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diff --git a/33049-h/33049-h.htm b/33049-h/33049-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c96995 --- /dev/null +++ b/33049-h/33049-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16863 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of "Origin Of The World, According To Revelation And Science", by J. W. Dawson. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origin of the World According to +Revelation and Science, by John William Dawson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science + +Author: John William Dawson + +Release Date: July 2, 2010 [EBook #33049] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, ismail user and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain works at the +University of Michigan's Making of America collection.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p>[Transcriber's note: All footnotes are renumbered and moved to the end of +the text before the index.]</p> + + + + +<h4 style="margin-top: 8em;">THE</h4> +<h1>ORIGIN OF THE WORLD,</h1> +<h4>ACCORDING TO</h4> +<h2>REVELATION AND SCIENCE.</h2> + +<h3 class="smcap" style="margin-top: 2em;">By J. W. DAWSON, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.,</h3> + +<h6>PRINCIPAL AND VICE-CHANCELLOR OF M'GILL UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL; AUTHOR OF<br /> +"ACADIAN GEOLOGY," "THE STORY OF THE EARTH AND MAN," "LIFE'S DAWN ON<br /> +EARTH," ETC.</h6> + + +<p style="text-align:center; margin-top: 2em;">"Speak to the Earth, and it shall teach thee."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 20em;">—<i>Job.</i></span><br /> +<span class="figcenter" style="width: 286px;"> +<img src="images/icon.jpg" width="286" height="171" alt="" title="" /></span><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<h3>NEW YORK:</h3> +<h4>HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,</h4> +<h6>FRANKLIN SQUARE.</h6> +<h5>1877.</h5> + + +<h4 style="text-align:center; margin-top: 2em;">TO HIS EXCELLENCY<br /> +<big><big>THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DUFFERIN,<br /> +K.P., K.C.B., E</big>TC.,</big><br /> +GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA,<br /><br /> +<i><big>This Work is Respectfully Dedicated</big></i>,<br /><br /> +AS A SLIGHT TRIBUTE OF ESTEEM TO ONE WHO GRACES THE<br /> +HIGHEST POSITION IN THE DOMINION OF CANADA BY HIS<br /> +EMINENT PERSONAL QUALITIES, HIS REPUTATION AS<br /> +A STATESMAN AND AN AUTHOR, AND HIS KIND<br /> +AND ENLIGHTENED PATRONAGE OF EDUCATION,<br /> +LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE.</h4> + +<p class="figcenter" style="margin-top: 4em;"><big>PREFACE.</big> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> + + +<p>The scope of this work is in the main identical with that of +"Archaia," published in 1860; but in attempting to prepare a new +edition brought up to the present condition of the subject, it was +found that so much required to be rewritten as to make it essentially +a new book, and it was therefore decided to give it a new name, more +clearly indicating its character and purpose.</p> + +<p>The intention of this new publication is to throw as much light as +possible on the present condition of the much-agitated questions +respecting the origin of the world and its inhabitants. To students of +the Bible it will afford the means of determining the precise import +of the biblical references to creation, and of their relation to what +is known from other sources. To geologists and biologists it is +intended to give some intelligible explanation of the connection of +the doctrines of revealed religion with the results of their +respective sciences.</p> + +<p>A still higher end to which the author would gladly contribute is that +of aiding thoughtful men perplexed with the apparent antagonisms of +science and religion, and of indicating how they may best harmonize +our great and growing knowledge of nature with our old and cherished +beliefs as to the origin and destiny of man.</p> + +<p>In aiming at these results, it has not been thought necessary to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span> +assume a controversial attitude or to stand on the defensive, either +with regard to religion or science, but rather to attempt to arrive at +broad and comprehensive views which may exhibit those higher harmonies +of the spiritual and the natural which they derive from their common +Author, and which reach beyond the petty difficulties arising from +narrow or imperfect views of either or both. Such an aim is too high +to be fully attained, but in so far as it can be reached we may hope +to rescue science from a dry and barren infidelity, and religion from +mere fruitless sentiment or enfeebling superstition.</p> + +<p>Since the publication of "Archaia," the subject of which it treats has +passed through several phases, but the author has seen no reason to +abandon in the least degree the principles of interpretation on which +he then insisted, and he takes a hopeful view as to their ultimate +prevalence. It is true that the wide acceptance of hypotheses of +"evolution" has led to a more decided antagonism than heretofore +between some of the utterances of scientific men and the religious +ideas of mankind, and to a contemptuous disregard of revealed religion +in the more shallow literature of the time; but, on the other hand, a +barrier of scientific fact and induction has been slowly rising to +stem this current of crude and rash hypothesis. Of this nature are the +great discoveries as to the physical constitution and probable origin +of the universe, the doctrine of the correlation and conservation of +forces, the new estimates of the age of the earth, the overthrow of +the doctrine of spontaneous generation, the high bodily and mental +type of the earliest known men, the light which philology has thrown +on the unity of language, our growing knowledge of the uniformity of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span> +the constructive and other habits of primitive men, and of the +condition of man in the earlier historic time, the greater +completeness of our conceptions as to the phenomena of life and their +relation to organizable matters—all these and many other aspects of +the later progress of science must tend to bring it back into greater +harmony with revealed religion.</p> + +<p>On the other side, there has been a growing disposition on the part of +theologians to inquire as to the actual views of nature presented in +the Bible, and to separate these from those accretions of obsolete +philosophy which have been too often confounded with them. With +respect to the first chapter of Genesis more especially, there has +been a decided growth in the acceptance of those principles for which +I contended in 1860. In illustration of this I may refer to the fact +that in 1862 it was precisely on these principles that Dr. McCaul +conducted his able defence of the Mosaic record of creation in the +"Aids to Faith," which may almost be regarded as an authoritative +expression of the views of orthodox Christians in opposition to those +of the once notorious "Essays and Reviews." Equally significant is the +adoption of this method of interpretation by Dr. Tayler Lewis in his +masterly "Special Introduction" to the first chapter of Genesis, in +the American edition of Lange's Commentary, edited by Dr. Philip +Schaff; and the manifest approval with which the lucid statement of +the relations of Geology and the Bible by Dr. Arnold Guyot, was +received by the great gathering of divines at the Convention of the +Evangelical Alliance in New York, in 1873, bears testimony to the same +fact. The author has also had the honor of being invited to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> +illustrate this mode of reconciliation to the students of two of the +most important theological colleges in America, in lectures afterwards +published and widely circulated.</p> + +<p>The time is perhaps nearer than we anticipate when Natural Science and +Theology will unite in the conviction that the first chapter of +Genesis "stands alone among the traditions of mankind in the wonderful +simplicity and grandeur of its words," and that "the meaning of these +words is always a meaning ahead of science—not because it anticipates +the results of science, but because it is independent of them, and +runs as it were round the outer margin of all possible discovery." +<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +</p> + +<p>In the Appendix the reader will find several short essays on special +points collateral to the general subject, and important in the +solution of some of its difficulties, but which could not be +conveniently included in the text. More especially I would refer to +the summaries given in the Appendix of the present state of our +knowledge as to the origin of life, of species, and of man—topics not +discussed in much detail in the body of the work, both because of the +wide fields of controversy to which they lead, and because I have +treated of them somewhat fully in a previous work, "The Story of the +Earth and Man," in which the detailed history of life as disclosed by +science was the main subject in hand.</p> + +<p><span style="float: right;">J. W. D.</span><br /></p> + +<p><i><small><span style="float:left;">May, 1877.</span></small></i><br /></p> + +<hr /> + +<p style="text-align:center;font-size:150%;">CONTENTS.</p> +<hr style="width:10%;" /> + + + +<table width="75%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="Table of Contents"> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE MYSTERY OF ORIGINS AND ITS SOLUTIONS.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Reality of the Unseen.—Personality of God.— +Possibility of a Revelation of Origins.—Turanian, Aryan, and Semitic Solutions of the Mystery.— +The Abrahamic Genesis.—The Mosaic Genesis</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_9">Page 9</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">OBJECTS AND NATURE OF A REVELATION OF ORIGINS.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Objects to be Attained by a Revelation of Origins.—Its Method and +Structure.—Vision of Creation.—Translation of the First Chapter of Genesis</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">OBJECTS AND NATURE OF A REVELATION OF ORIGINS (<i>continued</i>).</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Character of the Revelation and its Views of Nature.—Natural Law.— +Progress and Development.—Purpose and Use.—Type or Pattern</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE BEGINNING.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">The Universe not eternal.—Its Creation.—The Heavens.—The Earth.— +The Creator, Elohim.—The Beginning very Remote in Time</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE DESOLATE VOID.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Characteristics of Biblical Chaos.—The Primitive Deep.—The Divine +Spirit.—The Breath of God.—Chaos in other Cosmogonies.—Chemical +and Physical Conditions of the Primitive Chaos</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">LIGHT AND CREATIVE DAYS.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">What is Implied in Cosmic Light.—Its Gradual Condensation.—Day and +Night.—Days of Creation.—Their Nature and Length.—They are +Olams, Æons or Time-worlds.—Objections to this View Answered.—Confirmations from Extraneous Sources.</td> +<td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE ATMOSPHERE.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Its Present Constitution.—Waters Above and Below.—The "Expanse" +of Genesis not a Solid Arch.—Mythology of the Atmosphere.— +Superstitions connected with it Opposed by the Bible.</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE DRY LAND AND THE FIRST PLANTS.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">The Earth of the Bible is the Dry Land.—Its Elevation and Support +above the Waters.—Structure of the Continents arranged from the first.— The First Vegetation.—Its Nature.— +Introduction of Life.— Organization and Reproduction.—Objections considered.— Geological Indications.</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">LUMINARIES.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">How Introduced.—What Implied in this.—Dominion of Existing Causes. +—Astronomy of the Hebrews.—Not Connected with Astrology</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE LOWER ANIMALS.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">The Sheretzim, or Swarmers.—Their Origin from the Waters.— +The Great Reptiles.—Their Creation.—Coincidences with Geology.— Hypotheses of Evolution</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE HIGHER ANIMALS AND MAN.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">The Placental Mammals.—The Principal Groups of these.— +Man, how Introduced.—His Early Condition.—His Relations to Nature</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">THE REST OF THE CREATOR.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">The Sabbath of Creation.—The Modern Period.—Its Early History. +—The Fall and Antediluvian Man.—Postdiluvian Extension of Men</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">UNITY AND ANTIQUITY OF MAN.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Biblical Account of his Introduction and Early History.— +Historical Testimony with respect to his Unity and Antiquity.—Testimony of Language</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">UNITY AND ANTIQUITY OF MAN (<i>continued</i>).</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Geological Evidence of Antiquity of Man.—General Conditions of +Post-glacial and Modern Periods.—Remains of Man in Caverns, in River-gravels, etc.—Palæocosmic and Neocosmic Men</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_294">294</a></td></tr> + + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;">COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:center;font-size:100%;">Geological Chronology.—Table of Succession of Life.—Points of +Agreement of the Two Records.—Parallelism of Genesis and Physical +Science with Reference to the Origin and Early History of the World.—Conclusion</td> + <td style="text-align:right;font-size:100%;"><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> + +<table width="60%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="Appendices"> + + <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;font-size:140%;">APPENDICES.</td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">A.—True and False Evolution</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_363">363</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">B.—Evolution and Creation by Law.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_373">373</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">C.—Modes of Creation.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_377">377</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">D.—Theories of Life.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_383">383</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">E.—Recent Facts as to the Antiquity of Man.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_386">386</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">F.—Glacial Periods in Connection with Genesis</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_395">395</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">G.—Chemistry of the Primeval Earth.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_400">400</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">H.—Tannin and Bhemah.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_405">405</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">I.—Ancient Mythologies.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_408">408</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">K.—Assyrian and Egyptian Texts.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_412">412</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:left;">L.—Species and Varieties in Connection with Evolution and the Unity of Man.</td><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#Page_414">414</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +<table width="60%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="Footnotes"> + <tr><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</a></td></tr> + <tr><td style="text-align:right;"><a href="#INDEX">INDEX</a></td></tr> +</table> + + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + + + + + +<h1>THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD.</h1> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">THE MYSTERY OF ORIGINS AND ITS SOLUTIONS.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:50%;">"The things that are seen are temporal."—<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Paul.</span></span></h2> + + +<p>Have we or can we have any certain solution of those two great +questions—Whence are all things? and Whither do all things tend? +No thinking man is content to live merely in a transitory +present, ever emerging out of darkness and ever returning thither +again, without knowing any thing of the origin and issue of the +world and its inhabitants. Yet it would seem that to-day men are +as much in uncertainty on these subjects as at any previous time. +It even appears as if all our added knowledge would only, for a +time at least, deprive us of the solutions to which we trusted, +and give no others in their room. Christians have been accustomed +to rest on the cosmogony and prophecy of the Bible; but we are +now frankly told on all hands that these are valueless, and that +even ministers of religion more or less "sacrifice their +sincerity" in making them the basis of their teachings. On the +other hand, we are informed that nothing can be discerned in the +universe beyond matter and force, and that it is by a purely +material and spontaneous evolution that all things exist. But +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +when we ask as to the origin of matter and force, and the laws +which regulate them—as to the end to which their movement is +tending, as to the manner in which they have evolved the myriad +forms of life and the human intelligence itself—the only answer +is that these are "insoluble mysteries."</p> + +<p>Are we, then, to fall back on the real or imagined revelations +and traditions of the past, and to endeavor to find in them some +foothold of assurance; or are we to wait till further progress in +science may have cleared up some of the present mysteries? +Whatever may be said of the former alternative, all honest +students of science will unite with me in the admission that the +latter is hopeless. We need not seek to belittle the magnificent +triumphs of modern science. They have been real and stupendous. +But it is of their very nature to conduct us to ultimate facts +and laws of which science can give no explanation; and the +further we push our inquiries the more insuperably does the wall +of mystery rise before us. It is true we can furnish the +materials for philosophical speculations which may be built on +scientific facts and principles; but these are in their nature +uncertain, and must constantly change as knowledge advances. They +can not solve for us the great practical problems of our origin +and destiny.</p> + +<p>In these circumstances no apology is needed for a thorough and +careful inquiry into those foundations of religious belief which +rest on the idea of a revelation of origins and destinies made to +man from without, and on which we may build the superstructure of +a rational religion, giving guidance for the present and hope for +the future. In the following pages I propose to enter upon so +much of this subject as relates to the origin and earliest +history of the world, in so far as these are treated of in the +Bible and in the traditions of the more ancient nations; and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +this with reference to the present standpoint of science in +relation to these questions.</p> + +<p>To discuss such questions at all, certain preliminary admissions +are necessary. These are: (1) The reality of an unseen universe, +spiritual rather than material in its nature. (2) The existence +of a personal God, or of a great Universal Will. (3) The +possibility of communication taking place between God and man. I +do not propose to attempt any proof of these positions, but it +may be well to explain what they mean.</p> + +<p>(1) That the great machine for the dissipation of energy, in +which we exist, and which we call the universe, must have a +correlative and complement in the unseen, is a conclusion now +forced upon physicists by the necessities of the doctrine of the +conservation of force. In short, it seems that, unless we admit +this conclusion, we can not believe in the possible existence of +the material universe itself, and must sink into absolute +nihilism. This doctrine is expressed by the apostle Paul in the +statement, "The things that are seen are temporal, but the things +that are not seen are eternal," and it has been ably discussed by +the authors of the remarkable work, "The Unseen Universe." That +this unseen world is spiritual—that is, not subject to the same +material laws with the visible universe—is also a fair deduction +from physical science, as well as a doctrine of Scripture. I +prefer the term spiritual to supernatural, because the first is +the term used in the Bible, and because the latter has had +associated with it ideas of the miraculous and abnormal, not +implied at all in the idea of the spiritual, which in some +important senses may be more natural than the material.</p> + +<p>(2) The idea of a personal God implies not merely the existence +of an unknown absolute power, as Herbert Spencer seems to hold, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +or of "an Eternal, not ourselves, that makes for righteousness," +as Matthew Arnold puts it, but of a Being of whom we can affirm +will, intelligence, feeling, self-consciousness, not certainly +precisely as they occur in us, but in a higher and more perfect +form, of which our own consciousness furnishes the type, or +"image and shadow," as Moses long ago phrased it. On the one +hand, it is true that we can not fully comprehend such a personal +God, because not limited by the conditions which limit us. On the +other hand, it is clear that our intellect, as constituted, can +furnish us with no ultimate explanation of the universe except in +the action of such a primary personal will. In the Bible the +absolute personality of God is expressed by the title "I am." His +intimate relation to us is indicated by the expression, "In him +we live, and move, and have our being." His all-pervading essence +is stated as "the fullness of him that filleth all in all." His +relative personality is shadowed forth by the attribution to him +of love, anger, and other human feelings and sentiments, and by +presenting him in the endearing relation of the universal Father.</p> + +<p>(3) With reference to the possibility of communication between +God and man, it may truly be said that such communication is not +only possible, but infinitely probable. God is not only near to +us, but we are in him, and, independently of the testimony of +revelation, it has been felt by all classes of men, from the +rudest and most primitive savages up to our great English +philosopher, John Stuart Mill, that if there is a God, he can not +be excluded from communion with his intelligent creatures, either +directly or through the medium of ministering spirits. +<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +Farther, placed as man is in the midst of complex and to him +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +inexplicable phenomena, involved in a conflict of good and evil, +happiness and misery, to which the wisest and the greatest minds +have found no issue, subject to be degraded by low passions and +tempted to great extremes of evil, and himself weak, impulsive, +and vacillating, there seems the most urgent need for divine +communication. It may be said that these are conflicts and +problems which God has left man to decide and solve for himself +by his own reason. But when we consider how slow this process is, +and how imperfect even now, after the experience of ages, we seem +to need some intervention that shall stimulate the human mind, +and impel it forward with greater rapidity. Farther, it would +appear only right that an intelligent and accountable being, +placed in a world like this, should have some explanation of his +origin and destiny given him at first, and that, if he should +perchance go astray, a helping hand should be extended to him.</p> + +<p>Practically it is an historical fact that all the great impulses +given to humanity have been by men claiming divine guidance or +inspiration, and professing to bring light and truth from the +unseen world. It would be too much to say that all these prophets +and reformers have been inspired of heaven; but scarcely too much +to say that they have either received a message of God, or have +been permitted to transmit to our world messages for weal or woe +from powers without in subordination to him. Farther, we shall +have reason in the sequel to see that in far back prehistoric +times there must have been impulses given to mankind, and +revelations made to them, as potent as those which have acted in +later historic periods. In Holy Scripture the Word of God is +represented as "enlightening every man; +<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> +" and with reference to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +our present subject we are told that "by faith we understand that +the ages of the world were constituted by the Word of God, so +that the visible things were not made of those which appear." +<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> +In other words, that the will of God has been active and +operative as the sole cause throughout all ages of the world's +creation and history, and that the visible universe is not a mere +product of its own phenomena. We may call this faith, if we +please, an intuition or instinct, a God-given gift, or a product +of our own thought acting on evidence afforded by the outer +world; but in any case it seems to be the sole possible solution +of the mystery of origins.</p> + +<p>These points being premised, we are in a position to inquire as +to the teaching of our own Holy Scriptures, and in this inquiry +we can easily take along with them all other revelations, +pretended or true, that deal with our subject.</p> + +<p>Max Müller, in his lectures on the Science of Religion, rejects +the ordinary division into natural and revealed, and adopts a +threefold grouping, corresponding to the great division of +languages into Turanian, Aryan, and Semitic. With some +modification and explanation, this classification will serve well +our present purpose. As to natural and revealed religions, if we +regard our own as revealed, we must admit an element of +revelation in all others as well. According to the Hebrew +Scriptures revelation began in Eden, and was continued more or +less in all successive ages up to the apostolic times. +Consequently the earlier revelations of the antediluvian and +postdiluvian times must have been the common property of all +races, and must have been associated with whatever elements of +natural religion they had. When, therefore, we call our religion +distinctively a revealed one, we must admit that traces of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +same revelation may be found in all others. On the other hand, +when we characterize our religion as Hebrew or Semitic, we must +bear in mind that in its earlier stages it was not so limited; +but that, if as old as it professes to be, it must include a +substratum common to it with the old religions of the Turanians +and Aryans. Neglect of these very simple considerations often +leads to great confusion in the minds both of Christians and +unbelievers, as to the relation of Christianity to heathenism, +and especially to the older and more primitive forms of +heathenism.</p> + +<p>The Turanian stock, of which the Mongolian peoples of Northern +Asia may be taken as the type, includes also the American races, +and the oldest historical populations of Western Asia and of +Europe; and they are the peoples who, in their physical features +and their art tendencies, most nearly resemble the prehistoric +men of the caves and gravels. They largely consist of the +populations which the Bible affiliates with Ham. They are +remarkable for their permanent and stationary forms of +civilization or barbarism, and for the languages least developed +in grammatical structure. These people had and still have +traditions of the creation and early history of man similar to +those in the earlier Biblical books; but the connection of their +religions with that of the Bible breaks off from the time of +Abraham; and the earlier portions of revelation which they +possessed became disintegrated into a polytheism which takes very +largely the form of animism, or of attributing some special +spiritual indwelling to all natural objects, and also that of +worship of ancestors and heroes. The portion of primitive +theological belief to which they have clung most persistently is +the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which in all their +religious beliefs occupies a prominent place, and has always been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +connected with special attention to rites of sepulture and +monuments to the dead. Their version of the revelation of +creation appears most distinctly in the sacred book of the +Quichés of Central America, and in the creation myths of the +Mexicans, Iroquois, Algonquins, and other North American tribes; +and it has been handed down to us through the Semitic Assyrians +from the ancient Chaldæo-turanian population of the valley of the +Euphrates.</p> + +<p>The Aryan races have been remarkable for their changeable and +versatile character. Their religious ideas in the most primitive +times appear to have been not dissimilar from those of the +Turanians; and the Indians, Persians, Greeks, Scandinavians, and +Celts have all gone some length in developing and modifying +these, apparently by purely human imaginative and intellectual +materials. But all these developments were defective in a moral +point of view, and had lost the stability and rational basis +which proceed from monotheism. Hence they have given way before +other and higher faiths; and at this day the more advanced +nations of the Aryan, or in Scriptural language the Japhetic +stock, have adopted the Semitic faith; and, as Noah long ago +predicted, "dwell in the tents of Shem." No indigenous account of +the genesis of things remains among the Aryan races, with the +exception of that in the Avesta, and in some ancient Hindoo +hymns, and these are merely variations of the Turanian or Semitic +cosmogony. God has given to the Aryans no special revelations of +his will, and they would have been left to grope for themselves +along the paths of science and philosophy, but for the advent +among them of the prophets of "Jehovah the God of Shem."