204 LAY SERMONS, ESSAYS, AND REVIEWS. [xi. 



admitted ; and, in this aversion to look beyond the veil of stratified 

 rocks, Lyell follows him. 



Hutton and Lyell alike agree in their indisposition to carry 

 their speculations a step beyond the period recorded in the most 

 ancient strata now open to observation in the crust of the earth. 

 This is, for Hutton, &quot;the point in which we cannot see any 

 farther ; &quot; while Lyell tells us, 



&quot; The astronomer may find good reasons for ascribing the 

 earth s form to the original fluidity of the mass, in times long 

 antecedent to the first introduction of living beings into the 

 planet; but the geologist must be content to regard the earliest 

 monuments which it is his task to interpret, as belonging to a 

 period when the crust had already acquired great solidity and 

 thickness, probably as great as it now possesses, and when 

 volcanic rocks, not essentially differing from those now produced, 

 were formed from time to time, the intensity of volcanic heat 

 being neither greater nor less than it is now.&quot; l 



And again, &quot; As geologists, we learn that it is not only the 

 present condition of the globe which has been suited to the 

 accommodation of myriads of living creatures, but that many 

 former states also have been adapted to the organization and 

 habits of prior races of beings. The disposition of the seas, 

 continents and islands, and the climates, have varied ; the species 

 likewise have been changed ; and yet they have all been so 

 modelled, on types analogous to those of existing plants and 

 animals, as to indicate, throughout, a perfect harmony of design 

 and unity of purpose. To assume that the evidence of the 

 beginning, or end, of so vast a scheme lies within the reach of 

 our philosophical inquiries, or even of our speculations, appears 

 to be inconsistent with a just estimate of the relations which 

 subsist between the finite powers of man and the attributes of 

 an infinite and eternal Being.&quot; 2 



The limitations implied in these passages appear to me to con 

 stitute the weakness and the logical defect of Uniformitarianism. 

 No one will impute blame to Hutton that, in face of the imperfect 

 1 Principles of Geology, vol. ii. p. 211. 2 Ibid. p. 613. 



