384 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
[Ch. XXVI. 
before our times, and if we still find no decided evidence of a 
commencement, yet the arguments from analogy in support of 
the probability of a beginning remain unshaken ; and if the 
past duration of the earth be finite, then the aggregate of geo- 
logical epochs, however numerous, must constitute a mere 
moment of the past, a mere infinitessimal portion of eternity. 
It has been argued., that as the different states of the earth's 
surface, and the different species by which it has been inhabited, 
have had each their origin, and many of them their termina- 
tion, so the entire series may have commenced at a certain 
period. It has also been urged, that as we admit the creation 
of man to have occurred at a comparatively modern epoch — 
as we concede the astonishing fact of the first introduction of a 
moral and intellectual being, so also we may conceive the first 
creation of the planet itself. 
We are far from denying the weight of this reasoning from 
analogy ; but although it may strengthen our conviction, that 
the present system of change has not gone on from eternity, it 
cannot warrant us in presuming that we shall be permitted to 
behold the signs of the earth's origin, or the evidences of the 
first introduction into it of organic beings. 
In vain do we aspire to assign limits to the works of creation 
in space, whether we examine the starry heavens, or that world 
of minute animalcules which is revealed to us by the microscope. 
We are prepared, therefore, to find that in time also, the confines 
of the universe lie beyond the reach of mortal ken. But in 
whatever direction we pursue our researches, whether in time 
or space, we discover everywhere the clear proofs of a Creative 
Intelligence, and of His foresight, wisdom, and power. 
As geologists, we learn that it is not only the present 
condition of the globe that has been suited to the accommodation 
of myriads of living creatures, but that many former states 
also have been equally adapted to the organization and habits 
of prior races of beings. The disposition of the seas, conti- 
nents, and islands, and the climates have varied ; so it appears 
that the species have been changed, and yet they have all 
