[audubon's Works Are] The Most Splendid Monuments

It Is In This Mutual Dependence Of The Functions And The Aid Which They Reciprocally Lend One Another That Are Founded The Laws Which Determine The Relations Of Their Organs And Which Possess A Necessity Equal To That Of Metaphysical Or Mathematical Laws, Since It Is Evident That The Seemly Harmony Between Organs Which Interact Is A Necessary Condition Of Existence Of The Creature To Which They Belong And That If One Of These Functions Were Modified In A Manner Incompatible With The Modifications Of The Others The Creature Could No Longer Continue To Exist.

To Spread Healthy Ideas Among Even The Lowest Classes Of People, To Remove Men From The Influence Of Prejudice And Passion, To Make Reason The Arbiter And Supreme Guide Of Public Opinion; That Is The Essential Goal Of The Sciences; That Is How Science Will Contribute To The Advancement Of Civilization, And That Is What Deserves Protection Of Governments Who Want To Insure The Stability Of Their Power.

Since Nothing Can Exist That Does Not Fulfil The Conditions Which Render Its Existence Possible, The Different Parts Each Being Must Be Co-ordinated In Such A Way As To Render Possible The Existence Of The Being As A Whole, Not Only In Itself, But Also In Its Relations With Other Beings, And The Analysis Of These Conditions Often Leads To General Laws Which Are As Certain As Those Which Are Derived From Calculation Or From Experiment.

If They [enlightened Men] Take Any Interest In Examining, In The Infancy Of Our Species, The Almost Obliterated Traces Of So Many Nations That Have Become Extinct, They Will Doubtless Take A Similar Interest In Collecting, Amidst The Darkness Which Covers The Infancy Of The Globe, The Traces Of Those Revolutions Which Took Place Anterior To The Existence Of All Nations.

Thus It Cannot Be Denied That The Masses Which Today Form Our Highest Mountains Were Originally In A Liquid State; For A Long Time They Were Covered By Waters Which Did Not Sustain Any Life.