The age-herald., 1901-01-01
THE BLESS4
 AND \
BY LUclEN JuLls .KER

Although he may have patiently devoted years of studious life to thoughtful and earnest consideration of the greater ques- tions, issues, problems and occurrences of that period of splendid time which our Irish friend sneeringly and indignantly de- nounced as the ''so-called' Nineteenth Gen. tury, still all such study would not enable the student to do more than compile mere catalogue of the century in order to fill portly volume.
 Yet we observe all sorts of men, who are as ignorant of the real lessons of the past as they are of the things which the future shall bring, publishing to the world endless prophecies concerning the new century.
 Broken-down politicians, discredited seek CTS of place, phrase-mongering parsons, vulgar money-bags, self-advertising quacks dealing in all the damned nostrums, social, political religious, financial, what not: these we find burdening the public prints with the duties, the destinies and the full Towering of the century upon which we now are entering. The upstarts of political and general cant and the plutocrats of pub lie punder in all forms set themselves up as preachers of the new gospel of the new century, some of them promising to make themselves heard far along the ages troubled course as they may run and not one of them with wisdom enough to paint living pictures of the future by the outlines the past has so lumnously drawn. Fools guess. Wise men reckon.
 The one thing which the new century seems to most clearly premise is ignored by the false prophets of the hour. such as are casting the horoscope Of the years by the regnant star of Self. That is, we shall have fewer slanderers, fewer time-servers, fewer untrustworthy leaders. fewer wor- shipers of self, fewer bigots, narrow mind ed vainglorious, self-righteous apostles of cant and all manner of humbuggery!
 Men will be more independent in their civic relations and more interdependent in their social affairs; will more closely in- vestigate the characters and quail ties of those who seek public of flee, and be less the slaves of partisan and politically corrupt masters cliques and caucuses; will insist upon higher standards of morals in politics, in business and in society; will punish the more vicious violators of law and morality such as murderers, the larger thieves, and hbertines will forbid even the theft of ballots and public drunkenness, the de- bauchery of women, and the public use of deadly weapons: will firmly form "the Par Hament of Man, the Federation of the World" the rules of which shall be con cord, kindness, charity, interdependence comradeship, neighborliness, religion good ness for the sake of good, love, laughter, joy!
 These things we may reckon from the clear figures in the great sum of the past and they are worth all the gabbling guess ing of mountebank gabblers of babble- ment, with it's new creeds, new religions, and new gods
 For humanity in it's wider sense there has been marvellous advancement since the first day of January, one hundred years ago, and the mghtiest force behind this vast world-progress has been the spirit of Christianity: the creed of God for the gov ernment of man in every relation of human life.
 It is the faith of all the world the peo-