&
THE
Wf Isf
J
SrXXj&Jf
Vol. VIII.
JUNE. 1879.
No. 0.
Qitcrurtj.
UTTLTTY AN J) PJIOGJIISSS.
Coiiiiiiuiiccniuiit Ortition dullveruil by O. !'. Mor
ion. .J iiir- lltli, lSTH.I
Jjf HE world is never quiut. The mail
ed nur in which men think and act va
rics with each successive age. This lact,
it behooves us to consider. Without its
due recognition, the phenomena of .so
cial life are ever in danger of being
misunderstood.
Progress lies in the continual readjust
ment of social forces. The now is ever
appearing to modify or supplant the old.
Progress, again, s independent of human
control. If its movements seem blind
and indeterminate, lime only will correct
that tendency which assumes an evil as
pect. The present age is one of confusion.
It is witnessing the rapid spread of forces
that have thus far been rudimentary.
Their incongruity with those which have
hitherto predominated, has produced a
conflict between the discordant elements.
Nowhere is this fact more apparent than
in our own country. The seething cal
dron of Niagara is but a fit symbol to iop
rcbeut the restless movements of Ameri..
can society. p
In thu discoveries of science, wc find
the chief reason for the peculiar nature
of the age. So long as science was en.
cumbered with metaphysical sophistry,
its power over the world was limited.
Hut when it bectme cininenth experi
mental, it began to revolutionize all for
mer modes of thought and types of in
dustry. Two simple inventions, the tele
scope and the microscope, have, by re
vealiug innumerable wonders, made a
general wreck of all theories that stood
in their way. But great as their influence
has proved to be, it is overshadowed by
thai of the countless inventions which
meet the more practical needs of men.
In this form, science is potent and subtle,
and it is fell in every department of our
social life.
When once a new field is open to the
free play of the intellect, the activity of
thought knows no bounds. Through thu
very pleasure of exercise, it soems re
solved to leave nothing untouched in the
course of its speculations. In this fact,
lies the secret of the social turmoil. If
the inquiries of modern science have rev
olutionizcd both industry and thought,
they have not yet acquired the stability
of age. The old impulses, through their
inertia, must ever retain a large share of
their influence.
Amid the confusion, speculation and
I doubl are rife. One class of men speak
I