Wichita eagle., 1888-03-08
BORROWED THUNDER - NOTHING
MORE,

may be united, close. +. p. II.
BORROWED THUNDER - NOTHING
MORE.
To the Editor Of the Daily Eagle.
notice you quote the Kansas City Star as
saying that Father .McGlynn is not the
author of the phrase Brotherhood of God
and brotherhood of man." But that
Theodore Parker is the originator of this
and the author or that more practical
one attributed to Mr.. Lincoln, "A gov
eminent of the people, by the people and
for the people shall not perish from the
earth.
To a thinking man who is well read in
the history of the world nothing is more
clear than the fact that the cons true
ton of anything in nature by either or
both the mind Or hands of man is gov
erned entirely by the present
wants. the present controlling
circum stances and the future
hopes and expectations connected with
the peculiar character of the structure.
Thus, since water descends in every
form from the air to the earth; since the
sun gives light; fire warns and smoke
STILES: the wind blows cool and walls
and roofs ward off the effects OF the ele-
ments: the general aims of architecture
being for the protection and use of man
everywhere against similar adverse con-
ditions, it follows that the ice hut of the
Esouimaux, the tepe and wickeup OF the
Indian, the tent of the Arab and the
palaces of kings have walls, places of
egress and ingress for persons and light,
apertures for fire and smoke, forced by
general conditions, which make the
structures of men unknown to each
other in every part of the earth alike In
a general way.
And so it is in ideas concerning social
government. In various places In ms
tory, and wherever the durability
of a government by the masses
or large part of the
people was a question between their
representatives and the leaders of class
rule certain defensive and offensive dec
larations were natural sequences. Thus,
in Grecian and Roman history the idea
of the legitimacy of a government of the
people as against that of favorite few
is often mOoted and maintained. But
by the time feudalism began to recon-
struct social order out of the chaos
wrought by the fall of Rome we find the
idea evolved upon higher and more ex-
plicit plane. In the contest OF sover-
eighty by the kings with fuedalism we
still see here and there the idea of gov
eminent by the people evolving with
accommodating force. When, however,
the incompatible genius of Napoleon had
IL, IL hot I no
divinity of kings and taught the people
of continental Europe that the Lord
anOinted was impotent where vox popull
vox Del was the watchword, we find
this idea surviving every shock with adj
ditional force.
1t was at the close of the Hundred
days, when Napoleon had fallen and
Louis XVIII had assembled the throne
of France under the protection
of the monarchial bayonets of
all Europe in Paris that Guizot, the
statesman, philosopher and historian,
wrote, speaking of Frances entry upon
j long career of peace after 1915: "We
now, however, enter upon new era,
till then unexampled in our history, dur
ing which France, at peace in spite OF
its internal agitation, constantly tended
towards that government of the country
by the country which remains and shall
remain the object of the most noble
hope" And here, no doubt. Is the
fount from which both Parker and Lin
coin drank. as GuiZot was great writer
and friendly one to America. His his
tory of civilization was translated by
Professor Henry, of the New York uni
versity, as early as 1912; and thus, as
college text book, has been largely dis
semination of socio-political ideas in our
country. When Guizot wrote the quota
ton above, he had no doubt been upon
many battle fields; perhaps he had looked
upon the terrible field of Waterloo, just
then fought. and with knowledge of
the great struggle between the people
and the Bourbons which had led up to it,
caught, with instincts of the philosopher,
sight of the chartered rights of the
French people as a protection against
absolutism. Mr.. Lincoln, on a some
what similar occasion, on the awful field
of Gettysburg, was inspired by the sur
roundings to utter the same ideas in but
slightly different words. These two
great men were politicians and philoso-
pliers only.
On another occasion Mr.. Garfield,
partly priest. partly politician and soldier,
hearing of the assassination of Mr.. Lin
coin, said: God reigns, and the govern
ment at Washington still lives Here is
a man evolving an idea of the survival
of the fittest in human government, and
he gives it by force of early training,
the direct sanction of Diety. In that
same way Theodore Parker, earlier, de-
clared the existence of the Fatherhood
OF God and the brotherhood of man.
mixing his theocracy with his democ-
racy. Then comes Father McGlyn, who,
under the inspiration of his religious
and philanthropic nature, coupled with
the advanced social reform ideas of
George, whilst contemplating the awful
aspects of poverty and the unequal con-
ditions of mankind. and declares the
same sentiments All of this is legiti-
mate. Principles and progress are the
objects, whilst men are only the means
to accomplish from. QUoNDAN.
THE Invest TOWN