The movement of not one mind only, but the consentaneous movement of a
multitude of minds in the same direction, constitutes what is called the
spirit of the age. This spirit is neither the law of progress nor blind
development, but God's all-eternal, all-embracing purpose, the doctrine
which recognizes the hand of God in all events, yet leaves all human
action free. When God prepared an age for a new thought, the thought is
thrust into the age as an instrument into a chemical solution--the
crystals cluster round it immediately. If God prepares not, the man has
lived before his time. Huss and Wycliffe were like voices crying in the
wilderness, preparing the way for a brighter future; the time had
not yet come.
Who would not be a missionary? "They that be wise shall shine as the
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as
the stars for ever and ever." Is God not preparing the world for
missions which will embrace the whole of Adam's family? The gallant
steamships circumnavigate the globe.
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