36 



a great rush of water from the north-west.* The details given 

 above, show that the currents which have swept over different 

 parts of England have not been confined to any given direction. 

 It may, perhaps, be laid down as a general rule, that the 

 diluvial gravel has been drifted down all the great inclined 

 planes which the earth's surface presented to the retiring waters. 



That the details given in the preceding papers tend, as far as 

 they go, to confirm the general argument of Buckland's 

 " licliquicc Diluviana " cannot admit of doubt. Indeed, the 

 facts brought to light by the combined labours of the modern 

 school of geologists, seem, as far as I comprehend them, com- 

 pletely to demonstrate the reality of a great diluvian catastrophe 

 during a comparatively recent period in the natural history of 

 the eartb. In the preceding speculations, I have carefully ab- 

 stained from any allusion to the sacred records of the history 

 of mankind ; and 1 deny that Professor Buekland, or any other 

 practical geologist of our time has rashly at templed to unite the 

 speculations of his favourite science with the truths of re- 

 velation.t 



The authority of the sacred records has been established by 

 a great mass of evidence at once conclusive and appropriate; 

 but differing altogether in kind from the evidence of observa- 

 tion and experiment, by which alone physical truth can ever 

 be established. It must, therefore, at once be rash ancf unphi- 

 losophical to look to the language of revelation for any direct 

 proof of the truths of physical science. But truth must at all 

 times be consistent with itself. The conclusions established on 

 the authority of the sacred records may, therefore, consistently 

 with the soundest philosophy, be compared with the conclusions 

 established on the evidence of observation and experiment; 

 and such conclusions, if fairly deduced, must necessarily be in 

 accordance with each other. This principle has been acted ou 

 by Cuvier, and appears to be recognized in every part of the 

 " Ileliquia Diluwana." The application is obvious. The 

 sacred records tell us — that a few thousand years ago " the 

 fountains of the great deep were broken up " — and that the 

 arth's surface was submerged by the waters of a general deluge ; 

 and the investigations of geology tend to prove that the accu- 

 mulations of alluvial matter have not been going on many 

 housand years ; and that they were preceded by* a great ca- 

 tastrophe which has left traces of its operation in the diluvial 

 detritus which is spread out over all the strata of the earth. 



* This is proved in an original and excellent paper, published by Sir James Hall, 

 in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. vii. 

 See also the " Reliquiae Diluvianm" p. '201 — -20.'). 

 + See the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, No. l 2'2. p. SOI. 



