The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-09-04
Why lon tho Anvn.
ny ELuiU HuRRrlT

" profession, / will be- honest now, and tell
u you the whole story, was transported from
b the anvil 10 the editors chair by the geniua
p Of machinery, Don't smile, friends, il y even
50,
! had stood and looked for hours on those
Ihougltlcss iron intelleots those iron -Gnger-
ed, sober supple automalous, as they caught
, up bale Of cotton and Mirled il Ia the
r twinkling Of an eye into awhirlwind Of vhl.
I llng shrcds, and laid NJ my feet IN folds Of
snow-Whilf cloth, ready ior tho use Of the
most yolupfuous antipodea They we're won
dcrful things, those looms aud spindlcs, bat
they could not spin thoughtsi there was no
attribute Of divinity In them, and admired
lhem-.nolhug more They were excessive
ly curious, but | could estimate tho whole
compass Of their being and destiny in finger
power 50 went away and left them spinning
cotton.
One day was tuning my anvil beneath
hot iron, and busy with the thought that
there was a. much intellectual philosophy In
my hammer as in any cnginry n-going in
modern times, when an uncarihly scream
reached my carsi 1 stepped 10 the door and
there it twas--thc grea' iron horse Yes he
had come, looking for the world like the
/ great dragon We have read Of In Scrptqres.
hnrncsscd to half living world and mst
landed on the earth, where he stood braying
with surprise and indignation at the base
use TO which he had been turned. | saw
the gigantic hcXapodo move with power
that made the earth trcmblc for miles |
saw the army Of human beings gliding with
the velocity Of Wind over the iron track, and
droves Of cattle travelling in their stables, al
the rate Of twenty miles an hour towards the
city slaugMrr'house. II was wonderful The
little busy -bcc-wingcd maehiniry Of the cot
ton factory dwindlcd into insignGcancc be.
fore H. Monstrous beast Of passage and
burden. II dcvourcd intervening distance.
aud welded the cities together. Hut for its
furnace heat and iron sincws, il was nothing
but bcast-,an enormous aggregation of
horsepower. And went back to the forge
with unimpaircd reverence for the intcllccm- !,
al philosophy Of my hammer
Passing along the street one afternoon, / a,
heard noise ia an Old building, us Of some y.
one pulling pair Of bellows SO without
more ado, stepped in, and there in a corner :.
OF the room, / saw the cieC a. o-uryc Of all :,
machinery that ha, been invented since the ;.
birth Of fut7' Cain. IN It's construction, it ;,
wasas simple as a chccsc.prcss It went :,
with leyeri with lever stronger that that 4
with winch Arthimedcs promised to In the
world.
1t Is printing press, said boy standing +,
by The ink trough, with careless turban Of :.
brown paper ON his head. a printing prSgs - =,
qucricd musingly to myself a printing :
press what do you print asked. Print p a
said tlt boy, staring at me doubtfully, 'why, -
Nc rrint thoughts Print thoughts / slow =.
y repeated after him and We stood looking :.
or moment at each other in mutual admi- .
ationi he in the absenc Of an idea, and in =,
pursuit Of one. But ! looked at him the !.
hardest and he left another inkspot on his ,,i
orchcad, with pathetic motion Of his cn -.
'and to quicken his apprehension Of my =,
meaning. why, yes he reiterated in tone -,
4 forced confidence, as if passing an idea, y,
hich though having been current a hundred
ears, might still be counterfeit, for all he ="
ould show on the spot, we print thoughts, a.,
D he sure But my boy / asked in an hon -.
st sohcrncss, what are thoughts, and how ,,. .
an you get hold of them? Thoughts are
hat come out ofpeoplc's minds he replied. ~,
let hold of them, indeed. Why, minds are IaS
othing you can get hold of or thoughts Ell
icr All the minds that ever thought, and
] the thoughts that minds ever made, would .c
OF make ball as big as your fist Minds,
icy say, are just like airi you can't see them ,,,
icy don't make any noise, nor have any col s,r
; they don't weigh anything Bill Dccpcut on,
e sexton, says man just weighsas as much r,
hen his mind has gone out of him as he did 80.
fore. No sir all the minds that ever lived -,
ould not weigh an ounce troy.
Then how do you print thoughts IL :,
inds are as thin as air, and thoughts are =
i'll and make no noise, and have no sub ;.,,
lnce, shade or color, and are like the winds :,
d more than the winds, are anywhere in -
ao,'' ,''i''' ~ i''"'e'' anu some thy
ught or show them TO others" =
Ezckicl's eyes grew luminous with new foro
"a, and pushing the ink roller proudly trea
ross the metallic pages of the newspaper, now
replied: Thoughts work and walk in Inv
ngs and stamp them on paper, or iron, thu,
od stone, or what not. This is the way tho
print thoughts. DO you understand p not
The pressman let go the lever and looked NOT
errogatively at Ezekiel, beginning Mt the let ,
ch on his stringless brogans, and followed obl
with his eye to the top of the boys brown old
'ei cap E~eKiei al once eomprehended with
,e"'''y Vi MS liiustraton' ana wiping has al
~ ." MS low apron gradually assumed an of IL
itude of earnest opposition, l gave him bag
encouraging wink and so he wen: on. or h,
'''N3 71s sg.sel- - -