Mantell, The Wonders of Geology
Présentation de l'œuvre
The Wonders of Geology, or a familiar exposition of geological phenomena : being the substance of a course of lectures delivered at Brighton (1838) est l'ouvrage le plus ample du géologue et paléontologue Gideon Algernon Mantell. Comme l'indique le titre complet, il s'agit d'un texte de vulgarisation, reprenant la matière d'une série de conférences. Sans surprise, conformément aux usages d'époque, le propos est donc ponctué de références littéraires, et notamment de citations de poètes, pour l'essentiel britanniques.
Citation
Bien que les recherches sur les fossiles et l'âge de la Terre remettent en cause le récit de la Genèse et la chronologie biblique, Mantell rejette l'opposition entre sciences et christianisme, et il convoque à l'appui de cette position un vers de L'Homme des champs, qu'il cite en français. Toutefois, cette référence est absente de la première édition de 18381. L'ajout intervient en 1839 :
It has been insisted upon by those whose views are limited to the present state of the globe, that the supposition of the earth having been peopled by other creatures before the existence of man, is incompatible with the evident design of the Creator, and derogatory from the dignity of the human race, to whose pleasures and necessities all things were rendered subservient, and for whom alone they were created. But this assumption is utterly at variance with what we know of the living world around us ; every where we see forms of animated existence, possessing faculties and sensations wholly dissimilar to our own ; and while, in the beautiful language of Scripture, we are told that not a sparrow falls to the ground without our heavenly Father's notice, the contemplation of the present constitution of nature, by any philosophical observer, would alike condemn such vanity and presumption. For my own part, feeling, as I do, the most profound reverence, and the deepest gratitude to the Eternal, who has given unto me this reasoning intellect, however feeble it may be ; and believing that the gratification and delight experienced in the contemplation of the wonders of creation here, are but a foretaste of the inexpressible felicity which, in a higher state of existence, may be our portion, I cannot but think that the minutest living atom, which the aided eye of man is able to explore, is designed for its own peculiar sphere of enjoyment, and is alike the object of His mercy and His care, as the most stupendous and exalted of His creatures.
“Le même Dieu crea la mousse et l'Univers2.”
Vers concerné : chant 3, vers 398.
Si le vers de Delille sert une argumentation précise, de telles citations participent aussi, chez Mantell, qui s'en explique ailleurs dans son ouvrage, d'une volonté de souligner, d'une part, les relations entre géologie et sublime, d'autre part, la diffusion rapide des nouveaux savoirs au sein de la culture générale.