restoration and life. Mr Lyell
throws away all such crutches, he walks alone in the path of his
speculations; he requires no paroxysms, no extraordinary
periods; he is content to take burning mountains as he finds
them; and, with the assistance of the stock of volcanoes and
earthquakes now on hand, he undertakes to transform the earth
from any one of its geological conditions to any other. He
requires time, no doubt; he must not be hurried in his
proceedings. But, if we will allow him a free stage in the wide
circuit of eternity, he will ask no other favour; he will fight
his undaunted way through formations, transition and
floetz--through oceanic and lacustrine deposits; and does not
despair of carrying us triumphantly from the dark and venerable
schist of Skiddaw, to the alternating tertiaries of the Isle of
Wight, or even to the more recent shell-beds of the Sicilian
coasts, whose antiquity is but, as it were, of yester-myriad of
years[41].'

Never, surely, did words written in a tone of banter constitute such
real and effective praise!

But though it is certain that Lyell did not _derive_ his evolutionary
views from Hutton, yet when he came to write his historical introduction
to the _Principles_, he was greatly impressed by the proofs of genius
shown by the great Scotch philosopher, and equally by the brilliant
exposition of those views by Playfair in his _Illustrations_. To the
former he gave unstinted praise for the breadth and originality of his
views, and to the latter for the eloquence of his writings--adopting
quotations chosen from these last, indeed, as mottoes for his own work.

It is only just to add that for the violent prejudices excited by some
of his contemporaries against Hutton's writings--as being directed
against the theological tenets of the day and therefore subversive of
religion--there is really no foundation whatever; and every candid
reader of the _Theory of the Earth_ must acquit its author of any such
design. The passage quoted on page 51 could only have been written by
Lyell at a time when he was still unacquainted with Hutton's works, and
was misled by common report concerning them. It is interesting to note,
however, that the passage occurs in a letter written in December 1827,
that is after the first draft of the _Principles of Geology_ had been
'delivered to the publisher,' and before the preparation of the
historica