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which he was in the habit of going to bed at night and getting up in the morning, and other miscellaneous and useful information carefully selected and

Onward, like the wind, revolve the rattling judiciously arranged. Indeed, it is whispered that

wheels. The setting sun reveals the tall groves, the great oak, the lawns, the meadows, the foun tains.

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the editors of this paper intend to take Longworth's Directory for the groundwork, and give the private history of all the city alphabetically, without "fear or favor-love or affection." In Europe there exists an absolute biographical mania, and they are manufacturing lives of poets, painters, play-actors, peers, pugilists, pick-pockets, horse jockeys, and their horses, together with a great many people that are scarcely known to have existed at all. And the fashion now is not only to shadow forth the grand and striking outlines of a great man's character, and hold to view those qualities which elevated him above his species, but to go into the minutiae of his private life, and note down all the trivial expressions and every-day occurrences in which, of course, he merely spoke and acted like any ordinary man. This not only affords employment for the exercise of the small curiosity and meddling propensities of his officious biographer, but is also highly gratifying to the general reader, inasmuch as it elevates him mightily in his own opinion to see it put on record that great men ate, drank, slept, walked, and sometimes talked just as he does. In giving the biography of the high constable of this city, I shall by all means avoid descending to undignified particu lars; though I deem it important to state, before proceeding fother, that there is not the slightest foundation for the report afloat that Mr. Hays has left off eating buckwheat cakes in a morning, in consequence of their lying too heavily on his stomach.

THE author of two volumes, entitled Crayon Sketches, by an Amateur, published in New York in 1833, with a preface by Mr. Theodore S. Fay, was an Englishman by birth, who came to America early in life to practise his calling of a printer. He found employment in the Mirror, conducted by General Morris, and made a literary reputation by contributing a series of sketches to its columns. These were in a happy vein of humor and criticism, in a style of ease and simplicity, satirizing the literary infirmities of the times, hitting off popular actors-the writer being a genuine member of the old Park Pitand discussing various pleasantries of the author's own. The essays pleased men of taste and good sense. One of them, in particular, a sketch of the old city constable Jacob Hays, "written during an awful prevalence of biographies," gained great celebrity at the time. Mr. Cox having reviewed the Miscellanies of Sands in the Mirror, Mr. Gulian C. Verplanck, in his life of that author, thus acknowledged the compliment :-"This was William Cox, who shortly after became a regular contributor to American periodical literature, nd has since gained an enviable literary reputationing, that the honorable the corporation, during their by his Crayon Sketches, a series of essays full of originality, pleasantry, and wit, alternately reminding the reader of the poetical eloquence of Hazlitt, and the quaint humor and eccentric tastes of Charles Lamb."

Mr. Cox, after writing for a number of years for the Mirror, returned to England. His circumstances, we believe, were prosperous. He occasionally sent a genial letter in his old style to his friend Morris's Home Journal, where his acquaintances one day, we think in 1851, were pained to read his obituary.

BIOGRAPHY OF JACOB HAYS.
He is a man, take him for all in all

We shall not look upon his like again.
SHAKESPEARE.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to your acquaintance, Baron Nabem, a person who has a very taking way with him.-Tom and Jerry.

Perhaps there is no species of composition so generally interesting and truly delightful as minute and indiscriminate biography, and it is pleasant to perceive how this taste is gradually increasing. The time is apparently not far distant when every man will be found busy writing the life of his neighbor, and expect to have his own written in return, interspersed with original anecdotes, extracts from epistolary correspondence, the exact hours at

Where the subject of the present memoir was born, can be but of little consequence; who were his father and mother, of still less; and how he was bred and educated, of none at all. I shall therefore pass over this division of his existence in eloquent silence, and come at once to the period when he attained the acmé of constabulatory power and dignity by being created high constable of this city and its suburbs; and it may be remarked, in pass

long and unsatisfactory career, never made an appointment more creditable to themselves, more beneficial to the city, more honorable to the country at large, more imposing in the eye of foreign nations, more disagreeable to all rogues, nor more gratifying to honest men, than that of the gentleman whom we are biographizing, to the high office he now holds. His acuteness and vigilance have become proverbial; and there is not a misdeed committed by any member of this community, but he is speedily admonished that he will "have old Hays [as he is affectionately and familiarly termed] after him." Indeed, it is supposed by many that he is gifted with supernatural attributes, and can see things that are hid from mortal ken; or how, it is contended, is it possible that he should, as he does,

