Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-30
AN OPTIMISTIC VIEW.
Mrs. Mary A. LivermOre Delivers an
Interesting Lecture.
MAN HELD UP IN A NEW LIGHT
An Argument to Show Hes Got to be Quite
Superior Creature.
WOMAN NOT In THE QUESTION At ALI

A very choice if not particularly large
audience greeted Mrs. Mary A. Livermore
last night when she made her appearance at
the Emery NJ. E. Church, at East Liberty,
to speak upon "a Dream of Tomorrow"
She treated her peculiar subject in an ex-
tremely optimistic way, and if her dream is
realized, this world will in few years be
marvellous place, indeed, and man about as
enlightened and all powerful as Sir Thomas
More's perfected Utopianism.
Her lecture was interesting and she held
the attention of her auditors until the end,
when she was warmly applauded.
She likened man to the master and crew
of a man-of-war, who started on voyage
with their orders sealed, and each successive
movement was made known to them when
the previous one had been completed; that
each one followed naturally upon the other,
and that as one goal neared completion
there was gained some idea of what was to
be required next. Mrs. Livermore thought
that the state OF civilization to which the
human race had attained was the develop
ment of the reforms begun by Luther in the
sixteenth century. Everything has its time
and gives q hint of what is to follow,
so that men now watch the signs
of the times SO carefully that
when, any event transpires they are not
surprised. Man to-day, she thought, be-
ieVed as firmly as ever in future life. but
no one could tell what the future had in
store for civilization. You can make re-
searches and learn what nations advanced
certain branches of civilization, but you
learn only to copy. Greece gave to the
world art, and Rome the law. But it was
only in the sixteenth century, she said, that
civilization really began, and it steadily has
been advancing.
PERIODS OF PROGRESS.
More progress had been made in the last
800 years than was made in the 1000 years
preceding the sixteenth century, and al
most anything might be possible in the next
300 years. But such strides recently have
been made in the development of civilization
that the lecturer declared that the man who
had lived during the last so years was older
than Methuselah, in that he knew more and
was kept on the qui vive at all times in Or
der to keep informed as to what was
going on.
The civilization of the present is chang
ing, and is much richer than that Of the
past, she said, because of the new agents in
Troduced. The brain is larger and of finer
fiber, and capable of higher development
than the brain of men of other ages. A new
kind of brain is being developed in which
is contained, according to German philol-
ogists, six senses.
Civilization to-day is in its infancy, but
is growing very much faster than it had
grown for many hundred years before. Man
had gone through two stages of civilization
and was now in the third and highest stage.
He was created like marble statue. The
first stage was to make soft, pliable cast of
clay that would not last; the second was
when the plaster mold was made, little
stronger and more lasting, but without a
fine finish. The third stage is that which is
now being undergone and which has been in
process of development for hundreds of
years; that is, making the actual statue, the
artistic work that would last and be more
and more admired the longer it lasts.
The present state of civilization gives a
hint of mans destiny, his ancestry and his
future, Mrs. Livermore said, and showed that
heis OF God. That being the case, she saw no
reason why he should not have many senses
more than the original five. He had al
ready done much in the way of making
labor saving machinery, and was rapidly
obeying Gods command to conquer the
world. He had educated his hands and re-
inforced them, and was continually adding
more reinforeements.
But his brain was wearing out his body
and better system of living should be
taught and studied. Thus both body and
mind would be benefited.
MUCH UNDER MANS CONTROL.
Man now reaches for everything and has
everything but electricity under his control,
and that very nearly so. He did not start
out she said, to overcome nature, but now
sought to ascertain how God made the
world. She instanced many things to show
the great advancement made in recent
years, and mentioned among others to come
the submarine torpedo boat and the odorless
and smokeless gunpowder. These would
put an end to war, she said, as they meant
only national assassination, and would
put the world on a peace basis;
the aerial ship and the magnifying
glass, twice as powerful as the microscope,
all of which are now being experimental |
with and are to be considered probabilities |
of the near future. God is infinite, she said, |
but was mans power limited? She thought |
with Edison that his power was limited to |
his BODY, which was not properly cared for. |
Mrs. Livermore spokeAstrongly in favor of |
physical education and said that when we |
know how and what to eat, lives will be |
longer and the time will come when the veil |
will be rent so that we can see beyond and |
can saw that we know that the teachings |
of God were truths. The distinctive |
characteristic of the nineteenth century, she |
said, was that it was humane, and she men
toned numerous cases, from the Chicago |
fire to the Johnstown food, to show the |
spirit of charity Of which the people were
possessed. This age pretaces and presages a
new era.
The people will rise up and suppress the
liquor evil, dishonesty and immortality. |
Ages visited for this nation, which was an |
earthly mortality. What we have begun
others rnnld finish she said.