Page:The collected works of Theodore Parker volume 7.djvu/9

Rh using other men's labour that any one becomes rich. A man's hands will give him sustenance, not affluence. In the present condition of society this is unavoidable; I do not say in a normal condition, but in the present condition.

Here in America the position of this class is the most powerful and commanding in society. They own most of the property of the nation. The wealthy men are of this-class; in practical skill, administrative talent, in power to make use of the labour of other men, they surpass all others. Now, wealth is power, and skill is power—both to a degree unknown before. This skill and wealth are more powerful with us than; any other people, for there is no privileged caste, priest; king, or noble, to balance against them. The strong hand has given way to the able and accomplished head. Once head armour was worn on the outside, and of brass; now it is internal, and of brains. To this class belongs the power both of skill and of wealth, and all the advantages which they bring. It was never so before in the whole history of man. It is more so in the United States than in any other place. I know the high position of the- merchants in Venice, Pisa, Florence, Nuremberg, and Basel, in the Middle Ages and since. Those cities were gardens in a wilderness, but a fringe of soldiers hung round their turreted walls; the trader was dependent on the fighter, and though their merchants became princes, they were yet indebted to the swords and not entirely to their calling, for defence. Their palaces were half castles, and their ships Ml of armed men. Besides those were little States. Here the merchant's pow«r is wholly in his gold and skill. Rome is the city of priests; Vienna for nobles; Berlin for scholars, the American cities for merchants. In Italy the roads are poor, the banking-houses humble; the cots of the labourer mean, and bare, but churches and palaces are beautiful and rich, God is painted as a pope. Generally, in Europe, the clergy, the soldiers, and the nobles are the controlling class. The finest works of art; belong to them, represent them, and have come from the corporation of priests, or the corporation of fighters, Here a new era is getting symbolized in our works of art. They are banks, exchanges, custom-houses, factories, railroads. These come of the corporation of