THE RELATION BETWEEN
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
AND SOME PARTS OF
GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE.




There is a knowledge which creates doubts that nothing but a larger knowledge
can satisfy; and he who stops in the difficulty will be perplexed and uncomfortable for
life.                                                MR. SHARON TURNER.
PHILADELPHIA:e
DEACON & PETERSON, PRINTERS, 66 SOUTH THIRD STREET,




THE RELATION
BETWEEN
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
AND SOME PARTS OF
GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE 
BY
JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D. LL.D. F.R.S. & F.G.S.
DIVINITY TUTOR iN TIHE PROTESTANT DISSENTING COLLEGE AT IIOMERTON;
MEMBER OF THE PHILOLOGICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL MVICROSCOPICAL, AND PALIEONTOLOGICAL
SOCIETIES; AND HONORARY MEMBER OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF
DEVON AND CORNWVALL, AND OF TIE WASHINGTON U. S. NATIONAL
INSTITUTE FOR THE PROMOTION OF SCIENCE.
FROMI  THE FOURTH LONDON EDITION, GREATLY ENLARGED,
OIOiv dvOpc,,,  a XafleZv pCltov o0 XapfioaoOat Ore Tsyo'etrpov, dXOetfac.
PLUTARCH. de Is. et Osir.
" Than TRUTH, no greater blessing can man receive, or God bestow,!'
PHILADELPHIA:
ROBERT E. PETERSON,
NORTH-WEST CORNER OF FIFTH AND ARCH STREETS,
18..........
1850.




GEOLOGY, in the magnitude and sublimity of the objects which it treats, undoubtedly
ranks, in the scale of the sciences, next to Astronomy,
SIR JOHN F. W. HERSCHEL.
The conclusions of GEOLOGY have lent, in fact, a new evidence to revealed religion.
They have broken the arms of the sceptic; and, when we ponder over the great events
which they proclaim, the mighty revolutions which they indicate, the wrecks of successive creations which they display, and the immeasurable cycles of their chronology, the
era of man shrinks into contracted dimensions; his proudest and most ancient dynasties
wear the aspect of upstart and ephemeral groups; the fabrics of human power, the gorgeous temple, the monumental bronze, the regal pyramid, sink into insignificance beside
the mighty sarcophagi of the brutes that perish.
QUARTERLY REVIEW, vol. lxx. p. 57.




P]REFACES
Tirw following Lectures were prepared and delivered,
by the appointment of the Committee of the Congregational Lecture, under some peculiarity of circumstances.
The appointment was unexpected, and the notice unavoidably short. Several parts, therefore, and those
referring to subjects of the greatest importance, were
treated in a manner too brief, and, indeed, extemporaneously: but to the kind and attentive audience the
promise was given that, if the publication should take
place, the author would supply those deficiencies. This
he has endeavoured to do partly by filling up the por —
tions which, in the delivery, were but sketched, and
partly by adding Notes, both on the immediate pages,
and in a Supplementary Appendix.
The reader will perceive that numerous citations are
introduced. For this no apology is requisite: and, indeed, so richly interesting are the most of those passages, that it would have been a wrong to the subject
and to the reader to have withheld them. Another
circumstance proves their importance, and even necessity. The facts which are the basis of geological reaA2




VI                   PREFACE.
sonings can be known to the majority even of welleducated persons, only by testimony; as, in the greater
number of instances, they are to the author himself.
To bring forwards, therefore, the statements of the
most competent authorities, in their own words, is due
to the right position of the subject and to the satisfaction of the reader. Should it be objected, that some
of those citations contain reasonings and opinions, besides statements of fact; the reply is, that they are the
reasonings and opinions of men who thoroughly understood the grounds upon which they are built; and that,
therefbre, the inferences which such men have seen to
be just, are entitled to stand in the next line of authority to their testimony as eye-witnesses and labourers
in the great field. It involves no disrespect to the multitude of pious and intelligent persons, to say that they
cannot form an independent opinion upon many subjects in Natural Philosophy. It is no dishonour to accept the conclusions of NEWTONr and his followers,
though we confess ourselves unable to read the Principia.




FOUI{TIJ EDITION.
As the requirement for the publication of these Lectures arose from their having been delivered to an audience, at the Congregational Library, I have not thought
myself at liberty to add or omit or change any part,
paragraph, or sentence, except in some two or three
instances, not considerable, and of which in the passages an intimation is given. But in the Appended
Notes, I have felt no restraint. They have been increased in each of the subsequent editions, wvith the
view of placing my readers, as much as is for me possible, in the advancing positions of geological knowledge.
The amount of this accumulation is now not small:
for I have felt it my duty to verify the encomium with
which, on the publication of the third edition, I was
honoured by the REv. DR. WHEWELL, the Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge.  Elie then wrote these
words: "I perceive you have given it the interest
which belonged to the former editions, of making your
readers acquainted with the most recent geological
discussions. On this account, it cannot fail to be a
general favourite."




VII              FOURTH EDITION.
Of those Notes peculiar to this edition, I have to
regret the not having, in due time, adopted a uniform
mode of designation. Some of them have a date, or
imply a reference to time; others are included in
brackets; and to others, the words Fourth Edition are
prefixed.
I should feel it not becoming to relate the expressions of approbation with which this book has been
favoured by eminent men of science, in our own country and in the North American States; or, what is a
more exalted gratification, the testimonies of usefulness
in relation to its religious element. But it would be a
failing to the great cause for which I plead, if I did not
avail myself of a communication which, to well-informed
persons, will have the appropriate interest in a very
high degree. It is a part of a letter with which SiR
JoHN -]HERSCHEL  onoured me in the summer of 1843.
G"C -   Abstractedly, one might have thought that
such wild and'vehement denunciations' as those you
cite from  -''' and others, were hardly worth very
seriously handling. Yet, in effect, I am disposed to
regard it as doing good service not only to science but
to religion and moral feeling, to put down, as you have
done, with a strong (though not a cruel) hand, that sort
of barking and yelping. There cannot be two truths
in contradiction to one another: and a man must have
a mind fitted neither for scientific nor for religious truth,
whose religion can be disturbed by geology, or whose
geology can be distorted from its character of an inductive science, by a determination to accommodate its




FOURTH EDITION.                IX
results to preconceived interpretations of the Mosaic
cosmogony.
"I should hope that, on this painful and troublesome
point, your work will prove finl, and put an end, once
and for ever, to the sort of outcry in question; or at.
least so far crush it, that this and the next generation
mlay be allowed to pursue their geological researches
in peace."
It is my duty to add that these citations from private
letters are thus made public, with the kind assent of
the writers.
J. P. S.
HOmERTON COLLEGE,
February 5, 1848,








CONT E  NTS.
LECTURE I. Page 1.
PSALM cxI. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them
that have pleasure therein.
Object, design, utility, and importance of geological science.  Requisites and method of the study. Harmony of all science with the
announcements of Revelation. Truth. Evidence. The world. The
SUPREME BEING. Accountableness.  Authority of Scripture.  Necessity of ascertaining its genuine sense. Danger of presumption.
Citations from Christian Philosophers.
LECTURE II. Page 25.
DEUTERONOM:Y XXXIII. 13, 15, 16. Blessed of the Lord be his land; for
the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that
coucheth beneath, —— and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, andfor the precious things of the lasting hills, andfor the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof.
Change in the material universe, constant, but according to law.
A series of Propositions, describing the most general facts relating to
the crust of the earth. Internal condition. Pyrogenous rocks. Stratified formations. Remains of creatures which once had life. Their
distinct periods, and areas.  Separate creations.  Uniformity of
sequence.
LECTURE III. Page 52.
ROMANTs  xI. 36. Of HIIM, and through HIM, and to HIM, are all things:
to whom be glory for ever.
Recital of opinions which are by many assumed to be asserted or
implied in the Scriptures, but which are contrary to geological doctrines. I. The recent creation of the world.  II. A previous universal chaos over the earth. III. The creation of the heavenly bodies
after that of the earth. IV. The derivation of all vegetables and
animals from one centre of creation.  V. That the inferior animals
were not subject to death till the fall of man.




X1ii                      CONTENTS.
LECTURE IV. Page 69.
GENESIS VI. 17. rind behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of lifefrom under
heaven: and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Continuation of apparent discrepancies between geological doctrines and the testimony of Scripture, as generally understood. VI.
Concerning the deluge.  The reason for that judicial infliction, in
the righteous government of God. The testimony of history and
tradition. Common ascription of geological phmenomena to the
Deluge erroneous.
LECTURE V. Page 84.
2 PETER II. 5. God spared not the old world,-bringing theJflood ucon
the world of the ungodly.
Continuation.  More accurate and discriminating inquiry. Investigation of the masses of rolled stony fragments which have been
attributed to the diluvial action. Those masses found to be of different character and age. Effect of the investigation upon the convictions of the most eminent geologists. Evidence from phenomena
in Auvergne and Languedoc.  The quantity of water requisite for a
deluge geographically universal. The effect of such an addition to
the bulk of the earth. The reception of animals in the ark. Estimated number of the animal creation. Other difficulties.
LECTURE VI.
PART I. Page 114.
1 THESSALONIANS V. 21. Prove all th/ings: hold fast that which is
good.
Examinations of various methods which have been proposed for
the removal of the difficulties and alleged contradiction, between
Geology and the Scriptures. I. Denial of any difficulty, by shutting
the eyes to the evidence of geological facts, and representing the inquiry as impious.
PART II. Page 134,
II. Sacrificing the Mosaic records, as unintelligible, or as being
the language of mythic poetry. III. Regarding the Mosaic six days
as designed to represent indefinite periods. IV. Attributing stratification and other geological phenomena to the interval between the
Adamic creation and the Deluge, and the action of the diluvial
waters.
PART III. Page 149.
Examination continued of the Diluvial Theory,




CONTENTS.                        Xiii
LECTURE VII.
PART I. Page 162.
PSALM XII. 6.  The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried
in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
The certain and infallible truth of all that is taught in the Holy
Scriptures, when taken in its own genuine sense. Our duty to elicit
that sense. Induction and examination of the forms of language used
in Scripture to convey to man a knowledge of the nature and perfection of GOD. The gracious condescension and benefit of this method, for the religious instruction of mankind. This character of the
scriptural style displayed in the descriptions of natural objects.
General rule of interpretation hence derived. Prejudices of former
interpreters, both Romanist and Protestant. Galileo. Milton.  Superior advantages of the Christian dispensation.
PART II. Page 184.
Application of the principle established, to the interpretation of
the narrative concerning the Creation. The independent position of
the first sentence. Astral creation. The subsequent description refers to a limited region of the earth. The series of operations. The
human creation.  Death, before the fall of man.-   The same principle applied to the fact of the Deluge, which is shown to have been
universal as to the extent of the human population, but not geographically universal.-Concluding vindication of the principle and its
applications, as irrefutable, and absolutely necessary for maintaining
the honour of the word of God.
LECTURE VIII. Page 214.
ECCLESIASTES XII. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole of
man.
Religion the perfection of our nature. The duty of scientific studies, especially in a course of education. Exhortations to personal
efforts for improvement. Peculiar claims of Botany and Geology.
The proper accompaniments of scientific pursuits. Advantage to the
comforts of life. Moral uses. Responsibility to the just and holy
GoD. Interest and urgency of these considerations.  The rational
claims and attractions of religion.




Xiv                       CONTENTS.
SUPPLEMENTARY NOrTES.
A, referred to at pages 7 and 200.       PAGE
DISSERTATION 011n the Laws of Organized Natures involving the
Necessity of Death; and on Geological studies in general. 239
B, referred to at page 11.
On the Evidence derived from Astronomy to the Extent and
Antiquity of the Universe......  252
B b, referred to at page 32.
On the Thickness of the Solid Crust of the Earth..  258
C, referred to at page 4 1.
On the Number of Species in the earlier Fossiliferous Rocks    261
D, (page 47,) referring to the series of Propositions, page 26 to 50.
Synoptic Table of the Stratified Formations...  263
E, referred to at page 49.
DISSERTATION on the Varieties of the Human Species..  270
F, referred to at pages 55 and 159.
DISSERTATION on the Evidence of a very high Antiquity of the
Earth.........              284
G, referred to at pages 67 and 244.
On the Fossil Animalcules...                    318




CONTENTS.                          XV
G g, referring to page 85.              PAGE.
On the Pebbles....             326
H, referred to at page 91.
On Ancient Glaciers, and their Effects...   327
I, referred to at page 102.
Mr. Hartley's Account of Christian Piety in the Puy de Dome   332
K, referred to at page 106.
On the Volcanic District of Auvergne...         334
L, referred to at pages 112 and 202.
On the Longevity of Trees....   336
M, referred to at page 152.
On Dr. George Young's Scriptural Geology; and on the Coal
Formations........   344
N, referred to at page 158.
On the Comparison of the Egyptian and the Mosaic Cosmogonies..........   352
0, referred to at page 158.
On some Passages in Mr. Lyell's Principles of Geology.   357
P, referred to at page 183.
Sentiments of the elder Rosenmiiller, Bishop Bird Sumner,
and Dean Conybeare, on the initial portion of the Book of
Genesis.........   360
Q, referred to at page 185.
Professors Wiseman and Hitchcock, on the reference of the
Mosaic Records to Geological Truths...   363
R, referred to at pages 188 and 196.
DISSERTATION on the Solution of Difficulties with respect to
the Mosaic Narrative, in reply to Observations by Professor
Baden Powell........   365
S, referred to at pages 189 and 192.
On the Duty of these Investigations; and in Vindication of
Dean Buckland....   382




XVI                       CONTENTS.
T, referring to page 207.            PAGE.
On Mount Ararat.....    G..   387
U, referred to at page 234.
The Geological Society vindicated from Misrepresentation.  388
ADDENDA.
Quotations from Lamarck and Herder, on the meaning and
use of the term Nature.-Professor Agassiz on the Series
of Animal Creatures through the Strata...  392
Lord Bacon's Prayer for the right use of Science, and its practical connexion with Revealed Religion.                394
tNDEX....    395




ON THE RELATION
BETWEEN
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
AND SOME PARTS OF
GEOLOGICAL  SCIENCE.
LECTURE I.
PSALMr cxI. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all
them that have pleasure therein.
GEOLOGY does so seek out the works of the Most High. It
has claims upon the regard of all cultivated and pious minds. It
leads us to study that which God has made our earthly abode,
in its present state, filled with monuments of past conditions, and
presages, I venture to think, of the future. It leads us into some
acquaintance with a magnificent part of the counsel of Jehovah's
will, according to which HE worketh all things; the machine of
dependent beings and subordinate causes, by which the Supreme
Cause accomplishes his purposes of wisdom and righteousness.
We see those causes to be the same in their nature, and similar in
their mode of operation now, as in countless ages past; though
differing through a wide range in the intensity of their action and
the form of their results.
Rain, rills, and rivers, aided by the electric and chemical and
mechanical agency of the atmosphere, are continually wearing
away the solid earth, transporting it into the estuaries of the sea,
and committing it to the currents which spread it out upon the oceanbed. There the spoils of the land are added to the defunct shells
and skeletons of marine life, the astonishing amount of the works
B




2'               COMPREHENSION AND DESIGN.
of men, and the millions of human skeletons which, through more
than fifty centuries, have been swallowed up in the watery deep.
At the time which inviolable justice has fixed, " the sea shall give
up her dead." Can it be thought improbable that the operations
which are now in progress, in the dark abyss, and at its greatest
depths, are subservient to the righteous proceedings of that day,
the finishing of the mystery of God as to this one portion of his
ways;-the termination of man's existence as an animal-species
upon, earth, but his resurrection to an immortal life, a new sphere
of being, the possession of a more exquisite organization, which,
in a manner inconceivable to our present faculties, will be incomparably more effective for the highest purposes of mind than that
which we now possess?-We trace the monuments of change to
early and still earlier conditions, carrying us back to the grand
simplicity of elementary creation; and we are permitted to contemplate the all-surrounding proofs that our globe only waits the will
of the Almighty Being, to develop its mechanical, electrical, and
chemical forces; and, if that will have so ordained, "the heavens," the atmospheric constitution, "shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the
earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
(2 Pet. iii. 10.)
The design of geological studies is to acquire a satisfactory
knowledge of the substances (airs, water, earth, stones, and metals,) which, in different combinations and arrangements, form the
accessible parts of the planet assigned by the Almighty Creator
for our present dwelling-place; and of the changes through which
they have passed and are passing; with a view to the enlargement
of human knowledge, the promotion of our present happiness, and
the celebration of His perfections " of whom, and through whom,
and to whom are all things."
It is obvious that this is an attractive field of investigation,
promising not only to be productive of intellectual pleasure, but to
bring many and great benefits to the arts of usefulness and comfort in life, and to furnish interesting discoveries of the power,
wisdom, and goodness of HIM who exists independently and by
necessity of nature, possessed of all perfections, the designing
cause and active sustainer of all other beings, and to whom it is
equally our duty and our happiness to render the highest veneration and love and homage.




PREREQUISITES.                        3
It is not less obvious, that this study cannot be undertaken,
with any reasonable hope of success, without the aid of some
other branches of natural science. Indeed, to so high a point have
the pursuits of Natural History and Natural Philosophy been raised
in our day, that it is no longer possible for one department to be
cultivated, with the hope of success and so as to avoid the danger
of falling into egregious mistakes, without some acquaintance with
the others. This fact has been both proved and elucidated, with
equal force of reasoning and elegance of manner, by a lady of extraordinary attainments, in her work entitled The Connexion of
the Physical Sciences.
The substances which compose the external part of our earth,
and which present themselves sometimes in a simple state, but
generally in various forms of composition, must be ascertained by
their external appearance; and such knowledge is the science of
the Mineralogist.  But their inward nature, and the states of
union in which we find them, must also be known; together with
the principles or laws, as they are usually called, which regulate
those states of union, preventing or separating some, favouring and
effectuating others: and this cannot be without chemical knowledge. In the production of geological formations and their subsequent changes of position, the common law of gravitation and
other regular modes of attraction and repulsion, [including the
wonderful agencies of Universal Electro-Magnetism,] have performed and are always performing an important part: the investigation of those modes of action cannot be attempted, with the least
hope of success, but by the application of mathematical Dynamics.
The larger number of the earthy and stony masses which we have
to study contain, in immense multitudes, the skeletons, the coverings, whether adherent integumnents or such as supply the place of
habitations, and various other remains of animals; and the substance, or mineral matter moulded upon the substance, of vegetable
species, trunk, stems, leaves, and fruits: it is therefore indispensable to the right understanding of geological facts, that a competent
knowledge should be obtained of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, and of Botany according to a Natural System.* It must, "It is now admitted on all hands, that no man can be qualified to enter any of the
highest walks of science, who is acquainted with only one branch of natural knowledge;
and the mutual dependence of them all is now so positively demonstrated, that the philosopher of our days can no longer be allowed to remain satisfied with those inquiries
B2




4                      MEANS OF THE STUDY.
further be remarked, that the best books and the richest cabinets
are not sufficient to convey complete ideas; but to closet-study
must be added personal inspection of the face of a country, of seacliffs and beaches, of mountain-sides, rocky precipices,. land-slips,
and ravines; besides every kind of artificial excavation; and this
labour, in travelling and exploring, must be carried to an extent
greater than can be expected from most individuals, though there
are eminent men who have personally achieved wonders in this
respect. There are Geologists, who have devoted severe and selfdenying toil, exposure to great perils, and vast expense, through
the best years of life, to this object; and with a noble disinterestedness, they communicate the results of their untiring exertions.
Those results are, by themselves and other qualified persons,.
brought together, scrutinized, compared, connected  and then, by
publication, exposed to the renewed criticism of the scientific
world: so that, in the issue, ample knowledge has been obtained,
and that knowledge resting upon rigorously examined evidence,
of the geological conditions of Europe generally; of large districts
in North  and South America, India and Central and Western
Asia; and of some portions of Africa, Australia, and the Isles of
the Pacific Ocean.
It may not unreasonably be alleged, that few persons are qualified to this extent. To this objection we reply:
1. Though they may be few, compared with the general population of any country, yet, if we take the aggregate of persons
possessed of the qualifications required, in an eminent degree, we
shall find them to rise to a very high amount, in Europe and the
European settlements throughout the earth. Here might be mentioned a long line of illustrious names, both British and foreign,
whom it would be a delight to honour; but I deny myself the
pleasure of so doing, because though the catalogue of those whose
names instantly rise in an admiring and grateful memory would
be very considerable, many of high and probably equal merit
would be omitted, and thus no little injustice would be inflicted.*
which belong exclusively to any single branch, but must extend his investigations over
the whole range of sciences, and illuminate his path by the varied combinations of them
all." Prof. Buckland's Vindicice Geologicce; his Inaugural Lecture, 1819; p. 10.
a I venture to adapt to this topic the words of Leclere. 1" Whoever attempts this
study, should well understand what a task he undertakes, and by what laws he must be
governed: or else he will be a most infelicitous critic [geologist]; and, instead of reaping that high honour which men of real erudition [and sciencel have obtainoed from this




VERACITY OF SCIENTIFIC MEN.                        5
2. It is no extravagance to affirm that the distinguished men to
whom I allude, and who have given us the details of their travels
and labours, are entitled personally to the fullest credit of their
testimony upon the facts and scenery which they describe. Yet,
if any person, moved, I doubt not, by honourable and even religious principles, should allow a painful suspicion still to lurk in
his mind, let him consider that the individual veracity of persons
of the finest talents and the greatest advantages of education, and
whose integrity is unquestionable, is not our only guarantee; but
that the number of explorers and observers is great, that they belong to different nations and parties, and are subject to be influenced by various interests and prepossessions, so that the correction of any involuntary mistake is sure and speedy; but, if
superficial observation, or negligent statement, or designed misrepresentation, were to occur, the detection would be prompt and
the penalty severe, in a public forfeiture of character and confidence. From some measure of knowledge and some care in
observation, I feel myself bound in duty to profess my thorough
persuasion, that the firmest reliance may be placed on the reports
and descriptions for which we are indebted to the most distinguished geologists of our time.
3. All the natural sciences ramify into each other, in so extensive a manner, that their points of contact shew themselves perpetually. This fact not only brings to view the necessity of the
combination of these parts of knowledge, but it creates an ardent
desire for practically effecting it; it opens numerous avenues into
the domain of other sciences; it suggests methods of proceeding
for making the desired acquirements; and, while we feel ourselves
obliged to submit to the necessity of being but imperfectly acquainted with many parts of the field, we are preserved (if we
maintain a becoming moral discipline) from the vanity and pedanart, he will become contemptible and ridiculous. I think I hear my reader asking me,
Whether I myself look for any portion of this honour? - I will only venture to say,
that I do not PROFESS this arduous and hazardous study, though I highly honour those
who do profess it, and have long read their writings with great pleasure, from which
perhaps some tinge-may have adhered to me." From a larger quotation out of his
Ars Critica, in Pye Smith's Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, vol. iii. p. 25, third
ed. Yet, if any should suspect me of being captivated by novelty, and ensnared by a
precipitate disposition, I take leave to say that these are not to me the studies of yesterday, and that I have professed and taught the leading sentiments of this volume,
within my own circle of connexions, for at least five and thirty years. 1839.




6                 AFFINITY OF KNOWLEDGE.
try of half-knowledge, we are enabled to apprehend with accuracy
what we do learn; and we gain safe positions from which, when
the opportunity may occur, we can make further advances.
4. Any person of good mental faculties and liberal education,
if he will take the pains of attention and some self-cultivation,
may acquire an ability to draw satisfactory inferences from the
facts recited and the reasonings propounded in the best geological
works; or at least to exercise an unpresuming judgment whether
the conclusions are sound which others have drawn.
But it cannot be denied, and ought not to be suppressed, that a
different view of the whole matter is taken by many estimable
persons. The objects of geological investigation, especially in the
department of organic remains, are in the highest degree attractive: casual allusions and fragments of information float plentifully
in the atmosphere of social intercourse, so that none but the incurious can fail to hear something; and the periodical papers of
the day have occasionally paragraphs of wonder, upon real or
alleged geological discoveries; which frequently indeed turn out to
be the echoes of ignorance. Hence, the assumption is easily
made, that the circuit of this kind of knowledge may be filled up
by any young and ardent mind, with a small degree of trouble and
a little easy reading; without laying in even a moderate share of
the prerequisites. Above all, it is incumbent upon us to be aware,
that a vague idea has obtained circulation, that certain geological
doctrines are at variance with the Holy Scriptures. This notion
works with pernicious effect. The semblance of discrepancy is
indeed undeniable; but I profess my conviction that it is nothing
but a semblance, and that, like many other difficulties on all important subjects which have tried the intellect of man, it vanishes
before careful and sincere examination.  The naked fact, however, the mere appearance, is eagerly laid hold of by some irreligious men, and is made an excuse for dismissing from their minds
any serious regard to the LAW and GOSPEL of GOD, and any
rational investigation of the Evidences of Revelation; for they are
very willing to assume that Christianity is either a mass of obsolete prejudices, or a theory so labouring under heavy suspicion as
to have but slender claims upon a philosopher's attention. In the
opposite extreme, many excellent persons, devout and practical
Christians, knowing that " the word of our God shall stand for
ever," feel no desire to become acquainted with the real merits of




UNJUST IMPUTATIONS.                              7
the  question; and  sit down with  a persuasion, that geological
theories are visionary plausibilities, each having its day of fashion,
then being exploded in favour of some other vagary, which in its
turn gives way, and all falling under the description of false " philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, the
rudiments of the world; —the oppositions of science falsely so
called;-perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, destitute of
the truth,-reprobate concerning the faith."   (Col. ii. 8; 1 Tim.
vi. 5; 2 Tim. iii. 8.)*
That such a state of opinion is injurious to the cause of Christianity, can admit of no doubt. It is a fearful thing to array
science and religion against each other; for, however unnatural
and unjust this antagonist position certainly is, the fact of its
existence is pregnant with  evil on both  sides.  Men who have
well studied the questions at issue, and who know the evidence of
those geological facts to which such strong exception is taken,
cannot by any possibility be brought to  renounce their convic*A clergyman whose piety and integrity, as manifested in his book, attract my sincere respect, notwithstanding egregious defects of candour and justice in his animadversions, has expressed the opinions of many other good men, in the following words.
"J. P. S. — deprecates the idea of any person entering upon Geological questions,
who does not possess considerable acquaintance with the principles of Chemistry, Electricity, Mineralogy, Zoology, Conchology, Comparative Anatomy, and even of'the
sublimest mathematics.' It will be readily conceded that, to prosecute the study of
Geology advantageously, some insight into most of the natural sciences is necessary.
But, when this assertion is intended to deter men of good common sense from giving
their opinion upon Geology in its connexion with the Scriptures, the position may be safely
questioned. It would be just as reasonable to maintain, that a minute acquaintance with
the principles of Surgery and Morbid Anatomy was requisite, before a man was qualified
to say whether a leg of mutton was tainted, and ought to be sent from the table; or that
an honest countryman was unfit to sit in the jury-box, because he was ignorant of the'
English Law-Reports, or Coke upon Lyttleton. In the controversy between Geologists
and the Sacred Scriptures, nothing more is required but an acquaintance with the common laws of evidence, and a knowledge of the distinction between Divine and human
testimony."  (Reflections on Geology, suggested by the perusal of Dr. Buzckland's
Bridgewater Treatise; wit/h Remarks on a letter by J. P. S. on the Study of Geology; by the Rev. J. Mellor Brown, B. A. &c. p. 52.) This Letter will be reprinted in
the Appendix; (1) so that the reader may see whether Mr. Brown has not, undesignedly
I am willing to believe, exaggerated the description of prerequisites to Geological study.
It is hardly needful to remind him that comparisons are not arguments; and that, when
they are intended to be illustrations, they ought to be just. Upon his first comparison I
make no remark, for its propriety is equal to its elegance: but, to invest his second with
any semblance of analogy, he ought to have made his " honest countryman" very ill informed upon the facts connected with the cause which he was called to try, yet imagining himself to know all about it, and determined to shut his ears against the evidence.
(1) Supplementary Note A; on the Laws of Organized Natures, involving the necessity
of Death; and on Geological Studies in general,




8                       CHRISTIANITY INJURED.
tions.* Were they treated as Galileo was, were they, like him,
unwilling to be the martyrs of conscience, were they to profess a
change of sentiment which they could not feel; they would act the
part of hypocrites. The nature of the impression which is actually
made upon such minds, may be judged of from the language of a
mathematician and philosopher of the highest order, distinguished
by the originality and independence of his mind, and whose sincerity, as a professed friend of Christianity, it would be most
unjust to call into question.
"What then have those  accomplished  who have restricted the
Mosaic account of the Creation to that diminutive period, which is
as it were but a span in the duration of the earth's existence; and
who have imprudently rejected the testimony of the senses, when
opposed to their philological criticisms!.        The very argument
which Protestants have opposed to the doctrine of transubstantiation,
would, if their view of the case were correct, be equally irresistible
against the book of Genesis. But let us consider what would be the
conclusion of any reasonable being in a parallel case. Let us imagine a manuscript written three thousand years ago, and professing to
be a revelation from the Deity, in which it was stated that the colour
of the paper of the very book now in the reader's hands is black, and
that the colour of the ink in the characters which he is now reading
is white.  With that reasonable doubt of his own individual faculties
which would become the inquirer into the truth of a statement said
to be derived from so high an origin, he would ask of all those around
him, whether to their senses the paper appeared to be black and the
ink to be white. If he found the senses of other individuals agree
with his own, then he would undoubtedly pronounce the alleged revelation a forgery, and those who propounded it to be either deceived
* Fourtlh ed.-The labours of the most distinguished men, in Geology and Natural
History universally, are constantly bringing confirmations. " In no instance [of the results obtained by modern Geological investigations,] have general conclusions been
shaken by subsequent observations.-Whatever alterations and minute adjustments
may take place, the great fundamental principles of the science, and the grand subdivisions
already introduced into its history, will not be upset, but will be extended and confirmed
by future inquiry." Prof. SEDGWICK, at the Brit. Assoc. Camb., 1845. At the same time
and place, " Dr. BUCKLAND wished to correct a false impression, not uncommon among
novices, who hear only debates and conflicts on disputable points in Geology,-that there
is nothing certain in the conclusions of that science; and he wished it to be understood,
that, from the moment when Organic Remains were appealed to, as the true ground of
comparison between the rocks of different ages and different countries, there had been o20
difference of opinion amongst Geologists upon the broad principles of their science."
See the very accurate reports of that meeting, in the Athenceum for June 21 and 28, and
July 5, 1845.




BABBAGE S PARALLEL.                   9
or deceivers. He would rightly impute the attempted deceit to moral turpitude, to gross ignorance, or to interested motives, in the supporters of it; but he certainly would not commit the impiety of
supposing the Deity to have wrought a miraculous change upon the
senses of our whole species, and then to demand their belief in a fact
directly opposed to those senses; thus throwing doubt upon every
conclusion of reason in regard to external objects; and, amongst
others, upon the very evidence by which the authenticity of that
very questionable manuscript was itself supported, and even upon the
fact of its existence when before their eyes."*
Should any of those who honour me with their attention, be
not at all, or only as the result of cursory reading, acquainted
with geological science, they are intreated to consider the case
before them very seriously. Here is a mind of high order,
versed in philosophical knowledge, whose acquirements in the
exact sciences, their highest branches, and their most astonishing
applications, are acknowledged with admiration through the world;
who has deeply studied the nature and rules of evidence; and who
is not an enemy, but an avowed friend to Revealed Religion: he
marches up to the front of the imagined discrepance,-and we see
the strength of his conviction. He is indeed satisfied, for himself,
that Geology and Revelation are not at variance; and his method
of resolving the difficulty will be mentioned in a future lecture.
But, we may ask in the mean time, What is the conclusion which
the uninstructed observer ought in fairness to draw? Can he satisfy
himself with the assertion, that the most eminent geologists are,
in general, secret or open infidels; that their doctrines upon the
constitution and antiquity of the earth are fond fancies, changeable as the wind, or irreligious hypotheses of men " ever learning,
but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth;" and that
he runs no risk of being mistaken, or of becoming the instrument
of moral injury to others, perhaps his own children, by making it
an article of religion to maintain that all dependent nature came
from the creative power of the Supreme Being, only about six
thousand years ago? Will he say that all solicitude upon the
question may be safely dismissed, and that he gains firm footing
for his faith on this subject by reposing upon an interpretation of
the Mosaic records, which though extensively received has been
* Mr. Babbage's Ninth Bridgevwater Treatise, pp. 68 —70




10                       DILEMMA.
seriously doubted of by sound expositors in ancient and in modern
times, and by some absolutely disallowed:-yea, independently of
geological knowledge?
An inquiry thus opens before us which cannot but appear, to
every reflecting person, to be of the first importance. " RELIGION is the highest style of man."  But religion, the internal
and practical principle of all piety, virtue, and morality, rests upon
Theology. And what is theology, but the knowledge of that
which is in itself true and in its relations to us infinitely important,
concerning the SUPREME BEING, his perfections and works and purposes, the duty which we owe to him, and the hopes which we
are permitted to entertain of the greatest blessings by his bestowment? That knowledge it is our duty to obtain, from all the
sources and by all the means that he has put into our power. His
works are the first of those means, in the order of human apprehension. In them much of (o, yvcoi,0v zov Oov) "that which
can be known of God is manifested: —his invisible perfections are
contemplated from the creation of the world, being understood by
his works, his eternal power and godhead." Can any declaration
be more clear and full, than this of the inspired apostle?
We have then the most satisfactory proofs, that this all-perfect
Being has not only given us mental faculties, by which we are
capable of making ever progressive improvement in the study of
the dependent universe of which we are a part, and in which so
bright rays shine forth of his "eternal power and godhead;" but
that he has further dignified our present condition of existence,
by the communication of positive information concerning our relations to himself and to each other, and the results of those relations in the eternal state to which we are hastening.
Christianity rests upon the explicit acknowledgment of a succession of such communications, commencing with the earliest
epoch of the human history, and growing in comprehension and
clearness, till the series is completed in the doctrine of Jesus " the
Saviour of the world."  Of these communications we have written monuments, proved to be genuine and authentic; presenting
the truths, laws, promises, warnings, and threatenings, of the
Divine Government; and containing the history of the persons
and the circumstances connected with those successive revelations.
The earlier of those records are far more ancient than any other
monuments in alphabetical writing known to exist; and the most




RELIGION RESTS ON REVELATION.             11
early of them affirm the fact of both the universal creation of the
world, and the preparation and adaptation of that part of it which
was designed to be the habitation of man.
But there are two sciences, Astronomy and Geology, which
bring us into an acquaintance with facts of amazing grandeur and
interest, concerning the Extent and the Antiquity of the created
Universe. The knowledge which each communicates rests upon
its own appropriate evidence; in the one case, the evidence of
sense obtained by innumerable observations made and compared
by the most competent men, and confirmed by rigorous mathematical processes;* and, in the other, the evidence of sense also, and
the testimony of a host of accomplished observers, and, though
not to the same perfect extent as Astronomy, yet in a degree
which objectors little imagine, receiving support from mathematical applications.
Are then the discoveries and deductions of those sciences consistent, or are they not, with the declarations of primeval divine
revelation?
We cannot but expect such consistency. Our Creator has given
us faculties suited to the perception and the right appreciation of
it. Cases indeed are conceivable, and they do occur, in which
difficulties appear, because we see only detached portions of the
truth, and the intervening parts of our field of view are covered
with an obscurity which we cannot dispel. Yet such cases are
not those of contradictory propositions, in which the affirming of
one destroys that of the other. But unhappily this is the predicament of the subject which we have to consider, as it is too
commonly understood. If from the discoveries of Astronomy and
Geology we infer that the created universe, including our own
globe, has existed through an unknown but unspeakably long
period of time past; and IF, from the records of revelation, we
draw the conclusion that the work of creation, or at least so far
as respects our planet, took place not quite six thousand years
ago; it is evident that the two positions cannot both stand: one
destroys the other. One of them must be an error; both may be
wrong; only one can be right.
Our first care must be to ascertain the true state of the facts
on each side. Are the propositions respectively drawn from their
* Supplementary Note B; on the Evidence from Astronomy.




12          SCIENCE CONSISTENT WITH REVELATION.
premises, by sound reasoning? Have we guarded sufficiently
against all causes of error? Are the facts in nature satisfactorily
proved? And is our interpretation of the Scriptures legitimate?
Doubts and renewed investigation of the latter question imply no
precarious issue with respect to the great designs of revelation.
"The foundation of God standeth sure."  The great principles
of faith and obedience, hope and happiness; the doctrines, warnings, and promises of the gospel; shine forth in the most clear
and satisfying manner; and their certainty is not diminished by
philological inquiry into the interpretation of words, or by discussing the relations to history and antiquities, and other collateral bearings of the Scriptures. For example; the recent discoveries in the monuments of Egypt* have cast much light upon
the history and the phraseology of the Old Testament, by bringing
to our knowledge facts and usages which were before imperfectly
or not at all known: but these accessions of knowledge, and the
more correct interpretation of particular passages which we hence
obtain, take nothing from us in any other respect, but add materially to the proofs and the right understanding of the whole
system of revelation. The more firmly we stand upon the rock
of evidence, the more completely we possess "the assurance of
faith."
TRUTH, therefore, is our object: Truth, in religion, in morals,
and in natural science. The more completely we attain it, if we
faithfully apply it to its proper purposes, the more we shall bring
happiness to ourselves and our fellow-creatures, and reverential
honour to our God.
All men admit and act upon the value of Truth. Even those
who practically disregard its obligations, pay to Truth an implicit
homage; for they plainly manifest that it is only wicked selfishness which leads them to violate it.
Truth in sentiment is the agreement of our conceptions or belief, with the real nature and circumstances of the things which
are the objects of those conceptions: and conventional Truth is
the agreement of the signs by which we express our conceptions,
with the conceptions themselves.
That our conceptions may be thus in accordance with the reality
of things, is to be secured by the due consideration of Evidence:
* Now, in 1847, we add, of Nineveh, and the ancient Assyrian empire.




TRUTH EVER CONSISTENT.                  13
and we believe that God, the Fountain of all truth and goodness,
has furnished us with means for the obtaining of evidence, sufJicient for a rational satisfaction, upon all objects which it concerns
us to know..ll Truth must be consistent. Let the objects contemplated be
never so different in their nature, and remote from each other, in
their position, or aspect, or other connexions of their occurrence;
the facts concerning them cannot but be in mutual agreement; for
to say that one fact is contradictory to another, is to utter a manifest absurdity. But our conception of a fact may fail of being in
accordance with the reality: from the variety of causes which,
we are aware, are the sources of frequent error among mortals,
and of which the chief are, the not being possessed of adequate
means for acquiring the knowledge requisite as the basis of our
deductions; or the want of giving due attention to the means
which we do possess for acquiring the necessary data; or a want
of correct habitude of mind in drawing our conclusions. If we
have done our best and fail, we have not forfeited moral truth;
we are sincere, though mistaken: but, if we have not done our
best, we cannot be blameless. For the consequences of our indifference, or negligence, or prejudice, we must be responsible to the
divine tribunal; and that responsibility will be according to the
nature of the object proposed for investigation, its circumstances
of greater or less importance to the well-being of mankind, our
obligations to possess accurate knowledge, and our profession to
communicate it.
The criterion of truth is Evidence: and, though evidence is
formed of different materials in different departments, the effect
of real evidence, upon a mind sincerely desirous of knowing the
truth, will be satisfactory, however different the kind or form of
the materials which constitute it.
In Physical Science, the evidence of truth is obtained by drawing inferences from the observation of facts made known by our
senses; and confirmed in many cases, and those the most important, by the application of Mathematics, which indeed derive their
certainty from reducing all propositions to the plainest evidence of
sense.
Truth, in matters of history, and in all that relates to the good
or evil conduct of rational beings, their relation to social systems
and to law, their dispositions and motives, their dependence upon




14                        MORAL EVIDENCE.
the Supreme Sovereign, their obligations to HIM, and their expectations from him; can be attained only by what is usually called
Moral Evidence.  This kind of evidence arises from our consciousness of the manner in which we ourselves feel and act in given
circumstances; and our observation of the manner in which other
men act under similar conditions.  We hence deduce conclusions:
these are confirmed by universal experience: we feel a perfect confidence, that, whenever the conditions are similar, the results will
be similar also: and we call the principles or causes of such uniformity in voluntary action, Laws of Mind.
Thus we come at last to find, that clear cases of Moral Evidence produce an assent and satisfaction not less complete than is
our confidence in the Evidence of our Senses.  We arrive at a conviction, that the same wisdom and rectitude of the omnipotent and
infinitely good Being, which established the Laws of Matter, have
also established laws of Mind; and that to refuse our belief, where
sufficient moral evidence has been laid before us, is not less unreasonable than it would be to doubt the dictates of our senses or the
results of mathematical proof.
It is however a fact that even moral truth may derive important
aid from a judicious application of mathematical methods of investigation. The progress made, within the last sixty years, in the
most refined branches of Analytics, has contributed its measure of
auxiliary support to the resolution of questions which have a relation to the evidences of religion; by the doctrine of chances. The
probabilities for and against the occurrence of a supposed fact, or
the credibility of witnesses warranting the belief of a miracle, have
been reduced to equations and satisfactorily worked out. The late
Bishop of Peterborough (Dr. Herbert Marsh) in his Letters to
Archdeacon Travis, nearly fifty years ago, employed this method
on a question of criticism; and Mr. Babbage, in his Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, has applied it to the refutation of Hume's endeavour to set up an argument against miracles wrought in favour of
religion.*'U Sec. ed. A scientific friend has written to mne upon this passage; "You appear
to give Mr. Babbage the credit of replying to Hume on Miracles, on the numerical plan.
Are you not aware that Dr. Chalmers previously did the same? See the third volume
of his Works. I heard-him deliver the matter there published, in 1830-31."
Certainly I was not aware of this circumstance. The publication referred to is a
collection of all the works of Dr. Chalmers, which began to be published, I believe,
about four years ago, and is not yet completed. The third volume commences with
The Mliracculocs andcl Izternal Evidentces of tihe ChrAistian Revelation; and is entirely




FIDELITY TO EVIDENCE.                             15
These considerations should deepen our conviction of the duty
of dealing faithfully with evidence.  Those who  have temporary
purposes to answer, and selfish interests to promote, may, if they
be regardless of moral obligation, permit their predilections to infect their judgment, and  to  trample  down  their sincerity.  But
christian principles will not allow  us to  do  so.   "Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever are  (UE/T.&) fair, whatsoever  just,
whatsoever pure, whatsoever amiable, whatsoever (E.U'ilpa) deserve honourable mention,"-it is our duty and our happiness to
seek, and when acquired to profess. Let us exert our utmost
diligence to obtain true premises; let our attention be vigilant,
that we may rightly understand them; let us watch carefully
every step of our deductions, that they trespass not the limit of
correct reasoning; but let us not be stopped in our course, nor
desist from pursuing the straight line, because objections meet us
which are drawn from other departments of human knowledge.
Our duty is to bid those objections to stand  aside for a time.  In
the pursuit of our present line of inquiry, it is more than barely
possible that new light may arise; or another point of view may
be reached, which will have the effect of exterminating the difficulty. Should this not be the result, our work then will be to
trace the derivation of the difficulty from its own source; and to
follow out the separate course of investigation by its own principles.* Thus we may find a deliverance from our perplexity in the
most effectual manner, by ascertaining that it had no foundation in
its own class of knowledge: or the pressure of the difficulty may
a different work from the Evidenzce and Authority, &c. which was published in 1814.
In this more recent and comprehensive work, the distinguished Professor applies the mathematical doctrine of Chances to the illustration of our belief in the constancy of natural
phenomena, and to the dissection and refutation of the objection made by Hume and La
Place against the credibility of the scripture miracles. I am greatly obliged to my correspondent for giving me the opportunity of mentioning this fact. But it does not
diminish the merit of Mr. Babbage. He indeed refers to Dr. Chalmers, but it is to another part of his Works, namely, vol. i. p. 129. Yet it appears almost certain that the
numneral of the volume is a mistake of the printer, and that vol. iii. was meant; and
then we have the very passage to which I presume that my friend alludes. Mr.
Babbage gives his formulm in general algebraic expressions, and his illustrations are
widely different; though the argument of course goes upon the same principles of recondite mathematical science. Mr. Babbage is not a man that would derive advantage
from another, and conceal his obligations.
* " —  To those who spread themselves over these opposite lines, each moving in
his own direction, a thousand points of meeting, and mutual and joyful recognition, will
occur."-Sir John Herschel's Presidential Address, at the Fifteenth Meeting of the
British Association, at Cambridge, June 1845.




16               THE UNIVERSE-THE DEITY.
be diminished, so far as to yield a reasonable satisfaction that any
remaining obscurity may be fairly imputed to the inherent weakness and the necessary limitations of our imperfect nature. Above
all, let us not suffer ourselves to be beguiled into the foolish notion, if it be not an insidious pretence, for the purpose of undermining the foundations of religious truth, —that a position may be
false in philosophy, but true in theology; or, inversely, philosophically true and theologically false. It is scarcely conceivable
that a sane mind could admit such an assertion: yet it has been
made, with some disguise perhaps in the phrase, by persons who
apparently expected to be credited.
The sum of objects which we can perceive, or know, or conceive
of as existing, falls into two very different classes of description.
The one class is stamped with the proofs of mutability, contingence, and dependence. It presents itself to our senses and our
consciousness, in a variety of ways; yet all those ways and their
results are limited, but the object itself is to us illimitable. We
call it THE UNIVERSE, or more correctly the Dependent or the Finite
Universe. We know not its extent: for, while the microscope, at
the one extremity of the scale, and astronomical observations at
the other, set before us multitude, magnitude, distance and minuteness, which we feel to become overwhelming to our faculties, we
have no reason to suppose that we have reached a term, in either
direction of our observations. The vast space into which we look,
and the " worlds upon worlds" with which we see it to be filled,
may be but the threshold of the finite universe; and in the lowest
part of the known scale of being, we gain no evidence of ever
touching a boundary.
The other description of what we can know is not presented to
our senses; but of its existence we gain an irresistible conviction
by reasoning. The former class, however vast its extent and remote its antiquity, impresses us, by many facts and circumstances,
with the conviction that it had a beginning.  This material portion is that alone which is cognizable by our senses. We find it
to possess a natural inertness; yet it is in perpetual motion. That
motion supposes an impulsive power, as its cause. We can trace
the so-called causes of motion, from one to another that is prior,
and so continually; and we cannot rationally stop till we have
ascended to the idea of a voluntary First Cause. To this originating principle we are compelled, by the manifest evidence of the




ACCOUNTABLENESS.                    17
case, to attribute the properties of being intelligent, underived,
and independent; in other words, of being self-existent, spontaneously active, and possessed in an infinite degree of every property
that is an excellence; the ONE NECESSARY BEING. We combine
all other beings into one group, and we call it the dependent universe: but comparing this assemblage with that One Being, it
becomes, in the comparison, a shadow of existence, "less than
nothing and vanity;" mere emptiness. THAT BEING is GOD; not
perceived by our organs of sense, but the Object of pure mental
conception. He is MIND, in the highest sense; existing necessarily, and therefore having always existed and always to exist; a
free agent, of infinite intellectual and moral perfection; upon whom
all other beings depend as their Originator, Preserver, and Benefactor, their Proprietor and Lawgiver, their Judge and Rewarder;
the supremely wise, holy, and powerful Basis of the universe.
Unbiased reason, no less than the book of revelation, utters the
voice of satisfaction and gladness; "Give unto Jehovah the glory
of his name; O, worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness!-For
of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things; to whom
be glory for ever!"
Of the existence and perfections, the providence and efficient
activity, of this glorious Being, we have every kind and degree of
evidence that can warrant the reception of any moral truth whatever. If any honest-hearted inquirer entertain a doubt, it is sufficient to refer him to the volumes of Ray and Derham, Bentley,
Clarke, Paley, and the authors of the Bridgewater Treatises.
Neither is this the place for adducing evidence that rational
creatures are accountable, and that the Supreme Being exercises a
moral government over them. The writings of Butler alone are
sufficient for this purpose. We are convinced also, upon the most
satisfactory grounds, that this Wise and Gracious Being has been
pleased to give the elements of positive knowledge to mankind,
sufficient to inform us upon subjects which it most highly concerns
us to know, but of which, without such information, it would be
utterly impossible for us to have any other than conjectures, vague
and painfully uncertain.  The proofs that God has thus made
known these facts and truths, and the realities of an eternal futurity; and that the communication is contained in the series of
ancient books called the Holy Scriptures; are also to be found in
many easily accessible works.
C




i8                CONNEXIONS OF GEOLOGY.
It plainly follows, that a serious attention to those books is the
most important duty, and the most interesting occupation to which
we can apply ourselves.
Our great object is, to understand them in their true meaning;
that is, to take them in the sense in which they were intended by
the Spirit of truth from whose inspiration, mediately or immediately, they have proceeded. This true sense and meaning must
be brought out by an impartial application of the same means
which men use, from  a conviction of their necessity and adequacy, in order to obtain a just understanding of any writings
composed in long past times and in ancient languages.
The study of revealed religion, thus pursued, cannot but be in
perfect harmony with-all true science. The works and the word
of God are streams from the same source, and, though they flow
in different directions, they necessarily partake of the same qualities of truth, wisdom, and goodness. Geology, in an especial
manner, possesses its place in this beneficent association. It holds
also the most interesting connexions with every other branch of
Natural Science. It attracts and renders subsidiary to itself, the
entire domain of Natural History; it is indissolubly combined
with Chemistry, with which it participates in reciprocal advantages of the most important kind; [it possesses intimate relationships with Meteorology and Terrestrial Magnetism;] it has connexions, which to many have been unexpected, with the sublime
science of Astronomy, but which the genius and attainments of
Babbage, Herschel, and Hopkins, both anticipated and have demonstrated,-connexions of peculiar interest, and which go far to
vindicate for Geology a place among the exact sciences. The
facts on which it rests have, since the beginning of the present
century, and especially since the establishment of the Geological
Societies of London, Dublin, and Paris, and kindred institutions in
many parts of Europe, and in America, been collected by the assiduous labour of many men of the finest talents; and those facts
have not only been brought together and freely exposed to examination, but they have been subjected to the most jealous scrutiny
and the most rigorous tests that can be imagined. Philosophers,
whose previous opinions were very discordant, but whose qualifications for the task were of the highest order, of different nations
(and there was a time when national rivalry even violated the
sacred ground of science and letters,) and who had been trained




RASHNESS IN TAKING UP OPINIONS.                19
and raised to the first stations in all the other departments of physical knowledge and the liberal arts; have concurred, and have
emulated each other, in sifting and scrutinizing to the utmost
every announced discovery, and every theoretical deduction. Can
it be then supposed that a scientific edifice thus framed, and in the
fundamental doctrines of which all who have a claim upon our
confidence, are agreed,* possesses not the elements of stability,
and has no claims upon our confidence?
But we are compelled to make the unwelcome admission, that
the rules of reason, with regard to evidence, have been not a little
disregarded, in relation to the proposed subject of these Lectures,
It would not, I am persuaded, be possible to point out any department of scientific investigation, in regard to which persons
have rushed to the forming and proclaiming of strong opinions,
with so scanty a portion of knowledge, yet at the same time so
fearlessly, as in relation to Geology. There have been and perhaps still are persons who, not judging it necessary to use hardworking pains and long perseverance, to obtain a competent
acquaintance with facts, have, with much dignity, framed their
systems of the world: and have not shown the most charitable
dispositions towards those who decline to bow down to the idols
thus set up. Let it, however, be recollected that the disposition
to make these assumptions, and the facility of admitting them,
have risen, in a great measure, from a cause which is entitled to
our reverence and esteem, religious feeling; though mistaken in its
application.  The opinion, or suspicion, is roused to meet us, on
almost every occasion, that Geology and a religious regard to the
Scriptures are opposed to each other. This notion has been diligently held up to the christian public, and in a style well adapted
to excite alarm. Hence, some have been led to propose and others
to receive, for the overcoming of the apprehended difficulties,
theories which, either, on the one hand, have grievously misrepresented principal facts in the natural history of the earth, or, on
the other, have exercised arbitrary power upon the sacred books,
in despite of the fair methods of interpretation by which alone we
are warranted to treat ancient writings.
* " I need not dwell upon the extreme danger of representing, as necessarlily subversive of a faith in revelation, physical conclusions received, I believe, by all those who
are generally considered as competent judges, as firmly established truths.''-Rev. W.
D. Conybeare, F. R. S. &c. in the Christian Obse0vere, for 1834, p. 307.
c2




20                   MISREPRESENTATIONS.
When we are compelled, by the force of conviction, to make observations of this kind, it is proper to show that we do not stand
alone. I consider it to be an advantage for aiding the mind in the
pursuit of truth, and therefore to be eminently my duty, to adduce
a small number of citations from Christian Philosophers, whose
knowledge on these subjects is the hard-earned fruit of fair labour
in toiling over hundreds of miles of rocky mountains, and of close
study for the rigid scrutiny of results.
I shall first take a few paragraphs from a most diligent and
laborious investigator, and a devout Christian. A regard to
brevity will oblige me to select detached passages; but they will
represent, without perversion or exaggeration, the meaning and
design of the continuous pages. Certain English authors are those
referred to, but their names need not be introduced.
The hypotheses of those writers have been "defended with no small
ability of a certain kind, and with the most dogmatic assurance.They were compelled to pay so much deference to the advanced state
of science at the present time, as to knock off some of the Hutchinsonian protuberances; yet they have not gone into the core of the
system, to make any reformation there. Their works are distinguished    by great positiveness of opinion.  Where the ablest Geologists wait for further light, they cut the knot at once.    The relative importance' of facts is often presented by them in such a manner,
as to betray at once their want of practical acquaintance with the
subject.    These works are distinguished by very great severity and
intolerance towards the leading Geologists of the last half century. A
powerful attempt has been made to exhibit the' Mosaical and Mineral
Geologies' (to borrow the unfair phraseology which figures in one of
their titles,) as at variance in their fundamental principles; so that
the one or the other must be abandoned: and, in doing this, they have
sadly misapprehended the views of Geologists. Because the latter
have imputed the changes in the earth's condition to secondary
causes, they are charged with Atheism."  One of them "says,'It is
manifest that the Mineral Geology, considered as a science, can do as
well without God, though in a question concerning the origin of the
earth, as Lucretius did.' Now, such a sweeping charge would never
have been made had" the writer ";not entirely misunderstood the
Geologists; or had he been practically familiar with the structure of
the earth's crust: for they have referred to second causes those
changes, which no man thoroughly acquainted with them would re



VINDICATION OF GEOLOGY.                  21
gard as miraculous, any more than he would the existence of such a
city as London or Paris.  And they have had no idea of doing without God, because they suppose the world to have had an earlier origin
than" the censurer " admits: for, at whatever period it began to exist,
it would alike require infinite power and wisdom to create and arrange it. Geologists, with scarcely an exception, have decidedly and
boldly opposed such views" as these imputations of atheism.
"The course which" those opponents "have taken, will inevitably
produce, among pious men, not familiar with science, a prejudice
against it and a jealousy of its cultivation. How disastrous such a
result would be, let the painful history of the past testify."-Further
" these works are distinguished by the adoption of very extravagant
theories, and very great distortion of Geological facts, as well as of
the language of Scripture. —None but a Geologist can know what
absurdities must be received, and what distortions made of facts, before such opinions can be embraced.-To the Geologist they appear
a thousand times more extravagant and opposed to facts, than any
opinions that have been entertained by the cultivators of this science.
But these hypotheses require scarcely less perversion of the Sacred Records."-After giving an instance of this bold dealing with
the Bible, the Professor adds, " This, in the matter of interpretation,
is'straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.'-  We have no
doubt that" these and similar writers "are sincerely desirous of vindicating Revelation from the attacks of scientific sceptics, and that
this desire prompted them to write as they have done. But we cannot doubt that the effect of their works on [those] real Geologists
who are sceptical, will be very unhappy. Such persons will see that
these authors.do not understand the subject about which they
write; and they will see a spirit manifested which will not greatly
exalt their ideas of the influence of Christianity."*
I next ask attention to a passage, conspicuous for the beauty of
its language, and the justness of its reasoning, from one of the ornaments of the University of Cambridge, the Woodwardian Professor of Mineralogy and Geology.
"A  philosopher may smile at the fulminations of the Vatican
against those who, with Copernicus, maintained the motion of the
earth; but he ought to sigh when he finds that the heart of man is
* Historical and Geological Deluges compared; in the American Biblical Repository, vol. ix. passages from p. 108 to 114; 1837. By the Rev. Edouarid Hitchcock, L. L.
D., Prof. of Chemistry, &c. Amherst College, New England.




22                  HITCHCOCK  SEDGWICK.
no better than it was of old, and that his arrogance and folly are still
the same.    There are still found some who dare to affirm that the
pursuits of natural science are hostile to religion. An assertion more
false in itself, or more dishonourable to the cause of true religion, has
not been conceived in the mind of man.
"The Bible instructs us, that man and other living things, have
been placed but a few years upon the earth; and the physical monuments of the world bear witness to the same truth. If the Astronomer tells us of myriads of worlds not spoken of in the sacred records;
the Geologist, in like manner, proves (not by arguments from analogy,
but by the incontrovertible evidence of physical phenomena [presented to the plain cognizance of our senses,]) that there were former
conditions of our planet, separated from each other by vast intervals
of time, during which man, and the other creatures of his own date,
had not been called into being. Periods such as these belong not,
therefore, to the moral history of our race; and come within neither
the letter nor the spirit of revelation. Between the first creation of
the earth and that day in which it pleased God to place man upon it,
who shall dare to define the interval. On this question, scripture is
silent: but that silence destroys not the meaning of those physical
monuments of his power which God has put before our eyes, giving
us, at the same time, faculties whereby we may interpret them and
comprehend their meaning.
" In the present condition of our knowledge, a statement like this
is surely enough to satisfy the reasonable scruples of a religious man.
But let us, for a moment, suppose that there are some religious difficulties in the conclusions of Geology: how then are we to solve
them — Not by shutting our eyes to facts, or denying the evidence
of our senses; but by patient investigation carried on in the sincere
love of truth, and by learning to reject every consequence not warranted by direct physical evidence. Pursued in this spirit, Geology
can neither lead to any false conclusions nor offend against any religious truth. And this is the spirit in which many men have* of late
years followed this delightful science; devoting the best labours of
their lives to its cultivation; turning over the successive leaves of nature's book, and interpreting her language, which they know to be a
physical revelation of God's will; patiently working their way
through investigations requiring much toil of both mind and body;
accepting hypotheses only as a means of connecting disjointed phenomena, and rejecting them when they become unfitted for that office,
so as, in the end, to build only upon facts and true natural causes.
All this they have done, and are still doing: so that, however unfin



VINDICATION OF GEOLOGY.                23
ished may be the fabric they have attempted to rear, its foundations
are laid upon a rock."But there is another class of men, who pursue Geology by a
nearer road and are guided by a different light. Well-intentioned
they may be; but they have betrayed no small self-sufficiency, along
with a shameful want of knowledge of the fundamental facts they
presume to write about. Hence, they have dishonoured the literature of this country, by'M-Mosaic Geology,''Scripture Geology,' and
other works of cosmogony with kindred titles; wherein they have
overlooked the aim and end of revelation, tortured the book of life
out of its proper meaning, and wantonly contrived to bring about a
collision between natural phenomena and the word of God.   They
have committed the folly and the SIN, of dogmatizing on matters
which they have not personally examined, and, at the utmost, know
only at second-hand; of pretending to teach mankind on points
where they themselves are uninstructed. Authors such as these ought
to have first considered, that book-learning (in whatsoever degree
they may be gifted with it,) is but a pitiful excuse for writing mischievous nonsense; and that, to a divine or a man of letters, ignorance of the laws of nature and of material phenomena is then only
disgraceful, when he quits his own ground and pretends to teach philosophy.   A Brahmin crushed with a stone the microscope that
first showed him living things among the vegetables of his daily
food.
" It would indeed be a vain and idle task, to engage in controversy
with this school of false philosophy; to waste our breath in the forms
of exact reasoning unfitted to the comprehension of our antagonists;
to draw our weapons in a combat where victory could give no
honour. —— Their position is impregnable, while they remain within
the fences of their ignorance.   "x
Another eminent author, after largely discussing this class of
subjects, Dr. Chalmers, says: "We conclude with adverting to the
unanimity of Geologists in one point, —the far superior antiquity
of this globe to the commonly received date of it as taken from
the writings of Moses.  What shall we make of this?  We may
feel a security as to those points in which they differ; and, confronting them with one another, may remain safe and untouched
between them. But when they agree, this security fails. There
* Prof. Sedgwick's Discourse on the Studies of the Unliversities of Cambridge;
passages from p. 148 to 152; 1834.




24                             CHALMERS.
is no neutralization of authority among them  as to the age of the
world; and Cuvier, with his catastrophes and his epochs, leaves the
popular opinion nearly as far behind him, as they who trace our
present continents upward through an indefinite series of ancestors,
and assign many millions of years to the existence of each generation."" This eloquent writer cannot have intended to signify
" ancestors" and "CC generations" of the human kind, nor of the existing species of animals; for this would involve a groundless imputation. He probably used those words, without adverting to their
proper meaning, and designing only to express animated creatures
and the succession of different families and genera.t
Edinburgh Christian Instructor, April, 1814.
t Sec. edl. The friend of Dr. Chalmers, mentioned in a former note, has honoured me
with a remark on this passage. " Dr. C. does not mean animated creatures at all, but
former continents; which may be looked upon, by a poetical eye, as the ancestors of
the present ones. You are not accustomed to his imaginative modes of expression: but
long attendance in his class-room, and familiarity with his works, enable me to vouch
for my correctness here."




CHANGES IN NATURE.                  25
LECTURE II.
DEUT. XXXIII. 13, 15, 16. Blessed of the Lord be his land; for the
precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth
beneath,   and for the chief things of th/e ancient mountains, and
for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things
of the earth and the fulness thereof.
THIS beautiful passage, from the dying benedictions of Moses,
the faithful servant of God, is not recited from any supposition
that it has an immediate reference to the subjects of this lecture.
Yet, such an application may be made, upon the ground of a fair
and unforced analogy. The passage is a sublime thanksgiving to
the Most High, acknowledging the eminent advantages which he
had prepared for the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, in the approaching partition of Palestine. Their allotment had a moderate
line of sea-coast, on which was Joppa, at that time and long after
a good port; an ample portion of rich land for pasture and cultivation; and numerous high grounds and hills supplying streams of
water, and containing excellent stone and lime for building, with
iron and copper in the northern mountains. Thus the description
may be properly adduced as comprehending, along with other objects, the class of providential blessings which belong to the mineral kingdom, and which are of so great importance to the wealth
and prosperity of a nation. That class of blessings, God has conferred upon our country in a far superior degree: and it certainly
becomes us to understand our mercies and be grateful for them.
Geological knowledge, if pursued in a right state of mind, will
much assist us in this duty.
All observation and every experiment prove, that the sensible
world around us is in a state of incessant motion and change, upon
all points of the scale, from the internal movements of the matter
composing the simplest and minutest body that we can observe,
to the motions of the astral orbs and nebulae, so overwhelming to
our power of conception, or even in imagination to follow them.




26                    CAUSATIONS.
These changes take place not in a fortuitous and confused manner, but in a regular subjection to principles, mechanical and
chemical; which, though few and simple, lead to results, very
complicated indeed and recondite, yet ever harmonizing with each
other and with the whole system of the universe: and thus these
changes are supplying employment to the highest powers of mathematical investigation.
Throughout organized nature, the characters of species approach
to each other, group themselves into genera, and those again into
families and orders, associated by points of resemblance; and thus
they constitute a continuous series of structural forms, functions,
and operations, which exhibit, in all their variety, a principle of
mutual adaptation reigning throughout; and indicate an entire dependence upon an all-comprehending, and all-arranging Intellect.
The machine of the universe is thus maintained in being and
action, by an intelligent Cause and Preserver. It would involve
a contradiction to say that the universe is itself that cause. The
marks which it bears of dependence on a supreme reason of existence, are incontrovertible. Whether that dependence be conceived of as strictly proximate, or whether the efficiency of the
divine power pass through one or ten, ten thousand or ten thousand millions, of intervening agencies, can make no difference.
Let the unceasing activity of operation move subordinate causes
whose number could not be put down in figures, and whose complication no created intellect could follow; it is still the same.
"The excellency of the power is of God."  Indeed the latter supposition exalts the more highly our view of the divine perfections;
the knowledge, wisdom, and power, to which complication and
simplicity, remoteness and nearness, an atomic point and all space,
-are the same.  "GOD IS A SPIRIT.-Do not I fill heaven and
earth? saith JEHOVAH-HE IS ALL and in all.-In HIM we live,
and move, and have our being."
Of this dependent universe, our planet is a part so small that no
arithmetician can assign a fraction low enough to express its proportion to the whole. God has appointed it for our habitation,
till the great change of death: and, on every account, natural and
moral, it is to us full of interest. Its constitution, the alterations
of structure and arrangement which are incessantly taking place
upon it and within it, its living inhabitants, and those races of
creatures once possessing vegetable or animal life, but which have




SKETCH OF SUBJECTS.                          27
ceased to live, —set before us subjects inexhaustible for examination and delight.
The object of this lecture is not to lay down a digest of geological facts. Such a pretension would be absurd, unless we could
work upon a larger scale. But I may well feel assured that my
friends will not do themselves so much injustice, as would be the
neglect of studying diligently some of the best works, and which
may easily be obtained.* I have only to present, as concisely as
I can make intelligible by merely verbal description, an enumeration of those truths which are necessary to be known for the purpose of our present investigation. I call them Truths, because
they appear so to myself, after having taken, I shall be pardoned
for saying, no inconsiderable pains, and during not a few years, in
examining the evidence of these positions. To detail that evidence would be altogether impracticable, except we could devote
many days to it; but my friends will give me credit, that I would
not utter what I do not believe to rest upon good ground of certainty or high probability.
I. Concerning the Structure of the Earth, we are acquainted,
by sensible evidence, with about the four hundredth part of the
distance from the surface upon which we dwell, taken at the sealevel, to the centre. This portion may be called ten miles. But
every one must be aware that no such distance can be reached by
direct descent. To the bottom of the deepest seas, from the watersurface, may be seven miles: The average depth of the sea is
pretty well ascertained to be about three miles: the highest of
the European mountains, Montblanc, is not quite three miles: the
highest peak of the Himalaya mountains falls short of five miles:
* If, for the sake of my younger friends, I mention the works which I can with most
satisfaction recommend, omissions must not be understood as intimating any disparagement. Lyell's Elements, and his earlier and larger work, the Pr2inciples of Geology;
let the inquirer obtain the last edition of each; also Mr. L.'s two volumes, full of miscellaneous as well as geological interest, Travels in North America, 1845; Phillips's
Guide to Geology, his Treatises in the Edinburgh Encyclopmdia and the Cabinet Cyclopmedia, both works published separately, and that in the Encycloptedia Metropolitana; his Yorkshire Geology, two quarto volumes; his Geological MVTap of the Britislh
Isles; his Palceozic Fossils of the 5West of England; Conybeare and William Phillips's
Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales; a work, to our great regret, not yet
finished, and of which a revised edition and the completion are earnestly looked for;
Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, with the Supplementary Notes published separately;
Sir Henry de la Beche's Researches, his quarto volume of Geological Sections and
Views; his Manual, and his Report of the Geology of Cornwall, Devon, and West
Somerset; Mantell's works on Suzssex, and the S. E. of England, his Wonders of




28                        CRUST OF THE EARTH.
each of the two deepest mines in Great Britain, one in Cornwall,
the other at Monk Wearmouth in the county of Durham, is stated
upon the authority of the Treasurer of the Geological Society,*
Geology;(1) lMedals of Creation; Thoughts on a Pebble, a beautiful little book, adapted
for young inquirers; First Lessons, an Introduction to the Phenomena of Geology;
Thoughts on Animalczles, 1846; Fitton's Geology of Hastings; Murchison's small
treatise on the Geology of Cheltenham, his splendid works on the Silntrian Region,
and the Geology of Rnssia. There are many other books written with sound knowledge and accurate judgment. An inestimable accession to the stores of Geological information, and the aids for labour in the field and study in the closet, is made by the new
edition (1840) of Mr. Greenough's Geological Mccap of England and Wales, the fruit of
twenty years' application in the improvement of the first, though that was the object of
universal admiration. Mr. Charles Maclaren's Geology of Fifeshire: Prof. Hitchcock's
Elementary Geology, second ed. 1841, a work peculiarly adapted to theological students; Mr. Richardson's (of the British Museum,) Geology for Beginners, a volume
which, without the slightest disparagement of any other, is entitled to be universally read
and studied by proficients as well as "beginners." Prof. Ansted's Geology, Introductory, -Descriptive, and Practical; his Ancient World, or Picturesque Sketches of
Creation; the Mosaic Creation, viewed in the light of Geology, by the Rev. George
Wight, of Doun in Perthshire; 1846. Indenx Geologicus, a large Tablet, proper to be
mounted on cloth and rollers; by Mr. George Bartlett of Plymouth. It presents a Synoptic
View of the Mineralogy of the Formations, their geological characters, and succession,
ample lists, parallel with each formation, of the Organic Remains, Vegetable and Animal, properly arranged, with their geographical position, and agricultural notices. As a
concomitant aid, and a subsequent review of geological treatises, it will be found of
signal use. To those who have not, or who could not use, the Five noble Tablets with
Figures (Geologisehe General Karte; oder Synoptische Uebersicht des Znstandes der
Erde, in ihren verschiedenenz Altern;) published at Weimar in 1838, Mr. Bartlett's
elaborated arrangement will be an excellent substitute.
As a valuable companion to these interesting studies, and possessing the closest relation to Geology, I feel no little pleasure in recommending the Prce-Adamite Earth, by
the Rev. Dr. John Harris.
(1) This Work of Dr. Mantell's is peculiarly adapted to serve not merely as an attractive introduction to geological science, but as a comprehensive manual of the principal facts already known, and lines of inquiry which invite pursuit. It has rapidly
passed through six editions; besides one (and probably more) in New England, to which
Dr Silliman has prefixed a large and instructive Introduction. In it, that distinguished
philosopher says, " The title is appropriate: but it would be great injustice to consider
this work as a mere collection of mirabilia. It embraces in truth a regzlar system of
Geology, exhibiting its leading facts, and clearly elucidating its philosophy, which is the
great object of the work."
* John Taylor, Esq. in Report III. of the British Association for the Advancement
of Science, 1833, page 427. [From which I derive the following particulars:
Eng. ft.
The Kitspiihl copper mine, not worked for the last seventy or eighty years    2764
The Sampson, Hartz; silver................ 2230
Monk Wearmouth; coal. Auth. of Prof. Johnston, 1838.1620
Pearce's Cornwall; copper, &c................... 1464
Ecton, Staffordshire; copper................  1380
But it must be observed that these depths are measured from the mouth of the mine,
which, as the countries are mountainous, is always much above the height of plains.




STRATIFICATION.                           29
at a little more than three-tenths of a mile: and the deepest mine
of which we have any correct measurement, and which may fairly
be regarded as the deepest in the world, at the village of Kitspiihl
in Upper Austria, is a little more than half a mile.
It may then be asked, upon what grounds we regard the distance, or to speak more correctly the thickness, of nearly ten miles
of the external part of the earth as known to us by ocular observation. Not a fortieth part of this could have been excavated,
or in any way, penetrated, if the surface of the earth were what
Dr. Thomas Burnet and some other theorists of the last century
imagined to have been its pristine, and, according to their notions,
beautiful, and sacred condition, before it became deformed by the
sin of man; that is, if the earth's surface were that of a perfect
mathematical sphere, without seas and islands, without valley,
rock, or mountain, with "not a wrinkle, scar, or fracture," (to
use the learned dreamer's own words;)-and which, he seems
never to have thought, would be to the eye of a spectator a universal plain, a dead flat. Little knew those speculatists that what
they deemed deformity, was the cause of all the life and beauty
of our lower world; that without it we should have had no springs
of water, no rivers, no stone or lime to build with, no metals to
make tools of, no healthy condition of the atmosphere, and but a
very scanty and low existence of vegetable and animal life. Happily for the human race, the Creator of the earth did not see fit
to form it upon this plan. Its rind, shell, or crust (each of which
terms is used, but none of them is free from impropriety, though
the last is the best,) consisting of a number of extended masses of
various thickness, and spread out one over the other, has been
raised up by a power acting from below; and, from the horizontal
position which originally but at different times belonged to the
larger number, they have been inclined in all degrees, so that the
lowest in order have been elevated to form  the summits of the
The Woolf's, in Cornwall, is 1350 feet deep, of which 1230 descend below the sea-level:
"while the bottom of the shaft of Valenciana in Mexico" (depth 1770) " is near 6000
feet in absolute height above the tops of the shafts in Cornwall. The bottom of the shaft
at the Sampson mine, is but a few fathoms under the level of the ocean.-We have only
penetrated to the extent of one thirty-two-thousandth part of the earth's diameter."
From the Amer ican Journzal of Science, by the Professors Silliman, (March 1846, p.
264,) we learn that an Artesian well at Mondrop is above 2200 feet deep, and is still in
boring, the water rising at the temperature of 950; and that the Artesian well at Grenelle
near Paris, through the chalk, is above 1794 feet; the temperature of the water, 820.]




30              ORDER OF STRATA.-OBJECTION.
loftiest mountains, and their ridges constitute the edges of the
basins or troughs in which subsequent deposits have been laid.
The masses, beds, or layers, technically called strata, so upraised,
present of course their broken edges; and, by following these outcroppings, (as they are significantly called,) with careful search
and scientific discrimination, through extensive tracts of country,
the series is disclosed, from the crystalline rocks upon which the
first or lowest stratum rests, up to the last or newest which, in
plains for the greater part, lies immediately under the soil on which
we live, build our habitations, and cultivate our food.
All strata follow antecedent ones in an order which is certain
and invariable for every region of the earth, so far as investigation
has been carried; and it has been cariried, with great care and
skill, far enough to render any exception from this rule extremely
improbable.  If the entire series exist in superposition in any
places, it must be on a line of perpendicular descent, under low
plains, which would admit of but a trifling depth of penetration, as
water must soon fill the shafts, and the utmost depth to which
any well can be sunk is but a small fraction of the perpendicular
descent necessary to be explored. But this impracticable proof is
utterly unnecessary; because the demonstration of the facts is incomparably more perfect from the out-cropping of strata, and their
exposure upon large surfaces, highly inclined or even vertical, in
mountainous countries and sea-cliffs. No where, however, is the
entire series found. Some member or many are wanting in every
assignable locality; but they are never put in a violated order.
Also, exact mineralogical identity of composition is not necessary
to constitute what I may call the right and title to a given station:
analogy of'composition, order of succession, and (which is the
most interesting and decisive evidence,) similarity of organic remains, produce a sufficient equivalence; and when these three
kinds of proof concur, we have a complete demonstration.
It may be objected that our data are insufficient; and that, unless we possessed a knowledge of the terrene matter, whatever it
may be, and into whatsoever formations it may be subdivided,
through the whole interior, and under every part of the superficial
circumference to the centre, we are not in a capacity to draw safe
conclusions, concerning the contained materials, their composition,
their arrangement, their relations to each other, and any rationally
conceived mode in which subordinate causes may have operated,




OBJECTION AND REPLY.-INTERNAL HEAT.                  31
initially, successively, or concurrently, in the production of the
matter of our globe.
The objection would be weighty, if there were reason to suppose that the body of the globe, beyond the boundary-line of our
inspections, were similar to the part already explored.  If, for
example, the objector could say to us, 1" You have arrived at no
term.  You cannot show us the indications of a cessation of the
materials which you say have been deposited, and which form the
portion through which you have passed. The series may be repeated, possibly again and again: or there may be another series,
of entirely different composition, such as precipitates from suspension in water, or products of chemical action, or results of igneous
fusion; and so on indefinitely. Unless you had penetrated through
all these, you can draw no conclusion on which dependence can
be placed."
But the objector cannot say this. He would be guilty of a false
assumption. The true state of the facts is the very contrary to
what he supposes. We are acquainted certainly, I might almost
say perfectly, with the character and succession of the deposited
substances which, laid upon each other with a remarkable degree
of uniformity over the whole surface, compose the crust of our
globe; and we know the totally different constitution of the materials which lie underneath.*   We see demonstrated with satisfactory clearness, the distinct character and the opposite mode of
production of these two classes of mineral formations. We have
all the evidence that can reasonably be desired of the previous
condition of those underlying rocks, their ancient, and at a depth
not great their present, liquidity by heat, their boiling up, their
extrusion both in the melted state and in different degrees of advancement towards being cooled and hardened, their being driven
upwards through the overlying formations of deposited layers,
their sometimes insinuating themselves between the previously
contiguous surfaces of those deposits, their filling long furrows of
outbursts, and their being laid bare in many cases to open daylight.
It is therefore no presumption to affirm that we do know, with the
t "Geological investigation may, at the present time, be considered as having fully.exhausted Europe, and the greater part of America; and the general uniformity of the
geological series, in all the various regions hitherto explored, extending as they do, over
a full third of both the Eastern and the Western hemispheres, reduces to a very low degree of probability the anticipation that we shall hereafter discover any new and important term of that series."-Que't. Rev., March, 1846, p. 350.




32                   ROCKS OF FUSION.
clearness of sensible evidence, the constituent formations of the
crust of the earth, their modes of production, their relations to
each other, and the fact of their enveloping a mass of materials,
similar in composition to the lowest rocks, and which we have
much reason to think are, at certain depths, still in a state of constant fusion. The consolidated crust, with its superincumbent
masses, is constantly undergoing elevations and depressions, in
different districts; shewing, by those undulations, that it rests, or
rather floats, upon a liquid surface.
Those who bring forward this objection are, perhaps, not aware
of its bearing. Were it well founded, its effects would be to augment, by immeasurable degrees, the antiquity which must be attributed to the earth.
In replying to this objection, which is brought up at the very
threshold of geological inquiry, I have been led into an anticipation of several positions, which must be stated more in regular
detail.
II. There are good grounds for supposing that, beyond a certain thickness for the solid crust of the earth, which can hardly be
estimated at so much as thirty miles,* the next contiguous matter
is in a state of fusion, at a temperature probably higher than
any that man can produce by artificial means; or any natural heat
that can exist on the surface. Whether, in like manner, the whole
interior of our planet be composed of melted matter; or whether
there be a solid nucleus; and whether such nucleus be closegrained, or more probably cavernous, the solid partitions being
infusible and the disseminated vesicles filled with gaseous substances at a very high temperature; thus presenting an analogy
to the appearance of ordinary boiling liquids;- are parts of the
problem upon which eminent geologists are not agreed. But in
this they are agreed, that they will not put conjecture, however
probable, in the rank which is due only to decisive evidence; and
that they will wait with patience till such evidence shall be attained.  In the mean time the highest efforts of mathematical
genius are on the stretch for the resolution of the problem.  But
that a large part of the interior matter of the earth, and that part
in contact with the solid crust on which we dwell, is in the state
of fusion by heat, appears to be a doctrine established by most; Supplementary Note B b; on the thiclness of the solid crust of the earth.




STRATIFIED ROCKS.                      33
satisfactory proofs. It should be considered, that the mean density of the earth is not quite five-sevenths of that of iron,* nor
half that of silver, nor one-fourth of that of gold: facts utterly
inconsistent with the supposition that the interior is a solid mass,
or occupied by vast bodies of water, in its ordinary liquid state,
united or detached; or indeed any thing but a fluid or fluids
maintained in that state by the action of heat as an antagonist
power to gravitation.  This mean density is rather more than
double that of granite.
III. The rocks which lie the lowest in the descending order,
and which of course are under all the stratified deposits, are in
the state which has been produced by the prodigious heat that has
been mentioned, acting under a pressure from above so great as
incomparably to exceed any familiar weight or force that we could
mention as a measure of comparison. Those rocks bear clear
marks of having crystallized in structure, and contracted in mass,
by cooling from a state of fusion. It has been objected, that the
component parts of those rocks melt at unequal degrees of heat;
as in the constituents of granite, which are quartz, mica, and felspar, the last of these ingredients is fused at about half the temperature which the first requires.
But they who make this objection overlook the fact of the extreme pressure under which the power of heat was exerted; which
would prevent the most fusible substance from being volatilized
at the highest point that could exist: neither can they argue from
the inequality of the points of fusion of the minerals when extricated, that the compound would not melt even in far less favourable circumstances; for most persons are acquainted with the ready
fusion of metallic compounds, though at a point considerably different from that which each ingredient would require singly.
IV. The rocks which lie above these, though partial crystallization, generally aqueous but sometimes igneous, is found in them,
are demonstrably of a different origin.  They are all composed of
earthy matter, that is, different mixtures of sand, clay, and lime,
with minor proportions of some other interspersed minerals. These
have been washed away from the previously elevated rocks by the
action, first, of the atmosphere and variations of temperature,.~ After the admirable labours of Maskelyne and Carendish, it has been determined,
beyond the chance of any further correction, by the Ia!e Mr. Francis Baily, to be five
times and sixty-hundredths that of water.
D




34          DISPOSITION AND TEXTURE OF THE BEDS.
disintegrating and loosening the surfaces; and then of dropping
rain and running rills and streams, washing off the materials, in
fine particles or coarser grain, through all degrees of attenuation;
carrying them down into lower situations; an(l finally, after perhaps a very long succession of these transporting and sedimentary
processes, depositing them on levels of rest, in the quiet bottoms
or local depressions of lakes and seas. Each sediment or deposit
is called a layer, or bed; for conveniency using the Latin word
stratutm. These stratified formations may be called about forty
in number; in thickness, sometimes only a few feet or even inches,
but usually many hundreds or several thousands of feet. Stratification must be distinguished from homogeneous lamination, which
is a frequent character of single strata, presenting at their edges
the appearance of leaves, like those of a book or a bundle of pasteboards. Taking some general resemblances of mineral composition as a principle of classification, the whole of the existing beds
may be distributed into a small number of groups, in a measure
according to the convenience of the geological observer, describer,
or reasoner; though most acquiesce in making about twelve divisions, which, for the most part, have very distinct natural characters.  Such a distribution is, at least, useful as an aid to the
memory.
V. These beds of deposited earthy substances are not to be
conceived of as concentric spheres, spread universally over the
earth, the outermost including lower ones, and thus embracing the
globe; as the paper and varnish which cover artificial globes, or
the coats of liliaceous bulbs, commonly but inaccurately called
bulbous roots. Such an idea would be quite erroneous, and would
betray into great misapprehensions.  But each layer is of some
limited extent; considerable, it may be, in reference to the superficial divisions of country, but not exceedingly great in comparison
with the whole surface of the earth. Each usually thins off towards its edges, or the edges are abruptly broken by the upheaving and dislocating force: and the highest strata generally
lie in hollows of various form  and extent, which may be called
troughs or basins, the edges of which are made by the elevated
ridges of the oldest formations, so beautifully called in scripture,
the great mountains, the everlasting hills, the pillars of heaven."
VTI. The lower strata, manifestly the most early, are generally
of the greatest extent in length and breadth, and very much the




INFLUENCE OF INTERNAL HEAT.                      35
deepest in thickness.* The higher and newer are severally of less
magnitude in every dimension.  Yet, in no case, must the idea of
size or extent be taken upon a trifling scale. Even with the more
recent, the area of one formation is often some hundreds of square
miles.
VII. Thus are formed the earthy beds called by the general
name of rocks; but this term  must not be understood as it is in
common language, to denote a stony mass necessarily very hard.
The consolidation of the formations, is in all degrees, from the
loose sand and gravel under our feet, or the friable Hastings sandrock, and the soft coherent texture of the ink-coloured clay which
lies beneath our gravel; to the finest close-grained marble and the
heaviest hornblende. The degree of hardness, the result of consolidation, is upon the whole the greater, the lower we descend;
as must appear probable to the mind of any reflecting person. It
is produced by the action and reaction of two opposite forces; the
one, derived from the mere weight of the materials, which must
press more heavily as the depth is increased; and the other, one
whose power is principally exerted upon the lowest class of strata,
and which, it scarcely needs to be said, arises from the expanding
property of the interior heat.  Chemical affinities, also, and electrical action, have had, and continually have, a considerable share
in the producing of texture.
VIII. Those lower strata, and in the proportion of their distance
from the surface, which is the same as their proximity to the focus
of heat, bear the more abundant proofs of having been, not only
urged upwards by the expansive power below, but in other ways
acted upon by the immensely high temperature.  The source of
that heat can be no other than the fires which had melted and
driven upwards the materials forming the rocks of fusion.  We
have great reason to believe that these deep-seated fires (-scarcely
however to be so called, when we reflect how near they must be
to the surface,-) or, as some eminent geologists are disposed to
think, certain remainders of them, are perpetually  in  action.
* On the margin of Mr. Phillips's Geological Map of the British Isles (a model of
clearness and beauty) is a proportionate scale of the thicknesses of the whole series of
strata; from which it appears that all the formations from the superficial soil to the
lowest part of the New Red Sandstone, constitute but about one-sixth of the entire
depth (geologically) of the stratified masses. The remaining five parts are the Carboniferous, the Devonian (Old Red Sandstone,) the Silurian, the Cambrian, the Cumbrian,
the Chlorite and Mica Schists, and the Gneiss. See Edinzb. Rev. July, 1839, p. 4341;
part of a valuable article on Mr. Lyell's Elements.
D2




86                        DIMINUTION  OF HEAT.
Consequently, the order of production, in those rocks of fusion,
must be the reverse of that which is seen in the rocks of deposition and stratification. The uppermost masses are the oldest; and
the newest, so long as they remain in their proper place, must be
deep-seated beyond the reach of human inspection, and lying in
contact with the amazing mass of melted mineral matter.  There
are also examples innumerable, and upon a grand scale, of the
melted mineral matter having been driven up with a force so great
as to have overcome every resistance, breaking through all the
hard and thick rocky masses (which must also have been full of
cracks from the shrinking while cooling,) that lay over it, bending, bursting, uplifting, and overturning strata, filling the chasms
made, running in those lines of crack or fissure, separating strata
and entering between their previously close-lying surfaces, so as
to form flat tablets, often also coming to the surface and towering
above all that it had displaced. These cases are of frequent occurrence, and they form an exception to the observation just made
with respect to the relative antiquity of the fused rocks, of which
these projected kinds have come up from the lowest depths and
the most recently. In fact, those fused rocks may be of all ages;
the most recent being of course at the lowest depth, till violent
ejection takes place.*
P It would be mean injustice to refrain from acknowledging the obligations under
which Geology lies to Dr. James HIutton. His Theory of the Eartlh, published in 1788,
propounds the doctrines of the igneous action, its propulsions, and its effect on deposited
masses, by felicitous anticipations and reasonings of extraordinary sagacity; the most
important of which he lived to see confirmed by visible facts. He died in 1797. Few
persons, during his life-time, could appreciate the value of his discoveries and the force
of his arguments; and still fewer were willing to do so. The charge of impiety and infidelity was made against him; and he seems to have given himself little disquiet
about it. Whether he was really a disbeliever in religion, I know not. His day of life
and his connexions were extremely unfavourable to the just treatment of religious questions, and the cultivation of enlightened faith. Inferences which his adversaries drew
from his writings, but which were not just inferences, they spared not to lay upon him.
His manner of expression was often inconsiderate, obscure, or unguarded; and sometimes exposed to just censure. But the fact ought not to be lost sight of, that his fundamental principles are now admitted, and their great importance felt, by all geologists;
few, if any, being excepted. The impartial lover of truth would do well to read the
article in the Edinburgh Review, (No. cxl. July, 1839,) upon Mr. Lyell's Elements of
Geology; both for its general value and for its discursion on the merits of James Hutton. That any physicists and philosophers are hostile and scornful with regard to Christianity, is deeply to be lamented. Such a fact, in whatever degree it may exist, is due
to prejudice, ignorance, irreligious education, or other moral causes: but to treat them
with injustice is not the is not the way which Jesus Christ would have adopted, and it can only
tend to render their prejudices more inveterate. There is another admirable article in




STRATA UPHEAVED.-SUBSIDENCE.                    37
IX. As we ascend in the order of the strata, we find the appearances of the action of fire become fainter. The pervading influence of a high temperature diminishes, till little or no sensible
effect from it remains; and, though the mechanical displacements
are still perceptible, they are remote and often secondary results
of the power that has acted so far below; and the intensity of the
action is weakened, in proportion to the distance from its source.
X. By that mighty action from within, the extruding tendency
radiates generally, but with unequal force, to all points on the
spheroidal surface of the earth. It follows, that the earlier strata
with scarely any exceptions, and in smaller degrees the less ancient, have been raised up, shattered, and left in various positions
of fracture and inclination. Of those dislocating movements, the
mode has been different; and as to the time of production, the
process has been generally very slow; though, in some cases, there
are evidences of the disturbing force having acted suddenly and
violently. From the portions thus elevated, and left with an irregular outline, the waters in flowing off carried down the loosened
materials, and, in different extent and degree, left bare the stony
masses.
XI. But it is upon reflection obvious, and the geological evidences of the fact are numerous and decisive, that the ebullient
action of the fire-melted liquid below is likely to produce undulations of the surface, and therefore, in some places, to cause diminutions of density, and perhaps vast caverns filled with aeriform
fluids. The crust of the earth, over these less solid spots, will be
weakened, and a sinking down will take place through, it may
most probably be, a large area of the surface. These subsidences
may, in some rare cases, be rapid: but generally they, as the elevations, will be extremely slow.
XII. Now I fear that I must put to trial the patience of my
friends in an attempt to describe in words a complicated series of
operations which, by arguing from effect to cause, we have sufficient reason to believe must often have taken place, in ways equivalent to what I request you to conceive. But this is not the
the same Review, No. cxxxi. April, 1837, on Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise,
pp. 4-14. —— It is highly gratifying to meet with such a sentence as the following, from
one who deservedly stands so high as a mathematician and a philosopher: " I would
venture to express my belief that, among the most eminently distinguished philosophers
of the present day in this country, there exists even a profoundly religious spirit."Prof. Baden Powell's Tradition Utveiled; p. 65. 1839.




38                 STRATIFYING PROCESSES.
forming of an imaginative hypothesis: it is no more than expressing
in the form of simple narrative, facts of whose separate reality we
have the fullest evidence, and the consecutive occurrence of which
we consider as in the highest degree probable.
Let the mind represent to itself a large space of the bed of an
ancient ocean, into which the sedimentary materials from the land
have been transported, through a period of time to us immeasurable. Along this extended surface the deposits, in the varieties
which changing circumstances in both the land and the waters
have produced, are spread. By the weight of an ocean five or six
miles in depth, and by the antagonist pressure, with intensity varying but always great, of heat from the under-lying fires, this formation is consolidated. A series of movements from below raises
up a portion of this deposit; till it is above the water-level, with
its hills and dales and susceptibilities of further variation of surface. Ages roll on. Other strata are laid upon the portion of the
area which had not partaken of the elevating movements; or
which may have moved in the contrary direction; that is, may
have sunk down: so that a difference of mineralogical (called also
lithological) character is produced over it. The former portion
long lies as a part of the dry land, is washed over by rains and
rivers, and is subjected to other causes of superficial change; then
it becomes subject to the process of slow subsidence, consequent
upon fluctuation or some other change in the fiery region below,
and it becomes once more the bed of oceanic waters. Here, in due
but various process of time, it is overspread with a new stratum,
differing from its own preceding surface, and from the one or several strata which had in succession been laid upon the portion not
elevated during the whole period; the difference being probably in
mineral composition and texture, but more certainly in the character of vegetable or animal remains which are imbedded in it. Now
the new body of deposits may be identical over the entire extent
first supposed. It is manifest, therefore, that in one part the last
stratum will rest upon the foregoing one, which had been long
elevated and exposed to causes of change; and thus the surfaces
at the junction will be irregular: but, upon the portion which had
not been raised out of the waters, or which had sunk, one stratum
or several have been deposited throughout the intervening period,
and they will probably rest conformably, each upon that below it,
that is, their bounding surfaces will correspond to each other in




UNCONFORMABLE SUBSTANCES.                          39
lines nearly parallel. The whole area comes afterwards to be elevated; or only some parts of it. One part, therefore, possesses a
series of strata which are not found in the other; and that other,
if studied alone, might suggest the idea that two formations naturally came together, or that the upper always followed the lower
at once, while yet between them in reality some others have intervened.
These operations of deposition, elevation, subsidence, and elevation again, in application to  separate  districts, and in different
periods through  an  indefinite duration,-have been repeated a
number of times; each repetition producing breaks, fissures, and
manifold displacings, erections, and inclinations, of the more hard
and consequently frangible strata; and bendings, even to a complete
overturning, or contortion backwards of the softer and more coherent ones.  The evidence of elevation and that of subsidence occur
frequently within moderate geographical limits; so that two districts with their intervening ground may be familiarly compared to
a long board, balanced on a fulcrum: when one end sinks the other
rises." Often under the superficial area of less than an acre, and
with a descent of but a few feet, may be seen, even in beds very
similar in earthy composition, such disconformity of the bounding
surfaces, with respect to their deviation from the horizontal position, as carries demonstration that each member of the series had
been formed, elevated, and afterwards inclined; so that the next
deposit came to be laid upon a dipping surface, while its own upper part was on the  level: yet this also, with  its under-lying
neighbours, has received another impulse from below; repose has
succeeded, a new layer is deposited, the inclination has taken another change; and this succession of unconformable strata is displayed several times. Such is the case in the Oolitic formations:
t Sec. ed. Of this operation examples have recently occurred in the landslips, or
rather subsidences, at the cliffs of Dowlands and Whitlands; of which a very instructive
elucidation is given in Mr. Lyell's sixth edition of his Principles, vol. ii. p. 78. But the
inquirer will find the fullest information upon the facts, and the most satisfactory opinions as to the causes, briefly and luminously stated in a Descriptive and Geological
Ml7emoir of the Subsidences of the Land, andcl the Elevationz of the Sea-bottom, between2
Axnmouth and 4Lymze, Dec. 26, 1839, and Feb. 3, 1840; with Sections by Mr. Conybeare,
a Ground Plan by Mr. Dawson of Exeter, and seven faithful and beautifully picturesque
Views of the scenes, two of which are from the pencil of Mrs. Buckland, and five from
that of Mr. Dawson: the whole revised by Dr. Buckland. Annexed are accounts of
similar phenomena, in the same neighbourhood in 1790, and at various times in Dorsetshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, IHampshire, Gloucestershire, Shropshire, and other
places.




40               ORDER NOT TRANSGRESSED.
and how much more must this be the case when a number of strata,
of differing composition, is taken into the account?    By an
abundance of various and complicated evidence, it is proved, that
there is probably no spot on the face of the earth, both the dry
land and the seas as they at present exist, which has not gone repeatedly through the conditions of being alternately the floor of
the waters, and an earthy surface exposed to the atmosphere and
occupied by appropriate tribes of vegetable and animal creatures.
At the next engulfing, that loose surface has been swept off by
the power of the waters. In some cases, the bounding surfaces
of differing but nearly allied strata seem to have been produced
while under the water; by a rapid change of temperature, or an
immission of carbonic acid gas, or some other physical agent.
The miscellaneous result might seem to baffle all attempts at
arrangement and safe induction; but the labours of distinguished
men, most of them our admirable contemporaries, in the field of
actual investigation, with astonishing toil and perseverance, guided
by cautious judgment and habits formed in the study of the exact
sciences, have triumphed over what might have appeared a hopeless confusion; and have reduced to a certainty scarcely short of
sensible and mathematical proof, the modes of deposition, the
order of original succession, and in many cases that of subsequent
change.
From the description which I have endeavoured to give, it will
be easily understood, that the order of succession is never transgressed; though particular formations, one, two, or more, in a
system or subdivisional group, and of course many in the whole
series, may and must be wanting. Those formations either have
never existed, in consequence of modifying causes affecting the
operations which I have attempted to describe; or they have been
removed by the nearly horizontal action of water, washing away
large masses of strata, scattering and spreading their materials
upon the floor of the ocean, and thus producing new formations.
XIII. To such removals, occasion has been given by the elevations and depressions so frequently before mentioned. These
have exposed the softer or previously loosened materials, to the
incursion of mighty bodies of water, which have washed them
away, carried them out to shorter or longer distances, dropping
the coarser and heavier portions the earliest, holding longer in
muddy mixture and transporting to the greater distances the fine




ORGANIC REMAINS.                      41
and light particles, and spreading them out under the great seas.
There these new strata have been disposed variously, according to
circumstances arising from the form and constitution of the bottom, the direction of currents, volcanic action below the bed of
the sea, molecular aggregation of similar substances, and chemical
attractions. This kind of change, in relation to the area from
which the surface has been swept off, is called Denudation.
XIV. While these mineral formations were thus in progress,
their masses yet soft were replenished with the remains of animals
which had lived in the waters; skeletons, coverings, shelly habitations, and even soft parts still exhibiting their vestiges. In all the
formations, (or we might say groups or systems of strata,) excepting the earliest two or three, those remains occur of organized
creatures, chiefly animal, but in some cases vegetable.  The absence or paucity of vegetable remains in the older strata,* except
in the beds connected with coal, is reasonably ascribed to the more
ready destructibility of vegetable fibre, especially as the earliest
species appear to have been of soft structure, though of great size.
In the Lias beds, fragments of wood approaching to the harder
structure, are abundant: and in the still later formations there are
very remarkable instances. But an abundance of vegetable remains does not occur, except in the coaly strata, till we arrive at
the very recent formations; of which fact geological science affords
satisfactory explanations.
Even with respect to those earliest beds, just mentioned, we
cannot be absolutely assured that organized nature, vegetable or
animal, never existed in them: for their vestiges would [most probably] be destroyed by the heat communicated from below.
XV. As a general assertion, it might be said that the animal
remains become more abundant, as we depart from the older strata:
but such an assertion would be far from being universally and
exactly correct.t In this respect, many interesting circumstances
of [extreme] diversity present themselves to the laborious explorer
of fossil remains, especially in the department of Conchology.
XVI. With respect to their forms of organization, there is so
much general analogy as gives a sufficient ground for the observation that all belong to Classes and Families similar to those
[~ In the Old Red Sandstone, and even earlier formations, are found some obscure
impressions or even scanty remains of sea-weeds;-Fucoides.]? S,.ipplementary Note, C.




42              CHARACTERIS:M.-WILLIAM SMITH.
which now exist; but in Genera and Species there are remarkable
differences.
XVII. The earliest of known organic remains are the most
widely different from animals and plants of the existing creation,
in generic, and of course still more in specific characters; and
throughout the vast succession there is a gradual approach, in all
classes, to the type of recent forms.
XVIII. The duration of existence, in both genera and species,
presents many remarkable facts. A few genera, each genus containing perhaps but one species or a very small number, are found
to have their respective lengths of time for existence, in some
single stratum. In general, they extend through several strata;
but then there is a greater multiplication of species, giving proof
of periods of remarkable fecundity.
XIX. Each system of strata has species which belong to itself,
so that both the mineral formations and those certain species are
reciprocally characteristic. This fact is among the greatest discoveries of modern times.  For it we are indebted to one whose
conduct and character should be held up as a model for the imitation of young men, in all the walks of life, that they may aim at
the highest excellence and diffusive usefulness; —Dr. William
Smith, to whom by general accord, the designation has been given
of the Father of English Geology.
Fifty years ago, when a very young man, he began his course;
he quietly and without ostentation pursued it, in the most laborious examinations of the stratified formations throughout England,
chiefly the southern and midland counties. He announced not his
discovery till the patience and perseverance of many years had
placed it beyond the reach of doubt. He might, by reserve and
management not dishonourable, have built up for himself fortune
as well as fame; by the benefits which his discovery and his practical knowledge conferred upon the economy of mines, and the
surveying of ground in order to building, road-making, and agriculture; besides the firm foundation which he laid for geological
science.  But with the most open and ready generosity, he communicated all, to men of science and to the world at large.*  He
KIn and before 1799, c" By maps and sections, and arranged collections of Organic
Remains, Mr. Smith endeavoured to explain to many scientific persons those views
regarding the regular succession and continuity of strata, and the definite distribution of
animal and vegetable forms in the earth, which are now the common property of Geo



RANGE OF KINDS.                             43
constructed the first Geological Map that was worthy of the name,
opening the way to Mr. Greenough's disinterested labours; he
gave to the world several and most valuable works on the systematic relations of Organized Fossils; and he deposited in the
British Museum, for universal instruction, the Collection which
verified his doctrines. Long may he enjoy, in his retirement, the
happiness most congenial to his liberal mind, and add to that the
sublime joys of christian piety and heavenly anticipation!!*-But
from this tribute of justice, I must return.
Upon this great fact, which Professor Sedgwick happily calls
"the Master-Principle  of our Science,"t the  Characterism   of
Fossils, a number of other truths are dependent, and those of the
greatest value both practically and theoretically. A well-prepared Conchological Geologist looks to the succession of strata as
the possessor of a cabinet does to the order of his shelves; and
with a certainty as precise, knows what species are to be found on
every layer.
XX. A small number of genera may be called (if we may imitate one of the pleasantries of Linnaeus,) Royal and Noble Families.
Comprehending numerous species, they have a truly wonderful
range.  The genus Leptwena (or Producta) is one of the first that
have been ascertained; and, in about fifty species, it is found
through the immense series of formations, known as the Cumbrian,
the Cambrian, the Silurian, the Old Red Sandstone [or Devonian],
and the Carboniferous Limes, Shales and Sands. Spirifer, about
equal in origin, passes still higher, through the remarkable varieties of the New  Red System; and is found in the Lias.  The Amlogy. Among those who heard his explanations at this early period, may be mentioned
Dr. James Anderson of Edinburgh, Mr. Davis of Longleat, the Rev. Joseph Townsend,
[of Pewsey,]-and the Rev. B. Richardson of Farley. The tzwo last-mentioned gentlemen were remarkably able to appreciate the truth and novelty of such views, from both
their general attainments in Natural History, and their exact knowledge of the country
[Somersetshire and Wiltshire] to which Mr. Smith directed their attention. Both of
them possessed large collections of Organic Remains; and both were astonished and incredulous when their new friend, taking up one fossil after another, stated instantly
from what particzclar rock, and even bed of stone or clay, the specimens were derived.
Nor were they less surprised when, in the field, Stratum Smith (as he was termed)
traced with ease and accuracy the ranges of the rocks, by following the courses of
springs, and many other indications of a change of the substrata."-Biogr. Notice, by
Prof. Phillips, in Charlesworth's Magazine of NVatural HIistory. May, 1839; p. 216.
* W. Smith, LL.D., died at Northampton, after a very short illness, Aug. 28, 1839;
in his 71st year. As this sentence had been delivered six months before, I do not
expunge it.
f Proceedinzgs of Geol. Soc. Feb. 18, 1831.




44                     GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRICTS.
monite, in an amazing number and diversity of species,* appears
in the Silurian System, and is found in every formation till it terminates in the Chalk. Terebratula has a far wider range: it
begins among the earliest, its numerous species scarcely fail, if at
all, till we reach the Chalk, in which they are more abundant
than in any other formation; other of its species occur, though in
diminished number, throughout the Tertiary System; and it is
represented by some twelve or more species in the living creation.
Thus each species has a definite period of existence. The succession proceeds. One species dies off, and its place is taken by
another of the same genus; till at last, in many cases, the whole
genus ceases. Some genera have a confined range, if we may use
such a word for periods of probably many thousand years: others
have continued through more numerous formations, and some even
to the living state of the creation. But, be it observed, I am
speaking only offamilies and genera.  Of species, none are found
in the Chalk nor in the more early strata, which exist in the present condition of the earth.t Above the Chalk, a small number
of the now living species begin to appear: and the proportional
number increases through the six or seven Tertiary formations; so
that the formation which, as far as has been ascertained, is the
last prior to the existing state of nature, contains about ninety-five
in the hundred of living species; while the oldest of even these
Tertiary beds scarcely yields four living species to ninety-six extinct ones.
* The distinguished conchologist, Mr. Searles Wood, is of opinion that the number of
species, including, however, some forms which may be only varieties, approaches to a
thousand.
t That none of the now existing species of vegetable or animal nature is found so early
in geological sequence as the Chalk formation, was the general persuasion of naturalists
at the time when these Lectures were first published. But now, an exception must be
made of remarkable interest. Of the world of microscopic insects with their shelly coverings (usually called shields,) calcareous and often purely siliceous, which have been
brought to light by the researches of Prof. Ehrenberg and those who are treading in his
steps, it has been discovered that many species still existing have left their fossil
remains in the chalk, and I believe also in the green sand, the Oolites, and even earlier
rocks: and not only are these found in those rocks, but they actually constitute a principal constituent of the mass.
That this should be the fact with respect to these creatures, whose organization is not
less complicated, while their diversity of form is far greater, than that of large animals,
and their minuteness would for ever have concealed them from man's unassisted eye,is indeed a surprising disclosure. It cannot but impress us as a new and most unlooked
for demonstration of the Mysterious Wisdom, which is "high as the heavens, what
canst thou do? deep as the unseen world, what canst thou know?" Job xi. 8.
Fourth ed.




DEPOSITS AT,MOUTHS OF RIVERS.             45
XXII. The areas, or regions, over which characteristic organic
remains are found, though often of great extent, even to the embracing of opposite hemispheres, yet are not universal; thus manifesting that groups of species had their geographical limits: a
most important fact, since it establishes a correspondence with
that law or condition of the existing animal and vegetable kingdoms, by which species are grouped together, and appropriately
confined within geographical districts, man being almost the only
exception.
XXII. It is also apparent, that the variations of organization,
which form the distinctive characters of species, as those of any
given genus succeed each other, have been adapted to the varying
condition of the earth's temperature, the atmosphere, and the
waters; and undoubtedly made suitable to each other, in their
reciprocal relations as partakers of organic life.
XXIII. Besides the fossils which are strictly characteristic of
the great systems of strata, there are others which may be considered as subordinate, and which connect the particular formations
with those proximate to them, below or above.
XXIV. Strata containing shelly, crustaceous, or coralline remains, generally present appearances which prove to a demonstration that the animals lived and died on the muddy or sandy bottoms of the waters. Those appearances consist in the posture of
individual specimens; in the juxtaposition of numbers, as they lie
in what may be called tribes or family groups, spread in beautiful
order over considerable areas; and in the preservation of their
slender, delicate, and fragile parts.
There are other cases, in which the organic remains, be they
plants, shells, or bones, exhibit proofs of having been washed
away from their native seats, by streams of fresh water, or by
tides and currents of the sea; and thus transported into new
situations, in which depressions of the bottom, or some obstacle,
or the cessation of the force of the water, allowed them to rest; and
there the separated parts have become imbedded in the muddy
bottom. Those lake or ocean bottoms have been consequently
elevated and dried.  Again they have sunk and been submerged,
so as to form new ocean-beds; over which new alternations of
deposition and elevation and depression have taken place.  This
vast succession of changes presents much and various evidence of
having required indescribable periods of time for being effected;




46             DEPOSITS AT MOUTHS OF RIVERS.
and it should never be forgotten that the same processes are still
in operation, and have been so without intermission since the Almighty gave its present form to our habitable earth. There can
be no doubt that, from the earliest date of man's brief history,
the Nile, the Ganges, and the more mighty rivers of America,
have been pouring their waters into the seas at their respective
mouths. The quantity of earthy matter (with infinite multitudes
of dead animals and portions of them, and the vegetable spoils of
the land,) which is without ceasing floated down and added to the
formations at the bottom, cannot but be astonishing. By careful
experiments it has been ascertained, that the Ganges carries into
the Bay of Bengal, annually, the average of 355,361,464 tons'
weight; an amount difficult in our imagination to estimate; but to
bring it to some auxiliary standard for comparison, Mr. Lyell has
calculated that it nearly equals the weight of sixty times the
greatest pyramid of Egypt.*  The base of that pyramid covers
an area equal to that of Lincoln's Inn Fields, and its summit is
150 feet higher than the cross of St. Paul's Cathedral.  Yet that
sea is not sensibly rendered more shallow; and the river is navigable for large ships to Calcutta. So the Thames and the Severn
have been bearing down their sediment for near six thousand years:
but how far are their estuaries from being silted up? And, how
many thousand years longer will be required to produce that result; should it not be accelerated by a movement from below?
It must, however, be stated, that there is both geological and
historical evidence of rapid and even sudden elevations and depressions having taken place in many parts of the globe; but
those occurrences have been comparatively rare, and to a limited
extent.
XXV. There are two other descriptions of rocks which are
neither igneous nor stratified, and which have been from early
periods, and still are, in formation.  The first of these comprehends two kinds; one consisting of carbonate of lime, deposited
by water, generally warm, which had held it in solution, but which
drops it on emerging from the earth. This is found abundantly
in limestone countries; it is the travertine of Italy: the other
kind, formed in like manner, by hot water taking up silica (the
earth of flints), and depositing it when coming to the air — the
Prinzcip. Geol. vol. ii. p. 13, sixth ed. in which striking passage are presented other
aids to our conception,




NEVER ALL LAND, NOR ALL WATER.                   47
great example is in the Geyser springs of Iceland. The second
consists of the Coralline Rocks, of many fathoms in depth, and
many hundred miles in extent;-the coral rocks of the Red Sea,
and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.*  These amazing formations
are the work of minute insects, which have the property of secreting from sea-water its small quantity of carbonate of lime, and
with these apparently petty contributions composing the mighty
masses.
XXVI. Every stratum is itself a proof that dry land existed
contemporaneously, above the level of the waters: for the mineral materials composing strata are the wearings and washings
down, coarse and fine, from the surfaces of the exposed land.
Thus were produced areas, formed by each kind of the matter
brought down, and having their peculiar characters and boundaries.
XXVII. From the mineral characters of those areas, and fronm
the vertical penetration by various organic species through several
strata of different composition, which thus indicate long periods
of succession and different conditions of deposition, it is an inference highly probable, if not certain, that there never was a period
when the surface of the globe was continuous dry land; nor entirely covered with water, or any mixture of detrital matter in
water. In other words: the stratified structure of the earth presents evidence that there have never been universal contemporaneous formations, but that, from  the period of the production of
the igneous rocks, and the commencement of the stratified, the
surface has always consisted partly of limited areas depressed and
holding water, and partly of lands rising up from the boundaries
of those depressions.t
To this fact in the former periods of the earth, its present condition affords a clear resemblance. The actual Zoology and Botany of its surface exhibit several distinct regions, in each of which
the indigenous animals and plants are, at least as to species and
to a considerable amount as to genera, different from those of other
zoological and botanical regions. Natural agency (such as that
of winds and currents) and artificial means have done something
- The classical work on this subject is Tize Strzcture ancd DistribtioZ of Coral
Reefs, by Mr. Darwin; 1842. A luminous epitome of it, by Mr. Charles Maclaren, is
in the Edinzb2urg, PPhilos. Jo2Cra?. Jan. 1843.
t See the Tabular View; Supplementary Note D.




48           ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL DISTRICTS.
towards confounding the distinctions of characters; but in the case
of countries widely separated, the plants and animals proper to
each region so differ from those of every other, as to impress us
with the conviction that they have not been derived from a common ancestry for each species, in any one locality upon the face
of the earth. They are respectively adapted to certain conditions
of existence, such as climate, temperature, mutual relations, and
no doubt other circumstances of favourable influence which men
have not yet discovered, or which never may be discovered in the
present state. These conditions cannot be transferred to other
situations. The habitation proper to one description of vegetable
or animal families would be intolerable, and speedily fatal, to
others.  Where the extreme of incongruity does not exist, there
are causes of unsuitableness, whose action is less powerful, but
slowly and surely effective. Even when, as in many parts of the
two hemispheres, and on the contrary sides of the equator, there
is apparently a similarity of climate; we find not an identity, but
only an analogy, of animal and vegetable species.
It is confessedly difficult to fix with absolute precision the lines
of demarcation for these independent domains of living organized
nature.  The general fact is established beyond the reach of
doubt; but naturalists are waiting for a more complete acquaintance with the plants and animals of every part of the globe, before they deem the natural divisions finally determined. According to the degree of knowledge already attained, the following
may be accepted as an approximation.  A distinguished christian
physiologist and philosopher, Dr. Prichard, was the first to bring
forward correct views upon this interesting subject; and he proposes seven regions for the distribution of animals.*  Mr. Swainson pleads for five, but upon a ground of analogy which he has
assumed without proof, and which is contrary to impregnable
truth.t  Others make eleven.t With regard to the vegetable
kingdom, some eminent naturalists have given their opinion in
favour of ten for the old continents, and six for America:~ but
the great philosophical botanists of Geneva, Messieurs de Candolle, father and son, "than whom," says Professor Hitchcock,.S Researches into the Physical History of lMankind; vol. i. pp. 68-97, third ed.
j Geography ancl Classification of Animals; pp. 14-18.: Prof. ELtcheock, in the Amzerican Biblical Repository, vol. xi. p. 17; 183S.
~ Von Schouw's Fzazdava. Princip. of a Unziversal Geograbphy of the reget. zKingd.
German Transl, from the Danish, by the author, with an Atlas; Berlin, 1824.




