Harvard Classics Volume 28: Essays English and American
General
Harvard Classics Volume 28: Essays English and American
American essays; English essays
spirit of mad speculation exposes public and private interests to a
disastrous instability. It is, then, no part of the philanthropy which
would elevate the laboring body, to exempt them from manual toil. In
truth, a wise philanthropy would, if possible, persuade all men of all
conditions to mix up a measure of this toil with their other pursuits.
The body as well as the mind needs vigorous exertion, and even the
studious would be happier were they trained to labor as well as thought.
Let us learn to regard manual toil as the true discipline of a man. Not
a few of the wisest, grandest spirits have toiled at the work-bench and
the plough.
I have said that, by the elevation of the laboring mass, I do not mean
that they are to be released from labor. I add, in the next place, that
this elevation is not to be gained by efforts to force themselves into
what are called the upper ranks of society. I wish them to rise, but I
have no desire to transform them into gentlemen or ladies, according to
the common acceptation of these terms. I desire for them not an outward
and showy, but an inward and real change; not to give them new titles and
an artificial rank, but substantial improvements and real claims to
respect. I have no wish to dress them from a Parisian tailor's shop, or
to teach them manners from a dancing-school. I have no desire to see
them, at the end of the day, doff their working dress, that they may play
a part in richly attired circles. I have no desire that they should be
admitted to luxurious feasts, or should get a taste for gorgeous
upholstery. There is nothing cruel in the necessity which sentences the
multitude of men to eat, dress, and lodge plainly and simply, especially
where the sentence is executed so mildly as in this country. In this
country, where the demand for labor is seldom interrupted, and the
openings for enterprise are numerous beyond precedent, the laboring
class, with few exceptions, may well be satisfied with their
accommodations. Very many of them need nothing but a higher taste for
beauty, order, and neatness, to give an air of refinement and grace as
well as comfort to their establishments. In this country, the mass of
laborers have their share of outward good. Their food, abundant and
healthful, seasoned with the appetite which labor gives, is, on the
whole, sweeter as well as healthier than the elaborate luxuries of the
prosperous; and their sleep is sounder and more refreshing than falls to
the lot of the less employed. Were it a possible thing, I should be
sorry to see them turned into men and women of fashion. Fashion is a
poor vocation. Its creed, that idleness is a privilege, and work a
disgrace, is among the deadliest errors. Without depth of thought, or
earnestness of feeling, or strength of purpose, living an unreal life,
sacrificing substance to show, substituting the factitious for the
natural, mistaking a crowd for society, finding its chief pleasure in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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