OF THE EARTH'S LOST HISTORY. The past, present and coming state of our Globe ; THE REVOLUTIONS THROUGH WHICH IT PASSES FROM ITS BIRTH TO ITS DEATH OR DISSOLUTION; SHOWN FROM NATURE, REASON, AND THE WRITINGS OF ANTIQUITY, PRINTED BY FRANCIS & VALENTINE, Commercial Steam Printing House, 517 Clay Street. 1868. BD701 C3 69933 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, in the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court for the District of California. 1 PREFACE. The reception and diffusion of the truths contained in this treatise should mark an eventful era in human history. The loss to man, for so many centuries, of the Earth's History (and consequently of his own) has been fraught with innumerable evils, curable only by its restoration. And for this the times seem fully ripe, to judge from the intense mental activity that has characterized the last half century, and that has converted every subject within or beyond the sphere of human research into a battle-ground of thought. Man struggles now, more than ever, to burst from the darkness that envelopes him, and to solve the problems of life; nor can he rest until the deformities of the actual world are reconciled with the beauties of the ideal—the misery of the one with the happiness of the other. Though the age of scepticism has given way to that of belief-though we have swung from the dreary region of Negation to the extreme of Affirmation, from no-God to countless spirits-man still yearns for certainty, and many, doubtless, still scan the horizon for gleams of an expected dawn. To such, wherever it may find them, the light of a long-lost knowledge will be thrice welcome, but especially so to Americans-the destined leaders for the Old World to unexplored fields of thought and action. And if the author mistake not, England shall see, not for the first time, the rejected thoughts of one of her own sons returned to her from America "with an alienated majesty." This History shall prove the key that explains the pres ent appearances of Nature, that reduces to order the chaotic details of modern discovery, and that unlocks easily those antique caskets of Mythology, in which the secrets of the past and future have been preserved. The author has commenced with a description of the present state of our Earth, that the reader may bring the strongest of all evidence—that of the senses-to bear upon his statements. To this testimony at the outset he makes his appeal; for, should he fail to convince through this, he could not hope to do so by abstract reasoning, or by citations from ancient writings, however forcible or multiplied. But, if the reader can be made to see the Earth's present condition, then from this, as from a sure foundation, will rise easily and inevitably the whole structure of its history. He would therefore request his readers to weigh carefully the contents of the first chapter before turning to any other; and whatever indulgence they may show any unintentional errors, not affecting the main issue, to allow no vital statement or conclusion to pass unscrutinized. The author must not omit to acknowledge his obligations to his deceased friend, Dr. Howard, of London. Of his worth and genius he needs not speak; to these his works bear ample witness. Could his eye fall upon this little treatise, here dedicated to his manes, it would recognize one tribute at least of truest gratitude and admiration. those works the author has made free use, not so much that full leave so to do would have been given him, as that "he can call" the thoughts therein, not "scarcely," but completely, "his own." Of |