CHAPTER XX.
FORCES OF CIVILIZATION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
THE GENIUS OF THE AGE--EUROPEAN WARS--AMERICA TRANQUIL--DECLARATION OF WAR--DIVISIONS OF NORTH AMERICA--UNITED STATES--CANADA--MEXICO--AMERICAN COMMON SCHOOLS--THEIR INFLUENCE--PROGRESS OF INVENTION--FIRST STEAMBOAT--FIRST LOCOMOTIVE--ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH--IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING--SPIRITUAL DARKNESS--THE KINGDOM OF GOD--WANTS OF THE PRESENT AGE--JOSEPH SMITH--HIS TRAGIC DEATH--CONCLUSION.
Human history should be a record of progress--a record of accumulating knowledge and increasing wisdom, of continual advancement from a lower to a higher platform of intelligence and well-being. Each generation should pass on to the next the treasures which it has inherited, beneficially modified by its own experience, and enlarged by the acquisitions which itself has gained.
Sometimes the stream of human development seems to pause and the years seem to roll on without change. Yet this is only apparent. All the while there is a silent accumulation of forces, which at length burst forth in the violent overthrow of evils, which had been endured for generations.
The nineteenth century, has witnessed progress beyond all precedent, for it has beheld the overthrow of the barriers that prevented progress. It has vindicated for all succeeding ages, {197} the right of man to his own unimpeded development. The genius of the age has tended to the abolition of serfdom and slavery, and the up-lifting of the poor, the down-trodden and oppressed. More than at all previous times it has seen the removal of artificial obstacles placed in the path of human progress by the selfishness and ignorance of the strong.
At the opening of the nineteenth century, all Europe was occupied with war. From the North to the shores of the Mediterranean, from the confines of Asia to the Atlantic, men toiled to burn each other's cities, to waste each other's fields, and destroy each other's lives. In some places there was heard the shout of victory, in some the wail of defeat. The first twelve years of the century were spent by America in profound tranquility. She looked from afar with a serene neutrality upon the furious efforts which the European nations were making to compass the ruin of each other.
In process of time, England and France, eagerly bent on mutual harm, adopted measures which nearly destroyed trans-Atlantic commerce. American ships lay in unprofitable idleness; grass grew upon the untrodden wharfs of New York and Philadelphia. Moreover the high-handed British enforced a hateful claim to search American ships and take away any sailors suspected of being British subjects.
These grievances might have been peacefully redressed; but America and England were too angry to be reasonable. James Madison was president at that time. He did not want to go to war, but he desired to be elected president a second time. His friends who were eager for war informed him that unless he declared war he could not be re-elected. With closed doors the bill proposing war was discussed. It was passed in secret session, and on June 19th, 1812, President Madison affixed his signature, and issued a proclamation declaring war against Great Britain. The principal European powers, including England, were then engaged in a mighty struggle against Napoleon. England could spare scarcely three thousand men for the defense of her colonies. The British forces in America were principally composed of Canadian voluntiers and militia.
{198} Then came a war of mingled success and disaster. The surrender of Detroit, the disaster at Queenston Heights, the victory of Perry, the midnight struggle at Lundy's Lane, the capture of Washington, the terrible havoc at New Orleans--all these are too well known to need repetition here. After two years and a half of mutual injuries, a treaty of peace was signed in which nothing was said about the imprisonment of seamen; but from that day to the present no American citizen has been imprisoned on board a British vessel.
Then came an era of peaceful industrial progress without parallel in the annals of the human family. The forces of modern civilization began to work.
North America was now divided into three great divisions, the United States, Canada and Mexico. For obvious reasons the United States has developed the most rapidly. The dominion of Canada is destined in process of years to become a powerful empire. Its area is more than three million five hundred thousand square miles, which is more than that of the United States, and nearly equal to the whole of Europe. Most of this enormous region proves to be of marvelous fertility, producing in abundance nearly all the grains of temperate regions. Millions of acres are added annually to the area under cultivation. The vast and magnificent region watered by the Saskatchewan and Assiniboine seems destined to become one of the granaries of the world. Quietly and peacefully, the dominion is growing in power and influence. The area of cultivated land is fast extending. Manufactures of all kinds are rapidly multiplying, and in ship-building and commerce she has already outstripped the great republic. In these respects, if considered separate from England, Canada now ranks the fourth power in the world.
