The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-05-17
KEEP In its place.

ESTake iiucncss. You know the Il II
) ptr'r of Russia, the other day, gave
to u lady in Hartford Il lace veil that
) floats on tho atmosphere as you fling
, it off, But the ancicnts did that,
rake Dacca muslin, of which you
boar in the missionary meeting with
q oDisL Lment-6ncr than the veil You
k,ow the old novelists actually ox-
, h .ustrd their wit in describing Dacca
, muslin. DO you know that sort of
: Wit which consists in mere cxagrra
t IN, is Oriental You know it has
been said, they are 80 dishonest in
S.'"in that they take in their stone,
walls at night. That sort Of wit is
Oriental. ln the old novrl, nine
hundred and seventy years old, an In
dim princess comes into the room.
Her father says, "Daughter, 60 homo ;
you are not dccen,ly covered" She
replies, "Father,l have on seven
suits" But they were Daco. muslin,
So tiuc that could not be seen. Tho
missionaries say that when laid on
the grass to whitcn, the dew hides it.
The finest French muslin you ever saw,
never had more than a hundred ana
fifty threads in an inch. am told
it IS not made finer than two hundred ;
bot Wi kerson has bit of mummy
cloth in London that has five hundred
and forty threads in an inch and if
that was made with the hand, it would
be incredible. But Lepsius report
ed to ths British government, forty
years ago, that on the carved marble
of Carthage he found every spinning
machine that is known in Europe,
aud the jacquard loom-alI carved
on marble two thousand years ago.
You know the French chemists s, who
have anal Jzed the friugcs OF the
mummy cloths, state that the very sys.
tenn OF acids and mordants by which
we make colors fixed, were known to
the Egyptians two thousand years
ago.
ANCIENT AND MODERN CIVILIZATION.
Well, [ told you should lead you
to suspect we did not invent every
thing. Why DO need to stand here
and grope in the ashes to fud it out
Because everything that Egypt knew
was hidden in the bosom Of priests
and kings. knowledge was the sc.
cret of the upper classes it was the
right hand of despotism it was the
sc1ptre Of the aristocracy +; it was the
basis Of caste. Aud when Csmb, ses
came down from Persia aud thundercd
across Egypt, treading out under the
hoofs of his horses royalty and priest
hood, he trod out art. God ftly
punished the sclfshncss which let
learning become he secret Of the up.
per classes. and the night Ct ignor.
ancc came upon Egypt. The printing
press, the great discovery Of modern
times, guarantees us against it. I
say, discovery Of modern times. but
the Only wonder is that the anc..cnts
camcao near the printing press and did
not clutch it. When you 20 to Rome,
you will see ii brick makers card in
dclibly impressed upon brick. The
| Pope will show you, in the Vatican,
the stamp with which it is done. 1t
is the brickmakcr's advertisement t.
iIayard found, at Ninev,h, bricks
four thousand years old, made in the
same way. Now, that b: iykmakcr's
stamp, though four thouSanl y,ars
OLD, is essentially stercot, ped page,
the same as you print Billie to day.
1t is only one step from the brick.
makers stamp at Nincv,h down to
storootyping-one step. 1t took four
or i've thousand years to- make
that step, but when ii WIS made, civil
lization changed her character. Learn.
ing no longer skulkcd in the clo:ster
or hid herself in the palace. She
came and joined hands with tho peo-
pie, ministering to their daily warts.
We do not have a>trology among the
stars in the service of kings We have
astronomy guiding the sAilor,boy up.
on the ocean. We do not have chem.
istry hidden in laboratories, trying to
change every substance into gold ;
We have Liebig, with his hands full
of bl' ssings, for every farmer. We'll,
this nin,t + cnth century is not what
we know--they knew more than we
Know 1T is the use wc mako Of what
we know. When Gibbon planned his
history of Rome, ho uttered tic proud
boast. "the hand san never 90 back
on tho diar-plate Of Time. We have
got fire, we have got iron--wo defy
Time" He made that boast ns he
sat among the ruins of Rome, and
looked out or what was once Ceslr's
palace. Co,sld he have looked down on
Thebes, could be have cen NiDovch =
nations that went up to their zenith
and down to their graycs-fre IN ono
hand and iron in the other, and could
not save art, he would not have utter
cd that boast.
But friends, it is neither fire nor