Bring forth the secret'st man of blood? That he can discover " undivulged crime"-that when a store has been robbed, he, without step or hesitation, can march directly to the house where the goods are concealed, and say, "these are they" -or, when a gentleman's pocket has been picked, that, from a crowd of unsavory miscreants he can, with unerring judgment, lay his hand upon one and exclaim you're wanted!"—or, how is it that he is gifted with that strange principle of ubiquity that makes him "here, and there, and everywhere"

The New York Mirror.

at the same moment? No matter how, so long as the public reap the benefit; and well may that public apostrophize him in the words of the poet:

Long may he live! our city's pride!

Where lives the rogue, but flies before him!
With trusty crabstick by his side,

And staff of office waving o'er him.

But it is principally as a literary man that we would speak of Mr. Hays. True, his poetry is "unwritten," as is also his prose; and he has invariably expressed a decided contempt for philosophy, music, rhetoric, the belles lettres, the fine arts, and in fact all species of composition excepting bailiffs' warrants and bills of indictment-but what of that? The constitution of his mind is, even unknown to

himself, decidedly poetical. And here I may be allowed to avail myself of another peculiarity of modern biography, namely, that of describing a man by what he is not. Mr. Hays has not the graphic power or antiquarian lore of Sir Walter Scott-nor the glittering imagery or voluptuous tenderness of Moore-nor the delicacy and polish of Rogers-nor the spirit of Campbell-nor the sentimentalism of Miss Landon-nor the depth and purity of thought and intimate acquaintance with nature of Bryant-nor the brilliant style and playful humor of Halleck-no, he is more in the petit larceny manner of Crabbe, with a slight touch of Byronic power and gloom. He is familiarly acquainted with all those interesting scenes of vice and poverty so fondly dwelt upon by that reverend chronicler of little villany, and if ever he can be prevailed upon to publish, there will doubtless be found a remarkable similarity in their works. His height is about five feet seven inches, but who makes his clothes we have as yet been unable to ascertain. His countenance is strongly marked, and forcibly brings to mind the lines of Byron when describing his Corsair:

There was a laughing devil in his sneer

That raised emotions both of hate and fear;
And where his glance of apprehension" fell,
Hope withering fled, and mercy sighed, farewell!

Yet with all his great qualities, it is to be doubted whether he is much to be envied. His situation certainly has its disadvantages. Pure and blameless as his life is, his society is not courted-no man boasts of his friendship, and few indeed like even to own him for an intimate acquaintance. Wherever he goes his slightest action is watched and criticized; and if he happen carelessly to lay his hand upon a gentleman's shoulder and whisper something in his ear, even that man, as if there were contamination in his touch, is seldom or never seen afterwards in decent society. Such things cannot fail to prey upon his feelings. But when did ever greatness exist without some penalty attached to it?

The first time that ever Hays was pointed out to me, was one summer afternoon, when acting in his official capacity in the city hall. The room was crowded in every part, and as he entered with a luckless wretch in his gripe, a low suppressed murmur ran through the hall, as if some superior being had alighted in the midst of them. He placed the prisoner at the bar-a poor coatless individual, with scarcely any edging and no roof to his hat-to stand his trial for bigamy, and then, in a loud, authoritative tone, called out for silence," and there was silence. Again he spoke-" hats off there!" and the multitude became uncovered; after which he took his handkerchief out of his left-hand coat pocket, wiped his face, put it back again, looked sternly around, and then sat down. The scene was awful and impressive; but the odor was

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disagreeable in consequence of the heat acting upon a large quantity of animal matter congregated together. My olfactory organs were always lamentably acute: I was obliged to retire, and from thattime to this, I have seen nothing, though I have heard much of the subject of this brief and imperfect, but, I trust, honest and impartial memoir.

Health and happiness be with thee, thou prince of constables-thou guardian of innocence-thou terror of evil-doers and little boys! May thy years be many and thy sorrows few-may thy life be like a long and cloudless summer's day, and may thy salary be increased! And when at last the summons comes from which there is no escapingwhen the warrant arrives upon which no bail can be put in-when thou thyself, that hast "wanted" so many, art in turn "wanted and must go," Mayst thou fall

Into the grave as softly as the leaves

Of the sweet roses on an autumn eve.
Beneath the small sighs of the western wind,
Drop to the earth!

JOHN INMAN.