Recent developments indicate that Mexico has an important work to do in the economy of God. In the last few years she has made astonishing progress in the arts, sciences and social condition of her people. As an illustration one of her sons, the late President Juarez showed himself to be one of the most remarkable men that has lived on this continent during the present century. The population of North America in 1800, was scarcely more than ten millions, now it approaches seventy {199} millions and increases in a ratio that defies calculation. Already it is the theater of some of the most important events in the world's history, and greater events still await the coming years.
At the time that America commenced to be governed by the first written constitution that the world had ever seen, one of the great questions that was asked by the leading minds of the age as well as by the toiling millions of Europe was: "What will be the future of America, what the forces that will mould and fashion it?" One of these was the common school. Here the future citizens met upon a level. Money and position in society counted nothing; merit won. A boy with a patch on each knee, his jacket in rags, who lived in a cabin, whose breakfast was potato and salt, and whose supper was mush, and milk, quite likely stood at the head of the class; while the boy who wore good clothes and whose father was rich, possibly found himself at the foot of the long line of spellers.
From these schools many of the boys made their way through college, became teachers, ministers, lawyers, legislators and governors. The lessons there learned together, with the instructions of honest God-fearing parents, laid the foundation of character and made them the pioneers of a new civilization.
The education of the masses multiplied the number thinkers. As a consequence, mechanical skill and invention is the peculiar growth of the present century and the United States in this regard ranks among the foremost nations of the world.
From the creation of the world down to the middle of the last century, nearly all the work of the world had been done by the muscular labor of men or animals.
But in England and America men were discovering that machinery might be made to do work of human hands. It was not until 1764, that James Watt commenced his wonderful inventions, and ten years more elapsed before his engine was of any practical use.
Meanwhile Hargreaves, Arkwright and Crompton had invented machines for the manufacture of cloth. In America there were lands well adapted for raising cotton, but owing to {200} the difficulty of extricating the seeds from the cotton, but little was used and that little was very expensive. In 1784, only eight bagfuls of cotton were exported from Savannah to England but when Eli Whitney invented the cotton-gin in 1792, a great change took place. It was seen immediately that the machine would do the work of hundreds of men and a new industry and new product was given to the world. Inconsiderable as these inventions may seem, they changed the clothing material of the English-speaking people throughout the world. In a few years their costume so changed that they might be looked upon as belonging to a different race and a different civilization.
On August 27th, 1787, while the National convention was at work at Philadelphia framing the constitution they were invited to behold a sight that the world had never seen. It was John Fitch gliding up stream in the first practical steamboat ever constructed. In July, 1788, the boat made its first trip from Philadelphia up the river to Burlington--amid the cheering of crowds and the salvos of artillery. It continued to make trips during part of two years but never exceeded three miles an hour. As the machinery was imperfect and the running expensive, it was at length abandoned.
Genius is far-sighted and prophetic. John Fitch looking into the future saw that the time would come when steamships would traverse the ocean, and glide to and fro upon the great rivers of the West. He went to Ohio to spend his last days, and when the shadow of death was upon him, he made this request, "Bury me on the banks of the Ohio that I may be where the song of the boatmen and the music of the engines shall enliven the stillness of my resting place." Twenty years passed away before Fitch's idea was realized. At length Robert Fulton built the Clermont in 1807 and started up the Hudson river. The country people knew not what to make of it. A Dutchman shouted to his wife, "The devil is on his way up the river with a sawmill in a boat." Fulton had succeeded where others had failed. It was the beginning of a new era in navigation. In 1819, the _Savannah_ was the first steamboat to cross the Atlantic ocean. John Stevens of Hoboken, New Jersey appeared in 1812 before Congress with a plan for a railroad.
{201}
[Image: An Ocean Steamer.]
{202} Two years later, July 25th, 1814, George Stevenson of England completed and ran the Rocket, the first practical locomotive in the world.
But it was not till September, 1825, that the first railway for passengers was opened in England. Six years later railway trains were running in America. The improved facilities for traveling by means of steam, have had a wonderful influence upon society. A century ago human society was composed of a multitude of little communities, dwelling apart, mutually ignorant, and therefore, cherishing mutual antipathies. Facilities of travel brought together men of different towns and different countries. They learned how little there was, on either side, to hate, how much to love. Thus ancient prejudice was broken up by the fuller knowledge gained by this extended acquaintance. Peculiarities of dialect and manners grew indistinct, and errors of opinion were corrected by friendly conflict of mind.
