8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Unfortunately, De Maillet fell between two ranks of adversaries. 

 On one side, the Church authorities denounced him as a free- 

 thinker ; on the other, Voltaire ridiculed him as a devotee. Feel- 

 ing that his greatest danger was from the orthodox theologians, 

 De Maillet endeavored to protect himself by disguising his name 

 in the title of his book, and by so wording its preface and dedica- 

 tion that, if persecuted, he could declare it a mere sport of fancy ; 

 he therefore announced it as the reverie of a Hindu sage impart- 

 ed to a Christian missionary. But this strategy availed nothing ; 

 he had allowed his Hindu sage to suggest that the days of crea- 

 tion named in Genesis might be long periods of time, and this, 

 with other ideas of equally fearful import, was fatal. Though the 

 book was in type in 1735, it was not published till 1748 three 

 years after his death. 



On the other hand, the heterodox theology of Voltaire was also 

 aroused ; and, as De Maillet had seen in the presence of fossils on 

 high mountains a proof that these mountains were once below the 

 sea, Voltaire recognized an argument for the deluge of Noah, and 

 ridiculed the new thinker without mercy. 



Hence it is that, between these two extremes of theology, De 

 Maillet has received no recognition until very recently the great- 

 est men of science in England and France have united in giving 

 him his due. But his work was not lost, even in his own day ; 

 Robinet and Bonnet pushed forward victoriously on helpful lines. 

 In the second half of the eighteenth century a great barrier was 

 thrown across this current^the authority of Linnaeus. He was 

 the most eminent naturalist of his time, a wide observer, a close 

 thinker ; but the atmosphere in which he lived and moved and had 

 his being was saturated with biblical theology, and this permeated 

 all his thinking. 



He who visits the tomb of Linnaeus to-day, entering the beau- 

 tiful cathedral of Upsala by its southern porch, sees above it, 

 wrought in stone, the Hebrew legend of creation. In a series of 

 medallions the Almighty in human form accomplishes the work 

 of each creative day. In due order he puts in place the solid firma- 

 ment with the waters above it, the sun, moon, and stars within it, 

 the beasts, birds, and plants below it, and finishes his task by tak- 

 ing man out of a little hillock of " the earth beneath," and woman 

 out of man's side. Doubtless Linnaeus, as he went to his devo- 

 tions, often smiled at this childlike portrayal. Yet he was never 

 able to break away from the idea it embodied. At times, in face 

 of the difficulties which beset the orthodox theory, he ventured to 

 favor some slight concessions ; but what he might expect if he 

 sanctioned the new view he learned to his cost : warnings came 

 speedily both from the Catholic and Protestant sides. 



At a time when the most eminent prelates of the older Church 



