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C/3 
 C/9 
 
 C3 
 
 o 
 
 &9 
 
■I^,- 
 
 RELIGION OF GEdLOGT 
 
 AND IT! 
 
 
 CONNECTED SCIENCES. 4, 
 
 BT 
 
 EDWARD' HITCHCOCK, V^l 
 
 PKESIDENT OF AMHERST COLLEGE, AND PROFESSOR oKjTAt^B4|LXtf«iJjio); 
 
 AND GEOLOGY. 
 
 " Science hai a foundation, and so hai religion ; let them unite their foundations, and the basis will bo 
 broader, and they will be two compartments of one ffreat fabric reared to the glory of God. Let the one be 
 the outer and the other the inner court. In the one, let all look, and admire, and adore; and in the other, 
 let those who have faith kneel, and pray, and praise. Let the one be the smicliiary where human learning 
 may present its richest incense as an oflering lo God ; and the other the holiest of all, separated fiom it by a 
 veil now rent in twain, and in whicli, oi\ a blood sprinkled mercy seat, we pour out the love of a reconciled 
 heart, and hear the oracics of the living God." — ATCoih. 
 
 TWELFTH THOUSAND. 
 
 BOSTON: " 
 PHH^LIPS, SAMPSON, AND C(>MPANY. 
 1857. 
 
 «>^l 
 

 Bntered. aecording to Act of Congreu, in the year 1851, by 
 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, & CO., 
 
 ^ the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 tmiUTiritt AT TBI 
 B08T0X STtaBOTTFB POUMDRT. 
 
♦ ^ /> oar 
 
 H5 
 
 TO MY BELOVED WIEE. 
 
 Both gratitude and affection prompt me to dedicate 
 these lectures to you. To your kindness and self-deny- 
 ing labors I have been mainly indebted for the ability 
 and leisure to give any successful attention to scientific 
 pursuits. Early should I have sunk under the pressure 
 of feeble health, nervous despondency, poverty, and 
 blighted hopes, had not your sympathies and cheering 
 counsels sustained me. And during the last thirty years 
 of professional labors, how Uttle could I have done in 
 the cause of science, had you not, in a great measure, 
 relieved me of the cares of a numerous family ! Further- 
 more, while I have described scientific facts with the pen 
 only, how much more vividly have they been portrayed 
 by your pencil ! And it is peculiarly appropriate that 
 your name should be associated with mine in any literary 
 effort where the theme is geology; since your artistic 
 skill has done more than my voice to render that science 
 attractive to the young men whom I have instructed. I 
 love especially to connect your name with an effort to 
 
if DBOICATION. 
 
 defend and illustrate that religion whi^ I am sure if 
 dearer to you than every thing else. I know that you 
 would forbid this pubhc allusion to your labors and sac- 
 rifices, did I not send it forth to the world before it 
 meets your eye. But I am unwilling to lose this oppor- 
 tunity of bearing a testimony which both justice and 
 affection urge me to give. In a world where much is 
 ■aid of female deception and inconstancy, I desire to 
 testify that one man at least has placed impUcit confi- 
 dence in woman, and has not been disappointed. Through 
 many checkered scenes have we passed together, both 
 on the land and the sea, at home and in foreign countries ; 
 and now the voyage of life is almost ended. The ties 
 of earthly affection, which have so long united us in 
 uninterrupted harmony and happiness, will soon be sun- 
 dered. But there are ties which death cannot break; 
 and we indulge the hope that by them we shall be 
 linked together and to the throne of God through 
 eternal ages. 
 
 In life and in death I abide 
 
 Your affectionate husband, 
 
 EDWARD HITCHCOCK 
 

 PREFACE 
 
 Most of the following lectures were written as much 
 as eight or ten years ago, though additions and alterations 
 have been made, from time to time, to adapt them to the prog- 
 ress of science. They were undertaken at the suggestion of 
 my friend, Rev. Henry Neill, then of Hatfield, now of Lenox 
 I had no definite intention as to the use to be made of the lec- 
 tures ; but having for many years turned my attention to the 
 bearings of science, and especially of geology, upon religion, 
 I felt a desire to put upon paper the final results of my exam- 
 inations. I threw them into the lecture form, that I might, if 
 best, deliver them to the geological classes which I should in- 
 struct in the college with which I am connected. This I have 
 done for many years, and also have used them in various 
 places before lyceums. They are at length published, from 
 a conviction that something of the kind, from some quarter, 
 is needed. Many of the thoughts, indeed, which, at the time 
 they were put upon paper, were original, have since been 
 brought out by other writers. Yet enough of this description 
 probably remain to expose me to severe criticism. I beg the 
 intelligent Christian, however, before he condemns my views, 
 to settle it in his mind what he can substitute for them that 
 will be more honorable to religion. It is much easier to find 
 fault with a mode of defending the truth than to invent a 
 a* 
 
▼1 PREFACE. 
 
 better method. We may not be pleased with certain views in 
 vindication of religion, and yet the ahernative of rejecting 
 them may be so much worse as to lead us at least to be silent. 
 Would that Christian critics had always kept this fact in mind 
 v^rhen writing upon the views of geologists ! They would 
 find often that they are straining at a gnat and must swallow 
 a camel. 
 
 If my views are erroneous, as exhibited in these lectures, I 
 cannot plead that they have been hastily adopted. Most of 
 them, indeed, have been the subjects of thought occasionally 
 for thirty years. 1 hope, however, that all my suggestions 
 will not be thought of equal importance in my own estima- 
 tion ; since some of them are merely hypothetical hints 
 thrown out for the consideration of abler minds. 
 
 This work does not exhibit quite so much of logical exactness 
 as I could wish. But my leading object has been fully carried 
 out, viz., to exhibit all the religious bearings of geology. 
 Several of the lectures, however, have been written as if in- 
 dependent of all the rest ; and, therefore, the reader will find 
 some leading thoughts repeated, but always in difierent 
 connections. 
 
 After acknowledging that more than a quarter of a century 
 has elapsed since this subject first engaged my attention, it 
 may be useless for me to ask any indulgence from criticism. 
 But really, I feel less prepared to write upon it than I did 
 during the first five years in which I studied it. I have learnt 
 that it is a most difficult subject. It requires, in order to mas- 
 ter it, an acquaintance with three dis^nct branches of knowl- 
 edge, not apt to go together. First, an acquaintance with 
 geology in all its details, and with the general principles of 
 zoology, botany, and comparative anatomy ; secondly, a 
 knowledge of sacred hermeneutics, or the principles of inter* 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 ■m 
 
 preting the Scriptures; thirdly, a clear conception of the 
 principles of natural and revealed religion. 
 
 As examples of efforts made by men who were deficient in 
 a knowledge of some of these branches, I am compelled to 
 quote a large proportion of the works which, within the last 
 thirty or forty years, have been written on the religion of geol- 
 ogy ; especially on its connection with revealed religion. I 
 am happy to except such writers as Dr. J. Pye S "nith. Dr. 
 Chalmers, Dr. Harris, Dr. Buckland, Professor Sedgwick, Pro- 
 fessor Whewell, Dr. King, Dr. Anderson, and Hugh Miller ; 
 for they, to a greater or less extent, acquainted themselves 
 with all the subjects named above, before they undertook to 
 write. But a still larger number of authors, although men of 
 talents, and familiar, it may be, with the Bible and theology, 
 had no accurate knowledge of geology. The results havo 
 been, first, that, by resorting to denunciation and charges of 
 infidelity, to answer arguments from geology which they did 
 not understand, they have excited unreasonable prejudices 
 and alarm among common Christians respecting that science 
 and its cultivators; secondly, they have awakened disgust, 
 and even contempt, among scientific men, especially those of 
 sceptical tendencies, who have inferred that a cause which 
 resorts to such defences must be very weak. They have felt 
 very much as a good Greek scholar would, who should read 
 a severe critique upon the style of Isocrates, or Demosthenes, 
 and, before he had finished the review, should discover inter- 
 nal evidence that the writer had never learnt the Greek 
 alphabet. 
 
 On the other hand, prejudices and disgust equally strong 
 have been produced in the mind of many a man well versed 
 in theology and biblical exegesis by some productions of sci- 
 entific men upon the religious bearings of geology, because 
 
¥111 PREPACE.' 
 
 they advanced principles which the merest tyro in divinity 
 would know to be' false and fatal to religion, and which they 
 advocated only because they had never studied the Bible or 
 theology. 
 
 And here I would remark that it does not follow, because a 
 man is eminent in geology, that his opinion is of any value 
 upon the religion of geology. For the two subjects are quite 
 distinct, .iid a man may be a Coryphaeus in the principles 
 of geology, who is an ignoramus in its religious applications. 
 Indeed, many of the ablest writers upon geology take the 
 ground that its religious bearings do not belong to the science. 
 
 These statements, instead of pleading my apology for the 
 following work, may only show my temerity and vanity. Nev- 
 ertheless, they afford me an opportunity of calling the attention 
 of the religious public to the great inadequacy of the means now 
 possessed of acquiring a knowledge of the different branches 
 of natural science. I refer especially to comparative anat- 
 omy, zoology, botany, and geology, in our literary and theo- 
 logical seminaries. The latter, so far as I know, do not pre- 
 tend to give any instruction in these branches. And in our 
 colleges that instruction is confined almost entirely to a few 
 brief courses of lectures; often so few that the students 
 scarcely find out how ignorant they are of the subjects ; and 
 hence those who are expecting to enter the sacred ministry 
 vainly imagine that, at almost any period of their future 
 course, they can, in a few weeks, become sufficiently ac- 
 quainted with physical science to meet and refute the sceptic. 
 In all our seminaries, however, abundant provision is made, 
 as it ought to be, for the study of intellectual philosophy and 
 biblical interpretation. 
 
 So well satisfied are two of the most enlightened and effi- 
 cient Chrbtian denominations in Great Britain — the Congre* 
 
PREFACE. .» ^ " VX. 
 
 gationalists and the Scottish Free Church — of the need of 
 more extensive acquaintance with the nataral sciences in miut ■ 
 isters of the gospel, that they have attached a professorship ^ 
 of natural history to their theological seminaries. That in the 
 New College in Edinburgh is filled by the venerable Dr. 
 Fleming ; that in the New College in London by Dr. Lan- 
 kester. From a syllabus of Dr. Fleming's course of lectures, 
 which he put into my hands last summer, I perceive that it ^ 
 differs little from the instruction in natural science in the col- 
 leges of our country. This being the case, it strikes me that 
 this is not exactly the professorship that is needed in the 
 theological seminaries of our country. But they do need, it 
 seems to me, professorships of natural theology, to be filled 
 oy men who are practically familiar with the natural sciences. 
 If any such chairs exist in these seminaries, I do not know it. 
 They are amply provided with instruction in the metaphysics 
 of theology, hermeneutics, and ecclesiastical history ; and I 
 should be sorry to see these departments less amply provided 
 for. But here is the wide field of natural theology, large 
 enough for several professorships, which finds no place, save 
 a nook in the chair of dogmatics. This might have answered 
 well enough when the battle-field with scepticism lay in the 
 region of metaphysics, or history, or biblical interpretation. 
 But the enemy have, within a few years past, intrenched 
 themselves within the dominions of natural science ; and there, 
 for a long time to come, must be the tug of the war. And 
 since they have substituted skeletons, and trees, and stones, 
 as weapons, in the place of abstractions, so must Christians 
 do, if they would not be defeated. Let me refer to a few 
 examples to show how inadequately furnished the minister 
 must be for such a contest, who has used only the means of 
 instruction provided in our existing seminaries, literary and 
 theological. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 Take the leading points discussed in the following lectures. 
 How can a man who has heard only a brief and hurried 
 course of thirty lectures on chemistry, twenty on anatomy 
 and physiology, fifteen upon zoology, ten upon botany, ten 
 upon mineralogy, and twenty upon geology, at the college, 
 with no additional instruction at the theological seminary, — 
 how can he judge correctly of points and reasoning difficult 
 to be mastered by adepts in these sciences ? How certain to 
 be worsted in an argument with an accomplished naturalist 
 who is a sceptic ! 
 
 Suppose the sceptic takes the ground advocated by Oken 
 and the author of the " Vestiges." Let the clergyman, whom 
 I have supposed, read the works of Miller and Sedgwick in 
 reply to the development hypothesis, and see whether he can 
 even understand their arguments without a more careful study 
 of the sciences on which they rest. 
 
 A subject of no small importance in its religious bearings 
 has recently excited a good deal of sharp discussion in this 
 country. I refer to the questions of the specific unity and 
 unity of origin of the human race. To a person who has 
 never studied the subject, it seems a matter easy to settle ; 
 yet, in fact, it demands extensive research even to understand. 
 And we have seen one of the most accomplished zoologists 
 and anatomists of the present age take ground on these points 
 in opposition to the almost universal opinion. The result has 
 been that not a few talented replies to his arguments have 
 appeared, mostly, I believe, from ministers. I have not seen 
 them all. But in respect to those which I have read it has 
 seemed to me, without having the least sympathy with the 
 views of Professor Agassiz, that the authors have not the most 
 remote conception of the principal arguments on which he 
 relies, derived from zoology and comparative anatomy ; nor 
 
• PREFACE. n 
 
 do I b^l'ove that they can understand and appreciate them 
 until they have studied those sciences.* 
 
 Although I fear that theologians are not aware of the 
 fact, yet probably the doctrines of materialism are more 
 widely embraced at this day than almost any other reli- 
 gious error. But in which of our schools, save the medical, 
 is there any instruction given in physiology and zoology, 
 that will prepare a man to make the least headway against 
 such delusions ? The arguments by which materialism is 
 defended are among the most subtle in the whole range of 
 theology and natural science ; and without a knowledge of 
 the latter they can neither be appreciated nor refuted. The 
 mere metaphysical abstractions by which they are usually met 
 excite only the contempt of the acute physiologist who is a 
 materialist. 
 
 I might refer, in this connection, to the whole subject of 
 pantheism, in its chameleon forms. The rhapsodies of spir- 
 itual pantheism must, indeed, be met by metaphysics equally 
 transcendental. But, after all, it is from biology that the pan- 
 theist derives his choicest weapons. He appeals, also, to 
 astronomy, zoology, and geology; nor is it the superficial 
 naturalist that can show how hollow is the foundation on 
 which he rests. 
 
 These are only a few examples of the points of physical 
 science on which scepticism at this moment has batteries 
 erected with which to assail spiritual religion. Will the min- 
 ister but slightly familiar with the ground chosen by the enemy 
 be able not only to silence his guns, but, as every able de- 
 fender of the truth ought to do, to turn them against its foes ? 
 
 * I ought surely to except the work of Professor Bachman, which 
 [ have not read, but which was certainly written by an able natujaHst. 
 
Xll PREFACE. • 
 
 Surely it needs a professor of natural theology in onr theo 
 logical seminaries, (and if such chairs existed in our college! 
 they would be serviceable,) to teach those who expect to be 
 officers in the sacramental host how to carry on the holy war. 
 I do not see how miich more time can be given to the natural 
 sciences in our colleges than is usually done, without encroach- 
 ing upon other indispensable branches. If, therefore, pro- 
 vision be not made for studying the religious bearings of these 
 sciences in our theological seminaries, our youthful evan- 
 gelists must go forth to their work without the ability to vindi- 
 cate the cause of religion against the assaults of the sceptical 
 naturalist. Would not, then, those wealthy and benevolent 
 individuals be great public benefactors, who should endow 
 professorships of natural religion in our schools of the 
 prophets ? 
 
 But I must not pursue this subject farther. I commit my 
 work to the public with no raised expectations of its welcome 
 reception. I have a high opinion of the enlightened candor 
 of the educated classes of our country, especially those in 
 the ministry. Yet I know that many prejudices exist against 
 science in its connections with religion. And, therefore, my 
 only hope of any measure of success in this effort rests upon 
 the divine blessing. But if the work be not pleasing to Infi- 
 nite Wisdom and Benevolence, why should I desire for it an 
 ephemeral success among men ? 
 
 AxHBBST College, May 1, 1851. 
 

 '^ 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 This section of the earth's crust is intended to bring under the eyo 
 the leading features of geology. 
 
 1. The relative Position of the Stratified and the Unstratified Bocks. 
 
 The unstratified rocks, viz., granite, sienite, porphyry, trap, a,nd lava, 
 are represented as lying beneath the stratified class, for the most part, 
 yet piercing through them in the centre of the section, and by several 
 dikes or veins, through which masses have been protruded to the sur- 
 face. The unstratified class are all colored red, to indicate their igneous 
 origin. Granite seems to have been first melted and protruded, and it 
 continued to be pushed upward till the close of the secondary period of 
 the stratified rocks, as is shown by the vein of granite on the section. 
 Sienite and porphyry seem to have been next thrust up, from below 
 the granite ; next, the varieties of trap were protruded from beneath the 
 porphyry; and last, the lava, which still continues to be poured out 
 upon the surface from beneath all the rest. 
 
 2. The Stratified JRocks. 
 
 The stratified rocks represented on both flanks of the granite peak in 
 the section, appear to have been deposited from water, and subsequently 
 more or less lifted up, fractured, and bent. An attempt is made, on the 
 right hand side of the section, to exhibit the foldings and inclination of 
 the strata. The lowest are bent the most, and their dip is the greatest ; 
 and, as a general fact, there is a gradual approach to horizontality as we 
 rise on the scale. 
 
 3. The right hand side of the Section. 
 
 The strata on the right hand are divided into five classes : first and 
 lowest, the crystalline, or primary, destitute of organic remains, and prob- 
 ably metamorphosed from a sedimentary to a crystalline state, by the 
 action of subjacent heat. 2. The palceozoic class, or those containing the 
 earliest types of animals and plants, and of vast thickness, mostly depos- 
 ited in the ocean. 3. The secondary class, reaching from the top of the 
 lower new red or Permian system, to the top of the chalk. 4. The ter- 
 tiary strata, partially consolidated, and diff'ering entirely from the rocks 
 below by their organic contents. 5. Alluvium, or strata now in a course 
 of deposition. This classification is sometimes convenient, and frequent. 
 ly used by geologists. 
 
 b 
 
XIV EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 4. The left hand Side. 
 
 On the left hand side of the section the strata are so divided as to cor 
 respond to the six great groups of animals and plants that have appeared 
 on the globe. The names attached to the groups are derived from Cowf , 
 {vivus, living,) with the Greek numerals prefixed. The lowest group, 
 being destitute of organic remains, is called azoic, (from a privitive and 
 £0)65,) that is, wanting in the traces of life ; and corresponds to the crys- 
 talline group on the other side of the section, embracing gneiss, mica 
 slate, limestone, and clay slate, of unknown thickness. The protozoic 
 group corresponds to the palaeozoic of the right hand side, and embraces 
 lower and upper Silurian, Devonian, or old red sandstone, the carbonifer- 
 ous group, and the Permian, or. lower new red ; the whole in Great 
 Britain not less than thirty-three thousand feet thick. The deutozoic group 
 consists only of the triassic, or upper new red sandstone, and is only nine 
 hundred feet thick, but marks a distinct period of life. The tritozoic em- 
 braces the lias and oSlite, with the Wcalden, and is three thousand six 
 hundred feet thick. The tetrazoic consists of the chalk and green sand, 
 one thousand five hundred feet thick. The pentezoic embraces the ter- 
 tiary strata of the thickness of two thousand feet. The hectozoic is con- 
 fined to the modem deposits, only a few hundred feet thick, but entomb- 
 ing all the existing species of animals. 
 
 5. Characteristic Organic Remains. 
 
 Had space permitted, I should have put upon the section a reference 
 to the most characteristic and peculiar mineral, animal, or plant, in the 
 difiierent groups. Thus the azoic group is crystalliferous^ or crystal-bear- 
 ing. The lower or Silurian part of the protozoic group is brachiopodi/er- 
 ous, trilobijerous, polypiferous^ and cephahpodiferous ; that is, abounding 
 in brachiopod and cephalopod shells ; in polypifers, or corals ; and in 
 trilobites, a family of crustaceans. The middle part, or the Devonian, is 
 thaumichthiferous, or containing remarkable fish. The upper part, or the 
 coal measures, is carboniferous ; that is, abounding in coal. The deuto- 
 zoic group is ichniferous, or track-bearing, from the multitude of its fossil 
 footmarks. The tritozoic group is reptili/erous, or reptile-bearing, from the 
 extraordinary lizards which abound in it. The tetrazoic is foraminiferous, 
 from the abundance of coral animalcula, called foraminifera, or polythal- 
 mia, which it contains. The pentezoic is mammali/erous, because it con- 
 tains the remains of mammalia, or quadrupeds. The hectozoic is homo- 
 ni/erous, or man-bearing, because it embraces human remains. 
 
 There is no one place on earth where all the facts exhibited on 
 this section are presented before us together. Yet all the facts occur 
 somewhere, and this section merely brings them into systematic ar> 
 rangement. 
 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Pag« 
 EEVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE, ... 1 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 THE EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNREVEALED, . 33 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW OP ORGANIC BEINGS ON THIS 
 GLOBE FROM THE BEGINNING, Tl 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE NOACHIAN DELUGE COMPARED WITH THE GEOLOGI- 
 CAL DELUGES, 112 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 THE WORLD'S SUPPOSED ETERNITY, 140 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE, . 179 
 
XVi CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTUEE VII. 
 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE AS E2LHIBITED IN A FALLEN WORLD, 219 
 
 LBCTUBE VIII. 
 
 tJNITT OF THE DIVINB PLAN AND OPEEATION IN ALL AGES 
 OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY ' SSB 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 THE HYPOTHESIS OF CREATION. BY LAW, ....«» 
 
 LECTURE X. " 
 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE, .... 337 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 THE FUTURE CONDITION AND DESTINY OF THE EARTH, 370 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE, ... 409 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH, .... . . 446 
 
 . LECTURE XIV. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH, RIGHTLY APPLIED, IB RELIGIOUS 
 TRUTH . 47t 
 

 THS 
 
 RELIGION OF GEOLOGY 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 The leading object, which I propose in the course of lec- 
 tures which I now commence, is to develop the relations be- 
 tween geology and religion. This cannot be done fully anc 
 fairly, however, without exhibiting also many of the religious 
 bearings of several other sciences. I shall, therefore, feel 
 justified in drawing illustrations and arguments from any 
 department of human knowledge which may afford them. I 
 place geology first and most conspicuous on the list, because 
 I know of no other branch of physical science so prolific in 
 its religious applications. 
 
 In treating of this subject, I shall first exhibit the relations 
 between science and revealed religion, and afterwards be- 
 tween science and natural religion ; though in a few cases 
 these two great branches cannot be kept entirely distinct. 
 
 Geology is usually regarded as having only an unfavorable 
 
 bearing upon revealed religion ; and writers are generally 
 
 satisfied if they can reconcile apparent discrepancies. But I 
 
 regard this as an unfair representation ; for if geology, or anv 
 
 1 
 
3 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 Other spience, proves to us that we have not fairly understood 
 the meaning of any passage of Scripture, it merely illus- 
 trates, but does not oppose, revelation. 
 
 A fundamental principle of Protestant Christianity is, that 
 the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only 
 infallible standard of religious truth ; and I desire to hold up 
 this principle prominently at the outset, as one to which I 
 cordially subscribe. The mass of evidence in favor of the 
 divine inspiration of the Bible is too great to be set aside by 
 any thing short of scientific demonstration. Were the Scrip- 
 lures to teach that the whole is not equal to its parts, the 
 mind could not, indeed, believe it. But if it taught a truth 
 which was only contrary to the probable deductions of sci- 
 ence, science, I say, must yield to Scripture ; for it would 
 be more reasonable to doubt the probabilities of a single sci- 
 ence, than the various and most satisfactory evidence on 
 which revelation rests. I do not believe that even the proba- 
 bilities of any science are in collision with Scripture. But 
 the supposition is made to show how strong are my convic- 
 tions of the evidence and paramount authority of the Bible. 
 
 But does it follow, from these positions, that science can 
 throw no light upon the truths of Scripture ? By no means ; 
 and it will be my leading object, in this lecture, to show how 
 this may be done by science in general, and by geology in 
 particular. 
 
 In discussing this subject, we ought to bear in mind the object 
 of science, and the object of revelation. And by the term 
 science I refer mainly to physical science. Its grand aim is, 
 by an induction from facts, to discover the laws by which the 
 material universe is governed. Those laws do, indeed, lead 
 the mind almost necessarily to their divine Author. But this 
 is rather the incidental than the direct result of scientific 
 
"* OBJECT OF REVELATION. 3 
 
 investigations, and belongs rather to natural theology than 
 to natural science. 
 
 On the other hand, the exclusive object of revelation is of 
 a nnoral character. It is a development of the divine char- 
 acter and the divine government ; especially that {jart of it 
 which discloses a plan for the reconciliation of a lost and 
 wicked world to the favor of God by the death of his Son. 
 Every other subject mentioned in Scripture is incidental, and 
 would not have been noticed had it not some connection with 
 the plan of salvation. The creation of the world and the 
 Noachian deluge, for instance, are intimately related to the 
 divine character and government, and therefore they are 
 described ; and the same is true of the various phenomena of 
 nature which are touched upon in the Bible. 
 
 If these positions be correct, it follows, that as we ought 
 not to expect to find the doctrines of religion in treatises on 
 science, so it is unreasonable to look for the principles of phi- 
 losophy in the Bible. Nay, we ought not to expect to find 
 the terms used by the sacred writers employed in their strict 
 scientific sense, but in their popular acceptation. Indeed, as 
 the Scriptures were generally addressed to men in the earliest 
 and most simple states of society, with very limited views of 
 the extent of creation, we ought to suppose that, in all cases 
 where no new fact is revealed, the language was adapted to 
 the narrow ideas which then prevailed. When, for instance, 
 the sacred writers speak of the rising and setting of the sun, 
 we cannot suppose they used language with astronomical cor- 
 rectness, but only according to appearances. Hence we 
 ought not to be very confident, that when they employ the 
 term earthy they meant that spherical, vast globe which as- 
 tronomy proves the earth to be, but rather that part of it 
 which was inhabited, which was all the idea that entered into 
 
 m 
 
4 EEVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 the mind of a Jew. God might, indeed, have revealed new 
 scientific as well as religious truth. But there is no evidence 
 that in this way he has anticipated a single modern discovery. 
 This ^ould have been turning aside from the much more 
 important object he had in view, viz., to teach the world re- 
 ligious truth. Such being the case, the language employed 
 to describe natural phenomena must have been adapted to 
 the state of knowledge among the people to whom the Scrip- 
 tures were addressed. 
 
 Another inference from these premises is, that there may 
 be an apparent contradiction between the statements of sci- 
 ence and revelation. Revelation may describe phenomena 
 according to apparent truth, as when it speaks of the rising 
 and setting of the sun, and the immobility of the earth ; but 
 science describes the same according to the actual truth, as 
 when it gives a real motion to the earth, and only an appar- 
 ent motion to the heavens. Had the language of revelation 
 been scientifically accurate, it would have defeated the object 
 for which the Scriptures were given ; for it must have antici- 
 pated scientific discovery, and therefore have been unintelli- 
 gible to those ignorant of such discoveries. Or if these had 
 been explained by inspiration, the Bible would have become 
 a text-book in natural science, rather than a guide to eter- 
 nal life. 
 
 The final conclusion from these principles is, that since 
 science and revelation treat of the same subjects only inci- 
 dentally, we ought only to expect that the facts of science, 
 rightly understood, should not contradict the statements of 
 revelation, correctly interpreted. Apparent discrepancies 
 there may be ; and it would not be strange, if for a time 
 they should seem to be real ; either because science has not 
 fully and accurately disclosed the facts, or the Bible is not 
 
HOW TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE. O 
 
 correctly interpreted ; but if both records are from God, there 
 can be no real contradiction between them. But, on the other 
 hand, we have no reason to expect any remarkable coinci- 
 dences, because the general subject and object of the two 
 records are so unlike. Should such coincidences occur, hoW' 
 ever, they will render it less probable that any apparent dis- 
 agreement is real. 
 
 If the positions taken in these preliminary remarks be cor- 
 rect, it will follow, that in judging of the agreement or dis- 
 agreement between revelation and science, it is important, in 
 the first place, that we rightly understand the Bible ; and, in 
 the second place, that we carefully ascertain what are the 
 settled and demonstrated principles of science. An exami- 
 nation of these points will constitute the remainder of this 
 lecture. 
 
 The meaning of the Scriptures is to be determined in the 
 same way as the meaning of any other book written in similar 
 circumstances. Its inspiration puts no bar in the way of the 
 most rigid application of the rules of criticism, nor renders 
 it unnecessary to seek for light in whatever quarter it can be 
 obtained. The rules of grammatical and rhetorical construc- 
 tion, the study of contemporary writers, a knowledge of the 
 history, customs, opinions, and prejudices of the times, and 
 other circumstances that need not be mentioned, become im- 
 portant means of attaining the true usus loquendi, or princi- 
 ple of interpretation. But I pass by all these on the present 
 occasion, because no one doubts their importance in rightly 
 understanding the Bible. I maintain that scientific discov- 
 eries furnish us with another means of its correct interpreta- "^ 
 tion, where it describes natural phenomena. And in thia 
 position we shall not probably find an entire unanimity of opin- 
 ion. Let us, therefore, proceed to examine its truth. 
 1* 
 
6 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 It w\\\ not be denied that modern science has corrected the 
 opinions of men in regard to very many natural phenomena. 
 The same term that conveyed one idea to an ancient reader, 
 or hearer, of the Bible, often conveys an opposite meaning to 
 a modern ear. And yef that term may be very proper to 
 use in modern limes, if understood to express only apparent, 
 and not real truth. The Jew understood it to mean the latter ; 
 and it would seem as if we might employ modern scientific 
 discovery to enable us to decide in which sense the Bible did 
 use the term. For if we admit the Jew to have been correct 
 in his interpretation, then we bring revelation into direct col- 
 lision with the demonstrations of physics. 
 
 But facts are vastly more satisfactory in deciding this ques- 
 tion than reasoning, and 1 shall now proceed to adduce some 
 examples in which modern scientific discoveiy has thrown 
 light upon the meaning of the Bible. 
 
 For one or two examples I appeal to chemistry. In the 
 book of Proverbs, (chap. 25, v. 20,) we find it said, that as 
 vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy 
 heart. We should expect from this statement that when we 
 put vinegar upon what we call nitre, it would produce some 
 commotion analogous to the excitement of song-singing. But 
 we should try the experiment in vain ; for no effect whatever 
 would be produced. Again, it is said by the prophet Jeremiah, 
 (chap. 2, V. 22,) Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take 
 thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith 
 the Lord. Here, too, we should expect that the use of the 
 nitre would increase the purifying power of the soap ; but 
 tiio experiment would prove rather the reverse. The chemist, 
 however, informs us that there is a substance, viz., the carbo* 
 nale of soda, which, if substituted for the nitre, would effer- 
 vesce with vinegar, and aid the purifying power of soap. 
 
CONFLAGRATION OF THE EARTH. 7 
 
 and thus strikingly illustrate the thought both of Solomon and 
 Jeremiah. And on recurring to the original, we find that 
 ira (nether, nitrum, natrum) does not necessarily mean 
 the salt which we call nitre, but rather a fossil alkali, the 
 natron of the ancients, and the carbonate of soda of the 
 moderns. 
 
 It is probably the prevailing opinion among intelligent Chris- 
 tians at this time, and has been the opinion of many commen- 
 tators, that when Peter describes the future destruction of the 
 world, he means that its solid substance, and indeed that of 
 the whole material universe, will be utterly consumed or an- 
 nihilated by fire. This opinion rests upon the common belief 
 that such is the effect of combustion. But chemistry informs 
 us, that no case of combustion, how fiercely soever the fire 
 may rage, annihilates the least particle of matter ; and that 
 fire only changes the form of substances. Nay, there is no 
 reason whatever to suppose that one particle of matter has 
 been annihilated since the world began. The chemist more- 
 over asserts that all the solid parts of the globe have already 
 undergone combustion, and that although heat may melt them, 
 it cannot burn them. Nor is there any thing upon or within 
 the earth capable of combustion, but vegetables, and animals, 
 and a few gases. Has Peter, then, made a mistake because 
 he did not understand modern chemistry } We have only to 
 examine his language carefully, as it seems to me, in order 
 to be satisfied that he means only, that whatsoever upon, or 
 within, the earth, is combustible, will be burned up at the 
 final conflagration ; and that the whole globe, the elements^ 
 will melt with fervent heat. He novvh-^re asserts, or implies, 
 that one particle of matter will be annihilated by that catas- 
 trophe. Thus science, instead of proving his statements to be 
 erroneous, only enables us more correctly to understand them. 
 
 ^^^"^''^ 
 
8 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BT SCIENCE. 
 
 Scarcely any truth seems more clearly taught in the Bibl© 
 than the future resurrection of the body. Yet this doctrine 
 has always been met by a most formidable objection. It is 
 said that the body laid in the grave is ere long decomposed 
 into its elements, which are scattered over the face of the 
 earth, and enter into new combinations, even forming a part 
 of other human bodies. Hence not even Omnipotence can 
 raise from the grave the identical body laid there, because 
 the particles may enter successively into a multitude of other 
 human bodies. I am not aware that any successful reply has 
 ever been given to this objection, until chemistry and natural 
 history taught us the true nature of bodily identity; and until 
 recently the objector has felt sure that he had triumphed. But 
 these sciences teach us that the identity of the body consists, 
 not in a sameness of particles, but in the same kinds of ele- 
 mentary matter, combined in the same proportion, and having 
 the same form and structure. Hence it is not necessary that 
 the resurrection body should contain a single particle of the 
 matter laid in the grave, in order to be the same body ; which 
 it will be if it consist of the same kinds of matter combined 
 in the same proportions, and has the same form and struc- 
 ture. For the particles of our bodies are often totally changed 
 during our lives ; yet no one imagines that the old man has 
 not the same body as in infancy.* What but the principles 
 
 • I am not aware that this reply to the objection was ever ad- 
 yanced, till the publication, by myself, last year, of a sermon on the 
 Resurrections of Spring, in a small volume of sermons, entitled lle- 
 ligious Lectures on some peculiar Phenomena in the Four Seasons. 
 I may be mistaken ; but I cannot see why this reply does not com- 
 pletely meet the difficulty, and free an important doctrine from aa 
 incubus under which it has long lain half smothered. 
 
IDENTITY OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 9 
 
 of science could have thus vmdicated a precious doctrine of 
 revelation ? 
 
 In the description which Paul gives of the spiritual -body, 
 a naturalist, — and I fancy no one but a naturalist, — will 
 discover its specific identity. By this I mean that it will pos- 
 sess peculiarities that distinguish it from every thing else, 
 but which are so closely related to the characteristics of the 
 natural body in this world, from which it was derived, that 
 one acquainted with the latter would recognize the former. 
 Elence the Christian's friends in another world may be recog- 
 nized by him from their external characters, jus. as we iden- 
 tify the plants and animals of spring with those that seemed 
 to perish in the preceding autumn. There is neither time 
 nor room for the proof of this exegesis, which is founded 
 chiefly upon the principles of natural history; but for their 
 elucidation, I must refer to another place.* 
 
 I take my next example from meteorology. It was the 
 opinion of the ancients that the earth, at a certain height, was 
 surrounded by a transparent hollow sphere of solid matter, 
 which they called the firmament. When rain descended, they 
 supposed it was through windows, or holes, made in this crys- 
 talline curtain suspended in mid heaven. To these notions 
 the language of the Bible is frequently conformed. In the 
 account of the creation, in Genesis, we have a description of 
 the formation of this firmament, and how it divided the waters 
 below it, viz., the ocean, lakes, and rivers, from the waters 
 above it, viz., the clpuds. Again, in the account of the 
 deluge, the windows of heaven are said to have been opened. 
 
 * I hope it is not vanity to say that this subject, also, was first 
 suggested in the sermon referred to in the preceding note. If correct, 
 it opens an animating prospect to the afflicted Christian. 
 
10 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIKNCE. 
 
 But it is hardly necessary to say, that meteorology has shown 
 that no such solid firmament exists over our heads ; that, in fact, 
 nothing but one homogeneous, transparent atmosphere encloses 
 the earth, in which the clouds float at different altitudes at difl!er- 
 ent times. Arc we, then, to suppose that the sacred writers 
 meant to teach as certain truth, the fiction of a solid firmament ; 
 or that on this subject they conformed their language to the pre- 
 vailing belief, because it was not their object to teach philosophy, 
 meaning neither to assert nor to deny the existence of a solid 
 firmament, but using language that was optically, although 
 not physically, correct, and which, therefore, conformed to 
 the general belief? It is doubtful whether any thing but sci- 
 entific discovery could enable us to decide this question. But 
 since it is certain that the solid firmament does not exist, we 
 must admit that the Bible did not intend to teach its exist- 
 ence, or allow it to teach a falsehood ; and since we know 
 that it does often speak, in natural things, according to appar- 
 ent, and not real truth, it is most reasonable to give such a 
 construction to its language in the present instance. 
 
 But the most decisive example I have to give on this sub- 
 ject is derived from astronomy. Until the time of Copernicus, 
 no opinion respecting natural phenomena was thought more 
 firmly established, than that the earth is fixed immovably 
 in the centre of the universe, and that the heavenly bodies 
 move diurnally around it. To sustain this view, the most 
 decided language of Scripture could be quoted. God is there 
 said to have established the foundations of the earth, so that 
 they could not be removed forever ; and the sacred writers 
 expressly declare that the sun and other heavenly bodies arise 
 and se/,and nowhere allude to any proper motion in the earth. 
 And those statements corresponded exactly to the testimony 
 of the senses. Men felt the earth to be immovably firm under 
 
THE ASTRONOMICAL HERESY. 11 
 
 their feet, and when they looked up, they saw the heavenly 
 bodies in motion. What bold impiety, therefore, did it seem, 
 even to men of liberal and enlightened minds, for any one to 
 rise up and assert that all this testimony of the Bible and of 
 the senses was to be set aside ! It is easy to conceive with 
 what strong jealousy the friends of the Bible would look upon 
 the new science which was thus arraying itself in bold defi- 
 ance of inspiration, and how its votaries would be branded as 
 infidels in disguise. We need not resort to Catholic intoler- 
 ance to explain how it was, that the new doctrine of the earth's 
 motion should be denounced as the most fatal heresy, as alike 
 contrary to Scripture and sound philosophy, and that even the 
 venerable Galileo should be forced to recant it upon his knees. 
 What though the astronomer stood ready with his diagrams 
 and formulas to demonstrate the motion of the earth ; who 
 would calmly and impartially examine the claims of a sci- 
 entific discovery, which, by its very announcement, threw 
 discredit upon the Bible and the senses, and contradicted the 
 unanimous opinion of the wise and good, — of all mankind, 
 indeed, — through all past centuries ? Rather would the dis- 
 tinguished theologians of the day set their ingenuity at work 
 to frame an argument in opposition to the dangerous neology, 
 that should fall upon it like an avalanche, and grind it to pow- 
 der. And to show you how firm and irresistible such an ar- 
 gument would seem, we need no longer tax the imagination; 
 for Francis Turretin, a distinguished Protestant professor of 
 theology, whose writings have even to the present day sus- 
 tained no mean reputation, has left us an argument on the 
 subject, compacted and arranged according to the nicest rules 
 of logic, and which he supposed would stand unrefuted as 
 long as the authority of the Bible should be regarded among 
 men. He propounds the inquiry, " Do the sun and moon 
 
12 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 move in the heavens and revolve around the earth, while the 
 earth remains at rest ? " This he affirms, " in opposition tc 
 certain philosophers," and sustains his position by the follow- 
 ing arguments: "First. The sun is said [in Scripture] to 
 move in the heavens, and to rise and set. (Ps. 19, v. 5.) 
 The sun is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber ^ and 
 rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. (Ps. 104, v. 19.) 
 The sun knoweth his going down. (Eccles. 1, v. 5.) The 
 sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down. Secondly. The 
 sun, by a miracle, stood still in the time of Joshua. (Joshua, 
 eh. 10, V. 12, 13, 14,) and by a miracle it went back in the 
 time of Hezekiah. (Isa. ch. 38, v. 8.) Thirdly. The earth is 
 said to hejixed immovably. (Ps. 93, v. 1.) The world also is 
 established y that it cannot be moved. (Ps. 104, v. 5.) Whr 
 laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed 
 forever. (Ps. 119, v. 90, 91.) Thou hast established tJic 
 earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to 
 thine ordinances. Fourthly. Neither could birds, which often 
 fly off through an hour's circuit, be able to return to their 
 nests ; for in the mean time the earth would move four hun- 
 dred and fifty of our miles. Fifthly. Whatever flies or is 
 suspended in the air ought [by this theory] to move from west 
 to east ; but this is proved not to be true from birds, arrows 
 shot forth, atoms made manifest in the sun, and down floating 
 in the atmosphere." 
 
 If it be replied to this reasoning that the Scripture, in nat- 
 ural things, speaks according to the common opinion, Turretin 
 answers, " First, that the spirit of God best understands nat 
 ural things ; secondly, that, in giving instruction in religion, he 
 meant these things should be used, not abused ; thirdly, that 
 he is not the author of any error ; fourthly, neither is he to 
 be corrected on this pretence by our blind reason." 
 
ASTRONOMY RECONCILED TO THE BIBLE. 13 
 
 If it be replied that birds, the air, and all things are moved 
 ^ith the earth, he answers, " First, that this is a mere fiction, 
 since air is a fluid body ; and secondly, if so, by what force 
 would birds be able to go from east to west." — Compendium 
 TheologiccB Didactico-Elencticce, (Amsterdam, 1695.) 
 
 In the present state of knowledge we may smile at some 
 of these arguments ; but to men who had been taught to be- 
 lieve, as in a self-evident principle, that the earth was immo- 
 vable and the heavenly bodies in motion, the most of them 
 must have been entirely satisfactory ; and especially must the 
 Scriptures have seemed in point blank opposition to the astro- 
 nomical heresy. What, then, has so completely annihilated 
 this argument, that now the merest schoolboy would be 
 ashamed to advocate it ? The clear demonstrations of sci- 
 ence have done it. Not only has the motion of the earth 
 been established, but it has been made equally obvious that 
 this truth is in entire harmony with the language of Scripture , 
 so that neither the infidel nor the Christian ever suspect, on 
 this ground, any collision between the two records. So soon 
 as the philologist perceived that there was no escape from the 
 astronomical demonstration, he was led to reexamine his in- 
 terpretation of Scripture, and found that the whole difficulty 
 lay in his assuming that the sacred writers intended to teach 
 scientific instead of popular truth. Only admitting that they 
 spoke of astronomical phenomena, according to appearances 
 and in conformity to common opinion, and their language be- 
 came perfectly proper. It conveyed no error, and is in fact 
 as well adapted now as ever to the common intercourse of 
 life. Yet, in consequence of the scientific discovery, that 
 language conveys quite a different meaning to our minds from 
 what it did to tliose who supposed it to teach a scientific truth. 
 2 
 
14 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BT SCIENCE. 
 
 Hence it strikingly illustrates the value of scientific discovery 
 in enabling us rightly to understand the Bible. 
 
 Is it necessary to quote any more examples to establish the 
 principle that scientific discovery is one of the means which the 
 philologist should employ in the interpretation of Scripture ? 
 And if the principle has been found of service in chemistry, 
 meteorology, and astronomy, why should it be neglected in the 
 case of geology ? Why should not this science also, which 
 has probably more important religious bearings than any other, 
 be appealed to in illustration of the meaning of Scripture, 
 when phenomena are described of which geology takes cog- 
 nizance ? I know that some will reply, that the principles of 
 geology are yet too unsettled to be allowed to modify the in- 
 terpretation of the Bible. This brings me to the second part 
 of my subject, in which I am to inquire whether the prin- 
 ciples of physical science, and of geology in particular, are 
 so far settled that we can feel ourselves upon firm ground as 
 we compare them with the principles of revelation. 
 
 Before proceeding to this part of the subject, however, I 
 must pause a moment, in order to point out another mode, in 
 which science may contribute to elucidate Scripture. In the 
 way just described, it may enable the interpreter more cor- 
 rectly to understand the language, but it may also give a fuller 
 illustration to the sentiments of the Bible. Revelation, for 
 instance, represents God as benevolent. Now, if we can de- 
 rive from the records of geology striking and hitherto un- 
 thought-of manifestations of this attribute, we shall make the 
 doctrine of Scripture more impressive ; or, if we appeal to 
 the numerous changes which the earth has undergone, and 
 the vast periods which they have occupied, we find that the 
 unsearchableness of divine wisdom, and the vastness of the 
 divine plans, are brought more vividly before the mind, and 
 
THE SETTLED PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. 15 
 
 task its power of comprehension more than illustrations from 
 any other quarter. In short, the principles of religion that 
 derive important elucidation from science, and especially from 
 geology, are very numerous, as I hope to show in subsequent 
 lectures. But I now return to the inquiry, whether the prin- 
 ciples of science, and especially of geology, are so well set- 
 tled that we can employ them in this manner. 
 
 As to the more mathematical sciences, there will be no one 
 to doubt but some of their principles must be admitted as 
 infallible truth ; for our minds are so constituted that they are 
 incapable of resisting a fair presentation of mathematical 
 demonstration. Now, there is scarcely any physical science 
 that is not based more or less upon mathematical truth ; and 
 as to the facts in those sciences, some of them are so multi- 
 plied, and speak so uniformly the same language, that we 
 doubt them no more than we do a mathematical demonstra- 
 tion. Other -classes of facts are less decided ; and in some 
 cases they are so insulated as to be regarded as anomalies, to 
 be set aside until better understood. The same grades of 
 certainty exist in respect to inferences from the facts of sci- 
 ence. Some theories are scarcely less doubtful than mathe- 
 matics ; others are as strong as probable reasoning can make 
 them ; and others are merely plausible. Hypotheses are still 
 l«iss to be trusted, though sometimes extremely probable. 
 
 Now, most of the physical sciences embrace facts, theories, 
 and hypotheses, that range widely along the scale of proba- 
 bility, from decided demonstration to ingenious conjecture. It 
 is easy, however, in general, to distinguish the demonstrated 
 and the permanent from the conjectural and the fanciful ; and 
 when we bring the principles of any science into comparison 
 with religion, it is chiefly the former that should be consid- 
 ered, although scientific hy()othesis may sometimes be made 
 
16 XEVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 to illustrate religious hypothesis. But, passing by a'il other 
 sciences, it is nny desire to present before you, on this occasion, 
 the claims of geology, as having fundamental principles so 
 well settled that they claim attention from the interpreter of 
 the Bible. I ought, however, to remark, that there exists a 
 strange jealousy of this science even among intelligent men ; 
 a suspicion that its votaries have jumped at strange and dan- 
 gerous conclusions through the influence of hypothesis, and 
 that in fact the whole science is little else but hypothesis, and 
 that there is almost no agreement even among its ablest cul- 
 tivators. It is indeed a comparatively recent science, and its 
 remarkable developments have succeeded one another so rap- 
 idly, as to leave men in doubt whether it would not prove a 
 dazzling meteor, instead of a steady and permanent luminary. 
 When the men who are now in the full maturity of judgment 
 and reason, (and whose favorable opinion I am, therefore, 
 anxious above that of all others to secure,) when these were 
 young, geology did not constitute a branch of finished educa- 
 tion ; and amid the pressure of the cares and duties of middle 
 life, how few find the leisure, to say nothing of the disposi- 
 tion, carefully to investigate a new and extensive science ! 
 Even though younger men should be found standing forth as 
 the advocates of geology, yet how natural for those more ad- 
 vanced to impute this to the ardor and love of novelty, char- 
 acteristic of youth ! 
 
 There is another difficulty, in relation to this subject, that 
 embarrasses me. It is not even yet generally understood that 
 geology is a branch of knowledge which requires long and 
 careful study fully to understand; that a previous knowledge 
 of many other sciences is indispensable in order to compre 
 hend its reasonings ; that its reasonings are in fact, for the 
 most part, to be mastered only by long and patient considera- 
 
ATTACKS UPON GEOLOGY. 17 
 
 tion; and finally, and more especially, that they will appear 
 inconclusive and feeble, unless a man has become somewiiat 
 familiar with specimens of rocks and fossils, and has exam- 
 ined strata as they lie in the earth. How very imperfect must 
 be the most intelligent man's knowledge of botany, who had 
 never examined any plants ; or of chemistry, who had not 
 seen any of the simple substances, nor experiments upon them 
 in the laboratory ; or of crystallography, whose eyes had per- 
 haps never rested upon a crystal. No less important is it 
 that he, who would reason correctly about rocks and their 
 organic contents, should have studied rocks. But upon such an 
 amount of knowledge it is no disparagement to say we have 
 no right to presume in all, even of publicly educated men. 
 Before such a state of preparation can exist, it is necessary 
 that practical geology, at least, should be introduced into our 
 schools of every grade, as it might be with great success. 
 
 It ought to be mentioned, in this connection, that, within a 
 few years past, geology has experienced several severe attacks 
 of a peculiar character. Men of respectable ability, and de- 
 cided friends of revelation, having got fully impressed with 
 the belief that the views of geologists are hostile to the Bible, 
 have set themselves to an examination of their writings, not 
 BO much with a view of understanding the subject, as of find- 
 ing contradictions and untenable positions. The next step 
 has been to write a book against geology, abounding, as we 
 might expect from men of warm temperament, of such preju- 
 dices, and without a practical knowledge of geology, with 
 striking misapprehensions of facts and opinions, with positive 
 and dogmatic assertions, with severe personal insinuations, 
 great ignorance of correct reasoning in geology, and the sub- 
 stitution of wild and extravagant hypotheses for geological 
 theories. 
 
 2* 
 
18 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BT SCIENCE. 
 
 Hence English literature has been piolific of such Morks as 
 " A Comparative Estimate of the Mineral and Mosaic Geolo- 
 gies," by Granville Penn ; the '* Geology of Scripture," by 
 Fairholme ; '* Scriptural Geology," b/ Dr. Young ; " Popular 
 Geology subversive of Divine Revelation," by Rev. Henry 
 Cole ; " Strictures on Geology and Astronomy," by Rev. R. 
 Wilson ; " Scripture Evidences of Creation, and Geology, and 
 Scripture Cosmogony," by anonymous authors; and many 
 other similar productions that might be named. The warm 
 zeal displayed, and doubtless felt, by these writers for the 
 Bible ; their familiar reference to eminent geological authors, 
 as if they understood them ; the skill in philology, which they 
 frequently exhibit ; and the want of a wide-spread and accu- 
 rate knowledge of geology in the community, — have given to 
 these works a far more extensive circulation than those works 
 have had, which view geology as illustrating and not opposing 
 revelation. Foremost among these is the lectures of the ven- 
 erable and learned Dr. John Pye Smith, late principal of the 
 Homerton Divinity College, London, " On the Relations be- 
 tween the Holy Scriptures and some Parts of Geological 
 Science." * This work, the result of long and patient re- 
 search, and emanating from a man of eminent piety as well 
 as learning, affords a full refutation of all the works that have 
 been named, and in the kindness and candor of its spirit ex- 
 hibits a fine contrast to their intolerance and dogmatism. In 
 the profound works of Dr. Harris, entitled " The Pre-Adamite 
 Earth," and " Man Primeval," the connections of geology 
 and revelation are briefly but ably treated, and also its con- 
 nection with natural religion. Quite recently, a small and 
 
 * The first edition of this work was republished in this covintry 
 In England it has reached the fifth edition, much enlarged. 
 
GEOLOGY DEFENDED. 19 
 
 more popular work on this subject has been published by 
 Rev. David King, LL. D., of Glasgow, well worthy of atten- 
 tion. " The Course of Creation," by Rev. John Anderson, D. D. 
 of recent publication, displays much learning and candor. 
 But the causes that have been mentioned have secured a much 
 wider circulation for the class of works first named, than for 
 the latter, among the religious community generally. The 
 consequence is, that the public mind is possessed of many j 
 prejudices unfavorable to the religious bearings of geology, / 
 and unfavorable to an impartial examination of its claims. 
 
 Under these circumstances, all that I can do is to state defi- 
 nitely what I apprehend to be the established principles of 
 the science that have a bearing upon religious truth, and refer 
 my hearers to standard works on the subject for the proof 
 that they are true. If any will not take the trouble to exam- 
 ine the proofs, I trust they will have candor and impartiality 
 enough not to deny my positions. 
 
 The first important conclusion, to which every careful ob- 
 server will come, is, that the rocks of all sorts, which compose 
 the present crust of the globe, so far as it has been explored, 
 at least to the depth of several miles, appear to have been 
 the result of second causes ; that is, they are now in a ditTer- 
 ent state from that in which they were originally created. 
 
 It is indeed a favorite idea with some, that all the rocks and 
 their contents were created just as we now meet them, in a 
 moment of time ; that the supposed remains of animals and 
 plants, which many of them contain, and which occur in all 
 states, from an animal or plant little changed, to a complete 
 conversion into stone, were never real animals and plants, but 
 only resemblances ; and that the marks of fusion and of the 
 wearing of water, exhibited by the rocks, are not to be taken 
 ?^s evidences that they have undergone such processes, but 
 
20 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 only that it has pleased God to give them that appearance 
 and that in fact it was as easy for God to create them just as 
 they now are as in any other form. 
 
 It is a presumption against such a supposition, that no men 
 who have carefully examined rocks and organic remains, are 
 its advocates. Not that they doubt the power of God to pro- 
 duce such effects, but they deny the probability that He has 
 exerted it in this manner ; for throughout nature, wherever 
 they have an opportunity to witness her operations, they find 
 that when substances appear to have undergone changes, by 
 means of secondaiy agencies, they have in fact undergone 
 them ; and, therefore, the whole analogy of nature goes to 
 prove that the rocks have experienced great changes since 
 their deposition. If rocks are an exception to the rest of 
 nature, — that is, if they are the effect of miraculous agency, 
 — there is no proof of it ; and to admit it without proof is to 
 destroy all grounds of analogical reasoning in natural opera- 
 tions ; in other words, it is to remove the entire basis of rea- 
 soning in physical science. Every reasonable man, therefore, 
 who has examined rocks, will admit that they have undergone 
 important changes since their original formation. 
 
 In the second place, the same general laws appear to have 
 always prevailed on the globe, and to have controlled the 
 changes which have taken place upon and within it. We 
 come to no spot, in the history of the rocks, in which a system 
 different from that which now prevails appears to have ex- 
 isted. Great peculiarities in the structure of animals and 
 plants do indeed occur, as well as changes on a scale of 
 magnitude unknown at present ; but this was only a wise 
 adaptation to peculiar circumstances, and not an infringement 
 of the general laws. 
 
 In the thit i place, the geological changes which the earth 
 
SETTLED PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY. 81 
 
 has undergone, and is now undergoing, appear to have been 
 the result of the same agencies, viz., heat and water. 
 
 Fourthly. It is demonstrated that the present continents of 
 the globe, with perhaps the exception of some of their highest 
 mountains, have for a long period constituted the bottom of 
 the ocean, and have been subsequently either elevated into 
 their present position, or the waters have been drained off 
 from their surface. This is probably the most important prin- 
 ciple in geology ; and though regarded with much scepticism 
 by many, it is as satisfactorily proved as any principle of 
 physical science not resting on mathematical demonstration. 
 
 Fifthly. The internal parts of the earth are found to pos- 
 sess a very high temperature ; nor can it be doubted that at 
 least oceans of melted matter exist beneath the crust, and 
 perhaps even all the deep-seated interior is in a state of fus'" \. 
 
 Sixthly. The fossiliferous rocks, or such as contain ani- 
 mals and plants, are not less than six or seven miles in per- 
 pendicular thickness, and are composed of hundreds of alter- 
 nating layers of different kinds, all of which appear to have 
 been deposited, just as rocks are now forming, at the bottom 
 of lakes and seas ; and hence their deposition must have occu- 
 pied an immense period of time. Even if we admit that this 
 deposition went on in particular places much faster than at 
 present, a variety of facts forbids the supposition that this was 
 the general mode of their formation. 
 
 Seventhly. The remains of animals and plants found in 
 the earth are not mingled confusedly together, but are found 
 arranged, for the most part, in as much order as the drawers 
 of a well-regulated cabinet. In general, they appear to have 
 lived and died on or near the spots where they are now found ; 
 and as countless millions of these remains are often found 
 piled together, so as to form almost entire mountains, tho 
 
22 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 periods requisite for their formation must have been immensely 
 long, as was taught in the preceding proposition. 
 
 Eighthly. Still further confirmation of the same important 
 principle is found in the well-established fact, that there 
 have been upon the globe, previous to the existing races 
 not less than five distinct periods of organized existence 
 that is, five great groups of animals and plants, so com- 
 pletely independent that no species whatever is found in more 
 than one of them, have lived and successively passed away 
 before the creation of the races that now occupy the surface. 
 Other standard writers make the number of these periods of 
 existence as many as twelve. Comparative anatomy testifies 
 that so unlike in structure were these different groups, that 
 they could not have coexisted in the same climate and other 
 external circumstances. 
 
 Ninthly. In the earliest times in which animals and plants 
 lived, the climate over the whole globe appears to have been 
 as warm as, or even warmer than, it is now between the 
 tropics. And the slow change from warmer to colder appears 
 to have been the chief cause of the successive destruction of 
 the different races ; and new ones were created, better adapted 
 to the altered condition of the globe ; and yet each group seems 
 to have occupied the globe through a period of great length, 
 so that we have here another evidence of the vast cycles of 
 duration that must have rolled away even since the earth be- 
 came a habitable globe. 
 
 Tenthly. There is no small reason to suppose that the globe 
 underwent numerous changes previous to the time when ani- 
 mals were placed upon it ; that, in fact, the time was when the 
 whole matter of the earth was in a melted state, and not im- 
 probably also even in a gaseous state. These points, indeed 
 are not as well established as the others that have been 
 
SETTLED PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY. 23 
 
 mentioned ; but, if admitted, they give to the globe an incal- 
 culable antiquity. 
 
 Eleventhly. It appears that the present condition of the 
 earth's crust and surface was of comparatively recent com- 
 mencement ; otherwise the steep flanks of mountains would 
 have ceased to crumble down, and wide oceans would have 
 been filled with alluvial deposits. 
 
 Twelfthly. Among the thirty thousand species of animals 
 and plants found in the rocks,* very few living species havb 
 been detected ; and even these few occur in the most re- 
 cent rocks, while in the secondary group, not less than six 
 miles thick, not a single species now on the globe has 
 been discovered. Hence the present races did not exist till 
 after those in the secondary rocks had died. No human 
 remains have been found below those alluvial deposits which 
 are now forming by rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Hence 
 geology infers that man was one of the latest animals that 
 was placed on the globe. 
 
 Thirteenthly. The surface of the earth has undergone an 
 enormous amount of erosion by the action of the ocean, the 
 rivers, and the atmosphere. The ocean has worn away the 
 solid rock, in some parts of the world, not less than ten thou- 
 sand feet in depth, and rivers have cut ciiannels through the 
 hardest strata, hundreds of feet deep and several miles long ; 
 both of vyhich effects demand periods inconceivably long. 
 
 Fourteenthly. At a comparatively recent date, northern 
 and southern regions have been swept over and worn down 
 by the joint action of ice and water, the force in general 
 
 * Two or three years since Professor Bronn described twenty-six 
 thousand six hundred and seventy-eight species ; and, upon an aver- 
 age, one thousand species are discovered every year. M. Alcide 
 D'Orbigny, in 1850, stated the number of mollusks and radiated ani- 
 mals alone at seventeen thousand nine hundred and forty-seven species. 
 
24 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 having been directed towards the equator. This is called th« 
 drift period. 
 
 Fifteenthly. Since the drift period, the ocean has stood 
 some thousands of feet above its present level in many 
 countries. 
 
 Sixteenthly. There is evidence, in regard to some parts of 
 the world, that the continents are now experiencing slow ver- 
 tical movements — some places sinking, and others rising. 
 And hence a presumption is derived that, in early times, such 
 changes may have been often repeated, and on a great scale. 
 
 Seventeenthly. Every successive change of importance on 
 the earth's surface appears to have been an improvement of 
 its condition, adapting it to beings of a higher organization, 
 and to man at last, the most perfect of all. 
 
 Finally. The present races of animals and plants on the 
 globe are for the most part disposed in groups, occupying par- 
 ticular districts, beyond whose limits the species peculiar to 
 those provinces usually droop and die. The same is true, to 
 some extent, as to the animals and plants found in the rocks ; 
 though the much greater uniformity of climate, that prevailed 
 in early times, permitted organized beings to take a much 
 wider range than at present ; so that the zoological and bo- 
 tanical districts were then probably much wider. But the 
 general conclusion, in respect to living and extinct animals, is, 
 that there must have been several centres of creation, from 
 which they emigrated as far as their natures would allow them 
 to range. 
 
 It would be easy to state more principles of geology of con- 
 siderable importance ; but I have now named the principal 
 ones that bear upon the subject of religion. A brief state- 
 ment of the leading truths of theology, whether natural or 
 revealed, which these principles affect, and on which they 
 
RELIGIOUS RELATIONS OF GEOLOGY. 25 
 
 cast light, will give an idea of the subjects which I propose to 
 discuss in these lectures. 
 
 The first point relates to the age of the world. For while 
 it has been the usual interpretation of the Mosaic account, that 
 the world was brought into existence nearly at the same time 
 with man and the other existing animals, geology throws back 
 its creation to a period indefinitely but immeasurably remote. 
 The question is not whether man has existed on the globe 
 longer than the common interpretation of Genesis requires, — 
 for here geology and the Bible speak the same language, — 
 but whether the globe itself did not exist long before his cre- 
 ation ; that is, long before the six days' work, so definitely 
 described in the Mosaic account ? In other words, is not this 
 a case in which the discoveries of science enable us more 
 accurately to understand the Scriptures ? 
 
 The introduction of death into the world, and the specific 
 character of that death described in Scripture as the conse- 
 quence of sin, are the next points where geology touches the 
 subject of religion. Here, too, the general interpretation of 
 Scripture is at variance with the facts of geology, w^^Jch dis- 
 tinctly testify to the occurrence of death among animals long 
 before the existence of man. Shall geology here, also, be 
 permitted to modify our exposition of the Bible ? 
 
 The subject of deluges, and especially that of Noah, will 
 next claim our attention. For though it is now generally 
 agreed that geology cannot detect traces of such a deluge as 
 the Scriptures describe, yet upon some other bearings of that 
 subject it does cast light ; and so remarkable is the history of 
 opinions concerning the Noachian deluge, that it could not 
 on that account alone be properly passed in silence. 
 
 It is well known that the philosophy of antiquity, almost 
 without exception,'regarded matter eis eternal ; and in modern 
 3 
 
26 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 times, metaphysical theology has done its utmost to refute the 
 supposed dangerous dogma. Geology affords us some new 
 views of the subject ; and although it does not directly refute 
 the doctrine, it brings before us facts of such a nature as to 
 show, that, so far as religion is concerned, such a refutation is 
 of little importance. This will furnish another theme of 
 discussion. 
 
 It may be thought extravagant, but I hazard the assertion, 
 that no science is so prolific of direct testimony to the benev- 
 olence of the Deity as geology ; and some of its facts bear 
 strongly upon the objections to this doctrine. So important a 
 subject will, therefore, occupy at least one or two lectures. 
 
 In all ages, philosophers have, in one form or another, en- 
 deavored to explain the origin and the phenomena of creation 
 by a power inherent in nature, independent of a personal 
 Deity, usually denominated natural law. And in modern 
 times this hypothesis has assumed a popular form and a plau- 
 sible dress. Not less than one lecture is demanded for its 
 examination, especially as its advocates appeal with special 
 confidence to geology for its support. 
 
 In existing nature, no one fact stands out more prominently 
 than unity of des'^n ; and it is an interesting inquiry, whether 
 the same general system prevailed through the vast periods 
 of geological history as that which now adorns our globe. 
 This question I shall endeavor to answer in the affirmative, 
 by appealing to a multitude of facts. 
 
 Another question of deep interest in theology is, whether 
 the Deity exercises over the world any special providence ; 
 whether he ever interferes with the usual order of things by 
 introducing change ; or whether he has committed nature to 
 the control of unalterable laws, without any direct efficiency. 
 Light is throvn on these points by the researches of geology. 
 
RELIGIOUS RELATIONS OF GEOLOGY. , -^7 
 
 if I mistake not ; and I shall not fail to attempt its devel- 
 opment. 
 
 This science also discloses to us many new views of the 
 vast plans of the Deity, and thus enlarges our conceptions of 
 his wisdom and knowledge. In this field we must allow our 
 selves to wander in search of the golden fruit. 
 
 In the course of the discussion, we shall direct our attention 
 to the new heavens and the new earth described in the Bible, 
 and inquire whether geology does not cast a glimpse of light 
 upon that difficult subject. 
 
 In approaching the close of our subject, we shall introduce 
 a few lectures having a wider range, and deriving less eluci- 
 dation from geology than from other sciences. One is a con-^ 
 sideration of the physical effects of human actions upon the I 
 universe. And in conclusion of the whole subject, we shall ! 
 endeavor to show that the bearings of all science, when j 
 rightly understood, are eminently favorable to religion, both I 
 in this world and the next. 
 
 With a few miscellaneous inferences from the principles 
 advanced, I shall close this lecture. 
 
 In the first place, we see that the points of connection be- 
 tween geology and religion are numerous and important. A 
 few years since, geology, instead of being appealed to for the 
 illustration of religious truth, was regarded with great jeal- 
 ousy, as a repository of views favorable to infidelity, and even 
 to atheism. But if the summary which I have exhibited of its 
 religious relations be correct, from what other science can we 
 obtain so many illustrations of natural and revealed religion ? 
 Distinguished Christian writers are beginning to gather fruit 
 in this new field, and the clusters already presented us by 
 such men as Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Pye Smith, Dr. Buckland, 
 Dr. Harris, and Dr. King, are an earnest of an abundant 
 
28 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 harvest. I hazard the prediction that the time is not far dis- 
 tant when it will be said of this, as of another noble science, 
 ** The undevout geologist is mad." 
 
 Secondly. I would bespeak the candid attention of those 
 sceptical minds, that are ever ready to imagine discrepancies 
 between science and religion, to the views which I am about 
 to present. The number of such is indeed comparatively 
 small ; yet there are still some prepared to seize upon every new 
 scientific fact, before it is fully developed, that can be made to 
 assume the appearance of opposition to religion. It is strange 
 that they should not ere this time despair of making any serious 
 impression upon the citadel of Christianity. For of all the 
 numerous assaults of this kind that have been made, not one 
 has destroyed even an outpost of religion. Just so soon as 
 the subject was fully understood, every one of them has been 
 abandoned ; and even the most violent unbeliever never thinks, 
 at the present day, of arraying them against the Bible. One 
 needs no prophetic inspiration to be confident that every ge- 
 ological objection to Christianity, which perhaps now and then 
 an unbeliever of limited knowledge still employs, will pass 
 into the same limbo of forgetful ness. 
 
 Finally. I would throw out a caution to those friends of 
 religion who are very fearful that the discoveries of science 
 will prove injurious to Christianity. Why should the enlight- 
 ened Christian, who has a correct idea of the firm foundation 
 on which the Bible rests, fear that any disclosures of the 
 arcana of nature should shake its authority or weaken its 
 influence ? Is not the God of revelation the God of nature 
 also ? and must not his varied works tend to sustain and elu- 
 cidate, instead of weakening and darkening, one another } 
 Has Christianity suflTered because the Copernican system of 
 astronomy has proved true, or because chemistry has demon- 
 
IDLE FEARS FOR THE BIBLE. 29 
 
 strated that the earth is already for the most part oxidized, and 
 therefore cannot literally be burned hereafter ? Just as much 
 as gold suffers by passing through the furnace. Yet how many 
 fears agitated the hearts of pious men when these scientific 
 truths were first announced ! The very men who felt so 
 strong a conviction of the truth of the Bible, that they were 
 ready to go to the stake in its defence, have trembled and 
 uttered loud notes of warning when the votaries of science 
 have brought out some new fact, that seemed perhaps at first, 
 or when partially understood, to contravene some statement 
 of revelation. The effect has been to make sceptical minds 
 look with suspicion, and sometimes with contempt, upon Chris- 
 tianity itself. It has built up a wall of separation between 
 science and religion, which is yet hardly broken down. For 
 notwithstanding the instructive history of the past on this sub- 
 ject, although every supposed discrepancy between philosophy 
 and religion has vanished as soon as both were thoroughly 
 understood, yet so soon as geology began to develop her mar- 
 vellous truths, the cry of danger to religion became again 
 the watchword, and the precursor of a more extended and 
 severe attack upon that science than any other has ever expe- 
 rienced, and the prelude, I am sorry to say, of severe personal 
 charges of infidelity against many an honest friend of religion. 
 
 In contrast to the contracted views and groundless fears 
 that have been described, it is refreshing to meet with such 
 sentiments as the following, from men eminent for learning, 
 and some of them veterans in theological science. With 
 these I close this lecture. 
 
 "Those rocks which stand forth in the order of their forma- 
 tion," says Dr. Chalmers, " and are each imprinted with their 
 own peculiar fossil remains, have been termed the archives of 
 nature, where she hath recorded the changes that have taken 
 3* 
 
30 KEVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. 
 
 place in the history of the glohe. They are made to serve the 
 purpose of scrolls or inscriptions, on which we might read of 
 those great steps and successions by which the earth has been 
 brought into its present state ; and should these archives of na- 
 ture be but truly deciphered, we are not afraid of their being 
 openly confronted with the archives of revelation. It is un- 
 manly to blink the approach of light, from whatever quarter 
 of observation it may fall upon us ; and those are not the best 
 friends of Christianity, who feel either dislike or alarm when 
 the torch of science, or the torch of history, is lield up to the 
 Bible. For ourselves, we are not afraid when the eye of an 
 intrepid, if it be only a sound philosophy, scrutinizes, however 
 jealously, all its pages. We have no dread of any appre- 
 hended conflict between the doctrines of Scripture and the 
 discoveries of science, persuaded, as we are, that whatever 
 story the geologists of our day shall find engraven on the 
 volume of nature, it will only accredit that story which is 
 graven on the volume of revelation." — Chalmerses Works^ 
 vol. ii. p. 227. 
 
 " For our own part," says Rev. Henry Melville, " we have 
 no fears that any discoveries of science will really militate 
 against the disclosures of Scripture. We remember how, in 
 darker days, ecclesiastics set themselves against philosophers 
 who were investigating the motions of the heavenly bodies, 
 apprehensive that the new theories were at variance with the 
 Bible, and therefore resolved to denounce them as heresies, 
 and stop their spread by persecution. But truth triumphed ; 
 bigotry and ignorance conld not long prevail to the hiding 
 from the world the harmonious walkings of stars and planets ; 
 and ever since, the philosophy which laid open the wonders 
 of the universe hath proved herself the handmaid of revela- 
 tion, which divulged secrets far beyond her gaze. And thus. 
 
THE BIBLE ENCOURAGES RESEARCH. 31 
 
 we are persuaded, shall it always be ; science may scale new 
 heights and explore new depths, but she shall bring back 
 nothing from her daring and successful excursions which will 
 not, when rightly understood, yield a fresh tribute of testimony 
 to the Bible. Infidelity may watch her progress with eager- 
 ness, exulting in the thought that she is furnishing facts with 
 which the Christian system may be strongly assailed ; but the 
 champions of revelation may confidently attend her in every 
 march, assured that she will find nothing which contradicts, 
 if it do not actually confirm, the word which they know to be 
 divine." — Sermons, 2d Am. edit. vol. ii. p. 298. 
 
 " Shall it then any longer be said," says Dr. Buckland, 
 " that a science, which unfolds such abundant evidence of the 
 being and attributes of God, can reasonably be viewed in any 
 other light than as the efficient auxiliary and handmaid of 
 religion ? Some few there still may be, whom timidity, or 
 prejudice, or want of opportunity, allow not to examine its 
 evidence ; who are alarmed by the novelty, or surprised by 
 the extent and magnitude, of the views which geology forces 
 on their attention, and who would rather have kept closed the 
 volume of witness, which has been sealed up for ages, beneath 
 the surface of the earth, than impose upon the student in nat- 
 ural theology the duty of studying its contents ; — a duty in 
 which, for lack of experience, they may anticipate a hazardous 
 or^ laborious task, but which, by those engaged in it, is found 
 to afford a rational, and righteous, and delightful exercise of 
 their highest faculties, in multiplying the evidences of the 
 existence, and attributes, and providence of God." 
 
 " It follows then," says Dr. J. Pye Smith, " as a universal 
 truth, that the Bible, faithfully interpreted, erects no bar 
 against the most free and extensive investigation, the niost 
 comprehensive and searching induction. Let but the investi- 
 
32 REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BT SCIENCE. 
 
 gation 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 tchom^ and through whom^ and to whom are all things ; 
 and unto whom he glory forever^ — Lectures on Scripture 
 and Geology, 4th London edit. p. 223. 
 
(33^ 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 THE EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION UNRE^TEALED. 
 
 The Mosaic account of the creation of the universe has 
 always been celebrated for its sublime simplicity. Though 
 the subject be one of unparalleled grandeur, the writer makes 
 not the slightest effort at rhetorical embellishment, but em- 
 ploys language which a mere child cannot misapprehend. 
 How different, in this respect, is this inspired record from all 
 uninspired efforts that have been made to describe the origin 
 of the world ! 
 
 But notwithstanding the great simplicity and clearness of 
 this description, its precise meaning has occasioned as much 
 discussion as almost any passage of Scripture. This results 
 chiefly from its great brevity. Men with different views of 
 inspiration, cosmogony, and philosophy, engage in its exami- 
 nation, not so much to ascertain its meaning, as to find out 
 whether it teaches- their favorite speculative views ; and be- 
 cause it says nothing about them, they attempt to fasten those 
 views upon it, and thus make it teach a great deal more than 
 the mind of the Spirit. My simple object, at this time, is to 
 ascertain whether the Bible fixes the time when the universe 
 was created out of nothing. 
 
 The prevalent opinion, until recently, has been, that we are 
 there taught that the world began to exist on the first of the 
 six days of creation, or about six thousand years ago. Geol- 
 ogists, however, with one voice, declare that their science 
 
34 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CREATION DNREVEALED. 
 
 indicates the earth to have been of far higher antiquity. The 
 question becomes, therefore, of deep interest, whether the 
 common interpretation of the Mosaic record is correct 
 
 Let us, in the first place, examine carefully the terms of 
 that record, without reference to any of the conclusions of 
 science. 
 
 A preliminary inquiry, however, will here demand atten- 
 tion, to which I have already given some thoughts in the first 
 lecture. The inquiry relates to the mode in which tlie sacred 
 writers describe natural phenomena. 
 
 Do they adapt their descriptions to the views and feelings 
 of philosophers, or even the common people, in the nineteenth 
 century, or to the state of knowledge and the prevalent opin- 
 ions of a people but slightly removed from barbarism ? 
 
 Do they write as if they meant to correct the notions of men 
 on natural subjects, when they knew them to be wrong ; or 
 as if they did not mean to decide whether the popular opinion 
 were true or false ? These points have been examined with 
 great skill and candor by a venerable clergyman of England, 
 whose praise is in all the American churches, and whose skill 
 in sacred philology, and profound acquaintance with the Bible, 
 none will question, any more than they will his deep-toned 
 piety and enlarged and liberal views of men and things. I 
 refer to Dr. J. Pye Smith, lately at the head of the Homerton 
 Divinity College, near London.* 
 
 • The news has just reached us that this venerable man is no more. 
 I was present last summer at Ilomcrton, when he resigned the charge 
 of that beloved institution. From his addresses and his prayers, so 
 redolent of the spirit of heaven, I might have known that he was 
 pluming his wmgs for his upward flight. I am thankful that I was 
 permitted to see the man, whom, of all others in Europe, I most de- 
 sired to Me. But Dr. Buckland I did not meet ; for he wm in an 
 
BIBLE LANGUAGE, KOW USED. 35 
 
 He first examines the style in which the Old Testament 
 describes the character and operations of Jehovah, and shows 
 that it is done " in language borrowed from the bodily and 
 mental constitution of man, and from those opinions concern- 
 ing the works of God in the natural world, which were gen- 
 erally received by the people to whom the blessings of revela- 
 tion were granted." Constant reference is made to material 
 images, and to human feehngs and conduct, as if the people 
 addressed were almost incapable of spiritual and abstract 
 ideas. This, of course, gives a notion of God infinitely be- 
 neath the glories of his character ; but to uncultivated minds 
 it was the only representation of his character that would give 
 them any idea of it. Nay, even in this enlightened age, such 
 descriptions are far more impressive than any other upon the 
 mass of mankind ; while those, whose minds are more en- 
 lightened, find no difficulty in inculcating the pure truth re- 
 specting God from these comparatively gross descriptions. 
 
 Now, if, upon a point of such vast importance as the divine 
 character, revelation thus condescends to human weakness 
 and ignorance, much more might we expect it, in regard to 
 the less important subject of natural phenomena. We find, 
 accordingly, that they are described as they appear to the 
 common eye, and not in their real nature ; or, in the lan- 
 guage of Rosenmuller, the Scriptures speak "according to 
 optical, and not physical truth." They make no efibrt to 
 
 insane hospital, with, no prospect of recovery. Alas ! how sad to think 
 of such Christian philosophers, so socn removed fi:om the world, or 
 from all concern in it ! Could I dare to hope that I shall meet them 
 and kindred spirits before the throne of our common Redeemer, how 
 should I exclaim with Cicero, *• O predai'um diem, quum in illud ani- 
 morum concilium coelumque prqficiscar, ut quum ex hac turba et collu- 
 vione diseedam ! 
 
86 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CREATION UNREVEALED. 
 
 correct even the grossest errors, on these subjects, that then 
 prevailed. 
 
 The earth, as we have seen on a former occasion, is de- 
 scribed as immovable, in the centre of the universe, and the 
 heavenly bodies as revolving round it diurnally. The firma- 
 ment over us is represented as a solid, extended substance, 
 sustaining an ocean above it, with openings, or windows, 
 through which the waters may descend. In respect to the 
 human system, the Scriptures refer intellectual operations to 
 the reins, or the region of the kidneys, and pain to the bones. 
 In short, the descriptions of natural things are adapted to the 
 very erroneous notions which prevailed in the earliest ages 
 of society and among the common people. But it is as easy 
 to interpret such descriptions in conformity to the present 
 state of physical science, as it is to divest the scriptural 
 representations of the Deity of their material dress, and make 
 them conform to the spiritual views that now prevail. No 
 one regards it as any objection to the Old Testament, that 
 it gives a description of the divine character so much less 
 spiritual than the views adopted by the theologians of tho 
 nineteenth century ; why then should they regard it as de- 
 rogatory to inspiration to adopt the same method as to natural 
 objects r 
 
 These considerations will afford us some assistance in rightly 
 interpreting the description of the creation, in the first chapter 
 of Genesis, to which we will now turn our attention. 
 
 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
 And the earth was mithont form and void. And darkness 
 was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved 
 upon the face of the waters. And God said^ Let there he Ught^ 
 and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good. 
 And God divided the light from the darkness, and the light 
 
NATURE OF THE CREATIVE ACT. 37 
 
 he called day, and the darkness he called night. And the 
 (wening and the morning were the first day. 
 
 The first question that arises, on reading this passage, is, 
 Ts\hether the creation here described was a creation out of 
 nothing, or out of preexisting materials. The latter opinion 
 has been maintained by some able, and generally judicious 
 commentators and theologians, such as Doederlin and Dathe 
 in Germany, Milton in England, and Bush and Schmucker in 
 this country. They do not deny that the Bible, in other 
 i)laces, teaches distinctly the creation of the universe out 
 of nothing. But they contend that the word translated to 
 (create, in the first verse of Genesis, teaches only a renova- 
 tion, or remodelling, of the universe from matter already in 
 oxistence. 
 
 That there is a degree of ambiguity in all languages, in 
 *^he words that signify to create., to make., ioform., and the like, 
 '.annot be doubted ; that is, these words may be properly used 
 *£) describe the production of a substance out of matter already 
 n existence, as well as out of nothing ; and, therefore, we 
 must resort to the context, or the nature of the subject, to as- 
 certain in which of those senses such words are used. The 
 same word, for instance, (bawraw,) that is used in the first 
 verse of Genesis, to describe the creation of the universe, is 
 employed in the 27th verse of the same chapter, to describe 
 the formation of man out of the dust of the earth. There was, 
 however, no peculiar ambiguity in the use of the Hebrew words 
 haioraw and awsaw, which correspond to our words create and 
 make ; and, therefore, it is not necessary to be an adept in 
 Hebrew literature to judge of the question under considera- 
 tion. We have only to determine whether the translation of 
 the Mosaic account of the creation most reasonably teaches a 
 production of the matter of the universe from nothing, or only 
 4 
 
38 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CREATION TTNREVEALED. 
 
 its renovalion, and we have decided what is taught in the 
 original. 
 
 Now, there can hardly be a doubt but Moses intended to 
 teach, in this passage, that the universe owed its origin to 
 Jehovah, and not to the idols of the heathen ; and since all 
 acknowledge that other parts of Scripture teach, that, when 
 the world was made, it was produced out of nothing, why 
 should we not conclude that the same truth is taught in this 
 passage ? The language certainly will bear that meaning , 
 indeed, it is almost as strong as language can be to express 
 such a meaning ; and does not the passage look like a distinct 
 avowal of this great truth, at the very commencement of the 
 inspired record, in order to refute the opinion, so prevalent in 
 early times, that the world is eternal ? 
 
 The next inquiry concerning the passage relates to the 
 phrase the heavens and the earth. Does it comprehend the 
 universe ? So it must have been understood by the Jews ; 
 for their language could not furnish a more comprehensive 
 phrase to designate the universe. True, these words, like those 
 already considered, are used sometimes in a limited sense. 
 But in this place their broadest signification is in perfect ac- 
 cordance with the scope of the passage and with the whole 
 tenor of the Scripture. We may; therefore, conclude with 
 much certainty, that God intended in this place to declare the 
 great truth, that there was a time in past eternity when the 
 whole material universe came into existence at his irresistible 
 fiat : — a truth eminently proper to stand at the head of a 
 divine revelation. 
 
 But when did this stupendous event occur? Does the 
 phrase in the beginning show us when ? Surely not ; for no 
 language can be more indefinite as to time. Whenever it is 
 uied in the Bible, it merely designates the commencement of 
 
GENESIS, HOW TO BE UNDERSTOOD. 39 
 
 ^0 oeritrs Of events, or the periods of time, that are described. 
 In the beginning was the ivord ; that is, at the commencement 
 of things the word was in existence ; consequently was from 
 eternity. But in Genesis the act of creation is represented 
 by this phrase simply as the commencement of the material 
 universe, at a certain point of time in past eternity, which is 
 not chronologically fixed. The first verse merely informs us, 
 that the first act of the Deity in relation to the universe was 
 the creation of the heavens and the earth out of nothing. 
 
 It is contended, however, that the first verse is so connected 
 with the six days' work of creation, related in the subsequent 
 verse, that we must understand the phrase in the beginning as 
 the commencement of the first day. This is the main point 
 to be examined in relation to the passage, and therefore de- 
 serves a careful consideration. 
 
 If the first verso must be understood as a summary ac- 
 count of the six days' work which follows in detail, then the 
 beginning was the commencement of the first day, and of 
 course only about six thousand years ago. But if it may be 
 understood as an announcement of the act of creation at 
 some indefinite point in past duration, then a period may have 
 intervened between that first creative act and the subsequent 
 six days' work. I contend that the passage admits of either 
 interpretation, without any violence to the language or the 
 narration. 
 
 The first of these interpretations is the one usually received, 
 and, therefore, it will be hardly necessary to attempt to show 
 that it is admissible. The second has had fewer advocates, 
 and will, therefore, need to be examined. 
 
 The particle and, which is used in our translation of this 
 passage to connect the successive sentences, furnishes an 
 argument to the English reader against this second mode of 
 
40 EPOCH OF THE EAETH's CREATION UNBEVEALED. 
 
 interpretation, which has far less force with one acquainted 
 with llie original Hebrew. The particle thus translated is 
 the general connecting particle of the Hebrew language, and 
 " nnay be copulative, or disjunctive, or adversative ; or it may 
 express a mere annexation to a former topic of discourse, — 
 the connection 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." — J. Pye Smith, 
 Scrip, and Geol. p. 195, 4th edit. 
 
 In the English Bible this particle is usually rendered by the 
 copulative conjunction awd ; in the Septuagint, and in Jose- 
 phus, however, it sometimes has the sense of but. And some 
 able commentators are of opinion that it admits of a similar 
 translation in the passage under consideration. The elder 
 Rosenmuller says we might read it thus : "/« the beginning 
 God created the heavens and the earth. Afterwards the earth 
 was desolate^"*^ &c. Or the panicle afterwards maybe placed 
 at the beginning of any of the succeeding verses. Thus, In 
 the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the 
 earth was desolate, and darkness was upon the face of the 
 waters. Afterwards the Spirit of God moved upon the face 
 of the waters. Dr. Dalhe, who has been styled, by good au- 
 thority, (Dr. Smith,) " a cautious and judicious critic," renders 
 the first two verses in this manner : •' In the beginning God 
 I created the heavens and the earth ; but afterwards the earth 
 V_ became waste and desolate." If such translations as these be 
 admissible, the passage not only allows, but expressly teaches, 
 that a period intervened between the first act of creation and 
 the six days' work. And if such an interval be allowed, it is 
 all that geology requires to reconcile its facts to revelation. 
 
INTERVENING PERIOD. 41 
 
 For during that time, all the changes of mineral constitution 
 and organic life, which that science teaches to have taken 
 place on the globe, previous to the existence of man, may 
 have occurred. 
 
 It is a presumption in favor of such an interpretation that 
 the second verse describes the state of the globe after its cre- 
 ation and before the creation of light. For if there were 
 no interval between the fiat that called matter into existence, 
 and that which said. Let there be light, why should such a 
 description of the earth's waste and desolate condition be 
 given ? 
 
 But if there had been such an intervening period, it is per- 
 fectly natural that such a description should precede the his- 
 tory of successive creative acts, by which the world was 
 adorned with light and beauty, and filled with inhabitants. 
 
 But, after all, would such an interpretation have ever been 
 thought of, had not the discoveries of geology seemed to 
 demand it ? 
 
 This can be answered by inquiring whether any of the wri- 
 ters on the Bible, who lived before geology existed, or had 
 laid claims for a longer period previous to man's creation, 
 whether any of these adopted such an interpretation. We 
 have abundant evidence that they did. Many of the early 
 fathers of the church were very explicit on this subject. 
 Augustin, Theodoret, and others, supposed that the first verse 
 of Genesis describes the creation of matter distinct from, and 
 prior to, the work of six days. Justin Martyr and Gregory 
 Nazianzen believed in an indefinite period between the crea- 
 tion of matter and the subsequent arrangement of all things. 
 Still more explicit are Basil, Csesarius, and Origen. It would 
 be easy to quote similar opinions from more modern writers, 
 who lived previous to the developments of geology. But I 
 4* 
 
42 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CHEATION TTNKEVEALED. 
 
 will give a paragraph from Bishop Patrick only, who wrote 
 one hundred and fifty years ago. 
 
 " Flow long," says he, " all things continued in mere con- 
 fusion after the chaos was created, before light was extracted 
 from it, we are not told. It might have been, for any thing 
 that is here revealed, a great while ; and all that time the 
 mighty Spirit was making such motions in it, as prepared, dis- 
 posed, and ripened every part of it for such productions as 
 were to appear successively in such spaces of time as are here 
 afterwards mentioned by Moses, who informs us, that after 
 things were digested and made ready (by long fermentation 
 perhaps) to be wrought into form, God produced every day, for 
 six days together, some creature or other, till all was finished, 
 of which light was the very first." — Commentary ^ in loco. 
 
 Such evidence as this is very satisfactory. For at the 
 present day one cannot but fear that the discoveries of geology 
 may too much influence him insensibly to put a meaning upoYi 
 Scripture which would never have been thought of, if not sug- 
 gested by those discoveries, and which the language cannot 
 bear. But those fathers of the church cannot be supposed 
 under the influence of any such bias ; and, therefore, we may 
 suppose the passage in itself to admit of the existence of a 
 long period between the beginning and the first demiurgic day. 
 
 Against these views philologists hdve urged several objec- 
 tions not to be despised. One is, that light did not exist till 
 the first day, and the sun and other luminaries not till the 
 fourth day ; whereas the animals and plants dug from the 
 rocks could not have existed without light. They could not, 
 therefore, have lived in the supposed long period previous to 
 the six days. 
 
 If it be indeed true, that light was not called into existence 
 till the first day, nor the sun till the fourth, this objection ia 
 
SUN AND MOON, WHEN CREATED. 43 
 
 probably insuperable. But it would be easy to cite the opinions 
 of many distinguished and most judicious expounders of the 
 Bible, showing that the words of the Hebrew original do not 
 signify a literal creation of the sun, moon, and stars, on the 
 fourth day, but only constituting or appointing them, at that 
 time, to be luminaries, and. to furnish standards for the division 
 of time and other purposes. 
 
 Tlie word used is not the same as that employed in the 
 first verse to describe the creation of the world ; and the pas- 
 sage, rightly understood, implies the previous existence of the 
 heavenly bodies. " The words "^n"} t)^k}2 are not to be sep- 
 arated from the rest," says Rosenmuller, " or to be rendered 
 Jiant luminaria, let there be light; i. e., let light be made; 
 but rather, let lights be ; that is, serve, in the expanse of heaven, 
 for distinguishing between day and night ; and let them be, or 
 serve, for signs," &c. "The historian speaks (v. 16, end) 
 of the determination of the stars to certain uses, which they 
 were to render to the earth, and not of their first formation." 
 In like manner we may suppose that the production of light 
 was only rendering it visible to the earth, over which darkness 
 hitherto brooded ; not because no light was in .existence, but 
 because it did not shine upon the earth. 
 
 Another objection to this interpretation is, that the fourth 
 commandment of the decalogue expressly declares, that in 
 six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all 
 that in them is, &c., and thus cuts off the id^ of a long 
 period intervening between the beginning and the six days. 
 I acknowledge that this argument carries upon the face of it 
 a good deal of strength ; but there are some considerations 
 that seem to me to sho.w it to be not entirely demonstrative. 
 
 In the first place, it is a correct principle of interpreting 
 language, that when a writer describes an event in more than 
 
44 EPOCH OF THE EABTH's CREATION rNREVEALED. 
 
 one place, the briefer statement is to be explained by the more 
 extended one. Thus, in the second chapter of Genesis, we 
 have this brief account of the creation : Tliese are the genera- 
 tions of the heavens and of the earth, when they were created, 
 in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 
 
 Now, if this were the only description of the work of crea- 
 tion on record, the inference would be very fair that it was 
 all completed in a single day. 
 
 Yet when we turn to the first chapter, we find the work 
 prolonged through six days. The two statements are not con- 
 tradictory ; but the briefer one would not be understood with- 
 out the more detailed. In like manner, if we should find it 
 distinctly stated in the particular account of the creation of 
 the universe, in the first chapter of Genesis, that a long period 
 actually intervened between the beginning and the six days, 
 who would suppose the statement a contradiction to the fourth 
 commandment ? It is true, we do not find such a fact distinctly 
 announced in the Mosaic account of the creation. But sup- 
 pose we first learn that it did exist from geology ; why should 
 we not be as ready to admit it as if stated in Genesis, pro 
 vided it does not contradict any thing therein recorded ? For 
 illustration : let us refer to the account given in Exodus of 
 ♦he parents of Moses and their family. And there went a 
 man of the name of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi, 
 And the woman conceived and hare a son, (that is, Moses,) 
 and when sl^e saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him 
 three months. (Ex. ii. 12.) Suppose, now, that no other ac- 
 count existed in the Bible of the family of this Levite ; we 
 could not surely have suspected that Moses had an elder 
 brother and sister. But imagine the Bible silent on the sub- 
 ject, and that the fact was first brought to light in deciphering 
 Egyptian hieroglyphics in the nineteenth century ; who could 
 
PERIOD BEFORE THE SIX DAYS. 46 
 
 hesitate to admit its truth because omitted in the Pentateuch ? 
 or who would regard it in opposition to the sacred record ? 
 With equal propriety may we admit, on proper geological 
 wvidence, the intercalation of a long period between the be- 
 ginning and the six days, if satisfied that it does not contradict 
 the Mosaic account. Hence all that is necessary, in this con- 
 nection, for me to show, is, that such contradictions would not 
 be made out by such a discovery. 
 
 Once more : if this long period had existed, we should hardly 
 have expected an allusion to it in the fourth commandment, 
 if the views we have taken are correct as to the manner in 
 which the Old Testament treats of natural events. It is lit- 
 erally true, that all which the Jews understood by the heavens 
 and the earth, was made, {aiosaw^) that is, renovated, arranged, 
 and constituted, — for so the word often means, — in six lit- 
 eral days. Had the sacred writer alluded to the earth while 
 without form and void, or to the heavenly bodies as any thing 
 more than shining points in the firmament, placed there on the 
 fourth day, he could not have been understood by the Hebrews, 
 without going into a detailed description, and thus violating 
 what seems to have been settled principles in writing the 
 Bible, viz., not to treat of natural phenomena with scientific 
 accuracy, nor to anticipate any scientific discovery. 
 
 I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I am endeavoring 
 to show, only, that the language of Scripture will admit of an 
 indefinite interval between the first creation of matter and the 
 six demiurgic days. I am willing to admit, at least for the 
 sake of argument, that the common interpretation, which 
 makes matter only six thousand years old, is the most natural. 
 But I contend that no violence is done to the language by 
 admitting the other interpretation. And in further proof of 
 this position, I appeal to the testimony of distinguished modern 
 
theologians and philologists, as I have to several of the an- 
 cients. This point cannot, indeed, be settled by the authority 
 of names. But I cannot believe that any will suppose suci^ 
 men as I shall mention were led to adopt this view simply 
 because geologists asked for it, while their judgments told 
 them that the language of the Bible would not bear such a 
 meaning. When such men, therefore, avow their acquies- 
 cence in such an interpretation, it cannot but strengthen our 
 confidence in its correctness. 
 
 " The interval," says Bishop Horsley, '^ between the pro- 
 duction of the matter of the chaos and the formation of light, 
 is undescribed and unknown." 
 
 " Were we to concede to naturalists," says Baumgarten 
 Crusius, " all the reasonings which they advance in favor of 
 the earth's early existence, (he conclusion would only be, that 
 the earth itself has existed much more than six thousand years, 
 and that it had then already suffered many great and important 
 revolutions. But if this were so, would the relation of Moses 
 thereby become false and untenable ? I cannot think so." 
 
 " By the phrase in the beghmivg^'*'* says Doederlin, " the 
 time is declared when something began to be. But when 
 God produced this remarkable work, Moses does not precisely 
 define." 
 
 " We do not know," says Sharon Turner, " and we have 
 no means of knowing, at what point of the ever-flowing eter- 
 nity of that which is alone eternal, — the divine subsistence, 
 — the creation of our earth, or any part of the universe, be- 
 gan." " All that we can learn explicitly from revelation is, 
 •.hat nearly six thousand years have passed since our first 
 parents began to be." 
 
 "The words in the text," says Dr. Wiseman, "do not 
 merely express a momentary pause between the first fiat of 
 
OPINIONS OF SCHOLARS. 47 
 
 creation and the production of light ; for the participial form 
 of the verb, whereby the Spirit of God, the creative energy, 
 is represented as brooding over the abyss, and communicating 
 to it the productive virtue, naturally expresses a continuous, 
 and not a passing action." 
 
 " I am strongly inclined to believe," says Bishop Gleig, 
 '* that the matter of the corporeal universe was all created at 
 once ; though different portions of it may have been reduced 
 to form at very different periods. When the universe was ere 
 ated,orhow long the solar system remained in a chaotic state, 
 are vain inquiries, to which no answer can be given." 
 
 " The detailed history of creation in the first chapter of 
 Genesis," says Dr. Chalmers, " begins at the middle of the 
 second verse ; and what precedes might be understood as an 
 introductory sentence, by which we are most appositely told, 
 both that God created all things at the first, and that after- 
 wards — by what interval of time it is not specified — the earth 
 'apsed into a chaos, from the darkness and disorder of which 
 the present system or economy of things was made to arise. 
 Between the initial act and the details of Genesis, the world, 
 for aught we know, might have been the theatre of many 
 revolutions, the traces of which geology may still inves- 
 tigate," &c. 
 
 " A philological survey of the initial sections of the Bible, 
 (Gen. i. 1 to ii. .3,) " says Dr. Pye Smith, " brings out the 
 result;" 
 
 1. "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 all-powerful will of one 
 
48 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CREATION UNREVEALED. 
 
 Being, the self-exisient, independent and infinite in all perfec 
 tion ; and that the date of that beginning is not made known." 
 
 2. " 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. 
 
 3. " 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, — the whole extending 
 through the period of six natural days." 
 
 " I am forming," continues Dr. Smith, " no hypotheses in 
 geology ; I only plead that the ground is clear, and that the 
 dictates of the Scripture interpose no bar to observation and 
 reasoning upon the mineralogical constitution of the earth, 
 and the remains of organized creatures which its strata dis- 
 close. If those investigations should lead us to attribute lo 
 the earth and to the other planets and astral spheres an an- 
 tiquity which millions or ten thousand millions of years 
 might fail to represent, the divine records forbid not their 
 deduction.'^'' — Script, and Geol. p. 502. 
 
 Says Dr. Bedford, " We ought to understand Moses as say- 
 ing, indefinitely far back, and concealed from us in the mys- 
 *-ery of eternal ages, prior to the first moment of mundane 
 time, God created the heavens and the earth." — Smith, 
 Script, and Geol. 4th edit. 
 
 '* My firm persuasion is," says Dr. Harris, " that the first 
 verse of Genesis was designed, by the divine Spirit, to an- 
 nounce the absolute origination of the material universe by 
 the Almighty Creator ; and that it is so understood in the 
 other parts of holy writ ; that, passing by an indefinite inter- 
 val, the second verse describes the state of our planet imme- 
 diately prior to the Adamic creation, and that the third verse 
 begins the account of the six days' work." 
 
TESTIMONY OF THEOLOGIANS. 49 
 
 " If I am reminded, in a tone of animadversion, that I am 
 making science, in this instance, the interpreter of Scripture, 
 my reply is, that I am simply making the works of God illus- 
 trate his word in a department in which they speak with a 
 distinct and authoritative voice ; that " it is all the same 
 whether our geological or theological investigations have been 
 prior, if we have not forced the one into accordance with 
 the other." — (Davidson, Sacred Hermeneutics.) " And that it 
 might be deserving consideration, whether or not the conduct 
 of those is not open to just animadversion, who first under- 
 take to pronounce on the meaning of a passage of Scripture, 
 irrespective of all the appropriate evidence, and who then, 
 when that evidence is explored and produced, insist on their 
 a priori interpretation as the only true one." — Pre-Adamite 
 Earth, p. 280. 
 
 " Our best expositors of Scripture," says Dr. Daniel King, 
 of Glasgow, " seem to be now pretty generally agreed, that 
 the opening verse in Genesis has no necessary connection 
 with the verses which follow. They think it may be under- 
 stood as making a separate and independent statement regard- 
 ing the creation proper, and that the phrase ' in the begin- 
 ning' may be expressive of an indefinitely remote antiquity. 
 On this principle the Bible recognizes, in the first instance, 
 the great age of the earth, and then tells us of the changes it 
 underwent at a period long subsequent, in order to render it 
 a fit abode for the family of man. The work of the six days 
 was not, according to this view, a creation in the strict sense 
 of the term, but a renovation, a remodelling of preexisting 
 materials." — Principles of Geology explained, &lc. p. 40, 
 1st edit. 
 
 " Whether the Mosaic creation," says Dr. Schmucker, of 
 the Lutheran church in this country, *' refers to the present 
 5 
 
50 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CREATION UNREVEALED. 
 
 organization of matter, or to the formation of its primary ele- 
 ments, it is not easy to decide. The question is certainly not 
 determined by the usage of the original words, i^^s, noJ, 
 which are frequently employed to designate mediate forma- 
 tion. Should the future investigations of physical science 
 bring to light any facts, indisputably proving the anterior 
 existence of the matter of this earth, such facts would not 
 militate against the Christian Scriptures." 
 
 " That a very long period," says Dr. Pond, — " how long no 
 being but God can tell, — intervened between the creation of 
 the world and the commencement of the six days' work re- 
 corded in the following verses of the first chapter of Grenesis, 
 there can, I think, be no reasonable doubt." 
 
 But I need not adduce any more advocates of the interpre- 
 tation of Genesis, for which I contend. Men more respected 
 and confided in by the Christian world I could not quote, though 
 I might enlarge the number ; but I trust it is unnecessary. 
 I trust that all who hear me are satisfied that the Mosaic his- 
 tory of the creation of the world does fairly admit of an inter- 
 pretation which leaves an undefined interval between the 
 creation of matter and the six days' work. Let it be recol- 
 lected that I do not maintain that this is the most natural 
 interpretation, but only that the passage will fairly admit it 
 by the strict rules of exegesis. The question still remains to 
 be considered, whether there is suflScient reason to adopt it as 
 the true interpretation. To show that there is, I now make 
 my appeal to geology. This is a case, it seems to me, in 
 which we may call in the aid of science to ascertain the true 
 meaning of Scripture. The question is. Does geology teach, 
 distinctly and uncontrovertibly, that the world must have 
 existed during a long peri-^'^ prior to the existence of the races 
 of organized beings thaf lOw occupy its surface ? 
 
PEOf^F? PF THE earth's GREAT AGE. 51 
 
 To give a popular view of the evidence sustaining the affir- 
 /native of this question is no easy task. It needs a full and 
 accurate acquaintance with the multiplied facts of geology, 
 and, what is still more rare, a familiarity with geological rea- 
 soning, in order to feel the full force of the arguments that 
 prove the high antiquity of the globe. Yet I know that I have 
 a right to presume upon a high degree of scientific knowledge, 
 and an accurate acquaintance with geology, among those 
 whom 1 address. 
 
 In the first place, I must recur to a principle already briefly 
 stated in a former lecture, viz., that a careful examination of 
 the rocks presents irresistible evidence, that, in their present 
 condition, they are all the result of second causes ; in other 
 words, they are not now in the condition in which they were 
 originally created. Some of them have been melted and re- 
 consolidated, and crowded in between others, or spread over 
 them. Others have been worn down into mud, sand, and 
 gravel, by water and other agents, and again cemented to- 
 gether, after having enveloped multitudes of animals and 
 plants, which are now imbedded as organic remains. In short, 
 all known rocks appear to have been brought into their present 
 state by chemical or mechanical agencies. It is indeed easy 
 to say that these appearances are deceptive, and that these 
 rocks may, with perfect ease, have been created just as we 
 now find them. But it is not easy to retain this opinion, after 
 having carefully examined them. For the evidence that they 
 are of secondary origin is nearly as strong, and of the same 
 kind too, as it is that the remains of edifices lately discovered 
 in Central America are the work of man, and were not cre- 
 ated in their present condition. 
 
 In the second place, processes are going on by which rocks 
 a«e formed on a small scale, of the same character as those 
 
52 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CREATION ITNREVEALED. 
 
 which constitute the great mass of the earth. Hence it is fail 
 to infer, that all the rocks were formed in a similar manner. 
 Beds of gravel, for instance, are sometimes cemented together 
 by heat, or iron, or lime, so as to resemble exactly the con- 
 glomerates found in mountain masses among the ancient 
 rocks. Clay is sometimes converted into slate by heat, as is 
 soft marl into limestone, by the same cause. In fact, we find 
 causes now in operation that produce all the varieties of known 
 rocks, lexcept some of the oldest, which seem to need only a 
 greater intensity in some of the causes now at work to pro- 
 duce them. By ascertaining the rate at which rocks are now 
 forming, therefore, we can form some opinion as to the time 
 requisite to produce those constituting the crust of the globe. 
 If, for instance, we can determine how fast ponds, lakes, and 
 oceans are filling up with mud, sand, and gravel, conveyed to 
 their bottoms, we can judge of the period necessary to pro- 
 duce those rocks which appear to have been formed in a sim- 
 ilar manner ; and if there is any evidence that the process 
 was more rapid in early times, we can make due allowance. 
 
 In the third place, all the stratified rocks appear to have 
 been formed out of the fragments of other rocks, worn down 
 by the action of water and atmospheric agencies. This is 
 particularly true of that large proportion of these rocks which 
 contain the remains of animals and plants. The mud, sand, 
 and gravel of which these are mostly composed, must have 
 been worn from rocks previously existing, and have been 
 transported into lakes, and the ocean, as the same process is 
 now going on. There the animals and plants, which died in 
 the waters, and were transported thither by rivers, must have 
 been buried ; next, the rocks must have been hardened into 
 stone, by admixture with lime, or iron, or by internal heat ; and, 
 finally, have been raised above the waters, so as to become 
 
DEPOSIT IN LAKE LEHMAN. 53 
 
 dryland. Beds of limestone are interstratified with those of ^ 
 shale, sandstone, and conglomerate ; but these form only a 
 small proportion of the whole, and, besides, were mostly formed 
 in an analogous manner, though by agencies more decidedly 
 chemical. ' 
 
 Now, for the most part, this process of forming rocks by 
 the accumulation of mud, sand, and gravel is very slow. In 
 general, such accumulations, at the bottom of lakes and the 
 ocean, do not increase more than a few inches in a century. 
 During violent floods, indeed, and in a few limited spots, the 
 accumulation is much more rapid ; as in the Lake of Geneva, 
 through which the Rhone, loaded with detritus from the Alps, 
 passes, where a delta has been formed two miles long and 
 nine hundred feet thick, within eight hundred years.* And 
 occasionally such rapid depositions probably took place while 
 the older rocks were in the course of formation. But in gen- 
 eral, the work seems to have gone on as slowly as it usually 
 does at present. 
 
