Peter Parley's kaleidoscope, or, Parlor pleasure book : consisting of gleanings from many fields of the curious, the beautiful, and the wonderful

Preface

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S we have given a double, nay, a treble, title to our book, a preface might seem superfluous.

Nevertheless, we beg the Gentle Reader’s ear for a few words of suggestion and explanation.

The giving and receiving of presents has been an honored custom from the earliest periods of his¬ tory. The Queen of Sheba gave King Solomon “ a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones.” Haroun al Raschid sent Charlemagne a musical clock and the keys of the Holy Sepulchre. Al Mamoun showered a thousand princely pearls on the head of his bride. Montezuma gave Cortez stuffs of fine cotton, pictures in feathers, gold and silver plates representing the sun and moon, bracelets, and other costly things. Samoset, of the Wampanoags, and Gov. Carver, “ exchanged gifts ” at their first interview. Wo might fill volumes in recounting amenities of this kind, which have passed between the celebrities of history.

It is not astonishing that a custom so commended by high example, should pass into general practice, and obtain special favor from the good, and the gentle, and the graceful, inasmuch as it is enforced by good, and gentle, and graceful emotions in the human heart. To give is one of the pure gratifications of all generous souls; to re¬ ceive is agreeable even to souls that are not generous. And, beside this, a gift that, beyond its intrinsic value, is a token of respect, a sign of pleasant remembrance, a messenger of love or affection, comes twice blessed: blessed by him who bestows, and him who accepts.

4 PREFACE.

And then again, presents are still further graced by the times, and seasons, and occasions, upon which they come. It is upon holy days and holidays; on Christmas day and New Year’s day; on anniversaries; on wedding days and birth days; at times when the heart is hallowed by pious emotions, or gladdened by joyous associa¬ tions, or enlarged by patriotic sympathies, that these visit us; and thus they are angels, and not in disguise. Who refuses them admission ?

ICing3 and queens may have invented, but they could not engross a practice so genial. It has descended through every rank and grade of society. In our country, happily, there are none so poor as not to do it reverence. Even children — the blackeyed and blue-eyed readers of Peter Parley — wherever they may be found, in all countries, in all conditions, alike in the parlor and the kitchen, give and receive presents. Again I say it is a goodly custom. It rejoices the heart, it enlarges the circle of friend¬ ship, it increases the catalogue of good and gracious deeds, and, of course, of good and gracious remembrances.

And we have still another thing to add, which is, that of late years, books have become the great vehicle of fulfilling this kind and complimentary custom. They have taken the place, for this purpose, of gems and jewels with the sumptuous, gewgaws with the simple, toys and trinkets with the Boys and Girls. Gift Books are now among the established institutions of society. They are one of the necessities of a liberal, enlightened and refined public taste, and hence they are produced in every form and of every size, with every species of embellishment, every seduction of art, every attraction of subject. The highest genius, the great names in literature, the glories of art, the triumphs of Raphael, Shakespeare, Byron, Scott, Pope, Words¬ worth, and Moore ; the Bible and Prayer Book; the quaint rhymes of Herbert, and the inspired pages of Tennyson and Longfellow ; the love locks of Wyllis, and the deep, reverberating tones of Bryant ; these, and a thousand other things, of infinitely diversified form and substance, are rendered tributary to this new requisi¬ tion of the public mind.

Now, we venture to offer our Kaleidoscope as a candidate for favor, as a Gift Book for all seasons and all occasions. Moderate in price, the publishers still have been liberal in endowing it with fine paper, fair print, a comely covering. They have not spared their purse in providing the engravings ; and we, the author, have taken some pains to collect pleasant and striking things, from the wide circle of history, art, nature, and science, which may please and gratify its readers. It is our Present for all times and seasons, to all our friends, grave and gay, gentle and simple, black eyes and blue. We present it to the Fathers and Mothers, Boys and Girls, as such; but, desiring that it should be a gift worthy of receiving, and a book worth keeping, we have endeavored to make it a Cabinet of Curiosities, a Gallery of Won¬ ders, a Treasury of Anecdote, alike calculated to enlighten the mind, please the imagination, and soften the feelings.

If we mistake not, many of our sketches will be new to most readers, and espe¬ cially those which relate to the various endowments of the animal kingdom, which, to any reflecting mind, is an exhaustlcss theme of interest.