The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-12-06

you must 1uu 10 C0eSG LIE Zulu WATs
and the Austro-Prussian war, and the
Danish war. and the Italian war, the
Franco-Prussian. a the Chino-Jap-
anese war, Napoleonic war. and the
Americo-Spanish war. What a record
for this boasted nineteenth century. It
makes all p-andemonium chuckle- II
has called out all the realms OF dia-
bolus in grand parade. satan reviewing
them from platform Of fire, as the de-
mons in companies and regiments and
brigades have passed with banners OF
fire and riding on horses of fire. keep
ing step to the roll Of the grand march
of hell. In the name of the God Of ma
ions let the scroll of blood be rolled
up and put upon the shelf never to be
taken down. And by the middle OF
next century let the sword and the
carbine and the bombshell become Gu
riosities in a museum, about which
your grandchildren shall ask questions.
wondering what those instruments
were ever used for, but let no one
dare tell them, but keep it from them
an everlasting secret, lest they too
much despise our nineteenth century
and curse the memory of their ances-
tors.
THE DYING CENTURY.
Will ii not be grand if on the first
day of the twentieth century the last
century shah be opened and ii shall
will and testament of the nineteenth
century be found to read: In the name
of God, amen. /, the dying century. do
make his my last will and testament. l
give and bequeath to my heir, the
twentieth century, peace of nations;
swords, which / direct to be beaten in
to ~plowshares, and spears, which must
be turned into pruning hooks; armories.
to be changed into s~choolhouses, and
fArtrorcn- - 10 ~NI.IA .A-
and l order that greater n be
put on those who save life than upon
those who destroy it, and If, amid the
universal peace now attained, those
two nations, Spain and Turkey, do not
stop their cruelties, let the other Ia
tons, banded together, eXtemporize a
police force to wipe these countries off
the map of nations as a wet sponge
wipes from a boys slate at school a
hard sun in arithmetic. This last will
1 sign and seal and deliver On the 31st
day Of December. in the year of our
Lord, 1900, all the civilized nations Of
earth ands all the glorified nations of
HEAVIER witnessing"
But what we do as individuals, as
churches, as nations, as continents, We
must do very soon if we want the
transition from century to century to
be a worthy transition, for l hear the
trumpets of the approaching century
and the Gathering hoofs of the host it
leads on.
For historical Renaissance there is
no street in all the world like yonder
Pennsylvania avenue. Champs Elysees
of Paris is more brilliant; Princess
street, Edinburg, more picturesque;
Inter den Linden, Berlin, more richly
foliaged; Piccadilly street, London,
more pOpulous, Nevsky Prospekt Of st.
Petersburg stands for more years; the
Corso of Rome is lined with more an
tiquities, but for an intelligent and
patriotic American yonder avenue has
nc equal for su-ggestiveness. The 9TH
er night, while thinking of this subject.
: as to the way in which we ought to
meet the new century, so near at
hand, I fell into a sort of dreamy
state, in which the chronology of
events seemed obliterated, inc / saw
on Pennsylvania avenue two process
sions, which seemed to meet each other
as this century goes out and another
! comes in. AS near as I could tell in
! that dreamy state, it was the last night
of the century, and I saw the spirits
of the mighties in American history
| passing down the marble steps Of the
capitol on yonder hill and moving
through that memorable Pennsylvania
avenue There they come, the depart
| ed of the supreme court OF
our nation. led on by chief Justice
| Marshall. There come the distinguish
ed men of our national Legislature. ir
which are Webster and Clay and Ben
ton and Calhoun and Preston and Cor
win and Edward Everett and John
| Quincy Adams and Samuel L. South
ard and Rufus Choate and others
some great for craftsmanship, others
great for wit, others great for elo-
quence, others great for courage. They
pass On through the avenue immorta'
for those who in past times trod it
YondeJ I see the funeral pageants OF
senators and three presidents! Banner
draped in gloom, tossing black plumes
Catafalques, each drawn by eight
white horses. while minute guns boom
YOnder a nation in tears follows tbs
victims of the exploded Princeton. tn,
slain secretaries of state and navy.
Presidential inaugural professions
accompanied by vanished music tina
has returned, the lips again on flute
and comets long ago rusted, but nov
repolished. and I hear the beating
drums, which, silent for nan years
are again sounded, greeted by TIL
huzza of hundreds of thousands o
voices. Many decades hushed. blu
again resonant. Regiments of TIL
army of American Revolution follow
ed by regiments of the army of ISL
ana regiments OF the army or 1864
They have come up from the encamp
ments in the tomb to take part in thi
great parade in honor of the centur,
on this night passing away. From
the windows On both sides-window
upholstered again, as in those Older
days-the pOmp and fashion of the ma
tional capital looking out upon tn
passing spectacle. There Marquis q
Lafayette passes. escorted by the chic
men of the land. who have been au
thoriZed to welcome him in behalf Q
a nation which he helped to set free
On through hat avenue pass tn
throngs toward the presidential resi-
dence. where, to greet them, come GU
on the platform built to review tn
passing century, Washington, and tn
Adamses and Jefferson and Madiso
n Monroe and Lincoln. AS hat Ion
procession. vanished. but now a resur
rected and remarshralled host. passe
before the reviewing stand, / see an
other procession coming from the opp
site direction to meet this. They ar
the presidents. the senator's. the legis
latOrS, the Judges. the DhilanthrODiSt.