 Yet, in the fourth place, there must have been time enough 
 
 * This had always seemed to me a very strong case, as I had seen * 
 it described. But a recent visit to the spot (September, 1850) did not 
 make so strong an impression upon me as I expected. In the first 
 place, I foimd the head of Lake Lehman, where the Rhone enters, to 
 be 80 narrow, that the detritus brought down by the river cannot 
 spread itself out very far laterally. Secondly, I found, on ascending 
 the Rhone, that it is every where a very rapid stream ; and, on ac- 
 count of the origination of its branches from glaciers, it is always 
 loaded with mud. So that the process of deposition must be going * 
 on continually. This cannot be the case in one in ten of other rivers, 
 whose waters, for most of the year, are clear. This case, then, is 
 only a quite unusual exception, and cannot be regarded as a stan- 
 dard by which to judge of the rate of deposition at present, or in past 
 
54 EPOCH OF THE EARTH'S CEEATION TTNREVEALED. 
 
 since the creation to deposit at least ten miles of rocks in 
 perpendicular thickness, in the manner that has been de- 
 scribed. For the stratified rocks are at least of that thickness 
 in Europe, and in this country much thicker ; or, if we regard 
 only the fossiliferous strata as thus deposited, (Since some 
 geologists might hesitate to admit that the non-fossil iferous 
 rocks were thus produced,) these are six and a half miles 
 thick in Europe, and still thicker in this country. How im- 
 mense a period was requisite for such a work ! Some do, 
 indeed, contend that the work, in all cases, as we have al- 
 lowed it in a few, may have been vastly more rapid than at 
 the present day. But the manner in which the materials are 
 arranged, and especially the preservation of the most delicate 
 parts of the organic remains, often in the very position ia 
 which the animals died, show the quiet and slow manner in 
 which the process went on. 
 
 In the fifth place, it is certain that, since man existed on the 
 globe, materials for the production of rocks have not accu- 
 mulated to the average thickness of more than one hundred 
 or two hundred feet ; although in particular places, as already 
 mentioned, the accumulations are thicker. The evidence of 
 this position is, that neither the works nor the remains of man 
 have been found any deeper in the earth than in the upper 
 part of that superficial deposit called alluvium. But had man 
 existed while the other deposits were going on, no possible 
 reason can be given why his bones and the fruits of his labors 
 should not be found mixed with those of other animals, so 
 abundant in the rocks, to the depth of six or seven miles. In 
 the lust six tliousaml years, then, only one five hundredth part 
 of the stratified rocks has been accumulated. I mention this 
 fact, not as by any means an exact, but only an approximate, 
 measure of the time in which the older rocks were deposited 
 
VARIETY IN THE DEPOSITS. 55 
 
 for the precise age of the world is probably a problem which 
 science never can solve. All the means of comparison within 
 our reach enable us to say, only, that its duration must have 
 been immense. 
 
 In the sixth place, during the deposition of the stratified 
 rocks, a great number of changes must have occurred in the 
 matter of which they are composed. Hundreds of such 
 changes can be easily counted, and they often imply great 
 changes in the waters holding the materials in solution or sus- 
 pension ; such changes, indeed, as must have required differ- 
 ent oceans over the same spot. Such events could not have 
 taken place without extensive elevations and subsidences of 
 the earth's crust ; nor could such vertical movements have hap- 
 pened without much intervening time, as many facts, too 
 technical to be here detailed, show. Here, then, we have 
 another evidence of vast periods of time occupied in the sec- 
 ondary production and arrangements of the earth's crust. 
 
 In the seventh place, numerous races of animals and plants 
 must have occupied the globe previous to those which now 
 inhabit it, and have successively passed away, as catastrophes 
 occurred, or the climate became unfit for their residence. 
 Not less than thirty thousand species have already been dug 
 out of the rocks; and excepting a few hundred species, mostly 
 of sea shells, occurring in the uppermost rocks, none of them 
 correspond to those now living on the globe. In Europe, they 
 are found to the depth of about six and a half miles ; and in 
 this country, deeper ; and no living species is found more than 
 one twelfth of this depth. All the rest are specifically and 
 often generically unlike living species ; and the conclusion 
 seems irresistible, that they must have lived and died before 
 the creation of the present species. Indeed, so different was 
 the climate in those early times, — it having been much 
 
/ 
 
 66 EPOCH OP THE earth's CREATION UNREVEALED. 
 
 warmer than at present in most parts of the world, — that but 
 (ew of the present races could have lived then. Still further: 
 it appears that, during the whole period since organized beings 
 first appeared on the globe, not less than four, or five, and 
 probably more — some think as many as ten or twelve — entire 
 races have passed away, and been succeeded by recent ones ; 
 so that the globe has actually changed all its inhabitants 
 half a dozen times. Yet each of the successive groups occu- 
 pied it long enough to leave immense quantities of their 
 remains, which sometimes constitute almost entire mounUiins. 
 And in general, these groups became extinct in consequence 
 of a change of climate ; which, if imputed to any known 
 cause, must have been an extremely slow process. 
 
 Now, these results are no longer to be regarded as the 
 dreams of fancy, but the legitimate deductions from 'ong and 
 careful observation of facts. And can any reasonable man 
 conceive how such changes can have taken place since the 
 six days of creation, or within the last six thousand years ? 
 In order to reconcile them with such a supposition, we must 
 admit of hypotheses and absurdities more wild and extravagant 
 than have ever been charged upon geology. But admit of a 
 long period between the first creative act and the six days, and 
 all difficulties vanish. " - 
 
 In the eighth place, the denudations and erosions that have 
 taken place on the earth's surface indicate a far higher an- 
 tiquity to the globe, even since it assumed essentially its pres- 
 ent condition, than the common interpretation of Genesis 
 admits. The geologist can prove that in many cases the rocks 
 have been worn away, by the slow action of the ocean, more 
 than two miles in depth in some regions, and those very wide ; 
 as in South Wales, in England. As the continents rose from 
 the ocean, the slow drainage by the rivers has excavated 
 
GORGES "WORN BY RIVERS. 57 
 
 numerous long and deep gorges, requiring periods incalculably 
 extended. 
 
 1 do not wonder that, when the sceptic stands upon the 
 banks of Niagara River, and sees how obviously the splendid 
 cataract has worn out the deep gorge extending to Lake On- 
 tario, he should feel that there is a standing proof that the 
 common opinion, as to the age of the world, cannot be true ; 
 and hence be led to discard the Bible, if he supposes that to 
 be a true interpretation. 
 
 But the Niagara gorge is only one among a multitude of 
 examples of erosion that might be quoted ; and some of them 
 far more striking to a geologist. On Oak Orchard Creek, and 
 the Genesee River, between Rochester and Lake Ontario, are 
 similar erosions, seven miles long. On the latter river, south 
 of Rochester, we find a cut from Mount Morris to Portage, 
 sometimes four hundred feet deep. On many of our south- 
 western rivers we have what are called canons, or gorges, often 
 two hundred and fifty feet deep, and several miles long. Near 
 the source of Missouri River are what are called the Gates of 
 the Rocky Mountains, where there is a gorge six miles long 
 and twelve hundred feet deep. Similar cuts occur on the 
 Columbia River, hundreds of feet deep, through the hard trap 
 rock, for hundreds of miles, between the American Falls and 
 the Dalles. At St. Anthony's Falls, on the Mississippi, that 
 river has worn a passage in limestone seven miles long, which 
 distance the cataract has receded. On the Potomac, ten miles 
 west of Washington, the Great Falls have worn back a pas- 
 sage sixty to sixty-five feet deep, four miles, continuously — 
 a greater work, considering the nature of the rock, than has 
 been done by the Niagara. The passage for the Hudson, 
 through the highlands, is probably an example of river ero- 
 sion ; as is also that of the Connecticut at Brattleboro' and 
 
58 EPOCH OP THE earth's CREATION UNSEVEALED. 
 
 Bellows Falls. In these places, it can be proved that the rival 
 was once at least seven hundred feet above its present bed. 
 On the Deerfield River, a tributary of the Connecticut, we 
 have a gulf called the Ghor^ eight miles long and several hun- 
 dred feet deep, cut crosswise through the mica slate and gneiss 
 by the stream. 
 
 On the eeistern continent I might quote a multitude of anal- 
 ogous cases. There is, for instance, the Wady el Jeib, in soft 
 limestone, within the Wady Arabah, south of the Dead Sea. 
 The defile is one hundred and fifty feet deep, half a mile wide, 
 and forty miles long. In Mount Lebanon, several remarkable 
 chasms in limestone have been described by American mis- 
 sionaries, as that on Dog River, (Lycus of the ancients,) six 
 miles long, seventy or eighty feet deep, and from one hun- 
 dred and twenty to one hundred and sixty feet wide ; also, 
 Wady Barida, whose walls are six hundred to eight hundred 
 feet high. On the River Ravendoor, in Kurdistan, is a gorge, 
 described in a letter from Dr. Perkins, one thousand feet deep. 
 Another on the Euphrates, near Diadeen, is seventy feet deep, 
 and is spanned by a natural bridge one hundred feet long. 
 On the River Terek, in the Dariel Caucasus, is a pass one 
 hundred and twenty miles long, whose walls rise from one 
 thousand to three thousand feet high. In Africa, the River 
 Zaire has cut a passage, forty miles long, through mica slate, 
 quartz, and syenite ; and in New South Wales, Cox River 
 passes through a gorge twenty-two hundred yards wide and 
 eight hundred feet high. 
 
 Ninthly. Smce the geological period now passing com- 
 menced, called the alluvial^ or pleistocene period, certain 
 changes have been going on, which indicate a very great 
 antiquity to the drift period, which was the commencement 
 of the alluvial period, and has been considered among the 
 
ANCIENT TERRACES AND SEA BEACHES. 59 
 
 most recent of geological events. I refer to the formation 
 of deltas and of terraces. 
 
 Of the deltas 1 will mention but a single example, to which, 
 however, many others correspond. The Mississippi carries 
 down to its mouth 28,188,803,892 cubic feet of sediment 
 yearly, which it deposits ; or one cubic mile in five years and 
 eighty-one days. Now, as the whole delta contains twenty- 
 seven hundred and twenty cubic miles, it must have required 
 fourteen thousand two hundred and four years to form it in 
 this manner. 
 
 Terraces occur along some of the rivers of our country from 
 four hundred to five hundred feet above their present beds, 
 and -around our lakes to the height of nearly one thousand feet. 
 They are composed of gravel, sand, clay, and loam, that have 
 been comminuted, and sorted, and deposited, by water chiefly. 
 At a height two or three times greater, on the same rivers 
 and lakes, we find what seem to be ancient sea beaches, of 
 the same materials, deposited earlier, and less comminuted. 
 The same facts also occur in Europe, and probably in Asia. 
 
 Now, it seems quite certain, that these beaches and terraces 
 were formed as the continents were being drained of the waters 
 of the ocean, and the rivers were cutting down their beds ; 
 which last process has been going on in many places to the 
 present day. Yet scarcely nowhere, since the memory of 
 man, have even the lowest of these terraces and beaches been 
 formed, save on a very limited scale, and of a few feet in 
 height. The lowest of them have been the sites of towns and 
 cities, ever since the settlement of our country, and on the 
 eastern continent much longer. Yet we see the processes by 
 which they have been formed now in operation ; but they 
 have scarcely made any progress during the period of human 
 bistory. How vast the period, then, since the work was first 
 
60 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CREATION TTNREVEALED. 
 
 • 
 
 commenced ! Yet even its commencement seems to have been 
 no farther back than the drift epoch, since that deposit lies 
 beneath the terraces. But the drift period was comparatively 
 a very recent one on the geological scale. How do such facts 
 impress us with the vast duration of the globe since the first 
 series of changes commenced ! 
 
 Finally. There is no little reason to believe that, previous to 
 the formation of the stratified rocks, the earth passed through 
 changes that required vast periods of time, by which it was 
 gradually brought into a habitable state. It is even believed 
 that one of its earliest conditions was that of vapor ; that, grad- 
 ually condensing, it became a melted globe of fire, and then, 
 as it gradually cooled, a crust formed over its surface ; and 
 so at last it became habitable. All this is indeed hypothesis ; 
 and, therefore, I do not place it in the same rank as the other 
 proofs of the earth's antiquity, already adduced. Still this 
 hypothesis has so much evidence in its favor, that not a few 
 of the ablest and most cautious philosophers of the present 
 day have adopted it. And if it be indeed true, it throws back 
 the creation of the universe to a period remote beyond calcu- 
 lation or conception. 
 
 Now, let this imperfect summary of evidence in favor of the 
 earth's high antiquity be candidly weighed, and can any one 
 think it strange that every man, who has carefully and exten- 
 sively examined the rocks in their native beds, is entirely con- 
 vinced of its validity? Men of all professions, and of diverse 
 opinions concerning the Bible, have been geologists ; but on 
 this point they are unanimous, however they may differ as 
 to other points in the science. Must we not, then, regard this 
 *act as one of the settled principles of science ? If so, who 
 will hesitate to say thai it ought to settle the interpretation of 
 the first verse of Genesis, in favor of that meaning which 
 
THIS INTERPRETATION MEETS THE CASE. 61 
 
 allows an intervening period between the creation of matter 
 and the creation of light ? This is the grand point which I 
 have aimed to establish ; and, in conclusion, I beg leave to 
 make a few remarks by way of inference. 
 
 First. This interpretation of Genesis is entirely sufficient 
 to remove all apparent coUision between geology and revela- 
 tion. It gives the geologist full scope for his largest specula- 
 tions concerning the age of the world. It permits him to 
 maintain that its first condition was as unlike to the present 
 as possible, and allows him time enough for all the changes 
 of mineral constitution and organic life which its strata re- 
 veal. It supposes that all these are passed over in silence by 
 the sacred writers, because irrelevant to the object of revela- 
 tion, but full of interest and instruction to the men of science, 
 who should afterwards take pleasure in exploring the works 
 of God. 
 
 It supposes the six days' work of creation to have been 
 confined entirely to the fitting up the world in its present con- 
 dition, and furnishing it with its present inhabitants. Thus, 
 while it gives the widest scope to the geologist, it does not 
 encroach upon the literalities of the Bible ; and hence it is 
 not strange that it should be almost universally adopted by 
 geologists as well as by many eminent divines. 
 
 I would not forget to notice in this connection, however, a 
 recent proposed extension of this interpretation by Dr. John 
 Pye Smith, founded on the principle already illustrated, that 
 the sacred writers adapted their language to the state of 
 knowledge among the Jews. By the term earth, in Genesis, 
 he supposes, was designed not the whole terraqueous globe, 
 but *' the part of our world which God was adapting for the 
 dwelling-place of man and animals connected with him." 
 And the narrative of the six days' work is a description 
 6 
 
62 EPOCH OF THE F^RTH's CREATION ITNREVEALED. 
 
 adapted to the ideas and capacities of mankind in the earliest 
 ages, of a series of operations, by which the Being of omnipo- 
 tent wisdom and goodness adjusied and furnislied, not the earth 
 generally, but, as the particular subject under consideration 
 here, a portion of its surface for most glorious purposes. 
 This portion of the earth he conceives to have been a large 
 part of Asia, lying between the Caucasian ridge, the Cas- 
 pian Sea and Tartary on the north, the Persian and Indian 
 Seas on the south, and the high mountain ridges which run 
 at considerable distance on their eastern and western flanks. 
 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, probably by volcanic agency ; it was submerged, 
 covered with fogs and clouds, and subsequently elevated, and 
 the atmosphere, by the fourth day, rendered pellucid. — 
 Script, and Geol. p. 275, 2d edit. 
 
 Without professing to adopt fully this view of my learned 
 and venerable friend, I cannot but remark, that it explains one 
 or two difficuhies on this subject, which I shall more fully 
 explain farther on. One is, the difficulty of conceiving how 
 the inferior animals could have been distributed to their present 
 places of residence from a single centre of creation without a 
 miracle. Certain it is, that, as the climate and position of 
 land and water now are, they could not thus migrate without 
 certain destruction to many of them. But by this theory they 
 might have been created within the districts which they now 
 occupy. 
 
 Another difficulty solved by this theory is, that several 
 hundred species of animals, that were created long before 
 man, as their remains found in the tertiary strata show, still 
 lurvive, and there is no evidence that they ever became 
 
OTHER STTPPOSITIONS. 68 
 
 extinct ; nor need they have been destroyed and recreated, 
 if Dr. Smith's theory be true. Nevertheless, it does not ap- 
 pear to me essential to a satisfactory reconciliation of geology 
 and revelation, that we should adopt it. But coming from 
 such high authority, and sustained as it is by powerful argu- 
 ments, it commends itself to our candid examination. 
 
 Secondly. I remark, that it is not necessary that we should 
 be perfectly sure that the method which has been described, 
 or any other, of bringing geology into harmony with the Bible, 
 is infallibly true. It is only necessary that it should be sus- 
 tained by probable evidence ; that it should fairly meet the 
 geological difficulty on the one hand, and do no violence to 
 the language or spirit of the Bible on the other. This is suf- 
 ficient, surely, to satisfy every philosophical mind, that there 
 is no collision between geology and revelation. But should 
 it appear hereafter, either from the discoveries of the geolo- 
 gist or the philologist, that our views must be somewhat 
 modified, it would not show that the previous views had been 
 insufficient to harmonize the two subjects ; but only that here, 
 as in every other department of human knowledge, perfection 
 is not attained, except by long-continued efforts. 
 
 I make these remarks, because it is well known that other 
 modes, besides that which I have defended, have been pro- 
 posed to accomplish the same object; and it is probable that, 
 even to this day, one or two , " these modes may be defended, 
 although the general opinion ol j^^^ologists is in favor of that 
 which I have exhibited. 
 
 Some, for instance, have supposed that the fossiliferous 
 strata may all have been deposited in the sixteen hundred 
 years between the creation and the deluge, and by that 
 catastrophe have been lifted out of the ocean. Others have 
 imagined them all produced by that event. But the most 
 
64 EPOCH OF THE EABTH'S CHEATION UNKEVEALED. 
 
 plausible theorj' regards the six days of creation as periods 
 of great, though indefinite length, during which all the changes 
 exhibited by the strata of rocks took place. The arguments 
 in defence of this view are the following : 1. The word day 
 is often used in Scripture to express a period of indefinite 
 length. (Luke xvii. 24. John viii. 56. Job xiv. 6.) 2. The 
 sun, moon, and stars were not created till the fourth day ; so 
 that the revolution of the earth on its axis, in twenty-four 
 hours, may not have existed previously, and the light and 
 darkness that alternated may have had reference to some 
 other standard. 3. The Sabbath, or seventh day, in which 
 God rested from his work, has not yet terminated ; and there 
 is reason to suppose the demiurgic days may have been at 
 least of equal length. 4. This interpretation corresponds 
 remarkably with the traditional cosmogonies of some heathen 
 nations, as the ancient Etruscans and modern Hindoos ; and 
 it was also adopted by Philo and other Jewish writers. 5. The 
 order of creation, as described in Genesis, corresponds to that 
 developed by geology. This order, according to Cuvier and 
 Professor Jameson, is as follows: 1. The earth was covered 
 with the s(ia without inhabitants. 2. Plants were created on 
 the third day, and are found abundantly in the coal measures. 
 3. On the fifth day, the inhabitants of the waters, then flying 
 things, then great reptiles, and then mammiferous animals, 
 were created.^ 4. On the sixth ay, man was created. 
 
 The following are the ^ujections to this interpretation : 
 1. The word day is not used figuratively in other places of 
 Genesis, (unless perhaps Gen. ii. 4,) though it is sometimes so 
 used in other parts of Scripture. 2. In the fourth command- 
 ment, where the days of creation are referred to, (Exod. xx. 
 9, 10, 11,) no one can doubt but that the six days of labor and 
 the Sabbath, spoken of in the ninth and tenth verses, are literal 
 
DAYS, LONG PERIODS. 65 
 
 days. By what rule of interpretation can the sanne word in 
 the next verse be made to mean indefinite periods ? 3. From 
 Gen. ii. 5, compared with Gen. i. 11, 12, it seems that it 
 had not rained on the earth till the third day — a fact alto- 
 gether probable if the days were of twenty-four hours, but 
 absurd if they were long periods. 4. Such a meaning is 
 forced and unnatural, and, therefore, not to be adopted with- 
 out urgent necessity. 5. This hypothesis assumes that Moses 
 describes the creation of all the animals and plants that have 
 ever lived on the globe. But geology decides that the species 
 now living, since they are not found in the rocks any lower 
 down than man is, (with a few exceptions,) could not have 
 been contemporaries with those in the rocks, but must have 
 been created when man was ; that is, on the sixth day. Of 
 such a creation no mention is made in Genesis. The infer- 
 ence is, that Moses does not describe the creation of the ex- 
 isting races, but only of those that lived thousands of years 
 earlier, and whose existence was scarcely suspected till mod- 
 ern times. Who will admit such an absurdity ? If any one 
 takes the ground that the existing races were created with 
 the fossil ones, on the third and fifth days, then he must show, 
 what no one can, why the remains of the former are not found 
 mixed with the latter. 6. Though there is a general resem- 
 blance between the order of creation, as described in Genesis 
 and by geology, yet when we look at the details of the crea- 
 tion of the organic world, as required by this hypothesis, we 
 find manifest discrepancy, instead of the coincidence asserted 
 by some distinguished advocates of these views. Thus the 
 Bible represents plants only to have been created on the third 
 day, and animals not till the fifth ; and hence, at least, the 
 lower half of the fossiliferous rocks ought to contain nothing 
 but vegetables. Whereas, in fact, the lower half of these 
 6» 
 
66 EPOCH OP THE EARTH^S CREATION XmBEVEALED. 
 
 rocks, all below the carboniferous, although abounding in \n* 
 mals, contain scarcely any plants, and those in the lowest 
 strata, fucoids, or sea-weeds. But the Mosaic account of 
 the third day's work evidently describes flowering and seed- 
 bearing plants, not flowerless and seedless algae. Again : 
 reptiles are described in Genesis as created on the fifth day ; 
 but reptilia and batrachians existed as early as the time when 
 the lower carboniferous, and even old red sandstone strata, 
 were in a course of deposition, as their tracks on those rocks 
 in Nova Scotia and Pennsylvania evince. In short, if we 
 maintain that Moses describes fossil as well as living species, 
 we find discrepancy, instead of correspondence, between his 
 order of creation and that of geology. But admit that he 
 describes only existing species, and all difficulties vanish. 
 
 It appears, then, that the objections to this interpretation of 
 the word day are more geological than exegetical. It has 
 accordingly been mostly abandoned by men, who, from theii 
 knowledge both of geology and scriptural exegesis, were best 
 qualified to judge. And even those who are inclined to adopt 
 it do also believe in the existence of a long period between 
 the beginning and the demiurgic days. From the earlies* 
 times, however, in which we have writings upon the Scrip- 
 tures, we find men doubting whether the demiurgic days of 
 Moses are to be taken in a strictly literal sense. Josephu? 
 and Philo regarded the six days' work sls metaphorical. Ori- 
 gen took a similar view, and St. Augustin says, " It is difficult, 
 if not impossible, for us to conceive what sort of days these 
 were." In more modern times, we find many able writers, 
 as Hahn, Hensler, De Luc, Professors Lee and Wait, of the 
 University of Cambridge, Faber, &c., adopting modifications 
 of the same views. Mr. Faber, however, a few years since, 
 abandoned this opinion ; and for the most part, geologists and 
 
DR. KNAPP^'S iNTEKPRETATiON. 67 
 
 theologians prefer to regard the six days as li.em. days of 
 twenty-four hours. But, generally, they would not regard the 
 opposite opinion to be as unreasonable as it would be to re- 
 ject the Bible from any supposed collision with geology. Yet, 
 in general, they suppose it sufficient, to meet all difficulties, to 
 allow of an indefinite interval between the " beginning " and 
 the six days' work of creation. 
 
 In the truly scientific system of theology by the venerable 
 Dr. Knapp, we find a proposed interpretation of the Mosaic 
 account of the creation, that would bring it into harmony with 
 geology. "If we would form a clear and distinct notion of 
 this whole description of creation," says he, " we must con- 
 ceive of six separate pictures^ in which this great work is repre 
 sented in each successive stage of its progress towards com- 
 pletion. And as the performance of the painter, though it 
 must have natural truth for its foundation, must not be con- 
 sidered, or judged of, as a delineation of mathematical or 
 scientific accuracy, so neither must this pictorial representa 
 tion of the creation be regarded as literally and exactly true." 
 He then alludes to the various hypotheses respecting the early 
 state of the matter of the globe, and says, " Any of these 
 hypotheses of the naturalist may be adopted or rejected, the 
 Mosaic geogony notwithstanding." * 
 
 Thirdly. The interpretation of Genesis, for which I have 
 contended in this lecture, does not aflfect injuriously any 
 
 * For a mucb more minute and extended account of the different 
 modes proposed to reconcile geology and revelation, and indeed of 
 their entire connection, I would refer to several papers in the Ameri- 
 can Biblical Repository, especially to the number for October, 1835, 
 p. 261. The progress of science has, indeed, rendered it desirable to 
 change a few sentences in those articles ; but all their essential prin- 
 ciples I still maintain. 
 
68 EPOCH OF THE EAETH's CBEATION UNBEVEALED. 
 
 doctrine of revelation. The community have, indeed, been 
 taught to believe that the universe was all brought into exist- 
 ence about six thousand years ago; and it always produces a 
 temporary evil to change the interpretation of a passage of 
 the Bible, even though, as in this case, it be the result of 
 new light shed upon it ; because it is apt to make individ- 
 uals of narrow views lose their confidence in the rules of 
 interpretation. But when the change is once made, it in- 
 creases men's confidence in the Word of God, which is only 
 purified, but not shaken, by all the discoveries of modern 
 science. In the present case, it does not seem to be of the 
 least consequence, so far as the great doctrines of the Bible 
 are concerned, whether the world has stood six thousand, or 
 six hundred thousand years. Nor can I conceive of any truth 
 of the Bible, which does not shine with at least equal bright- 
 ness and glory, if the longest chronological dates be adopted. 
 Yet, fourthly. I maintain that several of these doctrines are 
 far more strikingly and profitably exhibited, if the high antiquity 
 of the globe be admitted. The common interpretation limits 
 the operations of the Deity, so far as the material universe is 
 concerned, to the last six thousand years. But the geological 
 view carries the mind back along the flow of countless ages, 
 and exhibits the wisdom of the Deity carrying forward, with 
 infinite skill, a vast series of operations, each successive link 
 springing out of that before it, and becoming more and more 
 beautiful, until the glorious universe in which we live comes 
 forth, not only the last, but the best of all. All this while, 
 too, we perceive the heart of infinite Benevolence at work, 
 either in fitting up the world for its future races of inhabitants, 
 or in placing upon it creatures exactly adapted to its varying 
 condition ; until man, at last, the crown of all, makes it his 
 delightful abode, with nothing to lament but his own apos- 
 
THESE VIEWS SHOITLD BE TAUGHT. 69 
 
 tasy, — with every thing perfect but himself. Can the mind 
 enter such an almost boundless field of contemplation as this, 
 and not feel itself refreshed, and expanded, and filled with 
 more exalted conceptions of the divine plans and divine be- 
 nevolence than could possibly be obtained within the narrow 
 limits of six thousand years ? But I will not enlarge ; for I 
 hope I may be allowed, in future lectures, to enter this rich 
 field of thought, when we have more leisure to survey its 
 beautiful prospects, and pluck its golden fruit. 
 
 Finally. If the geological interpretation of Genesis be true, 
 then it should be taught to all classes of the community. It 
 is, indeed, unwise to alter received interpretations of Scripture 
 without very strong reasons. We should be satisfied that the 
 new light, which has come to us, is not that of a transient 
 meteor, but of a permanent luminary. We should, also, be 
 satisfied, that the proposed change is consistent with the estab- 
 lished rules of philology. If we introduce change of this sort 
 before these points are settled, even upon passages that have 
 no connection with fundamental moral principles, we shall 
 distress many an honest and pious heart, and expose ourselves 
 to the necessity of further change. But on the other hand, 
 if we delay the change long after these points are fairly set- 
 tled, we shall excite the suspicion that we dread to have the 
 light of science fall upon the Bible. Nor let it be forgotten 
 how disastrous has ever been the influence of the opinion that 
 theologians teach one thing, and men of science another. 
 Now, in the case under consideration, is there any reason to 
 doubt the high antiquity of the globe, as demonstrated by 
 geology ? If any point, not capable of mathematical demon- 
 stration in physical science, is proved, surely this truth is 
 established. And how easily reconciled to the inspired record, 
 by an interpretation entirely consistent with the rules of phi- 
 
70 EPOCH OF THE EARTH's CREATION UNREVEALED. 
 
 lology, and with the scope of the passage, and the tenor of the 
 Bible ! It seems to me far more natural, and easy to under- 
 stand, than that interpretation which it became necessary to 
 introduce when the Copernican system was demonstrated to 
 be true. The latter must have seemed to conflict strongly 
 with the natural and most obvious meaning of certain passages 
 of the Bible, at a time when men's minds were ignorant of 
 astronomy, and, I may add, of the true mode of interpreting 
 the language of Scripture respecting natural phenomena. 
 Nevertheless, the astronomical exegesis prevailed, and every 
 child can now see its reasonableness. So it seems to me that 
 the child can easily apprehend the geological interpretation 
 and its reasons. Why, then, should it not be taught to chil- 
 dren, that they may not be liable to distrust the whole Bible, 
 when they come to the study of geology ? I rejoice, how- 
 ever, that the fears and prejudices of the pious and the learned 
 are so fast yielding to evidence ; and I anticipate the period, 
 when, on this subject, the child will learn the same thing in 
 the Sabbath school and the literary institution. Nay, I an- 
 ticipate the time as not distant, when the high antiquity of the 
 globe will be regarded as no more opposed to the Bible than 
 the earth's revolution round the sun and on its axis. Soon shall 
 the horizon, where geology and revelation meet, be cleared 
 of every cloud, and present only an unbroken and magnificent 
 circle of truth. 
 
(71) , 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW OF ORGANIC BEINGS OK 
 THIS GLOBE EROM THE BEGINNING. 
 
 Death has always been regarded by man as the king of 
 terrors, and the climax of all mortal evils ; and by Christiana 
 its introduction into the world has generally been imputed to 
 the apostasy of our first parents. For the threatening an- 
 nounced to them in Eden was, In the day thou eatest of the 
 forbidden fruit thou shalt surely die, implying that if they 
 did not eat thereof they might live. But when the woman saw 
 the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the 
 eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the 
 fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with 
 her, and he did eat. As the result, it is generally supposed 
 that a great change took place in animals and plants, and from 
 being immortal, they became mortal, in consequence of this 
 fatal deed. But geology asserts that death existed in the 
 world untold ages before man's creation, while physiology 
 declares it to be a universal law of nature, and a wise and 
 benevolent provision in such a world as ours. Now, the ques- 
 tion is, Do not these different statements conflict with one 
 another ? and if so, is the discrepancy apparent only, or real ? 
 These are the questions which I now propose to examine, by 
 all the light which we can obtain from the Bible and from 
 science. 
 
 The first point to be ascertained in this investigation will 
 be, what the Bible teaches on this subject. 
 
73 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 In the first place, it distinctly informs us that the death 
 which man experiences, came upon him in consequence 
 of sin. 
 
 The declaration of Paul on this subject is as distinct as lan- 
 guage can be. By one man sin entered into the world, and 
 death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
 tinned. This corresponds with the original threatening re- 
 specting the forbidden fruit. We know that our first parents 
 ate of it ; we know, also, that they died ; and the apostle 
 places these two facts in the relation of cause and effect. 
 
 In the second place, the Bible does not inform us whether 
 the death of the inferior animals and plants is the consequence 
 of man's transgression. 
 
 In order to prove this statement, it is necessary to show that 
 the language of the Bible, which distinctly ascribes tiie intro- 
 duction of death into the world, is limited to man. The first 
 part of the sentence from Paul, just quoted, is indeed very 
 general, and may include all organic natures. By one man 
 sin entered into the world, and death by sin. What terms 
 more general or explicit than these could be used ? Yet 
 the remainder of the sentence shows that the apostle had man 
 mainly in his eye ; and so death passed upon all men, for that 
 all have sinned. The death here spoken of is limited ex- 
 pressly to man ; and, therefore, it is not necessary to show 
 that the same terms, in the first part of the sentence, had a 
 more extended meaning. Death is spoken of here as the 
 result of sin, and cannot, therefore, embrace animals and 
 plants, which are incapable of sin. But after all, the first 
 part of the sentence may intend to teach a general truth re- 
 specting the origin of every kind of death in the world. It 
 will be seen in the sequel, that to such a meaning I have no 
 objection, if it can be established. 
 
DEATH BEFORE MAN. 73 
 
 Another very explicit passage on the introduction of deatli 
 into the world is found in Corinthians : Since by man came 
 death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Here, 
 too, the last clause of the sentence limits the meaning to the 
 human family. For no one will doubt that Christ is the man 
 here spoken of, by whom came the resurrection of the dead. 
 Now, unless the inferior animals and plants will share in a 
 resurrection in consequence of what Christ has done, and in 
 the redemption wrought out by him too,^ they cannot be in- 
 cluded in this passage. And if neither of the texts now quoted 
 extend in their application beyond the human race, I know 
 of no other passage in the Bible that teaches, directly or infer- 
 entially, that death among the inferior animals or plants re- 
 sulted from man's apostasy. I do not deny that there may 
 be a connection between these events ; certainly the Scrip- 
 tures do not teach the contrary. But they appear to me rather 
 to leave the question of such a connection undecided, and 
 open for the examination of philosophers. If so, we may 
 reason concerning the dissolution of animals, except men, 
 without reference to the Scriptures. 
 
 Under the second part of this investigation, 1 shall endeavor 
 to show that geology proves violent and painful death to have 
 existed in the world long before man''s creation. 
 
 In the oldest of the sedimentary rocks, the remains of ani- 
 mals occur in vast numbers ; nor will any one, I trust, of 
 ordinary intelligence, doubt but these relics once constituted 
 living beings. Through the whole series of rocks, six miles 
 in thickness, we find similar remains, even increasing in num- 
 bers as we ascend ; but it is not till we reach the very highest 
 stratum, the mere superficial coat of alluvium, that we find 
 the remains of man. The vast multitudes, then, of organ- 
 ized beings that lie entombed in rocks below alluvium, must 
 7 
 
74 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 have yielded to death long before man received his sentence, 
 Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return. Will any one 
 maintain that none of these animaK preceded man in the 
 period of their existence ? Then why are the remains of men 
 not found with theirs ? for his bony fkeleton is as likely to 
 be preserved and petrified as theirs. Moreover, so unlike to 
 man and other existing tenants of the globe aie many of these 
 ancient animals, that the sure laws of compaiatlve anatomy 
 show us, that both races could not live and flourish in a world 
 adapted to the one or the other. If the temperature had been 
 warm enough for the fossil tribes, and all the cii'iumstancea 
 of food and climate congenial to their natures, they would 
 have been unsuited to the present races ; and if adaptad to the 
 latter, the former must have perished. The diffeiv»nce be^ 
 tween the animals and plants dug out of the rocks in this lati- 
 tude, and those now inhabiting the same region of country, L 
 certainly as great as that between the animals and plants o( 
 the torrid and temperate zones ; in most cases it is greater 
 Now, suppose that the animals and plants of the temperat 
 zones were to change places with those between the tropica 
 A few species might survive, but the greater part would b* 
 destroyed. Hence, a fortiori, had the living beings now en 
 tombed in the rocks been placed in the same climate witii 
 those now alive upon the globe, the like result would have 
 followed. I say a fortiori ; that is, for a stronger reason 
 the greater number must have perished ; and the strongei 
 reason is, the greater diflference between fossil and living spe* 
 cies, than between the latter in torrid and temperate latitudes 
 It is true that man is among the species capable of being 
 acclimated to great extremes. And yet no physiologist will 
 imagine that even his nature could have long survived in such 
 a climate as formerly existed, when probably the atmospherr 
 
ANIMALS ADAPT! >; v ?xIB STATE OF THE EARTH. 75 
 
 was loaded with carbonic acid and other mephitic gases, and 
 with moisture and miasms, the result of a rank vegetation, 
 and of a temperature higher than now exists in equatorial 
 countries. 
 
 This argument, furnished by comparative anatomy, to show 
 that man and the fossil animals cou).«i not have been contem- 
 poraries, will probably seem to have little force to those who 
 are not familiar with the history of 0'*ganic life on the globe, 
 and the distribution of species. It is not generally known 
 that both animals and plants are usually confined to a partic- 
 ular district, and that a removal beyond its boundaries, or the 
 access of a few more degrees of cold, or heat, than is com- 
 mon in the place assigned them by nature, will destroy them. 
 To him who understands this curious history, the argument 
 under consideration is perfectly satisfactory, to prove the ex- 
 istence and consequent dissolution of myriads of living bqings, 
 anterior to man. " Judging by these indications of the habits 
 of the animals," says the distinguished anatomist. Sir Charles I 
 Bell, " we acquire a knowledge of the condition of the earth 
 during their period of existence ; that it was suited at one time 
 to the scaly tribe of the lacertse, with languid motion ; at 
 another, to animals of higher organization, with more varied 
 and lively habits ; and finally, we learn that at any period pre- 
 vious to man's creation, the surface of the earth would have 
 been unsuitable to him. Any other hypothesis than that of a 
 new creation of animals, suited to the successive changes in 
 the inorganic matter of the globe, the condition of the water, 
 atmosphere, and temperature, brings with it only an accumu- 
 lation of dijEficulties." — The Hand, its Mec/t., &c. pp. 31 
 and 115. 
 
 But when arguing with those who do not feel the force of 
 this argument, I would fall back upon that derived from the 
 
76 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 fact, that of the ten thousand species of animals dug out ot 
 the rocks beneath alluvium, no relic of man has been found ; 
 and ask them whether they can explain such a fact, except 
 by the supposition that man was not their contemporary. 
 
 In his admirable Bridge water Treatise, Dr. Buckland has 
 conclusively shown that the same great system of organiza- 
 tion and adaptation has always prevailed on the globe. It was 
 the same in those immensely remote ages, when the fossil 
 animals lived, as it now is. And there is one feature of that 
 system which deserves notice in this argument. At present, 
 we know that there exist large tribes of animals, called car- 
 nivorous, provided with organs expressly designed to enable 
 them to destroy other animals, and of course to inflict on 
 them violent and painful death. Exactly similar tribes, and 
 in a like proportion, are found among the fossil animals. 
 They were not always the same tribes ; but when one class 
 of carnivora disappeared, another was created to take their 
 place, in order to keep down the excessive multiplication of 
 other races, which appears to be the grand object accom- 
 plished by the carnivorous races. And that animals of such 
 an organization not only lived in the ages preceding man^s 
 creation, but actually destroyed contemporary species, we 
 have the evidence in the remains of the one animal enclosed 
 in the body of another, by whom it was devoured for food • 
 and both are now converted into rock, and will testify to the 
 most sceptical, that death among animals existed in the world 
 before man's transgression. 
 
 Under the third part of this investigation, I shall attempt 
 to show that physiology teaches us that death is a general law 
 of organic natures. 
 
 It is not confined to animals, but embraces also plants. As 
 they correspond in a striking manner to animals in their 
 
DEATH INEVITABLE 77 
 
 reproduction and growth, so they do in their decay and disso- 
 lution. In short, wherever in nature we find life and organi- 
 zation, death is inevitable. The amount of vital energy varies 
 in different species, and in individuals ; but in them all, it at 
 length becomes exhausted, and the functions cease. After a 
 certain period, the vessels which convey the nutritive mate- 
 rials, and elaborate the proximate principles, become choked 
 with excrementitious matter, assimilation is performed imper- 
 fectly, and gradually the vital energies are overpowered, and 
 yield up their charge to the disorganizing power of chemical 
 agencies. We can hardly see why the delicate machinery 
 cannot hold out longer than it does, or even indefinitely. But 
 experience shows us that an irresistible law of nature has fixed 
 the period of its operations. In the expressive language of 
 Scripture, which applies to plants as well as animals, there is 
 no discharge in that war. 
 
 A little reflection will convince any one, that in such a sys- 
 tem as exists in the world, this universal decay and dissolution 
 are indispensable. For dead organic matter is essential to 
 the support and nourishment of living beings. Admit, for the 
 sake of the argument, (although it is obviously absurd in re 
 spect to the carnivorous races,) that animals might be sup- 
 ported by vegetable food. Yet, if plants must furnish nour- 
 ishment for their successors, as well as for animals, the organic 
 matter must at length be exhausted. And, furthermore, how 
 could animals feed on plants without destroying, as they now 
 do, multitudes of minute insects and animalcules ? It is ob- 
 vious, also, that, for a variety of reasons, the multiplication 
 of animals must soon be arrested, or famine would be the 
 result, or the world would be more than full. In short, it 
 would require an entirely different system in nature from the 
 present, in order to exclude death from the world. To the 
 7* 
 
78 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 existing system it is as essential as gravitation, and apparently 
 just as much a law of nature. 
 
 To strengthen tins argument still further, comparative anat- 
 omy testifies that large classes pf animals have a structure 
 evidently intended to enable them to feed on other tribes. 
 The teeth of the more perfect carnivorous animals are adapted 
 for seizing and tearing their prey, while those which feed on 
 vegetables have cutting and grinding teeth, but not the canine. 
 So the whole digestive apparatus in the carnivora is more 
 simple, and of less extent, than in the herbivorous tribes, while 
 in the former the gastric juice acts more readily upon flesh, and 
 in the latter upon vegetables. The muscular apparatus, also, is 
 developed in greater power in the former than in the latter, espe- 
 cially in the neck and fore paw. Throughout all the classes of 
 animals, those which feed on flesh are armed with poisonous 
 fangs, or talons, or beaks, or other formidable weapons, while 
 the vegetable feeders are usually in a great measure defence- 
 less. In short, in the one class we find a perfect adaptation, 
 in all the organs, for destroying, digesting, and assimilating 
 other animals, and in the other class, an arrangement, equally 
 obvious, for procuring and digesting vegetables. Indeed, you 
 need only show the anatomist the skeleton, or even a very 
 small part of the skeleton, of an unknown animal, to enable 
 him, in most cases, to decide, what is the food of that animal, 
 with almost as much certainty as if he had for years observed 
 its habits. Who can doubt, then, that when a carnivorous 
 animal employs the weapons with which nature has furnished 
 it for the destruction of another animal, in order to satisfy 
 its hunger, that it acts in obedience to a law of its being, origi- 
 nally impressed upon its constitution by the Creator? It is 
 true, that even the flesh-eating animals may be taught for a 
 lime to subsist upon vegetable products. But this is unnatural ; 
 
WHY DEATH MUST TAKE PLACE. 79 
 
 and such an animal usually pays the price of thus inverting 
 its original instinct, by disease and premature decay. In a 
 state of nature, an animal would starve rather than thus vio- 
 late its instinctive desires. 
 
 I will allude to only one other fact, that shows death to be 
 inseparable from organized beings, without a constant mirac- 
 ulous interference, in such a world as ours. Animal organi- 
 zation, in all conceivable circumstances, must be liable to 
 accident, from mere mechanical force, by which life would 
 be destroyed. It may be possible, perhaps, to conceive of a 
 material tenement for the soul, which should be unaffected by 
 all forms of mechanical violence and chemical action ; if, for 
 instance, its constitution were analogous to that supposed 
 medium through which light, heat, and electricity, and per- 
 haps gravitation, act. But, surely, our present bodies are far 
 enough removed from such conditions, being of all terrestrial 
 things the most liable to ruin from the causes above mentioned. 
 
 The conclusions from all these facts and reasonings are, 
 that death is an essential feature of the present system of 
 organized nature ; that it must have entered into the plan of 
 creation in the divine mind originally, and consequently must 
 have existed in the world before the apostasy of man. Whether 
 the entire system of death had any connection with that event, 
 or whether there is any thing peculiar in the death endured 
 by the human family, will be questions for examination in a 
 subsequent part of my lecture. 
 
 In opposition to these conclusions, however, the common 
 theory of death maintains that, when man transgressed, there 
 was an entire change throughout all organic nature ; so that 
 animals and plants, which before contained a principle of im 
 mortal life, were smitten with the hereditary contagion of 
 disease and death. Those animals which, before that event, 
 
80 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 were gentle and herbivorous, or frugivorous, suddenly became 
 ferocious or carnivorous. The climate, too, changed, and 
 the sterile soil sent forth the thorn and ihe thistle, in the placo 
 of the rich flowers and fruits of Eden. The great English 
 poet, ii his Paradise Lost, has clothed this hypothesis in a 
 most graphic and philosophical dress ; and probably his de- 
 scriptions have done more than the Bible to give it currency. 
 Indeed, could the truth be known, I fancy that, on many points 
 of secondary importance, the current theology of the day has 
 been shaped quite as much by the ingenious machinery of 
 Paradise Lost as by the Scriptures ; the theologians having 
 so mixed up the ideas of Milton with those derived from 
 inspiration, that they find it difficult to distinguish between 
 them. 
 
 In the case under consideration, Milton does not limit the 
 change induced by man's apostasy to sublunary things, but, 
 like a sagacious philosopher, perceives, also, that the heavenly 
 bodies must have been diverted from their paths. 
 
 " At that tasted fruit, 
 The sun, as from Thyestian banquet, turned 
 His course intended ; else how had the world 
 Inhabited, though sinless, more than now, 
 Avoided pinching cold and scorching heat ? " 
 
 This change of the sun's path, as the poet well knew, could 
 be eflfected only by some change in the motion of the earth. 
 
 " Some say ho bid the angels turn askance 
 The poles of earth, twice ten degrees and more. 
 From the sun's axle ; they with labor pushed 
 Oblique the centric globe." 
 
CHANGES AT THE FALL. 81 
 
 Next we have the effect upon the lower orders of animals 
 described. 
 
 " Discord first, 
 Daughter of sin, among the irrational 
 Death introduced: through fierce antipathy. 
 Beast now with beast 'garu war, and fowl with fowl, 
 
 And fish with fish ; to graze the herb all leaving. 
 Devoured each other." 
 
 The question arises here, whether such views are sustained 
 by the Bible and by science. Few, I presume, would se- 
 riously maintain that the act of our first parents, which pro- 
 duced what Dr. Chalmers calls " an unhingement " of the 
 human race, resulted likewise in a change in the motion of 
 the earth and the heavenly bodies ; since the Bible so clearly 
 describes the previous ordination of days, years, and seasons, 
 on the fourth day of creation. And is there any thing in the 
 language of the Bible that will justify the opinion that such 
 changes as this theory supposes took place in the produc- 
 tions of the earth, and in the nature of its animals ? No anat* 
 omist can surely be made to believe that, without a constant 
 miracle, our carnivorous animals can have become herbivorous, 
 without such a change in their organization as must have 
 amounted to a new creation. And such a metamorphosis can 
 hardly have passed unnoticed by the sacred writer. True, 
 only the gramineous and herbaceous substances are in the 
 Bible given to the inferior animals for food, while the fruits 
 are assigned to man. But this passage seems only to be a 
 designation of one part of vegetable productions to men, and 
 another to other animals, and can hardly be supposed to pre- 
 clude the idea that there might be other tribes requiring ani- 
 mal food. 
 
83 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 The sentence pronounced upon the serpent for his agency 
 in man's apostasy seems, at first view, favorable to the opin- 
 ion that animal natures experienced at the same time impor- 
 tant changes ; for he is supposed to have been deprived of 
 limbs, and condemned henceforth to crawl upon %e earth, 
 and to make the dust his food. But is it the most probable 
 interpretation of this passage, which makes the tempter a lit- 
 eral serpent, or only a symbolical one ? The naturalist does 
 not surely find that serpents live upon dust, for they all are 
 carnivorous, and they are as perfectly adapted to crawl upon 
 the ground as other animals to diflferent modes of progression ; 
 and though cursed above all cattle^ they are apparently as 
 happy as other animals. Hence the probability is, that an 
 evil spirit is described in Genesis under the name and figure 
 of a serpent. This conclusion is supported by other parts of 
 Scripture, where the tempter is in several places declared to 
 be the devil^ the old serpent, and the great dragon. 
 
 A part of the sentence passed upon man seems, also, at 
 first view, to imply an important change in the vegetable pro- 
 ductions of the earth ; for the ground is cursed for man's 
 sake : it would henceforth produce to him thorns and thistles, 
 and in the sweat of his brow must he eat of the fruits of it, 
 all the days of his life. Now, will not the condition and 
 character of Adam show how this curse might be fulfilled, 
 without any change in the productions of the soil ? The 
 garden of Eden, where man had lived in his innocence, was 
 doubtless some sunny and balmy spot, where the air was de- 
 licious, and the earth poured forth her abundant fruits spon- 
 taneously ; and although he was called to keep and dress that 
 garden, yet, with a contented and holy heart, and with no fac- 
 titious wants, the work was neither labor nor sorrow. But 
 l>ow he is driven from that garden into regions far less fertile, 
 
DEATH BEFORE THE FALL. 83 
 
 where the sterile soil can be made to yield its fruits only by 
 the sweat of the brow, and where the thorn and the thistle 
 dispute their right of soil with salutary plants ; and in his 
 heart, too, unholy and unsubdued passions have place, which 
 will infuse sorrow into all his labors. 
 
 As I have remarked in another place, I cannot see why the 
 functions of animal and vegetable organization might not 
 have gone on forever without decay and death, if such had 
 been the Creator's will. In other words, I do not see why 
 the operation of the organs should at length be impeded and 
 cease, as we know they do universally. Hence I can 
 conceive that it might have been otherwise originally ; and in 
 the case of man it is possible, as we shall see farther on, that 
 a change of this sort may have taken place at the time of his 
 apostasy. But, after all, it strikes me that the Bible furnishes 
 very clear evidence that the same system of decay and death 
 prevailed before the apostasy which now prevails The com- 
 mand given, both to animals and to man, to be fruitful and 
 multiply, implies the removal of successive races by death ; 
 otherwise the world would ere long be overstocked. A sys- 
 tem of death is certainly a necessary counterpart to a system 
 of reproduction ; and hence, where we know the one to exist, 
 the presumption is very strong that the other exists also. 
 There is no escape from this inference, except to call in the 
 aid of miraculous power to preserve the proper balance 
 among different races of animals, by preventing their mul- 
 tiplication. Such an interference I am always ready to 
 admit, where the Scriptures assert it. But to imagine a mir- 
 acle without proof, merely to escape a fair conclusion, is, to 
 say the least, very wretched logic. God never introduces a 
 miracle where he can employ the ordinary agency of nature 
 for accomplishing his purposes. Nor should we resort to one 
 
84 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 without the express testimony of the Bible, which, on ♦his 
 subject, is our only source of evidence. 
 
 We have in Scripture the same kind of proof that plants 
 were subject to decay and death, before the fall, as we have 
 in respect to animals. For in the account of the creation of 
 plants on the third day, we find them described as bearing 
 seeds ; and does not this clearly imply the same system of 
 reproduction which now exists throughout the vegetable king- 
 dom ? In short, an unprejudiced mind, in reading the history 
 of the world in Genesis, before and after the fall, can hardly 
 fail of the conviction, that animals and plants were originally 
 created on the same plan, as to reproduction, decay, and 
 death, which now prevails. Great, indeed, must have been 
 the change at the fall, if, previous to that time, their structure 
 excluded all the organs and means of reproduction ; as must 
 have been the case if decay and death were also excluded. 
 And it is strange that the sacred writer should take no notice 
 of such a change. He states the effect of sin upon the three 
 parties directly concerned in it, viz., the tempter, Adam, and 
 Eve ; and if a transformation of all vegetable and animai 
 natures, great enough almost to constitute a new creation, 
 did take place, it could hardly have been passed in silence. 
 Even in the case of man, we have no remarkable physical 
 change. The effect seems to have been chiefly confined to 
 his intellectual constitution, where we should expect the effect 
 of sin to be primarily felt. There, indeed, in man^s noblest 
 part, has the havoc been the most terrific, and powerfully has 
 its operation there reacted upon the body, so as to make death, 
 in the case of man, the king of terrors. 
 
 We find, then, insuperable objections to the prevalent 
 notion that an entire revolution took place at the fall in the 
 material world, and especially in organic nature. Thos^ 
 
DEATH A BENEVOLENT PROVISION. 85 
 
 passages of Scripture which, literally interpreted, seem to 
 imply some changes of this sort, are easily understood as 
 vivid figurative representations of the effects of sin upon 
 men, while their literal interpretation would involve us in in- 
 extricable difficulties. We rest, therefore, in the conclusion, 
 that, whatever connection there may be between death and 
 the existing system of organic and inorganic nature, no im- 
 portant change took place at the time of man's first transgres- 
 sion ; in other words, the present system is that which was 
 originally determined upon in the divine mind, and not the 
 original plan altered after man's transgression. 
 
 The fourth step in the investigation of this suhject leads 
 me to attempt to show that, in the present system of the world, 
 death, to the inferior animals, is a benevolent provision, and 
 to man, also, when not aggravated or converted into a curse 
 hy his own sin. 
 
 In examining this point, as well as many others in natural 
 theology, where the existence of evil is concerned, we must 
 assume that the present system of the world is the best which 
 infinite wisdom and benevolence could devise. And this we 
 may consistently do. For the prominent design throughout 
 nature appears to be beneficial to animal natures, and suffer- 
 ing is only incidental, and happiness, moreover, is super- 
 added to the functions of animals, where it is unnecessary to 
 the perfect performance of the function. We may be cer- 
 tain, therefore, that the Author of such a system can neither 
 be malevolent nor indifferent to the happiness of animals, but 
 must be benevolent ; and, therefore, the system must be the 
 best possible, since such a Being could constitute no other. 
 
 Now, death being an essential feature of such a system, we 
 should expect to find it, as a whole, a benevolent provision. 
 But, in the case of man, the Bible represents it as a pensd 
 
86 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 infliction, and such is its general aspect in the human family 
 So far as the mere extinction of life is concerned, it is the 
 same in man as in other animals ; but sin arms it with a 
 deadly sting, by pointing the offender to a world of ret- 
 ribution, as he sees the menacing dart of the great de- 
 stroyer aimed at his heart. And, indeed, through all his 
 days, man's power of anticipation keeps death ever before 
 him, £is the end of all his present enjoyments, and the com- 
 mencement, it may be, of unmitigated suffering. But the 
 inferior animals, being incapable of sin, find none of these 
 aggravations to give keenness to their final sufferings. No 
 anticipation of death keeps it ever in view, as a terrific 
 enemy. No guilty conscience points them to a righteous 
 throne of judgment, where they must be arraigned. But 
 when the stroke comes, it falls unexpectedly, and the mere 
 physical sufiering is all that gives severity to their dis 
 solution. 
 
 In the case of man, too, there is the sundering of ties too 
 strong for any thing but death to break ; — ties which bind him 
 to kindred, friends, and country ; and often this separation 
 constitutes the most painful part of the closing scene. But in 
 the case of animals, we have no reason to suppose these 
 attachments, so far as they exist, to be very strong ; nay, in 
 most cases they are certainly very weak. And even did they 
 exist, the brute would not be conscious that death would re- 
 move him from the society of his beloved companions. 
 
 The inferior animals, also, usually die either a violent and 
 sudden death, inflicted by some carnivorous enemy, or in ex- 
 treme old age, by mere decay of the natural powers, without 
 disease. The violent death can usually have in* it little of 
 suflfering ; and the slow decay still less. But although some 
 men die violent deaths, how few survive to extreme old age, 
 
DEATH OP THE CHRISTIAN. 87 
 
 and sink at last almost unconsciously into the grave, because 
 the vital energies are exhausted ! Were this the case, the phys- 
 ical terrors of death would be almost taken away, and we 
 should pass as quietly into eternity as a lamp goes out when 
 the oil is exhausted. But in general we see a constitution 
 yet unbroken, struggling with fierce disease, and yielding to 
 its fate only with terrific agonies ; because sin has early im- 
 planted the seeds of disease in the constitution. 
 
 Imagine, now, that death should come upon a man in the 
 course of nature ; that is, without disease, and with little suf- 
 fering, and with no painful forebodings of conscience. Sup- 
 pose, moreover, that the dying individual should feel that the 
 change passing upon him would assuredly introduce him to a 
 new and spiritual body, undecaying, and adapted to the oper- 
 ations of the mind ; that it would, in fact, be the building of 
 God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ; 
 and that the soul, after death, would enter into free and full 
 communion with all that is great and ennobling in the uni- 
 verse ; and that joys, inconceivable and eternal, would hence- 
 forth be its portion : O, how different would such a death be 
 from what we usually witness ! Yet, were men all to accept 
 of the offered ransom from sin and death, and, under the 
 guidance of pure religious principle, were to pay a strict 
 regard to hygienic laws, such would be, for the most part, the 
 character of the death they would experience. The excepted 
 cases would be those of violent and sudden death from acci- 
 dent, or of disease from unavoidable exposure, and they 
 would be comparatively few. So that, in fact, an observance 
 of the laws, physical and moral, which God has ordained, 
 would change almost the entire aspect of death, even in this 
 fallen world. 
 
 These remarks seem necessary in order to obtain a correct. 
 
88 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 idea of the character of death, when not aggravated by the 
 sins of men. For those aggravations seem superadded, in 
 the case of men, as penal inflictions for their sins ; and we 
 ought to leave them out of the account, when we are consid- 
 ering death as a benevolent provision. I do not contend that 
 death, even in its mildest forms, is no evil ; nor that the 
 apostasy of man was not tlie cause of its introduction into 
 the world. These points I shall consider in another place. 
 But I contend that, in the present system of the world, death, 
 when not aggravated by the sins of men, is to be regarded as 
 a benevolent provision, bringing with it more happiness than 
 misery ; although, had sin never existed, a system productive 
 of still greater enjoyment might have been adopted in this 
 world. But as the arrangements of the world now are, death 
 affords the following evidences of infinite benevolence and 
 wisdom. 
 
 In the first place^ it is a transfer from a lower to a higher 
 state of existence. 
 
 Let me here be understood distinctly as speaking only of the 
 death of those accountable beings, who, by the transforming 
 power of grace, have become prepared for a higher and per- 
 fectly holy state of being. For the death of all others can be 
 looked on only in the light of a terrible penal infliction. But the 
 righteous, when they die, — and all may, if they will, become 
 righteous, — have before them the certain prospect of immor- 
 tal happiness, such as ej/e hath not seen, nor ear heardy 
 neither hath it entered the heart of man to conceive. They 
 enter upon fulness of joy, and pleasures forevennore ; and 
 therefore death to them is infinite gain. 
 
 Whether the inferior animals will exist again after death 
 is a more doubtful point. There is certainly nothing in 
 Scripture decisive against their future existence ; for the 
 
GERMAN EXPOSITION. 89 
 
 passage m Psalms which says, that man that is in honor and 
 ahideth not is like the brutes that perish^ if understood to 
 mean the annihilation of animals, would prove also the anni- 
 hilation of wicked men. And while most men of learning 
 and piety have suspended their opinion on the existence of 
 the inferior animals after death, for want of evidence, some 
 have been decided advocates of the future happy existence 
 of all beings, who exhibit a spark of intelligence. Not a 
 few distinguished German theologians and philosophers regard 
 the whole visible creation, both animate and inanimate, as at 
 present in a confined and depressed state, and struggling for 
 freedom. On this principle Tholuck explains that most diffi- 
 cult passage in Romans, which declares that the whole crea- 
 tion groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now. He 
 supposes this " bound or fettered state of nature," both ani- 
 mate and inanimate, to have a casual connection whh sin, 
 and the death accompanying it among men ; and, therefore, 
 when men are freed from sin and death, the creation itseV 
 also, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into 
 the glorious liberty of the children of God. The kingdom 
 of God, according to Tholuck, Martin Luther, and many, 
 other distinguished theologians, will not be transferred to 
 heaven at the end of the world, but be established on earth, 
 where all these transformations of the animate and inanimate 
 creation will take place. 
 
 This exposition surely carries with it a great deal of natu- 
 ralness and probability ; and if it be true, death to the infe- 
 rior animals must surely be an indication of great benevo- 
 lence on the part of the Deity, since it introduces them to a 
 higher state of existence. But if it be rejected, still the gen- 
 eral principle is eminently applicable to the case of man. 
 
 In the second place, the system of a succession of races 
 8* 
 
90 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 of animals on earth, which death alone would render possible, 
 secures a much greater collective amount of happiness than 
 a single race of animals, endowed with earthly immortality. 
 I sustain this position by three arguments. The first is, that 
 young animals enjoy more, in the same period of time, than 
 those more advanced in age. This may result, in part, in the 
 present organization of animals, from the superior health 
 and vigor enjoyed by the young. But it is due, also, in part, 
 and largely, to the novelty of the scenes presented in early 
 life. And so far as it results from the latter cause, it proves 
 that a succession of races would enjoy more than a single 
 race continued indefinitely, because the successive races 
 would always be comparatively young. A single continuous 
 race might, indeed, be supposed always possessed of the un- 
 abated vigor and health of youth ; but, of necessity, objects 
 must soon lose the charm of novelty, and, therefore, produce 
 less of enjoyment. The second argument is, that a succes- 
 sion of races admits of the contemporaneous existence of a 
 greater number of species than could coexist were none re- 
 moved by death. If only one undying race occupied the globe, 
 it must subsist exclusively on vegetable food. Whereas much 
 the largest part of the species that now live are carnivorous 
 or omnivorous. All the enjoyment of these flesh-eating ani- 
 mals is, therefore, so much clear gain to the stock of happi- 
 ness, with the exception of the suffering which death inflicts. 
 Now, but few of the inferior animals perish by disease. 
 Some die by old age, and these suflTer almost nothing. But 
 the greater part are suddenly destroyed by the violent assault 
 of the carnivorous races. And as the pangs of death are 
 momentary, and there are no anticipations of its approach, 
 nor sunderings of the ties of affection, nor dread of an here- 
 after, the suffTering endured must be an exceedingly small 
 
CONCLUSIONS. 91 
 
 drawback upon the enjoyment of the whole life. It is far less 
 than it would be, if animals were left to perish by famine, or 
 by slow degrees, from deficient nourishment ; so that the exist- 
 ence of the carnivorous races, seeming at first view intended 
 to convert the world into a vast Golgotha, does in fact add 
 greatly to the amount of enjoyment, because it so prodigiously 
 multiplies the number of species of animals, and lessens the 
 sufferings of death. In the third place, death exerts a salutary 
 moral influence upon man, and, as a consequence, swells the 
 amount of his happiness. And although this consideration 
 affects only one species, yet man's position on the scale of 
 being makes his happiness an object of no small importance. 
 
 The final conclusions at which we arrive, then, are, first, 
 that death is a fixed and universal law of nature, essential to 
 the existence of the present system of the world ; and sec- 
 ondly, that, like all other laws of nature, it exhibits marks of 
 benevolence, and wise adaptation on the part of the Author 
 of nature. The question will indeed arise in every reflecting 
 mind, why a Being of infinite power and wisdom could no( 
 have secured to his creatures the benefits resulting from a 
 system of death, without the attendant suffering. But this 
 question resolves itself into the inquiry, why evil exists at all ; 
 and although, in my own view, it exists most probably as a 
 means of greater happiness to the universe, yet on this point 
 the wisest minds have differed and been baffled, and equally 
 perplexing is it to every form of religion. Hence it is no 
 objection to any views we may adopt, that they leave thi? 
 question where they found it. 
 
 Tlie ffth and last step in our investigation of this subject 
 is to show how science^ experience^ and revelation may he 
 reconciled on the subject of death. 
 
 We have seen that geology is not alone in provmg death 
 
92 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 to be a law of nature, essential to the present system of the 
 world, and, indeed, indicative of divine wisdom and benevo- 
 lence. For anatomy and physiology, as well as experience, 
 teach us the same truths. And natural theology shows that, 
 if death is a law of organic nature, it must have entered into 
 the plan of the universe in the divine mind, and was not the 
 result of any change of organic nature subsequent to the fall 
 of man. Can these views be reconciled with the declarations 
 of Scripture, which certainly represent death among the 
 human family, if not among the lower animals, to be the 
 consequence of sin ? 
 
 There are three suppositions by which all apparent discre- 
 pancy between science and revelation, on this subject, may be 
 removed. I shall present them, with the arguments in their 
 favor, leaving to others to decide which is most reasonable. 
 For they are independent of one another, though not incon- 
 sistent ; and, therefore, even though different persons should 
 prefer different theories, they need not be regarded as in op- 
 position to one another. 
 
 The first theory proceeds on the supposition that death is 
 a universal law of organic nature, from which man was ex- 
 empted so long as he obeyed the law of God. But I will 
 present it in the language of its distinguished author. " In 
 the state of pristine purity," says Dr. J. Pye Smith, ** 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 his transgression, he 
 and each of his posterity, would, after faithfully sustaining 
 an individual probation, have passed through a change with- 
 out dying, and have been exalted to a more perfect state of 
 existence." — Scrip, and Geol. 4th ed. p. 208. 
 
DEATH MIGHT HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. 93 
 
 According to this theory of Dr. Smith, man saw all other 
 organic beings around him subject to decay and death, while 
 he, as a special favor, remained unaffected by the general 
 law. The penalty of disobedience was, that he would for- 
 feit this enviable distinction, and be subjected to death more 
 revolting than the brutes. The reward of obedience was a 
 continued immunity from evil, and a final translation, without 
 suffering, to a more exalted condition. And certainly the 
 nature of the case furnishes a strong presumptive argument 
 to show that man did thus stand exempted from the decay 
 and death which reigned all around him. If not, what 
 weight or meaning would there be in the penalty ? If 
 he had not seen death in other animals, how could he have 
 any idea of the nature of the threatening ? And we may be 
 sure that God never promulgates a penalty without affording 
 his subjects the means of comprehending it. 
 
 I have already intimated that I could hardly see why there 
 exists in all organic natures a tendency to decay and death, 
 except in the will of the Creator. May not that tendency 
 result, like the varieties among men, from some slightly mod- 
 ifying cause implanted by the Deity in the nature of the ani- 
 mal or plant ? And if so, might not an opposite tendency 
 be imparted to one or more species, so that the decay and 
 death of the one, and the continued existence of the other, 
 might be equally well explained on physiological principles ? 
 If this suggestion be admitted, it would not be necessary to 
 resort to any supernatural or miraculous agency to show how 
 sinless man in paradise might have stood unaffected by decay, 
 the common lot of all other races. It must be confessed, 
 however, that it is not as easy to see how, by any natural 
 law, he could have been proof against mechanical violence 
 and chemical fgencies; there we must admit miraculous 
 
94 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LATV. 
 
 protection, or a self- restoring power more wonderful than that 
 possessed by the polypi. 
 
 These views receive strong confirmation from the history 
 of the tree of life, that grew in the garden of Eden. The 
 very name implies that it was intended to give or preserve 
 life. That it had in it a power to preserve life is evident 
 from the sentence pronounced on man. And the Lord God 
 saith, Behold^ the man hath become as one of us, to know good 
 and evil ; and now, lest he should put forth his hand, and 
 take also of the tree of life, and live forever, therefore the 
 Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden. Now, 
 it appears to me to be in perfect harmony with the principles 
 of physiology to suppose that there might be a virtue in the 
 tree of life — either in its fruit or some other part — to arrest 
 that tendency to decay and dissolution which we now find in 
 all animal bodies. It does seem that it would require only 
 some slight modification of the present functions of the hu- 
 man frame to keep the wheels of life in motion indefinitely. 
 When in Eden, man had access to this sure defence against 
 disease. But after he had sinned, he must forfeit this privi- 
 lege, and, like the plants and inferior animals, submit to the 
 universal law of dissolution. Surely, of all the expositions 
 that have been given of the meaning of this passage, this is 
 the most rational, and it does throw an air of great plausibil* 
 ity over Dr. Smith's views. 
 
 ^ It will occur to every reflecting mind that we have in Scrip- 
 ture a few interesting examples of that change, without 
 dying, from the present to a higher state of being, which the 
 theory of Dr. Smith supposes would have been the happy lot 
 of all mankind had they not sinned. By faith Enoch was 
 translated, that he should not see death. He walked with God, 
 and he was not • for God took him. Glad y would philoso- 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 95 
 
 phys here interpose a thousand questions as to the manner 
 in which this wonderful change took place ; but the Scriptures 
 are silent. It was enough for the heart of piety that God was 
 the author of the change. And so, in the case of Elijah, we 
 have the sublimely simple description only — And it came to 
 pass, as they still went on and talked, that, behold, there ap- 
 peared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them 
 both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into 
 heaven. Except the transfiguration of Christ, which appears 
 to have been of an analogous character, these are all the 
 actual examples of translation on record. But the apostle 
 declares that, in the closing scene of this world's history, this 
 same change shall pass upon multitudes. Behold, I show 
 you a mystery. We shall not all sleep ; but we shall all be 
 changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
 trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be 
 raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Abundant 
 evidence is, therefore, before us, that the great change which 
 death now causes us to pass through with fear and dread, 
 might as easily have been, for the whole human family, a 
 transition delightful in anticipation and joyful in experience. 
 
 The second theory which will reconcile science and revela- 
 tion on the subject of death, is one long since illustrated by 
 Jeremy Taylor. And since he could have had no reference 
 to geology in proposing it, because geology did not exist in 
 his day, we may be sure, either that he learnt it from the 
 Bible, or that other branches of knowledge teach the exist- 
 ence of death as a general law of nature, as well as geology 
 
 '* That death, therefore," says Taylor, " which God threat- 
 ened to Adam, and which passed upon his posterity, is not 
 the going out of this world, but the manner of going. If he 
 had staid in innocence, he should have gone placidly and 
 
 
96 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 fairly, without vexatious and afflictive circumstances; he 
 should not have died by sickness, defect, misfortune, or un- 
 willingness. But when he fell, then he began to die ; the same 
 day, (God said,) and that must needs be true ; and, there- 
 fore, it must mean upon that very day he fell into an evil 
 and dangerous condition, a state of change and affliction ; 
 then death began ; that is, man began to die by a natural 
 diminution, and aptness to disease and misery. Change 
 or separation of soul and body is but accidental to death ; 
 death may be with or without either ; but the formality, the 
 curse, and the sting, — that is, misery, sorrow, fear, diminution, 
 defect, anguish, dishonor, and whatsoever is miserable and 
 afflictive in nature, — that is death. Death is not an action, but 
 a whole state and condition ; and this was first brought in 
 upon us by the offence of one man." 
 
 In more recent times, the essential features of these views 
 of Taylor have been adopted by the ablest commentators and 
 theologians, and sustained by an appeal to Scripture.* The 
 position which they take is, that the death threatened as the 
 penalty of disobedience has a more extended meaning than 
 physical death. It is a generic term, including all penal 
 evils ; so that when death is spoken of as the penalty of sin, 
 we may substitute the word curse, wrath, destruction, and the 
 like. Thus, in Gen. ii. 17, we might read, In the day thou 
 eatcst thereof, thou shalt surely be cursed ; and in Rom. v. 
 12, By one man sin entered into the world, and the curse by 
 Hn, &c. In his commentary on this passage. Professor Stu- 
 art says, " I see no philological escape from the conclusion 
 Jiat death, in the sense of penalty for sin in its full measure. 
 
 * See Stuart and Hodge on Rom. v. 12; also Chalmers's Lcc- 
 turee on Romans, Lecture 26 ; and Harris's Man Primeyal, p. 178. 
 
DEATH A GENERIC TERM. 97 
 
 must be regarded as the meaning of the writer here." The 
 same may be said of many other passages of Scripture, 
 where the term death is used. 
 
 According to this exposition, the death threatened as the 
 penalty of transgression embraces all the evils we suffer in 
 this life and in eternity ; among which the dissolution of the 
 body is not one of the worst. Indeed, some writers will not 
 admit that this was included at all in the penalty. Such, of 
 course, find no difficulty in the geological statement that 
 literal death preceded man's existence. But from the decla- 
 ration in 1 Cor. xv. 22, As in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
 shall all be made alive, it seems difficult to avoid the conclu- 
 sion, that the death of the body was brought in upon the race 
 by Adam's transgression. According to Taylor's view, how- 
 ever, we might reasonably suppose that what constituted the 
 death threatened to Adam was not the going out of the world, 
 but the manner of going, and that, had he continued holy, a 
 change of worlds might have taken place, but it would not 
 have been death. 
 
 Now, there are some facts, both in experience and revela- 
 tion, that give to these views an air of probability. One is, 
 the mild character of death in many cases, when attended by 
 only a ^qw of the circumstances above enumerated, as con- 
 stituting its essence. I believe that experience sustains the 
 conclusion already drawn as to the inferior animals, when not 
 aggravated by human cruelty. Pain is about the only cir- 
 cumstance that gives it the character of severity ; and this is 
 usually short, and not anticipated. Nor can it be doubted, as 
 a general fact, that, as we descend along the scale of animals, 
 we find the sensibility to suffering diminish. But in the hu- 
 man family we find examples still more to the point. In all 
 ^ose cases in which there is little or no disease, and a man 
 9 
 
98 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 in venerable old age feels the powers of life gradually give 
 way, and the functions are feebly performed, until the heart 
 at length ceases to beat, and the lungs to heave, death is 
 merely the quiet and unconscious termination of the scene, 
 so far as the physical nature is concerned. The brain par- 
 takes of the gradual decay, and thus the man is scarcely con- 
 scious of the failure of his powers, because his sensibilities 
 are so blunted ; and therefore, apart from sin, his mind feels 
 little of the anguish of dissolution, and he quietly resigns him- 
 self into the arms of death, — 
 
 " As sweetly as a child, 
 Whom neither thought disturbs, nor care encumbers, 
 Tired with long play, at close of summer's day, 
 Lies do^NTi and slumbers." 
 
 If now, in addition to this physical preparation for his de- 
 parture, the man possesses a deep consciousness of forgiven 
 sin, and a firm hope of future and eternal joy, this change, 
 which we call death, becomes only a joyful translation from 
 earth to heaven ; and though the man passes from our view, — 
 
 ** He sets. 
 
 As sets the morning star, which goes not down 
 Behind the darkened west, nor hides obscured 
 Among the tempests of the sky, but melts away 
 Into the light of heaven." 
 
 Nay, when such faith and hope form an anchor to the soul, 
 .t is not necessary that the physical preparation, which I have 
 described, should exist. The poor body may be torn by fierce 
 disease, nay, by the infernal cruelties of martyrdom, and yet 
 faith can rise — often has risen — over the pains of nature, 
 m joyful triumph ; and in the midst of the tempest, with her 
 
DEATH OF THE WICKED. 99 
 
 anchor fastened to the eternal Rock, she can exclaim, O death 
 where is thy sting ! O grave, where is thy victory ! Thanks 
 be to God, which giveth me the victory through my Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Surely such a dissolution as this cannot mean the 
 death mentioned in the primeval curse. 
 
 Look now at the contrast. Behold a man writhing in the 
 fangs of unrelenting disease, and feeling at the same time the 
 scorpion sting of a guilty conscience. His present suffering 
 is terrible, but that in prospect is more so ; yet he cannot 
 bribe the king of terrors to delay the fatal stroke. 
 
 "The foe, 
 Like a stanch murderer, steady to his pippose, 
 Urges the soul through every nook and lane of life." 
 
 It were enough for an unruffled mind to bear the bodily 
 anguish of that dying hour. But the unpardoned sins of a 
 whole life, and the awful retributions of a whole eternity, come 
 crowding into that point of time ; and no human fortitude can 
 stand under the crushing load. This, this is emphatically 
 death ; the genuine fruit of sin, and therefore in correspond- 
 ence with the original threatening. 
 
 If we turn now to the Scriptures, we shall find some pas- 
 sages in striking agreement with the opinion that the death 
 threatened to man was not the mere dissolution of the body 
 and soul ; not a mere going out of the world, but the manner 
 of going. 
 
 This is, indeed, made exceedingly probable by the facts 
 already stated respecting the translation of Enoch and Elijah, 
 and those alive at the coming of Christ. For the sacred writers 
 do not call this death, although it be a removal out of the world, 
 and a transformation of the natural into the spiritual body. 
 Hence, upon the material part of men, the same effects were 
 
100 DEATH A UNIYBBSAL LAW. 
 
 produced as result from ordinary death, and the subsequent 
 resurrection. 
 
 If we recur to the original threatening of death as the con- 
 sequence of sin, we shall find a peculiarity in the form of 
 expression, which our English translators have rendered by 
 the phrase thou shall surely die ; but literally it should be, 
 dying thou shall die. 
 
 This mode of expression is indeed very common in the 
 Hebrew language ; but it certainly was meant to indicate an 
 intensity in the meaning, as in the phrase blessing I will 
 bless thee,, and multiplying I will multiply thee ; that is, I 
 will greatly multiply thee. Must it not imply, in the case 
 under consideration, at least that the death which would be 
 the consequence of transgression, would possess an aggra- 
 vated character .? May it not imply as much as Taylor's the- 
 ory supposes ? Might it not be intended to teach Adam that, 
 when he died, his death should not be simply the dissolution 
 of the animal fabric, and the loss of animal life, as he wit- 
 nessed it in the inferior creatures around him ; but a change 
 far more agonizing, in which the mental suffering should so 
 much outweigh the corporeal as to constitute, in fact, its es- 
 sence ? I do not assert that this passage has such an extended 
 meaning, but I suggest it. And I confess that I do not see 
 why its peculiarity of form is understood in our common trans- 
 lation to imply certainty rather than intensity. 
 
 There is another part of the threatening that deserves con- 
 sideration. It says, that man should not only die, but die the 
 very day of the offence. Now, if by death we understood 
 merely a removal out of the world, or a separation of soul and 
 body, the threatening was not executed after the forbidden 
 fruit was tasted. But if it meant also, and chiefly, a state of 
 sorrow, pain, and sufieriog, a liability to disease and fatal 
 
THE ESSENCE OF DEATH. 101 
 
 accident, the goadings of a guilty conscience, and the conse- 
 quent fear of punishment beyond the grave, then death began 
 on the very day when man sinned, and the dissolution of the 
 soul and body was but the closing scene of the tragedy. 
 
 The beautiful passage in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
 already quoted, where the Christian, in view of death, exult- 
 mgly exclaims, O death, where is thy sting ! O grave, where 
 is thy victory ! will doubtless occur to all who hear me, in this 
 connection. Here the sting of death is expressly declared to 
 be sin, and that the pardoned Christian obtains the victory over 
 it. To him all that renders this king of terrors formidable is 
 gone. Its physical sufferings may indeed be left, but these 
 are hardly worth naming, when that which constitutes the 
 sting of this great enemy — unpardoned guilt — is taken away. 
 Little more than his harmless shadow is left. Worlds, indeed, 
 are to be exchanged, and so they must have been if Adam 
 had never been driven from paradise. The eyes, too, must 
 close on beloved friends ; but how soon to open them upon 
 the bright glories of heaven ! In short, the strong impression 
 of this passage upon the mind is, that the essential thing in 
 death is unpardoned sin ; and therefore the death threatened 
 to Adam may have been only the terrible aggravations of a 
 departure out of this world, which have followed in the train 
 of transgression. 
 
 Another striking passage, bearing upon the same point, is 
 the declaration of Paul, that Jesus Christ hath abolished death, 
 and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 
 
 The apostle does not surely mean that Christians are freed 
 from what is commonly called death, since universal experi- 
 ence shows that animal life in them is as sure to be extin- 
 guished, and the soul to be separated from the body, as in 
 Others. But so different is death now, since Christ has brought 
 9* 
 
102 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 to light a future and an immortal life, and by the sacrifice of 
 himself shown how the heart may be reconciled to God, and 
 sin forgiven, and faith inspired, that, in fact, while the shadow 
 of death still occupies the passage to eternity, its substance 
 is gone. 
 
 That death, which sin introduced, Christ has abolished, be- 
 cause, by his sacrifice and his grace, he has conquered sin. 
 
 Upon the whole, though we may not be convinced that 
 either of the theories that have been explamed is directly 
 taught in the Scriptures, or can be shown to be mfallibly true, 
 yet they are sustained by probable evidence enough to remove 
 the apprehension that there is any real discrepancy between 
 geology and revelation on the subject of death. Between 
 these theories there is but a slight difference. They are in 
 fact but modifications of the same general pnnciples ; and I 
 say it would be more philosophical to admit the truth of either 
 of them, than a disagreement between science and Scripture, 
 since the truth of both geology and revelation is sustained by 
 such a mass of independent evidence. 
 
 An objection, however, may be stated against both of these 
 theories, on the ground that they seem to imply that death 
 would have existed in the world, irrespective of the sin of 
 man, and therefore they lessen our sense of the evil of sin. 
 
 It may be doubted, I think, whether these theories do neces 
 sarily imply that there was no connection between the sin of 
 man and the introduction of death into the world. But, ad- 
 mitting that ihoy do, is it certain that inadequate views of sin 
 are the result ? For poetic effect, we admire the sublime 
 sentimental ism of Milton : — 
 
 ** Earth felt the wound ; and Natiire, from her seat. 
 Sighing through all her workB, gave signs of woe 
 That all was lost" 
 
EFFECTS OF SIN. lOP 
 
 But, after all, the deepest impression we get of the evil of 
 sin is derived from contemplating its effects upon man, and 
 especially the immortal mind. Witness its lofty powers 
 bowed down in ignominious servitude to base corporeal appe- 
 tites and furious and debasing passions. See how the under- 
 standing is darkened, the will perverted, and the heart alienated 
 from all that is holy. See reason and conscience dethroned, 
 and selfishness reigning in gloomy and undisputed tyranny 
 over the immortal mind, while appetite and passion have be- 
 come its obsequious panders. See how the affections turn 
 away with loathing from God, and what a wall of separation 
 has sprung up between man and his Maker ; how deeply and 
 universally he has revolted from his rightful sovereign, and 
 has chosen other gods to rule over him. Consider, too, what 
 havoc has been made in the body, that curious and wonderful 
 workmanship of the Almighty ; how the unbridled appetites 
 have sown the seeds of disease therein, and how pain, languor, 
 and decay assail the constitution as soon as we begin to live, 
 and cease not their attacks till they triumph over the citadel 
 of life. Consult the history of the world, and what a lazar- 
 house and a Golgotha has it been ! What land has not been 
 drenched in human blood, poured out in ferocious war ! What 
 oceans of tears has the thirsty soil drank up ! What breeze 
 has ever blown over the land which has not been loaded with 
 sighs, and groans, and the story of wrong and oppression, of 
 treachery and murder, of suicide and assassination, of blasted 
 hopes and despairing hearts ! These, therefore, are the gen- 
 uine fruits of sin. This, this is death. And, need I add 
 that these are but the precursors of the second death .? 
 
 The third theory respecting death takes a more compre- 
 hensive view of the subject, and traces its origin to the divine 
 plan of the creation. 
 
i(k 
 
 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 In creating this world, God did not act without a plan pre- 
 viously determined upon in all its details. Of course, man's 
 character and condition formed prominent items in that plan. 
 His apostasy, too, however some would hesitate to regard it 
 as predetermined, all will allow to have been foreknown. 
 Now, I maintain that God, in the beginning, adapted every 
 other being and event in the world to man's character and 
 condition, so that there should be entire harmony in its sys- 
 tem. And since, either in the divine appointment, or in 
 the nature of things, there is an inseparable connection be- 
 tween sin and death, the latter must constitute a feature of 
 the system of the world, because a free agent would intro- 
 duce the former. Death would ultimately exist in the world, 
 and, therefore, all creatures placed in such a world must be 
 made mortal, at whatever period created. For mortal and 
 immortal natures could not exist in the same natural consti- 
 tution, nor could a condition adapted to undying creatures be 
 changed into a state of decay and death without an entirely 
 new creation. Death, therefore, entered into the original 
 plan of the world in the divine mind, and was endured by 
 the animals and plants that lived anterior to man. Yet, as 
 the constitution of the world is, doubtless, very different from 
 what it would have been if sin had not existed in it, and as 
 man alone was capable of sin, it is proper to regard man's 
 transgression as the occasion of all the suffering and death 
 that existed on the globe since its creation. 
 
 It will probably be objected to this theory, that it is unjust 
 to make animals suffer for man's apostasy, especially before 
 it took place. 
 
 I do not see why such suffering is any more unjust before 
 than after man's transgression ; and we know that they do 
 now suffer in consequence of his sin. But this suffering is 
 
DEATH OF ANIMALS. 105 
 
 not to be regarded in the light of punishment ; and if it can 
 only be proved that benevolence predominates in the condi- 
 tion of animals, notwithstanding their sufferings, divine justice 
 and benevolence are vindicated ; and can there be any doubt 
 that such is the fact ? Death is not necessarily an evil to any 
 animals. It may be a great blessing, by removing them to 
 a higher state of existence. In the case of the inferior ani- 
 mals, it is but a small drawback upon the pleasure of life, 
 even though they do not exist hereafter. We have endeav- 
 ored to show that even the existence of carnivorous races is a 
 benevolent provision. That animals are placed in an inferior 
 condition, in consequence of man's apostasy, is no more cause 
 of complaint than that man is made a little lower than the angels. 
 
 Another objection to these views is, that it makes the effect 
 precede the cause ; for it represents the pre-Adamic animals 
 as dying in consequence of man's transgression. 
 
 I do not maintain that the death of animals, before or after 
 Adam, was the direct and natural consequence of his trans- 
 gression. Nay, I am endeavoring to show directly the con- 
 trary. But, then, the certainty of man's apostasy might have 
 been the grand reason in the divine mind for giving to the 
 world its present constitution, and subjecting animals to death. 
 Not that God altered his plan upon a prospective knowledge 
 that man would sin ; but he made this plan originally, that is 
 from eternity, with that event in view, and he made it differ- 
 ent from what it would have been, if such an event had not 
 been certain. If this be true, then was there a connection 
 between man's sin and the death that reigned before his exist 
 ence ; though, in strict accuracy of speech, one can hardly 
 be called the cause of the other. And yet it was, as I main- 
 tain, occasioned by man's sin, and shows the wide-spread 
 influence of that occurrence, even more strikingly than the 
 ordinary theory of death. 
 
106 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 A third objection to this theory is, that it represents God as 
 putting man in a place of punishment before he had sinned ; 
 or, at least, in a state where death was the universal law, and 
 where he must die, though he should keep the law of God. 
 
 There are three suppositions, either of which will meet 
 this difficulty. 
 
 We may suppose, with Jeremy Taylor, that the death 
 threatened to Adam consisted, not in going out of the world, 
 but in the manner of going. If he had not sinned, the ex- 
 change of worlds would have been without fear or suffering, 
 and an object of desire rather than aversion. Christ has not 
 secured to the believer the privilege of an earthly immortal- 
 ity, but has taken away from a removal out of the world all 
 that constitutes death. 
 
 Or we may suppose, with Dr. J. Pye Smith, that, while 
 man should continue to keep the divine law, he would be 
 secured from that tendency to decay and dissolution, which 
 was the common lot of all other creatures, until the time 
 should come for his removal, without suffering or dread, to a 
 higher state of existence. And that a means of immunity 
 from death existed in the garden of Eden we learn from the 
 Scriptures. For there stood the tree of life, whose fruit had 
 the power to make man live forever, and, therefore, he must 
 be banished from the spot where it grew. 
 
 Or, finally, we may suppose that God fitted up for man 
 some balmy spot, where neither decay nor death could enter, 
 and where every thing was adapted for a being of perfect 
 holiness and happiness. His privilege was to dwell there, so 
 long as he could preserve his innocence, but no longer. And 
 surely this supposition seems to accord with tlie description 
 of the garden of Eden, man's first dwelling-place. There 
 every thing seems to have been adapted to his happiness ; 
 but sin drove him out among the thorns and thistles, and a 
 
ADVANTAGES OF THIS THEORY. 107 
 
 cherubim and a flaming sword forbade his return to the tree 
 of life. 
 
 Either of these suppositions will meet the difficulty suggest- 
 ed by the objection ; or they may all be combined consist- 
 ently. Let us now look at some of the advantages of the 
 third theory above advanced. 
 
 In the first place, it satisfactorily harmonizes revelation with 
 geology, physiology, and experience, on the subject of death. 
 It agrees with physiology and experience in representing 
 death to be a law of organic being on the globe. Yet it accords 
 with revelation, in showing how this law may be a result of 
 man's apostasy ; and with geology, also, in showing how 
 death might have reigned over animals and plants before 
 man's existence. To remove so many apparent discrepancies 
 is surely a presumption in favor of any theory. 
 
 In the second place, the fundamental principle of this the- 
 ory is also a fundamental principle of natural and revealed 
 theology, viz., that all events in this world entered originally 
 into the plan or purpose of the Deity. To suppose that God 
 made the world without a plan previously determined upon, 
 is to make him less wise than a human architect, who would 
 be charged with great folly to attempt building even a house 
 without a plan. And to suppose that plan not to extend to 
 every event, is to rob God of his infinite attributes. 
 
 In the third place, this theory falls in with the common 
 interpretation of Scripture, which refers the whole system of 
 suffering, decay, and death in this world to man's apostasy. 
 And although the general reception of any exegesis of Scrip- 
 ture does not prove it to be correct, it is certainly gratifying 
 when a thorough examination proves the obvious sense of 
 a passage to be the true one. For to disturb the popular 
 interpretation is, with many, equivalent to a denial of 
 Scripture, 
 
108 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 In the fourtli place, this theory shows us the infinite skih 
 and benevolence of Jehovah in educing good from evil. 
 
 The free agency of man was an object in the highest de- 
 gree desirable. Yet such a character made him liable to 
 fall ; and God knew that he would fall. To human sagacity 
 that act would seem to seal up his fate forever. But infinite 
 wisdom saw that the case was not hopele'ss. It placed him 
 in a state of temporal suffering and temporal death, that he 
 might still have a chance of escaping eternal suffering and 
 eternal death. The discipline of such a world was eminently 
 adapted to restore his lost purity, and death was probably the 
 only means by which a fallen being could pass to a higher 
 state of existence. That discipline, indeed, if rightly im- 
 proved, would probably fit him for a higher degree of holiness 
 and happiness than if he had never sinned ; so as to make 
 true the paradoxical sentiment of the poet, — 
 
 " Death gives us more than was in Eden lost." 
 
 Misimproved, this discipline would result in an infinite loss, 
 far greater than if man never passed through it. But this is 
 all the fault of man ; while all the benefit of a state of pro- 
 bation is the result of God's infinite wisdom and benevolence. 
 
 In the fifth place, this theory relieves us from the absurditjr 
 of supposing that God was compelled to alter the plan of 
 creation after man's apostasy. 
 
 The common theory does convey an idea not much differ- 
 ent from this. It makes the impression that God was disap- 
 pointed when man sinned, and being thereby thwarted in his 
 original purpose, he did the best he could by changing his 
 plan, just as men do when some unexpected occurrence inter- 
 feres with their short-sighted contrivances. Now, such an 
 anthropomorphic view of God is inexcusable in the nine- 
 teenth century. It was necessary to use such representations 
 
DID GOD CHANGE HIS PLAN ? 109 
 
 m he early ages of the world, when pure spiritual ideas 
 we/« unknown ; and hence the Bible describes God as repent- 
 ing and grieved that he had made man. But with the light 
 of the New Testament and of modern science, we ought to 
 be able to enucleate the true spiritual idea from such descrip- 
 tions. The theory under consideration does not reduce Goa 
 to any after-thought expedients, but makes provision for every 
 occurrence in his original plan ; and, of course, shows that 
 every event takes place as he would have it, when viewed 
 b its relations to the great system of the universe. 
 
 In the sixth place, this theory sheds some light upon the 
 important question, why God permitted the introduction of 
 death into the world. 
 
 It is difficult for some persons to conceive why God, when 
 he foresaw Adam's apostasy, did not change his plan of crea- 
 tion, and exclude so terrible an evil as death. But according 
 to this theory, he permitted it, because it was a necessary 
 part of a great system of restoration, by which the human 
 race might, if not recreant to their true interests, be restored 
 to more than their primeval blessedness. It was not intro- 
 duced as a mere punishment, but as a necessary means of 
 raising a fallen being into a higher state of life and blessedness ; 
 or, if he perversely spurned the offered boon, of sinking him 
 down to the deeper wretchedness which is the just conse- 
 quence of unrepented sin, without even the sympathy of any 
 part of the created universe. 
 
 Finally. This subject throws some light upon that strange 
 mixture of good and evil, which exists in the present world. 
 We have seen, indeed, that benevolence decidedly predomi- 
 nates in all the arrangements of nature ; and we are called 
 upon continually to admire the adaptation of external nature 
 to the human constitution. A large portion of our sufferings 
 10 
 
110 DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW. 
 
 here may also be imputed to our own sins, or the sms of oth 
 ers ; and these we cannot charge upon God. But, after all, it 
 seems difficult to conceive how even a sinless man could escape 
 a large amount of suffering here ; enough, indeed, to make 
 him often sigh for deliverance and for a better state. How 
 many sources of sufferings there are in unhealthy climates, 
 mechanical violence, and chemical agents ; in a sterile soil, 
 in the excessive heats of the tropical regions, and extreme 
 cold of high latitudes ; in the encroachments and ferocity of 
 the inferior animals ; in poisons, mineral, vegetable, and ani- 
 mal ; in food unfitted to the digestive and assimilating organs ; 
 in the damps and miasms of night ; and in the frequent neces- 
 sity for over-exertion of body and mind ! And then, how many 
 hinderances to the exercise of the mental powers, in all the 
 causes that have beer, mentioned ! and how does the soul feel 
 that she is imprisoned in flesh and blood, and her energies 
 cramped, and her vision clouded, by a gross corporeal me- 
 dium ! And thus it is, to a great extent, with all nature 
 especially animal nature ; and I cannot but believe, as already 
 intimated, that Paul had these very things in mind when hi- 
 said, The whole creation groaneth and travailelh together it 
 pain until now, and waiteth for the manifestation of the sons 
 of God ; that is, for emancipation from its present depressed 
 and fettered condition. In short, while there is so much in 
 this world to call forth our admiration and gratitude to God, 
 there is enough to make us feel, also, that it is a fallen con- 
 dition. It is not such a world as infinite benevolence would 
 provide for perfectly holy beings, whom he desired to make 
 perfectly happy, but rather such a world as is adapted for a 
 condition of trial and preparation for a higher state, when 
 both mind and body would be delivered from the fetters that 
 now cramp their exercise. 
 Now, the theory which I advocate asserts that this pcculia: 
 
THE FIRST ACT OF THE DRAMA. Ill 
 
 condition of the world resulted from the divine determination, 
 upon a prospective view of man's transgression. It may, 
 therefore, be properly regarded as occasioned by man's trans- 
 gression, but not in the common meaning attached to that 
 phrase, which is, that, before man's apostasy, the constitution 
 of the world was different from what it now is, and death did 
 not exist. This theory supposes God to have devised the 
 present peculiar mixed condition of the world, as to good and 
 evil, in eternity, in order to give man an opportunity to rescue 
 himself from the penalty and misery of sin ; and in order to 
 introduce those who should do this into a higher state of ex- 
 istence. The plan, therefore, is founded in infinite wisdom 
 and benevolence, while it brings out man's guilt, and the evil 
 of sin, in appalling distinctness and magnitude. 
 
 But, after all, how little idea would a man have of the entire 
 plot of a play, who had heard only a part of the first act ! 
 How little could he judge of the bearing of the first scene 
 upon the final development ! Yet we are now only in the 
 first act of the great drama of human existence. Death shows 
 us that we shall ere long be introduced into a second act, and 
 affords a presumption that other acts — it may be in an end- 
 less series — will succeed, before the whole plot shall have 
 passed before us ; and not till then can we be certain what 
 are all the objects to be accomplished by the introduction of 
 sin and death into our world. And if thus early we can 
 catch glimpses of great benefit to result from these evils, what 
 full conviction, that infinite benevolence has planned and con- 
 summated the whole, will be forced upon the mind, when the 
 vast panorama of God's dispensations shall lie spread out in 
 the memory ! For that time shall Faith wait, in confident 
 hope that all her doubts and darkness shall be converted into 
 noonday brightness. 
 
(112) 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 rHE NOACHIAN DELUGE COMPARED WITH THE 
 GEOLOGICAL DELUGES. 
 
 The historj' of opinions respecting the deluge of Noah is 
 one of the most curious and instructive in the annals of man. 
 In this field, Christians have often broken lances with infidels, 
 and also with one another. The unbeliever has confidently 
 maintained that the Bible history of the deluge is at war with 
 the facts and reasonings of science. Equally confident has 
 been the believer that nature bears strong testimony to its oc- 
 currence. Some Christians, however, have asserted, with the 
 infidel, that no trace remains on the face of nature of such an 
 event. And as this is a subject which men are apt to sup- 
 pose themselves masters of, when they have only skimmed 
 the surface, the contest between these different parties has 
 been severe and protracted. Almost every geological change 
 which the earth has undergone, from its centre to its circum- 
 ference, has, at one time or another, been ascribed to this 
 deluge. And so plain has this seemed to those who had only a 
 partial view of the facts, that those who doubted it were often 
 denounced as enemies of revelation. But most of these opin- 
 ions and this dogmatism are now abandoned, because both 
 Nature and Scripture are better understood. And among well- 
 informed geologists, at least, the opinion is almost universal, 
 that there are no facts in their science which can be clearly 
 referred to the Noachian deluge ; that is, no traces in nature 
 
TRADITIONS OF A DELUGE. 114 
 
 of that event ; and on the other hand, that there is nothing 
 in the Mosaic account of the deluge which would necessarily- 
 lead us to expect permanent marks of such a catastrophe 
 within or upon the earth. 
 
 If such be the case, you will doubtless inquire, what con- 
 nection there is between geology and the revealed history of i 
 the deluge, and why the subject should be introduced into this 
 series of lectures. I reply, that so recently have correct 
 views been entertained on this subject, and so little understood 
 are they, that they need to be defined and explained. And 
 if the distribution of animals and plants on the globe come 
 within the province of geology, then this science has a very 
 important point of connection with the history of the deluge, 
 as will appear in the sequel. And finally, the history of opin- 
 ions on this subject is full of instruction to those who under- 
 take to reason on the connection between science and religion. 
 Obviously, then, my first object should be to give a brief his- 
 tory of the views that have been entertained respecting the 
 deluge of Noah, so far as they have been supposed to have 
 any connection with geology. 
 
 It is well known, that in the written and unwritten tradi- 
 tions of almost every nation and tribe under heaven, the story 
 of a general deluge has been prominent ; and probably, in all 
 these cases, some attempt has been made to explain the man- 
 ner in which the waters were brought over the land. But- 
 most of these reasonings, especially in ancient times, are too 
 absurd to deserve even to be recited. Indeed, it is not till the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century, that we find any discus- 
 sions on the subject worthy of notice. At that time, some 
 excavations at Verona, in Italy, brought to light many fossil 
 shells, and awakened a question as Jo their origin. Some 
 maintained that they were only simulacra^ or resemblances 
 10* 
 
114 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES C0MPAF'5D. 
 
 to animals, but never had a real existence. They were sup- 
 posed to have been produced by a certain " materia pinguis,^' 
 or " fatty matter," existing in the earth. Others maintained 
 that they were deposited by the deluge of Noah. Such, in- 
 deed, was the general opinion ; but Fracastoro and a few 
 others maintained that they were once real animals, and could 
 not have been brought into their present condition by the last 
 deluge. For more than three hundred years have these ques- 
 tions been more or less discussed ; and though decided many 
 years ago by all geologists, not a few intelligent men still 
 maintain, that petrified shells are mere abortive resemblances 
 of real beings, or that they were deposited by the deluge. 
 
 The advocates of the diluvial origin of petrifactions soon 
 found themselves hard pressed with the question, how these 
 relics could be scattered through strata many thousand feet 
 thick, by one transient flood. They, therefore, came to the con- 
 clusion, in the words of Woodward, a distinguished cosmogo- 
 nist of the eighteenth century, that the " whole terrestrial globe 
 was taken to pieces and dissolved at the flood, and the strata 
 settled down from this promiscuous mass, as any earthy sedi. 
 ment from a fluid." During that century, many works ap- 
 peared upon cosmogony, defending similar views, by such 
 men as Burnet, Scheuchzer, and Catcott. Some of these 
 works exhibited no little ability, mixed, however, with hypoth- 
 eses so extravagant that they have ever since been the butt 
 of ridicule. The very title of Burnet's work cannot but pro- 
 voke a smile. It is called " The Sacred Theory of the Earth, 
 containing an Account of the Original of the Earth, and of all 
 the general Changes it hath already undergone, or is to undergo, 
 till the Consummation of all Things." He maintained that the 
 primitive earth was only " an orbicular crust, smooth, regular, 
 and uniform, without mountains and without a sea." This crust 
 
115 
 
 rested on the surface of a watery abyss, and, being heated by 
 the sun, became chinky ; and in consequence of the rarefac- 
 tion of the included vapors, it burst asunder, and fell down 
 into the waters, and so was comminuted and dissolved, while 
 the inhabitants perished. Catcott's work was confined exclu- 
 sively to the deluge, and exhibited a good deal of ability. He 
 endeavored to show, that this dissolution of the earth by the 
 deluge was taught in the Scriptures, and his reasoning on that 
 point is a fine example of the state of biblical interpretation 
 in his day. " As there are other texts," says he, " which 
 mention the dissolution of the earth, it may be proper to cite 
 them. Ps. xlvi. 2. God is our refuge ; therefore will we not 
 fear though the earth he removed^ [be changed, be quite al- 
 tered, as it was at the deluge.] God tittered his voice, the earth 
 melted, [flowed, dissolved to atoms.] Again, Job xxviii. 9. 
 He sent his hand [the expansion, his instrument, or the agent 
 by which he worked] against the rock, he overturned the 
 mountains hy the roots, he caused the rivers to hurst forth from 
 hetween the rocks, [or broke open the fountains of the abyss.] 
 His eye [symbolically placed for light] saw [passed through, 
 or between] every minute thing, [every atom, and so dis- 
 solved the whole.] He [at last] hound up the waters from 
 weeping, [i. e. from pressing through the shell of the earth, as 
 tears make their way through the orb of the eye ; or, as it is 
 related, (Gen. viii. 2,) He stopped the fountains of the ahyss 
 and the windoics of heaven,'] and brought out the light from 
 its hiding-place, [i. e., from the inward parts of the earth, from 
 between every atom where it lay hid, and kept each atom 
 separate from the other, and so the whole in a state of disso- 
 lution ; his bringing out those parts of the light which caused 
 the dissolution would of course permit the agents to act in 
 their usual way, and so reform the earth."] — Treatise on the 
 ripJufre. n. 43, (London, 1761.) 
 
116 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 We can hardly believe at the present day, that a logical 
 and scientific mind, like that of Catcoti, could satisfy itself, by 
 such a dreamy exegesis, that the Scriptures teach the earth's 
 dissolution at the deluge ; especially when they so distinctly de- 
 scribe the waters of the deluge, as first rising over the land, and 
 then sinking back to their original position. Still more strange 
 is it how Burnet could have thought it consistent with Scripture 
 to suppose the earth, before the flood, " to have been covered 
 with an orbicular crust, smooth, regular, and uniform, without 
 mountains and without a sea," when the Bible so distinctly 
 states, as the work of the third day, that the waters under the 
 heavens were gathered together unto one place, and the dry 
 land appeared ; and that God called the dry land earth, and 
 the gathering together of the waters he called seas ; and fur- 
 ther, that, by the deluge, all the high hills were covered. Yet 
 these men doubtless supposed that, by the views which they 
 advocated, they were defending the Holy Scriptures. Nay, 
 their views were long regarded as exclusively the orthodox 
 views, and opposition to them was considered, for one or two 
 centuries, as virtual opposition to the Bible. Truly, this, in 
 biblical interpretation, was straining at a gnat and swallowing 
 a camel. 
 
 It is quite convenient to explain such anomalies in human 
 belief, by referring them to the spirit of the age, or to the 
 want of the light of modern science. But in the present case, 
 we cannot thus easily dispose of the difficulty. For in our 
 own day, we have seen these same absurdities of opinion 
 maintained by a really scientific man, selected to write one 
 of the Bridgewater Treatises, as one of the most learned men 
 in Great Britain. I refer to Rev. William Kirby, evidently a 
 thorough entomologist and a sincere Christian. But he adopts 
 the opinion, not only that there exists a subterranean abyss of 
 
HUTCHINSONIANISM. 117 
 
 waters, but a subterranean metropolis of animals, where the 
 huge leviathians, the gigantic saurians, dug out of the rocks 
 by the geologist, still survive ; and this he endeavors to prove 
 from the Bible. For this purpose he quotes the passage in 
 Psalms, though thou hast sore broken us in the place of 
 dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. His ex- 
 position of this text is much in the style of that already given 
 from Catcott. Following that writer and Hutchinson, he en- 
 deavors to show, by a still more fanciful interpretation, that 
 the phrase " windows of heaven," in Genesis, means cracks 
 and volcanic rents in the earth, through which air and water 
 rushed inwardly and outwardly with such violence as to tear 
 the crust to pieces. This was the effect of the increasing 
 waters of the deluge ; the bringing together of these commi- 
 nuted particles, so as to form the present strata, was the work 
 of the subsiding waters. 
 
 These views will seem very strange to those not familiar 
 with the history of geology. But we shall find their origin, 
 if a few facts be stated respecting what has been called the 
 physico-theological school of writers, that originated with one 
 Hutchinson, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. He 
 was a disciple of the distinguished cosmogonist Woodward. 
 But he attacked the views of his master, as well as those of 
 Sir Isaac Newton on gravitation, in a work which he pub- 
 lished in twelve octavo volumes, entitled " Moses'^s Prin- 
 cipia.^'' He there maintains that the Scriptures, when rightly 
 understood, contain a complete system of natural philosophy. 
 
 This dogma, advocated by Hutchinson with the most intol- 
 erant spirit, constitutes the leading peculiarity of the physico- 
 theological school, and has been very widely adopted, and 
 has exerted a most pernicious influence both upon religion 
 and upon science. It is painful, therefore, to find so learned 
 
118 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 and excellent a man as Mr. Kirby so deeply imbued with it, 
 80 long after its absurdity has been shown again and again. 
 It is devoutly to be wished that the cabalistic dreams of 
 Hutchinsonianism are not to be extensively revived in our 
 day. And, indeed, such is the advanced state of her- 
 meneutical knowledge, that we have little reason to fear it 
 Nevertheless, its leaven is yet by no means thoroughly purged 
 out from the literary community. 
 
