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m
PROGRESS,
— BY —
HENRY B^K35R
OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO.
CONTENTS.
Introduction . - • ••
Endless Progress . . • • • • • •
Brief Description of the Solar System:
The Sun . .
The Moon
Jupiter
Saturn .
Venus
Mars . .
Mercury
Uranus, or Geordium Sidus
Comets
Infinitude of the Universe
The Sabbath Day
The Advantages of Education
The Folly of Regretting the Brevity of Life
Description of Palmyra
Thv Great Obstacle to Free Trade, or the Result
Keepin(j up Large Standing Armies . .
2
, 3
f
. 9
10
. 10
10
. 11
11
. 11
11
. 12
13
. 14
14
. 15
OF
OWEN SOUND :
J. Ruth rford, Book and Job Printer.
1880.
/
INTRODUCTION.
SALMO C.
Jubilad a Dios toda la tierra.
2 Servid a Jehova, cod alegria:
entrad delante de el con regocijo-
3 Sabed que Jehova, el es el Dios;
el nos hizo, y no nosotros a nosotroa
pueblo suyo somos, y ovejas de su pasto.
4 Entrad por sus puertas con confesion
por sus patios con alabanza;
alabadle, bendecid a s\* nombre.
5 Porque Jehova es br.eno, para
siempre es su misericordia
y hasta en generacion y generacion
Su verdad.
/
ENDLESS PROGRESS.
The faculties of the soul may be compared to the air in which wo
breathe and live, composed of two elements; one, the active principle
of life, oxygen; the other, its opposite, the venomous ozone; combined
they are neutralized and form our atmosphere, a subtle body, mottensive
to the eye, in continual motion, in a moment losing its equipoise,
ascending into space, ceding its place to another portion which follows
the same course; purifying itself from deadly vapors, so that we respire
a pure and regenerating air.
So in man are found the principles of good and evil, morality and
vice, growing together. . ,
A man without education is not a man, he is a living being— an intel-
ligent animal— matter in motion. ,.,,., ^ ,. .- ., ^„
A nation of such men forms a multitude, chained to routine as if they
were reduced to instinct; working, because they require bread; sleeping,
because to-morrow they must work again for their daily food, bad
reality! But educate him, convert him from his evil ways, make him
comprehend his mission on earth, teach him to excH himself, teach
him to thirst after all tha,t is beautiful and holy, that his soul may re-
ceive a flood of divine light, which alone is true life; convince him that
the joys of Heaven will be to progress in knowledge and holiness
throughout the countless ages of eternity. ,..14.
Let us take a brief review of the march of progress during the past
ages. India and China, primitive nations; grammar had its origin
there, and language was adorned with all the coloring of a sky without
* Th^V were a mythological people, believed in good and bad gods.
Breathing the air of the tropics, their worship burst forth upon all the
phenomena of living beings by which they were surrounded.
Thev deified the sun, the sea, the date bearing palm tree, and formed
s/ods out of the bodies of elephants and the heads of eagles. For sanc-
tuaries for these divinities, they hewed out ent .re mountains, where they
worshipped amidst the perfume of flowers and the voluptuous songs of
*^Such was'the country over which Brahma, Siva and Vishnu extended
their dominion and from whence arose the glorious standard of civil-
'"^ ms'certain they had grave errors, but how can we blame a people
whose anxiety was always for progress bub who were without experience^
From thence progress passed into a narrow valley which was isolated
from the desert by two chains of mountains. Through this valley flowed
a beneficent and mysterious river, which irrigated it and prepared it for
I
4 Endless Progress.
an abundant harvest. The Nile was the benevolent god of the Egyp-
tians and thev worshipped it under the name of Horus.
Egyp?iim civilization took,in thi* fertile valley , a character very distinct
(mm anv that was then found in the East. ,,./.-. li.
Thev U-ented geometry and found in it the key to the infinite vault
of ^pac^^B^^d its infinitiide'^of worlds, and calculated with this element
'^If'rilTning^To^ to measure land they invented the beautiful art
of ArcTii ectureT which differed vastly from the primitive style of the
In^ans and Chinese; the latter made mountains into pagodas; the
atrenath which they applied to everything tiiey undertook. Science was
or them ramuletU^^ every generation bequeathed to the one tha
followed it without correcting, without improvmg anything; that which
las done Vthe Father was'done by the Son which thus became a
doLa regulating the type of its sphinxes, obelisks and columns.
What remains of this people] The Pyramids, and tllfj^jt^^^^^^^^^^^
by the hand of time; the skeletons of their tamples; the splendor ot
Thebes, Memphis and Heliopolis is departed for ever.
The alphabet, geometry, astronomy, architecture, music, medical
science EffVPt created and covered them with mystery.
