Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1829-07-09

ialrs oil the world, but they are far the mos,
"cure' exert themselves the most in order t.
obtain the most influence.
Mechanlcs might have the same mower
yea, much more; for the feel:no and ,bs M
Joriiy OF the world are on their side; thew hay,
an interest TOO, IN proPping up themselves,
In building mp their own professions; and
now IL they mad disposition TO exert their
power and acquire information in order to
direct their energies Alright, they would bavc
within themselves an irresistible influence O.
yer the destlnics OF others. Mechanics donot
hold that rank In society they might hold if
they pleased, and which they IRE entitled 10
hold by the good they do to mankind. Bin,
make every mechanic feel the deep necossi
| ty OF cuitiVating his mind and drawing our
Its hidden treasures; make him feel that his
mental power over'society, as in fact il does
depends upon the quantity Conformation he,
acquires; let HIM behsye that tact and skill
ful knowledge Of the human character. are
as necessary to him as a knowledge of his
tools, and you give that mechanic his due
proportion of influence with the world.
| But we arc stopped at once and told by the
mechanic, that he has no leisure to cultivate
his intellect, no time to spend in acquiring in
formations; his every day avocationa demand
all ms attention and all his time. 1t is no
such thing. Every man, even the busies:
the most industrious, has leisure enough. il
. he Is disposed 20 spend that leisure as he;
ought, instead OF Willing it away in trifiing
and idieness. Put these questions 10 your
self and see Ii you have no leisure How
many evenings do you spend in dleness, il,
ioungng, in useless talk, in beating the
streets! How many more hours are ieyo-
ted to sleep than are necessary for your
heaitht How many useless moments are
spent IN lingering about the table before and
alter inealst How much Of the Sabbath,
aside from all hours due to devotion, is en-.
tirely wasted, VIXEN all might have been spent
IN reading valuable books! Let us make a
calculation. One hour can be devoted eve
ry day by every body, no matter what may be-
his employment, 10 reading. One hour each
I day, In ayear amounts to 565 hours. Ever
/ Sabbath SIX homs, besides going 10 church
twice, can be found, which ought to be deyc-
ted to reading. This time would give 3Ia
hours IN year, which added 10 the other.
makes 677 hours that every nun can have
every year to devote to reading In twenty
years this time amounts TO ga DAYS hours.
! reckoning the days at "a hours each; or 10
I ii28 days hours, reckoning the DAYS az 10
hours each. If mechanic then spends
The time we have allotted him i'm literary and
scientific pursuits, at the end of twenty wears.
he VIII have devoted more time to literature
a. science than any of our educated men will
nave Done In SIX years, allowing them to spend
SIX hours day in their studies (very few Of
whom spend half that timc.) Now II ever,
mechanic were to pass his time thus, he would
| at the expiration of twenty wears have an
education infinitely more valuable than any
OF our literary mon have at twenty-five. tween.
| tly-eIght, and thirty years of age 1t Is
iancltui idea that people have, when they say
an education cannot be acquired without
money, without an instructor. Instructors
were intended for boys who have no disposi.
4 ton to study, and for ounces who are uno
bic TO learn unless their education is woven
into them with their growth, or beaten into
them with the switchaud Gerule, not for grown
men who tcel the Importance of an education
nor Tor mechanics or apprentices who have
got 10 hght Their way for themselves or sub
NIT to the direction OF the better educated
Inc idea about the want of time, is a mere
phantom. Franklin found time in the midi.
OF all bis labors to dive into the hidden 70.
ceSses OF philosophy aud to explore an up.
trodden path OF science. The great Frede-
4 TIC, with an empire at his direction, in tho
midst OF war, on the eve Of battles which vere
to decide the fate Of bis Kingdom, found time
to revcl in all the charms Of philosophy onJ
intellectual pleasures Buonaparte, with all
Europe at bis disposal; with Kings In his an
tl-chambcr begging for vacant thrones, with
thousands of men whose dcstinies were s,,s
pended on the brittle thread Of his arbitrary
pleasure, had time 20 converse with books.
Cesar, when he had eurbcd the spirits of the
Roman people, and was thronged with visi
ters from the remotest kingdom, found time
for intellectual cultivation. E,ery man has
time, If he is careful to improve IT, aud if he
does improve it he can reap a threefold r.
ward. Let mechanics then nuke use of tho
hours at their disposal, if they want to obtain
proper influence in society. They are the
hle blood OF the community; they can if they
please hold in their hands the dcstinies OF
our republic; they are numerous, respectable
and powerfuli aud they have only to be cdu-
Gated half as well as other professions TO