Babbage on the Economy of Manufactures. [Continued from page 375.] ON THE METHOD OF OBSERVING MANUFACTORIES. 128. Having now reviewed the mechanical principles which regulate the successful application of mechanical science to great establishments for the production of manufactured goods, it remains for us to suggest a few inquiries, and to offer a few observations to those whom an enlightened curiosity may lead to examine the factories of this or of other countries. Whether the same article, but of superior,"process without its advantages in enabling us equal, or inferior make, is imported ? Does the manufacturer export, or sell to a middle-man, who supplies the merchant! date 183 to determine the value of our own judgment. The habit of forming an estimate of the magnitude or frequency of any object immediately previous to our applying to it measure or number, tends materially to fix our attention and to DISTINCTION BETWEEN MAKING AND MANU FACTURING. To what countries is it chiefly sent-and in What number ( work per day? ) of hours do they 131. The economical principles which regulate the application of machinery, and which govern the interior of all our great factories, are quite as essential to the prosperity of a great commercial country as are these mechanical principles, the operations of which have been illustratet in the preceding section. The first object of every person who attempts to make any article of consumption, is, or ought to be, to produce it in a perfect form; but in order to secure to himself the greatest and most permanent profit, he must endeavor by every means in his power to render the new luxury or want, which he has created, cheap to those and who consume it. The larger number of purchasers thus obtained will, in some measure, Is the labor performed by piece or by day-secure him from the caprices of fashion, whilst it furnishes a far greater amount of profit, alWho provide tools? Master, or men? Who though the contribution of each individual is repair tools? Master, or men? diminished. The importance of collecting data What degree of skill is required, and how for the purpose of enabling the manufacturer many years ( ) apprenticeship? to ascertain how many additional customers he The number of times ( ) the opera-will acquire by a given reduction in the price tion is repeated per day or per hour. of the article he makes, cannot be too strongly The number of failures ( ) in a thousand.pressed upon the attention of those who emWhether the workman or the master loses ploy themselves in statistical inquiries. by the broken or damaged articles? Is it usual, or necessary, to work night day without stopping? The remark-that it is important to commit General Inquiries.-Outlines of a Description The various processes must now be described successively, according to the plan which will be given in Sec. 129; after which the following information should be given: Are various kinds of the same article made in one establishment or at different ones, and are there differences in the processes? To what defects are the goods liable? What is done with them? If the same process is repeated several times, state the diminution or increase of measure, and the loss, if any, at each repetition. In some ranks of society, any diminution of price in a commodity will bring forward but few additional customers; whilst, in other classes, a very small reduction will so enlarge the sale as to yield a considerable increase of profit. 130. In using this skeleton, the answers to 132. If, therefore, the maker of an article the questions are in some cases printed, as-wish to become a manufacturer in the more Who repair tools? Masters, Men: in order that extended sense of the term, he must attend to the proper answer may be underlined with a other principles besides those mechanical ones pencil. In filling up the answers which require on which the successful execution of his work numbers, some care should be taken; for in-depends; and he must carefully arrange the stance, if the observer stands with his watch whole system of his factory in such a manner, in his hand before a person heading a pin, the that the article he sells to the public may be workman will almost certainly increase his produced at as small a cost as possible. Should speed, and the estimate will be too large. A he not be actuated at first by motives so remote, much better average will result from inquiring he will, in every highly civilized country, be what quantity is considered a fair day's work. compelled, by the powerful stimulus of compeWhen this cannot be ascertained, the number |tition, to attend to the principles of the domestic of operations performed in a given time may economy of manufactures. At every reduction frequently be ascertained when the workman in price of the commodity he makes, he will be is quite unconscious that any person is observ-driven to seek compensation in a saving of exing him. Thus, the sound made by the mo- pense in some of the processes; and his ingeWhat substitutes or adulterations are used?tion of a loom may enable the observer to count nuity will be sharpened in this inquiry by the What waste is allowed by the master? the number of strokes per minute, even though hope of being able in his turn to undersell his What tests are there of the goodness of the he is outside the building in which it is con- rivals. The benefit of the improvements thus manufactured article? tained. M. Coulomb, who had great experience engendered is, for a short time, confined to in making such observations, cautions those those from whose ingenuity they derived their who may repeat his experiments against being origin; but when a sufficient experience has deceived by such circumstances: "Je prie proved their value, they become generally adopt(says he) ceux qui voudront les repeter, s'ilsed, until in their turn they are superseded by n'ont pas le temps de mesurer les resultats other more economical methods. apres plusieurs jours d'un travail continu, d'ob- 133. There exists a considerable difference server les ouvriers à differentes reprises dans between the terms making and manufacturing. la journee, sans qu'ils sachent qu'ils sont ob- The former refers to the production of a small, serves. L'on ne peut trop avertir combien l'on the latter to that of a very large number of inrisque de se tromper en calculant, soit la vi-dividuals; and the difference is well illustrated tesse, soit le temps effectif du travail, d'apres in the evidence given before the Committee of une observation des quelques minutes." (Me- the House of Commons on the Export of Tools moires de l'Institut. Tom. II. p. 247.)