, 1877-12-06

.,.urc us that tic coffee is not SOON to bc
scrrctli
Tic world has had beginning, therefore u
will come to at end. Wilcns That Is lhc ques-
lion. And, above all, will tho world finish by
An accident, by perturbation OF existing
lawst No, 1t Will come to MI emil through the
,ctiop Of laws already asccrtatncti, aud will die,
4. one say., Of hcr own death.
But OF what sort Of deatha Age1 1l1ncssa
Yes, Of Illness; Of illness induced bv excess.
When We compare tho world with what 1t used
to he. We at uucc SEQ that the most e1traor-
lIuary Development Is that Of organic life upon
tho globe. Frotu the highest submits Of the
mountains to tho profoundcst depths Of the
valleys. millions upon billion. Of anfms!cnes,
Of nnimals of superior plants. have been toiiihg
jor centuries, even as toIlcsl the toraminUers
xhlch hare buftt up half VI tho continents.
The work was pushed with sufficient rapilty
before mnn appeared on tho earth. While the
human race rcmatncd grouped arnund two or
ihrrc points little attc1tion sas paid to the sub
fect. Tie world gradually entered upon tts In.
du.lrtal phase. The tendency u tncn ona Of
bcasts las cen towards m alarming ncrcasc;
alter century tue ward will begin to put on
dceb. Then will begin tint formidable pcrtnd
when exclusive production will lend to excessive
consumption; the excess uf consumption t0 an
excess OF heal, md the latter to the spontaneous
combustion Of the Garth and ot It's Inhabitants.
,ry vii advance with giant strides. The coal
beds will tlrst be used; then the oil-wclls, then
tue forests; tien people will take to burning
the oxygen OF the atmosphere and the hydrogen
Of the sea. There Will then he ,tnon the sur
iaer Of the earth nbout 1,UO0, 0,1O0,0O0 OF steam
engines, eacl, OH an ayeragu ot t,oo0 horte~pow-
CT And while the rsnct,ines are i,lcetsantly
rumlting forth torrcnts of manufactured goods,
from tho agricultural Btcps press f9rth throng
Of sheep, oxen, turkeys, swine, ducks, calves,
md geese, ait choking with their own tut. Wnl
= moro abundant mud nutritious alimcnt tho
feeundlty of tho human races and Of tic tnie-
rlor rnces .muy naturally bc expected to tn
crease. li6usrs rise story upon story; now the
garlcus atc suppressed, and now the
towns begin to run to each other. At
ward. m Xii useless nnl,nals have Disappeared,
cattle, horsrs, and fowls, without horns, ltlex,
taila, OF oofs, rcluccsi BY the art Ut thcr feed
becf-s.cak fed by four internal, ssoulacls.
barely hundred and fifty thousand ycArs have
gone BY and It is done. Amrr'ca, Europe, and
Africa, thanks to the cornl-~oFkcrs' assslluo1s
toil, havs disappeared, nothing remaining but
few Islands formed by tho lust surviving sum
m!ts Of tho Alps, Tyrenccs. and Carpat athlans,
etc. The human raec, rctrentinE slowly before
the sea, spreatie Itself over thc vast plains just
abandoned by tho ucean.
Theirs tho human race is destined to perish.
II livcs upon calcareous soil; It turns con-
stantiy into lime at enormous niass Of animal
matters. The production u animals continues
IL grow till ut lust production exceeds and baf-
nes consumption. Then begins the formation
upon the bark Ut tho cnrth {aa one might say)
Of pellIcufc-of an apprccia1lc body Of dstrAt
that cannot be removed. III the, tho world Ia
saturated with life, and fermentation Gcglns.
