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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15807-8.txt b/15807-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2632b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/15807-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4105 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Among the Forces, by Henry White Warren + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Among the Forces + + +Author: Henry White Warren + +Release Date: May 9, 2005 [eBook #15807] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE FORCES*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 15807-h.htm or 15807-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/0/15807/15807-h/15807-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/0/15807/15807-h.zip) + + + + + +AMONG THE FORCES + + Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of + THY hands.--Psalm viii, 6 + +by + +HENRY WHITE WARREN, LL.D. + +One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church +Author of "Recreations in Astronomy," "The Bible in the World's +Education," etc. + +New York: Eaton & Mains +Cincinnati: Curts & Jennings + +1898 + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Old Faithful Geyser.] + + + + +E. I. W. + +Eximia Inter Vires. + + + + +CONTENTS + + Why Written + The Man Who Needed 452,696 Barrels of Water + The Sun's Great Horses + Old Sun Help + Moon Help + More Moon Help + Star Help + Help from Insensible Seas + The Fairy Gravitation + More Gravitation + The Fairy Pulls Great Loads + The Fairy Draws Greater Loads + The Fairy Works a Pump Handle + The Help of Inertia + One Plant Help + Gas Help + Natural Affection of Metals + Natural Affection Between Metal and Liquid + Natural Affection of Metal and Gas + Hint Help + Creations Now in Progress + Some Curious Behaviors of Atoms + Mobility of Seeming Solids + The Next World to Conquer + Our Enjoyment of Nature's Forces + The Matterhorn + The Grand Canon of the Colorado River. + The Yellowstone Park Geysers + Sea Sculpture + The Power of Vegetable Life + Spiritual Dynamics + When This World is Not + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + Old Faithful Geyser . . . . Frontispiece + Breaking Waves + Incline at Mauch Chunk + The Head of the Toboggan Slide. + The Big Trees + The Matterhorn + The Punch Bowl, Yellowstone Geysers. + Formation of the Grotto Geyser + Bee-Hive Geyser + Pulpit Terrace and Bunsen Peak + "The Breakers," Santa Cruz, Cal. + The Work and the Worker, Santa Cruz, Cal. + Yellow Chili Squash in Harness + Squash Grown Under Pressure + A Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, Cal. + An Excavated Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal + A Double Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal. + A Triple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal. + Remains of a Quadruple Natural Arch + Arch Remains, Side Wall Broken + + + + +AMONG THE FORCES + + +WHY WRITTEN + +Fairies, fays, genii, sprites, etc., were once supposed to be helpful +to some favored men. The stories about these imaginary beings have +always had a fascinating interest. The most famous of these stories +were told at Bagdad in the eleventh century, and were called _The +Arabian Nights' Entertainment_. Then men were said to use all sorts of +obedient powers, sorceries, tricks, and genii to aid them in getting +wealth, fame, and beautiful brides. + +But I find the realities of to-day far greater, more useful and +interesting, than the imaginations of the past. The powers at work +about us are far more kindly and powerful than the Slave of the Ring or +of the Lamp. + +The object of writing this series of papers about applications of +powers to the service of man, their designed king, is manifold. I +desire all my readers to see what marvelous provision the Father has +made for his children in this their nursery and schoolhouse. He has +always been trying to crowd on men more helps and blessings than they +were willing to take. From the first mist that went up from the Garden +the power of steam has been in every drop of water. Yet men carried +their burdens. Since the first storm the swiftness and power of +lightning have been trying to startle man into seeing that in it were +speed and force to carry his thought and himself. But man still +plodded and groaned under loads that might have been lifted by physical +forces. I have seen in many lands men bringing to their houses water +from the hills in heavy stone jars. Gravitation was meant to do that +work, and to make it leap and laugh with pearly spray in every woman's +kitchen. The good Father has offered his all-power on all occasions to +all men. + +I desire that the works of God should keep their designed relation to +thought. He says, Consider the lilies; look into the heavens; number +the stars; go to the ant; be wise; ask the beasts, the fowl, the +fishes; or "talk even to the earth, and it showeth thee." + +Every flower and star, rainbow and insect, was meant to be so +provocative of thought that any man who never saw a human book might be +largely educated. And every one of these thoughts is related to man's +best prosperity and joy. He is a most regal king if he achieve the +designed dominion over a thousand powerful servitors. + +It is well to see that God's present actual powers in full play about +us are vastly beyond all the dreams of Arabian imagination. It leads +us to expect greater things of him hereafter. That human imagination +could so dream is proof of the greatness of its Creator. But that he +has actually surpassed those dreams is prophecy of more greatness to +come. + +I desire that my readers of this generation shall be the great thinkers +and inventors of the next. There are amazing powers just waiting to be +revealed. Draw aside the curtain. We have not yet learned the A B C +of science. We have not yet grasped the scepters of provided dominion. +Those who are most in the image and likeness of the Cause of these +forces are most likely to do it. + + + + +THE MAN WHO NEEDED 452,696 BARRELS OF WATER + +A man once had a large field of wheat. He had toiled hard to clear the +land, plow the soil, and sow the seed. The crop grew beautifully and +was his joy by day and by night. But when it was just ready to head +out it suddenly stopped growing for want of moisture. It looked as if +all his hard work would be in vain. The poor farmer thought of his +wife and children, who were likely to starve in the coming winter. He +shed many tears, but they could not moisten one little stalk. + +Suddenly he said, "I will water it myself." The field was a mile +square, and it needed an inch of water over it all. He quickly figured +out that there were 27,878,400 square feet in a square mile. On every +twelve square feet a cubic foot of water was needed. A cubic foot of +water weighs sixty-two and a third pounds. Hence it would require +74,754 tons of water. To draw this amount 74,754 teams, each drawing a +ton, would be required. But they would tramp the wheat all down. +Besides, the nearest water in sufficient quantity was the ocean, one +thousand miles away over the mountains. It would take three months to +make the journey. And, worse than all else, the water of the ocean is +so salt that it would ruin the crop. + +[Illustration: Breaking Waves.] + +Alas! there were three impossibilities--so many teams, so many +miles, so long time--and two ruins if he could overcome the +impossibilities--trampling down the wheat and bringing so much salt. +Alas, alas! what could he do but see the poor wheat die of thirst and +his poor wife and children die of hunger? + +Suddenly he determined to ask the sun to help him. And the sun said he +would. That was a very little thing for such a great body to do. So +he heated the air over the ocean till it became so thirsty that it +drank plenty of water, choosing only the sweet fresh water and leaving +all the salt in the ocean. Then the warm air rose, because the heat +had expanded it and made it lighter, and the other air rushed down the +mountains all over that side of the continent to take its place. Then +the warm air went landward in an upper current and carried its load of +water in great piles and mountains of clouds; it lifted them over the +great ranges of mountains and rained down its thousands of tons of +sweet water a thousand miles from the sea, so gently that not a stalk +of wheat was trampled down, nor was a single root made acrid by any +taste of brine. + +Besides the precious drink the sun brought the most delicate food for +the wheat. There was carbonic acid, that makes soda water so +delicious, besides oxygen, that is so stimulating, nitrogen, ammonia, +and half a dozen other things that are so nutritious to growing plants. + +Thus the wheat grew up in beauty, headed out abundantly, and matured +perfectly. Then the farmer stopped weeping for laughter, and in his +joy he remembered to thank, not the sun, nor the wind, but the great +One who made them both. + + + + +THE SUN'S GREAT HORSES + +There was once a man who had thousands of acres of mighty forests in +the distant mountains. They were valueless there, but would be +exceedingly valuable in the great cities hundreds of miles away, if he +could only find any power to transport them thither. So he looked for +a team that could haul whole counties of forests so many miles. He saw +that the sun drew the greatest loads, and he asked it to help him. And +the sun said that was what he was made for; he existed only to help +man. He said that he had made those great forests to grow for a +thousand years so as to be ready for man when he needed them, and that +he was now ready to help move them where they were wanted. + +So he told the man who owned the forest that there was a great power, +which men called gravitation, that seemed to reside in the center of +the earth and every other world, but that it worked everywhere. It +held the stones down to the earth, made the rain fall, and water to run +down hill; and if the man would arrange a road, so that gravitation and +the sun could work together, the forest would soon be transported from +the mountains to the sea. + +So the man made a trough a great many miles long, the two sides coming +together like a great letter V. Then the sun brought water from the +sea and kept the trough nearly full year after year. The man put into +it the lumber and logs from the great forests, and gravitation pulled +the lumber and water ever so swiftly, night and day, miles away to the +sea. + +How I have laughed as I have seen that perpetual stream of lumber and +timber pour out so far from where the sun grew them for man. For the +sun never ceased to supply the water, and gravitation never ceased to +pull. + +This man who relentlessly cut down the great forests never said, "How +good the sun is!" nor, "How strong is gravitation!" but said +continually, "How smart I am!" + + + + +OLD SUN HELP + +Holland is a land that is said to draw twenty feet of water. Its +surface is below sea level. Since 1440 they have been recovering land +from the sea. They have acquired 230,000 acres in all. Fifty years +ago they diked off 45,000 acres of an arm of the sea, called Haarlem +Meer, that had an average depth of twelve and three quarters feet of +water, and proposed to pump it out so as to have that much more fertile +land. They wanted to raise 35,000,000 tons of water a month a distance +of ten feet, to get through in time. Who could work the handle? + +The sun would evaporate two inches a year, but that was too slow. So +they used the old force of the sun, reservoired in former ages. Coal +is condensed sunshine, still keeping all the old light and power. By a +suitable engine they lifted 112 tons ten feet at every stroke, and in +1848, five years after they began to apply old sun force, 41,675 acres +were ready for sale and culture. + +The water that accumulates now, from rain and infiltration, is lifted +out by the sun force as exhibited in wind on windmills. They +groaningly work while men sleep. + +The Netherlandish engineers are now devising plans to pump out the +Zuyder Zee, an area of two thousand square miles. There is plenty of +power of every kind for anything, material, mental, spiritual. The +problem is the application of it. The thinker is king. + +This is only one instance of numberless applications of old sun force. +In this country coal does more work than every man, woman, and child in +the whole land. It pumps out deep mines, hoists ore to the surface, +speeds a thousand trains, drives great ships, in face of waves and +winds, thousands of miles and faster than transcontinental trains. It +digs, spins, weaves, saws, planes, grinds, plows, reaps, and does +everything it is asked to do. It is a vast reservoir of force, for the +accumulation of which thousands of years were required. + + + + +MOON HELP + +At Foo-Chow, China, there is a stone bridge, more than a mile long, +uniting the two parts of the city. It is not constructed with arches, +but piers are built up from the bottom of the river and great granite +stringers are laid horizontally from pier to pier. I measured some of +these great stone stringers, and found them to be three feet square and +forty-five feet long. They weigh over thirty tons each. + +How could they be lifted, handled, and put in place over the water on +slender piers? How was it done? There was no Hercules to perform the +mighty labor, nor Amphion to lure them to their place with the music of +his golden lyre. + +Tradition says that the Chinese, being astute astronomers, got the moon +to do the work. It was certainly very shrewd, if they did. Why not +use the moon for more than a lantern? Is it not a part of the "all +things" over which man was made to have dominion? + +Well, the Chinese engineers brought the great granite blocks to the +bridge site on floats, and when the tide lifted the floats and stones +they blocked up the stones on the piers and let the floats sink with +the outgoing tide. Then they blocked up the stones on the floats +again, and as the moon lifted the tides once more they lifted the +stones farther toward their place, until at length the work was done +for each set of stones. + +Dear, good moon, what a pull you have! You are not merely for the +delight of lovers, pleasant as you are for that, but you are ready to +do gigantic work. + +No wonder that the Chinese, as they look at the solid and enduring +character of that bridge, name it, after the poetic and flowery habit +of the country, "The Bridge of Ten Thousand Ages." + + + + +MORE MOON HELP + +Years ago, before there were any railroads, New York city had thousands +of tons of merchandise it wished to send out West. Teams were few and +slow, so they asked the moon to help. It was ready; had been waiting +thousands of years. + +We shall soon see that it is easy to slide millions of tons of coal +down hill, but how could we slide freight up from New York to Albany? + +It is very simple. Lift up the lower end of the river till it shall be +down hill all the way to Albany. But who can lift up the end of the +river? The moon. It reaches abroad over the ocean and gathers up +water from afar, brings it up by Cape Hatteras and in from toward +England, pours it in through the Narrows, fills up the great harbor, +and sets the great Hudson flowing up toward Albany. Then men put their +big boats on the current and slide up the river. Six hours later the +moon takes the water out of the harbor and lets other boats slide the +other way. + +New York itself has made use of the moon to get rid of its immense +amount of garbage and sewage. It would soon breed a pestilence, and +the city be like the buried cities of old; but the moon comes to its +aid, and carries away and buries all this foul breeder of a pestilence, +and washes all the harbor and bay with clean floods of water twice a +day. Good moon! It not only lights, but works. + +The tide in New York Harbor rises only about five feet; up in the Bay +of Fundy it ramps, rushes, raves, and rises more than fifty feet high. + +In former times men used to put mill wheels into the currents of the +tides; when they rushed into little bays and salt ponds they turned the +wheels one way; when out, the other. + + + + +STAR HELP + + "We for whose sake all Nature stands, + And stars their courses move." + +Do the stars, that are so far away and seem so small, send us any help? +Assuredly. Nothing exists for itself. All is for man. + +Magnetism tells the sailor which way he is going. Stars not only do +this, when visible, but they also tell just where on the round globe he +is. A glance into their bright eyes, from a rolling deck, by an +uneducated sailor, aided by the tables of accomplished scholars, tells +him exactly where he is--in mid Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, or +Antarctic Ocean, or at the mouth of the harbor he has sought for +months. We lift up our eyes higher than the hills. Help comes from +the skies. + +This help was started long since, with providential foresight and care. +Is he steering by the North Star? A ray of guidance was sent from that +lighthouse in the sky half a century before his need, that it might +arrive just at the critical time. It has been ever since on its way. + +The stars give us, on land and sea, all our reliable standards of time. +There is no other source. They are reliable to the hundredth part of a +second. + +The Italian physicians, in their ignorance of the origin of a disease, +named it the influenza, because they imagined that it came from the +influence of the stars. No! There is nothing malign in the sweet +influences of the Pleiades. + +The stars are of special use as a mental gymnasium. On their lofty +bars and trapezes the mind can swing itself higher and farther than on +any other material thing. Infinity and omnipotence are factors in +their problems. They also fill the soul of the rapt beholder with +adoring wonder. They are the greatest symbols of the unweariableness +of the power and of the minuteness of the knowledge of God. He calleth +all their millions by name, and for the greatness of his power not one +faileth to come. + +Number the stars of a clear Eastern sky, if you are able. So +multitudinous and enduring shall the influence of one good man be. + + + + +HELP FROM INSENSIBLE SEAS + +Suppose one has been at sea a month. He has tacked to every point of +the compass, been driven by gales, becalmed in doldrums. At length +Euroclydon leaps on him, and he lets her drive. And when for many days +and nights neither sun nor stars appear, how can he tell where he is, +which way he drives, where the land lies? + +There is an insensible ocean. No sense detects its presence. It has +gulf streams that flow through us, storms whose waves engulf us, but we +feel them not. There are various intensities of its power, the north +end of the world not having half as much as the south. There are two +places in the north half of the world that have greater intensity than +the rest, and only one in the south. It looks as if there were +unsoundable depths in some places and shoals in others. + +The currents do not flow in exactly the same direction all the time, +but their variations are within definite limits. + +How shall we detect these steady currents when wind and waves are in +tumultuous confusion? They are always present. No winds blow them +aside, no waves drench their subtle fire, no mountains make them +swerve. But how shall we find them? + +Float a bit of magnetic ore in a pail of water, or suspend a bit of +magnetized steel by a thread, and these currents make the ore or needle +point north and south. Now let waves buffet either side, typhoons +roar, and maelstroms whirl; we have, out of the invisible, insensible +sea of magnetic influence, a sure and steady guide. Now we can sail +out of sight of headlands. We have in the darkness and light, in calm +and storm, an unswerving guide. Now Columbus can steer for any new +world. + +Does not this seem like a spiritual force? Lodestone can impart its +qualities to hard steel without the impairment of its own power. There +is a giving that does not impoverish, and a withholding that does not +enrich. + +Wherever there is need there is supply. The proper search with +appropriate faculties will find it. There are yet more things in +heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy. + + + + +THE FAIRY GRAVITATION + +The Germans imagine that they have fairy kobolds, sprites, and gnomes +which play under ground and haunt mines. I know a real one. I will +give you his name. It is called "Gravitation." The name does not +sound any more fairylike than a sledge hammer, but its nature and work +are as fairylike as a spider's web. I will give samples of his helpful +work for man. + +In the mountains about Saltzburg, south of Munich, are great thick beds +of solid salt. How can they get it down to the cities where it is +needed? Instead of digging it out, and packing it on the backs of +mules for forty miles, they turn in a stream of water and make a little +lake which absorbs very much salt--all it can carry. Then they lay a +pipe, like a fairy railroad, and gravitation carries the salt water +gently and swiftly forty miles, to where the railroads can take it +everywhere. It goes so easily! There is no railroad to build, no car +to haul back, only to stand still and see gravitation do the work. + +How do they get the salt and water apart? O, just as easily. They ask +the wind to help them. They cut brush about four feet long, and pile +it up twenty feet high and as long as they please. Then a pipe with +holes in it is laid along the top, the water trickles down all over the +loose brush, and the thirsty wind blows through and drinks out most of +the water. They might let on the water so slowly that all of it would +be drunk out by the wind, leaving the solid salt on the bushes. But +they do not want it there. So they turn on so much water that the +thirsty wind can drink only the most of it, and the rest drops down +into great pans, needing only a little evaporation by boiling to become +beautiful salt again, white as the snows of December. + +There are other minerals besides salt in the beds in the mountains, +and, being soluble in water, they also come down the tiny railroad with +musical laughter. How can we separate them, so that the salt shall be +pure for our tables? + +The other minerals are less avaricious of water than salt, so they are +precipitated, or become solid, sooner than salt does. Hence with nice +care the other minerals can be left solid on the bushes, while the salt +brine falls off. Afterward pure water can be turned on and these other +minerals can be washed off in a solution of their own. No fairies +could work better than those of solution and crystallization. + + + + +MORE GRAVITATION + +At Hutchinson, Kan., there are great beds of solid rock salt four +hundred feet below the surface. Men want to get and use two thousand +barrels a day. How shall they get it to the top of the ground? They +might dig a great well--or, as the miners say, sink a shaft--pump out +the water, go down and blast out the salt, and laboriously haul it up +in defiance of gravitation. No; that is too hard. Better ask this +strong gravitation to bring it up. + +But does it work down and up? Did any one ever know of gravitation +raising anything? O yes, many things. A balloon may weigh as much as +a ton, but when inflated it weighs less than so much air; so the +heavier air flows down under and shoulders it up. When a heavy weight +and a light one are hung over a pulley, the light one goes up because +gravity acts more on the other. Water poured down a long tube will +rise if the tube is bent up into a shorter arm. + +Exactly. So we bore a four-inch hole down to the salt and put in an +iron tube. + +We do not care about the water. It is no bother. Then inside of this +tube we put a two-inch tube that is a few feet higher. Now pour water +down the small longer tube. It saturates itself with salt, and comes +flowing over the top of the shorter tube as easily as water runs down +hill. Multiply the wells, dry out the water, and you have your two +thousand barrels of salt lifted every day--just as easy as thinking! + +We want a steady, unswerving force that will pull our clock hands with +an exact motion day and night, year in and year out. We hang up a +string, and ask gravitation to take hold and pull. We put on some lead +or brass for a handle, to take hold of. It takes hold and pulls, +unweariedly, unvaryingly, and ceaselessly. + +It turns single water-wheels with a power of more than twelve hundred +horses. + +It holds down houses, so that they are not blown away. It was made to +serve man, and it works without a grumble. + +Thus the higher force in nature always prevails over the lower, and the +greater amount over the less amount of the same force. What is the +highest force? + + + + +THE FAIRY PULLS GREAT LOADS + +Far back in the hills west of Mauch Chunk, Pa., lie great beds of coal. +They were made under the sea long ages ago, raised up, roofed over by +the Allegheny Mountains, and kept waiting as great reservoirs of power +for the use of man. + +But how can these mountains be gotten to the distant cities by the sea? +Faith in what power can say to these mountains, "Be thou removed far +hence, and cast into the sea?" It is easy. + +Along the winding sides of the mountains have been laid two rails like +steel ribbons for a dozen miles, from the coal beds to water and +railroad transportation. Put a half dozen loaded cars on the track, +and with one man at the brake, lest gravitation should prove too +willing a helper, away they go, through the springtime freshness or the +autumn glory, spinning and singing down to the point of universal +distribution. + +[Illustration: Incline at Mauch Chunk.] + +On one occasion the brake for some reason would not work. The cars +just flew like an arrow. The man's hair stood up from fright and the +wind. Coming to a curve the cars kept straight on, ran down a bank, +dashed right into the end of a house and spilled their whole load in +the cellar. Probably no man ever laid in a winter's supply of coal so +quickly or so undesirably. + +But how do we get the cars back? It is pleasant sliding down hill on a +rail, but who pulls the sled back? Gravitation. It is just as willing +to work both ways as one way. + +Think of a great letter X a dozen miles long. + +Lay it down on the side against three or four rough hills. Bend the X +till it will fit the curves and precipices of these hills. That is the +double track. Now when loaded cars have come down one bar of the X by +gravity, draw them up by a sharp incline to the upper end of the other +bar, and away they go by gravity to the other end. Draw them up one +more incline, and they are ready to take a new load and buzz down to +the bottom again. + +I have been riding round the glorious mountain sides in a horseless, +steamless, electricityless carriage, and been delighted to find +hundreds of tons of coal shooting over my head at the crossings of the +X, and both cars were drawn in opposite directions by the same force of +gravity in the heart of the earth. + +If you do not take off your hat and cheer for the superb force of +gravitation, the wind is very apt to take it off for you. + + + + +THE FAIRY DRAWS GREATER LOADS + +Pittsburg has 5,000,000 tons of coal every year that it wishes to send +South, much of it as far as New Orleans--2,050 miles. What force is +sufficient for moving such great mountains so far? Any boy may find it. + +Tie a stone to the end of a string, whirl it around the finger and feel +it pull. How much is the pull? That depends on the weight of the +stone, the length of the string, and the swiftness of the whirl. In +the case of David's sling it pulled away hard enough to crash into the +head of Goliath. Suppose the stone to be as big as the earth (8,000 +miles in diameter), the length of the string to be its distance from +the sun (92,500,000 miles), and the swiftness of flight the speed of +the earth in its orbit (1,000 miles a minute). The pull represents the +power of gravitation that holds the earth to the sun. + +If we use steel wires instead of gravitation for this purpose, each +strong enough to support half a score of people (1,500 pounds), how +many would it take? We would need to distribute them over the whole +earth: from pole to pole, from side to side, over all the land and sea. +Then they would need to be so near together that a mouse could not run +around among them. + +Here is a measureless power. Can it be gotten to take Pittsburgh coal +to New Orleans? Certainly; it was made to serve man. So the coal is +put on great flatboats, 36 x 176 feet, a thousand tons to a boat, and +gravitation takes the mighty burden down the long toboggan slide of the +Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the journey's end. How easy! + +[Illustration: The Head of the Toboggan Slide.] + +One load sent down was 43,000 tons. The flatboats were lashed together +as one solid boat covering six and one half acres, more space than a +whole block of houses in a city, with one little steamboat to steer. +There is always plenty of power; just belt on for anything you want +done. This is only one thing that gravitation does for man on these +rivers. And there are many rivers. They serve the savage on his log +and the scientist in his palace steamer with equal readiness. + + + + +THE FAIRY WORKS A PUMP HANDLE + +The Slave of the Ring could take Aladdin into a cave of wealth, and by +speaking the words, "Open Sesame," Ali Baba was admitted into the cave +that held the treasures of the forty thieves. But that is very little. +I have just come from a cave in Virginia City, Nev., from which men +took $120,000,000. + +In following the veins of silver the miners went down 3,500 feet--more +than three fifths of a mile. There it was fearfully hot, but the main +trouble was water. They had dug a deep, deep well. How could they get +the water out? Pumps were of no use. A column of water one foot +square of that height weighs 218,242 pounds. Who could work the other +end of the pump handle? + +They thought of evaporating the water and sending it up as steam. But +it was found that it would take an incredible amount of coal. They +thought of separating it into oxygen and hydrogen, and then its own +lightness would carry it up very quickly. But they had no power that +would resolve even quarts into their ultimate elements, where tons +would be required. + +So they asked gravitation to help them. It readily offered to do so. +It could not let go its hold of the water in the mine, nor anywhere +else, for fear everything would go to pieces, but it offered to +overcome force with greater force. So it sent the men twenty miles +away in the mountains to dig a ditch all the way to the mine, and then +gravitation brought water to a reservoir four hundred feet above the +mouth of the mine. Now a column of this water one foot square can be +taken from this higher reservoir down to the bottom of the mine and +weigh 25,000 pounds more than a like column that comes from the bottom +to the top. This extra 25,000 pounds is an extra force available to +lift itself and the other water out of the deep well, and they turn the +greater force into a pump and work it in the cylinder as if it were +steam. It lifts not only the water that works the pump, but the other +water also out of the mine by gravitation. So man gets the water out +by pouring more water in. + + + + +THE HELP OF INERTIA + +Since the time of David many boys have swung pebbles by a string, or +sling, and felt the pull of what we call a centrifugal (center-fleeing) +force. David utilized it to one good purpose. Goliath was greatly +surprised; such a thing never entered his head before. Whether a stone +or an idea enters one's head depends on the kind of head he has. + +We utilize this force in many ways now. Some boys swing a pail of milk +over their heads, and if swung fast enough the centrifugal force +overcomes the force of gravitation, and the milk does not fall. That +is not utilizing the force. It often terrorizes the careful mother, +anxious for the safety of the milk. + +But in the arts of practical life we do utilize this force, which is +only inertia. + +Once it took a long time for molasses to drain out of a hogshead of +damp sugar. Now it is put into a great tub, with holes in the side, +which is made to revolve rapidly, and the molasses flies out. In the +best laundries clothes are not wrung out, to the great damage of tender +fabrics, but are put into such a tub and whirled nearly dry. So fifty +yards of woolen cloth just out of the dye vat--who could wring it? It +is coiled in a tub called a wizard, and whirled. + +Muddy water is put through a process called clarification. It is the +same, except that there are no holes in the vessel. The heavier +particles of dirt, that would settle in time, take the outside, leaving +perfectly clean water in the middle. A perpendicular perforated pipe, +with a faucet below, drains off all the clear water and leaves all the +mud. Milk is brought in from the milking and put into a separator; +whirl it, and the heavier milk takes the outside of the whirling mass, +and the lighter cream can be drawn off from the middle. It is far more +perfectly separated than by any skimming. + +A rotary snowplow slices off two feet of a ten-foot drift at each +revolution, and by centrifugal force flings it out of the cutting with +a speed that a hundred navvies or dagos cannot equal. + + + + +ONE PLANT HELP + +A thousand acres of land on Cape Cod were once blown away. This wind +excavation was ten feet deep. It was not an extraordinary wind, but +extraordinary land. It was made of rock ground up into fine sand by +the waves on the shore. + +In all the deserts of the world the wind blows the itinerant sand on +its far journeys. If the wind is moderate it heaps the sand up into +little hills, some of them six hundred feet high, around any +obstruction, and then blows the sand up the slanting face of the hill +and over the top, where it falls out of the wind on the leeward side. +In this way the hill is always traveling. In North Carolina hills +start inland, and travel right on, burying a house or farm if it be in +the way, but resurrecting it again on the other side as the hill goes +on. Anyone may see these hills at the south end of Lake Michigan, as +he approaches Chicago, west of San Francisco, all along up the Columbia +River--the sand having come on the wings of the wind from the coast. + +But to see the whole visible world on a march one needs to go to a +really large desert. The Pyramids and the Sphinx have been partly +buried, and parts of the valley of the Nile threatened, by hordes of +sand hills marching in from the desert; cities have been buried and +harbors filled up. Many of the harbors of the ancient civilizations +are mere miasmatic marshes now. This is partly in consequence of the +silt brought in by the rivers; but where the rivers do not flow in it +is because the sand blows in along the shore. Harbors are especially +endangered when their protection from the waves consists of a bank of +sand, as on Cape Cod and the Sandy Hook below the Narrows of the harbor +of New York. + +How can man combat part of the continent on the move, driven by the +ceaseless powers of the air? By a humble plant or two. The movement +of the sand hills that threaten to destroy the marvelous beauty of the +grounds of the Hotel del Monte at Monterey is stopped by planting dwarf +pines. The sand dunes that prevent much of Holland from being +reconquered by the sea are protected with great care by willows, etc., +and the coast sands of parts of eastern France have been sown with sea +pine and broom. + +The tract of a thousand acres on Cape Cod had been protected by humble +beach grass. Some careless herder let the cows eat it in places, and +away went part of a township. It is now a punishable crime on Cape Cod +to destroy beach grass. + + + + +GAS HELP + +This refers to more than stump speech-making. The old Romans drove +through solid rock numerous tunnels similar to the one for draining +Lago de Celano, fifty miles east of Rome. This one was three and a +half miles long, through solid rock, and every chip cost a blow of a +human arm to dislodge it. Of course the process was very slow. + +We do works vastly greater. We drive tunnels three times as long for +double-track railways through rock that is held down by an Alp. We use +common air to drill the holes and a thin gas to break the rock. The +Mont Cenis tunnel required the removal of 900,000 cubic yards of rock. +Near Dover, England, 1,000,000,000 tons of cliff were torn down and +scattered over fifteen acres in an instant. How was it done? By gas. + +There are a dozen kinds of solids which can be handled--some of them +frozen, thawed, soaked in water, with impunity--but let a spark of fire +touch them and they break into vast volumes of uncontrollable gas that +will rend the heart out of a mountain in order to expand. + +Gunpowder was first used in 1350; so the old Romans knew nothing of its +power. They flung javelins a few rods by the strength of the arm; we +throw great iron shells, starting with an initial velocity of fifteen +hundred feet a second and going ten miles. The air pressure against +the front of a fifteen-inch shell going at that speed is 2,865 pounds. +That ton and a half of resistance of gas in front must be much more +than overcome by gas behind. + +But the least use of explosives is in war; not over ten per cent is so +used. The Mont Cenis tunnel took enough for 200,000,000 musket +cartridges. As much as 2,000 kegs have been fired at once in +California to loosen up gravel for mining, and 23 tons were exploded at +once under Hell Gate, at New York. + +How strong is this gas? As strong as you please. Steam is sometimes +worked at a pressure of 400 pounds to the inch, but not usually over +100 pounds. It would be no use to turn steam into a hole drilled in +rock. The ordinary pressure of exploded gas is 80,000 pounds to the +square inch. It can be made many times more forceful. It works as +well in water, under the sea, or makes earthquakes in oil wells 2,000 +feet deep, as under mountains. + +The wildest imagination of Scheherezade never dreamed in _Arabian +Nights_ of genii that had a tithe of the power of these real forces. +Her genii shut up in bottles had to wait centuries for some fisherman +to let them out. + + + + +NATURAL AFFECTION OF METALS + +"Sacra fames auri." The hunger for gold, which in men is called +accursed, in metals is justly called sacred. + +In all the water of the sea there is gold--about 400 tons in a cubic +mile--in very much of the soil, some in all Philadelphia clay, in the +Pactolian sands of every river where Midas has bathed, and in many +rocks of the earth. But it is so fine and so mixed with other +substances that in many cases it cannot be seen. Look at the ore from +a mine that is giving its owners millions of dollars. Not a speck of +gold can be seen. How can it be secured? Set a trap for it. Put down +something that has an affinity--voracious appetite, unslakable thirst, +metallic affection--for gold, and they will come together. + +We have heard of potable gold--"_potabile aurum_." There are metals to +which all gold is drinkable. Mercury is one of them. Cut transverse +channels, or nail little cleats across a wooden chute for carrying +water. Put mercury in the grooves or before the cleats, and shovel +auriferous gravel and sand into the rushing water. The mercury will +bibulously drink into itself all the fine invisible gold, while the +unaffectionate sand goes on, bereaved of its wealth. + +Put gold-bearing quartz under an upright log shod with iron. Lift and +drop the log a few hundred times on the rock, until it is crushed so +fine that it flows over the edge of the trough with constantly going +water, and an amalgam of mercury spread over the inclined way down +which the endusted water flows will drink up all the gold by force of +natural affection therefor. + +Neither can the gold be seen in the mercury. But it is there. Squeeze +the mercury through chamois skin. An amalgam, mostly gold, refuses to +go through. Or apply heat. The mercury flies away as vapor and the +gold remains. + +If thou seekest for wisdom as for silver, and searchest for her as for +hid treasure, thou shalt find. + + + + +NATURAL AFFECTION BETWEEN METAL AND LIQUID + +A little boy had a silver mug that he prized very highly, as it was the +gift of his grandfather. The boy was not born with a silver spoon in +his mouth, but, what was much better, he had a mug often filled with +what he needed. + +One day he dipped it into a glass jar of what seemed to him water, and +letting go of it saw it go to the bottom. He went to find his father +to fish it out for him. When he came back his heavy solid mug looked +as if it were made of the skeleton leaves of the forest when the green +chlorophyll has decayed away in the winter and left only the gauzy +veins and veinlets through which the leaves were made. Soon even this +fretwork was gone, and there was no sign of it to be seen. The liquid +had eaten or drank the solid metal up, particle by particle. The +liquid was nitric acid. + +The poor little boy had often seen salt, and especially sugar, absorbed +in water, but never his precious solid silver mug, and the bright +tears rolled down his cheeks freely. + +But his father thought of two things: First, that the blue tint told +him that the jeweler had sold for silver to the grandfather a mug that +was part copper; and secondly, that he would put some common salt into +the nitric acid--which it liked so much better than silver that it +dropped the silver, just as a boy might drop bread when he sought to +fill his hands with cake. + +So the father recovered the invisible silver and made it into a +precious mug again. + + + + +NATURAL AFFECTION OP METAL AND GAS + +A man was waked up one night in a strange house by a noise he could not +understand. He wanted a light, and wanted it very much, but he had no +matches that would take fire by the heat of friction. He knew of many +other ways of starting a fire. If water gets to the cargo of lime in a +vessel it sets the ship on fire. It is of no use to try to put it out +by water, for it only makes more heat. He knew that dried alum and +sugar suitably mixed would burst into flame if exposed to the air; that +nitric acid and oil of turpentine would take fire if mixed; that flint +struck by steel would start fire enough to explode a powder magazine; +and that Elijah called down from heaven a kind of fire that burned +twelve "barrels" of water as easily as ordinary water puts out ordinary +fire. But he had none of these ways of lighting his candle at +hand--not even the last. + +So he took a bit of potassium metal, bright as silver, out of a bottle +of naphtha, put it in the candle wick, touched it with a bit of +dripping ice, and so lighted his candle. + +The potassium was so avaricious of oxygen that it decomposed the water +to get it. Indeed, it was a case of mutual affection. The oxygen +preferred the company of potassium to that of the hydrogen in the +water, and went to it even at the risk of being burned. + +I was so interested in seeing a bit of silver-like metal and water take +fire as they touched that I forgot all about the occasion of the noise. + + + + +HINT HELP + +Benjamin C. B. Tilghman, of Philadelphia, once went into the lighthouse +at Cape May, and, observing that the window glass was translucent +rather than transparent, asked the keeper why he put ground glass in +the windows. "We do not," said the keeper. "We put in the clear +glass, and the wind blows the sand against it and roughens the outer +surface like ground glass." The answer was to him like the falling +apple to Newton. He put on his thinking cap and went out. It was +better than the cap of Fortunatus to him. He thought, "If nature does +this, why cannot I make a fiercer blast, let sand trickle into it, and +so hurl a million little hammers at the glass, and grind it more +swiftly than we do on stones with a stream of wet sand added?" + +He tried jets of steam and of air with sand, and found that he could +roughen a pane of glass almost instantly. By coating a part of the +glass with hot beeswax, applied with a brush, through a stencil, or +covering it with paper cut into any desired figures, he could engrave +the most delicate and intricate patterns as readily as if plain. Glass +is often made all white, except a very thin coating of brilliant +colored glass on one side. This he could cut through, leaving letters +of brilliant color and the general surface white, or _vice versa_. + +Seal cutting is a very delicate and difficult art, old as the Pharaohs. +Protect the surface that is to be left, and the sand blast will cut out +the required design neatly and swiftly. + +There is no known substance, not even corundum, hard enough to resist +the swift impact of myriads of little stones. + +It will cut more granite into shape in an hour than a man can in a day. + +Surely no one will be sorry to learn that General Tilghman sold part of +his patents, taken out in October, 1870, for $400,000, and receives the +untold benefits of the rest to this day. So much for thinking. + +Nature gives thousands of hints. Some can take them; some can only +take the other thing. The hints are greatly preferred by nature and +man. + + + + +CREATIONS NOW IN PROGRESS + +The forces of creation are yet in full play. Who can direct them? +Rewards greater than Tilghman's await the thinker. We are permitted +not only to think God's thoughts after him, but to do his works. +"Greater works than these that I do shall he do who believeth on me," +says the Greatest Worker. Great profit incites to do the work noted +below. + +Carbon as charcoal is worth about six cents a bushel; as plumbago, for +lead pencils or for the bicycle chain, it is worth more; as diamond it +has been sold for $500,000 for less than an ounce, and that was +regarded as less than half its value. Such a stone is so valuable that +$15,000 has been spent in grinding and polishing its surface. The +glazier pays $5.00 for a bit of carbon so small that it would take +about ten thousand of them to make an ounce. + +Why is there such a difference in value? Simply arrangement and +compactness. Can we so enormously enhance the value of a bushel of +charcoal by arrangement and compression? Not very satisfactorily as +yet. We can apply almost limitless pressure, but that does not make +diamonds. Every particle must go to its place by some law and force we +have not yet attained the mastery of. + +We do not know and control the law and force in nature that would +enable us to say to a few million bricks, stones, bits of glass, etc., +"Fly up through earth, water, and air, and combine into a perfect +palace, with walls, buttresses, towers, and windows all in exact +architectural harmony." But there is such a law and force for +crystals, if not for palaces. There is wisdom to originate and power +to manage such a force. It does not take masses of rock and stick them +together, nor even particles from a fluid, but atoms from a gas. Atoms +as fine as those of air must be taken and put in their place, one by +one, under enormous pressure, to have the resulting crystal as compact +as a diamond. + +The force of crystallization is used by us in many inferior ways, as in +making crystals of rock candy, sulphur, salt, etc., but for the making +of diamonds it is too much for us, except in a small way. + +While we cannot yet use the force that builds large white diamonds we +can use the diamonds themselves. Set a number of them around a section +of an iron tube, place it against a rock, at the surface or deep down +in a mine, cause it to revolve rapidly by machinery, and it will bore +into the rock, leaving a core. Force in water, to remove the dust and +chips, and the diamond teeth will eat their way hundreds of feet in any +direction; and by examining the extracted core miners can tell what +sort of ore there is hundreds of feet in advance. Hence, they go only +where they know that value lies. + + + + +SOME CURIOUS BEHAVIORS OF ATOMS + +Ultimate atoms of matter are asserted to be impenetrable. That is, if +a mass of them really touched each other, that mass would not be +condensible by any force. But atoms of matter do not touch. It is +thinkable, but not demonstrable, that condensation might go on till +there were no discernible substance left, only force. + +Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, and gas. It is thought +that all matter may be passed through the three stages--iron being +capable of being volatilized, and gases condensed to liquids and +solids--the chief difference of these states being greater or less +distance between the constituent atoms and molecules. In gas the +particles are distant from each other, like gnats flying in the air; in +liquids, distant as men passing in a busy street; in solids, as men in +a congregation, so sparse that each can easily move about. The +congregation can easily disperse to the rarity of those walking in the +street, and the men in the street condense to the density of the +congregation. So, matter can change in going from solids to liquids +and gases, or _vice versa_. The behavior of atoms in the process is +surpassingly interesting. + +Gold changes its density, and therefore its thickness, between the two +dies of the mint that make it money. How do the particles behave as +they snuggle up closer to each other? + +Take a piece of iron wire and bend it. The atoms on the inner side +become nearer together, those on the outside farther apart. Twist it. +The outer particles revolve on each other; those of the middle do not +move. They assume and maintain their new relations. + +Hang a weight on a wire. It does not stretch like a rubber thread, but +it stretches. Eight wires were tested as to their tensile strength. +They gave an average of forty-five pounds, and an elongation averaging +nineteen per cent of the total length. Then a wire of the same kind +was given time to adjust itself to its new and trying circumstances. +Forty pounds were hung on one day, three pounds more the next day, and +so on, increasing the weights by diminishing quantities, till in sixty +days it carried fifty-seven pounds. So it seems that exercise +strengthened the wire nearly twenty-seven per cent. + +While those atoms are hustling about, lengthening the wire and getting +a better grip on one another, they grow warm with the exercise. Hold a +thick rubber band against your lip--suddenly stretch it. The lip +easily perceives the greater heat. After a few moments let it +contract. The greater coldness is equally perceptible. + +A wire suspending thirty-nine pounds being twisted ninety-five full +turns lengthened itself one sixteen-hundredth of its length. Being +further twisted by twenty-five turns it shortened itself one fourth of +its previous elongation. During the twisting some sections took far +more torsion than others. A steel wire supporting thirty-nine pounds +was twisted one hundred and twenty times and then allowed to untwist at +will. It let out only thirty-eight turns and retained eighty-two in +the new permanent relation of particles. A wire has been known to +accommodate itself to nearly fourteen hundred twists, and still the +atoms did not let go of each other. They slid about on each other as +freely as the atoms of water, but they still held on. It is easier to +conceive of these atoms sliding about, making the wire thinner and +longer, when we consider that it is the opinion of our best physicists +that molecules made of atoms are never still. Masses of matter may be +still, but not the constituent elements. They are always in intensest +activity, like a mass of bees--those inside coming out, outside ones +going in--but the mass remains the same. + +The atoms of water behave extraordinarily. I know of a boiler and +pipes for heating a house. When the fire was applied and the +temperature was changed from that of the street to two hundred degrees, +it was easy to see that there was a whole barrel more of it than when +it was let into the boiler. It had been swollen by the heat, but it +was nothing but water. + +Mobile, flexible, and yielding as water seems to be, it has an +obstinacy quite remarkable. It was for a long time supposed to be +absolutely incompressible. It is nearly so. A pressure that would +reduce air to one hundredth of its bulk would not discernibly affect +water. Put a ton weight on a cubic inch of water; it does not flinch +nor perceptibly shrink, yet the atoms of water do not fill the space +they occupy. They object to being crowded. They make no objection to +having other matter come in and possess the space unoccupied by them. + +Air so much enjoys its free, agile state, leaping over hills and +plains, kissing a thousand flowers, that it greatly objects to being +condensed to a liquid. First we must take away all the heat. Two +hundred and ten degrees of heat changes water to steam filling 1,728 +times as much space. No amount of pressure will condense steam to +water unless the heat is removed. So take heat away from air till it +is more than two hundred degrees below zero, and then a pressure of +about two hundred atmospheres (14.7 pounds each) changes common air to +fluid. It fights desperately against condensation, growing hot with +the effort, and it maintains its resilience for years at any point of +pressure short of the final surrender that gives up to become liquid. + +Perhaps sometime we shall have the pure air of the mountains or the sea +condensed to fluid and sold by the quart to the dwellers in the city, +to be expanded into air once more. + +The marvel is not greater that gas is able to sustain itself under the +awful pressure with its particles in extreme dispersion, than that what +we call solids should have their molecules in a mazy dance and yet keep +their strength. + +Since this world, in power, fineness, finish, beauty, and adaptations, +not only surpasses our accomplishment, but also is past our finding out +to its perfection, it must have been made by One stronger, finer, and +wiser than we are. + + + + +MOBILITY OF SEEMING SOLIDS + +When a human breath, or the white jet of a steam whistle, or the black +cough of a locomotive smokestack is projected into the air it is easy +to see that the air is mobile. Its particles easily roll over one +another in voluminously infolding wreaths. The same is seen in water. +The crest of a wave falls over a portion of air, imprisoning it for a +moment, and the mingled air and water of different densities prevent +the light of the sun or sky from going straight down into the black +depths and being lost, but by being reflected and turned back it shows +like beautiful white lace, constantly created and dissolved with a +thousandfold more beauty than any that ever came from human hands. All +the three shifting elements of the swift creations are mobile. This +seems to be the case because these elements are not solid. The +particles have plenty of room to play about each other, to execute mazy +dances and minuets with vastly more space than substance. + +Extend the thought a little. Things that seem to us most solid are +equally mobile. An iron wire seems solid. It is so; some parts much +more so than others. The surface that has been in closest contact with +the die as the wire was drawn through, reducing its size by one half, +perhaps, is vastly more dense than the inner parts that have not been +so condensed. File away one tenth of a wire, taking it all from the +surface, and you weaken the tensile strength of the wire one half. + +But, dense and solid as this iron is, its particles are as mobile +within certain limits as the particles of air. An electric message +sent through a mile of wire is not anything transmitted; matter is not +transferred, but the particles are set to dancing in wavy motion from +end to end. Particles are leaping within ordered limits and according +to regular laws as really as the clouds swirl and the air trembles into +song through the throat of a singer. When a wire is made sensitive by +electricity the breath of a child can make it vibrate from end to end, +ensouled with the child's laughter or fancies. Nay, more, and far more +wonderful, the wire will be sensitive to the number of vibrations of a +certain note of music, and no receiver at the other end will gather up +its sensitive tremblings unless it is pitched to the keynote of the +vibrations sent. In this way eight sets of vibrations have been sent +on one wire both ways at the same time, and no set of signals has in +any way interfered with the completeness and audibility of the rest. +Sixteen sets of waltzes were being performed at one and the same time +by the particles of one wire without confusion. Because the air is +transmitting the notes of an organ from the loft to the opposite end of +the church, it is not incapable of bringing the sound of a voice in an +opposite direction to the organist from the other end of the church. + +The extreme mobility of steel is seen when the red-hot metal is plunged +into water. Instantly every particle takes a new position, making it a +hundredfold more hard than before it was heated. But these particles +of transferred steel are still mobile. A man's razor does not cut +smoothly. It is dull, or has a ragged edge that is more inclined to +draw tears than cut hairs. He draws the razor over the tender palm of +his hand a few times, rearranges the particles of the edge and builds +them out into a sharper form. Then the razor returns to the lip with +the dainty touch of a kiss instead of a saw. Or the tearful man dips +the razor in hot water and the particles run out to make a wider blade +and, of course, a thinner, sharper edge. Drop the tire of a wagon +wheel into a circular fire. As the heat increases each particle says +to its neighbor, "Please stand a little further off; this more than +July heat is uncomfortable." So the close friends stand a little +further apart, lengthening the tire an inch or two. Then, being taken +out of the fire and put on the wheel and cooled, the particles snuggle +up together again, holding the wheel with a grip of cold iron. Mobile +and loose, with plenty of room to play, as the particles have, neither +wire nor tire loses its tensile strength. They hold together, whether +arms are locked around each other's waist, or hand clasps hand in +farther reach. What change has come to iron when it has been made red +or white hot? Its particles have simply been mobilized. It differs +from cold iron as an army in barracks and forts differs from an army +mobilized. Nothing has been added but movement. There is no caloric +substance. Heat is a mode of motion. The particles of iron have been +made to vibrate among themselves. When the rapidity of movement +reaches four hundred and sixty millions of millions of vibrations per +second it so affects the eye that we say it is red-hot. When other +systems of vibration have been added for yellow, etc., up to seven +hundred and thirty millions of millions for the violet, and all +continue in full play, the eye perceives what we call white heat. It +is a simple illustration of the readiness of seeming solids to vibrate +with almost infinite swiftness. + +I have been to-day in what is to me a kind of heaven below--the +workshop of my much-loved friend, John A. Brashear, in Allegheny, Pa. +He easily makes and measures things to one four-hundred-thousandth of +an inch of accuracy. I put my hand for a few seconds on a great piece +of glass three inches thick. The human heat raised a lump detectable +by his measurements. We were testing a piece of glass half an inch +thick; and five inches in diameter. I put my two thumbnails at the two +sides as it rested on its bed, and could see at once that I had +compressed the glass to a shorter diameter. We twisted it in so many +ways that I said, "That is a piece of glass putty." And yet it was the +firmest texture possible to secure. Great lenses are so sensitive that +one cannot go near them without throwing them discernibly out of shape. +It were easy to show that there is no solid earth nor immovable +mountains. I came away saying to my friend, "I am glad God lets you +into so much of his finest thinking." He is a mechanic, not a +theologian. This foremost man in the world in his fine department was +lately but a "greasy mechanic," an engineer in a rolling mill. + +But for elasticity and mobility nothing approaches the celestial ether. +Its vibrations reach into millions of millions per second, and its +wave-lengths for extreme red light are only .0000266 of an inch long, +and for extreme violet still less--.0000167 of an inch. + +It is easier molding hot iron than cold, mobile things than immobile. +This world has been made elastic, ready to take new forms. New +creations are easy, for man, even--much more so for God. Of angels, +Milton says: + + "Thousands at his bidding speed, + And post o'er land and ocean without rest." + +No less is it true of atoms. In him all things live and move. Such +intense activities could not be without an infinite God immanent in +matter. + + + + +THE NEXT WORLD TO CONQUER + +Man's next realm of conquest is the celestial ether. It has higher +powers, greater intensities, and quicker activities than any realm he +has yet attempted. + +When the emissory or corpuscular theory of light had to be abandoned a +medium for light's interplay between worlds had to be conceived. The +existence of an all-pervasive medium called the luminiferous ether was +launched as a theory. Its reality has been so far demonstrated that +but very few doubters remain. + +What facts of its conditions and powers can be known? It differs +almost totally from our conceptions of matter. Of the eighteen +necessary properties of matter perhaps only one, extension, can be +predicated of it. It is unlimited, all-pervasive; even where worlds +are non-attractive, does not accumulate about suns or other bodies; has +no structure, chemical relations, nor inertia; is not heatable, and is +not cognizable by any of our present senses. Does it not take us one +step toward an apprehension of the revealed condition of spirit? + +Recall its actual activities. Two hundred and fifty-eight vibrations +of air per second produce on the ear the sensation we call _do_, or _C_ +of the soprano scale; five hundred and sixteen give the upper _C_, or +an octave above. So the sound runs up in air till, above, say, +thirty-five thousand vibrations per second, there is plenty of sound +inaudible to our ears. But not inaudible to finer ears. To them the +morning stars sing together in mighty chorus: + + "Forever singing as they shine, + 'The hand that made us is divine.'" + +Electricity has as great a variety of vibrations as sound. Since some +kinds of electricity do not readily pass through space devoid of air, +though light and heat do, it seems likely that some of the lower +intensities and slower vibrations of electricity are not in ether but +in air. Certainly some of the higher intensities are in ether. +Between two hundred and four hundred millions of millions of vibrations +of ether per second are the different sorts of heat. Between four +hundred and eight hundred vibrations are the different colors of light. +Beyond eight hundred vibrations there is plenty of light, invisible to +our eyes, known as chemical rays and probably the Roentgen rays. +Beyond these are there vibrations for thought-transference? Who +knoweth? + +These familiar facts are called up to show the almost infinite +capacities and intensities of the ether. Matter is more forceful, as +it is less dense. Rock is solid, and has little force except obstinate +resistance. Steam is rarer and more forceful. Gases suddenly born of +dynamite touched by fire in the rock under a mountain have the +tremendous pressure of eighty thousand pounds to the square inch. +Ether is so rare that its density, compared with water, is represented +by a decimal fraction with twenty-seven ciphers before it. + +When the worlds navigate this sea, do they plow through it as a ship +through the waves, forcing them aside, or as a sieve letting the water +through it? Doubtless the sieve is the better symbol. Certainly the +vibrations flow through solid glass and most solid diamond. To be +sure, they are a little hampered by the solid substance. The speed of +light is reduced from one hundred and eighty thousand miles a second in +space to one hundred and twenty thousand in glass. If ether can so +readily go through such solids, no wonder that a spirit body could +appear to the disciples, "the doors being shut." + +Marvelous discoveries in the capacities of ether have been made lately. +In 1842 Joseph Henry found that electric waves in the top of his house +provoked action in a wire circuit in the cellar, through two floors and +ceilings, without wire connections. More than twenty years ago +Professor Loomis, of the United States coast survey, telegraphed twenty +miles between mountains by electric impulses sent from kites. Last +year Mr. Preece, the cable being broken, sent, without wires, one +hundred and fifty-six messages between the mainland and the island of +Mull, a distance of four and a half miles. Marconi, an Italian, has +sent recognizable signals through seven or eight thick walls of the +London post-office, and three fourths of a mile through a hill. +Jagadis Chunder Bose, of India, has fired a pistol by an electric +vibration seventy-five feet away and through more than four feet of +masonry. Since brick does not elastically vibrate to such +infinitesimal impulses as electric waves, ether must. It has already +been proven that one can telegraph to a flying train from the overhead +wires. Ether is a far better medium of transmission than iron. A wire +will now carry eight messages each way, at the same time, without +interference. What will not the more facile ether do? + +Such are some of the first vague suggestions of a realm of power and +knowledge not yet explored. They are mere auroral hints of a new dawn. +The full day is yet to shine. + +Like timid children, we have peered into the schoolhouse--afraid of the +unknown master. If we will but enter we shall find that the Master is +our Father, and that he has fitted up this house, out of his own +infinite wisdom, skill, and love, that we may be like him in wisdom and +power as well as in love. + + + + +OUR ENJOYMENT OF NATURE'S FORCES + +We are a fighting race; not because we enjoy fights, but we enjoy the +exercise of force. In early times when we knew of no forces to handle +but our own, and no object to exercise them on but our fellow-men, +there were feuds, tyrannies, wars, and general desolation. In the +Thirty Years' War the population of Germany was starved and murdered +down from sixteen millions to less than five millions. + +But since we have found field, room, and ample verge for the play of +our forces in material realms, and have acquired mastery of the superb +forces of nature, we have come to an era of peace. We can now use our +forces and those of nature with as real a sense of dominion and mastery +on material things, resulting in comfort, as formerly on our +fellow-men, resulting in ruin. We now devote to the conquest of nature +what we once devoted to the conquest of men. There is a fascination in +looking on force and its results. Some men never stand in the presence +of an engine in full play without a feeling of reverence, as if they +stood in the presence of God--and they do. + +The turning to these forces is a characteristic of our age that makes +it an age of adventure and discovery. The heart of equatorial Africa +has been explored, and soon the poles will hold no undiscovered secrets. + +Among the great monuments of power the mountains stand supreme. All +the cohesions, chemical affinities, affections of metals, liquids, and +gases are in full play, and the measureless power of gravitation. And +yet higher forces have chasmed, veined, infiltrated, disintegrated, +molded, bent the rocky strata like sheets of paper, and lifted the +whole mass miles in air as if it were a mere bubble of gas. + +The study of these powers is one of the fascinations of our time. Let +me ask you to enjoy with me several of the greatest manifestations of +force on this world of ours. + + +THE MONTE ROSA + +Many of us in America know little of one of the great subjects of +thought and endeavor in Europe. We are occasionally surprised by +hearing that such a man fell into a crevasse, or that four men were +killed on the Matterhorn, or five on the Lyskamm, and others elsewhere, +and we wonder why they went there. The Alps are a great object of +interest to all Europe. I have now before me a catalogue of 1,478 +works on the Alps for sale by one bookseller. It seems incredible. In +this list are over a dozen volumes describing different ascents of a +single mountain, and that not the most difficult. There are +publications of learned societies on geology, entomology, paleontology, +botany, and one volume of _Philosophical and Religious Walks about Mont +Blanc_. The geology of the Alps is a most perplexing problem. The +summit of the Jungfrau, for example, consists of gneiss granite, but +two masses of Jura limestone have been thrust into it, and their ends +folded over. + +It is the habit, of the Germans especially, to send students into the +Alps with a case for flowers, a net for butterflies, and a box for +bugs. Every rod is a schoolhouse. They speak of the "snow mountains" +with ardent affection. Every Englishman, having no mountains at home, +speaks and feels as if he owned the Alps. He, however, cares less for +their flowers, bugs, and butterflies than for their qualities as a +gymnasium and a measure of his physical ability. The name of every +mountain or pass he has climbed is duly burnt into his Alpenstock, and +the said stock, well burnt over, is his pride in travel and a grand +testimonial of his ability at home. + +There are numerous Alpine clubs in England, France, and Italy. In the +grand exhibition of the nation at Milan the Alpine clubs have one of +the most interesting exhibits. This general interest in the Alps is a +testimony to man's admiration of the grandest work of God within reach, +and to his continued devotion to physical hardihood in the midst of the +enervating influences of civilization. There is one place in the world +devoted by divine decree to pure air. You are obliged to use it. +Toiling up these steeps the breathing quickens fourfold, till every +particle of the blood has been bathed again and again in the perfect +air. Tyndall records that he once staggered out of the murks and +disease of London, fearing that his lifework was done. He crawled out +of the hotel on the Bell Alp and, feeling new life, breasted the +mountain, hour after hour, till every acrid humor had oozed away, and +every part of his body had become so renewed that he was well from that +time. In such a sanitarium, school of every department of knowledge, +training-place for hardihood, and monument of Nature's grandest work, +man does well to be interested. + +You want to ascend these mountains? Come to Zermatt. With a wand ten +miles long you can touch twenty snow-peaks. Europe has but one higher. +Twenty glaciers cling to the mountain sides and send their torrents +into the little green valley. Try yourself on Monte Rosa, more +difficult to ascend than Mont Blanc; try the Matterhorn, vastly more +difficult than either or both. A plumbline dropped from the summit of +Monte Rosa through the mountain would be seven miles from Zermatt. You +first have your feet shod with a preparation of nearly one hundred +double-pointed hobnails driven into the heels and soles. In the +afternoon you go up three thousand one hundred and sixteen feet to the +Riffelhouse. It is equal to going up three hundred flights of stairs +of ten feet each; that is, you go up three hundred stories of your +house--only there are no stairs, and the path is on the outside of the +house. This takes three hours--an hour to each hundred stories; after +the custom of the hotels of this country, you find that you have +reached the first floor. The next day you go up and down the Görner +Grat, equal to one hundred and seventy more stories, for practice and a +view unequaled in Europe. Ordering the guide to be ready and the +porter to call you at one o'clock, you lie down to dream of the +glorious revelations of the morrow. + +The porter's rap came unexpectedly soon, and in response to the +question, "What is the weather?" he said, "Not utterly bad." There is +plenty of starlight; there had been through the night plenty of live +thunder leaping among the rattling crags, some of it very interestingly +near. We rose; there were three parties ready to make the ascent. The +lightning still glimmered behind the Matterhorn and the Weisshorn, and +the sound of the tumbling cataracts was ominously distinct. Was the +storm over? The guides would give no opinion. It was their interest +to go, it was ours to go only in good weather. By three o'clock I +noticed that the pointer on the aneroid barometer, that instrument that +has a kind of spiritual fineness of feeling, had moved a tenth of an +inch upward. I gave the order to start. The other parties said, "Good +for your pluck! _Bon voyage, gute reise_," and went to bed. In an +hour we had ascended one thousand feet and down again to the glacier. +The sky was brilliant. Hopes were high. The glacier with its vast +medial moraines, shoving along rocks from twenty to fifty feet long, +was crossed in the dawn. The sun rose clear, touching the snow-peaks +with glory, and we shouted victory. But in a moment the sun was +clouded, and so were we. Soon it came out again, and continued clear. +But the guide said, "Only the good God knows if we shall have clear +weather." Men get pious amid perils. I thought of the aneroid, and +felt that the good God had confided his knowledge to one of his +servants. + +Leaving the glacier, we came to the real mountain. Six hours and a +half will put one on the top, but he ought to take eight. I have no +fondness for men who come to the Alps to see how quickly they can do +the ascents. They simply proclaim that their object is not to see and +enjoy, but to boast. We go up the lateral moraine, a huge ridge fifty +feet high, with rocks in it ten feet square turned by the mighty plow +of ice below. We scramble up the rocks of the mountain. Hour after +hour we toil upward. At length we come to the snow-slopes, and are all +four roped together. There are great crevasses, fifty or a hundred +feet deep, with slight bridges of snow over them. If a man drops in +the rest must pull him out. Being heavier than any other man of the +party I thrust a leg through one snow-bridge, but I had just fixed my +ice ax in the firm abutment and was saved the inconvenience and delay +of dangling by a rope in a chasm. The beauty of these cold blue ice +vaults cannot be described. They are often fringed with icicles. In +one place they had formed from an overhanging shelf, reached the +bottom, and then the shelf had melted away, leaving the icicles in an +apparently reversed condition. We passed one place where vast masses +of ice had rolled down from above, and we saw how a breath might start +a new avalanche. We were up in one of nature's grandest workshops. + +How the view widened! How the fleeting cloud and sunshine heightened +the effect in the valley below! The glorious air made us know what the +man meant who every morning thanked God that he was alive. Some have +little occasion to be thankful in that respect. + +Here we learned the use of a guide. Having carefully chosen him, by +testimony of persons having experience, we were to follow him; not only +generally, but step by step. Put each foot in his track. He had +trodden the snow to firmness. But being heavier than he it often gave +way under my pressure. One such slump and recovery takes more strength +than ten regular steps. Not so in following the Guide to the fairer +and greater heights of the next world. He who carried this world and +its burden of sin on his heart trod the quicksands of time into such +firmness that no man walking in his steps, however great his sins, ever +breaks down the track. And just so in that upward way, one fall and +recovery takes more strength than ten rising steps. + +Meanwhile, what of the weather? Uncertainty. Avalanches thundered +from the Breithorn and Lyskamm, telling of a penetrative moisture in +the air. The Matterhorn refused to take in its signal flags of storm. +Still the sun shone clear. We had put in six of the eight hours' work +of ascent when snow began to fall. Soon it was too thick to see far. +We came to a chasm that looked vast in the deception of the storm. It +was only twenty feet wide. Getting round this the storm deepened till +we could scarcely see one another. There was no mountain, no sky. We +halted of necessity. The guide said, "Go back." I said, "Wait." We +waited in wind, hail, and snow till all vestige of the track by which +we had come--our only guide back if the storm continued--was lost +except the holes made by the Alpenstocks. The snow drifted over, and +did not fill these so quickly. + +Not knowing but that the storm might last two days, as is frequently +the case, I reluctantly gave the order to go down. In an hour we got +below the storm. The valley into which we looked was full of brightest +sunshine; the mountain above us looked like a cowled monk. In another +hour the whole sky was perfectly clear. O that I had kept my faith in +my aneroid! Had I held to the faith that started me in the +morning--endured the storm, not wavered at suggestions of peril, defied +apparent knowledge of local guides--and then been able to surmount the +difficulty of the new-fallen snow, I should have been favored with such +a view as is not enjoyed once in ten years; for men cannot go up all +the way in storm, nor soon enough after to get all the benefit of the +cleared air. Better things were prepared for me than I knew; +indications of them offered to my faith; they were firmly grasped, and +held almost long enough for realization, and then let go in an hour of +darkness and storm. + +I reached the Riffelhouse after eleven hours' struggle with rocks and +softened snow, and said to the guide, "To-morrow I start for the +Matterhorn." To do this we go down the three hundred stories to +Zermatt. + +Every mountain excursion I ever made has been in the highest degree +profitable. Even this one, though robbed of its hoped-for culmination, +has been one of the richest I have ever enjoyed. + + + + +THE MATTERHORN + +The Matterhorn is peculiar. I do not know of another mountain like it +on the earth. There are such splintered and precipitous spires on the +moon. How it came to be such I treated of fully in _Sights and +Insights_. It is approximately a three-sided mountain, fourteen +thousand seven hundred and eighteen feet high, whose sides are so steep +as to be unassailable. Approach can be made only along the angle at +the junction of the planes. + +[Illustration: The Matterhorn.] + +It was long supposed to be inaccessible. Assault after assault was +made on it by the best and most ambitious Alp climbers, but it kept its +virgin height untrodden. However, in 1864, seven men, almost +unexpectedly, achieved the victory; but in descending four of them were +precipitated, down an almost perpendicular declivity, four thousand +feet. They had achieved the summit after hundreds of others had +failed. They had reveled in the upper glories, deposited proof of +their visit, and started to return. According to law, they were roped +together. According to custom, in a difficult place all remain still, +holding the rope, except one who carefully moves on. Croz, the first +guide, was reaching up to take the feet of Mr. Haddow and help him down +to where he stood. Suddenly Haddow's strength failed, or he slipped +and struck Croz on the shoulders, knocking him off his narrow footing. +They two immediately jerked off Rev. Mr. Hudson. The three falling +jerked off Lord Francis Douglas. Four were loose and falling; only +three left on the rocks. Just then the rope somehow parted, and all +four dropped that great fraction of a mile. The mountain climber makes +a sad pilgrimage to the graves of three of them in Zermatt; the fourth +probably fell in a crevasse of the glacier at the foot, and may be +brought to the sight of friends in perhaps two score years, when the +river of ice shall have moved down into the valleys where the sun has +power to melt away the ice. This accident gave the mountain a +reputation for danger to which an occasional death on it since has +added. + +Each of these later unfortunate occurrences is attributable to personal +perversity or deficiency. Peril depends more on the man than on +circumstances. One is in danger on a wall twenty feet high, another +safe on a precipice of a thousand feet. No man has a right to peril +his life in mere mountain climbing; that great sacrifice must be +reserved for saving others, or for establishing moral principle. + +The morning after coming from Monte Rosa myself and son left Zermatt at +half past seven for the top of the Matterhorn, twelve hours distant, +under the guidance of Peter Knubel, his brother, and Peter Truffer, +three of the best guides for this work in the country. In an hour the +dwellings of the mountain-loving people are left behind, the tree limit +is passed soon after, the grass cheers us for three hours, when we +enter on the wide desolation of the moraines. Here is a little chapel. +I entered it as reverently and prayed as earnestly for God's will, not +mine, to be done as I ever did in my life, and I am confident that amid +the unutterable grandeur that succeeded I felt his presence and help as +fully as at any other time. + +At ten minutes of two we were roped together and feeling our way +carefully in the cut steps on a glacier so steep that, standing erect, +one could put his hand upon it. We were on this nearly an hour. Just +as we left it for the rocks a great noise above, and a little to the +south, attracted attention. A vast mass of stone had detached itself +from the overhanging cliff at the top, and falling on the steep slope +had broken into a hundred pieces. These went bounding down the side in +long leaps. Wherever one struck a cloud of powdered stone leaped into +the air, till the whole mountain side smoked and thundered with the +grand cannonade. The omen augured to me that the mountain was going to +do its best for our reception and entertainment. Fortunately these +rock avalanches occur on the steep, unapproachable sides, and not at +the angle where men climb. + +How the mountain grew upon us as we clung to its sides! When the great +objects below had changed to littleness the heights above seemed +greater than ever. At half past four we came to a perpendicular height +of twenty feet, with a slight slope above. Down this precipice hung a +rope; there was also an occasional projection of an inch or two of +stone for the mailed foot. At the top, on a little shelf, under +hundreds of feet of overhanging rock, some stones had been built round +and over a little space for passing the night. The rude cabin occupied +all the width of the shelf, so that passing to its other end there was +not room to walk without holding on by one's hands in the crevices of +the wall. We were now at home; had taken nine hours to do what could +be done in eight. What an eyrie in which to sleep! Below us was a +sheer descent, of a thousand or two feet, to the glacier. Above us +towered the crest of the mountain, seemingly higher than ever. The +sharp shadow of the lofty pyramid lengthened toward Monte Rosa. Italy +lifted up its mountains tipped with sunshine to cheer us. The Obernese +Alps, beyond the Rhone, answered with numerous torches to light us to +our sleep. According to prearrangement, at eight o'clock we kindled a +light on our crag to tell our friends in Zermatt that we had +accomplished the first stage of our journey. They answered instantly +with a cheery blaze, and we lay down to sleep. + +When four of us lay together I was so crowded against the wall that I +thought if it should give way I could fall two thousand feet out of bed +without possibility of stopping on the way. The ice was two feet thick +on the floor, and by reason of the scarcity of bedding I was reminded +of the damp, chilly sheets of some unaired guest-chambers. I do not +think I slept a moment, but I passed the night in a most happy, +thoughtful, and exultant frame of mind. + +At half past three in the morning we were roped together--fifteen feet +of rope between each two men--for the final three or four hours' work. +It is everywhere steep; it is every minute hands and feet on the rocks; +sometimes you cling with fingers, elbows, knees, and feet, and are +tempted to add the nose and chin. Where it is least steep the guide's +heels are right in your face; when it is precipitous you only see a +line of rope before you. We make the final pause an hour before the +top. Here every weight and the fear that so easily besets one must be +laid aside. No part of the way has seemed so difficult; not even that +just past--when we rounded a shoulder on the ice for sixty feet, +sometimes not over twenty inches wide, on the verge of a precipice four +thousand feet high. To this day I can see the wrinkled form of that +far-down glacier below, though I took care not to make more than one +glance at it. + +The rocks become smoother and steeper, if possible. A chain or rope +trails from above in four places. You have good hope that it is well +secured, and wish you were lighter, as you go up hand over hand. Then +a beautiful slope for hands, knees, and feet for half an hour, and the +top is reached at half past six. + +The view is sublime. Moses on Pisgah could have had no such vision. +He had knowledge added of the future grandeur of his people, but such a +revelation as this tells so clearly what God can do for his people +hereafter that that element of Moses's enjoyment can be perceived, if +not fully appreciated. All the well-known mountains stand up like +friends to cheer us. Mont Blanc has the smile of the morning sun to +greet us withal. Monte Rosa chides us for not partaking of her +prepared visions. The kingdoms of the world--France, Switzerland, +Italy--are at our feet. One hundred and twenty snow-peaks flame like +huge altar piles in the morning sun. The exhilarant air gives ecstasy +to body, the new visions intensity of feeling to soul. The Old World +has sunk out of sight. This is Mount Zion, the city of God. New +Jerusalem has come down out of heaven adorned as a bride for her +husband. The pavements are like glass mingled with fire. The gates of +the morning are pearl. The walls, near or far according to your +thought, are like jasper and sapphire. The glory of God and of the +Lamb lightens it. + +But we must descend, though it is good to be here. It is even more +difficult and tedious than the ascent. _Non facilis descensus_. With +your face to the mountain you have only the present surface and the +effort for that instant. But when you turn your back on the mountain +the imminent danger appears. It is not merely ahead, but the sides are +much more dangerous. On the way down we had more cannonades. In six +hours we were off the cliffs, and by half past three we had let +ourselves down, inch by inch, to Zermatt, a distance of nine thousand +four hundred feet. + +Looking up to the Matterhorn this next morning after the climb, I feel +for it a personal affection. It has put more pictures of grandeur into +my being than ever entered in such a way before. It is grand enough to +bear acquaintance. People who view it from a distance must be +strangers. It has been, and ever will be, a great example and lofty +monument of my Father's power. He taketh up the isles as a very little +thing; he toucheth the mountains and they smoke. The strength of the +hills is his also; and he has made all things for his children, and +waits to do greater things than these. + + + + +THE GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO RIVER + +Before me lies a thin bit of red rock, rippled as delicately as a +woman's hair, bearing marks of raindrops that came from the south. It +was once soft clay. It was laid down close to the igneous Archaean +rocks when Mother Earth was in her girlhood and water first began to +flow. More clay flowed over, and all was hardened into rock. Many +strata, variously colored and composed, were deposited, till our bit of +beauty was buried thousands of feet deep. The strata were tilted +variously and abraded wondrously, for our earth has been treated very +much as the fair-armed bread-maker treats the lump of dough she doubles +and kneads on the molding board. Other rocks of a much harder nature, +composed in part of the shells of inexpressible multitudes of Ocean's +infusoria, were laid down from the superincumbent sea. Still the +delicate ripple marks were preserved. Nature's vast library was being +formed, and on this scrap of a leaf not a letter was lost. + +Beside this stone now lies another of the purest white. It once flowed +as water impregnated with lime, and clung to the lower side of a rock +now as high above the sea as many a famous mountain. The water +gradually evaporated, and the lime still hung like tiny drops. Between +the two stones now so near together was once a perpendicular distance +of more than a mile of impenetrable rock. How did they ever get +together? Let us see. + +After the rock making, by the deposit of clay, limestone, etc., this +vast plain was lifted seven thousand feet above the sea and rimmed +round with mountains. Perhaps in being afterward volcanically tossed +in one of this old world's spasms an irregular crack ripped its way +along a few hundred miles. Into this crack rushed a great river, +perhaps also an inland ocean or vast Lake Superior, of which Salt Lake +may be a little remnant puddle. These tumultuous waters proceeded to +pulverize, dissolve, and carry away these six thousand feet of rock +deposited between the two stones. There was fall enough to make forty +Niagaras. + +I was once where a deluge of rain had fallen a few days before in a +mountain valley. It tore loose some huge rocks and plunged down a +precipice of one thousand feet. The rock at the bottom was crushed +under the frightful weight of the tumbling superincumbent mass, and +every few minutes the top became the bottom. In one hour millions of +tons of rock were crushed to pebbles and spread for miles over the +plain, filling up a whole village to the roofs of the houses. I knew +three villages utterly destroyed by a rush of water only ten feet deep. +Water and gravitation make a frightful plow. Here some prehistoric +Mississippi turned its mighty furrows. + +The Colorado River is one of our great rivers. It is over two thousand +miles long, reaches from near our northern to beyond our southern +border, and drains three hundred thousand square miles of the west side +of the Rocky Mountains. Great as it remains, it is a mere thread to +what it once was. It is easy to see that there were several epochs of +work. Suppose the first one took off the upper limestone rock to the +depth of several thousand feet. This cutting is of various widths. +Just here it is eighteen miles wide; but as such rocks are of varying +hardness there are many promontories that distinctly project out, say, +half a mile from the general rim line, and rising in the center are +various Catskill and Holyoke mountains, with defiantly perpendicular +sides, that persisted in resisting the mighty rush of waters. The +outer portions of their foundations were cut away by the mighty flood +and, as the ages went by, occasionally the sides thundered into the +chasm, leaving the wall positively perpendicular. + +We may now suppose the ocean waters nearly exhausted and only the +mighty rivers that had made that ocean were left to flow; indeed, the +rising Sierras of some range unknown at the present may have shut off +whole oceans of rain. The rivers that remained began to cut a much +narrower channel into the softer sand and clay-rock below. From the +great mountain-rimmed plateau rivers poured in at the sides, cutting +lateral cañons down to the central flow. Between these stand the +little Holyokes aforesaid, with greatly narrowed base. + +I go down with most reverent awe and pick the little ripple-rain-marked +leaf out of its place in the book of nature, a veritable table of stone +written by the finger of God, and bring it up and lay it alongside of +one formed, eons after, at the top. They be brothers both, formed by +the same forces and for the same end. + +Standing by this stupendous work of nature day after day, I try to +stretch my mind to some large computation of the work done. A whole +day is taken to go down the gorge to the river. It takes seven miles +of zigzag trail, sometimes frightfully steep, along shelves not over +two feet wide, under rock thousands of feet above and going down +thousands of feet below, to get down that perpendicular mile. It was +an immense day's work. + +The day was full of perceptions of the grandeur of vast rock masses +never before suggested, except by the mighty mass of the Matterhorn +seen close by from its Hörnli shoulder. + +There was the river--a regular freight train, running day and night, +the track unincumbered with returning cars (they were returned by the +elevated road of the upper air)--burdened with dissolved rock and earth. + +A slip into this river scarcely seemed to wet the foot; it seemed +rather to coat it thickly with mud rescued from its plunge toward the +sea. What unimaginable amounts the larger river must have carried in +uncounted ages! In the short time the Mississippi has been at work it +has built out the land at its mouth one hundred miles into the Gulf. + +In the side cañon down which we worked our sublime and toilful way it +was easy to see the work done. Sometimes the fierce torrent would pile +the bottom of a side cañon with every variety of stone, from the wall a +mile high, into one tremendous heap of conglomerate. The next rush of +waters would tear a channel through this and pour millions of tons into +the main river. For years Boston toiled, in feeble imitation of +Milton's angels, to bring the Milton Hills into the back Bay and South +Boston Flats. Boston made more land than the city originally +contained, but it did not move a teaspoonful compared with these +excavations. + +The section traversed that day seemed while we were in it like a mighty +chasm, a world half rent asunder, full of vast sublimities, but the +next day, seen from the rim as a part of the mighty whole, it appeared +comparatively little. One gets new meanings of the words almighty, +eternity, infinity, in the presence of things done that seem to require +them all. + +In 1869 Major J. W. Powell, aided by nine men, attempted to pass down +this tumultuous river with four boats specially constructed for the +purpose. In ninety-eight days he had made one thousand miles, much of +it in extremest peril. For weeks there was no possibility of climbing +to the plateau above. + +Any great scene in nature is like the woman you fall in love with at +first sight for some pose of head, queenly carriage, auroral flush of +color, penetrative music of voice, or a glance of soul through its +illumined windows. You do not know much about her, but in long years +of heroic endurance of trials, in the great dignity of motherhood, in +the unspeakable comfortings that are scarcely short of godlike, and in +the supernal, ineffable beauty and loveliness that cover it all, you +find a richness and worth of which the most ardent lover never dreamed. +The first sight of the cañon often brings strong men to their knees in +awe and adoration. The gorge at Niagara is one hundred and fifty feet +deep; it is far short of this, which is six thousand six hundred and +forty. Great is the first impression, but in the longer and closer +acquaintance every sense of beauty is flooded to the utmost. + +The next morning I was out before "jocund day stood tiptoe on the +breezy mountain tops." I have seen many sunrises In this world and one +other: I have watched the moon slowly rolling its deep valleys for +weeks into its morning sunlight. I knew what to expect. But nature +always surpasses expectations. The sinuosities of the rim sent back +their various colors. A hundred domes and spires, wind sculptured and +water sculptured, reached up like Memnon to catch the first light of +the sun, and seemed to me to break out into Memnonian music. As the +world rolled the steady light penetrated deeper, shadows diminished, +light spaces broadened and multiplied, till it seemed as if a new +creation were veritably going forward and a new "Let there be light" +had been uttered. I had seen it for the first time the night before in +the mellow light of a nearly full moon, but the sunlight really seemed +to make, in respect to breadth, depth, and definiteness, a new creation. + +One peculiar effect I never noticed elsewhere. It is well known that +the blue sky is not blue and there is no sky. Blue is the color of the +atmosphere, and when seen in the miles deep overhead, or condensed in a +jar, it shows its own true color. So, looking into this inconceivable +cañon, the true color came out most beauteously. There was a +background of red and yellowish rocks. These made the cold blue blush +with warm color. The sapphire was backed with sardonyx, and the bluish +white of the chalcedony was half pellucid to the gold chrysolite behind +it. God was laying the foundation of his perfect city there, and the +light of it seemed fit for the redeemed to walk in, and to have been +made by the luminousness of Him who is light. + +One great purpose of this world is its use as significant symbol and +hint of the world to come. The communication of ideas and feelings +there is not by slow, clumsy speech, often misunderstood, originally +made to express low physical wants, but it is by charade, panorama, +parable, and music rolling like the voice of many waters in a storm. +The greatest things and relations of earth are as hintful of greater +things as a bit of float ore in the plains is suggestive of boundless +mines in the upper hills. So the joy of finding one lost lamb in the +wilderness tells of the joy of finding and saving a human soul. One +should never go to any of God's great wonders to see sights, but to +live life; to read in them the figures, symbols, and types of the more +wonderful things in the new heavens and the new earth. + +The old Hebrew prophets and poets saw God everywhere in nature. The +floods clap their hands and the hills are joyful together before the +Lord. Miss Proctor, in the Yosemite, caught the same lofty spirit, and +sang: + + "Perpetual masses here intone, + Uncounted censers swing, + A psalm on every breeze is blown; + The echoing peaks from throne to throne + Greet the indwelling King; + The Lord, the Lord is everywhere, + And seraph-tongued are earth and air." + + + + +THE YELLOWSTONE PARK GEYSERS + + +THEIR ESSENTIAL FACTS AND CAUSES + +I have been to school. Dame Nature is a most kind and skillful +teacher. She first put me into the ABC class, and advanced me through +conic sections. The first thing in the geyser line she showed me was a +mound of rock, large as a small cock of hay, with a projection on top +large as a shallow pint bowl turned upside down. In the center of this +was a half-inch hole, and from it every two seconds, with a musical +chuckle of steam, a handful of diamond drops of water was ejected to a +height of from two to five feet. I sat down with it half an hour, +compelled to continuous laughter by its own musical cachinnations. +There were all the essentials of a geyser. There was a mound, not +always existent, built up by deposits from the water supersaturated +with mineral. It might be three feet high; it might be thirty. There +was the jet of water ejected by subterranean forces. It might be half +an inch in diameter; it might be three hundred feet, as in the case of +the Excelsior geyser. It might rise six inches; it might rise two +hundred and fifty feet. There was the interval between the jets. It +might be two seconds; it might be weeks or years. + +[Illustration: Formation of the Grotto Geyser.] + +A subsequent lesson in my Progressive Geyser Reader was the "Economic." +Here was a round basin ten feet in diameter, very shallow, with a hole +in the middle about one foot across. The water was perfectly calm. +But every six minutes a sudden spurt of water and steam would rise +about thirty feet, for thirty seconds, and then settle economically, +without waste of water, into the pool, sinking with pulsations as on an +elastic cushion a foot below the bottom of the pool. One could stride +the opening like a colossus for five and one half minutes without fear. +He might be using the calm depth for a mirror. But stay a moment too +long and he is scalded to death by the sudden outburst. + +The next lesson required more patience and gave more abundant reward. +I found a great raised platform on which stood a castellated rock, more +than twenty feet square, that had been built up particle by particle +into a perfect solid by deposits from the fiery flood. In the center +was a brilliant orange-colored throat that went down into the bowels of +the earth. That was not the geyser--it was only the trump through +which the archangel was to blow. I had heard the preliminary tuning of +the instrument. + +The guide book said the grand play of this "Castle" geyser began from +eight to thirty hours after a previous exhibition, and was preceded by +jets of water fifteen to twenty feet high, and that these continued +five or six hours before the grand eruption. I hovered near the grand +stand till the full thirty hours and the six predictive hours were +over, and then, as the thunder above roared threateningly and the rain +fell suggestively, I took a rubber coat and camped on the trail of that +famous spouter. + +Geysers are more than a trifle freaky. "Old Faithful" is a notable +exception. Every sixty-five minutes, with almost the regularity of +star time, he throws his column of hissing water one hundred and fifty +feet high. Others are irregular, sometimes playing every three hours +for a few times, and then taking a rest for three or more days. This +Castle geyser is not registered to be quiet more than thirty hours, nor +to indulge in preparatory spouts for more than six hours. When I +finally camped to watch it out all these premonitory symptoms had been +duly exhibited. I first carefully noted the frequency and height of +the spouts, that any change might foretell the grand finale. There +were ten spouts to the minute, and an average height of twenty feet. +Hours went by with no hint of a change: ten to the minute, twenty feet +in height. People by the dozen came and asked when it would go off. I +said, "Liable to go any minute; it is long past due now." Stage loads +of tourists, scheduled to run on time, drove up, waited a few minutes, +and drove on, as if the grand object of the trip was to make time--not +to see the grandeur they had come a thousand miles to enjoy. A +photographer set up his camera to catch a shadow of the great display. +He stood, sometimes air-bulb in hand, an hour or two, then folded his +camera tent and stole away. Five hours had passed and night was near. +Everybody was gone. I lay down on the ground to convince myself that I +was perfectly patient. I attained so nearly to Nirvana that a little +ground squirrel came and ran over me, kissing my hand in a most +friendly way. + +Six hours of waiting were nearly over when, without a single previous +hint of change, one descending spout was met by an ascending one, and a +vast column of hissing water rose, with a sound of continuous thunder, +one hundred feet in air; and stood there like a pillar of cloud in the +desert. The air throbbed as in a cannonade, and the sun brushed away +all clouds as if he could not bear to miss a sight he had seen perhaps +a million times. Then the top of this upward Niagara bent over like +the calyx of a calla, and the downward Niagara covered all that +elevated masonry with a rushing cascade. Shifting my position a +little, I could see that the sun was thrilling the whole glorious +outpour with rainbows. At such times one can neither measure nor +express emotions by words. In the thunder which anyone can hear there +is always, for all who can receive it, the ineffably sweet voice of the +Father saying, "Thou art my beloved son, and all this grand display is +for thy precious sake." + +In sixteen minutes the flow of waters ceased, and a rush of saturated +steam succeeded. At the same time the fierce swish of ascending waters +and of descending cascades ceased, and a clear, definite note, as of a +trumpet, exceeding long and loud, was blown. No archangel could have +done better. As the steam rolled skyward it was condensed, and a very +heavy rain fell on about an acre at the east as it was drifted by the +air. It looked more like lines of water than separated drops. I found +it thoroughly cooled by its flight in the upper air. + +I climbed the huge natural masonry, and stood on the top. I could have +put my hand into the hot rushing of measureless power. What a sight it +was! There were the brilliant colors of the throat, open, three feet +wide, and the dazzling whiteness of the steam. At thirty-two minutes +from the beginning the steam suddenly became drier, like that close to +the spout of a kettle, or close to the whistle of an engine. All pure +steam is invisible. At the same time the note of the trumpet +distinctly changed. The heavy rain at the east as suddenly stopped. +The air could absorb the present amount of moisture. One could see +farther down the terrible throat that seemed about to be rent asunder. +The awful grandeur was becoming too much for human endurance. The +contorted forms of rocks on the summit began to take the forms and +heads of dragons, such as the Chinese carve on their monuments. The +awful column began to change its effect from terror to fascination, and +I knew how Empedocles felt when he flung himself into the burning +Aetna. It was time to get down and stand further off. + +[Illustration: Bee-Hive Geyser.] + +The long waiting had been rewarded. "To patient faith the prize is +sure." The grand tumult began to subside. It was beyond all my +expectations. Nature never disappoints, for she is of God and in her +he yet immanently abides. The next day the sky and all the air were +full of falling rain. How could it be otherwise? It was the geyser +returning to earth. I sought the place. The awful trumpet was silent, +and the steam exhaled as gently as a sleeping baby's breath. + +Only one more lesson will be recited at present. I had just arrived in +camp when they told me that the Splendid geyser, after two days of +quiet, was showing signs of uneasiness. I immediately went out to +study my lesson. There was a little hill of very gentle slopes, a +little pool at the top, three holes at the west side of it, with a +dozen sputtering hot springs scattered about, while in a direct line at +the east, within one hundred and forty feet, were the Comet, the Daisy, +and another geyser. The Daisy was a beauty, playing forty feet high +every two or four hours. All the slopes were constantly flowing with +hot water. This general survey was no sooner taken than our glorious +Splendid began to play. The roaring column, tinted with the sunset +glories, gradually climbed to a height of two hundred feet, leaned a +little to the southeast, and bent like a glorious arch of triumph to +the earth, almost as solid on its descending as on its ascending side. +No wonder it is named "Splendid." + +Whoever has studied waterfalls of great height--I have seen nearly +forty justly famous falls--has noticed that when a column or mass of +water makes the fearful plunge smaller masses of water are constantly +feathered off at the sides and delayed by the resistance of the air, +while the central mass hurries downward by its concentrated weight. +The general appearance is that of numerous spearheads with serrated +edges, feathered with light, thrust from some celestial armory into the +writhing pool of agonized waters below. In the geyser one gets this +effect both in the ascending and in the descending flood. + +Four times that first night dear old Splendid lured me from my bed to +watch her Titanic play in the full light of the moon. During all this +time not a hot spring ceased its boiling, nor a smaller geyser its +wondrous play, for this gigantic outburst of power that might well have +absorbed every energy for a mile around. Obviously they have no +connection. Then my beloved Splendid settled into a three-days' rest. + +These are the essential facts of geyser display. There are very many +variations of performance in every respect, I have seen over twenty +geysers in almost jocular, and certainly in overwhelmingly magnificent, +activity. + + "To him who in the love of nature holds + Communion with her visible forms, she speaks + A various language." + + +WHAT ARE THE CAUSES? + +What is the power that can throw a stream of water two by six feet over +the tops of the highest skyscrapers of Chicago? It is heat manifested +in the expansive power of steam. Scientists have theorized long and +experimented patiently to read the open book of this tremendous +manifestation of uncontrollable energy. At first the form and action +of a teakettle was supposed to be explanatory. Everyone knows that +when steam accumulates under the lid it forces a gentle stream of water +from the higher nozzle. This fact was made the basis of a theory to +account for geysers by Sir George Mackenzie in 1811. But to suppose +that nature has gone into the teakettle manufacturing business to the +extent of thirty such kettles in a space of four square miles was seen +to be preposterous. So the construction theory was given up. + +But suppose a tube (how it is made will be explained later), large or +small, regular or irregular, to extend far into the earth, near or +through any great source of heat resulting from condensation, +combustion, chemical action, or central fire. Now suppose this tube to +be filled with water from surface or subterranean sources. Heat +converts water, under the pressure of one atmosphere, or fifteen pounds +to the square inch, into steam at a temperature of two hundred and +twelve degrees. But under greater pressure more heat is required to +make steam. The water never leaps and bubbles in an engine boiler. +The awful pressure compels it to be quiet. A cubic inch of water will +make a cubic foot--one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight times as +much--of steam under the pressure of one atmosphere. But under the +pressure of a column of water one thousand feet high, giving a pressure +of four hundred and thirty-two pounds to the square inch at the bottom, +water becomes steam, if at all, only by great heat. Every engineer +knows that the pressure exerted by steam increases by great geometrical +ratios as the heat increases by small arithmetical ratios. Steam made +by two hundred and twelve degrees exerts a pressure, as we have said, +of fifteen pounds. + +To simply double the two hundred and twelve degrees of heat increases +the steam pressure twenty-three times. + +Now suppose the subterranean tube or lake of Old Faithful to be freshly +filled with its million gallons of water. Sufficient heat makes steam +under any pressure. It rises up the tube and is condensed to water +again by the colder water above. Hence no commotion. But the whole +volume of water grows hotter for an hour. When it is too hot to absorb +the steam, and the tube is too narrow to let the amount made bubble up +through the water, it lifts the whole mass with a sudden jerk. The +instant the pressure of the water is taken off in any degree, the water +below, that was kept water by the pressure, breaks into steam most +voluminously, and the measureless power floods the earth and sky with +water and steam. + +It is also known that superheated steam suddenly takes on such great +power that no boiler can hold it. Once let the water in a boiler get +very low and no boiler can hold the force of the resultant superheated +steam. The same heat that, applied to water, gives perfect safety, +applied to steam gives utter destruction. Hence the amazing force of +the vast jets of the geyser that follow the first spurts. + +As soon as the steam is blown off the subterranean waterworks fill the +tube and the process is repeated. + +This modus operandi was first proposed as a theory by Bunsen in 1846, +and later was demonstrated by the artificial geyser of Professor J. H. +J. Muller, of Freiburg. + +[Illustration: Pulpit Terrace and Bunsen Peak.] + + +MOUNDS OF MINERAL DEPOSITS + +I have the extremely difficult task of representing emotions by +words--glories of color and form seen by the eye by symbols meant to be +addressed to the ear. Before seeking to describe the diverse colors +made largely by one substance, let us remember that while silica, the +principal part of these water-built mounds, is one of the three parts +of granite, namely, the white crystal quartz, it is also the substance +of the beautifully variegated jasper, the lapis lazuli, the green +malachite, and the opal, with its cloudy milk-whiteness through which +flashes its heart of fire. Silica and alumina combine to make common +clay, but alumina forms itself into the red ruby, the golden-tinted +topaz, the violet oriental amethyst, the red, white, yellow, and violet +sapphire, and the beautiful green emerald. With substances of such +rare capabilities we may expect rich results in color and form. + +We turn now to deposits from water of these two substances, especially +the first. About the Old Faithful geyser is a mound about one hundred +and forty-five feet broad at the base, twelve feet high, jeweled over +with pools of beauty of every shape, beaded and fretted with glories of +color never seen before except in the sky. How were they made? + +Water is a general solvent. It can take into its substance several +similar bulks of other substances without greatly increasing its own, +some actually diminishing it. Hot alkaline water will dissolve even +silica rock. When water is saturated with sugar, salt, or other +substance, if a little or much water is evaporated some of the +saturating substance must be deposited as a solid. All crystals, as +quartz or diamonds, have been made by deposits from water. Hot water +can hold in solution much more of a solid than cold water. Therefore, +when hot water comes out of the earth and is cooled, some of the +saturating substance must be deposited as a solid. It is done in +various ways, especially two. + +Suppose a little pool with perpendicular sides, say twenty feet across. +It leaps and boils two feet high. It deposits nothing till the water +comes to the cooling edge. Then it builds up a wall where it +overflows, and wherever it flows it builds. The result is that you +walk up the gentle slopes of a broad flat cone, and find the little +lakelet in a gorgeous setting, perfectly full at every point of the +circumference. If there is but little overflow, the result may be to +deposit all the matter where it first cools, and make a perpendicular +wall around the cup two or ten feet high. If the overflow is too much +to be cooled at once, the deposit may still be made fifty or one +hundred feet from the point of issue. If the overflow is sufficient, +it may be building up every inch of a vast cone at once, every foot +being wet. + +[Illustration: The Punch Bowl, Yellowstone Geysers.] + +Many minerals are held in solution and are deposited at various stages +of evaporation. Let us suppose the lake to have the bottom sloping +toward the abysmal center; the different minerals will be assorted as +if with a sieve. At the Sunlight Basin the edge is as flaming red as +one ever sees in the sunlit sky. And every color ever seen in a sunset +flames almost as brilliantly in the varying depths. Suppose a low cone +to be flooded only occasionally, as in the case of the Old Faithful +geyser. The cooled water falling from the upper air builds up, under +the terrible drench of the cataract, walls three or four inches high, +making pools of every conceivable shape, a few inches deep, in which +are the most exquisite and varied colors ever seen by mortal eye. You +walk about on these dividing walls and gaze into the beaded and +impearled pools of a hundred shades of different colors, never equaled +except by that perpetual glory of the sunset. + +Consider the case of a pool that does not overflow. Just as lakes that +have no outlet must grow more and more salt till some have become solid +salt beds, so must this pool, tossing its hot waves two or three feet +high, evaporate its water and deposit its solids. Where? First, +against the cooler sides of the rock under the water, tending to reduce +the opening to a mere throat. Second, each wavelet tossed in air is +cooled, and deposits on the edge, solid as quartz, a crust that +overhangs the pool and tends to close it over as with hot ice. It may +build thus a mound fifteen feet high with an open throat in the middle. +Thus the pool has constructed an intermittent geyser. If the water +supply continues, it also destroys itself. The throat closes up by its +own deposits. It is a case of geyseral membranous croup. + +I exceedingly longed to try vivisection on a geyser, or at least take +one of half a hundred, drain it off, and make a post-mortem +examination. On my very last day I found opportunity. I found a dead +geyser, though not by any means yet cold. It was still so hot that +people had given it an infernal name. I squeezed myself down through +its hot throat, which seemed a veritable open sepulcher, and found a +cave about twenty-five feet deep, twelve feet wide, and about sixty +feet long. It was elliptical in form, the sides coming together at a +sharp angle at the ends, bottom, and top. The way down to the fiery +heart of the earth had simply grown up by deposits of silex on the +sides and at the bottom. The water had evaporated by the intense heat, +and I was in the hot hollow that had once held an earthquake and +volcano. When I squeezed up to the blessed upper air I was glad there +was no help from below. + +I could tell of mounds that grew so fast as to inclose the limbs of a +tree, making the firmest kind of a ladder by which I climbed to the +top; of floods that overflowed acres of forest, leaving every tree +firmly planted in solid rock; of mounds hundreds of feet high, covering +twenty acres with forms of indescribable beauty--but I despair. The +half has not been told. It cannot be. Great and marvelous are all Thy +works, Lord God Almighty! In wisdom hast Thou made them all. + +Emerson says: "Whilst common sense looks at things or visible nature as +real and final facts, poetry, or the imagination which dictates it, is +a second sight, looking through these, and using them as types or words +for thoughts which they signify." Using these faculties and not mere +eyesight, one must surely say: "Since this world, in power, fineness, +finish, beauty, and adaptations not only surpasses our accomplishment, +but also is past our finding out to its perfection, it must have been +made by One stronger, finer, and wiser than we are." + + + + +SEA SCULPTURE* + +*Reprinted from _The Chautauquan_. + + +When the Russians charged on the Grivitza redoubt at Plevna they first +launched one column of men that they knew would be all shot down long +before they could reach it. But they made a cloud of smoke under the +cover of which a second column was launched. They would all be shot +down. But they carried the covering cloud so far that a third column +broke out of it and successfully carried the redoubt. They carried it, +but ten thousand men lay on the death-smitten slope. + +So the great ocean sends eight or ten thousand columns a day to charge +with flying banners of spray on the rocky ramparts of the shore at +Santa Cruz, California. + +There are not many things in the material world more sublime than a +thousand miles of crested waves rushing with terrible might against the +rocky shore. While they are yet some distance from the land a small +boat can ride their foaming billows, but as they approach the shallower +places they seem to take on sudden rage and irresistible force. Those +roaring waves rear up two or three times as high. They have great +perpendicular fronts down which Niagaras are pouring. The spray flies +from their tops like the mane of a thousand wild horses charging in the +wind. No ship can hold anchor in the breakers. They may dare a +thousand storms outside, but once let them fall into the clutch of this +resistless power and they are doomed. The waves seem frantic with +rage, resistless in force; they rush with fury, smite the cliffs with +thunder, and are flung fifty feet into the air; with what effect on the +rocks we will try to relate. + +[Illustration: "The Breakers," Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +No. 1 of our illustrations shows "The Breakers," a two-story house of +that name where hospitality, grace, and beauty abide; where hundreds of +roses bloom in a day, and where flowers, prodigal as creative +processes, abound. The breakers from which the house is named are not +seen in the picture. When the wind has been blowing hard, maybe one +hundred miles out at sea, they come racing in from the point, +feather-crested, a dozen at once, to show how rolls the far Wairoa at +some other world's end. All these pictures are taken in the calm +weather, or there would be little seen besides the great leaps of +spray, often fifty feet high. At the bottom of the cliff appear the +nodules and bowlders that were too hard to be bitten into dust and have +fallen out of the cliff, which is fifty feet high, as the sea eats it +away. Some of these are sculptured into the likeness effaces and +figures, solemn and grotesque. It is easy to find Pharaoh, Cleopatra, +Tantalus, represented here. + +This house is at the beginning of the famous Cliff Drive that rounds +the lighthouse at the point and stretches away for miles above the +ever-changing, now beautiful, now sublime, and always great Pacific, +that rolls its six thousand miles of billows toward us from Hong Kong. +Occasionally the road must be set back, and once the lighthouse was +moved back from the cliffs, eaten away by the edacious tooth of the sea. + +As Emerson says, "I never count the hours I spend in wandering by the +sea; like God it useth me." There is a wideness like his mercy, a +power like his omnipotence, a persistence like his patience, a length +of work like his eternity. + +The rocks of Santa Cruz, as in many other places, were laid in regular +order, like the leaves of a book on its side. But by various forces +they have been crumbled, some torn out, and in many places piled +together. These layers, beginning at the bottom, are as follows; (1) +igneous granite, unstratified; (2) limestone laid down from life in the +ocean, metamorphosed by heat and all fossils thereby destroyed; (3) +limestone highly crystallized, composed of fossil shells and very hard; +(4) sandstone, made under the sea from previous rock powdered, having +huge concretionary masses with a shell or a pebble as a nucleus around +which the concretion has taken place; (5) shale from the sea also; (6) +conglomerate, or drift, deposited by ice in the famous glacial cold +snap; (7) alluvium soil deposited in fresh water and composed partly of +organic matter. In our second illustration some of these layers, or +strata, may be distinguished. + +[Illustration: The Work and the Worker, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +When the awful blows of the sea smite the rock, if it finds a place +less hard than others, it wears into it a slight depression, after half +a hundred thousand strokes, more or less, and ever after, as the years +go by, it drives its wedges home in that place. A shallow cave +results. Then the waters converge on the sides of the cave and meet +with awful force in the middle. Thus a tunnel is excavated, like a +drift in a mine, each wave making the tremendous charge and the +reflowing surges bringing away all the detritus. This tunnel may be +driven or excavated two hundred feet inland, under the shore. At each +inrush of the wave the air is terribly condensed before it. It seeks +outlet. And so it happens that the air is driven up through some crack +in the rock and the superincumbent earth, one or two hundred feet from +the shore, and a great hole appears in the ground from twenty to +seventy feet deep. Then the water spouts fiercely up and returning +carries back the earth and broken rock into the sea. + +No. 3 of the illustrations here given represents such a great +excavation one hundred feet back from the shore. It is one hundred and +fifty feet long by ninety wide and over fifty feet deep. All the +material had been carried out to sea by the refluent wave. On the +natural bridge seen in front the great crowd in Broadway, New York, +might pass or a troop of cavalry could be maneuvered. Through the arch +a ship with masts thirty feet high might enter at high tide. Through +the abutment of the arch where the afternoon sun pours its brightness +the waves have cut other arches not visible in the picture. When the +arches become too many or too wide the natural bridge will fall and be +carried out to sea like many another. + +[Illustration: A Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +But what does the sea do with the harder parts of the cliff? Its waves +wear away the rock on each side and leave one or more long fingers +reaching out into the sea. The wear and tear on such a projection is +immense. A strong swimmer may play with the breakers away from the +cliff. At exactly the right moment he may dive headlong through the +pearly green Niagara that has not yet fallen quite to his head and may +sport in the comparatively quiet water beyond, while the wild ruin +falls with a sound of thunder on the beach. But let him once be caught +and dashed against the rocks and there is no more life or wholeness of +bones within him. + +In the swirl of converging currents between two rocky projections, as +the coarse sand and gravel is surged around a few hundred thousand +times, there is a great tendency to wear through the wall of the +projecting finger. It is often done. Illustration No. 4 shows at low +tide such a projection cut through. Since the picture was taken the +bridge has fallen, the detritus been carted away by the waves, and the +pier stands lonely in the sea. + +[Illustration: An Excavated Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +No. 5 shows one bridge exceedingly frail and another more substantial +nearer the famous Cliff Drive. I go to the frail one every year with +anxiety lest I shall find it has been carried away. How I wish I could +show my readers the delicate sculpture and carving further back, nearer +yet to the drive. But note the various strata, the rocks worn to a +point as even the milder waves run over them; note the cracks that tell +of the awful push and stress of the titanic struggle. + +[Illustration: A Double Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +Illustration No. 6 shows three such under-hewn arches. The long +projection of rock is so curved as to prevent the arches being fully +seen in any one view. I have waded and swam through these rocky +vistas, and there, where any more than moderate waves would have +mangled me against the tusks of the cruel rocks, I have found little +specimens of aquatic life by the millions, clinging fast to the rocks +that were home to them and protecting themselves by taking lime out of +the water and building such a solid wall of shell that no fierceness of +the wildest storm could work them harm. All these seek their food from +Him who feeds all life, and he heaves the ocean up to their mouths that +they may drink. + +[Illustration: A Triple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +No. 7 shows what has been a quadruple arch, only one part of which is +still standing. Out in the sea, lonely and by itself, appears a pier, +scarcely emergent from the waves, which once supported an arch parallel +to the one now standing and also one at right angles to the shore. The +one now standing makes the fourth. But the ever-working sea carves and +carries away arch and shore alike. At some points a careful and even +admiring observer sees little change for years, but the remorseless +tooth gnaws on unceasingly. + +[Illustration: Remains of a Quadruple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +On the right near the point is seen a board sign. It says here, as in +many other places, "Danger." Sometimes two converging waves meet at +the land, rise unexpectedly, sweep over the point irresistibly, and +carry away anyone who stands there. One large and two small shreds of +skin now gone from the palm of my left hand give proof of an experience +there that did not result quite so disastrously. + +The illustration facing page 188 is another example of an arch cut +through the rocky barrier of the shore. But in this case the trend of +the less hard rock was at such an angle to the shore that the sea broke +into the channel once more, and then the combined waves from the two +entrances forced the passage one hundred and forty paces inland. It +terminates in another natural bridge and deep excavation beyond, which +are not shown in the picture. + +[Illustration: Arch Remains Side Wall Broken, Santa Clara, Cal.] + +What becomes of this comminuted rock, cleft by wedges of water, scoured +over by hundreds of tons of sharp sand? It is carried out by gentle +undercurrents into the bay and ocean, and laid down where winds never +blow nor waves ever beat, as gently as dust falls through the summer +air. It incloses fossils of the plant and animal life of to-day. +There rest in nature's own sepulcher the skeletons of sharks and whales +of to-day and possibly of man. Sometime, if the depths become heights, +as they have in a thousand places in the past, a fit intelligence may +read therein much of the present history of the world. We say to that +coming age, as a past age has said to us, "Speak to the earth and it +shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." + + + + +THE POWER OF VEGETABLE LIFE + +I have a great variety of little masses of matter--some small as a +pin's blunt point, and none of them bigger than a pin's head. They are +smooth, glossy, hard, exceedingly beautiful under the microscope, and +clearly distinguishable one from another. They have such intense +individuality, are so self-assertive, that by no process can those of +one kind be made to look or act like those of another. These little +masses of matter are centers of incredible power. They are seeds. + +Select two for examination, and, unfolding, one becomes grass--soft, +succulent, a carpet for dainty feet, a rest for weary eyes, part food, +but mostly drink, for hungry beasts. It exhausts all its energy +quickly. Grass today is, and to-morrow is cut down and withered, ready +for the oven. + +Try the other seed. It is of the pin head size. It is dark brown, +hard-shelled, dry, of resinous smell to nostrils sensitive as a bird's. +The bird drops it in the soil, where the dews fall and where the sun +kisses the sleeping princesses into life. + +Now the latent powers of that little center of force begin to play. +They first open the hard shell from the inside, then build out an arm +white and tender as a nerve fiber, but which shall become great and +tough as an oak. This arm shuns the light and goes down into the dark +ground, pushing aside the pebbles and earth. Soon after the seed +thrusts out of the same crevice another arm that has an instinct to go +upward to the light. Neither of these arms is yet solid and strong. +They are beyond expression tender, delicate, and porous, but the one is +to become great roots that reach all over an acre, and the other one of +California's big trees, thirty feet in diameter and four hundred feet +high. + +How is it to be done? By powers latent in the seed developing and +expanding for a thousand years. What a power it must be! + +First, it is a power of selection--might we not say discrimination? +That little seed can never by any power of persuasion or environment be +made to produce grass or any other kind of a tree, as manzanita, mango, +banyan, catalpa, etc., but simply and only _sequoia gigantea_. + +There are hundreds of shapes and kinds of leaves with names it gives +one a headache to remember. But this seed never makes a single +mistake. It produces millions of leaves, but every one is +awl-shaped--subulate. Woods have many odors--sickening, aromatic, +balsamic, medicinal. We go to the other side of the world to bring the +odor of sandal or camphor to our nostrils. But amid so many odors our +seed will make but one. It is resinous, like some of those odors the +Lord enjoyed when they bathed with their delicious fragrance the cruel +saw that cut their substance, and atmosphered with new delights the one +who destroyed their life. The big tree, with subtle chemistry no man +can imitate, always makes its fragrance with unerring exactness. + +[Illustration: The Big Trees.] + +There are thousands of seeds finished with a perfectness and beauty we +are hardly acute enough to discover. The microscopist revels in the +forms of the dainty scales of its armor and the opalescent tints of its +color. The sunset is not more delicate and exquisite. But the big +tree never makes but one kind of seed, and leaves no one of its +thousands unfinished. + +The same is true of bark, grain of wood, method of putting out limbs, +outline of the mass, reach of roots, and every other peculiarity. It +discriminates. + +But how does it build itself? Myriads of rootlets search the +surrounding country for elements it needs for making bark, wood, leaf, +flower, and seed. They often find what they want in other +organizations or other chemical compounds. But with a power of +analytical chemistry they separate what they want and appropriate it to +their majestic growths. But how is material conveyed from rootlet to +veinlet of leaf hundreds of feet away? The great tree is more full of +channels of communication than Venice or Stockholm is of canals, and it +is along these watery ways of commerce that the material is conveyed. +These channels are a succession of cells that act like locks, set for +the perpendicular elevation of the freight. The tiny boats run day and +night in the season, and though it is dark within, and though there are +a thousand piers, no freight that starts underground for a leaf is ever +landed on the way for bark or woody fiber. Freight never goes astray, +nor are express packages miscarried. What starts for bark, leaf, +fiber, seed, is deposited as bark, leaf, fiber, seed, and nothing else. +There are hundreds of miles of canals, but every boat knows where to +land its unmarked freight. Curious as is this work underground, that +in the upper air is more so. The tree builds most of its solid +substance from the mobile and tenuous air. Trees are largely condensed +air. By the magic chemistry of the sunshine and vegetable life the +tree breathes through its myriad leaves and extracts carbon to be built +into wood. Had we the same power to extract fuel from the air we need +not dig for coal. + +In doing this work the power of life in the tree has to overcome many +other kinds of force. There is the power of cohesion. How it holds +the particles of stone or iron together! You can hardly break its +force with a great sledge. But the power of life in the tree, or even +grass, must master the power of cohesion and take out of the +disintegrating rock what it wants. So it must overcome the power of +chemical affinity in water and air. The substances it wants are in +other combinations, the power of which must be overcome. + +Gravitation is a great power, but the thousand tons of this tree's vast +weight must be lifted and sustained in defiance of it. So for a +thousand years gravitation sees the tree rise higher and higher, till +the great lesson is taught that it is a weakling compared with the +power of life. There is not a place where one can put his finger that +there are not a dozen forces in full play, every one of which is +plastic, elastic, and ready to yield to any force that is higher. So +the tree stands, not mere lumber and cordwood, or an obstacle to be +gotten rid of by fire, but an embodiment of life unexhausted for a +thousand years. The fairy-fingered breeze plays through its myriad +harp strings. It makes wide miles of air aromatic. Animal life feeds +on the quintessence of life in its seeds. But most of all it is an +object lesson that power triumphs over lesser power, and that the +highest power has dominion over all other power. + +The great power of vegetable life was shown under circumstances that +seemed the least favorable in the following experiment: + +In the Agricultural College at Amherst, Mass., a squash of the yellow +Chili variety was put in harness in 1874 to see how much it would lift +by its power of growth. + +[Illustration: Yellow Chili Squash in Harness.] + +It was not an oak or mahogany tree, but a soft, pulpy, squashy squash +that one could poke his finger into, nourished through a soft, +succulent vine that one could mash between finger and thumb. A good +idea of the harness is given by the illustration. The squash was +confined in an open harness of iron and wood, and the amount lifted was +indicated by weights on the lever over the top. There were, including +seventy nodal roots, more than eighty thousand feet of roots and +rootlets. These roots increased one thousand feet in twenty-four +hours. They were afforded every advantage by being grown in a hot bed. +On August 21 it lifted sixty pounds. By September 30 it lifted a ton. +On October 24 it carried over two tons. The squash grew gnarled like +an oak, and its substance was almost as compact as mahogany. Its inner +cavity was very small, but it perfectly elaborated its seeds, as usual. + +The lever to indicate the weight had to be changed for stronger ones +from time to time. More weights were sought. They scurried through +the town and got an anvil and pieces of railroad iron and hung them at +varying distances, as shown in the cut. By the 31st of October it was +carrying a weight of five thousand pounds. Then owing to defects of +the new contrivance the rind was broken through without showing what +might have been done under better conditions. Every particle of the +squash had to be added and find itself elbow room under this enormous +pressure. But life will assert itself. + +[Illustration: Squash in Cage.] + +No wonder that the Lord, seeking some form of speech to represent his +power in human souls, says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." The +tremendous life of infinite strength surges up through the vine and out +into all branches that are really vitally attached. No wonder that +much fruit is expected, and that one who knew most of this imparted +power said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." + + + + +SPIRITUAL DYNAMICS* + +*Reprinted from _The Study_. + +Will God indeed dwell upon the earth? asked Solomon. Will God indeed +work with man on the earth? asks the pushing, working spirit of to-day. +Has man a right to expect a special lending of the infinite power to +help out his human endeavors? Does God put special forces to open some +doors, close others, influence some men to come to his help, hinder +others, bring to bear influences benign, restrain those malign, and +invigorate a man's own powers so that his arm has the strength of ten, +because his heart is pure enough for God to work in it and through it? +If this is so, in what fields, under what conditions, to what extent, +and in accordance with what laws may we expect aid? + +First, it is evident that there is power not ourselves. We did not +make this world. We did not put into it even the lowest force, +gravitation. It is more than our minds can compass to measure its +power. We have no arithmetic to tell its power on every mote in the +sunbeam, or flower, or grain-head bowing toward the earth, tree brought +down with a crash, or avalanche with thunder. Much less can we measure +the power that holds the earth to the sun spite of its measureless +centrifugal force. We did not make the next highest force, cohesion. +The particles of rock and iron cohere with so great an energy that +gravitation cannot overcome it. But it is not by our energy. We did +not make the next highest force, chemical affinity, that masters both +gravitation and cohesion. Water, the result of chemical affinity +between oxygen and hydrogen, can be rent into its constituent elements +with nothing less than a stream of lightning. We did not make the next +highest force, vegetative life. That masters gravitation, and lifts up +the tree in spite of it; masters cohesion--the tree's rootlets tear +asunder the particles of stone; masters chemical affinity--it takes the +oxygen from air and water. We did not create that force, measureless +to our minds. We say it must have come out of some omnipotence greater +than all of them. The conclusion of all minds is, there is a power not +ourselves. + +It is unthinkable that these forces before mentioned should have +originated themselves. It is equally so that they could maintain and +continue themselves. There must be some continual upholding by a word +of power. + +It is equally plain that there is intelligence, thought, and plan +behind these forces. They are not blind Samsons grinding in a +prison-house, and liable at any moment to bring down in utter ruin +every pillar of the universe on which they can put their hands. + +If intelligent and planful, there must be personality. We may as well +call it by the name by which it is universally known, God. + +Now does this intelligent and powerful personality know our plans and +lend his powers to the accomplishment of our purposes? It is better to +put it the other way. Mr. Lincoln taught us the truer statement when +one said to him, in the awful anxiety of the war, "I think God is on +our side;" he answered, "My great concern is to know if we are on God's +side." So our question is better thus: Does this intelligent, powerful +personality accept and use our energy in the accomplishment of his +plans? + +That will depend on what he wants done. If he only wants mountains +lifted, he can put the shoulder of an earthquake under the strata of a +continent and tilt them up edgewise, or toss up a hundred miles of +strata and let them come down the other side up. If he wants mountains +carried hence and cast into the sea, he can bring rivers to carry for +thousands of years numberless tons. If he wants worlds held in +rhythmic relations to their sun, he can take gravitation. Man is of no +use; he cannot reach so far. + +But if this being has anything to do that he cannot do, he will gladly +welcome man's aid. Has he? Yes. Obviously he wants things done he +cannot do alone. Worlds are dead. Trees do not think. Morning stars +may sing together, but they cannot love. None of them have character. +None of them have conscious responsiveness to the full tides of power +and love that flush the universe. None of them are permanent, or worth +keeping forever. They are only scaffolding. He wants something +greater than he can make; something as great as God and man and angels +together can make. He wants not mere matter acted upon from without, +but intelligences active in themselves; wants not mere miles of +granite, but hearts responsive to love, and character that is sturdier +than granite, more enduring than the hills that seem to be everlasting, +and of so great a price that a whole world is of less value than a +single soul, and of such permanence that it shall flourish in immortal +youth when worlds, short-lived in comparison, shall have passed away. +God can make worlds in plenty, but he wants something so much better +that they shall be mere parade-grounds for the training of his armies. + +Are there proofs that God's forces are cooperating with ours? Many. +Gravitation holds us to the earth. We do not drift, all sides up +successively, in space or chaos. We never want a breath but there are +oceans of it rushing to answer our hunger for it. + +But especially do we undertake all our more definite efforts with a +full expectation of the aid of the forces without us. Man takes to +agriculture with a relish that indicates that the soil and he are akin. +He expects all its energies to cooperate with him. He plants the grain +or seed expecting that all its vegetative forces will cowork with his +plans. Every energy of earth, air, water, and the far-off sun work +into his plans as if they had no other end in all their being. If a +man wants a house, he expects the solidity of the rock, all the +adaptations of wood that has been growing for a century, expects the +beauty of the fir tree, the pine, and the box to come together to +beautify the place of his dwelling. + +There are other forces into which man can put his scepter of power and +hand of mastery. They all work for and with him. Does he want his +burdens carried? The river will convey the Indian on a log or the +armaments of the greatest nations. The wind fits itself into the +shoulder of his sail on the sea, and steam does more work on the land +than all the human race together. Does he want swiftness? The +lightning comes and goes between the ends of the earth saying, "Here am +I." Obviously all these kinds of forces are always on hand to work +into man's plans. + +Is not our whole question settled? If these fundamental forces, these +oceans of air and energy, forces so great that man cannot measure them, +so delicate and fine that man does not discover them in thousands of +years, are all waiting and palpitating to rush into the service of man +to advance his plans, and hint of plans larger than he ever dreamed, +until he grows great by handling these ineffable factors, how can it be +otherwise than that the energies, thoughts, and loves back of these +forces, and out of which they come, and of which they are the visible +signs and exponents, are working together with man? Then, in all +probability, nay in all certainty, all other forces, whether they be +thrones or dominions, principalities or powers, things present or +things to come, will also lend all their energies to the help of man. +God does not aid in the lowest and leave us to ourselves in the +highest. He does not feed the body and let the soul famish, does not +help us to the meat that perishes and let us starve for the bread of +eternal life. + +Scripture passages, literally thousands in number, proclaim God's +control of the regular operations of nature, his sovereignty over +birth, life, death, disease, afflictions, and prosperity, over what we +call accident, his execution of righteous retributions, bringing of +deliverance, setting up thrones, and casting down princes. He upholds +all things by the direct exercise of his power. "The uniformities of +nature are his ordinary method of working; its irregularities his +method upon occasional condition; its interferences his method under +the pressure of a higher law." There can be no general providence +which is not special, no care for the whole which does not include care +for all the parts, no provided safety for the head which does not +number all the hairs. The Old Testament doctrine of a special and +minute providence over the chosen nation is expanded by Christ's loving +teaching and ministrations into an equal care for the personal +individual (Matt. vii, 11; xviii, 19; Heb. iv, 16). The cold glacial +period of human fear that poured its ice floe over the mind of man, +making him feel like an orphaned race in a godless world, has retired +before the gentle beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and the winter is +past, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds +and hearts has commenced. + +It is everywhere recognized that the great outcome of a man's life is +not the title to a thousand acres. He is soon dispossessed. It is not +all the bonds and money he can hold. A dead man's hands are empty. It +is not reputation that the winds blow away. But it is character that +he acquires and carries with him. He has a fidelity to principle that +is like Abdiel's. He is faithful among the faithless. He has +allegiance to right that the lure of all the kingdoms of the earth +cannot swerve for a moment. He counts soul so much above the body that +no fiery furnaces, heated seven times hotter than they are wont, sway +him for a moment from adherence to the interests of soul as against +even the existence of the body. + +Now, how has such an eminence of character been attained? Not +altogether by individual evolution. Ancestral tendencies, parental +example, the great force of strong, eternal principles, the moral +muscle acquired in the gymnasium of temptation, and confessedly and +especially a spiritual force vouchsafed from without, have wrought out +this greatest result of heaven and earth. Of some men you expect +nothing but goodness and greatness. They would belie all the +tendencies of their blood to be otherwise than good. Some are +constantly trained under the mighty influences of great principles that +sway men as much as gravitation sways the worlds. What could be +expected of the men of '76 when the air was electric with patriotism? +What could be expected of men whose childhood was filled with the +sacrifices of men who made themselves pilgrims and strangers over the +earth, from England to Holland and thence over the drear and +inhospitable sea to America, for the sake of liberty? What could be +expected of men whose whole ancestry was cut off by the slaughter +following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and they themselves +exiled for liberty to worship God? What can be expected of men who +have been tried in the furnace of temptation till they are pure gold? +Nay, more, what can be expected of men who have in these temptations +been strengthened out of God? Besides the strength of development by +the resistance of evil, they have found that God made a way of escape, +that he strengthened, them and that they were thus by supernal power +able to bear it. Nay, rather, what may not be expected of such men? + +But we will not forget that this great outcome is precisely the plan of +God for every man's life, and that when man works he finds that there +are forces outside of him thoroughly cooperative with him. He starts a +rock down the mountain side, but gravitation reaches out ready fingers +and hurls it a thousand times faster and faster. He launches his ship +on the sea and the wind and steam carry it thousands of miles. He +speaks his quiet breath into the ear of the phone and electricity +carries it in every tone and inflection of personal quality a thousand +miles. He vows, and works for purity and greatness of personal +character, and a thousand gravitations of love, a thousand great winds +of Pentecost, a thousand vital principles on which all greatness hangs, +a thousand influences of other men, and especially a thousand personal +aids of a present God, cooperate with his plans and works. + +Of course every man who believes in a new type so high that good birth, +wealth, culture, education, and broad opportunity cannot attain it +believes in the divine co-operation to that end. It must be born of +the Spirit. God sends forth his Spirit into our hearts crying, Abba, +Father! It pleases the Father himself to reveal his Son in us. + +Not only is this cooperation true in regard to the beginning of this +higher life, but especially so in regard to the development and +perfection of that life into the stature of perfect manhood in Christ +Jesus. By continuous effort to lead into all truth, by intensity of +endeavor that can only be represented by groanings that cannot be +worded in human speech, the perfection of saints is sought. + +And in the final glorification of those saints every man will say +nothing of his own efforts, but all the praise will be unto him who +hath redeemed us unto God, and washed us in his blood. + +To what extent, then, may we expect God will lend his forces to work +out our plans? First, in so far as those forces have to do with the +maturing and perfecting of our character they become his plans. No +energy will be withheld. All our plans should be such. The end in +character may often be attained as well by failure of our plans as by +success. God has to choose the poor in this world's things, rich in +faith, to do his great work. And he has to make "the best laid schemes +o' mice and men gang aft a-gley" to get the desired outcome of +character. He is then working with, not against, us. He would rather +have any star for his crown of glory than tons of perishable gold. + +But outside of our plans and work for ourselves what cooperation may we +expect in our plans and work for others? + +Every preacher knows that for spiritual work in saving others the word +of the Lord is true, "Without me ye can do nothing." There must be an +outpouring of the Spirit or there is no Pentecost. Over against that +settled conviction is the thrice-blessed command and assurance of the +Master, "Go preach my Gospel; and lo, I am with you alway" (blessed +iteration), "unto the end of the world." That has not yet come. + +But there are other enterprises men must push--mines to be dug, +railroads to be surveyed and built, slaves to be emancipated, farms to +be cultivated, mischiefs framed by a law to be averted, charities to be +exercised, schools to be founded, and generally a living to be gotten. +To what extent may we expect divine aid? + +First, all these things are his purposes and plans. But since it is +necessary for our development that we do our level best, he will not do +what we can. We can plant and water, but God only can give the +increase. Even the fable maker says that a teamster, whose wagon was +stuck in the mud, seeing Jupiter Omnipotens riding by on the chariot of +the clouds, dropped on his knees and implored his help. "Get up, O +lazy one!" said Jupiter; "clear away the mud, put your shoulder to the +wheel, and whip up your horses." We may call on God to open the rock +in the dry and thirsty land where no water is, but not to lift our +teacups. It is no use to ask God for a special shower when deep +plowing is all that is needed. It is no use to ask God to build +churches, send missionaries, endow schools, and convert the world, till +we have done our best. + +But when we have done our best what may we expect? All things. They +shall work together for good to those who love God enough