tour, and one of the stipulations was, that these performers 'should suffer their moustaches to grow, assume a picturesque dress, and be known as the Swiss bell-ringers !' As a compensation to England for the loss of the bell-ringers, he sent the party of Iowa Indians to London.

Various giants and dwarfs, the Scotch Boys, the Bateman Children, and an importation of ten elephants for the Great Asiatic Caravan, Museum, and Menagerie, are included in Mr Barnum's list of all the attractions he has offered to the public.

In 1848, the daring showman observed a horse of rather small size, without any mane, and with rough or curly hair on the limbs and body. In itself, this was scarcely a wonder great enough to excite the public mind; but at this time the adventures of Colonel Fremont in the Rocky Mountains were regarded with interest. Mr Barnum now set the press to work to circulate the story, that the bold colonel, with a band of warriors, had, after a chase of incredible difficulty, captured a strange nondescript animal which might be styled 'the woolly horse.' A picture represented the animal in the act of leaping over a valley five miles wide, and an advertisement described nature as exerting 'all her ingenuity in the production of this astounding animal-extremely complex -made up of the elephant, deer, horse, buffalo, camel, and sheep.' Tolerable success rewarded this imposture, though the exhibiter was arrested on a charge of obtaining money under false pretences. On another occasion, a small herd of tamed and harmless calfbuffaloes was advertised as a 'grand buffalo-hunt,' illustrating the 'wild sports of the western prairies;' but though the poor creatures were sharply goaded, they refused to move. In justification of these and other similar exhibitions, the writer pleads that he has done good service to the state by promoting popular recreations, and adds: 'As a business-man, undoubtedly, my prime object has been to put money in my purse. I succeeded beyond my most sanguine anticipations, and am satisfied; but what I have here said will prepare the reader for what I conceive to be a just and altogether reasonable claim, that I have been a public benefactor, to an extent seldom paralleled in the histories of professed and professional philanthropists."

There is nothing in this autobiography, regarded as a literary work, which might lead us to doubt its authorship. Undoubtedly, the man who could impose General Tom Thumb on the crowned heads of Europe, must have been clever enough to write this account of his own successes. But one feature in the life suggests the notion that some literary hack may have been employed to compile the book, and, weary of the subject, may have endeavoured, here and there, to relieve it by a stroke of

satire. We allude to the passages in which the assumed author advertises his own-piety. Thus he supports some of his own views by a reference to the 'venerable and illustrious name of -Channing; eminent alike for wisdom, benevolence, piety, and purity.' Soon after making the confession of an imposition respecting the age and birthplace of the dwarf-child, he moralises in the following vein :-"Though many people may not see how my profession of a showman can be made to appear consistent with my profession of another kind, I must claim having always revered the Christian religion. I have been indebted to Christianity for the most serene happiness of my life, and I would not part with its consolations for all things else in the world. In all my journeys as a showman, the Bible has been my companion, and I have repeatedly read it attentively from beginning to end. Whether I have or have not been profited by its precepts, is a question not here to be considered; but the scriptural doctrine of the government of God, and its happy issue in the life to come, has been my chief solace in affliction and sorrow, and I hope always to cherish it as my greatest treasure.' And the writer closes his work with the self-complacent and hopeful words: 'I am at home, in the bosom of my family; and home and family are the highest and most expressive symbols of the kingdom of heaven.' These incongruities are our only reasons for entertaining any doubt of the authorship of the book. It appears, at first sight, improbable that a writer would suggest the severest censure on his own impostures by a reference to that religion which demands a rigid adherence to truth.

Our only apology for noticing this work has been already given it is a representative book. It might be passed over in silence, if it merely reflected discredit on the writer. It would be great injustice to use it for the purpose of pointing any censure of American characteristics; but it may be fairly quoted to illustrate that state of taste and education on both sides of the Atlantic which has insured such success to Mr Barnum. While genius and learning were toiling vainly for recognition and reward; while plans of national education and popular improvement were, to say the least, coldly regarded by the wealthy and powerful classes; all circles of society-excepting the lower, to which he hardly condescended-were open to receive the dwarfboy with his showman! At the time when the painter Haydon, in his misery and despair, lifted the fatal pistol to his head, the aristocracy-the best people of the realm-were crowding to the levees of Tom Thumb and Barnum. In the provinces, in our county towns-each surrounded by its ignorant and helpless peasantry, calling for aid—the higher classes, the élite of their

respective neighbourhoods, might be seen in the train of the American speculator; and high-born and beautiful ladies, lavish of their homage, pressed forward in eager competition for a kiss from the wearied dwarf! In places where an intellectual lecturer could not calculate on a respectable audience,' crowds listened with delight to the tiny boy's eulogium on the British court, which he had been taught, in parrot style, to describe concisely as first-rate!' The book that records these facts has a certain significance-it suggests thought as well as laughter. Barnum is the author of a very severe satire.

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VOYAGES AND TRAVELS-NATURAL HISTORY.

The

A few works in this department may be classed with general literature; but the most important results of travel—including those of the United States' Exploring Expedition (1838-1842)— belong to the special literature of the several sciences. Narrative of this expedition by CHARLES WILKES, United States' Navy, is an extensive work in five large volumes, and gives accounts of visits to Chili, Peru, and several groups of islands in the South Seas. A condensed summary in one volume has been published.

