Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-02-25
From TIE Ne,o York Herald
The New Age-To WIaatis is the
World Tending?

tup to the present age, has been but the in.
troductory chapter of the great volume of the
y" nineteenth century and to tho wonderful fu.
+ ture that is just opening. The old saying
y that history repeats itself is no longer true,
" except in a limited sense, for the extraordi-
.! nary discoveries in science and the social, po-
litical and material developments of the pres
ent time are unlike any that have occurred
g. before In truth, this is new age, s6 new
9 and surprising, and so far in advance OF any
y preceding one that those who believe in a
70 millennium have no difficulty in fixing this
+ as the period for tho regeneration of the
e world and for the coming of that new heav-
y en- and earth foretold in the Apocalypse.
u But we shall not go into the mysteries of pro-
II phecy or into speculntions about theological
q or spiritual matters We shall treat of facts
only and the deductions to be drawn from
6 them.
o Those who love to contemplate things of
: antiquity or to study. and dwell on ancient
Q history often profess to fnd superior civil
y cation in the past. They go back to Egypt,
y to Greece and to Rome, and attempt to show
that we arc only not in advance of these
|, countries when they had reached the highest
point of their civilization, but that we are be-
.. hind them. This, however, is q harrow and
IT short sighted view Of the matter, and shows
g that these lovers Of antiquity do not compre-
&c hend the mighty agencies and wonderful pro-
g IF modern civilization.
The 1Ros!tGtl5il. ~ !! : III ;;,;.: ,,
dcd in history or on mopdmefs;"o.4 .~rct,res; !.
that Of Egypt, and no doubt this is the J. ,,dost
for nothing has been discovered to show tn,
any nation before tho Egyptians had attainesdN
that,,knowledge and the arts Of life which 4
constitute civilization now understood. J t
tThe Hsb,a% -lerc only pastoral tribes before be
they went to Egypt, fho C6jntse, though n
they boast of civilization dating back before
the Egyptians, have no right to claim that,
and though they have peculiar civilization Q
of their own they are not yet civilized peo-
pie in the European and highest sense of the
term. Egypt made some progress in the arts I,
of building, sculpture, agriculture and even in
literature The Pyramids and her vast and
gorscrous temples attest this These struc
lures show, too, some knowledge of science as
we'll as good deal of art. Still, massive and
enduring as these arc, they are comparatively
rude and lack the highest character Of art
They show also that the mass Of the people
were ignorant slaves, and that state of things
was incompatible with high civilization.
The same remarks apply to the great Babylo-
nan and Assyrian empires Their civiza-
ton was such of the same character The
Jews were in advarcc Of all the people of an
cient times in the superiority of their religion
and in their code Of civil and moral laws, but
from this exclusivcness, their peculiar thco !
cratic system and narrow views, never attain
cd great profcieucyin science and art. The
Greeks reached the highest point of civiliza-
ton in ancient times Their superb struc
lures and exquisite sculpture have never been
surpassed, and have remained the models of
beauty and skill forall succeeding ages. 1t was
in Greece, too, that the democratic and re-
publican principles Of government arose and
! received their. development. Not only were
| tho arts of pcaoc and war, known there; not
4 only had literature, philosophy, poetry and,
) clooueuce reached the highest point but
science which distinguishes in such remark.
ablo manner the present age, began TO be un-
folded there Rome, that mighty Power of
! tho past, took the various phases of proceed
| ing civilizations and moulded and adapted
: them to her own peculiar circumstances, an , ~
Rome became great also in art, particularly
, in the art of war, and greater than any form
or nation in craftsmanship, in her admirable
= laws. and in government. The liz literature Of
Q Rome, too, like that of Greece, will exist
r forever, to show tho civilization attained in irn
. those times From the period when Rome.
q declined the world passed through long
t night of intellectual darkness and stdgnation.
!. 1t was not until England began to emerge
$ from feudal'and religious dispositism, till the
+ free commercial oities Of Italy, aprang into.
n existence, and till commerce. began its cvli-'
y zing influence, that tho light ofathe past res
:, y yived and that o. pewiliGhtbcgan TO she'd it's
I, : power over Europo. Owe might notice the
= progress made from, that period, the discove-
: rios insoience, the intellectual giants-y-suoh
= as Newton, Shakespeare aud Others that illu-
minated tho tworld~-the spread ofnavigation
d, and commercial enterprise to all parts of.ths
en- !, olohe. with tho discovery Of Ameficas btu