 It was one of the settled principles of the physico-theologi- 
 cal school, that, since the creation, the earth has undergone 
 no important change beneath the surface, except at the del- 
 uge, because it was supposed that the Bible mentions no other 
 event that could produce any important change. Hence all 
 marks of changes in the rocks since their original creation 
 must be referred to the deluge. And especially when it was 
 found that most of the petrifactions in the rocks were of 
 marine origin, not only were they supposed to be the result 
 of the deluge, but a most conclusive proof of that event. 
 And this opinion is even yet very widely received by the 
 Christian world. The argument in its favor, when stated in 
 a popular manner to those not familiar with geology, is indeed 
 quite imposing. For if the land, almost every where, even 
 to the tops of some of its highest mountains, abounds in sea 
 shells, this is just what wc should expect, if the sea flowed over 
 those mountains at the deluge. But the moment we come to 
 examine the details respecting marine petrifactions, we see 
 that nothing can be more absurd than to suppose them the 
 result of a transient deluge. Yet this view is maintained in 
 nearly all the popular commentaries of the present day upon 
 Genesis, and in many respectable periodicals. It is taught, 
 therefore, in the Sabbath school and in the family ; and the 
 *' ild, as he grows up, is shocked to find the geologist assailing 
 
THE PHYSICO-THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. 119 
 
 it ; and when he finds it false, he is in danger of becoming 
 jealous of the other evidences of Christianity which he has 
 been taught. 
 
 Another branch of the modern physico-theological school, 
 embracing men who have read too much on the subject of 
 geology to be able to believe in the dissolution of the globe 
 by the deluge, have adopted a more plausible hypothesis. They 
 suppose that between the creation and the deluge, or in six- 
 teen hundred and fifty-six years, according to the received 
 chronology, all the present fossiliferous rocks of our conti- 
 nents, more than six miles in thickness, were deposited at the 
 bottom of the ocean. By that event, they were raised from 
 beneath the waters, and the continents previously existing 
 sunk down and disappeared ; so that the land now inhabited 
 was formerly the ocean's bed. To prove that such a change 
 took place at the deluge, Granville Penn and Fairholme quote 
 the declaration of God, in Genesis, respecting the flood — 
 I will destroy them, (i. e., men,) and the earth, or with the 
 earth; also the statement of Peter — The world that then 
 was, being overflowed with water, perished. The terms earth 
 and world may mean either the solid globe, or the animal? 
 and plants upon it. If in these passages they have the latter 
 meaning, then they simply teach that the deluge destroyed 
 the natural life of organic beings. If they have the formei 
 meaning, then the inquiry arises. What are we to understand 
 by the destruction here described } It may mean annihila- 
 tion, or it may imply ruin in some respects. That annihila- 
 tion did not result from the deluge is evident from the case 
 of rnen, who suffered only temporal death, and even this was 
 not universal ; and we know, also, that the matter of the 
 earth did not perish. We must resort, therefore, to the 
 sacred history to learn how far the destruction extended 
 
120 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 That history seems very plain. There was a rain of forty 
 days, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up ; 
 that is, as Professor Stuart happily expresses it, " The ocean 
 overflowed while the rain descended in vast quantities." The 
 waters gradually rose over the dry land, and after a hundred 
 and fifty days, began to subside, and at the end of a year and 
 a few days they were gone. Such an overflowing could not 
 take place without producing the almost entire destruction 
 of organic life, and making extensive havoc with the soil, 
 especially as a wind assisted in driving these waters from the 
 land. But there is nothing in the narrative that would lead 
 us to suppose either a comminution or dissolution of the 
 earth, or the elevation of the ocean's bed. The same land 
 which was overflowed is described as again emerging. In- 
 deed, a part of the rivers proceeding out of the garden of 
 Eden are the same as those now existing on the globe. We 
 must then admit that our present continents, — certainly the 
 Asiatic, — are the same as the antediluvian, or deny that the 
 account of Eden, in Genesis, is a part of the Bible. The 
 latter alternative is preferred by Penn and Fairholme. 
 Surely such men ought to be cautious how they censure 
 geologists for modifying the meaning of some verses in Gen* 
 esis, when they thus, without any evidence of its spurious- 
 ness, unceremoniously erase so important a passage. 
 
 I might add to all this that the facts of geology forbid the 
 idea that our present continents formed the bed of the ocean 
 at so recent a date as that of Noah's deluge, and that the sup- 
 position that all organic remains were deposited during the 
 two thousand years between the six days' work and the del- 
 uge is totally irreconcilable with all correct philosophy. 
 Why, during the time when the fossiliferous rocks were in a 
 course of formation, four or five entirely distinct races of 
 
SUPPOSED TRACES OF NOAH's DELUGE. 121 
 
 animals and plants successively occupied the land and the 
 waters, and passed away in regular order ; and these races 
 were so unlike, that they could not have been contemporane- 
 ous. Who will maintain that all this took place in the short 
 period of two thousand years ? I am sure that no geologist 
 will. 
 
 But modern geologists have, until recently, supposed that 
 the traces of Noah's deluge might still be seen upon the 
 earth's surface. I say its surface ; for none of them imagined 
 those effects could have reached to a great depth. Over a 
 large part of the northern hemisphere they found extensive 
 accumulations of grave! and bowlders, which had been re- 
 moved often a great distance from their parent rocks, while the 
 ledges beneath were smoothed and striated, obviously by the 
 grating over them of these piles of detritus. How very nat- 
 ural to refer these effects to the agency of currents of water ; 
 just such currents as might have resulted from a universal 
 deluge. But the inference was a hasty one For when geol- 
 ogists came to study the phenomena of drift or diluvium, as 
 these accumulations of travelled matter are called, they found 
 that currents of water alone would not explain them all. 
 Some other agency must have been concerned ; and the gen- 
 eral opinion now is, that drift has been the result of the joint 
 action of water and ice ; and nearly all geologists suppose 
 that this action took place before man's existence on the 
 globe. Some suppose it to have been the result of oceanic 
 currents, while yet our continents were beneath the waters ; 
 others think that the northern ocean may have been thrown 
 southerly over the dry land by the elevation of its bed ; and 
 others maintain that vast masses of ice may formerly have en- 
 circled high latitudes, whose glaciers, melting away, may have 
 driven towards the equator the great quantities of drift and 
 11 
 
122 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 bowlders which have been carried in that direction. In short, 
 it is now found that this is one of the most difficult problems 
 in geology ; and while most geologists agree that both ice and 
 water have been concerned in producing the phenomena, the 
 time and manner of their action are not yet very satisfactorily 
 determined. They may have acted at different periods and 
 in divers manners; but all the phenomena could not have 
 been the result of one transient deluge. 
 
 From the facts that have now been detailed, it appears that 
 on no subject of science connected with religion have men 
 been more positive and dogmatical than in respect to Noah's 
 deluge, and that on no subject has there been greater change 
 of opinion. From a belief in the complete destruction and 
 dissolution of the globe by that event, those best qualified to 
 judge now doubt whether it be possible to identify one mark 
 of that event in nature. 
 
 I shall now proceed to state, in a more definite form, the 
 views of this subject entertained by the most enlightened 
 judges of its merits at the present day. - 
 
 In the first place, most of the cases of accumulations of 
 drift, the dispersion of bowlders, and the polish and stria 
 upon rocks in place, occurred previous to man's existence 
 upon the globe, and cannot have been the result of NoalCs 
 deluge. 
 
 From the arguments for sustaining this position I shall 
 select only a part. 
 
 The first is, that the organic remains found in the alluvium 
 considerably above the drift, which always lies below the 
 alluvium, are many of them of extinct species. Whether 
 the genuine drift — a heterogeneous mass of fragments, 
 driven pellmell together — contains any organic relics, is to 
 me very doubtful. But if the stratified deposits subsequent 
 
DRIFT AND NOAH's DELUGE. 123 
 
 to the drift present us with beings no longer alive on the 
 globe, much more would the drift. Now, the presumption is, 
 that extinct animals and plants belong to a creation anterior 
 to man, especially if they exhibit a tropical character, — as 
 those do which are usually assigned to the drift, — since we 
 have no evidence of a tropical climate in northern latitudes 
 till we get back to a period far anterior to man. 
 
 Secondly. No remains of man or his works have been found 
 in drift, nor indeed till we rise almost to the top of the allu- 
 vial deposit. Even ancient Armenia has now been examined 
 geologically, with sufficient care to make it almost certain 
 that human remains do not exist there in drift, if drift is 
 found there at all ; of which there may be a question. 
 
 Thirdly. The agency producing drift must have operated 
 during a vastly longer period than the three hundred and 
 eighty days of Noah's deluge. It would be easy to show to 
 a geologist that the extensive erosions which are referrible to 
 that agency, and the huge masses of detritus which have 
 been the result, must have demanded centuries, and even 
 decades of years. Nor will any supposed increase of power 
 in the agency explain the results, without admitting a long 
 period for their action. 
 
 Fourthly. Water appears to have been the principal agent 
 in the Noachian deluge ; but in the production of drift, ice 
 was at least equally concerned. 
 
 Finally. The phenomena of deltas, terraces, and ancient 
 sea-beaches, make the period of the drift immensely more 
 remote than the deluge of Noah, since these phenomena are 
 all posterior to the drift period. I need not go into the details 
 of this argument here, since I have drawn them out in my 
 second lecture. But of all the arguments ever adduced to 
 prove the great length of time occupied in geological changes, 
 
124 NOACHIAN AiND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 this — which, so far as the terraces are concerned, has nevei 
 before, 1 believe, been adduced — seems to me the most con- 
 vincing to those who carefully examine the subject. 
 
 We may be sure, then, that the commencement of the drift 
 period, and the deluge of Noah, cannot have been synchro- 
 nous. But the drift agency, connected, as nearly all geologists 
 seem now to be ready to admit, with the vertical movements 
 of continents, may have operated, and undoubtedly has, at 
 various periods, and very possibly, in some parts of the world, 
 long posterior to the period usually called the drift period. I 
 agree, therefore, in opinion with one of the most eminent 
 and judicious of the European geologists. Professor Sedgwick 
 of Cambridge, when he says, " If we have the clearest proofs 
 of great oscillations of sea level, and have a right to make use 
 of them, while we seek to explain some of the latest phenom- 
 ena of geology, may we not reasonably suppose, that, within 
 the period of human history, similar oscillations have taken, 
 place in those parts of Asia which were the cradle of our 
 race, and may have produced that destruction among the 
 early families of men, which is described in our sacred books, 
 and of which so many traditions have been brought down to 
 us through all the streams of authentic history ? " — Geology 
 of the Lake District, p. 14. 
 
 Secondly. Admitting the deluge to have been universal over 
 the globe, it could not have deposited the fossil remains in the 
 rocks. 
 
 This position is too plain to the practical geologist to need 
 a formal argument to sustain it. But there are many intelli- 
 gent men, who do not see clearly why the remains of marine 
 animals and plants may not be referred to the deluge. And 
 if they could be, then all the demands of the geologist for 
 long periods anterior to man are without foundation. But they 
 cannot be, for the following reasons : — 
 
FOSSIL REMAINS AND THE DELUGE. 125 
 
 First. On this supposition the organic remains ought to be 
 confusedly mingled together, since they must have been 
 brought over the land promiscuously by the waters of the 
 deluge ; but they are in fact arranged in as much order as 
 the specimens of a well-regulated cabinet. The different 
 rocks that lie above one another do, indeed, contain some 
 Bpecies that are common ; but the most are peculiar. It is 
 impossible to explain such a fact if they were deposited by 
 the deluge. 
 
 Secondly. On this theory, at least, a part of the organic 
 remains ought to correspond with living animals and plants, 
 since the deluge took place so long after the six days of cre- 
 ation. But with the exception of a few species near the top 
 of the series, the fossil species are wholly unlike those now 
 alive. 
 
 Thirdly. How, by this theory, can we explain the fact, that 
 there are found in the rocks at least five distinct races of ani- 
 mals and plants, so unlike that they could not have been con- 
 temporaries ? or for the fact, that most of them are of a 
 highly tropical character ? or for the fact, that as we rise higher 
 in the rocks, there is a nearer and nearer approach to existing 
 species .? 
 
 Fourthly. This theory requires us to admit, that in three 
 hundred and eighty days the waters of the deluge deposited 
 rocks at least six miles in thickness, over half or two thirds of 
 our existing continents ; and these rocks made up of hundreds 
 of thick beds, exceedingly unlike one another in composition 
 and organic contents. Will any reasonable man believe this 
 possible without a miracle ? 
 
 But I need not multiply arguments on this point. It is a 
 theory which no reasonable man can long maintain after study- 
 ing the subject. And if it be indeed true, that neither in the 
 11* 
 
126 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 drift, nor in the fossiliferous rocks, can we discover any traces 
 of the deluge, then we shall find them nowhere on the 
 globe. But 
 
 Thirdly. There are no facts in geology that afford any 
 presumption against the occurrence of the Noachian deluge, 
 hut rather the contrary. 
 
 The geologist says only, that if any traces of it exist, he 
 cannot distinguish them from the effects of other analogous 
 agencies that have operated on the globe at various periods. 
 Some parts of the globe do not exhibit marks of any powerful 
 aqueous action, such as high northern and southern latitudes 
 do exhibit. But the sacred record, in its account of the access 
 and subsidence of diluvial waters, does not require us to sup- 
 pose any great degree of violence in their action on the sur- 
 face ; and although currents somewhat powerful must have 
 been the result, yet they may not have existed every where, 
 nor have always left traces of their passage where they did 
 exist. On the other hand, the geologist will admit, as we 
 have already seen, that in the elevation and subsidence of 
 mountains and continents, and in volcanic agency generally, 
 of which geology contains so many examples, we have an 
 adequate cause for extensive, if not universal, deluges; nor 
 can he say how recently this cause may have operated be- 
 neath certain oceans, sufficiently to produce the deluge of the 
 Scriptures. So that, in fact, we have in geology a presump- 
 tion in favor of, rather than against, such a deluge. Nay, 
 some, who have examined Armenia, have thought they found 
 there a deposit which could be referred to the deluge of Noah ; 
 but 1 have no access to any facts on this point. 
 
 Fourthly. There are reasons., both in natural history and 
 in the Scriptm-es^ for supposing that the deluge may not have 
 been universal over the globe, but only over the region inhab* 
 ited bv man. 
 
V 
 
 WAS THE DELUGE UNIVERSAL? 12' 
 
 This is a position of no small importance, and will, there- 
 ibre, require our careful examination. And in the beginning, 
 I wish to premise, that I assume the deluge to have been 
 brought about by natural operations, or in conformity with 
 the laws of nature. I feel no reluctance in admitting it to 
 have been strictly miraculous, provided the narrative will al- 
 low of such a conclusion. But if it was miraculous, then we 
 must give up the idea of philosophizing about it, and believe 
 the facts simply on the divine testimony. For how can we 
 philosophize upon an event that is brought about by the direct 
 efficiency of God, and without reference to existing natural 
 laws, and, it may be, in contravention of them, unless, indeed, 
 the history contains such contradictions as even infinite power 
 and wisdom could not make harmonious ? Some writers en- 
 deavor to show the conformity of the sacred history of the 
 deluge to established natural laws, until they meet with some 
 objection too strong to be answered, when they turn round 
 and declare the whole occurrence to have been miraculous. 
 This I conceive to be absurd, and I shall accordingly proceed 
 on the supposition that the whole event was a penal infliction, 
 brought about by natural laws ; or, at least, if there was any 
 thing miraculous, it consisted in giving greater power to nat- 
 ural operations, without interfering with the regular sequence 
 of cause and effect. And does not the narrative leave the im« 
 pression on the mind of the reader, that it was brought about 
 by natural means ? The sacred writer distinctly assigns two 
 natural causes of the increase of the waters, viz., a rain of 
 forty days and the breaking up of the fountains of the great 
 deep, which doubtless means an overflow of the ocean ; and, 
 to hasten the subsidence of the waters, it is said that God 
 made a wind to blow over the surface. It is no proof of mi- 
 raculous agency, that the whole work is referred to the imme- 
 
128 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 diate power of God, for it is well known that this is the usual 
 mode in which the sacred writers speak of natural events. 
 
 The first difficulty in the way of supposing the flood to 
 have been literally universal, is the great quantity of water 
 that would have been requisite. 
 
 The amount necessary to cover the earth to the tops of the 
 highest mountains, or about five miles above the present 
 oceans, would be eight times greater than that existing on the 
 globe at this time. From whence could this immense volume 
 of water have been derived ^ A great deal of ingenuity has 
 been devoted to give an answer to this inquiry. By some it 
 has been supposed, that most of the earth's interior is occu- 
 pied by water, and the theorist had only to devise means for 
 forcing it to the surface. One does this by the forcible com- 
 pression of the crust ; another, by the expansive power of 
 internal heat ; another, by the generation of various gases 
 through galvanic action. Others have maintained that the 
 antediluvian continents were sunk beneath the ocean at that 
 time, though such find it hard to tell us why there was a rain 
 of forty days upon land that was ready to subside beneath the 
 ocean. Others have resort to a comet's impinging against 
 the earth, and throwing the waters of the ocean over the land. 
 But they were not aware that comets are mere vapor. Others 
 suppose (and surely theirs is the most plausible theory) that 
 the elevation of the bed of some ocean, by volcanic agency, 
 threw its waters over the adjoining continents, and the mighty 
 wave thus produced would not stop till it had swept over all 
 other continents and. islands. But in this case, it is evident 
 that the continent first overflowed must have been left dry 
 before the wave had reached other continents, so that, in fact, 
 all parts of the earth would not have been enveloped simulta- 
 neously ; and besides, how unlike such a violent rushing of 
 
CAPACITY OF THE ARK. 129 
 
 >ne waters over the land is the scriptural account ! In short, 
 so unsatisfactory have been most of the theories to account 
 for the water requisite to produce a universal deluge, that most 
 writers have resorted, in the end, to miraculous agency to ob- 
 tain it. And that, in fact, is the most satisfactory mode of get- 
 ting over this difficulty, if the Scriptures unequivocally teach 
 the universality of the deluge. 
 
 A second objection to such a universality is, the difficulty 
 of providing for the animals in the ark. 
 
 Calculations have indeed been made, which seemed to show 
 that the ark was capacious enough to hold the pairs and sep- 
 tuples of all the species. But, unfortunately, the number of 
 species assumed to exist by the calculators was vastly below 
 the truth. It amounted only to three or four hundred ; 
 whereas the actual number already described by zoologists 
 is not less than one hundred and fifty thousand ; and the prob- 
 able number existing on the globe is not less than half a mil- 
 lion. And for the greater part of these must provision have 
 been made, since most of them inhabit either the air or the 
 dry land. A thousand species of mammalia, six thousand 
 species of birds, two thousand species of reptiles, and one 
 hundred and twenty thousand species of insects are already 
 described, and must have been provided with space and food. 
 Will any one believe this possible, in a vessel not more than 
 four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet broad, and 
 forty-five feet high ? 
 
 The third and most important objection to this universality'' 
 of the deluge is derived from the facts brought to light by 
 modern science, respecting the distribution of animals and 
 plants on the globe. 
 
 It was the opinion of Linnaeus that all animals and plants 
 had their commencement in a particular region of the earth 
 
130 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 from whence they migrated into all other parts of its surface^ 
 And had no new facts come to light since his day, to change 
 the aspect of the subject, one would hesitate long before adopt- 
 ing views opposed to so distinguished a naturalist. But new 
 facts, in vast numbers, have been multiplying ever since his 
 day, and zoologists and botanists now almost universally adopt 
 the opinion, early promulgated by Dr. Prichard, in his admi- 
 rable work on the Physical History of Man, that there must 
 have been several centres of creation, from which the ani- 
 mals and plants radiated only so far as the climate and food 
 were adapted to their natures, except a few species endowed 
 with the power of accommodating- themselves to all climates. 
 Certain it is that they are now thus distributed ; and it is 
 inevitable death for most species to venture beyond certain 
 limits. If tropical animals and plants, for instance, were to 
 migrate to the temperate zones, and especially to the frigid 
 regions, they could not long survive ; and almost equally fatal 
 would it be for the animals and plants of high latitudes to take 
 up their abode near the equator. But even within the tropics 
 we find distinct species of animals and plants on opposite con- 
 tinents. Indeed, naturalists reckon a large number of botan- 
 ical and zoological districts, or provinces, as they arc called, 
 within which they find certain peculiar groups of animals and 
 plants, with natures exactly adapted to that particular district, 
 but incapable of enduring the different climate of adjoining 
 districts. They differ considerably as to the number of these 
 districts, because the plants and animals of our globe are by 
 no means yet fully described, and because the districts assigned 
 to the different classes do not fully coincide ; but as to the ex- 
 istence of such a distribution, they are of one opinion. The 
 most reliable divisions of this kind make twenty-five botanical 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 131 
 
 provinces, and five kingdoms and fourteen provinces among 
 animals.* 
 
 The fact that man, and some of the domesticated animals, 
 and a few plants, are found in almost every climate, has, until 
 recently, blinded the eyes of naturalists to the manner in 
 which the great mass of animals and plants are confined within 
 certain prescribed limits. But so soon as the general fact is 
 stated, we immediately recur to abundant proof of its truth. 
 We should be disposed to question the veracity of that trav- 
 eller who should visit a new and remote country, and describe 
 its vegetable and animal productions as essentially the same 
 as in our own ; and all because the analogy of other portions 
 of the globe leads us to expect that a new geographical prov- 
 ince shall present us with a pecuVmr fauna and Jlora; that is, 
 with peculiar groups of animals and plants. 
 
 It is obvious that the facts which have been stated have an 
 important bearing upon the mode in which the animals were 
 brought together to enter the ark, and were afterwards dis- 
 tributed through the earth, if the deluge were universal. Cer- 
 tain it is that, without miraculous preservation, they could 
 never have been brought together, nor again dispersed. We 
 have reason to suppose that the ark was constructed in some 
 part of the temperate zone. Now, suppose the animals of 
 the torrid zone at the present day to attempt, by natural means, 
 to reach the temperate zone ; who does not know that nearly 
 all of them must perish ? Nor is it any easier to conceive 
 how, after the flood, they could have migrated into 'all conti- 
 nents, and islands, and climates, and how each species should 
 have found the place exactly fitted to its constitution, as we 
 now find them. Indeed, the idea of their collection and 
 
 * Johnston's Physical Atlas, pp. 66, 76, (Philadelphia edition, 1850.) 
 
132 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 dispersion in a natural way is altogether too absurd to be 
 believed. And we must, therefore, resort to a miracle, or 
 suppose a new creation to have taken place after the deluge, 
 or admit the flood to have been limited. If the latter suppo- 
 sition be not inconsistent with the Bible, it completely relieves 
 the difficulty. If we suppose the limited region of Central 
 Asia, where man existed, to have been deluged, and pairs 
 and septuples of the most common animals in that region only 
 to have been kept alive in the ark, the entire account will 
 harmonize with natural history. The question, then, whether 
 such a view is consistent with the Bible, becomes of great 
 interest; and to this point I beg leave next to direct your 
 attention. 
 
 If we understand the scriptural account to denote a literal 
 universality, it is certainly very natural to inquire why such 
 universality was necessary, since the deluge is represented as 
 a penal infliction upon man. For it seems difficult to believe 
 as some writers have attempted to prove, that the human fam- 
 ily had become very numerous, or had extended far beyond 
 the spot where they were first planted, in less than two thou- 
 sand years ; especially when we recollect how few were the 
 children of patriarchs whose age amounted to many centu- 
 ries, and how very probable it is that the extreme wickedness 
 of most of the antediluvians tended to their extinction rather 
 than their multiplication. Why, then, for the sake of destroy- 
 ing man, occupying probably only a limited portion of one 
 continent, was it necessary to depopulate all other continents 
 and islands, inhabited only by irresponsible animals, who had 
 no connection with man ? If the Scriptures unequivocally 
 declare that such was the fact, we are bound to believe it on 
 divine testimony. But if their language admits of a different 
 interpretation^ it seems reasonable to adopt it. 
 
WAS THE DELUGE UNIVERSAi^ f 133 
 
 And here I am willing to acknowledge that the language 
 of the Bible on this subject seems, at first view, to teach the 
 universality of the flood, unequivocally. The waters^ say 
 they, prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high 
 hills that loere under the whole heaven were covered. Again : 
 Behold, J, even J, do bring a jlood of waters upon the earth 
 to destroy all Jlesh, wherein is the breath of life, from tinder 
 heaven ; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. If 
 such language be interpreted by the same rules which we 
 should apply to a modern composition, it could in no way be 
 understood to teach a limited deluge or a partial destruction. 
 But in respect to this ancient record, two considerations are to 
 be carefully weighed. 
 
 In the first place, the terms employed are not to be judged 
 of by the state of knowledge in the nineteenth century, but 
 by its state among the people to whom this revelation was 
 first addressed. When the earth was spoken of to that peo- 
 ple, (the ancient Jews,) they could not have understood it to 
 embrace a much wider region than that inhabited by man, 
 because they could not have had any idea of what lay beyond 
 those limits. And so of the phrase heaven ; it must have 
 been coextensive with the inhabited earth only. And when 
 it was said that all animals would die by the deluge, they 
 could not have supposed the declaration to embrace creatures 
 far beyond the dwellings of men, because they knew nothing 
 of such regions. Why, then, may we not attach the same 
 limited meaning to these declarations } Why should we sup- 
 pose that the Holy Spirit used terms, adapted, indeed, to the 
 astronomy and geography of the nineteenth century, but con- 
 veying only a false idea to those to whom they were ad- 
 dressed } 
 
 In the second place, in all ages and nations, and especially 
 12 
 
134 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 among ancient ones, " universal terms are often used to sig- 
 nify only a very large amount in number or quantity." — 
 Dr. Smith, Scrip, and Geol. p. 212, 4th ed. — The Hebrew 
 bi, (kol,) the Greek 7r«c, and the English all, are alike em- 
 ployed in this manner, to signify many. There are some very 
 striking cases of this sort in the Bible. Thus in Genesis it is 
 said that all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn, 
 because the famine was sore in all lands. This certainly could 
 apply only to the well-known countries around Egypt ; for 
 transportation would have been impossible to the remotest 
 parts of the habitable globe. In the account of the plagues 
 that came upon Egypt, it is said that the hail smote every 
 herb of the feld, and brake every tree of the field ; but, in a 
 few days afterwards, it is said of the locusts that they did eat 
 every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which 
 the hail had left. This day., said God to the Israelites, while 
 yet in their journeyings, will I begin to put the fear of thee 
 and the dread of thee upon the face of the nations under all 
 the heavens. But it is obvious that only the nations contigu- 
 ous to the Israelites, chiefly the Canaanites, are here meant. 
 In the New Testament, it is said that, at the time of the pen- 
 tecost, there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men^ 
 out of every nation under heaven. Yet, in the enumeration, 
 which follows this passage, of the different places from which 
 those Jews had come, we find only a region extending from 
 Italy to Persia, and from Egypt to the Black Sea. It could 
 have been a district of only about that size which Paul meant, 
 when he said to the Colossians that the gospel was preached 
 to every creature which is under heaven. In the First Book of 
 Kings, it is said that all the earth sought the presence of Solo- 
 mon, to hear his wisdom ; — a passage which requires as much 
 limitation as the others above quoted. A similar mode of 
 
UNIVERSAL TERMS. 135 
 
 expression is employed by Christ, when he says of the queen 
 of Sheba that she came from the uttermost parts of the earth 
 to hear the loisdom of Solomon ; for her residence, being 
 probably on the Arabian Gulf, could not have been more than 
 twelve or fourteen hundred miles from Jerusalem. A like 
 figurative mode of speech is employed in the description of 
 Peter's vision, in which he saw a great sheet let down to the 
 earth, wherein were all manner of four footed beasts of the 
 earthy and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the 
 air. Who will suppose, since it is wholly unnecessary for 
 the object, which was to convince Peter that the Mosaic dis- 
 tinction into clean and unclean beasts was abolished, that he 
 here had a vision of all the species of terrestrial vertebral 
 animals on the globe ? 
 
 It would be easy to multiply similar passages. In many 
 of them we should find that the phrase all the earth signifies the 
 land of Palestine ; in a few, the Chaldean empire ; and in one, 
 that of Alexander of Macedon. 
 
 Now, so similar is the phraseology of the passages just 
 quoted to that descriptive of the deluge, so universal are the 
 terms, while we are sure that their meaning must be limited, 
 that we are abundantly justified in considering the deluge as 
 limited, if other parts of the Bible, or the facts of natural his- 
 tory, require such a limitation. Indeed, so obviously analo- 
 gous are the passages quoted to the Mosaic account of the del- 
 uge, that distinguished writers have regarded the deluge as 
 limited, long before geology existed, or natural history had 
 learned the manner in which organic life is distributed on the 
 globe ; nay, at a period when naturalists, with Linnaeus at 
 their head, supposed animals and plants to have proceeded 
 from one centre : — an opinion that seemed to sustain the no- 
 tion of the universality of the flood. The inference, then, 
 
136 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 that it was limited, must have been made chiefly on exeget' 
 iCa\ grounds. 
 
 " 1 cannot see," says Bishop Stillingfleet, more than a cen 
 tury ago, " any urgent necessity from the Scripture to assert 
 that the flood did spread 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 suflliciently proved that the 
 whole earth was peopled before the flood, which I despair of 
 ever seeing proved." — Origines Sacrce, B. III. chap. 4, p. 
 337, ed. 1709. 
 
 Matthew Poole, well known for his valuable and extensive 
 commentaries on the Bible, thus expresses himself : " It is 
 not to be supposed that the entire globe of the earth was cov- 
 ered with water. Where was the need of overwhelming 
 those regions in which there were no human beings.? It 
 would 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 eflTects 
 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 univer- 
 sal, because the extirpation took effect upon all the part of 
 the globe 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 the truth of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures." — Synopsis on Gen, vii. 19. 
 
OPINIONS OF COMMENTATORS. . 137 
 
 Poole wrote nearly two centuries ago. In more recent 
 times, we find authorities equally eminent for learning and 
 candor adopting the same views. "Interpreters," says Dathe, 
 " do not agree whether the deluge inundated the whole earth, 
 or only those regions then inhabited. I adopt the latter 
 opinion. The phrase all does not prove the inundation to 
 have been universal. It appears that in many places iilD {kol) 
 is to be understood as limited to the thing or place spoken of. 
 Hence all the animals said to have been introduced into the 
 ark were only those of the region inundated. So, also, only 
 those mountains are to be understood, which were surmounted 
 by the waters." — Pentaieuchus a Dathio, p. 63. 
 
 But no modern writer has treated this subject with so much 
 candor and ability — and the same may be said of his whole 
 work on the " Relation of the Holy Scriptures to some Parts 
 of Geological Science" — as Dr. John Pye Smith. We can 
 say of him, what we can say of very few men,- that he is accu- 
 rately acquainted with all the branches of the subject. Eminent 
 as a theologian and a philologist, and fully possessed of all 
 the facts in geology and natural history, he gives us his 
 opinion, not as a young man, fond of novelties, but in the 
 full maturity of judgment and of years. ." From these in- 
 stances," says he, " 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 his- 
 tory 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." — 
 Scrip, and Geol. p. 214, 4th ed. 
 
 " Let us now take the seat of the antediluvian population,' 
 12* 
 
138 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 continues Dr. Smith, '* to have been in Western Asia, in 
 which a large district, even at the present day, lies consid- 
 erably below the level of the sea. It must 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 towards the south, we shall have sufficient cause in the 
 hands of almighty justice for submerging the district, cover- 
 ing its hills, and destroying all living beings within its limits, 
 except those whom divine mercy preserved in the ark. The 
 drawing 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." — p. 217. 
 
 It is a circumstance favoring the above suggestions of Dr. 
 Smith, that there is a tract of country ten degrees of latitude 
 in breadth, embracing most of Asia Minor, ancient Armenia 
 and Georgia, and part of Persia, extending at least as far east 
 as the Caspian Sea, and probably much farther, in which vol- 
 canic agency has been in operation at a comparatively recent 
 period. I am not aware that we have evidence of any erup- 
 tion of lava in those regions, within historic times, except, per- 
 haps, some mud volcanoes in the Caucasian range. The 
 Katekekaumene, or Burnt District, of Asia Minor, and Mount 
 A.rarat, probably experienced eruptions at a date somewhat 
 earlier, though at a comparatively recent date. Yet impor- 
 
WHERE DID THE ARK REST ? 139 
 
 tant changes of level may have been the result of volcanic 
 agency in Central Asia, as recently as the Noachian deluge, 
 without leaving any traces which would be obvious, without 
 more careful observation than has yet been made in those 
 regions. Especially might a subsidence of the surface have 
 taken place, and not have left any striking evidence of its 
 occurrence. Still more difficult would it now be to discovei 
 the marks of vertical movements in the bed of the Indian 
 Ocean at the time of the deluge. 
 
 I will venture to add another suggestion. If the bed of the 
 Indian Ocean was uplifted by volcanic matter, struggling to 
 get vent, vapor enough might have been liberated to account, 
 on natural principles, for the forty days' rain of the deluge. 
 For it is well known that in volcanic eruptions drenching 
 rains are often the result of the sudden condensation of the 
 aqueous vapor. 
 
 We are here met, however, by a serious objection to the 
 hypothesis, which gives only a limited extent to the deluge. 
 If the present Mount Ararat, in Armenia, is the mountain on 
 which the ark first rested, a deluge which covered its top must, 
 by its flux and reflux, have overspread nearly all other por- 
 tions of the globe, for that mountain rises seventeen thousand 
 seven hundred feet above the ocean. But we are informed 
 by Jerome, that the name Ararat was given generally to the 
 mountains of Armenia ; (indeed, that is the meaning of the 
 name ;) and long before geology existed, Shuckford suggested 
 that some spot farther east corresponds better with the scrip- 
 tural account of the place where the ark rested. For it is said 
 of the families of the sons of Noah, that, as they journeyed 
 from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar. Now, 
 Shinar, or Babylonia, lies nearly south of the Armenian Ara- 
 rat, and the probability, therefore, is, that the true Ararat, from 
 
140 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 whose vicinity the descendants of Noah probably emigrated^ 
 lay much farther to the south. Again, if the ark rested upon 
 the present Ararat, it is impossible, except by a miracle, that 
 those who came out of it could have reached the plain below ; 
 for so exceedingly difficult of access is it, that it is doubtful 
 whether, since the deluge, any one ever succeeded in reaching 
 its summit, till the year 1829. Indeed, it is an article in the 
 creed of the Armenian church that its ascent is impossible. 
 That the almost universal tradition of Eastern nations should 
 have fixed upon that mountain as the resting-place of the ark 
 is not strange, considering that there is no mountain in all Asia 
 so striking to behold. 
 
 But upon the whole, the probability is strong that some 
 other elevation, less lofty and steep, was the radiating point 
 of the postdiluvian races of man and other animals. The fact 
 of Noah's sending forth a dove from the ark, which came back 
 in the evening with an olive leaf in her mouth, strengthens 
 the preceding view. For neither upon the present Ararat, nor 
 around it, does the olive grow, because it is too cold. Indeed, 
 all its upper part is covered with perpetual ice. But if the 
 Ararat of Scripture lay nearer the tropics, the olive might 
 find upon it a congenial spot. A distinguished botanist ad- 
 duced the fact about the olive as evidence against the Bible. 
 But how easily refuted, if the theory now under examination 
 be true ! 
 
 In favor of this supposition, I might have urged another 
 consideration, which, in my mind, has no little weight. It is 
 impossible that the waters of the deluge should have covered 
 the earth for a year, without destroying nearly all the existing 
 vegetation. Yet nothing is said of the preservation of seeds 
 in the ark ; and if they had been preserved, certainly nothing 
 but miraculous power, and that of the most remarkable kind, 
 
NEW CREATION AT THE DELUGE. 141 
 
 could have scattered them through the remotest continents and 
 islands, so as to form distinct botanical districts, such as have 
 been described. The olive, from which a leaf was plucked 
 by the dove sent out of the ark, was probably situated upon 
 elevated ground, and where it remained but a short time be- 
 neath the waters, and therefore did not lose its vitality. 
 
 It is probable that the theory which makes the deluge lim- 
 ited in extent will meet with more favor than any other, with 
 candid and intelligent men, to meet the suggested difficulties 
 of the case. But some, who are unwilling to abandon the 
 idea of the universality of the deluge, avoid these difficulties 
 by supposing a new creation to have taken place at that epoch. 
 That such a new creation occurred at the commencement of 
 several geological periods can hardly admit a doubt. And a 
 presumption is hence derived in favor of a similar act at the 
 beginning of the postdiluvian perioj, preceded as it was, like 
 the other geological periods, by an almost entire destruction 
 of organic life. 
 
 The principal objection to this view is, that no notice is 
 taken of such a new creation in the Bible. And it would seem 
 that an event of so much importance would hardly be passed 
 in silence ; and yet the bringing into existence new races of 
 the inferior animals and plants could have but little bearing 
 upon the object of revelation, which respects almost exclu- 
 sively the spiritual condition of man. One, however, can 
 hardly see why pairs and septuples of the animals, even in a 
 limited district, need to have been preserved in the ark, if a 
 new creation were to follow the coming catastrophe ; nor why 
 .the creation of the antediluvian animals, so soon to perish, 
 should have been so particularly described, while no notice 
 was taken of the postdiluvian races, which were to occupy 
 the earth so much longer time. 
 
142 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMPARED. 
 
 A third theory has been suggested by some, embracing both 
 those which have been described. They admit the deluge to 
 have been of limited extent, but suppose this limitation not 
 to be sufficient to explain all the facts of revelation and of 
 science, without a new creation also, at the commencement 
 of the postdiluvian period. They suppose, indeed, that geol- 
 ogy and natural history teach the occasional extinction of spe- 
 cies, and the creation of others, even in our own times. And 
 in regard to this latter view, it may at least be said that it is 
 not contradicted by the Bible. Nay, one would almost sup- 
 pose that the Psalmist were describing such a state of things 
 when he says, Thou hidest thy face; they [animals] are 
 troubled. Thou takcst aioay their breath ; they die and re- 
 turn to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit ; they are 
 created ; and thou renewest the face of the earth. The re- 
 semblance between this language and that employed to de- 
 scribe the original creation is striking. Indeed, the same word 
 {bawraw) is used. 
 
 Without attempting to decide which of these theories has 
 the highest claim upon our belief, it is sufficient to remark, 
 ^ that either of them reconciles the facts of geology and natural 
 history with the inspired record ; nor does the adoption of 
 either of them require us to put a forced and unnatural con- 
 struction upon the language of the Bible. Even then, if we 
 •should admit that a construction agreeing with these theories 
 is not the most natural meaning, yet if the facts of natural 
 history unequivocally require such an interpretation to har- 
 monize the Bible with nature, it is assuredly one of those 
 cases where science must be allowed to modify our exegesis 
 of Scripture. In the view of sound philosophy, such mod- 
 ification at once disarms scepticism of its cavils. 
 
 With two remarks of a practical character, I close the dis- 
 cussion of this subject. 
 
A SALUTARY LESSON. 143 
 
 First. The history of* opinions respecting the Noachian 
 deluge furnishes a salutary lesson to those employed in the 
 examination of analogous subjects. We have seen these opin- 
 ions assume almost every possible shape ; yet, until recently 
 they have all been maintained with the most positive and 
 dogmatic assurance ; and each particular theory has been 
 regarded as involving the essence of the Bible, as being the 
 articulus stantis vel cadentis ecclesice, and whoever denied it 
 virtually denied the Bible. But all reasonable and truly sci- 
 entific men are fast coming to the conclusion, that the deluge 
 has had very little to do with the present configuration of the 
 globe, and that it is doubtful whether any trace of its occur- 
 rence will ever be found in nature ; so that, on the one hand, 
 all the alarms and denunciations of misguided Christians on 
 this subject might have been spared ; and, on the other hand, 
 if the hasty exultation of the infidel, in his supposed discovery 
 of discrepancy between nature and Moses, had been sup- 
 pressed until the subject was understood, he would not have 
 experienced the mortification of entire defeat. 
 
 It is, indeed, very humiliating to human nature to find so 
 many of the wise, the talented, and the religious so confident 
 and zealous, yet so erroneous. But it is a salutary lesson. 
 It shows us the vast importance of being thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with a subject before we dogmatize upon it. . It 
 should not, indeed, discourage us, and produce a universal 
 scepticism on all subjects not admitting a mathematical , dem- 
 onstration ; but it should make us cautious in examining 
 the grounds of our conclusions, and modest in maintaining 
 them. 
 
 Secondly. It is interesting to observe how, amid all the 
 diversities and fluctuations of opinion on this subject, the Bible 
 has remained unaffected. 
 
144 NOACHIAN AND GEOLOGICAL DELUGES COMrARED. 
 
 The infidel felt confident that the arrows wnicn he drew 
 from this quiver would certainly pierce Christianity to the 
 heart. But they rebounded from her adamantine breastplate, 
 blunted and broken ; and no one will have the courage to 
 pick them up and hurl them again. The physico-theological 
 school at one time felt certain, that no other theory but an en- 
 tire dissolution of the crust of the globe at the deluge, could 
 possibly be made consistent with the Bible. More recently, 
 it has been supposed equally necessary, to reconcile geology 
 and revelation, that we should admit the antediluvian conti- 
 nents to have sunk beneath the ocean at that time. Still 
 ■^iater, it has been thought quite certain that the surface of the 
 earth bore the most striking marks of a universal deluge, 
 probably identical with that of Scripture. At length, the 
 extreme opinion is how generally reached, that no trace of 
 the deluge of Noah remains. And equally wide and well 
 established is the belief that, amid all these fluctuations of 
 theory, the Bible has stood as an immovable rock amid the 
 conflicting waves. The final result is, that we have only 
 slightly to modify the interpretation of the Mosaic account, in 
 conformity with the laws of language, to make it entirely 
 consistent with the notion that all traces of the deluge have 
 disappeared. Thus, in the midst of human opinions, veering 
 to every point of the compass, the Bible has ever remained 
 fixed to one point. Not so with false systems of religion. 
 The Hindoo religion contains a false astronomy, as well as 
 anatomy and physiology ; and the Mohammedan Koran dis- 
 tinctly advances the Ptolemaic hypothesis of the universe ; 
 80 that you have only to prove these religions false in science 
 in order to destroy their claim to infallibility. But the Bible, 
 stating only facts, does not interfere with, neither is aflfected 
 by, the hypotheses of philosophy. Often, indeed, in past 
 
THE BIBLE UNAFFECTED. 145 
 
 ages, have men set up their hypotheses as oracles in the 
 temple of nature, to be consulted rather than the Bible. But, 
 like Dagon before the ark, they have fallen to the earth, and 
 been broken in pieces before the Word of God ; while this 
 has ever stood and ever shall stand, in sublime simplicity and 
 undecayuig strength, amid the wrecks of every false system 
 of philosophy and religion. 
 13 
 
(146) 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 THE WORLD'S SUPPOSED ETERNITY. 
 
 In our attempts thus far to elucidate the religion of geology, 
 our attention has been directed to those points where this 
 science has been supposed to conflict with revelation ; and I 
 trust it has been made manifest that the collision was rather 
 with the interpretation than with the meaning of Scripture ; 
 and that, in fact, geology, instead of coming into collision 
 with the Bible, affords us important aid in understanding it 
 aright. We now advance to a part of the subject which has 
 a more direct bearing upon natural religion. And here, if I 
 mistake not, we shall find the illustration of religious truth 
 from this science, as we might expect, more direct and 
 palpable. 
 
 The subject to which I wish first to call your attention is 
 the world's eternity, or the eternal existence of matter. This 
 was the universal belief of the philosophers of antiquity, and, 
 indeed, of most reasoning minds where the Bible has not 
 been known. The grand argument by which this opinion 
 was sustained is the well-known ex nihilo nihil Jit^ (nothing 
 produces nothing.) Hence men inferred that not even the 
 Deity could create matter out of nothing ; and, therefore, it 
 must be eternal. Most of the ancient philosophers, however, 
 did not hence infer the non-existence of the Deity. But thoy 
 •ndeavored to reconcile the existence of eternal matter with 
 an eternal Spirit. They supposed bot)» •• V» wJf-existent and 
 
PANTHEISM. 147 
 
 coexistent. From tb's rational thinking principle they sup- 
 posed all good to be derived ; while from the material irra- 
 tional principle all evil sprung. Plato taught that God, of his 
 own will, united himself with matter, although he did not 
 create it, and out of it produced the present world ; so that 
 it was proper to speak of the world as created, although the 
 matter was from eternity. Aristotle and Zeno taught that 
 God's union with matter was necessary ; and hence they con- 
 sidered the world eternal. In the opinion of Epicurus, God 
 was entirely separated from matter, which consisted of innu- 
 merable atoms, floating about from eternity, like dust in the 
 air, until at last they assumed the present form of the world. 
 
 In modern times, the belief in the eternity of matter has 
 usually been connected with, or made the basis of, a refined 
 and popular system of atheism. I refer to the pantheism of 
 Spinoza. He maintains that there exists in the universe but 
 one substance, variously modified, whose two principal attri- 
 butes are infinite extension and infinite intelligence. This 
 substance, the rb nav of Spinoza, he regarded as God ; and 
 hence his system is called Pantheism. Under various modifi- 
 cations, it has been adopted by many sceptical minds, and is, 
 undoubtedly, the most common and plausible system of 
 atheism extant. Other modern writers, among whom may be 
 mentioned that anomalous philosopher Bayle, have advocated 
 the views of the ancients respecting the eternity of matter. 
 
 It may seem strange, but it is true, that some Christian phi- 
 losophers and divines have been, in ancient and modern times, 
 the advocates of the eternity of matter. The ancient Christians 
 adopted it from Plato. Thus we find Justin Martyr maintain- 
 ing that God formed the world from an eternal, unorganized 
 material. And the schoolmen, who followed Aristotle, taught 
 that "God had created the world from eternity." On this 
 
148 THE WORLD^S SUPPOSED ETERNITY. 
 
 ground, even some Protestant theologians have asserted the* 
 it was absurd to speak of an eternal God who is not an eter- 
 nal Creator. 
 
 A principle which has thus been adopted by so many 
 acute minds unenlightened by revelation, and by some 
 who possessed that divine testimony, must be sustained by 
 some plausible arguments. The principal one relied on is, 
 ihat the changes which are going on in the material world 
 ire proved to be only transmutations, which follow one 
 another in series that return into themselves, and which may, 
 therefore, have been going on from eternity ; and if this be 
 admitted, it is as easy to suppose matter to be self-sustained, 
 and to have fallen into its present order of itself, as to sup- 
 pose the interference of an infinite Spirit. " How do wo 
 know," says Dr. Chalmers, in stating the atheistic argument, 
 *' that the world is a consequent at all ? Is there any greater 
 absurdity in supposing it to have existed, as it now is, at any 
 specified point of time, throughout the millions of ages that are 
 past, than that it should so exist at this moment ? Does what 
 we suppose might have been then, imply any greater absurdi- 
 ty, than what we actually see to be at present ? Now, might 
 not the same question be carried back to any point or period 
 of duration, however remote ? or, in other words, might we 
 not dispense with a beginning for the world altogether ? " 
 ** For aught we can know a priori,''^ says Hume, " matter 
 may contain the source or spring of order originally within 
 itself as well as mind does ; and there is no more diffi- 
 culty in conceiving that the several elements, from an inters 
 nal, unknown cause, may fall into the most exquisite arrange- 
 ment, than to conceive that their ideas, in the great universal 
 mind, from a like internal cause, fall into that arrangement. 
 If this material world rests upon a similar ideal world, this 
 
DR. Chalmers's views. 149 
 
 ideal world must rest upon some other, and so on without end. 
 It were better, therefore, never to look beyond the present 
 material world. By supposing it to contain the principle of 
 its order within itself, we really assert it to be God ; and the 
 sooner we arrive at that divine Being, so much the better." 
 
 Now, in what manner have these ingenious arguments 
 been met ? Until quite recently, no one has supposed that 
 any light on this subject could be derived from geology. In- 
 deed, even now, by many, that science is regarded as favoring 
 the idea of the world's eternity. Neither has it been thought 
 that, on a question of natural theology, like this, it was proper 
 to appeal to the Bible. Philosophers and divines, however, 
 have attempted to reply to these arguments, irrespective of 
 geology and revelation ; and they have generally convinced 
 themselves that they have been successful. But to my mind, 
 I must confess, this has always appeared the weakest spot in 
 natural religion. Some of the arguments to prove the world 
 not eternal do, indeed, appear, at first statement, very pro- 
 found ; but they rather silence than convince ; and the longer 
 we reflect upon them, the more apt are we to doubt their force. 
 
 And here I am constrained to bear testimony to the mas- 
 terly manner in which this subject has been treated by Dr. 
 Chalmers. Perceiving that the defences of natural reli- 
 gion on this subject were weak, in spite of much show 
 of strength, he has laid out his giant force of intellect in 
 clearing away the rubbish and building a rampart of rock. 
 His remarkable skill in seizing upon and bringing out promi- 
 nently the great principles of a difficult subject, and turning 
 them round and round till they fill every eye, is here most 
 happily exerted. 
 
 Let us now proceed, in the first place, to examine the argu- 
 ments that have been adduced to prove the non-eternity of 
 13* 
 
150 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 the world, independent of geology and revelation ; and in the 
 second place, to derive from these two sources of evidence 
 the true ground on which that proposition rests. 
 
 The fii-st supposed proof that the world has not eternally 
 existed is derived from what is called the a priori argument 
 for the existence of the Deity, originally proposed by the 
 monk Ansel m us, and afterwards more fully illustrated in 
 England by Dr. Samuel Clarke. Take the following brief 
 summary of this argument, as applied to the eternity of mat- 
 ter, in the words of Dr. Crombie. 
 
 " Whatever has existed from eternity, independent and 
 without any external cause, must be self-existent. Whatever 
 is self-existent must exist necessarily, by an absolute neces- 
 sity in the nature of the thing. This is also self-evident. 
 It follows, therefore, that unless the material world exist 
 necessarily, by an absolute necessity in its own nature, so 
 that it must be a contradiction to suppose it not to exist, it 
 cannot be independent and eternal. In order to disprove this 
 absolute necessity, he [Dr. Clarke] reasoned thus : If matter 
 be supposed to exist necessarily, then in that necessary exist- 
 ence is included the power of gravitation, or it is not. If not, 
 then in a world merely material, and in which no intelligent 
 being presides, there never could have been any motion. 
 But if the power of gravitation be included in the pretended 
 necessary existence of matter, then it follows necessarily, that 
 there must be a vacuum ; it follows, likewise, that mutter is 
 not a necessary being. For if a vacuum actually be, then it 
 is plainly more than possible for matter not to be." 
 
 Is it not passing strange that such a dreamy argumentation 
 as this — and it is a fair sample of Dr. Clarke's extended 
 work on the existence of the Deity — should have been re- 
 garded as sound logic by many of the acutest minds, and that 
 
THE A PRIORI ARGUMENT. 151 
 
 a majority even of the ablest metaphysicians, up almost to the 
 present day, should have felt satisfied with it ? A few minds, 
 indeed, long ago perceived its fallacy, among whom was 
 A.lexaader Pope, who thus sarcastically describes it : — 
 
 " Be that my task, replies a gloomy Clarke, 
 Sworn foe to mystery, yet divinely dark. 
 Let others creep by timid steps and slow, 
 On plain experience lay foundation low, 
 By common sense to common notions bred. 
 And last to nature's cause through nature led, 
 All- seeing in thy mists, we need no guide, 
 Mother of arrogance, and source of pride ! 
 AVe nobly take the high priori road. 
 And reason downward till we doubt of God." 
 
 Dunciad, Book IV. 
 
 It is impossible, on this occasion, to go into a formal refuta- 
 tion of this famous argument. But this is unnecessary ; since, 
 as Dr. Chalmers says, it " has fallen into utter disesteem and 
 desuetude." Indeed, the language of Dr. Thomas Brown on 
 this subject is not too severe, when he says, that he " con- 
 ceives the abstract arguments that have been adduced to show 
 that it is impossible for matter to have existed from eternity, 
 by reasoning on what has been termed necessary existence, 
 and the incompatibility of this necessary existence with the 
 qualities of matter, to be relics of the mere verbal logic of 
 the schools, as little capable of producing conviction as any 
 of the wildest and most absurd of the technical scholastic rea- 
 sonings on the properties, or supposed properties, of entity and 
 nonentity." 
 
 In the second place, it has been argued with much apparent 
 plausibility, by Dr. Paley, that wherever we find a compli- 
 cated organic structure, adapted to produce beneficial results. 
 
152 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 its origin must be sought beyond itself; and since the world 
 abounds with such organisms, it cannot be eternal ; that is, the, 
 mere existence of animals and plants proves their non-eternity 
 
 Now, without asserting that there is no force in this argumen 
 I have two remarks to make upon it. The first is, to quote the 
 reply to it, which such a writer as David Hume has given, in 
 language which I have just repeated. *' For aught we can know 
 a priori,'*'* says he, " matter may contain the source or spring 
 of order originally within itself, as well as mind does ; and 
 there is no more difficulty in conceiving that the several ele- 
 ments, from an internal unknown cause, may fall into the 
 most exquisite arrangement, than to conceive that their ideas 
 in the great universal mind, from a like internal unknown 
 cause, fall into that arrangement. To say that the different 
 ideas, which compose the reason of the Supreme, fall into 
 order of themselves, and by their own nature, is really to talk 
 without any precise meaning. If it has a meaning, 1 would 
 fain know why it is not as good sense to say, that the parts of 
 the material world fall into order of themselves and by their 
 own nature. Can the one opinion be intelligible while the 
 other is not so ? " 
 
 Fairly to meet this reasoning of the prince of sceptics is 
 not an achievement of dulness or ignorance. In order to do 
 it triumphantly, we want, what Dr. Paley could not find, a 
 distinct example of the creation of numerous organic beings 
 by some cause independent of themselves. I say, he could 
 not find such an example ; for on a question of natural the- 
 ology, he did not think it proper to appeal to the Bible ; nor 
 had geology, when he wrote, revealed her astonishing record 
 on this subject. But as it is now developed, it puts an end to 
 all controversy as to the origin of the organic world. 
 
 My second remark, however, on this argument is, that evtjn 
 
SIR JOHN HLKSCHEl's ARGUMENT. 153 
 
 admitting its correctness, it only proves the commencement 
 of organic natures, but does not show that the matter of which 
 they are composed may not have been eternal. 
 
 In the third place, an argument against the eternal exist- 
 ence of matter has been derived by Sir John Herschel, one 
 of the most distinguished natural philosophers of the day, from 
 the atomic constitution of bodies, as made known to us by 
 chemistry. This science makes it certainly probable, that 
 m^pven the infinitesimal particles of matter have a definite and 
 peculiar shape, and size, and weight, in each of the elements. 
 *' Now," says this writer, " when we see a great number of 
 things precisely alike, we do not believe this similarity to have 
 originated, except from a common principle independent of 
 them." " The discoveries alluded to effectually destroy the 
 idea of an external self-existent matter, by giving to each of 
 its atoms the essential characters at once of a manufactured 
 article and .a subordinate agent." 
 
 To this argument the atheist's reply would be essentially 
 the same as that last considered ; and in one respect it would 
 even be more forcible, because the atomic constitution of 
 bodies, being less complex, is less obviously the result of for- 
 eign agency, and may more easily be regarded as the neces- 
 sary property of eternal matter. On the other hand, how- 
 ever, it is more obviously an attribute of the original constitu- 
 tion of matter than organic structure ; and if it does require 
 an independent agency for its production, it seems difficult to 
 conceive of the existence of matter in a previous state. So 
 that, in this point of view, this argument is more forcible than 
 the last ; and it is no small evidence that it has real strength, 
 that it comes to us from one of the most acute and impartial 
 minds in Europe. 
 
 In the fourth place, it is maintained that the idea of an 
 
 ^'^'^ 
 
 01 -r: 
 
154 
 
 eternal succession, or chain of being, which the atheistic advo- 
 cates of tlie world's eternity defend, is highly absurd, and even 
 mathematically false. 
 
 The atheist mainly relies upon this notion of an eternal 
 series of things ; for if he can defend that opinion, he will 
 overturn the main argument of the Theist for the divine exist- 
 ence, viz., that from design in the works of creation. On 
 this ground, therefore, he should be fairly met. Has he been 
 so met by the reasoning that has usually been employed to 
 refute his opinion ? As a fair sample of it, I will here quote 
 the leading points of the argument, as given by one of the most 
 popular and able theologians of our country. " It is asserted 
 by atheists," says Dr. Dwight, " that there has been an eternal 
 series of things. The absurdity of this assertion may be shown 
 in many ways. 
 
 " First. Each individual in a series is a unit. But every 
 collection of units, however great, is with intuitive certainty 
 numerable, and, therefore, cannot be infinite." 
 
 " Secondly. Every individual in the series (take for example 
 a series of men) had a beginning. But a collection of beings 
 must, however long the series, have had a beginning. This, 
 likewise, is intuitively evident." 
 
 ** Thirdly. It is justly observed by the learned and acute Dr. 
 Bentley, that in the supposed infinite series, as the number of 
 individual men is alleged to be infinite, the number of their 
 eyes must have been twice, the number of their fingers tea 
 times, and the number of the hairs on their heads many thou 
 sand times, as great as the number of men." 
 
 *' Fourthly. It is also observed by the same excellent writer, 
 that all these generations of men were once present." — 
 Dwight^s Theology^ vol. ii. p. 24. 
 
 How is it possible that such reasoning should have satisfied 
 
MR. Tracy's argument. 155 
 
 logical and philosophical minds ? Would it not be equally 
 good to disprove the demonstrated principles of mathematics 
 which relate to infinite quantities? For in mathematics an 
 infinite series of units is a familiar phrase; and it is also com- 
 mon to speak of one infinite quantity as twice, or ten times, 
 or many thousand times, greater than another, and that, too, 
 ^n just such cases as the one referred to above. 
 
 True, mathematical infinites are in some respects different 
 from metaphysical infinites ; but it is the former that belong 
 to this argument, since the supposed infinite succession of 
 organic beings forms a mathematical series. 
 
 An acute writer in our own country, however, has recently 
 attempted to show that " there can be no number actually 
 infinite, and therefore no infinite number of generations." ♦ 
 That the mathematician cannot actually present before us the 
 whole of an infinite series, is indeed most certain ; for such 
 power belongs only to an Infinite Being. But does the fact 
 that man's faculties are limited, prove that an arithmetical 
 process cannot be carried on from eternity to eternity ? Be- 
 cause man cannot put upon paper the series of numbers rep- 
 resenting the miles in infinite space, or the hours in infinite 
 duration, is there, therefore, no such thing as infinite space, 
 or infinite duration ? Certainly not, if this reasoning be 
 correct. 
 
 In spite, however, of such mathematical metaphysics, is it 
 not an intelligible statement of the atheist, when he says of 
 any generation of men and animals in past time, that there 
 was another that preceded it ; and unless you have matter-of- 
 fact proof to the contrary, how will you disprove his asser- 
 tion .'' You may show him that practically he can never 
 
 * Rev. Joseph Tracy, Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct. 1850, p. 6U. 
 
156 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 exhibit a scries, even of numbers, extending eternally back- 
 ward ; but he may, in return, challenge you to put your finger 
 upon the first link of the chain of organic nature. If you 
 attempt it, he will reply that other links preceded the one you 
 have named, and that, as far as you choose to run backward, 
 he can go farther ; in other words, by the very supposition 
 which he makes, he excludes a beginning to organic nature, 
 and, therefore, all reasoning which assumes such a beginning 
 is of no force against his conclusions. If a series which 
 may thus be extended indefinitely backward be not infinite 
 in a metaphysical sense, it is to common sense. 
 
 Let me not be thought to be an advocate in any sense for 
 the unsupported notion of an infinite series of organic beings. 
 But the question is, whether those who, in spite of common 
 sense, have maintained this opinion, have been fairly refuted 
 by such metaphysical evasions as I have quoted. The truth 
 is, that, in order to end this dispute, the Theist needs to bring 
 forward at least one example in which the commencement 
 of some race of animals can be fairly pointed out ; and I 
 know not where such an example can be found, save in the 
 Bible and geology. 
 
 In the fifth place, the changing state of the world has been 
 regarded as incompatible with the world's eternity. This 
 argument is thus stated by Bishop Sumner : " If the universe 
 itself is the first eternal being, its existence is necessary', as 
 metaphysicians speak ; and it must be possessed of all those 
 qualities which are inseparable from necessary existence. 
 Of this nature are immutability and perfection. For change 
 is the attribute of imperfection, and imperfection is incompat- 
 ible with that Being, which is, as the hypothesis affirms, inde- 
 pendent, and, therefore, can have no source of imperfection. 
 To suppose, therefore, of the first independent Being, that it 
 
MUTABILITY OF THE WORLD. 157 
 
 could have existed otherwise than it is, is no less contrary to 
 the idea of necessity, with which we set out, than to suppose 
 it not to exist at all." 
 
 This reasoning is not destitute of plausibility. For there 
 is scarcely any lesson more forcibly impressed on short-lived 
 man than the mutability of the world. And it is indeed true 
 that change is its most striking attribute. But when we look 
 at the subject philosophically, we find that all this mutability 
 is consistent with the most perfect ultimate stability ; nay, 
 that the change is essential to secure the stability. Apart 
 from what revelation and geology teach, these changes in 
 nature form cycles, which, like those in astronomy, are per- 
 fectly consistent with the eternal permanence of the general 
 system to which they belong. In the motions of the heaven- 
 ly bodies, a considerable amount of irregularity and oscilla- 
 tion about a mean state does not tend to the ruin, but rather to 
 the preservation, of the system, provided the anomalies do not 
 extend beyond certain limits. It is just so with other changes 
 that are going on around us. All of them are, in fact, as 
 much regulated by mathematical laws as the perturbations of 
 the heavenly bodies ; although those law^ are more compli- 
 cated and difficult to bring out in distinct formulae in the for- 
 mer case than in the latter. Yet even in astronomy, it is not 
 many years since the mutual disturbances among the heav- 
 enly bodies were supposed to be the certain precursors of 
 ruin to the system. It was not till the famous problem of 
 the three bodies was solved, by the use of the most refined 
 mathematical analysis, that astronomers learnt the true opera- 
 tion of those causes of disturbance among the heavenly bod- 
 ies which exist in their mutual attractions. It was then found 
 that, so balanced are they in their action, and so narrow their 
 limits, that they can never affect the stability of the system ; 
 14 
 
158 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 or, rather, they secure that stability. It is, indeed, true, that 
 when changes in nature go on increasing or decreasing in 
 magnitude indefinitely, they clearly indicate a beginning and 
 an end to the system to which they belong. And it was 
 on this principle that the earlier astronomers predicted that 
 the celestial perturbations would ultimately bring the universe 
 to a state of chaos. They found, for instance, that the moon's 
 orbit was decreasing in size, and they inferred that, ultimate- 
 ly, that luminary must come to the earth. But they now 
 know it to be mathematically certain that, after a long period, 
 the diminution of the orbit will cease ; it will begin to expand, 
 and go on expanding, until the opposite point of oscillation 
 is reached, when it will again diminish ; and in this manner, 
 if God's will permit, perform its eternal round. Just so it is 
 with all the irregularities of the solar system. 
 
 " Yonder starry sphere 
 Of planets, and of fixefl, in all her wheels. 
 Resembles nearest mazes intricate, 
 Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular ; 
 Then most, when most irregular they seem." 
 
 And so it is with all the natural changes which we witness 
 around us, and with all which science shows us to have taken 
 place on the globe, excepting some which geology discloses, 
 and perhaps one which astronomy renders probable. Let us 
 look at some of those changes which the argument under 
 consideration regards as inconsistent with the world's eternity. 
 
 Nearly all the changes in nature with which we are ac- 
 quainted belong to three classes, — the mechanical, the chem- 
 ical, and the organic. Astronomical changes are purely 
 mechanical ; and hence the ease with which they may be cal- 
 culated by mathematics. The universal system of death, 
 
ANTAGONIST AGENCIES. 159 
 
 which reigns over all animals and plants, is the result of 
 organic laws ; and it is this which probably gives to man the 
 strongest impression of the transient nature of sublunary 
 things. But just consider the antagonist agencies to this uni- 
 versal destroyer. I refer to the equally universal system of 
 reproduction, and to the law by which permanence of species 
 is secured. The consequence is, that, while every individual 
 animal and plant dies, the species survives. In the whole 
 history of the animals and plants now existing on the globe, 
 only eight or ten certain examples are on record in which a 
 species has become extinct, and those are some large birds, 
 such as the dinornis and dodo, once inhabitants of the Isle 
 of Bourbon and New Zealand. Every one of the human 
 family, every elephant, every ox, every lion, &c., die, but 
 man, as a species, still lives ; and so does the elephant, the ox, 
 and the lion ; and most obviously this is a law of nature. 
 How easy, then, for the atheist to evade the force of your 
 argument against the world's eternity, drawn from the rav- 
 ages of death ! He has only to suppose the havoc of indi- 
 viduals by death always to have been repaired by the equiva- 
 lent operation of reproduction, and that these two agencies 
 have been balanced against each other from eternity ; and 
 how will you prove this impossible, except by the absurd 
 metaphysical arguments already considered ? 
 
 Atmospheric and aqueous changes often, and, indeed, gen- 
 erally, appear more chaotic and destitute of a controlling 
 force than any others in nature. When the winds are let 
 loose from their prison-house ; when the heavens become 
 dark, and the clouds, rent by the lightnings, pour down their 
 contents, and the swollen torrents carry desolation down the 
 mountain's side and over the wide plain ; when the ocean 
 rolls in upon the land its giant waves ; when the tornado 
 sweeps all before it, in rich tropical regions ; or when the 
 
160 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 sirocco sends its hot blast, loaded with sand, over the devoted 
 surface, — in all these cases, how difficult for us to conceive 
 that all this uproar among the elements is limited and con- 
 trolled by laws as fixed and unalterable as those which regu- 
 late the heavenly bodies ! Nevertheless, it must be so ; and 
 although the winds and the waters seem to be rioting 
 at their pleasure, there are, in fact, at work antagonist 
 agencies, which will confine their wild war to a narrow field, 
 and soon bring them again into peaceful submission. For 
 such has always been the case, and the limits of their irreg- 
 ularities are no wider now than six thousand years ago. In 
 other words, the repressing agency has always been superior 
 to the destroying force, when the latter has risen to a certaiD 
 limit; and 1 doubt not but the profounder mathematics of 
 angelic minds might as easily calculate the anomalies and 
 perturbations of winds and waves as the formulas of La Place 
 can determine those of the solar system. And if such 
 constancy has existed for six thousand years in meteorological 
 changes, — of all others in nature apparently the most irreg- 
 ular, — why, the atheist will ask, may not that constancy 
 have been eternal ? And with equal reason may he ask the 
 same in respect to all changes resulting from mechanical, 
 chemical, and organic laws, which we witness in nature, ex- 
 cept those which come within the province of geology, and 
 even concerning some of those ; and what changes in the 
 material world do not result, directly or remotely, from one 
 or two, or all of these laws ? Yet, in regard to all these 
 changes, there is no inconsistency in supposing them to have 
 gone on in an eternal series; and hence they furnish no 
 proof of the non-eternity of the world. 
 
 In the seventh and last place, the recent origin of society, 
 as shown by historical monuments, is regarded as evidence 
 of the recent origin of the world. This argument was wp^» 
 
RECENT ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. 161 
 
 understood as long ago as the days of Lucretius, who stales 
 it very clearly in the oft-quoted lines, — 
 
 " Si nulla fuit genitalis origo, 
 Terrarum et coeK, semperque etema fuit, 
 Cur, supra bellum Thebanum et funera Trojse, 
 Non alias alii quoque res cecinere poetae ? " 
 
 This argument, though it has been met by a plausible 
 reply, is certainly of great importance in its bearing upon the 
 recent origin of the human race, which, as we shall shortly 
 see, is a point of much interest. But it is obvious that it 
 proves nothing respecting the origin of matter, since this 
 might have had an eternal existence before man was placed 
 upon it. We need not, therefore, be delayed by its dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 Such is a fair summary, as I believe, of the arguments 
 usually adduced, aside from the Bible and geology, to prove 
 the non-eternity of the world. I am not prepared to say that 
 they amount to nothing ; but I do believe that they perplex, 
 rather than convince, and that some of them are mere meta- 
 physical quibbles. 
 
 They do not produce that instantaneous conviction which 
 most of the arguments of natural theology force upon the 
 mind ; and it is easy to see how a man of a sceptical turn 
 should rise from their examination entirely unaffected, or 
 affected unfavorably. Let us now, therefore, turn to geology, 
 and inquire whether its archives will afford us any clearer 
 light upon the subject. 
 
 And here we must confess, at the outset, that geology fur- 
 nishes us no more evidence than the other sciences of the 
 creation of the matter of the universe out of nothing. But it 
 does furnish us with examples of such modifications of matte* 
 14* 
 
162 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 as could be effected only by a Deity. Suppose, then, we 
 should be obliged to acknowledge to the atheist, that we yield 
 to him the point of matter's eternal existence, if he pleases, 
 because we can find nowhere in nature decisive evidence of 
 its creation, and then take our stand upon the arrangements 
 and metamorphoses of matter. Or, rather, suppose we say to 
 him, that we shall not contend with him as to the origin of 
 matter, but challenge him to explain, if he can, without a 
 Deity, its modifications, as taught by geology. If that sci- 
 ence does disclose to us such changes on the globe as no 
 power and wisdom but those of an infinite God could produce, 
 then of what consequence is it, so far as religion is concerned, 
 whether we can, or cannot, demonstrate the first creation of 
 matter ? I can conceive of no religious truth that would be 
 unfavorably affected, though we should admit that this point 
 cannot be settled. Let us, then, at least for the sake of argu- 
 ment, admit that it cannot be, and proceed to inquire whether, 
 aside from this point, geology does not teach us all that is 
 necessary to establish the most perfect system of Theism. I 
 shall select four examples from that science, each of which 
 is independent of the others in its bearing upon the subject, 
 since in this way the argument will become cumulative ; and 
 if some are not satisfied with one example, the others may 
 produce conviction. 
 
 In the first place, geology teaches that the time has been 
 when the earth existed as a molten mass of matter, and, there- 
 fore, all the animals and plants now existing upon its surface, 
 and all those buried in its rocky strata, must have had a be- 
 ginning, or have been created. I should be sustained by many 
 probabilities, were I to go farther, and maintain that the time 
 was when the globe existed in a gaseous state — an opinion 
 very widely adopted by able philosophers of the present day. 
 
ALL ROCKS ONCE MELTED. 163 
 
 But as this view is more hypothetical than my first position, 
 which makes the earth a liquid mass, and as nothing wouid 
 be gained to the argument by supposing it in a gaseous state, 
 I shall not press that point. That it was once in a state of 
 fusion is probable from the very great heat still remaining in 
 its interior. But more direct proof of this results from the 
 facts, now admitted by almost all geologists, that the unstrati- 
 fied rocks have all been melted, and that the stratified class 
 have all, or nearly all, been the result of disintegration and 
 abrasion of the unstratified masses. A striking confirmation of 
 this opinion is the spheroidal figure of the earth, — a figure 
 precisely such as the globe would have assumed in conse- 
 quence of rotation, had it been in a fluid state. In fine, so 
 many and so decisive are the facts which point to the original 
 igneous fluidity of the globe, that no competent judge thinks 
 of doubting that all the matter of which it is composed, cer- 
 tainly its crust, has some time or other been in that state. It 
 is, however, the opinion of some geologists of distinction, that 
 the whole of it was not in fusion at the same time, and that its 
 diferent portions have passed successively through the fur- 
 nace. But this view of the subject scarcely affects my argu- 
 ment, since at whatever period the fusion of any part took 
 place, the destruction of organic life, if it existed, must have 
 been the consequence. The essential thing is, to show that 
 such was once the state of the earth that animals and plants 
 could not have existed on it. For if such was the case, their 
 creation must have been a subsequent operation ; and if this 
 did not require an infinite Being to accomplish it, no result 
 in nature would demand his agency. 
 
 To prove the original igneous fluidity of the globe, we might 
 have adopted another course of argument. AH will admit 
 that the present temperature of the interior of the earth is far 
 
164 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 more elevated than that of the surrounding planetary spaces 
 The inevitable result is, from the known laws of heat, that its 
 radiation into the celestial spaces is constantly going on, and 
 consequently the earth's temperature is being constantly low- 
 ered. Who can tell us now when this process of refrigera- 
 tion commenced ? If no one, then there must have been a 
 time when the heat was great enough to fuse the whole globe. 
 And the facts already stated confirm such an inference. For 
 all the efforts hitherto made to show that the earth may be 
 passing through regions of various temperatures, in its march 
 around the centre of centres, amount to nothing more than 
 dreamy conjecture. 
 
 In order to feel the force of the argument, sustained by so 
 many facts in geology, just picture to yourselves this vast 
 globe as a mass of liquid fire. From such a world every thing 
 organic must have been excluded, and every thing combus- 
 tible consumed, and only such combinations of matter have 
 existed as incandescent heat could not decompose. Compare 
 such a world with that now teeming with life, and beauty, and 
 glory, which we inhabit ; and say, must not the transition to 
 its present condition have demanded the exercise of infinite 
 power, infinite wisdom, and infinite benevolence ? You can, 
 indeed, conceive how a solid crust might have formed over 
 the vast fiery ocean, by the simple radiation of heat ; and then, 
 too, by natural laws, might the vapors have been condensed 
 into oceans and clouds, while volcanic force within might 
 have lifted up our continents and mountains above the flood. 
 But what a picture of desolation and ruin would such a world 
 present, while unadorned with vegetation, and with no voice 
 of life to break the stillness of universal death ! Here is, then, 
 the precise point where we need the interference of a Deity. 
 Admit, if you please, that atheism, with its eternal matter and 
 
ECONOMIES OF LIFE. 165 
 
 the laws of nature at command, might form a world withoui 
 inhabitants. Who does not see, that to bestow organization, 
 and life, and instinct, to say nothing of intellect, upon brute 
 matter, is the loftiest prerogative of Jehovah ? especially to 
 fill so vast a world as ours with its teeming millions, exhibit- 
 ing ten thousand diversities of size, form, and structure. 
 
 Let the atheist then exult in the belief of an eternal world. 
 Geology shows him that it must have oeen without inhabitants ; 
 and that, therefore, the most wonderful part of the creation still 
 remains to be accounted for ; while physiology teaches that the 
 interference of an infinite Deity can alone solve the enigma. 
 
 My second example from geology to disprove the notion of 
 an eternal series of animals and plants on the globe, is de- 
 rived from the history of organic remains. That history shows 
 us clearly, that the earth, since its creation, has been the seat 
 of several distinct economies of life, each occupying long 
 periods, and successively passing away. During each of these 
 periods, distinct groups of animals and plants have occupied 
 the earth, the air, and the waters. Each successive group has 
 been entirely distinct from that which preceded it, though each 
 group was exactly adapted to the existing state of the climate 
 and the food provided ; so that, had the different groups 
 changed places with one another, they must have perished, 
 because their constitutions were adapted only to the state of 
 things during the period in which they actually lived. A dis- 
 tinguished naturalist has recently declared that " he has dis- 
 covered, 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." — Deshayes. 
 
 Including the existing races, this would give us six entirely 
 distinct groups of organic beings that have lived in succession 
 upon this globe since it became a habitable world. But even 
 
166 THE world's stjpposed eternity. 
 
 if it should be found that a few species are common to ad • 
 joining groups, the great truth would still remain, that the 
 different groups were too much unlike to be contemporaries, 
 and that consequently a new creation must have taken place 
 whenever each new group commenced its course. 
 
 It is probable the earth has changed its inhabitants more 
 than the six times that have been mentioned ; some think as 
 many as twelve times. But a larger number cannot yet be 
 proved so clearly ; and could they be, they would add nothing 
 to this argument ; for it rests mainly on the fact that this 
 change of organic life has even once been complete. We 
 may, however, very safely assume that the present animals 
 and plants are the sixth group that have occupied the globe.* 
 
 These facts being admitted, and who does not see the neces- 
 sity of divine interference, whenever one race of animals and 
 plants passed from the earth in order to repeople it ? It is not 
 difficult to conceive how volcanic fires, or aqueous inunda- 
 tions, may have carried universal destruction over the globe, 
 and bereft it of inhabitants. But where, save in the fiat of 
 an infinite Deity, is the power that can make this universe of 
 death teem again with life and beauty ? In the powerful lan- 
 guage of Dr. Chalmers, we may inquire, " Is there aught in 
 the rude and boisterous play of a great physical catastrophe 
 that can germinate those exquisite structures, which, during 
 our yet undisturbed economy, have been transmitted in pacific 
 succession to the present day ? What is there in the rush, 
 and turbulence, and mighty clamor of such great elements, of 
 ocean heaved from its old resting-place, and lifting its billows 
 above the Alps and the Andes of a former continent, — what 
 is there in this to charm into being the embryo of an infant 
 family, wherewith to stock and to repeople a now desolate 
 
 • See the Frontispiece. 
 
NEW SYSTEMS OUT OF OLD ONES. 167 
 
 world ? We see in the sweeping energy and uproar of this 
 elemental war enough to account for the disappearance of 
 all the old generations, but nothing that might cradle any- 
 new generations into existence, so as to have effloresced on 
 ocean's deserted bed the life and loveliness which are now 
 before our eyes. At no juncture, we apprehend, in the his- 
 tory of the world, is the interposition of the Deity more mani- 
 fest than at this ; nor can we better account for so goodly a 
 creation emerging again into new forms of animation and 
 beauty from the wreck of the old one, than that the spirit of 
 God moved on the face of chaos, and that nature, turned by 
 the last catastrophe into a wilderness, was again repeopled 
 at the utterance of his word." 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton has said, that " the growth of new sys- 
 tems out of old ones, without the mediation of a divine power, 
 seems to me apparently absurd." He seems in this passage 
 to have referred only to the arrangements of matter, " with 
 respect to size, figure, proportions, and properties," and not 
 to the principle of life, of instinct, or of intellect. But when 
 the latter are taken into the account, it must be superlatively 
 absurd to suppose new systems can grow out of old ones by 
 merely natural operations. He, indeed, who can bring him- 
 self to believe, with a certain writer, that " the instincts of ani- 
 mals are nothing more than inert and passive attractions, de- 
 rived from the power of sensation, and the instinctive opera- 
 tions of animals nothing more than crystalHzations produced 
 through the agency of that power," — such a man could prob- 
 ably easily persuade himself that, by the help of galvanism, 
 animals and plants might be the result of natural operations. 
 Such doctrines, however, we shall examine in another lecture. 
 
 My third example from geology, showing the non-eternity 
 of the present condition of the globe, is the fact of the disap- 
 
168 
 
 pearance of several large species of animals since the com- 
 mencement of the most recent or alluvial geological period. 
 Certain large pachydermatous and other animals, such as the 
 fossil elephant, the mastodon, the megatherium, the mylodon, 
 the megalonyx, the glyptodon, the fossil horse, ox, deer, &c., 
 also nine or ten species of huge birds — the dinornis, the 
 palapteryx, aptornis, notornis, and nestor of New Zealand, 
 the dodo of Mauritius and Bourbon, and the pezohaps or 
 solitaire of Rodriguez, — have ceased to exist since the tertiary 
 period ; some of them — the birds, for instance — since 
 man's creation. Now, if any important species of animals 
 from time to time disappear from any system of organic life, 
 it shows a tendency to ruin in that system ; for such is the 
 intimate dependence of different beings upon one another, 
 that you cannot blot out one, certainly not a large number, 
 without disturbing the healthy balance between the whole, 
 and probably bringing the whole to ultimate ruin. At any 
 rate, if several species die out by natural processes, no reason 
 can be given why others should not, in like manner, dis- 
 appear. And to prove that any organic system shows a 
 tendency to ruin is to show that it had a beginning. 
 
 My third example from geology, demonstrating the special 
 interference of the Deity in the affairs of this world, is the 
 fact of the comparatively recent commencement of the human 
 race. That man was among the very last of the animals 
 created is made certain by the fact that his remains are found 
 only in the highest part of alluvium. This is rarely more 
 than one hundred feet in thickness, while the other fossilifer- 
 ous strata, lying beneath the alluvium, are six miles thick. 
 
 Hence man was not in existence during all the period in 
 which these six miles of strata were in a course of deposition, 
 and he has existed only during the comparatively short period 
 
MAN RECENTLY CREATED. 169 
 
 in which the one hundred feet of alluvium have been formed ; 
 nay, during only a small part of the alluvial period. His 
 bones, having the same chemical composition as the bones of 
 other animals, are no more liable to decay ; and, therefore, 
 had he lived and died in any of the periods preceding the 
 alluvial, his bones must have been mixed with those of other 
 animals belonging to those periods. But they are not thus 
 found in a single well-authenticated instance, and, therefore, 
 his existence has been limited to the alluvial period. Hence 
 he must have been created and placed upon the globe — 
 such is the testimony of geology — during the latter part of 
 the alluvial period. 
 
 I might include in this example nearly all the other species 
 of existing animals and plants, since it is only a very few of 
 these that are found fossil, and such species are limited to 
 the tertiary strata. But since this might make some confu- 
 sion in the argument, and since man is confessedly at the 
 head of the existing creation, I prefer to let his case stand 
 out alone, and to regard it instar omnium. 
 
 Here, then, we have a case in which geology can lay her 
 finger upon the precise epoch, in the revolutions of our globe, 
 in which the most complicated, perfect, and exalted being 
 that ever dwelt upon its surface first began to be. It was not 
 the commencement of a mere zoophyte, or cryptogamean 
 plant, in which we see but little superiority to unorganized 
 matter, except in their possession of a low degree of vitality. 
 But we have a being complicated enough to contain a million 
 of parts, endowed with the two great attributes of life, sensi- 
 bility and contractility, in the highest degree, and, above all, 
 possessing intellect and moral powers far more wonderful 
 than organization and animal lifci 
 
 As to the period when the creation of such a being, by the 
 15 
 
170 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 most astonishing of all miracles," took place, I believe there h 
 no diversity of opinion. At least, all agree that it was very 
 recent ; nay, although geology can rarely give chronologica. 
 dates, but only a succession of events, she is able to say, 
 from the monuments she deciphers, that man cannot have 
 occupied the globe more than six thousand years. 
 
 Now, if it was difficult to conceive how successive races 
 of the inferior animals and plants could have originated in 
 the laws of nature, without the special interference of the 
 Deity, that difficulty increases in a rapid ratio as we ascend 
 on the scale of organization and intellect, and attempt in the 
 same manner to account for the origin of man without the 
 miraculous agency of Deity. The thorough-going material- 
 ist, however, does not shrink from the effijrt. " Thought," 
 says Bory de St. Vincent, *' being the necessary result of 
 a certain kind of organization, wherever this order is estab- 
 lished, thought is necessarily derived from it ; and it is no 
 more possible for the molecules of matter, arranged in a 
 certain manner, not to produce thought, than for brass, when 
 smitten, not to return a sound, or for creatures formed by this 
 matter, after such and such laws, not to walk, not to breathe 
 not to reproduce ; in a word, not to exercise any of the facul 
 ties which result from their peculiar mechanism of organiza- 
 tion." — Diet. Clas. D. Hist. Nat. art. Maliere. 
 
 This may seem, upon a superficial view, to be settling this 
 matter at once. But it merely shifts the difficulty from one 
 part of the subject to another. Admitting the premises of 
 the materialist to be correct, it does indeed show us the prox- 
 imate cause of thought. But the mind immediately inquires 
 how a certain organization became possessed of such won- 
 derful power. Is it inherent in matter, or is it a power com 
 vnunicated to organization by a supreme Being? If the 
 
man's creation miraculous. 171 
 
 latter, it is just what the Theist contends for ; if the former, 
 then there is just as much necessity for the original interposi- 
 tion of the Deity, in order to give matter such an astonishing 
 power, as there is, on the theory of the immaterialist, to 
 impart a spiritual and immortal principle to matter. The 
 materialist will, indeed, say that matter has possessed this 
 power from eternity. But this supposition, evidently absurd, 
 does in fact invest matter with the attributes of Deity ; since 
 those attributes, and those alone, are sufficient to account for 
 the phenomena. And besides, how is the fact to be explained 
 that this power was not exerted till six thousand years ago ? 
 
 But with the exception of the materialist, I am sure that 
 most reasoning minds will feel as if the creation of the hu- 
 man family was one of the most stupendous, perhaps the 
 most stupendous, exercise of infinite power and wisdom 
 which the universe exhibits. If any change whatever de- 
 mands a Deity for its accomplishment, it must be this ; and, 
 therefore, geology presents, in the case of man, the most 
 striking example which nature could furnish of a beginning 
 of organic and intellectual life on the globe. It shows us that 
 there was a time, and that not remote, when the first link of 
 the curious chain of the human family, now constantly 
 lengthening by inflexible laws, was created. 
 
 I might now refer to certain recent discoveries in astrono- 
 my, which have the same bearing upon the general argument 
 as the examples that have been quoted from geology, although 
 less decisive. After the famous demonstration of the eternity 
 of the universe by La Grange, provided the present laws of 
 gravity alone control it, we could hardly expect that, so soon 
 even astronomy would furnish proof of a disturbing cause 
 which must ultimately and inevitably bring ruin among the 
 heavenly bodies, if some counteracting agency be not exerted. 
 
172 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 Yet such a source of derangement exists in the supposed 
 medium extending through all space, which has already 
 shown its retarding influence upon Enke's, Biela's, and Hal- 
 ley's comets. And who can say that some of the vast peri- 
 ods which geology discloses may not have been commensurate 
 with those intervening between catastrophes among the heav- 
 enly bodies as the result of the universal resisting ether ? 
 At present, however, we can say only that we know such 
 long periods have existed in geology, and probably in astron 
 omy. And their mere existence is fatal to the idea of the 
 eternity of the world in its present state. 
 
 If, then, geology can clearly demonstrate the present state 
 of the globe to have had a beginning ; if she can show us 
 the period, by fair induction, when one liquid, fiery ocean 
 enveloped the whole earth ; if she can show us five or six 
 economies of organic life successively flourishing and passing 
 away ; if she can trace man back to his origin at a com- 
 paratively recent date ; if, in fact, she can show us that 
 the most important operations on the globe, and the most 
 complicated and exalted organic races, had a beginning ; 
 and if astronomy affords glimpses of similar changes, — 
 then why may we not safely leave the subject of the world's 
 eternity an undecided question, consistently with the most 
 perfect Theism ? If we can prove that the power, the wis- 
 dom, and the benevolence of the Deity have again and again 
 interfered with the regular sequence of nature's operations, 
 and introduced new conditions and new and more perfect 
 beings, by using the matter already in existence, what though 
 we cannot, by the light of science, run back to the first pro- 
 duction of matter itself? What though the atheist should 
 here be allowed to maintain his favorite theory that matter 
 never had a beginning ? What doctrine of natural religioo 
 
CREATION OF MATTER. 173 
 
 is [hereby unfavorably affected, if we can only show the 
 interposition of the Deity in all of matter's important modifi- 
 cations ? Such an admission would not prove matter to be 
 eternal, but only that science has not yet placed within the 
 reach of man the means of proving its non-eternity. And 
 really, such an admission would be far more favorable to the 
 cause of truth than to rely, as theologians have done, on 
 metaphysical subtilties to prove that matter had a beginning. 
 For the sceptical mind will not merely remain unconvinced 
 by such arguments, but be very apt to draw the sweeping 
 inference that all the doctrines of natural and revealed reli- 
 gion rest on similar dreamy abstractions. 
 
 But is natural theology in fact destitute of all satisfactory 
 proof that the matter of the universe had a beginning ? Such 
 proof, it seems to me, she will seek in vain in the wide fields 
 of physical and mathematical science ; and the solution of 
 the question which metaphysics offers, as we have seen, does 
 not satisfy. But there are sources of evidence on this point 
 which seem to me of the most satisfactory kind. 
 
 In the first place, we may derive from science some pre- 
 sumptive proof of a commencement of the matter of the 
 universe. The fact that the organic races on the globe had 
 a beginning affords such proof. For matter could not have 
 originated itself; nor is there any proof of its eternal existence ; 
 and to assume that it did eternally exist, without proof, is far 
 more unphilosophical than to admit its origination in the divine 
 will. For since God has complete control over matter, it is 
 probable that he created it with such properties as he wished 
 it to possess. And furthermore, to the power and wisdom 
 that could set in motion the heavenly bodies, and create and 
 adapt existing organisms out of preexistent matter, we can 
 assign no limits, and hence conclude them to be infinite. 
 15* 
 
174 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 Therefore they are sufficient to the production of matter, 
 which could not have demanded more than infinite wisdom 
 and power. 
 
 Now, in confirmation of these presumptions, we may appeal 
 to the Bible. It is true that writers have been accustomed 
 to consider it contrary to sound logic to draw from revela- 
 tion any support or illustrations of natural religion. But why 
 should an historical fact possess less value, if transmitted to ua 
 through the channel of sacred, rather than profane, writers ? 
 Now, it would be regarded as perfectly good reasoning to 
 seize upon any facts stated by heathen philosophers and his- 
 torians, illustrative of natural religion. But the Scriptures 
 carry with them, to say the least, quite as strong evidence of 
 their authenticity and claims to be credited, as any ancient 
 uninspired writer. We place them on the same ground as 
 any other history, and demand for them only that they should 
 be believed so far as we have testimony to their authenticity. 
 If a man, after careful examination of their evidences, comes 
 to the conclusion that they are mere fables, then to him their 
 testimony is of no value to prove or illustrate any truth of 
 natural religion. But if he is convinced that they are worthy 
 of credence, then their statements may decide a point about 
 which the light of nature leaves him in uncertainty. In this 
 way the Bible is used by the natural theologian, just as he 
 would employ any curious object in nature — say, the human 
 hand, or the eye. These organs exist, and their mechanism 
 is to be accounted for either with or without a God. And so 
 the Bible exists, and its contents are to be accounted for ; and 
 if they clearly evince the agency of a Deity, then we may use 
 them, just as we would use the eye or the hand, to prove or 
 illustrate important truths in natural theology. 
 
 Riit the testimony of the Bible, as to the origin of the 
 
SCRIPTUEE TESTIMONY. 175 
 
 world, is most explicit and decided. It declares that in the 
 heginning God created the heavens and the earth ; and that 
 the ivorlds were formed hy the word of God^ so that the things 
 which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 
 The obvious meaning of this latter passage is, that the mate- 
 rial universe was created out of nothing, (ra fiij cpaivofieva.) 
 How much more satisfactory this simple and consistent state- 
 ment, than a volume of abstract argument to prove the non- 
 eternity of the world ! 
 
 Now, if the testimony of the Scriptures on all other points 
 has been found correct, why should we not receive with un- 
 hesitating credence, and even with joy, the sublime announce- 
 ment with which that volume opens } True, we are not com- 
 pelled to admit this statement, in order to save Theism from 
 refutation, because geology shows us the commencement of 
 several economies on the globe, which point us to a divine 
 Author, But the doctrine of matter's creation out of nothing 
 gives a desirable completeness to the system. 
 
 In looking back upon the subject, which has thus been dis 
 cussed, too briefly for its merits, but too prolixly for your 
 patience, several important inferences force themselves upon 
 our attention. 
 
 And first, it furnishes a satisfactory reply to a well-known 
 objection, otherwise unanswerable, against the argument from 
 design in nature to prove the existence of a Deity. We pre- 
 sent ten thousand examples of exquisite design and adaptation 
 m nature to the atheist. He admits them all ; but says, it was 
 always so, and therefore requires no other Deity but the power 
 eternally inherent in nature. At your metaphysical replies 
 to his objections he laughs ; but when you take him back on 
 geological wings, and bid him gaze on man, just springing, 
 with his lofty powers, from the plastic hands of his Creator, 
 
176 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 and then, still earlier, you point him to system after system of 
 organic life starting up in glorious variety and beauty on the 
 changing earth, and even still nearer the birth of time, you 
 show him the globe, a glowing ocean of fire, swept of all 
 organic life, he is forced to exclaim, " A God ! a personal 
 God ! an infinitely wise and powerful God ! " What though 
 he still clings to the notion of matter's eternity ? you have 
 forced him to see the hand of Deity in its wonderful arrange- 
 ments and metamorphoses ; the hand of such a Deity as might 
 have brought it into existence in a moment, by the word of 
 his power.* 
 
 Secondly. The subject presents us with a new argument for 
 the existence of a God, or rather a satisfactory modification 
 of the argument from design. In that argument, as derived 
 from other sciences, the Theist finds, indeed, multiplied and 
 beautiful proofs of adaptation and apparent design ; but then he 
 cannot, as already observed, from those sciences derive proof 
 of the commencement either of matter or its arrangements ; 
 and then, too, the sceptic, with plausible ingenuity, can take 
 his stand upon law as the efficient agent in nature's move- 
 ments and harmonies. But when geology shows us, not the 
 commencement of matter, but of organism, and presents us 
 with full systems of animals and plants springing out of inor- 
 ganic elements, where is the law that exhibits even a tendency 
 to such results ? Nothing can explain them but the law of 
 miracles; that is, creation by divine interposition. Thus is 
 the idea of a Deity forced nakedly upon us, as the only pos- 
 sible solution of the enigmas of creation. The metaphysical 
 
 ♦ The subject of this inference is treated with great ability and 
 eandor in the Biblotheca Sacra for November, 1849, by my friend and 
 colleague, Rev. Joseph Haven, Jr., professor of intellectual and mora) 
 philosophy in Amherst College. 
 
GEOLOGY SLANDERED. 177 
 
 Theist must waste half his strength in battling the questions 
 about the beginning of matter, and the laws of matter; nor 
 can he ever entirely dislodge the enemy from these strongholds 
 of atheism. But the geological Theist takes us at once into a 
 field where work has been done, which neither eternal law, 
 nor eternal matter, but an infinite personal Deity only, could 
 accomplish. 
 
 In conclusion, I would merely refer to the interesting fact, 
 that geology should prove almost the only science that pre- 
 sents us with exigencies demanding the interposition of cre- 
 ating power. And yet, up to the present time, geology has 
 been looked upon by many Christian writers with jealous eye, 
 because it was supposed to teach the world's eternity, and 
 so to account for natural changes by catastrophes and the 
 gradual operation of existing agencies, as to render a Deity 
 unnecessary, either for the creation or regulation of the world. 
 One of these writers has even most uncharitably and unrea- 
 sonably said, that " the mineral geology, considered as a sci- 
 ence, can do as well without God (though in a question con- 
 cerning the origin of the earth) as Lucretius did." — Granville 
 Penn, Comparative Estimate, &dc. — How much ground there 
 is for such an allegation, let the developments made in this 
 lecture answer. Surely, in this case, geology has followed 
 the directions of the Oriental poet : — 
 
 «* Learn from yon Orient shell to love thy foe, 
 And strew with pearls the hand that brings thee woe ; 
 Free, like yon rock, from base, vindictive pride. 
 Emblaze with gems the wrist that rends thy side. 
 Mark where yon tree rewards the stony shower 
 With fruit nectareous or the balmy flower. 
 All nature calls aloud, — * Shall man do less 
 Than heal the smiter, and the railer bless ? ' " 
 
178 THE world's supposed eternity. 
 
 Misunderstood or misinterpreted though this science hap 
 been, she now offers her aid to fortify some of the weakest 
 outposts of religion. And thus shall it ever be with all true 
 science. Twin sister of natural and revealed religion, and 
 of heavenly birth, she will never belie her celestial origin, nor 
 cease to sympathize with all that emanates from the same 
 pure home. Human ignorance and prejudice may for a time 
 seem to have divorced what God has joined together. But 
 human ignorance and prejudice shall at length pass away, and 
 then science and religion shall be seen blending their parti- 
 colored rays into one beautiful bow of light, linking heaven 
 to earth and earth to heaven. 
 
(179) 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF THE DIVINE BENEVOI^ENCE. 
 
 The subject of the present lecture is the divine benevo- 
 lence, as taught by geology. But what connection, it will be 
 asked, can there be between the history of rocks and the be- 
 nevolence of God ? Do not the leading points of that history 
 consist of terrible catastrophes, aqueous or igneous, by which 
 the crust of the earth has been dislocated and upheaved, 
 mountains lifted up and overturned, the dry land inundated, 
 now by scorching lava, and now by the ocean, sweeping from 
 its face all organic life, and entombing its inhabitants in a 
 stony grave ? Who can find the traces of benevolence in the 
 midst of such desolation and death ? Is it not the very place 
 where the objector would find arguments to prove the malev- 
 olence, certainly the vindictive justice, of the Deity ? 
 
 This, I am aware, is a not unnatural prima facie view of 
 this subject. But it is a false one. Geology does furnish 
 some very striking evidence of divine benevolence ; and if 
 I can show this, and from so unpromising a field gather de- 
 cisive arguments on this subject, they will be so much clear 
 gain to the cause of Theism. This is what, therefore, I shall 
 now attempt to do. 
 
 In the first place, I derive an argument for the divine be- 
 nevolence from the manner in which soils are formed by the 
 disintegration and decomposition of rocks. 
 
 Chemical analysis shows us that the mineral constituents 
 
180 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 of rocks are essentially the same as those of soils ; and that 
 the latter differ from the former, in a pulverized state, only 
 in containing animal and vegetable matter. Hence we cannot 
 doubt but the soils originated from the rocks. And, in fact, the 
 process of their production is continually going on under our 
 eyes. Wherever the rocks are exposed to atmospheric agen- 
 cies, they are seen to crumble down ; and, in fact, most of 
 them, having been long exposed, are now covered with a 
 deposit of their own ruins, forming a soil over them. This 
 process is in part decomposition and in part disintegration ; 
 and as we look upon rocks thus wasting away, we are apt to 
 be impressed with the idea ♦hat it is an instance of decay in 
 nature's works, which, instead of indicating benevolence, 
 can hardly be reconciled with divine wisdom. But when we 
 learn that this is the principal mode in which soils are pro- 
 duced, that without it vegetation could not be sustained, and 
 that a world like ours without plants must also be without 
 animals, this apparent ruin puts on tlie aspect of benevolence 
 and wise design. 
 
 My second argument in proof of the divine benevolence is 
 derived from the disturbed, broken, and overturned condition 
 of the earth's crust. 
 
 To the casual observer, the rocks have the appearance of 
 being lifted up, shattered, and overturned. But it is only the 
 geologist who knows the vast extent of this disturbance. He 
 never finds crystalline, non-fossiliferous rocks, which ha^'e not 
 been more or less removed from their original position ; and 
 usually he finds them to have been thrown up by some 
 powerful agency into almost every possible position. The 
 older fossiliferous strata exhibit almost equal evidence of the 
 operation of a powerful disturbing force, though sometimes 
 found in their original horizontal position. The newer rocka 
 
BROKEN AND FOLDED STRATA. 181 
 
 have experienced less of this agency, though but few of them 
 have not been elevated or dislocated. Mountainous countries 
 exhibit this action most strikingly. There it is shown some- 
 times on a magnificent scale. Entire mountains in the Alps, 
 for instance, appear not only to have been lifted up from the 
 ocean's depths, but to have been actually thrown over, so as 
 to bring the lowest and oldest rocks at the top of the series. 
 The extensive range of mountains in this country, com- 
 mencing in Canada, and embracing the Green Mountains of 
 Vermont, the Highlands of New York, and most of the 
 Alleghany chain as far as Alabama, a distance of some 
 twelve hundred miles, has also been lifted up, and some of 
 the strata, by a lateral force, folded together, and then thrown 
 over, so as now to occupy an inverted position. Let us now 
 see wherein this agency exhibits benevolence. 
 
 If these strata had remained horizontal, as they were origi- 
 nally deposited, it is obvious that all the valuable ores, min- 
 erals, and rocks, which man could not have discovered by 
 direct excavation, must have remained forever unknown to 
 him. Now, man has very seldom penetrated the rocks below 
 the depth of half a mile, and rarely so deep as that ; whereas 
 by the elevations, dislocations, and overturnings that have 
 been described, he obtains access to all deposits of useful 
 substances that lie within fifteen or twenty miles of the sur- 
 face ; and many are thus probably brought to light from a 
 greater depth. He is indebted, then, to this disturbing agency 
 for nearly all the useful metals, coal, rock salt, marble, gyp- 
 sum, and other useful minerals ; and when we consider how 
 necessary these substances are to civilized society, who will 
 doubt that it was a striking act of benevolence which thus 
 introduced disturbance, dislocation, and apparent ruin into 
 the earth's crust ? 
 16 
 
182 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 Another decided advantage resulting from this disturbing 
 agency is the formation of valleys. 
 
 If we sappose the strata spread uniformly over the earth's 
 entire surface, then the ocean must envelop the whole globe. 
 But, admitting such interruptions in the strata to exist as 
 would leave cavities, where the waters might be gathered 
 together into one place, and the dry land appear, still that 
 dry land must form only an unbroken level. Streams of 
 water could not exist on such a continent, because they de- 
 pend upon inequalities of surface ; and whatever water existed 
 must have formed only stagnant ponds, and the morasses 
 which would be the consequence would load the air with 
 miasms fatal to life ; so that we may safely pronounce the 
 world uninhabitable by natures adapted to the present earth. 
 But such, essentially, must have been the state of things, had 
 not internal forces elevated and fractured the earth's crust. 
 For that was the origin of most of our valleys — of all the 
 larger valleys, indeed, which checker the surface of primary 
 countries. Most of them have been modified by subsequent 
 agencies ; but their leading features, their outlines, have been 
 the result of those internal disturbances which spread desola- 
 tion over the surface. We are apt to look upon such an 
 agency as an exhibition of retributive justice, rather than of 
 benevolence. And yet that admirable system for the circula- 
 tion of water, whereby the rain that falls upon the surface is 
 conveyed to the ocean, whence it is returned by evaporation, 
 depends upon it. It imparts, to all organic nature, life, health, 
 and activity ; and had it not thus ridged up the surface, stag- 
 nation and death must have reigned over all the earth. In 
 the unhealthiness of low, flat countries, at present, we see 
 the terrible condition of things in a world without valleys. 
 Can we doubt, then, that it was the hand of benevolence that 
 
HATUKAL SCENERY. 183 
 
 drove the ploughshare of ruin through the earth^s crust, and 
 ridged up its surface into a thousand fantastic forms ? 
 
 It will more deeply impress us with this benevolence to 
 remember that most of the sublime and the beautiful in the 
 scenery of a country depends upon this disturbing agency. 
 Beautiful as vegetable nature is, how tame is a landscape 
 where only a dead level is covered with it, and no swelling 
 hills, or jutting rocks, or murmuring waters, relieve the monot- 
 onous scene ' And how does the interest increase with the 
 wildness and ruggedness of the surface, and reach its maxi- 
 mum only where the disturbance and dislocation have been 
 most violent ! 
 
 Some may, perhaps, doubt whether it can have been one 
 of the objects of divine benevolence and wisdom, in arranging 
 the surface of this world, so to construct and adorn it as to 
 gratify a taste for fine scenery. But I cannot doubt it. I see 
 not else why nature every where is fitted up in a lavish man- 
 ner with all the elements of the sublime and beautiful, nor 
 why there are powers in the human soul so intensely gratified 
 in contact with those elements, unless they were expressly 
 adapted for one another by the Creator. Surely natural 
 scenery does afibrd to the unsophisticated soul one of the 
 richest and purest sources of enjoyment to be found on earth. 
 If this be doubted by any one, it must be because he has never 
 been placed in circumstances to call into exercise his natural 
 love of the beautiful and the sublime in creation. Let me 
 persuade such a one, at least in imagination, to break away 
 from the slavish routine of business or pleasure, and in the 
 height of balmy summer to accompany me to a few spots, 
 where his soul will swell with new and strong emotions, if 
 his natural sensibilities to the grand and beautiful have not 
 become thoroughly dead within him. 
 
184 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 We might profitably pause for a moment at this enchanting 
 season of the year, (June,) and look abroad from that gentle 
 elevation on which we dwell, now all mantled over with a 
 flowery carpet, wafting its balmy odors into our studies. Can 
 any thing be more delightful than the waving forests, with 
 their dense and deep green foliage, interspersed with grassy 
 and sunny fields and murmuring streamlets, which spread all 
 around us ? How rich the graceful slopes of yonder distant 
 mountains, which bound the Connecticut on either side I 
 How imposing Mount Sugar Loaf on the north, with its red- 
 belted and green-tufted crown, and Mettawampe too, with its 
 rocky terraces on the one side, and its broad slopes of un- 
 broken forest on the other 1 Especially, how beautifully and 
 even majestically does the indented summit of Mount Hoi- 
 yoke repose against the summer sky I What sunrises and 
 sunsets do we here witness, and what a multitude of permu- 
 tations and combinations pass before us during the day, as 
 we watch from hour to hour one of the loveliest landscapes 
 of New England I 
 
 Let us now turn our steps to that huge pile of mountains 
 called the White Hills of New Hampshire. We will ap- 
 proach them through the valley of the Saco River, and at 
 the distance of thirty miles they will be seen looming up in 
 the horizon, with the clouds reposing beneath their naked 
 heads. As the observer approaches them, the sides of the 
 valley will gradually close in upon him, and rise higher and 
 higher, until he will find their naked granitic summits almost 
 jutting over his path, to the height of several thousand feet, 
 seeming to form the very battlements of heaven. Now and 
 then will he see the cataract leaping hundreds of feet down 
 their sides, and the naked path of some recent landslip, 
 wliich carried death and desolation in its track. From this 
 
THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 185 
 
 deep and wild chasm he will at length emerge, and climb the 
 vast ridge, until he has seen the forest trees dwindle, and at 
 length disappear ; and standing upon the naked summit, im- 
 mensity seems stretched out before him. But he has not yet 
 reached the highest point ; and far in the distance, and far 
 above him. Mount Washington seems to repose in awful 
 majesty against the heavens. Turning his course thither, he 
 follows the narrow and naked ridge over one peak after 
 another, first rising upon Mount Pleasant, then Mount Frank- 
 lin, and then Mount Monroe, each lifting him higher, and 
 making the sea of mountains around him more wide and bil- 
 lowy, and the yawning gulfs on either side more profound 
 and awful, so that every moment his interest deepens, and 
 reaches not its climax till he stands upon Mount Washington, 
 when the vast panorama is completed, and the world seems 
 spread out at his feet. Yet it does not seem to be a peopled 
 world, for no mighty city lies beneath him. Indeed, were it 
 there, he would pass it almost unnoticed. For why should he 
 regard so small an object as a city, when the world is before 
 him ? — a world of mountains, bearing the impress of God's 
 own hand, standing in solitary grandeur, just as he piled them 
 up in primeval ages, and stretching away on every side as 
 far as the eye can reach. On that pinnacle of the northern 
 regions no sound of man or beast breaks in upon the awful 
 stillness which reigns there, and which seems to bring the 
 soul into near communion with the Deity. It is, mdeed, the 
 impressive Sabbath of nature ; and the soul feels a delightful 
 awe, which can never be forgotten. Gladly would it linger 
 there for hours, and converse with the mighty and the holy 
 thoughts which come crowding into it ; and it is only when 
 the man looks at the rapidly declining sun that he is roused 
 from his re very and commences his descending march. 
 16* 
 
186 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 Let such a man next accompany me to Niagara. We will 
 pass by all minor cataracts, and place ourselves at once on 
 the margin of one that knows no rival. Let not the man take 
 a hasty glance, and in disappointment conclude that he shall 
 find no interest and no sublimity there. Let him go to the 
 edge of the precipice, and watch the deep waters as they roll 
 over, and, changing their sea-green brightness for a fleecy 
 white, pour down upon the rocks beneath, and dash back again 
 in spray high in the air. Let him go to th*» foot of the sheet, 
 and look upward till the cataract swells into its proper size. 
 Let him, on the Canada shore, take in the whole breadth of 
 the cataract at once ; and as he stands musing, let him listen 
 to the deep thunderings of the falling sheet. Let him go to 
 Table Rock, and creep forward to its jutting edge, and gaze 
 steadily into the foaming and eddying waters so far beneath 
 him, until his nerves thrill and vibrate, and he involuntarily 
 shrinks back, exclaiming, — 
 
 " How dreadful 
 And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low ! 
 
