New-York tribune., 1882-02-19

helped to blaze forth with many tnhgs III NY Piaoo
for which there was not any foundation" U" 20
found" he shrewdly adds, needed not to be very
solicitous to blow my own trumpet, whom the COM
mon cry and the public papers did it beyond my
expectation for me-" How many men and women
are gratuitousy advertised touay IN the same
way But if they go up like the rocket II Is some
consolation to know that they soon come down Hhe
the stick
Dr. Innes finding it necessary to stimulate the
public interest in his prOtege, prevailed upon nm W
make a grand comp by writing the History Oh / or
mosa. One does not comprehend easily how the
public could have been so readily deceived Dy one
who had never seen the island which ne pretended
to describe Formosa then should have been pretty
well known TO geographers ana TO Enghsh Yoy-
ayers. The first account of the island had been
brought TO Europe in 1882, by the crew of a Span
ish ship which WAS wrecked there. The Dutch had
taken possession of it in 1884 and had teen driven
out by Chinese pirates who kept fast hold OF their
conquest There must have been not a few men in
Europe qualified by personal knowledge to contra
dict this manufacturer of manners, customs ami a
language, Candidus, Dutch minister who had
resided at Fornosa. had published an account OF 1T
which Psalmanazar found " great help and re-
lief" So he went stuaiously to work. and in two
months he had written the book in Latin. The
mendacious author says that II was crude, imper-
feet ana absurd" some snreWd man was eInploStu
to translate the work into English George says that
Ee followed one rigid rule, good one for all liars
Whatever he affirmed to, he refused resolutey TO
retract Thus he had said that the number Of in
fants sacrificed yearly in FOrmOsa was eighteen
thousand. He could never I've persuaded to lessen
his number though the npoSsibility of so small an
island losing so MANY males without being depOpu-
lated, was pointed out to him. There were Other
difficulties. How could such stripping as he must
have been when he pretended to have left FormoSa
give such large and particular accounts George
met the difficulty by simply adding three years to his
age. But the public not critical, though here
and there doubters. The book speedily passed
TO second edition. and made noise Its author
was greater pet than ever, though the Contlnen-
tai commentators exposed him at once and notably
one NJ. dAmalry, of Suce | believe that there
has never been an edition of the work since 170i,
when 1t was published at least the photographers
give no other date. The Bishop of London was still
among the believers, and sent the young scamp to
Oxford to study. He was as much liar there as
he had been everywhere else Once he pretended
TO have swelled legs and feet and kind of gouty
distemDer which so alarmed his admirers that they
sent him of TO drink certain medicinal waters
He studied little at the University but employed MS
time in visiting and in correcting and revising his
romance of Formosa. Afterwarl no resOrted to
tutor He was clerk to regiment of dragons.
Sometimes he practlsed kind of empirical physic
Sometimes he undertook 10 teach modern languages
of which he knew nothing Once when at Bristol,
he supported himself by fan painting. But people
already began to doubt hIs being Formosan or
real convert to the Church of England. When
subscription was raised to enable him to study d.
vinity, for wonder he had scrnpes abolt taking
the money for that purpose Finally he got en-
ployment from the booksellers in transatng, and
made a comfortable living by it, with the aid OF
sundry benefactions which his friends continued.
We have now the George Psalmanazar of the |
Johnsonian period-the pious industrious penitent
for whom Crsa Major had 30 much respect lie
engaged in pathological studies, and in making
new version of the Psalms He printed An Essay |
on Miracles by a Layman," which was for time
exceedingly popular lie produced Hebrew
drama of which Jonathan aud David were the
heroes. but this was never printed lie assisted
Mr. Palmer in writing History of Printing He
wrote. by way of rcparation, true account OF
Formosa, for the Complete System Of Geography" |
He was large contributor to a universal HIS |
tory" which the booksellers projected. And so he
went on diligently working, remarkable literary |
figure and well known to all the booksellers and |
booksellers hacks in London.
One meets with constant notices OF this curious |
II an in the publications of the period. In Smol- !
lett's Humphrey Clnker" he is mentioned as |
subsisting upon the charity Of few booksellers,
after having drudged for half century in the lit
erary mill IN all the simplicity and abstinence OF an
Asatc." Long after Peter Pindar tDr. Wolcott, |
that foul bird Of song, groups MandeWlle Psalm |
anIzar and Abyssnian Bruce" together. In Haw' |
kins's Life of Johnson" it is mentioned that in
Old.st Middlescx, where he long lived, scarce any
person. even children. passed him without showing
him the usual signs of respect" There Is particu
lar account OF hm in The New and General Bio |
graphical DIctionary' 1774. Or. Johnson used to |
visit him and would frequently adjourn with him |
from his lodging to a neghborlng alehonse, and IN |
the common room converse with him on subjects OF
importance. johnson once said tnat he knew only |
two men whose life was uniform. and one of these
was Psamanazar." Boswell reports the Doctor as |
saying that in the days of his poverty he sought |
after Psalmanazar the most. He was member of |
one of the Doctors numerous clubs 1" | should as |
soon think OF cOntradicting Bishop" SAID Johnson
OF him on another occasion.
Psamanazar died in London in J. 7G2 or keep |
ing the secret of his birth to the last If he was |
born in 1850, he must have been very old man; |
The curious portrait prehXed 10 the Memoirs |
Z ives fine. sweet and thoughtful lace WIN |
traces in il of melancholy. The name which he !
bore. was inscribed upon his tomb-he never gave |
any other He found i N me Bible IN ne & BOOK &l
4" P' one of his early ingenious devices In MS
Last Will and Testament he describes himself rs " |
poor sinful and worthless creature commonly |
known by the assumed name OF George Psalm
ana7ar." Tie Memoirs to be sold to TIE ighest
bidder IN order to pay my for my lodgings
and to defTav my funeral And so begging pardon
of God and the world for having written the HIS |
tory oil EOrmOsa. he departed for the country from
which no traveller returns. He must have had the
natural love of deception which characterized
Ed gar 4. Poe. of which there other exam
pies IN literary history. Unlike the Combcs and
the ClelandS, he repeDted OF his wrong dong, and
died III something like an odOr of sanctity, but
should hardly advise anybody 10 follow his ex-
ample in inst instance, hoping to he able to fol-
low it in the last.