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

THE PEOPLE'S JOURNAL.

_ -- - - The People's 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
Museum, which he purchased; 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 he started down the
Ohio, without a shilling in his pocket, living frequently
upon nuts which he gathered in the woods. He com-
menced 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 miles 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 skin became as tawny as an Indian's, from
constant exposure to the weather. His bed was fre-
quently nothing more than the soft bottom of some
sandy cove, or the leaves of the cotton trees which grow
in wild luxuriance upon the banks of the river. With
his gun to provide him with game for food, and his
sketch-book and pencils, he passed several ears of his
life. But he is reaping e 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 love 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,
Kentucky, 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 spent hundreds 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
being proud of the painting, the city authorities taxed
his exhibition, and it was not without the greatest perse-
verance he could persuade the public to visit it. For the
first day he opened, not a single person visited him. At
night he went out among the boatmen, and distributed
tickets 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 some time, he
carried it to Boston and New York, and admiring thou-
sands came to inspect it. And now he has come to
Loudon, and is nightly exhibiting his stupendous work
to crowds."

BENTLEY'S STANDARD LIBRARY.—
The History of Scotland. By Robert Chambers.
We have already 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.

SIIARPL"S LONDON MAGAZINE.
Sharpe's contains as usual two illustrations—one, a
view in Britany, 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