Friend. "Then why did you not turn your of February or March and always lasts three days. horses head and thus avoid him?" Mr. L. "For the very charitable reason that I did not wish to hurt his feelings, which I now confess, I was a fool for observing." Friend. "If from a false sense of delicacy you will run into danger, you can surely have no one to blame but yourself." With this the conversation ended, as Mr. L. was taken home by his friends, where he remained for several weeks confined to his bed, and suffering so much from his shattered limb as at one time seriously to threaten his life. So firmly are the people persuaded that Mr. S. was the cause of this accident, that it will doubtless often be mentioned by the superstitious to prove their belief in an "evil eye" long after the actors in it have passed away and their names have been lost to memory. In all societies it is no difficult task to find men who are proned to talk too much. Persons who, to monopolize the most of the conversation, are compelled to speak not only of past, and passing events, but to foretell what may come for the future. When people are thus all the time predicting, it would be singular indeed if they did not for once, or twice, or even thrice, prove right in their predictions.. We will not say that Mr. S. is a person of this character, or that he has met with this success. If rumor speaks correctly, this gentleman once went into the house of a friend, and seeing some gold fish in a glass globe, was struck with their size, and their brilliant and beautiful color. His admiration, we are told, had such an effect on the fish, that he had hardly taken his leave, before they turned on their backs, came to the surface and died. Singular as this incident is said to be, it is not more remarkable than the one which we are Dow to tell. Mr. S. was playing whist one evening at the house of a friend, and a gentlemun learned in the law was his partner in the game. A Maltese officer and, we believe, a foreign consul were his opponents. When the cards were being dealt, Mr. S. remarked, "it is a long time, Judge, since you have had a trial for a capital offence, but I do not think many days will elapse before some one, or other, will be at the bar to be tried for his life." Judge. "I certainly hope not." It is an ancient and a popular festival with the Islanders, having been observed by their fathers and themselves for the last three hundred years. Intended, as it doubtless was, as a season of relaxation, of gayety and amusement, when Malta was ruled by the Knights, the people looked forward to its approach with pleasure, and engaged in its frivolities most cordially. But how different is it now. For the last three-and-forty years the Maltese have been governed by protestant rulers, who have done all in their power to dampen its gayety and destroy its hold on the public mind. Sometimes, a few handfuls of comfits have been thrown from the palace windows on the dense and gaping crowds below, but this is all which the governors have done to encourage the rabble to perform their wild and foolish pranks.* 'Tis true, that now and thne a ball has been given by his Excellency on the second night of carnival. This, however, did not take place in honor of the festival, but because a rigid fast for six weeks was approaching, during which time the Maltese ladies withdraw themselves from society, and attend only to the duties of their church. After the expiration of Lent, the weather usually becomes so oppressive, that the very thought of dancing is said to be enough to throw an English woman into a profuse perspiration. Although we should not judge that such was the case, by the usual conduct of Saxon women at picnics and parties in the summer time, still we are aware that many fond mothers have declined invitations from the natives, by saying that their daughters were delicate girls, who could not waltz in a furnace, as a ball-room at Malta literally was after the month of May. Thus, what with the delicacy of English women, and the religion of the Maltese, if the governor did not give his ball in carnival, it would not be such a popular squeeze as he always seemed anxious to make it. We have said thus much on this subject, as we are desirous that the true reason should be known why this rout takes place on the night that it does. The carnival season at Malta is too often seized upon by the dissolute to ridicule and slander wellknown persons, who, either from their public, or private acts, have become disliked by the people. Perhaps we shall be told, that this is natural enough Officer. "Pray, Mr. S., what is to happen, that in a small town, where there are so many grades such is your opinion?" Mr. S. "In the common course of events it can not be long. Seldom do twelve months go round, without our having a trial for murder.” of society, and in each of them so much jealousy, animosity and strife. But should this be sanctioned by the government, merely because the parties are obnoxious to them, and have become so only on political grounds? Certainly not. It is high time, that an exhibition like that which we shall now describe