The Portland daily press., 1883-02-16
JOSEPH COOK.
THE SEVEN MODERN WONDERS OF
THE WORLD.



of our prominent citizens occupied seats on tn,
platform. This was the second appearance OF
the distin gu;shed lecturer in Portland, tn,
first occurring several years ago under the aus
pices of the Bible Society. The description O.
Mr.. Cook, as given In Wednesdays PRESS, wa!
fully borne out last night. His voice was {
little husky owing to bad cold. Previous tt
the lecture Rev. DIR. McKeown offered prayer
after which DIR. Carlton Kimbal, president Of
the Y. NC. A, introduced the speaker, who
spoke substantially as follows:
God be thanked that in our day there are M
foreign lands; one of the chief things learned
In distant shores is that no shores are distant
which leads one to the first of the seven mod
ern wonders OF the world, viz, the increased
speed of intercommunication. Caesar could moi
drive his chariot around the Roman Empire
In less than l00 days0 now we can send letter
around the globe in 80 circles of the sun. am
anxious that you should be Impressed with the
fact that Boston, or London, or any prominent
city OF our time, is as near the ends of the
earth as was the City of the Seven Hills to the
bounds of its empire. OF that empire the Ro-
man poets spoke as vast because OF its extent
and narrow because of the swiftness of inter.
communication through it, But to day, If we
are in Melbourne, it is entirely immaterial
whether we send letter to London by way OF
the Suez Cansl. or of California; either way il
woculd reach its destination in about 40 days
so that we can carry letter, a bale of cotton OF
man around the entire earth as easily as
Rome could carry these articles around her ex-
IRENE limits. In this matter we must drop
merely national measuring tapes l am not
here to discuss national reform, State re-
form. although each of these topics is of very
blazing and strategic interest in view of the
last election, especially in Massachusetts.
Laughter. But am here to discuss interna-
tioDal reform. And, first, let me give nv def
milton OF a modern wonder of the world. 1t
must be Providential tendency of events Of
an origin outside of the world. De Tocque-
vile, speaking OF the progress of Democracy,
said that it was Providential tendency of
supernatural origin, cosmopolitan, irresistible
by all parts of the world, and fastened by all
events. Now Democracy is not the only mod
ern wonder of the world. am to select seven
of these breaths of God in current events. You
may say that am giving novel definition TO
a wonder of the world when call it histori-
cal Proyiden,ial tenden y. That is my defni-
tlOn, however, aud hope TO convince you th at
l am right. The ancient wonders of this world
we're seven in number; Colossus of Rhodes the
temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at
Halicarnassus, the Pyramids, the Pharos at
Alexandria, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
and the Olympian Zeus. But II / recollect
Alright, was taught at the university yonder
that all OF them were the works of man. Now,
IL L W6Ib u lLulCdI6 Tue dQCl6QbS ana discuss
the works of man instead of those of God,
might talk to you of the architectural wonders
OF the cathedrals of York and Cologne as the
masculine, and Milan or Pisa as the feminine
forms. They are group of inspiring buildings,
the frozen music of the medieval ages; then of
st. Peters, and then of the various electrical
wonders, the telegraph and telephone. These
architectural works are all of them modern,
but who wants an hour spent in discussing
these trite forms? am not here to employ the
time OF my audience in the effort merely
TO amase people. You came here to listen to
something touching vital reforms, and there
fore raise the tone of thought to the plane
which you are accustomed to on this platform.
might describe seven political wonders, and
discuss the governments and politics OF China,
Japan, Russia, Greece, Germany, France and
England, but these would be political wonders
merely, and not the lofty themes to which the
title of this lecture invites your attention, and
they did not interest me most in my travels
about this wheeling orb. might discuss with
you the seven natural scenes which appeared
to ne most wonderful, but, mighty as some of
these topics might be if l should enter into
their details, we shall get more instruction If
We lift up our thought TO the world of the world
according to my defuitiop, as historic, provi-
dental, mysterious, cosmopolitan, novel. bene-
hciat. The seven such are, first the speed of
INSTRUMENTATION. The obstacles in the
way OF the progress of this intercommunication
seem only to give to the forces behind 1t great
or strength. God is behind it, and 1t is our
business to spell out with awe the lightest syl.
