The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-08-11

Iue ImWoIt1t U8tuuW nos tUtueu up "6"'' -
Paris through which city he has lately passed, IN
company with Tom Thumb. on his way to Baden
Baden, where he IL going to exhibit. IL !" an
noanced that next winter he viii deliver lectures
In London, on Humbug, and the way OF setsiog
and losing money
There Is no man moro competent to discuss these
sukiects than phtpeas T. Barnum. His autobiog-
rAphy will afford him abundant materials, ready
made to his hand, exhibiting every variety Of
trick, srtiaoe aud s.ratagem, for imposing upon
tue creduli,y and :inexperieucs Of mankind. Let
him sprsad before his audience, Barnum's great
patsnt for converting assurance, cunning, and I'M.
scropuiousness, into universal solvent for trans
muting all things into gold. He has only TO relate
the particulars OF bis own life, to give the best
sdennition Of humbug, OF the underground ways
ia which money can be made, and the retributive
Justice by which foul gains often a, speedily
Lost % won.
We dare say the Lecture will iaeuicatc the same
morality a. the Autobiography, aad II IL does, Bar
mum could hardly choose a worse place to deliver
himself, than London, unless, indeed, he intends
to rent hail within the purleus of st. Giles, and
address a select assemblage Of pickpockets. What
ever DO the other faults of Mr. Bull, he is. gene
rally speaking, as honest the day is long, and
will not appreciate those exquisite bits OF Barnums
humor, wherein the point of the joke consists in
cheating, pIsndering, and obtaining money under
false pretences. When Bull hears Barnnm relate
some Of his ways of getting ooiu, he will button
up his brooches pockets, and when the lecturer
proceeds, with the smirk Of the autobiography, to
challenge approval for the smartness Of his rogue
nv, it Is likely his audience will simultaneously
disperse with the exception of the police officers,
usually in attendance, who will probably keen a
sharp eye on Phiueas, long as no remains In that
metropolis.
The Autobiography OF Barnum has unfortunately
preceded him ia Great Britain, and it has drawn
forth from all quarters expressions Of indignation
and adherence such as naturally arise in every
honest bosom when q man boasts-pubicly and
sd amelessly boasts-of fortune acquired by play
ing upon the credulity or weakness OF his fellow
men, as if there were something bright and lauda-
bic in chicanery and fraud. 1t cannot be denied
that there Is too much If this Bsrnumism in the
world at present, and that 1t 10 filling the jails
and peuitentaries at fearful rate; that il 10 man
q ufacturing bank and railroad dtf.ulters in one
circle Of society, and hosts of petty sharpers and
thieves In another all acting on the principles H.
cuIcated by the illustrous Professor Of Humbug
fu his Autobiography. Ifthese remarks are deemed
TOO severe by any body, let them read tina. shame
less book. By dit means an appenuiA W IL oukut
to be prepared for another edition, showing the
other branch Of the subject which Barnum propo-
SEES to discuss,-the way in which money can be
slost,-giving his own experience and that of hun
dreds of others whose unholy accumulations have
been shattered a. by thunderbolt If he would
undo some of the mischief he has done, let him
show that honesty is after all 'trus policy" and
that, whether it be or not, man is happier who
lives and dies poor, and preserves his integrity
than II he waliowsd in pleasures gained by impo
siiinn and fraud.