Does any one believe this is the result of chance?
Will any part of to-day’s civilization survive the same flight of years?
Posterity has no claim on us which individualism—the god of the age—respects; nor will it require a cataclysm to destroy any of the works of to-day on any plane.
Science and invention make many discoveries, but our mental flights fall far short of the ancients in the discernment of the basic principles of philosophy.
In religion we have lost the meaning of the simplest symbols, and, apparently, we do not understand where to place the credit for the principles and precepts we profess to believe and practice.
Gautama led the travelers on by the west, while far away to the east was seen the conical head of Orizaba, soaring high into the clouds.
Near by was the barren, though beautifully shaped, Malinche Sierras, casting broad shadows over the plains of Tlaxcala. At their feet lay the Pyramid of Cholula, reposing in denuded gardens in the once fairest portion of the plateau of Puebla.
“Thou seest but a remnant of former glory,” said Gautama. “We, too, have bowed to the chastening rod. Only such as climbed the long flight of steps to the top of the pillar escaped destruction. Thou, too, art able to bear witness?”
It was like probing an old wound, but Yermah answered bravely:
“The lash found my tender parts, but I am learning to be content.”