Ever since
man first scratched hieroglyphics upon an ostracon, or
scribbled with sepia upon papyrus, he must have wondered,
as we wonder to-day. I suppose that we DO know a
little more than they. We have an arc of about three
thousand years given us, from which to calculate out the
course to be described by our descendants; but that arc
is so tiny when compared to the vast ages which
Providence uses in working out its designs that our
deductions from it must, I think, be uncertain. Will
civilisation be swamped by barbarism? It happened once
before, because the civilised were tiny specks of light
in the midst of darkness. But what, for example, could
break down the great country in which you dwell? No, our
civilisation will endure and grow more complex. Man
will live in the air and below the water. Preventive
medicine will develop until old age shall become the sole
cause of death. Education and a more socialistic scheme
of society will do away with crime. The English-speaking
races will unite, with their centre in the United States.
Gradually the European States will follow their example.
War will become rare, but more terrible. The forms of
religion will be abandoned, but the essence will be
maintained; so that one universal creed will embrace the
whole civilised earth, which will preach trust in that
central power, which will be as unknown then as now.
That's my horoscope, and after that the solar system may
be ripe for picking.
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