LEAF AND TENDRIL 



VIII 



From nebula to nebula — these are the hours 

 struck by the clock of eternity : from the dissipation 

 of the solar systems into nebular gas by their falling 

 together to their condensation again into suns and 

 worlds by the action of physical laws — thousands 

 of millions of years in each hour, and the hours 

 infinite in number. This is a hint of eternity. How 

 many times, then, there must have been a world 

 like this evolved in the course of this running down 

 and winding up of the great clock, with beings like 

 these we now behold ! how many such worlds and 

 such beings there must now be in the universe, and 

 have always been! Can you think of the number? 

 Not till you can think of infinity. The duration of 

 life upon the globe, to say nothing of man's little 

 span, is hardly a tick of this clock of eternity, and 

 the repetition of the birth and dissipations of sys- 

 tems is well symbolized by the endless striking or 

 ticking of a clock. 



Then sooner or later comes the thought. What 

 is it all for ? and from the great abysm comes back 

 the echo, " What for ? " Is it our human limitations, 

 the discipline of this earthly life, when we have to 

 count the cost and ask what it is for, that makes 

 us put the question to the Infinite? When the 

 cosmic show is over, what is the gain ? When our 

 universe is again a blank, who or what will have 

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