Chapter I: Front Matter (1)

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THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

_Of Literature, Art, and Science._

Vol. III. NEW-YORK, JULY 1, 1851. No. IV.

FITZ-GREENE HALLECK.

The author of _Fanny_, _Burns_, _Marco Bozzaris_, etc., was born at Guilford in Connecticut, in August, 1795, and in his eighteenth year removed to the city of New-York. He evinced a taste for poetry and wrote verses at a very early period; but the oldest of his effusions I have seen are those under the signatures of "Croaker," and "Croaker & Co.," published in the _New-York Evening Post_, in 1819. In the production of these pleasant satires he was associated with Doctor DRAKE, author of the _Culprit Fay_, a man of brilliant wit and delicate fancy, with whom he was long intimate. DRAKE died in 1820, and his friend soon after wrote for the _New-York Review_, then edited by BRYANT, the lines to his memory, beginning--

"Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days,
None knew thee but to love thee,
Nor named thee but to praise."

Near the close of 1819, Halleck published Fanny, his longest poem, which was written and printed in three weeks; in 1827 a small volume, containing Alnwick Castle, Marco Bozzaris, and a few other pieces, which had previously appeared in various miscellanies; and in 1836, an edition of all his serious and more finished compositions. The last and most complete edition of his works appeared two years ago in a splendid volume from the press of the Appletons.

It was Lord Byron's opinion that a poet is always to be ranked according to his execution, and not according to his branch of the art. "The poet who executes best," said he, "is the highest, whatever his department, and will ever be so rated in the world's esteem." We have no doubt of the justness of that remark; it is the only principle from which sound criticism can proceed, and upon this basis the reputations of the past have been made up. Considered in this light, Mr. Halleck must be pronounced not merely one of the chief ornaments of new literature, but one of the great masters in a language, classical and immortal, for the productions of genius which have illustrated and enlarged its capacities. There is in his compositions an essential pervading grace, a natural brilliancy of wit, a freedom yet refinement of sentiment, a sparkling flow of fancy, and a power of personification, combined with such high and careful finish, and such exquisite nicety of taste, that the larger part of them must be pronounced models almost faultless in the classes to which they belong. They appear to me to show a genuine insight into the principles of art, and a fine use of its resources: and after all that has been said and written about nature, strength, and originality, the true secret of fame, the real magic of genius is not force, not passion, not novelty, but art. Look all through Milton; look at the best passages of Shakspeare; look at the monuments, "all Greek and glorious," which have come down to us from ancient times, what strikes us principally, and it might almost be said only, is the wonderfully artificial character of the composition; it is the principle of _their_ immortality, and without it no poem can be long-lived. It may be easy to acquire popularity, and easy to display art in writing, but he who obtains popularity by the means and employment of careful, elaborate art, may be confident that his reputation is fixed upon a sure basis. This--for his careless playing with the muse, by which one time he kept the town alive, is scarcely remembered now--this, it seems to me, Mr. Halleck has done; Mr. Halleck, Mr. Bryant, and Mr. Poe, have done above all our authors.

THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS OF NEW-YORK.

No city in the world is more justly entitled to consideration for active, judicious, and liberal benevolence, than New-York, though it must be confessed that in some respects others may make a more splendid display of the machinery of philanthropy, and even seem in the subscriptions made every year to particular charities to be more liberal. This is easily explained, by the fact that, while the people of New-York are behind none in thrift and virtue, the great commercial capital has nevertheless more than twice as much pauperism and crime, from emigration and importation, as any other city in the world. Foreigners who come here of their own will, foreigners who pay their own passages to our country, are always welcome; but those who are banished from their native places for crime, or deported for idleness, imbecility, or any cause that renders them a burthen to the public, should be shut out from our ports by some more efficient means than have yet been devised for the purpose. This class alone demands of the organized and individual benevolence of New-York a larger amount of money every year than is paid for the relief of human wretchedness in any other city.

The benevolent institutions of New-York are remarkable for their number, so that in no department does an establishment indicate the attention given to the particular necessities to which it is devoted; and not only do the Quakers and the Jews, as in other places, take care of their own poor, but almost every church, no matter of what denomination, is here a well organized society for the relief of the unfortunate among its members, and to a degree, within the sphere of its influence. Where wealth has been acquired by its possessor, there is apt to be a generous consideration for the less fortunate, and no city had ever so many of the philanthropic merchants, of whom the late Samuel Ward was a type, who are as judicious as they are liberal in shielding the oppressed, strengthening the weak, and guiding the unwary, in pointing out ways and furnishing means to the young who seem born to the inheritance of degradation, and in saving others from sufferings caused by improvidence or inevitable misfortune.

We propose no account of the humane societies of New-York, but only a brief mention of some few of those whose edifices are most likely to arrest the attention of strangers, as from several directions they approach the city.

The Institution for the Blind is in the square bounded by Eighth and Ninth Avenues and by Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Streets, and is built of marble. The society was founded by Mr. Samuel Wood, aided largely by Dr. Samuel Ackerley, and was incorporated in 1831. In the spring of the following year the managers reported that they had made arrangements for instructing two or three blind children, "by way of experiment," and from that period the increase of its action and resources has been constant. Pupils are received for one hundred and thirty dollars a year, and the State has made provision for the maintenance at the institution of one hundred and twenty-eight indigent blind persons, so that it is always nearly full. The system of instruction includes the common English studies, with philosophy and the higher mathematics, mechanics, vocal and instrumental music, and, when desired, such trades as the blind can advantageously practise. The library contains more than seven hundred volumes in raised letters, besides a considerable collection printed in ink. The occasional exhibitions of the pupils have excited much attention, and the institution may be regarded as altogether one of the most successful of its kind in the world.

