University of Virginia Library

“This is a highly valuable production, replete with novelty and interest, and
adapted to gratify equally the historian, the philosopher, and the mechanician.
Mr. Ewbank's work can not be too widely circulated. It is an elegant `table-book,'
suitable to all persons. Hundreds of impressive biographical and historical
anecdotes, generally unknown, might be quoted as proofs of the multifarious
intelligence which Mr. Ewbank has amassed for the edification of those who
may study his richly-entertaining volume. We know not a compilation specifcally
designed to exhibit that mechanical philosophy which appertains to common,
domestic, and social life, with the public weal, to which the attention of
youth can be directed with equal amusement and beneficial illumination as to Mr.
Ewbank's acceptable disquisitions. Therefore we earnestly recommend his volume
to their study in preference to the perusal of those fantastic and pernicious
fictions which pervert the imagination and deteriorate the mind, and corrupt the
morals of the thoughless myriads who `feed on those ashes.'”

“Our great teachers and examples in the historical art are, doubtless, the
eminent historians of the Greek and Roman ages. In their several ways,
they are the masters to whom all succeeding times have looked for instruction
and improvement. They are the models which have stood the test of
time, and, like the glorious creations in marble of Grecian genius, have been
always admired and never surpassed.”

“We have our favorites in literature, as well as other things, and, I confess,
that, among the Grecian writers, my estimate of Herodotus is great. His evident
truthfulness, his singular simplicity of style, and his constant respect and veneration
for sacred and divine things, win my regard. It is true that he sometimes
appears credulous, which caused Aristotle to say of him, that he was a story-teller.
But, in respect to this, two things are to be remarked: the one is, that
he never avers as a fact that which rests on the accounts of others; the other is,
that all subsequent travels and discoveries have tended to confirm his fidelity.
From his great qualities as a writer, as well as from the age in which he lived,
he is justly denominated the “Father of History.” Herodotus was a conscientious
narrator of what he saw and heard. In his manner there is much of the
old epic style; indeed, his work may be considered as the connecting link between
the epic legend and political history; truthful, on the one hand, since it
was a genuine history; but, on the other, conceived and executed in the spirit of
poetry, and not the profounder spirit of political philosophy. It breathes a reverential
submission to the Divine will, and recognises distinctly the governing
hand of Providence in the affairs of men. * * He travelled to collect the materials
for his History—he made of them one whole, and laid one idea at the bottom,
with as much epic simplicity as Homer did in the Iliad.”

“Herodotus is styled the `Father of History,' because he was the first who
wrote general history, and the first to adorn it with the graces of eloquence. So
delightful and engaging is he in narrative, and such perfect simplicity is there in
his manner, that we fancy we see before our eyes a venerable old man, just returned
from his travels through distant countries, and, sitting down in his arm-chair,
relating without restraint all that he has seen and heard. His style seems
to have been formed by his native good taste, and by practice, rather than by the
rules of art; for at that period the writing of prose was not very common.
The text of this edition is printed very carefully and accurately, and in every
respect pains have been taken to make it the most acceptable for private and
public libraries, for schools, and for the mere readers for amusement.”

“In Thucydides, the art of History is further advanced, though he lived very
little later than Herodotus, and probably had read or heard his history, though
that is doubted.

“Thucydides did not, indeed, make one whole of his work, for he did not
survive the war whose history he undertook to relate; but he is less credulous
than Herodotus; he has no proper dialogue; he is more compact; he indulges
very little in episodes; he draws characters, and his speeches are more like formal,
stately discussions. And he says of them, they are such as he either heard
himself, or received from those who did hear them, and he states, that he gives
them in their true substance. There is nothing to create a doubt that personally
he heard the oration of Pericles.

“In short, Herodotus's work seems a natural, fresh production of the soil; that
of Thucydides belongs to a more advanced state of culture. Quinctilian says of
the former, In Herodoto omnia leniter fluunt, of the latter, Densus et brevis et semper
instans sibi.

“But, upon the whole, I am compelled to regard Thucydides as the greater
writer. Thucydides was equally truthful, but more conversant with the motives
and character of men in their political relations. He took infinite pains to make
himself thoroughly acquainted with transactions that occurred in his own day,
and which became the subject of his own narrative.

