The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-08 00:00:00

THE DIGNITY OF LABOUR.

I have faith in labour, and I see the goodness of
God in placing us in a world where labour alone can
keep us alive. I would not change, if I could, our
subjection to physical wantr, our exposure to hunger
and cold, and the necessity of constant conflicts with
the material world. I would not, if I could, so temper
the elements that they should infuse into us only grate-
ful sensations, thaz„ they should make vegetation so exu-
berant es to anticipate every want, and the minerals
so ductile as to offer no resistance to our strength and
skill. Such a world would make a contemptible race.
Man owes his growth, his energy, chiefly to that striv-
ing of the will, that conflict with difficulty, which we call
effort. Easy,pleasant work, does not make robust minds
does not give men such a consciousness of their powers,
does not train to endurance, to perseverance, to steady
force of will, that force without which all other acqui-
sitions avail nothing . Manual labour is a school where
men are placed to get energy of purpose and charac-
ter, a more important endowment than the learning
of all other schools. They are placed, indeed, under
hard masters, physical
,sufferings and wants, the power
of fearful elements, and the vicissitudes of all human
things ; but these stern teachers do a work which no
compassionate, indulgent friend could do for us ; and
true wisdom will bless Providence for their sharp
ministry. I have great faith in hard work. The ma-
terial world does much for the mind by its beauty and
order ; but it does much for the mind by the pains it in-
flicts, by its obstinate resistance, which nothing but pa-
tient toil can overcome, by its vast forces which nothing
but unremitting skill and effort can turn to our use, by
its perils which demand continual vigilance, and by its
tendencies to decay. I believe that difficulties are
more important to the human mind than what we call
assistances. Work we all must, if we mean to bring out
and perfect our nature. Even if we do not work with
the hands, we must undergo equivalent toil in some
other direction. No business or study which does not
present obstacles, tasking to the full the intellect and the
will, is worthy of a man. In science, he who does
not grapple with hard questions, who does not con-
centrate his whole intellect in vigorous attention,
who does not aim to penetrate what at first
repels him, will never attain to mental force.
The uses of toil reach beyond the present world.
T'no capacity of steady, earnest labour is, I appre-
hend, one of our greatest preparations for another
state of being. When I see the vast amount of toil
roqu'red of men, I feel that it must have important
connections with their future existence ; and that he
who has met this discipline manfully, has laid one es-
sential foundation, improvement, exertion, and happi-
ness in the world to come. You will here see that to
me labour has great dignity. It. is not merely the
grand instrument by which the earth is overspread
with fruimattertfulness and bcauty, and the ocean subdued,
an wrought into innumerable forms for
com-
fort and ornament. It has a far higher function
which is, to give force to the will, cffieien,y,
the capacity of endurance and of preserving
to far-reaching plans. Alas for the man who has not
learned to work He is a poor creature. He does
not know himself. He depends on others, with no ca- I
parity of making returns for the support they give ; and
let him not fancy that he has a monopoly of enjoyment.
E4se, rest, owes its deliciousness to toil ; and no toil is
to burdensome as the rest of him who has nothing to
task and quicken his powers.—Channinis Lectures on
the Elevation of the Working Classes.

LIEUTENANT WELLSTED'S TRAVELS TO
TIE CITY OF THE CALI ems, &c .—ln these days of dull and flat
common-place, it is quite " ref. eshing" to come upon
arr
tir
eof strange travel and wild adventure like this, which d
n-
re-
eels to mind the exploits of the old voyagers of Spain
England when half the world was " tnidisovered," and the
ether half unknown." Our traveller quits India by embarking
on the Persian Gulf in a trading vessel bound for Muscat, and
the first important features of his narrative relate to that re-
markable city. Here he commences slave-merchant, and
embarks for tiambrun—visiting in his way thither, some of
the singular islands in the Persian Gulf, arid particularly those
where the pearl fisheries are established—of which he gives an
interesting fiegcription. In due course he reaches Bagdad, the
celebrated City of the Caliphs," remains there a considerable
length of time, and affords many details of it that are not
to be found in the narrative of any other traveller. Among
the inwt interesting of his adventures are those which take
mow, the Arabs of the Desert, particularly the Be-
dietine, with whom he passes a considerable period ; and the
character of these proverbially wild" men, and of the womc
who share their desert life, is full of interest. Another poin
of great interest in these sketches is the celebrated city of Da
21?ICUI, of ethich we have many graphic and characteristic
scriptions.
The first volume concludes with a visit to Tripoli
bang, ,and
ABa lbec. The second volume is filed with a
!
joueney to the coasta of Arabia, and a comprehensive tour on the
whole forming. a publication of
singuhir of Socotra—the
singular inteMt and entettainnrtnt.—Nro..a! and Milita)y
Gssetie.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
BAIL COURT, JUNE 6.
STEELE AND WIFE V. PEARCE.

Mr. PLATT stated that this action was brought
to recover a compensation in damages for a most
serious injury which the female plaintiff had sus-
tained in consequence of her having been bitten by
n horse belonging to the defendant. The plaintiff is a
compositor, and the defendant is a builder, residing in a
place called the Coal-yard, in Drury-lane. On the 28th
of October the female plaintiff was walking through the
Coal-yard, in company with a woman named M'Gowan,
and at the same time a cart belonging to the defendant
was standing near the kerbstone, and some of the defen-
dant's servants were in the act of loading it. As she
passed the horse the animal suddenly made a snap at her,
and having caught her by the breast in his teeth, the vicious
animal actually lifted her off the ground, and having car.
ried her to the opposite side of the yard, dashed her down
with great violence. She got up, and was again seized in
i a similar manner when her screams brought some persons
tio her assistance, by whom she was rescued from her pe-
rilous situation. A crowd of people were quickly at-
tracted to the spot, among whom was the defendant, who,
on being informed of what had happened, said to his
carman—" Why did you not put a nose-bag on this
horse ? you know what a horse it is." Thus admitting that
himself and his servants were aware of the vicious pro-
pensities of the animal. The unfortunate woman was,
by the desiro of the defendant, who promised to pay the
expenses, taken to a neighbouring surgeon, who, on exa-
mination, found that her breast was most dreadfully in-
jured by the bite she had received. A long time elapsed be-
fore she recovered, and even now it was doubtful whether
she might not have a cancer in her breast, in which case the
probability was that she would lose her life. In addition
to the pain and suffering which she had undergone, she
had been for several weeks prevented from attending to
her own business (that of a map.colourer), and her hus-
band had been put to considerable expense for medical
advice, which latter expenditure. notwithstanding his pro-
mise at the time of the transaction, the defendant had sub-
sequently refused to reimburse him. Some few weeks
after the transaction the female plaintiff applied to the de-
fendant for some pecuniary compensation for the injury
which she had sustained, but her application was refused
in a very unfeeling manner; and a letter subsequently
written by the plaintiff's attorney, stating that an action
would be commenced unless he made the plaintiff a suit-
able compensation, remained to this day unanswered.
Under these circumstances the plaintiffs had been com-
pelled to bring the present action, and he (Mr. Platt)
trusted that the Jury would award her ample damages for
the very dreadful injury which she had sustained.
The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages,
l 0/.