The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-12-18
OrcunaIlons.


There is a continual antagOnism between the
theory Of our government and the practice Of
our people. We boast Of our emancipation
from the prejudices as well the political des-
pOtism of the past, and yet cling ts hOary SO
cial errors with as much tenaeity if they
glowing tributes on the superiority of our gov
ernrnent to all others in the great and glorious
attribute of eleyating the masses, elsewhere
dOwn-trOdden, into light and consideration; and
yet, each hour in each day, we see in every COM
munity the most cOntemptuous sPurning Of
doctrines, which, according to the theory Of our
system are full Of wisdom, patriotism, and truth.
Democracy rePudates the artificial social dis
tnctiOns which prevail in mOnarchies and aris-
,Oeracies, and teaches the equality of men. 1t
declares that genuine merit has its source in
the union of an intelligent head with an uncOr
ruPt heart, and that degradation can result only
from vice and crime. And yet what is more
common than TO see persons branding honorable
and necessary pursuits as disgraceful, and Civ
ing to other professions a superiority which to
the eye Of reason, and the faith Of democracy,
does not belong to them.
1t is a melancholy truth that no community
has yet become 50 wise as 10 place Just esti-
mate on the various pursuits of life There is
no community in which he who labors with
his hands for a subsistence, is not, to some ex-
tent, considered disgraced thereby. There are
but few of us who maintain that decent practi-
cal respect for the theory of our political system,
which would cause us to place the proper val
ne on professions, and 10 sscribe merit only TO
those to whom it justly belongs. Somshow, it
almost invariably happens, that We associate so
cial decency with certain professions and social
inferiority with other pursuits. Abstractly and
practically We view the preacher, doctor, or
ter, tailor, or shoemaker This very unrepub-
licsn preference is very prevalent and very mis-
chisvous. Ii is hard TO understand why, other
things being equal, the man who makes good
hat, coat, or boot is not pleasant associate,
or as respectable as a citizen, as another who
breaches sermon, or administers pills and pow
ders, or makes a speech to jury. The truth
is, we are capital democrats in politics, but we
are very unrspublican in society.
In those portions Of our eOnfederacy in which
slavery prevails, it is easy to understand how il
has happened, that he who labors with his hands
is considered disgraced. Wherever system Of
slavery exists its victims are necessarily ranked as
inferior beiags, and whoever, by his avocatiOn,
approximate the daily condition Of the slaves,
must participate TO some extent in their degra-
ton, in the estimation Of those who live with
out labor. Hence it results that in all the slave
States in our eonfederacy, mechanical occupa-
pations are invariably considered degrading, and
they who follow them are never TO be met with
in the saloons of fashion, or at the tables Of the
rich. However gifted with native talent, and
however he may have developed and improved
that talent, the man who earns his livelihood by
the labor of his hands, is regarded as inferior
member of the community. Men with INTEL
lects scarcely sufficient to distinguish them from
the beasts that perish-men whose eyes are
vivid with the dubious light Of idiotcy-whOse
hearts are full of dead sentiments, wasted af-
fections, and depraved feelings-persons in the
last stages Of imbeeility and bestiality, whose
Golfers are well filed with the requests Of an
csstry, or the winnings of luck. or the capri
cious favors Of fortune, in all slaveholding COM
muni,ies have right, according to the prevail
ing social faith, to contemn the honest, intelli-
gent, and virtuous mechanic, whose only dis
grace IS, that his cheeks are embrowned by his ex-
posure to the elements, and his hands made hard
with constant toll. These miseraby unwise and
unrePibIican Prejudices against labor, are the
necessary and natural adjuncts Of a system Of
slavery, and if they were confnei to slavehold-
ing communities, there would be less cause Of
surprise than exists. But, unfortunately, in all
our democratic States, the same pr,judice against
labor prevails to some extent. Equality is every
where our boast, but artificial distinctions
everywhere prove our wrstched inconsistency
Wshold thata competent mechanic Is more
respectable than an Incompetent professional
man. An ingenious craftsman is raors worthy
of social consideration than an empire or a
quack in medicine, who has license to make
death "a incident Of disease or, thaa psttifog-