282 LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. 



the moon. We can think as little of a noble tree with- 

 out leaves, flowers and fruits, as of an orb, rolling in 

 silent, serene majesty through the midnight firmament, 

 without organic life and intelligence. The earth teaches 

 us the same lesson by simple logic. The earth also, once 

 incandescent and scarcely cooled, has been the theatre 

 of fearful convulsions; gigantic forces have torn her in- 

 terior, and deeply furrowed her surface. But hardly 

 was apparent peace restored upon the still unshapen 

 globe when it produced, at the word of the Almighty, 

 a creation full of fresh life, at first rude, raw and imper- 

 fect, like nature itself, but daily growing nobler, more 

 varied, more spiritual. We know this, for each varied 

 organization of such life, as it perished, has left its epi- 

 taph written upon imperishable monuments. May we 

 then not believe, that, like the earth, the moon also has 

 had her first period of storm and strife 1 ? Of this her 

 vast plains, her rugged craters and mysterious furrows 

 give proof in abundance. The present seems to be her 

 period of rest, during which nature gains strength to pro- 

 duce a life-endowed creation. This we conclude from her 

 unchanging face, and her clear, imperceptible atmos- 

 phere. If this be so, then there must come a time for 

 the moon as for the earth, though perhaps after thou- 

 sands of years only, when thinking, intelligent beings 

 will rise from her dust. The whole universe has some 

 elements in common. The great cosmic powers, light 

 and heat, are the same first conditions of organic life 

 throughout the vast creation ; they send their waves 

 through the wide ocean of the world, and play against 



