, 1876-10-14

MI ll44s JAS t-A-lt~~A'4 t4ttAt FbAa4 Nr 10
breach Of continuity, 10 point at which YOU
could say ,his i a natural process; but that
the whole might b. strictly compared to that
wonderful series Of changes which may De
seen going on, every day. under our eyes, in
virtue of which there arises out uf that semi
Euid Homogeneous substance which We call
an egg. the delicate organization If one Of
The higher animals That. IN few words.
IS what is meant by the hypothesis Of eyo-
luton.
HOW THE UNIVERSE CAME INTO EyISTESCE.
have already suggested that in dealing
with the-e thres HYPOTHESIS, N enisaN orinE
20 form . Judgment a. - which Of them Is
yyur hy cl belief, CT whether uus3c j. worthy Cf
belief, our corIi'iOn Of mind should b. that
Of suspension Of judgement. which Is So dit
iicult u al but tvain,d minds. ! have yug-
Ses,,3 that IN d~aling with this question We
should get ri Of all a prior; consid,rs'ions.
The cue esti1n j. question Of iscr, Of historical
fa2t. The universe has come into existence
somehow or other, and the question l. whether
il came into existence II enc fashion. or
whether II came into existence IN another
fashion. And as an essential preliminary 20
this consideration, permit me 70 say Jwu or
three words IS 10 the nature of hiS,O'oricai
evidence, aai the kind Of historical evidence
Evidence o. 70 the occurrence Of any fact ia
plsr time l. of one Of two kinds, which for
convenience sake. Will speak Of on h, one
hand "a testimonial evidence, aud On the
other hand a. circumstaatial evidence. Bv
I, ,stimuuial evidence. | mean human teSti-
mony, either direct or indirect; aud by CIR
cum-tan;iai evidence, | mean evidence which
Is not humau testimony.
THE ETERNITY OF TIE WORLDS DURATION.
Now, let Us tpru to our tAiUd hypothesis,
and let rae direct Your atttrnion % what i
to De -aii about the hypothesis OF the eternity
of ;his state Of things iu which We now are.
What would first strike you l.. that l. i
hypothesis which, whether true Ct false, Is
not capable Of vgriEcttiuu by evIlence. For.
IN order 20 testify 20 the eternity OF duration,
you must have an eternity If witnesses or an
IEfuiyy of circumstances, and neither ui
these II atrainable. Il Is utterly impossible
that such evidence should be carried beyond
4 certain po.nr Of time, and all thar wou!I
be sad, IL most, would bs tha, there Was
nothing 70 contradict The hypothesis. When
YOU look into the testimonial evidence II
might not bs good for much IN this case
Bu, when you look into The ci-cum~tau'iL
eyiIenc-, then you iiud that this hypothesis
Is absolutely incompatible with tie clrcum-
s;antial evidence And the evidence Is -
plain and - simple character that It Is i'm
possible in any way 10 escape fr0m the cOu-
clu~ion which i forces Upun u. You are,
III fact, alreudy awIre that the crust Of Ihe
ear h, Is not Of homogeneous Oh .racter, but
il l. made up Of number o: bsds OF strata,
the titles uf the principal groups Of which
are placed upon that dIagram-h-d- ui sand,
bsls Of slUne beds Of e!Iy, ui slate, ut granite,
and various other material On careful ~
animation II Is found that 'hCSs beds @. solid
material ar. oi exactly the same Hl'urs -
,hU-. which ar. ay lrr~eut, b-In, i.rm~: Gn-
der ur.y cDuiirl ,nS At the su.t4r- ot the
earth; tha. TIE rhnik, ior Xampiy, " aiCh turUs
a -rra- part Of the Crrtuc-uns formation III
some p.Tls ot the wor,i h Z chalk l. Ii-u-
Jic,.i IN Is physical charaa'er. or Practically
-. with Ihr substance Hh!ch i nov being
formed ~ the bJtIom oi ghr Atlantic Ocean.
4.i CITcr- an enormous urru; that ths b-iS
OF To-. are r1roriy comparable 70 the saat~
which are being formed upon the 7ei ,aore=
hardened and ogrnp.ctsd together; that
Others are rKlc'ly the same na,ure aS The
cltys, aul - Uu- Aal tha- IL comes 10 b
certain that each Of thee beds II rock. of
whi,h 4 total If not les than some seventy
thousand feri l. knoWu-thaJ all lh-se have
been d. posted and formed by natural a-en-
cIes either ou: o. the waste and washing OF
the dry land. or else a. the product Of the
eueryI,s 5 Of uuImals. and, Il may b. Of plants
Hence, these sup-rimpo~ed b,a-, which con-
sti,ute the crust of the earth, boone
measure OF IImc-uot a measure Of absolute
tine, Tor W. have, a. yet, not succeeded III
saying certainly how mu;h time l. required
10 form. ted OF any given Thickness; but
thgy become measure Of relative time, and
iugsmuch as il fO.lOws from the manner Ia
which those beds have been forfa-l that The
uDparma-t must needs be the youngest, the
uudermo~t must be The oldest, and We ha re
before us evidence Of the sucrassion of tn
events OF which they recall. Aud BOW these
rocks Of strata are full of the remains Of
animals aud plants, countless thousands Of
different spices of animals and plants, as
perfectly recoLnizabis a. those which you
meet with IN herbarn al th- present dag or
the shelE or remains which yOu pick mp un
the ach. Coaa-le-s thousands OF these
creatures have been im5edied III the sand or
limestone, Just as they ale being imbettot
uop,, aud consequently they furnish Us wi'h
4 record, which can not b. subject % any Iu-
teIprsratinns, looking at thera broadly, Of The
kind of things which have lived on the slr-
face Of the earth during The time which Il
embraced by this great system Of stra'lfi-d
rocks. and the mO=t superficial study Of the
remains shows us that 'b- animals aud plans
which live st the present time have had
only a temporary duration; that you fad
them, as such a. they are, for the most part
only III this upp-rmo-r stratum here, tpoin-
tiuz % JlsekbtariJ, called The post tertiary;
rb,- a. - 70 back in time they become
scs. i.r and s.,a.i-r, but their places ar
-, bv other forms ~ d-v5r-Ifi / a they,
but -ti,l different; that a. you 20 mo me
jurs,-ic and tria>-ic strata, there you ma
o. hers different from the CUesacroa- and az
fereur irun the tertiary, and different "'I
th1>. u ths pr-ssn, day; ani a. yJu %
deeper and deeper and further and further
hack into time. Here, then, the circum-ian-
t;al evidence absolutely aa'2goulzas The eri-
d.uce OF tie eternity Of the present c1EGIlon
OF things. We can sse with certainty that
such hs- NOT always 5szn The mode Uf nature
We c4u see w!'h certainly that The present
condition Of things has beva Of eonPat-t'veiy
short duration. and rha; - Ear a. 'as animal
gnd vegetable worlds err concerned they have
been przcss-3 by a dif-ren' condition OF
;E!ng-, that W 20 on ill ne me 10 the
loves Or uns;ratlii-i rocks IN which re loss
the Indications of IIf- altogether Lhe hy-
p9rLe-.s OF he eternity Of ths PTa--It coHii.
tiua G.. thing- may therefore be PGt cut Of
cou.t altogether.
TIE MILTOSIC HYPOTHESIS
We now come TO what / have called A:i-
tons hypoth.-is-the hypothesis that the
r-.-znt cou5Iri1u Of things he's endurei ior
n c1ar4rariyely moderate tine. aud 'hen 81
The commencement Of that time came into
existence. within the couTss Of SIX days.
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