The Preacher Who Saw Revolution Coming

The subject of Rev. W. E. Copeland's lecture at the Unitarian church last night was "The Signs of the Times and Their Meaning." The speaker reviewed at length the advances in science that the past half century has witnessed. He spoke at length on the disturbances in society and the spirit of unrest that prevails in European nations. He predicted a sweeping change in the social order of today with the incoming of the twentieth century. Said he:

"Let us note some of the signs of the times. Never was the dissatisfaction with existing forms of government greater than at the present time. Turn where you will and you find an equally marked unrest. In every part of the world, old or new, you find the people on the verge of revolution. Americans are no better satisfied than Russians. There seems a social fever attacking people everywhere and urging them to strange deeds of violence. History has recorded times when there seemed in the air a malevolent influence driving whole peoples to madness. Such a time seems now upon us.

"The people of today are no longer interested in knowing whether the world was made in one day or six; whether every word of the scriptures is inspired or only portions of it, or if there are three Gods or one. They want to hear of questions of today; of the evils of our social structure and their remedies.

"This dissatisfaction reaches deeper than a desire for a new form of government. What the people demand in ever louder and firmer tones is a new order of society. The new world is as eager as the old. The dynamiter of Paris finds a fellow in the dynamiter of New York. The working people of the world, whether they work in shop or on farm, are equally anxious for a change. Into the coming presidential election enters an element altogether new: the laborers of the United States are united in a party which will have a marked effect upon the composition of the next Congress. It may not succeed in holding together in favor of its own nominee for president, but it will succeed in securing a strong representation.

"The increased rapidity and cheapness of transportation, the use of nature's finer forces for work, the development of higher faculties, all will assist in the great change. And it is altogether possible that the twentieth century shall witness a new heaven and a new earth. If I may venture a prediction, it is that the twentieth century will usher in a new social order, a new religion, a new humanity and a new way of life. A true fraternity, a free search for truth, a human race more interested in the spiritual than the material side of things; and a life passed not in fighting hunger and nakedness and securing a bare living, but passed in developing the higher manhood and womanhood."