Picturesque and imposing as deeds of arms appear, the victories of peace--the development of great discoveries and inventions, the performance of serene acts of beneficence, the achievements of social reform--possess a deeper interest and a truer romance for the seeing eye and the understanding heart. Wounds and death have to be encountered in the struggles of peace as well as in the contests of war; and peace has her martyrs as well as her heroes. The story of the cotton-spinning invention is at once as tragic and romantic as the story of the Peninsular war. There were "forlorn hopes" of brave men in both; but in the one case they were cheered by sympathy and association, in the other the desperate pioneers had to face a world of foes, "alone, unfriended, solitary, slow." The following pages contain sketches of some of the more momentous victories of peace, and the heroes who took part in them. The reader need hardly be reminded that this brief list does not exhaust the catalogue either of such events or persons, and that only a few of a representative character are here selected. In the present edition the different sections have been carefully revised, and the details brought down to the latest possible date. J. H. F. Contents. THE ART OF PRINTING-- 1. John Gutenberg, 13 2. William Caxton, 28 3. The Printing Machine, 32 THE STEAM ENGINE-- 1. The Marquis of Worcester, and his Successors, 53 2. James Watt, 63 THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON-- 1. Kay and Hargreaves, 77 2. Sir Richard Arkwright, 81 3. Samuel Crompton, 90 4. Dr. Cartwright, 98 5. Sir Robert Peel, 104 THE RAILWAY AND THE LOCOMOTIVE-- 1. "The Flying Coach," 111 2. The Stephensons: Father and Son, 116 3. The Growth of Railways, 133 THE LIGHTHOUSE-- 1. The Eddystone, 141 2. The Bell Rock, 153 3. The Skerryvore, 160 STEAM NAVIGATION-- 1. James Symington, 171 2. Robert Fulton, 176 3. Henry Bell, 183 4. Ocean Steamers, 186 IRON MANUFACTURE-- Henry Cort, 193 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH-- 1. Mr. Cooke, 201 2. Professor Wheatstone, 204 3. The Submarine Telegraph, 209