The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-06 00:00:00

for a moment allege that the hare has lived at his expense, or been fostered by his care) " approaches slowly," and knocks it down, driven by the politico-economical consideration that a hare eats as much as the fourth part of the support of a sheep. Now, the labourer knows perfectly well that the laws, be they good or bad, under which he exists prohibit him from knocking down the hare as much as though it were a sheep. He knows that his conduct is the violation of an express com mand of the Legislature of his country, and in knocking down the hare he no more refutes the reason of the law than he would censure the law of felony by depriving Mr. Christmas of his coat for the use of that wife and family who are always paraded in the case of poachers—the enormous majority of whom have legally no such encumbrances or excuses, as the case may be. The danger of all such arguments as these is clear. The labourer or other, who does an act prohibited because he chooses to think the prohibition wrong, will soon proceed to do acts that are main in se, except indeed he be better skilled in ethics than we can hope our population to be. Game laws, and all other laws, are to be remedied by competent authority, not broken at will by those who dislike them. With respect to the " Lawfulness of War," we believe that so lokig as human passions and dispositions are what Holy Writ describes theili, the strong hand, and that alone, must be used in many cases to control them. We prevent the Russian empire from dismember ing Turkey by 'the very same sanction that prevents a burglary. Prevention by violence is as justifiable in one case as in the other. Nor is this view weakened by isolated texts. Logically the rernark'of our Saviour as to the centurion's great faith Would seem to point out the profession of arms as rather favourable than otherwise to the growth of piety. We fear, indeed, that Mr: Christmas is not endowed with that grasp and acuteness that are required in an ethical philosopher. We have also to object to.. this work, what, indeed, is the old oti*tion to scientific treatises—inaccuracy of language. Definition demands infinitely more precision than Mr. Christmas is disposed to grant it. Neverthe less, we cheerfully admit that there are occasional happy delineations of a principle, and some new matter for thought on the ex tensive subject of the reformation of the laws. The Life of P. T. Barnum. Written by Himself. London: Sampson, Low, and Co. Tins book is selling so rapidly that we do not see any reason why we should not doubt " Mr. Barnum's Life of Himself" quite as much as we should now doubt any cther scheme by which he might propose to take the public in. Were it not for his intense love of money, we should be inclined to think that his candid confessions of rascality must be real, but the whole tone of the book warns us that if he thought a penny was to be turned—au honest penny he would consider it—by vilifying him self, his kindred, and his nation, he would not hesitate a moment to take advantage of the opportunity. There is this, however, to be said for the genuineness of his revelations, that he is such a rogue and so successful that he really can afford to tell the truth for once in his life, and hope to make a profitable specu lation out of it. His countrymen, by his ac count, are as like himself in the clever prac tices he details as one egg is like another. What is roguery with us, is shrewdness with them ; what would send a man to the tread mill here, would only gain him the applause of his friends on the other side of the Atlantic; and he who would be branded in Europe as a swindling vagabond, would in America be simply called " a considerably cute Yankee," and be admired accordingly. After reading Barnum's life one is at a loss to decide whe• ther the Americans regard such impositions as he practised in the light of practical jokes such as Theodore Hook was accustomed to play, or n hether, knowing them to be rascally cheats, they are considered perfectly justifi able as tricks of trade. Unfortunately for the reputation of our transatlantic cousins, pounds, shillings and pence are always con nested with the result of their practical ,jokes, THE PRESS. the aim and end of which appear to be to extract from their neighbour's pocket as much as can be obtained from it by fraudulent devices. The whole life of this accomplished Yankee is such a web of rascality, combined with energy, perseverence, and punctuality in monetary matters, as to make it the most per• feet manual extant of the art and mystery of honest swindling. In his case, however, much must be allowed for his training. The follow ing will serve to explain the system under which he was brought up They have a proverb in Connecticut, that" the best school in which to have a boy learn human nature, is to permit him to be a tin pedlar for a few years." I think his chances for getting " his eye-teeth cut" would be equally great in a country barter-store like that in which 1 was clerk. As before stated, many of our customers were hatters, and we took hats in payment for goods. The large manufacturers generally dealt pretty fairly by us, but some of the smaller fry occasionally