The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-02-03
LiBERTY, EQUALITY, PROGRESSION


izatlon-of continuing it as series of hunt
ing-grounds under old forest laws, for brood
OF human tigers-it seems to have been com
posed for little else. What is iton the Who'll
buta recital Of the feasts of prize-ighters
and of the passions of brutalized spectators
: representing the arts OF peace as mean, i
has taught that nobility and glory are wo
amid rapine, confagration, and slaughter =
Its teasts, SO called, are fitted chiefly 10 whe
the appetites Of accipilrines.
y But 1t is one OF the m st encouraging signs
as we'll as growing characteristic OF III
tlmes, that paths to e-eminence are openin
Z 70 all men; that as honorable renown awti it
agricuiiurists and artificers, as has been at
tained in other pursuits. There is, indeed
no degree of distinction which may not be
come theirs ii they devote themselves to thu
latent truths connected with their professions
for as sublime principles of science are We
to be dawn out Of the ground we tread on
and from the air we breathe, as have been dis
covered in the ocean of worlds above us
Justice will be awarded to enlightened work
ers as well as to mere thinkers-to laborers a!
TO speculators on labr. Even now writer.
are beginning to expatiate on the poetry ant
morals OF mechanism, en- i:s powers to please
and instruct; and by y-and-by it will be ad
mitted that, for rich and varied thought, fol
boldness, grandeur, and minuteness of con
ception-simplicity and complsxity of de-
sign; for the union of the agreeable and the
beautiful, the beneficial and the marvellous
poems carved out of wood and forged out
of metals equal, if they do not surpass, the
most imaginative Of creations.
In permanency and purity Of fame, few
will Hereafter rival practical men. Thar
they, few will stand higher among the great
none better among the good Will his coun
try ever forget the souvenir Fulton gave her (
In what age will not children lisp the name
Of Morse ? How often are popular writers
accused of pandering to the PASSIONS but
what contributor to the arts is corruptor oi
morals? Like works Of the Divine Artifcer,
theirs tend to elevate, not to debase.
If agriculture preceded the mechanic arts
its progress beyond primeval efforts has de-
pended upon them. They made it what il
is, and are fast disclosing what is TO be-
clearing the way for it to advance where il
was never known. and to flourish beyond all
precedent. Locomotives now darting, and
others preparing 10 follow, through deserts
and over wild lands, scatter rich blessings il
their train; dark forests are falling before
them. and cultivated fields and smiling villa
ges are everywhere springing up ON eithe
hand-the mightiest agents yet revealed il
enabling man to fulfil his destiny in >subdu
ing the earth.
If any classes can be said to hold the fu
ture destinies Of the planet in their hand
more than others, it must be engineers an,
mechanicisns. These men are filling tn
world with new ideas and agitating it will
their projects. Within the last half centur,
they have revolutionized society, and are pre-
pairing 10 bring about still greater changes.
We cannot move without feeling their inlu
ence, nor can the world 90 on day withou
them. Although hither united by no bono
Of union, they WILL if faithful to their miss
ion, make themselves felt in its future man
agement.
INFLUENCE OF FREEDOM ON THE PROGRESS OF
ARTS.
The passion for philosophical inquiry ant
stirring enterprise, so characteristic of om
citizens, is the natural result of independence
in thought and action. Political Cypress.
ion, however Modified, acts as drag on the
intellect. Shackled in one thing, the soul is
more or less fettered in all. The genius Of in.
vention may exist elsewhere, but it flourish.
es only under the egis of freedom. lt-could
not do otherwise without violating an organ.
ic law Of our being Who thinks of look
ing for great thoughts, or for men to work
out great problems of humanity, where
mind has for ages been squeezed into moulds
/. formed to distort and to dwarf it, and moi
rather where it is free to obey its native i'm
pulses and soar where it listeth? If prac-
tical science with us does not surpass what
/ has been accomplished in it by others-if we
do not contribute more largely to the stock
and to the efficiency of automatic machan-
ism-either nature will not be true to her
sell, or we shall be traitors 20 her.
II We experience nons of the embarrass-
! 1ments and suferings which the ingenious OF
! other lands have Tor ages been struggling
with. 1t requires no small amount Of faith
, to credit them or the sanity of those who
! sanctioned them, and it is all but incredible
that the oppressed, possessing the spirit and
feelings OF men, were not maddened into un-
euenchable fury by their deep and lasting
wrongs.
Court proligates, in want of money, were
invested by monarchs-who claimed right
to dispose of the property as well as persons
of their subects-with monopolies of the
various occupations Of the productive class
es, and forthwith those who followed them
had to purchase licenses to continue their
trades, of the favored courtiers or companies
to whom they sold out, This was carried
TO such an extent that no branch of business
escaped; professions the most essential to ex-
istence, as those OF the baker, miller, dealers
m fuel, light, soap, &C., were thus disposed
Of. The genius OF wrong presided over every
department Of industry and alt-every addi-
tion to material civilization has been laid
under contribution by it.
Mr. Perpigna, French writer on the law
Of patents, alluding to the treatment of the
mechanics and manufacturers OF that coun-
try, has, in reality, portrayed the devices by
which those Of the whole of Europe were
hanssed, and by which some are still harass-
ed.
Fettered and oppressed in every way as
France was under the government of her
despotic Kings, tbetspirit OF invention and
enterprise could never rise TO high concep-
tions Manufacturers, placed under the Sc
we're control of men who purchased their Off
ces from government, and who, therefore,
exercised them with rapacity, could not haz-
ss.f. Al.