--It fre- and Machinery. On that occasion Mr. Mauds. quently happens, that, in a series of answers to lay stated, that he had been applied to by the such questions, there are some which, although Navy Board to make iron tanks for ships, and given directly, may also be deduced by a short that he was rather unwilling to do so, as he calculation from others that are given or known; considered it to be out of his line of business; and advantage should always be taken of these however, he undertook to make one as a trial. What quantity is made annually in Great verifications, in order to confirm the accuracy The holes for the rivets were punched by handBritain? of the statements; or, in case they are discor-punching with presses, and the 1680 holes Is the capital invested in manufactories large dant, to correct the apparent anomalies. In our export trade has been most injurious, as putting lists of questions into the hands of per- the following extract from the evidence before Mention the principal seats of this manufac-sons undertaking to give information upon any a committee of the House of Commons will ture in England; and if it flourishes much subject, it is in some cases desirable to have||prove: abroad, the places where it is established. The duty, excise, or bounty, if any, should be stated, and any alterations in past years, and also the amount exported or imported for a series of years. The weight of a given quantity, or number, and a comparison with that of the raw material. The wholesale price at the manufactory £ s. d. per d. per The usual retail price £ s. Who provide tools! Master, or men? Who repair tools? Master, or men? What is the expense of the machinery? What is the annual wear and tear, and what its duration? Is there any particular trade for making it Where? Is it made and repaired at the manufactory? In any manufactory visited, state the number () of processes, and of the persons employed in each process, and the quantity of manufactured produce. or small! an estimate of the soundness of his judgment. Question.-How long have you been in the The questions can frequently be so shaped that trade? some of them may indirectly depend on others; Answer.-Nearly thirty years. "Answer.-Yes, sadly. "Question.—What is your opinion of the cause of that distress! "Answer.-I think it is owing to a number of watches that have been made so exceedingly bad that they will hardly look at them in the foreign markets; all with a handsome outside show, and the works hardly fit for any thing. Question.-Do you mean to say, that all the watches made in this country are of that description? to advantage, were it not that the land is com-||vicinity, and I suppose is similar to that which pletely filled with the weed commonly called is generally used. We have never prepared charlick, which renders it entirely unfit for any our seed in any manner, but have directed our spring crop, excepting such as can be hoed. attention solely to the preparation of the land; The crops of rye, on the neighboring soil of and to this we attribute our success. Owing the same nature, vary, I believe, from seven or to the unusual severity of the winter, the crop eight to twelve or thirteen bushels per acre, ac- was considerably winter killed, but recovered cording to the cultivation, and their approxi-very soon in the spring, excepting in the midfurmation to the river. We usually raise on land rows. There, as the land lies very level, the from thirteen to thirty bushels of Indian corn water settled, and so completely destroyed the Potatoes are very good in quality, rye that they continued bare the whole season. per acre. "Answer.-No; only a number which are but the quantity is quite small; not sufficient This would of course cause some diminution was reaped at the usual season, and, as the made up by some of the Jews, and other low ma-to be profitable, were it not that the land is in the crop; perhaps a bushel or two. The rye nufacturers. I recollect something of the sort very easily cultivated. weather was favorable, immediately put into years ago, of a fall-off of the East India work, owing to there being a number of handsome the barn. The land contained one acre and three pecks. A remarkably fine sample. looking watches sent out, for instance, with thirteen rods, and yielded forty-six bushels and hands on and figures, as if they showed seconds, and had not any regular work to show the seconds: the hand went round, but it was not regular. 66 ments? In the summer of 1827, we sowed three bushels of winter rye near the river, on about two acres of land, which produced twenty-eight bushels. In entering a claim for your premium, I In 1828, we sowed four bushels on four acres of land running the whole extent of the plain would ask your attention particularly to the from the river. This piece was sowed in the process of cultivation. It is I believe entirely Sowing the seed immediately after the plough Question. They had no perfect move-spring with oats; but they were completely new, and capable of general application. smothered with charlick, and about the middle "Answer.-No, they had not; that was a of June, the whole crop was mowed to prevent we consider very advantageous to the crop. long time since, and we had not any East India||the charlick seeding. By about the middle of The soil being then moist, causes the seed to August, a second crop of charlick having co- spring immediately, and gives a forwardness and work for a long time afterwards." The process of ploughing in three crops of In the home market, inferior but showy vered the land, it was ploughed very carefully, vigor to the plants which they ever after retain. watches are made at a cheap rate, which are in order completely to bury the charlick; and not warranted by the maker to go above half then suffered to remain until the 15th of Sep-weeds before the seed is sown, very much enan hour about the time occupied by the Jew tember, when we began sowing the rye in the riches the soil. It would be altogether unnefollowing manner. A strip of land about twelve cessary to attempt to refute the notion, that by pedlar in deluding his country customer. 141. The practice, in retail linen-drapers' yards wide was ploughed very evenly, to pre- such a process nothing more is applied to the shops, of calling certain articles yard-wide when vent deep gutters between the furrows, and the soil than was before derived from it. If one the real width is, perhaps, only seven-eighths seed immediately sown upon the furrow and could not discover by the light which Chemisor three-quarters, arose at first from fraud, harrowed in. Then another strip of the same try has shed upon the subject of Agriculture, which being detected, custom was pleaded in width, and so on until the whole was finished. sufficient reasons for the contrary conclusion, its defence; but the result is, that the sender We found the oat stubble and charlick entirely observation, one would think, would be suffiAnd here I would suggest that I do not conis constantly obliged to measure the width of rotted, and the land appeared as if it had cient to convince any intelligent man of the his goods in the customer's presence. In all been well manured, though none had been fact. a higher price than his goods would really pro- our possession. The rye sprung very quick sider the experiment, as we have conducted it, duce if their quality were known; and the pur-and vigorously, having evidently derived great quite complete. To render it more so, in the chaser, if not himself a skilful judge (which benefit from being sown and sprouted before first place, in ploughing in the weeds, I would rarely happens to be the case), must pay some the moisture supplied by the decaying vegetable not turn a furrow after the dew had evaporated. person, in the shape of an additional money matter in the soil had evaporated to any consi- I have no doubt but that a large portion of that price, who has skill to distinguish, and integri- derable extent. This crop produced 133 bushels. fertilizing quality in the soil, which (during the In 1829, the