JOHN INMAN, for many years a prominent member of the New York press, as one of the editors of the Commercial Advertiser, was born at Utica, New York, in 1805. He was a brother of Henry Imman, the celebrated portrait painter.

Mr. Inman's progress in life was mainly due to his own exertions, his early advantages of education or influence having been slight. In 1823 he removed to North Carolina, where he remained for two years in charge of a school. The following twelve months were more agreeably occupied by a tour in Europe, earned by his previous toil. On his return he applied himself to the practice of the law, but in 1828 relinquished the profession and became an editor of the Standard, a New York newspaper. In 1830 he left this journal to connect himself with the Mirror.

In 1833 Mr. Inman married Miss Fisher, a sister of Miss Clara Fisher, Mrs. Vernon, and Mr. John Fisher, three of the best comedians of the Old Park" stock company. In the same year he became an assistant to Colonel Stone in the editorship of the Commercial Advertiser. On the death of Colonel Stone in 1844, he succeeded to the chief charge of the journal, a position which he retained until incapacitated by his last illness from performing its duties.

Mr. Inman was also the editor for some years of the Columbian Magazine and of several volumes of selections, and a contributor to the New York Review, the Spirit of the Times, and several of the popular magazines, where his tales, and sketches, and occasional poems, were received with favor. His versatility as a writer may be estimated from the fact, that on one occasion he wrote an entire number of the Columbian Magazine when under his charge. He died on the 30th of March, 1850.

THOUGHTS AT THE GRAVE OF A DEPARTED FRIEND.

Loved, lost one, fare thee well-too harsh the doom
That called thee thus in opening life away;
Tears fall for thee; and at thy early tomb,
I come at each return of this blest day,
When evening hovers near, with solemn gloom,
The pious debt of sorrowing thought to pay,
For thee, blest spirit, whose loved form alone
Here mouldering sleeps, beneath this simple stone.

.

But memory claims thee still; and slumber brings Thy form before me as in life it came; Affection conquers death, and fondly clings

Unto the past, and thee, and thy loved name; And hours glide swiftly by on noiseless wings, While sad discourses of thy loss I frame, With her the friend of thy most tranquil years, Who mourns for thee with grief too deep for tears. Sunday Evening.

HORATIO GREENOUGH.

HORATIO GREENOUGH, the first of the eminent sculptors of the country, and a refined and vigorous prose writer, was born at Boston, September 6, 1805. Like most artists, he early manifested a taste for his future calling.

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Having," says his biographer, Mr. Tuckerman, "a decided sense of form, a love of imitating it, and a mechanical aptitude which kept his knife, pencil, and scissors continually active, he employed hours in carving, drawing, and moulding toys, faces, and weapons, by way of amusing himself and his comrades. I have seen a head evidently taken from an old Roman coin, executed upon a bit of compact plaster about the size of a penny, admirably cut by Greenough with a penknife and common nail, while a schoolboy, seated upon the door-step of one of his neighbors. The lady who observed this achievement, preserved the little medal with religious care; and was the first to give the young sculptor a commission. It was for her that he executed the beautiful ideal bust of the Genius of Love. This propensity soon took a higher range. It was encouraged by the mechanies and professional men around him, whose good-will his agreeable manners and obvious genius propitiated. One kind artisan taught him the use of fine tools; a stone-cutter, of more than ordinary taste, instructed him to wield a chisel; benevolent librarians allowed him the use of plates, casts, and manuals, a physician gave him access to anatomical designs and illustrations; and Binon, a French artist, known by his bust of John Adams in Faneuil Hall, Boston, encouraged him to model at his side. Thus, as a mere schoolboy, did Greenough glean the rudiments of an artistic education without formal initiation. With eclectic wisdom he sought and found the aid he required, while exploring the streets of his native town; one day he might be seen poring over a folio, or contemplating a plaster copy of a famous statue; and, on another, exercising his mechanical ingenuity at the office of Solomon Willard, whose family name yet stamps, with traditional value, many an old dial-plate in New England; now he eagerly watches Alpheus Cary as he puts the finishing touch to a cherub's head on a tombstone; and, again, he stands a respectful devotee before Shaw or Coggswell, waiting for some treasured volume on the process or the results of his favorite art, from the shelves of Harvard and the Athenæum. Some of his juvenile triumphs are still remembered by his playmates-especially a pistol ornamented with relievo flowers in lead, a series of carriages moulded in bee's-wax, scores of wooden daggers tastefully carved, a lion couchant, modelled with a spoon from a pound of butter, to astonish his mother's guests at tea, elaborate cardpaper plans for estates, and, as a climax to these childish yet graceful experiments, a little figure of Penu cut in chalk from an engraving of his statue in the Port-Folio."