DISTINCT CREATIONS.                          49
C "no better judges can be named, reckon the number of distinct
"botanical provinces at twenty-seven.  This estimate was the re"- suit of an examination of seventy or eighty thousand species.'"@
The Rev. J. S. Henslow, the Professor of Botany in the University of Cambridge, a man to whom Geology, as well as the professional science which he adorns, is under great obligations,
remarks that "We do not as yet possess any very accurate in" formation respecting the number and exact extent of the well" defined botanical regions into which the surface of the earth may
"be mapped out:"t but he proposes forty-five as an approximating estimate.
Hence it follows that there must have been separate original
creations, perhaps at different and respectively distant epochs.
Man, whom  the  Creator formed to 1"have dominion over the
"works of his hands,'' to a wide extent of the inferior natures,
was brought into being in ONE pair; from which all the varieties
of our kind have descended. They are only varieties, effected by
circumstances, and not species, which would imply separate primary ancestors. This position, unhappily rejected by some persons, is not only a fact which lies at the foundatian of revealed
religion, but it is confirmed by an accumulation of proof from
anatomical structure, from history, from the theory of language,
and from the philosophy of intellectual and moral qualities. For
this assertion I may appeal to the authority of the veteran Blumenbach,$ who occupies a station among the highest, in the Comparative Anatomy of the different races of men; and to both the
authority and the luminous arguments of Dr. Prichard in the work
before referred to.~
Man, and a small number of animals peculiarly serviceable to
man, are endowed with a capacity of adaptation to all the differences of climate and other circumstances, not indeed unlimited,' Amer. Bibl. Repos. as above. Lyell's Principles of' Geology, vol. iii. p. 7. Distribution into more numerous groups are ascribed to Von Schouw and De Candolle, in the
Abridgment of Mcalte BSrn's anzd Balbi's Geogr. Edin. 1840, part i. pp. 90-93: and
into a smaller number, twenty, by De Candolle, as stated by Dr. Prichard in his Re:
searches, vol. i. p. 32, third edit.; these differences may be owing to the consultation of
different works or editions of the authors, independently of the inherent difficulties of the
subject.
i Descriptive and Physiological Botany; p. 305.
Born 1752; appointed Professor of Medicine in the University of G6ttingen in
1778; and died, Jan. 22, 1840.
~ Supplementary Note E, on the Varieties of the Human Species.
E




50                        DISTINCT CREATIONS.
but extending through a wide range.@   This capacity requires for
its complete developement, a gradual proceeding in subjection to
the agents of change; for which the life of no individual is sufficiently long, nor even the duration of several generations. The
process must be carried on through many steps of descent; and
in its course, considerable alterations of structure are slowly produced.
XXVIII. In every  part of the earth, the succession  of the
strata, and the character and effects of the non-stratified rocks,
are the same. Of this fact, the actual observation has been so
extensively accomplished, and the operation of mechanical and
chemical causes is so certainly understood, that no jealousy or
scepticism can avail to prevent the induction from being made
universal.
" A few years ago only, when unable to indicate the first created
animals, or the exact relative places occupied by some of the earliest
formations, we were compelled to trace the sequence downwards, by
commencing with deposits previously analysed, proceeding thence to
those of anterior date;"  — of which method Sir Roderick's Silurian
System furnishes a luminous example;-] " but now, having learned
to decipher the very first letters in the long records of animal life,
we assume a more distinct position as historians, and exhibit in their
natural order, the successive organic features which appear in the
stony legend of the earth, from their earliest dawn to the present condition of the planet.
c"In a word, —we can now fearlessly assert, that the geological
history of sequence of the earliest races of fossil animals is firmly
established. Its truth is sustained by the display of forms, which
As Sec. ed. On the borders of the sandy deserts of Africa, and in many other portions
of the hot regions of the globe, men live where the ground under their feet is often 140~
and even more (Fahr.), and the mean heat of the air around them is from 80~ to 90~. On
the other hand, in the inhabited country of the Tsohutschoi, a little within the Arctic circle, AdmiralVon Wrangell, in the winter of 1820, had in his house, - 400, i.e. 720 below
the freezing point of water. " The people moved about in the frost of — 41~, as gaily as
if it were summer. The Yakuts are still more hardy than the Tschutschoi: lying on the
ground in the open air, and often insufficiently protected by clothing, they can endure,
without the least injury, a degree of cold which would be inevitably [and almost instantaneously] fatal to a European.-Athencentm, June 13, 1840; Review of Von Wrangell's Expedition to the Polar Sea; edited by Colonel Sabine from the Translation of
his accomplished lady.
The greatest natural cold known is, from the observation of Sir Edward Parry, - 55~,
or even, - 59~; of Sir John Ross, but the accuracy is not quite free from question,
g{oo




DISTINCT CREATIONS.                      51
mark the period when the first vestiges of life can be discovered, as
well as the following SUCCESSIVE CREATIONS; and thus, whilst, with
the exception of one sacred record, we can truly say that the origin
of the greatest empires of man is buried in fable and superstition,
the hard and indelible register, as preserved for our inspection in the
great book of ancient nature, is at length interpreted and read off
with clearness and precision."  Sir- Rod. Mlurchison's Geol. Russ.
vol. i. p. 9.* 1845.]
The eminent geologist Alcide d'Orbigny, has ascertained, by extensive and accurate study of the requisite authorities, that the geological structure of South America bears a strong resemblance to that'
of Europe, and that the differences are few and not very striking.
Report to the Paris dead. of Sc. stated in the.Ithenceum, Sept. 9,
1843. Combining this information with the labours of the North
American geologists, Sir R. M. says, "We can now therefore affirm
that, throughout the western hemisphere, from the far north to isles
almost within the antarctic circle, the palseozoic deposits succeed
each other in the same order as in the British isles."  Geol. of Russia,
vol. i. p. 6. Observation has also shewn that the same characters
and succession obtain in Asia both North and South, in Africa, and
in Australasia. Ib.
E2




52               ANTIQUITY OF THE EARTH.
LECTURE III.
RoIAT-S xi. 36. Of HIMi, and throug~ HiUi, and to Hiri, are all things:
to whom be glory for ever.
SoME of the most important positions affirmed in the preceding
lecture could not fail to be perceived by my attentive hearers, to
be at variance with certain sentiments or interpretations, which
are extensively received under the supposition of their being declared, or at least implied, in the Holy Scriptures. It is now my
duty to state, in particular detail, what those sentiments and
opinions are; and in what manner they stand in contradiction to
the facts in the natural history of the earth, to which we have
adverted.
My auditors will do me the favour to observe, that I speak of
opinions and interpretations; the sentiments which men have taken
up, and promulgated as the declarations of the Bible. We have
not yet arrived at the part of these lectures in which we shall
have to examine whether those interpretations are the genuine
sense of the divine oracles. It would not be proper to anticipate
that inquiry: yet I cannot but be anxious that my friends should
keep constantly in mind the avowal made in the first lecture;
namely, my conviction that those interpretations are erroneous. I
solicit this favour as a protection to myself from being understood,
in this and the following lecture, to cast any doubt upon the truth
and authority of the Scriptures. It is not the word of God, but
the expositions and deductions of men, from which I am compelled
to dissent.
I. It is a prevailing opinion that the dependent universe, in all
its extent, was brought into existence by the almighty power of
its Creator, within the period of the six days laid down in the
first portion of the Book of Genesis; chap. i. throughout, and ii.
1 —3, where the editorial division should have been made, as the
whole is evidently a connected and complete narrative. The same
conclusion is also drawn from the language of the fourth com



PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES.                       53
mandment; s"In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is."  Exod. xx. 11.
To this mode of understanding the Scripture, the discoveries of
geological science are directly opposed. Excepting, [possibly but
not certainly,] the higher parts of some mountains, which at widely different epochs have been upheaved, and made to elevate and
pierce the stratified masses which once lay over them, there is
scarcely a spot on the earth's surface which has not been many
times in succession the bottom of a sea, and a portion of dry land.
In the majority of cases, it is shown, by physical evidences of the
most decisive kind, that each of those successive conditions was of
extremely long duration; a duration which it would be presumptuous to put into any estimate of years or centuries; for any alteration of which vestiges occur in the zoological state and the mineral
constitution of the earth's present surface, furnishes no analogy,
(with regard to the nature and continuance of causes,) that approaches in greatness of character to those changes whose evidences are discernible in almost any two continuous strata.* It is
an inevitable inference, unless we are disposed to abandon the
principles of fair reasoning, that each one of such changes in organic life did not take place till after the next preceding condition
of the earth had continued through a duration, compared with
which six thousand years appear an inconsiderable fraction of
time. Among other facts, it is to be observed that the instances
referred to often involve an increase of temperature to a great
amount.  For example, it is proved, by the clearest evidence of
vegetable remains, that, in what are now temperate or extremely
cold climates, there prevailed, during the periods of the earlier
secondary rocks, a mean of temperature equal to that of the hottest region upon the present surface of the globe, or probably
greater.t It is also shown, by such evidence as every physiologist and every chemist knows to be satisfactory, that, at the periods
referred to, the earth's atmosphere (by being loaded with carbonic
acid) must have been so different from that which we possess, that
the present kinds of animals breathing by lungs, and many kinds
* Sec. efl. As the term stratitm is used with some latitude, so as to be applied to both
the greater divisions and those which are less marked, I beg to have it understood here
as denoting the principal classes.
t Another evidence of this fact has been adduced by Prof. Edward Forbes, in the
characters of the fresh-water shells which are found in the more recent strata preceding
the present surface. These prove, by abundant instances, that Britain possessed a




54                 ANTIQUITY OF THE EARTH.
which do not so breathe, could not have existed.  Now the evidence, from various points of physical reasoning and from wellknown historical facts, is ample, that the same state that now subsists, as to temperature and the constitution of the atmosphere,
has belonged to our planet ever since the day that God created
man and the animals connected with man. An objection may
arise from the recollection that some commentators have supposed,
as the mediate cause of the longevity of the antediluvian patriarchs, a peculiarly salubrious quality in the atmosphere, which
they also suppose to have been destroyed by the deluge, or in
consequence of it. But this is an imaginary hypothesis involving
heavier difficulties than what it professes to remove; and, if it
were to be accepted, it would add to the weight of reason for the
interposition of an immensity of time between the deposition of
the carboniferous lime-stone, for instance, and the present epoch;
because the condition of the atmosphere which geological evidence
evinces to have belonged to the remote period of which we have
been speaking, was the reverse of salubrious, or better fitted to
support life than our present common air; it would have been instantly, or in a few moments, fatal to man or to any such lungbreathing animals as now exist.
But, while the general evidence for an antiquity of the earth,
so great as to set at nought our attempts at estimation, may be
compendiously understood by any one who will take moderate
pains in studying the appearances of stratification and the characters of organic remains; it ought to be kept in mind that there is
a multitude of facts, of a more minute description, and which present themselves on every hand to the practised geologist, each of
which has great importance, but the sum of which amounts to an
irresistible body of argument.  It would be unreasonable to expect that all, of even liberally educated and well informed persons,
should be sufficiently versed in Natural History, Chemistry, and
the doctrines of mechanical force, to be able readily to apprehend
and duly to weigh those facts and the deductions from them: but
the claim is reasonable that, in such cases, we should satisfy ourwarmer climate that can be assigned to the human period. Zoo-Geological Considerations, &c. in the Annzals abned  aclgazinze of NcatNzral History; vol. vi. 1841, p. 242.
Many such evidences occur in the fossil animal remains of older periods.
[It is maintained by Prof. Agassiz and others, as probable, that there has been one at
least intercalated period, in which our northern hemisphere has been subjected to a
temperature very much lower than its present mean.]




ANTIQUITY OF THE EARTH.                   55
selves by giving credit and honour where credit and honour are
due. We feel no difficulty in thus relying upon conclusions
drawn, in the way of mathematical reasoning, by Newton, Bradley, Laplace, and the Herschels; and, were we to indulge the
monstrous supposition that such men were willing to deceive, we
know that there are thousands able and ready to detect the minutest
error, and expose any misstatement, if such there were. Upon this
ground, therefore, I may take a few sentences from a mathematician and man of science, from whom, in the first lecture, I derived
an important citation, and who, till his recent resignation, filled
the chair of Newton.  In his work, "'The Ninth Bridgewater
Treatise," Mr. Babbage has the following words:
" In truth, the mass of evidence which combines to prove the great
antiquity of the earth itself, is so irresistible, and so unshaken by any
opposing facts, that none but those who are alike incapable of observing the facts and appreciating the reasoning, can for a moment
conceive the present state of its surface to have been the result of
only six thousand years of existence.    Those observers and philosophers who have spent their lives in the study of Geology, have
arrived at the conclusion, that there exists irresistible evidence, that
the date of the earth's first formation is far anterior to the epoch supposed to be assigned to it by Moses; and it is now admitted by all
competent persons, that the formation even of those strata which are
nearest the surface, must have occupied vast periods, probably millions of years, in arriving at their present state." Pp. 67, 78.
As another example, I may mention that Mr. Charles Maclaren, in a valuable contribution to Geology, very recently published, estimates a single period of volcanic quiescence, during
which strata of coal, shale, sandstone, and limestone were deposited over the site of the basaltic hill called Arthur's Seat, at
Edinburgh, at five hundred thousand years.*  Let it be observed
that these are not random guesses, but founded upon knowledge
and consideration.t
This is indeed a cumulative argument.  It arises from  a number and variety of considerations which, without exaggeration, we
may call inexhaustible. The active geologist can scarcely enter
* Geology of Fife anzd the Lothiazns; p. 37. Edinb. 1839.
t See Supplementary Note F, on the Antiquity of the Earth.




56                 NO UNIVERSAL CHAOS.
upon any new field of observation, or repeat his survey of former
ones, but he meets new proofs, or the strengthening of what he
before possessed. The evidences, taken separately, are not equal
in clearness and cogency. Some of them have a vast amount of
independent weight: others are less striking, particularly to an
unpractised observer: but they all bear in one direction: and their
united force is such as to awaken surprise that any intelligent person can be found, who is capable of resisting it. It is the case, as
in all arguments of this description, that the multitude and diversity tend to embarrass us, and the difficulty lies chiefly in selection and arrangement.
II. Another opinion, which has been and perhaps still is received
extensively, not only by those who hold the former position, but
by many who disallow it, is this: that the state of the earth's
surface, immediately before its being brought, by the wisdom and
power of God, into the condition destined for the reception of
man and his contemporaneous living creatures and plants, was one
of universal dissolution from a former condition; and which consisted in a mixture of water and much earthy matter, producing
an ocean of muddy substance, half liquid, half solid, completely
enveloping the globe: and that also the atmosphere was perfectly
dark, or nearly so; either because its constitution, as a regulated
compound of nitrogen and oxygen, and endowed with the properties of transmitting and refracting the rays of light, was not yet
effected; or because it was so filled with the densest watery vapour
as scarcely to allow a passage to the light, so that, if not absolutely yet comparatively and sensibly, had a human being existed
to employ his eye upon it, it might be called "darkness." This
sentiment has been supposed to be contained in the words of the
sacred record; "And the earth was without form and void, and
darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters." Gen. i. 2.
Now this interpretation will not consist with facts briefly stated
in the preceding lecture; (Prop. xxvii.) Those statements I am
happy in being enabled to confirm and illustrate by the authority
of one whom talent and science, unwearied personal toil in the exploring of many of the most important districts of Great Britain
and Ireland, and a mind disciplined by severe studies, have formed
into one of the most eminently accomplished Geologists.




SERIES OF ORGANIC CREATURES.                 57
"The earliest forms of life known to Geology are not, as might
perhaps be expected, plants, but animals; they are not of the lowest
grade of organization merely. Zoophyta far advanced in structure,
(lamelliferous corals,) and Brachiopodous bivalves, of three genera,
were found by myself on Snowdon, but no distinct traces of plants.
The number of species of this early fauna is extremely small, but
there is about them no mark of inferiority, no extraordinary simplicity.
"From this [apparent] origin of organic life, there is no break in
the vast chain of organic developement, till we reach the existing
order of things: no one geological period, long or short, no one series
of stratified rocks, is every where devoid of traces of life. The world,
once inhabited, has apparently never, for any ascertainable period,
been totally despoiled of its living wonders. But there have been
many changes in the individual forms; great alterations in the generic
assemblages; entire revolutions in the relative number and developement of the several classes. Thus the systems of life have been
varied from time to time to suit the altered condition of the planet,
but never extinguished. The earth, once freed from its early inadequacy to support life according to the appointed laws of life, has since
been prolific of vegetable and animal existence.
"The proportionate number of organic forms has gone on, even
gradually; augmenting from the dozen species of the Snowdon slates,
through the twelve hundred and more species of the Oolite, the four
thousand forms of the tertiary eras, to the multitudes of [now] existing things.  The change of organic structure is also, in some degree,
proportioned to the time elapsed.  Tried by the Cephalopodous Mollusca, we see perish, first the Orthoceratites, then the Belemnites and
Ammonites; while Nautilus and Sepia exist to represent this class in
[the present families of] existing nature.  The developement of the
different classes of animals is usually thought to exhibit a similar relation; as if nature had been continually improved, from the moment
of the origin of life: but this opinion is, if taken generally, one of
the least certain of all the general notions now current, because of a
radical defect in the reasoning. This defect consists in assuming
into one induction, the terrestrial and the marine races of animals.
Now, as the higher forms of life are terrestrial, and the remains of
terrestrial things are only by accident mixed with the spoils of the
sea, it is no wonder that mammalia and birds are rarely even suspected to occur among the buried spoils of the ocean.  However, the
Didelphys of Stonesfield is enough to cast a doubt on this notion,
which should be more critically examined by a logical pro



58                   PROGRESSION OF FOSSILS.
cess.* It should be inquired what is the order of developement, among
the marine races on one hand, and the terrestrial groups on the other.
The latter are too few, in a fossil state, to justify any decision; the
former supply certain evidence. The order of developement is,
"1. Zoophyta and Brachiopodous Conchifera.
"2. The same groups, with the addition of Plagiomyonous Conchifera, Gasteropoda, Cephalopoda, Fishes.
"3. The same, with the addition of Reptiles.
"4. The same, with one solitary Didelphys.
"5. The same, without Didelphys or any other quadruped.
" 6. The same, with marine and terrestrial quadrupeds.
"7. Existing creation.
"Is the present creation of life a continuation of the previous ones;
a term of the same long series of communicated being! I answer,
Yes; but not as the offspring is a continuation of its parent. The
present crocodiles are not thus derived from the Teleosaurus of Caen,
[nor the alligators, monitors, or any other lizards, from  any of the
Saurian species of fossil zoology,] by indefinite change through time
and circumstances; as St. Hilaire's and Lamarck's (and Goethe'sl)
speculations might lead to suppose. But the existing forms of life
RESEMBLE those of times gone by, because the general aspect of the
physical conditions of the world has always, been, since the origin of
life on the globe, decidedly analogous: and they DIFFER from them
because the correlation of life and physical conditions is strict and
necessary, so that all the variations of these conditions are represented
in the phases of organic structure; while all their general agreenzents
are also represented by the conformity of the great principles of
structure in the beings of every geological age, and the often repeated
analogies and parallelisms of series of forms, between different geological periods, which we now hail as a law of nature, when we compare America or Australia, with Africa, Asia, or Europe.
"We are not, then, in a different system  of nature, properly so
called, from those which have been created, and have been suffered
to pass away before the birth of man. But [we are] in a forward
part of the same system, whose law of progression is fixed, though from
time to time the signification of the terms varies. The full and complete system of organic life now on the globe, includes all the effects
> This very curious and perplexing subject has been recently investigated, with exquisite science and labour, by MM. Valenciennes and De Blainville, and by distinguished
men in our own country; in particular Mr. Owen, who appears to have brought the
completing evidence in favour of Dr. Buckland's opinion, that the animal was a small
marsupial, that is, of the opossum family.




HEAVENLY  BODIES.                             59
of land and sea, warmth and cold, divided regions, and all the other
things which are the diversifying causes of nature; and it is no
wonder if, before this land was raised from the deep, and the present
distinction of natural regions was produced, there was not the same
extreme variety of natural productions. Till that variety was occasioned on the globe, it was not the fitting place for intellectual man
that it now is: for, surely among the other uses and correlations of
the visible creation this is one,-by its inexhaustible diversity and
growing newness, to interest with a perpetual charm the growing
mind of a rational being, and lead him by a flowery path to the
cultivation of the divine thing within him, which raises him above all
that his senses make known; and thus to fit him for the highest contemplation of which he is capable, namely, the relation which he bears
to the unseen AUTHoR of all this visible material world.'"Thus, to the mind of a geologist, nature is one glorious book:
one system of appointed and associated law, independent of time, and
exempt from change, but operating under conditions which vary with
time and place. The past has prepared the present: the present explains the past and points to the future."*
III. A prevalent, though not universal interpretation of the
archaic narrative, is that the sun and all the other heavenly bodies
were created on the fourth day after the creation of the earth.
* The Supplementary note, contributed by John Phillips, Esq. to the Rev. Prof.
Powell's "Connexion of Natural and Divine Truth:" p. 309. On account of the pressure of other scientific engagements, in which he is rendering important services to
Government and the country, Mr. Phillips has been obliged to resign his professorship
in King's College, London. [But he is rendering important services to science and to
his country, in association with Sir Henry de la Beche, and Prof. Edward Forbes, by
conducting the vast work of a Geological Survey of our island, under the authority of
Government.]
The high reputation of M. Deshayes as a palmontologist entitles the following statement to great consideration (though it awaits the test of examination by other qualified
men), in relation to the doctrine which has been repeatedly advanced in this volume,
that few species of organized beings can be traced through more than one formation;
and, of those belonging to the present state of the earth, none at all so low as the chalk.
Though the statement is derivative, the ability and accuracy of the relater cannot be
questioned.
" M. Deshayes has lately [in a paper read to the Philomathic Society, of Paris, Feb.
10, 18381, announced that he had discovered, in surveying the entire series of fossil animal-remains, five great groups, so completely independent that no species whatever is
found in more than one of them. It is not at present in my power to investigate this
subject so completely as the case requires; I shall therefore only recite, that the first of
those groups is that to which Trilobites give the character, that the three succeeding
belong to the system of the large Saurians, and that the fifth includes the systems in
which I have pointed out the Paleotheria, the Mastodons, and the Elephants." D' Omalius d'Halloy, Elem de Geol. p. 187; Paris, 1839.




60                 INVENTING MIRACLES.
An obvious objection to this opinion is, that light is mentioned in
the account of the first day; " God said, Be light; and light was."
But to this, the common answer is, that light was created in a diffused state; and that, on the fourth day, it was condensed and
collected into a centre, for the solar system of planets; that this
centre is the sun, or within the sun; and that in some similar way
the luminous property of the fixed stars was produced.
Those who adopt this hypothesis, either with or without the
modification annexed to it, are perhaps not aware, that the
spheroidal figure of the earth, its position in the planetary system,
its rotation producing the nights and days which the Mosaic narrative expressly lays down in numerical succession, the existence
of water, and that of an atmosphere, both definitely mentioned,
and the creation of vegetables on the third day,-necessarily imply
the presence and the operations of the sun: unless we resort to
some gratuitous supposition of multiplied miracles of the most astounding magnitude. Such as can satisfy themselves with such
suppositions, made without evidence and at their own good pleasure, are beyond our reach of reasoning. No difficulty, no improbability, no natural impossibility, appals them. They seem to
have the attribute of Omnipotence at their command, to help out
any hypothesis, or answer any exigency. But I must confess that
such modes of resolving difficulties do not approve themselves to
my conviction. The Creator has formed a finite and dependent
world, the extent and complication of which overwhelm our faculties: but, in all that extent and complication, we have demonstrations without number that the great Sovereign and Conservator
of the universe rules it according to a PLAN; and that plan, in its
physical aspect, presents the one grand and simple law of attraction, with its correlates and consectaries. That plan is but the
method of the divine agency pervading, upholding, and efficiently
directing all beings and all events. God "worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will:"-and his "counsel standeth
for ever." It would be blasphemous to doubt whether his method
of proceeding be the perfection of wisdom. A miracle is not a
destroying, nor even a suspending of it; it is not an amending, or
repairing, or correcting it; it is not a break in the chain; not an
occurrence for which no provision had been made in the construction of the eternal purpose. A miracle is an event which, supposing a given connexion of time, place, and persons, would not




DESIGN OF MIRACLES.-MORAL GOVERNMENT.          61
have come to pass in the ordinary course of things; but for the instrumental causality of which the divine plan had fixed the requisite provision. It is no less a part of "Cthe immutability of his
counsel," than is any other fact in the series of God's operations.
It is a deviation from the ordinary course of events, but accomplished by the determining will of the Supreme Being, through the
agency of the instruments proper in every case, and for purposes
of the highest wisdom and goodness requiring such an interposition. The scriptures abundantly shew that the Divine Wisdom has
not lavished away miracles; but, so far as we know, has wrought
them only for the purpose of accrediting the claim of some one who
professed to be the bearer of a revelation from God. To every
reflecting person this must appear to be a purpose of pure and
exalted benevolence, and most worthy of the Supreme Being, the
infinitely Wise and Good. The undeniable evidence of our entire
dependence; the consciousness, which each of us carries in his own
breast, of wants, capacities, and desires, stretching out of the
sphere of our present existence, expanding the more as the more
they are gratified, thus proving their illimitable character, and
authorizing the expectation of another life with improved faculties
of action and sensibilities to enjoyment or suffering; —these and
their associated considerations MUST impress us with the desirableness of obtaining something more than that sentiment of the
Deity which we derive by inferences from what we see of his
works, in their monuments of the past, or their displays of the
present; the universal and unceasing manifestations of knowledge
and power, of consummate wisdom in the application of knowledge and power, and of beneficence, appearing in so many beautiful forms, yet chequered with so many dark shades of sin and
pain and woe. The wondrous evidence thus set before us of the
physical government of God, warrants our belief that he exercises
a moral government; and that, in proportion as mind is a nobler
object than insensible matter, or, according to some, mere ideas
impressed upon an unknown substratum, so must the LAWS and the
action of that moral government be superior to all the grandeur
of the sensible world.
But of the MORAL perfections of God, and the laws which belong to this department of his empire, we can have no certain
knowledge, unless he be pleased to communicate it. Yet such
knowledge is what we need; knowledge which shall have the




62                  MORAL GOVERNMENT.
character of certainty, so that our anxious minds may rest upon it
with confidence; and that we may attain, not a vague and precarious presumption, which may be no better than an illusion of
selfishness, but a rational assurance of escaping the just penalties
of our offences against the eternal law of morals, and of rising to
an immortal perfection of all that is holy, happy, and glorious.
Nothing short of a positive communication from the great Being
himself, to whom our fears and our desires point, can be satisfactory; and we cannot conceive of any method by which such a
communication could be attested as genuine, except a miraculous
intervention, a sensible proof that the God of the universe is addressing us. Miracles therefore, as well-known and valuable
writers upon the evidence of Revelation have shewn, are at the
same point on the scale of probability as is the fact of a revelation
from God, of grace and mercy and peace. But I must say that
this wise and gracious design is beclouded and the evidence is
weakened, by those who plead for an exuberance of miracles, and
are prompt to resort to them on every occasion which their hypotheses require. If they more deeply considered the sublime objects of revelation, and if they were better informed concerning
the order and operations of the physical universe, often called the
laws and the powers of nature, but which are no less the results
of constant Divine agency than is an act of immediate creation;if they were thus intellectually and morally prudent, they would
cease to fancy such requirements. I humbly think that, for the
honour of God and the interests of genuine religion, it is our duty
to protest against the practice of bringing in miraculous interpositions, to help out the exigencies of arbitrary and fanciful theories.
No: our "God is the Rock," eternal and unchangeable in his attributes; "his work is perfect." He has constructed a system of
connexion and dependence, of succession, collateral relations, and
harmony; a system which has no shocks, no breaks, no failures,
to need the interposition of correcting and repairing. That system
does indeed include the constitution of remedial adaptations, both
physical and moral. But the corrective and restorative character
of these provisions arises from the condition of created beings,
weak, changeable, and some of them morally depraved. With
respect to the Deity, his purposes, and his operations, they are
parts of a continuous system: and "this also cometh forth from
the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in




NO ONE CENTRE OF CREATION                  63
working."  Above all, these remarks apply to the constitution
and accomplishment of the method of redemption and salvation
which Infinite Benevolence has provided for our apostate and ungrateful race.  "God so loved the world, that he gave his Onlybegotten Son, that whosoever believeth," that is, cordially reposes,
" on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."
IV. It is very generally assumed, as a matter included in the
description of creation given in the Mosaic narrative, that all
land-animals were created in pairs or other suitable modes of progenitorship, on one spot upon the earth's surface, and that of very
moderate extent; which was also the seat of the first human
beings, the ancestors of the entire human race. It is also supposed that, from this point, not only did men multiply and diffuse
themselves more and more widely, but that the various species of
animals did the same. With relation to the vegetable kingdom,
the correspondent theory is commonly maintained, as consistency
requires.  If there be any who do not explicitly declare it, the
omission is more likely to have arisen from inadvertence, than
from a perception of incongruity.
It is not Geology merely, but other branches of Natural History, that are contradicted by this interpretation of the Scriptures.
The fossil remains, whether animal or vegetable, which are found
imbedded in the strata of different formations, are in general
spread over a large surface; especially so, as we go back to the
earlier classes of rocks: but the extent of surface is limited, in
both latitude and longitude.  This also is the case in the most
striking manner, with respect to the present distribution of the
earth's vegetable and animal tenantry; the condition to which
the subject before us precisely refers. Eden, the region occupied
by the first human pair and the animals and plants associated with
them, provided for their use, and subjected to their dominion, was
in the finest part of the temperate zone. The persons who implicitly receive the opinion just mentioned, have perhaps never
asked themselves how  animals, which the Creator has formed
with the most precise and perfect adaptations to widely different
conditions of habitation, could subsist, even for a few days, in or
around the original paradise: or, if this difficulty be evaded, by
a presumptuous evocation of miracles, or some other arbitrary
supposition, the further inquiry presents itself, by what means the
respective races, whether progenitors or descendants, could make




64        LIFE ADAPTED  TO PLACE.-SEVERAL CENTRES.
their way to congenial climes; some to the regions of fierce equatorial heat, others to those of eternal ice and a rigour of cold
which no animal can endure for but a few hours, if not protected
by the power and skill of man, excepting those which are fitted
for it by a wise and wonderful variety in the forms and functions
of their bodily structure, internal as well as external. In all the
species of animals, the entire anatomy, and the outward provision
of covering, defence, and mode of obtaining food, are adapted to
their indigenous locality, with a power and precision which richly
display the inexhaustible resources of creative wisdom.  A few
species, indeed, are formed to enjoy a very wide range, they being
among the animals readily domesticated and the most serviceable
to man. Yet even they, we have much reason to think, were
originally indigenous in particular places: and it is worthy of
observation that some of these species, by being brought into
widely different circumstances as to climate and treatment, acquire, through the lapse of many generations, alterations of form
so remarkable, that uninstructed persons might take them  for specifically different animals: but that these differences constitute
only varieties, and not species, is established by clear anatomical
evidence, and by the test of continuous progeny.
Having made these by no means considerable allowances, we
find abundant proofs that the habitable surface of the dry land,
and even the vast extent of the waters, are divided into districts,
the native plants and animals of which have characteristic peculiarities.* This fact was stated in our last lecture. An example
of it has been rendered familiar to reading persons, by the enlarged
attention of late years to such subjects and the wonderfully increased means of communication; in the instance of the Australasian countries.  There has not been sufficient time for any of the
species of plants or animals, which have been introduced by Eu@ The more extensively and accurately researches are made, as they have been by
our contemporary Botanists and Zoologists, the more completely has this fact been put
out of doubt. Apparenat exceptions are satisfactorily accounted for. With respect to
the one class of the animal kingdom whicl may be regarded as least under the dominion
of man, the inhabitants of the ocean, the constancy with which the boundaries of the
different provinces (as I may justly call them) are observed by the teeming population of
each, is marked with inviolability. Yet superficial observers may imagine that the free
swimmers in the waters which cover nearly three fourths of the surface of the globe,
possess and actually use the most unlimited domain of habitation. But this is not the
case. The range of some species is very extensive, yet the principle of distribution is
remarkably preserved. Fouieith ed.




REIGN  OF DEATH.                               65
ropean settlers, to  throw  a shade upon  the question  as to  what
species are indigenous and what are naturalized foreigners.
That region, which includes some of the islands of the South
Sea, is marked, by characters of the most manifest and indubitable kind, as a region whose flora and fauna  (terms used as abbreviations, to designate the collection of vegetable and animal
productions that belong to any place,) are completely distinct
from  those  of any other portion  of land  upon  the  face  of the
globe.*
If therefore it were maintained, that the first instances or parents
of each animal species, which the Creator has formed to dwell
upon the earth, were found associated with the first man in paradise, we should be obliged to say that here was a doctrine, alleged
to come under the sanction of scripture-authority, but which is at
variance with demonstrated facts.  [The correlate of this opinion
is that all the inhabitants of the dry land, mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, were, by pairs and septuple pairs, first collected
into the ark of Noah, and then issued out of it to spread themselves over the earth.]   In a subsequent part of these lectures,
we shall have  to  examine  the  assumptions upon  which  these
opinions rest, and I venture to affirm that we shall find it to be
destitute of any foundation in the  fair construction of the Sacred
Writings.
V. A  difficulty  of great moment arises from  the  supposition
that, upon the authority of divine revelation, pain  and death had
no place in any part of the sensitive creation, at least in this our
world, till after the sin of the first human beings., "Various opinions have been formed on the original or primitive distribution of
PLANTS over the surface of the globe: but since Botanical Geography became a regular
science, the phenomena observed have led to the conclusion, that vegetable creation
must have taken place in a number of distinctly different centres, each of which was
the original seat of a certain number of peculiar species, which at first grew there and
no where else. SHeaths are exclusively confined to the old world; and no indigenous
rose tree has ever been discovered in the new, the whole southern hemisphere [also]
being destitute of that beautiful and fragrant plant. But this is still more confirmed by
multitudes of particular plants, having an entirely local and insulated existence, growing.
spontaneously in some particular spot, and in no other place; as, for example, the ceda-r,
of Lebanzoa, which grows indigenously on that mountain and in no other part of the
world. The same laws also obtain in the distribution of the ANIMAL creation."  Mrs.
Somerville's Coazexioz of thle Physical Sciences; p. 285. This distinguished lady, of
whom a beautiful bust is appropriately placed in the Library of the Royal Society, carries on this observation with respect to the classes of animals, Zoopbytes, Mollusks,
Fishes, Reptiles, Insects, Birds, and Mammals. Foeurtl ed.
F




66              ORGANIC LIFE INVOLVES DEATH.
Who has not felt the solemn tenderness of our great poet's invocation?
"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought DEATH into the world, with all our woe;
Sing, heavenly muse;"
-— and the sentiment is very natural, and engaging to a mind
of sensibility; prior to having any acquaintance with the natural
history of the animal tribes, that approaches to comprehensiveness
and accuracy. It seems also to be sustained by the infallible authority of the Scriptures. " By one man, sin entered into the
world, and death by sin.-The creation has been subjected to
vanity:" it is labouring and suffering under "the bondage of corruption: the whole creation groaneth together, and is in pangs
together, until now."  Rom. v. 12; viii. 20-22.
But, when we come to examine this interpretation or inference,
by the light which undeniable facts afford, we are taught a differenit lesson. We find that all organized matter, that is, every
thing that has life, vegetable and animal, is formed upon a plan
which renders death necessary, or something equivalent to death.
The first step to life in the corculum of a vegetable seed, or the
atomic rudiment of the animal body, in both cases so minute and
recondite as to be inaccessible to human cognizance, commences a
course of changes which imply an inevitable termination. [Plants
derive their nourishment from inorganic matter, and they thus
rmake the first step in the system of existence to which we attribute
material life. But, in animals it is not so. They cannot be supported by any substances except such as have had life, vegetable
or animal.]  The mysterious principle of their life is universally
maintained by the agency of death.  From dead organic matter,
the living structure derives its necessary supplies.  [But those
supplies do not bring a perpetuity of existence: their very nature
and operation imply the contrary.]  The processes of nutrition,
assimilation, growth, exhaustion, and reparation, hold on their
irresistible course, to decay and dissolution; in another word, to
death. Some persons have dreamed of sustaining animal life by
exclusively vegetable food; ignorant that, in every leaf or root
or fruit which they feed upon, and in every drop of water which
they drink, they put to death myriads of living creatures, whose
bodies are as " curiously and wonderfully made" as our own,
which were full of animation and agility, and enjoyed their mode




FOSSILS.                        67
and period of existence as really and effectively under the bountiful care of Him  "who is good to all, and whose tender mercies
are over all his works," as the stately elephant, the majestic horse,
or man, the earthly lord of all. By far the larger portion of the
animal creation is formed, in every part of its anatomy, internal
and external, for living upon animal food; and cannot live upon
any other. The carnivorous nature, in a thousand instances, is
the immediate cause of inestimable benefits to man. Of this fact
a familiar example is constantly presented before our eyes, in the
speedy removal of the putrescent carcases of animals, by the industry of millions of the minor tribes; creatures which many of'
us can scarcely look at without disgust; yet they are saving us
from being poisoned by a fetid and infectious atmosphere; and
after a further change, striking emblem of our future resurrection,
they come forth beautiful and admired insects, to enjoy the brilliance of a summer's day, to sip the flowers, to provide a posterity,
and then to die.
Geology unfolds to us similar scenes, upon the most magnificent
scale, and occupying the recesses of an unfathomable antiquity.
Few of the formations above the micaceous slate are destitute of'
the remains of animals, and in a less degree (which is easily accounted for) of vegetables: but the larger part of those formations is filled with such remains, constituting in some cases nearly
the entire substance of rocks which are hundreds and thousands
of feet in thickness and many miles in extent.  Some of the Egyptian pyramids are built of Nummulitic Limestone, itself entirely
composed of chambered shells, of very small size and of exquisite
construction. Other rocks there are, whose very substance consists of microscopic shells of extraordinary beauty, once the habitations of living beings. Among these are our English chalk, the
Bergmehl of Sweden, and the polishing stone, first obtained from
Tripoli, but since found in many other places. Of this last, the
exquisite shells, almost entirely siliceous in their composition,
which appear to constitute the whole rocky masses, are so minute,
that a cube of one-tenth of an inch is calculated to contain five
hundred millions of individuals.*  In the series of the Oolite and
Lias rocks, which come under the Chalk, and, in England and
many other countries, overlie the New Red Sandstone, are found,
i Supplementary Note G; on the Fossil Animalcules.
F2




68                   EVIDENCE FROM  GEOLOGY.
in immense numbers, not only the shells of smaller sea-animals,
but the skeletons of formidable creatures, some of gigantic size,
formed for swimming in the sea and crawling near the shores.*
We can see and examine their powerful teeth; the structure of
their bones for the insertion, course and action of muscles, nerves,
and the tubes for circulation, indicating the function; and their
very stomachs beneath their ribs, replenished with chewed bits of
bone, fish-scales, and other remains of animal food.
Thus, not only the characters of the recent animal creation,
but those of races which have occupied the earth through past
periods of immeasurable duration, demonstrate it to have been the
will of the All-wise Creator that life and death should minister to
each other throughout the whole extent of the animal tribes; both
in the actual condition of nature, and in those states of our world
which are past, but have left their monuments inscribed with characters that cannot be mistaken.
Whether these positions militate against any thing that is asserted or implied in the Holy Scriptures; and whether they are
at all inconsistent with the impressive declaration, " By man came
death;" it will be our duty, in a future lecture, to consider.
* The attentive inquirer, if he have the opportunity, will contemplate with deep interest the skeletons and detached bones of the ancient lizard-like animals, in the British
Museum; or the engravings of many, on a large scale, in the Memoirs of the Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri, 1834; and the Book of the Sea Dragons, 1840, by Thomas
Hawkins, Esq. F. G. S.




THE DELUGE.                      69
LECTURE IV.
GENESIS VI. 17.  dAnd behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters
upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from
under heaven: and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
ANOTHER point remains, with regard to which the discrepancy
between the belief that is held by some, at least, of the most
eminent geologists, and the testimony of the word of God, as it
is commonly understood, appears most serious and alarming: this
is the historical fact of the Deluge.
Fifteen hundred years had nearly elapsed since the creation of
man, and his fall into sin and sorrow: and now human depravity
had grown to an awful magnitude. So far as we can form a judgment from the concise but emphatic terms of the history, it appears that universal discord prevailed, mutual injustice and exasperation, malignity, oppression, and cruelty.  Such a habit of
mind from men to their fellow-men, could not but break the bonds
of society, destroy confidence and hope, and poison the springs of
human happiness. Nor was it less certain, that such a state of
mind and character would be associated with an impious contempt
of the Creator and Supreme Ruler. The condemnatory testimony
therefore is, " The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth
was filled with violence."  The expression "before God" denotes
a contempt and defiance of the Divine Majesty. It is also evident that " the earth" is put, by a frequent scriptural metonymy,
for the inhabitants of the earth; whence it is reasonable to infer
that the universal terms in our text have their proper reference to
mankind, the subjects of guilt, whose flagitious character cried
for a condign manifestation of Jehovah's displeasure. His holy
perfections were insulted, and perhaps derided with atheistic scoff.
It was now become eminently proper that there should be some
demonstration of the justice and power of God, which should admit of no doubt; for the supplication of a following age could
never have been more appropriate, " Lift up thyself, thou Judge




70                 SCRIPTURE NARRATIVE.
of the earth: render a reward to the proud. JEHOVAH! HOW
long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph!"
(Ps. xciv. 2, 3.)
Yet the Most High shewed himself merciful and gracious.  He
sent warnings and threatenings, by "Noah, the preacher of
righteousness;" and thus his "long-suffering waited" one hundred
and twenty years. (I Pet. iii. 20. 2 Ep. ii. 5.) But despised
mercy must be vindicated by righteous punishment. God therefore made known his determination to inflict that punishment, in
a revelation to his faithful servant. I"Behold, I, even I, do bring
a flood of waters;"-I will demonstrate my holiness and wisdom,
in such a manner as shall admit of no doubt with regard to its
judicial intention.
Of that awful event, the sacred narrative is clear and circumstantial.
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month,
the seventeenth day of the month," [answering to about the middle
of November,] "the same day were all the fountains of the great
deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the
rain was upon the earth, forty days and forty nights.   The flood
was forty days upon the earth. And the waters increased and bare
up the ark; and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters
prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark
went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole
heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail;
and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved
upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: all in
whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land,
died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the
face of the ground; both man and cattle, and the creeping things,
and the fowl of the heaven: and they were destroyed from the earth.
And Noah only remained [alive,] and they that were with him in the
ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty
days. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all
the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to
pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains also of
the deep, and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain
from heaven was restrained. And the waters returned from off the




HISTORICAL EVIDENCE.                    71
earth continually; and, after the end of the hundred and fifty days,
the waters were abated. And the ark rested, in the seventh month,
on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the
tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the
mountains seen. —— In the six hundred and first year," [that is, of
the life of Noah,] " in the first month, the first day of the month, the
waters were dried up from off the earth.  And Noah removed the
covering of the ark, and looked; and, behold, the face of the ground
was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day
of the month, was the earth dried." (Gen. vii. 11 to viii. 14.)
Thus is the tremendous fact related, by the writing which, independently of its divine authority, is the most ancient and the
most credible in the world.  The histories and traditions of all
nations, ancient and of recent discovery, furnish ample proof that
this great event is indelibly graven upon the memory of the human
race. The ancient systems of mythology and polytheism are
filled with idolatrous commemorations of the deluge. Those significant rites, and the traditions and historical fragments which
have not entirely perished, make us acquainted with memorials of
that event, as having existed among the Egyptians, Chaldeans,
Phcenicians, Greeks, Celts, and Scythians, to the farthest antiquity of which we have any documentary knowledge. Also, the
discovery of what was long called the New World, three centuries and a half ago, brought to the view of Europeans not only
traditionary notices as possessed by the nations, at that time very
numerous, and many of them comprising a large population, of
North and South America; but, still further, among the Mexicans
and Peruvians, historical and emblematical pictures, which preserve, with more exactitude than could have been expected, the
general event itself, and various particulars reflecting as it were
an image, distorted, indeed, but well capable of being recognised,
of the narrative which we possess, in its native simplicity, in the
book of Genesis. Even the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands,
so recently brought to the knowledge of Europeans, are not destitute of their tradition, bearing its measure of testimony to the universal impression.* That a statement thus attested by the con* The evidences of these traditions are detailed in the late Mr. Jacob Bryant's Analysis ofAncient IMythology, several works of the Rev. G. Stanley Faber, and the recently
published Doctrine of the Deluge, by the Rev. L. Vernon Harcourt. It may be regret



72                  UNIVERSAL TRADITION.
sent of mankind, did not rest upon a foundation of truth, it would
be the extravagance of absurd scepticism to doubt.
Yet it is remarkable that learned writers have not perceived
the absence of any logical connexion between the universality of
historical tradition, and a geographical universality of the deluge
itself. Immense pains have been taken, and very laudably, to collect the traditions of tribes and nations deposing to the fact of an
overwhelming deluge in the days of their remotest ancestors; and
it has been hence concluded, since those traditions existed in every
quarter of the globe, that the deluge had belonged to every region.
But it seems to have been forgotten, that each of these traditionary and historical notices referred to one and the same locality,
the seat of the family of Noah, the cradle of the human race. The
progress of population and dispersion, however rapid we may suppose it, could never have been such as would establish any correct idea of geographical distance, from the recollection of space
travelled over. Of all notions of longitude and latitude, and determinations of distance by observation of the heavenly bodies, the
migrators must have been destitute.  Their abandonment of monotheism and pure religion awfully accelerated the reign of barbarism
and ignorance. Hence it became a matter of next to inevitable
certainty, that later generations would attach their narratives of
the flood to their own immediate districts.
The connexion of this distinguished event in the history of mankind, with the phenomena presented to geological study, has long
been a favourite object of attention to many persons. But few
of them have been aware of the perilous course into which they
had entered. To pursue it with any rational hope of success,
ouild require an extensive collection of particular facts, an accurate estimation of each one, a power of comparing, a sagacity in
drawing inferences, and a comprehension of knowledge, both physical and biblical, the thought of which cannot but fill me with
anxiety. But I shall submit to my friends the statements and deductions which appear to me to be founded on sufficient evidence,
in the fear of God, and with the desire of promoting the interests
of truth.
That the spoils of the ocean are to be found in all parts of the
dry land, is a fact which, one would think, could hardly have
ted that these estimable authors have not been guarded against the too common error
of weakening an argument by an excess of amplification.




ANCIENT OPINIONS.                   73
failed to force itself upon the attention of mankind in all ages and
all countries; and that the proper deduction would have been
drawn from it. But such a conjecture has not been realized. Just
views on this subject have not prevailed, till recent times; though
some remarkable glimpses of the truth, and indeed more than
glimpses, are to be found in the fragmentary remains of oriental
and Egyptian antiquity, and more completely in the doctrines of
Pythagoras and of other illustrious men who followed him at long
intervals. Strabo, the Grecian philosopher, historian, and traveller, lived in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius.  Of his writings
only a large geographical work has survived the wreck of the
middle ages, but it is invaluable, though the existing copies of it
are imperfect. In several parts of that work he displays his sagacity and diligence in making observations, and extraordinary
justness'in his reasonings upon them. He describes geological
phenomena, particularly elevations of land, alterations of the lines
of coast, and the existence of the remains of sea-animals at considerable distances from the sea: and he shews that he entertained
very good ideas upon their instrumental causes.*
These subjects, however, appear to have been forgotten or
neglected, during the long night of intellectual darkness till the
revival of letters. In the age of the Reformation, and through
more than the century which followed, the powerful and active
minds of Europe were occupied with other inquiries, of the highest
importance; so that few of the great men of those days seem to
have sought "sermons in stones," and science in frightful ravines,
pits, and precipices. A small number of naturalists, chiefly in
Italy, rose above the prejudices which, however ridiculous, were
supported not by vulgar minds only, but by persons of high cultivation; yet who could seriously believe that the bones and shells,
and the impressions and casts of animal and vegetable fragments,
had never belonged to living creatures, or been moulded from
them; but had been formed just as we find them, by a plastic
power in nature, or by some kind of abortive effort (nisus naturce,)
to produce something which never ascended above a mineral condition, or by freaks of nature (lusus naturae,) as if this same
nature were a fitful sprite, amusing herself with beguiling and
* Strabonis Res Geogr. pp. 71, 73, 79, 89; ed. Falconer. An interesting summary of
the testimonies from him and other ancient writers upon this class of facts, is given by
Mr. Lyell, in his Principles of Geology, Book I. chap. ii.




74                         MODERN  HYPOTHESIS.
puzzling the learned industry of poor mortals. We are now surprised that the impiety, as well as the folly, of this jargon did not
procure its instant rejection. Yet let us not overvalue ourselves.
It is an unhappy fact, and far less excusable, that some men of
science in our own days are not ashamed to speak and write of a
thing which they perpetually call Nature; of which they speak as
if it were a goddess, an intelligent, designing, and active being;
and which they without scruple introduce, when the marks of
consummate design, benevolent wisdom, and beautiful adaptation
in the sensible world, are so striking that we cannot shut our eyes
to them. So painfully is it evinced, that "the carnal mind is enmity against God," and that men under its influence "do not like
to retain God in their knowledge."*
* See. ed. I would not that this remark should give pain to any sincere and devout
person; and I am aware of the reasoning in defence of the practice, that a too frequent
mention of the Deity tends to produce either a heartless formality or a fanatical freedom, each inconsistent with true piety. Dr. Roget has indulgently stated this apology.
Upon the passage of his Bridgewater Treatise, "It would almost seem as if Nature had
been thus lavish and sportive in her productions, with the intent to demonstrate to Man
the fertility of her resources, and the inexhaustible fund from which she has so prodigally drawn," &c. that admirable physiologist has the note; " In order to avoid the too
frequent, and consequently irreverent, introduction of the Great Name of the SUPREME.
BEING into familiar discourse on the operations of his power, I have throughout this
Treatise, followed the common usage of employing the term Nature as a synonym, expressive of the same power, but veiling from our feeble sight the too dazzling splendour
of its glory," vol. i. p. 13. But I would, with all respect, reply to the candid philosopher, that it is not hypocrisy or any sort of affectation that we seek; but the honest and
filial affection which is opposed to the state of mind described by the apostle, " they like
not to retain GOD in their knowledge." (Rom. i. 28.)
A noble father enriches his mansion with everything that can instruct, improve, and
delight his children. They enjoy his munificence with exquisite pleasure; and they
spend their lives in displaying and explaining the wisdom and goodness and variety of
his provisions for them. But they studiously avoid the mention of his name; any allusion to his titles, his honours, and the homage which he has required of them: and for
this purpose they resort to all kinds of circumlocution and evasion.-Would not an observer say, either that his name was not producible because of some dire blot upon it,
or that his children were unworthy of him?
The most cutting part of our grief for this practice is, the meanness of surrender
which it involves to the irreligious. It is showing them that we are desirous of doing
without God as much as we can; plainly, that we are ashamed of HIM! Cowper
writes,"Why did all-creating Nature
Form the plant for which we toil?"
But he was personifyitg the poor heathen slave. Another poet has shewn us the right
order of sentiment, and its due expression:" -Vature with open volume stands,
To spread her Maker's praise abroad;




GOD TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED.                 75
To all the mental movements and the beneficial progress of the
human mind, as well as to times and dwellings, we may apply the
principle of the apostle's declaration; " God, who made the world,
and all things therein,-the Lord of heaven and earth, —hath made
of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation." (Acts xvii. 24-26.) A time must
have been fitted, and an habitation, so to speak, provided, in order
that a science or an art might be born, and live, and grow to
manly vigour. Geology could not have been studied, without
exposure to fatal errors, till the exact sciences had been raised to
their present state of cultivation; till NEWTON had led the way;
till Astronomy had been perfected by the Bradleys, the Laplaces,
and the Herschels; till Chemistry had come into existence, (for it
could scarcely be said to have existed before the days of Priestley
and Davy;) till Cuvier had made his wonderful use of Comparative Anatomy; and till the exquisite calculation of Dynamics had
been established by those living men to whom we look with feelings of, not admiration only, but amazement. In a word, the
wisdom of Providence had prepared the combinations, for taking
effect in our own time, by which Geological Science should rise
and flourish.
There was one distinguished philosopher, Leibnitz, the contemporary and rival of Newton, the man of universal application, and
of wondrous attainment in Theology, Jurisprudence, Mathematics,
and Philosophy generally; whose penetrating sagacity looked beyond his time. It is instructive and delightful to meet with such
instances of the power of mind; recollecting from WHOM the talent
comes, and the high responsibility which is inseparable from it,
before HIM in whose sovereign disposal "is power and might, and
in whose hand it is to make great." (1 Chron. xxix. 12.) I
cannot resist the wish to cite the words of a judicious author, and
one of our first-rate geologists.  "Leibnitz honoured this branch
of physical speculation by devoting to it a portion of his attention;
and anticipated, with the prophetic sagacity of a powerful mind,
its future progress, and the very methods of investigation which
And ev'ry labour of his hands
Shews something worthy of a GOD.
But, in the GRACE that rescued man,
His brightest form of glory shines."




76               OVER-ESTIMATE OF THE DELUGE.
would most effectually contribute to its successful developement."
-He " exhibits a clear anticipation  of the importance and the
prospects of the new science of which he foresaw the dawn.
Leibnitz proceeds even distinctly to indicate the line of future research into the geographical distribution and extension of the various formations, which might be expected to place this new science
on a firm basis."*
Notwithstanding these few exceptions, the common resort of
those who took any notice of the bones, shells, and other remains, presenting themselves so profusely in the bowels of the
earth, has been to the Deluge of Noah.t  In what situations soever the remains of animal and vegetable beings were found, it
was at once assumed that they were antediluvian relics, brought
thither by the flood. It seems never to have entered into men's
minds, to consider the condition of these organic remains, their
place in natural history, their relations to each other and to the
particular strata in which they occur, and the presence or absence
of marks of transport. Scarcely an appearance of entombed organization could be presented, but it was at once set down to the
account of the deluge.   The contents of all caves containing
bones, were supposed to have been floated or driven into them by
those mighty waters. The scooping out of valleys, whether with
the most abrupt sides and tortuous courses, or in smooth and
gentle undulations of outline, found forthwith a ready explanation; without any exercise of mind upon the inquiry whether
such a diversity of effects does not imply a proportionate diversity
of causes in nature, intensity and duration. All or nearly all, the
superficial drift, consisting of sand, gravel, and rolled pebbles of
all sizes, up to the bowlders of some thousand cubic feet, were,
implicitly and without further examination of cases and circumstances, ascribed to one and the same cause, the diluvial waters.
In short, persons have not been wanting, even down to the present
* The Rev. W. D. Conybeare's Report on Geology, in the Reports of the Britisk
Associationfor the Advancement of Science; vol. i. p. 368.
t This theory was propounded with ability and a good measure of science such as
the time afforded, by John Woodward, D. D. (the founder of the Professorship and the
Museum of Mineralogy, Univ. Cambr.) in his Essay towards a Nat. Hist. of the
EartA, 16f95. Animadversions and objections were published by Leibnitz, Martin Listet, Kammerer prof. at Tiibingen, and others. But it required another century to obtain
a sufficient knowledge of the facts. Dr. W. maintained that all the rocks and contained
minerals were deposited by the diluvian waters, as a common solvent, and in the order
of their specific gravity. Fourth ed.




UNDER-ESTIMATE OF THE DELUGE.                             77
day, who have maintained that all the remarkable appearances on
the surface and beneath the surface of the earth, the depositions,
the fractures, the dislocations, the denudations, the transport of
materials, and the entire formation of strata, are the effects of the
deluge.
By acting upon the common infirmities of our nature, these
pretensions have led to an excess of doubt and objection in the
opposite direction. Shunning the violation of reason and evidence
on the one side, in attributing too much to the flood, distinguished
men, friends of revelation and religion, among whom we must
reckon the great Linnoeus, seem to have been led into the extreme
of too much diminishing their estimate of its power and influence.
It has been passed over as an event of but small importance, and
which therefore might be altogether neglected in our attempts to
trace the natural history of the earth; as having been only a
gradual and tranquil rise of water, fatal to life on an awful scale,
and extirpating the guilty race of man, excepting one small family; but incapable of working any material effect upon the disposition of even the superficial* materials.* To my own apprehen* "That great event has left no trace of its existence, on the surface or in the interior
of the earth."  Prof. Jameson's Notes on CGzevier's Thzeory of the Earth, fifth ed. p.
457. The Professor is a decided friend of revelation. The Rev. Dr. Fleming also, a
divine of the Church of Scotland, has largely vindicated the same opinion. I select the
following from his paper in Jameson's Philos. Journz. No. xxviii. April, 1826. After
describing the attempts of some to extract from geological phenomena a corroboration
of the scripture narrative, and the crumbling away of their hypotheses under a searching
investigation, he says; " The geologist beheld his theories vanish like a dream; and the
admirer of revelation felt (though very unnecessarily) as if a pillar of his faith had become a broken reed. Geology, by those premature attempts at generalizing, fell into
discredit as a science among philosophers; and by the Christian it was viewed with
suspicion. The former had witnessed opinions and assertions substituted for facts; and
the latter had reaped the fruits of misplaced confidence." P. 206. " There is reason
to believe from the writings of Moses, that the ark had not drifted far friom the spot
where it was first lifted up, and that it grounded at no great distance from the same
spot." P. 213. "I entertain the same opinion as Linnaus on this subject; nor do I
feel, though a clergyman, the slightest reason to conceal my sentiments, though they are
opposed to the notions which a false philosophy has generated in the public mind. I
have formed my notions of the Noachian deluge, not from  Ovid, but from  the Bible.
There the simple narrative of Moses permits me to believe, that the waters rose upon
the earth by degrees; that means were employed, by the Author of the calamity, to
preserve pairs of the land animals; that the flood exhibited no violent impetuosity, displacing neither the soil nor the vegetable tribes which it supported, nor rendering the
ground unfit for the cultivation of the vine. With this conviction in my mind, I am not
prepared to witness iL nCatuzre any remaining marks of the catastrophe; and I find my
respect for the authority of revelation heightened, when I see, on the present surface, no
memorials of the event."  P. 214.




78         TRUTH LIES BETWEEN. CUVIER S OPINION.
sion, the truth lies between these extremes.  During both the
increase and the subsidence of the waters, a considerable action,
from rushing among obstacles, would seem inevitable; but the
admission of this by no means necessitates the further position,
that those effects would be distinguishable to men, after the lapse
of many ages: and, that they should have produced the stratifications of the earth, is a notion which must appear impossible to
any one who has a tolerably correct idea of what those stratifications really are.
A remarkable passage relating to this subject, by one of the
finest minds and most eminent philosophers, the late Baron Cuvier,
has been often quoted, and it has a strong claim upon our attention.
" I think therefore, with Deluc and Dolomieu, that, if there be any
thing settled in geology, it is this, that the surface of our globe has
been subjected to a great and sudden revolution, the date of which
cannot be carried much farther back than five or six thousand years;
that that revolution broke down and made to disappear the countries
which had been before inhabited by men and the species of animals
with which we are now best acquainted; that, on the other hand, it
laid dry the bottom of the immediately preceding sea, and formed
the countries which are now inhabited; that it is from the epoch of
that revolution that the small number of individuals whom  it had
spared, have spread themselves and multiplied over the newly dried
ground; and consequently that it is from that epoch alone that human societies have resumed their progressive advancement, have
formed [social] establishments, have erected memorials of themselves,
have collected the facts of nature, and have combined those facts
into scientific systems. But the countries now inhabited, which had
been laid dry by that last revolution, had been inhabited before, if
not by men, yet at least by land animals. It follows, that preceding
revolutions, one at least, had buried those regions beneath the waters;
and, so far as we can judge of the question from the different orders
of animals whose remains are found, it is probable that two or three
such irruptions of the sea had taken place."d"
It is consistent with our admiration and reverence for this great
man, to remark that these observations attach to a state of geo9 Discours sucr les Revolutions de la, Sierface due Globe, et seur les Cheaengemezs
qu'elles ont pioduit dans le Regane Animal; p. 138. Third Edition, Paris, 1826.




OBSERVATIONS ON CUVIER.                79
logical knowledge considerably inferior to that which it has now
attained.  The chief design of the work from which the passage
is taken, was to explain the manner in which the author has applied his knowledge of Comparative Anatomy, to the determination of the masses of bones dug up from the quarries of Paris;
and which, by cautious proceeding, but in the end with the clearest demonstration, he proved to be the remains of animals analogous to many in the existing creation, but all differing in species,
and many generically. Now those formations, in various mixtures
of chalk, sand, and gypsum, belong to different parts of the Tertiary rocks, and not even its earliest divisions: none of them go
lower.  The subjects which were thus presented to the illustrious
naturalist, in numbers so vast, and in a confusion which would
have been overwhelming to minds of less knowledge, industry,
and power than his, were more than enough to occupy his thoughts
and labours, in the most unremitting manner, during every moment of his life, had it been prolonged to this hour: yet he devoted
himself to the efficient performance of many other and those most
arduous duties, as a philosopher, an academician, a politician and
statesman, and a most active labourer in the walks of beneficence.
The number and greatness and comprehension of his exertions
were such as to fill us with even astonishment.  It can excite no
surprise, therefore, that he did not carry his researches farther into
general Geology; that in this respect he was behind many of his
inferiors; and that he appears not to have had the least idea that
many of the points upon which, in this very work, he had put
sagacious queries and had suggested decisive methods of research,
were at the very time under successful examination in our country,
by Dr. William Smith.  That indefatigable explorer, the father of
English Geology, at the time when Cuvier was employed in his
own department and was conferring the richest benefits upon natural history, was completing his patient labours of thirty years;
the result of which was to fix upon a firm basis, the study of the
Secondary rocks, by demonstrating the sure characterism of their
imbedded fossils.
The design of these observations is to intimate that the Baron's
general conclusion, relative to that which he justly calls the last
great and sudden revolution affecting the earth's surface, must not
be taken without modification.  To this the strict evidence of the
case compels us. Though, with his dignified caution and mode



80                   CHARACTER OF CUVIER.
ration, he speaks of only two or three alternations of land and
sea prior to the great deluge; yet the tenor of his work, where
he draws rapid sketches of what to him appeared probable theory,
with respect to the earlier strata and the under-lying crystalline
rocks, and some particular expressions which he uses, afford no
slight grounds of belief that, had his investigations been continued
over the field on which he could do no more than glance, he would
have given his still more decided suffrage in favour of the doctrine
of an immensely long succession of changes affecting the earth
and its living inhabitants; affecting, not the whole circumambient
surface at the same time, but large districts in respect of space,
and in separate periods in respect of duration.  Speaking strictly,
Mineral Geology was not his domain.  His empire consisted of
the Natural History of the living world, Comparative Anatomy,
and the Palaeontological department of Geology; and in this wide
sphere he had not, while living, a superior, nor scarcely a rival.
He was the originator of the science: all others were his followers. No man possessed a more liberal mind than he. To open and
widely distribute his accumulations of knowledge, was his heart's
delight: and he would have bounded with joy, could he have
foreknown the structures which naturalists and geologists, whom
I should perhaps displease were I to name them, have built upon
the foundations by him so firmly laid.
Here, it is appropriate to our subject, and just to the illustrious
foreigner, to repeat a paragraph from Mr. Murchison's eulogium,
delivered from the President's chair of the Geological Society.*
"The death of such a man has called forth deep lamentations
from every land upon whose children the rays of science have shed
their light; and the eulogies poured forth in his honour are heard in
almost every language of the civilized globe. How are we to limit
our praise of one whose ample mind was matched only by the benevolence of his heart; and whose whole life was passed in unremitting exertions to enlarge the domain of science by blending it
with civil polity, and by infusing it into the principles of education l
With an almost incredible knowledge of the structure and functions
$ On Feb. 15, 1833. George Leopold Christian Frederick Dagobert [but he disused
this parade of names beyond the first,] CUVIER died May 6, 1832, of a general and rapid
paralysis, probably brought on by his extraordinary mental and bodily labours, in his 63d
year.




CHARACTER OF CUVIER.-CUVIER S ANTICIPATIONS.    81
of every part of organized nature, he possessed a power above that
of every other man of emancipating himself from mere details, and
of ascending to lofty generalizations, which were ever recommended
by him with all the charms of eloquence; so that in his hands, Natural History became adorned, for the first time, with the highest attributes of pure philosophy. To him we owe the most important of the
laws which have regulated the distribution of the animal kingdom,
and by the application of which we have been made to comprehend
many of the mutations of the surface of our planet. He it was,
who, removing from GEOLOGY the incumbrance of errors and conceits
heaped on it by Cosmogonists, contributed more than any individual
of this century, to raise it to the place which it is assuming amongst
the exacter sciences. Unlike our precursors, we no longer have to
wade through the doubts and perplexities which retarded their acquaintance with the lost types of creation; to his skill we are indebted for a knowledge of their analogies with existing races: and
he it was who, from their scattered bones, remodelled the skeletons
of those wondrous originals which have successively passed away
from the surface of our planet."
Another beautiful and instructive passage of Baron Cuvier's
work, more than justifies the supposition which I have ventured
to make.
"If, in studying the infancy of our species, we take an interest in
following the almost obliterated traces of numerous nations which
have gone out of existence, can we fail to feel an equal interest in
piercing the darkness of the earth's infancy, and finding there the
marks of revolutions prior to the existence of all nations! We admire the powers by which the mind of man has measured the motions
of worlds which nature seemed to have placed for ever out of our
view: but genius and science have burst the limits of space; and a
small number of observations, unfolded by reasoning, have disclosed
the mechanism of the world. Would it not be also a glorious object
for man, to learn how he may clear the boundaries of time; and, by
means of [well directed] observations, recover the history of our
globe, and display the succession of events which preceded the birth
of human kind. The astronomers have indeed advanced faster than
the students of nature upon earth; and, at the present moment, the
theory of the earth somewhat resembles that of some philosophers
[of old], who thought the sky to be built of hewn stones, and the
moon to be even as big as the Peloponnesus.  But Anaxagoras
G




82                   BUCKLAND  ON THE DELUGE.
began: Copernicus and Kepler came to clear the way for Newton:
and why may not Natural History one day have her Newton?"*
These aspirations have  been  realized; so  that I may, with
propriety, introduce a paragraph from one who is entitled to write
in this strain.
" The gradual advance of Geology, during the last twenty years, to
the dignity of a science, has arisen from the laborious and extensive
collection of facts, and from the enlightened spirit in which the inductions, founded on those facts, have been. deduced and discussed.
To those who are unacquainted with this science, or indeed to any
person not deeply versed in the history of this and kindred subjects,
it is impossible to convey a just impression of the nature of that
evidence by which a multitude of its conclusions are supported:
evidence in many cases so irresistible, that the records of the past ages,
to which it refers, are traced in language more imperishable than that
of the historian of any human transactions; the relics of those beings,
entombed in the strata which myriads of centuries have heaped upon
their graves, giving a present evidence of their past existence with
which no human testimony can compete."t
One of the  ornaments of Geology, in  our own  country, has
indeed gone through a course of sentiment not much unlike that
which I have been supposing in relation  to Cuvier.  Dr. Buckland, in his ReliquieT Diluvianwe, published in 1823, quoted a part
of the passage which I read a few minutes ago; and gave the
sanction of his so deservedly high authority to the  idea that the
Discour's, p. 2. I cannot but here borrow the words of a masterly writer: " The
geologist was prohibited from looking beyond the Mosaic chronology,-and the peaceful
deluge of the Scriptures was the only catastrophe to which he durst ascribe the convulsions and dislocations which had every where shaken the interior of the earth. While
our [i. e, English] geologists were thus working in chains, the unfettered genius of
CUVIER was ranging over those primeval ages when the primary rocks rose in insulated
grandeur from the deep, and when the elements of life had not yet received their DIVINE
COMMISSION. From the age of solitude he passed to the busy age of life; when plants
first decked the plains, when the majestic pine threw its picturesque shadows over the
earth, and the tragic sounds of carnivorous life rung among her forests. But these
plains were again to be desolated, and these sounds again to be hushed. The glories of
organic life disappeared, and new forms of animal and vegetable being welcomed the
dawn of a better cycle. Thus did the great magician of the charnel-house survey from
his pyramid of bones, the successive ages of life and death; thus did he conjure up the
spoils of preexisting worlds, the noblest offering which reason ever laid upon the altar of
its SOVEREIGN." Edinburgh Review, vol. lxv. p. 12.
i Ninth Bridgewacter Treatise; p. 47.




BUCKLAND ON THE DELUGE.                  83
present surface of the earth is the effect of the diluvial waters.
While he was enriching his own pages with the pleasing citation,
he was furnishing his illustrious friend at Paris with a seeming
corroboration of the opinion. Speaking of the mud, gravel, and
bones of the Kirkdale Caves, Baron Cuvier proceeds;
" Most carefully described by Prof. Buckland, under the name of
diluvium, and exceedingly different from those other beds of similarly
rolled materials, which are constantly deposited by torrents and
rivers, and contain only bones of the animals existing in the country,
and to which Mr. Buckland gives the name of alluvium; they now
form, in the eyes of all geologists, the fullest proof to the senses of
that immense inundation which came the last in the catastrophes of
our globe."@
This testimony was just.  Dr. Buckland had indeed put forth
his zeal, his characteristic patience, and his never wearied exertions, in exploring the drift, or, as it was usually called, diluvium,
of the British Isles: and after careful inductions from his own observations, he proceeded with the following passage, in reference
to that mighty action of water to which such effects were attributed.
"An agent thus gigantic appears to have operated universally on
the surface of our planet at the period of the deluge: the spaces then
laid bare by the sweeping away of the solid materials that had before
filled them, are called Valleys of Denudation; and the effects we see
produced by water in the minor cases I have just mentioned, by presenting us an example, within tangible limits, prepare us to comprehend the mighty and stupendous magnitude of those forces by which
whole strata were swept away, and valleys laid open, and gorges
excavated in the more solid portions of the substance of the earth,
bearing the same proportion to the overwhelming ocean by which
they were produced, that modern ravines on the sides of mountains
bear to the torrents which, since the retreat of the deluge, have
created and continue to enlarge them."t
*Discours, p. 141.
t Reliq. Dillv, p. 237.
G2




84             ADVANCEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE.
LECTURE V.
2 PETER ii. 5. God spared not the old world,-bringing the flood upon
the world of the ungodly.
EN this sentence of the holy apostle, it is manifestly declared,
that the design of the deluge was to inflict a deserved punishment
upon that generation of men, whose awful impiety had defied the
power of the Most High, and scorned his mercy. This defining
of the object warrants the conclusion, that whatever amount and
extent of the diluvial waters would suffice to execute the sentence
of excision, would also be adequate to fulfil the moral purpose of
the Righteous Judge in ordaining this infliction. If the universality of the flood extended to the human race, " the world of the
ungodly," it is all that was requisite to satisfy the purpose of the
visitation.
In the last lecture, we had set before us some account of the
mistaken views which had been extensively entertained concerning the effects of the deluge, as supposed to have left their permanent impressions upon the surface of our globe: and we listened
to the opinions of some of the most illustrious naturalists and
geologists in favour of that hypothesis, under different modifications.
But the lapse of not more than ten years has brought a vast
collection of observations to bear upon this interesting subject:
and I conceive it may, with the strictest truth, be said that the
annals of science, or of literature, or of theology, do not present a
nobler instance of fairness and mental integrity, than was shewn
by the most perfect geologists that our country, or any other, can
boast, in yielding up a favourite and long cherished opinion, to
which they had committed themselves in the most public manner,
and for which they had been hailed with flattering applause;
knowing also, by a very sure anticipation, that the concession to
the power of evidence, the avowal of honest conviction, would
expose themn to the censures of some, who 1"understand neither




DILUVIAL FORMATIONS.                  85
what they say, nor whereof they affirm," though they speak and
write with a confidence in the direct proportion of their incompetency to say or affirm upon good grounds.
The observations which, in their legitimate deductions, have
produced this remarkable result, have been made by. many persons, and those the best qualified, from their high attainments in
all science, and the skill for making observations which long practice alone can give: they have been made in many countries, near
and far distant; and they have been made with a circumspection,
an exactitude, and an anxious watchfulness against the causes of
mistake, which ought to command our admiration and gratitude.
Those laborious researches were chiefly directed to the drift
of which we have been speaking, and to which was commonly
assigned the name of diluvium. This is found to spread widely
over the surface in many countries, either visibly covering the
ground, or barely concealed by the turf and cultivable soil. During the more early period of geological progress, this diversified
mass was, implicitly, and rather hastily, though the error was
natural, regarded as of one formation; and thence it was an easy
step of advance, in drawing the conclusion that a universal flood
was the active and immediate cause of the whole, that this flood
was among the most recent events affecting the exterior crust of
the earth, and that it must have been identical with the great
deluge of universal tradition and of sacred history. But the need
was felt of closer examination, minutely distinguishing, and carefully classifying. The constitution, mineralogical, or lithological
(for we cannot altogether avoid using the technical terms), of the
small grains of sand, the pebbles, the bowlders, and the masses
of all sizes, which compose the so-called diluvium, was scrutinized,
and compared with the character of rocks at every point on the
lines of distance, till the parent rocks were demonstrated from
which the fragments had been broken or rubbed off. The mineralogical constitution thus traced up to a commencing point, gave
a sure indication of the extent of each kind of drift; and a measure of the varying water-power, by which the detached bodies
of stony matter had been moved onwards. Hence were perceived
the different degrees of force and velocity which characterised the
streams as they flowed; the earlier or later dropping of the mud,
sand, pebbles, and larger pieces, on their course; the greater or
less rolling at the bottom before a resting-place was obtained; the




86                LABOURS OF GEOLOGISTS.
extent of the deposit in breadth, and where it terminated by the
moving power's being exhausted, or being checked by some obstacle; and the deductions which could be drawn as to the time
requisite, under different degrees of water-power, for wearing the
rough and sharp fragments of rocks of various hardness and tenacity, till they could be brought into rounded forms with smooth
surfaces.
To any mind not practised in such inquiries, it is not easy to
conceive what a wide field this was for investigation; and it could
not be occupied by studies only in the closet; it required painful
and patient toil in flood and field, over wide plains, in river-beds,
on the sea-coasts, in the windings of large and small valleys, and
up the mountain-sides; and all this to be effected over many miles
of surface, and in different and distant regions of the earth. No
one person could be competent to more than a limited share in
this field; though we cannot but be astonished at the extensive
portions of it which have been individually explored by distinguished geologists. but they are men in whose circumstances
have been combined eminent science, disengagement from other
occupations, health, bodily strength, ample fortune, and such attachment to these pursuits as made them shrink from no labour.
It is not given to every man to be a De la Beche, a Buckland, or
a Griffith; a Murchison, a Phillips, or a Sedgwick. The investigations however have been carried on, over the larger part of
Europe, and a great breadth and length in North America; and
the observations made by individuals have been brought together,
rigorously sifted, mutually compared, and their combined results
wrought into an harmonious whole. Yet the class of men of
whom I am speaking have not sat down satisfied with even the
best proved inferences. They have continued their efforts; and
their instructions and example have excited others. Many parts
of Eastern Europe, Asia, and South America, have been explored
by experienced geologists: and their Reports, not seldom brought
by themselves and subjected to searching criticism in assemblies of
able and acute examiners, have thus been added to the common
treasury.
One of the first results established was that the outspread
masses of which we are treating, sands, gravel, and bowlders,
were not of one formation nor of one age. The separate divisions
into which they had been traced, put upon each a sort of histori



DRIFT OF DIFFERENT AGES.                     87
cal mark. Some were found to belong to origins almost on their
own spot, that is, the rocks of the locality within but a few miles;
others were traced to a considerable distance, yet in the same
country.  Others were shewn to have been derived from mountains in remote lands, from which they were now divided by lofty
ridges or by seas, which are thus proved not to have existed when
the passage was free. The order of priority or posteriority has
been evinced by palpable proofs. The course of a more ancient
drift has often been overlaid by a more recent one. In many instances, or I might more correctly say in most, it is evident that
the masses of drift have been formed by action long continued
under water; that is, by currents, eddies, and tides, working for
unknown ages, at the bottom and on the shores of the ocean; thus
standing opposed to the idea of any short-lived inundation. Frequently large tracts of country have been stripped bare of their
drifts and underlying strata, evidently by the action of an elevating
movement from below, and a vast body of water on the surface:
and sometimes considerable masses of the materials which had
thus been swept away, occur heaped up in a corner, so to speak,
or where an obstacle was presented to their further distribution.
The idea of sea-beaches covered with shingle is graphically presented, and their successive elevation by slow rising of the land.*
The respective ages, in relation or comparison to each other, are
determined, by the position of the distinguishable kinds of drift,
that of one character lying under or over that of another; by relations to movements of underlying or neighbouring rocks; and
by the geological constitution of the parent rocks whence the
mass had been derived.
These summary remarks might suffice for the purpose of these
lectures, which is not to deliver a system of Geology, but only to
state clearly, if I can, those doctrines which to my conviction
stand upon solid grounds of proof, but which may have the appearance of being contradicted by something said or implied in
the Holy Scriptures. Yet, considering the specially interesting: See Sir Henry de la Beche's Geological Maznual; pp. 172-178; third ed. 1833.
Since that time, many examples have been brought before the Geological Society, by
Prof. Sedgwick and others. Mr. Darwin, describing vast formations of this kind in
South America, observes that the doctrine of slow elevations (a demonstrated fact) "will
account, without the necessity of any sudden rush of water, for the general covering of
mixed shingle, so common in many parts of Europe." Voyage of the Beagle, vol. iii.
pp. 206; see also of that interesting volume, pp. 381, 411, 423.




88                      OLDEST DRIFTS.
character of this subject, I may be excused for briefly describing some of the actual facts which have been brought to
light.
In our own island various and extensive bodies of drift are
found, to which a more detailed attention is necessary. That
which I shall first mention extends over a district to which Mr.
Murchison, by a well-judged application of our early history, has
given the name of Siluria.* It may be generally described as
comprehending a considerable part of Wales, and of Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire. There is good reason to believe that this
body of drift is the most ancient of all that have been formed on
the surface of what is now land, but was then the bed of the sea,
afterwards elevated, and, in the season ordained by Divine Wisdom, made to constitute the island of Great Britain. The region
over which it had been spread when under the waters of an ancient sea, was raised and became dry land, while the ocean still
covered the adjoining districts to the east and north. Since that
elevation it has not been again submerged. Its dried surface was
clothed with vegetation, and became the abode of land animals;
scattered bones of which are dug up, containing anatomical proofs
that they had belonged to species not existing in the present state
of our earth. There are several distinct formations of this drift,
but they are all local, derived from rocks existing within the
region.
Another more extensive body of drift spreads over a large tract
from Lancashire southwards; and it possesses characters of the
most decisive kind, shewing its perfect distinctness from the former.
Its contents are derived, principally from the crystalline rocks and
trappean insertions, which form the great mountains of Westmoreland, Cumberland, and part of Scotland, but with underlying beds
and intermixtures of local drifts, indicating previous formation,
and being of less extent. It proceeds from its origin, tapering
southwards, and turned by the mountains of North Wales, till it
comes up to the boundary of the South Welsh and Severn region
just mentioned; and there it stops. It skirts that region along its
northern and western limit, but does not ascend into it; and it has
* Admirably detailed in the magnificent work, The Silitrian Systemz; 2 vols. in
quarto, with a splendid and most instructive map; 1839. This division of the subject
is treated in chap. xxxvi.




NORTH-EASTERN DRIFT.                 89
also an eastern limit, which proves that a large portion of our
island on that side then stood above the water. Between these
limits, this drift is contracted, till it terminates in a roughlypointed form upon the river Severn, where was either the point of
a bay, or the straits might be prolonged into a wide sea towards
the south. Hence some conclusions of importance force themselves upon our conviction.
The first is, that the country occupied by the local drift had been
raised above the level of the sea which flowed up to its northern
and eastern frontier.
The second, that the waters bringing this newer drift from the
north, did not flow over the region already occupied by the local
and more ancient drift. But there is evidence that both these formations were effected in periods much more remote than the date
of the flood in the days of Noah, and even before the creation of
man and his contemporary animals. We are therefore compelled
to the conclusion that the flood of Noah was not absolutely
universal: for had it been so, the diluvial waters must have
carried forwards the northern drift, mingled with other stones,
gravel, and mud; and so have overspread the previous Silurian
bed.
Thirdly; this newer drift carries further evidence that it was not
deposited by any transient rush of a body of new waters, over a
surface which had been previously dry land: for such would have
been a deluge rising for 150 days, and then beginning to subside,
and in a little more than the same period coming completely to an
end. On the contrary, the rounded forms of the pebbles and
bowlders, and their diminishing sizes as they advance, evince a
very long time of rubbing and grinding by currents, eddies, and
tides at the bottom of the sea; and the occurrence of sea-shells, in
considerable variety and abundance, affords evidence that the
area itself had not been dry land, but the regular bed of the
ocean.
It was mentioned above that the newer or northern drift was
bounded on its eastern flank by a range of elevated land. It must
be added, that the eastern portion of our island affords copious
evidence of having received several other deposits of drift, at different and distant periods, brought from nearly all the primary and
secondary rocks in the northern parts of Great Britain, from the
mountains of Sweden and Norway, and probably from land




90                          ALPINE DRIFTS.
which once occupied that which is now the bed of the German
Ocean.*
In another European region, the effects have been traced of a
series of phenomena more magnificent and astonishing still. To
bring into view the physical reasons for the conclusions is impossible, in this brief sketch; nor indeed could they be made intelligible to a general audience. A statement of the results must
suffice.
Some will perhaps be surprised and incredulous at hearing the
position, which many appearances render probable, that, for countless ages after the elevation of the great mountain-chains of Great
Britain, the region of the Alps, in the heart of Europe, was a
champaign country, in many parts marshy, and enjoying a mean
temperature not much if at all lower than that of tropical regions
in the present condition of the earth. Subsequently, the elevatory movements which have operated so variously and powerfully
upon the crust of the earth, greatly altering the forms and proportions of land and sea, pushed up the previously horizontal beds,
and raised that large district into ranges of mountains considerably
higher than is their present state. This effected an extreme reduction of temperature, and established a polar climate, The
valleys were filled with stupendous glaciers; which, as do those
of the present day, broke off and slowly bore away as along inclined planes, fragments of rock, of all sizes, from that of mere
grains to bowlders weighing hundreds of tons. These, by the
known progressive motion of those immense masses of frozen
snow, were driven over surfaces of denuded rock, in the way of
dry grinding. [Under circumstances of advanced temperature,
they became icebergs, bearing on and in their masses and holding
fixed to their bottom surfaces, those sharp fragments; and pro* Paper of Dr. Mitchell's, read to the Geol. Society, Nov. 7, 1838. Confirmed by Mr.
Lyell, in a Paper read Jan. 22, 1840, which contains much important matter upon the
Drift-formations, on the coast of Norfolk. It is published at length in the Philosoph.
Mag. for May, 1840. Since the depositing of the most recent parts of the drift, the
chalk and all the beds over it, (crag, drift, both stratified and not stratified, marine clay,
fresh-water deposits, and again marine,) have been subjected to elevation and depression again and again after vast intervals, fracture, inclination at all angles, overturning
and convolution; demonstrating the occurrence of repeated and mighty action, but most
probably very slow, and all during a period in a geological sense recent.
[See also a brief but graphic and lively illustration of this subject, by the Scottish
geologist, Mr. Hugh Miller, in his First Imnpressions of Enzgland and its People, 1847,
p. 194.]




NORTHERN  FLOODS.                            91
ducing similar rubbings and tracings upon the rocks over which
they were driven by the force of mighty waters.] The mechanical results of such operations, repeated thousands of times, are
"written as with the point of a diamond." Grooves, slighter
markings, and the interposed small pebbles and fine sand, prove
the kind and manner of the operation. In a subsequent period,
the great system of mountains is supposed to have sunk down, to
the average of seven thousand feet. Consequently, the snows
melted below a certain altitude. In time the valleys were cleared,
and the whole face of the country became nearly what it is at
present. One of the results was, that the blocks of the Alps are
now found on the tops and opposite descents of the Jura mountains, separated from the origin of those blocks by several deep
valleys, running crosswise, each ten or fifteen miles in width, and
the entire distance at least fifty miles. Several local deluges
appear then to have taken place, commencing in some part of the
higher Alps. The earlier of these were probably produced from
the melting of the snow and ice made redundant by the subsidence
of the ground, and the dissolution of which would become very
rapid in consequence of the rock-fissures inevitably produced, and
through which steam and volatilized minerals would rise at a high
temperature. The courses of these floods appear to have been
principally to the east, towards the plains of Italy, and in a
northerly direction, where now is the bed of the Rhine.*
There are evident indications of another deluge, which had
washed over Lapland and Norway, but especially Sweden, in a
direction from north or north-east, to the south, spreading its
stony burden, in accommodation to the receiving surfaces, over
vast districts of Denmark, Poland, and the north of Germany, in
some parts as far as the 51st degree of latitude;t and presenting
* Venetz and De Charpentier; in Jameson's Philos. Journ. vol. xxi. p. 210. and xxii.
p. 27. Agassiz; in the same Journal, xxiv. pp. 176, and 364. Important modifications
of this theory, see in Supplementary Note H.
t [llustration is supplied by Sir Roderick Murchison, in describing the wide extent of
this "great Scandinavian drift, by which all the low countries of the north have been
covered by far-transported materials." "-To obtain a due consideration of the vast
area over which the detritus is spread out, as well as to understand the very irregular
dispersion of the blocks,-sometimes placed at wide distances from each other, at other
times in heaps,-here quite upon the surface, there entangled in mud,-he [the observer]
must traverse not only the northern tracts, but also the great central region of Vologda
and its continuous governments. In doing this, he may for a while be led to speculate
upon the former existence of basins of sand in one tract, and of clay in another. But,
the more he extends his survey, the more will he find that all these accumulations and




92                         AMERICAN  FLOODS.
the polished surfaces of rocks, marked with fine linear scratches,
larger grooves, and even furrows, evidently produced by the passage of immense masses of rock over them.* In other places,
the streams of stones have been borne in different and opposite
directions, radiating from a point of upheaval. Similar proofs,
and those upon a grand scale, of a flood, or rather of several
floods, exist in North America. These were variously local, yet
extensive and powerful to an amazing degree, and having, in like
manner, a direction from northerly points to the southward.t
their associated blocks are parts of one great system of operations, and that they have
all been formed in one long period of time:-he will conclude with us, that this great
northern drift (by whatever power transported) was deposited on the bottom of a sea.The southern limits of these erratics is by no means uniform,-but on the contrary very
devious. The detritus does not in fact occupy an equably shelving southern talus; but,
though often on plateaux, it has in many instances followed, even to great distances, the
course of the existing north and south valleys at its southern extremity.-This ancient
detritus has usually been propelled in an opposite direction to the present course of the
waters.-We feel confident that there are no other parts of Europe in which foreign
materials have been transported so far as from Russian Lapland and Finland to Voroneje
and Putievil; points, from 700 to 800 English miles in straight lines from the nearest
crystalline rocks whence such fragments can have proceeded."-Geol. of gRussia, vol.
i. pp. 9, and 524.-Anno 1845.]
*De la Beche's Geol. Maqtnual, third ed. p. 189. Poggendorf, in Jameson's Journal,
vol. xxiii. p. 69.
[" The superficial detritus of Russia, Poland, and Prussia, like that of other regions
which we have examined, is referable to the great mountain-chain in its vicinity. The
chief, if not the only, distinction between it and all other far-borne drift, consists in the
great breadth and length of the dispersed detritus, in reference to the low mountains
from whence it has been derived; for, whilst in other parts of Europe various local centres of elevation have shed their detritus in different directions (England, France, and the
Alps offer sufficient examples,) the vast regions under consideration have been uniformly
covered with crystalline materials" [see Sect. II.' prop. iii.] "which have proceeded
from Scandinavia and Lapland only." Sir Roderick Murchison's Geology of Russia
and the Ural Mozuntains; vol. i. p. 509; 1845. This magnificent work, in two imperial
volumes, pours a flood of light upon geological science generally and in most of its great
particulars. " This monster-publication may be considered, in more senses than one, as
the opeus magnumn of Geology.-The importance of the work more than rivals its gigantic bulk. It embraces the physical geography, the mineral structure, and the history of
the ancient organized beings of nearly two-thirds of Europe; and the information thus
communicated, for the first time, to the scientific public will enable them to form more
complete and just views on all the geological relations of this vast portion of our continent, than we could possibly have obtained concerning our own little island alone, when
the QuarterlyReview had reached its twentieth volume:" i. e. in 1818. Qsuart. Rev. vol.
lxxvii. p 348; March, 1846.]
t " That a transient deluge, like that described in the Scriptures, could have produced,
and brought into its present situation, all the diluvium which is now spread over the surface of this continent, will not (it seems to me) be admitted for a moment by any impartial observer. It has obviously been the result of different agencies and of different
epochs; the result of causes sometimes operating feebly and slowly, and at other times
violently and powerfully. But the conclusion to which I have been irresistibly forced,
by an examination of this stratum in Massachusetts, is, that all the dileviuzm, wAhich had




TRANSPORT OF ROCKS.                                 93
Those torrents have borne upon  their bosoms numerous icebergs,
broken off from vast glaciers; and which, both from their former
action in separating portions of rock of all sizes, and from the
accompaniments of their disruption, must have involved large
masses of rocky materials. These materials are of all sizes, from
small pebbles and  moderate  bowlders to  blocks of thousands of
cubic feet in dimension and hundreds of tons in weight. As the
icebergs melted away, after the retiring floods had left them, these
stones were deposited. Some of the masses received additional
periods of long-continued water-wearing, and are now exhibited
to us in the graduating forms of blocks separate or in continuous
heaps, smaller bowiders and pebbles, gravel and sand. It must
be borne in mind, that the reducing of angular fragments into
rounded and smooth forms, especially of the extremely hard rocks
which have furnished this drift (quartz, granite, syenite, hornblende, porphyry, basalt, and the like,) could not be effected in a
short time, nor probably by any one land-torrent, or sea-current:
so that we are led to the admission of long action, previous to the
great transport, or subsequently, or both; and that not merely in
progressive motion in straight lines, but by gyrations in basin-like
beenz previously accumuzlated by various agencies, has beenz  nodiJied by a powerful
deluge, sweepig from the north and nzorth-west over every part of the State, not excepting its highest mountains; and since that deluge, none but alluvial agencies have
been operating to change the surface."  Hitchcock's Geology of i/lassachusetts; p. 148.
Amherst, 1835.
" If it be true that continents and vast chains of mountains were elevated at different
periods, and by paroxysmal efforts, it is impossible but that deluges of tremendous violence and universal (1) extent, should have been the consequence. Accordingly, we find
traces of such deluges in the vast beds of conglomerates that exist in the sedimentary deposits; and also in the frequent extinctions and renewals of animal and vegetable life,
which appear to have taken place on the globe. For such deluges must have been fatal
to organized existence: at least to a great extent.-Our rocks [those of Massachusetts]
shew the occurrence of several very powerful deluges in early times.- The new red
sandstone affords evidences of numerous deluges during its deposition; in the many alternations of coarse and fine mnaterials of which it is composed. Two periods, during its
production, appear to have been particularly distinguished for powerful diluvial action.
In the first, those conglomerated beds, made up chiefly of the ruins of granite, and associated with the lower beds of sandstone, were accumulated. In the second, that very
coarse conglomerate, chiefly composed of various schists, and connected with the higher
shales and sandstones, was brought into its present situation.  The osseous conglomerate connected with the plastic clay, indicates diluvial action, perhaps, though not of the
most violent kind, during the de?esition of this formation.'  Hitchcock's Geology of
lsIassachsesetts; p. 250..tmlerst, 1835.
(1) H-le probably means very wide; for a strict universality is not required by the reasoning, nor quite consistent with what follows.




94          CONVICTION OF EMINENT GEOLOGISTS.
spots which abundantly shew themselves in the regions of which
we have been speaking. The heavier fragments, having, by the
force of gravity, originally taken their places at the bottom of the
icy masses, would, upon the melting away of the under-surface,
present sharp angular points; for when they were first enveloped
in the ice they had been just broken off from their parent rocks.
These under surfaces, acting under the pressure of many thousand
tons weight, rubbed and ground smooth the rocks upon which
they slid; and their points made grooves, or deep scratches,
which present themselves to the laborious observer, and are truly
inscriptions "' graven in the rock for ever," and furnishing unerring
indications of the direction in which those vast masses were carried. The torrents must soon have ceased, the waters subsiding
into the seas and lakes in the respective regions. The icebergs
grounded; and, being now in climates which kept them continually
melting, at last disappeared, and the blocks, often exhibiting their
original sharpness of outline, remain to this day, attesting, by the
identity of the stone, which is often remarkably characteristic,
the mountain-ridges whence they had been torn. Those mountainridges are frequently within a few miles, but often at the distance
of some hundreds, from the areas over which the derived pebbles
and bowlders are spread.
Here, then, we have evidence of the origin and the direction,
the breadth (though the edges which would shew the boundary
are often lost in the ocean), and the gradual termination, of the
astonishing bodies of water which had thus been put into a violent
and long-acting motion.
To my auditors, notwithstanding their candour and patience,
I fear that these details have appeared dry and tedious; and to
those who are not accustomed to such verbal descriptions, it may
perhaps be difficult to estimate their argumentative value. But
this object will be attained in a manner highly advantageous and
illustrative, if I here cite the declarations of those eminent Geologists, who have frankly and honourably relinquished their former
opinion.
I begin with Dr. Buckland, because I have already quoted from
his elegant and deeply interesting Reliquiw Diluviane, the passage
expressing what were his sentiments seventeen years ago. In his
Bridgewater Treatise, he mentions, with a brevity which we cannot but lament, the " deposits of diluvial detritus, dispersed over




BUCKLAND.                        95
the surface of formations of all ages."  These he classes with the
newest or latest geological formations, called in Mr. Lyell's nomenclature those of the Pliocene period, that is, the newer of the
Tertiary series; though in fact it is older than the state of the
surface which we can, with any reasonable appearance of evidence,
regard as contemporary with the human race and the present vegetable and animal creation.  Dr. Buckland also shews that the
bones of large quadrupeds, which are abundantly found in these
strata, have belonged to species which no longer exist in a living
state, though we have other species of the same genera: thus
warranting the belief that we live under a different order of creation than that of even the latest of the past periods: he then subjoins the following passage:'" The evidence which I have collected in my Reliquie Diluviane,
1823, shews that one of the last great physical events that have
affected the surface of our globe, was a violent inundation, which
overwhelmed great part of the northern hemisphere, and that this
event was followed by the sudden disappearance of a large number
of the species of terrestrial quadrupeds, which had inhabited these
regions in the period immediately preceding it. I also ventured to
apply the name Diluvium to the superficial beds of gravel, clay, and
sand, which appear to have been produced by this great irruption of
water.
" The description of the facts which form the evidence presented
in this volume, is kept distinct from the question of the identity of
the event attested by them, with any deluge recorded in history.
Discoveries which have been made, since the publication of this
work, shew that many of the animals therein described, existed during more than one geological period preceding the catastrophe by
which they were extirpated. Hence it seems more probable, that
the event in question, was the last of the many geological revolutions
that have been produced by violent irruptions of water, rather than
the comparatively tranquil inundation described in the inspired narrative.
" It has been justly argued, against this attempt to identify these
two great historical and natural phenomena, that as the rise and fall
of the waters of the Mosaic deluge are described to have been
gradual, and of short duration, they would have produced comparatively little change on the surface of the country they overflowed.
The large preponderance of extinct species among the animals we
find in caves, and in superficial deposits of diluvium, and the non



96                         SEDGWICK.
discovery of human bones along with them, afford other strong reasons for referring these species to a period anterior to the creation of
man. This important point, however, cannot be considered as completely settled till more detailed investigations of the newest members of the Pliocene, and of the diluvial and alluvial formations shall
have taken place."*
My next citation is from  an equally distinguished philosopher,
the correspondent ornament of the University of Cambridge.
Though the passage be long, its'importance for our present object
and its comprehensiveness in relation to others, not to mention
the felicity of its expression, render any apology unnecessary.
4" At our former Anniversary I ventured to affirm, that our diluvial
gravel was probably not the result of one, but of many successive
periods. But what I then stated as a probable opinion, may, after
the Essays of M. de Beaumont, be now advanced with all the authority of established truth: and among the many obligations we owe
to this accomplished observer, I may mention the new and instructive
views he has given us of the origin of the great masses of old detritus
lying scattered over the lower regions of the earth. We now connect the gravel of the plains with the elevation of the nearest system
of mountains; we believe that the Scandinavian bowlders in the
north of Germany are of an older date than the diluvium of the
Danube; and we can prove, that the great erratic blocks, derived
from the granite of Mont Blanc, are of a more recent origin than
the old gravel in the tributary valleys of the Rhone. That these
statements militate against opinions, but a few years since held almost universally among us, cannot be denied. But theories of diluvial gravel, like all other ardent generalizations of an advancing
science, must ever be regarded but as shifting hypotheses to be modified by every new fact, till at length they become accordant with all
the phenomena of nature.
"In retreating where we have advanced too far, there is neither
compromise of dignity nor loss of strength; for in doing this, we
partake but of the common fortune of every one who enters on a
field of investigation like our own. All the noble generalizations of
Cuvier, and al1 the beautiful discoveries of Buckland, as far as they
are the results of fair induction, will ever remain unshaken by the
progress of discovery. It is only to theoretical opinions that my
remarks have any application.
* Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i. p. 94.




SEDGWICK.                         97
"Different formations of solid rock, however elevated and contorted, can never become entirely mixed together; and the very progress of degradation commonly lays bare all the elements of their
structure.  But diluvial gravel may be shot off from the flanks of a
mountain chain, during one period of elevation, and become so confounded with the detritus of another period, that no power on earth
can separate them: and every subsequent movement, whether produced by land-floods or any other similar cause, must continually
tend still further to mingle and confound them. The study of diluvial gravel is, then, not only one of great interest, but of peculiar
difficulty and nice discrimination: and in the very same deposit, we
may find the remains of animals which have lived during different
epochs in the history of the earth.
"Bearing upon this difficult question there is, I think, one great
negative conclusion now  incontestably established-that the vast
masses of diluvial gravel, scattered almost over the surface of the
earth, do not belong to one violent and transitory period.  It was indeed a most unwarranted conclusion, when we assumed the contemporaneity of all the superficial gravel on the earth. We saw the
clearest traces of diluvial action, and we had, in our sacred histories,
the record of a general deluge. On this double testimony it was,
that we gave a unity to a vast succession of phenomena, not one of
which we perfectly comprehended, and under the name diluvium,
classed them all together.
"To seek the light of physical truth by reasoning of this kind, is,
in the language of Bacon, to seek the living among the dead, and will
ever end in erroneous induction.  Our errors were, however, natural,
and of the same kind which led many excellent observers of a former
century to refer all the secondary formations of geology to the Noachian deluge. Having been myself a believer, and, to the best of
my power, a propagator of what I now regard as a philosophic heresy,
and having more than once been quoted for opinions which I do not
now maintain, I think it right, as one of my last acts before I quit
this chair, thus publicly to read my recantation.
"We ought, indeed, to have paused before we first adopted the
diluvian theory, and referred all our old superficial gravel to the
action of the Mosaic flood. For of man, and the works of his hands,'we have not yet found a single trace among the remnants of a former
world entombed in these ancient deposits.  In classing together
distant unknown formations under one name; in giving them a
simultaneous origin, and in determining their date, not by the organic
remains we had discovered, but by those we expected hypothetically
H




98                        SEDGWICK.
hereafter to discover, in them; we have given one more example of
the passion with which the mind fastens upon general conclusions,
and of the readiness with which it leaves the consideration of unconnected truths.
" Are then the facts of our science opposed to the sacred records?
and do we deny the reality of an historic deluge l I utterly reject
such an inference. Moral and physical truth may partake of a common essence; but as far as we are concerned, their foundations are
independent, and have not one common element. And in the narrations of a great fatal catastrophe, handed down to us, not in our
sacred books only, but in the traditions of all nations, there is not a
word to justify us in looking to any mere physical monuments as the
intelligible records of that event: such monuments, at least, have not
yet been found, and it is not perhaps intended that they ever should
be found. If, however, we should hereafter discover the skeletons of
ancient tribes, and the works of ancient art buried in the surperficial
detritus of any large region of the earth: then, and not till then, we
may speculate about their stature and their manners and their numbers, as we now speculate among the disinterred ruins of an ancient
city.
"We might, I think, rest content with such a general answer as
this. But we may advance one step further.    History is a continued record of passions and events unconnected with the enduring
laws of mere material agents.-The progress of physical induction,
on the contrary, leads us on to discoveries, of which the mere light of
history would not indicate a single trace. But the facts recorded in
history may sometimes, without confounding the nature of moral and
physical truth, be brought into a general accordance with the known
phenomena of nature: and such general accordance I affirm there is
between our historical traditions and the phenomena of geology.
Both tell us, in a language easily understood, though written in far
different characters, that man is a recent sojourner on the surface of
the earth. Again, though we have not yet found the certain traces
of any great diluvian catastrophe which we can affirm to be within
the human period; we have, at least, shewn that paroxysms of internal energy, accompanied by the elevation of mountain chains, and
followed by mighty waves desolating whole regions of the earth,
were a part of the mechanism of nature. And what has happened,
again and again, from the most ancient up to the most modern
periods in the natural history of the earth, may have happened once
during the few thousand years that man has been living on its surface. We have therefore taken away all anterior incredibility from




GREENOUGH.                       99
the fact of a recent deluge; and we have prepared the mind, doubting about the truth of things of which it knows not either the origin
or the end, for the adoption of this fact on the weight of historic testimony."*
I shall add one more to the mention of eminent Geologists who,
upon the point before us, have shewn their loyalty to the laws of
evidence and the dominion of truth, by surrendering favourite,
long cherished, and diligently elaborated sentiments. It is scarcely
twenty years since Mr. Greenough, at that time President of the
Geological Society, of which he was one of the founders, published his Critical Examination of the First Principles of Geology,
in which he investigates at great length the phenomena which
have detained us so long, the state and connexions of gravel and
transported bowlders. It is right to say of this gentleman that
he has been always distinguished by his comprehensiveness of
knowledge, and his caution, I might say extreme reluctance, and
even jealousy, in acceding to new opinions, till they were substantiated by very satisfactory evidence. In that large and careful disquisition, he repeatedly declares himself in favour of one
great and universal deluge. But in the year 1834, we find him
thus addressing that Society.
" Allow me -- to say a few words upon a subject in connexion
with which my name has of late been brought forward much more
prominently than I could have desired;-I mean Diluvial action.
"Some fourteen years ago I advanced an opinion, founded altogether upon physical and geological considerations, that the entire earth
had, at an unknown period, (as far as that word implies any determinate portion of time,) been covered by one general but temporary
deluge. The opinion was not hastily formed. My reasoning rested
on the facts which had then come before me. My acquaintance with
physical and geological nature is now extended: and that more extended acquaintance would be entirely wasted upon me, if the opinions which it will no longer allow me to retain, it did not also induce
me to rectify. New data have flowed in, and with the frankness of
one of my predecessors, I also now read my recantation.
" The varied and accurate researches which have been instituted of
late years throughout and far beyond the limits of Europe, all tend to
this conclusion, that the geological schools of Paris, Freyberg, and
- Geol.,Soc Proceed. vol. i. pp. 312-314. 1831.
u2




100                  DRIFT IN OTHER REGIONS.
London, have been accustomed to rate too low  the various forces
which are still modifying, and always have modified, the external
form of the earth.  What the value of those forces may be in each
case, or what their relative value, will continue for many years a
subject of discussion; but that their aggregate effect greatly surpasses
all our eatrly estimates, is I believe incontestably established.  To Mr.
Lyell is eminently due the merit of having awakened us to a sense
of our error in this respect. The vast mass of evidence which he
has brought together, in illustration of what may be called Diurnal
Geology, convinces me that if, five thousand years ago, a deluge did
sweep over the entire globe, its traces can no longer be distinguished
from more modern and local disturbances. The first sight of those
comparatively recent assemblages of strata, which he designates the
Eocene, Jkleiocene and Pleiocene Formations, (unknown but a few years
ago, though diffused as extensively as many which were then honoured
with the title of universal,) shews the extreme difficulty of distinguishing their detritus from what we have been accustomed to esteem
Diluvium. The Fossil Contents of these formations strongly confirm
this argument. M. Deshayes has shewn that they belong to a series
unbroken by any great intervals, and that if they be divided from
the secondary strata, the chasm can have no relation to any such
event as is called The Flood.'Further, the elephants and other animals once supposed to be
exclusively Diluvial, are now admitted to be referrible to two or
three distinct epochs; and it is highly probable that the blocks of the
Jura mountains, of the North of Germany, of the North of Italy, of
Cumberland, Westmoreland, &c. are not the waifs and strays of one,
but of several successive inundations."
In addition to these vestiges of deluges, wide in their extent,
and mighty in their effects, but yet limited and marked with characters of independent action and diversity of time, geological
research has brought to light other facts and evidences, which we
cannot enlarge upon. The phenomena are chiefly in the northern
hemisphere.*   As far as my reading has enabled me to get infor-, Fo029urth ed. In North America, vast tracts of country are described by scientific observers as overspread by drift, containing massive bowlders and of all inferior sizes down
to pebbles and sand, and masses of clay. They have been borne from the mountains of
the northerly regions (Upper Canada, &c.) to distances of 50 or 60, 100 to 200, and in
some directions, above 400 miles. The thickness of these streans of stones varies from
about 10 feet to 100, and in some places 200 or 300, and more. On this subject, see Dr.
Hitchcock's Elemenztary Geology, sec. ed. pp. 192-219; the same author's Geology of
3tassachszesett.s, in two large quarto vols. 1841, vol. ii. p. 350-406; Mr. Lyell's Travels




DRIFT  IN  OTHER  REGIONS.                         101
mation, and if the recollection do not fail, they are much less
frequent and extensive in the equatorial regions.  In Jamaica, Mr.
De la Beche found considerable masses of drift-pebbles, conglomerates, and breccias, derived from the rocks of the island, and evidently of various ages.*   But in  the  farther latitudes of South
America, the plains of Patagonia, an area of two  or three thousand square miles is covered with drift derived from the chain of
the Andes by the washing of the ocean upon ancient coasts,
which, in successive geological periods, have been raised above
the waters, leaving a series of beaches which form terraces hundreds of miles asunder, and marked with the intervention of volin North Amnerica, 1845, passages referred to in the Index under Drift, especially vol.
ii. p. 99. From the Geology of Massachusetts, I cite an appropriate passage.
" Another theory, which has long been a favourite one, imputes diluvial action to the
Deluge of Noah. The freshness and apparent recency of the effects of this action, and its
apparent universality, give at first view a strong probability to this supposition, if we
understand the language of Scripture in its most literal sense. But many distinguished
Biblical writers regard the description of the Noachian Deluge as an example of the use
of universal terms with a limited meaning," [as is often the case, especially in ancient
writings and the sacred books, but this is only when the limitation is suggested by the
context, or by the natutre and conditions of the stubject:] "' and hence regard that deluge
as not universal over the globe, but only over the region inhabited by man. Again; if
the diluvial action of Geology resulted from the Deluge of Noah, why are the organic
remains found in diluvium, mostly of extinct animals? And why is not man among the
number? Finally, the diluvial action of Geology must have occupied a much longer
period than the hundred and fifty days, or at longest the year, of the Noachian Deluge.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to make any one feel the force of this objection, who is
not familiar with diluvial phenomena. But he who has seen where the hardest rocks
have been worn away many feet at least, and probably sometimes many hundred feet,
by diluvial action, cannot but see that many years must have been required for the
work, even though the waters were driven over the surface with the greatest violence."
Vol. ii. p. 403.
" The structure of the Appalachian mountains (and, by analogy, those of other countries), implies the operation of far greater and more sudden forces than the gentle secular changes observed in modern times; and they (H. D. and W. B. Rogers,) consider it
impossible to avoid the conclusion that all the more extensive evoltionzs of the earth's
crust have inzvolved, to a greater or less extent, the agency of vast earthqscake soaves.
[They mean an' actual billowy pszlsation in the molten matter,' upon which they suppose the crust of the earth floats;' engendered by a linear or focal disruption and immediate collapse of' the crust, accompanied by the explosive escape of highly elastic
vapour:'-p. 775.-]  To the action of these waves, in different geological epochs, they
attribute the formation of the vast masses of conglomerate and detrital deposits distributed in the various groups of strata; also the transport of the great northern drift, and
the polished and furrowed surfaces of rocks both in Europe and in N. England. AthesMcuzsme, Aug. 26, 1843, p. 776.
Mr. Griflilh,-on vast erratic block and bowlder deposits in Ireland,-thinks that they
have been carried by currents from at least two foci, in Ireland. lb. 776.
* Geol. Soc. Transact. Second Series; vol. ii. Article xiii. 1827. See also his
Geol. Manscal, p. 142.




102                    CENTRAL FRANCE.
canic eruptions.  The mind is overwhelmed by an attempt to
reduce these periods to any comparison with our puny measures
of time: and yet they belong to the most recent class of geological operations.*
It must not be forgotten that, in some situations, the characters
of the rolled stones are thought to warrant the supposition of their
having been driven and agitated upon the bottom of the deep
ocean, by under-currents, acting during vast periods of time, when
it is probable that the region, which now constitutes Europe,
was occupied by the sea, and studded with a multitude of small
islands.
The inference to which all these observations and reasonings
lead, is that geological evidence is adverse to the admission of a
deluge simultaneous and universal for every part of the earth's
surface. Indeed I must add that, in proportion to the care and
accuracy with which the investigation of physical facts has been
carried on, so the proofs have accumulated that there never was a
period, since any vestiges occur of the existence of organized
creatures, when the earth did not possess a varied face; partly dry
land with its vegetable and animal occupiers, and partly the wide
domain of the waters possessing their numerous inhabitants.
Another fact, which has an interesting reference to our present
inquiry, must not be passed over, though I can only treat it with
the utmost brevity. There is a district in the southern part of
the centre of France, more than forty miles in length, and twenty
in breadth, comprised in the ancient provincial divisions of Auvergne and Languedoc.t  In this district are the unquestionable
cones, craters, and other characteristic remains of more than two
hundred volcanic hills and mountains. These, in former periods
of our planet's history, have projected their tremendous fiery
masses, ashes, and water, into the air; and vast streams of the
melted rocks along the ground. Some of the smaller hills may
have been secondary vents, burst open at the same time with a
great mountain-eruption, with whose interior a series of minor
cones might be connected, in a way well known to those who
For this information I am indebted to Mr. Darwin's instructive and delightful
volume, the third of the INarrative of the Voyages of Captains King and Fitzroy; p.
201, &c.
t Supplementary Note I; which will be a welcome refreshment to the Christian's
heart, giving an authentic account of the Revival of True Religion in that district.




AGE OF THE VOLCANOES OF AUVERGNE.               103
have studied the structure and action of volcanoes. But, when
every allowance is made for this supposition, there remains the
astonishing spectacle of many contiguous burning mountains, some
of them fairly comparable to Vesuvius.* All the accompaniments
of volcanic action, are here presented in the most perfect manner.
The craters, the ejected ashes and cinders, the characteristic fragments of stones, and the consolidated but once liquid masses of
various lavas, which have flowed in all directions, dispossessing
rivers of their channels, filling up those channels and other valleys
to heights of fifty, one hundred, and many more feet, and spreading in their various flow, over many miles of area. The different
and distant periods which separated these eruptions from each
other, are shewn by the interposition of stratified formations, and
by numerous other circumstances, appropriate marks of volcanic
districts. Subjacent and alternating beds of different material
demonstrate the succession of distinct mineral formations, and a
rich abundance of what was once vegetable and animal life in
species of creatures which belong not to the present condition of
our globe. Vast forests, and those of the largest chestnut trees,
now clothe many parts of the slope. "Rivers have, since the
flowing of these lavas, worn themselves new channels; and have
sometimes not only exposed on each bank a precipitous wall of
columnar basalt one hundred and fifty feet in height, but even to
a considerable depth eaten into the granite rocks beneath; the
whole excavation being of course entirely subsequent to the volcanic eruption, the lava of which flowed at the bottom of the
then existing valley."t
Yet when did these fires burn? When took place this amazing
combination of volcanic eruptions and their terrible accompaniments? How long ago was the last of them? And by what intervals of time could we ascend, from that last, to the earlier
eruptions; and to the earliest of the-astounding number?These questions cannot be answered by any assigning of our measures of time; years and centuries. Such analogies as may be
inferred by comparative examinations of the condition of iEtna,
Vesuvius, and other active volcanoes, carry us to the contemplar.* The summit of Vesuvius is 3900 feet above the level of the sea. Of these extinct
volcanoes, one is 3956, another more than 4000, another nearly 5000, and many are from
500 to 1000.
t Qzcarterly Review, vol. xxxvi. p. 464; 1827.




