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 1864.] Reviews and Literary Notices. 637 monstrated fruitlcssness of similar fears in the past served to allay fears for the fu- ture ; no inefficiency of brute force perma- nently to stay the enterprise of the inind prevented brute force from making its fu- tile and sometimes fatal attempts. It is no matter that increased facility of production has been attended by an increased demand for the product; it is no matter that in- genuity has never been held permanently back from its carefully conned plans ; there have not been wanting men, numerous, ig- norant, and ignoble enough to collect in mobs, raze workshops, destroy machinery, chase away inventors, and fancy, that, so employed, they have been engaged in the work of self-protection. It is such indirect lessons as may be learned from these and other statements that give this book its chief value. The interesting historical and mechanical infor- mation contained in its pages makes it in- deed well worthy of perusal ; yet for that alone we should not take especial pains to set it before the people. But its incidental teachings ought to be taken to heart by every man, and especially every mechanic, who has any ambition or conscience be- yond the exigencies of bread and butter. Lack of ambition is not an American fault, but it is too often an ambition that regards irrelevant and factitious honors rather than those to which it may legitimately a".d - laudably aspire. A mechanic should find in the excellence of his mechanism a great- er reward and satisfaction than in the wear- ing of a badge of office which any fifth-rate lawyer or broken-down man -of -business with influential " friends " may obtain, and whose petty duties they may discharge quite as well as the first-rate mechanic. The mechanic who is master of his call- ing need yield to none. We would not have him like the ironmongers denounced by the old religious writer as " heathenish in their manners, puffed up with pride, and inflated with worldly prosperity " ; but we would have him mindful of his true digni- ty. In the importance of the results which he achieves, in the magnitude of the hon- ors he may win, in the genius he may em- ploy and the skill he may attain, no pro- fession or occupation presents a more in- viting field than his ; but it will yield fruits only to the good husbandman. Science and art give up their treasures only to him who is capable of enthusiasm and devotion. He alone who magnifies his office makes it honorable. Whether he work in marble, canvas, or iron, the man who is content simply*to follow his occupation, and is not possessed by it, may be an artificer, but will not be an artist, nor ever wear the laurel on his brow. He should be so en- amored of his calling as to court it for its own charms. Invention is a capricious mistress, and does not always bestow her favors on the most worthy. Men not a few have died in poverty, and left a golden har- vest to their successors ; yet the race is of- ten enough to the swift, and the battle to the strong, to justify men in striving after strength and swiftness, as well for the guer- don which they bring as for the jubilant consciousness which they impart. And this, at least, is sure : though merit may, by some rare mischance, be overlooked, demerit has no opportunity whatever to gain distinction. Sleight of hand cannot long pass muster for skill of hand. Un- swerving integrity, unimpeachable sincer- ity, is the lesson constantly taught by the lives of these renowned mechanics. " The great secret," says one, " is to have the courage to be honest, a spirit to purchase the best material, and the means and dis- position to do justice to it in the manufac- ture." Another, remonstrated with for his high charges, which were declared to be six times more than the price his employ- ers had before been* paying for the same articles, could safely say, " That may be, but mine are more than six times better." A master of his profession is master of his employers. Maudslay's works, we are told, came to be regarded as a first-class school for mechanical engineers, the Oxford and Cambridge of mechanics ; nor can Oxford and Cambridge men be any prouder of their connection with their colleges than distinguished engineers of their connection with this famous school of Maudslay. With such an esprit de corps what excellence have we not a right to expect ? We cannot forbear pointing out the Aids to Humility collected in this book from va- rious quarters, and presented to the con- sideration of the nineteenth century. Our boasted age of invention turns out, after all, to have been only gathering up what anti- quity has let fall, rediscovering and put- ting to practical account what the past dis- covered, but could not, or, with miscalled dignity, would not, turn to the uses of com-