It is difficult to select from the mass of books of voyages and travels, those most worthy of notice in a review of American literature. Professor SILLIMAN'S Journal of travels in various parts of Europe; A Year in Europe, by JOHN GRISCOM ; CARTER'S Letters from Europe; and the Leaves of a Journal in North Britain and Ireland, by ANDREW BIGELOW-these may be mentioned as specimens of works that have more than an ephemeral interest. The Reminiscences of Spain, by CALEB CUSHING, may be described as a miscellany of fact and fiction, written on a plan resembling that of Irving's Sketch-book. Four Years in Great Britain, by CALVIN COLTON, gives too many details of well-known objects. Ship and Shore, and A Visit to Constantinople and Athens, by WALTER COLTON, have been commended as lively and pleasant books.

Among the contributions to literature by sea-faring men, A Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises, by RICHARD J. CLEVELAND, must be mentioned. DANA'S Two Years Before the Mast is a well-written account of a sailor's life. The writer is the son of Richard H. Dana, the essayist.

The books of travel by Lieutenant SLIDELL, J. G. SHEA,

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CARPENTER, KENDALL, CARNES, and WALLIS, might be noticed, if our limits would allow fair treatment of their respective merits.

JOHN LLOYD STEPHENS (1805–1852), author of Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, Yucatan, and Central America, was a man of enterprising character, whose life was mainly spent in voyages and journeys, of which his several works gave unstudied but lively and graphic notices. He was born in New Jersey, educated in the city of New York, and, after a course of legal studies, was advised to travel for the benefit of his health. In 1834-36, he visited Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Russia, returning by the way of Poland and Germany to France. Hence he sailed for Alexandria, and ascended the Nile as far as Thebes. The results of this pilgrimage were given in his Incidents of Travel in the several countries mentioned, which were published in 1836-37, and had an extensive circulation in Europe, as in America. About two years later, he was appointed special ambassador to Central America, and visited Chiapas and Yucatan, returning to the latter country in 1842. Of his political objects in this journey, he jocosely said, that he had travelled over all Guatemala, looking in vain for the government to which he was accredited; so, failing to find sufficient occupation in diplomacy, he turned aside to study the antiquities of Yucatan. speculations, though based on personal observation without the advantage of antiquarian learning, correspond with the views given by Prescott in the introduction to the History of Mexico. The truthfulness of Stephens has, we believe, never been doubted; but it has been suggested that a greater share of learning might have given a higher value to his laborious researches. In 1849, he engaged with others in the enterprise of the Panama Railway, and visited the isthmus for the purpose of exploring the route. His zeal in this great undertaking of connecting the two oceans, induced him to make greater exertions than his physical strength could support; and soon after his return, he died at the early age of forty-seven.

His

Several interesting narratives of travel might be selected from the rather extensive literature of Christian missions. As specimens of this class of books, we may mention A Tour in Armenia, by ELI SMITH and H. G. O. DWIGHT; and A Visit to the South Seas, &c., by CHARLES S. STEWART, a chaplain in the navy. Memoirs of travels in Switzerland, by the Rev. G. CHEEVER, have appeared under the titles, The Pilgrim in the Shadow of Mont Blanc, and The Pilgrim in the Shadow of the Jungfrau. A religious tendency characterises these works; and

it has been remarked that the writer, in his endeavour to preserve a tone of piety, has thought it necessary to refer frequently to his own creed. Mr Cheever contributed many articles to reviews and other periodicals, and wrote several theological works, including Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress, and the Life and Times of John Bunyan.

Among recent books of travel, the writings of J. T. HEADLEY must be noticed on account of their pleasant style. His Letters from Italy, the Alps, and the Rhine, published in 1844, have been followed by Sketches and Rambles, and several other works. It should be added, that the unassuming and easy tone of the Letters from Italy will not be found in the author's later works-Napoleon and his Marshals, and the Sacred Mountains. BAYARD TAYLOR'S graphic sketches of travels in the East deserve more than a passing notice; but they belong to a class of recent books too numerous to be fairly described in our review.

In connection with books of travel, we may notice here the literary portion of two of the most beautiful works in natural history-The American Ornithology by Wilson, and The Birds of America by Audubon.

Scotland must claim the honour of having sent the pioneer of ornithology-ALEXANDER WILSON-into the woods of America. He arrived in 1794, and after years of poverty and striving, was enabled to prosecute, though with much difficulty, his favourite study. His enthusiasm could not be understood by those from whom he had hoped to receive encouragement. When he sallied forth, in 1808, to find subscribers to his work on the birds of America, he was able to collect, after all his pains and humiliation, only forty-one names: in several places he was received as a singular fanatic, or as a suspicious character, cloaking political designs under pretence of the study of nature; for there were many who could not conceive how any sane man would endure poverty and hardship, and forego the winning of dollars, for the love of natural history. The subjects of his art and inquiry were not playthings to him: they were intimate and familiar friends; their voice was not music, but language; instead of dying away upon the ear, it went down into his soul. To him the notes with which they heralded the spring were full of glory; and when, in the autumn, they heard far off the trumpet of the storm, and sang their farewell to the woods, it was solemn and affecting, as if it were breathed from a living and beating heart. To others, this interest seemed senseless and excessive; but he was one of those who never smile at the depth and earnestness of their own emotions. When he described the birds, he spoke of

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