IN the eleventh chapter of Isaiah is prophesied the time when the nations should beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; and when nation should not lift up sword against nation, neither should they learn war any more; when the wolf should dwell with the lamb, and the leopard should lie down with the kid; when the Lord should set up an ensign for the nations, and should assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth; when the envy of Ephraim should depart, and the adversaries of Judah should be cut off; when Ephraim should not envy Judah, and Judah should not vex Ephraim but they should fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west.
We do not say that the great World's Fair which is about to be opened at Chicago, is a literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy but we do feel safe in saying that in type it tends in that direction. For the first time in the history of the world, it is probable, that practically all the nations of the earth will, in some sort, either be assembled, or represented upon Columbia's shores, in fraternal greeting, and interchange of good-feeling and fellowship.
The great occasion means much more than the exhibition of the products, goods, wares and merchandise of the different nations. These are but the expressions of that underlying spirit of international comity which reaches out toward more intimate relationship, and a larger, broader community of interest.
