The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-10-17
Printers.


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Printers.
Has anybody ever written physiology Q
the trades, or rather trsatise on the pecu
liarilies of The different handicralts W.
all know what lawyer is---what clergy
man-what physiciar-what an artist
and what merchant, eren. Literature ant
the stage abound with their types. Th,
very moment you tale up a novel. waer
one Of these professionals is introduced, O
see play in which lie walks on the stage
you know not only his looks and his dless
but the things he will do and the words he
will utter
| Who, for instance, ever saw doctor in 8
comedy, or an old print, who did not weal
big wig, and carrya cane at the end of his
nose? Are not clsTgymen universally re D.
resented either as sentimental, goodish per.
sons-amiable, but weak-minded enthusiasts,
or as great hypocrites, who 60 about fobbing
young wards, and keeping clandestine cor
respondence with unkown widows in black?
Are not the lawyers raditionall, Oily Gam
mons, or else close fsed, snaring, plotting
old misers, whose Trunks are filled with
the title deeds OF estates wrongl y acquired,
and who lend themselves to every old rogue
OF butler that wants To cheat his master +?
We have, indeed, the same sort of stere-
otyped representation Of many other voca-
tions; such as Jack, the roIlicking sailor,
played, from time imnemorial, by one T.
+. Cooke; Betty, the pretty but impertlnent
bar-maid; the cozeniDg chamber-wonlan
who is the confident d ber young mistress
in love matters, and betrays everybody, for
a small piece Of money slipped into the
palm, except Tom, the postman, whom she
afterwards marries, and the two take to K eep-
ing an inn; to say noling Of those regular
Old acquaintances, the country gentleman,
an uncle to somebody, who is very severe in
the outset against that unconscionable yonng
dog mis- nephew, but who always relents in
the fifth act, and gives him and the young
lady in white dress, long curls and smirk-
ing face, bis blessing and ten thousa nd
year. The novel and the play have eInba I'm.
ed, too, the ha-ha-iDg coachman who is al
ways cracking his whip, the poor player, out
at the heels, in short pants, with melan-
rholy old white hat, large bandanna ham
kerchiei, and red drunken expression in
the eyes, ami others, as the auctioneers saw.
Too numerous to mention.
But there are classes, especially in this
country, which as YET have found no poet
either among the essa yisls or the tale -wrghts |
They have distinct physiology-character
sites that may be said TO be universe and
permanent-which mark them out from
,ther classes, and give them a peculiar in.
livlduality. Not only in their manners,
'ut in their language and bearing are they
peculiar. We were reminded OF one of hese
'lasses the other day, in reading an obituary
lotice in morning paper OF one of its own
closing as follows:
This is the fifth death 10 our Office With
n three years, of men who had been more
han twenty years in our employ, and the
ong period Of whose services is the best ey-
dence of the relations existing between the
Employer and the employed, and OF the high
stimation in which they were held by U.s.
We have still around us many who have
'een with us during nearly the whole Of Our
ditorial career, and several, who like our
amented loremsn, preceded us in lbe es-
abllsbment but time, during nearly quar-.
er of a century, has sadly lhinned our ranks;
nd, In SO doing, has, we trust, not admon.
shed us in vain, that we too must be in
eadiness for the grim visitor, who strikes
like at the employer and the employed
Is there any other trade Of which this
o1ld be said ? for what is true of this Office,
Tee venture TO say is true of nearly every
ther OF long standing in the country. We
now that in our own establishment there
ave always been several men who have
cen attached to it from twent, to thirty
ears. The man who sets type then Is moi
the nomadic or locomotive tribes. His
esk is his stake-he seldom wander rs away
om it,-or ifhe does, it is only for an occa.
lonal holiday, when he returns to the old
land, to say the least, sojcryr if not
User man. What is the reason OF this ne
uliurity? Why, when the shoemaker is
Imost as rowing in his disposition as The
iilor and the tailor wanders restlessly from
oard to board "a wag adds from cabbage TO
ibbage) is the printer so stesdfasi In his
lind, and SO firm in bis position why?
Why should he adhere TO his stand with a
'nacity which the journeymen carpenter
ever exhibits towards the shop, or the wea-
r towards his loom, or the blacksmith 70
IS anvil? What subtle msgne tism is there
the types which holds him close, through !
e lsborious days and nights of ihiriy
'ars service? Other mechanics are ner. !,
'tually shifting their locality, but the com. /,
,sitor, with the patience Of Job, and The
|hesiveness of plaster, seldom changes
S habit, but through good report and m Re-
'ri, keeps his nimble fingers busy over the ,
me perpetual case. :
II is true that his occupation is an uuso- '
al one, and that he may lose the desire e
iih the habit Of convrrsing with his Iel- '
ws. But there are other occupations ouite Ie
unsocial, such as those of accounlhnIs /
here the same effect is not observed .- &
gain, there are Others, which are not ali q
social in themselves,--as where a parcel 8
tsilors sit round board, which mover. 4
ally lead 10 melancholy, as that rare nbi- h
'opher, Che rles Lamb, has shown. Or Id
es the fact that the pIinter talks through a
types to all the world, that his pfofrs. X
70 brings him necessarily TO knowledge b
all ihDl is going on in the world, satisfy d
curiosity and prevent the wish for tmveil Il
locomotionY We cannot tell, and there- dl
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