504 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



anything known at present is useless. There 

 is no river on the face of the globe of which 

 the Euphrates and Tigris (Hiddekel) are sep- 

 arate "heads," as they are said to be in the 

 second chapter of Genesis ; for, although the 

 Euphrates and Tigris now unite for a short 

 space on their way to the Persian Gulf, yet 

 until the time of Alexander the Great they 

 kept entirely distinct courses, and therefore it 

 has been assumed that the Deluge completely 

 altered the physical character of the region de- 

 noted by the term Eden. This was Luther's 

 notion, to which, however, it has been objected 

 that the narrative in Genesis is so worded as to 

 convey the idea that the countries and rivers 

 spoken of were existing in the time of the his- 

 torian. Besides, the science of geology has 

 thrown so much doubt on the universality of a 

 deluge so late as the period assigned to Noah 

 that it is hazardotis to argue on the hypothesis 

 of any extensive physical changes having taken 

 place since the first appearance of man on the 

 planet at least if that be dated only some 

 six thousand years back. In all the theories 

 which have been advanced regarding the loca- 

 tion of Eden two things have not been explained 

 by anyone ; these are the statement that the 

 four rivers flow from one river, and the river 

 Pison ' ' compasseth the whole land of Havilah. ' ' 

 Until these are solved the location of the Gar- 

 den of Eden will continue to remain a mystery. 



Diet of Worms was an assembly con- 

 voked by Emperor Charles V., for the purpose 

 of considering state affairs, and principally 

 the course to be pursued toward the Reforma- 

 tion and Martin Luther. It was composed of 

 the princes and other leading representatives 

 of the several states of the German Empire. 

 Luther appeared before this august body, and 

 his defense of himself and his followers 

 against the charge of heresy was dignified and | 

 eloquent, and compelled the admiration of the | 

 assembly and many of his former foes. He j 

 was allowed to leave the city under escort, and [ 

 at the instigation of his friend, the Elector of j 

 Saxony, who feared th'at he might be assassi- 

 nated if he continued in active life, he was | 

 taken to the Castle of Wartburg, where he j 

 remained, virtually a prisoner, for about one 

 year. When his adherents had become numer- 

 ous enough and strong enough for him to 

 advocate his principles without fear of moles- 

 tation, he was restored to liberty. 



Confucianism r is termed a religion, but! 

 it ought rather to be regarded as a system of j 

 social and political life, built upon a slight) 

 foundation of philosophy. It contains no \ 

 trace of a personal God. There are, indeed, j 

 a number of allHsions to a certain heavenly j 

 agency or power Shang-te whose outward] 



emblem is Tien, or the visible firmament ; but 

 this Shang-te, in the opinion of the most en- 

 lightened Chinese scholars, is nothing more 

 than a verbal personification of "the ever- 

 present Law and Order and Intelligence which 

 seem to breathe amid the wonderful activities 

 of physical creation, in the measured circuit 

 of the seasons, in the alternation of light and 

 darkness., in the ebb and flow of tides, and in 

 the harmonious and majestic revolutions of 

 the heavenly bodies." Confucius lived about 

 550 B. C. He strove to direct the attention 

 of men to the duties of social and political life, 

 and Confucianism is epitomized in the follow- 

 ing, words of the great teacher: "I teach 

 you nothing but what you might learn your- 

 selves, viz., the observance of the three funda- 

 mental laws of relation between sovereign and 

 subject, father and child, husband and wife, 

 and the five capital virtues universal char- 

 ity, impartial justice, conformity to ceremonies 

 and established usages, rectitude of heart and 

 mind, and pure sincerity." Confucianism 

 appeals to "practical" men. It lauds the 

 present world ; rather doubts, than otherwise, 

 the existence of a future one ; and calls upon 

 all to cultivate such virtues as are seemly in 

 citizens industry, modesty, sobriety, gravity, 

 decorum, and thoughtfulness. 



Millennium. The idea of the millen- 

 nium, literally a thousand years' time, origi- 

 nated proximately in the Messianic expectation 

 of the Jews ; but more remotely, it has been 

 conjectured, in the Zoroastrfan doctrine of the 

 final triumph of Ormuzd over Ahriman, and 

 was connected by the Christians with the sec- 

 ond coming of Christ. The notion of a golden 

 age, preserved by the converts from heathen- 

 ism to Christianity, as well as the oppression 

 and persecution to which they were long sub- 

 jected by the state authorities, were naturally 

 calculated to develop and strengthen such 

 hopes. The chief basis of the millennium 

 idea in Judaism, as well as in Christianity, 

 however, is the ardent hope for a visible Divine 

 rule upon earth, and the identification of the 

 Church with that of which it is merely a sym- 

 bol. In the Mosaic account of creation we 

 find the primitive ground for making the vic- 

 torious era of the Church last a thousand 

 years. By a strictly literal interpretation of 

 tin- Ith verse of the 90th Psalm it was sup- 

 posed that a day of God was arithmetically 

 equal to a thousand years ; hence the six days 

 of creation were understood to indicate that 

 the earth would pass through 6,000 years of 

 labor and suffering, to be followed by a sev- 

 enth day that is, 1,000 years of rest and 

 happiness. In the book of Revelation this 

 view is presented. Still, the rabbinical tradi- 



