The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-08 00:00:00

THE PEOPLE'S JOURNAL.

The People's Journal endeavours, and generally
with success, to instruct while it entertains, and to
improve while it interests its readers. One of the
most interesting and useful articles it has recently
given is a history of Mr. Banvard and his Panorama,
As another instance of the power of perseverance, we
quote a passage which tells of the difficulties over-
come by the painter. The whole article is worth
perusal :
" We next find him the proprietor of the St. Louis
Niuseutn, which he putchased; but this speculation
also proved a failure. He remained in St. Louis just
long enough to lose all his hard-earned gains. After
visiting Cincinnati, where he was very unsuccessful, he
procured a small boat, with which ho started down the
Ohio, without a shilling in his pocket, living frequently
upon nuts which he gathered in the woods. He cous-
inneed trading in a small way; first selling a pistol
.which had cost him twelve dollars at St. Louis for
twenty-five, with which sum he speculated till he found
himself master of several thousand dollars. With the
capital thus accumulated, he commenced his daring ex-
pedition down the Mississippi. For the purpose of tak-
ing the sketches for his giant picture, he travelled thou-
sands of mil( s in an open skiff; and though not more
than twenty-two years of age, encountered extreme
peril and danger in the pursuit of his darling scheme,
that of producing the largest painting in the world.'
His hands became hardened by constant plying at the
oar, and his ski❑ became as tawny as an Indian's, from
constant exposure to the weather. His bed was fre-
ventry nothing more than the soft bottom of some
sandy cove, or the leaves of the cotton trees which grow
in AIM luxuriance upon the banks of the river. With
his gun to provide him with game for food, and his
ch-book and pencils, he passed several 3 ears of his
life. But he is reaping the harvest of all this toil and
danger, in the approbation of thousands of all classes,
both among his own countrymen and ours.
"In this undertaking the character of the man may be
discovered. To a lore of the romantic and the beauti-
ful he unites the most daring perseverance, and the
greatest patience and activity. When his drawings were
completed, he erected a wooden building at Louisville,
ICentucky, to transfer them to canvas. His object in
painting and exhibiting his picture in the West was,
that those who were familiar with the scenes depicted
might see and judge of its correctness. When his pa-
norama was nearly completed his funds were exhausted,
and he applied to the merchant who had supplied him
with canvas, and with whom he had spell bundr,ds of
dollars, for credit, offering to deposit his unfinished
painting; but—to the merchant's shame be it said—he
refused to accede to his request. No way dismayed, he
looked about him, and obtained a commission to deco-
rate an Odd-fellow's lodge, and, with the money so pro-
cured, finished his great undertaking.
Even when completed he was not enabled to exhibit
it without a further sacrifice. The gas company refused
to supply him with light unless he deposited double the
amount of the fixtures in their bank. To raise the ne-
cessary funds for this purpose, he gave to the city autho-
rities a valuable piece of philosophical apparatus, in re-
turn for the price of fifty admission tickets. Instead of
tieing proud of the painting, the city authorities taxed
his exhibition, and it was not without the greatest perse-
verance ho could persuade the public to visit it. For the
first day he opened, nut a single person visited him. At
night he went out among the boatmen, and distributed
iickets among them, telling them it was a picture of their
own river, and inviting them to come and see it. The
boatmen were delighted with the exhibition, and spread
such a report of its beauty and faithfulness, that crowds
soon came to examine it.

" After exhibiting his panorama for "01110 time, he
carrn.d it to Boston and New York, and admiring thou-
sands came to inspect it. And now he has come t,)
London, and is nightly exhibiting his stupendous work
to crowds."

BENTLEY'S STANDARD LIBRARY.-

The History of Scotland By Robert Chambers.
We have ulreadv frequently spoken in terms of
commendation of Bentley's Standard Library, and
every succeeding number of that publication attests
the justice of that commendation. Awhile ago we
were presented with a picture of " California," which
was followed last month by Fairholt's " Eccentric
and Remarkable Characters ;" and, as if to show the
diversified nature of this library, this month it gives
us Chambers's excellent " History of Scotland." The
history of Scotland is, perhaps, the most interesting
of all modern histories ; in its pages romance is
reality, and reality is romantic.

