Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-11-28

Kept upon the relative level from which
they started; and this simply means a
high scale of living to all, high cost of
production of everything, and conse-
auent inability to compete anywhere
outside the orbit OF such restrictive
laws. But the enfeeblement Of indi-
yidual energies and the impairment OF
manly sef.reliance are necessarily in
volved, and the belief in mysterious
powers OF the State and reliance upon
them to take the place OF individual
exertion fosters the growth of State
Socialism, and personal liberty ceases
to be the great end OF government.
Applause.
FREEDOM FOR INDIVIDUAL LABoR.
How can we fail to perceive that ii
sfatal to hopes of advancement--or.
even of retention of what has been
gained by civilization-when indi-
yiduM freedom and idiosyncrasies of
personal character are impeded or
cramped in their free expansion by the
stupid interference of inf1exible labor
laws, which may be reasonably appli-
cable to one description of human
exertion, and yet wholly unadapted
for others beneficial to one man hurt
ful to another; benefit to one class,
curse to another repressing ac-
tifihes tublb1 aHi NhtpI-
prise, and tending only to establish
standard of dull and hopeless me-
diocrity? | can imagine no more un-
happy fate than for a man to be chained
to an occupation below the natural
level of his apacities-crueliy cramped
in his aspirations, and forbidden 10
rise 10 his full intellectual and moral
stature And vain and irreverent are
all such attempts to establish dead
level in human faculties of body or
mind--a bed of Procrustes, on which
the bodies and minds OF men are TO be
stretched or MANNED, but never to rest
in peace. Applause. Who will not
admie that the individual discoveries
4 and labors of such men as Caxtnn.
Watt Arkwright, Stephenson, Mas
myth, Wedgewood. Bessemer, Whit
worth, and Whitney, Ericsson, Bell,
or Edison have been productive of in.
finitely greater, steady, happy, pros
porous, and beneficial industry and
employment, giving comfort and occu
patton to countless numbers of the
human race, and an upward impetus
to the cause of humanity and cviliza-
tion far beyond all that statutes and
societies for the avowed protection Of
labor can ever pretend to accomplish
Applause. Not France alone, but
the entire civilized world, mourns the
death of Louis Pasteur, whose dis
coveries of the origin of disease are of
euch value to humanity at large. The
list of such individual benefactions is
happily too long to attempt it's repeti-
tion here, and their names crowd our
memories and swell our hearts with
gratitude and admiration; but it may
be confidently asserted that each of
the inventions which have so blessed
mankind and promoted its progress has
originated in the mind of an indi-
vidual, the sole channel through which
Ii has been introduced for the general
welfare. And to what audience, and
in what spot on the green earth, could
plea for respect and freedom for in
dividual genius be so confidently
urged as in the city of Edinburgh
What country has greater cause than
yours for love and pride in her chill
tlren, and can more forcibly illustrate,
by long catalogue of illustrious names.
+. the value 10 the whole world of each
true soul, conscious of its powers and
fearlessly faithful in their expressionY
In philosophy, science, and art, in
Is every department of intellectual ac-
lquirement and education, Scotland's
rank is second TO none, and in some
names leads the world. Applause.
1t is not fitting that | should, in this
presence, leave unspoken the name of
Adam Smith, and | pronounce it with
profound respect for the great indi-
vidual whose clear mind tlrst taught
I men the true philosophy Of liberated
commerce and freedom of exchange,
and induced the longest step yet taken
in the path of political economy. APP
plause. Well might David Hume de-
clare, us Buckle has recorded, that
1.-THE Wealth of Nations was the
most valuable production of the human
mind. Come from what land he may,
who can tread the soil OF breathe the
air OF Caledonia without pausing with
love and gratitude to bless the name
and memory of Walter ScottY APP
plause. He has not only peopled lake
and glen with the creations of his
imagination, but has bound history
fast in the flowery chains of his fic-
ton; every mountain, stream, and
valley of his native land he has be-
decked with his exquisite fancy; he
has instilled in human hearts every
where respect ard sympathy for the
virtues that make homes happy and
refined, and nations honored and be-
loved. Scotland without Sir Walter
1t cannot be imagined. Such divorce
can never be. He was the gift Of God
to his country, and through ills
country to humanity at large. mo
other such record, save that of the
one and only Shakespeare, is infhe
literature of his race, and when IN is
forgotten it will be sign of national
decay. Applause. Years ago an
American poet asked =
But who his human heart hath laid
10 Natures bosom nearer,
Who sweetened toll like him, or paid
To love tribute dearer7 re
And when each of us essays to answer
Whittier's question, l am sure that
Dne and all will pronounce the name
of Robert Burns applausel tho mar
velous Scottish peasant who, as Words
worth said, "Shames the schools. "
And this poor inhabitant below
was born and lived aud died in narrow
poverty, from whose chilling grasp he
was only released by death, with none
of the advantages supposed to be essen
tial for the humblest grade of litera-
lure and poesy. But the "living soul''
within him scared above his homely
surroundings, and as he sang he took |
the human heart by storm, and in the
realm of humanity his state is kingly.
From that early and humble grave in
Dumfriesshire the music of his soul
comes to our ears; he has become a
political, religious, and educational
force, and
Deep In the general heart of men
His power survives.
Burns alone is plenary and unanswer-
nble proof that the free individual is