</p> + +<p>It is to the Semitic race that God has been most liberal in his +gift of inspiration. Gathering up and treasuring the old common +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +inheritance of religion, and eliminating from it the accretions +of superstition, the children of Abraham at one time stood alone, +or almost alone, as adherents of a belief in one God the Creator. +Their theology was added to from age to age by a succession of +prophets, all working in one line of development, till it +culminated in the appearance of Jesus Christ, and then proceeded +to expand itself over the other races. Among them it has +undergone two remarkable phases of retrograde development—the +one in Mohammedanism, which carries it back to a resemblance to +its own earlier patriarchal stage, the other in Roman and Greek +ecclesiasticism, which have taken it back to the Levitical +system, along with a strong color of paganism. Still its original +documents survive, and retain their hold on large portions of the +more enlightened Aryan nations, while through their means these +documents have entered on a new career of conquest among the +Semites and Turanians. They are, however, it must be admitted, +among the Aryan races of Europe, growing in a somewhat +uncongenial soil; partly because of the materialistic +organization of these races, and partly because of the abundant +remains of heathenism which still linger among them; and it is +possible that they may not realize their full triumphs over +humanity till the Semitic races return to the position of +Abraham, and erect again in the world the standard of +monotheistic faith, under the auspices of a purified +Christianity.</p> + +<p>It follows from this hasty survey that it is the Semitic solution +of the question of origins, as contained in the Hebrew +Scriptures, that mainly concerns us; and in the first place we +must consider the foundation and historical development of this +solution, as many misconceptions prevail on these points. We may +discuss these subjects under the heads of the Abrahamic Genesis +and the Mosaic Genesis, and may in a subsequent chapter consider +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +the results of these in the Genesis of the later Scripture +writers.</p> + + +<p style="text-align: center; margin-top: 3em;">THE ABRAHAMIC GENESIS.</p> + +<p>It has been a favorite theory with some learned men that the +earlier parts of the book of Genesis existed as ancient documents +even in the time of Moses, and were incorporated by him in his +work, and attempts have been made to separate, on various +grounds, the older from the newer portions. Until lately, +however, these attempts have been altogether conjectural and +destitute of any positive basis of archæological fact. A new and +interesting aspect has been given to them by the recent readings +of the inscriptions on clay tablets found at Nineveh, and to +which especial attention has been given by the late Mr. G. Smith, +of the Archæological Department of the British Museum.</p> + +<p>Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, one of the kings known to the +Greeks by the name of Sardanapalus, reigned at Nineveh about B.C. +673. He was a grandson of the Biblical Sennacherib, and son of +Esarhaddon, and it seems that he had inherited from his fathers a +library of Chaldean and Assyrian literature, written not on +perishable paper or parchment, but on tablets of clay, and +containing much ancient lore of the nations inhabiting the +valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates. Assurbanipal, living when +the Assyrian empire had attained to the acme of its greatness, +had leisure to become a greater patron of learning than any +preceding king. His scribes ransacked the record chambers of the +oldest temples in the world; and Babel, Erech, Accad, and Ur had +to yield up their treasures of history and theology to diligent +copyists, who transcribed them in beautiful arrow-head characters +on new clay tablets, and deposited them in the library of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +great king. It would appear that, at the same time, these +documents were edited, archaic forms of expression translated, +and lacunæ caused by decay or fracture repaired. They were also +inscribed with legends stating the sources whence they had been +derived.</p> + +<p>The empire of Assyria went down in blood, and its palaces were +destroyed with fire, but the imperishable clay tablets which had +formed the treasure of their libraries remained, more or less +broken it is true, among the ruins. Exhumed by Layard and Smith, +they are now among the collections of the British Museum, and +their decipherment is throwing a new and strange light on the +cosmogony and religions of the early East. Though the date of the +writing of these tablets is comparatively modern, being about the +time of the later kings of Judah, the original records from which +they were transcribed profess to have been very ancient—some of +them about 1600 years before the time of Assurbanipal, so that +they go back to a time anterior to that of the early Hebrew +patriarchs. Their genuineness has been endorsed, in one case, by +the discovery by Mr. Loftus, in the city of Senkereh, of an +apparent original, bearing date about 1600 years before Christ, +and other inscriptions of equal or greater antiquity have been +found in the ruins of Ur, on the Euphrates. Nor does there seem +any reason to doubt that the scribes of Assurbanipal faithfully +transcribed the oldest records extant in their time. Their care +and diligence are also shown by the fact that where different +versions of these records existed in different cities, they have +made copies of these variant manuscripts, instead of attempting +to reduce them to one text. The subjects treated of in the +Nineveh tablets are very various, but those that concern our +present purpose are the documents relating to the creation, the +fall of man, and the deluge, of which considerable portions have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +been recovered, and have been translated by Mr. Smith.</p> + +<p>These documents carry us back to a time when the Turanian +religions had not yet been separated from the Semitic. The early +Chaldeans, termed Cushites in the Bible, and who under Nimrod +seem to have established the first empire in that region, are now +known to have been Turanian; and among them apparently arose at a +very early period a literature and a mythology. The Chaldeans +were politically subjugated by the Semitic Assyrians, but they +retained their religious predominance; and until a comparatively +late period existed as a learned and priestly caste. To these +primitive <i>Chasdim</i> were undoubtedly due the creation legends +collected by the scribes of Assurbanipal. They were obtained in +the old Chaldean cities, in the temples under the guardianship of +Chaldean priests; and their date carries them back to a time +anterior to the Assyrian conquest, and in which Chaldean kings +still reigned. Here, then, we have an important connecting link +between the cosmogonies of the Turanian and Semitic races; and +leaving out of sight for the present the legends of the deluge +and other matters allied to it, we may inquire as to the nature +and contents of the Assyrian and Chaldean record of creation.</p> + +<p>The Assyrian Genesis is similar in order and arrangement to that +in our own Bible, and gives the same general order of the +creative work. Its days, however, of creation, as indeed there is +good internal evidence to prove those of Moses also are, seem to +be periods or ages. It treats of the creation of gods, as well as +of the universe, and thus introduces a polytheistic system; and +it seems to recognize, like the Avesta, a primitive principle of +evil, presiding over chaos, and subsequently introducing evil +among men. These points may be illustrated by an extract from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +Mr. Smith's translation. It relates to the earlier part of the +work:</p> + +<p style="margin-left:2em;">"When above were not raised the heavens,<br /> +And below on the earth a plant had not grown up<br /> +The deep also had not broken up its boundaries<br /> +Chaos (or water) Tiamat (the sea or abyss) was the producing mother<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">of them all</span><br /> +These waters at the beginning were ordained<br /> +But a tree had not grown a flower had not unfolded<br /> +When the gods had not sprung up any one of them<br /> +A plant had not grown and order did not exist<br /> +Were made also the great gods<br /> +The gods Lahma and Lahamu they caused to come * * *<br /> +And they grew * * *<br /> +The gods Sar and Kisar were made<br /> +A course of days and a long time passed<br /> +The god Anu * * *<br /> +The gods Sar and * * *"</p> + +<p>Here the first existences are Chaos (Mummu, or confusion) and +Tiamat, which is the Thalatth of Berosus, representing the sea or +primitive abyss, but also recognized as a female deity or first +mother. Then we have Lahma and Lahamu, which represent power or +motion in nature, and are the equivalents of the Divine Spirit +moving on the face of the waters in our Genesis. Next we have the +production of Sar or Iloar and Kisar, representing the expanse or +firmament. Sar is supposed to be the god Assur of the Assyrians, +a great weather god, and after whom their nation and its founder +were named. The next process is the creation of the heaven and +the earth, represented by Anu and Anatu. Anu was always one of +the greater gods, and was identified with the higher or starry +heavens. In succeeding tablets to this we find Bel or Belus +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +introduced, as the agent in the creation of animals and of men; +and he is the true Demiurgus or Mediator of the Assyrian system. +Next we have the introduction of Hea or Saturn, who is the +equivalent of the Biblical Adam, and of Ishtar, mother of men, +who is the Isba or Eve of Genesis. The rest of this legend +evidently relates to deified men, among whom are Merodach, Nebo, +and other heroes.</p> + +<p>The first remark that we may make on this Assyrian Genesis is +that, while it resembles generally the Mosaic account of +creation, it also strongly resembles the old cosmogonies of the +Egyptians and Persians, and those of the widely scattered +Turanians of Northern Asia and of America. As an extreme +illustration of this, and to obviate the necessity of digression +at this point of our inquiry, I introduce here some extracts from +the Popul Vuh, or sacred book of the Quiché Indians of Central +America, an undoubted product of prehistoric religion in the +western continent.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> +</p> + +<p style="font-size:70%;">"And the heaven was formed, and all the signs thereof set in +their angle and alignment, and its boundaries fixed toward +the four winds by the Creator and Former, and Mother and +Father of life and existence—he by whom all move and +breathe, the Father and Cherisher of the peace of nations +and of the civilization of his people—he whose wisdom has +projected the excellence of all that is on the earth or in +the lakes or in the sea."</p> + +<p style="font-size:70%;">"Behold the first word and the first discourse. There was +yet no man nor any animal, * * * nothing was but the +firmament. The face of the earth had not yet appeared over +the peaceful sea, and all the space of heaven * * * nothing +but immobility and silence in the night."</p> + +<p style="font-size:70%;">"Alone also the Creator, the Former, the Dominator, the +Feathered Serpent—those that engender, those that give +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +being—they are upon the water like a growing light. They +are enveloped in green and blue, and therefore their name is +Gucumatz."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +</p> + +<p style="font-size:70%;">"Lo now how the heavens exist, how exists also the Heart of +Heaven; such is the name of God. It is thus that he is +called. And they spake, they consulted together and +meditated; they mingled their words and their opinions."</p> + +<p style="font-size:70%;">"And the creation [of the earth] was verily after this wise. +Earth, they said, and on the instant it was formed; like a +cloud or a fog was its beginning. Then the mountains rose +over the water like great fishes; in an instant the +mountains and the plains were visible, and the cypress and +the pine appeared. Then was the Gucumatz filled with joy, +crying out: Blessed be thy coming, O Heart of Heaven, +Hurakan, Thunderbolt. Our work and our labor has +accomplished its end."</p> + +<p>This corresponds to the work of the first four creative days; and +next details are given as to the introduction of animals, with +which, however, the Creator is represented as dissatisfied, +because they could not know or invoke the Creator. They are +therefore condemned to be subject to be devoured one of another. +Again there is a council in heaven, and the gods determine to +make man. But he also is imperfect, for he has speech without +intelligence: so he is condemned to be destroyed by water. A new +council is held, and a second race of men produced; but this +fails in the capacity for religious worship—"they forgot the +Heart of Heaven." These were partly destroyed by fire and partly +converted into apes. Lastly another council is held, and perfect +men created. Then follows a remarkable series of stories relating +to the early history and migrations of men.</p> + +<p>It is known that similar creation myths existed among the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +Mexicans and other early civilized nations of America, and in +ruder and more grotesque forms even among the semi-barbarous and +hunter tribes. Their connection with the ancient Semitic and +Turanian revelations of Asia is unquestionable.</p> + +<p>We have thus in the Assyrian Genesis a relic of early religious +belief belonging to a period when such widely separated stocks as +the Assyrian and American were still one: to a period, therefore, +presumably long anterior to that of Moses. Yet at this very early +period the central portions at least of the Turanian race had +already devised some means of recording their traditions in +writing—probably the arrow-head writing, afterwards used by the +Assyrians, had already been invented. Again, at this early period +a complex polytheism had already sprung up, and this was +connected with cosmological ideas, inasmuch as the primitive +abyss, the firmament, the starry heavens, the principle of life, +were all subordinate gods; and so were also some of the earliest +of the patriarchs of the human race. It is possible, however, +that this was among the early Chaldeans an exoteric +representation for the vulgar, and that the priestly caste may +have understood it in a monotheistic sense. In any case, the idea +of a Supreme Creator remains behind the whole. Farther, in the +early Chaldean record we have a more detailed and expanded +document than that of the Hebrew Genesis, probably intended for +the popular ear, and to include as much as possible of the +current mythology. As an example, I quote the following in +relation to the creation of the moon, being apparently a part of +the narrative of that creative period corresponding with the +fourth day of Genesis:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em;">"In its mass [that is, of the lower chaos] he made a boiling,<br /> +The God Uru [the moon] he caused to rise out, the night he overshadowed.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +To fix it also for the light of the night until the shining of the day,<br /> +That the month might not be broken and in its amount be regular.<br /> +At the beginning of the month at the rising of the night,<br /> +His horns are breaking through to shine in the heavens.<br /> +On the seventh day to a circle he begins to swell,<br /> +And stretches toward the dawn farther."</p> + +<p>We now come to the historical connection of all this with Abraham +and with the Hebrew Scriptures. The early life of the "Father of +the Faithful" belongs to the time when Turanian and Semitic +elements were mingled in the Euphratean valley. Himself of the +stock of Shem, he dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, a city in whose +ruins, now known by the name of Mugheir, Chaldean inscriptions +have been found of a date anterior to that of the patriarch. In +the time of Abraham a polytheistic religion already existed in +Ur, for we are told that his father "served other gods." Further, +the legends of the creation and the deluge, and the antediluvian +age, with the history of Nimrod and other postdiluvian heroes, +existed in a written form; and, strange though this may seem, +there can be little doubt that Abraham, before he left Ur of the +Chaldees, had read the same creation legends that have so +recently been translated and published by Mr. Smith. But +Abraham's relation to these was of a peculiar kind. With a +spiritual enlightenment beyond that of his age, he dissented from +the Turanian animism and polytheism, and maintained that pure and +spiritual monotheism which, according to the Bible, had been the +original faith of the sons of Noah. But he was overborne by the +tendencies of his time, and probably by the royal and priestly +influence then dominant in Chaldea, and he went forth from his +native land in search of a country where he might have freedom to +worship God. It is thus that Abraham appears as the earliest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +reformer, the first of those martyrs of conscience who fear not +to differ from the majority, the father and prototype of the +faithful of every age, and the earliest apostle of the +monotheistic faith which still reigns among all the higher races +of men.</p> + +<p>Did Abraham take with him in his pilgrimage the records of his +people? It is scarcely possible to doubt that he did, and this +probably in a written form, but purified from the polytheism and +inane imaginations accreted upon them; or perhaps he had access +to still older and more primitive records anterior to the rise of +the Turanian superstitions. In any case we may safely infer that +Abraham and his tribe carried with them the substance of all that +part of Genesis which contains the history of the world up to his +time, and that this would be a precious heir-loom of his family, +until it was edited and incorporated in the Pentateuch by his +great descendant Moses. It seems plain, therefore, that the +original prophet or seer to whom the narrative of creation was +revealed lived before Abraham, but we need not doubt that the +latter had the benefit of divine guidance in his noble stand +against the idolatry of his age, and in his selection of the +documents on which his own theology was based. These +considerations help us to understand the persistence of Hebrew +monotheism in the presence of the idolatries of Canaan and Egypt, +since these were closely allied to the Chaldean system against +which Abraham had protested. They also explain the recognition by +Abraham, as co-religionists, of such monotheistic personages as +Melchisedec, king of Salem. They further illustrate the nature of +the religious basis in his people's beliefs on which Moses had to +work, and on which he founded his theocratic system.</p> + +<p>Before leaving this part of the subject, I would observe that the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +view above given; while it explains the agreement between the +Hebrew Genesis and other ancient religious beliefs, is in strict +accordance with the teachings of Genesis itself. The history +given there implies monotheism and knowledge of God as the +Creator and Redeemer, in antediluvian and early postdiluvian +times, a decadence from this into a systematic polytheism at a +very early date, the protest and dissent of Abraham, his call of +God to be the upholder of a purer faith, and the maintenance of +that faith by his descendants. Besides this, any careful reader +of Genesis and of the book of Job, which, whatever its origin, +must be more ancient than the Mosaic law, will readily discover +indications that Abraham and the patriarchs were in the +possession of documents and traditions of the same purport with +those in the early chapters of Genesis, and that these were to +them their only sacred literature. The reader of the Pentateuch +must carry this idea with him, if he would have any clear +conception of the unity and symmetry of these remarkable books.</p> + + +<p style="text-align: center; margin-top: 3em;">THE MOSAIC GENESIS.</p> + +<p>In the period of 400 years intervening between Abraham's +departure from Ur and the exodus of Israel from Egypt, no great +prophetic mind, like that of the Father of the Faithful, appeared +among the Hebrews. But then arose Moses, the greatest figure in +all antiquity before the advent of Christ, and who was destined +to give permanence and world-wide prevalence to the faith for +which Abraham had sacrificed so much. Under the leadership of +Moses, the Abrahamidæ, now reduced to the condition of a serf +population, emancipated themselves from Egyptian bondage, and, +after forty years of wandering desert life, settled themselves +permanently on the hills and in the valleys of Palestine. The +voice of the ruling race, indistinctly conveyed to us from that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +distant antiquity, maintains that the fugitive slaves were an +abject and contemptible herd; but the leader of the exodus +informs us that, though cruelly trodden down by a haughty despot, +they were of noble parentage, the heirs of high hopes and +promises. Their migration is certainly the most remarkable +national movement in the world's history—remarkable, not merely +in its events and immediate circumstances, but in its remote +political, literary, and moral results. The rulers of Egypt, +polished, enlightened, and practical men, were yet the devotees +of a complicated system of hero and animal worship, like that +from which Abraham dissented, and derived in great part from the +"animism" which caused some of the oldest nations of the world to +associate a spiritual indwelling with the natural objects +surrounding them; or, if they had ceased to believe in this, they +had sunk into a materialistic devotion to the good things of the +present world, combined with a superstitious belief in the +efficacy of priestly absolution.</p> + +<p>The slaves, leaving all this behind them, rose in their religious +opinions to the pure and spiritual monotheism of the great father +of their race; and their leader presented to them a law +unequalled up to our time in its union of justice, patriotism, +and benevolence, and established among them, for the first time +in the world's history, a free constitutional republic. Nor is +this all; unexampled though such results are elsewhere in the +case of serfs suddenly emancipated. The Hebrew lawgiver has +interwoven his institutions in a great historical composition, +including the grand and simple cosmogony of the patriarchs, a +detailed account of the affiliation and ethnological relations of +the races of men, and a narrative of the fortunes of his own +people; intimating not only that they were a favored and chosen +race, but that of them was to arise a great Deliverer, who would +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +bless all nations with pardon and with peace, +<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> + and would solve +once for all those great problems of the relations of man to God +and the unseen world, which in the time of Moses as in our own +were the most momentous of all, and gave to questions of origins +all their practical value.</p> + +<p>The lawgiver passed to his rest. His laws and literature, +surviving through many vicissitudes, have produced in each +succeeding age a new harvest of poetry and history, leavened with +their own spirit. In the mean time the learning and the +superstition of Egypt faded from the eyes of men. The splendid +political and military organizations of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, +and Macedon arose and crumbled into dust. The wonderful +literature of Greece blazed forth and expired. That of Rome, a +reflex and copy of the former, had reached its culminating point; +and no prophet had arisen among any of these Gentile nations to +teach them the truth of God. The world, with all its national +liberties crushed out, its religion and its philosophy corrupted +and enfeebled to the last degree by an endless succession of +borrowings and intermixtures, lay prostrate under the iron heel +of Rome. Then appeared among the now obscure remnant of Israel, +one who announced himself as the Prophet like unto Moses, +promised of old; but a prophet whose mission it was to redeem not +Israel only, but the whole world, and to make all who will +believe, children of faithful Abraham. Adopting the whole of the +sacred literature of the Hebrews, and proving his mission by its +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +words, he sent forth a few plain men to write its closing books, +and to plant it on the ruins of all the time-honored beliefs of +the nations—beliefs supported by a splendid and highly organized +priestly system and by despotic power, and gilded by all the +highest efforts of poetry and art.</p> + +<p>The story is a very familiar one; but it is marvellous beyond all +others. Nor is the modern history of the Bible less wonderful. +Exhumed from the rubbish of the Middle Ages, it has entered on a +new career of victory. It has stimulated the mind of modern +Europe to all its highest efforts, and has been the charter of +its civil and religious liberties. Its wondrous revelation of all +that man most desires to know, in the past, in the present, and +in his future destinies, has gone home to the hearts of men in +all ranks of society and in all countries. In many great nations +it is the only rule of religious faith. In every civilized +country it is the basis of all that is most valuable in religion. +Where it has been withheld from the people, civilization in its +highest aspects has languished, and superstition, priestcraft, +and tyranny have held their ground or have perished under the +assaults of a heartless and inhuman infidelity. Where it has been +a household book, education has necessarily flourished, liberty +has taken root, and the higher nature of man has been developed +to the full. Driven from many other countries by tyrannical +interference with liberty of thought and discussion, or by a +short-sighted ecclesiasticism, it has taken up its special abode +with the greatest commercial nations of our time; and, scattered +by their agency broadcast over the world, it is read by every +nation under heaven in its own tongue, and is slowly but surely +preparing the way for wider and greater changes than any that +have heretofore resulted from its influence. Explain it as we +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +may, the Bible is a great literary miracle; and no amount of +inspiration or authority that can be claimed for it is more +strange or incredible than the actual history of the book. Yet no +book has ever thrown itself into so decided antagonism with all +the great forces of evil in the world. Tyranny hates it, because +the Bible so strongly maintains the individual value and rights +of man as man. The spirit of caste dislikes it for the same +reason. Anarchical license, on the other hand, finds nothing but +discouragement in it. Priestcraft gnashes its teeth at it, as the +very embodiment of private judgment in religion, and because it +so scornfully ignores human authority in matters of conscience, +and human intervention between man and his Maker. Skepticism +sneers at it, because it requires faith and humility, and +threatens ruin to the unbeliever. It launches its thunders +against every form of violence or fraud or allurement that seeks +to profit by wrong or to pander to the vices of mankind; all +these consequently are its foes. On the other hand, by its +uncompromising stand with reference to certain scientific and +historical facts, it has appeared to oppose the progress of +thought and speculation; though, as we shall see, it has been +unfairly accused in this last respect.</p> + +<p>With its antagonism to the evil that is in the world we have at +present nothing to do, except to caution the student of this +venerable literature against the prejudices which interested and +unscrupulous foes seek to cultivate. Its doctrine of the origin +of man and of the world, and the relation of this to modern +scientific and historical results, is that which now claims our +attention; and this more especially in the relation which the +Mosaic cosmogony, considered as an early revelation from God, may +be found to bear to the facts which modern scientific research +has elicited from the universe itself. The aspects in which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +apparent conflicts present themselves are threefold. At one time +it was not unusual to impugn the historical accuracy of the +Pentateuch on the evidence of the Greek historians; and on many +points scarcely any corroborative evidence could be cited in +favor of the Hebrew writers. In our own time much of this +difficulty has been removed, and an immense amount of learned +research has been reduced to waste paper, by the circumstance +that the monuments of Egypt and Assyria have risen up to bear +testimony in favor of the Bible; and scarcely any sane man now +doubts the value of the Hebrew history. The battle-ground has in +consequence been shifted farther back, to points concerning the +affiliation of the races of men, the absolute antiquity of man's +residence on the earth, and the condition of prehistoric men; +questions on which we can scarcely expect to find, at least for a +long time, any decisive monumental or scientific evidence. +Secondly, the Bible commits itself to certain cosmological +doctrines and statements respecting the system of nature, and +details of that system, more or less approaching to the domain +which geology occupies in its investigations of the past history +of the earth; and at every stage in the progress of modern +science, independently of the mischief done by smatterers and +skeptics, earnest bigotry on the one hand, and earnest scientific +enthusiasm on the other, have come into collision. One +stumbling-block after another has, it is true, been removed by +mutual concession and farther enlightenment, and by the removal +of false traditional interpretations of the sacred records, as +well as by farther discoveries in relation to nature. But the +field of conflict has thereby apparently only changed; and we +still have some Christians in consequence regarding the +revelations of natural science with suspicion, and some +scientific men cherishing a sullen resentment against what they +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +regard as an intolerant intermeddling of theology with the domain +of legitimate investigation. Lastly, the great growth of physical +science, and the tendency to take partial views of the universe +as if it were comprehended in mere matter and force, with +similarly partial views of the doctrines of continuity and the +conservation of forces, along with the growth of a belief in +spontaneous evolution as a philosophical dogma, have placed many +scientific minds in a position which makes them treat the whole +question of the origin and destiny of man and of the world with +absolute indifference.</p> + +<p>There can nevertheless be no question that the whole subject is +at the present moment in a more satisfactory state than ever +previously; that much has been done for the solution of +difficulties; that many theologians admit the great service which +in many cases science has rendered to the interpretation of the +Bible, and that most naturalists feel themselves free from undue +trammels. Above all, there is a very general disposition to admit +the distinctness and independence of the fields of revelation and +natural science, the possibility of their arriving at some of the +same truths, though in very different ways, and the folly of +expecting them fully and manifestly to agree in the present state +of our information. The literature of this kind of natural +history has also become very extensive, and there are few persons +who do not at least know that there are methods of reconciling +the cosmogony of Moses with that obtained from the study of +nature. For this very reason the time is favorable for an +unprejudiced discussion of the questions involved; and for +presenting on the one hand to naturalists a summary of what the +Bible does actually teach respecting the early history of the +earth and man, and on the other to those whose studies lie in the +book which they regard as the Word of God, rather than in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +material universe which they regard as his work, a view of the +points in which the teaching of the Bible comes into contact with +natural science at its present stage of progress. These are the +ends which I propose to myself in the following pages, and which +I shall endeavor to pursue in a spirit of fair and truthful +investigation; having regard on the one hand to the claims and +influence of the venerable Book of God, and on the other to the +rights and legitimate results of modern scientific inquiry.