. CREATION BY: LAW, 277 
the stones and pebbles and gravel, that would other- 
wise block up its course. In every part of this system 
he would see exact adaptation of means to an end. 
He would say, that this system of channels must have 
been designed, it answers its purpose so effectually. 
Nothing but a mind could have so exactly adapted 
the slopes of the channels, their capacity, and fre- 
“quency, to the nature of the soil and the quantity of 
the rainfall. Again, he would see special adaptation 
to the wants of man, in broad quiet navigable rivers 
flowing through fertile plains that support a large 
population, while the rocky streams and mountain 
torrents, were confined to those sterile regions suit- 
able only for a small population of shepherds and 
herdsmen. He would listen with incredulity to the 
Geologist, who assured him, that the adaptation and 
adjustment he so admired was an inevitable result of 
the action of general laws. That the rains and rivers, 
aided by subterranean forces, had modelled the country, 
had formed the hills and valleys, had scooped out the 
river beds, and levelled the plains ;—and it would only 
be after much patient observation and study, after 
having watched the minute changes produced year 
by .year, and multiplying them by thousands and ten 
thousands, after visiting the various regions of the 
earth and seeing the changes everywhere going on, 
and the unmistakable signs of greater changes in past 
times, — that he could be made to understand that 
the surface of the earth, however beautiful and har- 
monious it may appear, is strictly due in every detail 
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