Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1882-09-27
E3D TRANSPORTATION o. ruc ri.


O. al tbgwsys in which the imagine
non has distorted the truth there i
none thss has worked 70 much harm -
~ exaggerated respect for past ageA
This reverence for antiquity u repug-
nant tossvssy maxim Of reason, and u
merely the indulgence Of poetic senti-
ment in favor Of the remote and nm
known.
The marvellous feats Of antiquity with
which the Sanscrit books abound are 80
long and 90 complicated that it would
occupy TOO much space TO give even an
outline Of them but there il one class
Of these ri, gular fictions which is we'll
worth attention, and admits Of being
briefly stated. allude to the extraor-
binary age which man was supposed to
have attained in former times. A belief
In the longevity Of the human race 1t m
early period Of the world was the natu-
raj product Of those feelings which
ascribed to the ancients an universal su-
periority over the moderps aud this We
see exempliied in some ii the Christian
and in many Of the Hebrew writings.
But the statements in these works arc
tame and insignifcant when compared
with what II preserved in the literature
Of India On this, ss on every subject,
the imagination Of the Hindoos distanced
al competition. Thus, among an i'm.
ncnsc number Of similar facts, we find
It recorded that in ancient times the du.
ration Of the life Of common men was
80. 0OO years, and holy men lived to b
upward Of 100000. Some died little
sooner, others little later; but in the
most ho,rishing period Of antiquity, il
we take all classes together. 100, 600
years was the average. OF one King,
whose name was Yudhishthir, it is casu-
ally mentioned that he reigned $1,000
years; while another, named Alarka,
reigned 66. 900. They were cut of in
their prime, since there are several in.
stances Of the early poets living TO b
about haf million. But the most re-
markable case is that # . very shining
character in Indian history, who united
in his single person the functions Of
King and saint. This eminent man
lived in pure and virtuous age, and his
days were, indeed, long in the land !;
since when lie was made a King he was
1900, OCO years old; he then reigned
300, 600 years having done which no
resigned his empire and fingered on tor
100, 900 years more.
The same boundless reverence for an
tiQuity made the Hindoos refer every
thug important to the distant periods
and they frequently assign date which
is absolutely be~iliering. Their great
collection Of laws. callel tho "Insti-
tutes Of Menu" is certainly less than
5000 years old: but the Iudian chronol-
og,sts, 50 far from being satisfied with
this, ascribed to them an age that the
sober European mind finds difficulty
even in conceiving. According to tho
best native authorities, these institutes
were revealed to man about two thou
sand million years before the present
era.
All this il Int part OF that love for
the remote, that straining after the in
finite, and that indifference to- the pres
ent, which characterize every branch Of
the Indian intellect. Not only in liter
atnre, but also in religion and in art,
this tendency is supreme. To subju-
gate the understanding, and exalt the
imagination, is the universal principle.
In the do mas Of their theology, in tho
character Of their gods, and even in the
forms of their temples, We see how the
sublime and threatening aspects of the
eternal world have filed the mind If the
people with these images Of the grand
and terrible, which they strive to re-
produce in visible form, and to which
they owe the leading peculisrities Of
their national culture.-Buckie's His
f<,~,, NJ Publication