At the age of sixteen he entered Harvard College. During his course at this institution he enjoyed the society of Washington Allston, an asVOL. II.-27

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sociation from which he derived advantages which he always acknowledged with enthusiasm. Years after, when his reputation had been long established, he replied to an application for biographical information respecting his career, A note to Allston's life might tell all of me that is essential." Towards the close of his senior year Greenough sailed for Marseilles, and from thence to Rome, where he devoted himself so unremittingly to the prosecution of his art that he became, under the influence of malaria, so prostrated as to be forced to return home. The sea voyage restored him to health, and after a few months he returned to Italy, and established himself in Florence. Here he remained for some time without obtaining any adequate recognition of his powers, until he received from the novelist Cooper an order for the Chaunting Cherubs," a work suggested by a portion of a painting by Raphael. 66 Fenimore Cooper," the artist remarked several years after, "saved me from despair after my return to Italy. He employed me as I wished to be employed; and up to this moment has been as a father to

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It was in part owing to Cooper's exertions that Greenough obtained the order from Congress for his colossal Washington. On the completion of this work he returned home to superintend its erection.

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In 1851 he again returned to the United States on a similar errand connected with his group of the Rescue, a work commemorative of the period of conflict with the Indian tribes in our history, and executed by order of Congress. Disgust with the change wrought in Florence by the reaction from the liberal triumphs of 1848, consigning the city to the despotism of military rule, and a desire to pursue his profession in his own country, furnished additional motives for the change. The transition from the quiet of an Italian studio to the activity of an American resident, desirous of taking his full share in the discussion of the agitated topics of the day, was one which excited as well as pleased him. He established himself at Newport, where he proposed to devote himself to his art; but this and other anticipations of usefulness and happiness were suddenly interrupted by an attack of brain fever, during the progress of which the patient was removed to the neighborhood of Boston, but without beneficial effect, his disease arriving at a speedy and fatal termination on the 18th of December, 1852.

A Memorial of Horatio Greenough, published in 1853, contains the only collection which has been made of his writings. These comprise a series of papers on the public works of the capitol city with the title of Esthetics at Washington, essays on Social Theories, American Art and Architecture, on Beauty, a plan for the proposed Cooper monument, a scheme in which the writer took a deep interest, a defence of Trumbull's Declaration of Independence from the famous slur of Randolph, and a number of fragmentary remarks on various topics suggested by the study of nature

and art. He also planned a course of lectures on Art, two of which were completed and delivered.

THE DESECRATION OF THE FLAG.

An American citizen, standing here upon the pavement of the principal avenue of the Metropolis, sees five ensigns of the United States flying within sight of each other. Two of these flags float over the halls of Congress, and announce a session of both branches of the legislature; a third adorns the roof of an omnibus as a gala decoration; a fourth appears on the roof-tree of a new hotel as a sign, or perhaps puff extraordinary; a fifth marks the site of an engine-house. I cannot but think that several of these flags are misplaced. Their use at the Capitol has always struck my eye as appropriate and beautiful. The other instances of their appearance which I have mentioned seem an abuse, a desecration of the national symbol of Union.

There is always a tendency in every community to seize upon and make use of that which is public, or of general influence and widely recognised significance. The same holy symbol which surmounts the cupola of all Roman Catholic cathedrals, is made in Italy to answer the end which in England is effected by a bit of board, bearing the words "commit no nuisance." When the position which it is desired to protect is particularly exposed, the cross is repeated ten, twenty, fifty times, and is even reinforced by verses in honor of saints, martyrs, and the Holy Virgin. A foreigner is much shocked by such a practice. The natives smile at his squeamishnessthey are used to it; yet they all quote "nec Deus intersit, etc.," readily enough upon other occasions.

It is very clear that the national flag, however some persons may smile at the assertion, has a deep and noble significance, one which we should hold sacred and do nothing to impair. Were it a mere "bit of bunting," as the British Foreign Secretary thoughtlessly or artfully styled it, why should we see it universally paraded?