to do their +best for him in any plane of work. One could preach fifty sermons on +the great works done by men, obviously too great for man's +accomplishment. Time would fail me to tell of Moses, Gideon, Paul, +Luther, Wesley, Wilberforce, William of Orange, Washington, John Brown, +Abe Lincoln, and thousands more of whom this world was not worthy, who, +undeniably by divine aid, wrought righteousness. One of the great sins +of our age is that men do not see God immanent in all things. We have +found so many ways of his working that we call laws, so many segments +of his power, that we have forgotten him who worketh all things after +the counsel of his own will. A sustainer is as necessary as a creator. +There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who worketh +all in all. The next great service to be done by human philosophy is +to bring back God in human thought into his own world. Since these +things are so, what are the conditions under which we may work the +works of God by his power? + +First, they must be his works, not ours as opposed to his, but ours as +included in his. All our works may be wrought in God, if we do his +works, follow his plans, and are aided by his strength. + +Second, they must be attempted with the right motive of glorifying God. +Christ is the pattern. He came not to do his own will, but the will of +him who sent him. And he did always the things that pleased him. In +our fervid desires for the accomplishment of some great thing we should +be as willing it should be accomplished by another as by ourselves. +The personal pride is often a fly in the sweet-smelling savor. God +would rather have a given work not done, or done by another, than to +have one of his dear ones puffed up with sinful pride. Great Saul must +often be removed and the work be left undone, or be done by some humble +David. + + "Inaudible voices call us, and we go; + Invisible hands restrain us, and we stay; + Forces, unfelt by our dull senses, sway + Our wavering wills, and hedge us in the way + We call our own, because we do not know. + + "Are we, then, slaves of ignorant circumstance? + Nay, God forbid! + God holds the world, not blind, unreasoning chance!" + +How shall we secure the cooperative power? There is power of every +kind everywhere in plenty. All the Niagaras and Mississippis have run +to waste since they began to thunder and flow. Greater power is in the +wind everywhere. One can rake up enough electricity to turn all the +wheels of a great city whenever he chooses to start his rake. The sky +is full of Pentecosts. Power enough, but how shall we belt on? By +fasting, prayer, and by willing to do the will of God. We have so much +haste that we do not tarry at Jerusalem for fullness of power. Moses +was forty years in the wilderness: Daniel fasted and prayed for one and +twenty days. We are told to pray without ceasing, and that there are +kinds of devils that go not out except at the command of those who fast +and pray. + + "More things are wrought by prayer than + This world dreams of." + +The Bible is a record of achievements impossible to man. They are +achievements of leaderships, emancipations, governments, getting money +for building God's houses, making strong the weak, waxing valiant in +fight, and turning the world upside down. The trouble with many of our +modern saints is that they seek for purity only instead of power, +ecstasy instead of excellence, self-satisfaction in a garden of spices +instead of a baptism that straightens them out in a garden of agony. +They are seekers of spiritual joys instead of good governments, cities +well policed and sewered, with every street safe for the feet of +innocence. The next revelation of new possibilities of grace that will +break out of the old Word will be that of power. + +How will this divine aid manifest itself? In the giving of wisdom for +our plans and their execution. God will not help in any foolish plans. +He wants no St. Peter's built in a village of six hundred people, no +temple, except on a Moriah to which a whole nation goes up. Due +proportion is a law of all his creations. The disciples planned not +only to begin at Jerusalem, but to stay there. Their plans were wrong, +and they had to be driven out by persecutions and martyrdoms (Acts +viii, 4). But Africa, Europe, and Asia eagerly received the light +which Jerusalem resisted. Some ministers to-day stay by their fine +Jerusalems when the kitchens of the surrounding country wait to welcome +them. The Spirit suffered not Paul to go into Bithynia, but sent him +to Macedonia. Had he then persisted in going to Asia his work would +have been in vain. + +We may expect wisdom in the choice of the human agents we select. Half +a general's success lies in his choice of lieutenants. No class leader +should be appointed nor steward nominated till after prayer for divine +guidance. God has more efficient men for his Church than we know of. +He is thinking of Paul when we see only Matthias (Acts i, 26). When +Paul had to depart asunder from Barnabas God sent him Silas, the +fellow-singer in the dungeon, and Timothy, who was dearer to him than +any other man. + +We may expect opposition to be diminished or thwarted. Let Hezekiah +spread every letter of Rab-shakeh before the Lord and pray (2 Kings +xix, 14). The answer will be, "I have heard" (v. 20). Let the answer +to every slander that Gashmu repeateth among the heathen be, "O Lord, +strengthen my hands" (Neh. vi, 9); "My God, think thou upon Tobiah and +Sanballat according to these their works" (v. 14). Then all the +heathen and enemies will "perceive that this work was wrought of our +God" (v. l6). "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his +enemies to be at peace with him." The purpose of the manifestation of +the Son of God was "that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 +John iii, 8). + +Lastly, we may expect actual help. These plans are all dear to God. +He wishes them all accomplished. They have been wisely made. +Opposition has been diminished. It only remains that our hearts be +open to guidance and strengthening. Moses was sure I AM had sent him. +Elijah had the very words to be uttered to Ahab put into his mouth. +Nehemiah told the people that for building a city "the joy of the Lord +is your strength." God strengthened the right hand of Cyrus. The +three Hebrew children and Daniel knew that God was able to deliver them +from fire and lions. "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall +give thee the desires of thy heart." And the great promise of the Lord +to be with his disciples to the end is not so much a promise for +comfort as for the accomplishment of their mission. Paul said, "I can +do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." And all great +doers for God, in all ages, have gladly testified that they have been +girded for their work by the Almighty. + +The designed outcome of this paper is that every reader should get a +fresh revelation of the immanency of God in the kingdom of nature and +grace; that the reader is more intimately related to him and his plans +than is gravitation; that there are laws as imperative, exact, and sure +to yield results in the mental and spiritual realms as in the material; +that he is a part of God's agencies, and that all of God's forces are a +part of his; that he may sing with new meaning, + + "We for whose sakes all nature stands + And stars their courses move;" + +that in the burning vividness of this new conception each man may +boldly undertake things for God--conversions, purifications, missionary +enlargements, business enterprises--that he knows are too great for +himself; that he may find new helps for spiritual victories as great as +this age has found for material triumphs in steam and electricity; and +that in all things man may be uplifted and God thereby glorified. + +How shall it be done? + +First, by a vivid conception that cooperation is designed, provided +for, and expected. We are children of God; there can be but one great +end through the ages in the universe. There should be cooperation of +every force. There have been thousands of evident cooperations--waters +divided and burned by celestial fire, Pharaohs rebuked, Ninevehs warned, +exiles recalled, Jerusalems rebuilded, Luthers upheld, preachers +of today changed from waning, not desired, half-over-the-dead-line +ministers into vigorous, flaming heralds of the Gospel, who possessed +tenfold power to what they had before; we ourselves personally helped +in manifest and undeniable instances, and so have come to believe that +God can do anything, anywhere, if he can get the right kind of a man. +Promises of aid are abundant. Heaven and earth shall pass away sooner +than one jot or tittle of these words fail. We are invited to test them: +"Come now, and prove me herewith, and see if I will not open the windows +of heaven once more, as at the deluge, and pour you out a blessing that +there shall not be room enough to receive it." + +Second, select some definite work too great for us to do alone, as the +preparation of a sermon that shall have unusual power of persuasion to +change action, the conduct of a prayer meeting of remarkable interest, +the casting out of some devil of evil speech or action, the conversion +of one individual, the raising of more money for some of God's +purposes, and then go about the work, not alone, but in such a way that +God can lead and we help. Let the fasting and prayer not be lacking. +When the right direction comes let Jonathan take his armor-bearer and +climb up on his hands and knees against the Philistines, let Paul go to +Macedonia, Peter to Cornelius, Wesley send help to America. Bishop +Foss said, in regard to several crises in a most serious sickness, that +Christ always arrived before it came. So in regard to work to be done. +The Lord was in Nineveh before Jonah, in Caesarea before Peter, and +will be in the heart of every sinner we seek to get converted before we +arrive. Any man who wants to do an immense business should seek a good +partner. We are workers together with God. What is being done worthy +of the copartnership? + + + + +WHEN THIS WORLD IS NOT* + +*Reprinted from the _Methodist Review_. + + +"The day of the Lord will come . . .; in which the heavens shall pass +away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, +the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." + +What is there after that? + +To this question there are three answers: + +I. There are left all of what may be called natural forces that there +were before the world was created. They are not dependent on it. The +sea is not lost when one bubble or a thousand break on the rocky shore. +The world is not the main thing in the universe. It is only a +temporary contrivance, a mere scaffolding for a special purpose. When +that purpose is fulfilled it is natural that it should pass away. The +time then comes when the voice that shook the earth should signify the +removal of "those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, +that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." We already have +a kingdom that cannot be moved. "The things which are seen are +temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." + +It should not be supposed that the space away from the world is an +empty desert. God is everywhere, and creative energy is omnipresent. +Not merely is a millionth of space occupied where the worlds are, but +all space is full of God and his manifestations of wisdom and power. +David could think of no place of hiding from that presence. The first +word of revelation is, "In the beginning God created the heaven." And +the great angel, standing on sea and land when time is to be no longer, +swears by Him who "created heaven, and the things that therein are," in +distinction from the earth and its things that are to be removed. What +God created with things that are therein is not empty. Poets, the true +seers, recognize this. When Longfellow died one of them, remembering +the heartbreaking hunt of Gabriel for Evangeline, and their passing +each other on opposite sides of an island in the Mississippi, makes him +say of his wife long since gone before: + + And now I shall seek her once more, + On some Mississippi's vast tide + That flows the whole universe through, + Than earth's widest rivers more wide. + + Evangeline I shall not miss + Though we wander the dim starry sheen, + On opposite sides of rivers so vast + That islands of worlds intervene. + +But what is there in space? There is the great ceaseless force of +gravitation. Though the weakest of natural forces, yet when displayed +in world-masses its might is measureless by man's arithmetic. Tie an +apple or a stone to one end of a string, and taking the other end whirl +it around your finger, noting its pull. That depends on the weight of +the whirling ball, the length of the string, and the swiftness of the +whirl. The stone let loose from David's finger flies crashing into the +head of Goliath. But suppose the stone is eight thousand miles in +diameter, the string ninety-two million five hundred thousand miles +long, and the swiftness one thousand miles a minute, what needs be the +tensile strength of the string? If we covered the whole side of the +earth next the sun, from pole to pole and from side to side, with steel +wires attaching the earth to the sun, thus representing the tension of +gravitation, the wires would need to be so many that a mouse could not +run around among them. + +There swings the moon above us. Its best service is not its light, +though lovers prize that highly. Its gravitative work is its best. It +lifts the sea and pours it into every river and fiord of the coast. +Our universal tug-boat is in the sky. It saves millions of dollars in +towage to London alone every year. And this world would not be +habitable without the moon to wash out every festering swamp and +deposit of sewage along the shore. + +Gravitation reaches every place, whether worlds be there or not. This +force is universally present and effective. In the possibilities of a +no-world condition a spirit may be able to so relate itself to matter +that gravitation would impart its incredible swiftness of transference +to a soul thus temporarily relating itself to matter. What gravitation +does in the absence of the kind of matter we know it is difficult to +assert. But as will be seen in our second division there is still +ample room for its exercise when worlds as such have ceased to be. + +In space empty of worlds there is light. It flies or runs one hundred +and eighty-six thousand miles a second. There must be somewhat on +which its wing-beat shall fall, stepping stones for its hurrying feet. +We call it ether, not knowing what we mean. But in this space is the +play of intensest force and quickest activity. There are hundreds of +millions of millions of wing-beats or footfalls in a second. +Mathematical necessities surpass mental conceptions. In a cubic mile +of space there are demonstrably seventy millions of foot tons of power. +Steam and lightning have nothing comparable to the activity and power +of the celestial ether. Sir William Thompson thinks he has proved that +a cubic mile of celestial ether may have as little as one billionth of +a pound of ponderable matter. It is too fine for our experimentation, +too strong for our measurement. We must get rid of our thumby fingers +first. + +What is light doing in space? That has greatly puzzled all +philosophers. Without question there is inexpressible power. It is +seen in velocity. But what is it doing? The law of conservation of +force forbids the thought that it can be wasted. On the earth its +power long ages ago was turned into coal. The power was reservoired in +mountains ready for man. It is so great that a piece of coal that +weighs the same as a silver dollar carries a ton's weight a mile at +sea. But what is the thousand million times more light than ever +struck the earth doing in space? That is among the things we want to +find out when we get there. There will be ample opportunity, space, +time, and light enough. + +It is biblically asserted and scientifically demonstrable that space is +full of causes of sound. To anyone capable of turning these causes to +effects this sound is not dull and monotonous, but richly varied into +songful music. Light makes its impression of color by its different +number of vibrations. So music sounds its keys. We know the number of +vibrations necessary for the note C of the soprano scale, and the +number that runs the pitch up to inaudibility. We know the number of +vibrations of light necessary to give us a sensation of red or violet. +These, apprehended by a sufficiently sensitive ear, pour not only light +to one organ, but tuneful harmonies to another. The morning stars do +sing together, and when worlds are gone, and heavy ears of clay laid +down, we may be able to hear them + + Singing as they shine, + "The hand that made us is divine." + +There are places where this music is so fine that the soft and +soul-like sounds of a zephyr in the pines would be like a storm in +comparison, and places where the fierce intensity of light in a +congeries of suns would make it seem as if all the stops of being from +piccolo to sub-bass had been drawn. No angel flying interstellar +spaces, no soul fallen overboard and left behind by a swift-sailing +world, need fear being left in awful silences. + +There seems to be good evidence that electrical disturbances in the sun +are almost instantly reported and effective on the earth. It is +evident that the destructive force in cyclones is not wind, but +electricity. It is altogether likely that it is generated in the sun, +and that all the space between it and us thrills with this unknown +power.[1] All astronomers except Faye admit the connection between sun +spots and the condition of the earth's magnetic elements. The +parallelism between auroral and sun-spot frequency is almost perfect. +That between sun spots and cyclones is as confidently asserted, but not +quite so demonstrable. Enough proof exists to make this clear, that +space may be full of higher Andes and Alps, rivers broader than Gulf +Streams, skies brighter than the Milky Way, more beautiful than the +rainbow. Occasionally some scoffer who thinks he is smart and does not +know that he is mistaken asks with an air of a Socrates putting his +last question: "You say that 'heaven is above us.' But if one dies at +noon and another at midnight, one goes toward Orion and the other +toward Hercules; or an Eskimo goes toward Polaris and a Patagonian +toward the coal-black hole in the sky near the south pole. Where is +your heaven anyhow?" O sapient, sapient questioner! Heaven is above +us, you especially; but going in different directions from such a +little world as this is no more than a bee's leaving different sides of +a bruised pear exuding honey. Up or down he is in the same fragrant +garden, warm, light, redolent of roses, tremulous with bird song, amid +a thousand caves of honeysuckles, "illuminate seclusions swung in air" +to which his open sesame gives entrance at will. + + +II. But there will be in space what the world has become. It is +nowhere intimated that matter had been annihilated. Worlds shall +perish as worlds. They shall wax old as doth a garment. They will be +folded up as a vesture, and they "shall be changed." The motto with +which this article began says heavens pass away, elements melt, earth +and its works are burned up. But always after the heaven and earth +pass away we are to look for "new heavens and a new earth." On all +that God has made he has stamped the great principle of progress, +refinement, development--rock to soil, soil to vegetable life, to +insect, bird, and man. Each dies as to what it is, that it may have +resurrection or may feed something higher. So, in the light of +revelation, earth is not lost. Science comes, after ages of creeping, +up to the same position. It, too, asserts that matter is +indestructible. Burn a candle in a great jar hermetically sealed. The +weight of the jar and contents is just the same after the burning as +before. A burned-up candle as big as the world will not be +annihilated. It will be "changed." + +It is necessary for us to get familiar with some of the protean +metamorphoses of matter. Up at New Almaden, above the writer, is a +vast mass of porous lava rock into which has been infiltrated a great +deal of mercury. How shall we get it out? You can jar out numberless +minute globules by hand. This metal, be it remembered, is liquid, and +so heavy that solid iron floats in it as cork does in water. Now, to +get it out of the rock we apply fire, and the mercury exhales away in +the smoke. The real task of scientific painstaking is to get that +heavy stuff out of the smoke again. It is changed, volatilized, and it +likes that state so well that it is very difficult to persuade it to +come back to heaviness again. + +Take a great mass of marble. It was not always a mountain. It floated +invisibly in the sea. Invisible animals took it up, particle by +particle, to build a testudo, a traveling house, for themselves. The +ephemeral life departing, there was a rain of dead shells to make +limestone masses at the bottom of the sea. It will not always remain +rock. Air and water disintegrate it once more. Little rootlets seize +upon it and it goes coursing in the veins of plants. It becomes fiber +to the tree, color to the rose, and fragrance to the violet. But, +whether floating invisibly in the water, shell of infusoria in the +seas, marble asleep in the Pentelican hills, constituting the sparkle +and fizz of soda water, claiming the world's admiration as the Venus de +Milo, or giving beauty and meaning to the most fitting symbol that goes +between lovers, it is still the same matter. It may be diffused as gas +or concentrated as a world, but it is still the same matter. + +Matter is worthy of God's creation. Astronomy is awe-full; microscopy +is no less so. Astronomy means immensity, bulk; atoms mean +individuality. The essence of matter seems to be spirit, personality. +It seems to be able to count, or at least to be cognizant of certain +exact quantities. An atom of bromine will combine with one of +hydrogen; one of oxygen with two of hydrogen; one of nitrogen with +three of hydrogen; one of silicon with four of hydrogen, etc. They +marry without thought of divorce. A group of atoms married by affinity +is called a molecule. Two atoms of hydrogen joined to one of oxygen +make water. They are like three marbles laid near together on the +ground, not close together; for we well know that water does not fill +all the space it occupies. We can put eight or ten similar bulks of +other substances into a glass of water without greatly increasing its +bulk, some actually diminishing it. Water molecules are like a mass of +shot, with large interstices between. Drive the atoms of water apart +by heat till the water becomes steam, till they are as three marbles a +larger distance apart, yet the molecule is not destroyed, the union is +still indissoluble. One physicist has declared that the atoms of +oxygen and hydrogen are probably not nearer to each other in water than +one hundred and fifty men would be if scattered over the surface of +England--one man for each four hundred square miles.[2] What must the +distance be in steam? what the greater distance in the more extreme +rarefactions? It is asserted that millions of cubic miles of some +comets tails would not make a cubic inch of matter solid as iron. Now, +when earth and oceans are "changed" to this sort of tenuity creations +will be more easy. We shall not be obliged to hew out our material +with broadaxes, nor blast it out with dynamite. Let us not fear that +these creations will not be permanent; they will be enough so for our +purpose. We can then afford to waste more worlds in a day than dull +stupidity can count in a lifetime. + +We are getting used to this sort of work already. When we reduce +common air in a bulb to one one-thousandth of its normal density at the +sea we get the possibility of continuous incandescent electric light by +the vibration of platinum wire. When we reduce it to a tenuity of one +millionth of the normal density we get the possibility of the X rays by +vibrations of itself without any platinum wire. The greater the +tenuity the greater the creative results. For example, water in +freezing exerts an expansive, thrusting force of thirty thousand pounds +to the square inch, over two thousand tons to the square foot; an +incomprehensible force, but applicable in nature to little besides +splitting rocks. On the other hand, when water is rarefied into steam +its power is vastly more versatile, tractable, and serviceable in a +thousand ways. Take a bit of metal called zinc. It is heavy, subject +to gravitation, solid, subject to cohesion. But cause it to be burned, +to pass away, and be changed. To do this we use fire, not the ordinary +kind, but liquid that we keep in a bottle and call acid. The zinc is +burned up. What becomes of it? It becomes electricity. How changed! +It is no longer solid, but is a live fire that rings bells in our +houses, picks up our thought and pours it into the ear of a friend +miles away by the telephone, or thousands of miles away by the +telegraph. Burning up is only the means of a new and higher life. Ah, +delicate Ariel, tricksy sprite, the only way to get you is to burn up +the solid body. + +The possibility of rare creation depends on rare material, on +spirit-like tenuity. And that is what the world goes into. There is a +substance called nitrite of amyl, known to many as a medicine for heart +disease. It is applied by inhaling its odor--a style of very much +rarefied application. Fill a tube with its vapor. It is invisible as +ordinary air in daylight. But pour a beam of direct sunlight from end +to end along its major axis. A dense cloud forms along the path of the +sunbeam; creation is going on. What the sun may do in the thinner +vapors the world goes into when burned up will be for us to find out +when we get there. Standing on Popocatepetl we have seen a sea of +clouds below, white as the light of transfiguration, tossed into waves +a mile high by the touch of the sunbeam. Creative ordering was +observed in actual process. It is done under our eyes to show us how +easy it is. Would it be any less glorious if there were no +Popocatepetl? A thrush among vines outside is just now showing us how +easy it is to create an ecstasy of music out of silence. She has only +to open her mouth and the innate aptitudes of air rush in to actualize +her creative wish. Not only is it easy for the bird, but she is even +provoked to this love and good works by the creation of a rainbow on +the retreating blackness of a storm yonder. Thunder is the sub-bass +nature furnishes her, and thus invites her to add the complementary +notes. + +Some one may think that all this tenuity is as vaporous as the stuff +that dreams are made of, and call for solid rocks for foundations. +Perhaps we may so call while we have material bodies of two hundred +pounds' weight. Yet even these bodies are delicate enough to be +valuable to us solely because they have the utmost chemical stability. +We are burning up their substance with every breath in order to have +delicacy of feeling and thought. What were a wooden body worth? +Substances are valuable to us according to their fineness and facility +of change. Even iron is mobile in all its particles. We call it +solid, but it is not. We lift our eyes from this writing and behold +the tumbling surf of the great Pacific sea. Line after line of its +billows are charging on the shore and tumbling in utmost confusion and +roar of advancing and refluent waves. So the iron of the telephone +wire. You often hold the receiver to your ear listening, not to the +voice of business or friendship of men, but to the gentle hum of the +rolling surf in the wire's own substance. And, in order that we may +know the essential stability of things that are fine, we are told that +the city which hath enduring foundations is in the spirit world, not +this kind of material. The whole new Jerusalem to come down "out of +heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," is as movable as +a train of cars is movable here. There may still be rainbows and +rivers of life if there are no more rocks. There is a real realm of +"scientific imagination." But all our imaginings fall far short of +realities. Some men do not desire this realm, and demand solid rocks +to walk on. But a bird does not. He oars himself along the upper +fields and rides on air. So does a bicyclist and balloonist. Some men +have a sort of contempt for aeronauts and workers at flying machines. +That feeling is a testimony to their depravity and groveling +tendencies. Aeronautics and nautics are an effort toward angelhood. +Men can walk water who are willing to take a boat for an overshoe. So +we may air when we get the right shoe. Browning gives us a delicious +sense of being amphibian as we swim. And the butterfly, that winged +rather than rooted flower, looking down upon us as we float, begets in +us a great longing to be polyphibian. We have innate tendencies toward +a life of finer surroundings, and we shall take to them with zest, if +we are not too much of the earth earthy. We were designed for this +finer life. We do take to it even now in the days of our +deterioration, not to say depravity. The great marvels of the world +are not so much in matter as in man. We were meant to be more +sensitive to finer influences than we are. We are far more so than we +think. Take your child into the street. Another child coughs at a +window on the other side, and your child has three months of terrific +whooping-cough. All such diseases are taken by homeopathic doses of +the millionth dilution. Many people feel "in their bones" the coming +of storms days before their arrival. We knew a man who ate honey with +delight till he was twenty-five years old, and then could do so no +more. This peculiarity he inherited from his father. One man has an +insatiable desire for drink because some ancestor of his, back in the +third or fourth generation, bequeathed him that curse. In the South +you can go a mile in the face of the wind and find that peerless +blossom of a magnolia by following the drift of its far-reaching odor. +Who has not received a letter and knew before opening it that it had +violets within? It had atmosphered itself with rich perfume, and +something far richer, for three thousand miles. The first influences +which came over the Atlantic cable were so feeble that a sleeping +infant's breath were a whirlwind in comparison. But they were read. +It is no wonder that the old astrologers thought that men's whole lives +were influenced by the stars. Every vegetable life, from the meanest +flower that blows to the largest tree, has its whole existence shaped +by the sun. Doubtless man's body was meant to be an Aeolian (how the +vowels and liquids flow into the very name!) harp of a thousand strings +over which a thousand delicate influences might breathe. Soul was +meant to be sensitive to the influences of the Spirit. This capability +has been somewhat lost in our deterioration. To recover these finer +faculties men are required to die. And for the field of exercising +them the world must be changed. Paul understood this. He associated +some sort of perfection with the resurrection, with the buying back of +the powers of the body. And the whole creation waiteth for the +apocalypse of the full-sized sons of God. + +Does one fear the change from gross to fine, from force of freezing to +the winged energy of steam, from solid zinc to lightning? Our whole +desire for education is a desire for refining influences. We know +there is a higher love for country than that begotten by the fanfare of +the Fourth of July. There is a smile of joy at our country's education +and purity finer than the guffaws provoked by hearing the howls of a +dog and the explosions of firecrackers when the two are inextricably +mixed. There is a flame of religious love when the heart sacrifices +itself in humble realization of the joy of its adorable love purer than +the fierce fire of the hating heart that applies the torch to the +martyr's pyre. We give our lives to seeking these higher refinements +because they are stronger and more like God. + +Does one fear to leave bodily appetites and passions for spiritual +aptitudes fitted to finer surroundings? He should not. Man has had +two modes of life already--one, slightly conscious, closely confined, +peculiarly nourished, in the dark, without the possible exercise of any +one of the five senses. That is prenatal. He comes into the next +life. At once he breathes, often vociferously, looks about with eyes +of wonder, nourishes himself with avidity, is fitted to his new +surroundings, his immensely wider life, and finds his superior +companions and surroundings fitted to him, even to his finest need for +love. Why hesitate for a third mode of life? He loses modes of +nourishment; so he has before. He loses relations to former life; so +he has before. He comes into new companionships and surroundings; so +he has before. But each time and in every respect his powers, +possibilities, and field have been immensely enlarged. + + O the hour when this material + Shall have vanished like a cloud, + When amid the wide ethereal + All the invisible shall crowd. + In that sudden, strange transition, + By what new and finer sense + Shall we grasp the mighty vision, + And receive the influence? + +Knowledge of the third state of man is not so difficult to attain in +the second as knowledge of the second was in the first. If a fit +intelligence should study a specimen of man about to emerge from its +first stage of existence, it could judge much of the conditions of the +second. Feet suggest solid land; lungs suggest liquid air; eyes, +light; hands, acquisitiveness, and hence dominion; tongue, talk, and +hence companions, etc. What fore-gleams have we of the future life? +They are from two sources--revelation and present aptitudes not yet +realized. What feet have we for undiscovered continents, what wings +for wider and finer airs, what eyes for diviner light? Everything +tells us that such aptitudes have fit field for development. The water +fowl flies through night and storm, lone wandering but not lost, +straight to the south with instinct for mild airs, food, and a nest +among the rushes. It is not disappointed. + +Man has an instinct for dominion which cannot be gratified here. He +weeps for more worlds to conquer. He is only a boy yet, getting a grip +on the hilt of the sword of conquest, feeling for some Prospero's wand +that is able to command the tempest. When he gets the proper pitch of +power, take away his body, and he is, as Richter says, no more afraid, +and he is also free from the binding effect of gravitation. Then there +are worlds enough, and every one a lighthouse to guide him to its +harbor. They all seek a Columbus with more allurements than America +did hers. Dominion over ten cities is the reward for faithfulness in +the use of a single talent. + +Man has an instinct for travel and speed. To travel a couple of months +is a sufficient reward for a thousand toilful days. He earnestly +desires speed, develops race horses and bicycles to surpass them, +yachts, and engines. Not satisfied with this, he harnesses lightning +that takes his mind, his thought, to the ends of the earth in a +twinkling. But he is stopped there. How he yearns to go to the moon, +the sun, and stars! But he could not take his present body through the +temperatures of space three or four hundred degrees below zero. So he +must find a way of disembodying and of attachment to some force swift +as lightning, of which there are plenty in the spaces when the world +has ceased to be a world. It is all provided for by death. + +Man has an instinct for knowledge not gratified nor gratifiable in the +present narrow bounds that hedge him in like walls of hewn stone. A +thousand questions he cannot solve about himself, his relations to +others and to the world about him, beset him here. There he shall know +even as he is known by perfect intelligence. + +Here he has an instinct for love that is unsunderable. But the wails +of separation have filled the air since Eve shrieked over Abel. +Husbands and fathers are ever crying: + + Immortal? I feel it and know it. + Who doubts of such as she? + But that's the pang's very essence, + Immortal away from me. + +But there, in finer realms, shall be a knitting of severed friendships +up to be sundered no more forever. + +Specially has man sought in this stage of being to know God. Job, in +his pain and loss, assailed by the cruel rebukes of his friends and +desolate by the desertion of his wife, says, "O that I knew where I +might find him." David cries out while his tears are flowing day and +night, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul +after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when +shall I come and appear before God?" Moses, in the broadest of +visions, material, historic, prophetic, says to God, "Show me thy +glory." And common men have always turned the high places of earth to +altar piles, and blackened the heavens with the smoke of their +sacrifices. But the means of knowing God are to be increased. The +very essence of life eternal is to know the true God, and Jesus Christ +whom he has sent. Great pains have been taken to manifest forth God to +dull senses and to oxlike thoughts here; greater pains, with better +results, shall be taken there. Every reader of the Apocalypse notices +with joy, if not rapture, that when the book that was sealed with seven +seals, which no man in heaven, nor earth, was able to reveal, nor open, +nor even look upon, was finally opened by the Lamb, and its marvelous +panoramas, charades, and symbolic significances had to be carefully +explained to John, the man best able of any to understand them--we +observe with rapture that the regular inhabitants of that hitherto +unseen world understood all at once, and broke into shouts like the +sound of these many waters in a storm. Above all these superior +manifestations in finer realms the pure in heart shall _see_ God. + + +III. But there is in space what there was before the world began. +Philosophy asserts that the invisible universe is a perfect fluid in +which not even atoms exist, and atoms are produced therefrom by the +First Great Cause by creation, not by development. This conception is +full of difficulties to thought. We cannot even agree whether creation +was in time or eternity. But all agree in this, that the invisible is +rapidly absorbing all the force at least of the visible universe, and +that when force is gone the corpse will not remain unburied. Indeed, +when the range of seeing puts the size of an atom at less than one +two-hundred-and-twenty-four-thousandth of an inch, and when the range +of thinking puts it at less than one six-millionth of an inch, many +prefer to consider an atom as a center of force and not as a material +entity at all. But, amid uncertainties, this is certain, that the +forces of the visible worlds are extraneous. They come out of the +invisible. They are all also returning to the invisible; that is what +light is doing in space, previously referred to. This incredibly +high-class energy is not banking up coal in the celestial ether as it +did on the earth, but is returning to the quick, mobile forces of the +invisible worlds. One thing more is certain, that the origin of all +the forces of the invisible is in personality; for the atom, it is +agreed, bears all the marks of being a manufactured article. +Different-sized shot could not have greater uniformity of structure and +constitution. And their whole behavior shows that they are controlled +by an admirable wisdom past finding out. + +That these forces exist and are necessarily active there are three +proofs. Worlds have been made, not of things and forces that do +appear. They were abundantly displayed in the physical miracles of +Christ and others; and these forces, independently of the physical +miracles at various times, have continuously helped men. + +(1) Concerning the first fact--that worlds have been made--nothing need +be said except that these forces, being personal, cannot be supposed to +be exhausted, and hence creations can go on continuously. We are +assured that they do. And the personal element more and more relates +itself to personalities. "I go to prepare a place for you," to fit up +a mansion according to tastes, needs, and enjoyments of the future +occupant. + +(2) This is the place to assert, not to prove, that this visible world +has always been subject to the forces of the invisible world. It does +not matter whether these forces are personal or personally directed. +Its waters divide, gravitation at that point being overcome; they +harden for a path, or bodies are levitated; they burn by a fire as +fierce as that which plays between two electric poles. These forces +are not the ordinary endowments of matter; they step out of the realm +of the greater invisible, execute their mission, and, like an angel's +sudden appearance, disappear. Who knows how frequently they come? We, +for whose sake all nature stands "and stars their courses move," may +need more frequent motherly attentions than the infant knows of. They +will not be lacking, even if not sufficiently evident to the infant to +be cried for. "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all +these things." + +(3) It is here designed to be asserted that the forces of the invisible +seek to be continually in full play on the intellectual and moral +natures of man. Our unique Christian Scriptures have this thought for +their whole significance. It begins with God's walking with Adam in +the garden, and goes on till it is said, "Come, ye blessed of my +Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," in the invisible, and by +the invisible, from before the foundation of the visible world. It +includes all time and opportunity between and after; we need specify +only to intensify the conception of the fact. Paul says, "Having +therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day," when +otherwise oppressive circumstances and hate of men seeking to kill him +would have prevented his continuing in life. It is possible for all +who believe to be given power, out of the invisible, to become sons of +God. It has been said that there is power and continuousness enough in +the tides, winds, rotating and revolving worlds for man to make a +machine for perpetual motion. The only difficulty is to belt on. The +great object of life in the visible should be to belt on to the +invisible. Our great Example who did this made his ordinary doing +better than common men's best, his parentheses of thought richer than +other men's paragraphs and volumes. And he left on record for us +promises of greater works than these, at which we stagger through +unbelief. We should not; for men who have lived by the evidence of +things not seen, and sought a city that received Jesus out of sight, +have found that "God is not ashamed to be called their God." They have +wrought marvels that men tell over like a rosary of what is possible to +men. It is beyond the belief of all who have not been touched by the +power of an endless life. But what they do is chiefly valuable as +evidence of what they are. It is little that men quench the violence +of fire, and receive their dead raised to life again. It is great that +they are able to do it. That they hold the hand that holds the world +is something. But that they have eyes to see, a wisdom to choose, and +will to execute the best, is more. Fire may kindle again and the +resurrected die, but the great personality survives. + +These forces are not discontinuous, connected with this temporary +world, and liable to cease when it fails. They belong to the +permanent, invisible order of things. Suppose one loses his body. +Then there is no force whereby earth can hold its child any longer to +its breast. It flies on at terrific speed, dwindling to a speck in +unknown distances, and leaving the man amid infinitudes alone. But +there are other attractions. There was One uplifted on a cross to draw +all men unto him. Love has finer attraction for souls than gravitation +has for bodies. + + Then all his being thrills with Joy. And past + The comets' sweep, the choral stars above, + With multiplying raptures drawn more swift + He flies into the very heart of love. + +It is hoped that the object of this writing is accomplished--to widen +our view of the great principle of continuity in the universe. It is +not sought to dwarf the earth, but to fit it rightly into its place as +a part of a great whole. It is better for a state to be a part of a +glorious union than to be independent; better for a man to belong to +the entirety of creation than to be Robinson Crusoe on his island. We +belong to more than this earth. It is not of the greatest importance +whether we lose it or it lose itself. We look for a "new heavens and a +new earth." We are, or should be, used to their forces, and at home +among their personalities. This universe is a unity. It is not made +up of separate, catastrophic movements, but it all flows on like the +sweetly blended notes of a psalm. "Therefore will not we fear, though +the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the +midst of the sea;" though the heavens be "rolled together as a scroll," +the stars fall, "even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs," when it +is shaken with the wind, and though our bodies are whelmed in the +removal of things that can be shaken. For even then we may find the +calm force that shakes the earth is the force that is from everlasting +to everlasting; may find that it is personal and loving. It says, "Lo, +it is I; be not afraid." + +Whatever comes, whether one sail the spaces in the great ship we call +the world, or fall overboard into Mississippis and Amazons of power in +which worlds are mere drifting islands, he will be at peace and at home +anywhere. He will ever say: + + "The winds that o'er my ocean run + Blow from all worlds, beyond the sun; + Through life, through death, through faith, through time, + Great breaths of God, they sweep sublime, + Eternal trades that cannot veer, + And blowing, teach us how to steer; + And well for him whose joy, whose care, + Is but to keep before them fair. + + "O thou, God's mariner, heart of mine, + Spread canvas to these airs divine. + Spread sail and let thy past life be + Forgotten in thy destiny." + + + +[1]The action that drives off the material of a comet's tail proves +that other forces besides gravitation are operative in the +interplanetary space.--_The Sun_, C. A. Young, p. 156. + +[2]See _Recreations in Astronomy_, p. 357. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE FORCES*** + + +******* This file should be named 15807-8.txt or 15807-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/0/15807 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Among the Forces</p> +<p>Author: Henry White Warren</p> +<p>Release Date: May 9, 2005 [eBook #15807]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE FORCES***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Frontispiece" BORDER="2" WIDTH="298" HEIGHT="526"> +<H5> +[Frontispiece: Old Faithful Geyser.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +AMONG THE FORCES +</H1> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of<BR> +THY hands.--Psalm viii, 6 +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HENRY WHITE WARREN, LL.D. +</H3> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +ONE OF THE BISHOPS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH +<BR><BR> +AUTHOR OF "RECREATIONS IN ASTRONOMY," +<BR> +"THE BIBLE IN THE WORLD'S EDUCATION," ETC. +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS +<BR> +CINCINNATI: CURTS & JENNINGS +</H5> + +<BR> +<h4 align="center">1898</h4> +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +E. I. W. +<BR><BR> +Eximia Inter Vires. +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H3> + +<H4> +<a href="#chap01">Why Written</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap02">The Man Who Needed 452,696 Barrels of Water</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap03">The Sun's Great Horses</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap04">Old Sun Help</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap05">Moon Help</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap06">More Moon Help</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap07">Star Help</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap08">Help from Insensible Seas</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap09">The Fairy Gravitation</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap10">More Gravitation</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap11">The Fairy Pulls Great Loads</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap12">The Fairy Draws Greater Loads</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap13">The Fairy Works a Pump Handle</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap14">The Help of Inertia</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap15">One Plant Help</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap16">Gas Help</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap17">Natural Affection of Metals</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap18">Natural Affection Between Metal and Liquid</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap19">Natural Affection of Metal and Gas</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap20">Hint Help</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap21">Creations Now in Progress</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap22">Some Curious Behaviors of Atoms</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap23">Mobility of Seeming Solids</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap24">The Next World to Conquer</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap25">Our Enjoyment of Nature's Forces</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap26">The Matterhorn</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap27">The Grand Canon of the Colorado River.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap28">The Yellowstone Park Geysers</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap29">Sea Sculpture</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap30">The Power of Vegetable Life</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap31">Spiritual Dynamics</A> +<BR> +<a href="#chap32">When This World is Not</A> +<BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS +</H3> + +<H4> +<a href="#img-front">Old Faithful Geyser . . . . Frontispiece</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-012">Breaking Waves</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-024">Incline at Mauch Chunk</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-036">The Head of the Toboggan Slide.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-136">The Big Trees</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-088">The Matterhorn</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-120">The Punch Bowl, Yellowstone Geysers.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-106">Formation of the Grotto Geyser</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-112">Bee-Hive Geyser</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-118">Pulpit Terrace and Bunsen Peak</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-124">"The Breakers," Santa Cruz, Cal.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-130">The Work and the Worker, Santa Cruz, Cal.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-140">Yellow Chili Squash in Harness</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-141">Squash Grown Under Pressure</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-148">A Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, Cal.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-156">An Excavated Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-164">A Double Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-172">A Triple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-180">Remains of a Quadruple Natural Arch</A> +<BR> +<a href="#img-188">Arch Remains, Side Wall Broken</A> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +AMONG THE FORCES +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHY WRITTEN +</H3> + +<P> +Fairies, fays, genii, sprites, etc., were once supposed to be helpful +to some favored men. The stories about these imaginary beings have +always had a fascinating interest. The most famous of these stories +were told at Bagdad in the eleventh century, and were called <I>The +Arabian Nights' Entertainment</I>. Then men were said to use all sorts of +obedient powers, sorceries, tricks, and genii to aid them in getting +wealth, fame, and beautiful brides. +</P> + +<P> +But I find the realities of to-day far greater, more useful and +interesting, than the imaginations of the past. The powers at work +about us are far more kindly and powerful than the Slave of the Ring or +of the Lamp. +</P> + +<P> +The object of writing this series of papers about applications of +powers to the service of man, their designed king, is manifold. I +desire all my readers to see what marvelous provision the Father has +made for his children in this their nursery and schoolhouse. He has +always been trying to crowd on men more helps and blessings than they +were willing to take. From the first mist that went up from the Garden +the power of steam has been in every drop of water. Yet men carried +their burdens. Since the first storm the swiftness and power of +lightning have been trying to startle man into seeing that in it were +speed and force to carry his thought and himself. But man still +plodded and groaned under loads that might have been lifted by physical +forces. I have seen in many lands men bringing to their houses water +from the hills in heavy stone jars. Gravitation was meant to do that +work, and to make it leap and laugh with pearly spray in every woman's +kitchen. The good Father has offered his all-power on all occasions to +all men. +</P> + +<P> +I desire that the works of God should keep their designed relation to +thought. He says, Consider the lilies; look into the heavens; number +the stars; go to the ant; be wise; ask the beasts, the fowl, the +fishes; or "talk even to the earth, and it showeth thee." +</P> + +<P> +Every flower and star, rainbow and insect, was meant to be so +provocative of thought that any man who never saw a human book might be +largely educated. And every one of these thoughts is related to man's +best prosperity and joy. He is a most regal king if he achieve the +designed dominion over a thousand powerful servitors. +</P> + +<P> +It is well to see that God's present actual powers in full play about +us are vastly beyond all the dreams of Arabian imagination. It leads +us to expect greater things of him hereafter. That human imagination +could so dream is proof of the greatness of its Creator. But that he +has actually surpassed those dreams is prophecy of more greatness to +come. +</P> + +<P> +I desire that my readers of this generation shall be the great thinkers +and inventors of the next. There are amazing powers just waiting to be +revealed. Draw aside the curtain. We have not yet learned the A B C +of science. We have not yet grasped the scepters of provided dominion. +Those who are most in the image and likeness of the Cause of these +forces are most likely to do it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MAN WHO NEEDED 452,696 BARRELS OF WATER +</H3> + +<P> +A man once had a large field of wheat. He had toiled hard to clear the +land, plow the soil, and sow the seed. The crop grew beautifully and +was his joy by day and by night. But when it was just ready to head +out it suddenly stopped growing for want of moisture. It looked as if +all his hard work would be in vain. The poor farmer thought of his +wife and children, who were likely to starve in the coming winter. He +shed many tears, but they could not moisten one little stalk. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he said, "I will water it myself." The field was a mile +square, and it needed an inch of water over it all. He quickly figured +out that there were 27,878,400 square feet in a square mile. On every +twelve square feet a cubic foot of water was needed. A cubic foot of +water weighs sixty-two and a third pounds. Hence it would require +74,754 tons of water. To draw this amount 74,754 teams, each drawing a +ton, would be required. But they would tramp the wheat all down. +Besides, the nearest water in sufficient quantity was the ocean, one +thousand miles away over the mountains. It would take three months to +make the journey. And, worse than all else, the water of the ocean is +so salt that it would ruin the crop. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-012"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-012.jpg" ALT="Breaking Waves" BORDER="2" WIDTH="498" HEIGHT="333"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Breaking Waves.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Alas! there were three impossibilities--so many teams, so many miles, +so long time--and two ruins if he could overcome the +impossibilities--trampling down the wheat and bringing so much salt. +Alas, alas! what could he do but see the poor wheat die of thirst and +his poor wife and children die of hunger? +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he determined to ask the sun to help him. And the sun said he +would. That was a very little thing for such a great body to do. So +he heated the air over the ocean till it became so thirsty that it +drank plenty of water, choosing only the sweet fresh water and leaving +all the salt in the ocean. Then the warm air rose, because the heat +had expanded it and made it lighter, and the other air rushed down the +mountains all over that side of the continent to take its place. Then +the warm air went landward in an upper current and carried its load of +water in great piles and mountains of clouds; it lifted them over the +great ranges of mountains and rained down its thousands of tons of +sweet water a thousand miles from the sea, so gently that not a stalk +of wheat was trampled down, nor was a single root made acrid by any +taste of brine. +</P> + +<P> +Besides the precious drink the sun brought the most delicate food for +the wheat. There was carbonic acid, that makes soda water so +delicious, besides oxygen, that is so stimulating, nitrogen, ammonia, +and half a dozen other things that are so nutritious to growing plants. +</P> + +<P> +Thus the wheat grew up in beauty, headed out abundantly, and matured +perfectly. Then the farmer stopped weeping for laughter, and in his +joy he remembered to thank, not the sun, nor the wind, but the great +One who made them both. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SUN'S GREAT HORSES +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a man who had thousands of acres of mighty forests in +the distant mountains. They were valueless there, but would be +exceedingly valuable in the great cities hundreds of miles away, if he +could only find any power to transport them thither. So he looked for +a team that could haul whole counties of forests so many miles. He saw +that the sun drew the greatest loads, and he asked it to help him. And +the sun said that was what he was made for; he existed only to help +man. He said that he had made those great forests to grow for a +thousand years so as to be ready for man when he needed them, and that +he was now ready to help move them where they were wanted. +</P> + +<P> +So he told the man who owned the forest that there was a great power, +which men called gravitation, that seemed to reside in the center of +the earth and every other world, but that it worked everywhere. It +held the stones down to the earth, made the rain fall, and water to run +down hill; and if the man would arrange a road, so that gravitation and +the sun could work together, the forest would soon be transported from +the mountains to the sea. +</P> + +<P> +So the man made a trough a great many miles long, the two sides coming +together like a great letter V. Then the sun brought water from the +sea and kept the trough nearly full year after year. The man put into +it the lumber and logs from the great forests, and gravitation pulled +the lumber and water ever so swiftly, night and day, miles away to the +sea. +</P> + +<P> +How I have laughed as I have seen that perpetual stream of lumber and +timber pour out so far from where the sun grew them for man. For the +sun never ceased to supply the water, and gravitation never ceased to +pull. +</P> + +<P> +This man who relentlessly cut down the great forests never said, "How +good the sun is!" nor, "How strong is gravitation!" but said +continually, "How smart I am!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OLD SUN HELP +</H3> + +<P> +Holland is a land that is said to draw twenty feet of water. Its +surface is below sea level. Since 1440 they have been recovering land +from the sea. They have acquired 230,000 acres in all. Fifty years +ago they diked off 45,000 acres of an arm of the sea, called Haarlem +Meer, that had an average depth of twelve and three quarters feet of +water, and proposed to pump it out so as to have that much more fertile +land. They wanted to raise 35,000,000 tons of water a month a distance +of ten feet, to get through in time. Who could work the handle? +</P> + +<P> +The sun would evaporate two inches a year, but that was too slow. So +they used the old force of the sun, reservoired in former ages. Coal +is condensed sunshine, still keeping all the old light and power. By a +suitable engine they lifted 112 tons ten feet at every stroke, and in +1848, five years after they began to apply old sun force, 41,675 acres +were ready for sale and culture. +</P> + +<P> +The water that accumulates now, from rain and infiltration, is lifted +out by the sun force as exhibited in wind on windmills. They +groaningly work while men sleep. +</P> + +<P> +The Netherlandish engineers are now devising plans to pump out the +Zuyder Zee, an area of two thousand square miles. There is plenty of +power of every kind for anything, material, mental, spiritual. The +problem is the application of it. The thinker is king. +</P> + +<P> +This is only one instance of numberless applications of old sun force. +In this country coal does more work than every man, woman, and child in +the whole land. It pumps out deep mines, hoists ore to the surface, +speeds a thousand trains, drives great ships, in face of waves and +winds, thousands of miles and faster than transcontinental trains. It +digs, spins, weaves, saws, planes, grinds, plows, reaps, and does +everything it is asked to do. It is a vast reservoir of force, for the +accumulation of which thousands of years were required. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MOON HELP +</H3> + +<P> +At Foo-Chow, China, there is a stone bridge, more than a mile long, +uniting the two parts of the city. It is not constructed with arches, +but piers are built up from the bottom of the river and great granite +stringers are laid horizontally from pier to pier. I measured some of +these great stone stringers, and found them to be three feet square and +forty-five feet long. They weigh over thirty tons each. +</P> + +<P> +How could they be lifted, handled, and put in place over the water on +slender piers? How was it done? There was no Hercules to perform the +mighty labor, nor Amphion to lure them to their place with the music of +his golden lyre. +</P> + +<P> +Tradition says that the Chinese, being astute astronomers, got the moon +to do the work. It was certainly very shrewd, if they did. Why not +use the moon for more than a lantern? Is it not a part of the "all +things" over which man was made to have dominion? +</P> + +<P> +Well, the Chinese engineers brought the great granite blocks to the +bridge site on floats, and when the tide lifted the floats and stones +they blocked up the stones on the piers and let the floats sink with +the outgoing tide. Then they blocked up the stones on the floats +again, and as the moon lifted the tides once more they lifted the +stones farther toward their place, until at length the work was done +for each set of stones. +</P> + +<P> +Dear, good moon, what a pull you have! You are not merely for the +delight of lovers, pleasant as you are for that, but you are ready to +do gigantic work. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder that the Chinese, as they look at the solid and enduring +character of that bridge, name it, after the poetic and flowery habit +of the country, "The Bridge of Ten Thousand Ages." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MORE MOON HELP +</H3> + +<P> +Years ago, before there were any railroads, New York city had thousands +of tons of merchandise it wished to send out West. Teams were few and +slow, so they asked the moon to help. It was ready; had been waiting +thousands of years. +</P> + +<P> +We shall soon see that it is easy to slide millions of tons of coal +down hill, but how could we slide freight up from New York to Albany? +</P> + +<P> +It is very simple. Lift up the lower end of the river till it shall be +down hill all the way to Albany. But who can lift up the end of the +river? The moon. It reaches abroad over the ocean and gathers up +water from afar, brings it up by Cape Hatteras and in from toward +England, pours it in through the Narrows, fills up the great harbor, +and sets the great Hudson flowing up toward Albany. Then men put their +big boats on the current and slide up the river. Six hours later the +moon takes the water out of the harbor and lets other boats slide the +other way. +</P> + +<P> +New York itself has made use of the moon to get rid of its immense +amount of garbage and sewage. It would soon breed a pestilence, and +the city be like the buried cities of old; but the moon comes to its +aid, and carries away and buries all this foul breeder of a pestilence, +and washes all the harbor and bay with clean floods of water twice a +day. Good moon! It not only lights, but works. +</P> + +<P> +The tide in New York Harbor rises only about five feet; up in the Bay +of Fundy it ramps, rushes, raves, and rises more than fifty feet high. +</P> + +<P> +In former times men used to put mill wheels into the currents of the +tides; when they rushed into little bays and salt ponds they turned the +wheels one way; when out, the other. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +STAR HELP +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "We for whose sake all Nature stands,<BR> + And stars their courses move." +</P> + +<P> +Do the stars, that are so far away and seem so small, send us any help? +Assuredly. Nothing exists for itself. All is for man. +</P> + +<P> +Magnetism tells the sailor which way he is going. Stars not only do +this, when visible, but they also tell just where on the round globe he +is. A glance into their bright eyes, from a rolling deck, by an +uneducated sailor, aided by the tables of accomplished scholars, tells +him exactly where he is--in mid Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, or +Antarctic Ocean, or at the mouth of the harbor he has sought for +months. We lift up our eyes higher than the hills. Help comes from +the skies. +</P> + +<P> +This help was started long since, with providential foresight and care. +Is he steering by the North Star? A ray of guidance was sent from that +lighthouse in the sky half a century before his need, that it might +arrive just at the critical time. It has been ever since on its way. +</P> + +<P> +The stars give us, on land and sea, all our reliable standards of time. +There is no other source. They are reliable to the hundredth part of a +second. +</P> + +<P> +The Italian physicians, in their ignorance of the origin of a disease, +named it the influenza, because they imagined that it came from the +influence of the stars. No! There is nothing malign in the sweet +influences of the Pleiades. +</P> + +<P> +The stars are of special use as a mental gymnasium. On their lofty +bars and trapezes the mind can swing itself higher and farther than on +any other material thing. Infinity and omnipotence are factors in +their problems. They also fill the soul of the rapt beholder with +adoring wonder. They are the greatest symbols of the unweariableness +of the power and of the minuteness of the knowledge of God. He calleth +all their millions by name, and for the greatness of his power not one +faileth to come. +</P> + +<P> +Number the stars of a clear Eastern sky, if you are able. So +multitudinous and enduring shall the influence of one good man be. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HELP FROM INSENSIBLE SEAS +</H3> + +<P> +Suppose one has been at sea a month. He has tacked to every point of +the compass, been driven by gales, becalmed in doldrums. At length +Euroclydon leaps on him, and he lets her drive. And when for many days +and nights neither sun nor stars appear, how can he tell where he is, +which way he drives, where the land lies? +</P> + +<P> +There is an insensible ocean. No sense detects its presence. It has +gulf streams that flow through us, storms whose waves engulf us, but we +feel them not. There are various intensities of its power, the north +end of the world not having half as much as the south. There are two +places in the north half of the world that have greater intensity than +the rest, and only one in the south. It looks as if there were +unsoundable depths in some places and shoals in others. +</P> + +<P> +The currents do not flow in exactly the same direction all the time, +but their variations are within definite limits. +</P> + +<P> +How shall we detect these steady currents when wind and waves are in +tumultuous confusion? They are always present. No winds blow them +aside, no waves drench their subtle fire, no mountains make them +swerve. But how shall we find them? +</P> + +<P> +Float a bit of magnetic ore in a pail of water, or suspend a bit of +magnetized steel by a thread, and these currents make the ore or needle +point north and south. Now let waves buffet either side, typhoons +roar, and maelstroms whirl; we have, out of the invisible, insensible +sea of magnetic influence, a sure and steady guide. Now we can sail +out of sight of headlands. We have in the darkness and light, in calm +and storm, an unswerving guide. Now Columbus can steer for any new +world. +</P> + +<P> +Does not this seem like a spiritual force? Lodestone can impart its +qualities to hard steel without the impairment of its own power. There +is a giving that does not impoverish, and a withholding that does not +enrich. +</P> + +<P> +Wherever there is need there is supply. The proper search with +appropriate faculties will find it. There are yet more things in +heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FAIRY GRAVITATION +</H3> + +<P> +The Germans imagine that they have fairy kobolds, sprites, and gnomes +which play under ground and haunt mines. I know a real one. I will +give you his name. It is called "Gravitation." The name does not +sound any more fairylike than a sledge hammer, but its nature and work +are as fairylike as a spider's web. I will give samples of his helpful +work for man. +</P> + +<P> +In the mountains about Saltzburg, south of Munich, are great thick beds +of solid salt. How can they get it down to the cities where it is +needed? Instead of digging it out, and packing it on the backs of +mules for forty miles, they turn in a stream of water and make a little +lake which absorbs very much salt--all it can carry. Then they lay a +pipe, like a fairy railroad, and gravitation carries the salt water +gently and swiftly forty miles, to where the railroads can take it +everywhere. It goes so easily! There is no railroad to build, no car +to haul back, only to stand still and see gravitation do the work. +</P> + +<P> +How do they get the salt and water apart? O, just as easily. They ask +the wind to help them. They cut brush about four feet long, and pile +it up twenty feet high and as long as they please. Then a pipe with +holes in it is laid along the top, the water trickles down all over the +loose brush, and the thirsty wind blows through and drinks out most of +the water. They might let on the water so slowly that all of it would +be drunk out by the wind, leaving the solid salt on the bushes. But +they do not want it there. So they turn on so much water that the +thirsty wind can drink only the most of it, and the rest drops down +into great pans, needing only a little evaporation by boiling to become +beautiful salt again, white as the snows of December. +</P> + +<P> +There are other minerals besides salt in the beds in the mountains, +and, being soluble in water, they also come down the tiny railroad with +musical laughter. How can we separate them, so that the salt shall be +pure for our tables? +</P> + +<P> +The other minerals are less avaricious of water than salt, so they are +precipitated, or become solid, sooner than salt does. Hence with nice +care the other minerals can be left solid on the bushes, while the salt +brine falls off. Afterward pure water can be turned on and these other +minerals can be washed off in a solution of their own. No fairies +could work better than those of solution and crystallization. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MORE GRAVITATION +</H3> + +<P> +At Hutchinson, Kan., there are great beds of solid rock salt four +hundred feet below the surface. Men want to get and use two thousand +barrels a day. How shall they get it to the top of the ground? They +might dig a great well--or, as the miners say, sink a shaft--pump out +the water, go down and blast out the salt, and laboriously haul it up +in defiance of gravitation. No; that is too hard. Better ask this +strong gravitation to bring it up. +</P> + +<P> +But does it work down and up? Did any one ever know of gravitation +raising anything? O yes, many things. A balloon may weigh as much as +a ton, but when inflated it weighs less than so much air; so the +heavier air flows down under and shoulders it up. When a heavy weight +and a light one are hung over a pulley, the light one goes up because +gravity acts more on the other. Water poured down a long tube will +rise if the tube is bent up into a shorter arm. +</P> + +<P> +Exactly. So we bore a four-inch hole down to the salt and put in an +iron tube. +</P> + +<P> +We do not care about the water. It is no bother. Then inside of this +tube we put a two-inch tube that is a few feet higher. Now pour water +down the small longer tube. It saturates itself with salt, and comes +flowing over the top of the shorter tube as easily as water runs down +hill. Multiply the wells, dry out the water, and you have your two +thousand barrels of salt lifted every day--just as easy as thinking! +</P> + +<P> +We want a steady, unswerving force that will pull our clock hands with +an exact motion day and night, year in and year out. We hang up a +string, and ask gravitation to take hold and pull. We put on some lead +or brass for a handle, to take hold of. It takes hold and pulls, +unweariedly, unvaryingly, and ceaselessly. +</P> + +<P> +It turns single water-wheels with a power of more than twelve hundred +horses. +</P> + +<P> +It holds down houses, so that they are not blown away. It was made to +serve man, and it works without a grumble. +</P> + +<P> +Thus the higher force in nature always prevails over the lower, and the +greater amount over the less amount of the same force. What is the +highest force? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FAIRY PULLS GREAT LOADS +</H3> + +<P> +Far back in the hills west of Mauch Chunk, Pa., lie great beds of coal. +They were made under the sea long ages ago, raised up, roofed over by +the Allegheny Mountains, and kept waiting as great reservoirs of power +for the use of man. +</P> + +<P> +But how can these mountains be gotten to the distant cities by the sea? +Faith in what power can say to these mountains, "Be thou removed far +hence, and cast into the sea?" It is easy. +</P> + +<P> +Along the winding sides of the mountains have been laid two rails like +steel ribbons for a dozen miles, from the coal beds to water and +railroad transportation. Put a half dozen loaded cars on the track, +and with one man at the brake, lest gravitation should prove too +willing a helper, away they go, through the springtime freshness or the +autumn glory, spinning and singing down to the point of universal +distribution. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-024"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-024.jpg" ALT="Incline at Mauch Chunk" BORDER="2" WIDTH="336" HEIGHT="536"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Incline at Mauch Chunk.