Letter to the Editor. 349 



ne dirai pas qu'elles ont kt€ cti^s ainsi, parce-qu'en physique je ne dois pas 

 employer des expressions sur lesquelles on ne s'entend pas."— 'Tom, 2. page 

 211. I request any person acquainted with the French language to com- 



Eare the original with the translation, and they will see that the author 

 as been misunderstood, and that his meaning is as follows : " I will 

 not say that they have been created thus," (in their present state,) " be- 

 cause in physics I must not employ expressions on the sense of which 

 people are not agreed." The whole passage runs thus. After describing 

 two classes of mountains, he says of the second, " On les a nommees 

 secondaires, et les autres primitives. J'adopterai la premiere de ces ex- 

 pressions, car c'est la meme qui nous 6toit venue a 1 esprit, a mon frSre 

 et a moi, longtems avant que nous I'eussions vue employer; mais je 

 substituerai celle de primordiales, a primitive, pour 1 autre classe de 

 raontagnes, afin de ne rien d^cidei Sur leur origine. II est des mon- 

 tagnes dont jusqu'a present on n'a pu d6meler la cause ; voila le fait. 

 Je ne dirai dont pas qu'elle ont 6t6 cr6es ainsi, parce qu'en physique je 

 ne dois pas employer des expressions sur lesquelles on ne s'entend pas. 

 Sans doute cependant, que I'histoire naturelle, ni la physique, ne nous 

 conduisent nuUement a croire que notre globe ait existe de toute eternity, 

 et lorsqu'il prit naissance il fallut bien que la matiere qui la composa fut 

 de quelque nature, on sous quelque premiere forme integrante. Rien done 

 n'empeche d'admettre que ces montagnes, qne je nomraerai primordiales 

 ne soyent r^ellement primitives ; je penche meme pour cette opinion." — 

 Without pretending to any skill in geology, 1 appeal to the common sense 

 of any person who can read and understand this quotation ; and 1 ask whe- 

 ther the writer can be suspected of wishing to exclude the idea of creation ? 

 If I express myself with warmth on this subject, I beg that I may not be 

 supposed to speak with disrespect of Mr. Penn's admirable work, or to 

 suspect the excellent author of intentional misrepresentation of a fellow-la- 

 bourer in the same cause ; but the character of a friend, whom 1 have re- 

 spected and esteemed for more than forty years, is sacred in my eyes. Mr. 

 De Luc was one of the best men and best christians that I have ever 

 known, and I knew him well. Our late excellent king and queen honoured 

 him with their esteem and confidence. Her majesty was his pupil during 

 many years, and she would not have received instruction from a person 

 whom she did not believe to be a safe guide on the important subjects of 

 his lectures. He was sent by the king to Germany, to inquire into 

 the state of religion there, and particularly into the views of the 

 llluminati, whose dangerous principles were first developed by him. It was 

 De Luc who ventured to caution his royal master against the plausible, but 

 dangerous, system of education,'which it has since been found expedient to 

 counteract, by establishing the national schools. On every occasion, M. 

 De Luc was the active and indefatigable supporter of our constitution iu 

 church and state. His talents were always exerted in the cause of religion 

 and morality, and his life exemplified every virtue whicn his writings are 

 designed to inculcate. There may be mistakes in some parts of his system, 

 but those who knew the man, as I had the happiness of knowing him, may 

 venture to answer for the intentions of the author; of whom his opponent. 

 M. Le Tellier, thus expresses his opinion : " Je vous respecte comme grand 

 Geologue, et comme ami et defenseur zel6 du Christiamsme." 



We do not hesitate a moment to give the preceding communication, word 

 for word, as we received it ; and we are equally ready to express our full 

 conviction that De Luc's intentions were as right-minded as our valued cor- 

 respondent represents them to have been. We are not, however, so fully 

 convinced, that, in the passage which has called for the preceding ani- 

 madversions, he is not reprobated " with just severity." That Mr. Penn 

 has not misunderstood it, for want of a sufficient knowledge of French, 

 may be pretty confidently assumed by any one who has read his " Compa- 

 rative Estimate," than which, we have met with very few works that evince 

 a more perfect act^uaintance both with modern and dead languages. Has 

 he misrepresented it, then? We think not. — What can " des expressions" 

 refer to, but the word creis, with or without its ainsi, as you please ? It is 

 the only word in the sentence about which any misunderstanding can bv 

 possibility exist. Had De Luc written, Je nc dirai.pas qu'ils ont et^ formes 

 ainsi, would he have thought it necessary to give nis reason for declining 

 the phrase } The question is, were the mountains originally formed as they 



