Page:Anti-slavery and reform papers by Thoreau, Henry David.djvu/118

 Paradise {to be) Regained. 107 Thus is Paradise to be Kegained, and that old and stern decree at lenofth reversed. Man shall no more earn his living by the sweat of his brow. All labor shall be reduced to '^ a short turn of some crank/* and " takiuGT the finished articles awav." But there is a crank — oh^ how hard to be turned ! Could there not be a crank upon a crank — an infinitely small crank? we would fain inquire. No — alas ! not. But there is a certain divine energy in every man, but sparingly em- ployed as yet, which may be called the crank within — the crank after all — the prime mover in all machinery — quite indispensable to all work. Would that we might get our hands on its handle ! In fact, no work can be shirked. It may be postponed indefinitely, but not in- finitely. Nor can any really important work be made easier by co-operation or machinery. Not one particle of labor now threatening any man can be routed with- out being performed. It cannot be hunted out of the vicinity like jackals and hyenas. It will not run. You may begin by sawing the little sticks, or you may saw the great sticks first, but sooner or later you must saw them both.

We will not be imposed upon by this vast application offerees. We believe that most things will have to be accomplished still by the application called Industry.

We are rather pleased after all to consider the small, private, but both constant and accumulated force, which stands behind every spade in the field. This it is that makes the valleys shine, and the deserts really bloom.

Sometimes, we confess, we are so degenerate as to re- flect with pleasure on the days when men were yoked liked cattle, and drew a crooked stick for a plough.