The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1874-06-13
The Glory Of Labor.

This method of teaching the necessity ol work
to the lazy Dutchman may seem an edd Que,
though It is quite in keeping with the grave
procedure ofthat industrious people. The Illus
tration is, however, full of instruction and prac-
tical wisdom. All human beings, excepting
that comparatively small portion of the human
race which lives by appropriating the fruits OF
others labor, are under the necessity OF work
ing-it is the law of their life and of their con
stitution. The majority of men must work in
order to live and it is necessary that all should
work, in order to enjoy life as it ought to be en-
joyed.
Labor is not only necessity, but it is also a
pleasure. What would otherwise be curse,
by the constitution of our system, becomes a
blessing. Our life is a conflict with nature in
some respects, but it is also a cooperation with
nature in others. The eun, the air, and the
earth are constantly abstracting from US our
vital forces and it is only by constant effort
that we can make up the loss, and supply the
elements which have been abstracted from US.
Hence we must eat and drink for nourishmcnt,
and clothe ourselves for warmth.
Labor is at once burden. chastisement,
an honor, and pleasure. tmay be identified
with misery, but there is also great glory i'll
it. 1t bears witness, at the same time, to our
native poverty, and to our manifold needs.
What were man, what were life, what were
civilization, without labor? All that ls great in
man comes of labor; greatness in art, in liter
ature, in science. Knowledge-''the wing
wherewith we fly to heaven"-ls only acquired
through labor.
Genius is but capablity OF laboring intense
ly; it is the power of making great and sustain
ed efforts. Labor may be chastisement, but
it is indeed a glorious one 1t worship, duty,
praise, glory, and immortality, for those who
labor with the highest aims, and with the purest
purposes.
Nbnr n In Il
plain at this new law of labor under which we
live, without rejecting that obedience to it is
not only in conformity with the Divine will,
but also necessary for the developments of intel
ligence, and the thorough en- joyment of our ma
ture.
OF all wretched men, surely the idle are the
most so--thooe whose life is barren of utility,
who have nothing to do except to crafty their
senses. Are not such the most querulous, mis-
erabe, and dissatisfied Of all men, constantly
in q state of ennui, alike useless TO themselves
and to others-mere cumberers of the earth,
who, when removed, are missed by none, and
whom none regret? Most wretched and igno-
BILE lot, indeed, is tue lot Of the idler
Who have helped the world onward so much
as the laborers; those who have had to work
from necessity or from choice? All that we call
-ciyilization, not to say wealth and
property-depends upon industry, diligently
applied. This is true, from the culture of a
barley stalk to the construction of steam ship,
from the stitching OF a collar to the sculptur.
ing of "the statue that enchants the world."-
All useful and beautiful thoughts in like man
ner, are the issue of labor, of study, of observa-
ton, of research, of dilgent elaboration.
The best history owes its excellence to indus
try as much as to genius; and even the noblest
poem cannot be elaborated, and send down its
undying strains into the future, without steady
and pahstaking labor. No great work has
ever been done sat heat" 1t is the result of
repeated efforts, and often of many failures
Our generation begins, and another continues
the present cooperating with past genera
tions in the perfecting OF their work; thus, the
Parthenon began with a mud hut; the Last
Judgment in few scratches on the sand. 1t
is the same with individuals of the race; they
begin with abortive efforts, which lead to sue
cessful Ones Labor is never lost, but always
goes on perfecting itself in its works.
Diligence and application will invariably be
rewarded. The history of industry is uniform
in the character of its illustrations. Persever-
ance is rewarded; idleness goes in rags. In
dustry enables the poorest man to achieve hon
or, if not distinction.
The greatest names in the history Of art, lit
erature and science, are those of working men.
Aworking instrument maker gave us the steam
engine; barber the power-loom a weaver
the spinning jenny; pit man perfected the
locomotive;-an working men of all grades
have, one after another, added to the trumphs
of mechanical skill. By the working man, we
do not mean merely the man who labors with
his muscles and sinews IA horse can do this !;
but he IL ,,,s eusminently the working man who.
works ? 9Th his brain also, and whose physical
system" ia under the influence of the higher
faculties. The man who paints picture, who
writes book, who makes a law, who creates a
poem, is working man of the highest order
not SO necessary to the physical sustainment of
the community as the ploughman or the skep-
herd but not less important in providing for
society its highest intellectual nourishment.
All honor, then, to labor, and all praise to
the true workman, whatever his sphere of labor
may be. Let no man be ashamed that he la
bors for living let him rather glorfy HIM
self, like Saint Paul, in his honorable calling
There is ignominy in idleness only; labor glori
fos the humblcst lot, and though foolish "gen
teel" idlers may sneer, the lot of labor is hal
lowed and blessed.