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PERSONAL DUTIES.

[Part IV.

that laboreth night and day ; and they that cut and grave seals,and are diligent to n ake great variety, and give themselves tocounterfeit imagery, and watch to finish a work. The smith,also, sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron work, the va-por of the fire wasteth his flesh, and he fighteth with the heat ofthe furnace ; the noise of the hammer and the anvil is ever in hisears, and his eyes look still upon the pattern of the thing that hemaketh ; he setteth his mind to finish his work, and watcheth topolish it perfectly. So doth the potter, sitting at his work, andturning the wheel about with his feet, who is always carefully setat his work, and maketh all his work by number ; he fashioneththe clay with his arm, and boweth down his strength before hisfeet ; he applieth himself to lead it over; and he is diligent tomake clean the furnace. All these trust to their hands, andevery one is wise in his work. Without these cannot a city beinhabited ; and they shall not dwell where they will, nor go up anddown ; they shall not be sought for in public council, nor sit highin the congregation ; they shall not sit on the judges’ seat, norunderstand the sentence of judgment; they cannot declare justiceand judgment; and they shall not be found where parables arespoken.”*

This graphic description of the condition of the laboring class-es, and of their inability to attain knowledge and enjoy its ben-efits, is strictly true as applied to ancient times ; but, so far as itregards modern times, since the invention of printing, and thefacilities which it has introduced for acquiring knowledge, it mustbe received with much qualification. It has been made knownby the experience of later times, and it is one of the most gratify-ing results, which the people of any age have witnessed, thathigh mental improvement is capable of much greater extension,than was ever supposed, or even conjectured, prior to such ex-perience. The object is, to improve the mind and enlarge itscapacities by the acquisition of knowledge. Now mind is theinheritance with which God has endowed all the children of thegreat family of man ; it cannot, therefore, be monopolized byany class of society. It is a treasure, which, beyond an equal

Ecclesiasticus xxxviii. 24 - 33.