| Show THE HE PRESENT AND ITS FUTURE the rapidity with which momentous and important events are following each others cannot but awaken serious thoughts in every reflective mind it is no exaggeration to say that the world is living more ihan five times as fast fist now as it did a few centuries ago glance through the pages of history and the great events of ages are crowded into a limited number of lines this gives them a seeming closeness of connection in point of time which is not in accordance with fact and dates but now important events tread so closely upon each other that almost every year is affording ample materials for volumes the terri terrific flo war from which our own country so lately emerged be beins begins ins already to look as if it were of no too recent date other topics of great interest have already conie come and passed since then and the mind instead of dwelling on them is on the stretch for that which may be J looming up darkly in the political hori horl zort but a few weeks ago and central europe was convulsed with war it came like a brief but terrible summer storm which passes swiftly yet marks its course with devastation the boundary lines of at least three important kingdoms on that continent will be I 1 1 C changed an and d though peace seems now 46 it be in the ascendant there it is Is difficult to say whether war may not soon again a break forth with reviewed ewed 7 C I 1 I 1 violence 1 I i the race of progress is i being run so swiftly letl if progress it be I 1 in ll 11 the correct acceptation cep tation of the word without even M a definite goalen goal in view that but fow few can yen venture ture to guess what aliat unlooked fon for results may be produced by the action of a cel tel few weeks or days anys the simile of leve dive 1 traveling ing by r railroad speed is ls falling inlo amo ajmo disuse through insufficiency of ex veness aren inen not nott only wish and seek kiek for tor some phrase that will convey the ve idea idea of vastly swifter motion but they wish to move quicker than they now how cirii ean can do te to pass around the earth alth fth tho th peed speed of electricity would be mare more in consonance com nince with the spirit that ery erv if perVades ecy ades the human family i ula uis bia buta but afew a few days since the ath atlantic antle antie cabie gle cable ale commenced its operations aad abd ul il r rady e ady ohe oho the tho ani nine n day wonder vonder W is nearly passed pa sed 1 it is beginning to be 4 ewed as a d matter of bf course yet what JT tild ha ve iben lieg thought nifty fifty years eago 4 9 q 10 ithe maii mall man who would I 1 ha have ve ailef asserted ted that intelligence could be flashed from london to san ban francisco ina in lna a fermin itei steb ut ei why there thero was wag eio fio no san francisco jiw jle then no yo pacific states and T territories errit orio orlo mho who electric telegraph no steam lococo iian M by y breech loading guns trifled I rifled cannan needle agnns were we r ail ali all ull unknown unto bo to with hundreds it 1 eaid eald said thousands of other othen things that anark Tn arr ark the inventive alid and progressive p po wen and i spirit of the tile ag age the tile change dib dis ili so V vast at it requires comparison to r re ali even in part its greatness and to today day the tho man who could invent wea polls of destruction n that would wo thid told anniell at t arin armies les ies sweep forts adv away ay in 16 an inc stant and shatter ata at a blow the present powerful naval navai armaments woud be viewed as the greatest 0 ingmen liv ltv avih men and bi be q sought after I 1 more n if t re thau 1 any other bela beia on the eath earth m more moro pre even than if he discovered gold anine able quantities which required only dilly the carrying away these things seem to indicate that wo we are rapidly reaching a great epoch in the history of the world and iffe are tire to judge froni previous epochs the importance of the the fhe f he events which preceded them theland the mand and the rapidity with which those events followed each other the tbt conclusion sion bion would seem inevitably to follow that we are on the threshold of the greatest epoch which the world has ever witnessed I 1 if the inhabitants of the earth in their feverish pressing onward would but pause for an instant and open their eyes they could scarcely help seeing the over overruling rull ruil I 1 hand of the almighty in all these things bringing ills liis his eternal purposes to a speedy consummation the wise will see and understand but the foolish will wilt continue their mad and arid reckless race unthinkingly till the crisis is upon them |
