168 CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



These are said, by the rustics of the vicinity, to point out the course 

 taken by a mare and colt, anciently stolen from St. Catherine. — 

 Having formerly stated the legend at length, we shall now confine 

 ourselves to Mr. Allies's *' hypothesis." We cannot deny to that 

 gentleman the praise of considerable ingenuity, much enthusiasm, 

 and a regular determination to level every adversary that opposes 

 him in the depths of Sapey brook. We think it best, therefore, at 

 once, fairly to admit with him that these are tracks of antediluvian 

 animals, provided we find that this admission involves us in the 

 belief of nothing incredible. This we shall first inquire. — Mr. 

 Allies then states the *' tracks" to be those of shod, or domesticated 

 horses, " the prints of the nails and the cockers of the shoes" hav- 

 ing been visible to some observers ; and much stress is also laid by 

 the author on the *^ patten-ring impressions" made in the sand-stone, 

 by the antediluvian ladies, upon whom our author seems to press 

 rather too hard. Of course all this involves us in the supposition of 

 some antediluvian nation being settled about Sapey brook ; and Mr. 

 Allies conceives that " Tubul-Cain himself, or some of his family, 

 might have settled in this country and practised, or taught the art 

 \oi working in brass and \xotC\ to the natives." But, unfortunately, 

 this simple question arises — If Tubal-Cain, who was only the eighth 

 from Adam, emigrated into Britain to teach "the natives," who 

 were these "natives" that he came to teach; and from whence did 

 they spring } Is it possible that they could be a remnant of the 

 *' 'prior race of men and horses*' that existed " before the creation of 

 Adam, and whom Mr. Allies, after calling them into being, rather 

 gratuitously supposes " had become extinct by an universal deluge, 

 or some other cause V As the author provides us with abundance 

 of "iron" and "patten-rings" to digest, he has here charitably 

 granted us an extra '* universal deluge*' before the creation of Adam, 

 to wash them down ! This is certainly making the iron enter too 

 deep into our souls ; and notwithstanding the assistance afforded by 

 Job, Dr. Adam Clarke, and others whom Mr. Allies calls to his aid, 

 Ave feel a difficulty in acknowledging these " tracks" to be those of 

 Tubal-Cain's horses ! If we deny this, the learned author then in- 

 sists that we must take our choice of one of these hypotheses — either 

 that " some of the strata of old red sand-stone was deposited since 

 the existence of men and horses, and that the tracks in question were 

 made by persons and animals^ while the stratum was in a state of 

 formation ; and, therefore, that the geologists must begin de novo 

 in their classifications ;'' — for this the author strenuously contends ; 

 — or, that we must believe " that the tracks in question were made 

 -by a race of men and horses which became extinct before Eden was 

 planted !" It is a maxim in philosophy to be satisfied with that the- 

 ory which requires the simplest and most natural means to effect the 

 object in view ; and this being the case, it appears to us that the old 

 story of St. Catherine offers the easiest solution of this problem, af- 

 ter all, notwithstanding the laborious efforts Mr. Allies has made 

 to sustain his " hypothesis.*' If we only believe in the i^jwer of the 