 I'll look no more, 
 Lest my brain tiuTi." 
 
 Next, let him stand upon that rock till the sun approaches 
 so near the western horizon that a glorious bow, forming an 
 almost entire circle on the cataract and the spray, shall clothe 
 the scene with unearthly beauty, and, in connection with the 
 emerald green of the waters, give it a brilliancy fully equal to 
 its sublimity. And finally, if he would add the emotions of 
 moral to natural sublimity, let him follow to Ontario, the deep 
 gulf through which all these waters flow, and, gathering up the 
 evidence, which he will find too strong to resist, that they 
 themselves have worn that gulf backward seven miles, let 
 
MOUNTAINS OF WALES. 187 
 
 him try the rules of geological arithmetic to see if he can 
 reach the period of its commencement. Surely, when he 
 reviews the emotions of that day, he will never again doubt 
 that the magnificent scenery of our world is the result of be- 
 nevolent design on the part of the Creator. 
 
 If, now, we cross the Atlantic, we shall easily find scenes 
 of natural beauty and sublimity, that have long elicited the 
 wonder and delight of thousands of genuine taste. Shall we 
 turn our steps first to the valleys and mountains of Wales ? 
 To an American eye, indeed, they lack one important feature, 
 in being so destitute of trees. But then their wild aspect, 
 their ragged and rocky outlines, present a picture of the sub- 
 limity of desolation rarely equalled. And as you ascend the 
 mountains, — Snowdon, for instance, the highest of them all, 
 — you find their summits, not rounded, as our American moun- 
 tains, by former drift agency, nor forming continuous ridges, 
 but shooting up in ragged peaks and edges, as if they formed 
 the teeth of mother earth ; although, in fact, it was the tooth 
 of time that has gnawed them into their present forms. As 
 you approach the summit, you feel animated in anticipation 
 of the splendid prospect about to open upon you. Jut the 
 clouds begin to gather, and soon envelop the mountain top ; 
 and though you reach the pinnacle, the dense mist limits your 
 vision to a circle of a few rods in diameter. But ere long the 
 vapor begins to break away, and the lofty cliffs and deep cav- 
 erns around you are revealed. Now and then, the lake, so often 
 found in the recesses of these mountains, is half seen through 
 the opening cloud, and, magnified by the obscurity, it seems 
 more distant and grand than if distinctly visible. Gradually 
 the clouds open in various directions, disclosing gulf after 
 gulf, lake after lake, mountain after mountain, and, finally, the 
 Irish Channel, dotted with sails ; and the whole scene lies 
 
188 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 spread out before you in glories that cannot be described. 
 You are standing upon the pinnacle of England, and you fe*»l 
 as if almost the whole of it lay within the circle of vision. 
 After enjoying so splendid a scene, you are thankful that the 
 cloud hid it at first from your sight, and so much enhanced 
 your pleasure by opening vista after vista, till the whole be- 
 came one magnificent circle of picturesque beauty and sub- 
 limity.* 
 
 To relieve the mind after gazing long on such scenes of 
 rugged grandeur, let us turn our course southerly, and follow 
 down the romantic banks of the Wye, where every turn pre- 
 sents some new beauties, occasionally disclosing the ruins of 
 some old castle, or magnificent abbey, (Tinton,) and at length 
 Bristol, with its aristocratic adjunct, Clifton, turns your thoughts 
 from the works of nature to those of man. And yet, even 
 Clifton^s elegant Crescent is but a meagre show by the side 
 of the magnificent gorge which the Avon has cut in the rocks 
 lust before it enters Bristol Channel. 
 
 Passing over to the Isle of Wight, and traversing its shores, 
 ve shall witness many unique examples of natural beauty, 
 swelling sometimes into sublimity, — such are the chalk cliffs 
 near its western extremity, from two hundred to six hundred 
 icet high, — sometimes hollowed out into magnificent domes, 
 and the pillars of chalk, called Needles^ in the midst of the 
 •jea, alive with sea gulls and cormorants, and forming the 
 
 * In this description I have attempted to give exactly the experi- 
 ence of myself and John Tappan, Esq., with our wives, who ascended 
 bnowdon in June, 1850. A few days after, we ascended Cadet Idris, 
 another mountain of Wales, near Dolgelly, where the views were 
 perhaps equally wild and sublime, with the addition of a vast num- 
 ber of trap columns, and a pseudo-crater, with its jagged and frown* 
 tng sides. 
 
HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND. 189 
 
 remnants of the chalk bridge that once united the island to 
 England. There, too, Alum Bay, with its many-colored 
 strata of clay, unites the interesting in geology with the pic- 
 turesque in scenery. 
 
 Along the southern coast, also, are the stupendous cliffs 
 and the romantic under-cliffs, as well as the ragged chines, 
 where an almost tropical climate attracts the invalid, while the 
 cool sea breezes draw thither the wealthy and the fashionable. 
 
 But if sublime scenery pleases us more, we must traverse 
 the Highlands of Scotland, — ^ 
 
 " Land of brown heath and shaggy furze," 
 
 land of lofty and naked mountains, embosoming lakes of great 
 beauty, and full of historic and poetic interest. 
 
 Passing over Loch Lomond, the queen of Scottish lakes, 
 you go through the long shadow of Ben Lomond, propped 
 by many lesser mountains. Rising into the Highlands, the 
 sterility and wildness increase, and reach their maximum in 
 Glencoe, whose wildness and sublimity are indeed indescriba- 
 ble ; but if seen, they can never be forgotten. Still farther 
 north, Ben Nevis lifts its uncovered head above all other 
 mountains in the British Isles ; so high, indeed, that often, 
 during the whole summer, it retains a portion of its snowy, 
 wintry" mantle. 
 
 Yet farther north, we come to the unique terraces, called 
 the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy^ formerly supposed to be the 
 work of giants ; but now, that they are known to be the prod- 
 uct of nature, proving not only objects of great scenographi- 
 cal interest, but a problem of special importance and diffi- 
 culty in geology. 
 
 If we should pass from Scotland to the north-east part of 
 Ireland, taking Staffa in our way, we should find in the basaltic 
 
190 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 columns of Fingal's Cave, and the Giant's Causeway, what 
 seems, at first view, to be stupendous human structures, or 
 rather the architecture of giants. But you soon find it to be 
 only an example — 
 
 «« Where nature works as if defying art, 
 And, in defiance of her rival powers, 
 By these fortuitous and random strokes. 
 Performing such inimitable feats, 
 As she, with all her rules, can never reach." 
 
 Let any one sail along the coast for a few miles at the 
 Giant's Causeway, enter some of the deep and echoing cav- 
 erns, overhung by the basaltic mass, and see the columns rising 
 tier above tier, sometimes four hundred feet in height, and 
 assuming every wild and fantastic shape ; or let him walk 
 over the acres of columns, whose tops are as perfectly polyg- 
 onal and as accurately fitted to one another as the most 
 skilful architect could make them, and he will confess how 
 superior Nature is, when she would present a model for human 
 imitation ; and how with accurate system she can combine the 
 wildest disorder, and thus delight by symmetry, while she 
 awes by sublimity. 
 
 Let us next pass over to continental Europe. We have reached 
 the Rhine at Bonn, and the steamboat takes us at once into 
 the midst of the romantic Drachenfels, or seven mountains, 
 the result of volcanic agency, and still presenting more or less 
 of the conical outline peculiar almost to modern volcanoes. 
 These are the commencement of the romantic scenery of the 
 Rhine. From thence to Bingen, some sixty or seventy 
 miles, that river has cut its way through hills and mountains, 
 sometimes rising one thousand feet. Along their base, the 
 inhabitants have planted many a well-known town, while old 
 
THE RHINE AND SWITZERLAND. 191 
 
 castles, half crumbled down, recall continually the history of 
 feudal ages ; and here, too, springs up a multitude of remem- 
 brances of startling events in more recent times. The mind, 
 indeed, finds itself drawn at one moment to some historical 
 monument, and the next to scenery of surpassing beauty or 
 sublimity ; now the bold, overhanging rock, now the deep 
 recess, now the towering mountain, now the quiet dell with 
 its romantic villages ; while every where on the north bank, 
 the vine-clad terraces show us what wonders human industry 
 can accomplish. 
 
 Nor does the Rhine lose its interest when we have emerged 
 from its Ghor into its more open valley, from Bingen to 
 Basle, in Switzerland. On its right bank, the Vosges Moun- 
 tains, and on its left, the Black Forest, with not infrequent 
 volcanic summits, afford a fine resting-place for the eye, as 
 the rail car bears us rapidly over the rich intervening level. 
 Or if we turn aside, — as to Heidelberg, on the Neckar, — 
 what can be a more splendid sight than to stand by the old 
 castle above the town, and look down the valley as the sun is 
 sinking in the west ! 
 
 But after all, it is in Switzerland, and there only, that we 
 meet with the climax of scenographical wonders. Nowhere 
 else can we find such lakes in the midst of such mountains , 
 such pleasant valleys bordered by such stupendous hills ; such 
 gorges, and precipices, and passes, and especially such gla- 
 ciers ; such avalanches, such snow-capped mountains, while 
 vegetation at their base, and far up their sides, is fresh and 
 luxuriant. 
 
 Embark, for instance, at Zurich, and, crossing its beautiful 
 lake, direct your course towards Mount Righi. As the heavy 
 diligence lifts you above the lake, you begin to catch glimpses 
 of the grandeur of the Swiss mountains to the south, piercing 
 
192 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 the clouds far off*. Passing the romantic Zug, you come to 
 the valley between the Rossberg and the Righi, and tlie 
 denuded face of the former tells you whence came the mass 
 of ruins over which you clamber, and which buried the villages 
 of Goldau, Bussingen, and Rothen several hundred feet deep 
 with blocks of stone and soil. Long and steep is your ascent 
 of Righi, nearly six thousand feet above the sea. But the 
 views you obtain by the way become wider and grander at 
 every step. Reaching the summit near sunset, you may be 
 gratified by a panoramic view of a large part of Switzerland, 
 embracing its wildest and grandest scenery. Yet, if the 
 clouds prevent, you wait for the morning, in the hope of being 
 more fortunate. With the earliest dawn you awake, and 
 proceed to the summit of the mountain, where hundreds, 
 perhaps, from all civilized lands, are congregated, to witness 
 the rising of the sun. But a dense cloud envelops the 
 mountain, and hope almost dies within you. Wait, however, 
 a few moments, and the rising sun will depress the clouds 
 below the mountain's summit, and a scene of glory shall 
 open upon you, which can never be erased from your mem- 
 ory. Look now, for the sun's first rays have shed a flood of 
 glory over the clouds which now fill the valleys beneath youi 
 feet. A fleecy white predominates ; but the colors of the 
 prism tinge the edges -of the clouds, and no part of the solid 
 earth rises above them, save the pinnacle on which you 
 stand, and to the south the higher peaks of the Bernese Alps, 
 — the Jungfrau, the Eiger, the Shreckhorn, and the Wetter- 
 horn, — covered with snow and glaciers, and seeming too 
 pure to belong to earth. Indeed, the whole scene seemed to 
 me to be unearthly ; the fittest emblem that my eyes ever rested 
 upon of celestial scenes ; and one cannot repress the desire, 
 when looking upon it, to be borne away on wings over the 
 
MONT BLANC. * 193 
 
 glorious scene, and to repose for a time upon the gorgeous 
 bed, forgetful of the lower world. Yet when, at length, the 
 clouds begin to break away, and disclose the deep valleys 
 and blue lakes, — places made immortal by the deeds of such 
 patriots and reformers as Tell and Zuinglius, — we feel again 
 the attractions of earth ; and as we descend to Lake Lucerne, 
 we have before us such scenery as scarcely any other part 
 of the world can furnish. And these scenes continue, in 
 ever-changing aspects, wherever we wander along this en- 
 chanting lake ; and though the exhausted brain fails at length, 
 the objects of interest do not. 
 
 From this lake we might turn our course easterly, and 
 soon find ourselves amid the glacial regions of the Oberland 
 Alps — scenes full of deep and thrilling interest. But let us 
 rather turn southerly, and, following down the great valley of 
 Switzerland, find our way among the Alps of Savoy, where the 
 same phenomena attain their maximum of interest and sub- 
 limity, and the great monarch of the Alps is seen, wearing 
 his hoary crown. As we pass along towards Lake Lehman, 
 if the air be clear, the Bernese Alps loom up in unrivalled 
 majesty; and as we sail over Lake Lehman, Mont Blanc, with 
 some of its nearly equal associates, shows its distant yet im- 
 pressive form. Passing without notice the almost unrivalled 
 beauties of Lehman, and following up the Arve through its stu- 
 pendous gorges, we catch views of Mont Blanc, as we approach 
 it, that possess overpowering sublimity. At length, Chamouny 
 is reached — a lovely vale in the midst of Alpine wonders. 
 From thence we first ascend the Flegere, thirty-five hundred 
 feet above the valley, and sixty-five hundred above the 
 ocean ; and there we get a fine view of Mont Blanc and the 
 Aiguilles, or Needles. Here distances are vastly diminished 
 to the eye, and you seem in near proximity even with Mont 
 
 
194 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 Blanc ; and, in fact, should any adventurous visitors have 
 reached the top of that mountain, a good spy-glass will show 
 them from this spot.* 
 
 On the opposite side of the valley from the Flegere, and 
 at about the same height, is Montanvert, the most convenient 
 spot for traversing the glacier called the Mer de Glace. If, 
 however, one would see the lower extremity of that glacier, 
 and the Arveron issuing from it, he must pass along the right 
 hand side of the stream, and then he can follow up the 
 glacier to Montanvert ; and strange would it be .if, in doing 
 this, he should not hear and see the frequent avalanche. 
 
 We have now reached the field where everlasting war is 
 carried on between heat and cold, summer and winter. Below 
 us, verdure clothes the valleys, and climbs up the slopes of 
 the hills; and there the shepherd watches his flocks. Above 
 us there are fields of ice stretching many a league, save 
 where some needle-shaped summit of naked rock, too steep 
 for snow to rest upon, shoots up in lonely grandeur thousands 
 of feet, and defies the raging elements. From these oceans 
 of ice shoot forth down the valleys enormous glaciers, appear- 
 ing like vast rivers of ice, winding among the hills, and 
 pushing, at the rate of a few inches each day, far into regions 
 
 • "Wlien I visited this spot, in September, 1850, I was so fortunate 
 as to get sight of a party that had just commenced the descent from 
 the summit of Mont Blanc. To the naked eye they were invisible, 
 but the whole train could be distinctly seen through a telescope. 
 This was the third party that had ascended that mountain in th* 
 summer of 1850. I doubt not that the dangers have been exagger 
 ated, and that the excursion will become common. 
 
 There are other points of great interest around Chamouny, whic 
 I have not noticed, some of which I visited, but not alL I ha^ 
 mentioned only the most common. 
 
• V . -M «■ MOUNT ARARAT. 196 
 
 of vegetation ; one year encroaching upon the shepherd's 
 pasture ground, and anon, by the access of heat, driven back 
 towards the summit; hurling down, from time to time, as 
 they push forward, the thundering avalanche. 
 
 Without difficulty at Montanvert we can enter upon the 
 glacier, and in spite of the deep crevasse, and the elemental 
 war, which always rages in those lofty regions, we may make 
 our way to their source. Nay, human feet, as already 
 suggested, have pressed even the top of Mont Blanc ; and 
 should we reach this summit of the Alps, we should stand 
 upon the loftiest point of Europe, and behold a scene which 
 but few eyes ever have, or ever will, rest upon. We should 
 
 " breathe 
 The difficult air of the iced mountain's top, 
 Where the bu*ds dare not build, nor insect's wing 
 Flit o'er the herbless granite." 
 
 We should, in fact, have reached the climax of the sublime 
 m natural scenery. 
 
 Thus far I have described, almost without exception, only 
 what I have seen. But let us now venture into regions 
 where we have only the description of others to guide us. 
 Let us enter the region of ancient Armenia, a country com- 
 posed of wide plains, bounded and intersected by precipitous 
 mountains. As we journeyed south-easterly over one of 
 these plains, a remarkable conical summit would arrest our 
 attention, at the distance of sixty miles. Day after day, as 
 we approached, it would creep up higher and higher above 
 the horizon, developing its commanding features, and rivetting 
 more intensely the attention upon it. As we came near its 
 base, we should see that its top rose far into the region of 
 eternal ice, whose glassy surface would reflect the light liko 
 
196 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 a mirror, and whose lower edge had shot forth enormous 
 glaciers as far* as the heat would allow them to descend. In 
 the plain below, we should be sweltering in a tropical heat; 
 but the same sun that melted uS would make no impression 
 upon the wintry crown of the mountain. We could not keep 
 our eyes or thoughts turned away from an object so sublime. 
 And it would deepen the impression to learn that this gigan- 
 tic cone, shooting up three and a half miles, was once a vol- 
 cano ; and still more would it deepen our interest to learn 
 that this is the mountain which universal tradition in that 
 region regards as the Mount Ararat, the resting-place of the 
 ark. It would strike us forcibly to realize that what seems to 
 us now to be a pillar of heaven, was the patriarch's stepping- 
 stone from the antediluvian into the postdiluvian world. 
 
 One more example may suffice. Go with me to the Sand- 
 wich Islands, and we shall get an impressive glimpse of the 
 principal agency by which the earth's crust has been ridged, 
 furrowed, and dislocated. As we land upon Hawaii, we per- 
 ceive it to be composed mainly of lava of no very ancient 
 date. We ascend a lofty plateau, and many a league in ad- 
 vance of us we see a column of smoke rising from a vast 
 plain. Directing our course thither, while yet some miles 
 from it, we descend a steep slope to a broad terrace, and then 
 another slope to a second terrace. These slopes and terraces 
 extend circularly around the pillar of smoke like the seats of 
 a vast amphitheatre. 
 
 Coming near to this column, our steps are arrested on the 
 margin of a vast gulf, fifteen hundred feet deep, and from 
 eight to ten miles in circumference, whqge bottom is the seal 
 of the most remarkable volcano on the globe ; — I mean 
 Kilauea. Wait here till night closes around us, and we shall 
 witness a scene of awful sublimity. Over the immense 
 
VOLCANO OF KILAUEA. 197 
 
 area of that gulf will the volcanic agency beneath be exerted. 
 Ever and anon, and mingling in strange discord, will hissings 
 and groanings, mutterings and thunderings, be heard rolling 
 from side to side, and making the earth tremble around. 
 Then from one and another volcanic cone — perhaps from 
 fifty — will the glowing lava burst forth ; red-hot stones will 
 be driven furiously upward ; vapor, and smoke, and flames 
 will be poured out, and the dark and jagged sides of that vast 
 furnace will glow with unearthly splendor; and here and 
 there will lakes of liquid lava appear, one or two miles in 
 extent, heaving up their billows, and dashing their fiery spray 
 high into the air. O, there is not on earth a livelier emblem 
 of the world of despair ; and yet we know it is not the lake 
 which burneth with fire and brimstone, nor the abode of lost 
 spirits. We know it to be only one of the safety-valves of 
 our globe, and an exhibition of that mighty agency within 
 the globe which has heaved and dislocated its crust ; and, 
 therefore, as we gaze upon the scene, and forget our fatigue 
 and sleep, we experience only the emotions of awful sublim- 
 ity, which can hardly fail to rise into adoration of that infinite 
 Being who can say, even to this agency. Thus far shalt thou 
 go, and no farther. 
 
 These are samples only of those delightful emotions 
 which he experiences, who possesses a taste for natural 
 scenery. And kindred emotions will be awakened within 
 him, wherever he wanders among the works of God. They 
 form some of the purest and most satisfying pleasures which 
 this world affords. They constitute pleasant oases along 
 the dreary journey of life ; and so deeply does memory 
 engrave them on her tablet, that no change of time or cir- 
 cumstances can hide them from our view. Now, it is obvi- 
 ous that if the Author of nature and of the human soul had 
 17* 
 
198 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS <5f DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 been malevolent, instead of making every thing which man 
 meets in creation "beauty to his eye, and music to his ear," he 
 would have made all offensive and painful. Instead of the de- 
 lightful emotions of beauty and subHmity which now rise within 
 us as we open our eyes upon nature, feelings of aversion and 
 fear would haunt us. Every sound would have been discord- 
 ant, and every sight terrific. He could not have been even 
 indifferent to our happiness, when he commissioned those des- 
 olating agencies of nature, fire and water, to ridge up aiid 
 furrow out the earth's surface as the groundwork of the future 
 landscape. For he has taken care that the result should be a 
 scene productive of pleasure only to the soul that is in a 
 healthy state. Benevolence only, infinite benevolence, could 
 have done this. 
 
 My third argument in favor of the divine benevolence is 
 founded on the arrangements for the distrihUion of water on 
 the globe. 
 
 We should expect on so uneven a surface as the earth pre- 
 sents, that this element, which forms the liquid nourishment 
 of all organic life, and which in many other ways seems in- 
 dispensable, must be very unequally distributed, and fail en- 
 tirely in many places ; and yet we find it in almost every spot 
 where man erects his habitation. And those places where 
 there is a deficiency are usually extended plains ; not, as we 
 should expect, the mountainous regions. The latter are usu- 
 ally well watered ; and this is accomplished in three ways. 
 In the first place, in most mountainous countries, the strata 
 are so much tilted up, as to prevent the water from running 
 off. In the second place, the pervious strata are frequently 
 interrupted by faults sometimes filled by impervious matter. 
 In the third place, the comminuted materials that cover the 
 rocks as soils, are often so fine, or of such a nature, as to 
 
ARTESIAN WELLS. 199 
 
 prevent the passage of water; and thus much of the watei 
 that falls upon elevated land remains there, while enough 
 percolates through the pervious materials to water the valleys 
 and supply the streams. These carry it to the lakes and the 
 ocean, where it is returned by evaporation in the form of 
 clouds, and thus an admirable system of circulation is kept 
 up, whereby this essential element is purified, and conveyed 
 to every part of the surface where man or beast require it. 
 
 There is one recent discovery, which deserves notice here, 
 because it depends upon the geological structure of the earth. 
 When pervious and impervious strata alternate, and are con- 
 siderably inclined, water may be brought from great depths 
 by hydrostatic pressure, if the impervious stratum be bored 
 through and the water-bearing deposit be reached. A per- 
 petual fountain may thus be produced, and water be obtained 
 in a region naturally deficient in it. An Artesian fountain 
 of this description, in the suburbs of Paris, has been brought 
 from the enormous depth of eighteen hundred feet ! * 
 
 Now, just consider that to deprive the earth of water is to 
 deprive it of inhabitants, and you cannot but see in the 
 means by which it is so widely, nay, almost universally, dif- 
 fused, and made to circulate for purification, — the most de- 
 cided marks of divine benevolence. Why is it not as strik- 
 ing as the curious means by which the blood and the sap of 
 animals and plants are sent to every part of the system to 
 supply its waste, and give it greater development ? 
 
 * In September, 1850, I visited this well, and found the water run- 
 ning still, at the rate of six hundred and sixty gallons per minute at 
 the surface, and half that amount at the top of a tube one hundred 
 and twelve feet high, from whence it could be carried to any part of 
 Paris ; and, in fact, does supply some of the streets. I tasted the 
 water, and found it pleasant, though warm, (84 deg. Fahrenheit.) 
 
200 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 I derive a fourth geological arguvient for the benevolence 
 of the Deity ^ from the manner in which the metallic ores are 
 distributed through the earth^s crust. 
 
 It can hardly be doubted, by the geologist, that nearly every 
 part of the earth's crust, and its interior too, have been some 
 time or other in a melted state. Now, as the metals and their 
 ores are usually heavier than other rocks, we should expect 
 that they would have accumulated at the centre of the globe, 
 and have been enveloped by the rocks so as to have been 
 forever inaccessible to man. And the very great weight of 
 the central parts of the earth — almost twice that of granite — 
 leads naturally to the conclusion that the heavier metals may 
 be accumulated there, though this is by no means a certain 
 conclusion ; since at the depth of thirty-four miles air wouM 
 be so condensed by the pressure of the superincumbent mass 
 as to be as heavy as water ; water at the depth of three hun- 
 dred and sixty-two miles would become as heavy as quick- 
 silver; and at the centre steel would be compressed into one 
 fourth, and stone into one eighth, of its bulk at the surface. 
 Still it is most probable that the materials naturally the heav- 
 iest would first seek the centre. And yet, by means of sub- 
 limation, and expansion by internal heat, or the segregating 
 power of galvanic action, or of some other agents, enough of 
 the metals is protruded towards the surface, and diffused 
 through the rocks in beds, or veins, so as to be accessible to 
 human industry. Here, then, we find divine benevolence, 
 apparently in opposition to gravity, providing for human 
 comfort. 
 
 I have said that these metals were 3.ccessible to human in- 
 dustry. And it does require a great deal of labor, and calls 
 into exercise man's highest ingenuity to obtain them. They 
 might have been spread in immense masses over the surface ; 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE METALS. 201 
 
 they might all have been reduced to a metallic state in the 
 great furnace, which we have reason to suppose is always 
 in blast, within the earth. But then there would have been 
 no requisition upon the exertion and energy of man. And to 
 have these called into exercise is an object of greater impor- 
 tance to society than to supply it with the metals. God, there- 
 fore, has so distributed the ores as to stimulate man to explore 
 and reduce them, while he has placed so many difficulties in 
 the way as to demand much mental and physical effort for 
 their removal. Man now, therefore, receives a double benefit. 
 While the metals themselves are of immense service, the dis- 
 cipline of body and mind requisite for obtaining them is of 
 still greater value. This is the combined result of infinite 
 wisdom and benevolence. 
 
 If I mistake not, there is such a relation between the amount 
 of useful metals and the wants of society as could have re- 
 sulted only from divine benevolence. The metal most widely 
 diffused, and the only one occurring in all the rock forma- 
 tions, from the oldest to the newest, is iron ; — the metal by far 
 the most important to civilized society. This is also by far 
 the most abundant, and easily obtained. It often forms ex- 
 tensive beds, or even mountain masses upon the surface. All 
 the other metals are confined almost exclusively to the older 
 rocks. Among them, lead, copper, and zinc are probably 
 most needed, and accordingly they are next in quantity and 
 in the facility with which they may be explored. Manganese, 
 mercury, chrome, antimony, cobalt, arsenic, and bismuth are 
 more difficult to obtain ; but the supply is always equal to the 
 demand. In the case of tin, silver, platinum, and gold, we 
 find some interesting properties to compensate in a great 
 measure for their scarcity. Gold and platinum possess a re- 
 markable power of resisting those powerful agents of chemical 
 
202 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DJVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 change which destroy every thing else. They are never oxi- 
 dized in the earili, and with a very h\v exceptions, the most 
 powerful reagents leave them untouched, while platinum will 
 not yield in the most powerful heat of the furnace. Gold, 
 silver, and tin are capable of an astonishing extension, whereby 
 they may be spread over the surface of the more abundant 
 metals to protect and adorn them ; and since the discovery of 
 the galvanic mode of accomplishing this, so easily is it done, 
 that I know not but a gold or silver surface is to become as 
 common as metallic articles. 
 
 My ffth geological argument for the divine henevolence is 
 derived from the joint and desolating effects of ice and water 
 upon the earth'*s surface, both before and after man'*s creation. 
 
 In northern countries, and perhaps in high southern lati- 
 tudes, it seems that after the deposition of the tertiary rocks, 
 and after the surface had assumed essentially its present shape, 
 it was subjected for a long time to a powerful agency, whereby 
 the rough and salient parts were worn down and rounded, the 
 rocks in place smoothed and furrowed, valleys scooped out, 
 huge blocks of stone transported- far from the parent bed, piled 
 up, and thick accumulations of bowlders, sand, and gravel, 
 strewn promiscuously over the surface. At the commence- 
 ment of this process, the ocean, probably loaded with ice, 
 stood above a large part of the present continents. It soon 
 began to subside, or the land to rise, and a more quiet action 
 succeeded. The joint action of the ocean and the glaciers on 
 the land ground down into sand, clay, and loam, the coarser 
 drift, and sorted it in the form of beaches, terraces, and allu- 
 vial deposits. All this while, both the land and the water 
 seem to have been, for the most part, destitute of inhabitants. 
 But these were the very processes needed for man and his 
 contemporary races, who were to appear during the latter par* 
 
DRIFT AGENCY. PsCS 
 
 of the pleistocene period. In other words, the soils were thus 
 got ready for nourishing the vegetation necessary to sustain 
 the new creation, which would convert these desolate and 
 deserted sea-beds into regions of fertility and happiness to 
 teeming millions. 
 
 Now, just consider what must have been the effect of these 
 mighty aqueous and glacial agencies upon the earth's surface. 
 Over the level regions they strewed the finer materials ; and 
 where the rocks had been thrown up into ridges and displaced 
 by numerous fissures, or subsequently worn into bluffs and 
 precipices by the ocean, it needed just such an agency to 
 smooth down those irregularities, to fill up those gulfs, to give 
 to the hills and valleys a graceful outline, and to cover all the 
 surface with those comminuted materials that would need 
 only cultivation to make them a fertile soil. Some rocks do, 
 indeed, decompose and form soils ; but this process would be 
 too slow, unless in moist and warm regions, where it is easier 
 to find a footing for plants than in climes more uncongenial 
 to their growth. We cannot then hesitate to regard this tre- 
 mendous agency of ice and water in northern and high south- 
 ern regions as decidedly beneficial in its influence. It must, 
 indeed, have spread terrible destruction over those regions. 
 But it seems that a time was chosen for its operation when 
 the globe was almost destitute of organic life, and not long 
 before the time when a new and nobler creation than those 
 previously occupying the earth was to be placed upon it. 
 Desolating as this agency must have appeared, and actually 
 was, at the time, yet who can doubt, when we see the ulti* 
 mate fruits of it, that its origin was divine benevolence ? 
 
 In the ultimate results of aqueous inundations at the present 
 day, we can trace the same benevolent design. Those flooda 
 do, indeed, produce partial evils ; nay, life, as well as property 
 
204 GEOLOG.'CAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 often falls a prey to them. But they produce those alluvial soils 
 which are more prolific of vegetation than any other on the 
 globe. Who has not heard of the fertility of the banks of the 
 Nile, the Niger, the Ganges, the Amazon, and the Mississippi ? 
 all of them the fruit of inundations. Truly, such floods as 
 these may be said to clap their hands in praise of the divine 
 goodness. 
 
 My sixth geological argument for the divine benevolence is 
 derived from the existence of volcanoes. 
 
 The first impression made on the mind by the history of 
 volcanic action is, that its effects are examples rather of vin- 
 dictive justice than of benevolence. And such is the light in 
 which they are regarded by Mr. Gisborne, an able English 
 divine, in his " Testimony of Natural to Revealed Religion." 
 He looks, indeed, upon all the disturbances that have "taken 
 place in the earth's crust as evidence of a fallen condition of 
 the world, as mementoes of a former penal infliction upon a 
 guilty race. And aside from the light which geology casts 
 upon the subject, this would be a not improbable conclusion. 
 Take for an example the case of volcanoes and earthquakes. 
 
 A volcano is an opening made in the earth's crust by in- 
 ternal heat, which has forced melted or heated matter through 
 the vent. An earthquake is the effect of the confined gases 
 and vapors, produced by the heat upon the crust. When the 
 volcano, therefore, gets vent, the earthquake always ceases. 
 But the latter has generally been more destructive of life and 
 property than the former. Where one city has been de- 
 stroyed by lava, like Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabise, twenty 
 have been shaken down by the rocking and heaving of earth- 
 quakes. The records of ancient as well as modern times 
 abound with examples of these tremendous catastrophes. 
 Preeminent on the list is the city of Antioch. Imagine the 
 
EARTHQUAKES. 205 
 
 iw>*m<'ttttA^J3 of that great city, crowded with strangers on a 
 fest'vw' occasion, suddenly arrested on a cahn day, by the 
 earth heaving and rocking beneath their feet ; and in a few 
 moments two huadied and fifty thousand of them are buried 
 by falling houses, or the earth opening and swallowing them 
 up. Such was the scene which that city presented in the year 
 526 ; and several times before and since that period has the 
 like calamity fallen upon it ; and twenty, forty, and sixty 
 thousand of its inhabitants have been destroyed at each time. 
 In the year 17 after Christ, no less than thirteen cities of Asia 
 Minor were in like manner overwhelmed in a single night. 
 Think of the terrible destruction that came upon Lisbon in 
 1755. The sun had just dissipated the fog in a warm, calm 
 morning, when suddenly the subterranean thundering and 
 heaving began ; and in six minutes the city was a heap of ruins, 
 and sixty thousand of the inhabitants were numbered among the 
 dead. Hundreds had crowded upon a new quay surrounded 
 by vessels. In a moment the earth opened beneath them, and 
 the wharf, the vessels, and the crowd went down into its 
 bosom ; the gulf closed, the sea rolled over the spot, and no 
 vestige of wharf, vessels, or man ever floated to the surface. 
 How thrilling is the account left us by Kircher, who was near, 
 of the destruction of Euphemia, in Calabria, a city of about 
 five thousand inhabitants, in the year 1638 ! " After some 
 time," says he, " the violent paroxysm of the earthquake 
 ceasing, I stood up, and, turning my eyes to look for Euphemia, 
 saw only a frightful black cloud. We waited till it had passed 
 away, when nothing but a dismal and putrid lake was to be 
 seen where the city once stood." In like manner did Port 
 Royal, in the West Indies, sink beneath the waters, with nearly 
 all its inhabitants, in less than one minute, in the year 1692. 
 Still more awful, though usually less destructive, is often 
 18 
 
206 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENC . 
 
 the scene presented by a volcanic eruption. Imagine your 
 selves, for instance, upon one of the wide, elevated plains of 
 Mexico, far from the fear of volcanoes. The earth begins to 
 quake under your feet, and the most alarming subterranean 
 noises admonish you of a mighty power within the earth tliat 
 must soon have vent. You flee to the surrounding mountains 
 in time to look back and see ten square miles of the plain 
 swell up, like a bladder, to the height of five hundred feet, while 
 numerous smaller cones rise from the surface still higher, and 
 emit smoke ; and in their midst, six mountains are thrown up 
 to the height, some of them at least, of sixteen hundred feet, 
 and pour forth melted lava, turning rivers out of their course, 
 and spreading terrific desolation over a late fertile plain, and 
 forever excluding its former inhabitants. Such was the erup- 
 tion, by which Jorullo, in Mexico, was suddenly thrown up, 
 in 1759. 
 
 Still more terrific have been some of the eruptions in Tee- 
 land. In 1783, earthquakes of tremendous power shook the 
 whole island, and flames burst forth from the ocean. In June 
 these ceased, and Skaptar Jokul opened its mouth ; nor did it 
 close till it had poured forth two streams of lava, one sixty 
 miles long, twelve miles broad, and the other forty miles long, 
 and seven broad, and both with an average thickness of one 
 hundred feet. During that summer the inhabitants saw the 
 sun no more, and all Europe was covered with a haze. 
 
 Around the Papandayang, one of the loftiest mountains in 
 Java, no less than forty villages were reposing in peace. 
 But in August, 1772, a remarkable luminous cloud enveloping 
 its top aroused them from their security. But it was too late. 
 For at once the mountain began to sink into the earth, and 
 soon it had disappeared with the forty villages, and most of 
 the inhabitants, over a space fifteen miles long and six broad 
 
ERUPTION IN SUMBAWA. 207 
 
 Still "more extraordinary — the most remarkable on record 
 — was an eruption in Sumbawa, one of the Molucca Islands, 
 in 1815. It began on the fifth day of April, and did not 
 cease till July. The explosions were heard in one direction 
 nine hundred and seventy miles, and in another seven hun- 
 dred and twenty miles. So heavy was the fall of ashes at 
 the distance of forty miles that houses were crushed and 
 destroyed- The floating cinders in the ocean, hundreds of 
 miles distant, were two feet thick, and vessels were forced 
 through them with difficulty. The darkness in Java, three 
 hundred miles distant, was deeper than the blackest night ; 
 and finally, out of the twelve thousand inhabitants of the 
 island, only twenty-six survived the catastrophe. 
 
 Now, if we confine our views to such facts as these, we can 
 hardly avoid the conclusion that earthquakes and volcanoes 
 are terrific exhibitions of God's displeasure towards a fallen 
 and guilty world. But if it can be shown that the volcanic 
 agency exerts a salutary influence in preserving the globe 
 from ruin, nay, is essential* to such preservation, we must 
 regard its incidental destruction of property and life as no 
 evidence of a vindictive infliction, nor of the want of benevo- 
 lence in its operation. And the remarkable proofs which 
 modern geology has presented of vast accumulations of 
 heated and melted matter beneath the earth's crust, do make 
 such an agent as volcanoes essential to the preservation of 
 the globe. In order to make out this position, 1 shall not 
 contend that all the earth's interior, beneath fifty or one hun- 
 dred miles, is in a state of fusion. For even the most able 
 and decided of those geologists who object to such an infer- 
 ence, admit that oceans of melted matter do exist beneath the 
 surft-ce. And if so, how liable would vast accumulations of 
 lw»*-r Se, if there were no safety-valves through the crust, to 
 
208 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 rend asunder even a whole continent ? Volcanoes are those 
 safety-valves, and more than two hundred of them are scat- 
 tered over the earth's surface, forming vent-holes into the 
 heated interior. Most of them, indeed, have the valves 
 loaded, and the effort of the confined gases and vapors to 
 lift the load produces the terrific phenomena of earthquakes 
 and volcanoes. But if no such passages into the interior ex- 
 isted, what could prevent the pent-up gases from accumulat- 
 ing till they had gained strength enough to rend a whole con- 
 tinent, and perhaps the whole globe, into fragments ? Is it 
 not, then, benevolence by which this agency prevents so 
 dreadful a catastrophe, even by means that bring some inci- 
 dental evils along with them ? 
 
 Some able writers do, indeed, object to the idea that volca- 
 noes are safety-valves to the globe, deriving their objections 
 from certain facts respecting the position of volcanic craters 
 in the Sandwich Islands, if I do not misrecoUect. Without 
 going into the details of that case, for want of time and 
 space, it seems to me that the facts respecting the connection 
 between earthquakes and volcanoos, admitted by all, will jus- 
 tify such a view of the latter as is expressed by the term 
 "safety-valves." For earthquakes are but the incipient 
 effects of the volcanic force within the globe ; and if these 
 effects have been so terrible at the beginning, what must be 
 the full exhibition of that force, if not able to find a passage 
 for the struggling gases and lava through the strata above 
 them ? Who can say that it might not rend a continent 
 asunder, and, if deep enough seated, even the whole globe ? 
 
 The question will undoubtedly be asked by every reflecting 
 mind, why infinite wisdom and benevolence could not have 
 devised a plan for securing the good resulting from volcanoes 
 and earthquakes withou* the attendant evils. The same 
 
WHY IS EVIL PERMITTED? 209 
 
 question meets us at almost every step of our examination of 
 the present system of the world. For we every where mee^ 
 with evil, incidentally connected with agencies whose pre- 
 dominant effects are beneficial. I incline to the opinion, that 
 the true answer to this question is, that the evil is permitted 
 that thereby greater good may be secured to the universe. 
 Still the subject of the origin of evil is one whose full solu- 
 tion can hardly be expected in the present world, because we 
 cannot here master all its elements. When it can be solved, 
 we can tell why so much desolation and suffering are per- 
 mitted to accompany the earthquake and the volcano. But 
 if we can show that benefits far outweighing the evil are the 
 result of this terrific agency, we gather from it decided evi- 
 dence of the divine benevolence ; — the same evidence which 
 we gain from any other operations of nature ; for in them 
 all there is only a preponderance of good, not unmixed 
 good. The desolation of this fair world by volcanic agency, 
 and especially the destruction of life, do, indeed, teach us 
 that this present system of nature is adapted to a state of 
 probation and death, instead of a state of rewards and im- 
 mortal life. It is adapted to sinful and fallen beings, rather 
 than to those who are perfect in holiness and in happiness. 
 In short, it is earth, not heaven. It is not such a world as 
 heaven must be, to secure unalloyed and eternal happiness. 
 Nevertheless, benevolence decidedly predominates in the 
 arrangements of the present system, even in the desolating 
 agency under consideration. I do not deny that God may 
 sometimes employ this agency, as he may every other in 
 nature, for the punishment of the guilty. But before we 
 infer that this is the general use and design of volcanoes and 
 earthquakes, we should ponder well the questions put by our 
 Savior to some that told him of the Galileans, whose hlood 
 18 ♦ 
 
210 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Suppose ye, answered 
 the Savior, that these Galileans were sinners abovt all the 
 Galileans, because they suffered such things 7 I tell you nay. 
 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and 
 slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that 
 dwelt in Jerusalem 7 I tell you nay. Let us follow the ex- 
 ample of Jesus Christ, and take a more enlarged view of 
 these startling and distressing events. Let us inquire whether 
 they are not the incidental effects of agencies essential to the 
 permanence and happiness of the great system of the uni- 
 verse. This is certainly the case in regard to volcanoes. 
 We have strong reason to believe that they are essential to 
 the preservation of the globe ; and of how much higher con- 
 sequence is this than the comparatively small amount of 
 ^property and life which they destroy ! If we can only rise to 
 these higher views, and not suffer our judgment to be warped 
 by the immediate terrors of the earthquake and the volcano, 
 we shall see the smile of infinite benevolence where most 
 men see only the wrath of an offended Deity. 
 
 My seventh geological argument for the divine benevolence 
 is derived from the manner in which coal, rock salt, marble, 
 gypsum, and other valuable materials were prepared for the 
 use of man, long before his existence. 
 
 If a created and intelligent being from some other sphere 
 had alighted on this globe during that remote period when 
 the vegetation now dug out of the coal formation covered the 
 surface with its gigantic growth, he might have felt as if here 
 was a waste of creative power. Vast forests of sigillaria, 
 lepidodendra, coniferce, cycadeaj, and tree ferns would have 
 waved over his head, with their imposing though sombre foli- 
 age, while the lesser tribes of calamites and equisetace® 
 would have filled the intervening spaces ; but no vertebral 
 
PROSPECTIVE BENEVOLENCE. 211 
 
 animal would have been there to enjoy and enliven the almost 
 universal solitude. Why, then, he must have inquired, is 
 there such a profusion of vegetable forms, and such a colos- 
 sal development of individual plants .? To what use can 
 such vast forests be applied ? But let ages roll by, and that 
 same being revisit our world at the present time. Let him 
 traverse the little Island of Britain, and see there fifteen thou- 
 sand steam engines moved by coal dug out of the earth, and 
 produced by these same ancient foiests. Let him see these 
 engines performing the work of two millions of men, and 
 moving machinery which accomplishes what would require 
 the unaided labors of three oi four hundred millions of men, 
 and he could not doubt but such a result was one of the ob- 
 jects of that rank vegetation which covered the earth ere it 
 was fit for the residence of such natures as now dwell upon 
 it. Let him go to the coal fields of other countries, and 
 especially those of the United States, stretching over one 
 hundred and fifty thousand square miles, containing a quan 
 tity absolutely inexhaustible, and already imparting comfort tf 
 millions of the inhabitants, and giving life and energy t'- 
 every variety of manufacture through the almost entire length 
 of this country, and destined to pour out their wealth through 
 all coming time, long after the forests shall all have beep 
 levelled, — and irresistible must be the conviction upon his 
 mind, thai here is a beautiful example of prospective benevo- 
 lence on the part of the Deity. In those remote ages, while 
 yet the earth was unfitted for the higher races of animals that 
 now dwell upon it, it was eminently adapted to nourish that 
 gigantic flora which would produce the future fuel of the 
 human race, when that crown of all God's works should be 
 placed upon the earth. Ere that time, those forests must 
 Bink beneath the ocean, be buried beneath deposits of rock 
 
212 OEOLOOICAL PROOFS OP DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 thousands of feet thick, ^ut during all that period, all (hose 
 chemical changes which are essential to convert them into 
 coal would be accomplished, and, at last, man would find 
 access, by his ingenuity and industry, to the deep-seated beds 
 whence his fuel might be di-awn. Nor would these vast 
 repositories fail him till the consummation of all things. 
 Surely there was no waste, but there was a far-reaching plan 
 of benevolence in the profusion of vegetable life in the earlier 
 periods of our planet. 
 
 Essentially the same remark will apply to the limestone, 
 gypsum, rock salt, and several other mineral products of the 
 earth, which are almost indispensable to man in a civilized 
 state. For these, too, were produced by slow processes, dur- 
 ing those vast periods of duration that preceded man's exist- 
 ence. Limestone has been chiefly elaborated by the organs of 
 animals, many of them of microscopic littleness. Yet 
 lofty ranges of mountains and immense deposits in the inter- 
 vening valleys have been the result. Nearly one seventh 
 part of the crust of the globe, it has been said, is thus consti- 
 tuted of the works or remains of animals. And can we doubt 
 but that these rocks are thus spread over the surface of the 
 globe because they are needed by all mankind, like air and 
 water ? It must have been benevolence that so arranged the 
 agencies by which they were produced, during the revolution 
 of primeval ages, that they have this wide diffusion. Gypsum 
 and fossil salt are more sparingly diffused; but still enough 
 is always to be found to meet the demand. Nor is it reason- 
 able to doubt that the same prospective goodness which pro- 
 vided for coal and limestone, commissioned other agencies to 
 lay up a store of gypsum, salt, bitumen, clay, and other substan- 
 ces dug out of the earth for man's benefit. 
 
 My eighth geological argument for the divine benevolence 
 
ADAPTATION OF ORGANIC NATURES. 213 
 
 is hased upon the perfect adaptation of the natures of ani- 
 mals and plants to the varying condition of the globe through 
 all the periods of its past history. 
 
 The very slight changes in climate, situation, and food, 
 that will destroy most species of animals and plants, j« hard 
 to be realized by man, whose nature will sustain vtry great 
 changes of this kind. So will most of the animals and plants 
 that have been domesticated by man, and which accompany 
 him into every soil and climate. But the great mass of ani 
 mals and plants would perish by such a transplantation. They 
 are adapted to a particular region, often of narrow limits ; 
 and to remove them from thence, even to one slightly diverse^ 
 is to cause their deterioration and final destruction. In other 
 words, their natures are exactly adapted to the place of hab- 
 itation assigned them. And it must have required infinite 
 wisdom thus to fit the delicate machinery of animal and 
 vegetable organization to the great variety of circumstances 
 on the globe in which it is placed. But we find that same 
 wisdom to have been manifested in all the vast periods 
 of organic life. We have the most unequivocal evidence 
 that the condition of the earth has undergone important 
 changes.* We cannot examine the remarkable flora and 
 fauna of the older rocks, the gigantic sauroid fishes, the huge 
 orthoceratites and ammonites, the heteroclitic trilobites, and 
 the strange sigillaria and lepidodendra, calamites and aster- 
 ophyllites, the lofty coniferse, and the anomalous cycadeae, 
 — we cannot examine these without realizing that a state of 
 the globe very different from the present must have existed 
 when they had possession of it. And when we contemplate 
 also the enormous saurians and batrachians of the middle sec- 
 ondary rocks, and the colossal quadrupeds of the tertiary 
 strata, we cannot doubt that a tropical or an ultra-tropical 
 
214 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 climate must have prevailed in high northern latitudes during 
 their existence. We perceive that there has been a gradual 
 decrease of temperature on the surface from the earliest 
 times. In each successive race of organized beings which 
 have been placed on the globe, there must have been, there- 
 fore, some change of constitution to adapt them to the altered 
 state of the climate and productions of the earth. And we 
 find this alteration to have been always made with consum- 
 mate skill, so as to secure the most complete development 
 of organic beings, and the greatest enjoyment to sensitive 
 natures. Malevolence would not have done this ; for it might 
 with infinite knowledge at command, have filled each succes- 
 bive period of the world with natures unadapted to the muta- 
 ble condition of things, capable, indeed, of a prolonged 
 existence, not to enjoy, but only to suffer. But infinite 
 benevolence was fitting up this world by slow secondary 
 agencies for the elevated races which now occupy it, especial- 
 ly for one species, rational and immortal ; and it lavished its 
 kindness and wisdom by filling the world, during those pre- 
 paratory ages, with multitudes of happy beings, fitted exactly 
 to each altered condition of the air, the water, and the soil. 
 
 My ninth and last geological argument for the divine 
 benevolence is foui}ded upon the permanence and security of 
 the world y in spite of the mighty changes it has undergone^ 
 and the powerful agencies to which it is now subject. 
 
 When we learn from the records of geology, as they are 
 inscribed upon the rocks, how numerous and thorough have 
 been the revolutions of the surface and the crust of the globe 
 in past age? ; how often and how long the present dry land 
 has been alternately above and beneath the ocean ; how fre- 
 quently the crust of the globe has been fractured, bent, and 
 dislocated, — now lifted upward, and now thrown downward. 
 
SECURITY OF THE EARTH's SURFACE. 215 
 
 and now folded by lateral pressure ; how frequently melted 
 matter has been forced through its strata and through its fis- 
 sures to the surface ; in short, how every paiticle of the acces- 
 sible portions of the globe has undergone entire metamor- 
 phoses; and especially when we recollect what strong evi- 
 dence there is that oceans of liquid matter exist beneath the solid 
 crust, and that probably the whole interior of the earth is in that 
 condition, with expansive energy sufficient to rend the globe 
 into fragments, — when we review all these facts, we cannot 
 but feel that the condition of the surface of the globe must 
 be one of great insecurity and liability to change. But it is 
 not so. On the contrary, the present state of the globe is 
 one of permahent uniformity and entire security, except 
 those comparatively slight catastrophes which result from 
 earthquakes, volcanoes, and local deluges. Even the climate 
 has experienced no general change within historic times, and 
 the profound mathematical researches of Baron Fourier have 
 demonstrated that, even though the internal parts of the globe 
 are in an incandescent state, beneath a crust thirty or forty 
 miles, the temperature at the surface has long since ceased 
 to be affected by the melted central mass ; that it is not now 
 more than one seventeenth of a degree higher than it would 
 be if the interior were ice ; and that hundreds of thousands of 
 years will not see it lowered, from this cause, more than the 
 seventeenth part of a degree. And as to the apprehension 
 that the entire crust of the globe may be broken through, 
 and fall into the melted matter beneath, just reflect what 
 solidity and strength there must be in a mass of hard rock 
 from fifty to one hundred miles in thickness, and your fears 
 of such a catastrophe will probably vanish. 
 
 Now, such a uniformity of climate and security from gen- 
 eral ruin are essential to the comfort and existence of animal 
 
216 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 nature. But it must have required infinite wisdom and beneV' 
 olence so to arrange and balance the mighty elements of 
 change and ruin which exist in the earth, that they should 
 hold one another in check, and make the world a quiet, un- 
 changed, and secure dwelling-place for so many thousands 
 of years. Surely that wisdom must have been guided by 
 infinite benevolence. And it would seem from geology that 
 the same union of wisdom and benevolence have always 
 arranged the past conditions of the earth. For, during each 
 of the periods of organic existence, uniformity and security 
 seem to have prevailed so long as the purposes of the Deity 
 required. In early times, indeed, when animals were mostly 
 confined to the waters, it was not necessary that the dry land 
 should be as exempt as at present from catastrophes ; anc 
 probably they were then more frequent ; and it may be that 
 while there were uniformity and security in one portion of the 
 globe, or in one element, there might have been disturbance 
 and desolation in others. And it is doubtful whether such 
 general quiet has ever prevailed for so long a time as 
 during the present, or historic period. We see a reason 
 for this in the fact that never before were so many ani- 
 mals in existence, with a structure so delicate and com- 
 plicated. 
 
 Such are the evidences of divine benevolence, drawn from 
 a field at first view most unpromising. And yet, when we 
 come to look beyond the surface, where do we find more de- 
 cisive or more numerous indications of God's beneficence ? 
 They are not like many hasty generalizations, which superfi- 
 cial examination has often brought from natural phenomena 
 in proof of this same truth, but which, although beautiful at 
 first view, must be abandoned upon careful research. But 
 
UNEXPECTED PROOFS OF BENEVOLENCE. 217 
 
 these, though repulsive at first, gain solidity and beauty by 
 examination. And they are the more interesting because 
 they come from an unexpected quarter. Men have been 
 accustomed to search among the drift piled up by water and 
 ice, among dislocated and rent strata of rocks, among moun- 
 tains overturned and fields made desolate by volcanic erup- 
 tions, for the mementoes of penal inflictions ; but they have 
 not imagined that divine benevolence might be seen among 
 these disturbances and desolations ; and that simply because 
 they confined their views to the immediate effect of geologi- 
 cal agencies, and did not enlarge their views to take in their 
 connection with the great system of the universe. But now 
 that we find the stamp of benevolence even here, we learn 
 an instructive lesson. Every reflecting mind is aware that 
 the doctrine of divine benevolence lies at the foundation of 
 all natural and revealed religion, and that until this be estab- 
 (ished we labor in vain to erect a superstructure. It is well 
 known, also, that the existence of natural and moral evil has 
 been considered a strong objection to this great truth. Now, 
 geology furnishes us with many examples, in which agencies, 
 often fraught with terrific evils, are nevertheless eminently 
 beneficial when the whole extent of their operation is taken 
 into account. Why is it not a fair inference that, in all other 
 cases where evils stand out prominently, they are only inci- 
 dental results of some wide system of operations, of which 
 our limited vision embraces only a part, but whose tenden- 
 cies as a whole are eminently salutary, and whose incidental 
 evils do, in fact, increase the salutary effects ? If so, what 
 reason have we to believe that, when the light of eternity 
 shall clarify our mental eye, and enlarge our knowledge 
 of the present system of the universe, we shall find all 
 19 
 
218 GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 ** partial evil to be universal good," and that our narrow 
 views alone threw obscurity and difficulty over this subject 
 in this life ? O, if even here so many rays of divine love 
 find their way into our narrow prison-house, what will be 
 their brightness when they pour in upon us from the unveiled 
 glories of the heavenly world ! 
 
(219) 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE AS EXHIBITED IN A FALLEN 
 ^ORLD. 
 
 The geological proofs of the divine benevolence considered 
 in the last lecture present only a partial view of that glorious 
 characteristic of Jehovah. I am tempted, therefore, to ex- 
 hibit it in its more general aspect and broader relations. 
 This will necessarily bring into view other important religious 
 truths respecting man's fallen condition and character, and, 
 as a consequence, the modified aspect of the divine goodness 
 in such a world. 
 
 To those destitute of a revelation this world has, indeed, 
 ever seemed an inextricable maze, an enigma too dark for 
 human wisdom to solve. Nor have those favored with the 
 Bible agreed in their modes of clearing up the mystery. 
 Having endeavored to explain all by following out some lead- 
 ing and favorite idea, their theories have varied as these 
 predominant conceptions differed. One, for instance, fixes 
 his gaze so intently upon the divine benevolence that he is 
 blind to every manifestation of Jehovah's sterner attributes. 
 Another, deeply impressed with the story of man's original 
 apostasy, sees only vindictive justice, and penal infliction, and 
 disordered action, in all the movements of nature and the 
 trials and sufferings of man. A third, captivated by the dis- 
 coveries of modern geology, relative to the existence of suf- 
 fering and death in the world before man's creation, and 
 
220 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 learning, moreover, from physiology, that death is a genetal 
 law of all organized natures, vegetable as well as animal, is 
 led to doubt whether the disorders of the world have any im- 
 portant connection with man's apostasy. 
 
 Now, it were easy to show that our views on these subjects 
 have a most important bearing upon our entire system of the- 
 ology ; and, therefore, they deserve our most thorough and 
 candid examination. To such an examination I now invite 
 your serious attention. 
 
 It is not my object to appeal to the Scriptures to prove the 
 divine benevolence. That were an easy task. So, were 
 this an unfallen world, every object and event would be redo- 
 lent of God's goodness. But where sin and death abound, 
 that goodness must assume a different aspect, since its un- 
 mixed manifestation would work mischief. Now, the point 
 aimed at in this lecture is to ascertain whether natural reli- 
 gion can point out decisive evidence of divine benevolence. 
 We can conceive it quite possible that in a fallen world God 
 might find it necessary so to mingle displays of justice with 
 those of goodness, that man might be in doubt which pre- 
 dominated. 
 
 There is another reason for considering this subject apart 
 from scriptural evidence. We need to establish the doctrine 
 of divine benevolence as a basis on which to rest the evi- 
 dences of inspiration; or, rather, we want to be able to 
 assume God's benevolence, in arguing for the truth of the 
 Bible, and in judging of its contents. This doctrine, there- 
 fore, IS one of the most important, as it is certainly the most 
 difficult, in natural theology. 
 
 Obviously the first step in this investigation must be to as- 
 certain what is the real state of this world, as a manifestation 
 of the benevolence and justice of God. In other words, we 
 
BENEVOLENCE PREDOMINATES. 221 
 
 need to ascertain what exhibitions of these attributes arc 
 presented to us in nature, and in the economy of Providence, 
 and how much of the evil in the world is to be imputed 
 to man's perversion of the gifts of God. I shall proceed, 
 therefore, to state the main points on this subject which 
 fair and candid reasoning seems to me to sustain. When 
 these points are before us, with a summary of the evidence 
 by which they are supported, we shall be prepared to deduce 
 important conclusions respecting God's character and dispen- 
 sations, and man's position and destiny. 
 
 In the first place ^ then, I maintain that benevolence decid- 
 edly predominates in the present system of the world. 
 
 Let this proposition be fully understood. It does not mean 
 that there is no mixture of evil in the operations of nature, 
 but only that good decidedly overbalances the evil. And by 
 the operations of nature I mean those processes resulting from 
 natural laws, which are uninfluenced by the perverseness of 
 man. How much of evil may be imputed to his perversion 
 of the gifts of Providence will be considered in another place, 
 as will also those cases in which evil seems inseparable from 
 the original arrangements of the world. All that I am now 
 concerned to prove is, that, in a vast majority of instances, 
 we see the marks of benevolent design and benevolent oper- 
 ation in the arrangements of nature. 
 
 This position is established, in the first place, by the fact 
 that the design of every natural contrivance is to produce 
 happiness. 
 
 To show that such is the case, by an appeal to facts, would 
 
 be, in truth, to write the history of every natural process, and 
 
 show its design. But it will be sufficient to consider only 
 
 such cases as appear most decidedly to militate against my 
 
 19* 
 
222 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 position, and to show that even these are not designed tc 
 cause evil or suffering. 
 
 How does it happen, then, you may inquire, that evil is the 
 result of a multitude of contrivances and processes in na- 
 ture ? It is an incidental effect, I answer ; that is, an effect 
 happening aside from the main design of the contrivance. 
 Take a few illustrations. 
 
 No one can doubt that the law of gravity is essential to the 
 preservation and comfort of the world, and to the harmoni- 
 ous motions of the heavenly bodies. Yet how often does it 
 give rise to frightful accidents to men and animals ! But 
 when they are crushed by falling bodies, or by falling them- 
 selves, who imagines this to be the design of gravitation ? 
 How clear that its real object is beneficial, and that the evil 
 resulting from it is unavoidable in a world constituted like 
 ours ! Why the world is not constituted differently, is an inquiry 
 which men may try to answer ; but an answer is not impor- 
 tant to my present object. 
 
 Take an example from the organic world. Every one is 
 aware that without a nervous system in animals there would 
 be no sensibility, nor sensation, and, of course, no enjoyment ; 
 and without these, animals would be unconscious of danger, 
 and would not guard against it, nor withdraw from it. We 
 are sure, therefore, that these two objects are the grand de- 
 sign of the nervous system, and, of course, it is a benevolent 
 design. But the nervous system causes a great deal of suf- 
 fering as well as pleasure. Obviously, however, this is only 
 an incidental effect, which could not be prevented without a 
 miracle ; while the main design is to produce happiness and 
 guard against evil. 
 
 It may be asked, however, by what principle we can de- 
 termine what is • the design of a contrivance, and what the 
 
INCIDENTAL EFFECTS. •-'--—* 223 
 
 incidental effect. Why select a part of the effects, and call 
 them the object aimed at by the contriver, while we regard 
 others as incidental, and merely permitted, not inteniled ? 
 
 The principle on which we make this distinction is very 
 clear. We judge of the design of a contrivance by its pre- 
 dominant tendencies and effects. If evil as often results as 
 good, misery as often as happiness, we could not decide 
 whether the design was benevolent or malevolent, or an indif- 
 ference to both. But the benevolent tendency and effects of 
 every natural contrivance are so obvious, and so immensely 
 outweigh all its evil results, that we are compelled to admit 
 the design of the Author of nature to be benevolent. And, 
 therefore, when we see evil occasionally result from such 
 contrivances, we are authorized to say that this is only an 
 incidental effect; not, indeed, wholly undesigned, for we 
 cannot doubt that God has a design in the permission of all 
 evil. But for each particular arrangement and movement in 
 nature we can discover a predominant and benevolent object. 
 
 Take another example from the human frame. In that 
 frame we find a multitude of organs, nearly all of which are 
 obviously adapted to a particular use. Now, the anatomist 
 cannot lay his finger upon one of them, and say, This was 
 intended to produce derangement and suffering in the system. 
 Here is a muscle contrived to clog the operations of its 
 neighbors ; here a blood-vessel adapted to corrupt the blood 
 and produce disease ; here a gland whose object is to secrete 
 a poisonous fluid, to contaminate the whole system; here a 
 nerve made to produce pain ; here a plexus of vessels suited 
 to bring on disease. On the contrary, this anatomist perceives 
 at once that all the organs of the animal system, and theii 
 collocation, are fitted in the best possible manner to produce 
 health. It is obvious at a glance that this is their design. 
 
224 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 But if such be the fact, how happens it that so few per^ 
 sons pass through life without disease? Is it all to be im 
 puted to an abuse and perversion of the organs and powers 
 of life ? Not so, in my opinion. But those organs are all 
 liable to disease ; and when we see how delicate and compli- 
 cated they are, we ought not to wonder that even the una- 
 voidable causes of derangement should often bring it on. 
 Yet, after all, health is the rule and the object, and disease 
 only the exception. But I shall say more on this subject in 
 another part of the argument. 
 
 Some one, however, who hears me, has doubtless ere this 
 had his thoughts recur to the organs of carnivorous animals, 
 the poisonous fangs of serpents, and the organs of the scor- 
 pion, the tarantula, and of insects, for the generation and 
 protrusion of deadly poison. Here we have organs expressly 
 provided for the destruction of other animals. That such is 
 their design, no physiologist can doubt ; and hence they are 
 intended to produce suffering, and not happiness. 
 
 Is this an exactly correct statement of the case ? True, 
 suffering is the result of such organs ; but the arrangement 
 is intended to accomplish still higher purposes. The leading 
 one is to procure food for sustenance, the other is self-defence. 
 Both of these are essential to the animal's continued exist- 
 ence. That suffering should be incidentally connected with 
 instruments or organs so important, is no more difficult to ex- 
 plain than is the existence of evil any where. The object 
 even of these contrivances, then, is beneficial. And if so, I 
 know of no other example in nature so seemingly adverse to 
 the position I have laid down, that the main object of every 
 natural contrivance is benevolent in its origin and results. If 
 this be so, how clearly does it indicate the character of the 
 contriver to be benevolent ! 
 
PLEASURE STTPEKADDED. 225 
 
 My second argument is derived from the fact that the jr 
 ganic functions often produce pleasure where suffering was 
 just as consistent with their most perfect action ; or I might 
 say that such are the arrangements of the natural world, that 
 pleasure often results to sentient beings from its operations, 
 when they might have been as perfectly performed with the 
 production of pain. A few illustrations will render the mean- 
 ing of this position obvious. 
 
 As we look abroad upon nature, one of the most striking 
 traits we discover is its unbounded variety. With the Psalm- 
 ist we involuntarily exclaim, Lord, how manifold are thy 
 works ! It is not merely variety as to form, texture, attitude, 
 and arrangement ; but who can describe the countless tints of 
 coloring which are spread over the heavens and the earth ? 
 Now, there is in the human soul an aptitude to be pleased 
 with variety ; nay, there is a craving for it. Nor can there 
 be a more terrible infliction than unvarying monotony and 
 sameness of appearance, arrangement, and action. If, there- 
 fore, the Creator had been malevolent, or indifferent to the 
 happiness of man and other sentient beings, he might have 
 gratified this disposition most perfectly by giving to the human 
 soul its present love of variety, and then spreading over the 
 face of nature a dead uniformity of figure, position, arrange- 
 ment, and coloring ; forming every thing upon the same 
 model. And this might have been done without impairing at 
 all the perfect operation of all her laws that are essential. 
 Every thing might have been as systematic and harmonious 
 as it now is ; but sentient beings would have been miserable ; 
 and this must have been supremely gratifying to infinite 
 malevolence. He might also have so constructed the organs 
 of hearing, sight, and smell, that every sound might have 
 been ungrateful and gratir^, every odor repulsive, and every 
 
226 DIVINE B£N£YOLENC£ IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 prospect disgusting. While hunger would have urged am 
 mals, as it now does, to seek food, its reception might have 
 been painful, or utterly void of gustatory enjoyment. So in 
 regard to social enjoyments ; we might have been irresistibly 
 drawn towards our fellow-men, and yet their society might 
 have been hateful in the extreme. 
 
 Had such a state of things existed, how very clearly we 
 should have inferred the malevolence of the Author of na- 
 ture ! Or if such a state had been witnessed about as often 
 as its opposite, we might reasonably have said that he was 
 indifferent to the happiness of his creatures. Why, then, 
 may we not, with equal reason, infer his benevolence, when 
 we find, in a vast majority of cases, — nay, for aught I know, 
 universally, — that pleasure is superadded to animal enjoyment 
 where it was wholly unnecessary to the perfect operation of 
 nature's laws ? 
 
 The fact is, God has made all nature " beauty to our eye 
 and music to our ear," when it was wholly unnecessary for 
 the perfect operation of her laws ; and the inference is irre- 
 sistible, that he delights in the happiness of his creatures. 
 Nor can the fact that evil exists in the world destroy the 
 force of this argument, unless that evil is so general as to be 
 obviously the design of the Creator in devising and arranging 
 the system of the world. While we admit its existence, we 
 say that it is only incidental, and that pleasure is so often 
 superadded unnecessarily, as to prove happiness to be the 
 design, and evil the exception. 
 
 The two arguments above presented are the evidence on 
 which Dr. Paley relies to prove the divine benevolence. 
 They are, indeed, as it seems to me, unanswerable. But if 
 I mistake not, they do by no means exhaust the storehouse 
 of nature's proofs of this fundaipental principle of natural 
 
TWO WAVS OF DOING A THING. 227 
 
 and revealed religion. I derive a third argument for the pre- 
 dominance of benevolence in the works of nature from the 
 variety of means often provided for the performance of im- 
 portant functions ; so that animals and plants can adapt 
 themselves to different circumstances, and prolong their 
 existence. 
 
 The examples which I have in mind to illustrate this argu- 
 ment are all derived from the organic world. I refer, for 
 instance, to the fact that nearly all our muscles, and many 
 other important organs, as the hands, the feet, the eyes, and the 
 lungs, are in pairs, so that if one meets with an injury, or is 
 destroyed, the other can, to some extent, perform the office 
 of both. The brain has two hemispheres, and one of them 
 may be seriously wounded without destroying the healthy 
 action of the other. 
 
 But perhaps the most appropriate example is in the blood- 
 vessels, whose inosculations are so numerous that even 
 though large arteries and veins be tied, the blood will find its 
 way through the smaller ones, which ultimately will so en- 
 large as to keep up the circulation nearly as well as before 
 the injury. And, in fact, almost every one of the large blood- 
 vessels has been tied by the surgeon with little ultimate 
 injury to the patient. 
 
 In the process of deglutition, or swallowing the nourish- 
 ment essential to the existence of all the more perfect 
 animals, — since the food and the air for respiration pass for 
 a time through a common opening, the pharynx, — it is ex- 
 tremely important that the passage to the lungs should be 
 most vigilantly guarded ; since strangulation would follow 
 the introduction there of any thing but air. Accordingly, 
 the entrance of the glottis is so sensitive, that the approach 
 of the food causes it to close. But lest this security should 
 
228 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 sometimes fail, we have an additional guard in the epiglottis, 
 which shuts down like a valve upon the orifice. Bven with 
 this double precaution, strangulation sometimes follows the 
 act of deglutition. How much oftener would it occur, had 
 not benevolence thus multiplied its vigilant sentinels at the 
 point of danger ! 
 
 Another illustration of this argument lies in the fact, that 
 many of the organs of animals and plants possess the power, 
 when an exigency requires it, of greatly increasing their 
 action. When, for instance, an unusual quantity of osseous 
 matter is requisite to repair a broken bone, the glands, whose 
 office it is to elaborate that matter, are capable of secreting 
 an extraordinary quantity, until the injury is repaired. 
 
 Of an analogous character is the sympathy existing be- 
 tween the different organs, so that when one has an unusual 
 amount of labor to perform, the rest impart of their nervous 
 energy to sustain their overtasked companion. Thus, and 
 thus only, could animals be carried through many of the 
 severe exigencies of their existence. Their orga.is help one 
 another, just as if they were conscious of one another's ne- 
 cessities, and were prompted by benevolence to aid the 
 weakest. 
 
 In like manner, some of the organs possess the power of 
 vicarious secretion ; that is, of producing, in peculiar circum- 
 stances, secretions that are usually made by other glands. 
 How they can do this, and how they can know when to do it, 
 are among the mysteries of physiology. Nevertheless, the 
 object of this arrangement is most obvious, viz., the continu- 
 ance of health and life in spite of accidents, which would 
 otherwise prove fatal. 
 
 The same vicarious system is manifest in the well-known 
 examples, where the loss of one or more of the senses gives 
 
VICARIOUS ARRANGEMENTS. 229 
 
 increased acuteness to the rest. The sense of touch, for in- 
 stance, in the blind man, has sometimes proved no mean 
 substitute for eyes ; and, indeed, any of the senses by 
 cultivation, in peculiar exigencies, may be prodigiously 
 strengthened. 
 
 Now, in all these cases, where the vicarious principle is 
 brought into operation, or sympathy concentrates the power 
 of many organs in one, or the loss of one organ or sense 
 quickens the sensibility of the rest, do we not recognize the 
 prospective care and kindness of infinite benevolence .? Do 
 you say that it merely shows infinite wisdom, which adjusts 
 means to ends with consummate skill, in order to be sure of 
 success in its designs.^ Why, then, I inquire, should these 
 provisions for trying exigencies in the animal system always 
 tend to the happiness of the creature .'' Surely there were 
 other means at the command of infinite wisdom for securing 
 the existence of the animal, which would bring misery upon 
 it instead of happiness. The benevolent tendency of the 
 design, therefore, proves the benevolent feelings of the 
 designer. 
 
 The extraordinary provisions that are made in some cases 
 for the multiplication of animals and plants, in order to pre- 
 vent the extinction of any races, and to give life and happi- 
 ness to as many animals as can be sustained, is another indi- 
 cation of benevolent care on the part of the Creator. Noi 
 less than five modes of reproduction are known to exist, viz., 
 the viviparous, the ovo-viviparous, the oviparous, the gemmipa- 
 rous, and the fissiparous ; and among the lowest families of 
 animals several of these mode& exist in the same species, so 
 that their extinction, or even deficient multiplication, is 
 scarcely possible. 
 
 The same benevolence is manifested in the power possessed 
 20 
 
230 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 by animals and plants to adapt themselves to different cir- 
 cumstances. Often are they thrown into conditions widely 
 diverse as to food, temperature, and exposure to chemical 
 and mechanical agencies, with no possibility on their part of 
 avoiding them. This is eminently true of man ; and were 
 not animals able to adapt themselves to these various states, 
 they must perish. True, there are limits to this adaptation ; 
 but they are wide enough to accomplish the great purposes 
 of existence, and to make us comfortable and happy amid 
 great changes in our condition. Nor is this power of adapta- 
 tion among animals limited to their physical nature. Their 
 mental habits admit of an oscillation equally wide, so that, 
 ere long, we become happy in a condition which at first was 
 painful in the extreme. New habits take the place of the old 
 ones so gradually that we scarcely realize the change. 
 
 Now, if this power were not possessed in such a world as 
 ours, could organic natures not bend at all to circumstances, 
 constant suffering and premature dissolution would be the 
 result. The power of adaptation, therefore, looks like the 
 benevolent provision of a kind Father, who wishes to make 
 his creatures as happy as he can in the circumstances in 
 which his wisdom has placed them. Certainly, malevolence, 
 or indiflference to their happiness, would not have introduced 
 this power of adaptation into their natures ; for it is certain 
 that their continued existence might have been secured in 
 some other way, had no reference been had to their hap- 
 piness. 
 
 I base my fourth argument for the predominance of benev 
 lence, in the arrangements of nature, upon the aggregate 
 results of the most destructive and terrific agencies which 
 she employs. 
 
 The immediate effects of these agencies are oAen so 
 
TERRIFIC AGENCIES NECESSARY. 231 
 
 appalling and so unmixed with good, that men view them only 
 as penal inflictions ; or, when the sufferers are unconscious 
 of guilt, as mysterious dispensations of evil, which need the 
 light of another world to reconcile with infinite benevolence. 
 When the tornado or sirocco's hot breath sweeps over the 
 devoted land ; when the river overflows its banks, and ingulfs 
 the defenceless inhabitants along its course, or the giant waves 
 of the ocean roll in upon the devoted shore ; when the heav- 
 ing earthquake overturns in a moment vast cities, and the 
 earth swallows them in its bosom ; or when the volcano pours 
 out its suffocating smoke and its scorching lava, and oblit- 
 erates from earth the defenceless town, as once Herculaneum 
 and Pompeii were converted into petrified cities, — in the 
 midst of such desolating agencies, where can we discover a 
 gleam of benevolence ? Not surely in the immediate effects. 
 But suppose the tornado, the flood, the earthquake, and the 
 volcano are essential to the preservation of the earth from a 
 far wider ruin, so that, in fact, while they destroy some prop- 
 erty and life, they preserve a far greater amount, and are 
 essential to such preservation, — why is it not benevolence 
 that gives a slight play to these terrific elements, while it 
 checks their wild war so soon as the requisite security has 
 been obtained ? When the storm has sufficiently purified the 
 atmosphere, when the flood has enriched the wide alluvial 
 fields, and the earthquake and the volcano have given vent to 
 the pent-up fires in the earth, so that they no longer threaten 
 to rend a continent asunder, then a restraining power is put 
 upon them, and they are allowed no more range than is essen- 
 tial to the general good. We may not, indeed, see why the 
 good could not be secured without the evil. But this question 
 leads to the inquiry, whether the present system of the uni* 
 verse is the best possible ; and that it is so we have the 
 
DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WOELD. 
 
 guaranty of the divine perfections. Those perfections admit 
 the existence of evil ; but at the same time they take care 
 that the aggregate result of the greatest evils should be 
 beneficial. 
 
 Nor would we limit this position to evils springing out of 
 the nature or the changes of the inanimate world ; for some 
 of the severest evils are dependent upon the organization or 
 operation of animate nature. Man, for instance, finds him- 
 self often grossly annoyed by some species of the inferior 
 animals, in his comfort, property, and even life. And he 
 wonders why infinite wisdom and benevolence should per- 
 mit certain species to exist, when they seem fitted only to 
 annoy the rest. But he knows not what he desires when he 
 wishes their extinction. For such is the balance of organic 
 nature, that to strike out even one species, is like removing a 
 link from a chain. Once broken, every other link is affected, 
 and the whole chain lies useless upon the ground. Or, to 
 speak without a figure, if you blot out certain species of ani- 
 mals or plants, you disturb the balance of the whole system 
 of organic nature ; nor can you tell where the disturbance thus 
 introduced will end. It may lead to the excessive multiplica- 
 tion of species still more injurious than those you have de- 
 stroyed. At any rate, since the perfections of the Deity lead 
 to the conclusion that the existing proportion between diflTerent 
 species is the best, all things considered, and change in the 
 balance must be injurious, we may conclude, that though nox- 
 ious animals and plants may produce individual inconvenience 
 and injury, the aggregate effects upon the whole of organic 
 nature are salutary, and, therefore, indicative of benevolence. 
 
 Similar reasoning will, I think, apply to the existence of 
 that large class of animals called carnivorous. These are 
 evidently intended to prey upon other animals ; and for thif 
 
CARNIVOROUS RACES NECESSARY. 23S 
 
 purpose they are provided with weapons for seizing and de« 
 stroying their prey. It is often extremely painful to a man 
 of kind feelings to witness the scenes of blood and havoc 
 which these flesh-eating animals produce. But we forget two 
 things. The first is, that in order to keep the numbers of ani- 
 mated beings full in the diflTerent tribes, it is necessary that 
 there should be a great excess of numbers created, to meet 
 all the casualties to which they are exposed ; and that excess 
 must in some way or other be removed from life. Secondly, 
 all the enjoyment of the carnivorous races is so much clear 
 gain to the sum of animal happiness ; for the excess of num- 
 bers in the tribes of vegetable feeders suflTer no more in being 
 destroyed by the carnivorous races, than if they died in some 
 other way ; not so much, indeed, as if they perished by fam- 
 ine. We may safely conclude, then, that even this system 
 of mutual slaughter, when viewed in all its relations, is the 
 means, in such a world as ours, of increasing the amount of 
 enjoyment, and is, therefore, a benevolent provision. 
 
 This course of reasoning may be extended, as I judge, to 
 the greatest of all mortal evils, — I mean death. In the case 
 of the inferior animals, the amount of physical or mental suf- 
 fering from this cause is comparatively small. And if they 
 survive the change of death, surely there is benevolence in so 
 easy a translation. Or, if they do not exist hereafter, the 
 stroke of death is a small deduction from the happiness of a 
 whole life. In man's case, we must not take into the account 
 the aggravations of death which his own misconduct pro- 
 duces. And aside from these, what a blessing it would be to be 
 transferred to a more exalted state of being, by an experience 
 no more painful than that of a Christian dying what may be 
 called a natural death, by mere decay ! Then, too, how 
 much greater happiness is the result of a succession of 
 20* 
 
234 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 beings on earth, than one undying race would enjoy, both 
 because the successive races would be ever passing through 
 novel scenes, which would soon become monotonous to a 
 continuous race, and because, as we have already suggested, 
 a succession of races admits of the existence, at any one 
 time, of a far greater number of species ! Then, too, we 
 must not forget the salutary moral influence which man expe- 
 riences from the expectation of death ; so great, indeed, that 
 without it, it seems doubtful whether the world would be any 
 thing better than a Pandemonium. In making indissoluble 
 the connection between sin and death, therefore, in such a 
 system as the present, benevolence presided with wisdom 
 and justice in the councils of Jehovah. 
 
 But in the third lecture I have treated this whole subject 
 so much more fully, that I need not add any thing further in 
 this connection. 
 
 I base my fifth and last argument, to prove the predomi- 
 nance of benevolence in the present system of nature, on the 
 fact that good so often results from evil as a natural conse- 
 quence. Or, to state the argument in another form, good 
 seems generally to be the object or final cause of evil, 
 whereas evil flows only incidentally from good. 
 
 This argument scarcely differs from the last, except in the 
 more general form of its statement. That brings forward 
 certain prominent and appalling evils, and endeavors to show 
 that, in striking the balance of their effects, the preponderance 
 is on the side of benevolence. This advances a step farther, 
 and attempts to show that the direct object of evil is to pro- 
 duce good. 
 
 It follows, hence, that the examples adduced and elucidated 
 under the last argument are not inappropriate to sustain and 
 illustrate the present. Yet others should be added. 
 
TRIALS NECESSARY TO HAPPINESS. 235 
 
 Almost the entire history of medicine and surgery illus- 
 trates the manner in which physical evils result in physical 
 good. Indeed, men never resort to the physician, or the sur- 
 geon, because their remedies and operations are desirable, but 
 only because they are the necessary means of health and 
 comfort. These means are, indeed, for the most part, of hu- 
 man invention, but not, therefore, the less indicative of the 
 divine intention ; for they are founded upon such a constitu- 
 tion in nature as makes it possible to discover remedies for 
 disease and accidents. And the characteristics of nature's 
 constitution are an index of the intentions of its Author. 
 
 The severe mental discipline through which the youth must 
 pass, who would attain distinction in learning, affords us an 
 example of intellectual evil resulting in intellectual wealth 
 and happiness. The trial is too severe for many irresolute 
 minds, and they give over the effort, and sink down into a 
 state of indolence. and neglect. But he who bears manfully 
 the discipline will at length gather the golden fruit. And he 
 will be satisfied, too, of the wisdom and benevolence of that 
 law of mental progress, which makes it impossible ever to find 
 a royal road to the temple of learning, and which shuts out 
 from that temple all who shrink from the preparatory dis- 
 cipline. 
 
 Still more strikingly illustrative of this argument are the 
 evils which men suffer as necessary precursors of moral good. 
 These may be physical or mental ; embracing all those expe- 
 riences that take the name of trials, afflictions, and disappoint- 
 ments. These are often intensely bitter, and they constitute, 
 indeed, the master evils of life. We shudder when we see 
 them coming ; and we often writhe in agony when in the 
 furnace. But how many have come out of that furnace puri- 
 fied from base alloy, and ready for the service of God and 
 
236 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 the world I To do good is henceforth their delight; and they 
 thank God for the severe discipline. When his heavy blows 
 fell upon them, one after another, they felt as if they were 
 the strokes of an incensed Deity. But now they see that they 
 were only the necessary inflictions of infinite love. And 
 they admire the wisdom that could thus educe so much good 
 out of so great evil. 
 
 I do not contend that good is always educed from evil in 
 this world, or could be ; but only that, in a plurality of cases, 
 if men improve the evils they suffer as they might, such would 
 be the etfect. And if this be admitted, it is sufficient to estab- 
 lish the general principle, that one of the direct objects of evil 
 in this world is to produce individual benefit. 
 
 But the converse of this proposition cannot be maintained. 
 We cannot, indeed, deny that evil sometimes results from 
 good ; but never as the direct object of the latter. The effect 
 is only incidental ; that is, not as the main object ; and so a 
 few cases of this sort cannot invalidate the proposition which 
 I defend. 
 
 I might multiply much more the arguments furnished by 
 nature to prove a predominance of benevolence in the arrange- 
 ments and operations of the present system of things. But I 
 see no way of escaping the force of those presented, and can- 
 not doubt that all will admit the conclusion. I advance, there- 
 fore to a second proposition, and maintain that the benevolence 
 exhibited in the present system of nature is not unmixed. 
 
 I mean, by this statement, that the divine benevoknce ex- 
 hibited in this world is modified by other perfections. While 
 there is a predominance of benevolence, there are al<*o indi- 
 cations of God^s displeasure ; or, at least, his dealings seem to 
 be adapted to restrain and amend a wicked race, rather than 
 to make an innocent and holy race happy ; so that the condition 
 
BENEVOLENCE NOT UNMIXED. 237 
 
 of the human family is far less happy than unmixed benevo- 
 lence would confer. 
 
 In proof of this assertion, I maintain, first, that evil is inci- 
 dental to every process and event in nature. 
 
 This is preeminently true of all those actions which we 
 call vicious. Indeed, they are in themselves evils of the 
 worst kind ; and not only so, but they are connected incident- 
 ally with scarcely any thing but evil, though sometimes, as 
 theologians say, overruled for good. 
 
 Take next the common operations of nature, which, of 
 course, have no moral character. Their leading design, as 
 we have already seen, is to produce good to sentient beings ; 
 but incidentally they bring much evil. Food is intended for 
 gustatory enjoyment and for nourishment ; but it is often the 
 occasion of severe suffering, and becomes an active poison. 
 Gravity is intended to hold the material universe in a proper 
 balance, and to attach every moving thing on earth to the 
 surface ; but it occasions a vast number of accidents, and a 
 vast amount of suffering. Water and fire are of immense 
 direct benefit ; yet the first buries a vast amount of property 
 and life in its bosom, and the latter is scarcely less injurious 
 in its incidental effects. Indeed, what natural agency can be 
 named, that is not armed with the power to do evil ? 
 
 But the same principle extends also to benevolent actions. 
 With our views of divine benevolence, we might expect that 
 virtuous conduct would never be coupled with evil. But this 
 notion does npt accord with facts ; for the incidental evils 
 connected with benevolent action are often the most painful 
 in life. Indeed, in how many instances has doing good been 
 rewarded by the loss of life, and under all the aggravations 
 of suffering which malignant ingenuity could invent ! And 
 the fact has been, that those whose motives in doing good 
 
238 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 were the purest have suffered the most. Witness the life 
 and the death of Him who knew no sin, and yet was led as 
 a lamb to the slaughter. Since wickedness in this world is 
 sometimes allowed to have the power of annoying goodness 
 we might expect that the more disinterested the latter, the 
 more malignant and persecuting would be the former, be- 
 cause its own deformity is made more manifest. 
 
 But the incidental evils connected with benevolent action 
 are not limited to those resulting from the malice of the 
 wicked. If, for instance, some huge system of iniquity has 
 become incorporated into the very texture of society, benev- 
 olence cannot root it out without producing many a severe 
 laceration of individuals, who are incidentally connected with 
 the system, but to whom no blame attaches. The history of 
 the efforts that have been made to substitute Christianity for 
 heathenism and other false religions, is full of examples illus- 
 trative of this principle, in conformity with the remarkable 
 declaration of Christ, Think not that I am come to send peace 
 on earth ; I came not to send peace, but a sword. Alike prolific 
 of illustrations are all the great attempted reforms which the 
 world has witnessed, whether for delivering religion from 
 human corruptions, or eradicating slavery, or intemperance, 
 or breaking the political yoke of the oppressor. In fine, no 
 reasonable man ought to expect to do much good in this 
 world, without suffering much himself and bringing some 
 incidental suffering upon others. 
 
 Now, although the evils that have been described are inci- 
 dental, they belong to the constitution of this world, and, 
 therefore, show the feelings and intentions of its Author, as 
 much as those effects of his works which appear to be their 
 final causes. But do not such evils, incidental to every event, 
 indicate a feeling in the divine mind* different from unmixed 
 
FEELINGS OF THE DEITY HOW SHOWN. 239 
 
 benevolence ? Strictly speaking, these evils are not penal 
 inflictions. But they certainly do not show in the Creator a 
 simple desire to promote the happiness of men, by directly 
 conferring it. They rather indicate a necessity, on account 
 of some peculiarity in the character of man, of mingling 
 severity with goodness in the divine conduct towards him. 
 
 In thus representing incidental eflTects as indicative of the 
 feelings of the Deity, I may seem to contradict my reason- 
 ing under the first head, where I gave, as proof of God's 
 benevolence, the fact that the direct object of every contri- 
 vance is beneficial, and evil only incidental. But 1 did not 
 mean to intimate that the incidental effects of a contrivance 
 are no index of the feelings of its author, but only that the 
 direct effects show more clearly than the incidental what are 
 his wishes and intentions, especially if the former are the 
 most numerous, important, and striking. Still, incidental 
 effects are never without an object; and where they are evil, 
 as in the case supposed, they indicate other feelings towards 
 men, in the divine mind, than unmixed benevolence. For it 
 is a strange limitation of God's wisdom and power to say, as 
 some do, that the evils could not be prevented. 
 
 It may be said, however, that if men only conform to the 
 laws of nature, they will escape all the evils they suffer. On 
 the other hand, I maintain, — and this constitutes my second 
 argument to show that the divine benevolence is not unmixed, 
 — I maintain that the highest virtue and the most consum- 
 mate prudence cannot avoid all the evils of life. 
 
 Such prudence and virtue will not secure any one against 
 many destructive natural agencies and operations to which he 
 is exposed. Miasms productive of fatal disease may con- 
 taminate the atmosphere we breathe, unperceived by us ; 
 poison may exist in the food which we take as our necessary 
 
 
 ^^0^ T^^-i. 
 
240 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 sustenance ; the mechanical violence of the elements, or of 
 gravity, may crush us ; the lightning may smite us to the 
 earth ; the wild beast may rush from his unnoticed lair as we 
 pass ; or the deadly insect, or serpent, may inject its poison 
 into our blood at an unexpected moment ; or the floods may 
 overwhelm, or the fire consume us. 
 
 Now, although prudence and virtue may defend us against 
 many evils, they afford no security against such as I have 
 named, in very many instances. We are often ignorant of 
 their existence or proximity till we become their victims, and 
 suffering, often intense, is the consequence. Indeed, the 
 greatest of all physical evils — I mean death — is as sure to 
 visit every son and daughter of Adam as any event can be ; 
 and nothing but insanity, or its religious synonyme, fanati- 
 cism, has ever pretended to be proof against disease and 
 death. You cannot, indeed, point out any particular organ 
 or agency, whose direct object is to produce disease and 
 death ; but they are nevertheless the inevitable result of or- 
 ganic operations and agencies in such a world as this. 
 
 It will be said, perhaps, that the good resulting to the whole 
 from even the most severe of these sufferings, overbalances 
 the evil, and therefore they are indications of benevolence in 
 such a world as ours. True, as things are, this may be so. 
 But the question is. Why is there such a constitution given to 
 nature as made it necessary to introduce disease, accident, 
 and death ? Would not unmixed benevolence have conferred 
 the good, but have withheld the evil ? Had there not been 
 something in man's character requiring the discipline of 
 trials, would pure benevolence have sent them ? At least, 
 we should suppose that they might all have been avoided by 
 prudence and virtue. Why should benevolence make such 
 severe drawbacks upon the happiness even of the virtuous, 
 
STERILITY OF THE EARTH. 241 
 
 if something were not radically wrong in the human con- 
 stitution ? 
 
 Thirdly. The great sterility of so large a part of the earth, 
 and the necessity of severe bodily labor to secure sustenance 
 from it, show us that the benevolence exhibited in nature and 
 in man's condition is not unmixed. Though some limited 
 regions are exuberantly fertile, the larger part of the earth 
 yields up even a mere sustenance only after the severest 
 labor. And the vast majority of the race can do nothing 
 more than to obtain food for the body. The artificial state of 
 most societies does, indeed, keep the lower classes much more 
 depressed than a better state of the world would bring them 
 into ; but at the best, nature unites with revelation m attesting 
 the truth of the sentence passed upon man — In the siveat of 
 thy face shall thou eat thy bread. 
 
 Nor is this necessity for severe labor confined to the culti- 
 vation of the earth, but extends to all kinds of human pur- 
 suits. Success, as a general fact, can be secured only by 
 vigorous industry ; and often, in spite of their most honest and 
 persevering efforts, men fail of securing even a competence 
 for the support of themselves and their dependants. 
 
 Some will say that all this arises from a necessity in the 
 very nature of the case. But does not such a view limit the 
 divine power and wisdom ? Could not God have prepared a 
 world more paradisiacal than the present, where the earth 
 should spontaneously yield her fruits, and pour out her hidden 
 treasures at man's feet ? Who will deny this ? Why, then, 
 has he not done it ? Because obviously a race so prone to 
 evil as man, so incapable of maintaining his integrity in the 
 lap of ease and indulgence, needs all this severe discipline to 
 keep him where he ought to be. Here, then, we see a reason 
 why God must mingle seeming severity with benevolence. 
 21 
 
242 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 The same thing is seen, in the fourth place, in the con« 
 fined and depressed condition of the hurajui mind in tiiis 
 world, and in the multiplied obstacles in the way of its culti- 
 vation and enlargement. 
 
 Wliat a clog to the intellect is a body governed by gross 
 appetites, and often stopping the ingress of trutli, or pervert- 
 ing its aspect, by disordered and imperfect senses ! Nearly 
 one third of the time must that intellect sink into oblivion, 
 while sleep recruits the physical powers. And nearly another 
 third of life must be given to the wants of the body ; and as 
 we have seen, the great mass of men are obliged to devote 
 nearly their whole time to serve the necessary wants of the 
 body. What an incalculable waste of mind does the world 
 exhibit ! And even when all artificial and unnecessary ob- 
 structions are taken out of the way, what an immense waste 
 must it always present, while in so gross a corporeal tenement I 
 for were it free to exhibit its true nature, we cannot doubt its 
 power of unwearied and incessant activity. And such might 
 have been its condition here, had it pleased infinite wisdom 
 and benevolence. But what unmixed benevolence would 
 have prompted, perfect wisdom would not permit to fallen 
 man. 
 
 I feel confident that my first two propositions are estab- 
 lished, viz., that there is a predominance of benevolence in 
 the arrangements and operations of the present world, and 
 yet that it is not unmixed benevolence. I advance to a third 
 proposition, which asserts that the same mixed system of good 
 and evil^ which now exists^ has always prevailed since the 
 earth was inhabited. 
 
 Geology shows us the true succession of events since the 
 first appearance of organic beings on the globe, but no chron- 
 ological dates are registered on the rocks. And it is only 
 
IDENTITY OF PAST AND PRESENT LAWS. 243 
 
 by observing processes in existing nature, analogous to those 
 whose record is engraven on the solid strata, that we can 
 infer that the years since life first appeared on the surface 
 must have been very many. But however far back in the 
 hoary past that event occurred, we have indisputable evidence 
 that the same laws then controlled the operations of nature 
 as now, and the result was the same mixture of good 
 and evil. 
 
 In the crystalline structure, and in the perfect crystals of 
 the older rocks, we learn the laws which predominated at 
 their production. And we find that the same chemical, elec- 
 trical, and electro-magnetical influences presided over their 
 formation as are now exhibited in the laboratory of the chem- 
 ist or the laboratory of nature. Now, these crystals conduct 
 us back much farther than the dawn of terrestrial life, though 
 similar ones, and produced by the same laws, are found 
 through the whole series of rocks, from the oldest to the 
 newest. And I might appeal to many other facts in the 
 earth's history, which demonstrate an identity between the 
 physical laws that have controlled nature's processes in every 
 period of past time. 
 
 We have evidence, also, of the same identity in the laws 
 of life, or organic laws. In the anatomical structure of the 
 earliest animals and plants we find the same general type 
 that pervades the present creation, modified only, as it now is, 
 to meet peculiar circumstances. This is true not only of the 
 osseous, but also of the muscular, circulatory, nervous, lym- 
 phatic, and nutritive organs. Hence, as we might expect, 
 we have evidence of the prevalence of the same functional 
 or physiological laws then, as now. Respiration was per- 
 formed, as it now is, and with the same effects. Vegetable 
 ^n^ limal food was then, as now, masticated, digested, and 
 
244 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 assimilated ; and since animals possessed the same senses, we 
 infer that their habits were essentially the same. There is 
 not, indeed, any evidence that ancient animals and plants 
 exhibited any peculiarities of structure or function, save those 
 necessary to adapt them to the circumstances, so unlike the 
 present, in many respects, in which they lived. 
 
 We are sure, also, that death has ever reigned over all or- 
 ganic nature. It has always been produced by the same 
 causes, and attended by the same suffering. And its ravages 
 were repaired by the same system of reproduction as now 
 exists. All this we might presume would be the case, upon 
 the discovery of an identity of laws, mechanical, chemical, 
 and organic ; but we have direct evidence, also, in the count- 
 less remains of animals and plants entombed in the rocks, 
 more than twenty thousand species of which have been dis- 
 interred by naturalists and described. 
 
 I might multiply facts almost without number to sustain 
 the position, that the same mixed system has ever prevailed 
 upon the globe ; for geology is full of the details. But 
 in a subsequent lecture, the subject will be more amply 
 discussed. 
 
 Such are the facts respecting the divine benevolence, as 
 they are presented in the volume of nature. Though benev- 
 olence decidedly predominates, it is modified by other divine 
 attributes, and ever has been, since organic existence began 
 upon the globe. Let us now, in the fourth place, see what 
 inferences are fairly deducible from the whole subject. For 
 those inferences, if I mistake not, will not only clear away 
 every cloud from the divine benevolence, but throw much 
 light upon man's condition. 
 
 In the first place, the subject shows us that the world is not 
 in a state of retribution. 
 
THE WORLD IN A FALLEN STATE. 245 
 
 As a general fact, virtue is to some extent rewarded, ana 
 vice to some extent punished. But it is not always so. In- 
 deed, the picture is sometimes reversed apparently ; and the 
 good are afflicted because they do good, and the wicked 
 triumph because they do evil. Evil abounds, but it is not so 
 distributed as righteous retribution would award it ; neither is 
 good. Since, therefore, God's justice must be infinitely per- 
 fect, there must be some other object for the prevalence of 
 good and evil in the world besides righteous retribution. 
 
 Secondly. We learn from the subject that the world is in a 
 fallen condition. 
 
 I mean, that man has fallen from holiness and happiness. 
 For the world is evidently not such a world as infinite wisdom 
 and benevolence would prepare for a being perfectly holy and 
 happy. Philosophize as we may, we cannot discover any 
 reason why the abode of such a being should be filled with 
 evils of almost every name — evils which the most consum- 
 mate prudence and the most elevated virtue cannot wholly 
 avoid — evils which often come upon the good man because 
 he is eminent for holiness. But if man has fallen from origi- 
 nal holiness and happiness by transgression, w^e might expect 
 just such a world to be fitted up for his residence, because 
 evil is indissolubly linked to sin, perhaps in the very nature 
 of things, certainly by divine appointment. We know that 
 it brings a curse upon every thing with which it is connected ; 
 and here we see a reason for the blight that has marred some 
 of the fairest features of nature, and introduced pain and 
 suffering into the animal frame, and brought a cloud over 
 man's noble intellect, and hebetude over his moral powers. 
 Such a fallen condition will explain what no other supposition 
 can, viz., the clouded, fettered, and depressed condition of all 
 organic nature. 
 
 21* 
 
246 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 Yet, thirdly. We should not infer that man's condition was 
 hopeless, but rather that mercy might be in store for him. 
 
 The very fact that the world is not in a state of retribution 
 would seem to afford hope that God had other purposes than 
 punishment in allowing evil to be introduced. And then the 
 vast predominance of benevolence and happiness around us 
 cannot but inspire hope for the fallen. 
 
 This will be still more manifest if we infer, and can show, 
 fourthly, that the world is in a state of probation or trial. 
 
 By this I mean that men are placed in a condition for the 
 trial and discipline of their characters, in order to fit them 
 for a higher state. If fallen and depraved, they need to pass 
 through such a discipline before they can be prepared for that 
 higher condition. And surely no one can observe the scenes 
 through which all pass, without being struck with their em- 
 inent adapted ness to train man to virtue and holiness. Until 
 we have been pupils for a time in this school, we are not fit 
 even for the successive states in this life into which we pass ; 
 much less for a higher condition. But there is a marvellous 
 power in this discipline to prepare us for both, as vast multi- 
 tudes have testified while they lived and when they died. 
 Even death seems, so far as we can see, to be the only means 
 by which a sinful being can be delivered from his stains ; and 
 the dread of this terrific evil is one of the most powerful 
 restraints upon vice, and stimulants to virtue. There is, in 
 fact, no condition in which man is placed, no good or evil 
 that he meets, which is not eminently adapted, if rightly im- 
 proved, to discipline and strengthen his virtue. Hence we 
 cannot doubt that this is the grand object of the present 
 arrangements of the world. True, if misimproved, the same 
 means become only a discipline in vice. But this is only in 
 conformity with a general principle of the divine government, 
 
WHY DEATH BEFORE MAN. 24"' 
 
 tliat Ihe things which rightly used are highly salutary, are 
 proj,ort)oiiiably injurious when perverted. 
 
 Fifthly. The subject shows us a reason why suffering and 
 death prevailed in this world long before man's existence. 
 
 God foresaw — I will not say foreordained, though he cer- 
 tainly permitted it — that man would transgress; and, there- 
 fore, he made a world adapted to a sinful fallen being, rather 
 than to one pure and holy. If he had adapted it to an un- 
 fallen being, and then changed it upon his apostasy, that 
 change must have amounted to a new creation. For, as I 
 have endeavored to show in a previous lecture, (Lecture III.,) 
 the whole constitution of our world, and even its relations to 
 other worlds, must have been altered to fit it for a being who 
 had sinned. To have introduced such a one into a world 
 fitted up for the perfectly holy, would have been a curse in- 
 stead of a blessing. It was benevolence on the part of God 
 to allow evil to abound in a world which was to be the resi- 
 dence of a sinful creature ; for the discipline of such a state 
 was the only chance of his being rescued from the power of 
 sin, and restored to the divine favor. 
 
 It may be thought, however, inconsistent with divine benev- 
 olence to place the inferior, irrational animals in a condition 
 of suffering because man would transgress, and thus punish 
 creatures incapable of sinning for his transgression. 
 
 Animals do, indeed, suffer in such a world as ours ; but 
 not as a punishment for their own or man's sin. The only 
 question is. Do they suffer so much that their existence is not 
 a blessing ? Surely experience will decide, without inquiring 
 as to their future existence, that their enjoyments, as a gen- 
 eral fact, vastly outweigh their sufferings ; and hence their 
 existence indicates benevolence. It should also be recollected 
 that their natures are adapted to a world of sin and death, 
 
4J48 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 and they are doubtless more happy here than they would be 
 in a different condition, which might be more favorable to 
 unfallen accountable beings. 
 
 Finally. This subject harmonizes infinite and perfect be- 
 neyo'.ence in God with the existence of evil on earth. 
 
 This is the grand problem of theology ; and though I 
 would not say that our reasoning clears it of all difficulties, 
 yet it does seem to me that, by letting the light of this sub- 
 ject fall upon the question, we come nearer to its solution 
 than by viewing it in any other aspect. For this subject 
 shows us that benevolence decidedly predominates in all the 
 arrangements of the material universe, and then it assigns 
 good reasons why this benevolence is not unmixed ; in other 
 words, why severity is sometimes mingled with goodness. It 
 shows us that God, with a prospective view of man's sin, 
 adapted the world to a fallen being ; making it, instead of a 
 place of unmingled happiness, a state of trial and discipline ; 
 not as a full punishment, (for that is reserved to a future 
 state,) but as an essential means of delivering this immortal 
 being from his ruin and misery, and of fitting him for future 
 and endless holiness and happiness. Thus, instead of indi- 
 cating indifference or malevolence in God, because he intro- 
 duced evil into the world, it is a striking evidence of his 
 benevolence. Such a plan is, in fact, the conjoint result of 
 infinite wisdom and benevolence for rescuing the miserable 
 and the lost. Had God placed such a being in a world 
 adapted to one perfectly holy, his sufferings would have been 
 vastly greater, and his rescue hopeless. 
 
 Thus fur do both reason and revelation conduct us in a 
 plain path ; and that, probably, is as far as is necessary for 
 all the purposes of religion. Up to this point, infinite benev- 
 olence pours its radiance upon the path, and we see good 
 
WHY DOES EVIL EXIST? 249 
 
 reasons for the evils incident to this life ; nay, we see that 
 they are the result of that same benevolence which strews 
 the way with blessings ; that, in fact, they are only necessary 
 means of the greatest blessings. I am aware that there is a 
 question lying farther back, in the outskirts of metaphysical 
 theology, which still remains unanswered, and probably never 
 can be settled in this world, because some of its elements are 
 beyond our reach. The inquisitive mind asks why it was 
 necessary for infinite wisdom and power to introduce evil, or 
 allow it to be introduced, into any system of created things. 
 Could not such natures have been bestowed upon creatures, 
 that good only might have been their portion ? A plausible 
 answer is, that evil exists because it can ultimately be made 
 subservient of greater good, taking the whole universe into 
 account, than another system. Certainly to fallen man we 
 have reason to believe natural evils are the grand means of 
 his highest good ; and hence we derive an argument for the 
 same conclusion in respect to the whole system of evil. In- 
 deed, such are the divine attributes, that it is absurd to sup- 
 pose God would create any system which was not the best 
 possible in existing circumstances. But even though we 
 cannot solve these questions in their abstract form, and as 
 applied to the whole creation, it is sufficient for every prac- 
 tical purpose of religion if we can show, as we have endeav- 
 ored to do in this lecture, how the present system of the world 
 for a fallen being illustrates, instead of disproving, the divine 
 benevolence. 
 
 Here, then, is the resolution of some of the darkest enig- 
 mas of human existence, which philosophy, unaided by reve- 
 lation, has never solved. Here we get hold of the thread 
 !hat conducts us through the most crooked labyrinths of "life 
 
250 DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN A FALLEN WORLD. 
 
 and enables us to let in*o thp deepest dungeons of despond 
 eiicy and doubt, the light of hope and of heaven. 
 
