Show prophets of doom seen in all ages wrote pessimistically of the tendency of times Lon london clon taking issue with those who see the world as proceeding in a continuous downward direction and with prophets of doom in general it ft correspondent of the london times sends to that paper an all anthology of pessimism compiled by himself it commences lie he says with an early babylonian tablet lamenting the growth ot of irrell glon ion of 0 disregard for law and disrespect tor for parents it proceeds inexorably through egyptian papyri and the inspired lamentations of the hebrew prophets through the melancholy forebodings of greek writers to the ampler records of the great latin authors of the augustan age livy who died three years after augustus observes in the preface to his first book that to most readers the earliest origins and the period immediately succeeding them will give little pleasure for or they will be in haste to reach these modern times in which the might of a people which has long been very powerful Is working its own undoing tacitus laments tacitus de Ora tore a few years later was loud in his denunciation of the characteristic vices of the age the gravest of historians in each successive age have spoken of their own times and of 0 the immediate future in terms of almost unrelieved gloom claudien Clau dinn dlan alone was optimistic in his prophesies of the future greatness of rome he de cons stil ill she alone who has hag received tile the conquered into her bosom and like a mother not an all empress protected the human race with a common name summoning those whom she has defeated to share her citizenship and drawing together distant races with bonds of affection there will never be a limit to tile the empire of rome within five years the jealous hono rills had bad murdered Stil leho who alone might have saved rome from destruction st a few months later at the hands of alaric the anglo saxon chronicles the graffiti of despairing men scratched on the walls of the church tower of in Hertford shire at the time of the black death the passionate outbursts of piers plowman the measured wisdom of bacon and innumerable passages in shakespeare spenser and raleigh culminating in Mil tons exuberant prose all alike show how keenly good men in every age are aware of how many are the perils through which we have to go just state of mind tile the correspondent concludes passing over sir william retty petty in 1635 and rev john brown and his contemporaries I 1 have space only to refer to sir robert Gif giffins fens evidence before the royal commission on trade depression in issa almost every witness testified to the impending collapse or rapid decay of england none could see bee anything but disaster ahead abeal sir robert giffen alone stood firm ile he said bald depression was to him a state of mind of those in business the result very often of too much talk and too little hard work it would pass it did pass all the middle aged witnesses proved wrong by we bad risen to fresh heights which we have long ago over topped the age aga of gold Is with us provided free initiative Itla tIve remains to the individual |