Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-01-23


1912, BY Charles wilkes.
THREE editions of this work are pub
lished: one at $4,000, another at $500,
aud the third, in five volumes, at $1,000.
The cheapest edition has lately been
added 10 the library of the Burlington
Mechanics Institute" The page, type and
reading matter of which is precisely the
same as in the addition al $25, bot wood
cuts are substituted for steel engravings, some
Of the maps are on a reduced scale, and
three Of the fourteen omitted. Abou, three
hundred cuts illustrate the manners, customs,
buildings, implements, natural cuSiusities.
discoveries disco SCENES, &c. &c., which are
described in the 2600 pages Of which the
works consists.
Few mechanics are able to pay ten dol.
lars for book and, consequently, but for
the Institute library, few of US would ever
have known much more of this expedition
than the fact that ii was fitted out by our
0USCtHIHCut u S'So' S"PVHoc' Dut nv"
the poorest Of US can, at our own firesides,
follow it from island to island, and become
just as intimate, probably, as we wish, with
their inhabitants; or 60 with the hardy sail
ors into the very home of ice and snow, of
storms, and tempes,s, and fogs,-where day
and night are scarcely distinguished and
share with them the feelings Of regret, they
experienced, when compelled TO turn their
backs on newly discovered continent, with
out being able to effect landing. This
expedition is An,erican-the first Of the kind
the new word has sent out, the first that has
sailed under the stars and stripes. To Amer.
leans il must therefore possess an interest
which the narratives of similar European
expeditions cannot excite. Very many will
pscognize among the lis, of the officers ant
crews. the names Of acquaintance ant
friends, as almost every state in the Union
il here represented.
This work constitutes, in numbers. onl.
. hundrsdth part of the books which thu
Institute has already collected. Yet deem
the reading Of this one, well worth the ex
pense Of membership, or Of right to thu
use Of the library for year. and believe tina
oil, who care any thing about knowing VIVA
the world is made of, and will read it. wi
say they have their moneys worth. 1t
On old saying, that one half Of the worl
don't know how the other half lives b.
people generally wish to know, and it
we'll that they should; especially is th
knowledge likely to benefit the people {
the United States. To contrast the cond
ton of the people,-particularly those {
our own rank, the climate, the soil, III
diseases. the reptiles and insects, of othe
countries with those of our own favore
land. cannot fail Of exciting gratitude. cor
tentment, and love Of home.
But If such is the taste of The readin
public that nothing will interest it but fash
enable love stories, where a pretty wife
for instance, by putting ten dollars wee
into the family bible. for five years. WI
able, at the end Of that time, 10 shake 900
dollars on, Of it-which may probably
called the romance of ariihmeiic-then L
this narrative be tumbled over, omittr
every thing that treats Of such dull matter
- history, geography. the customs of pei
PIE who eat each other, and sirsngle tn