188 HO W LITTLE CAN BE KNOWN. CHAP. XIIL 



" It is just possible for a human being to dig into 

 these sections of boulder clay, and think nothing about 

 them. He is contented to find clay, stones, shells, and 

 sea-sand, far inland. He never agitates his noddle 

 about them. There they are ! It's ' all right ! ' What 

 is it to him how these things came there ! 



" And even when he begins to reflect when he tries 

 to ascertain how shells, and sand, and clay are found so 

 far inland, how far does he get, and where does he end ? 

 After inquiring, and thinking, and guessing about these 

 wonders, he finds he is no nearer the truth than when 

 he began : 



*' ' Well did'st thou say, Athena's wisest son, 

 The most we know is, nothing can be known.' 



"And yet, despite the wisdom of the Greek, Dr. 

 Beattie holds that our Creator has permitted us to know 

 just a very little ; and the sagacious Dr. Paley affirms 

 that what we do not know, need not disturb our belief 

 in what we do know. Though Berkeley will have it 

 that we cannot be sure of anything that there is no 

 such thing as matter or material bodies, yet ordinary 

 people do not usually run their head against a post, 

 under the idea that all that they see is an illusion. 



" Here, for instance, in Caithness, are vast accumula- 

 tions of what we call Clay. On examination, we find it 

 composed of many different ingredients. We perceive 

 it to be a body, unique, distinct, and totally different, 

 as a whole, from every other. Creation holds nothing 

 similar. Slate rocks, ground down, seem its main con- 

 stituent, mixed with sand. Here and there we find 