should be prevented by the police, and the actors The conversation now ceased as the cards were assorted, and by the laws of the game which these gentlemen were playing, when this was done, each person at the table was obliged to be silent. Mr. S. made this prediction just before the carnival only sweets they had ever tasted of Sir Henry Bonvetime-for the Maltese, like all other Catholic na- rie's rule, as they picked the comfits from the ground and tions, have this festival, which comes in the months' eat them to make their assertion true. *The Islanders jestingly remarked, that these were the be taken in charge for breaking the public peace. Lady. "I am well aware that the opposition we Nearly every year a worthless fellow puts on a meet with comes only from them. Did they but lady's habit, and mounting a horse, passes through sanction my wishes I should not despair." the streets with a companion, who is drest in the height of fashion. This couple appear to be engaged in a deep conversation, and the subject of the sham lady's thoughts is told by some words like the following, which are spoken sufficiently loud for the rabble to hear. Lady. "I can assure you, Mr. T., I feel a deep interest in the welfare of the Maltese people." Mr. T. "I do not doubt it, Madam, neither can any one else." Lady. "Some malicious persons have said, that my husband's high position as a Royal Commissioner, and what is much more important to him, his high salary, influence me in my good feelings towards them." Mr. T. "I can assure you, Madam, that no such expression has ever been made in my presence. It is a vile slander, by whomsoever said." With this the lady appears to be satisfied; for, separating from her companion, she is observed to smile while arranging her dress, which, ridiculous enough, is all in her lap. Mr. T., who is in love with a dark eyed belle of Valetta, is anxious to continue the conversation, that he may know how much longer he is to be employed on the commissioner's staff. Approaching, he asks, "pray can you tell me what measures are to be adopted for the relief of this nation." Lady. "No course has yet been decided upon. One thing, however, is certain, that the present distress is occasioned by an overgrown population, and so long as marriages are sanctioned among children, so long will the people remain in their miserable and degraded state." Mr. T. "Cannot the commissioners legislate in their social relations, and thus prevent these early marriages?" Forty or fifty ragged boys, carrying flags with various inscriptions, were following in the train of these vulgar masks, and on a given signal would send forth their shouts in applause of their conduct. It will hardly be credited, that by this exhibition it was intended to ridicule Mrs. Austen, who is so well known in England and America for her thorough acquaintance with the German and for the many correct and beautiful translations which she has given us from that difficult language. Yet such is the case. A few years ago two Royal Commissioners were sent out by Lord Glenely to look into the affairs of Malta, and to see whether the charges of the Maltese against their rulers were to be substantiated from personal observation. While Messrs. Austen and Lewis were thus engaged, (and it was no pleasing employment, for hardly could they make a move in a public way without making an enemy,) the wife of the former was trying to alleviate the miseries of her sex and discover some measures for its lasting relief. But all her exertions were useless. The Catholic mothers of this Island would not listen to the advice of a protestant woman, and for this reason, and this alone she failed. Mrs. Austen, for thus attempting to assist the mothers and daughters of Malta, and for suggesting a measure which all who wish well to the Islanders must justify, is annually made the vulgar character of a carnival, and ridiculed by the very dregs of the nation.* So distinguished a lady should not be thus disgraced. Although we have so long lost sight of Mr. S. and his "evil eye," still the conversation at the whist table must be borne in mind, as it is supposed by the superstitious to bear on the tragical occurrence which we are ere long to relate. Singularly enough, the Maltese think, that during their three days of noisy, wild, and foolish amuseLady. "In such delicate matters I can only in- ments, they can act as they please with a stranger terfere. I have already visited many villages and and still have nothing done in return. Often have mingled much with their inhabitants. But I fear we seen a number of people in masks approach an it has been to little purpose; for after I had exerted English officer, and with loud cries, which very myself to persuade mothers not to let their children much resemble those of the wild Arabs of the demarry before they came to the age of womanhood, sert, pelt him with peas, beans and sugar plums, I was invariably answered in some such way as until their stock was gone, or his patience exhaustthis. My good lady, your remarks are very true, ed. One fiery son of the Emerald Isle, who was but I was married at twelve, and before