ON THEORIES OF THE EARTH. 38,'J 



it is the fate, even of theory, to generate prejudice, this 

 is ever inseparable from the pursuit of truth, under 

 human feelings. But there is a correction, in the 

 habit of severe self-judgment; while the absence of 

 theory offers no security against partiality; as, for the 

 spirit of opposition, there is no corrective. 



The antiquities of every science form a natural ob- 

 ject of curiosity: but, on this, as on all else, my limits 

 condemn me to the utmost brevity. They enable us, 

 at least, to trace the progress of the human mind, with 

 that slow accumulation of knowledge, by which we 

 often imperceptibly profit; teaching us, also, that, in 

 the same circumstances, we should have done no 

 better. Thus We see the first steps by which obser- 

 vation and reasoning have felt their unsteady way, the 

 gradual accumulation and purification of evidence, and 

 the increased resources and severity of reason ; while, 

 in every science, there is not a step which does not 

 afford ground for useful reflection. But the remote 

 antiquities of geology present almost a blank. The 

 facts are nearly nothing : and the theories are those 

 dreams which once held the place of inductive reason- 

 ing. The classical reader may turn to Herodotus, 

 Polybius,Stnii)o, Aristotle, and Pliny, forremarkspnthe 

 changes of the land through the action of the sea and 

 rivers, and on volcanoes and earthquakes ; and further, 

 to Lucretius, Seneca, and Plutarch, for theories of the 

 latter. The facts are of little moment now ; the theo- 

 ries of none : we know not the rocks they described ; 

 and if they knew of the presence of shells in these, 

 their conclusions are without value or interest. 



Their theories are metaphysical cosmogonies, in 

 which " more Grsecorum," words are the substitutes for 

 things. There is no temptation to criticize them ; 

 however we may be indignant at the moderns, who 

 have reproduced similar romances under new phrases. 



