The Labor enquirer., 1884-01-19
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Introductory Chapters to Merritt
4. Dement'S Interesting
Book.
After eighteen hundred years Of Chris
tianity, four hundred years Of printing,
and one hundred years of invention, we
have come to look upon ourselves as the
highest type of civilization, and far ad-
vanced over the barbarians who pre-
ceded us in all that tends to make US
what men should be. In some respects,
this beliefs justified. The broad and
ready diffusion of knowledge by means
of the art Of printing, has made it posi-
bleIfor every one to know that which any
one knows and while. formerly, men of
thought enlightened only their immedi-
ate hearers, to-day, they speak to, reason
with, and enlighten, not alone those who
see and hear them, but all the world be-
sides.
To-day, if one sees black pail across
the sun, he need not run wild with dis.
may and fear; and If a sleeping noun.
tain become resonant with strange and
terrible noises, and begin to emit clouds
of vapor and rivers of molten matter,
those who hear and see it, need not fear
themselves objects Of the wrath of some
subterranean deity; for men of thought,
broad minded and liberal, have refused
to fear and dared to think and investi.
gate. And now, the people may placidly
view an eclipse of the sun at midday;
because they know that the moon in its
course, is simply for a moment passing
between the earth and the sun. And
they may hear the rumbling of the vol
cano, and see the rivers of lava pouring
from its mouth. with only the awe due
to grandeur, for they know thatit is sim
ply the action of natural elements.
In this respect, SO far as this diffusion
of knowledge and consequent dissipation
Of ignorance and superstition have taken
place, the world has advanced.
But there are many things in which no
progress whatever has been made, There
are many evils which infict society to-
day as seriously as in the days of barbar-
ism. And there are evils which have
come into being as results of our civil
zation, and which were unknown before.
And it is the purpose of this book to call
attention to some of these and to sug-
gegt remedy therefor. r ..@
One of the strangest lessons in history
is the fact that nations, like all animate
existence, have been subject to the in
frmities of age, and certain of final dis I,
solution. From the most ancient times
down to the present, Kingdoms and en-
pires have sprung into existence from
simple and insignificant sources; have
grown to greatness and power; have
fallen into their dotage, and have passed
away. History, upon one. page, dwells
glowingly upon the magnifcence, luxury
and opulence Of a people; and upon the
next recites their downfall and destruc.
ton. ...
The sands of Western Asia and North
ern Africa have been weighted with the
temples and palaces of hundred ma
tions, whose opulenee and glories, whose
power and dominion, perhaps, can never
be excelled. .~
4 Greece and Rome, the morning of Eu-
rope, whose suns first illumined its will
dernesses; whose sturdy warriors none
could resist; and whose orators and
scholars are still teaching the world,
have passed away.
And of the empires of Cyrus and the
Pharaohs ;of Demosthenes and Cesar,
nothing remains, save a few crrmbling
ruins, which, like gravestones, mark the
resting places of the mighty dead, and
weak and aimless peoples, who barely
preserve their traditions.
Greece and Italy to-day are mere shells
of their former selves. They are like
dead trees in a forest. They have the
shape without the life the limbs with
out the leaves. They are simply rotten
ing. Spain, too, has!been touched with
the palsy of nations. Austria, Turkey
and Portugal are showing symptoms of
the disease The soil of England cannot
feed her2people to-day. Belgium, France
and Germany are producing less and inn
porting more food every year. Even in
the United States, young and vigorous as
that nation is, there are already plainly
to be seen the symptoms of this disease.
AS Greece and Rome caught the infection
from Western Asia, as Northern Europe
caught it from Rome and Greece, 80 is
America catching it from England and
France.
Some of the old Asian empires en-
dured for more than a thousand years;
some of the European empires, in one
form and another, have endured for
which destroyed in Asia, are at their
work of destruction in Europe and
America. And while in our ephemeral
existence great changes do not take
place; while the great living empires
seem as strong and powerful at the 'end
as at the beginning of our short lives;
yet we must not lose sight of the fact
that such changes are really taking place.
And that notwithstanding the better
ment of the race, through the wide dis
semination of knowledge by means of
printing, and through the establishment
of an improved form Of religion, it seems
only question of time, when the pres
ent magnificent and opulent empires Of
Europe and America, shall become the
victims of this scou rye of nations, and
.ths:r dense masses be replaced by 9 few.