</p> + +<p>The plan which I have proposed to myself in this part of my +subject is to take the statements of Genesis in their order, and +consider what they import, and how they appear to harmonize with +what we know from other sources. This will occupy some space, but +it will save time in dealing with the remaining parts of the +subject. Before entering upon it, I propose to devote one chapter +to the answers to three questions which concern the whole +doctrine of revealed religion, whether Semitic, Turanian, or +Aryan. These are: (1) <i>Why</i> the origin of things should be +revealed; (2) <i>How</i> it could be revealed; and (3) <i>What</i> would +require to be revealed in order to form the basis of a rational +theism.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> +<span style="font-size:70%;">OBJECTS AND NATURE OF A REVELATION OF ORIGINS.</span><br /></h2> + + +<p style="font-size:80%;font-weight:bold;"> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +"There are two books from which I collect my divinity; +besides that written one of God, another of his servant +nature—that universal and public manuscript that lies +expansed unto the eyes of all."—<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Sir T. Browne.</span></p> + + +<p>There are some questions, simple enough in themselves, respecting +the general character and object of the references to nature and +creation in the Scriptures, which yet are so variously and +vaguely answered that they deserve some consideration before +entering on the detailed study of the subject. These are: (1) The +object of the introduction of such subjects into the Hebrew +sacred books—the <i>why</i> of the revelation of origins. (2) The +origin, character, and structure of the narrative of creation and +other cosmological statements in those books—the <i>how</i> of the +revelation. (3) The character of the Biblical cosmogony, and +general views of nature to which it leads—the <i>what</i> of the +revelation.</p> + +<p>(1) <i>The Object of the Introduction of a Cosmogony in the +Bible.</i>—Man, even in his rudest and most uncivilized state, does +not limit his mental vision to his daily wants. He desires to +live not merely in the present, but in the future also and the +past. This is a psychological peculiarity which, as much as any +other, marks his separation from the lower animals, and which in +his utmost degradation he never wholly loses. Whatever may be +fancied as to imagined prehistoric nations, it is certain that no +people now existing, or historically known to us, is so rude as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +to be destitute of some hopes or fears in reference to the +future, some traditions as to the distant past. Every religious +system that has had any influence over the human mind has +included such ideas. Nor are we to regard this as an accident. It +depends on fixed principles in our constitution, which crave as +their proper aliment such information; and if it can not be +obtained, the mind, rather than want it, invents for itself. We +might infer from this very circumstance that a true religion, +emanating from the Creator, would supply this craving; and might +content ourselves with affirming that, on this ground alone, it +behooved revelation to have a cosmogony.</p> + +<p>But the religion of the Hebrews especially required to be +explicit as to the origin of the earth and all things therein. +Its peculiar dogma is that of one only God, the Creator, +requiring the sole homage of his creatures. The heathen for the +most part acknowledged in some form a supreme god, but they also +gave divine honors to subordinate gods, to deceased ancestors and +heroes, and to natural phenomena, in such a manner as practically +to obscure their ideas of the Creator, or altogether to set aside +his worship. The influence of such idolatry was the chief +antagonism which the Hebrew monotheism had to encounter; and we +learn from the history of the nation how often the worshippers of +Jehovah were led astray by its allurements. To guard against this +danger, it was absolutely necessary that no place should be left +for the introduction of polytheism, by placing the whole work of +creation and providence under the sole jurisdiction of the One +God. Moses consequently takes strong ground on these points. He +first insists on the creation of all things by the fiat of the +Supreme. Next he specifies the elaboration and arrangement of all +the powers of inanimate nature, and the introduction of every +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +form of organic existence, as the work of the same First Cause. +Lastly, he insists on the creation of a primal human pair, and on +the descent from them of all the branches of the human race, +including of course those ancestors and magnates who up to his +time had been honored with apotheosis; and on the same principle +he explains the golden age of Eden, the fall, the cherubic +emblems, the deluge, and other facts in human history interwoven +by the heathen with their idolatries. He thus grasps the whole +material of ancient idolatry, reduces it within the compass of +monotheism, and shows its relation to the one true primitive +religion, which was that not only of the Hebrews, but of right +that of the whole world, whose prevailing polytheism consisted in +perversions of its truth or unity. For such reasons the early +chapters of Genesis are so far from being of the character of +digressions from the scope and intention of the book, that they +form a substratum of doctrine absolutely essential to the Hebrew +faith, and equally so to its development in Christianity.</p> + +<p>The references to nature in the Bible, however, and especially in +its poetical books, far exceed the absolute requirements of the +reasons above stated; and this leads to another and very +interesting view, namely, the tendency of monotheism to the +development of truthful and exalted ideas of nature. The Hebrew +theology allowed no attempt at visible representations of the +Creator or of his works for purposes of worship. It thus to a +great extent prevented that connection of imitative art with +religion which flourished in heathen antiquity, and has been +introduced into certain forms of Christianity. But it cultivated +the higher arts of poetry and song, and taught them to draw their +inspiration from nature as the only visible revelation of Deity. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +Hence the growth of a healthy "physico-theology," excluding all +idolatry of natural phenomena, and all superstitious dread of +them as independent powers, but inviting to their examination as +manifestations of God, and leading to conceptions of the unity of +plan in the cosmos, of which polytheism, even in its highest +literary efforts, was quite incapable. In the same manner the +Bible has always proved itself an active stimulant of natural +science, connecting such studies, as it does, with our higher +religious sentiments; while polytheism and materialism have acted +as repressive influences, the one because it obscures the unity +of nature, the other because, in robbing it of its presiding +Divinity, it gives a cold and repulsive, corpse-like aspect, +chilling to the imagination, and incapable of attracting the +general mind.</p> + +<p>Naturalists should not forget their obligations to the Bible in +this respect, and should on this very ground prefer its teachings +to those of modern pantheism and positivism, and still more to +those of mere priestly authority. Very few minds are content with +simple materialism, and those who must have a God, if they do not +recognize the Jehovah of the Hebrew Scriptures as the Creator and +Supreme Ruler of the universe, are too likely to seek for him in +the dimness of human authority and tradition, or of pantheistic +philosophy; both of them more akin to ancient heathenism than to +modern civilization, and in their ultimate tendencies, if not in +their immediate consequences, quite as hostile to progress in +science as to evangelical Christianity.</p> + +<p>Every student of human nature is aware of the influence in favor +of the appreciation of natural beauty and sublimity which the +Bible impresses on those who are deeply imbued with its teaching; +even where that same teaching has induced what may be regarded as +a puritanical dislike of imitative art, at least in its +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +religious aspects. On the other hand, naturalists can not refuse +to acknowledge the surpassing majesty of the views of nature +presented in the Bible. No one has expressed this better than +Humboldt: "It is characteristic of the poetry of the Hebrews +that, as a reflex of monotheism, it always embraces the universe +in its unity, comprising both terrestrial life and the luminous +realms of space; it dwells but rarely on the individuality of +phenomena, preferring the contemplation of great masses. The +Hebrew poet does not depict nature as a self-dependent object, +glorious in its individual beauty, but always as in relation or +subjection to a higher spiritual power. Nature is to him a work +of creation and order—the living expression of the omnipresence +of the Divinity in the visible world." In reference to the 104th +Psalm, which may be viewed as a poetical version of the narrative +of creation in Genesis, the same great writer remarks: "We are +astonished to find in a lyrical poem of such a limited compass, +the whole universe—the heavens and the earth—sketched with a +few bold touches. The calm and toilsome life of man, from the +rising of the sun to the setting of the same, when his daily work +is done, is here contrasted with the moving life of the elements +of nature. This contrast and generalization in the conception of +the mutual action of natural phenomena, and the retrospection of +an omnipresent invisible Power, which can renew the earth or +crumble it to dust, constitute a solemn and exalted rather than a +gentle form of poetic creation." +<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>If we admit the source of inspiration claimed by the Hebrew +poets, we shall not be surprised that they should thus write of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +nature. We shall only lament that so many pious and learned +interpreters of Scripture have been too little acquainted with +nature to appreciate the natural history of the Book of God, or +adequately to illustrate it to those who depend on their +teaching; and that so many naturalists have contented themselves +with wondering at the large general views of the Hebrew poets, +without considering that they are based on a revelation of the +nature and order of the creative work which supplied to the +Hebrew mind the place of those geological wonders which have +astonished and enlarged the minds of modern nations. A modern +divine, himself well read in nature, truly says: "If men of piety +were also men of science, and if men of science were to read the +Scriptures, there would be more faith on the earth and also more +philosophy." +<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> + In a similar strain the patient botanist of the +marine algæ thus pleads for the joint claims of the Bible and +nature: "Unfortunately it happens that in the educational course +prescribed to our divines natural history has no place, for which +reason many are ignorant of the important bearings which the book +of nature has on the book of revelation. They do not consider, +apparently, that both are from God—both are his faithful +witnesses to mankind. And if this be so, is it reasonable to +suppose that either, without the other, can be fully understood? +It is only necessary to glance at the absurd commentaries in +reference to natural objects which are to be found in too many +annotations of the Holy Scriptures to be convinced of the benefit +which the clergy would themselves derive from a more extended +study of the works of creation. And to missionaries especially, a +minute familiarity with natural objects must be a powerful +assistance in awakening the attention of the savage, who, after +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +his manner, is a close observer, and likely to detect a fallacy +in his teacher, should the latter attempt a practical +illustration of his discourse without sufficient knowledge. These +are not days in which persons who ought to be our guides in +matters of doctrine can afford to be behind the rest of the world +in knowledge; nor can they safely sneer at the knowledge which +puffeth up, until, like the apostle, they have sounded its depths +and proved its shallowness." +<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> + It is truly much to be desired +that divines and commentators, instead of trying to distort the +representations of nature in the Bible into the supposed +requirements of a barbarous age, or of setting aside modern +discoveries as if they could have no connection with Scripture +truth, would study natural objects and laws sufficiently to bring +themselves in this respect to the level of the Hebrew writers. +Such knowledge would be cheaply purchased even by the sacrifice +of a part of their verbal and literary training. It is well that +this point is now attracting the attention of the Christian +world, and it is but just to admit that some of our more eminent +religious writers have produced noble examples of accurate +illustrations of Scripture derived from nature. In any case, the +Bible itself can not be charged with any neglect of the claims of +nature or with any narrow tendency to place material and +spiritual things in antagonism to one another.</p> + +<p>Another reason why a revelation from God must deal with the +origins of things, is that such revelation is, like creation, in +its own nature progressive. It is given little by little to +successive generations of men, and must proceed from the first +rudiments of religious truth onward to its higher developments +with the growth of humanity from age to age. Hence the teachings +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +in the early chapters of Genesis are of the simplest and most +child-like character, and the first of these early teachings is +necessarily that of God the Creator, just as our elementary +catechisms for children have been wont to begin with the +question, "Who made you?" In this way man is led in the most +direct and simple way to the feet of the Universal Father, and a +foundation is laid whereon further religious teaching adapted to +the growth of the individual mind and to the growing +complications of human society can be built. But again, alike in +the earliest and simplest as in the more advanced states of the +human mind, if spiritual things are to be taught, it must be +through the medium of material things. We have no language to +express in any direct way spiritual truths; they must be given to +us in terms of the natural. We have not yet learned the tongue of +the immortals, and probably can not learn it in this world. The +word "spirit" itself, which we borrow from the Latin, the Greek +<i>Pneuma</i>, the Hebrew <i>Ruah</i>, primarily all agree in signifying +breath or wind. We have to speak of our own breath when we mean +our spiritual nature, of God's breath when we mean his spiritual +nature, and so of all other things not obvious to our senses. +There is constant danger in this that the material shall be taken +for the spiritual of which it is the symbol, the figure for the +reality, the creature for the Creator, and this danger is best +counteracted by a decided testimony in relation to the origin of +all material things in the will of the spiritual and eternal God. +Thus the Bible writers are enabled to use a free and bold manner +of speech respecting divine things. Their expressions at one time +appear pantheistic and at another anthropomorphic; they see God +in every thing, and use with the utmost freedom natural emblems +to indicate his perfections and procedure, and our relations to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +him. In this way there is life and action in their teaching, and +it is removed as far as possible from a dry, abstract theology, +while equally remote from any tinge of idolatry or superstition.</p> + +<p>It may, however, be objected that by the introduction of a +cosmogony the Bible exposes itself to a conflict with science, +and that thereby injury results both to science and to religion. +This is a grave charge, and one that has evidently had much +weight with many minds, since it has been the subject of entire +treatises designed to illustrate the history of the conflict or +to explain its nature. The revelation of God's will to man for +his moral guidance, if necessary at all, was necessary before the +rise of natural science. Men could not do without the knowledge +of the unity of nature and of the unity of God, until these great +truths could be worked out by scientific induction. Perhaps they +might never have been so worked out. Therefore a revealed book of +origins has a right to precedence in this matter. Nor need it in +any way come into conflict with the science subsequently to grow +up. Science does not deal so much with the origin of nature as +with its method and laws, and all that is necessary on the part +of a revelation, to avoid conflict with it, is to confine itself +to statements of phenomena and to avoid hypotheses. This is +eminently the course of the Bible. In its cosmogony it shuns all +embellishments and details, and contents itself with the fact of +creation and a slight sketch of its order; and in their +subsequent references to nature the sacred writers are strictly +phenomenal in their statements, and refer every thing directly to +the will of God, without any theory as to secondary causes and +relations. They are thus decided and positive on the points with +reference to which it behooves revelation to testify, and +absolutely non-committal on the points which belong to the +exclusive domain of science.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +What, then, are we to say of the imaginary "conflict of science +with religion," of which so much has been made? Simply that it +results largely from misapprehension and from misuse of terms. +True religion, which consists in practical love to God and to our +fellow-men, can have no conflict with science. True science is +its fast ally. The Bible, considered as a revelation of spiritual +truth to man for his salvation and enlightenment, can have no +conflict with science. It promotes the study of nature, rendering +it honorable by giving it the dignity of an inquiry into the ways +of God, and rendering it safe by separating it from all ideas of +magic and necromancy. It gives a theological basis to the ideas +of the unity of nature and of natural law. The conflict of +science, when historically analyzed, is found to have been +fourfold—with the Church, with theology, with superstition, and +with false or imperfect science and philosophy. Religious men may +have identified themselves from time to time with these +opponents, but that is all; and much more frequently the +opposition has been by bad men more or less professing religious +objects. Organizations calling themselves "the Church," and whose +warrant from the Bible is often of the slenderest, have denounced +and opposed and persecuted new scientific truths; but they have +just as often denounced the Bible itself, and religious doctrines +founded on it. Theology claims to be itself one of the sciences, +and as such it is necessarily imperfect and progressive, and may +at any time be more or less in conflict with other sciences; but +theology is not religion, and may often have very little in +common either with true religion or the Bible. When discussions +arise between theology and other sciences, it is only a pity that +either side should indulge in what has been called the <i>odium +theologicum</i>, but which is unfortunately not confined to divines. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +Superstition, considered as the unreasonable fear of natural +agencies, is a passive rather than an active opponent of science. +But revelation, which affirms unity, law, and a Father's hand in +nature, is the deadly foe of superstition, and no people who have +been readers of the Bible and imbued with its spirit have ever +been found ready to molest or persecute science. Work of this +sort has been done only by the ignorant, superstitious, and +priest-ridden votaries of systems which withhold the Bible from +the people, and detest it as much as they dislike science. +Perhaps the most troublesome opposition to science, or rather to +the progress of science, has sprung from the tenacity with which +men hold to old ideas. These, which may have been at one time the +best science attainable, root themselves in popular literature, +and even in learned bodies and in educational books and +institutions. They become identified with men's conceptions both +of nature and religion, and modify their interpretations of the +Bible itself. It thus becomes a most difficult matter to wrench +them from men's minds, and their advocates are too apt to invoke +in their defense political, social, and ecclesiastical powers, +and to seek to support them by the authority of revelation, when +this may perhaps be quite as favorable to the newer views opposed +to them. All these conflicts are, however, necessary incidents in +human progress, which comes only by conflict; and there is reason +to believe that they would be as severe in the absence of +revealed religion as in its presence, were it not that the +absence of revelation seems often to produce a fixity and +stagnation of thought unfavorable to any new views, and +consequently to some extent to any intellectual conflict. It has +been, indeed, to the disinterment of the Bible in the Reformation +of the fifteenth century that the world owes, more than to any +other cause, the immense growth of modern science, and the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +freedom of discussion which now prevails. The Protestant idea of +individual judgment in matters of religion is thoroughly +Biblical, for the Bible everywhere appeals to men in this way; +and this idea is the strongest guarantee that the world possesses +for intellectual liberty in other matters.</p> + +<p>We conclude, therefore, on all these grounds, that it was +necessary that a revelation from God should take strong and +positive ground on the question of the origin of the universe.</p> + +<p>(2) <i>The Origin, Method, and Structure of the Scriptural +Cosmogony.</i>—A respectable physicist, but somewhat shallow +naturalist and theologian, whose works at one time attracted much +attention, has said of the first chapter of Genesis: "It can not +be history—it may be poetry." Its claims to be history we shall +investigate under another head, but it is pertinent to our +present inquiry to ask whether it can be poetry. That its +substance or matter is poetical no one who has read it once can +believe; but it can not be denied that in its form it approaches +somewhat to that kind of thought-rhythm or parallelism which +gives so peculiar a character to Hebrew poetry. We learn from +many Scripture passages, especially in the Proverbs, that this +poetical parallelism need not necessarily be connected with +poetical thought; that in truth it might be used, as rhyme is +sometimes with us, to aid the memory. The oldest acknowledged +verse in Scripture is a case in point. Lamech, who lived before +the flood, appears to have slain a man in self-defense, or at +least in an encounter in which he himself was wounded; and he +attempts to define the nature of the crime in the following +words:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;">"Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;<br /> +Ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech:—<br /> + +I have slain a man to my wounding,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +And a young man to my hurt;<br /> +If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,<br /> +Truly Lamech seventy and seven fold."</p> + +<p>All this is prosaic enough in matter, but the form into which it +is thrown gives it a certain dignity, and impresses it on the +memory; which last object was probably what the author of this +sole fragment of antediluvian literature had in view. He +succeeded too—for the sentiment was handed down, probably +orally; and Moses incorporates it in his narration, perhaps on +account of its interest as the first record of the distinction +between willful murder like that of Cain, and justifiable +homicide. It is interesting also to observe the same parallelism +of style, no doubt with the same objects, in many old Egyptian +monumental inscriptions, which, however grandiloquent, are +scarcely poetical. +<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> + It also appears in that ancient record of +creation and the deluge recently rescued from the clay tablets of +Nineveh.</p> + +<p>Now in the first chapter of Genesis, and the first three verses +of chapter second, being the formal general narrative of +creation, on which, as we shall see, every other statement on the +subject in the Bible is based, we have this peculiar parallelism +of style. If we ask why, the answer must, I think, be—to give +dignity and symmetry to what would otherwise be a dry abstract, +and still more to aid memory. This last consideration, perhaps +indicating that this chapter, like the apology of Lamech, had +been handed down orally for a long period, connects itself with +the theory of the pre-Abrahamic origin of these documents to +which reference has already been made.</p> + +<p>The form of the narrative, however, in no way impairs its +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +precision or accuracy of statement. On this Eichhorn well says: +"There lies at the foundation of the first chapter a carefully +designed plan, all whose parts are carried out with much art, +whereby its appropriate place is assigned to every idea;" and we +may add, whereby every idea is expressed in the simplest and +fewest words, yet with marvellous accuracy, amounting to an +almost scientific precision of diction, for which both the form +into which it is thrown and the homogeneous and simple character +of the Hebrew language are very well adapted. Much of this indeed +remains in the English version, though our language is less +perfectly suited than the Hebrew for the concise announcement of +general truths of this description. Our translators have, +however, deviated greatly from the true sense of many important +words, especially where they have taken the Septuagint +translation for their guide, as in the words "firmament," +"whales," "creeping things," etc. These errors will be noticed in +subsequent pages. In the mean time I may merely add that the +labors of the ablest Biblical critics give us every reason to +conclude that the received text of Genesis preserves, almost +without an iota of change, the beautiful simplicity of its first +chapter; and that we now have it in a more perfect state than +that in which it was presented to the translators of most of the +early versions. It must also be admitted that the object in view +was best served by that direct reference to the creative fiat, +and ignoring of all secondary causes, which are conspicuous in +this narrative. This is indeed the general tone of the Bible in +speaking of natural phenomena; and this mode of proceeding is in +perfect harmony with its claims to divine authority. Had not this +course been chosen, no other could have been adopted, in strict +consistency with truth, short of a full revelation of the whole +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +system of nature, in the details of all its laws and processes. +This we now know would have been impossible, and, if possible, +useless or even mischievous.</p> + +<p>Regarded from this point of view—the plenary inspiration of the +book—the Scriptural references to creation profess to furnish a +very general outline, for theological purposes, of the principal +features of a vast region unexplored when they were written, and +into which human research has yet penetrated along only a few +lines. Natural science, in following out these lines of +observation, has reached some of the objects delineated in the +Scriptural sketch; of others it has obtained distant glimpses; +many are probably unknown, and we can appreciate the true value +and dimensions relatively to the whole of very few. So vast +indeed are the subjects of the bold sketch of the Hebrew prophet, +that natural science can not pretend as yet so to fill in the +outline as quite to measure the accuracy of its proportions. Yet +the lines, though few, are so boldly drawn, and with so much +apparent unity and symmetry, that we almost involuntarily admit +that they are accurate and complete. This may appear to be +underrating the actual progress of science relatively to this +great foreshadowing outline; but I know that those most deeply +versed in the knowledge of nature will be the least disposed to +quarrel with it, whatever skepticism they may entertain as to the +greater general completeness of the inspired record.</p> + +<p>Another point which deserves a passing notice here is the theory +of Dr. Kurtz and others, that the Mosaic narrative represents a +vision of creation, analogous to those prophetic visions which +appear in the later books of Scripture. This is beyond all +question the most simple and probable solution of the origin of +the document, when viewed as inspired, but we shall have to recur +to it on a future page.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +But with respect to the precise origin of this cosmogony, the +question now arises, Is it really in substance a revelation from +God to man? We must not disguise from ourselves that this +deliberate statement of an order of creation in so far challenges +comparison with the results of science, and this in a very +different way from that which applies to the incidental +references to nature in the Bible. Further, inasmuch as it +relates to events which transpired before the creation of man, it +is of the nature of prophecy rather than of history. It is, in +short, either an inspired revelation of the divine procedure in +creation, or it is a product of human imagination or research, or +a deliberate fraud.</p> + +<p>To no part of the Bible do these alternatives more strictly apply +than to its first chapter. This "can not be history" in the +strict acceptation of the term. It relates to events which no +human eye witnessed, respecting which no human testimony could +give any information. It represents the creation of man as the +last of a long series of events, of which it professes to inform +us. The knowledge of these events can not have been a matter of +human experience. If at all entitled to confidence, the narrative +must, therefore, be received as an inspired document, not handed +down by any doubtful tradition, but existing as originally +transfused into human language from the mind of the Author of +nature himself. This view is in no way affected by the +hypothesis, already mentioned, that the first chapters of Genesis +were compiled by Moses from more ancient documents. This merely +throws back the revelation to a higher antiquity, and requires us +to suppose the agency of two inspired men instead of one.