charlick was suffered to grow summer months) is continually exhaled from ty to furnish, articles of the quality agreed on. these instances, the object of the seller is to get applied to this part since it had been in But as the confidence of persons in their own on the land appropriated to rye, until it had at- the earth, is by the dew brought again within judgment is usually great, large numbers will tained its growth and was in full blossom. The our reach, and it would be wise to avail ouralways flock to the cheap dealer, who thus, at-land was then ploughed very carefully, and the selves of the opportunity of again burying it in tracting many customers from the honest trades-charlick_completely covered in. In a short time the soil. And in the second place, I would by man, obliges him to charge a higher price a second crop appeared more vigorous than the all means use a heavy roll after each ploughing. for his judgment and character, than, without first. This also was allowed to attain its growth, It would fill all the cavities left by the plough, and then ploughed in as before. A third crop and by pressing the soil more closely to the such competition, he could afford to do. soon appeared, which of course was destroyed, weeds, at once hasten their decomposition and when the land was again ploughed for sowing very much retard the evaporation from the soil. But the land is not only very much enriched about the middle of September. This piece of land was a parallel strip running from the river, by this process. There is, I conceive, no method Two bushels of rye by which it can be so effectually cleaned. and containing two acres. were sowed. The crop presented a remark- Three times during the season a fresh surface as the decaying vegetable matter increases in ably promising appearance, and yielded seventy- is presented to the atmosphere, and each time, four and a half bushels. AGRICULTURE, &c. Haverhill, Sept. 22, 1832. The undersigned having assisted in measuring the rye, an account of which is given above, pecks. hereby certify that the quantity is as there stated, namely, forty-six bushels and three The following article is, says our respected correspondent, to whom we are indebted for the pamphlet from which it is taken, "of great value, as the authority is unquestioned." In 1830, the land appropriated to rye included the soil, so is the exciting cause augmented to On the Cultivation of Rye. By JOHN KEELY. To the Trustees of the Essex Agricultural nearly all the lighter part of the soil, and owing make a more vigorous effort. We have in this to a pressure of business was not attended to manner gone over nearly all our land which is Society. But harrowing the weeds is quite sufficient to warrant the exGENTLEMEN,-Having for some years past as we could have wished. It was ploughed in infested with charlick, and the diminution of JOHN KEELY. been more than commonly successful in rais-the early part of the summer. This, and the unusual paratively eradicated. Very respectfully, ing large crops of winter rye by a process of to destroy the weeds was substituted for the pectation, that in a few years it may be comcultivation which, I believe, is entirely new, I second ploughing. have been induced, by the suggestion of some blight which affected all the grain in this part gentlemen whose judgment I very much res- of the country, led us to anticipate a small crop. pect, to submit for your consideration a state-It yielded however fifteen bushels to the acre. The land on which the crop of rye was raised ment of the mode of culture, with the produce. And that the success of the experiment this the present season had for the three or four season may not appear to be altogether acci- previous years been planted with Indian corn: dental, it will, perhaps, be as well to communi- and owing to the extent of our tillage land, we cate the result of the process for the three or have not been able to apply more than four or five loads of manure to the acre this season. I have this day measured a lot of land befour previous years. The land on which the experiment has been The charlick was suffered to attain its growth C. WHITE, Surveyor. conducted is situated on the Merrimack, about as usual; and on the 18th and 19th of June it longing to Mr. Keely, on which is a crop of a mile and a half east of Haverhill bridge; and was carefully ploughed in. The second crop rye, and find it to contain one acre and thirHaverhill, Aug. 1, 1832. came into possession of my father in 1827.was ploughed in on the 6th and 7th of August. teen rods. At a Meeting of the Trustees of the Essex The soil is a sand, approaching to loam as it On the 14th and 15th of September it was sowed recedes from the river. Perhaps the term plain in the usual manner, namely, a small strip of land (by which it usually passes) will better land was ploughed, and the seed sown imme- Agricultural Society, January 1, 1833, the convey an idea of the quality of the soil. It is diately upon the furrow, and then harrowed in. foregoing statement having been read and The crops we Then another strip of land was ploughed, and examined, altogether too light for grass. find most profitable to cultivate on it are win-so on until the whole was completed. One ter rye, Indian corn, potatoes, and to some ex-bushel per acre was sowed as usual. The seed tent turnips. Oats might probably be raised was originally obtained from a farmer in this JOHN KEELY, Voted, That the first premium offered for the Attest. J. W. PROCTOR, Secretary. cultivation of rye be awarded to Mr. Keely. 1 내 of this number: CLOVER MANURE FOR WHEAT.-We would begins to push, displace the buds from the English with great facility, which is all that is deem. request practical farmers to compare the follow-shoot intended for laying, except the leading ed requisite: the principal object of this course being ing, taken from the Hagerstown Torch Light, inches or one foot long, bend down to the on Military Science. one. When this is grown to about all eight to enable the Cadet to consult the best French authors with the successful method of shallow ploughing pot, and lay it so that the top joint, whence the As there are at least 160 students to be taught in green manure, recorded in the Transactions of young shoot has sprung, may be fixed with a this language, it is believed by those best acquainted the Essex Agricultural Society in another part strong crook at about one inch under the sur- with the subject, that another teacher in this branch face of the mould. As soon as it begins to take ought to be added to those already employed. root, weaken its resources from the mother and French. The Cadets of this class evinced a deThe fourth clsss were examined in Mathematics the pot, which enlarge by degrees, as fast as Mathematics highly creditable to the gentleman who plant, by making an incision in the wood behind gree of proficiency in the elementary branches of the young plant will bear it, until it is quite se- is charged with this department of their studies.— parated from the old one.