“It is said, even, that persons were employed by him to obtain information from
both the belligerent powers, for his use, while writing the history of the Peloponnesian
war.

“He was one of the most eminent citizens of the Athenian Republic, educated
under the institutions of Solon, and trained in all the political wisdom these institutions
had developed, in the two centuries since their establishment. A more
profound intellect never applied itself to historical investigation; a more clear-sighted
and impartial judge of human conduct, never dealt with the fortunes and
acts of political communities.

“The work of Herodotus is graphic, fluent, dramatic, and ethical in the highest
degree; but it is not the work of a free citizen of a free republic, personally experienced
in the conduct of its affairs. The history of the Peloponnesian war, on
the other hand, could only have been produced by a man who added to vast
genius deep personal insight into the workings of various public institutions.

“As Thucydides himself says, his history was written not for the entertainment
of the moment, but to be `a possession for ever.'”

“Thucydides possessed peculiar qualifications for the office of historian of the
Peloponnesian war, as he was a man of thorough cultivation, and an actor in
the scenes which he depicts; he devoted twenty seven years to the production
of this work, which he said should be `an eternal possession.' His style is concise,
vigorous, and significant and his history evinces the most conscientious
regard for truth and justice. His work stands alone, and, in its kind, has neither
equal nor rival. His pictures are frequently striking and tragic, from his severe
simplicity and minute particularity, as in the description of the plague at Athens,
and in the incomparable account of the Athenian expedition into Sicily and its
melancholy termination. When we consider how much his investigations must
have cost him, we can not help admiring the self-denial with which he is content
to give us their results, in naked brevity, without ornament, and witheut parade
of his personal importance. The translation of Dr. Smith is admitted by judicious
critics to be decidedly the best, in artistic execution and in those qualities desirable
in such a performance, that has been made.”

“Cæsar, one of the most distinguished of all great men, wrote accounts of
what he had done, or what related directly to himself. The clearness, purity and
precision of his style are as characteristic of him as any of his great achievements.”

“Of the Roman writers, my preference is strongly for Sallust. I admire his
reach of thought, his clearness of style, as well as his accuracy of narration. He
is sufficiently concise; he is sententious without being meager or obscure, and
his power of personal and individual description is remarkable. There are,
indeed, in his style, some roughnesses belonging to the Roman tongue at an earlier
age, but they seem to strengthen the structure of his sentences, without
especially injuring their beauty. No character drawing can well exceed his
delineation of Catiline, his account of Jugurtha, or his parallel between Cæsar
and Cato.”

“All possible care has been taken to render this edition of Cæsar's Commentaries
exact, and to preserve the distinctness and perspicuity of expression for
which the original is so justly famous. The discourse concerning the military
customs of the ancient Romans contains much that is curious and most interesting
in relation to the art of War. Besides the seven books of the Gallic War, and
the three of the Civil, written by Cæsar himself, the Supplements of A. Hirtius
Pansa are inserted, consisting of an additional book to the Gallic War, and three
books of the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish Wars; with an Ancient and
Modern Geographical Index; to which is appended Sallust's History of the Conpiracy
of Catiline and the Jugurthine War. The Life of Cæsar, by Professor
Schmitz, is a valuable addition to the work.”

“There is an epic completeness in his [Livy's] great work. His style is rich
and flowing, his descriptions excellent; and, indeed, there is a nobleness and
grandeur about his whole work, well fitted to his magnificent purpose in writing
it.”

“There are many reasons for regarding Livy as the greatest of the ancient
historians. His style may be pronounced almost faultless; and a great proof of
its excellence is, that the charms with which it is invested are so little salient and
so equally diffused, that all the parts in their proportion seem to unite to produce
a form of the rarest beauty and grace. The charms of his manner and
spirit, the truth of his statements, and the justness of his views, will for ever
preserve his work among the most delightful and most valuable products of
genius and intellectual toil. The translation by Baker is decidedly the best ever
made into English. It preserves much of the tone, and is singularly faithful to
the sense, of the illustrious Roman. The notes, and other illustrations which are
added, embrace whatever useful learning has been contributed by scholars for
the best appreciation of the author and his subject.”

