The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1856-06-18
For the Lancaster Ledger.
The Origin and Progress Of Invention
SELECTED By JEEMS.
THEIR EARLY DEVELOPMENT.

the handi,-afts of the living barbarians We
may contemplate those current u Eden and
| in the colonies that sprang UP around it
| for there is rs marked resemblance in The S
primal devices Of man, rs in those of the
groups below him, and necessarily so, since
originating in the same wants, the same in.
stinctive impulses suggested and will ever
suggest them. Whilst pressing energics
gave rise to primal devices, necessities led
to their improvement and mullipliiaton.--n :
Whenever a marked advance took place, il q
seems to have arisen in much tho same way
as among inferior beings. II wa. examine
the habits aud actions of these, VIC shall E
iLd the same diversity of temper, talents,
aud their consequences, prevailing rs with
us. The ingenious and industrious thrive;
the idle and ineXpert suffer. Every crca
turc, from the lion to the lion ant, f.om the /
eagle TO the cphemcrOn, is the author Of its +
own fortunes, good or bad. Somo in nd. /
vance Of their fellows, modify stable siruc.
lures and stratagcms to meet unusual cmcr-
gences, and are rewarded for their pains. /
They are the inventors If their tribas. Nov
el circumstances suggest new Ideas, which
became manifested in new forms, materials
and Practices. Precisely so With the anL
mailman. AS circumstances changed
around him, so did hi, devices and hcuce
useful results gradually accumulated, and
the avenues 10 civilization opened
lf necessities were the parents Of inven.
tion, convenience, were its nurses, and en-
joyments its teachers. As society improved
80 did these, and Keeping in advance, they
courtcd and encouraged il on. Suggesting
new ideas, they kept cnlarging human pros.
poets and cliciting new devices, which re,
CURED higher efforts TO fulfil. In this way
the most refined of people have arisen from
the rudest, mud in this way must always rise.
Every decided acquisition in the beginning
leads to another, and il TO other. and others;
so that the truth is now becoming apparent,
that necessities TO science and art can only
cease with human progress; and the con.
'ersc-when it is arrested, they must dc.
cline, and as it rc;rogradcs they will disap
pear, one by one, until the race reve., to
primitive ignorance and iufuci,y.
WHAT Is YET TO be DONE BY THEM.
The f1cul,cs of those who talk of limit,
to knowledge, and of the fruits of knowl.
edge, are nasccnt They have neither lnll
nor half'grown ideas Of mans powers. AMI
the miracles in agriculture, chemistry and
mechanics, he has to perform. Would they
EIttn he fha 4
what is TO be l.y what has been! DO they
think the earth Is 10 remain as now-the
greater part arid moor.. dark forests, and
moras'! a larger, much larger, proportion
Of their own species, too, rs destitute of
mental and moral cultivation! Why, man
is only entering on his task-by few prr-
liminary and scattered experiments prepar.
ing himself to set about il.
An indni,y of work is before him. As an
agricultural, lac has 10 lay and keep cnarg.
ing the basis Of the social column. All bu,
an Insignificant portion Of his splendid pat.
rimony IL yet wild land this he has TO re.
claim and convert into orchards and gardens,
into grass and grain.g growing fields. The
richest sections, the tropics, so exubcran, in
fertility, are to DC ubjuga,cd-hardly touch
cd by tie plow, though deemed the birth.
flace ard spccia! homestead of the species.
Free and facilc communications with and
through all have 10 be established. Add
to teis tile publication Of the atmosphere
from malaria for, by human providence.
salubrity IL TO succeed the bancful lnias,na
OF marshes--the hotbeds Of fcvers and agnes
are TO be dried up, and human life and Iife'.
blessings prolonged.
The nature aud property Of myriads of
unknown plants have to b, ascer, ained-the
valuable fostercd. improved and multiplied
The noxious and useless suppressed. so Of
animals-for TO us Is committed the power
OF moulding and multiplying such as are ser.
viceable, and Of annihilating others, by re.
moving the conditions under or by which
alone they can exist. by the exercise Of
this prerogativc, results have been brough,
about as singular as IN any vegetable or ar
tliicial Organisms. Dimensions, forms, coll
ors, proportions, habits, tastes, and the very
faculties Of the lower tribes, have been
ebanged--so much so rs TO make II DOUBT
iul whether the species and sub.spccies may
not be one, after NIL, TO this strange Elasticity
OF animated nature. The earth Is labora.
tory 10 which man rs chemist is hardly be.
gun 10 operate. a few loose samples Of
what u Is composed have been partially ana,
hzed, but the bulk has not been broken in
TO. Then the infinity Of process eeasclessly
and silently going on in organized and inert
matter has to be grappled with. As fac
tory, too, furnished with implimenis and ma.
terials in super-abundanee, little has been
done in it--no,hiog worth naming, Ia view
Of what has to hs dcne. The rieh stock has
been n.gleeted--not half Of IL has beer yet
even seen--while forces for fabrica,ing Il
have from the beginning Of time been, some
running TO waste, others lying dormant for
wait Of being called up 10 labor.