-[Gard. Mag.] Whatever may be the talents and application of the student, he cannot make any proficiency in this essential department of study, which may be considered as the foundation of all military education, unless his studies are directed by a person not only THE wheat crop is the most important of all crops to the farmer. A man who has one hundred acres of cleared land, of common quality, ought to raise on an average one thousand bushels of merchantable wheat, and also rye, corn, oats, and potatoes, sufficient to defray the expenses of carrying on the farming. The wheat crop should always be clear gain. [From the Globe of Saturday.} MILITARY ACADEMY AT WESTPOINT. REPORT of the Board of Visiters to the general exa-profoundly versed in the science, but possessed of To the Secretary of War: The Board of Visiters who have been invited, to be the United States Military Academy, in order that present at the general examination of the Cadets of the War Department may be correctly informed of the condition and management of the Academy, have attended the examination of all the classes and are perfectly satisfied with the progress made by the Cadets in the several departments of their studies in which they were examined. sistants. great experience in the art of instructing youth; and the Board would take this opportunity of remarking, that to remove such an instructor from the Academy for the purpose of substituting another, who, whatever his talents and acquirements may be, in teaching, cannot but be prejudicial to the interests does not possess the same experience and practice of the Academy, and would be unjust to the Cadets. the department of Mathematics, a degree of profi. The Government exacts from them, especially in ciency, which they cannot obtain without the assistance of competent instructors; and they may be exposed to be turned back as deficient, or to be dis. missed as incapable of going through the course of studies in the Academy, because the instructor provided for them is incompetent or inexperienced. The Board is induced to make these remarks from Don't startle at this, farmer. A man who has a farm of one hundred acres of cleared land, can yearly put forty acres of it in wheat; and if the land be in order as it should be, and as every farmer may have it, every acre of the forty will give 25 bushels, amounting altogether to one thousand bushels. I shall now show how land must be farmed, in order to produce in this way Never break your land before harvest and stir it after, as is customary with many farmers. Much ploughing impoverishes land, and is productive of no good effects. Your wheat ground must be heavily set in clover, and broken up after harvest with three horses, when the seed At the request of the Superintendent, a Committee in the clover is ripe. By thus turning clover appointed by order of the Board, assigned the subdown after harvest, when the seed is ripe, it jects to each individual of the class, in order to avoid will never miss coming up in the spring, all suspicion of the Examining Professor having adapwhich is frequently the case when sown in the ted the subject to the capacity and attainments of the having had before them a late order of the Comman spring with seed. You also save between forty Cadets, so as to exhibit an appearance of greater pro- der in Chief, containing regulations sanctioned by and fifty dollars worth of seed annually, which ficiency than the class really possesses. The first class was examined in Military and Civil seem calculated to affect very materially the instrucyou, which, if applicable to this Academy, would it would take to sow your ground. When the Engineering, in Mineralogy, Rhetoric, Ethics, Consti- tion of the Cadets. It appears to them that the reclover is ploughed down after harvest, before tutional and National Law, and in Infantry and Artille-gulations requiring all officers, who have not served you seed the field, you must harrow it lightly ry tactics; and in each of these departments exhibited with their regiments for three years to join their rethe way you have ploughed it, in order to level proofs of their application and attainments, and of the spective corps, as it will remove nearly all the Asthe ground, and prevent the seed from rolling zeal, capacity and industry of the Professor and Assistant Professors from the Academy, would be at. between the furrows and coming up in rows The Cadets of this class will leave the tended with very great inconvenience at any time; Never plough your seed in with shovels, nor Academy well fitted to fulfil the great objects of the and at this period, when the Superintendent, who harrow it in across the ploughing, when you institution, viz: to introduce into the armies of the has so long presided over this Institution, with such have turned down clover after harvest, lest you United States all the modern improvements in the signal ability anu success, is about to retire, such a raise the clover, but always harrow it in by art of war, and the high state of discipline which change would seriously embarrass his successor.twice harrowing with light harrows the way nate throughout our country a knowledge of Military of the regulation, which takes from the Superintend. distinguishes the best armies of Europe, to dissemi- This embarrassment will be increased by the effect you have broken up your ground. Many far- Tactics and Engineering, so as to furnish the means iners have ploughed down clover once, and of rendering our militia as well as our regular army tached for that service. He is supposed from his ent the power of nominating the officers to be definding that their crop was not bettered by it, an efficient arm of defence in time of war; and to situation to be better acquainted than any one else but injured, as they believed, have never at- provide officers properly instructed, and fully capable with the acquirements and moral character of the tempted it again. This is almost invariably the of superintending the construction of fortifications graduates, and as the responsibility rests with him, case the first time clover is ploughed down af for the permanent defence of our maritime frontier, it appears but just that he should have the pow. ter harvest, especially if the fall be dry, and the and of works connected with the internal improve-er of selecting his Assistants. It is deemed imporwinter frigid and close. In turning clover down ment of the country. you must necessarily plough the ground deep, The Cadets of the second class were examined in keep pace with the improvements which daily take tant, that the course of studies should be steady and and the first time you do it you turn up the clay, Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, and showed a place in the progress of science. This would be imwhich, being unmixed with manure of any sort degree of proficiency very creditable to the Profes-practicable if the Assistant Professors were freon the top, is in a bad state to sow wheat on. their instruction in these departments. The Board had graduated prior to the introduction of the imsors and Assistants, who have been charged with quently changed and selected from officers who The wheat after some time will sprout and come would here remark, that in their opinion it would be provements now taught in this Institution throughout up, but will look yellow and very spindling. Its expedient to establish a permanent Professor of roots after some time will get down among the Chemistry. The important discoveries made and every department of science. Indeed it would apunrotted clover, and there will choke, and for still making in this department of