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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1879)
TFT"- no. ;i. HKADINd. 51 uLn-..TT- tnulilionul centre on thu highlands of Iran and the plains of the Caspian, or from several widely separated centres, the view wo have mentioned seems en mil I v ' milmtiihln. ft i4 imira rimsmiiilili! In tin. lieve tluil all the considerable parts ol the world received their aboriginal popula tions in ages far remote, and that in the so-called New World the intellect of man has wrought and wrangled in times that antedate all known history. This statement rests not upon conject ure? merely, for it has received the sanc tion of eminent investigators. It is for eign to our purpose, however, to enter upon u long summary ol the reasons which they advance. Sullloo' it to say that fifteen centuries ago, this immense valley was the seat of a great nation that had made considerable progress in the avis of civilization. Hut they disappeared so completely th it in default of a better name we call them the Mound Builders. Their extirpation was caused, as there is reason to believe, by a formidable ir ruption on the part of another and more barbarous nation. That these invaders were not Indians is rendered probable from the fact that the later have no know ledge ot the origin of the works of tho Mound Builders. If this is true, the pro. tolype of Tamerlane, the Mongol con querer, preoecded him by many centuries in tho New World. This expulsion, for it is an evident fact, irrespective of its cause, was perhaps tho greatest of its kind that the world has ever witnessed. From what we can glean in tho pre Columbian history ol America, it appears thai the beginnings of civilization in the Western World were nearly, if not quite, coeval with the rise of the great empires of the Orient. Some persons, whoso judgment is to be respected, claim even more than this. When Columbus came, tho civilization of Europe was springing into manhood; that of tho Occident was in its decay. Our own laud had become a solitude before tho advent of tho Indian. How full of significance arc these glimpses of the past I How' interesting might b'; to us a knowledge of that old civilization of the Mississippi Hasin! Tho social philosopher might find in it a rich mine of information. Considerations like these dissipate our notions of the newness of the world, and show, on the contrary, its great age. Truly, the Now World might more appropriately be named the Land of Mystery. As wo turn from the panorama which time has grudgingly unfolded to our view, we might try to pierce tho future, yet the attempt is vain. Wo have a right, to look forward to a long period of prosperity for the yet youthful nation which our forefathers founded in tho world that Sen oca, the Komau poet, prophesied of eight teen centuries ago. Chiohimec. READING. How to economize his time and turn each hour to the best advantage is a pract ical question to every student. A large part of tho day must necessarily bo oc cupied with his studies. The demands for recreation and social intercourse aro considerable, and such as few would be inclined to neglect, even if it were desir able. In addition to this, it is the wish of all to increase their stock of knowledgo by general reading, and to Keep up an interest in the all'airs of tltc outside world by the aid of current literature. How best to distribute to each of these objects its own share of time, and balance with equal justice their several claims, is a problem which the majority fail to solve. Either too much time is given to the niceties of mathematics; or theatres, cards, or tho society of friends is allowed to hold the monopoly, to the exclusion of the most important work of the curricu lum. Perhaps one becomes excessively at-; tached to literature of more temporary in lerost, and may be seen dipping into any