In 1797 the celebrated Isabella Graham founded the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, and in the spring of 1806, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, the widow of the great statesman, and Mrs. Bethune, a daughter of Mrs. Graham and the mother of the Rev. Dr. Bethune, with several associates, established, as a branch of that institution, the Orphan Asylum of the City of New-York, which was incorporated in 1807. Its first edifice was in Bank-street, but the enlargement of its activity and resources in 1836 led to the purchase of the ample and beautiful grounds near Eightieth-street, five miles from the City Hall, from which the edifice described in the engraving looks down on the Hudson, and forms one of the most picturesque views which greet the traveller who approaches the city by the river from the north. The eminent women whom we have mentioned continue, after nearly half a century, to be active in its management.

There is also a Protestant Half-Orphan Asylum in Sixth Avenue, a Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, conducted by Sisters of Charity, in Mott-street, a Roman Catholic Half-Orphan Asylum in Eleventh-street, a very large Colored Orphan Asylum in Twelfth-street, and several other establishments of the same description, supported by public or private charity, in different parts of the city. New-York is second only to Philadelphia in the liberality of its provision for orphan children: the college founded by Stephen Girard places the latter city in this respect before any other in the world.

The Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb was incorporated in 1817, the first pupils were received in the following year, and in 1827 the foundation was laid for the edifice now occupied by the institution in Fiftieth street, near Fourth Avenue. Since 1831, the President, Harvey P. Peet, LL.D. has had the chief direction of its affairs, and its income, the number of its inmates, and its good reputation, have rapidly increased.

The New-York Hospital in Broadway, the Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane, the Marine Hospital, the Seamen's Retreat, the Sailors' Snug Harbor, and the numerous establishments (several of which have large and splendid edifices) under the control of the municipal authorities, we may describe at length hereafter. The illustrations of this article evince the liberal style as well as the extent of the institutions which the position of New-York has rendered it necessary for her citizens to establish and support.

ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS IN NICARAGUA.

We have already announced in these pages that Mr. SQUIER, who was lately representative of the United States in Nicaragua, had in preparation for the press an account of his residence in that interesting country, and expressed an opinion that his work would surpass in interest and value the entire library of English and French publications on the subject. An examination of some of the sheets justifies our expectations; Mr. Squier must hereafter be ranked among the most successful travel-writers as well as antiquaries of the time; he knows what to observe and how to observe, and his relations with the Nicaraguans were such that no traveller had ever better opportunities for the acquisition of facts or the formation of judgments. His work will soon be published in a profusely illustrated octavo by Mr. Putnam. A pleasant specimen of the author's style is afforded by the following sketch of an evening ride on the banks of the lake of Granada, and of the signoras of that metropolis.

"After a pleasant interview of half an hour we bade Don Jose "_buena tarde_," and galloped down to the shores of the lake, just as the sun was setting, throwing the whole beach in the shade, while the fairy "Corales" were swimming in the evening light. The shore was ten-fold more animated than when we landed the day previously; men on horseback, women on foot, sailors, fishermen, idlers, children, and a swarm of water-carriers, mingling together, gave life to the scene; while boats and graceful canoes drawn up on the beach, barges rocking at their anchors outside, the grim old fort frowning above, and the green border of trees, with bars of sunlight streaming between them, all contributed to heighten and give effect to the picture. We rode up the glacis of the old castle, through its broken archway, into its elevated area, and looked out beyond the broad and beautiful lake, upon the distant shores of Chontales, with its earthquake-river, hills, and rugged volcanic craters. Their rough features were brought out sharply and distinctly in the slanting light which gilded the western slope of the gigantic volcano of Momobacho, while its eastern declivity slept in purple shadow. We were absorbed in contemplating, one by one, these varied beauties, when the bells of the city struck the hour of the "oracion." In an instant every voice was hushed, the horseman reined in his steed, the rope dropped from the hands of the sailor, the sentinel on the fort stopped short in his round; even the water-jar was left half filled, every head was uncovered, and every lip moved in prayer. The merry waves seemed to break more gently on the shore in harmony with the vibrations of the distant bells, while the subdued hum of reverential voices filled the pauses between. There was something almost magical in this sudden hush of the multitude, and its apparent entire absorption in its devotions, which could not fail deeply to impress the stranger witnessing it for the first time.

"No sooner, however, had the bells ceased to toll and struck up the concluding joyful chime, than the crowd on the shore resumed its life and gayety, while we put spurs to our horses and darted through their midst on our return to the city. The commandant and his companions would only leave me at my door, where we were saluted by our host with, "Saved your distance, gentlemen, dinner's ready!"

