164 Letter to the Wight Hon. the Countess of Gosford. 



ball, watched for an opportunity of tripping up those who ven- 

 tured themselves boldly. 



1 have not always been so cautious ; for although I gave up 

 all hopes of explaining the earlier processes of nature, in the 

 formation and arrangement of the materials of our glohe, I have 

 inquired carefiiiiy into the operations that have been performed 

 upon it since its consolidation, and particularly into the Forma- 

 tion of its present surface, so curiously dlveisified. 



Mv sentiments on thissnbject have been held still more wild than 

 the theories of those whom I have taken the liberty to laugh at. 



I have sustained that the surface of our original world was 

 once elevated above the tops of our highest mountains. That 

 some mighty agent had acted upon our then surface, (probably 

 luiiform,) and had carried off its materials, irregularly and in 

 immense quantities, reducing the globe to a smaller size v»ith 

 its present surface, without disturbing the materials left behind. 



According to this position, the question of the formation of 

 our mountains vanishes ; they are no longer the stupendous mo- 

 numents of powerful agents, or the results of grand operations 

 of Nature, but merely the scattered remnants of a- diminished 

 world. 



All this, your ladyship will say, is much wilder than any of the 

 theories I have been ridiculing; but I must request you to distin- 

 guish: all these are mere matters of opinion ; while my positions 

 are given as matters of fact. The philosophers I allude to, claim 

 to be acquainted with their agents, and show how they might have 

 acted, 1 admit I know nothing of mine, but that he did act ;— 

 the results, that is the natural appearances, or facts, these gentle- 

 men bring forward, or decline to notice, are at variance with,: 

 and irreconcileable to their respective theories. The facts to 

 v/hich I call attention, and in general the face of nature, where- 

 ever laid bare to us, afford as clear demonstration of the truth 

 of my positions, as any theorem in Euclid is capable of receiving. 



The question of original formation has been long abundantly 

 discussed. Let us take new ground, and try to develope from 

 existing facts the operations that have been performed on our 

 globe since its final consolidation:— appearances which will 

 justify the position, that our world did not come thus as it now 

 stands from the hand of Nature; — that important changes must 

 have taken place— -that mighty agents, unknown to us ordy by 

 the marks they have left behind them, must have acted upon it. 



I shall slightly mention a few of the appearances that seem to 

 countenance these wild suppositions : 



1, The irregular diversification of our surface, quite uncon- 

 nected with original formation, and the arrangen;cut of our 

 strata. 



2. The^ 



