Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-09-27

a frious. Industry proves itself by lis re-
: suits. as the sun proves i,~eIfby shining
: But slavery is hostile TO the pecuniary
E advancement OF the community in another
5 way. Tne slave mus: be kept in i.nor-
5. ance. He must not be educated. lest
} with education should come knowledge
/ OF his natural rights. aud the means of
5 escape OF the power of vengeance. To
secure the abolition of his freedom. the
5 growth OF his mind must be abolished.
: His education. therefore, is prohibited by
statute. under terrible penalties.
Now man IS weak in his muscles: he
IS strong only i'll his faculties. IL phvai.
cal strength. how. much superior is OK
or horse TO a man; in heetness, the
dronedary or the eagle. 1t Is through
, mental strength only .hat man becomes
Z the superior and governor Of all animals.
i. 1t was not the design of Providence
that the work Of the world should be per-
, formed by muscular strength. God has
Tiled the earth and itnbued the elements
f with energies OF greater power than that
of all the inhabitants Of a thousand planets
Ike ours. W hence come our necessar-
les aud our Observation-Disclosures comforts and
appliances shat make tn, difference be-
tween a houscless wandering tribe
Indians in tie far Nest. and a New Eng
land village. They do not come wholly
or principally from the original unassisted
strength of the human arm but from the
employment, through intelligence and
skill. OF those great natural forces. with
watch the bounttul Creator has filed
every part OF the material Universe.
Caloric. @ravitation. eNpansibillty. com
pressibIiltv. electricity, chemical a!iinitles
and rcpuisions. spontaneous vclocltles-
these are the mighty agents which the
intellect of man harnesses to the car of
Improvements. The application Of water,
and wind. and steam, to the propulsion OF
machinery, and to the transportation OF
men and merchandise from place to place,
has added ten thousand fold to the actual
products of human industry How small
the wheel which the stoutest laborcr can
turn. and how soon viii he be weary.
Compare this with wheel driving d thou
sand spindIcs or looms. which Il stream OF
water can turn, and never tire. \ !ocomo-
tive viii take five hundred men, and bear
them on their journey hundreds of miles
in day. Look at these same five hun
drcd men. starting from the same point,
and attempting the same distance, with
all the pedestrian S or the equestrian 5 toll
4
Massachctts will turn out more cloth in
one day than could have been manutac-
tured by all the inhabitants of the Eastern
continent during the tenth century.
On an element which, in ancient times,
was supposed to be exclusively within the
control of the gods, and where it was
deemed impious for human power to in
tludc, even there the gigantic forces of
. SIX
have enlisted in their service, confront and
overcome the raging OF the elements
breasting tempests and tides, escaping
reefs and lec-shores, and carcering tr
ulnphant around t,c globe. The velocity
OF winds. the weight OF waters. and the
! rage of steam. are powers, each one OF
which is infinitely stronger than all the
strength of all the nations & races OF man.
kind, we're it al! gathered into a single
arm. And all these energies are given Us
on one condition-,he condition OF intelli
scncc-that is. Of education.
/ Had God intended that the work of the
world should be done by human bones
and sincws. he would have given Us an
arm as solid and strong as the shaft of
steam engine; and enabled us TO stand,
day and night. and turn the crank of
steam ship while sailing to Liverpool or
or Calcutta Had God designed the hu-
man muscles to do the work of the world,
then. instead of the ingredients OF gun
powder CT gun-cotton. and the expansive
force of heat. he would have given Us
hands which could take granite quarry
and break its solid acres into suitable and
symmetrical blocks, easily as we now
open an orange. Had he intended US tor
bearing burdens. he would have given US
.Atlantean shoulders. by which we could
carry the vast treishts of rail-car and
steamship. as Il porter carries his pack
| He would have G iven US lungs by which
we could blow fleets before Us: and wings
to sweep over the ocean wastes. But. in
stead of iron arms, ard Atlantean shout
ders, and the lungs OF Boreas, he has Civ
Ell Us mind, soul. a capacity OF acquir-
ing knowledge, and thus OF approprlatng
all these energies OF nature 10 our own
use. Instead ofatele>copic 4 microscopic
eye. he has given us power 70 invent the tel
escope and the microscope. Instead of
ten thousand fingers. he has given US gc-
MUS inventive OF the powerloom and the
printing press. Without cultivated in
teIlect. man is among the weakest OF all the
dynamical forces OF nature: with cult =
waited intellect. hecommands them all
And now. what does the slave maker
do! lie abolishes this mighty power 0.
the intellect. and uses only the weak, de-
graded. and half animated forces of the
human limbs. thousand slaves NAV
stand by a river. and 10 them it is only an
object Of fear or superstition An intelli
gent man surpasses the ancient idea OF
river-sod; he stands by the PenobScot, the
kennebec: the Merrimack. or fhe Connec-
ticut: he comm ands each TO do more work
than could be performed oy a hundred
thousand nien-to saw timber. to make
cloth. 10 grind Cortland they obey L.
norant slaves stand upon coal mine. and
TO them II IS only worthless part 0: the
inanlmate earth An intelligent man uses
the same mine 10 print million OF books