Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-12-15

Iie O.1gnotora of Tea, Fotcelail-trarc
and Incentive to the discovay Of
Aaafca-Tae JErias,'s C2mpass-
lie EuT'est Pl2zr ILaEers-Istroao-
D5ioaI Sctcaoe-Dccla,c Of "Cs5cstior'
-4,1s.
Other nations have outstripped the
Chinese in the career of material i'm
pTOvements, but to them belongs the
honor Of having led the way in MANY Of
the remarkable inventions, and Of an
ucipating us in the possession Of some of
those arts which constitute the boast Of
our modern civilization. We shall brief
ly notice q few Of those discoveries by
which they established q claim to our
respect and gratitude. Tea deserves to
head the list, as a substantial cOntribu-
ton to human comfort, and the leading
staple Of an immense commerce that
has resulted in drawing China out other
ancient seclusiOn. Discovered bv the
Chinese about \. d. 3I5, it was intro
duced to the people Of the West about
two centuries ago as an uncertain ven
ture. The elegant ware in which our
tea is served preserves in its name the
evidence of its Chinese origin. "China
waTeN came originally from China; and
the name Of ''pOTceIain," ," given to it by
the early Portuguese merchants, NAV be
taken as proof that nothing Of the kind
was at that time manufactured in Eu-
rope. They called il 2GrcCHUaG, because
they supposed it to be 4 composition, of
egg shells, fish glue, and scales. The
silks that gliSten in our drawing rooms
and rustic on our sidewalks, if not i'm
ported directly from China in the wo-
ven fabric or raw material, reminds US
Of an obligation Of an older date. It|
was the Chinese who first learned to
rear the insect spinner, and to weave its /
shining Web-an art, which they ascribe !
to their famous Empress, YUental, 3. c. |
2637. GUnDOWder, which has not only
revolutionized the art of war, but PROV /
ed a potent auxiliary in the arts ofpeace /
literally removing mountains from the
pathway Of human progress, was discOv- !
cred by the Chinese many centuries be- |
fore it was known in the West. Roger /
Bacon was acquainted with its compost /
ton in \. ID. 1870, buthe speaks of il |
being known earlier. The current Opin- /
ion refers it TO the Arabs, but there is .
reason to believe that they were not the /
authors of the invention, but merely the .
channel thrO' which twas transmitted
in g word, that it found its way from the .
remote East along with the stream Of |
Oriental commerce.
The heaviest item in the bill Of our in
to the Chinese is for the dis /
cOveTy of America. On the alleged .
voyage of party of Buddhist priests to .
the shores Of Mexico we lay no stress;
but it is not difficult to show that the dis |
cOvery of the New World by Christopher .
Columbus was directly due to the infIu-
ence Of China. China supplied at once |
the motive for his voyage and The in
strument by which it was effected. It |
was the wealth of China which, like a
magnet attracted him to the westward: |
and it was the magnet needle,
which originated among the Chinese,
that directed his adventurous course.
As to that mysterious instrument
which has unlocked to rs the treasures
of the ocean, and proved itscIfth eve of
commerce, its origin is certainly not
due to the NeapOlitan ElaYiO Gioja, who
was reported to have invented it in A.
d. 1902. The French, the SWedes and
the Syrians all possessed it before that
date; and there is UnquestiOnabIe evi-
dGnce that the Chinese had been ac-
quainted with it for more than two
thousand four hundred years.
The Chinese first employed the mar
iner's compass on land as we may infer
from the name by which they describe
it; and at the present day it is still the
custom for q mandarin to carry one in
his carriage or sedan chair, though he
may not be gOiGg beyond the gates Of
his native city. It is incOnceivablC that
the Poles and other medieval travellers
should have returned from China across
the deserts Of Central Asia without pro-
viding themselves with such an UnerT- (
ing guide.
Paper making and printing, two arts
more characteristic of our model civiIi-
zation than even steam and electricity,
there are strong reasons for ascribing to
Chinese origin. The former they
invented in the first century, and the
latter at least eight hundred years be-
fore the time of Gutenberg and Faust.
Like the modern Greeks, the Chinese
Of the present day, content with the leg
lcy Of the past, have ceased to invent: ,
but without doubt they were once among
the most ingenious and original of the
Of the earth.
The Chinese have not gone back, and
that is saying q great deal in their favor:
but in respect to material pTOgresss, for
ages they have made no advancement. {
Four centuries ago they were in advance I
Of Europeans in everything that cUntri-
bUtes to the comfort or IuNury Of civil
zed lile;but where are thy now? Au-
thOrs Of the compass, they creep from {
headland to headland in c0asting voya-
ges, never vcnturiug to cross the ocean
OF TO trust themselves for many DAYS
out of sight Of the shore. DISCOVERIES of
they supply the world with ]
fire crackers, while the soldiers fight =
with bows and arrows, wooden spears :
and match locks. Inventors Of print
ing, they have not yet advanced to the
use of metallic type and the power
press, but continue to engrave each page +
on a block Of wood and and topTiut it off !
by the use of q brush. Sufficiently
veTsed in astronomy to calculate eclips-
es two thousand years before the Chris S
tian era, they remain to this hour in the I
fetters of judicial astrOlOgy; and among :
the earliest to make advances in chem