CHAP. XXXIX.] MR. GALLATIN ON INDIAN CORN. 255 



of this satire have not missed their aim, has been proved, among 

 other evidences, by its having been thought politic, even in En 

 gland, to circulate, chiefly, it is said, among the Irish Catholics, an 

 &quot; Adaptation of the Wandering Jew, from the original of Eugene 

 Sue.&quot; In this singular re-cast of the French romance, which I 

 have perused, the Russian police is every where substituted for 

 the Jesuits, and Rodin becomes the tool of the Czar, intriguing 

 in French politics, instead of the servant of the successor of Ig 

 natius Loyola. On the whole, I am inclined to believe that the 

 good preponderates over the evil, in the influence exerted on the 

 million, even by such a romance. It has a refining rather than 

 a corrupting effect, and may lead on to the study of works of a 

 more exalting character. The great step is gained, when the 

 powers of the imagination have been stimulated and the dormant 

 and apathetic mind awakened and lifted above the prosaic mono 

 tony of every-day life. 



May 9. Called with a letter of introduction on Mr. Gallatin, 

 well known by a long and distinguished career in political life. 

 As a diplomatist in London, he negotiated the original Oregon 

 treaty with Great Britain, and has now, at the age of eighty- 

 two, come out with several able and spirited pamphlets, to de 

 monstrate to his countrymen that their national honor would not 

 be compromised by accepting the terms offered by the British 

 Cabinet. Being at the same time an experienced financier, he 

 has told them plainly, if they will go to war, how much it will 

 cost them annually, and what taxes they should make up their 

 minds to submit to cheerfully, if they would carry on a campaign 

 with honor and spirit against such an enemy. 



In the course of conversation I found that Mr. Gallatin was 

 of opinion that the indigenous civilization of several Indian tribes, 

 and of the Mexicans and Peruvians among others, was mainly due 

 to the possession of a grain so productive, and, when dried in the sun, 

 so easily kept for many years, as the maize or Indian corn. The 

 potato, which, when healthy, can rarely be stored up and pre 

 served till the next harvest, may be said, on the contrary, to be a 

 food on which none but an improvident race would lean for sup 

 port. &quot; I have long been convinced,&quot; said Mr. Gallatin, &quot; that 



