PERSONAL

CHARLES LYELL,
BARONET, F. R. S.,
AUTHOR OF

"THE PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY."
BORN AT KINNORDY, IN FORFARSHIRE,
NOVEMBER 14, 1797;
DIED IN LONDON,
FEBRUARY 22, 1875.

THROUGHOUT A LONG AND LABORIOUS LIFE
HE SOUGHT THE MEANS OF DECIPHERING
THE FRAGMENTARY RECORDS

OF THE EARTH'S HISTORY IN THE PATIENT INVESTIGATION OF THE PRESENT ORDER OF NATURE, ENLARGING THE BOUNDARIES OF KNOWLEDGE

AND LEAVING ON SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT

AN ENDURING INFLUENCE. "O LORD, HOW GREAT ARE THY WORKS, AND THY THOUGHTS ARE VERY DEEP." PSALM XCII. 5.

-INSCRIPTION ON GRAVE, 1875, Westminster Abbey.

He was in many ways a very interesting man. His scientific confrères were probably little aware of the vein of deeper sentiment in him which kept him in sympathy with moral and religious trusts too often disowned by them. Few men have found a more distinct work to do in science and in life; or have done it with more complete effect.-MARTINEAU, JAMES, 1875, To A. J. Mott, Feb. 25; Life and Letters, ed. Drummond, vol. II, p. 85.

Of him who is thus laid to rest, if of any one of our time, it may be said that he followed truth with a zeal as sanctified as ever fired the soul of a missionary, and with a humility as child-like as ever subdued the mind of a simple scholar. For discovering, confirming, rectifying his conclusions, there was no journey too distant to undertake. Never did he think of his own fame or name in comparison of the scientific results which he sought to establish. From

early youth to extreme old age it was to him a solemn religious duty to be incessantly learning, constantly growing, fearlessly correcting his own mistakes, always ready to receive and reproduce from others that which he had not in himself. Science and religion for him not only were not divorced, but were one and indivisible.STANLEY, ARTHUR PENRHYN, 1875, Sermon in Westminster Abbey; Life, Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell, ed. Mrs. Lyell, vol. II p. 461.

I saw more of Lyell than any other man, both before and after my marriage. His mind was characterised, as it appeared to me, by clearness, caution, sound judgment, and a good deal of originality. When I made any remark to him on Geology, he never rested until he saw the whole case clearly, and often made me see it more clearly than I had done before. He would advance all possible objections to my suggestion, and even after these were exhausted would long remain dubious. A second characteristic was his hearty sympathy with the work of other scientific men.

. His delight in science was ardent, and he felt the keenest interest in the future progress of mankind. He was very kindhearted; and thoroughly liberal in his religious beliefs, or rather disbeliefs; but he was a strong theist. His candour was highly remarkable. He exhibited this by becoming a convert to the Descent theory, though he had gained much fame by opposing Lamarck's views, and this after he had grown old. DARWIN, CHARLES, 1876, Autobiography, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, ed. his Son, vol. 1, p. 59.

Above the medium height and having a well-shaped head and clear-cut intellectual features [with a forehead of surprising height and width], Lyell would have been a man of commanding presence if his extremely short sight had not obliged him to stoop and to peer into anything he wished to

observe. In Lyell a keen insight into nature and human nature, a well-balanced judgment, and a strong sense of justice, were combined with a deep veneration for all that is noble and true. . . . It was his warm sympathy and receptivity, combined with true philosophical candour, which kept him to the very last in touch with advancing knowledge. In his work Lyell was very methodical, beginning and ending at fixed hours. Accustomed to make use of the help of others on account of his weak sight, he was singularly unconscious of outward bodily movement, though highly sensitive to pain. When dictating, he was often restless, moving from his chair to his sofa, pacing the room, or sometimes flinging himself full length on two chairs, tracing a pattern with his finger on the floor, as some thoughtful or eloquent passage flowed from his lips. But though a rapid writer and dictator, he was sensitively conscientious in the correction of his manuscript, partly from a strong sense of the duty of accuracy, partly from a desire to save his publisher the expense of proof corrections. Hence passages once finished were rarely altered, even after many years, unless new facts arose.-FISHER, ARABELLA BUCKLEY, 1893, Letter to Grenville A. J. Cole, Dictionary of National Biography, vol. XXXIV, p. 323.