TrkeSs and the Persians were formed from nomadic tribes m the
• valley of the Euphrates, on which arose the city of Babylon and he
other famous city of Ninevah. Babylon acquired the monopoly of the
commerce of the'world, and keeping in her bosom \-nmnense wealth,
converted the oasis of the desert mto the gardens of Semiramis
Their ships sailed through the Mediterranean laden ;vith gold from
Bffitia- thev traded to Tyre, the first maritime city of the old world,
wlLre'marble, aniber, gold and steel were made into precious jewels,
which h" exchanged In Jerusalem for wheat, incense and perfumes
TiS for jlspers and topazes, in Palmyra. . On the -tli-r side of the
Mediterrinean arose Carthage, the future rival of Tyre and Ronie.
The Phcenicians traded all over the then known world, a«>l became
bv their industry its benefactors, ior coumierce unites all nations-it is
one of the knot J which binds mankind, in order to conquer universal
^'Greece, whose riches of intellect burst forth with all the splendor of
the rising sun to cheer the heart of man, assumed a more spiritual chai-
acter Pythagoras seemed to possess all the knowledge acquired by
anterior nations-all the wisdom of the Maji; the utterances of his soiil
seemed to burst from his lips like inspiration. The wisdom of Xenophon
gave a great impulse to progress. ^ i , ^^ „„^o
^ The ireat Socrates, the essence of virtue, profound eloquence pure
science who, indefatigably followed all that was good understood his
vocation and followed it fai^thfully until death. The cap of hen^ock shmes
like a resolendent guiding star for the lovers of truth and virtue.
J" £e' uT?eiLmbe? with|ratitucle those great and good men who en-
Endless Pkoorksh.
chant us with thoir writings, with their poetry and their works of art.
May they be indelibly inscribed on the pages of the human heart.
Rome! proud Rome, who extended her dominion over nearly the
whole of the then known world and changed the face of a large portion
of it. Home dictated laws to all the countries to which the Greeks had
carried their language, their sciences and their philosophy; all the
nations were attached to Home by a chain which victory had nailed
to the walls of the cai)itol; they existed only by the will of Rome and
the passions of its chiefs, but they benetitted them by confering a
brilliant education. .
Whenever they added a Province to their empire, that province pros-
pered. To organize, to combine, to amalgamate, to rule over them, such
was the genius of the Romans. They took from the Greeks their phil-
osophy, their sciences and their eloquence; and in order that Rome
might have its Latin philosophy and its eloquence, they blended Zeno
with Epicurus; Aristotle with Plato; and from the llliad and the Odysee,
they produced the Eneid; Cicero and Lucretius wrote in their elc)quent
language upon philosophy, but it was the philosophy of the (.reeks
Rome will always be great; the Pandects of the Emperor Justimar and
the dogma termed civil law, or the rights of all men in all countries, or
as a celebrated writer says: The union of legislation, law raised to the
summit of benevolence, the preface of the Gospel. Rome, the -country
of Virgil and Horace, will imbue us forever with a feeling of veneration
and respect, for engraving it upon the immortal pages of her power
^^But where is the orient I Where are the Greeks and the Roinans ?
Where are all the other nations which have lived on the surface ot
this globe ? who advanced civilization with the aid of science—and it
that civilization could not continue their existence in order that they
might extend the progress they had achieved, why look upon them as
its apostles ? .. ^ i xi,- i,^i„
Is it possible to realize this idea of progress without end; this holy
fire which burns in our hearts without consuming them; this divine
light which will deliver us from all our errors?
I know not, but I sometimes feel perplexed in mmd, when I listen to
the incessant and mysterious voice of progress without end, and behoia
the East in ruins; Greece and Rome in ruins also; I then cannot help
thinking with a great philosopher of the present day ' ' That the Almighty
has regulated the love and knowledge of himself, which constitutes true
progress, by laws as mathematical as the gravitation of the heavenly orbs;
that time is co-ordinate with space; that each nation exists for a given
time on an allotted portion of the earth, in order to accomplish there its
especial work of civilization; and there only, in virtue of their temper-
ament and race and the nature of their territory, when once their mission
is fulfilled an insuperable obstacle occurs, and they pass away, and
progress will be taken up by a new nation capable of expanding it.