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +On one occasion the brake for some reason would not work. The cars +just flew like an arrow. The man's hair stood up from fright and the +wind. Coming to a curve the cars kept straight on, ran down a bank, +dashed right into the end of a house and spilled their whole load in +the cellar. Probably no man ever laid in a winter's supply of coal so +quickly or so undesirably. +</P> + +<P> +But how do we get the cars back? It is pleasant sliding down hill on a +rail, but who pulls the sled back? Gravitation. It is just as willing +to work both ways as one way. +</P> + +<P> +Think of a great letter X a dozen miles long. +</P> + +<P> +Lay it down on the side against three or four rough hills. Bend the X +till it will fit the curves and precipices of these hills. That is the +double track. Now when loaded cars have come down one bar of the X by +gravity, draw them up by a sharp incline to the upper end of the other +bar, and away they go by gravity to the other end. Draw them up one +more incline, and they are ready to take a new load and buzz down to +the bottom again. +</P> + +<P> +I have been riding round the glorious mountain sides in a horseless, +steamless, electricityless carriage, and been delighted to find +hundreds of tons of coal shooting over my head at the crossings of the +X, and both cars were drawn in opposite directions by the same force of +gravity in the heart of the earth. +</P> + +<P> +If you do not take off your hat and cheer for the superb force of +gravitation, the wind is very apt to take it off for you. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FAIRY DRAWS GREATER LOADS +</H3> + +<P> +Pittsburg has 5,000,000 tons of coal every year that it wishes to send +South, much of it as far as New Orleans--2,050 miles. What force is +sufficient for moving such great mountains so far? Any boy may find it. +</P> + +<P> +Tie a stone to the end of a string, whirl it around the finger and feel +it pull. How much is the pull? That depends on the weight of the +stone, the length of the string, and the swiftness of the whirl. In +the case of David's sling it pulled away hard enough to crash into the +head of Goliath. Suppose the stone to be as big as the earth (8,000 +miles in diameter), the length of the string to be its distance from +the sun (92,500,000 miles), and the swiftness of flight the speed of +the earth in its orbit (1,000 miles a minute). The pull represents the +power of gravitation that holds the earth to the sun. +</P> + +<P> +If we use steel wires instead of gravitation for this purpose, each +strong enough to support half a score of people (1,500 pounds), how +many would it take? We would need to distribute them over the whole +earth: from pole to pole, from side to side, over all the land and sea. +Then they would need to be so near together that a mouse could not run +around among them. +</P> + +<P> +Here is a measureless power. Can it be gotten to take Pittsburgh coal +to New Orleans? Certainly; it was made to serve man. So the coal is +put on great flatboats, 36 x 176 feet, a thousand tons to a boat, and +gravitation takes the mighty burden down the long toboggan slide of the +Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the journey's end. How easy! +</P> + +<A NAME="img-036"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-036.jpg" ALT="The Head of the Toboggan Slide" BORDER="2" WIDTH="498" HEIGHT="333"> +<H5> +[Illustration: The Head of the Toboggan Slide.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +One load sent down was 43,000 tons. The flatboats were lashed together +as one solid boat covering six and one half acres, more space than a +whole block of houses in a city, with one little steamboat to steer. +There is always plenty of power; just belt on for anything you want +done. This is only one thing that gravitation does for man on these +rivers. And there are many rivers. They serve the savage on his log +and the scientist in his palace steamer with equal readiness. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FAIRY WORKS A PUMP HANDLE +</H3> + +<P> +The Slave of the Ring could take Aladdin into a cave of wealth, and by +speaking the words, "Open Sesame," Ali Baba was admitted into the cave +that held the treasures of the forty thieves. But that is very little. +I have just come from a cave in Virginia City, Nev., from which men +took $120,000,000. +</P> + +<P> +In following the veins of silver the miners went down 3,500 feet--more +than three fifths of a mile. There it was fearfully hot, but the main +trouble was water. They had dug a deep, deep well. How could they get +the water out? Pumps were of no use. A column of water one foot +square of that height weighs 218,242 pounds. Who could work the other +end of the pump handle? +</P> + +<P> +They thought of evaporating the water and sending it up as steam. But +it was found that it would take an incredible amount of coal. They +thought of separating it into oxygen and hydrogen, and then its own +lightness would carry it up very quickly. But they had no power that +would resolve even quarts into their ultimate elements, where tons +would be required. +</P> + +<P> +So they asked gravitation to help them. It readily offered to do so. +It could not let go its hold of the water in the mine, nor anywhere +else, for fear everything would go to pieces, but it offered to +overcome force with greater force. So it sent the men twenty miles +away in the mountains to dig a ditch all the way to the mine, and then +gravitation brought water to a reservoir four hundred feet above the +mouth of the mine. Now a column of this water one foot square can be +taken from this higher reservoir down to the bottom of the mine and +weigh 25,000 pounds more than a like column that comes from the bottom +to the top. This extra 25,000 pounds is an extra force available to +lift itself and the other water out of the deep well, and they turn the +greater force into a pump and work it in the cylinder as if it were +steam. It lifts not only the water that works the pump, but the other +water also out of the mine by gravitation. So man gets the water out +by pouring more water in. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HELP OF INERTIA +</H3> + +<P> +Since the time of David many boys have swung pebbles by a string, or +sling, and felt the pull of what we call a centrifugal (center-fleeing) +force. David utilized it to one good purpose. Goliath was greatly +surprised; such a thing never entered his head before. Whether a stone +or an idea enters one's head depends on the kind of head he has. +</P> + +<P> +We utilize this force in many ways now. Some boys swing a pail of milk +over their heads, and if swung fast enough the centrifugal force +overcomes the force of gravitation, and the milk does not fall. That +is not utilizing the force. It often terrorizes the careful mother, +anxious for the safety of the milk. +</P> + +<P> +But in the arts of practical life we do utilize this force, which is +only inertia. +</P> + +<P> +Once it took a long time for molasses to drain out of a hogshead of +damp sugar. Now it is put into a great tub, with holes in the side, +which is made to revolve rapidly, and the molasses flies out. In the +best laundries clothes are not wrung out, to the great damage of tender +fabrics, but are put into such a tub and whirled nearly dry. So fifty +yards of woolen cloth just out of the dye vat--who could wring it? It +is coiled in a tub called a wizard, and whirled. +</P> + +<P> +Muddy water is put through a process called clarification. It is the +same, except that there are no holes in the vessel. The heavier +particles of dirt, that would settle in time, take the outside, leaving +perfectly clean water in the middle. A perpendicular perforated pipe, +with a faucet below, drains off all the clear water and leaves all the +mud. Milk is brought in from the milking and put into a separator; +whirl it, and the heavier milk takes the outside of the whirling mass, +and the lighter cream can be drawn off from the middle. It is far more +perfectly separated than by any skimming. +</P> + +<P> +A rotary snowplow slices off two feet of a ten-foot drift at each +revolution, and by centrifugal force flings it out of the cutting with +a speed that a hundred navvies or dagos cannot equal. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ONE PLANT HELP +</H3> + +<P> +A thousand acres of land on Cape Cod were once blown away. This wind +excavation was ten feet deep. It was not an extraordinary wind, but +extraordinary land. It was made of rock ground up into fine sand by +the waves on the shore. +</P> + +<P> +In all the deserts of the world the wind blows the itinerant sand on +its far journeys. If the wind is moderate it heaps the sand up into +little hills, some of them six hundred feet high, around any +obstruction, and then blows the sand up the slanting face of the hill +and over the top, where it falls out of the wind on the leeward side. +In this way the hill is always traveling. In North Carolina hills +start inland, and travel right on, burying a house or farm if it be in +the way, but resurrecting it again on the other side as the hill goes +on. Anyone may see these hills at the south end of Lake Michigan, as +he approaches Chicago, west of San Francisco, all along up the Columbia +River--the sand having come on the wings of the wind from the coast. +</P> + +<P> +But to see the whole visible world on a march one needs to go to a +really large desert. The Pyramids and the Sphinx have been partly +buried, and parts of the valley of the Nile threatened, by hordes of +sand hills marching in from the desert; cities have been buried and +harbors filled up. Many of the harbors of the ancient civilizations +are mere miasmatic marshes now. This is partly in consequence of the +silt brought in by the rivers; but where the rivers do not flow in it +is because the sand blows in along the shore. Harbors are especially +endangered when their protection from the waves consists of a bank of +sand, as on Cape Cod and the Sandy Hook below the Narrows of the harbor +of New York. +</P> + +<P> +How can man combat part of the continent on the move, driven by the +ceaseless powers of the air? By a humble plant or two. The movement +of the sand hills that threaten to destroy the marvelous beauty of the +grounds of the Hotel del Monte at Monterey is stopped by planting dwarf +pines. The sand dunes that prevent much of Holland from being +reconquered by the sea are protected with great care by willows, etc., +and the coast sands of parts of eastern France have been sown with sea +pine and broom. +</P> + +<P> +The tract of a thousand acres on Cape Cod had been protected by humble +beach grass. Some careless herder let the cows eat it in places, and +away went part of a township. It is now a punishable crime on Cape Cod +to destroy beach grass. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GAS HELP +</H3> + +<P> +This refers to more than stump speech-making. The old Romans drove +through solid rock numerous tunnels similar to the one for draining +Lago de Celano, fifty miles east of Rome. This one was three and a +half miles long, through solid rock, and every chip cost a blow of a +human arm to dislodge it. Of course the process was very slow. +</P> + +<P> +We do works vastly greater. We drive tunnels three times as long for +double-track railways through rock that is held down by an Alp. We use +common air to drill the holes and a thin gas to break the rock. The +Mont Cenis tunnel required the removal of 900,000 cubic yards of rock. +Near Dover, England, 1,000,000,000 tons of cliff were torn down and +scattered over fifteen acres in an instant. How was it done? By gas. +</P> + +<P> +There are a dozen kinds of solids which can be handled--some of them +frozen, thawed, soaked in water, with impunity--but let a spark of fire +touch them and they break into vast volumes of uncontrollable gas that +will rend the heart out of a mountain in order to expand. +</P> + +<P> +Gunpowder was first used in 1350; so the old Romans knew nothing of its +power. They flung javelins a few rods by the strength of the arm; we +throw great iron shells, starting with an initial velocity of fifteen +hundred feet a second and going ten miles. The air pressure against +the front of a fifteen-inch shell going at that speed is 2,865 pounds. +That ton and a half of resistance of gas in front must be much more +than overcome by gas behind. +</P> + +<P> +But the least use of explosives is in war; not over ten per cent is so +used. The Mont Cenis tunnel took enough for 200,000,000 musket +cartridges. As much as 2,000 kegs have been fired at once in +California to loosen up gravel for mining, and 23 tons were exploded at +once under Hell Gate, at New York. +</P> + +<P> +How strong is this gas? As strong as you please. Steam is sometimes +worked at a pressure of 400 pounds to the inch, but not usually over +100 pounds. It would be no use to turn steam into a hole drilled in +rock. The ordinary pressure of exploded gas is 80,000 pounds to the +square inch. It can be made many times more forceful. It works as +well in water, under the sea, or makes earthquakes in oil wells 2,000 +feet deep, as under mountains. +</P> + +<P> +The wildest imagination of Scheherezade never dreamed in <I>Arabian +Nights</I> of genii that had a tithe of the power of these real forces. +Her genii shut up in bottles had to wait centuries for some fisherman +to let them out. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NATURAL AFFECTION OF METALS +</H3> + +<P> +"Sacra fames auri." The hunger for gold, which in men is called +accursed, in metals is justly called sacred. +</P> + +<P> +In all the water of the sea there is gold--about 400 tons in a cubic +mile--in very much of the soil, some in all Philadelphia clay, in the +Pactolian sands of every river where Midas has bathed, and in many +rocks of the earth. But it is so fine and so mixed with other +substances that in many cases it cannot be seen. Look at the ore from +a mine that is giving its owners millions of dollars. Not a speck of +gold can be seen. How can it be secured? Set a trap for it. Put down +something that has an affinity--voracious appetite, unslakable thirst, +metallic affection--for gold, and they will come together. +</P> + +<P> +We have heard of potable gold--"<I>potabile aurum</I>." There are metals to +which all gold is drinkable. Mercury is one of them. Cut transverse +channels, or nail little cleats across a wooden chute for carrying +water. Put mercury in the grooves or before the cleats, and shovel +auriferous gravel and sand into the rushing water. The mercury will +bibulously drink into itself all the fine invisible gold, while the +unaffectionate sand goes on, bereaved of its wealth. +</P> + +<P> +Put gold-bearing quartz under an upright log shod with iron. Lift and +drop the log a few hundred times on the rock, until it is crushed so +fine that it flows over the edge of the trough with constantly going +water, and an amalgam of mercury spread over the inclined way down +which the endusted water flows will drink up all the gold by force of +natural affection therefor. +</P> + +<P> +Neither can the gold be seen in the mercury. But it is there. Squeeze +the mercury through chamois skin. An amalgam, mostly gold, refuses to +go through. Or apply heat. The mercury flies away as vapor and the +gold remains. +</P> + +<P> +If thou seekest for wisdom as for silver, and searchest for her as for +hid treasure, thou shalt find. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NATURAL AFFECTION BETWEEN METAL AND LIQUID +</H3> + +<P> +A little boy had a silver mug that he prized very highly, as it was the +gift of his grandfather. The boy was not born with a silver spoon in +his mouth, but, what was much better, he had a mug often filled with +what he needed. +</P> + +<P> +One day he dipped it into a glass jar of what seemed to him water, and +letting go of it saw it go to the bottom. He went to find his father +to fish it out for him. When he came back his heavy solid mug looked +as if it were made of the skeleton leaves of the forest when the green +chlorophyll has decayed away in the winter and left only the gauzy +veins and veinlets through which the leaves were made. Soon even this +fretwork was gone, and there was no sign of it to be seen. The liquid +had eaten or drank the solid metal up, particle by particle. The +liquid was nitric acid. +</P> + +<P> +The poor little boy had often seen salt, and especially sugar, absorbed +in water, but never his precious solid silver mug, and the bright +tears rolled down his cheeks freely. +</P> + +<P> +But his father thought of two things: First, that the blue tint told +him that the jeweler had sold for silver to the grandfather a mug that +was part copper; and secondly, that he would put some common salt into +the nitric acid--which it liked so much better than silver that it +dropped the silver, just as a boy might drop bread when he sought to +fill his hands with cake. +</P> + +<P> +So the father recovered the invisible silver and made it into a +precious mug again. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NATURAL AFFECTION OP METAL AND GAS +</H3> + +<P> +A man was waked up one night in a strange house by a noise he could not +understand. He wanted a light, and wanted it very much, but he had no +matches that would take fire by the heat of friction. He knew of many +other ways of starting a fire. If water gets to the cargo of lime in a +vessel it sets the ship on fire. It is of no use to try to put it out +by water, for it only makes more heat. He knew that dried alum and +sugar suitably mixed would burst into flame if exposed to the air; that +nitric acid and oil of turpentine would take fire if mixed; that flint +struck by steel would start fire enough to explode a powder magazine; +and that Elijah called down from heaven a kind of fire that burned +twelve "barrels" of water as easily as ordinary water puts out ordinary +fire. But he had none of these ways of lighting his candle at +hand--not even the last. +</P> + +<P> +So he took a bit of potassium metal, bright as silver, out of a bottle +of naphtha, put it in the candle wick, touched it with a bit of +dripping ice, and so lighted his candle. +</P> + +<P> +The potassium was so avaricious of oxygen that it decomposed the water +to get it. Indeed, it was a case of mutual affection. The oxygen +preferred the company of potassium to that of the hydrogen in the +water, and went to it even at the risk of being burned. +</P> + +<P> +I was so interested in seeing a bit of silver-like metal and water take +fire as they touched that I forgot all about the occasion of the noise. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HINT HELP +</H3> + +<P> +Benjamin C. B. Tilghman, of Philadelphia, once went into the lighthouse +at Cape May, and, observing that the window glass was translucent +rather than transparent, asked the keeper why he put ground glass in +the windows. "We do not," said the keeper. "We put in the clear +glass, and the wind blows the sand against it and roughens the outer +surface like ground glass." The answer was to him like the falling +apple to Newton. He put on his thinking cap and went out. It was +better than the cap of Fortunatus to him. He thought, "If nature does +this, why cannot I make a fiercer blast, let sand trickle into it, and +so hurl a million little hammers at the glass, and grind it more +swiftly than we do on stones with a stream of wet sand added?" +</P> + +<P> +He tried jets of steam and of air with sand, and found that he could +roughen a pane of glass almost instantly. By coating a part of the +glass with hot beeswax, applied with a brush, through a stencil, or +covering it with paper cut into any desired figures, he could engrave +the most delicate and intricate patterns as readily as if plain. Glass +is often made all white, except a very thin coating of brilliant +colored glass on one side. This he could cut through, leaving letters +of brilliant color and the general surface white, or <I>vice versa</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Seal cutting is a very delicate and difficult art, old as the Pharaohs. +Protect the surface that is to be left, and the sand blast will cut out +the required design neatly and swiftly. +</P> + +<P> +There is no known substance, not even corundum, hard enough to resist +the swift impact of myriads of little stones. +</P> + +<P> +It will cut more granite into shape in an hour than a man can in a day. +</P> + +<P> +Surely no one will be sorry to learn that General Tilghman sold part of +his patents, taken out in October, 1870, for $400,000, and receives the +untold benefits of the rest to this day. So much for thinking. +</P> + +<P> +Nature gives thousands of hints. Some can take them; some can only +take the other thing. The hints are greatly preferred by nature and +man. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CREATIONS NOW IN PROGRESS +</H3> + +<P> +The forces of creation are yet in full play. Who can direct them? +Rewards greater than Tilghman's await the thinker. We are permitted +not only to think God's thoughts after him, but to do his works. +"Greater works than these that I do shall he do who believeth on me," +says the Greatest Worker. Great profit incites to do the work noted +below. +</P> + +<P> +Carbon as charcoal is worth about six cents a bushel; as plumbago, for +lead pencils or for the bicycle chain, it is worth more; as diamond it +has been sold for $500,000 for less than an ounce, and that was +regarded as less than half its value. Such a stone is so valuable that +$15,000 has been spent in grinding and polishing its surface. The +glazier pays $5.00 for a bit of carbon so small that it would take +about ten thousand of them to make an ounce. +</P> + +<P> +Why is there such a difference in value? Simply arrangement and +compactness. Can we so enormously enhance the value of a bushel of +charcoal by arrangement and compression? Not very satisfactorily as +yet. We can apply almost limitless pressure, but that does not make +diamonds. Every particle must go to its place by some law and force we +have not yet attained the mastery of. +</P> + +<P> +We do not know and control the law and force in nature that would +enable us to say to a few million bricks, stones, bits of glass, etc., +"Fly up through earth, water, and air, and combine into a perfect +palace, with walls, buttresses, towers, and windows all in exact +architectural harmony." But there is such a law and force for +crystals, if not for palaces. There is wisdom to originate and power +to manage such a force. It does not take masses of rock and stick them +together, nor even particles from a fluid, but atoms from a gas. Atoms +as fine as those of air must be taken and put in their place, one by +one, under enormous pressure, to have the resulting crystal as compact +as a diamond. +</P> + +<P> +The force of crystallization is used by us in many inferior ways, as in +making crystals of rock candy, sulphur, salt, etc., but for the making +of diamonds it is too much for us, except in a small way. +</P> + +<P> +While we cannot yet use the force that builds large white diamonds we +can use the diamonds themselves. Set a number of them around a section +of an iron tube, place it against a rock, at the surface or deep down +in a mine, cause it to revolve rapidly by machinery, and it will bore +into the rock, leaving a core. Force in water, to remove the dust and +chips, and the diamond teeth will eat their way hundreds of feet in any +direction; and by examining the extracted core miners can tell what +sort of ore there is hundreds of feet in advance. Hence, they go only +where they know that value lies. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SOME CURIOUS BEHAVIORS OF ATOMS +</H3> + +<P> +Ultimate atoms of matter are asserted to be impenetrable. That is, if +a mass of them really touched each other, that mass would not be +condensible by any force. But atoms of matter do not touch. It is +thinkable, but not demonstrable, that condensation might go on till +there were no discernible substance left, only force. +</P> + +<P> +Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, and gas. It is thought +that all matter may be passed through the three stages--iron being +capable of being volatilized, and gases condensed to liquids and +solids--the chief difference of these states being greater or less +distance between the constituent atoms and molecules. In gas the +particles are distant from each other, like gnats flying in the air; in +liquids, distant as men passing in a busy street; in solids, as men in +a congregation, so sparse that each can easily move about. The +congregation can easily disperse to the rarity of those walking in the +street, and the men in the street condense to the density of the +congregation. So, matter can change in going from solids to liquids +and gases, or <I>vice versa</I>. The behavior of atoms in the process is +surpassingly interesting. +</P> + +<P> +Gold changes its density, and therefore its thickness, between the two +dies of the mint that make it money. How do the particles behave as +they snuggle up closer to each other? +</P> + +<P> +Take a piece of iron wire and bend it. The atoms on the inner side +become nearer together, those on the outside farther apart. Twist it. +The outer particles revolve on each other; those of the middle do not +move. They assume and maintain their new relations. +</P> + +<P> +Hang a weight on a wire. It does not stretch like a rubber thread, but +it stretches. Eight wires were tested as to their tensile strength. +They gave an average of forty-five pounds, and an elongation averaging +nineteen per cent of the total length. Then a wire of the same kind +was given time to adjust itself to its new and trying circumstances. +Forty pounds were hung on one day, three pounds more the next day, and +so on, increasing the weights by diminishing quantities, till in sixty +days it carried fifty-seven pounds. So it seems that exercise +strengthened the wire nearly twenty-seven per cent. +</P> + +<P> +While those atoms are hustling about, lengthening the wire and getting +a better grip on one another, they grow warm with the exercise. Hold a +thick rubber band against your lip--suddenly stretch it. The lip +easily perceives the greater heat. After a few moments let it +contract. The greater coldness is equally perceptible. +</P> + +<P> +A wire suspending thirty-nine pounds being twisted ninety-five full +turns lengthened itself one sixteen-hundredth of its length. Being +further twisted by twenty-five turns it shortened itself one fourth of +its previous elongation. During the twisting some sections took far +more torsion than others. A steel wire supporting thirty-nine pounds +was twisted one hundred and twenty times and then allowed to untwist at +will. It let out only thirty-eight turns and retained eighty-two in +the new permanent relation of particles. A wire has been known to +accommodate itself to nearly fourteen hundred twists, and still the +atoms did not let go of each other. They slid about on each other as +freely as the atoms of water, but they still held on. It is easier to +conceive of these atoms sliding about, making the wire thinner and +longer, when we consider that it is the opinion of our best physicists +that molecules made of atoms are never still. Masses of matter may be +still, but not the constituent elements. They are always in intensest +activity, like a mass of bees--those inside coming out, outside ones +going in--but the mass remains the same. +</P> + +<P> +The atoms of water behave extraordinarily. I know of a boiler and +pipes for heating a house. When the fire was applied and the +temperature was changed from that of the street to two hundred degrees, +it was easy to see that there was a whole barrel more of it than when +it was let into the boiler. It had been swollen by the heat, but it +was nothing but water. +</P> + +<P> +Mobile, flexible, and yielding as water seems to be, it has an +obstinacy quite remarkable. It was for a long time supposed to be +absolutely incompressible. It is nearly so. A pressure that would +reduce air to one hundredth of its bulk would not discernibly affect +water. Put a ton weight on a cubic inch of water; it does not flinch +nor perceptibly shrink, yet the atoms of water do not fill the space +they occupy. They object to being crowded. They make no objection to +having other matter come in and possess the space unoccupied by them. +</P> + +<P> +Air so much enjoys its free, agile state, leaping over hills and +plains, kissing a thousand flowers, that it greatly objects to being +condensed to a liquid. First we must take away all the heat. Two +hundred and ten degrees of heat changes water to steam filling 1,728 +times as much space. No amount of pressure will condense steam to +water unless the heat is removed. So take heat away from air till it +is more than two hundred degrees below zero, and then a pressure of +about two hundred atmospheres (14.7 pounds each) changes common air to +fluid. It fights desperately against condensation, growing hot with +the effort, and it maintains its resilience for years at any point of +pressure short of the final surrender that gives up to become liquid. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps sometime we shall have the pure air of the mountains or the sea +condensed to fluid and sold by the quart to the dwellers in the city, +to be expanded into air once more. +</P> + +<P> +The marvel is not greater that gas is able to sustain itself under the +awful pressure with its particles in extreme dispersion, than that what +we call solids should have their molecules in a mazy dance and yet keep +their strength. +</P> + +<P> +Since this world, in power, fineness, finish, beauty, and adaptations, +not only surpasses our accomplishment, but also is past our finding out +to its perfection, it must have been made by One stronger, finer, and +wiser than we are. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MOBILITY OF SEEMING SOLIDS +</H3> + +<P> +When a human breath, or the white jet of a steam whistle, or the black +cough of a locomotive smokestack is projected into the air it is easy +to see that the air is mobile. Its particles easily roll over one +another in voluminously infolding wreaths. The same is seen in water. +The crest of a wave falls over a portion of air, imprisoning it for a +moment, and the mingled air and water of different densities prevent +the light of the sun or sky from going straight down into the black +depths and being lost, but by being reflected and turned back it shows +like beautiful white lace, constantly created and dissolved with a +thousandfold more beauty than any that ever came from human hands. All +the three shifting elements of the swift creations are mobile. This +seems to be the case because these elements are not solid. The +particles have plenty of room to play about each other, to execute mazy +dances and minuets with vastly more space than substance. +</P> + +<P> +Extend the thought a little. Things that seem to us most solid are +equally mobile. An iron wire seems solid. It is so; some parts much +more so than others. The surface that has been in closest contact with +the die as the wire was drawn through, reducing its size by one half, +perhaps, is vastly more dense than the inner parts that have not been +so condensed. File away one tenth of a wire, taking it all from the +surface, and you weaken the tensile strength of the wire one half. + +But, dense and solid as this iron is, its particles are as mobile +within certain limits as the particles of air. An electric message +sent through a mile of wire is not anything transmitted; matter is not +transferred, but the particles are set to dancing in wavy motion from +end to end. Particles are leaping within ordered limits and according +to regular laws as really as the clouds swirl and the air trembles into +song through the throat of a singer. When a wire is made sensitive by +electricity the breath of a child can make it vibrate from end to end, +ensouled with the child's laughter or fancies. Nay, more, and far more +wonderful, the wire will be sensitive to the number of vibrations of a +certain note of music, and no receiver at the other end will gather up +its sensitive tremblings unless it is pitched to the keynote of the +vibrations sent. In this way eight sets of vibrations have been sent +on one wire both ways at the same time, and no set of signals has in +any way interfered with the completeness and audibility of the rest. +Sixteen sets of waltzes were being performed at one and the same time +by the particles of one wire without confusion. Because the air is +transmitting the notes of an organ from the loft to the opposite end of +the church, it is not incapable of bringing the sound of a voice in an +opposite direction to the organist from the other end of the church. +</P> + +<P> +The extreme mobility of steel is seen when the red-hot metal is plunged +into water. Instantly every particle takes a new position, making it a +hundredfold more hard than before it was heated. But these particles +of transferred steel are still mobile. A man's razor does not cut +smoothly. It is dull, or has a ragged edge that is more inclined to +draw tears than cut hairs. He draws the razor over the tender palm of +his hand a few times, rearranges the particles of the edge and builds +them out into a sharper form. Then the razor returns to the lip with +the dainty touch of a kiss instead of a saw. Or the tearful man dips +the razor in hot water and the particles run out to make a wider blade +and, of course, a thinner, sharper edge. Drop the tire of a wagon +wheel into a circular fire. As the heat increases each particle says +to its neighbor, "Please stand a little further off; this more than +July heat is uncomfortable." So the close friends stand a little +further apart, lengthening the tire an inch or two. Then, being taken +out of the fire and put on the wheel and cooled, the particles snuggle +up together again, holding the wheel with a grip of cold iron. Mobile +and loose, with plenty of room to play, as the particles have, neither +wire nor tire loses its tensile strength. They hold together, whether +arms are locked around each other's waist, or hand clasps hand in +farther reach. What change has come to iron when it has been made red +or white hot? Its particles have simply been mobilized. It differs +from cold iron as an army in barracks and forts differs from an army +mobilized. Nothing has been added but movement. There is no caloric +substance. Heat is a mode of motion. The particles of iron have been +made to vibrate among themselves. When the rapidity of movement +reaches four hundred and sixty millions of millions of vibrations per +second it so affects the eye that we say it is red-hot. When other +systems of vibration have been added for yellow, etc., up to seven +hundred and thirty millions of millions for the violet, and all +continue in full play, the eye perceives what we call white heat. It +is a simple illustration of the readiness of seeming solids to vibrate +with almost infinite swiftness. +</P> + +<P> +I have been to-day in what is to me a kind of heaven below--the +workshop of my much-loved friend, John A. Brashear, in Allegheny, Pa. +He easily makes and measures things to one four-hundred-thousandth of +an inch of accuracy. I put my hand for a few seconds on a great piece +of glass three inches thick. The human heat raised a lump detectable +by his measurements. We were testing a piece of glass half an inch +thick; and five inches in diameter. I put my two thumbnails at the two +sides as it rested on its bed, and could see at once that I had +compressed the glass to a shorter diameter. We twisted it in so many +ways that I said, "That is a piece of glass putty." And yet it was the +firmest texture possible to secure. Great lenses are so sensitive that +one cannot go near them without throwing them discernibly out of shape. +It were easy to show that there is no solid earth nor immovable +mountains. I came away saying to my friend, "I am glad God lets you +into so much of his finest thinking." He is a mechanic, not a +theologian. This foremost man in the world in his fine department was +lately but a "greasy mechanic," an engineer in a rolling mill. +</P> + +<P> +But for elasticity and mobility nothing approaches the celestial ether. +Its vibrations reach into millions of millions per second, and its +wave-lengths for extreme red light are only .0000266 of an inch long, +and for extreme violet still less--.0000167 of an inch. +</P> + +<P> +It is easier molding hot iron than cold, mobile things than immobile. +This world has been made elastic, ready to take new forms. New +creations are easy, for man, even--much more so for God. Of angels, +Milton says: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "Thousands at his bidding speed,<BR> + And post o'er land and ocean without rest." +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +No less is it true of atoms. In him all things live and move. Such +intense activities could not be without an infinite God immanent in +matter. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NEXT WORLD TO CONQUER +</H3> + +<P> +Man's next realm of conquest is the celestial ether. It has higher +powers, greater intensities, and quicker activities than any realm he +has yet attempted. +</P> + +<P> +When the emissory or corpuscular theory of light had to be abandoned a +medium for light's interplay between worlds had to be conceived. The +existence of an all-pervasive medium called the luminiferous ether was +launched as a theory. Its reality has been so far demonstrated that +but very few doubters remain. +</P> + +<P> +What facts of its conditions and powers can be known? It differs +almost totally from our conceptions of matter. Of the eighteen +necessary properties of matter perhaps only one, extension, can be +predicated of it. It is unlimited, all-pervasive; even where worlds +are non-attractive, does not accumulate about suns or other bodies; has +no structure, chemical relations, nor inertia; is not heatable, and is +not cognizable by any of our present senses. Does it not take us one +step toward an apprehension of the revealed condition of spirit? +</P> + +<P> +Recall its actual activities. Two hundred and fifty-eight vibrations +of air per second produce on the ear the sensation we call <I>do</I>, or <I>C</I> +of the soprano scale; five hundred and sixteen give the upper <I>C</I>, or +an octave above. So the sound runs up in air till, above, say, +thirty-five thousand vibrations per second, there is plenty of sound +inaudible to our ears. But not inaudible to finer ears. To them the +morning stars sing together in mighty chorus: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "Forever singing as they shine,<BR> + 'The hand that made us is divine.'" +</P> + +<P> +Electricity has as great a variety of vibrations as sound. Since some +kinds of electricity do not readily pass through space devoid of air, +though light and heat do, it seems likely that some of the lower +intensities and slower vibrations of electricity are not in ether but +in air. Certainly some of the higher intensities are in ether. +Between two hundred and four hundred millions of millions of vibrations +of ether per second are the different sorts of heat. Between four +hundred and eight hundred vibrations are the different colors of light. +Beyond eight hundred vibrations there is plenty of light, invisible to +our eyes, known as chemical rays and probably the Roentgen rays. +Beyond these are there vibrations for thought-transference? Who +knoweth? +</P> + +<P> +These familiar facts are called up to show the almost infinite +capacities and intensities of the ether. Matter is more forceful, as +it is less dense. Rock is solid, and has little force except obstinate +resistance. Steam is rarer and more forceful. Gases suddenly born of +dynamite touched by fire in the rock under a mountain have the +tremendous pressure of eighty thousand pounds to the square inch. +Ether is so rare that its density, compared with water, is represented +by a decimal fraction with twenty-seven ciphers before it. +</P> + +<P> +When the worlds navigate this sea, do they plow through it as a ship +through the waves, forcing them aside, or as a sieve letting the water +through it? Doubtless the sieve is the better symbol. Certainly the +vibrations flow through solid glass and most solid diamond. To be +sure, they are a little hampered by the solid substance. The speed of +light is reduced from one hundred and eighty thousand miles a second in +space to one hundred and twenty thousand in glass. If ether can so +readily go through such solids, no wonder that a spirit body could +appear to the disciples, "the doors being shut." +</P> + +<P> +Marvelous discoveries in the capacities of ether have been made lately. +In 1842 Joseph Henry found that electric waves in the top of his house +provoked action in a wire circuit in the cellar, through two floors and +ceilings, without wire connections. More than twenty years ago +Professor Loomis, of the United States coast survey, telegraphed twenty +miles between mountains by electric impulses sent from kites. Last +year Mr. Preece, the cable being broken, sent, without wires, one +hundred and fifty-six messages between the mainland and the island of +Mull, a distance of four and a half miles. Marconi, an Italian, has +sent recognizable signals through seven or eight thick walls of the +London post-office, and three fourths of a mile through a hill. +Jagadis Chunder Bose, of India, has fired a pistol by an electric +vibration seventy-five feet away and through more than four feet of +masonry. Since brick does not elastically vibrate to such +infinitesimal impulses as electric waves, ether must. It has already +been proven that one can telegraph to a flying train from the overhead +wires. Ether is a far better medium of transmission than iron. A wire +will now carry eight messages each way, at the same time, without +interference. What will not the more facile ether do? +</P> + +<P> +Such are some of the first vague suggestions of a realm of power and +knowledge not yet explored. They are mere auroral hints of a new dawn. +The full day is yet to shine. +</P> + +<P> +Like timid children, we have peered into the schoolhouse--afraid of the +unknown master. If we will but enter we shall find that the Master is +our Father, and that he has fitted up this house, out of his own +infinite wisdom, skill, and love, that we may be like him in wisdom and +power as well as in love. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OUR ENJOYMENT OF NATURE'S FORCES +</H3> + +<P> +We are a fighting race; not because we enjoy fights, but we enjoy the +exercise of force. In early times when we knew of no forces to handle +but our own, and no object to exercise them on but our fellow-men, +there were feuds, tyrannies, wars, and general desolation. In the +Thirty Years' War the population of Germany was starved and murdered +down from sixteen millions to less than five millions. +</P> + +<P> +But since we have found field, room, and ample verge for the play of +our forces in material realms, and have acquired mastery of the superb +forces of nature, we have come to an era of peace. We can now use our +forces and those of nature with as real a sense of dominion and mastery +on material things, resulting in comfort, as formerly on our +fellow-men, resulting in ruin. We now devote to the conquest of nature +what we once devoted to the conquest of men. There is a fascination in +looking on force and its results. Some men never stand in the presence +of an engine in full play without a feeling of reverence, as if they +stood in the presence of God--and they do. +</P> + +<P> +The turning to these forces is a characteristic of our age that makes +it an age of adventure and discovery. The heart of equatorial Africa +has been explored, and soon the poles will hold no undiscovered secrets. +</P> + +<P> +Among the great monuments of power the mountains stand supreme. All +the cohesions, chemical affinities, affections of metals, liquids, and +gases are in full play, and the measureless power of gravitation. And +yet higher forces have chasmed, veined, infiltrated, disintegrated, +molded, bent the rocky strata like sheets of paper, and lifted the +whole mass miles in air as if it were a mere bubble of gas. +</P> + +<P> +The study of these powers is one of the fascinations of our time. Let +me ask you to enjoy with me several of the greatest manifestations of +force on this world of ours. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MONTE ROSA +</H4> + +<P> +Many of us in America know little of one of the great subjects of +thought and endeavor in Europe. We are occasionally surprised by +hearing that such a man fell into a crevasse, or that four men were +killed on the Matterhorn, or five on the Lyskamm, and others elsewhere, +and we wonder why they went there. The Alps are a great object of +interest to all Europe. I have now before me a catalogue of 1,478 +works on the Alps for sale by one bookseller. It seems incredible. In +this list are over a dozen volumes describing different ascents of a +single mountain, and that not the most difficult. There are +publications of learned societies on geology, entomology, paleontology, +botany, and one volume of <I>Philosophical and Religious Walks about Mont +Blanc</I>. The geology of the Alps is a most perplexing problem. The +summit of the Jungfrau, for example, consists of gneiss granite, but +two masses of Jura limestone have been thrust into it, and their ends +folded over. +</P> + +<P> +It is the habit, of the Germans especially, to send students into the +Alps with a case for flowers, a net for butterflies, and a box for +bugs. Every rod is a schoolhouse. They speak of the "snow mountains" +with ardent affection. Every Englishman, having no mountains at home, +speaks and feels as if he owned the Alps. He, however, cares less for +their flowers, bugs, and butterflies than for their qualities as a +gymnasium and a measure of his physical ability. The name of every +mountain or pass he has climbed is duly burnt into his Alpenstock, and +the said stock, well burnt over, is his pride in travel and a grand +testimonial of his ability at home. +</P> + +<P> +There are numerous Alpine clubs in England, France, and Italy. In the +grand exhibition of the nation at Milan the Alpine clubs have one of +the most interesting exhibits. This general interest in the Alps is a +testimony to man's admiration of the grandest work of God within reach, +and to his continued devotion to physical hardihood in the midst of the +enervating influences of civilization. There is one place in the world +devoted by divine decree to pure air. You are obliged to use it. +Toiling up these steeps the breathing quickens fourfold, till every +particle of the blood has been bathed again and again in the perfect +air. Tyndall records that he once staggered out of the murks and +disease of London, fearing that his lifework was done. He crawled out +of the hotel on the Bell Alp and, feeling new life, breasted the +mountain, hour after hour, till every acrid humor had oozed away, and +every part of his body had become so renewed that he was well from that +time. In such a sanitarium, school of every department of knowledge, +training-place for hardihood, and monument of Nature's grandest work, +man does well to be interested. +</P> + +<P> +You want to ascend these mountains? Come to Zermatt. With a wand ten +miles long you can touch twenty snow-peaks. Europe has but one higher. +Twenty glaciers cling to the mountain sides and send their torrents +into the little green valley. Try yourself on Monte Rosa, more +difficult to ascend than Mont Blanc; try the Matterhorn, vastly more +difficult than either or both. A plumbline dropped from the summit of +Monte Rosa through the mountain would be seven miles from Zermatt. You +first have your feet shod with a preparation of nearly one hundred +double-pointed hobnails driven into the heels and soles. In the +afternoon you go up three thousand one hundred and sixteen feet to the +Riffelhouse. It is equal to going up three hundred flights of stairs +of ten feet each; that is, you go up three hundred stories of your +house--only there are no stairs, and the path is on the outside of the +house. This takes three hours--an hour to each hundred stories; after +the custom of the hotels of this country, you find that you have +reached the first floor. The next day you go up and down the Görner +Grat, equal to one hundred and seventy more stories, for practice and a +view unequaled in Europe. Ordering the guide to be ready and the +porter to call you at one o'clock, you lie down to dream of the +glorious revelations of the morrow. +</P> + +<P> +The porter's rap came unexpectedly soon, and in response to the +question, "What is the weather?" he said, "Not utterly bad." There is +plenty of starlight; there had been through the night plenty of live +thunder leaping among the rattling crags, some of it very interestingly +near. We rose; there were three parties ready to make the ascent. The +lightning still glimmered behind the Matterhorn and the Weisshorn, and +the sound of the tumbling cataracts was ominously distinct. Was the +storm over? The guides would give no opinion. It was their interest +to go, it was ours to go only in good weather. By three o'clock I +noticed that the pointer on the aneroid barometer, that instrument that +has a kind of spiritual fineness of feeling, had moved a tenth of an +inch upward. I gave the order to start. The other parties said, "Good +for your pluck! <I>Bon voyage, gute reise</I>," and went to bed. In an +hour we had ascended one thousand feet and down again to the glacier. +The sky was brilliant. Hopes were high. The glacier with its vast +medial moraines, shoving along rocks from twenty to fifty feet long, +was crossed in the dawn. The sun rose clear, touching the snow-peaks +with glory, and we shouted victory. But in a moment the sun was +clouded, and so were we. Soon it came out again, and continued clear. +But the guide said, "Only the good God knows if we shall have clear +weather." Men get pious amid perils. I thought of the aneroid, and +felt that the good God had confided his knowledge to one of his +servants. +</P> + +<P> +Leaving the glacier, we came to the real mountain. Six hours and a +half will put one on the top, but he ought to take eight. I have no +fondness for men who come to the Alps to see how quickly they can do +the ascents. They simply proclaim that their object is not to see and +enjoy, but to boast. We go up the lateral moraine, a huge ridge fifty +feet high, with rocks in it ten feet square turned by the mighty plow +of ice below. We scramble up the rocks of the mountain. Hour after +hour we toil upward. At length we come to the snow-slopes, and are all +four roped together. There are great crevasses, fifty or a hundred +feet deep, with slight bridges of snow over them. If a man drops in +the rest must pull him out. Being heavier than any other man of the +party I thrust a leg through one snow-bridge, but I had just fixed my +ice ax in the firm abutment and was saved the inconvenience and delay +of dangling by a rope in a chasm. The beauty of these cold blue ice +vaults cannot be described. They are often fringed with icicles. In +one place they had formed from an overhanging shelf, reached the +bottom, and then the shelf had melted away, leaving the icicles in an +apparently reversed condition. We passed one place where vast masses +of ice had rolled down from above, and we saw how a breath might start +a new avalanche. We were up in one of nature's grandest workshops. +</P> + +<P> +How the view widened! How the fleeting cloud and sunshine heightened +the effect in the valley below! The glorious air made us know what the +man meant who every morning thanked God that he was alive. Some have +little occasion to be thankful in that respect. +</P> + +<P> +Here we learned the use of a guide. Having carefully chosen him, by +testimony of persons having experience, we were to follow him; not only +generally, but step by step. Put each foot in his track. He had +trodden the snow to firmness. But being heavier than he it often gave +way under my pressure. One such slump and recovery takes more strength +than ten regular steps. Not so in following the Guide to the fairer +and greater heights of the next world. He who carried this world and +its burden of sin on his heart trod the quicksands of time into such +firmness that no man walking in his steps, however great his sins, ever +breaks down the track. And just so in that upward way, one fall and +recovery takes more strength than ten rising steps. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, what of the weather? Uncertainty. Avalanches thundered +from the Breithorn and Lyskamm, telling of a penetrative moisture in +the air. The Matterhorn refused to take in its signal flags of storm. +Still the sun shone clear. We had put in six of the eight hours' work +of ascent when snow began to fall. Soon it was too thick to see far. +We came to a chasm that looked vast in the deception of the storm. It +was only twenty feet wide. Getting round this the storm deepened till +we could scarcely see one another. There was no mountain, no sky. We +halted of necessity. The guide said, "Go back." I said, "Wait." We +waited in wind, hail, and snow till all vestige of the track by which +we had come--our only guide back if the storm continued--was lost +except the holes made by the Alpenstocks. The snow drifted over, and +did not fill these so quickly. +</P> + +<P> +Not knowing but that the storm might last two days, as is frequently +the case, I reluctantly gave the order to go down. In an hour we got +below the storm. The valley into which we looked was full of brightest +sunshine; the mountain above us looked like a cowled monk. In another +hour the whole sky was perfectly clear. O that I had kept my faith in +my aneroid! Had I held to the faith that started me in the +morning--endured the storm, not wavered at suggestions of peril, defied +apparent knowledge of local guides--and then been able to surmount the +difficulty of the new-fallen snow, I should have been favored with such +a view as is not enjoyed once in ten years; for men cannot go up all +the way in storm, nor soon enough after to get all the benefit of the +cleared air. Better things were prepared for me than I knew; +indications of them offered to my faith; they were firmly grasped, and +held almost long enough for realization, and then let go in an hour of +darkness and storm. +</P> + +<P> +I reached the Riffelhouse after eleven hours' struggle with rocks and +softened snow, and said to the guide, "To-morrow I start for the +Matterhorn." To do this we go down the three hundred stories to +Zermatt. +</P> + +<P> +Every mountain excursion I ever made has been in the highest degree +profitable. Even this one, though robbed of its hoped-for culmination, +has been one of the richest I have ever enjoyed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MATTERHORN +</H3> + +<P> +The Matterhorn is peculiar. I do not know of another mountain like it +on the earth. There are such splintered and precipitous spires on the +moon. How it came to be such I treated of fully in <I>Sights and +Insights</I>. It is approximately a three-sided mountain, fourteen +thousand seven hundred and eighteen feet high, whose sides are so steep +as to be unassailable. Approach can be made only along the angle at +the junction of the planes. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-088"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-088.jpg" ALT="The Matterhorn" BORDER="2" WIDTH="298" HEIGHT="439"> +<H5> +[Illustration: The Matterhorn.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +It was long supposed to be inaccessible. Assault after assault was +made on it by the best and most ambitious Alp climbers, but it kept its +virgin height untrodden. However, in 1864, seven men, almost +unexpectedly, achieved the victory; but in descending four of them were +precipitated, down an almost perpendicular declivity, four thousand +feet. They had achieved the summit after hundreds of others had +failed. They had reveled in the upper glories, deposited proof of +their visit, and started to return. According to law, they were roped +together. According to custom, in a difficult place all remain still, +holding the rope, except one who carefully moves on. Croz, the first +guide, was reaching up to take the feet of Mr. Haddow and help him down +to where he stood. Suddenly Haddow's strength failed, or he slipped +and struck Croz on the shoulders, knocking him off his narrow footing. +They two immediately jerked off Rev. Mr. Hudson. The three falling +jerked off Lord Francis Douglas. Four were loose and falling; only +three left on the rocks. Just then the rope somehow parted, and all +four dropped that great fraction of a mile. The mountain climber makes +a sad pilgrimage to the graves of three of them in Zermatt; the fourth +probably fell in a crevasse of the glacier at the foot, and may be +brought to the sight of friends in perhaps two score years, when the +river of ice shall have moved down into the valleys where the sun has +power to melt away the ice. This accident gave the mountain a +reputation for danger to which an occasional death on it since has +added. +</P> + +<P> +Each of these later unfortunate occurrences is attributable to personal +perversity or deficiency. Peril depends more on the man than on +circumstances. One is in danger on a wall twenty feet high, another +safe on a precipice of a thousand feet. No man has a right to peril +his life in mere mountain climbing; that great sacrifice must be +reserved for saving others, or for establishing moral principle. +</P> + +<P> +The morning after coming from Monte Rosa myself and son left Zermatt at +half past seven for the top of the Matterhorn, twelve hours distant, +under the guidance of Peter Knubel, his brother, and Peter Truffer, +three of the best guides for this work in the country. In an hour the +dwellings of the mountain-loving people are left behind, the tree limit +is passed soon after, the grass cheers us for three hours, when we +enter on the wide desolation of the moraines. Here is a little chapel. +I entered it as reverently and prayed as earnestly for God's will, not +mine, to be done as I ever did in my life, and I am confident that amid +the unutterable grandeur that succeeded I felt his presence and help as +fully as at any other time. +</P> + +<P> +At ten minutes of two we were roped together and feeling our way +carefully in the cut steps on a glacier so steep that, standing erect, +one could put his hand upon it. We were on this nearly an hour. Just +as we left it for the rocks a great noise above, and a little to the +south, attracted attention. A vast mass of stone had detached itself +from the overhanging cliff at the top, and falling on the steep slope +had broken into a hundred pieces. These went bounding down the side in +long leaps. Wherever one struck a cloud of powdered stone leaped into +the air, till the whole mountain side smoked and thundered with the +grand cannonade. The omen augured to me that the mountain was going to +do its best for our reception and entertainment. Fortunately these +rock avalanches occur on the steep, unapproachable sides, and not at +the angle where men climb. +</P> + +<P> +How the mountain grew upon us as we clung to its sides! When the great +objects below had changed to littleness the heights above seemed +greater than ever. At half past four we came to a perpendicular height +of twenty feet, with a slight slope above. Down this precipice hung a +rope; there was also an occasional projection of an inch or two of +stone for the mailed foot. At the top, on a little shelf, under +hundreds of feet of overhanging rock, some stones had been built round +and over a little space for passing the night. The rude cabin occupied +all the width of the shelf, so that passing to its other end there was +not room to walk without holding on by one's hands in the crevices of +the wall. We were now at home; had taken nine hours to do what could +be done in eight. What an eyrie in which to sleep! Below us was a +sheer descent, of a thousand or two feet, to the glacier. Above us +towered the crest of the mountain, seemingly higher than ever. The +sharp shadow of the lofty pyramid lengthened toward Monte Rosa. Italy +lifted up its mountains tipped with sunshine to cheer us. The Obernese +Alps, beyond the Rhone, answered with numerous torches to light us to +our sleep. According to prearrangement, at eight o'clock we kindled a +light on our crag to tell our friends in Zermatt that we had +accomplished the first stage of our journey. They answered instantly +with a cheery blaze, and we lay down to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +When four of us lay together I was so crowded against the wall that I +thought if it should give way I could fall two thousand feet out of bed +without possibility of stopping on the way. The ice was two feet thick +on the floor, and by reason of the scarcity of bedding I was reminded +of the damp, chilly sheets of some unaired guest-chambers. I do not +think I slept a moment, but I passed the night in a most happy, +thoughtful, and exultant frame of mind. +</P> + +<P> +At half past three in the morning we were roped together--fifteen feet +of rope between each two men--for the final three or four hours' work. +It is everywhere steep; it is every minute hands and feet on the rocks; +sometimes you cling with fingers, elbows, knees, and feet, and are +tempted to add the nose and chin. Where it is least steep the guide's +heels are right in your face; when it is precipitous you only see a +line of rope before you. We make the final pause an hour before the +top. Here every weight and the fear that so easily besets one must be +laid aside. No part of the way has seemed so difficult; not even that +just past--when we rounded a shoulder on the ice for sixty feet, +sometimes not over twenty inches wide, on the verge of a precipice four +thousand feet high. To this day I can see the wrinkled form of that +far-down glacier below, though I took care not to make more than one +glance at it. +</P> + +<P> +The rocks become smoother and steeper, if possible. A chain or rope +trails from above in four places. You have good hope that it is well +secured, and wish you were lighter, as you go up hand over hand. Then +a beautiful slope for hands, knees, and feet for half an hour, and the +top is reached at half past six. +</P> + +<P> +The view is sublime. Moses on Pisgah could have had no such vision. +He had knowledge added of the future grandeur of his people, but such a +revelation as this tells so clearly what God can do for his people +hereafter that that element of Moses's enjoyment can be perceived, if +not fully appreciated. All the well-known mountains stand up like +friends to cheer us. Mont Blanc has the smile of the morning sun to +greet us withal. Monte Rosa chides us for not partaking of her +prepared visions. The kingdoms of the world--France, Switzerland, +Italy--are at our feet. One hundred and twenty snow-peaks flame like +huge altar piles in the morning sun. The exhilarant air gives ecstasy +to body, the new visions intensity of feeling to soul. The Old World +has sunk out of sight. This is Mount Zion, the city of God. New +Jerusalem has come down out of heaven adorned as a bride for her +husband. The pavements are like glass mingled with fire. The gates of +the morning are pearl. The walls, near or far according to your +thought, are like jasper and sapphire. The glory of God and of the +Lamb lightens it. +</P> + +<P> +But we must descend, though it is good to be here. It is even more +difficult and tedious than the ascent. <I>Non facilis descensus</I>. With +your face to the mountain you have only the present surface and the +effort for that instant. But when you turn your back on the mountain +the imminent danger appears. It is not merely ahead, but the sides are +much more dangerous. On the way down we had more cannonades. In six +hours we were off the cliffs, and by half past three we had let +ourselves down, inch by inch, to Zermatt, a distance of nine thousand +four hundred feet. +</P> + +<P> +Looking up to the Matterhorn this next morning after the climb, I feel +for it a personal affection. It has put more pictures of grandeur into +my being than ever entered in such a way before. It is grand enough to +bear acquaintance. People who view it from a distance must be +strangers. It has been, and ever will be, a great example and lofty +monument of my Father's power. He taketh up the isles as a very little +thing; he toucheth the mountains and they smoke. The strength of the +hills is his also; and he has made all things for his children, and +waits to do greater things than these. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO RIVER +</H3> + +<P> +Before me lies a thin bit of red rock, rippled as delicately as a +woman's hair, bearing marks of raindrops that came from the south. It +was once soft clay. It was laid down close to the igneous Archaean +rocks when Mother Earth was in her girlhood and water first began to +flow. More clay flowed over, and all was hardened into rock. Many +strata, variously colored and composed, were deposited, till our bit of +beauty was buried thousands of feet deep. The strata were tilted +variously and abraded wondrously, for our earth has been treated very +much as the fair-armed bread-maker treats the lump of dough she doubles +and kneads on the molding board. Other rocks of a much harder nature, +composed in part of the shells of inexpressible multitudes of Ocean's +infusoria, were laid down from the superincumbent sea. Still the +delicate ripple marks were preserved. Nature's vast library was being +formed, and on this scrap of a leaf not a letter was lost. +</P> + +<P> +Beside this stone now lies another of the purest white. It once flowed +as water impregnated with lime, and clung to the lower side of a rock +now as high above the sea as many a famous mountain. The water +gradually evaporated, and the lime still hung like tiny drops. Between +the two stones now so near together was once a perpendicular distance +of more than a mile of impenetrable rock. How did they ever get +together? Let us see. +</P> + +<P> +After the rock making, by the deposit of clay, limestone, etc., this +vast plain was lifted seven thousand feet above the sea and rimmed +round with mountains. Perhaps in being afterward volcanically tossed +in one of this old world's spasms an irregular crack ripped its way +along a few hundred miles. Into this crack rushed a great river, +perhaps also an inland ocean or vast Lake Superior, of which Salt Lake +may be a little remnant puddle. These tumultuous waters proceeded to +pulverize, dissolve, and carry away these six thousand feet of rock +deposited between the two stones. There was fall enough to make forty +Niagaras. +</P> + +<P> +I was once where a deluge of rain had fallen a few days before in a +mountain valley. It tore loose some huge rocks and plunged down a +precipice of one thousand feet. The rock at the bottom was crushed +under the frightful weight of the tumbling superincumbent mass, and +every few minutes the top became the bottom. In one hour millions of +tons of rock were crushed to pebbles and spread for miles over the +plain, filling up a whole village to the roofs of the houses. I knew +three villages utterly destroyed by a rush of water only ten feet deep. +Water and gravitation make a frightful plow. Here some prehistoric +Mississippi turned its mighty furrows. +</P> + +<P> +The Colorado River is one of our great rivers. It is over two thousand +miles long, reaches from near our northern to beyond our southern +border, and drains three hundred thousand square miles of the west side +of the Rocky Mountains. Great as it remains, it is a mere thread to +what it once was. It is easy to see that there were several epochs of +work. Suppose the first one took off the upper limestone rock to the +depth of several thousand feet. This cutting is of various widths. +Just here it is eighteen miles wide; but as such rocks are of varying +hardness there are many promontories that distinctly project out, say, +half a mile from the general rim line, and rising in the center are +various Catskill and Holyoke mountains, with defiantly perpendicular +sides, that persisted in resisting the mighty rush of waters. The +outer portions of their foundations were cut away by the mighty flood +and, as the ages went by, occasionally the sides thundered into the +chasm, leaving the wall positively perpendicular. +</P> + +<P> +We may now suppose the ocean waters nearly exhausted and only the +mighty rivers that had made that ocean were left to flow; indeed, the +rising Sierras of some range unknown at the present may have shut off +whole oceans of rain. The rivers that remained began to cut a much +narrower channel into the softer sand and clay-rock below. From the +great mountain-rimmed plateau rivers poured in at the sides, cutting +lateral cañons down to the central flow. Between these stand the +little Holyokes aforesaid, with greatly narrowed base. +</P> + +<P> +I go down with most reverent awe and pick the little ripple-rain-marked +leaf out of its place in the book of nature, a veritable table of stone +written by the finger of God, and bring it up and lay it alongside of +one formed, eons after, at the top. They be brothers both, formed by +the same forces and for the same end. +</P> + +<P> +Standing by this stupendous work of nature day after day, I try to +stretch my mind to some large computation of the work done. A whole +day is taken to go down the gorge to the river. It takes seven miles +of zigzag trail, sometimes frightfully steep, along shelves not over +two feet wide, under rock thousands of feet above and going down +thousands of feet below, to get down that perpendicular mile. It was +an immense day's work. +</P> + +<P> +The day was full of perceptions of the grandeur of vast rock masses +never before suggested, except by the mighty mass of the Matterhorn +seen close by from its Hörnli shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +There was the river--a regular freight train, running day and night, +the track unincumbered with returning cars (they were returned by the +elevated road of the upper air)--burdened with dissolved rock and earth. +</P> + +<P> +A slip into this river scarcely seemed to wet the foot; it seemed +rather to coat it thickly with mud rescued from its plunge toward the +sea. What unimaginable amounts the larger river must have carried in +uncounted ages! In the short time the Mississippi has been at work it +has built out the land at its mouth one hundred miles into the Gulf. +</P> + +<P> +In the side cañon down which we worked our sublime and toilful way it +was easy to see the work done. Sometimes the fierce torrent would pile +the bottom of a side cañon with every variety of stone, from the wall a +mile high, into one tremendous heap of conglomerate. The next rush of +waters would tear a channel through this and pour millions of tons into +the main river. For years Boston toiled, in feeble imitation of +Milton's angels, to bring the Milton Hills into the back Bay and South +Boston Flats. Boston made more land than the city originally +contained, but it did not move a teaspoonful compared with these +excavations. +</P> + +<P> +The section traversed that day seemed while we were in it like a mighty +chasm, a world half rent asunder, full of vast sublimities, but the +next day, seen from the rim as a part of the mighty whole, it appeared +comparatively little. One gets new meanings of the words almighty, +eternity, infinity, in the presence of things done that seem to require +them all. +</P> + +<P> +In 1869 Major J. W. Powell, aided by nine men, attempted to pass down +this tumultuous river with four boats specially constructed for the +purpose. In ninety-eight days he had made one thousand miles, much of +it in extremest peril. For weeks there was no possibility of climbing +to the plateau above. +</P> + +<P> +Any great scene in nature is like the woman you fall in love with at +first sight for some pose of head, queenly carriage, auroral flush of +color, penetrative music of voice, or a glance of soul through its +illumined windows. You do not know much about her, but in long years +of heroic endurance of trials, in the great dignity of motherhood, in +the unspeakable comfortings that are scarcely short of godlike, and in +the supernal, ineffable beauty and loveliness that cover it all, you +find a richness and worth of which the most ardent lover never dreamed. +The first sight of the cañon often brings strong men to their knees in +awe and adoration. The gorge at Niagara is one hundred and fifty feet +deep; it is far short of this, which is six thousand six hundred and +forty. Great is the first impression, but in the longer and closer +acquaintance every sense of beauty is flooded to the utmost. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning I was out before "jocund day stood tiptoe on the +breezy mountain tops." I have seen many sunrises In this world and one +other: I have watched the moon slowly rolling its deep valleys for +weeks into its morning sunlight. I knew what to expect. But nature +always surpasses expectations. The sinuosities of the rim sent back +their various colors. A hundred domes and spires, wind sculptured and +water sculptured, reached up like Memnon to catch the first light of +the sun, and seemed to me to break out into Memnonian music. As the +world rolled the steady light penetrated deeper, shadows diminished, +light spaces broadened and multiplied, till it seemed as if a new +creation were veritably going forward and a new "Let there be light" +had been uttered. I had seen it for the first time the night before in +the mellow light of a nearly full moon, but the sunlight really seemed +to make, in respect to breadth, depth, and definiteness, a new creation. +</P> + +<P> +One peculiar effect I never noticed elsewhere. It is well known that +the blue sky is not blue and there is no sky. Blue is the color of the +atmosphere, and when seen in the miles deep overhead, or condensed in a +jar, it shows its own true color. So, looking into this inconceivable +cañon, the true color came out most beauteously. There was a +background of red and yellowish rocks. These made the cold blue blush +with warm color. The sapphire was backed with sardonyx, and the bluish +white of the chalcedony was half pellucid to the gold chrysolite behind +it. God was laying the foundation of his perfect city there, and the +light of it seemed fit for the redeemed to walk in, and to have been +made by the luminousness of Him who is light. +</P> + +<P> +One great purpose of this world is its use as significant symbol and +hint of the world to come. The communication of ideas and feelings +there is not by slow, clumsy speech, often misunderstood, originally +made to express low physical wants, but it is by charade, panorama, +parable, and music rolling like the voice of many waters in a storm. +The greatest things and relations of earth are as hintful of greater +things as a bit of float ore in the plains is suggestive of boundless +mines in the upper hills. So the joy of finding one lost lamb in the +wilderness tells of the joy of finding and saving a human soul. One +should never go to any of God's great wonders to see sights, but to +live life; to read in them the figures, symbols, and types of the more +wonderful things in the new heavens and the new earth. +</P> + +<P> +The old Hebrew prophets and poets saw God everywhere in nature. The +floods clap their hands and the hills are joyful together before the +Lord. Miss Proctor, in the Yosemite, caught the same lofty spirit, and +sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "Perpetual masses here intone,<BR> + Uncounted censers swing,<BR> + A psalm on every breeze is blown;<BR> + The echoing peaks from throne to throne<BR> + Greet the indwelling King;<BR> + The Lord, the Lord is everywhere,<BR> + And seraph-tongued are earth and air." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE YELLOWSTONE PARK GEYSERS +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THEIR ESSENTIAL FACTS AND CAUSES +</H4> + +<P> +I have been to school. Dame Nature is a most kind and skillful +teacher. She first put me into the ABC class, and advanced me through +conic sections. The first thing in the geyser line she showed me was a +mound of rock, large as a small cock of hay, with a projection on top +large as a shallow pint bowl turned upside down. In the center of this +was a half-inch hole, and from it every two seconds, with a musical +chuckle of steam, a handful of diamond drops of water was ejected to a +height of from two to five feet. I sat down with it half an hour, +compelled to continuous laughter by its own musical cachinnations. +There were all the essentials of a geyser. There was a mound, not +always existent, built up by deposits from the water supersaturated +with mineral. It might be three feet high; it might be thirty. There +was the jet of water ejected by subterranean forces. It might be half +an inch in diameter; it might be three hundred feet, as in the case of +the Excelsior geyser. It might rise six inches; it might rise two +hundred and fifty feet. There was the interval between the jets. It +might be two seconds; it might be weeks or years. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-106"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-106.jpg" ALT="Formation of the Grotto Geyser." BORDER="2" WIDTH="488" HEIGHT="336"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Formation of the Grotto Geyser.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +A subsequent lesson in my Progressive Geyser Reader was the "Economic." +Here was a round basin ten feet in diameter, very shallow, with a hole +in the middle about one foot across. The water was perfectly calm. +But every six minutes a sudden spurt of water and steam would rise +about thirty feet, for thirty seconds, and then settle economically, +without waste of water, into the pool, sinking with pulsations as on an +elastic cushion a foot below the bottom of the pool. One could stride +the opening like a colossus for five and one half minutes without fear. +He might be using the calm depth for a mirror. But stay a moment too +long and he is scalded to death by the sudden outburst. +</P> + +<P> +The next lesson required more patience and gave more abundant reward. +I found a great raised platform on which stood a castellated rock, more +than twenty feet square, that had been built up particle by particle +into a perfect solid by deposits from the fiery flood. In the center +was a brilliant orange-colored throat that went down into the bowels of +the earth. That was not the geyser--it was only the trump through +which the archangel was to blow. I had heard the preliminary tuning of +the instrument. +</P> + +<P> +The guide book said the grand play of this "Castle" geyser began from +eight to thirty hours after a previous exhibition, and was preceded by +jets of water fifteen to twenty feet high, and that these continued +five or six hours before the grand eruption. I hovered near the grand +stand till the full thirty hours and the six predictive hours were +over, and then, as the thunder above roared threateningly and the rain +fell suggestively, I took a rubber coat and camped on the trail of that +famous spouter. +</P> + +<P> +Geysers are more than a trifle freaky. "Old Faithful" is a notable +exception. Every sixty-five minutes, with almost the regularity of +star time, he throws his column of hissing water one hundred and fifty +feet high. Others are irregular, sometimes playing every three hours +for a few times, and then taking a rest for three or more days. This +Castle geyser is not registered to be quiet more than thirty hours, nor +to indulge in preparatory spouts for more than six hours. When I +finally camped to watch it out all these premonitory symptoms had been +duly exhibited. I first carefully noted the frequency and height of +the spouts, that any change might foretell the grand finale. There +were ten spouts to the minute, and an average height of twenty feet. +Hours went by with no hint of a change: ten to the minute, twenty feet +in height. People by the dozen came and asked when it would go off. I +said, "Liable to go any minute; it is long past due now." Stage loads +of tourists, scheduled to run on time, drove up, waited a few minutes, +and drove on, as if the grand object of the trip was to make time--not +to see the grandeur they had come a thousand miles to enjoy. A +photographer set up his camera to catch a shadow of the great display. +He stood, sometimes air-bulb in hand, an hour or two, then folded his +camera tent and stole away. Five hours had passed and night was near. +Everybody was gone. I lay down on the ground to convince myself that I +was perfectly patient. I attained so nearly to Nirvana that a little +ground squirrel came and ran over me, kissing my hand in a most +friendly way. +</P> + +<P> +Six hours of waiting were nearly over when, without a single previous +hint of change, one descending spout was met by an ascending one, and a +vast column of hissing water rose, with a sound of continuous thunder, +one hundred feet in air; and stood there like a pillar of cloud in the +desert. The air throbbed as in a cannonade, and the sun brushed away +all clouds as if he could not bear to miss a sight he had seen perhaps +a million times. Then the top of this upward Niagara bent over like +the calyx of a calla, and the downward Niagara covered all that +elevated masonry with a rushing cascade. Shifting my position a +little, I could see that the sun was thrilling the whole glorious +outpour with rainbows. At such times one can neither measure nor +express emotions by words. In the thunder which anyone can hear there +is always, for all who can receive it, the ineffably sweet voice of the +Father saying, "Thou art my beloved son, and all this grand display is +for thy precious sake." +</P> + +<P> +In sixteen minutes the flow of waters ceased, and a rush of saturated +steam succeeded. At the same time the fierce swish of ascending waters +and of descending cascades ceased, and a clear, definite note, as of a +trumpet, exceeding long and loud, was blown. No archangel could have +done better. As the steam rolled skyward it was condensed, and a very +heavy rain fell on about an acre at the east as it was drifted by the +air. It looked more like lines of water than separated drops. I found +it thoroughly cooled by its flight in the upper air. +</P> + +<P> +I climbed the huge natural masonry, and stood on the top. I could have +put my hand into the hot rushing of measureless power. What a sight it +was! There were the brilliant colors of the throat, open, three feet +wide, and the dazzling whiteness of the steam. At thirty-two minutes +from the beginning the steam suddenly became drier, like that close to +the spout of a kettle, or close to the whistle of an engine. All pure +steam is invisible. At the same time the note of the trumpet +distinctly changed. The heavy rain at the east as suddenly stopped. +The air could absorb the present amount of moisture. One could see +farther down the terrible throat that seemed about to be rent asunder. +The awful grandeur was becoming too much for human endurance. The +contorted forms of rocks on the summit began to take the forms and +heads of dragons, such as the Chinese carve on their monuments. The +awful column began to change its effect from terror to fascination, and +I knew how Empedocles felt when he flung himself into the burning +Aetna. It was time to get down and stand further off. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-112"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-112.jpg" ALT="Bee-Hive Geyser." BORDER="2" WIDTH="294" HEIGHT="532"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Bee-Hive Geyser.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The long waiting had been rewarded. "To patient faith the prize is +sure." The grand tumult began to subside. It was beyond all my +expectations. Nature never disappoints, for she is of God and in her +he yet immanently abides. The next day the sky and all the air were +full of falling rain. How could it be otherwise? It was the geyser +returning to earth. I sought the place. The awful trumpet was silent, +and the steam exhaled as gently as a sleeping baby's breath. +</P> + +<P> +Only one more lesson will be recited at present. I had just arrived in +camp when they told me that the Splendid geyser, after two days of +quiet, was showing signs of uneasiness. I immediately went out to +study my lesson. There was a little hill of very gentle slopes, a +little pool at the top, three holes at the west side of it, with a +dozen sputtering hot springs scattered about, while in a direct line at +the east, within one hundred and forty feet, were the Comet, the Daisy, +and another geyser. The Daisy was a beauty, playing forty feet high +every two or four hours. All the slopes were constantly flowing with +hot water. This general survey was no sooner taken than our glorious +Splendid began to play. The roaring column, tinted with the sunset +glories, gradually climbed to a height of two hundred feet, leaned a +little to the southeast, and bent like a glorious arch of triumph to +the earth, almost as solid on its descending as on its ascending side. +No wonder it is named "Splendid." +</P> + +<P> +Whoever has studied waterfalls of great height--I have seen nearly +forty justly famous falls--has noticed that when a column or mass of +water makes the fearful plunge smaller masses of water are constantly +feathered off at the sides and delayed by the resistance of the air, +while the central mass hurries downward by its concentrated weight. +The general appearance is that of numerous spearheads with serrated +edges, feathered with light, thrust from some celestial armory into the +writhing pool of agonized waters below. In the geyser one gets this +effect both in the ascending and in the descending flood. + +Four times that first night dear old Splendid lured me from my bed to +watch her Titanic play in the full light of the moon. During all this +time not a hot spring ceased its boiling, nor a smaller geyser its +wondrous play, for this gigantic outburst of power that might well have +absorbed every energy for a mile around. Obviously they have no +connection. Then my beloved Splendid settled into a three-days' rest. +</P> + +<P> +These are the essential facts of geyser display. There are very many +variations of performance in every respect, I have seen over twenty +geysers in almost jocular, and certainly in overwhelmingly magnificent, +activity. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "To him who in the love of nature holds<BR> + Communion with her visible forms, she speaks<BR> + A various language." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT ARE THE CAUSES? +</H4> + +<P> +What is the power that can throw a stream of water two by six feet over +the tops of the highest skyscrapers of Chicago? It is heat manifested +in the expansive power of steam. Scientists have theorized long and +experimented patiently to read the open book of this tremendous +manifestation of uncontrollable energy. At first the form and action +of a teakettle was supposed to be explanatory. Everyone knows that +when steam accumulates under the lid it forces a gentle stream of water +from the higher nozzle. This fact was made the basis of a theory to +account for geysers by Sir George Mackenzie in 1811. But to suppose +that nature has gone into the teakettle manufacturing business to the +extent of thirty such kettles in a space of four square miles was seen +to be preposterous. So the construction theory was given up. +</P> + +<P> +But suppose a tube (how it is made will be explained later), large or +small, regular or irregular, to extend far into the earth, near or +through any great source of heat resulting from condensation, +combustion, chemical action, or central fire. Now suppose this tube to +be filled with water from surface or subterranean sources. Heat +converts water, under the pressure of one atmosphere, or fifteen pounds +to the square inch, into steam at a temperature of two hundred and +twelve degrees. But under greater pressure more heat is required to +make steam. The water never leaps and bubbles in an engine boiler. +The awful pressure compels it to be quiet. A cubic inch of water will +make a cubic foot--one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight times as +much--of steam under the pressure of one atmosphere. But under the +pressure of a column of water one thousand feet high, giving a pressure +of four hundred and thirty-two pounds to the square inch at the bottom, +water becomes steam, if at all, only by great heat. Every engineer +knows that the pressure exerted by steam increases by great geometrical +ratios as the heat increases by small arithmetical ratios. Steam made +by two hundred and twelve degrees exerts a pressure, as we have said, +of fifteen pounds. +</P> + +<P> +To simply double the two hundred and twelve degrees of heat increases +the steam pressure twenty-three times. +</P> + +<P> +Now suppose the subterranean tube or lake of Old Faithful to be freshly +filled with its million gallons of water. Sufficient heat makes steam +under any pressure. It rises up the tube and is condensed to water +again by the colder water above. Hence no commotion. But the whole +volume of water grows hotter for an hour. When it is too hot to absorb +the steam, and the tube is too narrow to let the amount made bubble up +through the water, it lifts the whole mass with a sudden jerk. The +instant the pressure of the water is taken off in any degree, the water +below, that was kept water by the pressure, breaks into steam most +voluminously, and the measureless power floods the earth and sky with +water and steam. +</P> + +<P> +It is also known that superheated steam suddenly takes on such great +power that no boiler can hold it. Once let the water in a boiler get +very low and no boiler can hold the force of the resultant superheated +steam. The same heat that, applied to water, gives perfect safety, +applied to steam gives utter destruction. Hence the amazing force of +the vast jets of the geyser that follow the first spurts. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the steam is blown off the subterranean waterworks fill the +tube and the process is repeated. +</P> + +<P> +This modus operandi was first proposed as a theory by Bunsen in 1846, +and later was demonstrated by the artificial geyser of Professor J. H. +J. Muller, of Freiburg. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-118"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-118.jpg" ALT="Pulpit Terrace and Bunsen Peak." BORDER="2" WIDTH="491" HEIGHT="294"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Pulpit Terrace and Bunsen Peak.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MOUNDS OF MINERAL DEPOSITS +</H4> + +<P> +I have the extremely difficult task of representing emotions by +words--glories of color and form seen by the eye by symbols meant to be +addressed to the ear. Before seeking to describe the diverse colors +made largely by one substance, let us remember that while silica, the +principal part of these water-built mounds, is one of the three parts +of granite, namely, the white crystal quartz, it is also the substance +of the beautifully variegated jasper, the lapis lazuli, the green +malachite, and the opal, with its cloudy milk-whiteness through which +flashes its heart of fire. Silica and alumina combine to make common +clay, but alumina forms itself into the red ruby, the golden-tinted +topaz, the violet oriental amethyst, the red, white, yellow, and violet +sapphire, and the beautiful green emerald. With substances of such +rare capabilities we may expect rich results in color and form. +</P> + +<P> +We turn now to deposits from water of these two substances, especially +the first. About the Old Faithful geyser is a mound about one hundred +and forty-five feet broad at the base, twelve feet high, jeweled over +with pools of beauty of every shape, beaded and fretted with glories of +color never seen before except in the sky. How were they made? +</P> + +<P> +Water is a general solvent. It can take into its substance several +similar bulks of other substances without greatly increasing its own, +some actually diminishing it. Hot alkaline water will dissolve even +silica rock. When water is saturated with sugar, salt, or other +substance, if a little or much water is evaporated some of the +saturating substance must be deposited as a solid. All crystals, as +quartz or diamonds, have been made by deposits from water. Hot water +can hold in solution much more of a solid than cold water. Therefore, +when hot water comes out of the earth and is cooled, some of the +saturating substance must be deposited as a solid. It is done in +various ways, especially two. +</P> + +<P> +Suppose a little pool with perpendicular sides, say twenty feet across. +It leaps and boils two feet high. It deposits nothing till the water +comes to the cooling edge. Then it builds up a wall where it +overflows, and wherever it flows it builds. The result is that you +walk up the gentle slopes of a broad flat cone, and find the little +lakelet in a gorgeous setting, perfectly full at every point of the +circumference. If there is but little overflow, the result may be to +deposit all the matter where it first cools, and make a perpendicular +wall around the cup two or ten feet high. If the overflow is too much +to be cooled at once, the deposit may still be made fifty or one +hundred feet from the point of issue. If the overflow is sufficient, +it may be building up every inch of a vast cone at once, every foot +being wet. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-120"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-120.jpg" ALT="The Punch Bowl, Yellowstone Geysers." BORDER="2" WIDTH="488" HEIGHT="329"> +<H5> +[Illustration: The Punch Bowl, Yellowstone Geysers.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Many minerals are held in solution and are deposited at various stages +of evaporation. Let us suppose the lake to have the bottom sloping +toward the abysmal center; the different minerals will be assorted as +if with a sieve. At the Sunlight Basin the edge is as flaming red as +one ever sees in the sunlit sky. And every color ever seen in a sunset +flames almost as brilliantly in the varying depths. Suppose a low cone +to be flooded only occasionally, as in the case of the Old Faithful +geyser. The cooled water falling from the upper air builds up, under +the terrible drench of the cataract, walls three or four inches high, +making pools of every conceivable shape, a few inches deep, in which +are the most exquisite and varied colors ever seen by mortal eye. You +walk about on these dividing walls and gaze into the beaded and +impearled pools of a hundred shades of different colors, never equaled +except by that perpetual glory of the sunset. +</P> + +<P> +Consider the case of a pool that does not overflow. Just as lakes that +have no outlet must grow more and more salt till some have become solid +salt beds, so must this pool, tossing its hot waves two or three feet +high, evaporate its water and deposit its solids. Where? First, +against the cooler sides of the rock under the water, tending to reduce +the opening to a mere throat. Second, each wavelet tossed in air is +cooled, and deposits on the edge, solid as quartz, a crust that +overhangs the pool and tends to close it over as with hot ice. It may +build thus a mound fifteen feet high with an open throat in the middle. +Thus the pool has constructed an intermittent geyser. If the water +supply continues, it also destroys itself. The throat closes up by its +own deposits. It is a case of geyseral membranous croup. +</P> + +<P> +I exceedingly longed to try vivisection on a geyser, or at least take +one of half a hundred, drain it off, and make a post-mortem +examination. On my very last day I found opportunity. I found a dead +geyser, though not by any means yet cold. It was still so hot that +people had given it an infernal name. I squeezed myself down through +its hot throat, which seemed a veritable open sepulcher, and found a +cave about twenty-five feet deep, twelve feet wide, and about sixty +feet long. It was elliptical in form, the sides coming together at a +sharp angle at the ends, bottom, and top. The way down to the fiery +heart of the earth had simply grown up by deposits of silex on the +sides and at the bottom. The water had evaporated by the intense heat, +and I was in the hot hollow that had once held an earthquake and +volcano. When I squeezed up to the blessed upper air I was glad there +was no help from below. +</P> + +<P> +I could tell of mounds that grew so fast as to inclose the limbs of a +tree, making the firmest kind of a ladder by which I climbed to the +top; of floods that overflowed acres of forest, leaving every tree +firmly planted in solid rock; of mounds hundreds of feet high, covering +twenty acres with forms of indescribable beauty--but I despair. The +half has not been told. It cannot be. Great and marvelous are all Thy +works, Lord God Almighty! In wisdom hast Thou made them all. +</P> + +<P> +Emerson says: "Whilst common sense looks at things or visible nature as +real and final facts, poetry, or the imagination which dictates it, is +a second sight, looking through these, and using them as types or words +for thoughts which they signify." Using these faculties and not mere +eyesight, one must surely say: "Since this world, in power, fineness, +finish, beauty, and adaptations not only surpasses our accomplishment, +but also is past our finding out to its perfection, it must have been +made by One stronger, finer, and wiser than we are." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SEA SCULPTURE* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +*Reprinted from <I>The Chautauquan</I>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +When the Russians charged on the Grivitza redoubt at Plevna they first +launched one column of men that they knew would be all shot down long +before they could reach it. But they made a cloud of smoke under the +cover of which a second column was launched. They would all be shot +down. But they carried the covering cloud so far that a third column +broke out of it and successfully carried the redoubt. They carried it, +but ten thousand men lay on the death-smitten slope. +</P> + +<P> +So the great ocean sends eight or ten thousand columns a day to charge +with flying banners of spray on the rocky ramparts of the shore at +Santa Cruz, California. +</P> + +<P> +There are not many things in the material world more sublime than a +thousand miles of crested waves rushing with terrible might against the +rocky shore. While they are yet some distance from the land a small +boat can ride their foaming billows, but as they approach the shallower +places they seem to take on sudden rage and irresistible force. Those +roaring waves rear up two or three times as high. They have great +perpendicular fronts down which Niagaras are pouring. The spray flies +from their tops like the mane of a thousand wild horses charging in the +wind. No ship can hold anchor in the breakers. They may dare a +thousand storms outside, but once let them fall into the clutch of this +resistless power and they are doomed. The waves seem frantic with +rage, resistless in force; they rush with fury, smite the cliffs with +thunder, and are flung fifty feet into the air; with what effect on the +rocks we will try to relate. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-124"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-124.jpg" ALT=""The Breakers," Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="491" HEIGHT="350"> +<H5> +[Illustration: "The Breakers," Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +No. 1 of our illustrations shows "The Breakers," a two-story house of +that name where hospitality, grace, and beauty abide; where hundreds of +roses bloom in a day, and where flowers, prodigal as creative +processes, abound. The breakers from which the house is named are not +seen in the picture. When the wind has been blowing hard, maybe one +hundred miles out at sea, they come racing in from the point, +feather-crested, a dozen at once, to show how rolls the far Wairoa at +some other world's end. All these pictures are taken in the calm +weather, or there would be little seen besides the great leaps of +spray, often fifty feet high. At the bottom of the cliff appear the +nodules and bowlders that were too hard to be bitten into dust and have +fallen out of the cliff, which is fifty feet high, as the sea eats it +away. Some of these are sculptured into the likeness effaces and +figures, solemn and grotesque. It is easy to find Pharaoh, Cleopatra, +Tantalus, represented here. +</P> + +<P> +This house is at the beginning of the famous Cliff Drive that rounds +the lighthouse at the point and stretches away for miles above the +ever-changing, now beautiful, now sublime, and always great Pacific, +that rolls its six thousand miles of billows toward us from Hong Kong. +Occasionally the road must be set back, and once the lighthouse was +moved back from the cliffs, eaten away by the edacious tooth of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +As Emerson says, "I never count the hours I spend in wandering by the +sea; like God it useth me." There is a wideness like his mercy, a +power like his omnipotence, a persistence like his patience, a length +of work like his eternity. +</P> + +<P> +The rocks of Santa Cruz, as in many other places, were laid in regular +order, like the leaves of a book on its side. But by various forces +they have been crumbled, some torn out, and in many places piled +together. These layers, beginning at the bottom, are as follows; (1) +igneous granite, unstratified; (2) limestone laid down from life in the +ocean, metamorphosed by heat and all fossils thereby destroyed; (3) +limestone highly crystallized, composed of fossil shells and very hard; +(4) sandstone, made under the sea from previous rock powdered, having +huge concretionary masses with a shell or a pebble as a nucleus around +which the concretion has taken place; (5) shale from the sea also; (6) +conglomerate, or drift, deposited by ice in the famous glacial cold +snap; (7) alluvium soil deposited in fresh water and composed partly of +organic matter. In our second illustration some of these layers, or +strata, may be distinguished. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-130"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-130.jpg" ALT="The Work and the Worker, Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="491" HEIGHT="357"> +<H5> +[Illustration: The Work and the Worker, Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +When the awful blows of the sea smite the rock, if it finds a place +less hard than others, it wears into it a slight depression, after half +a hundred thousand strokes, more or less, and ever after, as the years +go by, it drives its wedges home in that place. A shallow cave +results. Then the waters converge on the sides of the cave and meet +with awful force in the middle. Thus a tunnel is excavated, like a +drift in a mine, each wave making the tremendous charge and the +reflowing surges bringing away all the detritus. This tunnel may be +driven or excavated two hundred feet inland, under the shore. At each +inrush of the wave the air is terribly condensed before it. It seeks +outlet. And so it happens that the air is driven up through some crack +in the rock and the superincumbent earth, one or two hundred feet from +the shore, and a great hole appears in the ground from twenty to +seventy feet deep. Then the water spouts fiercely up and returning +carries back the earth and broken rock into the sea. +</P> + +<P> +No. 3 of the illustrations here given represents such a great +excavation one hundred feet back from the shore. It is one hundred and +fifty feet long by ninety wide and over fifty feet deep. All the +material had been carried out to sea by the refluent wave. On the +natural bridge seen in front the great crowd in Broadway, New York, +might pass or a troop of cavalry could be maneuvered. Through the arch +a ship with masts thirty feet high might enter at high tide. Through +the abutment of the arch where the afternoon sun pours its brightness +the waves have cut other arches not visible in the picture. When the +arches become too many or too wide the natural bridge will fall and be +carried out to sea like many another. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-148"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-148.jpg" ALT="A Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="484" HEIGHT="353"> +<H5> +[Illustration: A Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +But what does the sea do with the harder parts of the cliff? Its waves +wear away the rock on each side and leave one or more long fingers +reaching out into the sea. The wear and tear on such a projection is +immense. A strong swimmer may play with the breakers away from the +cliff. At exactly the right moment he may dive headlong through the +pearly green Niagara that has not yet fallen quite to his head and may +sport in the comparatively quiet water beyond, while the wild ruin +falls with a sound of thunder on the beach. But let him once be caught +and dashed against the rocks and there is no more life or wholeness of +bones within him. +</P> + +<P> +In the swirl of converging currents between two rocky projections, as +the coarse sand and gravel is surged around a few hundred thousand +times, there is a great tendency to wear through the wall of the +projecting finger. It is often done. Illustration No. 4 shows at low +tide such a projection cut through. Since the picture was taken the +bridge has fallen, the detritus been carted away by the waves, and the +pier stands lonely in the sea. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-156"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-156.jpg" ALT="An Excavated Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="497" HEIGHT="350"> +<H5> +[Illustration: An Excavated Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +No. 5 shows one bridge exceedingly frail and another more substantial +nearer the famous Cliff Drive. I go to the frail one every year with +anxiety lest I shall find it has been carried away. How I wish I could +show my readers the delicate sculpture and carving further back, nearer +yet to the drive. But note the various strata, the rocks worn to a +point as even the milder waves run over them; note the cracks that tell +of the awful push and stress of the titanic struggle. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-164"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-164.jpg" ALT="A Double Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="487" HEIGHT="357"> +<H5> +[Illustration: A Double Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Illustration No. 6 shows three such under-hewn arches. The long +projection of rock is so curved as to prevent the arches being fully +seen in any one view. I have waded and swam through these rocky +vistas, and there, where any more than moderate waves would have +mangled me against the tusks of the cruel rocks, I have found little +specimens of aquatic life by the millions, clinging fast to the rocks +that were home to them and protecting themselves by taking lime out of +the water and building such a solid wall of shell that no fierceness of +the wildest storm could work them harm. All these seek their food from +Him who feeds all life, and he heaves the ocean up to their mouths that +they may drink. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-172"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-172.jpg" ALT="A Triple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="480" HEIGHT="357"> +<H5> +[Illustration: A Triple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +No. 7 shows what has been a quadruple arch, only one part of which is +still standing. Out in the sea, lonely and by itself, appears a pier, +scarcely emergent from the waves, which once supported an arch parallel +to the one now standing and also one at right angles to the shore. The +one now standing makes the fourth. But the ever-working sea carves and +carries away arch and shore alike. At some points a careful and even +admiring observer sees little change for years, but the remorseless +tooth gnaws on unceasingly. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-180"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-180.jpg" ALT="Remains of a Quadruple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="491" HEIGHT="357"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Remains of a Quadruple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +On the right near the point is seen a board sign. It says here, as in +many other places, "Danger." Sometimes two converging waves meet at +the land, rise unexpectedly, sweep over the point irresistibly, and +carry away anyone who stands there. One large and two small shreds of +skin now gone from the palm of my left hand give proof of an experience +there that did not result quite so disastrously. +</P> + +<P> +The illustration facing page 188 is another example of an arch cut +through the rocky barrier of the shore. But in this case the trend of +the less hard rock was at such an angle to the shore that the sea broke +into the channel once more, and then the combined waves from the two +entrances forced the passage one hundred and forty paces inland. It +terminates in another natural bridge and deep excavation beyond, which +are not shown in the picture. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-188"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-188.jpg" ALT="Arch Remains Side Wall Broken, Santa Cruz, Cal." BORDER="2" WIDTH="487" HEIGHT="353"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Arch Remains Side Wall Broken, Santa Cruz, Cal.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +What becomes of this comminuted rock, cleft by wedges of water, scoured +over by hundreds of tons of sharp sand? It is carried out by gentle +undercurrents into the bay and ocean, and laid down where winds never +blow nor waves ever beat, as gently as dust falls through the summer +air. It incloses fossils of the plant and animal life of to-day. +There rest in nature's own sepulcher the skeletons of sharks and whales +of to-day and possibly of man. Sometime, if the depths become heights, +as they have in a thousand places in the past, a fit intelligence may +read therein much of the present history of the world. We say to that +coming age, as a past age has said to us, "Speak to the earth and it +shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE POWER OF VEGETABLE LIFE +</H3> + +<P> +I have a great variety of little masses of matter--some small as a +pin's blunt point, and none of them bigger than a pin's head. They are +smooth, glossy, hard, exceedingly beautiful under the microscope, and +clearly distinguishable one from another. They have such intense +individuality, are so self-assertive, that by no process can those of +one kind be made to look or act like those of another. These little +masses of matter are centers of incredible power. They are seeds. +</P> + +<P> +Select two for examination, and, unfolding, one becomes grass--soft, +succulent, a carpet for dainty feet, a rest for weary eyes, part food, +but mostly drink, for hungry beasts. It exhausts all its energy +quickly. Grass today is, and to-morrow is cut down and withered, ready +for the oven. +</P> + +<P> +Try the other seed. It is of the pin head size. It is dark brown, +hard-shelled, dry, of resinous smell to nostrils sensitive as a bird's. +The bird drops it in the soil, where the dews fall and where the sun +kisses the sleeping princesses into life. +</P> + +<P> +Now the latent powers of that little center of force begin to play. +They first open the hard shell from the inside, then build out an arm +white and tender as a nerve fiber, but which shall become great and +tough as an oak. This arm shuns the light and goes down into the dark +ground, pushing aside the pebbles and earth. Soon after the seed +thrusts out of the same crevice another arm that has an instinct to go +upward to the light. Neither of these arms is yet solid and strong. +They are beyond expression tender, delicate, and porous, but the one is +to become great roots that reach all over an acre, and the other one of +California's big trees, thirty feet in diameter and four hundred feet +high. +</P> + +<P> +How is it to be done? By powers latent in the seed developing and +expanding for a thousand years. What a power it must be! +</P> + +<P> +First, it is a power of selection--might we not say discrimination? +That little seed can never by any power of persuasion or environment be +made to produce grass or any other kind of a tree, as manzanita, mango, +banyan, catalpa, etc., but simply and only <I>sequoia gigantea</I>. +</P> + +<P> +There are hundreds of shapes and kinds of leaves with names it gives +one a headache to remember. But this seed never makes a single +mistake. It produces millions of leaves, but every one is +awl-shaped--subulate. Woods have many odors--sickening, aromatic, +balsamic, medicinal. We go to the other side of the world to bring the +odor of sandal or camphor to our nostrils. But amid so many odors our +seed will make but one. It is resinous, like some of those odors the +Lord enjoyed when they bathed with their delicious fragrance the cruel +saw that cut their substance, and atmosphered with new delights the one +who destroyed their life. The big tree, with subtle chemistry no man +can imitate, always makes its fragrance with unerring exactness. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-136"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-136.jpg" ALT="The Big Trees" BORDER="2" WIDTH="298" HEIGHT="515"> +<H5> +[Illustration: The Big Trees.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +There are thousands of seeds finished with a perfectness and beauty we +are hardly acute enough to discover. The microscopist revels in the +forms of the dainty scales of its armor and the opalescent tints of its +color. The sunset is not more delicate and exquisite. But the big +tree never makes but one kind of seed, and leaves no one of its +thousands unfinished. +</P> + +<P> +The same is true of bark, grain of wood, method of putting out limbs, +outline of the mass, reach of roots, and every other peculiarity. It +discriminates. +</P> + +<P> +But how does it build itself? Myriads of rootlets search the +surrounding country for elements it needs for making bark, wood, leaf, +flower, and seed. They often find what they want in other +organizations or other chemical compounds. But with a power of +analytical chemistry they separate what they want and appropriate it to +their majestic growths. But how is material conveyed from rootlet to +veinlet of leaf hundreds of feet away? The great tree is more full of +channels of communication than Venice or Stockholm is of canals, and it +is along these watery ways of commerce that the material is conveyed. +These channels are a succession of cells that act like locks, set for +the perpendicular elevation of the freight. The tiny boats run day and +night in the season, and though it is dark within, and though there are +a thousand piers, no freight that starts underground for a leaf is ever +landed on the way for bark or woody fiber. Freight never goes astray, +nor are express packages miscarried. What starts for bark, leaf, +fiber, seed, is deposited as bark, leaf, fiber, seed, and nothing else. +There are hundreds of miles of canals, but every boat knows where to +land its unmarked freight. Curious as is this work underground, that +in the upper air is more so. The tree builds most of its solid +substance from the mobile and tenuous air. Trees are largely condensed +air. By the magic chemistry of the sunshine and vegetable life the +tree breathes through its myriad leaves and extracts carbon to be built +into wood. Had we the same power to extract fuel from the air we need +not dig for coal. +</P> + +<P> +In doing this work the power of life in the tree has to overcome many +other kinds of force. There is the power of cohesion. How it holds +the particles of stone or iron together! You can hardly break its +force with a great sledge. But the power of life in the tree, or even +grass, must master the power of cohesion and take out of the +disintegrating rock what it wants. So it must overcome the power of +chemical affinity in water and air. The substances it wants are in +other combinations, the power of which must be overcome. +</P> + +<P> +Gravitation is a great power, but the thousand tons of this tree's vast +weight must be lifted and sustained in defiance of it. So for a +thousand years gravitation sees the tree rise higher and higher, till +the great lesson is taught that it is a weakling compared with the +power of life. There is not a place where one can put his finger that +there are not a dozen forces in full play, every one of which is +plastic, elastic, and ready to yield to any force that is higher. So +the tree stands, not mere lumber and cordwood, or an obstacle to be +gotten rid of by fire, but an embodiment of life unexhausted for a +thousand years. The fairy-fingered breeze plays through its myriad +harp strings. It makes wide miles of air aromatic. Animal life feeds +on the quintessence of life in its seeds. But most of all it is an +object lesson that power triumphs over lesser power, and that the +highest power has dominion over all other power. +</P> + +<P> +The great power of vegetable life was shown under circumstances that +seemed the least favorable in the following experiment: +</P> + +<P> +In the Agricultural College at Amherst, Mass., a squash of the yellow +Chili variety was put in harness in 1874 to see how much it would lift +by its power of growth. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-140"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-140.jpg" ALT="Yellow Chili Squash in Harness." BORDER="2" WIDTH="495" HEIGHT="249"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Yellow Chili Squash in Harness.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +It was not an oak or mahogany tree, but a soft, pulpy, squashy squash +that one could poke his finger into, nourished through a soft, +succulent vine that one could mash between finger and thumb. A good +idea of the harness is given by the illustration. The squash was +confined in an open harness of iron and wood, and the amount lifted was +indicated by weights on the lever over the top. There were, including +seventy nodal roots, more than eighty thousand feet of roots and +rootlets. These roots increased one thousand feet in twenty-four +hours. They were afforded every advantage by being grown in a hot bed. +On August 21 it lifted sixty pounds. By September 30 it lifted a ton. +On October 24 it carried over two tons. The squash grew gnarled like +an oak, and its substance was almost as compact as mahogany. Its inner +cavity was very small, but it perfectly elaborated its seeds, as usual. +</P> + +<P> +The lever to indicate the weight had to be changed for stronger ones +from time to time. More weights were sought. They scurried through +the town and got an anvil and pieces of railroad iron and hung them at +varying distances, as shown in the cut. By the 31st of October it was +carrying a weight of five thousand pounds. Then owing to defects of +the new contrivance the rind was broken through without showing what +might have been done under better conditions. Every particle of the +squash had to be added and find itself elbow room under this enormous +pressure. But life will assert itself. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-141"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-141.jpg" ALT="Squash in Cage." BORDER="2" WIDTH="256" HEIGHT="284"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Squash in Cage.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +No wonder that the Lord, seeking some form of speech to represent his +power in human souls, says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." The +tremendous life of infinite strength surges up through the vine and out +into all branches that are really vitally attached. No wonder that +much fruit is expected, and that one who knew most of this imparted +power said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SPIRITUAL DYNAMICS* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +*Reprinted from <I>The Study</I>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Will God indeed dwell upon the earth? asked Solomon. Will God indeed +work with man on the earth? asks the pushing, working spirit of to-day. +Has man a right to expect a special lending of the infinite power to +help out his human endeavors? Does God put special forces to open some +doors, close others, influence some men to come to his help, hinder +others, bring to bear influences benign, restrain those malign, and +invigorate a man's own powers so that his arm has the strength of ten, +because his heart is pure enough for God to work in it and through it? +If this is so, in what fields, under what conditions, to what extent, +and in accordance with what laws may we expect aid? +</P> + +<P> +First, it is evident that there is power not ourselves. We did not +make this world. We did not put into it even the lowest force, +gravitation. It is more than our minds can compass to measure its +power. We have no arithmetic to tell its power on every mote in the +sunbeam, or flower, or grain-head bowing toward the earth, tree brought +down with a crash, or avalanche with thunder. Much less can we measure +the power that holds the earth to the sun spite of its measureless +centrifugal force. We did not make the next highest force, cohesion. +The particles of rock and iron cohere with so great an energy that +gravitation cannot overcome it. But it is not by our energy. We did +not make the next highest force, chemical affinity, that masters both +gravitation and cohesion. Water, the result of chemical affinity +between oxygen and hydrogen, can be rent into its constituent elements +with nothing less than a stream of lightning. We did not make the next +highest force, vegetative life. That masters gravitation, and lifts up +the tree in spite of it; masters cohesion--the tree's rootlets tear +asunder the particles of stone; masters chemical affinity--it takes the +oxygen from air and water. We did not create that force, measureless +to our minds. We say it must have come out of some omnipotence greater +than all of them. The conclusion of all minds is, there is a power not +ourselves. +</P> + +<P> +It is unthinkable that these forces before mentioned should have +originated themselves. It is equally so that they could maintain and +continue themselves. There must be some continual upholding by a word +of power. +</P> + +<P> +It is equally plain that there is intelligence, thought, and plan +behind these forces. They are not blind Samsons grinding in a +prison-house, and liable at any moment to bring down in utter ruin +every pillar of the universe on which they can put their hands. +</P> + +<P> +If intelligent and planful, there must be personality. We may as well +call it by the name by which it is universally known, God. +</P> + +<P> +Now does this intelligent and powerful personality know our plans and +lend his powers to the accomplishment of our purposes? It is better to +put it the other way. Mr. Lincoln taught us the truer statement when +one said to him, in the awful anxiety of the war, "I think God is on +our side;" he answered, "My great concern is to know if we are on God's +side." So our question is better thus: Does this intelligent, powerful +personality accept and use our energy in the accomplishment of his +plans? +</P> + +<P> +That will depend on what he wants done. If he only wants mountains +lifted, he can put the shoulder of an earthquake under the strata of a +continent and tilt them up edgewise, or toss up a hundred miles of +strata and let them come down the other side up. If he wants mountains +carried hence and cast into the sea, he can bring rivers to carry for +thousands of years numberless tons. If he wants worlds held in +rhythmic relations to their sun, he can take gravitation. Man is of no +use; he cannot reach so far. +</P> + +<P> +But if this being has anything to do that he cannot do, he will gladly +welcome man's aid. Has he? Yes. Obviously he wants things done he +cannot do alone. Worlds are dead. Trees do not think. Morning stars +may sing together, but they cannot love. None of them have character. +None of them have conscious responsiveness to the full tides of power +and love that flush the universe. None of them are permanent, or worth +keeping forever. They are only scaffolding. He wants something +greater than he can make; something as great as God and man and angels +together can make. He wants not mere matter acted upon from without, +but intelligences active in themselves; wants not mere miles of +granite, but hearts responsive to love, and character that is sturdier +than granite, more enduring than the hills that seem to be everlasting, +and of so great a price that a whole world is of less value than a +single soul, and of such permanence that it shall flourish in immortal +youth when worlds, short-lived in comparison, shall have passed away. +God can make worlds in plenty, but he wants something so much better +that they shall be mere parade-grounds for the training of his armies. +</P> + +<P> +Are there proofs that God's forces are cooperating with ours? Many. +Gravitation holds us to the earth. We do not drift, all sides up +successively, in space or chaos. We never want a breath but there are +oceans of it rushing to answer our hunger for it. +</P> + +<P> +But especially do we undertake all our more definite efforts with a +full expectation of the aid of the forces without us. Man takes to +agriculture with a relish that indicates that the soil and he are akin. +He expects all its energies to cooperate with him. He plants the grain +or seed expecting that all its vegetative forces will cowork with his +plans. Every energy of earth, air, water, and the far-off sun work +into his plans as if they had no other end in all their being. If a +man wants a house, he expects the solidity of the rock, all the +adaptations of wood that has been growing for a century, expects the +beauty of the fir tree, the pine, and the box to come together to +beautify the place of his dwelling. +</P> + +<P> +There are other forces into which man can put his scepter of power and +hand of mastery. They all work for and with him. Does he want his +burdens carried? The river will convey the Indian on a log or the +armaments of the greatest nations. The wind fits itself into the +shoulder of his sail on the sea, and steam does more work on the land +than all the human race together. Does he want swiftness? The +lightning comes and goes between the ends of the earth saying, "Here am +I." Obviously all these kinds of forces are always on hand to work +into man's plans. +</P> + +<P> +Is not our whole question settled? If these fundamental forces, these +oceans of air and energy, forces so great that man cannot measure them, +so delicate and fine that man does not discover them in thousands of +years, are all waiting and palpitating to rush into the service of man +to advance his plans, and hint of plans larger than he ever dreamed, +until he grows great by handling these ineffable factors, how can it be +otherwise than that the energies, thoughts, and loves back of these +forces, and out of which they come, and of which they are the visible +signs and exponents, are working together with man? Then, in all +probability, nay in all certainty, all other forces, whether they be +thrones or dominions, principalities or powers, things present or +things to come, will also lend all their energies to the help of man. +God does not aid in the lowest and leave us to ourselves in the +highest. He does not feed the body and let the soul famish, does not +help us to the meat that perishes and let us starve for the bread of +eternal life. +</P> + +<P> +Scripture passages, literally thousands in number, proclaim God's +control of the regular operations of nature, his sovereignty over +birth, life, death, disease, afflictions, and prosperity, over what we +call accident, his execution of righteous retributions, bringing of +deliverance, setting up thrones, and casting down princes. He upholds +all things by the direct exercise of his power. "The uniformities of +nature are his ordinary method of working; its irregularities his +method upon occasional condition; its interferences his method under +the pressure of a higher law." There can be no general providence +which is not special, no care for the whole which does not include care +for all the parts, no provided safety for the head which does not +number all the hairs. The Old Testament doctrine of a special and +minute providence over the chosen nation is expanded by Christ's loving +teaching and ministrations into an equal care for the personal +individual (Matt. vii, 11; xviii, 19; Heb. iv, 16). The cold glacial +period of human fear that poured its ice floe over the mind of man, +making him feel like an orphaned race in a godless world, has retired +before the gentle beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and the winter is +past, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds +and hearts has commenced. +</P> + +<P> +It is everywhere recognized that the great outcome of a man's life is +not the title to a thousand acres. He is soon dispossessed. It is not +all the bonds and money he can hold. A dead man's hands are empty. It +is not reputation that the winds blow away. But it is character that +he acquires and carries with him. He has a fidelity to principle that +is like Abdiel's. He is faithful among the faithless. He has +allegiance to right that the lure of all the kingdoms of the earth +cannot swerve for a moment. He counts soul so much above the body that +no fiery furnaces, heated seven times hotter than they are wont, sway +him for a moment from adherence to the interests of soul as against +even the existence of the body. +</P> + +<P> +Now, how has such an eminence of character been attained? Not +altogether by individual evolution. Ancestral tendencies, parental +example, the great force of strong, eternal principles, the moral +muscle acquired in the gymnasium of temptation, and confessedly and +especially a spiritual force vouchsafed from without, have wrought out +this greatest result of heaven and earth. Of some men you expect +nothing but goodness and greatness. They would belie all the +tendencies of their blood to be otherwise than good. Some are +constantly trained under the mighty influences of great principles that +sway men as much as gravitation sways the worlds. What could be +expected of the men of '76 when the air was electric with patriotism? +What could be expected of men whose childhood was filled with the +sacrifices of men who made themselves pilgrims and strangers over the +earth, from England to Holland and thence over the drear and +inhospitable sea to America, for the sake of liberty? What could be +expected of men whose whole ancestry was cut off by the slaughter +following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and they themselves +exiled for liberty to worship God? What can be expected of men who +have been tried in the furnace of temptation till they are pure gold? +Nay, more, what can be expected of men who have in these temptations +been strengthened out of God? Besides the strength of development by +the resistance of evil, they have found that God made a way of escape, +that he strengthened, them and that they were thus by supernal power +able to bear it. Nay, rather, what may not be expected of such men? +</P> + +<P> +But we will not forget that this great outcome is precisely the plan of +God for every man's life, and that when man works he finds that there +are forces outside of him thoroughly cooperative with him. He starts a +rock down the mountain side, but gravitation reaches out ready fingers +and hurls it a thousand times faster and faster. He launches his ship +on the sea and the wind and steam carry it thousands of miles. He +speaks his quiet breath into the ear of the phone and electricity +carries it in every tone and inflection of personal quality a thousand +miles. He vows, and works for purity and greatness of personal +character, and a thousand gravitations of love, a thousand great winds +of Pentecost, a thousand vital principles on which all greatness hangs, +a thousand influences of other men, and especially a thousand personal +aids of a present God, cooperate with his plans and works. +</P> + +<P> +Of course every man who believes in a new type so high that good birth, +wealth, culture, education, and broad opportunity cannot attain it +believes in the divine co-operation to that end. It must be born of +the Spirit. God sends forth his Spirit into our hearts crying, Abba, +Father! It pleases the Father himself to reveal his Son in us. +</P> + +<P> +Not only is this cooperation true in regard to the beginning of this +higher life, but especially so in regard to the development and +perfection of that life into the stature of perfect manhood in Christ +Jesus. By continuous effort to lead into all truth, by intensity of +endeavor that can only be represented by groanings that cannot be +worded in human speech, the perfection of saints is sought. +</P> + +<P> +And in the final glorification of those saints every man will say +nothing of his own efforts, but all the praise will be unto him who +hath redeemed us unto God, and washed us in his blood. +</P> + +<P> +To what extent, then, may we expect God will lend his forces to work +out our plans? First, in so far as those forces have to do with the +maturing and perfecting of our character they become his plans. No +energy will be withheld. All our plans should be such. The end in +character may often be attained as well by failure of our plans as by +success. God has to choose the poor in this world's things, rich in +faith, to do his great work. And he has to make "the best laid schemes +o' mice and men gang aft a-gley" to get the desired outcome of +character. He is then working with, not against, us. He would rather +have any star for his crown of glory than tons of perishable gold. +</P> + +<P> +But outside of our plans and work for ourselves what cooperation may we +expect in our plans and work for others? +</P> + +<P> +Every preacher knows that for spiritual work in saving others the word +of the Lord is true, "Without me ye can do nothing." There must be an +outpouring of the Spirit or there is no Pentecost. Over against that +settled conviction is the thrice-blessed command and assurance of the +Master, "Go preach my Gospel; and lo, I am with you alway" (blessed +iteration), "unto the end of the world." That has not yet come. +</P> + +<P> +But there are other enterprises men must push--mines to be dug, +railroads to be surveyed and built, slaves to be emancipated, farms to +be cultivated, mischiefs framed by a law to be averted, charities to be +exercised, schools to be founded, and generally a living to be gotten. +To what extent may we expect divine aid? +</P> + +<P> +First, all these things are his purposes and plans. But since it is +necessary for our development that we do our level best, he will not do +what we can. We can plant and water, but God only can give the +increase. Even the fable maker says that a teamster, whose wagon was +stuck in the mud, seeing Jupiter Omnipotens riding by on the chariot of +the clouds, dropped on his knees and implored his help. "Get up, O +lazy one!" said Jupiter; "clear away the mud, put your shoulder to the +wheel, and whip up your horses." We may call on God to open the rock +in the dry and thirsty land where no water is, but not to lift our +teacups. It is no use to ask God for a special shower when deep +plowing is all that is needed. It is no use to ask God to build +churches, send missionaries, endow schools, and convert the world, till +we have done our best. +</P> + +<P> +But when we have done our best what may we expect? All things. They +shall work together for good to those who love God enough to do their +best for him in any plane of work. One could preach fifty sermons on +the great works done by men, obviously too great for man's +accomplishment. Time would fail me to tell of Moses, Gideon, Paul, +Luther, Wesley, Wilberforce, William of Orange, Washington, John Brown, +Abe Lincoln, and thousands more of whom this world was not worthy, who, +undeniably by divine aid, wrought righteousness. One of the great sins +of our age is that men do not see God immanent in all things. We have +found so many ways of his working that we call laws, so many segments +of his power, that we have forgotten him who worketh all things after +the counsel of his own will. A sustainer is as necessary as a creator. +There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who worketh +all in all. The next great service to be done by human philosophy is +to bring back God in human thought into his own world. Since these +things are so, what are the conditions under which we may work the +works of God by his power? +</P> + +<P> +First, they must be his works, not ours as opposed to his, but ours as +included in his. All our works may be wrought in God, if we do his +works, follow his plans, and are aided by his strength. +</P> + +<P> +Second, they must be attempted with the right motive of glorifying God. +Christ is the pattern. He came not to do his own will, but the will of +him who sent him. And he did always the things that pleased him. In +our fervid desires for the accomplishment of some great thing we should +be as willing it should be accomplished by another as by ourselves. +The personal pride is often a fly in the sweet-smelling savor. God +would rather have a given work not done, or done by another, than to +have one of his dear ones puffed up with sinful pride. Great Saul must +often be removed and the work be left undone, or be done by some humble +David. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "Inaudible voices call us, and we go;<BR> + Invisible hands restrain us, and we stay;<BR> + Forces, unfelt by our dull senses, sway<BR> + Our wavering wills, and hedge us in the way<BR> + We call our own, because we do not know. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "Are we, then, slaves of ignorant circumstance?<BR> + Nay, God forbid!<BR> + God holds the world, not blind, unreasoning chance!" +</P> + +<P> +How shall we secure the cooperative power? There is power of every +kind everywhere in plenty. All the Niagaras and Mississippis have run +to waste since they began to thunder and flow. Greater power is in the +wind everywhere. One can rake up enough electricity to turn all the +wheels of a great city whenever he chooses to start his rake. The sky +is full of Pentecosts. Power enough, but how shall we belt on? By +fasting, prayer, and by willing to do the will of God. We have so much +haste that we do not tarry at Jerusalem for fullness of power. Moses +was forty years in the wilderness: Daniel fasted and prayed for one and +twenty days. We are told to pray without ceasing, and that there are +kinds of devils that go not out except at the command of those who fast +and pray. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "More things are wrought by prayer than<BR> + This world dreams of." +</P> + +<P> +The Bible is a record of achievements impossible to man. They are +achievements of leaderships, emancipations, governments, getting money +for building God's houses, making strong the weak, waxing valiant in +fight, and turning the world upside down. The trouble with many of our +modern saints is that they seek for purity only instead of power, +ecstasy instead of excellence, self-satisfaction in a garden of spices +instead of a baptism that straightens them out in a garden of agony. +They are seekers of spiritual joys instead of good governments, cities +well policed and sewered, with every street safe for the feet of +innocence. The next revelation of new possibilities of grace that will +break out of the old Word will be that of power. +</P> + +<P> +How will this divine aid manifest itself? In the giving of wisdom for +our plans and their execution. God will not help in any foolish plans. +He wants no St. Peter's built in a village of six hundred people, no +temple, except on a Moriah to which a whole nation goes up. Due +proportion is a law of all his creations. The disciples planned not +only to begin at Jerusalem, but to stay there. Their plans were wrong, +and they had to be driven out by persecutions and martyrdoms (Acts +viii, 4). But Africa, Europe, and Asia eagerly received the light +which Jerusalem resisted. Some ministers to-day stay by their fine +Jerusalems when the kitchens of the surrounding country wait to welcome +them. The Spirit suffered not Paul to go into Bithynia, but sent him +to Macedonia. Had he then persisted in going to Asia his work would +have been in vain. +</P> + +<P> +We may expect wisdom in the choice of the human agents we select. Half +a general's success lies in his choice of lieutenants. No class leader +should be appointed nor steward nominated till after prayer for divine +guidance. God has more efficient men for his Church than we know of. +He is thinking of Paul when we see only Matthias (Acts i, 26). When +Paul had to depart asunder from Barnabas God sent him Silas, the +fellow-singer in the dungeon, and Timothy, who was dearer to him than +any other man. +</P> + +<P> +We may expect opposition to be diminished or thwarted. Let Hezekiah +spread every letter of Rab-shakeh before the Lord and pray (2 Kings +xix, 14). The answer will be, "I have heard" (v. 20). Let the answer +to every slander that Gashmu repeateth among the heathen be, "O Lord, +strengthen my hands" (Neh. vi, 9); "My God, think thou upon Tobiah and +Sanballat according to these their works" (v. 14). Then all the +heathen and enemies will "perceive that this work was wrought of our +God" (v. l6). "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his +enemies to be at peace with him." The purpose of the manifestation of +the Son of God was "that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 +John iii, 8). +</P> + +<P> +Lastly, we may expect actual help. These plans are all dear to God. +He wishes them all accomplished. They have been wisely made. +Opposition has been diminished. It only remains that our hearts be +open to guidance and strengthening. Moses was sure I AM had sent him. +Elijah had the very words to be uttered to Ahab put into his mouth. +Nehemiah told the people that for building a city "the joy of the Lord +is your strength." God strengthened the right hand of Cyrus. The +three Hebrew children and Daniel knew that God was able to deliver them +from fire and lions. "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall +give thee the desires of thy heart." And the great promise of the Lord +to be with his disciples to the end is not so much a promise for +comfort as for the accomplishment of their mission. Paul said, "I can +do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." And all great +doers for God, in all ages, have gladly testified that they have been +girded for their work by the Almighty. +</P> + +<P> +The designed outcome of this paper is that every reader should get a +fresh revelation of the immanency of God in the kingdom of nature and +grace; that the reader is more intimately related to him and his plans +than is gravitation; that there are laws as imperative, exact, and sure +to yield results in the mental and spiritual realms as in the material; +that he is a part of God's agencies, and that all of God's forces are a +part of his; that he may sing with new meaning, +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "We for whose sakes all nature stands<BR> + And stars their courses move;" +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +that in the burning vividness of this new conception each man may +boldly undertake things for God--conversions, purifications, missionary +enlargements, business enterprises--that he knows are too great for +himself; that he may find new helps for spiritual victories as great as +this age has found for material triumphs in steam and electricity; and +that in all things man may be uplifted and God thereby glorified. +</P> + +<P> +How shall it be done? +</P> + +<P> +First, by a vivid conception that cooperation is designed, provided +for, and expected. We are children of God; there can be but one great +end through the ages in the universe. There should be cooperation of +every force. There have been thousands of evident cooperations--waters +divided and burned by celestial fire, Pharaohs rebuked, Ninevehs +warned, exiles recalled, Jerusalems rebuilded, Luthers upheld, +preachers of today changed from waning, not desired, +half-over-the-dead-line ministers into vigorous, flaming heralds of the +Gospel, who possessed tenfold power to what they had before; we +ourselves personally helped in manifest and undeniable instances, and +so have come to believe that God can do anything, anywhere, if he can +get the right kind of a man. Promises of aid are abundant. Heaven and +earth shall pass away sooner than one jot or tittle of these words +fail. We are invited to test them: "Come now, and prove me herewith, +and see if I will not open the windows of heaven once more, as at the +deluge, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough +to receive it." +</P> + +<P> +Second, select some definite work too great for us to do alone, as the +preparation of a sermon that shall have unusual power of persuasion to +change action, the conduct of a prayer meeting of remarkable interest, +the casting out of some devil of evil speech or action, the conversion +of one individual, the raising of more money for some of God's +purposes, and then go about the work, not alone, but in such a way that +God can lead and we help. Let the fasting and prayer not be lacking. +When the right direction comes let Jonathan take his armor-bearer and +climb up on his hands and knees against the Philistines, let Paul go to +Macedonia, Peter to Cornelius, Wesley send help to America. Bishop +Foss said, in regard to several crises in a most serious sickness, that +Christ always arrived before it came. So in regard to work to be done. +The Lord was in Nineveh before Jonah, in Caesarea before Peter, and +will be in the heart of every sinner we seek to get converted before we +arrive. Any man who wants to do an immense business should seek a good +partner. We are workers together with God. What is being done worthy +of the copartnership? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHEN THIS WORLD IS NOT* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +*Reprinted from the <I>Methodist Review</I>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"The day of the Lord will come . . .; in which the heavens shall pass +away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, +the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." +</P> + +<P> +What is there after that? +</P> + +<P> +To this question there are three answers: +</P> + +<P> +I. There are left all of what may be called natural forces that there +were before the world was created. They are not dependent on it. The +sea is not lost when one bubble or a thousand break on the rocky shore. +The world is not the main thing in the universe. It is only a +temporary contrivance, a mere scaffolding for a special purpose. When +that purpose is fulfilled it is natural that it should pass away. The +time then comes when the voice that shook the earth should signify the +removal of "those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, +that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." We already have +a kingdom that cannot be moved. "The things which are seen are +temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." +</P> + +<P> +It should not be supposed that the space away from the world is an +empty desert. God is everywhere, and creative energy is omnipresent. +Not merely is a millionth of space occupied where the worlds are, but +all space is full of God and his manifestations of wisdom and power. +David could think of no place of hiding from that presence. The first +word of revelation is, "In the beginning God created the heaven." And +the great angel, standing on sea and land when time is to be no longer, +swears by Him who "created heaven, and the things that therein are," in +distinction from the earth and its things that are to be removed. What +God created with things that are therein is not empty. Poets, the true +seers, recognize this. When Longfellow died one of them, remembering +the heartbreaking hunt of Gabriel for Evangeline, and their passing +each other on opposite sides of an island in the Mississippi, makes him +say of his wife long since gone before: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + And now I shall seek her once more,<BR> + On some Mississippi's vast tide<BR> + That flows the whole universe through,<BR> + Than earth's widest rivers more wide. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Evangeline I shall not miss<BR> + Though we wander the dim starry sheen,<BR> + On opposite sides of rivers so vast<BR> + That islands of worlds intervene. +</P> + +<P> +But what is there in space? There is the great ceaseless force of +gravitation. Though the weakest of natural forces, yet when displayed +in world-masses its might is measureless by man's arithmetic. Tie an +apple or a stone to one end of a string, and taking the other end whirl +it around your finger, noting its pull. That depends on the weight of +the whirling ball, the length of the string, and the swiftness of the +whirl. The stone let loose from David's finger flies crashing into the +head of Goliath. But suppose the stone is eight thousand miles in +diameter, the string ninety-two million five hundred thousand miles +long, and the swiftness one thousand miles a minute, what needs be the +tensile strength of the string? If we covered the whole side of the +earth next the sun, from pole to pole and from side to side, with steel +wires attaching the earth to the sun, thus representing the tension of +gravitation, the wires would need to be so many that a mouse could not +run around among them. +</P> + +<P> +There swings the moon above us. Its best service is not its light, +though lovers prize that highly. Its gravitative work is its best. It +lifts the sea and pours it into every river and fiord of the coast. +Our universal tug-boat is in the sky. It saves millions of dollars in +towage to London alone every year. And this world would not be +habitable without the moon to wash out every festering swamp and +deposit of sewage along the shore. +</P> + +<P> +Gravitation reaches every place, whether worlds be there or not. This +force is universally present and effective. In the possibilities of a +no-world condition a spirit may be able to so relate itself to matter +that gravitation would impart its incredible swiftness of transference +to a soul thus temporarily relating itself to matter. What gravitation +does in the absence of the kind of matter we know it is difficult to +assert. But as will be seen in our second division there is still +ample room for its exercise when worlds as such have ceased to be. +</P> + +<P> +In space empty of worlds there is light. It flies or runs one hundred +and eighty-six thousand miles a second. There must be somewhat on +which its wing-beat shall fall, stepping stones for its hurrying feet. +We call it ether, not knowing what we mean. But in this space is the +play of intensest force and quickest activity. There are hundreds of +millions of millions of wing-beats or footfalls in a second. +Mathematical necessities surpass mental conceptions. In a cubic mile +of space there are demonstrably seventy millions of foot tons of power. +Steam and lightning have nothing comparable to the activity and power +of the celestial ether. Sir William Thompson thinks he has proved that +a cubic mile of celestial ether may have as little as one billionth of +a pound of ponderable matter. It is too fine for our experimentation, +too strong for our measurement. We must get rid of our thumby fingers +first. +</P> + +<P> +What is light doing in space? That has greatly puzzled all +philosophers. Without question there is inexpressible power. It is +seen in velocity. But what is it doing? The law of conservation of +force forbids the thought that it can be wasted. On the earth its +power long ages ago was turned into coal. The power was reservoired in +mountains ready for man. It is so great that a piece of coal that +weighs the same as a silver dollar carries a ton's weight a mile at +sea. But what is the thousand million times more light than ever +struck the earth doing in space? That is among the things we want to +find out when we get there. There will be ample opportunity, space, +time, and light enough. +</P> + +<P> +It is biblically asserted and scientifically demonstrable that space is +full of causes of sound. To anyone capable of turning these causes to +effects this sound is not dull and monotonous, but richly varied into +songful music. Light makes its impression of color by its different +number of vibrations. So music sounds its keys. We know the number of +vibrations necessary for the note C of the soprano scale, and the +number that runs the pitch up to inaudibility. We know the number of +vibrations of light necessary to give us a sensation of red or violet. +These, apprehended by a sufficiently sensitive ear, pour not only light +to one organ, but tuneful harmonies to another. The morning stars do +sing together, and when worlds are gone, and heavy ears of clay laid +down, we may be able to hear them +</P> + +<P CLASS="noident"> + Singing as they shine,<BR> + "The hand that made us is divine." +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +There are places where this music is so fine that the soft and +soul-like sounds of a zephyr in the pines would be like a storm in +comparison, and places where the fierce intensity of light in a +congeries of suns would make it seem as if all the stops of being from +piccolo to sub-bass had been drawn. No angel flying interstellar +spaces, no soul fallen overboard and left behind by a swift-sailing +world, need fear being left in awful silences. +</P> + +<P> +There seems to be good evidence that electrical disturbances in the sun +are almost instantly reported and effective on the earth. It is +evident that the destructive force in cyclones is not wind, but +electricity. It is altogether likely that it is generated in the sun, +and that all the space between it and us thrills with this unknown +power.