Sir Charles Lyell realized to my mind the man of science as he was of old; devout, and yet entirely free-thinking in the true sense; filled with admiring, almost adoring love for Nature, and also (all the more for that enthusiasm) simple and fresh-hearted as a child.... Sir Charles's interest in his own particular science was eager as that of a boy.-COBBE, FRANCES POWER, 1894, Life by Herself, vol. II, pp. 404, 405.

PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY

quainted. It reduces an intricate, obscure, and most enormously copious subject, to one which is almost mathematically arranged, clear and condensed. His generalisations are quite inimitable, except by the singular beauty and force of his detailed descriptions and his patient investigation of disputed points; to which I may add the calm, dispassionate, gentlemanlike style in which he handles, not one, but every controversial subject which the subject requires should be discussed. And yet he does this with so much liveliness both of manner and of diction, and with such genuine earnestness, that I, for one, cannot help being swept away with the gentle but irresistible current of his persuasive eloquence. For, indeed, his book contains the essence of eloquence; right reason, extensive and exact knowledge, cultivated taste, and a disinterested and philosophical desire to state the matter in such a way that truth may be the result. There is, moreover, an elegance of fancy throughout, and a touch of humour, or rather of wit, which are in happy companionship with the simplicity and general elegance of the composition. It is already, in my apprehension, the first book of the day, and every time I read it, I am filled the more and more with respect for the author's talents and his knowledge, and feel more and more grateful to him for the pleasure he has given me. I trust he will be able soon to print a cheaper edition, for the book would soon be very extensively circulated, if its form and price were such as to enable the great body of readers to get at it.-HALL, BASIL, 1833, Letter to Leonard Horer, Sept. 7; Life, Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell, ed. Mrs. Lyell, vol. II, Appendix A., p. 465.

The appearance of this work will always form an epoch in the history of geology.... It is not less due to him than to our readers, that we should observe, in conclusion, how distinctly the general tendency of these volumes is to open up new, interesting, and expansive views of the mighty work of Creative Intelligence. . . . No reader can peruse it without being deeply impressed by the fresh and striking proofs it affords, in every page, of the Almighty Power, Wisdom, and Goodness.-WHEWELL, WILLIAM, 1835, Lyell's Principles of Geology, Quarterly Review, vol. 53, pp. 407, 448.

I have recently read afresh the first

edition of the "Principles of Geology;" and when I consider that this remarkable book had been nearly thirty years in everybody's hands, and that it brings home to any reader of ordinary intelligence a great principle and a great fact-the principle, that the past must be explained by the present unless good cause be shown to the contrary; and the fact, that, so far as our knowledge of the past history of life on our globe goes, no such cause can be shown-I cannot but believe that Lyell, for others, as myself, was the chief agent for smoothing the road for Darwin. For consistent uniformitarianism postulates evolution as much in the organic as in the inorganic world. The origin of a new species by other than ordinary agencies would be vastly greater "catastrophe" than any of those which Lyell successfully eliminated from sober geological speculation. HUXLEY, THOMAS HENRY, 1887, On the Reception of the "Origin of Species," The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, ed. his Son, vol. I, p. 543.

The "Principles of Geology" is by no means light reading, but as a work of science it ranks deservedly high; in the days when it first appeared it was probably rendered more attractive by the delicately. heretical flavour, which added a charm to all similar researches in those days, but has now become too much a matter of course to interest any one.-OLIPHANT, MARGARET O. W., 1892, The Victorian Age of English Literature, p. 365.

In 1871 he published a virtually new work, which has seen four editions, "The Student's Elements of Geology." For several years his was the only convenient modern text-book on the subject, and it may already be regarded as a classic. The life-work of the author is exemplified even here, by the treatment of the various systems in descending order, thus proceeding from the known towards the unknown, from existing phenomena to the endeavour to comprehend the past.-COLE, GRENVILLE A. J., 1893, Dictionary of National Biography, vol. XXXIV, p. 323.