science, and its want of moisture a great deal of the wheat will application to the useful arts, as well as its connexdwindle away and die. The unrotted clover, ion with the means of preserving the health of the too, below, will keep the ground loose and soldier in camps and barracks, render it important springgy, so that the frost will injure the wheat that it should be taught in this Academy, and it is not a little. But when the clover is twice plough- obvious that it requires great application, experience ed down the bad effects to the wheat crop ari- and long practice to teach a science which must be sing from unrotted clover are not experienced. illustrated by experiments made before the pupil. I You then turn up the clover from below which is believed to be difficult to acquire the art of inwas ploughed down before, and which is a ma- science; but it is especially so in those which restructing youth in any department of literature or nure on the top. The seed sown on it now springs quire skill in demonstrating the theories and princiup directly, and before the winter sets in has ples by experiments. Instruction in such branches taken deep root. The clover now turned down ought not to be entrusted to officers liable to be fre-bora ory when the Cadets exhibited their proficiency rots very soon, in consequence of the rotten quently removed. clover turned up, which as manure always keeps The third class were examined in Mathematics shells, and fire at the target with light and heavy in Pyrotechny, and they subsequently saw them throw the ground moist, however dry the fall. You and French. There is no institution that we are ac-pieces of Artillery; all which they executed with a may now go on farming in this way: every time quainted with where this department of science in to precision rarely equalled, and not surpassed in any you turn up a coat of clover, turn down one, and higher branches, is more thoroughly taught than in this school of practice in Europe. your wheat crop will never fail, until your land Academy. The high attainments and unwearied inbecomes so rich that you will have to reduce it dustry of the Professors and Assistants, together with the great application and capacity of the Cadets of the third class were exhibited throughout the course of this examination in a manner highly satis. factory to the Board. with corn. RAPID MODE OF RAISING EXCELLENT VINE PLANTS. At the pruning season leave a shoot of young strong wood, over and above what may be wanted for training it, of a sufficient length to bend down as a layer into a pot; and also for training, during its growth, when the vine The examination in French was very creditable peared to be well instructed in the grammar of this to the Teachers and Cadets of this Class They apdifficult language, conjugating the regular and irregular verbs very correctly, and they translated it into Professors, who have evinced so much capacity in pear advisable that the Professors and Assistant imparting instruction to youth, should be offered attached to the Institution, and receiving some ad. every inducement to remain by being permanently ditional allowance for services materially affecting the future character and efficiency of the army, and which, if they were rendered in any literary institution in the country, would command much higher pecuniary rewards. and Artillery drills, and had every reason to be satis. The Board attended the Battalion, Light Infantry, fied with the instruction of the Cadets in their field exercises. They were present likewise in the La. This is the more remarkable from the state of the pieces used for practice. They are very defective; instruction of the Cadets in this department. He has The Cadets are encamped two months in every year, and during that period are instructed in all the duties of the soldier in active servive, in the use of instruments, and in the application of the different branches of science necessary to a knowledge of their profession; whether this practical course of the application of science to the purposes of military and civil engineering may not be usefully extended, is worthy of consideration. the forms of Cannon and various systems of Artille-|| are not taught in this institution for want of time.] An inquiry having been made into the manner in ry, and another on the Theory and Practice of Gun- In military and civil engineering it is thought which the Cadets are supplied with the class books nery, from the French of Professor Persy of Metz; that the following might be introduced with great and stationary, the Board are satisfied, after a careall of which, with numerous plates illustrating the advantage to the Cadets: A course of applied me. ful investigation, that the Cadets are supplied with subjects, have been published in the Lithographic chanics on the investigation and description of some all such articles at a lower price than they can be Press in the Academy. of the most usual machines employed in the con- purchased in New York and in the most convenient, struction of public works. Some practical exercises just, and economical manner; and that the arrange. in the field, such as laying out and throwing up ment made by the Superintendent in this particular some of the works of a campaign which are most is marked by the same prudent economy, order and ordinarily used: batteries, trenches, cavaliers, the intelligence, which characterize the management of manner of conducting saps, the construction of ga- the institution. bions and fascines, &c. &c. and a course of topo- The Board having learnt that the present Superin. graphy as applied to military reconnoissances: in-tendent of the Military Academy, whose health has deed, such is the vast importance of this branch, that suffered from his close attention to the affairs of the a new department, embracing the whole subject, institution, has, by his own solicitation, been called could not fail to be very advantageous to the military to the performance of other duties, cannot forbear to student. express the very high sense they entertain of his In the department of Natural Philosophy many merit and services during the long period of his com. important practical illustrations might be advantage-mand of the station. ously introduced. At present the experimental part To the knowledge acquired with this view by Col. of the course is principally confined to the illustra- Thayer, the Military Academy of the United States tion of such facts and general principles as may be owes its present admirable organization; and to his established by experiments exhibited in the presence zeal, capacity and unwearied attention to his duties, of the entire class. These illustrations are attended is to be attributed the high state of discipline and im. with the most beneficial effects, as they serve to provement of the institution. To his exertions we make a very forcible impression on the mind of the owe in a great measure the success of this estab. student, but they are alone insufficient. It is fre-lishment, the extensive usefulness of which needs quently important that the student should not only be only to be understood by the nation to be fully ap acquainted with the name and use of an instrument; preciated. but that he should be able to employ it himself. This can only be done, when sufficient time is allowed for each student to