The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1883-01-05

When one looks back at the reported
ong life before the Deluge, however old
he may be, he feels like an insignificant
infant. What wonderful dilapidation
has been in the human fabric. The
comparative longevity of the aDcients
/ and the moderns is matter of vital im-
p0Ttance and interest. Button and Hal
| leck both agree upon the possibility OF
/ long life before the Deluge. We have
| the recorded word of the longevity Of
man in the Methusaleh, Jared, Noah
( and numerous others. Surely the chron-
/ ology of the early ages could not have
! been the same as this of the present age.
/ If the same the physical iegeneracy of
/ man has made wonderful rapid strides
Once man strobe the earth like collos-
sus, and f1ourished like a tIee. His days
were not like the flower and the grass
| that springeth up in the morning and is
| cut down in the evening. Think OF Me-
/ thusslah being in the full vigor OF man
hood at eight hundred years of age. Just
I think of a man perpetuating his species
at the great old age at which Methusa-
lah did. For Methusaleh lived after
| he begot Samech seUen hundred and eigb-
ey-tlco gears, and then begOt sons and
daughters" Nowadays man gropes
his way through this valley of youthful
and premature death, the inexorable
curse of three score and ten" holding
him the hair. Very fewmen Of the pres
ent age possess one-tenth Of the vitality
of Methusaleb. For the days of Me-
thusaleh were nine hundred and sixty
nine years" In these pTlmeval days it
was as common for men TO live nine
hundred years, as it is in these degener-
ate days for men to live ninety years.
Jared lived nine hundred and sixty-twO
years. Noah lived nine hundred and
fifty years Adam lived Line hundred
and thirty years Seth lived nine hun
dred and twelve years Canan lived nine
hundred and ten years, and EDos lived
nine hundred and FIVE years. In these
degenerate days death at one hundred
years is uncommon.
It seems as if the once great yelling
up of the deep founts of physical NOR
tality have ceased, and man has become
the mushroom of an hour. The flames
OF the ancient divine fire seem to have
died out of the human clay. The ques-
tiOn now suggests itself. Upon what
food did our pIimeval fathers feed 1t
is certain their cooks had not learned
the art Of bestowing upon them the boon
of chronic indigestion. They aSsnredly
were not in the bit of gorgeing their
stOmachs with fried oysters, devilled
crabs and chicken salads. They could
not have been subject TO collie. tooth
ache, spasms, itch, carbuucles on the
back of neck, scald heads or ingrowiDg
tOe-nails. Were those primeval gentle
mems stomachs supplied with the same
arrangements of fountains and gastric
solvents which they reveal to the eye of
the naturalist in these profane days of
scalpels and microscopes What pity
ha nd rahE Of hea
stomach and loins of that wonderful old
Methusaleh had not been clearly made
out and scientifically arranged with pic
torial illustrations for the edifcatiOn
and benefit of modern HSculapiuses.
The old patriaIcbs must have had good,
clear cOnsciences, and slept sweetly and
soundly, and did not worry themselves
in gTasping after wealth and fame. AS
MeIhusaleh and other patTiaTchs appear
upon the record not as fables. but as
possible and actual facts, the critical
questionable purely essential problem
IS, has the human race actually degener-
ated physically in modern times, for
morally and spiritually, it seems that it
has wilted and almost withered TO death.
II reality. the people Of the present
age cannot boast either Of their physical
or mental vigor. The accumulation Of
literature which is stored up in huge
magazines, and the multiplied faculties
of modern aducation which long exper.
ience has secured, are no proof that we
are relatively increasing in strength of
mind, nor are our concentrated faculties
and stupendOus triumphs of bodily labor
proofs that we are relatively Increasing
in physical energy. When we make al
lowances for our advantages, we are
penetrated with the irresistible sense of
relative inferioTity. When we look
back with an impartial eye on the sever
ity aud uubeudIng morality, the refine
ment in taste aud sentiment, the mental
and physical vigor so common among
The ancient Egyptians, AtheBians and
Romans as evjnced at this day in their
monuments that have deied the wreck
Of time and vardals of ages, we can
not deny our inferiority. Take glance
back at the history OF the world, and
the contrast that presents itself between
the mental, moral and physical cOBdi-
tion Of society in ages long past, and its
condition as regards these relations at
present, is met with the humiliating con-
yiction OF the awful dilapidaJiOn that
has taken place in the human fabric.
@. n. s.