The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-05-04
Nnrkinn And Thinkinn.

Working And Thinking.
Laborious study and diligent obserS
walton of the world, are both indis-
pensible to the attainment of eminence
BY the former, we make ourselves
masters OF all that is known in science
and letters; by character and abilities
of our own countrymen. Franklin
was a fine model of a practical man,
as contradistinguished from a vision
airy theorist such as men ofgreat learn
ing are apt to be. He was great in
the greatest of all good qualities
sound, strong common We
can not all be Franklins, it is true:
but, by initiating his mental habits
and unwearied industry, we may reach
an eminence that we should
attain. Nor would he have been the
Franklin that he was, if he had permit
ted himself to be discouraged by the
reflection thatl all can not be Newtons
In these days there are constant
efforts To separate working and think
my. We set aside one class OF men,
and TO them we say, your department.
is all mental, you must do the think
ing; to another class your province is
to hew wood manipulate iron, carry
the hod, and draw water, but the ac-
tive employment Of your brains Is
unnecessary. In short, we want some
men 10 be always thinking, and others
to be always working, and we call the
former gentleman, and the latter OPP
eratives; whereas workmen ought OF
ten TO lie thinking. snd the thinkers
often to be working, while both
should be gentlemen i'll the best sense
In society we find too many morbid
thinkers and miserable workers. It
is only by labor that thought can be
made pleasant. There should be
less prid. felt in popularity OF en-
ployment, and more in excellence of
achievements. There is no employ
meut. or occupation, which can not
be improved in some q Or 9TH
er by the exercise OF thought. The
simplitication, of complicated oper-
ations, the reduction OF manual labor.
improvements in finish and beauty of
the maximum of effect with
both tiieorlst and practitioner And
be it observed that all construction,
whether i'll ston., wood, iron or brass
is excellent and attractive in design,
proportion and operation, just 80 far as
thought auda knowledge of the exact
science have been exercised. What
for instance, has b en- the OF
bringing the printing press to such
perfection, but years Of thought-deep
long comprehensive. powerful thought
Hour after hour, week alter week,
has been passed in studying put some
movement for some special
Experiment after experiment
by intelligent mechanics has been
tried until the pri ting press has
assumed mathematical exactness, and
is to day a monument to thought and
1t is true that some of. our lest
engineers and mechanics have been
of limited means and education, |
whom the world would never
have known except for what they have
accomplished. Whence their success?
We trace it back to their habits
Of persistent thinking. We are in
The habit of pointing to such men as
Newton, Calico, Herschel, franklin.
and the two Stephensons, as
men who have made grand discover
es and contributed great things to
but in their biographies we
-ead OF their studious habits, and of
heir consuming the midnight oil,
with indumitabie perseveran ce
hey thought ont their problems, and
for truth until they found it,
hus proving the giant character of
heir minds, i'll the constructive art
It the present day. we find that
bought and study must not be con-
ined solely to the studio or the draft
ng room, if we wish Tor beauty, har-
nony. and sOlidity of construction.
Our mechanics must cultivate hab-
is of thought, for the hand that is
by the gre test intelligence,
will work under the best advantages,
md obtain the highest results. They
must he constantly on the alert for
in the manipulation of
he various materials, and strive each
to advance in mechanical skill
Or each day has its lesson in the
-ork shop. Good habits, steady ap-
l'catin, fine workmanship, combined
'ith thought concentrated on the work
make men not only very valuable to
heir employers, but will assuredly
them social y, aud permit them
be ranked with the most useful
of the age. And again
neir energy of body and mind will -,
e impaired to others, and i%nu1ence-
lem rs strong characters always do, $
into theirs, and bringing out |
leir best powers.-TecAnoIo0ist,