EARTH COVERINGS 



291 



seen the materials, unseen the hand of the 

 weaver. Heat, light, and moisture what simple 

 ingredients, but brought together and working 

 in unison what forms and colors they produce ! 

 what variety ! what endless combination ! And 

 once again, as compared to the work of man, 

 how permanent seems the product ! Men and 

 their deeds pass away, but nature seems immor- 

 tal. The garden of the world is to-day as yester- 

 day. Counting by human centuries we shall 

 never know its decline. The light of the sun 

 shall not be extinguished, and under it always 

 the glow of the earth, the flame on the moun- 

 tain-peak, the foam on the tossing wave. The 

 blue sky, though it change its light from hour 

 to hour, shall not diminish, and forever under 

 its dome the drift of clouds, the fall of rain, 

 the flash of the mountain-lake, and the glitter- 

 ing thread of the river winding downward to 

 the sea. Shiftings of season and shiftings of 

 color and foliage change following change; but 

 forever and forever the arrowy pine on the 

 mountain, the golden-rod on the upland, and 

 the flag by the sedgy shore. 



And the great peace of it ! Of what avail the 

 struggle of races, the clashing of social systems, 

 the ascending cry of the human ! Serene above 