I was thir-unaccustomed to such a greeting, losing his temteen, had given my husband a child. Why should per, seized a person who was thus tormenting him, not my daughters do the same? They have the and tearing off the mask, recognized a lady with same feelings, and the same wishes as I had at whom he was well acquainted. The gallant Irishtheir age. My parents did not interfere with me, man, regretting his rashness, quickly apologized and why should I with them? This is their reason- for having thus rudely exposed the face of so loveing, and I can assure you it will be almost impos-ly a woman to the prying gaze of a crowd of igsible to change a custom which appears to tend to little else than to marry and starve." Mr. T. "The priests, I think, sanction these early marriages, and if so, your labors are lost." * We call the Maltese a nation, for thus they call them selves. We refer to the rabble. Vieusseux, in his clever letters on Italy, tells us the following anecdote of the carnival at this Island, which is worthy of a relation, inasmuch as it shows with what spirit the Maltese and the monks alike engaged in this popular diversion, some sixty years ago. He states that a "Turk, who had been for some time a prisoner at Malta during the dominion of the Knights of St. John, after having been exchanged and sent back to Constantinople was examined before the Divan as to the strength of Valetta, and the most probable means of taking it. He replied, that he thought it almost impossible to norant Smaitches.* This excuse was quite suffi- that people are allowed to do those things with imcient, for the young lady simply called it a carnival punity for three days in a year, which, were they adventure, and went on her way to find another to be done at any other time, would bring the acmask. But it is not often that an affair of this tors to a prison or a mad-house. kind would have been so easily settled. In all garrison towns, the feelings of fathers and mothers are peculiarly sensitive as to the treatment which their wives, their daughters, or sisters receive from the officers who are stationed about them. And this is not without reason. In every regiment some young men will be found who, being of noble birth, and enjoying large incomes, are favored by their commanders, and left with little else to do, than to waste their money in gifts to giddy women, and their time in fulsome flattery. Unfortunate indeed are those ladies who are so much lost to themselves and their families as to receive their conquer it as long as the Christians were on their remembrances, or listen to their vows. For to guard, but," added he, "there is a time in the year such their ruin is sealed. How many instances when the infidels are subject to a periodical fit of might we name in this small town, where affection insanity, (meaning the last three days of carnival, has been estranged, and the peace of families ut- which was the only time allowed by the Grandterly destroyed by the thoughtless conduct of mo- Master for that popular amusement,) and should thers and daughters, in listening to the protesta- the Capudan Pacha contrive to be near at hand tions and receiving the presents of abandoned men. with his fleet and a body of troops, I have no doubt Is it not during the excitement of carnival, and but he could easily take the place by surprise, as when the parties are concealed by masks, that all order and discipline are at an end during that these first advances are usually made to married period. But the business must be done quickly; women, and these first liberties taken, with their, for on the fourth day a priest applies a pinch of until then, innocent daughters? Is not this the ashes to each man's forehead, which has the wonseason also when the libertine stalks about at noon-derful power of restoring him instantly to his senses day, seeking whom he may ensnare, and when he and rational faculties." Vieusseux, in closing this is more successful than at any other period in his anecdote, aptly remarks, "Si non e vero, e ben troiniquitious search? These questions can only be vato." answered in the affirmative. Then why, therefore, do respectable husbands and parents countenance a custom, which may so easily bring such affliction in their families, and such misery on themselves? Well do we remember the expression of the Turks of Constantinople and Smyrna, when they said of the carnival, in their grave way, that it was a time when the Franks were mad. And were they not correct? For what else is a carnival, whether it may be in Rome, in Naples, or Malta, but an allotted period, when persons are at liberty to think, to dress and act like very fools. Were a person to appear in public, at any other season of the year, disguised as a baboon with a long tail, or as Satan with his cloven foot, (which we have observed were two favorite characters,) would he not be thought mad? And were this same man to be examined by a medical board, we think it would be a difficult thing for him to prove, that he was not deranged, however correct his answers might be to their interrogations? For a much less foolish act, many persons have