make frequent use of such instruments under the immediate direction of the Professor. The Library of the Academy contains a very valuable collection of works adapted to the peculiar objects of this institution. It is rich in works on military science and on civil engineering, and contains a valuable series of military history, and the best geographical and topographical maps of the States of Europe to illustrate this important study. It is true that in works on polite literature it is as yet rather deficient, although the selection has been very judicious; but however desirable it may be to augment the number of volumes on miscellaneous subjects, the real object of the institution must be kept steadily in view, and it will continue to be the duty of the Superintendent to purchase, in preference to all others, books relating to the sciences taught in this Academy, and to supply the necessary works on Architecture, Chemistry, Geology, Mineralogy and Moral Science, in which the Library is still very deficient. The philosophical apparatus and astronomical instruments are of the best kind and of the latest invention, but many more are required fully to illustrate the course of Natural Philosophy. The building which contains the Library and philosophical apparatus is both unsafe and unstable, and the rooms are so small and inconvenient as not to admit of the necessary arrangement and display of them for useful purposes. Many instruments of the philosophical apparatus, which are delicate in their structure and uses, and require to be very nicely and accurately adjusted, are exposed to be injured by the constant and violent shaking of the edifice, and the finer astronomical instruments cannot be used from the same reason and from want of space. large telescope is placed in a detached building tirely unsuited to its uses. From these reasons and from the intrinsic value of the books and instruments, the board recommend the erection of a fire proof building with an observatory annexed to it. Upon a careful and minute examination of the pub lic buildings of the Academy, it has been found that they are inadequate to the purposes of the institution and are not only badly constructed, but entirely too limited to afford comfortable or proper accommodations for the Cadets who are lodged in them. The principles of Strategy or Grand Tactics might be taught with advantage. It is true that there is no work treating of those subjects which is sufficiently condensed and at the same time perfectly unexceptionable in its principles and illustrations; but the same industry and talent which have furnished text books in other departments of military science, might be employed for this pur pose with great success, and furnish a series of lectures embracing a definition of the technical terms employed and of such general principles as admit of the clearest and most exact illustration Independently of serving to disseminate over the vast territories of the United States knowledge of a description which cannot enter into the usual couree of studies in other Academies, and furnishing the means of rendering most effective our army and mili. tia, of securing our frontier and improving the communications throughout the States, it is calculated to elevate the moral state of the Military profession in our country, the importance of which to the general interests of the nation, cannot be too much insisted upon. This deficiency is particularly felt in the course of Astronomy, where an intimate acquaintance with the use of instruments, and the habits of submitting the data furnished by observation to the process of calculation, are essentially necessary to enable the student to apply his theoretical knowledge to useful purposes. The instruction in practical Astrono- The annals of history prove, that success in arms my is altogether too limited. The time which can is one of the most faithful sources of personal popa. be devoted to this object being scarcely more than larity, and in a country where the soldier is still a sufficient to permit the Professor to make the stu- citizen, and may be called upon to share in the civil dents acquainted with the objects of the few instru- government, or rise to the highest honors of the State, ments in the possession of this department. This is the standard of study and discipline cannot be too certainly a great defect; important lines are fre- high, which developes his talents and forms his quently required to be established as boundaries be-character. The same annals show that at the close Atween States and Territories of neighboring nations, of successful wars, the liberties of a country depend en where the accurate use of instruments is of the last in a great measure upon the character of its armiesimportance, and the Cadets of this Academy ought at such a period the fortunate soldier pessesses powto be practically taught to use them with perfect er, and great and probably well earned popularity, correctness. and if his character is not so elevated by nature or education as to lead him to prefer the solid fame of having preserved the liberties of his fellow citizens to the glitter of false ambition, and to sacrifice all personal views of aggrandizement to the good of his country, he may plunge the State into anarchy or rivet upon his fellow citizens the chains of despotism. If ever the liberties of the States of Europe shall be recovered, it will be effected through the improved A number of Cadets are from necessity crowded condition, character and education of their officers into a small room, which must produce a prejudicial and soldiers; and while we indulge the hope that the effect upon their studies, their morals, and their liberty of these States rests upon too firm a basis to health. That they have been exempt hitherto from be overthrown by the ambition of those who compose the diseases which are engendered in confined and our Armies, it cannot be concealed that if they were crowded apartments, is due altogether to the admira-alry Tactics should be taught at a great National Mili.not instructed, their ignorance and depravity might ble system of internal police and strict attention to tary Academy. This branch has hitherto been seriously endanger the peace of the country. cleanliness, which distinguish every department of totally neglected; but it has become more essentially The Board have observed with some regret, that this institution. necessary since this arm has been added to the regu- the old works in the neighborhood of the Academy lar army of the country. The service of Cavalry and have been in some instances disturbed. They ought, Horse Artillery ought to form a part of the practical in their opinion, to be preserved as monuments of the instruction of this Academy, and the Board respect.glorious struggle, which secured our independence. fully recommend this subject to your consideration. The contemplation of such memorials cannot fail to As the Cadets are now occupied sedulously every||have a beneficial effect. They are calculated to inhour of the day in the prosecution of the studies now spire all Americans with sentiments of exalted patri. taught in this institution, it will be necessary, if these otism, and to remind them of the extraordinary ef subjects are deemed of sufficient importance to be forts and great sacrifices made by our forefathers to added to the present course, that the term of the achieve the liberty and independence of the country. academic study should be extended-or that the and cannot fail to lead them to form virtuous resoqualifications required on entering the Academy lutions and to reflect, that, as heirs of the immortal should be made much greater than they now are.