The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1872-12-27
BEEcHER ON LABOR.
10 q recent sermon the Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher discoursed on the sub

many lOupS Weu. II ID uOL Only nee
! eseary to earn our own livelihood
but we must lise with the sun il
summer, and before it in winter, an,
work with our hands. There is n,
degradation in labor. 1t exalts III
man. 1t was not disesteemed in ear
lier days. Only in Greece and Rom.
it was despised because the Greek
and Romans owned slaves. Tha
nation TO which we owe so much ant
from which we have learned SO mucI
the Jewish nstion--alwsys honor
ed labor. The Jews taught theil
children some little craft, and theJ
were not drudges. A drudge is
man who labors with his hands anG
has no mind to control him, no con-
science behind it, no manhood.
Ii | were cabinet maker, do you
suppose l could construct q cradle
without singing lullaby all the time
Could L saw, plane and rub; saw,
plane and rub (imitaiing the move
ments OF these tools, and not put
my heart in the work2 If / did
would be q drudge. The builder is q
drudge who, every time he drives q
nail, wonders where he can get a
poorer and a cheaper one.
Men tell Us that mans character
may be told by his working. ! can
tell you the character Of a builder and
architect of cold, big house. That
man would be heartless sad bloodless.
But 60 into nice, warm, cozy house,
and you would find ou: that the man
who built it was SO ial, good man,
with heart and brains, too.
Men do not like to labor, because
the worker ranks below the thinker.
That's democratic feeling. 1 say
I'm just as good as any other man,
because all men are equal. / beg
your pardon all men are not equal.
They are not equal in size, height,
girth not equal in virtue; but all
men are civilly equal before the law.
When a man says, "I'm just as good
as any man" il may be so, and it may
not be 80. When the universal man
says so, it's lie
That has been the grand blunder of
the Communists and Internstionals.
They wanted all men equals with
unequal means. The most productive
part OF man is the animal part. A
man shears sheep, and there are
five hundred men in the same togl-
ship who can do the same thing.
Then the wool is sent 10 the manu-
factory, but there will not be five
hundred men who can weave the fine
cloth. The result is that the man
who shears gets one dollar q day,
while the weaver gets three or four
dollars day. This is the result OF
brains and education.
In Ohio, when l lived there, !
knew eminently educated German
gentlemen earning a dollar a day
breaking stones on s macsdamized
road. Measured by avocation they
were low, but they were thinkers,
ranked highei--they were honorable.
A man who has been a hard work
er all his life says 10 himself: 81
have a smart boy. I'll give him
chances never had, I'll give him q
good education. Yes, I'll make a
lawyer out OF him. Immoderate
laughter. In the mouth of June
there will be 100000 blossoms on
every apple tree. There will be
about 800 apples, and the remainder
will drop to the ground. Out Of
500, ,0G0 candidates there will only be
800 professional men.
TIE great trouble is that men are
more anxious to be rich than to be
happy. l never know q minister who
warned his people about being ex-
travagsnt who refused to receive 8
good salary Inever derided wealth,
never exhorled you about being eco
momical, for you would just as lief
walk into my yard and say to my
cows "Oh, Alderneys, be careful oi
your milkh'
a man may be rich and yet be q
fool. or one hundred who have
wealth, but one knows how to use it.
The insane notion that if man only
had wealth he wouldn't want anything
else, has been the ruin of many young
men. Sudden wealth and immense
wealth are the dream of many men in
cities who have LETT their farms and
work shops to come here. ] venture
to say that there are five thousand
Young men here between twenty and
thirty years OF sge who have nothing
to do New York is full Of them. ]
do not wish to be disrespectiul, but
ask one of them il he csn do a days
work. He will answer, No. Are
you good on ship board? No, I've
never been to sea? Can you make
chair -? No. Are you blacksmith
No. Are you carpfnterp No. Is
there anS thing on Gods earth that
you csn do? No, not thing. Laugh
teri Now, think, what Can you do :
We'll, I'm 8 good book keeper
Laughter They csn do nothing
and can get nothing TO do Not alone
is this the case 10 New York, but in
all the large cities Of the UniOn.
Thousands OF young men would
starve to death on q hundred acres o.
land because they couldn't raise corn
They would be houseless and home
less in q lumber yard-bsrefootet
with all the leather ia tie swamp a
their comusDd. Tbey have sbsnd
oned work and want something nc
and easy. think thatthe respectable
German, in his six by nine attic, peg
ging away ct his last, is muC b NOR
respectable than the young man whC
left his fathers farm before he learn
ed to work. You ought 10 go to m.
. house and see the number OF spplicl
tions that are made to me daily
Why people must think that / owl
, Central Park. and Prospect Park
and the Post Office, and the Custom
, House, and the Navy Yard. The.
won't believe that I've no il fuenc
At Washington. / sJnpathize wit
, them and assist them when / can.
, try to encourage item.
: BIZ. Beecher then addressed him
3 self TO the wealthy members Of hi
congregation, and ssid: Even
7 YOU are worth 9 million TO day, you
son may yet be forced to beg hi
bread because he can't work. You
: daughters cannot be chambermaid
b or cooks, or washerwomen-what
J. to become OF them? In one thing
q would have you Judsizsd. There
e an old and true Jewish proverb vhiC
u says, Ale who brings up his chi
o without q trade, brings him up I
u steal" The papers tell us of peop
II going TO seek theirfortunes in Ameri,
e It should be, work for their forune
d Mr.. Beecher closed with touchir
II peroration, in which, speaking Of Il
y rising generation, be said: 81
them be men who earn their Iivil
by the sweat OF their brow and vi
a can hold up their big, hard hand, a
Il say they never took . penny they d
mot earn"