The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1859-04-29
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! TEN a! FRIDAY, API
+ ss,e;f ;ftpen sbks I, ~ Prreial Advertiser
he Had ~ the World.
Z 4t ~ looitdt llpon as, almost i'm
t4h5 "a Subt tliat the Creator Of the
Rfsd Bas Ef4da tinc- and that not yer,
az ldnt len it's to come to a., end
Thers may ba, i is true, different mean
me- Attacked different persons to the
tomnson expression, ..'the. end of the
world but tiIey will, Il is probable, all
be- found 70 agree in one essential re-
spsct' the humarfaoe will have wrought
out the problem ofits destiny, and lis
history will be closed. From the begin.
ming of christianitya1E, ,pcrhaps before
until the presaz< .s,.S,elief that
amend was tq b srearly 81
quite universal. y E6eht his disci
pies, and they their }Sllbwers, that it was
near-even at the DOORS" The early
Christian fathers earnestly inculcated the
same belief. Luther says that ''the last
day is not far off," and later writer upon
the subject declares-"that in the Bible
a very near end of the world is expected
and prophesied, although the day and the
hour are not determined. only falsehood
and blindness can deny"
OF course, the occurrence of such an
event, in whatever shape it may chose to
present ITSELF will hardly belooked upon,
by those who are in no way dissatisfied
with their present condition, as desirable.
Indeed it is not one of those things whose
approach can be contemplated, by the
majority Of mankind, with feelings OF
pleasure, much less Of impatiencc. There
will. it is probable, be a good many not
entirely prepared. Not few nice little
arrangements which the parties desire to
consummate and enjoy, will be broken up.
Several accounts, in spite of a multiple
city Of good intentions, will remain in q
state not at all prescntible; and there will,
no doubt, be some who, if they could be
consulted upon the question, would much
prefer to continue where they are. And,
in fact, man might well hesitate-if he
could-upon the brink of future of
which so little is definitely known: and
unless he was very badly situated-con-
clude to bear the ills to which he was ac
customed, rather than launch into an un-
known sea, in whose perils he has no ex-
perience. ......
1t is little curious that while the
prophcsies, and predictions, and promises.
have always stood the same, and while
the event, according to current calcula-
tions, has never been very far distant, the
appreciation Of this fact by the popular
mind, in vivid manner, and the oonse-
qucnt exhibitions of hope or of terror or
Of enthusiasm, have been intermittent
and paroxysmal. At one time. society
has been stirred to its very foundations
by the proclamation of the approaching
end, while at another, it has heard the
intelligence with passivity as remarlla-
bic as its former excitement. Why this
is so, would be an interesting subject of
inquiry. About once in a generation OF
men, the word goes forth that the world
according to some newer and more in
fallible calculation--is upon its last legs,
and that the delay beyond given day,
of the long-eXpected blast of the angel
Gabriel, is out of the question. The news
spreads and takes hold of the minds of
the people; religion-or at least, its out
ward manitestations-revivcs; brethren
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