shaved us prodigiously. There probably is no trade in which there can be more cheating than in hats. If a hat was damaged "in colouring " or otherwise, perhaps by a cut of half a foot in length, it was sure to be patched up, smoothed over, and slipped in with others to send to the store. Among the furs used for the nap of hats in those days were otter, beaver, Russia, nutria otter, cony, muskrat, &c., &c. The best fur was otter, the poorest was cony. The hatters mixed their inferior furs with a little of their best, and sold us hats fir " otter." We in return mixed our sugars, teas, and liquors, and gave them the most valuable names. It was " dug eat dog "—" tit for tat." Our cottons were sold fur wool, our wool and cotton for silk and linen; in fact, nearly everything was different from what it was represented. The customers cheated us in their fabrics : we cheated the customers with our goods. Each party expected to be cheated, if it was possible. Our eyes, and not our ears, had to be our masters. We must believe little that we saw, and less that we heard. Our calicoes were all" fast colours," according to our represen tations, and the colours would generally run "fast" enough and show them a tub of soap-suds. Our ground coffee was as good as burned peas, beans, and corn could make, and our ginger was tolerable, considering the price of corn meal. Tire " tricks of trade " were numerous. If a " pedlar " wanted to trade with us for a box of beaver hats worth sixty dollars per dozen, he was sure to obtain a box of " conies," which were dear at fifteen dollars per dozen. If we took our pay in clocks, warranted to keep good time, the chances were that they were no better than a chest of drawers for that purpose—that they were like f'inder's razors, " made to sell," and if half the number of wheels necessary to form a clock could be found within the case, it was as lucky as extraordinary. When these are the recognised " tricks of trade " amongst a community, can we wonder that sharp lads, like Barnum, should acquire great proficiency in their practice ? His unconsciousness of his rascality is the most amusing part of his narrative. His love of dollars does not interfere with his piety. By lottery schemes, which he acknowledges were only a gigantic species of swindling, he tells how he made immense profits, and how expert a salesman he became, as the following pas sage will show : Whenever I visited Brookfield I called on one man who was of a serious turn. He and his wife were professors of religion, and he was a frequent exhorter at prayer.meetings. He always managed to buy a ticket or two from me, under the strictest injunction never to divulge the fact to his wife. I usually dined with him ; and when he was busy looking after my horse, or otherwise engaged out of doors, I never failed to, sell a ticket to his wife, who begged me to be very careful not to let her husband have any suspi cion of it, for he was opposed to such things and would never forgiv- her if he should know there was a lottery ticket in the house. And some pages further on he relates how he once preached in a Baptist church with con siderable success : I began by informing the people that I was not a clergy man, and had little experience in public speaking ; but r felt a deep interest in the subject of religion and morality, and would attempt in a plain way to set before them the duties and privileges of man. " The pleasures of sin for a season," which Moses might have enjoyed in the palaces of Egypt, I compared with " the recompense of reward " which he had respect to in obeying the commands of God ; and I appealed to every man's experience, observation, and reason to confirm the Bible doctrine of wretchedness in vice and happiness in virtue. We cannot violate the laws of God with impunity, and he will not keep back the wages of well-doing. The outside show of things is of very small account. We must look to realities.and not to appearances. " Diamonds may glitter on a vicious breast," but " the soul's calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy is virtue's prize." The rogue, the man of rough passions, the drunkard, are not to be envied even at the best, and a conscience hardened in sin is the most sorrowf►►l thing that we can think of. Such a one may enjoy life as a beast enjoys it—perhaps like a beast shut up in a cage or a dungeon, with enough to eat and to drink, ; but the soul cannot be satisfied or happy without devotion toward God and goodwill toward men. went on in this strain, with much scripture and many familiar illustrations, for about three quarters of an hour. When I had finished my speech, several gentleman shook me by the hand, expressed themselves pleased, begged to know rAy name, which they wrote down. I had no very 1 , SATURDAY, high opinion of my performance, bat I felt happy in believ ing that 1 possibly had done some good in that charming grove on ' t og, beautiful Sabbath. Vasssing over the principal events in his public career—the Vivalla and Museum tricks, the Feejee Mermaid, and Tom Thumb, who, by the bye, was a child of five years only instead of eleven, the whole history of the Jenny Lind engagements, and the account of the Woolly Horse, we come to his famous trick of the wild buffalo