Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1841-1853, 1851-07-24
The dignity ofLabor.


The great mass of mankind are laborers The
broad sweep of that universal law, that in the sweat
of our face we shall eat bread lays on the race
the stern alternative, work or starye. In some
lights this looks like the law of hard master; and
the philosophic friend of humanity is saddened at the
spectacle of all this WEAKNESS and toll, barren alike
for body and SOUL and very naturally wonders how
this drudgery and be made 10 harmonze with
the dignity Of mans nature, or the beneYolence OF
mans Creator. What relation has the bent back and
the urrowed brow, and the hard hand and the worn
out Frame and tbe overtasked brain and the weary
sinking heart with the growth of the immortal mind,
and with all those better aspirations of the SOUL
those most characteristic marks of the Divine finger
which formed it!
These and thousand questions like them, which
pass through the thoughtful mind, would be hard to
answer if there were not brighter side to the de-
cree But once find in this law the noble purpose
and the beneficial results of labor-let down upon
this busy toing scene of life the beautiful light OF
the Creators love- and the difficulty vanishes. Work
is mans appointed taskhe great mission he is sent
upon. Labor is not merely necessity, but duty
the fufment of responsible trust obedience to
wisely imposed and beneficent law.
You are obliged 10 work. Thank God and all
your stars for it, Out of his infinite treasure-houSe
Of gifts we know not that the Creator could ind
more precious than this same necessity OF labor
In the midst of your WEAKNESS and pain, think a
moment:-labor of some sort lies at the ioundatlon
Of all progress all hope all good here or hereafter
From first to last, life is school to teach activity,
effort labor. Every sense and every muscle OF the
body must be trained; every intellectual and moral
power within has to be brought out and cultivated.
Nature is vigorous old school dame; and her morn
mo greeting and evening charge to her pupils Is,
what the voice of God IS and what the voice of
science within us is-he that will not work shall not
eat We are not sent into the world TO be sheep, to
crop the spontaneous herbage of the fields, and then
Fecline on full stomachS in houghtess repose Nature
gives nothing but the raw material, which we must
work up for our wants. Thoughts as well as wool,
must be combed and spun; virtue as we'll as gold,
must be dug out, cleansed and assayed; honor, sta
ton, power-all good must be built up, course by
course toingly and anxiusly every step to the top
If nature had her way, the monarch In this world
would be the greatest worker, and the only order
nobility composed of those that achieve the largeS
and best results. Labor is lile's great junction
With spade and pillow, with shaft and furnace, will
FIRE and steam, amidst the noise and whirl OF swift
and bright machinery, abroad in the silent fields
under the roofing sky-every where ana always MAJ
must work, always be experimenting, pushing, pro
crossing. He is only when he works-he i
faithful to lifeS great law, and Gods express will
only as be tolls on, in imitation OF the nature tina
supports him.
happiness and self-respect Luxurious indoIenct
never yet did for man, and never will. There is
law against it. Every good thing in this world ha
its price. Whatever is obtained without effort, by
necessary law OF the mind, is without pleasure: IL
measure of the enjoyment will be the length ant
stress of the toll by which it has been obtained. Th
mother loves not of the group that cluster
around her reside, and claim, her affections as Sh
loves the poor, fragile plant whose life and growl
have been the fruits of manifold watchings and care
and tears. No dividend nor installment is half 81
sweet TO the PoSSessor of millions, as that frs
precious dollar that rewarded his early toll. Th
heart gildS with thousand precious affections, tn
object it strives for and tolls for. The world
labor and peace, toll and pleasure, work and happi
ness go hand in hand The sweat of the brow turn
into diamonds and drops upon path.
Nobody has right to live who does not labor ii
way. A lazy is defaulter in the mos
precious trust; and, tried by just standard, he de
serves 10 be shunned-if not shut up. Nature has NJ
respect for the man that will not work. She use
him very roughly indeed. If it not for hi
friends, or for his crimes he would be starved AM
put out of the way II you ask The stars, or the eve
swelling sea, the untirng forces of earth and air
they will tell you, he only is living like man, am
worthy the honor Of manhood, who masters his tasks
and goes about his appointed duty manfuy. Al
others are intruders, drones,-or something worse
". Y. Sun.