Article #28 - The Past, Present, and the Future

The subject selected for the present essay is one particularly interesting, a portion of it alone (the Past) would afford a theme upon which very much might be written. We might travel far back

through time and dwell long upon the thoughts and actions of men in former ages. We might review with interest and delight the history of those whose lives were illustrious examples of goodness and morality. Also with advantage on the other hand, those who now are remembered only for their vices, and at whose death no tears were shed. These ever stand prominent in the annals of the past, and alas! all history seems allmost [sic] a reiterated story of cruelty and

bloodshed. We might also note the gradual but sure advancement of arts, science and literature through past ages and trace them up to the present time, We might examine the numerous methods of religious worship, from the most savage and unenlightened to the most civalized [sic] and Christian, but to none of these exclusively should an essay of this character be directed,

but more advantageously perhaps by a view of the past comparison with the present and future. And one of the most striking features which we observe in such a comparison is the growing tendency to advancement and progression.

            Who would have thought two hundred years ago of being conveyed over our hills and vallies [sic] with the speed of the wind and yet from the discovery of the steam engine our country is traveled from the most remote portion to the other by means of railroads, our merchandise is transported with ease and rapidity to the most distant countries, and no journey is too great to be undertaken. It has all contributed vastly in its application to the mechanic arts by alleviating the great amount of manual labor required. There has in no previous age probably been a greater discovery of the application of the dead elements to the convenience of man than that of the Telegraph. Ere the ink is dry and the letter dispatched, which but a few years ago was

the best method of conveying a message – now the magic wire with lightning speed has gone on its mission and returned with the answer. Where do we now find Science, not as it once was, confined only to the few, and for the few only to enjoy, but spread throughout the land

shedding its light to many minds, revealing in its researches truths highly important and useful in the ordinary transactions of daily life. One of the happiest and most gratifying prospects have ?? in view of the present is the progressive diffusion of Education. ‘Tis a cheering thought that while our ancestors grew old and passed away with but a limited idea of even their own organism, we are permitted to enjoy the widest knowledge that capacity and means can afford of whatever branch our inclination may induce. Schools are scattered all over the land, and no child need grow up to maturity deficient at least of a common school education, even in the despotic governments of Europe schools are provided for the youth and they may obtain an education. The subject has acquired and is still acquiring a higher position in the eyes of the people, great minds are becoming interested in it, and better systems are being discovered and adopted. The progressive spirit of the age, the spirit of improvement has entered alike into this as all things else, deep-rooted and long cherished systems are giving way to the place of those better adapted to the wants of the people. The great lesson is certainly being learned that there is a moral as well as an

intellectual education as highly important in its attainments as the latter. This it is too true has been sadly neglected, always has intellectual power been greatly sought after and honored, and

moral worth an excellence too greatly underrated. Had the latter but kept pace with the former, had past ages but regarded the moral in the same light as the intellectual culture how much more pure and elevated would have been the present condition of society. I would by no means

disparage the highest intellectual culture but I would see the morals put on an equal standing. The highest and most beautiful development of the human mind is that in which every faculty has its proper unfolding. The most perfect characters which we observe are not those who have

attained great eminence in the field of intellect, who have achieved illustrious names from their great discoveries in arts or science but where we find combined with all this a deep sense of duty and right, a self-sacrificing, God-like spirit.

            A very truthful writer on this subject has said, I would see the whole of man’s nature reverenced and developed. The attainments of the intellect have their mission and a glorious one it

is. Let it be fulfilled, duty and love have theirs also, and it is still more glorious than the former, let them too be fulfilled. Let art imitate and rival the cunning of nature, let her glory in the creation of ideal beauty. Let the marble be made to speak and the canvases to glow with life. Let invention minister to all the commoner wants of man. Let science unfold to him the mysteries of the universe. Let it count the flowers. Let it number the stars, but running through all this multiform action of soul and body harmonizing it all and sanctifying it, let there be moral principal [sic] and religious emotion.

            That the tendencies of the present age are towards this supremacy of mind over matter, of intellect over mere animal instinct, and higher still of the moral & religious sentiment over the skill and sagacity of worldly wisdom must certainly be evident to all. The extended views that are being taken of a Creative Providence, and the more liberal ideas of his attributes all tend to elevate

the mind towards that pinical [sic] in the human pathway from whence unobstructed by clouds of prejudice, or mists of self-interest we shall be enabled to view the true relations that obtain between man and his fellow man.

            It is the anticipation of this brighter day that now cheers the labors and strengthens the energies of those self-sacrificed ones who are toiling in the cause of human advancement.