A Thousand Years Hence

by Nunsowe Green

 

A THOUSAND YEARS HENCE.

 

A THOUSAND YEARS HENCE.

 

BEING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

 

as narrated by

NUNSOWE GREEN, ESQ., F.R.A.S., F.S.S.,

Ex V.-P.S.S.U.D.S.

(Ex Vice-President of the Shoreditch and Spitalfields
Universal Discussion Society).

 

At our pace of progress, as I am always saying, what are things to come to a thousand years hence?—Author, chap. i. et passim.

 

LONDON:

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE & RIVINGTON,

CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.

1882.

(All rights reserved.)

LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. Introductory and Quite Indispensable to All the Chapters That Follow.
	Page
Of myself and my wife	1
My most particular intimates, White and Brown	3
Formation of the great S.S.U.D.S., and discussions on questions of the day	5
My additional intimates, Black, Yellowly, and Reed	6
Black, and science questions: Electricity and the Cross-Electric	9
Yellowly on social and political questions	9
On democracy and progress	10
On trade unions	11
On future amelioration of labour conditions	12
On social advance, and some present remediable defects	14
On some great lines of attainable progress	15
Reed, and religious questions	17
Reasonableness and common sense in religion	17
Righteousness and usefulness of life	19
Extreme views: Eternal hell	19
The Sunday question: Sabbath v. Lord's Day	21
"Answers to prayer"	24
The "praising" of God	24
Sensational religion	25
A popular revival preacher	26
The future of good but sceptical men	27
Gray and Mormonism	28
A proselytizing scrape	31
Minor polemics: White and Brown	33
Forecasting the future. At our pace of progress what are things to come to in the future?	34
My own general forecast	35
Black's scientific forecast	36
Yellowly's social and political forecast	38
Reed's religious forecast	40
Gray's Mormon forecast	41
Brown's remarkable dream	41
A memorable holiday trip	42
CHAPTER II. It Is Indeed No Other Than a Thousand Years Hence—A Business Expedition—Home and Foreign Trading, and the Home Tour—The Chief Hardware and Energy Districts of Our Day.
What travelling is in these advanced times	45
The crowd of our modern life	46
A scientific experiment quite in character	47
Cabs, cab-stands, and cab-travel	48
Our modern money	51
Our first business destination	53
Subterranean life, and the "sub" system	54
The Stock Exchange of these days—Rise and progress of the great Bullings	55
CHAPTER III. Life and Business in the Twenty-Ninth Century.
A great subterranean abode	59
A subterranean landscape	61
The hardware and Energy trade in A.D. 2882	63
A glance also at the provision trade, and the world's great food question	65
Retrospective view of the trade	66
Value and resource of the dead to the living	68
CHAPTER IV. Our Foreign Business Tour: The Outer Circuit.
My various plans and projects of travel	73
A bargain with old Brown	74
A glimpse of the great Ballings of the Stock Exchange	75
Yet one more of my projects	76
Off to Mars	77
Voyaging incidents, safeguards, and accommodations	77
CHAPTER V. A Retrospect of a Thousand Years.
Some chief causes of our great progress—
Great increase of population	83
The woman as well as the man at work for the world	84
Universal education of the people	85
A new page turned in university life	88
Cessation of war: how and when it came about	89
Trades' union reform, and advancing condition of our working classes	90
A word on co-operation—its e onomies and progress	92
The great Parliamentary block, and its final cure by the "Special Hansard"	94
State aid to progress by means of Special Trusts	97
How we reduced the interest rate, and finally extinguished our National Debt	100
State assistance free to the poorer youth	104
Progress by speciality of study	105
Progress consummation for the time, in the grand discovery of the Cross-Electric	107
CHAPTER VI. A Chapter on Some Early but High Political Changes.
Political and constitutional development, and the Commonwealth of England	112
The story as to how war came at last to its end	114
An incident out of war-cessation	122
The map of Europe after the nineteenth century	122
CHAPTER VII. The Nineteenth Century. What Could Still Be Done With Its Small Remainder.
What befell court dress	129
Our most exemplary episcopate	129
Special trusts: The great scheme of a resanitated London	132
Reception of the project	133
The opposition	134
Mode of the work as to finance	135
An episode of the project	137
General plan of the work	138
Some chief features	139
Concentration of the public offices	144
Other special trusts: the national drama	146
Housekeeping economy for the masses—Mechanics' hotels	149
No longer "Ireland our difficulty"	152
CHAPTER VIII. The Twentieth Century: Some of Its Prominent Features.
A passing Transatlantic family jar	156
