Smyrna times., 1859-05-12
Bayard Taylor in the New York Her
Cury,

curry.
The exclusive engagement, BY the proprie
tors Of the Ne,o York Mercury, of the talented
American tourist and author, Bayard Taylor
Esq, is among the most brilliant Of the many
journalistic enterprises of this journalistic ge
| The announcement Of this arrangement has
been greeted with furOre of mingled surprise
and admiration. on the part of the public, ant
not only has the literary wor ID been aroused tc
decided pitch of excitement, but all other
circles have likewise been brought TO the gut
riUe Of expectation and interest.
The variety and piquancy of Mr.. Taylor's
adventures; the romantic and interesting scenes;
the thrilling incidents-among which his path
has lain, and fresh, sprightly, strictly conscien-
tlous style of bis writings, will render them
peculiarly appropriate to the columns of pa per
that aims 10 be, and IS, at once brilliant and
chaste in tone. The general title, chosen for
these contributions, is " Stray Cha apters Of Life
and Travel "a simple but expressive head.
under which, not only the characters and GUS
toms of other lands will be portrayed, but the
voyager's own personal adventures, vicissitudes.
and fortunes, sad and merry, tragic and comic.
also.
The first of these Chapters" which has
Just appeared in the Mercury for April Both, is
entitled The First Journey Ever Made" and
is all that could possibly be desired, for fascina.
ting interest, instruction and amusement. The
author considers this first journey to have been,
perhaps, the most interesting of any, and he
has certainly made most glorious hit in de-
scribing it.
The recent engagement of our great Ameri-
can artist, Felix o. e. Darley, was a master.
strok of enterprise on the part of the MercurV
and indicated what their second coup-detat
corroborates-that the Proprelors intend to
employ the very best talent, in order to make
the very best paper. barley is universally ac-
knowledged TO be the most talented artist now
living, whose works are engraved upon wood.
England has her Gilbert and Leech; France
has her Gavarnia and Cham, but our own Oar
ley combines the best qualities of all-the pic
turesque appreciation of Giltert-~lho humor of
Leech-the mastery effects and rendition OF
character that signalze Gavarni-the love of
fun aud satire that have made the Paris Chari.
UQri what it is-all are under the control of
Darley and when two such instruments as his
pencil and Bayard TayIOr's pen are brought TO.
gether, TO enrich the columns of family pa per,
we may indeed wonder at the progress of week
ly literature, and the enterprise OF publishers.
The ProprletOrs of the Mercury deserve
great credit for having made this acquisition TO
their already brilliant corps of contributors,
and although the expense has unquestionablv
been enormous, there is not particle Of doubt
that the reading public will most gladly second
their efforts to give additional lustre and solidi-
ty to home-readng.
AS might naturally be expected, the demand
for the Mercury of April Both, containing the
first of Bayard Taylor's journeys, is entirely
unparalleled in newspaper history, and the rush
for it, at all the book stores and news depots
throughout The country, plainly attests the i'm
mense popularity of the talented traveller. A
further proof in the same direction, if further
proof were desired, may be found in the fact.
that the subscriptions received by Messrs
Cauldwell, Southworth and Whitney, the pro.
prietors of the Mercury, since the announce
ment of Bayard Taylor's engagement, amount,
as we are cradbly informed, to over FIve Hum
dred Dollars a Day, in addition to the enor.
nous sales Of booksellers and news agents
But this, perhaps, is hardly to be wondered
at either, when we consider that the New York
Mercury is acknowledged to be the largest,
cheapest, and best literary journal in America,
being large quarto sheet, filled with purely
original matter from first to last, for which only
two dollars per annum is charged, with as lib.
eral reduction to clubs as is made by other
papers of half its size and less than half its
merit!