</p> + +<p>It would be out of place here to enter into any argument for the +inspiration of Scripture, or to attempt to define the nature of +that inspiration. I merely wish to impress on the mind of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +reader that without the admission of its reality, or at least its +possibility, our present inquiry becomes merely a matter of +curious antiquarian research. We must also on this ground +distinguish between the claims of the Scriptures and those of +tradition or secular history, when they refer to the same facts. +The traditions and cosmogonies of some ancient nations have many +features in common with the Bible narrative; and, on the +supposition that Moses compiled from older documents, they may be +portions of this more ancient sacred truth, but clothed in the +varied garments of the fanciful mythological creeds which have +sprung up in later and more degenerate times. Such fragments may +safely be received as secondary aids to the understanding of the +authentic record, but it would be folly to seek in them for the +whole truth. They are but the scattered masses of ore, by tracing +which we may sometimes open up new and rich portions of the vein +of primitive lore from which they have been derived. It is, +however, quite necessary here formally to inquire if there are +any hypotheses short of that of plenary inspiration which may +allow us to attach any value whatever to this most ancient +document. I know but two views of this kind that are worthy of +any attention.</p> + +<p>1. The Mosaic account of creation may be a result of ancient +scientific inquiries, analogous to those of modern geology.</p> + +<p>2. It may be an allegorical or poetical mythus, not intended to +be historical, but either devised for some extraneous purpose, or +consisting of the conjectures of some gifted intellect.</p> + +<p>These alternatives we may shortly consider, though the materials +for their full discussion can be furnished only by facts to be +subsequently stated. I am not aware that the first of these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +views has been maintained by any modern writer. Some eminent +scientific men are, however, disposed to adopt such an +explanation of the ancient Hindoo hymns, as well as of the +cosmogony of Pythagoras, which bears evidence of this origin; and +it may be an easy step to infer that the Hebrew cosmogony was +derived from some similar source. Not many years ago such a +supposition would have been regarded as almost insane. Then the +science of antiquity was only another name for the philosophy of +Greece and Rome. But in recent times we have seen Egypt disclose +the ruins of a mighty civilization, more grand and massive though +less elegant than that of Greece, and which had reached its acme +ere Greece had received its alphabet—a civilization which, +according to the Scripture history, is derived from that of the +primeval Cushite empire, which extended from the plains of Shinar +over all Southeastern Asia, but was crushed at its centre before +the dawn of secular history. We have now little reason to doubt +that Moses, when he studied the learning of Egypt, held converse +with men who saw more clearly and deeply into nature's mysteries +than did Thales or Pythagoras, or even Aristotle. +<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> + Still later +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +the remnants of old Nineveh have been exhumed from their long +sepulture, and antiquaries have been astonished by the discovery +that knowledge and arts, supposed to belong exclusively to far +more recent times, were in the days of the early Hebrew kings, +and probably very long previously, firmly established on the +banks of the Tigris. Such discoveries, when compared with hints +furnished by the Scriptures, tend greatly to exalt our ideas of +the state of civilization at the time when they were written; and +we shall perceive, in the course of our inquiry, many additional +reasons for believing that the ancient Israelites were much +farther advanced in natural science than is commonly supposed.</p> + +<p>We have, however, no positive proof of such a theory, and it is +subject to many grave objections. The narrative itself makes no +pretension to a scientific origin, it quotes no authority, and it +is connected with no philosophical speculations or deductions. It +bears no internal evidence of having been the result of inductive +inquiry, but appeals at once to faith in the truth of the great +ultimate doctrine of absolute creation, and then proceeds to +detail the steps of the process, in the manner of history as +recorded by a witness, and not in the manner of science tracing +back effects to their causes. Farther, it refers to conditions of +our planet respecting which science has even now attained to no +conclusions supported by evidence, and is not in a position to +make dogmatic assertions. The tone of all the ancient cosmogonies +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +has in these respects a resemblance to that of the Scriptures, +and bears testimony to a general impression pervading the mind of +antiquity that there was a divine and authoritative testimony to +the facts of creation, distinct from history, philosophical +speculation, or induction.</p> + +<p>One of the boldest and simplest methods of this kind is that +followed by the authors of the "Types of Mankind," in the attempt +to assign a purely human origin to Genesis 1st. These writers +admit the greater antiquity of the first chapter, though +assigning the whole of the book to a comparatively modern date. +They say:</p> + +<p>"The 'document Jehovah' +<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> + does not especially concern our +present subject; and it is incomparable with the grander +conception of the more ancient and unknown writer of Genesis 1st. +With extreme felicity of diction and conciseness of plan, the +latter has defined the most philosophical views of antiquity upon +<i>cosmogony</i>; in fact so well that it has required the +palæontological discoveries of the nineteenth century—at least +2500 years after his death—to overthrow his <i>septenary</i> +arrangement of 'Creation;' which, after all, would still be +correct enough in great principles, were it not for one +individual oversight and one unlucky blunder; not exposed, +however, until long after his era, by post-Copernican astronomy. +The oversight is where he wrote (Gen. i. 6-8), 'Let there be +<i>raquiê</i>,' <i>i. e.</i>, a <i>firmament</i>; which proves that his notions +of 'sky' (solid like the concavity of a copper basin, with +<i>stars</i> set as brilliants in the metal) were the same as those of +adjacent people of his time—indeed, of all men before the +publication of Newton's 'Principia' and of Laplace's 'Mécanique +Céleste.' The blunder is where he conceives that <i>aur</i>, 'light,' +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +and <i>iom</i>, 'day' (Gen. i. 14-18), could have been physically +possible <i>three whole days</i> before the 'two great luminaries,' +<i>Sun</i> and <i>Moon</i>, were created. These venial errors deducted, his +majestic song beautifully illustrates the simple process of +ratiocination through which—often without the slightest +historical proof of intercourse—different 'Types of Mankind,' at +distinct epochas, and in countries widely apart, had arrived, +naturally, at cosmogonic conclusions similar to the doctrines of +that Hebraical school of which his harmonic and melodious numbers +remain a magnificent memento.</p> + +<p>"That process seems to have been the following: The ancients +knew, as we do, that man <i>is</i> upon the earth; and they were +persuaded, as we are, that his appearance was preceded by +unfathomable depths of time. Unable (as we are still) to measure +periods antecedent to man by any <i>chronological</i> standard, the +ancients rationally reached the tabulation of some events +anterior to man through <i>induction</i>—a method not original with +Lord Bacon, because known to St. Paul; 'for his unseen things +from the creation of the world, his power and Godhead, are +clearly seen, <i>being understood by the things that are made</i>' +(Rom. i., 20). Man, they felt, could not have lived upon earth +without <i>animal</i> food; ergo, 'cattle' preceded him, together with +birds, reptiles, fishes, etc. Nothing living, they knew, could +have existed without light and heat; ergo, the <i>solar system</i> +antedated animal life, no less than the <i>vegetation</i> +indispensable for animal support. But terrestrial plants can not +grow without <i>earth</i>; ergo, that dry land had to be separated +from pre-existent 'waters.' Their geological speculations +inclining rather to the <i>Neptunian</i> than to the <i>Plutonian</i> +theory—for Werner ever preceded Hutton—the ancients found it +difficult to 'divide the waters from the waters' without +interposing a metallic substance that 'divided the waters which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +were <i>under</i> the firmament from the waters that were <i>above</i> the +firmament;' so they inferred, logically, that a <i>firmament</i> must +have been actually created for this object. [<i>E.g.</i>, 'The +<i>windows</i> of the skies' (Gen. vii., 11); 'the waters <i>above</i> the +skies' (Psa. cxlviii., 4).] Before the 'waters' (and here is the +peculiar error of the genesiacal bard) some of the ancients +claimed the pre-existence of <i>light</i> (a view adopted by the +writer of Genesis 1st); while others asserted that 'chaos' +prevailed. Both schools united, however, in the conviction that +DARKNESS—<i>Erebus</i>—anteceded all other <i>created things</i>. What, +said these ancients, can have existed before the 'darkness?' <i>Ens +entium</i>, the CREATOR, was the humbled reply. <i>Elohim</i> is the +Hebrew vocal expression of that climax; to define whose +attributes, save through the phenomena of creation, is an attempt +we leave to others more presumptuous than ourselves."</p> + +<p>The problem here set to the "unknown" author of Genesis is a hard +one—given the one fact that "man is" to find in detail how the +world was formed in a series of preceding ages of vast duration. +Is it possible that such a problem could have been so worked out +as to have endured the test of three thousand years, and the +scrutiny of modern science? But there is an "oversight" in one +detail, and a "blunder" in another. By reference farther on, the +reader will find under the chapters on "Light" and the +"Atmosphere" that the oversight and blunder are those not of the +writer of Genesis, but of the learned American ethnologists in +the nineteenth century; a circumstance which cuts in two ways in +defense of the ancient author so unhappily unknown to his modern +critics.</p> + +<p>The second of the alternatives above referred to, the mythical +hypothesis, has been advanced and ably supported, especially on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +the continent of Europe, and by such English writers as are +disposed to apply the methods of modern rationalistic criticism +to the Bible. In one of its least objectionable forms it is thus +stated by Professor Powell:</p> + +<p>"The narrative, then, of six periods of creation, followed by a +seventh similar period of rest and blessing, was clearly designed +by adaptation to their conceptions to enforce upon the Israelites +the institution of the Sabbath; and in whatever way its details +may be interpreted, it can not be regarded as an <i>historical</i> +statement of the <i>primeval</i> institution of a Sabbath; a +supposition which is indeed on other grounds sufficiently +improbable, though often adopted. * * * If, then, we would avoid +the alternative of being compelled to admit what must amount to +impugning the truth of those portions at least of the Old +Testament, we surely are bound to give fair consideration to the +only suggestion which can set us entirely free from all the +difficulties arising from the geological contradiction which does +and must exist against any conceivable interpretation which +retains the assertion of the historical character of the details +of the narrative, as referring to the distinct transactions of +each of the seven periods. * * * The one great fact couched in +the general assertion that all things were created by the sole +power of one Supreme Being is the whole of the representation to +which an historical character can be assigned. As to the +particular form in which the descriptive narrative is conveyed, +we merely affirm that it can not be history—it may be +poetry." +<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>The general ground on which this view is entertained is the +supposed irreconcilable contradiction between the literal +interpretation of the Mosaic record and the facts of geology. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +The real amount of this difficulty we are not, in the present +stage of our inquiry, prepared to estimate. We can, however, +readily understand that the hypothesis depends on the supposition +that the narrative of creation is posterior in date to the Mosaic +ritual, and that this plain and circumstantial series of +statements is a fable designed to support the Sabbatical +institution, instead of the rite being, as represented in the +Bible itself, a commemoration of the previously recorded fact. +This is, fortunately, a gratuitous assumption, contrary to the +probable date of the documents, as deduced from internal evidence +and from comparison with the Assyrian and other cosmogonies; and +it also completely ignores the other manifest uses mentioned +under our first head. If proved, it would give to the whole the +character of a pious fraud, and would obviously render any +comparison with the geological history of the earth altogether +unnecessary. While, therefore, it must be freely admitted that +the Mosaic narrative can not be history, in so far at least as +history is a product of human experience, we can not admit that +it is a poetical mythus, or, in other words, that it is destitute +of substantial truth, unless proved by good evidence to be so; +and, when this is proved, we must also admit that it is quite +undeserving of the credit which it claims as a revelation from +God.</p> + +<p>Since, therefore, the events recorded in the first chapter of +Genesis were not witnessed by man; since there is no reason to +believe that they were discovered by scientific inquiry; and +since, if true, they can not be a poetical myth, we must, in the +mean time, return to our former supposition that the Mosaic +cosmogony is a direct revelation from the Creator. In this +respect, the position of this part of the earth's Biblical +history resembles that of prophecy. Writers <i>may</i> accurately +relate contemporary events, or those which belong to the human +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +period, without inspiration; but the moment that they profess +accurately to foretell the history of the future, or to inform us +of events which preceded the human period, we must either believe +them to be inspired, or reject them as impostors or fanatics. +Many attempts have been made to find intermediate +standing-ground, but it is so precarious that the nicest of our +modern critical balancers have been unable to maintain themselves +upon it.</p> + +<p>Having thus determined that the Mosaic cosmogony, in its grand +general features, must either be inspired or worthless, we have +further to inquire to what extent it is necessary to suppose that +the particular details and mode of expression of the narrative, +and the subsequent allusions to nature in the Bible, must be +regarded as entitled to this position. We may conceive them to +have been left to the discretion of the writers; and, in that +case, they will merely represent the knowledge of nature actually +existing at the time. On the other hand, their accuracy may have +been secured by the divine afflatus. Few modern writers have been +disposed to insist on the latter alternative, and have rather +assumed that these references and details are accommodated to the +state of knowledge at the time. I must observe here, however, +that a careful consideration of the facts gives to a naturalist a +much higher estimate of the real value of the observations of +nature embodied in the Scriptures than that which divines have +ordinarily entertained; and, consequently, that if we suppose +them of human origin, we must be prepared to modify the views +generally entertained of early Oriental simplicity and ignorance. +The truth is, that a large proportion of the difficulties in +Scriptural natural history appear to have arisen from want of +such accommodation to the low state of the knowledge of nature +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +among translators and expositors; and this is precisely what we +should expect in a veritable revelation. Its moral and religious +doctrines were slowly developed, each new light illuminating +previous obscurities. Its human history comes out as evidence of +its truth, when compared with monumental inscriptions; and why +should not the All-wise have constructed as skilfully its +teachings respecting his own works? There can be no doubt +whatever that the Scripture writers intended to address +themselves to the common mind, which now as then requires simple +and popular teaching, but they were under obligation to give +truthful statements; and we need not hesitate to say, with Dr. +Chalmers, in reference to a book making such claims as those of +the Bible: "There is no argument, saving that grounded on the +usages of popular language, which would tempt us to meddle with +the literalities of that ancient and, as appears to us, +authoritative document, any farther than may be required by those +conventionalities of speech which spring from 'optical' +impressions of nature." +<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>Attempt as we may to disguise it, any other view is totally +unworthy of the great Ruler of the universe, especially in a +document characterized as emphatically <i>the truth</i>, and in a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +moral revelation, in which statements respecting natural objects +need not be inserted, unless they could be rendered at once +truthful and illustrative of the higher objects of the +revelation. The statement often so flippantly made that the Bible +was not intended to teach natural history has no application +here. <i>Spiritual</i> truths are no doubt shadowed forth in the Bible +by material emblems, often but rudely resembling them, because +the nature of human thought and language render this necessary, +not only to the unlearned, but in some degree to all; but this +principle of adaptation can not be applied to plain material +facts. Yet a confusion of these two very distinct cases appears +to prevail almost unaccountably in the minds of many expositors. +They tell us that the Scriptures ascribe bodily members to the +immaterial God, and typify his spiritual procedure by outward +emblems; and this they think analogous to such doctrines as a +solid firmament, a plane earth, and others of a like nature, +which they ascribe to the sacred writers. We shall find that the +writers of the Scriptures had themselves much clearer views, and +that, even in poetical language, they take no such liberties with +truth.</p> + +<p>As an illustration of the extent to which this doctrine of +"accommodation" carries us beyond the limits of fair +interpretation, I cite the following passage from one of the +ablest and most judicious writers on the subject: +<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> + "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 +that it was through windows or holes made in the crystalline +curtain suspended in mid-heavens. To these notions the language +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +of the Bible is frequently conformed. * * * But the most decisive +example I have to give on this subject is derived from astronomy. +Until the time of Copernicus no opinion respecting natural +phenomena was thought better established than that the earth is +fixed immovably in the centre of the universe, and that the +heavenly bodies move diurnally round it. To sustain this view the +most decisive language of Scripture might be quoted. God is there +said to have '<i>established the foundations of the earth, so that +they could not be removed forever</i>' and the sacred writers +expressly declare that the heavenly bodies <i>arise and set</i>, and +nowhere allude to any proper motion of the earth."</p> + +<p>Will it be believed that, with the exception of the poetical +expression, "windows of heaven," and the common forms of speech +relating to sunrise and sunset, the above "decisive" instances of +accommodation have no foundation whatever in the language of +Scripture. The doctrine of the rotation of solid celestial +spheres around the earth belongs to a Greek philosophy which +arose after the Hebrew cosmogony was complete; and though it +occurs in the Septuagint and other ancient versions, it is not +based on the Hebrew original. In truth, we know that those +Grecian philosophers—of the Ionic and Pythagorean schools—who +lived nearest the times of the Hebrew writers, and who derived +the elements of their science from Egypt and Western Asia, taught +very different doctrines. How absurd, then, is it thus to fasten +upon the sacred writers, contrary to their own words, the views +of a school of astronomy which probably arose long after their +time, when we know that more accurate ideas prevailed nearer +their epoch. Secondly, though there is some reason for stating +that the "ancients," though certainly not those of Israel, +believed in celestial spheres supporting the heavenly bodies, I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +suspect that the doctrine of a solid vault <i>supporting the +clouds</i>, except as a mere poetical or mythological fancy, is a +product of the imagination of the theologians and closet +philosophers of a more modern time. The testimony of men's senses +appears to be in favor of the whole universe revolving around a +plane earth, though the oldest astronomical school with which we +are acquainted suspected that this is an illusion; but the +every-day observation of the most unlettered man who treads the +fields and is wet with the mists and rains must convince him that +there is no <i>sub-nubilar</i> solid sphere. If, therefore, the Bible +had taught such a doctrine, it would have shocked the +common-sense even of the plain husbandmen to whom it was +addressed, and could have found no fit audience except among a +portion of the literati of comparatively modern times. Thirdly, +with respect to the foundations of the earth, I may remark that +in the tenth verse of Genesis there occurs a definition as +precise as that of any lexicon—"and God called the <i>dry land</i> +earth;" consequently it is but fair to assume that the earth +afterwards spoken of as supported above the waters is the dry +land or continental masses of the earth, and no geologist can +object to the statement that the dry land is supported above the +waters by foundations or pillars.</p> + +<p>We shall find in our examination of the document itself that all +the instances of such accommodation which have been cited by +writers on this subject are as baseless as those above referred +to. It is much to be regretted that so many otherwise useful +expositors have either wanted that familiarity with the aspects +of external nature by which all the Hebrew writers are +characterized, or have taken too little pains to ascertain the +actual meaning of the references to creation which they find in +the Bible. I may further remark that if +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +such instances of +accommodation could be found in the later poetical books, it +would be extremely unfair to apply them as aids in the +interpretation of the plain, precise, and unadorned statements of +the first chapters of Genesis. There is, however, throughout even +the higher poetry of the Bible, a truthful representation and +high appreciation of nature for which we seek in vain in any +other poetry, and we may fairly trace this in part to the +influence of the cosmogony which appears in its first chapter. +The Hebrew was thus taught to recognize the unity of nature as +the work of an Almighty Intelligence, to regard all its +operations as regulated by his unchanging law or "decree," and to +venerate it as a revelation of his supreme wisdom and goodness. +On this account he was likely to regard careful observation and +representation with as scrupulous attention as the modern +naturalist. Nor must we forget that the Old Testament literature +has descended to us through two dark ages—that of Greek and +Roman polytheism and of Middle Age barbarism—and that we must +not confound its tenets with those of either. The religious ideas +of both these ages were favorable to certain forms of literature +and art, but eminently unfavorable to the successful prosecution +of the study of nature. Hence we have a right to expect in the +literature of the golden age of primeval monotheism more affinity +with the ideas of modern science than in any intermediate time; +and the truthful delineation which the claims of the Bible to +inspiration require might have been, as already hinted, to a +certain extent secured merely by the reflex influence of its +earlier statements, without the necessity of our supposing that +illustrations of this kind in the later books came directly from +the Spirit of God.</p> + +<p>Our discussion of this part of the subject has necessarily been +rather desultory, and the arguments adduced must depend for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +their full confirmation on the results of our future inquiries. +The conclusions arrived at may be summed up as follows: 1. That +the Mosaic cosmogony must be considered, like the prophecies of +the Bible, to claim the rank of inspired teaching, and must +depend for its authority on the maintenance of that claim. 2. +That the incidental references to nature in other parts of +Scripture indicate, at least, the influence of these earlier +teachings, and of a pure monotheistic faith, in creating a high +and just appreciation of nature among the Hebrew people.</p> + +<p>It is now necessary to inquire in what precise form this +remarkable revelation of the origin of the world has been given. +I have already referred to the hypothesis that it represents a +vision of creation presented to the mind of a seer, as if in a +series of pictures which he represents to us in words. This is +perhaps the most intelligible conception of the manner of +communication of a revelation from God; and inasmuch as it is +that referred to in other parts of the Bible as the mode of +presentation of the future to inspired prophets, there can be no +impropriety in supposing it to have been the means of +communicating the knowledge of the unknown past. We may imagine +the seer—perhaps some aboriginal patriarch, long before the time +of Moses—perhaps the first man himself—wrapt in ecstatic +vision, having his senses closed to all the impressions of the +present time, and looking as at a moving procession of the events +of the earth's past history, presented to him in a series of +apparent days and nights. In the first chapter of Genesis he +rehearses this divine vision to us, not in poetry, but in a +series of regularly arranged parts or strophes, thrown into a +sort of rhythmical order fitted to impress them on the memory, +and to allow them to be handed down from mouth to mouth, perhaps +through successive generations +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +of men, before they could be +fixed in a written form of words. Though the style can scarcely +be called poetical, since its expressions are obviously literal +and unadorned by figures of speech, the production may not +unfairly be called the Song or Ballad of Creation, and it +presents an Archaic simplicity reminding us of the compositions +of the oldest and rudest times, while it has also an artificial +and orderly arrangement, much obscured by its division into +verses and chapters in our Bibles. It is undoubtedly also +characterized by a clearness and grandeur of expression very +striking and majestic, and which shows that it was written by and +intended for men of no mean and contracted minds, but who could +grasp the great problems of the origin of things, and comprehend +and express them in a bold and vigorous manner. It may be well, +before proceeding farther, to present to the reader this ancient +document in a form more literal and intelligible, and probably +nearer to its original dress, than that in which we are most +familiar with it in our English Bibles:</p> + +<p style="text-align:center; margin-top: 3em;">THE ABORIGINAL SONG OF CREATION.</p> + +<p><i>Beginning.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;">In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,<br /> +And the Earth was formless and empty,<br /> +And darkness on the surface of the deep,<br /> +And the Breath of God moved on the Surface of the Waters.</p> + + +<p><i>Day One.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>And God said</i>—"Let Light be,"<br /> +And Light was.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And God saw the Light that it was good.</span><br /> +And God called the Light Day,<br /> +And the darkness he called Night.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And Evening was and Morning was—Day one.</span></p> + + +<p><i>Day Second.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>And God said</i>—"Let there be an Expanse in the midst of the waters,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +And let it divide the waters from the waters."<br /> +And God made the Expanse,<br /> +And divided the waters below the Expanse from the waters above the Expanse.<br /> +And it was so.<br /> +And God called the Expanse Heavens.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And Evening was and Morning was, a Second Day.</span></p> + +<p><i>Day Third.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>And God said</i>—"Let the waters under the Heavens be gathered into one place,<br /> +And let the Dry Land appear."<br /> +And it was so,<br /> +And God called the Dry Land Earth,<br /> +And the gathering of waters called he Seas.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And God saw that it was good.</span><br /> +<i>And God said</i>—"Let the earth shoot forth herbage,<br /> +The Herb yielding seed and the fruit-tree yielding fruit containing seed after its kind, on the earth."<br /> +And it was so.<br /> +And the earth brought forth herbage,<br /> +The Herb yielding seed and the Tree yielding fruit whose seed is in it after its kind,<br /> +And God saw that it was good.<br /> +And Evening was and Morning was, a Third Day.</p> + + +<p><i>Day Fourth.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>And God said</i>—"Let there be Luminaries in the Expanse of Heaven,<br /> +To divide the day from the night,<br /> +And let them be for Signs and for Seasons,<br /> +And for Days and for Years.<br /> +And let them be Luminaries in the Expanse of Heaven<br /> +To give light on the earth."<br /> +And it was so.<br /> +And God made two great Luminaries,<br /> +The greater Luminary to rule the day,<br /> +The lesser Luminary to rule the night,<br /> +The Stars also.<br /> + +And God placed them in the Expanse of Heaven<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +To give light upon the earth,<br /> +And to rule over the day and over the night,<br /> +And to divide the light from the darkness.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And God saw that it was good.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And Evening was and Morning was, a Fourth Day.</span></p> + + +<p><i>Day Fifth.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>And God said</i>—"Let the waters swarm<br /> +with swarmers, having life,<br /> +And let winged animals fly over the earth on the<br /> +surface of the expanse of heaven."