the capting proudly tredding
the deck and giving orders to the sailers, the
white rox of Albany and the bathin-ma-
sheens disappearin in the distans-then, then
/ felt for the first time, the mite, the madgis-
ty of existence. 'Yellowplush, my boy
said l, in dialog with myself, 'your life
is now about to commens-your career, as a
man, dates from your entrans on board this
packit.' y y
Here, recklect was obleeged to stopp.-
A feeling. in the fust place singular, in the
next place paneful, and at last completely
had come upon me while was
maxim the above speech, and | now found
myself, in sityouation which deIicacy for
bids me to describe. Sufiiis to say, that now
discovered what basins was made for; that
for many, many hours, ! Jay in hagony o
exostion, dead to all intense and purposes
the rain PATTERN in my face, the sailers |
tramplink over my body; the panes Of pur
gatory goin on inside
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

MAN KILLED, As the Cleveland train
was coming down on Saturday last, Just this
side OF Cafdington, a man was discovered
on horseback ahead OF the locomotive, eyi-
IDENTITY Intoxicated. He kept running his
horse on the track, till the horse became
frightened at the near approach of the loco
motive, ran some distance and tbrowed him
off, stepping on his head as he fell. The
train took him back to Cardington, and tho
he was breathing when left il was supposed
he could notlive long. o. S. Journal,
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

"A vETERAN DEAn.--Mr. George Taylor, a
venerable citizen Of Washington, and for
merly Of Alexandra, died inlthe former city
on the S4th instant, aged ninety-one years.
Among The children he has left, the In
tellgencer remarks, are three gallant sons,
who have seen service in the ranks Of the
defenders 81 their county 7zlha elder q Coz.
in the Army; the second 90 officer 10 the
Navy; and the third, Lieutenant oi The Ma
rine corps & s''' Il. q ,. y. S1...
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

o~S- Senior De La Tore, an eminent Gu
ban mathematician, claims to have solved
the great problem Of the quadrature Of the
circle, after aclose study of twenty years.
He illustrates his discovery by number Of
pieces Of metal so cut, that the same pieces
differently disposed, viii form either a
square or circle. Many valuable premi.
ums have been offered in Europe for long
time for the solution of this problem. Jour,
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

G- The following advertisement lately
appeared in a Jersey print:
10 be sold by private contract, a beauti-
iul rooster monkey, parrot, two spaniels.
and tortoise shell tom-cat, the property of
lady just married, who has no further use
for them"
How quickly lady can dispense with her
pets, when she herself becomes one.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

There is truth and force in the following
extract from speech delivered by Mr. Wise
in 1.-The Virginia Convention, on The subject
Of education -
Teach your children the elements Of Christ
ian Philosophy, the Bible, lessons Of Love
and Temperance, and knowledge and vir-
tue, and Faith and Hope, aud Charity, and
you may turn them out into the world
withouta pang Of apprehension; without a
doubt or distrust or fear they win never
injure the State, n sb
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

An honest Hibernian had come far to see Nj
agara, and, while he gazed upon il, friend ask
ed him if il was not the most wonderful thing
which he had ever seen, to which he replied:-
Never bit, ,man-never bit Sure it's no
wonder at all that the water should fall down
there, for I'd like to know what could hinther
itln h slf. q
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

0C5- Snooks wonders where all the pill.
low-cases go. He says he never asked a
girl wha. she was making. when she was en-.
gagged in white sewing, without having for
an answer. a pillow easel
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

Gs- Many young lady who objects TO.
being kissed under the mistletoe, has no OBJ
lection to being kissed underline rose.
A stupid compositor once made an error
in the above, rendering tito say has no
objection being kissed under the nose p
How natural. M
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

A couple of undone Irishmen strayed into
Peter Brigham's the other day, and discoy.
ereda couple of gents imbibing mint juleps
by the power Of suction
" Look at thin fellys," said one Of the
Hibernians, /" they're smoking Crane tobaccy
leaves, with straw pipe stems"
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

a MERE MArTER OF FoRM.-0i all things
that are worn for the mere matter of form,
stays should be the very last, for they have
ruined more forms than any other article Of
dress-such, atleast, is the medical opinion
Of DR.. Punch.
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

O- One day butcher haviog ordered
his new assistant to bring the victim TO the
slaughter, who not observing that his supe-
rior was cross-eyed, until the very instant
he was drawing the blow, cried in an ex-
clamatory voice III
'Sir, do you mean TO strike where you
look?'
YES
Well, then, the devil may hold the OF, I
WON'T
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07
A Short sermonI.
Man's a yapor,
Full of woes,
Cuts q caper,
And down he goes. +"

ana down ne goes" I.
Genius has the power of condensing mighty
truths into small compass, as is illustrated by
the quotation at the head of this article.
/. Mans ayapor.
This shows that man is forever puffed by van
ity, that his mighty deeds and loftiest sayings
are but wind; that whenhe talks, It's gas, when
he wakes eloquent. 'tisfog; and when he be-
comes angry, It's all smoke.
2. Full of woes,
This is graphic description Of the condition
of man. Witness--corns, tootha che, gout, hy-
po, matrimony, and other innumerable evils
which flesh is heirto.
3. Cuts caper,
This is another startling truth Every man
cuts caper--some wise and some foolish. He
does not cut bis neighbcrs capers, but his own
and everyone is known BY the cnper he cuts
and we are taught that his final happiness de-
pends upon whether the caper he cuts be gooi
or evil But be that as it may, his end is sol.
emnly and impressiyely shadowed forth in the
concluding CLINE
A. And down he goes"
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

A servant once entered in alright, the
study Of his master, who was in deep
thought, and told him that the house was
on fire. WE'LL said he, inform my wife;
| do no. interfere with household affairs
The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-07

CALIFoRlA SPoRTs.--A large grizzly beal
and California bull had a fight at San Jose
a few days since. The bear proved ne
match for the bull. Bruin was SO seyerel,
goredas to be entirely disabled within yerI
few minutes after the bull was let in. (