The middle and dark ages, through the irruption of the ^Northern
I
6
Endless PRO(mKss.
h'lrb'irians retarded for a short time the march oi progress; but it le-
d scTerv . f tTe art of printing The liith an.l I7tli centuries produced
;!;'«;; good nl, workers for the benefit of mankind, such as Descartes,
'''^1S^:::^^Z^^^ ^.^^^^ pi- the revolution of
andntfdLamStituti<ms;theage^
<,f Kosseau, Kant and Mirabeaux fm; phdosophy. The th posses es
the soul of progress; it is the age which is preparing ^'^^^'^^X^^^^^^^
evitable emancTpation of man; granting Inm Prer''^':^*}^^\ ^^ 'j^^' "7"
before enioved- making hhn master of his actions; giving h m to undei-
sttrthe'frre ekeicise of his rights, and the means of education unknown
""TieTa'd is open. Science is infinite, like its Divine Aivthor ; wm-k and
vou may achieve conquests and triumphs eq"al to Newton, La Pace,
LeVerrier, and others or the laurels which adorn the brows o^^^^'l'^^
Shakespeare Byrcm, Schiller, Burns, Lamattme and Chateaubriand -
n en X^^^ '^-^ filled us with astonishment <md delight^
The lun of progress will shine from between golden clouds with the
^laScent train of religion, science, industry and conmierce, spreading
their light and powerful influence over all men.
Listen to the hum of industry in every land ; the whistle of the steajn
engine traversing land and Bea; electricity convey mgmformat^^^^^^
the rapidity of thought; the telephone yet m its mfancy,--all th^^^+fl
to man uniting the Sations in the bonds of peace and fraternal affection
The Scottish people may well be proud of and gl«^y ^^ *^^ "Xan
Watt, that wonderful genius who mproved-if not ^^^^^^f "^^^^^^^^^
enffine The steam engine, as it appears at present, the gemus oi
wftUmving contrived^mirLcles of simplicity and -;/;f -«j; ^^^^^^^^^^
almost as if endowed with intelligence. It regulates with per ect
accuracy and uniformity the number of its f ,f ^^«^^"^ ^^^wen t-ie
and counts and records them moreover to tell 1^«^.."1^^^^, J^^^^^^
has done, as a clock records the beat of its pendulum; it regulates the
quantity of steam admitted to work, the briskness of the lire the
supply of water to the boiler, the supply of coals to the fire; ^ opens
and shuts its valves with absolute precisum ^^^o time and manne^^^^
it lubricates its joints; it takes out any air which »^^y ^^^^^f *;^;>^
enter into parts that should be vacuous; and when anything goes
wrong which it cannot itself rectify it warns its attendants by rmgmg a
bell- yet with all these talents and qualities, when possessing the power
of any number of horses, it is obedient to the hand of a clulu; it s -J--
is coal, wood and water; it consumes none while idle, is "^^^er tjred and
wants no sleep: it is not subject to malady when origma Uy well W^^^
and only refuses to work when worn out with old age; it is equally
active in all climates, and will do work of any kind; it is - -^t^^^Pj^^^P^^
a miner, a sailor, a cotton-spinner, a weaver, a blacksmith, a ^^^ff^^^^
fact a true Jack and master-of -all-trades; and a small engine, called a
/
Endless Progress. •
steam poiiy, may bo seen dra-ging after it a regiment (>f suUUerR on a
rnZad or a thousand tons of merchandise with greater speed t mn
tCof our fastest oc.aehes; it h.oks like the realization -^^^^^'^
the Eastern fable, whose supernatural powers were occasionally at the
!. nmand of nian. It has been computed that the stea.u power o
uirBriUsh ^ perforu.s work equal to the labor of eight hundred
millions of men.
May tbis glorious empire ever remam uKlissolubly united, and onn
the vanguard of the <ra,.de arraW of progress throughout the globe .
THE SUN.
1. Celestial luminary, light of the d«y,
Of our lovely planet the Earth,
All it's beauties to man you display,
And give to it's wonders their birth.
2. The heavens, earth, sea and sky,
Are full of glory divine;
A Gospel sent down from, on high,
With precepts, line upon line.
:i. Oh, these are the pages revealed
By the eternal Almighty hand.
Which our blindness so long held concealed.
Enrapture our sight through the hind.
4. We had strayed and wandered afar.
In ignorance and darkness of night;
No light from a bright guiding star,
To gladden our s 'I weary flight.
5. We stand with pale lips by the grave;
Behold our short lines fleeting by.
From the tomb their is none who can save,
There hushed is our last weary cry.
6. When yielding up life with a sigh,
'Midst friends in grief and in tears,
Despairingly questioning why,
Subject to death and to fears;
8
5 I
II
The Sun.
7. Then clasping the hope to our breast,
The thought, that whatever befall,
Obeys an eternal behest,
The bliss everlasting of all.
8. Oh, Father ! almighty and wise,
We hear through the sunlight thy voice,
Give light to our tear-blinded eyes,
Make our souls in our Saviour rejoice.
