Martinsburgh Gazette

Industry—Its Dignity and Usefulness.

There is no condition in life better calculated than that of a laborious mechanic, for a man to feel and realize a proper sense of his own dignity and independence. He retires to his meals from the fatigues of the day, with a full conviction that his sturdy hands have earned the refreshments of his table. He feels that his wealthy neighbor cannot enjoy even his opulence without his assistance. His time never hangs heavy upon his hands, and his robust frame and his hardy sinews attest how essential this exercise is to the health of his body. He progresses onward, as it were by inches, to competence, and he learns the practical lessons of economy and frugality in his family expenditures.

Removed from the vices and gorgeous temptations of fashionable life, he knows how to bridle his ambition; he feels the blessing of his family hearth, and can look without a sigh on the gaudy pageantry of the day. This is true moral independence—this curb on our unruly desires, this intemperance in the exercise of all wishes, are the materials that constitute valuable citizens. It should be the pride, as undoubtedly it is the right of a labouring man, to indulge in such ideas.

Boys that are put out as apprentices to a mechanical profession, are taken many times from a state of poverty and ignorance, and prepared for fulfilling afterwards stations thus honourable. Would they but properly comprehend the full extent of such benefits, they would see nothing but their future honour, dignity and independence, in their own indentures. They are learning, not as they are too prone to believe, the alphabet of servitude and degradation, but the rudiments of faith, industry, punctuality, economy, and all those virtues that decorate and adorn the family hearth. They are now giving pledges to their masters of what their future characters will be when they in their turn, will be called upon to perform their part on the grand theatre of human life. It is a noble sight, and one of the best symptoms of the long continuance of our free republican institutions, when we behold apprentices alert, vigilant and industrious, prompt to learn, and zealous to excel They may hear of naval, or military glory; but theirs is a glory more permanent. The States call but here, and there, and now and then, for heroes—this is only during the period of carnage and war of butchery and blood. The glory of a labouring man is connected with all that is dear in human life—it is identified with peace and contentment, with the early smoke that rises from the family cottage—with the ripening harvest that seems to nod, as if impatient of the sickle. These triumphs are not won by blood and carnage. They are pacific victories; and let it be remembered that the Saviour of the world is called the Prince of Peace.—[Balt. Chron.