The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1852-06-10

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try in the world so ready to tolerate and
encourage all sorts of delusions and
charlatanisms-political,- social, moral,
and rcligious--from the Utopalian
schemes of socialists and other lists and
isms for fastening the "gool time"
which has SO long been coming, to the
latest operation of the great Snowman
the prince of humbugs, as is this.
We claim to belong to wiser genera
ton than the one before us, and boast
of the progress Which we have made, the.
rapid strides of knowledge, and of the
march of intellect but we must confess
we do not, after all, see the evidence of
a much greater amount of -sagacity than
that exhibited by our puritan fathers
they were humbuggcd by the Salem
witchcraft-we by the Rochester and
other rappings. 1t is not more than
two years since this great delusion
commenced, and now there is scarcely
village of two thousand inhabitants in
the country but that has its rappers,
its mediums, &c., for holding supcrnat-
ural communication with the spirits of
those who have left this " vale of tears. "
The subjects of this delusion injureI
themselves, doubtless, more than any
one else. But there are other more
practical looking, and still no less ridic-
ulous delusions which obtain among men
who would scout the imputation of being
believers in spiritual rappings. Of such
was the Lopez infatuation for the re-
demption of Cuba, which for the time
being created such an excitement in the
enlistment of .jilli6ustero troops, selling
of bonds, purchasing of steamers and
munitions of war, till the bubble burst
and the fog was dispelled by che captur-
ing of the " liberating" army, the ger
roting of the leader, and the shooting
and sending into exile many of the
"patriots.
The story of the fate of Lopez and his
comrades had not ceased to ring in our
ears, when, 10, a greater humbug still
was here, in the shape of the Kinkel
delusion, which lasted until the German
patriot and his associates had collected
fund of some hundred thousand dol
lars-contributcd by the gullible public
for the purpose of revolutionizing and
establishing republic in Germany.
But Kinkel has certainly displayed wis
dom in the investing of his funds, which,
according to late accounts, have been
used in the purchasing of brewery
| 1--WE should rather he had invested his
money in some other business, but he
has doubtless placed it where it will re-
turn him a heavy profit Now, will
any one pretend that this was not all a
palpable and gross delusion : for there
was no more probability of establishing
a republic in Germany than there is of
building a manufacturing village in the
great African desert.
And now we have the Kossuth delu-
sion. Kossuth is great man, and
doubtless honest in his desires for the
freedom of Hungary. But is there any
person so infatuated as to believe that
by his travelling over the country in state
with his retinue Of secretaries, guards,
aids, &c., making speeches, selling
Hungarian bonds, and collecting money,
will ever republicanize Hungary There
is about as much probability of it as
there is Of discovering gold mine on
Richmontown plains. And yet Kossuth
through, his five hundred speeches and
the strong tendency of the American
character to be humbugged, it is sup
posed, has collected some one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars-which, if he
is a wise man, be will place in some safe
MISUNDERSTANDING nothing behind as a
memento but the Kossuth bond, Of which
this is sample
/" On demand, one year after the cs-