Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1844-05-15
D,eN,Ty OF MEcHANiC Arr.

DIGNITY OF MECHANIC ART.
Men talk about the dignity Of Mechanic
Art. and write about il, who never feel
and never have felt it; who have just sense
enough 10 see, and that hut coldly. thai
there is truth in educated labor, aud tha,
to keep down the artisan, they must mag
nifty the art. Out of respect TO themselves,
they lie in respect 10 that, and chuckle
that their hypocrisy answers its end--that
Of keeping down by few hollow, bu,
honiod words, a spirit, that if it should
rise, would sweep away their exclusivism
and scatter to the winds of heaven. And
it does answer its end-for they swim on
the surface ofsociety, while The ear-tickled
mechanic grovels contedly in The mire of
its bed, peeping now and then timidly up
from out The filth in which he suffocales
and crawls, atihe glitter and whirl tha,
sparkIes 'above him, and in which, If he
had the spirit of. any hut a kenneIed
hound, he would demand add take right
ful place. Gods image was never iucar-
mated in a nobler form thar that Of true
northumberland for such being to creep
and cover around The foot of respectable
TVS ladder. when he ought 10 plant him
selfupon the topmost round. and see none.
above him but the Master Mechanic of
the Universe, is treason to justice, decency
and common sense Yet there he sils
and crooches, knawing his hungry bone Or,
crust, and looking up pteously at inter-
walls, to beg, as now, with a shifting
whine, for the restoration of some petty
pecuniary privilege, Of which he has been
but recently robbed, when he oush, TO
stand erect in The figure and altitude Of
freedom and equality, and assert and vim
dicate bis rights in The face of earth and
heaven, for the honor and dignity of bis
art, if not of his nature! Aud what is the
dignity Of his art? Why, all the progress
that man has made, FROM the earliest and
lowest stage of savage bayharism and bes.
liality, 10 the enlightened refinement and
civilization Of The forty-lhrd year of the
nineteenth century, has been the result
of its work. Take from tho earth It's
achievements, and there would be literal.
ally nothing left butdesert sea and land,
lew human brufes possessed Of n few
maxims of government aud morals, a few
sounds of speech, few simple elements Of
science, few vague traditions, and few
notes of music.-and; the lesser orders of
animated being, who arc Gods creatures,
and not The work of another, II is the pc
cuiar providence Of Mechanic Art to re-
aize and conserve every good or beautiful
though, that reason apprehends or genius
conceives. and but for its agency, the
thick gloom Of eternal night had hung
heavy on the world of mind and matter
from creations dawn to the death of Ma
ture. City and village, temple and altar,
| palacc and prison, and every thing in
short, OF use or ornament, from a needle
10 navy, are the products of its potency.
Without il, The Law might seize, bui could
30, hold its victim, Finance might gather,
but could not isecure its treasures, Com
| merce could not flourish or even exist.
The man of God for the dome beneath
which he stands. for even the sacred VOL
ume, the word of Truth from which he
reads, owes TO il The debt ofhaving made.
War could not launch its lhuuders, nor
Peace weave its garlands but by ils per-
mission. Neither soil nor sea could be
ploughed without it,-i, has smoolhed,
enriched, adorned and civilized the world.
What is the dignity of Mechanic Art !!
Why, it trausceuds the embraces of ali
other dignires, save The gnd-gift Of the
mind, aud in Tins it has an Inheritance Of
birthrisht.
Such is the digniivynf Mechanic Art of
which the operalveqmechanic is the rep
resentalive aud embndiement. Has he
then no right, but 10 be Kicked into The
kennel has he no privilege but to be
lrampled on has he no claim but to be
condemned? II wot1d almost seem so i!
Men talk about the dignity OF Mechanic
Ar,-but do they feelsit-or are their lips
lie! No man truly apprehends the Dig
nifty of Mechanic Art9unless' he pays il
reverence-and no man can pay it rever.
ence unless he affiliates himself to the
brotherhood Of mechanics, by the bonds Of
esteem and love. Now, how few of the
higher orders, higher we mean in respect
10 actual position-do this OF tllose who
make, administer and live by the laws,
how few of those who now constitute
what are termed the learned professions,
how few! of those that live in any way
except by the abour oflheir hands, how
few Of those that float upon the broad
hrim of society, that takeihe lead in fash
ions, assemblieo,' and public places, how
few! of those that originate, and direct,
and shape, and control public opinion, how
few The truth is. that the dignity OF
Mechanic Art is moi appreciated, is no,
recognized even. except asian oily phrase,
to sooth the troubled sea of mechanic feel
Ing when it threatens to rage. Il is asser-
ted that mechanics are held in as high es.
TEEN, and occupy as prominent place as
any other members Of conmunity;' bul
this is the meresl cant of socialtyfanny
and in any blu, a speculative point oI
view, is as foul a falsehood' as any with