Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-05-31
EASTERN ORIGIN OF MODERN UTILI-
TIES.

The following extract from Diapers last
work, 'Civil Policy in America" shows the
Eastern origin Of much that is useful and
admirable
! In times Of which history has failed tC
preserve any account that continent Asia
must have been the scene Of prodigious ac
tivity. In il were first developed those fun.
damental inventions and discoveries which
really lie at the basis Of the progress of the
human race--the subiugation OF domestic
animals, the management of fire, the ex-
preston Of thought by writing. We are apt
10 overlook how much man must have done
how much he must have added to his nat
ural powers in prehistoric times. We for
get how many contributors TO our own com
forts are of Oriental origin. Their common
neps hides them from our view.
II the European wishes 10 know how
much he owes the Asiatic, he has only to
cast glance at an hour of his daily life.
The clock which summons him from his
he'd in the morning, was the invention Of the
East, ms also were clepsydras and sun-dials.
The prayer Cor his daily bread, that he has
said from infancy. first rose from the side
Of Syrian mountain. The linens and cot
tons with which he clothes himself, though
they may be very fine, are inferior TO these
that have been made from time immemoral
in the looms OF India The silk was stolen
by some missionaries, for his benefit from
China lie could buy better steel than that
with which he shaves himself in the city Of
Damascus where il was first invented.
The coffee he expects at breakfast was
first grown by the Arabans, and the natives
of Upper India prepared the sugar with
which he sweetens il. A schoolboy can tell
the meaning of the Sanscrit words, Sdccidra
oanda. IL his tastes are light and 10 pre-
feres tea, the virtues of that excellent leaf
were first pointed out by the industrious
Chinese. They also taught him how to
make and use the cup and saucer in which
20 serve it. His breakfast tray was lacquer
ed in Japan.
There is a tradition that lcavenod bread
was first made of the waters of the Gauges.
The egg he is breaking was laid 10y a fowl
whose ancestors were first domestiCated by
the Malaccans, unless she may have been
though that will not alter the case--a mod
em Shanghai. Ii there are preserves and
fruits ON his board, let him remember with
thankfulness thar Persia gave him the cher
ny, peach and plum. II in any of these
pleasant preparations he detects the flavor
OF alcohol, LET il remind him that that sub
stance was first distilled by the Arabians
who have set him the praiseworthy exam
pie. which it will be his benefit to follow,
Of sustaining from its use. When he talks
about coffee and alcohol, he is using Arabic
words. 4 thousand years before il had &C.
cured TO him 10 enact laws Of restriction in
the use of intoxicating drinks the Prophet
of Mecca did the same thing, and, what is
more to the purpose, has compelled TO this
day all Asia and Africa 10 obey them.
We crafty our taste for personal ona-
ments in the way The Orientals have taught
us--in the pearls, rubies, sapphires, dia-
monds. or public amusements it is the
same The most magnificent fireworks are
still 10 be seen in India aud China; and as
regards the pastimes of private life, Europe
has produced no invention that can rival
the game of chess.
We have no hydraulic constructions as
great as the Chinese Canal, no Publications
~ extensive as the Chinese Wall; We have
no artesian wells that can at all approach in
depth some of theirs We have not vet re-
sorted 90 the practice of obtaining coal-gas
from the interior Of the earth; they have
borings for that purpose more than 5000
feet deep.