He had caught the idea of an evolution in Nature by the variation of species, and was likely to make a great advance with it; but he, too, was made to feel the power of theology.
As long as he gave pleasing descriptions of animals the Church petted him, but when he began to deduce truths of philosophical import the batteries of the Sorbonne were opened upon him; he was made to know that "the sacred deposit of truth committed to the Church" was, that "in the beginning God made the heavens and the earth" and that "all things were made at the beginning of the world." For his simple statement of truths in natural science which are to-day truisms, he was, as we have seen, dragged forth by the theological faculty, forced to recant publicly, and to print his recantation.

In this he announced, "I abandon everything in my book respecting the formation of the earth, and generally all which may be contrary to the narrative of Moses."(21) (21) For Descartes and his relation to the Copernican theory, see Saisset, Descartes et ses Precurseurs; also Fouillee, Descartes, Paris, 1893, chaps.

ii and iii; also other authorities cited in my chapter on Astronomy; for his relation to the theory of evolution, see the Principes de Philosophie, 3eme partie, S 45.

For de Maillet, see Quatrefages, Darwin et ses Precurseurs francais, chap i, citing D'Archiac, Paleontologie, Stratigraphie, vol.i; also, Perrier, La Philosophie zoologique avant Darwin, chap.

vi; also the admirable article Evolution, by Huxley, in Ency.Brit.The title of De Maillet's book is Telliamed, ou Entretiens d'un Philosophe indien avec un Missionaire francais sur la Diminution de la Mer, 1748, 1756.