“It is a clear, impartial narrative; succinct, without injurious brevity, and dispassionate
without descending to unanimated tameness. As a history of the
events which it professes peculiarly to treat, it has no superior, and may justly be
characterized as one of the most valuable records that ever issued from the
press.”

“This work has been translated into several modern languages, and has been
justly described as one which not only delights by the clearness of its narrative
and the boldness of its descriptions, but instructs and animates by profound
and masterly delineations of character, as well as by the philosophical precision
with which it traces the connection of events. It is written in that tone of high-minded
enthusiasm which, if it can only snatch from oblivion whatever is noble
and generous in the record of human actions, regards the graces of style as objects
merely of secondary account, and is chiefly studious of impressing the lessons
of wisdom which may be gathered from the survey of distant ages.”

“Dr. Lardner has in these Lectures been peculiarly happy in communicating
information in clear and perspicuous language, and by the aid of familiar illustrations
presented his subjects in a manner both attractive and easily comprehended.”

“I shall take great pleasure in communicating my official recommendation of
these invaluable Lectures to every board of officers charged with the purchase
of township and school-district libraries through the state. I hope they may
reach, not only every town and school district of this state, but that they may be
extensively circulated and read throughout our wide-spread country.”

“I could wish that they were found in every school-library, to which their scientific
accuracy and numerous moral reflections upon the wonderful works of
God should be esteemed no small commendation. But they should be found too
in every workshop in the land; for science and art are here exhibited in their
true relations; and the working-men of our country would find here both entertainment
and instruction, calculated to improve alike their intellects and their
morals.”

“This work ought to be in in the hands of every young mechanic in the land,
as well as of the astronomer and man of science—as mechanics and mechanism
occupy a large space.”

“We consider these Lectures among the most valuable reading that has ever
been offered to the American public.”

“In the prose literature of the English language it will be admitted, by all
thoroughly-educated critics, that there is nothing upon the whole more admirable
than those splendid series of papers by Addison, Steele, and their associates,
commencing with `The Tatler,' and ending with `The Guardian.' In morals and
sentiment there is nothing more just and manly, and in style they are still the
unapproachable models by which all the highest achievements in this department
of authorship are judged. They are worthy to be ranked with the immortal
poems which in a previous age were produced by Shakspere, Spenser, and Milton.
If any man of our own generation is entitled to sit in judgment upon the
works of the great English essayists of Queen Anne's time, that man is Thomas
Babbington Macaulay, whose criticism is prefixed to this edition.”

“Tacitus has gained the highest rank among the Historians of Greece and
Rome. A profound judge of men, and a severe censor of the manners, he has
delineated, with the pencil of a master, the characters and the very inward frame
of the vile and profligate, while the good and upright receive, in his immortal
page, the recompense due to their virtue. He presents the select lives of eminent
men, and, in the Life of Agricola, has left a perfect model of Biography. As long
as it shall be thought that the proper study of mankind is man, so long the Annals
of Tacitus will be the school of moral as well as political knowledge.”

“To all who are conversant with the existing state of astronomical science in
Europe, it is well known that, in addition to the regular duties of his office as
royal astronomer of France, M. Arago has been in the practice of delivering, each
season, at the `Observatoire,' a course of lectures of a popular kind, which are
attended by all classes of well-informed persons, including ladies in considerable
numbers. These discourses are given extemporaneously in the strictest sense of
the term, and in style and character bear a close analogy to those delivered by
Dr. Lardner in this country within the last few years. It does not appear that
M. Arago ever designed their publication, nor that he ever even committed them
to writing. A person employed by one of the Brussels publishers reported them;
and the publication, reputed to be M. Arago's lectures, is nothing more than this
report, which, though it could not be legally published or circulated in France,
obtained through the Belgian booksellers and their correspondents an extensive
illegal circulation in that country. A translation of this report was circulated
largely in England.”

“I take the greatest pleasure in recommending Mr. Ertheiler's `Phrase-Book'
to both teachers and learners of the German language.”

“I avow with great frankness that it is the best little work of the kind I am acquainted
with.”

`It seems to me to be admirably fitted to enable the student to obtain in the
shortest period possible, an accurate as well as a ready acquaintance with the
German language.”

“Mr. Hall is the most fashionable among the London bootmakers; and his
book has been received with decided favor in the higher circles.”

