220 



FAIRHOLME ON GEOLOGY 



any such conclusion, supposing the Deluge to have taken place, as we have reason 

 to know it did, about 4,000 years ago." — Page 120, Note. 



We have spoken above of the amiable manner in which Mr. 

 Fairholme treats those whose theories he opposes and refutes, and we 

 might prove this by a considerable number of quotations, but one will 

 suffice. In a postscript to his introductory chapter, Mr. Fairholme 

 says : — 



" Since this work was completed, the * Principles of Geology,' by Mr. Lyell, 

 have appeared ; a work of very great talent, and full of interesting research and 

 information on the secondary causes in constant action upon the earth. This able 

 writer, has, however, taken, in some respects, a new line of theory, and is as 

 desirous of accounting for the phenomena on the surface of the earth, without the 

 aid of any unusual or preternatural convulsion, as other geologists have been to 

 press into their service a constant repetition of deluges and disasters. We find, that 

 while Cuvier inculcates the doctrine of numerous deluges, alternately of salt and 

 of fresh water, Mr. Lyell endeavours to account for all things without the aid 

 of any general deluge, though he considers local deluges as amongst the ordinary 

 occurrences of nature, and producing violent local effects. The Mosaic deluge 

 appears to be looked upon either as a fable, or as a less general catastrophe than it 

 is usually conceived to have been ; and as a supporter of the Mosaic account of it, 

 it is probable that I shall be classed among those ' physico-theological writers,'' who, 

 in the early days of science, wrote, it is true, but little worthy of saving them from 

 the contempt with which they are here treated. 



" As it may be easily conceived of a theory where all things are to be accounted 

 for by the slow and gradual march of natural secondary causes, Mr. Lyell's system 

 requires an unlimited period of time for its completion ; and in tracing the errors 

 into which other philosophers have fallen, he thinks there can be no wonder if such 

 should be the case, when hundreds of years are reckoned instead of thousands, and 

 thousands instead of millions. Mr. Lyell accounts for the elevation of mountain 

 ridges by successive up-heavings of volcanic force, small in degree, but of frequent 

 repetition, and, having time at command, he finds no difficulty in this process. 



" But notwithstanding this theoretical argument in the « Principles of Geology,' 

 so distinctly opposed by so many facts in nature, and with regard to at least one 

 deluge, so totally opposed to history, and the traditions of all nations, Mr. Lyell 

 has taken a very learned and extended view of secondary causes, and of secondary 

 formations. On the evidences to be derived from the fossil remains of quadrupeds, 

 however, he has encountered the same difficulties as Professor Buckland, without 

 having succeeded in throwing any greater degree of light on the obscurities of that 

 subject."— Page 32. 



In conclusion, we strongly recommend the work to those who may 

 have been led to adopt plausible theory for science, and to deduce hasty 

 general conclusions from one or a few solitary facts. We trust that the 