It is the destiny of all books of science to be soon superseded and superannuated, while those of literature may live for all time. I suppose Sir Charles Lyell's "Principles of Geology" has undergone, or will undergo, this fate ere long; but the mag

nanimity and candor which made him, in issuing the tenth edition of that book, abjure all his previous arguments against evolution and candidly own himself Darwin's convert, was an evidence of genuine loyalty to truth which I trust can never be forgotten. He was, as Professor Huxley called him, the "greatest Geologist of his day"-the man "who found Geology an infant science feebly contending for a few scattered truths, and left it a giant, grasping all the ages of the past."-COBBE, FRANCES POWER, 1894, Life, by Herself, vol. II, p. 408.

The man who dealt the death-blow to the old uncritical view of geology was Sir Charles Lyell, whose "Principles of Geology" marks an epoch in the science. Lyell's central doctrine is that the past history of the earth must be inferred by ordinary processes of observation and reasoning from the present, and that it is possible to interpret "the testimony of the rocks" by means of principles which we still see at work. In other words he was a "uniformitarian." The victory of his view established "the reign of law" over the field of geology, and went far towards convincing men of its universality. Assuming no causes except such as he could point to in experience, Lyell showed how the geological formations of the earth arose. According to Darwin, the effect of Lyell's work could formerly be seen in the much more rapid progress of geology in England than in France; and the "Principles of Geology" was most helpful to Darwin himself.— WALKER, HUGH, 1897, The Age of Tennyson, p. 177.

Lyell's "Principles of Geology" will always rank as one of the classics of geology and must form an early part of the reading of every man who would wish to make himself an accomplished geologist.—GEIKIE, SIR ARCHIBALD, 1897, The Founders of Geology, p. 281.

ANTIQUITY OF MAN
1863

You asked me to tell you, when I had read it, what I thought of Sir Charles Lyell's book. I have only to-day finished the perusal of the copy he kindly sent me, that is, all but half of the matter on the glacial period, which I reserve till I can read it more attentively. Throughout it is a very interesting and to me a very satisfactory

book. It is three books: 1. A capital résumé and examination of what we knew about the evidence of antiquity of man; no evidence we had not read of before, but very clearly presented, of course. 2. A treatise on the glacial period. Out of this I have much to learn, and must read it all again carefully; of a part I have not yet part I have not yet cut the leaves. 3. On transmutation matters. That part of the book I can judge somewhat of, and I declare it first-rate. It is just about what I expected, and is characteristic of the man. I think that you, and Hooker, are unreasonable in complaining of Lyell that he does not come out "flatfooted," as we say, as an advocate of natural-selection transmutation. For, 1st, it is evident that though inclined strongly towards it he is by no means satisfied that natural selection will do all the work you put upon it. 2nd, he very plainly implies nearly all you would have him say. And, 3d, he serves your cause (supposing it to be well-founded) quite as effectually, perhaps, by his guarded position, by his keeping the position of a judge rather than of an advocate, and by considering still the case as not yet ripe for a decision.-GRAY, ASA, 1863, To Charles Darwin, April 20; Letters, ed. Gray, vol. II, p. 503.

The book may seem, from the literary critic's point of view, rather composite in character, and this objection was made in a good-natured form by a writer in the "Saturday Review," who called it "a trilogy on the antiquity of man, ice, and Darwin." That, however is but a slight blemish, if blemish it be, and it was readily pardoned, because of the general interest of the book, the clearness of its style, and the lucidity of its reasoning-BONNEY, THOMAS GEORGE, 1895, Charles Lyell and Modern Geology, p.

185.

GENERAL

Mr. Lyell's book, ["Travels in North America "to borrow a term from his favourite science, may be likened to a puddingstone, in which the geological plums are thickly set in a thin paste of travel. As the latter is seasoned with praise nearly to the American taste, the whole will be devoured by the omnivorous general reader, although much of it will be somewhat beyond his comprehension.-GRAY, ASA, 1845, Lyell's Travels in North America, North American Review, vol. 61, p. 498.

His scientific observations are full of information and entertainment, though we cannot always go along with him in his theories; but the materials which he has brought together to assist one in forming a correct view of the condition and prospects of various portions of our country, and of the character of the several classes of its inhabitants, are more complete and trustworthy than can be found in any single book of travels in America with which we are acquainted.-BOWEN, FRANCIS, 1849, Lyell's Second Visit to America, North American Review, vol. 69, p. 353.

Lyell is an excellent and thoughtful writer, but not, I think, a great field observer... his mind is essentially deductive not inductive.-SEDGWICK, ADAM, 1865, Life and Letters, vol. 11, p. 412.

