EYOLUTM AND NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



CHAPTEE I. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN VIEWS OF NATURE. 



" And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the 

 children of men builded." Gen. xi. 5. 



" Oftmn ok Frigg satu i HliSskjalfu, ok sa um heima alia." 



GRIMMSMAL. 



IT is difficult in the present advanced state of 

 physical science, to understand, or at least to 

 realise, the aspect which the Universe presented 

 to most of our predecessors, and which it pre- 

 sents even now to the uncivilised nations of the 

 world, or to the uneducated among ourselves. 

 The progress of science has been so great since 

 the time of Galileo, that fresh vistas of know- 

 ledge have been opened up every few years, 

 showing us a vast extent of country where we 

 had been accustomed to see only a blank wall, 

 with nothing beyond. First came the discovery 

 of the shape, size, and subordinate position of the 

 earth in the Solar System ; then the boundless 



