The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-09-16
One Touch OF Nature.

For the past week one topic has
claimed the absorbed and tender inter-
est Of the nation. The asperities of pol
tiles and the. mighty changes shifting
across the worlds theater have sunk to
silence In the presence OF a great ca
lamity. II has come home to human
hearts and made them one. Instantly
It has reduced to their petty rank the
strifes and incidents that busy US.
while a thrill and a whisper ran across
the nation. How to help became the
thought. the duty. the passionate desire
Of our people.
BY this morning more than two mil
lion dollars will have been contributed
TO the Galveston sufferers by those
whose only tie Of community is the
broad human relation. without thought
of self-interest, without q motive save
that which marks in man the possibly
divine. men and women have given
freely and gladly to relieve a human
II
From the Golfers OF the millionaire and
the pittances of the poor have come the
tributes that God looks upon with equal
eye. We have forgotten for the mo-
ment the bitternesses, the strifes. the
jealousy. and met together In the unity
of spirit and in practical righteousness.
when the tumult stirs again and the
wrestling forms appear. we may not
forget that through all the diversity
and clashing there stretches the eter-
nal bond.
1t is the indelible mark OF Christian
civilization. The cid wars are waged.
because but slowly the savage dies out
OF us. Still there swell about us the
raucous voices OF greed and hatred, and
men spend themselves for the things
that pass and do not satisfy. But an
interlude like this let's us hear. under
meath the incoherent clamor, the strong
and dominant note. An age OF moral
evolution. the philosophers call t. Never
since the worlds wheeled into their APP
pointed places has the cry of suffering
reached so far or smitten with such
might the cleaving rock. Never has
human hnshlp, the obligation OF man
TO man. assumed the royal purple with
such popular acclaim. 1t Is true evo-
intionary development; but It Is along
the line OF that deep and tender prom
Use: 'Inasmuch as We did It unto one
OF the least OF these. my brethren. We
did Il unto me"
There died the other day, IN a mad
house. man OF great meatai power
who had devoted his life to the ex-
position OF the philosophy OF might.
Modern civilization. 10 him. was retro
grade and decadent because 1t runs
counter 20 the physical law. Nature
spares not the helpless. and her trl-
umphs through the survival OF the fit.
test imply Its converse the elimination
Of the weak. Therefore he held to the
rule Of force. and the application ot ma
lures memorable method in human
growth and human intercourse lis
ideal was some such society as that of
the ancient gods On htgh Olympus.
which repealed humanity for ages before
Il was dethroned. The facts or the.
world Of man deny his hypothesis Ut.
tcrly,
After all perhaps there is no more
universal test Of action to the long and
syeat event than tie capacity TO ada 10
human happiness An men ard we-
mcn, even the aseetic. live Tor that
What constitutes happiness Is the crn-
cial aWestica the aiviEsE line os phi.
losophiss aHd crecas and activities Rst
an desire % De happy. and pursue a
tERotauty or wisely according % their
ideals In Nfe We come close % "a SOL
vent ~ them al. Thousands Of hearts
have warmed IN these last DAYS 20 The
kindly flame q helpsulacss. No ritt ~
universal wealth. M increase ~ ma
tcual place or power could have added
70 the sum total o. beasitude what Il
has gained from this greatest q the
virtues that abide. Mankiud Is bound
together In an indlssoluble league Of
love; and only as It repudiates or frets
against the bond OF klnshlp does mis-
cry creep En- The divine order 81 the
world IS also the human. The day is