Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-17
THE WORLDS END.
For Centuries We Have Been Having
False Alarms.

| False Alarms.
There are persons who In normal
times are always expecting the end of
this world. From the time Of the del
uge there have been such persons.
Traditions Of destruction that has once
part Of every mythology. Whether its
end be by fire or by water, the human
mind easily has been led to think OF
the earth as transitory. Not that such
forbodings largely affect the actions
Of men or have ever done so; man Is
far more prone to act as II he were
immortal than as IL his days were
strictly numbered.
But the idea Of the end Of the world
has been ever in the background; 1t
has formed a constant theme for
preachers and moralists; 1t is the chief
stock in trade of some religious sects.
Books that have predicted certain
date for the world to come to an end
have been largely successful in their
sales. Journals that do the same find
ready readers. Everything in the
Scriptures that can be tortured to
their service has been laid hold Of by
prophets who in deceiving others have
sometimes deceived themselves also.
This state Of things began long since
Certain of Christ's own words that
clearly bore a spiritual significance,
were for long years interpreted liter
ally; st. Paul and the writer Of the
apocalypse seem to have expected an
early fulfilment. 1t may be that the
symptoms foretold were more striking
ly manifested at that time than ever
since. Tremendous earthquakes and Ca
antilles desolated the Roman empire.
The terrible siege Of Jerusalem was In
itself a literal judgment day for the
Jews. Vesuvius flowed over on the
doomed cities at its base, its ashes were
blown far across Europe and Asia
Christians believed that the world
would terminate with the first century
after Christ, yet the year 101 dawned
and the sun still rose on fertile
earth. With the easy adaptability al
ways characteristic Of doomsday
prophets the date was moved to 1913,
the centenary of Christ's ascension.
We cannot question the sincerity Of
these predictions; to the harassed
Christians they were both a comfort
and a stimulus. When Hadrian built
a temple to Jupiter on the site Of the
temple the Jews thought that this was
indeed the "abomination. Of desolation"
standing in the holy place. Outraged
Jews rose in thousands against the
sacrilege and pulled down the heather
affairs; nearly a million lives were lost
in the subsequent struggle.
Christian enthusiasts linked the en-
durance Of the earth with that Of the
hated Roman power; yet emperor af-
emperor died stained with the blood
of the saints and the end did not
come. At length Rome herself totter-
ed before the invasion Of countless
Gothic hordes that brought their prim-
tive vigor and boldness to combat a
power sapped by luxury and vice.
Rome was taken yet the world re-
mained. 1t was necessary that the
prophets should revise their calcula-
tions and now they granted the world
a little breathing space.
The thousand years" theory was
started; the millennium was to begin
with the year 1000. This idea was ac-
cepted as a certainty. Fear Is never
Of much use as q reforming agency;
we cannot allege that the dark ages
were any darker because people imag-
ined that the earth had still some hun
dreds of years to run. But the year
1000 approached at last and the earth
was certainly ripe for doomsday II
misery and crime constituted ripeness.
Fraud and violence, cruelty, vice,
reigned supreme; outside the pale OF
the church there was no right but
might. Famine and pestilence were
constant; blood flowed like water; men
were marauding savages; women and
children were mere slaves. Horrible
epidemics, savoring Of cannibalism, ap-
peared: persons smitten with lycan-
thropy tore the bodies from the grave
Yards: there was a literal truth In the
stories Of vampire and werewolf. The
punishment Of death could not deter
wretches from devouring human flesh.
Wild beasts so greatly multiplied that
they broke into the towns, even by
daylight, carrying off their victims.
A passion for religion swept across
the sin stained populations. Churches
became crowded with worshippers.
Many a fine minister and cathedral
dates from that period; churches al
ready beautiful were pulled down to
make room for others more beautiful.
During this tenth century 1t Is said
that as many as 1.200 monastic foun-
dations were established in England
alone. Conscience started into life
with persons who hitherto had small
knowledge Of it; wrongs were righted,
thefts restored; some persons sold all
they had and gave to the poor Thou
sands went on pilgrimages. Asceticism
and penances were practised with ca
gerness. Nerves were so highly strung
that many persons died Of sheer
fright During one thunderstorm In
Paris twenty-seven people expired OF
pure terror.
But the eleventh century dawned and
found small permanent result, except
in the churches and religious estab-
lishments that had benefited by this
foretelling Of an immediate doomsday.
period Of relief followed. yet the sub
ject of doomsday had powerfully az
fected the imagination Of Europe. we
see it's traces in the painting and the
literature of the middle ages.
Five centuries passed before the
next general panic. An astronomer
named Stoffier predicted that con-
junction Of planets in 1924 would bring
about a deluge and though the church
could hardly sanction a warning that
contradicted Biblical teaching, the be-