The Sun is the centre of our solar system, around which all the planets
revolve at various distances and in different periods of time; its attract-
ing power retains theui in their orbits. It supplies .lem with light,
^"^Thu^'the sun is the source and whole support of all the activity,
ener^ry, life and force exerted on this and all the other planets belong-
ing to our sola^ system. Coal, the vegetable production of countless
centuries past, warms us with the rays of the sun, which shone in those
loncr-nrst ages. Is not the food of man and animals pr()duced by tlie
direct action of the sun and elements ? What beauty, what benign m-
fluence in the sun; daily he gives joy and life to animated nature; but its
splendor and bonefits are so continuous that we are too prone to look
upon them without thanking our heavenly Father for his munificent
^^The magnitude of this glorious globe is S(. vast as to be beyond our
power to r^ealize. Its diametei* is found to be 880,000 miles; its circum-
ference 2, 7 64,000 miles. Its surface contains more than twelve thousand
times the number of sciuave miles on our earth; its solid contents com-
prehend three huudred and fifty-six thousand billions of cubical miles,
that is one million three hundred and fifty thousand tunes the number
of solid miles which t^)- terraqueous globe contains, so that if one million
three hundred and fifty thousand globes as large as the ear. h were to
be compacted into one globe it would only equal the size of the sun.
To traverse every square mile of its surface at the rate of sixty miles a
day would require more than one hundred millions of years to accom-
plish The sun is more than five hundred times larger than all the
planets and their satellites of our solar system put together.
If our astonishment is great at the magnitude of the sun how much
must it be increased when we consider that this glorious luminary is
only one out of countless millions of similar globes existing in the in-
finitude of space.
Since the invention of the telescope we find the sun to consist of a
solid body , composed of different materials, in which wonderful proce^sses
are going in for preparing and perpetuating that light and heat which
2el life and happiness to the planets of the solar system. Through
the telescope and sometimes by the naked eye spots of enormous mag-
nitude are seen upon its surface. At times they aisappear altogether; what
i(
The Sun.
9
they are is mere conjecture, but they clearly show that forces are in
continual operation and producing the most astoi.nding results and are
no doubt necessarv for preserving the present constitution of the sun,
enabling it to diffuse light, heat and life, and t . act as the soul to the
worlds that revolve ai-ound it.
Notwithstanding the innumerable benefits which the sun di^spenscs to
all the inhabitants of the world it is a melaucholy fact that tlie gr^^ater
part of its population is still plunged in intellectual darkness, alienated
from the knowledge and life of Ood through their ignorance.
■(
THE MOON.
The Moon is the nearest of all the celestial bodies to the earth ; the
medium distance is calculated to be 237,000 miles. The diameter o
Ihe Moon is 2,180 miles. When we view the Mocm through a go..d
telescope we find it presents a very interestiuL^ aspect; mountains and
planesf.ast caves and solitary rocks, hills and plains <f, varans shape
and extent; the mountainous regions are m other forms than those ot the
earth although some resendde our Alps, Appenines and Andes; but in
general the inountains exist in circular ranges with plains of the same
form- large and small plains are in great number; these form a peculiar
featu;e differing much from anything on our planet; there are also
isoirted mountains of the sugar loaf form; some of them a,re several
mHes in pe pendicular altitude', somewhat resembling the Peak of Tene-
Sffe sonfetimes a central mountain arises from the centre of the circular
Sain The lunar mountains are of all sizes fnmi three hundred feet to
five miles in height; cavities are seen from three miles ni diameter up
to fifTy at then- orifices, and decrease in breadth towards the bottom. The
depth of some of them is nearly four miles.
How delightful are our m.3on-light nights- what^a welcome friend to
fill up its utility to the inhabitants of this world would fill a vo unie; what a
beaTtiful picture she makes of terrestrial objects, a ««ene which ead^ to
contemplation, and her attractive agency in governing the ocean tides.
And when the Moon, refulgent orb of night,
Earth's beautious, faithful satellite.
Sheds o'er the plains her pale and silvery light,
The scenes so lovely, beautifully bright
Tb:-i shepherds, youths and maidens all unite
In one sweet anthem of intense delight,
To praise their Maker for the heavenly light.
10
Thk Planets.
JUPITER.
o
'Phis Dlanet is of iuiuiense magnitude; it appears the most brilliant
Jv\n the heavens next to the planet Venus; its revohition around the
u s\t>XtiBhTin eleven ^ears ten months -^\ -v-j^-^.^^S
..■„1 nBrfnrnis a circuit of three thousand millions of miles, at the rate
i^nw^ntyre thousand miles an hour. It is one thousand four hundred
and thirteen times larger than the earth.