"An evening visit to the Senorita Teresa, finished our first entire day in Granada. This young lady had been educated in the United States, spoke English very well, and was withal a proficient in music--accomplishments which we never before learned to estimate at their true value. It was worth something to hear well executed passages from familiar operas, amidst tangible and not painted orange trees and palms, and in an atmosphere really loaded with tropical perfumes, instead of the odors of oil-pots and gas lights. Eight o'clock was the signal for general withdrawal from the streets, for then commenced the reign of the military police, and the city became at once still and quiet. The occasional barking of a dog, the tinkling of a distant guitar, the soughing of the evening wind amongst the trees of the courtyard, the measured tread and graduated "alertas!" of the sentinels, were the only interruptions to the almost sepulchral silence. While returning to our quarters we were startled by the "Quien vive?" of the sentinel, uttered in a tone absolutely ferocious, and as these fellows rarely parleyed long, we answered with all expedition, "La Patria," which was followed on the instant by "Que gente?" "Americanos del Norte." This was enough--these we found were magic words which opened every heart and every door in all Nicaragua. They never failed us. We felt proud to know that no such charm was attached to "Ingleses," "Alemanes", or "Franceses."

"The day following, in accordance with the "costumbres del pais," the customs of the country, we returned the visits of the preceding day, and began to see more of the domestic and social life of the citizens of Granada. We found all of the residences comfortable, and many elegant, governed by mistresses simple, but graceful and confiding in their manners. They were frank in their conversation and inquired with the utmost _naivete_ whether I was married or intended to be, and if the ladies of El Norte would probably visit Granada, when the "Vapores grandes," the great steamers came to run to San Juan, and the "Vaporcitas" steameretts, to ply on the lake and river. They had heard of a Mr. Estevens (their nearest approach to Stephens), who had written a book about their "pobre pais," their poor country, and were anxious to know what he had said of them, and whether our people really regarded them as "esclavos y brutes sin verguenza," slaves and brutes without shame, as the abominable English (los malditos Ingleses) had represented them. They were also very anxious to know whether the party of Californians which had passed through, were "gente commun," common people, or "caballeros," gentlemen, upon which point, however, we were diplomatically evasive, for there was more in the inquiry than we chose to notice. Our lady had heard that I was a great antiquarian, and, anticipatory to my visit, had got together a most incongruous collection of curiosities, from "vasos antiguos," fragments of pottery, and stone hatchets, down to an extraordinary pair of horn spectacles and a preposterously distorted hog's hoof,--all of which she insisted on sending to my quarters, which she did, with some rare birds, and a plate of dulces! At every house we found a table spread with wines and sweetmeats, and bearing a silver brazier filled with burning coals, for the greater convenience of lighting cigars. I excited much surprise by declining to smoke, on the ground that I had never done so; but the ladies insisted on my taking a "cigarita," which they said wouldn't injure a new-born babe, and paid me the compliment of lighting it with their own fair lips, after which it would have been rank treason to etiquette, and would have ruined my reputation for gallantry, had I refused. I at first endeavored to shirk the responsibility of smoking by thrusting them into my vest pocket, but found that as soon as one disappeared, another was presented, so I was obliged "to face the music" in the end. In every sala we found a large hammock suspended from the walls, which was invariably tendered to the visitor, even when there were easy chairs and sofas in the room. This is the seat of honor.

"The women of pure Spanish stock are very fair, and have the _embonpoint_ which characterizes the sex under the tropics. Their dress, except in a few instances where the stiff costume of our own country had been adopted, was exceedingly loose and flowing, leaving the neck and arms exposed. The entire dress was often pure white, but generally the skirt, or _nagua_, was of some flowered stuff, in which case the _guipil_ (_anglice_ vandyke) was white, heavily trimmed with lace. Satin slippers, a red or purple sash wound loosely round the waist, and a rosary sustaining a little golden cross, with a narrow golden band, or a string of pearls extending around the forehead and binding the hair, which often fell in luxuriant waves upon their shoulders, completed a costume as novel as it was graceful and picturesque. To all this add the superior attractions of an oval face, regular features, large and lustrous black eyes, small mouth, pearly white teeth, and tiny hands and feet, and withal a low but clear voice, and the reader has a picture of a Central American lady of pure stock. A large number of the women have, however, an infusion of other families and races, from the Saracen to the Indian and the Negro, in every degree of intermixture. And as tastes differ, so may opinions as to whether the tinge of brown, through which the blood glows with a peach-like bloom, in the complexion of the girl who may trace her lineage to the Caziques upon one side, and the haughty grandees of Andalusia and Seville on the other, superadded, as it usually is, to a greater lightness of figure and animation of face,--whether this is not a more real beauty than that of the fair and more languid Senora, whose white and almost transparent skin bespeaks a purer ancestry. Nor is the Indian girl, with her full, lithe figure, long, glossy hair, quick and mischievous eyes, who walks erect as a grenadier beneath her heavy water-jar, and salutes you in a musical, impudent voice, as you pass--nor is the Indian girl to be overlooked in the novel contrasts which the "bello sexo" affords in this glorious land of the sun."

