The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-02-03

eundre( bf MECHANICS employee ihs 4 ei-
oft hes ocen nf1e 10 essbYsh afifnstifht;uh NAV.
Ing for ts object their intellectual cultivation
1nat no library has been gotten from sshiehs ~
that theyHesEsn BERN D dls essa lille E "a.
pie jack plane. and Gsxss. ssishsas
ever having opportunity of elevating their ninds
akA tbsif aedas ha.1 III kri5nwsis sslg il il
that their labors are-reqaired to advance scfencd
and supply the necesAafi6s of life. Perhaps ther{
Y no city sipI the Union which can boast of moro
orderly, industrious mechanics than Richmond
and yet we venture The assertion that Mere u none
other y which such little care il had for their fn
tefiecfual ADVANCEMENT Like the machinery upon
Witch they work they are looked upon as valuable
90 long only as physical strength lasts to pr rform
their duties but when old age aliction or diseass
comes on they are cast aside as mere rubbish ID
i ssRpIsnt t 4y athsrs more Salgabs
asainstitwe design ehiistiag our brother fneehanl
cs, believing that byi aronsing their self esteem
and re'anin1atihg their PRIDE we can induce them
to battle for acknowledgement the cultivation al tho
ninaor ait that marks man above the
y it necessary for US to say to the MECHANICS OF
Richmond that upon their heads rest the resi-
possibility of their ignorance of everything uhconi
uected with tief daily Secatiofs Cah they not
see how much moro profitaly they anid employ
Their leisure than IN loilnsng bout abas
tfeems;and engaging in Idle past-times Need We
point TIE IA to the great men OF TIA country. who
ny a. useful Expenditure od their idle monientsI
hrve risen from the workshops to the rhighest po,
sltlons Wiihinthe gift OF their fellow men And
are the natural capacity ofour working men,Ides5
than those Of other places Not whif.s But they
pave along in the dray horse line as did
per iathets before thep until they al
lest and aby-word with "soap-1ocks AMI 1aeeS
aud tris, that i've ass drones only to destroy
and nntil they look Tor nothing but sneer and COP
tempt the moment they approach ice above
their col borers in the workshop Desp.sjag them
selves. for their ignorance, and having AZ means
thrust upon them for Improvement, it, ~ rare in
deed that they aim at attain to any other posi
tons thansnch as were ass igned them IL Boyhood
-parts and parcels Off great maehide 9ST OF theI
world in its progress to eternity z'ofinf oHt 81
Seeing and feeling tn ecessty for r RADICAL
change in the habits of brother mechanics I'VE
urge the foundation 7et artMechanics institute, v
connected It you please with the State gglcutu
raj Society. and tor I'd Immediate estabI sillent of
d mechanics library VIII the working men Of
for the organizations! Willnot every person IN the
| city contribute something towards the difusing
| OF useful knowledge among class of men upon
whom the prosperity Of the metropolis of tie OLD
| Dominion mustdepends Look where you Will
| go where yeu maybe Mechanics are up ana do
ing. North Of us, the highest posts are filled by
them. South of us, the leaders in all great ept ri
Epfises for the public good Mechanics-hut here
| III Richmond, in the capital of that State which
claims TO be THE mother Of Presidents and States
| Inen-we find them with some few honorable exl
! ceptiohs) fhe mere Fhewess Of wood and drawe S
| of waters" Shame-shap1e upon us, thatwe have
long been content toiillthe place Of mere me
nials-that we have bowed to our interiors as the
oxen to the yoke, without once thinking that the
means are within our reach to be what. God de-
signed u.s. the pioneers in all that is useful ana va
liable to the the human family Let us then found
an Institute, establish library, educate our chill
dfen and apprentices and by reading lectures
study, and experiments become fitted to adort all
stations in life and to serve our fellows and our
| country with credit to ourselves and with honor
to HimAthe first and greatest mechanic of all
through whonh we live and move and have cur be-
ing. -f''f"3.'i ~ III