The Hillsborough Recorder

Mr. Heart: Here are a few observations which have forced themselves upon us, which, if they please your taste, you can publish: but if not, consign them to the trash and rubbish pile. And in the outset, we pray you not to let any notion of gallantry deter you from doing as you think best, for we are by no means vain of our talents for composition, and will not feel hurt if you should not think proper to insert them in your valuable and agreeable paper.

We do not intend to encroach upon the fair and legitimate subjects of the lords of creation; nor to invade the province of that 'same good old coon,' but will confine ourselves to our own province. And nothing but the long continued and now seemingly endless suffering we have undergone, could have prompted us to seek for a redress of our multifarious evils and grievances through this public medium.

We noticed in our last paper an extract from the pen of a lady on the subject of gentlemen's apparel and in this production the lady displayed such singular good taste that we much regret that, after giving the young men such good advice on the decorum of their persons, she did not save us the trouble of inditing this communication upon the subject of their behavior when thus appareled. We should like to know for what the young gentlemen go into the company of the ladies. Is it to show their handsome faces and beautifully symmetrical figures! For they display much more taste and attention in the decorations of the casket, than in polishing the jewel it contains. But we inform them, in the name of the whole sex at once, that no woman of good sense is to be caught by such tinsel glare as this, the opinions of our sage lords to the contrary notwithstanding. In proof of the above assertion, we would refer you to the scenes and conversations of a cotillion some time since, where several gentlemen were exceedingly entertaining with the incidents of a hunt, the falling down of a horse, and the lamentable exit of a poor unfortunate hare; while others, more from the desire to appear singular, and totally different from the human species, took the idea (from the absence of others) into their heads to rail at music. Another, as if wishing to outdo all his confreres, and to cap the climax of absurdity, falls down on his knees, and with intense anxiety depicted in his lovely countenance, prays and entreats a lady to play upon the piano, with as much fervor and earnestness as if the salvation of the world had depended upon her consent. We know not what is the character of the conversation of gentlemen among themselves; but if they think the ladies are to be captivated by such displays, they mistake us, as much as they do their vocations when they set up for wits and humorists. We hope hereafter, as the gentlemen so seldom honor us with their presence, that they may furnish us with some things, if not more instructive, at the least more amusing. We do not wish to injure the feelings of any; nor do it; or we think the gentlemen of our little village quite equal to those of others; but they have seemed to labor under a strange misapprehension as to our choice of conversational themes, and we have written this, hoping it may tend to our mutual improvement and advantage.

THE SUFFERERS.