LABOUR'S MAGIC WAND 29 



his legitimate desires. In the very beginning man fell 

 from his high estate and the ground was cursed in punish- 

 ment ; but man's labour escaped the Divine wrath and 

 afforded him the means to render the curse less operative. 



Since God looked upon the earth and declared that it 

 was good, its physical aspect has undergone enormous 

 changes by the slow and sometimes violent upheavals of 

 volcanic forces and the ceaseless wear and tear of the 

 elements. But these changes bulk small in comparison 

 with the transformation which man, and especially the 

 white man, has achieved by his labour. We have but to 

 contemplate our own land in illustration of the point. 

 It is less than two thousand years ago since Britain first 

 saw the light of civilisation, when Julius Caesar crossed 

 over from Gaul to add the island to the Roman dominions. 

 The land was covered with almost impenetrable forest, 

 where the ancient Briton built his wattled hut, or dug a 

 less pretentious retreat in the ground, in which to rest his 

 woad-stained skin-clad limbs when wearied from the chase. 



And now ? Through the centuries ' clamorous Labour 

 has knocked with its hundred hands at the golden gate of 

 the morning ' ; and the call has been answered with ever- 

 growing energy. Labour has waved its magic wand over 

 the toiling hordes. Forthwith forests have been cleared 

 to give way to tracts smiling with golden harvests ; from 

 the depths of the earth have been wrested her precious 

 stores ; furnaces blaze, forges glow, anvils ring, and 

 machinery whirs and whirls. From the rude settlements 

 of the barbarian have sprung cities alive with the interests 

 of commerce, science, and art. On road and river, railway 

 and canal, are conveyed to our doors the necessaries and 

 the luxuries of life. From the busy quays vessels traffic 

 to and fro over the waste of waters, in search of materials 

 to shape and mould and weave to meet our own needs and 

 for barter in the markets of the world. ' Civilisation smiles ; 

 Liberty is glad; Humanity rejoices; Piety exults' for 

 everywhere in the mighty camps of men, as in the tiniest 

 hamlets nestling under lonely hills, arise the temples of 

 Religion, wherein is worshipped the Father of all. 



But though man's labour has mitigated the curse, only 