In 1832, Samuel F. B. Morse, conceived the idea of the electric telegraph, and in 1837, Congress granted him thirty thousand dollars to aid his great enterprise. In 1844, Professor Morse sent his first message over the world's first electric telegraph. The words were, "What hath God wrought!" Thus it was found that the same mysterious and terrible power which flashes out in the midnight storm was ready to convey across continents and seas the messages of man. This use of electricity is of peculiar interest. It is the first invention which is apparently final. In the race of improvement all other inventions and instrumentalities may be superceded. But what agency for conveying intelligence can ever excel that which is instantaneous? It would seem that here, for the first time, the human mind has reached the utmost limits of its progress.
From the time of its first invention to the year 1814, scarcely any improvement had been made on the printing press. A rude machine, printing at its best scarcely 150 copies per hour, was still universally in use. Now we have machines that print 25,000 copies per hour; books and papers have greatly cheapened in consequence. Such were some of the forces at work upon society during the first half of the nineteenth century.
{203} But while mankind had progressed in science they had remained stationary in religion; and how could it be otherwise? Invention and discovery are but the unfolding of the laws, attributes and objects of nature to man's limited understanding--the action of the divine will on the minds of men. When God revealed nature's laws, man progressed scientifically: until God revealed religious truth man groped in spiritual darkness. The intellectual light of that age only made to observing minds, their spiritual night more palpable; even as a candle shining in the night only intensifies the surrounding gloom. Many leading minds perceived somewhat, the errors of the times, and sought to bring about reform in various ways. These attempts brought forth discussion and division. The disintegration which had commenced in the days of Luther, now worked with unexampled rapidity, until the various so-called Christian sects numbered more than six hundred, each tenacious of its own ideas, and bitterly denouncing all the others.
None of these jarring sects ever had divine authority; in fact, they denied the possibility of revelation from God. Even admitting their claims, their creeds are only the crystallized ideas of the leading men of the age that gave them birth. For example, Rome depended not upon revelation, nor even upon the letter of the scriptures, but upon the tradition of the fathers. In other words, the rule of faith, in the church of Rome was the conflicting opinions of men--often ill-informed and superstitious--who lived between the great apostasy and the time of Luther.
So again, the creed of Lutherism is only the best ideas of men who lived in Central Europe three hundred and fifty years ago. In like manner, Presbyterianism is the reflex of the stern and rugged character of the Scotch in the 17th century. So also Methodism and Quakerism are the products of zealous English reformers in the 17th and 18th centuries. All of the religions that existed in America at the beginning of this century, were the outgrowth of European thought. They were systems that had been transplanted from foreign lands, by no means adapted to the progressive ideas that prevail on this continent.
{204} Humanly speaking, it was time to establish a religion, which should harmonize with the circumstances and age in which we live. Divinely speaking, man had become so developed and disciplined that he could receive the gospel. It was the Lord's due time to again reveal His will and set up His kingdom upon the earth.
Not only was the age peculiar, but likewise the land in which this work was to be accomplished. The governments of European countries were all committed to some particular creed, some peculiar form of religious worship. But in America there was no established religion. All were free to accept or reject the truth untrammelled by the arbitrary requirements of the civil law.
The instrumentalities used for the establishment of this work were very peculiar. No hoary-headed philosopher, full of worldly wisdom; no crafty politician, zealous for a party or sect; no profound doctor of divinity, deeply versed in antiquarian lore, was appointed to do this work. No! A pure and ingenuous youth, who had spent the few years of his mortal life in the quiet and peaceful avocations of agricultural life--a youth who had not yet drunk in the poison of man's theology--such was the instrument chosen by the Almighty for the execution of His purposes.