^;j^:iX=i«!f:firr^?»^
a .nbbous phrase and a full enlightened hemisphere
The most strikincr appearance on the surface of this planet is a series
of Tw^rstrip^^^^^^^^^^ run across its disk parallel to its equator, which
'%Snetf of Jupiter is no less than eighty-nine thousand miles;
its ctuiXrenL two kindred and seventy-nine thousand miles; distance
Snn ihe sun four hundred and ninety-five milhons of miles.
m
THE PLANET SATURN.
vj +,,r.« +«Up«» TiParlv thirty years to perform its revolution round the
sux^ duSnf XcrSLrTod i^^ round a circumference of five thou-
sand IvSundredLillions of miles, at the rate of twenty-two thousand
milen an hour It presents a most magnificent appearance through the
efescope This planet has seven or eight satellites. Two bnlia.t rings
Surround this planet, presenting a sight altogether mdescribable ; interval
Ttweenthe pfanet and interior ring, nineteen thousan.^ and ninety mi es;
in+rvll between the two rings, seventeen hundred and mnety-one miles ;
S cTil o Te rin^^^^ himdred miles. This double ring is evidently
a soM body , as it thi^ws a well defined shadow on the body of the planet
These rinS contain on their surface more than twenty thousand milhons
of s™^^^^^ its distance from the sun is nine hundred and six
millions of miles.
VENUS.
This beautiful planet has been distinguished both by the ancients and
moderns as the morning and evening star. A lofty mountain nineteen
TlesTn hei'htTs seen on this planet, through a telescope. Its distance
Som tL sun il sixty-eight millions of miles; its diameter seven thousand
eight hundred miles.
The Pl.vnets.
THE PLANET MAKS.
n
This is the first of the superior planets, next to the Eartli It mnks
in size anion- the smaller bodies of the solar system; its diametei s
r>ut four thc>nsand two hundred miles; owing t- the ck..rneBS .^ i^^^^
atmosphere continents and oceans are distinctly «^«";, J^^^J'^"* J, ^^^
red hue which drives the planet a ruddy appearance. Uie seas iescuU>U
our own The revoluticm round its axis is made in twenty-f<.ur hours
ri forty minutes. The snow at the iK>les is %« -^^t :;:::'. "tn
dissolved by the suns rays, as on our planet Tlu distance ot tins
pWfrorthe sun is one hundred and forty-five millions ot miles
MERCURY.
I^his nlanet is the nearest to the sun, at least no planets nearer this
lum^nary^^^^^^^ discovered. It's name signifies the swift mes-
srier the swiftest moving planet in the solar systeni, its rate of mot on
be"m^ one hundred and nine thousand and eight hundred miles an hour,
or one thousand eight hundred and thirty miles a minute ; its revoluticm
ound the sun in eighty-seven days. Its distance fron, the sun thirty-
seven 1^1^ o^^ n^^^^ Its diJneter is three thousand two hundred
mZ-Tts circumference ten thousand and fifty-three miles.
GEORDIITM SIDUS, OR URANUS.
Geordium Sidus or Uranus was discovered by Herschel. Its magnitiuU
is thltyre thousand miles in diameter; distance fron, the sun, eighteei,
hundred millions of miles.
NEPTUNE.
Neptune, the last discovered planet of our solar systeni ^^/^^
immense distance of about three thousand millions of miles. Its diameter
is forty-two thousand miles.
COMETS.
Besides the planets there is a class of celestial I'^^ies ^^^^^"^^^^^^^^^^
infinite space, to which have been given the name of Jomet«. Little is
known of the nature of these wonderful creations: we must conclude
1-2
CoMBTh?.
that tliev i.erf<.nu imp.M-taut functions, ordained by our great Creator
Vmefs are distinguished fr-.ui the phmets and fixed stars by being
us.udiv attended by a long train of light, some <>f ^l^^^^^l^l^^^^^^^
fou.urto exceed one hundred nnlhons of mdes in length The lumino s
Lint,<M- iiead,is termed the nucleus. Stars of the sixteenth tnagn tu e
can be seen through the densest portion of the luminous part of the
comet The velocity of a comet when approaching the sun has been
c!„"puted at one million of miles an hour. The number of comets has
beeu estimated to be very great
INFINITUDE OF THE UNIVERSE.
"Enu thkre is None, lo also there is no Beginning."
