Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-08-01
THE UNFOLDING OF INDUSTRIAL
IDEAS.


The creative power Of the Almighty has
never been exercised without a purpose.
The whole universe, in which man lives
and moves and has bis being, is guided in
its harmonious operations by a system of
unvarying laws, and the superior intellect,
with which be is endowed, was doubtless
given for the purpose of enabling him to as
certain what those laws are, and how they
might be applied TO his various wants. 1t
is in this that education properly consists,
and, to the misdirection of the mental pow
ers, may be attri 0uted the long night OF
intellectual darkness which brooded over
the world during the early and middle ages.
For ages mankind seems to have had but
8 slight conception of the laws upon which
the universe was constructed, anG, instead
of directing bis energies to domestic i'm
provement he was principally occupied
in preying upon bis neighbors'
Hence the glory which encircled the brows
of war-like chieftains and the contempt in
which almost all other vacations were
held. The principal sciences were unculti-
vated. Agriculture and the manufactures
were carried on in the crudest manner;
and TIE ambitious youth saw no other road
to fame, except through the CORY fields Of
war.
In the course of time better apprecia-
ton of his relations to the world aroused
him and the purposes for which he was
created dawned upon mankind, and the
result has been total change in the civil
lied world. This change is too conspicu-
Gus to be dwelt upon here, for every child
knows that be is surrounded with applian-
ces, which only a short time ago, would
have been considered as the work Of magic
Ii is strange how slow we are, as a mass,
in falling into this march Of progress.
Most Of our institutions of learning are
carried on upon the same old plan, and the
graduate must almost begin his education
anew if he desires name among the great
benefactors of his race. a new order of
institutions, however, is springing up around
Us, institutions in which agriculture and
mechanics are scientifically taught, and
theories practically applied; institutions in
which labor is elevated to its proper dignity,
and in which the pupil is prepared, both
physically and mentally, to grapple with
the lealit es of life, and to win bis way to
fame and fortune in any part of the wide
world. atts.
1t is shame that such large proportion
Of the young men of our country can be
satisfied with pitiful clerkships and other
vocations, in which the mind is dwarfed
and health impaired, and in which only q
subsistence can be made, while so many
sources Of profitable employment are in
viting them TO an honest and honorable In
dependence. We long TO see the day when
it will be difficult TO find occupants for pet
~ clerkships Of every character, instead of
having applicants by the hundreds for
every vacancy, as is now the case. If such
a result can ever be reached, and our peo-
pie can be taught to work for themselves,
instead OF experimenting the work OF
Others, the cry about the scarcity of labor
will no longer be heard in the land, and
every barren hill viii bloom with fields OF
waving grail. ..--..-..... -e.-r -.
The disposition to look upon farm labor
as ungen,eel is too prevalent throughout the
Simultaneously. Agriculture liz no longer
q duh routine of daily work, but q science,
which affords full scope for the development
Of the intellect. Progress in this depart
ment Of late years, has been almost incredi-
bic. Science has guided the farmer not
only in the cultivation of the soil, but in
the manufacture of his implements, and the
result Is wonderful increase In Ghe yield Of