4
Workshops of the Ancients,
[Book 1.
shall no longer hold the great mass of our species, in a state of unnatu-ral ignorance, and of physical degradation, beneath that of the beastswhich perish; but when the mechanics of the world, the creators of itswealth, shall exercise that influence in society to which their labors en-title them.
If we judged correctly of human character, we should admit that themechanic who made the chair in which Xerxes sat, when he reviewedhis mighty bost, or witnessed the sea fight at Salamis , was a more use-ful member of society than that great king:—and, that the artisanswho constructed the drinking vessels of Mardonius, and the brass man-gers in which his horses were fed, were really more worthy of posthu-mous fame, than that general, or the monarch he served : and, if it bemore virtuous, more praiseworthy, to alleviate human sufferings than tocause or increase them ; then that old mechanician, who, when MarcusSergius lost his hand in the Punic war, furnished him with an iron one,was an incomparably better man, than that or any other mere warrior:and so was he, who, according to Herodotus , constructed an artificial footfor Hegisostratus. a
Notwithstanding the opinion of Plato —we believe a description of theworkshops of D^edalus, and of Talus his nephew; those of Theodo-rus of Samos and of Glaucus of Chios, (the alleged inventor of the in-laying of metals ;) an account of the process of making the famous Lesbian and Dodonean cauldrons, b and of the method by which those celebratedpaintings in glass, W'ere executed, fragments of which have come downto us, and which have puzzled, and still continue to puzzle, both our ar-tists and our chemists; (the figures in which, of the most minute and ex-quisite finish, pass entirely and uniformly through the glass ;) c if to thesewere added, the particulars of a working jeweller’s shop of Persepolisand of Troy; of a lapidary’s and an engraver’s of Memphis ; of a cut-ler’s and upholsterer’s of Damascus ; and of a cabinet maker’s and bra-zier’s of Rome ; together with those of a Sidonian or Athenian ship yard—such a record would have been more truly useful, and more really in-tcresting , than almost all that ancient philosophers ever wrote, or poetsever sung.
A description of the foundries and forges of India and of Egypt ;of Babylon and Byzantium; of Sidon , and Carthage and Tyre ; wouldhave imparted to us a more accurate and extensive knowledge of theancients, of their manners and customs, their intelligence and progress inScience , than all the works of their historians extant; and would havebeen of infinitely greater service to mankind.
Had a narrative been preserved, of all the circumstances which led tothe invention and early applications of the lever, the screw, the wedge,pulley, wheel and axle, &c.; and of those which contributed to thediscovery and working of the metals, the use and management of fire,agriculture, spinning of thread, matting of feit, weaving of cloth, &c. itwould have been the most perfect history of our species—the most valua-ble of earthly legacies. Though such ä Work might have been deemed oftrifling import by philosophers of old, with what intense interest wouldit have been perused by scientific men in modern times ! and whatpure delight its examination would have imparted to every inquisitive andintelligent mind!
Such a record, would not only have filled the mighty chasm in the earlyhistory of the world, but would have had an important influence in pro-