 Here, too, we find the powerful glajs by which we can 
 pierce ths clouds that have so long obscured the full-orbed 
 splendors of the divine benevolence. To some, indeed, — 
 and they sagacious philosophers, — that cloud has seemed 
 surcharged only with vengeance. And even to those who 
 have caught occasional glimpses of the noble orb behind, the 
 cloud over its face has always seemed to be tinged with 
 some angry rays. Indeed, so long as this is a sinful state, 
 justice will not allow all the glories of the divine goodness to 
 be revealed. And yet, through the glass which philosophy 
 and faith have put into our hands, we can see that the disk 
 is a full-orbed circle, and that no spots mar and darken its 
 clear surface. How gloriously, then, when all those clouds 
 shall have passed away, and the last taint of evil shall have 
 been blotted out by the final conflagration, shall that sun, in 
 the new heavens, send down its light and heat upon the new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness ! 
 
 On the other hand, how sad the prospect which the analo- 
 gies of this subject open before him who misimproves his 
 earthly probation, and goes out of the world unprepared for a 
 higher and purer state of existence I If we can see reasons 
 why on earth God should mingle goodness and severity in 
 this man's lot, we can also see reasons why the manifesta- 
 tions of benevolence should all be withdrawn when he passes 
 iato a state of retribution. For if an individual can resist the 
 mighty influences for good which the present state of disci- 
 pline afibrds, and only become worse under them all, his case 
 is utterly hopeless, and Heaven can do no more, consistently 
 with the eternal principles of the divine government, to save 
 
A FATHER INFLICTING PUNISHMENT. 251 
 
 nim. Infinite benevolence gives him over, and no longer 
 nolds back the sv^^ord of retributive justice. Nay, the justice 
 which infl'cts the punishment is only benevolence in another 
 form. And this it is that makes the infliction intolerable. 
 How much more terrible to the wayward child are the blows 
 mflicted by a weeping, affectionate father, than if received 
 from an enemy! God is that affectionate Father; and he 
 punishes only because he loves the universe more than the 
 individual ; and he has exhausted the stores of infinite mercy 
 in vain to save him. Wicked men sometimes tell us that they 
 are not afraid to trust themselves in the hands of infinite be- 
 nevolence ; whereas it is eminently this quality of the divine 
 character which, above all others, they have reason to fear. 
 For if, even in this world of probation and hope, God finds it 
 necessary to mingle so much severity with goodness, what 
 but a cup of unmingled bitterness shall be put into his hands 
 who goes into eternity unrenewed and unpardoned, and finds 
 that even infinite benevolence has become his eternal enemy I 
 
(252) 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 UNITY OF IHE DIVINE PLAN AND OPERATION IN 
 ALL AGES OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY. 
 
 Contrivance, adaptation, and design are some of the most 
 striking features of the natural world. They are obvious 
 throughout the whole range of creation, in the minutest as 
 well as in the most magnificent objects ; in the most compli- 
 cated as well as in the most simple. So universally present 
 are they, that whenever we meet with any thing in nature 
 which seems imperfectly adapted to other objects, as the or- 
 gan of an animal or plant, which exhibits malformation, it 
 excites general attention, and the mere child need not be told 
 that, in its want of adaptation to other objects, it is an excep- 
 tion in the natural world. 
 
 In order to illustrate what I mean by contrivance, adapta- 
 tion, and design, let me refer to a familiar example — the 
 human eye. Made up of three coats and three humors, of 
 solids and fluids, of nerves, blood-vessels, and muscles, and 
 rivalling the most perfect optical instrument, it must have 
 required the most consummate contrivance to give the requi- 
 site quantity and position to parts so numerous and unlike, for 
 producing the phenomena of vision. Yet how perfectly it is 
 done ! How few, out of the hundreds of millions of eyes of men 
 and other animals, fail of vision through any natural defect! 
 
 No less marvellous are the adaptations of the eye. In 
 order to be adapted to the wonderful effect which we call 
 
STRUCTURE OF THE EYE. 253 
 
 tighXy "W ^.oats and humors must be transparent, and possess 
 a certair? density and opacity, that the rays may form an 
 image on whe retina. Yet to prevent confusion in the image, 
 the transparency must be confined to the central parts of the 
 eye, and a dark plexus of veins and muscles must be so situ- 
 ated as to absorb the scattering rays. In order to adapt the 
 eye to different distances, and to the greater or less intensity 
 of the light, delicate muscles must be so situated as to con- 
 tract and dilate the pupil, and lengthen and shorten the axis. 
 That the eye might be directed to different objects, strong 
 muscles must be attached to its posterior surface ; and that 
 the eyelid might defend it from injuries in front, a very pecu- 
 liar muscle must give it power to close. No less perfect is 
 the adaptation of the eye to the atmosphere, or, rather, there 
 is a mutual adaptation ; and it is as proper to say that the 
 atmosphere is adapted to the eye, as that the eye is adapted 
 to the atmosphere. In like manner, there is a striking rela- 
 tion between the eye and the sun and other heavenly bodies, 
 and between the eye and day and night ; so that we cannot 
 doubt but they were made for one another. We might, in- 
 deed, extend the relations of the eye to every object in the 
 universe ; and the same may be said of every organ of plants 
 and animals. The adaptation between them is as wide as 
 creation. And it is the wonderful harmony between so many 
 millions of objects that makes us feel that infinite wisdom 
 alone could have produced it. 
 
 The design of the multiplied contrivances and adaptations 
 exhibited by the eye is too obvious to need a formal state- 
 ment. Comparatively few understand the wonderful mechan- 
 ism of the eye ; but we should consider it proof of idiotism 
 or insanity, for the weakest mind to doubt what is the object 
 of the eye. This is, to be sure, a striking example. But 
 22 
 
254 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 out of the many organs of animals, how few are there of 
 which we do not see the design ! And as the subject is more 
 examined, the few excepted cases are made still fewer. 
 They are more numerous in plants, because we cannot so 
 well understand them, and because of their microscopic little- 
 ness. They are so few, however, throughout all nature, that 
 they never produce a doubt that, for every individual thing in 
 creation, there is a distinct object. If we confine our views 
 to the most simple parts of matter, we can see design in 
 them. If we take a wider view, and examine those minor 
 systems which are produced by the grouping of the elements 
 of matter, we shall see design there ; and if we rise still 
 higher io our examination, and compare systems still more 
 extensive, until we group all material things, wise and beauti> 
 ful design is still inscribed upon all. In fine, creation is but 
 a scries of harmonies, wheel within wheel, in countless vari- 
 ety, yet all forming one vast and perfect machine. Examine 
 nature as widely and as minutely as we may, we never find 
 one part clashing with another part ; no laws, governing one 
 portion of creation, different from those governing the others. 
 Amid nature's infinitely diversified productions and opera- 
 tions we find but one original model or pattern. As Dr. 
 Paley finely expresses it, " We never get amongst such origi- 
 nal or totally different modes of existence as to indicate that 
 we are come into the province of a different Creator, or under 
 the direction of a different will." All appears to have been 
 the work of one mighty mind, capable of devising and creat- 
 ing the vast system so perfectly that every part shall beauti- 
 fully harmonize with every other part ; a mind capable of 
 holding in its capacious grasp at once the entire system, and 
 seeing the relation and dependence of all its parts, from the 
 minutest atom up to the mightiest world. In short, the unity 
 
PAST SYSTEMS OF ORGANIC LIFE. 255 
 
 of design which pervades all creation is perfect, more so 
 than we witness in the most finished machine of human 
 construction ; for 
 
 " In human works, though lahored on with pain, 
 A thousand movements scarce one object gain ; 
 In God's, one single can its end produce, 
 Yet serves to second too some other use." 
 
 Such are the wonderful contrivance, adaptation, and design 
 which the material world every where exhibits. But the 
 geologist carries us back through periods of immense an- 
 tiquity, and digs out from the deep strata evidences of other 
 systems of organic life, which have flourished and passed 
 away; other economies, which have existed on the globe 
 anterior to the present. And how was it with these ? Had 
 they any relation to the existing system ? Were they gov- 
 erned by different laws, or are they all but parts of one great 
 and harmonious system, embracing the whole of the earth's 
 past duration ? We could not decide these questions before- 
 hand ; but geology brings to light unequivocal evidence that 
 the latter supposition is the true one ; that is, in the language 
 of the poet, — 
 
 " AU are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
 Whose body nature is, and God the soul." 
 
 To present the evidence of this conclusion will be my object 
 in this lecture. 
 
 In the first place, the laws of chemistry and crystallography, 
 electricity and magnetism, have ever been the same in all past 
 conditions of the earth 
 , Chemistry has attained to such a degree of perfection that 
 
256 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 the analyst can now determine the composition of the various 
 vegetable, animal, and mineral substances which he meets, 
 with an extreme degree of accuracy. In many instances, he 
 can do this in two ways. He can always separate the ele- 
 ments which exist in a compound, and ascertain their relative 
 quantity ; and this is called analysis. And sometimes he can 
 take those elements and cause them to unite, so as to form a 
 particular compound ; and this is called synthesis. By these 
 methods he has ascertained that, amid the vast variety of sub- 
 stances in nature, there are only about sixty-four which cannot 
 be reduced to a more simple form, and are therefore called 
 elements^ or simple substances. Now, the chemist finds that, 
 when these elements unite to form compounds, certain fixed 
 laws are invariably followed. They combine in definite 
 quantities, which are always the same, or some multiple of 
 the same weight ; so that each element has its peculiar and 
 invariable combining weight ; and it cannot be made to com- 
 bine in any other proportion. You may mix two or more 
 elements together in any proportion, but it is only a certain 
 definite quantity of each that will combine, while the rest 
 will remain in excess. Hence the same compound substance, 
 from whatever part of the world it comes, or under however 
 diverse circumstances produced, consists of the same ingre- 
 dients in the same proportion. These laws are followed with 
 mathematical precision, and we have reason to believe that 
 the same compound substance, produced in different parts of 
 the world, never differs in its composition by the smallest con- 
 ceivable particle. Indeed, with the exception of the plan- 
 etary motions and crystallography, chemical combination is 
 the most perfect example of practical mathematics to be 
 found in nature. 
 Such are the laws which the chemist finds invariably to 
 
CHEMICAL LAWS. 25? 
 
 regulate all the changes that now take place in the constitution 
 of bodies. What evidence is there that the same laws have 
 ever prevailed ? In the rocks we have chemical compounds, 
 produced in all ages of the world's history, since fire and 
 water began to form solid masses. Now, these may be, and 
 have been, analyzed ; and the same laws of definite propor- 
 tion in the ingredients, which now operate, are found to have 
 controlled their formation. The oldest granite and gneiss, 
 which must have been the earliest rocks produced, are just as 
 invariable in their composition as the most recent salt formed 
 in the laboratory. And the same is true of the silicates, the 
 carbonates, the sulphates, the oxides, chlorides, fluorides, and 
 other compounds which constitute the rocks of different ages. 
 We never find any produced under the operation of dif- 
 ferent laws. 
 
 Now, the almost invariable opinion among chemists is, that 
 the reason why the elements unite thus definitely is, that they 
 are in different electrical states, and therefore attract one 
 another. Hence the most important laws of electricity have 
 been coeval with those of chemistry ; indeed, they are iden- 
 tical ; nor can we doubt, if such be the fact, that every other 
 electrical law has remained unchanged from the beginning. 
 And from the intimate connection, if not complete identity, 
 between electricity and magnetism, it is impossible to doubt 
 that the laws which regulate the latter are of equal antiquity 
 with those of the former. Indeed, we find evidence in all the 
 rocks, especially those which are prismatic and concretionary, 
 of the active influence of galvanism and electro-magnetism in 
 their production. 
 
 The reasoning is equally decisive to prove the unchangmg 
 character of the laws which regulate the formation of crystals. 
 The chemist finds that the same substance, when it crystal- 
 22* 
 
258 imiTY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 lizes, invariably takes the same geometrical forms. The 
 nucleus or primary form, with a few exceptions, of no im- 
 portance in the present argument, to which all these second- 
 ary forms may be reduced by change, is one particular solid, 
 with unvarying angles ; and all the secondary forms, built 
 upon the primary, correspond in their angles. In short, in 
 crystallography we have another example of perfect practical 
 mathematics, as perfect as the theory. 
 
 Now, the oldest rocks in the globe contain crystals, and so 
 do the rocks of all ages, sometimes of the same kind as those 
 produced in the chemist's laboratory. And they are found to 
 correspond precisely. It matters not whether they were the 
 produce of nature's laboratory countless ages ago, or of the 
 skill of the nineteenth century, — the same mathematics ruled 
 in their formation with a precision which infinite wisdom alone 
 could secure. 
 
 In the second place, the laws of meteorology have ever been 
 the same as at present. 
 
 Under meteorological laws I include all atmospheric phe- 
 nomena. And although we have no direct proof from geol- 
 ogy in respect to the more rare of these phenomena, such as 
 the aurora borealis and australis, and transient meteors, yet 
 in respect to the existence of clouds, wind, and rain, the evi- 
 dence is quite striking. In several places in Europe, and in 
 many in this country, are found, upon layers of the new red 
 sandstone, the distinct impressions of rain drops, made when 
 the rock was fine mud. They correspond precisely with the 
 indentations which falling rain-drops now make upon mud, 
 and they show us that the phenomena of clouds and storms 
 existed in that remote period, and that the vapor was con- 
 densed as at present. In the fact that the animals entombed 
 in the rocks of various ages are found to have had organs of 
 
AGENTS OF CHANGE. 250 
 
 respiration, we also infer the existence of an atmosphere anal 
 ogous to that which we now breathe. The rain-drops enabU 
 us to proceed one step farther ; for often they are elongatcG 
 in one direction, showing that they struck the ground obliquely, 
 doubtless in consequence of wind. In short, the facts stated 
 enable us to infer, with strong probability, that atmospheric 
 phenomena were then essentially the same as at present ; and 
 analogy leads us to a similar conclusion as to all the past pe- 
 riods of the world's history, certainly since animals were placed 
 upon it. What a curious register do these rain-drops present 
 us ! an engraving on stone of a shower that fell thousands 
 and thousands of ages ago ! They often become, too, an 
 anemoscope, pointing out the direction of the wind, while the 
 petrified surface shows us just how many drops fell, quite as 
 accurately as the most delicate pluviameter. What events in 
 the earth's pre-Adamic history would seem less likely to come 
 down to us than the pattering of a shower .? 
 
 In the third place^ the agents of geological change appear 
 to have been always the same on the earth. 
 
 Whoever goes into a careful examination of the rocks will 
 soon become satisfied that no fragment of them all remains in 
 the condition in which it was originally created. Whatever 
 was the original form in which matter was produced, there is 
 no longer any example of it to be found. The evidence of 
 these changes is as strong almost as that constant changes are 
 going on in human society. And we find them constantly 
 progressing among the rocks, as well as among men ; nor do 
 the agents by which they are produced appear to have been 
 ever diflTerent from those now in operation. The two most 
 important are heat and water ; and it is doubtful whether there 
 is a single particle of the globe which has not experienced the 
 metamorphic action of the one or the other. Indeed, it is 
 
260 UNITY OP THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 nearly certain that every portion of the globe has been melted, 
 if not volatilized. All the unstratified rocks have certainly 
 been fused, and probably all the stratified rocks originated 
 from the unstratified, and have been modified by water and heat. 
 In many of these rocks, especially the oldest, we perceive evi- 
 dence of the joint action of both these agents. Evidently 
 they were once aqueous deposits ; but they appear to have 
 been subsequently subjected to powerful heat. As we ascend 
 on the scale of the stratified rocks, the marks of fire diminish, 
 and those of water multiply, so that the latest are mere me- 
 chanical or chemical depositions from water. 
 
 In these facts, then, we see proof that heat and water have 
 been the chief agents of geological change since the first 
 formation of a solid crust on the globe ; for some of the rocks 
 now accessible, as already stated, date their origin at that 
 early period. We might also trace back the agency of heat 
 much farther, if the hypothesis adopted by not a few eminent 
 geologists be true, which supposes the earth to have been 
 once in a gaseous state from intense heat. But to press this 
 point will add very little to my argument, even could I sus- 
 tain it by plausible reasoning. I will only say, that, so far as 
 we know any thing of the state of the earth previous to the 
 consolidation of its crust, heat appears to have been the chief 
 agent concerned in its geological changes. 
 
 Among other agencies of less importance, that have always 
 operated geologically, is gravity. Its chief effect, at present 
 is to bring the earth's surface nearer and nearer to a level, by 
 causing the materials, which other agencies have loosened 
 from its salient parts, to subside into its cavities and valleys 
 It also condenses many substances from a gaseous to a liquid 
 or solid state, especially those deep in the earth's crust, and 
 thus brings the particles more within the reach of cohesive 
 
EARLY AGENCIES. 261 
 
 attraction and chemical affinity, often changing the constitu- 
 tion, and always the solidity, of bodies. And in the position 
 of the ancient mechanical rocks, occupying as they do the 
 former basins of the surface, and in the superior consolida- 
 tion of the earlier strata, we find proof of the action of gravity 
 in all past geological time. 
 
 Electricity too, in the form of galvanism, has never been 
 idle. We have reason to think that it operates at this moment 
 in accumulating metallic ores in veins ; and this segregation 
 appears to have operated in all ages, not only in filling veins, 
 but also, probably, in giving a laminated character and jointed 
 structure to mountains of slate, as well as a concretionary 
 and prismatic form to others. 
 
 Last, though not least, we may reckon among the agents 
 of geological change the forces of cohesion and affinity. 
 When water and heat, gravity and galvanism, have brought 
 the atoms of bodies into a proper state, these agents are al- 
 ways ready to change their form and constitution ; and they 
 have ever been at hand to operate by the same laws, and we 
 witness their effects in the oldest as well as the newest rocks 
 found in the earth's crust. This point, however, has been 
 sufficiently considered, when treating of the unvarying uni- 
 formity of the laws of chemistry and crystallography. 
 
 But though the nature of the agencies above considered has 
 never changed, the intensity or amount of their action has 
 varied ; how much is a point not yet settled among geologists. 
 Some regard that intensity, as it has existed during the present 
 or alluvial period, as a standard for all preceding periods ; 
 that is, the intensity of these forces has never varied more 
 during any period of the earth's history than it has since the 
 alluvial period commenced. Most geologists, however, regard 
 Ihis as an extreme opinion, and think they see evidence in 
 
262 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 geology of a far greater intensity in these agencies in past 
 periods than exists at present. They think they have proof 
 that the world was once only a molten mass of matter, and 
 some evidence that previously it was in a state of vapor. 
 They believe that vast mountains, and even continents, have 
 sometimes been thrown up from the ocean's bed by a single 
 mighty paroxysmal effort ; and such effects they know to be 
 far greater than the causes of change now in operation can 
 produce, without a vast increase of their intensity. But this 
 question need neither be discussed nor decided for the sake 
 of my present argument, since my object is to prove an iden- 
 tity in the nature and laws, not in the intensity, of geological 
 agencies. 
 
 In the fourth place, the laws of zoology and botany have 
 always been the same on the globe. 
 
 An examination of the animals now living, amounting to 
 some hundred thousand species, perhaps to one or two mil- 
 lions, shows that they may be arranged in four great classes. 
 The first class embraces the vertebral animals, distinguished 
 by having a vertebral column, or back-bone, a regular skele- 
 ton, and a regular nervous system. It comprehends all the 
 quadrupeds and bipeds, with man at their head, and is much 
 superior to all other classes in complexity of organization and 
 strength of the mental powers. The second class embraces 
 the mollusks, or animals inhabiting shells. They are desti- 
 tute of a spinal marrow, and for the most part their muscles 
 are attached to the external covering, called the shell, al- 
 though this shell is sometimes internal. The third class are 
 called articulated animals, having envelopes connected by 
 annulated plates, or rings. It includes such animals as the 
 lobster, bloodsucker, spider, and insects generally. The 
 fourth class have a radiated structure, and often resemble 
 
THE GREAT CLASSES ALWAYS EXISTED. 263 
 
 plants, or their habitation is a stony structure. Hence they 
 are sometimes called zoophytes, which means animal plants ; 
 or lithophytes, which means stony plants. They swarm in 
 the ocean, and some of them build up those extensive stony 
 structures called coral reefs. 
 
 Now, if we examine the descriptions of the organic remains 
 in the rocks, we find that in all ages of the world these four 
 great classes of animals have existed. But in the earliest 
 times, the three last classes — the mollusks, the articulated, 
 and the radiated tribes — vastly preponderated, while the ver- 
 tebral class had only a few representatives ; and it is not till 
 we rise as high as the new red sandstone, that we meet with 
 any, except fishes, save a few batrachians in the old red sand- 
 stone, and the carboniferous group, detected alone by their 
 tracks. Then the reptiles began to appear in abundance, 
 with tortoises and enormous birds of a low organization, but 
 no mammiferous animal is found, until we reach the oolite ; 
 and scarcely any till we rise to the tertiary strata, when they 
 became abundant ; but not so numerous as at present, though 
 for the most part of larger size. Thus we find that the more 
 perfect animals have been developed gradually, becoming 
 more and more complex as we rise on the scale of the rocks. 
 But in the three other classes, there does not appear to have 
 been much advance upon the original types, although in num- 
 bers and variety there has been a great increase. 
 
 The plants now growing upon the globe, amounting proba- 
 bly to nearly one hundred thousand species, are divided into 
 two great classes, by a very decided character. Some of 
 them have distinct flowers, and ^others are destitute of them. 
 The former are called phenogamian, or flowering plants ; and 
 the latter cryptogamian, or flowerless plants. 
 
 At present, the flowering plants very much predommate in 
 
264 UNITY OF THE DIVINB PLAN. 
 
 the flora of every country. But in the earliest periods of 
 organic existence, the reverse was the case. We find, maeed 
 but very few flowering plants, and these of a character some- 
 what intermediate between flowering and flowerless; such 
 OS the coniferae and cycadese, including the. pine tribe. A 
 few palms appeared almost as early, and some other monocot- 
 yledons. But most of the dicotyledons did not appear till the 
 tertiary period, where more than two hundred species have 
 been found. Of the three hundred species found in and be- 
 neath the carboniferous group, two thirds are tree ferns, or 
 gigantic equisetaceae. More than one third of the entire flora 
 of the secondary formation consists of cycadeae ; whereas, 
 this family of plants forms not more than the two thousandth 
 part of the existing flora. In short, we find the more perfect 
 plants as well as animals to be few in the earliest periods, and 
 to have been gradually introduced up to the present time. 
 But as to the flowerless plants, most of them seem to have 
 been as perfect at first as they now are. 
 
 These facts teach us conclusively that the outlines of or- 
 ganic life on the globe have always been the same ; that the 
 great classes of animals and plants have always had their rep- 
 resentatives, and that the variations which have been intro- 
 duced, have been merely adaptations to the varying condition 
 of the earth's surface. The higher and more complex na- 
 tures, both of animals and plants, were not introduced at first, 
 because the surface was not adapted to their existence ; and 
 they were brought in only as circumstances, favorable to their 
 development, prepared the way. 
 
 There is another fact of great interest on this subject Even 
 a cursory examination of the animals and plants now on the 
 globe, shows such a gradation of their characters that they 
 form a sort of chain, extending from the most to the least per* 
 
LOST TRIBES FOUND IN THE ROCKS. 265 
 
 feet species. But we see at once that the links of this chain 
 are of very unequal length ; or, rather, that there are in some 
 instances wide intervals between the nearest species, as if one 
 or more links had dropped out. How remarkable that some 
 of these lost links should be found among the fossil species ! 
 I will refer to a f^ew examples. 
 
 Among existing animals no genera or tribes are more widely- 
 separated than those with thick skins, denominated pachyder- 
 mata ; such as the rhinoceros and the elephant. But among 
 the fossil animals of the tertiary strata, this tribe of animals 
 was much more common ; and many of them fill up the 
 blanks in the existing families, and thus render more perfect 
 and uniform the great chain of being which binds together 
 into one great system the present and past periods of organic 
 life. 
 
 A similar case occurs among fossil plants. In tropical cli- 
 mates we find a few species — not much over twenty — of a 
 singular family of plants, the cycadese connecting the great fam- 
 ilies of coniferse, or dicotyledons, with the palms, which are mo- 
 nocotyledonous, and the ferns, which are acotyledonous. The 
 chasm, however, between those great and dissimilar classes 
 of plants is but imperfectly filled by the few living species of 
 cycadeae. But of the fossil species hitherto found above the 
 coal formation, almost one half are cycadese ; so that here, 
 too, the lost links of the chain are supplied. 
 
 " Facts like these," says Dr. Buckland, " are inestimably 
 precious to the natural theologian, for they identify, as it 
 were, the Artificer, by details of manipulation throughout his 
 works. They appeal to the physiologist, in language more 
 commarrding than human eloquence ; the voice of very stocks 
 and stones, that have been buried for countless ages in the 
 deep recesses of the earth, proclaiming the universal agency 
 23 
 
266 TTNITT OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 of one all-directing, all-sustaining Creator, in whose will and 
 power these harmonious systems originated, and by whose 
 universal providence they are, and have at all times been, 
 maintained." — Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i. p. 502. 
 
 One other fact, showing the identity of former zoological 
 laws with those which now prevail, must not be omitted. 1 
 refer to the existence on the globe in all past periods of or- 
 ganic life of the two great classes of carnivorous and herbivo- 
 rous animals ; and they have always existed, too, in about the 
 same proportion. To the harmony and happiness of the pres- 
 ent system, we know that the existence and proper relative 
 number of these different classes are indispensable. For in 
 order that the greatest possible number of animals that live 
 on vegetable food should exist, they must possess the power 
 of rapid multiplication, so that there should be bom a much 
 larger number than is necessary to people the earth. But if 
 there existed no carnivorous races to keep in check this re- 
 dundancy of population, the world would soon become so filled 
 with the herbivorous races that famine would be the conse- 
 quence, and thus a much greater amount of suffering result 
 than the sudden death inflicted by carnivorous races now pro- 
 duces. To preserve, then, a proper balance between the dif- 
 ferent species is, doubtless, the object of the creation of the 
 carnivorous. This system has been aptly denominated " the 
 police of nature." And we find it to have always existed. 
 The earliest vertebral animals — the sauroid fishes and sharks 
 — were of this description. The sharks have always lived, 
 but the sauroid fishes became less numerous when other ma- 
 rine saurians were created ; and when they both nearly disap- 
 peared, during the tertiary period, other predaceous families 
 were introduced, more like those now in existence. 
 
 The history of the moUusks, or animals inhabiting shells 
 
ANATOMICAL LAWS THE SAME. 267 
 
 furnishes US with an example still more striking. These ani- 
 mals, as they now exist, are divisible into the two great classes 
 of carnivorous and herbivorous species, being distinguished 
 by their anatomical structure ; and so has it ever been. In 
 the fossiliferous rocks below the tertiary, we find immense 
 numbers of nautili, ammonites, and other kindred genera of 
 polythalamous shells, called cephalopods, which were all car- 
 nivorous. And when they nearly disappeared with the creta- 
 ceous period, there was created another race with carnivorous 
 propensities and organs, called trachelipods ; and those con- 
 tinue still to swarm in the ocean. Had they not appeared 
 when the cephalopods passed away, the herbivorous tribes 
 would have multiplied to such an extent as ultimately to de- 
 stroy marine vegetation, and bring on famine among them- 
 selves. 
 
 These examples are sufficient to prove the existence of the 
 carnivorous and herbivorous races in all ages and in about 
 the same relative numbers. And it certainly furnishes most 
 decisive evidence of the oneness of all these systems of or- 
 ganic life on the globe. 
 
 In the ffth place, the laws of anatomy have always been 
 the same since organic structures began to exist. 
 
 It had long been known that the organs of animals were 
 beautifully adapted to perform the functions for which they 
 were intended. But it was not till the investigations of 
 Baron Cuvier, within the last half century, that it was known 
 how mathematically exact is the relation between the different 
 parts of the animal frame, nor how precise are the laws of 
 variation in the different species, by which they are fitted to 
 different elements, climates, and food. It is now well known, 
 that each animal structure contains a perfect system of corre- 
 lation, and yet the whole forms a harmonious part of the en- 
 
268 UNITY OF THE DIVINB FLAN. 
 
 tire animal system on the globe. But the language of Cuviex 
 himself will best elucidate this subject, so far as it is capable 
 of popular explanation. 
 
 " Every organized individual," says he, " forms an entire 
 system of its own ; all the parts of which mutually corre- 
 spond, and concur to produce a certain definite purpose, by 
 reciprocal reaction, or by combining towards the same end. 
 Hence none of these separate parts can change their forms 
 without a corresponding change in the other parts of the same 
 animal, and consequently each of these parts, taken sepa- 
 rately, indicates all the other parts to which it has belonged. 
 Thus, if the viscera of any animal are so organized as only 
 to be fitted for the digestion of recent flesh, it is also requisite 
 that the jaws should be so constructed as to fit them for de- 
 vouring prey ; the claws must be constructed for seizing and 
 tearing it to pieces ; the teeth for cutting and dividing its 
 flesh ; the entire system of the limbs, or organs of motion, for 
 pursuing and overtaking it ; and the organs of sense, for dis- 
 covering it at a distance. Nature, also, must have endowed 
 the brain of the animal with instinct sufficient for concealing 
 itself, and for laying plans to catch its necessary victims. 
 
 " In order that the jaw may be well adapted for laying hold 
 of objects, it is necessary that its condyle should have a cer- 
 tain form ; that the resistance, the moving power, and the 
 fulcrum, should have a certain relative position with respect 
 to each other, and that the temporal muscles should be of a 
 certain size ; the hollow, or depression, too, in which these 
 muscles are lodged, must have a certain depth ; and the zygo- 
 matic arch, under which they pass, must not only have a cer- 
 tain degree of convexity, but it must be sufficiently strong* to 
 support the action of the masseter. 
 
 *' To enable the animal to carry off* its prey when seized, a 
 
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 269 
 
 corresponding force is requisite in the muscles which elevate 
 the head ; and this necessarily gives rise to a determinate 
 form of the vertebrae, to which these muscles are attached, 
 and of the occiput into which they are inserted. 
 
 " In order that the teeth of a carnivorous animal may be 
 able to cut the flesh, they require to be sharp, more or less so 
 in proportion to the greater or less quantity of flesh which 
 they have to cut. It is requisite that their roots should be 
 solid and strong, in proportion to the greater quantity and size 
 of the bones which they have to break to pieces. The whole 
 of these circumstances must necessarily influence the devel- 
 opment and form of all the parts which contribute to move 
 the jaws. 
 
 " To enable the claws of a carnivorous animal to seize its 
 prey, a considerable degree of mobility is necessary in their 
 paws and toes, and a considerable strength in the claws them- 
 selves. From these circumstances, there necessarily result 
 certain determinate forms in all the bones of their paws, and 
 in the distribution of the muscles and tendons by which they 
 are moved. The fore arm must possess a certain facility of 
 moving in various directions, and consequently requires cer- 
 tain determinate forms in the bones of which it is composed. 
 As the bones of the fore arm are articulated with the arm 
 bone, or humerus, no change can take place in the form or 
 structure of the former, without occasioning correspondent 
 changes in the form of the latter. The shoulder-blade, also, 
 or scapula, requires a correspondent degree of strength in all 
 animals destined for catching prey, by which it likewise must 
 necessarily have an appropriate form. The play and action 
 of all these parts require certain proportions in the muscles 
 which set them in motion, and the impressions formed by these 
 muscles must still farther determine the form of all these bones. 
 23* 
 
270 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 " After these observations it will easily be seen that similar 
 conclusions may be drawn with respect to the hinder limbs 
 of carnivorous animals, which require particular conforma- 
 tions to fit them for rapidity of motion in general ; and that 
 similar considerations must influence the forms and con- 
 nections of the vertebrae and other bones constituting the 
 trunk of the body, and to fit them for flexibility and readiness 
 of motion in all directions. The bones, also, of the nose, of 
 the orbit, and of the ears, require certain forms and structures 
 to fit them for giving perfection to the senses of smell, sight, 
 and hearing, so necessary to animals of prey. In short, the 
 shape and structure of the teeth regulate the forms of the 
 condyle, of the shoulder-blade, and the claws, in the same 
 manner as the equation of a curve regulates all its other 
 properties ; and as, in regard to a particular curve, all its 
 properties may be ascertained by assuming each separate 
 property as the foundation of a particular equation, in the 
 same manner a claw, a shoulder-blade, a condyle, a leg, an 
 arm bone, or any other bone, separately considered, enables 
 us to discover the description of teeth to which they have 
 belonged ; and so, also, reciprocally, we may determine the 
 form of the other bones from the teeth. Thus commencing 
 our investigations by a careful survey of any one bone by 
 itself, a person who is sufficiently master of the laws of or- 
 ganic structure may, as it were, reconstruct the whole animal 
 to which that bone had belonged." 
 
 After applying the same principle to animals with hoofs, 
 Cuvier comes to a conclusion even more surprising. ** Hence," 
 says he, " any one who observes merely the print of a cloven 
 hoof, may conclude that it has been left by a ruminant ani- 
 mal, and regard the conclusion as equally certain with any 
 other in physics or in morals. Consequently this singlo 
 
CORRELATIONS. 271 
 
 footmark clearly indicates to the observer the forms of the 
 teeth, of all the leg bones, thighs, shoulders, and of the trunk 
 of the body of the animal which left the mark. It is much 
 surer than all the marks of Zadig. 
 
 " By thus employing the method of observation, where 
 theory is no longer able to direct our views, we procure 
 astonishing results. The smallest fragment of bone, even 
 the most apparently insignificant apophysis, possesses a fixed 
 and determinate character relative to the class, order, genus, 
 and species of the animal to which it belonged ; insomuch 
 that when we find merely the extremity of a well-preserved 
 bone, we are able, by a careful examination, assisted by anal- 
 ogy and exact comparison, to determine the species to which 
 it once belonged, as certainly as if we had the entire animal 
 before us. Before venturing to put entire confidence in this 
 method of investigation, in regard to fossil bones, I have very 
 frequently tried it with portions of bones belonging to well- 
 known animals, and always with such complete success, that 
 I now entertain no doubts with regard to the results which it 
 affords." 
 
 The remarkable correlation between the parts of existing 
 animals having been thus proved by the most rigid and satis- 
 factory tests, we shall inquire with interest for the result, 
 when Cuvier applied the same principles to the fossil animals. 
 If the laws of anatomical structure were the same when these 
 extinct races lived as they now are, these principles will apply 
 equally well to the bones found in the rocks ; and though 
 often only scattered fragments are brought to light, the anat- 
 omist will be able to reconstruct the whole animal, and pre- 
 sent him to our view. Cuvier was the first who solved this 
 problem. The quarries around Paris had furnished a vast 
 number of bones of strange animals, and these were thrown 
 
272 TNITY OP THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 promiscuously into the collections of that city. Well pre- 
 pared by previous study, this distinguished anatomist went 
 among them with the inquiry, Can these bones live ? The 
 spirit of scientific prophecy was upon him, and, as he uttered 
 his inspirations, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and 
 the bones came together, bone to his bone. And the sinews 
 and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them. 
 " I found myself," says he, " as if placed in a charnel-house, 
 surrounded by mutilated fragments of many hundred skele- 
 tons of more than twenty kinds of animals, piled confusedly 
 around me. The task assigned me was to restore them all 
 to their original position. At the voice of comparative anat- 
 omy, every bone and fragment of a bone resumed its place. 
 I cannot find words to express the pleasure I experienced in 
 seeing, as I discovered one character, how all the conse- 
 quences which I predicted from it were successively con- 
 firmed ; the feet were found in accordance with the characters 
 announced by the teeth ; the teeth in harmony with those 
 indicated beforehand by the feet ; the bones of the legs and 
 thighs, and every connecting portion of the extremities, were 
 found set together precisely as I had arranged them, before 
 my conjectures were verified by the discoveiy of the parts 
 entire ; in short, each species was, as it were, reconstructed 
 from a single one of its component elements." 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that, since this first successful 
 experiment, the same principles have been more thoroughly 
 investigated and extended with the same success into every 
 department of fossil organic nature. The results which have 
 crowned the labors of such men as Agassiz, Ehrenberg, 
 Kaup, Goldfuss, Bronn, Blainville, Brongniart, Deshayes, and 
 D'Orbigny, on the continent of Europe, and of Conybeare, 
 Buckland, Mantell, Lindley, and Hutton, and eminently cf 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL LAWS. 273 
 
 Owen, in Great Britain, although sustained by the most rigid 
 principles of science, are nevertheless but little short of mi- 
 raculous ; and they demonstrate most clearly the identity of 
 anatomical laws, in all ages, among animals and plants of 
 every size and character, from the lofty lepidodendra and 
 sigillaria to the humblest moss or sea-weed, and from the 
 gigantic dinotherium, mastodon, megatherium, and iguano- 
 don, to the infinitesimal infusoria. 
 
 In the sixth place, physiological laws have always been the 
 same upon the globe. 
 
 That death has reigned in all past ages over all animated 
 tribes, as it now reigns, so that in that war there has never 
 been a discharge, I need not attempt formally to prove. For 
 the preserved and petrified relics of all the former races, that 
 now lie entombed in the rocks, furnish a silent but impressive 
 demonstration of the former triumph of that great physiologi- 
 cal law, which is stamped by the signet of Jehovah upon all 
 existing organic natures — Dust thou art, and unto dust shall 
 thou return. 
 
 Scarcely more necessary is it to attempt to show that the 
 "same system of reproduction for filling the chasms which 
 death occasions, and which is now universal in the animal 
 and vegetable kingdoms, has always existed. Indeed, such a 
 system is a necessary counterpart to a system of dissolution. 
 And we find the same phases to this reproductive system in 
 ancient and in modern periods. Organic remains clearly 
 teach us that there have always been viviparous as well as 
 oviparous creatures, and gemmiparous as well as fissiparous 
 animals and plants. The second great physiological law of 
 existing nature has, then, always been the same. 
 
 The character of the nourishment by which animals and 
 plants have been sustained has never varied. The lattei 
 
274 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 have ever been nourished by inorganic, and the former by 
 organic, matter. Some animals have ever fed upon the flesh 
 of other animals, as their petrified remains, enclosing the 
 masticated and half-digested fragments of other animals, tes- 
 tify. Other tribes have fed only upon herbs or fruits ; and 
 some were omnivorous ; just, in fact, as we find the habits of 
 existing animals. 
 
 No less certain are we that the processes of digestion and 
 assimilation have ever been unchanged. We find the same 
 organs for these purposes as in existing animals, viz., the 
 mouth, the stomach, the intestines, and the blood-vessels, as 
 the coprolites and the cololites abundantly testify. We infer, 
 therefore, with great confidence, the existence of gastric 
 juice and bile for completing the transformation of the food 
 into blood. Indeed, the discoveiy by a lady (Miss Mary 
 Anning, of England) of that singular secretion from which 
 the color called India ink is prepared, with the ink-bag of the 
 sepia, or loligo, in a petrified state, shows that the process 
 of secretion existed in these ancient animals ; and when we 
 find that in all respects their structure was like that of exist- 
 ing animals, although some of the softer vessels have not 
 beep preserved, we cannot doubt but the entire process of 
 digestion, and the conversion of blood into bone, nerve, and 
 muscle, was precisely the same as it now is. 
 
 In the fact, also, that we find in fossil specimens organs of 
 respiration, such as lungs, gills, and trachea, we learn that 
 the process of a circulation of blood, and its purification 
 by means of the oxygen of the atmosphere, have never 
 varied. Animal heat, too, dependent as it is essentially upon 
 this oxygenating process, was always derived from tlie same 
 source as at present. 
 
 The perfectly preserved minute vessels of vegetables 
 
FUNCTIONAL IDENTITY. 275 
 
 enable us, by means of the microscope, to identify them with 
 the plants now alive ; and they prove, too, incontestably, that 
 the nourishment of vegetables has always been of the same 
 kind, and has been converted into the various proximate prin- 
 ciples of plants by the same processes. 
 
 Again. We have evidence that these ancient animals pos- 
 sessed the same senses as their congeneric races now on the 
 globe. We have one good example in which that most deli- 
 cate organ, the eye, is most perfectly preserved. It is well 
 known that the visual organ of insects and of crustaceans is 
 composed of a multitude — often several hundreds or thou- 
 sands — of eyes, united into one, so as to serve the purpose 
 of a multiplying glass ; each eye producing a separate image 
 of the object observed. Such an eye had the trilobite. Each 
 contained at least four hundred nearly spherical lenses on the 
 surface of the cornea, united into one organ ; revealing to us 
 the interesting fact, that the relations of light to animal organ- 
 ization were the same in that remote era as they now are. 
 
 But I need not multiply proof of the functional identity of 
 organic nature in all ages. It may, however, be inquired, 
 how this identity, as well as that of anatomical structure, is 
 reconciled with the great anomalies, both in size and form, 
 which have confessedly prevailed among ancient animals. 
 Compare the plants and animals which now occupy the north- 
 ern parts of the globe with those which flourished there in 
 the remote periods of geological history, and can we believe 
 .hem to be portions of one great system of organic nature ? 
 
 Compare, for instance, the thirty or forty species of ferns 
 now growing to the height of a few inches, or one or two feet, 
 in Europe and this country, with the more than two hundred 
 species already dug out of the coal mines, many of which 
 were forty to forty-five feet in height; or the diminutive 
 
276 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 ground pines, and equiseta, now scarcely noticed in our for 
 ests, with the gigantic lepidodendron, sigillaria, calamites, anc 
 equisela, of the carboniferous period ; and wlio will not be 
 struck with the great difference between them ? 
 
 Or go to Germany, and imagine the bones of the dinothe- 
 rium to start out of the soil, and become clothed with flesh 
 and instinct with life. You have before you a quadruped 
 eighteen feet in length, and of proportional height, much 
 larger than the elephant, and with curved tusks reaching two 
 or three feet below its lower jaw, while no other living animal 
 would be found there larger than the ox, or the horse — mere 
 pygmies by the side of such a monster, and evidently unfit to 
 be his contemporaries. 
 
 Again. Let the megatherium be brought back to life on the 
 pampas of South America, and you have an animal twelve feet 
 long and eight feet high, with proportions perfectly colossal. 
 Its fore feet were a yard long, its thigh bone three times thicker 
 than that of the elephant, its width across the haunches five 
 feet, its spinal marrow a foot in diameter, and its tail, where 
 it was inserted into the body, two feet in diameter. What a 
 giant in comparison with the sloth, the anteater, and the 
 armadillo, to which it was allied by anatomical structure ! 
 
 Still more unequal in size, as compared with living batra- 
 chians, was the labyrinthidon, once common in England and 
 Germany, if, indeed, the tracks on sandstone were made by 
 chat animal. It was, in fact, a frog us large as an ox, and 
 perhaps as large as an elephant. Think of such animals 
 swarming in our morasses at the present day ! 
 
 Hut coming back from Europe, and turning our thoughts to 
 the aiffmals that trod along the shores of the estuary that once 
 washed the base of Mount Ilolyoke, in New England, we shall 
 encounter an animal, probably of the batrachian family, of more 
 
GIGANTIC ANIMALS. 277 
 
 gigantic proportions. It was the Otozoum Moodii, a biped, 
 with feet twenty inches long, more than twice the size of those 
 of the labyrinthidon ; yet its tracks on the imperishable sand- 
 stone show that such a giant once trod upon the muddy shore 
 of that ancient estuary. 
 
 Along that same shore, also, enormous struthious birds 
 moved in flocks, making strides from three to five feet long, 
 with feet eighteen inches long, lifting their heads, it may be, 
 from twelve to eighteen feet above the ground, surpassing, as 
 it appears, even the gigantic dinornis of New Zealand, now 
 that the feet of the latter have been discovered. I refer to 
 the Brontozoum giganteum, whose tracks are so common on 
 the new red sandstone of the Connecticut valley. What 
 dwarfs are we in comparison, who now consider ourselves 
 lords of that valley ! 
 
 Still more remarkable for peculiarities of structure was the 
 tribe of saurians, which were once so numerous in the north- 
 ern parts of Europe and America. The ichthyosaurus, a 
 carnivorous marine reptile, sometimes thirty feet long, had 
 the snout of a porpoise, the teeth of a crocodile, the head of a 
 lizard, the vertebrEe of a fish, the sternum of an ornitho- 
 rhynchus, and the paddles of a whale. Those paddles, cor- 
 responding to the fins of a fish, or the web feet of water birds, 
 were composed, each of them, of more than one hundred 
 bones. In short, we find in this animal a combination of 
 mechanical contrivances, which are now found among three 
 distinct classes of the animal kingdom. Its eye, also, having 
 an orbital cavity, in one species, of fourteen inches in its 
 longest diameter, was proportionally larger than that of any 
 living animal. 
 
 The plesiosaurus had the general structure of the ichthyo- 
 24 
 
278 TTNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 saurus ; but its neck was nearly as long as its whole body — 
 longer, in proportion to its size, than even that of the swan. 
 
 The iguanodon was an herbivorous terrestrial reptile that 
 formerly inhabited England. It approaches nearest in struc- 
 ture to the iguana, a reptile four or five feet long, inhabiting 
 the marine parts of this continent. Yet the iguanodon was 
 thirty feet long, with a thigh six feet, and a body fourteen feet 
 in circumference. What an alarm would it now produce, to 
 have such a monster start into life in the forests of England, 
 where no analogous animal could be found more than half a 
 foot in length ! Surely this must have been one of the fabu- 
 lous monsters of antiquity. 
 
 Still more heteroclitic and unlike existing nature was the 
 pterodactyle, a small lizard, contemporary with the ichthyo- 
 saurus and plesiosaurus. At one time anatomists regarded it 
 as a bird, at another as a bat, and finally as a reptile, hav- 
 ing the head and neck of a bird, the body and tail of a quad- 
 ruped, the wings of a bat, and the teeth of a saurian reptile. 
 With its wings it could fly or swim ; it could walk on two 
 feet or four ; with its claws it could climb or creep. " Thus," 
 says Dr. Buckland, " like Milton's fiend, all qualified for all 
 services, and all elements, the pterodactyle was a fit compan- 
 ion for the kindred reptiles that swarmed in the seas, or 
 crawled on the shores of a turbulent planet." 
 
 " The fiend. 
 O'er bog, or steep, through straight, rough, dense, or rare, 
 "With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way, 
 And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies." 
 
 Now, when the details of such facts are brought before us, 
 t is very natural to feel that it is the history of monsters, and 
 
NOT BIONSTERS. 279 
 
 that the Centaurs, the Gorgons, and Chimeras of the ancients, 
 are no more unlike existing animals than these resurrections 
 from the rocks. But further examination rectifies our mis- 
 take, and we recognize them as parts of one great system. 
 All the pecuharities of size, and structure, and form, which 
 we meet, we find to be only wise and benevolent adaptations 
 to the different circumstances in which animals have been 
 placed. The gigantic size of many of them, compared with 
 existing races, may be explained by the tropical, or even ultra 
 tropical character of the climate ; and not a single anomaly 
 of structure and form can be pointed out, which did not con- 
 tribute to the convenience and happiness of the species, in the 
 circumstances in which they were placed. It is our ignorance 
 and narrow views alone that give any of them the aspect of 
 monsters. Listen to the opinion of Sir Charles Bell, one of 
 the ablest of modern anatomists. " The animals of the ante- 
 diluvian world," says he, "were not monsters; there is no 
 lusus, or extravagance. Hideous as they appear to us, and 
 like the phantoms of a dream, they were adapted to the con- 
 dition of the earth when they existed." '' Judging by these 
 indications of the habits of the animals, we acquire a knowl- 
 edge of the condition of the earth during their period of ex- 
 istence ; that it was suited at one time to the scaly tribe of 
 the lacertse, with languid motion ; at another, to animals of 
 higher organization, with more varied and lively habits ; and, 
 finally, we learn that, at any period previous to man's crea- 
 tion, the surface of the earth would have been unsuitable to 
 him." — Bridgewater Treatise, pp. 35 and 31. 
 
 A similar view is given of this subject by England's geo- 
 logical poet, (Rev. Mr. Wilks,) in whose playful verses we 
 find more of true science and just inference than in many 
 
280 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 a ponderous tome of grave prose. In one of his poems he 
 
 says, — * 
 
 " Seamy coal, 
 Limestone, or oolite, and other sections. 
 Give us strange tidings of our old connections ; 
 Oxir arborescent ferns, of climate torrid, 
 "With unknown shapes of names and natures horrid ; 
 Strange ichthyosaurus, or iguanodon. 
 With many more I cannot verse upon, — 
 Lost species and lost genera ; some whose bias 
 Is chalk, marl, sandstone, gravel, or blue lias ; 
 Birds, beasts, fish, insects, reptiles ; fresh, marine, 
 Perfect as yesterday among us seen 
 In rock or cave ; 'tis passing strange to me 
 How such incongruous mixture e'er could be. 
 And yet no medley was it : each its station 
 Once occupied in wise and meet location. 
 God is a God of order, though to scan 
 His works may pose the feeble powers of man." 
 
 The facts and reasonings which have now been presented 
 will sustain the following important inferences : — 
 
 In the first place y we learn that the notions which have so 
 widely prevailed, in ancient and modern times, respecting a 
 chaos, are without foundation. 
 
 Among all heathen nations of antiquity, the belief in a 
 primeval chaos was almost universal ; and from the heathen 
 philosophers it was transmitted to the Christian world, and 
 incorporated with the Mosaic cosmogony. It is not, indeed, 
 easy to ascertain what is the precise idea which has been at- 
 tached to a chaos. It is generally described, however, as " a 
 confused assemblage of elements," " an unformed and undi- 
 gested mass of heterogeneous matter ; " not, of course, subject 
 to those laws which now govern it, and which have arranged 
 
THE CHAOS OF GEOLOGY. 281 
 
 it all in beautiful order, even if we leave out of the account 
 vegetable and animal organization. Now, I have attempted 
 to show that there never was a period on the globe when these 
 laws, with the exception of the organic, did not operate as 
 they now do. Nay, the geologist, when he examines the old- 
 est rocks, finds the results of these laws at the supposed period 
 when chaos reigned ; that is, in the earliest times of our planet. 
 And what are these results ? The most splendid crystalliza- 
 tions which nature furnishes. The emerald, the topaz, the 
 sapphire, and other kindred gems, were elaborated during the 
 supposed chaotic state of the globe ; for no earlier products 
 have yet been discovered than these most perfect illustrations 
 of crystallographical, chemical, and electrical laws. If, in- 
 deed, any should say, that by a chaos they mean only that 
 state of the world when no animals or plants existed, — in other 
 words, when no organic laws had been established, — to such 
 a chaos I have no objection. And this is the chaos described 
 in the Bible, where it is said that, before the creation of ani- 
 mals and plants, the earth \yas without form and void. The 
 tohu vau bohu of Moses, which is thus translated in our Eng- 
 lish Bible, means, simply and literally, invisible and unfur- 
 nished — invisible, both because the ocean covered the present 
 land, and darkness was upon the face of the deep ; and un- 
 furnished, because as yet no organic natures had been called 
 into existence. This is the meaning which the old Jewish 
 writers, as Philo and Josephus, attached to these words ; and 
 they have been followed by some of the ablest modern com- 
 mentators. " It is wonderful," says Rosenmuller the elder, 
 " that so many interpreters could have persuaded themselves 
 that it was possible to detect a chaos in the words '^ti:i1 ^n"n. 
 That notion unquestionably derived its origin from the fictions 
 of the Greek and Latin poets, which were transferred by 
 24* 
 
UNITY OP THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 those interpreters to Moses. If we follow the practice of 
 the language, the Hebrew phrase has this signification : Tht 
 earth was waste and desert^ or, as others prefer, empty and 
 vaciums ; that is, uncultured and unfurnished with those things 
 with which the Creator afterwards adorned it." — Antiquiss. 
 Tell Hist. p. 19-23. 
 
 Upon the whole, there is no evidence whatever, either in 
 nature or revelation, that the earth has ever been in a state 
 corresponding to the common notions of a chaos ; while, on 
 the other hand, there is strong proof that the present laws of 
 nature have been in operation from the beginning. These 
 laws have varied in the intensity of their action, and we 
 have strong reason to believe that organic laws did not always 
 exist ; but none of these laws have ever been suspended, to 
 leave the elements to mix in wild disorder in a formless mass. 
 It is high time that religion was freed from the indescribable 
 incubus of a chaos. 
 
 Finally^ the most important conclusion to which the mind is 
 conducted by this subject is, that the present and past condi- 
 tions of this world are only parts of one and tlie same great 
 system of infinite wisdom and benevolence. 
 
 We have seen that the same wise and benevolent laws, 
 organic and inorganic, have always controlled, as they now 
 control, this lower world. It is true we find modified condi- 
 tions of the globe in its past history ; but they were always 
 the foreseen result of the same laws, and in harmony with 
 the same great plan. And the modifications of organic struc- 
 ture, which were great in the successive economies, were 
 always in perfect correspondence with the earth's physical 
 changes. Nowhere do we meet with conflicting plans ; but 
 throughout all nature, from the earliest zoophyte and sea- 
 weed of the Silurian rocks to the young animals and plants that 
 
ONE GREAT SYSTEM ONLY. 28J^ 
 
 cam* into existence to-day, and from the choice gems that 
 were produced when the earth was without form and void, to 
 the crystals which are now forming in the chemist's labora- 
 tory, one golden chain of harmony links all together, and 
 identifies all as the work of the same infinite mind. 
 
 " In all the numerous examples of design which we have 
 selected from the various animal and vegetable remains that 
 occur in a fossil state," says Dr. Buckland, " there is such a 
 never-failing identity in the fundamental principles of their 
 construction, and such uniform adoption of analogous means 
 to produce various ends, with so much only of departure from 
 one common type of mechanism as was requisite to adapt 
 each instrument to its own especial function, and to fit each 
 species to its peculiar place and office in the scale of created 
 beings, that we can scarcely fail to acknowledge in all these 
 facts a demonstration of the unity of the intelligence in 
 which such transcendent harmony originated ; and we may 
 almost dare to assert that neither atheism nor polytheism 
 would ever have found acceptance in the world, had the evi- 
 dences of high intelligence and unity of design which have 
 been disclosed by modern discoveries in physical science 
 been fully known to the authors or the abetters of systems 
 to which they are so diametrically opposed. It is the same 
 handwriting that we read, the same system and contrivance 
 that we trace, the same unity of object and relation to 
 final causes which we see maintained throughout, and con- 
 stantly proclaiming the unity of the great divine original." 
 — Bridgewater Treatise, p. 584. 
 
 " The earth, from her deep foundations, unites with the 
 celestial orbs, that roll throughout boundless space, to declare 
 t' e glory and show forth the praise of their common Author 
 and Preserver ; and the voice of natural religion accords har- 
 
284 UNITY OF THE DIVINE PLAN. 
 
 moniously with the testimonies of revelation, in ascribing the 
 origin of the univei'se to the will of one eternal and dominant 
 intelligence, the almighty Lord and supreme First Cause of 
 all things that subsist ; the same yesterday, to-day, and for- 
 euer, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the 
 earth and the world were made, God from everlasting and 
 mthout end.'*'' — Bridgewater Treatise, p. 596. 
 
(285) tm 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 THE HYPOTHESIS OF CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 In all ages of the world, where men have been enlightened 
 enough to reason upon the causes of phenomena, a mysteri- 
 ous and a mighty power has been imputed to the laws of 
 nature. A large portion of the most enlightened men have 
 felt as if those laws not only explain, but possess an inherent 
 potency to continue, the ordinary operations of nature. Most 
 men of this description, however, have thought that to origi- 
 nate nature must have demanded the special exercise of an 
 infinite and all-wise Being. But a few, in every age, have 
 endeavored to exalt law into a Creator, as well as Controller, 
 of the world. The hypothesis has assumed a great variety 
 of forms, and until recently few have attempted to draw it 
 out in all its details, and apply it to all nature. Among the 
 ancient philosophers it was based on the eternity of matter, 
 and made the foundation of a system of rank atheism. 
 Starting with the position, as an axiom, that nothing produces 
 nothing, — in other words, that creation out of nothing is 
 impossible, — Democritus maintained that all existence was 
 the result of two necessary and self-existent principles, viz., 
 space, infinite in extent, and atoms, infinite in number. The 
 latter have been eternally in motion, in directions varying 
 from right lines ; and their necessary collisions have produced 
 the various forms of organic and inorganic nature. To pro- 
 duce animals and plants, it was only necessary that the atoms 
 
CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 should be suitably arranged. The only animating principle 
 was the rapid agitation of atoms. 
 
 In modern times, very few philosophers have ventured to 
 solve the whole problem of the universe by any self-acting, 
 self-producing power in nature. La Place limited himself to 
 the mode in which the great bodies of the universe were 
 produced by the vortical movements of nebulous matter; 
 although his object, equally with that of Democritus and 
 Epicurus, was to dispense with an intelligent, personal Deity. 
 Lamarck, Geoffrey St. Hilaire, and Bory St. Vincent, as- 
 suming the existence of matter and its laws, have endeavored 
 to show, by the inherent vitality of some parts of matter, 
 how the first or lowest classes of animals and plants may 
 have been produced ; and how, from these, by the theory of 
 development and the force of circumstances, all the higher 
 families, with their instincts and intellects, may have been 
 evolved. A still more recent, but anonymous, writer has had 
 the boldness to unite these nebular hypotheses, with those of 
 spontaneous generation and transmutation, into a single sys- 
 tem, and to attempt to clothe it with the garb of philosophy ; 
 nay, to do this in consistency, not only with Theism, but 
 with a belief in revelation. This theory is what I denominate 
 the hypothesis of creation by law. And judging from its 
 wide reception, we should be led to infer that it had strong 
 probabilities in its favor. It should, therefore, at least receive 
 a care/al and candid examination. For though many of its 
 statements and conclusions are absurd, and some of them are 
 highly ridiculous, the hypothesis, at least in some of its parts, 
 falls in with certain loose notions that have got possession of 
 the public mind, and which nothing but cogent reasoning can 
 eradicate. 
 
 Before entering upon such an examination, however, it 
 
THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 287 
 
 seems necessary to go somewhat more into detail in illustra- 
 ^tion of the nature of this hypothesis. It may conveniently 
 be described under the heads of cosmogony^ which attempts 
 to account for the origin of the world ; zoogony^ which ex- 
 plains the origin of animals ; and zoonomy, which describes 
 the laws of animal life.* 
 
 The cosmogony of this theory is embraced in what is de- 
 nominated the nebular hypothesis, propounded by the eminent 
 mathematician La Place. He supposes that, originally, the 
 whole solar system constituted only one vast mass of nebu- 
 lous matter, being expanded into the thinnest vapor and gas 
 by heat, and more than filling the space at present occupied 
 by the planets. This vapor, he still further supposes, had a 
 revolution from west to east on an axis. As the heat dimin- 
 ished by radiation, the nebulous matter must condense, and 
 consequently the velocity of rotation must increase, and an 
 exterior zone of vapor might be detached ; since the central 
 attraction might not be able to overcome the increased cen- 
 trifugal force. This ring of vapor might sometimes retain 
 its original form, as in the case of Saturn's ring; but the 
 tendency would be, in general, to divide into several masses, 
 which, by coalescing again, would form a single mass, hav- 
 ing a revolution about the sun, and on its axis. This would 
 constitute a planet in a state of vapor ; and by the detach- 
 ment of successive rings might all the planets be produced. 
 As they went on contracting, by the same law, satellites 
 might be formed to each; and the ultimate result would be 
 solid planets and satellites, revolving around the sun in 
 nearly the same plane, and in the same direction, and also 
 on their axes. 
 
 * I adopt this division from an able American review of the 
 
288 CBEATION BY LAW. 
 
 Although this hypothesis has been regarded with favor by 
 many philosophers, wiio were Theists, and even Christians, 
 yet the object of La Place in proposing it was to sustain 
 atheism. Sir Isaac Newton had expressed the conviction that 
 " the admirable arrangement of the solar system cannot but 
 be the work of an intelligent and most powerful Being." 
 La Place declared that, in this statement, Newton " had devi- 
 ated from the method of true philosophy," and brought for- 
 ward these views to sustain his declaration. Whether they 
 do sustain it, will be considered in another place. But since 
 it is one of those modes in which men have attempted to 
 account for the universe without a Deity, it is a proper sub- 
 ject of examination in this lecture, in which we are inquiring 
 whether law alone will account for the creation and susientu- 
 tion of the universe. 
 
 The zoogony of this hypothesis undertakes to show how 
 animals and plants may be produced without any special ex- 
 ercise of creating power on the part of the Deity. It sup- 
 poses matter to be endowed with certain laws, whose operation 
 alone will determine life in brute matter, or, rather, whose 
 operation constitutes life. Some would have it that a part of 
 matter is essentially vital ; that is, endowed with inherent 
 life ; and that this matter, like leaven, communicates life to 
 dead matter arranged in a certain order. But the more mod- 
 ern view is, that life is produced by electrical agency. It is 
 found that the fundamental form of organic beings is a glob- 
 ule, having another globule forming within it. It is also 
 found that globules may be produced in albumen by elec- 
 tricity; and if we could discover how nature produces albu- 
 men, it is thought that the whole process by which living organ- 
 isms are produced would be distinctly before us. It seems 
 to be simply the operation of electricity, and requires no 
 
HYPOTHESIS OF LAMARCK. 289 
 
 intervention of special creating energy. If the question 
 arises, Whence came such marvellous laws to exist in nature ? 
 the atheist replies that matter and its laws are eternal, having 
 neither beginning nor end ; while the Theist, who maintains 
 this hypothesis, asserts that, when God created matter, he 
 endowed it with such laws, having an inherent, self-executing 
 power. 
 
 Having thus ascertained, as it supposes, how life and or- 
 ganization in the simplest forms may be produced, the next 
 inquiry is, how the more perfect and complicated forms of 
 organic beings may be developed by laws, without divine 
 power. This constitutes the zoonomy of the subject. The 
 French zoologist, Lamarck, first drew out and formally de- 
 fended this hypothesis, aided by others, as Geoffroy St. Flilaire 
 and Bory St. Vincent. Their supposition was, that there is a 
 power in nature, which they sometimes denominated the 
 Deity, yet did not allow it to be intelligent and independ- 
 ent, but a mere blind, instrumental force. This power, they 
 supposed, was able to produce what they called monads, or 
 rough draughts of animals and plants. These monads were 
 the simplest of all organic beings, mere aggregations of 
 matter, some of them supposed to be inherently vital. And 
 such monads are the only things ever produced directly by 
 this bh'nd deity. But in these monads there was supposed to 
 reside an inherent tendency to progressive improvement. 
 The wants of this living mass of jelly were supposed to pro- 
 duce such effects as would gradually form new organs, as 
 the hands, the feet, and the mouth. These changes would 
 be aided by another principle, which they called the force of 
 external circumstances, by which they meant the influence 
 upon its development of its peculiar condition ; as, for in- 
 stance, a conatus for flying, produced by the internal prhiciple, 
 25 
 
290 CHEATION BY LAW. 
 
 would form wings in birds ; a conatus for swimming in water 
 would form the fins and tails of fishes ; and a conatus for 
 walking would form the feet and legs of quadrupeds. Thus 
 the organs were not formed to meet the wants, but by the 
 wants, of the animal and plant. Of course, new wants 
 would produce new organs ; and thus have animals been grow- 
 ing more and more complicated and perfect from the earliest 
 periods of geological history. Man began his course as a mo- 
 nad, but, by the force of Lamarck's two principles, has reached 
 the most elevated rank on the scale of animals. His last condi- 
 tion before his present was that of the monkey tribe, especial- 
 ly that of the orang-outang. The advocates of this hypothesis 
 generally, however, suppose that there are from three to fif- 
 teen species of men, and that the different races are not mere 
 varieties of one species. The most perfect species, the Cau- 
 casian, after leaving the monkey state, has gradually risen 
 through the inferior species, and is still making progress ; so 
 that we cannot tell where they will stop. In general, the 
 advocates of this hypothesis are materialists ; that is, they do 
 not suppose that there is a soul in man, distinct from the 
 body, but that thought is one of the functions of the brain. 
 They usually also regard moral qualities as mainly dependent 
 upon organization, agreeably to the opinions of ultra phrenol- 
 ogists; and hence that they are more to be pitied than 
 blamed for their deviations from rectitude. 
 
 Such is the hypothesis. Let us now, in the first place, 
 assume it to be proved, and see what inferences follow. 
 
 I remark^ firsts that the occurrence of events according to 
 law does not remove the necessity of a divine contriving^ 
 superintending^ and sustaining Power. 
 
 That every event in the universe takes place according to 
 fixed laws I am ready to admit. For what is a natural law ? 
 
ALL THINGS CONTROLLED BY LAW. 291 
 
 Nothing more nor less than the uniform mode in which divine 
 power acts. In the case of miracles, it may be that the ordi- 
 nary laws of nature are suspended or counteracted ; at least, 
 they are increased or diminished in their power. Yet from 
 what we know of the divine perfections, we must conclude 
 that God has certain fixed rules by which he is regulated in 
 the performance of miracles ; and, of course, in the same 
 circumstances we should expect the same miracles. So that 
 we may reasonably admit that even miracles are regulated 
 and controlled by law, like common events ; though, from the 
 infrequency of the former, men cannot understand the laws 
 that regulate them. 
 
 Now, if the advocates of this hypothesis mean simply that 
 every event is regulated by law, — in other words, that with 
 like antecedents like consequents will be connected, — I have 
 no controversy with them ; and such is the precise statement 
 of a modern anonymous popular writer on the subject. 
 
 He declares that his " purpose is, to show that the whole 
 revelation of the works of God presented to our senses and 
 reason is a system based on what we are compelled, for want 
 of a better term, to call law ; by which, however, is not 
 meant a system independent or exclusive of the Deity, but 
 one which only proposes a certain mode of his working^ — 
 Sequel to the Vestiges of Nat. Hist, of Creation, p. 2. — But 
 this is by no means all that is meant by this hypothesis. Nay, 
 the grand object of the writer above quoted is, to show that 
 there is no such thing as miraculous interference in the crea- 
 tion or preservation of the universe. He admits only the 
 ordinary laws of nature, but denies all special and extraordi- 
 nary laws ; and says that it does not " appear necessary that 
 God should exercise an immediately superintending power 
 
292 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 over the mundane economy." — Vestiges^ p. 273. — Nay, he 
 denies that the original creation of the universe and of animals 
 and plants required any thing but the operation of natural 
 laws ; of such laws as we see and understand. The thought 
 does not seem to have occurred to him, that special and mi- 
 raculous acts of the Deity may be as truly governed by law 
 as the motions of planets. Every thing of that sort he seems 
 to regard as a violation of law, — a stepping aside from fixed 
 principles, — a sort of afterthought with Jehovah, — a remedy 
 for some defect in his original plans. True, the law of mira- 
 cles and of special providence is very different from the com- 
 mon course of nature ; and, therefore, the one may for a time 
 supersede the others. But this does not prove that the former 
 is not regulated by laws ; nor that it did not enter into the 
 original plan of the universe in the divine mind. It must have 
 Deen a part of that plan ; every thing was a part of it, and 
 there can be with him no afterthought, no improvement, no 
 alteration of his eternal designs. 
 
 Admitting that every event, miraculous as well as common, 
 is under law, it by no means renders a present directing and 
 energizing Deity unnecessary. This hypothesis admits that 
 organic life had a beginning, for its grand object is to show 
 how it began by law alone. Now, who gave to matter, in a 
 gaseous state, such wonderful laws that this fair world should 
 be the result of their operation ? If it would require infinite 
 wisdom as well as power to create the present universe at 
 once out of nothing, would it demand less of contrivance and 
 skill to impart such powers to brute matter.? It was not 
 merely a power to produce organic natures, to form their 
 complicated organs, to give life, and instinct, and intellect ; 
 but to adapt each particle, each organ, each animal, and each 
 
WHAT IS A NATURAL LAW? 298 
 
 plant, most exactly and most wonderfully to its place in the 
 vast system, so that every single thing should most beautifully 
 harmonize with every other thing. 
 
 Again. What is a natural law without the presence and 
 energizing power of the lawgiver ? How easily are men 
 bewildered by words ! and none has led more astray than this 
 word law. We talk about its power to produce certain ef- 
 fects ; but who can point out any inherent power of this sort 
 which it possesses ? Who can show how a law operates but 
 through the energizing influence of the lawgiver ? How un- 
 philosophical then to separate a law of nature from the Deity, 
 and to imagine him to have withdrawn from his works ! For 
 to do this would be to annihilate the law. He must be present 
 every moment, and direct every movement of the universe, just 
 as really as the mind of man must be in the body to produce 
 its movements. Take away God from the universe, or let 
 him cease to act mentally upon it, and every movement would 
 as instantly and certainly cease, as would every movement of 
 the human frame, were the mind to be withdrawn, or cease to 
 will. We realize the necessity of the divine presence and 
 energy to produce a miracle. But if miracles are performed 
 according to law, as much as common events, — and we 
 surely cannot prove they are not, — why is a present Deity 
 any more necessary in the one case than in the other } The 
 Bible considers common and miraculous events exactly alike 
 in this respect. And true philosophy teaches the same. 
 
 1 see not, then, why this law hypo'thesis does not require an 
 infinite Deity, just as much as the ordinary belief, which sup- 
 poses that God originally created the universe by his fiat, and 
 sustains it constantly by his power, and from time to time 
 interferes with the regular sequence of cause and effect by 
 miracles. The only difference seems to be this : While the 
 25* 
 
294 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 common view represents God as always watching over his 
 works, and ready, wlienever necessary, to make special inter- 
 positions, the law hypothesis introduces him only at the very 
 dawn of the universe, exerting his infinite wisdom and power 
 to devise and endow matter with exquisite laws, capable, by 
 their inherent self-executing power, of originating all organic 
 natures, and producing the infinite variety of nature, and keep- 
 ing in play her countless and unceasing agencies. It was 
 only necessary that he should impress attenuated matter with 
 these laws, and then put the machine in motion, and it would 
 go on forever, without any need of God's presence or agency ; 
 so that he might henceforward give himself up to undisturbed 
 repose. 
 
 I know, indeed, that La Place, and some other advocates 
 of this latter hypothesis, do not admit any necessity for a 
 Deity even to originate matter or its laws ; and to prove this 
 was the object of the nebular hypothesis. But how evident 
 that in this he signally failed ! For even though he could 
 show how nebulous matter, placed in a certain position, and 
 having a revolution, might be separated into sun and planets, 
 by merely mechanical laws, yet where, save in an infinite 
 Deity, lie the power and the wisdom to originate that matter, 
 and to bring it into such a condition, that, by blind laws alone, 
 it would produce such a universe — so harmonious, so varied, 
 so nicely adjusted in its parts and relations as the one we in- 
 habit r Especially, how does this hypothesis show in what 
 manner these worlds could be peopled by countless myriads 
 of organic natures, most exquisitely contrived, and fitted to 
 their condition ? Tiie atheist may say that matter is eternal. 
 But if so, what but an infinite mind could in time begin the 
 work of organic creation ? If the matter existed for eternal 
 ages without being brought uito order, and into organic 
 
LAW EXALTED INTO THE DEITY. 295 
 
 structures, why did it not continue in the same state forever ? 
 Does the atheist say, All is the result of laws inherent in mat- 
 ter ? But how could those laws remain dormant through all 
 past eternity, — that is, through a period literally infinite, — 
 and then at length be aroused into intense action ? Besides, 
 to impute the present wise arrangements and organic crea- 
 tions of the world to law, is to endow that law with all the 
 attributes with which the Theist invests the Deity. Nothing 
 short of intelligence, and wisdom, and benevolence, and power, 
 infinitely above what man possesses, will account for the pres- 
 ent world. If there is, then, a power inherent in matter ade- 
 quate to the production of such effects, that power must be 
 the same as the Deity ; and, therefore, it is truly the Deity, 
 by whatever name we call it. In short, the fact that La Place 
 did not see that his hypothesis utterly failed to account for 
 the universe without a Deity, strikingly shows us, that a man 
 may be a giant in mathematics, while he is only a pygmy in 
 moral reasoning ; or, to make the statement more general, 
 how a man, by an exclusive cultivation of one faculty of the 
 soul, may shrivel all the rest into a nutshell. 
 
 From these views and reasonings, it is clear, I think, that 
 the hypothesis of creation by law does not necessarily destroy 
 the theory of religion. For if we admit that every thing in 
 the world of matter and of mind, not excepting miracles and 
 special providences, is regulated, if not produced, by law, it 
 does not take away the necessity of a contriving, sustaining, 
 and energizing Deity. Even though we admit that God has 
 communicated to nature's laws, at the beginning, a power to 
 execute themselves, (though the supposition is quite unphilo- 
 sophical,) no event is any the less God's work, than if all were 
 miraculous. 
 
 In consistency with this conclusion, we find that while some 
 
296 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 advocates of this hypothesis evidently intended it to sustain 
 atheism, its most plausible advocate, as we have seen, fully 
 admits, not only the divine existence, but the reality of reve- 
 lation. It may, indeed, be doubted whether this anonymous 
 writer has not virtually taken away the Deity, and even moral 
 accountability, by his materialism and his ultra-phrenology ; 
 yet we do not see but he may assert his law system without 
 denying God's existence or attributes. 
 
 It must be admitted, however, that the influence of this 
 hypothesis upon practical religion is disastrous. It does, ap- 
 parently, so remove the Deity from all concern in the affairs 
 of the world, and so foists law into his place, that practically 
 there is no God. If his agency is acknowledged, as having 
 put the vast machine in motion, in some indefinitely remote 
 period of past duration, yet the feeling is, that since then he 
 has given up the reins into the hands of law, so that man has 
 nothing to do with him, but only with nature's laws ; that he 
 has only to submit to these, and not expect any interposition 
 for his relief, however earnestly he cry for it. Now, it is 
 obviously the intention and desire of the advocates of this 
 hypothesis thus to remove God away from his works, and 
 from their thoughts ; else why should they so strenuously re- 
 sist the notion of miracles ? For these may just as properly 
 be referred to law as common events. Yet it is one of the 
 most striking features of the hypothesis, that it opposes strongly 
 the idea of any special oversight and interposition on the part 
 of the Deity. True, when we look at the subject philosophi- 
 cally, we must acknowledge that an event is just as really the 
 work of God, when brought about by laws which he ordams 
 and energizes, as by miraculous interposition. Still the 
 practical influence of these two views of Providence is quite 
 different. 
 
oken's views. 297 
 
 Whoever the author of the Vestiges may be, he nas evi- 
 dently lived in a religious community, and felt the influence 
 of a religious atmosphere ; for he tries to conform his system 
 as much as possible to the principles of Protestant Christianity. 
 In other words, he feels so much the power of practical 
 piety around him, that he does not suffer the influence of 
 the system which he advocates to exhibit itself fully, nor 
 to drive him into those extravagances of belief which natu- 
 rally result from it. In order to see what is its natural ten- 
 dency, we need to go to such a country as Germany, or Swit- 
 zerland, where there is little to restrain the wildest vagaries of 
 belief. In the works of Professor Lorenz Oken, of Zurich, 
 we see fully developed the tendencies and results of this hy- 
 pothesis of development by law, combined with the unintelli- 
 gible idealism of Kant, Fichte, Schelling, &c. In his Physio- 
 philosophy, translated by the Ray Society for the edification 
 of sober, matter-of-fact Anglo-Saxons, we find a man, of strong 
 mind and extensive knowledge, taking the most ridiculous 
 positions with the stoutest dogmatism, and the most imper- 
 turbable gravity, yet whose blasphemy is equalled only by 
 their absurdity. Let a few quotations illustrate and confirm 
 this statement. 
 
 " The highest mathematical idea, or the fundamental prin- 
 ciple of all mathematics, is the zero := 0. 
 
 " Zero is in itself nothing. Mathematics is based upon 
 nothing, and consequently arises out of nothing. 
 
 " Real and ideal are no more difierent from each other 
 than ice and water : both of these, as is well known, are es- 
 sentially one and the same, and yet are different, the diversity 
 consisting in the form. Every real is absolutely nothing else 
 than a number. 
 
 ' The Eternal is the nothing of nature. 
 
298 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 " There is no other science than that which treats of nothing. 
 
 "There exists nothing but nothing — nothing but the 
 Eternal. 
 
 " Every thing in the world is endowed with life ; the world 
 itself is alive, and continues only, maintains itself by virtue of 
 its life. 
 
 " Man is God wholly manifested. God has become man, 
 zero has become -\ . Man is the whole of arithmetic, com- 
 pacted, however, out of all numbers ; he can, therefore, pro- 
 duce numbers out of himself. 
 
 " Animals are men who never imagine. They are beings 
 who never attain to consciousness concerning themselves. 
 They are single accounts; man is the whole of mathematics. 
 
 " Arithmetic is the truly absolute or divine science. The- 
 ology is arithmetic personified. 
 
 "For God to become real, he must appear under the form 
 of the sphere. There is no other form for God. God mani- 
 festing is an infinite sphere. 
 
 " God is a rotating globe ; the world is God rotating. 
 
 "The whole universe is material, is nothing but matter; 
 for it is the primary act repeating itself eternally in the cen- 
 tre. The universe is a rotating globe of matter. 
 
 " There is no dead matter ; it is alive through its being, 
 through the Eternal that is in it. Matter has no existence in 
 itself, but it is the Eternal only that exists in it. Every thing 
 is God that is there, and without God there is absolutely 
 nothing. 
 
 " Every thing that is is material. Now, however, there is 
 nothing that is not ; consequently there is every where nothing 
 immaterial. 
 
 " Fire is the totality of ether, is God manifested in his 
 totality. 
 
PHYSIO-PHILOSOPHY. 299 
 
 " Every thing that is has originated out of fire ; every thing 
 is only cooled, rigidified fire. 
 
 ■"•* God being in himself is gravity ; acting, self-emergent 
 light; both together, or returning into himself, heat. 
 
 " God only is monocentral. The world is the bicentral God, 
 God the monocentral world, which is the same with the raonas 
 and dyas. Self-consciousness is a living ellipse. 
 
 " God is a threefold trinity ; at first the eternal, then the 
 ethereal, and finally the terrestrial, where it is completely 
 divided. 
 
 " The symbolical doctrine of the colors is correct according 
 to the philosophy of nature. Red is fire, love — Father. 
 Blue is air, truth, and belief — Son. Green is water, forma- 
 tion, hope — Ghost. These are the three cardinal virtues. 
 Yellow is earth, the immovable, inexorable falsity, the only 
 vice — Satan. There are three virtues, but only one vice. 
 A result obtained by physio-philosophy, whereof pneumato- 
 philosophy as yet augurs nothing. 
 
 " The primary mucus, out of which every thing organic 
 has been created, is the sea mucus. 
 
 " The whole sea is alive. It is a fluctuating, ever self-ele- 
 vating, and ever self-depressing organism. 
 
 " If the organic fundamental substance consist of infusoria, 
 so must the whole organic world originate from infusoria. 
 Plants and animals can be only metamorphoses of infusoria. 
 No organism has consequently been created of larger size than 
 an infusorial point : whatever is larger has not been created, 
 but developed. 
 
 " The m.ind, just as the body, must be developed out of 
 these animals, (infusoria.) The human body has been formed 
 by an extreme separation of the neuro-protoplasmic or mucous 
 mass ; so must the human mind be a separation, a memberment 
 
300 CBEATION BY LAW. 
 
 of infusorial sensation. The highest mind is an anatomized 
 or dismemhered mesmerism, each member whereof has been 
 constituted independent in itself. 
 
 '* The liver is the soul in a state of sleep, the brain is the 
 soul active and awakening. 
 
 " Circumspection and forethought appear to be the thoughts 
 of the bivalve mollusca, and snails. 
 
 " Gazing upon a snail, one believes that he finds the proph- 
 esying goddess sitting upon the tripod. What majesty is in 
 a creeping snail, what reflection, what earnestness, what 
 timidity, and yet at the same time what firm confidence ! 
 Surely a snail is an exalted symbol of mind slumbering deep- 
 ly within itself." 
 
 It is difficult for an Anglo-Saxon mind to believe that a 
 man who could write thus was not out of his senses. Yet 
 Oken is an eminent physiologist, and has made, it is said, im- 
 portant discoveries in respect to the cranial homologies, which 
 have been developed in Professor Owen's work on the Homol- 
 ogies of the Vertebrate Skeleton. Nay, Oken declares him- 
 self to have written his Physio-philosophy " in a kind of in- 
 spiration" — from what world the religious man might be in 
 doubt. 
 
 These extravagant notions show what is the natural ten- 
 dency of the law hypothesis. Yet it does not necessarily 
 convert a man into an atheist. And if any of its advocates 
 declare themselves Theists, and even Christians, we need not 
 regard them as hypocrites, though we may consider them as 
 in an eminently dangerous position ; and that, when they shall 
 act consistently, they will swing off into utter irreligion. But 
 my arguments against the hypothesis will be based on the posi- 
 tion that it is not sustained by facts ; and this is the secoiid 
 position of my lecture. 
 
 / 
 
THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 301 
 
 The nebular hypothesis is a part of the foundation on 
 which the doctrine of creation by law rests. And the high 
 scientific reputation of its author, as well as its apparent coin- 
 cidence with some of the deductions of geology respecting 
 the earliest condition of the earth, have made philosophers 
 look upon it with considerable favor. Yet very few have 
 been ready to give it implicit credence. And of late the 
 most plausible evidence in its favor seems to be fast vanishing 
 away. The ablest mechanicians are unable to see how a 
 rotary motion should be produced in nebulous matter by re- 
 frigeration ; or, if this be assumed, how the successive por- 
 tions, detached by superior centrifugal force, should form 
 spherical masses. But a still more formidable objection lies 
 in the fact that, as improvements are made in telescopes, one 
 and another of the nebulae, on which the hypothesis rests, 
 have been resolved into stars ; and the presumption hence 
 arising is very strong that all are resolvable. In the present 
 aspect of the subject, no sagacious philosopher would dare to 
 rest even an hypothesis upon the unresolved nebulae. If, how- 
 ever, the nebular hypothesis were shown to be true, it would 
 prove nothing in regard to the production of animals and 
 plants by mere law, without the special agency of the Deity. 
 
 The essential and inherent vitality of some kinds of matter 
 is another doctrine on which this hypothesis rests. " In 
 vain," says Bory St. Vincent, " has matter been considered 
 as eminently brute. Many observations prove that, if it is 
 not all active, by its very nature, a part of it is essentially so ; 
 and the presence of this, operating according to certain laws, 
 is able to produce Ufa in an agglomeration of the molecules ; 
 and since these laws will always be imperfectly known, it 
 will at least be rash to maintain that an infinite intelligence 
 did not impose them ; since they are manifested by their 
 26 
 
302 CSEATION BY LAW. 
 
 results." — Dictionnaire Classique d^Histoire Naturelle, an 
 Malerie. 
 
 The " observations " to which this writer refers to sustain 
 his hypothesis are those which had been made upon certain 
 vegetable infusions, which, in certain circumstances, exhibited 
 minute particles in motion, apparently by vital forces. These 
 were called monads, and were not supposed to be distinct ani- 
 mals, but only atoms, ready to be organized. The more 
 modern and accurate researches of Ehrenberg and others, 
 however, have shown, beyond all doubt, that these monads 
 are true animals, the minutest of all living beings hitherto 
 discovered. Not less than twenty-six species of them have 
 been described and figured by microscopists, the smallest of 
 which never exceeds the twelve thousandth of an inch in 
 diameter. 
 
 The vegetable physiologists have described certain peculiar 
 motions in the minute vessels of plants, that might readily be 
 regarded as matter essentially vital. I refer to what they 
 call rotation and cyclosis. But these are never sfen save in the 
 living plant; and, therefore, seem dependent 01% the general 
 life of the vegetable. v. ^ 
 
 There is, however, danger of mistaking certain ^notions of 
 the particles of matter, by chemical agency, for the effect of 
 vitality. A curious example is thus described by Ehrenberg, 
 which was discovered by Professor Bornsdorff. " If a solu- 
 tion of the chloride of aluminum be dropped into a solution of 
 potassa, by the alternate precipitation and solution of the alu- 
 minum, in the excess of the alkali, an appearance will be 
 given to the drop of aluminate matter, by the chemical 
 changes and reactions which take place, as if the Amceba dif- 
 Jluens were actually present, both as to its form and evolutions, 
 and will seem to be alive. Such appearance is considered by 
 
INSECTS PRODUCED BY GALVANISM. 303 
 
 Its able discoverer as bearing ibe same relationship to the real 
 animalcule as a doll, or a figure moved by mechanism, does 
 to a living child." 
 
 We see, then, that the supports on which rests the doctrine 
 of the essential vitality of matter, give way before better in- 
 struments and more careful research. Another statement, 
 however, of much higher pretensions, has lately been made, 
 and on no mean authority. Able electricians declare that, 
 by passing currents of galvanism through solutions of silicate 
 or ferrocyanate of potasea, or some analogous substance, 
 after a time, sometimes several years, numerous small in- 
 sects have been developed, belonging to the acari family. 
 
 These experiments appear to have been conducted with 
 fairness and skill ; and that the insects showed themselves at 
 the pole of the battery, around which the gelatinous silex col- 
 lected, cannot be doubted. It is true, however, that, when 
 the solution was exposed to the atmosphere, the insects ap- 
 peared much sooner and more numerous than when care was 
 taken to exclude every thing but oxygen enough to sustain 
 life. This fact leads to the suspicion that the ova of the in- 
 sect might have been communicated through the air, and that, 
 even when an attempt was made to exclude the atmosphere, 
 some ova were still present. This conclusion is rendered 
 still more probable by some experiments made by Professor 
 Schulz, of Berlin, on the production of infusoria. Having 
 first boiled the vegetable and animal infusions, so as to destroy 
 all germs of organic life, and expelled all the atmosphere, he 
 attached an apparatus in such a manner that, whatever air 
 entered afterwards, must pass through sulphuric acid, or a 
 solution of potash. The result was, that no infusoria or vege- 
 table forms appeared during two months ; but in the same 
 infusion, placed in the open air, and exposed to the same light 
 
 
304 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 and heat as that enclosed in the glass vessel, numerous ani* 
 nialcula and fungi appeared in a day or two. It will need, 
 therefore, very long and patient experiments to establish the 
 assertion that galvanism alone can produce living animals 
 without the presence of germs. 
 
 Not many years since, the equivocal or casual production 
 of animalcula, without any other parentage than law, was 
 thought to be made out by a multitude of facts. For these minute 
 creatures appeared almost every where, and in places where 
 it seemed impossible that their ova-ehould be found. But the 
 researches of Ehrenberg have cleared up the difficulties of 
 their origination in the ordinary modes of reproduction, in 
 nearly every instance, and the advocates of the law hypothe- 
 sis have been fairly driven from this stronghold of their argu- 
 ment. In describing the various modes of reproduction with 
 which nature has provided the infusoria, Professor Owen 
 says, " Thus each leaves, by the last act of its life, the means 
 of perpetuating and diffusing its species by thousands of fer- 
 tile germs. When once the thickly-tenanted pool is dried 
 up, and its bottom converted into a layer of dust, these incon- 
 ceivably minute and light ova will be raised with the dust by 
 the first puff of wind, diffused through the atmosphere, and 
 may there remain long suspended ; forming, perhaps, their 
 share of the particles which we see flickering in the sunbeam, 
 ready to fall into any collection of water, beat6n down by 
 every summer shower into the streams or pools which receive 
 or may be formed by such showers, and, by virtue of their 
 tenacity of life, ready to develop themselves whenever they 
 may find the requisite conditions of their existence. The 
 possibility, or, rather, the high probability, that such is the 
 design of the oviparous generation of the infusoria, and such 
 the common mode of tlie diffusion of their ova, renders tie 
 
ORIGIN OF THE ENTOZOA. 305 
 
 hypothesis of equivocal generation, which has been so fre- 
 quently invoked to explain their origin in new-formed natural 
 or artificial infusions, quite gratuitous." — Lectures on Comp. 
 Anat. vol. ii. p. 31. 
 
 No longer able to maintain a foothold among the animal- 
 cula, the defenders of this hypothesis have of late attempted 
 to take a stand among animals of a somewhat higher grade, 
 viz., the entozoa, or animals inhabiting other animals. These 
 being considerably larger than the infusoria, their ova could 
 not float in the atmosphere ; but they possess a wonderful 
 tenacity of life ; some of them exhibiting signs of life after 
 having been in boiling water for an hour ; others have revived 
 after having been packed for a long time in ice, and frozen ; 
 others have revived after lying in a dried state for six or 
 seven years. Their power of reproduction, in the ordinary 
 modes, is also prodigious, exceeding even that of the infuso- 
 ria. It will, then, demand very strong evidence to prove that 
 such animals possess also the power of spontaneous produc- 
 tion, without parentage, or that their existence within other 
 animals cannot be explained without such a supposition. For, 
 if capable of being produced without parentage, why should 
 such extraordinary care have been taken for their multiplica- 
 tion, in almost all the ordinary modes in which animals are 
 reproduced > 
 
 The extraordinary facts that have been discovered by Pro- 
 fessors Steenstrup, Owen, and others, within a few years, 
 respecting what they call alternate generation^ or partheno- 
 genesis, have been thought favorable to the hypothesis of de- 
 velopment. Among the moUusca, the polyparia, the entozoa, 
 and infusoria, it is found that, in some species, the result of 
 sexual union is the production of a larva without sex, and, 
 therefore, incapable of propagating in the usual way. Yet 
 26* 
 
306 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 that larva can of itself produce another larva quite different 
 from itself, and this larva another, and so on, sometimes for 
 eight or ten generations, when the spermatic force seems to 
 be exhausted, and a progeny exactly like the original parents 
 that started the series is produced, capable of giving rise to 
 another and a similar series. Here, then, we find a succes- 
 sion of progeny for several generations, and all quite un- 
 like one another, yet without any immediate parental 
 agency. Why is it not an example of spontaneous gen- 
 eration ? and why may not new species be produced in this 
 manner ? 
 
 There are two facts prominent on this subject which afford 
 a full answer to such questions. One is, that these genera- 
 tions of larvae always begin with the spermatozoon and the 
 ovum of parents ; the other is, that the series always closes, 
 if allowed to run its natural course, in individuals with sex, 
 exactly identical with those that started it ; so that the spe- 
 cies always remains entire. The whole process is simply one 
 of the infinitely varied modes which nature employs to pre- 
 serve and perfect the species. The process never stops with 
 any of the larvae intervening between the fertile parents at 
 the beginning, and the fertile individuals at the end of the 
 series. Professor Owen supposes — certainly with much 
 plausibility — that some of the original germ-cells, not wanted 
 for the production of the first larva, pass on to form the suc- 
 cessive generations, till the series is complete ; so that, after 
 all, the case is not an exception to the general law of repro- 
 duction by parental agency ; and instead of sustaining, it 
 certainly goes against, the notion of spontaneous generation 
 and of transmutation of species ; because it shows how far 
 parental influence may reach, and how tenacious nature is of 
 specific distinctions. For the same reasons, the case affords 
 
PLANTS WITHOUT SEEDS. 307 
 
 a presumption against other alleged cases of equivocal gener- 
 ation and metamorphoses of species.* 
 
 Appeal has also been made to the vegetable kingdom for 
 examples of the production of organic beings, viz., plants 
 without seeds. Who has not observed, for instance, how the 
 clearing up and burning over of a piece of land will often 
 cause an entirely new tribe of plants to spring up and flour- 
 ish ? Whence came the seeds ? We have seen, for in- 
 stance, (in Richmond, Virginia,) a thick growth of pines 
 upon a spot where from six to ten feet of soil had been 
 removed a few years previously. 
 
 It is very possible, in some cases of this kind, that the soil, 
 having been produced by aqueous agencies, may contain 
 seeds to a considerable depth, and that their vitality may 
 have been preserved for centuries ; for we know that seeds 
 three thousand years old, taken from Egyptian catacombs, 
 have germinated, in favorable circumstances. In most cases 
 of this sort, however, the winds have probably supplied the 
 seed, it may be, long before. We were one day wandering 
 over Mount Holyoke, where a spot recently cleared was cov- 
 ered with the fire- weed, a species of senecio ; and as we were 
 musing upon its origin, a strong blast of wind swept over the 
 plants, just ready to throw off their seeds. Sustained by 
 their light egrets, they floated away on the air in numbers 
 sufficient to cover half the mountain with the plant, when it 
 should be cleared and burnt over. Yet their existence would 
 never be suspected till those circumstances should be devel- 
 
 * For the details of this remarkable subject, see the " Partheno- 
 genesis" of Professor Owen, p. 76, (London, 1849;) Steenstrup's 
 "Alternation of Generations," published by the Ray Society in 
 1845, and Sedgwick's " Discourse on the Studies of the University/' 
 Supplement, p. 193, (London, 1850.) 
 
308 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 oped. At least, until we can prove that the soil contains no 
 seeds by the most careful examination, it will be premature 
 to infer the equivocal production of the plants growing 
 upon it. 
 
 Vegetable physiology furnishes another fact, which seems 
 to me to look still more favorable to this law hypothesis than 
 the preceding, although it has not been noticed, so far as I 
 know, by the advocates of that hypothesis. Speaking of the 
 matter of which certain flowerless plants are composed. Dr. 
 Lindlay says, " It is even uncertain whether this matter will 
 produce its like, and whether it is not a mere representation 
 of the vital principle of vegetation, capable of being called 
 into action, either as a fungus, or algae, or lichen, according 
 to the particular conditions of heat, light, and moisture, and 
 the medium in which it is placed ; producing fungi upon dead 
 or putrid organic beings, lichens upon living vegetables, 
 earth, or stones, and algae where water is the medium in 
 which it is developed." Again, in speaking of that green 
 slime which often covers the soil, rocks, walls, and glass in 
 damp places, he says, " The slime resembles a layer of albu- 
 men, spread with a brush ; it exfoliates in drying, and finally 
 becomes visible by the manner in which it colors green or 
 deep brown. One might call it a provisional creation, waiting 
 to be organized, and then assuming different forms according 
 to the nature of the corpuscles which penetrate it, or develop 
 among it. It may further be said to be the origin of two 
 very distinct existences, the one certainly animal, the other 
 purely vegetable." — Natural System, pp. 326, 328, 334. 
 
 Now, admitting all the facts that have been detailed respect- 
 ing the production of infusoria, entozoa, acari, and cryptoga- 
 mian plants to be true, although most of them are far from 
 being proved, it ^ems to me that they do not show us how 
 
LIFE i>ISTINCT FROM ORGANIZATION. 309 
 
 vitality is produced by mere law, without the special agency 
 of the Deity. Writers on the subject seem to overlook the 
 distinction between organization and life. The first may be 
 present in its highest perfection without the latter, as it is in 
 animals and plants recently killed. The organization is 
 merely a preparation to receive the mysterious principles 
 which we call life and intellect. Light, heat, and electricity 
 may be the essential agents in producing the organization, 
 but they do not explain the nature, or account for the presence, 
 of life. That must, so far as we know, come from some 
 other and a higher source. Galvanism may bring gelatinous 
 matter into the form of an insect, or infusoria, or entozoa ; 
 but there is no evidence that it can impart life, however ex- 
 quisite the organization. It may be, and we have reason to 
 suppose it is, the divine will to bestow life whenever a certain 
 organization exists ; but this does not show that his special 
 agency is not concerned in it. He may will that the peculiar 
 life of a lichen shall be given to the same elementary matter 
 which, in another situation, he constitutes an alga, or a fun- 
 gus, or even an animal. But this would not prove that natu- 
 ral law alone could produce life. There is nowhere any evi- 
 dence that sensibility, contractility, and especially intellect 
 and volition, are the result of any natural operations. In 
 their properties they are so entirely diverse from all known 
 physical effects, that we must impute them to some other 
 than a natural cause. We must call in the power of a su- 
 preme intelligent Being. The laws of affinity, light, heat, 
 and electricity, of endosmose and exosmose, may prepare 
 the organization, but their power ends there ; and hence true 
 philosophy requires us to impute the phenomena of life and 
 fntellect to an extraneous and infinitely higher cause. 
 
 The case, then, stands thus : In ninety-nine cases out of a 
 
310 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 hundred, we are certain that organization requires the previous 
 existence and agency of a being similarly organized, which we 
 call the parent. But suppose that, in a very few cases, the 
 laws of nature can produce the organization. It still demands 
 another and a higher power — not a blind impulse, but an 
 intelligent cause — to bestow life and intellect. To prove the 
 existence of a natural cause for the arrangement of the atoms 
 into an organic structure, does by no means prove the same 
 for those higher and mysterious principles that make that 
 structure a living, thinking being. 
 
 Such, however, are the strongest arguments by which the 
 advocates of the law hypothesis sustain their views of the 
 origin of organism, life, and intellect. The next step in their 
 reasoning is to show how animals and plants may be trans- 
 muted from one species, or genus, or family, to another ; so 
 that the existing vast variety can be traced to a few original 
 germs. They maintain that these developments of the more 
 from the less perfect have proceeded along certain parallel 
 lines ; one series of developments, for instance, taking the 
 line of the fishes, another of the reptiles, another of the birds, 
 another of quadrupeds, and so on. 
 
 To prove these developments or transmutations, they ap- 
 peal first to the physiological history of the mammalian em- 
 bryo. In its earliest stages, it can hardly be distinguished, 
 except in size, from the unborn polygastric infusoria. The 
 brain of a human embryo appears at first like that of an in- 
 vertebrate animal ; next like that of a fish ; then successively 
 like that of a reptile, a bird, a rodent mammal, a ruminant, 
 and a monkey. So the heart, at an early stage, looks like 
 that of an insect ; then it has two chambers, like that of a 
 fish ; then it becomes three chambered, like that of a rep- 
 tile ; and finally, four chambered, as in the mammalia. Th« 
 
HYBRIDITY. 311 
 
 inference which these theorists would draw from such facts 
 is, that man actually begins his existence as an animalcule, 
 and passes successively through the mould or condition of 
 other animals, before he reaches the highest. And the rea- 
 sons w4iy he does become a man, rather than an echinoderm, 
 or a fish, or a monkey, is only some slightly modifying cir- 
 cumstance, as, for instance, a longer gestation. It appears to 
 me, however, that the inferences sound philosophy should 
 derive from such facts are, first, that, while there is a seem- 
 ing resemblance between the human embryo and that of 
 lower animals, there is, in fact, a real and a wide diversity ; 
 so that the one infallibly becomes an inferior animal, and the 
 other a man. Could a single example be produced in which 
 a human embryo stopped at and became an insect, or a fish, 
 or a monkey, there might be some plausibility in the supposi- 
 tion. But it is as certain to become a man as the sun is to 
 rise and set; and, therefore, the human condition results from 
 laws as fixed as those that regulate the movements of the 
 heavenly bodies. That is a very superficial philosophy 
 which infers identity of nature from mere external resem- 
 blance. 
 
 The phenomena of hybridity furnish another ground of 
 argument in favor of the transmutation of species, and of 
 course in favor of the law hypothesis ; for that hybrids are 
 sometimes the result of the union of different species will not 
 be denied. There is, however, a natural repugnanre to union 
 between different species ; and in a state of nature this can 
 very rarely be overcome. But domestication changes and 
 almost obliterates many natural instincts, and hence hybridity 
 is far more common among domesticated animals and plants. 
 As a general fact, also, the hybrid offspring is incapable of 
 propagating its own race, without union with one of the 
 
312 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 original species by which it was produced ; and this inability to 
 continue this mixed race has been generally regarded among 
 naturalists as the best characteristic of species. Some, how- 
 ever, attempt to show that some hybrid races do continue from 
 generation to generation to propagate their kind. But in most 
 cases the hybrid race ere long runs out, and there is always 
 a strong tendency to revert to the original stock ; and were 
 it not for the influence of man, probably such a thing as hy- 
 bridity would scarcely ever have been heard of. Nature 
 seems to have established strong barriers around species, so 
 that an identity should be preserved ; and even if we admit 
 the possibility of their coalescence in some cases, yet we have 
 evidence that almost always they are preserved distinct from 
 century to century ; and the same is true even of the more 
 prominent varieties, for we find not only the same species, 
 but the same varieties of animals and plants, preserved some 
 three thousand years in the Egyptian catacombs, that are now 
 alive in the same country. How idle, then, to suppose that 
 the laws of hybridity will account for such radical and entire 
 transmutations as this hypothesis supposes ! To accomplish 
 this, it would need as strong a tendency in nature to a union 
 of species, genera, and families, as now exists against it. 
 
 But a special appeal has been made on this subject to geol- 
 ogy. The history of organic remains, it is thought, corre- 
 sponds to what we might expect, if the hypothesis of develop- 
 ment is true. In the oldest rocks we find chiefly the more 
 simple invertebrate animals, and the vertebrated tribes appear 
 at first in the form of fish, then of reptiles, then of birds, then 
 of mammals, and last of all of man. What better confirma- 
 tion could we wish than this gradually expanding series ? 
 True, all the great classes of organic beings, vegetable and 
 animal, are found nearly at the earliest epoch, and continue 
 
EARLIEST VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. 313 
 
 through the entire series of rocks. But we have only to sup- 
 pose a distinct stirps for each of the classes, and that the de- 
 velopments took place along parallel lines, in order to harmo- 
 nize the facts with the hypothesis. 
 
 Such a general view of the subject of organic remains 
 seems to give plausibility to the hypothesis of organic devel- 
 opment. But the tables are turned when we descend to par- 
 ticulars. The idea of a distinct stirps or germ for each great 
 clhss of animals and plants seems to me to destroy an essen- 
 tial feature of the hypothesis. It supposes that law produces 
 at once a vertebral animal and a flowering plant ; for the first, 
 certainly, we find in the very lowest of the fossiliferous rocks. 
 *' The lower silurian," says Sir Roderick Murchison, in 1847, 
 " is no longer to be viewed as an invertebrate period, for the 
 onchus (a genus of fish) has been found in the Llandeilo 
 Flags, and in the lower silurian rocks of Bala." 
 
 It is also a most important fact, that this fish of the oldest 
 rock was not, as the development scheme would require, of a 
 low organization, but quite high on the scale of fishes. The 
 same is true of all the earliest species of this class. " All our 
 most ancient fossil fishes," says Professor Sedgwick, " belong 
 to a high organic type ; and the very oldest species that are 
 well determined fall naturally into an order of fishes which 
 Owen and Miiller place, not at the bottom, but at the top of 
 the whole class." — Discourse on the Studies of the Univer- 
 sity, &c. 5th edit. p. Ixiv. pref. 
 
 This point has been fully and ably discussed by Hugh Mil- 
 ler, Esq., in his late work, " The Footprints of the Creator, or 
 the Asterolepis of Stromness." The asterolepis was one of 
 these fishes found in the old red sandstone, sometimes over 
 twenty feet long ; yet, says Mr. Miller, " instead of being, 
 as the development hypothesis would require, a fish low in its 
 27 
 
314 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 orgaiiization, it seems to have ranged on the level of the 
 highest ichthyic-reptilian families ever called into existence." 
 Another point which Mr. Miller has labored hard to estab- 
 lish, and of which there seems to be no reasonable doubt, is, 
 that in many families of animals, not only were the first spe- 
 cies that appeared of high organization, but there was a grad- 
 ual degradation among those that were created aftervyards. 
 Of the fishes generally, he says, that " the progress of the 
 race, as a whole, though it still retains not a few of the higher 
 forms, has been a progress, not of development from the low 
 to the high, but of degradation from the high to the low." 
 Again he says, " We know, as geologists, that the dynasty of 
 the fish was succeeded by that of the reptile ; that the dy- 
 nasty of the reptile was succeeded by that of the mammiferous 
 quadruped ; and that the dynasty of the mammiferous quad- 
 ruped was succeeded by that of man, as man now exists — a 
 creature of a mixed character, and subject, in all conditions, to 
 wide alternations of enjoyment and suflfering. We know fur- 
 ther, — so far, at least, as we have succeeded in deciphering 
 the record, — that the several dynasties were introduced, not 
 in their lower, but in their higher forms ; that, in short, in the 
 imposing programme of creation, it was arranged as a general 
 rule, that in each of the great divisions of the procession the 
 magnates should walk first. We recognize yet further the 
 fact of degradation specially exemplified in the fish and the 
 reptile." " Among these degraded races, that of the footless 
 serpent, which goeth upon its belly, has long been noted by 
 the theologian as a race typical, in its condition and nature, 
 of an order of hopelessly degraded beings, borne down to the 
 dust by a clinging curse ; and curiously enough, when the 
 first comparative anatomists in the world give their readiest 
 and most prominent instance of degradation among thv 
 
DETERIORATION OF RACES, 315 
 
 divisions of the natural world, it is this very order of footless 
 reptiles that they select." 
 
 Among the invertebrate animals are numerous examples 
 of the deterioration of a race. M. Alcide D'Orbigny, one 
 of the most accomplished of living paleontologists, in his 
 Cours Elementaire de Paleontologie et de Geologie^ speaks as 
 follows of the cephalopods found in the oldest rocks : " See, 
 then, the result ; the cephalopods, the most perfect of the 
 mollusks, which lived in the early period of the world, show 
 a progress of degradation in their generic forms. We insist 
 on this fact relative to the cephalopods, which we shall here- 
 after compare with the less perfect classes of mollusks, since 
 it must lead to the conclusion that the mollusks, as to their 
 classes, have certainly retrograded from the compound to the 
 simple, or from the more to the less perfect." 
 
 Such facts as these are absolutely fatal to the hypothesis 
 of development ; and geology abounds with them. Indeed, 
 through all her archives, we search in vain for facts that show 
 any thing like a passage of one species, genus, or family, into 
 another. Certain distinct types characterize the different 
 formations up to a certain period, when there is a sudden 
 change ; and in the subsequent strata we find animals and 
 plants entirely different from those that have disappeared. 
 The new races are, indeed, often of a higher grade than those 
 that preceded them, but could not have sprung from them. 
 
