SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Travels over the Table Lands and Corderillas of Mexico, during the years 1543 and 44 ; including a Description of California, the principal Cities and Mining Dis- tricts of that Republic, and the Biographies of Iturbide and Santa Anna. By Albert M. Gilliam, U. S. Consul to California. With Maps and Plates.

ROMANCE OF HISTORY, Wiley and Putnam. Historical Pictures of the Middle Ages, in Black and White; made on the spot by k Wandering Artist. In two volumes Longman and CIS.

MEDICAL STATISTICS,

Clinical Illustrations of the Diseases of India; as exhibited in the Medical History of a Body of European Soldiers, for a series of years from their arrival in that country. By William Geddes, M.D., &c. Be.,and late Surgeon of the Madras European Regiment Smith, Elder, and Co.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY,

The Lifc of a Negro Slave. Reidited by Mrs. Alfred Bernard.

Hamilton and Adams, London; Husked, Norteith.

CONSUL GILLIAM'S TRAVELS IN MEXICO.

As a book of travels this volume is of very slender value. Of new in- formation—knowledge that we meet with for the first time—there is none. Beyond a visit to a mine or two, and an occasional observation on nature or manners, which, singular in themselves, retain some in- terest in description, the book is devoid of those sketches of things which strike if they do not teach. The mind of the Consul seems too little trained or instructed to delineate character—he is as vague and empty as a Fourth of July orator. Excepting a journey of continued terrors, originating, we fancy, in his own ignorance, and suspicion of his inter- preter, there is little of the usual incident that travellers encounter in half-civilized countries; nor has Mr. Gilliam any one gift of nature or acquirement of study that would enable him to select subjects for observation and to paint what he had seen. Yet is the book a very cu- rious book, both for what it shows and what it intimates. Narrow and self-sufficient as is the " U. S. Consul to California," his publication throws a light upon the American system of Government patronage, as true as testimony and as broad as fiction. Did the reader ever see Liston as a genuine Cockney suddenly exalted by the accidents of stage-life to a public position of importance ? If he did, he has already an idea of Consul Gilliam's adventures and reflections in Mexico : for the system of pure equality, and the universal corruption of Government patronage, seem to render those sudden exaltations a thing of actual occurrence in the States, which in the more settled system of European life are limited to the " boards." No doubt, the American has a wider geographical and political range than the low Londoner, with more of reading in common compendiums, got up for the " free and enlightened"; but, being totally devoid of sound learning or the observa- tion which impregnates it with life, his " large discourse" is quite as ludi- crous as the Cockney's. These traits give a character to the narrative of

the Consul. "Mortimer, lord of this city," never pronounced upon every question that came before him with more off-hand decision than Mr. GIT ham ; and though the commonplace nature of much of his matter intro- duces a good deal of the dead flat into his book, he continually extracts amusement from unpromising-looking subjects. The most cunous point in the U. S. Consul to 'California, however, was his want of the tongues. He did not even know French, beyond the negative to " parkz vous

Francais" and though he bought a book of Spanish dialogues, he could make small use of it—perhaps the pronunciation stood in his way. From Vera Cruz to Mexico this was of little consequence, because some of the passengers in the diligence could speak English. In the long and really difficult if not dangerous journey along the Corderillas or table land to

Caneles, near the confines of California, and thence in part across the

country back to Tampico on the Gulf of Mexico, Mr. Gilliam was in fre- quent trouble. From Mexico to Lagos, indeed, he fared pretty well. A goodnatured Mexican was in the diligence, who, finding that the com- mercial diplomatist was without the Spanish, undertook to settle all as far as he went ; and, among other attentions, he seems to have introduced the Consul to a house of very equivocal character, at a place called Guanajuato. At Lagos diligence• travelling stopped ; the friendly Mexican had departed; and the worthy Consul was at the end both of his tongue and his wit, when an American arrived, whom he asked to join him as a companion, " calculating," we fancy, to get his interpretation gratis. The Yankee, however, was not to be done by the Virginian. By vocation he appears to have been one of Sam Slick's clockmakers; and, under the pretence of making preparations for the journey, he kept the Consul a fortnight in Zacatecas, whilst he was selling his goods,—ending by try. ing to cheat him out of two hundred dollars, and finally accomp sixty. He subsequently engaged the other American, whom he sus of a conspiracy to rob and murder, though we think on slender grounds ; and whom he sets down as a refugee from justice, though on no other evidence than that he was an unbeliever. It would be long to write at large an account of all the dilemmas in which the Consul was involved by his want of the languages ; but here is a sample of one, when he had lost himself in Frisnillo.

THE DIPLOMATIST IN " A FIX."