104           AGE OF THE VOLCANOES OF AUVERGNE.
tion of a period which runs back not to the age of Noah merely,
but immeasurably beyond the date of the creation of man and his
contemporary plants and animals. In mountainous countries many
facts are presented to the eye which approach to a standard of
measurement of the average action of the atmosphere and of running water, in decomposing and washing off the surface of granitic
and basaltic rocks.  That action is sure and constant: but it is
slow, to such a degree, that not years but centuries are requisite
for its chronicle. Even the abrading of that description of rocks
when they form the boldest sea-coast, by the violence of storms
added to the ordinary action of water and weather (an addition
of great power), has not materially altered the outline of such
shores in Cornwall, the west and north of Scotland, Norway, and
many other countries, since the beginning of our historical knowledge. But the action of a fresh-water river, impinging upon
hard rocks, is much more feeble. Yet, in the district of which
we are speaking, such streams have made themselves a way, in
several places, between the granite and the lower part, indeed the
most porous and friable, of the lava, which had formed rocks of
more than one hundred feet in thickness, overlying the granite.
Such an operation must have been slow, almost beyond conception. In whatever way we may contrive to imagine a reduction
of the time necessary for this purpose, the mind cannot rest upon
a period less than many thousands of years.* Also, in this re* "These ancient currents [of basalt] have since been corroded by rivers, which
have worn through a mass of 150 feet in height, and formed a channel even in the
granite rocks beneath, since the lava first flowed into the valley. In another spot, a bed
of basalt, 160 feet high, has been cut through by a mountain stream. —The vast excavations effected by the erosive power of currents along the valleys which feed the
Ardgche, since their invasion by lava-currents, prove that even the most recent of these
volcanic eruptions belong to an era incalculably remote." Mr. Poulett Scrope's Memoir of the Geology of Cenztral Fr azce.
"The time that must be allowed for the production of effects of this magnitude, by
causes evidently so slow in their operation, is indeed immense: but surely it would be
absurd to urge this as an argument against the adoption of an explanation so unavoidably forced upon us. The periods which, to our narrow apprehension and compared
with our ephemeral existence, appear of incalculable duration, are in all probability
but trifles in the calendar of nature. It is Geology that, above all other sciences, makes
us acquainted with the important, though humiliating fact. Every step we take in it
forces us to make unlimited drafts on antiquity.
"There are many minds that would not for an instant doubt the GOD of nature to have
existed from call eternity, and would yet reject as preposterous the idea of going back
a million of years in the history of his works. Yet, what is a million, or a million million, of solar revolutions to an ETERNITY?" lb. p. 165.




AGE OF THE VOLCANOES OF AUVERGNE.                     105
markable region, in places where time has laid bare large perpendicular surfaces, are presented series of strata of different rock;
and laminations of the same kind of rock, which amount to the
thickness of one hundred feet, and two hundred, and still more.
One of the laminated formations' just mentioned may be said to
furnish a chronometer for itself.  It consists of sixty feet of siliceous and calcareous deposits, each as thin as pasteboard, and
bearing upon their separating surfaces the stems and seed-vessels
of small water-plants in infinite numbers; and countless multitudes
of minute shells, resembling some species of our common snailshells. These layers have been formed with evident regularity,
and to each of them  we may reasonably assign the term  of one
season, that is a year. Now thirty of such layers frequently do
not exceed one inch in thickness. Let us average them at twentyfive. The thickness of the stratum is at least sixty feet; and thus
we gain, for the whole of this formation alone, eighteen thousand
years.
Further: many of these hills in the form of sugar-loaves consist of, or are coated with, pumice-stone and other loose and light
substances, which every person knows to be volcanic products.
It is self-evident that these could not have withstood the action of
a flood: they must have been broken down and washed away with
the first rush of water. Either, then, the eruptions which produced them, took place since the deluge; or that deluge did not
reach to this part of the earth. Against the former side of this
alternative, the argument from analogy is very strong. All that
we know of the history of volcanoes impresses us with the vast
improbability, that such an intensity and extent of volcanic action
as belonged to the later series only, of these eruptions, could
begin, run their course, and come to an end by settling in perfect
quiescence, within the period from the deluge to our first historical
notices of this district, which is about 2300 years.@ Supposing
* Sec. ed. A paper of great interest was presented to the Geological Society, on
Nov. 2, 1836, by Mr. H. E. Strickland and Mr. W. J. Hamilton, upon the Geology of
the Western part of Asia Minor. This includes the country anciently called the B2urnt
(1 KcaraTaKeavsutJvq. Strabo. ed. Falc. p. 900, &c.); on account of the marks of volcanic
combustion with which it abounds. It is the region of the ancient Sardis and Philadelphia. It presents a strong resemblance to " the volcanic district of Central France. In
each country are extensive lacustrine formations, cones of scoritm of different ages,
cozcles," [rocks preserving their pristine form of lava-flowings,J "'sometimes forming
plateaux on the summits of isolated hills" [consequently that which originally filled the
intervening valleys must have been worn off and washed away; a series of operations




106                WATERS OF THE DELUGE.
the eruptions in question to have commenced immediately upon the
subsiding of the diluvial waters, it would be contrary to all known
instances of volcanic action, to suppose that they would finally
cease within a less period than many centuries.  Now  Julius
Caesar, in his Gallic wars, was encamped in this very district, at
the closing part of the period just mentioned. His writings furnish abundant evidence of his observant, inquisitive, and acute
character. Notwithstanding his vicious habits, he had a mind
deeply imbued with literature, and the love of philosophical pursuits; and he made considerable attainments in science so far as
in his day was practicable.  Had he found in this place any tradition of volcanic action as having formerly existed, it is morally
certain that his curiosity would have been powerfully awakened,
and that we should have had in his Commentaries the result of
his inquiries. But nothing of the kind exists, though he indicates
his acquaintance with the features of the country, as having surveyed it with the eye of a general.*
The geological difficulties are not the only ones which present
themselves, in relation to the admission of a strictly universal
deluge, and some of the circumstances which are commonly supposed to be affirmed or implied in the sacred narrative. It would
be a failure in the service which I have undertaken, were I to pass
these by without notice: but I must renew my entreaty that my
auditors would not permit any conclusion unfavourable to the
perfect verity of the Mosaic narrative, correctly interpreted, to
lodge in their minds; for I trust that, in a future lecture, satisfactory proof will be brought that such conclusion would be erroneous.
The mass of water necessary to cover the whole globe to the
depth supposed, would be in thickness about five miles above the
previous sea-level. This quantity of water might be fairly calculated as amounting to eight times that of the seas and oceans of
the globe, in addition to the quantity already existing. The
requiring time to us immeasurable!] "at others continuous streams, and thick beds of
lava worn through by the action of running water." There are thirty distinct volcanoes,
whose craters are filled up and covered with vegetation; and which are therefore evidently the oldest. " The newer volcanoes, of which there are only three, must have
been extinct for at least 3000 years" [otherwise history would almost certainly have preserved some memorial of them]; "yet their craters are perfectly defined, and their
streams of lava are black, rugged, and barren."
Conmment. vii. 4, 9, 36. Supplementary Note, K.




WATERS OF THE DELUGE.                      107
questions then arise, Whence was this water derived; and how
was it disposed of, after its purpose was answered?  These questions may indeed be met, by saying that the water was created
for the purpose, and then  annihilated. —That Omnipotence
could effect such a work, none can doubt: but we are not at
liberty thus to invent miracles, and the narrative in the Book of
Genesis plainly assigns two natural causes for the production of
the diluvial water; the incessant rain of nearly six weeks, called
in the Hebrew phrase the "windows of heaven," that is, of the
sky; and the " breaking up of all the fountains of the great deep."
By the latter phrase some have understood that there are immense
reservoirs of water in the interior of the earth, or that even the
whole of that interior, down to the centre, is a cavity filled with
water; a notion which was excusable in the defective state of
knowledge a century ago, but which, from the amplest evidence,
we now know to be an impossibility. The use of this expression,
in other parts of Scripture, sufficiently proves that it denotes the
general collection of oceanic waters. It is scarcely needful to say,
that all the rain which ever descends, has been previously raised,
by evaporation from the land and water that form the surface of
the earth. The capacity of the atmosphere to absorb and sustain
water is limited. Long before it reaches the point of saturation,
change of temperature and electrical agency must produce copious
descents of rain: from all the surface below, evaporation is still
going on: and, were we to imagine the air to be first saturated to
the utmost extent of its capacity, and then to discharge the whole
quantity at once upon the earth, that whole quantity would bear
a very inconsiderable proportion to the entire surface of the globe.
A few inches of depth would be its utmost amount.* It is indeed
the fact, that upon a small area of the earth's surface, yet the
most extensive that comes within experience or natural possibility,
heavy and continued rain for a few days often produces effects
fearfully destructive, by swelling the streams and rivers of that
district: but the laws of nature, as to evaporation and the capacity
of atmospheric air to hold water in solution, render such a state of
* Seven inches, according to Mr. Rhind, in his Age of the Earth, p. 100. Edinb. 1839.
[Atmospheric air holds in solution 3-5 of its own quantity. Therefore,-" supposing the
vast canopy of air, by some sudden change of internal constitution, at once to discharge
its whole watery store, this precipitate would form a sheet of scarcelyfive inches thick
over the surface of the globe."-Sir John Leslie's Dissertation on the Progress of Mathematical and Physical Science. Encyclop. Brit. vol. i. p. 650; edit. 1843.]




108                WATERS OF THE DELUGE.
things over the whole globe, not merely improbable, but absolutely
impossible.
If we then turn to the waters of " the great deep," we obtain
the idea of an irruption of the sea, spreading desolation and death
over the land. Such irruptions have often occurred over low
countries bordered by flat coasts. But all the water that could
be derived from this cause would produce only an increased diffusion over the land, which would be accompanied by a substraction of water from  the sea, to the same amount.  The absolute
quantity of water, for the entire globe, would remain precisely the
same.
But we are especially called to take notice of the terms used in
the sacred narrative, which appear to exclude the idea of a sudden
and violent irruption; and to present that of an elevation and afterwards a subsidence, comparatively gentle, so that the ark was
lifted, floated, and borne over the awful flood in a manner which
we might call calm and quiet, if compared with an in-burst of the
sea by the immediate breaking of the barrier. The words are,
" The waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up
above the earth: and the waters prevailed, and were increased
greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the
waters." In relating the subsidence, the words used are such as
remarkably suit the conception of a large body of water undergoing a process of evaporation from the surface, and of a gradual
draining off by outlets beneath: " God made a wind to pass over
the earth" (-an expression which definitely conveys the idea of
a local field of operation; extensive it might be, but totally inapplicable to the surface of the whole globe; —) "and the waters
assuaged; the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven* was restrained; and
the waters returned from off the earth continually-(literally,
going and returning) and, after the end of the hundred and fifty
days, the waters were abated."
If we suppose the mass of waters to have been such as would
cover all the land of the globe, we present to ourselves an increase
of the equatorial diameter by some eleven or twelve miles. Two
new elements would hence accrue to the action of gravity upon
* This " rain" is not to be considered as a third cause; but, according to the frequent
style of Scripture, exegetically intended, or upon the principle of the hendiadys, which
is abundant in the Hebrew Scriptures.




ANIMALS PRESERVED.                  109
our planet.  The absolute weight would be greatly increased, and
the causes of the nutation of the axis would be varied. I am not
competent to the calculation of the changes in the motions of the
earth which would thus be produced, and which would propagate
their effects through the whole solar system; and indeed to the
entire extent of the material creation: but they would certainly be
very great. To save the physical system from derangements,
probably ruinous to the well-being of innumerable sentient natures, would require a series of stupendous and immensely multiplied miracles.
Again, pursuing the supposition, the ark would not remain stationary: "it went upon the face of the waters."  Its form was
adapted to secure slowness of motion; so that it should float as
little a distance as possible from the place of human habitation.
But, by the action of the sun upon the atmosphere, currents would
be produced, by which the ark would be borne away, in a southerly
and then a western direction.  To bring it back into such a situation as would correspond to its grounding in Armenia, or any part
of Asia, it must first circumnavigate the globe. But, this was
impossible in the time, even if it had possessed the rate of going
of a good sailing vessel. It might, perhaps, advance as far as the
middle of North Africa, or the more westerly part; and there it
would ground, at the end of the three hundred days.
Upon the supposition that the words of the narrative require to
be understood in the sense of a strict and proper universality,
another difficulty arises with respect to the preservation of animals. Ingenious calculations have been made of the capacity of
the ark, as compared with the room requisite for the pairs of some
animals, and the septuples of others: and it is remarkable that
the well-intentioned calculators have formed their estimate upon a
number of animals below the truth, to a degree which might appear incredible.  They have usually satisfied themselves with a
provision for three or four hundred species at most; as in general
they shew the most astonishing ignorance of every branch of Natural History.  Of the existing mammalia (animals which nourish
their young by breasts,) considerably more than one thousand
species are known; of Birds, fully five thousand: of Reptiles,
very few kinds of which can live in water, two thousand; and
the researches of travellers and naturalists are making frequent
and most interesting additions to the number of these and all other




110                               ANIMALS.
classes.* Of Insects (using the word in its popular sense) the
number of species  is immense;  to  say  one  hundred  thousand
would be moderate: each has its appropriate habitation and food,
and these are necessary to its life; and the larger number could
not live in water. Also the innumerable millions upon millions
of animalcules must be provided for; for they have all their appropriate  and diversified  places and  circumstances of existence.t
But all land animals have their geographical regions,j to which
their constitutional natures are congenial, and many could not
live in any other situation.  We cannot represent to ourselves the
idea of their being  brought into one small spot, from  the  polar
regions, the torrid zone, and all the other climates of Asia, Africa,
Europe, America, Australia, and  the  thousands of islands; their
preservation and provision; and the final disposal of them;-without bringing up the idea of miracles more stupendous than any
that are recorded in Scripture,~ even what appear appalling in' Among the numerous and satisfactorily authentic works of this description, it is a
pleasure to mention two as an honour to our country, which are now publishing under
the authority of Her Majesty's Treasury: the Zoology of the Voyage of H. M. S.
Beagle, Capt. Fitzroy, by Mr. Darwin, Naturalist to the Expedition: and the 111istrationzs of Africacn Zoology, by Dr. Andrew Smith, who conducted an exploring expedition into the Interior of South Africa. Both these enterprises were effected in the years
1832 to 1836.-Since, completed.
t Fourth, ed. To the best of my remembrance, these numbers were given, in the
delivery of the Lecture, from general recollection, or when I had not the time for accurate research. I therefore adduce the following as more perfect statements. The sentence upon animalcules was intended to refer to individuals, not to species.
From the Enicycloycedia Britanznica (1842,) upon the authority of Mr. Swainson:SPECIES.                                SPECIES.
Mammalia......... 1,000 Conchylia and naked Mollusca.   5,100
Birds.......... 6,000 Insects........  550,000
Reptiles and amphibious animals. 1,500 Vermes, &c........        2,500
Fishes...........  6,000 Zoophytes, c.......   2,500
1" Besides these, there exist innumerable hosts of Infusoria." Vol. xvii. p. 549.
To Dr. Beard's Bible Dictionzary, vol. i. p. 422, I am indebted for another passage:"Greatly has our acquaintance with the animal world been extended by the labours
of Cuvier. Linnreus, in the last edition of his Systeom of Nlature, described altogether
six thousand species of animals. [Linnueus died in 1778.1 Whereas the following numbers have been known for a long time, and every year is making some addition.
SPECIES.                                SPECIES.
C' Mammalia.....                 800 Conchylia.....             15 to 20,000
Birds........                   6,000 Insects......                  80,000
Amphibious animals and            1,000 Intestinalworms...   1,500 to 2,000
Reptiles....                 Zoophytes, including1               000oo
Fishes.5 to 6,000   600 Infusoria: See Lect. II. prop. xxvii.
~ Some one may adduce Josh. xi. 13, the sun and the moon standing still: but the
obvious reply is, that the whole effect wanted in that case, and fully answering to the de



DESCENT FROM ARARAT.                              111
comparison.   The great decisive miracle of Christianity, the RESURRECTION of the LORD JESus,-sinks down before it.
The  persons of whom  we  are speaking  have  probably never
apprehended any difficulty with respect to the inhabitants of the
waters; supposing that no provision was needed for their preservation.  It may therefore be  proper to  notice some particulars.
Such an additional quantity of water as their interpretation requires, would so dilute and alter the mass as to render it an unsuitable element for the  existence of all the classes,  and would
kill or disperse their food; and all have their own appropriate
food.  Many of the marine fishes and shell animals could not live
in fresh-water: and the fresh-water ones would be destroyed by
being kept even a short time in salt water. Some species call
indeed live in brackish water: having been formed by their Creator to have their dwelling in estuaries and the portions of rivers
approaching the sea; [or they may be brought to endure it:] but
even these would be affected, fatally in all probability, by the
increased volume of water and the scattering and floating away of
their nutriment.l
Thus, in a variety of ways, it is manifest that, upon the interscription of the apparent phenomenon as recorded, would be produced by an alteration
in the refracting and transmitting properties of the atmosphere, immediately over the
part of Judea where the victory was obtained. Such an alteration would be an indubitable miracle. But if any exclaim, I All miracles are alike; the smallest and the greatest
are equal to Omnipotence;' I request their kind attention to some remarks in a former
lecture, (pp. 60 —63.) Upon this particular case, to suppose that the diurnal rotation of
the earth was interrupted, is to bring in a shock which would have disturbed the functions of not only every part of our earth, and the planetary system, but would extend
through the astral spaces, rendering necessary three continuous and universal miracles,
one for the disturbance, a second for preserving all creatures from being ruined by the
shock, and a third for the restoration of order.
lThird ed. A very moderate proportion of salt water will dilute a much larger
quantity of fresh, if it be introduced suddenly, in such a degree as to destroy life. In
the dreadful hurricane of Barbadoes, Aug. 10, 1831, the spray of the sea was carried by
the wind for many miles inward, so that its falling was called a salt-water rain; and
" all the fresh-water fish in the ponds of Major Leacock were killed." Gen. Reid on
the Law of Storms; 1838, p. 34.
f Third ed. The larger number of land-plants, and those the most important for size
and utility (as timber and fruit trees, and the different kinds of corn and grasses,) lose
their vitality by a short submersion in water; so that, in a period equal to the duration
of the Deluge, they would have become putrescent and in a great measure decomposed.
Thus, upon the supposition of a strict universality, a new creation of the chief part of
the vegetable tribes would have been necessary, after the waters had subsided. In this
view, the existence of an olive-leaf (Gen. viii. 11) is an observable circumstance. It
was probably a fresh germination, but the stem must have grown very near the highest
point to which the waters ascended, and could not have been long under water.




112                    ANCIENT TREES.
pretation which I conceive to be erroneous, the preservation of
animal life in the ark, was immensely short of being adequate to
what was necessary.
Further; if we admit that interpretation, and also accede to the
usual opinion that the Ararat upon which the ark rested was the
celebrated mountain of that name in Armenia, and which tradition
points out as being such,-we are involved in another perplexity.
That mountain is nearly the height of our European Mont Blanc,*''
and perpetual snow covers about five thousand feet from its summit.  If the water rose, at its liquid temperature, so as to overflow that summit, the snows and icy masses would be melted;
and, on the retiring of the flood, the exposed mountain would
present its pinnacles and ridges, dreadful precipices of naked rock,
adown which the four men and four women, and with hardly any
exception, the quadrupeds, would have found it utterly impossible
to descend. To provide against this difficulty, to prevent them
from being dashed to pieces,-must we again suppose a miracle?
Must we conceive of the human beings and the animals, as transported through the air to the more level regions below: or that,
by a miracle equally grand, they were enabled to glide unhurt
down the wet and slippery faces of rock?
One fact more I have to mention, in this range of argument.
There are trees of the most astonishing magnificence as to form
and size, which grow, the one species in Africa, the other in the
southern part of North America. There are also methods of ascertaining the age of trees of the class to which they belong, with
satisfaction generally, but with full evidence after they have passed
the early stages of their growth.  Individuals of these species
now existing are proved, by those methods, to have begun to
grow at an epoch long before the date of the deluge; if we even
adopt the largest chronology that learned men have proposed.
Had those trees been covered with water for three-quarters of a
year, they must have been destroyed: the most certain conditions
of vegetable nature, for the class (the most perfect land-plants) to
which they belong, put such a result out of doubt.  Here then we
are met by another independent proof that the deluge did not extend to those regions of the earth.t
-i The most recent statements make it much higher: Mont Blanc, 15,668 English feet:
Ararat, 17,000. Black's Atlas. 1840.
t See Supplementary Note L; on the Longevity of Trees.




SUSPENSE REQUESTED.                  113
Such are the objections which present themselves against the
interpretation which, with grief I acknowledge, is generally admitted, in relation to the scriptural narrative of the deluge. It
is a painful position in which I stand. I seem to be taking the part
of an enemy, adducing materials for scepticism, and doing nothing
to remove them. But this situation for me is inseparable from
the plan of these lectures; the only plan that appeared practicable.  The apparent discrepancies, between the facts of science,
and the words of Scripture, must be understood, before we can
make any attempt at their removal. I confide in the candour of
my friends, that they will suspend their judgment till I am enabled
to lay before them the way, in which I conceive that independent
and unforced philological evidence will enable us satisfactorily to
dispose of those difficulties.




114           GIFTS IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.
LECTURE VI.
PART I.
1 THESSALONIANS V. 21. Prove all things: hold fast that which is
good.
WE are born for great and noble purposes. The object of
existence, to every rational creature, is to enjoy a conscious union,
in approbation, delight, and conformity, with the Being who is
supreme in all excellence. To love and obey him is to secure our
own happiness, and to acquire the best means of promoting that
of every other being within our influence. If our minds be not
dead to just feeling, we must be sensible that this is a necessary
truth: and its undeniable concomitants are accountableness and
retribution, stretching out into immortality. To that immortality
of moral purity and happiness, the Revelation from God, contained
in the Scriptures, is our only guide. Clearly then, it is the duty
of every man to apprehend, with the most complete intelligence
and satisfaction that he can attain, the contents and evidences of
that Revelation; and to remove out of the way every obstacle to
a complete "'assurance of faith." Among the Christians of the
apostolic age, there was a variety of talents for the understanding
of sacred subjects, their explication, and their communication to
others. Some of these were of an extraordinary kind, depending
for their existence and exercise upon peculiar communications
from the Sovereign of all minds, who, in order to give the fullest
proofs of divine authority, in the introduction of Christianity,
confirmed it by wisely adapted miracles. Among these was the
gift of Prophecy. The meaning of this word was not restricted
to the foretelling of future events, in such a manner as evinced an
emanation from the Omniscient; but it comprehended a faculty
of communicating divine knowledge, by public speaking, with
remarkable attractions of fervid eloquence: in fact, it was preaching. But the matter thus declared was not necessarily and in all




LUTHER AND CALVIN.                               115
cases the result of inspiration or any divine influence. Even in
the  hands of the wise and  holy, it was not infallible; but was
exposed to the intrusions of error in judgment and imperfection in
representation. Therefore the apostle Paul gave precepts for the
regulation, controul, and correction of this " gift for the edifying
of the church."   In  the words preceding our text, he enjoins a
respectful and reverential treatment of all those means of instruction; while yet, in the text itself, he directs to a faithful examination of them, by bringing them to the standard of truth, and
then firmly to retain whatever sentiments had endured this searching scrutiny.   The standard of truth, in religious matters, lies in
the unchangeable perfections of God, and the revelation which he
has made of himself: and, in matters of science respecting the
sensible world, it is to be elicited by observation, experiment, and
induction. The obligations, then, to which we are here remitted,
are comprehensiveness and diligence in our inquiries, openness to
conviction, right estimation of evidence, and a steadfast adherence
to its results.t
* 1 Cor. xiv. A similar precept is in 1 John iv. 1
t " —See; here St. Paul determines that no position should be admitted, till, before the
community which hears it, it has been examined and found to be sound. This duty of
examination does not belong to teachers only; but" [implies that] " they must openly propound their sentiments, in order that they may be subjected to every man's examining.
Thus, by the authority of this passage, the exercise of judgment upon doctrines is not reserved to Christian teachers, but is given to the learners: so that it is altogether a different
thing among Christians, to what obtains in the world. In the world, sovereigns command
what they please, and their subjects yield compliance.' But,' says Christ,'it shall not
be so among you-' Among Christians, every one has the right of forming a judgment
concerning others; and is also himself subjected to the same right in them: though spiritual tyrants have made a worldly dominion out of Christianity." Luther's Larger
Catechlisn; a work of 2756 columns on the quarto page, written in 1528: in Walch's ed.
of LztAer's Works, in 24 quarto volumes; Halle, 1744, vol. x. col. 1799.
"Because rash men and impostors often cover over their absurdities with the title of
prophecy, there was some danger of true prophecy being brought into suspicion, or cast
into odium. As, in the present day, many persons almost nauseate the very name of a
sermon, because there are so many silly and ignorant men (insldsi ac imperiti) who
babble out from the pulpit their own inventions; and also ungodly men and contemners of
religion, who preach execrable blasphemies. Wherefore, because, by the faults of such
teachers, prophecy" [or preaching] " might be brought into dislike, or even be almost
entirely rejected, Paul commands the Thessalonians to prove all things; intimating that,
although all teachers are not unexceptionable in their adherence to the perfect rule, and
the propriety of their expressions, still we are not to condemn or reject any doctrine till we
have fairly put it to the trial. In this respect, two opposite errors are common. Some
persons, finding that themselves, or the bulk of men, have been imposed upon, reject in
the mass all" [religious] " doctrines. Others, with weak credulity, indiscriminately embrace whatsoever is proposed to them in the name of God. Each extreme is wrong.
The former class, filled with proud prejudice, bar themselves out from the way of iraT2




116                  SCIENCE AND REVELATION,
We have seen that formidable difficulties present themselves to
a man who looks seriously at the relations between the records
of Revelation and the monuments of Natural History.  Yet such
a man cannot but feel assured, that the difficulties lie only in our
want of sufficient knowledge. Nature and Revelation are both
beams of light from the same Sun of eternal truth; and there
cannot be a discordance between them.  If that which is announced as a revelation be indeed what it professes, and if the
facts in nature be satisfactorily ascertained, it must be impossible
that any real discordance should exist. The appearance of it,
however, we have seen.  We know that this appearance of things
has attracted, and continues to attract, the most earnest attention,
to a very wide extent among reading and inquiring persons. Serious Christians are alarmed: unbelievers and irreligious persons
exult. But to both classes we say, Ye are too hasty: the Christian may dismiss his apprehensions: the hopes of the infidel are a
spider's web. The voices of nature, and reason, and revelation
are in harmony. We want only that facts be correctly stated,
and that the words of Scripture be interpreted upon the principles
of just philology; and we fear not the result.  We will search
out the objects of science, " the works of the Lord," by the most
careful investigation and rigorous induction, as if we had never
heard of his word: and we will apply ourselves to the study of
his word, with the strictest observance of the rules of interpretation, just as if we knew nothing of the physical world.  We do
not therefore speak of bringing about a conciliation between these
two lines of fact and doctrine; for we anticipate the conviction
that it already exists.
It will not, I trust, be presumptuous in me to express some
regret in finding an expression used by one of the most accomplished geologists of our own or any other country, Dr. Buckland; believing, at the same time, that it was introduced by him
more from oversight than with deliberate intention. He says,
"I If, in this respect, geology should seem to require some little
provement; the others, rashly expose themselves to every wind of error. From these
two extremes, Paul recalls the Thessalonians to the middle path; forbidding the condemnation of any sentiment, till it be first duly examined; and admonishing that we should
exercise a just judgment before we receive as certain that which is proposed to us.Nothing is more hurtful " [to intellectual and religious improvement] " than the petulant
and conceited disposition, by which we take up a dislike to any sentiment, without taking
the trouble of a fair examination." Calvin, in his Comment. in Epistolas; ad locos.




TRUTH  NOT A SUBJECT OF CONCESSION.                      117
concession from the literal interpreter of Scripture, it may fairly
be held to afford ample compensation for this demand, by the
large additions it has made to the evidences of natural religion,
in a department where revelation was not designed to give information." * The testimony of the word of heaven does not lie at
our disposal. We have not the power of conceding any thing
from it; and I am confident that the distinguished Professor did
not intend to intimate that mortals have such a power or right.
He was referring indeed to the interpretation of Scripture; but, in
this view, the expression is unhappy. Interpretation, as well of
the Bible as of other ancient writings, is to be conducted by a
rigorous process of examination into words and phrases; a process
solely grammatical, and which must not be checked or turned out
of its straightforward course by any foreign considerations.t
The design of this lecture and the following, is to enumerate
methods that have been proposed for removing the difficulty, or
apprehended inconsistency, which arises from a survey of God's
visible works and comparing them with the declarations of his
word; and to submit those remarks which they respectively seem
to require.
It cannot be without some anxiety that I enter upon this part
of my duty, being perfectly aware of the strong sentiments which
exist in the minds of many upon this class of objects; and of the
suspicion and disapprobation, I might even say horror, with which
some excellent persons view any deviation from those interpretations which they have been accustomed to hear and read.
Scarcely less sensitive are the authors of different hypotheses with
regard to their respective views. Many estimable men, who have
published their opinions upon the question before us, lay the
*Bridggewater Treatise; vol. i. p. 14. I cannot too much recommend the diligent
study (not aa indolent running over) of this admirable work, to all who desire to gain true
and accurate information. Such students, however, will consult their own advantage by
previously acquiring a satisfactory acquaintance with the Mineralogical part of Geological science. Dr. Buckland's work is chiefly occupied with the description of the animal
and vegetable remains found in the successive strata of the earth; conveniently called the
Paloeontological department of Geology.
t The excellent Bishop of Chester has perhaps approached to the same inadvertence in
saying, " The concessions, if they may be so called, of the believers in revelation on this
point, have been amply remunerated by the sublime discoveries as to the prospective wisdom of the Creator, which have been gradually unfolded by the progressive improvements
in astronomical knowledge. We may trust with the same confidence as to any future
results from Geology." This was written in 1813 or earlier. Dr. Bird Sumner on the
Records of Creationi; vol. i. p. 271.




118              VEHEMENT DENUNCIATIONS.
greatest stress upon their own views, and find it difficult to tolerate, or even to excuse, any dissent from them. For many of
them I entertain a sincere esteem; and I equally respect the motive by which they are excited, a jealousy for the honour of revelation and the interests of religion. But it becomes us all to take
the utmost care that our godly zeal may be according to knowledge. If it be not so, we shall inflict no slight disservice upon
the cause of truth and righteousness, while we may imagine that
we are promoting it.
I. There are some who feel no difficulty at all in the case, or at
least, none from which they cannot disembarrass themselves with
the utmost ease.  Of geological subjects, truly they possess but
little knowledge; yet they persuade themselves that they know
much, or certainly as much as qualifies them to give a peremptory
judgment upon the whole matter. They afford reason enough to
believe that, of the most important facts, those upon which the
decision of the question principally depends, they are far from
being well informed: and with regard to other geological facts
and doctrines, a partial acquaintance with which they have derived from a light and easy perusal of a few books, or perhaps of
only one, they make it evident that they have acquired no more
than some confused and incoherent notions. But their confidence
rests upon the assumption, that the interpretation of the Sacred
Records which they have adopted, and in which they can certainly
strengthen themselves by the suffrages of eminent commentators,
none of whom had the least acquaintance with these subjects, is
the only true one. Some of them reckon it among the highest
points of the christian faith, that the first sentence in the book of
Genesis is not an independent proposition, a simple, majestic, and
complete enunciation of one grand truth; but that it is connected
with the recital of the six days' work, in such a manner as to
allow of no interval of time between the facts related. To have a
doubt upon this matter is represented as characteristic of a criminal state of mind, not deserving to be refuted by kind and calm
argument, but which ought to be put down by awful rebukes and
threatenings. I shall transcribe a few words of a fervid writer of
this school.
"This'first day' is THE BEGINNING: and, if we fix that beginning
by the eternal testimony of the same truth (which the same God of




VEHEMENT DENUNCIATIONS.                    119
truth will do, and has done, for us,) all the vain' nebulosities' of a
graceless philosophy are dispelled for ever.-[This is] the self-evident
definition of the beginning which God himself has given.-And we
here defy all the combined ability of infidelity, philosophy, and geology, to prove the'beginning' to have been anterior to the' first day'
God here intends.-No geologist who may read these pages will
henceforth remain ignorant of his war against Omnipotence and everlasting Truth. And we again sacredly defy all the combined ability
of sophistical geologians, to the end of time, to prove either our Scriptural positions false, or their geological positions true. -We have
insubvertibly established it from the lips of Eternal Veracity, that
neither the earth, nor the material of which it was formed, nor any
creature that is found therein, had existence before'the first day' of
the revealed creation: that truth we have undeniably and everlastingly established, insubvertible and immoveable by human ability.
~Certainly, of all the lately discovered or extended sciences, which
the enemy of God and man has thus pushed to his destroying ends,
no one has been found so appropriate to his purposes, nor has been so
insidiously and industriously driven forward to the accomplishment of
his aims, as the popular'new  science' of Geology.-    To enumerate all the infernal artillery, which the subtle enemy of God and
man has put into the hands of his vassals, to aim at this everlasting
monument of revealed truth, would require his own unspent breath
and unwearied tongue. Suffice it to say, that sophisticating geologians have been allured, by his implacable subtleties, to enlist themselves in the service of his infernal policy.    This awful evasion of
the testimony of Revelation, by denying its concernment with the
Creation, and indeed by denying in fact its inspiration altogether,
runs through the whole race of geologists, and is the principle set up
in both our National Universities.    As to the fear of not satisfying, or of making, infidels; if the word of God does not satisfy them,
no scientific hypothesis will. If a man acknowledge not the divine
and eternal authority of that word, he is not worthy with whom to
argue on any subject which involves its sanction. Let such be turned
out of the field of sacred argument, as they have often nobly been
from a court of justice, as not worthy of being heard."-*I have thought it right to quote these passages, that I may not
do injustice to their author; who is, I indulge no doubt, a zealous
maintainer of the gospel according to his own conceptions of it,
* Popular Geology subversive of Divinze Revelation; and Two Letters to the Editor
of the Christianz Observer; by the Rev. Henry Cole. Pp. 21, 35, 37, 54, 91; 6, 34, 42.




120             BOLD ASSUMPTION.-LUTHER.
and desirous of promoting the best interests of mankind, which
undoubtedly can be promoted by no other means than the truth
and power of religion. These declarations of his are adapted to
make a deep impression on the minds of uninformed persons, who
are upright and pious: and it is always a duty to protect such persons from being grieved or offended.
1. I present then my solemn protest against the assumption
which runs through and characterizes the whole structure of the
book and the supplementary pamphlet just cited. The impassioned
author of them ought not to put his own interpretations, supported
though they be by the expositions of eminent scholars and divines,
upon a level with the express declarations of Scripture itself.
That he believes his interpretations to be just, cannot be doubted:
but he ought not to affirm, in so high and peremptory a tone, that
they are infallible and incapable of being subverted; at least till
the other side has been heard. Also, on my own behalf as an
humble geologist, (and I confidently join with myself men of the
greatest eminence in geological attainments,-) I disown and reject
with the strongest abhorrence the imputation of evading, or denying, or in any way perverting the Holy Scriptures, or taking
away their inspiration: and I maintain also that those persons do
no honour to the word of God, but are unwittingly serving the
designs of its enemies, who judge of it in the superficial, hasty,
and flippant manner here exemplified; who choose not to search
out its true sense by those means of criticism and explication
which God has put into our hands; and who bury the christian
dispositions of humility and meekness under their imperious dogmatism and assumed infallibility. It will be the business of a
future lecture to explain and apply those principles of honest
philology by which we are bound to study and interpret the Scriptures, and which, it is my full conviction, will shew that the true
sense of the beginning of Genesis does not contradict the geological doctrines which are made the objects of these unmeasured
reproaches.
The reverend gentleman to whose observations I have been
compelled to advert, makes large extracts from Luther's Commentary on the Book of Genesis; and displays, with exultation
and triumph, that great man's opinion of the creative act, described
in the second sentence, as having immediately followed upon the
primary one declared in the first. I yield not to that gentleman




LUTHER.                       121
in veneration and love for the illustrious Reformer; for his devoted
piety, his noble independence of mind, his simplicity and perspicuity, the ingenuity and liveliness of his remarks, his judgment and
even his taste: but I do not see the propriety of attributing to him,
or to any man of his day, such a knowledge of Natural Philosophy as was necessary for the application of the Hebrew phraseology to the objects under description. It is no disparagement to
Luther that, for instance, in his Comments on the work of the
fifth day, he shews his want of correct ideas concerning the atmosphere and the heavenly bodies; that he implicitly rests on the
common notions of his time; that he speaks copiously upon the
four elements and the ten spheres, (according to the doctrine of
one atmospheric, seven planetary, the ninth crystalline, and the
tenth empyreal;) that the stars, taken universally, derive their
light from the sun, for he intimates no distinction between the fixed
stars and the planets; and that the sun and all the other heavenly
bodies move round the earth in twenty-four hours. All this was
quite natural, and we may say unavoidable, under the circumstances of the time. Unless a miraculous communication had been
made to the mind of Luther, it could not have been otherwise.
Yet the author who has compelled me to make these observations
brings forward his citations from the blessed and immortal man,
(as he justly calls the Reformer,) as if they possessed a kind of
divine inspiration. He writes, "What a faithful, simple, unphilosophizing, convincing, and self-evident exposition is the holy
man thus instructed by the Holy Spirit to leave to the world!I cannot describe the gratitude of spirit and union with the holy
Luther which I found, when in turning to his exposition of the
Book of Genesis, I found that his faith and understanding respecting some particulars of the creation-work (in addition to his fixed
faith regarding the main point at issue,) exactly and sweetly accorded with my own."
This writer so cites, with just apprehension, a part of Luther's
introductory paragraph. It would have been well if he had given
the passage entire; and had reflected whether, in his fiery positiveness of assertion and his ruthless condemnation of philosophers
and geologists, he was not violating the admonition before his
eyes.
" There has not hitherto been any one in the Church, that has,
with the sufficient propriety and exactness, expounded the whole of




122                               LUTHER.
these subjects. For expositors have so mixed them up with various,
diversified, and never-ending inquiries, as to make it apparent that
God has reserved to himself alone this majesty of wisdom, and the
sound understanding of this chapter; leaving to us the general knowledge, that the world had a beginning, and was created out of nothing
by God. This general knowledge is clearly derived from the text.
But with respect to the particular things, there is very much that is
involved in difficulty and doubt, and about which questions without
end are agitated."*
Thus temperately and wisely wrote "the blessed man."   Most
plainly has he laid down the very position which will be the foundation of my reasoning, when I arrive at the part of these lectures
in which it is proposed to search out the declarations of divine
truth upon our subject. Other passages might be adduced from
the writings of Luther,t in which he vindicates scientific researches,
* Luther's Works, ed. Walch, vol. i. p. 1.
t Sec. ed. For instance. " Reason is a very great and inestimable gift of God, and
its sagacious directions and discoveries in human things are not to be despised." —
" It is absolutely certain that reason is among all things the most excellent, the best of
all other things in this life, yea, something godlike: as it is the inventress and directress
of all sciences, the medical art, jurisprudence; and even of all wisdom, energy, virtue,
and honour that men possess in this life.-God has not deprived reason of this glory
since the fall of Adam, but rather has confirmed it. Yet, what is the [most] majestic
and excellent reason knows nothing of itself, but only from the Scripture. -Of human nature we know scarcely any thing, more than that into its material causes [no
doubt meaning what would now be called physiological,] we can scarcely carry a
glance. Of efficient causes little is known to philosophy; and of final causes, nothing."
Upon such considerations, this great man proceeds, from the limitation and imperfection
of the human understanding, to urge the duty of valuing and improving the light of the
glorious gospel.   " Reason indeed comprehendeth not what God is; but it does comprehend, with great certainty of evidence, [inferior things] that which is not God." He
then adduces examples of the Lord Christ and the Apostle Paul, appealing to the dictates of reason.-" What then is contrary to reason, is certainly much more contrary
to God. How can that which is opposed to the reason and truth of man, be other than
opposed to the truth of God?" -" That man fails in some things; but thou, in more.
I enter into a subject which others have not penetrated; but I also well know that, at
some future time, others will see what I have not attained to perceive. What remains
then but that we should extend a helping hand to each other?-Our present life is a
beginning and a progress, but not a completion and perfection. The more closely any
one attains the mind of the Holy Spirit, the greater advantage hath he for interpreting
the holy Scripture. If I have reached the moon, I must not fancy that I have also
grasped the sun in my hand: no, nor should I despise the smaller stars. There are steps
and degrees in life and action; why not also in the faculty of understanding?"
After correcting the error of interpretation which applies Isaiah xiv. 12, to the fall of the
chief apostate angel, he says, c" This so weighty error should stimulate us to enjoin the
studies of the learned sciences and the philosophy of language, as [h6chst qzdthig] in the
highest degree necessary to a theologian in his discussions upon holy Scripture."
Walch's ed. vols. vi. 181; xix. 1778, 1940; iv. 2679; vi. 391.




FALSE CHARGES.-TRUE SCIENCE A DIVINE BLESSING. 123
and supports the kind of principles for ascertaining the sense of
Scripture, on which we are proceeding; those of a strict and impartial grammatical investigation.
2. I likewise raise my protest against the constant strain and
tone of this gentleman, respectable and worthy as he may be, in
his holding up the friends and professors of Natural Philosophy
in general, and of Geology in particular, as either open infidels,
or, what would be worse, secret traitors to the cause of Christianity. There is a deplorable want of both wisdom and justice
in this style of representation.  It is not wise; for it tends to
foster the suspicions and objections which unhappily exist in many
minds, imbued with scientific knowledge, but ignorant of the evidences and the divine grandeur of religion, and unhappily averse
to a free examination of them. How must such persons be confirmed in their prejudices, and in the sinful condition of mind
which is the substratum of those prejudices, when they hear
christian ministers declaiming against the knowledge of what they
are convinced is certain and valuable truth; and reviling the only
possible means of attaining that knowledge! It is not just: for
the sciences and all their investigations for which we are pleading,
are not the " philosophy and vain deceit" against which the apostle gives a solemn warning. That was no other than a compound
of Oriental and Grecian doctrines; referring to the mind of man
and to invisible beings; founded, not upon observation and experiment, but on the play of imagination and the dictates of assumed authority: it was an imlpostress under the name of philosophy, entangling men in a web of idle and visionary speculations,
destitute of evidence, having no practical applications, and opposing itself to that purest reason which is displayed in the authority and grace of the gospel. The Natural Philosophy of our
times is of the opposite character, as to both its constitution and
its tendency. It consists in the honest "searching out of the
works of Jehovah," (Ps. cxi. 2,) in obtaining the facts of sensible
nature, in admitting nothing as data without adequate evidence,
and in receiving no conclusions till they have been substantiated
by the most cautious reasoning: and if its proper effects be not
counteracted by our own perverse depravity, it leads to a devout
veneration of God, and to practical benefits without number to
ourselves and our fellow-creatures. This philosophy may be
abused: and so may any of the gifts of God; health, strength,




124            INTERPRETATIONS OF GENESIS.
property, family, education, talents, the esteem of our friends,
the advantages of our social position, and even our heavenly religion itself. All our enjoyments of the divine beneficence may
be abused, by some kind or other of an association with unworthy
principles, or a subserviency to wrong pursuits. But does any
man abandon these blessings on that account; or declaim against
them as sinful, or in their own nature pernicious? The oppugners
of philosophy do not act so with their own favourite enjoyments.
They ought to reflect that the pursuits which they misunderstand
and misrepresent, and then decry, are no other than obedience to
the divine command, c" Consider the works of God:-remember
that thou magnify his work which men behold."  If, to any attainments which we may make in the study of physical objects,
we do not add sincere love and devotion and obedience to the
Lord of nature and grace, the blame is our own; and no slight
blame and guilt it is. But let not the good principles be condemned for the bad practice. Does it not so much the more become sincere Christians, to labour to " add to their faith-knowledge;" to acquire, so far as they have opportunity, that true
science which diffuses innumerable benefits among men, unfolds
many of the divine glories, and is the proper handmaid of vital
piety?
3. Though our interpretations of the word of God must rest
upon their own intrinsic evidence, in grammatical construction,
suitableness to the connexion, and agreement with other parts of
Scripture; still it is a useful assistance, in cases of difficulty, to
know what sentiments have been entertained, and expositions
given, by persons whose opportunities of knowledge, and whose
character for learning and judgment, constitute a reasonable presumption that they have not taken up opinions from supine ignorance, unexamined custom, or any other prejudice. Upon this
ground, therefore, and not because we attribute to the sentiments
of uninspired men any commanding authority, I bring some instances to shew to our opponents that it is not a novelty in the
Church of Christ, to consider the first sentence in the Book of
Genesis as an independent proposition: and the succeeding portions as taking up our habitable earth at a crisis of its existence,
and describing a series of operations by which God was pleased
to make it fit for the exercises of his wisdom and goodness in relation to a new order of creation: and consequently that those




THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS.                          125
persons have no right to charge us with impiety, even if our interpretation were erroneous: since we stand upon the same ground
with so many eminent Christians, who were led to their conclusions
by reasons purely critical, and without the least tincture of geological knowledge.
Some of the ancient christian writers, usually called the Fathers
of the Church, intimate this idea, under the opinion that the first
verse states generally the creation of matter, out of which the
formations and distributions of the six days were afterwards
educed. It is evident that the former idea is distinct and separable from the latter; though it is not probable that Clemens of
Alexandria, Origen, and others who adopted the sentiment, conceived of the  commencement of the former order of action  as
having preceded that of the latter, by any long interval. Augustine, in two passages, though he does not always maintain consistency, writes copiously upon this interpretation; representing
the former state of the earth as being to the latter what the seed
of a tree is to the root, the trunk, the branches, leaves, and fruit.*
Basil says; "It is probable that something  existed before this
world; which we may conceive of in our understandings, but of
which no narrative has been left."t   Chrysostom  lays down, as a
principle for the interpretation of the beginning of Genesis, that
Moses designed to write only of the sensible appearances of things,
adapting both the matter and the expression to the capacities of
the Israelites, a people recently delivered from the oppression of
Egyptian slavery, and whose minds had not been elevated above
low and common conceptions.:
* De Genesi, contra Manicheos, lib. i. cap. 6). Co??fessiones, lib. xii. cap. 17, 29.
t ilomil. I. in? Hexahkemeron; Op. tom. i. p. 7, Par. 1619.
t Homil. II. et Sermo I. in Gen. Op. tom. ii. pp. 12, 728; Francof. 1698. " It is
indeed singular that all ancient cosmogonists should conspire to suggest the same idea,
and preserve the tradition of ane early series of successive revol~utions."   The Hindoos:-Burmese:-Egyptians. —" But I think it much more important and interesting
to observe, how the early Fathers of the Christian Church should seem to have entertained precisely similar views; for St. Gregory Nazianzen, after St. Justin Martyr,
supposes an indefinite period between the creation and the first ordering of all things.
St. Basil, St. Cmsarius, and Origen, are much more explicit; for they account for the
creation of light prior to that of the sun, by supposing this luminary to have indeed
before existed, yet so as that its rays were prevented, by the dense chaotic atmosphere,
from penetrating to the earth; [and that] this was, on the first day, so far rarified as to
allow the transmission of the sun's rays, though not the discernment of its disk, which
was fully displayed on the third day." Principal Wiseman's Lectures on the Connexion
betwueen Science and Revealed Religion, delivered in Rome, in 1835; vol. i. p. 297.




126                  MODERN- AUTHORS.
Calvin considers the design and purport of the first verse, as
being to establish this primary truth, that " the world was not from
eternity, but was created by God."  Thus that acute Bible-interpreter sanctions the general idea for which I am pleading, that the
passage is a grand and independent axiom.
Bishop Patrick, in his Commentary, supports the sentiment,
which many others have done, that the passage declares a chaotic
condition of the earth, between its creation and its being made the
receptacle of vegetable and animal life: and he regards this state
as having been of an indefinitely long continuance. He thus
admits the principle of our interpretation, though we think him to
have been mistaken in his method of applying it. There appears
to be no reason for attributing any other than a short duration to
the state of our planet, or any part of its surface, which is expressed in the words of our translation, " And the earth was without form and void."
Dr. David Jennings, the author of the well-known work upon
Jewish Antiquities, and who, in the days of our fathers, was one
of the most esteemed Dissenting Ministers of this city, has these
observations.  " The Mosaic account does not seem to be designed
for an account of the whole creation of God;"-but "plainly to
be a designed account of the creation of this planet only." He
speaks with approbation of the hypothesis, that "our earth,-as
that most penetrating philosopher, Dr. Halley, seems to suspect,
might be a former world, reduced to a chaos by the shock of a
comet."-It may be not improper here to interpose the remark,
that this supposition of Halley and others, is exploded by the fact,
ascertained but within the few latter years, that comets are not
solid bodies, but are composed of brilliant matter, resembling some
kind of vapour; but so attenuated that small stars are visible
through it, and that it might pass over and envelope the earth
without giving a shock, or producing any material effect. —Dr.
Jennings goes on to say: "One cannot suppose that this account
of the creation was designed to teach the Israelites —— such deep
points of philosophy as the true motions of the earth and moon:
but rather it was designed to teach them to reverence the great
Creator of all things, and also to preserve them from the idolatry
of the heathen nations around them, who worshipped the sun and
the moon, and other creatures which God had made. But yet, as
this account was written by inspiration, —it is all agreeable to truth




WARDLAW.-RED FORD.                            127
and to the nature of things. And the skill of the Divine Author
is in this truly admirable, that the account of the creation is here
given, for the use of the people, in such words and phrases as were
suited to vulgar conceptions; and yet it is, at the same time, perfectly consistent with true philosophy."'
I may, with propriety, remind my auditors, that in this Lecture
for 1833, Dr. Wardlaw  had the passage; c" When creation began,
we know not. There were angels, and there was a place of angelic habitation, before the creation of man and of the world
destined for his residence.  How  long  these  spirits had existed,
and how many other orders of being besides, it is vain for us to
conjecture.-But of one thing we are certain, that, how far back
soever we suppose the commencement of creation carried,-let it
be not only beyond the actual range (if a definite range it can be
said to have) of the human imagination, but even beyond the
greatest amount of ages that figures in any way combined could
be made to express;-still there was an ETERNITY preceding."t
Also, in the Lecture for the year 1837, Dr. Redford went into
our present discussion at considerable length, and concluded that
"we ought to understand Moses as saying, Indefinitely far back,
and concealed from us in the mystery of eternal ages, prior to the
first moment of mundane time, God created the heavens and the
earth."t
The last year a pamphlet was published by a clergyman whose
t IntrodtetionZ to the Globes; pp. 148, 151, 167. Lond. 1747.
Sec. ed. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi, who lived in the eleventh century, is among the
most highly valued of all the Jewish interpreters, both by his own nation and by Christians: and is honoured as " The chief of expositors, the father of the Talmud, and the
teacher of the exile," denoting the present state of dispersion. He labours much in the
explanation of this chapter, and makes the general remark, " In no case can it be accepted, that the Scripture here [in this sentence] intends to lay down the succession of
the objects of creation." His meaning appears to be, that this verse stands as an independent and complete proposition.
" The writer does not amuse or tire his reader with long metaphysical disquisitions,
about the nature of the universe, the generation of matter, cause and effect, time and
eternity, and other such subtle and insolvable questions; but, with the greatest simplicity
and the most imposing air of conviction, tells us that an ALMIGHTY Being made those
heavens which we behold, and the earth which we inhabit.'In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.' This is the general proposition."  Geddes's Pref.
to his Bible; p. 2.
" - Moses-forbears to speak-even of the time whenz such first creation as he
thus briefly mentions, was effected; for he only says that God Almighty was the original
Great Creator of all." Edward King's llorsels of Criticism; vol. i. p. 90.
t Cong. Lect. first series, p. 206.
f Cong. Lect. fifth series, p. 34.




128         MELLOR BROWN.-MODERN AUTHORS.
manner of writing makes a strong demand upon our respect and
affection.* His talents are evidently of a superior order; and,
which is a far higher recommendation, his book breathes the spirit
of reverential piety, and a holy affection for the word of God.
From such a man it is painful to be compelled to differ. But I
should be wanting in that faithfulness of which he sets the example, if I were not to express concern that he has not escaped the
errors of many other good men, with respect to the design of the
Scriptures, and the proper method of interpreting them. It will
be my duty, in future lectures, to shew cause in reply to his
views, upon the subject of the Deluge, and that of Biblical interpretation. At present I have only the pain of saying, that he follows in a style of assumption, less headstrong andl vehement, but
for that reason more touching to my mind and feelings, than that
of another author, before referred to. He hesitates not to charge
upon modern geologists, making no exceptions,-even designating
them "our Bucklands, our Sedgwicks, and our Conybeares,"that they are associating their efforts with those of infidels to invalidate the statements of Scripture, —impugning the sacred
record,-and assailing the volume of the Great God. On the
other hand, with equal boldness, he represents his own interpretations of Scripture as unquestionable; and so confident is he in the
infallibility of his own deductions as to identify them with the
Divine Veracity, and to think himself entitled to take for an
analogy to his own reasonings, "Two and two may be five, more
easily than the God of Truth can be untrue."  He zealously affirms, but makes no attempt at proof, that it is exceedingly "offensive to the plain reader of the Scriptures," —— " not only
contrary to the Scriptures but unphilosophical, to resort to such an
idea as a series of creations on the same spot:" and he maintains
that " our highest conception of creation" (evidently intending to
imply that it is the proper conception,) " is that of a world starting into being, perfect and complete, at the command of God; so
perfect and complete, that, from the lowest zoophyte to the highest
species of living creature, not a single gap could be found into
which another animal might be thrust." He looks with evident
complacency to the hypothesis " that Almighty God may, by the
mere fiat of his power, have intentionally brought every rock and
i The Rev. J. Mellor Brown, mentioned in the Note on p. 7.




MELLOR  BROWN.                            129
stratum, every fossil leaf and shell and bone, into its present form
and condition."
This kind of argument has been repeatedly brought forwards,
even in modern times: but surely those who use it have not considered what havoc they are making; for, if it had any strength at
all, it would fearfully weaken the proof for the first truth of religion, from the doctrine of sufficient causes. We find the dead
parts of animals, with the marks of muscular attachment, the
shelly, or crustaceous, or bony structure, the condyles, the receiving hollows, the grooves and port-holes for the passage of nerves
and blood-vessels, the teeth with their sockets in all the variety
of the most exquisitely appropriate formation, even the organs
and  provisions and products of nutrition:-and  it is seriously
said, that we may sit down with the conclusion that these objects
were never the parts of any living creature, but have existed from
the beginning of time, just as we now find them!-shall we throw
such an advantage as this into the hands of the atheist?This respected clergyman has also other suppositions, and certain theories of his own, by which he believes that all the geological appearances may be accounted for, within the limits of time
which he holds it an impiety to exceed.
One of these is, to bring forwards, with some spirit and ingeenuity, instances of accelerated speed, in motion and mechanical
operations, by the steam-engine; and some cases in Natural and
Civil History, not well understood: and from the whole, the
author asks, " Whether there is any difficulty in believing that
the known laws of nature could be so far increased, in power and
velocity, as to produce the same effects in six thousand years, for
which" geologists " now estimate sixty thousand, or six hundred
thousand, to  be necessary?"*  The querist was evidently not
* " I once shewed to a reader of this cast a solid, lofiy, inland rock, composed of one
vast mass of shells, often very delicate and brittle, agglutinated with interstitial matter;
and asked him whether he thought that these enormous depositions were attributable to
the deluge, or were formed during its short duration: and also, whether the various
successions of strata, ten miles thick, teeming with the remains of animals and vegetables, from the most complicated in the upper strata down to the most simple in the lower
-all arranged in order; now a layer of salt water formation, then one above it of fresh.
and then another of sea, and so on in succession,-had really been deposited thus ill
fifteen hundred years before the deluge. His reply was to the following effect.-' How
do I know but that in those early days the powers of nature were so prolific, or rather
that there was so constant a miracle, that this rock, which would require an enormous
period to grow by ordinary accretion, might be generated in a day; each plant and animal going through all its stages of life and death in the fraction of a moment, if necessary




130                    MODERN AUTHORS.
aware of the want of analogy in his cases.  We know that great
mineralogical changes may be wrought in a very short time, by
the chemical and electric forces which are in constant action:
metallic compounds may be produced and veins formed, crystals
made to shoot, and lamination or even stratification effected upon
a small scale. Let us grant the extension of these effects as
largely as can be desired, notwithstanding the insuperable objections which lie in our way: the concession will not benefit the
argument. The question is not with regard to mineralogical deposits and formations, as such; but to the remains of once living
beings imbedded in them. It is manifest that the worthy author
possesses only crude and defective notions upon this subject. He is
evidently not acquainted with the characterism which connects
particular formations with definite fossils; nor with the manner,
as to position, in which the principal classes of specimens are
found, (the conchiferous and molluscous shells,) proving the quietness and slowness of the processes to which they had been subjected; nor of the numerical amount of the remains, as to species
and individuals, (the number of known fossil species of these two
classes only, being little if at all less than five thousand;) nor of
the nature of the argument as it arises from the gradation of
changes, specific and generic, in the subjects of organic life; nor
of laws which the CREATOR has disclosed to industrious research
with regard to the duration of species.  All these topics needed
to have been known and well-scrutinized, before any surmise had
been hazarded. Our objectors universally appear not to be aware
that it is from a long-continued search into the almost immensely
numerous particulars, and a contemplation of their parallel relations, that the conclusion appears irresistible, as to the myriads of
ages during which the all-glorious God has held on the wondrous
course of his works.
Another of his objections is directed against the theory of the
internal heat of the earth, and its gradual cooling through a vast
period of time. He appeals to the evidence which we possess,
that the general temperature, and that of particular climates, has
to produce the eftct?' But why should it be necessary? Or, what' effect' did my friend
mean, except the support of a popular interpretation? I almost believe, that if my friend
had been pressed with an argument from Euclid, he would have replied,' But how do
we know that antediluvian circles or angles were like ours?" A Scriptural Geologist;
in the Christian Observer, April, 1839, p. 212.




MELLOR BROWN.                   131
undergone no change from the earliest times of history. Had he
taken the precaution of understanding what he was writing about,
he would have refrained from combating his own shadow. He
would have learned that the heat, however intense at no very
great depth, has long ago arrived at the point at which the weak
conducting power of the earth's rocky crust prevents any further
sensible progress, in affecting the temperature at any point of the
surface. The process of cooling therefore, though at first and for
a long period rapid, must have acquired a stationary condition thousands of years ago: so that our climates now are dependent solely
upon the action of the sun, and the superficial causes of radiation.
We have reason to regard it as highly probable, and we may hope
that the exact researches upon which eminent mathematicians are
now engaged will bring an approximating certainty to the conclusion, that this point was reached some time before the creation
of man, and that it was a part of the processes by which the
earth was adapted to its present destination among the works of
God.
With a solemnity and fidelity for which he has my cordial gratitude, this christian monitor sounds the alarm against forgetting
" the most valuable axiom of human science, that man is ignorant
and weak;" and that he ought therefore " to be thankful for what
he is permitted to know," but "submissive where God has been
pleased to set a barrier to further knowledge." He comprehends
geological investigations among what he considers as not " subjects of lawful inquiry,-shrouded from us by a higher power,"
to be reckoned "a dark art, - dangerous and disreputable."
To these cautions he adds the assertion, " Surely an humble mind
will be ready to confess that events which took place before the
birth of man, or the date of revelation, belong to a forbidden
province."
I cannot for a moment doubt the good motive from which this
strain of admonition has proceeded. The author's fundamental
principle, upon the duty of modesty and humility, is unquestionably of the first importance. The best friends of science will unite
with him in deprecating the pride, and vanity which pretend to
carry researches beyond the limits which the Author of our nature
has prescribed. But he has not brought an atom of evidence to
prove that the efforts of Geology, or of any other branch of Natural Philosophy, involve any excursion whatsoever out of those
K2




132                    MELLOR BROWN.
limits.  His caution is, in itself, only an enforcement of the first
principle of the Baconian philosophy. But for this application of
it, he gives us nothing but his own assertion. The undistinguishing
application of good general principles is one of the most frequent
causes of human error, and that to the most dangerous extent. I
question whether there is any error or heresy, which may not be
traced to this as one of its principal causes.  Speculations may
indeed be indulged and theories constructed, upon subjects in
which we have no data for the support of our conclusions; and
in which therefore all the materials are the offspring of imagination. But that is not the case here. In Geology and every other
part of physical science, the objects of investigation are substantial realities, things presented to our eyes and all our other bodily
organs; and the phenomena of change are in many cases perfectly
similar, and in others analogous, to what is continually passing
before our eyes. True philosophy is not an "intruding into things
which we have not seen," the vain inflation of a carnal mind.
(Col. ii. 19.) It is the patient ascertaining of actual things and
actual events, of which our own senses and those of other men
are the witnesses; and it then seeks to find out the connexion
of those facts with each other. Such is Geology. It deals in
realities, diligently ascertained and faithfully reported: and the
reasonings against which this author, pious and amiable as he is,
directs his assault, are in all christian uprightness intended to protect the cause of religion against the injuries to which it is exposed
from the misunderstanding of natural facts, and from what we
believe to be the misinterpretation of the sacred Scriptures. What
right has he to say, that " events which took place before the
birth of man or the date of revelation, belong to a forbidden province?" He brings no reason in support of his assertion: he adduces no evidence in its favour from the divine oracles: he does
not pretend to give us any ground whatever for the reception of
it. Can he have expected that any man will receive this dictate,
upon his pronouncing of it? Geology unrolls to the eyes of men
a glorious book of the works and ways of divine power and providence. Are we to behold tIhse objects; and then turn aside
refusing to inquire, or to hear other persons inquire concerning
their nature and relations, their causes and consequences? Can
we persuade our fellow-men to yield obedience to such a prohibition? Will the unbelieving and irreligious submit to it?  Will




FALSE IMPUTATIONS.                       133
they retire from the threshold of the temple, after they have been
permitted to look in and gain a glance of its grandeur; and will
or can they repress every desire of entering to explore its treasures? There are, unhappily, men well acquainted with the natural
sciences, but who are disgracefully, because wilfully, ignorant of
the real nature of religion, and the grounds of claim which it has
on their understandings and their hearts: how will such as they
treat this ban of an unproved authority? Will they not regard the
futile prohibition as involving an unequivocal confession, that the
book of revelation will not endure to be confronted with the book
of nature? Or will religious persons, the sincere believers in the
authority of the Bible, give in their adherence to it? Will they,
can they, shut their eyes and silence their understandings; and
suppress the risings of reason and admiration and piety? Can they
strike dead the desire for knowledge which the wise and good
Creator has implanted in man? Widely different is a simple desire
of knowledge, regulated by rational and religious considerations,
from that principle of the first transgression with which some unreflecting persons profess to identify it. That was the hankering
after a gratification of animal appetite, in despite of a prohibition
which the transgressors knew to have proceeded from infinite
goodness; it was the giving credit to an unknown pretender, in
contempt of the divine veracity: but the studies of Natural Philosophy, (though, like every other of God's benificent gifts, they
may be and awfully are abused by ungrateful men,) are, in themselves, only a proceeding in the spirit of the divine declarations;
" The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that
have pleasure therein.-Remember that thou magnify his work
which men behold.-Through desire, a man, having separated
himself, seeketh and intermeddleth  with all wisdom."@*   The
Bible, in numerous places, directs us to the contemplation of
God, under the especial aspect of displaying his perfections by his
doings; and it affixes no limitations of time or place to the objects
of such contemplation. The works which the Infinite Being has
wrought, and the ways in which he governs his own creation,
* Ps. cxi. 2. Job xxxvi. 24. Prov. xviii. 1. This last passage is one of those in the
Old Testament which, on account of the extremely elliptical character of the Hebrew
style, is attended with difficulty. The following paraphrastic translation is submitted
as strictly conveying the sense of the original. " For gratifying a laudable desire, a
recluse student diligently explores and zealously contends for all elevation of knowledge."




134               TENDENCY OF THE BIBLE.
may, in a sound and obvious sense sanctioned by the inspired
apostle, be called a revelation of HIM; " because that which may
be known of God (o yv7aaozrov zoi OeoO) is manifest in them." (Rom.
i. 19.) It cannot be held excusable, in any to whom he has given
the means of studying this manifestation of himself, to neglect
that duty, or to oppose and decry those who endeavour to perform
it. This study is, not the rival, but the valuable assistant, of the
manifestation which God has granted us in positive revelation;
and which is to us practically of infinitely the greatest importance.
"All nature joins to show thy praise.
Thus God in every creature shines.
Fair is the book of nature's lines:
But fairer is the book of grace."
Watts.
PART II.
II. THERE is another and very different class of men, who are
not only aware of the difficulties which we have undertaken to
discuss, as producing some appearance of contradiction, but who
affirm, without hesitation, that there is a real and insuperable discrepancy between the demonstrated facts of science and the unambiguous declarations of the Mosaic writings; and their method of
resolving the difficulty is not like that of others who deny the
geological facts, (for this, their knowledge makes impossible for
them,) but they take the opposite course. The two leaders in
this course are Mr. Babbage and Professor Baden Powell. The
former of these philosophers, thinks himself compelled to resort
to a desperate kind of hypothesis, which is really cutting the
knot. He is of opinion that we cannot so depend upon our ability
to construe the ancient Hebrew language, as to be sure that we
have correctly interpreted the archaic documents before us. Thus,
to speak the plain truth, an opening is made for treating the
written records of the creation as if they had no existence; or,
in the same manner as would be our conduct with regard to some
antique marble, inscribed with characters which we might believe




HYPOTHESES OF BABBAGE AND POWELL.                      135
to express the words of a lost language, but that language one
which we could never hope to recover.  We might admire the
elegance of its form and the beauty of its sculptured figures; we
might lay it up as the most interesting treasure of a museum; but
we should not spend our time in attempting to decipher its characters, persuaded beforehand that the attempt would be vain.
The second of those distinguished mathematicians and philosophers goes farther. He has no difficulty in admitting the perfectly
intelligible character of the commencement of Genesis and the
Fourth Commandment; but he considers it incumbent upon him
to maintain that, in both cases, the statement'" was not intended
for an HISTORICAL narrative; and  if the  representation cannot
have been designed for literal history, it only remains to regard
it as having been intended for the better enforcement of its objects
in the language of figure and poetry; and to allow that the manner in which the Deity was pleased to reveal himself to the Jews
as accomplishing the work of creation was (like so many other
points of their dispensation,) veiled in the guise of apologue and
parable; and that only a more striking representation of the
greatness and majesty of the Divine power and creative wisdom
was intended, by embodying the expression of them in the language of dramatic action.*
I offer a few remarks upon each of these hypotheses.
Mr. Babbage is careful to state that he has not " any acquaintance with the language in which the sacred volume" of the old
Testament is written. This deficiency is much to be regretted.
Had it not existed, the acute investigator would never have taken
* Connexionz of Nat. and Div. Tructh; by the Rev. Baden Powell, F. R. S. &c.
Savil. Prof. Geom. Oxford: p. 260. A work which I regard as of great value; and
cannot but earnestly recommend to those who wish to search deeply and accurately
into philosophical subjects and their moral relations: notwitstanding the author's deplorable mistake in his notion of Calvinism, and the appearance of some serious theological errors. But I cannot surrender him to the self-styled Rationalists; men whose
just claim would be to a very different appellation. The learned Professor has, more
recently, done excellent service to the cause of religion by his masterly exposure of a
system, which comes forwards indeed with lofty pretensions, uniting in itself the lamb
and the dragon (Rev. xii. 11,) but which he rightly characterizes "' as involving in entire
ambiguity the land-marks of christian truth:-by neutralizing it destroys the whole
evidence of the gospel."  Tradition Unveiled; p. 68. Deeply also are the friends of
Scriptural religion and just liberty indebted to him for another contribution to their
cause. State Ecducationz, considered qwith reference to Prevalent Mlisconceptions on
Religious Grounds: 1840: and more recently still the Supplement to Tradition, Ulnveiled.




136                 MYTHIC HYPOTHESIS.
up his hypothesis, or any approach to it. He would have felt
himself assured that, as a consequence of the uninterrupted use of
the Hebrew language by the Jews, and the constant public reading
of these very writings, from the days of Moses down to our own,
we have in fact as firm a hold upon the meaning as we have in
regard to the Greek and Latin; that, from its being one of a
family of languages, all of which possess literary monuments and
those of great antiquity, we are furnished with aids and guarantees, in the comparison of the cognate tongues, by which the correct understanding of Hebrew is made sure to those who will
rationally study it; and that, by the aid of the Greek Version, all
or most of which was made in the third century before Christ, we
have a still further ground of satisfaction for the intelligence of
the Hebrew Scriptures. There are oriental scholars, especially
in Germany, and of whom some are awfully hostile to the truth
and the authority of revelation, who would inform Mr. Babbage
that the fact of a clear and certain understanding of the Hebrew
Scriptures is above all reasonable doubt. The construction of the
language is the most simple and luminous that can well be imagined; its peculiar idioms are well ascertained and illustrated;
few very difficult passages occur; the principal obscurities lie in
the determination of a small number of words referring to natural
objects and operations of art; and the text is settled to a degree
of purity more satisfactory than we dare affirm of many of the
Greek and Latin classics. All competent scholars, of whatever
opinions and parties they may be in other respects, will agree to
reject any imputation of uncertainty with respect to the means of
ascertaining the sense of the language.
Professor Powell's scheme appears, at first sight, to be a reproduction of the mythic hypothesis which the German Antisupernaturalists generally hold; and which we could not consistently
adopt unless we went with them to the infidel length of denying
any positive revelation. This I am persuaded that the Professor
would not do. But as a divine, he has involved himself in serious
difficulty. His notion, that we have here "the language of figure
and poetry," is palpably erroneous. The whole is in the style of
plain narrative, evidently intended to be understood as a simple,
straightforward, unadorned history.  The dramatic form, introducing the Creator as speaking, to command an effect; and then
stating that the effect followed, and that he was pleased with the




PERNICIOUS EXTREMES.                 137
contemplation of it; —is a part of the great characteristic which
runs through all the Hebrew Scriptures and especially the earlier
parts of them, the AJnthropopathia; a mode of expression adapted,
by the graciousness of Divine condescension, to the capacity and
habits of thought which belong to men in an unpolished state of
society, who were totally ignorant of abstract phraseology, and
would have been unable to receive spiritual sentiments, unless
clothed in language borrowed from sensible objects and from the
emotions and actions of men. This is indeed the very principle
which will appear, as I trust, in a following lecture, to be both
CC a true cause" in the formation of the ancient scriptural phraseology, and to be adequate to carry us out of the difficulty, without
sacrificing the reality of the things related, or invading the truth
and majesty of Divine Inspiration.
I do cherish much hope that, had Professor Powell more carefully and completely examined the case, he would have found this
principle, which indeed he definitely lays down, quite sufficient for
obviating all the difficulty; without having recourse to admissions
which cannot but be revolting to the calm judgment of any man;
as well as to the enlightened piety of a reflecting Christian. We,
equally with him, admit the folly of "constructing systems of
philosophy out of the Bible,.  of attempting to force its language into accordance with philosophical results,"-or of supposing that the senses or applications which, by some engineering
of verbal criticism, we might maintain that the words could be
made to bear, were actually in the understanding and intention of
Moses, or of any other inspired writer; — or of "imagining that
the delivery of the Judaical law was really intended to embrace
the doctrines of Geology, and this too under the guise of expressions which, in their obvious sense, are directly contradictory to
those doctrines;" or, in a word, of " saying something plausible
to satisfy prejudice, and avoid giving offence to popular belief."*
Some persons indeed have been, and still are; who have held notions like these, and have pursued some such fallacious course as
is here reprobated. We cannot shield them from the Reverend
Professor's censure. We repudiate all such devices. But it is
not necessary for us to go into the opposite extreme, and affirm
that the language of revelation, when stripped of the conventional, Expressions of Prof. Powell.




138             NOTION UNCHRISTIAN.-CORRECTIVE.
forms of description which were necessary in that state of mind and
habits which characterized the people and the age, is irreconcilably and insuperably contradictory to the truth of facts in nature.
I fear that Mr. Powell's expressions are in danger of involving
some inconsistency with his own sacred professions and obligations; and, that, if followed out, they would lead to consequences
deeply injurious to the cause of Christianity.  HIe admits the inspiration of Mloses, and the divine origin  and authority  of the
previous patriarchal and the subsequent prophetic revelations; and
yet he maintains that the christian system of religion is independent
of those former disclosures of the will and truth of God, and distinct from them, in such a manner that (if I do not misapprehend
his meaning,* which I sincerely wish may be the case with me,)
we might lawfully and safely give them up, as obsolete ideas,
mingled with much that is erroneous. This is a notion which
stands in direct hostility to the sentiment that pervades the whole
frame of revelation, a progression of knowledge and its practical
applications; exhibiting a twilight, a dawn, a sunrise, and the perfect day.  Moses and the prophets bore testimony to  the Messiah, the promised Redeemer of mankind; and that Messiah with
his immediate disciples pointed to the completion of the ancient
dispensations in the " grace and truth" of the gospel.  Nothing
can be plainer than that our Lord and his apostles gave honour to
Moses as the most faithful servant of God, as an inspired person,
and as the initiating prophet of a national dispensation which was
constituted by divine authority to be the symbol and preparative
of a religion that should be universal and permanent for mankind,
the " glad tidings concerning Jesus Christ."t
* Sec. ed. It is with great pleasure that I here copy the words of the Professor in a
more recent publication. "Dr. Pye Smith-fears [-no,-wishes,] he may have mistaken my meaning. He has certainly done so, if he supposes me to deny any of the
positions, which he states respecting the progressive nature of the divine dispensations.
All this is the very view that I take. All that I contend for is the plain fact that these
different relations were addressed, as they were adapted, to different parties; one to the
Jews, another to ics. In connexion with the view of such adaptation, when I suggested the idea, that the whole description of the creation, takeni as a whole, might be
understood as couched in the language of mythic poetry, this was not laid down dogmatically, but simply snggested as a less harsh alternative than a naked statement which
might seem directly impugning the truth of the narrative. —If the true statement be not
boldly made by the friends of Christianity, it will inevitably be perverted and turned
against them by its adversaries." —Sqtppl. to Trad. Unveiled; p. 36. —But upon this
subject, a few remarks will be offered in a Supplementary Note.
- Besides the whole bearing of the Old Testament prophecies and the writings of the




METAPHORICAL DAYS, UNTENABLE.                139
I trust it will appear in the sequel of these lectures, that we
neither torture the Bible to make it speak the language of philosophy, nor suppress or mutilate the facts of nature in order to bring
about an agreement with the Bible.
III. An hypothesis was resorted to about thirty years ago by
several men of eminence in geological knowledge, such as the late
Mr. James Parkinson, Baron Cuvier, and Professor Jameson of
Edinburgh; and it has found approvers and advocates more recently; among whom we may reckon Professor Silliman (at least
a few years ago,) and the anonymous clergyman who wrote the
able Preliminary Essay to Dr. Mantell's Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex, published in 1822: but it is now so generally
relinquished that more than a brief mention of it will not be necessary. This is, that the Six Days of Creation may be understood
of periods of time, of indefinite though of a very great length.
Finding in frequent instances of scripture-use, what is indeed the
case in all languages, that the term day is put metaphorically to
denote any portion of time which has been marked by the accomplishment of some great event or series of events, it was concluded
that the same figurative application might be resorted to here.
The mind was thus left at liberty to attach to each of these
periods any length that the exigency of the case might require, in
order to obtain the protracted time which the supporters of this
hypothesis knew to be an indispensable provision for the mineral
and paleontological formations. They went further, and supposed that the succession of geological beds, with respect to organic
remains, exhibited a correspondence with the contents of the sacred narrative in describing the several operations of divine power.
*Upon this theory a few remarks are submitted.
1. More accurate investigations have proved that the correspondence just mentioned does not exist.  Though, to a superficial
view, some plausable appearances of this kind present themselves,
the scheme fails when it is attempted to be carried into detail.
2. Admitting, what indeed every person must be aware of, that
the word is often used in the wide acceptation, as when we speak
of "the day of the Son of man,"-" the day of salvation,"-the
day of human life;-it is evident that this figurative use is emNew Testament, particular evidences are Matt. xvii. 3; Luke xvi. 31; xx. 37; xxiv. 27;
John i. 17, 46; iii. 14; v. 46, 47; Acts iii. 22; vii. 35; xxvi. 22, 23; xxviii. 32; Rom. iii.
2, 21, 31; iv. throughout; ix. 4, 5; 2 Cor. iii.; Heb. throughout; Rev. xv. 3.




140              METAPHORICAL DAYS, UNTENABLE.
ployed, more generally indeed in poetical or oratorical diction,
but always when the connexion in any given instance makes it
unquestionably manifest that a figurative sense is intended.  No
examples need be brought in proof of this fact: it must be familiar
to every person.
Yet there is one instance which is peculiarly important, because
it occurs in another of the archaic records with which Moses the
inspired and faithful servant of God,* was directed by the Divine
Being to commence his narrative. For, it is not irrelevant here
to remark, that the earlier part of the Book of Genesis consists of
several distinct compositions, marked by their differences of style
and  by express formularies of commencement.t  It is entirely
consonant with the idea of inspiration, and established by the whole
tenor of the scriptural compositions, that the heavenly influence
operated in a concurrence with the rational faculties of the inspired
men; so that prophets and apostles wrote from their own knowledge and memory, the testimony of other persons, and written documents, to which indeed express appeal is often made.t From
the evidence of language and of matter, we have no slight reasons
for supposing that Moses compiled the chief parts of the Book of
Genesis, by arranging and connecting ancient memorials, under
the divine direction, and probably during the middle, part of his
life, which he spent in the retirements of Arabia. Thus, though it
is impossible to affirm with confidence such a position, yet it appears far from improbable that we have, in this most ancient
writing in the world, the family archives of Amram and his ancestors, comprising the history of Joseph, probably written in great
part by himself; documents from the hands of Jacob, Abraham,
Shem, Noah, and, possibly, ascending higher still, authentic memorials from Enoch, Seth, and Adam.
*  My servant Moses is not so [on an equality with other prophets,] who is faithful
in all my house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently [Heb. in visible form,] and not in dark speeches [obscure representations:] and the similitude of Jehovah he shall behold." Numb. xii. 7, 8; and compare Heb. iii. 2, 5.
t The following appear to be the distinct compositions, yet it must be observed that
the evidence is not equally clear in every case. I. Gen. i. 1, to ii. 3. II. ii. 4, to iii. 24.
III. chap. iv. IV. v. 1, to vi. 8. V. vi. 9, to ix. 29. VI. chap. x. VII. xi. 1-9. VIII.
xi. 10-26. IX. xi. 27, and all that follows may be regarded as the records of the house
of Abraham. Chap. xxxvi. a separate document, inserted in the most suitable place.
t We have these instances in the Old Testament, Numb. xxi. 14, 17, 18, 27-30. Josh.
x. 13. 2 Sam. i. 18. 1 Kings xi. 41. 1 Chron. ix. 1; xxix. 29. 2 Chron. ix. 29; xii.
15; xx. 34. In the New Testament many of the anecdotal portions in the first three
Gospels; and see Luke i. 1, 2.




'METAPHORICAL DAYS, UNTENABLE.              141
At the fourth verse of the second chapter, commences a new
narrative in these words, "These are the generations" (-the
Hebrew word is that commonly used to introduce an historical
relation, and learned translators render it, in numerous places, by
origin, history, account, or some similar word,-) " of the heavens
and the earth, in their being created, in the day of Jehovah God's
making earth and heavens," I read this in the most closely literal
version. Undoubtedly the word requires to be understood here,
in the less restricted sense of a period of time.  But one obvious
remark puts an end to all difficulty in the matter.  The word used
in this place and in chapter v. 1, 2, is not the simple noun; but it
is a compound of that noun with a preposition, formed according to
the genius of the Hebrew language, and producing an adverb, requiring to be rendered by such words as when, at the time, after.*
3. Upon the very face of the document, it is manifest that in
the first chapter the word is used in its ordinary sense.  For this
primeval record (terminating, as was remarked in a former lecture,
with the third verse of the second chapter,) is not a poem, nor a
piece of oratorical diction; but is a narrative, in the simple style
which marks the highest majesty. It would be an indication of a
deplorable want of taste for the beauty of language, to put a patch
of poetical diction upon this face of natural simplicity. But, one
might think that no doubt would remain to any man who had
before his eyes the concluding formula of each of the six partitions, "And evening was, and morning was, day one;" and so
throughout the series, repeating exactly the same form; only
introducing the ordinal numbers, till we arrive at the last, " And
evening was, and morning was, day the sixth."
4. If there were no other reason against this, which I may call
device of interpretation, it would appear quite sufficient to require
its rejection, that it involves so large an extension in the liberty,
or license, of figurative speech. Poetry speaks very allowably of
the day of prosperity or of sorrow, the day of a dynasty or of an
empire: but the case before us requires a stretch of hyperbole
which would be monstrous.  A few hundreds, or even thousands,
of days turned into years, would not supply a period sufficiently
ample to meet the exigency of geological reasoning; while this
*Examples are numerous; as Exod. xiv. 57; Numb. xxx. 5, &c.; Deut. xxi. 16; 2
Sam. xxii. 1; Neh. xiii. 15. Many other instances are adduced in Noidii Concord. Partic. Iiebhr.




142                    RESORT TO THE
way of proceeding, to obtain the object desired, is sacrificing the
propriety and certainty of language, and producing a feeling of
revolt in the mind of a plain reader of the Bible.
IV. We advance to the consideration of a theory, which has been
held with strong attachment by persons of talent and piety, upon
many of whom we cannot think without the feelings of christian
affection. At the same time, it is incumbent on me to make an
observation which is entitled to be well considered. It is, that
the persons to whom I advert, and especially those who have most
distinguished themselves as the advocates of this theory, are not
practical men, not geologists who have devoted the continuous
labour of weeks and months, I might justly say years, in exploring
those regions of Europe and other parts of the earth, which are
the most important in a geological sense, because they present the
greatest extent of natural sections, elevations, fractures, and outcrops, and the largest abundance and variety of organic remains.
But the writers who have most signalized themselves in the advocacy of this view, appear to have chiefly derived their knowledge
of geological subjects from the study of books and their own
reflections in calm retirement. I am not so presumptuous as to
imagine myself qualified to bear this testimony concerning those
estimable persons, so as to exclude all liability to mistake. I
utter only the impression made upon my mind, by a small degree
of actual knowledge, by credible information from other persons,
and above all from the indications of their own writings.
The hypothesis referred to is that which, first, considers the
Mosaic record as indubitably affirming the creation of the universe,
within the period of six natural days, at an epoch about six thousand years back; then, it regards the interval from the creation
to the Deluge, as affording a sufficient lapse of time for the deposition of the chief part of the stratified formations; and finally it
considers the remainder of the phenomena as adequately accounted
for by the action of the diluvial waters.
That interval, according to the chronology calculated from the
Hebrew copy of the Bible, was 1656 years; according to the
Greek translation usually called the Septuagint, it was 2262; but
according to the estimate in the "Analysis of Chronology" of the
late Dr. William  Hales of Dublin, the period was 2256 years.
Professor Wallace brings out, from laborious investigation, 2262.*
x On the Trzue Age of the World, and its Chronology; p. 298. 1844.




ANTEDILUVIAN PERIOD.                143
1. The first thought that strikes our minds, on a survey of
the inquiry, is this; that the materials, of which the advocates of
this theory have framed it, are what they have derived from the
labours of the very men who hold the opposite doctrine. The
men whose persevering toils have brought to light the great facts
of Geology, who have traced them through their vast extent, and
who have described them with careful precision by their pens and
pencils, are represented by this hypothesis as the worst interpreters of those facts; either incapable of drawing logical inferences
from their own observations or unwilling to declare what the
honest inferences are. Upon the former supposition, it must
appear a strange thing that the persons, who have given such
distinguished proofs of their general ability, and of their acuteness
of penetration in this particular department of scientific study;
who possess the resources of those auxiliary sciences which are the
best guides in physical inquiry, and the most stern checks upon
sanguine minds, to guard them against precipitance or inaccuracy
in drawing conclusions;-it must appear a strange thing, that such
persons should labour under an obliquity of judgment, so peculiar
and so obstinate that they cannot see the just conclusion from
premises which they have obtained by so much expense of time
and fortune, of mental and of bodily toil. It should also not be
omitted that, of these persons, some, probably the larger number,
had the prepossessions of education originally fixed in their minds
in favour of the very opinion which they are now rebuked for
rejecting. Could we imagine that one such human mind was in
existence?-It would appear a prodigy: but that many, that all
who fall under the former part of my description (for I know not
of one exception,) should be thus mighty to do the greater thing,
which every logician knows to be the gaining of true premises,
yet so wretchedly feeble to perform the easiest part of all, the
perceiving what conclusion is contained in those premises!-This
does indeed surpass belief!But the other part of the alternative is that, the men so qualified, with the evidence on the case spread before their eyes, are
unwilling to announce that conclusion which dispassionate bystanders see to be the right one, and which they themselves
were quite aware of, yea, probably had before maintained; that
they have been seduced into a confederacy,-though many of
them never saw each other,-to violate conscience, honour, and




144                      REMARKS ON AUTHORS.
truth, to support an  opinion which  they know  is nlot the fair deduction from the facts by themselves elicited; an opinion which
they themselves had once disapproved,* which shocks many of
their friends, which is denounced as of an irreligious and sceptical
character, and which therefore forces them to lie under suspicion
and reproach; and, finally, that some of these men, and those the
most ready to make the avowal, are consecrated ministers and
zealous advocates of the Christian Religion: —this side of the supposition does indeed involve such an amount of deliberate baseness,-that it exceeds my capacity of belief!
2. The  worthy  persons who  oppose what I may, not assumingly, call the whole body of geologists, have had no very difficult
task to perform. There may be two or three exceptions: but we
may safely affirm that they in general have not spent those years
of patient application which the case demands in order to have
the prerequisites for forming a correct judgment: but they take up
an alluring book, Professor Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, perhaps, or Mr. Lyell's Principles; or, more probably, they may have
been content with some of the older and very defective authors.
From this they select a few statements, which, by their want of
previous knowledge, they are exposed to no small risk of failing
to understand. Of the great number of facts necessary to be
known, many are overlooked, and many are forgotten; and among
them  are some which  make no  very  prominent appearance in  a
verbal description, but the omission to grasp and apply which
* " When I first heard of the conclusions of Geology, I thought them very unsafe, for
they opposed my conscientious interpretation of the scripture-narrative; and I concluded
(as was right and just, for I knew scripture to be infallible, and I had never considered
any other interpretation,) that geological science was an' aberration.' But, upon farther
scrutiny, I found its main conclusions impregnable. I then considered whether my interpretation was of necessity the right one; and I found, as many scriptural geologists have
shewn, that the sacred text might, without any violence, be differently interpreted, and
that thus the supposed difficulties vanished. I was not reckless of consequences,-very
far from it; but I saw that there might be bad consequences in two opposite ways; and
I fear that some well-meaning and truly pious writers are exposing scripture to one of
them." Letter of a Scriptural Geologist, in the Christian Observer, August 1839, p. 473.
On the question, Whether these phenomena can C" be comprised within the short period
usually assigned to them," the Rev. Samuel Charles Wilks long ago observed: " Buckland, Sedgwick, Faber, Chalmers, Conybeare, and many other christian geologists, strove
long with themselves to believe that they could; and they did not give up the hope, or
seek for a new interpretation of the sacred text, till they considered themselves driven
from their position by such facts as we have stated.-If, even now, a reasonable, or
we might say possible solution were offered, they would, we feel persuaded, gladly revert
to their original opinion."  Christ. Obsern. Aug. 1834; p. 486.




PENN, FAIRHOLME AND KIRBY.              14.5
will vitiate the entire body of conceptions which the hasty compiler is forming. He finds incoherences, and has no suspicion that
they are produced only by the fragmentary character of his own
attainments: he puts them down and surveys them: to him they
appear to involve positions or to warrant inferences fatal to the
geologists: and then our well-pleased considerator marshals his
doubts and objections, forms a theory of his own which delightfully
harmonizes with his views of the scriptural cosmogony: he favours
the world with it: and, in the end, he is surprised and grieved, and
perhaps irritated, that the geologists do not adopt his views.
With reluctance and pain I acknowledge myself under the obligation of mentioning some principal writers of this description.
Some twelve or thirteen years ago, a gentleman entitled to our
high esteem, Mr. Granville Penn, published a large work which
he entitled "A  Comparative Estimate of the Mineral and the
Mosaic Geologies." He endeavours to prove that the phenomena
of stratification may be accounted for by referring them to the
accumulated deposits of the antediluvian ocean, which he supposes
to have become the habitable earth after the Deluge; and then
introducing tremendous disruptions, and forcible transportations of
those accumulations, by the action of the diluvial waters. While
professing, and I have no doubt with the utmost sincerity, to hold
the authority of Scripture in the supremacy of honour which is its
due, Mr. Penn makes no scruple to deal with it in a very arbitrary
manner. He even cashiers and rejects as spurious, in the face of
all critical evidence, the entire passage which gives the topography of the country of Eden; because it is incompatible with his
theory. Pleasing and in some respects useful as his volumes are,
I am compelled to regard them as calculated to mislead the confiding reader.
Considerably later, another of our countrymen, Mr. Fairholme,
published a work on the "' Geology of Scripture," which he has
lately amplified and republished.  He is evidently versed in some
parts of recent Natural History; and, in this respect, he may be
put into the same class with a respectable clergyman, the Rev.
William Kirby, who, in his Bridgewater Treatise, having wandered out of his proper province, has introduced some of the
wildest speculations upon geological subjects that ever germinated
in the brain of man, while, in the same work, he generously relieves our astounded minds by acknowledging that he has not
L




146                 REMARKS ON AUTHORS.
studied Geology. Surely this is a lesson and a monitory example
for us all, to refiain from hazarding opinions upon subjects with
which we are conscious of being but insufficiently acquainted.
Mr. Fairholme exercises great ability, I might call it adroitness, in the whole strain of his work; with a strong tincture of
severity and sarcasm upon the objects of his censure; and with a
boldness of assertion and the frequent assumption of a triumphant
tone which is likely to lead captive an uninformed reader.  He
rests most confidently upon an argument derived from the forms
of valleys, which Dr. Buckland had before laid before the world,
but which he has since, with equal publicity, retracted, or so modified as to render it incapable of warranting the conclusion in
favour of which Mr. Fairholme avails himself of it: yet he does
not, so far as I have observed, take notice of such modification,
though the fact itself, under all its circumstances, had surely no
little claim to respectful notice. Dr. Fleming also, a zealous advocate of the authority of Scripture, had long before maintained
the futility of this argument.
In preference to resting upon my own opinion of the productions of Mr. Penn, Mr. Kirby, and Mr. Fairholme, I will quote
that of Professor Hitchcock; a man whose religious character, his
candour and fairness in discussion, and his extensive acquaintance
with geological subjects, —an acquaintance gained not merely by
studious reading and reflection, but by the hard labour of years in
river-beds, ocean-coasts, gorges, and mountains,-entitle him to
the confidence which is due to a man who understands what he is
writing about.
"Will it be believed, that a really able and scientific man, writing
by appointment of the President of the Royal Society-in the year
1835, should have revived and adopted, with slight modifications, the
essential features of this hypothesis" [Thomas Burnet's] "of dissolution and reconsolidation of the earth by the deluge "-   "It is not
necessary to go into a formal exhibition of the absurdity of such
views as these: for, unless a new school of Physico-Theologists should
arise, and Geological Science as well as Biblical Criticism revert to
their condition one hundred years ago, they will not be adopted.We do no injustice to that gentleman by saying this; while justice
to the cause of science as connected with religion requires us to do it.
-— Such exhibitions can have no other than a bad effect upon the
cause evidently so near Mr. Kirby's heart, the defence of Natural and




PENN AND FAIRHOLME.                   147
Revealed Religion.  For the inevitable effect upon the Sceptical
Geologist will be to make him throw aside the work, and we fear the
whole series" [of the Bridgewater Treatises,] "in disgust. We
have before us a letter from one of the ablest living Geologists of this
description, which well exhibits the effects of such productions.' It
gives me pain (says he) to find a man so estimable in every respect
as * * * [not Mr. Kirby,] compelled to cling to theories impossible to
defend, from reasons unconnected with science. It has injured his
well-earned reputation; and I think has injured the great cause he
has at, heart, the interests of the Christian Religion: for this must be
the effect of connecting it with opinions which are manifestly no more
than the best conclusions that wise and good men of former days
were induced to adopt, when they had but few facts, inaccurately
observed, to reason from.'.  There is another bad effect resulting
from the adoption of such untenable and exploded opinions by a
standard writer. The greater part of even educated men have not
the leisure requisite for pursuing the subjects of natural science, so
accurately as to be able to form independent opinions upon difficult
questions connected with it. Hence, when a man like Mr. Kirby,
of acknowledged distinction in science, and evidently jealous for the
honour of Natural and Revealed Religion, advances opinions on the
connexions of science with revelation, they will have a wide influence
and be extensively adopted: and, if they happen to be wrong, they
will powerfully arrest the progress of truth.  Now, Mr. Kirby's reputation as an Entomologist, and perhaps we may add also as a Helminthologist, is deservedly high. But this does not prove that he is
at all qualified to decide difficult Geological questions; especially when
he himself testifies that he is not. Yet his opinions on Geology will
have nearly as much influence, except among Geologists, as if he
were well acquainted with the science. Nay; with not a few, there
exists no small jealousy respecting the views of Geologists, as if
hostile to revelation; and such will be very glad to range themselves
under the banner of a leader in Natural History, especially of one
whose great object appears to be, to bring philosophers back to the
word of God."*
With regard to Mr. Penn and Mr. Fairholme, I must now say
that a passage of Professor Hitchcock which was quoted in the first
lecture, but suppressing the names, referred to those authors. It
needs not to be repeated. The tenor of it is to complain of them
5 Americ. Biblic. Repos. Jan. 1837; pp. 100-104.
L2




148                      GISBORNE.
for their unreasonable positiveness of opinion upon subjects in
which they betray their want of practical acquaintance, their intolerant spirit and injurious language, their wrong representation
of facts, and their calling upon us to receive theories of their own
which, says Mr. Hitchcock, "appear" to a person acquainted
with Geology, "a thousand times more extravagant and opposed
to facts, than any opinions that have been entertained by the cultivators of this science, and which Penn and Fairholme so violently
oppose."  This comparison shews the strong sense which Hitchcock entertains of the folly and presumption which provoked his
censure; but I ought to caution my hearers against understanding
it too largely. The Professor did not design to cast a veil over
the irreligious opinions of some foreign geologists, which, in the
Dissertations from which I have quoted, he has strenuously exposed and refuted. But his observation is strictly correct in relation to the subject upon which he is treating, the theories of really
well-informed geologists.
Two years ago, a venerable clergyman, of whom it would not
be easy to speak in terms of too high respect, the Rev. Thomas
Gisborne, one of the Prebendaries of Durham, published his " Considerations on the Modern Theories of Geology."  If christian
piety, good temper, fine talent, and elegant expression, could alone
secure correctness of sentiment upon a subject of natural knowledge, we should have had nothing to regret in relation to this
work. But the sources of error, which have been already described, have unhappily poured their influence into Mr. Gisborne's
mind. The prevalent and deeply working prejudice against the
modern Geology, that it seeks to undermine the authority of the
Scriptures, and consequently to destroy our faith in Christianity,
has led Mr. Gisborne into the adoption of most imperfect views
of geological facts, and into the pleasing fallacy of what Professor
Sedgwick calls "smaking a world after a pattern of our own."
He employs his great ability in finding or in imagining faults and
inconsistencies in the doctrines advanced by geologists, while it is
manifest that his acquaintance with the subjects of their attention
is extremely limited; and that his perusal of their writings has
been but cursory, and far from being comprehensive, or such as
could be made the basis of safe argument.  The inconsequence of
reasoning, into which this excellent man has allowed himself, I
am sure unconsciously, to be drawn, wve can scarcely hope that,




COCKBURN.                     149
in his very advanced age, he will be brought to discover: but it
has subjected him to the cutting suggestion of a clergyman of his
own communion, who concludes a page of criticism upon the Prebendary's pamphlet, with the words, "This is surely not an age,
in which dignitaries of the Church should be found arraying
themselves in hostility to science."
Yet another dignitary has not withheld himself from the peril
of joining this array. The last year, the Dean of York published
"A Letter to Professor Buckland;" in which, by the expenditure
of a very few pages of loose paragraphs, he actually represents
himself as having overthrown some of the principal doctrines
which the most cautious geologists regard as indubitably established; and then he brings forward a theory of his own, of which
I will only say that it manifests a degree of ignorance next to
incredible upon the phenomena under his consideration, the very
nature and most obvious facts of stratification: and, to crown all,
the Dean of York does not observe even common courtesy towards
Dr. Buckland. Probably that eminent man may think this attack
beneath his notice; and, scientifically considered, it is so. But,
as not only the Dean's pamphlet, but the productions of Prebendary Gisborne, Mr. Mellor Brown, and some other writers, are
directed against Dr. Buckland by name; and as multitudes read
those pamphlets who are totally unqualified to detect their errors
and escape the impression of their vehemence; it is greatly to be
wished that he would confer upon the public a service so valuable
as would be a calm exposure and refutation of the whole genus.
PART III.
A GENTLEMAN who has illustrated the history of our country
in a manner which proves diligent research, fidelity to moral
principles, and a pleasing talent for narration, Mr. Sharon Turner,
has also written a work for the use of young persons, and containing stores of valuable matter, "The Sacred History of the
World." This work, in a manner well adapted to inform and
* Prof. Powell's Connexion; p. 281.




10                        TURNER.
religiously to benefit the readers, introduces many facts of Natural
History and principles of Natural Philosophy: yet one may wish
that the author had accumulated his materials with more discrimination. He has also taken notice of geological subjects, in
several of the Letters of which the work consists. He has consulted many books and philosophical journals; and has brought
together, in rapid, but not always correct, sketches, a numerous
body of interesting facts. In many of his details and descriptions,
I humbly think that his work is mistaken and defective; the apparent result of having been compiled too hastily, by multifarious
reading, without personal observation and practical knowledge.
This is particularly the case in his opinions upon stratification;
and in his account of vegetable and animal remains. He supposes
all the stratified formations, from the lowest to the highest secondary, to have been produced in the 1656 years from the creation
of man to the deluge; and the tertiary, to have been the effects of
the deluge itself: notions which, one might well think, would be
impossible to be received by any person who had examined with
his eyes any large extent of stratified masses, and observed the
vast thickness of many, and the regularity and order which belong both to the earthy deposits and to the organic remains imbedded in them. But, with all the deficiencies and errors which
appear in this part of the work, Mr. Turner has sufficiently conceded the position, that, in any fair interpretation of the commencing portion of Genesis, "the Sacred Historian gives the
largest latitude for the investigations and deductions of geological
science."- "What interval occurred between the first creation
of the material substance of our globe, and the mandate for light
to descend upon it, whether months, years, or ages, is not in the
slightest degree noticed. Geology may shorten or extend its duration, as it may find proper. There is no restriction on this part
of the subject. In this portion of time or eternity, we may place
the formation of our elementary matter; the composition and arrangement of the vast central and interior contents, whatever
they may be; and the construction, circumambiency, and consolidation of all the primordial rocks; and indeed the production
of all things to which light was not essentially necessary."* If
this be admitted, the chief point is secured; and we may indulge
* Sacred History of the World; vol. i. pp. 491, 490.




BIBLICUS DELVINUS.                        151
the hope that more ample examination, and its results in more
accurate knowledge, will shew to this respectable writer the perfect untenableness of the theories which he has advanced on the
formation. of strata and the character of imbedded remains. I
may be allowed also to add, that the beautiful sentence of the
archaic record,-" Be light, and light was,"-upon which Mr.
Turner expatiates with just feeling, will be perceived by no means
to signify a first creation of light, or a first production of the conditions of which it may be an effect; but is perfectly reconcilable
with the belief that the phenomena of light had existed long before, and that the instance under consideration declares only a new
developement and application of it.
A book has been lately published by some one who honours himself with the appellation of " Biblicus Delvinus;" entitled, " Facts,
Suggestions, and Brief Inductions in Geology." The apparent
rapidity of composition, the unscrupulous facility of assertion, and
the tone of self-complacency, which distinguish the book, would
appear ludicrous; were it not that our minds are wounded and
mortified by the reflection, that errors so egregious and reasonings
so inconsequent as are found here, united with professions of pious
reverence for the Bible, are not unlikely to work great mischief.
That mischief may be immediate, by misleading the honest but
uninformed; and remote, by producing a revulsion, to the injury
of faith in the Scriptures, when those persons may come hereafter
to be better informed. Indeed, I may express the belief that this
is a common character of certain books and papers, which seem
to be mutual copyists, in the qualities of blind and obstinate blundering, and vehement censuring of others who take some pains to
understand before they write and publish; while these easy writers allow themselves no narrow indulgence in the formation of
purely ideal and often very ignorant theories, by which they fancy
that they can account for every thing.*
* There have been in the Christian Observer for 1832, 1834, 1839, and at other times,
many valuable remarks of the Editor and communications from his correspondents,
upon the studies of Geology. Many of those papers might be particularized as preeminently valuable: but to attempt such a discrimination would be digressing too far, in
this incidental notice. I may, however, recommend con amzore, the poetical jen d'esprit,
c" The Fossil Shell," by the Rev. Samuel Charles Wilks, in the vol. for 1834, page 219;
and republished in a volume of the author's Poems,;" Rescued Rose Buds." From an
article published since these lectures were delivered, I feel happy in taking a citation.
" The anti-geologists taunt the geologists with their diversities of opinion, but keep
back that no two of themselves agree: whereas the geologists, amidst all their contro



152                             YOUNG.
A gentleman entitled to our high regard as a christian minister
and a cultivator of natural science, Dr. George Young of Whitby,
has recently published a small work with the title, " Scriptural
Geology."   Ie possesses the advantage of having resided many
years in a most interesting district for this branch of study; and
he has acquired, what long observation and practice only can give,
an extensive acquaintance with mineralogical structure and organic remains in some of the northern counties, both on the eastern
coast and in the upland. In former works of greater magnitude,
he has furnished valuable materials to the antiquary and to the
geologist.* The design of this recent treatise is to maintain the
production of the earth, at least as a place of habitation for living
creatures, to have been coeval with the creation of man, that the
materials of all the strata were collected during the period from
that epoch to the deluge, that the deposition of those materials
and the formation of all the strata took place about the same era,
that this was effected by the waters of the deluge, and that all
the organic remains are those of vegetable and animal beings,
which lived in the antediluvian period.
It is with reluctance and pain that I say any thing in disparagement of a writing by so good a man: but I am sure that he is far
from wishing that any person should sacrifice conviction to respect
and friendship.  To me, I must confess, it appears, that he often
errs in stating the opinions of other persons; that his arguments
upon the disputed points are quite insufficient to bear their conclusions; that he commits the great fault of drawing universal inferences from particular facts and occasional circumstances, without
any sufficiently comprehensive induction; and that, if we were to
rest upon the statements by him made and the doctrines which
he draws from them, our knowledge of premises would be essentially
defective, and our conclusions from them very far from the truth.t
versies, are unanimous, as to the main points which their opponents represent as heretical; namely, [1.] the impossibility of condensing the actual phenomena of the fossil
strata into the space of six thousand, or many times six thousand years; or [2.] of admitting, with due regard to the voice of truth, that the death of animals is not to be
traced to a much more remote period. — A man only betrays his own ignorance or incapacity, who affects to sneer at modern physical science." A letter signed Fides;
Christ. Obs. for July, 1839, p. 404. In the same work for the month of August, p. 473,
is a just and gentlemanly castigation of Biblicus Delvinus.
* In his History of T7hitby and the Vicinity; 2 vols. Svo, 1817; and his Geological
Survey of the Yorkshire Coast; 4to, 1828.
t See Supplementary Note, M; on Dr. Young's Scriptural Geology.




RHIND.                           153
Mr. Rhind of Edinburgh is a writer respectably known by a
brief treatise entitled " The Elements of Geology," and by other
works on natural science.  The last year, he published "The Age
of the Earth, considered Geologically and Historically."   He understands his subject far more than some of whom we have been
obliged to speak, and discusses it with calmness and candour. He
lays down facts, too briefly and generally indeed, and not always,
I fear, accurately, but with the nature and relations of which he
is acquainted; and he is far from being dogmatical in his manner.
Yet I must own that, to my apprehension, he seems to be labouring under the disadvantages ofi an inquirer whose mind is filled
beforehand with the idea that he absolutely must establish a previously dictated doctrine. I cannot with full satisfaction accord to
him the praise of impartiality.  He brings forward facts and phenomena that may be made to look favourably upon the views
which he is anxious to confirm; and touches very lightly or entirely passes over others which are necessary to a more complete
view of the evidence.* His mind is imbued with the idea, that the
voice of the Eternal and Omniscient Being, speaking by the instrumentality of his inspired servants, has clearly fixed a limit to
physical research, and has positively revealed the commencement
of universal creation to have been nearly coincident with that of
the human race. He affirms, that " the most obvious and general
impression of these revelations on the human mind cannot be mistaken or controverted;" [as being to this effect,] "that the world
was created, and furnished with plants and animals, for the express
habitation of man, within a definite period; that, after a time, it
suffered a partial destruction and change by some great catastrophe; and that, ultimately, it will be totally destroyed, after it
has ceased to be needed as the theatre of moral probation for the
human race." (Page 115.) Of these three positions, the first is
the question under our actual consideration: and the middle one
is expressed in terms not discrepant from the views concerning the
Deluge which are supported in these lectures. With respect to
*As many of Mr. Rhind's arguments are drawn from the geological structure of the
country round Edinburgh, considerable advantage would be derived by a careful student
from the far more comprehensive and exact descriptions of the same region, by Mr. Charles
Maclaren, in his Sketch of the Geology of Fife and the Lothians; 1839. The results
of his investigations, as applied to the time elapsed since the deposition of even the carboniferous strata, are in striking contrast to Mr. Rhind's opinions.-See also the Addition
to Suppl. Note, F.




154                     ANNIHILATION DENIED.
the third, I cannot but feel astonishment that any serious and intelligent man should have his mind fettered with the common, I
might call it the vulgar, notion of a proper destruction of the
earth; and some seem to extend the notion to the whole solar system, and even the entire material universe; applying the idea of
an extinction of being, a reducing to nothingness. This notion
has indeed been often used to aid impassioned description in sermons and poetry; and thus it has gained so strong a hold upon the
feelings of many pious persons that they have made it an article
of their faith. But, I confess myself unable to find any evidence
for it, in nature, reason, or Scripture. We can discover nothing
like destruction in the matter of the universe as subjected to our
senses. Masses are disintegrated, forms are changed, compounds
are decomposed; but not an atom is annihilated. Neither have
we the shadow of reason to assert that mind, the seat of intelligence, ever was or ever will be, in a single instance, destroyed.
Should any man ask me, What I presume to think concerning the
principle of intelligence in the inferior animals? What becomes
of it, when they die? Does that principle in an elephant or a
sparrow, in a bee, an ant, or an animalcule, retain its consciousness after death?   Or, into what state does it pass?  Or, does it
absolutely cease to exist?-I reply, that I pretend not to know,
nor do I presume to conjecture; that an impenetrable veil prevents
our obtaining this knowledge; but yet that, if there be mind, I
can find no ground for believing in its annihilation. The great
naturalist of Geneva, Charles Bonnet,* distinguished also by his
piety as a Christain, maintained the reality of a future life for all
sentient natures. No man who thinks seriously upon the infinite
perfections of God, can imagine that difficulty can lie in his path,
whether of purpose or of action; or that there is not space in the
universe to contain such assemblages of beings, and to furnish
* Fourth ed. Other distinguished men have been, at least, inclined to this hypothesis.
See a most able and cautious Dissertationz on the Mind of the Lower Animals, by
John Sheppard, Esq., appended to his poem, An Autumn Dream, a deeply interesting
volume for its poetical merits, and eminently so for its copious Notes, in which theology
and practical religion, criticism and metaphysics, receive rich contributions. Gladly also
do I recommend the other writings of this excellent author. They possess the same
classes of good qualities, invaluable aids to knowledge, taste, and piety. As allied to
some of the subjects of this volume, I would particularly mention his Lecture on the Argumezts for Christian Theism from Organized Life and Fossil Osteology; 1845. It
contains penetrating remarks, yet always candid and kind, upon the book, entitled Testiges of the NVat. Hist. of C'reation




CONFLAGRATION.                               155
them with the fullest scope for useful and happy existence. If an
expression in one of the Psalms be held to imply the annihilation
of inferior animals, such interpretation will carry with it also that
the souls of wicked men are annihilated: "Man that is in honour
and abideth not, is like the brutes that perish."-Where our Maker
has not given us the means of knowledge, our duty is to be humbly and thankfully ignorant.* The declaration in Scripture, that
"the heavens and the earth shall flee away, and no more place be
found for them," is undoubtedly figurative, and denotes the most
momentous changes in the scenes of the divine moral government.
If it be the purpose of God that the earth shall be subjected to a
total conflagration, we perfectly well know that the instruments
of such an event lie close at hand, and wait only the divine volition to burst out in a rnoment.t   But that would not be a destruction; it would be a mere change of form, and, no doubt, would be
subservient to the most glorious results.   "We, according to his
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth; wherein dwelleth
righteousness.": Upon the whole, Mr. Rhind's chief intention
* Queerunt arguti sed parum sobrii homines, an immortale futurum sit omne animalium
genus. His speculationibus si frwenum laxetur, quorsum tandem nos abripient? Hae
ergo simplici doctrina contenti simus, tale fore temperamentum et tam concinnum  ordinem, ut nihil vel sit deforme vel fluxum appareat. " Some persons, more curious than
wise, ask whether the inferior animal creation will be endowed with immortality in the
future state. If we give unlimited indulgence to such speculations, to what lengths will
they hurry us? Let us be satisfied with the plain doctrine, that the adjustment and disposition of the universe will be so beautifully adapted as to leave no room for disorder or
decay." Calvin, on Rom. viii. 21.
t Sec. ed. " When we consider the combustible nature of the elements of the earth, so
far as they are known to us, the facility with which their compounds may be decomposed
and made to enter into new combinations, the quantity of heat which they evolve during
these processes; when we recollect the expansive power of steam, and that water itself
is composed of two gases which by their union produce intense heat; when we call to
mind the number of explosive and detonating compounds which have been already discovered; we may be allowed to share the astonishment of Pliny that a single day should
pass without a general conflagration.'Excedit profecto omnia miracula, ullum diem
fuisse quo non cuncta conflagrarent.' list. l2Zlndi, lib ii. cap. 107." Lyell's Princip.
B. II, ch xx. vol. ii. p. 451, sixth ed.
1 2 Pet. iii. 7, 10. Many critics and expositors, probably the majority, understand this
passage of a literal conflagration of our planet, to take place immediately after the universal resurrection and the final judgment. But it would be wrong to withhold the observation, that some of the most eminent Bible-scholars have entertained a different opinion: in
particular, John Prideaux, Bishop of Worcester in the time of Charles I, a man never to
be thought of without affection for his learning, magnanimous humility, piety, and suffer,ings as a conscientious royalist; (Fascicil. Controv. Theol. cap. vii.) Dr. Lightfoot;
(Works, ed. 1684. vol. ii. pp. 626, 1073-6.) and Dr. John Owen; (OsoXoyotEsva, ed. Bremen, 1684, p. 147.)
I will attempt a summary of Owen's disquisition. C' The apostle treats upon three




156                                 RHIND.
appears to be the moderate and pious one of promoting the due
reverence to divine authority, a modest sense of our ignorance,
and a cautious abstinence from lofty positiveness. His candid admission does him  honour.   " It is true, even the Mosaical record
does not definitely  settle this question. —- May  we not be permitted to think-that the period for forming a true theory of the
earth, has not arrived, and may never come; that we must content
ourselves in this, as in most other cases of human inquiry, with an
investigation of facts and  phenomena, without diving into causes
which are to us inscrutable?" (Pp. 114, 111.) Thus he concedes
what nullifies the purpose and the title of the whole book.
Three years ago, Dr. Nicholas Wiseman, Principal of the English (of course Roman Catholic) College in Rome, published a
work eminently valuable, " Twelve Lectures on the Connexion between Science and Revealed Religion."   The  course advantageously comprehends Philology, Civil History, Antiquities, and some
branches of Natural Science. The view which he gives of Geology, he professes to be historical rather than scientific,* but it
worlds, or states of the world; the ancient one, which had perished by water; the one
then present, which was to be consumed by fire; and a third, the new heavens and earth,
the abode of righteousness. He is not referring to the visible heaven or earth, considered
with respect to its substance. For the destruction of the ancient world by water did not
take away the material frame of the heavens and the terrene globe. The term world is
used to signify the human, inzhabitants of the world. They were extirpated by the flood;
and another world of men was to be established, for maintaining true religion and the
right worship of God. Of this world he laid the foundations in the family of Noah; and
its fabric was completed by the erection of the Church of Israel. That was the world
whose immediately impending dissolution by fire St. Peter here predicts: but we must
observe that he uses the prophetic style" [of emblematical imagery;] " corresponding with
Isa. li. 15, 16;" [lxv. 15, 17, 18; lxvi. 14-16.] 1" When God divided the sea and brought
his people out of Egypt, he intrusted them with his law and the solemn institutions of his
worship, and formed them into a church for himself: that was establishing and completing
this new world, the heavepn and the earth. But, when Peter wrote, this world, the
Jewish church, had become apostate, and was hastening to the destruction of fire; just
as the ancient world plunged itself into the destruction of the deluge. By the burning of
the temple and city of Jerusalem, the frame of that world was dissolved. The apostle
directs believers to another world, as a matter of expectation, to be lookedfor; because
1i avvrXstia Tro aiihvos [the completion of the period, Matt. xxviii. 20.] was not yet accomplished; and which would be new heavens and a new earth. according to the prownise of God. That promise is in Isa. Ixv. 17; lxvi. 22; in which passages the prophet
draws as it were a picture of the coming of the Messiah.-The state of the Church,
after the conflagration of the second world, was called the age or world to comze: Heb. ii.
5; vi. 5. Thus the first or ancient world, was that which perished by the deluge; the second, was the actually present, which the apostle declares was about to perish by fire; and
the third, the world to come, is declared to be that which shall endure to the end of time."
* " I am not guided by a personal predilection for any system. I have no claim to be
called a geologist. I have studied the science more in its history than in its practical
principles." Vol. i. p. 299.




