Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-13

a cord In such manner as 10 form an
endless loop. sat on the ground with
knees raised. passed the loop over their
shoulders and their knees. binding them
selves up tight, and hitched 1t. The
Mahdists have wiped out that tribe, or,
having got so far, they might have dis
tinguished themselves beyond all others
of their race since the world began by
inventing a chair. Chinese records give
an actual date for the introduction Of
sitting down. Captain Fleming cites
passage from the annals of the Leang
dynasty C'Travels in Manchuria," l5D:
"At this time arose n new Gus
tom: people sat with their legs
hanging down" Captain Fleming does
not cite the year. but the Leang
dynasty reigned in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries a. d., and that
Is about the date we should expect under
all the circumstances. In China six or
seven hundred years are no great while
wherein TO establish a fashion. The official
class and the well-to-do have adopted
this one, but for the populace it is still an
undttractive novelty. For us the posture
is just as easy as lying; but l can testify
that a rich Malay Nikodah. a seafaring
merchant accustomed to white mems
ways did not find il comfortable. Dr.
Wills, who practiced for many years in
Teheran. observes: ut is a common thing
for visitor, II on familiar terms, to ask
10 be allowed to sit on his heels. as the
unaccustomed chair tires him" This Is
strong evidence. Persians ION familiar
terms" with the physician to the British
embassy would be men Of standing. well
acquainted with European furniture
Chairs would be no novelty to them, since
the Shah and his courtiers have abolished
the divan I'm public ceremonials. But they
are not yet reconciled TO sitting down
Plainly sitting down is not natural
habit.
Considering the circumstances-the an
cient and general use Of seats in Europe,
their absence elsewhere-we may suppose
that they were invented by one people,
which had influence enough TO spread
the fashion widely. The Greeks fulfil that
requirement. and you find them pos
sessed of chairs or thrones at very
early date. But there is another people,
the Egyptians, from whom the Greeks
learned all they knew at the beginning
and chairs were common among them
an indefinite number of centuries before
Homer Not only pictures, but the arti-
cles themselves remain. A tomb paint
ing figured by NJ. Maspero, shows an up
holsterer's shop in Thebes-one of the
scenes representing ordinary trades and
handicrafts; a workman Is polishing
chairleg with an instrument or sub
stance-pumice-stone perhaps; another Is
drilling the completed frame, doubtless
for cords to support the seats.
That the Greeks or any other Euro
pean race should hail such an
invention was to be expected Some
If the Europeans would hail the novelty
why not Orientals? 1t should be replied,
with becoming difiidence, because the Eu-
ropeans had no carpets. So far as l have
read, no people in Europe ever thought
OF using carpets proprio motu, and no
people of the East, saving and excepting
mere barbarians, failed to use them.
This is q serious consideration, If we
reflect. SO long as human beings were
content TO squat. the condition of the
ground did not much signify. A Few
ounces more or less dirt upon their robes
of bark or skin were imperceptible. But,
when they had clothes to spoil, they could
neither squat in the mud, nor sit cross
legged, unless the earth were quite dry.
The Oriental was saved by his carpet;
the European, unacquainted with that ar
ticle. found salvation in high seat
THE ANCIENT CHAIR.
But this, Of course, was not the inven-
and I venture to think that much as
sured. The identity of forms is enough
TO make it probable, at least Many are
the pictures of Greek chairs which have
come down 10 us and they show, as much
graceful variety as the subject admits;
but the motif OF principle is the same as
that in the Egyptian. This, however, Is
n trifing detail. The practice of sitting
was adopted, not for conveniences, but Tor
dignity. The chair was a throne, OF the
gods or the Pharaoh, and long ages pass
ed. no doubt, ere Il became simply a piece
| of furniture. That the king should De
raised on high is a natural idea, ana uni
yersal; but it does not follow that ne
should sit. Those who have beheld the
Dewan Aam, the Hall of Public Durbar,
an Delhi. do not forget the throne there
| a slab of inlaid marble under canopy.
Relow II Is another bare slab Cushions
1vere laid on these and the Great Mogul
| souatted. cross-legged. above, his Nizief
below like the Old World parson'
| ana clerk. The Peacock Throne itseli
which stood in the Dewan Khass, whef'
| the nobility had audience, was deslShe.
| for the same attitude; the King could no.
sit upon It. Egyptian originality sho"e'
| itself In making Pharoah sit. Many chali
| have been discovered in Etruscan tomp'
| and pictures innumerable. They are al
| ways assigned to the king or the chiei
| The Roman curule chair was a foldinl
| stool. without back or arms, the top of II
| lifting off, while the legs Of it doubled up
| The name is interpreted TO show that il
| the beginning il was seat placed Oh
| chariot. as chairs are sometimes on
| market cart for our women. Nheh suci
| a very primitive piece Of furniture wa
! regarded with the highest veneratioh, W
| NV susnect that it was the first of III
1 lind with which the Roman barbarian'
| cot acquainted. They had no knowledg
| of Egypt. not even Of Greece. The selli
curulis was ayowedly adopted from I'M
| Tuscans 1t may have been the camp
| stool of some petty chief, taken on th'
| Gnld. an object of wondering admlratloI