"''J-'"'-" 412 Today. Voii. vii, raSEQsOni r s. earth is broken; the world in nt the thresh old of an age of freedom, and human na lure demands its right. America's bril liant example has given afresh impulse to the call for popular go eminent; count less millions are gazing in eager aston. ishmeut at hut- marvelous deeds, should she continue unwavering in her onward course, sho will stand ere long leader of one great army of republics, at the head of a now civilization. Hut lo insure perfect tranquility, nations must reverence n higher authority than tneir own. There must be u central government to which all others shall be subordinate, and that should have power, in times of political convulsion, to stretch forth the strong arm of justice over the fields of sanguinary contlict and stop the work of destruction. Then will cit'iI strife and contention be silenced throughout the world by adjust ing all international dilllcultles in one grand tribunal. H. II. Cui.yku. TO J) AY. " Wo nro living, wo aro (Uvulllng, In a Kntnd and awful tlmo, In nil age on agos 'oiling, To lio living in sublime." Great indeed is our privilege to be al lowed to live in an age so stirring and eventful as the present. It is the pro duct of all former ages, and excels them in well directed efforts, heroic achieve ments and grand results. Work is being done, the result of which astonishes even the workers themselves. Impossibilities are daily changed to probabilities, prob. abilities are moulded into actual and glo. rious certainties. "Pistnnco lends en chantment." The arts, literature, and in venlions of to-day, seen through the dim distances, are thought to compare unfa vorably with like productions of the ast. But once let the thirteenth century sit in judgment, and how di HercM is the ver dict. Since Greece and Homo have fur nished the themes for almost every com. mencement oration, let us for onco em- ulato England, Russia, Germany, or America, if you please. Who shall say that the present century is not more glo rious in light and liberty, than any pro ceeding? Iron sinews bind in closer brotherhood and union, our Nortli and our South, our West and our East. The clattering car of commerce is but the exchange of friendly greetings. The telegraph Hashes thoughts from shore to shore and dives beneath the waves and upon the trackless ocean bed, carrying our messages to continents beyond. Next comes the telephone, and not only the thoughts, but the very tones of our voices are transmitted to distant cities. Last, but not least, the phonograph steps in and proposes to send in packages the melodies of Ihe voice, not only from city to city, but to seal them up and hand them down to after generations. What a glorious future as well as present is before us. In literature, the achievements are equally as great. Hardly has a work of real merit left the hands of the publish ers, before it lias been translated into a half dozen foreign languages; and while wo are reading the thoughts that live and woids thai burn, thousands in all parts of Ihe world are enjoying the same privi lege. Our poets have been the mrst hu morous and the most pathetic, exciting the world alike to laughter and to tears Hut the great result of this age is seen only by close inspection; not by examin ing the most prominent men whose bril liant thoughts have dazzled tiie literary, artistic, and scientific circles, but by no ticing the result attained by the masses. Where hooks, pictures and other works of art once adorned the houses of the fa vored few, we now find litem in the houses of the many. A classical education is no longer un attainable for the majority, and every one that thirstetlt may freely quail' from the fountain of learning. It is also a day of civil and roll go us freedom. Not only in our own America out in oilier lauds the anna