e
more and made the countries that border upon the Atlantic become the
masters of the earth.

There are those who say that the world war and the suicide of the great
European nations has greatly diminished the importance of the Atlantic
Ocean. They expect to see civilisation cross the American continent and
find a new home in the Pacific. But I doubt this.

The westward trip was accompanied by a steady increase in the size
of ships and a broadening of the knowledge of the navigators. The
flat-bottomed vessels of the Nile and the Euphrates were replaced by
the sailing vessels of the Phoenicians, the AEgeans, the Greeks, the
Carthaginians and the Romans. These in turn were discarded for the
square rigged vessels of the Portuguese and the Spaniards. And the
latter were driven from the ocean by the full-rigged craft of the
English and the Dutch.

At present, however, civilisation no longer depends upon ships. Aircraft
has taken and will continue to take the place of the sailing vessel
and the steamer. The next centre of civilisation will depend upon the
development of aircraft and water power. And the sea once more shall be
the undisturbed home of the little fishes, who once upon a time shared
their deep residence with the earliest ancestors of the human race.

BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS

CONCERNING BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS

THE discoveries of the Portuguese and the Spaniards had brought the
Christians of western Europe into close contact with the people of India
and of China. They knew of course that Christianity was not the only
religion on this earth. There were the Mohammedans and the heathenish
tribes of northern Africa who worshipped sticks and stones and dead
trees. But in India and in China the Christian conquerors found new
millions who had never heard of Christ and who did not want to hear of
Him, because they thought their own religion, which was thousands of
years old, much better than that of the West. As this is a story of
mankind and not an exclusive history of the people of Europe and
our western hemisphere, you ought to know something of two men whose
teaching and whose example continue to influence the actions and the
thoughts of the majority of our fellow-travellers on this earth.

In India, Buddha was recognised as the great religious teacher. His
history is an interesting one. He was born in the Sixth Century before
the birth of Christ, within sight of the mighty Himalaya Mountains,
where four hu