MILLENNIAL ERA. 



125 



Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover 

 the sea.&quot;* Diseases will be, in a great mea 

 sure, banished from the world, and the life of 

 man extended far beyond its present duration 

 agriculture will be brought to perfection 

 commodious habitations erected for the com 

 fortable accommodation of all ranks cities built 

 on elegant and spacious plans, adapted to health, 

 ornament, and pleasure; divested of all the filth, 

 and darkness, and gloom, and narrow lanes, which 

 now disgrace the abodes of men roads will be 

 constructed on improved principles, with com 

 fortable means of retreat for shelter and accom 

 modation at all seasons ; and conveyances in 

 vented for the ease, and safety, and rapid con 

 veyance of persons and property from one place 

 to another. Either the climates of the earth will 

 be meliorated, by the universal cultivation of the 

 soil, so that storms am! tempests, thunders and 

 lightnings, shall no longer produce their present 

 ravages , or chymical and mechanical contrivan 

 ces will be invented to ward off their destructive 

 effects. The landscape of the earth will be 

 adorned with vegetable and architectural beauty ; 

 and, instead of horse-racing, demoralizing plays, 

 routs and masquerades, boxing and bull-baits 

 artificial displays of scenery will be exhibited, 

 more congenial to the dignity of rational, reno 

 vated, and immortal minds. For &quot; the knowlege 

 of the Lord,&quot; and the &quot; beauties of holiness,&quot; 

 will pervade men of all ranks and ages, &quot; from 

 the least even to the greatest.&quot;! 



Now, as we have no reason to expect any 

 miraculous interference, we must regard the past 

 and the future useful inventions of philosophy 

 and mechanics, as having a bearing on this glo 

 rious period, and a tendency to promote the im 

 provement and the felicity of those who shall 



Psalm Ixvii. Isaiah xxx. 23, 24, xxxiii. 24. Ixv. 

 21, 23, &c- 



t The various circumstances above stated may be 

 considered as the natural results of a state of society 

 on which the light of science and of revelation has 

 diffused its full influence, and where the active 

 powers of the human mind are invariably directed 

 by the pure principles and precepts of Christianity. 

 That the duration of human life, at the era referred 

 to, will be extended beyond its present boundary, 

 appears to be intimated in some of the passages 

 above quoted particularly the following&quot; As the 

 days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and 

 mine elect sha.ll Ion? enjoy the work of their hands.&quot; 

 And, if the life of man will be thus protracted to an 

 indefinite period, it will follow, that those diseases 

 which now prey upon the human frame, and cut 

 short its vital action, will be in a great measure ex 

 tirpated. Both these effects may be viewed (with 

 out supposing any miraculous interference) as the 

 natural consequence of that happiness and equa 

 nimity of mind which will flow from the practice of 

 Christian virtues, from the enlargement of our 

 knowledge of the principles of nature, and from the 

 physical enjoyments which sue U a state of society 

 will furnish 



live during this era of Messiah s reign. If dis 

 eases are to be generally abolished, it will be 

 owing to the researches of the scientific physi 

 cian in discovering certain antidotes against 

 every disorder, and to the practice of temperance, 

 meekness, equanimity of mind, and every other 

 mean of preserving the vigour of the animal 

 frame. If the earth is to produce its treasures 

 in abundance, and with little labour, it will be, 

 owing in part to the improvement of agricultural 

 science and of the instruments by which its ope 

 rations are conducted. If the lightnings of 

 heaven shall no longer prove destructive to man 

 and to the labours of his hands, it will be effect 

 ed either by machinery for drawing off the 

 electricity of a stormy cloud, or by the invention 

 of thunder-guards, which shall afford a complete 

 protection from its ravages. In these, and nu 

 merous other instances, the inventions of men, 

 under the guidance of the Spirit of wisdom, will 

 have a tendency to remove a great part of the 

 curse which has so long hung over our sinful 

 world. And since the inventions of human skill 

 and ingenuity for the melioration of mankind, 

 and for the swift conveyance of intelligence, 

 have, of late years, been rapidly increasing, at 

 the same time when the Christian world is roused 

 to increased exertions in disseminating the 

 Scriptures throughout all lands, when general 

 knowledge is increasingly diffused, and when the 

 fabric of superstition and despotism is shaking 

 to its foundations these combined and simul 

 taneous movements seem plainly to indicate, 

 that that auspicious era is fast hastening on, 

 when &quot; the glory cf Jehovah shall be revealed, 

 and all flesh shall see it together,&quot; when &quot; right 

 eousness and praise shall spring forth before all 

 nations,&quot; and when &quot;holiness to the Lord&quot; 

 shall be inscribed on all the pursuits, and imple 

 ments, and employments of men. 



Lastly, If the remarks suggested above be 

 well founded, wo may conclude, that the me 

 chanical and philosophical inventions of genius 

 are worthy of the attentive consideration of the 

 enlightened Christian, particularly in the rela 

 tion they may have, to the accomplishment of 

 religious objects. He should contemplate the 

 experiments of scientific men, not as a waste of 

 lime, or the mere gratification of an idle curi 

 osity, but as imbodying the germs of those im 

 provements, by which civilization, domestic 

 comfort, knowledge, and moral principle may 

 be diffused among the nations. To view such 

 objects with apathy and indifference, as beneath 

 the regard of a religious character, argues a 

 weak and limited understanding, und a contract- 

 ed vie-v of the grand operations of a superin 

 tending Providence. 



