Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1854-08-25
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There is Dignity in Labor.


ny ANDREW LAWSON
Cincnnatus knew the dignity of toll,
Contentto rule the state till the soil.
And there the hero, at his plow,
With more true glory shone.
Than Cesar with his laurelled brow
His Palace and his throne"
Dignity in laborl Did not the Almighty
himself work? Labor is the law of our be
ing and is absolutely necessary to the wei
being of our existence. improvement and
happiness.
TO man in Paradise it was indeed curse
TO man fallen ii is said to be mercy-it was
the curse on man TO toll and sweat beneath
the rays Of the sun-yet it was not curse
no blessing. Then look where we WILL
everywhere our race is toilng. In the
snowy regions Of the north la,itudes man
| strives for a shelter from the cold, and in
the sultry south seeks defence from
scorching sunbeams and poisoning siroccos
We read of golden ages when the earth
was gultless of the plow; when
From veins Of valleys milk and nectar broke
AID hon ~ trickled through the pores of oak;
When void o care and crime,
The soft creation slept away their time,'
But now the times are changed; ; the gol.
den ages of fabled history are buried in the
years Of forgetlulness, and now we find that
labor is needfu to moral excellence. What
a beautiful labor Nature is What fine
scenery she has formed for man to look up
on with the eye of delight Imagine a
beautiful sheet of water of historic legend,
or romantic tale of wonderful natural beau
ty which the love of art has contributed to
enhance aud celebrate. Whence this air
hung earth dccked all around with a gold
en- chain Of lights? Whence the bright
administrator of light that warns it into
life? and the round, rolling silver moon,
the towering mountains, waving forests and
spreading plains that bask in her light?-
the dark green ocean, and the bright blue
lake that lie in one smooth expanse ofsiver
in her smile? Whence are they? From
labor. Is labor mean and servile, then Z?
Let us look around us. Did you ever catch
Nature sleeping or idle, from that vine that
creeps upon the wall to The oak that wres-
ties in the storm-lrom the drop that trick
les through the rock to the ocean that thun-
ders in its deplhs--from the breeze that
sighs through the grove to the blast that
sweeps along the hills!
As we look in the distance at that vapor
laboring up its misty path, like a thing of
life it transforms itself into a cloud, and
borne on by others, gathers into sublime
darkness and bursts upon the mountains,
and sweeps off TO the sea, again to rise,
again to burst, again TO sweep away, an ad-
mirable trait, indeed of Nature. The suns
steeds never tire, the moons chariot never
stops, and the earth's wheels are never
known to clog. Nature knows no "devil's
workshop" sluggishness is the curse of all
vices.
The pronigate youth may fritter away
his early years, not only 10 no good purpose,
but the want of employment opens the
door for sin, "Man's first step out of bus
ness is into vice. and his last into bell."-
Read what the poet says:
"See the isme of your sIoih;
Or sloth comes pleasure, ofpleasure comes riot;
Ofriot comes disease, of dseuse comes spending
OF spending comes want, of wan comes theft
or theft comes murder, hanging, hell,
Who, then, would for a moment harbor
or foster the idea that there is no dignity
in labor labor with the mind as well as
the body. Mind, by a vigorous effort may
start a wave that will stir the whole ocean
of human thought, or rear some lofty and
majestic monument.
''H ark! the rushing ofthe avalanche.
Which flake on flake has long been gathering
- So in heaven aspiring minds truth
Thong ht after thought is piled til some great
Is learned and the nations echo round,
Shak'n to their base, as are the mountains now"
The idleris disgraced. The Roman SEN
ate, styled the "Fathers" of the nation,
were those who toiled with their own hands
upon their own estates. Labor surpasses
incidence, as brightens rust, aud the labor
Of the min is far superior to that of the
body. Cato yet speaks, and Webster "still
lives" The desponding Roman Senate,
when they looked upon the venerable form
Of Appius, and listened TO the wisdom of
bis aged lips, were literally ashamed Of their
weakness, reused at once, and determined
to conquer Pyrhes, There was dignity
in labor Of this character; without toll and
sweat nothing great is accomplished-the
mind, formed es il is for advancement, can
only be expanded by labor-ihe doctrine
of opportunity is good for nothing without
effort; in labor there's more the iron may
be hot all day, but if there be no striking
operation the share will not be turned. III
children had never INDUCED in blowing
soap bubles the laboriog mind of Newton
would not have brought to light his famous
optic prnciples-Galileo would not have
discovered the laws of the pendulum had