hunt. Having deaeabed how he met with and purchased fifteen tame buffalo calves, and hired a than' who could throw the lasso, he relates that Paragraphs were soon started in the papers announcing that a herd of wild buffaloes, caught by the lasso when quit* young, were now on their way from the Rocky Mona utins to Europe vitt, New York, in charge of the men w.. 0 captured them. In a few days communications appealed iu several papers, suggesting that if the buffaloes cou J be safely secured in some racecourse, and a regular buffalo chase given by their owners, showing the use of the lasso, it would be a treat worth going many miles to see. Another correspondent declared it would be worth a dollar to see it; another correspondent asserted that fifty thousand persons would gladly pay to witness it, J,:c. One Suggested the Long Island Racecourse ; another thought a large plot of ground at Harlem, inclosed expressly fur the par pose, would be better; and a third suggested Hobokeu as just the place. In due time the exhibition of a wild buffalo hunt, without danger to the spectators, was announced in all the papers as to take place at Hoboken, and it was to be free, the mystery of which piece of gratuitous generosity on the part of Barnum is explained in few words. " I next eugaged," he says, " all the ferry , boats to Hoboken at a stipulated price " ' The eventful day arrived. Taking time by the forelock, multitudes of people crossed to Hokoben before ten o'clock, and by noun the ferry-boats were constantly crowded to their utmost capacity. Au extra boat, the Pantile, was put on, and the rush of passengers continued until the o'clock. Twenty-four thousand persoffs went by the ferry-boats to Hoboken that day. Each paid if: and a quarter cents going, and as much returning, and the aggre gate receipts, including the ferriage of carts and carriages, and the hire for refreshment-stands on the ground, *err 3,500 dollars. Many thousand persons were present from various parts of New Jersey, and these, though bringing `• grist to my mill," of course escaped my " toll " at the ferries. The band of music engaged for the occasion did its best • to amuse the immense crowd until duce o'clock. At pre. ,1 . cisely that hour the buffaloes emerged from a shed in the centre of the enclosure—my man French having previously administered a punching with a sharp stick, hoping to excite them to a trot on their first appearance. He 1131 , mediately followed them, painted and creased ea an 1u4A.., mounted on a fiery steed, with lasso in one baud I.:A. sharp stick in the other, but the poor little calves huddld together, and refused to move ! This scene was so wholly unexpected, and so perfectly ludicrous, that the spectators' burst into uncontrollable, and uproarious laughter. The shouting somewhat startled the buffaloes, and, goaded by • French and his assistants, they started off iu a slow trot. The uproar of merriment was renewed, and the multitude swinging their hats and hallowing in wild disorder, the buffaloes broke into a gallop, ran against the panel of the low fence (cunsisting of two narrow boards), tumbled over,, and scrambled away as fast as they could. The crowd in that quarter offered no obstruction. Seeing the animals approach, and not being sufficiently near to discover how harmless they were, men, women, and children scattered pell-mell ! Such a scampering 1 never saw before. The buffaloes, which were as badly frightened as the people, found shelter in a neighbouring swamp, and all efforts to disengage them proved ineffectual. French, however, cap tured one of them with his lasso, and afterwards amused the people by lassoing horses and riders—and good humour prevailed. No one seemed to suspect the ferry-boat arrangement— the projector was ineog.—the exhibition had been free to the public—there had been much amusement fur twelve and a half cents. each, and no one complained. It was, however, nearly midnight before all the visitors fount eery accommodations to New York. N. P. Willis, of the Horne Journal, wrote an article illus trating the perfect good-nature with which the Amedeau public submits to a clever humbug. He said that he went to Hoboken to witness the buffalo hunt. It was nearly four o'clock when the boat left the foot of Barclay-street, yet it was so densely crowded that many persons were obliged to stand upon the railing* and hold on to the awn ing posts. When they reached the Hoboken side, a boat equally crowded was leaving that wharf. The passengers of the boat just arriving cried out to those in the boat just returning, '' la the buffalo hunt over ?" to which came the reply, " passengersYes, add a e n dli d egd i i t i,tedt w h as atth t th b at e eth bi e g y ge in st s humbug you ever heard of." were Wil I s is o tsnt yo gave h the boat threebo a cheerstw i with for the author of the humbug, whoever lie might be. This concluding paragraph is a capital bit of American character ; they like a man who does them; it's a cute and smart thing to take another in; and appreciated with a sort of gusto which we cannot exactly comprehend. But may we not naturally suppose that the statistical results of bankruptcy may be in some measure influenced by this system, when we read that sixty-seven per cont. of T,