.. “For such visions as these, the disciples of the lapstone should be grateful....
The sons of Crispin, and every man who has a soul should reward the
publishers' enterprise in the preparation of this elegant volume.”

“Every lady who wishes a neat foot and a good fit, should carry this book with
her to her shoemaker.... To persons engaged in the boot and shoe trade, this
work will prove of great value, while to the general reader it will be found more
than usually interesting.”

“A complete revolution is likely to be made in the style of manufacturing shoes,
in consequence of the publication of the `Book of the Feet.' Ladies about ordering
their summer-boots would do well to consult this work before calling on
their shoemaker.”

“Mr. Brooks made some remarks on the ability of any one to learn to distinguish
the qualities of a cow by examination. He had a very high opinion of a French
work, by Guenon, recently published in New York. By the aid of that work, a man
might select his stock with almost infallible certainty. Hebelieved he could tell within
a few quarts what a cow would yield of milk, and within a few pounds what
she would yield of butter. He had not missed in more than ten instances out of between
three and four hundred trials. He had known one cow that was not dry for
fourteen years, and had calves every year.

“Mr. Denny fully accorded with Mr. Brooks in his estimate of the treatise on cattle
by Guenon. He had tested its value by distributing a number of copies among intelligent,
practical farmers; and their united report was in favor of the high value of
the work. One of them went so far as to say that a farmer keeping twenty cows
could well afford to give $100 for this treatise, if it could not be obtained at a less
cost.

“Mr. French expressed his entire confidence in Guenon's treatise, and thought
its introduction among our farmers was destined to work an entire revolution. For
some time, none of the agricultural societies of France would give any heed to his
suggestions; but when, at length, one of them was induced to put him to the test, they
were perfectly astonished at the accuracy with which he applied his rules for determining
the milk-giving qualities of a cow.”

“Dear Sir: I received your favor, desiring me to state my opinion of the
value of M. Guénon's `Treatise on Milch Cows,' translated from the French....
I immediately commenced the study and application of his method to every cow
that came under my observation. I have examined more than one hundred cows,
and, after carefully marking their escutcheons. I have become satisfied that M.
Guénon's discovery is one of great merit, and can be relied upon as true. I have
no doubt that I can judge very nearly as to the quantity and quality of the milk
any cow will give at the height of her flow, and also the time she will continue
in milk after being with calf.

“The way taken to convince myself of the truth of M. Guénon's method has
been to visit the cowyards of some of our principal dairy-farmers, and examine

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11

“I consider it one of the great discoveries of the age. The advantage of this
discovery to our dairyfarmers, enabling them, as I think it does, to determine the
milking properties of their young stock at an early age, must be very great. In
my opinion, no dairy-farmer, after acquainting himself with M. Guénon's discovery,
need possess himself of a bad milking-cow.

“M. Guénon informs us that his system is applicable to calves three or four
months old. I have traced the escutcheons upon calves as early as two or three
weeks old, and I see no reason why their value as future milkers may not be
judged of at this as well as at any other age.

“Princeton, Mass.”

“I have read with great satisfaction M. Guénon's work on Milch Cows, by
which one can judge by certain infallible signs the milking qualities of the animal.
I have compared the marks he gives for his first-grade Flanders cow, and find
they correspond with the escutcheon of my favorite Devon cow `Ellen,' that has
taken the first premium at two cattle-shows of the American Institute. My farmer
has great faith in M. Guénon's work, and so has one of my neighbors, a knowing
Scotch milkman, who keeps fifty cows. He says that, after careful examination,
he places confidence in these marks, and they will govern him in his future
purchases. I shall hereafter make my selection of the calves I will raise from
my choice stocks from the marks given by this author. I think every farmer
should own this work.

“Having had experience in raising cows, I was pleased to find a treatise on the
subject by M. Guénon, of Libourne, in France—which I procured and carefully
studied. I think the book more worthy of attention than I believe it has received.
I found that his marks of the particular classes and orders of cows agree with
nearly all I have had an opportunity to examine. It is easy to ascertain, after
studying this book, to which class and order almost every cow belongs, which,
as a guide in purchasing milch cows, or of safely deciding which to keep, before
we have had time or opportunity to test their qualities as milkers, will far more
than repay the price of the book, and the time necessary to a clear understanding
of it.