[1] All astronomers except Faye admit the connection between sun +spots and the condition of the earth's magnetic elements. The +parallelism between auroral and sun-spot frequency is almost perfect. +That between sun spots and cyclones is as confidently asserted, but not +quite so demonstrable. Enough proof exists to make this clear, that +space may be full of higher Andes and Alps, rivers broader than Gulf +Streams, skies brighter than the Milky Way, more beautiful than the +rainbow. Occasionally some scoffer who thinks he is smart and does not +know that he is mistaken asks with an air of a Socrates putting his +last question: "You say that 'heaven is above us.' But if one dies at +noon and another at midnight, one goes toward Orion and the other +toward Hercules; or an Eskimo goes toward Polaris and a Patagonian +toward the coal-black hole in the sky near the south pole. Where is +your heaven anyhow?" O sapient, sapient questioner! Heaven is above +us, you especially; but going in different directions from such a +little world as this is no more than a bee's leaving different sides of +a bruised pear exuding honey. Up or down he is in the same fragrant +garden, warm, light, redolent of roses, tremulous with bird song, amid +a thousand caves of honeysuckles, "illuminate seclusions swung in air" +to which his open sesame gives entrance at will. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +II. But there will be in space what the world has become. It is +nowhere intimated that matter had been annihilated. Worlds shall +perish as worlds. They shall wax old as doth a garment. They will be +folded up as a vesture, and they "shall be changed." The motto with +which this article began says heavens pass away, elements melt, earth +and its works are burned up. But always after the heaven and earth +pass away we are to look for "new heavens and a new earth." On all +that God has made he has stamped the great principle of progress, +refinement, development--rock to soil, soil to vegetable life, to +insect, bird, and man. Each dies as to what it is, that it may have +resurrection or may feed something higher. So, in the light of +revelation, earth is not lost. Science comes, after ages of creeping, +up to the same position. It, too, asserts that matter is +indestructible. Burn a candle in a great jar hermetically sealed. The +weight of the jar and contents is just the same after the burning as +before. A burned-up candle as big as the world will not be +annihilated. It will be "changed." +</P> + +<P> +It is necessary for us to get familiar with some of the protean +metamorphoses of matter. Up at New Almaden, above the writer, is a +vast mass of porous lava rock into which has been infiltrated a great +deal of mercury. How shall we get it out? You can jar out numberless +minute globules by hand. This metal, be it remembered, is liquid, and +so heavy that solid iron floats in it as cork does in water. Now, to +get it out of the rock we apply fire, and the mercury exhales away in +the smoke. The real task of scientific painstaking is to get that +heavy stuff out of the smoke again. It is changed, volatilized, and it +likes that state so well that it is very difficult to persuade it to +come back to heaviness again. +</P> + +<P> +Take a great mass of marble. It was not always a mountain. It floated +invisibly in the sea. Invisible animals took it up, particle by +particle, to build a testudo, a traveling house, for themselves. The +ephemeral life departing, there was a rain of dead shells to make +limestone masses at the bottom of the sea. It will not always remain +rock. Air and water disintegrate it once more. Little rootlets seize +upon it and it goes coursing in the veins of plants. It becomes fiber +to the tree, color to the rose, and fragrance to the violet. But, +whether floating invisibly in the water, shell of infusoria in the +seas, marble asleep in the Pentelican hills, constituting the sparkle +and fizz of soda water, claiming the world's admiration as the Venus de +Milo, or giving beauty and meaning to the most fitting symbol that goes +between lovers, it is still the same matter. It may be diffused as gas +or concentrated as a world, but it is still the same matter. +</P> + +<P> +Matter is worthy of God's creation. Astronomy is awe-full; microscopy +is no less so. Astronomy means immensity, bulk; atoms mean +individuality. The essence of matter seems to be spirit, personality. +It seems to be able to count, or at least to be cognizant of certain +exact quantities. An atom of bromine will combine with one of +hydrogen; one of oxygen with two of hydrogen; one of nitrogen with +three of hydrogen; one of silicon with four of hydrogen, etc. They +marry without thought of divorce. A group of atoms married by affinity +is called a molecule. Two atoms of hydrogen joined to one of oxygen +make water. They are like three marbles laid near together on the +ground, not close together; for we well know that water does not fill +all the space it occupies. We can put eight or ten similar bulks of +other substances into a glass of water without greatly increasing its +bulk, some actually diminishing it. Water molecules are like a mass of +shot, with large interstices between. Drive the atoms of water apart +by heat till the water becomes steam, till they are as three marbles a +larger distance apart, yet the molecule is not destroyed, the union is +still indissoluble. One physicist has declared that the atoms of +oxygen and hydrogen are probably not nearer to each other in water than +one hundred and fifty men would be if scattered over the surface of +England--one man for each four hundred square miles.[2] What must the +distance be in steam? what the greater distance in the more extreme +rarefactions? It is asserted that millions of cubic miles of some +comets tails would not make a cubic inch of matter solid as iron. Now, +when earth and oceans are "changed" to this sort of tenuity creations +will be more easy. We shall not be obliged to hew out our material +with broadaxes, nor blast it out with dynamite. Let us not fear that +these creations will not be permanent; they will be enough so for our +purpose. We can then afford to waste more worlds in a day than dull +stupidity can count in a lifetime. +</P> + +<P> +We are getting used to this sort of work already. When we reduce +common air in a bulb to one one-thousandth of its normal density at the +sea we get the possibility of continuous incandescent electric light by +the vibration of platinum wire. When we reduce it to a tenuity of one +millionth of the normal density we get the possibility of the X rays by +vibrations of itself without any platinum wire. The greater the +tenuity the greater the creative results. For example, water in +freezing exerts an expansive, thrusting force of thirty thousand pounds +to the square inch, over two thousand tons to the square foot; an +incomprehensible force, but applicable in nature to little besides +splitting rocks. On the other hand, when water is rarefied into steam +its power is vastly more versatile, tractable, and serviceable in a +thousand ways. Take a bit of metal called zinc. It is heavy, subject +to gravitation, solid, subject to cohesion. But cause it to be burned, +to pass away, and be changed. To do this we use fire, not the ordinary +kind, but liquid that we keep in a bottle and call acid. The zinc is +burned up. What becomes of it? It becomes electricity. How changed! +It is no longer solid, but is a live fire that rings bells in our +houses, picks up our thought and pours it into the ear of a friend +miles away by the telephone, or thousands of miles away by the +telegraph. Burning up is only the means of a new and higher life. Ah, +delicate Ariel, tricksy sprite, the only way to get you is to burn up +the solid body. +</P> + +<P> +The possibility of rare creation depends on rare material, on +spirit-like tenuity. And that is what the world goes into. There is a +substance called nitrite of amyl, known to many as a medicine for heart +disease. It is applied by inhaling its odor--a style of very much +rarefied application. Fill a tube with its vapor. It is invisible as +ordinary air in daylight. But pour a beam of direct sunlight from end +to end along its major axis. A dense cloud forms along the path of the +sunbeam; creation is going on. What the sun may do in the thinner +vapors the world goes into when burned up will be for us to find out +when we get there. Standing on Popocatepetl we have seen a sea of +clouds below, white as the light of transfiguration, tossed into waves +a mile high by the touch of the sunbeam. Creative ordering was +observed in actual process. It is done under our eyes to show us how +easy it is. Would it be any less glorious if there were no +Popocatepetl? A thrush among vines outside is just now showing us how +easy it is to create an ecstasy of music out of silence. She has only +to open her mouth and the innate aptitudes of air rush in to actualize +her creative wish. Not only is it easy for the bird, but she is even +provoked to this love and good works by the creation of a rainbow on +the retreating blackness of a storm yonder. Thunder is the sub-bass +nature furnishes her, and thus invites her to add the complementary +notes. +</P> + +<P> +Some one may think that all this tenuity is as vaporous as the stuff +that dreams are made of, and call for solid rocks for foundations. +Perhaps we may so call while we have material bodies of two hundred +pounds' weight. Yet even these bodies are delicate enough to be +valuable to us solely because they have the utmost chemical stability. +We are burning up their substance with every breath in order to have +delicacy of feeling and thought. What were a wooden body worth? +Substances are valuable to us according to their fineness and facility +of change. Even iron is mobile in all its particles. We call it +solid, but it is not. We lift our eyes from this writing and behold +the tumbling surf of the great Pacific sea. Line after line of its +billows are charging on the shore and tumbling in utmost confusion and +roar of advancing and refluent waves. So the iron of the telephone +wire. You often hold the receiver to your ear listening, not to the +voice of business or friendship of men, but to the gentle hum of the +rolling surf in the wire's own substance. And, in order that we may +know the essential stability of things that are fine, we are told that +the city which hath enduring foundations is in the spirit world, not +this kind of material. The whole new Jerusalem to come down "out of +heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," is as movable as +a train of cars is movable here. There may still be rainbows and +rivers of life if there are no more rocks. There is a real realm of +"scientific imagination." But all our imaginings fall far short of +realities. Some men do not desire this realm, and demand solid rocks +to walk on. But a bird does not. He oars himself along the upper +fields and rides on air. So does a bicyclist and balloonist. Some men +have a sort of contempt for aeronauts and workers at flying machines. +That feeling is a testimony to their depravity and groveling +tendencies. Aeronautics and nautics are an effort toward angelhood. +Men can walk water who are willing to take a boat for an overshoe. So +we may air when we get the right shoe. Browning gives us a delicious +sense of being amphibian as we swim. And the butterfly, that winged +rather than rooted flower, looking down upon us as we float, begets in +us a great longing to be polyphibian. We have innate tendencies toward +a life of finer surroundings, and we shall take to them with zest, if +we are not too much of the earth earthy. We were designed for this +finer life. We do take to it even now in the days of our +deterioration, not to say depravity. The great marvels of the world +are not so much in matter as in man. We were meant to be more +sensitive to finer influences than we are. We are far more so than we +think. Take your child into the street. Another child coughs at a +window on the other side, and your child has three months of terrific +whooping-cough. All such diseases are taken by homeopathic doses of +the millionth dilution. Many people feel "in their bones" the coming +of storms days before their arrival. We knew a man who ate honey with +delight till he was twenty-five years old, and then could do so no +more. This peculiarity he inherited from his father. One man has an +insatiable desire for drink because some ancestor of his, back in the +third or fourth generation, bequeathed him that curse. In the South +you can go a mile in the face of the wind and find that peerless +blossom of a magnolia by following the drift of its far-reaching odor. +Who has not received a letter and knew before opening it that it had +violets within? It had atmosphered itself with rich perfume, and +something far richer, for three thousand miles. The first influences +which came over the Atlantic cable were so feeble that a sleeping +infant's breath were a whirlwind in comparison. But they were read. +It is no wonder that the old astrologers thought that men's whole lives +were influenced by the stars. Every vegetable life, from the meanest +flower that blows to the largest tree, has its whole existence shaped +by the sun. Doubtless man's body was meant to be an Aeolian (how the +vowels and liquids flow into the very name!) harp of a thousand strings +over which a thousand delicate influences might breathe. Soul was +meant to be sensitive to the influences of the Spirit. This capability +has been somewhat lost in our deterioration. To recover these finer +faculties men are required to die. And for the field of exercising +them the world must be changed. Paul understood this. He associated +some sort of perfection with the resurrection, with the buying back of +the powers of the body. And the whole creation waiteth for the +apocalypse of the full-sized sons of God. +</P> + +<P> +Does one fear the change from gross to fine, from force of freezing to +the winged energy of steam, from solid zinc to lightning? Our whole +desire for education is a desire for refining influences. We know +there is a higher love for country than that begotten by the fanfare of +the Fourth of July. There is a smile of joy at our country's education +and purity finer than the guffaws provoked by hearing the howls of a +dog and the explosions of firecrackers when the two are inextricably +mixed. There is a flame of religious love when the heart sacrifices +itself in humble realization of the joy of its adorable love purer than +the fierce fire of the hating heart that applies the torch to the +martyr's pyre. We give our lives to seeking these higher refinements +because they are stronger and more like God. +</P> + +<P> +Does one fear to leave bodily appetites and passions for spiritual +aptitudes fitted to finer surroundings? He should not. Man has had +two modes of life already--one, slightly conscious, closely confined, +peculiarly nourished, in the dark, without the possible exercise of any +one of the five senses. That is prenatal. He comes into the next +life. At once he breathes, often vociferously, looks about with eyes +of wonder, nourishes himself with avidity, is fitted to his new +surroundings, his immensely wider life, and finds his superior +companions and surroundings fitted to him, even to his finest need for +love. Why hesitate for a third mode of life? He loses modes of +nourishment; so he has before. He loses relations to former life; so +he has before. He comes into new companionships and surroundings; so +he has before. But each time and in every respect his powers, +possibilities, and field have been immensely enlarged. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + O the hour when this material<BR> + Shall have vanished like a cloud,<BR> + When amid the wide ethereal<BR> + All the invisible shall crowd.<BR> + In that sudden, strange transition,<BR> + By what new and finer sense<BR> + Shall we grasp the mighty vision,<BR> + And receive the influence? +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Knowledge of the third state of man is not so difficult to attain in +the second as knowledge of the second was in the first. If a fit +intelligence should study a specimen of man about to emerge from its +first stage of existence, it could judge much of the conditions of the +second. Feet suggest solid land; lungs suggest liquid air; eyes, +light; hands, acquisitiveness, and hence dominion; tongue, talk, and +hence companions, etc. What fore-gleams have we of the future life? +They are from two sources--revelation and present aptitudes not yet +realized. What feet have we for undiscovered continents, what wings +for wider and finer airs, what eyes for diviner light? Everything +tells us that such aptitudes have fit field for development. The water +fowl flies through night and storm, lone wandering but not lost, +straight to the south with instinct for mild airs, food, and a nest +among the rushes. It is not disappointed. +</P> + +<P> +Man has an instinct for dominion which cannot be gratified here. He +weeps for more worlds to conquer. He is only a boy yet, getting a grip +on the hilt of the sword of conquest, feeling for some Prospero's wand +that is able to command the tempest. When he gets the proper pitch of +power, take away his body, and he is, as Richter says, no more afraid, +and he is also free from the binding effect of gravitation. Then there +are worlds enough, and every one a lighthouse to guide him to its +harbor. They all seek a Columbus with more allurements than America +did hers. Dominion over ten cities is the reward for faithfulness in +the use of a single talent. +</P> + +<P> +Man has an instinct for travel and speed. To travel a couple of months +is a sufficient reward for a thousand toilful days. He earnestly +desires speed, develops race horses and bicycles to surpass them, +yachts, and engines. Not satisfied with this, he harnesses lightning +that takes his mind, his thought, to the ends of the earth in a +twinkling. But he is stopped there. How he yearns to go to the moon, +the sun, and stars! But he could not take his present body through the +temperatures of space three or four hundred degrees below zero. So he +must find a way of disembodying and of attachment to some force swift +as lightning, of which there are plenty in the spaces when the world +has ceased to be a world. It is all provided for by death. +</P> + +<P> +Man has an instinct for knowledge not gratified nor gratifiable in the +present narrow bounds that hedge him in like walls of hewn stone. A +thousand questions he cannot solve about himself, his relations to +others and to the world about him, beset him here. There he shall know +even as he is known by perfect intelligence. +</P> + +<P> +Here he has an instinct for love that is unsunderable. But the wails +of separation have filled the air since Eve shrieked over Abel. +Husbands and fathers are ever crying: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Immortal? I feel it and know it.<BR> + Who doubts of such as she?<BR> + But that's the pang's very essence,<BR> + Immortal away from me. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +But there, in finer realms, shall be a knitting of severed friendships +up to be sundered no more forever. +</P> + +<P> +Specially has man sought in this stage of being to know God. Job, in +his pain and loss, assailed by the cruel rebukes of his friends and +desolate by the desertion of his wife, says, "O that I knew where I +might find him." David cries out while his tears are flowing day and +night, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul +after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when +shall I come and appear before God?" Moses, in the broadest of +visions, material, historic, prophetic, says to God, "Show me thy +glory." And common men have always turned the high places of earth to +altar piles, and blackened the heavens with the smoke of their +sacrifices. But the means of knowing God are to be increased. The +very essence of life eternal is to know the true God, and Jesus Christ +whom he has sent. Great pains have been taken to manifest forth God to +dull senses and to oxlike thoughts here; greater pains, with better +results, shall be taken there. Every reader of the Apocalypse notices +with joy, if not rapture, that when the book that was sealed with seven +seals, which no man in heaven, nor earth, was able to reveal, nor open, +nor even look upon, was finally opened by the Lamb, and its marvelous +panoramas, charades, and symbolic significances had to be carefully +explained to John, the man best able of any to understand them--we +observe with rapture that the regular inhabitants of that hitherto +unseen world understood all at once, and broke into shouts like the +sound of these many waters in a storm. Above all these superior +manifestations in finer realms the pure in heart shall <I>see</I> God. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +III. But there is in space what there was before the world began. +Philosophy asserts that the invisible universe is a perfect fluid in +which not even atoms exist, and atoms are produced therefrom by the +First Great Cause by creation, not by development. This conception is +full of difficulties to thought. We cannot even agree whether creation +was in time or eternity. But all agree in this, that the invisible is +rapidly absorbing all the force at least of the visible universe, and +that when force is gone the corpse will not remain unburied. Indeed, +when the range of seeing puts the size of an atom at less than one +two-hundred-and-twenty-four-thousandth of an inch, and when the range +of thinking puts it at less than one six-millionth of an inch, many +prefer to consider an atom as a center of force and not as a material +entity at all. But, amid uncertainties, this is certain, that the +forces of the visible worlds are extraneous. They come out of the +invisible. They are all also returning to the invisible; that is what +light is doing in space, previously referred to. This incredibly +high-class energy is not banking up coal in the celestial ether as it +did on the earth, but is returning to the quick, mobile forces of the +invisible worlds. One thing more is certain, that the origin of all +the forces of the invisible is in personality; for the atom, it is +agreed, bears all the marks of being a manufactured article. +Different-sized shot could not have greater uniformity of structure and +constitution. And their whole behavior shows that they are controlled +by an admirable wisdom past finding out. +</P> + +<P> +That these forces exist and are necessarily active there are three +proofs. Worlds have been made, not of things and forces that do +appear. They were abundantly displayed in the physical miracles of +Christ and others; and these forces, independently of the physical +miracles at various times, have continuously helped men. +</P> + +<P> +(1) Concerning the first fact--that worlds have been made--nothing need +be said except that these forces, being personal, cannot be supposed to +be exhausted, and hence creations can go on continuously. We are +assured that they do. And the personal element more and more relates +itself to personalities. "I go to prepare a place for you," to fit up +a mansion according to tastes, needs, and enjoyments of the future +occupant. +</P> + +<P> +(2) This is the place to assert, not to prove, that this visible world +has always been subject to the forces of the invisible world. It does +not matter whether these forces are personal or personally directed. +Its waters divide, gravitation at that point being overcome; they +harden for a path, or bodies are levitated; they burn by a fire as +fierce as that which plays between two electric poles. These forces +are not the ordinary endowments of matter; they step out of the realm +of the greater invisible, execute their mission, and, like an angel's +sudden appearance, disappear. Who knows how frequently they come? We, +for whose sake all nature stands "and stars their courses move," may +need more frequent motherly attentions than the infant knows of. They +will not be lacking, even if not sufficiently evident to the infant to +be cried for. "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all +these things." +</P> + +<P> +(3) It is here designed to be asserted that the forces of the invisible +seek to be continually in full play on the intellectual and moral +natures of man. Our unique Christian Scriptures have this thought for +their whole significance. It begins with God's walking with Adam in +the garden, and goes on till it is said, "Come, ye blessed of my +Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," in the invisible, and by +the invisible, from before the foundation of the visible world. It +includes all time and opportunity between and after; we need specify +only to intensify the conception of the fact. Paul says, "Having +therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day," when +otherwise oppressive circumstances and hate of men seeking to kill him +would have prevented his continuing in life. It is possible for all +who believe to be given power, out of the invisible, to become sons of +God. It has been said that there is power and continuousness enough in +the tides, winds, rotating and revolving worlds for man to make a +machine for perpetual motion. The only difficulty is to belt on. The +great object of life in the visible should be to belt on to the +invisible. Our great Example who did this made his ordinary doing +better than common men's best, his parentheses of thought richer than +other men's paragraphs and volumes. And he left on record for us +promises of greater works than these, at which we stagger through +unbelief. We should not; for men who have lived by the evidence of +things not seen, and sought a city that received Jesus out of sight, +have found that "God is not ashamed to be called their God." They have +wrought marvels that men tell over like a rosary of what is possible to +men. It is beyond the belief of all who have not been touched by the +power of an endless life. But what they do is chiefly valuable as +evidence of what they are. It is little that men quench the violence +of fire, and receive their dead raised to life again. It is great that +they are able to do it. That they hold the hand that holds the world +is something. But that they have eyes to see, a wisdom to choose, and +will to execute the best, is more. Fire may kindle again and the +resurrected die, but the great personality survives. +</P> + +<P> +These forces are not discontinuous, connected with this temporary +world, and liable to cease when it fails. They belong to the +permanent, invisible order of things. Suppose one loses his body. +Then there is no force whereby earth can hold its child any longer to +its breast. It flies on at terrific speed, dwindling to a speck in +unknown distances, and leaving the man amid infinitudes alone. But +there are other attractions. There was One uplifted on a cross to draw +all men unto him. Love has finer attraction for souls than gravitation +has for bodies. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Then all his being thrills with Joy. And past<BR> + The comets' sweep, the choral stars above,<BR> + With multiplying raptures drawn more swift<BR> + He flies into the very heart of love. +</P> + +<P> +It is hoped that the object of this writing is accomplished--to widen +our view of the great principle of continuity in the universe. It is +not sought to dwarf the earth, but to fit it rightly into its place as +a part of a great whole. It is better for a state to be a part of a +glorious union than to be independent; better for a man to belong to +the entirety of creation than to be Robinson Crusoe on his island. We +belong to more than this earth. It is not of the greatest importance +whether we lose it or it lose itself. We look for a "new heavens and a +new earth." We are, or should be, used to their forces, and at home +among their personalities. This universe is a unity. It is not made +up of separate, catastrophic movements, but it all flows on like the +sweetly blended notes of a psalm. "Therefore will not we fear, though +the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the +midst of the sea;" though the heavens be "rolled together as a scroll," +the stars fall, "even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs," when it +is shaken with the wind, and though our bodies are whelmed in the +removal of things that can be shaken. For even then we may find the +calm force that shakes the earth is the force that is from everlasting +to everlasting; may find that it is personal and loving. It says, "Lo, +it is I; be not afraid." +</P> + +<P> +Whatever comes, whether one sail the spaces in the great ship we call +the world, or fall overboard into Mississippis and Amazons of power in +which worlds are mere drifting islands, he will be at peace and at home +anywhere. He will ever say: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "The winds that o'er my ocean run<BR> + Blow from all worlds, beyond the sun;<BR> + Through life, through death, through faith, through time,<BR> + Great breaths of God, they sweep sublime,<BR> + Eternal trades that cannot veer,<BR> + And blowing, teach us how to steer;<BR> + And well for him whose joy, whose care,<BR> + Is but to keep before them fair. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "O thou, God's mariner, heart of mine,<BR> + Spread canvas to these airs divine.<BR> + Spread sail and let thy past life be<BR> + Forgotten in thy destiny." +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[1]The action that drives off the material of a comet's tail proves +that other forces besides gravitation are operative in the +interplanetary space.--<I>The Sun</I>, C. A. Young, p. 156. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[2]See <I>Recreations in Astronomy</I>, p. 357. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE FORCES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 15807-h.txt or 15807-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/0/15807">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/8/0/15807</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Among the Forces + + +Author: Henry White Warren + +Release Date: May 9, 2005 [eBook #15807] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE FORCES*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 15807-h.htm or 15807-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/0/15807/15807-h/15807-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/0/15807/15807-h.zip) + + + + + +AMONG THE FORCES + + Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of + THY hands.--Psalm viii, 6 + +by + +HENRY WHITE WARREN, LL.D. + +One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church +Author of "Recreations in Astronomy," "The Bible in the World's +Education," etc. + +New York: Eaton & Mains +Cincinnati: Curts & Jennings + +1898 + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Old Faithful Geyser.] + + + + +E. I. W. + +Eximia Inter Vires. + + + + +CONTENTS + + Why Written + The Man Who Needed 452,696 Barrels of Water + The Sun's Great Horses + Old Sun Help + Moon Help + More Moon Help + Star Help + Help from Insensible Seas + The Fairy Gravitation + More Gravitation + The Fairy Pulls Great Loads + The Fairy Draws Greater Loads + The Fairy Works a Pump Handle + The Help of Inertia + One Plant Help + Gas Help + Natural Affection of Metals + Natural Affection Between Metal and Liquid + Natural Affection of Metal and Gas + Hint Help + Creations Now in Progress + Some Curious Behaviors of Atoms + Mobility of Seeming Solids + The Next World to Conquer + Our Enjoyment of Nature's Forces + The Matterhorn + The Grand Canon of the Colorado River. + The Yellowstone Park Geysers + Sea Sculpture + The Power of Vegetable Life + Spiritual Dynamics + When This World is Not + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + Old Faithful Geyser . . . . Frontispiece + Breaking Waves + Incline at Mauch Chunk + The Head of the Toboggan Slide. + The Big Trees + The Matterhorn + The Punch Bowl, Yellowstone Geysers. + Formation of the Grotto Geyser + Bee-Hive Geyser + Pulpit Terrace and Bunsen Peak + "The Breakers," Santa Cruz, Cal. + The Work and the Worker, Santa Cruz, Cal. + Yellow Chili Squash in Harness + Squash Grown Under Pressure + A Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, Cal. + An Excavated Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal + A Double Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal. + A Triple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal. + Remains of a Quadruple Natural Arch + Arch Remains, Side Wall Broken + + + + +AMONG THE FORCES + + +WHY WRITTEN + +Fairies, fays, genii, sprites, etc., were once supposed to be helpful +to some favored men. The stories about these imaginary beings have +always had a fascinating interest. The most famous of these stories +were told at Bagdad in the eleventh century, and were called _The +Arabian Nights' Entertainment_. Then men were said to use all sorts of +obedient powers, sorceries, tricks, and genii to aid them in getting +wealth, fame, and beautiful brides. + +But I find the realities of to-day far greater, more useful and +interesting, than the imaginations of the past. The powers at work +about us are far more kindly and powerful than the Slave of the Ring or +of the Lamp. + +The object of writing this series of papers about applications of +powers to the service of man, their designed king, is manifold. I +desire all my readers to see what marvelous provision the Father has +made for his children in this their nursery and schoolhouse. He has +always been trying to crowd on men more helps and blessings than they +were willing to take. From the first mist that went up from the Garden +the power of steam has been in every drop of water. Yet men carried +their burdens. Since the first storm the swiftness and power of +lightning have been trying to startle man into seeing that in it were +speed and force to carry his thought and himself. But man still +plodded and groaned under loads that might have been lifted by physical +forces. I have seen in many lands men bringing to their houses water +from the hills in heavy stone jars. Gravitation was meant to do that +work, and to make it leap and laugh with pearly spray in every woman's +kitchen. The good Father has offered his all-power on all occasions to +all men. + +I desire that the works of God should keep their designed relation to +thought. He says, Consider the lilies; look into the heavens; number +the stars; go to the ant; be wise; ask the beasts, the fowl, the +fishes; or "talk even to the earth, and it showeth thee." + +Every flower and star, rainbow and insect, was meant to be so +provocative of thought that any man who never saw a human book might be +largely educated. And every one of these thoughts is related to man's +best prosperity and joy. He is a most regal king if he achieve the +designed dominion over a thousand powerful servitors. + +It is well to see that God's present actual powers in full play about +us are vastly beyond all the dreams of Arabian imagination. It leads +us to expect greater things of him hereafter. That human imagination +could so dream is proof of the greatness of its Creator. But that he +has actually surpassed those dreams is prophecy of more greatness to +come. + +I desire that my readers of this generation shall be the great thinkers +and inventors of the next. There are amazing powers just waiting to be +revealed. Draw aside the curtain. We have not yet learned the A B C +of science. We have not yet grasped the scepters of provided dominion. +Those who are most in the image and likeness of the Cause of these +forces are most likely to do it. + + + + +THE MAN WHO NEEDED 452,696 BARRELS OF WATER + +A man once had a large field of wheat. He had toiled hard to clear the +land, plow the soil, and sow the seed. The crop grew beautifully and +was his joy by day and by night. But when it was just ready to head +out it suddenly stopped growing for want of moisture. It looked as if +all his hard work would be in vain. The poor farmer thought of his +wife and children, who were likely to starve in the coming winter. He +shed many tears, but they could not moisten one little stalk. + +Suddenly he said, "I will water it myself." The field was a mile +square, and it needed an inch of water over it all. He quickly figured +out that there were 27,878,400 square feet in a square mile. On every +twelve square feet a cubic foot of water was needed. A cubic foot of +water weighs sixty-two and a third pounds. Hence it would require +74,754 tons of water. To draw this amount 74,754 teams, each drawing a +ton, would be required. But they would tramp the wheat all down. +Besides, the nearest water in sufficient quantity was the ocean, one +thousand miles away over the mountains. It would take three months to +make the journey. And, worse than all else, the water of the ocean is +so salt that it would ruin the crop. + +[Illustration: Breaking Waves.] + +Alas! there were three impossibilities--so many teams, so many +miles, so long time--and two ruins if he could overcome the +impossibilities--trampling down the wheat and bringing so much salt. +Alas, alas! what could he do but see the poor wheat die of thirst and +his poor wife and children die of hunger? + +Suddenly he determined to ask the sun to help him. And the sun said he +would. That was a very little thing for such a great body to do. So +he heated the air over the ocean till it became so thirsty that it +drank plenty of water, choosing only the sweet fresh water and leaving +all the salt in the ocean. Then the warm air rose, because the heat +had expanded it and made it lighter, and the other air rushed down the +mountains all over that side of the continent to take its place. Then +the warm air went landward in an upper current and carried its load of +water in great piles and mountains of clouds; it lifted them over the +great ranges of mountains and rained down its thousands of tons of +sweet water a thousand miles from the sea, so gently that not a stalk +of wheat was trampled down, nor was a single root made acrid by any +taste of brine. + +Besides the precious drink the sun brought the most delicate food for +the wheat. There was carbonic acid, that makes soda water so +delicious, besides oxygen, that is so stimulating, nitrogen, ammonia, +and half a dozen other things that are so nutritious to growing plants. + +Thus the wheat grew up in beauty, headed out abundantly, and matured +perfectly. Then the farmer stopped weeping for laughter, and in his +joy he remembered to thank, not the sun, nor the wind, but the great +One who made them both. + + + + +THE SUN'S GREAT HORSES + +There was once a man who had thousands of acres of mighty forests in +the distant mountains. They were valueless there, but would be +exceedingly valuable in the great cities hundreds of miles away, if he +could only find any power to transport them thither. So he looked for +a team that could haul whole counties of forests so many miles. He saw +that the sun drew the greatest loads, and he asked it to help him. And +the sun said that was what he was made for; he existed only to help +man. He said that he had made those great forests to grow for a +thousand years so as to be ready for man when he needed them, and that +he was now ready to help move them where they were wanted. + +So he told the man who owned the forest that there was a great power, +which men called gravitation, that seemed to reside in the center of +the earth and every other world, but that it worked everywhere. It +held the stones down to the earth, made the rain fall, and water to run +down hill; and if the man would arrange a road, so that gravitation and +the sun could work together, the forest would soon be transported from +the mountains to the sea. + +So the man made a trough a great many miles long, the two sides coming +together like a great letter V. Then the sun brought water from the +sea and kept the trough nearly full year after year. The man put into +it the lumber and logs from the great forests, and gravitation pulled +the lumber and water ever so swiftly, night and day, miles away to the +sea. + +How I have laughed as I have seen that perpetual stream of lumber and +timber pour out so far from where the sun grew them for man. For the +sun never ceased to supply the water, and gravitation never ceased to +pull. + +This man who relentlessly cut down the great forests never said, "How +good the sun is!" nor, "How strong is gravitation!" but said +continually, "How smart I am!" + + + + +OLD SUN HELP + +Holland is a land that is said to draw twenty feet of water. Its +surface is below sea level. Since 1440 they have been recovering land +from the sea. They have acquired 230,000 acres in all. Fifty years +ago they diked off 45,000 acres of an arm of the sea, called Haarlem +Meer, that had an average depth of twelve and three quarters feet of +water, and proposed to pump it out so as to have that much more fertile +land. They wanted to raise 35,000,000 tons of water a month a distance +of ten feet, to get through in time. Who could work the handle? + +The sun would evaporate two inches a year, but that was too slow. So +they used the old force of the sun, reservoired in former ages. Coal +is condensed sunshine, still keeping all the old light and power. By a +suitable engine they lifted 112 tons ten feet at every stroke, and in +1848, five years after they began to apply old sun force, 41,675 acres +were ready for sale and culture. + +The water that accumulates now, from rain and infiltration, is lifted +out by the sun force as exhibited in wind on windmills. They +groaningly work while men sleep. + +The Netherlandish engineers are now devising plans to pump out the +Zuyder Zee, an area of two thousand square miles. There is plenty of +power of every kind for anything, material, mental, spiritual. The +problem is the application of it. The thinker is king. + +This is only one instance of numberless applications of old sun force. +In this country coal does more work than every man, woman, and child in +the whole land. It pumps out deep mines, hoists ore to the surface, +speeds a thousand trains, drives great ships, in face of waves and +winds, thousands of miles and faster than transcontinental trains. It +digs, spins, weaves, saws, planes, grinds, plows, reaps, and does +everything it is asked to do. It is a vast reservoir of force, for the +accumulation of which thousands of years were required. + + + + +MOON HELP + +At Foo-Chow, China, there is a stone bridge, more than a mile long, +uniting the two parts of the city. It is not constructed with arches, +but piers are built up from the bottom of the river and great granite +stringers are laid horizontally from pier to pier. I measured some of +these great stone stringers, and found them to be three feet square and +forty-five feet long. They weigh over thirty tons each. + +How could they be lifted, handled, and put in place over the water on +slender piers? How was it done? There was no Hercules to perform the +mighty labor, nor Amphion to lure them to their place with the music of +his golden lyre. + +Tradition says that the Chinese, being astute astronomers, got the moon +to do the work. It was certainly very shrewd, if they did. Why not +use the moon for more than a lantern? Is it not a part of the "all +things" over which man was made to have dominion? + +Well, the Chinese engineers brought the great granite blocks to the +bridge site on floats, and when the tide lifted the floats and stones +they blocked up the stones on the piers and let the floats sink with +the outgoing tide. Then they blocked up the stones on the floats +again, and as the moon lifted the tides once more they lifted the +stones farther toward their place, until at length the work was done +for each set of stones. + +Dear, good moon, what a pull you have! You are not merely for the +delight of lovers, pleasant as you are for that, but you are ready to +do gigantic work. + +No wonder that the Chinese, as they look at the solid and enduring +character of that bridge, name it, after the poetic and flowery habit +of the country, "The Bridge of Ten Thousand Ages." + + + + +MORE MOON HELP + +Years ago, before there were any railroads, New York city had thousands +of tons of merchandise it wished to send out West. Teams were few and +slow, so they asked the moon to help. It was ready; had been waiting +thousands of years. + +We shall soon see that it is easy to slide millions of tons of coal +down hill, but how could we slide freight up from New York to Albany? + +It is very simple. Lift up the lower end of the river till it shall be +down hill all the way to Albany. But who can lift up the end of the +river? The moon. It reaches abroad over the ocean and gathers up +water from afar, brings it up by Cape Hatteras and in from toward +England, pours it in through the Narrows, fills up the great harbor, +and sets the great Hudson flowing up toward Albany. Then men put their +big boats on the current and slide up the river. Six hours later the +moon takes the water out of the harbor and lets other boats slide the +other way. + +New York itself has made use of the moon to get rid of its immense +amount of garbage and sewage. It would soon breed a pestilence, and +the city be like the buried cities of old; but the moon comes to its +aid, and carries away and buries all this foul breeder of a pestilence, +and washes all the harbor and bay with clean floods of water twice a +day. Good moon! It not only lights, but works. + +The tide in New York Harbor rises only about five feet; up in the Bay +of Fundy it ramps, rushes, raves, and rises more than fifty feet high. + +In former times men used to put mill wheels into the currents of the +tides; when they rushed into little bays and salt ponds they turned the +wheels one way; when out, the other. + + + + +STAR HELP + + "We for whose sake all Nature stands, + And stars their courses move." + +Do the stars, that are so far away and seem so small, send us any help? +Assuredly. Nothing exists for itself. All is for man. + +Magnetism tells the sailor which way he is going. Stars not only do +this, when visible, but they also tell just where on the round globe he +is. A glance into their bright eyes, from a rolling deck, by an +uneducated sailor, aided by the tables of accomplished scholars, tells +him exactly where he is--in mid Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, or +Antarctic Ocean, or at the mouth of the harbor he has sought for +months. We lift up our eyes higher than the hills. Help comes from +the skies. + +This help was started long since, with providential foresight and care. +Is he steering by the North Star? A ray of guidance was sent from that +lighthouse in the sky half a century before his need, that it might +arrive just at the critical time. It has been ever since on its way. + +The stars give us, on land and sea, all our reliable standards of time. +There is no other source. They are reliable to the hundredth part of a +second. + +The Italian physicians, in their ignorance of the origin of a disease, +named it the influenza, because they imagined that it came from the +influence of the stars. No! There is nothing malign in the sweet +influences of the Pleiades. + +The stars are of special use as a mental gymnasium. On their lofty +bars and trapezes the mind can swing itself higher and farther than on +any other material thing. Infinity and omnipotence are factors in +their problems. They also fill the soul of the rapt beholder with +adoring wonder. They are the greatest symbols of the unweariableness +of the power and of the minuteness of the knowledge of God. He calleth +all their millions by name, and for the greatness of his power not one +faileth to come. + +Number the stars of a clear Eastern sky, if you are able. So +multitudinous and enduring shall the influence of one good man be. + + + + +HELP FROM INSENSIBLE SEAS + +Suppose one has been at sea a month. He has tacked to every point of +the compass, been driven by gales, becalmed in doldrums. At length +Euroclydon leaps on him, and he lets her drive. And when for many days +and nights neither sun nor stars appear, how can he tell where he is, +which way he drives, where the land lies? + +There is an insensible ocean. No sense detects its presence. It has +gulf streams that flow through us, storms whose waves engulf us, but we +feel them not. There are various intensities of its power, the north +end of the world not having half as much as the south. There are two +places in the north half of the world that have greater intensity than +the rest, and only one in the south. It looks as if there were +unsoundable depths in some places and shoals in others. + +The currents do not flow in exactly the same direction all the time, +but their variations are within definite limits. + +How shall we detect these steady currents when wind and waves are in +tumultuous confusion? They are always present. No winds blow them +aside, no waves drench their subtle fire, no mountains make them +swerve. But how shall we find them? + +Float a bit of magnetic ore in a pail of water, or suspend a bit of +magnetized steel by a thread, and these currents make the ore or needle +point north and south. Now let waves buffet either side, typhoons +roar, and maelstroms whirl; we have, out of the invisible, insensible +sea of magnetic influence, a sure and steady guide. Now we can sail +out of sight of headlands. We have in the darkness and light, in calm +and storm, an unswerving guide. Now Columbus can steer for any new +world. + +Does not this seem like a spiritual force? Lodestone can impart its +qualities to hard steel without the impairment of its own power. There +is a giving that does not impoverish, and a withholding that does not +enrich. + +Wherever there is need there is supply. The proper search with +appropriate faculties will find it. There are yet more things in +heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy. + + + + +THE FAIRY GRAVITATION + +The Germans imagine that they have fairy kobolds, sprites, and gnomes +which play under ground and haunt mines. I know a real one. I will +give you his name. It is called "Gravitation." The name does not +sound any more fairylike than a sledge hammer, but its nature and work +are as fairylike as a spider's web. I will give samples of his helpful +work for man. + +In the mountains about Saltzburg, south of Munich, are great thick beds +of solid salt. How can they get it down to the cities where it is +needed? Instead of digging it out, and packing it on the backs of +mules for forty miles, they turn in a stream of water and make a little +lake which absorbs very much salt--all it can carry. Then they lay a +pipe, like a fairy railroad, and gravitation carries the salt water +gently and swiftly forty miles, to where the railroads can take it +everywhere. It goes so easily! There is no railroad to build, no car +to haul back, only to stand still and see gravitation do the work. + +How do they get the salt and water apart? O, just as easily. They ask +the wind to help them. They cut brush about four feet long, and pile +it up twenty feet high and as long as they please. Then a pipe with +holes in it is laid along the top, the water trickles down all over the +loose brush, and the thirsty wind blows through and drinks out most of +the water. They might let on the water so slowly that all of it would +be drunk out by the wind, leaving the solid salt on the bushes. But +they do not want it there. So they turn on so much water that the +thirsty wind can drink only the most of it, and the rest drops down +into great pans, needing only a little evaporation by boiling to become +beautiful salt again, white as the snows of December. + +There are other minerals besides salt in the beds in the mountains, +and, being soluble in water, they also come down the tiny railroad with +musical laughter. How can we separate them, so that the salt shall be +pure for our tables? + +The other minerals are less avaricious of water than salt, so they are +precipitated, or become solid, sooner than salt does. Hence with nice +care the other minerals can be left solid on the bushes, while the salt +brine falls off. Afterward pure water can be turned on and these other +minerals can be washed off in a solution of their own. No fairies +could work better than those of solution and crystallization. + + + + +MORE GRAVITATION + +At Hutchinson, Kan., there are great beds of solid rock salt four +hundred feet below the surface. Men want to get and use two thousand +barrels a day. How shall they get it to the top of the ground? They +might dig a great well--or, as the miners say, sink a shaft--pump out +the water, go down and blast out the salt, and laboriously haul it up +in defiance of gravitation. No; that is too hard. Better ask this +strong gravitation to bring it up. + +But does it work down and up? Did any one ever know of gravitation +raising anything? O yes, many things. A balloon may weigh as much as +a ton, but when inflated it weighs less than so much air; so the +heavier air flows down under and shoulders it up. When a heavy weight +and a light one are hung over a pulley, the light one goes up because +gravity acts more on the other. Water poured down a long tube will +rise if the tube is bent up into a shorter arm. + +Exactly. So we bore a four-inch hole down to the salt and put in an +iron tube. + +We do not care about the water. It is no bother. Then inside of this +tube we put a two-inch tube that is a few feet higher. Now pour water +down the small longer tube. It saturates itself with salt, and comes +flowing over the top of the shorter tube as easily as water runs down +hill. Multiply the wells, dry out the water, and you have your two +thousand barrels of salt lifted every day--just as easy as thinking! + +We want a steady, unswerving force that will pull our clock hands with +an exact motion day and night, year in and year out. We hang up a +string, and ask gravitation to take hold and pull. We put on some lead +or brass for a handle, to take hold of. It takes hold and pulls, +unweariedly, unvaryingly, and ceaselessly. + +It turns single water-wheels with a power of more than twelve hundred +horses. + +It holds down houses, so that they are not blown away. It was made to +serve man, and it works without a grumble. + +Thus the higher force in nature always prevails over the lower, and the +greater amount over the less amount of the same force. What is the +highest force? + + + + +THE FAIRY PULLS GREAT LOADS + +Far back in the hills west of Mauch Chunk, Pa., lie great beds of coal. +They were made under the sea long ages ago, raised up, roofed over by +the Allegheny Mountains, and kept waiting as great reservoirs of power +for the use of man. + +But how can these mountains be gotten to the distant cities by the sea? +Faith in what power can say to these mountains, "Be thou removed far +hence, and cast into the sea?" It is easy. + +Along the winding sides of the mountains have been laid two rails like +steel ribbons for a dozen miles, from the coal beds to water and +railroad transportation. Put a half dozen loaded cars on the track, +and with one man at the brake, lest gravitation should prove too +willing a helper, away they go, through the springtime freshness or the +autumn glory, spinning and singing down to the point of universal +distribution. + +[Illustration: Incline at Mauch Chunk.] + +On one occasion the brake for some reason would not work. The cars +just flew like an arrow. The man's hair stood up from fright and the +wind. Coming to a curve the cars kept straight on, ran down a bank, +dashed right into the end of a house and spilled their whole load in +the cellar. Probably no man ever laid in a winter's supply of coal so +quickly or so undesirably. + +But how do we get the cars back? It is pleasant sliding down hill on a +rail, but who pulls the sled back? Gravitation. It is just as willing +to work both ways as one way. + +Think of a great letter X a dozen miles long. + +Lay it down on the side against three or four rough hills. Bend the X +till it will fit the curves and precipices of these hills. That is the +double track. Now when loaded cars have come down one bar of the X by +gravity, draw them up by a sharp incline to the upper end of the other +bar, and away they go by gravity to the other end. Draw them up one +more incline, and they are ready to take a new load and buzz down to +the bottom again. + +I have been riding round the glorious mountain sides in a horseless, +steamless, electricityless carriage, and been delighted to find +hundreds of tons of coal shooting over my head at the crossings of the +X, and both cars were drawn in opposite directions by the same force of +gravity in the heart of the earth. + +If you do not take off your hat and cheer for the superb force of +gravitation, the wind is very apt to take it off for you. + + + + +THE FAIRY DRAWS GREATER LOADS + +Pittsburg has 5,000,000 tons of coal every year that it wishes to send +South, much of it as far as New Orleans--2,050 miles. What force is +sufficient for moving such great mountains so far? Any boy may find it. + +Tie a stone to the end of a string, whirl it around the finger and feel +it pull. How much is the pull? That depends on the weight of the +stone, the length of the string, and the swiftness of the whirl. In +the case of David's sling it pulled away hard enough to crash into the +head of Goliath. Suppose the stone to be as big as the earth (8,000 +miles in diameter), the length of the string to be its distance from +the sun (92,500,000 miles), and the swiftness of flight the speed of +the earth in its orbit (1,000 miles a minute). The pull represents the +power of gravitation that holds the earth to the sun. + +If we use steel wires instead of gravitation for this purpose, each +strong enough to support half a score of people (1,500 pounds), how +many would it take? We would need to distribute them over the whole +earth: from pole to pole, from side to side, over all the land and sea. +Then they would need to be so near together that a mouse could not run +around among them. + +Here is a measureless power. Can it be gotten to take Pittsburgh coal +to New Orleans? Certainly; it was made to serve man. So the coal is +put on great flatboats, 36 x 176 feet, a thousand tons to a boat, and +gravitation takes the mighty burden down the long toboggan slide of the +Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the journey's end. How easy! + +[Illustration: The Head of the Toboggan Slide.] + +One load sent down was 43,000 tons. The flatboats were lashed together +as one solid boat covering six and one half acres, more space than a +whole block of houses in a city, with one little steamboat to steer. +There is always plenty of power; just belt on for anything you want +done. This is only one thing that gravitation does for man on these +rivers. And there are many rivers. They serve the savage on his log +and the scientist in his palace steamer with equal readiness. + + + + +THE FAIRY WORKS A PUMP HANDLE + +The Slave of the Ring could take Aladdin into a cave of wealth, and by +speaking the words, "Open Sesame," Ali Baba was admitted into the cave +that held the treasures of the forty thieves. But that is very little. +I have just come from a cave in Virginia City, Nev., from which men +took $120,000,000. + +In following the veins of silver the miners went down 3,500 feet--more +than three fifths of a mile. There it was fearfully hot, but the main +trouble was water. They had dug a deep, deep well. How could they get +the water out? Pumps were of no use. A column of water one foot +square of that height weighs 218,242 pounds. Who could work the other +end of the pump handle? + +They thought of evaporating the water and sending it up as steam. But +it was found that it would take an incredible amount of coal. They +thought of separating it into oxygen and hydrogen, and then its own +lightness would carry it up very quickly. But they had no power that +would resolve even quarts into their ultimate elements, where tons +would be required. + +So they asked gravitation to help them. It readily offered to do so. +It could not let go its hold of the water in the mine, nor anywhere +else, for fear everything would go to pieces, but it offered to +overcome force with greater force. So it sent the men twenty miles +away in the mountains to dig a ditch all the way to the mine, and then +gravitation brought water to a reservoir four hundred feet above the +mouth of the mine. Now a column of this water one foot square can be +taken from this higher reservoir down to the bottom of the mine and +weigh 25,000 pounds more than a like column that comes from the bottom +to the top. This extra 25,000 pounds is an extra force available to +lift itself and the other water out of the deep well, and they turn the +greater force into a pump and work it in the cylinder as if it were +steam. It lifts not only the water that works the pump, but the other +water also out of the mine by gravitation. So man gets the water out +by pouring more water in. + + + + +THE HELP OF INERTIA + +Since the time of David many boys have swung pebbles by a string, or +sling, and felt the pull of what we call a centrifugal (center-fleeing) +force. David utilized it to one good purpose. Goliath was greatly +surprised; such a thing never entered his head before. Whether a stone +or an idea enters one's head depends on the kind of head he has. + +We utilize this force in many ways now. Some boys swing a pail of milk +over their heads, and if swung fast enough the centrifugal force +overcomes the force of gravitation, and the milk does not fall. That +is not utilizing the force. It often terrorizes the careful mother, +anxious for the safety of the milk. + +But in the arts of practical life we do utilize this force, which is +only inertia. + +Once it took a long time for molasses to drain out of a hogshead of +damp sugar. Now it is put into a great tub, with holes in the side, +which is made to revolve rapidly, and the molasses flies out. In the +best laundries clothes are not wrung out, to the great damage of tender +fabrics, but are put into such a tub and whirled nearly dry. So fifty +yards of woolen cloth just out of the dye vat--who could wring it? It +is coiled in a tub called a wizard, and whirled. + +Muddy water is put through a process called clarification. It is the +same, except that there are no holes in the vessel. The heavier +particles of dirt, that would settle in time, take the outside, leaving +perfectly clean water in the middle. A perpendicular perforated pipe, +with a faucet below, drains off all the clear water and leaves all the +mud. Milk is brought in from the milking and put into a separator; +whirl it, and the heavier milk takes the outside of the whirling mass, +and the lighter cream can be drawn off from the middle. It is far more +perfectly separated than by any skimming. + +A rotary snowplow slices off two feet of a ten-foot drift at each +revolution, and by centrifugal force flings it out of the cutting with +a speed that a hundred navvies or dagos cannot equal. + + + + +ONE PLANT HELP + +A thousand acres of land on Cape Cod were once blown away. This wind +excavation was ten feet deep. It was not an extraordinary wind, but +extraordinary land. It was made of rock ground up into fine sand by +the waves on the shore. + +In all the deserts of the world the wind blows the itinerant sand on +its far journeys. If the wind is moderate it heaps the sand up into +little hills, some of them six hundred feet high, around any +obstruction, and then blows the sand up the slanting face of the hill +and over the top, where it falls out of the wind on the leeward side. +In this way the hill is always traveling. In North Carolina hills +start inland, and travel right on, burying a house or farm if it be in +the way, but resurrecting it again on the other side as the hill goes +on. Anyone may see these hills at the south end of Lake Michigan, as +he approaches Chicago, west of San Francisco, all along up the Columbia +River--the sand having come on the wings of the wind from the coast. + +But to see the whole visible world on a march one needs to go to a +really large desert. The Pyramids and the Sphinx have been partly +buried, and parts of the valley of the Nile threatened, by hordes of +sand hills marching in from the desert; cities have been buried and +harbors filled up. Many of the harbors of the ancient civilizations +are mere miasmatic marshes now. This is partly in consequence of the +silt brought in by the rivers; but where the rivers do not flow in it +is because the sand blows in along the shore. Harbors are especially +endangered when their protection from the waves consists of a bank of +sand, as on Cape Cod and the Sandy Hook below the Narrows of the harbor +of New York. + +How can man combat part of the continent on the move, driven by the +ceaseless powers of the air? By a humble plant or two. The movement +of the sand hills that threaten to destroy the marvelous beauty of the +grounds of the Hotel del Monte at Monterey is stopped by planting dwarf +pines. The sand dunes that prevent much of Holland from being +reconquered by the sea are protected with great care by willows, etc., +and the coast sands of parts of eastern France have been sown with sea +pine and broom. + +The tract of a thousand acres on Cape Cod had been protected by humble +beach grass. Some careless herder let the cows eat it in places, and +away went part of a township. It is now a punishable crime on Cape Cod +to destroy beach grass. + + + + +GAS HELP + +This refers to more than stump speech-making. The old Romans drove +through solid rock numerous tunnels similar to the one for draining +Lago de Celano, fifty miles east of Rome. This one was three and a +half miles long, through solid rock, and every chip cost a blow of a +human arm to dislodge it. Of course the process was very slow. + +We do works vastly greater. We drive tunnels three times as long for +double-track railways through rock that is held down by an Alp. We use +common air to drill the holes and a thin gas to break the rock. The +Mont Cenis tunnel required the removal of 900,000 cubic yards of rock. +Near Dover, England, 1,000,000,000 tons of cliff were torn down and +scattered over fifteen acres in an instant. How was it done? By gas. + +There are a dozen kinds of solids which can be handled--some of them +frozen, thawed, soaked in water, with impunity--but let a spark of fire +touch them and they break into vast volumes of uncontrollable gas that +will rend the heart out of a mountain in order to expand. + +Gunpowder was first used in 1350; so the old Romans knew nothing of its +power. They flung javelins a few rods by the strength of the arm; we +throw great iron shells, starting with an initial velocity of fifteen +hundred feet a second and going ten miles. The air pressure against +the front of a fifteen-inch shell going at that speed is 2,865 pounds. +That ton and a half of resistance of gas in front must be much more +than overcome by gas behind. + +But the least use of explosives is in war; not over ten per cent is so +used. The Mont Cenis tunnel took enough for 200,000,000 musket +cartridges. As much as 2,000 kegs have been fired at once in +California to loosen up gravel for mining, and 23 tons were exploded at +once under Hell Gate, at New York. + +How strong is this gas? As strong as you please. Steam is sometimes +worked at a pressure of 400 pounds to the inch, but not usually over +100 pounds. It would be no use to turn steam into a hole drilled in +rock. The ordinary pressure of exploded gas is 80,000 pounds to the +square inch. It can be made many times more forceful. It works as +well in water, under the sea, or makes earthquakes in oil wells 2,000 +feet deep, as under mountains. + +The wildest imagination of Scheherezade never dreamed in _Arabian +Nights_ of genii that had a tithe of the power of these real forces. +Her genii shut up in bottles had to wait centuries for some fisherman +to let them out. + + + + +NATURAL AFFECTION OF METALS + +"Sacra fames auri." The hunger for gold, which in men is called +accursed, in metals is justly called sacred. + +In all the water of the sea there is gold--about 400 tons in a cubic +mile--in very much of the soil, some in all Philadelphia clay, in the +Pactolian sands of every river where Midas has bathed, and in many +rocks of the earth. But it is so fine and so mixed with other +substances that in many cases it cannot be seen. Look at the ore from +a mine that is giving its owners millions of dollars. Not a speck of +gold can be seen. How can it be secured? Set a trap for it. Put down +something that has an affinity--voracious appetite, unslakable thirst, +metallic affection--for gold, and they will come together. + +We have heard of potable gold--"_potabile aurum_." There are metals to +which all gold is drinkable. Mercury is one of them. Cut transverse +channels, or nail little cleats across a wooden chute for carrying +water. Put mercury in the grooves or before the cleats, and shovel +auriferous gravel and sand into the rushing water. The mercury will +bibulously drink into itself all the fine invisible gold, while the +unaffectionate sand goes on, bereaved of its wealth. + +Put gold-bearing quartz under an upright log shod with iron. Lift and +drop the log a few hundred times on the rock, until it is crushed so +fine that it flows over the edge of the trough with constantly going +water, and an amalgam of mercury spread over the inclined way down +which the endusted water flows will drink up all the gold by force of +natural affection therefor. + +Neither can the gold be seen in the mercury. But it is there. Squeeze +the mercury through chamois skin. An amalgam, mostly gold, refuses to +go through. Or apply heat. The mercury flies away as vapor and the +gold remains. + +If thou seekest for wisdom as for silver, and searchest for her as for +hid treasure, thou shalt find. + + + + +NATURAL AFFECTION BETWEEN METAL AND LIQUID + +A little boy had a silver mug that he prized very highly, as it was the +gift of his grandfather. The boy was not born with a silver spoon in +his mouth, but, what was much better, he had a mug often filled with +what he needed. + +One day he dipped it into a glass jar of what seemed to him water, and +letting go of it saw it go to the bottom. He went to find his father +to fish it out for him. When he came back his heavy solid mug looked +as if it were made of the skeleton leaves of the forest when the green +chlorophyll has decayed away in the winter and left only the gauzy +veins and veinlets through which the leaves were made. Soon even this +fretwork was gone, and there was no sign of it to be seen. The liquid +had eaten or drank the solid metal up, particle by particle. The +liquid was nitric acid. + +The poor little boy had often seen salt, and especially sugar, absorbed +in water, but never his precious solid silver mug, and the bright +tears rolled down his cheeks freely. + +But his father thought of two things: First, that the blue tint told +him that the jeweler had sold for silver to the grandfather a mug that +was part copper; and secondly, that he would put some common salt into +the nitric acid--which it liked so much better than silver that it +dropped the silver, just as a boy might drop bread when he sought to +fill his hands with cake. + +So the father recovered the invisible silver and made it into a +precious mug again. + + + + +NATURAL AFFECTION OP METAL AND GAS + +A man was waked up one night in a strange house by a noise he could not +understand. He wanted a light, and wanted it very much, but he had no +matches that would take fire by the heat of friction. He knew of many +other ways of starting a fire. If water gets to the cargo of lime in a +vessel it sets the ship on fire. It is of no use to try to put it out +by water, for it only makes more heat. He knew that dried alum and +sugar suitably mixed would burst into flame if exposed to the air; that +nitric acid and oil of turpentine would take fire if mixed; that flint +struck by steel would start fire enough to explode a powder magazine; +and that Elijah called down from heaven a kind of fire that burned +twelve "barrels" of water as easily as ordinary water puts out ordinary +fire. But he had none of these ways of lighting his candle at +hand--not even the last. + +So he took a bit of potassium metal, bright as silver, out of a bottle +of naphtha, put it in the candle wick, touched it with a bit of +dripping ice, and so lighted his candle. + +The potassium was so avaricious of oxygen that it decomposed the water +to get it. Indeed, it was a case of mutual affection. The oxygen +preferred the company of potassium to that of the hydrogen in the +water, and went to it even at the risk of being burned. + +I was so interested in seeing a bit of silver-like metal and water take +fire as they touched that I forgot all about the occasion of the noise. + + + + +HINT HELP + +Benjamin C. B. Tilghman, of Philadelphia, once went into the lighthouse +at Cape May, and, observing that the window glass was translucent +rather than transparent, asked the keeper why he put ground glass in +the windows. "We do not," said the keeper. "We put in the clear +glass, and the wind blows the sand against it and roughens the outer +surface like ground glass." The answer was to him like the falling +apple to Newton. He put on his thinking cap and went out. It was +better than the cap of Fortunatus to him. He thought, "If nature does +this, why cannot I make a fiercer blast, let sand trickle into it, and +so hurl a million little hammers at the glass, and grind it more +swiftly than we do on stones with a stream of wet sand added?" + +He tried jets of steam and of air with sand, and found that he could +roughen a pane of glass almost instantly. By coating a part of the +glass with hot beeswax, applied with a brush, through a stencil, or +covering it with paper cut into any desired figures, he could engrave +the most delicate and intricate patterns as readily as if plain. Glass +is often made all white, except a very thin coating of brilliant +colored glass on one side. This he could cut through, leaving letters +of brilliant color and the general surface white, or _vice versa_. + +Seal cutting is a very delicate and difficult art, old as the Pharaohs. +Protect the surface that is to be left, and the sand blast will cut out +the required design neatly and swiftly. + +There is no known substance, not even corundum, hard enough to resist +the swift impact of myriads of little stones. + +It will cut more granite into shape in an hour than a man can in a day. + +Surely no one will be sorry to learn that General Tilghman sold part of +his patents, taken out in October, 1870, for $400,000, and receives the +untold benefits of the rest to this day. So much for thinking. + +Nature gives thousands of hints. Some can take them; some can only +take the other thing. The hints are greatly preferred by nature and +man. + + + + +CREATIONS NOW IN PROGRESS + +The forces of creation are yet in full play. Who can direct them? +Rewards greater than Tilghman's await the thinker. We are permitted +not only to think God's thoughts after him, but to do his works. +"Greater works than these that I do shall he do who believeth on me," +says the Greatest Worker. Great profit incites to do the work noted +below. + +Carbon as charcoal is worth about six cents a bushel; as plumbago, for +lead pencils or for the bicycle chain, it is worth more; as diamond it +has been sold for $500,000 for less than an ounce, and that was +regarded as less than half its value. Such a stone is so valuable that +$15,000 has been spent in grinding and polishing its surface. The +glazier pays $5.00 for a bit of carbon so small that it would take +about ten thousand of them to make an ounce. + +Why is there such a difference in value? Simply arrangement and +compactness. Can we so enormously enhance the value of a bushel of +charcoal by arrangement and compression? Not very satisfactorily as +yet. We can apply almost limitless pressure, but that does not make +diamonds. Every particle must go to its place by some law and force we +have not yet attained the mastery of. + +We do not know and control the law and force in nature that would +enable us to say to a few million bricks, stones, bits of glass, etc., +"Fly up through earth, water, and air, and combine into a perfect +palace, with walls, buttresses, towers, and windows all in exact +architectural harmony." But there is such a law and force for +crystals, if not for palaces. There is wisdom to originate and power +to manage such a force. It does not take masses of rock and stick them +together, nor even particles from a fluid, but