The order and the harmony of the Cosmos is not like that which man
produces or aims to produce in his work--the order and harmony that will
give him the best and the quickest results; but it is an astronomic
order and harmony which flows inevitably from the circular movements and
circular forms to which the Cosmos tends. Revolution and evolution are
the two feet upon which creation goes. All natural forms strive for the
spherical. The waves on the beach curve and roll and make the pebbles
round. From the drops of rain and dew to the mighty celestial orbs one
law prevails. Nature works to no special ends; she works to all ends;
and her harmony results from her universality. The comets are apparently
celestial outlaws, but they all have their periodic movements, and make
their rounds on time. Collisions in the abysses of space, which
undoubtedly take place, look like disharmonies and failures of order, as
they undoubtedly are. What else can we call them? When a new star
suddenly appears in the heavens, or an old one blazes up, and from a
star of the tenth magnitude becomes one of the first, and then slowly
grows dim again, there has been a celestial catastrophe, an astronomic
accident on a cosmic scale. Had such things occurred frequently enough,
would not the whole solar system have been finally wrecked, or could it
even have begun? For the disharmonies in Nature we must look to the
world of the living things, but even here the defeats and failures are
the exception--else there would be no living world. Organic evolution
reaches its goal despite the delays and suffering and its devious
course. The inland stream finds its way to the sea at last, though its
course double and redouble upon itself scores of times, and it travels
ten miles to advance one. A drought that destroys animal and vegetable
life, or a flood that sweeps it away, or a thunderbolt that shatters a
living tree, are all disharmonies of Nature. In fact, one may say that
disease, pestilence, famine, tornadoes, wars, and all forms of what we
call evil are disharmonies, because their tendency is to defeat the
orderly development of life.
The disharmonies in Nature in both the living and the non-living worlds
tend to correct themselves. When Nature cannot make both ends meet, she
diminishes her girth. If there is not food enough for her creatures,
she lessens the number of mouths to be fed. A surplus of food, on the
other hand, tends to multiply the mouths.
Man often introduces an element of disorder into Nature. His work in
deforesting the land brings on floods and the opposite conditions of
drought. He destroys the natural checks and compensations.