The thermometer goes up; the baroinctcs
goes down. Flowers fade; leaycs turn yellow !:
parchmeuts csacklc, and all turns old md britt
Animals ore thiuncd out in the PROCESS OF
ernnprnt1on Mar In lA tufn. lRhn anil
dried UP, n,u all tenperamcnts ann1ly abut III
oue,-the bilious,-the Int lymghatic having Of.
ferr1 hs daughter and go, ,o0o, ,000 to the latest
heir Of n se1les Of unblcuIIahcd scrofuloua sub
leets, who felt himself bound, through family
pride, to reject tbs oifcr. Tho hcat incrcaseu
anil tho watcr supply decreases. The water
carriers BY degrees ralse themselves to tho rank
Of chief iccti-eup-lcarrrs rhe ot!lce VI holding
Arlass Of water to tho sovcrcIRa's lips beconea
one Ut the great charges ot tllc state, and all
tho Ittlcuesses. nil tho !nia1nlcs that today We
sec committed for golden Jewel are dtle then
saouus SS'a '"'"tf fho ffs Fmptrsr ~ wight i Aus n
trala, In an acccss Of mental nnlotly, orders nl
leo which levours Ills civil l!st for u year. A
scientist a,,,nsses d gigantic fortuna Gy attalu
fresh water. The atfcanls dry up. and the crabs
come stumbling after the thrcatl4 Of the van
ishtng watcr-courscs. Sirangu passtons. TN
heard OF wraths, murdcsous loves. tnud scnsa-
tions. turn all i!ie into an irregular sorles ol
furious detonations, or rather continued ex'
plosson. beginning at brit, antl only ending
Will, death. Tho sivers and stfcatns begin tt
disappear, seas turn lukcwatm anti At last stn
.ncr. The lishcs, asphyxtat t'rst turn Ut
their bellies; thel como tho 1tgu, drtach+t
from tho bottom. by the heat; then come halt
cooked, wholly cooked, mud overlono whales
sea-scrpeuts, dey!l-llstl, It'll the smoking ocea,
IL turned into one cnnr1nous chowtler. FUI
barely \ century fearful smell Of cooking per
meatcs tho catth; then tho ocean has passcd
away and osls !cft deposit Of l,sl-scales Ia ths
Then co,nsth tilo end. Under the triple In
Nueuce Of heat, aspiyxia and 1leslccatIon, llttlt
BY lttlo tho human racu disaplcara; man drte.
up and sca'ts awnY. mud upon the slfgltcs
shock resolves into fragments, This only yegc
ta6les which survive arc mvtal5ifefous plants
only coaxed to blossom by daily sprinkl!fg will
yitrLol. To qucnch Ills dtvourng thirst, to ~
anu,atc Ills talrinesl nervous systeu,. ~ llquc1,
hts coagulatng nabasnen, man yals only resort t
sulphuric acld ur aquatortis. In valnt At cact
breath Of breeze that agitates this anlytrou
atmosphere Thousands OF human creatures aF'
instantaneously leslccatcd, md the knight OF
Bis steel, tlls lawyer At ths bor, tic ucroSat OF
bis rope, ttlu workman at his window ara con
ycEtc1 1uto mumsn[cs.
Then dawna tho Last Day. There aro onl.
thirty.sassn Of them, spgctrcs wandering anon
gin fuslous reel. and at each turn q dance
falls dead with dry rattle. The last man |
left, facng this wfetctlcsl hcap where lies al
kDHt Ii leIk "a g1G AuH4u IAC4- klG CAkt9 = 81nRl
glance upon the Garth, bids 1t farewell In til
name Of all, aud FROM Ills pt'or ecorched eye
falls y tear-thc latest tear of tho world.
FouHl A trembling blue 1anlo 5!ses; two
three, . thousand. The whole world 1laree u
for moment and goes out. All is over. I'll
world ts dead.
sad, !cy, cold, It rolls through the silent de,
ets VI lphnitJ; and OF all the beauty, glory
S{s teafs lo;e. there remains but wrstshs
luminous spheres pf uGIY worlds,
Farewell, car.ii! Farewell, touching mem
cries Of our history. OF our Eenfus, Ut our Sol
row, Of our loycl Farewell, nature, Who's
sweet aud serene majesty con4oted us for +
many salcrings. Farewell, tsesh and sosnbr
woods, HAcre Of lovely summer nights, b.
heath the silver moon, we heard thu nigbtlnRal
slng Farewell, tGtriblc aud charming eseatufc
who led the universe wish tear Or ! su,ile, an
whom we addressed bY nanlcs - dear! Al
since nothing ot you sesna!ns, all u lndec
over.
The world IL dead.
TIE HORSE AND HIS RIDER.
xrta fs%k ktx