The Press.
London, England, 1856-10-11 00:00:00

LABOUR AND KNOWLEDGE.

THE Right Hon. Joseph Napier, M.P., delivered a
lecture last week at Keswick on " Labour and Know-
ledge in Connection with the Condition and Prospects
of the Working Classes." Mr. Napier showed that
labour and knowledge in every sphere of life should
go together, and that the performance of the one
and the acquisition of the other were duties incumbent
on every class. He animadverted on the notion
entertained by some against a popular increase of
knowledge, on the ground that presumption and in-
fidelity would be fostered by it, and proved that
nothing was so presumptuous in itself, or so expensive
and injurious to society, as ignorance. Experience
testified to the opposition of sloth and ignorance to
welfare and prosperity. In showing the connection
between knowledge and labour the lecturer pointed
out how labour without knowledge is misapplied, and
how knowledge without its application to labour is
fruitless. He illustrated this pert of his subject by
reference to the great field of labour—agriculture, in
connection with the science of chemistry. He next
proceeded to notice the influence of knowledge on
labour among our manufacturing population. In
reverting to the improvements science bad introduced
to the manufacturer, whereby the demand and the
production had given rise to an excitement of com-
petition, he asked what price humanity paid for the
changes that had resulted? He quoted from an
authority on this subject in proof of the increased
depravity arising from the wide extension of compe-
tition wrought by an advance of mechanical science.
The more frequent use of intoxicating liquors had
been resorted to as a stimulant to keep up with the
exciting requirements of the times. The social as
well as the moral condition of the people was to be
greatly deplored. He then reviewed the means by
which these evils were to be counteracted—an en-
larged system of education, and the teachinf
moral and religious duties being the principal
be achieved. The religious should always
advance of the political condition of a people.

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Napier then alluded to the destiny of England,
which be believed was to send peace and prosperity
throughout the world, and concluded with an eloquent
peroration in favour of a Christian co-operation of
every class to attain this great end:—

I have endeavoured, inadequately I fear, but not un-
profitably I hope, to point out the combined claims of
labour and knowledge in alt the departments of industry.
Spiritual, moral, intellectual, manual, the claims upon
every class—the clergy and the laity; the manufacturer
and the mechanic ; the peer and the peasant; the student
and the operative—each has his post of duty in the battle
of our national life. In what I have criticised or con-
demned it has not been in a censorious spirit; it has been
with a view of remedy—just as in our late campaign the
ascrifices occasioned by a system of administrative incom•
p -tence and neglect forced upon us, from the instinct of
self-preservation, the duty of rectifying the qrrors which
were so graciously and opportunely exposed, and have been
to a great degree remedied. Let us apply the lesson of
wisdom to other departments where, in a financial aspect,
nothing is so expensive as duty neglected. I would
suggest, moreover, that the war of classes, now past and
gone, I hope, may leave behind a like lesson of remedial
activity. There is in every class a disposition to look at
the extreme to which the opposite class is liable, rather
than to reflect upon and avoid that to which itself may
perilously tend. Each class has a real interest in the in-
creasing prosperity of every other. Oar blessed Lord
spoke but few admonitions with a political application.
One, however, should never be forgotten—" A kingdom
divided against itself shall be brought to desolation." How
fearful is the sin, the desolating sin, which foments the
strife and schism of factious division. Class arrayed
against class, section striving for mastery over section,
while ignorance, distrust. jealousy, pride, mammonism go
forward to do the work of social disorganisation. But when
fellow-citizens unite, with common sympathies—Saxon
spirits and Christian hearts—encouraging every legitimate
occasion of kindly or profitable intercourse; diligent in
the several departments of labour, wisely distributed; in a
rivalry not of the thorn and the briar, which shall show the
sharpest prickle, but of the vine with the olive, which shall
bear the richest fruit, then may this Christian co-operation
be well compared to the beam of heaven, with its rays of
distinct colours, which by their intimate coalescence give
light and war.nth to the world. Go on in this spirit—may
this institute be an instrument of increasing usefulness,
not only in imparting special instruction, available to
many, but aiding in what is more properly called educa-
tion, by which good habits are formed, good feeling
cherished, good sense nurtured, and the temper of charity,
which is greater than faith or hope, maintained in its
Christian fuhiess. Party politics are wisely excluded, for
here your country is your party ; controversial theology
is excommunicated, for here Christianity is your religion—
Christianity in its divine and comprehensive simplicity, as
it shines in the beams of the. Sun of Righteousness when
he arose upon the nations with healing in his wings—a
system of love and of saving grace, with few doctrines to
be believed, but many duties to be performed—Christianity
pure and simple as it gushes from its divine fountain.
Can I, then, despair of our working classes, while society
is seasoned by this saving salt? The eye of the prophet
turned instinctively to Him who is the great source of life,
to quicken and reanimate the dry bones spread out before
him in the vision of the valley. May the breathings of
that Almighty power quicken and sanctify every agency
working for and with our working classes ! May the gra.
cious Spirit who at first breathed into man the breath of
life ever stir the soul and animate the heart and spirit of
England, and bind up her destiny with the hopes and the
happiness of the whole human race !

An adequate notion, adds the correspondent of
a contemporary, of the oration delivered by the
learned gentleman cannot be given in a condensed
report. The variety and beauty of his metaphor, the
aptness of his illustrations, the eloquence of his
phrase, and the earnestness of his manner frequently
elicited the warmest expressions of admiration and
concurrence from the audience.