Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1889 — The Jolly Frenchman. [ARTICLE]

The Jolly Frenchman.

“The French are essentially a happy people," says M. Blouet. “Their cheerfulness which strikes the foreigner the moment he sets foot on French soil is due to a sound stomach. Dyspepsia is not known in France. Light bread, generous wine, dainty dishes productive of good humor, never bolted, always eaten in cool apartments or in the open air with jocularity, there lies the foundation of the Frenchman’s happiness. From the rich banker’s mansion in the Champs Elysees to the simple mechanic's garret at Bellville, business cares are never, allowed to interfere with the pleasures of the table. See the eyes sparkling with joy as the bottle fills the glasses, and the good humored rebuke of the host when a lady—as most Francfi ladies wi 11—knocks the bottle _ in lifting the glass to prevent it being filled to the brim. ‘Sapristi, Madame; say that you won’t have any more, but for goodness’ sake don’t shake the bottle!’ Or look how he frowns if he catches a guest in the act of adding water to his pet wine. ‘Mix this wine with water! My dear fellow, it’s a sacrilege! God will never forgive you!’ ’ There is nothing irreverent in the exclamation. He is thoroughly convinced that good U ine was given to man by God to rejoice his heart, affd to spoil it by adding water to it is in his eyes nothing short of a sin.” .