The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-05-31


> in blood. In the realm of science
/ is the same. Its grand principle
and achievements have been estab
, lished through the suffering of 1t.
} heroes and martyrs. So, too, is it IL
} the history of literature and art
The scene looks blacker in the light
of the contrast which surrounding
nature seems to unfold. From the
flowers which open their petals to
drink in the dew, the trees which
spread out their welcoming leaves
to clasp and kiss the gentle rays OF
light, and the birds which sing
sweetly in their branches, through
all the phases of nature from atoms
to worlds, there seems to be no dis
order, no clashing or conflict amid
| the handiwork of tho Creator
Does man present a perplexing con-
trast to all nature? Is he alone at
war while all nature is atpeace? No!
Further and deeper investigation
convinces us that this is an unfound-
ed conclusion.
Descending from the altitude of
fancy to the level of fact, we find
the flowers unfolding a tale, not of
peace, but of strife. The trees
which adorn the landscape tell a
similar story. The songs of the
birds which make melody in their
branches are nodded in conflict and
sweetened through suffering. All
nature is controlled by opposite
forces. Chemical affinity has it's
| positive and its negative poles
Gravity has it's centripetal and CEN
trifugal forces. Nature, everywhere
struggling, from it's outmost particle
to its inmost heart, is one great bat-
tie field where war never ends.
In the animal realm, long, con-
flicting, and bloody lies the pathway
from those monsters which tear
each other in their slime to that
predicted place where the lion and
the lamb shall lie down together
So We discover that all nature, red
in tooth and claw is a scene of con-
flict. Man as a part of it's system is
subject to the principles which gov
ern the whole. He, too,. must strug-
gle for existence, or go out of it
tsuccumb. But the benevolent de-
sign of this unending struggle is as
clear to the rejecting mindeas the
conflict Itself. Out of the dying
stem springs the beautiful blossom.
The tree whose fruit is so delicious
to the taste is the survivor in the
struggle of species, whose fitness
has been demonstrated by the fall
OF a thousand others. The sweet
ness of the birds song is the result
of long, hard fight for life.
80, too, in inanimate nature the
same law prevails. From the tiniest
atom to the greatest planet it is
atom against atom, orb against orb
And out of this antagonism, with it's
resultant beautiful balancings and
marvellous adjustments, the harmo-
ny of the spheres is born. The moon
cannot drag the ocean off into space
for another law behind it holds the
ocean to its bed. The sun cannot
draw the earth into it's burning bos-
ON, for other worlds oppose their
attraction to it and hold our earth
in stable equilibrium.
''Thus the poets lines are as scien-
tific as they are poetic:
Somewhere yet that atoms force,
Sways the light-poised universe"
"The animal world is, in this
sense, like unto the material. Gods
purpose governing it is the devel-
4f hn III hn 1Axx
er; and the method of that develop
ment toward perfection is struggle
warfare. This is true concerning
the constitution of man himself. In
him two forces are arrayed against
each other, the animal and the an
gel, the diabolical and the divine.
When the one predominates, it gives
us tyrannical Haleys and Legrees;
when the other tips the scale, we
have humanitarian Wendell phil-
lipses, Lloyd Garrisons, and Har-
riet Beecher Stoves. When cotton
counts for more than character, the
changing slave chain is sweet mu-
sic to the ears of greed, but when
National character tips the balance,
the gun is fired on Sumter and the
octopus of slavery in this country isl
crushed forever.
"All of this is suggestive Of the
uses of war in the upward progress
of mankind. Wherever great
truth is born upon the earth says
one, there also is a Golgotha.' out
of the Miserere of sorrow is born
the Hallelujah Chorus Of joy In|
nature, in politics, in religion. in
art, in science, yea, in all depart