Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-14
THE NEW
Thoughts on the Ancient and the
Modern Calamity.

on the Ancient ana tne
Modern Calamity.
New York Tribune.
The destruction of st. Pierre brings men
face to face with the elemental terrors Of
nature, the fear, II not the awe, Of which
civilized people have to a great extent out
grown. To the earlier members OF the race
nature! did not seem benelcent. Man was
very much at the mercy not only OF the ex-
traordinary catastrophies, but Of the ordi-
nary phenomena Of the world. By taking
thought he has fortified himself against de-
structive forces to a marvellous degree.
He is protected against extremes of heat
and cold. He can ride out the fercest
storms Of the ocean. He is coming to con-
quer the pestilence that turks In darkness.
Yet he walks in a vain shadow. The earth
which he thinks he has conquered may open
on the instant and swallow him up. He is
an impotent creature, tossed about by
power the magnitude Of which he cannot
comprehend. The earth Is a mere crust
between him and the abyss. He calls her a
kind mother. and so she is in her pleasant
moods. But she is also ruthless, without
regard for human life, without any senti-
ment Of pity. He thinks the world was
made for him, but he is as little regarded
dS IL shdEmb VI hic nhhSh W AZ W
the first frost. Nature will make for him
the most beautiful Of homes, only to write
vanity" on the buried ruins.
No more favored spot for free and happy
life could be found than the bay of Naples.
Martinique is the most Economically beau
tiful island OF the West Indies, with its
wonderful fora and it's precipitous contours
softened with a wealth OF verdure which
robs them OF all forbidding aspect. Only
for the dreaded serpent-the deadly fer-de-
lance-in the thickets It might seem to be
and island paradise. Man, however, Is NO
more perfect in Martinique than In any
other Eden. Few places of its size showed
more on the surface the degraded side of
human nature than st, Pierre. The great
body OF the population was negro and mu-
latto, and displayed the Characteristic vices
of the black race when left to itself after
having taken on a mere veneer Of civiliza-
tion. The traditional morals Of a seaport
were there conspicuous. No town in the
West Indies so forced the low character of
it's people upon attention, and, in spite of
the beauty Of It's surroundings and the
charm OF its higher classes, left a more
unpleasant tastes
Primitive man, impressed by the catas-
trophies of nature which he did not under
stand, identified them closely with his re-
ligion and thought the ~thunders were the
voices Of his gods. The destructive ele-
ments were the punishment Of human
wickedness. hat belief or superstition
still persists and we read In legal docu-
ments Of the present day reservations
against liability for damage "by the hand
of God" When ships are wrecked sermons
are often preached on the supposed divine
retribution, and a terrible cataclysm like
the eruption of Mount Pelee invites to spec
ulation on the fate OF Sodom and Gomorrah
and the relation between natural phenomena
and human conduct. The people of st.
Pierre would lend themselves easily to such
moralizing. The world, however. more and
more. comes to believe in Huxley's view OF
the immortality of nature, and this without
any necessary loss of religious faith. Rather
in hunblenCss do men ask themselves why,
II God is overwhelming people with volca-
noes for THEN sins. He should strike one
| body rather than another. Certainly He
does not spare men because of their merits.
The elements are no respecters Of persons
and moral qualities seem not to help, or
lack of them to hurt, ones chances In q
contest with nature. He is indeed a bold
man, thinking himself in the c~ounsels OF
Inhnity, who presumes to say what are the
| judgments OF God. 1t is better in humble-
ness Of spirit to walk through the world
conscious Of its uncertainties, but without
superstitious dread Of it's phenomena.