OF CREATION. 383 



observations concerning existing nature, and the pre- 

 sent condition and relations of organic and inorganic 

 matter. The moment that we pass beyond this limit, 

 that moment we launch without compass into a vast 

 and boundless ocean of conjecture, guided only and 

 warned by the appearance of innumerable wrecks, 

 the results of similar attempts, which serve to point 

 out the danger, but hardly teach us how to avoid it. 



In the actual condition of the earth's surface we 

 find abundant proof of change of almost every kind. 

 Nothing is permanent, nothing continues in a con- 

 dition absolutely the same for more than the shortest 

 possible time : there is movement, disturbance, modi- 

 fication going on, above the surface, on the surface, 

 and beneath the surface everything is in motion, not 

 a particle of matter in the whole universe stands 

 still, and everything is manifestly tending to a some- 

 what different state, though there appears every pro- 

 bability that the new state will be strictly analogous 

 to the old one. 



In the case of inorganic nature, this perpetual 

 turmoil is now universally recognised. Not only 

 does the earth move as a mass, but every particle of 

 matter seems to be constantly changing its position 

 in relation to the adjacent particles. The air is con- 

 stantly receiving, conveying, and distributing parti- 

 cles of earth and water. The water is in constant 

 movement from the action of the winds and tides, 

 from the influx of rivers, and from unequal evapora- 

 tion from its surface. But the surface itself is yet 

 more decidedly exposed to change ; for not only is 

 part carried from one place and deposited in another 

 by every dash of the never-tiring wave, and every 



