>The world has now grown old, and does not abide in that strength in which
>it formerly stood. This we would know, even if the sacred Scriptures had
>not told us of it, because the world itself announces its approaching end
>by its failing powers. In the winter there is not so much rain for
>nourishing the seeds, and in the summer the sun gives not so much heat for
>ripening the harvest. In springtime the young corn is not so joyful, and
>the autumn fruit is sparser. Less and less marble is quarried out of the
>mountains, which are exhausted by their disembowelments, and the veins of
>gold and silver are dwindling day by day. The husbandman is failing in
>the fields, the sailor at sea, the soldier in the camp. Honesty is no
>longer to be found in the market-place, nor justice in the law-courts, nor
>good craftsmanship in art, nor discipline in morals. Think you that
>anything which is old can preserve the same powers that it possessed in
>the prime vigour of its youth? Whatever is tending towards its decay and
>going to meet its end must needs weaken. Hence the setting sun sends out
>rays that hardly warm or cheer, the waning moon is a pale crescent, the
>old tree that once was green and hung with fruit grows gnarled and
>barren, and every spring in time runs dry. This is the sentence that has
>been passed on the earth, this is God's decree: that everything which has
>had a beginning shall have an end, that everything which has flourished
>shall fall, that strong things shall become weak, and great things shall
>become small, and that when they have weakened and dwindled they shall be
>no more. So no one should wonder nowadays that everything begins to fail,
>since the whole world is failing, and is about to die.