1 GO 
BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 
of the earthquake, and the awful outbreaks of volcanic 
fires. In later ages, when the crust had cooled still 
more, and the atmosphere let fall its showers, the still 
heated surface, hissing and roaring with the contact of 
the flood, was rent into enormous blocks, and dreadful 
abysses; which still remain all over the world, and form 
the wmndrous monuments of an age of great convulsions. 
Later still the seas gathered together, the rocky masses 
were powdered into dust by the delicate fingers of the 
dew and the shower, the green herbs sprang up, and the 
monsters of the slimy deep appeared in obedience to the 
Creator's fiat, and the whole earth became a home of 
beauty in obedience to chemical law. The ceaseless play 
of the elements, and the mutations of the atoms, had 
built up the whole into one gorgeous scene of luxurious¬ 
ness ; and man was awakened into being to render the 
whole subservient to his wishes, and by tracing out the 
harmonies of the natural world, to arrive at a more 
exalted knowledge of his Maker. 
The atom of charcoal which floated in the corrupt 
atmosphere of the old volcanic ages, was absorbed into 
the leaf of a fern when the valleys became green and 
luxuriant; and there, in its proper place, it received the 
sunlight and the dew, aiding to fling back to heaven a 
reflection of heaven's gold; and at the same time to 
build the tough fibre of the plant. That same atom was 
consigned to the tomb w r hen the waters submerged the 
jungled valleys. It had lain there thousands of years, 
and a month since was brought into the light again, 
imbedded in a block of coal. It shall be consumed to 
warm our dwelling, cook our food, and make more 