atoms from a gas. Atoms +as fine as those of air must be taken and put in their place, one by +one, under enormous pressure, to have the resulting crystal as compact +as a diamond. + +The force of crystallization is used by us in many inferior ways, as in +making crystals of rock candy, sulphur, salt, etc., but for the making +of diamonds it is too much for us, except in a small way. + +While we cannot yet use the force that builds large white diamonds we +can use the diamonds themselves. Set a number of them around a section +of an iron tube, place it against a rock, at the surface or deep down +in a mine, cause it to revolve rapidly by machinery, and it will bore +into the rock, leaving a core. Force in water, to remove the dust and +chips, and the diamond teeth will eat their way hundreds of feet in any +direction; and by examining the extracted core miners can tell what +sort of ore there is hundreds of feet in advance. Hence, they go only +where they know that value lies. + + + + +SOME CURIOUS BEHAVIORS OF ATOMS + +Ultimate atoms of matter are asserted to be impenetrable. That is, if +a mass of them really touched each other, that mass would not be +condensible by any force. But atoms of matter do not touch. It is +thinkable, but not demonstrable, that condensation might go on till +there were no discernible substance left, only force. + +Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, and gas. It is thought +that all matter may be passed through the three stages--iron being +capable of being volatilized, and gases condensed to liquids and +solids--the chief difference of these states being greater or less +distance between the constituent atoms and molecules. In gas the +particles are distant from each other, like gnats flying in the air; in +liquids, distant as men passing in a busy street; in solids, as men in +a congregation, so sparse that each can easily move about. The +congregation can easily disperse to the rarity of those walking in the +street, and the men in the street condense to the density of the +congregation. So, matter can change in going from solids to liquids +and gases, or _vice versa_. The behavior of atoms in the process is +surpassingly interesting. + +Gold changes its density, and therefore its thickness, between the two +dies of the mint that make it money. How do the particles behave as +they snuggle up closer to each other? + +Take a piece of iron wire and bend it. The atoms on the inner side +become nearer together, those on the outside farther apart. Twist it. +The outer particles revolve on each other; those of the middle do not +move. They assume and maintain their new relations. + +Hang a weight on a wire. It does not stretch like a rubber thread, but +it stretches. Eight wires were tested as to their tensile strength. +They gave an average of forty-five pounds, and an elongation averaging +nineteen per cent of the total length. Then a wire of the same kind +was given time to adjust itself to its new and trying circumstances. +Forty pounds were hung on one day, three pounds more the next day, and +so on, increasing the weights by diminishing quantities, till in sixty +days it carried fifty-seven pounds. So it seems that exercise +strengthened the wire nearly twenty-seven per cent. + +While those atoms are hustling about, lengthening the wire and getting +a better grip on one another, they grow warm with the exercise. Hold a +thick rubber band against your lip--suddenly stretch it. The lip +easily perceives the greater heat. After a few moments let it +contract. The greater coldness is equally perceptible. + +A wire suspending thirty-nine pounds being twisted ninety-five full +turns lengthened itself one sixteen-hundredth of its length. Being +further twisted by twenty-five turns it shortened itself one fourth of +its previous elongation. During the twisting some sections took far +more torsion than others. A steel wire supporting thirty-nine pounds +was twisted one hundred and twenty times and then allowed to untwist at +will. It let out only thirty-eight turns and retained eighty-two in +the new permanent relation of particles. A wire has been known to +accommodate itself to nearly fourteen hundred twists, and still the +atoms did not let go of each other. They slid about on each other as +freely as the atoms of water, but they still held on. It is easier to +conceive of these atoms sliding about, making the wire thinner and +longer, when we consider that it is the opinion of our best physicists +that molecules made of atoms are never still. Masses of matter may be +still, but not the constituent elements. They are always in intensest +activity, like a mass of bees--those inside coming out, outside ones +going in--but the mass remains the same. + +The atoms of water behave extraordinarily. I know of a boiler and +pipes for heating a house. When the fire was applied and the +temperature was changed from that of the street to two hundred degrees, +it was easy to see that there was a whole barrel more of it than when +it was let into the boiler. It had been swollen by the heat, but it +was nothing but water. + +Mobile, flexible, and yielding as water seems to be, it has an +obstinacy quite remarkable. It was for a long time supposed to be +absolutely incompressible. It is nearly so. A pressure that would +reduce air to one hundredth of its bulk would not discernibly affect +water. Put a ton weight on a cubic inch of water; it does not flinch +nor perceptibly shrink, yet the atoms of water do not fill the space +they occupy. They object to being crowded. They make no objection to +having other matter come in and possess the space unoccupied by them. + +Air so much enjoys its free, agile state, leaping over hills and +plains, kissing a thousand flowers, that it greatly objects to being +condensed to a liquid. First we must take away all the heat. Two +hundred and ten degrees of heat changes water to steam filling 1,728 +times as much space. No amount of pressure will condense steam to +water unless the heat is removed. So take heat away from air till it +is more than two hundred degrees below zero, and then a pressure of +about two hundred atmospheres (14.7 pounds each) changes common air to +fluid. It fights desperately against condensation, growing hot with +the effort, and it maintains its resilience for years at any point of +pressure short of the final surrender that gives up to become liquid. + +Perhaps sometime we shall have the pure air of the mountains or the sea +condensed to fluid and sold by the quart to the dwellers in the city, +to be expanded into air once more. + +The marvel is not greater that gas is able to sustain itself under the +awful pressure with its particles in extreme dispersion, than that what +we call solids should have their molecules in a mazy dance and yet keep +their strength. + +Since this world, in power, fineness, finish, beauty, and adaptations, +not only surpasses our accomplishment, but also is past our finding out +to its perfection, it must have been made by One stronger, finer, and +wiser than we are. + + + + +MOBILITY OF SEEMING SOLIDS + +When a human breath, or the white jet of a steam whistle, or the black +cough of a locomotive smokestack is projected into the air it is easy +to see that the air is mobile. Its particles easily roll over one +another in voluminously infolding wreaths. The same is seen in water. +The crest of a wave falls over a portion of air, imprisoning it for a +moment, and the mingled air and water of different densities prevent +the light of the sun or sky from going straight down into the black +depths and being lost, but by being reflected and turned back it shows +like beautiful white lace, constantly created and dissolved with a +thousandfold more beauty than any that ever came from human hands. All +the three shifting elements of the swift creations are mobile. This +seems to be the case because these elements are not solid. The +particles have plenty of room to play about each other, to execute mazy +dances and minuets with vastly more space than substance. + +Extend the thought a little. Things that seem to us most solid are +equally mobile. An iron wire seems solid. It is so; some parts much +more so than others. The surface that has been in closest contact with +the die as the wire was drawn through, reducing its size by one half, +perhaps, is vastly more dense than the inner parts that have not been +so condensed. File away one tenth of a wire, taking it all from the +surface, and you weaken the tensile strength of the wire one half. + +But, dense and solid as this iron is, its particles are as mobile +within certain limits as the particles of air. An electric message +sent through a mile of wire is not anything transmitted; matter is not +transferred, but the particles are set to dancing in wavy motion from +end to end. Particles are leaping within ordered limits and according +to regular laws as really as the clouds swirl and the air trembles into +song through the throat of a singer. When a wire is made sensitive by +electricity the breath of a child can make it vibrate from end to end, +ensouled with the child's laughter or fancies. Nay, more, and far more +wonderful, the wire will be sensitive to the number of vibrations of a +certain note of music, and no receiver at the other end will gather up +its sensitive tremblings unless it is pitched to the keynote of the +vibrations sent. In this way eight sets of vibrations have been sent +on one wire both ways at the same time, and no set of signals has in +any way interfered with the completeness and audibility of the rest. +Sixteen sets of waltzes were being performed at one and the same time +by the particles of one wire without confusion. Because the air is +transmitting the notes of an organ from the loft to the opposite end of +the church, it is not incapable of bringing the sound of a voice in an +opposite direction to the organist from the other end of the church. + +The extreme mobility of steel is seen when the red-hot metal is plunged +into water. Instantly every particle takes a new position, making it a +hundredfold more hard than before it was heated. But these particles +of transferred steel are still mobile. A man's razor does not cut +smoothly. It is dull, or has a ragged edge that is more inclined to +draw tears than cut hairs. He draws the razor over the tender palm of +his hand a few times, rearranges the particles of the edge and builds +them out into a sharper form. Then the razor returns to the lip with +the dainty touch of a kiss instead of a saw. Or the tearful man dips +the razor in hot water and the particles run out to make a wider blade +and, of course, a thinner, sharper edge. Drop the tire of a wagon +wheel into a circular fire. As the heat increases each particle says +to its neighbor, "Please stand a little further off; this more than +July heat is uncomfortable." So the close friends stand a little +further apart, lengthening the tire an inch or two. Then, being taken +out of the fire and put on the wheel and cooled, the particles snuggle +up together again, holding the wheel with a grip of cold iron. Mobile +and loose, with plenty of room to play, as the particles have, neither +wire nor tire loses its tensile strength. They hold together, whether +arms are locked around each other's waist, or hand clasps hand in +farther reach. What change has come to iron when it has been made red +or white hot? Its particles have simply been mobilized. It differs +from cold iron as an army in barracks and forts differs from an army +mobilized. Nothing has been added but movement. There is no caloric +substance. Heat is a mode of motion. The particles of iron have been +made to vibrate among themselves. When the rapidity of movement +reaches four hundred and sixty millions of millions of vibrations per +second it so affects the eye that we say it is red-hot. When other +systems of vibration have been added for yellow, etc., up to seven +hundred and thirty millions of millions for the violet, and all +continue in full play, the eye perceives what we call white heat. It +is a simple illustration of the readiness of seeming solids to vibrate +with almost infinite swiftness. + +I have been to-day in what is to me a kind of heaven below--the +workshop of my much-loved friend, John A. Brashear, in Allegheny, Pa. +He easily makes and measures things to one four-hundred-thousandth of +an inch of accuracy. I put my hand for a few seconds on a great piece +of glass three inches thick. The human heat raised a lump detectable +by his measurements. We were testing a piece of glass half an inch +thick; and five inches in diameter. I put my two thumbnails at the two +sides as it rested on its bed, and could see at once that I had +compressed the glass to a shorter diameter. We twisted it in so many +ways that I said, "That is a piece of glass putty." And yet it was the +firmest texture possible to secure. Great lenses are so sensitive that +one cannot go near them without throwing them discernibly out of shape. +It were easy to show that there is no solid earth nor immovable +mountains. I came away saying to my friend, "I am glad God lets you +into so much of his finest thinking." He is a mechanic, not a +theologian. This foremost man in the world in his fine department was +lately but a "greasy mechanic," an engineer in a rolling mill. + +But for elasticity and mobility nothing approaches the celestial ether. +Its vibrations reach into millions of millions per second, and its +wave-lengths for extreme red light are only .0000266 of an inch long, +and for extreme violet still less--.0000167 of an inch. + +It is easier molding hot iron than cold, mobile things than immobile. +This world has been made elastic, ready to take new forms. New +creations are easy, for man, even--much more so for God. Of angels, +Milton says: + + "Thousands at his bidding speed, + And post o'er land and ocean without rest." + +No less is it true of atoms. In him all things live and move. Such +intense activities could not be without an infinite God immanent in +matter. + + + + +THE NEXT WORLD TO CONQUER + +Man's next realm of conquest is the celestial ether. It has higher +powers, greater intensities, and quicker activities than any realm he +has yet attempted. + +When the emissory or corpuscular theory of light had to be abandoned a +medium for light's interplay between worlds had to be conceived. The +existence of an all-pervasive medium called the luminiferous ether was +launched as a theory. Its reality has been so far demonstrated that +but very few doubters remain. + +What facts of its conditions and powers can be known? It differs +almost totally from our conceptions of matter. Of the eighteen +necessary properties of matter perhaps only one, extension, can be +predicated of it. It is unlimited, all-pervasive; even where worlds +are non-attractive, does not accumulate about suns or other bodies; has +no structure, chemical relations, nor inertia; is not heatable, and is +not cognizable by any of our present senses. Does it not take us one +step toward an apprehension of the revealed condition of spirit? + +Recall its actual activities. Two hundred and fifty-eight vibrations +of air per second produce on the ear the sensation we call _do_, or _C_ +of the soprano scale; five hundred and sixteen give the upper _C_, or +an octave above. So the sound runs up in air till, above, say, +thirty-five thousand vibrations per second, there is plenty of sound +inaudible to our ears. But not inaudible to finer ears. To them the +morning stars sing together in mighty chorus: + + "Forever singing as they shine, + 'The hand that made us is divine.'" + +Electricity has as great a variety of vibrations as sound. Since some +kinds of electricity do not readily pass through space devoid of air, +though light and heat do, it seems likely that some of the lower +intensities and slower vibrations of electricity are not in ether but +in air. Certainly some of the higher intensities are in ether. +Between two hundred and four hundred millions of millions of vibrations +of ether per second are the different sorts of heat. Between four +hundred and eight hundred vibrations are the different colors of light. +Beyond eight hundred vibrations there is plenty of light, invisible to +our eyes, known as chemical rays and probably the Roentgen rays. +Beyond these are there vibrations for thought-transference? Who +knoweth? + +These familiar facts are called up to show the almost infinite +capacities and intensities of the ether. Matter is more forceful, as +it is less dense. Rock is solid, and has little force except obstinate +resistance. Steam is rarer and more forceful. Gases suddenly born of +dynamite touched by fire in the rock under a mountain have the +tremendous pressure of eighty thousand pounds to the square inch. +Ether is so rare that its density, compared with water, is represented +by a decimal fraction with twenty-seven ciphers before it. + +When the worlds navigate this sea, do they plow through it as a ship +through the waves, forcing them aside, or as a sieve letting the water +through it? Doubtless the sieve is the better symbol. Certainly the +vibrations flow through solid glass and most solid diamond. To be +sure, they are a little hampered by the solid substance. The speed of +light is reduced from one hundred and eighty thousand miles a second in +space to one hundred and twenty thousand in glass. If ether can so +readily go through such solids, no wonder that a spirit body could +appear to the disciples, "the doors being shut." + +Marvelous discoveries in the capacities of ether have been made lately. +In 1842 Joseph Henry found that electric waves in the top of his house +provoked action in a wire circuit in the cellar, through two floors and +ceilings, without wire connections. More than twenty years ago +Professor Loomis, of the United States coast survey, telegraphed twenty +miles between mountains by electric impulses sent from kites. Last +year Mr. Preece, the cable being broken, sent, without wires, one +hundred and fifty-six messages between the mainland and the island of +Mull, a distance of four and a half miles. Marconi, an Italian, has +sent recognizable signals through seven or eight thick walls of the +London post-office, and three fourths of a mile through a hill. +Jagadis Chunder Bose, of India, has fired a pistol by an electric +vibration seventy-five feet away and through more than four feet of +masonry. Since brick does not elastically vibrate to such +infinitesimal impulses as electric waves, ether must. It has already +been proven that one can telegraph to a flying train from the overhead +wires. Ether is a far better medium of transmission than iron. A wire +will now carry eight messages each way, at the same time, without +interference. What will not the more facile ether do? + +Such are some of the first vague suggestions of a realm of power and +knowledge not yet explored. They are mere auroral hints of a new dawn. +The full day is yet to shine. + +Like timid children, we have peered into the schoolhouse--afraid of the +unknown master. If we will but enter we shall find that the Master is +our Father, and that he has fitted up this house, out of his own +infinite wisdom, skill, and love, that we may be like him in wisdom and +power as well as in love. + + + + +OUR ENJOYMENT OF NATURE'S FORCES + +We are a fighting race; not because we enjoy fights, but we enjoy the +exercise of force. In early times when we knew of no forces to handle +but our own, and no object to exercise them on but our fellow-men, +there were feuds, tyrannies, wars, and general desolation. In the +Thirty Years' War the population of Germany was starved and murdered +down from sixteen millions to less than five millions. + +But since we have found field, room, and ample verge for the play of +our forces in material realms, and have acquired mastery of the superb +forces of nature, we have come to an era of peace. We can now use our +forces and those of nature with as real a sense of dominion and mastery +on material things, resulting in comfort, as formerly on our +fellow-men, resulting in ruin. We now devote to the conquest of nature +what we once devoted to the conquest of men. There is a fascination in +looking on force and its results. Some men never stand in the presence +of an engine in full play without a feeling of reverence, as if they +stood in the presence of God--and they do. + +The turning to these forces is a characteristic of our age that makes +it an age of adventure and discovery. The heart of equatorial Africa +has been explored, and soon the poles will hold no undiscovered secrets. + +Among the great monuments of power the mountains stand supreme. All +the cohesions, chemical affinities, affections of metals, liquids, and +gases are in full play, and the measureless power of gravitation. And +yet higher forces have chasmed, veined, infiltrated, disintegrated, +molded, bent the rocky strata like sheets of paper, and lifted the +whole mass miles in air as if it were a mere bubble of gas. + +The study of these powers is one of the fascinations of our time. Let +me ask you to enjoy with me several of the greatest manifestations of +force on this world of ours. + + +THE MONTE ROSA + +Many of us in America know little of one of the great subjects of +thought and endeavor in Europe. We are occasionally surprised by +hearing that such a man fell into a crevasse, or that four men were +killed on the Matterhorn, or five on the Lyskamm, and others elsewhere, +and we wonder why they went there. The Alps are a great object of +interest to all Europe. I have now before me a catalogue of 1,478 +works on the Alps for sale by one bookseller. It seems incredible. In +this list are over a dozen volumes describing different ascents of a +single mountain, and that not the most difficult. There are +publications of learned societies on geology, entomology, paleontology, +botany, and one volume of _Philosophical and Religious Walks about Mont +Blanc_. The geology of the Alps is a most perplexing problem. The +summit of the Jungfrau, for example, consists of gneiss granite, but +two masses of Jura limestone have been thrust into it, and their ends +folded over. + +It is the habit, of the Germans especially, to send students into the +Alps with a case for flowers, a net for butterflies, and a box for +bugs. Every rod is a schoolhouse. They speak of the "snow mountains" +with ardent affection. Every Englishman, having no mountains at home, +speaks and feels as if he owned the Alps. He, however, cares less for +their flowers, bugs, and butterflies than for their qualities as a +gymnasium and a measure of his physical ability. The name of every +mountain or pass he has climbed is duly burnt into his Alpenstock, and +the said stock, well burnt over, is his pride in travel and a grand +testimonial of his ability at home. + +There are numerous Alpine clubs in England, France, and Italy. In the +grand exhibition of the nation at Milan the Alpine clubs have one of +the most interesting exhibits. This general interest in the Alps is a +testimony to man's admiration of the grandest work of God within reach, +and to his continued devotion to physical hardihood in the midst of the +enervating influences of civilization. There is one place in the world +devoted by divine decree to pure air. You are obliged to use it. +Toiling up these steeps the breathing quickens fourfold, till every +particle of the blood has been bathed again and again in the perfect +air. Tyndall records that he once staggered out of the murks and +disease of London, fearing that his lifework was done. He crawled out +of the hotel on the Bell Alp and, feeling new life, breasted the +mountain, hour after hour, till every acrid humor had oozed away, and +every part of his body had become so renewed that he was well from that +time. In such a sanitarium, school of every department of knowledge, +training-place for hardihood, and monument of Nature's grandest work, +man does well to be interested. + +You want to ascend these mountains? Come to Zermatt. With a wand ten +miles long you can touch twenty snow-peaks. Europe has but one higher. +Twenty glaciers cling to the mountain sides and send their torrents +into the little green valley. Try yourself on Monte Rosa, more +difficult to ascend than Mont Blanc; try the Matterhorn, vastly more +difficult than either or both. A plumbline dropped from the summit of +Monte Rosa through the mountain would be seven miles from Zermatt. You +first have your feet shod with a preparation of nearly one hundred +double-pointed hobnails driven into the heels and soles. In the +afternoon you go up three thousand one hundred and sixteen feet to the +Riffelhouse. It is equal to going up three hundred flights of stairs +of ten feet each; that is, you go up three hundred stories of your +house--only there are no stairs, and the path is on the outside of the +house. This takes three hours--an hour to each hundred stories; after +the custom of the hotels of this country, you find that you have +reached the first floor. The next day you go up and down the Goerner +Grat, equal to one hundred and seventy more stories, for practice and a +view unequaled in Europe. Ordering the guide to be ready and the +porter to call you at one o'clock, you lie down to dream of the +glorious revelations of the morrow. + +The porter's rap came unexpectedly soon, and in response to the +question, "What is the weather?" he said, "Not utterly bad." There is +plenty of starlight; there had been through the night plenty of live +thunder leaping among the rattling crags, some of it very interestingly +near. We rose; there were three parties ready to make the ascent. The +lightning still glimmered behind the Matterhorn and the Weisshorn, and +the sound of the tumbling cataracts was ominously distinct. Was the +storm over? The guides would give no opinion. It was their interest +to go, it was ours to go only in good weather. By three o'clock I +noticed that the pointer on the aneroid barometer, that instrument that +has a kind of spiritual fineness of feeling, had moved a tenth of an +inch upward. I gave the order to start. The other parties said, "Good +for your pluck! _Bon voyage, gute reise_," and went to bed. In an +hour we had ascended one thousand feet and down again to the glacier. +The sky was brilliant. Hopes were high. The glacier with its vast +medial moraines, shoving along rocks from twenty to fifty feet long, +was crossed in the dawn. The sun rose clear, touching the snow-peaks +with glory, and we shouted victory. But in a moment the sun was +clouded, and so were we. Soon it came out again, and continued clear. +But the guide said, "Only the good God knows if we shall have clear +weather." Men get pious amid perils. I thought of the aneroid, and +felt that the good God had confided his knowledge to one of his +servants. + +Leaving the glacier, we came to the real mountain. Six hours and a +half will put one on the top, but he ought to take eight. I have no +fondness for men who come to the Alps to see how quickly they can do +the ascents. They simply proclaim that their object is not to see and +enjoy, but to boast. We go up the lateral moraine, a huge ridge fifty +feet high, with rocks in it ten feet square turned by the mighty plow +of ice below. We scramble up the rocks of the mountain. Hour after +hour we toil upward. At length we come to the snow-slopes, and are all +four roped together. There are great crevasses, fifty or a hundred +feet deep, with slight bridges of snow over them. If a man drops in +the rest must pull him out. Being heavier than any other man of the +party I thrust a leg through one snow-bridge, but I had just fixed my +ice ax in the firm abutment and was saved the inconvenience and delay +of dangling by a rope in a chasm. The beauty of these cold blue ice +vaults cannot be described. They are often fringed with icicles. In +one place they had formed from an overhanging shelf, reached the +bottom, and then the shelf had melted away, leaving the icicles in an +apparently reversed condition. We passed one place where vast masses +of ice had rolled down from above, and we saw how a breath might start +a new avalanche. We were up in one of nature's grandest workshops. + +How the view widened! How the fleeting cloud and sunshine heightened +the effect in the valley below! The glorious air made us know what the +man meant who every morning thanked God that he was alive. Some have +little occasion to be thankful in that respect. + +Here we learned the use of a guide. Having carefully chosen him, by +testimony of persons having experience, we were to follow him; not only +generally, but step by step. Put each foot in his track. He had +trodden the snow to firmness. But being heavier than he it often gave +way under my pressure. One such slump and recovery takes more strength +than ten regular steps. Not so in following the Guide to the fairer +and greater heights of the next world. He who carried this world and +its burden of sin on his heart trod the quicksands of time into such +firmness that no man walking in his steps, however great his sins, ever +breaks down the track. And just so in that upward way, one fall and +recovery takes more strength than ten rising steps. + +Meanwhile, what of the weather? Uncertainty. Avalanches thundered +from the Breithorn and Lyskamm, telling of a penetrative moisture in +the air. The Matterhorn refused to take in its signal flags of storm. +Still the sun shone clear. We had put in six of the eight hours' work +of ascent when snow began to fall. Soon it was too thick to see far. +We came to a chasm that looked vast in the deception of the storm. It +was only twenty feet wide. Getting round this the storm deepened till +we could scarcely see one another. There was no mountain, no sky. We +halted of necessity. The guide said, "Go back." I said, "Wait." We +waited in wind, hail, and snow till all vestige of the track by which +we had come--our only guide back if the storm continued--was lost +except the holes made by the Alpenstocks. The snow drifted over, and +did not fill these so quickly. + +Not knowing but that the storm might last two days, as is frequently +the case, I reluctantly gave the order to go down. In an hour we got +below the storm. The valley into which we looked was full of brightest +sunshine; the mountain above us looked like a cowled monk. In another +hour the whole sky was perfectly clear. O that I had kept my faith in +my aneroid! Had I held to the faith that started me in the +morning--endured the storm, not wavered at suggestions of peril, defied +apparent knowledge of local guides--and then been able to surmount the +difficulty of the new-fallen snow, I should have been favored with such +a view as is not enjoyed once in ten years; for men cannot go up all +the way in storm, nor soon enough after to get all the benefit of the +cleared air. Better things were prepared for me than I knew; +indications of them offered to my faith; they were firmly grasped, and +held almost long enough for realization, and then let go in an hour of +darkness and storm. + +I reached the Riffelhouse after eleven hours' struggle with rocks and +softened snow, and said to the guide, "To-morrow I start for the +Matterhorn." To do this we go down the three hundred stories to +Zermatt. + +Every mountain excursion I ever made has been in the highest degree +profitable. Even this one, though robbed of its hoped-for culmination, +has been one of the richest I have ever enjoyed. + + + + +THE MATTERHORN + +The Matterhorn is peculiar. I do not know of another mountain like it +on the earth. There are such splintered and precipitous spires on the +moon. How it came to be such I treated of fully in _Sights and +Insights_. It is approximately a three-sided mountain, fourteen +thousand seven hundred and eighteen feet high, whose sides are so steep +as to be unassailable. Approach can be made only along the angle at +the junction of the planes. + +[Illustration: The Matterhorn.] + +It was long supposed to be inaccessible. Assault after assault was +made on it by the best and most ambitious Alp climbers, but it kept its +virgin height untrodden. However, in 1864, seven men, almost +unexpectedly, achieved the victory; but in descending four of them were +precipitated, down an almost perpendicular declivity, four thousand +feet. They had achieved the summit after hundreds of others had +failed. They had reveled in the upper glories, deposited proof of +their visit, and started to return. According to law, they were roped +together. According to custom, in a difficult place all remain still, +holding the rope, except one who carefully moves on. Croz, the first +guide, was reaching up to take the feet of Mr. Haddow and help him down +to where he stood. Suddenly Haddow's strength failed, or he slipped +and struck Croz on the shoulders, knocking him off his narrow footing. +They two immediately jerked off Rev. Mr. Hudson. The three falling +jerked off Lord Francis Douglas. Four were loose and falling; only +three left on the rocks. Just then the rope somehow parted, and all +four dropped that great fraction of a mile. The mountain climber makes +a sad pilgrimage to the graves of three of them in Zermatt; the fourth +probably fell in a crevasse of the glacier at the foot, and may be +brought to the sight of friends in perhaps two score years, when the +river of ice shall have moved down into the valleys where the sun has +power to melt away the ice. This accident gave the mountain a +reputation for danger to which an occasional death on it since has +added. + +Each of these later unfortunate occurrences is attributable to personal +perversity or deficiency. Peril depends more on the man than on +circumstances. One is in danger on a wall twenty feet high, another +safe on a precipice of a thousand feet. No man has a right to peril +his life in mere mountain climbing; that great sacrifice must be +reserved for saving others, or for establishing moral principle. + +The morning after coming from Monte Rosa myself and son left Zermatt at +half past seven for the top of the Matterhorn, twelve hours distant, +under the guidance of Peter Knubel, his brother, and Peter Truffer, +three of the best guides for this work in the country. In an hour the +dwellings of the mountain-loving people are left behind, the tree limit +is passed soon after, the grass cheers us for three hours, when we +enter on the wide desolation of the moraines. Here is a little chapel. +I entered it as reverently and prayed as earnestly for God's will, not +mine, to be done as I ever did in my life, and I am confident that amid +the unutterable grandeur that succeeded I felt his presence and help as +fully as at any other time. + +At ten minutes of two we were roped together and feeling our way +carefully in the cut steps on a glacier so steep that, standing erect, +one could put his hand upon it. We were on this nearly an hour. Just +as we left it for the rocks a great noise above, and a little to the +south, attracted attention. A vast mass of stone had detached itself +from the overhanging cliff at the top, and falling on the steep slope +had broken into a hundred pieces. These went bounding down the side in +long leaps. Wherever one struck a cloud of powdered stone leaped into +the air, till the whole mountain side smoked and thundered with the +grand cannonade. The omen augured to me that the mountain was going to +do its best for our reception and entertainment. Fortunately these +rock avalanches occur on the steep, unapproachable sides, and not at +the angle where men climb. + +How the mountain grew upon us as we clung to its sides! When the great +objects below had changed to littleness the heights above seemed +greater than ever. At half past four we came to a perpendicular height +of twenty feet, with a slight slope above. Down this precipice hung a +rope; there was also an occasional projection of an inch or two of +stone for the mailed foot. At the top, on a little shelf, under +hundreds of feet of overhanging rock, some stones had been built round +and over a little space for passing the night. The rude cabin occupied +all the width of the shelf, so that passing to its other end there was +not room to walk without holding on by one's hands in the crevices of +the wall. We were now at home; had taken nine hours to do what could +be done in eight. What an eyrie in which to sleep! Below us was a +sheer descent, of a thousand or two feet, to the glacier. Above us +towered the crest of the mountain, seemingly higher than ever. The +sharp shadow of the lofty pyramid lengthened toward Monte Rosa. Italy +lifted up its mountains tipped with sunshine to cheer us. The Obernese +Alps, beyond the Rhone, answered with numerous torches to light us to +our sleep. According to prearrangement, at eight o'clock we kindled a +light on our crag to tell our friends in Zermatt that we had +accomplished the first stage of our journey. They answered instantly +with a cheery blaze, and we lay down to sleep. + +When four of us lay together I was so crowded against the wall that I +thought if it should give way I could fall two thousand feet out of bed +without possibility of stopping on the way. The ice was two feet thick +on the floor, and by reason of the scarcity of bedding I was reminded +of the damp, chilly sheets of some unaired guest-chambers. I do not +think I slept a moment, but I passed the night in a most happy, +thoughtful, and exultant frame of mind. + +At half past three in the morning we were roped together--fifteen feet +of rope between each two men--for the final three or four hours' work. +It is everywhere steep; it is every minute hands and feet on the rocks; +sometimes you cling with fingers, elbows, knees, and feet, and are +tempted to add the nose and chin. Where it is least steep the guide's +heels are right in your face; when it is precipitous you only see a +line of rope before you. We make the final pause an hour before the +top. Here every weight and the fear that so easily besets one must be +laid aside. No part of the way has seemed so difficult; not even that +just past--when we rounded a shoulder on the ice for sixty feet, +sometimes not over twenty inches wide, on the verge of a precipice four +thousand feet high. To this day I can see the wrinkled form of that +far-down glacier below, though I took care not to make more than one +glance at it. + +The rocks become smoother and steeper, if possible. A chain or rope +trails from above in four places. You have good hope that it is well +secured, and wish you were lighter, as you go up hand over hand. Then +a beautiful slope for hands, knees, and feet for half an hour, and the +top is reached at half past six. + +The view is sublime. Moses on Pisgah could have had no such vision. +He had knowledge added of the future grandeur of his people, but such a +revelation as this tells so clearly what God can do for his people +hereafter that that element of Moses's enjoyment can be perceived, if +not fully appreciated. All the well-known mountains stand up like +friends to cheer us. Mont Blanc has the smile of the morning sun to +greet us withal. Monte Rosa chides us for not partaking of her +prepared visions. The kingdoms of the world--France, Switzerland, +Italy--are at our feet. One hundred and twenty snow-peaks flame like +huge altar piles in the morning sun. The exhilarant air gives ecstasy +to body, the new visions intensity of feeling to soul. The Old World +has sunk out of sight. This is Mount Zion, the city of God. New +Jerusalem has come down out of heaven adorned as a bride for her +husband. The pavements are like glass mingled with fire. The gates of +the morning are pearl. The walls, near or far according to your +thought, are like jasper and sapphire. The glory of God and of the +Lamb lightens it. + +But we must descend, though it is good to be here. It is even more +difficult and tedious than the ascent. _Non facilis descensus_. With +your face to the mountain you have only the present surface and the +effort for that instant. But when you turn your back on the mountain +the imminent danger appears. It is not merely ahead, but the sides are +much more dangerous. On the way down we had more cannonades. In six +hours we were off the cliffs, and by half past three we had let +ourselves down, inch by inch, to Zermatt, a distance of nine thousand +four hundred feet. + +Looking up to the Matterhorn this next morning after the climb, I feel +for it a personal affection. It has put more pictures of grandeur into +my being than ever entered in such a way before. It is grand enough to +bear acquaintance. People who view it from a distance must be +strangers. It has been, and ever will be, a great example and lofty +monument of my Father's power. He taketh up the isles as a very little +thing; he toucheth the mountains and they smoke. The strength of the +hills is his also; and he has made all things for his children, and +waits to do greater things than these. + + + + +THE GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO RIVER + +Before me lies a thin bit of red rock, rippled as delicately as a +woman's hair, bearing marks of raindrops that came from the south. It +was once soft clay. It was laid down close to the igneous Archaean +rocks when Mother Earth was in her girlhood and water first began to +flow. More clay flowed over, and all was hardened into rock. Many +strata, variously colored and composed, were deposited, till our bit of +beauty was buried thousands of feet deep. The strata were tilted +variously and abraded wondrously, for our earth has been treated very +much as the fair-armed bread-maker treats the lump of dough she doubles +and kneads on the molding board. Other rocks of a much harder nature, +composed in part of the shells of inexpressible multitudes of Ocean's +infusoria, were laid down from the superincumbent sea. Still the +delicate ripple marks were preserved. Nature's vast library was being +formed, and on this scrap of a leaf not a letter was lost. + +Beside this stone now lies another of the purest white. It once flowed +as water impregnated with lime, and clung to the lower side of a rock +now as high above the sea as many a famous mountain. The water +gradually evaporated, and the lime still hung like tiny drops. Between +the two stones now so near together was once a perpendicular distance +of more than a mile of impenetrable rock. How did they ever get +together? Let us see. + +After the rock making, by the deposit of clay, limestone, etc., this +vast plain was lifted seven thousand feet above the sea and rimmed +round with mountains. Perhaps in being afterward volcanically tossed +in one of this old world's spasms an irregular crack ripped its way +along a few hundred miles. Into this crack rushed a great river, +perhaps also an inland ocean or vast Lake Superior, of which Salt Lake +may be a little remnant puddle. These tumultuous waters proceeded to +pulverize, dissolve, and carry away these six thousand feet of rock +deposited between the two stones. There was fall enough to make forty +Niagaras. + +I was once where a deluge of rain had fallen a few days before in a +mountain valley. It tore loose some huge rocks and plunged down a +precipice of one thousand feet. The rock at the bottom was crushed +under the frightful weight of the tumbling superincumbent mass, and +every few minutes the top became the bottom. In one hour millions of +tons of rock were crushed to pebbles and spread for miles over the +plain, filling up a whole village to the roofs of the houses. I knew +three villages utterly destroyed by a rush of water only ten feet deep. +Water and gravitation make a frightful plow. Here some prehistoric +Mississippi turned its mighty furrows. + +The Colorado River is one of our great rivers. It is over two thousand +miles long, reaches from near our northern to beyond our southern +border, and drains three hundred thousand square miles of the west side +of the Rocky Mountains. Great as it remains, it is a mere thread to +what it once was. It is easy to see that there were several epochs of +work. Suppose the first one took off the upper limestone rock to the +depth of several thousand feet. This cutting is of various widths. +Just here it is eighteen miles wide; but as such rocks are of varying +hardness there are many promontories that distinctly project out, say, +half a mile from the general rim line, and rising in the center are +various Catskill and Holyoke mountains, with defiantly perpendicular +sides, that persisted in resisting the mighty rush of waters. The +outer portions of their foundations were cut away by the mighty flood +and, as the ages went by, occasionally the sides thundered into the +chasm, leaving the wall positively perpendicular. + +We may now suppose the ocean waters nearly exhausted and only the +mighty rivers that had made that ocean were left to flow; indeed, the +rising Sierras of some range unknown at the present may have shut off +whole oceans of rain. The rivers that remained began to cut a much +narrower channel into the softer sand and clay-rock below. From the +great mountain-rimmed plateau rivers poured in at the sides, cutting +lateral canons down to the central flow. Between these stand the +little Holyokes aforesaid, with greatly narrowed base. + +I go down with most reverent awe and pick the little ripple-rain-marked +leaf out of its place in the book of nature, a veritable table of stone +written by the finger of God, and bring it up and lay it alongside of +one formed, eons after, at the top. They be brothers both, formed by +the same forces and for the same end. + +Standing by this stupendous work of nature day after day, I try to +stretch my mind to some large computation of the work done. A whole +day is taken to go down the gorge to the river. It takes seven miles +of zigzag trail, sometimes frightfully steep, along shelves not over +two feet wide, under rock thousands of feet above and going down +thousands of feet below, to get down that perpendicular mile. It was +an immense day's work. + +The day was full of perceptions of the grandeur of vast rock masses +never before suggested, except by the mighty mass of the Matterhorn +seen close by from its Hoernli shoulder. + +There was the river--a regular freight train, running day and night, +the track unincumbered with returning cars (they were returned by the +elevated road of the upper air)--burdened with dissolved rock and earth. + +A slip into this river scarcely seemed to wet the foot; it seemed +rather to coat it thickly with mud rescued from its plunge toward the +sea. What unimaginable amounts the larger river must have carried in +uncounted ages! In the short time the Mississippi has been at work it +has built out the land at its mouth one hundred miles into the Gulf. + +In the side canon down which we worked our sublime and toilful way it +was easy to see the work done. Sometimes the fierce torrent would pile +the bottom of a side canon with every variety of stone, from the wall a +mile high, into one tremendous heap of conglomerate. The next rush of +waters would tear a channel through this and pour millions of tons into +the main river. For years Boston toiled, in feeble imitation of +Milton's angels, to bring the Milton Hills into the back Bay and South +Boston Flats. Boston made more land than the city originally +contained, but it did not move a teaspoonful compared with these +excavations. + +The section traversed that day seemed while we were in it like a mighty +chasm, a world half rent asunder, full of vast sublimities, but the +next day, seen from the rim as a part of the mighty whole, it appeared +comparatively little. One gets new meanings of the words almighty, +eternity, infinity, in the presence of things done that seem to require +them all. + +In 1869 Major J. W. Powell, aided by nine men, attempted to pass down +this tumultuous river with four boats specially constructed for the +purpose. In ninety-eight days he had made one thousand miles, much of +it in extremest peril. For weeks there was no possibility of climbing +to the plateau above. + +Any great scene in nature is like the woman you fall in love with at +first sight for some pose of head, queenly carriage, auroral flush of +color, penetrative music of voice, or a glance of soul through its +illumined windows. You do not know much about her, but in long years +of heroic endurance of trials, in the great dignity of motherhood, in +the unspeakable comfortings that are scarcely short of godlike, and in +the supernal, ineffable beauty and loveliness that cover it all, you +find a richness and worth of which the most ardent lover never dreamed. +The first sight of the canon often brings strong men to their knees in +awe and adoration. The gorge at Niagara is one hundred and fifty feet +deep; it is far short of this, which is six thousand six hundred and +forty. Great is the first impression, but in the longer and closer +acquaintance every sense of beauty is flooded to the utmost. + +The next morning I was out before "jocund day stood tiptoe on the +breezy mountain tops." I have seen many sunrises In this world and one +other: I have watched the moon slowly rolling its deep valleys for +weeks into its morning sunlight. I knew what to expect. But nature +always surpasses expectations. The sinuosities of the rim sent back +their various colors. A hundred domes and spires, wind sculptured and +water sculptured, reached up like Memnon to catch the first light of +the sun, and seemed to me to break out into Memnonian music. As the +world rolled the steady light penetrated deeper, shadows diminished, +light spaces broadened and multiplied, till it seemed as if a new +creation were veritably going forward and a new "Let there be light" +had been uttered. I had seen it for the first time the night before in +the mellow light of a nearly full moon, but the sunlight really seemed +to make, in respect to breadth, depth, and definiteness, a new creation. + +One peculiar effect I never noticed elsewhere. It is well known that +the blue sky is not blue and there is no sky. Blue is the color of the +atmosphere, and when seen in the miles deep overhead, or condensed in a +jar, it shows its own true color. So, looking into this inconceivable +canon, the true color came out most beauteously. There was a +background of red and yellowish rocks. These made the cold blue blush +with warm color. The sapphire was backed with sardonyx, and the bluish +white of the chalcedony was half pellucid to the gold chrysolite behind +it. God was laying the foundation of his perfect city there, and the +light of it seemed fit for the redeemed to walk in, and to have been +made by the luminousness of Him who is light. + +One great purpose of this world is its use as significant symbol and +hint of the world to come. The communication of ideas and feelings +there is not by slow, clumsy speech, often misunderstood, originally +made to express low physical wants, but it is by charade, panorama, +parable, and music rolling like the voice of many waters in a storm. +The greatest things and relations of earth are as hintful of greater +things as a bit of float ore in the plains is suggestive of boundless +mines in the upper hills. So the joy of finding one lost lamb in the +wilderness tells of the joy of finding and saving a human soul. One +should never go to any of God's great wonders to see sights, but to +live life; to read in them the figures, symbols, and types of the more +wonderful things in the new heavens and the new earth. + +The old Hebrew prophets and poets saw God everywhere in nature. The +floods clap their hands and the hills are joyful together before the +Lord. Miss Proctor, in the Yosemite, caught the same lofty spirit, and +sang: + + "Perpetual masses here intone, + Uncounted censers swing, + A psalm on every breeze is blown; + The echoing peaks from throne to throne + Greet the indwelling King; + The Lord, the Lord is everywhere, + And seraph-tongued are earth and air." + + + + +THE YELLOWSTONE PARK GEYSERS + + +THEIR ESSENTIAL FACTS AND CAUSES + +I have been to school. Dame Nature is a most kind and skillful +teacher. She first put me into the ABC class, and advanced me through +conic sections. The first thing in the geyser line she showed me was a +mound of rock, large as a small cock of hay, with a projection on top +large as a shallow pint bowl turned upside down. In the center of this +was a half-inch hole, and from it every two seconds, with a musical +chuckle of steam, a handful of diamond drops of water was ejected to a +height of from two to five feet. I sat down with it half an hour, +compelled to continuous laughter by its own musical cachinnations. +There were all the essentials of a geyser. There was a mound, not +always existent, built up by deposits from the water supersaturated +with mineral. It might be three feet high; it might be thirty. There +was the jet of water ejected by subterranean forces. It might be half +an inch in diameter; it might be three hundred feet, as in the case of +the Excelsior geyser. It might rise six inches; it might rise two +hundred and fifty feet. There was the interval between the jets. It +might be two seconds; it might be weeks or years. + +[Illustration: Formation of the Grotto Geyser.] + +A subsequent lesson in my Progressive Geyser Reader was the "Economic." +Here was a round basin ten feet in diameter, very shallow, with a hole +in the middle about one foot across. The water was perfectly calm. +But every six minutes a sudden spurt of water and steam would rise +about thirty feet, for thirty seconds, and then settle economically, +without waste of water, into the pool, sinking with pulsations as on an +elastic cushion a foot below the bottom of the pool. One could stride +the opening like a colossus for five and one half minutes without fear. +He might be using the calm depth for a mirror. But stay a moment too +long and he is scalded to death by the sudden outburst. + +The next lesson required more patience and gave more abundant reward. +I found a great raised platform on which stood a castellated rock, more +than twenty feet square, that had been built up particle by particle +into a perfect solid by deposits from the fiery flood. In the center +was a brilliant orange-colored throat that went down into the bowels of +the earth. That was not the geyser--it was only the trump through +which the archangel was to blow. I had heard the preliminary tuning of +the instrument. + +The guide book said the grand play of this "Castle" geyser began from +eight to thirty hours after a previous exhibition, and was preceded by +jets of water fifteen to twenty feet high, and that these continued +five or six hours before the grand eruption. I hovered near the grand +stand till the full thirty hours and the six predictive hours were +over, and then, as the thunder above roared threateningly and the rain +fell suggestively, I took a rubber coat and camped on the trail of that +famous spouter. + +Geysers are more than a trifle freaky. "Old Faithful" is a notable +exception. Every sixty-five minutes, with almost the regularity of +star time, he throws his column of hissing water one hundred and fifty +feet high. Others are irregular, sometimes playing every three hours +for a few times, and then taking a rest for three or more days. This +Castle geyser is not registered to be quiet more than thirty hours, nor +to indulge in preparatory spouts for more than six hours. When I +finally camped to watch it out all these premonitory symptoms had been +duly exhibited. I first carefully noted the frequency and height of +the spouts, that any change might foretell the grand finale. There +were ten spouts to the minute, and an average height of twenty feet. +Hours went by with no hint of a change: ten to the minute, twenty feet +in height. People by the dozen came and asked when it would go off. I +said, "Liable to go any minute; it is long past due now." Stage loads +of tourists, scheduled to run on time, drove up, waited a few minutes, +and drove on, as if the grand object of the trip was to make time--not +to see the grandeur they had come a thousand miles to enjoy. A +photographer set up his camera to catch a shadow of the great display. +He stood, sometimes air-bulb in hand, an hour or two, then folded his +camera tent and stole away. Five hours had passed and night was near. +Everybody was gone. I lay down on the ground to convince myself that I +was perfectly patient. I attained so nearly to Nirvana that a little +ground squirrel came and ran over me, kissing my hand in a most +friendly way. + +Six hours of waiting were nearly over when, without a single previous +hint of change, one descending spout was met by an ascending one, and a +vast column of hissing water rose, with a sound of continuous thunder, +one hundred feet in air; and stood there like a pillar of cloud in the +desert. The air throbbed as in a cannonade, and the sun brushed away +all clouds as if he could not bear to miss a sight he had seen perhaps +a million times. Then the top of this upward Niagara bent over like +the calyx of a calla, and the downward Niagara covered all that +elevated masonry with a rushing cascade. Shifting my position a +little, I could see that the sun was thrilling the whole glorious +outpour with rainbows. At such times one can neither measure nor +express emotions by words. In the thunder which anyone can hear there +is always, for all who can receive it, the ineffably sweet voice of the +Father saying, "Thou art my beloved son, and all this grand display is +for thy precious sake." + +In sixteen minutes the flow of waters ceased, and a rush of saturated +steam succeeded. At the same time the fierce swish of ascending waters +and of descending cascades ceased, and a clear, definite note, as of a +trumpet, exceeding long and loud, was blown. No archangel could have +done better. As the steam rolled skyward it was condensed, and a very +heavy rain fell on about an acre at the east as it was drifted by the +air. It looked more like lines of water than separated drops. I found +it thoroughly cooled by its flight in the upper air. + +I climbed the huge natural masonry, and stood on the top. I could have +put my hand into the hot rushing of measureless power. What a sight it +was! There were the brilliant colors of the throat, open, three feet +wide, and the dazzling whiteness of the steam. At thirty-two minutes +from the beginning the steam suddenly became drier, like that close to +the spout of a kettle, or close to the whistle of an engine. All pure +steam is invisible. At the same time the note of the trumpet +distinctly changed. The heavy rain at the east as suddenly stopped. +The air could absorb the present amount of moisture. One could see +farther down the terrible throat that seemed about to be rent asunder. +The awful grandeur was becoming too much for human endurance. The +contorted forms of rocks on the summit began to take the forms and +heads of dragons, such as the Chinese carve on their monuments. The +awful column began to change its effect from terror to fascination, and +I knew how Empedocles felt when he flung himself into the burning +Aetna. It was time to get down and stand further off. + +[Illustration: Bee-Hive Geyser.] + +The long waiting had been rewarded. "To patient faith the prize is +sure." The grand tumult began to subside. It was beyond all my +expectations. Nature never disappoints, for she is of God and in her +he yet immanently abides. The next day the sky and all the air were +full of falling rain. How could it be otherwise? It was the geyser +returning to earth. I sought the place. The awful trumpet was silent, +and the steam exhaled as gently as a sleeping baby's breath. + +Only one more lesson will be recited at present. I had just arrived in +camp when they told me that the Splendid geyser, after two days of +quiet, was showing signs of uneasiness. I immediately went out to +study my lesson. There was a little hill of very gentle slopes, a +little pool at the top, three holes at the west side of it, with a +dozen sputtering hot springs scattered about, while in a direct line at +the east, within one hundred and forty feet, were the Comet, the Daisy, +and another geyser. The Daisy was a beauty, playing forty feet high +every two or four hours. All the slopes were constantly flowing with +hot water. This general survey was no sooner taken than our glorious +Splendid began to play. The roaring column, tinted with the sunset +glories, gradually climbed to a height of two hundred feet, leaned a +little to the southeast, and bent like a glorious arch of triumph to +the earth, almost as solid on its descending as on its ascending side. +No wonder it is named "Splendid." + +Whoever has studied waterfalls of great height--I have seen nearly +forty justly famous falls--has noticed that when a column or mass of +water makes the fearful plunge smaller masses of water are constantly +feathered off at the sides and delayed by the resistance of the air, +while the central mass hurries downward by its concentrated weight. +The general appearance is that of numerous spearheads with serrated +edges, feathered with light, thrust from some celestial armory into the +writhing pool of agonized waters below. In the geyser one gets this +effect both in the ascending and in the descending flood. + +Four times that first night dear old Splendid lured me from my bed to +watch her Titanic play in the full light of the moon. During all this +time not a hot spring ceased its boiling, nor a smaller geyser its +wondrous play, for this gigantic outburst of power that might well have +absorbed every energy for a mile around. Obviously they have no +connection. Then my beloved Splendid settled into a three-days' rest. + +These are the essential facts of geyser display. There are very many +variations of performance in every respect, I have seen over twenty +geysers in almost jocular, and certainly in overwhelmingly magnificent, +activity. + + "To him who in the love of nature holds + Communion with her visible forms, she speaks + A various language." + + +WHAT ARE THE CAUSES? + +What is the power that can throw a stream of water two by six feet over +the tops of the highest skyscrapers of Chicago? It is heat manifested +in the expansive power of steam. Scientists have theorized long and +experimented patiently to read the open book of this tremendous +manifestation of uncontrollable energy. At first the form and action +of a teakettle was supposed to be explanatory. Everyone knows that +when steam accumulates under the lid it forces a gentle stream of water +from the higher nozzle. This fact was made the basis of a theory to +account for geysers by Sir George Mackenzie in 1811. But to suppose +that nature has gone into the teakettle manufacturing business to the +extent of thirty such kettles in a space of four square miles was seen +to be preposterous. So the construction theory was given up. + +But suppose a tube (how it is made will be explained later), large or +small, regular or irregular, to extend far into the earth, near or +through any great source of heat resulting from condensation, +combustion, chemical action, or central fire. Now suppose this tube to +be filled with water from surface or subterranean sources. Heat +converts water, under the pressure of one atmosphere, or fifteen pounds +to the square inch, into steam at a temperature of two hundred and +twelve degrees. But under greater pressure more heat is required to +make steam. The water never leaps and bubbles in an engine boiler. +The awful pressure compels it to be quiet. A cubic inch of water will +make a cubic foot--one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight times as +much--of steam under the pressure of one atmosphere. But under the +pressure of a column of water one thousand feet high, giving a pressure +of four hundred and thirty-two pounds to the square inch at the bottom, +water becomes steam, if at all, only by great heat. Every engineer +knows that the pressure exerted by steam increases by great geometrical +ratios as the heat increases by small arithmetical ratios. Steam made +by two hundred and twelve degrees exerts a pressure, as we have said, +of fifteen pounds. + +To simply double the two hundred and twelve degrees of heat increases +the steam pressure twenty-three times. + +Now suppose the subterranean tube or lake of Old Faithful to be freshly +filled with its million gallons of water. Sufficient heat makes steam +under any pressure. It rises up the tube and is condensed to water +again by the colder water above. Hence no commotion. But the whole +volume of water grows hotter for an hour. When it is too hot to absorb +the steam, and the tube is too narrow to let the amount made bubble up +through the water, it lifts the whole mass with a sudden jerk. The +instant the pressure of the water is taken off in any degree, the water +below, that was kept water by the pressure, breaks into steam most +voluminously, and the measureless power floods the earth and sky with +water and steam. + +It is also known that superheated steam suddenly takes on such great +power that no boiler can hold it. Once let the water in a boiler get +very low and no boiler can hold the force of the resultant superheated +steam. The same heat that, applied to water, gives perfect safety, +applied to steam gives utter destruction. Hence the amazing force of +the vast jets of the geyser that follow the first spurts. + +As soon as the steam is blown off the subterranean waterworks fill the +tube and the process is repeated. + +This modus operandi was first proposed as a theory by Bunsen in 1846, +and later was demonstrated by the artificial geyser of Professor J. H. +J. Muller, of Freiburg. + +[Illustration: Pulpit Terrace and Bunsen Peak.] + + +MOUNDS OF MINERAL DEPOSITS + +I have the extremely difficult task of representing emotions by +words--glories of color and form seen by the eye by symbols meant to be +addressed to the ear. Before seeking to describe the diverse colors +made largely by one substance, let us remember that while silica, the +principal part of these water-built mounds, is one of the three parts +of granite, namely, the white crystal quartz, it is also the substance +of the beautifully variegated jasper, the lapis lazuli, the green +malachite, and the opal, with its cloudy milk-whiteness through which +flashes its heart of fire. Silica and alumina combine to make common +clay, but alumina forms itself into the red ruby, the golden-tinted +topaz, the violet oriental amethyst, the red, white, yellow, and violet +sapphire, and the beautiful green emerald. With substances of such +rare capabilities we may expect rich results in color and form. + +We turn now to deposits from water of these two substances, especially +the first. About the Old Faithful geyser is a mound about one hundred +and forty-five feet broad at the base, twelve feet high, jeweled over +with pools of beauty of every shape, beaded and fretted with glories of +color never seen before except in the sky. How were they made? + +Water is a general solvent. It can take into its substance several +similar bulks of other substances without greatly increasing its own, +some actually diminishing it. Hot alkaline water will dissolve even +silica rock. When water is saturated with sugar, salt, or other +substance, if a little or much water is evaporated some of the +saturating substance must be deposited as a solid. All crystals, as +quartz or diamonds, have been made by deposits from water. Hot water +can hold in solution much more of a solid than cold water. Therefore, +when hot water comes out of the earth and is cooled, some of the +saturating substance must be deposited as a solid. It is done in +various ways, especially two. + +Suppose a little pool with perpendicular sides, say twenty feet across. +It leaps and boils two feet high. It deposits nothing till the water +comes to the cooling edge. Then it builds up a wall where it +overflows, and wherever it flows it builds. The result is that you +walk up the gentle slopes of a broad flat cone, and find the little +lakelet in a gorgeous setting, perfectly full at every point of the +circumference. If there is but little overflow, the result may be to +deposit all the matter where it first cools, and make a perpendicular +wall around the cup two or ten feet high. If the overflow is too much +to be cooled at once, the deposit may still be made fifty or one +hundred feet from the point of issue. If the overflow is sufficient, +it may be building up every inch of a vast cone at once, every foot +being wet. + +[Illustration: The Punch Bowl, Yellowstone Geysers.] + +Many minerals are held in solution and are deposited at various stages +of evaporation. Let us suppose the lake to have the bottom sloping +toward the abysmal center; the different minerals will be assorted as +if with a sieve. At the Sunlight Basin the edge is as flaming red as +one ever sees in the sunlit sky. And every color ever seen in a sunset +flames almost as brilliantly in the varying depths. Suppose a low cone +to be flooded only occasionally, as in the case of the Old Faithful +geyser. The cooled water falling from the upper air builds up, under +the terrible drench of the cataract, walls three or four inches high, +making pools of every conceivable shape, a few inches deep, in which +are the most exquisite and varied colors ever seen by mortal eye. You +walk about on these dividing walls and gaze into the beaded and +impearled pools of a hundred shades of different colors, never equaled +except by that perpetual glory of the sunset. + +Consider the case of a pool that does not overflow. Just as lakes that +have no outlet must grow more and more salt till some have become solid +salt beds, so must this pool, tossing its hot waves two or three feet +high, evaporate its water and deposit its solids. Where? First, +against the cooler sides of the rock under the water, tending to reduce +the opening to a mere throat. Second, each wavelet tossed in air is +cooled, and deposits on the edge, solid as quartz, a crust that +overhangs the pool and tends to close it over as with hot ice. It may +build thus a mound fifteen feet high with an open throat in the middle. +Thus the pool has constructed an intermittent geyser. If the water +supply continues, it also destroys itself. The throat closes up by its +own deposits. It is a case of geyseral membranous croup. + +I exceedingly longed to try vivisection on a geyser, or at least take +one of half a hundred, drain it off, and make a post-mortem +examination. On my very last day I found opportunity. I found a dead +geyser, though not by any means yet cold. It was still so hot that +people had given it an infernal name. I squeezed myself down through +its hot throat, which seemed a veritable open sepulcher, and found a +cave about twenty-five feet deep, twelve feet wide, and about sixty +feet long. It was elliptical in form, the sides coming together at a +sharp angle at the ends, bottom, and top. The way down to the fiery +heart of the earth had simply grown up by deposits of silex on the +sides and at the bottom. The water had evaporated by the intense heat, +and I was in the hot hollow that had once held an earthquake and +volcano. When I squeezed up to the blessed upper air I was glad there +was no help from below. + +I could tell of mounds that grew so fast as to inclose the limbs of a +tree, making the firmest kind of a ladder by which I climbed to the +top; of floods that overflowed acres of forest, leaving every tree +firmly planted in solid rock; of mounds hundreds of feet high, covering +twenty acres with forms of indescribable beauty--but I despair. The +half has not been told. It cannot be. Great and marvelous are all Thy +works, Lord God Almighty! In wisdom hast Thou made them all. + +Emerson says: "Whilst common sense looks at things or visible nature as +real and final facts, poetry, or the imagination which dictates it, is +a second sight, looking through these, and using them as types or words +for thoughts which they signify." Using these faculties and not mere +eyesight, one must surely say: "Since this world, in power, fineness, +finish, beauty, and adaptations not only surpasses our accomplishment, +but also is past our finding out to its perfection, it must have been +made by One stronger, finer, and wiser than we are." + + + + +SEA SCULPTURE* + +*Reprinted from _The Chautauquan_. + + +When the Russians charged on the Grivitza redoubt at Plevna they first +launched one column of men that they knew would be all shot down long +before they could reach it. But they made a cloud of smoke under the +cover of which a second column was launched. They would all be shot +down. But they carried the covering cloud so far that a third column +broke out of it and successfully carried the redoubt. They carried it, +but ten thousand men lay on the death-smitten slope. + +So the great ocean sends eight or ten thousand columns a day to charge +with flying banners of spray on the rocky ramparts of the shore at +Santa Cruz, California. + +There are not many things in the material world more sublime than a +thousand miles of crested waves rushing with terrible might against the +rocky shore. While they are yet some distance from the land a small +boat can ride their foaming billows, but as they approach the shallower +places they seem to take on sudden rage and irresistible force. Those +roaring waves rear up two or three times as high. They have great +perpendicular fronts down which Niagaras are pouring. The spray flies +from their tops like the mane of a thousand wild horses charging in the +wind. No ship can hold anchor in the breakers. They may dare a +thousand storms outside, but once let them fall into the clutch of this +resistless power and they are doomed. The waves seem frantic with +rage, resistless in force; they rush with fury, smite the cliffs with +thunder, and are flung fifty feet into the air; with what effect on the +rocks we will try to relate. + +[Illustration: "The Breakers," Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +No. 1 of our illustrations shows "The Breakers," a two-story house of +that name where hospitality, grace, and beauty abide; where hundreds of +roses bloom in a day, and where flowers, prodigal as creative +processes, abound. The breakers from which the house is named are not +seen in the picture. When the wind has been blowing hard, maybe one +hundred miles out at sea, they come racing in from the point, +feather-crested, a dozen at once, to show how rolls the far Wairoa at +some other world's end. All these pictures are taken in the calm +weather, or there would be little seen besides the great leaps of +spray, often fifty feet high. At the bottom of the cliff appear the +nodules and bowlders that were too hard to be bitten into dust and have +fallen out of the cliff, which is fifty feet high, as the sea eats it +away. Some of these are sculptured into the likeness effaces and +figures, solemn and grotesque. It is easy to find Pharaoh, Cleopatra, +Tantalus, represented here. + +This house is at the beginning of the famous Cliff Drive that rounds +the lighthouse at the point and stretches away for miles above the +ever-changing, now beautiful, now sublime, and always great Pacific, +that rolls its six thousand miles of billows toward us from Hong Kong. +Occasionally the road must be set back, and once the lighthouse was +moved back from the cliffs, eaten away by the edacious tooth of the sea. + +As Emerson says, "I never count the hours I spend in wandering by the +sea; like God it useth me." There is a wideness like his mercy, a +power like his omnipotence, a persistence like his patience, a length +of work like his eternity. + +The rocks of Santa Cruz, as in many other places, were laid in regular +order, like the leaves of a book on its side. But by various forces +they have been crumbled, some torn out, and in many places piled +together. These layers, beginning at the bottom, are as follows; (1) +igneous granite, unstratified; (2) limestone laid down from life in the +ocean, metamorphosed by heat and all fossils thereby destroyed; (3) +limestone highly crystallized, composed of fossil shells and very hard; +(4) sandstone, made under the sea from previous rock powdered, having +huge concretionary masses with a shell or a pebble as a nucleus around +which the concretion has taken place; (5) shale from the sea also; (6) +conglomerate, or drift, deposited by ice in the famous glacial cold +snap; (7) alluvium soil deposited in fresh water and composed partly of +organic matter. In our second illustration some of these layers, or +strata, may be distinguished. + +[Illustration: The Work and the Worker, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +When the awful blows of the sea smite the rock, if it finds a place +less hard than others, it wears into it a slight depression, after half +a hundred thousand strokes, more or less, and ever after, as the years +go by, it drives its wedges home in that place. A shallow cave +results. Then the waters converge on the sides of the cave and meet +with awful force in the middle. Thus a tunnel is excavated, like a +drift in a mine, each wave making the tremendous charge and the +reflowing surges bringing away all the detritus. This tunnel may be +driven or excavated two hundred feet inland, under the shore. At each +inrush of the wave the air is terribly condensed before it. It seeks +outlet. And so it happens that the air is