38 Things New and Old. 



ing process of hybridizing, may we not yet expect to produce an improved 

 nectar for the gods ? Thus we reason ourselves into the behef, that, with 

 us, Hght has come into the world ; that the sun rides high towards the 

 zenith ; and that the millennium of material things is close upon us. But 

 we undervalue the past, our present boasting is vain, and we delude our- 

 selves in respect to the future. 



In taking a calm retrospect, we are inclined to agree with the utterance 

 of the wise man nearly three thousand years ago, that " there is nothing new 

 under the sun." This in a certain sense, of course ; for do we not hear of 

 new seedlings in fruits and flowei s, without end of names and merit ? But 

 of this let us see. 



Do the grapes at any of our country fairs exceed in weight the bunch 

 borne from Eshcol, "between two, upon a staff"? Is there any e\ddence 

 that our prize South Downs are superior to the first of the flock which 

 Abraham offered for sacrifice ? And the stalwart Devons — who shall say 

 that they excel the fat and well-favored of Jacob's herd ? I fancy, also, 

 that Jehu's span would have made no mean figure upon the Fashion or 

 Riverside course. Does any one imagine that the Tyrian purple would 

 appear dull at the present day ? Would not the splendor of Solomon's 

 court be counted respectable, even in this fast age ? And, in vainglorious 

 boasting, does our modern Gotham excel the ancient Babel. 



In considering these questions, we must come to the conclusion, in the 

 main, that what is has been ; that it is the same world now as in the Abra- 

 ham ic period ; that though progress is clearly seen, which seems to go on 

 with accelerated speed, yet there is no probability of a culmination during 

 the present age. Our little span of life may be all-important to us as in- 

 dividuals ; but, with the Sovereign Ruler, " a thousand years are as one day," 

 and he works out the great problems of the world's history by slow process- 

 es. We shall be wise to be patient, and to estimate the past ages of slow 

 preparation according to their true value. There is, indeed, much reason 

 to indulge in great expectations ; but there is also an extreme to which this 

 feeling may be carried. Like prudent men, we are to understand and mag- 

 nify our work ; while, at the same time, we guard against that boastful and 

 hurtful habit of exaggerating our mission, which tends to render our lives 

 a delusion and a vanity. 