I believe no one will deny that the colors of the Union hoisted at the dockyards and arsenals assert the national possession that they proclaim the nationality of our merchant ships in foreign parts, and sanction the display of our naval power. These and the like occasions call for them, and their appearance has a value and expression of a peculiar kind. Is it doubtful that the dragging them through the streets by whosoever chooses so to do, the parading them upon taverns, and raree-shows, and other like trivial occasions, tends to degrade and weaken their special meaning and value? I may be told that the abuse, if such it be, is rather within the region of taste than of legal observance. I regret that it is 80, because the whole matter has assumed its present aspect, because it is "nobody's business" to interfere. It is merely as a question of taste that I speak of it, and as such, I believe that a little reflection will show, that accustomed as we are to see the flag hung out 66 a-propos de bottes," and sometimes hanging downwards too, so as almost to touch the heads of the horses as they pass, our indifference to the desecration is merely a measure of use and wont, and analogous, though not equal, to the obtuseness of the Catholic, who uses the cross of the Redeemer in lieu of a by-law or police regulation.

I have heard the right of each citizen to use the national flag stoutly maintained. I cannot see why the consular seal, or the gardens of the White House, are not equally at his mercy. There is another argument which may be called the argumentum ad Buncombe, and which might easily be resorted to to defend this and the like abuses, viz., That it is peculiarly American and democratic. The English

long asserted a right to be coarse and uncourteous as a proof of sincerity and frankness. John Bull, they contended, was too honest to be civil. There is much nonsense of this sort in the old books. Excessive beer-drinking and other gluttonies were upheld as having some mysterious virtue in them. Sailors used to swear and blaspheme in a similar way. It was expected of them, and required no apology. When such notions yielded, as they must, to reflection and cultivation, it was seen at once that they had been only abuses or barbarisms ingeniously hitched on to other qualities, and identified with self-love.

JOHN R. BARTLETT.

JOHN R. BARTLETT was born at Providence, R. I., October 23, 1805, of an old Massachusetts family. He was educated at schools in Kingston and Montreal, in Canada, and at Lowville academy in the state of New York. On leaving school he was sent to Providence, his native place, and engaged as clerk in a mercantile house. Soon after coming of age he entered the banking house of the late Cyrus Butler at that place, as book-keeper, and, after being three years with him, was appointed cashier of the Globe Bank in Providence, which situation he held for six years. He took a liberal interest in the promotion of knowledge, being one of the original projectors of the Providence Athenæum, now one of the best public libraries, in proportion to the number of its volumes, in the country. He was also an active member of the Franklin Society of Rhode Island, an association for the cultivation of science, before which he occasionally lectured. The close confinement of the bank, and the occupation of several hours a day in study, wore upon his health, and he withdrew with his family to New York in 1837, to enter a large commission house in the city, engaged in the sale of American manufactures. The business, in the commercial difficulties of the times, was unsuccessful, and Mr. Bartlett turned to another pursuit adapted to his literary inclinations. He left Pine street for Broadway, where, in conjunction with Mr. Charles Welford, he established a book store for the importation and sale of choice English and foreign works. It soon became the daily resort of literary men of the city, and of scholars, on their visits to town, from all parts of the country. On all topics of research in American history, or the wide field of ethnology, or English classic literature, Mr. Bartlett, and his accomplished, well read partner, were unfailing authorities. Before the days of the Astor library, there was no better resort for literary information in the city than the well furnished bookstore at No. 7 Astor House.

The literary associations of Mr. Bartlett at this time were much extended and enhanced by his active participation in the management of the New York Historical Society, of which he was for several years the corresponding secretary. He was also the projector, with Mr. Gallatin, of the American Ethnological Society, the first meeting of which was held at his house. Among its original members were the Rev. Drs. Hawks and Robinson, Mr. Catherwood, Mr. Schoolcraft, and the late John L. Stephens. The meetings of the society for several years were held at his residence, and at that of Mr. Gallatin. The doors were widely opened at Mr. Bartlett's, after the

business of the evening had been disposed of, and his rooms saw a frequent gathering of the intelligence of the city, and of its numerous cultivated strangers and travellers from abroad. In 1848 Mr. Bartlett read before the New York Historical Society a series of Reminiscences of Albert Gallatin, with anecdotes of his conversations, which were published in the society's Proceedings for that year.

