Delaware weekly Republican. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1841-188?, 1848-11-10
MAN AND MACHINERY

The following extract fran speech Of ths
Hon. Horace Mann, member of Congress- from
Massachusetts,, contains the spirit and wisdom
Of great statesman, and the eloquence Of !
But i was not the design of Providence. },
says nr, Manii' "that the work Of the world
snouiu DC performed by muscular streneth.-
God has filed the earth and imbued the ale.
ments with energies Of greater power than all
me innaotanis OF a thousand planets like ours.
whence came our recessares and our luxuriesq
tnose comforts and appliances that make the
differences between houseleas WANDERING
tribe Of Indians in the far West and a New
England village? They do not come wholly
or principally from the original, unassis,ed
strength OF The human arm, but from the EN-.
ployment, through intelligence and skill, Of
,hose great natural forces, with which the
ooun.l9i Creator has filled every part of The
material uniyerse Caloric, gfayilation, ex.
FEASIBILITY, compressibiliiy, electricity, chemi.
cal affinilies and repulsions, spontaneous We
lociiies-these are the mighty agents which
The intellect Of man harnesses 10 the car of
improvement. The application Of water and
wind and steam 10 the propulsion Of rnachine-
~, and to The transportation of men and
merchandise from place TO place, has added
ten thousand FOLD TO the actual products Of hu
man industry. How small the wheel which
Inc sioutest lahorer can Turn, and how soon
VIII ne be- weary. Compare this with the
wheel driving thousand spindes or looms,
which stream Of water can turn, and neyer
tire. locomotive will take FIVE hundred
men, and bear them on journey hundreds Of
miles in day. Look at these same FIVE hun. |
dred men, starting from the same point, and
attempting The same distance Win all The I
pedestrians or The equestrian's toll and iaidi. |
ness The cotton mills of Massachusetts will |
turn out more cloth in one day than could have |
been manufactured 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
ot the gods, and where il was deemed i'm.
plons for human power to intrude, even there
the gigantic forces Of nature, which human
science and skill have enlisted in their service
confront and overcome the raging of the ele-
Misunderstanding tempest and tides, escaping
reefs and lee shores, and careering triumphant
around the globe. The velocity Of winds, the
weight Of waters, and the rage Of steam, are
powers each one Of which is infinitely strong
er than all the strength Of all the nations and
races of mankind, were il all gathered into
single arm. And all these energies are given
us on one condition, --ihe condition Of inieEt
gence-ihat is, Of education.
Had Cod intended that the work Of III
ssetlL should be done by human bones ant
sihews, He would have given us an arm al
solid and strong as a shaft of steam engine
and enabled us TO stand, day and night, an
turn the crank Of a steamship while sailing
Liverpool or Calcutta. Had God designed III
human muscles 10 do The work Of the world
then, instead Of the ingredients of gun powde)
or gun cotton, and the expansive force of hea
he would have given Us hands which cout
take granite quarry and break its solid acre.
into suitable and symmetrical blocks, as easil
as we now open an orange. Had he intended
us for bearing burdens, He would have give
us Atlaniean shoulders, by which we coul
carry vast freight Of racar and steamshi
as porter carries his pack He would havl
given Us lungs by which we could blow heel
before US; and wirgs 10 sweep over ocea
wastes. But instead Of iron arms, and Allan
team shoulders, and the lungs oil Boreas, H
has given US mind, SOUL a capacity, Of ad
quiring knowledge. and thus ofappropriating -
these energies Of nature to our own use In.
siesd Of telescope and microscopic eye, He
has given Us power 10 invent The tafeacope
and The MICROSCOPE. Instead Of len thousand
fingers, he has given us genins inventive Of !
the power loom and the printing press. With
out a cultivated intellect, man is among the
weakest of all the dynamical forces Of nature;
with a cultivated intellect, he commands them
all.n t1t -"t