<br /> +And God created great Reptiles,<br /> +And every living thing that moveth,<br /> +With which the waters swarmed after their kind,<br /> +And every winged bird after its kind.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And God saw that it was good.</span><br /> +And God blessed them, saying—<br /> +"Be fruitful and multiply,<br /> +And fill the waters of the sea;<br /> +And let birds multiply in the land."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And Evening was and Morning was, a Fifth Day.</span></p> + +<p><i>Day Sixth.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>And God said</i>—"Let the Land bring forth living things after their kind,<br /> +Herbivores and smaller mammals and Carnivores after their kind."<br /> +And it was so.<br /> +And God made all Carnivores after their kind,<br /> +And all Herbivores after their kind,<br /> +And all minor mammals after their kind.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And God saw that it was good.</span><br /> +<i>And God said</i>—"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,<br /> +And let him have dominion over the fish in the sea<br /> +And over the birds of the heavens,<br /> +And over the Herbivora,<br /> +And over the Earth,<br /> +And over all the minor animals that creep upon the earth."<br /> +And God created man in his own image,<br /> +In the image of God created he him,<br /> + +Male and female created he them.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +And God blessed them.<br /> +And God said unto them—<br /> +"Be fruitful and multiply,<br /> +And replenish the earth and subdue it,<br /> +And have dominion over the fishes of the sea<br /> +And over the birds of the air,<br /> +And over all the animals that move upon the earth."<br /> +<i>And God said</i>—"Behold, I have given you all herbs yielding seed,<br /> +Which are on the surface of the whole earth,<br /> +And every tree with fruit having seed,<br /> +They shall be unto you for food.<br /> +And to all the animals of the land<br /> +And to all the birds of the heavens,<br /> +And to all things moving on the land having the breath of life,<br /> +I have given every green herb for food."<br /> +And it was so.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And God saw every thing that he had made,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">and behold it was very good.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: -1em;">And Evening was and Morning was, a Sixth Day.</span></p> + + +<p><i>Day Seventh.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;">Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finished,<br /> +And all the hosts of them.<br /> +And on the seventh day God ended the work which he had made,<br /> +And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.<br /> +And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it,<br /> +Because that in it he rested from all his work that he had created and made. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> +<span style="font-size:70%;">OBJECTS AND NATURE OF A REVELATION OF ORIGINS—<i>Continued.</i></span><br /><br /> +</h2> + +<table style="font-size:70%;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;" summary="prose by Milton."> +<tr><td style="text-align: right;padding-right:20%;">"What if earth</td></tr> +<tr><td style="text-align: left;">Be but a shadow of heaven, and things therein</td></tr> +<tr><td style="text-align: left;">Each to the other like; more than on earth is thought."</td></tr> +<tr><td style="font-variant: small-caps;text-align: right;">Milton.</td></tr> +</table> + + +<p>(3) <i>Character of the Biblical Cosmogony, and general Views of +Nature which it Contains or to which it Leads.</i>—Much of what +appertains to the character of the revelation of origins has been +anticipated under previous heads. We have only to read the Song +of Creation, as given in the last chapter, to understand its +power and influence as a beginning of religious doctrine. The +revelation was written for plain men in the infancy of the world. +Imagine Chaldean or Hebrew shepherd listening to these majestic +lines from the lips of some ancient patriarch, and receiving them +as truly the words of God. What a grand opening to him of both +the seen and unseen worlds! Henceforth he has no superstitious +dread of the stars above, or of the lightning and thunder, or of +the dark woods and flowing waters beneath. They are all the works +of the one Creator, the same Creator who is his own Maker, in +whose image and shadow he is made. He can look up now to the +heavens or around upon the earth, and see in all the handiwork of +God, and can worship God through all. He can see that the power +that cares +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +for the birds and the flowers of the field cares for +him. He is no longer the slave and sport of unknown and dreadful +powers; they are God's workmanship and under his control—nay, +God has given him a mission to subdue and rule over them. So +these noble words raise him to a new manhood, and emancipate him +from the torture of endless fears, and open to him vast new +fields of thought and inquiry, which may enrich him with +boundless treasures of new religious and intellectual wealth. +Imagine still farther that he wanders into those great cities +which are the seats of the idolatries of his time. He enters +magnificent temples, sees elaborately decorated altars, huge +images, gorgeous ceremonials, priests gay in vestments and +imposing in numbers. He is invited to bow down before the bull +Apis, to worship the statue of Belus or of Ishtar, of Osiris or +of Isis. But this is not in his book of origins. All these things +are contrivances of man, not works of God, and their aim is to +invite him to adore that which is merely his fellow-creature, +that which he has the divine commission to subdue and rule. So +our primitive Puritan turns away. He will rather raise an altar +of rough stones in the desert, and worship the unseen yet real +Creator, the God that has no local habitation in temples made +with hands, yet is everywhere present. Such is the moral +elevation to which this revelation of origins raises humanity; +and when there was added to it the farther history of primeval +innocence, of the fall, and of the promise of a Redeemer, and of +the fate of the godless antediluvians, there was a whole system +of religion, pure and elevating, and placing the Abrahamidæ, who +for ages seem alone to have held to it, on a plane of spiritual +vantage immeasurably above that of other nations. Farther, every +succeeding prophet whose works are included in the sacred canon, +following up these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +doctrines in the same spirit, and added new +treasures of divine knowledge from age to age.</p> + +<p>But admitting all this, it may be asked, Are these ancient +records of any value to us? May we not now dispense with them, +and trust to the light of science? The infinitely varied and +discordant notions of our modern literature on these great +questions of origin, the incapacity of any philosophical system +to reach the common mind for practical purposes, and the baseless +character of any religious system which does not build on these +great primitive truths, give a sufficient answer. Farther, we may +affirm that the greatest and widest generalizations of our modern +science have, in so far as they are of practical importance, been +anticipated in the revelations of the Bible, and that in the +cosmogony of Genesis and its continuation in the other sacred +books we have general views of the universe as broad as those of +any philosophies, ancient or modern. This is a hard test for our +revelation, but it can be endured, and we may shortly inquire +what we find in the Bible of such great general truths.</p> + +<p>Many may be disposed to admit the accurate delineation of natural +facts open to human observation in the sacred Scriptures, who may +not be prepared to find in these ancient books any general views +akin to those of the ancient philosophers, or to those obtained +by inductive processes in modern times. Yet views of this kind +are scattered through the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, and +are a natural outgrowth and development of the great facts and +principles asserted in the first chapter of Genesis. They resolve +themselves, almost as a matter of course, into the two leading +ideas of order and adaptation. I have already quoted the eloquent +admission by Baron Humboldt of the presence of these ideas of the +cosmos in Psalm civ. They are both +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +conspicuous in the narrative +of creation, and equally so in a great number of other passages. +"Order is heaven's first law; and the second is like unto +it—that every thing serves an end. This is the sum of all +science. These are the two mites, even all that she hath, which +she throws into the treasury of the Lord; and, as she does so in +faith, Eternal Wisdom looks on and approves the deed." +<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> + These two mites, lawfully acquired by science, by her independent +exertions, she may, however, recognize as of the same coinage +with the treasure already laid up in the rich storehouse of the +Hebrew literature; but in a peculiar and complex form, which may +be illustrated under the following general statements:</p> + +<p>1. The Scriptures assert invariable natural law, and constantly +recurring cycles in nature. Natural law is expressed as the +ordinance or decree of Jehovah. From the oldest of the Hebrew +books I select the following examples: +<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:15em;">"When he made a decree for the rain,<br /> +And a way for the thunder-flash."<br /> +<span style="margin-left:10em;">—Job xxviii., 26.</span><br /><br /> + +"Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?<br /> +Canst thou establish a dominion even over the earth?"<br /> +<span style="margin-left:10em;">—Job xxxviii., 33.</span></p> + +<p>The later books give us such views as the following:</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:15em;">"He hath established them [the heavens] for ever and ever;<br /> +He hath made a decree which shall not pass."<br /> +<span style="margin-left:10em;">—Psa. cxlviii., 6.</span> +</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:15em;"> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +"Thou art forever, O Jehovah, thy word is established in the heavens;<br /> +Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth;<br /> +They continue this day according to thine ordinances, for all are thy servants."<br /> +<span style="margin-left:10em;">—Psa. cxix., 90.</span></p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:15em;">"When he established the clouds above;<br /> +When he strengthened the fountains of the deep;<br /> +When he gave to the sea his decree,<br /> +That the waters should not pass his commandment;<br /> +When he appointed the foundations of the earth."<br /> +<span style="margin-left:10em;">—Prov. viii., 28.</span></p> + +<p>Many similar instances will be found in succeeding pages; and in +the mean time we may turn to the idea of recurring cycles, which +forms the starting-point of the reasonings of Solomon on the +current of human affairs, in the book of Ecclesiastes: "One +generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the +earth abideth for the ages. The sun ariseth, and the sun goeth +down, and hasteneth to its place whence it arose. The wind goeth +toward the south, and turneth unto the north. It whirleth about +continually, and returneth again according to its circuits. All +the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow; unto +the place whence the rivers came, thither they return again." I +might fill pages with quotations more or less illustrative of the +statement in proof of which the above texts are cited; but enough +has been given to show that the doctrine of the Bible is not that +of fortuitous occurrence, or of materialism, or of pantheism, or +of arbitrary supernaturalism, but of invariable natural law +representing the decree of a wise and unchanging Creator. It is a +common but groundless and shallow charge against the Bible that +it teaches an "arbitrary supernaturalism." What it does teach is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +that all nature is regulated by the laws of God, which like +himself are unchanging, but which are so complex in their +relations and adjustments that they allow of infinite variety, +and do not exclude even miraculous intervention, or what appears +to our limited intelligence as such. In opposition to this, it is +true, some physicists have held that natural law is a fatal +necessity. +<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> + If they mean by this a merely hypothetical +necessity that certain effects must follow if certain laws act, +this is in accordance with the Biblical view, for nothing can +resist the will of God. But if they mean an absolute necessity +that these laws can not be suspended or counteracted by higher +laws, or by the will of the Creator, they assert what is not only +contrary to Scripture, but absurd, for "blind metaphysical +necessity, which is the same always and everywhere, could produce +no variety of things." +<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> + It could lead merely to a dead and +inert equilibrium. On the hypothesis of mere physical necessity, +the universe either never could have existed, or must have come +to an end infinite ages ago, which is the same thing. Only on the +hypothesis of law proceeding from an intelligent will can we +logically account for nature.</p> + +<p>2. The Bible recognizes progress and development in nature. At +the very outset we have this idea embodied in the gradual +elaboration of all things in the six creative periods, rising +from the formless void of the beginning, through successive +stages of inorganic and organic being, up to Eden and to man. +Beyond this point the work of creation stops; but there is to be +an occupation and improvement of the whole earth by man spreading +from Eden. This process is arrested or impeded by sin and the +fall. Here commences +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +the special province of the Bible, in +explaining the means of recovery from the fall, and of the +establishment of a new spiritual and moral kingdom, and finally +of the restoration of Eden in a new heaven and earth. All this is +moral, and relates to man, in so far as the present state of +things is concerned; but we have the commentary of Jesus: "My +Father worketh hitherto, and I work;" the remarkable statement of +Paul, that the whole creation is involved in the results of man's +moral fall and restoration, and the equally remarkable one that +the Redeemer is also the maker of the "worlds" or ages of the +earth's physical progress, as well as of the future "new heaven +and new earth." Peter also rebukes indignantly those scoffers who +maintained that all things had remained as they are since the +beginning; and refers to the creation week and to the deluge as +earnests of the great changes yet in store for the earth. +<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>It is indeed curious to observe how in our version of the Bible +this idea of progress in the universe, or of "time-worlds," as it +has been called, has been variously replaced by the words "world" +and "eternity," owing to the defective ideas prevalent at the +time when the translation was made. In the Hebrew Scriptures the +term <i>Olam</i>, "age," and in the New Testament the equivalent term +<i>Ai[=o]n</i> have been thus treated, and their real significance +much obscured. Thus when it is said, "by faith we understand that +the <i>worlds</i> were framed," or "by him God made the <i>worlds</i>," +<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +or that certain of God's plans have been hid "from the beginning +of the <i>world</i>," +<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> + the reference is not to worlds in space, but +to worlds in time, or ages of God's working in the universe. So +also these ages of God's +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +working are given to us as our only +intelligible type of eternity, of which absolutely we can have no +conception. Thus God's "eternal purpose" is his purpose of the +ages. So when he is the "King eternal," +<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> + and in that capacity +gives to his people "life everlasting," he is the King of the +ages, and gives life of the ages. So in the noble hymn attributed +to Moses (Psalm xc.), where our version has, "from everlasting to +everlasting thou art God," +<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> + the original is, "from age to age +thou art, O God." It has perhaps been a defect of our modern +science that it has familiarized us merely with the existence of +worlds in space, and not with their existence in time. It is only +in comparatively modern times that the developments of +chronological geology and of physical astronomy have brought +before us, not only the long ages in which the earth was passing +through its formative stages, but also the fact that still longer +æons are embraced in the history of the other bodies of our solar +system, and of the starry orbs and nebulæ. These grand +conceptions were already embodied in the Hebrew revelation, and +were used there as the means of giving some faint approach to a +conception of the unlimited existence of God himself, of the ages +in which his creative work has been going on, and of the future +life he has prepared for his redeemed people.</p> + +<p>Such views of development and progress are not unknown to many +ancient cosmogonies and philosophical systems, but they had no +stable foundation in observed fact until the rise of modern +geology and physical astronomy; which enable us to affirm that, +in addition to those changeless physical laws which cause the +bodies of the universe to wheel in unvarying cycles, and all +natural powers to reproduce themselves, and, in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +addition to those organic laws which produce unceasing successions of living +individuals, there is a higher law of progress. We can now trace +back man, the animals and plants his contemporaries, and others +which preceded them, our continents and mountain ranges, and the +solid rocks of which they are composed—nay, the very fabric of +the solar system itself—to their several origins at distinct +points of time; and can maintain that since the earth began to +wheel around the sun, no succeeding year has seen it precisely as +it was in the year before. The old Hebrew record affirms, and I +presume scarcely any sane man really doubts, that this law of +progress emanates from the mind and power of one creative Being. +When men see in natural law only recurring cycles, they may be +pardoned for falling even into the absurdity of believing in +eternal succession; but when they see change and progress, and +this in a uniform direction, overmastering recurring cycles, and +introducing new objects and powers not accounted for by previous +objects or powers, they are brought very near to the presence of +the Spiritual Creator. And hence, although no science can reach +back to the act of creation, this doctrine is much more strongly +held in our day by geologists than by physicists. It is quite +true that the idea of creative acts has been superseded to a +great extent by that of "creation by law," or by that of +"evolution." Still behind all there lies a primary creative +power; and the validity of these ideas and their bearing on +theism and creation we shall have to discuss in the sequel. In +one thing only does the Bible here part company with natural +science. The Bible goes on into the future, and predicts a final +condition of our planet, of which science can from its +investigations learn nothing.</p> + +<p>3. The Bible recognizes purpose, use, and special adaptation in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +nature. It is, in short, full of natural theology, akin in some +respects to that which has been so elaborately worked out by so +many modern writers. Numerous passages in support of this will +occur to every one who has read the Scriptures. It is necessary +here, however, to direct attention to a distinction very obvious +in Scripture, but not always attended to by writers on this +subject. The Bible maintains the true "final cause" of all nature +to be, not its material and special adaptations or its value to +man, but the pleasure or satisfaction of the Creator himself. In +the earlier periods of Creation, before man was upon the earth, +God contemplates his work and pronounces it good. The heavenly +hosts praise him, saying, "Thou hast created all things, and for +thy pleasure they are and were created." Further, the Bible +represents intelligences higher than man as sharing in the +delight which may be derived from the contemplation of God's +works. When the earth first rose from the waters to greet the +light, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God +shouted for joy." There are many things in nature that strongly +impress the naturalist with this same view, that the Creator +takes pleasure in his works; and, like human genius in its +highest efforts, rejoices in production, even if no sentient +being should be ready to sympathize. The elaborate structures of +fossils, of which we have only fragmentary remains, the profusion +of natural objects of surpassing beauty that grow and perish +unseen by us, the delicate microscopic mechanism of nearly all +organic structures, point to other reasons for beauty and order +than those that concern man, or the mere utilities of human +beings; and though there are now naturalists who deny absolutely +that beauty is an object in nature, and assign even the colors of +flowers and insects to utility alone, and this of a very low +order, this doctrine is so +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +repulsive to our higher sentiments +that there is little danger of its general acceptance; while the +slightest consideration shows that the utilities referred to +could have been secured without any of this consummate beauty +associated with them, and our perception of and delight in which +mark in a way beyond the ability of skepticism to cavil at our +own spiritual kinship with the Author of all this profusion of +beauty. Yet man is represented as the chief created being for +whom this earth has been prepared and designed. He obtains +dominion over it. A chosen spot is prepared for him, in which not +only his wants but his tastes are consulted; and, being made in +the image of his Maker, his æsthetic sentiments correspond with +the beauties of the Maker's work, and he finds there also food +for his reason and imagination. This view of the subject, as well +as others already referred to, is finely represented in the +address of the Almighty to Job. +<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>The Bible also very often refers to the special adaptations of +natural objects and laws to each other, and to the promotion of +the happiness of sentient creatures lower than man. The 104th +Psalm is replete with notices of such adaptations, and so is the +address to Job; and indeed this view seems hardly ever absent +from the minds of the Hebrew writers, but has its highest +applications in the lilies of the field, that toil not neither do +they spin, and the sparrows that are sold for a farthing, yet the +heavenly Father has clothed the one with surpassing beauty, and +provides food for the other, nor allows it to fail without his +knowledge. I may, by way of farther illustration, merely name a +few of the adaptations referred to in Job xxxviii. and the +following chapters. The winds and the clouds are so arranged as +to afford the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +required supplies of moisture to the wilderness +where no man is, to "cause the bud of the tender herb to spring +forth." For similar objects the tempest is ordered, and the +clouds arranged "by wisdom." The adaptations of the wild ass, the +wild goat, the ostrich, the migratory birds, the horse, the +hippopotamus, the crocodile, to their several habitats, modes of +life, and uses in nature, are most vividly sketched and applied +as illustrations of the consummate wisdom of the Creator, which +descends to the minutest details of organization and habit.</p> + +<p>It is to be observed here that in holding this doctrine of use +and adaptation in nature, the Bible is only consistent with its +own theory of rational theism. The Monotheist can not refer +nature to a conflict of antagonistic powers and forces. He must +recognize in it a unity of plan; and even those things which +appear aberrant, irregular, or noxious must have their place in +this plan. Hence in the Bible God is maker not only of the day +but of the night, not only of the peaceful cattle but of the +voracious crocodile, not only of the sunshine and shower but of +the tornado and the earthquake. Further, in all these things God +is manifested, so that we may learn "his eternal power and +divinity +<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> + from the things which he has made," and in all these +also there are emblems of his relations to us. This argument from +design is in truth the only proof the Bible condescends to urge +for the existence of God; and it is the only one in which in his +later days our great English philosopher Mill could see any +validity. +<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>If the reader happens to be familiar with the objections to the +doctrine of final causes, or teleology, in nature, urged in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +our day by Spencer, Haeckel, and others, he will have seen from the +foregoing statements that these objections are in themselves +baseless, or inapplicable to this doctrine as maintained in the +Bible. There is no consistency in the position of men who, when +they dig a rudely chipped flint out of a bed of gravel, +immediately infer an intelligent workman, and who refuse to see +any indication of a higher intelligence in the creation of the +workman himself. It is a blind philosophy which professes to see +in primal atoms the "promise and potency of mind," and which +fails to perceive that such potency is more inconceivable than +the evidence of primary and supreme mind. The men who maintain +that wings were not planned for flight, but that flight has +produced wings, and thousands of like propositions, are simply +amusing themselves with paradoxes to which may very properly be +applied the strange word devised by Haeckel to express his theory +of nature—<i>Dysteleology</i>, or purposelessness. It is to be borne +in mind, however, that the teleology of the Bible is not of that +narrow kind which would make man the sole object of nature, and +the supreme judge of its adaptations. Inasmuch as God's plan goes +over all the ages past and future, and relates to the welfare of +all sentient beings known or unknown to us, and also to his own +sovereign pleasure as the supreme object, we may not be in a +position either to understand or profit by all its parts, and +hence may expect to find many mysteries, and many things that we +can not at present reconcile with God's wisdom and goodness. We +know but "parts of his ways," the "fullness of his power who can +understand." "His judgments are unsearchable," "his ways are past +finding out."</p> + +<p>4. The law of type or pattern in nature is distinctly indicated +in the Bible. This is a principle only recently understood +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +by naturalists, but it has more or less dimly dawned on the minds of +many great thinkers in all ages. Nor is this wonderful, for the +idea of type is scarcely ever absent from our own conceptions of +any work that we may undertake. In any such work we anticipate +recurring daily toil, like the returning cycles of nature. We +look for progress, like that of the growth of the universe. We +study adaptation both of the several parts to subordinate uses, +and of the whole to some general design. But we also keep in view +some pattern, style, or order, according to which the whole is +arranged, and the mutual relations of the parts are adjusted. The +architect must adhere to some order of architecture, and to some +style within that order. The potter, the calico-printer, and the +silversmith must equally study uniformity of pattern in their +several manufactures. The Almighty Worker has exhibited the same +idea in his works. In the animal kingdom, for instance, we have +four or more leading types of structure. Taking any one of +these—the vertebrate, for example—we have a uniform general +plan, embracing the vertebral column constructed of the same +elements; the members, whether the arm of man, the limb of the +quadruped, or the wing of the bat or the bird, or the +swimming-paddle of the whale, built of the same bones. In like +manner all the parts of the vertebral column itself in the same +animal, whether in the skull, the neck, or the trunk, are +composed of the same elementary structures. These types are +farther found to be sketched out—first in their more general, +and then in their special features—in proceeding from the lower +species of the same type to the higher, in proceeding from the +earlier to the later stages of embryonic development, and in +proceeding from the more ancient to the more recent creatures +that have succeeded each other in geological time. Man, the +highest of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +vertebrates, is thus the archetype, representing +and including all the lower and earlier members of the vertebrate +type. The above are but trite and familiar examples of a doctrine +which may furbish and has furnished the material of volumes. +There can be no question that the Hebrew Bible is the oldest book +in which this principle is stated. In the first chapter of +Genesis we have specific type in the creation of plants and +animals after their kinds or species, and in the formation of man +in the image and likeness of the Creator; and, as we shall find +in the sequel, there are some curious ideas of higher and more +general types in the grouping of the creatures referred to. The +same idea is indicated in the closing chapters of Job, where the +three higher classes of the vertebrates are represented by a +number of examples, and the typical likeness of one of these—the +hippopotamus—to man, seems to be recognized. Dr. McCosh has +quoted, as an illustration of the doctrine of types, a very +remarkable passage from Psalm cxxxix.:</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:2em;">"I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.<br /> +Marvellous are thy works,<br /> +And that my soul knoweth right well.<br /> +My substance was not hid from Thee,<br /> +When I was made in secret,<br /> +And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth:<br /> +Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect;<br /> +And in thy book all my members were written,<br /> +Which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them."</p> + +<p>It would too much tax the faith of many to ask them to believe +that the writer of the above passage, or the Spirit that inspired +him, actually meant to teach—what we now know so well from +geology—that the prototypes of all the parts of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +archetypal human structure may be found in those fossil remains of extinct +animals which may, in nearly every country, be dug up from the +rocks of the earth. No objection need, however, be taken to our +reading in it the doctrine of embryonic development according to +a systematic type.