14 THE FAMILY LIBRARY. 



the means of escape from absurdities calculated to retain 

 them in mental slavery. 



The eye and the ear are of course the great organs of 

 deception, and accordingly optical illusions occupy a conside- 

 rable portion of the volume. The illusions depending on the 

 ear succeed, and after these, we are treated with amusing 

 descriptions of feats of strength, of mechanical automata, and 

 of some of the more popular wonders of chemistry. Under 

 each of these divisions, anecdotes of the most interesting 

 kind illustrate the author's explanations, and no subject, in 

 itself grave and important, was ever on the whole treated in 

 a more amusing manner. 



LIFE AND TIMES OF WASHINGTON. 



By CYRUS R. EDMONDS. 2 Vols. 



As the foundation of the American Republic is attributable 

 to British error, its history is identified with our own. Those 

 who have related the events of that memorable period, and 

 drawn the character of the patriot-general, living too near 

 the epoch, were dazzled, and discovered only the beauty of 

 republican principles. Written when party -feeling had died 

 away, and limited monarchy allowed to vindicate its supe- 

 riority, Mr. Edmonds's Life of Washington is free from that 

 nationality which disfigures biography, and fearlessly defends 

 British institutions against the advocates of democracy. The 

 more voluminous memoirs of the virtuous republican chief 

 abound with American prejudices ; these volumes are English 

 both in style and sentiment. 



THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON BTTONAPAETE. 



With 15 Engravings on Steel and Wood, by FINDEN and THOMP- 

 SON; the Woodcuts from Designs byGEO. CRUIKSHANK. 

 The fact that since the publication of this work, SEVEN-AND- 

 TWENTY THOUSAND copies have been disposed of in this 

 country, beside various editions in America, will speak more 

 in its favour than the most artful and high-flown praise. It 

 is an epitome of all that has been proved to be true con- 

 cerning the career of the most extraordinary man of the last 

 thousand years. We possessed no previous epitome of his 

 history ; and notwithstanding the smallness of space into 

 which it is compressed, the narrative is clear. The Life of 

 Xapoleon, doubly interesting when relieved of the tedious- 



