Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-04-13
FOUR THOUSANDS OF YEARS

IL 10 probable tuox uoSntu8 now exinupB
In Eseiand will BE- In sxistsnce two thou:
seud SesYs hence. Louie Blanc's hall
melancholy, balf cynical aphofism. Edi.
ficoo have only duration u u ruins which
have eternity" must be true IN substance,
though che oldest building Of which civil:
Chsops, is an sdi6cs and mot . ruth bat II |
duration 10 measured, - Egyptsus
mseaurs IT, BY thousands OF years. our
buildings will hardly enjoy even duration.
The strongest things Ne build, our railway
arches, would crumble IL lew centuries
timber or iron in our roofs; and We make
our floors of wood, or Of stone % III
cemented that time dlslodgos the slats
II IL not the melancholy Of the faci, but
IT. straugeness, which just At this moment
imprssses us. sns sense % o. On unsccouns: n s Ole
thought We soe no reason why the
Eneiish should have ceased % completely
70 Iouk forward through long vs.as OF
time. In the ancient world, from the
beginning Of history down 70 . period no.
ana the intent Of making things continue
s'for ever" that IL, for the time covered By
ordinary imaginations, was always .
dominant thought. Men built with that
view, founded with that view, planned
systems with that view. We think the
70 defeat the sction OF time; but the Romans
organised "forever," and 10 Asia mon laid
down rules which were TO survive, II
possible, even time.
Take. for instances, the story, admirably
told In the Telegraph Of Tuesday, Of the
means adopted BY IN obscure Indian dynsst
20 preserve "ior ever !" relic Of the founder
OF Buddhism. Asoks, Il IL believed, some
fifteen hundred years ago distributed these
relics, morseIs OF bone, to oil kings with
whom he was In alliance, and some prince
In Guxerat resolved that his Iolic should
last while time endured. He enclosed Il In
yer, and that In vessel Of copper, and that
in . bowl OF baked clay--a substance ~
durable ~ the earth OF the world--and that
In Golfer Of clsystone, and that In . hollow
square Of sandstone, and that, again, In q
pyramid Of brick more than eighty feet high,
finally, % Nc understand . description only
| on this point obscure, faced the entire struo
| ture with atone blocks Tho prince did moi
| spend all that thought and labor and treas
uie only to honor his relIc;he meant 10 pre-.
serve Il a. long ~ India or time Itself should
oeeded in preserving It for fifteen hundred
| years. His dynasty ceased, and was over
forgotten, bis people changed their creed
and ceased to worship Bnddha his clesf
ances were abandoned by human beings
/ and the Jungle spread its oblitertsing mantl,
Il
still the relic remained ~ safe in It's colder
bottle % II was when the prince PLACED
there.
l And there tho British arch 10 ,logist. Mr.
Campbell, found 1t only few weeks since
the morael Of bono uncalcined, the gold q
the bottle a. bright % eyer, the silver caske
only tarnished, the copper covering onl
rusted, the bowl Of baked clay unchanged
~ Il would be II left there I'LL the worl
cooled, tho claystone Golfer unbroken, tn
} sandstone cavity unviolated, the pyrami
still resisting clinate, and time, and me
who had In some past ago sougf
tressuro In Its interior-and the teI
rible wounds given by the insidiou
crawling Jungle The old king had su
| Cooeded In way, for at least his purpOt
! had been fulfilled after no and his dynast.
| and his workers, and the very memory
. any OF them, had passed away into an Q!
livion which can never be pierced. II
was aotusted, NO doubt, by = feeling thI
some OF US still understand, the ieelin
> that produces relic worship, the idea. surel
Q spiritual one, or at least not earthly, th
something of the divinity In an inspire
, soul must adhere TO the tenement Ia while
, | t dwelt but he was also moved by thI
; desire to make his preserving work col
tinue, that instructive glance down Z
| ondleea vista OF years, which seems
Z | wholly to have died ont from among us. "
. think we value knowledge, wetax ourtelv
Il IOr W OlIu0lOu, anu VIC GXult III
accumulation but for Its continuance dow
the ages we make no effort OF any kin
+ | There II not In Europe a museum Will
a l would survive great fire. There Is not
!. | Europe record Of events on any mater
y more durable than paper, least durat
OF substances and this although wo kno,
Q from tho example OF the Baby yionian
o brary, that one OF the cheapest Of man
d | fsctured substances, the common tile,
: | also one OF the most imperishabie.
!, Strange 10 say, this habit OF mind do
u not nrise from any blank denial that NJ
knowledge can be loot A fear that II mi
n be fingers still In some undeyeloped ar
u | indiscernable form, and In obedience to
Il | traditional impulse, We still bury son
a | records under or In the corner stones
buildings which We intend to last Wh
= is the explanation OF that great changer
] | Il that we all, COmtlsts and Agnoatica
!, | cluded, can think OF long duration a.
{ / attribute only of another world; or has q
n | spirit OF change 30 possessed our souls tn
a | We have no longer faith In the possibili
- Of anything long continuing on earthY
y IL 1t, IN truth, that one kind OF imsRi sti,
u has died among US, and that rs our childr
d grow short sighted poripg over books.
h | We, In our thii st to know all that is Ju
s'the scientific spirip'-have weakened {
:, mental sight which In past ages made {
~ far future seem 10 have such q closeness
= our heartsf We fear that the latter 10
st true explanation, and that the Asia,
n | whom we regard - the sohoolboy OF
d world, retains at least one faculty Will