Part 37

--> These works are designed to exhibit, in a popular form, SELECT BIOGRAPHIES, ANCIENT AND MODERN; the Wonders and Curiosities of HISTORY, NATURE, ART, SCIENCE, AND PHILOSOPHY, with the Practical Duties of Life.

It cannot be deemed invidious to say, that no similar work has met with equal favor at the hands of the public, as the following testimonials, among many others, will show:--

The Hon. H. G. Otis, of Boston, says,

I view it as the best compendium of useful learning and information, respecting its proposed contents, for the use of young persons and schools, that has fallen within my knowledge. It abounds in illustrations of the history of the world, and the customs and manners of nations, that may be read by general scholars of any age, with pleasure.

The Rev. Dr. Sprague says, Albany,

I regard the Cabinet Library as a most important accession to the means of intellectual and moral culture, especially in respect to the rising generation. But while it is peculiarly adapted to the young, it may be read by persons of any age with both pleasure and profit. To men of business, who have not leisure to read extensively, and indeed to all who would keep up with the times, the work is invaluable. It is also suited to the various members of the family circle, --> and is among the very best of the libraries for public schools. I learn that it is introduced into the public schools of this city, (Albany,) and various other places, and I cannot doubt that it will ultimately be adopted in our seminaries of learning generally.

Charles Sprague, Esq., of Boston, says,

I have read, with both pleasure and profit, all the numbers of your very instructive Cabinet Library. My friend and namesake, the Rev. Dr. Sprague, has so exactly expressed my opinion of the work, that I need only adopt his language, in recommending it, as I cheerfully do, to the favorable attention of both teachers and learners.

From the Quincy Patriot,

We recommend it (Parley's Cabinet Library) as peculiarly valuable to families. We often see one young man taking precedence of others in the race of life. If we could read his history minutely, we should see the explanation of the case to be, that he had a better head or a better heart than others. Now we know of no works so well calculated to mould the head and heart aright as those of "Peter Parley."

Those parents who wish to have their children "go ahead" in life, should place Parley's Cabinet Library within their reach. We have never seen a work better suited to bestow instruction, or that inculcates truth in a more pleasant fashion.

From the Boston Courier,

They are exceedingly agreeable books, and such as young and old may peruse with pleasure and profit. The moral and religious account to which the author turns every subject must render the work peculiarly suitable to the family and the school library. We cheerfully commend the work to the public as one of sterling value.

From the Boston Atlas,

It is a compact family and school library of substantial reading, which is delightful in point of style, and wholesome in its moral, social, and religious tendency.

From the Boston Post,

We hardly know when we have been better pleased with a publication than this.

From Hunt's Merchant's Magazine,

This work, now complete, is the most elaborate of the works of the author for the young; and we think it quite the best. It is a library of facts, and seems intended to cultivate a taste for this kind of reading. It is said that "truth is stranger than fiction," and no one who has perused these pages can feel any necessity for seeking excitement in the high-wrought pages of romance. Every subject touched by the author seems invested with a lively interest; and even dry statistics are made, like steel beneath the strokes of the flint, to yield sparks calculated to kindle the mind. In treating of the iron manufacture,--a rather hard subject, it would seem,--we are told that, every "working day, fifty millions of nails are made, bought, sold, and used in the United States;" and, in speaking of the manufacture of cotton, we are informed that the Merrimack mills of Lowell alone "spin a thread of sufficient length to belt the world, at the equator, in two hours."

The work was doubtless intended for the young; and we think it quite equal, for this object, to any thing that has been produced; yet it is also suited to the perusal of all classes, especially to men of business, who find little leisure for reading, and who yet are unwilling to be left behind in the great march of knowledge and improvement. As there is now a strong desire, especially among the enlightened friends of education in this state, to have the common schools supplied with suitable books for libraries, we heartily commend this series to the notice of all who are desirous of obtaining books for this object. They are unquestionably among the best that have been prepared for school libraries, being every way attractive and instructive.

No one can fail to be pleased with the simplicity and elegance of the style, and with the vein of cheerfulness, humanity, and morality, which runs through the pages of the volumes. The moral influence of the work, especially upon the young, cannot fail to be in the highest degree effective and salutary.

From the Troy Whig,

They are written in an easy and graceful style, and are compiled from the most authentic sources. They will be found highly attractive to young people of both sexes, and worthy to be read by persons of mature age.

From the Albany Advertiser,

It would be difficult to find any where, in such convenient compass, so much healthy and palatable food for the youthful mind as is furnished by Parley's Cabinet Library.

From the Albany Argus,

We know of no series of volumes on kindred subjects so good as these for parents to put into the hands of their children. It is due not only to the author, who has rendered great service to the cause of American literature, but to the work itself, and to the best interests of the youth of our nation, that these volumes should be scattered all over the land.

From the New England Puritan,