Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-08-09
A Hundred Years Hence.

This life Of ours is full Of mysteries. We
rise in the morning, we 60 10 bed at night
we toll and toll and sleep and sleep, and
then We die. The present alone is ours, the
past dream, the future all uniathomable
On the brink of time stands man, eating
his way by moments, plodding unconscious
Of the waste within, the wear and tear Of
that exquisite machine the human body
Proud Of the intellectual and physical
achievements Of the past, gl0rying In the
conscious strength Of the present, boastful of
the finite power when God has given him.
yet Oft forgetful Of the source whence it
sprung. man lives his little span -gruhbing
delying, spinning, toiling like the ant--a
larger ant, less wise withal, and grateful.
As he stands in his matchless symmetry aud
strength, peering through the God-like light
Of reason into the uniathomable abyss Of
space, putting girdle round about the earth,
aud digging deep into the bowels, thinking,
dreaming praying cursing, be knows not
what moment may bring forth, or when, in
the decree Of an allwise Providence his little
lamp shall cease to shine on earth.
Man for the future can but reason from
the past. In hundred years lac has seen
or heard Of many changes ia this wondrous
globe he calls his home. Great souls have
come aud gone; great souls will come again /;
intellect has qulckened the means of locomo-
tion, lessened the Adamite curse Of toll; in
tclect will do so still. SO he reasons, so his
logic rests upon the past. One hundred
years ago the world travelled in numbering
coaches, sailed the sea in slowgoing ships
to-day the iron horse goes tearing through
the land, and steamers bridge the widest
oceans. Months have changed 30 weeks,
and weeks tO hours One hundred years ago
the traveller between New York and the
Illinois wilds would have made up his mind
10 a three weeks trip in numbering wagons,
sleepy ferries and uncomfortable stages. la
the year of grace, 1876, two days and one
night, passed in ease and comfort, see him
safe at his journey end. When his majesty
troops sailed from the shores OF England 10
give these colonies lesson, they were for
tunate enough if three weeks tossing on the
! broad Atlantic brought them within sight OF
| Newfoundland. To-day an eight-day passage
is a matter Of course. Without multiplying
| Illustrations it is not in the least degree un
natural that the man Of the hour, peering
/ into the mists OF dim futurity, should see in
| its dark aud unfathomable depths still greater
| strides towards that goal which his imagina
/ tion pictures as the ultima Mue of inventive
/ perfection Electricity has added its spark
/ 10 creative immortality. What may not
/ electricity bring forth What motors fill
the womb Of pregnant time DO we see, in
the fragile airshipof to-day, the engine that
/ is 10 wait our posterlty with unthought-oi
| speed from continent to continent Are the
worlds 30 draw together ere the end, and
men 10 stride the air, and guide their bark;
! through space Shall tunnels bridge the
seas and steam go down before a higher
force Who knows what is 10 be Al
ready Whisperings fill the air with wondrou.
motors the busy brains OF men are at work
" Across the ocean in fifty hours so read,
the latest tale life-boat raised by gas anc
sailed by steam.
\ hundred years hence WHO that i,
hom to-day shall live 10 see it, and what, il
he do live shall he sea daily balloon I,
London an afternoon trip to Florida vii
the decks now echoing to the hiss OF steam
bee filled by strange, unearthly shapes, witt
wings and fans and gaudy bags of gas
VIII freight trains, drawn by noiseles
power. pass swiftly meath the sea, and par
GELS dart like lightning round the world
Stranger things than these have happened II
a hundred years, and some may live 10 se'
still greater wonders And yet We eanno
change the fact Of nature. Man is the SAINT
today he was a hundred years ago mori
restless, nervous, ambitious, but unchange'
in feeling, passion, thought. lie was mad
in the image of his Maker and however h
may darken and ohliterate that image, s.
shall he remain, anu the sea shall chang
not, neither the dry land, at least to outwar,
and unlettered sense, and the heavens shal
tell of the glory of God till the inevitable
hour, when all created things shall pas
away like scroll, aud the soul OF man hay
learned the truth Of everlasting veal or wo
in the neyer-endng mansions OF eternity
/ (Hicdg0 Inter Ocean.