l, only remembering that he is to speak
with sympathy, and with a consciousness of his own fallibleness and
infirmity.

In giving my views of the elevation of the laboring multitude, I wish
that it may be understood that I shall often speak prospectively, or of
changes and improvements which are not to be expected immediately, or
soon; and this I say, that I may not be set down as a dreamer, expecting
to regenerate the world in a day. I fear, however, that this explanation
will not shield me from this and like reproaches. There are men who, in
the face of all history, of the great changes wrought in men's condition,
and of the new principles which are now acting on society, maintain that
the future is to be a copy of the past, and probably a faded rather than
bright copy. From such I differ, and did I not differ I would not stand
here. Did I expect nothing better from human nature than I see, I should
have no heart for the present effort, poor as it may be. I see the signs
of a better futurity, and especially signs that the large class by whose
toil we all live are rising from the dust; and this faith is my only
motive to what I now offer.

The elevation of the laboring portion of society: this is our subject. I
shall first consider in what this consists. I shall then consider some
objections to its practicableness, and to this point shall devote no
small part of the discussion; and shall close the subject with giving
some grounds of my faith and hope in regard to the most numerous class of
our fellow-beings.

I. What is to be understood by the elevation of the laboring class?
This is our first topic. To prevent misapprehension, I will begin with
stating what is not meant by it, in what it does not consist.--I say,
then, that by the elevation of the laborer, I do not understand that he
is to be raised above the need of labor. I do not expect a series of
improvements, by which he is to be released from his daily work. Still
more, I have no desire to dismiss him from his workshop and farm, to take
the spade and axe from his hand, and to make his life a long holiday. I
have faith in labor, and I see the goodness of God in placing us in a
world where labor alone can keep us alive. I would not change, if I
could, our subjection to physical laws, our exposure to hunger and cold,
and the necessity of constant conflicts with the material world. I would
not, if I could, so temper the elements that they should inf