Some of the pleasantest incidents related in the book are those which befell the author in his dealings with the Indians, in prosecuting his archaeological investigations. These Indians are all passionate admirers of the United States, and of the "hijos de Washington"--the sons of Washington. Mr. Squier was waited upon officially by the authorities of several of the Indian pueblos or towns, and among them by the municipality of the Indian pueblo of Subtiaba, headed by a great friend of our author, Don Simon Roque, first alcalde, who presented him with an address in the aboriginal language, of which the following is a literal translation:

"SIR: The municipality of the Pueblo of Subtiaba, of which
we are members, entertain the highest enthusiasm in view of
the relations which your arrival induces us to believe will
speedily be established between Nicaragua and the United
States, the greatest and most glorious republic beneath the
sun. We rejoice in the depths of our hearts that a man like
yourself has been chosen to convey to us the assurances of
future prosperity, in the name of the sons of Washington;
and we trust in the Almighty, that the flag of the United
States may soon become the shield of Nicaragua on land and
sea. Convey our sincerest thanks for their sympathy to the
great people which you represent, and give to your generous
government the assurances of that deep gratitude which we
feel but cannot express. We beg of you, sir, to accept this
humble evidence of the cordial sentiments which we entertain
both for you, your countrymen, and your Government, and
which are equally shared by the people which we represent

JOSE DE LA CRUZ GARCIAS,
(Signed) SIMON ROQUE,
FRANCISCO LUIS AUTAN."

Our author returned the visit, and gives us the following account of his reception:

"The reader may be assured that I did not forget my promise
to the municipality of Subtiaba. A day was shortly
afterwards fixed for my visit, and I was received with great
ceremony at the cabildo or council chamber, where I found
collected all the old men who could assist me in forming a
vocabulary of the ancient language, which I had casually
expressed a desire to procure. It was with difficulty that
we could effect an entrance, for a half-holiday had been
given to the boys of all the schools, in honor of the
occasion, and they literally swarmed around the building. We
were finally ushered into an inner room, where the archives
of the municipality were preserved. Upon one side was a
large chest of heavy wood, with massive locks, which had
anciently been the strong box or treasury. A shadow fell
over Simon's animated face as he pointed it out to me, and
said that he could remember the time when it was filled with
"duros," hard dollars, and when, at a single stroke of the
alarm bell, two thousand armed men could be gathered in the
plaza of Subtiaba. But those days were passed, and the
municipality now scarcely retained a shadow of its former
greatness. Under the crown it had earned the title 'leal y
fiel' (loyal and true), and in reward of its fidelity it had
received a grant of all the lands intervening between it and
the ocean, to hold them in perpetuity for the benefit of its
citizens. And Simon showed me the royal letters, signed "Yo,
el Rey" (I, the King), which the imperial emperor had
thought it not derogatory to their dignity to address to his
predecessors in office, and notwithstanding his ardent
republicanism, I thought Simon looked at them with something
of regret. I inquired for manuscripts which might throw some
light upon the early history of the country, but found only
musty records of no interest or value.

"My attempts to fill out the blank vocabulary with which I
was provided created a great deal of merriment. I enjoyed it
quite as much as any of them, for nothing could be more
amusing than the discussions between the old men in respect
to certain doubtful words and phrases. They sometimes quite
forgot my presence, and rated each other soundly as
ignoramuses, whereat Simon was greatly scandalized, and
threatened to put them all in the stocks as "hombres sin
verguenza" (men destitute of shame). 'Ah!' said he, 'these
old sinners give me more trouble than the young ones'--a
remark which created great mirth amongst the outsiders, and
especially amongst the young vagabonds who clung like
monkeys to the window bars. The group of swarthy, earnest
faces, gathered round the little table, upon which was
heaped a confused mass of ancient, time-stained papers,
would have furnished a study for a painter. It was quite
dark when I had concluded my inquiries, but I was not
permitted to leave without listening to a little poem, 'Una
Decima,' written by one of the school-masters, who read it
to me by the light of a huge wax candle, borrowed, I am
sure, from the church for the occasion. My modesty forbids
my attempting a translation, and so I compromise matters by
submitting the original:

DECIMA.

Nicaragua, ve harta cuando
Cesara vuestro desvelo,
Ya levantara el vuelo
Hermoso, alegre, y triunfante;
Al mismo tiempo mirando
De este personage el porte,
Y mas sera cuando corte
Todos los gradeciamentos:
Diremos todos contentos
Viva el Gobierno del Norte.

D. S.

"As I mounted my horse, Don Simon led off with three cheers for 'El Ministro del Norte,' and followed it with three more for 'El Amigo de los Indios' (the friend of the Indians), all of which was afterwards paraded by a dingy little Anglo-servile paper published in Costa Rica, as evidence that I was tampering with the Indians, and exciting them to undertake the utter destruction of the white population!"

THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC.

_A History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Wars of the North American Tribes against the English Colonies after the Conquest of Canada_, is the title of a new work to be published during the summer by Francis Parkman, Jr. of Boston. Mr. Parkman, in introducing himself to the public two or three years since, by a volume of sketches of western travel, _The Oregon Trail_, betrayed not alone his strong natural fancy for the wild life of the Indian, but a sensitive and sagacious eye for character and scenery, and a style of nervous simplicity which in the present undertaking have more perfect play in a much wider and worthier sphere. The narrative proceeds clearly, and with simple grace. Many figures, familiar by name, but by name only, pass sharply defined before the reader's eye. The author has not lost in the lore of the historian the feeling of the poet, but he does not compromise the dignity of history, nor mistake its purpose, by indulging too much in luxuriance of picturesque description. We congratulate Mr. Parkman that his tastes have led him to the exploration of a subject in which we are all so interested, a subject whose historical romance has never been before attempted. The consultation of all the authorities, personal observation, and the want of any unfair gilding of events or character, fix the reader's faith in the severe integrity and justice of the author's results. This history will materially mitigate the complaint that American literature has so little honored the singular charm of the aboriginal American race, and we cannot hesitate to predict for it a position of authority to the student and of honor to the author, which the works of few men so young in the literary career have attained. Little estimate of its value, or of the value of any history, can be formed from extracts, but the following will indicate the freshness and poetic simplicity of the style, the author's exact eye for characteristic life and scenery, and just appreciation of historical truth and character.