</p> + +<p>Science, it is true, or rather I should perhaps say philosophical +speculation, has sometimes pushed this idea of plan into that of +a spontaneous genetic evolution of things in time, without any +creative superintendence or definite purpose. This way of viewing +the matter is, however, as we shall have occasion to see, both +bald and irrational, and wants the symmetry and completeness of +that style of thought which grasps at once progress and plan and +adaptation, as emanating from a Supreme Will. The question of how +the plan has been worked out will come up for detailed +consideration farther on. In the mean time we have before us the +fact that the Bible represents the cosmos as not the product of a +blind conflict of self-existent forces, but as the result of the +production and guidance of these forces by infinite wisdom.</p> + +<p>It is more than curious that this idea of type, so long existing +in an isolated and often depised form, as a theological thought +in the imagery of Scripture, should now be a leading idea of +natural science; and that while comparative anatomy teaches us +that the structures of all past and present lower animals point +to man, who, as Professor Owen expresses it, has had all his +parts and organs "sketched out in anticipation in the inferior +animals," the Bible points still farther forward to an exaltation +of the human type itself into what even the comparative anatomist +might perhaps regard as among the "possible modifications of it +beyond those realized in this little orb of ours," could he but +learn its real nature.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +Under the foregoing heads, of the object, the structure, the +authority, and the general cosmical views of the Scripture, I +have endeavored to group certain leading thoughts important as +preliminary to the study of the subject; and, in now entering on +the details of the Old Testament cosmogony, I trust the reader +will pardon me for assuming, as a working hypothesis, that we are +studying an inspired book, revealing the origin of nature, and +presenting accurate pictures of natural facts and broad general +views of the cosmos, at least until in the progress of our +inquiry we find reason to adopt lower views; and that he will, in +the mean time, be content to follow me in that careful and +systematic analysis which a work claiming such a character surely +demands.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">THE BEGINNING.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:50%;">"In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth."—Genesis i., 1.</span></h2> + + +<p>It is a remarkable and instructive fact that the first verse of +the Hebrew sacred writings speaks of the material +universe—speaks of it as a whole, and as originating in a power +outside of itself. The universe, then, in the conception of this +ancient writer, is not eternal. It had a beginning, but that +beginning in the indefinite and by us unmeasured past. It did not +originate fortuitously, or by any merely accidental conflict of +self-existent material atoms, but by an act—an act of will on +the part of a Being designated by that name which among all the +Semitic peoples represented the ultimate, eternal, inscrutable +source of power and object of awe and veneration. With the +simplicity and child-like faith of an archaic age, the writer +makes no attempt to combat any objections or difficulties with +which this great fundamental truth may be assailed. He feels its +axiomatic force as the basis of all true religion and sound +philosophy, and the ultimate fact which must ever bar our further +progress in the investigation of the origin of things—the +production from non-existence of the material universe by the +eternal self-existent God.</p> + +<p>It did not concern him to know what might be the nature of that +unconditioned self-existence; for though, like our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +ideas of space and time, incomprehensible, it must be assumed. It did not +concern him to know how matter and force subsist, or what may be +the difference between a material universe cognizable by our +senses and the absolute want of all the phenomena of such a +universe or of whatever may be their basis and essence. Such +questions can never be answered, yet the succession of these +phenomena must have had a commencement somewhere in time. How +simple and how grand is his statement! How plain and yet how +profound its teachings!</p> + +<p>It is evident that the writer grasps firmly the essence of the +question as to the beginning of things, and covers the whole +ground which advanced scientific or philosophical speculation can +yet traverse. That the universe must have had a beginning no one +now needs to be told. If any philosophical speculator ever truly +held that there has been an endless succession of phenomena, +science has now completely negatived the idea by showing us the +beginning of all things that we know in the present universe, and +by establishing the strongest probabilities that even its +ultimate atoms could not have been eternal. But the question +remains—If there was a beginning, what existed in that +beginning? To this question many partial and imperfect answers +have been given, but our ancient record includes them all.</p> + +<p>If any one should say, "In the beginning was nothing." Yes, says +Genesis, there was, it is true, nothing of the present matter and +arrangements of nature. Yet all was present potentially in the +will of the Creator.</p> + +<p>"In the beginning were atoms," says another. Yes, says Genesis, +but they were created; and so says modern science, and must say +of ultimate particles determined by weight and measure, and +incapable of modification in their essential +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +properties—"They have the properties of a manufactured article." +<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p>"In the beginning were forces," says yet another. True, says +Genesis; but all forces are one in origin—they represent merely +the fiat of the eternal and self-existent. So says science, that +force must in the ultimate resort be an "expression of Will." +<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>"In the beginning was Elohim," adds our old Semitic authority, +and in him are the absolute and eternal thought and will, the +Creator from whom and by whom and in whom are all things.</p> + +<p>Thus the simple familiar words, "In the beginning God created the +heaven and the earth," answer all possible questions as to the +origin of things, and include all under the conception of theism. +Let us now look at these pregnant words more particularly as to +their precise import and significance.</p> + +<p>The divine personality expressed by the Hebrew Elohim may be +fairly said to include all that can be claimed for the +pantheistic conception of "dynamis," or universal material power. +Lange gives this as included in the term Elohim, in his +discussion of this term in his book on Genesis. It has been aptly +said that if, physically speaking, the fall of a sparrow produces +a gravitative effect that extends throughout the universe, there +can be no reason why it should be unknown to God. God is thus +everywhere, and always. Yet he is everywhere and always present +as a personality knowing and willing. From his thought and will +in the beginning proceeded the universe. By him it was created.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +What, then, is creation in the sense of the Hebrew writer. The +act is expressed by the verb <i>bara</i>, a word of comparatively rare +occurrence in the Scriptures, and employed to denote absolute +creation, though its primary sense is to cut or carve, and it is +indeed a near relative of our own English word "pare." If, says +Professor Stuart, of Andover, this word "does not mean to create +in the highest sense, then the Hebrews had no word by which they +could designate this idea." Yet, like our English "create," the +word is used in secondary and figurative senses, which in no +degree detract from its force when strictly and literally used. +Since, however, these secondary senses may often appear to +obscure the primitive meaning, we must examine them in detail.</p> + +<p>In the first chapter of Genesis, after the general statement in +verse 1, other verbs signifying to <i>form</i> or <i>make</i> are used to +denote the elaboration of the separate parts of the universe, and +the word "create" is found in only two places, when it refers to +the introduction of "great whales" (reptiles) and of man. These +uses of the word have been cited to disprove its sense of +absolute creation. It must be observed, however, that in the +first of these cases we have the earliest appearance of animal +life, and in the second the introduction of a rational and +spiritual nature. Nothing but pure materialism can suppose that +the elements of vital and spiritual being were included in the +matter of the heavens and the earth as produced in the beginning; +and as the Scripture writers were not materialists, we may infer +that they recognized, in the introduction of life and reason, +acts of absolute creation, just as in the origin of matter +itself. In Genesis ii. and iii. we have a form of expression +which well marks the distinction between creation and making. God +is there said to have rested from all his works which he "created +and made" +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +—literally, created "for or in reference to making," +the word for making being one of those already referred to. +<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> +The force of this expression consists in its intimating that God +had not only finished the work of <i>creation</i>, properly so called, +but also the elaboration of the various details of the universe, +as formed or fashioned out of the original materials. Of a +similar character is the expression in Isaiah xlii., 5, "Jehovah, +he that <i>created</i> the heavens and spread them out;" and that in +Psalm cxlviii., 5, "He commanded and they were <i>created</i>, he hath +also established them for ever and ever."</p> + +<p>In as far as I am aware, the word <i>bara</i> in all the remaining +instances of its occurrence in the Pentateuch refers to the +creation of man, with the following exceptions: Exodus xxxiv., +10, "I will do (create) marvels, such as have not been seen in +all the earth;" Numbers xvi., 30, "If the Lord make a new thing +(create a creation), and the earth open her mouth and swallow +them up." These verses are types of a class of expressions in +which the proper term for creation is applied to the production +of something new, strange, and marvellous; for instance, "Create +in me a clean heart, O Lord;" "Behold, I create new heavens and a +new earth." It is, however, evidently an inversion of sound +exposition to say that these secondary or figurative meanings +should determine the primary and literal sense in Genesis i. On +the contrary, we should rather infer that the sacred writers in +these cases selected the proper word for creation, to express in +the most forcible manner the novel and thorough character of the +changes to which they refer, and their direct dependence on the +Divine will. By such expressions we are in effect referred back +to the original use +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +of the word, as denoting the actual creation +of matter by the command of God, in contradistinction from those +arrangements which have been effected by the gradual operation of +secondary agents, or of laws attached to matter at its creation. +It has been farther observed +<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> + that in the Hebrew Scriptures +this word <i>bara</i> is applied to God only as an agent, not to any +human artificer; a fact which is very important with reference to +its true significance. Viewing creation in this light, we need +not perplex ourselves with the question whether we should +consider Genesis i., 1, to refer to the essence of matter as +distinguished from its qualities. We may content ourselves with +the explanation given by Paul in the eleventh of Hebrews: "By +faith we are certain that the worlds +<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> + were created by the +decree of God, so that that which <i>is seen</i> was made of that +which <i>appears not</i>." Or, with reference to the other uses of the +word, if the first introduction of animal life was a creation, +and if the introduction of the rational nature of man was a +creation, we may suppose that the original creation was in like +manner the introduction or first production of those entities +which we call matter and force, and which to science now are as +much ultimate facts as they were to Moses.</p> + +<p>The <i>nature</i> of the act of creation being thus settled, its +<i>extent</i> may be ascertained by an examination of the terms heaven +and earth.</p> + +<p> +The word "heavens" (<i>shamayim</i>) has in Hebrew as in English a +variety of significations. Of material heavens there are, in the +quaint language of Poole, "<i>tres regiones, ubi aves, ubi nubes, +ubi sidera</i>;" or (1) the atmosphere or firmament; +<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +(2) the region of clouds in the upper part of the atmosphere; +<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> +(3) the depths of space comprehending the starry orbs. +<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> +Besides these we have the "heaven of heavens," the abode of God and spiritual +beings. +<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> +The application of the term "heaven" to the +atmosphere will be considered when we reach the 6th and 7th +verses. In the mean time we may accept the word in this place as +including the material heavens in the widest sense: (1.) Because +it is not here, as in verse 8th, restricted to the atmosphere by +the terms of the narrative; this restriction in verse 8th in fact +implying the wider sense of the word in preceding verses. (2.) +Because the atmospheric firmament, elsewhere called heaven, +divides the waters above from those below, whereas it is evident +that all these waters, and of consequence the materials of the +atmosphere itself, are included in the earth of the following +verse. (3.) Because in verse 14th the sidereal heavens are spoken +of as arranged from pre-existing materials, which refers their +actual creation back to this passage.</p> + +<p> +In the words now under consideration we therefore regard the +heavens as including the whole material universe beyond the +limits of our earth. That this sense of the word is not unknown +to the writers of Scripture, and that they had enlarged and +rational views of the star-spangled abysses of space, will appear +from the terms employed by Moses in his solemn warning against +the Sabæan idolatry, in Deuteronomy iv.: "And lest thou lift up +thine eyes to the heavens, and when thou seest the sun and the +moon and the stars, even all the host of the heavens, shouldest +be incited to worship them and serve them which Jehovah thy God +hath appointed to all +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +nations under the whole heavens." To the +same effect is the expression of the awe and wonder of the poet +king of Israel in Psalm viii.:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 3em;font-size:90%;">"When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers,<br /> +The moon and the stars which thou hast ordained;<br /> +What is man that thou art mindful of him?"</p> + +<p>I may observe, however, that throughout the Scriptures the word +in question is much more frequently applied to the atmospheric +than to the sidereal heavens. The reason of this appears in the +terms of verse 8th.</p> + +<p>If we have correctly referred the term "heavens" to the whole of +extramundane space, then the word "earth" must denote our globe +as a distinct world, with all the liquid and aeriform substances +on its surface. The arrangement of the whole universe under the +heads "heaven" and "earth" has been derided as a division into +"infinity and an atom;" but when we consider the relative +importance of the earth to us, and that it constitutes the +principal object of the whole revelation to which this is +introductory, the absurdity disappears, and we recognize the +classification as in the circumstances natural and rational. The +word "earth" (<i>aretz</i>) is, however, generally used to denote the +dry land, or even a region or district of country. It is indeed +expressly restricted to the dry land in verse 10th; but as in the +case of the parallel limitation of the word "heaven," we may +consider this as a hint that its previous meaning is more +extended. That it is really so, appears from the following +considerations: (1.) It includes the deep, or the material from +which the sea and atmosphere were afterwards formed. (2.) The +subsequent verses show that at the period in question no dry land +existed. If instances of a similar meaning from other parts of +Scripture are required, I give +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +the following: Genesis ii., 1 to +4, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the +host of them;" "these are the generations of the heavens and the +earth.' In this general summary of the creative work, the earth +evidently includes the seas and all that is in them, as well as +the dry land; and the whole expression denotes the universe. The +well-known and striking remark of Job, "Who hangeth the earth +upon nothing," is also a case in point, and must refer to the +whole world, since in other parts of the same book the dry land +or continental masses of the earth are said, and with great truth +and propriety, to be supported above the waters on pillars or +foundations. The following passages may also be cited as +instances of the occurrence of the idea of the whole world +expressed by the word "earth:" Exodus x., 29, "And Moses said +unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread +abroad my hands unto the Lord, and the thunder shall cease, +neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know the +earth is the Lord's;" Deuteronomy x., 14, "Behold, the heaven and +the heaven of heavens is the Lord's, the earth also, and all that +therein is."</p> + +<p>The material universe was brought into existence in the +"beginning"—a term evidently indefinite as far as regards any +known epoch, and implying merely priority to all other recorded +events. It can not be the first day, for there is no expressed +connection, and the work of the first day is distinct from that +of the beginning. It can not be a general term for the whole six +days, since these are separated from it by that chaotic or +formless state to which we are next introduced. The beginning, +therefore, is the threshold of creation—the line that separates +the old tenantless condition of space from the world-crowded +galaxies of the existing universe. The only other information +respecting it that we have in Scripture +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +is in that fine +descriptive poem in Proverbs viii., in which the Wisdom of God +personified—who may be held to represent the Almighty Word, or +Logos, introduced in the formula "God said," and afterward +referred to in Scripture as the manifested or conditioned Deity, +the Mediator between man and the otherwise inaccessible Divinity, +the agent in the work of creation as well as in that of +redemption—narrates the origin of all created things:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Jehovah possessed +<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> + me, the beginning of his way,<br /> +Before his work of old.<br /> +I was set up from everlasting,<br /> +From the beginning, before the earth was;<br /> +When there were no deeps I was brought forth,<br /> +When there were no fountains abounding in water."</p> + +<p>The beginning here precedes the creation of the earth, as well as +of the deep which encompassed its surface in its earliest +condition. The beginning, in this point of view, stretches back +from the origin of the world into the depths of eternity. It is +to us emphatically <i>the</i> beginning, because it witnessed the +birth of our material system; but to the eternal Jehovah it was +but the beginning of a great series of his operations, and we +have no information of its absolute duration. From the time when +God began to create the celestial orbs, until that time when it +could be said that he had created the heavens and the earth, +countless ages may have rolled along, and myriads of worlds may +have passed through various stages of existence, and the creation +of our planetary system may have been one of the last acts of +that long beginning.</p> + +<p>The author of creation is Elohim, or God in his general +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +aspect to nature and man, and not in that special aspect in reference to +the Hebrew commonwealth and to the work of redemption indicated +by the name Jehovah (<i>Iaveh</i>). We need not enter into the +doubtful etymology of the word; but may content ourselves with +that supported by many, perhaps the majority of authorities, +which gives it the meaning of "Object of dread or adoration," or +with that preferred by Gesenius, which makes it mean the "Strong +or mighty one." Its plural form has also greatly tried the +ingenuity of the commentators. After carefully considering the +various hypotheses, such as that of the plural of majesty of the +Rabbins, and the primitive polytheism supposed by certain +Rationalists, I can see no better reason than an attempt to give +a grammatical expression to that plurality in unity indicated by +the appearance of the Spirit or breath of God and his Word, or +manifested will and power, as distinct agents in the succeeding +verses. This was probably always held by the Hebrews in a general +form; and was by our Saviour and his apostles specialized in that +trinitarian doctrine which enables both John and Paul explicitly +to assert the agency of the second person of the Trinity in the +creative work.</p> + +<p>This elementary trinitarian idea of the first chapter of Genesis +may be further stated thus: The name Elohim expresses the +absolute unconditioned will and reason—the Godhead. The +manifestation of God in creative power, and in the framing and +ordering of the cosmos, is represented by the formula "God +said"—the equivalent of the Divine Word. The further +manifestation of God in love of and sympathy with his work is +represented by the Breath of God, and by the expression, "God saw +that it was good"—operations these of the Divine Spirit.</p> + +<p>The aboriginal root of the word Elohim probably lies far +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +back of the Semitic literature, and comes from the natural exclamations +"al," "lo," "la," which arise from the spontaneous action of the +human vocal organs in the presence of any object of awe or +wonder. The plural form may in like manner be simply equivalent +to our terms Godhead or Divinity, implying all that is +essentially God without specification or distinction of +personalities. As Dr. Tayler Lewis well remarks in his +"Introduction to Genesis," we should not dismiss such plurals as +mere <i>usus loquendi</i>. The plural form of the name of God, of the +heavens (literally, the "heights"), of the <i>olamim</i>, or +time-worlds, of the word for life in Genesis (lives), indicates +an idea of vastness and diversity not measurable by speech, which +must have been impressed on the minds of early men, otherwise +these forms would not have arisen. God, heaven, time, life, were +to them existences stretching outward to infinity, and not to be +denoted by the bare singular form suitable to ordinary objects.</p> + +<p>Fairly regarding, then, this ancient form of words, we may hold +it as a clear, concise, and accurate enunciation of an ultimate +doctrine of the origin of things, which with all our increased +knowledge of the history of the earth we are not in a position to +replace with any thing better or more probable. On the other +hand, this sublime dogma of creation leaves us perfectly free to +interrogate nature for ourselves, as to all that it can reveal of +the duration and progress of the creative work. But the positive +gain which comes from this ancient formula goes far beyond these +negative qualities. If received, this one word of the Old +Testament is sufficient to deliver us forever from the +superstitious dread of nature, and to present it to us as neither +self-existent nor omnipotent, but as the mere handiwork of a +spiritual Creator to whom we are kin; as not a product of chance +or caprice, but as the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +result of a definite plan of the +All-wise; as not a congeries of unconnected facts and processes, +but as a cosmos, a well-ordered though complex machine, designed +by Him who is the Almighty and the supreme object of reverence. +Had this verse alone constituted the whole Bible, this one +utterance would, wherever known and received, have been an +inestimable boon to mankind; proclaiming deliverance to the +captives of every form of nature-worship and idolatry, and fixing +that idea of unity of plan in the universe which is the fruitful +and stable root of all true progress in science. We owe profound +thanks to the old Hebrew prophet for these words—words which +have broken from the necks of once superstitious Aryan races +chains more galling than those of Egyptian bondage.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">THE DESOLATE VOID.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:50%;">"And the earth was desolate and empty, +and darkness was upon the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God +moved on the surface of the waters."—Genesis i., 2.</span></h2> + + +<p>We have here a few bold outlines of a dark and mysterious +scene—a condition of the earth of which we have no certain +intimation from any other source, except the speculations based +on modern discoveries in physical science. It was "unshaped and +empty," formless and uninhabited. The words thus translated are +sufficiently plain in their meaning. The first is used by Isaiah +to denote the desolation of a ruined city, and in Job and the +Psalms as characteristic of the wilderness or desert. Both in +connection are employed by Isaiah to express the destruction of +Idumea, and by Jeremiah in a powerful description of the ruin of +nations by God's judgments. When thus united, they form the +strongest expression which the Hebrew could supply for solitary, +uninhabited desolation, like that of a city reduced to heaps of +rubbish, and to the silence and loneliness of utter decay.</p> + +<p>In the present connection these words inform us that the earth +was in a chaotic state, and unfit for the residence of organized +beings. The words themselves suggest the important question: Are +they intended to represent this as the original condition of the +earth? Was it a scene of desolation and confusion when it sprang +from the hand of its Creator? +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +or was this state of ruin consequent on convulsions which may have been preceded by a very +different condition, not mentioned by the inspired historian? +That it may have been so is rendered possible by the circumstance +that the words employed are generally used to denote the ruin of +places formerly inhabited, and by the want of any necessary +connection in time between the first and second verses. It has +even been proposed, though this does violence to the +construction, to read "and the earth became" desolate and empty. +Farther, it seems, <i>à priori</i>, improbable that the first act of +creative power should have resulted in the production of a mere +chaos. The crust of the earth also shows, in its alternations of +strata and organic remains, evidence of a great series of changes +extending over vast periods, and which might, in a revelation +intended for moral purposes, with great propriety be omitted.</p> + +<p>For such reasons some eminent expositors of these words are +disposed to consider the first verse as a title or introduction, +and to refer to this period the whole series of geological +changes; and this view has formed one of the most popular +solutions of the apparent discrepancies between the geological +and Scriptural histories of the world. It is evident, however, +that if we continue to view the term "earth" as including the +whole globe, this hypothesis becomes altogether untenable. The +subsequent verses inform us that at the period in question the +earth was covered by a universal ocean, possessed no atmosphere +and received no light, and had not entered into its present +relations with the other bodies of our system. No conceivable +convulsions could have effected such changes on an earth +previously possessing these arrangements; and geology assures us +that the existing laws and dispositions in these respects have +prevailed from the earliest periods to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +which it can lead us back, and that the modern state of things was not separated from +those which preceded it by any such general chaos. To avoid this +difficulty, which has been much more strongly felt as these facts +have been more and more clearly developed by modern science, it +has been held that the word earth may denote only a particular +region, temporarily obscured and reduced to ruin, and about to be +fitted up, by the operations of the six days, for the residence +of man; and that consequently the narrative of the six days +refers not to the original arrangement of the surface, relations, +and inhabitants of our planet, but to the retrieval from ruin and +repeopling of a limited territory, supposed to have been in +Central Asia, and which had been submerged and its atmosphere +obscured by aqueous or volcanic vapors. The chief support of this +view is the fact, previously noticed, that the word earth is very +frequently used in the signification of region, district, +country; to which may be added the supposed necessity for +harmonizing the Scriptures with geological discovery, and at the +same time viewing the days of creation as literal solar days.</p> + +<p>Can we, however, after finding that in verse 1st the term earth +must mean the whole world, suddenly restrict it in verse 2d to a +limited region. Is it possible that the writer who in verse 10th +for the first time intimates a limitation of the meaning of this +word, by the solemn announcement, "And God called the <i>dry land</i> +earth," should in a previous place use it in a much more limited +sense without any hint of such restriction. The case stands thus: +A writer uses the word earth in the most general sense; in the +next sentence he is supposed, without any intimation of his +intention, to use the same word to denote a region or country, +and by so doing entirely to change the meaning of his whole +discourse from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +that which would otherwise have attached to it. +Yet the same writer when, a few sentences farther on, it becomes +necessary for him to use the word earth to denote the dry land as +distinguished from the seas, formally and with an assertion of +divine authority, intimates the change of meaning. Is not this +supposition contrary not only to sound principles of +interpretation, but also to common-sense; and would it not tend +to render worthless the testimony of a writer to whose diction +such inaccuracy must be ascribed. It is in truth to me surprising +beyond measure that such a view could ever have obtained +currency; and I fear it is to be attributed to a determination, +at all hazards and with any amount of violence to the written +record, to make geology and religion coincide. Must we then throw +aside this simple and convenient method of reconciliation, +sanctioned by Chalmers, Smith, Harris, King, Hitchcock, and many +other great or respectable names, and on which so many good men +complacently rest. Truth obliges us to do so, and to confess that +both geology and Scripture refuse to be reconciled on this basis. +We may still admit that the lapse of time between the beginning +and the first day may have been great; but we must emphatically +deny that this interval corresponds with the time indicated by +the series of fossiliferous rocks.