Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1846-10-17

lea arn, d blacksmith, 80 caIlcd-now in England,
contains matter for reflection:
An Hour win Nature nnd the Noiiers
I was suddenly diverted
from my contemplation of this magnificent see
merry by fall of heavy rain drops. asn prelude
of an impending she wer. Seeing gate open.
and hearing familiar eli 1king behind hedge
stepped through, into D:,tl eblacksmth's shop
about as large as an American snnokchouse Tor
curing bacon. The first object that my eyes
rested upon was full grown man, nine years
Of age, and nearly three feet high, perched upon
a stone of half that height, to raise bis breast TO
the level Of his fathers anvil, at which he was
at work, with all the vigor of his little short
arms, making nails say (uu gro'cn man,
for fear he can never grow any larger, physi.
cally or mentally. AS put my hand on his
shoulder ia . familiar way TO u,ake myself at
home with him, and to remove the tmldi,y with
which my sudden appearance seemed to ir.
spire him. by pleasant word or two OF greet.
| ing, his flesh felt case hardened into all the in.
duration of ,o.ling manhood. and as unsnscepti.
bic of growth as his nuvil block. Fixed man.
hood had set in upon him in the grecnnes, of
his youth, and there he was by his fathers side
a stinted, premature man with his childhood
cut OF: with no space to grow in between The
cradle ard the anvil block; chased, soon as
he could stand on his little legs, from the hearth
stone 10 the forge.stone, by iron necessity, that
would not let him stop long enough to pick up
letter ofthe English alphabet on the way. o,
Lord John Russell! think oft! OF this Eng.
lishman's son. placed by his mother, scnrce.wca.
ned, on high, cod stone, hare'o ted, before the
anvil tlere TO harden, scar, and blister its
young hands by heating and hammerng rag
ged nailrods, for the sustenance her breast can
no longer supply! Lord John! look q, those
nails, as they lie kissing on the block Know
you their meaning, use, and language, Please
your, lordshir, let me tell you-i have made
nails before now---tAty are iron exclamation
points, which this unlettered. dwaiish boy is
uncon ciously srraying against you, against
the British government, and the misery Of Bri.
,ish literature, Cor cutting him off without a
letter of the English alphabet. when printing is
done by steam for incarceratng him, for no
sin on his or his parents side but poverty, in;o
dark, six-by.cight prison Of hard labor youtL'
less being-think Of fit! an infant hardened. al
most in its mothers arms, into msn; by toll
that bows the sturdlcst Of the worlds laborcr,
who come to manhood though intervening year,
OF childhood!
The boys father was at work with his bacl
towards me when entered AT my hrs, wore
OF salu,aton to the lad, he turned around anC
accos,ed me little bashfully, as it unaccusio
med TO the sight Of a stranger in that place, o
reluctant TO let them into the scene and srcre
of poverty. | sat down upon one end Of thi
nail bench, and told him | was an Amrrica
blac smith by trade, and that had come in I
see how he got on in the world; whether b
was earning pretty good wages at his business
80 that he could live comfortably, and send hi
children TO school. As l said this, I glance
inauringly toward the boy, who was lookin
steadily at me from, his stone stool BY the an
vii. Two or three little crook faced girls, fror
two to five years of age, had stolen in timidly
and couple Of young, frightened eyes wer
pcepng over the door sill at me. They a
looked as if some task were daily allotted lher
in the SCOT and cinders of their fathers frge,"ve
to the sharp.eyed baby at the door. The pos
:, Englishman--he was much an Engllshman n
3. the Duke of WelIington--lookcd at his busy
is headed, bareiooted children, and said soiil,
with melancholy shake Oft the head, that III
pr times were rather hard with him. II ,ruuae
IS his heart. and many hours Of the night he ha
p. been kept awake by the thought Of il, that b
could not send his children to school, nor tenc
{. them himself to read. They were good child el
he said, with a moist yearning in his eyes
"A they were all the wealth he had, and he love
i them the more, the harder he had to work e
on them. The poorest part of the poverty th'
IT. was on him, was that he could not give h
NO children the letters. They were good chdre
3D. for all the crock of the shop was on their face
ot and their fingers were bent like eagles CLAW
m with handing nails. lie had been a poor mn
he all his days, and he knew his children Won
ng be poor all their days, and poorer than he, if Il
nail business should continue to grow wors
i'll II he could only give them the letters, or d
r. alphabet as they called il. il would make the
we the like of rich for then they could read {
Testament He could read the Testament
=, little, for he had learned the letters by re.lig
tod It's a good book, ives the Testament nev
N A. =.