The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1867-09-26
For the JefIersonian.
The Sons of Labor.

\ The injunction, that " man should eat
his bread in the sweat of his face" is
one of the primary, and definite machin-
ations, which prolong civil and consti-
tutional prosperity throughout the world.
All must, and all are hourly employed,
in carrying out the mandate of their own
cooperative and interchanging destiny
To be employed at something always, is
emphatically the desire of maikind; and
few of our race seldom languish for the
still and dreary inaptitude of idleness.
God ordains it so, and our own minds
anticipate the fxity of the established
rule. 1t is inherent and existant in our
nature, to Be, to Do, and to Suffer. We
are the Verb, indiscrimately operating in
the vast arena of generative action !;
where all participate in the design Of
universal improvement, and all acceller-
ate the progress of intellectual achieve
ment. Our own especial joys or sorrows
either facilitate or retard our individual
success. 1t is entirely in our keeping
either to merit failure or to succeed in
the various undertakings of our lives =
But, in this last assertion, men generally,
are indisposed to agree. They attribute
their failure to some supernatural agency.
The thing called Luck, is their favorite
axiom = complaints are heard that times
are troublous, and friends deceitful =
that the world is undergoing a great
change, unlike 4" the same world they
loved in their youth" The Common
wealth of Labor is for while agitated
till some are perceived far above their
brethren in durable success; but the
current moves on in its respective avoca-
tions, and the survivors of the alarm have
triumphed.
And however exalted in our position
or selfesteem, the sentence of labor is
executed upon our destinies. The grades
of our profession, however trivial, are in
themselves the executives of the general
law. He who dwindles away his life in
the palace, or the ante chamber, fulflls
the decree as inexplicably, as he who has
to dig and delve, till death ends his sor-
rowful existance = till he departs this
life like the drone, stung and swollen
with contempt and fatigue.
The many whose destiny has placed
them iu the easy and voluptuous positions
of life, seldom recognize the sorrows of
their brethren placed in a sterner ap-
pointment; and let us inquire which of
the two classes enjoy the bitter sweets of
their existance. The former, over-wrought
in the inapt and languid indispositions
which are in accordance with their state,
never find relief in their desire How
many persons rise every morning sullen
and perplexed, after night of fever?
their slumbers troubled, their bodies rid
den by nightmare, and their blood soured
by indigestion? Their minds and appe-
tites, too, in a state of nervous excitement.
What suit will they wear to-day? What
appeal best answers their demeanor?
Which particular dress? Who are they
to visit? What for breakfast? In short,
their whole appeal is, how will they pass
over the day. But the latter are other
wise. Their sleep is tranquil, serene and
healthy. Their dreams, if any, are the
soft realities of their temperate desires
Cheerful and invigorating, both in mind
and body, they rise from their hard couch
with an alacrity truly refreshing. Their
morning meal is sweet, although ievoured
in haste, their hands willing and their
tempers delighted. Resolution and stern
determination of will are the accompani-
ments of the temperate workman. 1t is
these which steel his heart, against sor-
row and disappointment t. these which
nerve his sinewy arm, and infame his
zeal l. these which uphold and sustain
him in opposition, malevolence, and other
on his unlimited right.
He is free = free from enemies, from vi
ces, and from prospective failures. His
is sure, and his reward great
Who has not been delighted with the
songs of Burns, composed while engaged
in the meanest farm drudgery, or who
has not felt his soul glow with admiration
as he perused the digni6ed and affecting
pastorals of Bloomfield? Allen Ramsey,
too, is one of the examples wherein labor
is lishtened by song. Lincoln, it seems,
was at one time farm laborer. johnson
also soiled his hands, aud many others
whose names shall illustrate the pages of
history till the end of time. The mental
qualifications Of man are seldom oblite
rated by constant and persevering indus
try; but these rather brighten the intel
lect. The diversity of mental and bodily
labor serves to strengthen each alternate
ly; and the products of each magnify as
they are diversified by studous exertion.
How much of human misery is spared to
men, if they acquire the habits Of indus.
try2 The answers are vivid, clear, and
exalted. A due exertion, in the ways of
industry, surely bring reward, happiness
and prosperity. The home of the idler
is den of RIGHTEOUSNESS, destitution, and
want The children, squallid aud bony,
are fostered in the same Improbable ca
reer of their sire The sin of idlencss is |
inherited with the sin of the general cor
ruption by Adam, or the curse of Law
ha e sL l., 4 ,r,fl