</p> + +<p>Before leaving this part of the subject, I may remark that the +desolate and empty condition of the earth was not necessarily a +chaotic mass of confusion—<i>rudis indigestaque moles</i>; but in +reality, when physically considered, may have been a more +symmetrical and homogeneous condition than any that it +subsequently assumed. If the earth were first a vast globe of +vapor, then a liquid spheroid, and then acquired a crust not yet +seamed by fissures or broken by corrugations, and eventually +covered with a universal ocean, then in each of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +these early conditions it would, in regard to its form, be a more perfect +globe than at any succeeding time. That something of this kind is +the intention of our historian is implied in his subsequent +statements as to the absence of land and the prevalence of a +universal ocean in the immediately succeeding period, which imply +that the crust had not yet been ruptured or disturbed, but +presented an even and uniform surface, no part of which could +project above the comparatively thin fluid envelope.</p> + +<p>The second clause introduces a new object—"<i>the deep</i>." Whatever +its precise nature, this is evidently something included in the +earth of verse 1st, and created with it. The word occurs in other +parts of the Hebrew Scriptures in various senses. It often +denotes the sea, especially when in an agitated state (Psa. +xlii., 8; Job xxxviii., 10). In Psalm cxxxv., however, it is +distinguished from the sea: "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that +did he in heaven, in the earth, in the seas, and <i>in all deeps</i>." +In other cases it has been supposed to refer to interior recesses +of the earth, as when at the deluge "the fountains of the great +deep" are said to have been broken up. It is probable, however, +that this refers to the ocean. In some places it would appear to +mean the atmosphere or its waters; as Prov. viii., 27-29, "When +he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he described a circle +on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, +when he strengthened the fountains of the deep." The Septuagint +in this passage reads "throne on the winds" and "fountains under +the heaven." +<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> + Though we can not attach much value to these +readings, there seems little reason to doubt that the author of +this passage understands by the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +deep the atmospheric waters, and not the sea, which he mentions separately. The same meaning must +be attached to the word in another passage of the Book of +Proverbs: "The Lord in wisdom hath founded the earth, by +understanding hath he established the heavens; by his knowledge +the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the small +rain."</p> + +<p>In the passage now under consideration, it would seem that we +have both the deep and the waters mentioned, and this not in a +way which would lead us to infer their identity. The darkness on +the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God on the face of the +waters seem to refer to the condition of two distinct objects at +the same time. Neither can the word here refer to subterranean +cavities, for the ascription of a surface to these, and the +statement that they were enveloped in darkness, would in this +case have neither meaning nor use. For these reasons I am induced +to believe that the locality of the deep or abyss is to be +sought, not in the universal ocean or the interior of the earth, +but in the vaporous or aeriform mass mantling the surface of our +nascent planet, and containing the materials out of which the +atmosphere was afterward elaborated. This is a view leading to +important consequences: one of which is that the darkness on the +surface of the deep can not have been, as believed by the +advocates of a local chaos, a mere atmospheric obscuration; since +even at the <i>surface</i> of what then represented the atmosphere +darkness prevailed. "God covered the earth with the deep as with +a garment, and the waters stood above the hills," and without +this outer garment was the darkness of space destitute of +luminaries, at least of those greater ones which are of primary +importance to us. We learn from the following verses that there +was no layer of clear atmosphere +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +in this misty deep, separating the clouds from the ocean waters.</p> + +<p>The last clause of the verse has always been obscure, and perhaps +it is still impossible to form a clear idea of the operation +intended to be described. We are not even certain whether it is +intended to represent any thing within the compass of ordinary +natural laws, or to denote a direct intervention of the Creator, +miraculous in its nature and confined to one period. It is +possible that the general intention of the statement may be to +the effect that the agency of the divine power in separating the +waters from the incumbent vapors had already commenced—that the +Spirit which would afterward evoke so many wonders out of the +chaotic mass was already acting upon it in an unseen and +mysterious way, preparing it for its future destiny.</p> + +<p>Some commentators, both Jewish and Christian, are, however, +disposed to view the <i>Ruach Elohim</i>, Spirit, or breath of God, as +meaning a wind of God, or mighty wind, according to a well-known +Hebrew idiom. The word in its primary sense means wind or breath, +and there are undoubted instances of the expression "wind of God" +for a great or strong wind. For example, Isaiah xl., 7: "The +grass withereth because the wind of the Lord bloweth upon it;" +see also 2 Kings ii., 16. Such examples, however, are very rare, +and by no means sufficient of themselves to establish this +interpretation. Those who hold this view do so mainly in +consideration of the advantage which it affords in attaching a +definite meaning to the expression. Many of them are not, +however, aware of its precise import in a cosmical point of view. +A violent wind, before the formation of the atmosphere, and the +establishment of the laws which regulate the suspension and +motions of aqueous vapors and clouds, must have been merely +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +an agitation of the confused misty and vaporous mass of the deep; +since, as Ainsworth—more careful than modern interpreters—long +ago observed, "winde (which is the moving of the aier) was not +created till the second day, that the firmament was spred, and +the aier made." Such an agitation is by no means improbable. It +would be a very likely accompaniment of a boiling ocean, resting +on a heated surface, and of excessive condensation of moisture in +the upper regions of the atmosphere; and might act as an +influential means of preparing the earth for the operations of +the second day. It is curious also that the Phoenician +cosmogony is said to have contained the idea of a mighty wind in +connection with this part of creation, and the idea of seething +or commotion in the primitive chaos also occurs in the Assyrian +tablets of creation, while the Quiché legend represents Hurakon, +the storm-god, as specially concerned in the creative work. +<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> +On the other hand, the verb used in the text rather expresses +hovering or brooding than violent motion, and this better +corresponds with the old fable of the mundane egg, which seems to +have been derived from the event recorded in this verse. The more +evangelical view, which supposes the Holy Spirit to be intended, +is also more in accordance with the general scope of the +Scripture teachings on this subject; and the opposite idea is, as +Calvin well says, "too frigid" to meet with much favor from +evangelical theologians.</p> + +<p>Chaos, the equivalent of the Hebrew "desolation and emptiness," +figures largely in all ancient cosmogonies. That of the Egyptians +is interesting, not only from its resemblance to the Hebrew +doctrine, but also from its probable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +connection with the cosmogony of the Greeks. Taking the version of Diodorus Siculus, +which though comparatively modern, yet corresponds with the hints +derived from older sources, we find the original chaos to have +been an intermingled condition of elements constituting heaven +and earth. This is the Hebrew "deep." The first step of progress +is the separation of these; the fiery particles ascending above, +and not only producing light, but the revolution of the heavenly +bodies—a curious foreshadowing of the nebular hypothesis of +modern astronomy. After these, in the terms of the lines quoted +by Diodorus from Euripides, plants, birds, mammals, and finally +man are produced, not however by a direct creative fiat, but by +the spontaneous fecundity of the teeming earth. The Phoenician +cosmogony attributed to Sancuniathon has the void, the deep, and +the brooding Spirit; and one of the terms employed, "baau," is +the same with the Hebrew "bohu," void, if read without the +points. The Babylonians, according to Berosus, believed in a +chaos—which, however, like the literal-day theory of some +moderns, produced many monsters before Belus intervened to +separate heaven and earth. But the Assyrian legend found in the +Nineveh tablets is very precise in its intimation of the Chaos or +<i>Tiamat</i>, the mother of all things; and, farther, it recognizes +this personified chaos as the principle of evil, whose "dragon" +becomes the tempter of the progenitors of mankind, exactly like +the Biblical serpent. This "dragon of the abyss" is thus +identical in name and function with the evil principle even of +the last book of the New Testament, and we have in this also +probably the origin of the Ahriman of the Avesta. Thus in these +Eastern theologies the primeval chaos becomes the type of evil as +opposed to the order, beauty, and goodness of the creation of +God—a very natural association; but one kept in the background +by +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +the Hebrew Scriptures, as tending to a dualistic belief +subversive of monotheism. The Greek myth of Chaos, and its +children Erebus and Night, who give birth to Aether and Day, is +the same tradition, personified after the fanciful manner of a +people who, in the primitive period of their civilization, had no +profound appreciation of nature, but were full of human +sympathies. +<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> + Lastly, in a hymn translated by Dr. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> + Max Müller from the Rig-Veda, a work probably far older than the Institutes +of Menu, we have such utterances as the following:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Nor aught nor nought existed: yon bright sky<br /> +Was not, nor heaven's broad woof outstretched above.<br /> +What covered all? what sheltered? what concealed?<br /> +Was it the water's fathomless abyss? * * *<br /> +Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled<br /> +In gloom profound—an ocean without light;<br /> +The germ that still lay covered in the husk<br /> +Burst forth, one nature, from the fervent heat."</p> + +<p>It is evident that the state of our planet which we have just +been considering is one of which we can scarcely form any +adequate conception, and science can in no way aid us, except by +suggesting hypotheses or conjectures. It is remarkable, however, +that nearly all the cosmological theories which have been devised +contain some of the elements of the inspired narrative. The words +of Moses appear to suggest a heated and cooling globe, its crust +as yet unbroken by internal forces, covered by a universal ocean, +on which rested a mass of confused vaporous substances; and it is +of such materials, thus combined by the sacred historian, that +cosmologists have built up their several theories, aqueous or +igneous, of the early state of the earth. Geology, as a science +of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +observation and induction, does not carry us back to this +period. It must still and always say, with Hutton, that it can +find "no trace of a beginning, no prospect of an end"—not +because there has been no beginning or will be no end, but +because the facts which it collects extend neither to the one nor +the other. Geology, like every other department of natural +history, can but investigate the facts which are open to +observation, and reason on these in accordance with the known +laws and arrangements of existing nature. It finds these laws to +hold for the oldest period to which the rocky archives of the +earth extend. Respecting the origin of these general laws and +arrangements, or the condition of the earth before they +originated, it knows nothing. In like manner a botanist may +determine the age of a forest by counting the growth rings of the +oldest trees, but he can tell nothing of the forests that may +have preceded it, or of the condition of the surface before it +supported a forest. So the archæologist may on Egyptian monuments +read the names and history of successive dynasties of kings, but +he can tell nothing of the state of the country and its native +tribes before those dynasties began or their monuments were +built. Yet geology at least establishes a probability that a time +was when organized beings did not exist, and when many of the +arrangements of the surface of our earth had not been perfected; +and the few facts which have given birth to the theories +promulgated on this subject tend to show that this pre-geological +condition of the earth may have been such as that described in +the words now under consideration. I may remark, in addition, +that if the words of Moses imply the cooling of the globe from a +molten or intensely heated state down to a temperature at which +water could exist on its surface, the known rate of cooling of +bodies of the dimensions and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +materials of the earth shows that +the time included in these two verses of Genesis must have been +enormous, amounting it may be to many millions of years.</p> + +<p>There are two other sciences besides geology which have in modern +times attempted to penetrate into the mysteries of the primitive +abyss, at least by hypothetical explanations—astronomy and +chemistry. The magnificent nebular hypothesis of La Place, which +explains the formation of the whole solar system by the +condensation of a revolving mass of gaseous matter, would +manifestly bring our earth to the condition of a fluid body, with +or without a solid crust, and surrounded by a huge atmosphere of +its more volatile materials, gradually condensing itself around +the central nucleus. Chemistry informs us that this vaporous mass +would contain not only the atmospheric air and water, but all the +carbon, sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, and other elements, +volatile in themselves, or forming volatile compounds with oxygen +or hydrogen, that are now imprisoned in various states of +combination in the solid crust of the earth. Such an +atmosphere—vast, dark, pestilential, and capable in its +condensation of producing the most intense chemical action—is a +necessity of an earth condensing from a vaporous and incandescent +state. Thus, in so far as scientific speculation ventures to +penetrate into the genesis of the earth, its conclusions are at +one with the Mosaic cosmogony and with the traditions of most +ancient nations as to the primitive existence of a +chaos—formless and void, in which "nor aught nor nought +existed."</p> + +<p>Some of the details of the Mosaic vision of the primeval chaos +may be supplied by the probabilities established by physics and +chemistry. Our first idea of the earth would be a vast vaporous +ball, recently spun out from the general mass of vapors forming +the nebula which once represented the solar +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +system. This huge cloud, whirling its annual round about the still vaporous centre +of the system, would consist of all the materials now +constituting the solid rocks as well as those of the seas and +atmosphere, their atoms kept asunder by the force of heat, +preventing not only their mechanical union, but even their +chemical combination. But heat is being radiated on all sides +into space, and the opposing force of gravitation is little by +little gathering the particles toward the centre. At length a +liquid nucleus is formed, while upon this are being precipitated +showers of condensing matter from the still vast atmosphere to +add to its volume. As this process advances, a new brilliancy is +given to the feebly shining vapors by the incandescence of solid +particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere, and in this +stage our earth would be a little sun, a miniature of that which +now forms the centre of our system, and which still, by virtue of +its greater mass, continues in this state. But at length, by +further cooling, this brilliancy is lost, and the still fluid +globe is surrounded by a vast cloudy pall, in which condensing +vapors gather in huge dark masses, and amid terrible electrical +explosions, pour, in constantly increasing, acid, corrosive +rains, upon the heated nucleus, combining with its materials, or +again flashing into vapors. Thus darkness dense and gross would +settle upon the vaporous deep, and would continue for long ages, +until the atmosphere could be finally cleared of its superfluous +vapors. In the mean time a crust of slag or cinder has been +forming upon the molten nucleus. Broken again and again by the +heaving of the seething mass, it at length sets permanently, and +finally allows some portion of the liquid rain condensed upon it +to remain as a boiling ocean. Then began the reign of the waters, +under which the first stratified rocks were laid down by the +deposit of earthy and saline matter suspended or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +dissolved in the heated sea. Such is the picture which science presents to us +of the genesis of the earth, and so far as we can judge from his +words, such must have been the picture presented to the mental +vision of the ancient seer of creation; but he could discern also +that mysterious influence, the "breath of Elohim," which moved on +the face of the waters, and prepared for the evolution of land +and of life from their bosom. He saw—</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"An earth—formless and void;<br /> +A vaporous abyss—dark at its very surface;<br /> +A universal ocean—the breath of God hovering over it."</p> + +<p>How could such a scene be represented in words? since it +presented none of the familiar features of the actual world. Had +he attempted to dilate upon it, he would, in the absence of the +facts furnished by modern science, have been obliged, like the +writers of some of the less simple and primitive cosmogonies +already quoted, +<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> + to adopt the feeble expedient of enumerating +the things not present. He wisely contents himself with a few +well-chosen words, which boldly sketch the crude materials of a +world hopeless and chaotic but for the animating breath of the +Almighty, who has created even that old chaos out of which is to +be worked in the course of the six creative days all the variety +and beauty of a finished world.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, the reader will perceive how this reticence of the +author of Genesis strengthens the argument for the primitive age +of the document, and for the vision-theory as to its origin; and +will also observe that, in the conception of this ancient writer, +the "promise and potency" of order and life reside not alone in +the atoms of a vaporous world, but also in the will of its +Creator.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br/><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">LIGHT AND CREATIVE DAYS.</span><br/><br /> + +<span style="font-size:50%;">"And God said, Let light be, +and light was; and God saw the light that it was good, and separated the +light from the darkness; and God called the light Day; and the darkness +he called Night. And Evening was and Morning was—Day one."— +Genesis i., 3-5.</span></h2> + + +<p>Light is the first element of order and perfection introduced +upon our planet—the first innovation on the old régime of +darkness and desolation. There is a beautiful propriety in this, +for the Hebrew <i>Aur</i> (light) should be viewed as including heat +and electricity as well as light; and these three forces—if they +are really distinct, and not merely various movements of one and +the same ether—are in themselves, or the proximate causes of +their manifestation, the prime movers of the machinery of nature, +the vivifying forces without which the primeval desolation would +have been eternal. The statement presented here is, however, a +bold one. Light without luminaries, which were afterward +formed—independent light, so to speak, shining all around the +earth—is an idea not likely to have occurred in the days of +Moses to the framer of a fictitious cosmogony, and yet it +corresponds in a remarkable manner with some of the theories +which have grown out of modern induction.</p> + +<p>I have said that the Hebrew word translated "light" includes the +vibratory movements which we call heat and electricity as well. I +make this statement, not intending to assert that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +the Hebrews experimented on these forces in the manner of modern science, and +would therefore be prepared to understand their laws or +correlations as fully as we can. I give the word this general +sense simply because throughout the Bible it is used to denote +the solar light and heat, and also the electric light of the +thunder-cloud: "the light of His cloud," "the bright light which +is in the clouds." The absence of "<i>aur</i>," therefore, in the +primeval earth, is the absence of solar radiation, of the +lightning's flash, and of volcanic fires. We shall in the +succeeding verses find additional reasons for excluding all these +phenomena from the darkness of the primeval night.</p> + +<p>The light of the first day can not reasonably be supposed to have +been in any other than a visible and active state. Whether light +be, as supposed by the older physicists, luminous matter radiated +with immense velocity, or, as now appears more probable, merely +the undulations of a universally diffused ether, its motion had +already commenced. The idea of the matter of light as distinct +from its power of affecting the senses does not appear in the +Scriptures any farther than that the Hebrew name is probably +radically identical with the word ether now used to express the +undulating medium by which light is propagated; and if it did, +the general creation of matter being stated in verse 1, and the +notice of the separation of light and darkness being distinctly +given in the present verse, there is no place left for such a +view here. For this reason, that explanation of these words which +supposes that on the first day the <i>matter</i> of light, or the +ether whose motions produce light, was created, and that on the +fourth day, when luminaries were appointed, it became visible by +beginning to undulate, must be abandoned; and the connection +between these two statements must be sought in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +some other group of facts than that connected with the existence of the matter of +light as distinct from its undulations.</p> + +<p>What, then, was the nature of the light which on the first day +shone without the presence of any local luminary? It must have +proceeded from luminous matter diffused through the whole space +of the solar system, or surrounding our globe as with a mantle. +It was "clothed with light as with a garment,"<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left: 2em;">"Sphered in a radiant cloud, for yet the sun was not."</span><br /><br /> + +We have already rejected the hypothesis that the primeval night +proceeded from a temporary obscuration of the atmosphere; and the +expression, "God said, Let light be," affords an additional +reason, since, in accordance with the strict precision of +language which everywhere prevails in this ancient document, a +mere restoration of light would not be stated in such terms. If +we wish to find a natural explanation of the mode of illumination +referred to, we must recur to one or other of the suppositions +mentioned above, that the luminous matter formed a nebulous +atmosphere, slowly concentrating itself toward the centre of the +solar system, or that it formed a special envelope of our earth, +which subsequently disappeared.</p> + +<p>We may suppose this light-giving matter to be the same with that +which now surrounds the sun, and constitutes the stratum of +luminous substance which, by its wondrous and unceasing power of +emitting light, gives him all his glory. To explain the division +of the light from the darkness, we need only suppose that the +luminous matter, in the progress of its concentration, was at +length all gathered within the earth's orbit, and then, as one +hemisphere only would be +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +illuminated at a time, the separation of light from darkness, or of day from night, would be +established. This hypothesis, suggested by the words themselves, +affords a simple and natural explanation of a statement otherwise +obscure.</p> + +<p>It is an instructive circumstance that the probabilities +respecting the early state of our planet, thus deduced from the +Scriptural narrative, correspond very closely with the most +ingenious and truly philosophical speculation ever hazarded +respecting the origin of our solar system. I refer to the +cosmical hypothesis of La Place, which was certainly formed +without any reference to the Bible; and by persons whose views of +the Mosaic narrative are of that shallow character which is too +prevalent, has been suspected as of infidel tendency. La Place's +theory is based on the following properties of the solar system, +which will be found referred to in this connection in many +popular works on astronomy: 1. The orbits of the planets are +nearly circular. 2. They revolve nearly in the plane of the sun's +equator. +<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> + 3. They all revolve round the sun in one direction, +which is also the direction of the sun's rotation. 4. They rotate +on their axes also, as far as is known, in the same direction. 5. +Their satellites, with the exception of those of Uranus and +Neptune, revolve in the same direction. Now all these +coincidences can scarcely have been fortuitous, and yet they +might have been otherwise without affecting the working of the +system; and, farther, if not fortuitous, they correspond +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +precisely with the results which would flow from the condensation +of a revolving mass of nebulous matter. La Place, therefore, +conceived that in the beginning the matter of our system existed +in the condition of a mass of vaporous material, having a central +nucleus more or less dense, and the whole rotating in a uniform +direction. Such a mass must, "in condensing by cold, leave in the +plane of its equator zones of vapor composed of substances which +required an intense degree of cold to return to a liquid or solid +state. These zones must have begun by circulating round the sun +in the form of concentric rings, the most volatile molecules of +which must have formed the superior part, and the most condensed +the inferior part. If all the nebulous molecules of which these +rings are composed had continued to cool without disuniting, they +would have ended by forming a liquid or solid ring. But the +regular constitution which all parts of the ring would require +for this, and which they would have needed to preserve when +cooling, would make this phenomenon extremely rare. Accordingly +the solar system presents only one instance of it—that of the +rings of Saturn. Generally the ring must have broken into several +parts which have continued to circulate round the sun, and with +almost equal velocity, while at the same time, in consequence of +their separation, they would acquire a rotatory motion round +their respective centres of gravity; and as the molecules of the +superior part of the ring—that is to say, those farthest from +the centre of the sun—had necessarily an absolute velocity +greater than the molecules of the inferior part which is nearest +it, the rotatory motion common to all the fragments must always +have been in the same direction with the orbitual motion. +However, if after their division one of these fragments has been +sufficiently superior to the others to unite +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +them to it by its attraction, they will have formed only a mass of vapor, which, by +the continual friction of all its parts, must have assumed the +form of a spheroid, flattened at the poles and expanded in the +direction of its equator." +<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> + Here, then, are rings of vapor +left by the successive retreats of the atmosphere of the sun, +changed into so many planets in the condition of vapor, +circulating round the central orb, and possessing a rotatory +motion in the direction of their revolution, while the solar mass +was gradually contracting itself round its centre and assuming +its present organized form. Such is a general view of the +hypothesis of La Place, which may also be followed out into all +the known details of the solar system, and will be found to +account for them all. Into these details, however, we can not now +enter. Let us now compare this ingenious speculation with the +Scripture narrative. In both we have the raw material of the +heavens and the earth created before it assumed its distinct +forms. In both we have that state of the planets characterized as +without form and void, the condensing nebulous mass of La Place's +theory being in perfect correspondence with the Scriptural +"deep." In both it is implied that the permanent mutual relations +of the several bodies of the system must have been perfected long +after their origin. Lastly, supposing the luminous atmosphere of +our sun to have been of such a character as to concentrate itself +wholly around the centre of the system, and that as it became +concentrated it acquired its intense luminosity, we have in both +the production of light from the same cause; and in both it would +follow that the concentration of this matter within the orbit of +the earth would effect the separation of day from night, by +illuminating +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +alternately the opposite sides of the earth. It is +true that the theory of La Place does not provide for any such +special condensation of luminous matter, nor for any precise +stage of the process as that in which the arrangements of light +and darkness should be completed; but under his hypothesis it +seems necessary to account in some such way for the sole +luminosity of the sun; and the point of separation of day and +night must have been a marked epoch in the history of the process +for each planet. The theory of accretion of matter which has in +modern times been associated with that of La Place would equally +well accord with the indications in our Mosaic record. +<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p>It is further to be observed that so long as the material of the +earth constituted a part of the great vaporous mass, it would be +encompassed with its diffused light, and that after it had been +left outside the contracting solar envelope, it might still +retain some independent luminosity in its atmosphere, a trace of +which may still exist in the auroral displays of the upper strata +of the air. The earth might thus at first be in total darkness. +It might then be dimly lighted by the surrounding nebulosity, or +by a luminous envelope in its own atmosphere. Then it might, as +before explained, relapse into the darkness of its misty mantle, +and as this cleared away and the light of the sun increased and +became condensed, the latter would gradually be installed into +his office as the sole orb of day. It is quite evident that we +thus have a sufficient hypothetical explanation of the light of +the first of the creative æons; and this is all that in the +present state of science we can expect. "Where is the way where +light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, +that thou shouldest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +take it to the bound thereof, and know the +way to the house thereof?"