The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1858-07-17
5cIrtt hlistcIIanp.
What the Asiatics Have Done.

DRAPER s I" llnma.. Physiology -
In Europe, the career of Improvement is in
the society : in ASA, it is in The individual
INC unknown, starving, illitcIatc, but strong
willed soldier Of to-day. is tho pasta, the
emperor. the caliph lomorrow. The castles
OF Ind ia form but a trlfljng exception to the
fact that, in the midst Of universal des.
potisin, the sFriryst democratic element is
concea led, torsthp Greer is open to talent
Through TINS, Asia has asserted her superior
lty again sar1 again. Europe has never
prodHcedsa great ia@givcr. ASA has produ-
ccd many. Generations of 'hgce hundred
millions of men have followed the maxims of
toniuclus for more than lwc thousand years:
three hundred millions are the followers of
alohammcd. The faiths which govern the
daily life Of two-Ihirds of the hulnan race
may well bean awful s,iyc;pcie To us--thc
more awful because we know that they are a
delnsion. The only approach to these great
results in the Weston Continent is in the
supremacy of The Italian Church. But Rome
owed the origin of her system to ASatic
missionaries nor was it the completed work
OF the hand Of one man it was the offspring
OF centuries, the joint issue of long line of
illustrious sacerdotal kings. In military life
the highest qualities shine forth. If the
talent for command and the capacity of
statesman are to be measured by the grandeur
ol undertakings and their success it still
remains for Europe to produce soldier the
eqnal of Jenghis Khan, and king like
Tamerlane. These great captains held
almost all Asia i'll their i,on grasp. The
opinions we commonly hold respecting these
lllustrious men have come to us through
perverted channels. Such prodigious success
Scs as theirs imply the highest intellectual
powers. Their true character appears when
We compare them with their European con-
Temperatures. At the same time that Charles
VII OF France was mystifyimg his people
with the imposture Of Joan of Arc, and
Henry VI of England was engaged in. ;ie
burning Of necromanccrs who had attempted
his life by melting and enchanted wax image
before the fire, tlug Beg the grandson of
Iamcllanc, was determining with precision
the latitude of Samarcand, his capital, with
mural quadrant Of $50 feet radius, and
making catalogue of the stars from his own
observations, which, more than two hundred
years subsequently, was printed at the Uni
versity o. Oxford
If the European wishes to know how much
he owes to the Asiatic. he has only to cast a
glance at an hour of his daily life The
clock which summons him from his bed III
the morning, was the invention of the East.
as were. also clcpsydras and sun dials The
prayer for his daily bread, which he has said
from his infancy. first rose from the side of
aSyrian mountain. The linens and cottons
with which he clothes himself, though they
may DC line, are inferior 10 those which have
been made time im,ncmoral in the looms of
India. The silk was stolen by some mission
aries for his benefit from China. lie could
buy better razor than that with which he
shaves himself in the old city of Damascus,
where steel was first invented. The coffee he
expects at breakfast was first grown by the
Arabians. and the natives OF Upper India
prepared the sugar with which lie swcctens
il. A schoolboy can tell the meaning Of the
Sanscrit words, Sacchma ca,Ma. If his tastes
are light, and he prefers tea, the virtues of
that excellent leaf were first pointed out by
the industrious Chinese. They also taught
him bow to make and use the cup and saucer
in which TO serve it. His breakfast tray was
lackcred in Japan. There is a tradition that
lcaycncd bread was first made OF the waters
of the Gangcs. The egg he is breaking was
laid 10y fowl whose ancestors were domcs-
ticated by the Malaccans. unless she may
have bcen-lhoush that will not altar the
L
preserves and fruits on his board. let him
remember with thankfulncss that Persia first
gave him the cherry, the peach, the plum
IT in any OF these delicate preparations he
detects the favor Of alcohol let it remind
him that that substance was first distilled by
the Ara bans, who have set him the praise
worthy example, which il will be for his
henciit to follow, Of absta,ning frcm It's use.
ha toll. Il al, III l.
is using Arabic words. \ thousand wears
before it had occurred to him to enact laws
of restriction on the use of intoxicating
drinks, the Prophet of Mecca had accom-.
pllshcd the same OBJECT; and what is more
to the purpose. has Compelled, to thus day
all Asia and Africa to obey it. We
crafty our taste for personal ornament in tho
way the Orientals have taught us, with
pearls, rubies, sapphires, diamonds. OF
public amusement it is the same; the most
magnificent fireworks are at this dav to be
seen in India and China. And as regards the
pastimes of private life, Europe has produced
no invention which can rival the game of
chess. We have no hydraulic construct ions
as great as the Chinese canal no fortlica-
items as extensive as the Chinese wall. We
have no Artesan wells that can at all Approach
in depth some of theirs we have not yet
resorted to the practice Of obtaining coal gas
from the interior Of the earth they have
borlngs for that purpose more than 5000 feet
deer.
Similar observations may be made if we
examine the Asiatic contributions to science.
While the learned Of Europe were forbiddng,
as heresy, the doctrine of the eiohular figure
OF the EARTH the CaGph Al-Alaimon was
measuring the length of a degree along the
shore OF the Rcd Seq. lie and his successors
repeatedly determined the obhquity of the
ecliptic. \ Sa,accn constructed the first
table of sncs, another explained the nature
of twill light, and showed the Importance of
allowing for atmospheric rcflaction in astron-
omlcal observations. Algebra itself was
invented and brought into Europe 10y the
Mohammedans, who gave it the name it
bears. The same may be said of chemistry.
1t is needless 10 pursue these statements, for
whoever will take the trouble to look into the
history of any branch of science existing in
the seventeenth century, will find how deep
are It's obligations TO Asia. | shall, there
fore, add but one fact more; the inven-
ton Of the figures Of arithmetic, which
in reality gave birth to that science,
aid laid knowledge and commerce equally
under obligations. For its simplicity, beauty,
and universally, this invention alone is
enough to command the gratitude of the
human race. The manner Of using the
cipher, and placing the figures, is one of the
happicst suggestions Of the genius Of man.