Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-11-06


calling appear to regard themselves as the
heirseef peculiar care, and to be debarfed of
certain rights and advantages, which seem to
them TO attach to every rank except their
own The poet friend of the patron Macanas
celebrated long ago. in some of his most
striking verse, this spirit of discomfort, which,
however, was not peculiar to Latin SOIL The
mechanic now. as then. envies the prosperous
tradesnan: the sea-weary mariner signs for
the nnhrOken slumber of the husbanduian:
the rustic. in turn. pines for the activity and
refinement of the city while the professional
man longs tor the repOse of the green fields,
The salt breath of the pure sea. or the alluring
and substantial profits of trade Could we
unvril the privacy of each one of those ranks
or occupations in life. and make them all look
each other In the face. it would he seen that
each has It's fretting cares. its Peculiar bur-
dens. ITS fancied wrongs-tbat hardship is in
separable from human lots, and that nature
and society are eminently compensatory in
their arrangements and in the distribution of
advantages. And so. many of our ideas of
social distinctions, when We come to under
stand their origin, would either dissipate or be
justifird. Thus. that there is paIpable dis
lance between ranks. it will not be denied.
Bnt the causes of this separation would most
likely deceive the superficial observer. What
is it for instance. that divides the profession
It is not the accident of birth, the
law of castles. or any arbitrary distinc-
z ions. The true cause is to be found
rather in the fact that the two men pursue
duty by different paths. that they are separat-
ed by taste. by business. by association. that
the workshop and the office possess each their
peculiar cares, and so their inmates are sepa-
rated more by a dissimlarty Of pursuits than
by any law of society. The study and bust
nf nh cfaSor Antt, NJ arx-
different from that, in which course the life
and the concern of the laborer. They are,
therefore. thrown little together. not so much
because the one regards himself superior to
the other. as because they want common
employment and a common taste, aud thus
they form different associations and become
members of different circles. Similarity of
pursuits creates congenial tastes. and by these
men are drawn aud bound together. The la
bnrer seeks his bread in the shop or in the
field, and he has little patience for the tame
pursuits of the Office. The man of books
. shrlikS from the implements of trade. as so
many enemies of that precious time, which
he deems well spent only in the study. And
thus individuals are separated and kept apart.
not so much by an Intentional avoidance of
each other, as by an unconscious and gentle
d"parture-the result of circumstances. not
birth of taste. not fashion. The prejudice is
not less false and unfounded, that there is in
hercnt disparity in the dignity Of the various
pursuits of life. All labor is honorable, and
possesses its Importance. | know not by
what authority one species of toll can be said
to be inherently higher than another. 1t is
the refinement of the workman. that gives
character and resp ctability to his employ
m"nt / cannot say that there il less intrinsic
dignity in the labor which lays the railroad
track. than in that which invcnts the car and
an no ipa of CT in no al
skill which publishes the elegant volume. than
in the mental toll which fills it with beauty
and wisdom. We are all workers in our way.
The perspiratiOn stands alike upon the arm
of industry and the brow of thought. The
dignity of labor is asserted BIZ all those monu-
ments of its handiwork-hy the cities it builds,
the gardens it plants by the arts it practises
and invents, " the virtue it developes by the
truth it explores, by the thousand and one
appliances it has adapted to the happiness of
man. by the wonderful creations which have
made the genius of the Past immortal. 1t
has raised up the pyramids of the Nile, which
still survive the death of centuries; il has
caught the rays of beauty. and fixed them on
the speaking canvas; it has touched the
sleeping marble with the fire of life: il has
reared the graceful temple, in which divinity
might well delight to dwell, and where the
soul of Greece seems to live forever.
viii social ranks ever learn their true ele-
walton, or the secret of refrm? Will they
ever attach the propar estimate to worth
wherever born, however bred! Let the moss
grown customs and crazy traditions of the
old world still set up barriers, which find
their potency in name but the glory OF
America shall be. that her sons, made vigorous
by her equal liberty, may pursue fortune
fame. the highest ends of life. and merit be
the measure of success. 1t is here that society
may create its proper levels; that virtue walks
with the front OF conscious dignity that po-
verify is made rich by the gifts of genius
that ambition is at once stimulated and chast
ened that community breathes of brother
hood; that thought is laborious for sorrows
not its own; that hope shines with celestial
radiance i'll the ASPIRATIONS of man, and he
realiZ s. in the independence of thought, the
bountitulness offreedom. what has been dream
ed by the gifted and prophesied by the high
soulcd in other lands of a nature formed ir
the likeness of that God, from whom 1T had
wandered, in an estrangement as voluntary
as il was sad.