been placed under the guardianship of their friends, or confined within the walls of a lunatic asylum. Thus strange it is, *A Maltese is called a Smaitch, in the same way, that an Englishman is called a John Bull, or an American, a Yankee. [To be continued.] THE PARENTS' LAMENT, Murmuring sweet words as softly clear, Can we forget thee? Can the bloom Of our sweet floweret in the tomb 1. MCLELLAN, JR. NOTES ON OUR ARMY. No. I. have never failed to advocate the true interests of the service, induce me to claim your attention to a few "Notes on our Army." In these notes I shall "nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice." I wish it understood, that I am free from all political and party prejudices,-uninfluenced by any private animosity, or personal dislikes, and unknown, personally, to most of those whose acts I shall examine. My object is the correction of abuses which have gradually crept into our service, unnoticed, because unimportant in themselves, and producing but slight injury until, for want of a check, their rapid and almost unaccountable increase has proved a burden under which our system must sink, unless a remedy is applied. And to whom can I so properly apply for that remedy as yourself? A statement of the abuses under which we suffer, will be all I shall presume on calling your attention to, on that head. A few comments, however, on the practical operation of existing laws and regulations, and suggestions as to the amendments and additions they require, founded on observation and experience, will not, I conceive, be out of place-and may lead to some improvements in our present imperfect and almost disorganized military establishment. 66 'Impossibilities must become possible" before we can expect the President, his Secretary of war, (as at present selected,) or Congress, to be acquainted with all the details of our military organization and duties, and the manner in which the one is kept up and the other performed. And since this information cannot be obtained from the reports of the Bureaux, (whether suppressed from The Messenger has always devoted itself to the support policy or negligence, it is not my province to inof the great general interests of the Country, involving no party altercations. Its large size has enabled it to do this quire,) a plain statement of facts, accompanied by without the least disparagement to the interest of the gene- a few comments, will enable the public to judge ral reader, who can always find matter adapted to his taste. whether they receive an equivalent in return for But who is there so indifferent, so ungrateful as not ever to their annual expenditures; and whether the patronfeel a lively interest in our gallant Army and Navy? When their services are demanded, every eye and heart are age delegated by them is used solely for the beneturned towards them, with hope, confidence and pride. In fit of the country, or whether private interests, poPeace, then, let them receive that interest and attention. litical power and family connexions have a conwhich may prepare them to act most efficiently and incite trolling influence. them to the noblest efforts in times of danger. But apart The office of "Secretary for the department of from their importance in a national point of view, a Lite-war" was established by a law of Congress, aprary Journal should lend them its aid, because they contain so much literary spirit and taste; and their members have done so much for the production and illustration of our Literature. The Messenger, then, will continue to uphold their rights and interests and invites them to assist in maintaining and advancing it.--[Ed. Mess. one man.--Locke. TO THE HON. THOMAS H. BENTON: proved on the 7th of August, 1789. This law re- An army is a collection of armed men, obliged to obey said principal officer shall conduct the business of the said department in such manner as the President of the United States shall, from time to time, The distinguished part you have acted in the order and instruct." There is no such idea concouncils of our nation-the devotion you have ex-veyed in the above extract from the law, nor did hibited to its general welfare-the untiring indus- Congress ever intend to convey an idea that the try which has ever characterized your public ca- Secretary should, nor did it expect he ever would, reer, and the important position you have so long assume the military command and control of the occupied as a leading member of our military com- Army. If such had been the intention of Conmittee in the United States Senate, where you gress, why did it afterwards provide for a "Major General Commanding" as the Hon. Secretary is pecuniary responsibility in which the officers who pleased to style him? In establishing the depart- have it in charge are involved." "The officers ment of war and creating the office of Secretary, who have it in charge!" What a great pity for Congress contemplated relieving the executive from these meritorious and deserving gentlemen, that the annoyance of details: in other words, they in- this same impertinent little Register shows that tended him to perform for the