Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-06-29

AN AGE OF GREAT EVENTS In
reading history which has TO do mainly
with mighty forces in conflict, We come
upon a succession Of wars treated At
great length, and overshadowing the
!ong years Of peace that interven.d bc.
tween them. The years Of peacc ar,
many, but they are dismissed with =
sentence. ltis due to this historical
perspective that the past seems 60 tult
of action. In reality the present era
has been crowded with events a. impoy
tant as the most stirring among fn;mc1
ages. We do not allude to triumphS Of
the arts Of peace, the changes in mo-
dern life brought about by the telegraph.
the railroad, the sewing-machinc, the
perfection of the printing-press, tu' 20
political revolutions, the struggle ~
powerful nations against each other. the
grapple OF belligerent ideas person,iicd d
in marshalled armies. Within the mem.
ory Of a man who has not yet rca, he'd
middle age, many grand historic cyon's
have occurred, seeming like mere cp:
sodes, accompanying the peaceful pro-
gress of the world; and upon then: ;hn
eyes of posterity will be fixed forgcliuI
Of what appeared TO this generation it,
serious work. Within six years Of tho
Revolutionary era of lS4S, we have the
Crimean war: the mutiny In India: the
Austro-French war which laid the tTvId
foundations of the Kingdom of Italy tn,i
the revolutions which built il up: n'g
civil war: the first aggressive reappcar-
ance of Prussia on the European stage
in the attack upon Denmark; the Aus
ira Prussian war which carried Oh the
unification of the Kingdom of Italy and
prepared the way for the new German
Empire; the Franco Prussian var whIc h
destroyed the empire of Napoleon, Land
the cap-stone on the column of Italian
unity and further advanced the Crca.
edifice of German nationality; the re-
olutions in Spain: the English war IN
Africa, the Chinese rebellion, the open.
ing-up of Japan, so long shut up a. /,
were within a brazen wall: the abril-
ton Of slavery in America; the abOiiii u
of serfdom in Russia; the confederate
Of Canada-these are some Of the poiii-
ical events that will at once occur Ia
the mind Of the reader as making The
last twenty years a remarkable era
And now we are watc hing with intcrc.'
what seem to be the signs Of the RAPID
approach of another conflict in the Oh,
World. We may see, before long, The
| utter destruction Of the Moslem pow,
which poured into Christendom in he
Middle Ages, threatening to supr'an'
the civilization Of the Bible with th'
civilization Of the Koran-to make tL'
European the slave Of the AsiaiiJ.--
Truly these have been stirring timr,
Considering man merely d spectatH'
watc hing the concerns Of the world as
if they constituted drama, the era has
been a good one to live in. Not only
have these great events followed one
another in quick succession but the op-
portunities for observing contempora.
neous occurrences have been bet.
ter in our time than ever before
Newspapers have made every mar
ubiquitous. They give Rima knowl
edge Of what is transpiring Throughout
the world, superficial, it is true, but
enough to give him an interest in al
nations; and when q crisis comes the
press describes the actors in 4, and r..
ports its progress with sach rninutenr-
that we become, as il twere, spectators. A
journal is like the magic carpet On whicf
Prince Camaralzzman was whisked o!
/ in jiffy to the Princess BadoaTa. /
was only necessary to sit down on Il
and wish 10 be in some distant Lnu
and instantly you were ffan-poste d
thither. During the rebellion the a."
suations cf a battle thrilled all throust
the country along the telegraph wire>
and At the time Of the Franco-P -Pru,s Ian
war we seemed t. be floating IN ,h'
an over the fields Of France anS wstch.
ing the desperate struggle. n ssof
achievements ss the Mont Gems Tun-
mel. the Sue1 Canal, the ocean seiegrarh
the emancipation Of science, do not pat
the age in the foremost files Of time
certainly its Sevoiutions, wars and s'i-
mors Of war viii make Il noteworthy -
Fifty years OF Europe" jus, now s-e
very much better than cycle oil e.
thzv.-.E T. Uorid.