THE BOOK OF BIRMINGHAM.
THIS is a sign of the times. We have had antiquarian, topogra- phical, and picturesque descriptions of cities and counties, without number ; but a commercial periodical, devoted to a single, though great manufacturing acid trailing town, is a novelty. The men of Birmingham, who have exercised a political power as great as any mechanical power they employ—who demonstrated the expansive force of public opinion in a way as wonderful as that of steam— who exemplified the working of the grand principle of union in moral as well as in mechanical power—who, tbrmeil into one com- pact body, acted as the wedge to split into fragments the faction that resisted the progress of ltform—the workmen of Birming- ham, having wiped their swarthy brows, and rested their sinewy arms from the toil of political agitation, have commenced a re- cord of their more peacefbl labours of the smithy. Mr. HAWKES SMITH, who writes in a high-raised tone (from which we have got the key to a similar strain), after giving a general account of the mining. district of South Stallbrdshire,—in which he raps old CAMDEN on the knuckles for speaking " slight- ingly and reverently" of its productions,—takes a sketch of the history of Birmingham, wherein lie assigns to it the honour of having manufactured the war-chariots armed with scythes, if not the swords and spears, used by the ancient Britons. lie then proceeds to give a detailed description of the manufactures of Birmingham, beginning with that, great leviathan of mechanics the steam-engine, as constructed by Warr.
We cannot do better than extract a specimen of the style of the historian of the city of forges, whose sons laugh to scorn lame old Vulcan and the one-eyed Cyclops: for what was the forge of the g..d of blacksmiths, with the contents of one of the wind-bags of
Folus to blow up his fire, compared with its blast-furnaces? or t he sledge-hammers of the Cyclops to the ponderous tilt-hammers of Birmingham? One of her steam-engines would work a stomach- pump that should create a vacuum even in the abdominal reser- voir of a river god; and the diving-bells that she makes will soon enable mortals to compel old Neptune, that wholesale dealer in marine stores, to restore the ill-gotten plunder hid in his oozy bed. The appearance of a mining district is thus described.
The person who now for the first tinvi traverses our milling count es w-th an eye to their peculiarities, is struck with astonishment at the magni ode and extent of the operations performed. He sees himself surrounded by unm in- hered clouds of smoke, which affect the entire atmosphere. He discovers hub hags of peculiar and unwonted form—massive and Egyptian-like pyramids of masonry, accompanied by chimnies which emulate in altitude and tenuity the tallest obelisk. Here and there he sees protruded the mighty arm of the giant of art, the potent steam-engine, whirling the heavy fly which regulates the mo- tions of the whole attached machinery; while the sky is crossed by the light tracery of wheels and ropes adapted to the purposes of the mines, both right and left of the moving power. The prospect, where the view is not impeded by the flat-topped mountainous ridges of cinder, is varied by numerous clustering hamlets, or assemblages of small houses. the habitations of time countless labourers and others called into activity by the neighbouring Works : interspersed here and there with modern mansions of superior pretension, oddly placed ; or with dwellings of a still less congruous character ; curious specimens of fretted brick- work, embroidered chimney-stacks and chevroned gables; or black and white timbered grange-houses, the reliques of an agricultural age, invaded by the en- croachments of s ke and bustle ;—all intermixed with a moderate supply of green or greenish fields, dotted occasionally with sooty sheep or cattle. Canals, with all their appurtenances, intersect the region in every direction, and strange noises from every quarter are wafted to the ear. If the visitor venture to explore the penetralia of those establishmeats whose exterior has attracted his attention, he notes with admiration the fiery gleams, the rivulets of molten metal, emulating the character of toe fabulous Phlegethon ; the deafening roar of the seeming-magic blast, which urges the fires to an Mten- sity sufficient to " melt the sullen ore ;" the motion—the whirl—the power of machinery—the clangour of perpetually-acting hammers; the labourers hur- rying to and fro, the crowd without confusion, the silence of the powerless voice. All these, and more than these, are seen, heard, and experienced ; and the observer here, more, perhaps, than in any other situation, feels himself im- pressed with the practical commentary on the words of our dramatist- .. What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason ! how infiniteinlacuLlies ! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god I" After this, it is only necessary for us to say that the prates, en- graved on steel, consist of a view of Birmingham, by. CaRswicx ; a section of WATis double-acting steam-engine ; audt &dozen views of streets, public buildings, manufactories, shops,. &c.,. serving as ornamental advertisements of the various establishments. They
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