WISEMAN.                       157
is very able, candid, and judicious; and, in a mild but effective
manner, he vindicates Geology and many modern geologists from
the opprobrium which some have endeavoured to throw upon
them; he convicts those accusers (some of whom we have had occasion to refer to,) of inconsistency and vicious reasoning; he
shews that the time implied between the first action declared in
the Book of Genesis and the ensuing facts is left undecided and indefinite; he expresses himself very favourably to the doctrine of
the central heat; he has just views of the difference and disposition of strata and the characters of the imbedded vegetable and
animal remains; and though he maintains the universality of the
deluge of Noah, he considers its effects and vestiges as merely
superficial, and that it is utterly absurb to ascribe to it the formation of strata. Throughout this part of his interesting volumes,
he proves how vain are the fears of those who apprehend injury to
religion from geological discoveries, he exposes the false reasonings of infidel pretenders, and he manifests the consistency of those
very positions which have been vehemently condemned, upon the
antiquity and mutations of the earth, with the testimony of the
sacred writings. The impartiality, good temper, and equity of
this Romish priest ought to put to shame some Protestant animadverters.
A pleasing exception therefore is made by these volumes of
Principal Wiseman, to the larger part of books like those upon
which I have thought myself called to animadvert. Of them it
may be said that, however dissimilar in some respects, they agree
in certain characters: such are, the laying down of facts or statements in a partial manner, thus producing defective and often
widely erroneous impressions; the keeping out of sight other facts
which would be adverse to their hypotheses, probably from not
being themselves acquainted with those facts; a frequent forgetfulness of equity in stating and describing the objects under consideration; their being either insensible to the difficulties which belong to their own schemes, or not feeling any obligation to remove
those difficulties; in short, their carrying on their arguments in
the way which too much resembles the chicanery of counsel in a
bad cause.
Striking is the contrast which this method of reasoning and
writing bears to the character of a work which I do not say is unexceptionable, but which, for completeness and accuracy, for fair



158                         LYELL.
ness of statement and perspicuity of exposition, for force of reasoning and felicity of suggestion, stands forth among the books of our
day, very signally distinguished; but which has been made an
object of censure and suspicion, by some who have never carefully
studied it, and of serious regret by intelligent and candid geologists;-Mr. LYELL'S Principles of Geology. We cannot but lament that he takes so slight a notice of the bearings of his subject upon the ancient records* of revelation; using general expressions when precise distinctions were called for, and thus laying
himself open to painful imputations. The hope had been cherished
that, in the editions after the first, he would have obviated serious
objections which had been advanced in a spirit so candid and kind
as to have possessed a just claim upon his respect.t  This, however he has not done. It therefore remains for the readers of his
indispensable volumes, to make such explanations and corrections
for themselves. It is not, I trust, in me an unbecoming hope, that
these lectures may furnish, in some degree, the means of so doing.
Yet a work which the Council of the Royal Society, two years
ago, honoured by the adjudication of the Royal Medal, a work of
which Sir John Herschel says, " I now read it for the third time,
and every time with increased interest," a work whose luminous
and lively diction makes even so interesting a subject more attractive,-cannot have its merits exploded by a few though serious
faults, and from which it is a pleasing and reasonable hope that it
will be expurgated. If I may venture on the expression of my
own opinion, it is, that the day is not distant when the chief points
of difficulty will be satisfactorily cleared up; and that, in particular, the great question between catastrophes and uniformity
of action, brought to comparison upon a scale of appropriate amplitude, will be found to shade off into a fair coalescence. All
will fall under the universal principle that, through a series of dependent agencies, extensive and complicated beyond our mental
grasp, GOD "worketh all things, according to the counsel of his
own will." Professor Sedgwick, while he did not spare the language of frank and strong criticism, uttered the impressions of his
honourable mind, with impartiality as noble as it was splendid in
eloquence. Speaking of Mr. Lyell's first volume in the first edition, he says, " Nineteen twentieths of his work remain untouched
Supp. Note, N; on the Comparison of the Egyptian and the Mosaic Cosmogonies.
t Supplementary Note O; on some Passages in Mr. Lyell's Principles of Geology.




GEOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES.                159
by these remarks. His excellent and original historic narrative,
his dignified philosophic views and clear descriptions, his admirable account of the effects brought about by the great causes,
whether aqueous or igneous, now  acting on the crust of the
globe, contribute to make his volume in the highest degree both
popular and instructive: and I cannot but express a wish that,
in the future editions of his work, the system of Geological Dynamics may be stripped of even the semblance of hypothetical
assumption."*
It would be desirable here to give a sketch of the reasons which
we have for believing in the high antiquity of the earth: but the
length of this lecture and the demands of the subsequent ones,
render such an attempt impracticable.t  Instead of it, my kind
and patient auditors will allow me to conclude by reading a passage, from a paper by an unknown writer, in the Christian Observer for the present month.
" In regard to difficulties, the popular interpretation labours under
heavier ones than that of the scriptural geologist; but I fear that
such argumenta ad hominem are of very little service; for there is a
class of minds upon which inductive science makes no impression.
Argue with a person of this order of intellect, (he may be a good
linguist, a critic, an historian, a man versed in polite literature,) upon
the known and incontrovertible facts of Geology; he cannot deny
them; but when you press the conclusion, you perceive that his
mind has not really grappled with them. He replies,'How do we
know that it was not a miracle V' or,'How do we know that things
were then as they are now V' or,'I will believe God rather than man;'
or,' We know nothing at all about the matter;' or something equally
vague, and to which of course no reply can be given. But the most
common resource is,'The Deluge did it all.' This reply exhibits
either complete ignorance of the facts, or a rejection of the inevitable conclusions which they suggest.  No epitome of those facts
would do justice to them; for they would require at least a hundred
pages of minute detail; and yet, without having even glanced over
the outlines, some persons are not ashamed to say,'It was the
Deluge;' or,' It was a miracle;' and they persuade themselves they
do God service by this sort of obtund argument. Geologists have
* Address to the Geol. Soc. Feb. 1831; on retiring from the President's chair.
t To meet this object, the Supplementary Note F. was added to this volume.




160                 DIFFICULTIES RETORTED.
carefully examined some ten miles' thickness of solid fossiliferous
strata to the number of hundreds, which they are able to do by
means of their slanting position, where the edges crop up.  These
strata are not homogeneous; but consist of successive layers differing
widely in their character and contents. They are divided into groups;
they are not jumbled confusedly-fresh water productions with salt,
land animals with fishes, present with extinct genera or species; but
they lie as methodically as the shelves of specimens in a cabinet,
being to all appearance successive sedimentary depositions gradually
accumulated through a period of very long duration; the footsteps
of animals on the once soft moist sand (now hard rock), and the
ripple marks of water, being in many cases still visible, and the most
delicate and brittle species of shells being unfractured. At the bottom are numerous strata of slate, shell, limestone, and sandstone,
containing vegetable and animal sea-water remains now wholly unknown.  Over these come sand and clay, interlaid with vast forests
of coal, and other land and fresh-water productions. Then come
limestone, and sandstone, and clay; all containing organic remains
quite distinct from those of the former groups. Then come the upper fossiliferous rocks; in which, for the first time, appear land animals; but even these quite distinct from those that now inhabit the
world.  These ten miles of strata upon strata bear marks of successive changes in the crust of the earth, both by dislocation and gradual
accretion, every particle of clay or sand, for example, being so much
pulverized rock; and the vast masses of fossiliferous stone, often
composed almost entirely of shells, having every appearance of being
the sediment at the bottom of oceans for very lengthened periods;
how long no man can calculate; but this we know, not through
eternal ages, for the very first announcement of Holy Writ is, that
God created all things; they were therefore not self-derived or eternal.
But to pretend that there is any proof in Holy Writ, that God
created them about six thousand years ago, and that to doubt this is
infidelity, is to foist the received interpretation in the place of the
inspired word, as well as to deal very harshly by our christian neighbour who thinks otherwise. The geologist only asks a hearing; but
he is not heard; he is taunted, declaimed against, and silenced;
whilst the infidel stands by and admires the proceedings of the Protestant Inquisition, as often as a new Galileo demonstrates a truth
which accords not with some received interpretation.'Let God be
true, and every man a liar;' but we are not to lie for God, or, what
comes nearly to the same, to refuse to open our eyes to truth, because
we are apprehensive, as the Roman Catholics are in regard to tran



DIFFICULTIES RETORTED.                     161
substantiation, that our senses and our faith will contradict each other.
We may feel quite easy on that score; for the more we know of
God's works, the more clearly shall we see their accordance with
his word; though not, it may be, with some popular comments on
it."*
> Baconianus Christianus; in the Clonistiawz Obs. March, 1839; p. 147.




162                CERTAINTY OF SCRIPTURE.
LECTURE VII.
PSALMI XII. 6.  The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried
in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
THE connexion of this passage shews that, by "the words of
the Lord" here mentioned, we are to understand his promises of
mercy and protection to his faithful servants, when they are exposed to sufferings from the treachery of false-hearted men, and
when their hopes of aid from their friends are diminished by the
death or oppression of the "godly" and "faithful."  In opposition to the flatteries and deceitful actions of an unprincipled
party, the author of this psalm exults in the fidelity of God, and
the assurance that the fullest reliance might be placed on every
authenticated declaration of the divine will. This is illustrated
by the metaphor of metallic purity. Silver and gold occur native,
in the proper metallic state; yet, even in that case, they cannot
be got free from the stony substances which inclose or penetrate
them, without the art of the refiner: but, when the processes of
the hammer, the crucible, and the furnace have been duly performed, the precious metal is obtained in a state of high purity,
and fit for completely answering every purpose in the arts of life,
for which it is adapted.
That which is thus declared concerning the " exceeding great
and precious promises" of divine grace, is equally true of every
other part of what God has been pleased to reveal, for the purposes of his wisdom and benevolence to mankind;' for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness."
The most scrupulous student of the Bible will not accuse me of
making an arbitrary application of Scripture, because from this
particular instance, upon the principle of evident analogy, I deduce a universal truth. That truth is, that every declaration contained in the writings of the prophets and apostles, which has a
respect to the faith, the obedience, the consolation, and the use



HOW TO ASCERTAIN THE SENSE.              163
fulness of believers; and when understood in the sense intended
by the Author of inspiration; possesses the purity of the best
refined silver, the INFALLIBILITY of unmixed TRUTH. The sentiment, in an enlarged form, is given by the son of the writer of this
psalm; "Every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them
that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest
he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."* Every serious mind
will perceive how solemnly this caution bears upon our proceeding,
in the endeavour to elicit the sense of the Scriptures. It not less
clearly follows, that one of our first duties is to ascertain, by those
means which God has put into our possession, the genuine meaning
of the divine oracles, without prepossession in favour of some interpretations, or prejudice against others.  Our honest question
must be, "What saith the Lord?"
It is not, I trust, in disregard of this caution, that I avail myself of the analogy suggested by our text, as an instructive direction, not of fancy, but arising justly and naturally out of the
imagery employed. The use of silver, though it is often found
native in metalliferous veins, would be confined within narrow
limits, if mankind could employ only the native metal. The
quantity obtained, and the capacity of even the best specimens for
being applied to the many valuable purposes for which the providence of God has given us that metal, would be very small,
were it not for the skill and laborious diligence of the metallurgic
workman. So the treasures of the heavenly word, "more to be
desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold," require that we
should exert our best faculties, in digging out of the mine, (if I
may carry on the metaphor,) and in separating the actual SUBSTANCE of divine communication from that which is necessarily
human, theforms of language, and the condescending methods of
comparison with the affections and actions of men, by which God
is pleased to bring spiritual and divine realities within the sphere
of our narrow comprehension.  The matter is divine, but the
vehicle is human.  "We have this treasure in earthen vessels."
Pursuing this train of thought, we arrive at some important principles for Theology and the study of the Scriptures.
I. Of the nature and attributes of the Infinite Spirit, of his purposes and his acts, which cannot but have the characters of his
5 Prov. xxx. 5; 6.
m 2




164        OUR KNOWLEDGE FOUNDED ON ANALOGY.
own perfection, we have no intuitive knowledge: and we have no
possible means of receiving knowledge, though communicated from
its own Divine Fountain, except through the medium of RESEMBLANCES to objects of our own thought, or of sensible perception
by our own organs.  "Behold, God is great; and we know him
not!"  Of the Divine Nature as Infinite Intellect, PURE MIND,
we can form no conception but by reflecting upon, and drawing
conclusions from our own consciousness, and the operations of our
own minds. In like manner, we gain our knowledge of the Eternity of God, by adding the notion of infinity to our perception of
the flow of time. By our touch and our sight, we get the ideas
of motion, resistance, and impulse; and, by reflecting on the lesson thus taught, we rise to the notion of effects and causes. We
look and feel around, we lay hold of bodies extraneous to ourselves, and we discover certain states and alterations of states following upon certain conditions of tangible and visible things; we
then rise to a wider survey of the sensible world around us, and
we see a vast number of changes taking place, upon a scale of
great magnitude; and at last our feeble minds having acquired the
idea of power, we transfer it, with the highest increase of form, to
our conception of the Infinite and Eternal Deity; and we call our
new idea Omnipotence. In a similar way, we form conceptions of
justice and kindness, from the action of parental and infantile feelings, and from the mental phenomena which we experience inwardly and the actions of our fellow-beings observed outwardly;
to these conceptions we also annex the qualities of infinity and
eternity, and thus we gain some notion of the MORAL attributes of
the Supreme Majesty, his Holiness and his Benignity.  But, how
faint, how low, are our best conceptions! " Lo, these are parts
of his ways: and what whisper-word is heard of him!-The Almighty! We find him not!"*
I humbly think that these positions are self-evident to every
reflecting person. Equally manifest it is, that the highest orders
of created intelligences, though they may be immeasurably superior to man in their faculties of understanding, can know GOD in
only the same way: by elevating their minds through aids of
* Job xxvi. 14. The word rendered parts signifies the extremities of lines, mere
points: but I know not of any good English word which I could venture to substitute.
The whisper-wuord is the barest literal rendering; and it is too beautiful to be lost, as in
the common version. Chap. xxxvii. 23, also closely rendered.




STYLE OF REVELATION.                165
analogy: unless the TRANSCENDENT ONE, in his boundless goodness, have reserved for them some mode of immediate communication; but to conceive which must necessarily be beyond our
powers.
From this general statement some important consequences
follow.
1. All the methods of representation, that may be employed to
convey notions of the Deity to the mind of man, must, of absolute
necessity, be designed to produce only analogical or comparative
ideas; and must be adapted to that end. If we may so speak,
they are pictures, which stand in the place of spiritual realities;
but the realities themselves belong to the INACCESSIBLE LIGHT.
2. The materials of such comparison must be different, according to the varying states of mental improvement in which different
minds are found. Let it, for a moment, be supposed that it had
pleased the Divine Majesty to grant an immediate revelation of
his authority and his grace to the Athenians, in the age of Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle, and for their use; we may reverentially believe that, in such a case, the communication.would have been
expressed in the terms and phrases to which they had habituated
themselves, and moulded upon a system of references to the natural scenery around them, to their modes of action in social life,
and to their current notions upon all other subjects. Not only
would the diction have been pure Greek, but the figures, the allusions, and the illustrations of whatever kind, would also have been
Attic. The ilebraized style which was adapted to the people of
Israel, would have failed to convey just sentiments to the men of
Greece; or, though it would not have been absolutely unintelligible, the collateral ideas would have been misapprehended, false
bye-notions would have insinuated themselves, and the principal
sentiments, to inculcate which was the object of the whole process, would have been grievously distorted. Or, had the favour
of a positive revelation been given to the ancient Britons, or to
the aborigines of America, it would have been clothed in another
dress of representative imagery, and described in other and very
different forms of speech.
Yet, in any such case, and under every variety that could occur,
the enucleating of the representations, if it were fairly accomplished, would bring out the same truths: and the practical benefit
to piety and virtue, resulting from each mode, for the classes of




166                 EARLY REVELATIONS.
mankind to which each was adapted, would be the same, if improved with equal fidelity.
3. The earliest revelation which God was pleased to grant to
man, whether in the state of pristine integrity, or in that into which
by transgression he fell, must have been conveyed by representations of the character which we have described; they must have
been composed of materials derived from the knowledge possessed
by the subjects of those revelations, and the relations under which
they stood to beings and circumstances around them.
This position is only the correlate of saying that the revelation
must have been given and transmitted in the language spoken or
written by those to whom the message of God came: or, to say all
in one word, it must have been intelligible. If any objection be
raised against the supposition, that, by this shewing, the revelation would be clothed in the imagery of gross and sensible objects,
with the imperfections and misconceptions, under which those objects appeared to men possessing only the rude ideas of a primeval
state of society; a corresponding objection would lie against the
revelation's being conveyed in a rude and imperfect language.
Then, to be consistent, it would be requisite further to maintain,
that the terms and style of the revelation must have been in the
most pure and abstract kind of phrase that human diction could
afford, the most nearly approaching to the spirituality of the
Divine Nature, and the majesty of eternal things; and this would
be equivalent to saying, that it ought to have anticipated by many
centuries the progress of man as an intellectual and social being;
that it ought to have been written, not in the language of shepherds and herdsmen, but in that of moral philosophers and rhetoricians; not in Hebrew, but in Greek or English.
It would plainly also follow that, if the prescription, as to the
forms of thought and diction, which such presumptions demand as
befitting a revelation from heaven, were admitted, a revelation so
expressed would have been unintelligible to the " ages and generations" of primitive time, and to the generality of mankind in all
times.
II. We are thus led to another observation, which will bring
us to the principle proposed as the solution of the Biblical question, with relation not to Geology only, but to human science
universally. It is this.
The revelations, successively given to the fathers of mankind,




FIRST HUMAN BEINGS.                         167
to the ancestors of the Israelitish nation, and to particular persons
of that nation, "at sundry times and in divers manners," were
conveyed in representations to the senses, chiefly that of sight, and
in words descriptive of those representations.
To the slightest rational consideration, it must be evident that
the first human pair were created in the perfection of their bodily
organs and mental powers; and that they were immediately endowed by their Creator with a full use of their organs and faculties, and with a competent measure of the habits thence resulting:
that use and those habits, which all subsequent human beings have
had to acquire, by the slow process of parental training and imitative acquisition. Had these qualifications not been thus infused
into them, or made instinctive, at the very commencement of their
being, they could not have preserved their own lives, nor have
rendered to their heavenly Sovereign any religious homage. The
German philosopher Fichte gave the decision of reason, when he
asked the question and returned the answer, "Who educated the
first human pair? A Spirit took them under his care; as is laid
down in an ancient, venerable, original document; which contains
the deepest and the sublimest wisdom, and presents results to
which all philosophy must at last return."* The certainty of such
an order of things nature and reason declare; the actual reality of
it we learn from the word of revelation.
" God created man in his own image;" and the christian Scriptures shew us in what that image consisted; "in knowledge,
righteousness, and true holiness." That knowledge must have
been sufficient for all the purposes of a pure and happy existence,
and as the principle of a progressive developement which would
undoubtedly have been most glorious, had man abode in his pristine honour. The Deity was pleased to manifest himself to the
newly formed and favoured creatures, in ways of the most condescending goodness and wisdom; assuming probably a splendid: "Wer erzog denn das erste Menschenpaar? Ein Geist nahm sich ihrer an, wie es
eine alte, ehrwfirdige Urkunde vorstellt, welche fiberhaupt die tiefsinnigste, erhabenste
Weisheit enthlilt, und Resultate aufstellt, zu denen alle Philosophie am Ende doch wieder
zuriick muss." Quoted by Dr. Dereser of Breslaw, in the translation of the Bible with
annotations, by himself, Brentano, and Schcltz; in 17 vols. Franef. 1820-1833; vol. i. p.
16. John Gottlieb Fichte, whose writings have exercised a very powerful influence in
Germany, taught that the arrangement of moral sentiments and relations, that is, the moral
order of the universe, is God; thus denying a personal and intelligent Deity. He died in
1814, At. 52; and there is reason to believe that, several years before his death, he renounced his atheism.




168               MODES OF REVELATION.
human form, and communing with them, in ways and to an extent of the most wise and benevolent purposes, beyond what we
can know. But it is not an unreasonable conjecture, that the
archives of the human race which open the writings of Moses, are
fragments of those communings. The narration of that which
took place before man existed to have witnessed it, could have
been only from a supernal communication. Yet, to suppose that
scientific knowledge was thus imparted, or any knowledge beyond
what was necessary for the present welfare of the newly created
rational beings, their intellectual progress, and the preservation
of their unalloyed but not expanded holiness; has no ground of
probability as a subject of conjecture, nor the shadow of evidence
as a matter of fact. After the mournful apostasy of man, the condescending Deity was pleased still to grant manifestations of himself; for the increase of moral knowledge, the counteraction of
growing wickedness, and the providing of facts and evidences to
be recorded as a basis for ulterior revelations. In many of those
manifestations, the appearance of a human figure is expressly declared: thus suggesting reason to believe that those appearances
were in the person of "the WORD, who, in the fulness of the time,
became flesh," that is, assumed the human nature, " and dwelt
among us;" "who is over all, God blessed for ever."  In this
manner, a foundation was laid for the succession of divine communications, to guide wandering man into the ways of peace.
In comparison with the glory of the gospel, the "grace and
truth by Jesus Christ," this was a very imperfect proceeding: but
it was a rudiment of the moral system which was to be the excelling glory of a future age; and, with all its imperfection, it was
as high and spiritual as the condition of human nature was able to
bear. It was adapted to a state of intellectual and spiritual infancy; and from it was derived that character of the Old Testament revelations, which it is our present object to consider more
closely.
That character consisted in representing GOD by the figurative
attribution of the human form with its organs and functions, and
the human mind with its affections and passions.
In the majestic language of the Church of England, c" There is
but one living and true God; everlasting, without body, parts, or
* John i. 1, 14. Gal. iv. 4. Rom. ix. 5.




ANALOGICAL REPRESENTATIONS.                169
passions."@   And does any man need to be told that this article
is the echo of the clearest scripture-testimony; in the Old Testament as well as in the New?  "Do not I fill heaven and earth?
saith the Lord.-Whither shall I flee from thy presence?-God is
a spirit: —the King eternal, immortal, invisible; —— who only
hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see."t
Yet it pleased this BEING to bring down himself, not to the
comprehension, for that is impossible, but to the apprehensive
capacity of untutored men, by representations drawn from the circumstances of man, and from other natural objects.
Is it intended to represent the beauty and grandeur of the Divine
Nature?-" He covereth himself with light as with a garment. —
His glory covered the heavens: —his brightness was as the light:
-God is light."I
His universal knowledge?  "The eyes of the Lord run to and
fro, through the whole earth."~
The application of his omniscience to the exercises of distributive justice?  "God looked down from heaven upon the children
of men; to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek
God.-The Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom  and Gomorrah
is very great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go
down now, and see whether they have done altogether according
to the cry of it, which is come unto me: and if not, I will
know."ll
His unfailing notice and gracious attention to the sufferings of
his obedient servants?'"The eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.-Thou wilt hear me,
O God; incline thine ear unto me, unto my speech."1T
His justice upon the wicked and impenitent? "When ye spread
forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when ye
make many prayers, I will not hear.-God is jealous, and the
Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth and is furious.""
His compassion and forgiving grace?  "Is Ephraim  my dear
son? Is he a pleasant child? For, since I spake against him, I
* More impressively in the Latin copy of the articles; "- -incorporeus, impartibilis,
impassibilis;    "? Jer. xxiii. 24. Psa. cxxxix. 1-12. John iv. 24. 1 Tim. i. 17; vi. 16.: Psa. civ. 2. Habak. iii. 3, 4. 1 John i. 5.
~ 2 Chron. xvi. 9.                   I[ Psa. liii. 2. Gen. xviii. 21.' Psa. xxxiv. 15; xvii. 6.           **Isa. i. 15; Nah. i. 2.




170             ANALOGICAL REPRESENTATIONS.
do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled
for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord."'
His almighty power, and its various exercises? "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers.-I have made the earth
and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched out
the heavens.-This is the finger of God. —Thou didst drive out the
heathen with thy hand:-thy right hand, and thine arm, and the
light of thy countenance."t
In like manner, 1" the heart of Jehovah" is put to signify his
love and approbation; his nostrils, mouth, and breath, his lips and
tongue, express his declarations of mercy to the penitent and retributive justice upon the ungodly; his feet and footsteps, designate
the proceedings of his government.$
By a further application of this method of bringing down divine
things to the grasp of man, the Scriptures, and most abundantly
the earliest books, represent the attributes of Deity and their exercise in the moral government of rational creatures, by ascribing to
him the sudden emotions, and the more tranquil yet mutable affections, which, in their literal meaning, can be predicated of only
limited and imperfect beings.
To express the wisdom of God in the adaptation of creatures,
forms, and structural organs, to the purposes destined; he is represented in the attitudes of a man who has invented and constructed
a new machine, or who has made an untried experiment. He
watches the working; he looks at the result; he sees the whole to
have succeeded to the fulness of his intention; and he sits down
contented and happy, to repose after his labour. " God saw" (the
word has an intensive meaning, and denotes to look at an object
with strong feeling,) " every thing that he had made; and behold,
it was very good."-" Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished, and all the host of them: and, on the seventh day God
ended his work, which he had made; and he rested, on the seventh
day, from all his work which he had made."~
It deserves observation, that a similar train of ideas occurs in the
passage which, with the same kind of graphic simplicity, presents
Moses, upon his having completed the construction and utensils of
tJer. xxxi. 20.
tPsa. viii. 2. Isa. xiv. 12. Exod. viii. 19. Psa. xliv. 3.
j In numerous places which must be familiar to the dutiful readers of the Bible.
~ Gen. i. 31-ii. 3.




UTILITY OF ANALOGIES.                171
the tabernacle, as revising the whole work, finding it correctly
done, sitting down satisfied, and invoking the blessing which only
God could confer.*
The disobedience and ingratitude of mankind to their heavenly
Maker and Benefactor, and his abhorrence of every thing wicked,
in principle and in act; are expressed by the image of a man who
sees a valuable work spoiled, a favourite measure frustrated, his
intentions thwarted, and his hopes turned to the reverse of just
expectation: he therefore bitterly regrets that he had ever formed
such a purpose, and undergone the labour of executing it. "God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth; and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually: and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart."t In another remarkable
passage, this imagery is carried still further, and the Blessed and
Glorious Being, " with whom is no variableness nor shadow of a
turning," is depicted as changing his mind a second time.'" The
Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people; and, behold, it is
a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath
may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I
will make of thee a great nation.  And Moses besought the Lord
his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy
people?    "  He then uses pleas and arguments to urge his petition,-"Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil
against thy people.-  And the Lord repented of the evil which
he thought to do unto his people."'
One instance more only shall be mentioned. After the awful
visitation of the deluge, when Noah with his small household
came from their ark of safety and saw themselves the sole survivors of the human race, he presented the adoration of gratitude
and prayer to his Almighty Preserver: and this, according to
what we think there is evidence to regard as a divine institution,
was accompanied by a full~ offering of sacrifices, in which sin was
acknowledged, repentance professed, and the great propitiation
anticipated. The God of mercy deigned to give some sign of
assurance, that the act of devotion was accepted; and that the
stream of his goodness should now flow uninterruptedly to man,
*Exod. xxxix. 42, 43.                  t Gen. vi. 5, 6.
$ Exod. xxxii. 9-14.
~ That is, of all the kinds requisite to the completeness of the ritual design.




172             INTERPRETATION NOT TO BE
notwithstanding the aboundings of sin which would anew take
place. The entire transaction must have been of the most impressive character to the favoured family; and to us and all men,
it is full of instruction. Yet observe the child-like simplicity and
the boldly figurative language in which it is related.  "Noah
builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast
and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings upon the
altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet odour; and the Lord said
in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's
sake; although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth; neither will I smite any more every living thing as I have
done."*
Such was the manner in which the earliest scriptures depicted
to men the perfections and the operations of the Infinite Being,
his dominion and authority, his justice and his mercy. Was it
not most touching and impressive? Was it not well adapted to
the mental capacities and the susceptibility of strong affections,
which characterised men in a state of rude simplicity? Would a
style more chastised, more coldly correct, more philosophical,
more theological (if we please so to call it,) have been better
fitted, to answer the ends of religious instruction?-better adapted!
-would it have been adapted at all?-Let us elevate its beneficial
effect the most that we reasonably can; still it would have been
cold, unattractive, and with difficulty comprehended. Try the
experiment upon our peasantry, or even the best educated children
of our own families. The style of a Moral Philosophy school
would arouse no attention, would leave scarcely any impression;
the simple imagery of Scripture is instinct with life, and touches
every chord of feeling.
But it not the less plainly follows, that it is our duty to understand all such passages in modes which shall be worthy of the
dignity of God; and so to interpret them as to deprive the contemners of revelation of a pretext for censuring and rejecting it.
Possibly some Christian may say,' I will not follow this course:
I will take the words of Scripture in their immediate and obvious
sense, and let difficulties alone, persuaded that all is true and
right, however contrary to my understanding.' If this language
proceed from piety, I honour its motive; but I cannot regard the: Gen. viii. 20, 21.




LITERAL, OR UNWORTHY.                          173
course which it takes as wise and good. If you do indeed resolve
to take up the figurative language of Scripture as if it were literally true, look well to yourself. Think what consequences you
are plunging into; what conceptions of the Infinite Majesty you
are cherishing in your mind and propagating around you; what
effects they are likely to have upon other persons,-yes, your own
children, especially in the well educated and inquiring classes of
society; and what vantage-ground you are surrendering to the
impugners of the Bible, thus giving your aid for undermining the
faith of probably the dearest to you in this world.-Know  ye not
the universal rule of language, that the figurative is always to be
explained by the simple; the obscure by the perspicuous? Are ye
inattentive to the plain declarations of the sacred word, upon the
spirituality, the omniscience, the unchangeableness of the One
Living and True God?  Or, if ye will not accept of this method
of reconciling the apparent discrepance between the two classes
of passages, a method fair and reasonable, and consonant to all
the use of language; are you provided with any other? Are you
able, upon any better grounds, to protect the faith of the Gospel,
and to disarm its opponents?*
Nor ought we to forget, in the pride of our philosophy, that
our own best conceptions of GOD, and our most chastised manners
of expression, are likewise formed upon resemblances and analogies. In this way only can we have any conceptions of the Infinite One.  The difference between us and the ruder children of
nature lies only in the degree.
* The Anthropomorphites of the fourth and fifth centuries furnish an example of the
danger of adhering to the literal understanding of the passages of the Old Testament
which describe the Deity under the analogies of human forms and passions. Upon
them, the modern master of Ecclesiastical History, Dr. Neander (Prof. Theol. Berlin,)
has this observation: " The coarse and carnal ideas, which attribute human passions to
the Divine Nature, were derived by carnally minded Jews and ignorant Christians,
cleaving to the letter, from certain misunderstood passages of the Old Testament. Thus
occasion was afforded to Marcion to represent the God of the Old Testament as in
reality such a being as those persons had pictured him." (Allgemeine Gesch. d. C/r.
Relig. vol. i. p. 968.) There are some unhappy people, in our own times, who maintain that God is really a being having the shape, limbs, and functions of a man; persons
who call themselves Christyans; also some disciples of an Irishman, Alexander Campbell, an emigrant to Virginia. A large account of them is in the American Biblical
Repository for Jan. and April 1839. Third Ed. This assertion has been recently denied, in a publication at Nottingham; but it is fully averred in passages cited in the Am.
B. Repos. p. 310, from a Christyan book professing to give their system authoritatively,
IKincade's Bible Doctrine; and other quotations shew that "the Christyans and Campbellists are here declared by both parties [themselves], to stand upon the same foundation, and to be one people."




174                BIBLE DESCRIPTIONS OF
III. We have now to consider the manner in which this characteristic style of the Scriptures speaks of natural phenomena.
The field of this kind which it opens for investigation is very extensive; but we must content ourselves with a small number of
instances.
1. With regard to the figure of the Earth, its relation to the
heavenly bodies, and its motion or immobility.
So far as I have been able to ascertain, direct information does
not occur in the Scriptures, upon these subjects. But there are
many passages which, in the way of incidental mention, seem
capable of affording us abundant satisfaction. As this is a topic
of much interest in itself, and has a close connexion with our ultimate subject, I shall recite passages at some length.
The primary record, in the beginning of the Book of Genesis,
will presently be the specific subject of attention. It is only needful now to say, that nothing is there affirmed, nor in any way
implied, concerning the figure and situation of the earth. The
mention which is made of the heavenly bodies evidently relates
to their use to men, as luminaries and as measures of time; and
it gives no hint of any other relations and uses.
" lie stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth
the earth upon nothing."* The former part of this verse seems
to contemplate the expanse of the starry heavens as seen by night,
especially distinguishing the northern constellations, and presenting
the appearance of a concave surface extended on all sides; or, as
it is more fully expressed in the Book of Isaiah; " He stretcheth
out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to
dwell in."t  By " the empty place" (tohu, a word applied to any
thing supposed to be waste and deserted,4) appears to be meant
the whole space above the habitable ground, and which, by those,
who had no knowledge of the atmosphere or of any aeriform
substance, was regarded as emptiness, a mere nothing.  The
is suspending of the earth upon nothing," comes as the antithesis
of the former member, and declares that the solid earth on which
men and other creatures dwell, has no visible or known support,
but remains in its place fixed by the decree and power of God. I
cannot discover that the passage involves any sentiment, or war*Job xxvi. 7.                  t Is. xl. 22.
t Used in Gen. i. 1, and there translated without foram.




NATURAL OBJECTS.                    175
rants any conclusion whatever, as to the figure of the earth, or
its connexion with other bodies: but it is perfectly conformable
to the idea of the earth's being an extended plane; which we
shall find to be the sentiment more clearly declared in other
places.
Consonant with this, is a verse in the same connexion.  "He
hath drawn a limiting circle upon the surface of the waters, to
the boundary of light with darkness."*  The idea is that of a
disc drawn with a compass-instrument, consisting of the whole
earth, surrounded by water, and beyond which, on every side and
beneath, all was perpetual darkness and a dead waste. The same
representation is in the Book of Proverbs; "I In his cutting out a
circle upon the surface of the deep."t
Other passages speak of extremities, as bounding lines of the
earth; and of pillars or supports of some kind upon which it rests.
In some places these boundaries are represented as points, the
summits of angles: but it is not necessarily to be thence deduced
that the idea entertained concerning the figure of the earth was
that of a four-sided plane; for the expression would naturally
arise from contemplating the two opposite points marked by the
sun's rising and setting, and the two which lie transversely to
them.  The Hebrew words for denoting each of these four quarters (called wings) of the heavens or of the earth, are several in
each instance; and thus they afford us an insight into the ideas of
the Israelites upon the characteristics of the cardinal points. The
words for the East signify radiating, a luminous space, and before,
that is, referring to the position of a person who has his face towards the rising sun: those for the West, express going away,
going down, behind the sea, namely the Mediterranean: those for
the North, darkness, gloominess, the left hand; and those for the
South, light, the shining region, dry, referring to the countries
parched with heat, the right hand.
" Under the whole heavens he directeth it, [the thunder;] and
its light [the lightning] unto the wings of the earth.-  Where
wast thou at my laying the foundations of the earth? Narrate
[it;] since thou possessest full understanding. Who applied measuring rods unto it; since thou knowest?  Upon what were its
) Verse 10. The closest translation. That in the Common Version is not sufficiently
exact.
T Chap. viii. 27; closely translated.




176                              GALILEO.
bases let in?  Or who laid a stone for its corner?-  He shaketh
the earth out of its place, and the pillars thereof tremble. —---
He will collect [the dispersed people] from the four wings of the
earth."t
The belief with regard to the figure of the earth, that it is an
extended plane, was current among the Christian fathers:t but
they in general disapproved and avoided attention to physical
subjects. By slow degrees the general doctrine of a globular
form made its way among men; but, to a much later date, that
of the immobility of the earth was strenuously maintained. Considerably within the last two centuries, that opinion was the common  belief of all denominations of Christians.   Most persons
know  that threats, persuasions, and a short imprisonment subdued
Galileo, and brought him to make a solemn recantation of the
Copernican doctrine; and he had to endure the penal sentence of
imprisonment for life.~ It is hardly imaginable that his persecu* Job xxxvii. 3; xxxviii. 4-6; ix. 6; closely translated.
1- Is. xi. 12; and compare Ezek. vii. 2.
t Sec. ed. Plato, Aristotle, Strabo, Cicero, and others of the heathen, maintained the
globular figure of the earth. Hicetas of Syracuse is mentioned by Cicero as holding its
motion; and an approach to just views concerning the system of the world appears to
have been made by Pythagoras. Socrates regarded this kind of topics as beyond the
reach of human knowledge. But the fathers of the church (not very worthily so called)
were generally alien from such inquiries. Lactantius diffusely reproves and ridicules
those who believed the earth to be round, and to be habitable on opposite sides. "Is
any one so foolish," he asks, "as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher
than their heads;-trees growing downwards; rain, snow, and hail, falling upwards?"
(De Falsa Sapientia, iii. 24.)
In the middle ages, the Jews and Mahommedans were the men to whom we might
look for philosophical knowledge, rather than to the general mass of those called Christians, but who were the degraded victims of spiritual tyranny, superstition, and ignorance. In the Hebrew Concordance, attributed to Rabbi (Isaac or Mordecai?) Nathan
in the fifteenth century, we find this explication, under   "; " —to place, found, build,
lay the foundation of an edifice; applied to the creation of the earth, which God has
placed in the middle of the universe, a solid, immovable body."
~ Yet let not a wrong use be made of the example of Galileo. It has been very properly observed, that many a system-maker, " when a check is offered to his crude and
inconclusive conceptions,-fancies himself another Galileo, and glories in his imagined
martyrdom. Yet no case was ever more exaggerated than that of Galileo; and even
assuming it at its worst phase, it was rather the fault of the age than of the individuals
engaged in it. How many really wicked attacks have been levelled at sacred things,
from the days of Galileo to the present, and successfully refuted by divines laudably on
the watch to preserve the purity of that faith which has been entrusted to them; and
yet how small praise has been awarded them, compared to the opprobrium of this one
case of exaggerated oppression!" Rhind, on the Age of the Earth; p. 117.
So much error prevails with regard to this great man and his persecutions, some overstating and others diminishing them, that a few lines of information may not be useless.




PREJUDICES  OF PROTESTANTS.                           177
tors could believe in his sincerity; even had he not declared, the
moment after, his retention of his own belief; which he did.  But
persecution is the parent of hypocrisy. A consistent Christian
would have died, rather than have infringed his integrity. Yet,
not hurling condemnation, but pitying the illustrious Florentine,
let us turn his history into a lesson for ourselves. In things of
every kind, earthly  as well as spiritual, "godly  simplicity and
integrity" is the only right course: and, whatever it may cost, it
will bring  happiness in the end.           But it is not so much known
that, long after that event, pious and learned Protestants viewed
I derive it from the Allgemeize Dezutscle Real-Encyclopidcie, 16 volumes, Leipzig,
1830-1834; and its authorities are the works of Galileo himself, and Lives by Jagemann
and Nelli. We usually call him by his baptismal name, though the family name would
be more exactly proper. He was the son of Vicenzo Galilei, a Florentine nobleman,
and born at Pisa. His talents and industry corresponded to the signal advantages of his
education, in mathematics, the sciences, and elegant literature. About 1620, he became
involved in a dispute with the Jesuits, which materially affected his subsequent circumstances. Having obtained the legal permission at both Rome and Florence, he published,
1632, his great work, " A Dialogue by Galileo Galilei, in which, through conversations
of Four Days, are discussed the two principal Systems, the Ptolemaic and the Copernican." Notwithstanding the extreme moderation of the work, scarcely amounting to
an avowal of the Copernican doctrine, it was made the ground of severe proceedings.
Pope Urban VIII. had, in private life, been his friend; but he was now drawn over by
the monks to become a zealous enemy. A congregation of Cardinals and others, all his
sworn enemies, condemned his book, and cited him to the tribunal of the Inquisition.
He was obliged to come to Rome, was imprisoned some months, and on the 23d of June,
1633, kneeling and placing his hand upon the gospels, to denote a declaration by oath in
the presence of the God of truth, he uttered the dictated words, " With a sincere heart
and undissembled fidelity, I abjure, curse, and detest, the aforesaid errors and heresies."
Immediately as he rose from this impious mockery, he betrayed the strongest emotion,
stamped on the ground, and said, E pter si mcove! (It moves, however!) He was condemned to perpetual imprisonment in the dungeons of the Inquisition, and to repeat
weekly for three years the seven Penitential Psalms. With regard to the place of imprisonment great favour was shown him. Instead of a dungeon, he was confined in
the Bishop's palace at Sienna, and afterwards in a similar retreat near Florence. In this
condition he prosecuted his investigations on the laws of motion, the planetary phenomena, and other parts of mechanical philosophy; till deafness, blindness, sleeplessness, and excruciating pain, wore out the venerable philosopher. He died, aged 78,
Jan. 8, 1642, the year of the birth of NEWTON.-Alas! how low does this great man
sink, by the side of many a poor, tender, and delicate woman, who has refused to purchase a release from the most cruel torture of the rack or the flames, by yielding to
utter any falsehood or deny any truth. [With this agrees the incidental record of our
immortal poet. His description seems to have purposely avoided implying that the scene
was in, the prison of the Inquisition, and it is not probable that the young English Protestant would have been admitted there. " I could recount what I have seen and heard
in other countries, where this kind of inquisition tyrannizes; when I have sat among
their learned men, for that honour I had.-  There it was that I found and visited the
famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner to the Inquisition, for thinking in Astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican licensers thought." Areopag'itica, Hollis's ed.
1780, p. 310. Milton was at that time twenty-nine years old.]
N




178              PREJUDICES OF PROTESTANTS.
Galileo's doctrine with the same alarm  and abhorrence as the
Romish Church professed to feel; and they founded their determination upon the following passages of Scripture.
"He hath established the earth upon its foundations: it shall not
be moved, for ever and ever.-For upon the seas he hath founded it,
and upon the streams he hath fixed it.-O, give thanks unto Himwho hath spread out the earth upon the waters!-the mount Zion"
[and therefore, they inferred, the whole earth, of which any hill or
mountain is only a part,] —" shall not be moved, for ever and ever.Generation goeth, and generation cometh; but the earth for ever
standeth.    The sun - rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
From the end of the heavens is his going forth, and his circuit to
their uttermost parts.    Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye
waters that be above the heavens. Who stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, who layeth rafters in the waters, his upper chambers."*
Upon the interpretation which men of the highest ability attached to these declarations of Scripture, they rested the most
positive confidence that the sun flies round the earth every twentyfour hours, and that the earth rests immoveably in the centre of
the universe.  "This," said one of the most eminent men of the
Reformed Church, "c we affirm, with all divines, natural philosophers and astronomers, Jews and Mohammedans, Greeks and
Latins; excepting one or two of the ancients, and the modern
followers of Copernicus."t  It is in no small degree curious, but
it conveys also a serious lesson to us, to observe what was a very
great stretch of candour and charity, one hundred and fifty years
ago.  "C That the sun moves and that the earth is at rest," wrote
another of that class of learned men, " is testified in Scripture:
that the earth also cannot be moved, being as it were founded
and fixed upon bases, pedestals, and pillars. Some philosophers,
indeed, both ancient and modern, and Copernicus, the most distinguished among them, have maintained the contrary.  Gemma
Frisius has taken pains to explain this opinion of Copernicus in
the most favourable manner that he could; and some celebrated
philosophers have endeavoured to reconcile it to the Bible, by
considerations drawn from the ambiguity and various use of lan* Psa. civ. 5; xxiv. 2; cxxxvi. 6. Eccles. i. 4. Psa. xix. 6; cxlviii. 4; civ. 3,
a Gisb. Voetii Dispuzt. Theol. vol. i. p. 637. Utrecht, 1648.




SCRIPTURE STYLE IN REGARD TO NATURAL OBJECTS.  179
guage. Others have recourse to the condescension of the style
of Scripture, which, upon matters that do not affect faith and religion, is wont to lisp and prattle (6vy1tp8,[tetiv,) like a father
with his babes.  But our pious reverence for the Scripture, the
word of truth, will not allow us to depart from the strict propriety of the words; as, by so doing, we should be setting to infidels an example of wresting the Scriptures; unless we were
convinced by sure and irrefragable arguments; as perhaps there
may be a few so convinced, but they are ambitious persons, though
professing themselves to be devoted to sacred studies."@
The length to which these observations have gone appeared necessary, in order to establish the broad and strong foundation of
that principle of Bible-interpretation which to my full conviction,
will liberate us from difficulty, in relation to the supposed discrepance between the facts of science, especially geological science,
and the testimony of the Holy Scriptures.
A few more instances will be useful: but they shall be briefly
mentioned.
"Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars; if thou be able
to number them.-So shall thy seed be. —— n  multiplying I
will multiply thy seed, as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which
is upon the sea-shore."t Here we have two similitudes, to represent the great increase of a national population; a population
which, in the most flourishing times of Israel and Judah, cannot
be estimated as having reached to more than eight or nine millions. Yet it is represented by two comparisons, which lie in opposite extremes. The one falls immensely short. With a little
skill and perseverance, Abraham might have counted all the stars
visible, even in his fine climate. They could scarcely have amounted to fifteen hundred. But the second object of comparison presents a number which the most advanced arithmetic could with
difficulty write in figures, and which would many times exeeed
the number of human beings that have ever lived upon the face of
the globe.T Will any one say, that these are not figurative ex* Joh. Henr. Heideggeri MSredulla Theol. Christ. p. 136; Zurich, 1696.
t Gen. xv. 5; xxii. 17.
t Third ed. The same method of expressing a number, large in reference to some
object of comparison, but far from being absolutely of immense extent, we find applied to
an armament of the Canaanitish confederacy, Josh. xi. 4; to an army of the Philistines,
1 Sam. xiii. 5; to a levy in mass, 2 Sam. xvii. 11; to the population under Solomon, 1
Kings iv. 20; and even to the days of a reasonably protracted human life, Job xxix. 18.
N2




180            HEBREW  IDEAS OF NATURAL OBJECTS.
pressions, peculiarities of idiom; which must be interpreted by
the rule of common sense, the one by extending, the other by contracting?
A mode of expression to be interpreted upon the same principle
is that of representing a long period of time, in relation to the history of mankind, by "a thousand generations:"* whereas all the
generations of the human race, from  Adam  to the present hour,
cannot exceed two hundred.
2. Concerning atmospheric phenomena, a few things are to be
noticed.
The Hebrew  word (rakia) is commonly translated firmament,
after the example of the Septuagint (rTeQ4Cojoa') but many modcern critics have sought to mollify the unphilosophical idea of a
solid  concave shell over our heads, by using the word expanse,
No doubt they felt their minds acquiescing in this term, as expressing very well the diffused fluid which surrounds the earth;
and so leaving us at liberty to conceive of its increasing tenuity,
till it is lost in the planetary spaces. But this is the transferring
of a modern idea, to times and persons which had it not. The
Hebrew language has no word for air, properly speaking: because
they knew not the thing. Their nearest approaches were with
words that denoted watery vapour, condensed and thus rendered
visible, whether floating around them or seen in the breathing of
animals; and words for smoke arising from  substances burning;
and for air in motion, wind, a zephyr-whisper, or a storm. But
of elastic fluids they had no idea. The word under consideration
strictly signifies a solid substance, extended by beating out, or
rolling, or any other mode of working upon a ductile mass.t  The
old word, firmament, was therefore the most proper.4 Examining
Deut. vii. 9. 1 Chron. xvi. 15. Psa. cv. 8.
tSec. ed. In Jer. x. 9, the passive participle (Pual) is used;-" silver spread into
plates." In Is. xlii. 5, we have the active form as applied to the earth, while another verb
which signifies expanding and extending, as of cloth cords, or the limbs of animals, is
applied to the heavens:-" Creating the heavens, and stretching them out, spreading forth
the earth and its productions."
I Fourth ed. " Solid expanse;-I say solid, for nothing can be more certain than
that the apparent welkin above us, in which the heavenly bodies seem to move, is spoken
of in Genesis i. and in other parts of Scripture, as a solid and expanded arch or ceiling
over our heads.'Yet what reality is there in such a supposition? The scriptural writers
were not commissioned to teach philosophy, nor astronomy; and they have always spoken
of objects like those just mentioned, merely in an optical manner; in the way in which
they present themselves to the eye, either of the body or of the mind." Prof. Moses
Stuart, in the Amzer. Biblioth. Sacra.; 1843, p. 142.




HEBREW  IDEAS OF NATURAL OBJECTS.                  181
the whole subject, by connecting it with some passages which have
been quoted, and some yet to be mentioned, we acquire an idea of
the meteorology of the Hebrews.  They supposed that, at a moderate distance above the flights of birds was a solid concave hemisphere, a kind of dome, transparent, in which the stars were fixed,
as lamps; and containing openings to be used or closed as was
necessary. It was understood as supporting a kind of celestial
ocean, called " the waters above the firmament," and'" the waters above the heavens." This was the grand reservoir containing water to be discharged at proper times in rain, with which
were connected " water courses, for the overflowing," or powuring
out.* The idea also was entertained of masses of water being
secured in strong bags, which the clouds were supposed to be.
Thus we read, as one of the works of Deity, that he " tieth up
water in his dark cloud, and the cloud beneath them is not torn."t
Here also were the "treasures of snow and treasures of hail."$
Lightning also was conceived of as produced, and then laid by for
use, in the same region; and as consisting of some kind of ignited
matter, called in Scripture " coals of fire;" deriving the idea from
burning wood, for mineral coal they knew not. Of the nature
and cause of thunder, the Israelites had no conception; and therefore they referred it immediately to the Supreme Cause, and called
it "the voice of God."   This idea coincided with the accustomed
mode of representing the Deity, by the analogies of the human
form. In one place it seems as if the lightning was regarded to
be the effect of thunder: s"Who hath divided-   a way for the
dartings of the voices?"~  As the thunder was conceived to be
the awfully majestic voice of God, it was a natural accompaniment
of the imagery that "He maketh the clouds his chariots, and
walketh upon the wings of the wind."11 In one passage, we
find all the parts of this imagery combined, so as to produce the
* Job xxxviii. 25.
t lb. xxvi. 8. Sec. ed. A striking instance of this mode of representation occurs in
Prov. viii. 28. " In his fastening the clouds from above, in making strong the fountains of
the depth." The second clause, according to the structure of the Hebrew poetry, is the
correlate for illustrating the first; so that the sentiment is, that, as the springs of water,
before their gushing out on the sides of hills, are contained in hollows of the rock, so water is also contained in the clouds as vessels of capacity, ready to discharge it when
wanted, but, in the mean time, hung up by some kind of strong attachment in the vault of
the sky. The prototype for the resemblance was most probably the suspending of skins
containing water or wine, from the ceiling of a room or the upper part of a tent.
I Job xxxviii. 22.      ~ Ib. xxxviii. 25.     II Psa. civ. 3.




182          HEBREW  IDEAS OF NATURAL OBJECTS.
most magnificent effect.  "Then the earth shook and trembled:
the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken; because
he was wroth.  There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and
fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He
bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under
his feet: and he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he did fly
upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place:
his pavilion round about him was dark waters, thick clouds of the
skies. At the brightness before him his dark clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Highest gave forth his voice, hail-stones and coals of fire.
Yea, he sent out his arrows and scattered them; and he shot out
lightnings and discomfited them. Then the channels of water
were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered, at
thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils."
3. With respect to the animal system, the knowledge of the ancient Hebrews did not go beyond what might be expected from
men in their circumstances. They appear to have ascribed distinct
intellectual functions to the region of the kidneys (usually rendered
the reins,) and the liver. They referred pain to the bones; and
they seem to have not had the least knowledge of the nervous
system.  There is no word in Hebrew  for the brain and nerves
except that which denotes the marrow of the bones, with which
it is probable they confounded the cerebral and nervous substance;
and even that word was a derivative from another signifying fat.
Yet upon this defective physiology the language of Scriptufre is
formed for the expression of sensations and many intellectual operations.t
It was incumbent upon me to go thus largely into the induction
of particulars, not merely on account of the connexion of the entire view of Scripture-Idioms with our particular object; but because I venture to hope that the principle thus established will be
of use to those who favour me with their attention, as some assistance to the forming of an intelligent and therefore most profitable
method of studying the divine word.
* Psa. xviii. 7-15.
i Examples. Psa. xxvi. 2; lxxiii. 21. Lam. ii. 11. (Psa. xvi. 9; lvii. 8; cviii. 1;
where the word is usually rendered glory, but learned orientalists incline to the opinion
that the use of the term is based upon the sensitive properties which were supposed to reside in the liver.) Job xxxiii. 19. Psa. vi. 2.




SCRIPTURAL DESCRIPTION  OF THE DEITY.                      183
We have thus seen it placed beyond the possibility of a doubt,
that it is the manner of the Scriptures, and most copiously in their
earliest written parts, to speak of the DEITY, his nature, his perfections, his purposes, and his operations, in language borrowed
from  the bodily and mental constitution  of man, and from   those
opinions concerning the works of God in the natural world, which
were generally received by the people to whom  the blessing of revelation was granted.
That so the fact is, cannot be denied: and will any dare to find
fault with it? Is it not sufficient to satisfy any rational man, that
it has pleased Him who cannot err to make use of this method?
We have no right to demand any more satisfaction. But let it
not be forgotten, what has already been stated, that, not only is
this style that which alone would have been intelligible in the
early ages of the world; but it is still the best adapted for universal use.
An observation now  arises to our view, which  must, I cannot
but think, force itself with irresistible conviction upon any impartial mind. If it was not unworthy of the Adorable Majesty of
GOD to permit HIMSELF to be described in terms infinitely beneath
him, and which require our watchfulness and pious care, lest we
take up with conceptions far remote from the spirituality of the
Divine Nature, and the purity of christian worship; MUCH MORE
may it be regarded as consonant with the honour of his word, that
its references to natural objects should be, in the character of
thought and expression, such as comported with the knowledge of the
age in which they were delivered.*:t No doubt this principle has been often thought of, and happily employed in theological discussions; as by Archbishop King, the German divine Seiler, Mr. John Sheppard, and probably others. Whether it has been distinctly applied to the interpretation
of the Bible, in relation to the objects of natural science, by any writers in particular, I
am not able to say. I am aware of but two distinguished authors who have expressly
pointed it out: and, as they only indicate it in general terms, the effort in this lecture to
pursue it into its details, and to shew its application as a shield to scientific investigations, against the misconceptions and alarms of some well-intentioned men, will not, I
trust, be held superfluous. The two authors alluded to, are John George Rosenmiiller,
in a book published more than sixty years ago, and from which the relevant extracts are
given in the Appendix, Supplementary Note P; and my honoured friend, Professor
Sedgwick, in his Discourse on the studies of Cambridge:-A c" source of error, on physical questions, has been a mistake respecting the import of certain scripture-phrases.
These writings deal not in logical distinctions or rigid definitions. They were addressed
to the heart and understanding in popular forms of speech, such as men could readily
comprehend. When they describe the Almighty as a being capable of jealousy, love,
anger, repentance, and other like passions, they use a language accommodated to our




184                      THE  PRINCIPLE  APPLIED
Again: the completed manifestations of the Divine Will in the
New  Testament raise us to a justness  and  purity  of conception
concerning " the things of God," far superior to that which the
ministrations of Moses and the prophets could supply. The one
was obscure, tinctured with the spirit of bondage, only a preparatory and temporary system: but the other is the " ministration of
righteousness," in comparison with which the former "had no
glory.'" We stand therefore upon safe ground, and are fully
warranted by divine authority to translate the language of the Old
Testament upon physical subjects, into such modern expressions,
as shall be agreeable to the reality of the things spoken of.
PART II.
UPON the principle which has been explained, I now propose to
the impartial judgment of Bible-scholars, that method of understanding the Mosaic account of the Creation and the Flood, which
appears to me just and safe. The way is sufficiently cleared, and
wants and capacities, and God is put before us in the semblance of humanity." Page
147. Galileo must be added: see the next Note.
* 2 Cor. iii. 10, 11. Second ed. A passage of the man who was in scientific respects
so wondrously in advance of his age, Galileo, is highly interesting, as shewing that he
clearly understood and justly applied this principle of Bible-interpretation.
"I admit and maintain that the Holy Scripture can never depart from what is true,
provided we take it in its true and germane sense: but no one will deny, that this often
lies deep, and is a good deal removed from the bald signification of the words. If any
one think that it is always to be understood according to the letter, he will not only run
into error, but he will impute to Holy Scripture numerous contradictions, propositions
palpably untrue, even heresies and blasphemies. He would be obliged to ascribe to
God feet, hands and eyes, and human properties and accidents both bodily and mental,
such as anger, repentance, hatred, forgetfulness of the past, and ignorance of the future.
Propositions of this kind have been in this manner expressed by the sacred writers, by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in order to accommodate divine truths to the capacity
of the uncultivated and ignorant mass of mankind. It is therefore the duty of competent and diligent expositors to bring forth, in every instance, the true meaning; and to
explain the ground and reason of their having been expressed in the words which are
presented to us."  1Vovantiqqza; alla Sereni.ssiina Madamca ic Gracz Dcchessa di
Toscania, Mactdre; p. 10, 11; printed in 1636, at Augusta Trebocca, perhaps Trevi in the
duchy of Spoleto.




TO THE MOSAIC RECORDS.                  185
the principles explained and confirmed; so that little will be necessary in shewing the application to the cases before us.
I. With respect to the account of the CREATION.*
Gen. i. 1.  "In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth."
The phrase " the heavens and the earth," though not always
used by the sacred writers in the full sense, is the most comprehensive that the Hebrew language affords, to designate the universe of dependent being; and, on account of the connexion, it
requires to be so taken in this place. It thus corresponds to the
expressions in the New Testament; " All things that are in the
heavens and that are on the earth, the visible and the invisible;
- the all things."t This sublime sentence therefore stands, as
an independent axiom,t at the head of the sacred volume, announcing that there was an epoch, a point in the flow of infinite
duration, when the whole of the dependent world, or whatever
portion of it first had existence, was brought into being; and that
this commencement of being was not from preexistent materials,
nor by fortune, chance or accident, nor through the skill of any
finite agent, but absolutely and solely by the will, wisdom, and
power of the ONE and ONLY GOD. It was a creation, in the proper sense; not a modelling or new-forming.  The phrase, "In the
beginning" is used several times in Scripture, to denote the commencement of whatever flow of time, or series of things, the subject spoken of requires. One of the primary doctrines of the New
Testament is, "In the beginning was the WORD;" shewing that
the Word was already in existence, at the point of time spoken
of, did not then begin to be, and consequently must have existed
in all prior time. But here the expression specifies an action as
taking place at this point of time; an act of the Infinite Being.
But WHEN that beginning was, when that act was put forth, it
was not the design of revelation to inform us. Carry it back as
far as we may, there is ETERNITY beyond it: and compared with
that eternity, all finite duration sinks into a moment.
In the same manner we understand the recapitulation in chap.
ii. 1-3; the commencement of the briefer narrative, in chap. ii. 4;
* Supplementary Note, Q.
f Ta 7rvra, ri7 9v TroT ovpavo gc Kai ra E'r res yis-7 rg a rSvra. Sec. ed. The equivalent phrases in common authors are ra oX'a, and rd Arav.
t See pp. 120-126.




186                             CREATION.
and the reason of the sabbath given in the fourth commandment,
Exodus xx. 11. All that the Israelites could understand by "the
heavens and the earth," all that they knew  and all that it concerned them  to know,* was "made," (adjusted, arranged, appropriated to new purposes, for so the word often signifies,) " in six
days." There is just as much reason to interpret that commandment, as representing the Deity to " faint and be weary," in direct
contradiction to other parts of the Bible,t as to maintain that it
teaches the proper creation of the universe to have taken place
immediately before the institution of the sabbath.
Here, I trust that, without assumption or captiousness, I may
express regret that Dr. Buckland, in his Bridgewater Treatise,
instead of relying on his own sound and clear judgment, obtained
a note from one of his learned fellow Professors, which appears
very obscure and quite nugatory. If it had any application to the
matter at all, it would rather go to darken the evidence of a proper
creation being here asserted, or declared in any other part of the
Bible.  Such aid was not needed.
Whether the original writer of this sacred archive was Moses,
or whether he was placing at the head of his work, a composition
of an earlier patriarch, the calm majesty and simplicity of the declaration, give, as a matter of internal evidence, the strong presumption that he spoke with authority; that he only repeated
what the Omniscient Spirit had commanded him to say and write.
The declaration is, in the New  Testament, adduced as an object
offaith; which implies a divine testimony.I
What was the condition or constitution of the first created matter?-Certainly it falls within the province of General Physics to
t Fourth ed. " Whatever worthy and exalted apprehensions of the Author of nature,
the infinite perfection of his attributes, or the extent and magnificence of his works, reason and philosophy may dictate and discover to us; to whatever important uses, God, in
his infinite wisdom and power, may have destined the planets and the fixed stars (in the
discovery of which we have no other light to direct us but bare conjectures, and arguments drawn from congruities,) Moses, by divine direction, has withdrawn our thoughts
and speculations from all such far distant objects; not only because we have no visible
relation to, nor perceptible connexion with, them, but rather (as we may with certainty
and confidence affirm) because they do not measure our time, by either their real or apparent revolutions. God has created and ordained two great luminaries, the sun and
moon, to be unto uEs' for signs and for seasons, for days and years;' and to this motion
only Moses, with great judgment and accuracy, confines his astronomy." Scripture
Chronology, by John Kennedy, Rector of Bradley, Derb. 1751: p. 7.
"'Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God Jehovah, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" Is. xl. 28.
I Heb. xi. 3.




CREATION.                                 187
examine this question: and if the investigation be conducted in the
true spirit of philosophy, which is modest, reverential, and cautious,-in a word, the spirit of genuine  religion,-though'it may
not be demonstratively answered in the present life, yet valuable
approximations may be made to it. The nebular hypothesis,
ridiculed as it has been by persons whose ignorance cannot excuse
their presumption, is regarded as in a very high degree probable
by some of the finest and most christian minds.* If I may venture to utter my own impressions, I must profess it as the most
reasonable supposition, and the correlate of the nebular theory,
that God originally gave being to the primordial elements of things,
the very small number of simple bodies, endowing each with its
own wondrous properties. Then, that the action of those properties, in the ways which his wisdom ordained, and which we call
* If the reader be not already acquainted with the nature and the reasons of this doctrine, he owes himself a great duty. Let him consult Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise,
book ii. chap. vii.: Mantell's WTonders of Geology, Lect. i. ~ 17,18; and Nichol's Architectitre of the ileavens, Letters vii. and viii. " The Nebular Hypothesis, in its relations
to the Planetary System, may be termed comnplete; it comprehends its beginnings, establishes those elements on which its duration depends, and exhibits the causes and mode
of its ultimate transition into a novel form.-Surely the vision of these unfathomable
changes, of the solemn march of these majestic heavens from phase to phase, obediently
fulfilling their awful destiny, will be lost on the heart of the adorer, unless-it swells with
that humility which is the best homage to the SUPREME!-Between us and the HIGIHEST
there is still vastness and mystery.-To take wing beyond terrestrial precincts, perhaps,
is not wholly forbidden, provided we go with unsandaled feet, as if on holy ground.An order hanging tremblingly over nothingness, and of which every constituent-fails not
to beseech incessantly for a substance and substratum, in the idea of ONE WHO LIVETH
FOR EvER!" Nichol.
Foiurth ed. These objects wear the appearance of luminous masses, in various degrees
of brilliance and obscurity, of different and what might be called caprioious shapes, but
which, however irregular in our view, undergo no perceptible change of figure. They
are very numerous. Of most of them, the magnitude far exceeds that of our whole solar
system. See Sir John Herschel's Astronomy; p. 401-7. Many of them he had scarcely
ever a doubt, would be resolved into constellations, clusters, or groups of stars, if a sufficient telescopic power could be obtained. This anticipation has been realized by the
Earl of Rosse, in the use of his matchless telescope. He has resolved several of these
objects, upon which he has given a short paper, with exact figures, in the Philosophical
Transactiozs for 1844. A sufficiently favourable state of the atmosphere is so rare in
our climate, as to forbid our hoping for a rapid progress of those observations. Some
persons have hastened to the conclusion that all the so-called nebulosities are of the same
character, groups of stars: and that, of course, the nebular theory is exploded. But this
is a premature judgment: we cannot say that the induction has been carried out far
enough. Lord Rosse observes that, though, " as has always been the case, an increase
of instrumental power has added to the number of the clusters, at the expense of the nebulre properly so called; still it would be very unsafe to conclude that such will always be
the case, and thence to draw the obvious inference that all nebulosity is but the glare of
stars too remote to be separated by the utmost power of our instruments."




188                         CREATION.
laws, produced, and is still producing, all the forms and changes
of organic and inorganic natures; and that the series is by HIM
destined to proceed, in combinations and multiplications ever new,
without limit of space or end of duration, to the unutterable admiration and joy of all holy creatures, and to the eternal display
of His glory "who fixed the wondrous frame."
Ver. 2. " And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
The first inquiry here is, What relation does this paragraph
bear to the preceding? Is it the relation of close connexion, and
immediate sequence; or does it only express posteriority, without
defining the separating interval? My conviction is, not the former, but the latter.
The question will be answered by attending to the connecting
particle. As it is rendered in our Version, it naturally excites the
idea of immediate sequence. But a few words will shew that this
would be an unwarranted inference from the expression in the
original. This prefixed conjunction is the general connecting particle of the language; but the mode of connexion may be extremely various, and is always to be ascertained by a consideration
of the circumstances in every case. It may be copulative, or disjunctive, or adversative; or it may express a mere annexation to
a former topic of discourse, -the connexion being only that of the
subject matter, or the continuation of the composition. This
continuative use forms one of the most marked peculiarities of the
Hebrew idiom; and it comprehends every variety of mode in which
one train of sentiment may be appended to another.* As this
prefix is most usually rendered and, in our Version, (though frequently by other conjunctions,) the English reader has it in his
power to observe the variety in the shades of meaning, and the
differing grounds upon which it connects sentiments and expressions. The two sentences are thus rendered by a cautious and
judicious critic, the late Dr. Dathe of Leipzig: "In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.  But afterwards the earth
became waste and desolate."t
* It introduces the series of history, commencing at Numb. xx. 1; which immediately
follows the preceding narrative, from which it is chronologically separated by an interval of thirty-eight years: yet that interval is not indicated by any words; it is left to be
made out by the research of the reader. [It often commences an entirely new subject,
and even a new composition.]
t See Supplementary Notes, R. and S.




MEANING OF THE WORD EARTH.                    189
A most important subject of our inquiry is the genuine meaning
of the word which we render earth; and which, in passing, it may
be remarked has an etymological affinity with the words of the
same signification in all the Teutonic languages, to which class
ours belongs, the ancient Persian, those allied to the Hebrew, and
the Sanscrit. I assure my friends that I have not spared time and
pains in pursuing this inquiry; and the result I will briefly give.
The most general sense of the word is, the portion of the universe
which the Supreme Lord has assigned for the habitation of mankind.  When it is conjoined with "the heavens," it denotes the
entire created world: but it is evident of itself, that the practical
understanding of the phrase would be in conformity with the ideas
of the people who used it. Frequently it stands for the land of
Palkestine; and indeed for any country or district that is mentioned
or referred to in the connexion.  Sometimes it denotes a mere
plot of ground; and sometimes the soil, clay and sand, or any earthy
matter.  Often it is put, figuratively, for mankind, as the inhabitants of the world. Considering all the evidence of the case, I can
find no reason against our regarding the word, subsequently to the
first verse, and throughout the whole description of the six days,
as designed to express the part of our world which God was adapting for the dwelling of man and the animals connected with him.
Of the spheroidal figure of the earth, it is evident that the Hebrews had not the most distant conception.  The passages which
have been quoted, and many others, abundantly convince me that
it never entered into the purpose of Revelation to teach men geographical facts, or any other kind of physical knowledge.
I must profess then my conviction that we are not obliged by
the terms made use of, to extend the narrative of the six days to
a wider application than this; a description, in expressions adapted
to the ideas and capacities of mankind in the earliest ages, of a
series of operations, by which the Being of omnipotent wisdom and
goodness adjusted and furnished the earth generally,* but, as the
particular subject under consideration here, a PORTION of its surface, for most glorious purposes; in which a newly formed creaG " eology, therefore, in expounding the former condition of the globe, convinces us
that every variation of its surface has been but a step towards the accomplishment of one
great end; whilst all such revolutions are commemorated by monuments which, revealing the [proximate] cause and object of each change, compel us to conclude that the
Earth can alone have been fashioned into a fit abode for Man by the ordinances of INFINITE WISDOM,' Murchison's Silurian Systemn; vol. i. p. 576,




190           REGION OF THE ADAM1C CREATION.
ture should be the object of those manifestations of the authority
and grace of the Mlost High, which shall to eternity shew forth
his perfections above all other methods of their display.*
This portion of the earth I conceive to have been a part of
Asia, lying between the Caucasian ridge, the Caspian Sea, and
Tartary, on the north, the Persian and Indian Seas on the south,
and the high mountain ridges which run at considerable distances,
on the eastern and the western flank.  I venture to think that
man, as first created, and for many ages afterwards, did not extend his race beyond these limits; and therefore had no connexion
with the extreme east, the Indian and Pacific clusters of islands,
Africa, Europe, and America; in which regions we have ocular
demonstration that animal and vegetable creatures had existed, to
a vast amount, uninterruptedly, through periods past, of indescribable duration.
This region was first, by atmospheric and geological causes of
previous operation under the will of the Almighty, brought into a
condition of superficial ruin, or some kind of general disorder.
With reverence I propose the supposition, that this state was produced by the subsidence of the region, of which the immediate
cause might be the same that we know has often wrought a similar effect in various districts upon the earth's surface; namely, that
which is probably the cause of earthquakes, a movement, (which
may be in all the degrees of intensity,) of the igneous fluid mass
below. Extreme darkness has been often known to accompany
such phenomena. This is the unforced meaning of the two words
rendered " without form and void."  Those words (tohu vabohu)
are elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible used to describe ruined cities,
wild wastes of desert-land, and figuratively any thing that is
empty, unsubstantial, or useless.
The sacred record presents to us the district described as overflowed with water, and its atmosphere so turbid that extreme
gloominess prevailed. "Darkness was upon the face of the deep,"
the "' waters" mentioned just before. Both this deluge, from the
flowing in of a sea or rivers, and the darkness, would be the effect
of an extensive subsidence.  The Hebrew word does not necessarily mean the absolute privation of light: it is used in relation to
various circumstances of partial darkness: and we know that con* One of those separate districts, or centres of creation, the certainty of which we have
shewn in Lect. II. and III.




DESCRIPTIVE  DETAIL  OF  CREATION.                        191
ditions of the atmosphere have locally happened, in ancient and
in recent times, in which the noon-day has become dark as an ordinary night. The Divine power acted through the laws of gravity and molecular attraction; and, where requisite, in an immediate, extraordinary, or miraculous manner.  The atmosphere over
the region became so far cleared as to be pervious to light, though
not yet perfectly transparent. In this process, the watery vapour
collected  into  floating  masses, the  clouds; which, as we have
seen, the ancient Hebrews expressed by the phrase "c waters above
the firmament." Elevations of land took place, by upheaving
igneous force; and consequently the waters flowed into the lower
parts, producing lakes, and probably the Caspian Sea, which manifestly belonged to the very region. The elevated land was now
clothed with vegetation instantly created.* By the fourth day,
the atmosphere over this district had become pellucid; and, had
there been a human eye to have beheld, the brightness of the sun
would have been seen, and the other heavenly bodies after the
sun was set.   Animals were produced  by immediate  creation, in
this succession;t the inhabitants of the waters, birds, and landGen. i. 11, 12. The enumeration of vegetable kinds here given is both an illustrative
example of the earliest botanical distribution, and a confirmation of our principle of interpretation, that the language has throughout a simple reference to the wants and conveniences of men. The vegetation intended to be included in this primeval arrangement
is put under three descriptions; (1.) grasses, food for cattle; (2.) herbs, for human use,
probably referring chiefly to grain and leguminous plants; (3.) trees producing edible
fruit: all considered merely in the light of utility to mankind. Of timber-trees and thousands of other important genera, there is no hint. From just analogy we infer, that the
first individuals of every other species were produced by an act of immediate creation;
but a body of evidence convinces us that these productions took place, respectively at the
points of divergence, or oentres, of the different botanical districts. The language of the
text expresses a creation of these vegetables in a state of maturity, that they might be
ready for the immediate use of the human pair and the small number of land-animals formed
for the enjoyment of this region. Those who contend for an immediate creation of all
the mineral strata with all their contents, precisely as they are (-see Mr. Mellor Brown's
positions, page 128 of this volume,-) have sometimes brought forward this question, as
including for them a triumphant argument. If the exogenous trees were created in a
state of maturity, must they not have had the concentric layers around their pith, indicating, what in all future cases would be years of growth, and which, in order to effect
the perfect maturity supposed, would in many instances be numerous?-The answer is
at hand; that all the exigencies of the case are satisfied by the condition of trees in an
early stage, before the first layers can be distinguished. Serviceable leaves, fruits, and
seeds, are produced within that period. Besides, we do not suppose that all vegetable
species were thus produced, but only such as were adapted to the climate and requisite for
the immediate purpose.
t Fourth ed. Combining all the intimations that we can collect, I venture to think
that the Mosaic description in this part extends not to all animal and vegetable species,




192               DESCRIPTIVE  DETAIL  OF CREATION.
animals; all in the full vigour of their natures. No mention is
made of the thousands of tribes of insects, molluscous creatures,
and animalcules; whose number, we know, transcends calculation.
It is generally assumed by commentators that they are included in
" the things that creep." But this very phrase supplies an illustration of the scripture-style, as condescending to the limited
knowledge and the simple associations of comparatively uncultivated men.* Last of all, God formed his noblest earthly creature:
"In the image of God created HE him," in the command of physical faculties, the possession of intellect, a dominion over the
lower creation, and the noblest enjoyment of all, the image of the
divine holiness.t
No rational objection can lie against the statement, that the
Creator was pleased to distribute these works through the space
of six natural days; instead of effecting the whole by an instantaneous volition.   It is sufficient for us to  know  that Infinite
Wisdom chose this method of proceeding: we are sure then that
it was the best. But we may very reasonably suppose that the
gradual character of the process furnished valuable instruction to
but to those only which would be suitable to the region under its various conditions,
would have a beneficial coaznexionz with man, and would, by their forms, habits, and instincts, be subject to his dominion. Chap. i. 26, 28.
* Sec. ed. In this single verse, the 20th, are several striking illustrations of the principle of interpretation for which I am pleading. It is literally-" And God said, Let the
waters breed [propuiz7ascere, castse to swarm, wimmneln,] a brood, animated being, and
flying [animal which] shall fly over the earth upon the face of the firmament of the heavens." The literal meaning would be that all the smaller kinds of land-animals and birds,
had their origin under the waters. In verse 24 it is said of the larger quadrupeds that'" the earth brought them forth:" as if they had been created underground, and were then
protruded, as many molluscous animals and worms come up to the surface of the mud in
which they live. But the plain sense is given in v. 25, where it is said that "' God made"
the land-animals; the words merely expressing that Divine power gave them existence;
and we cannot indulge a doubt, but that they were brought into being in the conditions for
which their conformation fitted them, land-animals on the dry ground, fishes and other
inhabitants of rivers, lakes, and seas, in such waters as they were adapted to. But those
expressions were the phrase of the time; and the kernel of truth which they inclose is,
that animal and vegetable bodies are organized out of the very materials which constitute
water and the commonest minerals. Jarchi's annotation upon verse 20, is curious:
" Every living thing which does not raise itself much above the ground is called sheretz
(creeping thing.) Under the winged creatures, flies; under the impure [creepers] ants,
beetles, and worms; under the other creatures, weasels, mice, snails and the like; as also
all fishes."
t It will, I trust, conduce to the illustration and establishment of the sentiments here so
briefly sketched, and other parts of the general subject, to insert in the Appendix a Letter
published some time ago in a periodical work, and occasioned by a Review of Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise. Supplementary Note, S.




DESCRIPTIVE DETAIL OF CREATION.              193
superior creatures, and filled them with devout rapture; " when
the morning-stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
for joy."  Nor can we be insensible to the lessons to which the
Scriptures apply this part of the counsels of Jehovah, for the religious, and not overlooking the physical, benefit of mankind in
all following time.
A consideration, which not merely justifies but renders necessary the interpretation here proposed, arises from the incongruity,
and in fact reciprocal ruin, which would have taken place if all
plants and animals had been created at the same epoch.  Many
plants could not have lived, unless time had been given for them
to establish themselves, before the introduction of other species
into the contiguous soil. Provision also needed to be made for
each kind of animal, before it was brought forth to occupy its
destined place. Single pairs of each would all have perished in
a very short time, some being immediately consumed, and others
then dying for want. Take the example of the inhabitants of the
waters, fresh or salt. They are almost all carnivorous; and each
individual requires, for but a day's sustenance, vast multitudes of
the smaller kinds, we must say countless myriads, if we consider
the visible insects and the invisible animalcules which constitute
the food of many species. In like manner, with regard to reptiles,
birds, and land-animals, it was necessary that those species in
both the vegetable and the animal kingdoms, on which other animals must have depended for their support, should have been in
existence a time sufficient to ensure a multiplication adequate to
two purposes; a provision for the unfailing supply of the feeding
creatures, and a redundancy sufficient to preserve and adequately
increase the stock. It follows that the creation of all species,
both vegetable and animal, must have been gradual, and with intervals adjusted by unerring benevolence and wisdom.  Therefore
the scene of the six days' operations, which I have endeavoured
to shew was only one of those districts which in different periods
were centres of creation, could not but be very limited.*
The condescending principle of the narrative is manifested, in
a striking manner by the description of the fourth day.  The sun
is mentioned as the greatest luminary, the moon as the next in, See a striking passage of Mr. Lyell, illustrating this connexion of things dependent
on each other; PPri2cip. B. iii. ch. viii. vol. iii. p. 166.
O




194                      DESCRIPTIVE DETAIL.
magnitude and importance, and the other shining orbs are grouped
together as if they formed, even when all combined, the least object of consideration. The heavenly bodies are represented, not
as being at that time created, (for that word, which occurs in
verses I and 27, is not the word used here,) but "made," constituted or appointed, to be "' luminaries," for such is the meaning
of the word used: and their design is specified with an exactitude
very observable: to afford light, and to furnish standards for the
divisions of time, the operations of agriculture, and religious or
other social observances. Had it been the purpose of revelation,
to give a view of creation according to the physical reality, can
we imagine that no reference would have been made to superior
creatures, of whom the subsequent Scriptures say so much, under
an appellative which designates only their work and office,angels? Or that no mention would occur of the planets, and their
satellites, as distinct from the fixed stars? And that all the notice
taken of the astral system  would  lie in two  words,-" and the
stars?"-If not our earth merely, but the entire solar system,
were to be this instant blotted out of existence, it would be no
more missed in the aspect of the universe,-ExcEPT TO THE GLORIOUS CREATOR'S EYE,-than a grain of sand blown away from
the sea-shore! Yet it is most evident that any person  not acquainted with the true system of the world, would, after his most
careful study of this portion of the Bible, rest in the conclusions,
that our earth is, not in moral importance only, but in physical
magnitude, by far the greatest of the Creator's works; and that
the entire furniture of the heavens is solely a provision for our
convenience and comfort."-: It is also evident that the completion of Revelation, by the Christian Scriptures,
did not include any purpose of teaching the topics of natural knowledge, or correcting
the current opinions of the ancients upon this class of subjects. Our Lord himself did
not disdain to speak in the common style and according to the opinions of those among
whom he lived, when the philosophy of germination and vegetable growth were unknown, and a spontaneous (aiaJolarr7) power of production was attributed to the soil:
Mark iv. 27, 28. And the enumeration of the heavenly bodies in Cor. xv. 41, proceeds
upon the position, the same as in Gen. i. 16. that the sun is the greatest of all, the moon
the next, and the stars taken together compose but the third degree. Would men impartially consider twhat they are demanding, when they claim that the language of Scripture should be an anticipation of modern philosophical discovery, they would see that
to insist upon those demands is throwing the evidence of revelation under the feet of
infidels. The grand design, above all others in excellence and glory, is thus declared;
" These things are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and that, believing, ye may have life through his name."




CREATION OF MAN.                   195
It is a further evidence that the style of this primitive document
was framed in conformity to the phraseology of simple men in
unpolished times, that the successive processes are described in a
child-like conversation form. "God said, Let there be light; —let there be a firmament;-  let the earth bring forth;-  let us
make man:" the author using in each instance the same formula,
first, an introduction of the matter, and then narrating the effect.
Now is there a man who seriously believes that the Infinite Spirit
exercised vocal organs, the supposition of which would imply a
corporeal structure; or that he willed the effect of voice without
those organs, creating the impulses upon an elastic medium which,
had there been an animal ear to have received the impression, would
have duly impinged upon it and produced the effect of articulate
words; as " God spake all the words of the law" from the top
of Sinai, so as to be heard and understood by a million and a half
of people? To my judgment, this circumstance carries with it the
force of demonstration.
The same style is shewn in the second and the subsequent narratives.
"The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."  To the men of
primitive time this statement would be sufficient; and they would
probably form a conception of some kind of moulding as in pottery, one of the earliest arts; which indeed we actually find in
the Grecian fable of Prometheus: and that, into this mechanical
formation the powers of life were infused, as they are indicated by
respiration. The style of the Scriptures abundantly shews that
the Hebrews derived their conception of the intellectual principle
in man, from the phenomena of respiration. So far only could
the men of the first ages proceed: but we are enabled to develope,
out of this little statement, one of the most interesting facts in
physiology, and which could not have been known till the chemistry of our own days was, by God's benignant providence, bestowed
upon men. By the Hebrew term (aphar) rendered dust, is signified the general soil with which men were always familiar; the
mingled sand, clay, and lime.  Now the fact is, that the human
body, as that of all other animals, is composed of the same substances as those which constitute large and essential parts of the
mineral kingdom; nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen; potash, soda, phosphorus, sulphur, lime, and iron. Thus does the
o02




196                         CREATION  OF MAN.
most accurate science confirm the declarations of Scripture, if we
only take care to understand them  rightly.
Again; "The  Lord  God  said, It is not good  that the  man
should be alone; I will make him a help, meet for him." In the
fact itself there is no difficulty; but it is the mode of introduction
upon which we are remarking. The statement of the fact has
been cavilled at by inconsiderate men.  But I would ask any person  of reflection  and  feeling, whether the  method  described  of
bringing  the female  man  (isha, vira, hommesse, mdnnin,)  into
being, is not as wise and benign as it is simple?  The first female
must have been the subject of an immediate creation, in some way:
and can  imagination  frame a mode  of origin so  well adapted to
endear her to her conjugate, as that the creative power should
form her out of his actual bodily substance? Under the dress of a
child-like narrative, we discover a proceeding of exquisite wisdom
and effective tenderness.*
II. We proceed now to inquire what solution the Holy Scriptures afford of that which to many appears a difficulty not only
formidable but insuperable; the dominion of PAIN AND DEATH
over the animal creation, in all periods of its existence.t:t Upon the genius and character of the initial Mosaic records, I earnestly solicit my
reader to give his attention to the beautiful and eloquent Address of the Rev. William
Vernon H-Iarcourt, to the British Association, at its meeting in Birmingham, Aug. 26,
1839. It is excellently reported in the Athenmeum for Aug. 31; and has since been published authentically in the eighth Volume of the Reports of the Association. With all
respect for opponents, I cannot but say that this Address and the many other labours in
science, especially Geology and its alliances, by which that amiable and accomplished
man has distinguished himself, form a mighty shield of defence against the eff'orts to
disparage Geology, which some estimable clergymen and others mentioned in former
parts of this volume have unhappily put forth. Sec. edc. Yet with the fieedom which
I am sure that he will not only permit, but encourage, I shall offer a remark on a part
of his Address, at the close of the Supplementary Note R, upon Professor Powell's
Solution of these difficulties. The following passage, from one of Dr. Chalmers's earliest works, may calm the apprehensions of some pious persons. They sufficiently
shew that, in the judgment of that accomplished man, a negative answer to his questiofis
would by no means involve any irreverence to the authority of the Scriptures. " Does
Moses ever say that, when God created the heavens and the earth, he did more at the
time alluded to than transform them out of previously existing materials? Or does he
ever say, that there was not an interval of many ages betwixt the first act of creation,
described in the first verse of the Book of Genesis, and said to have been performed at
the begiizti7g, and those more detailed operations, the account of which commences
at the second verse, and which are described to us as having been performed in so many
days? Or finally, does he ever make us to understand that the genealogies of man went
any further than to fix the antiquitty of the species, and of consequence that they left the
antiqucity of the globe a free subject for the speculations of philosophers?"  Evid. anzd
Auth. of the Christian Revel. p. 204.
See an excellent work of christian philosophy, which happily unites free and power



DEATH  BEFORE THE FALL.                         197
The nature of this difficulty was stated in Lecture III. and
facts were detailed, both in the disclosures of geological investigation and in the present condition of animated nature, which
compel us to admit that production  and growth in  all organized
beings have their correlates in decay and dissolution.
But the general opinion has been that, before our first parents
fell from innocence and happiness, death and its harbingers had
no place in the inferior animal creation. To maintain consistency,
it ought further to have been affirmed that the vegetable kingdom
was also preserved from decay, withering, and dying. But men
have been probably withheld from setting up such a theory, by
consideration of the manifest absurdities into which it would have
led its supporters; and by the belief that plants, though possessing an irritability to which it is difficult to refuse the idea of some
kind of sensitiveness, yet appear not to have any consciousness
or intellectual faculties.
Our first inquiry most naturally should be, whether we find any
information, direct or indirect, in the original document of inspiration. I think that we do; not indeed directly, but indirectly,
and by such an implication as is equal to a formal assertion. The
constitution of animated beings, founded upon the divine will, is
expressed in the words, "Be fruitful, and multiply."   This involves the preservation of species, but a succession of individuals;
which would necessarily imply a departure of precedent individuals. The law of organization, from the embryo formation to
the animal maturity, is carried on in the way of a continual separation of particles and their replacement by new ones which the
ful reasoning, with the spirit of reverential piety, JMoral Agency anvd Jiabn as a Mloral
Agent; by William Mac Combie: London, 1842. In Part ii. Section iii. this subject is
carefully investigated.-" These astonishing disclosures [-those of Geology,-] open to
us an entirely new view of the constitution of the universe: and in casting about for a
solution of the (as it seems to our notions) awful and anomalous fact of the universal
prevalence of suffering and death, the idea presents itself, that trial and pain may be
indispensable to the developement of mind, as we have every reason to believe they are
in every system of moral agency. It has been generally assumed, but unphilosophically,
we think, and certainly without any azcthority from Sclriptuzre, that the original state
of man must have been one of unmingled enjoyment; and preachers and poets have
strained their imaginations and exhausted nature, for images to picture its felicity. —
We are not entitled to pronounce that the most anomalous of all the modes of suffering
which come under our view, that of the lower animals, is to them an evil; seeing we
know not how far it may contribute to enhance their enjoyment; and are ignorant
whether they may not have a future destination, in regard to which it may be subserving
the most important purposes."




198              DEATH BEFORE THE FALL.
nutritive process incessantly furnishes. To this process, impassable limits are set, by the most certain laws of the Creator's ordination; those of gravity and chemical action. To suppose that
those laws should be abrogated, or what would amount to the
same thing, be perpetually suspended, would involve a contradiction; it would be abolishing the very essential condition of organized existence. When a certain point was reached, separation,
changed combination, and dissolution of the molecules, must take
place; the rudiment and sure introducer of death.
Were it not so, were animated beings to increase and multiply
without the departure of the preceding generations, they would,
at no immense distance of time, go beyond the provision of nutritive support, and the limits of appropriate habitation: the land, the
air, and the waters, would be filled; food would fail, and death
with aggravated suffering would be the infallible consequence.
This terrible consummation would the more speedily ensue, as, by
the supposition made, the only means of nutrition would lie in
vegetable matter.
The threatening of death, upon a violation of the easy test of
obedience, seems very clearly to imply, that the subjects of this
law had a knowledge of what death was; otherwise they could
not have known what the threatening meant. The idea of their
having had set before them, as the penalty of violating the law,
an unknown and undefined suffering, does not seem congruous to
the wisdom and dignity of legislation.
It would next be proper to ascertain whether there are any
passages of Scripture which affirm, or imply, that the animals inferior to man were created in a state not liable to death. This,
if supposed, would involve the necessity of all being herbivorous;
and further, that there were no minute and even invisible animals,
inhabiting the leaves and fruits of plants, and which the feeders
on vegetables must kill by myriads. I must own that I know of
no such passage.
If, however, any should contend that an insuperable difficulty
lies in the occurrence of pain and death to animals, irrespectively
of moral evil, I humbly think that they ought to satisfy themselves with the spirit and principle of our Lord's reply to a not
dissimilar question; "His disciples asked him, Master, who did
sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but [this




OBJECTIONS TO THE COMIMON OPINION.                    199
was appointed] that the works of God should be manifested in
him."*
It is indeed an essential part of revealed truth that, " by one
man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin;" and that thus' by man came death."t  But it appears to me a fair interpretation of these passages, and a full admission of the doctrine concerning death as the penalty of sin, to consider them as declaring
that in this manner death acquired dominion over the first man
and his posterity; that is, the human race universally. The entire
view of the case leads us to believe that, in the state of pristine
purity, the bodily constitution of man was exempted from the law
of progress towards dissolution which belonged to the inferior animals.  It must have been maintained in that distinguished peculiarity, by means to us unknown: and it would seem probable
that, had not man fallen by transgression, he and each of his posterity would, after faithfully sustaining an individual probation,
have passed through a change without dying, and have been exalted to a more perfect state of existence.
In addition to these considerations, it ought to be especially
recollected, that the anatomical structure of the larger part of animal species presents demonstration that they were created to live
upon animal food.t  There are those who have affirmed the contrary, and have supposed that, by persevering practice, lions, and
wolves, and all carnivorous creatures might be brought to live on
a vegetable diet.  Every physiologist must smile at this monstrous
absurdity. A few species indeed are omnivorous; and this circumstance has misled some persons. Cases also sometimes occur,
in which the violation of natural habits has been imposed upon
domesticated animals, by artificial means; but the healthy condition is sacrificed, and the effect is not permanent.  It follows, that
those predictions of the peace and happiness of the Messiah's
John ix. 2, 3.                      t Rom. v. 12. 1 Cor. xv. 21.
$ Fourth ed. "Of any organized being," each part taken separately, indicates and
gives the key to a knowledge of all the rest. Thus, if the stomach of an animal is so
organized as only to digest fresh animal food, its jaws must also be so contrived as to
devour such prey; its clasws, to seize and tear it; its teeth, to cut and divide it; the whole
structure of its locomotive org acs, to pursue and obtain it; its organs of sense, to perceive it from afar; and nature must even have placed in its braia& the necessary instinct
to enable it to conceal itself and to bring its victim within its toils. Geology, Int rordlctory, Descriptive, agcd Practical; by Prof. Ansted: 1844, p. 74. The law of nature
stated in the first sentence of this citation comprehends every order of corporeal animated creatures, and is demonstrated in the structure and the habits of every species.




200                   OBJECTIONS TO THE
reign, which picture the ferocious and venomous animals as becoming herbivorous and harmless, must be understood, as they are
by christian expositors generally, as beautiful poetry, expressing
the moral influence of the gospel.*
III. In the fourth and fifth of these lectures, several facts were
brought forwards, tending to place the natural history of the earth
in a position of variance with the generally received belief concerning the DELUGE, which is so important a part of the scriptural
history of the human race. As I cannot expect that those facts
can be distinctly recollected, it will be proper to recapitulate
them in the briefest manner consistent with making them intelligible.
That enumeration brought before us the following statements:
that, through the whole process of stratification, from the most
ancient to the latest, the mineral character of each stratum proves
the existence of contemporaneous dry land, as well as of depressed
areas filled with water; that the indubitable relics of once animated
creatures, in a great variety of species, from the earlier formations
to the latest, penetrate through one or more of the next superincumbent strata, so that there never occur contiguous beds of mineral deposit which fail to be connected, (if I may use the phrase,
dovetailed,) with each other: giving the result that, from the unspeakably remote point of time in which vestiges of living nature
first occur, there never was a period when life was extinct upon the
surface of the globe; or, we might more properly say, when living
creatures did not abundantly exist: that the vast masses of rolled
pebbles and stones of all sizes which have been spread over large
districts, especially of this northern hemisphere, belong, not to any
one transient flood, but to different eras of time, at great respective distances; some of the earliest never having been overflowed
by a succeeding flood, and each for itself indicating the action of
water, in one direction, through very long periods of time, in contradistinction to the idea of a deluge so brief as that of Noah,
enduring but little more than three hundred days: that the cones
of cinder and other volcanic products, over a considerable district
in the south of France, are accompanied by evidences of an antiquity reaching much further back than the date of Noah's deluge;
and that these cones of loose and light materials have never been
Upon this subject, I beg to refer to Dr. Buckland's recently published Sermonon The
Senztence of Deatli; and to the Supplementary Note A of this volume.




COMMON OPINION.                   201
exposed to the action of a rush or any even moderate force of
water, or they would have been inevitably washed away.  These
geological facts stand thus powerfully in the way of admitting that
there ever was a universal deluge.  Some other circumstances
also were briefly alluded to, belonging to other departments of
natural science. One of these was the impossibility of either the
vegetable or the animal creations having all proceeded from one spot
as a centre of ancestry; but that the surface of the earth is distributed into several distinct regions, each of which has its appropriate and exclusive tenantry, both vegetable and animal. It was
also remarked how utterly impossible it would be for the inhabitants of many of those regions to have migrated from various
others, or even to exist in them, if by an instantaneous miracle
they were transported thither. We adverted to the difficulty,
arising from the quantity of water requisite to cover the entire
globe and to overflow the highest mountains, which would be an
addition to the present ocean of eight times its actual quantity.
For both the production and the subsequent removal of this body
of water, we can imagine no cause but the miraculous intervention of omnipotence; whereas the narrative in the Book of Genesis
assigns two natural causes, raised to an extraordinary degree of
action. Notice was also taken of the animals preserved with
Noah in the ark; the number of existing species, so far exceeding
what the commentators on the Bible have taken into their calculations; the very different kinds of receptacle which would be
necessary, the amount of food, the necessity of ventilation and the
cleaning out of the stables or dens; the provisions for reptiles and
insects; the fact that some fish and shell animals cannot live in
salt water, and others not in fresh. The difficulty also was mentioned, if we suppose that the resting-place of the ark was the
Mount Ararat pointed out by tradition, of conceiving how the
eight human persons and their accompanying animals could descend adown the precipitous cliffs; a difficulty which amounts to
an impossibility, unless we call in the aid of divine power, operating in the way of miracle.
Another circumstance was adduced as proving that the Deluge
of Noah was not absolutely universal: the existence of trees in
the equatorial regions of Africa and of South America, which, by
the known method of ascertaining the age of exogenous trees, are
shewn to be of an antiquity which goes farther back than to the




202                CONSISTENCY OF TRUTH.
date of the Deluge. What was said in that lecture, and will be
advanced in the Note on this subject,* renders it needless to add
any more.
I may also remind my auditors that the opinion which ascribes
to the Deluge, the vast amount and variety of animal and vegetable remains found in a fossil state, in all parts of the earth, is
flagrantly inconsistent with a correct attention to the circumstances in which such remains occur.
From any of these considerations, the probability of a universal
contemporaneous flood is, to say the least, rendered very small;
but, their united force appears to me decisive of the negative to
this question.
I cannot doubt but that some alarm  and anxiety may be proluced in the minds of many, by the hearing of these statements.
They will be thought to be in direct contradiction to the sacred
narrative: and we cannot justify to ourselves any twisting and
wresting of that narrative in order to bring it into an apparent accordance with the doctrines of human philosophy. But let my
friends dismiss their fears.  The Author of nature and the Author
of revelation is the same.  He cannot be at variance with himself.
The book of his works and the book of his word cannot be contradictory. On the one hand, we find certain appearances in the
kingdoms of nature, which stand upon various and independent
grounds of sensible proof; and, on the other hand, are declarations
of Scripture seeming to be irreconcileable with those appearances,
which are indeed ascertained facts.  But we are sure that Truth
is immutable; and that one truth can never contradict another.
Different parts of its vast empire may and do lie far asunder, and
the intermediate portions may be covered with more or less of
obscurity; but they are under the same sceptre, and it is of itself
and antecedently certain that the facts of nature and the laws that
govern them are in perfect unison with every other part of the
will of Him that made them.  There are declarations of Scripture
which seem thus to oppose facts, of which we have the same kind
of sensible evidence that we have of the letters and words of the
sacred volume; and which we understand by the same intellectual
faculties by which we apprehend the sense of that volume. Now
those appearances,-facts I must call them,-have been scruti* See Supplementary Note, L. But the reader will especially observe the addition to
that Note in this [the third] edition.




QUESTION OF UNIVERSALITY.               203
nized with the utmost jealousy and rigour: and they stand impregnable; their evidence is made brighter by every assault. We
must then turn to the other side of our research; we must admit
the probability that we have not rightly interpreted those portions
of Scripture. We must retrace our steps. Let us resort to this
renewed examination in the great instance before us.
I. The expressions of universality, with regard to the extent of
the deluge, are these. " The waters prevailed exceedingly upon
the earth, and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven
were covered."
To those who have studied the phraseology of Scripture, there
is no rule of interpretation more certain than this, that universal
terms are often used to signify only a very large amount in number or quantity. The following passages, taken chiefly from the
writings of Moses, will serve as instances.-" And the famine was
upon all the face of the earth:''* yet it is self-evident that only
those countries are meant which lay within a practicable distance
from Egypt, for the transport bf so bulky an article as corn, carried, it is highly probable, on the backs of asses and camels." All the cattle of Egypt died;" yet the connexion shews that this
referred to some only, though no doubt very many, for, in subsequent parts of the same chapter, the cattle of the king and people
of Egypt are mentioned in a way which shews that there were
still remaining sufficient to constitute a considerable part of the
nation's property.t-" The hail smote every herb of the field, and
brake every tree of the field;" but, a few days after, we find the devastation of the locusts thus described; " They did eat every herb
of the land and all the fruit of the trees, which the hail had left."t
"' All the people brake off the golden ear-rings which were in
their ears, and brought them unto Aaron:" meaning undoubtedly
a large number of persons, but very far from being the whole, or
even a majority, of the people; as we may reasonably infer from
the circumstance that the stroke of punitive justice, for this act of
idolatry, fell upon only three thousand persons, but the entire
number of the Israelites at that time was a million and a half, and
of them six hundred thousand were grown men trained to arms." This day will I begin to put the fear of thee and the dread of
*Gen. xli. 56, 57.   I Exod. ix. 6, 10, 19-22, 25; xiv. 26, 28.
$ Ib. x. 5,15.         Ib. xxxii. 3.




204              USE OF UNIVERSAL TERMS.
thee upon the face of the nations under all the heavens:?'" yet
this declaration respects only the nations of Canaan and those
lying upon its frontier, all being within a very small geographical
district. We likewise find the phrase,'" under heaven," employed
by the inspired writers to signify an extent of country, large indeed, but falling exceedingly short of a geographical universality:
as, " I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven.    There were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under
heaven." With this passage is combined a geographical enumeration, which points out the extent of country intended, as being
from Italy to Persia, and from Egypt to the Black Sea: and thus
a probable elucidation is given to the declaration of the apostle,
that " the gospel was preached to every creature which is under
heaven."t-" Ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou
goest to possess it, and the Lord shall scatter thee among all peoples, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the
earth:"t a prophetic description of the dispersion of the Jewish
people, as the punishment of their apostasy from God and rejection of the Messiah, but no one can regard the expression as denoting a proper geographical universality.-"' The fame of David
went forth into all the lands [the plural of the word generally rendered the earth], and Jehovah put the fear of him upon all the
nations."~ This expression cannot be taken as reaching beyond
the range of Syria, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt.s" And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom."jl This cannot be reasonably understood of any kind of
resort but that of embassies and complimentary visits, from sovereigns and states within such a distance, as might have appeared
immense in those times, but which was small compared with even
the then inhabited parts of the earth.  The queen of Sheba was,
we may think undoubtedly, the principal of these visitants. Our
Lord himself condescended to use the style of the Jews, in saying
of her, that "the queen of the south-came from the uttermost
parts of the earth, to hear the wisdom of Solomon."IT  Yet her
country was on either the Eastern or the Western side of the
Arabian Gulf, about twelve or fourteen hundred miles south of
5 Deut. ii. 25.         t Eccl. i. 13.  Acts ii. 5.  Col. i. 23.
t Deut. xxviii. 63, 64.  ~ 1 Chron, xiv. 17.  1 1 Kings x, 24.
XT Matt. xii. 42.




USE OF UNIVERSAL TERMS.                     205
Jerusalem; a mere trifle compared with distances familiar to us in
our days.
Passages are numerous, in which the phrase " all the earth"
signifies only the country of Palestine.' In a few places it denotes
the Chaldean empire:t in one, that of Alexander.t
From these instances of the scriptural idiom in the application
of phraseology similar to that in the narrative concerning the
flood, I humbly think that those terms do not oblige us to understand a literal universality; so that we are exonerated from some
otherwise insuperable difficulties in Natural History and Geology.~
If so much of the earth was overflowed as was occupied by the
human race, both the physical and the moral ends of that awful
visitation were answered.
Some writers have taken great pains in calculating the numbers
of mankind at the epoch of the deluge, and they have brought out
an amount for the human population immensely larger than that
which has subsisted in any succeeding period, down to the present
time.  But apart from  other errors in the statistical principles
upon which they have proceeded, they appear to have overlooked
two elements of calculation. The first is the apparent paucity of
births which not obscurely shews itself in the genealogical table
(Gen. v. 3-28), almost all the history left to us of the period
from Adam to Noah.  We may not irreverently conjecture that,
in addition to other reasons, especially the preservation of a correct tradition concerning the most important religious truths, one
motive in the plan of Providence for the longevity of the antediluvian patriarchs was, to compensate by the length of individual
lives, for the slowness of multiplication. The second consideration which those calculators have neglected, is the effect of moral
depravity in diminishing the fecundity of the human species.
There are facts in modern history which exemplify this principle.
The rapid decrease of the population of the South Sea Islands,
within little more than half a century, is a striking instance. Of
such depopulation, there are two causes: the one, extreme licenS Deut. xxxiv. 1. Is. vii. 24; x. 14. Jer. i. 18; iv. 20; viii. 16; xii. 12; xl. 4. Zeph.
i. 18; iii. 19. Zech. xiv. 10.
t Jer. ii. 7, 25, 49.                $ Dan. ii. 39.
~ Dr. George Young, though his ideas concerning the flood appear to my humble judgment to be very extravagant, feels the necessity of maintaining that "a Cll, every one, the'hlzole, and such like expressions, are very often used to denote ca great many, or a lage
proportionz." Script. Geol. p. 27.




206              ANTEDILUVIAN POPULATION.
tiousness; the other, tyrannous, anarchical, and murderous cruelty.
That the latter state of mankind existed in the antediluvian period,
is expressly recorded (chap. vi. 11): and the former is not without
intimation (verses 2 and 4), as indeed from the too well known
tendencies of corruption in society, it may be very certainly inferred. The consequences would be, that few children would be
born; many would die of diseases, or of sheer neglect, or by actual
murder; and the mutual destruction of grown persons would be
very great. It is an instance in confirmation of this reasoning,
that no children of Noah are mentioned till he was five hundred
years old; and that, a century later, his three sons, each having
a wife, had no children.  Now we cannot but suppose that the
family of Noah was, at least, among the most virtuous of those
which then existed; and therefore was, upon the whole, more
likely to have become numerous than the generality of others.
From the whole, I humbly think it reasonable to infer, that the
human population had not spread itself far from its original seat,
the country of Eden; that its number was really small; and that
it was in a course of rapid progress towards an extreme reduction,
which would have issued in a not very distant extinction.
The difficulties also seem to be insuperable, with respect to the
animals saved in the ark, on the supposition that every species
had its representatives. But why may we not derive our explanation of this part of the statement, from the general rule of the
Hebrew and H[ebraistic diction, with respect to universal terms?
A confirmation of the principle we may find in the description of
Peter's emblematical vision, presenting to him, "all the fourfooted animals of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping
things, and the birds of the heaven."+ The design of this revelation was to convince him that the Mosaic distinction into clean
and unclean was by the gospel abolished: therefore, a representation of some principal animals, under each of the two divisions,
and those such as were well known to the apostle, would be all
that was needed. To assume a literal universality would involve
the idea of a crowding and compressing such as would destroy all
distinctness. In the case of Noah, we may understand the animals preserved with him in the ark as having been those connected
more or less with man, by domestication, and by other modes of
* Acts x. 12, —6rv- a r rerprod  —.




ANIMALS IN THIE APRK.                          207
subserviency to his present and future welfare. This idea answers
to the enumeration given, which only comprises the four descriptions;-m"wild animals," such as we now  call game, serviceable
to man but not tamed;-" cattle," the larger domesticated mammifers, such as the ox, the camel, the horse, the ass, the sheep,
and several species of the deer and goat genera;-"_ the creeping
things," the smaller quadrupeds;-and  "birds," the peaceable,
useful, and pleasing kinds.*
But an important observation presses upon us. If, by the
Ararat mentioned in Scripture, be understood the mountain of
that name in Armenia, it would inevitably follow that a deluge
capable of surmounting that, must have been, by the laws of the
motion of fluids, universal with regard to the earth. Against
that supposition, the impossibility of descent presents itself, as
has been already mentioned.  But St. Jerome says that the name
Ararat was given generally to the mountains of Armenia: and
Shuckford, a judicious writer, who lived long before geological
studies were awakened, adduces reasons against the common
opinion, and supports the idea of the ark's having grounded much
farther to the East.t This therefore might be on a mountain, or
a mountainous range, but not so high and precipitous as to preclude an easy descent into the lower and more cultivable grounds.
Let us now take the seat of the antediluvian population to have
been in Western Asia, in which a large district, even in the present day, lies considerably below  the level of the sea.t  It must
*k Gen. viii. 14.
t Sacred and Pro]ph. fist. Connected; vol. i. pp. 98-104; ed. 1731. A learned
writer (but who, I have no knowledge or conjecture) in the Congregational Magazine
for May, 1840, has urged other cogent reasons, geographical and historical, against the
supposition that the Ararat, usually so called, was the resting-place of the ark.
" Paravay, in his work on the Origin of Arithmetical Figures and of Letters, Introd.
p. 5, maintains the position that the ark rested in the western part of the country now
called Thibet; and this opinion obtains strong confirmation from Gen. xi. 2.'They
journeyed from the east, and found a plain in the land of Shinar.' Fr. de Paula de
Schrank, Comment. in Genesin; Sulzbach, 1835. The region thus pointed out is that
of the vast Himmalayah chain, a very conceivable boundary on the east for the diluvial
waters, and far beyond the probable extent of the then inhabited earth.
I The site of Mesopotamia and Persia, and part of Afghanistan and Turkestan, taken
generally; the countries laid down in Lechner's Map of Central Asia [Mittel-Asien, so
called in reference to the knowledge of the ancients;] Leipzig, 1823.
A more precise statement is desirable; and this I derive from the Preliminary Discourses to Black's Atlas, Edinburgh, 1840, p. 23; but corrected from Dr. von Schubert's
own work (Reise in das Morgenland, in d. J. 1836, 1837; vol. iii. p. 87, Erlangen,
1839; a beautiful example of philosophical, tasteful, and christian travel.) "In the S.




208                   ABODE OF THE  POPULATION.
not be forgotten that six weeks of continued rain would not give
an amount of water forty times that which fell on the  first or a
subsequent day; for evaporation would be continually carrying
up the water, to be condensed and to fall again: so that the same
mass of water would return many times.  If, then, in addition to
the tremendous rain, we suppose an elevation of the bed of the
Persian  and  Indian  Seas, or a subsidence of the  inhabited land'
toward the south, we shall have sufficient causes, in the hand of
almighty justice, for submerging  the  district, covering  its hills,
and destroying  all living  beings within  its limits, except those
whom divine mercy preserved in the ark. The draining off of
the waters would be effected, by a return of the bed of the sea
to a lower level, or by the elevation of some tracts of land, which
would leave channels and slopes for the larger part of the water
to flow back into the Indian Ocean, while the lower part remained
a great lake, or an inland sea, the Caspian.*
W. of Asia there are two remarkable regions, depressed belozo the level of the sea. The
one of these comprises the basin of the Caspian Sea and a considerable tract of country
to the N. and N. E., the depression of which amounts to 101-2 Russian feet. The other
includes the Dead Sea and the valley of the river Jordan; but the exact amount of its
depression has not been ascertained. Prof. von Schubert estimated (for his barometer
had not sufficient height of tube) the Dead Sea to be 600 French feet (about 640 English,)
and the sea of Tabaria (Tiberias, the Lake of Galilee,) by barometrical measurement,
for here the instrument would serve, 535 Fr. (=570 Engl.) below the level of the Mediterranean; but M. Russeger estimates the Dead Sea, at its northern end, to be no less
than 1319 French, or nearly 1400 English, feet below that level." However, it must be
observed, that the result of numerous observations, estimates, and adjustments, by the
fore-mentioned and other scientific travellers is to cast doubt upon the accuracy of the
preceding statements of number; while the general fact is well established, a low position of the Lake of Galilee and the bed of the Jordan, and much lower still of the
Dead Sea. See an elaborate paper on this subject from Poggendorf and Berghaus, in
Jameson's Ediznburgh Jozoernal; July 1840.
It is now (1843) ascertained, by the trigonometrical survey of Lieutenant Symonds,
that the Dead Sea is 1311 feet below the level of the Mediterranean. M. Berthou, from
barometrical calculation, had stated it to be 1332.
* Fourth ed. This is not the only mode in which an elevation of a vast body of
waters may be conceived as probable, and as adequate to the production of the effect.
It is established by abundant evidence that, through a period geologically recent, a district lying immediately north of the primeval seat of mankind, was occupied by an
inland sea, more than equal in extent to the existing Mediterranean. The shores and
basin of this ancient sea are incontrovertibly determined by littoral and marine remains.
It is also certain that repeated elevations and subsidences of the region still further to
the north, have taken place. One such elevation, proceeding gradually for forty days,
would throw southward such a body of water as would produce the effect described;
and the cessation might leave the separate basins of the Aral, the Caspian, and the
Euxine Seas, in a state to be brought to their present form by the progress of evaporation and drying.




