Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-06-06

too great value, what life or being too
sacred TO be sacrificed at that altar .
Lave any species OF living creatures
ever escaped the demands OF that insa-
table god What fowl Of the air, ami.
mai OF the earth, or Ash Of the sea has
evaded the searching band OF Science
or escaped the flames of its altar The
very stones Of the earth have been melt
ed and dissolved In the crucibies of
Sclence. There ~ not tv:nkIiuc star
fssding IN the unbounded pastures of
tue heavens, but man will ask of il,
How came you there, and what is
your purpose - and until answered he
Will remain forever unsatisfed. IL there
ls any existence in the broad expanse O.
tue universe beyond the knOvIedge of
man he Will not rest nor cease his ex
ertipnS and sacrifice until he has
oompr -hended 1t. Men have sacrificed
At TINS altar time, labor, talents
OF gold, aud talents of mind.
Ihey have borne social ostracism. the
seathlng criticisms and the burning
scorn of their fellow beings, unhinch-
ingiy. They have braved cold. hunger,
hre, death; perils by land aud perlls
by ssa-every kind of danQer-for the
sake OF science. What sea is too broad
or deep, what seething river too rocky
or dangerous, what mountains too high,
what yawning abyss too awful, what
forest too dense or dark, what desert
too dry or hot, what savage tribe too
dangerous, what extremity of climate
too great, what combination of the ele-
inents too terrific, or what obstacle of
any kind too form liable bot that man
Will stand up IN his might, and in the
name of science defy it . science !,
how many nave been sacrificed in thy
name How many souls have been
hurled untimely into eternity how
many human beings have .een dropped
into the grave in worship at thine al
tar And will this never cease Shall
this altar be forever besmeared with
blood, and the flames be forever fed by
these priceless offerings! Shall man
continue always kneeling at this
shrine Of his idolatry ! As long as
time shall last. as long as the finite re-
mains bounded as long IA science
withholds from mortais ons atom of
knowledge, will the fire of that altar
burn brightly; for no hypocrite ever
sacrifices at that altar the devotion
snust be- real, and the gifts unpolluted
with hypocrisy: the offerings must
come from the heart and be eonse-
Grated by the life blood. But, yoa ask,
have all these gifts from man effected
nothing in return? Has the God of
their idolatry been deaf to their en-
treaties aad unmoyed by their earnest
supplications Have the sacrificial ef-
forts of men for ages elioited no re-
sponse2 For an answer, look about
you. Behold what man hath wrought !,
What avenues of thought have
opened, how the secrets of
the universe have been disclosed,
what mighty forces of nature
have been overcome and placed in sery-
itude to man. Does not the fire
breathed iron horse repay all the ef-
forts and sacrifices of Watt aud his
helpers? Think you not that the "Cier-
mont" Is sufficient reoOmpense for all
the exertions of Fulton when you be-
hold the "Great Eastern that sea
beast leviathan, the hugest of all that
swims the ocean stream And that
lightning thread that penetrates the
depths of mighty oceans realm and
binds together continents. that runs
through every land and nearly girts the
globe, does not that respond with an
swer louder than words that the saori
ce is accepted and that the God il
pleased ! No reasonable person would
presume to say that the world Is not
benefited and Newton a Thousand fold
repaid for all his sacrifices and his as
siduous studies Still you may ques-
! ton there have not been many men
who, although their sacrifice has been
| Just IA great, seem to have accomplished
no material benefit as result. Well,
there have been such men. There is
one great object OF sacrifice which has
scornfully resisted all attempts at its
attainment aud cruelty thrust aside the
strongest power of man, unfeelingly re
| mindlng him of mortafs weakness.
The north seas have devoured many of
our bravest men. none after another is
swallowed in such qnlck succession
that the one has scarcely drawn his dy
ing breath before fresh victim IL thrown
| into the jaws of the ravenous nonster.
| Thus have perished our brave Perrys,
Hudsons, Ksnes, belongs and such a
bost of other brave comrades that 1t
seems almost madness to attempt
further solution of the mysteries of the
pole, and that the sacrifice is already
greater than the reward can possibly
| be. But IL any one of you Is disposed
to doubt n TO the benefits accruing from
this seemingly extravagant sacrifice in
! tha lonely and silent Polar Sea, II any
doubter would ask cii homo est oHtHe "a,
YOU must remember that every example
| of unseltish devotion to noble purpose
il an inspiration to heroic endeavor,
and that the influence of the brave
| consecrators of life is not to be meas
ured by material. immediate or calcu
liable results. TO seize the secrets of
this universe il, To some temperaments,
an irresistible impulse, and II IN the
| pursuit the utmost extremity Of human
endurance. and evan death, is encoun-
tered with that tranquil courage and
| fortitude belonging only To the highest
manhood, the lesson Is not lost, and hu-
manity is the richer for the daring.
| And, after all, mau's worth IL not
| measured by the number of years he
lasts. One man may do more good IN
diving than score by living. his
worth Is in proportion as he lifts hu-
manity to higher and nobler plane OF
| action, in proportion as he extends tue
boundaries of the limits nearer to the
| infinite. And welco ne, heartfelt well
come, to any inspiring theme that
moves man to rise from the narrow rut
of selfishness and littleness TO broader
view of his worth and better under
standing of the purpose of his exist
ence. Blessed be that noble purpose
| which incites man to escape from the
mire Of his animal nature and to adorn
himself with that original purity whence
he fell. G!ary and honor be to him whG
crasps with Jealous sarnesiness that in-
spirlnO theme or noble purpose, and
then strives with the exertion of all his
God given powers to aid his fellow men
and posterity TO attain to that goal OF
perfection of human life when we shall
know all and everything. Bat thai
goal is vet long way of.
DEArU OF Ike FosrER.-The entire
community was shocked yesterday even
ing 20 hear of the death of Ike Foster
n had haan in moor health for s0ms