I do not know whether I was quite so much interested by Lyell's work as by Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times;" but I do not think Lyell has left much room for doubt as to his opinions on any point on which he must be supposed to have made up his mind, nor did his book acquaint me with any as to the main question which I had not previously heard from himself in conversation.-THIRLWALL, CONNOP, 1865, Letters to a Friend, Nov. 24, ed. Stanley, p. 43.

Sir Charles Lyell has always maintained orthodoxy of opinion while boldly seeking the truths unfolded to his penetration by his favorite science. His writings have been rather noted for their pith than for their voluminousness; he has written multum, not multa, in accordance with the counsel of the old philosopher. His style is always positive, and his elucidations are clear and exhaustive. He was one of those who gave an impulse to the great intellectual movement which is bearing fruit in. the animated scientific discussions of the present day, of which many of the writers GEORGE M., 1871, Sir Charles Lyell, Applehave now got far beyond him.-TowLE,

ton's Journal, vol. 6, p. 214.

For somewhere about half a century he continued in the van of English geologists, and so identified himself with them and their pursuits as to be justly taken as the leader of geological speculation in this country. . . Of his work among the Tertiary formations, with the nomenclature

by which, through that work, they are now universally known, his observations on the rise of land in Sweden, his researches into the structure of volcanic cones, and other original contributions, over and above the solid additions to science supplied by the numerous editions of his popular works, it is not needful to make mention here. Enough is gained if at this time these few lines recall some of the services to which Sir Charles Lyell devoted a long, honourable, and illustrious life, which have graven his name in large letters on the front of the temple of science, and in memory of which that name will long be remembered with gratitude and enthusiasm as a watchword among the students of geology.-GEIKIE, SIR ARCHIBALD, 1875, Scientific Worthies, Nature, vol. 12, pp. 325, 327.

The science of Geology is enormously indebted to Lyell-more so, as I believe, than to any other man who ever lived.-DARWIN, CHARLES, 1876, Autobiography, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, ed. his Son, vol. I, p. 60.

Many books have been written about Mont Blanc, its botany and its glaciers, but none have ever equalled, in truthfulness. and freshness of description, the diary of Lyell. He seized upon all the remarkable points to be noticed, and shone both as a botanist and geologist. . . . Lyell's longexpected book on the "Principles of Geology" was published in 1830, and it made a very considerable sensation, and was warmly combated and abused. Now it is admitted as the most conclusive and useful of introductory books, fit for a youth, and eminently good in its tone.-DUNCAN, P. MARTIN, 1882, Heroes of Science, pp. 312, 326.

In reviewing the seventy-eight years of his labours, it is impossible to avoid seeing

throughout how admirably his opportunities were adapted to the work he had to do. He was the right man, to start with; but the lines also fell to him in the right places. With equal abilities, equal ardour, and equal singleness of purpose, he could not have done so much without the happy conjunction of circumstances as well. On the other hand, the lesson of his valuable life. throws only into stronger relief the utter waste of powers and opportunities on the part of most other Englishmen in like positions. Ninety-nine people out of a hundred, put in Lyell's place, would have been nothing better than masters of foxhounds or slaughterers of tame pheasants.-ALLEN, GRANT, 1882, Sir Charles Lyell, Fortnightly Review, vol. 37, p. 87.

It has been sometimes said that Lyell was not an original thinker. Possibly not; vixere fortes ante Agamemnona is true in science no less than in national history; there were mathematicians before Newton, philosophic naturalists before Darwin, geologists before Lyell. He did not claim to have discovered the principle of uniformity. He tells us himself what had been done by his predecessors in Italy and in Scotland: but he scattered the mists of error and illusion, he placed the idea upon a firm and logical basis; in a word, he found uniformitarianism an hypothesis, and he left it a theory. That surely is a more solid gift to science, a better claim to greatness, than any number of brilliant guesses and fancies, which, after coruscating for a brief season to the amazement of a gaping crowd, explode into darkness, and are no more seen.-BONNEY, THOMAS GEORGE, 1895, Charles Lyell and Modern Geology, p. 219.

The greatest geologist of his time.--WILLIAMS, HENRY SMITH, 1901, The Story of Nineteenth-Century Science, p. 99.