to object to it, but she confirms it, and affords the strongest presumptions in its favour.

Let us now turn to geology.

A modern

And first let its facts be asserted. natural philosopher describes the general process of the world's formation in these words: The earth was not at once fashioned in its present form, nor tenanted by the living beings now inhabiting it, but was gradually formed. At first perhaps a mass of vapourous matter, it then became an incandescent ball. It cooled from the surface inwards, a process requiring a very long period (according to Bischoff's computation, about 353,000,000 years; according to Buffon, on the contrary, only 34,000 years); and having now become habitable, it underwent a series of changes, after each of which, together with a simultaneous reappearance of the lower plants and animals, a new world of organic life always appeared upon its surface in ever-ascending progression, till at length the last great act, in which man entered upon the scene, was introduced.' (21)

The order of the successive formations of rocks and strata has been determined partly by the position in which they have been obliquely deposited, and partly by the fossils they contain, which furnish abundant evidence of progressive development. The primitive rocks contain no fossils. These first appear in the socalled Transition rocks, to which belong especially the coal formations. In these are found the earliest speci

mens of organisms, the crustaceous trilobites, bivalve muscles, plant-like radiata, insects, fish, reptiles, etc. But that which chiefly characterizes this period is its extraordinary vegetation. A whole world of plants, consisting of gigantic equisetæ, tree-like ferns, and especially of club mosses, whose rank and luxurious vegetation covered the marshy ground, lies interred in the carboniferous strata. (22) The immense space covered by this vegetation is shown by the vast extent of the coal-fields formed therefrom by the saturating power of water. The eastern coast of England alone contains 338,500,000 cwts. of coals. Add to these the great coal districts of the Saar and Ruhr, and those of America, and the still more extensive ones lately discovered in Russia! How abundant in vegetation must the world have been which is here buried! Its animal remains, on the contrary, are but scanty. The carboniferous period is followed by the Triassic formation (the variegated sandstone, muschelkalk and variegated marls), the Jurassic formation and the chalk formation,-all included under the name of the Secondary formations, in which fossil plants are also found, while animal remains are far more numerous. These are chiefly inhabitants of the water, and amphibia; viz. molluscs, fish, reptiles, especially Saurians, and a few birds. Mammalia do not appear till afterwards, being confined chiefly to the so-called Tertiary period, and progressively approximating to extant species. Bears, hyænas, horses, tapirs, and the like, are the chief representa

G

tives of the still existing species of this period, of which a memorial is found buried in the earth in the vast forests which have been converted into peat. The tertiary is divided into the diluvial and alluvial periods, during the latter of which the earth assumed its present form, and received its present inhabitants. Apes, and finally men, are not found till this last period.

Such is a very general sketch of the discoveries brought to light by geology; and we are constrained not only to acknowledge the diligence, perseverance, and penetration of geological investigators, but also to admit that the history of the crust of the earth laid down by geology may be regarded, in its main features, as an ascertained fact. To this, however, the biblical narrative is said to stand in palpable antagonism, to be the expression of a childish view of primeval times, which makes God, like an earthly architect, construct one part after another, and add piece to piece till the whole is completed, while science presents us with an entirely different picture. Here progressively ascending forms are brought forth, by the power of inherent forces and laws, from the womb of nature; while periods infinitely extended, periods of many millions of years, pass away before the earth attains its present degree of perfection. Of all the great changes of the several periods, with their varying fauna and flora, we hear nothing from Scripture. This contradiction, it is urged, cannot but be recognised. If, then, it is inferred, even the first page

of the Bible contains so evident an error, is it worth while to proceed to its subsequent pages ?

Are, then, geology and the Bible so antagonistic and irreconcilable.

If we perceive something in an old and tried friend, or hear something about him which we cannot understand, do we immediately conclude that we have been mistaken in him, and condemn him; or suspend our judgment till a later period shall perhaps furnish us with the requisite explanation? Such an old and tried friend is the Bible to every one of us. If, then, we there meet with enigmas and contradictions which we are not able to solve, shall we not rather humbly await the explanation of the future, than condemn it with hasty rashness? For are we certain that we understand it aright when we believe a certain sense to be inevitably attached to it? May not some other be the correct interpretation? When Copernicus produced his system, it was thought necessary to oppose it, for the sake of the Bible. This opposition is now silenced, and the Bible is as true in the eyes of believers since Copernicus, as it was before him. They have perceived that it is not its office to teach astronomy, but the way of salvation; and that it speaks of the motions of the heavenly bodies popularly and according to outward appearance, this being the only language intelligible to the generality, and that still in every-day use. Hence, one misunderstanding after another may attach to our view of the meaning of the Bible, and may vanish as time advances, without

impairing its intrinsic value.

And as, on the one hand, we should not be prejudiced against our Bible, so neither on the other, need we entertain needless and anxious mistrust of the researches of science, nor conceive ourselves obliged to suppress them by the external authority of the words of Scripture. It is a necessity of the mind, it is also the will of God, that man should inquire and investigate. History teaches that he cannot cease from doing so, even when forbidden; and no less does it teach us that there is an actual advancement in knowledge. If investigations are but conducted in a spirit of humble candour, the blessing of God will not be denied to them. God prospers the sincere. Man's path, indeed, in his search after truth, lies through error. This cannot and need not be denied. The most profound investigators in the province of natural science, have ever been the most ready to acknowledge that much which is now esteemed certain, may sooner or later be proved to be erroneous. Only the shallow look upon passing opinions as settled truths; and it is a desperately immoral abuse of science, to forge its actual or supposed results into weapons for attacking religion. Science itself, and its true advocates, are guiltless of such a deed, which is only attempted by those who walk in its paths merely for the sake of the ambush they may afford against revealed truth.

The better we become acquainted with geological investigations, the more do we stumble upon hypotheses, unsolved problems, and discrepant views. Even