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Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. A list of corrections
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hyphenation have been maintained. A list of inconsistently spelled
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have been expanded.
THE
HUMBUGS OF THE WORLD.
AN ACCOUNT OF HUMBUGS, DELUSIONS, IMPOSITIONS,
QUACKERIES, DECEITS AND DECEIVERS
GENERALLY, IN ALL AGES.
BY
P. T. BARNUM.
"Omne ignotum pro mirifico."--"Wonderful, because mysterious."
NEW YORK:
_CARLETON. PUBLISHER. 413 BROADWAY._
1866.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
G. W. CARLETON,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of
New York.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE.
One of Mr. Barnum's secrets of success is his unique methods of
advertising, and we can readily understand how he can bear to be
denounced as a "Humbug," because this popular designation though
undeserved in the popular acceptation of it, "brought grist to his
mill." He has constantly kept himself before the public--nay, we may say
that he has _been_ kept before the public constantly, by the stereotyped
word in question; and what right, or what desire, could he have to
discard or complain of an epithet which was one of the prospering
elements of his business as "a showman?" In a narrow sense of the word
he is a "Humbug:" in the larger acceptation he is _not_.
He has in several chapters of this book elaborated the distinction, and
we will only say in this place, what, indeed, no one who knows him will
doubt, that, aside from his qualities as a caterer to popular
entertainment, he is one of the most remarkable men of the age. As a
business man, of far-reaching vision and singular executive force, he
has for years been the life of Bridgeport, near which city he has long
resided, and last winter he achieved high rank in the Legislature of
Connecticut, as both an effective speaker and a patriot, having "no axe
to grind," and seeking only the public welfare. We, indeed, agree with
the editor of _The New York Independent_, who, in an article drawn out
by the burning of the American Museum, says: "Mr. Barnum's rare talent
as a speaker has always been exercised in behalf of good morals, and for
patriotic objects. No man has done better service in the temperance
cause by public lectures during the past ten years, both in America and
Great Britain, and during the war he was most efficient in stimulating
the spirit which resulted in the preservation of the Union, and the
destruction of Slavery."
We cannot forbear quoting two or three additional paragraphs from that
article, especially as they are so strongly expressive of the merits of
the case:
"Mr. Barnum's whole career has been a very transparent one. He has never
befooled the public to its injury, and, though his name has come to be
looked upon as a synonym for humbuggery, there never was a public man
who was less of one.
"The hearty good wishes of many good men, and the sympathies of the
community in which he has lived, go with him, and the public he has so
long amused, but never abused, will be ready to sustain him whenever he
makes another appeal to them. Mr. Barnum is a very good sort of
representative Yankee. When crowds of English traders and manufacturers
in Liverpool, Manchester, and London, flocked to hear his lectures on
the art of making money, they expected to hear from him some very smart
recipes for knavery; but they were as much astonished as they were
edified to learn that the only secret he had to tell them was to be
honest, and not to expect something for nothing."
We could fill many pages with quotations of corresponding tenor from the
leading and most influential men and journals in the land, but we will
close this publisher's note with the following from the _N. Y. Sun_.
"One of the happiest impromptu oratorical efforts that we have heard for
some time was that made by Barnum at the benefit performance given for
his employes on Friday afternoon. If a stranger wanted to satisfy
himself how the great showman had managed so to monopolize the ear and
eye of the public during his long career he could not have had a better
opportunity of doing so than by listening to this address. Every word,
though delivered with apparent carelessness, struck a key-note in the
hearts of his listeners. Simple, forcible, and touching, it showed how
thoroughly this extraordinary man comprehends the character of his
countrymen, and how easily he can play upon their feelings.
"Those who look upon Barnum as a mere charlatan, have really no
knowledge of him. It would be easy to demonstrate that the qualities
that have placed him in his present position of notoriety and affluence
would, in another pursuit, have raised him to far greater eminence. In
his breadth of views, his profound knowledge of mankind, his courage
under reverses, his indomitable perseverance, his ready eloquence, and
his admirable business tact, we recognise the elements that are
conducive to success in most other pursuits. More than almost any other
living man, Barnum may be said to be a representative type of the
American mind."
INTRODUCTION.
In the "Autobiography of P. T. Barnum," published in 1855, I partly
promised to write a book which should expose some of the chief humbugs
of the world. The invitation of my friends Messrs. Cauldwell and Whitney
of the "Weekly Mercury" caused me to furnish for that paper a series of
articles in which I very naturally took up the subject in question. This
book is a revision and re-arrangement of a portion of those articles. If
I should find that I have met a popular demand, I shall in due time put
forth a second volume. There is not the least danger of a dearth of
materials.
I once travelled through the Southern States in company with a magician.
The first day in each town, he astonished his auditors with his
deceptions. He then announced that on the following day he would show
how each trick was performed, and how every man might thus become his
own magician. That _expose_ spoiled the legerdemain market on that
particular route, for several years. So, if we could have a full
exposure of "the tricks of trade" of all sorts, of humbugs and deceivers
of past times, religious, political, financial, scientific, quackish and
so forth, we might perhaps look for a somewhat wiser generation to
follow us. I shall be well satisfied if I can do something towards so
good a purpose.
P. T. BARNUM.
CONTENTS.
I. PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
CHAPTER I.--GENERAL VIEW OF THE SUBJECT.--HUMBUG UNIVERSAL.--IN
RELIGION.--IN POLITICS.--IN BUSINESS.--IN SCIENCE.--IN
MEDICINE.--HOW IT IS TO CEASE.--THE GREATEST HUMBUG OF ALL. 11