We must deal with the history, then, in the first place, as we should
deal with all other histories. The historical student knows that his
first business should be to inquire into the validity of his evidence,
and the nature of the record in which the evidence is contained, that
he may be able to form a proper estimate of the correctness of the
conclusions which have been drawn from that evidence. So, here, we
must pass, in the first place, to the consideration of a matter which
may seem foreign to the question under discussion. We must dwell upon
the nature of the records, and the credibility of the evidence they
contain; we must look to the completeness or incompleteness of those
records themselves, before we turn to that which they contain and
reveal. The question of the credibility of the history, happily for us,
will not require much consideration, for, in this history, unlike those
of human origin, there can be no cavilling, no differences as to the
reality and truth of the facts of which it is made up; the facts state
themselves, and are laid out clearly before us.

But, although one of the greatest difficulties of the historical student
is cleared out of our path, there are other difficulties--difficulties
in rightly interpreting the facts as they are presented to us--which
may be compared with the greatest difficulties of any other kinds of
historical study.

What is this record of the past history of the globe, and what are the
questions which are involved in an inquiry into its completeness or
incompleteness? That record is composed of mud; and the question which
we have to investigate this evening resolves itself into a question of
the formation of mud. You may think, perhaps, that this is a vast
step--of almost from the sublime to the ridiculous--from the
contemplation of the history of the past ages of the world's existence