352 FORM OF THE EARTH^S SURFACE. 



springs of the earth,, thus securing the fertility and 

 salubrity of the distant plains. The severities of climate 

 are mitigated by these conditions, and both the people 

 of the tropics and those dwelling near the poles are 

 equally benefited by them. 



Gravitation, cohesion, motion, chemical force, heat, 

 and electricity, must, from that hypothetical time when 

 the earth floated a cloud of nebulous vapour, in a state 

 of gradual condensation up to the present moment, have 

 been exercising their powers, and regulating the muta- 

 tions of matter. 



When the dry land was beneath the waters, and when 

 darkness was upon the face of the deep, the same great 

 operations as those which are now in progress in the 

 depths of the Atlantic, or in the still waters of our 

 inland lakes, were in full activity. At length the dry 

 land appears; and mystery of mysteries it soon 

 becomes teeming with life in all the forms of vegetable 

 and animal beauty, under the aspect of the beams of a 

 glorious sun. 



Geology teaches us to regard our position upon the 

 earth as one far in advance of all former creations. It 

 bids us look back through the enormous vista of time, 

 and see, shining still in the remotest distance, the light 

 which exposes to our vision many of nature's holy 

 wonders. The elements which now make up this 

 strangely beautiful fabric of muscle, nerves, and bone, 

 have passed through many ordeals, ere yet it became 

 fashioned to hold the human soul. No grain of matter 

 has been added to the planet, since it was weighed in a 

 balance, and poised with other worlds. No grain of 

 matter can be removed from it. But in virtue of those 

 forces which seem to originate in the sun, tc the soul of 

 the great earth," a succession of new forms has been 

 produced, as the old things have passed away. 



Under the forces we have been considering, acting as 

 so many contending armies, matter passes from one 