Light traverses space at a speed inconcievable to the mind of man
vet tlie light from the nearest fixed star or sun belonging to another
stellar system requires ten years to reach our planet; and L<>rd Rx.sse s
telescope, in Ireland, reveals stars many thousand times more distant^
The same great telescope pursues these ^"ndrous creat ons of the
Almicdity still deeper into space, and resolves the nebulae of the milky
taymio countless stellar systems; or suns, around which revolve planets
"NvheV'we view this amazing creation, appearing to the naked eye
like glittering diauu.nds; when we behold this infinite number of stellar
systeius; when we reflect upon their vast distance fi .1 ^}}lf?^^^^^^^^^
enormous magnitude, the countless number of worlds that belong to
them, the veh^^ity with which they revolve around their re^P^^trve suns
(cur own world revolving upon its axis at the rate of one thousand miles
an hour, and sixty-eight thousand miles in the same time m its orbit
roui7 the sun), we a?e filled with amazement and with adoration and
love for our Almightv Father. , 1 • •
Let us suppose a inan given in charge of an angel, his ignorance re-
uioved, his mind purified, his heart the heart that oves, fears and
hopes, filled with understanding, and then conducted by his angelic
.niide through space that he may behold the glory of his maker, leaving
this earth and passing near our satellite the surprise of the man s
intense on viewing its enchanting scenery and to him its strange inhabi-
tants. Passing in proximity to the planet Mars, with its continents seas
and snow at the poles, so closely resembling his native pl^^^t jus
surprise is turned into astonishment. The beautiful planet Saturn,
with its magnificent rings revolving round the p anet at ^ distance ot
twenty thousand miles, and its eight moons fills his soul with i«^pt«re-
Leaving our solar system at the remote planet Neptune, they speed
their way with the rapidity of thought for countless ages thij^ugh saharas
of silence. At length from a distance only tobe reckoned m the arithmetic
of heaven light beams upon them, a nebulous light; the light comes with
ole(
the
cor
the
thi
lat
fui
crc
als
"]
NO
111!
jo;
fir
W(
pi
Infinitude of the Universe.
IH
electric velocity to meet them. All cat once a flood of glory bursts upon
them frZTnmimerable suns with their attendant planets and countless
Pom^ts nursuing with lightning speed their course througli space on
t^if myKouf missionr. Again Wy pursue their course for centunes
throuSi interstellar space and again arrive amidst a galaxy of constel-
atTonf and the man exclaims -Angel, I am overwhelmed ^r/.Tt he
further- take me back to the earth that I may expire at the fo(,t of the
cross that thrm'gh Christ I may enter into the joy of the Lord, of which
also there is no end. " And from the celestial orbs came a choral shout
"End THEKE^^^^^ TO THE UNIVERSE OF GOD, AND LO ALSO THREE ,S
''''wm notTs?ronomy in unveiling and displaying to mortal eyes the
marvelous r/ks of God, fill the soul with heavenly and unspeakable
marvelous w , ^^^.^^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^ magnificent and in-
ffite temple of the omnipotent, hallowed by His presence, fiHed wi
worshK resounding with the s.^et melody of their gratitude and
praise to their Almighty Father the Redeemer I
O Lord ! whom all those glorious orbs obey,
Beseech Thee, hear and grant our fervent prayer,
\nd save us from our sins and dark despair,
Which fill with tears and grief our earthly way,
And when temptations strong around us play,
And language foul with oaths profane the day.
Be Thou our shield and rock, our only stay,
Thou, the creator of those endless worlds we see;
Thou, who doth dwell in glory and m light;
And from whose throne springs everlasting ngUt,
All that is good and beautiful t,) see.
For help and mercy, Lord, we pray to iUeo
As helpless shniers on the bended knee.
THE SABBATH DAY.
Oh ' the sweet melody that fills the air,
'Tisthe church bell's call to prayer;
Toil and care have passed away.
This is the Holy Sabbath Day.
Open stands the wide church door.
Noiseless footsteps tread the floor;
Little children's faces fair,
Smile around us everywhere.
The church is full of life and hght,
'Tis a lovely heavenly sight;
Solemn silence reigns o'er all,
On their knees the people fall;
In church they sing, in church they pray.
On this-the Holy Sabbath Day.
14
Thk Advantages of Education
THE ADVANTAGES OF EDUCATION.
In those beautiful oriental tales, you all recollect how the S^f g^^^ i/":
acunation of the oriental authors delights to luxuriate upon the story «f
some young and bold adventurer, who wanders alone through the deep
caverns of Ihe earth, and there sees around him P^^^s of golden ingo s
and coin and massive plate, and burnished armour, and hil ocks of pearls
^nd .ubies, saphires, emeralds and diamonds, of all of which the mystic
talisman he unconsciously hears in his bosom has made him the
o d To the young student of our own dear Dominum, the discipline
a good education is that talisman; though ar more Pot^^t than the
,.ne of oriental fable. Thus armed he may clnnb the muse s mount, or
enetrato the deepest retreats of science. There he will find hoards more
Sous than countless gold or priceless gems. He has but to study and
desire them intensely, and they become his own for there are to be
t d he genii of artL, able to change the face of nature and subdue
the very elements; there dwell those pure and bright intelligences that
sway the heart of man, and mould at their own pleasure the opmions
md%ions of nation^. Mighty and proud spnits are they who will
not be commanded by wealth or power; but they bow themselves down
before the studious and persevering, voluntarily confessing themselves to
be the slaves of the lamp, and of him who is its master.
