Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1838-03-22
TRUE NOBILITY OF LABOR.
ny REV. oRvILLE DRwRv.

""SS"""s OF huManlty1 In this
view, the employment Of mere muscular
strength is ennobled. There is a central
point in every mans life, around whicI, ali
ms tolls and cares revOlve. 1t is that spot
which Is consccrated by the names of wife.
and children and home. A secret. an al
most impercsptible influence from that snot
which is, like no other on earth, steals into
the breast Of the yirtuous laboring man. I
and strengthens every weary step Of his TOLL.
Every blow that is struck in the workshop
and the field, finds an echo in that holy
shrine Of his affections. Ifhe who fights
To project his home, rises to the point Of
heroic virtue no less may he who labors,
his life long, to provide for that home.-
Peace be within these domestic walls, and
prosperity beneath those humble roofs!
But should it ever be otherwise i; should
the time ever come when The invaders stem
approaches to touch those sacred thresh-
holds, ] see in the labors that are taken for
them, thar wounds win be taken for them,
too; see in every honest workman a.
round me a hero te9 elS
z So materialado deem this point--the
true nobility Of labor, that / would
dwell upon it a moment longer, and IN a
larger view. Why, then, in the great scale
otthings, is labor ordained for us2 Easily.
had it SO pleased lie great Ordainer, might
il have been dispensed with. The world
,tse'i might have been mighty machinery
Tor the production Of all that man wants.
The motion of The globe upon its axis,
might have been the power TO move the
world Of machinery. Ten thousand wheels
within wheels might have been at works
ten thousand processes, more curious and
complicated than any man can devise. might
have been going forward without mans aid:
houses might have risen like an exhalation
Vt dulcet symphonies, and voices sweet, t
Built like temple; III.
gorgeous furniture might have been placed
in them, and soft couches and luxurious BAN
quets spread, by hands unseen; and man.
clothed with fabrics of natures weaving.
richer than imperial purple. might have
been sent to disport himself in these Elys-
ian palaces. Fair scene = / imagine YOU
are saying fortunate for US had il been the
scene ordained for human life = But
where then, tell me, had been human, en-
ergy, perseverance,, patience, virtue, hero
ism? Cut off with one blow from the world,
and mankind had sunk TO a crowd, nay far
beneath crowd ofAsiatic voluptnaries.
No, il had not been fortunate. Better that
the earth be given to man as dark mass,
Wherein to labor. Better that rude and
unsightly materials be provided in the ore
beds and forest, for him to fashion into
splendor and beauty. Better, / say, NOT
because OF thai splendor and beauty, but
because the act Of creating them is better
than the things themselves; because exer-
ton is nobler than enjoyment; because tho
laborer is greater than aud more worthy of
honor than the idler. I call upon those
whom ! address to stand up for the nobil-
ity oflabor. tits heavens great ordinance
for human Improvement. Let not that
great ordinance be broken down. What
do sayl 1t Is broken down; and It has
been broken downfor ages. Let it then be-
built up again here, il any where, on these
shores Of new world, Of a new civilization.
But how, | may be asked, is ii broken
down? Do not men toll, it may be said
They do indeed toll, but they too general
ly do IL because they must. Many sub
mi, to it as in some sort degrading ne
cessity and they desire nothing so much
on earth as escape from il. HV
They fulfil the great law of labor in tho
letter, but break it ia the spirit; fulfil i. with
The muscle, but break it with the mind
To some field Of labor, mental or manual.
every idler should fasten, as a chosen and
coveted theatre of improvement. But SO
is he not impelicd to do under the teach
ings Of our imperfect civilization. On the
contrary, he sits down, folds his hands, and
blesses himself in his idleness. This way
Of thinking is the hcri,age Of tho absurd
and unjust feudal system under which
serfs Iabored, and gentlemen spent their
lives in lighting aud leas,ing. 1t is time
that this approbriunI Of toll were done a
way. Ashamed 10 toll, art thou9 Asham-
ed Of the dizzy work shop and dusty labor
field Of thy hard, baud, SCARED with SER
vice more honorable than that of war; Of
Thy soiled and weather stained garments.
on which mother natut has embroidered,
amidst sun and rain, midst fire and steam.
her own heraldric honors2 Ashamed Of
these tokens and titles, and envious 0f the
Aannting robes Of imbecile idIeness and
vanity2 IL is treason 10 nature !; il Is i'm
piety TO heaven; il is breaking heavens
great ordinance. Toll, I repeat it-toil,
either of, tho brain, OF the heart or Of the
hand. is the only true manhood, the only
true nobility. .a ss T
Falsthood.- IT here are many sins. even
Of commission. which elude our own detec-
ton. from, the indefinite or plausible aspect