LABOUR, MACHINERY, AND STEAM. 343 



be performed without the intervention of man ; and when land will 

 also be to some extent tilled by the same means. 



It is astonishing with what gleeful anticipations the mechanists 

 view this. Mr. Gordon, an eminent engineer, in a late able work, 

 when contemplating the substitution of inanimate for animate power 

 in locomotion, is almost poetical on the subject. Thus he says, 

 " Should the question be asked, what has enabled the inferior pro- 

 prietors to wear two hats a-year instead of going bare-headed, or 

 sporting the bonnet which their fathers wore ? what has clothed them 

 in suits of excellent broad cloth, and given them to ruffle it with the 

 first-born of the land; which has donned for their wives, ladies' 

 apparel; made their boys rejoice in a plurality of suits; and, in the 

 bridal hour, busked their daughters in robes, delicate in texture as 

 the spider's web, beautiful in colour as the rainbow's hues, and for 

 elegance such as never in her grandame's younger days, even 

 Duchess wore : which plaited her bonnet, tamboured her net, wove 

 her laces, knitted her stockings, veneered her comb, flowered her 

 ribands, gilded her buttons, sewed her shoes, and even fashioned the 

 rosette that ornamented their ties ? The answer is, Steam." [We 

 beg to apprise Mr. Gordon, that the inferior proprietors, upon whose 

 dress he is so eloquent, have disappeared.] 



He continues, " Considered in its application to husbandry, the 

 cottager looks forth upon the neat paling which fences his dwelling : 

 it was sawed by steam. The spade with which he digs his garden, 

 the rake, the hoe, the pickaxe, the scythe, the sickle, every implement 

 of rural toil which ministers to his necessities, are produced by 

 steam. Steam bruises the oil-cake which feeds the farmer's cattle ; 

 moulds the ploughshare which overturns his fields ; forms the shears 

 which clip his flock ; and cards, spins, and weaves the produce. 



" Applied to architecture, we find the Briarean arms of the steam- 

 engine every where at work. Stone is cut by it, marble polished, 

 cement ground, mortar mixed, floors sawed, doors planed, chim- 

 ney-pieces carved, lead rolled for roofs and drawn for gutters, rails 

 formed, gratings and bolts forged, paint ground and mixed, paper 

 made and stained, worsted dyed, and carpet wove ; mahogany 

 veneered, door-locks ornamented, curtains and furniture made, 

 printed, and measured ; fringes, tassels, and bell-ropes, chair-covers 

 and chair-nails, bell-wires, linens, and blankets, china and earthen- 