 The true theory of animal and vegetable existence on our 
 globe appears to be this : Such natures were placed upon the 
 earth as were adapted to its varying condition. When the 
 earliest group was created, such were the climate, the atmos- 
 phere, the waters, and the means of subsistence, that the lower 
 tribes were best adapted to the condition of things. That 
 group occupied the earth till such changes had occurred as to 
 
316 
 
 make it unsuited to their natures, and consequently they died 
 out, and new races were brought in ; not by mere law, but by 
 divine benevolence, power, and wisdom. These tribes also 
 passed away, when the condition of things was so changed as 
 to be uncongenial to their natures, to give place to a third 
 group, and these again to a fourth, and so on to the present 
 races, which, in their turn, perhaps, are destined to become 
 extinct. From the first, however, the changes which the earth 
 has undergone, as to temperature, soil, and climate, have been 
 an improvement of its condition ; so that each successive 
 group of animals and plants could be more and more compli- 
 cated and perfect ; and therefore we find an increase and 
 development of flowering plants and vertebral animals. And 
 yet, from the beginning, all the great classes seem to have 
 existed, so that the changes have been only in the proportion 
 of the more and less perfect at different periods. In short, we 
 have only to suppose that the Creator exactly adapted organic 
 natures to the several geological periods, and we perfectly 
 explain the phenomena of organic remains. But the doctrine 
 of development by law corresponds only in a loose and gen- 
 eral way to the facts, and cannot be reconciled to the Retails. 
 If that hypothesis cannot get a better foothold somewhere 
 else, it will soon find its way into the limbo of things abortive 
 and forgotten. 
 
 I have now noticed, I believe, the principal sources of evi- 
 dence in which the law hypothesis rests ; and at the best, we 
 find only a possibility, but rarely, if ever, a probability, that 
 such a power exists in nature. I turn now, for a few mo- 
 ments, to the arguments on the other side ; that is, against the 
 hypothesis. 
 
 And firsts it cannot explain the wonderful adaptation of ani* 
 maU and plants to their condition and to one another. 
 
LAW ANOTHER NAME FOR THE DEITY. 317 
 
 There is not a more striking thing in nature than that adap- 
 i^tion ; and geology shows us that it has always been so. 
 Now, if any thing requires the exercise of infinite wisdom and 
 power, it is this feature of creation. But according to this 
 hypothesis, the laws of nature may be so arranged as to cre- 
 ate every animal and plant just at the right time, and place 
 them in the right spot, and adjust every thing around them to 
 their nature and wants. In other words, it supposes law 
 capable of doing what only infinite wisdom and power can do. 
 What is this but ascribing infinite perfection to law, and im- 
 puting to it effects which only an infinite intelligence could 
 bring about } In other words, it is making a Deity of the 
 laws which he ordains. Theoretically it may be of little im- 
 portance by what name men call the Deity ; but practically 
 to impute natural effects to law, as an independent power, is 
 to put a blind, unintelligent agency in the place of Jehovah. 
 
 In the second place, where one fact in nature looks favorable 
 to this hypothesis, a thousand facts teach the contrary. 
 
 Take for example the reproduction of animals. Out of 
 every thousand individuals we have certain evidence that nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine are brought into existence by the 
 ordinary modes of generation ; that is, they depend upon pro- 
 genitors. Still, if in the thousandth case the animal's exist- 
 ence was clearly casual, if we could see an elephant, or an 
 ox, start into life without parental agency, that single case 
 would prove the hypothesis. But never do its advocates pre- 
 tend that any of the larger animals are produced in this way. 
 Nor is it till they get among the smaller and obscure animals, 
 whose habits are very difficult to trace out, that we find any 
 examples where a suspicion even can exist of the communi- 
 cation of vitality irrespective of parental agency. Is not a 
 strong presumption hence produced that further and more 
 ^7* 
 
318 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 scrutinizing observation will show the few excepted cases not 
 to be real exceptions ? Does not sound philosophy demand 
 that the proof of the casual production of the thousandth case 
 shall be as decided as that of the normal generation of the 
 nine hundred and ninety-nine? But no one, it seems to me, 
 will pretend that any thing like such certainty exists in a single 
 example throughout all nature. The presumption, then, is 
 really more than a thousand to one against the hypothesis. 
 
 Take an example from hybridity. While a thousand spe- 
 cies retain from age to age their individuality, not more than 
 one coalesces with its neighbor, and loses its identity. And 
 even here, all admit that there is a constant tendency in the 
 hybrid race to revert to the original stock ; and there is strong 
 reason to believe that this will sooner or later take place, a* id 
 that it would speedily occur in every case, were it not for l.ie 
 influence of domestication. Such facts make the presump 
 tion very strong, that species are permanent, and any exten 
 sive metamorphosis impossible. Hybridity appears to be in a. 
 measure unnatural ; and the old proverb true in respect to 
 
 it — 
 
 " Si furca naturam expellas, 
 
 Usque rccurret." 
 
 By the hypothesis under consideration, we ought to expec* 
 at least a few examples of the formation of new organs in 
 animals, in the eflforts of nature to advance towards a more 
 perfect state. It has usually been said that the time since 
 animals were first described is too short for such develop- 
 ment. But we have examples, from the catacombs of Egypt, 
 of animals and plants that lived in that country three thousand 
 years ago ; and yet, according to Cuvier, — and who is a better 
 judge ? — they are precisely like the living species. Strange 
 that this great length of time should not have produced even 
 
GEOLOGY OPPOSED. 319 
 
 one new organ, or the marks of a cbnatus to produce one. 
 We are, indeed, pointed to the different varieties of the hu- 
 man species, as examples of this progress. But these diver- 
 sities, also, can be shown to be the same now as at the 
 earliest date of historical records ; and where, then, is the evi- 
 dence that they ever have undergone, or ever will undergo, 
 any change of importance ? There may indeed be examples 
 of amalgamation, but under favorable circumstances the origi- 
 nal varieties are again developed. 
 
 In the third place, geology contradicts this hypothesis. 
 
 We have seen that it offers no satisfactory explanation of 
 the gradual increase of the more perfect animals and plants, 
 as we rise higher in the rocks. That fact is most perfectly 
 explained by supposing that divine wisdom and benevolence 
 adapted the new species, which from time to time were cre- 
 ated, to the changing and improving condition of the earth. 
 A multitude of species have been dug from the rocks ; but 
 not one exhibits evidence of the development of new organs 
 in the manner described by this hypothesis. New sj)e- 
 cies often appear, but they differ as decidedly from the pre- 
 vious ones as species now do ; and at the beginning of each 
 formation there is often a very decided advance in the organic 
 beings from those found in the top of the subjacent formation. 
 How can this hypothesis explain such sudden changes, when 
 its essential principle is, that the progress of the development 
 is uniform } Nothing can explain them surely but special 
 creating interposition. 
 
 Geology also shows us that for a vast period the world 
 existed without inhabitants. Now, what was it that gave the 
 laws of nature power, after so long an operation unproductive 
 of vitality, to produce organic natures .? Who can conceive 
 of any inherent force that should thus enable them, all at 
 
320 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 once, to do what true philosophy shows to have demanded 
 infinite sliill ? 
 
 In short, of all the sciences, geology most clearly shows 
 special divine interference to explain its phenomena. It pre- 
 sents us with such stupendous changes, after long periods of 
 repose, such sudden exhibitions of life, springing forth from 
 the bosom of universal death, that nothing but divine, special, 
 miraculous agency can explain the results. And of all the 
 vast domains of nature, it seems to me no part is so barren 
 of facts to sustain this hypothesis as the rocks ; nor so full 
 of facts for its refutation. These, however, have been so 
 fully detailed in a previous part of this lecture that they need 
 not be here repeated. 
 
 In the fourth place, the prodigious increase of the power 
 and the means of reproduction, which we find among the lower 
 tribes of animals, affords a strong presumption against this 
 hypothesis. 
 
 The animals highest on the scale, and most perfect in their 
 organization, have only one mode of reproduction, viz., the 
 viviparous. Descending a little lower, we come to the ovip- 
 arous and ovoviviparous tribes. Passing to the invertebrate 
 animals, we meet with two other modes of reproduction, the 
 gemmiparous and fissiparous. In the first mode, the animal 
 is propagated by buds, like some plants, as the tiger lily ; by 
 the second mode, a spontaneous division of the animal takes 
 place. 
 
 Now, in some of the lowest of the invertebrate tribes, we 
 find most of the modes of propagation that have been enumer- 
 ated in operation ; so that the same individual in one set of 
 circumstances is oviparous, in another gemmiparous or fissip- 
 arous. The consequence is, a power of multiplication in- 
 conceivably great. Mr. Owen calculates that the ascaris 
 
SUPPOSED PROOFS DIMINISHING. 321 
 
 lumhricoides, the most common intestmal worm, is capable 
 of producing sixty-four millions of young ; and Ehrenberg 
 asserts that the hydatina senta^ one of the infusoria, increased 
 in twelve days to sixteen millions, and another species, in four 
 days, to one hundred and seventy billions. 
 
 Why, now, are these astonishing powers of reproduction 
 given to these minute animals, if it be true that they can also 
 be produced without parentage, and by mere law ? This lat- 
 ter mode would supersede the necessity of the former ; and, 
 therefore, the care taken by Providence to provide the for- 
 mer is a strong presumption that the latter does not exist. 
 
 In the ffth place, it is an instructive fact on this subject 
 that, as instruments have been improved, and observations 
 have become more searching, the supposed cases of spontaneous 
 generation have diminished, until it is not pretended now that 
 it takes place except in a very few tribes, and those the most 
 obscure and difficult to observe of all living things. A hun- 
 dred years ago, naturalists, and especially other men, might 
 easily have been made to believe that many of the smaller 
 msects had a casual origin. But long since, save in the mat- 
 ter of the acari, the entomological field has been abandoned 
 by the advocates of the law hypothesis, and they have been 
 driven from one tribe after another, till at length some of the 
 obscure hiding-places of the entozoa and infusoria are now 
 the only spots where the light is not too strong for the large- 
 pupiled eyes of this hypothesis. Is not the presumption 
 hence arising very strong that it will need only a little further 
 improvement in instruments and care in observation to carry 
 daylight into these recesses, and demonstrate the parentage 
 and normal development of all organic beings ? 
 
 Finally. The gross materialism inseparable from this hy* 
 pothesis is a strong argument against it. 
 
322 CBEATION BY LAW. 
 
 I am not aware that any one, except Oken, perhaps, has 
 ever attempted to show that mind, as a spiritual essence, dis- 
 tinct from matter, has been created by natural laws ; in other 
 words, that there is in nature a power to produce mind. Ail 
 such maintain that intellect is material, or, rather, the result 
 of organization, the mere function of the brain, as are also 
 life and instinct. Generally, also, they contend — and, in- 
 deed, consistency seems to require it — that the moral powers 
 depend chiefly upon different developments of the brain ; so 
 that a disposition to do wrong results more from organization 
 than from punishable mental obliquity ; indeed, the worst of 
 criminals are often, on this account, more to be pitied than 
 blamed, and the physician is of more importance than the 
 moralist and the divine for their reformation. 
 
 Now, if this system of materialism is true, we ought to 
 embrace it, without any fear of ultimate bad effects. But a 
 philosopher will hesitate long before he adopts a system 
 which thus seems to degrade man from his lofty standing as 
 a spiritual, accountable, and immortal being, and makes his 
 intellectual and moral powers dependent upon the structure 
 of the brain, and, therefore, destined to perish with the mate- 
 rial organization, with no hope of future existence, unless 
 God chooses to recreate the man. Nay, if there be no dis- 
 tinct spirit in man, what evidence have we that there is one 
 in Jehovah ? A true philosopher, I say, will demand very 
 strong evidence before he adopts any hypothesis that leads a 
 logical mind to such conclusions ; and I see not how the one 
 under consideration can terminate in any thing else. 
 
 Such are the reasons that lead me to reject the hypothesis 
 of creation by law. I have endeavored to treat the subject 
 in a candid and philosophical manner, not charging atheism 
 upon its advocates when they declare themselves Theists and 
 
FASHIONABLE HYPOTHESIS. 323 
 
 Christians. Neither have I called in the aid of ridicule, aa 
 might easily be done, and as, in fact, has been done by almost 
 every opponent of the system who has written upon it. I 
 have endeavored to show that the hypothesis, tried in the bal- 
 ances of sound philosophy, is found wanting ; because, in the 
 first place, the facts adduced to sustain it are insufficient ; 
 and secondly, because, where one fact seems to favor it, a 
 thousand testify against it. Is not the conclusion a fair one, 
 that the hypothesis has no solid foundation ? Is not the evi- 
 dence against it overwhelming ? Yet it has many advocates 
 and 1 must think — I hope not uncharitably — that these are 
 the reasons : First, because men do not like the idea of a 
 personal, present, overruling Deity ; and secondly, because 
 there is very little profound and thorough knowledge of natu- 
 ral history in the community. It is just such an hypothesis 
 as chimes in with the taste of that part of the world who 
 have a smattering of Science, and who do not wish to live 
 without some form of religion, but who still desire to free 
 themselves from the inspection of a holy God, and from the 
 responsibility which his existence and presence would impose. 
 Depend upon it, gentlemen, you will meet these delusions not 
 unfrequendy among the cultivated classes of society, where 
 they have already done immense mischief. You will, indeed, 
 find all the eminent comparative anatomists and physiologists, 
 such as Cuvier and Owen ; such chemists as Liebig ; such 
 zoologists as Agassiz and Edward Forbes ; such botanists as 
 Hooker, Henslow, Lindley, Torrey, and Gray ; and such 
 geologists as De la Beche, Lyell, Murchison, Sedgwick, D'Or- 
 bigny, Buckland, and Miller, decided in their rejection of 
 these views. But when even educated men obtain only a 
 smattering of natural science, they find something very fas- 
 cinating in this hypothesis ; and this is just the religion, or, 
 
824 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 rather, the irreligion, that suits the superficial, selfish, and 
 pleasurc-soeking exquisites of fashionable drawing-rooms, 
 theatres, and watering- places. You will find, therefore, the 
 need of thoroughly studying this subject, or you will not be 
 able, as you would wish, to vindicate the cause of true science 
 and true religion. 
 
 I cannot terminate this discussion without referring to an 
 ingenious analogy, suggested by Hugh Miller, in his "Foot- 
 prints of the Creator," and drawn from the facts he had stated 
 respecting the degradation of species. No one who has 
 thoroughly studied Bishop Butler's Analogy of Natural and 
 Revealed Religion to the Course of Nature will venture to 
 say that Mr. Miller's suggestions are mere ''•^ncy. As the ideas 
 arc entirely original with him, I give them .n his own words. 
 
 Having spoken of the several dynasties of animals that have 
 succeeded one another on the globe, in a passage which we 
 have already quoted, he says, " Passing on to the revealed 
 record, we learn that the dynasty of man in the mixed state 
 and character is not the final one ; but that there is to be yet 
 another creation, or, more properly, re-creation, known theo- 
 logically as the resurrection, which shall be connected in its 
 physical components, by bonds of mysterious paternity, with 
 the dynasty which now reigns, and be bound to it mentally 
 by the chain of identity, conscious and actual ; but which, in 
 all that constitutes superiority, shall be as vastly its superior 
 as the dynasty of responsible man i^ superior to even the 
 lowest of the preliminary dynasties. We are further taught 
 that, at the commencement of this last of the dynasties, there 
 will be a re-creation of not only elevated, but also of degraded 
 beings — a re-creation of the lost. We are taught yet fur- 
 Uier that, though the present dynasty be that of a lapsed race, 
 which at their first introduction were placed on liigher ground 
 
A FCJTURE ECONOMY. 325 
 
 than that on which they now stand, and sank by their own 
 act, It was yet part of the original design, from the beginning 
 of all things, that they should occupy the existing platform ; 
 and that redemption is thus no afterthought, rendered neces- 
 sary by the fall, but, on the contrary, part of a general 
 scheme, for which provision had been made from the begin- 
 ning ; so that the divine Man, through whom the work of res- 
 toration has been effected, was in reality, in reference to the 
 purposes of the Eternal, what he is designated in the remark- 
 able text, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
 Slain from the foundation of the world ! Could the assertors 
 of the stony science ask for language more express ? By 
 piecing the two records together, — that revealed in Scripture 
 and that revealed in the rocks, — records which, however wide- 
 ly geologists may mistake the one, or commentators misunder- 
 stand the other, have emanated from the same great Author, 
 — we learn that in slow and solemn majesty has period suc- 
 ceeded period, each in succession, ushering in a higher and 
 yet higher scene of existence ; that fish, reptiles, mammif- 
 erous quadrupeds, have reigned in turn ; that responsible man, 
 ' made in the image of God,' and with dominion over all 
 creatures, ultimately entered into a world ripened for his re- 
 ception; but, further, that this passing scene, in which he 
 forms the prominent figure, is not the final one in the long 
 series, but merely the last of the preliminary scenes ; and that 
 that period to which the by-gone ages, incalculable in amount, 
 with all their well-proportioned gradations of being, form 
 the imposing vestibule, shall have perfection for its occupant 
 and eternity for its duration. I know not how it may appear 
 to others, but for my own part I cannot avoid thinking that 
 there would be a lack of proportion in the series of being, 
 were the period of perfect and glorified humanity abruptly con- 
 28 
 
326 CREATION BY LAW. 
 
 nected, without the introduction of an intermediate creation of 
 responsible imperfection with that of the dying, irresponsible 
 brute. That scene of things n which God became man, and 
 suffered, se^ms, as it no doubt w, a necessary link in the chain." 
 A single concluding thought forces itself upon my mind. 
 It is this : How ingenious and persevering men are in deluding 
 themselves on the subject of religion ! Since the time of 
 Christ, what countless devices have they framed to escape 
 from the lofty truths and spiritual piety of his gospel ! Nor 
 are they satisfied with this ; for the gospel has shed so much 
 light upon the religion of nature, that even this is more than 
 men like ; and, therefore, every science is ransacked for 
 facts to neutralize all religion. Men's consciences do not 
 permit them to throw off all the forms of religion; and, 
 therefore, they are satisfied if they can only tear out its 
 heart. They Hke to preserve and to embalm its external 
 covering, as the naturalist does the skin of an animal for his 
 cabinet. And as the latter fills his specimen with straw and 
 arsenic, and fits glass eyes into it, so do men fill up their 
 religious specimen with error and vain speculation, and fit 
 into its head the eyes of false philosophy, and then claim for 
 it intellectual worship. It is the business of educated men to 
 show that such caricatures are neither science nor religion. 
 May you, gentlemen, have your full share in this most useful 
 and noble work.* 
 
 ♦ The subject of this lecture has been ably discussed, within a few 
 years, in most of the leading periodicals in Europe and America, 
 though I must say not always with the candor calculated to do the 
 most good. The two most able volumes that have fallen into my 
 hands, on the subject, are Professor ScdgAvick's «• Discourse on the 
 Studies of the University," &c., (fifth ed., London, I860,) and Hugh 
 Miller's '* Footprints of the Creator," now republished in this country 
 
(327) 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 Next in importance to the question whether the Deity 
 exists, is the inquiry whether he exerts any direct agency in 
 upholding the universe and in controlling its events. This 
 point has been discussed in all ages in which there have been 
 philosophers or theologians, and the current of opinion has 
 fallen principally into three channels. 
 
 In the first place, some have removed the Deity entirely 
 from his works into a fancied extra-mundane sphere, where 
 in solitude he might enjoy the blessedness of his own infinite 
 nature, without the trouble of directing the events of the uni- 
 verse, or watching over the works of his hand. Forgetful 
 of the great principle, that the intellectual powers produce 
 happiness only when called into exercise, they have fancied 
 that the care of the universe must be a burden to its Creator, 
 and that it would derogate from his dignity. It is supposed, 
 therefore, that the world has been given up to the rule of fate 
 or chance. 
 
 In the second place, a more numerous class have main- 
 tained that the Supreme Being, after creating the world, com- 
 mitted its preservation and government either to a subordinate 
 agent, or to the laws which he impressed upon matter and 
 mind, which possess an inherent power to execute themselves ; 
 so that, in fact, God exercises no direct and immediate agency 
 in natural operations. The learned and usually profound 
 
328 SPECIAL AND MIRACITLOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 Cud'sorth adopted the hypothesis of a plastic nature^ as he 
 terms it, by which he means a vital, spiritual, and unintelli- 
 gent, yet subordinate agent, by whoso agency the world is 
 governed and its operations carried ^n. At first view, this 
 hypothesis would seem to lead inevitably to atheism ; but such 
 was not the intention of its author. Still, it is obviously so 
 clumsy, that had it not been the product of a great mind, it 
 never would have received so much notice, or called forth 
 such mighty efforts for its refutation, as have been bestowed 
 upon it. 
 
 Two varieties of opinion exist among those who believe the 
 world governed and sustained by natural laws, established by 
 the Deity. Some maintain that these laws are general, not 
 particular ; not extending to minor events, but only the more 
 important ; not providing for species, but only for families. 
 Hence they suppose that these general cases may interfere 
 with one another, and produce results apparently repugnant 
 to the intention of their Author. Others, shocked at the ab- 
 surdity of such conclusions, believe the laws of nature to 
 extend to every event, and never to interfere with one another, 
 and always to act in accordance with the divine will and 
 appointment, but without any direct agency exerted by the 
 Deity. They suppose these laws — in other words, secondary 
 agencies — to have the power of producing all natural phe- 
 nomena. 
 
 In the third place, there are others who believe that a law 
 can have no efficiency without the presence and agency of 
 the lawgiver. They, therefore, suppose every event in the 
 natural world to be the result of the direct and immediate 
 agency of God. What we call laws are only the uniform 
 mode of his operation. They agree with the advocates of 
 the last-named theory in supposing the laws of nature to 
 
MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 329 
 
 extend to every event, and to be in accordance with the ordi- 
 nation of the Deity ; but they differ in maintaining that the 
 presence and direct efficiency of a lawgiver are essential to 
 the operation of natural laws. 
 
 I should then define a Special Providence to be an event 
 brought about apparently by natural laws, yet, in fact, the 
 result of a special agency, on the part of the Deity, to meet a 
 particular exigency, either by an original arrangement of 
 natural laws, or by a modification of second causes, out of 
 sight at the time. 
 
 The doctrine, which supposes the Deity to exercise a super- 
 intendence and direction over all the affairs of the universe, 
 in any of the modes that have been mentioned, whether by a 
 subordinate agent, or by laws, general or particular, with 
 inherent self-executing power, or by the direct efficiency of 
 the divine will, is called the doctrine of divine providence. 
 If the superintendence extend only to general laws, it is called 
 a general providence. If those laws reach every possible case, 
 it is called a particular or universal providence. 
 
 By a Miraculoiis Providence is meant a superintendence 
 over the world that interferes, when desirable, with the regu- 
 lar operations of nature, and brings about events, either in 
 opposition to natural laws, or by giving them a less or greater 
 power than usual. In either of these cases, the events 
 cannot be explained by natural laws ; they are above, or 
 contrary to, nature, and, therefore, are called miracles, or 
 prodigies. 
 
 There may be, and, as I believe, there is, another class of 
 occurrences, intermediate between miracles and events strictly 
 natural. These take place in perfect accordance with the 
 natural laws within human view, and appear to us to bo 
 perfectly accounted for by those laws ; and yet, in some way 
 28* 
 
330 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 or Other, we learn thai they required some special exercise 
 of divine power, out of human view, for their production 
 Thus, according to the views of most Christian denominations, 
 conversion takes place in the human heart in perfect accord 
 ance with the laws of mind, and could be philosophically 
 explained by them ; yet revelation assures that it is not of 
 bloody [natural descent,] nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the 
 will of man, but of God. Divine power, therefore, is essen- 
 tial to the change, although we see only the operation of 
 natural causes. So a storm may appear to us to be perfectly 
 accounted for by natural laws ; and yet divine efficiency 
 might have produced a change in some of those laws out of 
 our sight, and thus meet a particular exigency. Such events 
 I call special providence ; and I maintain that we cannot tell 
 how frequently they may occur. 
 
 It is chiefly the bearings of science, especially of geology, 
 upon the doctrine of miraculous and special providence, which 
 I wish to consider. But it may form a useful introduction, to 
 state the evidence, which goes- to show that the agency of 
 the Deity, in the ordinary operations of nature, is a direct 
 efficiency ; or, in other words, that the laws of nature are 
 only the modes in which divine agency operates. 
 
 In the first place, if we suppose ever so many secondary 
 causes to be concerned in natural events, the efficiency must, 
 after all, be referred to God. 
 
 What is a secondary cause ? or, in other words, what is a 
 law of nature considered as a cause ? It is simply a uniform 
 mode of operation. We find that heavy bodies uniformly 
 tend towards the earth's centre, and that we call the law of 
 gravity; but if those bodies sometimes ascended, and some- 
 times moved horizontally, under the same circumstances, we 
 'iould not infer the existence of such a law. 
 
^ CAUSE FOR UNIFORMITY. 331 
 
 Now, there must be some cause for uniformity of operation 
 m nature. There must be some foreign power, which gives 
 the uniformity, since it is certain that the law itself can pos- 
 sess no efficiency. We may, indeed, find one law dependent 
 upon a second law, and this upon a third, and so on. But the 
 inquiry still arises. What gives the efficiency to this second 
 and third law ? and still the answer must be, Something out 
 of itself. So that if we run back on the chain of causes ever 
 so far, we must still resori to the power of the Deity to find 
 any efficiency that will produce the final result. In most 
 cases, we can trace back only one or two links on the chain. 
 For instance, we account for the falling of all bodies by the 
 law of gravity. But philosophers have wearied themselves in 
 vain to find any cause for gravity, except in the will of God. 
 The failure of every other hypothesis, though invented by 
 such men as Newton and Le Sage, has been signal. Sound 
 philosophy, then, requires us to infer that gravity owes its 
 efficiency to the direct exertion of divine power. And so in 
 all cases, when we can no longer discover second causes for 
 any phenomenon, why should we imagine their existence, 
 rather than refer it to the agency of God ? For go back as 
 far as we may, and discover a thousand intervening cau«es, 
 the efficiency resides alone in God. We have no evidence 
 that even infinite power can communicate that efficiency to 
 the laws of nature, so that they can act without the presence 
 and agency of God. The common idea, which endows those 
 laws with independent power, will not bear examination. 
 
 In the second place, if natural operations do not depend 
 upon the exercise of divine power, no other efficient cause 
 can be assigned for their production. 
 
 We have seen that in the laws of nature, independently of 
 the Deity, there is no efficiency ; and I know not where else 
 
^K32 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. • 
 
 we can resort for any agency to carry forward the operations 
 of nature, except to the same infinite Being. The fate and 
 chance of the ancients, the plastic nature of Cudworth, the 
 delegated nature of Lamarck, are indeed names invented by 
 men to designate a certain imaginary efficiency residing some- 
 where, independent of the Deity, by which the phenomena 
 3f nature have been supposed to be produced. But the mo- 
 ment they are described, they are found to be mere imaginary 
 agencies, meaning nothing more than the course of nature, 
 or the laws of nature, which we have seen possess no inde- 
 pendent efficiency. To a divine agency, therefore, we must 
 resort, or be left without any adequate cause for the compli- 
 cated and wonderful processes of nature. 
 
 In the third place, this view of the subject is strongly con- 
 firmed by the Christian Scriptures. 
 
 How universal is the divine agency represented in the well- 
 known passage — for ofhim, and through him, and to him, art 
 all things. Equally vivid is Paul's statement on Mars Hill — 
 In him we live, and move, and have our being. How graphic 
 a description is the 147th Psalm of God's agency in the nat- 
 ural world ! Not only is all good ascribed to God, but evil 
 also. By the mouth of Isaiah he says, I form light and create 
 darkness ; I make peace and create evil ; I the Lord do all 
 these things. In short, no eyent in the material or spiritual 
 world is by the sacred writers ascribed to chance, or to nature, 
 or the laws of nature, as it is among men ; but <o the direct 
 efficiency of God. Nor is there any difference in this respect 
 between miracles and common events. The one class is rep- 
 resented as originating in the agency of God, just as much as 
 the other. 
 
 Finally. It will hardly be thought strange, in view of the 
 preceding considerations, that a large proportion of the most 
 
'opinions of eminent men. 333 
 
 acute and philosophical minds in modern times have preferred 
 this view of divine providence to any other. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton declares that the various parts of the 
 world, organic and inorganic, " can be the effect of nothing 
 else than the wisdom and skill of a powerful, ever-living 
 Agent, who, being in all places, is more able by his will to 
 move the bodies within his boundless, uniform sensorium, 
 thereby to form and reform the parts of the universe, than 
 we are by our will to move the parts of our own bodies." 
 
 Says Dr. Clarke, the friend and disciple of Newton, " All 
 things which we commonly say are the effects of the natural 
 powers of matter, and laws of motion, are, indeed, if we will 
 speak strictly and properly, the effects of God's action upon 
 matter continually, and at every moment, either immediately 
 by himself, or mediately by some created, intelligent being. 
 Consequently there is no such thing as the course of nature, 
 or the power of nature, independent of the effects produced 
 by the will of God." 
 
 In speaking of the principle of vegetable life, Sir James 
 Edward Smith, the eminent botanist, says, " I humbly con- 
 ceive that, if the human understanding can in any case flatter 
 itself with obtaining, in the natural world, a glimpse of the 
 immediate agency of the Deity, it is in the contemplation of 
 this vital principle, which seems independent of material or- 
 ganization, and an impulse of his own divine energy." — In* 
 traduction to Botany, p. 26, (Boston edition.) 
 
 " We would no way be understood," says Sir John Her- 
 .%hel, " to deny the constant exercise of this [God's] direct 
 power in maintaining the system of nature, or the ultimate 
 emanation of every energy, which material agents exert, from 
 his immediate will, acting in conformity with his own laws." 
 — Discourse on JSat. Philosophy. 
 
334 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE, 
 
 " A law," says Professor Whewell, " supposes an agent 
 and a power ; for it is the mode according to which the agent 
 proceeds,' the order according to which the power acts. 
 Without the presence of such an agent, of such a power, 
 conscjous of the relations on which the law depends, pro- 
 ducing the effects which the law prescribes, the law can have 
 no efficiency, no existence. Hence we infer that the intelli- 
 gence by which the law is ordained, the power by which it is 
 put in action, must be present at all times and in all places 
 where the effects of the law occur ; that thus the knowledge 
 and the agency of the divine Being pervades every portion 
 of the universe, producing all action and passion, all perma- 
 nence and change. The laws of nature are the laws which 
 He, in h*3 wisdom, prescribes to his own acts ; his universal 
 presence is the necessary condition of any course of events ; 
 his universal agency the only origin of any efliicient force." 
 — Bridgewater Treatise, p. 270. 
 
 " The student in natural philosophy," observes the Bishop 
 of London, " will find rest from all those perplexities, which 
 are occasioned by the obscurity of causation, in the proposi- 
 tion which, although it was discredited by the patronage of 
 Malebranche and the Cartesians, has been adopted by Clarke 
 and Dugald Stewart, and which is by far the most simple and 
 sublime account of the matter — that all events which are 
 contirually taking place in the different parts of the material 
 universe are the immediate effects of the divine agency." — 
 WliewelVs Bridgewater Treatise^ p. 273. 
 
 " Jonathan Edwards," says M'Cosh in his Method of the 
 Divine Government, " somewhere illustrates the manner in 
 which God upholds the universe, by the way in which an 
 image is upheld in a mirror. That image is maintained by a 
 coiitinual ffow of rays of light, each succeeding pencil of 
 
PRACTICAL TENDENCY. 335 
 
 vhich does not differ from that by which the image was first 
 produced. He conceives that the universe is, in every part 
 of it, supported in a similar way by a continual succession 
 of acts of the divine will, and these not differifig from that 
 which at first caused the world to spring into existence. Now, 
 it may be safely said of this theory that it cannot be dis- 
 proved. Several considerations may be urged in support 
 of it." 
 
 Which of the views respecting divine providence that have 
 been stated has the best practical tendency, seems hardly to 
 admit of doubt. If we believe that God has submitted the 
 direction and government of this world to a subordinate 
 agent, a plastic nature ; or if we suppose he has impressed 
 matter and mind with certain general laws, which have the 
 ^power of executing themselves without his agency, and 
 especially if in their operation they do sometimes actually 
 clash with one another, or even if those laws extend to every 
 movement of matter and mind, — still, if they do not require 
 divine efficiency, men cannot but feel that God is removed 
 from his works, and that the laws of nature, and not his 
 agency, are their security. But if they believe that every 
 movement of matter or mind requires a direct exercise of di- 
 vine power or efficiency, just as much as if every event was 
 a miracle, it cannot but bring God near to us, and make us 
 realize his presence. 
 
 If we obtain a timepiece from London or Paris, which 
 contains all the springs and wheels requisite to keep it in op- 
 eration, by occasionally winding it up, how little do we think 
 of the artist who constructed it, except, perhaps, occasionally 
 to admire his ingenuity ! But if it had been necessary for 
 that artist to accompany the chronometer, and actually to put 
 «brth the strength of his own arm every moment to keep it in 
 
336 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 motion, how much more should we think of him and reahze 
 his presence ! The same effect, in a greater or less degree, 
 will attend the belief that God qnust be not only virtually, 
 but substantially, present every where, and be constantly ex- 
 ercising his power to keep in operation the vast machine of 
 the universe. It cannot but deeply impress the heart, and 
 exert a most salutary influence upon the affections, to realize 
 that every event around us is brought about by the immediate 
 agency of the supreme Being. 
 
 But notwithstanding the salutary influence of this view of 
 Providence upon our moral feelings, and though philosophy 
 pronounces it decidedly the most reasonable, still it meets 
 with strong opposition. I need not stop to notice the objec- 
 tions, that it makes God the author of evil as well as good, 
 and that it represents man as a mere machine in the hands 
 of the Deity, and therefore takes away human responsibility. 
 I say I need not stop to answer such objections, because they 
 lie equally strong against any system which makes God the 
 original author of the universe. But a more plausible objec- 
 tion is, that it makes all events miraculous. This objection is 
 based on the supposition that every event which takes place 
 through the direct and immediate agency of God is a miracle. 
 But is this the true meaning of a miracle ? Is the term evei 
 applied to any but extraordinary events ? It may or it may 
 not imply a contravention of the laws of nature. But it docs 
 always imply something which the laws of nature cannot pro- 
 duce, and which, of course, they cannot explain. It is 
 always the result of some new force coming in to the aid of 
 the laws of nature, or in the place of them, or even some- 
 times, perhaps, in opposition to them ; as when the sun stood 
 still upon Gibeon^ and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, 
 Hence an event may take place through the direct and imme 
 
EVIDENCE FROM GEOLOGY. 337 
 
 diate agency of God, and yet not be a miracle. If it be 
 neither above, nor independent of, nor in opposition to the 
 laws of nature, then it forms a part of the ordinary provi- 
 dence of God ; it is a part of the usual, the fixed and uniform 
 course of nature, and can be explained by known and unal- 
 terable laws. The nature of the event is not affected at all 
 by the question whether it is produced by the direct efficiency 
 of God, or by a power inherent in those laws. We, who be- 
 lieve that the direct efficiency of God is necessary to the 
 operation, and even to the existence, of the laws of nature, 
 are just as firm believers in the constancy of those laws as he 
 who supposes them possessed of inherent powers. When 
 that constancy is interrupted in any way, we call it a mir- 
 acle. Hence it appears that our views of the nature of a 
 miracle are the same as his, viz., an event which takes place 
 out of the ordinary course of nature ; and, therefore, our 
 system is no more liable to the objection that all events are 
 made miracles than his system. 
 
 The way is now prepared for inquiring what geology 
 teaches respecting the ordinary and extraordinary providence 
 of God over this world. 
 
 The evidences of ordinary providence, which are common 
 to geology and other sources of proof, I shall pass by ; both 
 because they are familiar to all, and because I have, in a for* 
 mer lecture, shown the existence and operation of the present 
 laws of nature in all past ages. But there is one feature of 
 the past condition of the world taught by geology to which I 
 would call your attention, as exhibiting a more impressive 
 view of the wisdom and skill of ordinary providence than 
 almost any other department of nature presents. When the 
 heavenly bodies are once put under the control of the two 
 great forces that guide them, viz., the centrifugal and ce» 
 29 
 
838 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 tri petal, we see no reason why they may not move on forever 
 in their accustomed paths. But the two great agents of geo- 
 logical change, fire and water, haj^e an aspect of great irreg- 
 ularity and violence, and are apparently less under the control 
 of mathematical laws. In the mighty intensity of their 
 action in early times, we can hardly see how there could 
 have been much of security or permanence in the state of the 
 globe, without the constant restraining energy of Jehovah. 
 We feel as if the earth's crust must have been constantly 
 liable to be torn in pieces by volcanic fires, or drenched by 
 sweeping deluges. And yet the various economies of life on 
 the globe, that have preceded the present, have all been sea- 
 sons of profound repose and uniformity. The truth is, these 
 mighty agencies have been just as much under the divine 
 control as those which regulate the heavenly bodies ; and I 
 doubt not but the laws that regulate their action are as fixed 
 and mathematical as those which guide the sun, moon, 
 and planets. Still, it must have required infinite wisdom and 
 power so to arrange the agencies of nature that the desolating 
 Lction of fire and water should take place only at those 
 epochs when every thing was in readiness for the ruin of an 
 old economy and the introduction of a new one. Geological 
 agencies differ from astronomical in this — that the former 
 must be allowed an irregular action within certain limits; 
 jcreas the latter act with unvarying urviformity in all cir- 
 cumstances. If the former had not some room for irregular 
 oction, they would not act at all ; but if allowed too much 
 liberty, they will destroy what they were intended to pre- 
 serve. And God does restrain, and always has restrained 
 them, just at the point where desolation would be the result 
 of their more powerful operation. I do not, indeed, contend 
 that it requires more power or wisdom to bind those mighty 
 
BIIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 agencies within proper limits than to control the heaven!} 
 bodies. But to our limited faculties it certainly seems a more 
 difficult work ; and, therefore, the geological history of the 
 • globe gives us a more impressive idea of the ordinary provi- 
 dence of God than we see in the calm and uniform movements 
 of nature around us. 
 
 In the second place, geology furnishes us with some very 
 striking examples of miraculous providence. 
 
 In disproving the eternity of the organic world, in a former 
 lecture, I adduced and illustrated these examples so fully, that 
 I shall do little more in this place than give a recapitulation 
 of that argument. 
 
 If we suppose the earth originally to have been merely a 
 diffused mass of vapor, like comets, or nebuloe, I can conceive 
 how, by the operation of such natural laws as now exist, it 
 might have been condensed into a solid globe ; into a melted 
 state, indeed, from the amount of heat extricated in the con- 
 densation. Those same laws might subsequently form over 
 the molten mass a solid crust, which, at length, might be 
 ridged and furrowed by the action of internal heat, so as to 
 form the basis of continents and the beds of oceans. In due 
 time, the vapors might condense, so as to fill those basins 
 with water; and, by the mutual and alternate action of the 
 waters above and the heat beneath, the rocks might be com- 
 minuted, so as to form the basis of soils. So far might the 
 arrangements of the world have proceeded by natural laws ; 
 in other words, by the ordinary providence of God. But at 
 this point we must bring in an extraordinary agency of the 
 Deity, or the world would have remained, in the expressive 
 language of revelation, without form aiid void ; that is, invis- 
 ible and unfurnished. You have, indeed, the framework of a 
 world, but the most difficult and complicated part of the work, 
 
340 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 the creation of plants and animals, remains yet to be per- 
 formed. Here, then, is the precise point where you must 
 call in the miraculous agency of the Deity, or the earth would 
 forever remain an uninhabited waste. For if it does not 
 require miraculous agency to bring into existence animals 
 and plants, I know not what can require it, or prove its oper- 
 ation. I can almost as easily conceive how matter might 
 spring from nothing fortuitously, certainly I can as easily 
 conceive of its eternity, as that organism and life can result 
 from the ordinary laws of nature. 
 
 It may be, however, that I shall here be met by the state- 
 ment, that some distinguished geologists maintain the probable 
 existence of organized beings on the globe at an indefinitely 
 earlier period than that in which their remains first appear in 
 the rocks. They contend that the extreme heat which has 
 melted the older rocks has obliterated all traces of organic 
 existence below a certain line. Now, in order to meet this 
 difficulty, it is not necessary to show this opinion to be errone- 
 ous. We have only to advance another step in our general 
 argument, which brings us upon ground admitted to be good 
 by the geologists above alluded to. They all of them believe 
 that many new animals and plants have from time to time 
 appeared on the globe ; that, in fact, there have been several 
 almost entire changes in its inhabitants. Most of them sup- 
 pose these new races to have been introduced in large num- 
 bers at particular epochs, though some prefer the theory 
 which supposes the new species to have been introduced one 
 by one, as the old ones became extinct. But even this sup- 
 position does not essentially affect my argument; because 
 they all allow that these successive species were really new, 
 and could not have been the result of any metamorphosis of 
 the old species. And it is the fact that new organic beings 
 
MAN RECENTLY CREATED. 341 
 
 have, from time to time, been created, that is alone essential 
 to my argument. Whether they were created by groups of 
 singly, is an interesting geological question ; but, in either 
 case, miraculous power must have been put forth as really 
 and as efficiently to call into existence a smgle new species 
 of animalcula, or sea- weed, as to introduce an entirely new 
 race. The successive economies of organic life that have 
 existed on the earth, and passed from it, do most unequivo- 
 cally demonstrate the extraordinary or miraculous providence 
 of God. 
 
 But we might abandon even this strong ground of our 
 argument, and still geology would afford us a most unequivo- 
 cal example of the creative agency of the Deity. That 
 science shows, beyond all question, that man, and most of his 
 contemporary races of animals and plants, have not always 
 occupied this globe ; and, indeed, that they were not placed 
 upon it till nearly every form buried in the rocks had passed 
 away. And since those races which now inhabit the globe 
 have among them a larger proportion of highly organized and 
 more complicated species than have ever before been con- 
 temporaries, — especially since man is among them, confess- 
 edly the most perfect in organization and in intellect of all 
 the beings that ever occupied this planet, — we can here point 
 to the highest exercise of creative power ever exhibited in 
 this lower world, as a certain memento of God's extraordi- 
 nary or miraculous providence. Indeed, who, that has any 
 adequate idea of the wonders of man's intellectual, moral, 
 •and immortal nature, and of the strange extremes that meet 
 and harmonize in his physical and intellectual constitution, 
 will believe that any loftier miracle has ever been exhibited 
 on this globe than his creation ? 
 
 But I have already dwelt so long upon this whole argu- 
 29* 
 
342 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 ment in a former lecture, that I will add no more in this place. 
 If the facts which 1 have stated do not prove the miracu- 
 lous agency of the Deity in past ages, I know not how it can 
 be proved. But assuming this position to be established, and 
 several inferences of importance will follow. " 
 
 In the first place^ this subject removes all philosophical 
 presutnption against a special revelation from heaven. 
 
 If we can prove that the Deity has often so interfered with 
 the course of nature as to introduce new species, nay, whole 
 races of animals and plants upon the globe, — if, in a compar- 
 atively recent period, he has created a moral and immortal 
 being, endowed with all the powers of a free and an account- 
 able agent, — it would surely be no more wonderful if he should 
 communicate to that being his will by a written revelation. 
 Indeed, the benevolence of the Deity, as we learn it from 
 nature, would create a presumption that such a revelation 
 would be given, if it appear, as we know it does, that no suffi- 
 cient knowledge is inherent in his nature to guide him in the 
 path of duty ; since such a revelation would be no greater 
 miracle than to people the world, originally destitute of life, 
 and then to repeople it again and again, with so vast a variety 
 of organic natures. Philosophy has sometimes been disin- 
 clined to admit the claims of revelation, because it implies a 
 supernatural agency of the Deity ; and, until recently, reve- 
 lation seemed to be a solitary example of special interference 
 on the part of Jehovah. But geology adds other examples, 
 long anterior to revelation — examples registered, like the laws 
 of Sinai, on tables of stone. And the admission of the geo- 
 logical evidence of special interference with the regular 
 sequtince of nature's operations ought to predispose the mind 
 for listening to the appropriate proofs of a moral communi* 
 cation to ignorant and erring man. 
 
MIRACLES AGREEABLE TO EXPERIENCE. 343 
 
 In tKi second place, the subject sJiows us how groundless in 
 the famous objection to the miracles recorded in Scripture, 
 founded on the position that they are contrary to experience. 
 
 " It is," says Mr. Hume, " a maxim worthy of our atten- 
 tion, that no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, 
 unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood 
 would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors 
 to establish." Hence he asserts, that " the evidence of tes- 
 timony, when applied to a miracle, carries falsehood on the 
 very face of it, and is more properly a subject of derision 
 than of argument, " and that whoever believes the Christian 
 religion is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, 
 which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and 
 gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary 
 to custom and experience." 
 
 At the time when Mr. Hume wrote, and with his great skill 
 in weaving together metaphysical subtilties, such an argu- 
 ment might deceive superficial minds ; for then a miracle was 
 supposed to be contrary to all experience. But geology has 
 disclosed many new chapters in the world's history, and shown 
 the existence of miracles earlier than chronological dates. 
 Even Mr. Hume would hardly deny that the creation of 
 whole series of animals and plants was miraculous ; and yet, 
 in proof of that creation, we need not depend upon testimony ; 
 for we can read it with our own eyes upon the solid rocks. 
 Such proof appeals directly to our common sense ; nor can any 
 ingenious quibble, concerning the nature of human testimony, 
 weaken its influence in producing conviction. 
 
 And if God has wrought stupendous miracles of creation in 
 order to people the world, who does not see that it is still more 
 probable he would perform other miracles when they were 
 needed to substantiate a revelation of his will to those moral 
 
344 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 and accountable beings, who needed its special teachings tc 
 mnke them acquainted with their God, their duty, and theii 
 destiny ? 
 
 Finally. The subject removes all presumption against the 
 exercise of a special and miraculous providence in the divine 
 government of the world. 
 
 In all ages of the worV, philosophers, and even many theolo- 
 gians, have been strenuous opposers of special and niiraculous 
 providence. If they have admitted, as most of the latter class 
 have done, that some miracles were performed in ancient 
 times, they have strenuously maintained that the doctrine of 
 special providence in these days is absurd, and that God can- 
 not, without a miracle, bestow any special favors upon the 
 virtuous in answer to their prayers, or inflict any special pun- 
 ishments upon the wicked ; and that it is fanaticism to expect 
 any other retributions than such as the ordinary and unmodi- 
 fied course of nature brings along with it. 
 
 The unvarying constancy of nature, in consequence of 
 being governed by fixed laws, is the grand argument which 
 they adduce in opposition to any supposed special providence. 
 Since the fathers fell asleep, say they, all things continue as 
 they were from the beginning. God has subjected the world 
 to the government of laws, and he will not interfere with, 
 counteract, set aside, or give a supernatural force to those 
 laws, to meet particular exigencies. For the adjustment of all 
 apparent inequalities of good and evil, suffering and enjoy- 
 ment here, we must wait for the disclosure of eternity, when 
 strict retributive Justice will hold her even scales. When 
 natural evils come upon us, therefore, it is idle to expect their 
 removal, except so far as they may be mitigated or overcome 
 by natural means ; and hence it is useless to pray for their 
 removal, or to expect God will deliver us from them in any 
 
SPECIAL PROTECTION. 345 
 
 Other way. When the heavens over us become brass, and 
 the earth under our feet iron, and the rain of our land is pow- 
 der and dust, and want, and famine, as the consequence, stalk 
 forth among the inhabitants, of what use to pray to God for 
 rain, since to give it would require a miracle, and the age of 
 miracles has passed ? When the pestilence is scouring through 
 the land, and our neighbors and nearest friends are within its 
 grasp, and we may next become its victims, — nay, when we, 
 too, are on the borders of the grave, — why should we expect 
 relief by prayer, since sickness is the result of natural causes, 
 and God will not interpose to save us from the effects of nat- 
 ural evils, because that would be contrary to a fixed rule of 
 his government ? When dangers cluster around the good man 
 in the discharge of trying duties, it would be enthusiasm in 
 him to expect any special protection against his enemies, 
 though he pray ever so fervently, and trust in divine deliver- 
 ance with ever so much confidence. He must look to another 
 world for his reward, if called to suffer here. Nor has the 
 daringly wicked man any reason to fear that God will punish 
 his violations of the divine law by any unusual display of his 
 power ; not in any way, indeed, but by the evils which natu- 
 rally flow from a wicked life. In short, it will be useless to 
 pray for any blessing that requires the least interference with 
 natural laws, or for the removal of any evil which depends 
 upon those laws. And since our minds are controlled as 
 much by laws as the functions of our bodies, we are not to 
 expect any blessings in our souls, which require the least 
 infringement of intellectual laws. In fine, the effect of prayer 
 is limited almost entirely to its influence upon our own hearts, 
 in preparing them to receive with a proper spirit natural bless- 
 ings, and to bear aright natural evils ; to stimulate us to use 
 
346 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 with more diligence the means of avoiding or removing the 
 latter, and securing the former. 
 
 Not a few philosophers of distinction, and some theologians, 
 have adopted these views. Even Dr. Thomas Brown uses 
 the following language : '* It is quite evident that even Omnip- 
 otence, which cannot do what is contradictory, cannot com- 
 bine both advantages — the advantage of regular order in the 
 sequences of nature, and the advantages of a uniform adap- 
 tation of the particular circumstances of the individual. We 
 may take our choice, but we cannot think of a combination 
 of both ; and if, as is very obvious, the greater advantage be thai 
 of uniformity of operation, we must not complain of the evils 
 to which that very uniformity which we cannot fail to pre- 
 fer — if the option had been allowed us — has been the very 
 circumstance that gave rise." — Lecture 94. 
 
 " Science," says George Combe, " has banished from the 
 minds of profound thinkers belief in the exercise by the Deity, 
 in our day, of special acts of supernatural power, as a means 
 of influencing human affairs ; and it has presented a system- 
 atic order of nature, which man may study, comprehend, 
 and follow, as a guide to his practical conduct. Many edu- 
 cated laymen, and also a number of the clergy, have declined 
 to recognize fasts, humiliations, and prayers, as means adapted, 
 according to their views, to avert the recurrence of the evil, 
 [the potato blight.] Indeed, these observances, inasmuch as 
 they mislead the public mind with respect to its causes, are 
 regarded by such persons as positive evils." 
 
 " The most irreligious of all religious notions, as it seems 
 to us," says the North American Review, " is a belief in special 
 providences ; for if the doctrine has any weight at all, it is 
 gained at the expense of a general providence. To assume to 
 
SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OPPOSED. 347 
 
 detect God as nearer to us on same occasions is to put him 
 farther off from us on other occasions. To have him in special 
 incidents is to forget him in the common tenor of events. 
 The doctrine of special providences evidently has no other 
 foundation than this, that men think they can detect God's 
 purpose and presence more signally in some incidents than 
 in others ; so that the doctrine, after all, is only a compli- 
 ment to man's power of detection, instead of an acknowledg- 
 ment of God's special presence." 
 
 Such views and reasonings seem, upon a superficial exami- 
 nation, to be very plausible. But when we look into the 
 Bible, we cannot but see that the main drift of it is directly 
 opposed to such notions. That book does encourage man to 
 pray to God for the removal of evils of every kind ; evils as 
 much dependent upon natural laws as the daily course of the 
 sun through the heavens. It does teach us to look to God in 
 every trying situation for deliverance, if it is best for us to be 
 delivered. It does represent the wicked man as in danger 
 of special punishment. It exhibits a multitude of examples, 
 in which God has thus delivered those who trusted in him, 
 and punished those who violated his laws. 
 
 In every age, too, the most devotedly pious men have tes- 
 tified, that they have found deliverance and support in circum- 
 stances in which mere natural laws could afford them no 
 relief. Moreover, when men are brought into great peril or 
 suffering of any kind, they involuntarily cry to God for help. 
 When the vessel founders in the fury of the storm, the hard- 
 ened sailor employs that breath in ardent prayer which just 
 before had been poured out in blasphemies. And when the 
 widowed mother hears the tempest howling around her dwell- 
 ing at night, she cannot but pray for the protection of her 
 child upon the treacherous sea. When violent disease racks 
 
848 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 the frame, and we feel ourselves rapidly sinking into the 
 grave, it is scarcely in human nature to omit crying to God 
 with a feeling that he can save us. In short, it is a dictate 
 of nature to call upon God in times of trouble. Our reason* 
 mg about the constancy of nature, which appears to us while 
 in safety so clearly to show prayer for the removal of natural 
 evils to be useless, loses its power, and the feelings of the 
 heart triumph. It now becomes, therefore, an important prac- 
 tical question, which of these views of the providence of God 
 is correct. Is it those which our reasoning derives from the 
 constancy of nature, or those inspired by piety and the Bible ? 
 I have already said, that the subject of this lecture removes 
 all presumption against the latter view ; and I now proceed to 
 show how God can exercise a special providence over the 
 world, so as to meet the case of every individual, whether for 
 blessing or punishment, and that, too, without miracles. 
 
 Whoever believes that geology discloses stupendous mira- 
 cles of creation, at various epochs, will not doubt that all 
 presumption against miraculous agency at any other time is 
 thus removed. For we are thus shown that the law of mira- 
 cles forms a part of the divine plan in the government of the 
 world. But this does not prove the same to be the fact in 
 respect to a law of special providence. 
 
 It is indeed true that geology gives us no distinct examples 
 of special providence, in the sense which we have attached to 
 that term in the present lecture. But it does furnish a multi- 
 tude of instances in which changes of physical condition in 
 the earth were met by most wisely adapted changes of organic 
 nature. And even though these changes were the result of 
 miraculous agency, they disclose this principle of the divine 
 government, viz., that peculiarities of condition are to be met 
 by special arrangements, so that every exigency shall be 
 
SPECIAL PROVIDENCE, HOW BROUGHT ABOUT. 349 
 
 provided for in the manner infinite wisdom sees to be best. 
 Now, this principle constitutes the essence of special provi- 
 dence ; and, therefore, geology, in showing its past operation 
 in the world's early organic history, affords a presumption 
 that the same unchanging God may still employ it in his nat- 
 ural and moral government. 
 
 But does not this principle of special adaptation to indi- 
 vidual exigencies demand miraculous agency in all cases? 
 Can the wants of individuals be met in any other way than 
 by miracles, or by the ordinary and settled laws of nature ? 
 I maintain that there are other modes in which this can be 
 done ; in which, in fact, every case requiring special inter- 
 ference can be met exactly and fully. 
 
 This can he done, in the first place, hy a divine influence 
 exerted upon the human mind, unperceived hy the individual. 
 
 If it were perceived, it would constitute a miracle. But 
 can we doubt that the Author of mind should be able to influ- 
 ence it directly and indirectly, unperceived by the man so 
 acted upon ? Even man can do this to his fellow ; and shall 
 such a power be denied to God ? 
 
 Now, in many cases, — I do not say all, — it only needs 
 that the minds of others should be inclined to do so and so 
 towards a man, in order to place him in circumstances most 
 unlike those that would have surrounded him without such an 
 influence. Even the very elements, being to some extent 
 under human control, can thus be made subservient, or ad- 
 verse, to an individual ; and, indeed, by a change in the feel- 
 ings and conduct of others towards us, by an unseen influ- 
 ence upon their minds, our whole outward condition may be 
 changed. In this way, therefore, can God, in many instances, 
 confer blessings on the virtuous, or execute punishment upon 
 the wicked, or give special answers to special prayer ; and 
 30 
 
360 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 yet there shall be no miracle about it, nor even the slightest 
 violation of a law of matter or of mind. The result may 
 seem to us only the natural effect of those laws, and yet 
 the divine influence may have modified the effect to any 
 extent. 
 
 In the second place, God can so modify the second causes 
 of events out of our sigJU, as to cliange wholly, or in part, the 
 final result, and yet not disturb tlie usual order of nature 
 within sight, so that there shall be no miracle. 
 
 A miracle requires that the usual order of nature, as man 
 sees it, be interrupted, or some force superadded to her 
 agency. But if such change take place out of our sight, it 
 might not disturb that order within sight ; and, therefore, to 
 us it would be no miracle. 
 
 The mode in which this can be done depends upon the fact 
 that in nature we often find several causes, essential to produce 
 an eflTect, connected together, as it were, in a chain ; so that 
 each link depends upon that which precedes it. Thus the powei 
 of vision depends upon the optic nerve, in the bottom of the eye. 
 But this would be useless, were not the coats and humors of 
 the eye of a certain consistence and curvature, in order to 
 bring the rays together to form an image on the retina. 
 Again, these coats and humors depend upon light, and light 
 depends for its transmission, probably, upon that exceedingly 
 elastic medium called the luminiferous ether. This is as far 
 back as we can trace the series of causes concerned in pro- 
 ducing vision. And yet this elastic ether may depend upon 
 something else, and this cause of the movement of the ether 
 upon another cause ; and we know not how long the chain 
 may be before we reach the great First Cause. Now, if any 
 one of this series of second causes be modified, tlie effect 
 will be a modification of the final result. This supposed 
 
CAUSES OUT OF SIGHT CHANGED. 351 
 
 modification may take place in that part of the chain of 
 causes within our view, or in that part concealed from us. If 
 it took place within sight, it would constitute a miracle ; be- 
 cause the regular sequence of cause and effect would be 
 broken off, or an unnatural power be imparted to the cause 
 producing the ultimate effect. If the modification took place 
 in that part of the chain of second causes out of our sight, 
 the final effect would be no miracle ; because it would be 
 brought about by natural laws, and these would perfectly ex- 
 plain it. Nevertheless, this ultimate effect would be different 
 from what it would be if God had not touched and modified 
 that link of causation which lies out of our sight, back among 
 the secret agencies of his will. And I see not but in this 
 way he might modify the ultimate effect as much as he 
 pleased, and still preserve the unvarying constancy of nature. 
 For in all these cases we should see only the links of the 
 chain of causes nearest to us; and, provided they operated in 
 their usual order, how could we know that au ' change had 
 taken place in the region beyond our knowledge ? If the 
 whole chain of causation were open to our inspection, then, 
 indeed, would the transaction be an obvious miracle; but 
 now we see nothing but the unchanging operation of natu- 
 ral laws. 
 
 To illustrate this principle, let us imagine a few examples. 
 Suppose the land visited by drought, and its pious inhabitants 
 assemble to pray for rain. We know very well that the 
 causes on which a storm of rain depend are very compli- 
 cated. How easy for the divine Being, in answer to those 
 prayers, to modify one or more of these secret agencies of 
 meteorological change, that are concealed from our sight, so 
 as to bring together the vapors over the land and condense 
 them into rain ! And yet that storm shall have nothing about 
 
352 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCB. 
 
 it unusual, and it results from the same laws which we have 
 before seen to be in operation. Still, it may have been the 
 result of a special agency exerted by Jehovah in answer to 
 prayer, yet in such a manner that no known law of nature is 
 infringed upon, or even rendered more powerful in its action. 
 
 Equally intricate and complicated are the causes of dis- 
 ease, and especially of those pestilences that sometimes 
 march over a whole continent, with the angel of death in 
 their train ; and alike easy is it for God, in answer to earnest 
 prayer, to avert their progress, or to cripple their power, or 
 turn them aside from a particular district, without the least 
 interference with the visible connection of cause and effect. 
 
 The beloved father of a family lies upon a bed of sickness, 
 and disease is fast gaining upon the powers of life. His nu- 
 merous and desolate family, in spite of the cold suggestion 
 that it will be of no avail, will earnestly beseech the Being in 
 whose hands is the power of disease, to arrest the fatal mal- 
 ady. And could not their Father in heaven, in the way 1 
 have pointed out, give them their request, and yet their 
 parent's recovery be the natural result of careful nursing and 
 medical skill ? imposing, however, upon that family as great 
 an obligation as if a manifest miracle had been wrought to 
 save him. 
 
 The widow's only son, in spite of her counsels and en- 
 treaties, becomes a vagabond upon the seas, and, at length, 
 one of the crew of the battle ship. The perils of the deep 
 and of vicious companions are enough to make that widow a 
 daily and most earnest suppliant at the mercy-seat of her 
 heavenly Father, for his protection and salvation. But, at 
 length, war breaks out, and the perils of battle render his fate 
 more doubtful. Still, faith in God buoys up her heart, and 
 she cannot abandon the hope of yet seeing her son returnedi 
 
SPECIAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 353 
 
 reformed, and becoming a useful man. And at length, res- 
 cued from the storm and shipwreck, and the carnage of bat- 
 tle, and the yet more dangerous snares of sin, that youth 
 returns, a renovated man, and cheers that mother's setting 
 sun by an eminently useful life. Now, all this may have 
 happened simply by the operation of natu'*al laws But it 
 may also have been the result of divine interference in answer 
 to prayer ; and hard will you find it to convince that rejoicing 
 mother that the hand of God's extraordinary providence was 
 not in it. 
 
 The devoted missionary, at the promptings of a voice 
 within, quits a land of safety and peace, and finds himself in 
 the midst of dangers and sufferings of almost every name ; 
 in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils in the 
 city, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness, in watchings 
 often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
 nakedness. The furnace of persecution is heated, and he 
 performs his duties with his life constantly in his hand. But 
 he uses no weapon save faith and prayer. He feels that " he 
 is immortal till his work is done." And, in fact, he outlives 
 all his dangers, and, in venerable old age, surrounded by the 
 fruits of his labor, — a reformed and affectionate people, — 
 he passes quietly into the abodes of the blessed. Here, 
 again, why should we hesitate to refer his protection and de- 
 liverance to the special interposition of his heavenly Father, 
 in the manner I have pointed out } 
 
 On the other hand, the history of dreadfully wicked men 
 is full of terrible examples of calamity and suffering, as the 
 consequence of their sins. True, the evil came upon them 
 apparently by the operation of natural laws ; but shall we 
 hence infer that God in no case has ^ modified these laws, 
 by an agency among the hidden causes of events, as to make 
 30* 
 
354 SPECIAL AND MIRACirLOITS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 the result certain ? He certainly could do this ; and to say 
 that he never ha^ done it, is to remove one of the most power- 
 ful restraints that operate upon the wicked. 
 
 In several examples recorded in the Bible, both of deliver- 
 ance for the virtuous and of punishment for the wicked, so 
 many natural agencies are concerned, that we are left in 
 doubt whether the events are to be regarded as miraculous 
 or not. Let the deluge, the destruction of Sodom, and the 
 passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, serve as exam- 
 ples. In the first, we find the flood imputed to a forty days' 
 rain and the overflowing of the ocean ; and its reduction to a 
 wind. In the destruction of the cities of the plain, the phe- 
 nomena described correspond very well with the effects of 
 volcanic agency ; and we find accordingly that the region 
 where those cities stood shows marks of that agency. In 
 the passage of the Red Sea, the removal of the waters, to 
 allow the Israelites to pass, is imputed to a strong east wind 
 all night. Nevertheless, the pillar of a cloud by day and the 
 pillar of fire by night were a manifest and standing miracle 
 in this transaction. 
 
 Now, may it not be that, in all these cases, so far as natu- 
 ral agencies were concerned, they were made to conspire 
 with the miraculous in the manner which I have described, 
 viz., by such a modification of some of the remote causes by 
 which they were brought into action, as exactly to answer 
 the divine purpose in the catastrophe of the deluge, of Sodom, 
 and in the passage of the Red Sea ? 
 
 A third mode by which the purposes of special providence 
 can be brought about without miracles is by such an adjust- 
 ment of the direct and lateral influences on which events de- 
 pend^ that the time and manner of their occurrence shall ex» 
 actly meet every exigency. 
 
DIRECT AND LATERAL INFLUENCES. 355 
 
 Although it expresses a truth to represent the second 
 causes of events as constituting the links of a chain, it is not 
 the whole truth. For, in fact, those causes are connected 
 together in the form of a network, or, more exactly still, by 
 a sphere filled with interlocked meshes ; or, to speak more 
 mathematically, the forces by which events are produced are 
 both direct and indirect. It would be easy to calculate the 
 effect of a single direct force ; but if, in its progress, it meets 
 with a multitude of oblique impulses, striking it at every pos- 
 sible angle, what human mathematics can make out the final 
 resultant > Yet, in fact, such is the history of almost every 
 event. The lateral influences, which meet and modify the 
 direct force, are so numerous, and unexpected often, that 
 men are amazed at the result, sometimes as unexpected as a 
 miracle. " When an individual," says Isaac Taylor, " receives 
 an answer to his prayer, the interposition may be made, not 
 in the line which he himself is describing, but in one of those 
 which are to meet him on his path ; and at a point, therefore, 
 where, even though the visible constancy of nature should be 
 violated, yet, as being at the time beyond the sphere of his 
 observation, it is a violation not visible to him." " And herein 
 is especially manifested the perfection of divine wisdom, that 
 the most surprising conjunctions of events are brought about 
 by the simplest means, and in a manner that is perfectly 
 in harmony with the ordinary course of human affairs. This 
 is, in fact, the great miracle of providence, that no miracles 
 are needed to accomplish its purposes." — Nat. History of 
 Enthusiasm, p. 128. 
 
 This complication of causes does not merely give variety 
 to the works and operations of nature, but it enables God to 
 produce effects which could never have resulted from each 
 law acting singly ; nor is there a scarcely conceivable limit to 
 
356 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 these modifications. Indeed, in this way can Providence 
 accomplish all his beneficent purposes, and meet every indi- 
 vidual case, just as infinite wisdom would have it met. " By 
 this agency," says M'Cosh, *' God can at one time increase, 
 and at another time lessen, or completely nullify, the spoDta> 
 neous efforts of the fixed properties of matter. Now he can 
 make the most powerful agents in nature — such as wind, 
 fire, and disease — coincide and cooperate to produce effects 
 of such a tremendous magnitude as none of them separately 
 could accomplish ; and again, he can arrest their influence 
 by counteracting agencies, or, rather, by making them coun- 
 teract each other. He can, for instance, by a concurrence 
 of natural laws, bring a person, who is in the enjoyment of 
 health at present, to the very borders of death, an hour or an 
 instant hence ; and he can, by a like means, suddenly restore 
 the same or another individual to health, after he has been on 
 the very verge of the grave. By the confluence of two or 
 more streams, he can bring agencies of tremendous potency 
 to bear upon the production of a given effect, such as a war, 
 a pestilence, or a revolution; and, on the other hand, by 
 drawing aside the stream into another channel, he can arrest, 
 at any given instant, the awful effects that would otherwise 
 follow from these agencies, and save an individual, a family, 
 or a nation, from the evils which seem ready to burst upon 
 them. 
 
 " Guided by these principles and guarded by sound sense, 
 the inquiring mind will discover many and wonderful designed 
 connections between the various events of divine providence. 
 Read in the spirit of faith, striking coincidences will every 
 where manifest themselves. What singular unions cf two 
 streams at the proper place to help on the exertions of the 
 great and good ! What curious intersections of cords to 
 
THE ORIGINAL PLAN OF THE UNIVERSE. 357 
 
 catc'n the wicked as in a net, when they are prowling as wild 
 beasts ! By strange but most apposite correspondences, 
 human strength, when set against the will of God, is made to 
 waste away under God's indignation burning against it, as, in 
 heathen story, Meleager wasted away as the stick burned 
 which his mother held in the fire." — Method of the Divine 
 Government^ pp. 176, 203. 
 
 In many cases, the lateral streams of influence that flow in 
 and bring unexpected relief to the pious man, and unexpect- 
 ed punishment to the wicked, or a marked answer to prayer, 
 seem to the individuals little short of miraculous. Yet, after 
 all, they can see no violation of the natural order of cause 
 and effect. But the wonder is, how the modifying influence 
 should come in just at the right moment. It may, indeed, have 
 received a commission to do this very thing from the imme- 
 diate impulse of Jehovah ; yet, being unperceived by us, it is 
 no miracle. Or the whole plan may have been so arranged 
 at the beginning that its development will meet every case 
 of special providence exactly. Which of these views may 
 be most accordant with truth, may admit of discussion. Yet 
 we think that all the modes that have been pointed out, by 
 which miraculous and special providences are brought about, 
 may be referred to one general proposition, which we now 
 proceed to state. 
 
 In the fourth place, the plan of the universe in the divine 
 mind, at the beginning, must have embraced every case of 
 miracles and of special providence. 
 
 From the nature of the divine attributes we infer with cer- 
 tainty that every event occurring in the universe must have 
 entered into the original plan of creation in the mind of God. 
 Surely no one will deny that he must have foreseen the 
 
358 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 operation of every law which he established, and, consequently 
 every event which it would produce. But there must be 
 some ground for foreknowledge to rest upon ; otherwise it is 
 conjecture, not knowledge. And what could that basis be 
 but the divine plan ? 
 
 Equally clear is it that, whatever plans existed in the mind 
 of God, when he brought the universe into existence, must 
 always have been there. For to suppose that there was a 
 point of duration when the plan was first conceived, would 
 imply new knowledge in one confessedly omniscient; and that 
 destroys the idea of omniscience. 
 
 Similar reasoning from the nature of the divine attributes 
 leads us to the conclusion that God always acts according to 
 law. That he does this in the ordinary operations of nature, 
 all admit. But even when he introduces a miracle, — per- 
 haps by a counteraction of ordinary laws, — he may still act 
 by some rule ; so that, were precisely the same circum- 
 stances to occur again, the same miracle would be repeated. 
 Beforehand, we could not say whether God would conduct 
 the affairs of the universe by one unvarying system of natu- 
 ral laws, or occasionally interfere with the regular sequence 
 of cause and effect by miracle. But though the latter course 
 should be adopted, as we have reason to think it is, even the 
 special interference must be according to law ; so that, in 
 fact, ;here is a law of miracles as well as of common events. 
 Again, if God sometimes alters one or more of the links out 
 of sight, in a chain of second causes, in order to meet a 
 providential exigency, or if he modifies for the same pur- 
 pose some of the oblique influences by which events are 
 affected, all this must be done by rule ; that is, by law. In- 
 deed, to suppose him ever to act without law, is to represent 
 
ALL EVENTS FORESEEN. 
 
 him as less wise than men, who, if judicious, are always 
 governed by settled principles, which produce the same 
 conduct in the same circumstances. 
 
 From this reasoning we may safely infer two things ; 
 first, that the laws regulating miracles and special provi- 
 dences are as fixed and certain as those of ordinary events ; 
 and secondly, that those laws must have formed a part of 
 the plan of creation originally existing in the divine mind. 
 And hence, thirdly, we must admit that every case of miracle 
 and special providence must have entered into that plan. 
 
 When he formed it, he foresaw every possible event that 
 would result from its operation to the end of the world. He 
 saw distinctly the condition of every individual of the human 
 family, from the beginning to the close of Hfe ; all his dan- 
 gers and trials, his sufferings and his sins ; and he knew 
 just when and where every prayer would be offered up. Nor 
 can it be any more doubtful that, with infinite wisdom to 
 guide him, and infinite power to execute his will, God could 
 so have arranged and constituted the laws of nature, as to 
 meet exactly every case that should ever occur, just in the 
 way he would wish to have it met. Those laws might have 
 been so framed and disposed that, after running on in one 
 unvarying course for ages, a new one might come in, or the 
 old ones be modified, and at once produce eflfects quite differ- 
 ent, and then the first laws resume again their usual course. 
 And the new or modified law might be made to produce its 
 extraordinary or peculiar effects just at the moment when 
 some miracle or special providence would be needed. Thus 
 what would be to us a special or miraculous interposition of 
 divine power, might be the foreseen and foreordained result 
 of God's original purpose. And if we can conceive how 
 such an effect could be produced once, we cannot doubt tha 
 
360 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PBOVIDENCE. 
 
 infinite wisdom and power could in like manner meet every 
 possible case in which what we call special and miraculous 
 providence would be needed. With our limited powers, we 
 are obliged, after constructing a complicated machine, to put 
 it into operation before we can judge certainly of its effects ; 
 and then, if our wishes are not met, we must alter the parts, 
 or in some other way meet the new cases that occur ; and 
 hence we find it difficult to conceive how it can be otherwise 
 with God. But he saw the operation of the vast machine of 
 the universe just as clearly at the beginning as at any subse- 
 quent period. He, therefore, can do at the beginning what 
 we can do only after experience, viz., adapt the parts to every 
 variety of circumstances. 
 
 If I mistake not, we are indebted to Bishop Butler for the 
 germ of these views ; but Professor Babbage has illustrated 
 them by reference to an extraordinary machine of his own 
 invention, called *' The Calculating Engine." It is adapted 
 jo perform the most extensive and complicated numerical cal- 
 culations, of course with absolute certainty, because its parts 
 are arranged by certain laws. And he finds that precisely 
 such effects, on a small scale, can be produced by this ma- 
 chine, as have been imputed above to the divine agency in 
 creation. It is moved by a weight and a wheel which turns 
 at a short interval around its axis, and prints a series of natu- 
 ral numbers, — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c., — each exceeding its ante- 
 cedent by unity. " Now, reader, let me ask you," says Pro- 
 fessor Babbage, " how long you will have counted before you 
 are firmly convinced that the engine, supposing its adjustments 
 to remain unaltered, will continue, whilst its motion is main- 
 tained, to produce the same series of natural numbers. Some 
 minds, perhaps, are so constituted that, after passing the first 
 hundred terms, they will be satisfied that they are acquainted 
 
THE CALCULATING MACHINE. 361 
 
 With the law. After seeing five hundred terms, few will doubt ; 
 and after the fifty thousandth term, the propensity to believe 
 the succeeding term will be fifty thousand and one, wi.l be 
 almost irresistible. That term will be fifty thousand and one ; 
 the same regular succession will continue ; the five millionth 
 and the fifty millionth term will appear in their expected 
 order, and one unbroken chain of numbers will pass be- 
 fore you, from one up to one hundred millions. True to 
 the vast induction which has thus been made, the next suc- 
 ceeding term will be one hundred millions and one ; but after 
 that, the next number presented by the rim of the wheel, in- 
 stead of being one hundred millions and two, is one hundred 
 millions ten thousand and two. 
 
 " The law which seemed to govern this series fails at the one 
 hundred million and second term. That term is larger than 
 we expected by ten thousand. The next term is larger than 
 was anticipated by thirty thousand. If we still continue to 
 observe the numbers presented by the wheel, we shall find 
 that for a hundred, or even for a thousand terms, they con- 
 tinue to follow the new law relating to the triangular num- 
 bers ; but after watching them for twenty-seven hundred and 
 sixty-one terms, we find that this law fails in the case of the 
 twenty -seven hundred and sixty-second term. If we con- 
 tinue to observe, another law then comes into action. This 
 will continue through fourteen hundred and thirty terms, when 
 a new law is again introduced, which extends over about nine 
 hundred and fifty terms ; and this, too, like all its predeces- 
 sors, fails, and gives place to other laws, which appear at 
 different intervals. It is also possible so to arrange the engine, 
 hat at any periods, however remote, the first law shall be 
 interrupted for one or more times, and be superseded by any 
 31 
 
S62 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 Other laws, after which the original law shall be again pro- 
 duced, and no other deviation shall ever take place. 
 
 " Now, it must be remarked that the law that each number 
 presented by the engine is greater by unity than the pre- 
 ceding number, which law the observer had deduced from an 
 induction of a hundred million of instances, was not the true 
 law that regulated its action ; and that the occurrence of the 
 number one hundred million ten thousand and two at the one 
 hundred million and second term was as necessary a conse- 
 quence of the original adjustment as was the regular succes- 
 sion of any one of the intermediate numbers to its immediate 
 antecedent. The same remark applies to the next apparent 
 deviation from the new law, which was founded on an induc- 
 tion of two thousand seven hundred and sixty-one terms ; and 
 to all the succeeding laws, with this limitation only, that whilst 
 their consecutive introduction at various definite intervals is a 
 necessary consequence of the mechanical structure of the 
 engine, our knowledge of analysis does not yet enable us to 
 predict the periods at which the more distant laws will be 
 introduced." — Ninth Bridgewater Treatise. 
 
 The application of these statements to the doctrine of special 
 as well as of miraculous providence is very obvious. If 
 human ingenuity can construct a machine which shall exhibit 
 the introduction of new laws, after the old ones had been 
 established by an induction of a hundred million of examples, 
 and these new ones be succeeded by others, how much easier 
 for the infinite God to construct the vast and more compli- 
 cated machine of the universe, so that new laws, or modifi- 
 cations of the old ones, shall be introduced at various periods 
 of its history, to meet every exigency ! How easy for him so 
 to adjust this machine at the beginning, that the new laws and 
 
OBJECnONS CONSIDERED. Bff 
 
 new modes of action should be introduced, precisely at those 
 points where a special providence would be desirable, to 
 reward the virtuous and to punish the wicked, and then the 
 old law again assume its dominion ! And how easily, in this 
 way, could the case of every individual be met, from the 
 beginning to the end of the world ! I mean, how easy would 
 this work be to infinite wisdom and power ! 
 
 But if all events, miraculous as well as common, may de- 
 pend upon unbending law, how does such a view differ from 
 the one I am now opposing, viz., that the constancy of nature's 
 laws precludes the idea of any special interference on the 
 part of God, in human affairs ? The main point of difference, 
 I reply, is, that the advocates of the latter view will not admit 
 any such thing at the present day as special interference, on 
 the part of the Deity, with nature. They admit only uniform 
 and ordinary laws, which they suppose are never interrupted. 
 This I deny ; and endeavor to show, not only that the contrary 
 may be a fact, but that God purposed it originally, and deter- 
 mined the laws by which it might be accomplished. The fact 
 that he did this beforehand, even from eternity, no more pre- 
 cludes his agency, than the special interference of a father to 
 help his child through a dangerous pass is disproved, because 
 he foresaw the danger and provided the means of defence even 
 before the child was born. If the father was actually with 
 the child, as he went through the danger, and held out to him 
 the requisite help, what difference could it make, though the 
 father purposed to do so a long time previously ? And if we 
 admit that God's efficiency alone gives power to the ordinary 
 laws of nature, we shall admit that in every special law he is 
 as really present with his energy, as a father who should lead 
 his child by the hand through the dangerous path. So that, 
 practically at least, the difference between these two views of 
 
864 SPECIAL AND MIRACtTLOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 the subject is very great ; the one removing God far away, 
 and putting law in his place ; and the other bringing him 
 near, and making him the actual and constant agent in every 
 event. The one view is practical atheism, although often 
 adopted by religious men ; the other is practical Christianity. 
 
 By the principles of physical science, then, the scriptural 
 doctrines of miraculous and special providence are proved to 
 be in accordance with philosophy. The miracles of rev- 
 elation are shown to have been preceded by the miracles of 
 geology ; and are, therefore, in conformity with the princi- 
 ples of the divine government. The modifications which God 
 can make in the causes of events out of human view, or the 
 changes which he can produce by lateral influences upon the 
 final result, — all, it may be, in conformity to an eternal 
 plan, reaching the minutest of human affairs, — enable him to 
 execute every purpose of special providence so as to satisfy 
 every exigency. 
 
 The sceptic may say, that we cannot prove by facts that 
 God does so modify and arrange the laws and operations of 
 nature as to adapt his dealings to the case of individuals. But, 
 on the other hand, neither can he show that God does not 
 thus interfere with nature's uniformity. It is enough to show 
 that he can do it without a miracle, in order to establish the 
 doctrine of special providence. How often he exercises this 
 power, we cannot know ; but we may be sure as often as is 
 desirable. 
 
 A most important application of these principles may be 
 made to the subject of prayer. For in answering prayer, 
 God is, in fact, merely executing some of the purposes of hia 
 special providence ; and it is gratifying to the pious heart to 
 see how he can give an answer to the humblest petitioner. 
 No matter though all the laws of nature seem in the way of an 
 
PERVERSION OF THE TRUTH. 365 
 
 answer, — God can so modify their action as to conform them 
 to the case of every petitioner. War, famine, and pestilence 
 may all be upon us, yet humble prayer may turn them all 
 aside, and every other physical evil ; and that without a mir- 
 acle, if best for us and for the universe. Tell a man that the 
 only effect of prayer is its reflex influence upon himself, in 
 leading him to conform more strictly to nature's laws, and 
 you send a paralysis and a death chill into all his moral sen- 
 sibilities. Indeed, he cannot pray ; but tell him that God will 
 be influenced, as is any earthly friend, by his supplications, 
 and his heart beats full and strong, the current of life goes 
 bounding through his whole system, the glow of health man- 
 tles his cheek, and all his senses are roused into intense and 
 delightful action. 
 
 The sad influence of a perversion and misunderstanding of 
 the doctrine of nature's constancy upon the youthful mind is 
 well exhibited by a late able writer. " Early trained to it 
 under the domestic roof," says M'Cosh, " the person regu- 
 larly engaged in prayer during childhood and opening man- 
 hood. But as he became introduced to general society, and 
 began to feel his independence of the guardians of his youth, 
 he was tempted to look upon the father's commands, in this 
 respect, as proceeding from sourness and sternness, and the 
 mother's advice as originating in an amiable weakness and 
 timidity. He is now careless in the performance of acta 
 which in time past had been punctually attended to. How 
 short, how hurried, how cold are the prayers which he now 
 utters ! Then there come to be mornings on which he is 
 snatched away to some very important or enticing work with- 
 out engaging in his customary devotions. There are evenings, 
 too, following days of mad excitement or sinful pleasure, in 
 which he feels utterly indisposed to go into the presence of 
 31* 
 
366 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 God, and to be left aloue with him. He feels that there is an 
 utter incongruity between the ball-room, or the theatre, which 
 he has just left, and the throne of grace, to which he should 
 now go. What can he say to God, when he would pray to 
 him r Confess his sins ? No ; he does not at present feel 
 the act to be sinful. Thank God for giving him access to 
 such follies ? He has his doubts whether God approves of all 
 that has been done. But he may ask God's blessing ? No ; 
 he is scarcely disposed to acknowledge that he needs a bless- 
 ing, or he doubts whether the blessing would be given. The 
 practical conclusion to which he comes is, that it may be as 
 consistent in him to betake himself to sleep without offering 
 to God what he feels would only be a mockery. What is he 
 to do the following morning ? It is a critical time. Confess 
 his error ? No ; cherishing as he does the recollection of the 
 gay scene in which he mingled, and with the taste and relish 
 of it yet upon his palate, he is not prepared to acknowledge 
 his folly. Morning and evening now go and return, and bring 
 new gifts from God, and new manifestations of his goodness; 
 but no acknowledgment of the divine bounty on the part of 
 him who is yet ever receiving it. No doubt there are times 
 when he is prompted to prayer by powerful feelings, called 
 up by outward trials or inward convictions ; but ever when 
 the storms of human life would drive him to the shore, there 
 is a tide beating him back. His course continues to be a very 
 vacillating one — now seeming to approach to God, and anon 
 driven farther from him, till he obtains from books, or from 
 lectures, a smattering of half-understood science. He now 
 learns that all things are governed by laws, regular and fixed, 
 over which the breath of prayer can exert as little influence, 
 as they move on in their allotted course, as the passing breeze 
 of the earth over tiie sun in his circuit. False philosophy has 
 
WANT OF CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER. S67 
 
 now come to the aid of guilty feelings, and hardens their cold 
 waters into an icicle lying at his very heart, cooling all his 
 ardor, and damping all his enthusiasm. He looks back, at 
 times, no doubt, to the simple faith of his childhood with a 
 sigh ; but it is as to a pleasing dream, or illusion, from which 
 he has been awakened, and into which, the spell being broken, 
 he can never again fall." — Method of the Divine Govern- 
 ment, p. 224. 
 
 O, what a change would this world exhibit, were the whole 
 Christian church to exercise full faith in God's ability to an- 
 swer prayer without a miracle, only to the extent pointed out 
 by philosophy, to say nothing of the Bible ; for, in fact, a 
 large proportion of that church, confounded by the specious ar- 
 gument derived from nature's constancy, have virtually yielded 
 this most important principle to the demands of scepticism. 
 When natural evils, such as war, famine, drought, and pesti- 
 lence, came upon our forefathers, they, taking the Bible for 
 their guide, observed days of fasting and prayer for their 
 removal. But how seldom do their descendants follow their ex- 
 ample ! And yet even physical science testifies that the fathers 
 icted in conformity to the true principles of philosophy. 
 Would that the Christian church would consent to be led back 
 to the Bible doctrine on this subject by philosophy. 
 
 That same philosophy, also, should lead the good man, 
 when struggling through difficulties, to exercise unshaken 
 confidence in the divine protection, even though all nature's 
 laws seem arrayed against him ; for at the unseen touch of 
 God's efficiency, the iron bars of law shall melt away like 
 wax, and deliverance be given in the midst of appalling dan- 
 gers, if best for the man and for the universe ; and if not best, 
 he will not desire it. 
 
 Science, too, bids the wicked man not to fancy that the 
 
368 SPECIAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 constancy of nature will shield him from the infliction of 
 merited and special punishment, should (lod choose to make 
 bare the rod of his justice ; for the blow may come as cei- 
 tainly in the course of nature as against it. 
 
 Let modern Christian theology, then, receive meekly the re- 
 buke administered on this important point by physical science. 
 For how lame and halting a defence of the Scripture doctrine 
 of special providence and prayer has that theology been able to 
 make ! How few of our systems of theology contain a man- 
 ful vindication of truths so important ! Let not the Christian 
 divine, therefore, refuse the aid thus offered by physical sci- 
 ence. Let him no longer indulge groundless jealousies against 
 true philosophy, as if adverse to religion. Especially let him 
 not spurn the aid of geology, which alone, of all the sciences, 
 discloses stupendous miracles of creation in early times, and 
 thus removes all presumption against the miracles of Chris- 
 tianity and special providence at any time. 
 
 It is, indeed, an instructive fact, that a science which has 
 been thought so full of danger to Christianity should thus 
 early be found vindicating some of the most peculiar and 
 long-contested doctrines of revelation. And yet it ought not 
 to surprise us, for geology is as really the work of God as 
 revelation. And though, when ill understood and perverted, 
 she may have seemed recreant to her celestial origin, yet the 
 more fully her proportions are developed, and her features 
 brought into daylight, the more clearly do we recognize hei 
 alliance to every thing pure and noble in the universe. " And 
 surely," says a late writer, " it must be gratifying thus to see 
 a science, formerly classed, and not perhaps unjustly, amongst 
 the most pernicious to faith, once more become her hand- 
 maid ; to see her now, after so many years of wandering from 
 theory to theory, or rather from vision to vision, return once 
 
GEOLOGY THE HANDMAID OF CHRISTIANITY. 369 
 
 more to the home where she was born, and to the altar at 
 which she made her first simple offerings ; no longer, as she 
 first went forth, a wilful, dreamy, empty-handed child, but 
 with a matronly dignity, and a priest-like step, and a bosom 
 full of well-earned gifts, to pile upon its sacred hearth. For 
 it was religion which gave geology birth, and to the sanctuary 
 she hath once more returned." — Wiseman^s Lectures on 
 Science and Revealed Religion^ p. 192, Am. ed 
 
(370) 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 THE FUTUEE CONDITION AND DESTINY OF THE 
 EARTg;^ 
 
 Man has a stronger desire to penetrate the future than the 
 past. And yet the details of most future events are wisely 
 concealed from him. There are two, and only two, sources 
 of evidence from which he can obtain some glimpses of 
 what will be hereafter. The one is revelation, the other 
 analogy. So far as God has thought proper to reveal the fu- 
 ture, our information is precise and certain. But it does not 
 embrace a multitude of events about which we have strong 
 curiosity. By analogy is meant a prediction of the future 
 from the past. On the principle that nature is constant, we 
 infer what will be from what has been. If, however, new 
 laws are hereafter to come into operation, or if present agen- 
 cies will then operate very differently from what they now 
 do, it is obvious that analogy can be only an imperfect guide 
 Still, in respect to many important events, its conclusions are 
 infallible. Judging, for instance, from the past, we are abso- 
 lutely certain that no living thing will escape the great 
 law of dissolution, which, thus far, apart from the few ex- 
 ceptions made known to us by revelation, has been uni- 
 versal. 
 
 The future changes in the condition of the earth, as they 
 are taught us by revelation and analogy, or, rather, by geolo- 
 gy, will form the subject of my present lecture. And my 
 
FUTURE CHANGES IN THE EARTH's CONDITION. 371 
 
 first object will be, to ascertain, if possible, precisely what 
 the Bible teaches us concerning these changes. 
 
 We find in the Scriptures several descriptions, more or less 
 definite, of the changes which this globe will hereafter under 
 go. Some of them, however, are couched in the figurative 
 language of prophecy, and others are incidental allusions ; 
 and concerning the precise meaning of such descriptions, 
 there will, of course, be a diversity of opinion. 
 
 There are, however, some passages on this subject as lit- 
 eral and as precise in their meaning as language can be. 
 Now, it is one of the rules for interpreting language, that, 
 where a work contains several accounts of the same event, 
 the description which is most simple and literal ought to be 
 made the index for obtaining the meaning of those passages 
 which are figurative, or, on any account, obscure. I shall, 
 therefore, select the passage of Scripture which all acknowl- 
 edge to be most plain and definite, respecting the future de- 
 struction of the earth, and the new heavens and earth that are 
 to succeed, and first inquire into its precise meaning; after 
 which, we shall be better prepared to ascertain what modi- 
 fication of that meaning other passages of sacred writ 
 demand. 
 
 It needs but a cursory examination of the Bible to convince 
 any one that the description in the Second Epistle of Peter 
 of the future destruction and renovation of the earth and 
 heavens, is eminently the passage first to be examined, be- 
 cause the fullest and clearest on this subject. It is the apos- 
 tle's object directly and literally to describe these great 
 changes, apart from all embellishments of language. 
 
 There shall come, says he, in the last days, scoffers, walk 
 ing after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise 
 of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things 
 
372 THE FTTTTmE CONDITION OF THE EAETH. 
 
 continue as they were from the beginning of the creation 
 For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of 
 God the heavens were of old^ and the earth standing out of 
 the water and in the water ; whereby the world that then 
 toas^ being overflowed with water, perished. But the heaven* 
 and the earthy which are now, by the same word are kept in 
 store, reserved unto flre, against the day of judgment, and 
 perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of 
 this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand 
 years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not 
 slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, 
 but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should 
 perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day 
 of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which 
 the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the ele- 
 ments shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth, also, and the 
 works that are therein, shall be burned up. Seeing, then, 
 that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of per- 
 sons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness 7 
 Looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, 
 wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the 
 elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, ac- 
 cording to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 
 
 It would require too much time, and, moreover, is not 
 necessary to the object I have in view, to enter into minute 
 verbal criticism upon this passage. I will only remark that 
 the phrase translated the earth and the works thai are therein, 
 might with equal propriety be rendered " the earth and the 
 works that are thereon ; " and yet the difference of meaning 
 between the two modes of expression is of no great impor- 
 tance. Again, by the term heavens, in this passage, we are 
 
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH r 373 
 
 evidently to understand the atmosphere, or region immediate- 
 ly surrounding the earth ; as in the first chapter of Genesis 
 where it is said that God called the firmament heavens ; the 
 plural form being used in the Hebrew, though not in the Eng- 
 lish translation. 
 
 What, now, by a fair exegesis, is taught in this passage 
 concerning the destruction and renovation of the world ? 
 The following train of remark may conduct us to the true 
 answer to this inquiry : — 
 
 In the first place, this passage is to be understood literally. 
 It would seem as if it could hardly be necessary to present 
 any formal proof of this position to any person of common 
 sense, who had read the passage. But the fact is, that men 
 of no mean reputation as commentators have maintained that 
 the whole of it is only a vivid figurative prophecy of the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem. Others suppose the new heavens 
 and new earth here described to exist before the conflagration 
 of the world. But these new heavens and earth are repre- 
 sented as the residence of the righteous, after the burning 
 and melting of the earth, which, according to other parts of 
 Scripture, is to take place at the end of the world, or at the 
 general judgment. How strange that, in order to sustain a 
 favorite theory, able men should thus invert the obvious order 
 of these great events, so clearly described in the Bible ! 
 Still more absurd is it to attempt to fasten a figurative charac- 
 ter upon this most simple statement of inspiration. It is, 
 indeed, true, that the prophets have sometimes set forth great 
 political and moral changes, the downfall of empires, or of 
 distinguished men, by the destruction of the heavens and the 
 earth, and the growing pale and darkening of the sun and 
 moon. But in all these cases the figurative character of the 
 description is most obvious ; while in the passage from Peter 
 32 
 
374 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 its literal character is equally obvious. Take, for examplci 
 this statement — By tlie word of God the heavens were of 
 oldj and the earth, standing out of the water and in the water ; 
 whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, 
 perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by 
 the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against 
 the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 
 
 I believe no one has ever doubted that the destruction of 
 the world by water, here described, refers to Noah's deluge. 
 Now, how absurd to admit that this is a literal description of 
 that event, and then to maintain the remainder of the sen- 
 tence, which declares the future destruction of that same 
 world by fire, to be figurative in the highest degree ! For if 
 this destruction mean only the destruction of Jerusalem, or 
 any other great political or moral revolution, the language is 
 one of the boldest figures which can be framed. Who, that 
 knows any thing of the laws of language, does not see the 
 supreme absurdity of thus coupling in the same sentence the 
 most simple and certain literality with the strongest of all 
 figures ? What mark is given us, by which we may know 
 where the boundary is between the literal and the metaphor- 
 ical sense ? From what part of the Bible, or from what un- 
 inspired author, can a parallel example be adduced ? What 
 but the strongest necessity, the most decided exigentia loci, 
 would justify such an anomalous interpretation of any author ? 
 Nay, I do not believe any necessity could justify it. It would 
 be more reasonable to infer that the passage had no meaning, 
 or an absurd one. But surely no such necessity exists in the 
 present case. Understood literally, the passage teaches only 
 what is often expressed, though less fully, in many other 
 parts of Scripture ; and even though some of these other 
 passages should be involved in a degree of obscurity, — • and 
 
375 
 
 I am not disposed to deny that some obscurity rests upon one 
 or two of them, — it would be no good reason for transform- 
 ing so plain a description into a highly-wrought figurative 
 representation; especially when by no ingenuity can we 
 thus alter more than one part of the sentence. I conclude, 
 therefore, that, if any part of the Bible is literal, we are thus 
 to consider this chapter of Peter. 
 
 In the second place, this passage does not teach that the 
 earth will be annihilated. 
 
 The prevailing opinion in this country, probably, has been, 
 and still is, that the destruction of the world described by 
 Peter will amount to annihilation — that the matter of the 
 globe will ceape to be. But in all ages there have been many 
 who believe that the destruction will be only the ruin of the 
 present economy of the world, but not its utter extinction. 
 And surely Peter's description does not imply annihilation of 
 the matter of the globe. He makes fire the agent of the de- 
 struction, and, in order to ascertain the extent of the ruin that 
 will follow, we have only to inquire what effect combustion 
 will have upon matter. The common opinion is, that intense 
 combustion actually destroys or annihilates matter, because it 
 is thereby dissipated. But the chemist knows that not one 
 particle of matter has ever been thus deprived of existence ; 
 that fire only changes the form of matter, but never annihilates 
 it. When solid matter is changed into gas, as in most cases 
 of combustion, it seems to be annihilated, because it disap- 
 pears ; but it has only assumed a new form, and exists as 
 really as before. Since, therefore, biblical and scientific 
 truth must agree, we may be sure that the apostle never 
 meant to teach that the matter of the globe would cease to 
 be, through the action of fire upon it ; nor is there any thing 
 in his language that implies such a result, but most obviously 
 the r'».verse. 
 
376 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 If these things be so, then, in the third place, we may infet 
 that Peter did not mean to teach that the matter of the globe 
 would be in the leeist diminished by the final conflagration 
 I doubt not the sufficiency of divine power partially or wholly 
 to annihilate the material universe. But heat, however in- 
 tense, has no tendency to do this ; it only gives matter a new 
 form. And heat is the only agency which the apostle repre- 
 sents as employed. In short, we have no evidence, either 
 from science or revelation, that the minutest atom of matter 
 has ever been destroyed since the original creation ; nor have 
 we any more evidence that any of it ever will be reduced to 
 the nothingness from which it sprang. The prevalent ideas 
 upon this subject all result from erroneous notions of the effect 
 of intense heat. 
 
 In the fourth place, the passage under consideration teaches 
 us that whatever upon or within the earth is capable of com- 
 bustion will undergo that change, and that the entire globe 
 will be melted. 
 
 The language of Peter has always seemed to me extreme- 
 ly interesting. He says that the heavens [or atmosphere] toill 
 pass away toith a great noise^ and the elements shall melt with 
 fervent heat ; the earthy also, and the works that are theretn, 
 shall be burned up ; looking for, and hasting unto the com- 
 ing of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fre^ 
 shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat. 
 
 This language approaches nearer to an anticipation of the 
 scientific discoveries of modern times than any other part of 
 Scripture. And yet, at the time it was written, it would not 
 have enabled any one to understand the chemistry of the 
 great changes which it describes. But, now that their chem- 
 btry is understood, we perceive that the language is adapted 
 
377 
 
 to it, in a manner which no uninspired writer would have 
 done. The atmosphere is represented as passing away with 
 a great noise — an effect which the chemist would predict by 
 the union of its oxygen with the hydrogen and other gases 
 liberated by the intense heat. Yet what uninspired writer of 
 the first century would have imagined such a result ? 
 
 Again, when we consider the notions which then prevailed, 
 and which are still widely diffused, why should the apostle add 
 to the simple statement that the earth would be burnt up, the 
 declaration that its elements would be melted ? For the im- 
 pression was, that the combustion would entirely destroy the 
 matter of the globe. But the chemist finds that the greater 
 part of the earth has already been oxidized, or burnt, and on 
 this matter the only effect of the heat, unless intense enough 
 to dissipate it, would be to melt it. If, therefore, the apostle 
 had said only that the world would be burnt up, the scepti- 
 cal chemist would have inferred that he had made a mistake 
 through igno|ance of chemistry. But he cannot now draw 
 such an inference ; for the aposde's language clearly implies 
 that only the combustible matter of the globe will be burnt, 
 while the elements, or first principles of things, will be melt- 
 ed ; so that the final result will be an entire liquid, fiery 
 globe. Such a wonderful adaptation of his description to 
 modern science could not surely have resulted from human 
 sagacity, but must be the fruit of divine inspiration. 
 
 And this adaptation is the more wonderful when we find it 
 running through the whole Bible wherever the sacred writers 
 come in contact with scientific subjects. In this respect, the 
 Bible differs from every other system of religion professedly 
 from heaven. 
 
 Whenever other systems have treated of the works of 
 nature, they have sanctioned some error, and thus put into 
 32* 
 
378 THE FUTXTKE CONDITION OP THE EABTH. 
 
 the hands of modern science the means of detecting the 
 imposture. The Vedas of India adopt the absurd notions 
 of an ignorant and polytheistic age respecting astronomy, 
 and the Koran adopts as infallible truth the absurdities of the 
 Ptolemaic system. But hitherto the Bible has never- been 
 proved to come into collision with any scientific discovery, 
 although many of its books were written in the rudest and 
 most ignorant ages. It does not, indeed, anticipate scientific 
 discovery. But the remarkable adaptation of its language to 
 such discoveries, when they are made, seems to me a more 
 striking mark of its divine origin than if it had contained a 
 revelation of the whole system of modern science. 
 
 In the fifth place, the passage under consideration teaches 
 that this earth will be renovated by the final conflagration, 
 and become the abode of the righteous. After describing 
 the day of God, wherein the heavens ^ being on Jire, shall be 
 dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, Peter 
 adds. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for 
 new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous^ 
 ness. Now, the apostle does not here, in so many words, de- 
 clare that the new heavens and earth will be the present 
 world and its atmosphere, purified and renovated by fire 
 But it is certainly a natural inference that such was his 
 meaning. For if he intended some other remote and quite 
 different place, why should he call it earth, and, especially, 
 why should he surround it with an atmosphere ? The nat- 
 ural and most obvious meaning of the passage surely is, that 
 the future residence of the righteous will be this present tei* 
 raqueous globe, after its entire organic and combustible mattet 
 shall have been destroyed, and its whole mass reduced by 
 heat to a liquid state, and then a new economy reared up on 
 its surface, not adapted to sinful, but to sinless beings, and, 
 
OTHER PASSAGES OF SCEIPTURE. 379 
 
 therefore, quite different from its present condition — probably 
 more perfect, but still the same earth and surrounding heavens. 
 
 There are, indeed, some difficulties in the way of such a 
 n eaning to this passage, and objections to a material heaven 
 and these I shall notice in the proper place. But I have 
 given what seems to me the natural and obvious meaning of 
 the passage. 
 
 Such, as I conceive, are the fair inferences from the apos- 
 tle's description of the end of the world. Let us now inquire 
 whether any other passages of Scripture require us to modify 
 this meaning. 
 
 The idea of a future destruction of the world by fire is 
 recognized in various places, both in the Old and New Tes- 
 taments. Christ speaks more than once of heaven and earth 
 as passing away. Paul speaks of Christ as descending, at the 
 end of the world, in flaming fire. And the Psalmist describes 
 the destruction of the heavens and the earth as a renovation. 
 They shall perish^ says he, hut thou [God] shalt endiire ; yea, 
 all of them shall wax old like a garment, and as a vesture 
 shalt thou change them, and they shall he changed. In Reve- 
 lation, after the apostle had given a vivid description of the 
 final judgment and its retributions, he says. And I saw a new 
 heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first 
 earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. He then 
 proceeds to give a minute and glowing description of what 
 he calls the New Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of 
 heaven. It is scarcely possible to understand the whole of 
 this description as literally true. We must rather regard it 
 as a figurative representation of the heavenly state. And hence 
 the first verse, which speaks of the new heavens and the new 
 earth, in almost the same language which Peter uses, ma^' 
 be also figurative, indicating merely a more exalted condition 
 
380 THE FXTTUKE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 than the present world. Hence, I would not use this passage 
 to sustain the interpretation given of the literal description by 
 Peter. And yet it is by no means improbable that the figu- 
 rative language of John may have for its basis the same truths 
 which are taught by Peter. Nor ought we to infer, because 
 a figure is built upon that basis in the apocalyptic vision, that 
 the simple statements of Peter are metaphorical. 
 
 In the passage quoted from Peter, it is said. Nevertheless^ 
 we, according to his yromisCf look for new heavens and a new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Most writers have 
 supposed the apostle to refer either to the promise made to 
 Abraham, that his seed should inherit the land, or to a proph- 
 ecy in Isaiah, which says, Behold, I create new heavens, and a 
 new earth, and the former shall not he remembered, or come 
 into mind. But he you glad and rejoice forever in that which 
 I create ; for heJiold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her 
 people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my 
 people ; and the voice of weeping shall he no more heard in 
 her, nor the voice of crying. There shall he no more thence 
 an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his 
 days ; for the child shall die a hundred years old ; hut the 
 sinner, heing a hundred years old, shall he accursed. And 
 they shall huild houses, and inhabit them; and they shall 
 plant vineyards^ and eat the fruit of them. They shall not 
 huild, and another inhabit ; they shall not plant, and another 
 eat ; for as the days of a tree are the days of my people^ and 
 mine elect shall long enjoy the works of their hands. The 
 wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat 
 straw like the bullock ; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. 
 Thry shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain^ 
 saith the Lord. 
 
 Now, It seems highly probable that the new heavens and 
 
PETER^S DESCRIPTION INTERPRETED. 381 
 
 earth, here described, represent a state of things on the pres- 
 ent earth before the day of judgment, and not a heavenly 
 and immortal state ; for sin and death are spoken of as 
 existing in it ; both which, we are assured, will be excluded 
 from heaven. Hence able biblical writers refer this prophecy 
 to the millennial state, or the period when there will be a 
 general prevalence of Christianity. In this they are probably 
 correct. But some of these writers, as Low and Whitby, 
 proceed a step farther, and infer that Peter's description of 
 the new heavens and new earth belong also to the millennial 
 period ; first, because they presume that the apostle referred 
 to this promise in Isaiah ; and secondly, because he uses the 
 same terms, namely, " new heavens and new earth." But are 
 these grounds sufficient to justify so important a conclusion ? 
 How common it is to find the same words and phrases in 
 the Bible applied by different writers to different subjects, 
 especially by the prophets ! Even if we can suppose Peter to 
 place the new heavens and the new earth before the judg- 
 ment, in despite of his plain declaration to the contrary, ye* 
 there are few who will doubt that the new heavens and earth 
 described in revelation are subsequent to the judgment day 
 so vividly described in the verses immediately preceding. 
 
 And as to the promise referred to by Peter, if he really 
 describes the heavenly state, surely it may he found in a mul 
 titude of places ; wherever, indeed, immortal life and bless 
 edness are offered to faith and obedience. Isaiah, therefore 
 may be giving a figurative description of a glorious state of 
 the church in this world, under the terms " new heavens and 
 new earth," emblematical of those real new heavens and new 
 earth beyond the grave, described by Peter. And hence, 
 it seems to me, the language of the prophet should not be al- 
 lowed to set aside, or modify, the plain meaning of the apostle. 
 
382 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH 
 
 I shall quote only one other passage of the Bible on this 
 subject. I refer to that difficult text in Romans, which repre- 
 sents the whole creation as groaning and travailing together 
 in pain until now ; and that it will be delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children 
 of God. 
 
 I have stated in a former lecture, that Tholuck, the distin- 
 guished German theologian, considers this a description of 
 the present bound and fettered condition of all nature, and 
 that the deliverance refers to the future renovation of the 
 earth. Such an exposition chimes in perfectly with the views 
 on this subject which have long and extensively prevailed in 
 Germany. And it certainly does give a consistent meaning to 
 a passngo which has been to commentators a perfect labyrinth 
 of difficulties. If this be not its meaning, then I may safely 
 say that its meaning has not yet been found out. 
 
