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Article HISTORICAL VIEWS OF PROGRESS. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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Historical Views Of Progress.
operation . The first object upon which the attention is fixed , helps to mould the future life . Sun ancl star and planet , attract and repulse , and ever keep an even balanc 3 . The web is twisted , warped , ancl overlaid , here a bright thread , there a sombre skein ; but from first to last , from the issuing of form out of chaos , to the final plunge of time into eternity , the connection is continuous , the line unbroken . We grope along but darkl y in our estimate of history . We know
not how many facts , influencing our present , weaving our future , lie buried in those ages , the records of which are lost for ever . We cannot guess , much less know , what solutions of vexed problems , ancient ancl modern , are enshrined in the cave temples of India , involved in the hieroglyphics of Egypt . We tread at best in but a partial ancl uncertain light ; there the spark flickers up into a flame , here it is hidden in impenetrable darkness . Let us discard presumption and move with caution . Let theory tread as lightly over past facts , as reverential men tread over the resting places and memories of the dead .
In our last lecture , we glanced at three great empires : the Jewish , the Grecian , and the Roman . We saw them rise from obscurity—emerge into the light of a partial civilization , and sink again into darkness . Nature is full of analogies . Each sphere revolving on its axis , now basks in day , now sinks in darkest night ; but only to prepare for a new dawn . Each revolution aids it on its onward course , for it moves in a circle greater than its own ; ancl the motion which brings it alternate light and shadepropels itin the system of which it forms partround
, , , its great centre . So each nation , revolving on itself , now rising up to the light of civilization , now returns to the darkness of barbarism ; and the motion which causes its vicissitudes , aids the permanent progress of the great world . Each of the nations we have mentioned , took some steps on the road of progress . Could not each have continued its onward journey ? If so , why did each falterstop shortancl fall ?
, , The answer is , it could not . Each , like each separate sphere , was revolving upon its own centre : each had a special principle of motion . Full ancl complete progress is to be fulfilled by a whole , not by a part alone —by a system , not by a star—by all mankind , not by one nation . There is a common salvation for all the children of man . This nation or that may nearly compass the course , but progress will never be perfect till it is universal . All men are bound together by a common bond of union :
all are involved in a common fate . All races must attain to perfect happiness or none . They are all children of a common parent , the earth ; all subject to the same laws , all influenced by the same causes ; they are all parts of the same body—all atoms which go to make up the whole of nature . As well then might we expect to have the arm diseased , and the body free from a participation in the pain , as suppose that the miseries of one race will not visit themselves upon another .
All who believe in the ultimate happiness of humanity , must believe in the happiness , not of a part , but of the whole ; else their belief is selfcontradictory , a house divided against itself , and it cannot stand . This is one of nature ' s great laws , teaching us not only the beauty and wisdom , but the necessity of charity , in more persuasive accents , than ever issued from the lips of sage or prophet . Now a light breaks in upon us . Now we begin to see darkly why the Jewish nation could not stand—why it ought to have fallen as it did
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Views Of Progress.
operation . The first object upon which the attention is fixed , helps to mould the future life . Sun ancl star and planet , attract and repulse , and ever keep an even balanc 3 . The web is twisted , warped , ancl overlaid , here a bright thread , there a sombre skein ; but from first to last , from the issuing of form out of chaos , to the final plunge of time into eternity , the connection is continuous , the line unbroken . We grope along but darkl y in our estimate of history . We know
not how many facts , influencing our present , weaving our future , lie buried in those ages , the records of which are lost for ever . We cannot guess , much less know , what solutions of vexed problems , ancient ancl modern , are enshrined in the cave temples of India , involved in the hieroglyphics of Egypt . We tread at best in but a partial ancl uncertain light ; there the spark flickers up into a flame , here it is hidden in impenetrable darkness . Let us discard presumption and move with caution . Let theory tread as lightly over past facts , as reverential men tread over the resting places and memories of the dead .
In our last lecture , we glanced at three great empires : the Jewish , the Grecian , and the Roman . We saw them rise from obscurity—emerge into the light of a partial civilization , and sink again into darkness . Nature is full of analogies . Each sphere revolving on its axis , now basks in day , now sinks in darkest night ; but only to prepare for a new dawn . Each revolution aids it on its onward course , for it moves in a circle greater than its own ; ancl the motion which brings it alternate light and shadepropels itin the system of which it forms partround
, , , its great centre . So each nation , revolving on itself , now rising up to the light of civilization , now returns to the darkness of barbarism ; and the motion which causes its vicissitudes , aids the permanent progress of the great world . Each of the nations we have mentioned , took some steps on the road of progress . Could not each have continued its onward journey ? If so , why did each falterstop shortancl fall ?
, , The answer is , it could not . Each , like each separate sphere , was revolving upon its own centre : each had a special principle of motion . Full ancl complete progress is to be fulfilled by a whole , not by a part alone —by a system , not by a star—by all mankind , not by one nation . There is a common salvation for all the children of man . This nation or that may nearly compass the course , but progress will never be perfect till it is universal . All men are bound together by a common bond of union :
all are involved in a common fate . All races must attain to perfect happiness or none . They are all children of a common parent , the earth ; all subject to the same laws , all influenced by the same causes ; they are all parts of the same body—all atoms which go to make up the whole of nature . As well then might we expect to have the arm diseased , and the body free from a participation in the pain , as suppose that the miseries of one race will not visit themselves upon another .
All who believe in the ultimate happiness of humanity , must believe in the happiness , not of a part , but of the whole ; else their belief is selfcontradictory , a house divided against itself , and it cannot stand . This is one of nature ' s great laws , teaching us not only the beauty and wisdom , but the necessity of charity , in more persuasive accents , than ever issued from the lips of sage or prophet . Now a light breaks in upon us . Now we begin to see darkly why the Jewish nation could not stand—why it ought to have fallen as it did