The sublime and tragic history of Joseph Smith is too well known to need repetition here. A few leading facts will suffice. Joseph Smith was born December 23rd, 1805, at Sharon, Windsor Co., Vt. He received his first vision on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the Spring of 1820. Joseph was then a little more than fourteen years of age. Three years and a half passed away, when he received his second vision. It was September 21st, 1823; he had retired to rest when the divine messenger made his appearance. During the night the angel appeared three times to Joseph, and immediately after, the dawn approached; so that their interviews must have occupied the whole of that night. Thrice had the angel descended, and thrice had he ascended, with all the circumstances of reality. There is something grand in the very simplicity of the narrative of Joseph and all the more impressive when we consider his mental and physical {205} characteristics--a man of lofty stature and giant mind. He dwelt in the very glare and illumination of a spiritual existence, and yet was the founder, organizer and leader of a latter-day Israel. Not more real was Jacob's angel with whom he wrestled all night, than were the angels of our times to Joseph. Then he commenced a life of toil and persecution--toil in the service of his divine Master, persecution from the enemy of all good.
We can only understand the life and character of Joseph Smith, when we consider the peculiar wants of the present age. Never was there a time in the history of the race when learning and general intelligence were so well diffused as at the present. The press is throwing off continually its millions of printed pages which are scattered broadcast, as the leaves of autumn.
Never was there a time of more intense activity. Who can pass through the crowded streets of our cities, listen to the throbbing of the steam engine, the hum of machinery, gaze at the vast trains that are driven with fire and vapor along our railways, or view those magnificent structures that cross the mighty deep without feeling that this is an earnest age?
Now this earnest, active, thinking age, demands a religion that has life and power in it. Not a religion of cold formality and narrow sectarianism, but a religion that will satisfy the intelligent with its truths, and touch the heart with its love, and sway the will with its persuasiveness, and gratify the taste with its beauties, and fill the imagination with its sublimities. A religion is wanted that will enlist upon its side the whole nature of man and command his willing and devoted homage; a religion, that, bearing the full impress of its Author's image, shall carry its own credentials with it, and which, clothed with all the elements of truth and righteousness, beauty and grandeur, of love and power, shall be revered by all those who love the truth, and dreaded by all who love it not.
It is evident to every thinking mind that the strife and confusion and babel of the six hundred jarring sects of Christendom can not do this. Their half-deserted cathedrals and cold, formal ceremonies, as well as the triumphant march of infidelity {206} and crime, attest the fact, that they have lost their hold on the masses of men.
As in the days of old the Lord renewed his communications with man through the dutiful and obedient Samuel; so in this age he spake to the youthful Joseph. And how did Joseph accomplish so much in so short a time? Simply because he entered into his work with his whole heart. He allowed no inferior object to weaken his interest or divide his attention, and he continually sought the inspiration of the Almighty, who came to his aid and enabled him to accomplish in the short space of a few years the mightiest work that any man has wrought since the Savior was upon the earth. After an active and self-sacrificing life of nearly thirty-nine years, he was brutally murdered by a mob June 27th, 1844.
Thus lived, suffered, toiled, and died, the martyr-prophet of the nineteenth century. Thus flashed athwart the spiritual darkness of his age, the light of the latter days. Even as in days of old the light shone in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. Contemplating his death the mind instinctively reverts to that scene, when the Savior suffered on Calvary, eighteen hundred years ago. Across the ages stride the footprints of the self-same spirit. Unconsciously are associated the death of the Redeemer and the martyrdom of His servant. Already the principles enunciated by Joseph Smith, have shaken the religious world from center to circumference. The ignorant may effect to scorn, yet the day is nigh, when America will be proud of her prophet son.
{207}
List of Illustrations
Mount Calvary - Frontispiece Jerusalem - 10 Coliseum - 14 Fakir - 16 Damascus - 29 Interior of a Saracen Palace - 41 Eruption of Mount Vesuvius - 46 Constantinople - 49 Church of the Holy Sepulchre - 55 Ancient Vessels - 62 Dungeon of the Inquisition - 69 Christopher Columbus - 79 Ships of Columbus - 82 Landing of Columbus - 83 The Straits of Magellan - 90 The Rack - 93 Ancient Peruvian Residence - 108 Ancient Tower at Newport - 110 Mammoth - 115 Mummy - 119 Massacre of the Incas - 151 Landing of the Pilgrims - 132 Fox in Discussion - 142 Penn's Treaty with the Indians - 144 John Wesley - 153 First American Almanac - 159 Benjamin Franklin - 160 George Washington - 174 {208} Washington Crossing the Delaware - 177 Scene of Burgoyne's Surrender - 180 Meeting Place of Andre and Arnold - 181 Mount Vernon - 185 The Tomb of Washington - 186 Napoleon Bonaparte - 192 The City of Athens - 194 Scene in Switzerland - 195 An Ocean Steamer - 201
{209}
INDEX.
