The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-01-01
For the Dispatch.
TE.e Nineteenth Century-A Glance q;
the state of ti,e world To-day.

The good year of our Lord 1867 passed
silently away to Join his predecessors in
the "long ago" on Tuesday night, and
| Wednesday morning beholds the installa-
ton of the young New Year in its niche
in the Temple OF Time.
Three centuries of the worlds existence
seem more than any others to have been
distinguished by events-viz., the century
which followed Immediately the birth of
Christ, the century which witnessed the
discovery Of this hemisphere, and the cen
fury in which we live.
All agencies which can minister to the
progress Of civilization, widen the spread
Of knowledge, and increase personal COM
fort and convenience, appear to have
chosen this century as their eliminating
period.
The mighty forces in fire, air, and water,
as well as the subtler powers Of electricity,
all apparently acting both singly and in
combination, as subservient instruments
for the accomplishment of mans purposes.
BY means of these he seems virtually
able to clip the dimensions Of distance,
and outstrip the very moments, wing-footed
though they be.
Rushing locomotives and painting steam
ers now convey travellers to the antipodes
in a shorter space Of time than was con-
sumed by our forefathers in journeying
from Virginia to South Carolina.
A merchant in Maine, Wishing to COM
municate with his partner in New Or
leans, need no longer resort to so dilatory
medium as the post, but stepping into
the nearest telegraph office, sends his mes
sage and receives its answer within an
hour.
The application of steam to printing has
so increased facilities for publishing that
books in every spoken language, treating
of every conceivable subject, and suited
to every graduation of taste, are scattered
broadcast over the world, and copies Of
the Scriptures, once SO rare that an au-
thentic version was chained to its ledern
to guard against theft, are now thumbed
by coolies in China and negroes in Fer.
nando Pc.
| Even bounds seem to have been set to the
entertainments of physical pain, as chic
reform enables the mangled victim Of some
hapless accident to defy the terrors Of his
surgeons instrument case.
Earth, sea, and sky, ransacked by pa.
tent saUans, display their treasured Won
ders.
Biologists have laid bare and mapped
out the inner structure of our globe,
and write ante-deluyian history from post
deluvian remains.
Cuvier, Agassiz, and others, have grouped,
classified, and described the multifariouS
denizens of the animal and vegetable king
doms; and Maury has studied out and de-
monstrated the wonderful method which
directs and controls the course of winds
and the ebb and flow of tides.
So much for material progress and sci
entific development. Let US glance at the
religious and political aspects of this Won
derful era.
The last vestiges of that temporal power
which has for years been steadily slipping
from the Papal grasp seems about to pass
away forever.
Serfdom in Russia and negro slavery in
North America are among the things that
we're.
The Sepoy rebellion see have made
breach in the black 10y Sinica.
license and superstitionA