Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-05-19

wright, in wood We are slow of pace, and
feeble Of sinew, and are consequently obliged
to avail ourselves of the superior speed and
strength of brutes, and hence the numerous
arts connected with the subjugaton of the do
mestic animals to the various uses of man.,
and with other modes Of transport and loco
motion.
1t may not be impertinent here to devote a
word to the social position, in different ages and
countries, of those who have exercised the
mechanic arts. These arts, as has already been
limited, were domestic in their origin, and their
successful exercise would necessarily require
the highest degree of ingenuity and intelli-
gence which savage life affords. These quail
ties would ordinarily be found united in the
highest perfection in the older and more expert
enccd members of family, and as the possess
sion of the weapons of the chase and of war
was indispensable both to the maintenance and
defence of life, the most dexterous fabricator
of these implements would, other things be-
ing equal, probably raise himself to the highest
wealth and distinction in his tribe. In the
next stage of society, when handicraft became
art, the best artisans would naturally enjoy a
high degree of consideration, both because their
number would be small, and because the pro.
ducts of their shops and FORCES would still con.
tinue to be the indispensable means of acquiring
nyly, that in the earliest historical periods, the
smith was companion for king, and in most
ancient mythologies, we meet the smith at the
table of the Gods. Thus in Greece and Rome,
Vulcan was worshipped, not merely as the iorger
ofthe thunderbolt,bu as the armourcr and white.
smith. So in the Scandinavian mythc history
| Vaulundr the smith was the son of giant and a
mermaid, and occupied distinguished place at
the board and court of King Nldung, and even
scripture has not forgotten to record the birth of
| 'Fubal-caiD, allied in name, as well as in office,
to both. The first mechanics then were not
only freemen but princess and they appear to
have retained their primitive rank and estina-
ton unimpared until the unnatural, unjust, and
Inischevous principle of the exclusive heredita-
ny right of primogenlture, by transferring to the
Oldest son the undivided accumuatons of his
ancestor, whether these consisted in movable
effects, lands, or in authority, released him from
the necessity of becoming the architect of his
own fortunes and made him great and power
full, by the accident of birth, requiring of him
only the ability to defend, by the help of his
vassals, what the unaded wisdom and bravery
of his father had acquired. So long as martial
exploits were the only path to power and fame
the armourer stood highest in general estma.
| ton, but in somewhat more cultivated ages
when the decorative arts are separated from
those called mechanical, higher rank has been
| generally accorded TO those who exercise the
| former, for the simple reason that they furnish
| the means of hatterng the vanity of the great
while among the most highly civilized and en-
| tightened nations, whether ancient or modern
the professors of painting, sculpture, and the
other arts OF design have by common consent
taken precedence of all others. who practice me.
chanlcal or manual einployments. In the pre-
sent so called Unitarian age, the highest est.
inallun among noch.tiiun is awarded to those
who are engaged in works of public utility, as
| architects, engineers, naval constructors, inven.
| tors of machines, and discoveries of new pro
cesses IN the arts. AT an early period IN the
history OF Greece aud ROME, the simpler me
chanlcal, or as they were called, scribe arts
we're abandoned TO slaves, who were collected
in workshops, and superintendent and directed
by freemen or confidential servants, and trace.
of this humble condition of artizans are still tc
be met with in the laws and institutions of mos
European countries and perhaps no where in a
more unjust and oppressive form, than in a
country which has long boosted itself as the pi
oneer OF light and liberty, and as perfect mod
ell in law, government, and religion. The le
gslation OF Eng land. the proudest and most sci.
hsh OF arlslocracles, is nicely and most ingen
ously balanced, upon the principle of allowing tc
are required to make him, on the whole, the
most profitable drudge to his taskmaster, ant
there is probably not country on earth, where
the artisan produces so much and receives 81
lItte-none where so paltry pittance remain.
to him, ut OF the fruits of his labour, after the
taxgaherer, the baff, and the 1.-THE and church
rate collector, each backed by the strong hanl
the law, have extorted from him what will sat
is'y the hungry maws Of his Majesty the King
his Grace the Duke, my Lord the Bishop, ant
his Reverence the Priest.
The atrocous expressions of the feudal lord
in the middle ages led to the formation of VIVA
were called Guilds, among the artisans of Flu
rope. These were associations of tradesmer
for the purpose originally of mutual aid and de
fence, but afterwards embracing various objects
such as the regulation of the terms of apprcn
tlceshp, the prices Of mechanical labor, the re
clprocal rights and duties of masters and Jour
neymen, the relief of the sick and poor, am
other matters of special interest to those witt
exercised the mechanic arts. They proved
powerful means of protection and improvement
to their members, as well as of progress in tn,
arts, and an important instrument in the main
tenance OF ORDER at period when the maiest,
of the law, being condemned by the great, wa
scarcely reverenced by The humble. The guild
frequently acquired, by fees from members an,
by donations and legaces, considerable funds
and when the Romlsh Hierarchy, and that ac
) cursed plan of disagreement, the feudal sys
: TEN, which had been such faithful allies to eac
other, fell together before the Reformation, tn
; guilds were dissolved, and these funds, being II
, longer required for the uses for which they wer
, originally accumulated, were generally appro
: prlated to tie establishment of schools, many @
which still subsst, and bear the names of tn
T guilds by which they were founded The mos
important subss,ng memorial of these assoca
r tons Is the practice of giving a legal exstenc
to organized societies for private purposes, cal
led corporations, which forms so prominent
{ feature in the modern legislation of England an
America These corporations are by most le
E gal antiquares traced to the guilds, though tn
] opinion, that they are derived from some of tn
/ ecclesiastical establishments of Popery, is nc
: without probability.
According to the theory of our government
ana our clV'i institutions, the social position
II the individual has no necessary connection wit
), or dependence upon the art he exercises, an
= there is hardly post of honor, trust, or prof
), military, legislative, judicial, or executive, unde
II the general or our own state government wbc