Upon my leaving the mine, I discovered that my servant had not waited for

me, and that I should have to find my way alone to the meson in the heart of the city; which I had no doubt that I could easily do. I returned by the same streets as I imagined I came, until at length I could not remember where I was. I hast- ened from street to street, with the hope of coming to the well-known big door of my meson; but none that I beheld was the one looked for. The sun was setting; and I trembled at the thought of finding myself lost in the town of Frisnillo at night. Although I felt a confusion at the idea of confessing my condition to any one and had some apprehensions of consequences in letting my bewildered situation be known, I resolved to speak to a Mexican who was standing in the street. I ae- cordingly said to him, Tray game diligencia meson": the man gave me a pier- cing look, and commenced making a long speech in Spanish, whioh I silenced by repeatedly saying, " No intendi, Senor." He, with much surprise, again stared at me, then turned upon his heels and walked off. I was surprised at his behaviour, for I thought I had asked him in good Spanish to carry me to the diligencia meson; but what the more surprised me was, that I showed the rascal a rial, which in all conscience would have paid him well for his trouble. I ed but a little way before I met two well-dressed young men, who had mu the appearance of foreigners; and I determined to accost them in plain Eng- lish, but they shook their heads. At length one of them replied by the interro- gation, " Parley vous Francais? " and, with more mortification than ever, I had 'to give the negative answer. I then endeavotired by signs to make the gentle- men understand me; and repeating often the name of the house I wished to find, One of them took me by the arm, and safely delivered me at the meson. My troubles were not at an end then; for I was so much distressed that I could not find my room; and not only were my servants wanting, but not a living soul could I behold upon the premises. I had to wait at least one hour before Marco- lino, my principal man, arrived. He appeared to be as big a fool as myself; for I 'could not make him understand that I wished to be shown to my room. At last the thought occurred to me to say carters; and with hastened delight he left me, And in a few moments returned, bearing my outspread cot upon his head. With much difficulty I turned him about; and, following him to the apartments from whence he brought the carters, I found my lodgings and my baggage.

But if Mr. Gilliam is not much of a linguist, be makes up for it by his patriotism. Hear the Consul on annexation in general.

I am not alone satisfied with the annexation of Texas to the United States. It must be ostensible to all who will examine the map, that to complete the geo- graphical limits of the South-western portion of the Union, Upper California must also be annexed, first, for the reason that the United States territory of Oregon .covers so small an extent of the Pacific coast, that the American commerce will ultimately not have sea room; the only port in which the shipping of the United States can anchor upon her own bottom being at the mouth of the Columbia river, and that not a good harbourI as the loss of the Peacock, an American ship of war, can folly testify. "Some hesitating or fastidious reader, while debating in his mind the feasi- bility of such an undertaking, would, perhaps, exclaim to himself, Where is ambition or annexation to terminate? must all Mexico come in too?' I would reply, No: for all South of the Rio del Norte and the Californias, the country is too dry and divested of agricultural advantages to be desirable to the North American or the European. It is necessary for those races to live happily, that -the land should be cultivated, and that there should be water-power and fuel for the uses of machinery; and these are not to be found in Mexico, South of the boundaries above spoken of. • • "Notwithstanding I have had the presumption to affix a Southern boundary to the United States, yet I am far from saying that it should have a limit to the North; for I veritably believe that the finger of God, as it has been seen in all other history, is in it. So sanguine is my faith in the arrival of the period when the American flag shall mantle the whole of North America: not only the Canadas, but the whole of the British possessions on the continent must become annexed to the United States. If an individual will only cast his eyes upon the map, be will at once behold, that by a railroad connecting the head-waters of steam-boat navigation of the Mississappi river with the Hudson's Bay, the North Sea will have an internal connection and commerce with the grand whole! And thus it can be perceived, that while the United States would extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the star-spangled banner, instead of hovering over a few states, would triumphantly wave from ocean to ocean and from sea to sea !—May God speed the magnificent consummation !"

Upon the propriety of appointing a man to a Consular office who can- not even understand the language of the country to which he is deputed, it is unnecessary to remark; especially under the circumstances of Mexico and California. At the same time, we have our doubts whether Mr. Albert M. Gilliam was ever intended to fulfil the functions of Con- sul at all—whether, in fact, his appointment was not a barefaced job, by which President Tyler, or his agents, paid a partisan at the public expense. Mr. Gilliam's brother was really Consul at Montery, a sea- port on the Pacific, and died at Caneles, leading two sons, and some affairs unsettled ; and we suspect that Mr. Albert Gilliam was dubbed a Consul merely that he might receive his nephews and settle their father's affairs at the public expense. Some of our grounds for this suspicion are not tangible enough to be recapitulated; but, besides his obvious dis- qualification for the office, we cannot see that he ever reached his destina- tion of San Francisco, if indeed he can be said to have ever set foot in California; nor do we see that he ever attempted a public function, beyond putting on the Consular uniform when invited out to dinner, and :once to impress an impertinent Alcaid. He went to Caneles, took pos- session of his nephews, settled some business at some places in the neigh- bourhood, and immediately returned. At all events, the incorruptible Government is on the horns of a dilemma : either a man was appointed to an office he was incapable of discharging, or the appointment was a 'scandalous job.