lables OF His opinion; to look upon them not
with superstitious terror, but with a tendency
to worship and reverence their forms; to look
into the details of what the supreme powers
are doing, and arrange our forces in harmony
with theirs By this speed Of intercommunica-
tion the inhabitants of all parts of the world
read the same message transmitted to them by
electric means, and at nearly the same time.
un mi Srf n Gencar
but to-day we are rendered familiar with
it by the men of science. Why do dwell
80 long upon this? / wish TO insist upon
IL that every great cause has the world for
its field, and that there can be no secluson of
any country of the world behind screen. 1t
has been decreed that thought shall flash IN
der the seas and over continents, and Paganism
can maintain its seclusion no longer. China
has within itself many different languages, but
their source has been already perforated by
translation, and in Africa the light is being
felt in the minds of the natives because of the
speed of INSTRUMENTATION, a fact which has
immense political, historical and commercial
importance. We as Americans have had much
TO do with this, and, in consequence, the eyes
of the world are upon US. In the far East it is
discussed whether their reforms shall initiate
Great Britain or the United States. Aus ralia
IS already largely Americanized; the Ameri-
can example is put side by side with that of
England, and in the national reforms the ex-
ample of the best of the far West is chosen.
We should see to it that we render our exam
pie worthy of being SO followed.
So much for the first modern wonder. And
now may not name as the second, the self
reformation OF the hermit nations You say
now am speaking of the works of man. l
3eem to look upon it as the work of God. Look
at Japan. Within twenty-five years she has
abolished the feudal system, Iisarmed the
hereditary nobility, with its 100000 armed re
tainers, taken the land from the mobiles and
given it practically into the possession of the
masses OF the people, reformed its army and
navy and Post Office Department, and remod-
eled It's 81 stem of common school education af-
ter the most approved Western examples. In
fact, seventy-one pen cent. of the school popu
iation in Japan can be found in the schools,
while in the United States the percentage is
only thirty-one. Japan has made changes in
this time that, / am justified in asserting, have
never been equalled by any other nation. The
changes nay not be permanent the reform
may go backward, but not SO far as to bring
again feudalism or any other relics OF a barbar-
ic age. In my lectures there / sometimes en-
poyed an interpreter-an interrupJer, gener-
ally found him laughter land he and L to-
gtther made heavy demands on the patience of
an audience. But whether spoke with him,
or in the English tongue, was always ap-
plauded, even when, before a Buddhist audi
ence, fiercely denounced Buddhism, thing
which, twenty years rgo, would have endan-
S6r6u my ili0. uOE6 Jldu bQat, L was lnvlb6u
at Kioto by the Legislative Assembly itself to
lecture. Mr. Cook here apologized for intro
ducing SO much personality into his lecture,
and promised to avoid it as much as possible.
He Continued Some of the pupils of the mis-
sionaries are at the foot of these reformatory
movements, and with them the love Tor a pop
ular government seems to amount to passion,
and through them the Emperor has promised
to establish in 1890, a Parliament based on
representation. solemnly believe that this
republic at the present moment has more NOR.
al influence in Japan than has Great Britain,
and because of the speed of interc Jmmunica.
tion, which makes it possible to deal with the
matters to be refo rmed. Watch yourselves
well, citizens, for the eyes of the world are
upon you; watch yourselves well, Americans
at large, for the far East is deciding whether
it shall be Americanized or Britainized. Let
me not raise national prejudices. All are
great worlds, but greater than all is the Chris.
tain world, and it is that world which
would see copied in Japan applause wheth'
or it be American, British, German, French OF
anything else. Our municipal governments
State Legislature and national politics
are narrowly scrutinized and ever
thing that looks like corruption eagerly
seized upon and spread abroad in far-off Japan
Australia and India, for comparison with the
British example. and, from our corrupt NUM-
cipal governments, foreign statesmen have
argued that when our population equals 100 te
the square mile universal suffrage will prove q
failure. Therefore watch yourselves. Ameri
can influence is pouring into Australia, and IL
no country is the subject of American polite:
so closely studied. There are two Englands