SENTIMENTS OF STILLING-FLEET.-POOLE.         209
I may now adduce citations from divines and sacred scholars
whose eminence none will dispute, and who wrote without the
least knowledge of geological arguments.
Few men possessed a more powerful understanding or a finer
judgment than Bishop Stillingfleet.  He makes the following remarks.
"I cannot see any urgent necessity from the Scripture, to assert
that the Flood did spread itself over all the surface of the earth.
That all mankind, those in the ark excepted, were destroyed by it,
is most certain, according to the Scriptures.-The flood was universal
as to mankind: but from thence follows no necessity at all of asserting the universality of it as to the globe of the earth, unless it
be sufficiently proved that the whole earth was peopled before the
Flood: which I despair of ever seeing proved. And what reason
can there be to extend the Flood beyond the occasion of it, which
was the corruption of mankind l —I grant, as far as the Flood extended, all these [the animals] were destroyed; but I see no reason
to extend the destruction of these beyond that compass and space of
the earth where men inhabited; because the punishment upon the
beasts was occasioned by, and could not but be concomitant with,
the destruction of mankind. But (the occasion of the Deluge being
the sin of man, who was punished in the beasts that were destroyed
for his sake, as well as in himself,) where the occasion was not, as
where there were animals and no men, there seems no necessity of
extending the flood thither."
The bishop further argues that the reason for " preserving living
creatures in the ark," was that there might be a stock of the tame
and domesticated animals that should be immediately " serviceable
for the use of men after the flood: which was certainly the main
thing looked at in the preservation of them in the ark, that men
might have all of them ready for their use after the flood; which
could not have been, had not the several kinds been preserved in
the ark, although we suppose them not destroyed in all parts of
the world."*
The eminent nonconformist divine, Matthew Poole, wrote as
follows, in his Latin Synopsis of Critical Writers upon the Bible.
d"It is not to be supposed that the entire globe of the earth was
covered with water. Where was the need of overwhelming those: Originze.s Stcrce, Book iii. chap. iv. ed. 1709, p. 337.
P




210                           PRICHARD.
regions in which there were no human beings' it wrould be highly
unreasonable to suppose that mankind had so increased, before the
Deluge, as to have penetrated to all the corners of the earth. It is
indeed not probable that they had extended themselves beyond the
limits of Syria and Mesopotamia.  Absurd it would be to affirm that
the effects of the punishment inflicted upon men alone, applied to
places in which there were no men. If then we should entertain the
belief that not so much as the hundredth part of the globe was overspread with water, still the Deluge would be universal, because the
extirpation took effect upon all the part of the world which was inhabited. If we take this ground, the difficulties which some have
raised about the Deluge, fall away as inapplicable and mere cavils;
and irreligious persons have no reason left them, for doubting of the
truth of the Holy Scriptures."'
The same pious and learned author repeats the sentiment, in his
English Annotations, published after his death.  "'Peradventure
this flood might not be simply universal over the whole earth,
but only over the habitable world, where either men or beasts
lived; which was as much as either the meritorious cause of the flood,
the sins of men; or the end of it, the destruction of all men and
beasts; required."t
To the same effect, Le Clere and the younger Rosenmiiller
might be quoted; but it cannot be necessary.  Yet I may add
that my hearers and readers will derive additional satisfaction from
perusing the observations on this subject of Dr. Prichard, a man
whose amiable and christian character adds a bright ornament to
his scientific and philological eminence. He states the difficulties,
and methods for removing them. But though he declines giving
a decided opinion, the inclination of his judgment appears to be
in favour of the limited locality of the deluge. 
But, I almost hear the exclamation from a thousand tongues,'What are you doing?  Whither are you driving?  Are you not
"/ Non putandum est totum terrat globum aquis tectum fuisse. Quid opus erat illas
mergere terras ubi homines non erant? Stultum est putare ante diluvium homines ita
multiplicatos fuisse ut omnes terirm angulos pervaserint, cum ne Syrie quidem et Mesopotaice filles forsan excesserant. Absurdum autem est dicere, ubi nu!lte hominum
sedes, illic etiam viguisse effectus pacen solis hominibus inflicte. Licet ergo credamus
ie centesimam quidem orbis parteu aquis fuisse obrutam, erit nihilominus diluvium universale, quia clades totum orbem habitatum oppressit. Sic si statuerimus, jam cessabunt ineptm iste elt. futiles questiones quas nonnulli de Diluvio moverunt, et simul im
probis de Sacraruum Literarum veritate dubitandi omnis prmripietur occasio." S8?0yops.
in Gemt. vii. 19.          t On the same passage. Mr. Poole died in 1679.
t See his Researchels into the Physical history of 3Mankinzd; vol. i. pp. 98-102.




APPREHENSIONS ALLAYED.                  21
trampling upon, not the inspiration only, but the veracity of the
Holy Scriptures?  Are you not representing the God of truth,
speaking through the medium of his inspired servants, as uttering
that which is not true?  Let it be freely admitted that it is no
part of the design of God, in giving a revelation of his moral will,
to communicate lessons of physical philosophy; yet this does not
involve the admission that, when the instruments of revelation
advert to physical causes and operations, they should not speak
according to the reality of things.  A well informed and correct
speaker, when he is talking freely about common affairs, and when
nothing is farther from his mind than to be teaching history or
geography, yet will not so express himself as to imply ignorance
of historical or geographical facts. Surely we cannot think less
of the inspired writers.  " If Moses professes by divine inspiration
to give an account of the manner in which the world was framed,
he must describe the facts as they occurred."*  This may seem
an unanswerable objection; but will it stand before a fair examination? I think not; for two reasons.
1. It is impossible to deny that the Scripture does use language,
even concerning the highest and most awful of objects, GoD and
his perfections and operations, which we dare not say is literally
true, or that it is according to the reality of the things spoken of.
I entreat renewed attention to the evidence which I have adduced.
Will any man deny, that the Scripture, in places innumerable,
particularly in the earlier books, speaks of God as having the
bodily form and members of a man, and the mental passions and
imperfect affections of men? Or will any say that such descriptions and allusions are properly true; that they are according to
the reality of things? Shall we, can we, believe that the Infinite,
Eternal, and Unchangeable Being, comes and goes, walks and
flies, smells, hears, and sees, and has heart and bowels, hands,
arms, and feet?  Or that he deliberates, inquires, suspects, fears,
ascertains, grieves, repents, and is prevailed upon by importunity
to repent again and resume a rejected purpose? Do not the same
Scriptures furnish us amply with the proper exponents of those
figurative, and, strictly speaking, degrading terms? Do they not,
for example, tell us; "a God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent. IHath he said, and
5 The excellent and amiable man, the Rev. Richard Watson, in his Tbzeological I~zsti.
tutes; vol. i. p. 273.
P 2




212                APPREHENSIONS ALLAYED.
shall he not do? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it
good?    I am Jehovah: I change not."*  What then will ye
do, ye worthy men that make this objection?  Must ye not admit
that the language of inspiration is couched on the plan of the
boldest figures'? Such figures as, if we were not protected by this
authority, we should not dare to employ?  And do ye not always
explain that language by stripping off the figurative coverings,
and drawing forth the simple truth, which ye then express in some
kind of abstract phrase, metaphysically more accurate, but far less
mighty to impress the human mind? —You are convinced that this
is necessary; and you do not for a moment admit that, in doing
this, you derogate from the truth and inspiration of the Bible.
Apply then your just methods of interpretation to this case: I ask
no more. Mr. Romaine lays down the principle, in saying, "C The
Holy Spirit does not reveal God to us as he is in himself, but as
he stands related to us:" and this knowledge is best conveyed to
mankind in the style of condescension to our own low estate of
acts and habits, feelings and language.
If the view of the range of inspiration, that its proper and sole
reference is to religious subjects, be rejected, it will inevitably
follow that we must impute error to the Spirit of God.-   Abhorred be the thought! ---    e must suppose to be physically
correct those declarations concerning the astral worlds, the phenomena of the atmosphere, and the human frame, which have
been mentioned: we must regard the inferior creatures as " made
to be taken and destroyed,"t in defiance of all our knowledge that
the whole animal creation is formed for an immense variety of
beneficent purposes, partly no doubt unknown to us, but in a very
great measure manifest by the clearest and most beautiful proofs.
2. The Mosaic narrative is, manifestly and undeniably as we
have seen, so expressed in that style of condescension, and particularly in the manner suited to the men of primeval times. Yet,
when read and understood, as all language is required to be, by
the conversion of what is figurative and idiomatical into plain diction, it is a faitl/ful description of the facts that did occur, and
the method and order of their occurrence.
I have now reached the point at which, from the beginning of
-' Numb. xxiii. 19. Mal. iii. 6.
a12 Pet. ii. 12. Not well rendered " natural brute beasts:" for the clause f'tXoya ija,
uolnCa, strictly signifies, irrctionzc a czismals, gotve;r'ed by zatnurlc i2zstirzct.




FINAL RESULT.                     213
these lectures, I have been aiming. I speak my own conviction,
and I trust I have brought forwards sufficient evidence to support
that conviction, that the alleged discrepance between the Holy
Scriptures and the discoveries of scientific investigation, is not in
reality, but in semblance only: in particular, that'the Scriptures,
fairly interpreted, are not adverse to a belief in an immeasurably
high antiquity of the earth; in the reference of the six days' work
to a part only of the earth's surface; in the position of several
centres of creation, distinct from each other, on the surface of the
globe; in the reign of death over the inferior animals, from the
earliest existence of organized earthly beings; and in a limited
extent of the deluge which swept away the remnant of a self-destroying race, saving one family, which " found grace in the eyes
of the Lord."
I have not attempted to do this by affirming that the Scriptures
teach the sciences; or that their language can be forced, by any
grammatical or critical ingenuity, into a literal accordance with
scientific truths: but by adducing abundant evidence to shew that
the AUTHOR of revelation spoke to mankind in such language as
they were accustomed to use, such as they could most readily understand, and such as must ever remain the most affecting and
impressive to the human heart.
Let it also be observed, that the principle of interpretation here
brought forwards is entirely independent of facts in Natural History, or doctrines of Geology or any other branch of Natural Science. If those facts be denied and those doctrines disapproved,
still this mode of understanding the figurative language of Scripture will not be affected; it stands upon its own evidence, and
cannot, I conceive, be overthrown.
It follows then; as a universal truth, that the Bible, faithfully
interpreted, erects no bar against the most free and extensive investigation, the most comprehensive and searching induction. Let
but the investigation be sufficient, and the induction honest.  Let
observation take its farthest flight; let experiment penetrate into
all the recesses of nature; let the veil of ages be lifted up from all
that has been hitherto unknown, if such a course were possible;
-   religion need not fear, Christianity is secure, and true science
will always pay homage to the Divine Creator and Sovereign,
" of whom and through whom and to whom are all things; and
unto whom be glory for ever."




214                EXCELLENCE OF RELIGION.
LECTURE VIII.
ECCLESIASTES XII. 13.  Let us hear t/he conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep his commandments for this is the whole [duty]
of man. 
1" THE whole of man:" instruction for his duty, direction in his
difficulties, consolation in his sorrows, triumph in death, and the
boundless bliss of knowledge and holiness to eternity. But the
fear of God and the observance of his commandments are no servile and narrow habits of mind.  The Scriptures abundantly shew
that they comprehend, or by just deduction lead to, all that is true
in knowledge and noble in feeling.'k The High and Lofty One,
who inhabiteth eternity," builds also his temple in "G the contrite
heart.'"  He has made it our duty, and a part of the filial "fear"
which we owe to him, that we should acquire all that we can of
sound information concerning his perfections and his works. " He
giveth to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom and knowledge
and joy;" and it is laid down as one of the characters of the impious, that,   they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands."t
When the Committee of the Congregational Lecture did me the
honour of the invitation to deliver the course of this year, I could
not but feel grateful for the opportunity thus afforded, of making
an attempt to rescue from  misapprehension a branch of research
into the works of God, which at the present time attracts the attention of men, beyond all former example; and of offering an
humble contribution for advancing the influence of religion, as the
rightful asssociate of all other knowledge.
It is incumbent upon me to state that, beyond a general approt- It will not be unwelcome to the serious reader to have this passage laid before him
in a close translation. " The finishing lesson, the total, let us hear; Revere God, and
keep his commandments: for this [concerns] every one of mankind."
t Eccl. ii. 26. Psa. xxviii. 5.




PURSUITS Or SCIENCE.               215
bation of the subject, the Committee is not answerable for any thing
that has been advanced. The sentiments and arguments which
have been submitted to you, rest upon the responsibility of the
lecturer alone.
There are some remaining subjects respecting which I am desirous of obtaining the approbation of my indulgent auditors;
especially of the young persons, who are the delight of our families and the hope of our churches;-'" for ye are our glory and
joy."
I. I congratulate you upon the increasing ATTENTION which is
evidently paid to the objects of sensible SCIENCE. By the studies
of Natural History, my young friends, you become acquainted
with " the wondrous works of HIM that is excellent in knowledge;"
and, by those of Natural Philosophy, you investigate the causes
and results of the changes which you or others have observed in
the objects noticed by your senses. This is a part, at least, of
what the wise man describes as " applying the heart to know, and
to search, and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things."* It
is a subject for much thankfulness to the Author of all good, that so
many of you have been furnished, by the affectionate liberality of
your parents, with the means of laying a foundation for these acquisitions, and of commencing to build worthily upon that foundation. Yet those who have been thus favoured in a less degree
ought, by no means, to be discouraged. It is an humiliating fact,
that the class of persons which has enjoyed such opportunities in
their most perfect form, is not universally found to make a correspondent improvement of them. On the other hand, the honours
of science have been sustained, and its bounds enlarged, in the
greater number of directions, and in superior degrees, by those
who, nearly or altogether unaided, have risen to eminence by their
own diligence and perseverance in the cultivation of talent.
The advice has been often and very properly given, that you
should beware of satisfying yourselves with superficial acquirements. But this recommendation needs to be better understood
than it sometimes is. A vicious superficialism is when self-fondness persuades a man, and urges him to endeavour to persuade
others, that his knowledge is something great; that he has studied
to an extent which he has not done, and has made attainments
- Eccl. viii. 25




216                    IMPERFECTION.
which he has not made. Such affectation involves the guilt of
falsehood; and it is sure to defeat its own end, and bring its merited
punishment.
But there is a sense in which it must be said that most, even of
cultivated minds, possess but superficial knowledge. It is one of
our blessings, by God's kind providence, to live in a time when
literature, science, and the arts are cultivated so assiduously; and
their results are proclaimed so widely; that the necessity of acquiring general knowledge is strongly impressed, and the means
of the acquisition are afforded with unexampled facility.  To
many, however, the measure of such acquisition must be imperfect. The indispensable cares and labours of our earthly condition present insurmountable obstacles: and there are duties of personal religion and of social life which possess an infinitely higher
obligation, and the neglect of which would bring guilt upon our
own consciences, and injury upon our dearest connexions.  Far
from happy would be the possession of even great attainments,
purchased at such a cost.
Let us then never be reluctant to acknowledge the ignorance,
which we have not been able to remove. Let us not put on the
flimsy shew of a knowledge, which we do not possess. Let us
be ever open to the confession, that such or such a subject is one
with which we have not been favoured to obtain an accurate acquaintance. The ingenuous state of mind which thus expresses
itself, will bring no shame; and it will very often be the means of
opening a valuable door of information and improvement; partly
by its exciting influence on ourselves, and partly by its conciliating
the attention of our more accomplished friends.
These considerations not only impress upon us some admonitions,
but they justify the exhortations which I am presuming to give,
that (in subordination to the richest jewel and sweetest charm of
life, the RELIGION OF CHRIST, and in a well regulated connexion
with all domestic and social obligations,) my young friends would
invigorate their minds by literary, mathematical, and scientific
pursuits. This must, generally and chiefly, be accomplished by
what Milton so strenuously eulogizes, as the education which a
man gives himself.
Let us suppose that a foundation has been laid in a good general education, in which the rudiments of the Mathematics have
been solidly taught; for without that preparation the exact sci



SELF-IMPROVEMENT.                           217
ences cannot be efficiently pursued.* Young persons then enter
upon some course of life which claims their chief earthly attention.
Some are privileged to enjoy a good measure of evening hours: let
them not neglect the gift which the benignity of Providence thus
confers upon them. Their leisure is a talent too precious, and its
responsibility is a weight too awful, to be treated lightly. The
cultivation of Natural History and the Sciences will be a dignified
means of excluding those modes of abusing time which are the sin
and disgrace of many young persons; vapid indolence, frivolous
conversation, amusements which bring no good fruit to the mind
or the heart, or such reading as only feasts the imagination while
it enervates the judgment, and diminishes or annihilates the faculty
of command over the thoughts and affections, a faculty whose
healthy exercise is essential to real dignity of character.
But, there are many of the most estimable men who cannot
enjoy this advantage. The connexions and claims, whether of
business or of professional life, leave them scarcely any leisure; and,
at the close of each day, both the mind and the body are wearied
to exhaustion. Yet let them not be discouraged. Let them take
unceasing pains to cultivate the habit of close observation and
exact attention.  Let them  make up by repetition what they lack
in continuity. Small portions of time, linked together by constancy of return and closeness of succession, will form, in months
and years, a noble amount of improvement.
May I then be permitted to advise my young friends to select
that department of solid knowledge, for which each may possess
the best means and opportunities?  Let this one thing be the body
of the building.'This one thing, do."t   You will see the ne*, The observation of Sir John Herschel concerning Astronomy is also applicable to
all other departments of Natural Philosophy, and it ought to be engraven on the mind of
every aspirant after scientific knowledge. "c Admission to its sanctuary, and to the privileges and feelings of a votary, is only to be gained by one means, a sounzd and ssfflcient knowlecdge of lfathemzatics, the great instrtument of all exact inquZiry, without
sc/rich no man ca,7 ever snake sucle advances iz this or any other of the higher departmzents of science, as cant entitle hine to form an? inzdependent opinions o0? aany s2bject of
discussioin within their range."  Treatise on Astrononzy; p. 5.
t Not till after the composition of these lectures was I made acquainted with a circumstance, full of hope and promise; and which presents a motive for determining, among
objects that may seem equally inviting, that which shall be the first choice. The
University of London has made a Regqslatiose that every student, before being admitted
to Examination for his first Degree, (and, after 1840, at his matriculation,) shall be examined, among other subjects, in "' The characters and differences of the Natural Classes
and Principal Orders belonging to the Flora of Europe, according to the botanical classification of De Candolle."  This then fixes the first step in a scientific education; and a




218                         STUDIES OF YOUTH.
cessity  of obtaining  completely and  securing  firmly, those first
truths in any science which make its foundation: and you will be
more judicious determination could not well be conceived. It will now be the duty of
parents and instructors everywhere to lay this foundation in early life. Fromn their tenth
or twelfth year, boys and girls should be led to acquaint themselves with every species
in the fields, hedges, and woods within their reach. It will be the most salutary recreation from the toils of school; it will be a strong barrier against indolence and dissipation:
and it will draw on to Zoology and all other departments of natural knowledge, by obvious and even necessary bands of affinity. Though but a small number of our young men
through the land may come to be examined for degrees, the spirit of the Regulation ought
to operate to the widest extent; and I trust it will. It has led Dr. Lindley (Prof. Bot.
Univ. Coil. Lond.) to compose his new work, " School Botany;" for the express purpose
of promoting this object. He gives the monition: " It is zecessary that boys should prepare themselves for it, before they leave school; and therefore it will be a part of the
duty of schoolmasters to cause their highest classes to be taught the kind [i. e. the system]
of Botany required by the University." Undoubtedly it has been from mature consideration that the Council has fixed upon M. De Candolle's System, instead of the more operose and difficult one of Dr. Lindley himself: but it has the unwelcome result of counteracting in some measure the use of his own valuable works. It was hoped that the System which he has elaborated through so many years of study and exertion would have
come into universal and permanent use. However, for inconveniences like this, there is
no remedy but acquiescence: and let it be our consolation that De Candolle's System has
already made sure of acceptance among all nations. Perhaps Dr. Lindley will give the
necessary modifications to his principal works, to the great benefit of students. It will be
needful and easy for them to add a competent acquaintance with the Linnuman System, for
many indispensable purposes.(1) To this study there is a delightful Introduction expressly
for young persons, by Mr. Francis, just published, The Little English] Flora; (2) but
they must not dispense with the works of Dr. WTithering,(3) or Sir James E. Smith, or
(1) Sec. ed. At the same time the young student must come to his enterprise with a resolute heart, and should never forget the monition of Prof. Lindley:-" After all that
has been effected [for giving facility to the acquirement of an incipient knowledge of
Botany,l — or is likely to be accomplished hereafter, there will always be more difficulty
in acquiring a knowledge of the Natural System of Botany: than of the Linnman. The
latter skims only the surface of things, and leaves the student in the fancied possession
of a sort of information which it is easy enough to obtain, but which is of little value
when acquired: the former requires a minute investigation of every part and every property known to exist in plants, but, when understood, it has conveyed to the mind a store
of information of the utmost use to man in every station of life. Whatever the difficulties
may be of becoming acquainted with plants according to this method, they are inzseparable
from Botany."  Synzops. of Brit. Flora; pref. p. xi
(2) That gentleman had before conferred on young Botanists a benefit of no little value,
to assist their study of a peculiarly interesting and beautiful Order, and to which a minute
attention has, in the present day, become an elegant fashion, ThleBritishl Fernts and their
Allies, in 1837: and, but a few weeks ago, he has published a still more important pocket
volume, Tlze Grcammnar of Botaczy, 1840, a necessary introduction to the Flora, or to any
other Synopsis of the Linn-ean Botany. Mr. Francis's works have the merit of aiding the
student with regard to his literary taste and the attractions of anecdotal facts, thus adding
greatly to the pleasure of scientific acquirements: and he has benevolently considered the
logic of the pocket. He has also rendered a service of great value, to both young and
advanced Botanists, by his Catalognpe of British Plaets, exhibiting on a large sheet all
the Linnrean Genera and Species; and the price is sixpenzce!
(3) The condensed and otherwise improved edition, by Dr. Macgillivray, in a single
volume, will be found the most useful.




GEOLOGY RECOMMENDED.                      219
convinced also of the need of minute accuracy in all details. This
one science,-or you may have chosen a department of solid and
elegant literature, then I would say, this one object,-make your
dwelling place; and let others be viewed as accessories of convenience and stability. Avenues will open into other departments of
valuable knowledge. Affinities will present themselves of the
most pleasing kind. Mutual illustrations will multiply. Delight
will supersede difficulty. Every position taken up will give a new
extent of command; and by degrees a noble allotment will be
enclosed from the field which divine goodness has made the common property of mankind. Thus, a most desirable amount of literary or scientific acquirement will be laid up in the stores of memory. The very labour of getting these intellectual possessions
will be a pleasure, and its own reward; and results will probahly
be obtained, of immediate value in the arts of life. Your attainments will not be superficial; they will be solid and safe, so far as
they have proceeded; you will have always in your hand good
instruments, and you will know how to use them, for making progress in any direction that may invite.  But forget not the heavenly axiom, "The fear of the Lord is the beginnincg of wisdom."
II. As a branch of knowledge to which I request these remarks
to be especially applied, I invite you to the studies of GEOLOGY.
Here I avail myself of a paragraph, expressed with his usual
felicity and force, by one of the most favoured sons of science,
and to whom already I have been largely indebted.
"By the discoveries of a new SCIENCE (the very name of which
has been but a few years engrafted on our language,) we learn that
the manifestations of God's power on the earth have not been limited
to the few thousand years of man's existence. The geologist tells
us, by the clearest interpretation of the phenomena which his labours
have brought to light, that our globe has been subject to vast physical
revolutions. He counts his time, not by celestial cycles, but by an
index he has found in the solid framework of the globe itself. He
sees a long succession of monuments, each of which rmay have reSir TW. J. Hooker.-Besides the sentiment which has occasioned this too long note, we
ought not to be insensible to the direct benefit of botanical knowledge, economically and
in agriculture, as well as in relation to Medicine and general science.
[But, now (1847) I must earnestly call attention to Prof. Lindley's vast work, to which
his former labours, great and numerous have been culminating; Tiee Vegetable Kingdom;
sec. ed. with above 500 wood engraved illustrations of admirable beauty; 8vo. 979 pages
closely printed.]




220                     SCRIPTURE DIFFICULTIES.
quired a thousand ages for its elaboration. He arranges them in
chronological order, observes in them the marks of skill and wisdom, and finds within them the tombs of the ancient inhabitants of
the earth. He finds strange and unlooked for changes in the forms
and fashions of organic life, during each of the long periods he thus
contemplates.   He traces these changes backwards, through  each
successive era, till he reaches a time when the monuments lose all
symmetry, and the types of organic life are no longer seen. He
has then entered on the dark age of nature's history; and he closes
the old chapter of her records. —This account has so much of
what is exactly true, that it hardly deserves the name of figurative
description."*
We have seen, however, that this science brings us into a situation which we cannot but feel most unwelcome and even distressing. In these lectures it has been sufficiently shewn, that some
of the most evident geological facts carry the appearance of being
at variance  with  the  declarations  of Holy  Scripture; and  that
many of our friends, men of ardent piety and christian excellence,
not perceiving any mode of conciliation, deny and reject, with
great vehemence, our statement of those facts.
In the last lecture, a principle was explained and established
which to me appears capable of removing the difficulty, in a way
that ought to satisfy impartial minds. But it would be too presumptuous in me, to indulge the hope that this mode of solution
Sedgwick's Studies of Cambridge; p. 25. My reader will thank me for introducing here a passage froim another ornament of the same University. " The spirit of
geological observation is so widely diffused and so thoroughly roused, that I trust we need
not anticipate any pause or retardation in the career of Descriptive Geology. I confess
indeed, for my own part, I do not look to see the exertions of the present race of geologists surpassed by any who may succeed them. The great geological theorizers of the
past belong to the Fabulous Period of the science; but I consider the eminent men by
whom I am surrounded as the Heroic Age of Geology. They have slain its monsters
and cleared its wildernesses; and founded here and there a great metropolis, the queen of
future empires. They have exerted combinations of talents, which we cannot hope to
see often again exhibited; especially when the condition of the science which produced
them is changed. I consider that it is now the destiny of Geology to pass from the
heroic to the Historical Period. She can no longer look for supernatural successes: but
she is entering upon a career, I trust a long and prosperous one, in which she must carry
her vigilance into every province of her territory, and extend her dominion over the
earth, till it becomes, far more truly than any before, a universal empire." Prof.
Whewell, in his Address as President of the Geol. Soc. Feb. 15, 1839. The concluding
sentiment referred only to human dominions, civil, or intellectual. I am sure that the
learned and estimable speaker is not indifferent to the unearthly empire of Christianity,
which God has destined to be the parent of virtue and happiness, knowledge and peace,
to all nations.




SCRIPTURE DIFFICULTIES.                  221
will be satisfactory to those prepossessed persons; or to others,
who take up an opinion at first sight, and are not disposed to go
through the course of investigation which is necessary for a proper understanding of the question.  I cannot but fear that it must
have the fate of the Newtonian Philosophy; and must wait its
time, till pious and learned men shall be convinced that their objections are groundless.
I cannot imagine any motive but the excellent one of veneration
for the Bible, that can induce a pious mind to feel satisfied with
the idea which attributes to the first exercise of creating power,
a date so recent as six or seven thousand years ago.  Yet we may
reasonably ask, Ought the mind of a Christian to sit down with
passive acquiescence in this persuasion? A commencement of
creation unquestionably must have been: and before that point,
from eternity, the All-sufficient JEHOVAH was his own universe.
But what reason, viewing the subject solely in itself, can we have
for assuming that we are living in so early a stage of the flow of
time? What objection can we, a race of poor, feeble, sinful creatures, pretend to set up against the idea that the glories of the
Creator had been displayed, in diffusing a holy and happy existence through worlds upon worlds, and throughout ages' which
man cannot number, before he called human kind into existence?
If it be said that the "great mystery of godliness," the display
of the divine perfections in the work of REDEMPTION, forbids such
an extent of our conceptions; I would reply, with humility and
deference, that the objector has forgotten the grand attribute of
Deity, the basis of all the Divine Perfections,-INFINITY.  He is
measuring JEHOVAH by a standard applicable only to creatures.
-And are not the purposes of God, including the glorious plan
of salvation to a lost world (Eph. i. 4, 5; iii. 11) from eternity?
-To my judgment and feeling, the grandeur of those heavenly
counsels is presented to us the more sublimely by the views for
which I have been pleading, of the extent, antiquity, and endless
duration of the products of God's creative power and provident
wisdom."
@ Let the reader turn back to the quotation from Mr. Serope in page 104. —Vhat materials for reflection lie deep in this sentence of the wise and devout Richard Baxter!
" I meddle only with mankind, not with angels. Nor will I curiously inquire whether
there were anry other World of men created and destroyed, before this had being.";'
Sciczts' Everlasting Rest; p. 115, ed. 1688. Thus the mind of this good and great




222             DIFFICULTIES  MUST BE ENCOUNTERED.
But, why do you not let these  matters alone?  Why do you
bring  them  before  the  christian public, distressing  the minds of
pious persons, and incurring the danger of shaking the faith of
your weaker brethren?
I am  bound to acknowledge that my own breast is no stranger
to the feelings involved in these queries.   Scarcely can I turn out
of my heart emotions approaching to envy, at the tranquil state
of many of my fellow-christians.   Happily ignorant, exempt from
perplexities and  conflicts, at least on such subjects as this, they
spend their blameless lives in the exercises of piety, usefulness to
mankind, and all the sweet enjoyments of religion; they go down
to the grave in peace, and the angel of death leads their purified
spirits to  the  perfection  of heaven.-Would we harass them  on
their pilgrimage?-Far, far from  it!-Alas, the choice is not left
with us! These subjects are not allowed to lie in concealment.
They are bruited abroad. If Christians can be quiet, infidels will
not be so.*  "The arrow flieth by day, and the pestilence walketh
in darkness."  Not only in books of philosophy, but in the periodical journals and common literature of the day, in this country
and  in  others, in  Europe  and  in  America, by various phrase,
covertly and openly, coarsely and politely, it is proclaimed that
Cuvier has supplanted Moses, that Geology has exploded Genesis.
There is a class  of persons, who understand the scientific side of
man did not absolutely reject the notion of a prior race even of beings like ourselves;
though such a notion would have appeared much more in collision with the Scriptures
than the admission of creatures quite different from the human. Geology confirms the
scriptural doctrine concerning the origin of man, and supplies proofs that man is among
the newest productions of the Creator's power, and that our kind had no existence before
Adam.
" The time has come when the whole question must be understood and settled by
the friends of Revelation, unless they wish it to be turned to evil account by its enemies." An Anzti-infidel Geologist, Christ. Observ. May, 1834; p. 313.
I quote, with pleasure and entire assent, the remark of an excellent writer; yet observing that it is applicable only to questions of pure Theology. The case before us is widely
different: it is a case in which physical facts compel us to question, not the authority of
the Bible, but the justness of certain interpretations and inferences; and our questioning
is sustained by the undeniable analogy of language, used much more abundantly in the
Bible, upon the most venerable of subjects, the Attributes of the Deity.-Having mentioned some theological difficulties, and the simple facts to which they refer, the author
proceeds:-" These things are all plain. With these the humble Christian is content.
If, beyond these, perplexities and troubles arise, they are the gratuitous, self-inflicted
perplexities and troubles of scholars and philosophers. The plain good man, who simply
believes his Bible, who can follow where it leads and pause where it stops, effectually
escapes them."  Dana's Letters to P1rof. Zlroses Stvcurt; Boston, New England, 1839;
p. 31.




NECESSITY  OF DECLARING OUR VIEWS.                    223
the difficulty enough to make out of it an excuse for open infidelity, or secretly  cherished scepticism; and thus they are able to
pacify their consciences in a contemptuous neglect of the evidence
and authority of religion.  Do we owe no regard  to those persons? Have we no sympathy for them; no consideration for the
educational and other unhappy causes of their doubts?  Are not
their souls as precious as our own? Is not their state, before God
and for eternity, as important as ours? Can we prevail upon them
to unlearn their knowledge, to stifle the convictions of their judgment, or suppress the avowal of those convictions?-And if we
could; if they were to promise silence and to keep the promise;
would religion be served thereby? --— Examples have not been
wanting  of complimentary  verbiage, with  affected  solemnity,
offered to the christian religion; while the fraternity of concealed
unbelievers can look  significantly at each other, and  mutually
build up their self-flattery and pride; as if they were men immeasurably superior to the vulgar, but who, to soothe prejudice,
and flatter public opinion, are willing to uphold a style of conventional hypocrisy.
But, can we not throw ourselves into the arms of our brethren in
the faith, who, as we have seen, summarily dispose of the whole
matter?-We  cannot.  First; our own convictions stand  in the
way.  The facts cannot be set aside: they are too numerous, too
various and independent, and too weighty in their character as
grounds of reasoning. Secondly; if we could so put off our
reasonable faculties, the great cause would not be relieved. It
would be far more deeply injured.  The body of scientific men,
in every country, would only be confirmed in their hostility, and
the more completely discharged from keeping terms with us: while
we should be the men that laid Christianity under the feet of its
adversaries.@
* "From ill-informed, or too often prejudiced persons, we hear frequent remarks disparaging the inquiries and conclusions of the Geologist, while they allow and applaud
the inferences of the Astronomer and the Chemist. They condemn as visionary and
presumptuous the results of the one as to the antiquity of strata, and the successive
cras of animal organization, the monuments of which are before their eyes; while they
revere as unquestionable truths the most marvellous and paradoxical inferences of the
other, which refer to subjects utterly beyond the scope of the senses, to periods and
distances which transcend our arithmetical powers to conceive, and to processes of nature which exceed our faculties to apprehend.-  Yet, when the Geologist contends that
the crust of the earth, with its organized productions, has been gradually brought into its
present condition, by a series of CREATIVE changes, going on through millions of ages;




22a4              DANGER OF ERRONEOUS NOTIONS.
Hence arises a motive of the greatest force to quicken our endeavours to diffuse every where just principles for understanding
the figurative language of Scripture.  We cannot but be affected
by the prevalence of ignorance and misconception on this point;
and the consequent influence of those misconceptions upon the
formation of religious sentiments and their practical results.  The
eloquent profusion of striking scripture-language, in sermons and
treatises and poems, yet without the accompaniment of just caution and correct interpretation, has made many enthusiasts and
many infidels; and not a few have rushed from the one extreme
to the other.  The unexplained ascription of human forms and
passions to the Deity leads some to breathe the atmosphere of a
piety imaginative and picturesque indeed, but degrading to its
glorious Object and nursing most pernicious fancies in its subjects:
and it helps forward another class in their injurious conceptions of
the attributes and government of God; for these are ideas which
they are very ready to accept, as a bolstering up of secret scepticism.  In their own minds, they put upon the adorable One a
garb of unreasonable, turbulent, and changeful passions; instead
of representing him as the Being all whose attributes are PERFECTIONS, fixed and invariable principles of rectitude and wisdom.
Thus, the pure character and the reasonableness of moral obedience, and the inviolability of the law that requires it, are thrown
out of sight; the necessity of a Divine Saviour is therefore hidden
from view; the whole economy of redeeming grace is distorted;
Christianity is represented as an irrational dream; and the best
hopes of man are thrown to the winds. But, how often does a
melancholy reaction take place; and the empire of superstition
succeeds to that of scorn! Sorrow and desolation, age and death,
present themselves; and the miserable victim, "ignorant of God's
righteousness," and never having cast the anchor of his soul
"'within the vail," is overwhelmed with terrors, and flees into the
arms of some foolish and delusive scheme, for relief from  the
his conclusion is condemned as chimerical and dangerous.-They allow the full claims
of the human mind, to assign spaces and periods which transcend the flights of the
loftiest imagination:-yet they talk of the arrogance of the Geologist in pretending to
maintain that, millions of years ago, the world was going on, governed by the same
physical laws which prevail now, and replete with vegetable and animal life in all its
varied forms of perfection and adaptation to a state of things, of which the existing
order is only one of a series of gradual and regular changes.' Prof. Powell's Co07e1reion;
pp. 67, 69.




VALUE OF TRUTH.                                225
scourge of a terrified conscience:-a false relief, to be followed
by the bitterest aggravations of disappointment, and the death of
hope! To prevent such ruin, let us do all in our power to inculcate just views of the true meaning of scripture-imagery, the unalterable perfections of God, the majesty of his holiness, the
riches of his grace, and the exceeding greatness of his power,
through faith in Christ, to liberate our souls from sin and wretchedness, and raise them  to immortal purity, activity and joy.  THIs
is "the glorious gospel of the Blessed God; — the truth according
to godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God who cannot deceive (o a wevas    OE(r') has promised before the world began."*
Our religion,-blessed be God!-is not a religion of contrivance
and expediency. We want only TRUTH: and we cannot barter it
for ease, custom, or fashion.
Is it not then our duty, as honest men and Christians, to make
ourselves somewhat more than superficially acquainted with the
evidence in this case; and to take some pains in diffusing correct
knowledge upon it?
This is the proceeding which I humbly recommend; and to promote which has been the design of these lectures.t
III. I would entreat my friends to consider what are the proper
ACCOMPANIMENTs of all human knowledge, if it be sought and:, 1 Tim. i. 11. Tit. i. 1, 2.
i "The subject before us is not one which can be advantageously discussed with the
people at large." [Meaning, no doubt, in sermons.] " A wide range of facts and an extensive course of induction are necessary to the satisfactory exhibition of geological
truths; and especially to establish their connexion and harmony with the Mosaic history.
It is a subject exclusively for the learned, or at least for the studious and the reflecting.
But it can zno longer be neglected with safety by those whose province is to illzstrate
and defend the sacred wvritings.  The crude, vague, unskilful, and unlearned manner
in which it has been too often treated, when treated at all, by those who are to a great
extent ignorant of the structure of the globe, or who have never studied it with any efficient attention, can communicate only pain to those friends of the Bible, who are perfectly satisfied, after full examination, that the relation of geology to sacred history is
now as little understood, by many theologians and biblical critics, as astronomy was in
the time of Galileo. There is but one remedy. Thzeologians must study Geology: or,
if they will not or from peculiar circumstances cannot do it, they must be satisfied to
receive its demonstrated truths from those who have learned them in the most effectual
way, not only in the cabinet, but abroad on the face of nature and in her deep recesses,
They will then be convinced, that geology is not an enemy but an ally of revealed religion; that the subject is not to be mastered by mere criticism; that criticism must be applied to facts as well as to words; and that there is, at most, only an apparent incongruity, an incongruity which vanishes before investigation."  Dr. Silliman (Prof. Chem.
Yale Coll. U. S.) in his App. to a republication of Mr. Balkewell's Geology, near the close;
published separately in London, by Mr. J. S. HFodson, with the title, Consistency of the
Discoveries of Mlfodern Geol. wvith the Sacred liist. 1837.
Q




226              ETERNITY AND RETRIBUTION.
employed in the manner that becomes reasonable and accountable
creatures.
Science is the knowledge of truth.  Its proper tendency is to
augment our desire to obtain higher measures of that possession;
and to increase our love to that truth of which it is the image.
But all truth is connected with all other truth, by natural alliances
numerous and ever multiplying. Physical truth, though the fact
is often overlooked, has much in common with moral truth. From
a sound acquaintance with the kingdoms of nature, innumerable
benefits accrue to the comfort and always extending usefulness of
the life that now is: and we thus obtain enlarging convictions of
the pernicious consequences of ignorance and false opinions. From
the want of knowledge in some branches of science, many a flattering project has been marred, much property has been thrown
away, families have been ruined, and the public has been injured.
This has been remarkably the case from the want of geological
knowledge. Almost incredible might appear the history of disappointments and pecuniary losses which have been produced by
this cause, in laying down lines of road, in selecting materials for
road-making and stone for building, in making cuttings and tunnels, in sinking for coal, and in the economy of metallic mines.
Hence we may derive lessons, by reasonable analogy, to enforce
the scriptural precept, in its moral aspects, as well as in every
other: "Buy the truth and sell it not."  It is a treasure above
all price, and nothing can compensate for the loss of it. Ignorance and error, in relation to God, our duty to him and expectations from him, are the causes of unbelief, impenitence, insensibility
to the evidences and claims of revealed religion, and all sinful
affections and conduct; what the inspired author calls "foolish
and pernicious lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."*  But a mind which ingenuously loves Truth, will " search
for it as for hidden treasure;" and will see a beauty in moral and
religious truth transcending every other kind of excellence, and
connecting itself with the glories of eternity.
Well-conducted studies also tend to promote a right estimation
of Evidence universally, a wise discrimination of its various kinds,
and the habit of regarding it with integrity and fidelity.
These qualities of mind are congenial with others, which advance
*, 1 Tim. vi. 9.




ETERNITY  AND  RETRIBUTION.                         227
still higher the holy edifice in our minds; such are a profound
sense of the universal presence and the infinite perfections of God,
veneration and filial love to him, cordial submission to his authority, delight in his precepts, the thankful reception of his gospel, and the repose of the soul in HIM as the ground of its immortal hopes.
So shall we answer the purposes of our existence, and shall be
prepared for the momentous changes which are hastening  on, and
in which we have a never-dying interest. Infinite happiness or
infinite woe will be the result of a due regard to these considerations, or a contempt of them. This result for eternity will be the
product of our present character, as it is seen by the Omniscient;
a product necessary by the laws of our intellectual nature, and
just under the government of eternal rectitude.
God has written the lesson of responsibility and retribution upon
the large scale of affinity and sequence, through the whole empire
of nature. The felicities of holiness and the punishments of sin,
are not arbitrary inflictions, but grow out of the necessary constitutions which the All-wise Sovereign has fixed for the good order
of his universe. Hence, it is not less an inevitable certainty, from
physical truths and rational evidences, than it is a primary doctrine of the Bible, that "they  who  hate  knowledge and choose
not the fear of the Lord, who reject his counsels and despise his
reproof, shall eat of the fruit of their own way."
* Prov. i. 29-31. With this coincide the reasonings of Mr. Babbage, in his chapter
" On the Permanent Impressions of our Words and Actions on the Globe we inhabit."
Laplace had observed that "'the curve described by [the motion of] a single molecule of
air or any fluid is subjected to laws as certain as those of the planetary orbits: there is no
difference between them, but that which arises from our ignorance." Mr. Babbage pursues the idea, and shews that " these erial pulses, unseen by the keenest eye, unheard
by the acutest ear, unperceived by human senses, are yet demonstrated to exist by human
reason.-If man enjoyed a larger command over mathematical analysis, his knowledge
of these motions would be more extensive: but a being, possessed of unbounded knowledge of that science, could trace every the minutest consequence of that primary impulse. Such a being, however far exalted above our race, would still be immeasurably
below even our conception of INFINITE Intelligence.-Whilst the atmosphere we
breathe is the ever-living witness of the sentiments we have uttered, the waters and the
more solid materials of the globe bear equally enduring testimony of the acts we have
committed. If the Almighty stamped on the brow of the first murderer, the indelible and
visible mark of his guilt; he has also established laws by which every succeeding criminal is not less irrevocably chained to the testimony of his crime; for every atom of his
mortal frame, through whatever changes its several particles may migrate, will still retain, adhering to it through every combination, some movement derived from that very muscular effort by which the crime itself was perpetrated. The soul of the negro whose fettered body, surviving the living' charnel-house of his infected prison, was thrown into the
Q2




228               GEOLOGICAL FACTS ADMONITORY.
The instruments of his righteousness are in preparation; and,
how soon they will be ready for action He knows who created,
who sustains, and who governs his own world. But we need not
expect a delay till the workings of the atmosphere and the running
waters shall have worn  down the mountains and washed away
the plains to the sea-level. A different point in the course of the
agency which God has ordained, may bring  on the catastrophe.
Let but the deposits at the bottom of the sea, over any particular
area, proceed to a certain amount of thickness, and Deity knows,
(and he may have disclosed the event and its time to creatures
superior to man,) how near we are to the attainment of that point';
and upheaving must take place, escape of the fiery liquid below
by a volcanic vent may not be permitted, new continents must
then be raised from the bed of the sea, and now-existing land must
resume its former place at the bottom of the waters. It may be
said that this is a slower process than numbers can assign. Be it
so: but before this point is reached, the operation of the same
constant cause may produce earthquakes and volcanic explosions
under the soil of Great Britain or Germany, or the intermediate
sea; and in a few moments may send into  eternity every human
creature, over a wide district. That these countries have not
been the seat of such destructive outbursts, within the record of
history, or since the creation of man, forms no objection. That
they have been so agitated in former periods is among the most
certain of facts: and no man can be assured that the renewal of
similar events will not take place, at any hour.
I do not advert to these considerations as if religion needed
them. Its evidences, its authority, and its motives stand forth
full and complete on their own grounds; and a few years, or persea to lighten the ship, that his christian master might escape the limited justice at length
assigned by civilized man to crimes whose profits had long gilded their atrocity, will
need, at the last great day of human account, no living witness of his earthly agony.
When man and all his race shall have disappeared from the face of our planet, ask every
particle of air still floating over the unpeopled earth, and it will record the cruel mandate of the tyrant. Interrogate every wave which breaks unimpeded on ten thousand
desolate shores, and it will give evidence of the last gurgle of the waters which closed
over the head of his dying victim, confront the murderer with every corporeal atom of
his immolated slave, and in its still quivering movements he will read the prophet's denunciation of the prophet king,-Thou art the nagn." Ninth Brid,,ewater Treat.
chap. ix.
But the arm, the tongue, the brain, were but the organism of the mind; and for mind
with all its machinations God has made equally effective registers: " and the books WILL
ZE OPE. NED,"9




GEOLOGICAL FACTS ADMONITORY.             229
haps a few of our rapidly fleeting days, will bear away each one
of us to our personal judgment. But this is one of the lights in
which we may view the interest of geological studies. The records of earthquakes and volcanoes, if we contemplated nothing
else in this rich field, are the most awfully impressive that visible
nature affords. The Christian cannot exclude them from the universal government of God: nor would he, if he could. Physical
events have moral relations. Here we see large extents of country, rising, or sinking down, at the slow rate of two or three feet
in a century: there, an elevation or a depression of several feet
through hundreds of miles, takes place in a few hours. On our
own coasts are many examples of ancient sea-beaches, even several
in superposition, but far above the highest tide-level of the present
day. In places innumerable of the British Isles, the early and
secondary and tertiary beds have been upraised, fractured, and
pierced through by the melted rocks from below; parts of which,
having become solid, as necessarily and speedily they would, form
our most magnificent mountains, and other parts have run in lines
of many miles in length, filling up the cracks and chasms which
the upbursting force had rent. In many parts of the ocean which
covers three-fourths of the surface of our globe, new islands have
been raised up; some of which have soon sunk down, or have been
washed away, leaving dangerous shallows, and others continue to
this day and have become the abodes of life and action. The vestiges of ancient volcanoes stand up in their unquestionable demonstration, in countries next to our own. At distances a little
greater, we find volcanic vents, either in never-ceasing though
temperate action, or at uncertain periods breaking forth in terrible
magnificence. Fifty-six years ago, in the island geographically
near to us, Iceland, the eruption of the mountain Skaptar Jokul,
which was prolonged through two years, dried up rivers and filled
their beds, covered valleys of five hundred feet in depth and overflowed their mountain-limits, and spread its lava-torrents over
areas of country from seven to fifteen miles in breadth, in length
forty to fifty, and in various thickness from one hundred feet to
six hundred. Twenty villages were destroyed, and nearly the
fifth part of the population perished.
In 1797, the old city Riobamba, in Peru, was destroyed in one
day by an earthquake; and, in a few minutes, forty-five thousand
human beings were thus awfully sent into eternity.




230                  CONSTANCY OF CHANGE.
In 1815, the island of Sumbawa, at the eastern end of Java,
was the scene of volcanic devastation to a most dreadful extent.
The eruptions began on April 15th, and continued for three
months.  Great tracts of land were buried under the lava. 1"Violent whirlwinds carried up men, horses, cattle, and whatever else
came within their influence, into the air; tore up the largest trees
by the roots, and covered the whole sea with floating timber."'
The shocks were felt to the distance of 1000 miles; and the terrible sound of the explosions was heard over a range of 1500. The
ashes ejected reached 200 and 300 miles in distance, covering the
sea extensively with pumice and cinders to the thickness of two
feet, and making the day darker than the thickest night over a
wide space in length more than 500 miles. Out of about twelve
thousand persons, in two small districts, no more than five or six
persons survived; and of the whole population, the number of
which is not stated, only twenty-six escaped this awful catastrophe.t
Seven years afterwards, in the same island, an eruption took
place of the mountain Galongoon, which, with its deluges of rain
and scalding mud, destroyed 114 villages and 4000 persons.
Thus the instruments of change are incessantly at work, in modifying and altering the surface of the planet which the adorable
Creator has appointed for our dwelling-place, in this incipient
state of being. The examination of the earth affords us an insight
into its state and many of the changes through which it has passed,
before it assumed its present condition; and spreads before us
volumes of evidence that those changes have been produced by
the same instrumental causes that we see working at the present
moment. The intensity has varied: different states or circumstances have augmented or diminished their resulting forces; but
the causality, mediate as well as primary, has been of the same
kind; and the variations of intensity have affected but a small
portion of the immeasurable system of Jehovah's empire, and have
been all the effect of more general laws. Every thing that we
can observe and every deduction that we can form, presents the
* Lyell's Princip. Geol. vol. ii. p. 200.
t Sir T. S. Raffles's Hist. of Java, vol. i. pp. 25-28. "' Twenty-six of the people who
were at Sumbawa at the time, are the whole of the population who have escaped. From
the most particular inquiries I have been able to make, there were certainly not fewer
than twelve thousand inhabitants in Tomboro and Pbkatb at the time of the eruption, of
whom only five or six survive." Page 28.




ARDENT ASPIRATIONS.                231
glorious unfoldings of beauty and majesty, the progressive triumphs of wisdom and beneficence.
We ought not to omit the observation, that the causes of most
extensive operations are and have been the most silent and quiet.
The volcano and the earthquake, necessary as their part has been in
carrying on the economy of God's physical government, have had
to perform a much inferior part compared with the slow and tranquil processes of deposition, consolidation, elevation, crystallization, cleavage, and electric affinities continually acting. Those
hidden operations, whose depth and breadth and length were to
be the elements of the most important results through a vast futurity, have in all past time been effected, and now are proceeding, in a manner so gradual, so slow, and yet without any needless consumption of time, as to overwhelm our minds with the
contemplation, and to impress us with conceptions at once awful
and delightful, of the Wisdom, Power, and Goodness, which have
connected incalculable numbers of beings and events, stretching
through ages to which we are incompetent to apply a measure; so
that they all combine with unfailing accuracy, to effectuate the
purposes which only Infinite Perfection could form, or when formed
could execute.
Whether fiery catastrophes shall take place, local and successive
over different regions, or one universal conflagration involving the
globe in simultaneous destruction, (improperly so called, for a glorious future will lie beyond,) is probably above the power of
human knowledge to determine. How far the prophetic announcements of Scripture import a literal action of fire, or whether they
are altogether significant of moral changes, are questions, the resolution of which I presume not to assert.*
IV. There remains another object of my heart's desire, with
which if I might be gratified, my prayers would be answered, and
my joy be unspeakable. Might I but hope that those sons of
science, to whose labours and our obligations for them, so frequent
reference has been made, would be persuaded to give to the noblest
objects of contemplation, a portion of their attention correspondent
to that which they have devoted to objects valuable indeed, but
infinitely inferior;   happy should I be, beyond expression!
The philosophers, whose names form a wreath of honour to our
@ See pages 155-157.




232              RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY.
own and other nations, cannot but be objects of regard, with feelings of interest and solicitude to which no words can give full
utterance. —- Illustrious men; we look up to you with more than
respect: we admire and reverence you. Your early acquisitions
in mathematics and the exact sciences, in all that could lay the
foundation of an enduring edifice; your separation from the frivolity and vice, to the temptations of which you have been exposed;
your devotement of youth and manly age, of fortune, health,
labour and peril, and severe studies; your generous readiness in
giving to the public the fruit of your toils; the debt which physical science owes you; the benefits which you have conferred upon
society, for economical and. national purposes; the excitement and
encouragement which you have so readily given, through wide
circles of influence; —— all entitle you to our honour and affection.
But these reasons add to the justness and warmth of our wishes,
that you would adorn all other excellence with the pearl of
greater price. Your penetration into the vastness of space and
time, has made you familiar with the sublimest ideas in nature.
Those ideas have brought you into a contact, incomparably closer
than that of ordinary men, with the ETERNAL and the INFINITE.
Is it then possible, that you do not meditate on eternity and infinity, as subjects in which you have the highest interest? The
powers of intellect which you so exercise, must have given to you
a more than probable conviction, that those powers are not extinguished by the stroke of death. Knowing that not an atom of
material existence is destroyed, or even fails to come into beneficial uses; you above all men cannot suppose that moral powers
and susceptibilities sink into annihilation. Witnesses as ye are to
the demonstrations of forecast, wisdom, and design, upon the
grandest scale, in the connexions and adjustments of unintelligent
matter; and to the disclosures of the same qualities, in forms of
still higher magnificence, through all organized nature, as well
the dead memorials of ancient life, as the wonders of actual animation;-you cannot but see the evidence that an all-presiding
MIND exists: nor can you think it reasonable to suppose that HE
is not the possessor of all perfections; of all that is lovely and all
that is awful. You contemplate the laws and you calculate their
results, by which you shew us that the Infinite Being has bound
together all the parts of his material universe; that, through their
complexity, divine simplicity reigns; and that one fundamental




AFFINITIES OF RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY.       233
law exercises its sovereignty over the mighty whole. —-And has
it never occurred to you, that the Lord of the world must also
love every other kind of order; and must rule by fixed laws, in
his highest domain, the minds which he has created? Is it not a
reasonable presumption that he has made known his moral laws, to
the beings from whom it is right that he should expect gratitude,
love, and voluntary obedience? Is it not possible that there may
be an intercourse, between the human mind and the glorious
Deity?  Are there even now, no incipient communings of your
spirits with the Infinite Being? No aspirations after a greater
good than nature yields? Are there no means of securing the
favour of the All-Sufficient, and so of looking forwards to the immortality which awaits you, with something better than vague
hopes; with rational joy and confidence?
There are such provisions, made by the Being of supreme
goodness on behalf of rational and therefore accountable creatures. Christianity presents them. She opens a portal into the
palace of undying purity and happiness, and she invites you to
enter.
Astronomers, geologists, and microscopic observers have peculiar facilities for acquiring the most sublime conceptions of the
Deity; from their deep, extensive, and accurate acquaintance with
his works. Can they gaze at the wondrous mechanism with
which they are familiar; can they calculate its workings, based
upon the most recondite mathematical truths; can they predict
the results on the greatest scale and with infallible certainty;and yet cherish no admiring and affectionate thoughts of the
FORMER? You disclose to the astonished view the animalcules of
the living world, or the shells and habitations of those which
peopled their proper stations in the long past conditions of creation: you witness their exquisite beauty, their especial adaptations, and the appropriate places which they fill in the ranks of
organized being: and you shew us many species, of which millions of the individuals do not weigh a grain: and does not this
impress upon you the weakness of scepticism with respect to the
doctrines of a Divine Redemption, as if they gave to mankind too
much importance in the view of the Almighty God? Your science
carries you back to periods of past time, the review of which is
overwhelming to even your well-trained understandings: and do
you not hence gather a presumption of credibility to the plan




234                    MOTIVES AND  CAUTIONS.
arranged from eternity, of holiness and wisdom, for the highest
welfare of human beings?
There are indications of a thought latent in some minds, that
the Deity cannot be expected to take that notice of the human
race, still less of an individual man, which the christian religion
affirms. But is it possible that a philosopher, a mathematician,
a true student of nature, can entertain such a thought? Accustomed as he is to the demonstrations of wisdom and power which
he cannot but call infinite, in the farthest regions of the microscopic world; he must grant that every unit in the aggregate of
creation, let it be more minute than can be expressed, has a share
as complete in the regards of the Infinite Mind, as if that unit were
the universe.  Can it be thought unworthy of the Supreme Majesty, or on any ground improbable, or indeed any other than a
necessary truth, that HE should require the affectionate attachment
and the zealous obedience of each rational creature; and that he
should govern the intelligent world and every being in it, by a
system  of the purest moral law?          *
Can such men as you be enslaved to the prejudices of little
minds?-Can you be satisfied with a knowledge of Christianity,
so meagre as to be a parallel to that ignorance on scientific subjects which provokes your pity? When large expatiating and
thorough research upon all other objects, are esteemed indispensable and are nobly achieved by you; can you be contented with
fragments of knowledge about religion, picked up in childhood,
or accidentally and carelessly in the course of life; and which
have no coherence, no completeness, no standing upon well-studied
proof; which are often indeed nothing but vulgar prejudices?t
Did the religion of Dr. Turner, who so long and meritoriously
filled the office of Secretary to the Geological Society, impede his
* See Supplementary Note U.
O that they would practically and efficiently abrogate the distressing monition of one
of the distinguished philosophers of our country!-    " There is no subject on which
the generality, even of educated and reasoning persons, are less given to reason than on
religion. Hence the prevalent disposition (even among those who think deeply, and are
perhaps profoundly engaged in philosophical investigations on other subjects,) is to avoid
all such examination of religious matters; to adopt nominally the established creed
without question; to dismiss all particular distinctions from their thoughts; or, if questioned, to recur to mystery, and repose in the incomprehensibility of the doctrine; maintaining this, too, as in itself the most effectual and legitimate means of cherishing a due
and becoming sentiment of religion. And all this grounded upon and vindicated by the
favourite and fashionable idea, so grateful to human nature, that religion is altogether a
matter of feeling."  Powell's Tradition Unveiled; p. 62.




DR. EDWARD TURNER.                       235
exertions in the field of philosophy; or in any way depreciate
their value? The testimony of his friend Mr. Dale should be inscribed upon the heart of every man of science.  "He received
the Bible with implicit deference, not as the word of man, but, as
it is in truth, the word of GOD.-Blameless, excellent as he was,
to outward appearance, in every relation of life, he knew that he
could not abide the scrutiny of one who looked upon the heart;
and he joyfully took refuge in the comfortable doctrine of an Almighty Saviour, one able to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him."
When Dr. Turner knew  that death was near, he adverted to
the perfect calmness of his pulse, and asked, "What can make it
so at such an hour? What, but the power of religion? Who, but
the Spirit of God?- I could not have believed (he said,) that
I could be happy on my death-bed. I am content my career
should close.-   The question was put to him by an anxious relative, Is not Christ as good as his word? Yes, he faltered, quite.
And when he had said these words, he fell asleep."*
I cannot but add, that any member of the learned and scientific
societies to which Dr. Turner belonged, is doing himself a wrong
if he do not read and deeply ponder the Sermon which has furnished these extracts.
In a word: suffer one to entreat you, who puts forth no claim
but that of the sincerest regard, and the warmest desire for your
enjoying happiness of the most exalted kind and in the most perfect degree. Suffer him to entreat, that you would effectually
resolve to yield to religion its rightful place in your minds and
your hearts: that you would give the just proportion of your
studies to the facts and evidences of Christianity, its doctrines
and duties, its promises, its invitations, and its faithful warnings.
" GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST; ON EARTH, PEACE; AMONG
MEN, GOOD WILL!" 
Fourth ed. Upon one subject, which has not been made prominent as it ought to have
been in the preceding Lectures, I add a few words: the Direct Agency of God in the
Achievements of the Human Mind. A consistent believer in Christianity cannot bring
this into doubt; but we have far too slight an impression of it. Professed faith in God's
* The Philosopher entering as a Child into the Kingdom of God: a Sermon
preached at the Parish Church of St. Bride, Feb. 27, 1837: on the Death of Edward
Turner, M. D., F. R. S. &c. By the Rev. Thomas Dale, M. A. Pp. 24, 28, 29.




236                            CONCLUSION.
PROVIDENCE is commonly a formal and vapid word-currency, standing for some kind of
inspection and general government; but by no means letting itself down to the smallest
particulars of creatures and events, and producing no holiness in the heart and the life.
Atoms and moments are thought to be too inconsiderable for the attention of the Infinite
Majesty; and not infrequently men scornfully sneer at the doctrine of a providence
really universal, that is, which omits nothing from its view and action. Let a thing
existent, or an event occurring, be such that a finite intellect might judge it totally and
for all purposes insignificant; such judgment would be not only presumptuous but erroneous, yea, sinfully false. May devout reason pursue the thought! I use it only to
awaken the sentiment that, in the physical and mental conformation, and in all the predicates of parental, educational, and every other actuation, there has been a special influence from the Deity.  Conjecture, inquiry, experiment, induction, confirmation,
application of ascertained truths, all the causes or occasions that have produced science
and art, in every degree and form of TRUTH, heave come from GOD, by his acting upon
the susceptibilities of the individual, in a manner distinguishing and specific. Thales,
Hippocrates, Plato and Aristotle, Archimedes and Hipparchus, Kepler, Bacon and Galileo, Newton, Leibnitz and Bradley, and the bright galaxy of our own time studded with
names for admiration,-all have been the subjects of that communication from ON HIGH
of which the Book of Inspiration remarkably speaks. For example: "In thy hand is
power and might, and in thy hand it is to make great.-Jehovah spake to Moses,-See,
I have called by name Bezaleel, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom
and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship, to devise
cunning [i. e. knowing, such as indicate profound insight,] works.-Unto SolomonGod said,-Behold-I have given thee a wise and understanding heart.-God gave to
Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as
the sand which is on the sea-shore; —for he was wiser than all men;-and he spake of
trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of
the wall; he spake also of beasts and of fowl and of creeping things and of fishes.Doth the ploughman plough all day? Doth he open and break the clods?-Doth he not
cast abroad,-and cast in-[the different seeds]?-For his God doth instruct him."*t
The imperative lessons from these facts are,-that scientific men are under the strongest
obligations to cultivate their rich domain with the most reverential spirit towards Him
who has given it to them:-that as, in a natural sense, they are thus privileged to "draw
nigh unto God" and as it were "enter into his secret chambers," they, above all men,
ought not to satisfy themselves without the exalted, pure, happy, influence of the Almighty Spirit which will transform them into His likeness " in knowledge, righteousness,
and the holiness of the truth;" that CHRIsT may be "made by God unto them wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."
0, may this supreme blessedness be granted to all those whom God's distinguished
tnercy has raised so high!
if 1 Chron.. xxix. 12; Exod. xxxi. 3; 1 Kings iv. 29 —33; Is. xxviii. 26.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.








SUPPLEMENTRAY  NOTES.
[A.]
Referred to at pages 7 and 200.
DISSERTATION ON THE LAWS OF ORGANIZED NATURES, INVOLVING THE
NECESSITY OF DEATH; AND ON GEOLOGICAL STUDIES IN GENERAL.
IN the Congregational Magazine for November, 1837, the inquiry
was proposed, under the signature of T. K. " Could there be death,
by violent and painful means, before the entrance of sin had deranged
the order of a holy world, or had given occasion for bringing into
action the instruments of violent death!"
To this, the following answer was returned: and, as it has been
made an object of controversial attack by Mr. Mellor Brown, and as
it may contribute some further illustration to several of the topics
treated in these lectures, I have thought it not unsuitable to be here
introduced, omitting a few sentences.
The question of your correspondent, T. K., merits the most serious
attention. It forms one, and probably the heaviest, of the two great
difficulties which Christians feel in relation to the discoveries and
doctrines of modern Geology; the first is the alleged necessity of
admitting that God had put forth his creating energy from an era
impossible to be even conjectured, but stretching back through immeasurable periods, from the adaptation of the earth, to be the abode
of a new race of creatures, with MIAN at their head. I have said,
alleged necessity; because that qualifying term is proper at the outset
of an inquiry: but, though I cannot now undertake this part of the
discussion, I am bound to profess that there is no doubt in my own
mind. I must even go so far as to express my conviction, that it is




240                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
perfectly impossible for any intelligent person to understand the facts
of the case, and sit down with any modification of the sentiment which
supposes our globe to have been created a few thousand years ago.
But it is much to be lamented, that many well-meaning persons have
imagined themselves qualified to decide this question, while really
unacquainted with the essential parts of the argument; having probably derived what they suppose to be a competent measure of know.
ledge, from a perusal of some one or two books, lofty, and even
haughty in assertion, but ignorant, to a degree almost incredible, of
the very grounds on which the inquiry must proceed so as to have
any reasonable prospect of success. Indeed, Geology, as a science
deduced by the severest logic from phenomena which, when once fairly
ascertained, a man can no more doubt of, (I think I speak not too
strongly,) than he can doubt that it is day when he sees the sun, can
scarcely be said to have come into existence till within the last thirty
or forty years; for it is within such a period that Dr. William Smith's
discovery of characteristic fossils to each stratum and series of strata,
laid a foundation on which many most cautiously practical and reasoning geologists have built, and from which, by general accordance,
the epithet has been applied to him, the father of Geology. Yet, at
this hour, many excellent persons are reposing upon the belief that
one theory is about as good as another, that the primary doctrines
which prevail among geologists are nothing but ideal hypotheses, not
at all advanced beyond plausible conjectures, mostly at variance with
each other, and that, as fast as one theory is set up, it is found to be
wrong by some succeeding inquirer; so that, upon the whole, we may
rest satisfied that the right theory has not yet been discovered, and
that the phenomena are not yet justly understood, nor their real
bearings discerned. Of such persons there can be no hope, unless
they will take pains in more ways than one, and to a degree which
they have not yet dreamed of. It is no wonder that Geology has risen
so high within but the last fifteen years, and has attracted to it the
most gifted minds in this and other countries: for it is based upon
the evidence of sense, in the laborious and protracted examination of
mines, mountain-regions, and less dangerous places without number;
and it demands, in order to its successful cultivation, an acquaintance
with at least the principles of chemistry, electricity, mineralogy,
zoology, conchology, comparative anatomy, and (as the papers of Mr.
Hopkins and Sir J. F. Herschell have recently shewn) of the sublimest mathematics. Thus Geology maintains relations with the whole
sphere of natural knowledge; and, above all, it bears a most important reference to THEOLOGY and BIBLICAL studies, that we may know




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     241
truth, and maintain it against both well-meaning believers, and illmeaning unbelievers, and may magnify "the wondrous works of Him
that is PERFECT in knowledge."
The question is, how can we admit the existence of animal pain
and death, before " sin entered into the world, and death by sin I"
1. The matter of fact must be ascertained. Is there evidence, such
as cannot be set aside, of such facts as the following I That the state
of the surface of our globe has been changed by submersion under
oceanic or lake water, and frequent elevation and drying, a great number of times, (say 30 to 40;) that each of those successive states continued during a vast period, which it would be presumptuous to conjecture, but which might very moderately be taken at many thousands
of years; that, in every one of those states, (till, in the descending
order, we arrive at the very early strata,) we find the unquestionable
remains of animals, or their shelly habitations; that these are not
huddled together, as if drifted on by a torrent, or thrown into a hole,
but are disposed in horizontal, or what was once horizontal, order,
spread over large surfaces, often of the same family or tribe, in all
stages of their growth, preserving the most delicate parts of their form,
and thus shewing that there they had quietly lived and died; that of
these humble beings, many are shewn, by the structure of the shell,
to have been carniverous; that, in some far more recent* members of
the secondary class of strata, are found the skeletons of gigantic
lizard-formed animals, with their stomachs remaining under their ribs,
and those stomachs still retaining the more solid relics of their food,
among which are fish-scales, and bits of bone; and that every stratum
has its own characteristic animal and vegetable remains, the differing
natures of which indicate great and progressive alterations in temperature and other circumstances. All these are familiar facts to the
geologist.  He sees those remains in the midst of hard rocks, yea,
often composing the chief substance of those rocks; he digs them out;
he sends them to the British and other Museums, or to be preserved
in private collections; and there the delicate inhabitants of cities may
see them without pains or peril.
We cannot argue against facts.' Let us seek the solution of difficulties, in the best way that we can; but let us proceed with modesty
and humility, ever ready to confess our weakness and ignorance;
thankful for what we may know, submissive in what we cannot know,
and confidently relying on the glorious perfections of GOD, when we
i Recent, in a geological sense, but if compared with our common measures of time,
we confess ourselves unable to give an equation. Untold thousands of years before the
adjustment of the earth for the human race, would be no extravagant expression.
R




242                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
cannot follow their unfolding.  Are there not, ougiht there not to be,
many things in nature, as well as in providence and grace, of which it
is our privilege to say, " Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it
is high; I cannot attain unto it! His judgments are a great deep:unsearchable;-past finding out!"
2. It has pleased the Adorable Supreme to give existence to a
dependent world, in part spiritual, and in part material. Of the material part of the universe, one great division is insensitive, and consists, so far as we know, of only aggregated and crystallized matter:
the other is sensitive, and its structure is organized; that is, it is
composed of a system, arranged by divine skill, of tubes or cells, in
which fluids circulate, the more solid parts being perpetually in motion of receiving and giving, each particle passing on in a course of
change, the whole endowed with the mysterious property or functional
possession, called life, and distributed into a classification of kinds,
descending from larger to smaller groups, till we arrive at an individual.  The individuals reproduce similar ones: each individual is
born, grows, becomes mature, decays, dies; and the dead organic matter is seized upon by appropriated agents; some of which effect a recombination of certain portions with the mineral kingdom; others,
being themselves organic and living, both vegetable and animal, take
and recombine with their own structure, certain other portions. Thus
all living organized beings are maintained in life by the assimilation
into themselves of portions of dead organized beings; and this is the
universal circle of process in all material nature that is endowed with
life, vegetable and animal.
3. The law of dissolution, that is death, is therefore necessary to
organic life. Each individual has its term; then it dies, and enables
others to live.  Through a vast period, the species continues; it at
last ceases, but other species of the same genus appear, and enjoy
their time of duration. Mightier cycles revolve, during which great
changes take place in the temperature and the strata of the globe, and
whole genera live no more. The life of man, however, does not
extend to witness the commencement and the extinction of a single
species: yet the period of the human race upon earth has outlived
several species, some of which obscurely appear in the traditionary
history of nations, and one (the dodo) has become extinct within the
last two hundred years; and finally, we have not the slightest reason
to think that any genus has ceased, " since the day that God created
man upon the earth."
4. A system  of nature, according to which organized creatures
should not die, would be totally incompatible with the plan which the




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   243
Creator has been pleased to establish in this department of his works.
But let us try some hypotheses.
(1.) Put the case that there be no death. Upon this supposition,
two or three modes are conceivable:
a. Life prolonged without food. But this would be irreconcilable
with a system of successive production, nutrition, assimilation, and
growth. Such beings would be perpetual possessors of the earth and
the waters, in their own persons, without any progeny. Only imagine such a world! Shall we say one, or some number, of each
species l Quadruped, bird, reptile, fish, mollusc, zoophyte, insect of
every kind, including all those invisible without microscopic aid;
each immortal.
b. Life prolonged by vegetable food alone. But this would require a differently constituted vegetable world: for there is no plant
on the land or in the sea, which does not nourish myriads of minute
insects, which are destroyed in the eating of the plants.
c. Must there be any multiplication by progeny, upon any scheme 1
Then, either the whole number must be always extremely small, by
being kept down in some inconceivable way; or would, after a time,
multiply to that degree that there would not be room for them. The
land and the waters would be over-filled!
(2.) Let the supposition be, that death take place, but only in the
way of natural decay and old age; not by violence, as in becoming
the prey of other animals. This seems to be the hypothesis of T. K.
or that for which he wishes. But he certainly has not reflected upon
the working out of this notion.  The debility and decay of age require the nursing and soothing attentions of other individuals of the
same species. But, except very imperfectly in a few instances of
quadrumana and some domesticated animals, nothing appears in the
brute creation analogous to the care and tenderness of man for man,
in nursing and tending the sick or feeble. Even in the human
species, unless where RELIGION breathes its vital influence, that class
of duties is miserably attended to.  Let your worthy correspondent
ask the aid of some judicious physiologist, to assist him in weighing
the opposite amounts of suffering, the one by natural and untended
decay, the other by an almost instantaneous act of violence by another creature, in the full health and vigour of- the devoured animal.
He will find the very reverse of the estimation which he appears to have
made. Besides, there is some reason to think that the first surprise
produces a paralysis, by which the sense of pain is diminished, or
wholly extinguished. I am not writing ludicrously; but seriously,
as the subject requires.
a2




244                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
But Geology furnishes cases of animal life extinguished upon a
scale immensely large, by other processes than being devoted to furnish nutriment for other living creatures. The polishing stone called
tripoli was till lately thought to be a siliceo-argillaceous rock; but it
is now ascertained to be a congeries of microscopic many-chambered
shells: and there are rocks of nummulitic limestone, and vast heaps of
the shell milliola compressed into solid masses. The able and indefatigable Curator to the Geological Society, Mr. Lonsdale, has discovered microscopic shells in chalk, unutterably numerous. In all
these cases, the densely associated and countless millions of once living
beings, which inhabited those shells, must have died by the unheaving, out of the sea, of the compact masses consisting of them, and
being thus left dry. Was not that as painful a death as if they had
supplied food to larger cephalopods 1  It was probably much slower,
and consequently involving more protracted distress. Some approach
may be made to an idea of the number of animals thus become the
prey of death, by considering the fact that, in a cube of tripoli rock
of but one-tenth of an inch, 500 millions of those shells are contained,* each one an exquisitely formed dwelling, comprising several
cells, most beautiful in material, and in general structure resembling
the existing genus nautilus. We might in like manner argue fiom
the mountain limestone, in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, on the banks of
the Wye, and in innumerable other places, many miles in extent
and hundreds of feet in thickness; and which, without a microscope,
any man may see to consist of scarcely any thing beside the skeletons of the many-fingered crinoideal families, and the occasional beds
of bivalve and some univalve shells, evidently not brought together
by any moving body of water, which would have broken their tender
carved-work, and have left them a huddled mass; but, on the contrary, lying together, orderly, and in all ages and degrees of growth.
It is a common supposition that, in the interval between their
creation and the fall of man, all animals were gentle, and fed solely
upon vegetable productions. Some have proposed the hypothesis that
the carnivorous tribes were not created till after the fall, or even
after the deluge. This hypothesis seems to lessen the difficulty, but
it overlooks the fact that the grasses, leaves, seeds, and fruits, which
are the food of the herbivorous races, swarm with insect life. The
supposition that the carnivorous animals could at any time have fed
upon vegetables, cannot be entertained for a moment, except it were
by a person quite ignorant of the anatomical structure of those ani* See Supplementary Note G.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     245
mals.  Their bones and muscles, their teeth, claws, stomachs, and
intestines, demonstrate that they were created to be nourished solely
by animal food. Let it also be considered, that the tribes of fish,
great and small, with very inconsiderable exceptions, so immensely
filling rivers, lakes, and the ocean, are formed by the all-wise Creator
to be carnivorous. I have formerly thought that our first parents
had never witnessed death, till they beheld with agony the first sacrifice, offered up by divine prescription. But I do not. now see the
necessity or the probability of such a state of things.  Rather, the
denunciation in Gen. ii. 17, would seem to imply that they understood what the penalty was, in consequence of their having witnessed
the pangs of death, in the inferior animals.
5. What, then, is the meaning of Rom. viii. 20 —' The creation
(ver. 22, all the creation) has been made subject to vanity," &c.. I
reply, that here the word (which is used in different senses and under
great limitations, as in Col. i. 23; 1 Pet. ii. 13;) denotes the part of
the created universe which is immediately rlated to man, or comes
under his influence; and that "' vanity"&denotes the frustration of high
and holy purposes to which that part of the universe is subjected by
the wickedness of mankind, ungratefully towards God and cruelly
towards sentient animals, abusing the gifts of providence.
6. Still, the question will be proposed; Are we compelled to acquiesce in these conclusions l Might not the deposition of all the
strata, their superposition, the imbedding in them  of vegetable and
animal remains, and their elevation so as to form  our present continents and islands, all have taken place in the 1656 years from  the
fall to the deluge, completed by the powerful action of the diluvial
waters!
This is the question of questions in relation to Geology. To discuss
it fully would require a volume: yet, long as this paper has become,
I must offer a few words. There are two classes of men, each of
which gives its reply.
The first class consists of those who have heard the word Geology,
but have been told (often by truly excellent men) that it is a dangerous study, that it impugns the truth of the Scripture records, and
that it seeks to betray the unwary into infidelity. Of this class, some
have read a little about geological subjects, have heard say a little
more, and have eked out the rest by their own conjecture and imagination: and they answer this question in the affirmative.
The second class of persons comprises those who have spent thirty,
forty, even fifty years in laborious investigation; many of them,
having set out with the opinion of the former class; who have per



246                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
sonally explored all the most important districts in the British isles,
in France, in the Alpine countries, in Germany, and in Eastern and
Northern Europe; also, in Asia, North and South America, and
many parts of Africa and Australasia; who have endured herculean
toils in the field of personal labour; expending large sums of money
in their travels for this very object; who have come to geological
investigations well prepared by mathematical and chemical science;
who have pursued those investigations with untiring perseverance,
and with the severest jealousy against precipitate conclusions: and
what answer do THEY give? With one mouth they say, No; IT IS
IMPOSSIBLE.
There are thirty, or rather more, well-defined beds, layers, or strata,
of different* mineral masses, lying upon each other, so as to form the
surface of the globe on which we dwell. These combine themselves,
by natural characters, into three or four grand groups. Compare
them to a set of books, in 30 or 40 volumes, piled up on their flat
sides.  No where, indeed, can the whole set of the earth's strata be
displayed, lying each upon the other, for reasons which will presently
appear; and, if it were so at any spot, all the power and art of men
could never penetrate through more than one, two, or three of the
layers. They are placed one over the other, in a sure and known
order of succession; that is; though in no locality are all to be found,
or (which is saying the same thing conversely) in every locality some
are wanting, the order of position is never violated. Let the letters
of the alphabet represent the strata, thus; the TERTIARY, a, b, c, d, e;
the SECONDARY, i. e. all from the chalk to the old red sandstone inclusive, f to z; the PRIMARY, aa, bb, &c. to jj: then observe that any
member or several members of the series may be absent, for example,
d orf, or I or p; but b is never above a, nor m above k, nor s above q.
When this fact is rightly conceived of, let it be further observed, that
the strata do not lie over each other in continuous concentric spheroids,
like the coats of an onion; but may rather be compared to a vast
number of wafers, of irregular forms, laid on a globe, and patched
upon each other in different sets as to thickness, and variously underpassing, out-cropping, and over-lapping. Now, let the mind imagine
mighty forces from below, acting upon certain points and along certain lines: then the wafer patches will be raised to all angles, bent,
broken, their edges often turned up, so that the edges of lower strata
stand in some places over the higher ones which had been thus shat* Different in mineral composition: for it must be observed, that many a homogeneous stratum of great thickness is itself laminated or stratified, like the leaves of a book
or a number of pasteboards closely pressed together.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     247
tered. Further, let the mind conceive of a mass of melted matter,
suppose pitch, having lain for some time quietly underneath the lowest
of the wafer-patches; then boiling up, bursting forth, and in many
places raising the wafers, piercing them, passing through them, and
finally hardening in fantastic shapes, and towering over the upheaved
and fractured outside. This little play of imagination will present a
pretty fair idea of the real stratification of the earth's surface, the
eruption of the non-stratified (granitic and similar) rocks which have
boiled up, elevating linear ridges (mountain-ranges) when they could
not pierce through, but actually piercing through where their force
could overcome the resistance, and when cooled, remaining the magnificent crags and summits of the loftiest mountains. It must also be
understood, as a matter of the clearest sensible demonstration, that
these processes have occurred several times, at various and distant
intervals; producing among the strata many varieties of direction,
inclination, contortion, cleavage, conformity, and nonconformity in
reference to each other.  If all the strata could be placed, or, for
illustration sake we may say replaced, upon each other, to what thickness or depth would they amount? It is commonly said five miles:
Dr. Buckland, who is so eminently qualified to make an estimate, gives
his authority to the supposition of ten miles. With respect to the
actual surface of the earth, the greatest height from the lowest valleybottom to the top of the highest mountain, may be taken at five miles.
This height, compared to the diameter of the earth, may be fairly
represented by the thickness of a fine thread laid upon the surface of
a twelve-inch globe.
All these things being considered, the inquirer may be able to conceive the appearance of the accessible end, or denuded cross-cut, of
a stratum  or several strata.  The observer sees that the whole has
been deposited from water either as a mere precipitate from a mixture, or as separated from chemical solution. Hence, the variety of
rocks, siliceous, clayey, limestone, marly, and all these in various
compounds. The eye also perceives, in many cases, the lower portion of a stratum to contain pebbles, the waterworn fragments of the
older rocks to which they can be traced; higher up, the coarser sandstone; and towards the top, the finer sediment. Moreover, the separations of the distinct strata are often presented to view; the bounding surfaces of the formations.
Now we want a measure for the rate of deposition.  A perfect
rule for this is beyond the present reach of science; but there is an
ample sufficiency of ascertained facts, to prove that the whole series
of deposits has occupied untold ages.  This letter has grown to so




248                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
alarming a length, that I can only hint at the phenomena which furnish the grounds for this approximate estimate. They are observations upon the rates of deposit, in all kinds and in all circumstances,
as it is continually going on in ponds, lakes, river-beds, estuaries,
deltas, flat shores, siliceous and limestone springs of water, and conclusions analogical but most powerfully supported, concerning the
deposits in the depths of the ocean.
This may give some idea of the processes of observation and reasoning, by which we are brought to the conclusion which I have
mentioned; that the whole series of stratifications, which lie upon
the non-stratified masses of rock, MUST have taken a period of time
immeasurable by mortals, but which is but a point in comparison with
the ETERNITY of the CREtATOR. — It may be proper also to observe,
that it is only in the newest and latest kinds of formation that any
remains of man and his contemporary animals are to be found.
6. By this long but necessary circuit, we are brought to the question of your correspondent.  We cannot resist the evidence of facts
perceived by ocular demonstration, and every other kind of sensible
evidence: and that evidence tells us that the system of organized
life which the Creator has established, is a cycle of production,
growth, decay, and death.
It is easy to shew that this plan of vegetable and animal existence
provides for an amount of creatures and their enjoyment, unutterably
greater than any scheme imaginable by us, and which should exclude
death by carnivorous violence. We ought not to smile at this; nor
to affect horror at it: let us examine thoroughly, and judge fairly.
7. But, if even we decline to press this reasonable argument, we
have a last resort: "Who art thou, O man, that repliest against Godl
Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou
made me thus."
8. We may now ask, what is the just interpretation of Rom. v. 12.
"By one man sin entered into the world, and DEATH BY SIN " We
reply, that it refers to the access and dominion of death over man,
involving the presupposition that, had not our first parents sinned,
they would, on the expiration of their probationary state, have
undergone a physical change different from dying, which would have
translated them into a higher condition of happy existence.  This
glorious prospect they forfeited, and, as the just penalty of their
transgression, sunk down into the condition of the inferior animals,
in becoming the prey of temporal or corporal death: but, in relation
to their higher capacities, they plunged themselves into the gulf of
death in senses infinitely more awful. Thus to Adam and all his




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    249
natural descendants, " the sting [that which constitutes it a real evil]
of death is sIN:" but to the irrational creation this does not apply.
They are incapable of moral obedience or disobedience towards God
(though they have resemblances of both with respect to man, who is
to them in the place of God, Gen. i. 26;) and therefore death is not
a sting to them, in a spiritual sense, or in any sense inconsistent with
the equity, goodness, and wisdom of the divine government.
As your inquiring correspondent calls himself " a beginner in
Geological Researches," he will not deem me presuming or rude if I
offer a few words of humble advice: and, for brevity sake, I will
suppose myself to be addressing a young friend.
1. Do not suppose that a satisfactory knowledge of Geology can
be obtained in a short time, or by skimming over a book or two.
2. Necessary prerequisites are a knowledge of chemistry, mineralogy, and natural history, particularly comparative anatomy, conchology, and botany according not only to the Linnsean artificial
system, but to the natural arrangement of Dr. Lindley, or some other
recent and eminent botanist. A profound intimacy with any one of
these branches of science is indeed a work for a man's life; but
where there is such a minute acquaintance with any one, a masterly
knowledge of the others is easily and delightfully acquired, provided
the due appropriation be made of time and diligence. But a general
knowledge of essential principles, taking care that it be ACCURATE
so far as it goes, may be acquired by pains-taking in the few inestimable years which usually follow a good school education.
3. Go into the field of actual search and observation; sea-cliffs,
steep ravine sides, quarries, cuttings through hills for highways,
canals, rail-roads, and well-diggings, or any accessible exhibitions of
the faces of rocks.  The great gravelly plain of London is destitute
of good localities of this kind: yet the sand-pits of Woolwich yield
a very good lesson.  But the West of England, Wales, and the
North, are the grand academy for these studies. A person who has
made himself familiar with a few good instances, will be able, with
the aid of books, maps, views, and sections, to form a mental idea
of others; which will be in its measure just, though of course far
inferior to the impression of the actual objects. Mr. De la Beche's
How to Observe, in Geology, will be found of great use.
4. Hand-specimens of rocks must be studied.  There are many
fine collections throughout the kingdom.  I may mention Bath,
Bristol, Brighton, Norwich, York, Scarborough, Leeds, Newcastleupon-Tyne, Liverpool, and many other places.
5. For books, without involving the least prejudice against other




250                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
valuable works, I take the liberty of recommending the following
short list.
Prof. John Phillips's Guide to Geology; the last edition, and his
Treatises on Geology in the seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and published separately; Edinb. 1837, and in the Cabinet
Cyclopaedia.  The latter works form  excellent illustrations of the
preceding.
Mr. Lyell's Principles of Geology; 4 vols. 12mo. the fifth edition,
1837. An admirable collection of facts, and which carefully separates facts from hypotheses.  Mr. L. makes you acquainted with the
former, without urging your assent to the latter.*
Outlines of' t/he Geology of England and Wales; by the Rev. W.
D. Conybeare, and the late Mr. W. Phillips; Vol. i. 1822.  Unhappily the second volume has never been published: but I have reason
to hope that Mr. Conybeare will favour the world with a new work,
incorporating, condensing, and completing the volume just mentioned,
which is now far behind the actual state of geological science, but
it can never lose its value for local descriptions.
De la Beche's Geological Manual, Svo. 1833.  Phillips's Guide
should precede this.
The same author's Tablet of the Tertiary and Secondary Rocks.
Viguier and Collon's Tablet, drawn from Alex. Brongniart's Tableau
des Terrains. Paris.
These two are single sheets of paper upon a synoptic plan, and
comprising the essence of many volumes: and the same praise is due
to the tablet which forms the first plate in Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise; 2 vols. 8vo. 1836.  That work is of the richest interest for Palmontology, the study of organic remains; but a previous
acquaintance with the mineralogical branch is absolutely necessary,
and it did not belong to Dr. Buckland's design and plan to supply
that.
A series of exceedingly good systematical papers on Geology and
the Minerals, are in the Penny MJ]agazine, chiefly during the year
1833: but many since. No. 51, Jan. 19, 1833, contains a little Tablet admirably drawn up, perhaps in imitation of Mr. De la Beche's.
Also, in the Saturday Jlagazine for the present year, 1837, a series
has commenced of Familiar Illustrations of Geology.  Two articles
have appeared, viz. in Nos. 329 and 314; and they well answer to
their title.
* The Elements of Geology, by Mr. Lyell, the second edition, is in two volumes,
and should be studied before, and then in collation with, the Principles; of which also
say the sixth edition. [1847. Of course, the latest editions must be sought.]




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    251
J System of Geology, with a Theory of the Earth, and an Explanation of its Connexion with the Sacred Records.  By John.Macculloch,.M. D. F. R. S. 2 vols. 8vo. 1831.  This is a work which, for
illustration and amplifying comment, should be read both after, and,
a second and third time, concurrently with, any of the preceding.
Indeed I would say, that Professor Phillips's Guide and this work,
would admirably constitute the initial course. Dr. Macculloch was
a geologist of a very high order, though he strangely neglected the
Palkeontological branch, indefatigable in the arduous toils of personal
examination in the most interesting regions of Great Britain, an
independent thinker, and yet a man who delighted to do homage to
the government and the word of God. The work was written in
1821, and therefore some modifications and corrections will accrue,
by comparing it seriatim with Mr. John Phillips's books. Yet we
must confess that it has serious faults of style and manner. It ought
also to receive, as a most important supplement or companion, the
following posthumous work of the same author; which is indeed a
little too prolix, and its arrangement might admit of much improvement, had not death put upon it the sacred seal of inviolability.
Proofs and Illustrations of the attributes of GOD, from the Facts and
Laws of the Physical Universe: being the Foundation of JVatural and
Revealed Religion.  3 vols.  1837.
Finally, let me intreat the student to be on his guard against expecting, that a few months of light reading will make him a geologist.
The study is indeed one for life; and that general acquaintance with
it which a person of liberal education ought to possess, must be acquired with long continued diligence and care, to be minutely accurate, or he will be liable to fall into perpetual and most serious
errors. " Those who have taken a narrow view of this great and
growing branch of human knowledge, who have satisfied themselves
with collecting a few fossil shells, naming a few compound rocks,
and constructing a few sections and maps, may possibly be startled
at the mighty circle of perpetual research in which they are unconsciously engaged."-Phillips's Encycl. Treatise, p. 4.    J. P. S.
Homerton, N~ov. 10, 1837.
Aug. 1839. I cannot resist the transcribing of some paragraphs
from an unknown writer in the Christian Observer.
"As one who-has taken great interest in Geology, though no
geologist, I beg to offer a few observations upon the idea that the inferior animals were not subject to death before the fall.    Perhaps,
the remarks of a mere christian observer might, so far as they are of




252                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
value, be received with less suspicion than those of a professedly
scientific man.    I was accustomed to entertain the idea of death
having passed generally upon the whole creation, at the fall of man.
But, when I heard of the discoveries of geologists, I was led to examine into the foundation of this opinion. I referred to Scripture;
but upon examination I found no passage which supports such a notion. —Not finding it declared in Scripture, I began to consider
what reason there might be for supposing it; and I was led to the
conclusion that there was none. For (setting aside the discoveries of
geologists,) which is the most difficult to believe; that the inferior
animals had only a limited existence, or that they were created immortal l  Immortal! From the iguanodon or mammoth, to the fluttering butterfly or invisible animalcule 1 A notion which involves a
belief of the eternal duration of the earth; unless we are to suppose a
series of transmigrations from world to world, as each dissolved.
The belief that death was in the world previous to the fall of Adam,
I am aware, seems atfirst, to a christian mind, to destroy the idea of
death as a penal consequence of sin. But this difficulty soon vanishes:
for, when man saw that he was placed above the inferior animals, not
merely in the possession of intellect, but in being honoured with immortality while they were subject to death, he would not only understand what was meant by the threatened consequences of sin, but
surely would feel the curse as denouncing a deep degradation, to be
sunk to the level of that creation over which he was made lord.' The
wages of sin' were'death;' a curse indeed, since it made him like
the beasts that perish in this world, at the same time that it could not
deliver the immortal spirit from the eternal wrath of its offended
Maker."-   J. A. W. in Christian Obs. July, 1839; p. 405.
[B.]
Referred to at page 11.
ON THE EVIDENCE DERIVED FROM ASTRONOMY TO THE EXTENT AND
ANTIQUITY OF THIE UNIVERSE.'IN the Philosophical Transactions for 1800, is a paper by the late
Sir William Herschel, upon the Power of Telescopes to penetrate into
Space, a property distinct from the magnifying power. By observations and calculations which appear to have been conducted with the
greatest care, and which were corroborated by facts independently




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   253
and previously ascertained, the space penetrating power of his 40 feet
reflector is brought out to be a little more than 191 times that of
ordinary natural vision, or extending to more than 300,000 times the
distance of Sirius, which on satisfactory grounds is regarded as one
of the nearest of the fixed stars. The light by which Sirius is seen
by us, moving at its known velocity of 192,000 miles in a second, is
at least six years and four months on its passage to our system. By
applying his equation, Sir William brought out that the brilliant
nebule which only his. telescope could [at that time] reach, are distant from our system by a number of miles, to express which in common arithmetical numeration requires twenty figures, of which the
first eight are 11,765,475, the 11 denoting trillions, and the other
number billions; the remaining part of the sum being much more
than 948 thousand millions. This almost unmanageable number is
expressed by Sir William Herschel thus,-" above 11  millions of
millions of millions of miles!" It follows, that the light by which
those bright objects become visible to us, cannot have been less than
one million and nine hundred thousand years in its progress.
Yet, when we have strained our minds to contemplate, in the extremely feeble manner to which our faculties are competent, this overwhelming distance, we have no reason to think that we have touched
the circumference of the astral sphere; or that we have advanced
beyond the threshold of God's creation.
If it be objected that, in accordance with these deductions, we
might expect new portions of Jehovah's dominion to be frequently
disclosing themselves, stars and clusters of stars " blushing out" on
our view, new to us, because their light had now first arrived at our
earthly abode; I conceive the following considerations sufficient to
meet the objection.
1. The absolute distances of fixed stars and groups from each other,
may be such as to require respective intervals of years and even centuries for the light of the more remote objects to reach us; that light
arriving successively from each according to the distance.
2. Our case refers to objects which, though self-luminous, are not
visible to the naked eye. They may "blush out," even frequently;
but men are not capable of being their observers. Only a few of
mankind can enjoy, and be qualified to use, such telescopes as those
of Sir William Herschel, and his still more accomplished son.
3. Granting the possession of those advantages, the opportunities
for observation are too scanty for the construction of a negative argument.  Sir William Herschel, in the same paper, says that the number of night-hours, suited to this kind of celestial observation, is




254                   SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
averaged favourably in our climate at one hundred in a year; and
that to "sweep,"-to examine as rapidly as is consistent with astronomical attention,-every zone of the heavens, for the two hemispheres, would require eight hundred and eleven of such favourable
years. The number of the objects to be observed is great almost
beyond conception.  Sir W. H. by counting the stars in a definite
portion of the field of view, which he observed in one hour, and estimating the rest, concluded that fifty thousand passed under his review
in that hour. It is therefore within the scope of probability that new
masses of light are achieving their first arrival in parts of our telescopic sphere, frequently, without its being possible for men to be
aware of it: and, when any of them come to be discovered, the date
of their arrival is unknown.
I draw no argument from the fact that, within the short period of
the last two or three centuries, stars have been discovered which
earlier catalogues or descriptions had not noticed.  The attention,
requisite to give certainty in this matter, we cannot assume to have
been exercised; and to look for evidence from this quarter would be
forgetting that it can exist in the domain of only the greatest telescopic powers.
These views of the antiquity of that vast portion of the Creator's
works which Astronomy discloses, may well abate our reluctance to
admit the deductions of Geology, concerning the past ages of our
planet's existence.
Fourth ed. The argument of this Note may be usefully represented
by comparison. The velocity of light is 192,000 miles in a second
of time.  I borrow the following Table and observations from an interesting paper intitled "Astronomical Transcendentalism," in the
Scottish Congregational MVlagazine, Jan. 1847.
" From the Moon, light comes to the earth in 1~ second.
"    Sun        "       "        8 minutes.
" Jupiter      "       "       52  "
" Uranus        "       c"       2 hours.
" a fixed star of the 1st magnitude, 3 to 12 years.
"s      "(      2d   "          20  ",,,c    3d'                30  "
cc       "     4th   cc         45 "'
cc      r"   5th    "           66  "
"        "(C    6th    "        96  "
"        "(C    7th';       180  "
"        "    12th    "       4000  "
" Now, as we see objects by the rays of light passing from  those
objects to our eye, it follows that we do not perceive the heavenly
bodies as they are at the moment of our seeing them, but as they were




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     255
at the time the rays of light by which we see them left those bodies.
Thus, when we look at the moon, we see her, not as she is at the
moment of our beholding her disc, but as she was a second and a
quarter before; for instance, we see her, not at the moment of her
rising above the horizon, but 1i second after she has risen. The sun,
also, when he appears to us to have just passed the horizon, has
already passed it by 8 minutes. So, in like manner, of the planets
and the fixed stars. We see Jupiter, not as he is at the moment of
our catching a sight of him, but as he was 52 minutes before.
Uranus appears to us, not as he is at the moment of our discovering
him, but as he was 2 hours previously. And a star of the 12th magnitude presents itself to our eye, as it was 4000 years ago: so that,
suppose such a star to have been annihilated 3000 years back, it
would still be visible on the earth's surface for 1000 years to come:
or, suppose a star of the same magnitude had been created at the time
the Israelites left Egypt, it will not be perceptible on the earth for
nearly 700 years from this date" [i. e. till A. D. 254,7].
After some striking applications of these truths, the able and ingenious author proceeds:-" Of what use are such speculations?   We
reply that, besides seeking to awaken —impressive views of the grandeur of creation, and reverential feelings towards HIBi who made and
who sustains all this wondrous scheme,   they may help us to apprehend, in some degree, what may be the grand conditions of knowledge, in that higher state which, for ransomed man, is to succeed the
resurrection." —The whole Essay will richly reward perusal.
May I intreat my young readers to brace themselves up to the acquiring of astronomical knowledge? Let them combine with the
facts, above stated, just ideas of the number, magnitudes, distances,
and motions of the heavenly bodies. Let them reflect upon such
truths as these. Of our earth the circumference is 25,000 miles.
The moon, at the distance of 240,000 miles, is less than a fiftieth of
the earth's bulk. If the sun were laid upon the earth, the centres
corresponding, it would cover the orbit of the moon around the earth,
and its circle extend 200,000 miles beyond. Our distance from the
sun is 95 millions of miles: that of the planet Herschel [-I abhor
and lament the change, to which we have no choice but to submit: —
Christians owe no honour to the Grecian idolatry: —] is from the sun
twenty times our distance: that of Le Verrier's planet, which we are
condemned to call Neptune (three thousand two hundred millions of
miles,) about thirty-five times our distance. To travel from the earth
to the Herschel, at the rate of 20 miles an hour, would require ten
thousand years; but, at a thousand miles an hour, it would take only




256                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
200 years. Our solar system is itself moving, at the rate of 35,000
miles an hour, among the fixed stars; and were our system to be
annihilated, it would not be missed by an intellect like ours surveying
no more than what we know of the astral universe. Of that astral
universe, the number of stars, within the range of good telescopes, is
computed at 100 millions: but, to examine every part of the celestial
hemisphere, with due observance, supposing 100 favourable hours
each year (a good average for the climate of Britain,) would require
800 years. If, from the most distant part of the heavens, the light
has taken two millions of years to come to us, —could we be transported thither, —perhaps we should have advanced to the threshold
only of the material creation.
It will interest the ingenuous reader to see two paragraphs from
subsequent papers of Sir William Herschel, which, being in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, are accessible to those
only who have the opportunity of consulting that voluminous repository of science.
"' Hence it follows, that, when we —see an object of the calculated distance at which one of these very remote nebulke may still be
perceived,........  the rays of the light which convey its image
to the eye, must have been more than nineteen hundred and ten thousand, that is almost two millions of years on their way; and that consequently so many years ago, this object must already have had an
existence in the sidereal heavens, in order to send out those rays by
which we now perceive it."  Philos. Trans. for 1802; p. 498.
" ____When our gages will no longer resolve the Milky Way into
stars, it is not because its nature is ambiguous, but because it is fathomless."  Philos. Trans. 1818; p. 463. The last contribution, I
believe, to Astronomy, from  that distinguished man. He died,
Aug. 23, 1822, aged 83.
Alexander von Humboldt, in his Cosmos, transl. by Mrs. Colonel
Sabine, (vol. i. pp. 145, 496; Lond. 1846,) cites the former of the
two of these memorable passages, and adds the observation:-" Such
events or occurrences-reach us as voices of the past. — We penetrate at once into space and time.   Much [of the phenomena in
past periods] may have disappeared even before it became visible to
our eyes, and in much the arrangement and order may have varied.
It is more than probable that the light of the most distant cosmical bodies offers us the oldest sensible evidence of the existence of
matter." —
I subjoin a recent contribution to this branch of astronomical
science, extracted from the' "Etudes d'.4stronomie Stellaire," a Re



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                              257
port upon the State of Astral Observation, made to  Count OuvaroWf,
Min. of Publ. Instr. and Presid. of the Imperial Acad. of Sciences,
by Prof. F. G. W. Struve; May 19, 1847.  Petersburgh.
Table of the Time required by the different Magnitudes of Stars, for the passage of their
respective Emissions of Light to our Sup. The Earth may be safely taken to be the
same, as the difference is only a very minute fraction.
MAGNI-                             RADII OF THE         JULIAN YEARS,
TUDE.                             EARTH S ORBIT.   NEGLECTING FRACTIONS.
I. One whose distance from
our sun is......          986,000.....          15
Another........  1,246,000.....   19
II. One...........  1,778,000.......28
Another........   2,111,000.                   33
III. One..........    2,725,000........43
Another........   3,151,000......49
IV. One..........    3,850,000.....  60
Another,........   4,375,000......69
V. One..........  5,378,000..... 84
Another........   6,121,000.                           96
VI. One..........    7,616,000.....    120
Another........   8,746,000.....   137
Another........   8,100,000...... 127
VII. For the distance.....   14,230,000.....    224
VIII.    —..     24,490,000.....   386
IX. -- -.....      37,200,000.....  586
A star......   224,500,000.....  3541
"And these are SUNS! Vast, central, living fires,
Lords of dependent systems, kings of worlds
That wait as satellites upon their power
And flourish in their smile. Awake, my soul,
And meditate the wonder. Countless suns
Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds!
Worlds, in whose bosoms living things rejoice,
And drink the bliss of being from the fount
Of all-pervading love. What mind can know,
What tongue can utter, all their multitudes?
Thus numberless in numberless abodes!
Known but to THEE, Blest Father! Thine they are,
Thy children and thy care; and none o'erlooked
Of thee. No, not the humblest soul that dwells
Upon the humblest globe that wheels its course
Amid the giant glories of the sky;
Like the mean mote that dances in the beam
Amongst the thousand mirror'd lamps, which fling
Their wasteful splendour from the palace-wall.
None can escape the kindness of thy care;
All compass'd underneath thy spacious wing;
Each fed and guided by THY powerful hand."
Prof. Henry Ware, jun., Cambridge Univ. Massachusetts. For the citation I am indebted to Dr. W. B. Carpenter's Porular Cycloid. vol. iv. 1843.
S




258                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
[B b.]?Rejfered to at page 32.
ON THE THICKNESS OF THE SOLID CRUST OF THE EARTH.
" As for the internal heat of the earth, I am of opinion that it ought
not to be considered as an hypothesis, but as a fact well grounded on
numerous phenomena." Prof. Gustav Bischoff, of Bonn, in Jameson's Journal, Jan. 1841, p. 14.
" All the calculations,-if they can be at all trusted, tend to prove
that the earth's crust is not much more, and perhaps less, then twenty
miles in thickness: and if this be so, the crust may indeed be well
compared with a thin sheet of ice over a frozen pool."-Mr. Darwin,
in Memoir on the Connexion of certain Volcanic Phenomena in South
America, Geol. Trans. second ser. vol. v. p. 608, 1840.  This able
philosopher uses the language of deferential caution from respect to
I Ir. Parrot, (known for his observations on the Caspian Sea, &c.) but
with little or no doubt in his own richly-informed mind. In this interesting Memoir, Mr. Darwin brings much evidence to establish the
position, that the crust of the earth rests upon a mass of melted mineral matter, whose undulations, with other modifying causes, produce
elevations, earthquakes, and volcanos. He has eminently the talent
of simple but graphic description, and luminous deduction. Considering the extent of the field of action, a space, in the instance considered, of little less than 7000 miles, —"and likewise the symmetry
of the whole, we shall be deeply impressed with the grandeur of the
one motive power which, causing the elevation of the continent, has
produced, as secondary effects, mountain-chains and volcanos.  The
same reasons, which led me to the conviction that the train of connected volcanos in Chile and the recently uplifted coast, together
more than 800 geographical miles in extent, rested on a sheet of
fluid msatter, are applicable, with nearly equal force, to the areas
beneath the other trains." After enumerating several considerations,
he continues: "It appears to me that there is little hazard in assuining, that this large portion of the earth's crust floats in a like manner
on a sea of molten rock.  Moreover, when we think of the increasing
temperature of the strata, as we penetrate downwards in all parts of
the world, and of the certainty that every portion of the surface rests
on rocks which have once been liquefied; —when we consider the
multitude of points from which fluid rock is annually emitted, and




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    259
the still greater number of points from which it has been emitted
during the few last geological periods inclusive, which, as far as regards the cooling of the rock in the lowest abysses, may probably be
considered as one, from the extreme slowness with which heat can
escape from such depths; —-when we reflect how many and wide
areas in all parts of the world are certainly known some to have
been rising and others sinking, during the recent aera even to the
present day, and do not forget the intimate connexion which has been
shown to exist between these movements and the propulsion of
liquefied rock to the surface in the volcano; —— we are urged to
include the entire globe in the foregoing hypothesis. —The furthest
generalization, which the consideration of the volcanic phenomena
appears to lead to, is that the configuration of the fluid surface of the
earth's nucleus is subject to some change, —its cause completely unknown,   its action slow and intermittent, but irresistible."  Pp.
629-631.
But justice to this subject requires it to be stated that Mr. William
Hopkins has applied his pre-eminent talents in mathematical analysis
to the solution of this problem. Of this laborious investigation he
has given the processes and the results, in four papers, communicated
to the Royal Society in the years 1838, 1839, and 1842, " On the
State of the Interior of the Earth;" and published in the Philos.
Trans. of those years. That the entire mass of the earth was originally in a fluid state, and that, by cooling, it has obtained a superficial coating of solidified matter, was first adopted as a result of
astronomical considerations, but is now corroborated by the discoveries of geology.  It occurred to Mr. H. that an indirect, but sure
test of the truth of the hypothesis might be derived from the consideration of the Nutation of the Earth's Axis, a fact arising from
the attractions of the sun and the moon, which produce the Precession of the Equinoxes. It is obvious that this nutation must affect
the earth differently on the supposition of its being a fluid contained
in a solid spheroidal shell, from what it would do if the globe were
throughout a solid mass. Equally is it to be expected that differences of result will be produced according as the quantity of the
contained fluid is less or greater; that is, as the thickness of the
containing crust is greater or less. An indefinite number of conditions is thus presented for selection and investigation.  To the
immense labour of these operations, Mr. Hopkins applied himself,
with his characteristic power and perseverance.  Now the amount
of the gyratory change constantly produced by the nutation of the
pole is astronomically known. But the amount, as deduced from
s2




260                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
the hypothesis of the earth's being composed of a heterogeneous
solid shell inclosing a heterogeneous fluid, will not agree with the
actually known amount, unless the ellipticity of the interior surface
of the shell were less by a certain quantity than that of the outward
surface.  Finally, Mr. H. arrives at the conclusion that the thickness of the crust, to answer all the conditions, must be at least equal
to one-fourth or one-fifth of the distance from the outer circumference to the centre of the earth; in other words, that the thickness
of the solid envelope of the globe cannot be less than 800 or 1000
miles.
Here then is an astounding difference from  the conclusion before
mentioned, that in which so many eminent and accomplished physicists agree, and of which the evidence appears unexceptionable. But
Mir. H. has furnished a mode of conciliation.  He supposes that the
solidity of the crust is not everywhere the same, but that there are
insulated fluid masses, or what may be called vesicles, interspersed
through it, containing portions of more fusible matter, and which is
actually in a state of fusion, forming subterranean reservoirs or lakes,
some of which are distinct, and others communicating by passages of
different degrees of openness or obstruction. This he proposes for
the explanation of the phenomena of volcanos. We must extend the
idea, by supposing an extensive distribution of those fiery lakes, so
as to cause the observed ratio of the increase of temperature in the
descent of mines.
This investigation has produced another very important result, in
demonstrating that no change has taken place in the direction of the
earth's axis, from the epoch of the formation of the external crust.
Fourth ed.-On this subject, at the sitting of the Paris Academy
of Sciences, Dec. 9, 1844, "M. Elie de Beaumont made some observations on a question submitted for consideration, viz. What relation exists between the progressive cooling of the earth and that of
its surface. M. de B. thinks that the experiments made by M. Arago,
in the gardens of the Observatory at Paris, with thermometers sunk
in the earth at various depths, furnish the most essential elements
which are necessary for the solution of the problem. According to
this solution, the antiquity of the period, when our globe was entirely
incandescent, is of a remoteness which defies calculation." sthenceum,
Dec. 28, 1844; p. 1202.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    261
[C.]
Referred to at page 41.
ON THE NUMBER OF SPECIES IN THE EARLIER FOSSILIFEROUS ROCKS.
TIIS proposition, as it stood in the first edition, expressed the doctrine, which till lately was received among geologists, that the organic remains found in the earliest rocks possessing any such remains
at all, are "the fewest" in proportionate numbers. But the recent
herculean toils of Mr. Murchison have opened new fields of view
upon this interesting subject. The proposition is a little altered, that
it may be in accordance with the observation of that distinguished
geologist; "Another remarkable fact illustrating this point of inquiry is, that although the older fossiliferous strata often contain vast
quantities of organic remains, the number of species is much smaller
than in more recent deposits." Silur. Syst. p. 583.
It is interesting to observe the careful and cautious progress of
Geology, as in other respects, so in this. Seven years before the
publication of Mr. Murchison's work, Sir Henry De la Beche had
treated this subject with his characteristic judgment and sagacity. I
will cite a few paragraphs, as specimens of the penetration and anticipations of his geological mind, while the facts of the case were
not as yet brought clearly to light; and with a wish also to excite
my readers to peruse the whole passage. It must be premised that
the German term grauwacke, now generally disused, must be understood as the same with, or including, the Silurian System.
"Although, when we regard the mass of the grauwacke rocks, we
are struck with the minute proportion that organic remains bear to
the whole, we must still perceive that the atmosphere was capable of
supporting vegetation; and the seas of sustaining zoophytes, crinoidea,
annulata, conchifera, mollusca, crustacea, and fish. What other creatures existed, we are unable, from  the absence of their remains, to
judge: it may however be by no means unphilosophical to conclude
that vegetation did not exist alone on dry land, but that, consistently
with the general harmony of nature, it afforded food to terrestrial
creatures suited to the circumstances under which they were placed."
[Yet no vestiges of such creatures have been found.]   -"Whatever
the kind of animal life may have been which first appeared on the
surface of our planet, we may be certain that it was consistent with
the wisdom and design which has always prevailed throughout nature;
and that each creature was peculiarly adapted to that situation designed to be occupied by it."  Geological Jlianual; third ed. pp. 428,
429; 1833.