Here is a glance at the life of the Iroquois:

"The life of the Iroquois, though void of those multiplying
phases which vary the routine of civilized existence, was
one of sharp excitement and sudden contrast. The chase, the
war-path, the dance, the festival, the game of hazard, the
race of political ambition, all had their votaries. When the
assembled sachems had resolved on war against some foreign
tribe, and when, from their great council-house of bark, in
the Valley of Onondaga, their messengers had gone forth to
invite the warriors to arms, then from east to west, through
the farthest bounds of the confederacy, a thousand warlike
hearts caught up the summons with glad alacrity. With
fasting and praying, and consulting dreams and omens, with
invoking the war-god, and dancing the frantic war-dance, the
warriors sought to insure the triumph of their arms; and,
these strange rites concluded, they began their stealthy
progress, full of confidence, through the devious pathways
of the forest. For days and weeks, in anxious expectation,
the villagers await the result. And now, as evening closes,
a shrill wild cry, pealing from afar, over the darkening
forest, proclaims the return of the victorious warriors. The
village is alive with sudden commotion; and snatching sticks
and stones, knives and hatchets, men, women, and children,
yelling like fiends let loose, swarm out of the narrow
portal, to visit upon the miserable captives a foretaste of
the deadlier torments in store for them. And now, the black
arches of the forest glow with the fires of death; and with
brandished torch and firebrand the frenzied multitude close
around their victim. The pen shrinks to write, the heart
sickens to conceive, the fierceness of his agony; yet still,
amid the din of his tormentors, rises his clear voice of
scorn and defiance. The work is done; the blackened trunk is
flung to the dogs, and, with clamorous shouts and hootings,
the murderers seek to drive away the spirit of their victim.

"The Iroquois reckoned these barbarities among their most
exquisite enjoyments; and yet they had other sources of
pleasure, which made up in frequency and in innocence all
that they lacked in intensity. Each passing season had its
feasts and dances, often mingling religion with social
pastime. The young had their frolics and merry-makings; and
the old had their no less frequent councils, where
conversation and laughter alternated with grave
deliberations for the public weal. There were also stated
periods marked by the recurrence of momentous ceremonies, in
which the whole community took part--the mystic sacrifice of
the dogs, the wild orgies of the dream feast, and the
loathsome festival of the exhumation of the dead. Yet, in
the intervals of war and hunting, these multiform
occupations would often fail; and, while the women were
toiling in the cornfields, the lazy warriors vainly sought
relief from the scanty resources of their own minds, and
beguiled the hours with smoking or sleeping, with gambling
or gallantry."

A glimpse of Indian winter life:

"But when winter descends upon the north, sealing up the
fountains, fettering the streams, and turning the
green-robed forests to shivering nakedness, then, bearing
their frail dwellings on their backs, the Ojibwa family
wander forth into the wilderness, cheered only, on their
dreary track, by the whistling of the north wind, and the
hungry howl of wolves. By the banks of some frozen stream,
women and children, men and dogs, lie crouched together
around the fire. They spread their benumbed fingers over the
embers, while the wind shrieks through the fir-trees like
the gale through the rigging of a frigate, and the narrow
concave of the wigwam sparkles with the frostwork of their
congealed breath. In vain they beat the magic drum, and call
upon their guardian manitoes;--the wary moose keeps aloof,
the bear lies close in his hollow tree, and famine stares
them in the face. And now the hunter can fight no more
against the nipping cold and blinding sleet. Stiff and
stark, with haggard cheek and shrivelled lip, he lies among
the snow drifts; till, with tooth and claw, the famished
wildcat strives in vain to pierce the frigid marble of his
limbs. Such grim schooling is thrown away on the
incorrigible mind of the northern Algonquin. He lives in
misery, as his fathers lived before him. Still, in the brief
hour of plenty he forgets the season of want; and still the
sleet and the snow descend upon his houseless head."

Here another leaf from Penn's laurels:

"It required no great benevolence to urge the Quakers to
deal kindly with their savage neighbors. They were bound in
common sense to propitiate them; since, by incurring their
resentment, they would involve themselves in the dilemma of
submitting their necks to the tomahawk, or wielding the
carnal weapon, in glaring defiance of their pacific
principles. In paying the Indians for the lands which his
colonists occupied,--a piece of justice which has been
greeted with a general clamor of applause,--Penn, as he
himself confesses, acted on the prudent counsel of Compton,
Bishop of London. Nor is there any truth in the
representations of Raynal and other eulogists of the Quaker
legislator, who hold him up to the world as the only
European who ever acquired the Indian lands by purchase,
instead of seizing them by fraud or violence. The example of
purchase had been set fifty years before by the Puritans of
New England; and several of the other colonies had more
recently pursued the same just and prudent course."

