Morning Star

THE MORNING STAR

SOCIAL TENDENCIES OF THE TIMES

It is cheering to the heart of the philanthropist to contemplate the social tendencies of the present age. That 'God hath made of one blood all the nations of men to dwell on the earth,' in peace and fraternal concord, seems to be the revelation of science as well as inspiration. It is a truth self-evident, and self-working out of every thing in nature and art. It is the supplement of that other truth, to be written yet on all the handiwork of man, "Holiness to the Lord." The devil's private signet is to be taken off from human ingenuity, and mechanism, and things made of iron and steel, shall be made to save life, not to destroy it, as when all the mechanical genius of the world was expressed in the machinery of murder. The plow-share is yet to come out with illustrious divinity, over all martial instruments, and iron giants, that can "pluck up the seated hills," shall be Peace Makers, and wear on their frontispieces, "God hath made of one blood all nations of men," as they walk over the seas and the dry land. With their long arms, they shall seat distant nations side by side and face to face, and with the great speech of their steam lungs, tell them that they are brethren. And ponderous bars of railroad iron shall corroborate their brotherhood, bridging deep, black abysses of "natural enmity" and international hatred; strapping hostile countries together, and taking out of boundaries and air-line limits their malignant nationality. To the seer, who saw in his prophetic vision a better day for humanity, it was revealed, as the dawning light of that day, that many should run to and fro and knowledge be increased on the earth. This day has the gospel commenced to be fulfilled in our sight. Such a running to and fro as the prophet could scarcely have comprehended, has begun to fraternize the nations of Christendom. And kings and queens are coming up to be the nursing fathers and mothers of this social movement. It is well that they, too, have begun to run to and fro, and to have their knowledge increased of great facts, pertaining to the welfare of mankind, and the everlasting peace and prosperity of their subjects. This interchange of social visits among the leading sovereigns of Europe, is the most impressive development of the times. It is more than a Congress of nations for the prevalence of universal peace, for it tends, not only to adjust, but to prevent questions of international controversy. It throws its sweetening leaf of peace into the heart-fountains of national character and existence, purifying their issues in the source, and acting as a prevention rather than a remedy.—Adv. of Peace.