The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-27
TRULY A GOLDEN AGE.
No Prior Epoch in Human History
Begins to Compare in Grandeur of
Achievements with That in Which
We Live.

From the New York Sun.
A posthlmous essay by John Fiske,
on Evolution and the Present Age"
appears in Harpers Magazine for No
Vember 1t has the beautiful lucidity
| and nice sense of proportion which al
ways distinguish the literary work of
MI. Fiske and bring clearly TO the pop
ular comprehension the most profound
| questions of scientific thought That is,
his style is the modern style, and itself
Is one Of the products of the historical
evolution and intellectual illumination
or which he writes In this essay. John
flske was man OF rare simplicity and
Senulneness of character who, forget
tlng himself, without Il trace of self
CONSCIOUSNESS, was wholly absorbed in
ms eHort TO obtain n mastery of his
subject, III order TO elucidate ii. Thence
comes the charm Of his style.
Az MIR. F'iske starts out by saving in
this essay, 1t is commonplace to speak
OF the age in which we are living as
wonderful in its material and intellec-
tual progress. Between the nineteenth
century and all past time there is Il
gull so broad that it may be said to
mark separation between two dis
tinct epochs in the history OF man. The
chlef characteristics of this new era
are defined by Mr.. Fiske as, ION the
material side, the creation of mechan.
'ical force. and, on the intellectual side
the unification of nature"
Before the Introduction of steam the
world was very much the same AS it
had been in the time of Nineveh and
Babylon. The domestication of oxen
and horses in the dim historic past had
given acceleratior to human progress.
but the movement was slow and incon-
siderable as compared with that which
started under the impulsion of steam.
transportation by land and by sea had
been the same since Caesars day. and,
generally, the characteristics of civil
ization had continued unchanged. with
mans own muscular energy, supple
mented by the strength of beasts and
the use or comparatively primitive
tools in his hands. doing the work of
the worlds production. From Joseph
Black, with his discovery of latent heat.
to James Watt, with his discovery of
the steam engine. down To the latest
discoveries in electricity, there has
been the unbroien sequence of achieve
ment" which has transformed the whole
face of the world and introduced a new
and distinct era.
"A man can now travel the whole
length OF the earths circumference in
less time than 1t would have taken
Ierodotus 10 so the length of the Med
iterranean." Not only have numerous
petty manufactures, formerly carried
on in separate households. given place
to gigantic factories, but the orsaniza-
tion of every industry has been pro-
foundly modified by railways and tel
egraphs." Combination and concentra-
ton of the forces of production and dis
trlbution, we may add, have been made
possible and inevitable. and i'm the
trust system" as ii Is called loosely
and inaccurately, has begun a new de-
velopment against which blind resist
ance will be as hopeless as was the
original struggle against the emanct-
patton OF mankind brought about by
the introduction of the steam engine
Ecclesiastical opposition in the progress
OF science was not less futile. The
world is going TO know all it can find
out and to utilize every energy of which
it can avail itself to push along the
progress of mankind.
Even Mr.. Fiske's familiarity with the
precise achievements of chemistry had
not ''yet begun to deaden the feeling M
stupefied amazement" when he reflect
ed" that scarcely century has elapsed
since Dr.. Priestley informed mankind
of the existence OF oxygen" The lab
oratory has now created more than
10000 distinct substances which never
existed before and never would have