The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1909-05-07
WHEN THE EARTH DIES
And When Our Other Planets and
Our Sun Are Also Dead.
STILL THE HEAVENS BLAZE.
The Infinite Space Shall Always Dc
FILLED With Suns and Worlds and
Souls, For In Eternity There Can Be
Neither Beginning Nor End.

Neither Beginning Nor End
The earth was dead. The other
planets had died, one after tie other.
The sun was extinct but the stars
were still twlnkllng There shall al.
ways be stars and worlds.
In the unmeaBurable eternity time,
which ~ essentially relative, Is deter.
mined by the movement 81 each Of
these worlds. and IN each world Il Is
felt according 20 the personal scnBa.
lions Of their Inhabitants. Each globe
measures its proper period Of time
The years Of the earth are not those
Of Neptune. Neptune's year equals lGI
OF ours and r. no longer IN the absO.
lutte. There exists no proper common
measure Of time and eternity
In the empty space time does not ex'
fist There are no years, no centuries.
but there IL way Of measuring time
upon a revolving globe without perl.
Odlchl movements one can have no
conception Of time whatsoever.
The earth existed no longer; neither
ala ~ celestial nclghbor, Mars, nor
beautiful Venus. nor the gigantic Jupl-
ter. nor the strange universe Of Sat
urn. ~ rings gone, nor the slow plan
cts Uranus and Neptune, nor even
the sublime sun, whose rays had for
centuries made fertile the celestial
countries suspended I'm Its light
The sun was n black globe. the plan
cts we're other black globes, and this
invisible system continued 10 course In
the starred immensely at the bosom OF
the cold darkness Of space.
From the viewpoint Of life all these
worlds were dead, existed no longer.
They survived their antique history as
90 the ruins Of the dead cities OF As
syria. which the archaeologlst dlscOv-
ers I'm the desert and revolved dark IN
the invisible and unknown. Every
thing WIS covered with ice, 273 degrees
below zero.
No genius. 30 snge, could have
brought back the days OF old when
earth sailed through space bathed In
Hight. its beautiful green meadows
awakening with the rays OF the morn.
ing sun. lts rivers flowing like ser.
penis through the green fields. its
woods rcverbeFatlng with the songs Of
the birds IN forests enyeloped IN ma.
jeBtlc mystery.
Then all this happiness seemed eter.
nal. what has become Of the mornings |
and evenings, the flowers and the low
ora. the harmonlcs and Joys, the beau
ties aud the dreams1 All have dlsap- |
peared.
The earth n dead. all the planets are
dead. the sun IN extinct The solar
system gone. Time itself even annhl.
lated
Time lows into eternity, but eternity |
remains. and time rovlves.
Before the earth existed. during a
whole eternity. there were suns and |
worlds. humanlties iillcd with life and |
activity az are we today. For millions |
and millions Of years our earth did not |
EXIST. but tho universe was no less
brilliant After our time II will be as
before. Our epoch u Of no impOr.
taneo.
The dead and cold earth carried IN
itself. however, an energy not lost IT, |
movement around tho sun. which en-.
erGy transformed into heat would SUI.
Gee 10 melt the whole globe. 10 reduce |
Il 10 Vapor and 10 begin a new history |
Tor Il, which. Il n true. would not last !
long. for n this movement around the |
sun should suddenly cease the earth
would fall Into the sun and cease 10
oxist 10 would rush toward Il with |
sVer increasing speed and would reach |
Il IN aixty.hvo days.
When the earth N dead. other worlds |
viii come There will be other human.
tiles, other BabylonlanS, other Thebe-
Ians, other Athonlans. other R0mes,
otber Parisos. other palaces. other ten.
pies. other glOries other loves, other
lights
And these new unlverscs VIII dlsap-
pear IN their turn. 10 DO followed by
Itill others, AZ n certain time far
sway ia the future eternity all the
Itars OF the Milky Way shall rush 20.
ward one center Of gravity and form
IN immense formidable sun, center OF
! system, whose enormous worlds
,hail become populated by beings Nv.
na IN q temperature which would seem
rad hot 60 US
The Infinite space shall always b.
alled with worlds and stars, souls and
suns. and steruity shall last forever,
Tor there can b. neither beginning nor
lnd.-Camille Flammarion.