SHARPE' S LONDON MAGAZINE.
Sharpe's contains as usual two illustrations—one, a
view in 13ritany, is remarkable for the clearness of
the engraving, which gives it a very beautiful effect,
the other represents " Lord Ullin's Daughter," as she
is being annihilated by the "stormy water." Part
of the picture shows the father "left lamenting" on

the shore. This is the first of a series of illustrations
of the British ballads with which Sharpe proposes to
favour his readers. Under tiw head of " Curio'sities
of Science" are a variety of useful and interesting
paragraphs collected from various sources. " Lewis
Arundel " is continued, as is also Mrs. Cowden
Clarke's paper on Shakspere, &c. &c.

THE BRITISH POLITICAL, COMMER-
CIAL, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND HISTO.
RICAL GAZETEER, TRAVELLING
ROAD-BOOK, AND COUNTY ATLAS.

By .11 G. Collins.
Tne third part of this very enterprising work has
just reached us. It fulfils the promise of the former
parts in every particular, and •we can confidently
commend it to the consideration of the public. Its
statistical information appears to be derived from the
most authentic sources. It inves is every village and
hamlet with a new interest, all useful information
connected with each is fully supplied, and no historic
record is forgotten. When per:eet it will form a
most interesting and attractive volume of English
history, The maps could not wall be exceeded in
accuracy and beauty. 'We trust the labours of the
proprietors will be properly appreciated.

THE POTTLETON LEGACY._ By Alber,

Smith.

Parts VI. awl VII.

The Pottleton Legacy still continues its career
right merrily. These parts are full of amusing read-
ing, and the illustrations are admirable. We com-
mend the following extracts from Purt VII. to the care
ful perusal of all " Sisters of Mercy," " Sisters of
Charity," et hoc genus oinne. The scene is in Mr.
Twinch's parlour, and the actors are Mr. Twinch and
his sisters—Septimus Twinch /ortitur
" • District Visiting, indeed stuff ! What is it ?
Nothing !'
It is everything, Septimus.'
" 'Pooh! It would be if it did them good, but it don't.
It worries them. What do you do? Go and poke about
amongst a let of poor devils who haven't a halfpenny to
bless themselves with, to see that their house is " clean,"
and their brats well " brought up."'
" But is there any harm in that, Septimus?'
"' Not in the least, if you gave them anything to make
up for the intrusion. It's as much their own private
home as this is ours. But you don't.'
" Don't 1'

"'No, don't ! I don't call a bundle of dreary books,
that you get wholesale at three for a penny, any pre.
,ent—books that they never hive the time to, and some-
times can't, read. Why don't you gire them bread, or
bacon, or beef, instead? Besides, you hold out a pre-
mium for filth.'

" Septirnus 1'
" You do. When you find a nest, clean family, you
say to yourselves they look comfortably off ; and never
send them a coal or a blanket in consequence. But it
you come upon a hovel of dirty drunken never-do-wells,
with ragless children, and everything that could be
sold parted with for liquor, you mag about their.destitu-
tion, and work up sympathy. Bahl it's enough to make
one sick.'

"4 But, Mr. Page-'
Fiddle, Mr. Page 1 He would be a good fellow if
you'd let him; but you've spoilt him. You hunt him to
death. There is no reality in what you do ; its a
clutch of despair at a floating straw, and poor Page is
the straw.'

"' I don't understand what you mean,' exclaimed both
sisters at once.

"' Yes, you do. Your feeling is not religion ; its
perverted excitement. Out of every hundred district
pokers, I'd be bound you would find a clear ',inlay old
maids.'"

CLEMENT LORIMER. Parts IV. and V. By

Angus B. Beach.
The interest of the tale is wrought up to a fearfti
degree of intensity in these parts. Mr. Angus .13_
Reach is as great a favourite with the tragic as with
the comic muse. Having already acquired name
and fame as one of the first comic writers of the day,
he now puts in a claim to equal rank among the poets
of the wild, the terrible, and the sublime, and he has
shown in " Clement Lorimer" that the rival of
Dickens may be at the same time the rival of Ann
Radcliffe or M. G. Lewis.