Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1850-05-23
WHY LEFT THE ANVIL.

say for myself for dropping the hammer
and ,akirg up the quill, as member Of
your profession. ! will be honest now,
and tell you the whole story. ! was
trans ported from the anvil to the editors
chair by the genius Of machinery. Don't
smile, friends, it was even so. l had
stood and looked for hours on those
thoughtless iron intellects, those iron I'm
gered, sober, supple automatons, as they
caught upa bale Of cotton, and twirled it
in the twinkling Of an eye into whir'-
pool OF whizzing shreds, and laid at my
| feet in folds Of snow white cloth, ready
for the use of our most voluptuous anti
podes. They were wonderful things,
those looms and spindles; but they could
not spin thoughts; there was no attribute
Of Divinity in them, and | admired them,
nothing more. They were excessively
curious, but l could estimate the whole
compass Of their doings ana destiny in
finger power; so | came away and lett
them spinning cotton.
| One day was turning my anvil be-
meath hot iron, and busy with the thought,
that there was as much intellectual phi
losophy in my hammer as in any of the
4 nssf ~ sissssss6
ears; l stepped 10 the door, and there j.
was, a great Iron Horse! Yes, he had
come, looking Tor all the world like the
, great Dragon we have read OF in the
) Scriptures, harnessed 10 half living
, world, and just landed on earth, where h.
stood brsying in surprise and indignation
at the base use 10 which he had beer
: turned. saw the great array Of human
: beings gliding with the velocity OF tn
wind over iron track, and droves OF catti
travelling at the rate Of twenty miles al
!, hour, toward their city slaughter -house
!. Il was wonderful The busy bee-winge
E, machinery OF the cotton factory d~indle
n into insignifcance before it. Mons!rou
beas, OF passage and burden! II devour
ed the intervening distance, and welde
= the cities together! But Tor its fnrnac
hear, and iron sinew, it was nothing b,
beast-an enormous aggregation Of hors
>, power. And went back to the fore
T., with paired reverence for the inte
: lectual philosophy Of my hammer.
Passing along the street one AFTERNOON
rs. heard nois. in an old building, as
,r some one pbfiing pair Of bellows.
!. without much ado l stepped in, and ther
in corner OF the room, saw the chic
r. d'eu,r re of all the machinery that had e
: : er been invented since the birth Of Tub
Cain. In its construction il was as sin
: ple and unas stunning as a cheese-press.-
r; It went with lever, longer and stronge
e, than that with which Archimides pror
st ised to lii, the world.
: 1t is printing press. said boy stan
:, ing by the ink trough, with cneless III
~ ban Of brown paper on his head.
printing press!' quefied musingly
i myself. "A printing-press? what
you print 2 ! asked.
Print 2 said the boy, staring at N
50 douL,lully, 'why. We print thoughts :
e., er .Prin, thoughts slowly repeated ait
him; and v e stood looking for nome
IS at each other in mutual admiration; he
the absence of an idea, and | in the pu
's' suit Of one. But l looked at him I
re. hardest, and he left another ink mark
IL his forehead, from pathetic motion OF !
: left hand to quicken his apprehension
my meaning.
ire why, yes he reiterated, in tone
rs forced confidence, as if passing an id'
;, which though having been current h"
=, dred years, might still be counterfeit
-" ,a all he could show on the spot. 'We epr
s.. M thoughts to be sure But my boy
asked in honest soberness, 'what
thoughts, and how can you get hold
ear them 10 print tl.en?, Thoughts
va what come out Of people, minds, Ire
rlied. .Ge, hold ofthen, indeed /! WI
'r' minis ain'l nothing you can get hold
- nor thoughts either. All the minds
ever thought, and the thoughts that mil
Pc ever made, wouldn't make bal! as b'e
IN IN your fist. Minds, they say are just
air, you can't see them they don't m'
a.. ain any noise, nor have any color they do
= weigh anything. Bill Deepcut, the s.
ten. says ths, man weighs just as mr
an. a., when his mind is gone out OF HIM as
~ did before. No, sir, all the minds I
ever lived would not make an ounce 'Ire
ain Then how do you print thoughts !
nr- asked. .lfminds are thin air, and thoug
J are thinner still, and make no noise,
1 IL