262                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
I hope I shall not give pain to a very kind friend whose qualifications make him one of the safest authorities, by transcribing a part
of a letter with which he has favoured me. The certainty and accuracy of the remarks may be fully relied upon, and their application
is extensively important.
" In the older fossiliferous rocks, animal life appears in as full a
developement with respect to sIZE, as in the existing analogous animals.  The zoophagous cephalopods were also of gigantic growth. It
does not appear that animal life, at that period, was limited with
respect to NUMBER.  The lowest Silurian rocks are crowded, in some
localities, with organic bodies; and their absence over extensive districts is only a condition in the distribution of testacea, &c. which
prevails in our seas. There are many coasts from which a reasoner,
who had visited no other, might infer that marine animals are now
few and small-sized; and, if he were a geologist, he might say, Life
is on the decrease!" WILLIAMi LONSDALE, ESQ. Sept. 7, 1839.
[On this subject, however, the following statements from men of
the highest authority, as to both science and judgment, cannot be
disregarded.  But a conciliation arises from  considering that the
actually occurring fossils in the Protozoic rocks are no index of those
which existed in previous periods of life; for causes of decomposition
must have existed to a great extent. Not only countless individuals
but vast groups, animal and vegetable, must have been totally obliterated. Mr. Lonsdale's doctrine, with regard to the lowest Silurian,
is confirmed by the observations of the geologist of New York, Mr.
James Hall, in the Boston Journal of NKat. Hist. Jan. 1845, p. 14.]
"One general conclusion becomes very apparent: wherever we
meet with rocks admitting of the preservation of organic remains,
the number of these decreases as we descend in the series, till we
arrive at a period when the physical monuments of the globe bear
no trace of organized beings; an abyss which gives no record of life,
and which sets a bound to our zoological inquiries." Prof. Sedgwick, at the Plymouth Meeting of the Brit. Assoc. Aug. 3, 1841.
"These remains of life are most plentiful in the upper strata; decrease in number and variety as we proceed downwards; and, by
gradual and continual diminution, approach in the lowest to absolute
extinction." Mr. Phillips, at the same time and place.
["It is now a truth which I consider as proved, that the ensemble
of organized beings was RENEWED, not only in the interval of each
of the great geological divisions which we have agreed to term Formations, but also at the time of the deposition of each particular member
of all the formations. For example, I think that I can prove that, in




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     263
the Oolitic formation (at least within the limits of the Swiss Jura)
the organic contents of the Lias, those of the Oolitic group properly
so called, those of the Oxfordian group, and those of the Portlandian
group, (as they occur in Switzerland,) are as different from each other
as the fossils of the Lias from those of the Keuper [Pmcilitic], or
those of the Portlandian beds from those of the Neocomian formnation
[Greensand]. I also believe very little in the genetic descent of living
species from those of the various tertiary layers which have been regarded as identical, but which, in my opinion, are specifically distinct.
I cannot admit the idea of the transformation of species from one
formation to another. In advancing these general notions, I do not
wish to offer them as inductions drawn from the study of any particular class of animals, (of the fishes, for instance,) and [thence, by
mere theoretical analogy,] applied to other classes; but as the results
of direct observation of very considerable collections of fossils, of
different formations, and belonging to different classes of animals, in
the investigation of which I have been specially engaged for many
years."  Prof. Agassiz; Report to the Brit. Sssoc. on the Fossil Fish
of the Old Red; 1842.]
[D.]
Referred to at page 47, but intended to apply to all the Propositions
of Lecture II.
SYNOPTIC TABLE OF STRATIFIED FORMATIONS.
IN compliance with the desire of many and those unconnected
friends, I have compiled a short view of the Strata of the Earth,
almost exclusively as they are developed in our own island. But a
similarity will apply to every other country, if the comparison be
rightly made; for there are few formations known to exist in any
part of the globe, which have not their equivalent or representative
in Great Britain; excepting some of the numerous and circumscribed
Tertiaries of the Continent.
As this attempt represents only the strata, or aqueous deposits, the
reader will understand the vast mass of granite and other igneous
rocks as lying under the gneiss, the last stratum; and will recollect
that, in various forms, it has elevated, pierced through, and surmounted
the strata. (See p. 35.) For impressing this lesson, he will not
neglect to avail himself of the graphic representations presented in
the splendid first plate of Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise; or
De la Beche's Tabular View, which extends only to the Devonian;
or the seventh of Dr. Mantell's Wonders of Geology; or the French




264                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
plate by Viguier and Collon, as an Exposition of Alex. Brongniart's
volume, Tableau des Terrains; or Bartlett's Index Geologicus, (Plymouth, 1841,) which gives a lucid view of all the formations, the
seats of metals, and the genera and species of fossils, vegetable and
animal, properly classified.
I would advise the possessor of this volume to tint the spaces in
the strata column with faint water-colours.  In the Tertiary, apply
with judgment alternate bands of yellow and light brown; the crag,
fawn colour; the London clay, slight indian-ink; leave the chalk
white; the gault, the lias, the Silurian, and the Cumbrian, light
purple, varying the hues; the green sands and the mica schist, green,
but the latter with streaks of red; the weald, Hastings, and Purbeck,
hues of brown; the oolites, [to be pronounced in three syllables,
o-o-lite,] bands of gamboge and fawn colour; the pcecilitic, [pron.
poikilitic,] red, mottled with purple, green, and a few white spaces;
the coal, &c. curved bands of indian-ink, with brown, and blue; the
millstone grit, greenish brown; the limestones, blue; the Devonian,
brick-red; the Cambrian, green, mottled with purple; and the gneiss,
pink.
Upon so small a scale, the descriptions are necessarily incomplete,
but I hope they are not materially erroneous..dll the Tertiary beds
must not be understood as being successionary; for many are mutually
equivalents in different districts, for example, the London clay and the
Paris gypseous rocks. Indeed, if we regard this class in France,
Belgium, up the Rhine, &c. the number is far greater than this small
tablet could represent. These equivalent or substitutionary beds may
be compared to cakes of dough, dropped irregularly on beds of other
kinds of plastic matter, and lying (to speak with some laxity) nearly
in the same plane. I can devise no other way of presenting them, in
this small space. In selecting principal organic remains, there must
be difficulty; I can only follow my own opinion, and a candid
geologist will not greatly disapprove. Those in italics are pointed
out as the more interesting.
The thicknesses cannot possibly be precise. The numbers given
must be taken as probable approximations to the greater thickness of
the masses; it being remembered, that, especially in the Tertiary formations, in consequence of depressions and elevations of the underlying strata, considerable differences must exist: and often they thin
out towards the edges
The length of the spaces must not be taken as pretending to be
upon a scale of proportions; which would be impossible, except with
a very much extended sheet.




Class.     Grout or             Mineralogical Character.               Strata.               Some principal Locality.                   Some principal Organic Remains.
Surface-soil.                                                Every where.                              Buried remains of existing species.
Beds of rivers and lakes.                                                                             Existing species, merely preserved.
5    Sea-bottoms, Coral rocks.                                Red Sea, Pacific, Australia, &c.         Corals, shells, fish-bones; recent.
Plistocene.
Plistocene. I    Peat, Marles, Travertins.                                    Britain, Ireland, Holland, Sicily, Scan-    Existing species; some extinct; incrustations.
dinavia.
Drift, erratic blocks, gravel, mud-America.                                                            Existing species; more extinct. Elephants' teeth
deposits, bone-caves.                                      Europe, America.                            andbones. Carnivorous animals.
Pliocene.       Sands, and clays, limes.
P e |a a a i 300 feet. ||Italy.                                          Shells of existing species; few extinct.
P    Sands; the Crag.              60 feet.                        Norfolk and Suffolk.                     Sea shells and corals, most extinct.
EZ  Sands and Clays.                                         South-west of France.                     M Iany extinct.
~Miocene.  SandsandClays.400 feet.
Sands, clays; fresh water.    60 feet                        Near Paris.                               Shells, land and fresh water; most extinct.
Same, but marine.
Same1 but marine.                                            Same neighbourhood.                       Sea shells, most extinct.
100 feet.
Sands, gypsum, and marles; fr. water.                        Same.                                     Extinct quadrupeds, birds, reptiles.
200 feet.
Eocene.
cen Dark clay, (London,) pritesgypsum                                                                 Extinct quadrupeds, reptiles, plants, fruits; and
Dark clay, (London,) pyrites, gypsum.                      Essex, Kent, Middlesex, Hants.
500 feet.                                                                   marine remains.
Fine sands, and clays.                                                                                 Some sea and fresh water shells; extinct quad400 feet.                        Hants, &c.                                 rupeds.




Class.       roVup or           Mineralogical Character.                Strata.                Some principal Locality.                 Some principal Organic Remains.
System.
Chalk, with flints.                                          Flamborough Head to Spilsby; north    Abundant in marine productions; plants, sponges,
Chalk, without flints,                                   of Norfolk, through  Cambridge,          corals, families of crinoidea, asterida, echinida;
600 feet.                          Herts, BPerks, Wilts, to S. Dorset,      shells, bivalve, univalve, chambered, in great
Hants, Sussex, Surrey, KRet.            Tvariety, crustacea, fish, some reptiles. Con~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Cretaceous.~~~ ~suit Dr. Mantell's Works.
Cretaceous.
Green Sand, upper.
Galt, bluish clay.                                                                                    Similar families to the chalk, but generally of difGreen Sand, lower.                                           Kent, Sussex, Isle of Wight.               ferent species; ammonites, nautilites, &c. small
500 feet.                                                                   belemnites.
Weald Clay.
Hastings sand.                                               Sussex, and spreading into Kent and    Some land-plants and fresh water shells; endoPurbeck stone.                                                 Hants.
Purbe   stone.900 feet.                                                                                 genites; fish; monstrous lizard-like reptiles.
Oolite, upper.
Portland Stone.                                          A narrow waving course, from north    Trees gymnosperm, allied to zamia; numerous
Kimrneridge clay.
O. middle.                                                     of Lynn to Portland.                      shells of various orders, fish.
Coralline sandstone.
Oolitic..           Corulline sandstone.                                     In N         orthampton, Bedford, Bucks, Ox-    Corasoi
\ Oolitic..        Oxford clay.                                                        pton, BedfordCoralloids, echinida; shells, bivalve, and some
Forest marble.                                             ford, Berks, Wilts, and Dorsetshires.    univ.; crustacea; fish, lizard-formed; didelphys.
Kelloway's rock.
Bradford clay.                                           Waving through Yorkshire, Lincoln,    Similar to the other Oolites; but more of crypto0. great.
Stonesfield slate, Fuller's earth, &c.                     Northampton,  Gloucester, Wilts,         gamous land  plants; apiocrinites, trigonize,
0. lower.                 2Dorset, Somerset.                                                            terebratulu.
2,000 feet.
Lias.                                                        W ~aving from  Tees-mouth, throuZgh    Very rich in gymnosp. wood, bivalves, ammo700 feet.                          Notts, Lincoln, Leicester, Northampton, &c. to Dorset.                   nites, fish, lizard-like reptiles, belemnnites.
New Red sandstone, upper.
Triassic.            Rock salt.                                               Clmberland, Westmorl. and Durham.
Variegated Marle, (Pcecilitic.)                          Yorks. Notts. Leicest. and Lanc.          Coniferous wood, and several species of the fern
Magnesian limestone, and conglo-                       Cheshire, Stafford, Warwick.             and equisetum tribes; fish; saurians.
Permian.              merate.                                                Vast tract in Russia.
New Red sandstone, lower.. _ _ _. A.__ _____ __        1_,000 feet.




s>al, slhale, and sandstone, in alter-'The coal is entirely compressed land-vegetation,
Coal, ssale, and sandstone, iln alter-                                                                chiefly from trees of great size, whose stems,
nating layers, forming vast concave                       Parts of South Scotland, Northern         branches, leaves, &c. are abundant in or on the
patches, like a series of irregularly  |                |   Counties of England, some of the        interposed shales and sands. The trees have
been euphorbiaceous, coniferous, monocotyleshaped dishes.                                              Midland, South Wales.                   donous, equisetaceous, ferns, lycopodiaceous,
3,000 feet.                                                                 &c. Some river bivalve shells. Fish.
Carboniferous. \   Millstone grit.                                             Northern Counties, and Derby, Not-    Land-plants, as of the coal. Thin beds of lime700 feet.                      tingham, &c.                             stone occur, having sea-shells.
Mountain limestone, with some beds                          Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire,    Land-plants, as the coal. Sea remains in great
of shale, sandstones, and inferior                         Derby, AMonmouth,Glamorgan,Pem-         variety and abundance, as crinoidea, coralloids,
coal.                                                       broke.                                 bivalves, (spirifer, leptsena,) univalves, ammoZ  1,000 feet.                                                             nites, and other chambered shells, trilobites, fish.
Red and brown sandstones, tile-stones                                                               Fish. In the Devonian beds, the organic remains
of the upper part resemble those of the mountain
and marles with equivalent limeOld Red  valimestone; and the lower, those of the Silurian
stones in Devonshire; whence the                         Scotland; Salop, Hereford, Monmouth,
Sandstone.                                                                                                            system. Those in Scotland and Russia are rich
system is now called Devonian.                             South Wales, Somerset, Devon.
in fishes, of extraordinary forms, and often of
10,000 feet, and in Scotland more.
considerable magnitude.




Class.    Group or             IMineralogical Character.              Strata.               Some principal Locality.                 Some principal Organic Remains.
System.
Ludlow, upper rocks.
Sandstone and limestone.
--  lower.
Welllock and Dudley.
Saendstok and Dudley.                                   A district varying in breadth, and    Fish-fin-bones,  gigantic  serpulT, coralloids,
undulating southerly and westerly       crinoidea, bivalve, and univalve shells of forms
er  Horderley and May Hill.                                   from the vale of Llangollen, through    increasingly interesting,including manybrachioFlagstones, sandstones, and limes.                        portions  of Montgomery, Salop,         poda, trilobites in great number of the various
Silurian.                                                                    Stafford  (an  upheaved  insulated       species, chambered shells, straight and in variety
m  Builth, Caradoc, and Llandeilo.                            tract from Dudley to Beacon Hill,)      of curvature, graptolites, annelids, &c. &c. See
O   |                   Flags, sandstone, and limes.                              Worcester, Gloucester, Hereford,        Murchison's Silurian System, founded on Geo1:4  l |            l | Longmyld and Gwas ad1I rocks.          [                  ] Monmouth; Radnor, Brecon, Car-             logical Researches through the region.
Longmynd and Gwastaden rocks.                                 marthen, Pembroke.
Siliceous, very hard and quartzy;
slates.
~  1       10 000 feet, and probably more.
Slate rocks of Plynlymmon, SnowTwo or three species of coralloids (cyathophylla);
Lower  donia, &c. with dark limestones and                                                                          a few species of brachiopodous conchifers, 1" the
Silurian. /  sandstones, both filne and colnglo-          Merionethshire, Caernarvonshire, and      oldest monuments yet discovered of the creation
\Siturian). (  I   sndstnes, oth ine ad coglo-other parts of North Wales; and in                            of living things ". See Phillips's Cyclop.Treat. I.
(Cambrian.)        morale.                                                       Cornwall.
129; and p. 57 of these Lectures. In Cornwall,
7,000 feet, and more.                                 Endosiphonites carinatus.
\l  I _I __ _      7__ _ -                                I  an                                                        I                                                 I




Vast rocks of slates, purple, green, &c.
vWestmoreland,  Cumberland, and a
with very hard and fine sandstones,
Lowest  large breadth of South Scotlando~
sometimes conglomerate; the lowest                                                                              None.
Silurian.                                                                from  the Lammermuir Hills  to
group of slates, soft.
(Cumbrian.)                                                               the coast of Wigtownshire.
More than 10,000 feet.
(i. I      j                 I~ Scotland, south-west from Stonehaven,
)   Hard rock, consisting of mica and                         becoming very broad across PerthMica schist.
caquartz interlaminated.   shire and Argyleshire to the Mull of                                                 None.;/                  Many thousand feet.                        Cantire, and the islands of Isla,
Jura, &c.
Gneiss consists of the component parts
of granite (quartz, felspar, and mica);
fine grained and laminated, so as
Gneiss *.         to present the idea of being the                                                                                 None.
product of granite, abraded, worn,                    Ben Lomond.
and then deposited from the water,
and acted upon by the heat below.
Many thousand feet. See Note F, ~2.
The CRYSTALLINE ROCKS, Granite, Syenite, Porphyry, Greenstone, Trap, &c. Depth, various, vast, not assignable.




270                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
[E.]
Referred to at page 49.
DISSERTATIONS ON THE VARIETIES OF THE HUBIAN SPECIES.
IT would be wrong to conceal the difficulties with which this subject is surrounded, however satisfied we may be with the evidence in
favour of the descent of all mankind from one original pair of ancestors.  The consideration of those difficulties has betrayed some men
of eminence in physiological science into the opinion, that there are
four or five races of the one species. The fact of a revelation from
the Supreme Being, as contained in the Israelitish and the Christian
Scriptures, is so firmly established by moral evidence, that we can no
longer call it into question.  We are entitled to regard it as a thing
settled, as much as the chief facts of our national history: and the
derivation of all men from the single pair created in Eden, plainly
appears to be asserted in Scripture, and to form an article of the
Christian doctrine. But, independently of that part of the inquiry,
it is not too much to say, that the progress made in all the other lines
of investigation is constantly removing, or at least abating, the reasons
for doubt. For instance; the diversity of those which appear to be
the primitive stems in the classification of languages, has seemed quite
unaccountable, upon the hypothesis of a common origin.  But the
believer in revelation may see, in this circumstance, a ground for believing that the just and not less merciful interposition of divine
power in the plains of Shinar, inflicted upon the distinct parties, into
which the social mass was broken up, such a radical difference in the
vocables as extinguished the idea of a previous intercommunity.
Upon this very point also, where unassisted research seemed to be
baffled, we are met by a fact undeniable, and directly applying to the
subject.  The affinity of the ancient Egyptians and the Hindoos has
been established by the minute and extensively pervading resemblances in tradition, religion, arts, modes of life, and every important
characteristic besides, language excepted.  Yet this exception is most
remarkable, and it contradicts all our notions of antecedent probability.
Another class of facts is pointed out by the eminent scholar and naturalist to whom I have referred.  "An extensive field of inquiry is
opened by the observation, that traces exist, among the nzmost distant
African nations, of ancient connexion with the Egyptians.    The
traces of animal-worship, the belief in metempsychosis, circumcision,
and a variety of observances recorded by travellers, among the Kafirs,




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     271
the native people of Madagascar, as well as among tribes in the
western parts of Africa, are too extensively diffused, and occur in
too many instances, to be attributed to accidental coincidence.""
Anatomical differences are indeed very great, but they all (with an
exception which shall be presently mentioned) refer, not to the essential structure of parts, but only to some modifications of form. They
are, therefore, capable of being accounted for, from the influence of
climate, food, mode of life, occupation, and artificial means directly
used to alter the figure of parts.  Much stress has been laid upon the
differing forms of the skull which are held to characterize the Iranian
(=  Japetic, or Caucasian,) the Mongole, the Negro-African, and the
American, varieties, stocks, races, or whatever else they may be
called, of the human species. But what is known concerning the
methods used to procure the flattened disfiguration.of the skull, so
frightfully distinguishing some of the American tribes, both ancient
and existing, while it accounts for extreme cases of deformity, clearly
gives us a principle adequate to resolve the difficulty in many other.
deviations from a natural shape.
"Cox, in his Travels on the Columbia River, thus describes the
method by which the singular flatness and elongation of the skull are
produced:-' Immediately after birth, the infant is placed in a kind of
oblong cradle, formed like a trough, with moss under it.  One end,
on which the head reposes, is more elevated than the rest. A padding
is then placed on the forehead, with a piece of cedar-bark over it;
and, by means of cords passed through small holes on each side of the
cradle, the padding is pressed against the head. It is kept in this
manner upwards of a year; and the process is not, I believe, attended
with much pain.  The appearance of the infant, however, while in
this state of compression, is frightful; and its little black eyes, forced
out by the tightness of the bandages, resemble those of a mouse
choked in a trap.  When released from  this inhuman process, the
head is perfectly flattened, and the upper part of it seldom exceeds an
inch in thickness.  It never afterwards recovers its rotundity.  They
deem this an essential point of beauty.'-   " Linnteus Martin's Nat.
Hist. of the iVammalia, vol. i. p. 207.
In the American Journal of Science, edited by Dr. Silliman, (the
number for April, May, and June, 1840,) is a Review of an important work: 6CRANIA AMERICANA; or a Comparative View of the
Skulls of various Aboriginal Nations of North and South America:
to which is prefixed an Essay on the varieties of the Human Species.
e', Dr. Prichard's Researches; ii, 217,




272                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
By Sam. Geo. Morton, M. D. Prof. Anat. Pennsylvania Coll. folio,
with 78 plates and a Map; Philad. 1839."* From this review I take
the following extracts:"In Jan. 1839, —[was examined] a full-blooded Chenouk, twenty
years old; his head as much distorted by mechanical compression as
any skull of his tribe in Dr. Morton's possession.'He appeared to
me [Dr. M.] to possess more mental acuteness than any Indian I had
seen: he was communicative, cheerful, and well-mannered.' —In May,
1839, Mr. George Combe, [the Scots phrenologist] met with Thomas
Adams, —twenty years old, of the Cloughewalla tribe. —His head
had been compressed by the board and cushions in his infancy. The
parietal was actually greater than the frontal and occipital diameter.
The organs in the superciliary ridge of the forehead were fully developed; the upper part of the forehead was flat and deficient; his
organs of language and form were large. He had studied the English
language for two years, and spoke it tolerably well. In conversation
he was intelligent, ready, and fluent, on all subjects that fell within
the scope of the faculties of observation, situated in the superciliary
ridge; but dull, unintelligent, and destitute equally of ideas and language, on topics that implied the activity of the reflecting faculties
situated in the upper part of the forehead."
Even among ourselves, we daily see remarkable diversities of configuration, affecting both bones and muscles; which have been produced by mode of life, in both passive and active relations, and which
give a very distinct character to classes, families, and the inhabitants
of particular districts. Among the natives of our own island, and
where there can be no doubt of an unmixed English descent, we meet
with heads and faces, whose forms, externally at least, approach to
the Mongolian, Negro, Hottentot, Patagonian, and Australian; and
in the blackest tribes of the heart of Africa, are found heads whose
fine proportions might vie with the Circassian and Grecian specimens.
From all that I have been able to learn, (and upon Dr. Prichard's
works I rely as my great physiological authority,) it appears to be
established that all the diversities of configuration which belong to
human beings, may be satisfactorily referred to external agents,
( —temperature, from constringing cold to almost insupportable
warmth; the peculiar action of the sun's rays independently of mere
temperature; conditions of the atmosphere, from great purity to
miasmatic; soil; food; occupation; artificial treatment; and possiblycauses yet to be discovered;)-continuing their influence through
* This article of the Am. Journ. is now republished in Prof. Jameson's Philos. Journ.
July, 1840; with high encomium upon Dr. Morton's work, and the Review of it.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                         273
many generations; for it is with those nations which have retained
the same mode of life unvaried from time immemorial, and in whom
therefore the hereditary predisposition has been sustained, by the unceasing action of similar causes, —with those nations it is that the
greatest deviations are found from the standard human form.*   But
whzat and where is that standard human form!. Where is the true
ideal of corporal perfection. W~Ve have been trained to view it in the
Grecian models; but have we demonstration of our being in the right.
Men of eminence have conceived that the primitive and model form
lies among the BROWN tribes, the intermediate between all extremes.
Divergencies from such a centre will lead by a natural gradation to
all the varieties of figure and complexion. One of the highest
authoritiest has published his reasons for regarding the ARABS of the
eastern side of the Red Sea as the primitive race, the prototype of the
Human Species.  "This interesting people," he writes, "undoubtedly one of the most ancient in the world,  -have a physiognomy
and character which are quite peculiar, and which distinguishes
them generally from all those which appear in other regions of the
globe." In his dissections, he found —the brain and nervous substance
more dense and firm than in Europeans generally, the brain large,
and its circumvolutions more numerous, and furrows deeper, —the
heart and arterial system most regular and perfect, —their organs of
sense exquisitely acute,-and the same extraordinary characters of
perfection conspicuous in the parts performing the functions of nutrition, respiration, and motion, —their size above the average of men
in general, —their figure robust and elegant, —their colour brown, but
deepest in the face,. —their'" intelligence proportionate to that physical
perfection, and without doubt superior, other things being equal," to
that of other nations.~
Thus far, then, anatomy and physiology, the characters of language
~ This doctrine receives support and illustration from facts detailed in a recent work
of great merit, Dr. W. B Carpenter's Principles of General and Covpa.ceative P/Lysiology, book ii. ch. xiv.
t The Baron de Larrey, surgeon-general to the French army of Egypt in 1798, author
of several surgical works held by all in great estimation. We may think it equivocal
moral honour, that Napoleon Buonaparte bequeathed him 100,000 francs, and designated
him the nzost virttzuozs man he hAad ever knowqn. But De Larrey's scientific merits none
will dispute: and his opportunities for the study of Physical Anthropology were signally
advantageous. He has died this month (July, 1842,) at the age of seventy-six.
f It deserves to be universally known that they protect the faces of their children and
others, when attacked by the small-pox, with a covering of leaf-gold, renewed as occasion requires; and thus clisfiratiosn is prevented.
De Larrey's Paper for the use of the Scientific Commission proceeding to Algiers;
Paris, 1838. Transl. in Jagneson's Philos. Josern.; Oct. 1838; p. 318.
Third ed. —" It must not be forgotten that, although there are black races and white
T




274                     SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.
and the phenomena of mind, all lead us to conclude in favour of an
identity of species, and derivation from one origin. But I must now
adduce a fact alluded to at the beginning of this Note.  The greater
number of mankind, that is, the brown and black varieties, differ from
the fair portion who form the minority, not merely in circumstances
more or less considerable of form, but also in the possession of a distinct peculiarity of structure.  The cuticle, or scarf-skin (epidermis),
is a transparent covering, consisting of several layers, the upper and
lower of which are especially distinct. It is derived by secretion from
the exquisitely sensible (true skin, epidermis, cutis, corizum.) Between
these is interposed a remarkably soft and slippery cellular substance,
which is produced so as to line all the open cavities of the body, and
performing other most important functions. This is usually called
the mucous membrane, or mucous net; and it has been often said to
be the cause of complexion, -being  white in fair people, dusky in
brown, and black with increased solidity in negroes. But this is not
the exact state of the facts.  The colouring matter is distinct from
the membranous tissue, is a substance perfectly of its own kind, and
may not improperly be called a paint.  It is spread over the mucous
membrane, as a foreign substance having no vital or chemical connexion, but only the union of mechanical contiguity. This paint,
shewing itself through the cuticle, is the cause of the phenomenon of
which we are treating, the diversity of colour in mankind. It is
therefore affirmed, that we have here a new existing thing, a character, not of form, but of structure, found in the darker varieties of
men, (for the reddish or copper-coloured have it of their own hue,)
but not existing in the white nations: and hence it is positively concluded, that "the two races, the white and the black, form two essentially and specifically distinct races."",  The French physiologist who
races, there are individuals of almost every tint, leading fiom one of these extremes of
colour to the other: although there are races with a facial line nearly vertical, and others
with the same line greatly inclined, there are individuals who display every possible degree between these differences. Where then shall we draw the line of separation, if
they are not all from a common origin?' Supplements of Griffith, Hamilton Smith, and
Pidgeon, to Cuvier'sOAnhria. Kinigd. vol. i p. 179. The same author adduces the species lhog (sus scrofa,) in illustration of the fact that single species of other animals, when
widely dispersed and domesticated, undergo differences of structure, colour, skeleton, and
other particulars, equally great with those which diversify mankind: and he adds, " We
are fully warranted in concluding, both from the comparison of man with inferior animals, so far as the inferiority will allow of such comparison, and, beyond that, by comparing him with himself, that the great family of mankind loudly proclaim a descent, at
some period or other, from one common origin.", Paper by M. Flourens, from the Anales des Sciences Natnurelles, tome x., transl.
in Jameson's Philos. JoAzrn., Oct. 1839. I do not feel myself at liberty to apply any
remedy to his solecism in using his term " races."




SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.                           275
has drawn this inference readily admits the essential character of
species to be the succession of fructiferous individuals; yet he contends for a specific distinction of races: thus seeming to involve the
belief of two or more pairs of first ancestors.  His concluding paragraph is; "The fact of the succession, therefore, and of the constant
succession, constitutes alone the unity  of the species.  Thus unity,
absolute unity, of the human species, and variety of its races, as a
final result, is the general and certain conclusion of all the facts acquired concerning the natural history of man."
The reader will observe the self-contradiction which M. Flourens
commits, in asserting both a specific distinction, and an absolute unity
of the species. But he might perhaps retreat, by imputing the contradiction to the imperfection of nomenclature.
We cannot indeed affirm  it to be an impossibility that the Almighty
Creator should have seen fit to bring originally into being duplicates,
triplicates, or other multiples of pairs, formed so alike that there
should be no specific difference between them.*   Yet it appears antecedently improbable; and it is unnecessary, for, grant an extension
of time not at all prodigious, with the requisite provisions for sustenance, and a sufficient increase of posterity will ensue from a single
pair.
All the probabilities of the case (and they amount to a high degree of moral evidence,) seem to warrant our adoption of De Larrey's
theory.  Let us then take some brunette hue for the normal complexion of the human race; and let all the existing colours be represented by radii from  a centre diverging in all directions.  The diffe- Winer, in the sec. ed. of his Biblisclhes Realw'rterbltch, [Dict. of the Civil and
Nat. Hist. of the Bible,l refers to Prof. Link's UL-zwelt, [Primitive World,] and says,'" He adduces many solid reasons for the derivation of men friom one original, onze species; but he leaves it undecided whether of this species there might not have been
created several pairs."  Vol. i. p. 25. This venerable naturalist is Henry Frederick
Link, M. D. Prof. Medic. in the University of Berlin, and Director of the Botanic Garden. He is the author of several highly esteemed works, in Botany and Natural History
generally; and is distinguished as an erudite and elegant scholar. Among his works is
(Die Urrwelt ited das Alte-rthumn, &c.) The Primitive World and Antiquity, illustrated
by Natural History; 2 vols., Berlin, 1821. WVe had the gratification of seeing him at
the meeting of the British Association at Glasgow, in September, 1840. It is a curious
circumstance, which shows that difficulty upon this head was felt at an early period,
that in the Targum, a Jewish paraphrase upon the Pentateuch, ascribed, but without
sufficient evidence, to Jonathan Ben Uzziel, (a rabbi who lived in the apostolic times,)
the passage, Gen. ii. 7, is thus paraphrased-" And Jeja Elohim formed and created man
[Adam] by two creations, and he collected dust from the habitation of the holy place,
and from the four winds of the world; and mixed from all the waters of the world, and
created him red, black, and white; and breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and the
soul was in the body of man for a speaking spirit, for the enlightening of the eves, and
for the hearing of the ears."
T2




276                   SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
rences would increase with the distance, and the extremities of the
lines, in opposite parts of the periphery, would present contrasts of
colour, and of every other deviation produced by the range of causes.
I presume not to be a physiologist, but it will not be deemed arrogant in me to ask, May not the alteration of colour in the pigment
of the mucous tissue be dependent upon causes analogous to those
which change the colour of our hair, from yellow, brown, or black,
to a perfect white; while yet the follicles are not absorbed, nor their
functions extinguished in the nutrition of the hair l  May not that
pigment, in one line of alteration, that influenced by augmenting
solar heat, be increased in quantity, and be made more intense in its
qualities, and so pass through every shade to the deepest black:
and, in the opposite direction, sustain a gradual diminution of quantity and strength, tending to ultimate obliteration, (for its existence
in fair persons has been questioned, and what may be its minute
rudiment can be shewn only by very fine injection,) or at least the
loss of colour, and so producing the fairest specimens of the human
complexion h. Is it not known that, in mountainous districts of hot
countries, the inhabitants of the highest regions are fair, while those
of the plains below are extremely dark.
But the gradation supposed, and proved by examples, presents us
with shades of brown only.  We have no instance of a white family
or community acquiring the proper negro colour, nor of a negro
family losing its peculiarity, and becoming of a proper, healthy,
North-European white, where there are not intermarriages with fair
persons, long continued in the favourable direction.
This, I believe, must be admitted; and another fact, of great imp
portance, must be added to it.  The recent explorings of the Egyptian tombs and temples have brought to light pictures of native
Egyptians and of men and women of other nations, comprising
negroes, who are distinguished by their characteristic form  of face
and their comzpletely black colour. Some of these highly interesting
representations are proved to be of the age of Joseph and earlier,
and some, in which negro-figures occur, are of the eighth century
after the floodl.t  Assuming then that the complexion of Noah's
$ " Although I cannot demonstrate'etse mucosieng in the European, I think that there
must be under the cuticle some colouring matter. How can -wse otherwise account for
the difference between the fair and the swarthy, or for the remarkable peculiarity of the
Albino?" Lawrence's Lect. on7 Comp2. Azat. seventh ed. p. 189.
t It would be a blameable omission, were I not to recommend to my young readers
the devoting of two or three successive days to studying the Egyptian antiquities in the
British Museum; and to peruse a work, small in size, but ample in matter, Dr. Cooke
Taylor's Illustrations of the Bible from the MVozzsument.s of Egypt; 1838. See also




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                          277
family was what I have ventured to suppose, as the normal brown,
there was not time for a negro race to be produced by the operation of
all the causes of change with which we are acquainted. On the
other hand, some of the Egyptian figures, particularly those consigned
to constant labour under the sun, and (which is very remarkable)
persons performing religious ceremonies, are of a brown so deep, as
to be almost black.
Is it unreasonable to expect that a more perfect acquaintance with
the physiology of the mucous membrane, and particularly in the
negro subject, remains yet to be acquired!  I look with a feeling
almost of impatience, to the publication of Dr. Prichard's third volume of "Researches into the Physical History of Mankind;" in
which one cannot doubt that this subject will be discussed.
But, to any upright mind, I appeal, whether, in relation to a subject so complicated, this one difficulty, even should it never be scientifically disposed of, is of sufficient weight to overbalance all the
evidences, psychical and moral, (so ably treated in Dr. Prichard's
Book ii. ch. ii.) physical, philological,* and historical, which flow
together in proof of the unity of the human race, by derivation from
one ancestry.t
Above all other topics of argument are the melancholy demonstrations that moral depravity has acquired the dominion over all the
nations and families of mankind; that there is a mournful consciousness of this, lying deep in every human breast; that we all need a
redemption from guilt and misery; and that all the varieties of our
race, down to Esquimaux and Hottentots, are capable of receiving
that holy happiness, and all its elevation of character, which spring
from restoration to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  The whole
constitution of revealed grace stands upon the declaration made
against the autochthonict folly of the Athenians, the declaration of
Prof. Hengstenberg's Biicher Moses und Z1 Egyptei; or the Engl. Transl. with Notes
by Prof. Robbins, the American Translator, and Dr. Taylor; Edinb. 1845.
* The fundamental principles for applying philological investigation to the question
before us, are beautifully illustrated in the same author's " Eastern Origin of the Celtic
Nations."
t A great anatomist, who cannot be suspected of prejudice with regard to this question, draws this conclusion from his very extensive induction of facts and reasonings;"that the hmnzn,. species, like that of the cow, sheep, horse, and pig, and others, is
SINGLE; and that all the differences which it exhibits, are to be regarded nzerely as varieties." Lawrence on Coamp. Anat. p. 376.
$ Imagining themselves to have been derived from no other stock of men, but that the
first occupants of Attica sprung out of its soil:-'" ut ipsa ex sese suos cives genuisse
dicatur, et eorum eadern terra parens, altrix, patria." Cic. pro L. Flacc. 26. It was the
popular opinion, but their wiser men disallowed it.




278                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
one whom the Omniscient Spirit led into "all the truth" (John xvi.
13) that involves man's highest welfare, —" God, who made the world
and all things that are in it,-the Lord of heaven and earth,-who
giveth to all, life and breath and all things, hath made of one blood
every nation of men, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth."
(Acts xvii. 24-26.)
But, if we carry our concessions to the very last point,-if the
progress of investigation should indeed bring out such kinds and degrees of evidence, as shall rightfully turn the scale in favour of the
hypothesis that there are several RACES of Mankind, each having originated in a different pair of ancestors,   what would be the consequence to our highest interests, as rational, accountable, and immortal beings? Would our faith, the fountain of motives for love
and obedience to God, virtuous self-government, and universal justice
and kindness,    would this faith,'"the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen,".sustain any detriment; after,
by due meditation and prayer, we had surmounted the first shock.
— Let us survey those consequences.
If the two first inhabitants of Eden were the progenitors, not of
all human beings, but only of the race whence sprung the Hebrew
family, still it would remain the fact, that all were formed by the
immediate power of God, and all their circumstances, stated or implied in the scriptures, would remain the same as to moral and practical purposes.
Adam would be " a figure of Him that was to come" the Saviour
of mankind; just as Melchizedek, or Moses, or Aaron, or David: the
spiritual lesson would be the same.
The sinful character of all the tribes of men, and the individuals
composing them, would remain determined by the most abundant and
painfully demonstrated proofs, in the history of all times and nations.
The way and manner in which moral corruption has thus infected all
men, under their several heads of primeval ancestry, would be an inscrutable mystery (-which it is now; —) but the need of divine mercy
and the duty to seek it would be the same; the same necessity would
exist of a Saviour, a redemption, and a renovation of the internal
character by efficacious grace.
That the Saviour was, in his human nature, a descendant of Adam,
would not militate against his being a proper Redeemer for all the
races of mankind, any more than his being a descendant of Abraham,
Judah, and David, at all diminishes his perfection to save us, "sinners of the gentiles."
Some difficulties in the scripture-history would be taken away;




SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.                          279
such as-the sons of Adam  obtaining wives not their own sisters;Cain's acquiring instruments of husbandry, which must have been
furnished by miracle immediately from God upon the usual supposition;-his apprehensions of summary punishment, (" —any man
that findeth me will slay me;")-his fleeing into another region, of
which Josephus so understands the text as to affirm that Cain obtained
confederates and became a plunderer and robber, implying the existence of a population beyond his own family;-and his building a' city," a considerable collection of habitations.
The characteristic differences of the great divisions of mankind,
physical and intellectual, would create no difficulty in our reasonings:
for instance, the mental distinctions laid down by Dr. Morton: —" The
Caucasian race; distinguished for the facility with which it attains
the highest intellectual endowments.'[Is there no flattery here l
Are the effects of centuries of cultivation sufficiently considered l —]'
— The Mongolian; —ingenious, imitative, and highly susceptible of
cultivation. —The Malay; active and ingenious, and possessing all
the habits of a migratory, predaceous, and maritime people. —The
American; averse to cultivation, slow in acquiring knowledge, restless, revengeful, fond of war, and wholly destitute of maritime adventure.-The Ethiopian; joyous, flexible, and indolent; the many
nations which compose this race presenting a singular diversity of
intellectual character, of which the far extreme is the lowest grade of
humanity." The hypothesis also will diminish our surprise, but not
our sorrow, that many fine nations of men have appeared incapable
of being persuaded by all the attempts of wisdom and humanity, as
well as the stern demands of want; so that they prefer to perish by
inches, rather than to cultivate the soil and adopt those habits of
* " He that speaks of tilling presupposes a great many other arts; and he that speaks of
a husbandman presupposes a great many other artificers. But if there was no artificer
in those days besides Cain, then certainly Cain was a very busy body. Therefore he
digged iron-mines, made furnaces, made his hammers and his anvil" [which implies the
previous possession of mighty hammers, &c. 1c "and other tools to make his ploughshalre,
sharpened his hatchets-to cut down timber to make his ploughs, &c.-digged the quarry
to make his mill to grind;"-From the anonymous book, " Pree-Adamite, sive Exercitatio
super Rom. v. 12-14; et Systema-Theologicum ex eadem Hypothesi;" published in 1655,
in which year there was also an English translation, without any indication of place,
from which this citation is taken. The author was Isaac de la Perere, of Bordeaux. On
account of this book he was prosecuted by the Inquisition, but found means of escaping,
went to Rome having abjured Protestantism, recanted his book, and obtained the protection of Pope Alexander VII. Our countryman, Mr. Edward King, a zealous Christian,
in his " Morsels of Criticism," vol. ii. 1800, strenuously maintained the opinion of the
plurality of human ancestry. [In 1835, Dr. Thomas Arnold, that superlatively upright and
candid man, wrote to Archbishop Whately in terms indicating apprehension that " the
physiological question is not yet settled." Life and Corresp. vol. i. p. 410.]




280                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
civilized life by which they might be preserved; and that thus they
appear to have had no share in the divine appointment to " increase
and multiply and replenish the earth." See reflections upon this fact,
at the close of a very interesting article, entitled "' The Red Man," in
the Quarterly Review, March 1840. In like manner it would furnish
a solution to the question, Why any tribes of men should refuse to
fix themselves in climes, warm, fertile, and comfortable, and in which
there were no impediments to their stay, and should push on to such
countries as Terra del Fuego, where they miserably exist, with
scarcely shelter, clothing, and food? Even the purifying and ennobling influence of Christianity, of which the Americans in particular
have shewn themselves powerfully susceptible, has not surmounted
these difficulties. But allowing to the utmost these confessedly very
remarkable disagreements, Dr. Prichard is of opinion that they afford
no proof of diversity of origin, and that differences equally great may
be pointed out as, not only characterizing individuals, but marking
families in the bosom of English society.
With regard to Acts xvii. 26, it cannot be proved that " one blood"
necessarily signifies descent from a common ancestry: for, admitting
a specific identity, though having proceeded from distinct foci of creation, both the physical and the mental characteristics would be the
same in all essential qualities.
Thus, if, contrarily to all reasonable probability, this great question should ever be determined in the way opposite to what we now
think the verdict of truth, the highest interests of man will not be
affected.
Third edition.  Dr. Prichard has now (1841) published the third
volume, Part First (523 pages), of his herculean work, the "Researches." This volume is occupied entirely with the Ethnography
of Europe, ancient and modern. The physiological characters of those
nations are considered, as much in detail as was requisite: but the
attention of the author is principally occupied with the intellectual
and moral indications of character, and those lines of inquiry involve
a large extent of investigation into the history and antiquities of the
European nations, their mythology, manners, and early literature.
As few men can be thought of as comparable to Dr. Prichard in the
united qualifications of glossographic knowledge and natural science,
it is the more a reason for gratitude to the Author of every good and
perfect gift, who has so richly conferred those talents and the disposition to make an impartial use of them.
But this excellent philosopher has perhaps intermitted his severer
labour of the " Researches," for the composition of a work expressly




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    281
on the subject before us: " The Natural History of Man; comprising
Inquiries into the Modifying Influence of Physical and Moral Agencies
on the different Tribes of the Human Family:" with a splendid furniture of engravings, and six large charts or maps; 572 pages; 1842.
He has travelled through the physiology of the case, in its length
and breadth; examining the doctrines of Genus, Species, Variety,
and Race, in their application to plants and animals, especially the
domesticated. Hence physical principles are established, the application of which is pursued in relation to all the nations and tribes of
mankind; for the unwearied enterprises and successful investigations
in all the branches of Geography, which have signalized the last
thirty years, render it no other than a sober supposition that all the
distinctions of the human race are known.
A part of the concluding paragraph will be a fit termination to
this Note.
1"1-  We contemplate, among all the diversified tribes who are
endowed with reason and speech, the same internal feelings, appetencies, aversions; the same inward convictions, the same sentiments of
subjection to invisible powers; and, more or less fully developed, of
accountableness or responsibility to unseen avengers of wrong and
agents of retributive justice, from whose tribunal men cannot even by
death escape. We find every where the same susceptibility, though
not always in the same degree of forwardness or ripeness of improvement, of admitting the cultivation of these universal endowments, of
opening the eyes of the mind to the more clear and luminous views
which CHRISTIANITY unfolds, of becoming moulded to the institutions
of religion and of civilized life.  In a word, the same inward and
mental nature is to be recognised in all the races of men. When we
compare this fact with the observations which have been heretofore
fully established, as to the specific instincts and separate psychical
endowments of all the distinct tribes of sentient beings in the universe, we are entitled to draw confidently the CONCLUSION that all
human races are of one species and one family."
[Jan. 17, 1846: Capt. T. J. Newbold read a paper to the Asiatic
Society describing a number of rude sepulchral monuments, in some
western parts of the Indian peninsula, closely resembling the cromlechs and kist-vaens of our Druidical ancestors; he adduces similar
remains in Circassia and Tartary; and "he considers that these
widely separated vestiges of the same family of the human race, form
a strong link in the chain of argument which, independently of holy
writ, conducts the migration of the human race from one central point
throughout all the world, and carries us back to the remote period




2S2                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
when' the whole earth was of one family and one speech.'"  dqthenweun, Jan. 24, 1846.
" --    e have suffered habits of theory to mislead us. We must
find new and more comprehensive distinctions; or allow that locality,
more or less of exposure to climate, idleness, severe labour, quality of
food, abundant or scanty or hard fare, have greater influence on those
[distinctions] which really exist than we have yet been willing to
allow."  Rev. of Horatio Hale's Ethnography and Philol. of U. S.
Exploring Exped. in the./thenaium, Feb. 27, 1847.]
[May, 1847. Dr. Prichard has now completed his great work, the
Researches, by the publication of the fifth volume. It contains the
investigation of the Malayan, Polynesian, Australian, and American
nations: and the result of the whole is a FINAL CONFIRMATION of the
conclusion just cited.]
[Jan. 1848.  The inquiry into the Origin, Dispersion, and Connexion of Nations is now pursued in a manner demanding much
gratitude to Him from whom "'all good counsels and right works
proceed," and esteem for those learned and indefatigable persons in
our own and other countries to whom we are indebted for laborious
investigations in this which well claims to be a distinct science, Ethnology.  The Ethnological Society, formed in 1843, has produced
auspicious results.  The last Anniversary Address (June, 1847,) by
Dr. Prichard, is of deep interest. It is on "The Relations of Ethnology to other Branches of Knowledge." Its concluding paragraph,
upon "the bearing of facts on the great question of the unity or
diversity of human families," is -     "that the farther we explore the
various paths of inquiry which lie open to our researches, the greater
reason do we find for believing that no insurmountable line of separation exists between the now diversified races of men; and the greater
the probability, judging from such data as we possess, that all mankind are descended from one family."  Jameson's Edinb. Philos.
Journ., Oct. 1847, p. 335.
To conclude on this important subject, we may well repose on the
final judgment of one who, without injustice to any philosopher, may
be regarded as personally the man of superlative qualifications for the
investigation.  (See Edinb. Rev. Jan. 1848, p. 172.)
s "The general view of nature which I have endeavoured to present
would be incomplete, were I to close it without attempting to trace,
by a few characteristic traits, a corresponding sketch of MAN, viewed
in respect to physical gradations, to the geographical distribution of
contemporaneous types, to the influences which terrestrial forces
exercise on him, and to the reciprocal but less powerful action which




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   283
he in turn exerts on them. Subject, though in a less degree than
plants and animals, to the circumstances of the soil and the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere, and escaping from the control of
natural influences by the activity of mind and the progressive advance
of intelligence, as well as by a marvellous flexibility of organization
which adapts itself to every climate, Man forms every where an
essential portion of the life which animates the globe.    Whilst
attention was exclusively directed to the extremes of colour and of
form, the result of the first vivid impressions derived from the senses
was a tendency to view these differences as characteristics, not of
mere varieties, but of originally distinct species. The permanence of
certain types in the midst of the most opposite influences, especially
of climate, appeared to favour this view, notwithstanding the shortness of the time to which the historical evidence applied. But, in
my opinion, more powerful reasons lend their weight to the other side
of the question, and corroborate the UNITY of the human race.  I
refer to the many intermediate gradations of the tint of the skin and
the form of the skull, which have been made known to us by the
rapid progress of geographical science in modern times; to the analogies derived from the history of varieties, both domesticated and wild;
and to the positive observations collected, respecting the limits of
fecundity in hybrids. The greater part of the supposed contrasts, to
which so much weight was formerly assigned, have disappeared before
the laborious investigations of Tiedemann on the brain of negroes
and of Europeans, and the anatomical researches of Vrolik and Weber
on the form of the pelvis. When we take a general view of the
dark-coloured African nations, on which the work of Prichard has
thrown so much light, and when we compare them with the natives
of the Australasian Islands, and with the Papuas and Alfourous
(Harafores, Endamenes,) we see that a black tint of skin, woolly
hair, and negro features, are by no means invariably associated."
Alex. von Humboldt; Cosmos, the translation of Mrs. Colonel Sabine;
vol. i. pp. 350-352.
That distinguished master of physical science then quotes a passage
from "one of the greatest anatomists of our age, Johannes Miller, in
his-Physiologie des JMenschen;"-which brings out the conclusion,
that "the different races of mankind are forms or varieties of a single
species."




284                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
[F.]
Referred to at pages 55 and 159.
DISSERTATION ON THE REASONS FOR ASSIGNING A VERY HIGH
ANTIQUITY TO THE EARTH.
THE evidence of geological phenomena constrains us to the belief
that our earth has existed, has been the seat of life, and has undergone many changes of its surface, through periods of time utterly
beyond human power to assign.  That evidence is of distinct and
independent kinds, chiefly derived from the appearance of stratification and the remains of animal and vegetable life: and, to at least the
most of those who have taken pains to become competently acquainted
with its nature and variety,<  produces the effect of an overpowering
ocular and tangible demonstration.  At the same time, there is extreme difficulty in communicating such a knowledge of the facts, to
persons who have not the sensible perceptions upon which it rests. I
have therefore felt it to be necessary, in the preceding lectures, to
rest my repeated assertions in reference to this object upon authority;
pleading that the authority is of a kind sufficient to be the ground of
certainty, on account of the moral and intellectual character of the
witnesses, their scientific qualifications, their opportunities for investigation upon the largest scale, their original prepossession against
this conclusion, and finally their number and diversity as to country,
party, religious denomination, and other circumstances which are
rational guarantees against prejudice. But this is not sufficient to
satisfy all. Some of our friends persist in rejecting the conclusion,
resting chiefly upon the fact of its denial by persons, who, though
very few in number, possess some geological knowledge and opportunities for personal observation. The difficulty is perhaps increased,
and advantage is given to the objector from the fact that our most
distinguished philosophers, avowedly and much to their honour, decline the task of laying down any common measure between geological
time and our ordinary enumerations of years and centuries. The
best writers abound in general expressions; such as, "immense
periods of time,-undefined-yet countless-ages,-a duration to
which we dare not assign a boundary,-a work infinitely slow, a space
of time from the contemplation of which the mind shrinks; a long
succession of monuments, each of which may have required a thousand ages for its elaboration;-successions of events, where the
language of nature signifies millions of years:- it is evident that no




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                          285
greater folly can be committed, than to think to serve the cause of
truth by contracting the long periods of Geology into the compass of
a few thousand years."*
Opponents have not been backward to take notice of this style of
expression, and to make use of it for their own purposes.  In so doing, they act a very uncandid and unreasonable part: but we can
administer no remedy to them, so long as they persist in refusing to
provide themselves with the requisite preliminary knowledge, and to
examine the question with far more diligence and patience, and I
may add christian honour too, than they appear to have yet exercised.
We readily acknowledge that the problem, to 7epresent geological
by astronomical time, is of the greatest difficulty; perhaps it is utterly
beyond human power to resolve, in the present state of our being.t
Some approximation is all that we venture to hope for.  It is selfevident that the application of any continuous measure of time, analogous to our common periods of multiples and products, is utterly out
of the question.  It would be the height of absurdity to imagine it:
for each one of the phenomena whose aggregate forms the whole
case, must have occupied its own particular portion of time destitute
of any rule of conformity to others. In the formation of strata, each
process (transportation, deposition, consolidation, elevation, and subsidence; to be followed by a renewal of similar actions under new
conditions; and that several times repeated;) might occupy a duration
different from that of the corresponding process in every other stratum
or system of strata.  Yet this does not set aside the reality of a prevailing analogy; nor does it destroy the evidence of a general conclusion from a multitude of particular facts, each one of which must
have required, for its consummation, a very long period; we may in
most cases say, immensely long. This will appear, if we consider a
few of those facts.
1. The remains of human beings and of any vestiges of the arts
4 Mantell's WTronzders of Geology, i. p. 6. ii. 247. Macculloch's Geol. i. 455, 473.
Sedgwick on the Studies of Canmbriclge, p. 26. Lyell's Pringciples, i. 117. Phillips's Treatise inb the Ezcycl. Brit. p. 293. Similar passages might be quoted indefinitely.
t In 1834, the Council of the Royal Society announced the prize of one of the Royal
Medals, the gift of the Sovereign, to the author of the best paper, to be entitled c" Contributions towards a system of Geological Chronology, founded on the Examinations of
Fossil Remains and their attendant phenomena." The period for such communication
was fixed to expire in June, 1837. It did so expire, without producing the result required. " The Geologists of England," remarks Prof. Phillips, " gave a fair proof that
hypotheses were out of fashion, when they declined to compete for the medal." Treat.
onz Geol. (in Cabinet Cyclop.) vol. i. p. 245.




286                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
and operations of man, are discovered only upon or in those surfaces
and earthy masses which are demonstrably posterior to all regular
geological deposits; and under circumstances indicating the human
species to have been among the most recent products of the Creator's
power. Disinterments of human bones have often occurred, with
articles characteristic of an age, one third, and in the Egyptian relics
one half, of the period back to the creation of man; but these are all
in the superficial soil, or in situations accessible from it. In peat
produced by the growth of mosses, and in the areas of felled or submerg-ed forests, the bones and utensils of men are found; and the
remains of recent animals.  The limestones which are continually
formed by the deposition of the fine particles previously dissolved in
water, coral formations close to sea-shores, and sand and mud drifted
into hollows, would readily involve human remains; so that it is
rather a subject of surprise that instances like that of the Gaudaloupe
skeleton, and fragments of pottery in travertin, are not abundant. It
seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that such would have been
the case, if human beings had existed in any of the geological formations, previous to the most recent surface. In clefts and cavities
of the older rocks, which have been upheaved and subsequently shattered and laid bare, men have taken refuge, or their bodies have been
buried; but the access to those hollow places, and the various matters
which have fallen or been carried into them, are always of a recent
character. In some countries, vast quantities of mud brought down
by mighty rivers and occasional floods, have buried the persons and
habitations of men; and the same result has been produced by terrible and sudden subsidences of land, and slips on mountain-sides. The
strata of mud and sand which have necessarily been forming in the
waters, ever since the present distribution of sea and land was arranged by the power and wisdom  of the M[ost High, have been
receiving, for at least three thousand years, the bodies and the property of men, in wrecks without number; and many of the substances
so sunk in the deep, when encased as they sooner or later must be,
are indestructible till the internal fires shall prey upon them.  Consequently if ever those strata be upheaved, and come to be quarried
by the men of a future age, what astonishing disclosures will be laid
open to their view!
But nothing of this kind is brought to light in the stratification of
the earth, below the habitable surface, or that which it is demonstrable has been recently detached from it: while those strata contain
the most astonishing multitudes of animal populations; not excluding
the order (Quadrumana) which approaches nearest to the human form,




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     287
for fossil bones of at least two large species of the monkey tribe were
discovered in 1836, in the lower part of the Himalayan mountains.
Other remains of that order have recently been found in France, in
Brazil, and but this summer (1839) in an apparently London-clay
formation, near Woodbridge.  Yet in no formation that can be called
stratified, even of the newest Tertiary beds, has any thing human
been discovered. Not in the mass of fine loam which covers 3000
square miles of surface in the valley of the Rhine, and it is often
more than 200 feet in thickness; nor in the Norfolk crag, nor in our
own London clay, often far more than 300 feet in depth; nor in the
alternations of freshwater and seawater beds down to the chalk; nor
in the chalk itself or any earlier formation. This is surely going low
enough: and it demands to be considered on the one hand, that the
formations above the chalk occupy a small proportion of distance
which would be perpendicular, if all the strata could be restored to
strict horizontality; in comparison with the total amount of the lower
stratified rocks, scarcely one thirtieth part; and, on the other, that
Mr. Babbage, referring probably to these Tertiary or supracretaceous
beds, but certainly never intending to go farther, regards it as a truth
supported by irresistible evidence, "' —-that the formation even of
those strata which are nearest the surface, must have occupied vast
periods, probably millions of years." 
I am sensible of the delicacy and danger of venturing upon this
ground; but I will do no more than touch it.  It will be going as far
as in reason we can be desired to do, if we take the general surface,
with the drifts of sand and gravel, and whatever masses of clay or
loam may be fairly deemed of equal age with an average of those
drifts; and regard them as representing the period fiom the creation
of man. That period, according to the usually received chronology,
is a little more than 5840 years; according to the late Dr. Hales's
system, it is about 7250.  Now the average thickness of this superficial accretion is perfectly inconsiderable, compared with the formations composing what is commonly called the Tertiary series. If we
were to say that each of those formations, in number six or seven,
should be considered as requiring for its production some such term
as we have mentioned, we should be presuming upon a really contracted scale. The probability is that several of those formations, if
not each one, must have singly required a length of time equal at
least to our present period: consequently the product would be from
forty to fifty thousand years. But the whole bearing of the evidence,
* Ninth Bridgewater Treatise; p 79.




288                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
upon considering its component parts, goes to mark that conclusion as
not furnishing a period sufficiently long for a probable computation of
the processes which it involves.  Each stratum  and each group of
strata has its limits in extent; each was deposited and otherwise
affected under its own special circumstances; to each, correspondents
or equivalents are generally found upon other areas; in each case,
the mechanical and chemical circumstances of production and alteration, recognisable in their results, carry plain evidences of very great
periods of time for their action: but one formation cannot give law or
precedent to another, and to reduce those periods, or any one of them,
to the ordinary measures of time, is beyond our reach, simply because
the duration of human experience and observation is too short to furnish a standard.
Recently (June, 1840,) surprise has been excited by a statement,
in some of the Paris and London papers, that a large part of the body
of an infant, (head, trunk, and the commencement of the shoulderbone,) and this, not the skeleton, but the full form, had been found
petrified in silex, in a quarry near Brussels. That city stands upon
a formation equivalent to that of the London basin, and consisting of
sand and gravel, siliceous grits often passing into flint, and friable
limestones.  Mr. Lonsdale, with his characteristic urbanity, has
shewn me a good drawing of this alleged petrifaction.  It requires
some fancy to make out a resemblance to the human form.  The
thing itself is, however, nothing but a large flint-concretion, such as
are common in our upper chalk. I have seen many of those flintmasses which bear an equally good resemblance to portions of animals; and I remember one especially, which presented a far closer
likeness to the head of a lamb.  This story would not be worth noticing, but that serious consequences may have been drawn from it,
by persons who, perhaps, did not think of asking, whether a conversion of the soft parts of an animal into flint, or any other mineral
substance, had ever been heard of in the records of natural history.
About twenty-five years ago, at St. Louis in the state of Missouri,
on the worn limestone bed of the river Mississippi, near the brink,
were discovered two human footmarks, a right and a left, having the
appearance of having been impressed on the limestone, now exceedingly compact, hard, and polished, by a person standing with naked
feet and expanded toes, characteristic of the tribes which never used
shoes, when that limestone was in a condition of mud sufficiently soft
to receive an exact impression, and yet sufficiently hard to prevent
the feet from sinking more than one-sixth of an inch, thus preserving
a level surface. No other footmarks or human impressions exist: so




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                  289
that, if these were made in the manner just described, the person
must have stepped once on the yielding surface, and then, in some
way, have been completely withdrawn; a supposition not easy to
realize. The rock is (not sandstone, as some cause of error had led
Dr. Mantell to suppose, Wond. Geol. vol. i. p. 76,) but a fine crinoidal limestone, corresponding to our Mountain Limestone of the Carboniferous series. The mass of stone was dug out in 1819, weighing
above a ton, and it is now in the possession of David Dale Owen,
M. D. Of this slab, which of necessity excited very great interest,
so long as it was thought by any to be a genuine impression, that
gentleman has given an ample history and description, with an engraving, in the American Journal of Science, July 1842, pp. 14 —32.
The result of the investigation is a conviction, that the marks are
artificial, sculptured within the last two or three centuries, in the
style of that minute and patient labour which the natives of many
uncivilized countries are wont to bestow in the carving of stones and
wood.
2. The whole series of strata, from the earliest of them to the present surface of the globe, exhibits a body of evidence in favour of
our doctrine.  Every stratum  consists of a mass of earthy matters
which once formed the substance of rocks on elevated land: partially
excepting the limestones, for a reason to be presently mentioned.
Those portions of the rocks have been separated from their parent
masses, worn down, comminuted, transported often to great distances
by the force of water, deposited, consolidated, elevated, and hardened.
Operations of this kind have been repeated many times, homogeneously and heterogeneously as to the mineralogical constitution of
the masses; but the thickness, the lamination, the joints and cleavage,
and the imbedded remains of animal and vegetable beings, cannot
be contemplated with due attention, without producing a conviction
stronger than words can express, of periods of time amazing and
overwhelming to the mind.  The most prominent instances may be
mentioned, and we will begin with the earliest.
The first appearance of stratification is in the rock called Gneiss.
This is composed of the same materials as Granite, on the irregular
outline of which it rests. But, whereas in Granite the component
ingredients are not only distinct but preserve their crystalline figure,
in Gneiss they are indeed perfectly distinguishable, but their edges
and corners are rounded off, and their disposition with regard to each
other may be called an arrangement lengthwise and leaf-like. Now,
this is precisely that state which would be produced by an action
upon the granitic surface, whether unaltered or somewhat disinteU




290                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
grated, of wearing-off, removal, rolling about, diffusion in water, subsiding by its own weight, settlement at the bottom, and finally disposition by the straight direction of a current: in a word, it is that
state which those materials would necessarily acquire, in the way of
being worn and arranged by water working upon them, tbrough a
long space of time; also being further acted upon by the heat transmitted from below.  But, how long was that portion of time, it would
be too daring to conjecture. We know, from the ordinary way of
such a process, which, in many cases, can be observed and watched,
that it would be extremely slow.  The trituration, depositing and
permanent fixation of a very few inches, would be a liberal allowance for a hundred years. What then is the average thickness of the
gneissic rocks, in Scotland, Ireland, and other countries where they
have been brought up to view? On account of the intervention of
other rocks, they cannot be sufficiently explored, and therefore surveys fall short of the full amount as to magnitude; but enough is
exposed to demonstrate an exceedingly great thickness. Professor
Phillips, one of the most cautious of geologists, says, "We may
believe it to exceed many thousand yards."*
Over the Gneiss, come the beds of Mica Schist, and Slates, to a
great amount as to number, and whose thickness is unknown from
the causes mentioned, but certainly very great. If we should venture
to estimate the united thickness of this class, added to the gneissic, at
three or even four miles, we could not be charged with exaggeration.
These are the Cumbrian and Cambrian series; and their mode of
formation is p;oved, by the most striking characters, to have been
the same as that of the Gneiss, modified by the increase and progressive composition of the materials. The number of strata and
their sub-divisions is very great. Consequently, the periods of alternating action and comparative repose must have been numerous.
Could the reader with his own eyes contemplate the finest exhibitions
of them  in the precipices of Scotland, Cumberland, and Wales, he
would be convinced of the imperfection and poverty of verbal description; and he could scarcely fail to receive the sensible demonstration of indescribable time, as necessary for these mighty operations of the omnipresent Deity. He would see a new beauty in the
words of inspired devotion, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be
praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.  I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works; —the might
of thy terrible acts."t These Slate-rocks bear evidence of having
* Treatise (Cabinet Cyclop.) vol. i. p. 117.  t Ps. cxlv.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                        291
been subjected to intense heat, after their deposition; so that their
constitution is metamorphic, that is, original sediment altered by fire,
producing high incandescence, close coherence, partial fusion, and
penetration by both injection and sublimation. This point of geological theory was illustrated by the Rev. David Williams and Professor Sedgwick, at the Plymouth Meeting of the British Association,
July 30, 1841.  See the Report, in the Athenteum, No. 720, p. 627.
Upon this class of rocks, an author distinguished for the extent of
his labours in actual examination, the late Dr. Macculloch, remarks:
" The thickness of these strata we know  to be enormous.-These
depths are discovered by geological observations and inferences:that they extend to many miles was also proved.    We have every
reason to know, from what is now taking place on our own earth,
that the accumulation of materials at the bottom of the ocean, is
a work infinitely slow.  We are sure that such an accumulation
as should produce the primary strata, as we now  see them, must
have occupied a space, from  the contemplation of which the mind
shrinks."
It would be with a continued application of similar observations,
if we were to pursue our upward course through the numerous beds
of siliceous, slaty, and limestone aggregates to which the name Silurian System is given by that distinguished geologist who has devoted
seven years of toil and study, with unsparing expense, to their investigation. He has thus supplied some connecting links, the absence
of which had created difficulties and perplexing inquiries, between
the primary strata and the old red sandstone, now better called the
Devonian System:t and has poured a stream of light generally upon
British, or justly speaking European, and still more extensive, stratification. Their united thickness is about a mile and a half; but the
numeration of all the beds, between which a boundary of separation
is discernible, would probably exceed human power: who, then, can
calculate the periods of their derivation from  the older formations,
their deposition, their elevations and small distortions; their convulsions, penetrations, and alterations of the adjoining rocks, by frequent
Syst. Geol. vol. i. pp. 472, 473.
t Third ed. Mr. C(onybeare has remarked that the term "Devonian" savours too
much of localism, and would involve something of solecism when applied to the Old
Red in Herefordshire, Scotland, and Ireland: and he proposes the word Episilzrian2,
that is, over the Silizrica?. Brit. Assoc. ref. above.-But a similar objection might be
made to Siluricen, as too local and national, and the same kinds of formation occur
largely in Russia and other countries. Yet it is better to submit to some imperfections
and incongruities in nomenclature, than to be making frequent alterations. A temperate
middle course should be observed.
v2




292                    SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.
outbursts from the fiery liquid below, and other movements, till they
were brought to their existing condition *. It would seem perfectly
impossible for any person, but moderately acquainted with the visible
phenomena of volcanic regions, to escape the impression that myriads
of ages must have been occupied in the production of these formations, before the creation of man and the adaptation of the earth's
surface for his abode. In short, the Silurian System of formations
contains within itself a compendious body of instruction, examples,
and demonstrations of Geological truths.t
Evidence to the same effect would accumulate upon us to a vast
amount, in examining the Old Red Sandstone, a remarkable deposit
several thousand feet in thickness, found in some parts of Great Britain, more abundantly in Ireland, and either in resemblance or in
equivalence in many foreign regions. Next we come to the Mountain Limestone, consisting almost entirely of the shells and coralline
productions of sea animals, often a thousand and more feet in thickness. In this and other Limestone the imbedding part is not, as in
other strata, a sediment from mere watery mixture, but the deposit
from  solution of Carbonate of Lime in water.  This formation is
frequently more or less interposed among the beds of coal, composed
of compressed vegetable matter, underlaid and overlaid with shales
and sandstones in every variety; often effecting a thickness of three
thousand feet.  The New  Red Sandstone, comprising many most
interesting varieties of strata, each involving great changes of condition in the modes of formation, advances us about another thousand
feet.
Other changes, implying probably some alteration in the disposition
* Let the impartial inquirer study Mr. Murchison's Silzrian System, particularly
chapters xvi. xix. xl. xlii.
t Will my reader accept of a little specimen?-" Coupling the preceding observations
with what has been said concerning the Trap rocks, and the dislocations of Coalbrook
Dale and the Clee Hills, it may be affirmed that this district in Shropshire furnishes proofs
of the alternate _play and relpose of volcanic action during very long periods. These
evidences demonstrate,
"1. That volcanic Grits were formed during the deposition of the Lower Silurian
strata.
"2. That the Upper Silurian rocks and Old Red Sandstone were accumulated tranquilly, without a trace of contemporaneous eruptions.
" 3. That, after their consolidation, the last-mentioned deposits were dismembered,
and set upon their edges, by vast outbursts of intrusive Trap.
"4. That the Carboniferous System was deposited after the older strata had been
upheaved.
" 5. That subsequent dislocations, including some of the most violent with which
we are acquainted, took place after the accumulation of the Coal Measures and the
Lower New Red Sandstone." Murchison, vol. i. p. 235.




SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.                         293
and consequently the action of the fiery gulph below,* marked the
next great system, or series of rocks, to which, by a convenient extension of meaning, the term Oolitic has been given. Its general
thickness can be little less than half a mile. It is filled with the
most convincing proofs of deposition from sea-water, both shallow
and deep, the mingled waters of river-mouths, and perhaps even fresh
water of rivers and lakes; affording indications that the depositions,
in many varieties, both contemporaneous and successive, were carried
on through a very long period.
We arrive, in ascending, at the great masses of chalk, and its accompaniments of peculiar clays and sands; to the thickness of a
thousand feet or more. Though the lines of stratification are not
here so visible as in the underlying formations, the evidence of deposition from watery mixture, and of very interesting effects from molecular and chemical attractions, is so clear as to be irresistible.  In
our country, and in some others, the Chalk formation, like the Old
Red Sandstone at the other end of an immense series, may have
been thought to form  a kind of resting-place, a term  to mark the
total cessation of one order of things, and the commencement of another upon a different plan; but it would be a fallacy to suppose so.
No formation of stratified material is continuous over the whole
globe. Both the Old Red and the Chalk are of limited extent; and,
where they do exist, there is not always an abruptness in the succession, below or above.  In the Eastern Alps, Professor Sedgwick and
Mr. Murchison have demonstrated a large series of a peculiar Limestone and other formations, making, in part at least, a transition from
the highest chalk-beds to the commencement of the Tertiary series;t
according to the usual and convenient nomenclature. Also beds
occur near Maestricht, which hold the same intermediate position.
But whether or not these fill up the interval between the Secondary
and Tertiary Series of formations (for it is a mere dispute of words,
to which of the two they should be assigned), does not affect the argument respecting time.  If geologists have not yet arrived at a
complete acquaintance with the formations that effect the passage:* "We have recently seen two of our first philosophers (Babbage and Herschel) maintaining that, a central heat being granted, the necessary result of the increment of fresh
matter in one part and its abstraction in another (as is now taking place), must produce
such variations in the conducting media, that the result would be the gradual elevation of
some parts of the earth's surface, and the depression of others." Murchison i. 576. The
statements referred to are letters of Sir John Herschel to Mr. Lyell, in the Proceedings
of the Geological Society, May 17, 1837, and Jan. 31, 1838; and the Nienth Bridgewater
Treatise, pp. 225-247.
f T2-ans. Geol. Soc. Second Series, vol. iii. pp. 301-420.




294                 SUPPLEMIENTARY NOTES.
from the Chalk to the Sands and Clays commonly esteemed the
]owest of the Tertiaries; if, from well ascertained discoveries in countries not yet explored, it should turn out that some bed or beds of
distinct character are to be intercalated; it will be so much of addition to the time necessary for these formations,-their being deposited
at the bottom of great waters, obtaining their fossil inhabitants, being
raised up, dried, hardened; and these processes being probably
several times repeated. The whole lapse of time, for so small a part
of stratification as this, is astonishing; to our faculties, in the present
state, it is immense.
Our last stage of ascent comprehends that Tertiary Series; a succession of beds, Clays, Sands, and Limes, variously intermixed occupying a thickness of some six or eight hundred feet, and reaching up
to the ground which we tread in our London basin; but in neighbouring districts there are two or three later formations.  Stratification,
generally undisturbed, though in some places strikingly otherwise, as
in the Isle of Wight, is here marked in characters impossible to be
mistaken.  When we have mounted to the most recent of those later
formations, immediately below the soil on which we tread, we find
enormous masses of gravel and other transported materials; demonstrated by their position to have been rolled along by mighty currents,
subsequently to all the lower formations. They are sometimes spread
out upon extensive horizontal areas; but sometimes, from local causes,
heaped tumultuously together. If the reader will refer to what was
advanced in Lect. V. upon the distribution of Drift, he will perhaps
see reason to conclude that this operation cannot be assigned to an
epoch later than what I venture to call the sdamic creation; but, as
it was of different ages, much of it must, in all probability, have preceded that date.
Let me intreat a thoughtful person to meditate on the succession,
which we have thus rapidly and imperfectly reviewed. Let him
represent to himself a series of earthy materials, for the most part
dried and consolidated into hard rock, proved by the plainest evidence
of the senses to have been sediments from mixture in water; carrying
in their texture and accompaniments the equally manifest proofs of
quiet, gradual and slow deposition; altered at different and long distant
times, by forces urging from below, often and perhaps usually of very
slow and gradual action, but frequently by the intrusion of melted
rock driven up with tremendous violence; and that the united thickness of the whole cannot be less than five miles, but certainly, in
extensive ranges, approaching to the double of that estimate. Let
him ask, in each case, whence were those earthy materials derived.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     295
He will find, that they have been worn away from the surfaces of
antecedent and now underlying rocks and dry land. Let him then
reflect upon the time requisite for this repetition of operations so
prodigious, producing a series of many terms, requiring intervals of
both repose and action, to which it is difficult for the imagination to
soar. And let him consider, whether he can conceive the possibility
of those results having been effected, in less periods of duration than
such as bid defiance to our poor chronology.
But, still it may be asked, Can you give no sensible idea whatever,
to assist our conceptions X Is there nothing in nature that may serve
as a standard of approximation! Is this vague language of magnitude
and duration all that you can afford!  Why then may we not compress
the whole succession of stratifications, into a space of six or seven
thousand years. At least you are bound to demonstrate that the
lower numbers are inapplicable; that the position of the ordinary
chronology is undoubtedly too short. Is there no plain fact that may
measure some defined part of the series; and set at rest this part of
the question, the negation of short time'
I will derive an answer from an assiduous, sagacious and eminently
qualified observer; a most extensive labourer in the field of practical
Geology; and a zealous friend of revealed religion.'Let us contemplate Time as it relates to the CREATOR, not to
ourselves, and we shall be no longer alarmed at that which the history
of the earth demands.    Every stratum of rock is the work of time,
often of far more than we choose to contemplate; while, from what
we see, we can approximate to that which we know not how to measure.  He who can measure and number the strata from  the first to
the last, is prepared to solve this question as it relates to the intervals
of repose; but of those only: not to those of the revolutions. Let
him ascertain the time required to produce a stratum of a given
depth; let him seek it in the increase of colonies of shell-fishes, in
deposits of peat, and in the earthy deposits of seas and lakes: and he
has found a multiplier, not to disclose" [i. e. entirely and precisely]'the truth, but to aid his imagination.~ Who indeed can sum this
series?-    The data are not in our power; yet we can aid conjectures.
"The great tract of peat, near Stirling, has demanded two thousand years;* for its registry is preserved by the Roman works below
it.  It is but a single bed of coal:-shall we multiply it by 100.
-   We shall not exceed,-far from  it,-did we allow  200,000
* He puts a round number. It is 1760 years since the Romans invaded Scotland. But
the difference is inconsiderable in this argument.




296                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
years for the production of the coal-series of Newcastle, with all its
rocky strata.* A Scottish lake does not shoal" [i. e. deposit mud or
marl to remain at the bottom,] " at the rate of half a foot in a century; and that country presents a vertical depth of far more than
3,000 feet, in the single series of the oldest sandstone.  No sound
geologist will accuse a computer of exceeding, if he allows 600,000
years for the production of this series alone.-   And yet, what are
the coal-deposits, and what the oldest sandstone, compared to the entire mass of the strata  -.
"If these views of the powers and the results of geological investigation are alarming to feeble minds, they tend to exalt that science
in the estimation of those who neither fear to seek TRUTH, nor dread
it when found."t
I do not take upon me to affirm that these numbers are incontrovertibly correct; but let it not be forgotten that they proceed from
one of the most experienced and indefatigable of studious observers
and practical labourers in this field, besides that he was an avowed
and warm friend of revelation. If my advice should have the effect
of inducing any of my young friends to read his Description of the
Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, in four volumes; his Geological Classification of Rocks, (though the Classification, in the present
advancement of discovery, requires considerable correction,) and his
posthumous three volumes on the Attributes of GoD, as proved and
illustrated by the Physical Universe;-I am sure that they will not
blame me. Yet it must not be forgotten that he did not live to acquire a proper knowledge of Palaeontology.
3. There is a fact which may be made intelligible to an uninstructed person, or even to a child. In those stratified rocks which
are of a sandy constitution, it is common to find pebbles, from the
size of coriander-seeds to that of birds' eggs, and much larger. These
bear demonstrative evidence of having been derived from more ancient rocks, by fracture and detachment, long rolling on a hard bottom under water, dispersed through the loose sand of a deposit,
subsiding to the lower part if a tolerably free motion were permitted,
and then consolidated.  To this portion of a sandy formation, whose
parts are thus agglutinated, the appropriate term conglomerate is
given. Let the Old Red Sandstone be our example.-In many
places the upper part of this vast formation is of a closer grain, shewing that it was produced by the last and finest deposits of clayey and
5 The reader will observe that the author is speaking of the Newcastle coal-strata
alone; not including the subsequent formations up to the present condition of the earth.
- Macculloch's System of Geology; vol. i. pp. 506, 507.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    297
sandy mud, tinged, as the whole is, with oxides and carbonates of
iron, usually red, but often of other hues. But frequently the lower
portions, sometimes dispersed heaps, and sometimes the entire
formation, consist of vast masses of conglomerate, the pebbles being
composed of quartz, granite, or some other of the earliest kinds; and
thus shewing the previous rocks, from whose destruction they have
been composed. Let any person first acquire a conception of the
extent of this formation, and of its depth, often many hundreds and
sometimes two or three thousand feet; (but such a conception can
scarcely be formed without actual inspection;) then let him attempt
to follow out the processes which the clearest evidence of our senses
shews to have taken place: and, let him be reluctant and sceptical to
the utmost that he can, he cannot avoid the impression that ages innumerable must have rolled over the world, in the making of this
single formation.
4. In the texture of the early stratified rocks, to which the abundant
evidence leads us to ascribe a vast antiquity, pieces of granitic rocks
are often found, of such forms as shew that they had been broken off
from the crystallized formations: for, if they had come from the
injection of newly-formed granite, the marks of elevation and intrusion
in a fused state would not have been wanting. Hence, it is plain
that the parent rock, in any case, existed before the formation of the
derivative.
5. The earliest slate rocks, like all other strata, must have been
originally deposited in a position horizontal or nearly so. By subsequent movements, not one but evidently many, they have been raised
to all elevations, and bent to the utmost extent of contortion: as is
shewn by the lines of stratification. But there is another kind of
division, first brought to light by Professor Sedgwick; that of lines
of cleavage and intersecting joints, or called by a general term,
structural or divisional planes. These are productive of signal benefit
to the arts and convenience of men: but they involve profound
geological and mathematical researches, and their causes can be explored only by going into the deepest night of terrestrial antiquity.
Those who are the best qualified to form an opinion, impute this
structure to an agency (-call it electric, galvanic, magnetic, or chemical,-) connected with the grand and mysterious operations of the
terrestrial magnetism, operating upon a scale of magnitude and distance
which we cannot graduate, and requiring a proportionate vastness of
time for its taking effect; probably the same agency that reigns in
5 The most convenient localities for us are in Herefordshire and Monmouthshire.




298                   SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
the wonderful processes of crystallization, from points of invisible
minuteness to formations of indefinable greatness: —or some parts of
these phenomena may be imputed to the slow action of the heat from
below, producing a general and regular contraction of the argillaceous formations:-or the cause may be sought in the change of cohesion in masses becoming solid from a state of fluidity. The contraction mentioned is founded upon a known property of argillaceous
earth: all these causes act quite independently of the stratification:
the jointed structure is found to affect the crystalline rocks also: the
stratification contains in itself the evidence of having required periods,
impossible indeed to be determined by any assignment of figures, but
to which, judging from all approximating evidence, our cycles of time
afford none but a totally defective measure of comparison. This
branch of investigation is indeed one of extreme difficulty; and with
which I acknowledge myself to possess but a very imperfect acquaintance. The expectation is with good reason indulged, that both the
learned Professor just mentioned, and another ornament of the same
University, Mr. Hopkins, who has long employed his rare mathematical powers upon the class of problems to which this belongs, will
confer upon the whole subject important elucidations, and open its
further connexions with the most recondite parts of geological science.* —But the impression which the general view of the phenomena
makes upon me, is that of an unspeakable addition to the reasons for
Mr. Scrope's exclamation,-" Time! Time!-Geology compels us to
make unlimited drafts upon antiquity!"
It is established by such evidence as places the fact beyond contradiction, that by far the larger part, more probably the whole, of the
dry land, not excepting the highest mountains, has been raised out of
the bed of the sea. There is also evidence that the process of elevation is extremely slow. The general proof accrues from the ancient
beaches, now far above the highest sea-level, which abound on almost
all bold coasts. But a favourable concurrence of circumstances has
brought the elevation of an extensive portion of the Scandinavian
peninsula, within the range of measurement; and three feet in a
century have been well established. Now there are successions of
such ancient sea-beaches, in several of the glens of Scotland, at heights
* See Prof. Sedgwick's Remarks on the Structure of large Mineral Masses, in the
Trans. Geol. Soc. Second Ser. vol. iii. p. 461. Mr. Hopkins's Mem. in the Trans.
Philos. Soc. Cambr. vol. vi.; and the brief Sketch of his communication to the Geol.
Section of the British Assoc. at Bristol, in the Report for 1836; Trans. Sect. p. 78.
Prof. Whewell's brief but most interesting summary of the problems which Mr. Hopkins has proposed, and the results to which he has already arrived, in his Presidential
Address to the Geological Society, Feb. 15, 1839; p. 40.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    299
of eight, ten, twelve hundred feet, and more, above the present sealevel. Mr. Darwin has shewn, by a series of very probable arguments, that these have been all produced by the regular action of the
ocean-waters upon rocky shores, and the no less regular rising of the
land, in its bodily mass, over large areas, and with that extreme slowness of which we have so many proofs. Applying then the example
of Sweden to the case before us, we bring out a period of thirty
thousand years, from the lowest and of course the latest elevation to
the formation of the present shore; and from the time of the highest
elevation, the period is more than eighty thousand years. But a period
remains to be added to this, for the interval before that highest beach
was raised and while the upper part of the mountains was slowly
rising out of the waters: for this prior period, no rule or approximation of estimate is known.*
I must cease; or I had intended to push my argument farther, and
to ask some reflection to be bestowed upon the crystalline rocks.-Can
any man imagine that granite was created in its characteristic state, a
composition of visibly and palpably distinct materials, scarcely mixed,
only put loosely together?    It would be almost as reasonable to
affirm that the stomachs of the first animals were created with bitten
and masticated fragments of the appropriate food in them.    Whence
came the quartz, the mica, and the felspar; each a rock of separate
existence l-Whence, the schorl, the augite, the steatite, and other
interminglings?. Must we not pursue them to their chemical decomposition?  Can we stop short of believing that the original act of
creation produced the few primordial elements, by the combinations of
which all mineral and all organized matters have been formed lThen we have gone back to the fathomless abyss of ages of ages.But this unutterable period!-Compared with the INFINITE existence,
with the ETERNITY of GOD, —-it sinks to a moment." Combining in our survey, then, the whole range of deposits, from
the most recent to the most ancient group, how striking a succession
do they present!-So various, yet so uniform! so vast, yet so connected!     In thus tracing back to the most remote periods in the
physical history of our continents, one system of operations as the
means by which [so] many complex formations have been successively
produced, the mind becomes impressed with the singleness of nature's
laws; and, in this respect at least, Geology is hardly inferior in simplicity to Astronomy. -- Need we recapitulate those curious
* Mr. Maclaren's Paper on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy; in Prof. Jameson's
Phailos. Jozrnz. Edinb. Oct. 1839; p. 395. See an additional remark at the end of this
Supplementary Note.




300                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
changes in the lithological character of the deposits effected by igneous
action. Or endeavour to arouse the mind to a sense of the greatness
of those powers, whatever they may have been, which produced the
symmetrical jointed structure of mountains, and carried countless
lines of parallel cleavage throughout regions of slaty rocks, in spite as
it were of the original forms of the strata!"'
Thus far I have endeavoured to reason from the mineralogical character of stratified masses, not so much from their constitution or
composition individually, as from their position above and below each
other. I have continually endeavoured to leave out the consideration
of Organic Remains, though it was impossible to do so entirely. But
it appeared probable that, for general readers, the method of surveying the two lines of evidence apart, might be the more favourable to
a correct apprehension of the whole. We must, therefore, now direct
our attention to the attractive department of Geology, to which the
name of Paleontology has been appropriated.
In all the terrene formations till we reach the very early ones, we
are met by the remains of creatures which once had life, and were
furnished by their Creator with the means of performing functions
and enjoying life, to the extent of their capacities. In some of the
strata, the number is comparatively small, but in the greater part it
is very considerable.
The first systems of stratification, gneiss, mica schist, and so on to
the lower part of the Cambrian beds, supply no vestiges of vegetable
or animal life. But it would be unwarrantable to affirm absolutely
that living creatures had no place in the waters which once covered
those rocks, and from which they were deposited; for the heat propagated from below, through the substance of the granitic masses,
and which has given a partially fused and crystalline character to the
gneissic, would be effectual to dissipate all organized matter, had such
existed before the high temperature was produced.
In a citation before given from Professor Phillipst we have contemplated a sketch of the forms of organic life from the earliest appearance in the slate-mountains of North Wales and Cornwall, to
those of the present creation. To have the mind duly impressed by
a view at all approaching to completeness of the little that is known,
the study of many geological works, a familiar acquaintance with
collections, and an actual inspection of the rocks themselves, are, if
not necessary, yet highly desirable. The first and second of these
means are all that many studious persons can command; but for them
* Murchison; Silur. Syst. i. 574.    t Pages 57-59.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     301
let us be thankful, and by the use of them we may acquire the qualifications which are indispensable for enjoying the survey of nature
upon a grand scale, whenever it may be put into our power.
The earliest appearances of life are two or three species of zoophytes,
and casts (that is, impressions in mineral matter remaining after the
organized substance has been dissolved and washed away,) of several
species of shells which have been discovered* in the slate-rocks just
mentioned.  The structure of those shells shews that their inhabitants
stood higher in the scale of organization than our cockles and oysters.
But we should not be warranted in supposing that these, should
we call them twenty or thirty species, were the whole amount of the
kinds of living creatures at that remote era. It is a wonder that any
have escaped total obliteration. Besides these few corallines and
hard shells, there might be many species of many animal orders, the
remains of which have been entirely decomposed and absorbed. The
fossils referred to are arranged along the surfaces of deposit, in such
positions and regularity as shew that the animals lived and died on
the spots which have preserved their remains. An indication is thus
afforded of the lapse of time, which is very impressive. An area of
soft clay at the bottom of a primeval ocean was deposited, and received its living tenants with their shelly habitations; from their first
creation growing up to the preservation of individual life, increasing
and multiplying their kinds, and generation succeeding generation till
the species becomes extinct. Though perfect knowledge is not possessed, yet there are reasons for believing that the duration of life to
testacean individuals of the present races is several years. But who
can state the proportion which the average length of life to the individual mollusc or conchifer, bears to the duration appointed by the
Creator to the species? Take any one of the six or seven thousand
known recent species. Let it be a Buccinum, of which 120 species
are ascertained, (one of which is the commonly known whelk;) or a
Cyprmea, comprising about as many, (a well-known species is on almost
every mantel-piece, the tiger-cowry;) or an Ostrea (oyster), of which
130 species are described.  We have reason to think that the individuals have a natural life of at least six or seven years; but we
have no reason to suppose that any one species has died out, since the
Adamic creation. Mlay we then, for the sake of an illustrative argument, take the duration of testacean species, one with another, at
1000 times the life of the individual 2  May we say, 6000 years 1We are dealing very liberally with our opponents.       Yet, in ex-'  By the late Rev. John Josiah Conybeare, the Rev. Prof. Sedgwick, and Prof.
Phillips.




302                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
aminring the vertical evidences of the cessations of the fossil species,
marks are found of an entire change in the forms of animal life; we
find such cessations and changes to have occurred MANY times, in the
thickness of but a few hundred feet of these slate-rocks.  But the
homogeneous, or nearly homogeneous deposit consists of many thousand feet; and it is only one of several, perhaps four, great formations which constitute this early system.
But when we rise to the Silurian formations, we find a long succession of strata many thousand feet in thickness, and imbedding not
fewer than 375 species belonging to the animal kingdom; corallines,
encrinites, analogues of crab and lobster, bivalve and univalve shells,
and the skeletons and detached bones of fish.
The Old Red Sandstone, now called by a preferable name, the
Devonian system, had been thought to be almost destitute of organic
remains; but recent researches, particularly in Scotland, have brought
to light numerous and highly interesting bones and skeletons of fishes:
but none of them are such as belong to the present order of creation.
They are all of species, and even genera, not now existing; and the
same observation is to be made with respect to the fishes which occur
more abundantly in a very thick and extensive formation which comes
much later in the geological series, the New Red Sandstone, and especially that which is usually considered as one of its subordinate parts,
the Magnesian Limestone.
Between these two great yet very distinct and distant Red Sandstone formations, there is, in many parts of Wales, England, and
Scotland, the Mountain Limestone, usually 900 and more feet in
thickness, and which consists of nothing else than the remains of
coralline and testaceous animals compressed into masses of stone,
hard and compact, often many miles in length and breadth. Over
that, and in many of the same localities, we have the coal-strata, consisting entirely of compressed plants, with their sandstones, shales,
and iron-stones, full of land vegetables, and presenting some freshwater shells and fishes.
Above these, we are in the New Red just mentioned; 2000 feet
of marl, clay, sand-rock, conglomerates, sulphate of lime, rock-salt,
and magnesian lime-stone; red of all hues, white and variegated:
much less, in our country, replenished with the vestiges of living
creatures, than the preceding or the succeeding formations; yet not
destitute of them. In the equivalent rocks of Germany and France,
organic remains are more frequent.
In one of the members of this formation, the first known appearance of reptile life presents itself, in several species of lizard-like




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                          303
animals. But in the beds which come next in the ascending order,
the Lias, we are met by other and very different species, of the same
family, of appalling size, power, and armature,* besides other orders;
and through all the Oolitic strata, we find remains, in great variety
and abundance; above fifty of plants; of the animal classes a number of species and forms of organization, which may well fill us with
astonishment, from the zoophytes upwards, but as yet (so far as is
known) only, as it were, just touching upon the mainmmifers. Neither,
amidst the crowds of other animals, till we have risen over all the
sandy, clayey, and chalk formations, do we find any further appearances of that class. The thousands of species, through whose periods
we have thus in idea been passing, are all different from any in the
now existing creation, though possessing generic and family analogies:
and yet (with the remarkable and contestedt exception just hinted
at, the Stonesfield fossil, and see p. 57,) no mammiferous animals.
When we have risen above the chalk, we discover in the shell-fish a
small beginning of existing species; and, in the subsequent formations, the proportion increases till all the older species have successively become extinct, and the land, the fresh waters, and the ocean,
come to be occupied by the present edition of creation. But many
deposits and very long periods, from the chalk upwards, have existed,
till mammiferous animals are found (the various theria of several
regions); and they are all exceedingly different from living species
or even genera. Finally, in the formations immediately preceding
our own, we find animals falling into existing genera, but specifically
different; and, as they gradually cease, our present species succeed
to their places.
This sketch, hasty and imperfect as it is, demonstrates a series of
changes in organic nature, adapted to the variations in temperature,
atmospheric constitution, and mineral composition, which, upon inders The reader should not fail, if he can, to inspect the specimens which are in the
Long Gallery of the British Museum: the figures, by Mr. Hawkins, who collected the
most of those specimens and chiseled them out of the rock; (see the note at page 68;)
and the reduced figures in Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, with his admirable enucleations of the structure and habits of the animals.
t Some eminent anatomists are of opinion that the few bones in question (only two or
three broken jaws, upon which the greatest men in this department have put forth their
utmost powers of discrimination) belonged not to a mammal, but to a small reptile, of
the lizard or iguana family, and to which those naturalists give the generic name of amnplitheriun. Sec. ed. Yet Mr. Owen's repeated examinations, in which his exquisite
familiarity with Comparative Anatomy has been aided by microscopic observation of
the interior structure of teeth, have confirmed the belief of Dr. Buckland and other
distinguished men, that the animal was a small mammal, of a kind analogous to the
opossum.




304                    SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
pendent grounds, we have reason to believe did take place.  The
perfections of the Creator are conspicuous in all this wondrous course
of change.  We see unity of purpose, harmony of means and adaptations, and infinite variety in modes of developement.  O0 Lord,
how manifold are thy works! In wisdom  hast thou made them  all.
The earth is full of thy riches: so is this great and wide sea." (Ps.
civ. 24.)
Upon this argument one might expatiate without limit; but I leave
it to my studious and impartial readers, persuaded that, in proportion
to their mental cultivation and their assiduity in pursuing these interesting objects of research, will be their conviction of the immeasurable antiquity of our earth, and the. whole created systemimmeasurable, indeed, but only so to our feeble faculties: compared
with the prior eternity of JEHovAH, it sinks into a short period.ETERNITY!-How  awakening is the thought, that each of us is born
for a duration to which that word can be applied; and that it depends
upon ourselves, in the present stage of our existence, whether it shall
be an eternity of dignity and happiness unspeakable, or of the most
appalling degradation, and misery, and despair!
There is one class to which, in this argument, the appeal may be
made with peculiar force of evidence; the students of Conchology.
Their elegant science makes them familiar with probably seven thousand species of creatures, the inhabitants chiefly of the waters, in
whose forms and organic provisions, and in their shelly habitations,
the wisdom and goodness of the Creator are displayed with striking
beauty.   Of those species, the conchologist finds not one in the
former strata of the earth's crust, except with a rapidly decreasing
proportion, in the most recent formations:-he finds not one living
species in the chalk and the older systems. Yet he perceives identities of genera, but decreasing; and, where the genera are different,
there is the relation of analogy; all exhibiting the presiding energy
of the one Mind, with the admirable adaptations of every circumstance in the organization to conditions of temperature and the gaseous
t In the newest strata of our country, certain parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the
basin of the Thames, Mr. Lyell has determined the existence of 90 to 95 in the hundred
of such species as now live; the same proportion as in the most recent beds of Sicily.
(Charlesworth's Mlllag. NVat. Hist. July 1839, p. 327. Lyell's PPrine iii. 369, 370, 373,
fifth ed. not repeated in the sixth, as Mr. Lyell proposes a separate work on the Tertiary
formations; but a summary on this subject is in vol. i 244-5. Elements, p. 284-290.)
In the nearest older formations, the proportion of number runs from 70 to 40; the Norfolk
Crag, Red, 30; Coralline, 19; and in older beds diminishing to 26, 17, and finally about
three: till, in the Chalk, crowded with conchological as well as other remains, all
existing species are found to have ceased.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   305
composition of the atmosphere.  The fossil conchologist finds
above four thousand kinds, which have had their respective periods
of existence; I speak not of the individuals, but of the species or
races, to each of which, from the analogy of living nature, we must
assign some thousands of years. He sees those species at length
ceasing: even whole genera going out of existence; and others occupying the vacancies, always adapted to altered conditions of the
earth and the waters.  "This fact has now been verified, in almost
all parts of the globe; and has led to a conviction, that at successive
periods of the past, the same area of land and water has been inhabited by species of animals and plants as distinct as those which
now people the antipodes, or which now coexist in the arctic, teImperate, and tropical zones. It appears, that from the remotest periods
there has been ever a coming in of new organic forms, and an extinction of those which preexisted on the earth; some species having
endured for a longer, others for a shorter time; but none having ever
reappeared, after once dying out."  (Lyell's Elements, p. 275.)
"General and particular results all agree in demonstrating that the
physical conditions of the ancient ocean must have been very different, in some respects, from what obtain at present; and that these
conditions were subject to great variation during the very long periods
which elapsed in the formation of the crust of the earth, In the
course of these changes, whole groups of animals perished; others
were created, to perish in their turn; and these operations were
many times repeated, not only before the present races of animals
were formed, but even before the relative numbers in the leading
groups approximated to the proportions which appear in the actual
sea." (Phillips's Geol. in Cabinet Cyclop. vol. i. p. 84.)
Other distinct arguments might be adduced in support of our position, the immense antiquity of the earth; but they will present
themselves frequently and powerfully to the attentive student, in his
patient explorings for geological truth. This note is too long already.
Yet I thankfully avail myself of support to its design from the eloquent address of the Rev. William Vernon Harcourt, as President
of the British Association, at the meeting of this year (1839,) at
Birmingham.
" No one, I think, can doubt that those who condemned the Copernican system were justified in conceiving that the Scriptures speak of
the earth as fixed, and the sun as the moving body. Every one will
allow also that this language is ill adapted to the scientific truths of
Astronomy. We see the folly of any attempt, on this point, to interpret the laws of nature by the expressions of Scripture; and what is
V




306                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
the ground of our judgmentS We are not all competent to judge
between the theory of Copernicus and those which preceded it; but
we determine against the seeming evidence of our senses, and against
the letter of Scripture; because we know that competent persons
have examined and decided the physical question. Now, gentlemen,
in Geology we are arrived at the self-same point; that is to say, a
vast body of the best informed naturalists have examined, by all the
various lights of science, and by undeniable methods of investigation,
the STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH: and, however they may differ on less
certain points, they will agree in this: that the earth exhibits a succession of stratification, and a series of imbedded fossils, which cannot
6. supposed to have been so stratified and so imbedded in six days, in
a yer?', or in two thousand years, without supposing also such numerous, such1 confused and promiscuous violations of the laws and analogles O&  the universe, as would confound, not the science of Geology
alone, bu.t all fhe principles of Natural Theology.  He-re then is
another point of dis'sordance; and in this case [also] the discordance
lies betureen the language of Scripture and the truths of science."WTho then would efxect to find in Genesis the chronology or
sequence of creation i Who tcan think that he upholds the authority
of Scripture by literal constructio'is of such a history; by concluding
from them  that the earth was clothed with trees and flowers before
the sun was created, or that the great work was measured by six
rotations of the earth upon her axis! It scarcely needed the evidence
of physical or geological science, to teach us that such a mode of interpreting the sacred writings is utterly unsound, When the same
author speaks of man as'created in the image of God,' every one
perceives that this is one.of the boldest figures which language can
produce.* And in what but a figurative light can we view the'days?
of creation! What can we find in such a description but this truth,
that the six grand classes of natural phenomena were, all and each,,
distinct acts of divine power, and proceeded from the fiat of a single
Creator.
4- — All the conclusions of human science coincide with Revealed
Religion; and none more remarkably than that which has been so
falsely termed irreligious Geology: for as Astronomy shews the unity
of the Creator through the immensity of space, so does Geology,
* It perhaps did not occur to the accomplished President, that we have divine authority for understanding that expression as signifying the intellectual capacities and moral
excellence with which man was endowed, Eph. iv. 24; Col. iii. 10. Also the connexion
of the original passage (Gen. i. 26-2S) conducts us to the idea, that this " image of God"
was intended to signify the dominion over the lower creatures conferred upon mankind.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    307
along the track of unnumbered ages, and through the successive
births of beings; still finding in all, the uniform design of the same
almighty power, and the varied fruits of the same unexhausted goodness.-'"  Report of the JVinth Mlieeting of the British Alssociation;
page 18-20, also, in the.fthenceum, Aug. 31, 1839.
Upon this noble generalization, I cannot refuse to cite one passage
more from the christian philosopher of New England, so frequently
mentioned with respect in the preceding pages.
"Nor ought it to be forgotten, that these very principles and deductions of Geology, that have excited so much of alarm and opposition among some friends of religion, and so much of premature and
groundless exultation among its enemies, have nevertheless, when
taken in connexion with Astronomy, developed and established a LAW
of God's natural government of the Universe, grand beyond all others
known to man, and undiscovered or only dimly seen by the great
minds of other generations. I refer to the fact, that perpetual CHIANGE
is made the grand conservative and controlling principle of the universe. Men have always seen and felt this instability in respect to
every thing on earth; and they have regarded it as a defect, rather
than as a wise law of the natural world. But they now find it to be
equally true of suns and planets as of plants and animals.' Perpetual
change, perpetual progression, increase and diminution, appear to be
the rules of the material world, and to prevail without exception.'
(Prof. Whewell's Bridgewater Treat. p. 158.)  And this very instability is the great secret of the permanence and constancy of nature's
operations, and of the adaptation of the external world to the wants
and happiness of organized beings. It is'a principle superior to
those grand rules which we have been accustomed to regard as constituting exclusively the laws of nature; from the security, which we
see in it, beyond the longest and apparently most perfect periodical
movements of our solar system.' (Cordier, sur la Temp. de l'IntErieure de la Terre; p. 84.)  In fine, it is probably the most splendid
display of the divine skill which the universe can furnish." Hitchcock's Geol. of Jlassachusetts; p. 251.
The importance of the subject of this Dissertation supersedes any
apology for its length. But, in relation to that subject, I am under
an obligation, the feeling of which is a pleasure: and thus is rendered
more incumbent the duty of acknowledging it.  The Rev. Professor
SEDGWICK, whose liberality of mind and heart is the fit accompaniment of his scientific eminence, has favoured me with communications
on this vital point, and with permission to use them as I might think
fit.  But I cannot adorn myself with another's robe; I cannot incorv2




308                     SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.
porate his matter into my own, without a sense of doing wrong. Yet
to deprive the reader of the satisfaction to be derived from  the information and reasoning of so high an authority,* I should feel to be an
inexcusable offence.  It is also proper to mention that the Professor's
letter was written by him in haste, under the urgency of University
engagements, and when setting out on his geological tour this summer
in France, Belgium, and other countries.'"    The fossils demonstrate the time to have been long, though
we cannot say how long.  Thus we have generation after generation
of shell-fish, that have lived and died on the spots where we find
them; very often demonst7ating the lapse of many years for a few
perpendicular inches of deposit. In some beds, we have large coldblooded reptiles, creatures of long life. In others we have traces of
ancient forests, and enormous fossil trees, with concentric rings of
structure marking the years of growth. Phoenomena of this kind
are repeated again and again: so that we have three or four distinct
systems of deposit, each formed at a distinct period of time, and each
characterized by its peculiar fossils. Coeval with the Tertiary masses,
we have enormous lacustrine deposits; sometimes made up of very
fine thin laminte, marking slow tranquil deposits. Among those
lamin2e we can find sometimes the leaf-sheddings and the insects of
successive seasons. Among them also we find almost mountainmasses of the Indusic tubulatcet and other sheddings of insects, year
after year. Again, streams of ancient lava alternate with some of
these lacustrine Tertiary deposits.
* To geologists it is unnecessary; but to many otherwise well-informed persons, it
will be gratifying to know the terms in which Prof. Whewell has adverted to the merits
of his friend and colleague. " The classification of the rocks of this portion of our
island [the Cambrian] to which Prof. Sedgwick has been led,   is the fruit of the
vigorous and obstinate struggles of many years, to mould into system a portion of Geology
which appeared almost too refractory for the philosopher's hand: and which Prof. Sedgwick grappled with the more resolutely, in proportion as others shrank away from the
task, perplexed and wearied.-A series of formations distinguished and reduced to
order by [his] indefatigable exertions and wide views.-It has been necessary to employ and improve all the best methods of geological investigation." — He has traced
"the geographical continuity of the strata, almost mile by mile, from Cape Wrath to
the Land's End." Presid. Addr. Geol. Soc. 1839; p. 25.
t These are cylindrical cases formed for its habitation by a six-legged insect-larva,
which inhabits ponds and small streams, creeping at the bottom. The cases are constructed of small portions of leaves and stalks laid and finely joined together, agglutinated
by a secretion of the insect, lined with a silky fibrous matter, and defended on the outside by small substances of a harder texture made to adhere by the insect's gluten, such
as minute bits of wood or bark, grains of sand and very smnall shells. When it quits
the larva state, it comes out a brownish, four-winged, moth-like insect. Reaumur calls
them butterfly-flies. They are seen in clouds about ponds on summer evenings. The
generic name is Phryganea, but there are many species in England and other countries.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                        809
"In Central France, a great stream of lava caps the lacustrine
limestone.  At a subsequent period, the waters have excavated deep
valleys, cutting down into the lacustrine rock marble, many hundred
feet: and at a newer epoch, anterior to the authentic history of
Europe, new craters have opened, and fresh streams of lava have run
down the existing valleys. Even in the Tertiary period, we have
thus a series of demonstrative proofs of a long succession of physical
events, each of which required a long lapse of ages for its elaboration.
"Again; as we pass downwards from the bottom Tertiary beds to
the Chalk, we instantly find new  types of organic life.  The old
species, which exist in millions of individuals in the upper beds, disappear: and new species are found in the Chalk immediately below.
This facts indicates a long lapse of time.  Had the chalk and upper
beds been formed simultaneously at the same period," [as the supporters of the diluvial theory represent,] "their organic remains must
have been more or less mixed: but they are not.  Again; at the base
of the Tertiary deposits resting on the Chalk, we often find great
masses of conglomerate, or shingle, made up of Chalk-flints rolled by
water. These separate the chalk from the overlying beds; and many
of the rolled flints contain certain petrified Chalk-fossils.  Now every
such fossil proves the following points:
" 1. There was a time when the organic body was alive at the
bottom of the sea.
"2. It was afterwards imbedded in the cretaceous deposit.
" 3. It became petrified: a very slow process.
"4. The Chalk was, by some change of marine currents, washed
away, or degraded" [i. e. worn away under the atmosphere by the
weather and casualties, a process slow  almost beyond description,]
" and the solid flints and fossils" [thus detached from their imbeddings] " were rolled into shingles.
"5. Afterwards, these shingles were covered up, and buried under
Tertiary deposits.
"In this way of interpretation, a section of a few  perpendicular
feet indicates a LONG lapse of time: and the co-ordinate fact of the
An excellent figure of the Phryganea rhoombica, a common English species, (which the
author has forgotten to say is the size of life,) is in Lyell, vol. iv. p. 153.(1) In that
place, Mr. L. has given an account of one instance of the rocky limestone-masses here
alluded to by Prof. Sedgwick, with beautiful figures. The cases are studded over with
small water-snail shells, like those of Pacldince, or Linnmus's Uelices viviparcce. Often
ten or twelve of these well-loaded cases are packed up, as it were, yet not broken, within
the compass of a cubic inch.
(1) Fifth ed. and Elem. sec. ed. vol. i. p. 373.




310                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
entire change of organic types between the beds above and those
below, falls in with the preceding inference, and shews the lapse of
time to have been VERY LONG. [-But who can say, how longS 
Many thousands of years sink into a trifling period, for the passing
through of these processes. -]
"If I travel in Greece, I may find monuments of ancient art perhaps under the foundations of a Turkish house. If I compared these
works of art with those of the present day, I should be convinced at
once (quite independently of history,) that they belonged to a different
epoch in the annals of the human race. These changes are partly
due to the progress of civilization, the caprice of man's will, and
other moral causes; still, however, subordinate to certain laws. In
the geological case, the total change in organic forms has been brought
about by the slow operation of physical causes, not under the control
of man. But he can observe them; and, because they are LAWS, that
is, have the impress of MIND upon them, he can interpret them. Those
who argue against you as some of your opponents do, not only deprive
man of his intellectual privilege, but strip the GoD of nature of his
honour."
See pp. 291 and 294. " The Old Red Sandstone often appears as
a new conglomerate, of great thickness, separating the old slate-rocks
from the Mountain Limestone. But, even in this form and without
fossils, it demonstrates that the older strata were solid and perfected
before the existence of the Mountain Limestone." [Recent investigations have found it to be rich in fossils, of the most peculiar and
instructive character. See the close of this Note.]
"Again; there was a total change in the inhabitants of the sea,
between the Limestone-beds and Coral-reefs of the Silurian and Cambrian period, and the time when the Mountain Limestone was deposited.  Hence, we should conclude that there was a very long lapse
of time, between the period of the highest Silurian beds and the period
of the Mountain Limestone.  This inference is confirmed by very
modern discoveries. In Scotland, in the country examined by Mr.
Murchison [the Silurian region], and above all in North and South
Devon, the Old Red Sandstone contains innumerable regular beds,
with fossils which have lived and died where we find them; that is, in
the same relative situation, as of course they [with the entire seabottom mass in which had been their habitation,] had been lifted
bodjily out of the sea by elevatory forces.  Subordinate to it are..  




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    311
lines upon lines of old Coral-reefs and other calcareous masses, full
of organic structures, and indicating most emphatically long periods
of time.  The organic types [in this Old Red] are of an intermediate
character, between the types of the Silurian and Cambrian and the
types of the Mountain Limestone.
" Every thing indicates a very long and very slow progression:one creation flourishing and performing its part, and gradually dying
off as it has so performed its part; and another actual creation of new
beings, not derived as progeny from the former, gradually taking its
place; and again this new creation succeeded by a third.-Nothing
per saltum; all according to law and order: all bearing the impress
of MIND, a great dominant will, at the bidding of which all parts of
nature have their peculiar movements, their periods of revolution,
their rise and fall."
" These alternations of Limestone beds [see above, page 289,] full
of fossils (shells and zoophytes), prove the slow progression of the
series. Each Limestone bed must have taken a long time for its formation, yet many of them alternate with beds of Coal. There are
regular shell-beds in the Coal-strata, stretching scores of miles.
These shells often have both valves united, like common living muscles on the sea-shore; and [thus it is shewn that they] have not been
transported. They prove that a few inches of strata required a time
equal to the lives of several generations of these muscles.-Many of
the fossil-plants appear not to have drifted from the spots where they
grew; and we have enormous trees, with rings of growth marking
their great age: all in the Coal-fields.  Yet all the plants are absolutely of extinct species, though of a structure that allows a botanist
to reason on their habits. The God of nature is' without variableness or shadow of turning.' Different species were created to suit
different conditions of the earth, air, and sea: but the organs of life
were the same; and of their modes of growth, nutrition, reproduction, &c. &c. animal or vegetable, we can reason as well as if we
saw them. For there are great dominant laws of organic life which
mark ONE MIND; the very Mind that made us, and has given us eyes
to see, and souls in part able to comprehend the great Master-Mind
himself, and his ways of working out his will. To deny us the
power of drawing inferences from God's laws, is to strip us of the
best thing left us in our fallen state, and all creation of its glory.
"In passing through the New Red Sandstone to the Oolitic series




312                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
of formations, again there is a complete change in all the forms of
organic life; and there is the same proof of a very long lapse of
time, that we have in descending from the Tertiary to the Chalk, or
in passing [by ascending] from the Silurian to the Carboniferous
epoch.
" In the superficial gravel containing rolled blocks of stone, coming
from vast distances, we find bones of the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, &c. &c. of extinct species, mingled with bones of mammals
of known species; but not a single fragment of a human bone, or a
single trace of any human work. Some have referred this gravel to'the Noachian Deluge. It cannot be of any newer date: but the
safest way is to draw no conclusions not founded on physical evidence; and, as different regions have been elevated at different
periods, it seems probable that there must have been many periods
for the formation of gravel, some, at least, long anterior to that last
act of creation, by which, a fit habitation being at length prepared
for him, MAN and a new creation of beings were called into existence
by that Hand which had ordained and regulated all the previous
movements."
The inquirer will do well to study Dr. Grant's (Prof. Compar.
Anat. Univ. Coll. Lond.) General View of the Characters and the
Distribution of the Extinct Animals; in the British Scientific dJnnual, edited by Dr. Thomson, for 1839, pp. 22-281. I cite the
concluding paragraph.
" The unity of the plan of organization, and the regular succession
of animal forms, point out a beginning of this great kingdom on the
surface of our globe, although the earliest stages of its developement
may now be effaced; and the continuity of the series through all
geological epochs, and the gradual transitions which connect the
species of one formation with those of the next in succession, distinctly indicate that they form the parts of one creation, and not the
heterogeneous remnants of successive kingdoms begun and destroyed:
so that, while they present the best records of the changes which the
surface of the globe has undergone, they likewise afford the best testimony of the recent origin of the present crust of our planet, and of
all its organic inhabitants."
The observant reader will perceive that, in Dr. Grant's application
of the word creation, he differs in phrase only, not in doctrine, from
the Professors Sedgwick and Phillips.
Third ed. A geological work has appeared, small in size, unpretend



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   313
ing in spirit and manner, its contents the conscientious and accurate
narration of fact, its style the beautiful simplicity of truth, and altogether possessing for a rational reader an interest superior to that of
a novel:-The Old Red Sandstone; by Hugh Miller; Edinb. 1841.
Were I to express my sense of the value of the book and the genius
and talent of its author, I should seem to be a flatterer. In his boyhood, the author began his untaught and independent course of exploration, upon his native soil, the Old Red of Caithness; and his
sagacity of penetration and sound faculty of induction have enabled
him  to draw forth a luminous picture of God's wonderful works
through the-" onward and ascending march, the stages [of which]
are slow, but the tread is stately; and, to Him who has commanded
and who overlooks it, a thousand years are but as a single day, and a
single day as a thousand years." Page 269.
Mr. Miller sets before us many demonstrations, striking and even
overwhelming, of the incalculable periods indicated by the stratifications of his district, and the living creatures which, in the succession
of origin, duration, and extinction have characterized the formations.
I cannot indulge in citations, but I intreat the possessor of these
"New Walks in an Old Field," to study, in their connexions, pages
113, 127, 223, 227, 228, 241, 260, and 269. The book concludes
thus: " — Flow well   to be enabled to look forward to the coming
of a new heaven and a new earth, not in terror but in hope; to be
encouraged to believe in the system of unending progression, but to
entertain no fear of the degradation or deposition of man!  The
adorable MONARCH of the future, with all its unsummed perfection,
has already passed into the heavens, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our
bone; and Enoch and Elijah are there with HIx, fit representatives
of that dominant race which no other race shall ever supplant or succeed, and to whose onward and upward march the deep echoes of
eternity shall never cease to respond." Page 275.
At the Glasgow Meeting of the British Association, Dr. Buckland
said that "c he had never been so much astonished in his life, by the
powers of any man, as he had been by the geological descriptions of
Mr. Miller.    That wonderful man described these objects with a
felicity which made him ashamed of the comparative meagreness and
poverty of his own descriptions in the Bridgewater Treatise, which
had cost him hours and days of labour. He would give his right hand
to possess such powers of description as this man; and, if it pleased
Providence to spare his useful life, he, if any one, would certainly
render the science attractive and popular, and do equal service to
THEOLOGY and to Geology."