The deaths of Wolfe and Montcalm:

"In the heat of the action, as he advanced at the head of
the grenadiers of Louisburg, a bullet shattered his wrist;
but he wrapped his handkerchief about the wound, and showed
no sign of pain. A moment more, and a ball pierced his side.
Still he pressed forward, waving his sword, and cheering his
soldiers to the attack, when a third shot lodged deep within
his breast. He paused, reeled, and, staggering to one side,
fell to the earth. Brown, a lieutenant of the grenadiers,
Henderson, a volunteer, an officer of artillery, and a
private soldier raised him together in their arms, and,
bearing him to the rear, laid him softly on the grass. They
asked if he would have a surgeon; but he shook his head, and
answered that all was over with him. His eyes closed with
the torpor of approaching death, and those around sustained
his fainting form. Yet they could not withhold their gaze
from the wild turmoil before them, and the charging ranks of
their companions rushing through fire and smoke." "See how
they run," one of the officers exclaimed, as the French fled
in confusion before the levelled bayonets. "Who run?"
demanded Wolfe, opening his eyes like a man aroused from
sleep. "The enemy, sir," was the reply; "they give way every
where." "Then," said the dying general, "tell Colonel Burton
to march Webb's regiment down to Charles River, to cut off
their retreat from the bridge. Now, God be praised, I will
die in peace," he murmured; and, turning on his side, he
calmly breathed his last!

"Almost at the same moment fell his great adversary,
Montcalm, as he strove, with useless bravery, to rally his
shattered ranks. Struck down with a mortal wound, he was
placed upon a litter and borne to the General Hospital on
the banks of the St. Charles. The surgeons told him that he
could not recover. "I am glad of it," was his calm reply. He
then asked how long he might survive, and was told that he
had not many hours remaining. "So much the better," he said;
"I am happy that I shall not live to see the surrender of
Quebec." Officers from the garrison came to his bedside to
ask his orders and instructions. "I will give no more
orders," replied the defeated soldier; "I have much business
that must be attended to, of greater moment than your ruined
garrison and this wretched country. My time is very short;
therefore, pray leave me." The officers withdrew, and none
remained in the chamber but his confessor and the Bishop of
Quebec. To the last, he expressed his contempt for his own
mutinous and half-famished troops, and his admiration for
the disciplined valor of his opponents. He died before
midnight, and was buried at his own desire in a cavity of
the earth formed by the bursting of a bombshell."

We conclude with a sketch of Pontiac:

"Pontiac, as already mentioned, was principal chief of the
Ottawas. The Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Pottawattamies, had long
been united in a loose kind of confederacy, of which he was
the virtual head. Over those around him his authority was
almost despotic, and his power extended far beyond the
limits of the three united tribes. His influence was great
among all the nations of the Illinois country; while, from
the sources of the Ohio to those of the Mississippi, and,
indeed, to the farthest boundaries of the wide-spread
Algonquin race, his name was known and respected. The fact
that Pontiac was born the son of a chief would in no degree
account for the extent of his power; for, among Indians,
many a chief's son sinks back into insignificance, while the
offspring of a common warrior may succeed to his place.
Among all the wild tribes of the continent, personal merit
is indispensable to gaining or preserving dignity. Courage,
resolution, wisdom, address and eloquence, are sure
passports to distinction. With all these Pontiac was
preeminently endowed, and it was chiefly to them, urged to
their highest activity by a vehement ambition, that he owed
his greatness. His intellect was strong and capacious. He
possessed commanding energy and force of mind, and in
subtlety and craft could match the best of his wily race.
But, though capable of acts of lofty magnanimity, he was a
thorough savage, with a wider range of intellect than those
around him, but sharing all their passions and prejudices,
their fierceness and treachery."

DR. STARBUCK MAYO, AUTHOR OF "KALOOLAH," "THE BERBER," &c.

If there is any satisfaction derivable from a long and clear lineage, the author of _Kaloolah_ ought to be a very happy man. Seven successive generations of reputable ancestry connect him with the Rev. John Mayo, a divine of distinguished piety and learning who in the year 1630 came to this country, and after settling in the town of Barnstable, transferred his residence to Boston, and became the first pastor of the South Church. The English pedigree of this John Mayo is one of the oldest among the gentry of Great Britain. On his mother's side Dr. Mayo also traces his descent for several ages through the Starbucks, one of the primitive families of that most primitive of all places, the island of Nantucket.

The parents of Dr. Mayo removed to the village of Ogdensburg on the St. Lawrence under the circumstances very similar to those described in Kaloolah, and he was there born in the year 1812. His early intellectual training was under the pedagogueism of the Rev. Josiah Perry, one of the few men formed by nature for school-masters, who has left as marked a memory in a smaller sphere as did ever Parr or Burke in theirs. Never was instruction better given in all the elements of a thorough English education than for many years in his well-known school, which has produced several of the most distinguished men of the present time. From this the subject of our memoir was transferred, at the age of eleven or twelve, for the purpose of pursuing classical studies, to the academy at Potsdam, which enjoyed for a number of years the superintendence in the office of its principals of a succession of very eminent men, among them the present Rt. Rev. Bishop of North Carolina. His successor, under whom Dr. Mayo's pupilage occurred, was the Rev. Mr. Banks, a Presbyterian divine from New England, of learning, taste, and refinement, such as were rarely met with even in that day among men of his class.

