Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-06-19
Nothing New Under the Sun.

1.-The East" by M. F. Norris EsqI
TO Hindustan we are indebted. not only for
many OF our ideas In philosophy, but also for
many things that enter into our daily life and
pected.
The signs of the Zodiac. and the curious and
nltEerto unaccountable astronomical names
and devices, with which, for our convenience
we have mapped out the starry armament OF
nlgnt, together with very much OF the substance
oil our astronomy, are distinctly of Hindu orr
gln and came TO us from the banks Of the
Gapges. Our common Arabic numerals, So
called. are Hindu, and not Arabic at all: and
were USED oy the Brahmins long before the rise
OF the ARABS or the birth Of Mohamnled. They
Were not known to the Arabs themselves until
after their first invasion of HinduStan In the
eighIh century OF our era; and we call them
ARABIC, because they were introduced into Eu-
rope ABOUT three centuries afterwards by or
Though the Arabs Of Spain. Only those who
nave had occasion to use the Roman or Greek
numerals can fully appreciate the vast import
ance OF the Hindu figures to our science and our
daliy lie, and what debt Of gratitude we owe
10 the inventors OF them. II HinduStan had
done 1aught else but invent our numerals it
would deserve to stand In the very front rank
OF human civilization.
The game OF chess Is of Hindu origin; it Is re-
feriej 10 in the Mahabharata- Playing cards
were not nrst Invented to amuse the insane
Charles VI. Of France, as is commonly stated.
IL is now t0lerably clear that they were known
In Europe some time before the reign OF that
unfortunate monarch; and that. indeed. they
IL
sades, or shortly after their termination. Like
the numerals, they came to the West directly
through the SaracenS Or Arabs; but like the nu-
m Inea IS, ehe Arabs themselves procured them
frequently made OF them before the Saracens
became known to history.
10 The same source we can now trace many
OF our myths and legends, and much OF what is
called the folklore OF Europe. Even our nursery
tales, from Cinderella and Little Red Riding
Hood 10 William Tell, find their counterparts In
the Sanscr1t language, and In the Hindustani,
ltS more modern successor; and we may justly
suppose that they find there their originals
also-slnce that language supplies the explana-
ton OF many OF them. For It seems that after
all, maDy or these stories of our childhood are
not the meaningless narratives they appear to
De, out are. In TACT, expressions of familiar nat
ural phenOmena-highly ngurative Illustrations
OF lhe phases OF the sun and moon, OF the dawn,
the morning star, the winds and of the spirits
That were supposed to reside In the air and In
the celestial bodies. With such fanciful 1mper-
SonationS OF natural phenomena our primeval
first offspring On the highlands of ancient Arya:
and the stories which they told. and which with
them were readily recognized SymbOlismS of
oaIly occurrences, became with their descend
anus mere traditions recltalS whose true mean
lngs were gradually loSt-rectals without
moral, or with a very different one from that
which gave them birth.
Our very SuperSt1tionS are many OF them of
Hindu origin. What Is there to which supersti-
ton clings more desperately than to the horse
shoe as an emblem OF good luck? Our ancestors
hung II over their doors; some OF their descend
ahtS persist In hanging IL there yet. Lord Mel
son sailed into the battle OF the Nile with one
nailed to the masthead OF his vessel Latterly
the use OF the horseshoe seems to Lave received
a new lease OF vitality. Beauty sets 1t with
diamonds. and wears 1t on her wrist, or suS-
penis it around her neck. So do her sisters or
HlndustaD; so have they done for unnumberei
II should mean anything? AS horseshoe it
dOes not mean nything. But the emblem was
not horseshoe originally, but either repre-
sentatlon OF the crescent moon. or an adapra-
ton OF symbol of nature-WOrShip quite famil-
lar TO the deyOtees OF silva In HinduStan The
one explanation Is suggested by the worshiDpers
OF silva, the other by those or VIShnu. Either
Will account for tJ with reasonable degree OF
satisfaction: while no one ever has been able 10
explain Why the horseshoe, as such, Sho lid
be regarded as an omen or symbol Of good
luck.
1t may be that some of us have been witnesses
OF custom that prevailed some years ago. and
possibly yet prevails, in some parts OF Ireland
and OF the Highlands Of Scotland, of kindling
the night preceding Midsummer Day, or st.
Johns Day, the path OF June. TO this custom
reference Is made more than once by Sir Walter
Scott. The people who ktndle these fires know
not Tor what reason they do so; though 1t is
sometimes said TO be In honor of ST. John. But
why st. John should be so honored does not
appear. or course it is almost unnecessary to
say that the custom has nothing to do with St
John. We now know that those fires were first
lit on the SUBMITS OF the Hindu Kush Mount
aims 10 honor OF the God OF Day by the worship
ers of Agni, the first demoralizers OF the purer
Fedic religion OF the early Aryans; and that the
custom Itself Is SuperstitiouS remnant Of the
old Asiatic worship OF Sun and Fire.
The White House Under Van Buren.
ben: Perley Pooro in July Atlanticl
Mr.. Van Buren, was the first president who
had not been born British subject; yet he was
suffrage, and In favor Of h strong central gov
eminent, although he had reached his exalted
position by loud professions OF democracy. He