The Folly of Regretting the Brevity of Life.
" Tell me," says Chrononotonthologos, an inhabitant of the planet
Uranus to 'the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences m the planet
SatTn at which he had recently arrived in a journey through ^^e
heavens 'tell me how many senses have the men on your globe. We
hate seventy-two senses,' replied the academician, 'and we complam of
ITZ^I of the number; our imagination goes ^- ^ey-d o-
wants What are seventy-two senses? and how piuml a boundary,
Tven for beings with such limited perceptions, to be cooped up withm
our rings and our ei^ht moons. In spite of our curiosity, and m spite
of as many passions^as can result from six dozen senses, we find our
time hanging very heavily, and cannot help sometimes yawning. 1
caTvery weU believe it,' says Chrononotonthologos, ' f or, m our globe
we have^ery near one thousand senses, and yet with all these we find
Tkind of listless inquietude and vague desires, which are forever telling
us that we are noth ng, and that there are beings infinitely nearer per-
?ec ion I have travelled a good deal in the universe; I have seen many
classes of mortals far beneath us, and many as much superior, but I
liter had he good fortune to find any who had not always more desires
"han real wants to occupy their life. And pray how long may you
Saturnians live with your few senses,' continued the Uranian. Oh, but
.
The Folly of Rkurettiso the Brevity of Lifk.
15
a
very short time indeed,' aaid the little man of t^aturn, with a sigh.
*It is the same with us,' said the Uranian; 'we are f<.revei; complaining
of the shortness of life.' 'Alas,' said the Saturnian 'we live only some
fifteen thousand years; you see well that this is to die almost as soon as
we are born. Our existence is a point; our globe an atoui !>caiceo
have we begun to pick up a little knowledge, when death rushes in upon
us before we can have acquired anything like experience. As Or uje
I cannot venture to think of any pro ect, for, 1 feel l"ff /;;;*, ,^.^^^;
drop of water in the ocean, and especially now, when I look to >ou .iiul
to myself, I really feel quite ashamed of the ridiculous appearance 1
make in the universe.' 'If I did not know that you are a philosopher,
^plied Chronon<>tonthologos, 'I should be afraid <>f ^-{[-^^J-
when I tell you that with temperance in all tlnngs our life is seven
hundred limL longer than yours. But what is even tha , w^-;^ ----
to the last moment i To have lived a single day, and to have lived toi
oimtless age^ amounts to the very same tlnng. ^ -ve b^y-o-^^-
where they live a thousand times longer than with us and yet 1 uuc
always found them murmuring just as we do ^>"^«^1^'^^«- . ^;\2 voir
seventy-two senses, and they must have told you «»^^^f^"»f '^^^\>;'^;
dobe How many properties has matter with you I If y«m mean
esLntial7roperties,'^said the Saturnian, 'without winch our gloW^^^^
not exist we count three hundred: extension, nnpenetrability , mobility ,
gravitai^onT divisibility and so forth.' 'That small --^>-;^ ^P^^.
the gigantic traveller, 'may be sufficient for ^^e views which the Creatoi
must have had with respect to your narrow habitation. Your gl^^^^
little; its inhabitants are so to; you have few senses; your "^; t^r has
few Qualities; in all this Providence has suited you "^^^^ ^^^^V *
each other ' The academician was more and more astonished with
^veiything the traveller told him. At length, after --^--f g^;!
each other a little of what they knew, and a great deal of what thc>
knew not, and reasoning as well and as ill as P^^ -"ph^^^^^^^^^^ ^"'
they resolved to set out together on a little tour of the universe.
Description of Palmyra by a Roman to a Friend in Rome.
A little after noon of the fourth day passed in crossing the dreary
defer which surrounds Palmyra, the grateful tidings reached my ears
that towards the East there could now be seen the dark line which n-
dkate/oiir approach to the verdant track that surrounds the great city.
Our own excited spirits were quickly imparted to our beasts and we
soon nerceived the waving groves of palm trees which mark the site of
pXiyr It was long before we reached the city that we found ourselves
landincr as it were, from a .ea upon an island or continent, m a rich and
Mcwf peo^lT^^^^^^ The \'oads indicated an approach to a great
capital Elephants, camels and the dromedaries, which J bad before
seen only in the amphitheatres, frequent villas of the rich and luxurious
j(j Description of Palmyra by a Roman.
