AS RELATED TO RELIGION. 145 



ment of an infinite series, might be combated by 

 metaphysical argument, but the reply was only an 

 argument of words, and to many minds far from 

 being conclusive. It was a rampart, behind which 

 thousands would vaunt themselves to be safe, and, 

 like all metaphysical ramparts, so long as it was 

 firmly believed in, it was safe. 



But geology has a shorter and more conclusive 

 answer. One blow of her hammer and the rampart 

 of infinite series dissolves as by enchantment. She 

 points her finger back to the granite frame-work of 

 the globe, and reads a chapter in its history, when 

 organic forms were impossible on the molten, glow- 

 ing mass. Then through each of the stony layers, 

 she marks the introduction of each new species 

 the thousand wonderful forms, each a miracle of 

 creation. First she unfolds the varied forms of the 

 Silurian seas, the earliest types of organic existence, 

 the chambered shells, the mountain masses of curi- 

 ous patterns, whose nice finish to the microscopic 

 facet of the trilobite's eye, has for countless ages 

 been preserved for us in this grand cabinet, un- 

 harmed by corroding elements, undisturbed by the 



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