Abou-Beker 28 Adam Smith 71, 154 Alhazin 37 Andalusia 31, 40 America Discovered 84 American Antiquities 109-112 Africa, First Map of 89 Apostasy of Primitive Church 13 Arabia, Description of 20 Arabic Notation 36 Ayesha 28 Armada, Invincible 104, 105 Ancient American Races 114, 117 Acadia, Colonization of 126, 127 Almanac, First American 158, 159 Adams, Samuel 167 Antimony, Why so Called 73 Arnold's Treason 182 Andre, Major 181 American Revolution 173 Al Mamun Measures the Earth 37 Andalusia, Conquest of 31 Atmospheric Refraction 38 Arabian Astronomy 36 Arnold of Brescia 67, 68
Bacon, Roger 73 Bastile 188,189 Bozrah 22,28 Bagdad, University of 35 Boheim, Hans 94 Balboa Discovers Pacific Ocean 89 Bruno, Death of 104 {210} Barbarism of Europe 42 Boniface IX. 76 Byzantium 48, 50 Bible First Printed 78 Brewster 129, 130 " Library 134 Brindley, James 154 British India 155, 156 Burgoyne's Surrender 180 Bonaparte 180 Bible, Influence of 124
Caaba 21 Cadijah 24 Caliphate 27 Caliphs Patronize Learning 35 Chivalry, Rise of 65, 66 Canada 198 " First Settlements in 126 Common Schools, Effect of 199 Christians Persecuted 13 Christian, Early Sects 23 Columbus 78 " Vessels of 81 Compass, Mariner's 37 Constantine, Crimes of 47 Constantinople 48 " View of 49 " Siege of 50, 51 Cholula, Pyramid of 112 Cotton-Gin, Invention of 200 Copernicus 103, 104 Constitutional Convention 185 Coliseum 14 Crusades 59 " of Children 61 " Results of 63 Culture of Women Among Saracens 42 Cyril of Alexandria 44 " the Priest 71 {211} Civilization of Mexico 117, 118 " of Peru 118, 120 Champlain's Voyages 126 Chatham, Earl of 168 Cromwell 133 Confederation, First American 135 Colonizing of New England 128 Charles I. 133, 134 Chemistry, Origin of 36 Carver, John 131 Cartier, Jacques 126
Damascus, Capture of 29 Destruction of Jerusalem 11, 12 Destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii 45 Dominicans 67 Discovery of America 84 Declaration of Independence 175 Delaware Crossed by Washington 176 Diet of Worms 95
Earth Proved to be Round 37 " Circumnavigated 89, 92 Earl of Chatham 168 Extent of Primitive Church 9 Extension of English Language 157 Europe Assumes Modern Form 74 Everlasting Gospel, The 71, 72 Everlasting Gospel, Its Teachings 72 Everlasting Gospel, Its Influence 73 Esdras, Account of 87 English Revolution 149 Electric Telegraph 202 England's Dominion 156 Ebn Junis Invents the Pendulum 38
Franciscans 67 Frederick II. of Italy 70 " His Liberal Policy 71 Fox, George 141-143 Fitch, John 200 French Revolution 189 {212} Fall River Skeleton 109 Franklin, Benjamin 158, 161 Female Physicians 43
Gregorian Calendar 37 Gutenberg 77 Gin First Made 151 General Gates 181 General Revolution 162 Galileo, His Degradation 104 Globes First Used by Arabs 34, 43 Greece, Kingdom of 194
Hampden, John 133 Harvard College Founded 133 Holland, Description of 136 Henry, Patrick 168 Heraclius, Emperor 30 Haroun al Raschid 36 Herculaneum Destroyed 45 Huss Burned 92 Hypatia 44 Huguenots, Massacre of 136 " Flee to America 146, 155 Howard, John 153 Henry IV. of Germany, a Penitent 55 Human Sacrifices 113
Incas, Massacre of 120, 121 India, British 155, 156 Indians, Penn's Treaty with 146 Indian Races Destroyed 107 Inquisition Established 70 Innocent III. 67, 68, 70 Influence of Minstrels 66 Invention of Printing 77 Invention of Steelyards 38
Jamestown Founded 127 Jerusalem destroyed by Romans 12 " Captured by Saracens 29 " Taken by Crusaders 60 Joss Fritz 94 {213} Juarez 198 Judaism, Golden Age of 39 Jews Expelled from Spain 109
