1 62 HUTTONIAN THEORY 



dry land, but he contended that from time to time 

 this catastrophe is prevented by the operation of the 

 underground forces, whereby new continents are up- 

 heaved from the bed of the ocean. And thus in 

 his system a due proportion is maintained between 

 land and water, and the condition of the earth as a 

 habitable globe is preserved. 



A theory of the earth so simple in outline, so bold 

 in conception, so full of suggestion, and resting on 

 so broad a base of observation and reflection, ought, 

 we might think, to have commanded at once the 

 attention of men of science, even if it did not immedi- 

 ately awaken the interest of the outside world ; but, 

 as Playfair sorrowfully admitted, it attracted notice 

 only very slowly, and several years elapsed before 

 anyone showed himself publicly concerned about it, 

 either as an enemy or a friend. Some of its earliest 

 critics assailed it for what they asserted to be its irre- 

 ligious tendency — an accusation which Hutton repudi- 

 ated with much warmth. The sneer levelled by 

 Cowper a few years earlier at all inquiries into the 

 history of the universe was perfectly natural and intel- 

 ligible from that poet's point of view (p. 128). There 

 was then a widespread belief that this world came into 

 existence some six thousand years ago, and that any 

 attempt greatly to increase that antiquity was meant 

 as a blow to the authority of Holy Writ. So far, 

 however, from aiming at the overthrow of orthodox 

 beliefs, Hutton evidently regarded his ' Theory ' as 

 an important contribution in aid of natural religion. 

 He dwelt with unfeigned pleasure on the multitude 

 of proofs which he was able to accumulate of an 



