XI 



Sir Chaeles Ltell was the eldest son of Charles Lyell, Esq., of Kin- 

 nordj, in Forfarshire, where he was born on the 14th of November, 1797. 

 He inherited from his father a strong taste for natural-history pursuits, 

 and in early boyliood devoted himself to them with enthusiasm in the New 

 Forest, to 'which his family had removed not loug after his birth. 

 Destined for the legal profession, he studied at Exeter College, Oxford, 

 and took his M.A. degree in the year 1821. He was duly called to the 

 bar ; but by this time his bias towards the life of a scientific student had 

 grown so decided, that the practice of the law became increasingly irksome 

 to him. He had studied geology under Buckland, whom he had accom- 

 panied to the field on those equestrian excursions which the merry Pro- 

 fessor used to lead over the surrounding country. "We find him already, in 

 February 1824, elected Secretary of the Geological Society of London, and 

 in 1826 he entered the Eoyal Societ}^ His first geological memoir was on 

 some freshwater marls in his native county of Forfarshire ; it was read 

 in December 1824 : containing a comparison of the recent with ancient 

 deposits of the same kind, it showed the pathway of inquiry which even 

 then he had deliberately chosen, and along which he was to journey to the 

 end of his life as the great apostle of the doctrine that the Present 

 alone affords the key to the Past. 



Having recognized at the beginning of his career that the true progress 

 of geology could best be advanced by a careful collection and discussion 

 of all facts bearing upon the present changes of the earth's surface, he 

 devoted himself for several years to a diligent study of all accessible works 

 of travel from which trustworthy information could be obtained regarding 

 modern geological changes. During this time he seems to have written 

 no scientific memoirs for publication ; but by the end of the spring of 

 1828 he had completed the sketch of his ' Principles of Geology.' In 

 May of that year he accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Murchison to France, 

 and spent some time with them in the scientific circles of Paris, among 

 the volcanic rocks of Auvergne and in the interesting valley of the 

 Ehone. This journey formed the turning-point in his career. Instead 

 of returning to London and resuming his professional work, he wrote to 

 his father stating that after the fullest consideration he had at last 

 decided to give up the law and devote himself to science as the occupation 

 of his life. Having taken this determination, he struck southwards into 

 Italy and Sicily, and was soon immersed in those researches in tertiary 

 geology which formed one of the great features in the scientific work of 

 his life. 



The first volume of his ' Principles ' was published in January 1830. 

 Its appearance at once placed its author in front of the geologists of his 

 day — a position acknowledged even by those w^ho would not admit his 

 doctrine that the present order of nature should be taken as a measure 

 and guide in explaining former geological changes. Before the second 

 volume appeared in January 1832, he bad been elected Professor of 



VOL. XXY. c 