--fame of their ancestors, they are bound to emulate They are now lower than is required by any literary their glorious career, and preserve their bright inheinstitution in this country, and no doubt the frequent ritance with the same inflexible courage and undevi. dismissal of those young men, who cannot keep up ating purpose. with their class, arises principally from this cause. On examining into the fiscal concerns of the Acad. Parents ought to be informed of the great advantage emy the Board had every reason to be satisfied, that their sons would derive the first year of their course great economy has been exercised in the administra- of this Academy, by being well grounded in the clas tion of this department of the institution, and cheer-sics, in Arithmetic and Algebra, and in the rudifully bear testimony to the order and regularity with|ments of the French language. which the books are kept and the receipts and dis. The munner in which the Cadets are furnished bursements accounted for, as well as to the integrity with clothing was a subject of inquiry by the Board, and judicious economy with which the finances of who were satisfied that this was done in the most the Academy are administered. eronomical manner. Their mess room was inspected There is besides a want of accommodations for the Assistant Professors; and the Quarter Master, Pay Master, and Adjutant are without offices. For all these purposes nearly fifty new rooms are required. The Board would recommend, that the Superintendent be instructed to furnish a plan of a building, capable of uniting all the accommodations required by the officers and cadets now at the Academy, and of being extended whenever the Government may think it expedient to enlarge this institution. and render it proportionate to our vast territories and rapidly increasing population; and that whenever it may be thought proper to erect the building now called for, it may be so constructed as to form a part of an edifice hereafter to be completed with more extensive accommodations. It appears always to have been desirable that Cav. There are several subjects, the importance of while the Cadets were at their meals, and the Board which is fully understood and acknowledged by were satisfied that the Steward fulfilled his contrac the Superintendent and Academic Staff, but which" faithfully, and supplied the tables with abundance. STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, President. J. R. Burden, John Forsyth, NEW-YORK AMERICAN. LITERARY NOTICES. is to impress upon the youthful mind the never-failing|| of the most refined peoples. That invention, howgoodness of Providence, and that there is no situation,|| ever, by converting war into a science, which may be however forlorn and deplorable, which the exercise taught in colleges, like other arts, in times of peace, of fortitude, ingenuity, and perseverance cannot ren-has, by putting an end to the superiority of brute force THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SCOTT: CONNER AND der not only endurable, but even comparatively happy. over intellectual power, left it for mankind to pursue COOKE's edition.-Numbers VII. and VIII., contain. The Tales from American History are compiled in quiet the arts of civilization, without incurring the ing the Bride of Lammermoor, the Legend of Mon- ||from Irving's writings relating to the discovery of risque of having the fruits of their labor wrenched trose, and Ivanhoe, are now published. Thus, one this country, which, with Edwards' History of the from them by those who devote their lives to the use sixth of the work (there will be forty-eight numbers) West Indies, Robertson's America, and Miss Emily of arms alone. Cœur de Lion, who, with 17 men-atis already out. At this rate of publication the whole Taylor's Letters on Maritime Discovery, have afford. arms, as Gibbon tells us, vanquished a thousand Sawill be completed in a little more than a year from ed abundant sources to the compiler to derive many racens before the walls of Acre, might possibly the commencement. of those picturesque incidents and romantic traits of charge through a regiment of modern cavalry; but character with which the early history of the New ||a single piece of artillery discharged by a child would World so abounds; and which, while they are mat-teach his bold lancers, that sinews toughened with ters of actual record, possess all the dramatic years of training, and frames of iron clothed with interest and attractiveness of fictitious writing. triple steel, avail nothing against grape and canister; This work was manufactured abroad, and though much less had a few cannon threatened from her well suited to the dawning capacity of young chil- battlements, would the half armed hordes of Scandi. dren, we should be sorry to see it supersede with navia been able to become masters of the Imperial youth generally, the more authentic abridgement City seven centuries before his time. The wars and made by our countryman from his own excellent ori-wanderings of the Goths, previous and subsequent ginal. to this event, are well detailed below: Curiosities of LitERATURE, by D'ISRAELI, 3 vol. 8vo. Boston, LILLY & WAIT, COLMAN & HOLDEN; New York. WM. JACKSON.-A very handsome edition is here presented of a very amusing, though not a new book, which has gone through seven or eight editions in England, been translated into other tongues, and delighted thousands of readers of all classes and pursuits. The many interesting anecdotes of literary men and of their labors, and the cu. rious private history which the industry and clever. ness of the compiler, the elder D'Israeli, have here brought together, are well calculated to attract and reward attention. SALATHIEL―by the Rev. GEORGE CROLY. New York: D. Appleton & Co. and Collins & Hannay. 2 vols. The deserved success obtained by the first reprint, some few years ago, of this highly wrought and in parts most poetical narrative, has in luced another edition of it--which will, we doubt not, be eagerly bought the more eagerly, perhaps, for the effort now making in England to restore to an equality with other men the fallen race of Israel-whose grandeur, magnificence, courage and cruelty, form the main incidents of these volumes. CRAYON SKETCHES, by an Amateur; edited by Theo. S. Fay, Esq.; 2 volumes, 12mo; CONNER & COOKE, New York.-These volumes, of which we spoke in advance in our review of the 8th instant, are now published, and do justice, by their mechanical execution, to the taste and talent of their literary contents. The above volumes, with "THE HISTORY OF Jo- The most ancient records and traditions rela. ting to the Goths, refer their first settlement in Europe to Scandinavia, where their name is extant still in that of the extensive tract of country between Sweden Proper and the kingdom of Norway. This region, separated by a narrow strait from the islands LEMPRIERE'S CLASSICAL DICTIONARY, 8th American Pomerania on the narrowest part of the Baltic, is of Denmark, and opposite to Rugen and the coast of edition: Collins & Hannay, and W. Dean. [Second called Gothland, and was most probably the first esnotice.]