The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1893-06-15
BETTER THAN SCHOOLS.
The Many Lessons Taught By the
Worlds Fair.
Gath Writes Of Mans Wonderful Prog
ress AZ Seen ut the Columbian Exposi-
tion-The Distinctive Exhibits Of
Each Country
lcoPYR1GHr. 1893. I

lCOFYh1GdI. 1000.
There is something solemn in the
thought that when we go to the worlds
fair we see about all that man is
proud of. He has been on the planet
more thousands of years than Moses
thought to be in eternity, but after
all he has very little to show.
Whatever he tries TO do some spiritual
istic reformer dooms to destruction.
Whatever he painted before the sixth
century after Jesus Mahomet declared
to be an abomination, and said it was
profanity for any man to copy what
God had made. Mahomet's supposition
was that everything had been made
just as we see it, and therefore he was
an orthodox man. This set the Arabs,
and their proselytes by the sword, to
making circles and squares, and thus
constructed geometrical lines on which
the earths are worked, or rather work
each other. So Mahomet beat him
self; he thought to have every living
being rejoice only in his wisdom, and
behold, the Moorish doctors put Aris-
totle, Thales and Maimonides away
above him. This Mahomet," said the
doctors of his own sect, Ibid not know
how to turn around; he was worse than
a mule that you have to blind and back
into a conveyance.
When the Moors had carefully writ
ten down all which they had found out
about algebra, astronomy and the an
clients, the church men of Ferdinand
and Isabella collected all that know
ledge and burnt it in the fire, not to be
revenged upon the Moslems who had
burnt the Alexandrian library, which
Gibbon denies, but from sheer hatred of
knowledge and of fellow race. Mr..
Webb, who has come back from Ceylon
to preach Mahomet, is only one of the
influences which will make man revolt
at himself when he sees how much
knowledge has been destroyed by dog
matism. The rise of the various schools
of African conquerors which invaded
Europe sounds to those who read in the
present day like what has taken place
in contemporary theology. A man went
into city, now persisted, on the Dor
ders of the desert Sahara, and saw sit
ting in a school person of grave and
impressive aspect, who addressed him:
Friend, whence come you?' II come
from Cordova, in the land of the west
ern caliphs." HAS not destruction yet
come upon the rulers there?' asked
the banished teacher. eff it has not
come, come it will. They drove wis
dom from them Me they banished
ho nd ~ fot hov TO h II
itude, because l was a pupil of that
wise, great man, Ibn Roshd; oh, God, -
exclaimed the banished teacher,
'throw down that kingdom and punish
them who drove away the learned and
the pure;
The stranger went away, and in an
age of miracles he thought of himself:
Perhaps l can be the agent to accom-
plish that revolution, which must, no
doubt, take place, for perceived by
that teachers countenance that. he
was sincere" Thinking much about
the matter, the stranger kept his eye
on the boys wherever he went, until
he found one who seemed to behold,
gentle and strong, as well as beautiful.
This boy he took back into the Atlas
mountains and trained him like an
other. Mahomet, to overthrow the
dynasty which ruled Spain. Then
came the Almo Ladies, who utterly de-
stroyed the bigoted caliph, and they
set to work all through the conquered
empires to find the few remaining
books of wisdom which had been so
viciously burnt by their forerunners.
In this exhibition are shown the YES
tiges of vanished civilizations, the
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