 In view, then, of all the important passages of Scripture 
 concerning the future destruction and renovation of the earth, 
 I think we may fairly conclude that none of them require us 
 to modify the natural and obvious meaning of Peter which 
 has been given. In general, they all coincide with the views 
 presented by that apostle ; or if, in any case, there is a slight 
 apparent diffiarence, the figurative character of all other state- 
 ments besides his require us to receive his views as the true 
 stand"; rd, and to modify the meaning of the others. We may, 
 therefcru, conclude that the Bible does plainly and distinctly 
 teach us that this earth will hereafter be burned up ; in other 
 words, that all upon or within it, capable of combustion, will 
 be consumed, and the entire mass, the elements, without the 
 loss of one particle of the matter now existing, will be melted ; 
 and then, that the world, thus purified from the contam'na- 
 tion of sin, and surrounded by a new atmosphere, or heavens, 
 
THE CATACLYSM AND ECPYROSIS. 383 
 
 and adapted in all respects to the nature and wants of spiritual 
 and sinless beings, will become the residence of the righteous. 
 Of the precise nature of that new dispensation, and of the 
 mode of existence there, the Scriptures are indeed silent. 
 But that, like the present world, it will be material, — that there 
 will be a solid globe, and a transparent expanse around it, 
 — seems most clearly indicated in the sacred record. 
 
 The wide-spread opinion that heaven will be a sort of airy- 
 Elysium, where the present laws of nature will be unknown, 
 and where matter, if it exist, can exist only in its most atten- 
 uated form, is a notion to which the Bible is a stranger. 
 
 The resurrection of the body, as well as the language of 
 Peter, most clearly show us that the future world will be a 
 solid, material world, purified indeed, and beautified, but 
 retaining its materialism. 
 
 Let us now see whether, in coming to these conclusions 
 from Scripture language, we are influenced by scientific con- 
 siderations, or whether many discerning minds have not, in 
 all ages, attached a similar meaning to the inspired record. 
 
 Among all nations, the history of whose opinions have come 
 down to us, and especially among the Greeks, the belief has 
 prevailed that a catastrophe by fire awaited the earth, corre- 
 sponding to, or rather the counterpart of, a previous destruc- 
 tion by water. These catastrophes they denominated the 
 cataclysm^ or destruction by water, and the ecpyrosis, or 
 destruction by fire. The ruin was supposed to be followed, 
 in each case, by the regeneration of the earth in an improved 
 form, which gradually deteriorated ; the first age after the 
 catastrophe, constituting the golden age ; the next, the silver 
 age ; and so on to the iron age, which preceded another cata- 
 clysm, or ecpyrosis. The intervals between these convulsions 
 were regarded as of various lengths, but all of them of great 
 duration. 
 
384 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EABTH. 
 
 These opinions the Greeks derived from the Egyptians. 
 
 The belief in the future conflagration of the world also 
 prevailed among the ancient Jews. Philo says that " the 
 earth, after this purification, shall appear new again, even as 
 it was after its first creation." — De Vila Mosis, torn. ii. — 
 Among the Jews, these ideas may have been, in part, derived 
 from the Old Testament ; though its language, as we have 
 seen, is far less explicit on this subject than the New Testa- 
 ment. That distinguished Christian writers,- in all ages since 
 the advent of Christ, have understood the language of Peter 
 as we have explained it, would be easy to show. I have 
 room, however, to quote only the opinions of a few distin- 
 guished modern writers. 
 
 Dr. Knapp, one of the most scientific and judicious of the- 
 ologians, thus remarks upon the passage of Peter already 
 examined : " It cannot be thought that what is here said re- 
 specting the burning of the world is to be understood figura- 
 tively, as Wettstein supposes ; because the fire is here too 
 directly opposed to the literal water of the flood to be so 
 understood. It is the object of Peter to refute the boast of 
 scofl^ers, that all things had remained unchanged from the 
 beginning, and that, therefore, no day of judgment and no 
 end of the world could be expected. And so he says that 
 originally, at the time of the creation, the whole earth was 
 covered and overflowed with water, (Gen. i.,) and that from 
 hence the dry land appeared ; and the same was true at the 
 time of Noah's flood. But there is yet to come a great fire 
 revolution. The heavens and the earth (the earth with its 
 atmosphere) are reserved, or kept in store, for the fire, until 
 the day of judgment, (v. 10.) At that time the heavens will 
 pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dis- 
 solved by fervent heat, and every thing upon the earth will 
 
DR. Chalmers's views. 385 
 
 be burnt up. The same thing is taught in verse 12. But in 
 verse 13 Peter gives the design of this revolution. It will not 
 be annihilation, but we expect a new heavens and a new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, i. e., an entirely new, 
 altered, and beautiful abode for man, to be built from the 
 ruins of his former dwelling-place, as the future habitation of 
 the pious, (Rev. xxi. 1.) This will be very much in the same 
 way as a more perfect and an immortal body will be reared 
 from the body which we now possess." — Theology, vol. ii. 
 p. 649. 
 
 From Dr. Chalmers my extracts will be longer than are 
 necessary to show his opinion upon this subject, because he 
 felicitously refutes certain erroneous ideas, widely prevalent, 
 respecting matter and spirit. " We know historically," says 
 he, " that earth, that a solid, material earth, may form the 
 dwelling of sinless creatures, in full converse and friendship 
 with the Being who made them." " Man, at the first, had for 
 his place this world, and, at the same time, for his privilege 
 an unclouded fellowship with God, and for his prospect an 
 immortality, which death was neither to intercept nor put an 
 end to. He was terrestrial in respect to condition, and yet 
 celestial, both in respect of character and enjoyments. 
 
 " The common imagination that we have of paradise on 
 the other side of death, is that of a lofty aerial region, where 
 the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended 
 upon nothing ; where all the warm and sensible accompani- 
 ments, which give such an expression of strength, and life, 
 and coloring to our present habitation, are attenuated into a 
 sort of spiritual element, that is meagre and imperceptible, 
 ar.d utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals here below ; 
 where every vestige of materialism is done away, and nothing 
 'eft but certain unearthly scenes, that have no power of 
 
386 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 allurement, and certain unearthly ecstasies with which it is 
 felt impossible to sympathize. The holders of this imagina- 
 tion forget all the while that there is no necessary connection 
 between materialism and sin ; that the world which we now 
 inhabit had all the solidity and amplitude of its present mate- 
 rialism before sin entered into it ; that God, so far, on that 
 account, from looking slightly upon it, after it had received 
 the last touch of his creating hand, reviewed the earth, and 
 the waters, and the firmament, and all the green herbage, 
 with the living creatures, and the man whom he had raised in 
 dominion over them, and he saio every thing that he had 
 made,, an^ behold, it was all very good. They forget that, on 
 the birth of materialism, when it stood out in the freshness 
 of those glories which the great Architect of nature had im- 
 pressed upon it, that the morning stars sang together ^ and all 
 the sons of God shouted for joy. They forget the appeals 
 that are every where made in the Bible to his material work- 
 manship, and how, from the face of these visible heavens, 
 and the garniture of this earth which we tread upon, the 
 greatness and goodness of God are reflected on the view of 
 his worshippers. No, my brethren, the object of the admin- 
 istration we sit under is to extirpate sin, but it is not to sweep 
 away materialism. By the convulsions of the last day it may 
 be shaken and broken down from its present arrangement, 
 and thrown into such fitful agitations as that the whole of its 
 existing framework shall fall to pieces ; and with a heat so 
 fervent as to melt the most solid elements, may it be utterly 
 dissolved. And thus may the earth again become without 
 form and void, but without one particle of its substance going 
 into annihilation. Out of the ruins of this second chaos may 
 another heaven and another earth be made to arise, and a 
 new materialism, with other aspects of magnificence and 
 
tholuck's views. 387 
 
 beauty, emerge from the wreck of this mighty transforma- 
 tion, and the world be peopled, as before, with the varieties of 
 material loveliness, and space be again lighted up into a fir- 
 mament of material splendor. 
 
 " It is, indeed, a homage to that materialism, which many 
 are for expunging from the future state of the universe alto- 
 gether, that, ere the immaterial soul of man has reached ,the 
 ultimate glory and blessedness designed for it, it must return 
 and knock at the very grave where lie the mouldered remains 
 of the body which it wore, and there inquisition must be 
 made for the flesh, and the sinews, and the bones which the 
 power of corruption has, perhaps centuries before, assimilated 
 to the earth around them, and then the minute atoms must be 
 reassembled into a structure that bears upon it the form, and 
 lineaments, and general aspect of a man, and the soul 
 passes into this material framework, which is hereafter to be 
 its lodging-place forever ; and that not as its prison, but as its 
 pleasant and befitting habitation; not to be trammelled, as 
 some would have it, in a hold of materialism, but to be 
 therein equipped for the services of eternity ; to walk em- 
 bodied among the bowers of our second paradise ; to stand 
 embodied in the presence of our God." 
 
 "" The glorification of the visible creation," says Tholuck, 
 the distinguished German divine, " is more definitely declared 
 in Rev. xxi. 1, although it must be borne in mind that a 
 prophetic vision is there described. Still more definitely do 
 we find the belief of a transformation of the material world 
 declared in 2 Peter, iii. 7-12. The idea that the perfected 
 kingdom of Christ is to be transferred to heaven, is properly 
 a modern notion. According to Paul and the Revelation of 
 John, the kingdom of God is placed upon the earth, in so far 
 as this itself has part in the universal transformation. This 
 
388 THE FUTURE CONDITION OK THE EARTH. 
 
 exposition has been adopted and defended by most of the 
 oldest commentators ; e. g., Chrysostom, Theodoret, Hieron- 
 ymus, Augustine, Luther, Koppe, and others. Luther says, 
 in his lively way, * God will make, not the earth only, but the 
 heavens also, much more beautiful than they are at present. 
 At present, we see the world in its working clothes ; but 
 herpafter it will be arrayed in its Easter and Whitsuntide 
 robes.' " 
 
 " I cannot but feel astonishment," says Dr. John Pye 
 Smith, " that any serious and intelligent man should have his 
 mind fettered with the common, I might call it the vulgar, 
 nbtion of ji 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, in- 
 deed, been often used to aid impassioned description in ser- 
 mons 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 disintegrat- 
 ed, forms are changed, compounds are decomposed ; but not 
 an atom is annihilated. Neither have we the shadow of rea- 
 son to assert that mind, the seat of intelligence, ever was, or 
 ever will be, in a single instance, destroyed. The declaration 
 in Scripture that the heavens and the earth shall flee away^ and 
 no more place he 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 per- 
 fectly well know that the instruments of such an event lie 
 
DR. griffin's views. 389 
 
 close at hand, and wait only the divine volition to burst out ii* 
 a moment. 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 right- 
 eousness.'*'' — Lectures on Geology and Revelation, p. 161, 
 (4th London edition.) 
 
 Says Dr. Griffin, one of the ablest of the American divines, 
 " A question here arises, whether the new heavens and new 
 earth will be created out of the ruins of the old ; that is, 
 whether the old will be renovated and restored in a more 
 glorious form, or whether the old will be annihilated, and the 
 new made out of nothing. The idea of the annihilation of 
 so many immense and glorious bodies, organized with inim- 
 itable skill, and declarative of infinite wisdom, is gloomy and 
 forbidding. Indeed, it is scarcely credible that God should 
 annihilate any of his works, much less so many and so glori- 
 ous works. It ought not to be believed without the most de- 
 cisive proof. On the other hand, it is a most animating 
 thought that this visible creation, which sin has marred, 
 which the polluted breath of men and devils has defiled, and 
 which by sin will be reduced to utter ruin, will be restored 
 by our Jesus, will arise from its ruins in tenfold splendor, and 
 shine with more illustrious glory than before it was defaced 
 by sin. 
 
 " After a laborious and anxious search on this interesting 
 subject, I must pronounce the latter to be my decided opin- 
 ion. And the same, I find, has been the more common opin- 
 ion of the Christian fathers, of the divines of the reforma- 
 tion, and of the critics and annotators who have since 
 flourished. I could produce on this side a catalogue of 
 names which would convince you that this has certainly been 
 33» 
 
390 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 the common opinion of the Christian church in every age, as 
 it was also of the Jewish. 
 
 " The words which are employed to express the destruction 
 of the world do not necessarily imply annihilation. Is it said 
 that the world shall perish ? The same word is used to ex- 
 press the ancient destruction of the world by the flood, when 
 certainly it was not annihilated. Is it said that the world 
 shall have an end, and be no more ? This may be under- 
 stood only of the present form and organization of the visi- 
 ble system ? Is it said that the heavens and the earth shall 
 be dissolved by fire ? But tl.e natural power of fire is not to 
 annihilate, but only to dissolve the composition and change 
 the form of substances." — Sermons, vol. ii. p. 450. 
 
 We have now examined the most important testimony re- 
 specting the future destruction and renovation of the earth ; 
 for inspiration only can certainly determine its future condi- 
 tion. But science may throw some light upon the changes 
 through which it is to pass. And I now proceed to in- 
 quire whether geology affords us any glimpses of its future 
 condition. 
 
 In the first place, geology shows us that the earth contains 
 within itself all the agencies necessary for its future destruc- 
 tion in the manner pointed out in the Bible. 
 
 Some author has remarked that, from the earliest times, 
 there has been a loud cry of fire. We have seen that it 
 began with the ancient Egyptians, and was continued by the 
 Greeks. But in recent times it has waxed louder and far 
 more distinct. The ancient notions about the existence of 
 fire within the earth were almost entirely conjectural, but 
 within the present century the matter has been put to the test 
 of experiment. Wherever, in Europe and America, the 
 temperature of the air, the waters, and the rocks in deep 
 
INTERNAL FIRE. 391 
 
 excavations has been ascertained, it has been found highei 
 than the mean temperature of the climate at the surface ; 
 and the experiment has been made in hundreds of places. It 
 is found, too, that the heat increases rapidly as we descend 
 below that point in the earth's crust to which the sun's heat 
 extends. The mean rate of increase has been stated by the 
 British Association to be one degree of Fahrenheit for every 
 forty-five feet. At this rate, all known rocks would be melted 
 at the depth of about sixty miles. Shall we hence conclude 
 that all the matter of the globe below this thickness (or, 
 rather, for the sake of round numbers, below one hundred 
 miles) is actually in a melted state ? Most geologists have 
 not seen how such a conclusion is to be avoided. And yet 
 ^his would leave only about one eight hundredth part of the 
 earth's diameter, and about one fourteenth of its contents, or 
 bulk, in a solid state. How easy, then, should God give per- 
 mission, for this vast internal fiery ocean to break through its 
 envelope, and so to bury the solid crust that it should all be 
 burnt up and melted! It is conceivable that such a result 
 might take place even by natural operations. And certainly 
 it would be easy for a special divine agency to accomplish it. 
 It may be thought, however, that the igneous fluidity of the 
 internal part of the globe is too mighty and improbable a 
 conclusion to be based upon the increase of temperature, ob- 
 served only to the depth of two or three thousand feet. But 
 this is not the only evidence of such a condition of the earth's 
 interior. Three hundred active volcanoes, and still more 
 numerous extinct ones, have opened their mouths and poured 
 forth their molten contents from a great depth, to bear wit- 
 ness to the existence of vast masses of melted rock beneath 
 the earth's crust. The globe, too, is flattened at the poles, 
 just to the amount it would be by rotation on its axis, had it 
 
392 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 been a liquid mass ; and, therefore, there is every probability 
 that it was once liquid ; and if so once, its interior is pruba- 
 bly still so, because the period for cooling it, when once sur- 
 rounded by a solid crust, must be incalculably long. That 
 this solid crust has once been liquid from heat, is most obvi- 
 ous to all who carefully examine it. For the unstratified 
 rocks have certainly once been melted, and most of the 
 stratified series were derived from the unstratified. Again, 
 the organic remains dug out from the deep-seated strata 
 prove that, when they were alive, the surface, even in high 
 latitudes, must have been subject to a tropical, or even an 
 ultra-tropical heat ; thus showing us that the temperature of 
 the globe has gradually diminished, as we should expect from 
 the theory of original igneous fluidity. And, finally, no other 
 hypothesis but the gradual cooling of the earth's crust, and 
 the powerful volcanic agency that must from time to time 
 have torn and ridged up that crust, will account for the pres- 
 ent fractured and overturned condition of the strata, and the 
 elevation of our continent from the ocean's bed. But thi« 
 supposition does most satisfactorily explain all these phenom- 
 ena, and also those of earthquakes and volcanoes. 
 
 I must acknowledge, however, that all these arguments 
 fail of convincing a few geologists of the doctrine of 
 internal igneous fluidity, to the extent above described. 
 But they all admit that the facts do prove the existence of 
 vast oceans of melted matter beneath the earth's crust. 
 Nor do even these geologists doubt but the globe contains 
 within itself the agencies requisite for a universal confla- 
 gration. Mr. Lyell says that " there must exist below enor- 
 mous masses of matter, intensely heated, and in many in- 
 stances in a constant state of fusion." He says, also, " When 
 we consider the combustible nature of the elements of the 
 
THE ELEMENTS OF CONFLAGRATION WITHIN. 393 
 
 earth, so far as they are known to us, the facihty with which 
 their compounds may be decomposed and made to enter into 
 new combinations, the quantity of heat which they evolve 
 during those 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 com- 
 pounds 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 pro- 
 fecto omnia miracula, ullum diem fuisse quo non cuncta 
 conJlagrarenV " — Lyell's Principles of Geology^ b. ii. chap. 
 XX. vol. ii. 
 
 " As a consequence of the refrigeration of the centre and 
 crust of the globe," says D'Orbigny, " the withdrawment of 
 matter has produced elevations and depressions on the consol- 
 idated crust ; to which movements, in connection with those 
 of the waters, we must impute the complete destruction of 
 the existing fauna. These dislocations have brought about at 
 each epoch changes of level in the consolidated beds and in 
 the seas. And after a period of agitation, more or less pro- 
 longed, after each of these geological revolutions, different 
 beings have been created to cover anew and enliven the sur- 
 face of the earth. — Cours Elementaire Paleontologies p. 148. 
 
 All geologists, then, agree that the elements of the earth's 
 final conflagration are contained within its bosom or upon 
 its surface. At present, these elements are so bound down 
 by counteracting agencies, that all is quiet and security. But 
 let the fiat of the Almighty go forth for their liberation, and 
 the scenes of the last day, as described in the Bible, will 
 commence. The ploughshare of ruin will be driven onward, 
 until this fair world is all ingulfed, and no trace of organic 
 
394 THE FUTURK CONDITION OF THE EAETH. 
 
 life remains. Yet to him who realizes that the destruction is 
 only a necessary preparation for a brighter world, which will 
 emerge from the ruins of the present ; that, when the matter 
 of the globe has been purified, its surface shall be covered 
 with new and lovelier forms of beauty, surrounded by a still 
 more bland and balmy atmosphere, and inhabited by sinless 
 and immortal beings, — to him who realizes all this, the 
 desolation will put on the aspect of a glorious transformation. 
 In the second place, still deeper will be this impression, 
 when we recollect that similar transmutations have already 
 been experienced by the earth with an improvement of its 
 condition. There is no evidence that the entire surface of 
 the earth has ever undergone a complete fusion since organic 
 life first appeared upon it. But we have reason to think that, 
 frequently, at least, when one race of animals and plants has 
 disappeared from the earth, it has been the result of violent 
 catastrophes, proceeding from the elevation or subsidence of 
 continents or chains of mountains. Says Agassiz, " A very 
 remarkable, and perhaps the most surprising fact is, that the 
 appearance of the chains of mountains, and the inequalities 
 of the surface resulting from it, seem to have coincided gen- 
 erally with the epochs of the renewal of organized beings. — 
 Ed. Journal of Science, Oct. 1842, p. 394. — These vertical 
 movements of such large portions of the earth's crust could 
 have resulted only from the direct or indirect agency of vol- 
 canic power, though the destruction of organic life, which 
 must have been the consequence, may have resulted as often 
 from aqueous as igneous inundations. Buf usually both*agen- 
 cies were probably concerned, and the predominance of one 
 or the other of these agencies is of little consequence to the 
 argument ; for if such wide-spread ruin has already repeated- 
 ly passed over the earth, a still wider desolation may be 
 
ANALOGY OF PAST CHANGES. 395 
 
 • 
 
 presumed possible, if only a little wider play shall be given 
 to the agents of destruction. Already have the changes of 
 this sort which the earth, or portions of it, have undergone, 
 resulted in an improved condhion of its surface.* In other 
 words, at each successive epoch, animals and plants of a 
 higher and more perfect organization have appeared, because 
 the temperature, the air, and the earth's general condition 
 have been better adapted to their happy existence. The 
 amount of limestone seems to have been constantly increas- 
 ing, and, as a consequence, the fertility of the soil ; probably, 
 also, the amount of carbonic acid has diminished in the 
 atmosphere, as animals with lungs have been multiplied. In 
 short, there is a prodigious increase, among the present inhab- 
 itants of the globe, of animals and plants possessing compli- 
 cated and delicate organization and loftier intellectual powers, 
 over all former conditions of the globe. But we have reason 
 to believe, from the Christian Scriptures, that the next econo- 
 my of life which shall be placed upon the globe will far 
 transcend all those that have gone before. Every vestige of 
 sin, suffering, decay, and death will disappear. Says the 
 Bible, There shall he no more death, 7ieither sorrow nor cry- 
 ing, neither shall there he any more pain, for the former 
 things are passed away. And there shall in no wise enter 
 it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever ivorketh ahomi- 
 nation, or maketh a lie. In short, the change is no other 
 than the conversion of this world into heaven. Reasonably, 
 therefore, might we anticipate a most thorough destruction of 
 the present world, to prepare the way for the introduction of 
 such a glorious state. The Scriptures describe that state by 
 he most splendid imagery that can be derived from existing 
 nature. It is represented, figuratively, no doubt, as a splen- 
 did city, prepared of God, and let down to the earth. Ita 
 
3B6 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE- EARTH. 
 
 twelve foundations are all precious stones, its gates pearls, ita 
 wall jasper, and its streets pure gold, as it were, transparent 
 glass. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the tem- 
 ple of that city. Instead of the sun and the moon, the glory 
 of God enlightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. From 
 out of their throne proceeds the water of life, clear as crys- 
 tal, and along its banks grows the tree of life, with its twelve 
 manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month." 
 
 Here, then, we have the most splendid and enchanting 
 objects in nature brought before us as representatives of the 
 new heavens and the new earth. Yet we cannot learn from 
 the Bible, or science, what material dress nature will then put 
 on. We are taught only that it will far exceed, in splendor 
 and perfection, the drapery which she now wears. We may 
 be assured that it will be eminently adapted to a spirit that is 
 henceforth to be perfectly holy, happy, incorruptible, and 
 immortal. Both revelation and geology agree in assuring us 
 that the new earth, which will emerge from the ruins of the 
 present, will be improved in its condition ; but the particulars 
 of that condition are not described — probably because we 
 could not, in our present state, understand them. 
 
 Such are the views concerning the earth's future destruc- 
 tion and renovation, which appear to me to be taught by a fair 
 interpretation of Scripture, and which harmonize with the 
 teachings of geology. But we are met here by two formida- 
 ble difficulties. In the first place, if the present earth is to be 
 burnt up and melted at the last day, it must require thou- 
 sands of years before another solid crust shall be formed upon 
 its surface, capable of sustaining organic natures which are 
 material. But the Bible represents the righteous, at the day 
 of judgment, as reunited to their bodies, which they left in the 
 grave, and entering at once into their residence upon the new 
 
OBJECTIONS. 397 
 
 earth. Where, then, can we find the thousands of years which, 
 by this theory, are essential to prepare this residence for their 
 reception ? Into what intermediate place, what new Hades, 
 shall they pass, until verdure shall clothe the new earth, and 
 more than the primeval beauty of Eden take the place of the 
 volcanic desolation which niust reign over a world just begin- 
 ning to cool from incandescent heat ? 
 
 I freely acknowledge that this is a serious objection to my 
 theory ; and perhaps it is insuperable, unless we resort to 
 miraculous interference. It were easy to say, that God can, 
 in a moment, convert a globe of fire into a paradise of beauty, 
 and make its landscapes smile with charms transcending the 
 bowers of paradise lost. Indeed, the Scriptures represent 
 the New Jerusalem as prepared by God's own hands, and let 
 down at once upon the earth to form the metropolitan abode 
 of the righteous. 
 
 But, after all, I am unwilling thus to dispose of the diffi- 
 culty. For it is a clumsy way to meet objections, when we 
 undertake to philosophize upon events, either past, present, 
 or future, to foist in a miracle, in order to eke out our hy- 
 pothesis. We thus make an image of as incoherent parts 
 as that in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and as easily broken in 
 pieces. 
 
 There is a second mode by which the difficulty under con- 
 sideration can be completely obviated, could we only admit 
 the theory on which it rests. Some theological writers have 
 maintained that the day of judgment will occupy a long pe- 
 riod, — thousands and tens of thousands of years perhaps, — 
 in order that every individual may experience a literal trial 
 before the universe for all his conduct on earth, so that the 
 conscience of every one in that vast assembly shall approve 
 the final sentence. They appeal to various texts of Scripture, 
 34 
 
398 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EABTH. 
 
 where it is strongly stated that rigid inquisition will bo made 
 on that solemn day into the conduct and motives of every 
 individual. And it may be, indeed, that such descriptions are 
 to have a literal fulfilment; and if so, we should have a pe- 
 riod long enough for the new earth to be recovered by natural 
 means from its volcanic desolation, and to be covered over 
 with new forms of beauty. But I confess the theory of such 
 a long period of judgment does not seem to me to be sus- 
 tained by the most approved rules of exegesis, and therefore 
 I am unwilling to rest upon it to sustain my own hypothesis. 
 
 But is it not possible that our difficulty of conceiving how 
 the spiritual body can enter at once upon its residence in the 
 new heavens and earth, while yet the globe is only a shore- 
 less ocean of fire, results from a mistaken conception of the 
 nature of the spiritual body ? Do we not judge of it by our 
 own present bodies, and imagine that it must necessarily pos- 
 sess such an organization as would be destroyed by the ex- 
 tremes of heat and cold ? And are we authorized to draw such 
 an inference ? The Scriptures have, indeed, left us very 
 much in the dark as to the specific nature of the future glo- 
 rified body, which Paul calls a spiritual body. He does not 
 mean that it is composed of spirit, for then it would not differ 
 from the soul itself, by which it is to be animated. He cer- 
 tainly means that it is composed of matter ; unless, indeed, 
 there be in the universe a third substance, distinct both from 
 matter and spirit. But of the existence of such a substance we 
 have no positive evidence ; and, therefore, must conclude the 
 spiritual body to be matter; called spiritual, probably, be- 
 cause eminently adapted to form the immortal residence of 
 pure spirit. 
 
 Yet we learn from the apostle's description that it is not 
 composed of flesh and blood, which, he says, cannot inbcnt 
 
THE LUMINIFEROUS ETHER. 
 
 the kingdom of God ; neither is it capable of decay, like our 
 present bodies. Indeed, the illustration which he derives from 
 the decay and germination of a kernel of wheat shows us that 
 the future body will be as much unlike the present as a stalk 
 of wheat is different from the seed whence it sprang ; an.^, 
 in appearance, scarcely any two things are more unlike. 
 Hence we may suppose the resurrection body of the righteous 
 to be as different from that which the soul now animates as 
 matter can be, in its most diverse forms. 
 
 Now, the question arises. Do we know of any form of mat- 
 ter in the present world which remains the same at all tem- 
 peratures, and in all circumstances, which no chemical or 
 mechanical agencies can alter ? — a substance which remains 
 unchanged in the very heart of the ice around the poles, and 
 in the focus of a volcano ; which remains untouched by the 
 most powerful reagents which the chemist can apply, and by 
 the mightiest forces which the mechanician can bring to bear 
 upon it ? It seems to me that modern science does render 
 the existence of such a substance probable, though not cog- 
 nizable by the senses. It is the luminiferous ether, that atten- 
 uated medium by which light, and heat, and electricity are 
 transmitted from one part of the universe to another, by undu- 
 lations of inconceivable velocity. This strange fluid, whose 
 existence and action seems all but demonstrated by the phe- 
 nomena of light, heat, and electricity, and perhaps, too, by the 
 resistance experienced 'by Encke's, Biela's, and Halley's 
 comets, must possess the extraordinary characteristic above 
 pointed out. It must exist and act wherever we find light, 
 heat, or electricity ; and where do we not find them ? They 
 penetrate through what has been called empty space ; and, 
 therefore, this ether exists there, propagating its undulations 
 at the astonishmg rate of two hundred thousand miles per 
 
400 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 second. They emanate in constant succession from eveiy 
 intensely heated focus, such as the sun, the volcano, and the 
 chemical furnace ; and, therefore, this strange medium is 
 neither dissipated nor affected by the strongest known heat. 
 Qpth light and heat are transmitted through ice ; and, there- 
 fore, this ether cannot be congealed. The same is true of 
 glass, and every transparent substance, however dense ; and 
 even the most solid metals convey heat and electricity with 
 remarkable facility ; and, therefore, this ether exists and acts 
 with equal facility in the most solid masses as in a vacuum. 
 In short, it seems to be independent of chemical or mechani- 
 cal changes, and to act unobstructed in all possible modifica- 
 tions of matter. And, though too evanescent to be cognizable 
 by the senses, or the most delicate chemical and mechanical 
 tests, it possesses, nevertheless, a most astonishing activity. 
 
 Now, I am not going to assert that the spiritual body will 
 be composed of this luminiferous ether. But, since we know 
 not the composition of that body, it is lawful to suppose that 
 such \nay be its constitution. This is surely possible, and 
 that is all which is essential to my present argument. 
 
 Admitting its truth, the following interesting conclusions 
 follow : — 
 
 In the first place, the spiritual body would be unaflTected by 
 all possible changes of temperature. It might exist as well 
 in the midst of fire, or of ice, as in any intermediate tempera- 
 ture. Hence it might pass from one extreme of temperature 
 to another, and be at home in them all ; and this is what we 
 might hope for in a future world. Some, indeed, have imagined 
 that the sun will be the future heaven of the righteous ; and on 
 this supposition there is no absurdity in the theory. Nor 
 would there be in the hypothesis which should locate heaveo 
 in solid ice, or in the centre of the earth. 
 
INFERENCES. 401 
 
 In the second place, on this supposition, the spiritual body 
 would be unharmed by those chemical and mechanical agen- 
 cies which matter in no other form can resist. 
 
 The question has often arisen, how the glorified body, if 
 material, would be able to escape all sources of injury, so 
 as to be immortal as the soul. In this hypothesis, we see how 
 it is possible ; for though the whole globe should change its 
 chemical constitution, though worlds should dash upon worlds, 
 the spiritual body, though present at the very point where the 
 terrible collision took place, would feel no injury ; and safe 
 in its immortal habitation, the soul might smile amid " the 
 wreck of matter and the crush of worlds." 
 
 In the third place, on this supposition, the soul might com- 
 municate its thoughts and receive a knowledge of events and 
 of other minds, through distances inconceivably great, with 
 the speed of lightning. If we suppose the soul, in such a ten- 
 ement, could transmit its thoughts and desires, and receive 
 impressions, through the luminiferous ether, with only the same 
 velocity as light, it might communicate with other beings upon 
 the sun, at the distance of one hundred million miles, in eight 
 minutes ; and such a power we may reasonably expect the 
 soul will hereafter possess, whether derived from this or some 
 other agency. We cannot believe that, in another world, the 
 soul's communication with the rest of the universe will be as 
 limited as in the present state. On this supposition, she need 
 not wander through the universe to learn the events transpir- 
 ing in other spheres, for the intelligence would be borne on 
 the morning's ray or the lightning's wing. 
 
 Finally, on this supposition, the germ of the future spiritual 
 body may, even in this world, be attached to the soul ; and it 
 may be this which she will come seeking after on the resur- 
 rection morning. 
 
 34* 
 
402 THE FUTTTRE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 I know not but this wonderful medium, in some unknown 
 form, may attach itself to the sleeping dust ; and though that 
 dust be scattered upon the- winds, or diffused in the waters of 
 the ocean, and transformed into other animal bodies, still that 
 germ may not be lost. The chemist has often been per- 
 plexed, when he thinks how the bodies of men are decom- 
 posed after death, and how every particle must, in some cases, 
 pass into other bodies ; he has been perplexed, I say, to see 
 how the resurrection body should be identified, and especially 
 how those particles could become a part of different bodies. 
 Perhaps the hypothesis under consideration may relieve the 
 difficulty. Perhaps, too, it may teach us how the soul exists 
 and acts, when separated from the body. It may act through 
 this universal medium, though in a manner less perfect than 
 after it has united itself to the spiritual body raised, from the 
 grave.* 
 
 But I fear I am venturing too far into the region of conjec- 
 ture. My only object is, to show that we do know of a sub- 
 stance which might form a spiritual body which should be in 
 its element upon the new earth, even though it were in the 
 condition of a fiery ocean. It could not, indeed, be an or- 
 ganic body of such a kind as heat would destroy ; though I 
 see no reason why it may not possess an organism far more 
 delicate and wonderful than that of our present bodies, and 
 yet be unaffected by heat or cold, or mechanical or chemical 
 agencies. I do not feel, therefore, that the objection which 1 
 am considering is insuperable. It results, I apprehend, from 
 
 * ITiis subject has been treated more fully, and I hope more satis- 
 factorily, in a little M-ork of mine, which has just reached its second 
 edition, entitled Religious Lectures on Peculiar Phenomena in the 
 Four Seasons, (Amherst, 1851.) See the first Lecture, on the Hesik-- 
 rections of Spring. 
 
MESMERISM. 403 
 
 the false assumption that the spiritual body will be subject to 
 those influences by which our present comparatively gross 
 bodies are so powerfully affected. 
 
 Shall 1 be pardoned if I say that, in the experiments of an 
 incipient and maltreated science, we have, perhaps, a glimpse 
 of the manner in which the soul will act in the future spiritual 
 body ? for if those experiments be not all delusion, — and how 
 can we reasonably infer that experiments so multiplied, so 
 various, and in many cases, when not in the hands of itiner- 
 ant jugglers, so fairly performed, — I say, how can we re- 
 gard all these as mere trickery ? and if not, they are best 
 explained by supposing the soul to act independently of the 
 bodily organs, and through the same medium which we have 
 supposed to constitute the future spiritual body. In this view, 
 mesmerism assumes a most interesting aspect, forming, as 
 it were, a link between the present and the future world. 
 The theory which I have advanced does not, indeed, fall to 
 the ground, though mesmerism should be found a delusion ; 
 yet it is but justice to say, that it first came under my eye 
 m that most classical, philosophical, and attractive work, 
 Townsend's " Facts in Mesmerism." A similar view, how- 
 ever, was presented several years earlier, in a work by Isaac 
 Taylor, no less ingenious and profound, the " Physical The- 
 ory of Another Life," a work, however, which makes not the 
 slightest allusion to mesmerism. The author supposes such 
 a state of things as I have imagined in another life to be in ex- 
 istence even now. " The sensation of light," says he, " is now 
 believed to result from the vibrations, not the emanations, of 
 an elastic fluid, or ether ; but this same element may be ca- 
 pable of another species of vibrations ; or the electric or the 
 magnetic fluids may be susceptible of some such vibrations ; 
 or an element as universally diffused as light through the 
 
404 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 universe may be the medium of sonorous undulations, equally 
 rapid and distinct, and serving to connect the most remote 
 regions of the universe by the conveyance of sounds, just as 
 the most remote are actually connected by the passage of light. 
 Yet the sonorous vibrations of this supposed element may be 
 far too delicate to awaken the ear of man, or, in fact, of a 
 kind not perceptible by the human auditory nerve." ** We 
 refuse to allow that a conjecture of this sort is extravagant, 
 or destitute of philosophical probability ; on the contrary, 
 consider it as borne out, in a positive sense, by the discoveries 
 of modern science. Might we then rest for a moment upon 
 an animating conception (aided by the actual analogy of light) 
 such as this, viz., that the field of the visible universe is the 
 theatre of a vast social economy, holding rational intercourse 
 at great distances? Let us claim leave to indulge the belief, 
 when we contemplate the staiTy heavens, that speech, in- 
 quiry and response, commands and petitions, debate and 
 instruction, are passing to and fro ; or shall the imagination 
 catch the pealing anthems of praise, at stated seasons, arising 
 from worshippers in all quarters, and flowing on with thun- 
 dering power, like the noise of many waters, until it meet and 
 shake the courts of the central heavens ? " — Physical Theory 
 of Another Life, p. 202, 3d Am. ed. 
 
 The second objection to the view which I have presented 
 of the future destruction and renovation of the earth, as an 
 abode of the righteous, may be thus stated : Heaven is an 
 unchanging state ; but a world which has been burned up and 
 melted, even if wc might suppose spiritual beings to dwell 
 upon it, must undergo still further change. The radiation of 
 ts heat would form a crust over its surface ; the waters, dis- 
 sipated into vapor, would be recondensed ; volcanic agency 
 would ridge up the crust into mountains and valleys ; and, in 
 
SECOND OBJECTION. 405 
 
 short, geological agencies would at length form such a sur- 
 face, so far as rocks and soil are concerned, as we now 
 tread upon. And even though organic beings should not be 
 again placed upon it, those changes would proceed, till, per- 
 haps, another and another great catastrophe by fire might pass 
 over it ; nor can we say where these mutations would end. 
 Can we believe such a world to be heaven ? 
 
 Here, again, as in the last objection, it appears to me, the 
 main difficulty lies in our judging of the future spiritual body 
 by that organism which we now inhabit. Heaven is, indeed, 
 an unchanging state of happiness and holiness. But docs it, 
 therefore, follow that there can be no change in its material 
 form and aspect ? I have already shown that the spiritual 
 body may be of such a composition that no change of tem 
 perature, of place or constitution, in surrounding bodies, can 
 at all affect it. If the soul could be happy in one set of 
 physical circumstances while in such a tenement, it might 
 be happy in any other circumstances with which we are ac- 
 quainted. But it does not follow that the happiness of the 
 soul might not be increased by the changes of the material 
 world around it. What is it on earth that affords the greatest 
 amount of happiness derived from the external world ? It is 
 the immense variety of creation, produced chiefly by chemi- 
 cal and mechanical agencies. These changes afford us the 
 most striking exhibitions of the wisdom, power, and benevo- 
 lence of the Deity, within our knowledge ; and why may not 
 analogous, or still more wonderful changes, and greater variety, 
 give still higher conceptions of 'the divine character to the 
 inhabitants of heaven, and excite a purer and a stronger love ? 
 And to study that character will form, I doubt not, the grand 
 employment of heaven. Who can tell what depths of knowl- 
 edge may there be laid open into the internal constitution of 
 
406 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 mailer, and its combinations, and especially its union with 
 spirit ! And what surer means of bringing out these devel- 
 opments than change, constant and everlasting change ? For 
 who can set limits to those mutations which an infinite God 
 can produce upon the matter of this vast universe ? It is easy 
 to see that they may be literally infinite. 
 
 Once more. We have seen that the geological changes 
 which our world has hitherto undergone have been an im- 
 provement of its condition, and that each successive econ- 
 omy has been a brighter exhibition of divine wisdom and 
 benevolence. Shall this progress be arrested when the present 
 economy cl^es ? VVe know that the righteous will forever 
 advance in holiness and happiness. Why may not a part of 
 that increase depend upon their introduction into higher and 
 higher economies through eternal ages.? May not this be 
 one of the modes in which new developments of the character 
 of God will open upon them in the world of bliss ? 
 
 The Scriptures represent the material aspect of the new 
 heavens and the new earth, when first the righteous enter 
 upon them, to be one of surpassing glory. But why may not 
 other developments await them in the round of eternal ages, 
 as their expanding faculties are able to understand and appre- 
 ciate them ? 
 
 The greater the variety of new scenes in the material world 
 whicl: shall be presented to the mind, such as an infinite Deity 
 shall djvise, the more intense the happiness of their contem- 
 plations; and who can set limits to the permutations which 
 such a being can produce, even upgn matter ? I can form 
 no conjecture as to the nature of those new developments ; 
 nor do I believe they could be understood in our present state. 
 I feel as if those formed too low an estimate of the new heav- 
 ens and the new earth, who imagine a repetition there of the 
 
SCENES OF THE NEW EARTH. 407 
 
 most curious organic structures, the most 'splendid flowers and 
 fruits, and the most enchanting landscapes of the present 
 world. I fancy that scenes far more enchanting, and objects 
 far more glorious, will meet the soul at its first entrance upon 
 the new earth, even though to mortal vision it should present 
 only an ocean of fire. 1 imagine a thousand new inlets into 
 the soul — nay, I think of it as all eye, all ear, all sensation ; 
 now plunging deeper into the infinitesimal parts of matter 
 than the microscope can carry us, and now soaring away, 
 perhaps on the waves of the mysterious ether, far beyond the 
 ken of the telescope. And if such is the first entrance into 
 heaven, who can conjecture what new fields and new glories 
 shall open before the mind, and fill it with ecstasy, as it flies 
 onward without end ! But I dare not indulge further in these 
 hypothetical, yet fascinating thoughts ; yet let us never for- 
 get, that in a very short time, far shorter than we imagine, 
 all the scenes of futurity will be to us a thrilling reality. We 
 shall then know in a moment how much of truth there is in 
 these speculations. But if they all prove false, fully confi- 
 dent am I that the scenes which will open upon us will sur- 
 pass our liveliest conceptions. The glass through which we 
 now see darkly will be removed, and face to face shall we 
 meet eternal glories. Then shall we learn that our present 
 bodily organs, however admirably adapted to our condition 
 here, were in fact clogs upon the soul, intended to fetter its 
 free range, that we might the more richly enjoy the liberty 
 of the sons of God, and expatiate in the spiritual body, the 
 building of God^ the house not made with hands, eternal in 
 the heavens. 
 
 Let us, then, live continually under the influence of the 
 scenes that await us beyond the grave. They will thus be- 
 come familiar to us. and we shall appreciate their infinite 
 
408 THE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE EARTH. 
 
 superiority to the objects that so deeply interest us on earth. 
 We shall be led to look forward even with strong desire, in 
 spite of the repulsive aspect of death, to that state where the 
 soul will be freed from her prison-house of flesh and blood, 
 and can range in untiring freedom through the boundless 
 fields of knowledge and happiness that are in prospect. Then 
 shall we learn to despise the low aims and contracted views 
 of the sensualist, the demagogue, and the worldling. High 
 and noble thoughts and aspirations will lift our souls above 
 the murky atmosphere of this world, and, while yet in the 
 body, we shall begin to breathe the empyreal air of the new 
 heavens, and to gather the fruits of the tree of life in the new 
 earth, where righteousness only shall forever dwell. 
 
(408) 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OE THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 In order to impress some important truth or transaction, 
 men have sometimes represented surrounding inanimate ob- 
 jects as looking on and witnessing the scene, or listening to 
 the words, and ready ever afterwards to open their mouth to 
 testify to the facts, should man deny them. I know of no 
 writings from which to derive so striking an illustration of 
 these strong figurative representations as the ssacred Scriptures. 
 
 Take, for a first example, the solemn covenant entered into 
 between Jehovah and the Israelites, in the time of Joshua. 
 To fix the transaction as firmly as possible in the minds of 
 the fickle people, he took a great stone and set it up there 
 under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And 
 Joshua said unto all the people. Behold, this stone shall be a 
 witness unto us. For it hath heard all the words of the 
 Lord which he spake unto us. It shall, therefore, be a witness 
 unto you, lest ye deny your God. 
 
 In a second example, the prophet Habakkuk describes the 
 insatiable wickedness of the Chaldeans ; and addressing the 
 nation as an individual, he says, Thou hast consulted shame to 
 thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against 
 thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the 
 beam out of the timber shall answer it. Such abominations 
 had aroused even the most insensible part of creation, the 
 very timber and the stone, to life and indignation. 
 35 
 
410 THE TELEGRAPHIC HTSTEN OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 In a third example, the whole multitude of Jews had just 
 spread their garments upon the ground for Christ to ride over, 
 they meanwhile crying out, Blessed be the King thai comelh 
 in the name of tlie Lord, Peace in Iteacen and glory in the 
 highest. But some of the Pharisees said. Master, rebuke 
 thy disciples ; and he answered and said unto them. If these 
 should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry 
 out. If man refused to do homage to the King of glory, 
 when he came among them, the rocks, more sensible, would 
 break forth in his praises. 
 
 The discoveries of modern science, however, show us that 
 there is a literal sense in which the material creation receives 
 an impression from all our words and actions that can never 
 be effaced ; and that nature, through all time, is ever ready to 
 bear testimony of what we have said and done. Men fancy 
 that the wave of oblivion passes over the greater part of their 
 actions. B^t physic al sci ence shows us that those actions 
 have beeijf transfu^eointo the very texture of the universe, so 
 that no waters can wash them out, and no erosions, comminu- 
 tion, or metamorphoses, can obliterate them. 
 
 The principle which I advance in its naked form is this : 
 Our words, our actions, and even our thoughts^ make an indel- 
 ible impression on the universe. Thrown into a poetic form, 
 this principle converts creation 
 
 Into a vast sounding gallery ; 
 Into a vast picture gallery ; 
 And into a universal telegraph. 
 
 This proposition I shall endeavor to sustain by an appeal to 
 well-established principles of science. Yet, since some of 
 these principles are not the most common and familiar, and 
 have not been applied, except in part, to this subject, I must 
 
MECHANICAL REACTION. 411 
 
 be more technical in their explanation than I could wish, and 
 more minute in the details. 
 
 The grand point, however, on which the whole subject turns, 
 is the doctrine of reaction. By this is meant the mutual or re- J^ 
 ciprocal action of different things upon one another. Thus, if "" 
 a bodyjklljp the_earth, the earth reacts upon it, and stops it, 
 or throws it back. If sulphuric acid be poured upon limestone, 
 a mutual action ensues ; the acid acts on the stone, and the 
 fitone reacts upon the acid, and a new compound is produced. 
 If light fall upon a solid body, the body reacts upon the light, 
 which it sends back to the eye with an image of itself. These 
 are examples of what is meant by reaction, or the reciprocal 
 action of different substances upon one another. But it is not 
 every kind of reaction that will prove a permanent impression 
 to be made upon the universe by our conduct. Hence we 
 must be more specific. 
 
 In the first place, the principle is proved and illustrated 
 hy the doctrine of mechanicalxeqction. /TU^ 
 
 From the principle, long since settled in mechanics, that ' Ct* 
 action and reacti on are equal , it will follow that every impres- 
 sion which man makes by his words, or his movements, upon 
 the air, the waters, or the solid earth, will produce a series of 
 changes in each of those elements which will never end. 
 The word which is now going out of my mouth causes pulsa- 
 tions or waves in the air, and these, though invisible to human 
 eyes, expand in every direction until they have passed around 
 the whole globe, and produced a change in the whole atmos- 
 phere ; nor will a single circumgyration complete the effect ; 
 but the sentence which I am now uttering shall alter the whole 
 atmosphere through all future time. So that, as Professor 
 Babbage remarks, to whom we are indebted fov the first moral 
 application of this mechanical principle, " the air is one vast 
 
412 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE; 
 
 i. CUw^'^^"^» ^^ whose pages are forever written ally^hat man has 
 ever said, or woman whispered." Not a word has ever 
 escaped from mortal lips, whether for the defence of virtue 
 -V . -or the perversion of the truth, not a cry of agony has ever 
 been uttered by the oppressed, not a mandate of cruelty by 
 the oppressor, not a false and flattering word by the deceiver, 
 but it is registered indelibly upon the atmosphere we breathe. 
 And could man command the mathematics of superior minds, 
 every particle of air thus set in motion could be traced 
 through all its changes, with as much precision as the astron- 
 omer can point out the path of the heavenly bodies. No 
 matter how many storms have raised the atmosphere into 
 wild commotion, and whirled it into countless forms ; no mat- 
 ter how many conflicting waves have mixed and crossed one 
 another ; the path of each pulsation is definite, and subject to 
 the laws of mathematics. To follow it requires, indeed, a 
 power of analysis superior to human ; but we can conceive it 
 to be far inferior to the divine. 
 
 J -.^The same thing is true of the waters. No wave has ever 
 been raised on their bosom, no keel has ever ploughed their 
 surface, which has not sent an influence and a change into 
 every ocean, and modified every wave, that has rolled in 
 
 ^ upon the farthest shores. As the vessel crosses the deep, the 
 parted waves close in, and every trace of disturbance soon 
 disappears from human vision. Nevertheless, it is certain 
 that every track thus furrowed in the waters has sent an influ- 
 ence through their entire mass, such as is calculable by dis- 
 tinct formulae; and it may be that glorified minds, by the 
 principles of celestial mathematics, can as easily trace out 
 the paths of the unnumbered vessels that have crossed the 
 - waters, as the astronomer can the paths of the planets oi 
 the comets. • 
 
PROFESSOR BABBAGE. 413 
 
 
 The solid earth, too, is alike tenacious of every impression 
 we make upon it ; not a footprint of man or beast is marked 
 upon its surface, that does not permanently change the whole ^*^''* 
 globe. Every one of its countless atoms will retain and ex-?*** 
 hibit an infinitesimal, but a real, effect through all coming 
 time. It is too minute, indeed, for the cognizance of the hu- 
 man senses. But in a higher sphere there may be inlets of 
 perception acute enough to trace it through all its bearings, 
 and thus render every atom of the globe a living witness to « 
 the actions of /fevery living being. 
 
 In view of these facts, we cannot regard the glowing lan- 
 guage of Babbage an exaggeration, when he says, " The soul I 
 of the negro, whose fettered body, surviving the living char- W 
 nel-house of his infected prison, was thrown into the sea to \ 
 lighten the ship, that his Christian master might escape the 
 limited justice at length assigned by civilized man to crimes 
 whose profit had long gilded their atrocity, will need, at the 
 last great day of human accounts, no living witness of his 
 earthly agony : when man and all his race shall have disap- 
 peared 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." 
 
 The distinguished mathematical professor from whom I 
 iiave just quoted limits the effects of this mathematical reac- 
 tion to this globe and its atmosphere. But if, as the philoso- 
 phers now generally admit, there is a subtile and extremely 
 35* 
 
414 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE TTNIVERSE. 
 
 clastic medium pervading all space, why must they not ex- 
 tend to other worlds, y« 'a, to the whole universe? Without 
 an accurate acquaintance with the facts, indeed, it will seem 
 a mere extravagant imagination to say that our most trivial 
 word or action sends a thrill throughout the whole material 
 universe ; but I see not why sober and legitimate science does 
 not conduct us to this conclusion. Nay, still further, it 
 teaches us that the vibrations and changes which our words 
 and actions produce upon the universe shall never cease their 
 achon and reaction till materialism be no more. 
 
 We venture, then, to push this thought of the ingenious 
 n.athematician into another sphere, which he did not enter. 
 Ihe majority, probably, of the ablest expounders of the 
 Bible have maintained, as previously shown, that the apostio 
 Peter most unequivocally teaches us that the new heavens, or 
 atmosphere, and the new earth, wherein dwellcth righteous- 
 ness, are merely our present earth and atmosphere, melted 
 and burnt by the fires of the last day, and fitted up" anew, — 
 a second and a lovelier paradise, — to be the everlasting abode 
 of holiness and happiness. Indeed, to attempt to fix any 
 other meaning upon Peter's language makes of it a most ab- 
 surd jumble of literal and figurative expressions, and produces 
 an inversion of chronological events. But, admitting the lit- 
 eral meaning of the apostle to be the true one, then those 
 reactions, produced by our words and conduct upon the pres- 
 ent world, shall not be destroyed by the fires of the last day, 
 hut reappear in the new economy, and modlfv the pulsations 
 T the new heavens and the new earth througn all eternity. 
 
 But even though heaven should be in some other part of 
 the universe, and not this earth refitted, yet, if it be a mate- 
 rial residence, why, on the principles already explained, 
 should it not be reached and aflfected by those vibrations 
 
"WILL EXTEND TO THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 415 
 
 which the laws of mathematics assure us are now spreading 
 from each individual, as a centre, through the whole uni- 
 verse ? The conflagration of the earth will alter its chemical 
 constitution, and convert matter into new forms ; but the 
 'mechanical character of the atoms will not be destroyed ; 
 and when they emerge from the final catastrophe, in new and 
 brighter forms, they may still bear and exhibit the impress 
 of every word and every action which they now receive. 
 
 Such representations as these, I am aware, will, upon first 
 thought, seem to most minds little better than the dreams of 
 fancy, although founded upon the laws of mathematics. For 
 how soon does every trace disappear from the earth of the 
 most terrible convulsions and the mightiest human efforts ! 
 The shout of countless multitudes, the thunder and the crash 
 of battle, and even the volcano's bellowing, are soon suc- 
 ceeded by unbroken silence; and we cannot discover a trace 
 of any of those countless scenes of noise and convulsion that 
 have been acted upon the world's busy stage. How prac- 
 tically absurd, then, to imagine that any influence goes out 
 from the feeble efforts of individuals, that can be recognized, 
 either now or hereafter, on the wide field of the universe ! 
 
 Such objections as these, however, are based upon the im- 
 pression, of which it is hard to divest ourselves, that our 
 present means of distinguishing the effects of physical forces 
 are as perfect as we can hope for in eternity. And yet, who 
 will doubt that, when our present gross bodies shall be laid 
 aside^'^he soul, looking forth from a spiritual body, with 
 quickened powers and unobstructed vision, shall penetrate a 
 new world in the infinitesimal parts of creation ? What ab- 
 surdity in the supposition that then the minutest movement 
 among the atoms, which can now be discovered only by the 
 mathematics of quantities infinitely small, may then stand out 
 
aw 
 
 416 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 ■as distinctly to our inspection as do now the features of th« 
 landscape ? What absurdity in the supposition that, even 
 now, there are finite minds in the universe who possess this 
 quickened power of perception, and, though in distant worlds, 
 do actually know what is passing here by the vibra liojup v^^^' 
 which our words and actions produce upon elastic matter? 4t^ / ^ 
 
 Thus far I have spoken of the influence of our words and ^i^ 
 actions only upon the material universe, although the princi- 
 ple with which I started includes thoughts also. But are not 
 actions merely the external manifestation of thoughts and 
 purposes ? and, therefore, is not thought the efficient agency 
 that impresses the universe.? I shall also attempt to^ow 
 that there are other modes in which the intellect may do this, 
 aside from ordinary words and actions. 
 
 But I proceed to the second proof of the general principle. 
 And I derive it from what may be called optical reactions ; 
 that is^ the reaction of light and the substances on which it 
 impinges. These exert such an influence upon it, that, when 
 it is thrown back from them, and enters the organs of vision, 
 or even a transparent lens, with a screen behind it, it pro- 
 duces an image of those objects ; in other words, what we 
 call vision. 
 
 Now, it is this fact, in connection with the progressive mo- 
 tion of light, that forms the basis of this branch of the argu- 
 ment. Though light moves with such immense velocity, that, 
 for all practical purposes on earth, it is instantaneous, yet, in 
 fact, i^^^oes occupy a little more than a second for every two 
 hundred thousand miles which it passes over. Hence a flash 
 of lightning occurring on earth would not be visible on the 
 moon till a seconcj and a quarter afterwards ; on the sun, till 
 eight minutes ; at the planet Jupiter, when at its greatest dis- 
 tance from us, till fifty-two minutes ; on Uranus, till two 
 
OPTICAL REACTIONS. 417 
 
 hours ; on Neptune, till four hours and a quarter ; on the star 
 of Vega, of the first magnitude, till forty-five years ; on a 
 star of the eighth magnitude, till one hundred and eighty 
 years ; and on a star of the twelfth magnitude, till four thou- 
 sand years ; and stars of this magnitude are visible through 
 telescopes ; m^r can we doubt that, with better instruments, 
 stars r»f far lesh magnitude might be seen; so that we may 
 confidently say that this flash of lightning would not reach 
 the remotest heavenly body till more than six thousand 
 years — a period equal to that which has elapsed since man's 
 creation. 
 
 Now, suppose that, on these different heavenly bodies, 
 beings exist with organs of vision sufficiently acute to discern 
 a flash of lightning on earth, or, rather, to see all the scenes 
 on that hemisphere of our world that is turned towards them ; 
 it is obvious that, on the remotest star, the earth would be 
 seen, at this moment, just coming forth from the Creator's 
 hand, in all the freshness of Eden's glories, with our first 
 parents in the beauty of innocence and happiness, and all the 
 beasts of the field and the fowls of the air playing around 
 them. On a star of the twelfth magnitude would be seen 
 the world as it showed itself four thousand years ago ; on a 
 star of the eighth magnitude, as it appeared one hundred and 
 eighty years ago ; and so on to the moon, where would be 
 seen the occurrences of the present moment. And since 
 there are ten thousand times ten thousand worlds, scattered 
 through these extremes of distance, is it not clear that, taking 
 them all together, they do at this moment contain a vast pan- 
 orama of the world's entire history, since the hour when the 
 morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for 
 joy on creation's morning ? 
 
 * Thus," says the unknown author of a little work entitled 
 
418 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 " The Stars and the Earth," in which these ideas were first 
 developed — thus the universe encloses the pictures of the 
 past, like an indestructible and incorruptible record, contain- 
 ing the purest and the clearest truth ; and as sound propa- 
 gates itself in the air, wave after wave, or, to take a still clearer 
 example, as thunder and lightning are in reality simultaneous, 
 but in the storm the distant thunder follows at the interval of 
 minutes [seconds ? ] after the flash, so, in like manner, ac- 
 cording to our ideas, the pictures of every occurrence propa- 
 gate themselves into the distant ether, upon the wings of the 
 ray of light ; aud although they become weaker and smaller, 
 yet, in immeasurable distance, they still have color and form ; 
 and as every thing possessing color and form is visible, so 
 must these pictures also be said to be visible, however im- 
 possible it may be for the human eye to perceive it with the 
 hitherto discovered optical instruments." 
 
 This last statement of the writer every one will acknowledge 
 is true when applied to God ; for who will doubt that his eye 
 can take in at a glance that universe which he has made ? 
 And to do that is to have before him the entire daily history 
 of our globe ; nay, probably, also, of every other world. 
 Indeed, such a supposition affords us a lively conception of 
 the divine omniscience, since we have only to suppose this 
 panorama of the indefinite past to extend indefinitely into the 
 future, and the infinite picture will also be present at this 
 moment before the divine mind. 
 
 But is the supposition an absurdity, that there may be in 
 the universe created beings, with powers of vision acute 
 enough to take in all these pictures of our world's history, as 
 they make the circuit of the numberless suns and planets that 
 lie embosomed in boundless space ? Suppose such a being 
 %i this moment upon a star of the twelftli magnitude, with an 
 
HUMAN HISTORY READ BY OTHER BEINGS. 419 
 
 eye turned toward the earth. He might see the deluge of 
 Noah, just sweeping over the surface. Advancing to a nearer 
 star, he would see the patriarch Abraham going out, not 
 knowing whither he went. Coming still nearer, the vision of 
 the crucified Redeemer would meet his gaze. Coming nearer 
 still, he might alight upon worlds where all the revolutions 
 and convulsions of modern times would fall upon his eye. 
 Indeed, there are worlds enough and at the right distances, 
 in the vast empyrean, to show him every event in human 
 history. 
 
 We may proceed a step farther, and inquire whether such 
 an exaltation of vision as we have supposed may not be here- 
 after enjoyed by the glorified human mind when it passes into 
 the spiritual body. We can hardly believe such a transfor- 
 mation possible. But suppose an individual born blind to 
 grow up to manhood and intelligence without ever having - 
 been told any thing about vision. Then suppose the oculist ^J^ 
 to attempt an operation for the restoration of his sight, and, tof]^ 
 prepare him for the transition, let the wonders of human vision 
 be described to him, and he be told that, by a few moments 
 of suffering, he can be put in possession of this astonishing 
 faculty ; would it not appear as improbable to him as it now 
 does to us, to imagine that our vision can be so clarified and 
 exalted, that we can discern the events which are passing in 
 distant worlds as easily as we now do those immediately 
 around us. 
 
 But if such a power of reading human history, from its 
 panorama spread out on the face of the universe, be now pos- 
 sessed by unfallen beings in other spheres, what idea must 
 they form of the character of man ? At one time, they must 
 regard the race as given up to hopeless rebellion, and the 
 inflictions of vindictive justice. And then, anon, they would 
 
420 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 see the sceptre of mercy stretched out, and a few faithful 
 soldiers marching under the banner of virtue and fighting the 
 battles of the Lord. Surely they would need a revelation to 
 understand the anomalies and solve the paradoxes which 
 passed under their eyes. They would wonder why a world 
 80 filled with tokens of divine goodness, yet so disfigured by 
 wickedness in every form, had not long since been struck 
 from its orbit by the hand of divine justice. 
 
 Thus far, in the present argument, I have been following, 
 for the most part, in the track marked out by others. But I 
 now venture to advance into regions hitherto untrodden for 
 any such purpose ; yet I trust that the light which we may find 
 to guide our steps may not prove the bewildering gleam of 
 an ignis fatmis., but the lamp of true science. 
 
 My third argument is based upon electric reactions. 
 
 Whatever may be the true nature of electricity, it is con- 
 venient, and probably leads to no error, to speak of it as a 
 fluid, or rather two fluids. For we find two kinds of electricity, 
 denominated positive and negative ; and it is a general fact, 
 ^^.^^4hat, when a body is brought into one electrical state, it throws 
 ^ other bodies around it into the opposite state, by a power called 
 induction. Those bodies, whose electrical condition has been 
 thus altered, will act on others lying in a remoter circle, and 
 these upon others, and so on, we cannot tell how widely, foi 
 we have reason to suppose that electricity is a power that 
 extends through all nature. It can hardly be doubted that i 
 is the force which constitutes what we call chemical affinity 
 by wiiich the constituent parts of all compound bodies are 
 held together ; and in those stony and metallic masses, that 
 occasionally fall from the heavens, we have proof that this 
 same power holds sway in other worlds ; for the most reason- 
 able supposition is, that these meteors move like the planets 
 
ELECTRIC REACTIONS. 421 
 
 through the regions of celestial space, and give us some idea 
 of the constitution of planetary worlds. If so, the same chem- 
 ical laws, and, of course, the same chemical forces, prevail 
 there as in our planet. Indeed, the uniformity of nature would 
 lead us to such a conclusion vi^ere there no facts like those of 
 meteors to teach it directly. It follows, from these princi- 
 ples, that, whenever we change the electrical condition of 
 bodies around us, we start a movement to whose onward 
 march we can assign no limits but the material universe. 
 These waves of influence consist of a series of attractions and 
 repulsions, and are independent of the mechanical reactions 
 already considered, which are produced by onward impulses 
 alone. 
 
 Now, a change in the electric condition of bodies is pro- 
 duced often by the slightest mechanical, chemical, thermal, 
 physiological, and probably even mental change in man. The 
 usual way of exciting currents of electricity is by friction. 
 But chemical action, as in the galvanic battery, produces a 
 still more energetic and uninterrupted current. The slightest 
 change of temperature, also, may disturb the electric equi- 
 librium perceptibly. It has been of late ascertained, likewise, 
 that a change of physiological condition — that is, a change as 
 to healthy and normal action — affects the electricity of the '^ 
 parts of the system, and consequently of surrounding bodies. '^ '\ 
 Substitute a man in the place of a galvanic battery, making [t, 
 his two hands the electrodes, and there will go out from him w» 
 an electric current, that shall sensibly deflect the needle of a 
 galvanometer, an instrument employed for showing the pres- 
 ence of small portions of electricity. 
 
 Nay, further, it seems to be most probably established as 
 a fact in science, that a man, in the condition above specified, A 
 by a simple act of his will upon his muscles, by which those 
 36 
 
422 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVEHSE. 
 
 of one arm only shall be braced, will thereby send an elec 
 trical current of one sort through the galvanometer, while a 
 like volition, which shall brace the muscles of the other arm 
 will set »n motion an opposite current. 
 
 It i» also ascertained, that of the two sorts of nerves which 
 supply every muscle, the nerve of sensibility is a positive pole 
 of a Voltaic circuit, while the nerve of motion, or the muscle 
 into which it passes, is a negative pole. So that the sensor 
 nerves act as electric telegraphs to carry the sensations to the 
 brain, and inform it what is needed, while the motor nerves 
 bring back the volition to the muscles — the brain acting as a 
 galvanic battery, very much like the electric organs of certain 
 fishes. 
 
 From these statements it clearly follows, that, besides the 
 mechanical effects produced by our actions, there is also an 
 electric influence excited and propagated by almost every 
 muscular effort, every chemical change within us, every vari- 
 ation in the state of health, or vigor, and especially by every 
 mental effort; for no thought, probably, can pass through the 
 mind which does not alter the physiological, chemical, and 
 electric condition of the brain, and consequently of the whole 
 system. The stronger the emotion, the greater the change ; 
 so that those great mental efforts, and those great decisions 
 of the will, which bring along important moral effects, do also 
 make the strongest impression upon the material universe. 
 We cannot say how widely, by means of electric force, they 
 reach ; but if so subtile a power does, as we have reason to 
 suppose, permeate all space, and all solid matter, there may 
 be no spot in the whole universe where' the knowledge of 
 our most secret thoughts and purposes, as well as our most 
 trivial outward act, may not be transmitted on the lightning^s 
 wing ; and it may be, that, out of this darkened world, there 
 
m 
 
 ODYLIC REACTION. 423 
 
 may not be found any spot where beings do not exist with ] 
 sensibilities keen enough to learn, through electric changes, 
 what we are doing and thinking. 
 
 If there be no absurdity in supposing that even the mechan- 
 ical influence of our actions may be felt throughout the uni- 
 verse, still less is it absurd to infer the same results from 
 electric agencies. * . 
 
 It would seem, from recent discoveries, that electricity has 
 a^more intimate connection with mental operations than any 
 other physical force. If not identical with the nervous influ- 
 ence, it seems to be employed by the mind to accompany that 
 influence to every part of the system ; and the greater the 
 mental excitement, the more energetic the electric movement. 
 It seems to us a marvellous discovery, which enables man to 
 convey and register his thoughts at the distance of thousands jlL 
 of miles by the electric wires. Should it excite any higher 
 wonder to be told, that, by means of this same power, all our 
 thoughts are transmitted to every part of the universe, and 
 can be read there by the acuter perceptions of ot her beings ^''^ 
 as easily as we can read the types or hieroglyphics of the 4^ 
 electric telegraph ? Yet what a Startling thought is it, thaf^*^ 
 the most secret workings of our minds and hearts are momen- 
 tarily spread out in legible characters over the whole material 
 universe ! nay, that they are so^4^oven into the texture of the 
 universe, that they will constitute a part of its web and woof 
 forever ! To believe and realize this is difficult ; to deny it 
 is to go in the face of physical science. How many things 
 we do believe that are sustained by evidence far less sub- 
 stantial ! 
 
 My fourth argument in support of the general principle is 
 based upon odylic reaction. 
 
 And what is odylic reaction .'' What is odyle } you will 
 
 tx::^ 
 
# 
 
 424 THB TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 doubtless inquire. It is, indeed, a branch of science emphatically 
 new. I know of no account of it, save what appears in a late 
 work, of nearly five hundred pages, by Baron Reichenbach, 
 of Vienna, entitled " Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, 
 Heat, Light, Crystallization, and Chemical Attraction, in their 
 Relations to the Vital Force," translated hy William Gregory, 
 professor of chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. This 
 .writer endeavors to show^ by a great number of experiments, 
 that there exists in all bodies, and throughout the universe, a 
 peculiar principle, analogous to magnetism, electricity, light, 
 and heat, yet distinct from them all, to which he gives the 
 name of odt/le. It is most manifest in powerful magnets ; 
 next in crystals, and exists in the human body, the sun, moon, 
 stars, heat, electricity, tehemical action, and, in fact, the whole 
 material universe. Those who are most sensitive to this in- 
 fluence are persons of feeble health, especially somnambu- 
 lists ; but it is found that about one third of individuals, taken 
 promiscuously, and many in good health, are sensible of it ; 
 and it was by a series of observations on persons of all classes 
 and conditions for years, that the facts have been elicited. 
 The inquiry seems to have been conducted with great fairness 
 and scientific skill, and the author has the confidence of sev- 
 eral of the most distinguished scientific men in Europe. If 
 there be no mistake in the results, they promise to explain 
 philosophically many popular superstitions, and also the phe- 
 nomena of mesmerism, without a resort to superhuman agen- 
 cy, either satanic or angelic. They yield, also, an interesting 
 support to the principle of this lecture. Says Baron Reich- 
 enbach, '* There is nothing in these observations [which he 
 had just detailed] that, after the contents of the preceding 
 treatises, can much surprise us ; but they are certainly a fine 
 additional confirmation of what has been stated in regard to 
 
Ci^^,^K\ CHEMICAL REACTION. 425 
 
 the sun and moon, and also of the fact that the whole material 
 universe, even beyond our earth, acts on us with tmrvery 
 same kind of influence which resides in all terrestrial objects ; 
 and lastly, it shows that we stand in a connection of mutual % 
 influence, hitherto unsuspected, with the universe ; so that, in 
 fact, the stars are not altogether devoid of action on our sub- 
 lunary, perhaps even on our practical, world, and on the men- 
 tal processes of some heads." — P. 162. 
 
 By the experiments here referred to by this author, he had 
 endeavored to show, that even the light of the stars exerted 
 an odylic influence upon the human system ; that is, certain 
 effects independent altogether of their light; and if there be 
 no mistake in the experiments, they certainly do show this. 
 Such a fact almost realizes the suggestions already made, 
 that beings in other spheres may possess such an exaltation 
 of sensibilities as to be .able to learn what is going on in this 
 world, and that it is easy to conceive how our sensorium may 
 be raised to the same exalted pitch. 
 
 My ffth argument^ illustrative of the general principle^ is 
 based upon chemical reaction. 
 
 Mechanical reaction changes the form and position of 
 bodies ; chemical reaction alters their constitution. By the 
 decomposition of some compounds, the elements are obtained 
 for forming others ; and such changes are going on around 
 us and within us in great numbers unperceived. In the worlds 
 above us, and in the earth beneath us, from its circumference 
 to its centre, the transmutations of chemistry are in progress, 
 and many of them are modified by the agency of man ; so 
 that here is another„channel through which human actions 
 exert an influence upon the material universe, and to an extent:^ 
 which we cannot measure. Let us look at some of the modes •'^ 
 in which this is done. v^ a * v. - " '"^--S 
 
426 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE TTNIVEHSE. 
 
 T^e, in the first place, the facts respecting photography 
 or the art of obtaining sketches of objects by means of the 
 action of light. This is strictly a chemical process. In a 
 beam of light, that comes to us from the sun, we find not 
 only rays of light and heat, but chemical rays, which act 
 upon some bodies to change their constitution. When these 
 rays are reflected from a human countenance, and fall upon 
 a silvered plate, that has been coated with iodine and bromine 
 they leave an impression, which is fixed and brought out as a 
 portrait by the vapor of mercury and some other agents. 
 Here the chemical changes produced by these rays are ex- 
 ceedingly perfect ; but they produce effects upon many other 
 substances, artificially or naturally prepared ; such as paper, 
 for instance, immersed in a solution of bichromate of potash, 
 or upon vegetation, whose green color is probably the result 
 of this action, (as is obvious from the fact that plants grow- 
 ing in the dark are destitute of color.) Indeed j a large part 
 of the changes of color in nature depend upon these invis- 
 ible rays. 
 
 It seems, then, that this photographic influence pervades all 
 nature ; nor can we say where it stops. We do not know 
 but it may imprint upon the world around us our features, as 
 they are modified by various passions, and thus fill nature 
 with daguerreotype impressions of all our actions that are 
 performed in daylight. It may be, too, that there are tests 
 by which nature, more skilfully than any human photogra- 
 phist, can bring out and fix those portraits, so that acuter senses 
 than ours shall see them, as on a great canvas, spread over 
 the material universe. Perhaps, too, they may never fade 
 from that canvas, but become specimens in the great picture 
 gallery of eternity. 
 
 The thought may perhaps cross some mind, that, though 
 
CHEMICAL REACTION. ^7 
 
 those human actions which are performed in sunlight may be 
 imprinted upon the universe, yet no deed of darkness can 
 thus reveal its author, and remain an eternal stigma upon his 
 name. But there is another phase to this subject. What is ^ 
 the evidence that the chemical rays of a sunbeam are rays 
 of light ? We know that they are unequally diffused through 
 the spectrum, being most energetic at its violet extremity; 
 but there is no proof that they are visible. They may, like 
 heat, exert their appropriate influence, which seems to be 
 mainly that of deoxidation, and yet not be colorific. If so, 
 we might expect them to operate in the dark ; and experi- 
 ment proves that they do. An engraving on paper, placed 
 between an iodized silver plate and an amalgamated copper 
 plate, was left in the dark for fifteen hours. On exposing 
 the amalgamated plate to the vapor of mercury, " a very nice 
 impression of the engraving was brought out — it having been 
 effected through the thickness of the paper." — Mr. Hunt, 
 " On the Changes luMch Bodies are capable of undergoing in 
 Darkness,'''' Phil. Mag. vol. xxii. p. 277. — Many like experi- 
 ments prove the existence, among bodies, of a power analo- 
 gous to, if not identical with, that which accompanies light, 
 and is the basis of the photographic process. Some philoso- 
 phers do not regard them as identical. But this is of little 
 consequence in my present argument. For all agree that 
 there is a power in nature capable of impressing the outlines 
 of some objects upon others in total darkness. 
 
 In respect to such cases, there are one or two facts deserv- 
 ing of special notice. And, first. We must not infer, be- 
 cause man has yet been able to bring out to human view but 
 a few examples of this sort, that they are, therefore, few in 
 nature. Rather should the discovery of a ^ew lead to the 
 conclusion that nature may be full of them, and that a more 
 
428 THE lELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 delicate and refined chemistry may yet disclose them. For 
 the few known cases give us a glimpse of a recondite law of 
 nature, which most likely pervades creation. Some regard 
 these dark rays as neither light, nor heat, nor chemical rays, 
 but a new element ; but, whatever its nature, no reason can 
 be given why it should operate only in a few cases, and those 
 of artificial preparation. More probably, through this influ- 
 ence, all bodies brought into contact, or proximity, impress 
 their images upon one another ; and the time may come 
 when, touched by a more subtile chemistry than man now 
 wields, these images shall take a place among obvious and 
 permanent things in the universe, to the honor and glory 
 of some, but to the amazement and everlasting contempt 
 of more. 
 
 Of more, I say ; for wickedness has oftener sought the con- 
 cealment of darkness than modest virtue. The foulest enor- 
 mities of human conduct have always striven to cover them- 
 selves with the shroud of night. The thief, the counterfeiter, 
 the assassin, the robber, the murderer, and the seducer, feel 
 comparatively safe in the midnight darkness, because no hu- 
 man eye can scrutinize their actions. But what if it should 
 turn out that sable night, to speak paradoxically, is an unerr- 
 ing photographist ! What if wicked men, as they open their 
 eyes from the sleep of death, in another world, should find 
 the universe hung round with faithful pictures of their earthly 
 enormities, which they had supposed forever lost in the obliv- 
 ion of night ! What scenes for them to gaze at forever ! 
 They may now, indeed, smile incredulously at such a sugges- 
 tion ; but the disclosures of chemistry may well make them 
 tremble. Analogy does make it a scientific probability that 
 every action of man, however deep the darkness in which it 
 was performed, has imprinted its image upon nature, and that 
 
.CATALYSIS. 429 
 
 there may be tests which shall draw it into dayhght, and 
 make it permanent so long as materialism endures. 
 
 There is another chemical principle, called catalysis^ i^cv 
 through which human actions may make powerful and per- ~^ 
 manent impressions on the universe, and that, too, unperceived 
 by man. In some cases, the mere presence of a certain 
 agent, in a small quantity, will produce extensive changes of 
 constitution in other bodies, while the agent itself remains 
 unaltered. Thuii a strip of platinum will determine the 
 union of oxygen and hydrogen in the platinum lamp ; and 
 sulphuric acid, in a solution of starch, will change it first into 
 gum, and then into sugar ; while neither the platinum nor the 
 acid experiences any change. These are called catalytic 
 changes. More often, however, the catalytic agent is itself 
 in the process of change, and it produces an analogous 
 change in other bodies. A familiar example is yeast, or fer- 
 ment. This substance contains a principle called diastase, 
 one part of which is capable of converting two tliousand 
 parts of starch into sugar ; and this is what is done in the 
 familiar process c^ fermentation, when we always see verified 
 the scriptural declaration, A little leaven leaveneth the 
 whole lump. 
 
 The precise manner in which the diastase operates in these 
 cases we may not be able to explain. The particles of the 
 diastase, being themselves in motion, possess the power of 
 putting in motion the particles of other bodies ; and these, 
 'a^in, operate upon others, and so on, often to an astonishing 
 extent. In the case of the platinum and the acid, however, 
 no change takes place in their molecules, and we can only 
 state it, as an unexplained fact, that they do produce changes 
 in other bodies. 
 
 We have other examples of catalytic influences in nature. 
 
i30 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 exhibiting an agency still more subtile and energetic. I refer 
 to contagious and epidemic diseases in animals and plants 
 An influence goes abroad, and seems to be propagated 
 through the atmosphere, traversmg whole continents, and 
 crossing wide oceans, powerful and deadly in its effects, yet 
 inappreciable by the most delicate mechanical or chemical 
 tests. But the phenomena admit of explanation by supposing 
 a movement, either in the particles of the atmosphere, or of 
 the still more subtile and elastic medium that pervades all 
 space ; a movement started at a particular spot, as the chol- 
 era in India, and the small-pox or some epidemic from some 
 focus, and communicating an unhealthy movement from atom 
 to atom, till it has encircled the earth and mowed down its 
 hecatoraUs, 
 
 Now, when we look at such facts, who can suppose it im- 
 probable that man, whoycan hardly lift a finger without pro- 
 ducing some chemical change, should start some of these 
 movements, that may reach far beyond his imagination ? 
 And here, as in the cases that have preceded, we must not 
 estimate the actual change in the constitutjpn of bodies by 
 the apparent ; for we know that multitudes of such changes 
 are passing within us and around us, without our cognizance ; 
 and yet there may be chemical eyes in the universe -juick 
 enough to see them all, and to follow them onward (o the 
 final icsult; for there must be a final resultant of all such 
 forces ; nor can we doubt that, some time or other, and to some 
 beings, if not to ourselves, it will be manifest. Here, then, is 
 another mode in which a chemical influence may go forth 
 from us, reaching the utmost limits of matter and of time ; 
 nay, perhaps extending into eternity, and revealing our ac- 
 tions to the finer sensibilities of exalted beings. 
 
 / derive my sixth argument in support of the general prin* 
 Hvle from organic reaction. 
 
ORGANIC KEACTIOjN. _ 431 
 
 Few persons, save the zoologist and comparative anato* 
 mist, have any idea of the great nicety and delicacy of the 
 relations that exist between all the species of animals and 
 plants, so that what affects one affects all the rest. Per- 
 haps the subject may be illustrated by supposing all the spe- 
 cies of organic beings to*be distributed at different distances 
 through a hollow sphere, while between them all there is a 
 mutual repulsion, and the whole are retained in the form of a 
 sphere by an attracting force directed to the centre. By 
 such an arrangement, if one species be taken out of the 
 sphere, or its repellency become stronger or weaker, the rela- 
 tive position of all the rest would be altered. No matter 
 how many millions of species there are, the movements of 
 one will cause a reaction among all the rest. 
 
 Now, this illustration, although an approximation, falls 
 short of representing the actual state of things in nature. It 
 is no exaggeration to say that a relation similar to tne sup- 
 posed one exists throughout the vast dominions of animate 
 beings ; so that you cannot obliterate or change one species 
 without affecting all the rest. Often the change is effected so 
 slowly and indirectly that the beings experiencing it are un- 
 conscious of it ; or they may realize some slight disturbance 
 of the balance in organic nature, and yet be unconscious of 
 the cause. By the illustration above given, when one or more 
 species is removed from the supposed sphere, or its repellent 
 force weakened or strengthened, although an influence will 
 reach all the other species, yet a new equilibrium will soon be 
 established, and no permanently bad effects seem to follow. 
 But not so in nature. There the balance originally fixed be- 
 tween different beings by infinite wisdom is the best possible ; 
 and every change, not intended by Providence, must be for 
 the worse. It was intended, for instance, that man should 
 
432 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 subdue forests and extirpate noxious plants, as well as fero- 
 cious and noxious animals ; and, therefore, such a change 
 operates to his advantage, but to the injury of the inferior ani- 
 mals. Yet often he pushes this exterminating process so far 
 as to injure himself also. Thus the farmer wages a relentless 
 war against certain birds, because of some slight evils which 
 they occasion. But when they are extirpated, opportunity is 
 given for noxious insects to multiply, and lo bring upon the 
 farmer evils much greater than those he thus escapes. 
 
 To prevent an excessive multiplication of some species is 
 one of the grand objects of the present balance established 
 among the whole. Such an increase is an inevitable effect 
 of the extinction of a species, and it often occasions great 
 mischief The carnivorous species, especially, were intended 
 to act as^ nature's police, to prevent a too great increase of the 
 herbivorous races, which are rendered excessively fruitful to 
 keep the world full. If, then, a carnivorous species become 
 extinct, the species on which it has fed will so multiply as to 
 prove great nuisances, and to produce wide disorder among 
 many species, not only of animals, but of plants. And often 
 has man, in this way, by the extermination of species, in par- 
 ticular districts, unwittingly brought a powerful reaction on 
 himself. 
 
 On the Island of New Zealand, within one or two hundred 
 years past, eight or ten species of gigantic birds — the dinor- 
 nis and palapteryx — have become extinct, probably through 
 the persecution of man. The natives, without doubt, hunted 
 them down for food, until all disappeared : and as no quadru 
 ped of much size inhabits the island, we think there is nj 
 little plausibility in the suggestion of Professor Owen, that 
 when the birds were all gone, or nearly gone, the natives were 
 tempted to the practice of cannibalism, as the only means of 
 
UNIVERSAL AND PERPETUAL. 433 
 
 gratifying their passion for meat. What a terrible retribution 
 for disturbing the equilibrium of organic nature ! 
 
 The records of zoology and botany afford endless illustra- 
 tion of this subject. But the great truth which they all teach 
 is, that so intimately are we related to other beings, that al- 
 most every action of ours reacts upon them for good or evil ; 
 for good, upon the whole, when we conform to the laws which 
 God has established ; and for evil, when by their violation we 
 disturb the equilibrium of organized nature, and produce irreg- 
 ular action. In this latter case, we cannot tell where the dis- 
 turbance, thus introduced, will end ; for it is not a periodical 
 oscillation, like the perturbations of the heavenly bodies, nor 
 a mere change of position and intensity by mechanical forces. 
 
 But does not this law of mutual influence between organic 
 beings extend to other worlds ? Why should it not be trans- 
 mitted by means of the luminiferous ether to the limits of the 
 universe ? Who knows but a blow struck upon a single link 
 of organic beings here may be felt through the whole circle 
 of animate existence in all worlds ? That is a narrow view 
 of God's work, which isolates the organic races on this globe 
 from the rest of the universe. The more philosophical view 
 throws the golden chain of influence around the whole animal 
 creation, whether small or great, near or remote. 
 
 Reverting to the reasoning which we employed in tracing 
 out the extent of mechanical reaction, we shall see that or- 
 ganic reaction may extend not only to other worlds, but also 
 into eternity. For if the matter of the universe is to survive 
 the conflagration of the last day, the future economy of life 
 must have some connection with the present, whether this 
 earth or some other part of the universe be the theatre of its 
 development. 
 
 I speak here not of moral influences, which we know will 
 37 
 
IIJ 
 
 434 THE TELEGRAPHIC I /^STEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 pass over from time into eternity, but of a physical reaction, 
 which may also reach beyond the same gulf For at least a 
 part of those creatures, who in this world have felt the modi, 
 fying power of other beings, will survive the world's final 
 catastrophe, and occupy material, though spiritual bodies, 
 whose germ is represented as derived from their bodies on 
 earth. We have reason, then, to suppose some connection 
 and modifying influence between them. And we might show, 
 also, that moral causes, which so affect the physical character 
 here, may exert a like power in eternity. But time will not 
 permit the argument to be followed out. 
 
 The conclusion, then, from this argument also, is, that prob- 
 ably every action of ours on earth modifies the condition and 
 destiny of every other created being in this and other worlds 
 through time and eternity. What though human experience, 
 dependent on the bluntness of mortal sensibilities, cannot 
 demonstrate such an influence ? Shall the gross perceptions 
 'of this disordered world be made the standard of all that 
 exists? Rather let us listen to the suggestions of science, 
 which tell us of the possibility of senses far more acute in 
 other worlds, and in a future state of being — senses that can 
 trace out and feel the vibrations of the delicate web of or- 
 ganic influence that binds together the great and the small, 
 the past, the present, and the future, throughout the universe. 
 
 My seventh argument in support of the general principle 
 depends upon mental reaction. 
 
 Mental reaction operates in two ways — indirectly, and 
 directly ; indirectly through matter, directly by the influ 
 «nce of mind upon mind, without an intervening medium 
 When describing electric reactions, I have shown how oui 
 ihoughts and volitions change the electric, chemical, and even 
 mechanical condition of the body, and, through these media. 
 
MENTAL REACTION. 435 
 
 that of all the material universe ; and I need not repeat that 
 argument. But to modify the inanimate world through these 
 agencies necessarily affects all other intellects, which are 
 connected with matter ; and since man in a future world is to 
 assume a spiritual body, we may reasonably suppose that all 
 created beings are in some way connected with matter ; and, 
 therefore, by means of materialism, through the subtile agen- 
 cies that have been named, we may be sure that an influence 
 goes out from every thought and volition of ours, and reaches 
 every other intellect in the wide creation. I know not whether, 
 in other worlds, their inhabitants possess sensibilities acute 
 enough to be conscious of this influence ; certainly, in this 
 world, it is only to a limited extent that men are conscious of 
 it. Yet we must admit that it exists and acts, or deny the 
 demonstrated verities of science. 
 
 But is there not evidence that mind sometimes acts directly 
 upon other minds, without any gross, intervening media? It 
 may, indeed, be doubted whether any created intellect oper- 
 ates, except in connection with some form of matter. Yet 
 there are certain facts in the history of individuals in an 
 abnormal state, which show that one mind acts upon another, 
 independent of the senses, or any other material means of 
 intercommunication discoverable by the senses. Take the 
 details of sleep-waking, or somnambulism ; and do not they 
 present us with numerous cases in which impressions are 
 made by one mind upon another, even when separated beyond 
 the sphere of the senses ? Take the facts respecting double 
 consciousness, and those where the power was possessed of 
 reading the thoughts of others, or the facts relating to pre- 
 vision ; and surely they cannot be explained but by the sup- 
 position of a direct influence of one mind upon another. 
 
 Still more decided in this respect are the most familiar facta 
 
436 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVEKSK. 
 
 of artificial somnambulism, called mesmerism. Whatevel 
 may be our views of this unsettled branch of knowledge as a 
 whole, it would seem as if we could not doubt that its facts 
 prove the action of mind upon mind, independently of bodily 
 organization, without rejecting evidence which would prove 
 any thing else. 
 
 Now, if we admit that mind does operate upon other minds 
 while we are in the body, independent of the body, can we 
 tell how far the influence extends ? If electricity, or some 
 other subtile agent, be essential to this action, it would indeed 
 transfer this example to electric reaction, but it would still be 
 real. Yet, in the absence of all certain proof of the electric 
 power in this case, and with certain proof of the existence of 
 such an influence, we may place it among those marvellous 
 means by which man makes an impression, wide beyond our 
 present knowledge, upon the universe, material and mental ; 
 and it ought to make us feel that our lightest thoughts and 
 feeblest volitions may reach the outer limit of intellectual life, 
 and its consequences meet us in distant worlds, and far down 
 the track of eternity. 
 
 Finally. I derive an argument in support of the general 
 f*rinciple from geological reaction. 
 
 By this expression, I mean those reactions of whose exist- 
 ence geology furnishes the proof. They are, in fact, the 
 reactions already considered ; but geology proves that they 
 have actually operated in past time in many instances, by 
 evidence registered on the rocks, and thus tends to confirm 
 our reasoning derived from other sources. I do not mean 
 that the proof is before us of precisely such an action as our 
 reasoning has supposed, but so analogous to that supposed as 
 to lend it confirmation. A few examples will illustrate the 
 argument. 
 
GEOLOGICAL REACTION". 437 
 
 The effects of mechanical reaction are, perhaps, most fre- 
 quent and striking in the rocks, especially those deposited 
 from water. Here we have, for instance, the ripple marks, 
 which present us with a faithful register of the slightest move- 
 ment of the waters, and also of the motions of the atmosphere, 
 or of the currents in it, that agitated the waters. In the 
 almost impalpable powder that sometimes constitutes the 
 rocks, we can trace the slightest erosion and comminution 
 of the strata from which the deposit was worn. In the petri- 
 fied rain drops we find an indelible trace of the most gentle 
 shower. And here, too, we can see the direction of the wind. 
 Such facts, also, imply the operation of electricity and gravity, 
 of heat and cold, collecting and condensing the rain, and 
 bringing it down; and so similar to present meteorological 
 phenomena do these ancient showers appear to have been, 
 that we may conclude that electrical reactions, in all respects, 
 were the same as at present. 
 
 The preservation of the tracks of numerous animals in some 
 of the sandstones shows us how deep and permanent an im- 
 pression the most trivial action of a living being may make. 
 In these footmarks we sometimes no^ce a change in the di- 
 rection of the animal along the surface ; and, of course, an 
 impression deeper or more shallow than usual, of parts of the 
 foot, by the action of the muscles employed in changing the 
 animal's course. Here, then, we have the register of so slight 
 an action as an increased or diminished action of a particular 
 muscle of the leg. Nay, further, such a movement affords 
 us an infallible register of an act of the animal's will, since 
 that must have preceded the change ; and that implies an 
 electric current, first inward along the sensor nerves, and then 
 outward along the motor nerves. 
 
 Geology lays open before us a map of the changes in organic 
 37* 
 
438 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THB UNIVERSE. 
 
 nature from the apparent commencement of life on the globe, 
 and thus enables us to see examples of this kind of reaction. 
 We find different economies of life to have appeared, but all 
 of them most wisely adapted to existing circumstances. In 
 each economy we perceive the balance between the different 
 tribes provided for. If, for instance, one race of carnivorous 
 species died out, new races were created to occupy their 
 place, so that the herbivorous species should not overrun the 
 globe. Thus, when the early sauroid fishes dirpinished, the 
 gigantic and carnivorous marine saurian reptiles were intro- 
 duced. And when the chambered shells, whose occupants 
 were carnivorous, disappeared with the secondary period, 
 numerous univalve mollusks were created to feed on other 
 animals; although previously that family were herbivorous. 
 It would seem, however, as if each successive economy of 
 organic life had contained within itself the seeds of extinc- 
 tion. It was, indeed, mainly a change of climate which first 
 caused some species to disappear. But their destruction so 
 disturbed the balance of creation that others followed, until 
 total extinction was the result, which, however, was often 
 hastened by catastrophes. 
 
 Thus we have in the stony volume of the earth's history 
 actual examples of effects resulting from the acts, and even 
 volitions, of the inferior animals, which can never be erased 
 while the rocks endure. 
 
 If, therefore, with our imperfect senses, we can see these 
 results so distinctly, we may safely infer that human conduct, 
 and thought, and volition impress upon the globe, nay, upon 
 the universe, murks which nothing can obliterate. 
 
 The thoughts which press upon the mind, in view of such 
 a conclusion, are numerous and interesting. A few we cao 
 hardly help noticing. 
 
INFERENCES. 439 
 
 In the first place, what a centre of influence does man 
 occupy ! 
 
 It is just as if the universe were a tremulous mass of jelly 
 which every movement of his made to vibrate from the cen- 
 tre to the circumference. It is as if the universe were one 
 vast picture gallery, in some part of which the entire history 
 of this world, and of each individual, is shown on canvas, 
 sketched by countless artists, with unerring skill. It is as if 
 each man had his foot upon the point where ten thousand tel- 
 egraphic wires meet from every part of the universe, and he 
 were able, with each volition, to send abroad an influence 
 along these wires, so as to reach every created being in 
 heaven and in earth. It is as if we had the more than Gorgon 
 power of transmuting every object around us into forms beau- 
 tiful or hideous, and of sending that transmuting process 
 forward through time and through eternity. It is as if we 
 were linked to every created being by a golden chain, and 
 every pulsation of our heart or movement of our mind mod- 
 ified the pulsation of every other heart and the movements 
 of every other intellect. Wonderful, wonderful is the posi- 
 tion man occupies, and the part he acts ! And yet it is not 
 a dream, but the deliberate conclusion of true science. 
 
 Secondly, We see in this subject the prohahility that our 
 minutest actions, and perhaps our thoughts, from day to day, 
 are known throughout the universe. 
 
 I speak not here of the divine omniscience, which we 
 know reaches every thought and action ; but I refer to created 
 beings. Science shows us how, in a variety of modes, such 
 knowledge may be conveyed to them by natural agencies ; 
 and we have only to suppose them to be possessed of far 
 more acute sensibilities than man's, in order to be affected by 
 these agencies as we are by more powerful impressions. 
 
440 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 And when we consider how fettered and depressed a condi- 
 tion this world obviously is in, because of its sinfulness, who 
 will doubt but the unfallen beings of other spheres may enjoy 
 those keener perceptions that will bring our whole history 
 distinctly before them, day by day? The thought is, indeed, 
 startling, but not unphilosophical. 
 
 If this suggestion be true, then may we indulge the thought 
 as highly probable that our friends, who have gone before us 
 into the eternal world, may be as familiar with our conduct, 
 our words, and even our thoughts, as we are ourselves. If 
 we are acting as we ought, and so as will please them, this 
 must be an animating idea ; but if we are not, let it serve to 
 stimulate us to our duty, if a sense of the divine omniscience 
 is not sufficient. 
 
 We infer front this subject, thirdly, the probability that, in 
 a future state, the power of reading the past history of the 
 world, and of individuals, may be possessed by man. 
 
 The nature of the future spiritual body, and of the heav- 
 enly state and employments, impresses the mind with the 
 belief that it will be a condition far more exalted than the 
 present, and that the inlets to the soul will be cleared of all 
 obstructions ; so that no impression made on such a sensorium 
 shall fail to give the mind a distinct perception. In heaven, 
 such extreme sensibility might become a source of richest 
 pleasure ; in the world of despair, an instrument of severe 
 punishment ; yet in both cases it might be the natural result 
 of a man's earthly course. Now, such an indefinite exalta- 
 tion of the perceptions in futurity scarcely any one will 
 doubt. Why should we doubt any more that it may rise so 
 high that man will be able to read, through the agencies we 
 have pointed out, the minutest action and thought in human 
 experience ? If, as we have reason to suppose, angels 
 
THE SUICIDE. 441 
 
 can do it now, the Bible informs us that we shall be like 
 the angels. 
 
 If this view be admitted, then it may be that the present 
 world is the only spot in the universe where deeds of wicked- 
 ness can be concealed. In a sinful world we can see reason* 
 why the power of concealment should exist to some ex 
 tent. For though no man should do or think any thing which 
 he is ashamed to have known, yet, if all the plans of men for hi , l 
 the promotion of good objects were fully known from their ^ ^ 
 inception, the wicked could generally defeat them. But in a^^ «v£ , 
 world of perfect holiness no such necessity would exist, since 
 the universal desire would be to promote every worthy ob- 
 ject ; and, therefore, it may be that every soul will lie per- 
 fectly open to the inspection of all other souls — an arrange- 
 ment that seems appropriate to such a world. 
 
 In what an aspect does this principle present the conduct 
 of the suicide ! Tired of earthly scenes, he rushes unbidden 
 into eternity to escape them. But instead of escaping them, 
 he goes where every one of these mortal evils — yea, and 
 multiplied, too, a thousand fold — shall start up in his path 
 with a distinctness of which he had no conception. And 
 henceforth he can never find, as in this world, even a partial 
 deliverance from their terrible vividness. It is as if, to avoid 
 the moonlight, because too bright, a man should plunge 
 into the sun. 
 
 Again, if this principle be true, how annoying will it be, to 
 the man who has not acted well his part in this world, to meet 
 in eternity the ever-recurring mementoes of his evil deeds ! 
 He will hardly be able to open his eyes without seeing some 
 plague-spot on creation as the result of his conduct ; and 
 although infinite wisdom and power have stayed the plague, 
 no thanks are due to him. The tendencies of his conduct on 
 
442 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 earth will be most distressing to look upon ; and these shall 
 not cease to lie open before him till the last sand in the glass 
 of eternity is run out. 
 
 But, on the other hand, how does this principle strew the 
 path of eternity with flowers to that man who, in this world, 
 finds his highest pleasure in doing good ! Not merely hia 
 highest and noblest deeds of benevolence here shall loom up 
 in bright perspective there, but a thousand acts of private 
 beneficence, unknown to the world and forgotten by himself, 
 shall stand out distinctly on the moving panorama of that bet- 
 ter world ; and he will be amazed to see what a wide and 
 blessed influence they have exerted, and will exert, as the 
 catalytic influence moves on and widens in its endless march. 
 It might have ruined him to see these fruits in this world, by 
 exciting pride and vain glory ; but it will awaken there only 
 gratitude and love to the grace that enabled him thus, in time, 
 to sow the seeds which should fill eternity with flowers, and 
 fragrance, and golden fruit. 
 
 Finally. What new and astonishing avenues of knowledge 
 does this subject show us will probably open upon the soul in 
 eternity ! 
 
 I do not now speak of the new knowledge of the divine 
 character which will then astonish and delight the soul by 
 direct intuition, but rather of those new channels that will 
 be thrown open, through which a knowledge of other worlds, 
 and of other created beings, can be conveyed to the soul 
 almost inimitably. And just consider what a field that will 
 be. At present we know nothing of the inhabitants of other 
 worlds, and it is only by analogy that we make their exist- 
 ence probable. Nor, with our present senses, could we learn 
 any thing respecting them but by an actual visit to each 
 world. But let the suggestions to which our reasonings havi 
 
NEW AVENUES OF KNOWLEDGE IN ETERNITY. 443 
 
 conducted us prove true, — let our sensorium be so modified 
 and spiritualized that every thought, word, and action in those 
 worlds shall come to us through pulsations falling upon the 
 organ of vision, or by an electric current through the nerve 
 of sensation, or by some transmitted chemical change, — and 
 on what vantage ground should we be placed ! Without 
 leaving the spot of our residence, supposing the universe con- 
 stituted as it now is, we might study out the character and 
 constitution of the countless inhabitants of at least one hun- 
 dred millions of worlds, which we know to exist ; nay, of ten 
 thousand times that number, which probably exist. Every 
 movement of matter around us, however infinitesimal, would 
 be freighted with new knowledge, perhaps from distant 
 spheres. Every ray of light that met our gaze from the 
 broad heavens above us would print an image upon our visual 
 organs of events transpiring in distant worlds, while every 
 electrical flash might convey some idea to our mind never 
 before thought of Every chemical ray, too, might inform us 
 of scenes far off in the regions of night ; and then who can 
 calculate what organic and mental influences might be trans- 
 mitted to us from beings of all ranks and scattered through 
 all worlds ? To speak of organs, indeed, as the medium of 
 perceptions in another world, may be absurd ; but we mean 
 only, by that term, whatever may be substituted for our pres- 
 ent organs; and we assume that the properties of matter will 
 exist forever; and, therefore, we may presume that light, and 
 electricity, and chemical affinity, and corporeal and mental 
 influences will, under modified forms, be the modes by which 
 knowledge shall ever be transmitted. At least, assuming that 
 they will be, and the magnificent conceptions we have now 
 traced out may be hereafter realized. And surely, if they be 
 only slightly probable, the anticipation is full of thrilling 
 
444 THE TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 interest, and the moral effect of dwelling upon it must be salu- 
 tary. It spreads out beibre us fields of knowledge which 
 eternity can never exhaust, and attractive so immeasurably 
 above all the knowledge of earth that we almost wait impa- 
 tiently for the summons to break from our prison-house below, 
 and to rise on our new pinions to celestial scenes. 
 
 If such rich means of knowledge of created things be en- 
 joyed by celestial minds, and they can drink it in to the full 
 measure of their faculties, then one inevitable effect must be 
 to make them unite, ever and anon, in adoration and praise 
 to the infinite Being who created and sustains all, and whose 
 glory is illustrated by all his works. And we can conceive 
 that there may be stated periods, when, from every part of 
 the universe, the anthem of praise comes rolling onwards 
 towards some central spot, where the divine presence is most 
 felt. 0, how gladly will each happy soul, animated by every 
 new accession of knowledge, join in the swelling piean as it 
 mounts up to the third heavens ! Who knows but this is the 
 hour when the peal is beginning? O, let not this world be 
 the only spot in the universe where it shall be unheard and 
 unheeded. Surely we see enough of the divine glory here 
 to begin the song, which we hope to pour forth in loftier notes 
 on high, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, Uie only 
 wise God ; to whom be honor and glory, forever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
(445) ♦ 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 It is interesting and instructive to trace the history of man's 
 progress in the knowledge of the existence, character, and 
 plans of Jehovah. We shall find that progress to have been 
 marked by epochs, rather than continuous advancement. 
 Some new revelation from heaven, or some new discovery in 
 science, has given a sudden expansion to his views of the 
 Deity, which have then remained in a good degree stationary 
 for a long period. My chief object in this lecture is to show 
 what accessions to our knowledge of the divine plans have 
 been derived from science, especially from geology. But it 
 will give greater distinctness and impressiveness to the sub- 
 ject to take a review of the principal steps by which the human 
 mind has reached its present accurate spiritual and enlarged 
 views of the Deity. 
 
 We will first look at man in the rudest condition in society^ 
 in which he has any idea of the existence of beings superior 
 to himself 
 
 For there is a state of his being in which no such ideas 
 exist in his mind ; tribes of men, and especially individuals, 
 who have lived in a wild state, away from all human inter- 
 course, have been found with no idea of a superior being of 
 any sort. Other tribes have existed a little more elevated 
 above the irrational animals, and these have an impression, 
 derived perhaps from their moral sense, or growing out of 
 
446 THE VAST PI,ANS OP JEHOVAH. 
 
 their superstitious fears, that some power exists in the uni- 
 verse greater than themselves. But having never entertained 
 an abstract idea on any other subject, and depending alone 
 A ^^ ; upon their senses for their knowledge, they identify God with 
 \U \ ^^® ^^^^ remarkable objects of nature. They listen to his 
 voice in the wind and the thunder, in the ocean's roar, and 
 the volcano's bellowing ; and they see him in the sun, moon, 
 and stars. They feel that he must be superior to themselves ; 
 but how much superior, they know not. They never think 
 of him as infinite, because the idea of infinity on any subject 
 never enters their mind. They conceive of the earth only as 
 a plain of considerable extent, bounded by a circle, beyond 
 which their thoughts never wander ; and they look up to the 
 heavens as a dome, perhaps solid, studded by luminous bodies, 
 it may be a few feet or yards in diameter. They suppose 
 that, somehow or other, this superior Being has the control 
 of their destinies ; but the idea of any thing like worship is 
 too spiritual to be conceived of, except, perhaps, some super- 
 stitious rite, performed to deprecate the divine displeasure. 
 In short, every thing in their notion of God is indefinite, gross, 
 and confined to the narrow sphere of the senses. 
 
 In the second place^ polytheism^ especially among nations 
 somewhat civilized^ is an advance in man's conceptions of the 
 Supreme Being. 
 
 Polytheism probably originated in the deification of distin- 
 w' guished men. Superior minds, who had been the leaders or 
 ^y the benefactors of mankind, were suddenly torn from an ad- 
 •\ miring world by death. Their bodies were left behind, but 
 JjSx. the animating principle, the immortal mind, had vanished in a 
 » moment ; and it was a most natural inquiry, even among the 
 most ignorant, whether some undying principle had not es- 
 caped and gone to a higher sphere ; for it would be difficult 
 
FOLYTHEISM. 447 
 
 to conceive how so much intelligence and virtue should be 
 quenched in a moment in eternal night. It would be a most 
 natural and gratifying conclusion with survivors, that their 
 departed leaders and benefactors still lived, and were in some 
 way concerned in watching over their interests, and in con- 
 trolling their destinies. Conjecturesjof ^this sort would, in a 
 few generations, settle into positive belief. Now, this would 
 be a most important advance upon the gross materialism, and 
 indefinite ideas, which identified divinity with striking objects 
 of nature ; for if distinguished warriors and statesmen were 
 still alive after their bodies were laid in the grave, there must 
 have escaped, at the moment of death, some principle too 
 subtile to be cognizable by the senses, or by chemical, me- 
 chanical, or electrical agencies ; and which, therefore, may 
 have been immaterial. At least, by such a belief, men would 
 be led insensibly to form an idea of the human soul as an ex- 
 tremely tenuous, if not immaterial, principle. Especially 
 would educated men — those devoted to philosophical pur- 
 suits — come at length to have a clear conception of a spir- 
 itual being, neither visible by the senses, nor dependent upon 
 the senses for the exercise of its faculties. Very soon would 
 the imagination fill the universe with such beings, and con- 
 ceive them as holding intercourse with one another, and as 
 presiding over all the objects of this lower world, and direct- 
 ing all its destinies. It would be very natural, however, to 
 endow these superior beings with human characteristics, and 
 to suppose them actuated by human passions ; and thus would 
 the celestial society be represented as a counterpart of that 
 on earth, deformed by the same vices and crimes. This 
 would lead to the idea of a gradation in rank, power, and 
 intellect among the gods, and to the conception of one as 
 supreme. In the popular mythology, however, even Jupiter was 
 
448 THE VAST PLaaS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 represented as acting under the influence of selfishness, pride, 
 lust, and passion ; and as sometimes brought into peril by his 
 powerful inferiors. Some of the philosophers of Greece and 
 Rome did, indeed, give descriptions of their supreme divinity 
 not unworthy the biblical views of Jehovah. It may be that 
 they got the clew to these just and elevated conceptions from 
 the Bible. But it is not difficult to conceive that, in the man- 
 ner which I have described, they might, by reasoning, with, 
 perhaps, some hints derived from revelatior;. have gradually 
 attained to these just and noble conceptions of the supreme 
 divinity. Yet it ought not to be forgotten that these exalted 
 views of the philosophers were not shared at all by the com- 
 mon people, and that even the philosophers themselves were 
 for the most part polytheists. 
 