The description of the early life of Jonathan Romer is in the main the history of the author himself. At the age of seventeen he commenced the study of medicine, which he pursued with ardor and success. In 1832, having attended for three years the lectures of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in this city, he underwent his examination for a degree, but did not receive a diploma till the ensuing term, not having attained the legal age of twenty-one. After spending several years in the city hospitals and in private practice, he abandoned brilliant professional prospects to go abroad, partly for the benefit of his health and partly urged by the spirit of adventure, which had long led him to form plans for the exploration of Central Africa. Perhaps it is to be regretted that he was prevented by the infirmity of short-sightedness from emulating the achievements of Park, Clapperton and Ledyard, for which his moral and physical constitution eminently fitted him. He travelled extensively in Spain and Barbary however, and we have the results in Kaloolah and in The Berber.

Anonymously, in various magazines, Dr. Mayo had written much and well, but he was scarcely known as an author until the appearance of the work upon which his fame still chiefly rests, _Kaloolah, or Journeyings to the Djebel Kumri_, in the spring of 1849. It has frequently been said that Kaloolah was suggested by the popular works of Herman Melville, but it was written and nearly printed before the appearance of Typee, the first of Mr. Melville's productions; and we see no reason for another opinion, that it was an offspring of the author's love for Defoe; if it was not an altogether spontaneous and independent work, its parentage was probably less famous; we know of no composition so nearly resembling Kaloolah as the pretended _Narrative of Robert Adams, an American sailor who was wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa, in the year 1810, detained three years in slavery by the Arabs, and afterward several months a resident in the city of Timbuctoo_. This was a piece of pure fiction, though brought out in London in a splendid quarto under the endorsement of the Lord Chancellor, the President of the Royal Society, and many other eminent persons in literature, science, and affairs, and elaborately and credulously reviewed in the Edinburgh, the Quarterly, and other Reviews. The hero of this performance, after various adventures, was married to a dusky princess in the _terra incognita_, and made almost as many marvellous discoveries as are recorded by Jonathan Romer. Another and a very different writer, who selected central Africa to be the field of somewhat similar inventions, was the learned and ingenious Richard Adams Locke, whose astonishing history of revelations in the moon was not more creditable to his abilities than his singularly recovered MSS. of a lost traveller by the borders of the Niger and in middle Africa, published in the _New Era_ journal in this city about the year 1838. But we do not suppose Dr. Mayo was indebted to either of these works for the idea of his story. And just as erroneous as the charge of plagiarism, and much more absurd, is the notion that he designed Kaloolah as a "satirical criticism on life and manners in New-York." A writer in the _North British Review_ declares that he "could not help laughing aloud," though seated quietly by himself, at the "description of a musical entertainment of the court of the hero's royal father-in-law, heaven knows where in Africa, and intended as a burlesque on the sheer noise which is the predominant element" in all our orchestras. We assure the shrewd critic most positively that the author never dreamed of such a thing. Kaloolah is too well known to need much description; its success was certain and immediate, and not many original works have ever been published in this country which have had a larger circulation. It evinces remarkable fertility of invention, is exceedingly interesting, and abounds in clearly defined, spirited, and occasionally well finished portraitures. Kaloolah, the heroine, is a fresh and beautiful creation, worthy of any of the masters of fiction. The hero, Romer, is designed merely as a type of the determined Yankee adventurer, drawn with only the exaggeration demanded in works of art; and half the seeming of extravagance in the narrative and the sketches of nature would have disappeared if the author had not, to reduce his volume to the size deemed by his publisher most promising of profit, omitted all his numerous and curious notes.

Kaloolah was followed in 1850 by _The Berber, or the Mountaineer of the Atlas_, a story of Spain and Morocco, about the close of the seventeenth century. As a novel it is decidedly better than Kaloolah; it displays greater skill in narration, and is written in the same pure, distinct and nervous English. Dr. Mayo thoroughly understood from observation as well as study all the accessories of his subject, and we are mistaken if any recent book on northern Africa gives a more clear, spirited or just impression of its scenery or of the character and manners of its people. The hero is of the highest style of the half-barbarian chiefs of the country and time; born a Christian, educated a Mohamedan, and ambitious to free his tribe from the domination of the Moors, and to found a new empire, with a higher civilization than was ever known to the race he leads; and other characters have enough adventures, dimly sketched, to fill the circles of a dozen tragedies if brought more near the eye. The faults of the book are, an excess of incident, discursiveness preventing proper unity and proportion, and a confessed failure of the story to evolve all the intended moralities, which the author therefore in some cases brings forward in his own person.

The last volume we have had from the hand of Dr. Mayo is, _Romance Dust from the Historic Placer_, a collection of shorter stories chiefly founded on historical incidents. In these he exhibits the fresh feeling, occasionally the humor, and always the bold drawing and effective coloring which distinguish his more ambitious performances. The volume contains also a poem, but not one of such striking qualities as to induce regret that the author has commonly chosen to write in prose. The style of his novels, especially in the narrative parts, is uncommonly good, but with its many excellencies it does not seem to us that it possesses a poetical element.

Dr. Mayo has commenced a brilliant course, in which we trust we shall have occasions to record still greater triumphs than those by which he has won a place in the first rank of the young writers of English.

The portrait at the beginning of this article is very truthful; it is from a recent daguerreotype by Brady.

_Original Correspondence._

LONDON, _May 23, 1851._

Historical Sketch--Why England was the most appropriate
location for Exhibition--First impressions--Contrast between
barbaric and civilized industry--Use and beauty--Moral and
social influences.

