The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-30 00:00:00

which could not be mistaken that the labour of the
year was not yet over. The sky lowered in the
direction of the Weser, whence a storm threatened
to break upon the Rhine, and he found that his
irruption into the Cherusian land was only the
signal for a general war, and that battles must be
fought, and many a soldier lie low ere the army
would rest in its winter quarters." If Arminius
svpLs looked upon with jealousy by the Adelings or
nobles, he was beloved by the people, and his in-
fluence over them was very great ; he was soon at
the head of a powerful army, and although fre-
quently defeated in pitch battles, where the disci-
pline and superior arms of the Romans gave them
the advantage, he continued so to brass them on
their marches, and to cut off stragglers to such an
extent, that in the end Germanicus had to give up
the contest, and although on his return to Rome he
was treated as a conqueror, and was honoured with
a triumph, the Romans never again held authority
in Northern Germany, and the Barbarians increased
in strength until the tide of events turned, when,
in the fifth century, the prestige of the Romans
waned, and in their turn the once conquerors of the
world were subjected to the miseries and humilia-
tionin the days of their power, they had so
wantwonhlich' y
i
nflicted on their neighbours. Throughout
the work Mr. Smith has taken great pains to fur-
nish his authority for every statement, and in
a
many instances he quotes from two or three ancientuthors, and explains his reason for his opinions.
The compilation of so extensive a work extending
over such a length of time, and going back to so
remote a date when history and fable were so often
confounded must have been a labour of years, and
we regret that Mr. Smith did not live to see his
valuable book published. This task has, however,
been performed by his son, who informs us in his
preface that he has been obliged to omit the
many valuable notes of his father, on account of the
great additional expense that would have been
incurred by their publication—this is to be re-
gretted, as much valuable and interesting infor-
m ation would doubtless have been found in them.
Mr. Smith commences his history in the earliest
ages, and gradually as he advances describes the
changes in manners, laws, and customs of the people
from the time of Cesar, who is his first reliable
authority until he reaches the period of Charle-
magne. As a book of reference, both as regards
Germany and the Roman empire this work is
valuable, and as a study of the customs of the
ancients highly interesting.

Useful Information for Engineers. By William
Fairbairn, LL.D , F.R.S. Longman.
This is a second series of lectures which have been
delivered by Mr. Fairbairn. The success of the
publication of the first series has induced him to
publish, in an extended form, his later lectures.
This volume contains much valuable information,
and the results of various experiments carried on
under his own superintendence of on the mecha-
nical properties of glass and resistance of glass
vessels to collapse—on the tensile strength of
wrought iron at various temperatures—the tensile
strength of rivet iron, and other subjects. His first
lecture is on popular education, which subject be
treats with a liberality to be expected from a man
of the author's general opinions. He advocates
strongly the scientific education of working engi-
neers, and the lower orders generally. A lecture
on the rise of civil and mechanical engineering, and
its progress to the present century, contains much
that is interesting. The reader is introduced to
Telford, Smeaton, Brindley, and other celebrated
engineers of the past century; and in the continua-
tion of the subject in a succeeding chapter, which
brings the science of engineering down to the pre-
sent time, those of the present age are introduced.
The rise and progress of steam navigation and rail-
ways is carefully discussed; and much general in-
formation is to be found under the head of " The
properties of steam, its management and applica-
tion." Throughout, these lectures are highly inte-
resting, combining. as they do much valuable
information, with interesting details, and the his-
tory of the lives and successes of eminent men. To
all those in any way connected with engineering
this work will prove most useful.