ral, and without wit, science, or
learning. It is said in a book, which my critics did not seem to have
caught the spirit of--"Should not the multitude of words be answered,
and should a man fall if talk be justified? Should thy lies make men
hold their peace, and when thou mockest shall no man make thee ashamed?"
(Job xi. 2, 3.) My blood boiled. I could have accepted and approved
candid and learned and scientific criticism. I replied in the papers,
pointing out the gross illiberality of the attack, and tried to provoke
a discovery of the authors. But they were still as death; the mask that
had been assumed to shield envy, hypercriticism, and falsehood, there
was neither elevation of moral purpose, courage, nor honor, to
lay aside.

In the mean time, all my correspondents and friends sustained me. Men of
the highest standing in science and letters wrote to me. A friend of
high standing, in a note from Washington (Oct. 24th) congratulating me
on my recovery from the fever at Chicago, makes the following allusion
to this concealed and spiteful effort: "When in Albany I procured from
Mr. Webster copies of them (the pieces), with a view to say something in
the papers, had it been necessary. But, from their character and effect,
this would have been wholly unnecessary. They have fallen still-born
from the press."

Mr. Carter (Oct. 28th) says: "G. C. was at my room, and spoke of the
numbers with the utmost contempt, and thought they were not worth
noticing. The same opinion is entertained by everyone whom I have heard
speak on the subject. Chancellor Kent told me that your book is the most
interesting he has ever read, and that the attack on it amounts to
nothing. Others have paid it the same compliment, and I think your fame
is in no danger of being injured by the Trio."

Mr. Baldwin, a legal gentleman of high worth and standing, made the
following observations in one of the city papers, under the signature of
"Albanian":--

"True criticism is a liberal and humane art, and teaches no less to
point out and admire what is deserving of applause, than to detect and
expose blemishes and defects. If this be a correct definition of
criticism, and 'Trio' were capable of filling the office he has assumed,
I am of opinion that a different judgment would have been pronounced
upon Mr. Schoolcraft's book of travels; and that they would have been
justly eulogized, and held up for the perusal of every person at all
anxious about acqui