Is It the Dawn of the Millennium?

IS IT THE DAWN OF THE MILLENNIUM? BY J. H. WARD. A few weeks ago, Paris enjoyed one of those gala days of which she is so very fond, and of which she manages to have a much larger number than is alloted to the other capitals of the world. She opened then her International Exhibition, amid a display that was as gorgeous as the speeches were eloquent. In that exhibit of the achievements of the nations in the arts and sciences. President Loubet recognized the dawn of a larger peace on earth, and a more widespread good will than had ever before been known among men. Perhaps many a person smiled when they heard or read that speech; or, if in a bad humor, they may have used some strong language against a president of a republic predicting peace and good will when the vast military forces of his own country were engaged in active war preparations, and when the shadows of warclouds are darkening the skies of most of the nations represented in that exposition. Perhaps others recognized in the sentiments of President Loubet a similarity to those expressed by Louis Napoleon at the exposition of 1867, which Victor Hugo eulogized as the precursor of the "United States of Europe," with Paris as the capital, which in turn was to be succeeded by an "Empire of all Humanity." Yet all this was not able to keep back the ominous war-clouds which were then already pressing forward, and which, three years later, hurled the emperor from his throne, and inundated France with the blood of thousands of her youth and manhood.

IS IT THE DAWN OF THE MILLENNIUM? 915 Perhaps there are those still living who heard similar sentiments uttered at the opening of the first international exhibition at the Crystal Palace, London, in 1851. They remember how that exhibition had been proclaimed, as "a modern temple of Janus, in which the nations of the earth had met to celebrate the inauguration of an era of perpetual peace." But they also rembember that that era of perpetual peace never outlived its inauguration. The following year saw England, allied with France and Turkey, engage with Russia in the bloody Crimean War, lasting four long and cruel years, followed, as more or less remote consequences, by ten or twelve other wars which brought innumerable sufferings to millions of unoffending people. Others may recognize that the sentiments expressed by President Loubet very much resemble the language used at the opening of the great world's fair at Chicago, in 1893. That was called the "World's Peace Jubilee." Those gigantic edifices were white "temples of peace" showing by their exhibits, their congresses and conferences, held beneath their shadow, that men had begun to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks. It seemed to be a prophecy that nation would no longer lift up sword against nation, nor learn war any more. It was a beautiful dream; but it vanished with the destruction of the buildings. Five years later our nation was at war with Spain, out of which it passed into the conflict with the Filipinos. And yet, though some people smiled, and others were indignant, at the words of President Loubet, still there are many who make his words a subject of profound thought. When, in spite of the frequent wars, we perceive such thoughts forcing themselves to the lips of the leaders of men,*it is time for us to ponder these words, and appreciate their meaning. It is time to believe that, even though wars still rage, there will yet be good-will among the peoples. And what is better still, it is time to believe that, though bullets still hiss, and cannon still roar, the fulfillment of the prophecy has already begun. Take, for instance, the present widespread indignation because of the war against the Boers. With but few exceptions, the whole civilized world sympathizes profoundly with that handful of brave people. Why all this pity? Why all these protests?

916 IMPROVEMENl ERA. Who are the Boers? Are they not a mere peasant tribe in far away South Africa? What has that unlettered, narrow and fanatical people ever contributed to civilization? Why all this indignation at England, the mighty England that has contributed to freedom her Magna Charta, that has crowned literature with her Shakespeare, law with her Blackstone, science and philosophy with her Darwin and Spencer? Is this bitterness the world's gratitude for the blessings she has showered upon it? No! It is the world's condemnation of war. It is the world's declaration that, much as it values contributions to letters and arts and sciences, there is something that it values infinitely higher, and that is justice. This is something new. It is one of the glimmerings of the dawn of universal peace. It is the beginning of an international morality that shall yet flower and fruit into a Brotherhood of Man. There was a time when a great power like England could have gone to war with an insignificant people like the Boers, and the affair would scarcely have been noticed. In fact, other mighty nations might have helped as a neighborly act, in order that they might receive help in turn when they wished to swallow up some other petty nation. But this is changing. The calm voice of justice is heard above the wild yell of brute force. Nations are realizing that beside Krupp guns and Lyddite batteries, they must have a mighty armament of right and justice on their side, if they would win the highest prize of all — the approval of the civilized world. Let us look at another example nearer home. Without going into discussion regarding the war in the Philippines, or whether or not our cause is justified, the remarkable fact remains, that the interest of a half-savage people, thousands of miles away, so concerns many of our own loyal and cultured people as to arouse them to public opposition and fierce denunciation. What is the cause of all this? Have these persons suffered any material loss by this warfare? No. Have any of their relatives or personal friends been killed or wounded in this war? No. Are the Filipinos of their race or religion? No. Why then are these persons so hostile against the course our government is pursuing? It is evidently their fears that under the glamor of glory, injustice may be done; a conviction that a half-naked, half -savage people thousands

IS IT THE DAWN OF THE MILLENNIUM? 917 of miles away, is as much entitled to right and justice as our most cultured neighbor. To my mind, there is in this the sign and token that the era of peace and good will has commenced to dawn. Another case may be mentioned to show the change in social morality — the Dreyfus case. What an interest the cruel fate of that French Captain awakened throughout the civilized world! What an outcry it aroused! What sympathies it awakened! What agitations it started! And who was this Dreyfus? An obscure captain who had never done anything to attract the attention or gratitude of the world; a Jew, one of those people for whom the world has not had any too much love, for whom it has often had very much of oppression and persecution and cruelty. Why such a mighty change in the case of Dreyfus? Because the world is awakening to higher ideas of right and justice. It was not for Dreyfus, the Frenchman, or Dreyfus, the Jew, that it cared. It was Dreyfus, the man, who awoke the world's sympathies. It saw a human being wronged, condemned unheard, sentenced for life, on the charge of one of the blackest crimes, to one of the most cruel of punishments, without his guilt ever having been proved. Its indignation was aroused. From every civilized nation arose the clamor for a fair hearing, for a just trial. Even though the prisoner was an obscure captain, even though his accusers were among the great ones of earth. And the clamor increased until it shook the very foundations of France, until it opened the cell in which the prisoner had been kept confined for years, until it secured for him a new trial and — set him free. It was the voice of humanity demanding right for their fellow-man. Verily the era of good will has commenced to dawn. We might speak of the affairs of China, and the commotion that is going on in that vast empire. No one will excuse the murders that have been committed, or try to palliate the atrocities that a horde of barbarians have inflicted upon helpless and unoffending people. What is it, then, that prevents a terrible vengeance from being wreaked upon the perpetrators? Why is it, then, that the vast armies of the allied powers remain comparatively inactive? Is it not because the civilized nations, who have sent those armies there, are not entirely convinced that all the wrong-