Club life after the nineteenth century	158
Women's clubs	162
A trade union crisis of the twentieth century	165
Social resanitation: a disposition to take society's evils thoroughly in hand	168
1. Our new policy with crime	170
2. As to begging and general vagabondage	173
Yet one more step of advance and reform	176
An enemy still capturing our territory, even after the entire cessation of war	177
A trade union strike at the end of the twentieth century	179
CHAPTER IX. The Twenty-First Century: Its Illustration by a Progress of Principles.
Our National Church, as it appeared and fared in this twenty-first century of our era	182
The United National Trades Union, and its first centenary of the death of Yellowly	185
Address of its president	185
The Union's reforms	186
Its political intervention and results. Some chief political questions of the day	187
A new order of rank, national and international	192
Woman's position in society	195
Aspects and prospects: our country and the world in this the twenty-first century	196
Our empire as it emerged into this twenty-first century	199
CHAPTER X. The Twenty-Second Century: Its Illustration by Our Social Ways.
Marriage in the twenty-second century	204
State intervention in marriage	206
Marriage settlements	208
Divorce in the twenty-second century	209
Two typical instances	210
A new "International" in this twenty-second century	213
CHAPTER XI. The Twenty-Third Century: Its Social Aspects.
A completing social resanitation	225
The Selphnil family	228
CHAPTER XII. The Twenty-Fourth Century: Its Religious Aspects.
The great Mormon Church	234
Its trials	235
Its triumphs	236
Other or lesser Churches. The old Roman	239
The Anglican	240
Others, various and conflicting	241
CHAPTER XIII. The Dawn of the Twenty-Fifth Century: Its General Aspects.
New and enlarged career for our English race	247
Old England's last premier	249
His portentous session; inauguration address; the features and signs of his time	251
Some striking features of his time	252
The Crown of Labour	255
CHAPTER XIV. Science Progeess Over a Thousand Years’ Retrospect.—Part I. From the Discovery of the Cross-Electric to That of the Duplication of the Cross.
The Cross-Electric Principle	264
Electro-Light speed	265
The Duplication	265
Extreme simplicity when known	268
Grand results from the discovery	269
Our "'prentice hand" in missives to outside worlds	270
A missive from outside to ourselves	272
CHAPTER XV. Science Progress in a Thousand Years’ Retrospect.—Part II. From Discovery of the Duplication of the Cross, up to Discovery of the Reduplication.
Reproduction of successive past aspects of our earth	276
Curious questions and solutions, scientific and historical	280
Intercourse with worlds outside: the "Higher Life" of the Universe	282
Some special outside acquaintances	284
The condition of the press in these our modern times	287
An editor of the time	289
Our outside-world acquaintance—Coloured-sun systems	290
Effects of solar colour	292
A ternary coloured system. Blue, Green, Red, and respective peculiarities of people	293
Its striking midnight skies, and effect upon the mind	296
CHAPTER XVI. Science Progress in a Thousand Years' Retrospect.—Part III. Grand Climax of the Discovery, by Black, of the Reduplication.
Black's grand discovery: what was it?	303
Black's practical application: first outside voyage	304
To and from the moon: preparations	305
Departure, and voyage	308
Exploration and condition of the moon	310
Return to earth	312
CHAPTER XVII. Interplanetary Personal Intercourse.
Venus and the Venusians	314
History and features	316
Mars and the Marsians	317
Physical features	318
Marsian progress	319
Things social and political	321
Other members of our solar system	327
CHAPTER XVIII. Our Foreign Tour, Resumed From Chapter IV.: The Outer Circuit.
Arrival at Mars: reception	330
Business	331
Politics	332
A Marsian public dinner	333
An attack: a Marsian "leading article"	334
Arrival at Io, the First Jovian moon	338
Physical features	339
Manners and customs of the Ioans	342
Return home via Vesta and some other planetoids	346
Vestian people and business	348
CHAPTER XIX. Our Foreign Tour: The Inner Circuit.
Preparations	350
An old friend turns up once more	351
Our further programme of travel	353
Arrival at Venus	353
Arrival at Vulcan	355
Vulcanian features and peculiarities	357
The Vulcanian people	358
Arrival at the sun: danger of the voyage	359
CHAPTER XX. The Sun, and the Solar Populations. A Yet "Higher Life" There.
Upper and Lower Solardom	366
The Upper Solar people	368
Our personal experience of them	372
Their grand science attainments	376
CHAPTER XXI. Relates Chiefly to a Very Curious Dream of Mine.
A cross with Brown—this time not the Cross-Electric	381
My dream, and the disappointing awakening	383
CHAPTER XXII.
Home's Realities at Last: Real, at Any Rate, if Still Further Disappointing	390