FINAL CAUSES. 547 
grit, afford a preservative against the ravages of 
accidental Fire beyond the area of that sheet in 
which it may take its beginning ; but for such 
a provision, entire Coal fields might be occasion- 
ally burnt out and destroyed. 
It is impossible to contemplate a disposition of 
things, so well adapted to afford the materials 
essential to supply the first wants, and to keep 
alive the industry of the Inhabitants of our 
earth ; and entirely to attribute such a disposition 
to the blind operation of Fortuitous causes. Al- 
though indeed it be dangerous hastily to have 
recourse to Final causes, yet since in many 
branches of physical knowledge, (more especi- 
ally in those which relate to organized matter,) 
the end of many a contrivance is better under- 
stood, than the contrivance itself, it would surely 
be as unphilosophical to hesitate at the admission 
of final Causes, when the general tenor and evi- 
dence of the Phenomena naturally suggest them, 
as it would be to introduce them gratuitously 
unsupported by such evidence. We may surely 
therefore feel ourselves authorized to view, in 
the Geological arrangements above described, a 
system of wise and benevolent Contrivances, pros- 
pectively subsidiary to the wants and comforts 
of the future inhabitants of the globe ; and ex- 
tending onwards, from its first Formation, through 
the subsequent Revolutions and Convulsions that 
have affected the surface of our Planet. 
