The Wilmingtonian., 1885-01-17
EVOLUTION IN HISTORY.
Notes from "a Lecture In Unity Church on
Wednesday Evening last, by Mr..
Charles u. b. Mills of SYRIA
cuse, New York

: Lavater reminds us that there aie never tw,
things alike, never two hairs, two grass
blades, nor two eggs. Brought under th'
microscope they reveal their distinctive diff
ferences.
j We sec che same thing without the glass
in human faces. None nf all the 200, 0O0,
900 now on the globe that are undi tngu'sh-
able from each other even to the casual OBJ
server. Nature keeps an infinite variety Of
molds in her pattern shop.
The same thing holds, and still more
strongly with the generations and ages of
mankind Each has its ear mark, lis spec
ial family features by which it is distinguish
ed from all others. This constitutes the charm
of history and here also is the instruction of
history in tracing the growth and steps of
/ evolution.
| To confine ourselves within recent CEN
tulies, we find one age, or period covering
generations will be markell by an absor bing
interest in geographical research.
| From the 18th, throughout the 16,h, and
running into the 18th century this influence
| affected Europe, resulting in the discovery
of America, the doubling of the Cape of
Good Hope, the opening up of the Indies,
the circnmnavigation of the globe, the dis
| coyery OF Australia and the adjacent islands
&c. 1t was discovered that the world is
globe. Europe was ahame with excitement
| and adventurers spread all over the world.
The settlement of the New World was re
suit.
Again there have been periods marked by
great religious feryor, as illustrated by the
crusades, our cooler, more ateiialistic age
can hardly credit the accounts that history
gives of the strong religious impulse of those
days, witness the fervid vociferous eloquence
of Peter the Hermit, bare-headed, nude of
limbs and arms, vehemently, gesticulating,
and bearing aloft the ponderous cruc'fx:
gathering under his banner so, 900 followers
from the valleys of France and the forestsl
of Germany, all fired with quenchess yea
to march to- Palestine and extinguish the
| hordes of nfdels and rescue the sacred sep
ulchre. Other armies followed of 200 600,
and 100000, who accomplished little and
| left their whitened bones to bleach on the
| Syrian sands In 1911 an army of $4,000
children marched as far as the Cult of Gen
oa where they perished from hunger OF
were sold into slavery.
Next comes the age of architecture, Of the
building of great cathedrals, described as
"frozen music" which has been the wonder
and admiration of subsequent ages, The
religious sentiment erected these, as Emer-
son says:
"The hand that rounded Peters dome,
And gioined the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in sad sincerity"
See St. Simeon Styites, in the 9th century,
standing for 81 years on his pillar, which
was raised at length to 40 cubits high,
three feet only in diameter, which he never
left by night or by day, aud whence he in
structed the people. Consider the question,
that absorbed the schoolmen in later years.
that of the Trinity. Dean Stanley says this
was the standing topic in society, on the
street, at the butchers stall and at the bake
in the nature of the second person Of the
Trinity. Then, almost synchronous with
this came up the question of the nature OF
angles. Although our age is different il
degree still our Lady of Lourdes draws
many pilgrims to her shrine.
Our time is distnguishable as none eve
before by its interest in scientific research
It will go into history marked by mater
: ial advance.
: ''The outlcord signs of our civilization,
d said Lord Rosebcry, "aie an extraordinary
Il accum ulation of wealth, and the extraordin
e airy consumption of alcohol"
y The introduction Of steam as a moto
's power first effectually done by Watt, abou
'e 100 years ago, the mining and consumption
~ of mineral coal, tile manufacture of iron, til
invention without end of labor-saving ms
chinery, all, or nearly all, within the Gel
is tury have revolutionized the world.
DIR. Draper says a man can do as muc
now as 10 could 90 years ago. The steam-c
'al is melting provincialsms and evolving hor
NY ogeneity. Leckey declares 'it is impossib
~ to lay down a railroad without exertiug
intellectual influence. 1t is probable tn
an Watt and Stephenson will eventually modi
,re the opinions of mankind almost as profoun
an ly as Luthor or YOltaire. 1t is claimed tn
uss tile 1900, 0O0 haud-workers of Great Brita
in to-day produce twice as much as the VIII.
of population Of the globe did in 1850. Ola
are stone has estimated that the production
en- wealth in Engla' during the time fr,
mt 1900 to 1870 was fully equal to the agg
div gt'e for the entire time from the land ng
the Julius Caesar, B. C. So, to 1900 a. D., or
.ish ars of modern equal 1855 years of old
mt, time Nay, further that the 20 years sill
and 1850 equal in that regard tie half cent?
preceding Tyn9all tells us that the qu