314                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
Treating upon the Devonian formation, Mr. Richardson observes,
that it has been " described with so much ability and eloquence by the
Scottish historian of this deposit, that we must refer to the graphic
and highly interesting publication of Mr. Hugh Miller, - which
combines the instruction of a work of science with the fascination of
a romance, and the ability of a writer of the very highest genius."
Geology for Beginners, p. 466.
I cannot but add the following passage, from the American Journal
of Science, by Prof. Silliman and his son Mr. Benjamin Silliman;
July, 1842, page 199.
"In our turn, we take leave to add, that this admirable work, the
production of a man who obtained his geological knowledge while
working day by day as a labourer in a quarry of the Old Red Sandstone in the north-east part of Scotland, evinces talent of the highest
order, a deep and healthful moral feeling, a perfect command of the
finest language, and a beautiful union of philosophy and poetry. No
geologist can peruse this volume without instruction and delight. It
affords an admirable synopsis of the formations between the granitic
schists and the coal-measures, and indeed embraces an enlarged and
highly philosophical view of the science, and of its relation to the
Creator."
A remarkable pamphlet has been recently published, which has a
strong claim upon the attention of both geologists and scripturestudents; Jd Catechetical Illustration of the First Chapter of Genesis;
by William Whyte, Latin Master in Watson's Hospital. 9 pages,
Edinburgh, 1842. The object is to shew that the creation and subsequent history of the earth's strata, and of the vegetable and animal
tribes which have had their periods and have become extinct, through
countless ages, is represented, in the simple Hebrew style in Gen. i. 2
-25; -that the operations themselves are the ordinary course of
the works of God, from the beginning, and still constantly proceeding, (thus acquiescing in a chief principle of Mr. Lyell's works;)and that " the only peculiarity in all the narrative," —— is " the creation of a new species, IAN;" —-and that the scenes of the operations are the various portions of the earth's surface, which are thus
prepared and suited for the habitation of vegetable and animal tribes,
either already in other regions enjoying life, or expressly called into
life, that is created, in order to the occupation of a newly prepared
region. —To say the least of this little work, it is a striking example of the extent to which learned and pious men may depart from
the commonly received interpretation of the beginning of Genesis.
Fourth ed. At the twelfth meeting of the British Association,




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    315
(Manchester, 1842,) Prof. Agassiz presented a Report, comprehensive
yet exact and specific, of the Fossil Fishes of the Devonian system; in
which he involves a just tribute to the originality, the scientific proceeding, and the remarkable success of Hugh Miller, and the late
accomplished, liberal, and amiable Lady Gordon Cumming. Very
few years have elapsed since it was believed that this formation (then
usually called the Old Red) was nearly destitute of organic remains.
Now, are determined, in Scotland alone, besides two or three in Wales,
at least twenty genera, spreading out into about fifty species, of Fish;
whose configuration is of the most remarkable, and even astonishing
kind. (See Lyell's Elem. sec. ed. vol. ii. ch. xxv.; Ansted's Geol.
1844; vol. i. ch. x.)  Over an area of Russia more extensive than
the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, in beds identical with our
Old Red, or equivalent to it, Sir Rod. lMurchison and his associates
have exhumed in abundance the Fishes of Scotland, and the shells of
South Devon.
To the evidence on this subject, the following may be added:3Mr. Lyell, with his lady, the participant in his scientific zeal, made
a tour in the United States, and the British possessions of North
America, in 1841-2; of which he has given a narrative in two
volumes, rich in interest, picturesque, literary, and politico-economical,
as well as geological.  The investigations connected with the riverbed and the falls of the Niagara were fully carried out. I cannot
condense into a few paragraphs his luminous descriptions and reasonings, concise as his style is. Of even general readers, every person
that can, should read the work. It must suffice to say that, calculated
upon rigidly cautious grounds of evidence, the river cuts back the
edge of the precipice over which it falls, at the mean rate of one foot
annually. The distance which it has had thus to wear away, from
the place of its very probably ascertained ancient precipitation, is
seven miles. The process of erosion may and even must have varied,
sometimes being retarded, and sometimes accelerated; but, as Mr.
Lyell's estimate is but a third of Mr. Bakewell's, it is the less likely
to exceed the truth.  The result is, that this process has occupied
35,000 years. Yet this is one of the superficial, and, in comparison
of innumerable others, recent operations on the face of the earth.
After enucleating, with his characteristic penetration and precision,
the changes which, upon the soil of this geographical district, must
have preceded the process, Mr. L. proceeds.
" The principal events enumerated in the above retrospect, comprising the submergence and re-emergence of the Canadian lakedistrict and valley of the St. Lawrence, the deposition of fresh-water




316                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
strata, and the gradual erosion of a ravine seven miles long, are all so
modern in the earth's history as to belong to a period when the
marine, the fluviatile, and the terrestrial shells were the same or
nearly the same as those now living. Yet if we fix our thoughts on
any one portion of this period,-on the lapse of time, for example,
required for the recession of the Niagara from the escarpment to the
Falls,-how immeasurably great will its duration appear in comparison with the sum of years to which the annals of the human race are
limited!
"But, however much we may enlarge our ideas of the time which
has elapsed since the Niagara first began to drain the waters of the
upper lakes, we have seen that this period was one only of a series,
all belonging to the present geological epoch. —If such events can
take place, while the zoology of the earth remains almost stationary
and unaltered, what ages may not be comprehended in those successive tertiary periods during which the flora and fauna of the globe
have been almost entirely changed! Yet, how subordinate a place in
the long calendar of geological chronology do the successive tertiary
periods themselves occupy! How much more enormous a duration
must we assign to many antecedent revolutions of the earth and its
inhabitants! JVo analogy can be found in the natural world to the
immense scale of these divisions of past time, unless we contemplate
the celestial spaces which have been measured by the astronomer.
Some of these within the limits of the solar system, as, for example,
the orbits of the planets, are reckoned by hundreds of millions of
miles, which the imagination in vain endeavours to grasp. Yet one
of these spaces, such as the diameter of the earth's orbit, is regarded
as a mere unit, a mere infinitesimal fraction of the distance which
separates our sun from the nearest star. By pursuing still further
the same investigations, we learn that there are luminous clouds,
scarcely distinguishable by the naked eye, but resolvable by the telescope into clusters of stars which are so much more remote, that the
interval between our sun and Sirius may be but a fraction of this
larger distance. To regions of space of this higher order, in point of
magnitude, we may probably compare such an interval of time as that
which divides the human epoch from the origin of the coralline limestone over which the Niagara is precipitated at the Falls. Many
have been the successive revolutions in organic life, and many the
vicissitudes in the physical geography of the globe, and often has sea
been converted into land, and land into sea; since that rock was
formed.  The Alps, the Pyrenees, the Himalaya, have not only begun to exist as lofty mountain chains, but the solid materials of




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    317
which they are composed have been slowly elaborated beneath the
sea, within the stupendous interval of ages here alluded to.' The geologist may muse and speculate on these events, until,
filled with awe and admiration, he forgets the presence of the mighty
cataract itself; and no longer sees the rapid motion of its waters, nor
hears their sound, as they fall into the deep abyss. But, whenever
his thoughts are recalled to the present, the tone of his mind, the
sensations awakened in his soul, will be found to be in perfect harmony with the grandeur and beauty of the glorious scene which surrounds him."-Travels in JN../merica, vol. i. p. 50 —53; 1845.
At the meeting of the British Association at Southampton, in September, 1846, Mr. Lyell delivered a discourse, marked by his characteristic comprehensiveness and perspicuity, upon the Delta of the
Mfississippi, a narrow promontory projecting into the Gulf of Mexico.
This is known to have been and still to be increasing and advancing,
from the constant action of the river in bearing down mud and other
matter of deposit.  Observation and comparison, made during more
than one hundred years, had directed attention to the progress of
deposit, and the consequent gain of land advancing into the sea. But
never before had the requisite talents, the result of science and experience, been employed for the resolution of the question. Mr. Lyell
had the concurrent investigation, and assent to his conclusions, of
several American men of science. The conclusion of the whole is,
that the alluvial plain from which the portion of land projects, with
that portion itself, after making great deductions to satisfy the most
excessive caution, has required more than one hundred thousand years.
Yet the operations effected in that period are insignificant, geologically considered, when viewed in connexion with the underlying
deposits. Mr. Lyell concluded with the sentiment, that " the further
we extend our researches into the wonders of creation in time and
space, the more do we exalt, refine, and elevate our conceptions of the
DIviNE ARTIFICER of the universe."  See the Athenaum, Sept. 26,
1846; p. 992.
Among the delightful occurrences which indicate the wide diffusion and rapid progress of scientific observation, we may mention a
monthly publication, the " Journal of the Indian Archipelago," which
commenced at Singapore in July last. Its introductory article conaprises a view of the geological phenomena, presented, in characters so
plain that " he may run who readeth" them, by the formations and
manifest succession of the tract from the loftiest mountain-ridge on
the globe (yet, like the Alps, comparatively recent), the Himalaya,
over the plain of Bengal, to the innumerable islands, isles, and islets,




318                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
all along till beyond the last east meridian. In this series of beauty
and awful grandeur are displayed the movements of elevation and
depression, whether gradual or sudden, eruption, denudation, dislocation, coral workings, and the wondrous variety of plutonic and volcanic forces. He who, with some intelligence of the matter, surveys
the sketch, must be overwhelmed with the idea of incessant action,
rising out of illimitable antiquity, and perpetuated to the present
moment.
~.ddition to the NJNote at p. 299.-In Jameson's Edinb. Journal,
Oct. 18417, is a memoir by the able geologist, Mr. David Milne, giving
the results of long, laborious, and accurate explorings of these socalled Parallel Roads. The proof seems to be complete, that they are
not sea-beaches, but beaches of ancient lakes, which remained at different levels, after the successive elevations of the district, the water
having been pent up by the mountain sides, till drained off by subsequent geological changes; the processes of which, with their causes
and concomitants, must have been extremely slow. This advance of
discovery does not affect my reasoning, except as it gives augmented
strength to the evidence of immense antiquity. A similar augmentation will also accrue from another hypothesis, advanced by Sir George
S. Mackenzie, in the same Journal, Jan. 1848.
[G.]
Referred to at pages 67 and 244.
ON THE FOSSIL ANIMALCULEs.
IT is not in my power to say whence I derived this estimate. Perhaps it was given from a general recollection of information in different scientific works. I therefore lay before my readers an extract
from a paper of Dr. Ehrenberg himself, shewing that, while the numbers in one description of fossil-masses fall short of my statement,
those belonging to another are the double of what I have given.
" The Polirschiefer [Polishing Slate] of Bilin in Bohemia occupies
a surface of great extent, probably the site of an ancient lake, and
forms slaty strata of fourteen feet in thickness, consisting almost
entirely of an aggregation of the siliceous shields of Gaillonella distans."  (Dr. Buckland's Supplementary Notes to his Bridgewater
Treatise; p. 17, or continuously 610-613.)
I have used, above, the general term shells; but shields is the more




SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.                          319
appropriate  word, or cuirasses,  as Dr. Buckland also calls them.
They are most beautiful armature-coverings, sometimes of a single
plate, sometimes double; formed of the purest quartz or rock-crystal,
and therefore perfectly transparent.
The Rcaseneisen, which might be translated Iron-clod, is a mass of
fine earthy matter, strongly tinged with ochre, the peroxide of iron;
probably the same, or nearly so, as what we call Bog Iron Ore; or
not unlike the mud of our common chalybeate springs, compressed
and dried.
The Gaillonella distans is one of the species of the genus G. of
which some idea may be formed by comparing it to a piece of candied Angelica; but imagination is baffled in attempting to conceive
of its diminutive size, as an extract will shew which shall follow in
this Note.
Whoever has the opportunity should not fail to use it, for inspecting the superb German work, The Infusorial dnimalcules, as Perfect Organizations;  a Glimpse  into  the  Deeper  Organic Life of.Jature: by Dr. Christian Godfrey Ehrenberg. Leipzig, 1838. It is
an imperial folio, giving ample accounts of the families, genera, and
species of this astonishing region of the animal kingdom. The accompanying Atlas consists of sixty-four plates, of which the drawing,
engraving, and colouring are models of beauty.  Each plate contains
many figures, magnified of course many hundreds and even thousands
of times, and all presenting 722 species. The forms of these minute
creatures are prodigiously varied, and their organization richly diversified and complicated.  Some of them  resemble the infusoria exhibited by the hydro-oxygen microscope; but many species are extremely different.  They are globular, or almost so, wheel-shaped,
boat-shaped, legume-formed, pear-shaped, funnel-shaped, and poly- A figure is given of two species, in Mr. Lyell's Elements, page 52; and in his
Principles, vol. iii. p. 271 (6th ed.) the G. ferruzginect, whose shields, composed of
silex and iron, constitute the substance of Bog Iron Ore. The Noble President of the
Royal Society has made felicitous discoveries of many-chambered shells (Spirolinites,)
of several species, in the chalk flints: of which figures are given by Dr. Mantell, IVond.
Geol. vol. i. p. 322. Other naturalists have successfully pursued this line of microscopic
inquiry. In particular the Rev J. B. Reade, F.R.S., who has devoted his powers of research to this empire of wonders; " an investigation which," he justly observes, " no
right-minded man will prosecute, without directing his thoughts to Him who, of old,'turned the hard rock into a standing water, and the flint-stone into a springing well."'
Some of these interesting communications from Mr. Reade may be consulted in the
Seventle Report of the British Assoc. (Liverpool, 1837;) in the Annals of NVat. Hist.
Nov. 1838; and with figures and a comprehensive summary in the Wond. Geol. vol. i.
and ii. and the Appendix. See also communications from Ehrenberg, Meyen, Kersten,
and Mr. Richard Taylor; and extracts from Professors Whewell and Rymer Jones, on
this subject, in Ann. Nat. Hist. 1838 and 1839.




320                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES,
parious in a variety of forms. Many are of brilliant hues, green,
yellow, blue, crimson, and fainter colours; and often perfectly transparent, so that not only the mouth, ciliary fringes, and numerous organs
of progress and prehension are seen, but the internal organs, such as
the esophagus, the stomach and appendages, and canals, with their
inosculations.~ Ehrenberg'" has discovered in them muscles, intestines, teeth, different kinds of glands, eyes, nerves, and organs of
reproduction.  He finds that some are born alive, others produced by
eggs, and some multiplied by spontaneous divisions of their bodies
into two or more distinct animals."  (Buckl. i. 446.)
Having given these as preliminary explications, I proceed to the
citation from " Remarks on the Real Occurrence of Fossil Infusoria,
and their Extensive Diffusion; by Prof. Ehrenberg: read in the
Royal Academy of Sciences, Berlin, July 7, 1836." Translated by
Mr. W. Francis, and published in Mr. Richard Taylor's Scientific
Jeenzoirs, vol. i. p. 400-413.
" The size of a single one of these Infusoria,  which form the Polirschiefer, amounts, upon an average and in the greater part, to -  Of a
line, which equals I of the thickness of a human hair, reckoning its
average size at I of a line.  The globule of the human blood, considered at  o is not much smaller. The blood globules of a frog are
twice as large as one of these animalcules.  As the Polirschiefer of
Bilin is slaty, but without cavities, these animalcules lie closely compressed. In round numbers, about twenty-three millions of animals
would make up a cubic line, and would in fact be contained in it.
There are 1728 cubic lines in a cubic inch; and therefore a cubic
inch would contain, on an average, about 41,000 millions of these
animals.  On weighing a cubic inch of this mass, I found it to be
about 220 grains.  Of the 41,000 millions of animals, 187 millions
go to a grain; or, the siliceous shield of each animalcule weighs
about'go millionth part of a grain.
"The animalcules of the Raseneisen are only Tds   of a line in
diameter; or the Ir part of the thickness of a human hair, - of the
diameter of a globule of the human blood,,  of the blood globule of a
frog. A cubic line of such animal Iron-ochre would thus, in the same
relation, contain one thousand millions; one cubic inch, one billion;
and one cube of nine feet diameter, one trillion, of living beings."
But I cannot so forget the obligations of reason and truth as to
5 A compendious work, including the most essential parts of Ehrenberg's costly
volume, has been published by Mr. Andrew Prichard, A History of nzfusoria, Living
and Fossil; London, 1841: with twelve plates, containing 531 objects beautifully engraved and in their proper colours.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    321
end this Note without requesting my reader to do this subject the
justice of reading the impressive passage, which cannot be too well
known, the comparison of the moral argument from the telescope
and that from the microscope, in Dr. Chalmers's Discourses on the
Christian Revelation, viewed in Connexion with the.Modern.dstronomy; p. 112-116.  Yet, lest the book should not be at hand, I will
quote a few lines.
"     The one led me to see a system  in every star: the other
leads me to see a world in every atom.  The one taught me, that
this mighty globe, with the whole burden of its people and of its
countries, is but a grain of sand on the high field of immensity. The
other teaches me, that every grain of sand may harbour within it the
tribes and the families of a busy population. The one told me of the
insignificance of the world I tread upon. The other redeems it from
all its insignificance; for it tells me that, in the leaves of every forest,
and in the flowers of every garden, and in the waters of every rivulet,
there are worlds teeming with life, and numberless as are the glories
of the firmament. The one has suggested to me that, beyond and
above all that is visible to man, there may lie fields of creation which
sweep immeasurably along, and carry the imimpress of the Almighty's
hand to the remotest scenes of the universe.  The other suggests to
me that, within and beyond all that minuteness which the aided eye
of man has been able to explore, there may be a region of invisibles;
and that, could we draw aside the mysterious curtain which shrouds
it firom our senses, we might there see a theatre of as many wonders
as Astronomy has unfolded, a universe within the compass of a point
so small as to elude all the powers of the microscope, but where the
wonder-working GoD finds room for the exercise of all his attributes,
where he can raise another mechanism of worlds, and fill and animate
them all with the evidences of his glory."
Fourth ed. An interesting appendage to this Note will be the
following paper, for which I am indebted to a work valuable for both
science and general literature, the Bibliothelque Universelle Geneve;
new series, vol. xxxi. p. 197; 1841.
"' Summary View of the Inferences to be drawn from the Facts observed by Prof. Ehrenberg upon the Infusorial Animalcules.
"1. The greater number of microscopical animalcules are endowed
with a complex organization.
c" 2. They form, in their structure, two very distinct classes.
"3. Their geographical distribution over the globe follows the
same laws as those which govern other animals.
"4. They impart particular colourings to large masses of water;
W




322                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
and, by the light which they emit, they occasion specific varieties of
phosphorescence in the sea.
" 5. By their accumulation in a living state, they often form what
might be called animated earthy masses. As forty-one thousand millions of individuals may often be ascertained in a cubic inch of substance, their absolute number must certainly be greater than that of
all other animals taken together. It is even probable that, in their
collective volume, they exceed that of all other animated beings.
c" 6. They possess the greatest power of production that exists in
organic nature. A single individual can, in a few hours, procreate
many millions of beings like itself:.
"' 7. These animalcules form, by means of their siliceous coverings,
earthy masses, stones, and rocks. Those substances then become the
components of many natural and artificial products, as glass, floating
bricks which were manufactured by the ancients, polishing earths
(tripoli, ochre, &c.), manures, alimentary earths as the fossil flour
[Bergmehl] used in the north [as a partial substitute for food in
some of the barren districts of Sweden and Lapland], which fill the
stomach without injuring it. Sometimes these minute creatures are
injurious, by vitiating the water, killing the fish in ponds, and producing miasms [in marshes which have no sufficient drainage:] yet
it has not been proved that the plague, cholera, and other contagious
diseases are to be attributed to them, as some have maintained.
"8. So far as observation has penetrated, these animalcules appear
never to sleep.
c" 9. They exist in the bodies of men and other animals.
". 10. They are themselves infested with still more minute parasitical animalcules, which live in their insides; and these also have parasites which can be observed.
"11. They are in general affected by external agents, in ways
very similar to what the superior classes of animals are susceptible of.
" 12. As they are extremely light, the gentlest breath of air raises
them, and floats them off into the atmosphere.
" 13. Some of these animalcules are capable of remarkable changes
in their form, but within certain limits to both the constancy and
variations, so that the entire combination of phenomena can be referred to precise organic laws.
" 14. Their organization is comparatively very powerful, as is
especially manifested in the strength of their teeth and other instruments of mastication. They appear also to have the same organs of
sense as other animals.
" 15, Observation of these microscopic beings has led to more




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   323
exact definitions of what constitutes an animal, and distinguishes it
from a vegetable; thus leading to a more perfect knowledge of the
organic systems which are wanting to plants.
"16. The complication of the organization of the microscopic
animalcules would alone serve to refute the theories and ill-made
observations which have ascribed to them a spontaneous generation
from brute matter.                                    "I. M."
I solicit particularly my readers' attention to the last position.
This indefatigable explorer has subsequently applied his talent as
a microscopist to the mud and sand accumulated at the mouths of
great rivers, and driven, by the under-flow of the salt water, in the
direction contrary to the descending (lighter and therefore superior)
current of the fresh water, to great distances up the rivers. He has
thus examined the fine deposits of the Elbe up to eighty English
miles from its mouth; also of the beds and plains of the Weser, the
Ems, the Mersey, the Liffey, and the same must hold universally.
These districts, forming the rich soils of the great river valleys from
their mouths to a vast extent upwards and on each side, contain
immense quantities of marine animalcules, fresh and in all stages of
dissolution, which have most probably been killed by the mixing
of the fresh with the sea water. The proportion in mass of these
animal accumulations, near Hamburgh, is at least one-twentieth of
the soil.
It is thus proved, that millions of the acres which minister the
most largely to human sustenance, owe their fertility, not merely to
the washings of animal and vegetable matter from the higher grounds,
but to the large intermixture of once living beings, whose very existence is a recent discovery, which cannot be seen individually without
a high microscopical power, and which have formed, in even many of
the still existing species, immeasurable masses of earthy and rocky
matter, from the oolite, the chalk, and all through the tertiary periods,
countless ages before the creation of the race for which GOD was thus
providing. The same lesson is taught us by the unfathomably more
distant date of the coal formation, and the universal diffusion of lime
and iron. That great Being thus teaches us, that mere words of admiration are vapid and worthless, and that true piety is shewn in the
imitation of his beneficence.
The discoveries of unwearied microscopists have also established
another truth, the wide geographical range of many species. From
analogy, the same must be inferred of others; and not improbably the
conclusion may be extended to the whole class of Jlicrozoa. Conglomerations of them, accumulated undoubtedly through millennaw2




3294                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
ries, are ascertained to compose immense banks on the shores and
the bottoms of the seas; and these, when upheaved by geological
causes, have been solidified into mountains.  There is good reason
for the belief that all chalk, and we may add all other calcareous
masses, are nothing but the corpses and habitations of these infinitesimally minute creatures. This fact, with regard to other rocks which
had never been suspected to be any thing but mineral masses, has
been mentioned in these Lectures, p. 67.-I cite another excellent
authority.
"It is a remarkable fact, that Ehrenberg detected in the ch/alk and
chalk-marls from Oran in Africa, Caltanisetta in Sicily, and certain
parts of Greece, no less than fifty-seven species,.which are identical
with existing animalcules at Cuxhaven and other localities in the
North Sea; making good the opinion entertained by geologists, that,
in the higher classes of fossil organic remains, no representative exists
on the earth, but, in the lower, the identity of many species is perfectly established.-By the aid of the microscope, we have been
enabled to discover the universality of these creatures, for the same
are met with in the polar as are found in the tropical seas, and those
of both regions can be proved to have existed at the earliest dawn of
this world's existence."  [Mr. Quekett probably means the earliest
organic system of our planet.] " —A striking proof of the important
part which these minute organisms were created to perform in the
deposition of materials for the earth's surface, and how, by these
imperceptible agents, such gigantic consequences have resulted."
[These facts] "stamp upon reflecting minds that no creature, even
the most minute, is formed without special purposes; and that the
least in size of all, by [means of] the organization given to them by
the great Architect of the universe, have been employed to carry out
his unfathomable intentions." Mr. Edwin J. Quekett, in Lond.
Physiol. Journ. Feb. 1844, p. 145.
Connected with this subject is a striking exemplification of the
Divine prospective benignity in the constitution of nature.  It is, indeed, only one out of the instances innumerable which investigation
brings to light, to an extent ever augmenting even in the present
state;-how much more is reserved for the disclosures of the holy
heaven! I derive it from a valuable article in the Edinburgh Review, (Oct. 1847,) on Holland, its Rural Economy; p. 424.
C"L — In the waters of the river, but especially in those of the sea,
there exist vast numbers of minute microscopic animalcules, called
by Ehrenberg Infusorial.Animals; which are fitted to live, each class
in its own special element only, and which therefore die in myriads




SUPPLEMENTARTY NOTES.                  325
where the sweet and the salt waters mingle.  It is almost incredible,
-how densely the water is sometimes peopled by these creatures,
how rapidly they multiply, in what countless numbers they exist.
Their skeletons and envelopes, consisting of calcareous and siliceous
matter extracted from the water, are almost imperishable. They
commix with the mud of the river; and, w ith it, they come to form
the deposits of slime that fill up the channels, raise the growing
islands, or add to the belt of most fertile land which increases seaward where the waters are still. As the tide advances up its channel,
the waters of the river spread and flow over the surface; so that, far
up the stream, where the upper waters are still sweet, the salt or
brackish under-current carries the living things which float in it to
certain death, and leaves their bodies behind it to add to the accumulating mud. The extensive mutual surfaces of river and sea-water
which in this way are made to meet, insure a more rapid destruction
of infusorial life than could in almost any other way be brought
about.
"Experiment has shown that, as far up as the tide reaches, the socalled alluvial deposit in and along the channel of the river abounds
with the remains of these marine animalcules; while above the reach
of the tide none of them are to be found. In the Elbe they are seen
as far as eighty miles above its mouth. About Cuxhaven and Gluckstadt, which are nearly forty miles from the open sea, their siliceous
and calcareous skeletons form from -1 to -3 of the mass of the fresh
mud, exclusive of the sand; while, farther up the river, they amount
to about - of this quantity.  In the Rhine, the Scheldt, the Mlersey,
the Liffey, the Thames, the Forth, the Humber, and the Wash, the
same form of deposit goes on: so that, in the mouths of all tidal
rivers, there are to be superadded to the mechanical debris brought
down by the upper waters, the more rich and fertilizing animal spoils
which the sea thus wonderfully incorporates into the growing deltas
and the banks of rising mud.  And thus it is seen that river-islands
encroach upon the ocean, not merely in proportion to the solid matters held in suspension by the descending water, but in proportion
also to the richness of the sea in microscopic forms of life, and to
the volume of fresh water which the river can bring to mingle
with it."




326                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
[Gg.]
Referred to at page 85.
ON THIE PEBBLES.
IN the constitution of these common objects, the despised pebbles
of our plains and the shingle of our coasts, there is much that deserves attention.  They consist very extensively of the fragments of
the older rocks, chiefly the igneous, called primary; and these often
include distinct masses of very pure silex, both amorphous and crystallized, from which the detached and rolled fragments become pebbles of jasper and chalcedony. In many of these, and in the Flint
nodules which characterize the Upper Chalk, there are recondite
wonders, not only of deep intrinsic interest, but carrying us back to
the view of a degree of heat affecting the ancient surface of our globe,
so high as to be immensely beyond the capacity of the vegetables and
animals of the present creation ever to have sustained. That heat
must have been such as, combined with the pressure of an atmosphere, probably of carbonic acid gas, and that made heavier by enormous condensation, enabled the waters to hold in solution a quantity
of pure siliceous earth, so great as to have furnished the masses of
pebbles (chert, flint, jasper, and agate,) which so abound in many
countries. It has long been observed that many varieties of chalcedony (called moss-agates, mocha-stones, and perhaps by other names,)
shew substances imbedded and beautifully spread out, as if suspended
in a fluid, or like the finer sea-weeds (algae and conferve) as delicately
displayed in a lady's album or hortus siccus.  These, after making all
reasonable deduction for mineral infiltrations, are indubitably organized bodies; and which, with some exceptions from the insect tribes,
were referred to the Confervie, or other cryptogamic plants. See a
Memoir, with beautiful coloured plates, by the late Dr. Mac Culloch,
in the Geol. Transact. first series, vol. ii.
But the recent investigations of a distinguished Geologist and Microscopist, Mr. James Scott Bowerbank, have thrown a satisfactory
light upon the constitution of the many species and varieties of the
well-known substance Sponge, have established its claim to belong to
the animal kingdom, and have detected numerous instances of spongeous bodies, in the bfossil state, and always imbedded in flints, agates, or
other siliceous stones.  Now sponges (and in some degree other Porifera, as the Alcyoniums,) have in their internal'structure minute




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   327
aggregations of silica, generally in the shape of needles or darts, and
therefore called spicula. There is a manner of action, we presume
to call it a law, which may be named homogeneous attraction; the
result of which, in the waters of a former state of the globe, was that
these phytozoic bodies attracted around their own substance the silica
dissolved in the hot waters, bringing it more or less gradually, and
often it would appear most rapidly, into the solid state; in these
masses they themselves being enclosed. This subject has been illustrated by Mr. Bowerbank, in various Memoirs, published in the
Geological and Microscopical Societies' Transactions and Proceedings, the.Annals and JMagazine of JVatural History, and the Jicroscopical Journal; in the years 18441 and 1842, and subsequently.
The inference to Geological theory from these facts is a strengthening of the general argument for believing in a high antiquity of the
earth; from its having existed and been the abode of organized
creatures, whilst it was under conditions incompatible with the life of
its present inhabitants.
A similar fact we have which, though not bearing in the same way
on the estimate of past time, is highly interesting as a proof of the
abundant solution of silica, in the heated waters of a former terrestrial
condition.  This is the Marquis of Northampton's discovery of microscopic shells of the nautilaceous family, in the heart of flint-pebbles.
See the preceding Note.
[H.]
ReJerred to at page 91.
ON ANCIENT GLACIERS AND THEIR EFFECTS.
AT the time when the second edition of this book was published,
Dr. Lewis Agassiz was exploring the northern mountains and valleys
of our island, and applying the hypothesis which he had built upon the
foundations of MM. Venetz and De Charpentier, of the presence of
extensive glaciers, and their action in glazing and marking the surfaces of rocks, and in the transport and arranged deposition of pebbles, bowlders, and masses of stone retaining the edges and angles,
thus shewing that they had not been much if at all rolled. He detailed many of his observations and opinions to the Geological Section
of the British Association, at Glasgow, in September 1840. Similar
communications he also made to the Geological Society of London.




328                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
In the same year he extended his laborious researches, aided and in
great part accompanied by Dr. Buckland, Mr. Lyell, Mr. Charles
Maclaren, and other eminent Geologists, in Scotland, the north of
England, and some parts of Ireland; applying the principles which
he had derived from the study of his native Alps. In the autumn he
published at Neuchatel his interesting work, Etudes sur les Glaciers;
with an Atlas of magnificent plates, executed with rigid accuracy as
well as beauty. Most or all of our great authorities gave their approbation to his theory, to some extent; on the degree however of
that extent, they varied. All viewed their frank and pleasing visitor
with honour and esteem; all admired his extensive and minute
knowledge, his indefatigable laboriousness, his prompt and lively
talents in communication, and his ability in supporting his doctrines.
Without presumption, I trust, it may be said that those doctrines and
their application will stand the test of time to a considerable extent,
but not so far as the distinguished man carries them. Many rocksurfaces, polished, scored, or grooved, and many arcuated aggregations of travelled stones, are well proved to be in such conditions as
authorize the belief, that glaciers had formerly existed in the higher
latitudes of the British Isles, producing similar results to those now
observed in the Alps; and that an elevation of climatic temperature,
immediately preceding the creation of the present tribes of nature,
obliterated the cause and left us the effects.
A chief temptation of accomplished yet sanguine minds is the
pushing too far of a good principle: and this temptation finds scarcely
any where more scope and occasion than in relation to Geology. It
can scarcely be doubted that Agassiz has rested too much upon the
simple glacial action, the dry movement; and has not sufficiently
introduced the evidences of the same action urged by torrents and
tides. The principal Geologists of the continent, including Switzerland, have the most severely impugned this theory: and, in our
country and America, its claims are a good deal limited; yet with
great liberality to its talented advocate.
Mr. Charles Maclaren of Edinburgh is the author of a compendious
summary of Dr. Agassiz's volume and his other communications on
this subject: The Glacial Thleory of Prof. dgassiz;-being an Outline of the Facts and sArguments adduced by him to prove that a Sheet
of Ice enveloped the JVorthern Parts of the Globe at a recent Geological
Epoch. Edinb. 1841. But this small treatise is not a mere analysis
or abridgment of the Etudes; it contains judicious observations upon
the theory, and a testing application of it to geological phenomena in
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. The author observes, " These very




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   329
original and ingenious speculations of Professor Agassiz must be held
for the present to be under trial. They have been deduced from a
limited number of facts, observed by himself and others, and skilfully
generalized; but they cannot be considered as fully established till
they have been brought to the test of observation in distant parts of
the world, and under a great variety of circumstances. Supposing
the theory to be substantially sound, the magnitude of the consequences it involves will undoubtedly bring objections to light, which
may render modifications necessary, both in its principles and its details. In the mean time, it assists us in resolving some difficulties.
It contributes, in a greater or less extent, to explain the dispersion of
erratic blocks, the bizarre situations they occasionally occupy, the
banks of clay and gravel found on the sides and at the mouths of
valleys, the strice, polishing, and grooving, observed on the surface of
rocks in situ, and of large stones in the till" [a Scottish term for
superficial deposits of clay, sand, and gravel;] " and it promises to
throw light on what is at present a very obscure subject, the origin of
the older and new alluvium." Page 38.
Professor Hitchcock urges the necessity of taking a larger account
of aqueous power, and judges it " extremely probable that all the
phenomena of what has been called Diluvial Action, are the result of
the joint agency of ice and water; the water resulting from the
melting of the ice."  Elementary Geology, sec. ed. p. 192.
More recently, Dr. Hitchcock says-" It will need important modifications-I doubt whether any one [of the American Geologists] is
ready to adopt the unmodified glacier theory of Agassiz; although
doubtless many will admire the ingenuity and indomitable perseverance of that distinguished naturalist, and thank him for the great
light which his labours have cast upon the phenomena of drift. dsmer.
Journ. of Science; Oct. 1842, page 398.
All must regard Mr. Murchison as peculiarly qualified to hold the
balances, and mark the preponderance of argument, on any geological
question. In addition to his great attainments in geological knowledge, his tact in judging of facts and opinions, and his practical skill
in exploring and observing, he has, in the two years 1840 and 1841,
travelled over large tracts in the northern part of the Russian Empire,
both European and Asiatic, employing his practised eye and patience,
expressly for the advancement of this branch of natural science. In
his Discourse as President of the Geological Society, delivered February 18, 1842, he has discussed the Glacial Theory at considerable
length. I select a few extracts, the briefest possible in consistence
with the requisite perspicuity.




330                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
" - The Glacier Theory, as extended by its author, in proving too
much, may be said to destroy itself. Let it be limited to such effects
as are fairly deducible from the Alpine phenomena so clearly described by Agassiz, and we must admire in it a vera causa of exceeding interest. But, once pass the bounds of legitimate induction from
that vera causa, and try to force the many and highly diversified
superficial pheenomena of the surface of the globe into direct agreement with evidences of the action of ice under the atmosphere;
and you will be driven forward, like the ingenious author of the
theory, so to apply it to vast tracts of the globe, as, in the end, to
conduct you to the belief that not only both the northern and southern
hemispheres, but even quasi tropical regions, were shut up during a
long period in an icy mantle."-   [Unless framing hypothesis upon
hypothesis,] "we also build up former mountains of infinitely greater
altitude than any which now exist, we have no adequate centres for
the construction of the enormous glaciers which imagination must
create in many regions to account for the phenomena.-The observations of M. B6htling-(a young Russian naturalist of great promise,
but, alas! prematurely carried to the grave,-) give the —result, upon
a very grand scale-in the Northern territories of Russia; —that the
Scandinavian mountains, as a whole, had produced exactly the same
detrital result as the Alps, having poured off their detritus in all
directions from a common centre, the northern chain differing only
from that of central Europe by the much wider range to which its
blocks and boulders were transmitted.
"My own belief-[is]-that by far the greatest quantity of
boulders, gravel, and clay distributed over our plains, and occupying
the sides of our estuaries and river banks, was accumulated beneath
the waters of former days. Throughout large tracts of England, we
can demonstrate this to have been the case, by the collocation of
marine shells of existing species with far-transported materials.Wide researches, during the last two years, have strongly confirmed
[these] my early views.
-- Dr. Buckland abandons, to a great extent, the theory of
Agassiz, and admits fully the effects of water as well as of ice, to
account for many of the long disputed phenomena.
"-   We cannot quit the glacial subject without avowing our
obligations to Venetz, Charpentier, and Agassiz, and above all to the
last, for having brought the agency of ice more directly into consideration as a vera causa, to explain many phenomena on the surface.He was the first person who roused our attention to the effects produced by the bottom of an advancing glacier: and, if geologists




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   331
should eventually be led to believe that certain parallel scratches and
strice on the rocks were, in some instances, due to glaciers moving
overland, but in many other cases were produced by icebergs, we
must remember that the fertile mind of Agassiz has afforded us the
chief means of experimentally solving the problem."
In the Edinburgh Review, No. 151, April 184~2, is an article which
enters both comprehensively and deeply into this subject, and discusses it with consummate ability. It carries strong presumptive evidence of having proceeded from Professor Forbes. Though published
after the delivery of Mr. Murchison's Presidential Address, it was
probably written before it, and certainly without any knowledge of
the contents of that Address. It will richly reward the being diligently studied. Its concluding paragraph is,-" To maintain the
Glacier Theory still requires some confidence, some courage.  We
have not dissembled its difficulties. But, by presenting it as we have
endeavoured to view it, with unprejudiced eyes, as fully entitled to
rank among geologicalprobabilities, we place it on its most defensible
ground, and we venture to predict, at least abroad, a speedy reaction
in its favour. Its evidences are such as must be seen, and carefully
studied without prejudice, in order to be appreciated; and such evidences, though often required to be sought for, and difficultly to be
found, are not less conclusive when attained. We have constructed
a formidable panoply out of the missiles of its adversaries:-will they
not yield to their own weapons. If they pronounce the theory imperfect, we acknowledge it; but we may safely challenge them to
produce a better or less improbable one, from amongst those already
proposed. If they have a new one, we are ready to consider it."
Yet the arguments, objections, replies, and renewed examinations,
on this fruitful subject, are not exhausted. Ample and able disquisitions have been published during the years 1841 and 1842, in the
Proceedings and Transactions of the Geological Society, the Philosophical Magazine, the Bibliotheque Universelle of Geneva, other French
and German scientific journals, and the Edinburgh New Philosophical
Journal, by Professor Agassiz himself, the late Mr. Bowman, Sir
George Mackenzie, Mr. Darwin, Professor Brown, Professor Forbes,
and others. The general result seems to be, that the Glacier Theory
cannot be accepted to the extent for which Agassiz pleads; and that,
besides other modifications, floating icebergs must be regarded as, no
less than the sliding of glaciers on dry land, essential to the solution
of the interesting and complicated problem.
The subject was discussed at great length, at the Third Annual
Meeting of the Association of American Geologists and Naturalists,




332                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
April 25 to 30, 1842, at Boston; upon papers by Prof. Hitchcock,
and Mr. Couthouy, and in the oral communications of Mr. Lyell
(whose scientific zeal and liberality has led him to cross the Atlantic,
and devote a year and a half to the geological exploration of large
districts in the United States, thus accomplishing the wish expressed
with no less ardour than judgment in one of our national periodicals,
Edinb. Rev. vol. lxix. p. 440), Professors Silliman and H. D. Rogers,
and others.
The prevalent opinion appeared to be favourable to the course of
sentiment above cited from Mr. Murchison; with which however it
was scarcely possible that the writers and speakers could be acquainted.
[I.]
Referred to at page 102.
PROGRESS OF CHRISTIAN PIETY IN THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT OF
THE PUY DE DONE.
As the design of these Lectures is to serve the highest interests of
mankind, I need no apology for introducing some parts of a letter,
which has appeared in some of the public papers of London and Paris.
The writer was a well known and highly respected clergyman of the
English Church, who died lately (January, 1844). His veracity is
unquestionable, and his narrative cannot fail to give pleasure so those
who are the best friends'of mankind and sincere disciples of Christ.
"Amongst the hills of Auvergne and in the Department of the
Puy de Dome, is situated the town of Thiers. It is celebrated for its
picturesque position, being planted on the steep declivities of rocks
and mountains, which are adorned with chesnut-trees, walnuts, oaks,
and other striking ornaments of the forest. In front, and at no great
distance, is the pyramidal Puy de Dome, with the whole chain of
mountains of Mont d'Or and the Cantal; beneath them is the beautiful plain of Clermont, with the silver stream of the Dore winding its
way through the midst, and all around the rugged peaks and deep
dark mountain ravines stand in striking contrast with sloping hills
clothed with vines and corn-fields. The population of this town,
computed at 15,000, is almost entirely employed in the manufacture
of cutlery. One universal sound, the hammer clinking on the anvil,
and the file rasping on the vice, continually strikes the ear in every




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     333
street, and no other noise has disturbed, from time immemorial, the
dull uniformity of Thiers. During the terrible convulsions of the
Revolution and the Empire, this place, indeed, as all others in France,
had to deplore its youth sacrificed in foreign fields; and the monotony
of human life was then arrested by the news of some falling by tile
lake of Mantua, others at the walls of Saragossa, and others on the
plains of Germany.* But the regrets of such calamities have long
since ceased to agitate the hearts of survivors, and nothing seems to
occupy attention but to partake of food, to labour for its acquisition,
and to die. About two years ago, however, the quiet of the scene
was disturbed by a most novel occurrence. The report was circulated,'There are Protestants arrived at Thiers; they are selling
Bibles; they are praying, reading, conversing at the Boullet.' This
intelligence acted like an electric shock on the somnolent population.
Out rushed no less, it is asserted, than 2000 persons towards the
place, where one of the colporteurs of the Geneva Society was explaining in his simple manner the great truths of the Gospel. So
furious was the mob, such their threats their gesticulations, and their
spirit, that the most serious consequences were apprehended. Not
only had the colporteur to escape with the utmost haste by a way
removed from the tumult, but even the commissaire de police and the
gens d'armes had to interfere most promptly to prevent evil. The
riot of this day will ever be a memorable fact in the history of Thiers!
"It might have been supposed that truth, meeting with such opposition on its first arrival, would have retired in dismay from the whole
region; but such an opinion would have been most erroneous. It has
pleased the God of mercy to pour out his Holy Spirit so remarkably
on this place, that a considerable number of persons are not only
reading with attention the Holy Scriptures, and affording good hopes
of eventual conversion, but an infant church of Protestant Christians
has been already formed; and at the first sacrament, no less than
twenty-seven persons, all of them, in the judgment of charity, sincerely seeking eternal salvation, were partakers.
"I have been residing in the midst of this little flock about a fortnight, and I am deeply affected with admiration at the work of divine
grace which is here exhibited. Eighteen months ago the very name
of Protestant was scarcely known in the neighbourhood, no right
views of Christ and his salvation were in existence, the grossest superstitions of popery and the most reckless infidelity divided the
territory between them; in short, a moral midnight brooded over the
" It is positively asserted, that no less than 150 young men, belonging to a single
and small quarter of the town, perished in ten or fifteen years."




334                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
whole population: now a religious impression has been produced of
the most extensive character; not a family, perhaps, can be found,
which has not conversed, and thought, and felt, either favourably or
unfavourably, on this great subject. Up to this hour the Protestant
labours are the theme of universal and perpetual conversation. To
my own observation, the twenty-seven communicants above mentioned, and several others, have been' brought from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God;' and it is known to God
alone how far eventually the blessings of the Gospel will be diffused
in this region.'" It is most interesting to mark the new converts, to observe their
diligent study of the Bible, some of them even in old age beginning
to read, that they may peruse the sacred pages; to listen to them
singing delightfully the praises of God, in the beautiful hymns and
tunes of our Geneva brethren; to hear with what simplicity and
unction they lead the prayers of the congregation when invited to do
so; and, above all, to notice that'where sin abounded, grace doth
much more abound.' The habitual deportment of the converts is
highly consistent; the world cannot reproach them with ill-conduct;
some of their number, who had been notorious for drunkenness and
other sins, are now eminent examples of temperance and holiness;
and' the peace of God which passeth all understanding,' reigns over
the whole Church. I was exceedingly struck with the expression of
countenance of many persons amongst them. There is a calm, solid
happiness portrayed on their features, which no principle, no ideas,
no events, however prosperous in life, nothing but the assurance of
eternal glory, through the sacrifice of Christ our Redeemer, could
ever produce.
" JOHN HARTLEY."
"T/tiers, Puty de Dome, Autgust 5th, 1839."
[K.]
Referred to at page 106.
AN objection to these reasonings from the extinct volcanoes of
Auvergne has been advanced in the Quarterly Review, vol. lxxiv.
p. 295; 1844. It is grounded upon one of the numerous Epistles of
Caius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius (the correct order of his names,
often mistaken), who was Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne, from




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    335
472 to 4&87. In that epistle, addressed to Mamertus, the Bishop of
Vienne, he describes phenomena which had taken place, some fifteen
years previously. Allusions also are adduced from one of the homilies of Avitus, the successor of Mamertus, of which the date is about
another fifteen years later. From those writers are drawn accounts
evidently exaggerated of terrifying prodigies driving the inhabitants
out of the city of Vienne, noises underground, eartlhquakes, and fires
bursting out, buildings thrown down, and their ruins covered with a
mountainous mass of ashes, animals fleeing into the city for protection,
combined with the efficacy of relics and the bishop's saintly presence
and processions, as affording preservation and deliverance. Now, be
it observed that Vienne is a hundred miles from  the extinct volcanoes; that Sidonius says not a word about that region, his own residence; that he is a remarkably extravagant and bombastic writer,
strongly inclined to turn the poetical into the historical (-he represents Homer as an historian,-G. J. Fossius de Histor. Latin. 1651,
p. 515:-) and that he, Mamertus, and Avitus were credulous devotees of superstition. Hence, we could not rely upIon the accuracy
of his statements, if even they did refer to the tract of country in
question; and we are compelled to regard his testimony as irrelevant.
Mr. Lyell has examined these allegations, with his characteristic
acuteness and fairness, in a lecture at the Royal Institution in April
last; and he adds, —" Although the epistle proves Sidonius to have
had a fair share of the credulity of his age, in respect to both miracles wrought in favour of a contemporary saint and the efficacy of
relics, it would be unfair to charge him with a belief in the occurrence
of a volcanic eruption at or near the site of the city of Vienne, which
the investigation of the ablest government surveyors, to whom the
construction of a Geological Map of France has been intrusted, has
entirely disproved. There are, in fact, no monuments of volcanoes,
ancient or modern, in Dauphiny," [Mr. L. must include the Viennois;] " and, if there had been, they would not throw light on the
date of the eruptions in Auvergne." Reported in the Atheneoum,
May 15, 1847. My readers will study the article with great advantage. They will find much further evidence of the antiquity of the
Auvergne volcanoes, an antiquity immeasurable when compared with
our historical periods, yet small in its relation to the anterior geological formations.




336                      SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.
[L.]
Referred to at pages 1 12 and 202.
ON THE LONGEVITY OF TREES.
THIS is a subject of great interest.  There  are species which, in
this respect, strongly attract our attention.  The tree, called in our
version an oak, but we have-reason to believe that it was the terebinth,* under which Joshua deposited the ratification of the covenant
made by his countrymen, was probably the very tree made memorable
by events in the life of Abraham and that of Jacob. Our English
oak attains to the age of a thousand years, and instances have been
ascertained of one thousand five hundred.t To the yew more than
two thousand, even above three thousand years are on good grounds
attributed.t But there are other trees possessing a higher longevity,
and individuals of which have been ascertained to go back from  our
times to dates long prior to the Noachian deluge.  Of the Baobab
(.ddansonia digitata,) a tree of stupendous magnitude~ growing in
*Pistacia terebinthus; elon, unhappily rendered plain in Gen. xii. 6, and other
places.
t Prof. Henslow's Princip. of -Descr. and Physiol. Botany; p. 248: 1835.
Ilb. p. 245; and a paper, by the lamented John Eddowes Bowman, Esq. (who died,
after three days' illness occasioned by inadvertent exposure to cold, Dec. 4, 1841,) on the
Yew, in Charlesworth's Milagazine for 1837; in which the admirable methods of obtaining sections for determining the age of trees, without injuring them materially, are
clearly described. That paper was read, in an abridged form, at the meeting of the British Association at Bristol, August 1836; where it excited great interest.-With regard to
the application of the trephine-saw to such tree-trunks as those here mentioned, it may
be apprehended that to penetrate to the heart, 14 or 15 feet, and to extract the cylinder,
are hopelessly beyond the power of art. I reply, that the ingenuity of British engineers
has overcome greater apparent difficulties than these; and that a cylinder of 12 inches,
should none longer be obtained, would supply very good data for a safe inference, considering the other known parts of the case.
~ Called by Dr. Lindley, " the largest tree in the world;-the trunk has been found
with a diameter of 30 feet." NLat. Syst. Bot. sec. ed p. 94. The traveller M. Russeger, in the interior of Africa, as far as 10~ N. L., saw " Adansonias measuring 56 feet in
circumference,-exciting the astonishment of the beholder."  Charlesworth's Mag.
2Nat. Hist. Feb. 1838, p. 108. Second ed. " The first account of this tree occurs in Cadamosto's Travels (Ramusio, col. 1, f. 118, 6,) to this purport. The Venetian navigator,
Cadamosto, by command of the Portuguese Prince Henry in 1456, visited the Cape Verd
Islands and the western coast of Africa. There he discovered the monstrous Baobab,
whose trunk was 17 ells [about 30 English feet] in diameter. Adanson (Familles des
Plantes, tome i. p. 216,) estimates the age of this tree upon a ground which does not appear perfectly secure, since he fancied that there were letters cut in the bark which indicated the 14th century; whereas those regions had not been visited at that time. [This is
not absolutely certain; some Genoese or other vessel might have been driven so far to




SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.                             337
Senegal and other parts of Africa within the tropics,-one specimen
has been subjected to the process which scientific men of the first
ability have invented, and the age has been brought out to be 5232
years, and there is every reason to expect many centuries of further
life to this tree and its congenerates. A still higher antiquity is
claimed for the Taxodium  (Cypressus disticha), an American tree,
which attains the height of seventy feet and a circumference of thirty.
It is stated by Professor Henslow to possess a longevity of 4000 to
about 6000 years.  One now  growing  in  the  churchyard  of Santa
Maria de Tesla, near Oaxaca in Mexico, and which was observed as
a tree of wondrous magnitude by the Spanish conquerors of that
country, is affirmed by M. De Candolle to " go back certainly to the
origin of the present state of the world; an epoch," he says, "of
which it is the most indisputable monument."* With regard to the
period that has flowed since the creation of man, the christian world
generally consents to use Archbishop Usher's system, because to
depart from  it would perplex us in our ordinary reading; yet most
educated men are aware that the evidence runs in favour of a longer
period. Perhaps no man has laboured on this subject with greater
assiduity than the late Dr. Wm. Hales, in his Analysis of Ancient
Chronology.  According to him, we are now in the 7250th year from
the creation; and the 4994th from the deluge.
Now the physical argument is, that the flood could not be universal, because these trees exhibit an age which, for the Baobab, goes
the south, and its crew never return, from being wrecked.] But it is the fact that he ascertained one of these trees to be the individual which Thevet observed in 1555; and it
was 6 feet in diameter. Now Adanson calculates that this tree must have been, in Thevet's time, from 3 to 4 feet in diameter, and that consequently the increase in 200 years
must have been from 2 to 3 feet. Hence he reasons that a tree of this species would acquire a diameter of 10 feet in 550 years; in 1050, 14 feet; in 2800, 20 feet; and 30 feet in
5150 years. As there are now trees of 27 feet in diameter, they must have an age of
4280 years.-Of this tree we know only one species, [called by the natives] the Baobab,
or Ape's bread tree; or [the appellation very properly given by Europeans,] Adansonia
digitata. It is the stoutest tree in the world, though it has not a very remarkable height.
Its diameter is 25 to 27 feet. Adanson saw some which were from 75 to 78 feet in circumference. Barrow [Sir John?] saw a specimen at St. Jago, 56 feet in circumference
and 80 feet high. The magnitude of the tree is effected not so much by the trunk as by
the branches, for they grow to be 50 or 60 feet in length. In their spreading around they
bend towards the earth, and so each tree forms a wood, or a monstrous foliage, of 150
feet in diameter. The usual height is 60 to 70 feet." Sprengel, Prof. Bot. at IHalle, cited
in Ersch and Grube's Encyclop. Leipz. 1818.
* " II remonte certainement a l'origine du monde actuel. C'est le monument le plus
irrecusable d'une epoque sur laquelle l'opinion des savans n'est pas entigrement fixee."
Bibliothequse Unziverselle; Sciences; Geneva, vol. xlvi. p. 393; 1831. He probably alludes to the difficulties of Chronology, arising from the discrepancies of the Hebrew text,
the Samaritan, the Septuagint, Josephus, &e.
X




338                    SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
upon the common chronology to 1045 years before the date of the
deluge; and, according to Hales, to 238 years: and, for the Taxodium, each of these numbers is increased by some centuries.
Will it be contended that these trees might live, submersed in
water for near 300 days. Certainly it is impossible to try the experiment: but all analogy, all physiological reasoning from the functions
of vegetable life, decide in the negative, and determine that elephants
and oxen and men might live so long under water, almost as well as
dicotyledonous trees.
Mr. Rhind meets the argument by questioning its premises. He
affirms that, " in tropical regions, some dicotyledonous plants never
shew indications of annular circles at all, while many have them
very irregular; while it is far from improbable that some species may
produce more than one woody circle in a year."*-The assertion,
upon irregularity, is indeed true; but in such a manner as rather to
bear against Mr. R.'s conclusion; for, when irregularity exists, it is
in the way of weakness and deficiency.  In a feeble tree or an unfavourable season, a layer may be unusually thin and even with difficulty discernible: so that, in careful counting, a ring or two might
be omitted, diminishing the estimate by so many years.
The late Mr. De Candolle, whom all revere as one of the princes
of Botanical science,t has expressed himself upon this point in the
clearest and strongest manner. He shews at considerable length that
there is not a law of nature on whose invariable validity we may with
greater confidence rely, than in this instance. All that is wanted is
ability and care in making the observation. Any variations that may
occur are in the earliest stages of growth; afterwards the greatest
regularity is established as to number of layers, though extraordinary
t Age of the Ezarth; p. 120.
t Third ed. This eminent naturalist, distinguished for his benevolence and his amiable delight in communicating, especially to young inquirers, out of the rich stores of his
knowledge, died on Sept. 9, 1841, aged 64. As a memorial of justice, and an excitement to imitation, I transcribe a part of Dr. Roget's eulogy. "The activity and powers
of De Candolle's mind were displayed in a multitude of objects of public utility, the
furtherance of which ever called forth in him the most lively interest; whether it was
the improvement of Agriculture, the cultivation of the Fine Arts, the advancement of
Public Instruction, the diffusion of Education, or amelioration of the Legislative Code.
Feeling deeply of what vast importance to the welfare of mankind it is, that sound
principles of Political Economy should be extensively promulgated and well understood
by all ranks of men, De Candolle never failed to develope and enforce those principles,
in his lectures and popular discourses, as well as in his official Agricultural Reports. On
these subjects, and especially with respect to the immense advantages which would accrue to the community from the qurestricted freedom of commerce, his views were those
of the most enlightened policy, and exhibited a sagacity in advance of the times in
which he lived." Address to the Royal Society, Nov. 30, 1841.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                      339
coldness or dryness of a season prevents the usual degree of thickness
in the formation of the layer for that year.* In young trees the
liability to error leads to an excess of calculation, but the tendency
is the reverse in the more advanced stages of growth.
Sec. ed. It is incumbent on me to state that the late Sir J. E.
Smith objected to some part of this reasoning; and that Dr. Lindley
has written upon it the following important passage.
" Each zone of the vascular system of an exogenous stem being the
result of a single year's growth, it should follow that, to count the
zones apparent in a transverse section is sufficient to determine the
age of the individual under examination; and further that, as there
is not much difference in the average depth of the zones in very old
trees, a certain rate of growth being ascertained to be peculiar to
particular species, the examination of a mere fragment of a tree, the
diameter of which is known, should suffice to enable the botanist to
judge with considerable accuracy of the age of the individual to
which it belonged. It is true, indeed, that the zones become less and
less deep as a tree advances in age; that, in cold seasons, or after
transplantation, or in consequence of any causes that may have impeded its growth, the formation of wood is so imperfect as scarcely to
form a perceptible zone: yet De Candolle has endeavoured to show
in an able paper Sur la Long6vitM des drbres, that the general accuracy of calculations is not much affected by such accidents, occasional interruptions to growth being scarcely appreciable in the
average of many years. This is possibly true in European trees,
and in those of other cold or temperate regions in which the seasons
are distinctly marked. In such, the zones are not only separated
with tolerable precision, but do not vary much in annual dimensions.
But, in many hot countries, the difference between the growing season, and that of rest, if any occur, is so small that the zones are as
it were confounded, and the observer finds himself incapable of distinguishing with exactness the formation of one year from  that of
another.  In the wood of Guaiacum, Phlomis fruticosa, Metrosiderus
polymorpha, and many other Myrtaceme, for instance, the zones are
extremely indistinct: in some Bauhinias, they are formed with great
irregularity: and in Stauntonia latifolia, some kinds of Ficus, certain species of Aristolochia (as A. labiosa,) and many other plants,
Biblioth. Univ. Scie2ces; vol. xlvii. p. 49, &c. 1831. Mr. Darwin records his own
observation confirmatory of this fact. Voyages of tihe Adventure anzd Beagle, vol. iii.
p. 157. Mr. Babbage has also given us an instructive example of reasoning upon our
very subject, from this law of the vegetable economy, in his T2inztl Bridgeewater Treatise, p. 256 —264.
x2




340                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
they are so confounded that there is not the slightest trace of annual
separation. It is also to be remarked, that in Zamias we seldom find
more than two or three zones of wood, whatever may be the age of
the individual; and yet it appears from Eckton's observations, that
a zamia with a trunk only four or five feet high can scarcely be less
than 200 or 300 years old.*
c" Aith regard to judging of the age of a tree by the inspection of
a fragment, the diameter of the stem being known, a little reflection
will show that this is to be done with great caution, and that it is
liable to excessive error. If, indeed, the zones upon both sides of a
tree were always of the same or nearly the same thickness, much
error would not perhaps attend such an investigation. But it happens
that, from various causes, there is often a great difference between
the growth of the two sides; and consequently that a fragment taken
from either side must necessarily lead to the falsest inferences. [Prof.
Lindley then gives examples.]~        When we hear of the Baobab
trees of Senegal being 5150 years old as computed by Adanson; and
the Taxodium distichum still more aged, according to the ingenious
calculations of Alphonse (?) De Candolle; it is impossible to avoid
suspecting that some such error as that just explained has vitiated
their conclusions." Introd. to Botany; p. 94-96. Third ed. 1839.
It would be absurdly presumptuous in me to maintain with positiveness any opinion upon a question which thus divides the most
profoundly scientific Botanists in the world. I may however acknowledge myself unable to perceive that the suspicion just mentioned is
unavoidable.  The vast size and structure of the trees referred to
would seem likely to protect them completely from atmospheric or
any other external causes, by which weakness or material irregularity
could be induced so as to affect the woody deposits on one side of the
trunk more than on the opposite. It appears also, from Dr. Lindley's
statements, that, though the liability to error may run in either direction, yet that the incompleteness of the data is far more likely to
affect the result by bringing out too short a period than one that exceeds the reality.
But, in this age of universal exertion, it must be hoped that some
of the many scientific travellers, who are labouring for the service of
mankind, will set about the determining of this question, by the best
possible examination of the trees, in their places of growth. To saw
one through, or to cut it down, manual labour would be ineffectual;
* " According to Decaisne (Comptes Rendeus, v. 393,) the zones of wood, in Menispermacece, each result from the growth of several years."




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   341
and it may be long before the requisite European machinery will be
transported into those regions. But it is not too sanguine to expect,
that Mr. Bowman's method of taking out cylinders on opposite sides
of the tree, by means of a circular saw like a surgeon's trephine, will
be applied; and this will give results so complete that it would be
idle scepticism to doubt them.
It should also be observed, that Mr. Bowman, after many observations and experiments, arrived at a general conclusion that Nli. de
Candolle's calculations tended, and would even of necessity operate,
to make old trees seem younger than they really are; and consequently, in the cases before us, to bring out a result short of the truth.
Thlird ed. Since the publication of the former editions, a work has
commenced, anonymous indeed, but bearing in a very high degree the
indications of accurate knowledge, independent research, and fine
judgment; the Popular Cyclopcedia of NJatural Science. Its plan
comprehends the most important branches of Natural History, and to
a certain extent Natural Philosophy, and it will have the advantage
of proceeding all from one mind. Two volumes, in small octavo, are
published; the first on Vegetable Physiology, 1841; the second on
Systenzatic Botany, 1842. It is greatly to be desired that the remaining parts of the series should be given to the world as speedily
as may consist with the sustaining of its manifest superiority. In the
first of those volumes a passage occurs which I feel it a duty to cite,
not only as a step leading to further knowledge, but as due in justice
to Mr. Rhind; see page 338.
"There are some trees of tropical climates, which completely lose
their leaves two or three times in every year, appearing as bare as in
winter; and these are speedily replaced by a new crop. It is probable
(though it has not been certainly ascertained) that, in such trees, a
new woody layer would be formed by every crop of leaves." Vol. i.
p. 189.
Upon this subject, seeking information where I believed it might
most safely be had, I applied to a friend in whose researches and
ability of judgment I could place full confidence, Dr. William B.
Carpenter, the author, besides many valuable contributions to medical
science, of two works which confer singular advantage upon the student; The Principles of General and Comparative Physiology, 1841;
and Thie Principles of Human Physiology, 1842.
To my application Dr. Carpenter courteously replied:-" In regard
to the question you put to me, I have much pleasure in stating my
opinion.    All our knowledge of the formation of wood leads us to
refer it to an action of the leaves; and we know that, when a tree




342                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
loses its leaves, the formation is checked. In this country, we find
one new layer added every year; and this corresponds with the annual
renewal of the leaves. I am not aware of any evidence which leads
to the belief that the layers are annual in themselves: all that we can
say is, that they are so in those trees of which the renewal of the
leaves is annual. Now, that many trees renew their leaves two or
even three times a year in tropical climates, is a fact which I have
myself ascertained by inquiry in the West Indies, where I spent a
few months some years ago. I saw a tamarind tree come out into full
leaf, within six weeks after it had been entirely bared by the deciduation of the previous crop; and I was told that this happened three
times in a year, or five times in two years. Now I cannot myself
imagine but that the interruption must have been marked in the stem
by a distinct line, in each of these instances.-I have in my possession sections of wood, of this country, in which a very thin ring intervenes between the ordinary annual layers; a ring so thin that no
degree of unfavourableness of the season could account for it, supposing it to be of a year's growth." [Dr. Carpenter alludes to the
phanomenon occasionally observed in this country, in a mild winter,
especially after a remarkably dry summer, that some trees put forth
leaves and blossoms, and bear fruit, though not well ripened. Usually,
in such cases, the powers of the tree exhibit signs of exhaustion in
the following year.-]'" For the word years, in the ordinary statement, I should be inclined to read epochs of vegetation."  July 26,
1841.
Yet I cannot but question whether the hard-wooded trees, of which
remarkable species exist in hot climates, do not, in the periods of
leafing, form exceptions to the rule of my accomplished friend.
Few of those who may read this book can consult the Genevese
periodical work, La Bibliothezque Universelle; and therefore I do not
hesitate to conclude this Note with another citation from A. P. De
Candolle's papers.
"I have reason to believe that there now exist in our countries, [Switzerland, France, England, &c.] oaks of fifteen to sixteen
centuries old. - Of all European trees, the yew appears to me to be
that which attains the greatest age.  [-Examples are given whence
the author concludes that, through its first period of 150 years, the
yew increases a little more than a line, i. e. one-tenth of an inch, a
year, and, in the next period of 100 years, a little less than a line.-]
If then, for very old yews, we take the mean of one line a year, it is
probable that we are below the truth, and that, in reckoning the
number of their years of age as equal to that of their lines of diame



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    343
ter, we make them younger than they are. Now I have become
acquainted with the measurements of four celebrated yews in England. That of Fountain Abbey, near Ripon in Yorkshire, of which
we have historical notices in 1133, was, according to Pennant, in
1770, 1214 lines in diameter, which will give above twelve hundred
years of age. That in the churchyard of Crowhurst, Surrey, is
stated by Evelyn, in 1660, to be 1287 lines of diameter. If still standing, as I am informed it is, the age will be fourteen centuries and a
half. That of Fotheringall in Scotland had, in 1770, a diameter of
2588 lines, and its age is consequently 25 to 26 centuries. That in
the churchyard of Braburn in Kent had, in 1660, a diameter of 2880
lines; if then it be still in existence, it must have reached three thousand years.
"    I [am anxious to] call the attention of travellers to the massive trees which have very hard wood; such as the Mahogany, which
commonly attains to seven feet in diameter; the Courbaril of the
Antilles, said to reach twenty feet of diameter, and which is so hard that
we must admit of an extreme slowness in its growth; the different
kinds of trees known under the name of iron-wood;    &c.-   But
above all, I would recommend the verification of the accounts of the
Taxodium (Cupressus disticha of Linnmeus) of Mexico. Is this vast
tree of Chapultepec, which is said to attain a circumference of 117
feet and ten inches, really one tree, or a union of several  — I
earnestly recommend a new examination of this gigantic tree, perhaps
the most ancient vegetable on the globe.    "  Biblioth. Univ.
Sciences; vol. xlvii. p. 65-67.
In The Phytologist for January 1843, is an interesting account of
the sidansonia, embodying almost all the existing information concerning it, by Mr. George Luxford: with a strikingly picturesque
figure of the tree, and figures of its leaves, flowers, and fruits.  The
Phytologist and its companion the Zoologist are publications both very
cheap and highly valuable to the students of nature.
Fourth ed. Our idea of the tree is aided by two sentences in Sir
James Ross's admirable work, Voyage of Research and Discovery in
the Southern and Polar Regions in 1839 —413; 2 vols. 1847.  "Not
far from the town [Port Praya, Madeira] we saw a fine specimen of
the gigantic tropical tree of Africa, the Baobab (idansonia digitata).
Its short, pear-shaped trunk, not more than ten feet high, exceeded 38
feet in circumference, and at this period its fruit was forming." Vol. 1.
p. 11. No doubt this is a young tree: perhaps but two or three centuries old!.




344                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
[M.]
Referred to at page 152.
UPON DR. YOUNG'S SCRIPTURAL GEOLOGY.
IN perusing this book, I have been not a little grieved at the sight
which it presents of a pious and amiable man, struggling to give
credit and currency to opinions which, to my full conviction, cannot
be supported by evidence; but the advocacy of which is likely to
mislead some, and to confirm the sceptical prejudices of others. It
appears a duty to offer a few observations; but to go over the whole
ground which he has opened, would require a treatise of considerable
length. Erroneous statements and fallacious arguments can seldom
be duly examined, and refuted satisfactorily, without much expenditure of time and labour. I shall select what appear the principal
parts of the argument.
A layer of oyster-shells, with the valves separated, and exhibiting
other marks of water transport, is found in the Whitby lias, extending for many miles along the coast, and ten or twelve into the interior; and Dr. Y. lays this instance as a principal foundation for the
inference of a diluvial origin to shelly beds generally; and he extends
his conclusion to vertebrated animals. (p. 15.)  Yet he says not a
word upon a fact, of which he seems to have had a glimpse a dozen
years, ago,+ that beds occur of a peculiar valve, which all confess to
be a stranger to the present condition of the seas, Gryp/t/ca incurvca,
presenting the clearest evidence that the shells had never been drifted,
and that the countless individuals lie, as family groups, in their native seats;-and that these beds may be traced, in the same geological position, from Whitby northward to the mouth of the Tees, and
southward to the lias of Dorsetshire, and further appearing on the
western coasts of Scotland, and again extensively in Germany and in
France. If the worthy author could make so much of his seam of
disparted oyster-shells, washed over a small piece of land, what ought
he not to have concluded from the case of the opposite character, and
covering an area a thousand times more extensive.
In like manner, because it is probable that some, or let us say even
a large proportion, of the coal-beds, and their sandy and shaly accomGeof -S'qrvey of the YorkshirZe Coast, p. 242. After briefly describing the species,
Dr. Y. says, "Numbers are often found clustering together." This I calla glimpse
of the truth. It deserved to have been followed out.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    345
paniments, have been the results of transportation, he reasons as if
all the coal had been formed in this manner. (pp. 10, 14.) But there
are eminent geologists, who attribute only the smaller proportion of
coal formations to this mode of origin; and conceive that the greater
masses have been derived from trees of vast size and close contiguity,
submerged in their native seats, without being removed from their
place of growth, and marking their scarcely disturbed prostration by
the well-known impressions, on the shale-roofs and bottoms of their
most delicate parts, which would have been greatly defaced or quite
obliterated by even a little tossing and drifting. Detached pieces of
trunks do indeed occur, whose denuded and broken state suggests a
derivation from neighbouring high land, and whose forms and position prove them to have been accidental intruders; but the idea of
masses of such vegetation as composes the coal-beds having floated
from different quarters, and then, which must have been of necessity,
irregularly and confusedly heaped together, appears to be absolutely
irreconcileable with the facts exhibited in the impressions of the
plants upon the shale, just now mentioned. My kind readers will
give themselves pleasure and do justice to the argument, by consulting the specimens of this kind in most of the Museums of Natural
History, which happily are multiplied in our country. An excellent
suite is in the Adelaide Gallery, presented by my young friend, AMr.
Edward Charlesworth, a gentleman whose devotedness to Natural
History from his very childhood has produced important results, and
promises more. For this purpose, I cannot but also wish that studious attention were given to the accurate and beautiful figures in the
Fossil Flora of Great Britain, by Dr. Lindley and Mr. William Hutton; and in Mr. Artis's Antediluvian Phytology. —" That any considerable part of the plants which formed the beds of coal were drifted
at all, appears-to be highly improbable: that they should have been
brought by equatorial currents from the regions of the tropics, is perfectly chimerical."  Fossil Flora, vol. ii. pref. p. xxi. In the same
splendid work, an accumulation of facts is brought in proof of this
doctrine, and to illustrate the alternations of material in the coal
measures, a circumstance on which Dr. Y. lays great stress, (p. 11,)
but which those eminent naturalists account for in a way which his
objections do not touch. Foss. Flor. vol. iii. pp. 28-35. On the
other hand, Prof. Phillips deems it " the most probable view, that the
plants forming coal were, with the arenaceous and argillaceous substances, swept into the sea by inundations from the land, and subsided
into strata on the bed of the sea."  Treatise in Cabinet Cyclop. vol.
i. p. 160. But it is important to consider that this must have been




346                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
from neighbouring land, probably clusters of islands overgrown by
succulent trees of exceedingly great magnitude, resembling families
chiefly cryptogamic, which now exist in only small species, except in
hot climates, and which we have great reason to think must have
flourished in an atmosphere essentially different from that which is
necessary to animal life, under the existing system of creation; all of
which conditions will agree with Mr. Phillips's hypothesis, understanding a very small distance of removal by the flooding off. On
the contrary, Dr. Y.'s object is to establish that all this vegetation
had grown in the sixteen or seventeen centuries before the deluge,
and that the coal-beds are due to its being floated away and deposited
by the diluvial waters; and his whole reasoning seems to imply the
transport from considerable distances. This is the object for which
he proposes his theory.  But apart from all the reasons furnished by
the phenomena of stratification and animal remains, those naturalists
whom all reason binds us to regard as the best qualified to form a
correct judgment, draw the opposite conclusion. " That the face of
the globe has successively undergone total changes, at different remote
epochs, is now afact beyond all dispute; as also that, long anterior to
the creation of man, this world was inhabited by races of animals to
which no parallels are now to be found; and those animals themselves
made their appearance, after the lapse of ages, during which no warmblooded creatures had a~r existence. It has been further remarked by
zoologists, that the animals which first appeared in these latitudes
were analogous to such as now inhabit tropical climates exclusively;
and that it was only at a period immediately antecedent to the creation of the human race, that species similar to those of the existing
era began to appear in northern latitudes. Similar peculiarities have
been also found to mark the vegetation of correspondent periods."
Foss. Flor. vol. i. pref. ix. x.
I annex a passage from a high American authority:-" Coal, being
peculiarly limited in its local relations, and often contained in basins,
it seems probable that it generally arose from local circumstances,
with all its attendant and alternating strata of shales, sandstones,
limestones, clays, iron ores, pudding-stones, &c., and, as these depositions are often repeated several times in the same coal-basin, and the
mines are occasionally worked to a great depth, (even to 1200 feet,
in some places in England,) it is plain that no sudden and transient
event, like the deluge, could have produced such deposits, although
it might bury wood and trees, which, in the course of time, might
approximate to the condition of lignite, or bituminized, or partially
mineralized, wood, which is often found under circumstances indi



SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.                           347
eating  a diluvian  origin."   Prof. Silliman's Outline of Geology,
p. 122.7
The phenomena of the coal-formations have been ably argued by
Mr. Murchison, in a series of considerations, which prove both the
intensity of action and the long succession of periods that are marked
in the structure and alterations of the crust of the earth. "How have
the coal-fields been rendered accessible to man's use l Have we not
shewn that many have been forced to the surface by volcanic action;
and that some have assumed a basin shape, in consequence of their
margins having been thrown into that form by a number of violent
upcasts of the subjacent solid  masses, which, wrenched from  their
original position, now converge towards a common centre I" Silur.
Syst. i. 574.
Our respected author appears not seldom to fall into the besetting
error of controversialists, misapprehension of the opinions which he
opposes, or of some part of their relations. For example; he seems
to think it a fatal objection to the doctrines generally held by geologists, that the Tertiary Strata "occupy but a small space in the crust
of the earth, yet three or four ages have been assigned to them;" that
"the whole Tertiary Strata cover but a small portion of the face of
our globe, and each of the four sections" [the Eocene, the Miocene,
the older Pliocene, and the more recent Pliocene] "can claim  but a
* Third ed. A remarkable instance of this phenomenon has been communicated to
the Royal Society, (in a letter read April 1, 1841,) by Mr. Mac Cormick, one of the band
of scientific men whom Her Majesty's enlightened and judicious government had sent
upon the Antarctic expedition under Capt. James Ross. It is a description of Kerguelen's
Land, two very small islands with a few islets, at so high a latitude as must, in that
hemisphere, ensure perpetual storms and cold, producing no vegetation above lichens,
mosses, and a few grasses and water-plants. "c From its sterility," says Capt. Cook, " I
should with great propriety call it the Island of Desolationz, but that I would not rob
M. de Kerguelen of the honour of its bearing his name." These isles are masses of
basaltic rock, with fossilized wood imbedded in it, and coal beds or seams overlaid by
it. Thus there is evidence that the locality was once an extent of dry land on which
grew large trees, that the climate must have been much warmer than in its present
condition, that submurgence took place, and then pressure under stratified deposits, that
such a succession was effected at least once, perhaps oftener, and that, at last, an outburst of melted rock from the fiery gulf below elevated, shattered, enwrapped, and overtopped the whole.
Foztrth ed. The best and most recent account, historical and descriptive, is given in
Sir James Clark Ross's interesting volumes, Voyage of -Discovery and Research in the
Sozcthern, and Antarctic Regions; chap. iv. Mr. Mac Cormick, who gives the geological descriptions, says: " The most remarkable geological feature in the island is the
occurrence of fossil-wood and coal; and, what is still more extraordinary, imbedded in
the igneous rocks. The wood, which for the most part is highly silicified, is found inclosed in the basalt, whilst the coal crops out in ravines, in close contact with the overlying porphyritic and amygdaloidal greenstone." Vol. i. p. 74. c" The numerous seams
of coal vary in thickness from a few inches to four feet."  P. 71.




343                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
few patches; yet to these patches a whole age is assigned!'9 (Pp. 19,
20.) On the scale of reason, this is much the kind of argument which
infidels employ, when they object to Christianity that it is not universal. Does our objector suppose that topographical extent is a
measure of duration? Is it not of the very essence of the case, that
these "patches" (which, be it remarked, cover thousands of square
miles in Europe, Asia, and America,) should occupy the situations
which, by the laws of nature, belong to them 1 They consist of the
wearings away and washings down of older rocks, derived from the
elevations and projections of innumerable eras; and they must of
necessity have been received and retained in the intervening hollows.
This is one of the most striking instances of the Creator's wisdom and
goodness; that, by a series of slow operations, effected according to
the known laws and methods of physical action, diversified results are
brought to pass which are in the highest degree beneficial to the animated tribes and preeminently to the race of man. The very processes are marked with the indications of very long periods of time,
which (if I may express my humble opinion) our imaginations are
more in danger of unduly contracting than of immoderately extending.
Yet, after all, Dr. Young makes a surrender of the chief position;
and therefore all the other parts of the field are fairly debateable
without mutual prejudice, however we may feel convinced that he has
unhappily undertaken the defence of posts which cannot be maintained. He says, "' Many are of opinion, that as, without contradicting Scripture, we may believe in the existence of numerous planetary
worlds, all furnished with their respective inhabitants; so also we
may be allowed to think that numerous creations might exist on our
globe, long before the creation recorded by Moses; the sacred pages
making no mention of the one, any more than of the other. To a
certain extent, this may be conceded. I agree with my learned friend
Dr. Buckland, that the narrative of Moses does not necessarily preclude the supposition, that the materials of our globe might preexist
under another form, and that this world may have been constructed
out of the wreck and ruins of a former creation." (Pp. 40, 41.) Yet
under the reservation clause "'to a certain extent," he attempts to
render this concession of little value. He is willing to admit of a
previous condition of the earth, provided it may be a state of darkness and confusion, devoid of life and beauty. He thinks that, how
the supposition of "a goodly world -can be reconciled with the
scripture narrative, it is difficult to conceive."  May we not reasonably ask, Why should this be difficult. The scripture narrative




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     349
relates (according to our views of its meaning) an adjustment of a
suitable district of our globe for the reception of a new order of
creation; and, to make this known in the manner best adapted to the
comprehension of the early ages of mankind and to the religious
benefit of all generations, was the gracious intention of that page in
the records of revelation. I am unable to perceive any inconsistency
in this with the belief that the bountiful Creator had before made
ample use of this part of his works, to be one of innumerable other
seats of life, intelligence, and happiness. Rather should I think that
we might regard this arrangement as a case included under the grand
proposition,'4By faith we understand that the worlds were arranged
] xarQlox, rOa    S aovaCag, which might be rendered, the vast periods
adjusted,] by the word of God, to the effect that the objects seen [,z:
3e3rXo6erva] did not come into existence out of those which are manifested."'
Dr. Young's mode of reasoning about stratification appears to me
surprising. From a partial, trivial, and much exaggerated case which
he alleges, of the action of the waves on a soft sea-beach, he draws
conclusions extravagantly large. A few feet or yards of sand and
marl may be washed down by a flood, or torn off by a storm; and
almost immediately afterwards redeposited in sorted forms: and this
occurrence which, in the very conditions of the case, can take place
only on a small scale, he applies unlimitedly by simple multiplication,
and infers thirty feet of strata in a day, and nine hundred in a month.
But he takes no notice of the extremely slow rate of deposit, in those
circumstances which constitute the general course of nature; and
which is demonstrated by facts innumerable in estuaries, in deltas, or
in fresh-water lakes.
He exhibits the crude impertinence of a few foreign sophists,
whose day in this respect is past, representing the succession of organized beings as becoming gradually more complete and perfect, so
as to indicate an improvement by practice in the Creator's skill;
and he notices not the fact that all the great geologists repudiate
such a notion with abhorrence, and give physical evidence of its
falsehood.
With respect to this subject, it should not be forgotten that, on
account of the perishable substance of their structure, many species
of both animal and vegetable creatures must have failed to perpetuate
any memorials of themselves, in all the periods of the earth's antiquity. The more profoundly anatomical investigations are carried
on, the more abundantly is it evinced that, within the range of the
* Heb. xi. 3. I have ventured to give the closest translation.




350                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
animal remains presented even in the earliest fossiliferous strata, the
remark will hold, as a general truth, which has been made by eminently qualified judges, in relation to the vegetable kingdom:-" The
result of this investigation is well worthy of attention. It shows
that, so far from'a gradual perfection of organization having been
going on from the remotest period, till the latest geological epoch,'
[the words of an able adverse writer,] some of the most perfect forms
of each of the three great classes of the vegetable kingdom were
among the very first created; and that, either the more simple plants
of each class did not appear till our own tera, or that no trace of
them at an earlier period has been preserved." Lindley and Hutton's Fossil Flora; vol. i. pref. p. xix.
It would appear almost incredible that Dr. Y. should say, "Fishes,
zoophytes, ammonites, belemnites, terebratule, &c., occur in almost
every portion of them [the secondary strata]; but those in the inferior
strata have as much similarity to the living races as those in the
superior." P. 9. An assertion full of extreme inaccuracies! Can he,
for example, push out of sight a most remarkable circumstance in the
caudal prolongation of the back-bone, which distinguishes all the fish
of the Magnesian limestone and the earlier formations from the subsequent; and from almost all existing species.  This, and many
other striking peculiarities in the fossil ichthyology, were discovered
by the distinguished investigator, M. Agassiz.  See Lyell's Elements,
p. 417.  And who ever heard of ammonites or belemnites of " living
races l"
I thankfully avail myself of the authority  (-can there be a
higher?-) and testimony of Mr. Murchison.  "-The fossils of the
Silurian system here represented, and amounting in all to about 350
species, are, with the exception of a very few (chiefly doubtful casts),
essentially distinct from any of the numerous and well-defined fossils
of the Carboniferous System; and further, that the Old Red Sandstone which separates these two systems is also characterised by fossils peculiar to it.    Having for a series of years collected fossils
from every stratum of the Silurian rocks, throughout a large region,
in which the stratigraphical order is clear, I now present the results.
Professor Phillips had previously completed a valuable monograph
of the organic remains of the Carboniferous System; [in his Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire; vol. ii. 1836.]  If the naturalist
will compare the figures in these, the only two works yet published
upon the older fossiliferous rocks, which combine geological description with zoological proofs, he will at once see the truth of my
position.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    351
"'Beginning with the vertebrata; Are not the fishes of the Old Red
Sandstone as distinct from the Carboniferous System on the one hand,
as from those of the Silurian on the other. M. Agassiz has pronounced
that they are so.
" Are any of the crustaceans, so numerous and well-defined throughout the Silurian rocks, found also in the Carboniferous strata l I
venture to reply, not one.
"c Are not the remarkable cephalopodous mollusca, the Phragmoceras,
and certain forms of Lituites, peculiar to the older system?
" Is there one species of the Crinoidea figured in this work, known
in the Carboniferous strata.
"Has the Serpuloides longissimum, or have those singular bodies
the Graptolites, or, in short, any zoophytes of the Silurian System,
been detected in the well-examined Carboniferous rocks.
c"And, in regard to the corals, which are so abundant that they
absolutely form large reefs, is not Mr. Lonsdale, who has assiduously
compared multitudes of specimens from both systems, of opinion that
there is not more than one species common to the two epochs?"Such evidences are-additional supports of the important truth
which Geology has already established; that each great period of
change, during which the surface of the planet was essentially modified,
was also marked by the successive production and obliteration of certain
races."  Silur. Syst. pp. 581, 582.
With astonishment I read in Dr. Y.,' "The general conformity of
the strata and their undisturbed succession, indicate that they must
have been deposited about the same Tera." P. 23. He admits indeed
of some exceptions, but he confines them to the elevating force of
4" volcanic agency." One might almost fancy that the worthy author
had never fixed his eyes upon any rocks but those of his own Yorkshire coast, and that he had explored even them but cursorily. That
all strata were at their origin deposited horizontally, or nearly so, is
not the question. But, is it possible for him to be ignorant of the
instances innumerable, in almost all parts of the world, where the
formations of the secondary series, and many even of the third, follow with most remarkable disconformity. How often a deposit has
been laid, long after the underlying one has been raised and bent
and broken!  The Sections published in the Geological Society's
Transactions, and innumerable other works of unquestionable authority, furnish the most ample proofs of the contrary to Dr. Y.'s
assertion.
If possible, I am still more surprised to read, " The breaks, or
faults, in the strata affect the whole mass of rocks, in almost every




352                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
instance where they occur; instead of being limited by the boundaries
of particular formations." P. 24. So far as, in a subject including
many and various conditions, one can lay down general positions, I
must say that what he affirms is not the fact, and what he denies, and
builds largely upon his denial, is the fact.
It is painful to me to remark thus upon the writing of a very estimable friend; and to be obliged to acknowledge that to me his book
appears to abound in misconceptions of the sentiments of others, and
wrong imputations to them, in assertions positively made, but often
hazardous or decidedly erroneous, in narrow investigation and defective induction, and in too rapid conclusions from imperfect premises.
I should not, however, have brought forward these observations, which
might be considerably extended, but for this reason; Dr. Young's
character as a Christian and a minister of the Gospel, gives weight
and currency to his opinions, and some persons have not failed to display his authority as if it were a sufficient refutation of the doctrines
commonly maintained by geologists.
Fourth ed. Returning to the part of the preceding Note which
respects the Coal-formations, I now add that Mr. E. W. Binney, than
whom few persons can be better qualified, from scientific knowledge
and extensive observation, to give an opinion upon this subject, has
published a Disquisition On the Origin of Coal; in the " Jlemoirs of
the Lit. and Philos. Society of JIacnchester," vol. viii. and reprinted
separately, 1847. He examines the subject minutely and comprehensively, and arrives at the following principal conclusions; that the
vegetable matter now forming coal had grown in vast marine swamps,
subjected to a series of subsidences with long intervals of repose; that
the trees and perhaps smaller plants were submerged under tranquil
water, in the places of their growth; and that very inconsiderable
portions, if any, of the beds are owing to drifting.
[N.]
Referred to at page 158.
ON THE COMPARISON OF THE EGYPTIAN AND THE MOSAICAL
COSMOGONIES.
IN Mr. Lyell's Principles of Geology, Book I. chap. ii. under the
title "Oriental Cosmogony," he has given ample and interesting




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    353
descriptions of the doctrines held by the ancient Hindoos and Egyptians, and those brought from the east into Greece and Italy by Pythagoras, concerning the changes which the surface of our globe has
undergone. Now, as every reader knows that, under the name
Oriental, the documents of the Hebrew Scriptures cannot but be included, the expectation is raised (I might say almost necessarily) that
some direct and specific notice will be taken of the 1Mosaic Cosmogony.  This expectation is strengthened by the fact, that certain
writers of the German antibiblical school have maintained that Moses
derived his materials for the commencement of the Pentateuch, from
Egyptian sources. From these considerations I cannot but fear that
the total silence upon what most readers will think the chiefly interesting branch of the subject, will be construed into the inference, that
the author deemed the Hebrew account to be no more than a human
production, and to be justly thrown into the same class with the allegorical, mythological, or fabulous traditions of the grossest idolaters. It would have been happy and signally beneficial, if Mr. Lyell
had pointed out the differences between the Egyptian and the Phcenician Cosmogonies, and the simple, beautiful, and majestic description
of the Hebrew Genesis; and if, which he might have briefly done
without entering into philological discussions, he had said that the
Scripture account of the creation is susceptible of a fair interpretation, in perfect consistency with the facts disclosed by Geological
research.
With respect to the identity or similarity alleged by the critics
just adverted to, I may remark that it is assumed by them in a way
little better than a gross begging of the question. Because Moses
was educated as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess, and must
therefore, they say, have been instructed in all the histories, traditions, and doctrines of the Egyptian priests; as also the first martyr
testifies concerning him, that he "was educated [lEiGate&V0l] in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians;" and because Simplicius (a Greek philosopher of the sixth century, zealously adherent to the expiring cause
of heathenism,) calls the relation of Moses concerning the origin of
the  universe, "a certain mythic tradition, drawn from the Egyptian
Mythi;" the inference is boldly drawn that he made that tradition
the basis of his narrative, simplifying and accommodating it to his
fundamental doctrines, the unity of God, and the creation by him and
dependence upon him of all other existences.  But, if we look at the
earliest authorities that we have, (and they are 1400 years later than
Moses,) Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch, we find but a scanty resemblance; and so much as does obscurely appear, suggests the idea of
Y




354                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
being a far removed and adulterated cast of traditions, derived from
that primeval fountain of knowledge, which had flowed down to
Moses in its original purity.  The passage of Diodorus, (who was an
industrious compiler rather than an independent historian or judicious
collector,) which, in the opinion of the best critical philosophers, details the Egyptian doctrines, is the following.  " Concerning the race
of all men, and the things which have been effected in the parts of
the habitable earth subjected to our knowledge, so far as is possible
in relation to objects so ancient, we shall write accurately, beginning
with the earliest times. With regard then to the first production of
men, two opinions have been proposed by the most distinguished inquirers into nature and history. One party, assuming the world to be
without beginning and to be incapable of destruction, maintain that
the human race has existed from eternity, having never had a commencement of child-bearing. The other party, supposing the world
to have had a beginning and to be destructible, affirm that mankind,
like the other parts of the universe, had a first production, in fixed
periods of time." [This is the Egyptian theory.] " They suppose
that, at the original constitution of all things, heaven and earth possessed one uniform appearance, their respective natures being mixed
up together. But, after this, the material substances [cowrza] separating from each other, the world" [evidently meaning the solid earth,
as distinguished from the atmosphere,] " took the entire constitution
which is now seen in it, and the air acquired a perpetual motion.
Hence, on the one hand, the fiery part of the air ran into one mass
in the higher regions of the atmosphere, its nature being such as
would be borne upwards on account of its lightness; from which cause
also both the sun and the remaining multitude of the stars became
involved in the universal rotation: and, on the other hand, the earthy
and dark miry part, combining with the moist substances, sunk down
to the lowest situation, in consequence of their weight. This mass
then being compressed within itself and continually rolled round,
from the watery portions was produced the sea, and from the more
solid the land, which was as yet clayey and quite soft. By the heat
of the sun acting upon this earthy body, it first received consolidation; and afterwards fermentation taking place on the surface, in
consequence of the heat, some of the moist matter swelled up into
bubbles in many places, and around them putrescent pieces were
produced inclosed in thin membranes. Such an effect is, even in the
present condition of the earth, sometimes brought to our view, in
bogs, and such low places as are continually turned into marshes by
the irruption of water; when, while the ground is cooled, the air




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    355
suddenly becomes very hot, not being with sufficient rapidity susceptible of the change of temperature. In this way, those moist spots
became, by means of the heat, impregnated with animal life [vr&t oav
V2'Qv —ooooovo8'Vcor,]; receiving nutriment by night out of the mist
which fell from the surrounding air, and being made firm and strong
by the heat in the day-time. At last, these embryos [xvocpoeoVtpeva]
having acquired their full growth and the enveloping membranes being
dried up and bursten, all the various forms of animals were brought
forth. Of these, those kinds which had partaken of the greatest
heating went away to the higher regions, becoming birds: those
which retained the earthy constitution were reckoned into the order
of creeping animals, and the other kinds which live upon the earth:
those which had gotten the greater abundance of a moist nature, ran
together to the place of the same watery constitution, and these are
called swimmers. The earth being thus continually more and more
dried and hardened, by the heat of the sun and the action of the
winds, in the end became incapable of procreating the larger animals; and consequently henceforth all the kinds of animated beings
were produced by sexual union with each other."
Here, in some manuscripts, a pretty long paragraph follows, intended to confirm the preceding statements, by affirming that the
Egyptians down to the present time produce instances of such generation, in that, after an abundant overflow of the Nile, when it has
subsided and the sun has acted upon the putrescent surface, an innumerable multitude of mice is brought forth out of the mud. But
this passage, though no doubt very ancient, the best critics reject as
spurious; its matter is however taken, almost word for word, from  a
subsequent part of the same book. The historian then proceeds:
" And such are the declarations which we have received concerning
the first production of all things; [i' ot(~ wv 4or,,vat.]  The
human creatures produced from this beginning, are said to have existed in a way of life disorderly and brute-like; wandering dispersed
over the verdant plains, and for food seizing upon the plants which
they found most agreeable to the taste, and the spontaneous fruits of
the trees. Being attacked by wild beasts, they were taught by the
sense of mutual advantage to aid each other; and, being driven by
fear to associate, they learned, by slow degrees, to understand one
another." —— Diod. Sic. lib. i. cap. vii. viii.
The next authority appealed to by the German antibiblicists, is
Plutarch's Treatise on Isis and Osiris. But the reference must have
been handed from writer to writer, in the hope that readers would
seldom take the trouble of examining it. That tedious treatise con2




356                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
sists almost entirely of ridiculous and disgusting tales concerning
Osiris and Isis, Typhon, Horus, Anubis, and their cognates: and
these the moralist declares to be utterly worthless and contemptible,
unless regarded as fables, and as he interprets them in a variety of
physical, historical, and moral significations. I can discover but two
short passages, in which there are any ideas of a cosmogony that
could, in even a slight degree, be imagined to possess affinity to the
Mosaic narrative.  That the reader may judge, I will cite them.
" He who is God is the originating principle" [deQZx 3  Oc;s- yet I
fear, Plutarch took the term generally, and without a clear recognition of the Only God: —] " but every originating principle, by its
productive power, multiplies that which issues from  itself: and the
idea of multiplication we usually denote by the numeral three; as
when we use" [the phrases of Homer] " Thrice happy! and Fetters
indeed thrice so many numberless wrap all around in him. [Odyss. vii.
340.]  Unless it were the fact that the ancients by such expressions
meaned literally the number three: since the natural quality of moisture, being the beginning and producing principle [CdQ)Zi zAe y'vEpat']
of all things from the beginning, made the three primary bodies,
earth, air, and fire."   "6 One might suppose that the Egyptians
were peculiarly fond of comparing the nature of the universe to the
most beautiful of triangles," [a right angled one:]    " one line the
nale, -  another the female, - and the hypothenuse the offspring
of both: and so, Osiris is to be considered as the beginning, Isis as
the principle of reception, and Horus as the complete effect." —Then
follow some allegorizings of the numbers, three, four, and five; and
of the Egyptian names of Horus and Isis; summed up by saying"6 The matter of the world is full, and is composed of the good, the
pure, and the well-arranged.  It is probable also that Hesiod entertained the same views of producing principles [ c4xal.] making the
primary existences [rz& rt'7cwa tveora] to be chaos and earth and tar.
tarus, and love; since, of these names, we may understand that of the
earth to belong to Isis, that of love to Osiris, that of Tartarus to
Typhon; for chaos seems to be put under the whole [or, the uni-erse, [ z  ~Ret,] as space and place." Plutarchi Jlroralia; ed. Wyttenbach, vol. ii. pp. 4,97, 532.
Diodorus the Sicilian flourished about 50 years B. c. Plutarch,
more than a century later.  All the value of their statement depends
therefore upon the authencity of their sources, which are unknown,
though no doubt, mediately or immediately, they were from Egypt:
but they are far too late to have the stamp of authority, and we well
know that, many centuries before, the ancient learning of the Egyp



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   357
tians had been metamorphosed into fables and allegories. Diogenes
Laertius, Porphyry, and Macrobius, who lived still later, have only
repeated less completely what we have already.
I have written this long and tiresome note, that my readers may
determine for themselves, whether the allegation is not devoid of all
evidence and probability, that the Mosaic narrative was an offshoot of
the Egyptian mythology: the one shining in the most beautiful and
majestic simplicity; the other, artificial, low and paltry, absurd and
degrading. Much more reasonable appears the supposition, that the
traditions which came from the family of Noah, in the line of the
Mizraim  (a plural name), were the ground-work upon which the
Egyptian priests, after the prevalence of polytheism, built up their
system of perversion and disguise.
[o.]
Referred to at page 158.
ON SONIE PASSAGES IN BRa. LYELL'S PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOG-.
THE allusion here is to some remarks upon:Mr. Lyell's chapter v.
of book i. published in the Christian Observer, April 1834; p. 200.
It is in no captious spirit, but with sincere respect and solicitude, that
I would ask this eminently gifted man, why, in his beautiful chapter
(the viiith of book iii.) on the Introduction, Extinction, and Vicissitudes of Species, he has made so slight mention of the Almighty
Creator. He has not said indeed, or implied, that a new species has
ever, in the world's history, come into being without God as its
cause; but it is painful to see the semblance of reserve on so soulstirring a theme. He speaks of'" admiration-strongly excited, when
we contemplate the powers of insect life, in the creation of which
nature has been so prodigal."-Nature — Creation? 0, why did not
his heart grow warm within him, and bound with joy, at the opportunity of doing some homage to the GoD of glorious majesty?
Sec. ed. It would have afforded me great pleasure to have cancelled the whole of the preceding Note. But my best reflection induces me to let it remain, with a slight alteration, because its silent
withdrawal would have left an unwelcome impression without correction; and I could scarcely have made intelligible the expression of
satisfaction and gratitude that, in the sixth edition, Mr. Lyell has in
this place put " the Author of Nature:" because also that I could not




358                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
have expressed my concern at having given pain to the mind of this
distinguished philosopher; since he cannot admit the justice of the
censure involved, and he must feel it to be unwarrantably severe and
presumptuous to insinuate against him, a christian and a member of
the Church of England, a design of covertly assailing the evidences
of Revealed Religion.  Indeed I cannot charge myself with having
made such an insinuation; my expressions having imported only the
sorrow of heart which I did and still do feel, that his reserve in one
respect and his expressions in another were likely to be laid hold of
by a too numerous class of persons who wish to live without piety and
religious self-government, and to whom it is a great object of desire
to shake off the authority of Christianity by abrading its evidences.
To have it in their power to plead either the concession or the reserve
of such a man as Mr. Lyell, is an advantage which ought not to be
given them; for their cause, standing opposed to the clearest moral
evidence, to the highest interests of mankind, the purest blessings of
the present state, and our noblest expectations in the future, is not
entitled to such a benefit. —-Upon the substitution, unhappily so
frequent with authors on natural science, of the word JVature for the
God of nature, I am desirous of putting the best possible construction,
(yet I beg attention to the Note at page 74;) especially if authors
and readers would take care not to forget the exposition of the term
which Lamarck himself has given: —" An order of things constituted
by the Supreme Being, and subject to laws which are the expressions
of his will." This definition is complete and satisfactory. See the
J/Iddenda to these Notes.
On the other hand, we ought not to pass with slight disapprobation, the practice of making references to the Deity with a frequency
and hastiness which border upon familiarity, and tend to produce
either presumption or hypocritical affectation.
With respect to the paper in the Christian Observer, (excellent in
its spirit and design, though I am compelled, by what appears to me
evidence, to think its writer greatly in error,) I fear that Mr. Lyell
never saw it. What he had expressed in the unguarded manner
which "laid him open to painful imputations" was, I am assured, intended to apply to the heathen and popish pretences to miracles, and
to the numerous forms of vulgar superstition.
Upon the general subject of these observations it would be unjust
in me not to point out that, in the chapter (III. viii.) which stirred
up my painful feelings, the author explicitly calls us to observe the
beneficent care of " Providence" which has " put causes in operation"
for checking the destruction to men and many animal and vegetable




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   359
species, from the natural multiplication of Lepidopterous larva. I
will also take out of their connexion (the limits of this note not permitting fuller citations) a few clauses which I take blame to myself
for not having observed, as I ought to have done, before publishing
the first edition.-" In no scientific works in our language can more
eloquent passages be found, concerning the fitness, harmony, and
grandeur of all the parts of creation, than in those of Playfair. They
are evidently the unaffected expressions of a mind which contemplated
the study of nature as best calculated to elevate our conceptions of
the attributes of the FIRST CAvsE."-Referring to certain cosmological hypotheses, Mr. L. observes, "they had not the smallest foundation, either in Scripture or in common sense."-" When the Author of
nature created an animal or a plant, all the possible circumstances in
which its descendants are destined to live, are foreseen, and an organization conferred upon it" conformable to the design.-" If the
Author of nature had not been prodigal of these numerous contrivances,-&c... if He had not ordained that the fluctuations of the
animate and inanimate creation should be in perfect harmony with
each other, —" &c. 1" In whatever direction we pursue our researches,
whether in time or space, we discover every where clear proofs of a
Creative Intelligence, and of his foresight, wisdom, and power.""To assume that the evidence of the beginning or end of so vast a
scheme lies within the reach of our philosophical inquiries, or even of
our speculations, appears to be inconsistent with a just estimate of the
relations which subsist between the finite powers of man, and the
attributes of an INFINITE and ETERNAL BEING." —" The geologist can
bring new and original arguments from fossil remains, to bear on that
part of Natural Theology which seeks to extend and exalt our conceptions of the Intelligence, Power, Wisdom and Unity of design
manifested in the creation.   VWe can prove that man had a beginning, and that all the species now contemporary with man, and many
others which preceded, had also a beginning: consequently, the present state of the organic world has not gone on from all eternity, as
some philosophers had maintained. -Why should we expect to find
any resting place for our thoughts, or hope to assign a limit to the
periods of past time, throughout which it has pleased an Omnipotent
and Eternal Beingto manifest his creative power l" Principles B. I.
ch. iv. vol. i. p. 102; B. III. ch. ii. III. 30; B. III. ch. x. III. 209;
B. III. ch. xviii. III. 4A06. Presidential Address to the Geol. Soc.
1837, in Proceed. vol. ii. p. 523. The references in this volume to
Mr. Lyell's Princip. Geol. were adjusted to' the sixth edition, as soon
as it became practicable, for a part of this book was printed before




360                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
that was published: but, to facilitate reference to the former editions,
the Book and Chapter are also mentioned; which yet may not always
answer, because some of the Chapters are transposed or are new.
Third ed. VWith peculiar pleasure I have read Professor Silliman's
observations on the character and labours of Mr. Lyell, in his.flddress
to the Association of dmerican Geologists and.Niaturalists, at Boston,
April 24, 1842. From it, I quote the following paragraph.
" To him more than to any other or all other writers on Geology,
we owe our recovery from the illusions of dreams and visions regarding imaginary powers supposed formerly to exist; but to have become
exhausted or greatly enfeebled or even extinct in modern times. He
has proved to us that the powers of nature are the same now that
they have ever been; that, except the act of creation, and the first
outbreak of the new-born elements and energies, there was nothing
in the geological laws of former ages different from the present; and
that the causes now in operation, acting with greater or less intensity,
are sufficient to produce the effects of earlier epochs.
[P.]
Referred to at page 183.
SENTIMIENTS OF THE ELDER ROSENMUELLER, BISHOP BIRD SUBINER, AND
THE REV. DR. CONYBEARE, DEAN OF LLANDAFF, ON THE INITIAL
PORTION OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS.
THE following extracts are valuable and interesting, as they shew
the impression made upon the mind of an able Bible critic, the elder
Rosenmiiller, at a time when geological researches were little known,
and when Werner, at the age of 25, was just beginning his career.
He was far from the opinion which his son promulgated, fifteen years
after, treading in the steps of Simplicius (in the sixth century), and
Hetzel, Hase, and others in our own times, that Moses derived his
history of the creation from the Egyptians.  Whatever resemblance
may be assumed or supposed, it is much more rationally accounted
for, by supposing that the Egyptian and Phmenician traditions had
flowed from a common source, the family of Noah; and that Moses,
under the direction of divine inspiration, placed at the commencement of his great work the very written documents of primeval men




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                  361
which had descended in the Abrahamic line, and which were the
genuine records whence the other traditions had been derived.
"The enemies of religion act a very inequitable part when they
require of us such explications of all chronological and historical difficulties, as should leave no portion of doubt remaining. Can it surprise
any man that, in the most ancient of all writings, many things should
be obscure to us, who live in times so extremely remote 1.  In consequence of the great advances which have been made in modern
times, in Hebrew and Greek philology and the languages and antiquities of the east, no small number of dark and difficult passages have
been satisfactorily elucidated, so as to make it perfectly clear that
most objections have been engendered by ignorance.    Every good
writer must be presumed to speak according to the custom of the men
among whom he lived, and their common use of language.    I shall
not meddle with the question, whether the contents of the beginning
of Genesis were by God revealed immediately to Moses; or that he
derived them from more ancient records.-   The style, and the entire
manner of the description, involve evidence of the highest antiquity.
At every step we perceive proofs of that extreme simplicity which
must have been the character of our race in its very infancy. With
respect to divine subjects, in particular, the first step of human knowledge must undoubtedly have consisted in conceptions of God derived
from our own nature; ascribing to the Deity the same properties and
perfections which men perceived in themselves, but in modes and degrees infinitely more perfect.  Upon this principle are founded the
representations of God which are given in the books of Moses, and
many other parts of the Old Testament.  Indeed this is, in my judgnent, a very plain argument, not only of the genuineness and truth
of those books, but of their DIVINE origin: seeing that they present
to us a method of description concerning God and divine things, perfectly suited to the capacity of men in the earliest times, and yet the
most sublime, and when fairly and candidly interpreted, in perfect
accordance with spiritual truth. The scoffers at revealed religion,
philosophers as they please to call themselves, betray an almost unpardonable ignorance, when they make stumbling-blocks out of those
constantly occurring expressions of the Old Testament which speak
of the Deity [anthropopathicis locutionibus] in language borrowed
from human properties and actions. What can be a grosser absurdity,
and even folly, than to require that Moses and the prophets should
hlave spoken of divine truths, in the very infancy of the human race,
according to the philosophy of Descartes, Newton, or Wolf." In the beginning God created this universe; the heavens and the




362                   SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
earth. But, with respect to this earthly globe, it was not at once the
abode of men and animals, as it is now: but there was a period during
which it was utterly destitute of such a furniture of things as it now
possesses: it did not enjoy the light of the sun, and it was completely
covered with water.  Whether, at its first being brought into being,
it possessed a constitution like that of comets,* being consequently
uninhabitable; or whether it was reduced into its actual state, after a
vast space of time, by some kind of universal inundation of water,
with the concurrence of other causes both natural and extraordinary;
cannot be with certainty determined from the Mosaic narrative. But
this detracts nothing from the truth and dignity of the narrative. It
never was in the mind or intention of Moses, to unfold physical
causes, of which he was most probably ignorant, and which it was no
part or object of his divine commission to make known.  Nor could
the Israelites, for whose immediate benefit this history was intended,
have comprehended such matters: for who call suppose that they
knew anything of the nature of comets, or the planetary constitution
of the earth' J. G. Rosenmiiulleri Jntiquissima Telluris Historia,
a JA~ose Gen. 1~ descripta; Ulm, 1776; pp. 6, 10, 11, 12, 71.
It is with peculiar pleasure that I copy the following passages of
the learned and pious Bishop of Chester; and they are the more
estimable as they were written before 1814, at a time when geological
facts and doctrines were less accurately known than they are at
present.
" -Any curious information as to the structure of the earth ought
still less to be expected, by any one acquainted with the general character of the Mosaic records. There is nothing in them, either to
gratify the curiosity or repress the researches of mankind, when brought,
in the progress of cultivation, to calculate the motions of the heavenly
bodies, or speculate on the formation of the globe.  The expressions
of Moses are evidently accommodated to the first and familiar notions
derived from the sensible appearances of the earth and heavens; and
the absurdity of supposing that the literal interpretation of terms in
Scripture ought to interfere with the advancement of philosophical
inquiry, would have been as generally forgotten as renounced, if the
oppressors of Galileo had not found a place in history..  No rational
naturalist would attempt to describe, either from the brief description
in Genesis or otherwise, the process by which our system was brought
from confusion into a regular and habitable state. No rational theologian will direct his hostility against any theory which, acknowledging
* One cannot but observe here the working of a sagacious mind, and the approach
which it makes, though on principles purely conjectural, to the Nebular Hypothesis.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                  363
the agency of the Creator, only attempts to point out the secondary
instruments he has employed." Dr. Bird Sumner on the Records of
Creation; vol. i. pp. 270, 283.
Let us hear another distinguished clergyman.
"As to the first point [the antiquity of the earth,] —not the mere
theoretical views of geologists alone, but the conclusions which appear, by the most cogent logical necessity, to result from the phenomena of the structure of the earth's surface, and the variety and
order of the very numerous successive series of organic remains imbedded in the strata, do undoubtedly appear to require periods of
very considerable duration; and to indicate that very many ages had
elapsed before (-"the diapason closing full in man,"-) a new
exertion of the Creative Energy made, in its own image, a being of
higher intellectual and moral capacities, as the head of its other terrestrial works. Now the evidence of geological phenomena most
satisfactorily agrees with the scriptural record, in assigning to this
last great event a very recent epoch: and it is surely very valuable
as an independent testimony to this most important fact, which clearly
involves the necessary admission of an interference with the previous
order of nature, by a new and direct exertion of creative power, and
therefore strikes at once at the root of every sceptical argument
against MIRACLES. It is surely nowise inconsistent with the fullest
reception of revelation, to maintain that it professedly confines itself
to the exposition of the dispensations of the great Creator, as they
concern his final intellectual creation; that, in a word, the Bible is
exclusively the history of the dealings of God towards,men."  The
Rev. W. D. Conybeare, now (1847) Dean of Landaff; in the Chr.
Obs. May 1831, p. 308.
[Q.]
Referring to page 185.
EXTRACTS FROM PROFESSORS WISEMAN AND HITCHCOCK, ON THE REFERENCE OF THE MOSAICAL RECORDS TO GEOLOGICAL TRUTHS.
" THE modern geologist must and gladly will acknowledge the
accuracy of the statement, that, after all things were made, the earth
must have been in a state of chaotic confusion; in other words, that
the elements, which later were to combine in the present arrangement
of the globe, must have been totally disturbed and probably in a state




364                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
of conflicting action.  What the duration of this anarchy was, what
peculiar features it presented, whether it was one course of unmodified
disorder, or was interrupted by intervals of peace and quiet, of vegetable and animal existence, the Scripture has concealed from our
knowledge; while it has said nothing to discourage such investigation
as may lead us to any specific hypothesis regarding it. Nay, it would
seem as though that indefinite period had been purposely mentioned,
to leave scope for the meditation and the imagination of man."
Wiseman's Conneccion of Science and Rev. ]Relig. vol. i. p. 295.
" So far then from finding, in the facts and conclusions of Geology,
any objections to the Mosaic records, I find in them a striking evidence
of the benevolence of the Deity. For, during the long period above
spoken of, the globe was evidently preparing for the residence of
MAN and the other animals that now inhabit it. Before their creation, its temperature was too high, and its surface too liable to be
broken up by volcanoes, and drenched by deluges, to be a secure
and happy abode for the more perfect races of animals that now inhabit it. But it was adapted to the nature and habits of such animals
as we now find entombed in the rocks. The overflowing benevolence of the Deity, therefore, led him to place such beings upon it;
and thus to communicate a vast amount of happiness, which seems to
be a grand object in all his plans and operations. The vegetables
that existed in those early periods have been converted, in the course
of time, into the various species of coal now dug from the bowels of
the earth; while the remains of the animals of those times have become changed into limestone. Even those violent volcanic agencies
by which the successive races of plants and animals have been suddenly destroyed, have probably introduced into the upper part of the
earth's crust, various metallic veins very important to human happiness. And in all this, we see indications of that same benevolent
foresight and care for supplying the wants of his creatures, to which
our daily-experience of God's goodness testifies."  Hitchcock's
Geol. of.Jassachusetts; p. 250.
Prof. Hitchcock having adduced strong evidence to prove that an
extensive denudation has, at some time, taken place in the New Red
Sandstone on the Connecticut river, proceeds to say: "The immense
period requisite to wear away such a mass of rock as this theory
supposes to have once occupied the whole valley of the Connecticut,
will seem to most minds the strongest objection against its adoption:
I mean, supposing it to have been effected by such causes as are
operating at present. But this is not a solitary example, in which
geological phenomena indicate the operation of existing causes,




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    365
through periods of duration inconceivably long.  We may, in this
case indeed, as I have already shown, suppose the occurrence of numerous deluges in the earlier periods of our globe.  Still, even with
the aid of such catastrophes, the work must have been immensely protracted.  And why should we hesitate to admit the existence of our
globe through periods as long as geological researches require; since
the sacred record does not declare the time of its original creation;
and since such a view of its antiquity enlarges our ideas of the operations of the Deity in respect to duration, as much as Astronomy does
in regard to space 1  Instead of bringing us into collision with Moses,
it seems to me that Geology furnishes us with some of the grandest
conceptions of the Divine attributes and plans to be found in the
whole circle of human knowledge."  lb. p. 226.
[R.]
Referred to at pages 188 and 196.
ON THE SOLUTION OF DIFFICULTIES RESPECTING THE MOSAIC
NARRATIVE PROPOSED BY PROFESSOR BADEN POWELL.
THE learned Savelian professor, in his " Supplement to Tradition
Unveiled," has honoured me by making some observations on the interpretation of the Mosaic narrative, which I have endeavoured to
support.  This he has done in a spirit so generous and kind, as to
merit my warmest thanks. But he would be one of the last men in
the world to allow that personal esteem should obstruct the freedom
of discussion. I am sure, therefore, of having his cordial approbation
of an attempt to survey and compare the two modes of understanding
this portion of the sacred writings.
I. There is no controversy between us as to the divine authority of
the book of Genesis.  Whether it was entirely and originally written
by Moses, the unimpeachably faithful narrator of truth, and consequently of the divine communications, and other facts on which revealed truth must rest;* or whether it consists, in a great measure,
of more ancient documents, running back to the earliest periods of
human history, of which, I think, there is evidence (see p. 140); we
hold that the book of Genesis is a part of "the Holy Scripture;": See pp. 135, 140.




