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 COOPER 309 published in various editions since his death, and they have taken their place at the head of American fiction. Several of them have been translated into nearly all the European and some of the oriental languages. Personal- ly, Mr. Cooper was a noble specimen of a man, possessing a massive and compact form, a countenance strikingly marked with the indi- cations of intellectual strength, and glowing with manly beauty. His published portraits, though imposing, by no means do justice to the impressive port and vivacious presence of the man. In his social traits, so far as his native reserve and strong predilections would permit, he was magnanimous, hospitable, and kind. Frank, generous, independent, and not over- refined either by native constitution or culture, enemies were as plentifully made as easily rec- onciled by his singular admixture of opposing qualities. His intellectual life was checkered by much the same variety of lights. There were the elements of genius, originality of in- vention, keen insight into character, and crea- tive skill, shaded by defects both of original mental structure and of literary culture, not less conspicuous. But taken all in all, no American writer has attained a wider fame. SUSAN FENIMOEE, his eldest daughter, born in 1815, is the author and editor of several popular works, chiefly descriptive of rural life. The first, "Rural Hours," was published in 1850, during the later years of Mr. Cooper's life, and won a permanent and honorable place in literature. It was followed in 1854 by " Rhyme and Reason of Country Life," a fine selection of choice descriptive passages, in prose and verse, relative to country life and its inci- dents, illustrated with suggestive and graceful notes, and introduced by a genial essay. An annotated edition of an English work, "The Journal of a Naturalist," was published in 1852 ; and in 1858 she wrote a little book for youth on the character of Washington, the proceeds of which were given in aid of the fund for the purchase of Mt. Vernon. Various popular contributions to periodical literature have also from time to time proceeded from her pen, though generally anonymous. COOPER^ Peter, an American philanthropist, born in New York, Feb. 12, 1791. His maternal grandfather, John Campbell, was an alderman of New York and deputy quarter- master general during the revolutionary war, and expended a considerable private fortune in the service of his country. His father was a lieutenant in the war of the revolution, after the close of which he established a hat manu- factory. This period of Peter Cooper's life was one of great anxiety and hard labor, as his father was not successful in his undertakings, and had a large family to provide for. He at- tended school only half of each day for a single year, and beyond the knowledge thus gained his acquisitions are entirely his own. At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to the trade of coachmaking, and served out his time so much to the satisfaction of his master, that the latter offered to set him up in business, which he de- clined. He for some time followed his trade ; next engaged in the manufacture of patent machines for shearing cloth, which were in great demand during the war of 1812, but lost all value on the declaration of peace ; then in the manufacture of cabinet ware ; then in the grocery business in the city of New York; and finally in the manufacture of glue and ism- glass, which he carried on for 50 years. His attention was early called to the great re- sources of this country for the manufacture of iron, and in 1830 he erected extensive works at Canton near Baltimore. Disposing of these, he subsequently erected a rolling and wire mill in the city of New York, in which he first suc- cessfully applied anthracite to the puddling 01 iron. In 1845 he removed the machinery to Trenton, N. J., where he erected the largest rolling mill at that time in the United States for the manufacture of railroad iron, and at which subsequently he was the first to roll wrought-iron beams for fire-proof buildings. These works have grown to be very extensive, including mines, blast furnaces, and water power, and are now carried on by Mr. Cooper's family. While in Baltimore he built after his own designs the first locomotive engine con- structed on this continent, and it was used, successfully on the Baltimore and Ohio rail- road. He took great interest in the extension of the. electric telegraph, in which he invested a large capital. He served in both branches of the New York common council, and was a prominent advocate of the construction of the Croton aqueduct. His great object was to educate and elevate the industrial classes of the community. He early became a trustee of the public school society, and at the time of its being merged in the board of education wa8 its vice president. He subsequently became a school commissioner ; but feeling that no com- mon school system could supply a technologi- cal education, he determined to establish in his native city an institution in which the working classes could secure that instruction for which he,- when young and ambitious, sought in vain. In furtherance of this object the " Union for the Advancement of Science and Art," commonly called the " Cooper In- stitute," was erected in New York at the junction of Third and Fourth avenues, be- tween Seventh and Eighth streets, covering the entire block, at a cost of over $650,000, to which Mr. Cooper has since added an endow- ment of $150,000 in cash. This building is de- voted by a deed of trust, with all its rents, issues, and profits, to the instruction and eleva- tion of the working classes of the city of New York. The plan includes regular courses of instruction at night, free to all who choose to attend, on social and political science, on the application of science to the useful occupations of life, and on such other branches of knowl- edge as will tend to improve and elevate the