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 ery of the human! Serene above 
Heat, light, 
and 
moisture. 
Nature 
immortal. 
