New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-15
THE FATE or THE ULTIMATE MAN,

We hear q good deal of the coming man. The
noets and the orators are constantly pointing TO
him with admiration They picture that person
as the heir of all the ages and Of all the modern
improvements the cOnsummate Hover Of civiliza-
ton, But how about the ultimate of all the men
who are coming? Is the latest generation this
side of the crack of doom to find life
better worth living than the rest of us have found
IL? 1t will necessarily have the benefit of a larger
and more varied stock of experience than any of
its predecessors have mad, but is it reasonable to
believe that the last man will have happier
or in any respect a more satisfactory career than
the first man, even the gardener Adam, had?
This line of inquiry is suggested by painfully
interesting article on Dangers That Threaten Ter
restrial Life" which appears in late issue OF
La Nature Its author takes a most doleful
view of the future Of this planet, including the
race which nhabits it. He disagrees with Lord
TennysOn, since the laureate is of the opinion that
mot in vain the future beckons." The writer
in La Nature" on the contrary, holds that the
future becl,ons only to play the mischief with the
world and all who dwell therein. Listen first
TO what he has to say about the future Of the
earth itself:
When the solid crust of our globe formed, it sur
ward condensed toward Its centre under the acton OF
diminished in volume, and the external covering gave
way in places, and cracked in order to follow the
Produced the large folds that formed The principal
feefs Of the surface. Consequently. the terrestrial
enormous crevasses through which the oceans and
atmosphere will be gradually absorbed IN the numerous
Internal spaces The surface of the moon, deprived OF
air and water. with the immense burrows that traverse
its plains and mountains, presents the spectacle Oh
advanced in development than the terrestrial globe.
Having passed this stage, the dead star, cracked In
all directions. will break in pieces, and the fragments
will be scattered along its orbit.
This is hardly pleasant reading for those who
take an affectionate interest in postcrity The
reflection that a day is coming when the earth,
now so full of election returns and other forms of
life will be cracked star, dead star, star so
incapable Of holding itself together that fragments
of the United States-whatever may be the feel
ing of the two counties in regard to annexation
NAV be strewn all over British America, while
large pieces of Montreal or Toronto may turn up
i'm Boston or Philadep hia-such reflection makes
for pessimism.
But this is not the worst of the forecast Of La
Nature" II seems that the future intends to
make it even more unpleasant for the ultimate
coming man than for the earth. People OF
philosophic turn of mind could doubtless manage
to get along fairly comfortably on badly cracked
star in case they possessed the numerous comforts
which the man of to-day has at his disposal. But
what is going TO be the condition OF the residents
NJ tho shattered planet? 1t is difficult to answer
the question without shuddering. La Nature
distinctly and without qualification states that
:" the last representative Of our race and OF the
entire creation will have to live in the bowels of
the earth in the pursuit OF air and water. winch
will slowly descend toward the centre OF the
globe Derived of atmospheric fluid the surface
of the earth will hereafter have temperature
ipfnr la
grade degrees below zero" Thomas Camp
bells report of what the last man Is
TO be like is depressing enough, but 1t
is not quite SO gloomy this The poet portrays
him rs delivering n brave but sad valedlctory
with only the sun for an audience The last man
assures the sun that although he has an adequate
conception of his own exquisite forlornnesS thau
nevertheless he does
1.-THE darkenng universe defy
To quench his Immortality"
One cannot imagine man living in the bowels
of the EARTH the temperature OF the r1terlor
being 90 degrees below zero. talking like that.
No. not in the nature Of things. lie would
have to devote all his time to the problem of
keepng warm: he could not snatch q moment
| for the composition of eloquent apostrophes. We
| tender to that coming man the assurances OF
| our distinguished commiseraton.
The evident moral to be evolved from these
considerations is that it stands the men of to-day
| in hand to realize that they are comparatively
we'll off We were born too late for the glory
| that was Greece and the grandeur that was
| Rome and too early to belong to the race In lIs
| truly golden age in the era of its most thorough
| development. But whatever may be our views
| touching the result of the recent elections, our
| mcrcies are manifold; as a whole we are well
| fixed Let us, then, be in an cver-thanklul frame
| Of mind and let drop tear for our remote
descendants short Of air and water, budding
together to keep warm in the frozen bowels
| ~ dead