Palrnvriaus, to which thoy retreat from the tunnoil and heat of the city ,
now threw Ix lovely charm on the scene. The brilliant coatumes of the
neople we met, together with the rich housings of the annnals they -ode,
iothin<' can exceed the splendor of those sumptuous palaces. Italy
itself, has nothingthat surpasses them. I was still entranced, as it were,
when I was ar<.used by the shout of those who led the caravan, and
who attained the summit of a rising ground, crying Palmyra^ Palmyra.
1 uraed forward my steed, and in a moment the most wonderful prospect
r ever beheld, I cannot except even Rome, burst «P"ii 3f y ^^f^*- / ^^'^^^^
by hills of considerable elevation on the East, the city fi^^ the whole
plain belosv, as far as the eye could reach, both towards the North and
towards the South. This immense plain was one vast and boundless
city. It seemed to me to be larger than Rome; yet I knew very well
that it could not be, that it was not; and it was some time before I
understood the true character of the scene before me, so as to separate
the city from the country, and the country from the city, which here
wonderfully interpenetrate each other, and so confound and deceive
the observer If the vastness of Palmyra astonished me, the inhabitants
changed it into amazement and delight. Their urbanity, politeness,
unbounded hospitality, and the wise government of their city are beyond
all euloc^v I can only attribute their amiable manners to their rehgion,
vhich differs widely from that of us Romans, with our multiplicity ot
2ods. These people worship one god only, whom they call the supiome
mind or creative, omnipresent and governing spirit. They worship m
temples of great architectural beauty, which are never closed, day or
night, and are always filled with devout worshippers.
The education of the youth of both sexes is most sedulously attended
to- sickness alone is allowed as an excuse for non-attendance at the
state colleges-paid by the state, and of the highest order. Pater-famihas
who necrlect this paramount parental duty are severely punished; so
that eve°ry child born to the state has an equal opportunity of receiving
a ^(3od education. The state pays a body of eminent medical men, who
attend to all cases where their services are required, and are bound to
report every case, and their treatment of it, to the Minister of Public
Health. Abject poverty is unknown, owing to the industry and tem-
perance in all things of these excellent people.
A cleanliness exists throughout this vast city, quite inconceivable,
which together with the wise sanitary laws, accounts for their great
"^S absence of slavery and a good education have obliterated pride,
so that all classes associate together in the greatest harmony, most de-
lightful to behold.
Happy people ! they are governed by wise laws; they have abundance
of everything. 'Tis thus, oh Cato, that governments ought to act- to
be the ioy of their people; they should love them as their children; a
bad governinent which oppresses its citizens is like the plague -a scourge
to t.hP. human race. I cannot express my delight at the magnihcent
Dkscripti'>n of Talmyua by a Roman,
17
Blcch,^; '"see them v,«hin.Il,„ut hf search of uews-.quest.onms with
"Hr;:^':;::;,:sfS?;;.:rrxr:;^;;z^d by the de.evt, re„devs
I his i-miiitt y, ncm » | ,i,.„„„,.s the vitals of a natii .u, \ranece33ary
r ';"'" Tr^::; " ';; i n 'S^^ anas and thoroughly drilled
;: e fov'lh/X^inhJ^le^vnt deportu.o„t and love^^^
gives them. They ''1- P"''''-;;, *-;;*'^:,; j i 'c mL el 1^0 learn
in so well g..verned a c ty ^j^ j»tJd"t oierything that can render
a mechanical trad.-, ''"'' '','« f ''V'^ ''"jte,, they dilleAn their opinions
then "^f''!"''! ;";:r ;^* -.t.i^u ,^t^^^^^^^ hat one would think that
t'y ::;:; r ^ef nrriMS it is m Ron.e who., party feeling
L frequently m virulent that i.icn of reas,.n are disgustcl
Wei^e [ not a R..u.an, .-.n,! ,le^,.ted to my country with all its faults,
I would wish to be a Palmyrian. Ad.eu, thy faend,^^^ ^^^^^^^^^
TuK Okeat OnsTM'A.K n. Frek Tkade, or What are the
Results ,.f Kee.-inc upLarge Standing Armies.
VVl.v ■ tMcB nnon evervthinj; that enters the ni..uth or covers the
Why . taxcb upon eveiji ,,%_,„„,,, „,,ervthina whch it is pleasant
back, or s placed under foot; taxes upcui utiyuiia, ,„. i„romo-
t-Hatit'e™fc.^rnn;r'^^^
t *rid"e'; at bed o? board -ucl.,^ ..r ^vant we um^^ The
him The oroperty he leaves is then taxed. Besides tl oDate, laige
taxed no more.
J
'f'i
]
i-^Muifg^^i-i -