TRIUMPH BY SELECTION

A moral reason for the survival of the fittest is given by Walton W. Battershall in the Critic:

The weak give way that stronger may have room

For sovereign brain and soul to quell the brute.

Thus, in the epic of this earth, harsh rhythms

Are woven, that break the triumph song with moans

And death-cries. Still rolls the eternal song,

Setting God’s theme to grander, sweeter notes,

For us to strike; fighting old savageries

That linger in the twilights of the dawn.(Text.)