immaterial to the present question, whether they
were formed (according to the theory of Hutton)
from the detritus of the earlier granitic rocks,
spread forth by water into beds of clay and sand;
and subsequently modified by heat: or whether
they have been produced, (as was maintained by
Werner) by chemical precipitation from a fluid,
having other powers of solution than those possessed
by the waters of the present ocean. It
is of little importance to our present purpose,
whether the non-appearance of animals and vegetables
in these most ancient strata was caused
by the high temperature of the waters of the
ocean, in which they were mechanically deposited
; or by the compound nature and uninhabitable
condition of a primeval fluid, holding
their materials in solution. All observers admit
that the strata were formed beneath the water,
and have been subsequently converted into dry
land : and whatever may have been the agents
that caused the movements of the gross unorganized
materials of the globe; we find sufficient
evidence of prospective wisdom and design, in
the benefits resulting from these obscure and
distant revolutions, to future races of terrestrial
creatures, and more especially to Man.*
* In describing geological phenomena, it is impossible to avoid
the use of theoretical terms, and the provisional, adoption of
many theoretical opinions as to the manner in which these phenomena
have been produced. From among the various and
In unstratified crystalline rocks, wholly destitute
of animal or vegetable remains, we search
in vain for those most obvious evidences of contrivance,
which commence with the first traces
of organic life, in strata of the transition period ;
the chief agencies which these rocks indicate,
are those of fire and water; and yet even here we
find proof of system and intention, in the purpose
which they have accomplished, of supplying
and accumulating at the bottom of the water
the materials of stratified formations, which, in
after times, were to be elevated into dry lands,
in an ameliorated condition of fertility. Still
more decisive are the evidences of design and
method, which arise from the consideration of the
conflicting theories that have been proposed to explain the most
difficult and complicated problems of Geology, I select those
which appear to carry with them the highest degree of probability
; but as results remain the same from whatever cause they
have originated, the force of inferences from these results will be
unaffected by changes that may arise in our opinions as to the physical
causes by which these have been produced. As in estimating
the merits of the highest productions of human art it is not
requisite to understand perfectly the nature of the machinery by
which the work has been effected in order to appreciate the skill
and talent of the artist by whom it was contrived ; so our minds
may be fully impressed with a perception of the magnificent results
of creative intelligence, which are visible in the phenomena
of nature, although we can but partially comprehend the mechanism
that has been instrumental to their production; and although
the full developement of the workings of the material instruments
by which they were effected, has not yet been, and perhaps
may never be, vouchsafed to the prying curiosity of man.