The Great Exhibition constitutes the one absorbing topic in which, for the time being, all other topics are merged. Go where you will, nothing else is thought of, talked of, or heard of, from one end of London to the other--this magnificent display of the achievements of art and industry forms the sole theme of conversation, calling forth the most animated descriptions, the most energetic discussions, the warmest and most enthusiastic praise. Nor is this interest confined to London alone; the whole kingdom shares in the excitement, and seems to be only waiting for warmer weather, and the approaching reduction of the entrance fee, to march upon the metropolis, and satiate its curiosity within the walls of the Crystal Palace. As the season advances, and the brilliant success of the enterprise becomes known, foreign nations, who have contributed so largely to the splendor of the show, will send over hosts of friendly visitants; and the World's Fair, so veritably cosmopolitan in design and execution, will become equally so in its social character and results.

As the activity of the present age developes itself mainly through productive and commercial industry, this collection of the choicest industrial products of all the nations of the globe, is not only in perfect accordance with the spirit of the epoch, but seems indeed to belong so properly to the present day, that it may be doubted whether such an event could have taken place at any earlier period: while the political and social conditions of Great Britain, her friendly relations with all other powers, together with the perfect security for property, the commercial freedom, and facilities of transport, which are here enjoyed in a pre-eminent degree, combine to indicate this country as the most appropriate arena for this first pacific contest of the nations; the only one, perhaps, in the actual state of Europe, in which it could have taken place at this time.

The traditions of the English people, also, are such as would naturally suggest to them the idea of an enterprise of this kind; for not only have Fairs (which may be regarded as a rude attempt at a more general exhibition of wares than that afforded by the mere ordinary display of shops) been common here, as elsewhere in Europe, for many centuries, but exhibitions more nearly resembling the present Institution, in which the palm of excellence, rather than direct commerce, is the primary object, have taken place here frequently during the past century, through the enterprise of individuals, or societies, independently of any assistance from the Government. As early as the year 1756, the "Society of Arts" of London offered prizes for the best specimens of various manufactures, tapestry, carpets, porcelain, &c., and held public exhibitions of the works which were offered in competition; while about the same period, the Royal Academy, as a private society, patronized by George the Third, rather in a personal capacity than as the head of the legislature, organized its exhibitions of painting, sculpture, and engraving; and during the last thirty years exhibitions of machinery and manufactures, gotten up entirely through the efforts of private individuals, have taken place not only in the metropolitan cities, in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, but in all the principal towns of the United Kingdom.

The earliest national exhibition of industrial products in France, occurred in 1798, and was followed by others at irregular intervals until 1819, since which period they have taken place every five years, and have exercised a marked effect upon the industrial development of Europe. The brilliant character of the two last of these exhibitions (in '44 and '49), led to several ineffectual attempts on the part of the Society of Arts, and others, to interest the British Government in the getting up of a similar exhibition of the products of British industry, to be held in 1851.

At length in 1849, Prince Albert, who, as President of the Society of Arts, had known and sanctioned all these proceedings, took the project under his own personal superintendence, enlarged upon the original design by proposing to invite the co-operation and competition of all foreign nations, and proceeded to settle the principles upon which the enterprise, thus modified, should be conducted, and the mode in which it should be carried out.

The first steps toward the realization of this new plan, were made in the name, and under the auspices of the Society of Arts; but so universal was the interest which this noble project called forth throughout the country, that it was thought advisable to make it a national concern, by taking it out of the hands of the Society, and intrusting its execution to a body of royal commissioners, appointed for that purpose by the Government, with Prince Albert as its President; the Government, meantime, giving its sanction only to the undertaking, and merely lending its aid when it was absolutely indispensable, as in correspondence with foreign countries, providing a site for the building, organization of police, and the cost of such assistance whenever it entailed expense, being defrayed from the funds of the Exhibition, thus leaving all the responsibility of the attempt, pecuniary or other, with the commissioners themselves.

The subsequent history of the "rise and progress" of the undertaking; the promptitude with which the requisite funds were subscribed by private generosity; the selection of Hyde Park as the site of the projected Industrial Palace; the various plans proposed for the building, and the final adoption of the design of Mr. Paxton, after the model of a conservatory by him erected for the Duke of Devonshire; the admirable manner in which this design has been carried out by the architects, Messrs. Fox & Henderson; the cordial response with which England's friendly challenge has been answered by all the peoples of the globe, from her next-door neighbors across the channel, to the far-off denizens of Orient, and remote islands of sunny southern seas; the imposing ceremonial which, on the appointed day, threw open the vast Museum to the gaze of an impatient public; the crowds of titled dames and potent seigneurs, of the "wealth, beauty and fashion" of the aristocratic world, that fill, day after day, the immense area, wandering from one magnificent display to another, and marvelling at the richness, perfection, and variety of the countless objects that meet their eyes at every turn; the probability of a somewhat formidable thronging of less elegant, but equally interested visitors, when the "shilling days" begin; the fabulous wealth flowing, week after week, into the treasury of the royal commissioners at the various entrances of the buildings; and the growing desire on the part of the public, that the funds, thus arising from the Exhibition itself, should be appropriated to the formation of a "Permanent Museum of the Art and Industry of all Nations;" all this is too well known to call for further comment.