tor has given him; he has motives to exertion and improvement, never before vouchsafed to the mechanical and agricultural population of any country. With these advantages, then, let him combine a diligent study of the principles of Nature. Let him reflect upon the laws which regulate the processes of his art, and endeavor, by every means, to enlarge his mind, and prepare it for original and independent inquiries. Let him consider that he lives and acts in the very vicinity of properties and powers yet undiscovered, but which, when once known, will affect the condition of the civilized world. Why, then, should not he aspire to the honor of first perceiving and unfolding these powers? What shall prevent him, if his mind be but enriched from the stores of science, from exchanging the humble condition of a mere laborer, for that of a teacher and benefactor to his whole race? Nothing is needed, to fit him for such a work, but the awakening influence of knowledge, the invigorating exercise of thought, and the firm purpose, that, with the permission of God, he will tread, though at an humble distance, in the footsteps of a Franklin, a Whitney, or a Fulton.*

CHAPTER XV.

INFLUENCE OF THE USEFUL ARTS ON NATIONAL WELFARE.

I HAVE frequently had occasion, in the course of this work, to illustrate the connexion between the useful arts and individual comfort. It has appeared, that every improvement in the principles or processes of an art has resulted in a substantial addition to the aggregate physical enjoyments of mankind, and has tended to lessen the distance which divides the less affluent from the more affluent classes of society. I propose, in this

* See Appendix, IV.

Chapter, to discuss the influence exerted by the cultivation of the useful arts on national prosperity.

The prosperity of a people depends, other things being equal, on the amount and due distribution of property; since property alone gives the command, not only of physical comforts, but of knowledge, refinement, and religious privilege,—the true elements of human happiness or prosperity.

Now, the amount of property, possessed by a people, will depend on the amount of labor and skill which they apply, in developing their natural advantages and resources. These resources have, in themselves, no value; that is, they make no spontaneous contributions to the wealth or prosperity of a nation. The soil does

not, of itself, bear the requisite kind and quality of food; the mine yields up, without labor, no implements of use or articles of luxury; the forest forms itself into no convenient and comfortable abode for human beings. There must be industry; that is, the application, by men of muscular strength and intelligence, in order to educe from these natural sources, the substances and forms which are fitted to satisfy the wants, and promote the enjoyment, of mankind. The extent to which this is done will depend, first, upon the amount of muscular effort which is applied; secondly, and much more, upon the amount of intelligence; and thirdly, upon the extent to which the natural capabilities of the country are improved. It it with a nation, as with an individual. proportion as there is more labor; as that labor is more skilfully directed; and as that skill and labor cöoperate with more efficient natural and artificial agents; in that proportion will there be more produced, or a greater addition be made to what is usually termed exchangeable value.

In

To give greater interest, as well as definiteness, to the discussion proposed, I shall conduct it with special reference to our own country. It is well known, that there has been much difference of opinion among us, from a very early period, in respect to the relative in

fluence and importance of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. This difference I cannot hope to adjust, and I shall not, on this occasion, attempt to draw any comparisons. I do not propose to inquire, whether, among a people situated as ours is, agriculture or manufactures be the more productive; but simply whether, in order to the attainment of the largest prosperity, the latter be not important, as well as the former; not whether the other useful arts ought to be cultivated to the exclusion of husbandry, but whether they ought not to be carried on in conjunction with it: not whether we should forego the moral and political advantages which we derive from the preponderance in our population of a sturdy, independent yeomanry, but whether, with these advantages, we ought not to combine those of an economical and intellectual character, which might be derived from building up, on our own soil, the various useful and ornamental arts.

I. Employment.—In which of these ways, then, by neglecting or encouraging the various useful arts, shall we provide, most effectually, in the first place, for the productive employment of all our population. Evidently, the first element in a nation's prosperity is, to have all the people employed, and employed productively; to have the greatest practicable amount of muscular effort applied continually to useful labor. Now, it is evident, that, in this country especially, agriculture cannot give constant and profitable occupation to all our labor. The climate and habits of society do not permit females to participate in the labors of the field: and the domestic occupation furnished by a farm can, in the absence of spinning and weaving, (which few farmers think now of carrying on,) furnish only partial employment to the average number of females who live in the country. So with children, and persons who have become disabled from field labor, by age or disease, they are often competent to render service, but it is service for which there is little or no demand upon a farm. Add to this, that the labors of the adult hus

bandman are often suspended, by the inclemency of the weather, even in Summer, and in Winter give employment to little more than half his time; and that, owing to the impossibility of introducing a perfect division of labor in farming, the robust adult is often engaged on work which might as well be performed by a child; and it will be seen, that, where agriculture, or agriculture and commerce, (for the latter employs only males, and principally adult males,) constitute the only pursuits of a people, there must be a vast amount of labor constantly unoccupied; consuming, but doing nothing to reproduce.

The various arts and manufactures furnish an obvious expedient for employing this labor, and rendering it productive. They afford occupation proportioned to every variety of capacity. "In my recent tour," says Dr. Ure, speaking of England and Scotland; "in my recent tour through the manufacturing districts, I have seen tens of thousands of old, young, and middle aged, of both sexes, many of them too feeble to get their daily bread, by any of the former modes of industry, earning abundant food, raiment, and domestic accommodations, without perspiring at a single pore, screened, mean-while, from the Summer's sun and Winter's frost, in apartments more airy and salubrious than those of the metropolis, in which our legislative and fashionable aristocracies assemble. In these spacious halls, the benignant power of steam summons around him his willing subjects, and assigns to each the regulated task; substituting, for painful muscular effort, on their part, the energies of his own gigantic arm, and demanding, in return, only attention and dexterity, to correct such little aberrations as casually occur in his workmanship." It is estimated, that, in the United States, about one fifteenth of all the persons employed in manufactories are children under twelve years; that nearly two thirds of the whole number are females; and that of the residue, a large proportion are young persons under eighteen. The Lowell manufactories alone give employment to more

than five thousand females; and throughout the whole of New England, if we include the manufacturing carried on in private houses, we should probably find, that not less than one hundred thousand females are profitably employed by the various arts and handicrafts; of which number, but a small proportion could find work, in connexion with farming, or as domestics in cities. These females receive, on the average, two dollars a week, in addition to board, so that the weekly wages of one hundred thousand would amount to two hundred thousand dollars, and to ten millions four hundred thousand dollars a year: and, if to this we add the wages paid to children, who otherwise would find nothing like adequate employment, we shall have a total of not less, probably, than fifteen millions of dollars, in the form of wages, paid annually, in New England, by the mechanic and other arts, to women and children, of which, a very large proportion, probably not less than one third or one half, is clear gain.

Even in New England, however, there is still lying dormant a vast amount of industry, which might be awakened, and rendered eminently productive, by enterprise and capital, if they were judiciously applied to the various arts and handicrafts.

II. Productive Employment.-But the useful arts contribute to the productive energies of a people, not merely by affording more employment for labor; they tend, also, to render that labor more skilful and efficient. The efficiency of labor depends, of course, on the intelligence and spirit which directs it, much more than on the mere amount of muscular effort. Hence, the nation, which would develope most rapidly its resources, should aim, first of all, to awaken and enlighten MIND; to train the people to habits of active thought and investigation; to incite them to the discovery and practical application of those natural laws, which govern the operations of industry, and above all, to give them temperate and virtuous habits. Now, the cultivation, together with agriculture, of the other useful arts, pro