driven up through some crack +in the rock and the superincumbent earth, one or two hundred feet from +the shore, and a great hole appears in the ground from twenty to +seventy feet deep. Then the water spouts fiercely up and returning +carries back the earth and broken rock into the sea. + +No. 3 of the illustrations here given represents such a great +excavation one hundred feet back from the shore. It is one hundred and +fifty feet long by ninety wide and over fifty feet deep. All the +material had been carried out to sea by the refluent wave. On the +natural bridge seen in front the great crowd in Broadway, New York, +might pass or a troop of cavalry could be maneuvered. Through the arch +a ship with masts thirty feet high might enter at high tide. Through +the abutment of the arch where the afternoon sun pours its brightness +the waves have cut other arches not visible in the picture. When the +arches become too many or too wide the natural bridge will fall and be +carried out to sea like many another. + +[Illustration: A Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +But what does the sea do with the harder parts of the cliff? Its waves +wear away the rock on each side and leave one or more long fingers +reaching out into the sea. The wear and tear on such a projection is +immense. A strong swimmer may play with the breakers away from the +cliff. At exactly the right moment he may dive headlong through the +pearly green Niagara that has not yet fallen quite to his head and may +sport in the comparatively quiet water beyond, while the wild ruin +falls with a sound of thunder on the beach. But let him once be caught +and dashed against the rocks and there is no more life or wholeness of +bones within him. + +In the swirl of converging currents between two rocky projections, as +the coarse sand and gravel is surged around a few hundred thousand +times, there is a great tendency to wear through the wall of the +projecting finger. It is often done. Illustration No. 4 shows at low +tide such a projection cut through. Since the picture was taken the +bridge has fallen, the detritus been carted away by the waves, and the +pier stands lonely in the sea. + +[Illustration: An Excavated Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +No. 5 shows one bridge exceedingly frail and another more substantial +nearer the famous Cliff Drive. I go to the frail one every year with +anxiety lest I shall find it has been carried away. How I wish I could +show my readers the delicate sculpture and carving further back, nearer +yet to the drive. But note the various strata, the rocks worn to a +point as even the milder waves run over them; note the cracks that tell +of the awful push and stress of the titanic struggle. + +[Illustration: A Double Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +Illustration No. 6 shows three such under-hewn arches. The long +projection of rock is so curved as to prevent the arches being fully +seen in any one view. I have waded and swam through these rocky +vistas, and there, where any more than moderate waves would have +mangled me against the tusks of the cruel rocks, I have found little +specimens of aquatic life by the millions, clinging fast to the rocks +that were home to them and protecting themselves by taking lime out of +the water and building such a solid wall of shell that no fierceness of +the wildest storm could work them harm. All these seek their food from +Him who feeds all life, and he heaves the ocean up to their mouths that +they may drink. + +[Illustration: A Triple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +No. 7 shows what has been a quadruple arch, only one part of which is +still standing. Out in the sea, lonely and by itself, appears a pier, +scarcely emergent from the waves, which once supported an arch parallel +to the one now standing and also one at right angles to the shore. The +one now standing makes the fourth. But the ever-working sea carves and +carries away arch and shore alike. At some points a careful and even +admiring observer sees little change for years, but the remorseless +tooth gnaws on unceasingly. + +[Illustration: Remains of a Quadruple Natural Arch, Santa Cruz, Cal.] + +On the right near the point is seen a board sign. It says here, as in +many other places, "Danger." Sometimes two converging waves meet at +the land, rise unexpectedly, sweep over the point irresistibly, and +carry away anyone who stands there. One large and two small shreds of +skin now gone from the palm of my left hand give proof of an experience +there that did not result quite so disastrously. + +The illustration facing page 188 is another example of an arch cut +through the rocky barrier of the shore. But in this case the trend of +the less hard rock was at such an angle to the shore that the sea broke +into the channel once more, and then the combined waves from the two +entrances forced the passage one hundred and forty paces inland. It +terminates in another natural bridge and deep excavation beyond, which +are not shown in the picture. + +[Illustration: Arch Remains Side Wall Broken, Santa Clara, Cal.] + +What becomes of this comminuted rock, cleft by wedges of water, scoured +over by hundreds of tons of sharp sand? It is carried out by gentle +undercurrents into the bay and ocean, and laid down where winds never +blow nor waves ever beat, as gently as dust falls through the summer +air. It incloses fossils of the plant and animal life of to-day. +There rest in nature's own sepulcher the skeletons of sharks and whales +of to-day and possibly of man. Sometime, if the depths become heights, +as they have in a thousand places in the past, a fit intelligence may +read therein much of the present history of the world. We say to that +coming age, as a past age has said to us, "Speak to the earth and it +shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." + + + + +THE POWER OF VEGETABLE LIFE + +I have a great variety of little masses of matter--some small as a +pin's blunt point, and none of them bigger than a pin's head. They are +smooth, glossy, hard, exceedingly beautiful under the microscope, and +clearly distinguishable one from another. They have such intense +individuality, are so self-assertive, that by no process can those of +one kind be made to look or act like those of another. These little +masses of matter are centers of incredible power. They are seeds. + +Select two for examination, and, unfolding, one becomes grass--soft, +succulent, a carpet for dainty feet, a rest for weary eyes, part food, +but mostly drink, for hungry beasts. It exhausts all its energy +quickly. Grass today is, and to-morrow is cut down and withered, ready +for the oven. + +Try the other seed. It is of the pin head size. It is dark brown, +hard-shelled, dry, of resinous smell to nostrils sensitive as a bird's. +The bird drops it in the soil, where the dews fall and where the sun +kisses the sleeping princesses into life. + +Now the latent powers of that little center of force begin to play. +They first open the hard shell from the inside, then build out an arm +white and tender as a nerve fiber, but which shall become great and +tough as an oak. This arm shuns the light and goes down into the dark +ground, pushing aside the pebbles and earth. Soon after the seed +thrusts out of the same crevice another arm that has an instinct to go +upward to the light. Neither of these arms is yet solid and strong. +They are beyond expression tender, delicate, and porous, but the one is +to become great roots that reach all over an acre, and the other one of +California's big trees, thirty feet in diameter and four hundred feet +high. + +How is it to be done? By powers latent in the seed developing and +expanding for a thousand years. What a power it must be! + +First, it is a power of selection--might we not say discrimination? +That little seed can never by any power of persuasion or environment be +made to produce grass or any other kind of a tree, as manzanita, mango, +banyan, catalpa, etc., but simply and only _sequoia gigantea_. + +There are hundreds of shapes and kinds of leaves with names it gives +one a headache to remember. But this seed never makes a single +mistake. It produces millions of leaves, but every one is +awl-shaped--subulate. Woods have many odors--sickening, aromatic, +balsamic, medicinal. We go to the other side of the world to bring the +odor of sandal or camphor to our nostrils. But amid so many odors our +seed will make but one. It is resinous, like some of those odors the +Lord enjoyed when they bathed with their delicious fragrance the cruel +saw that cut their substance, and atmosphered with new delights the one +who destroyed their life. The big tree, with subtle chemistry no man +can imitate, always makes its fragrance with unerring exactness. + +[Illustration: The Big Trees.] + +There are thousands of seeds finished with a perfectness and beauty we +are hardly acute enough to discover. The microscopist revels in the +forms of the dainty scales of its armor and the opalescent tints of its +color. The sunset is not more delicate and exquisite. But the big +tree never makes but one kind of seed, and leaves no one of its +thousands unfinished. + +The same is true of bark, grain of wood, method of putting out limbs, +outline of the mass, reach of roots, and every other peculiarity. It +discriminates. + +But how does it build itself? Myriads of rootlets search the +surrounding country for elements it needs for making bark, wood, leaf, +flower, and seed. They often find what they want in other +organizations or other chemical compounds. But with a power of +analytical chemistry they separate what they want and appropriate it to +their majestic growths. But how is material conveyed from rootlet to +veinlet of leaf hundreds of feet away? The great tree is more full of +channels of communication than Venice or Stockholm is of canals, and it +is along these watery ways of commerce that the material is conveyed. +These channels are a succession of cells that act like locks, set for +the perpendicular elevation of the freight. The tiny boats run day and +night in the season, and though it is dark within, and though there are +a thousand piers, no freight that starts underground for a leaf is ever +landed on the way for bark or woody fiber. Freight never goes astray, +nor are express packages miscarried. What starts for bark, leaf, +fiber, seed, is deposited as bark, leaf, fiber, seed, and nothing else. +There are hundreds of miles of canals, but every boat knows where to +land its unmarked freight. Curious as is this work underground, that +in the upper air is more so. The tree builds most of its solid +substance from the mobile and tenuous air. Trees are largely condensed +air. By the magic chemistry of the sunshine and vegetable life the +tree breathes through its myriad leaves and extracts carbon to be built +into wood. Had we the same power to extract fuel from the air we need +not dig for coal. + +In doing this work the power of life in the tree has to overcome many +other kinds of force. There is the power of cohesion. How it holds +the particles of stone or iron together! You can hardly break its +force with a great sledge. But the power of life in the tree, or even +grass, must master the power of cohesion and take out of the +disintegrating rock what it wants. So it must overcome the power of +chemical affinity in water and air. The substances it wants are in +other combinations, the power of which must be overcome. + +Gravitation is a great power, but the thousand tons of this tree's vast +weight must be lifted and sustained in defiance of it. So for a +thousand years gravitation sees the tree rise higher and higher, till +the great lesson is taught that it is a weakling compared with the +power of life. There is not a place where one can put his finger that +there are not a dozen forces in full play, every one of which is +plastic, elastic, and ready to yield to any force that is higher. So +the tree stands, not mere lumber and cordwood, or an obstacle to be +gotten rid of by fire, but an embodiment of life unexhausted for a +thousand years. The fairy-fingered breeze plays through its myriad +harp strings. It makes wide miles of air aromatic. Animal life feeds +on the quintessence of life in its seeds. But most of all it is an +object lesson that power triumphs over lesser power, and that the +highest power has dominion over all other power. + +The great power of vegetable life was shown under circumstances that +seemed the least favorable in the following experiment: + +In the Agricultural College at Amherst, Mass., a squash of the yellow +Chili variety was put in harness in 1874 to see how much it would lift +by its power of growth. + +[Illustration: Yellow Chili Squash in Harness.] + +It was not an oak or mahogany tree, but a soft, pulpy, squashy squash +that one could poke his finger into, nourished through a soft, +succulent vine that one could mash between finger and thumb. A good +idea of the harness is given by the illustration. The squash was +confined in an open harness of iron and wood, and the amount lifted was +indicated by weights on the lever over the top. There were, including +seventy nodal roots, more than eighty thousand feet of roots and +rootlets. These roots increased one thousand feet in twenty-four +hours. They were afforded every advantage by being grown in a hot bed. +On August 21 it lifted sixty pounds. By September 30 it lifted a ton. +On October 24 it carried over two tons. The squash grew gnarled like +an oak, and its substance was almost as compact as mahogany. Its inner +cavity was very small, but it perfectly elaborated its seeds, as usual. + +The lever to indicate the weight had to be changed for stronger ones +from time to time. More weights were sought. They scurried through +the town and got an anvil and pieces of railroad iron and hung them at +varying distances, as shown in the cut. By the 31st of October it was +carrying a weight of five thousand pounds. Then owing to defects of +the new contrivance the rind was broken through without showing what +might have been done under better conditions. Every particle of the +squash had to be added and find itself elbow room under this enormous +pressure. But life will assert itself. + +[Illustration: Squash in Cage.] + +No wonder that the Lord, seeking some form of speech to represent his +power in human souls, says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." The +tremendous life of infinite strength surges up through the vine and out +into all branches that are really vitally attached. No wonder that +much fruit is expected, and that one who knew most of this imparted +power said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." + + + + +SPIRITUAL DYNAMICS* + +*Reprinted from _The Study_. + +Will God indeed dwell upon the earth? asked Solomon. Will God indeed +work with man on the earth? asks the pushing, working spirit of to-day. +Has man a right to expect a special lending of the infinite power to +help out his human endeavors? Does God put special forces to open some +doors, close others, influence some men to come to his help, hinder +others, bring to bear influences benign, restrain those malign, and +invigorate a man's own powers so that his arm has the strength of ten, +because his heart is pure enough for God to work in it and through it? +If this is so, in what fields, under what conditions, to what extent, +and in accordance with what laws may we expect aid? + +First, it is evident that there is power not ourselves. We did not +make this world. We did not put into it even the lowest force, +gravitation. It is more than our minds can compass to measure its +power. We have no arithmetic to tell its power on every mote in the +sunbeam, or flower, or grain-head bowing toward the earth, tree brought +down with a crash, or avalanche with thunder. Much less can we measure +the power that holds the earth to the sun spite of its measureless +centrifugal force. We did not make the next highest force, cohesion. +The particles of rock and iron cohere with so great an energy that +gravitation cannot overcome it. But it is not by our energy. We did +not make the next highest force, chemical affinity, that masters both +gravitation and cohesion. Water, the result of chemical affinity +between oxygen and hydrogen, can be rent into its constituent elements +with nothing less than a stream of lightning. We did not make the next +highest force, vegetative life. That masters gravitation, and lifts up +the tree in spite of it; masters cohesion--the tree's rootlets tear +asunder the particles of stone; masters chemical affinity--it takes the +oxygen from air and water. We did not create that force, measureless +to our minds. We say it must have come out of some omnipotence greater +than all of them. The conclusion of all minds is, there is a power not +ourselves. + +It is unthinkable that these forces before mentioned should have +originated themselves. It is equally so that they could maintain and +continue themselves. There must be some continual upholding by a word +of power. + +It is equally plain that there is intelligence, thought, and plan +behind these forces. They are not blind Samsons grinding in a +prison-house, and liable at any moment to bring down in utter ruin +every pillar of the universe on which they can put their hands. + +If intelligent and planful, there must be personality. We may as well +call it by the name by which it is universally known, God. + +Now does this intelligent and powerful personality know our plans and +lend his powers to the accomplishment of our purposes? It is better to +put it the other way. Mr. Lincoln taught us the truer statement when +one said to him, in the awful anxiety of the war, "I think God is on +our side;" he answered, "My great concern is to know if we are on God's +side." So our question is better thus: Does this intelligent, powerful +personality accept and use our energy in the accomplishment of his +plans? + +That will depend on what he wants done. If he only wants mountains +lifted, he can put the shoulder of an earthquake under the strata of a +continent and tilt them up edgewise, or toss up a hundred miles of +strata and let them come down the other side up. If he wants mountains +carried hence and cast into the sea, he can bring rivers to carry for +thousands of years numberless tons. If he wants worlds held in +rhythmic relations to their sun, he can take gravitation. Man is of no +use; he cannot reach so far. + +But if this being has anything to do that he cannot do, he will gladly +welcome man's aid. Has he? Yes. Obviously he wants things done he +cannot do alone. Worlds are dead. Trees do not think. Morning stars +may sing together, but they cannot love. None of them have character. +None of them have conscious responsiveness to the full tides of power +and love that flush the universe. None of them are permanent, or worth +keeping forever. They are only scaffolding. He wants something +greater than he can make; something as great as God and man and angels +together can make. He wants not mere matter acted upon from without, +but intelligences active in themselves; wants not mere miles of +granite, but hearts responsive to love, and character that is sturdier +than granite, more enduring than the hills that seem to be everlasting, +and of so great a price that a whole world is of less value than a +single soul, and of such permanence that it shall flourish in immortal +youth when worlds, short-lived in comparison, shall have passed away. +God can make worlds in plenty, but he wants something so much better +that they shall be mere parade-grounds for the training of his armies. + +Are there proofs that God's forces are cooperating with ours? Many. +Gravitation holds us to the earth. We do not drift, all sides up +successively, in space or chaos. We never want a breath but there are +oceans of it rushing to answer our hunger for it. + +But especially do we undertake all our more definite efforts with a +full expectation of the aid of the forces without us. Man takes to +agriculture with a relish that indicates that the soil and he are akin. +He expects all its energies to cooperate with him. He plants the grain +or seed expecting that all its vegetative forces will cowork with his +plans. Every energy of earth, air, water, and the far-off sun work +into his plans as if they had no other end in all their being. If a +man wants a house, he expects the solidity of the rock, all the +adaptations of wood that has been growing for a century, expects the +beauty of the fir tree, the pine, and the box to come together to +beautify the place of his dwelling. + +There are other forces into which man can put his scepter of power and +hand of mastery. They all work for and with him. Does he want his +burdens carried? The river will convey the Indian on a log or the +armaments of the greatest nations. The wind fits itself into the +shoulder of his sail on the sea, and steam does more work on the land +than all the human race together. Does he want swiftness? The +lightning comes and goes between the ends of the earth saying, "Here am +I." Obviously all these kinds of forces are always on hand to work +into man's plans. + +Is not our whole question settled? If these fundamental forces, these +oceans of air and energy, forces so great that man cannot measure them, +so delicate and fine that man does not discover them in thousands of +years, are all waiting and palpitating to rush into the service of man +to advance his plans, and hint of plans larger than he ever dreamed, +until he grows great by handling these ineffable factors, how can it be +otherwise than that the energies, thoughts, and loves back of these +forces, and out of which they come, and of which they are the visible +signs and exponents, are working together with man? Then, in all +probability, nay in all certainty, all other forces, whether they be +thrones or dominions, principalities or powers, things present or +things to come, will also lend all their energies to the help of man. +God does not aid in the lowest and leave us to ourselves in the +highest. He does not feed the body and let the soul famish, does not +help us to the meat that perishes and let us starve for the bread of +eternal life. + +Scripture passages, literally thousands in number, proclaim God's +control of the regular operations of nature, his sovereignty over +birth, life, death, disease, afflictions, and prosperity, over what we +call accident, his execution of righteous retributions, bringing of +deliverance, setting up thrones, and casting down princes. He upholds +all things by the direct exercise of his power. "The uniformities of +nature are his ordinary method of working; its irregularities his +method upon occasional condition; its interferences his method under +the pressure of a higher law." There can be no general providence +which is not special, no care for the whole which does not include care +for all the parts, no provided safety for the head which does not +number all the hairs. The Old Testament doctrine of a special and +minute providence over the chosen nation is expanded by Christ's loving +teaching and ministrations into an equal care for the personal +individual (Matt. vii, 11; xviii, 19; Heb. iv, 16). The cold glacial +period of human fear that poured its ice floe over the mind of man, +making him feel like an orphaned race in a godless world, has retired +before the gentle beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and the winter is +past, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds +and hearts has commenced. + +It is everywhere recognized that the great outcome of a man's life is +not the title to a thousand acres. He is soon dispossessed. It is not +all the bonds and money he can hold. A dead man's hands are empty. It +is not reputation that the winds blow away. But it is character that +he acquires and carries with him. He has a fidelity to principle that +is like Abdiel's. He is faithful among the faithless. He has +allegiance to right that the lure of all the kingdoms of the earth +cannot swerve for a moment. He counts soul so much above the body that +no fiery furnaces, heated seven times hotter than they are wont, sway +him for a moment from adherence to the interests of soul as against +even the existence of the body. + +Now, how has such an eminence of character been attained? Not +altogether by individual evolution. Ancestral tendencies, parental +example, the great force of strong, eternal principles, the moral +muscle acquired in the gymnasium of temptation, and confessedly and +especially a spiritual force vouchsafed from without, have wrought out +this greatest result of heaven and earth. Of some men you expect +nothing but goodness and greatness. They would belie all the +tendencies of their blood to be otherwise than good. Some are +constantly trained under the mighty influences of great principles that +sway men as much as gravitation sways the worlds. What could be +expected of the men of '76 when the air was electric with patriotism? +What could be expected of men whose childhood was filled with the +sacrifices of men who made themselves pilgrims and strangers over the +earth, from England to Holland and thence over the drear and +inhospitable sea to America, for the sake of liberty? What could be +expected of men whose whole ancestry was cut off by the slaughter +following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and they themselves +exiled for liberty to worship God? What can be expected of men who +have been tried in the furnace of temptation till they are pure gold? +Nay, more, what can be expected of men who have in these temptations +been strengthened out of God? Besides the strength of development by +the resistance of evil, they have found that God made a way of escape, +that he strengthened, them and that they were thus by supernal power +able to bear it. Nay, rather, what may not be expected of such men? + +But we will not forget that this great outcome is precisely the plan of +God for every man's life, and that when man works he finds that there +are forces outside of him thoroughly cooperative with him. He starts a +rock down the mountain side, but gravitation reaches out ready fingers +and hurls it a thousand times faster and faster. He launches his ship +on the sea and the wind and steam carry it thousands of miles. He +speaks his quiet breath into the ear of the phone and electricity +carries it in every tone and inflection of personal quality a thousand +miles. He vows, and works for purity and greatness of personal +character, and a thousand gravitations of love, a thousand great winds +of Pentecost, a thousand vital principles on which all greatness hangs, +a thousand influences of other men, and especially a thousand personal +aids of a present God, cooperate with his plans and works. + +Of course every man who believes in a new type so high that good birth, +wealth, culture, education, and broad opportunity cannot attain it +believes in the divine co-operation to that end. It must be born of +the Spirit. God sends forth his Spirit into our hearts crying, Abba, +Father! It pleases the Father himself to reveal his Son in us. + +Not only is this cooperation true in regard to the beginning of this +higher life, but especially so in regard to the development and +perfection of that life into the stature of perfect manhood in Christ +Jesus. By continuous effort to lead into all truth, by intensity of +endeavor that can only be represented by groanings that cannot be +worded in human speech, the perfection of saints is sought. + +And in the final glorification of those saints every man will say +nothing of his own efforts, but all the praise will be unto him who +hath redeemed us unto God, and washed us in his blood. + +To what extent, then, may we expect God will lend his forces to work +out our plans? First, in so far as those forces have to do with the +maturing and perfecting of our character they become his plans. No +energy will be withheld. All our plans should be such. The end in +character may often be attained as well by failure of our plans as by +success. God has to choose the poor in this world's things, rich in +faith, to do his great work. And he has to make "the best laid schemes +o' mice and men gang aft a-gley" to get the desired outcome of +character. He is then working with, not against, us. He would rather +have any star for his crown of glory than tons of perishable gold. + +But outside of our plans and work for ourselves what cooperation may we +expect in our plans and work for others? + +Every preacher knows that for spiritual work in saving others the word +of the Lord is true, "Without me ye can do nothing." There must be an +outpouring of the Spirit or there is no Pentecost. Over against that +settled conviction is the thrice-blessed command and assurance of the +Master, "Go preach my Gospel; and lo, I am with you alway" (blessed +iteration), "unto the end of the world." That has not yet come. + +But there are other enterprises men must push--mines to be dug, +railroads to be surveyed and built, slaves to be emancipated, farms to +be cultivated, mischiefs framed by a law to be averted, charities to be +exercised, schools to be founded, and generally a living to be gotten. +To what extent may we expect divine aid? + +First, all these things are his purposes and plans. But since it is +necessary for our development that we do our level best, he will not do +what we can. We can plant and water, but God only can give the +increase. Even the fable maker says that a teamster, whose wagon was +stuck in the mud, seeing Jupiter Omnipotens riding by on the chariot of +the clouds, dropped on his knees and implored his help. "Get up, O +lazy one!" said Jupiter; "clear away the mud, put your shoulder to the +wheel, and whip up your horses." We may call on God to open the rock +in the dry and thirsty land where no water is, but not to lift our +teacups. It is no use to ask God for a special shower when deep +plowing is all that is needed. It is no use to ask God to build +churches, send missionaries, endow schools, and convert the world, till +we have done our best. + +But when we have done our best what may we expect? All things. They +shall work together for good to those who love God enough to do their +best for him in any plane of work. One could preach fifty sermons on +the great works done by men, obviously too great for man's +accomplishment. Time would fail me to tell of Moses, Gideon, Paul, +Luther, Wesley, Wilberforce, William of Orange, Washington, John Brown, +Abe Lincoln, and thousands more of whom this world was not worthy, who, +undeniably by divine aid, wrought righteousness. One of the great sins +of our age is that men do not see God immanent in all things. We have +found so many ways of his working that we call laws, so many segments +of his power, that we have forgotten him who worketh all things after +the counsel of his own will. A sustainer is as necessary as a creator. +There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who worketh +all in all. The next great service to be done by human philosophy is +to bring back God in human thought into his own world. Since these +things are so, what are the conditions under which we may work the +works of God by his power? + +First, they must be his works, not ours as opposed to his, but ours as +included in his. All our works may be wrought in God, if we do his +works, follow his plans, and are aided by his strength. + +Second, they must be attempted with the right motive of glorifying God. +Christ is the pattern. He came not to do his own will, but the will of +him who sent him. And he did always the things that pleased him. In +our fervid desires for the accomplishment of some great thing we should +be as willing it should be accomplished by another as by ourselves. +The personal pride is often a fly in the sweet-smelling savor. God +would rather have a given work not done, or done by another, than to +have one of his dear ones puffed up with sinful pride. Great Saul must +often be removed and the work be left undone, or be done by some humble +David. + + "Inaudible voices call us, and we go; + Invisible hands restrain us, and we stay; + Forces, unfelt by our dull senses, sway + Our wavering wills, and hedge us in the way + We call our own, because we do not know. + + "Are we, then, slaves of ignorant circumstance? + Nay, God forbid! + God holds the world, not blind, unreasoning chance!" + +How shall we secure the cooperative power? There is power of every +kind everywhere in plenty. All the Niagaras and Mississippis have run +to waste since they began to thunder and flow. Greater power is in the +wind everywhere. One can rake up enough electricity to turn all the +wheels of a great city whenever he chooses to start his rake. The sky +is full of Pentecosts. Power enough, but how shall we belt on? By +fasting, prayer, and by willing to do the will of God. We have so much +haste that we do not tarry at Jerusalem for fullness of power. Moses +was forty years in the wilderness: Daniel fasted and prayed for one and +twenty days. We are told to pray without ceasing, and that there are +kinds of devils that go not out except at the command of those who fast +and pray. + + "More things are wrought by prayer than + This world dreams of." + +The Bible is a record of achievements impossible to man. They are +achievements of leaderships, emancipations, governments, getting money +for building God's houses, making strong the weak, waxing valiant in +fight, and turning the world upside down. The trouble with many of our +modern saints is that they seek for purity only instead of power, +ecstasy instead of excellence, self-satisfaction in a garden of spices +instead of a baptism that straightens them out in a garden of agony. +They are seekers of spiritual joys instead of good governments, cities +well policed and sewered, with every street safe for the feet of +innocence. The next revelation of new possibilities of grace that will +break out of the old Word will be that of power. + +How will this divine aid manifest itself? In the giving of wisdom for +our plans and their execution. God will not help in any foolish plans. +He wants no St. Peter's built in a village of six hundred people, no +temple, except on a Moriah to which a whole nation goes up. Due +proportion is a law of all his creations. The disciples planned not +only to begin at Jerusalem, but to stay there. Their plans were wrong, +and they had to be driven out by persecutions and martyrdoms (Acts +viii, 4). But Africa, Europe, and Asia eagerly received the light +which Jerusalem resisted. Some ministers to-day stay by their fine +Jerusalems when the kitchens of the surrounding country wait to welcome +them. The Spirit suffered not Paul to go into Bithynia, but sent him +to Macedonia. Had he then persisted in going to Asia his work would +have been in vain. + +We may expect wisdom in the choice of the human agents we select. Half +a general's success lies in his choice of lieutenants. No class leader +should be appointed nor steward nominated till after prayer for divine +guidance. God has more efficient men for his Church than we know of. +He is thinking of Paul when we see only Matthias (Acts i, 26). When +Paul had to depart asunder from Barnabas God sent him Silas, the +fellow-singer in the dungeon, and Timothy, who was dearer to him than +any other man. + +We may expect opposition to be diminished or thwarted. Let Hezekiah +spread every letter of Rab-shakeh before the Lord and pray (2 Kings +xix, 14). The answer will be, "I have heard" (v. 20). Let the answer +to every slander that Gashmu repeateth among the heathen be, "O Lord, +strengthen my hands" (Neh. vi, 9); "My God, think thou upon Tobiah and +Sanballat according to these their works" (v. 14). Then all the +heathen and enemies will "perceive that this work was wrought of our +God" (v. l6). "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his +enemies to be at peace with him." The purpose of the manifestation of +the Son of God was "that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 +John iii, 8). + +Lastly, we may expect actual help. These plans are all dear to God. +He wishes them all accomplished. They have been wisely made. +Opposition has been diminished. It only remains that our hearts be +open to guidance and strengthening. Moses was sure I AM had sent him. +Elijah had the very words to be uttered to Ahab put into his mouth. +Nehemiah told the people that for building a city "the joy of the Lord +is your strength." God strengthened the right hand of Cyrus. The +three Hebrew children and Daniel knew that God was able to deliver them +from fire and lions. "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall +give thee the desires of thy heart." And the great promise of the Lord +to be with his disciples to the end is not so much a promise for +comfort as for the accomplishment of their mission. Paul said, "I can +do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." And all great +doers for God, in all ages, have gladly testified that they have been +girded for their work by the Almighty. + +The designed outcome of this paper is that every reader should get a +fresh revelation of the immanency of God in the kingdom of nature and +grace; that the reader is more intimately related to him and his plans +than is gravitation; that there are laws as imperative, exact, and sure +to yield results in the mental and spiritual realms as in the material; +that he is a part of God's agencies, and that all of God's forces are a +part of his; that he may sing with new meaning, + + "We for whose sakes all nature stands + And stars their courses move;" + +that in the burning vividness of this new conception each man may +boldly undertake things for God--conversions, purifications, missionary +enlargements, business enterprises--that he knows are too great for +himself; that he may find new helps for spiritual victories as great as +this age has found for material triumphs in steam and electricity; and +that in all things man may be uplifted and God thereby glorified. + +How shall it be done? + +First, by a vivid conception that cooperation is designed, provided +for, and expected. We are children of God; there can be but one great +end through the ages in the universe. There should be cooperation of +every force. There have been thousands of evident cooperations--waters +divided and burned by celestial fire, Pharaohs rebuked, Ninevehs warned, +exiles recalled, Jerusalems rebuilded, Luthers upheld, preachers +of today changed from waning, not desired, half-over-the-dead-line +ministers into vigorous, flaming heralds of the Gospel, who possessed +tenfold power to what they had before; we ourselves personally helped +in manifest and undeniable instances, and so have come to believe that +God can do anything, anywhere, if he can get the right kind of a man. +Promises of aid are abundant. Heaven and earth shall pass away sooner +than one jot or tittle of these words fail. We are invited to test them: +"Come now, and prove me herewith, and see if I will not open the windows +of heaven once more, as at the deluge, and pour you out a blessing that +there shall not be room enough to receive it." + +Second, select some definite work too great for us to do alone, as the +preparation of a sermon that shall have unusual power of persuasion to +change action, the conduct of a prayer meeting of remarkable interest, +the casting out of some devil of evil speech or action, the conversion +of one individual, the raising of more money for some of God's +purposes, and then go about the work, not alone, but in such a way that +God can lead and we help. Let the fasting and prayer not be lacking. +When the right direction comes let Jonathan take his armor-bearer and +climb up on his hands and knees against the Philistines, let Paul go to +Macedonia, Peter to Cornelius, Wesley send help to America. Bishop +Foss said, in regard to several crises in a most serious sickness, that +Christ always arrived before it came. So in regard to work to be done. +The Lord was in Nineveh before Jonah, in Caesarea before Peter, and +will be in the heart of every sinner we seek to get converted before we +arrive. Any man who wants to do an immense business should seek a good +partner. We are workers together with God. What is being done worthy +of the copartnership? + + + + +WHEN THIS WORLD IS NOT* + +*Reprinted from the _Methodist Review_. + + +"The day of the Lord will come . . .; in which the heavens shall pass +away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, +the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." + +What is there after that? + +To this question there are three answers: + +I. There are left all of what may be called natural forces that there +were before the world was created. They are not dependent on it. The +sea is not lost when one bubble or a thousand break on the rocky shore. +The world is not the main thing in the universe. It is only a +temporary contrivance, a mere scaffolding for a special purpose. When +that purpose is fulfilled it is natural that it should pass away. The +time then comes when the voice that shook the earth should signify the +removal of "those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, +that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." We already have +a kingdom that cannot be moved. "The things which are seen are +temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." + +It should not be supposed that the space away from the world is an +empty desert. God is everywhere, and creative energy is omnipresent. +Not merely is a millionth of space occupied where the worlds are, but +all space is full of God and his manifestations of wisdom and power. +David could think of no place of hiding from that presence. The first +word of revelation is, "In the beginning God created the heaven." And +the great angel, standing on sea and land when time is to be no longer, +swears by Him who "created heaven, and the things that therein are," in +distinction from the earth and its things that are to be removed. What +God created with things that are therein is not empty. Poets, the true +seers, recognize this. When Longfellow died one of them, remembering +the heartbreaking hunt of Gabriel for Evangeline, and their passing +each other on opposite sides of an island in the Mississippi, makes him +say of his wife long since gone before: + + And now I shall seek her once more, + On some Mississippi's vast tide + That flows the whole universe through, + Than earth's widest rivers more wide. + + Evangeline I shall not miss + Though we wander the dim starry sheen, + On opposite sides of rivers so vast + That islands of worlds intervene. + +But what is there in space? There is the great ceaseless force of +gravitation. Though the weakest of natural forces, yet when displayed +in world-masses its might is measureless by man's arithmetic. Tie an +apple or a stone to one end of a string, and taking the other end whirl +it around your finger, noting its pull. That depends on the weight of +the whirling ball, the length of the string, and the swiftness of the +whirl. The stone let loose from David's finger flies crashing into the +head of Goliath. But suppose the stone is eight thousand miles in +diameter, the string ninety-two million five hundred thousand miles +long, and the swiftness one thousand miles a minute, what needs be the +tensile strength of the string? If we covered the whole side of the +earth next the sun, from pole to pole and from side to side, with steel +wires attaching the earth to the sun, thus representing the tension of +gravitation, the wires would need to be so many that a mouse could not +run around among them. + +There swings the moon above us. Its best service is not its light, +though lovers prize that highly. Its gravitative work is its best. It +lifts the sea and pours it into every river and fiord of the coast. +Our universal tug-boat is in the sky. It saves millions of dollars in +towage to London alone every year. And this world would not be +habitable without the moon to wash out every festering swamp and +deposit of sewage along the shore. + +Gravitation reaches every place, whether worlds be there or not. This +force is universally present and effective. In the possibilities of a +no-world condition a spirit may be able to so relate itself to matter +that gravitation would impart its incredible swiftness of transference +to a soul thus temporarily relating itself to matter. What gravitation +does in the absence of the kind of matter we know it is difficult to +assert. But as will be seen in our second division there is still +ample room for its exercise when worlds as such have ceased to be. + +In space empty of worlds there is light. It flies or runs one hundred +and eighty-six thousand miles a second. There must be somewhat on +which its wing-beat shall fall, stepping stones for its hurrying feet. +We call it ether, not knowing what we mean. But in this space is the +play of intensest force and quickest activity. There are hundreds of +millions of millions of wing-beats or footfalls in a second. +Mathematical necessities surpass mental conceptions. In a cubic mile +of space there are demonstrably seventy millions of foot tons of power. +Steam and lightning have nothing comparable to the activity and power +of the celestial ether. Sir William Thompson thinks he has proved that +a cubic mile of celestial ether may have as little as one billionth of +a pound of ponderable matter. It is too fine for our experimentation, +too strong for our measurement. We must get rid of our thumby fingers +first. + +What is light doing in space? That has greatly puzzled all +philosophers. Without question there is inexpressible power. It is +seen in velocity. But what is it doing? The law of conservation of +force forbids the thought that it can be wasted. On the earth its +power long ages ago was turned into coal. The power was reservoired in +mountains ready for man. It is so great that a piece of coal that +weighs the same as a silver dollar carries a ton's weight a mile at +sea. But what is the thousand million times more light than ever +struck the earth doing in space? That is among the things we want to +find out when we get there. There will be ample opportunity, space, +time, and light enough. + +It is biblically asserted and scientifically demonstrable that space is +full of causes of sound. To anyone capable of turning these causes to +effects this sound is not dull and monotonous, but richly varied into +songful music. Light makes its impression of color by its different +number of vibrations. So music sounds its keys. We know the number of +vibrations necessary for the note C of the soprano scale, and the +number that runs the pitch up to inaudibility. We know the number of +vibrations of light necessary to give us a sensation of red or violet. +These, apprehended by a sufficiently sensitive ear, pour not only light +to one organ, but tuneful harmonies to another. The morning stars do +sing together, and when worlds are gone, and heavy ears of clay laid +down, we may be able to hear them + + Singing as they shine, + "The hand that made us is divine." + +There are places where this music is so fine that the soft and +soul-like sounds of a zephyr in the pines would be like a storm in +comparison, and places where the fierce intensity of light in a +congeries of suns would make it seem as if all the stops of being from +piccolo to sub-bass had been drawn. No angel flying interstellar +spaces, no soul fallen overboard and left behind by a swift-sailing +world, need fear being left in awful silences. + +There seems to be good evidence that electrical disturbances in the sun +are almost instantly reported and effective on the earth. It is +evident that the destructive force in cyclones is not wind, but +electricity. It is altogether likely that it is generated in the sun, +and that all the space between it and us thrills with this unknown +power.[1] All astronomers except Faye admit the connection between sun +spots and the condition of the earth's magnetic elements. The +parallelism between auroral and sun-spot frequency is almost perfect. +That between sun spots and cyclones is as confidently asserted, but not +quite so demonstrable. Enough proof exists to make this clear, that +space may be full of higher Andes and Alps, rivers broader than Gulf +Streams, skies brighter than the Milky Way, more beautiful than the +rainbow. Occasionally some scoffer who thinks he is smart and does not +know that he is mistaken asks with an air of a Socrates putting his +last question: "You say that 'heaven is above us.' But if one dies at +noon and another at midnight, one goes toward Orion and the other +toward Hercules; or an Eskimo goes toward Polaris and a Patagonian +toward the coal-black hole in the sky near the south pole. Where is +your heaven anyhow?" O sapient, sapient questioner! Heaven is above +us, you especially; but going in different directions from such a +little world as this is no more than a bee's leaving different sides of +a bruised pear exuding honey. Up or down he is in the same fragrant +garden, warm, light, redolent of roses, tremulous with bird song, amid +a thousand caves of honeysuckles, "illuminate seclusions swung in air" +to which his open sesame gives entrance at will. + + +II. But there will be in space what the world has become. It is +nowhere intimated that matter had been annihilated. Worlds shall +perish as worlds. They shall wax old as doth a garment. They will be +folded up as a vesture, and they "shall be changed." The motto with +which this article began says heavens pass away, elements melt, earth +and its works are burned up. But always after the heaven and earth +pass away we are to look for "new heavens and a new earth." On all +that God has made he has stamped the great principle of progress, +refinement, development--rock to soil, soil to vegetable life, to +insect, bird, and man. Each dies as to what it is, that it may have +resurrection or may feed something higher. So, in the light of +revelation, earth is not lost. Science comes, after ages of creeping, +up to the same position. It, too, asserts that matter is +indestructible. Burn a candle in a great jar hermetically sealed. The +weight of the jar and contents is just the same after the burning as +before. A burned-up candle as big as the world will not be +annihilated. It will be "changed." + +It is necessary for us to get familiar with some of the protean +metamorphoses of matter. Up at New Almaden, above the writer, is a +vast mass of porous lava rock into which has been infiltrated a great +deal of mercury. How shall we get it out? You can jar out numberless +minute globules by hand. This metal, be it remembered, is liquid, and +so heavy that solid iron floats in it as cork does in water. Now, to +get it out of the rock we apply fire, and the mercury exhales away in +the smoke. The real task of scientific painstaking is to get that +heavy stuff out of the smoke again. It is changed, volatilized, and it +likes that state so well that it is very difficult to persuade it to +come back to heaviness again. + +Take a great mass of marble. It was not always a mountain. It floated +invisibly in the sea. Invisible animals took it up, particle by +particle, to build a testudo, a traveling house, for themselves. The +ephemeral life departing, there was a rain of dead shells to make +limestone masses at the bottom of the sea. It will not always remain +rock. Air and water disintegrate it once more. Little rootlets seize +upon it and it goes coursing in the veins of plants. It becomes fiber +to the tree, color to the rose, and fragrance to the violet. But, +whether floating invisibly in the water, shell of infusoria in the +seas, marble asleep in the Pentelican hills, constituting the sparkle +and fizz of soda water, claiming the world's admiration as the Venus de +Milo, or giving beauty and meaning to the most fitting symbol that goes +between lovers, it is still the same matter. It may be diffused as gas +or concentrated as a world, but it is still the same matter. + +Matter is worthy of God's creation. Astronomy is awe-full; microscopy +is no less so. Astronomy means immensity, bulk; atoms mean +individuality. The essence of matter seems to be spirit, personality. +It seems to be able to count, or at least to be cognizant of certain +exact quantities. An atom of bromine will combine with one of +hydrogen; one of oxygen with two of hydrogen; one of nitrogen with +three of hydrogen; one of silicon with four of hydrogen, etc. They +marry without thought of divorce. A group of atoms married by affinity +is called a molecule. Two atoms of hydrogen joined to one of oxygen +make water. They are like three marbles laid near together on the +ground, not close together; for we well know that water does not fill +all the space it occupies. We can put eight or ten similar bulks of +other substances into a glass of water without greatly increasing its +bulk, some actually diminishing it. Water molecules are like a mass of +shot, with large interstices between. Drive the atoms of water apart +by heat till the water becomes steam, till they are as three marbles a +larger distance apart, yet the molecule is not destroyed, the union is +still indissoluble. One physicist has declared that the atoms of +oxygen and hydrogen are probably not nearer to each other in water than +one hundred and fifty men would be if scattered over the surface of +England--one man for each four hundred square miles.[2] What must the +distance be in steam? what the greater distance in the more extreme +rarefactions? It is asserted that millions of cubic miles of some +comets tails would not make a cubic inch of matter solid as iron. Now, +when earth and oceans are "changed" to this sort of tenuity creations +will be more easy. We shall not be obliged to hew out our material +with broadaxes, nor blast it out with dynamite. Let us not fear that +these creations will not be permanent; they will be enough so for our +purpose. We can then afford to waste more worlds in a day than dull +stupidity can count in a lifetime. + +We are getting used to this sort of work already. When we reduce +common air in a bulb to one one-thousandth of its normal density at the +sea we get the possibility of continuous incandescent electric light by +the vibration of platinum wire. When we reduce it to a tenuity of one +millionth of the normal density we get the possibility of the X rays by +vibrations of itself without any platinum wire. The greater the +tenuity the greater the creative results. For example, water in +freezing exerts an expansive, thrusting force of thirty thousand pounds +to the square inch, over two thousand tons to the square foot; an +incomprehensible force, but applicable in nature to little besides +splitting rocks. On the other hand, when water is rarefied into steam +its power is vastly more versatile, tractable, and serviceable in a +thousand ways. Take a bit of metal called zinc. It is heavy, subject +to gravitation, solid, subject to cohesion. But cause it to be burned, +to pass away, and be changed. To do this we use fire, not the ordinary +kind, but liquid that we keep in a bottle and call acid. The zinc is +burned up. What becomes of it? It becomes electricity. How changed! +It is no longer solid, but is a live fire that rings bells in our +houses, picks up our thought and pours it into the ear of a friend +miles away by the telephone, or thousands of miles away by the +telegraph. Burning up is only the means of a new and higher life. Ah, +delicate Ariel, tricksy sprite, the only way to get you is to burn up +the solid body. + +The possibility of rare creation depends on rare material, on +spirit-like tenuity. And that is what the world goes into. There is a +substance called nitrite of amyl, known to many as a medicine for heart +disease. It is applied by inhaling its odor--a style of very much +rarefied application. Fill a tube with its vapor. It is invisible as +ordinary air in daylight. But pour a beam of direct sunlight from end +to end along its major axis. A dense cloud forms along the path of the +sunbeam; creation is going on. What the sun may do in the thinner +vapors the world goes into when burned up will be for us to find out +when we get there. Standing on Popocatepetl we have seen a sea of +clouds below, white as the light of transfiguration, tossed into waves +a mile high by the touch of the sunbeam. Creative ordering was +observed in actual process. It is done under our eyes to show us how +easy it is. Would it be any less glorious if there were no +Popocatepetl? A thrush among vines outside is just now showing us how +easy it is to create an ecstasy of music out of silence. She has only +to open her mouth and the innate aptitudes of air rush in to actualize +her creative wish. Not only is it easy for the bird, but she is even +provoked to this love and good works by the creation of a rainbow on +the retreating blackness of a storm yonder. Thunder is the sub-bass +nature furnishes her, and thus invites her to add the complementary +notes. + +Some one may think that all this tenuity is as vaporous as the stuff +that dreams are made of, and call for solid rocks for foundations. +Perhaps we may so call while we have material bodies of two hundred +pounds' weight. Yet even these bodies are delicate enough to be +valuable to us solely because they have the utmost chemical stability. +We are burning up their substance with every breath in order to have +delicacy of feeling and thought. What were a wooden body worth? +Substances are valuable to us according to their fineness and facility +of change. Even iron is mobile in all its particles. We call it +solid, but it is not. We lift our eyes from this writing and behold +the tumbling surf of the great Pacific sea. Line after line of its +billows are charging on the shore and tumbling in utmost confusion and +roar of advancing and refluent waves. So the iron of the telephone +wire. You often hold the receiver to your ear listening, not to the +voice of business or friendship of men, but to the gentle hum of the +rolling surf in the wire's own substance. And, in order that we may +know the essential stability of things that are fine, we are told that +the city which hath enduring foundations is in the spirit world, not +this kind of material. The whole new Jerusalem to come down "out of +heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," is as movable as +a train of cars is movable here. There may still be rainbows and +rivers of life if there are no more rocks. There is a real realm of +"scientific imagination." But all our imaginings fall far short of +realities. Some men do not desire this realm, and demand solid rocks +to walk on. But a bird does not. He oars himself along the upper +fields and rides on air. So does a bicyclist and balloonist. Some men +have a sort of contempt for aeronauts and workers at flying machines. +That feeling is a testimony to their depravity and groveling +tendencies. Aeronautics and nautics are an effort toward angelhood. +Men can walk water who are willing to take a boat for an overshoe. So +we may air when we get the right shoe. Browning gives us a delicious +sense of being amphibian as we swim. And the butterfly, that winged +rather than rooted flower, looking down upon us as we float, begets in +us a great longing to be polyphibian. We have innate tendencies toward +a life of finer surroundings, and we shall take to them with zest, if +we are not too much of the earth earthy. We were designed for this +finer life. We do take to it even now in the days of our +deterioration, not to say depravity. The great marvels of the world +are not so much in matter as in man. We were meant to be more +sensitive to finer influences than we are. We are far more so than we +think. Take your child into the street. Another child coughs at a +window on the other side, and your child has three months of terrific +whooping-cough. All such diseases are taken by homeopathic doses of +the millionth dilution. Many people feel "in their bones" the coming +of storms days before their arrival. We knew a man who ate honey with +delight till he was twenty-five years old, and then could do so no +more. This peculiarity he inherited from his father. One man has an +insatiable desire for drink because some ancestor of his, back in the +third or fourth generation, bequeathed him that curse. In the South +you can go a mile in the face of the wind and find that peerless +blossom of a magnolia by following the drift of its far-reaching odor. +Who has not received a letter and knew before opening it that it had +violets within? It had atmosphered itself with rich perfume, and +something far richer, for three thousand miles. The first influences +which came over the Atlantic cable were so feeble that a sleeping +infant's breath were a whirlwind in comparison. But they were read. +It is no wonder that the old astrologers thought that men's whole lives +were influenced by the stars. Every vegetable life, from the meanest +flower that blows to the largest tree, has its whole existence shaped +by the sun. Doubtless man's body was meant to be an Aeolian (how the +vowels and liquids flow into the very name!) harp of a thousand strings +over which a thousand delicate influences might breathe. Soul was +meant to be sensitive to the influences of the Spirit. This capability +has been somewhat lost in our deterioration. To recover these finer +faculties men are required to die. And for the field of exercising +them the world must be changed. Paul understood this. He associated +some sort of perfection with the resurrection, with the buying back of +the powers of the body. And the whole creation waiteth for the +apocalypse of the full-sized sons of God. + +Does one fear the change from gross to fine, from force of freezing to +the winged energy of steam, from solid zinc to lightning? Our whole +desire for education is a desire for refining influences. We know +there is a higher love for country than that begotten by the fanfare of +the Fourth of July. There is a smile of joy at our country's education +and purity finer than the guffaws provoked by hearing the howls of a +dog and the explosions of firecrackers when the two are inextricably +mixed. There is a flame of religious love when the heart sacrifices +itself in humble realization of the joy of its adorable love purer than +the fierce fire of the hating heart that applies the torch to the +martyr's pyre. We give our lives to seeking these higher refinements +because they are stronger and more like God. + +Does one fear to leave bodily appetites and passions for spiritual +aptitudes fitted to finer surroundings? He should not. Man has had +two modes of life already--one, slightly conscious, closely confined, +peculiarly nourished, in the dark, without the possible exercise of any +one of the five senses. That is prenatal. He comes into the next +life. At once he breathes, often vociferously, looks about with eyes +of wonder, nourishes himself with avidity, is fitted to his new +surroundings, his immensely wider life, and finds his superior +companions and surroundings fitted to him, even to his finest need for +love. Why hesitate for a third mode of life? He loses modes of +nourishment; so he has before. He loses relations to former life; so +he has before. He comes into new companionships and surroundings; so +he has before. But each time and in every respect his powers, +possibilities, and field have been immensely enlarged. + + O the hour when this material + Shall have vanished like a cloud, + When amid the wide ethereal + All the invisible shall crowd. + In that sudden, strange transition, + By what new and finer sense + Shall we grasp the mighty vision, + And receive the influence? + +Knowledge of the third state of man is not so difficult to attain in +the second as knowledge of the second was in the first. If a fit +intelligence should study a specimen of man about to emerge from its +first stage of existence, it could judge much of the conditions of the +second. Feet suggest solid land; lungs suggest liquid air; eyes, +light; hands, acquisitiveness, and hence dominion; tongue, talk, and +hence companions, etc. What fore-gleams have we of the future life? +They are from two sources--revelation and present aptitudes not yet +realized. What feet have we for undiscovered continents, what wings +for wider and finer airs, what eyes for diviner light? Everything +tells us that such aptitudes have fit field for development. The water +fowl flies through night and storm, lone wandering but not lost, +straight to the south with instinct for mild airs, food, and a nest +among the rushes. It is not disappointed. + +Man has an instinct for dominion which cannot be gratified here. He +weeps for more worlds to conquer. He is only a boy yet, getting a grip +on the hilt of the sword of conquest, feeling for some Prospero's wand +that is able to command the tempest. When he gets the proper pitch of +power, take away his body, and he is, as Richter says, no more afraid, +and he is also free from the binding effect of gravitation. Then there +are worlds enough, and every one a lighthouse to guide him to its +harbor. They all seek a Columbus with more allurements than America +did hers. Dominion over ten cities is the reward for faithfulness in +the use of a single talent. + +Man has an instinct for travel and speed. To travel a couple of months +is a sufficient reward for a thousand toilful days. He earnestly +desires speed, develops race horses and bicycles to surpass them, +yachts, and engines. Not satisfied with this, he harnesses lightning +that takes his mind, his thought, to the ends of the earth in a +twinkling. But he is stopped there. How he yearns to go to the moon, +the sun, and stars! But he could not take his present body through the +temperatures of space three or four hundred degrees below zero. So he +must find a way of disembodying and of attachment to some force swift +as lightning, of which there are plenty in the spaces when the world +has ceased to be a world. It is all provided for by death. + +Man has an instinct for knowledge not gratified nor gratifiable in the +present narrow bounds that hedge him in like walls of hewn stone. A +thousand questions he cannot solve about himself, his relations to +others and to the world about him, beset him here. There he shall know +even as he is known by perfect intelligence. + +Here he has an instinct for love that is unsunderable. But the wails +of separation have filled the air since Eve shrieked over Abel. +Husbands and fathers are ever crying: + + Immortal? I feel it and know it. + Who doubts of such as she? + But that's the pang's very essence, + Immortal away from me. + +But there, in finer realms, shall be a knitting of severed friendships +up to be sundered no more forever. + +Specially has man sought in this stage of being to know God. Job, in +his pain and loss, assailed by the cruel rebukes of his friends and +desolate by the desertion of his wife, says, "O that I knew where I +might find him." David cries out while his tears are flowing day and +night, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul +after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when +shall I come and appear before God?" Moses, in the broadest of +visions, material, historic, prophetic, says to God, "Show me thy +glory." And common men have always turned the high places of earth to +altar piles, and blackened the heavens with the smoke of their +sacrifices. But the means of knowing God are to be increased. The +very essence of life eternal is to know the true God, and Jesus Christ +whom he has sent. Great pains have been taken to manifest forth God to +dull senses and to oxlike thoughts here; greater pains, with better +results, shall be taken there. Every reader of the Apocalypse notices +with joy, if not rapture, that when the book that was sealed with seven +seals, which no man in heaven, nor earth, was able to reveal, nor open, +nor even look upon, was finally opened by the Lamb, and its marvelous +panoramas, charades, and symbolic significances had to be carefully +explained to John, the man best able of any to understand them--we +observe with rapture that the regular inhabitants of that hitherto +unseen world understood all at once, and broke into shouts like the +sound of these many waters in a storm. Above all these superior +manifestations in finer realms the pure in heart shall _see_ God. + + +III. But there is in space what there was before the world began. +Philosophy asserts that the invisible universe is a perfect fluid in +which not even atoms exist, and atoms are produced therefrom by the +First Great Cause by creation, not by development. This conception is +full of difficulties to thought. We cannot even agree whether creation +was in time or eternity. But all agree in this, that the invisible is +rapidly absorbing all the force at least of the visible universe, and +that when force is gone the corpse will not remain unburied. Indeed, +when the range of seeing puts the size of an atom at less than one +two-hundred-and-twenty-four-thousandth of an inch, and when the range +of thinking puts it at less than one six-millionth of an inch, many +prefer to consider an atom as a center of force and not as a material +entity at all. But, amid uncertainties, this is certain, that the +forces of the visible worlds are extraneous. They come out of the +invisible. They are all also returning to the invisible; that is what +light is doing in space, previously referred to. This incredibly +high-class energy is not banking up coal in the celestial ether as it +did on the earth, but is returning to the quick, mobile forces of the +invisible worlds. One thing more is certain, that the origin of all +the forces of the invisible is in personality; for the atom, it is +agreed, bears all the marks of being a manufactured article. +Different-sized shot could not have greater uniformity of structure and +constitution. And their whole behavior shows that they are controlled +by an admirable wisdom past finding out. + +That these forces exist and are necessarily active there are three +proofs. Worlds have been made, not of things and forces that do +appear. They were abundantly displayed in the physical miracles of +Christ and others; and these forces, independently of the physical +miracles at various times, have continuously helped men. + +(1) Concerning the first fact--that worlds have been made--nothing need +be said except that these forces, being personal, cannot be supposed to +be exhausted, and hence creations can go on continuously. We are +assured that they do. And the personal element more and more relates +itself to personalities. "I go to prepare a place for you," to fit up +a mansion according to tastes, needs, and enjoyments of the future +occupant. + +(2) This is the place to assert, not to prove, that this visible world +has always been subject to the forces of the invisible world. It does +not matter whether these forces are personal or personally directed. +Its waters divide, gravitation at that point being overcome; they +harden for a path, or bodies are levitated; they burn by a fire as +fierce as that which plays between two electric poles. These forces +are not the ordinary endowments of matter; they step out of the realm +of the greater invisible, execute their mission, and, like an angel's +sudden appearance, disappear. Who knows how frequently they come? We, +for whose sake all nature stands "and stars their courses move," may +need more frequent motherly attentions than the infant knows of. They +will not be lacking, even if not sufficiently evident to the infant to +be cried for. "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all +these things." + +(3) It is here designed to be asserted that the forces of the invisible +seek to be continually in full play on the intellectual and moral +natures of man. Our unique Christian Scriptures have this thought for +their whole significance. It begins with God's walking with Adam in +the garden, and goes on till it is said, "Come, ye blessed of my +Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," in the invisible, and by +the invisible, from before the foundation of the visible world. It +includes all time and opportunity between and after; we need specify +only to intensify the conception of the fact. Paul says, "Having +therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day," when +otherwise oppressive circumstances and hate of men seeking to kill him +would have prevented his continuing in life. It is possible for all +who believe to be given power, out of the invisible, to become sons of +God. It has been said that there is power and continuousness enough in +the tides, winds, rotating and revolving worlds for man to make a +machine for perpetual motion. The only difficulty is to belt on. The +great object of life in the visible should be to belt on to the +invisible. Our great Example who did this made his ordinary doing +better than common men's best, his parentheses of thought richer than +other men's paragraphs and volumes. And he left on record for us +promises of greater works than these, at which we stagger through +unbelief. We should not; for men who have lived by the evidence of +things not seen, and sought a city that received Jesus out of sight, +have found that "God is not ashamed to be called their God." They have +wrought marvels that men tell over like a rosary of what is possible to +men. It is beyond the belief of all who have not been touched by the +power of an endless life. But what they do is chiefly valuable as +evidence of what they are. It is little that men quench the violence +of fire, and receive their dead raised to life again. It is great that +they are able to do it. That they hold the hand that holds the world +is something. But that they have eyes to see, a wisdom to choose, and +will to execute the best, is more. Fire may kindle again and the +resurrected die, but the great personality survives. + +These forces are not discontinuous, connected with this temporary +world, and liable to cease when it fails. They belong to the +permanent, invisible order of things. Suppose one loses his body. +Then there is no force whereby earth can hold its child any longer to +its breast. It flies on at terrific speed, dwindling to a speck in +unknown distances, and leaving the man amid infinitudes alone. But +there are other attractions. There was One uplifted on a cross to draw +all men unto him. Love has finer attraction for souls than gravitation +has for bodies. + + Then all his being thrills with Joy. And past + The comets' sweep, the choral stars above, + With multiplying raptures drawn more swift + He flies into the very heart of love. + +It is hoped that the object of this writing is accomplished--to widen +our view of the great principle of continuity in the universe. It is +not sought to dwarf the earth, but to fit it rightly into its place as +a part of a great whole. It is better for a state to be a part of a +glorious union than to be independent; better for a man to belong to +the entirety of creation than to be Robinson Crusoe on his island. We +belong to more than this earth. It is not of the greatest importance +whether we lose it or it lose itself. We look for a "new heavens and a +new earth." We are, or should be, used to their forces, and at home +among their personalities. This universe is a unity. It is not made +up of separate, catastrophic movements, but it all flows on like the +sweetly blended notes of a psalm. "Therefore will not we fear, though +the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the +midst of the sea;" though the heavens be "rolled together as a scroll," +the stars fall, "even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs," when it +is shaken with the wind, and though our bodies are whelmed in the +removal of things that can be shaken. For even then we may find the +calm force that shakes the earth is the force that is from everlasting +to everlasting; may find that it is personal and loving. It says, "Lo, +it is I; be not afraid." + +Whatever comes, whether one sail the spaces in the great ship we call +the world, or fall overboard into Mississippis and Amazons of power in +which worlds are mere drifting islands, he will be at peace and at home +anywhere. He will ever say: + + "The winds that o'er my ocean run + Blow from all worlds, beyond the sun; + Through life, through death, through faith, through time, + Great breaths of God, they sweep sublime, + Eternal trades that cannot veer, + And blowing, teach us how to steer; + And well for him whose joy, whose care, + Is but to keep before them fair. + + "O thou, God's mariner, heart of mine, + Spread canvas to these airs divine. + Spread sail and let thy past life be + Forgotten in thy destiny." + + + +[1]The action that drives off the material of a comet's tail proves +that other forces besides gravitation are operative in the +interplanetary space.--_The Sun_, C. A. Young, p. 156. + +[2]See _Recreations in Astronomy_, p. 357. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE FORCES*** + + +******* This file should be named 15807.txt or 15807.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/8/0/15807 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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