The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1846-08-04

improved their process to degree which
promises to Danish hunger and nakednsss
from the face of the habitable globe Orna-
| ment is no longer divorced from utility. and
establishment is sought rather in the grace
full form and beautiful texture Of the COM
monest articles of dress or personal use, than
IN the brIlliancy of gems or the glitter of the
precious metals, These results are strikingly
in accordance with the social and political
tendency of the age. The claims of the
masses are recognised. and the great aim of
every artisan is so TO reduce the cost of his
wares as to make them accessible to the
manv instead of the few. Gains are calcula-
ted according to the numbers Supplied at low
rates of profit The true patrons Of the man.
| ulactnrer are The poor; and the weaver, who
can secure to himself the supply Of the hum
blsst garment of the lowest class by that
best OF mOnOpolies. the cheapest price-tHav-
els a surer road TO wealth, than the lapidary
who furnishes The Jewels for a crown. A
| similar change has taken place in the charac-
ter and objects Of commercial enterprise. An
cient commerce served ouly to supply the ia
bles and deck the toilets of the rich. The
old naYigators sought new and more acces-
sible routes TO the marts ofthe gorgeous pro-
ducts of the East, and brought from the orr
entail world gold and gems and pearls and
spices and the costliest tissues, which they re-
tailed at prices beyond the means of any but
the wealthiest classes; but now every ship
that crosses the ocean is freighied chiefly with
merchandise for the use of the million.
There is also great difference in the fun
damental organization of manufacturing in
dusty. 1t has now become eminently a so
cial pursuit, instead of being the private oc-
cupation of isolated individuals or families.
This is partly the result of the ,aggregative
spirits Of modern times, which has contriyed
to reconcile community oil aim and purpose
with individual freedom Of action and opinion
and partly due to the introduction Of power
ful and complicated machinery.
In general, the, conversion of the raw ma.
| terial into forms suited to human use is effec-
ted by series of distinct process, some OF
| which may be performed by machinery, while
others require the aid Of the hand. A ma
chine. whose action is confined to a single
| process, often possesses the power and per-
| forms the work OF great number oil men.
| The next step may be one Of mere manipu-
| lation, which requires the labor Of a hundred
hands. The third process again may be ac-
| complished by single machine; and the
| fourth in turn give employment To HUNDRED
additional laborers. Thus a few machines,
| driven by one water-wheel or steam engine,
and occupied in one branch of manufacture,
may bring together a thousand work men {;
| and operations, that formerly occupied an
extensive districA are now accomplished with
in the walls Of a single building. By this
system you have the energy, efficiency, har-
mony, economy, and unity of purpose and Of
action that springs from concentration and
intelligent division of labor; while the substi-
tuition Of machinery for human hands enables
| a hundred men to perform the work Of ten
| thousand.
The modern invention and use of compli-
Gated machinery is one of the most remarka-
| BILE and important facts in the history of our
| race-remarkdbe and important both in
an economical and psychological point of
view, as almost the only fact which gives any
| countenance 10 the visionary theory of the
perfectibihty of the species Invention and
| contrivance, the conscious adoption of means
! to ends, as distinguished from blind instinct
are essenticl powers and characteristics of
men in all ages and in all forms of social ex-
| lstence; but the modern taleu of mechanical
combination, il not the development of new
faculty, is al least the aw akeRing of dormant
power in the human mind. The fundamen-
| tai principle Of all proper mechanical contri-
vances is The subjugston Of the mute nncon-
sciOus forces of inanmste nature TO the con-
troll OF human will. Mans researches into
the laws of inorganic nature have taught him
to command those forces; for her knowledge
is power aud he may now boast without pro-
family, that, since the invisible powers which
sleep in the thin air, neutraliZed aud balanced
by each other, or lie quiescent in The floating
yapor, have been evolved and cong ured BY
him, the winds and " aters obey him; that he
has now fulfilled the great command to Sub
due the earth, inasmuch as he has learned 10
control those forces Of inorganic nature by
whose ministry Almighty power built up and
still sustains it. Although what are uechnic-
ally called the mechanical polcers-the lever,
the wheel and axis, the inclined plane. the
screws, the wedge, and the rope and pulley
have been long known, il is only in very re-
cent times that any Of the forces Of inanimate
nature have been made available for mechan-
ical purposes, except in such simple applca-
lions as that of wind to prOpcl ships. Of the
current Of running water to turn wheels, of
the elasticity Ofthe bow, and perhaps that al
so of metallic springs, TO project missiles Of
war. The employment of the weight Of fall
ing water, OF the alternate ebb and flow of the
tides. and Of the vino for driving mills-of
that union Of repulsion and attraction which
constitutes elasticity, and gives alike to the
vapor Of water and to coiled springs Of hard
metal the power of prnducing continuous or
reciprocaling motion-of the forces Of gravity
and electro magnetism as motive powers-all
these, and many other like instances. are
wholly modern. The manufactures, as well
as all other branches of the industry Of the |
ancients, were carried on by organic forces
the unassisted strength of man and beast;
but it is the triumph oil our era, almost Of our
generation. that man is no longer the super !
stitious slave OF the irresistible elements, but |
that even deaf nature has heard his impcrous
voice, submitted her mighty energies to his |
sway, aud allowed him to employ at his pleas |
ure, whether foi fashioning pin or for rear
lug palace, the same force with which she |
shakes continent or upheaves a mountain.
The subjusatiou Of the certain and calculable !
forces Of nature to human uses is so hene6- !
cial in its results, that the degree in which |
it has been accomplished is the surest meas |
ure of the prosperity of a people. and the