Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-04-17


. did not care about speed. nor does size car,
about IL even now. when the railway is
, within her reach, though she could spent
thousands Of millions upUa 1t. Size be
lieves 3i.t: the lite of man may be more
happily. more nobly spent than in Il dis
gracefi4 ,rasil AFTER money.
a The offensive expression. "Heafher
h Chinee." is however. not 80 much in allt
sion to her hack of scientific capacity as ta
. her supposed reli- oiis condition. Let It's
look fora monleai ut that.
I About five hundred years before our era
China passed through an intellectual crisis
=, 1t was the epoch Of LaO-ts~ and Contl,cius
men. looked with disniay on the religious
condition OF their counlrvmen. They saw
, how difference OF opinion. and It's cOnse-
: Qlence, divisions into seets. bad arisen and
, were daily increasing. They saw in what
Il disastrous manner society WAS affected
by those dissoci, tions. The countless
=. sects which were swaiming into life stood
in an isolated and in many instances an in
initial relation to each other 1t was a
scene OF hatred. tempered by hypocrisy.
Confllcius in his youth had sought the
friendship of Lao-tse. who was by fifty
years his senior. Both had arrived at the
conviction that men can never he made to
think alike on religious Subjects. Then is
it not best TO let such subjects alone in oir
in!eremlrse with each other. and content
ourselves with devi>ing social system
which sail be a guide to courtesy in our
relations with others, to con,entment. and
happiness to ourscli? From a profound
examination of tho religious condition of
China. Conflrius had thus come to the
conclusion that it is not given to man to
attain to certainty Or unity in Theological
matters. and therefore it is useless for hin
to concern himself Will, them In the
course OF ages many forms Of polytheism
and monotheism had prevailed. Each had
had its day. Conflci,,s said to his col,n-
| trymen: IL teach you nothing but what
You can discover tor yourselves. Look
around you and use your own reason. No
superior power has sent me. am notil-
ing but a man like yourselves. Don't make
existence wild fever of eXciiement: be
virtGous. he patient. The sun shines on
the dial of life but for Il few hours; seize
and enjoy the bright moment rs you may.
What is the use OF running after !, parting
shadow of time? Let every man rule him
self and family in accordance with virtue.
Let hiri obey the emperor, who is the rep
rescntaiiye Of the INV. as Ee desires his
children to obey bin. In the long ages
that are passed Our fathers we're extracting
wisdom from experience: let us never for
get that we arr what we are because OF
what they thought. Let us set firmly be-
tore our eyes the conclusions to which
they came. Let us do homage to olr dead !
Let not the grave hide from lis forever so
much that is noble and beautiful and !
good"
Is not ancestral worship parted by many
degrees from leathenism? /
So arose this worship in China. Doubt
less it has greatly conduced TO political
stability. though it has retarded progress.
The Chinese has no desire to be more
learned than his foretatlers. His guide in
s'lers it as nothing more than means of
conducting himself honorably and pru-
dently through. of teaching linn how to
discharge his social and political duties. of
cultivaIing industry. molesty, sObricty.
gravity, decorum. thoughtiulness. He
says to his friends, .'Relisions are many.
reason is one E; let us be brothers,
Lao-tse, the toyer,lnner of n'ucius.
stands. as it were, Oh the boundary line of
the physical aspirations of the oli Chinese
times and indiIcrentism OF the new He
recommends his cOuntrymen not to give I
up the investigation of nature. and especi- I
ally to direct their attention 10 the prepar- 4,
alton of in elixir of life. That the vege-
table world contains material admirably ,
calculated for the benefit of man. both in IA
physical and moral sense. seemed to be
proved by the discovery of tea. one of the
most valuable gifts that China has made to
the human race. Intoxicating drinks were
not forbidden. lis WAS subsequently the ,
:ase among the mlns'lans. nor their
lse forchly restrained by law. as among
tH' A". "CiC ~ WHAT
VAS acknowledged to bea better beverage.
Not known to Europeans until the close
II the sixteenth century, the infusion OF =
he leaf OF this plant has had among us tlfe
,eneiiccnt effect that it has had among the 7
jilinese. and that especially us regards our Il
emile popHlation.
But perhaps the gran,lcst example that ;
Jhina has offered to the human race is her y
ttempt (fir from being unsl,ccessfuD at the
organization of her national intellect. By
system of well designed competitive ex- =
limitations she singles out her ;.blest men
o these eventually she intrusts the man."
cement OF State aikiirs. The basis from
rllich she starts is universal education.
'eople sometimes are astonisllet. at the
olili'y and durability Of her institutions. Il
nd wonder how she can control four hun :.
red millions of subjects. The explana-
on is to be found In this. her policy. And
ow Christian nations. even our own, are aI
tempting to follow her example. to lay
heir foundation on universal education. b
if need br. and then to sort
d which takes literature as its standard.
'ould he unsuitable among us. but the K,
rinciple might be applied in other modes
etter suited TO our case.
Surprise is often expressed that so IN any to
hinesa inventions and discoveries reach St
] Europe between the twelfth and six til
,enth centuries. An explanation has been "
ought in the commercial Transactions of in
Ienice Genoa. but. singularly enough, the 1
ars of Genghis-Khan seem to have been Il; u;
,mpIetely overlooked. The empire of r,
lis Tartar conqueror reached from China ze
, Poland. A contemporary estimate OF IN
9 intellectual importance is marked by the ~
,undation Of professorship of the Tar -, ~
II language in the university of Paris. A N
reat service might be rndcsed to nolerni q