80 REV. V. D. HUNTINGTON'S 



is the truth,— & narrative of what took place, generally, 

 for the time being, — as thousands well know, to their cost, 

 apd as they are likely long to remember. Had I invented 

 a series of lies and fraudulent transactions with which to 

 make out my " record," and held the picture up as a pic- 

 ture of the age, I admit that the book would have been 

 amenable to pulpit criticism, perhaps; though I should^ 

 even then, have done only what has been done by all the 

 " great masters " and little mistresses in fictitious literature 

 for centuries, and all of whose works Mr. H. must con- 

 demn, if his censure upon "Barnum and Burnham" be 

 correct. 



I write this illustratively, — to show to what the reverend 

 critic's views would lead if carried to their logical conse- 

 quences ; and I insist that a minister of the Gospel is 

 hardly warranted in saying anything in his pulpit which 

 will not bear the most rigid application. For a moment, 

 then, let us compare what Mr. Huntington assumes to say 

 with what has been said by other persons of equal character 

 for good judgment and piety with himself. He has charac- 

 terized this volume as "weak and vapid," of an unhealthy 

 tone and immoral influence, and claims that it "represents 

 the habit of selling goods under false pretences as no more 

 than a joke," &c. 



Now, we have the voluntarily-expressed opinions of more 

 than thirty religious journals, — publications of the very 

 best character, high-toned family papers, — which are just 

 the reverse of what Mr. H. assumes respecting the " His- 

 tory of the Hen Fever." These journals warmly commend 

 it, and, to quote their own words, it " abounds with prac- 



