520 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
the nearer fixed stars : and within some such period, therefore, our 
relative position with reference to the stars around us may be entirely 
altered, and the external condition of the whole solar system changed. 
Cosmical causes may thus modify, in we know not what degree, the 
terrestrial temperature, arising either from the earth's greater proxi- 
mity to other suns, or the passage of the solar system through warmer 
regions of space. 
Although such speculations as these may establish no positive views 
respecting the remote future of our globe, they appear to establish a 
powerful argument against the theory of non-progression ; for there is 
nothing from which we should infer the permanence of the existing 
aspect of nature. 
And, if we turn to man, regarding him independently of any 
revealed knowledge of his future destiny, do we see in his character 
and position here any indication that this earth is his destined abiding 
place for indefinite periods of time ? A negative answer to this ques- 
tion is suggested, at least by the jiniteness of the earth's surface and its 
powers of production, whereas the tendency in human population to 
increase is unlimited. And under the influences of Christianity and of 
that higher civilization which must attend the pure doctrines of our 
religion, we can hardly understand how the diffusion of our race can be 
effectively and finally arrested before the population of the globe shall 
have approximated to that limit which must be necessarily imposed 
upon it by the finite dimensions of man's dwelling-place. 
" It may possibly appear to some that we have almost transgressed 
the legitimate bounds of human speculation, and that it might be more 
consistent with a becoming humility to leave the future, at least of the 
material universe, without too much curious questioning in the hands 
of Him to whom alone it can be really known. But it would seem 
consistent with the noblest purposes of man's intellectual existence that 
he should employ the mental faculties which have been vouchsafed to 
him, in the endeavour to catch some glimpses, however imperfect, of 
those laws and principles on which the government of the material 
universe is founded. Let this be done in a modest and reverential 
spirit, and we are sure that it will be found to be a healthy and purify- 
ing exercise of the mind, and one of the highest sources of intellectual 
enjoyment." 
Extended as is this notice of Mr. Hopkin's Essay, we have omitted a 
great deal which might be perused to good advantage by other that tyros 
in the science ; and we are only doing justice to the author when we say 
that this production is one which should have a place on the shelves of 
every geological library. 
i 
