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50 Fred Wilbur Powell, A. M.

seem he had not read before writing the first one. There is a running comment on the text, with sweeping denials of state- ments of fact and sarcastic flings at Kelley as one whose hallucination was "so strong as totally to obnubiate his facul- ties/'

"Mr. Kelley assures us that hfe is not mad, as has generally been supposed, and that he speaks what he believes to be the truth. Our opinion is hereby improved in two particulars, though we can only reconcile them by two suppositions, — that a man may repeat a tale of his own invention till he believes it to be true, — and that what is not truth to one man, may be truth to another. . ..

"We suppose that Mr. Kelley is to be governor of the new territory, or one of the head chiefs and beloved men, or at least, that he will be allowed to pocket as much of the before- mentioned stock as will remunerate him for his disinterested efforts in favor of the good people of New England, and natives of Oregon. . . . 'Falsehood flies half round the globe, while Truth is putting on her sandals.' The fallacies of Mr. Kelley have been received as truth, by the whole country, and there is reason to fear that interference may come too late."*^

The interference not only did not come too late ; it was not even necessary, for Kelley's project never had in it the germ of life. The date of departure was again postponed; this time to June 1, for congress still deferred action. Hostile criticism in the press continued and increased in bitterness.

"Such vile sayings as these, arid the reports of my wicked adversaries in high places, whose influence in the way of whisper spread like contagion over the length and breadth of the land, panic-struck my followers and turned them back, every one of them, and turned the few who had promised

20 W. J. S., Geographical Sketch of Oregon, New England Magasine, II, 320-6. Cf. memoirs of Wyeth and Kelley and the report of Slacum, all based upon per- sonal observation, in Committee on Foreign AfFairs, supplemental report, 6*22, 29*6 1. 25 cong. 3 sess. H. rep. loi.