Koran 23 Khaled 28
La Fayette 187 Leyden, Siege of 137-140 Luther, Martin 95,96 Locomotive, First 202 Levaur, Massacre of 70
Massacre in Southern France 68 Mahomet 21-26 Mahometan Schools 38 Marco Polo, Travels of 73, 74 Magellan's Voyage 89-92 Monasteries, Rise of 18 Munzer's Proclamation 98 Mexican Pyramids 112 " Year 119 " Arts and Sciences 118 Mammoth, Remains of 115 Maryland Colonized 146 Methodists, Rise of 151 Montesquieu 155 Marseillaise 191 Morse, Samuel F. B. 202
Nestorians 22 Newport Tower 110 Newspaper, First 150 Napoleon Bonaparte 192 " his Influence 193 " his Death 193 Netherlands, Independence of 136
Omar Caliph 29 Ottoman Turks 33 Oliver Cromwell 133 Old South Church Incident 170
Peter Waldo 67 Peter the Hermit 58 {214} Pompeii Destroyed 45 Peasant's War 97 Printing, Invention of 77 Persecution of Christians 13 " of Quakers 148 Peru, Description of 118, 120 Penn, William 143-146 Pennsylvania Founded 145 Pitt, William 155, 157 Paine, Thomas 175 Pilgrim Fathers 129, 133 Pyramids of Mexico 112
Quebec Founded 126 Quetzalcoatl 112, 122 Quakerism, Rise of 141 Queen Isabella 81
Raymond, Earl of Toulouse 68 Relic-Worship 54 Richard the Lion-Hearted 61-63 Rise of Chivalry 65, 66 Reformation 95-99 Religion of Mexico 116, 117 Roger Williams 147 Rum, First Made 151 Revolutions General 162 Rosseau 163 Revere, Paul 172 Rouget de l'Isle 190 Revolution, French 189 Railroad, First 202 Robinson's Prophecy 130
Saracen, Conquest of 30 " Discoveries 36 " Expelled from Spain 109 " Cities 40 " Schools 42 Ships of Columbus 81 Servetus, Death of 103 Smith, Adam 154 {215} Stamp Act 166 Steamboat, First 200 Smith, Joseph 204 " " His Birth 204 " " His Death 206 Spain, Degradation of 109 Spanish-American Revolution 193 Skeleton, Fall River 109
Ten Tribes 87 Treaty of Peace 183 Telegraph Invented 202 Twilight, Reason of 138
Valley Forge 178 Vasco de Gama 89 Vesuvius, Eruption of 46 Van der Werf, Speech of 139 Voltaire 163
Worms, Diet of 95 " Synod of 192 Worship, Corrupted 17 Waldenses, Rise of 67 Waldo, Peter 67 Witchcraft 100, 101 Williams, Roger 147 Whitfield, George 151 Wesley, Charles 152 Wesley, John 152 Wilberforce, William 153 Watt, James 154 Washington's Boyhood 158 Washington Chosen General 174 " as President 184 Washington's Death 187 Woman, Condition of, Among the Saracens 42, 43 Wyandotts, Tradition of 122
Ziska, John 94
Transcriber's Note:
Some obvious printer's errors have been corrected as seemed reasonable, such as certain punctuation errors (like omitted periods, periods to commas or semi-colons to commas, and some mismatched quotation marks, etc.). Some inconsistent or obvious spelling errors or typos within the text were also corrected (e. g., make to made, begining to beginning, conviced to convinced, satisfiy to satisfy, immedite to immediate, successsful to successful, maratime to maritime, gunpower to gunpowder, bowlder to boulder, asend to ascend, degardation to degradation, forgivness to forgiveness, en to ten, myrtyr to martyr, continet to continent, gratitute to gratitude, loyality to loyalty, philanthrophist to philanthropist, extavagant to extravagant, justifiying to justifying, weakend to weakened, Fich's to Fitch's, Reedemer to Redeemer, matyrdom to martyrdom, etc., etc.).
The book used as a reference for this e-book transcription originally belonged to O. N. Toomey, and was digitized by the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University. It can be viewed or downloaded free at https://archive.org/details/handofprovidence00award.