easily satisfied themselves that the orbits of all the heavenly
bodies must be circles. Hence came the

"Cycle on epicycle, orb on orb,"

by which they sought to account for the phenomena which they
observed. When once the method was changed, when once it had
occurred to Kepler that, as it seemed to be impossible to account
for the apparent motion of Mars by any theory of circular orbits,
it might be worth while to try to ascertain by observation what
its orbit really was, a few years of patient labour sufficed to
solve the problem.

It was science such as this, then, that our forefathers brought to
the interpretation of the Mosaic Record, and the consequence was
that when, from time to time, facts were casually brought to light
which might have led the way to vast discoveries, their true
significance was never discerned; all that was sought from them
was some additional support to the old views. Thus sometimes
gigantic bones were exhumed: without investigation, it was at once
assumed that they were human bones, and they were brought forward
to prove the truth of the statement, "There were also giants in
the earth in those days." Sea-shells were found on mountain sides,
far from and high above the sea--they were evidences of the
Deluge.

The second characteristic of that state of mind is its admiration
of the startling and the vast. In these alone it recognizes the
tokens of unlimited power. It is unable to appreciate those more
majestic manifestations of power which are discerned by the