In 1849 he retired from the book business to Providence, and the next year was appointed by President Taylor commissioner to run the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The commission, which was the largest and most important ever sent out by the government for a similar purpose, was organized by him, and six weeks after his appointment he sailed from New York for the coast of Texas to enter upon his duties. He remained in the field until January, 1853, during which time he crossed the continent to California, and after various journeys there, recrossed by another route, making extensive surveys and explorations by the way. The whole of the extensive line of boundary was nearly com pleted by him when he was compelled to suspend operations and return to Washington. Certain gross errors existing in the map, which he was compelled by the treaty as well as his instructions to follow, led to the fixing of a boundary which gave dissatisfaction to the opponents of Mr. Fillmore's administration. Being in the majority in Congress, they appended a proviso to the appropriation for carrying on the survey, to the effect, that if the boundary was not fixed in a certain place, which in their opinion was the correct one, the money appropriated should not be used. Cut off from the means to carry on and complete the small portion which remained to be surveyed, Mr. Bartlett was driven to the necessity of suspending all operations when at Ringgold Barracks, near Camargo, on the Rio Grande, and of returning home. He was sustained by his old Whig friends, and removed by President Pierce.

The various surveys performed by his orders, while in the field, were not less than twenty-five hundred miles in extent; all of which were accompanied by elaborate astronomical, magnetic, and meteorological observations, executed by the officers of the expedition.

In 1854 Mr. Bartlett published his Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Teras, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, connected with the United States and Mericin Boundary Commission during the years 185-53. It is written with care and exactness, and derives its interest both from the simple, full, and accurate method of the narrator, and the novelty of the scenes which came under his view. In addition to these inherent qualities, the book appeared in a dress of unusual typographical excellence. The lithographic and woodcut illustrations from original designs by Mr. Henry C. Pratt, an artist who accompanied Mr. Bartlett, are numerous and well presented.*

We may refer for further papers of Mr. Bartlett on the subject, to the "Official Despatches and Correspondence connected with the United States and Mexican Boundary Com

In 1847 Mr. Bartlett published a small work on The Progress of Ethnology, and the next year in an octavo volume, A Dictionary of Americanisms; A Glossary of Words and Phrases usUally regarded as peculiar to the United States. This work is now out of print, and Mr. Bartlett is preparing a new enlarged and revised edition. He has also the materials for a proposed work on The Ethnology of the Indian Tribes in the States contiguous to the Mexican Boundary.

JOHN LLOYD STEPHENS,

THE original explorer of the Antiquities of Central County, New Jersey, Nov. 28, 1805. His father America, was born at Shrewsbury, Monmouth and mother were both natives of New Jersey. He was educated in New York, being prepared for Columbia College, which he entered at thirteen, by the celebrated blind teacher, Mr. Nelson. On the completion of his course he studied law with Daniel Lord, and subsequently entered the iaw school of Judge Gould at Litchfield, finally completing his studies with George W. Strong in New York. He early made a tour to a relative residing at Arkan-as, then a journey of some adventure, and on his return descended the Mississippi to New Orleans in a flat-boat. He practised law for eight years, and became the associate of the literary men and politicians of the day, frequently speaking in defence of Democratic measures in Tammany. An affection of the throat led to a European tour for his recovery. In 1834 he embarked for Havre, landed on the coast of England, made his way to France, thence to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Russia, returning by the way of Poland and Germany. From France he again set forth, through Marseilles to Egypt, and made the tour of the Nile as far as Thebes. He returned home in 1836. While abroad several of his letters from the Mediterranean had been published in his friend Hoffman's American Monthly Magazine. The success of these in their full, interesting personal narrative, encouraged the publication of his first book in 1837, the Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy Land, followed the next year by Incidents of Travel in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland. The success of these works, published by the Harpers, was remarkable. They were universally read and admired, and continue to be published in England and at home. The style was popular, rapid, easy, and energetic, communicating the zest and spirit of enjoyment of the traveller.

In 1839 a strong effort was made for his appointment, as agent of his state, New York, to Holland, for the Collection of the Colonial Records, but Whig opposition defeated his claims; when President Van Buren appointed him Special Ambassador to Central America to negotiate a treaty with that country. The story of his adventures was published on his return, in 1841, in his Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. Like his other works, it was at once successful. It contained an account of the distracted politics of the country, and above

mission" (Senate Doc. No. 119, 82d Congress, 1st Session), and "A Letter to the Hon. Alexander H. H. Stuart, Secretary of the Interior, in Defence of the Mexican Boundary Line" (Senate Doc. No. 6, Special Session, 1854).

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