366                   SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
that "' the Old Testament is not contrary to the New;" and that " it
is not lawful so to expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another." (39 Articles, 6, 7, 20.) To quote the clear and
decisive words of Galileo, (see p. 184,) "It is therefore the duty of
competent and diligent expositors, to bring forth, in every instance,
the true meaning, and to explain the ground and reason of their having been expressed in the words which are presented to us."  The
Reverend Professor has also avowed his resolution (and I am equally
bound as a christian minister,) to 1" be ready, with all faithful diligence,
to banish and drive away" [propulsare et amoliri, certainly by no
means except those of fair argument and kind dispositions,*] 6all
erroneous and strange doctrines, contrary to God's word." (Ordin.
Presb.)
II. The difference between Mr. Powell and me appears to lie in this
chief point: that I regard the true meaning of the narrative, elicited
not by " hardly strained" wire-drawing of old words, or any sort of
"' critical refinement," but by the fair rules of interpretation, to be
really in accordance with natural truth; while he considers the two
as insuperably discrepant, palpably contradictory; and that, therefore,
"this magnificent composition" was " not intended for an historical
narrative, not designed for literal history," but is constructed of "the
most sublime and unrivalled imagery-the language of figure and
poetry-mythic poetry."   Connex. of NJ"atural and Div. Truth, pp.
250-260; Suppl. to Trad. Unv. p. 36.
III. In opposition, therefore, to any littleness of mind, which would
torture the phraseology of the sacred narrative, gloss over some difficulties, and evade others by vague general remarks, the Professor
thinks it impossible that " any reader of ordinary sense, not prepossessed in favour of a theory, can understand the description (whether
in the shorter form  of the Decalogue, or the more expanded of
Genesis,) considered simply as to its terms, otherwise than as presenting a magnificent picture of Almighty power, and embodying the
representation of one, original, entire, simple, universal act of Divine
interposition, at once and for the first time framing and calling into
being and operation, out of previous universal darkness and confusion,
the heavenly bodies, as well as the earth, and all the races of organized beings upon it, in the actual progressive stages assigned to the
six days specially described as literally such."
* Here I cannot but entreat my reader to study the cogent reasoning of my candid and
noble-minded remarker, in Tradition Unveiled, pp. 49-53; and the recent volume of
Archbishop Whately, (a work which every thinking man should read,) Essays on some
of the Dangers to Christian Faith, pp. 154-220.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                   367
IV. With irresistible force of reasoning, the Professor remonstrates
against the notion that Moses, or any other inspired writer, could
have known in his own mind, or could have ever intended to convey,
or even have imagined, those significations and applications of words,
which men have excogitated, in order to make this primitive document speak the language of modern philosophy. In truth, a charge
of moral delinquency is involved in the supposition that a divinely inspired writer should wrap up his meaning in expressions which all
men of plain sense and honest minds would understand in one way,
while he had the intention of their being understood in. a sense quite
different, covertly and enigmatically conveying notions which would
not be elicited till above three thousand years had rolled away.
V. I submit a few observations, though in them it may be necessary again to introduce sentiments brought forward in former
pages.
(i.) The Holy Scriptures contain the records, historically deduced,
of the wise and gracious methods which God has employed for remedying the greatest evils which could have befallen his intelligent creation, ignorance and sin, the causes of untold misery.  The revelation
given in the Bible was therefore intended and adapted for the universal use and benefit of mankind, in all countries and all times,
(ii.) Like all the other works of God, known to us, this grand design has been and is carried on in the way of gradual disclosure;
improving at every step in the comprehension of matter and the
clearness of exhibition. May I be allowed to refer to remarks on this
characteristic feature of the plan of Revelation, in'" Scripture Testim.
to the Messiah," vol. i. p. 218; ii. 413, 415; third ed. Also, we
ought to observe the great deficiencies of doctrinal knowledge obvious
in the Old Testament, especially the infrequency and obscurity of
reference to a future life, and the low feeling and errors, to our minds
most revolting, which had undisputed possession of the Israelitish
opinion upon some of the most important points of practical morality;
as with regard to marriage and divorce, retaliation, the usages of war,
the manner of treating captives, the dreadful massacres, and the permission of the master-evil, war itself. Can any disciple of Christ
avoid being convinced that these provisions and concessions are irreconcilably contrary to the doctrines, the precepts, the very spirit and
genius of Christianity l Yet Christianity does not abjure Mosaism.
" The law was not against the promises of God," but subsidiary and
preparatory to their accomplishment; "our schoolmaster, to bring us
to Christ; having a shadow of good things to come."  See also observations on the progressive character of Revelation, in the Second




368                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
Disc. p. i. of Dr. Davison's Warburton Lecture on Prophecy, ONxE
1839; a volume which will richly reward its diligent study.
(iii.) The vehicle of this series of communications has, of evident
necessity, been human language, including any of the modes which
have been employed among men as signs of ideas;'consequently,
symbols, significant actions, and figurative language. That this way
of giving expression to thought, by a great variety of analogical representations drawn from objects of sense, was employed to make known
divine and spiritual objects, was amply shown in Lecture VII.
(iv.) It may well be supposed, it seems even to be a necessary result of the preceding positions, that the best and holiest men under
the patriarchial and the Mlosaic dispensations, not excepting those who
were the inspired messengers of the Divine will, would have been
unable to unfold and expound their own sayings and writings. Our
Lord affirms the superiority of John his forerunner above all the
prophets, and yet pronounces " the least in the kingdom of heaven,"
-the gospel dispensation, —to be "greater than he," and, consequently, than they; referring, probably, to the clearness and fulness
of divine knowledge possessed by the ordinary class of Christians, if
they be such, not in name merely, but in heart and practice. The
apostle Peter describes the prophets themselves, (by whom " the
Spirit of Christ testified beforehand" the sufferings and the subsequent glories which were to belong to him,) as " inquiring and searching" into those subjects, evidently under great deficiencies of both
the knowledge itself, and the understanding needful for building
upon it.
(v.) I must, therefore, disclaim the supposition, that " the narrative
in Genesis is intended to describe" any series of phenomena anticipative of modern discovery in astronomy, or geology, or any other
branch of knowledge; and "that this is what j.Moses really intended
to say."  Might I be indulged with a flight of imagination, and suppose myself in the heavenly state, and permitted to ask, " Faithful
prophet! when you gave forth your account of the creation, what was
your own belief and understanding. What did you know, what did
you intend to convey, concerning the antiquity and extent of the universe; concerning the heavenly bodies, their number, order, magnitudes, motions, and distances; concerning light and air, land and
water, plants and animals 1 Had you any idea of the natural knowledge which would be acquired, under the leading and blessing of
Jehovah Elohim, thirty-three centuries after you 1" He would reply,
"Most certainly not. In all those things I partook of the general
knowledge of my contemporaries. I knew no more of the philoso



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                         369
phical realities of nature, than I did of the most abstract spirituality
of God, when I spoke of Him as looking, seeking, trying, learning,
improving in knowledge, repenting, grieving, changing his mind,
coming and going, and having the bodily organization of a man.  If
questions ever rose in my mind upon these subjects, I remembered my
ignorance and weakness, and I said, with duteous humility, Behold,
God is great, and I know him not; with God is terrible majesty:
touching the Almighty, I cannot find him out.* God spake to me
mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the
similitude of the Lord I did behold.t I spoke and wrote, as I was
moved by the Holy Ghost.t I wrote the things which I was directed
to write; but I could not have made a comment upon them."
(vi.) But as we believe this narrative to have come, immediately or
mediately, from the " Father of lights," the ultimate inquiry arises,
and by far the most important, What did HE design us to understand
by it 1 What was the intention of the Author of inspiration 1
Of one thing we are certain; His design was not to teach error.
But we also know that his modes of teaching are not bound to any
prescribed model: he exercised the sovereignty of his wisdom in this,
as in every other part of His rectoral system. And we further know
that, in all the Mosaic writings, the perfections, purposes, and acts of
Deity are represented in language which, though of the lowest condescension, yet is not arbitrary; for the usage rests upon a common
principle, analogy, and it is, therefore, capable of being explained
upon sure grounds.
Justice to my estimable remarker requires that we should hear his
answer to this question.
" Many eminent divines have even admitted that current opinions
and prejudices, though erroneous, might yet be adopted, and turned
into a vehicle of moral and religious instruction to those to whom they
were habitual, without derogation to the inspired authority of the
teacher.~ On such a ground we might certainly be permitted to re5 The reader will perceive that, in presuming to form this speech, I have put into the
mouth of Moses words taken from Elihu; because I know not of any expressions in the
Pentateuch that convey the same sentiments so free from anthropomorphism. This appears to yield an argument against the hypothesis that Moses was the author, or even
translator, of the book of Job.
t Numb. xii. 8. This remarkable passage is couched in the same anthropomorphitic
expressions upon which we have had to bestow attention, and which stands at its highest
degree in the writings of Moses; but the sentiment manifestly is, that the communications of divine knowledge and precept were made to him in a more immediate manner
than had been granted to any other person.
t2Pet. i. 21.
~ Relinquishing instances less clear, the following may be mentioned as indubitable
Z




370                     SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.
gard the first chapter of Genesis,* as embodying what were the commonly received ideas among the Jews, borrowed, perhaps, from  some
poetical cosmogony, and which Moses was inspired to adapt and
apply to the ends of religious instruction; to the assertion of the
majesty, power, and unity of the Creator, and the prohibition of the
worship of the false gods, especially of those animals and other material objects which were peculiarly pointed out as being merely the
creatures of the true God; and this, doubtless, in a more particular
enumeration, because they were especially the objects of that idolatrous
worship into which the Israelites were so prone to relapse. The
entire  description  being thus divested  of the attributes of a real
history, the concluding portion of it (the account of the solemnization
of the seventh day as the sabbath) is, of course, equally divested of
an historical character; and thus cannot be understood as referring to
any primeval institution; and can, therefore, only be regarded as
having been designed for the more powerful enforcement of that
institution among the Jews. And this, indeed, would be no more than
accords with the opinion of many of the most approved commentators,
who, on quite independent critical and theological grounds, have regarded the passage (Gen. ii. 3) conveying that institution, as correctly
to be understood in a proleptical or anticipatory sense." (Connex.
Xat. and Div. Truth, p. 257.)
This is the hypothesis, taking the whole connected description,'" as
couched in the language of mythic poetry," yet " not laid down dogexamples of our Lord and his apostles acting in this manner; that is, for the sake of
arguing with men upon their own principles, conceding for the moment some assumption of the opponent, though by no means really admitting it. Matt. v. 19, the Pharisaical
division of God's commandments into greater and less-a notion very likely to lead into
theological and practical error upon the obligations of religion; ib. 22, referring to the
processes of the Jewish law-courts; xii. 27, seeming to admit the pretences of the Jewish exorcists, though they were firaudulent and very pernicious; ib. 43, alluding to the
ignorant and superstitious tales of the Jews, about evil spirits haunting lonely and hot
sandy deserts, and prowling about to find springs of water; (see in Apocrypha, Tobit
viii. 3, and Baruch iv. 35, derived from a gross misinterpretation of Isaiah xiii. 21; xx.
23;) not correcting the error concerning the nature of the Messiah's kingdom, but giving
it a turn to a just application, which, at the time, was not likely to be understood; Luke
xxii. 30, quite in the style of those common errors, but which our Lord disarmed of their
danger, by converting them to a purpose of spiritual truth, to be afterwards disclosed;
Gal. iv. 24, " which things are allegorized," (unhappily in the English version rendered
allegory,) according to a favourite practice of the Jews. We may add, from the Old
Testament, the dominion which the Most High exercises over the invisible world represented by a picture, or parable, formed from the scenes of an Asiatic sovereign's court 
Job i. and ii. and 1 Kings xxii. 19-23. J. P. S.
* With the first three verses of chap. ii. See the much-needed instructions of the
Archbishop of Dublin, on the evils arising from the preposterous subdivision of the Bible
into chapters and verses-Dangers to Faith, pp. 225 —235. J. P. S.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    371
matically, but simply suggested." I offer the following remarks, also
begging the reader to refer to page 136.
1. We have before pointed out that, in this narrative, there is a
measure of the anthropomorphitic style; pp. 169, 195.
2. The style of speaking used here with regard to natural objects,
is similar to that which has been exemplified from other parts of the
Old Testament, describing natural phenomena, (pp. 174-182,) and
which might be illustrated by many other examples. The whole may
be considered as constituting the nomenclature of the natural philosophy of the Hebrews.  It is evidently the expression of what were
the universally received opinions concerning the sun, moon, and stars,
the earth, the seas, and the atmosphere, motion and the results of
motion; and every person moderately informed on natural subjects is
perfectly aware that those opinions were widely erroneous. Yet this
mode of expression enters largely into the descriptive parts of the
Bible. Being a part of the current language of the Israelites, it was
used, by Divine condescension, as the vehicle for the conveyance of
spiritual truth; and this principle of condescension we have found to
reign throughout the whole domain of revelation.
3. Our duty, then, is to draw the line of distinction between the
imperfect vehicle, and the treasure which it carries.  This can be
effected only by intelligence and consideration.  We must urge the
fire; the foreign matter, necessary as a flux, will separate, and the
gold will remain at the bottom of the crucible. The process will
probably be as follows. In the clauses which attribute human forms,
affections, and infirmities to the Deity, we drop all that is human, all
that savours of defect or limitation; and that which remains is the
pure truth of the Divine perfections, and their actings.  We remove
the idea of the Deity's speaking, giving commands to air, land, and
water, and pronouncing blessings upon the fishes and the birds; his
watching the subsequent proceeding, as if he were uncertain of its
success; and then, after finding the result to be according to the
intention, declaring his satisfaction.  "God saw that it was good.
God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very
goo0d."  We renounce all pretension to the finding of astronomical
correctness, in relation to the heavenly bodies; plainly perceiving
them to be set forth merely as luminaries, and notaries of time to
men.  We take up the classification of plants and animals, not as an
arrangement making the smallest claim to either completeness or accuracy, but as that which followed the notions of the time.  We
withdraw the attributing of repose to HIM who "' fainteth not, neither
z2




372                      SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.
is weary," (Is. xl. 28,) though the expressions carry the unequivocal
implication of previous fatigue.*
We have therefore made these subtractions; but what have we
subtracted l Nothing but form and mode; the substance of the things
remains untouched.  Then our great question is, WHAT iS that substance. This is the point at issue between  me and my respected
opponent. In his view, it is the assertion of the Unity and the Infinite Perfections of God the Creator, and the prohibition of idolatry;
in mine, it annexes the further declarations, that, whatever number of
creations may have been, each had its point of commencement, and
some one was preeminent, as having been strictly "in the beginning,"
the first in the order of time, and generically comprehending the principle or germ of all following; and that the part of the world to which
man is immediately allied, and which alone would be understood by
the writer and original readers of this composition, did, in six natural
days, pass through a series of changes, effected, immediately and mediately, by the Divine power, and here described in the phraseology
of the people and the time.t
Upon the hypothesis of the learned Professor, "the entire description is divested of the attributes of a real history;" "was not intended
* Learned and pious commentators are often careful to assure us that the intention of
the expression is not that of rest after weariness, but merely that of cessation from action.
This is their assertion; but it has no support of evidence. The word occurs in the
Pentateuch many times, indubitably denoting the repose of men and cattle after the
week's labour; and that the same idea is ascribed to the Creator, is determined by Exod.
xxxi. 17, "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested,
and was refreshed." Besides, the resort is itself fallacious; for it would be contrary to
theological truth to suppose that the Infinite Being ever ceases from action. Perfect and
unremitted ACTIVITY is included in the necessary attributes of the Divine Nature. It was
a maxim of the old divines, that conservation is a continued creation. " My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work."  Johnv. 17.
t It may be objected that I commit a fallacy in laying down these two predicates,
since the terms of verse 4th are manifestly intended to comprehend all the heavenly
bodies. I reply, that the mention of them is only stckh as arises from their relation to
man, to furnish light, and to be indications for agricultural and social life. Even to the
eat of the sun no reference is made-the most vital of its influences; for it would be
absurd to expect any notice of the mechanism of the solar system; yet, upon the hypotheses of some persons, this was the most to be expected, as being of the highest possible
importance, more essential to life than even light. It is also worthy of observation that,
in the places of Scripture (about twelve) in which any mention occurs of this part of the
sun's influence, it is generally under the idea of physical evil, from the excess of heat.
This was quite natural in such countries as Palestine and Arabia, admitting the style of
writing to have been what I plead for; but quite unnatural upon the principles of those who
ascribe philosophical accuracy to the language of the Bible. I am aware of only two
places in which a beneficial influence is attributed to the sun's heat, Job viii. 16, Ps. xix.
6; and it is not clear that the first of these does not refer to the withering and burning
action, and the second to the penetrating power of excessive heat, as sometimes painful.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    373
Jbr a)n HISTORICAL narrative;" "cannot have been designed for literal
history;" and, " taken as a whole, it may be understood as couched
in the language of mythic poetry."
A few observations arise.
(1.) Mr. Powell does not deny, or question, but expressly affirms
the sacred character and divine authority of this scriptural portion.
He regards it " as embodying commonly received ideas, which Moses
was INSPIRED to adapt and apply to the ends of religious instruction."
(Connex. p. 257.) I request that this fact may be particularly observed with reference to the remarks in Lect. VI. pp. 136-138.
(2.) Though he has unfortunately, as it appears to me, adopted the
term "'mythic poetry," he must not be understood as symbolizing
with the men who have filled Germany, and, in a considerable degree,
other countries, with their parade of mythi.
All nations have had their traditions of events preceding history,
adorning their respective countries and remote ancestors with gods
and heroes, and deeds of wonder.  A word (/vOog) which at first
signified any interesting speech, came to be applied to these national
stories, in the common use of the Greeks.* Sixty to seventy years
ago, Heyne led the van to a generalizing of the fact, in a manner so
broad, as to imply a rejection of all the primeval revelations from the
Deity-the first links in the unbroken chain which led down to the
"grace and truth by Jesus Christ."  Soon he found eager followers
among his countrymen, always dying of thirst for zr xcaiso',teor.
Schelling, Eichorn, Gabler, Bauer, and a multitudinous host at their
heels, betook themselves to the trumpeting abroad that, as the old
Egyptians and Persians, Greeks and Romans, Celts, Goths, and
Scandinavians, had their stories of heroic times-their mythi, so,
beyond a doubt, the ancient Hebrews had. Learning and fancy-aye,
talent and genius, too-ran mad. Parallels were found in Grecian
fable to all the chief facts in the Old Testament history. Hardened
in impiety, and drunken with self-flattery, these adventurers pushed
on, till they dreamed they had stormed the citadel, had exploded
either the death or the resurrection of Jesus, (it mattered not which;)
and so had only to sit down on the ruins of human hope, and proclaim
the reign of antisupernaturalism, soon to be followed by nominal
pantheism and real atheism.'l.Mythi," said they, "'are historical
tales [sagen] concerning the most ancient history of the earth and of
Eoiita 6i
KiXirret wrapyotca,ITYOIFE.
"And wisdom with her wqytkhi, gently beguiles."
Pind. Nem. vii. 33.




374                   SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
men, particularly of single tribes or nations, united with conjectures
and theories in the garb of histories, upon cosmogony and geogony,
the physical causes of things, and the objects of sense, all worked up
into the miraculous, and by degrees dressed out in a variety of
ways."'   Another of the same school is pleased to say, "Every
system of religion which professes to be derived from a supernatural
and immediate revelation of the Deity, was enrapt in mythic representations."t
I feel no little pleasure in saying, that not only am I persuaded
that my excellent opponent (       shall I call him?-or rather, fellowhelper in the attempt to elucidate a confessedly difficult part of Scripture,)-is not to be involved in these representations.  Far, very far
from  it.  He maintains the INSPIRATION  of the narrative, and, of
course, the DIVINE coBaIISSION of Moses, its author or editor. Neither
can I give up to the disguised infidel party, the long-ago deceased
Alexander Geddes, the learned, nobly upright, and richly instructive
man, notwithstanding eccentricities much to be lamented,-who wrote
thus upon the passage before us.  "I believe it to be a most beautiful
mythos, or philosophical fiction, contrived with great wisdom, dressed
up in the garb of real history, adapted to the shallow intellects of a
rude barbarous nation, and perfectly well calculated for the great and
good purposes for which it was contrived; namely, to establish tle
belief of One Supreme God and Creator, in opposition to the various
and wild systems of idolatry which then prevailed; and to enforce
the observance of a periodical day, to be chiefly devoted to the service
of that Creator, and the solacing repose of his creatures." He then
enlarges upon the propriety and convincing power of introducing in
this manner the created beings, which the narrative particularizes, as
they were those which the Israelites had seen to be the especial objects of the Egyptian idolatry: —and he adds,-" This hypothesis of
a mere poetical mythos, historically adapted to the senses and intellects of a rude unphilosophical people, will remove every obstacle,
obviate every objection, and repel every sarcasm; whether it come
from a Celsus or Porphyry, a Julian or a Frederic, a Boulanger or a
Bolingbroke."  (Transl. of the Bible, vol. i.  Critical Remarks: in3 (Hebraische ll-ythologie, su. s. f.) Heb-ewv lMythology of the Old acnd New Testcqne?t, by Geo. Laur. Bauer, Prof. of Logic (!) and Oriental Languages in the Univ.
of Altdorf, [afterwards at Heidelberg,] 2 vols. Leipzig, 1802, vol. i. p. 3. He died
in 1806.
i "QQuevis religionis doctrina, a supernaturali et immediata quadam numinis revelatione repetita, mythis involuta fuit." WYegscheider, 17estit. Theol. cap. i. ~ 8. Halle,
1829.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     375
serted also in Rees's Cyclopmedia, art. Creation; and in Mason Good's
Life of Geddes, p. 344.)
(3.) The capital point in question is thus ably displayed. After
touching upon other proposed elucidations of Gen. i., the Professor
proceeds: —" To this list we have now to add the interpretations just
stated," [that of these pages,] "differing in its details indeed, but still
founded upon the like critical distinctions, put forth as what Moses
intended to say.  Now, as in referring to those former instances, so
in the present, I enter into no question, whether the word rendered'create' may not more properly be translated' mould' or'arrange;
whether'light' signify illumination from  one source or another;
whether'darkness' means the absence of light, or only a partial
obscuration.  With all these, and the like questions, I have no concern.  Let the whole narrative, taken together, be read through by
any unbiassed person of common capacity and the most ordinary
degree of taste and feeling; and let him  be asked, I do not say
whether the ordinary acceptation of every word be rigidly correct;
but whether the ENTIRE I3IPRESSION of its tenor be not something
wholly at variance with all such laboured verbal criticisms; whether
the matchless sublimity of the whole representation, when simply
received, be not such as to leave on the mind little less than a sense
of disgust, when we hear attempts thus made to refine away all that
is most majestic in its imagery, as well as most strikingly appropriate
to the particular object for which it was designed. It is only necessary once to read the comment along with the simple text, to feel the
former equally at variance with common sense and correct taste."
(Suppl. to Trad. Unveiled, p. 33.)
Let me be heard in reply.
(a.) There are some oversights in the sketch of particulars held
forth as characters of my " critical distinctions," if they must be so
called. I do not stop to point them out: if the reader please, he can
compare them with the passages alluded to. For further explanation,
I beg recurrence to a former part of this note, and to page 139.
(b.) I cannot perceive that the impression of grandeur and sublimity, upon readers of taste and feeling, is weakened, or that common
sense is shocked, when in reading this document we believe that those
to whom it was first given understood it according to their own ideas
of the forms and motions and extent of the universe; ideas suited to
the infancy of the human race. To perceive its magnificence, to
enjoy its picturesque beauty, am I obliged to fly to one or other extreme; to take it, either as in every part literally true, or as merely
a visionary tablet.




376                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
(c.) Much more should I conceive that the feelings of admiration
at what is great and sublime, are enhanced by superadding those of
love and reverence for TRUTH; and that those feelings would be repressed and broken, to a most distressing degree, by the notion intruding, that this unique composition, this model of unrivalled simplicity, the product of Divine inspiration, the portal to the temple,
the beginning of those writings by which Infinite Benevolence is
enlightening us and guiding us to eternity;-that this composition
possesses no historical trutlh, and is only a mythus, a parable, a fable!
Let me intreat my excellent remarker to consider in his own impartial
manner, what would have been the effect upon an ingenuous Hebrew
child, of being told that the reason given, in the name of God himself, "for the more powerful enforcement" of the sabbatic institution,
represented no true fact, and therefore was only an instructive
parable.
(d.) I can imagine no reason why we should be warned off from
this plot of sacred ground, and prohibited to apply to it the same
means of understanding and interpreting which we do to all ancient
writings, and in particular to the Scriptures. This is all that I have
done; and the reasons are, at every step, laid open to the reader.
(e.) That a description which is immediately adapted to the confined knowledge of a rude people, should yet, without any enigmatical
device, but when only analysed and impartially expounded, be found
not contradictory to the discoveries of the most advanced age;-surely
may be regarded as not unworthy of the Author of knowledge, and
as even what it would be natural to anticipate in any documents of
written revelation. Some such position as this is the correlate of the
great duty of "searching the Scriptures."  The greatest theological
mind (0Cs 4Eo' ooxe) of modern times wrote, nearly a century ago,
6 The Scriptures, in all their parts, were made for the use of the
Church here on earth; and it seems reasonable to suppose that God
will, by degrees, unveil their meaning to his Church. It [the meaning]
was made mysterious, in many places having great difficulties; that
his people might have exercise for their pious wisdom and study, and
that his Church might make progress in the understanding of it; as
the philosophical world makes progress in the understanding of the
book of nature, and in the unfolding of its mysteries." (Pres. Jonath.
Edwards.)  The divinely designed relation of the more advanced
parts of revelation to the early and imperfect, requires us to generalize the axiom, which one of the ornaments of Oriel has propounded
with regard to the Mosaic ritual: " Its'dumb elements' are made
animated and eloquent, when the Truth comes to act upon them with




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    377
its light.  They are like the statue, which had its chords wrought
within, but was mute till the morning  sun struck upon them."
(Davison on Proph. p. 139.)
(f.) If any want of judgment, taste, or feeling attach to the considering of the first sentence in this narrative as an independent proposition, this defect has belonged to others before me, or they have
closely approached to it; ancients and moderns, Christian fathers,
Roman Catholics and Protestants, Churchmen and Dissenters, divines
and philosophers.  (See pp. 130-133; Rees's Cyclop. Art. Creation;
Good's Life of Geddes, pp. 333, 345.)  I must own that, to my conception, the grandeur and sublimity are increased by this insulation
of the sentence.  The eminent Bible-scholar and orthodox divine,
Seiler, distinguishes the text in this manner; and he was a man of no
common judgment and taste in literature.  (Gr6ssere Biblische Erbauungsbcch, i. 3.)
(g.) The Professor has said,-" The sure monuments which we
derive from the study of organic remains, disclose to us evidences of
a series of gradual changes and repeated creative processes, going on
without any one sudden universal intervention or creation of the
existing world out of the ruins of a former." (Connex. p. 254.)
Now, I cannot perceive that the language of Gen. i. is inconsistent
with this view. The first verse, "the general proposition," affirms
that there was a beginning, "an epoch, a point in the flow of infinite
duration, when the whole of the dependent world, or whatever portion
of it first had existence, was brought into being, —by the will, wisdom, and power of the ONE and ONLY GOD."  (P. 185 of this book.)
The Professor, when he speaks of " creative processes," unquestionably understands interventions of the Deity, direct acts of power essentially different from  any kind of generative evolutions.  Why,
then, may not the recited occurrences of the six days have been such
a series, extending over that portion of the earth's surface in which
man, with his appropriate attendance of organized creatures, was to
receive "life and breath, and all things" from his Creator?-I can
perceive in this no infringement of common sense, no invasion of
taste, no sacrifice of the beautiful, or frittering away of the sublime.
The proposition remains, that there is One Universal Creator, whatever may have been the periods of time, or parts of space, or spots
on our earth, in which it has pleased him. thus to " manifest forth his
glory."
Professor Powell has referred, with high but merited encomium, to
the Address of the Rev. W. Vernon Harcourt, (mentioned in the
Notes at pp. 196 and 305,) as maintaining, " in its grand principles,"




37S                  SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
the view which he had given. In this edition, I have enlarged the
previous quotation from that address, so as to include the passage
alluded to. (See Supplementary Note F, p. 305.) The reader may
see in that extract, that Mr. Harcourt appears to have been directing
his discourse chiefly to the confutation of such as imagine that they
find time enough for the successive stratifications and the imbedded
fossils, in the six days, or in a year, or in two thousand years; probably referring to those who regard the duration of Noah's deluge,
or the antediluvian period, as adequate for the purpose. He considers
the days as a figurative expression, denoting six classes of phenomena,
each class being an act of the Creator's power. This is not a total
denial of historical truth in the narrative: it is interpretation, and it
is giving an exposition to the words. It seems very different from
regarding the six days as fiction and fable, the machinery of mythic
poetry. A definite signification is assigned to the days: each day
denotes a class; and each class is an act. This is what I do not understand.  That a class of phenomena should be an act, seems incongruous: but, no doubt, the intention was to signify the effect of acts
of power. It would not be easy to make the classification supposed,
for there are at least ten distinct objects, or groups of objects enumerated in the text.  But, be that as it might, the proposed explication refers to certain actual facts, assumed to have taken place separately and successively. I think it lies open to the principle of Mr.
Powell's objection, as much as mine does.  Mr. W. Harcourt supposes each day to signify an act, inadvertently confounding the idea
of time with the ideas of space and motion. My supposition is, that,
in making fit and suitable the portion of the earth designed for the
original seat of the human family, the Creator was pleased to distribute the operations into six successive and properly connected daily
portions; having the wisest reasons for this arrangement. This involves no perplexity about time requisite for chemical or electric
action, or any developement whatever of second causes: for, admitting and maintaining their action, the principal object to be considered
is the creative cause, which we all, I trust, agree to be the immediate
action of the DEITY. The mode of such action must be inconceivable
by us: but we are sure that it can be no other than worthy of Infinite Perfection; and that, whether the causal act be instantaneous,
or through any succession of moments, it is the best adapted to the
end, and infallibly efficient of that end. Upon the distribution of
operations, and the dramatic style of narration (found in Herodotus,
Horner, and all archaic compositions,) in which this " excellency of
the power" is expressed, see pp. 192 and 195.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES,                     379
Notwithstanding M'Ir. Harcourt's flood of splendid eloquence, and
the acclamations which it instantaneously drew from the vast auditory,
-(of which, how many were qualified to judge, and that in a moment, upon a question of Biblical philology l)-I must confess my
conviction that his argunment failed.  He adduced passages from the
book of Job, those cited in p. 176 of this volume, with others, for a
literal understanding of which no person contends; he observed that
"here we have the first account of the Creation of the World, proceeding, as it were, from the mouth of the CPEATOR himself;;" and
then his reasoning was that, since this must be taken as entirely figurative, we are authorized and bound to understand figuratively the
description in "that other most ancient book"-the Genesis. That I
may not deprive the argument of any measure of its force, I annex
the passages additional to those already in my pages, and a few lines
of the impassioned appeal which followed.
"4  -It speaks of Him'who hangeth the earth upon nothing,'
who'maketh a weight for the winds, and weigheth the waters by
measure.'-In that book, I say, we have the first account of the
creation of the world, proceeding as it were from the mouth of the
Creator himself.'The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,
and said, Where wast thou, when I laid the foundations of the earth!
Declare, if thou hast understanding.  Who hath laid the measures
thereof, if thou knowest. Or who hath stretched the line upon it.
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?   Or who laid the
corner-stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all
the sons of God shouted for joy. Or who shut up the sea with doors,
when it brake forth as if it had issued from the womb. When I
made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling
band for it; and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and
doors, and said, Hither shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall
thy proud waves be stayed." (Job xxxviii.) Take, then, these'thoughts that breathe, and words that burn;' and compress them, if
you can, into some true or some fanciful system of science. Teach
us where to find'the house wherein darkness dwelleth,' to' bind the
sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion.' Explain to us, with respect to one of God's creatures, what the natural
process is, by which he' drinketh up a river and hasteth not;' and of
another, how' his breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his
mouth.'-Then take credit to yourself for vindicating the truth of
Scripture: and, when you have thus illustrated a composition by
the side of which, till you touched it, the images of Homer and
Pindar seem but as prose, go on; instruct us how to interpret that




380                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
other most ancient book, recorded, it has been thought, by the very
same hand."Now the fallacy, into which the deservedly honoured philosopher
had fallen, lies plainly in his having overlooked the change of meaning in one of his terms. All agree that metaphors are not to be
understood literally; and, that these passages in the book of Job are
metaphors, is evident. The conclusion then, with regard to them, is
good. But, in applying this to the verse of Genesis, he has assumed
what cannot be granted him; sliding in a change of his middle term.
The middle term, in the valid syllogism, is metaphorical language;
but, in the second case, it is the phraseology repeated six times in Gen.
i. —" And it was evening, and it was morning, day the first,-second,"
&c. It was necessary to have proved that this phraseology is metaphorical: but the orator has not so proved, nor do I think that he
would assert it, or that he can for a moment hesitate to admit that
the phraseology is the plainest enunciation of a bare fact. It occurs
in a composition which, grand and sublime as it is, especially in its
commencement, is not given in poetical diction or form, but in simple
prose. He also slides in another idea, evidently with the intention
of strengthening his argument; that Moses was the writer of the book
of Job: a conjecture of some biblicists, but destitute of evidence, and
opposed by a great amount of reasons.-Yet let us not forget that the
observance of critical and cold precision is not to be required, in the
ardour of public speaking, on such an occasion and before an audience of three thousand lovers of science.
(h.) It is impossible to separate a consistent faith in the divine
origin and authority of the Christian religion, from a reception of
Moses as a messenger of God, especially accredited by miraculous
evidence, that he might be the founder of a peculiar dispensation
which should be the rudiment of Christianity. Jesus Christ recognised Moses in this light, (Matt. v. 17, 18; Luke i. 27; John v. 46, 47;
vii. 19;) and we have, in a speech and the epistles of the apostle
Paul, references to this very initial part of the book of Genesis, in
such expressions as seem to imply the historical sense, and can, by no
fair means of interpretation or of analogical argument, be made compatible with a mythic character.  "Turn from these vanities unto the
living God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things
that are therein."  (Acts xiv. 15.)  "God,-commanded the light
to shine out of darkness." (2 Cor. iv. 6.) Allusions to the terms
of this narrative, so far as respects the high endowments with
which man was invested upon his creation, occur in Eph. iv. 24, and
Col. iii. 17.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     381
Upon all these grounds I indulge the hope that the views which,
from my opinion of their being true, I have put forth in this volume,
are not a following in the wake of arbitrary interpretation, contrivance
to serve a purpose, shifting and changing as exigencies arise, attributing to Moses or other men of old, knowledge which they could not
possess, secret meanings, and equivocal phrases. I trust that I have
adduced sufficient evidence that the design of Divine Revelation was
higher and greater than to teach physical philosophy; while yet its
declarations are misunderstood, if their fair interpretation be conceived
to contradict natural truth.
In another work of Professor Powell's, for which, in my humble
opinion, the whole nation is under no little obligation to him,* he has
the following paragraph.
"     T —   here is one point to which it may be perhaps thought I am
going quite out of my way to allude; yet it strikes me as one which
must, in the present age, force itself more and more on our attention:
-In what light are we to teach children to view tlhe Old Testament
account of the Creation, whether in Genesis or in the Decalogue'i
Are they to be early habituated to take it in its literal sense, and to
hold it historically true as an article of faith? And then, when they
afterwards come to hear (as we must expect all educated persons will),
the facts of the case elicited by geological research, so wholly at variance with the reception of it as history, are they to be left exposed
to the inferences of the sceptic, and the attacks which the advocates
of infidelity will not fail to found on the contradiction l Are they to
be thus made the victims of a timid prejudice, and weak dread of
meeting the question fairly 1"
My friends, especially those of my own religious connexions, who
have so long and assiduously laboured in the benevolent work of educating the poor, (though this is a question which belongs equally to
all orders of society,) will not think it irrelevant to the designs of the
Congregational Lecture, that I intreat their most serious consideration
to this question. Either we must trample upon the conclusion to
which the ien have come, who have had the best means of judging,
of all countries and classes, with scarcely an exception; and thus be
accessory to the fearful state of minds which Mr. Powell has set before
us: or we must so modify our catechetical and other instructions as to
prevent the collision  between faith and reason, as our adversaries
* State Education, considered with respect to Pr'evalent Misconceptions on Religioses Grounzds. 1840, p. 29.




382                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
would not fail to call it. My own conviction is, that we ought to say,
in the shortest and plainest manner, that this description was written
for the use of those who could not have the knowledge which God
has since enabled men to attain, and that it referred only to such parts
of the Creator's works as those persons were acquainted with. [With
this view, I especially recommend Mr. Whyte's Catechetical Illustration, mentioned at p. 314.]
Surely also, it is proper to set before our children and congregations that, in the Fourth Commandment, the clause is given as a
reason for the sabbatic rest, viz. that even the Creator was fatigued
and needed repose; explaining to them the principle of condescension
to the minds of uncultivated men, so abundantly appearing in the
earlier parts of the Old Testament: also that, in the repetition of the
Ten Commandments, given forty years after in a written form, Moses
omitted this reason, and introduced another, not as a part of the Commandment, but as a gloss or comment, founded upon the feeling of
equitable sympathy: Deut. v. 15. Above all, we should take the
requisite pains to make them understand that the unspeakable privilege of the christian LoaD's day, and the duty of observing it, stand,
not upon the Israelitish positive law of the seventh-day-sabbath, but
upon moral reasons, analogical and inferential, arising from the primary facts of Christianity, and the benefits to piety and morality of
this inestimable weekly season.
" —     Si quid novisti rectius istis,
Candidus imperti, — "
[S.]
Referred to at pagces 189 and 192.
ON THE DUTY OF THESE IN\VESTIGATIONS, AND IN VINDICATION OF
DR. BUCKLAND.
THE following letter was courteously admitted into the " IMagazine
of Popular Science," more than three years ago. It was intended to
obviate some remarks, in a Review of Dr. Buckland's Treatise, which
the writer thought to be of an unhappy tendency. It is republished
here, in the hope of its being useful partly as giving a short view of
some principal sentiments maintained in this volume, partly for the
sake of representing the importance of the discussion, and partly also




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                     383
to call attention to the interpretation of Gen. i. 2, which is maintained in these lectures, and for the suggestion of which I am under
obligation to the Rev. Baden Powell.
Sir,-With cordial approbation of the design and the general execution of your article, in the last month, upon Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, I request your candid indulgence of some brief remarks.
[Some of your] observations appear to me capable of being misunderstood, or of being construed injuriously in various ways to the
interests of both science and religion. The tendency of those observations appears to be, First, to assume (or at least to warrant the assumption) that the Holy Scriptures contain allegations and implications with respect to the natural history of our earth, which are contradicted and disproved by the demonstrations of modern Geology;
and, Secondly, that it is the duty of a philosopher to abstain from
any discussion of this discrepancy, and from any inquiry whether it
be real or only apparent; as if it were said, Let these two branches
of knowledge be kept far away from each other: let philosophers and
geologists pursue their own course, and let theology and religion
practise their own duties, and watch over their own interests; but
let neither interfere with the other; let no inquiry ever be made
whether they are in accordance or in opposition.
This short way of dismissing the matter has, indeed, been adopted
by some eminent men; but I appeal, Sir, to your impartial reflection,
whether it is not absurd and impracticable.
1. It is absurd.  TRUTH throughout her whole domain, illimitable
as is its extent, is one in principle, and harmonious in details. It is
no other than the having our conceptions in accordance with the
reality of things.  And Truth in expression (= veracity) is the
adapting of our language, written or spoken, to the honest utterance
of our conceptions.  A mere child, if he will reflect a moment, perceives that a proposition cannot be true and false, under the same
circumstances; unless there be some artifice practised in the use of
terms. An assertion cannot be true in theology, and false in geology,
or any department whatever of scientific knowledge; nor inversely.
It really is an insult to men's understandings, to admit indirectly,
that there are affirmations or doctrines in the records of revealed
religion, which are disproved by the clearest evidence of science; and
then to proscribe investigation, with a solemn pretence of mysteries
not to be inquired into, an hypocritical tone of reverence for sacred
things. The veil is transparent; no man can be deceived by it: but
it is lamentable that any should attempt to deceive by it. We greatly
wrong the interests of knowledge, and prejudice our own improve



384                 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
ment, when we but seem to admit that theology is an insulated portion of science, which may be safely pursued by itself, and which
yields no advantages to other departments.  True theology, on the
contrary, attracts to itself, illustrates, and harmonizes all other knowledge. It is the science which relates to the Author and Preserver
of the whole dependent universe; whatever may be known concerning HIM, for the noblest purposes of intellectual improvement, of
personal virtue, and of diffusive happiness. It is formed by strict induction from the works and the word of God; natural notices, and
positive revelation. It is the friend of all science; it appropriates
all truth; it holds fellowship with no error.
2. It is impracticable.  This kind of ban upon a reasonable, an
inevitable query, is never submitted to by any person of sound understanding. Either he receives the assumption, —and, as its consequence, he rejects covertly or openly the truth and authority of the
Bible; or he searches out the matter fairly and fully, and then he
learns that the assumption is false.
Is it then the fact, that such fair and impartial inquiry will bring
out this result.  Is it, after all, an erroneous assumption, that the
declarations of Scripture and the sensible demonstrations of geological
science, pointedly contradict each other? Does not the Bible teach
that the moment of the Supreme Being's first putting forth his creating power, was only about six thousand years ago 1 And do not
the undeniable phenomena of stratification, and other facts, demonstrate that our globe (to say nothing of the rest of the solar system,
and the astral universe,) has existed, has passed through countless
changes, such as are continually in progress, and others of a more
intense character, which rational estimation must suppose to have
required a period for their production so vast as to fill us with astonishment,-which no calculator ventures to lay down,-which probably amounts to millions and millions of years.
Fully admitting the assumptions in the last query, I deny that of
the preceding one.
It is to be lamented that the common habits of expression nourish
the opinion, that the authority of Scripture maintains the commencement of dependent nature to have been as has been stated: and it is
scarcely less to be lamented that theories have been propounded for
conciliating the facts of nature and the Scripture narrative, which
rest upon either a defective acquaintance with those facts, or a disregard to the plain use of language in that narrative.  Of the former
kind are the schemes for finding the time requisite for the terrene
formations, in the period from the creation of the first man, to the




SUPPLEMENT.RY NOTES.                         385
Noachian Deluge; of the latter, those which interpret the days of
successive operation, laid down in the primeval record, as if they
were indefinite periods.
It will appear evident to any one who will reflect upon the case,
that the records of revelation must have been written in the phraseology and idioms of the people and the age to which they were given;
or they would have been unintelligible. Upon this principle we
account for the manner in which natural phenomena are currently
described; and for the expressions which impute to the Infinite
Spirit the form, the organs, and the mental affections of a human
being; and various other characteristics of the parabolic style of the
Hebrew Scriptures. Such language was a condescension to the
infirmities of mortals, and best adapted to the instruction of the
general mass of mankind: but it is self-evident that it must be interpreted in a manner congruous with the perfect attributes of the
Deity, and the reality of things.
A philological survey of the initial section of the Bible (Gen. i. 1,
to ii. 3,) brings out the result:i. That the first sentence is a simple, independent, all-comprehending axiom, to this effect-that matter elementary or combined, aggregated only or organized, and dependent sentient and intellectual beings,
have not existed from eternity, either in self-continuity or succession, but had a beginning; that their beginning took place by the allpowerful will of ONE BEING, the Self-existent, Independent, and
Infinite in all perfections; and that the date of that beginning is not
made known.
ii. That, at a recent epoch, our planet was brought into a state of
disorganization, detritus, or ruin, (perhaps we have no perfectly appropriate term,) from a former condition.*
iii. That it pleased the Almighty, Wise, and Benevolent Supreme,
out of that state of ruin, to adjust the surface of the earth to its now
existing condition; partly by the operation of the mechanical and
chemical causes (what we usually call Lawzs of.Nature), which Him* I beg that this position may be understood in the way which the preceding Lectures
explain. Prof. Powell's volume awakened my closer attention and directed my mind
to what I regard as the more accurate interpretation of this verse, and which is therefore maintained in these Lectures. Referring to the preceding paper, of which he speaks
in kind and courteous terms, he has represented me as conceiving " that the beginning
means an indefinitely long period, during which the successive formations recognised by
Geology may have taken place." Connex. of Nat. agnd Div. Truth; p. 297. ButI am
persuaded that this representation arose from oversight. My intention was to apply that
word, not to a period, but to thefirst term of a period, the commencement of a series of
operations; and that therefore the verb created is to be understood sensu prcegnanti, as
the Hebrew grammarians soay.
AA




386                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
self had established; and partly, that is, whenever it was necessary,
by His own creative power, or other immediate intervention; the
whole extending through the period of six natural days.
It has been indeed maintained, that the conjunction and, with
which the next sentence begins, connects the succeeding matter with
the preceding, so as to forbid the intercalating of any considerable
space of time. To this we reply, that the Hebrew conjunction, agreeably to the simplicity of ancient languages, expresses an annexation
of subject or a continuation of speech, in any mode whatever, remote
as well as proximate. For denoting such different modes of annexation, the Greek and other languages have a variety of particles; but
their use is in Hebrew compensated by the shades of meaning which
the tone in oral speech, and the connexion in writing, could supply.
To go no further than the first two leaves of the Hebrew Bible, we
find this copula rendered in our authorized version, by thus, but, now,
and also.
This interpretation is what I have been labouring to diffuse for
more than thirty years, in private and in public, by preaching, by
academical lecturing, and by printing. But it is not my interpretation, though I believe that I originally derived it from the sole study
of the Bible-text.  Clemens of Alexandria, Origen, Basil, Chrysostom, and Augustine, among the fathers (though not in a truly philosophical way, which was not to be expected), departed from the
vulgar notion: and some judicious interpreters of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries have done the same, in particular, Bishop
Patrick and Dr. David Jennings. Of modern Scripture critics I say
nothing; for prejudice, justly or unjustly, may lie against them. Not
that the question is to be settled by human authority. Our only
appeal for decision is to the Bible itself, fairly interpreted. But the
mention of venerable names may be useful, to allay the apprehensions
of some good persons, who only hear obscurely of these subjects, and
have not the means of forming an independent judgment on solid
grounds.
I, therefore, with many, feel greatly obliged to Dr. Buckland for
having come in aid of this, which I believe to be, the true sense and
meaning of the sacred writers.  I am framing no hypotheses in Geology; I only plead that the ground is clear, and that the dictates of
Scripture interpose no bar to observations and reasonings upon the
mineralogical constitution of the earth, and the remains of organized
creatures which its strata disclose. If those investigations should"
lead us to attribute to the earth, and to the other planetary and astral:
spheres, an antiquity which millions or ten thousand millions of years




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    387
might fail to represent, the divine records forbid not their deduction.
Let but the geologist maintain what his science so loudly proclaims,
that the universe around us has been formed, at whatever epoch, or
through whatever succession of epochs, to us unknown, by the power
and wisdom of an Almighty First Cause. Let him but reject the
absurdities of pre-existent matter, of an eternal succession of finite
beings, of formations without a former, laws without a lawgiver, and
nature without a God. Let him but admit that man is but of yesterday, and that the design of revelation is to train him to the noblest
purity and happiness in the immortal enjoyment of his Creator's
beneficence; and he will find the doctrines of the Bible not an impediment, but his aid and his joy.
I have written much more than I anticipated, and I will tax your
indulgence no longer; otherwise, confirmation and illustration might
be brought from various passages of Scripture, and it would plainly
appear that a just interpretation of the idioms of the Hebrew language, marked with archaic simplicity, would show them to be susceptible of an unforced accommodation to philosophical truth; just as,
in every modern language, phrases of current parlance, which, literally taken, would be absurd, are continually used by the masters of
science as well as by common men. In such cases, error is neither
given nor taken, and to affect philosophical precision would be miserable pedantry. This general principle may, I humbly think, be
satisfactorily applied to the account of the Noachian Deluge, and to
the obviating of some of its difficulties, though others will probably
remain as a proper test of our disposition to rely implicitly on the
infinite wisdom, goodness, and power of the glorious Author and Preserver of all things; " in whose hand are the deep places of the earth,
and the strength of the hills is His also." J. P. S.
Dec. 10, 1836.
[T.]
Referring to page 207.
ON MOUNT ARARAT.
M. Eugene Bore was sent by the French Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, on an oriental expedition for literary and
scientific purposes. He has lately sent home from Persia a Report
AA 2




388                  SUPPLEIENTARY NOTES.
upon Chaldea and its ancient and modern inhabitants. It has been
published in the R6vue Franpaise, vol. xii.; and a large extract is
given in the S~meur of Oct. 2, 1839. From this article, which contains much philological and historical information, I extract a few
sentences, tending to support the idea that the resting-place of the ark
was in some less elevated part of the great mountain region to which
the name of Ararat was anciently given.
" The Chaldeans inhabited the mountains whose extended chain
over Mossoul, Diarbekir, Van, and Suleimania, covers the country
with its innumerable ramifications. Secluded there and intrenched
as in an impregnable fortress, they have constantly maintained themselves in their independence and wild liberty, which they have ever
prized above every other enjoyment. Those mountains anciently bore
the names of the Gorduian [Gordysean ], Carduian, or Cardou. —The
Syriac Version of the Old Testament does not say that the ark rested
upon Mount Ararat, but on the top of mount Cardou.*  On the
place here pointed out by tradition, the early Christians built the
edifice which they called the Monastery of the Ark; in which they
kept up an annual commemoration of the patriarch with his family
coming out of the ark. The Mahommedan dervishes to the present
day maintain in this place a perpetually burning lamp, in an oratory.
-The mountains Cardou, Macis as called by the Armenians, and
Ararat, are only links of the immense chain of the Taurus."
[U.]
Referr ed to at page 234.
THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY VINDICATED FROM MISREPRESENTATIONS.
IN  a recent publication, "The Stranger's Intellectual Guide to
London, for 1839-40," an account is given of the Geological Society;
and in it occurs the following passage.
" The meetings of the Geological Society are perhaps the most
A The Syriac has Cardu, the Arabic Carda; but the difference is not essential, as every
one acquainted with the Shemitic languages must know. The bearing of this evidence
is to support the opinions that the name Ararat in the Hebrew text was intended to comprehend the whole mountainous district; and that the ark rested in some part of the
lower, but yet hilly, region which lies eastward, and is called in Arrowsmith's maps,
lKaradaugzh. The Latin Vulgate renders Ararat by Armenia.




SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                    389
popularly interesting to their attendants of any in town, and each
member having the opportunity of admitting two visitors, the capacious meeting-room is generally well filled. The principal interest
of these meetings is however derived from the discussions which arise
after the papers are read, and which sometimes do not assume a very
scientific character. Geology is not generally popular with the public
and has not as yet sufficient claims to make it so, the opinions of its
advocates being split into party theories, and the papers that are read
before the Society giving rise to discussion neither the most rational
nor acceptable. What is wanted in the reason is made up for in the
jocularity of the discussions, and sallies of wit usurp the place of the
grave deliberations of science; what is wanted in argument made up
from deductions from close investigation, is met with in the sophistry
of the forum or debating-room. Sometimes it is to be lamented that
these discussions take a different character, being directed against the
fundamentals of revealed religion, and have a tendency to subvert
those doctrines which are the basis of our modern civilization. From
these circumstances the Society takes especial care that their proceedings shall not be reported: the attendance of every person from whom
these might emanate being carefully excluded from the meetings. Their
own reports indeed appear carefully worded, and supplied by their
own secretaries, in the Literary Gazette and the Athenmeum, but in
these accounts all allusion to their discussions is avoided. In these
respects the Geological Society does not court the freedom of public
discussion, which, through the medium of the press, is allowed by
every other Society in the metropolis."-Pp. 77, 78.
It may be requisite to assure the reader that this paragraph is
copied with literal accuracy. The writer's representation of the
general character of Geology may be very safely left to itself, as an
instance of the ancient practice not yet become uncommon, that persons " speak evil of the things which they understand not." But it
contains insinuations and assertions which call for attention: and I
should think myself wanting in the observance of moral duty, were I
to neglect the opportunity afforded by the publication of this volume,
of bearing testimony to truth, and so of counteracting injurious representations. To any candid thinker it must appear an unreasonable
expectation, that any person that pleases should be allowed to take
notes of the papers, conversations, and discussions of any scientific or
literary institution, and to publish them. No Society of respectability and honour would submit to such an intrusion. Besides other
obvious objections, this one immediately presents itself; the contingency, not to call it a certainty, that mistakes and misrepresenta



390                SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
tions would be committed, and those often of the most serious import, even by well-intentioned reporters.
The impropriety of this complaint is however a small thing, in
comparison with other parts of the passage. The writer does not say,
that some instance may have occurred, or even more than one, in
which a speaker had uttered sentiments irreconcileable to reason or
piety. The reflection would then have arisen, that no society to
whose objects unreserved discussion is essential, could prevent such
an occurrence, or ought to be held answerable for it, unless it had
manifested approbation, or at least connivance. I do not say this as
an apology for any known fact, for I have never heard of such an
occurrence. But the writer evidently strives to produce the impression that scientific investigation is not the chief object of the
Society's meetings, that it is made only a mask for the effecting of
other purposes, that the most momentous truths of religion are
assailed with scoffs, in the guise of witticism and sophistry as the
substitute for argument, that infidel and immoral principles are
bandied about, and that the Society gives encouragement and protection to such a course of proceeding.
I feel it my duty to declare that, to the best and utmost of my
knowledge, these accusations are contrary to truth and exceedingly
unjust. My great affliction, extreme deafness, restricts my advantage,
in attending the meetings of the Geological Society, almost entirely
to the inspection of the specimens, sections, and figures. Yet I am
a constant attendant: and, if infidel or otherwise irreligious and immoral sentiments were propounded by any of the speakers, I am not
unprovided with the means of receiving information; and those
means would not have been ineffectual. I am well assured that, even
if in any long past time it may have happened that opinions or insinuations have been broached, of the character which this author
alleges, the blame has rested on the offending person, and could, upon
no principle of equity, have been imputed to the Society: and, from
my own knowledge, I am persuaded that, were such a thing to occur,
it would be met by a strong expression of disapprobation from the
chair and by the general sense of the meeting. But I can go farther.
I have sought information from some of the oldest, most active, and
most influential Fellows of the Society: and upon good authority I
am enabled to say that the accusations are not true. One of those
gentlemen, whose means of knowledge are ample to a degree that few
men can obtain, has written to me: "I can fully bear testimony to the
entire correctness of what is stated in your Note, in contradiction of
the calumnious assertions with regard to the discussions at the Geolo



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.                  391
gical Society.-I can truly say that no discussions or observations
hostile to Revealed Religion, or treating it with levity, have ever
been heard by me at the Society's meetings; nor do I believe that in
so large and respectable an assembly, generally attended and often
presided over by Ministers of religion, any such would be for a
moment attempted or permitted."
The abstracts of papers read in the Society are printed for the use
of its members, under the title of Proceedings; and brief statements,
with the approbation of the Society, are sent to the two journals
mentioned, by a gentleman in whose ability and accuracy the fullest
confidence may be placed. By this method, the public is furnished
with correct information, instead of being left to the reports of incompetent persons, which could scarcely be any other than defective
and misrepresenting.
Sec. ed. This testimony is confirmed by one of the brightest ornaments of the Society, who has written thus, Nov. 16, 1839. "    I
was greatly surprised at your extract [from the book referred to in
this Note,] for its shameless untruth. During more than twenty
years I have been a member of the Geological Society, and very frequently have attended its meetings; and I never once heard an expression directed against the fundamentals of religion, nor would any
sneer at Revealed Truth be tolerated for one instant. And what
does this vituperative author mean, when he says that our Society'does not court the freedom of public discussion which is allowed by
every other society in the metropolis V' These words at least prove
that ignorance and malevolence often go together. The other chartered philosophical Societies of London, so far as I know them, have
no discussion or debate upon the Memoirs submitted to them. Our
debates are the exception, not the rule; and I am certain we do right
in excluding reporters, who would mangle what we now say in the
utmost confidence of a mutual good understanding.-"




IN addition to the observations which conviction of duty and, I
must say, painful feeling, led me to make in pp. 74 and 358 upon
the common practice of seeming to deify Nature, I beg attention to
some remarkable passages from the Chevalier de Lamarck, (who died
a few years ago, at the age of near 90,) to whose talents as a zoologist
and a botanist, every person does homage, but whose doctrine of the
production of all the species of organized beings, from " appetency,"
and in the way of "progressive developement," it may be hoped has
not many adherents. May it answer good purposes, as an admonitory
specimen of the hallucinations in highly gifted minds! —Mr. Lyell felt
it necessary, after giving a lucid exposition of that hypothesis, to
assure his readers that his sketch was "no exaggerated picture."
Princip. iii. 22. B. iii. ch. 1.
It is no wonder that Lamarck has been charged with atheism. But,
unless we impute to him hypocrisy and fraud, (for which I believe
that no just ground could be laid,) great regard is due to both his
arguments and the language in which he clothes them, upon the
absurdity of identifying Nature with God.
I first avail myself of Mr. Lyell's summary.  " Nature-is not an
intelligence, nor the Deity; but a delegated power,-a mere instrument,-a piece of mechanism acting by necessity,-an order of things
constituted by the Supreme Being, and subject to laws which are the
expressions of his will.  This Nature is obliged to proceed gradually
in all her operations."
The following passages are from the celebrated work, "Histoire
Jaturelle des dJnimaux sans Vertebres;" 8 vols. Paris, 1815-1822.
"In all that belongs to nature, every thing is connected, every
thing is dependent, every thing is the result of a common plan, followed constantly, but varied infinitely in its parts and details." Vol.
i. Introd. p. 259.




ADDENDA.                       393
" Man, having acquired sufficient knowledge to elevate himself to
the SUPREME BEING, by reflection, aided by the observations of nature or by any other methods, this grand sentiment has become the
stay of his hope, and has inspired him with religious feelings, and
directed him to the duties which they enjoin." P. 298.
" —-That intelligent and infinite power which has brought into
existence all the physical beings that we observe." P. 305.
"The different bodies" [elementary, or components of the organized- -~] "that we are acquainted with,-shewing themselves to be
(according to all appearance) the same, in all times and with the same
qualities or faculties, must be as old as nature herself, and must have
derived their existence from the same cause which gave nature hers."
P. 308.
Nature is, "in one word, a power which itself exists only by the
will of a power which is superior and infinite, and which, as being
the founder, is really the author of all that proceeds from it, that is,
of all that exists." P. 311.
" The physical universe will subsist as it is, so long as the will of
its SUBLIME AUTHOR shall permit." P. 316.
Fourth ed. Upon this subject I gladly offer to the benefit of those
upon whom my remarks may have seemed to verge on severity, a
passage from HERDER, "the great man, —the citizen, the philosopher,
the poet,-all whose endeavours were characterized by the purest
and noblest humanity." (.Menzel.)
" Let no man distress himself for this reason or any approach to it,
that I sometimes make a personified use of the name of Nature.
Nature is no independent being; but GoD is ALL, in his works. My
desire at least was, that I might not, by too frequent use, in which I
might fail to maintain its sanctity, misuse the most holy name;
which no one deserving to be called a rational creature should utter
without the deepest reverence. Let the man, to whom the word
Nature, as employed by many writers of our age, has become unmeaning and low, put mentally in its place THE ALMIGHTY POWER,
WISDOM, AND GOODNESS; and in his soul worship that INVISIBLE
BEING to whom no language of earth can give the right and full
name." Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Jfenschen; Vorrede,
p. 16. Carlsruhe, 1790.




394                       ADDENDA.
The following remarks of the eminent Paleontologist, Agassiz,
have a striking interest. They refer to the succession of the forms
of animal life in the fossiliferous strata, through periods incalculably
VAST. Let the reader compare with p. 192 the supplementary Note
F.  "The progressive concatenation  [enchainement] of the four
classes of Vertebrata is a fact which, in all respects and in a manner
very remarkable, consists with the uniform and parallel developement
of all the classes of Invertebrata. The gradation of the Vertebrata
is even the more remarkable as it is joined on immediately to the
introduction of the human species [a la venue de l'Plomme,] whom
we may regard as not only the term but also the object [but] of all
this developement." Poissons Fossiles; p. xix.
On this final page, I copy the prayer with which BACON begins and
concludes his "Instauratio Magna " beseeching all my readers to
join me in its sincere aspiration.
1"   -Si quid profecerimus, non alia sane ratio nobis viam aperuit
quam vera et legitima spiritus humani humiliatio.        Quamobrem,         ad Deum  Patrem, Deum Verbum, Deum  Spiritum,
preces fundimus humillimas et ardentissimas, ut humani generis
erumnarum memores et peregrinationis istius vitae in qua dies paucos et malos terimus, novis suis eleemosynis per manus nostras
familiam  humanam  dotare dignetur.  Atque illud insuper supplices
rogamus, ne humana divinis officiant; neve ex reseratione viarum
sensus et accensione majore luminis naturalis, aliquid incredulitatis
animis nostris erga divina mysteria oboriatur; sed potius, ut ab
intellectu puro a phantasiis et vanitate repurgato et divinis oraculis
nihilominus subdito et prorsus dedititio, fidei dentur que fidei sunt:
postremo, ut scientime veneno a serpente infuso quo animus humanus
tumet et inflatur deposito, nec altum sapiamus nec ultra sobrium, sed
veritatem in charitate colamus."




I IN DEX.
ADANSON, Michael, the eminent naturalist, Bowman, J. E., Esq.; on the longevity of
on the Baobab tree, 336.                 trees, 336.
Agassiz, Prof.; his hypothesis of an ancient Brown, Rev. J. Mellor; his strictures on
low temperature of the northern hemi-  the author of this book, 7. His charges
sphere, 54. On the fishes of the Old   against Geology, 127.  His fallacious
Red Sandstone, 315. On the glaciers,   and pernicious reasonings, 132.
327. On the gradations of fossil ani- Buckland, Rev. William, D.D., Dean of
mal species, 393.                        Westminster; on the connexion of sciAgency, Divine, in intellectual greatness,   ences, 3. His Bridgewater Treatise re235.                                     commended, 27, 117, 250, 303, 382. On
American aborigines; their moulding in-   valleys of denudation, 83. On diluvial
fants' skulls, 271.                      formations, 94. On supposed concessions,
Animalcules, fossil, 67, 318.              116. On "the Sentence of Death," 200.
Animals: what kinds provided for in the   On microscopic shells, 318.
ark, 109, 201, 206. Estimated numberof Burnet, Dr. Thomas; his Theory of the
existing species, 110.                   Earth, 29.
Annihilation of any thing, an unfounded  Caesar, his notice of country round Cleropinion, 154.                            mont in the Puy de Dome, 106.
Antediluvian hypothesis, and objections to  Calvin, on the right and duty of examinait, 142.                                 tion, 115. On Genesis, i. 126. On Rom.
Antiquity of the Earth, 53, 159, 284.      viii. 21, 155.
Arabs, proposed as the standard human  Carniverous animals; designed  by  the
figure, 273.                             Creator, 199. Their use, 67. Their exArarat, nmount, 207, 387.                  istence in all periods of life upon the
Asia, districts of; their low level, 207.  earth, 241, 244.
Astronomy, its alliance with geology, 11. Carpenter, W. B., M. D., his Principles of
Evidence from, to the immense antiquity    Physiology, 384. On the woody layers,
of creation, 252.                        341.
Athenians; their popular notion of their CAUSE, the SUPREEME; 16, 26, 185, 232,
own origin, 277.                         299, 303, 311, 317, 321, 359, 368, 393.
Auvergne, volcanic region of, 102, 309, Chalk formation, 293, 309.
334. Christian piety in that district, 332. Chalmers, Rev. Di.; his application of the
Erroneous statements from Sidonius, 334.   doctrine of chances, 14. Ott the antiquity
Babbage, Charles, E sq.; on the supposed    of the earth, 23, 196. On the disclosures
contradiction of Geology and the Bible,   by the microscope, compared with tele8. On the antiquity of the earth, 55, 81,   scopic discoveries, 321.
287. On the Mosaic account of the crea- Change, perpetual, in the universe, 26, 230.
tion, 134. On the responsibility of man, Chaos, universal, not admitted, 56, 186,
and its eternal consequences, 227. On   190.
the mechanical effect of the central heat, Characterism of rocks and organic remains,
293. On the rings of growth in fossil-   43.
trees, 339.                            Charlesworth, Edw., Esq.; his Magazine of
Baily, Francis; the late eminent astrono-   Natural History, on the early efforts of
mer, 33.                                 William Smith, 43. His merits as a natuBaxter, Richard; on the possibility of an   ralist, 345.
antecedent world, 221.                 Christian Observer; on the futility of antiBiblicus Delvinus, an anonymous writer   geological objections, 129, 144, 151, 160.
on Geology, 152.                         On the duty of studying the great quesBinney, E. W., Esq.; on the origin of coal,  tions in Geology, 222. On the law of
352.                                     death, 251.
Blumenbach, John Fred., Prof. Physiol. Christianity not necessarily committed to
G6tting.; his belief of the unity of the   the belief of only one race of men, 278.
human species, 49.                     Chronology; systems of Usher, and Hales,
Botany recommended as the beginning of   and Wallace, 142, 336. Geological, its
studies in Natural History, 218.         difficulties, 285.




396                                 INDEX.
Cleavage and joints, 297.                De Larrey on the human prototype, 273,
Coal formations, 295, 311, 342, 345, 349,   275.
352.                                   Deluge, 69, its moral reason, 69. 84. ScripCockburn, Dr. WVm., Dean of York; his  ture Narrative, 70, 107. Its date, 142.
Letter to Prof. Buckland, 149.           The fact evinced by history and national
Cold and heat, extreme; ability of men to   traditions, 71. Its relation to geological
bear, 50.                                considerations, 72, 76, 78, 82, 83, 95, 97,
Cole, Rev. Henry; his writings against   99, 100, 106, 108, 109, 112. Not extendGeology, 118.                            ing over the whole globe, 102, 106, 109.
Conchology; its peculiar interest, and re-   Summary of arguments against the comlation to Geology, 304.                  mon opinion, 200. Examination of the
Conybeare, late Rev. John Josias; his dis-   terms in which it is described, 203, 212.
covery of the Snowdon earlyfossil-casts, Denudation, 41. An instructive instance,
301.                                     364.
--—, Rev. W. D., D.D, Dean of Llan- Deshayes M., on the separate groups of
daff; on ascertained geological facts, 19.  fossil animals, 59, 100.
His description of the subsidences near Devonian system  of formations, (Old Red
Lyme, 39. His and Mr. William Phil-   Sandstone,) 291, 296, 302, 309, 313.
lips's Outlines of English Geology re- Didelphys Bucklandi, 58.  Controversy
commended, 250. On the moral tendency   upon, 303.
of Geology, 362.                       Diodorus Siculus, on the Egyptian mythi,
Copernican system; opposed by divines,   353.
both Roman Catholic and Protestant, 176, Districts, animal, 47, 65; botanical, 48.
178.                                   D'Orbigny, on the Geology of S. America,
Coral Reefs, 47.                           51.
Cosmogony; the Egyptian system of, com- Drift, or diluvium, 85, 312. Extensive. 85.
pared with the Mosaic, 353.              Ot'f different ages, 86, 312. Silurian, 88.
Creation not universal at any one point of   North British, 88. E-astern, 89. North
time, 49. The Mosaic account, 52, 134,   European, 91. North American, 92. In
141, 167, 180, 185, 189, 368, 372, 380,   Jamaica, 101  Patagonian, ib. Exten385. Not proceeding from  any single   sively produced by currents at the botcentre, 63. The Adamic: conceived to   tom of the ocean, ib.
relate only to one region of the earth, 190, Earth; importance of its Natural History,
192. Successive operations, 191, 193.   26. Extent of our acquaintance with its
The heavenly bodies, 193. The animal   structure, 22. Elevation and fracturing,
structure, 195. The human female, ib.   30, 37. Advantages of such dislocations,
Vegetable life, 191. Animals, 191. State-   29. Interior constitution, 32, 130, 228.
ment in the fourth commandment, 186.   Specific gravity, 33. Thickness of its
No intrinsic reason for supposing the re-   crust, 32, 258. Primary condition, 189.
cent commencement of creation, 221.      Constancy of its axis, 260. Meanings of
Cumbrian and Cambrian rocks, 290.          the term in the Hebrew Scriptures, 189.
Cuvier, Baron George; hint of his geologl-  Its immense antiquity, 53, 55, 84, 129,
calt views, 24. On the Deluge, 78. His   160, 221, 239, 247, 284.
sagacity and anticipations in relation to Edinburgh Review; on successions of creaGeology, 79, 81. On Dr. Buckland's re-   tures and geological disclosure, 82. Its
searches in bone-caves, 83. His geolo-   excellent articles on James Hutton, Buckgical character, 82. His death andgene-   land, and Lyell, 36. On Cuvier, 82.
ral character, 80.                     Edwards, Pres., on progressive knowledge
Dana, Rev. Dr.; on Scripture difficulties,   of the Scriptures, 376
222.                                   Ehrenberg, Prof. Berl., on the microscopic
Darwin, Charles, Esq.; on the South Ame-   animalcules, 318. Summary of his disrican shingle formation, 87, 102. On the   coveries, by I. M. of Geneva, 321. More
longevity of trees, 339. On elevations   recent researches, 323.
of land, 298. On the crust of the earth, Elevation of land, 36, 209, 228, 246, 293,364.
258.                                   Erratic blocks; see Drift.
Davison, Rev. Dr.: his Discourses on Pro- Evidence, sensible, 13. Moral, ib. To be
phecy referred to, 368, 377.             faithfully followed, 15, 226.
Death; necessary in a system of organic Fairholme, George, Esq.; his writings on
life, 65, 197, 199, 242. Demonstrated   Geology, 145.
geologically, 68, 241, 251. Attaching o Fathers, the early Christian writers: their
the infra-human animals, while man re-   general repugnance to physical researchmained innocent, 198, 251. How man   es, 176.  Upon the interpretation  of
before the fall was exempted from death,   Genesis i. 124, 386.
199.                                   Fichte, John Gottl.; on the first human
De Candolle, Augustin Pyramus, Prof.   beings, 167.
Genev.; on vegetable regions, 48. On Fitton, William Henry, M.D.; his "'Geothe longevity of trees, 336, 340.        logy of Hastings," recommended, 28.
De la Beche, Sir Henry Thomas; his Fleming, Rev. Dr. John; on the speedy
works recommended, 27. Ott drift in   obliteration of traces of the Deluge, 77.
Jamaica, 101. On the organic remains Flourens, (Seer. Acad. Sc. Par.) on human
in the earlier fossiliferous rocks, 262.  races, 274.




INDEX.                                  397
Forbes, Edw. Prof.; on the former climate Herschel, Sir William; on celestial disof Britain, 53.                          tances, 252. On the number of heavenly
Francis, G. W., Esq.; his Botanical works   bodies, 253.
recommended, 218.                      Herschel, Sir John Wm. Fred.; On the
Galileo; observations upon his case, 176.   harmony of truth, 15. On Mr. Lyell's
His views of Bible interpretation, 184.  "Principles of Geology," 158. CO  the
Geddes, Dr. Alex. on Genesis i. 127, 374.  necessity of Mathematics to Natural PhiGenesis, the sacred book; comprises seve-   losophy, 216. On the working of the
ral distinct compositions, 140. Illustra-   earth's internal heat, 293.
lions of its commencing portion, 121, 124, Hitchcock, Rev. Edw.,,L.L.D., Prof.; on
141, 150, 168, 171, 174. 180, 185, 193, 196.  the ignorance and unfairness of distinGeological Society vindicated from misre-   guished opponents of Geology, 21. His
presentation, 388.                       "Elementarv Geology," recommended,
Geological time, not as yet reducible to our   28. His judgment of Fairholme, Kirby,
cornmon measures, 103, 247, 285, 287,   and Granville Penn, 20, 146. On deluges
291, 295, 298, 301, 303, 307.            and drift, 100. On the grand law of the
Geologists, distinguished; their credibility,   world, 307. On the relation of Geology
5. Instances of their fidelity to evidence,   to the Divine Government, 364.
85. Charges against them repelled, 120, Hopkins, William, Esq.; his application of
128, 133, 388.                          the highest mathematics to geological inGeology; its nature as a study, its objects   vestigation, 18, 259, 29)8.
and design, 1. Relation to other branches Human petrifaction of Brussels, a mistake,
of science, 6, 18. Intention and value,   288.
2, 12, 18, 219, 226. Prerequisites for the Human species, varieties of, 270.
study, 3. Objections against, 6. Appa- Hutton, James, M.D.; his merits in Geolorent discrepance with the Scriptures, 6,   gy, 36.
52, 116, 245. Wrongfulness and injuri- Hutton, William, Esq., of Newcastle-uponous effect of such an opinion, 7, 9, 20,   Tyne; joint author with Prof. Lindleyof
128, 133, 384. Comprehension of' our   the "Fossil Flora," 345.
knowledge, respecting, 32, 50. Vindi-  Iceland; the seat of tremendous volcanic
cated against ignorant and assuming mis-   action, 229.
representation, 120, 128, 159, 224. Espe- Induction; cautious, at length successful,
cial importance of this study to Christian   40.
ministers, 225. Recommendations with Jameson, Robert, Esq., Prof-; on the nonrespect to it, 27, 249. Its moral tendency,   existence of vestiges of the Deluge, 77.
1, 309, 312, 313, 364, 387.            Jarchi, Rabbi, Solom., on Gen. i. 127, 201.
Gifts,. extraordinary;  in  the Apostolic Java; volcanic eruptions of awful violence
Churches, 114.                           in that island, 230.
Gisborne, Rev. Thomas, Preb. Durham: Jennings, Rev. Dr. David; on the Mosaic
his " Considerations on Modern Theo-   description of the Creation, 126.
ries of Geology," 149.                 Job, scripture poetical book of; passages
Glacier Theory. 327.                       of' emphatic sublimity, 164, 174, 176.
Gneissic rocks, 289.                     Joshua; the sun and the moon standing
GOD; his necessary perfections, 17, 163,   still, 110.
231, 299. Represented in scripture by Judaea; its advantages as a country, 25.
condescending imagery, 165, 183. To be Kennedy's Scripture Chronology, on the
acknowledged in all scientific pursuits,   Mosaic account of the heavenly bodies,
74, 233, 312.  Our knowledge of the   186.
Deity rests upon analogy, 163. That an- King, Edward, Esq.; on the time of creaalogy is in various forms, 165, 168, 172.    tion, 127. On the primary ancestry of
Granitic rocks, 33, 289.                   mankind, 279.
Grant, Rob. E., M.D., Prof.; on the plan of Knowledge, human; its imperfection, 216.
creation, 312.                         Lactantius ridicules the idea of the spheriGreenough, George B., Esq.; his Geologi-   city of the earth, 176.
cal Map, 28. His change of sentiment Lamarck, M., on the application of the
with regard to the Deluge, 99.           word Natmre, 358, 392.
Harcourt, Rev. William Vernon; his vin- Lawrence, John, Esq.; on the rete mucodication of Geology, 196, 305, 377.      sum, 276. On the unity of the human
Harris, John, D.D.; his " Prae-Adamite   species, 277.
Earth, recommended, 28.                Leibnitz; his scientific anticipations, 75.
Hartley, Rev. John; on the moral state of Life, animal; earliest appearance of, 57,
Thiers, in the Puy de Dome, 332.         300.
Hawkins, Thomas, Esq.; on the Ichthyo- Light, before the Adamic Creation, 60.
sauri and Plesiosauri., 68, 303.         Periods of its transmission, 254, 257,
Heat, internal of the earth; 32, 35, 130, Lightfoot, Dr., on 2 Pet. iii. 155.
228.                                   Lindley, Dr. and Prof.; his recommendaHebrew language; well understood, 136.  tion of Botanical studies and works to
Its conjunctiveprefix, 188. Idioms for a   promote them, 218. His admonition to
great and indefinite number, 179.        young botanists, 218. His and Mr. W.
Henslow, Rev. Prof.:; on vegetable re-   Hutton's "Fossil Flora," 345, 350. On
gions, 49. On the longevity of trees, 336.  the formation of Coal, 346. On the Adazn



398                                   INDEX.
sonia digitata (Baobab) 336. On the   recommended, 28. On successive crearelative antiquity of organic remains,   tions, 50. His eulogium on Cuvier, 80.
346, 349.                                  Illustrations of Drift, 91. On the organic
Link, Prof., on the unity of the human   remains of the early fossiliferous systems,
species, 275.                              261. On the moral impression from geoLondon, University of; its requirements for   logical phuenomena, 189, 299. On the
matriculation, 217.                        succession of fossils, 350. His " Silurian
Longevity of trees, 112, 336.                System," 261, 292, 300, 347.
Lonsdale, William, Esq.; his discoveries Mythic hypothesis of the German Anti-suof fossil microscopic shells, 244. On the   pernaturalists, 372.
number and magnitude of the early fos- Mythology; Egyptian, 352.
sils, 262.                              Nature; on using the term as a substitute
Luther; on the right and duty of indepen-   for the Deity, 74, 358, 392.
dent inquiry, 115.  Iis exposition of the Neander, Aug. Prof. Berl.; on the errors of
Mosaic narrative of the Creation, 122.   anthropomorphism, 173.
His sound judgment and moderation; and Nebular hypothesis; Prof. Nichol upon,
vindication of rational inquiry, ib.       187.*Lyell, Charles, jun. Esq.; his works recom- Northampton, Marquis of; his miscroscopic
mended, 27, 158, 250, 319. Dr. Silliman's   discoveries, 319.
eulogy, 360. On the deposit of the Gan- Obligation, moral, 18, 227.
ges, 46. On the earth's susceptibility of Oolitic formations, 303.
conflagration, 155.  Remarks  on his Organic remains, 41, 44, 57.
"Principles of Geology," 158, 352, 357.     --, in the strata of the earth,
On the proportions of fossils and recent   41, 241, 242, 261, 292, 300, 304, 308, 310,
shells, 304. On successions of species,   349, 351, 393.
ib.  Travels in North America, 100, 315. Owen, Dr. John; on 2 Pet. iii. i55.
On the Niagara, ib.  On the Delta of the   -, Prof. Richard, M.D.; his researches,
Mississippi, 317. On the errors drawn    in fossil anatomy, 303.
from Sidonius, 335.                     Patrick, Bishop; on Genesis i. 126.
Mac Cornbie, (1842,) on the physical state Penn, Granville, Esq.; his theories, 145.
of our first parents before the fall, 197.   Perere; his Prm-Adamites, 279.
Macculloch, John, M.D.; his works re- Phillips, Prof. John; his works recomcommended, 251, 296. Onthe early strata,   mended, 27, 250. His geological map, 35.
291. On the inmensity ol' the geological   On the unbroken series of creations, 51.
periods, 296.                              On the coal-beds, 345. On the gneiss,
Maclaren, Charles, Esq; his Geology of   290. On changes of'species, 305.
Fifeshire and the Lothians, 28, 55, 153. Philosophy; ignorant declamation against.
On the ancient beaches of Glen Roy, 299.   123.
Man; only one species, 49, 270. Belongs Phryganem; their habits, 308.
to the most recent epoch of creation,286, Phrygia, volcanic region of, 105.
312, 364.                                Plutarch; on the Egyptian mythology, 355.
Mantell, G. Algernon, Esq., L.L.D; his Poole, the commentator; on the Deluge,
geological works recommended, 27, 187,   209.
319.                                     Population, antediluvian; not great, 205.
Microscopic fossil animalcules, 67, 318.     Its seat, 207, 209.
Miller, Hugh; his illustrations of Drift, 90. Powell, Rev. Prof.; his belief of a religious
On the old red sand stone, 313.            spirit in philosophers, 37. His hypothesis
Mines; the deepest, 28.                      on the Mosaic earliest records, 135, 137,
Miracles; not to be rashly assumed, 60, 62,   365. His valuable contributions to the106, 111,113. Their nature, 62. Their   ology, 135. His remonstrance to objecdesign, propriety, and importance, 62.   tors against the long periods established
Supported by argument from  Geology,   by Geology, 224. His protest against for364.                                       mal and traditional religion, 234. The
Morton, Dr.; on skulls of American na-   author's obligation to him, 385. On extions, 270.                                plaining the fourth commandment, 381,
Moses; his fidelity and divine mission in-   His works on Tradition and Education.
separable from  Christianity, 138, 140,   recommended, 135, 381.
211, 361, 365, 368, 374, 380, 382. His Prichard, James Cowles, M. D; on animal
manner of conveying divine truths, 171,   regions, 48. On the unity of the human
189, 194, 195, 370, 375, 376.              species, 49, 270, 280, 282. His inclinaMotion; constant, but regulated, 26, 223,   tion of opinion on the Deluge, 210. On
230.                                       affinities of remote nations, 270, 282. His
Mountains; the highest, 27, 112.             " Natural History of Man," 281.
Mucous membrane of the human skin, 274. Prideaux, Bishop; on 2 Pet. iii., 155.
Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey;: his works Puy de Dome; see Auvergne.
* To that Note, page 187, add:-For the more extensive information, and other rich treasures
of Stellar and Solar Astronomy, consult Sir JOHIN HERSCHEL'S magnificent work, which presents
73 accurate and beautiful figures of nebulte, —' Results of Astronomical Observations made
{luring the years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, at the Cape of Good Hope;* being the completion of a Telescopic
Survey of the whole surface of the Visible Heavens, commenced in 1825:" royal quarto, 472
pages, London, 1847.




INDEX.                                  399
Quadrumanous fossil remains, 286.        Sea, depth of, 27.
Quarterly Review, on the volcanic region Sea-beaches, 87, 298.
of Auvergne, 103, 334.                 Sedgwick, Rev. Prof. 7 on the opponents of
Quekett, Edwin J., Esq., on the Infusoria,   Geology, 21, 308. On its general charac324.                                    terand interest, 22, 220. On diluvium
Raffles, Sir T. S.; his account of volcanic   and deluges, 96, 309. On Mr. Lyell's
devastation in Sumbawa, 230.             principal work, 158. Oa the misunderReade, Rev. Joseph Bancroft; on the mi-  standing of the figurative language of
croscopic animalcules, 319.              Scripture, 183. On symmetrical diviRed Sandstone, Old; see Devonian.          sions of early rocks, 298. Observations
Red Sandstone New; 292, 302.               in the Alps, 293. The author's obligaRedemption; its importance and glory, 63.  tions to him, 307. On the evidence of
Redford, Rev. Dr.; on the antiquity of  the earth's antiquity, ib.
creation, 127.                         Sediment, deposited by water, 46, 290, 293,
Regions of animal and vegetable nature;   296, 347.
fossil, 45. Recent, 48, 64.            Sheppard, John, Esq.; his lecture on FosReligion; its necessary connexion with   sil Osteology, and other works, recomTheology, 10. The dignity and happi-   mended, 154.
ness of man, 114, 214. Its pure nature, Silliman, Benj. M.D., Prof. Yale College;
225. Its attractions, 233, 236.          on the duty of christian ministers to beResponsibility, 227, 234.                  come acquainted with Geology, 225. On
Revelation; its evidence, 11, 18. Its ne-   Coal-formations, 34?.
cessity, 24. Harmonious with science, Silurian System of rocks, 291,292, 302, 3:50.
yet using the then current style, 11, 136, Smith, Dr. William; his services to Ge166, 172, 175, 179, 183, 194, 203, 213. Its   ology, 42.
style and illustrations adapted to the ca- Somerville, Mrs; on the distribution of
pacities of men, 172. Its employment of   plants, 65.
imagery derived from human nature, to Species of animal remains; their range, 44.
represent the Deity, 165. Finally com-   Number and proportion, 41, 44, 261, 304.
pleted by Christianity, 183. Necessity    Different regions, 45, 48. Vertical peneof studying, with serious application, 225,  tration, 47. Position, ib.
234.                                   Species, human; varieties of, 270. Model
Rhind, Mr. William; on the age of the   race, 273.  Characteristic dlfferences,
earth, 1.53. His opinion upon vegetable   279.
structure, 338.                        Sprengel, Kurt, M D., distinguished for his
Richardson's (G. F., Esq.) "Geology for   extraordinary  attainments in classical
Beginners," recommended, 28.             and oriental learning, and in natural
Rocks; pyrogenous, 32, 299. Stratified,   sciencee;-his account of the Adansonia,
34; see Stratification.                  336.
Roget, P. Mark, M.D.; on using the term  Stillingfleet, Bishop; on the Deluge, 209.
Nature, 74.                            Stonesfield fossil, 57, 303.
Romaine, Rev. W.; on the manner in Strabo's opinions on some geological phaewhich the Deity is revealed, 212.        nomena, 73.
Rosenmiller, the elder; on the Mosaic re- Stratification; 30, 34, 38, 39, 246, 289, 294,
cords, 360.                              297, 309. Order, 30, 43, 160. DisposiRoss, Sir James Clarke; his Antarctic Voy- 1 tion and Texture, 34. Influenced by heat,
age; and on the Baobab, 343. On the   35. Erroneous reasoning upon, 347,351.
e-oal of Kerguelen's Island, 347.      Strickland and Hamilton, on the extinct
Russeger, on the Baobab, 336.              volcanoes of Western Phrygia, 105.
Science; connexions of, 3, 5. Duty of cul- Struve, F. G. W., Prof. Univ. of Poltawa;
tivating, 214; by personal effort, 216. Its   on the transmission of the stellar light,
benefits, 226. Its tendency to religion,   257.
304.                                   Subsidence, 37. At Axmouth, &c. 39.
Scientific men; their advantages and re- Sumner, Dr. John Bird, Bishop of Chester;
sponsibility, 233. Their high motives to   on concessions mutually of Geology and
piety, 234.                              Biblical Science, 117. On the relation
Scripture; the genuine sense to be sought,   of the Mosaic records to Geology, 363.
18, 163, 172, 212, 384. Dissonance with Swainson, William, E-q.; on animal reGeology, only in superficial appearance,   gions, 48.
52, 116, 212, 305. Not designed to con- Targum of Uzziel; on the creation of Man,
vey philosophical knowledge, 138, 194,   275.
361. Its certain truth, 163. Its conde- Taylor, Rich, Esq.; Scientific Memoirs,
scending manner, 165. Its style with re-   320.
gard to natural objects, 173, 178,180, 182, -, Dr. W. C.; on the Egyptian anti193, 195, 305. Its manner and style in   quities, 276.
describing the Deity, 168, 172, 211. In- Tertiary strata; their constitution and exjurious effects of not justly interpreting   tent, 294, 347. Their organic remains,
its figurative language, 224, 362.       309.
Scrope, C. Poulett, E4q.; on the geologi.  Theology; its mental and practical nature,
cal phaenomena of Central France, 104.   10. Its alliances with all knowledge, and
On the antiquity of the earth, 298.      its harmony with sound philosophy, 383.




400                                  INDEX.
Time; its reference to Geology, 53, 55, 158, Water, fresh and salt, eftfects of, 111.
285, 295,298, 299, 302, 305, 309, 313, 314, Watson, Rev. Richard; on the Mosaic de364.                                     scriptions, 211.
Truth; scientific and religious, ever con- Whately, Dr., Archbishop of Dublin; resistent, 18, 19. Its nature and various    commendation of his works, 366, 370.
aspects, 13.                            Whewell, Rev. Prof., D.D.; his general
Turner, Edward, M.D.; his merits in geo-   character of Geology, 220. On the law of
logical and other science; his character,   change throughout the dependent uniand his death, 235.                       verse, 307. On the labours and merits
Sharon, Esq.; his observations on    of Professor Sedgwick, 308.
geological subjects, 150.               Whyte; on the beginning of Genesis,
Universal geological formations; not ad-   314.
mitted, 48.                            Wilks,,Rev. Samuel Charles; on geologiUniverse; dependent, 17. Distinction from    cal doctrines, 144.  His Poem, " The
the INDEPENDENT CAUSE, ib.               Fossil Shell," 151.
Vegetation; simple primitive distribution, Wiseman, Dr., Rom. Cath. Bish.; on the
191.                                     opinions of the Fathers upon Genesis i.,
Volcanic action, 29, 31, 32, 228.           125. On geological doctrines generally,
Volcanoes of Auvergne, &c., 102.            156. On the previous condition of the
Von Schouw; on vegetable regions, 49.       earth, 363.
Wardlaw, Rev. Dr.; on the antiquity of Young, Rev. Dr. George; his geological
Creation, 127.                           opinions, 152. On universal expressions,
Ware, Prof. Henry; on the Astral Uni-   205. Observations on his book, "Scripverse, 257.                               tural Geology," 343.
THlE END.




ROBERT E. PETERSON,
BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHEIR,
N. W. CORNER OF FIFTH AND ARCH STREETS,
PHILADE LPHIA,
Invites attention to the following valuable works, just published:
THE RELATION BETWEEN THE
HOLY SCRIPTURES
AND SOME PARTS OF
GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE.
By Rev. JOHN PYE SMITH, D. D., L. L. D., F. R. S., & F. G. S., Divinity Tutor in
the Protestant Dissenting College at Homerton, Member of the Philological, Ethnological, Microscopical, and Palmontological Societies; and Honorary
Member of the Natural History Society of Devon and Cornwall, and of the Washington, U. S. National Institute
for the Promotion of Science: from the foulth
London edition. greatly enlarged.
Octavo, cloth, $1,50.
From the English Papers.
Devoted to the truths of Revelation no less than to those of science, and regarding them
both as proceeding from the same Divine source, be (the Author) will allow of no compromise, distortion or subterfuge, with respect to either.-Annals anzd Magazine of
/Vatziral History.
It places the justly esteemed author in the very first rank of scientific and philosophical
theologians, and has already procured the enrolmeut of his name among the members of
two of the most learned societies in Great Britain.-Lcancaster Gceardianz.
From the Charleston Medical Journal and Review, Vol. 5, May 1850, No. 3, page 341.
Foot-note to Letter toRev. John Bachman, D. D., on the Question of Hybridity in Animals considered in reference to the Unity of the Human Species. By Samuel George
Morton, M. D., Penna. and Edinb.-I regard this (Relation between Scripture and Geology, by the Rev. J. Pye Smith, L. L. D., 4th edition,) among the most instructive
volumes that has issued from the press since the revival of letters, and for this reasonthat it constitutes a link between Religion and Natural Science-studies which have
hitherto been as isolated as if they were incompatible with each other. Mr. Robert E.
Peterson, of Philadelphia, has the work in Press, and will shortly publish it in a style not
inferior to the English Edition.
THE PRINCIPAL PRIOPHECIES AND TYPES
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT,
WITH THEIR FULFILMENT; ARRANGED IN THE VERY WORDS OF SCRIPTURE,
FOtR THE USE OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS.
BY THE REV. BENJAMIN DORR, D. D.,
RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
Tthe testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy."-R-KEv. xrx. i0.
The design of this work is to store the minds of the young with the principal texts
of the Old Testament which relate to the coming and offices of our Redeemer, together
with such passages of the New Testament as show their fulfilment. It was prepared for
the Sunday Schools and Bible Classes connected with the parish under the author's
charge. The manner of using it has been to give out as many verses as could be cornI




veniently committed to memory at one time, and make these the subject of instruction
and examination by the teachers in their respective classes. The same lesson is repeated
each Sunday in the month; and on the last Sunday afternoon, when the children are
catechized by the Rector, "' openly in the church," they are questioned on the lesson of
the preceding Sundays, and such explanations and illustrations are given, as time will
permit, or as the subject may require.
Atter many years trial of this mode of Biblical instruction, connected with the catechising of the young in the presence of the congregation, the author has fiound it highly
beneficial in his own parish, and he doubts not that most parochial ministers would find
it equally useful in theirs.
He indulges the hope, at least, that this arrangement of the Prophecies and Types, relative to the Messiah, will be a help to Teachers in their endeavours to lead the lambs
of Christ's fold to those good pastures and those well-springs of salvation, where they
may be so nourished up in all virtue and godliness, that, " when the Chief Shepherd
shall appear, they may receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."-Preface.
Philacdelhpbia, Jf7ze 22, 1850.
From the Banner of the Cross, August 3, 1850.
THE PRINCIPAL PROPHECIES AND TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, WITH THEIR FULFILLIMENT.-The author of this little work seems to have the happy faculty, no mean one,
of giving us just such books as we want for the Church's use. He does not seem to be
mnoved by the mere love of authorship, that worst form of self-love, but he bestows his
labor upon a work to meet some want in the Church. Every Teacher must have felt
the need of some assistant in this department of Biblical instruction. We speak now of
those plainer Prophecies whose fulfillment is a clear exposition of their meaning.
Herein, the Word of God must be " its own interpreter."  And in this just view it is
presented by the author of this little work. The Principal Prophecies and Types
are given in one column, and then in another their fulfillment is presented in the
language of the inspired writers. This best of expositions is not diluted or confused
with needless comment or labored disquisitions. The Teacher, with very little trouble,
can add all that is necessary, such as the time elapsing between the prophecy and its
fulfillment, &c. The book is addressed " to the Superintendents and Teachers of Sun.
day Schools and Bible Classes." It is in a form and of a size well suited to its design.
From the ChTistian Chronicle, July 31, 1850.
THE PRINCIPAL PROPHECIES AND TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, WITH THEIR FULFILLMENT.-This is a sumall cheap book of about 75 pages, got up for the use of' Sunday
Schools by Dr. Beniamin Dorr, of this city. It will throw much light on many obscure
passages, and will he found exceedingly valuable to the pupils of Sabbath Schools.
THlrE CHURPCHM AN'S MANUAL,
BY T-IE
REV. BENJAMIN DORR, D. D.,
RECTOR OF CHRIST CIIURCH, PHILADELPHIA.
THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
12mo., cloth, 75.
I do not hesitate to say that it will fully sustain the title which it bears, and deserves to
be in the hanzds of every Che.srclnman. As a family book for the instruction of Christian
households in " the principles of the doctrine of Christ"-as a parish and Sunday school
library book for the engagement and edification of the young-as a tractate to be put into
the hands of all who are inquiring for "' the truth as it is in Jesus"-as a guide to " the
Gospel in the Church," so that all may read, so plain that all must understand it-thoroughly scriptural, practical, spiritual,-I commend it to the widest circulation, and implore for it the blessing of the Lord.              GEORGE W. )OANE,
Bishop of the Diocess of New Jersey.
From the Sunday School Visitor,
This excellent volume seems to unite all suffrages in its approval. Dr. Dorr has clearly
shown in reference to the Protestant Episcopal Church that her doctrines are evangelical,
her ministry apostolic, and her worship primitive and scriptural. The work before us is
written in a truly Christian spirit. It can give offence to no one who feels a real desire
to inquire after the truth as it is inl Jesus.




From the Utica Gospel Messenger.
The prevailing excellence of IMr. Dorr's manual consists, as we think, in the distinct
and unequivocal manner in which his several subjects are presented. They are brought
forward under the following divisions:
DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCcI; MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH; WORSHIP OF THE CEHUaCt1;
With an appendix containing three chapters on Bowing at the name o f Je's; onz Chr ist's
desceezt into Hell; onz the word " Catholic" ins the Crleed.
We say to our readers get the book. Use it as a family volume, and let the young
especially study and understand it. Every Churchman-ay, every one who desires to
know what the Church is, should have one.
From the Episcopal Recorder.
It will be found a work of an interesting and useful character for those who are inquiring into the peculiar claims and characteristics of the Episcopal Church. It is compiled in a Christian and excellent temper.
From the Protestant Episcopalian-by late Rev. J. WV. James.
Church people, and inquirers about our Zion, if they take this book and steadily peruse
it, will find themselves frequently saying, " this is the very thing we wanted."  To embrace all these subjects in a book of its size, it was necessary to study condensation and
brevity; the author has done this and more: he has not indulged himself in spinning theories, in rounding sentences; but has evidently designed to explain and to instruct.
It may be safely and profitably put into the hands of any whose hearts are just becoming
sensible of religious duties. We should be very much pleased if we could present a copy
to every acquaintance we have.
From the Charleston Gospel Messenger.
Among the many excellent books, which leave all without excuse who choose to continue in ignorance of our Church, we know of none more likely than this, to answer the
end designed by its author, of giving "some such compendious views of the doctrines,
ministry, and worship of the Church" as may be " put into the hands of those who have
neither time nor inclination to read voluminous works, that they may see at once what
the Church has taught on these subjects."  To such persons, and indeed to every cne
who would meet with the truth well expressed, and in few words, this manual may be
warmly commended,
THE HISTORY
OF A
POCKET PRAYE" B00OK,
WRITTEN BY ITSELF.
BY THE
RPET.  BENJAA.IN, DORR, D. D.,
RECTOR OF CHRIST fURCICIT, PHILADELPHIA.
THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLAtRGED.
idmo, cloth, 50 cts.
From the Banner of the Cross —by Bp. Doane, under the name of;" A Countly Parson."
In taking up this little volume, after several editions, now greatly enlarged and miaterially improved, we seem to be looking into the face of a dear old friend.  We set
out with him again on his eventful journey, in all confidence that he will bring us out
at the right place, and well satisfied that if the road be longer than it was, we shall only
have so much more of his pleasant and instructive company. Wge really do not know
a little volume so well fitted to go out with our missionaries into "'the new counttries,"
or to follow the faithful pastor in his daily round in any of our established parishes,
urban or rural; and for young people-we have tried it on our own-it is scarcely less
interesting, and a sight more profitable than Robinson Crusoe. It is a striking peculiarily, and a strong recommendation of this little volume, that though woven together
with a thin, a graceful thread of fiction, the staple is all facts-the characters, those of
the author's acquaintances, parishioners and friends, and the incidents mostly such as
have really occurred in his own eventful pilgrimage. Such we know to have been,
among many others, " the Union Church" and "the Lay reading," the visits to the
Oneida Indians, first in the State of New York, and then at Green Bay, and the conversation with the good lady, who did not think she had such a naughty thing in her honuse




zso a book written by a Churchman, when nearly all the volumes in her library were
such. The case of the Congregational minister, who found the Prayer Book " just the
thing" to furnish his extempore prayers, is familiar to all who have read Dr. Chandler's
interesting life of Dr. Johnson. To all who know any thing of our domestic missions,
the names of Davenport, Phelps, and " Father Nash" will be as " household words."
And many a time and oft have we sat delighted at the feet of that venerated mother in
Israel, now with God, whose Saturday school (still flourishing in kindred hands and a
kindred heart,) forms the charm of the fifteenth chapter. The author has enjoyed sin.gular opportunities of acquaintance with the Church in all places and under all vicissitudes, and possesses a happy talent for relating what he has seen and turning it to good
account. Simplicity, earnestness and devotion are blended in his little book with good
taste and sound practical sense. To many it will be instructive, interesting to all. It
deserves the widest circulation, and wherever it goes, will subserve the best interests of
truth and piety.
From the North American and Gazette, July 29, 1950.
DR. DORR'S WORKns.-An accident has delayed our notice of the two well known
works by the Rev. Dr. Dorr, —The Cl/hrchl man's Manzzal, and The Iiistory of a Pocket Prayer Book,-of both which, revised and enlarged by the author, a third edition
has been recently issued by the publisher, Robert E. Peterson, Fifth and Arch streets.
These books, which carry with them the strongest commendations of Bishop Doane, and
the warm advocacy of various religious periodicals of high character, have attained to
great popularity, and very large numbers of them have been, and continue to be, sold.
TI'hey are, indeed, beautiful and attractive little works, which cannot but long maintain
their hold upon the public favor.
THE PAS TOR'S WIF E.
A MEMOIR OF MRS. SHERMAN,
OF SURREY CHAPEL, LONDON.
EDITED BY HER HUSBAND, TIHE REV. JAMES SHERMAN,
FASTOR OF SURPREY CHAPEL.
WITH PORTRAIT.
Second Edition —12mo., cloth, $1.
This work is admitted by all who have read it to be the best biography ever written;
the following are a few of its many recommendations:
From the Philadelphia Christian Observer.
This is an interesting memoir of a Christian lady, whose life was a bright illustration
of the hallowed influences of the gospel in the culture and development of all that is
lovely and of good report in female character. In the words of the Christian Witness
-It is c" one of the most tender, beautiful, instructive, and edifying narratives, that for
a long time has come under our notice."
From the Episcopal Recorder.
Few Christians will rise from the perusal of this interesting portrait of a Pastor's
Wife without uttering the wish that such mothers in Israel were increased a thousand
fold.
From the Presbyterian.
Her well sustained spirit in affliction and her triumph in death, illustrates the genuineness of the religious principles which were the main-spring of all her actions. We
can commend the memoir as possessing more than usual interest, and as having intrinsic claims to the popularity it has already received.
From tie New York Evangelist.
There is much instruction to be derived from the volume, and much powerful incentive to faith and religious zeal. Mrs. S. visited Grifenberg and the water cure establishment there; and the record of her journeys and experience is very ably made and
remarkably interesting. We can commend the work to Christian women as highly
suggestive, pleasing and profitable.




From the Pennsylvania Inquirer.
It contains a memoir of Mrs. Sherman, of Surrey Chapel, by her husband, and is said
to form one of the most tender, beautiful, instructive and edifying narratives that ever
appeared from the press. It indicates and displays all the virtues and graces of the
Christian character.
From the New York Literary World.
It exhibits a career of activity in the duties connected with an English Dissenting
Chapel, and is varied by a tour on the Continent through Germany in search of health,
with a residenc eat Grdifenberg. The details of the latter establishment, with Priesnitz at
its head, with the traveling incidents in Prussia, are of considerable interest; a representation of the Continent from a point of view not taken by ordinary tourists.
THE NATIONAL COOK BOOK.
BY A LADY OF PHILADELPHIA,
A PRACTICAL HOUSEWIFE.
12mo., 75 cts.
This work contains almost exclusively American dishes. It is very rich in receipts
for pastry, tea and sweet cakes and preserves. Great pains have been taken to make
the receipts clear, concise and practical, and it is confidently believed that the National
Cook Book will supersede all others-and prove an invaluable assistant to all housekeepers.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 1850.
THE NATIONAL COOKl BooK.-Mr. R. E. Peterson, N. W. corner of Fifth and Arch
streets, has Just published a volume with this title. It is by a Lady of Philadelphia, a
practical housewife, and contains no less than 578 recipes for making and cooking soups,
fish, vegetables, sauces, pastry, sweet dishes, cakes, preserves, medicines for the sick,
and miscellaneous preparations. The work is the result of many years experience; and
the author has endeavored to furnish the information in the most precise and simple
form, and in all cases has sacrificed style to minute detail. This Cook Book is decidedly
one of the best publications of the class ticat has ever appeared, and from its plain,
practical and comprehensive character, it cannot but prove eminently successful. Every
housekeeper should possess a copy.
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger, June 19, 1850.
CooKEcRY.-W-Nhen Cooper, the novelist, denounced all cooks in America, he must
have had reference only to the ordinary domestics employed in families, who,
professing to understand the whole art of cookery, from an egg to a venison steak,
manage to spoil more meat in a week than would go to supply the Irish nation in that
kind of food for a month. He certainly did not intend to include all the intelligent
housewives in this country, many of whom can roast, boil, stew or bake equal to the
best European cook who ever handled a skewer, flourished a baster, or kneaded floury
particles into dough. The experiences of many of these ladies have found their way
into books, and the National Cook Book, by a Lady of Philadelphia, published by R. E.
Peterson, will show all the inexperienced how they may profit by the knowledge of
others. The authoress has perfect confidence in her work, and to show the excellence
of its teachings, she sent with the volume a cake prepared according to one of her own
receipts, which we can vouch is as good an article of the kind as can be manufactured
out of flour and fruit.
From the Saturday Evening Post, July 6, 1850.
THE NATIONAL CooK BOOII, by a Lady of Philadelphia, a Practical Housewife. Published by Robert E. Peterson, N. W. corner of Fifth and Arch streets, Philadelphia.
Here is a book that we can confidently recommend to our lady readers as one that will
give great satisfaction-as our female acquaintances who have examined into its merits,
speak of it in the very highest terms. it is not, as so many of the receipt books are, filled
with receipts that are entirely useless to nine-tenths of' the American housekeepers; but
is a book calculated for the American taste, and plain but substantial and generous mode
of living. Great care has been used in the wording of the receipts; so that they may
neither be too diffuse, nor too concise.
The receipts for the sick room, some sixty in number, have been prepared according




to the directions of eminent physicians of this city, and are an exceedingly valuable portion of the book.
The book itself is got up in a plain, substantial, serviceable style, calculated for use
rather than ornament-and we predict will soon become, in fact as well as in name, the
Nationzal Cook Book.
From the Baltimore American, July 1, 1850.
THE NATIONAL COOIc BooE.-This valuable work, lately published by R. E. Peterson,
of Philadelphia, deserves of housekeepers mluch consideration, the simplicity of its arrangements and the receipts for making all kinds of Pastry, Tea and Sweet Cakes, and
Preserves, Baking, Boiling, Stewing and Roasting, and more especially cooking for the
sick, are clear and concise, so much so in fact, that if housekeepers go strictly by its
rules they may depend upon always having good and healthy food, easy of digestion,
and admirably calculated for the promotion of health and strength.
From I'Makin's Model Courier, July 6, 1850.
THE NATIONAL COOK BOOK, 300 pages, of Family, Culinary and Miscellaneous Receipts.-We have no doubt about its value, from the simple style in which they are
" cooked up," for simplicity is with us a cardinal virtue. It is taken for granted that a
plain, sensible style in writing, indicate a similar quality in experimental cooking; and
hence we are free to commend a volume which like the present, must prove a very useful one to those amiable housewives who always study economy and comfort, as well
as high seasoning and rich delicacies; a capital book of its kind.
From the Pennsylvanian, July 15, 1850.
Our enterprising friend, R. E. Peterson, N. W.'corner of Fifth and Arch Streets, has
published the National Cook Book, by a Lady of Philadelphia-a practical housewife.
It is a work of great merit, and those who ought to know, pronounce it to be far superior to any thing of the kind that has appeared in many years.
From the Morning Post, (Pittsburgh) July 9, 1850.
Here is a book for the ladies, worth a thousand magazines filled with fashion plates.
Nothing makes home more happy and comfortable than a pleasant wife and a well cooked
meal. Let husbands, who are fond of wholesome living, buy this book for their wives.
From the Christian Chronicle, July-31, 1850.
THE NATIONAL COOK BooK. By a Lady of Philadelphia.-This is a book of. about
300 pages, is neatly and firmly bound, and gives specific rules for cookery of all desrriptions. It has the reputation of being the best book of the kind, and may be consulted
with advantage by all our female friends who pride themselves on setting a rich and
fashionable table. It is published by R. E. Peterson, Fifth and Arch streets.
From Scott's Weekly Paper, August 3. 1850.
THE NATIONAL COOK Boon —The ladies of our household have been testing the recipes in this book for the past month, and they agree in pronouncing it the very best
practical cook book that ever came under their notice. They have tried many, but to
the National Cook Book they award high praise for the economy and excellence of its
recipes.
THE BOOK OF CAGE BIRDS,
BY HENRY B. HUIRST.
4th edition-1 vol. 12mo. cloth, 75 cts.
The following Advertisement to the first edition, is from the pen of the late Bernard
Duke, the favorably known seedsman:' The following work the publisher presents to the public with feelings of considerable gratification. That the want of a good publication of this description has long been
severely felt he is well aware from the many inquiries at his establishment. Upon discovering this, he immediately tookl measures to insure the production of a complete and
practical treatise on the various birds which are to be found, singly and collectively in
an American Aviary. The book is written by a gentleman well known as one of the
best practical Ornithologists of the day. This fact must give to the directions in its
pages the fullest credit and reliance. The portion devoted to the Canary Bird (Fringilla
serinus) is the most perfect description of its character and habits ever published; while
the remainder displays the most correct judgment and scientific knowledge.




7
From M'Makin's Model Ameriean Courier.
The third edition of this scarce and popular book has been issued by R. E. Peterson,
corner of Arch and Fifth streets, who has purchased of the widow of the late Bernard
Duke the whole work, including the valuable copyright. Our readers who take any interest in the sweet songsters, generally know that the author of " The Book of Cage
Birds" is our well-known poet, Henry B. Hirst, Esq. That gentleman-a true sportsman, for all seasons-is perhaps the best bird fancier in the country, and abundantly able
to treat of birds as birds deserve to be treated. It is a complete practical treatise on the
various birds which are to be found, singly or collectively, in an American aviary. Particular attention is, we perceive, bestowed upon that general favorite, the Canary Bird,
and every thing in relation to their habits, treatment, &c., is set down in detail. So also
of the Java Sparrow, the Linnet, Gold-Finch, Sky and Wood Lark, Bull-Finch, Black~Winged Summer Red Bird, Blue Linnet, Painted Bunting, Song Sparrow, Yellow Bird,
Starling, Rice Bird, Magpie, Robin, Thrush, Blue and Mocking Birds, Parrots, Doves,
and Partridges. In short, every bird that delights the eye, charms the ear, or ministers
to a dainty appetite, is here exhibited in the author's most simple, captivating-style. The
brief but beautifully written preface is in itself a delightful treat to one cooped, if not
caged, in a city office room. Like the sick man, in reading it we almostfancy ourselves
out once more among the green fields and pleasant valleys.
ROBERT E. PETERSON IS ALSO AGENT FOR
GREENLEAF'S SERIES OF ARITHMETICS,
CONSISTING OFI. MENTAL ARITHMETIC, upon the Inductive Plan, designed for beginners. By Benjamin Greenleaf, A, M., Principal of Bradford Teachers' Seminary.
2. Introduction to the National Arithmetic, designed for Common Schools. Improved
Stereotype Edition. 324 pp. half bound.
3. The National Arithmetic, for advanced Scholars in Common Schools and Academies. Improved Stereotype Edition. 360 pp. full bound.
Complete Keys to the Introductory and National-for Teachers only.
The above works are now used as text books, in the STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS in Massachusetts, under the direction of the State Board of Education; the Normal Schools in
New York City; Rutger's Female Institute, New York; Brooklyn (N. Y.) Female
Academy; Abbott's Female Academy, and Phillip's Academy, Andover, Chauncey Hall
School, Boston; Bradford Female Seminary; Philip's Academy, Exeter; YoungLadies'
Institute, Pittsfield; Worcester County High School, Worcester; Williston Seminary,
East Hampton, Mass; together with the best schools in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, New Orleans, and other cities; and
wherever the work has been introduced, it is still used with great success.
The recommendations of the above books, from various Teachers, are so numerous
that it would fill up too much space in this Catalogue to publish them. Teachers desirous of selecting the best works for their schools, and of examining the above, are desired to apply for copies, which will be gladly furnished them.
R. E. PETERSON IS ALSO AGENT FOR THE
"MANUAL OF MORALS" FOR COMMON SCHOOLS,
212 pp., 16mo.
" Some work on Morals," says the Hon. Horace Mann, " which shall excite the sympathies as well as inform the intellect; which shall make children love virtue, as well as
understand what it is, is the greatest desideratum of our schools."  The following pages
are an attempt to supply this want. The work is designed to be placed in the hands of
every scholar of our public schools as soon as they are able to understand it, and to be
studied like any other book.-[Extract from the Preface.]
This book has recently been adopted by the " Public School Society," of the City of
New York, to be put into all their public schools, and also by the School Board of the
City of Brooklyn, N. Y.
A distinguished friend of education, in Connecticut, writes as follows:-" I havue read
woithe great interest the.' I ITanual of Morals;' it is tile best book whic/hh has been pzblished for years. It oseght to be inztroduced into all of oer schools."
f13    A. Catalogue of my new  and second-hahnd Theological, Classical, &c., Books, sent to all who request it by letter pre-paid.