New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-31
Ntm91ork DAILY @ribm,te
FROM MASSACHUSETTS.
THE ADAMS LIBRARY.

yeyv old books are often very hard reading, and
,.t one Of these ancient volumes always fills me
,v,,h certain respect and if it be very old indeed,
INSPIRES me with certain affection. 10 not De-
64,e that any triAiDg consideration would induce
mo IN read through this foe copy Of Creechs Lu-
c,s,;u. London. i7l5) but like 10 look at 1t, to
handle 4. aDd to smell it. 1t gives me pleasure
N reject that it has given pleasure to 80 many
o,hers that grave men have searched II Tor pbIos-
o,bv. and lovers looked ato it for exotic flights;
that Il has beguiled solitude, and perhaps sevisted
vsip; and that, when books were rarer than now,
4 had value Of which We can have no adequate
notion. II j. pleasant, too, TO think how, when
y.upe Mr. Creecb, Of Wadham College, Oxon,
Ind finished bs WORK, brother bards, throwing aside
their chartered rritability, crowned him with
"comne ndstory poems," AID heartily welcomed
be babtliDg how even the great Dryden, who had
himself essayed the business, spoke well of 1t. 1t
isyery odd. however, to fDd Mrs. Behn saying:
--",bou hast laugh. more
Than al the Ibshiy bards tina. went before
think il odd, because / had supposed that Mrs.
Behn knew more, iotuitIyely, Of certain things
than even Lucretius could teach Ter. Nor do We
at all expect Mr.. j. Evelyn piping in such com
paDY But be, too, sent bis verses, and very bad
oles they were / do not know why the yirtuous
people should almost always be stupid. Msnde-
ylles "Fable Of tie Bees is one Of the wickedest
and most entertaining of books, and bere lie virtu
ous answer to it by Richard Fiddes, ID. ID. Ii
bod been baDsmaD, 1 should rather nave burned
tie book Of the Doctor of Divinity, which is ioex-
puuibly dull and the ideal of stupidity.
Would you have believed tsatany Winthrop ever
wrote UPON such an exciting aOd may say reyola-
tonary subject as earthquakes Yet even so did
John Winthrop Hollis, Professor Of Masbemstics
in Cambridge, Mass, in 1855, on the occasion OF
the great earthquake which shook NeH-Eugaud
tbe week before, l. G., on Tuesday, the 18th Of No
yeuber, about quarter after four in the morning,
and frightened both saints aud sinners sadly beside
breaking of the spindle OF the yane on Faneuil Hall
I his little quaIt0 has marginal notes, though not IN
the handwriting of Mr.. Adams: "l16i, March IL,
- about ] after two IN the morning, we had an
&" ear Itbquake resembling though not quite eqlaling
that which gave occasion to this discourse IN vo-
lence and DURATION. Another note hits the super
stltions OF the day; An imagination that thcse
tbIngs are Of 10 use IN nature but 10 punlsh ana
alarm and arouse sinners, could not be derived
from real Revelation, because 1t IL Tar from being
4" true though few persons were persuaded to think
60" Prof Winthrop had no superstltlons, ana
boldly declared that the aforesaid earthquakes have
very much improved the quality OF well-water
Here is presentation copy for antlqiarlans. III
is inscribed: ".John Adams, esq, from his humble
servant, Joseph Warren" 1t is copy OF War
ren's Grafton March 3, l772) in COMMUNICATION
of the Boston Massacre and contains that hne
passage which has been spouted by every New
England scboolboy, and beginning, a." he voice oi
your fathers blood cries to YOU nom Inc greuhd'
"My sons, scOrn TO be slaves"
This copy OF DIR. Samuel Vests Election Sermon
l7S6) is interesting proving what did not KNOW
before, that the Doctor wrote better English tnan
almost any man of his day in Amerlca-bad Engiish
beng about that time, very much III isshlon, eS-
pecially in the pulpit. Vests style was pure and
slmost az quiet as that of Claiming By the way, the
Doctor was higher.law man, and, upon this occa-
sion, presented his opino's very freely. Never,
he says, twas people eventually benefited by IN
"ustice ney was the path OF integrity and justice
ste adly pu sued, in the management OF pubnc at
fairs but it tended 10 the good OF society lhs ls
and must be the case whatever shrewd politicians
may suggest to the contrary, so long a. the con-
"stitution of the universe continues what 1t Is at
present, with righteous God ruling at It's head
Bravo, Samuel
The Haniltonian method of teaching languages,
by literal TRANSACTIONS not new one. Here
are the works of Terence Gin English and Latin.
"For the use of young scholars, that they may more
"readly attain the purity of the Latin for common
discourse. BY Charles H0oe. London: 1870.
Hooe in his preface, declines to say any ching upon
the benefit of translations, having said enough con-
eerbDg it in bis preface 10 Cato. His translation
is very spirited.
did not intend again to air my book madness,
but this fire copy Of an old work has been too
much for ly resolution. 1t is Dell Historic dl
"CremoDa d'Antonio Campo, Cavalero, Plttore et
Architetto Cremonese." Milan Gio. bat'sta
Bdeh. MDCXLV. Bound in vellum. Dedicated
TO Philip IV. Eugrayings very curious Bound
with this is History OF the Dukes aud Duchesses
of Milan, with portraits engraved upon every page
in connection with the letter-press; and very hue
portraits they are, and particularly is that of Bloody
Mary of England. Altogether this book Is "a gem
both for size and quality"
A book of high esteem with the manacs is this:
"Atene Attica Descritta da suOi Prlnclpn slno all
aequisto fa,to dali Arm Vente mel 1867. Di Fran
ceseo Faneh j. c. ed AvvocatO Neneto. Nenezla,
MDCCVH. Appresso Antonio Bortoi." This is a
book in great repute aud is honorably mentioned by
lie Roy and by Walpole. The trontsplece is a
gem with "Aexand Via &C" in one corner. The
covers are profusely aud beautifully engraved but
most of the portraits are bad and the etterpress is
coarse.
Corps Universel Dpomatique du Droits des
Gems is great work. for it is in twenty large folio
volumes. II Was printed IN Amsterdam in l726, and
weighs about TIVE hundred pounds. As l have
never heard that Mr.. Adams did anything part ~
lary foolish abroad, presume that he must have
studied this book thoroughly; and if poor Hsnnegan
had done so, he would not have behaved SO eccen-
trically in Prussia. Even now the excellent John
Y. Mason should take chapter of ii every morning
before breakfast that he may learn 10 deport himself
Enthusiastically at the refined court Of l.. \. Buona-
parte This book is not only big, but It's dry indoc
uipatons are relieved by few fiue engraslngs, in-
chainr superb 'front.' spiece rraitez De PaiX) by B.