THE HEN FEVER. 49 



instance, the large picture of the fowls which I had" the 

 pleasure of sending to Her Majesty Queen Victoria (in 

 1852), and which appeared in Gleason's Pictorial, the New 

 York Spirit of the Times, New England Cultivator, &c., 

 cost me, for the original drawing, engraving, electrotyping, 

 and duplicating, eighty-three dollars. 



All these expenses were cheerfully paid, however, because 

 I found my reward in the consciousness that I performed 

 the duty I owed to my fellow-men, by thus aiding (in my 

 humble way) in disseminating the information which " the 

 people " were at that time so ravenously in search of, name- 

 ly, as to the person of whom they could obtain (without 

 regard to price) the best fowls in the country. 



This was what " the people " wanted ; and thus the mal- 

 ady extended far and wide, and when the fall of 1850 

 arrived, buyers had got to be as plenty as blackberries in 

 August, whilst sellers " of repuj;ation " were, like the visits 

 of angels, few and far between. I was, by this time, con- 

 sidered " one of 'em." I strove, however, to carry my 

 honors with Christian meekness and forbearance, and with 

 that becoming consideration for the wants and the wishes of 

 my fellow-men that rendered myself and my " purely-bred 

 stock " so universally popular. 



Ah ! when I look back on the past, — when I reflect upon 

 the noble generosity and disinterestedness that characterized 

 all my tranaactions at that flush period, — when I think of 

 5 