 The next step in man's knowledge of God was an im- 
 measurable advance upon polytheism. 1 refer to the revela- 
 Hon which God made of himself to the Jews in the Old Tes- 
 tament. Most of this revelation did, indeed, precede the 
 writings of the Greek and Roman philosophers, but it wm 
 confined to a rude and almost unknown people, until the days 
 of their glory had gone by, and did not spread over the globe 
 till an opportunity had been afforded to prove that the world 
 by wisdom knew not God. You may, indeed, find, in the writ- 
 ings of a few philosophers, passages descriptive of the natural 
 attributes of the Deity that will compare favorably with those 
 of the Old Testament. But his moral attributes, his benevo- 
 lence, mercy, justice, and holiness, are brought out in the Old 
 Testament in a far more distinct and impressive manner than 
 in all other ancient writings. Another point, and a vital one, 
 with the writers of the Old Testament, in which that inspired 
 volume goes infinitely beyond the philosophers, is the unity 
 of Grod. They teach, as a fundamental principle, and with 
 
THE OLD TESTAMENT. 449 
 
 all the earnestness which inspiration can bestow, not only that 
 Jehovah is supreme, but that he is God alone, and that no 
 other gods exist. You may, indeed, find statements to this 
 effect in the works of the philosophers ; but the conduct of 
 Socrates, the most enlightened of them all, — in his dying 
 moments, — in directing a sacrifice to be made to -^sculapius, 
 is a good practical commentary upon their doctrine of the 
 divine unity. It shows that, with some correct notions of the 
 supreme divinity, they believed in the existence of inferior 
 deities ; or, at least, they did not regard the popular error on 
 this subject of importance enough to require them boldly to 
 testify against it. But such testimony constitutes the burden 
 of the Old Testament, as if all other religious truths were of 
 little importance without it. And so far as these inspired 
 books succeeded in fixing this doctrine in the minds of the 
 Jews, they performed an immense service for religion. They 
 swept at once from the universe the thirty thousand divinities 
 of Greece and Rome, and placed Jehovah only on the throne. 
 But, for some reason or other, polytheism has always been a 
 doctrine most congenial to human nature ; especially to the 
 uncultivated mind ; and the probability is, that the great mass 
 of the Jews, while they believed in the supremacy of Jehovah, 
 still supposed that the gods of the heathen had a real exist- 
 ence. This certainly was the case before the Babylonish 
 exile, though doubtless the patriarchs had more correct no- 
 tions. This fact explains the otherwise unaccountable dispo- 
 sition of the Jews to fall away to idolatry, in spite of all which 
 Jehovah did to preserve among them his true worship. 
 
 On the subject, also, of the divine spirituality, we have evi- 
 dence that the notions of the great mass of the Jewish nation 
 were low and confused. They distinguished, it is true, very 
 slearly between the body and the soul. But they probably 
 38* 
 
450 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 conceived of the latter as a very subtile, invisible, corporeal 
 essence, and not that pure, immaterial substance which is 
 understood by that term in metaphysics. The abstract ideas 
 attached to the soul in the nineteenth century probably never 
 entered their minds ; and though in strict language they might 
 be called materialists, they were by no means such material- 
 ists as modern times have produced, who understandingly 
 deny the existence of the soul, and regard it as a function of 
 the brain. The Jews thought of God as the most subtile es- 
 sence of which they could form any idea ; but whether he 
 were material, or immaterial, probably they never inquired. 
 And it cannot escape the notice of a reader of the Old Testa- 
 ment how frequently God is represented by figures derived 
 from material objects. This was in accomhnodation to the 
 rude and uncultivated state of most minds in those early days. 
 Purely abstract truths would have conveyed no ideas to minds 
 which had never been accustomed to abstractions. Hence it 
 is, that we meet in the Bible with so many descriptions of the 
 Deity, which theologians and philosophers denominate an- 
 thropopathic and anthropomorphic. It was in accommodation 
 to the uncultivated state of common minds, which could form 
 no conceptions of God that were not founded on some prop- 
 erty belonging to man. The language of the sacred writers 
 does, indeed, when correctly interpreted, convey the idea of 
 the most perfectly simple, spiritual, and immaterial substance 
 as constituting the divine essence ; and minds accustomed to 
 abstract ideas find no difficulty in enucleating the spiritual 
 meaning of Scripture. But had the divine Being been de- 
 scribed by abstract terms, the great mass of men, even at the 
 present day, would receive no impressive conception of the 
 Godhead. God, therefore, in the Old Testament, revealed 
 as much concernlDg himself and his plans, as men would 
 
.'■"'-■ CHRISTIANITY. 451 
 
 understand. But other revelations and developments would 
 follow, when the human mind should be prepared to receive 
 and appreciate them. 
 
 The revelations of Christianity have brought to light so 
 much respecting the moral character and moral government 
 of Jehovah, as to leave little further to be desired or expected 
 in this world. 
 
 The natural attributes of the Deity have a more spiritual 
 and less anthropopathic aspect in the New Testament than in 
 the Old. We are told in the former distinctly, that God is a 
 spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit 
 and in truth. But God's moral character, as developed in the 
 New Testament, in the plan of redemption and salvation, pre- 
 sents us with a perfection and a glory unknown in all previous 
 revelations. We have, it is true, in the Old Testament inti- 
 mations and predictions of the plan, which is fully developed 
 and exemplified in the new dispensation. But these were 
 only shadows of Jesus Christ and him crucified. When he 
 appeared, and by his sufferings, as a substitute for man, recon- 
 ciled divine justice and mercy, and made a clear exposition 
 of the moral law, and a disclosure of a future state of retribu- 
 tions, a flood of light was thrown upon God's moral character. 
 Every cloud that had rested upon it was cleared away, and 
 immaculate holiness covered it with unapproachable splendor. 
 In short, the human mind is incapable of forming a more cor- 
 rect estimate of moral excellence than is exhibited in the 
 scriptural plan of salvation. The more it is meditated upon, 
 and the more we experience its practical influence, the higher 
 will be our conceptions of the moral glory of the divine 
 character; nor have we reason to suppose that any further 
 revelations would increase our apprehensions of it. For be- 
 nevolence, mercy, justice, and grace are here exhibited in 
 
452 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 unlimited) that is, in infinite, glory and perfection, and there 
 fore can never be exceeded. 
 
 But though the exhibitions of the divine character and plana 
 contained in the Bible are thus perfect and excellent, they are 
 not the only exhibitions which the universe contains, and 
 which man is capable of understanding. Lo, these are a part 
 of his ways. The Bible has left the wonders of the natural 
 world where it found them, to be examined and developed by 
 philosophy. Some have thought that it has anticipated a few 
 scientific discoveries ; but if it had done this in one instance, 
 it must have carried the same plan through the whole circle 
 of science ; else how could readers determine when the sacred 
 writers were describing phenomena according to appearances 
 and general belief, and when according to real scientific truth? 
 But the fact is, scientific discoveries are left to man's ingenu- 
 ity ; and as they are made from time to time, they bring out 
 new and splendid illustrations of the character and plans of 
 Jehovah. Let us now recur to some of these discoveries, that 
 have opened the widest vistas into the arcana of nature. 
 
 The discoveries in modern astronomy constitute the Jifth 
 step in man''s knowledge of God. 
 
 In order to see how much man's conceptions of the universe 
 have been enlarged by these discoveries, compare the opinions 
 which prevailed before the introduction of the Copernican 
 system with what is now certain knowledge, founded upon 
 physico-mathematics, respecting the extent of the universe. 
 Then this earth was thought to be the centre and the princi- 
 pal body of the creation, immovably fixed, with the heavenly 
 bodies, generally thought to be of diminutive size, revolving 
 around it every twenty-four hours. The earth, too, except in 
 the opinion of a few sagacious philosophers, was not imagined 
 to be that vast globe which we now understand it to be, but a 
 
MODERN ASTRONOMY. 458 
 
 flat surface, perhaps a few hundred or thousand miles in ex- 
 tent, bounded by a circle, and resting on an imaginary foun- 
 dation. The heavenly bodies were looked upon as little more 
 than shining points, or at most a few yards, or by the most 
 daring fancies a few miles, in extent. What a change have 
 the telescope, the quadrant, and the transit instrument, aided 
 by profound mathematics, and the talismanic power of the 
 Newtonian theory of gravitation, produced ! Every school- 
 boy now knows that this globe, enormous though it be com- 
 pared with what the eye can take in from the loftiest emi- 
 nence, is but a mere speck in creation, and, with the 
 exception of the moon, appearing from other worlds only as 
 one of the smallest stars in their heavens ; so small that its 
 extinction would not be noticed. To the ignorant mind, dis- 
 tances and magnitudes exceeding a hundred miles are con- 
 ceived of only with great difficulty. But the astronomer, 
 when he conceives of magnitudes, must make a thousand 
 miles his shortest unit, and a million of miles when he con- 
 ceives of distances in the solar system. And when he 
 attempts to go beyond the sun and the planets, the shortest 
 division on his measuring line must be the diameter of the 
 earth's orbit ; and even then he will be borne onward so far, 
 not on the wings of imagination, but of mathematics, that this 
 enormous distance has vanished to a point. Even then he 
 has only reached the nearest fixed star, and, of course, has 
 only just entered upon the outer limit of creation. He must 
 prepare himself for a still loftier flight. He must give up the 
 diameter of the earth's orbit as the unit of his measurements, 
 because too short, and take as his standard the passage of 
 light, at the rate of two hundred thousand miles per second. 
 With that speed can he go on, until his mind has reckoned up 
 six thousand years of seconds, and he will reach fixed stars 
 
454 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOYAH. 
 
 whose light has not yet arrived at the earth, because it did 
 not commence its journey till the time of man's creation. 
 
 But it is not merely in respect to distance and magnitude 
 that astronomy has enlarged our knowledge of the universe. 
 Numerically it has opened a field equally wide. Think of 
 two thousand worlds rolling nightly around us, visible to the 
 naked eye. Take the telescope, and see those two thousand 
 multiply to fifty or one hundred millions, and then recollect 
 how very improbable it is that the keenest optics of earth can 
 reach more than an infinitesimal part of creation. Surely 
 the mind is as much confounded and lost, when it attempts to 
 conceive of the number of the worlds in the universe, a% 
 when it contemplates their distances and magnitudes. Ir 
 respect to number and distance, at least, we find no resting- 
 place but in infinity. 
 
 Now, when we turn our thoughts to the Author of such a 
 universe, our conceptions of his power, wisdom, and benevo- 
 lence cannot but enlarge in the same ratio as our views of his 
 works. They must, therefore, experience a prodigious ex- 
 pansion. And, indeed, the merest child in a Christian land, 
 in the nineteenth century, has a tar wider and nobler concep- 
 tion of the perfections of Jehovah than the wisest philosopher 
 who lived before astronomy had gone forth on her circum- 
 navigation of the universe. From the fact, also, which astron- 
 omy iJscloses, that worlds are in widely different chemical 
 and geological conditions, some gaseous and transparent, 
 some solid and opaque, and some liquid and incandescent, 
 the mind can hardly avoid the inference that they are fulfilling 
 the vast and varied plans of Jehovah. 
 
 The sixth step in man's knowledge of Jehovah has heen 
 made by the microscope. 
 
 To give any correct idea of the boundless field which that 
 
THE MICROSCOPE. 455 
 
 instrument has opened into the infinitesimal parts of creation, 
 it would be necessary to go into details too extended for the 
 present occasion. Perhaps the animalcula or infusoria fur- 
 nish the best example. " In the clearest waters," says an 
 able writer, " and also in the strongly-troubled acid and salt 
 fluids of the various, zones of the earth ; in springs, rivers, 
 lakes, and seas ; in the internal moisture of living plants and 
 animal bodies ; and probably, at times, carried about in the 
 vapor and dust of the whole atmosphere of the earth, exists a 
 world, by the common senses of mankind unperceived, of 
 very minute living beings, which have been called, for the 
 last seventy years, infusoria. In the ordinary pursuits of 
 life, this mysterious and infinite kingdom of living creatures 
 is passed by without our knowledge of, or interest in, its 
 wonders. But to the quiet observer how astonishing do these 
 become, when he brings to his aid those optical powers by 
 which his faculty of vision is so much strengthened ! In 
 every drop of dirty, stagnant water, we are generally, if not 
 always, able to perceive, by means of the microscope, moving 
 bodies, of from one eleven hundred and fiftieth to one twen- 
 ty-five thousandth of an inch in diameter, and which often lie 
 packed so closely together that the space between each indi- 
 vidual scarcely equals that of their diameter." — Prichard, 
 History of Infusoria., p. 2, 1841. 
 
 Again says he, " It is hardly conceivable that, within the 
 narrow space, [of a grain of mustard-seed,] eight millions of 
 living, active creatures can exist, all richly endowed with the 
 organs and faculties of animal life. * Such, however, is the 
 astonishing fact." — lb. p. 3. 
 
 In short, whoever will thoroughly study this subject will be 
 satisfied that Dr. Ehrenberg does not exceed the truth when 
 lie asserts, as the result of his inquiries, that "experience 
 
456 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 shows an unfathomableness of organic creations, when atten- 
 tion is directed to the smallest space, as it does of stars, 
 when revealing the most immense." — Prichard, p. 8. 
 
 He who follows out the revelations of the telescope, as it 
 penetrates deeper and deeper into space, will feel, when he 
 has seen the remotest object which its power discloses, that 
 there must certainly be a vast unknown region beyond, infi- 
 nitely exceeding that one over which he has passed. Just so 
 is it with the microscope. It penetrates to an astonishing 
 distance into the infinitesimal forms of organic and inor- 
 ganic matter ; but every improvement in the instrument 
 reaches a new and equally interesting field; and the con- 
 clusion forces itself upon the mind that there are regions 
 beyond of indefinite extent, teeming with countless millions 
 even of organic beings, of a size much more diminutive than 
 those yet discovered, and with inorganic forms too minute 
 for the imagination to conceive. Indeed, we can no more se' 
 limits to creation in the direction pointed out by the micro 
 scope than in that laid open by the telescope. We hence 
 get a most impressive conception of divine wisdom and benev- 
 olence, which could thus bestow exquisite organization and 
 life upon atoms minute beyond the power of the imagination 
 to conceive. Indeed, it seems to me that the lesson is even 
 more striking than the contemplation of vast worlds in rapid 
 and harmonious motion ; because the latter seem to demand 
 only infinite power, but the former requires infinite wisdom 
 to direct infinite power. 
 
 In the seventh and kast place, geology has given great en- 
 largement to our knowledge of the divine plans and operations 
 in the universe, and in the following particulars : — 
 
 1. It expands our ideas of the time in which the material 
 universe has been in existence as much as astronomy does in 
 reffard to its extent. 
 
GEOLOGY. 457 
 
 To those not familiar with the details of geology, this will 
 probably seem a startling and extravagant assertion. There 
 has been, and still is, an extreme sensitiveness in the minds 
 of intelligent men on this subject. And I highly respect the 
 ground from which their apprehensions spring, viz., a fear that 
 to admit the great antiquity of the globe would bring discredit 
 upon revelation. And yet I believe the most candid and able 
 theologians of the present day do not fear that to admit the 
 existence of the matter of the world previous to the six days' 
 work of creation, is inconsistent with the Mosaic statement. 
 But if we allow any period between its creation and the six 
 demiurgic days, it is no more derogatory to Scripture to make 
 that period ten millions of years than ten years. For if the 
 sacred writer would pass over ten years in silence, he could, 
 with the same propriety, pass over ten millions. Now, the 
 longer I study geology, the nearer do my ideas approximate 
 to the latter number as a measure of the earth's duration. 
 Let us contemplate a few facts. We are able to trace the 
 geological changes that have taken place on the earth since 
 man's existence upon it with a good deal of accuracy. For 
 since his remains are found only in alluvium, we must regard 
 all changes that took place previous to the deposition of that 
 formation to have been of an earlier date than his creation. 
 Now, what are the changes which the last six thousand years 
 have witnessed ? In some places, the agency of rivers and 
 other causes have made an accumulation of alluvial matter to 
 the depth of not more than one or two hundred feet, although 
 in particular places it is several hundred feet. These deposits 
 have been pushed forward at the mouths of some large rivers, 
 so as to cover hundreds, and even thousands, of square miles. 
 Oceanic currents have also made deposits in the bottom of 
 wide seas of considerable extent ; and in some limited spots 
 39 
 
458 THB VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 these deposits have been consolidated into rock. The action 
 of frost and gravity, also, has crumbled from precipitous 
 ledges angular fragments enough to form a slope of detjritus 
 sometimes a hundred feet high. The polyparia, or coral 
 builders, have advanced their work only a few feet in thick- 
 ness during this period, and soils have accumulated in some 
 places about as much. Volcanic action has occasionally 
 thrown up a new island from the ocean's bed ; but only a few 
 of them have been permanent. Some tracts of countYy, in 
 no case more than a few hundred miles in extent, have, by 
 the same agency, been raised a few feet, or sunk down the 
 same amount. .But after all, the earth's surface remains es- 
 sentially the same as when man was placed upon it. 
 
 Now, compare these slight changes with those which have 
 preceded it, through the operation of the same agencies, 
 since the first existence of animals upon the globe. I will 
 not contend, with some distinguished geologists, that these 
 same changes have always operated with the same intensity 
 as at present. But there are several circumstances which 
 show that the depositions from water could not have been 
 essentially different in ancient and modern times. Now, just 
 compare six or eight miles in thickness of the fossiliferoua 
 deposits of the previous periods with the two hundred feet of 
 alluvium accumulated during the historic period ; and, aftei 
 you have made all reasonable allowance for the greater inten- 
 sity of action in former times, you will still find yourselves 
 confounded by the incalculable time requisite to pile up such 
 an immense thickness of materials, and then to harden most 
 of them into stone ; especially when you call to mind the nu- 
 merous changes of organic life, and the vast amount of 
 animal remains which they exhibit. A superficial observer 
 might lump such a work, and crowd it into a few thousand 
 
W GEOLOGICAI I 3RI0DS. 459 
 
 yearsv, But the more its details are studied, the longer does 
 the period appear that is requisite for its production. Each 
 successive investigation discovers new evidence of changes 
 in composition, or organic contents, or of vertical movements 
 effected by extremely slow agencies, so as to make the whole 
 work immeasurably long. 
 
 But when we have gone back to the commencement of 
 animal existence on the globe, we have taken but one step in 
 our review of its early history. The next backward step 
 embraces that wide period during which the stratified, non- 
 fossiliferous rocks — far thicker than the fossiliferous — were 
 deposited ; probably by the agency of fire and water. Or if 
 we adopt the metamorphic theory of Mr. Lyell, we shall be 
 still more deeply impressed by the length of that period, 
 during which these rocks were in a course of deposition, con- 
 solidation, and metamorphosis. For he supposes them origi- 
 nally deposited from water, just as mud, sand, and gravel 
 now are accumulating in the ocean's bed, and to have envel- 
 oped organic beings, as similar materials now do. Next the 
 whole were consolidated, so as to form the exact prototype of 
 the existing fossiliferous rocks ; and finally it underwent almost 
 complete fusion, by the slow propagation of internal heat 
 upwards, until all the organic contents were obliterated, and 
 a crystalline structure was substituted. Nay, according to 
 this theory, other systems of rocks, of an analogous charac- 
 ter, may have preceded the present primary stratified ones, 
 and have been at length entirely melted into the unstratified ; 
 so that we cannot say when organic life first began on the 
 globe. But I will not press this theory, because most of the 
 ablest geologists reject it, at least in its full extent. And we 
 have a period long enough to confound the imagination, if we 
 take the common view, which supposes the non-fossiliferous 
 
460 THE VAST PLANS OP JEHOVAH. " 
 
 rocks to have been deposited from water, at a temperature too 
 high to admit the existence of organic beings. 
 
 We have now gone back to that point in the earth's history 
 when a crust had begun to form over the shoreless ocean of 
 melted matter, of which we have reason to suppose it was 
 then composed. Shall we attempt to trace back that history 
 any farther ? The light does, indeed, grow dim, and the 
 clew more and more uncertain, the farther we recede along 
 the track of the earth's existence. Still there are some scat- 
 tered rays that seem to recall to us a condition of the earth 
 still earlier than that in which it constituted a molten globe. 
 It may have been dissipated into vapor, like a comet, or a 
 nebuJa ; and subsequently, by the slow radiation of its^ heat, 
 have been condensed into an opaque, though a melted, incan- 
 descent mass. Several analogies certainly throw an air of 
 plausibility over this hypothesis. And if such was, indeed, 
 the earliest condition of the earth, the time requisite to con- 
 dense it into melted matter must have been longer than any 
 other period of its history. 
 
 Who, now, at all familiar with the dynamics of geological 
 agencies, shall undertake to give an arithmetical expression 
 to the periods that make up the world's entire history ? Not 
 only does the reasoning faculty fail to grasp the entire sum, 
 but even imagination, as she flies backwards through period 
 after period, tires in the effort, and brings back not even a 
 conjectural result. The same feeling does, in fact, come over 
 the mind, which she experiences when astronomy has hurried 
 her from world to world, from sun to sun, from system to sys* 
 tem, from nebula to nebula, and yet she seems no nearer to the 
 limits of creation than when she started. We know certainly 
 that there are limits ; because matter cannot be infinite. But 
 we cannot conjecture where they are fixed. We know, also 
 
EXTENT OF ORGANIC LIFE. 46 1 
 
 that there was a time when this world did not exist, an epoch 
 when its entire mass was spoken into existence by the fiat of 
 Jehovah ; because the Bible expressly declares it. But that 
 epoch is unrevealed. If there is any truth in geology, it was 
 certainly more than six thousand years ago. Nay, that sci- 
 ence carries us as far back into the arcana of time as astron- 
 omy does into the arcana of space. Neither the distance in 
 the one case, nor the duration in the other, can be estimated. 
 But there is a sublime inspiration in the effort to grasp the 
 subject ; and I see not why there is not as much grandeur 
 and high gratification in the idea of vast duration as of vast 
 expansion. And I see not why we do not gain as much en- 
 largement of our conceptions of the plans of Jehovah respect- 
 ing the universe in the one case as in the other. We cannot 
 but infer, from the pre-Adamic state of our world, that it 
 must have subserved other purposes than to sustain its present 
 inhabitants. 
 
 2. In the second place, geology gives us impressive examples 
 of the extent of organic life on the globe since its creation. 
 
 I shall not contend, with some geologists, that even the pri- 
 mary crystalline rocks may once have been filled with organic 
 remains, which have been obliterated by heat ; and that, in 
 this way, there may have been a number of creations of 
 organized beings on the globe, of which no trace now re- 
 mains. I take as the basis of my argument only the relics 
 of animals and plants actually found in the rocks. And when 
 one sees mountain masses, often of small shells, and spread 
 over wide areas, he is amazed to learn how prolific nature 
 has been. What a countless number of vegetables, too, must 
 have been required to produce beds of coal from one to fifty 
 feet thick, and extending over thousands of square miles, and 
 alternating several times with sandstone in the same basin ! 
 39* 
 
462 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 There is reason to believe, too, that the number of animals 
 preserved in the strata bears only a small proportion to those 
 which have been utterly destroyed and decomposed into their 
 original elements. For example, in the sandstone along 
 Connecticut River, the tracks of more than forty species of 
 bipeds and quadrupeds have been found most distinctly 
 marked. Some of these bipeds must have been of colossal 
 size — as much as twelve or fifteen feet in height. And yet 
 scarcely any other vestige of their existence has been discov- 
 ered. They were the giant rulers of that valley for centu- 
 ries ; but they have all vanished. How numerous, then, may 
 have been the softer animals of the ancient world, which 
 have not left even a footmark to certify their existence to 
 coming generations ! 
 
 But the facts recently brought to light respecting infusoria 
 and polythalamia fill us with the greatest admiration of the 
 extent of organic life upon the globe. We have already seen 
 that some of these animals are so minute that eight millions 
 of them are found in a space not larger than a mustard-seed ; 
 and yet they had skeletons of silex, lime, and iron ; and, of 
 course, these skeletons have been preserved ; and, though of 
 the smallest size, it requires not less than forty-one billions to 
 make a single cubic inch ; yet deposits of them, or of species 
 not much larger, occur, several feet in thickness, and extend- 
 ing over several square miles. Nay, the chalk of Northern 
 Europe, and also of Western Asia, where it constitutes most 
 of Mount Lebanon, and extends southerly through Palestine 
 into Arabia and Egypt, and also deposits in North and South 
 America, thousands of miles in extent, — this rock, I say, is 
 nearly half composed of microscopic shells. The oolite, 
 also, contains them ; and, indeed, infusorial remains occur in 
 flint and opal ; and, as instruments and observations are 
 
THE PRESENT SYSTEM BUT ONE LINK OF A SERIES. 463 
 
 perfected, more and more of the solid rocks are found to 
 have once constituted the framework of animals. It is hardly 
 to be doubted that such was the fact with nearly all the lime- 
 stone on the globe, occupying at least a seventh part of its 
 surface. In fact, we seem fast coming to regard as sober 
 truth the ancient adage, apparently so extravagant — Omnis 
 calx e vermihus ; omne ferrum e vermibus ; omnis silex e ver- 
 mihus. Indeed, it is the opinion of so competent a geologist 
 as Dr. Mantell that " probably there is not an atom of the solid 
 materials of the globe which has not passed through the com- 
 plex and wonderful laboratory of life." — Wond. of Geology, 
 vol. ii. p. 670. — What a vast field here opens before us to 
 contemplate the far-reaching plans, the benevolence, and the 
 wisdom of the Deity ! 
 
 In the third place, geology shows us that the present sys- 
 tem of organic life on the globe is but one link of a series, 
 extending very far backward and infinitely forward. 
 
 Revelation describes only the existing species, leaving to 
 science the task and the privilege to lift up the veil that hangs 
 over the past, and to disclose other economies that have passed 
 away. How many of them have existed we do not certainly 
 know. If, with Agassiz, we characterize them by their pre- 
 dominant tribes, we might say that all the period previous to 
 the new red sandstone constituted the reign of fishes ; from 
 thence to the chalk, the reign of reptiles ; from thence to the 
 drift, the reign of mammifera. But this is a less philosoph- 
 ical view than that of Deshayes, who finds five great groups 
 of animals, specifically independent of one another. But 
 who will attempt to fix the chronological limits of these sys- 
 tems ? We can only say that they must have been exceed- 
 ingly long, if we can place any dependence upon existing 
 analogies ; and we know that each one of them is made up of 
 
»04 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 numerous subdivisions, or minor groups, widely, though not 
 entirely, different in composition and organic contents. We 
 know that the more we examine the whole series, the deeper 
 does our conviction become that its commencement runs back 
 far, very far, into the depths of past eternity. We know, 
 also, from the joint testimony of Scripture and geology, that 
 another change is to pass over the world, to prepare it for in- 
 habitants far more elevated than those now living upon it, 
 and in possession of perfect holiness and perfect happiness. 
 And it may be it will experience far greater changes, adapt- 
 ing it for higher and higher grades of being, through periods 
 of duration to which we can assign no limits. O, what a vast 
 chain of being is here spread out before the imagination, 
 reaching immeasurably far into the depths of the eternity 
 which is past, and into the eternity which is to come ! What 
 a field for the display of God's infinite perfections ! What 
 a vista does it open to us into the vast plans and purposes of 
 Jehovah ! 
 
 In the fourth place, geology reveals to us a curious series 
 of improvements in the condition of worlds, as they pass 
 through successive changes. 
 
 If the earth began its existence in the state of vapor, we 
 can hardly imagine it in that state capable of sustaining any 
 organic natures, formed upon the general type of those now 
 existing. Nor, when the vapor was condensed into a molten 
 globe, could such natures inhabit it, till a crust had formed 
 over its surface, and the heat had been so reduced as not to 
 decompose animals and plants. Even then, the natures 
 placed upon it must have been of a peculiar and low type of 
 organization, capable of enduring the high temperature and 
 catastrophes which would destroy those of more delicate and 
 complicated organization. But gradually did the temperature 
 
A SERIES OF IMPROVEMENTS. 465 
 
 dimmish, while aqueous and atmospheric agencies were accu- 
 mulating a deeper and a richer soil, so that the next change 
 of inhabitants would allow natures of a higher organization 
 and a denser population to occupy the surface. Their re- 
 mains, buried in the earth, would increase the quantity of car- 
 bonate of lime in a form available for the use of animals and 
 plants ; that is, lime would gradually be eliminated, by plants 
 and animals, from its more concealed combinations in the 
 crystalline rocks, and be converted into carbonates, sulphates, 
 and humates. A larger amount of organic matter would also 
 be converted into humus. Now, limestone soils are of all 
 others most favorable to vegetation, when there is a sufficient 
 supply of organic matter. Hence every successive change 
 becomes more and more adapted for animals and plants, be- 
 cause the lime and the organic matter in a state favorable for 
 their support have been increasing ; and the present state of 
 the surface is more favorable than any conditions which have 
 preceded it, and accordingly it is peopled with more perfect 
 and more numerous organic natures. Can we doubt but that, 
 if another change passes over the earth, this same great prin- 
 ciple of progressive improvement will be manifested in the 
 renovated world ? I am not prepared to maintain, however, 
 that this future change will be, like the past ones, an improve- 
 ment as to soil and climate ; for the change, as Scripture 
 teaches, will be accomplished by fire ; and so different will be 
 the state of existence in the new earth, wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness, that we cannot say how far the present system 
 of nature will be introduced. But that it will be an improved 
 condition, we can hardly doubt, if we infer any thing from the 
 splendid figures by which it is described in the Bible, and 
 from the character of those who are to be its denizens. 
 Some of the facts of modern astronomy impress us with the 
 
466 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 idea that this principle of progress may extend to other worlds. 
 Some of these are in a gaseous state, some condensed into 
 fiery liquid globes, some covered with a crust of solidified 
 volcanic matter, and some surrounded by a liquid, like water. 
 Do not these facts justify the supposition, that the changes 
 which our earth has undergone are merely a single example 
 of a great principle in God's government of the natural world ? 
 If so, it presents the divine wisdom in an interesting aspect. 
 We see the Deity employing the same matter for different 
 purposes. Instead of creating it for one single economy of 
 organic beings, he seems to have made it the theatre for the 
 display of his benevolence through successive periods ; but at 
 the same time not losing sight of the highest use he intended 
 to make of it, by the introduction of rational and immortal 
 natures upon it. Human wisdom would have pronounced this 
 impossible ; but divine wisdom, prompted by divine benevo- 
 lence, could accomplish it. 
 
 Finally, geology discloses to us chemical change as a great 
 animating, controlling, and conservative principle of the mate- 
 rial universe. 
 
 When Newton brought to light the principle of gravitation, 
 and showed how it controls and keeps in harmonious move- 
 ment the heavenly bodies, he developed the great mechanical 
 power by which the universe is governed. And this power 
 was supposed for a long time to be superior to all others. 
 But geology has brought out a second great controlling and 
 conservative agency, — the chemical power, — "the second 
 right hand of the Creator," as Dr. McCulloch expressively 
 calls it. Suppose matter under the control of gravity, and let 
 it be balanced by a centrifugal force. You have, indeed, har- 
 monious motions among the celestial bodies, and, if no dis- 
 turbing cause come in, you have endless motion. But until 
 
CHEMICAL CHANGE A CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLE. 467 
 
 you introduce chemical agencies, every thing in the individual 
 worlds would be compacted by gravity into one dead mass of 
 matter, destined to no resurrection. But let chemical agen- 
 cies leaven that mass, let affinity and cohesion commence 
 their segregating processes, and constant motion and change 
 would follow, with a thousand new 'and splendid forms. Es- 
 pecially when the Deity had infused the living principle into 
 portions of that matter, and put chemistry, and her handmaid 
 electricity, under the control of the vital power, would these 
 worlds teem with animation, and countless exhibitions of 
 beauty. 
 
 And in all known worlds, these chemical changes are at 
 work unceasingly. We know not whether those worlds are 
 all inhabited, but we have evidence that all are undergoing 
 the transmutations of chemistry ; not on their surface merely, 
 but in their deep interior. The consequence is, universal 
 change ; change often upon a vast scale ; change extending 
 through thousands and millions of years, and through the en- 
 tire mass of immense worlds. We have glanced, in these lec- 
 tures, at the most important of those changes which this world 
 has undergone, and we have seen it to be almost universal. 
 We have found that the entire crust of the globe, many miles 
 in thickness, and probably to its centre, has been dissolved by 
 heat, and much of it also by water ; that a large part of it, at 
 least, has, by the same chemistry, been made to constitute por- 
 tions of the animal frame ; that, even now, much of its interior 
 is held in igneous solution, and that probably the time was 
 when its entire mass was a molten, self-luminous world. In- 
 deed, the conjecture is not without some foundation, which 
 carries back this chemical action one step farther, and makes 
 the world originally a diffused mass of nebula. 
 
 At this point of the argument, geology appeals to astronomy, 
 
468 THE VAST PLANS OF J&HOVAH. 
 
 to show how widely this principle of chemical change 
 has operated, and still operates, in the universe. We look 
 first ut the nebulae ; for here we probably find matter in its 
 most chaotic and attenuated form, constituting self-luminous, 
 diffused masses of vapor. In some of them, however, that 
 matter has begun to condense, doubtless by the radiation of 
 its heat. In the comets, we find probably similar matter, 
 some of it still farther advanced in the process of condensa- 
 tion, so that perhaps a nearly solid nucleus may exist. In 
 the sun and fixed stars, the condensation has gone on so far 
 that cohesive attraction begins to operate, the latent heat of 
 the vapor is extricated, and melted luminous worlds are the 
 result. Around them, however, there probably still floats a 
 wide atmosphere of the more elastic materials, which the heat 
 dissipates, of which the zodiacal light, perhaps, furnishes us 
 with an example. The nebulosity which surrounds the aste- 
 roids, Ceres, Pall8is, Juno, Vesta, and Astrea, renders it proba- 
 ble that, though they have advanced so far in the process of 
 refrigeration as to become opaque, they may still retain heat 
 enough to dissipate much of their substance. Still farther 
 advanced towards the condition of a habitable world is the 
 moon ; and yet volcanic desolation covers its surface. Not 
 improbably Jupiter is nearly surrounded with a fluid like 
 water, and Saturn by a fluid lighter than water — being still 
 %rther advanced towards the condition of the earth. 
 
 I acknowledge that these are but slight glimpses of the 
 geology and chemistry of other worlds. And yet, taken in 
 connection with the geological history of our own globe, do 
 they not furnish us with some extremely probable examples 
 of those changes to which our earth has been subject ? They 
 show us that worlds may exist in the form of vapor, and that 
 some are actually at this time in the various conditions through 
 
T\ ^ 
 
 CHEMICAL CHANGES IN A CYCLE. 469 
 
 which geology supposes this world to have passed. Do we 
 not, in these examples, gather strong intimations of a great 
 law of chemical change in the universe ? Gaseous matter, 
 so far as we know, appears to have been the earliest state of 
 the universe ; and then, by the agency of heat, it passes 
 through the successive changes of liquid and solid, which have 
 been described. 
 
 The chemical changes that take place on the earth, under 
 our immediate cognizance, through the agency of water, usu- 
 ally proceed, under favorable circumstances, in a cycle ; that 
 is, the substance, after passing through a series of changes, 
 returns at length into the same condition from which it started. 
 Thus aqueous vapor, by the loss of heat, is first converted 
 into water, next into ice, and then, by the access of heat, into 
 water again, and at last into vapor. The question naturally 
 arises, whether those mutations, through which worlds are 
 passing, may not form a similar cycle. We are able to trace 
 them through several steps, from gaseous to liquid, and from 
 the liquid to the solid ; and we are assured, on the testimony 
 of Scripture, that the next change of the earth will be from 
 solid to liquid. And in those stars which in past ages have 
 suddenly broken forth with remarkable splendor, and then 
 disappeared, may we not have examples of other worlds burnt 
 up, — not annihilated, — but deluged by fire, and either dissi- 
 pated or again cooled ? What changes, if any, will succeed 
 the final conflgration of the globe, neither science nor revela- 
 tion informs us. 
 
 Yet, if the laws of nature respecting heat are not entirely 
 altered, other changes must follow ; and we have seen, in a 
 former lecture, that those changes are perfectly consistent 
 with our ideas of heaven, and that they may, in fact, enhance 
 the happiness of heaven. They may go on forever ; in which 
 40 
 
470 THB VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 case, we can hardly doubt but they would form a cycle, though 
 how wide the circuit we cannot conjecture ; or they may, at 
 least, reach an unchanging state. I confess, however, that 
 the idea of perpetual change corresponds best with the analo« 
 gies of the existing universe ; and in eternity, as well as in 
 time, it may form an essential element of happiness. 
 
 In this world, too, this unceasing change, though it presents 
 at first view a strong tendency to ruin, is, in fact, the grand 
 conservative principle of material things. In a world of life 
 and motion like ours, it is impossible that bodies, especially 
 organic bodies, should not be sometimes subject to violent dis- 
 arrangements and destruction from the mechanical agencies 
 which exist ; and were no chemical changes possible, ultimate 
 and irremediable ruin must be the result. But the chemical 
 powers, inherent in matter, soon bring forth new forms of 
 beauty from the ruins ; and, in fact, throughout all nature, 
 the process of renovation usually counterbalances that of de- 
 struction ; and thus far, indeed, the former has done more 
 than this ; for every time nature has changed her dress in past 
 ages, she has put on more lovely robes, and a fresher counte- 
 nance. Can we doubt that this same principle of change 
 operating, as it does, on a stupendous scale through the uni 
 verse, is one of the great means of its preservation ? It seems, 
 indeed, paradoxical to say that instability is the basis of sta- 
 bility. But I see not why it is not literally true ; and I can 
 hardly doubt but this principle is superior to the laws of grav- 
 ity — superior to every other law, in fact, for giving perma- 
 nence and security to the universe. 
 
 It is true that, in the case of man, connected as diminution 
 and decay are with the curse denounced on sin, they as- 
 sume, in his view, a melancholy aspect ; and the perishable 
 
CHANGE A BASIS OF STABILITY. 47 x 
 
 nature of all created things has ever been viewed by the sen- 
 'imentalist with sad emotions. • 
 
 «' What does not fade ? The tower that long had stood 
 The crush of thunder, and the warring winds, 
 Shook by the slow but sure destroyer Time, 
 Now hangs in doubtful ruins o'er its base ; 
 And flinty pyramids and walls of brass 
 Descend ; the Babylonian spires are sunk ; 
 Achaia, Rome, and Egypt moulder down. 
 Time shakes the stable tyranny of thrones ; 
 And tottering empires rush by their own weight. 
 This huge rotundity we tread grows old, 
 And all those worlds that roll around the sun. 
 The sun himself shall die, and ancient night 
 Again involve the desolate abyss." — Akenside, 
 
 If we turn now our thoughts away from nian's dissolution, 
 and think how speedily chemical power will raise nature out 
 of her grave, in renovated and increased beauty, this univer- 
 sal tendency to Jecay puts on the aspect of a glorious trans- 
 formation. We connect the changes around us with those 
 which have taken place in the great bodies of the universe ; 
 we see them all to be but parts of a far-reaching plan of the 
 Deity, by which the stability of the world is maintained, and 
 its progressive improvement secured. When we look for- 
 ward, fancy kindles at the developments of divine power, 
 wisdom, and benevolence which will in this manner be made 
 in the round of eternal ages. We see that what our ignorance 
 had mistaken for a defect in nature is, in fact, a great con- 
 servative principle of the universe, which Newton did not 
 discover because geology had not yet unfolded her record. 
 
 Such are the developments of the divine character and 
 plans unfolded to us by geology. Compare them now with 
 
I 
 
 472 THE VAST PLANS OF JEHOVAH. 
 
 the views which have hitherto prevailed. The common opio* 
 ion has been, and still, indeed, is, that about six thousand 
 years ago this earth, and, in fact, the whole material universe, 
 were spoken into existence in a moment of time ; and that, 
 in a few thousand more, they will, by a similar fiat, be swept 
 from existence, and be no more. On the other hand, geology 
 places the time when the matter of the universe was created 
 out of nothing at an epoch indefinitely but immensely remote. 
 Since that epoch, this matter has passed through a multitude 
 of changes, and been the seat of numerous systems of or- 
 ganic life, unlike one another, yet all linked together into one 
 great system by a most perfect unity ; each minor system 
 being most beautifully adapted to its place in the great chain, 
 and yet each successive link becoming more and more per- 
 fect. Nor does geology admit that any evidence exists of 
 the future annihilation of the material universe ; but rather 
 of other changes, by which new and brighter displays of 
 divine wisdom and benevolence shall be brought out, it may 
 be in endless succession. Geology is not, indeed, insensible 
 to the displays of the divine character which are exhibited on 
 the present theatre of the world. Indeed, she distinctly rec- 
 ognizes the act which is now passing as the most perfect of 
 all. Yet this scene of the great drama she regards as only 
 one of the units of a similar series of changes that have gone 
 by or will hereafter come ; the chain stretching so far into 
 the eternity that is past and the eternity that is to come, that 
 the extremities are lost to mortal vision. 
 
 Do any shrink back from these immense conclusions, be- 
 cause they so much surpass the views they have been accus- 
 tomed to entertain respecting the beginning and the end of 
 the material universe ? But why should they be unwilling to 
 have geology liberalize their minds as much in respect to 
 
THESE VIEWS CONSISTENT WITH REVELATION. 473 
 
 duration as astronomy has done in respect to space ? Perhaps 
 it is a lingering fear that the geological views conflict with 
 revelation. Such fears formerly kept back many from giving 
 up their souls to the noble truths of astronomy. But they 
 learnt, at length, that astronomy merely illustrates, and does 
 not oppose, revelation. It showed men how to understand 
 certain passages of sacred writ respecting the earth and 
 heavenly bodies which they had before misinterpreted. Just 
 so is it with geology. There is no collision between its state- 
 ments and revelation. It only enables us more correctly to 
 interpret some portions of the Bible ; and then, when we 
 have admitted the new interpretation, it brings a flood of 
 light upon the plans and attributes of Jehovah. Geology, 
 therefore, should be viewed, as it really is, the auxiliary both 
 of natural and revealed religion. And when its religious 
 relations are fully understood, theology, I doubt not, will be 
 as anxious to cultivate its alliance as she has been fearful of 
 it in days past. 
 
 " Shall it any longer be said," remarks Dr. Buckland, " that 
 a science which unfolds such abundant evidence of the being 
 and attributes of God, can reasonably be viewed in any other 
 light than as the efficient auxiliary and handmaid of religion ? 
 Some few there still may be whom timidity, or prejudice, or 
 want of opportunity, allow not to examine its evidence ; who 
 are alarmed by the novelty, or surprised by the magnitude 
 and extent, of the views which geology forces on their atten- 
 tion ; and who would rather have kept closed the volume of 
 witness which has been sealed up for ages beneath the sur- 
 face of the earth than to impose on the student in natural 
 theology the duty of studying its contents — a duty in which, 
 for lack of experience, they may anticipate a hazardous o 
 laborious task, but which, by those engaged in it, is found to 
 40* 
 
474 THE VAST PLANS OP JEHOVAH. 
 
 be a rational, and righteous, and delightful exercise of the 
 highest faculties in* multiplying the evidence of the existence, 
 and attributes, and providence of God. The alarm, however, 
 which was excited by the novelty of its first discoveries, has 
 well nigh passed away ; and those to whom it has been per- 
 mitted to be the humble instruments of their promulgation, 
 and who have steadily persevered, under tbe firm conviction 
 that ' truth can never be opposed to truth,' and that the works 
 of God, when rightly understood, and viewed in their true 
 relations, and from a right position, would at length be found 
 to be in perfect accordance with his word, are now receiving 
 their high reward in finding difficulties vanish, objections grad- 
 ually withdrawn, and in seeing the evidences of geology ad- 
 mitted into the list of witnesses to the truth of the great fun- 
 damental doctrines of theology." — Bridgewater Treatise^ 
 vol. i. p. 593. 
 
 Such, then, in conclusion of the subject, is the religion of 
 geology. It has been described as a region divided between 
 the barren mountains of scepticism and the putrid fens and 
 quagmires of infidelity and atheism j producing only a gloomy 
 and a poisonous vegetation; covered with fogs, and swept 
 over by pestilential blasts. But this report was made by those 
 who saw it at a distance. We have found it to be a land 
 abounding in rich landscapes, warmed by a bright sun, blest 
 with a balmy atmosphere, covered by noble forests and sweet 
 flowers, with fruits savory and healthful. We have ascended 
 its lofty mountains, and there have we been greeted with 
 prospects of surpassing loveliness and overwhelming sublim- 
 ity. In short, nowhere in the whole world of science do we 
 find regions where more of the Deity is seen in his works. 
 To him whose heart is warmed by true piety, and whose 
 mmd has broken the narrow shell of prejudice, nod can grasp 
 
GEOLOGY UNVEILS PROVIDENCE. 475 
 
 noble thoughts, these are delightful fields through which to 
 wander. More and more they must become the favorite 
 haunts of such hearts and such minds. For there do views 
 open upon the soul, respecting the character and plans of the 
 Deity, as large and refreshing as those which astronomy pre- 
 sents. Nay, in their practical bearing, these views are far 
 more important. Mechanical philosophy introduces an un- 
 bending and unvarying law between the Creator and his 
 works ; but geology unveils his providential hand, cutting 
 asunder that law at intervals, and planting the seeds of a new 
 economy upon a renovated world. We thus seem to be 
 brought into near communion with the infinite mind. We are 
 prepared to listen to his voice when it speaks in revelation. 
 We recognize his guiding ^nd sustaining agency at every 
 step of our pilgrimage. And we await in confident hope and 
 joyful anticipation those sublime manifestations of his charac- 
 ter and plans, and those higher enjoyments which will greet 
 the pure soul in the round of eternal ages. 
 
(476 J 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH, RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD, IS RELI- 
 GIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 The connection between science and religion has ever been 
 a subject of deep interest to enlightened and reflecting minds. 
 Too often, however, up to the present time, has the theologian 
 on the one hand, looked with jealousy upon science, fearful 
 that its influence was hurtful to the cause of true religion ; 
 while, on the other hand, the philosopher, in the pride of a 
 sceptical spirit, has scorned an alliance between science and 
 theology, and even fancied many a discrepancy. Both these 
 opinions are erroneous ; and disastrously have they operated, 
 as well upon science as upon religion. The position which I 
 take, and which I shall endeavor to maintain, is, that scientific 
 truth, rightly understood, is religious truth. 
 
 The proposition may be misunderstood at its first announce- 
 ment, but I hope, ere its examination be finished, to satisfy 
 you that it is true ; and if so, that it ought to reconcile reli- 
 gion to science, and science to religion. 
 
 In arriving at correct conclusions concerning this statement, 
 much will depend on the meaning which we attach to the 
 phrase religious truth. Religion is properly defined to be 
 piety towards God. This piety implies two things : first, a 
 correct knowledge of God ; and secondly, the exercise of 
 proper affections in view of that knowledge. The former 
 constitutes the theoretic part of religion, and is investigated 
 
DEFINITIONS. 477 
 
 solely by the understanding. The latter constitutes the prac- 
 tical part of religion, and depends much upon the will, the 
 heart, or the moral powers of man. All truth, therefore, 
 which illustrates the divine character or government, or which 
 tends to produce right affections towards God, is properly de- 
 nominated religious truth. If, then, I can show that all sci- 
 entific truth, rightly understood, has one or both of these 
 effects, it will follow that it is strictly religious truth. 
 
 Scientific truth is but another name for the laws of nature. 
 And a law of nature is merely the uniform mode in which the 
 Deity operates in the created universe. It follows, then, that 
 science is only a history of the divine operations in matter 
 and mind. 
 
 In order to avoid mistake, we must make a distinction be- 
 tween the principles of science, and the application of those 
 principles to the useful arts of life. The principles themselves 
 are an illustration of the divine wisdom and benevolence, but 
 their application to the arts illustrates the ingenuity and wis- 
 dom of man. At the most, therefore, the latter only indirectly 
 and remotely exhibits the character of the Deity, while the 
 former directly shows forth his perfections. 
 
 I now proceed to establish my general proposition, by show- 
 ing, in the first place, that all scientific truth is adapted to 
 prove the existence or to illustrate the perfections of the Deity, 
 
 After all that has been written on the subject of natural 
 theology, by such men as Newintyt, Ray, Derham, Wollas- 
 ton, Clarke, Butler, Tucker, Paley, Chalmers, Crombie, 
 Brown, Brougham, Harris, M'Cosh, and the authors of the 
 Bridgewater Treatises, I need not surely go into details to 
 prove that science in general is a great storehouse of facts to 
 illustrate the divine perfections and government. It is, in- 
 deed, a vast repository, from which materials Vave been 
 
478 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 drawn on which to build the argument for the divine existence 
 and character. EtTorts have been made, it is true, in mod- 
 ern times, to show that the whole argument from design ia 
 inconclusive. It is said, that though the operations of nature 
 seem to show design and contrivance, they need no higher 
 powers than those that exist in nature itseff. They do not 
 prove the existence of an independent personal agent, sepa- 
 rate from the material world. Animals, and even plants, pos- 
 sess an inherent power of adapting themselves to circum- 
 stances ; and may not a higher exercise of this same power 
 explain all the operations of nature without any other Deity ? 
 
 This argument appears to me to be utterly set aside by the 
 following considerations : In the first place, there is no power 
 inherent in vegetable or animal natures which can properly 
 be called the power of contrivance and design, except so far 
 as it exists in their minds. All other examples show merely 
 the operation of impulse, or instinct, and will not at all ex- 
 plain that wide-reaching contrivance and design which cause 
 all the operations of nature to conspire to certain great results, 
 and to constitute one, and only one, great system. In the sec- 
 ond place, the operations of intellect furnish us with the only 
 examples in nature of that kind of contrivance and design 
 which must have arranged and adapted the parts of the uni- 
 verse. Rut in the third place, no intellect, within our knowl- 
 edge, ia capacious enough to have contrived and arranged the 
 universe. Indeed, to the capacity of that mind which could 
 have done this we can assign no limits, and, therefore, infer it 
 to be infinite. In other words, we infer the existence of the 
 Deity. In the fourth place, the whole force of this argument 
 rests upon the supposed uniformity of nature. For no one 
 imagines that there exists at present, in nature, any power of 
 contrivance and design sufficient to work a miracle ; in other 
 
PROOF OF THE DIVINE EXISTENCE. 479 
 
 words, to introduce new races of animals and plants. " Could 
 this uniformity once be broken up," says an ingenious exposi- 
 tor of this atheistic argument, " could this rigid order be once 
 infringed for a good and manifest reason, it would change the 
 whole face of the argument. Could we see the sun stand still 
 in heaven, that the wicked might be overthrown, then should 
 we be assured of a personal power with a distinct will, whose 
 agents and ministers these laws were. Such an event would 
 be a miracle. But if such events have happened, they are nol 
 a part of nature ; it is not nature that tells us of them, and it 
 is only with her that we are at present concerned." — Presi- 
 dent Hopkins, Quarterly Observer, Oct. 1833, p. 309. 
 
 Geology, however, does reveal to us miracles of stupen- 
 dous import, miracles of creation, which infinite power and 
 wisdom alone could have produced. Hence, if the testimony 
 of that science be admitted, this reasoning can no longer stand 
 the test of examination, and it must be acknowledged that the 
 argument for God's existence from design, which has ever 
 been so satisfactory to every mind not clouded by metaphys 
 ics, is left standing on an immovable foundation. 
 
 To return to the point from which we started : it is not 
 necessary, I say, to go into a detailed examination of each 
 particular science, and show how its principles prove and 
 illustrate the being and attributes of the Deity, for the work 
 has already been done more ably and thoroughly than I can 
 do it, and admitted by all, save the few who reject the argu- 
 ment from design altogether. There are a few sciences, 
 however, which have been hitherto chiefly passed by, because 
 they were not supposed capable of throwing any light of con- 
 sequence upon theology. Let us see whether these sciences 
 are as barren of religious interest as has been supposed. 
 
 Geology is a branch of knowledge, which, a few years ago, 
 
480 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 would S«kf e been at once selected as not only destitute of any 
 imporum religious applications, but as of a positively injurious 
 tendency, and even now, such is the feeling probably of a 
 majority o/ the religious world. True, it touches religion, 
 natural and revealed, at many points ; but so novel and star- 
 tling are its conclusions, that they are thought to unsettle more 
 minds than they confirm. They fall in with many of the 
 views of sc^tpticism, and especially confirm its doubts con- 
 cerning the age of the world, and compel the religious man 
 to give up Jong-cherished opinions upon this point, and on 
 other collateral subjects. But we have gone into a careful 
 examination of the religious applications of this science, and 
 have we not fovind it most fertile in its illustrations both of 
 natural and revealed religion ? Let us just recapitulate the 
 conclusions at which we have arrived. 
 
 In the first place, geology furnishes important illustrations 
 of revealed religion. It confirms the statement that the pres- 
 ent continents of our globe were once, and for an indefinite 
 time, beneath the ocean, and that they were subsequently 
 lifted above the waters by internal agencies. It agrees with 
 revelation in making water and heat the two great agenl^ of 
 geological change upon and within the earth, and that the 
 work of creation, after the production of matter, was pro- 
 gressive. It shows us equally with revelation, that the existing 
 races of animals and plants on the globe were created at a 
 comparatively recent epoch, and that man commenced his 
 existence not more than six thousand years ago. hshows us, 
 also, that the earth contains within itself the volc^ic agency 
 necessary for its future destruction by combustion, as de- 
 scribed in the Bible. 
 
 But, perhaps, the most important illustration of revealed 
 Iruth, which geology affords, is the light which it casts upon 
 
ILLUSTRATION OF THE BIBLE. 481 ^/ 
 
 certain passages of the Bible relating to the creation. As 
 those texts which represent the earth as immovable, and the 
 heavenly bodies as moving diurnally around it, were not rightly 
 understood, until astronomy had discovered the true theory of 
 the solar system, so those passages which relate to the period 
 of the creation of the universe, the introduction of death into 
 the world, and the extent and operation of the deluge, were 
 misinterpreted till geology disclosed their true meaning. It 
 is still customary, indeed, to speak of geology and revelation 
 as in collision with each other on these subjects ; but this is a 
 false view of the case. Revelation is illustrated, not opposed, 
 by geology. Who thinks, at this day, of any discrepancy 
 between astronomy and revelation ? And yet, two hundred 
 years ago, the evidence of such discrepancy was far more 
 striking than any which can now be offered to show geology 
 at variance with the Scriptures. We ought, therefore, to look 
 upon that science as illustrating, instead of opposing, the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Having once admitted the conclusions of geology as to the 
 great age of the world, and a flood of light is shed upon some 
 of the most difficult points both of natural and revealed reli- 
 gion. It shows the occurrence of numerous changes on the 
 globe which nothing but the power of God could have pro- 
 duced, and which in fact were most striking and stupendous 
 miracles. Hence the arguments which have so long been 
 employed to show that the world is eternal are rendered nu- 
 gatory ; for if we can point to epochs when entire races of 
 animals and plants began to exist on the globe, we prove the 
 agency of a Deity quite as strikingly as if we could show the 
 moment when the matter of the world was summoned into 
 existence out of nothing. In the same manner, also, we si- 
 lence the argument against the giving of a revelation from 
 41 
 
482 SCIENTIFIC TETTTH IS 11ELI6I0US TKTTTH. 
 
 heaven, as well as the miracles by which it is substantiated 
 on the ground that we have no example of a special interfer 
 ence with the established course of nature. Here we have 
 interpositions long anterior to man's existence, as well as by 
 his creation, which take away all improbability from those 
 which are implied in a revelation. We hence likewise estab- 
 lish the doctrine of a special providence over the world — a 
 doctrine proved with great difficulty by any other reasoning 
 of natural theology. 
 
 Still more abundant is the evidence derived from geology 
 of the divine benevolence. And this evidence comes mostly 
 from the operations and final effect of the most desolating 
 agencies, heretofore regarded as a proof of malevolence, or, 
 at least, of vindictive justice ; and we may reasonably infer, 
 that could we look through the whole system of divine govern- 
 ment, we should find that all evil is only a necessary means 
 of the greatest good. 
 
 No one can examine existing nature without being con- 
 vinced that all its parts and operations belong to one great 
 system. Geology makes other economies of wide extent to 
 pass before us, opening a vista indefinitely backward into the 
 hoary past ; and it is gratifying to witness that same unity of 
 design pervading all preceding periods of the world's history, 
 linking the whole into one mighty scheme, worthy its infinite 
 Contriver. 
 
 How much, also, does this science enlarge our conception! 
 of the plans and operations of Jehovah ! We had been ac« 
 customed to limit our views of the creative agency of God to 
 the few thousand years of man's existence, and to anticipate 
 the destruction of the material universe in a few thousand 
 years more. But geology makes the period of man's exist- 
 ence on the globe only one short link of a chain of revolution! 
 
MATHEMATICAL LAWS. 483 y'' 
 
 which preceded his existence, and which reaches forward im- 
 measurably far into the future. We see the same matter in 
 the hands of infinite wisdom, and by means of the great con- 
 servative principle of chemical change, passing through a 
 multitude of stupendous revolutions, sustaining countless and 
 varied forms of organic life, and presenting an almost illim- 
 itable panorama of the plans of an infinite God. 
 
 If such is the fruit which geology pours into the lap of re- 
 ligion, how misunderstood have been its principles ! In many 
 a mind there is still an anxious fear lest its discoveries should 
 prove unfavorable to religion ; and they would feel greatly 
 relieved could they only be assured that no influence injurious 
 to piety would emanate from that science. But we can give 
 them far more than this assurance. We can draw from this 
 science more to illustrate and confirm religion than from any 
 other ; and we believe that the history of the past justifies the 
 general conclusion, that those sciences whose early develop- 
 ments excited most apprehensions of a collision with religion, 
 have ultimately furnished the most abundant illustrations of 
 its principles. 
 
 Another science regarded as barren of religious applica- 
 tions, and even as sometimes positively injurious, is mathe- 
 matics. Its principles are, indeed, of so abstruse a nature, 
 that it is not easy to frame out of them a religious argument 
 that is capable of popular illustration. But, in fact, mathe- 
 matical laws form the basis of nearly all the operations of 
 nature. They constitute, as it were, the very framework of 
 the material world. When we look up to the heavenly bodies, 
 we see them directed and controlled, along with the earth, by 
 those laws, which vary not, by an iota, from century to cen- 
 tury. The infinity of changes, which are going on in the 
 constitution of bodies upon and within the earth, chemistry 
 
484 SCIENTIFIC TBVTH IS RELIGIOXTS TBVTH. 
 
 reduces to mathematical laws. So far as organic operations 
 depend upon chemical changes, — and this is very far, — 
 mathematics is the controlling power. I will not say, that life 
 and intellect are in a strict sense under the guidance of math- 
 ematics ; and yet I doubt not that their operations are limited 
 and controlled by its principles. Confident am I that atmos- 
 pheric changes, apparently quite as anomalous and irregular 
 as the movements of the vital and intellectual principles, rest 
 on mathematics as certainly as do the revolutions of the heav- 
 enly bodies. 
 
 It seems, then, that this science forms the very foundation 
 of all arguments for Theism, from the arrwigements and oper- 
 ations of the material universe. We do, indeed, neglect the 
 foundation, and point only to the superstructure, when we 
 state these arguments. But suppose mathematical laws to be 
 at once struck from existence, and what a hideous chaos 
 would the universe present ! What then would become of 
 the marks of design and unity in nature, and of the Theist's 
 argument for the being of a God ? 
 
 But mathematical principles furnish several interesting illus- 
 trations of truth, of no small importance. In a former lecture, 
 we have seen how the doctrine of miracles stands forth com- 
 pletely vindicated by an appeal to mathematical laws ; how, in 
 fact, they might have formed a part of the original plan of the 
 universe, when first it was conceived in the divine mind, and 
 how their occurrence may be as much the result of a fixed law 
 as the most common operations of nature ; so that in this way 
 all improbability of their occurrence, on the ground that nature 
 is constant, is removed. These views are illustrated in that 
 singular, yet original work of Professor Babbage, called the 
 *' Ninth Bridgewater Treatise," a work written, it is true, in 
 part, under the influence of exasperated feelings, but yet full 
 
THE DOCTRINE Gr THE TRINITY. 485 
 
 of original and ingenious suggestions. But these views have 
 been so fully presented in the Lecture on Special and Mirac- 
 ulous Providence, and in that upon the Telegraphic System 
 of the Universe, that they need not here be repeated. 
 
 Mathematics, also, aids our conceptions of truths of religion 
 difficult or impossible, from their nature, of being understood 
 by finite beings. All the attributes of the Deity, being infi- 
 nite, are of this description. But it seems to me that the 
 contemplation of a mathematical series, either increasing or 
 decreasing, gives us the strongest apprehension of infinity 
 which we can attain. It puts into our hands a thread by 
 which we can find .our way, as far as our powers will carry 
 us, towards infinity. True, after we have followed the series 
 till the mind stops exhausted, we are no nearer infinity than 
 when we started ; yet we do get most deeply impressed with 
 the unfathomableness of the abyss that separates the finite from 
 the infinite. 
 
 To many minds all statements of the biblical doctrine of 
 the Trinity appear so absurd and contradictory as to be inca- 
 pable of belief. Yet let it be stated to a man, for the first 
 time, that two lines may approach each other forever without 
 meeting, and it must appear equally absurd. But after you 
 have demonstrated to him the properties of the hyperbola anjd 
 its asymptote, the apparent absurdity vanishes. So, when the 
 theologian has stated, that by the divine unity he means only 
 a numerical unity, — in other words, that there is but one Su- 
 preme Being, and that the three persons of the Godhead are 
 one in this sense, and three only in those respects not incon- 
 sistent with this unity, — every philosophical mind, whether it 
 admits that the Scriptures teach this doctrine or not, must see 
 that there is no absurdity or contradiction in it. And thus it 
 may happen, that the solution of a man's difficulties on this 
 41* 
 
iS6 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOITS TRXTTH. 
 
 subject may come from a proposition of conic sections, as in 
 fact we know to have been the case. 
 
 It is said, however, that mathematicians have been unusu- 
 ally prone to scepticism concerning religious truth. If it be 
 so, it probably originates from the absurd attempt to apply 
 mathematical reasoning to moral subjects ; or, rather, the devo- 
 tees of this science often become so attached to its demonstra- 
 tions, that they will not admit any evidence of a less certain 
 character. They do not realize the total difference between 
 moral and mathematical reasonings, and absurdly endeavor to 
 stretch religion on the Procrustean bed of mathematics. No 
 wonder they become sceptics. But the fault is in themselves, 
 not in this science, whose natural tendencies, upon a pure and 
 exalted mind, are favorable to religion, because its principles 
 illustrate religion. 
 
 There are several other sciences, whose earlier develop- 
 ments were supposed for a time to be unfavorable to religion ; 
 and hence has originated a ground of apprehension respecting 
 science generally. When the Copernican system of astron- 
 omy was introduced, it was thought impossible ever to recon- 
 cile it to the plain declarations of Scripture ; and hence at 
 least one venerable astronomer was obliged to recant that 
 system upon his knees. Similar fears of collision between 
 science and revelation were excited when chemistry announced 
 that the main part of the earth has already been oxidized, and, 
 therefore, could not hereafter be literally burnt. Because 
 some physiologists have been materialists, it has been inferred 
 that physiology was favorable to materialism. But it is now 
 found that they were materialists in spite of physiology, rather 
 than from a correct interpretation of its facts. 
 
 Strong apprehensions have also been excited respecting 
 phrenology and mesmerism. And, indeed, in their present 
 
PHRENOLOGY AND MESMERISM. 487 
 
 aspect, these sciences are probably made to exert a more un- 
 friendly influence upon vital religion than any other. Those 
 who profess to understand and teach them have been, for 
 the most part, decided opponents of special providence and 
 special grace, and many of them materialists. But this is not 
 because there are any special grounds for such opinions in 
 phrenology or mesmerism. The latter branch, indeed, affords 
 such decided proofs of immaterialism, as to have led several 
 able materialists to change their views. Nor does phrenology 
 afford any stronger proof that law governs the natural world, 
 than do the other sciences. But when a man who is sceptical 
 becomes deeply interested in any branch of knowledge, and 
 fancies himself to be an oracle respecting it, he will torture 
 its principles till they are made to give testimony in favor of 
 his previous sceptical views, although, in fact, the tones are 
 as unnatural as those of ventriloquism, and as deceptive. 
 When true philosophy shall at length determine what are the 
 genuine principles of phrenology and mesmerism, we can 
 judge of their bearing upon religion ; but the history of other 
 sciences shows us that we need have no fears of any col- 
 lision, when the whole subject is brought fairly into the 
 daylight. 
 
 Upon the whole, every part of science, which has been 
 supposed, by the fears of friends or malice of foes, to con- 
 flict with reHgion,has been found, at length, when fully under- 
 stood, to be in perfect harmony with its principles, and even 
 to illustrate them. It is high time, therefore, for the friends 
 of religion to cease fearing any injury to the cause of religion 
 from science ; and high time, also, for the enemies of religion 
 to cease expecting any such collision. 
 
 In conclusion of this argument, we may safely challenge 
 any one to point out a single principle of science which doe» 
 
486 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 not in some way illustrate the perfections of the Deity ; and 
 if he cannot, scientific truth may be appropriately called re- 
 ligious truth, especially since such illustrations are the highest 
 use to which science can be applied. It is no drawback on 
 the argument because so few make this use of science, nor 
 because some attempt to array science against religion ; for 
 this only shows how men may neglect the most important use 
 to which science can be applied, or how they can pervert the 
 richest gifts. 
 
 I derive a second argument in support of the general posi- 
 tion, that scientific truth is religious truth, from the fact that 
 it will survive the present worlds and its examination become 
 apart of the employments and enjoyments of heaven. 
 
 The Scriptures are, indeed, sparing in their details of the 
 specific employments of the heavenly world, except so far as 
 worship and praise are concerned. But that worship will un- 
 doubtedly be the spontaneous impulse of the heart, (as it is in 
 this world when acceptable,) in view of some manifestations 
 of the divine character. Accordingly, the first sentence of the 
 future song of Moses and the Lamb, as the saints stand with 
 the harps of God upon the sea of glass, is, Great and marvel- 
 lous are thy works. Lord God Almighty. The works of God, 
 then, will be studied in the future world ; and what is that but 
 the study of the sciences ? It is, indeed, said by the apostle, 
 that whether there be tongues, they shall cease, [that is, in a fu- 
 ture world ;] whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away ; 
 and hence it has sometimes been inferred that all the knowl- 
 edge which we acquire in this world will disappear with this 
 world. But this cannot be the meaning of the passage, for 
 in a variety of places the Bible represents both the righteous 
 and wicked in another world as conscious of what took place 
 on earth ; and, unless the nature of the mind be changed at 
 
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 489 
 
 death, it is not possible to conceive that the knowledge we 
 acquire here should be lost. This passage may refer to one 
 of those gifts of inspiration peculiar to apostolic times, called 
 by the sacred writer the word of knowledge. But more prob- 
 ably he meant to teach that, so much brighter and clearer will 
 be the disclosures of another world, that most of our present 
 knowledge will be eclipsed and forgotten. But this does not 
 imply that our future knowledge will be essentially different 
 in nature from that which we acquire on earth. The grand 
 difference is, that now we see through a glass darkly, but then 
 face to face. 
 
 We can, also, see why some branches of science cultivated 
 on earth should be very much modified in a future world. 
 There are several, for instance, dependent mainly upon the 
 present organic constitution of nature ; and of such branches 
 only the general principles can survive the destruction of the 
 existing framework of animals and plants. Take, for an ex- 
 ample, anatomy and physiology. We believe, indeed, that 
 the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, will be mate- 
 rial, and that the bodies of men will also be material. But 
 even though these bodies should be organized, we learn from 
 the Scriptures that this organization will be very different 
 from our present bodies. They, says Christ, who shall be 
 accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection 
 from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, 
 neither can they die any more ; for they are equal unto the 
 angels, Paul's vivid description of the future spiritual body 
 leaves the impression on the mind that it must be very dis- 
 similar to our present bodies. He does not attempt to define 
 the spiritual body, probably because we cc^jlM not understand 
 the definition, since it would be so unlike any thing on earth. 
 He represents it as incorruptible, powerful, and glorious 
 
490 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 entiiely in contrast with our present bodies, and declares 
 that it is not flesh and blood, and that it is not organized like 
 our present bodies. 
 
 It seems, then, that we have no certain evidence that the 
 future spiritual body will be organized ; and in a former lec- 
 ture we have seen that it is not necessary to suppose it en- 
 dowed with organs. If not, it is obvious that the sciences of 
 anatomy and physiology can have no existence in a future 
 world, except in the memory. On the other hand, however, 
 there are some things in Paul's description of the future body 
 that make it quite probable that its organization will be much 
 more exquisite than any thing in existence on earth. He 
 represents it as springing from our present bodies as a germ 
 from a seed ; and this would seem to imply organization ; 
 though we must not infer too much from a mere rhetorical 
 similitude. But he also represents the spiritual body as far 
 transcending the natural body in glory and in power ; and, 
 since the latter is fearfully and wonderfully made, we know 
 of nothing but the most exquisite organization that can give 
 the spiritual body such a superiority over the natural. Ad- 
 mitting that such will be its structure, and, although the 
 nomenclature of anatomy and physiology, which is adapted 
 to flesh and blood, shall pass away and be forgotten, yet 
 analogous sciences shall be substituted, based on facts and 
 principles far more interesting, and developing relations and 
 harmonies far more beautiful. It may be thought, indeed, 
 that, so diflferent will be these sciences from any thing on 
 earth, that there can be no common principles and no link of 
 connection. But the longer a man studies the works of God, 
 the more inclined will he be to regard the universe, material 
 and immaterial, as founded on eternal principles ; as, in fact, 
 a transcript of the divine nature ; and that all the changes io 
 
BOTANY. 491 
 
 nature are only new developments of unchanging funda- 
 mental laws, not the introduction of new laws. Hence the 
 philosopher would infer that in existing nature we have the 
 prototype of new heavens and a new earth ; and although 
 a future condition of things may be as different from the 
 present as the plant is from the seed out of which it springs, 
 still, as the seed contains the embryo of a future plant, so the 
 future world may, as it were, lie coiled up in the present. If 
 in these suggestions there is any truth, there may be a germ 
 in the anatomy and physiology of the present world, which 
 shall survive the destruction of the present economy, and un- 
 fold, in far higher beauty and glory, in the more congenial 
 climate of the new heavens and the new earth. If so, the 
 great principles of these sciences which are acquired on 
 earth, and which are so prolific in exhibitions ol divine skill, 
 may not prove to be lost knowledge. They shall be recog- 
 nized as types of those far higher and richer developments 
 of organization which the spiritual body shall exhibit. 
 
 It may be still more difficult to show that such a science as 
 botany will have a place in the new earth ; simply because 
 we have no certain knowledge of the existence of vegetation 
 there. We can infer nothing on this subject from the figura- 
 tive representations of the new Jerusalem in Revelation, since 
 the drapery is all derived from this world. But, on the gen- 
 eral principle already stated, that the universe constitutes but 
 one vast and harmonious system, and all the economies upon 
 it, past, present, and future, are only different developments 
 of eternal principles, this consideration, I say, should make 
 us hesitate before we infer the annihilation of the vast vege- 
 table kingdom upon the destruction of the present economy 
 of the world. And it does give us an aspect of extreme bar- 
 '^iness and cheerlessness to think of the new earth entirely 
 
492 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS EELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 swept of every thing analogous to the existing foliage, flowers, 
 and fruits. We hg^ye attempted to show, however, in another 
 place, that the spiritual body may be of such a nature that it 
 might exist in a temperature so high, or so low, as to prevent 
 th§ existence of such organic natures as now exist. But how 
 easy for the Deity to create such natures as are adapted lo 
 extremes of temperature as wide as we now are acquainted 
 with ; and that, too, on the same type as existing nature ; 
 so that the new earth, while yet an incandescent, glowing 
 ocean, might teem with animals and plants, organized on the 
 same general principles as those of the present earth ! But 
 there is another supposition. I have endeavored to show that 
 change ever has been, and probably ever will be, one of the 
 grand means by which mind is introduced to higher spheres 
 of enjoyment ; and even though the new earth at first should 
 be destitute of organic natures, both animal and vegetable, 
 they might be introduced in successive and more perfect 
 economies, as a means of increased happiness, especially 
 to rational natures. These are, indeed, only conjectures ; 
 but the balance of probabilities seems to me to incline the 
 mind to the belief that there may be a botany as well as zool- 
 ogy in the future world, far transcending their prototypes 
 on earth. 
 
 Among the things that we may be certain will pass away 
 with the present world is the mode of communicating our 
 ideas by language. This the apostle expressly declares when 
 he says, W/iether there be tongues, [that is, languages,] tfiey 
 shall cease. Now, the acquisition of languages, and the right 
 use of language, or rhetoric and oratory, constitute a large 
 part of what men call learning on earth. And the question 
 is, whether there are any principles on which these branches 
 of knowledge are based that will become the elements of new 
 
INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. 493 
 
 And higher modes of communicating thought in a future 
 world. These branches are, indeed, rather to be regarded 
 as arts than sciences. Language is the drapery for clothing 
 our thoughts, and, unless we have thoughts to clothe, it be- 
 comes useless ; and rhetoric and oratory merely show us how 
 to arrange that drapety in the most attractive and impressive 
 style. But there is such a thing as the philosophy of language 
 and the philosophy of rhetoric, whose principles are derived 
 chiefly from moral and intellectual philosophy. And these, 
 we have reason to believe, are eternal. Different as will be 
 the mode of communicating thoughts hereafter from the pres- 
 ent, we shall find the same philosophical principles lying at its 
 foundation. Hence we may expect that there will be a celes- 
 tial language, a celestial rhetoric, and a celestial oratory, in 
 whose beauty and splendor those of earth will be forgotten. 
 
 I now proceed briefly to consider those sciences which, 
 having little connection with material organization, we may 
 more confidently maintain will have an existence on the 
 new earth. 
 
 It will be hardly necessary to spend much time in proving 
 that intellectual philosophy will be one of the subjects of in- 
 vestigation in a future world. For it would be strange if the 
 noblest part of God's workmanship, for which materialism 
 was created, should cease to be an object of inquiry in that 
 v'orld where alone it can be investigated with much success. 
 When we consider that the whole train of mental phenomena 
 is constantly passing under the mind's own observation, and 
 that a vast amount of time and talent has been devoted to 
 the subject ever since man began to philosophize, — that is, 
 for more than two thousand years, — it would seem as if 
 psychology ere this must have attained the precision and cer- 
 tainty of mathematics. But how different is the fact ! I 
 42 
 
SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 speak not of a want of agreement in opinion on subordinate 
 points, for these minor diversities must be expected in any 
 science not strictly demonstrative. Even astronomy abounds 
 with them. But metaphysical philosophers have not yet been 
 able to settle fundamental principles. They are not yet 
 agreed as to the existence of many of the most familiar and 
 important intellectual powers and principles of action. The 
 systems of Locke and Hume, constructed with great ability, 
 were overthrown by Reid ; Stewart differed much from 
 Reid ; and Dr. Thomas Brown has powerfully attacked the 
 fabric erected by Stewart. And lastly, the phrenologists, 
 with no mean ability, have endeavored to show that all these 
 philosophers are heaven-wide of the truth, because they have 
 so much neglected the influence of the material organs on 
 the mental powers. Now, this diversity of result, arrived 
 at by men of such profound abilities, shows that there are 
 peculiar difficulties in the study of mind, originating, proba- 
 bly, in the fact that, in this world, we never see the operation 
 of mind apart from a gross material organization. But ir 
 another state, where no organization will exist, or one far better 
 adapted to mental operations, we may hope for such a clarifi- 
 cation of the mental eye that the laws of mind will assume 
 the precision and certainty of mathematics, and the relations 
 between mind and matter, now so obscure, be fully developed. 
 Then, I doubt not, the principles of mental science will fur- 
 nish a more splendid illustration of the divine perfections than 
 any which can now be derived from the material world. 
 
 Will any one believe that the principles of moral science 
 and mathematics will be altered or annihilated by the confla- 
 gration of the globe ? We believe them no more dependent 
 upon the external universe than is the divine existence. God 
 exists by a necessity of nature, and these principles have the 
 
THE NEW EARTH. 495 
 
 same unchanging and eternal origin. If so, no changes in 
 the material world can affect them. So far as we understand 
 them here, we shall find them true hereafter ; and we shall 
 doubtless find that our present knowledge is but the mere twi-^- 
 light of that bright day which will there pour its full light 
 upon these subjects. Mathematical and moral truths, which 
 we now suppose to be general laws, we shall then find to be, 
 in many cases, only the ramifications of principles far wider, 
 which we cannot now discover, and which we could not com- 
 prehend were they open to inspection. And we shall also 
 find that moral laws are as certain and demonstrable as those 
 of mathematics ; and that they form the adamantine chain 
 which holds together the spiritual world, and gives it symme- 
 try and beauty, as mathematics links together the material 
 universe. 
 
 Among men who understand biblical interpretation, and 
 also the principles of science, the belief in the annihilation of 
 the material universe at the close of man's probationary state 
 is fast disappearing, and the more scriptural, philosophical, 
 and animating doctrine is embraced, that there will be only a 
 change of form and condition of our earth and its atmosphere, 
 and that the matter of the universe will survive, and succes- 
 sively assume new and more beautiful forms, it may be eter- 
 nally. If so, all those physical sciences, which do not depend 
 upon organic structure, will form subjects of investigation in 
 the heavenly world. There will be the heavenly bodies, gov- 
 erned by the same laws as at present, and offering a noble 
 field for examination. Nor will the heavenly inhabitants 
 need, as on earth, visual organs and optical instruments, 
 which, at best, afford us only glimpses of the material uni- 
 verse. For there, if we rightly conjecture, will they possess 
 the power of learning, with almost intuitive certainty and 
 
496 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRTTTH. 
 
 intuitive rapidity, the character and movements of the mos* 
 distant worlds. Nay, it may be that they can pass from world 
 to world with the velocity of light, and thus become better 
 acquainted with their more intimate condition. Thus will the 
 astronomy of the celestial world surpass, beyond conception, 
 that science which even now is regarded as unequalled for 
 its sublimity. 
 
 We cannot be sure through what material medium the mind 
 will act in a future world. But the manner in which we know 
 heat, light, and electricity to be transmitted, makes it not im- 
 possible that the same or a similar medium may be the vehi- 
 cle through which thought shall be hereafter transmitted. If 
 so, we can easily understand how the mind will be able to 
 penetrate into the most recondite nature of bodies, and learn 
 the mode in which they act upon one another ; for the curious 
 medium which conveys light and heat does penetrate all 
 bodies, whether they be solid or gaseous, cold or hot. Hence 
 we may learn at a glance, in a future world, more of the in- 
 ternal constitution of bodies, and of their mutual action, than 
 a whole life on earth, spent ui the study of chemistry, will 
 unfold. Then, too, shall we doubtless find chemical laws 
 operating on a scale of grandeur and extent, limited only by 
 the material universe. 
 
 Universally diffused as light, heat, and electricity are, and 
 diligently as their phenomena have been studied, yet what 
 mystery hangs over their nature and operations ! They seem 
 to be too subtile, and to approximate too nearly to immaterial 
 substances, to be apprehended by our beclouded intellects. 
 When, therefore, our means of perception shall be vastly im- 
 proved, as we have reason to believe they will be in eternity, 
 these will become noble themes for examination. For who 
 can doubt that agents so ethereal in their nature, and appar- 
 
GEOLOGY OF THE NEW EARTH. 497 
 
 ently indestructible, and even unchanged by any means with 
 which we are acquainted, will survive the final catastrophe of 
 Ovir world ? Probably, indeed, we are allowed to catch only 
 glimpses of their nature and operations on earth, so that we 
 may safely anticipate an immense expansion of the electricity 
 and optics which will form a part of the science of heaven. 
 
 We have endeavored to show, in a former lecture, that the 
 future residence of the righteous will be material ; that it will, 
 in fact, be the present earth, purified by the fires of the last 
 day, and rising from the final ruin in renovated splendor. 
 We have shown that this is the doctrine of Scripture, of phi- 
 losophy, and of a majority of the Christian church. A solid 
 world, then, will exist, whose geology can be studied by glori- 
 fied minds far more accurately and successfully than the globe 
 which we inhabit ; for those minds will doubtless be able to 
 penetrate the entire mass of the globe, and learn its whole 
 structure. The final conflagration may, indeed, for the most 
 part, obliterate the traces of present and past organic beings. 
 But according to the doctrine of action and reaction in me- 
 chanics, in chemistry, in electricity, and in organization, every 
 change that has ever passed over the earth has left traces of 
 its occurrence which can never be blotted out ; and it is not 
 improbable that glorified minds will possess the power of dis- 
 covering and reading these records of the past, if not on the 
 principle just specified, yet in some other way ; so that the 
 entire geological history of our planet will probably pass in 
 clear light before them. Points which we see only through 
 a glass darkly will then stand forth in full daylight ; and from 
 the glimpses we are able to obtain in this world of its present 
 geological changes, what a mighty and interesting series will 
 be seen by celestial minds ! If, even by the colored rays 
 which come upon us through the twilight of this world, we are 
 42* 
 
498 SCIENTIFIC TKT7TH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 able to see so many striking illustrations of the divine i?ha^ 
 acter engraven on the solid •rocks, what a noble voliuie of 
 religious truth shall be found written there, when the light of 
 heaven shall penetrate the earth's deep foundations I Those 
 foundations, figuratively described in revelation as so many 
 precious stones, bearing up a city of pure gold, clear as glass, 
 will then reflect a richer light than the costliest literal gems 
 which the rocks now yield. The geology of heaven will be 
 resplendent with divine glory. 
 
 We see, then, with a few probable exceptions, resulting 
 from a difference between the organism of heaven and earth, 
 that science will survive the ruin of this world, and in a nobler 
 form engage 'he minds, and interest the hearts, of heaven's 
 inhabitants. It will, indeed, form a vast storehouse, whence 
 pious minds can draw fuel to kindle into a purer and brighter 
 flame their love and their devotion ; for thence will they de- 
 rive new and higher developments of the divine character. 
 Shall we not, then, admit that to be religious truth on earth 
 which in heaven will form the food of perfectly holy minds ? 
 
 The position which I laid down, at the outset, that scien- 
 tific truth, rightly applied, is religious truth, seems to me most 
 clearly established. If admitted, there flow from it several 
 inferences of no small interest, which I am constrained to 
 present to your consideration. 
 
 In the first place ^ I infer from this discussion that theprin^ 
 ciples of science are a transcript of the Divine Character. 
 
 I mean by this, that the laws of nature, which are synony- 
 mous with the principles of science, are not the result of any 
 arbitrary and special enactment on the part of the Deity, but 
 flow naturally from his perfections ; so that, in fact, the varied 
 principles of science are but so many expressions of the per- 
 fections of Jehovah. If the universe had only a transient 
 
SCIENCE PERVERTED. 499 
 
 existence, we might suppose the laws that govern it to be the 
 result of a special ordination of the Deity, and destined to 
 perish with the annihilation of matter. But since we have no 
 evidence that matter will ever perish, and at least probable 
 evidence that it will exist forever, the more rational supposi- 
 tion is, that its laws result from the nature of things, and are 
 only a development of so many features of the divine char- 
 acter. If so, then the most important inquiry in the study of 
 the sciences is to learn from them the phases in which they 
 present the divine perfections. 
 
 In the second place, it does not follow from this subject 
 that the most extensive acquisitions in science necessarily im 
 ply the possession of true piety. 
 
 Piety consists in the exercise of right affections of heart 
 towards God, excited by religious truth. Now, I have at- 
 tempted to show only, that the natural tendency of scientific 
 truth is to excite such religious affections ; but that tendency, 
 like all other good influences, may be, and often is, resisted. 
 Hence a man may reach the loftiest pinnacle of scientific glory 
 whose heart has never heaved with one religious emotion. 
 He may penetrate to the very holy of holies in nature's tem- 
 ple, and yet retain his atheism, in spite of the hallowed influ- 
 ences that surround him. Nothing is plainer in theory, and, 
 alas ! nothing has been more surely confirmed by experience, 
 than that the possession of science is no* ".Lo possession of 
 religion. 
 
 In the third place, lohat a perversion of science it is to 1 
 employ it against religion ! \ 
 
 Rightly understood, and fairly interpreted, there is not a 
 single scientific truth that does not harmoniously accord with 
 revealed as well as natural religion ; and yet, by superficial 
 minds, almost every one of these principles has, at one time 
 
600 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 or another, been regarded as in collision with religion, and 
 especially with revelation. One alter another have these ap- 
 parent discrepancies melted away before the clearer light of 
 further examination. And yet, up to the present day, not a 
 few, closing their eyes against the lessons of experience, still 
 fancy that the responses of science are not in unison with 
 those from revelation. But this is a sentiment which finds no 
 place with the profound and unprejudiced philosopher ; for 
 he has seen too much of the harmony between the works and 
 the word of God to doubt the identity of their origin. He 
 knows it to be a sad perversion of scientific truth to use it 
 for the discredit of religion. He knows that the inspiration 
 of the Almighty breathed the same spirit into science as into 
 religion ; and if they utter discordant tones, it must be be- 
 cause one or the other has been forced to speak in an unnat- 
 ural dialect. 
 
 In the fourth place, how entirely have the natural tenden- 
 cies of science been misunderstood,, when they have been rep' 
 resented as leading to religious scepticism ! 
 
 I do not deny the fact that many scientific men have been 
 sceptical. But I maintain that this has been in spite of sci- 
 ence, rather than the result of its natural tendency ; for we 
 have shown that tendency in all cases to be favorable to piety. 
 Other more powerful causes, therefore, must have operated 
 to counteract luo .".C*'iral influence of scientific truth in those 
 cases where men eminent for science have spurned away 
 from them the authority of religion. Among these causes, 
 fs the pride of knowledge is one of the most powerful ; and be- 
 fore the mind has attained to very profound views of science, 
 this pride does often exert a most disastrous influence upon a 
 man^s religious feelings. 
 
 He is looked up to as an oracle on other subjects, and why 
 
CAUSES OF SCEPTICISM. 50* 
 
 should he not be equally wise concerning religion ? It is nat- 
 ural for him to feel desirous, in such circumstances, of rising 
 above all vulgar and superstitious views, and of convincing 
 his fellow-men that he has made as great discoveries in reli- 
 gion as in science. He, therefore, calls in question the pre- 
 vailing religious opinions. Having once taken his stand 
 against the truth, pride does not allow him to recede, and he 
 endeavors to convert scientific truth into weapons against reli- 
 gion. And this perversion produces the impression, with those 
 not familiar with its natural tendency, that science fosters 
 scepticism. 
 
 Another cause of this scepticism is a superficial acquaint- 
 ance with the religious bearings of scientific truth. It is ono 
 thing to master the principles of science in an abstract form, 
 and quite a different thing to understand their religious bear- 
 ings. Moral reasoning is so different from physical and math- 
 ematical, that often a mind which is a prodigy for the latter, 
 is a mere Lilliput in the former. And yet that mind may 
 fancy itself as profound in the one as in the other, and may, 
 therefore, be as tenacious of its errors in religion as of its 
 demonstrated verities in science. 
 
 In 'the* following extract it will be seen that Dr. Chalmers 
 imputes the religious scepticism connected with science 
 chiefly to a superficial acquaintance with science. His re- 
 marks may seem unreasonably severe and sweeping ; never- 
 theless, they deserve consideration. And they accord with 
 the idea of Lord Bacon, who says, " A smattering of philoso- 
 phy leads to atheism ; whereas a thorough acquaintance with 
 it brings him back again to religion." " We have heard," 
 Dr. Chalmers remarks, " that the study of natural science 
 disposes to infidelity. But we feel persuaded that this is a 
 danger associated only with a slight and partial, never with a 
 
502 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS BELI6I0US TRUTH. 
 
 deep, and adequate, and comprehensive, view of its princi- 
 ples. It is very possible that the conjunction between science 
 and scepticism may at present be more frequently realized 
 than in former days ; but this is only because, in spite of all 
 that is alleged about this our more enlightened day and more 
 enlightened public, our science is neither so deeply founded, 
 nor of such firm and thorough staple, as it was wont to be. 
 We have lost in depth what we have gained in diffusion ; 
 having neither the massive erudition, nor the gigantic schol- 
 arship, nor the profound and well-laid philosophy of a period 
 that has now gone by ; and it is to this that Infidelity stands 
 indebted for her triumphs among the scoffers and superficial- 
 ists of a half-learned generation." — Chalmerses Works^ vol. 
 vii. p. 2(72. 
 
 Briefly, but nobly, has Sir John Herschel vindicated science 
 from the charge of sceptical tendencies. " Nothing can be 
 more unfounded than the objection which has been taken in 
 limine by persons, well meaning, perhaps, certainly of narrow 
 minds, against the study of natural philosophy, and, indeed, 
 against all science, that it fosters in its cultivators an undue 
 and overweening self-conceit, leads them to doubt the ipnmor- 
 tality of the soul, and to scoflT at revealed religion. Its natu- 
 ral eflfect, we may confidently assert, on every well-consti- 
 tuted mind, is and must be the direct contrary. No doubt the 
 testimony of natural reason, on whatever exercised, must, of 
 course, stop short of those truths which it is the object of 
 revelation to make known ; but while it places the existence 
 and principal attributes of a Deity on such grounds as to ren- 
 der doubt absurd, and atheism ridiculous, it unquestionably 
 opposes no natural or necessary obstacle to further progress ; 
 on the contrary, by cherishing as a vital principle an un- 
 bounded spirit of inquiry and ardency of expectation, it 
 
CHARACTER OF THE TRUE PHILOSOPHER. 503 
 
 unfetters the mind from prejudices of every kind, and leaves it 
 open to every impression of a higher nature, which it is sus- 
 ceptible of receiving ; guarding only against enthusiasm and 
 self-deception by a habit of strict investigation, but encour- 
 aging, rather than suppressing, every thing that can offer a 
 prospect or hope beyond the present obscure and unsatisfac- 
 tory state. The character of the true philosopher is to hope 
 all things not impossible, and to believe all things not unrea- 
 sonable." — Diss, on Study of Nat. Phil. 
 
 In speaking of geology and revelation. Sir John says, 
 " 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 geolo- 
 gy, or whose geology can be distorted from its character of 
 an inductive science by a determination to accommodate its 
 results to preconceived interpretations of the Mosaic cosmog- 
 ony." — Dr. J. P. Smith's Lectures^ p. viii. 4th edition. 
 
 " We have often mourned," says M'Cosh, " over the 
 attempts made to set the works of God against the word of 
 God, and thereby excite, propagate, and perpetuate jealousies 
 fitted to separate parties that ought to live in closest union. 
 In particular, we have always regretted that endeavors should 
 have been made to depreciate nature with a view of exalting 
 revelation ; it has always appeared to us to be nothing else 
 than the degrading of one part of God's works in the hope 
 thereby of exalting and recommending another." " Perilous 
 as it is at all times for the friends of religion to set themselves 
 against natural science, it is especially dangerous in an age 
 like the present. 
 
 " It is no profane work that is engaged in by those who, is 
 all humility, would endeavor to remove jealousies between 
 
504 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS BEUGIOUS TBUTH. 
 
 parties whom God has joined together, and whom man is not 
 at liberty to put asunder. We are not lowering the dignity 
 of science when we command it to do what all the objects 
 which it looks at and admires do — when we command it to 
 worship God. Nor are we detracting from the honor which 
 is due to religion when we press it to take science into its 
 service, and accept the homage which it is able to pay. We 
 are seeking to exalt both when we show how nature conducts 
 man to the threshold of religion, and when from this point we 
 bid him look abroad on the wide territories of nature. We 
 would aid at the same time both religion and science, by re- 
 moving those prejudices against sacred truth which nature has 
 been employed to foster ; and we would accomplish this not 
 by casting aside and discarding nature, but by rightly in- 
 terpreting it. 
 
 " Let not science and religion be reckoned as opposing 
 citadels, frowning defiance upon each other, and their troops 
 brandishing their armor in hostile attitude. They have too 
 many common foes, if they would but think of it, in ignorance 
 and prejudice, in passion and vice, under all their forms, to 
 admit of their lawfully wasting their strength in a useless 
 warfare with each other. Science has a foundation, and so 
 has religion ; let them unite their foundations, and the basis 
 will be broader, and they will be two compartments of one 
 great fabric reared to the glory of God. Let the one be the 
 outer and the other the inner court. In the one, let all look, 
 and admire, and adore ; and in the other, let those who have 
 faith kneel, and pray, and praise. Let the one be the sanc- 
 tuary where human learning may present its richest incense 
 as an ofiering to God, and the other the holiest of all, sep- 
 arated from it by a veil now rent in twain, and in which, on a 
 
^ ' -V| A COMMON CAUSE. 505 
 
 blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, we pour out the love of a recon- 
 ciled heart, and hear the oracles of the living God." — Method 
 of the Divine Government, p. 449, et seq. 
 
 In the fifth place, scientific men and religious men may 
 learn from this subject to regard each other as engaged in a 
 common cause. 
 
 If it be indeed true that scientific truth, rightly applied, is 
 religious truth, then may the religious man be sure that every 
 scientific discovery will ultimately contribute to the illustration 
 of the character or government of the Deity ; and therefore 
 should he encourage and rejoice in all such investigations, 
 and bid God speed to the votaries of science. Even though 
 he cannot see how the new discovery will illustrate religion, 
 and though, when imperfectly developed, it may seem to have 
 an unfavorable aspect, he need not fear to confide in the gen- 
 eral principle that science and religion are alike of divine 
 origin, and must be in harmony. On the other hand, the 
 votary of science should remember that the state of society 
 most favorable to .his pursuits is one in which religion exerts 
 the strongest influence. It is for his interest, therefore, merely 
 as a lover of science, and much more as a moral and account- 
 able agent, to have pure religion prevail. Scientific and reli- 
 gious men should, therefore, look upon each other as co-labor- 
 ers in a most noble cause — in illustrating the divine character 
 and government. All jealousy and narrow-minded exclusive- 
 ness should be banished, and side by side should they labor 
 in warm-hearted and generous sympathy. Alas ! how diflierent 
 from this has been the history of the past ! and, to a great 
 extent, how different it is at present ! " A study of the natu- 
 ral world," says Professor Sedgwick, " teaches not the truths 
 of revealed religion, nor do the truths of religion inform us 
 of the inductions of physical science. Hence it is that men, 
 
606 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. ^ 
 
 whose studies are too ipuch confined io one branch of knoirU 
 edge, often learn to overrate themselves, and so become oar- 
 row minded. Bigotry is a besetting sin of our nature. Too 
 often has it been the attendant of religious zeal ; but it is 
 oerhaps the most bitter and unsparing when found among the 
 nreligious. A philosopher, not understanding one atom of 
 their spirit, will sometimes scoff at the labors of religious 
 men ; and one vho calls himself religious will, perhaps, 
 return a like harsh judgment, and thank God that he is not as 
 the philosophers ; forgetting, all the while, that man caq^ 
 ascend to no knowledge except by faculties given to him by 
 his Creator's hand, and that all natural knowledge is but a 
 reflection of the will of God. In harsh judgments, such as 
 these, there is not only much folly, but much sin. True wis- 
 dom consists in seeing how all the faculties of the mind and 
 all parts of knowledge bear upon each other, so as to work 
 together to a common end ; ministering at once to the happi- 
 ness of man and his Maker's glory." — Discourse on ths 
 Studies of the University, 5th edition, p. 105, appendix. 
 
 In the sixth place, the subject shows us what is the most im* 
 portant use to be derived from science. 
 
 It does not consist, as men have been supposing, in its 
 application to the useful arts, whereby civilization and human 
 comfort and happiness are so greatly promoted ; although 
 men have thereby been raised from a state of barbarism and 
 advanced to a high point on the scale of refinement. It is 
 not the application of science as a means of enlarging and 
 disciplining the mind ; although this would be a noble result 
 of scientific study. But it is its application for the illustra- 
 tion of religion. This, I say, is its most important use. For 
 what higher or nobler purpose can any pureuit subserve than 
 in developing the character, government, and will of that 
 
' [SCIENCE AND PIETY. 507 
 
 infinite Being, who is the sum and centre of all perfection and 
 happiness? Other objects accomplished by science are im- 
 portant, and in the bustle of life they may seem to be its chief 
 end. But in the calmness of mature years, when we begin 
 to estimate things according to their real value, we shall see 
 that the religious bearings of any pursuit far transcend in 
 importance all its other relations; fo/ all its other tendencies 
 and uses are limited to this world, ana will, therefore, be tran- 
 sient ; but every thing which bears the stamp of religion is 
 ^ immortal, and every thing which concerns the Deity is infi- 
 nite. It is true that but few who are engaged in scientific 
 pursuits make much account of their bearings upon man's 
 highest interests ; but very diflTerent will it be in heaven. 
 There, so far as we know, all the applications of science to 
 the useful arts will be unknown, and the great object of its 
 cultivation will be to gain new and clearer views of the per- 
 fections and plans of Jehovah, and thus to awaken towards 
 him a deeper reverence and a warmer love. And such should 
 be the richest fruit of scientific researches on earth. 
 
 In the seventh place, the subject shows us that those who are 
 the most eminent in science ought to he the most eminent in 
 piety, 
 
 I am far from maintaining that science is a sufficient guide 
 in religion. On the other hand, if left to itself, as I fully 
 admit, — 
 
 " It leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind." 
 
 Nor do I maintain that scientific truth, even when properly 
 appreciated, will compare at all, in its influence upon the hu- 
 man mind, with those peculiar and higher truths disclosed by 
 revelation. All I contend for is, that scientific truth, illustrat- 
 ing as it does the divine character, p^ns, and government, 
 
508 SCIENTIFIC TEUTH IS BELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 ought to fan and feed the flame of true piety in the hearts of 
 its cultivators. He, therefore, who knows the most of science 
 ought most powerfully to feel this religious influence. He is 
 not confined, like the great mass of men, to the outer court 
 of nature's magnificent temple, but he is admitted to the inte- 
 rior, and allowed to trace its long halls, aisles, and galleries, 
 and gaze upon its lofty domes and arches ; nay, as a priest 
 he enters the penetralia^ the holy of holies, where sacred fire 
 is always burning upon the altars, where hovers the glorious 
 Schekinah, and where, from a full orchestra, the anthem of 
 praise is ever ascending. Petrified, indeed, must be his heart, 
 if it catches none of the inspiration of such a spot. He ought 
 to go forth from it among his fellow-men with radiant glory 
 on his face, like Moses from the holy mount. He who sees 
 most of God in his works ought to show the stamp of di- 
 vinity upon his character, and lead an eminently holy life. 
 
 Finally, the subject gives great interest and dignity to the 
 study of science. 
 
 It is not strange that the religious man should sometimes 
 find his ardor damped in the pursuit of some branches of 
 knowledge, by the melancholy reflection that they can be of 
 no use beyond this world, and will exist only as objects of 
 memory in eternity. He may have devoted many a toilsome 
 year to the details and manipulations of the arts ; and, so far 
 as this world is concerned, his labors have been eminently 
 salutary and interesting. But all his labors and researches 
 can be of no avail on the other side of the grave ; and he 
 cannot but feel sad that so much study and efforts should 
 leave results no more permanent. Or he may have given his 
 best days to loading his memory with those tongues which 
 the Scriptures assure us shall cease ; or to those details of 
 muterial organization which can have no place or antit3rpe in 
 
PERMANENT PRINCIPLES. 509 
 
 the future world. Interesting, therefore, as such pursuits have 
 been on earth, nay, indispensable as they are to the well being 
 and progress of human society, it is melancholy to realize that 
 they form a part of that knowledge which will vanish away. 
 
 The mind delights in the prospect of again turning its atten- 
 tion to those branches of knowledge which have engrossed 
 and interested it on earth, and of doing this under circum- 
 stances far more favorable to their investigation. And such 
 an anticipation he may reasonably indulge, who devotes him- 
 self on earth to any branch of knowledge not dependent on 
 arrangements and organizations peculiar to this world. He 
 may be confident that he is investigating those principles 
 which will form a part of the science of heaven. Should he 
 ever reach that pure world, he knows that the clogs which 
 now weigh down his mind will drop off, and the clouds that 
 obscure his vision will clear away, and that a brighter sun 
 will pour its radiance upon his path. He is filling his mind 
 with principles that are immortal. He is engaged in pursuits 
 to which glorified and angelic minds are devoting their lofty 
 powers. Other branches of knowledge, highly esteemed 
 among men, shall pass away with the destruction of this 
 world. The baseless hypotheses of science, falsely so called, 
 whether moral, intellectual, or physical, and the airy phan- 
 toms of a light and fictitious literature, shall all pass into the 
 limbo of forgetfulness. But the principles of true science, 
 constituting, as they do, the pillars of the universe, shall bear 
 up that universe forever. How many questions of deep in- 
 terest, respecting his favorite science, must the philosopher in 
 this world leave unanswered, how many points unsettled! 
 But when he stands upon the vantage-ground of another world, 
 all these points shall be seen in the bright transparencies of 
 heaven. In this world, the votaries of science may be 
 43* 
 
510 SCIENTIFIC TRUTH IS RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 
 
 m m 
 
 compared with the aborigines who dwell around some one of 
 the principal sources of the River Amazon. They have been 
 able, perhaps, to trace one or two, or it may be a dozen, of 
 its tributaries, from their commencement in some mountain 
 spring, and to follow them onwards as they enlarge by uniting, 
 so as to bear along the frail canoes, in which, perhaps, they 
 pass a few hundred miles towards the ocean. On the right 
 and on the left, a multitude of other tributaries swell the 
 stream which carries them onward, until it seems to them a 
 mighty river. But they are ignorant of the hundred other 
 tributaries which drain the vast eastern slope of the Andes, 
 and sweep over the wide plains, till their united waters have 
 formed the majestic Amazon. Of that river in its full glory, 
 and especially of the immense ocean that lies beyond, the 
 natives have no conception ; unless, perhaps, some individual, 
 more daring than the rest, has floated onward till his aston- 
 ished eye could scarcely discern the shore on either hand, 
 and before him he saw the illimitable Atlantic, whitened by 
 the mariner's sail and the crested waves ; and he may have 
 gone back to tell his unbelieving countrymen the marvellous 
 story. Just so is it with men of science. They are able to 
 trace with clearness a few rills of truth from the fountain 
 head, and to follow them onward till they unite in a great 
 principle, which at first men fancy is the chief law of the uni- 
 verse. But as they venture still farther onward, they find 
 new tributary truths coming in on either side, to form a prin 
 ciple or law still more broad and comprehensive. Yet it is 
 only a few gifted and adventurous minds that are able, from 
 some advanced mountain top, to catch a glimpse of the entire 
 stream of truth, formed by the harmonious union of all prin- 
 ciples, and flowing on majestically into the boundless ocean 
 of all knowledge, the Infinite Mind. But when the Christian 
 
THE GREAT OCEAN OF TRUTH. 
 
 511 
 
 philosopher shall be permitted to resume the study of science 
 in a future world, with powers of investigation enlarged and 
 clarified, and all obstacles removed, he will be able to trace 
 onward the various ramifications of truth, till they unite into 
 higher and higher principles, and become one in that centre 
 of centres, the Divine Mind. That is the Ocean from which 
 all trgth originally sprang, and to which it ultimately returns. 
 To trace out the shores of that shoreless Sea, to measure its 
 measureless extent, and to fathom its unfathomable depths, 
 will be the noble and the joyous work of eternal ages. And 
 yet eternal ages may pass by and see the work only begun. 
 
 
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 illustrated. Price, muslin, 50 cents ; gilt, 75 ceutu 
 
 [■HE LASP LEAP FROM SUNNY SI 
 by Rev. Austin Phelps. Seventeenth t' 
 l cents ; gilt, 75 cents. 
 
 I'^ATHEK BHIGHTHOPES; o" 
 ISmo. Price, muslin, 50 c'<- .its ; 
 
 JURBCLIEF, ITS SUll 
 muslin, 50 cents ;• full £9 
 
 PJ-^ 
 
 lEARTS AND^E, 
 cents ; nius 
 
 ..!fed-.^S&JQafei 
 
 of a City Pastor. By II. 
 'thousand. Price, muslin, 50 
 
 s. By II. Tritsta. 18mo., 
 
 Uh a Memorial of the author, 
 Portrait. Price, muslin, 50 
 
 P.O^TTIIC 
 
 ,■)() CO!- 
 
 
 ion. By Paul Creyton. 
 
 • L Ckeyton. ISmo. Price, 
 
 Paul Ckeytoit. Price, muslin, 50 
 
 Paul Creyton. I8mo. Price, muslin. 
 
 do a circle of readers as "Paul Creyton." Although 
 
 ■ch is the purity and naturalness of.J»J3.^yle, that young 
 
 .Hii. Few books published in' xVmerica hace had 'a greater 
 
 . . , ,iig scries aboye! "' , ' 
 
 HE CITY SIDE ; or. Passages from a Pastor's Portfolio. By Cara Belmo^jt. 18mo. 
 Price, muslin, 50 cents ; gilt, 75 cents. 
 
 ALES FOR THE MARINES. By Harry Gringo (Lieut. H. A. Wise, U. S. N.), author of 
 "Los Gringos," etc. In one volume, 12mo. Price $1.25. 
 
 Of this brilliant Nautical Novel, N. P. Willis thus speaks in the Home Journal: 
 
 '■ We deliberately believe that the living writer who can give the most pleasure in the way of fun and 
 ivelty, is Harry Gringo. We think him an unworked mine of a new and peculiarly intellectual ore, — 
 keen knowledge of men and things, and subtile powers of analysis underlying ail his sparkling etferves- 
 •nee and wonderful sense of the ludicrous, lie may have a niche all to himself jn the teni^ie of fame." 
 
 ASSALL MORTON; a Novel. By Francis Parkman, author of" The Conspiracy of Pontiac," 
 etc. In one volume, I2mo. Price $1.25. 
 
 This story commences in Boston, and its characters are those of the present day. In-the course of the 
 urative, the action is transferred to Europe : and, in the arrest of the hero, and his subsequent escape 
 jm an AuL-trian dungeon, we have one of the most thrilling scenes in modern fiction. 
 
 PUBLISHED BT 
 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO., Boston, 
 
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