executive, duties nearly every arsenal, armory and depôt is supplied analogous to those performed by the Adjutant Gene- with a store-keeper, a civil officer, who has all the ral for the Commander-in-Chief. responsibility of this valuable property. However, the Hon. Secretary only says "the officers"—not the officers of this corps "who have it in charge." The vast importance of each of these staff corps is When do we ever hear of the Secretary of State taking upon himself to issue instructions to a foreign minister, without the express commands of the President, and so stating in his despatches? commented on at large, and one is almost convinced Yet, how often does our Hon. Secretary of war inflict long orders and circulars on us which carry convincing proof in their own folly, that he, and he alone, is responsible for them. that Napoleon would have carried the day at Waterloo had he only known what the world now learns from the late report of the Secretary of war. He says: "In regard to the staff of the Army, it may The whole intention of the above quoted law has be laid down as a sound rule, that it should never been entirely perverted, and we are now supplied be regulated by the number of troops in the line, with a political commander-a civilian Secretary, but by the extent of country over which the whose aim is popularity, and who knows no more Army is spread." What might have been the conabout the details of military duty and the require- sequences with an Army of "Deputy Quarter Masments of the service, than a soldier does of the ter's General" and "Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, practice of medicine, or a lawyer of the science of and Majors" of "Ordnance and Topographical fortification. The annual report lately rendered Engineers," the wisdom of man cannot decide. by this officer proves this assertion but too clearly. The present crowned heads of Europe should conSurrounded by the Staff Bureaux in Washington, gratulate themselves that this grand military disall of which have chiefs, active and energetic in covery was not made in an earlier age. Can it be sustaining themselves and those under them, he that the recent threats of war against Mexico have seems to have forgotten there was any other Army, been based on the conceived invincibility of these or, at least, any that required, or was worthy of lately discovered engines of power-Staff Corps? his attention. After a long and tedious extract The Hon. Secretary in his report, if we omit from the Army Register, to inform the President the copious extracts from the Army Register, and and Congress where to find his great Army, a very the recapitulation of the requirements of the law necessary piece of information by the way, he com- of August, 1842, has very condescendingly devoted ments at large on each of the Staff Bureaux. One seven lines of ordinary newspaper length to the is "efficiently organized and faithfully adminis-line-the Army proper.. tered," whilst its importance is manifest to all We are indebted to the wisdom and sagacity of military men." He forgets, if he ever knew, that Mr. Calhoun for our Bureau organization, which half the duties of this department are performed by has been recently and advantageously adopted for line officers, for which they receive no compensation. the Navy. But had he foreseen the results it has "The attention of the officers to their duty," in produced, he would have preferred a second staff corps, "has been assiduous." So "to bear the ills we have, one would naturally suppose from a reference to Than fly to others we know not of," the Army Register, by which it will appear that five sixths of them are living at their ease in large Had Mr. Calhoun remained at the head of the cities, receiving emoluments sufficient for their department, such results as we now deplore would comfortable support over and above what is con- not have followed his admirable suggestions; and, sidered as pay, and of which they receive more should the office of Secretary of war be in future than officers of the same rank in the line. It conferred upon men of known military attainments, would be a curious document for reference if Con- or on those possessing the untiring energy and gress would call on the Secretary for the names transcendant abilities of Mr. Calhoun, the system and rank of all the officers of the Army with a may again be made to work well. statement annexed to each showing the amounts of As at present ruled, we have a nominal Commoney received from the treasury and for what, manding General who, if he wish to prescribe the during the year 1843. The officers of a third length of an officer's or soldier's whiskers or musstaff corps receive high commendation for having taches, must apply to the Hon. Secretary of war promptly accounted for the money placed in their for his decision, (see circular from the Adjutant hands:" "the value of property General's office, dated Washington, 31st May, under charge of this branch of the service is 1843.) The authority of this Commanding Ge$17,393,021,07, and in itself shows the amount of neral, by courtesy, over the different staff corps is 66 |