—Having alluded briefly to this publication tablished seat of the Gotthi in Europe. Originally in a former notice, we have thought it due to a work one extensive nation, the Gotthi and the Vandali, in the progress of years, became divided, as a conse. of so much costliness and research, on the respective quence of numbers and of frequent migration. Each parts of the publishers and editors, to give a speci-people, however, upon this separation, appeared in men of the new matter that has been embodied in this subsequent history sufficient for the conduct of the edition. The following account of that singular peo- the best established empires. The Goths themselves most adventurous enterprizes and the subversion of ple who first severed the chains with which Rome were subdivided into Ostro Goths and Visi Goths, reheld the world in thraldom, and afterwards imposed ferring to their relative geographical situation most their own laws and customs so firmly upon Europe, probably, after the passage of the Baltic sea; besides as entirely to supersede the civil and political insti. which were the Gepida, who also belonged,as may be gathered from a comparison of manners and a collation tutions of the ancients, comprehends in a brief space of records, to this division of the Scandinavian horde. some of the most important features of history. The The Lombards, Burgundians, and Herulians, are writer, (Mr. Da Ponte,) while on that debateable merely to be mentioned as of Gothic blood; in Europe ground of history, which lies between the fall of the they made themselves known as a distinct people, Roman empire and the rise of Feudal Europe, has or connected at most with the Vandalic stem. From the shores of the Baltic the first migration of the Goths with no little ingenuity managed the dry business of conducted them through the savage region that interdetail so as to comprize much learned information||vened, to the countries lying on the Euxine Sea.within the narrow limits to which he was restricted. From this sea they next opened themselves a passThe most puzzling thing to us in all theories and ac-posed to be the Prypee of the present day, their numage to the southern branch of the Borysthenes, sup. counts of the origin of the Goths, has ever been, that bers increasing at each march by the Venedi and such swarms of people should have come from re- Bastarne, who united with them in their devastations, gions which, with all the aids of modern civilization, allured by their success or terrified by their irresist ible power. The province of Dacia, reduced but very little progress in the story of Ellen Wareham, as that of the countries which they overran and con- sistance to the entrance of the Goths, now fixed on the first in the book, without finding our mistake, quered. The truth is, we apprehend, that the cele- its confines; and through this unresisting country, and we mention it that others may not be deterred rity of their descent upon Southern Europe is much abandoning the Ukraine, they passed, in the reign of by an unmeaning title from reading clever books. exaggerated by historians. Sufficient stress is not the Roman emperor Decius, into the second Masia, a civilized province and colony of the Empire. The laid upon the breathing spells which these hold ad-events of this war exalted the character of the BarSEQUEL TO THE JUVENILE READER; BY LYMAN COBB. venturers took on their devastating march south-barians, and struck a fatal blow to the vanity of New-York, COLLINS & HANNAY.-We have before ward; or else, instead of speaking of the icebound Rome; the Goths advanced as far as Thrace, defeahad occasion to speak in terms of commendation of regions from which they sprung as "the Northern ted the emperor in person on their way, and secured Mr. Cobb's efforts to simplify the processes of learn- Hive," which sent out such swarms, such torrents ing for beginners. In the little school book now be of human beings, that the rush of the stream alone, fore us, he has evinced good taste and discrimination carried it in a tide of desolation over the rest of Euin selecting passages in prose and in verse for the rope, the native forests of the barbarians would only use of higher classes in schools and academies.-be regarded as the sources whence those germs of Many of the selections are from approved American conquering armies were derived, which, removing by stages of generations at a time to more genial cliBOYS AND GIRLS' LIBRARY OF USEFUL AND ENTER- mates, increased like the Israelites in the wilder. taining Knowledge, Nos. IX, X, XI: Harpers.-ness, and swelled into irresistible hordes, ere they Tales of American History,' and The Young Cru- came to the promised land. MEMOIRS OF A CHAPERON-Edited by Lady Dacre. 2 vols. New York: J. & J. HARPER.-A collection of tales-five in number--all of much more than or. dinary talent, and two of them--Ellen Wareham and Milly & Lucy-admirably written and of deep interest. They deserved a better collective name, for we confess we took up the book under the impression that it was another of those mawkish novels of fashionable life so common of late; but we had made are still unable to support a population half as dense not subdued by the arms of Trajan, offered little re writers. the Empire at any future time. Their removal, on this occasion, was only effected by the payment of tribute, which Rome, still boasting her empire over the world, was content to pay to an undisciplined and first descent of the Goths upon the outposts of the half-armed tribe of barbarians. Such was the result of the Roman dominion, in the year of our Lord 252.Diverted from the western territory of the Empire, the Goths next turned to the no less inviting regions passing over into Asia, they acquired an incalculable of the cast. They seized on the Bosphorus, and, booty, effecting the subjugation of all the country through which they passed, and which offered scarcely a show of resistance to their dreaded arms. This is recorded as the first naval expedition of the brought those northern barbarians before the Long Walls of Athens, the once famous Piræus. The whole of Greece on the main land was ravaged is this descent of the Goths, who pursued their way to the borders of the sea, beyond which they could be. hold the coasts of Italy, which had not yet been an introduction within the now defenceless limits of soe,' are the subjects of these volumes, which are well There is another remarkable feature in the history selected to form a part of the collection with which of these fierce marauders-and that is the success of they are here identified. The Young Crusoe is a their invasion, in spite of the disunion and wars ex-Goths. A second succeeded, and a third, which story by Mrs. Hoffland, the author of A Son of a Ge-isting among themselves. How abject must have nius,' and othes tales. It is an account of the ship-been the condition of the then civilized world, when wreck of a lad upon an uninhabited island, and his its disciplined armies could make no stand against residence there for several months alone. Like the the naked invaders! Yet such, were it not for the celebrated work which suggested the story, its design invention of gunpowder, might hereafter be the fate |