</p> + +<p>For the reasons above given, we must regard the hypothesis of the +great French astronomer as a wonderful approximation to the grand +and simple plan of the construction of our system as revealed in +Scripture. Nor must we omit to notice that the telescope and the +spectroscope reveal to us in the heavens gaseous nebular bodies +which may well be new systems in progress of formation, and in +which the Creator is even now dividing the light from the +darkness. Still another thought in connection with this subject +is that the theory of a condensing system affords a measure of +the aggregate time occupied in the work of creation. Sir William +Thomson's well-known calculations give us one hundred millions of +years as the possible age of the earth as a planetary globe; but +calculations of the sun's heat as produced by gravitation alone +would give a much less time. We have, however, a right to assume +an original heated condition of the vaporous mass from which the +sun was formed. Still the date above given would seem to be a +maximum rather than a minimum age for the solar system.</p> + +<p>"God saw the light that it was good," though it illuminated but a +waste of lifeless waters. It was good because beautiful in +itself, and because God saw it in its relations to long trains of +processes and wonderful organic structures on which it was to act +as a vivifying agency. Throughout the Scriptures light is not +only good, but an emblem of higher good. In Psalm civ. God is +represented as "clothing himself with light as with a garment;" +and in many other parts of these exquisite lyrics we have similar +figures. "The Lord is my light and salvation;" "Lift up the light +of thy countenance upon me;" "The entrance of thy law giveth +light;" "The path of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +just is as a shining light." And the +great spiritual Light of the world, the "only begotten of the +Father," the mediator alike in creation and redemption, is +himself the "Sun of Righteousness." Perhaps the noblest Scripture +passage relating to the blessing of light is one in the address +of Jehovah to Job, which is unfortunately so imperfectly +translated in the English version as to be almost unintelligible:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 1em;font-size:90%;">"Hast thou in thy lifetime given law to the morning,<br /> +Or caused the dawn to know its place,<br /> +That it may enclose the horizon in its grasp,<br /> +And chase the robbers before it:<br /> +It rolls along as the seal over the clay,<br /> +Causing all things to stand forth in gorgeous apparel." +<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">Job xxxviii., 12.</span></p> + + +<p>The concluding words, "Day one," bring us to the consideration of +one of the most difficult problems in this history, and one on +which its significance in a great measure depends—the meaning of +the word <i>day</i>, and the length of the days of creation.</p> + +<p>In pursuing this investigation, I shall refrain from noticing in +detail the views of the many able modern writers who, from +Cuvier, De Luc, and Jameson, down to Hugh Miller, Donald +McDonald, and Tayler Lewis, have maintained the period theory, or +those equally numerous and able writers who have supported the +opposite view. I acknowledge obligations to them all, but prefer +to direct my attention immediately to the record itself.</p> + +<p>The first important fact that strikes us is one which has +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +not received the attention it deserves, viz., that the word <i>day</i> is +evidently used in three senses in the record itself. We are told +(verse 5th) that God called the <i>light</i>, that is, the diurnal +continuance of light, day. We are also informed that the +<i>evening</i> and the <i>morning</i> were the first day. Day, therefore, +in one of these clauses is the light as separated from the +darkness, which we may call the <i>natural day</i>; in the other it is +the whole time occupied in the creation of light and its +separation from the darkness, whether that was a <i>civil or +astronomical day</i> of twenty-four hours or some longer period. In +other words, the daylight, to which God is represented as +restricting the use of the term day, is only a part of a day of +creation, which included both light and darkness, and which might +be either a civil day or a longer period, but could not be the +natural day intervening between sunrise and sunset, which is the +<i>ordinary</i> day of Scripture phraseology. Again, in the 4th verse +of chapter ii., which begins the second part of the history, the +whole creative week is called one day—"In the day that Jehovah +Elohim made the earth and the heavens." Such an expression must +surely in such a place imply more than a mere inadvertence on the +part of the writer or writers.</p> + +<p>To pave the way for a right understanding of the day of creation, +it may be well to consider, in the first place, the manner in +which the <i>shorter day</i> is introduced. In the expression, "God +<i>called</i> the light day," we find for the first time the Creator +naming his works, and we may infer that some important purpose +was to be served by this. The nature of this purpose we ascertain +by comparison with other instances of the same kind occurring in +the chapter. God called the darkness night, the firmament heaven, +the dry land earth, the gathered waters seas. In all these cases +the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +purpose seems to have been one of verbal definition, perhaps +along with an assertion of sovereignty. It was necessary to +distinguish the diurnal darkness from that unvaried darkness +which had been of old, and to discriminate between the limited +waters of an earth having dry land on its surface and those of +the ancient universal ocean. This is effected by introducing two +new terms, night and seas. In like manner it was necessary to +mark the new application of the term earth to the dry land, and +that of heaven to the atmosphere, more especially as these were +the senses in which the words were to be popularly used. The +intention, therefore, in all these cases was to affix to certain +things names different from those which they had previously borne +in the narrative, and to certain terms new senses differing from +those in which they had been previously used. Applying this +explanation here, it results that the probable reason for calling +the light day is to point out that the word occurs in two senses, +and that while it was to be the popular and proper term for the +natural day, this sense must be distinguished from its other +meaning as a day of creation. In short, we may take this as a +plain and authoritative declaration <i>that the day of creation is +not the day of popular speech</i>. We see in this a striking +instance of the general truth that in the simplicity of the +structure of this record we find not carelessness, but studied +and severe precision, and are warned against the neglect of the +smallest peculiarities in its diction.</p> + +<p>What, then, is the day of creation, as distinguished by Moses +himself from the natural day. The general opinion, and that which +at first sight appears most probable, is that it is merely the +ordinary civil day of twenty-four hours. Those who adopt this +view insist on the impropriety of diverting the word from its +usual sense. Unfortunately, however, for this argument, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +the word is not very frequently used in the Scriptures for the whole +twenty-four hours of the earth's revolution. Its etymology gives +it the sense of the time of glowing or warmth, and in accordance +with this the divine authority here limits its meaning to the +daylight. Accordingly throughout the Hebrew Scriptures <i>yom</i> is +generally the natural and not the civil day; and where the latter +is intended, the compound terms "day and night" and "evening and +morning" are frequently used. Any one who glances over the word +"day" in a good English concordance can satisfy himself of this +fact. But the sense of natural day from sunrise to sunset is +expressly excluded here by the context, as already shown; and all +that we can say in favor of the interpretation that limits the +day of creation to twenty-four hours, is that next to the use of +the word for the natural day, which is its true popular meaning, +its use for the civil day is perhaps the most frequent. It is +therefore by no means a statement of the whole truth to affirm, +as many writers have done, that the civil day is <i>the ordinary</i> +meaning of the term. At the same time we may admit that this is +<i>one</i> of its ordinary meanings, and therefore may be its meaning +here. Another argument frequently urged is that the day of +creation is said to have had an evening and morning. We shall +consider this more fully in the sequel, and in the mean time may +observe that it appears rather hazardous to attribute an ordinary +evening and morning to a day which, on the face of the record, +preceded the formation and arrangement of the luminaries which +are "for days and for years." +<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> +</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +But it may be affirmed that in the Bible long and undefined +periods are indicated by the word "day." In many of these cases +the word is in the plural: as Genesis iv., 3, "And after days it +came to pass," rendered in our version "in process of time;" +Genesis xl., 4, "days in ward," rendered "a season." Such +instances as these are not applicable to the present question, +since the plural may have the sense of indefinite time, merely by +denoting an undetermined number of natural days. Passages in +which the singular occurs in this sense are those which strictly +apply to the case in hand, and such are by no means rare. A very +remarkable example is that in Genesis ii., 4, already mentioned, +where we find, "In the day when Jehovah Elohim made the earth and +the heavens." This day must either mean the beginning, or must +include the whole six days; most probably the latter, since the +word "made" refers not to the act of creation, properly so +called, but to the elaborating processes of the creative week; +and occurring as this does immediately after the narrative of +creation, it seems almost like an intentional intimation of the +wide import of the creative days. It has been objected, however, +that the expression "in the day" is properly a compound adverb, +having the force of "when" or "at the time." But the learned and +ingenious authors who urge this objection have omitted to +consider the relative probabilities as to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +whether the adverbial use had arisen while the word <i>yom</i> meant simply a day, or +whether the use of the noun for long periods was the reason of +the introduction of such an adverbial expression. The +probabilities are in favor of the latter, for it is not likely +that men would construct an adverb referring to indefinite time +from a word denoting one of the most precisely limited portions +of time, unless that word had also a second and more unlimited +sense. Admitting, therefore, that the phrase is an adverb of +time, its use so early as the date of the composition of Genesis, +to denote a period longer than a literal day, seems to imply that +this indefinite use of the word was of high antiquity, and +probably preceded the invention of any term by which long periods +could be denoted.</p> + +<p>This use of the word "day" is, however, not limited to cases of +the occurrence of the formula "in the day." The following are a +few out of many instances that might be quoted: Job xviii., 20, +"They that come after him shall be astonished at his day;" Job +xv., 32, "It shall be accomplished before his <i>time</i>;" Judges +xviii., 30, "Until the day of the captivity of the land;" Deut. +i., 39, "And your children which in that day had no knowledge of +good and evil;" Gen. xxxix., 10, "And it came to pass about that +time" (on that day). We find also abundance of such expressions +as "day of calamity," "day of distress," "day of wrath," "day of +God's power," "day of prosperity." In such passages the word is +evidently used in the sense of era or period of time, and this in +prose as well as poetry.</p> + +<p>There is a remarkable passage in the Psalms, which conveys the +idea of a day of God as distinct from human or terrestrial days:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Before the mountains were brought forth,<br /> + +Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.<br /> +Thou turnest man to destruction,<br /> +And sayest, Return, ye children of men;<br /> +For a thousand years are in thy sight as yesterday when it is past,<br /> +And as a watch in the night." +<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> + +<p>It is a singular coincidence that the authorship of this Psalm is +attributed to Moses, and that its style and language correspond +with the songs credited to him in Deuteronomy. It is farther to +be observed that the reference is to the long periods employed in +creation as contrasted with the limited space of years allotted +to man. Its meaning, too, is somewhat obscured by the inaccurate +translation of the third line. In the original it is, "From +<i>olam</i> to <i>olam</i> thou art, O El"—that is, "from age to age." +These long ages of creation, constituting a duration to us +relatively eternal, were so protracted that even a thousand years +are but as a watch in the night. If this Psalm is rightly +attributed to the author of the first chapter of Genesis, it +seems absolutely certain that he understood his own creative days +as being <i>Olamim</i> or æons. The same thought occurs in the Second +Epistle of Peter: "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, +and a thousand years as one day."</p> + +<p>That the other writers of the Old Testament understood the +creative days in this sense, might be inferred from the entire +absence of any reference to the work of creation as short, since +it occupied only six days. Such reference we may find in modern +writers, but never in the Scriptures. On the contrary, we receive +the impression of the creative work as long continued. Thus the +divine Wisdom says in Prov. viii., The Lord possessed me "from +the beginning of his way before +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +his works of old, from everlasting, before the antiquities of the earth." So in Psalm +cxlv., God's kingdom relatively to nature and providence is a +kingdom "of all ages." In Psalm civ., which is a poetical version +of the creative work, and the oldest extant commentary on Genesis +i., it is evident that there was no idea in the mind of the +writer of a short time, but rather of long consecutive processes; +and I may remark here that the course of the narrative itself in +Genesis i., implies time for the replenishing of the earth with +various forms of being in preparation for others, exactly as in +Psalm civ.</p> + +<p>Perhaps one of the most conclusive arguments in favor of the +length of the creative days is that furnished by the seventh day +and the institution of the Sabbath. In Genesis the seventh day is +not said to have had any evening or morning, nor is God said to +have resumed his work on any eighth day. Consequently the seventh +day of creation must be still current. Now in the fourth +commandment the Israelites are enjoined to "remember the +Sabbath-day," because "in six days God created the heavens and +the earth." Observe here that the Sabbath is to be remembered as +an institution already known. Observe farther that the +commandment is placed in the middle of the Decalogue, a solitary +piece of apparently arbitrary ritual amid the plainest and most +obvious moral duties. Observe also that the reason given—namely, +God's six days' work and seventh day's rest—seems at first sight +both far-fetched and trivial, as an argument for abstaining from +work in a seventh part of our time. How is all this to be +explained? Simply, I think, on the supposition that the Lawgiver, +and those for whom he legislated, knew beforehand the history of +creation and the fall, as we have them recorded in Genesis, and +knew that God's days are æons. The argument is not, "God worked +on six natural days, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +rested on the seventh; do you therefore the same." Such an argument could have no moral or religious +force, more especially as it could not be affirmed that God +habitually works and rests in this way. The argument reaches far +deeper and higher. It is this. God created the world in six of +his days, and on the seventh rested, and invited man in Eden to +enter on his rest as a perpetual Sabbath of happiness. But man +fell, and lost God's Sabbath. Therefore a weekly Sabbath was +prescribed to him as a memorial of what he had lost, and a pledge +of what God has promised in the renewal of life and happiness +through our Saviour. Thus the Sabbath is the central point of the +moral law—the Gospel in the Decalogue—the connection between +God and man through the promise of redemption. It is this and +this alone that gives it its true religious significance, but is +lost on the natural-day theory. It would farther seem that this +view of the law was that of our Lord himself, and was known to +the Jews of his time, for, when blamed for healing a man on the +Sabbath, he says, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work"—an +argument whose force depended on the fact that God continues to +work in his providence throughout his long Sabbath, which has +never been broken except by man. Farther, the writer of the +Epistle to the Hebrews takes this view in arguing as to the rest +or Sabbatism that remains to the people of God. His argument +(chap. iv., 4) may be stated thus: God finished his work and +entered into his rest. Man, in consequence of the fall, failed to +do so. He has made several attempts since, but unsuccessfully. +Now Christ has finished his work, and has entered into his +Sabbath, and through him we may enter into that rest of God which +otherwise we can not attain to. This does not, it is true, refer +to the keeping of a Sabbath-day; but it implies an understanding +of the reference to God's +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +olamic Sabbath, and also implies that +Christ, having entered into his Sabbatism in heaven, gives us a +warrant for the Christian Sabbath or Lord's day, which has the +same relation to Christ's present Sabbatism in heaven that the +old Sabbath had to God's rest from his work of creation. +<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>We may add to these considerations the use of the Greek term +<i>Ai[=o]n</i> in the New Testament, for what may be called +time-worlds as distinguished from space-worlds. For example, take +the expression in Heb. i., 2: "His Son, by whom he made the +worlds," or, literally, "constituted the æons"—the long +time-worlds of the creation. For God's worlds must exist in time +as well as in space, and both may to our minds alike appear as +infinities. If, then, we find that Moses himself seems to have +understood his creative days as æons, that the succeeding Old +Testament writers favor the same view, that this view is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +essential to the true significance of the Sabbath and the Lord's +day, and that it is sustained by Christ and his apostles, there +is surely no need for our clinging to a mediæval notion which has +no theological value, and is in opposition to the facts of +nature. On the contrary, should not even children be taught these +grand truths, and led to contemplate the great work of Him who is +from æon to æon, and to think of that Sabbatism which he prepared +for us, and which he still offers to us in the future, in +connection with the succession of worlds in time revealed by +geology, and which rivals in grandeur and perhaps exceeds in +interest the extension of worlds in space revealed by astronomy. +In truth, we should bear in mind that the great revelations of +astronomy have too much habituated us to think of space-worlds +rather than time-worlds, while the latter idea was evidently +dominant with the Biblical writers as it is also with modern +geologists. Viewed as æons—divine days, or time-worlds—the days +of creation are thus a reality for all ages; and connect +themselves with the highest moral teachings of the Bible in +relation to the fall of man and God's plan for his restoration, +begun in this seventh æon of the world's long history, and to be +completed in that second divine Sabbatism, secured by the work of +redemption, the final "rest" of the "new heavens and new earth," +which remains for the people of God.</p> + +<p>But supposing that the inspired writer intended to say that the +world was formed in six long periods of time, could not he have +used some other word than <i>yom</i> that would have been liable to +fewer doubts. There are words which might have been used, as, for +instance, <i>eth</i>, time, season, or <i>olam</i>, age, ancient time, +eternity. The former, however, has about it a want of precision +as to its beginning and end which unfits it for this use; the +latter we have already seen is used as equivalent to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +creative <i>yom</i>. On the whole, I am unable to find any instance +which would justify me in affirming that, on the supposition that +Moses intended long periods, he could have better expressed the +idea than by the use of the word <i>yom</i>, more especially if he and +those to whom he wrote were familiar with the thought, preserved +to us in the mythology of the Hindoos and Persians, and probably +widely diffused in ancient Asia, that a working day of the +Creator immeasurably transcends a working day of man. +<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> + +<p>Many objections to the view which I have thus endeavored to +support from internal evidence will at once occur to every +intelligent reader familiar with the literature of this subject. +I shall now attempt to give the principal of these objections a +candid consideration.</p> + +<p>(1.) It is objected that the time occupied in the work of +creation is given as a reason for the observance of the seventh +day as a Sabbath; and that this requires us to view the days of +creation as literal days. "For in six days Jehovah made the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +heaven and the earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested +on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath-day and +sanctified it." The argument used here is, however, as we have +already seen, one of analogy. Because God rested on his seventh +day, he blessed and sanctified it, and required men in like +manner to sanctify their seventh day. +<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> + Now, if it should appear that the working day of God is not the same with the +working day of man, and that the Sabbath of God is of +proportionate length to his working day, the analogy is not +weakened; more especially as we find the same analogy extended to +the seventh year. If it should be said, God worked in the +creation of the world in six long ages, and rested on the +seventh, therefore man, in commemoration of this fact, and of his +own loss of an interest in God's rest by the fall, shall sanctify +the seventh of his working days, the argument is stronger, the +example more intelligible, than on the common supposition. This +objection is, in fact, a piece of pedantic hyperorthodoxy which +has too long been handed about without investigation. I may add +to what has been already said in reference to it, the following +vigorous thrust by Hugh Miller: +<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>"I can not avoid thinking that many of our theologians attach a +too narrow meaning to the remarkable reason attached to the +fourth commandment by the divine Lawgiver. "God rested on the +seventh day," says the text, "from all his work which he had +created and made; and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified +it." And such is the reason given in the Decalogue why man should +rest on the Sabbath-day. God +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +rested on the Sabbath-day and +sanctified it; and therefore man ought also to rest on the +Sabbath and keep it holy. But I know not where we shall find +grounds for the belief that the Sabbath-day during which God +rested was merely commensurate with one of the Sabbaths of +short-lived man—a brief period measured by a single revolution +of the earth on its axis. We have not, as has been shown, a +shadow of evidence that he resumed his work of creation on the +morrow; the geologist finds no trace of post-Adamic creation; the +theologian can tell us of none. God's Sabbath of rest may still +exist; the work of redemption may be the work of his Sabbath-day. +That elevatory process through successive acts of creation, which +engaged him during myriads of ages, was of an ordinary week-day +character; but when the term of his moral government began, the +elevatory process peculiar to it assumed the divine character of +the Sabbath. This special view appears to lend peculiar emphasis +to the reason embodied in the commandment. The collation of the +passage with the geologic record seems, as if by a species of +retranslation, to make it enunciate as its injunction, "Keep this +day, not merely as a day of memorial related to a past fact, but +also as a day of co-operation with God in the work of elevation, +in relation both to a present fact and a future purpose." "God +keeps his Sabbath," it says, "in order that he may save; keep +yours also that ye may be saved." It serves besides to throw +light on the prominence of the Sabbatical command, in a digest of +law of which no jot or tittle can pass away until the fulfillment +of all things. During the present dynasty of probation and trial, +that special work of both God and man on which the character of +the future dynasty depends is the Sabbath-day work of saving and +being saved.</p> + +<p>"The common objection to that special view which regards +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +the days of creation as immensely protracted periods of time, +furnishes a specimen, if not of reasoning in a circle, at least +of reasoning from a mere assumption. It first takes for granted +that the Sabbath-day during which God rested was a day of but +twenty-four hours, and then argues from the supposition that, in +order to keep up the proportion between the six previous working +days and the seventh day of rest, which the reason annexed to the +fourth commandment demands, these previous days must also have +been twenty-four hours each. It would, I have begun to suspect, +square better with the ascertained facts, and be at least equally +in accordance with Scripture, to reverse the process, and argue +that because God's working days were immensely protracted +periods, his Sabbath also must be an immensely protracted period. +The reason attached to the law of the Sabbath seems to be simply +a reason of proportion: the objection to which I refer is an +objection palpably founded on considerations of proportion, and +certainly were the reason to be divested of proportion, it would +be divested also of its distinctive character as a reason. Were +it as follows, it could not be at all understood: "Six days shalt +thou labor, etc.; but on the seventh day shalt thou do no labor, +etc.; for in six immensely protracted periods of several thousand +years each did the Lord make the heavens and the earth, etc.; and +then rested during a brief day of twenty-four hours; therefore +the Lord blessed the brief day of twenty-four hours and hallowed +it." This, I repeat, would not be reason. All, however, that +seems necessary to the integrity of the reason, in its character +as such, is that the proportion of six parts to seven should be +maintained. God's periods may be periods expressed algebraically +by letters symbolical of unknown quantities, and man's periods by +letters symbolical of quantities well known; but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +if God's Sabbath be equal to one of his six working days, and man's +Sabbath equal to one of his six working days, the integrity of +proportion is maintained."</p> + +<p>Not only does this view of the case entirely remove the +objection, but, as we have already seen, it throws a new light on +the nature and reason of the Sabbath. No good reason, except that +of setting an example, can be assigned for God's resting for a +literal day. But if God's Sabbath of rest from natural creation +is still in progress, and if our short Sabbaths are symbolical of +the work of that great Sabbath in its present gray morning and in +its coming glorious noon, then may the Christian thank this +question, incidentally raised by geology and its long periods, +for a ray of light which shines along the whole course of +Scripture history, from the first Sabbath up to that final "rest +which remaineth for the people of God." +<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p>(2.) It is objected that evening and morning are ascribed to the +first day. This has been already noticed; it may here be +considered more fully. The word evening in the original is +literally the darkening, the sunset, the dusk. Morning is the +<i>opening</i> or <i>breaking forth</i> of light—the daybreak. It must not +be denied that the explanation of these terms is attended with +some difficulty, but this is not at all lessened by narrowing the +day to twenty-four hours. The first operation of the first day +was the creation of light; next we have the Creator contemplating +his work and pronouncing it to be good; then we have the +separation of the light and darkness, previously, it is to be +presumed, intermixed; and all this without the presence of a sun +or other luminary. Which of these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +operations occupied the evening, and which the morning, if the day consisted of but +twenty-four hours, beginning, according to Hebrew custom, in the +evening? Was the old primeval darkness the evening or night, and +the first breaking forth of light morning? This is almost the +only view compatible with the Hebrew civil day beginning at +evening, but it would at once lengthen the day beyond twenty-four +hours, and contradict the terms of the record. Again, were the +separated light and darkness the morning and evening? If so, why +is the evening mentioned first, contrary to the supposed facts of +the case? why, indeed, are the evening and morning mentioned at +all, since on that supposition this is merely a repetition? +Lastly, shall we adopt the ingenious expedient of dividing the +evening and morning between two days, and maintaining that the +evening belongs to the first and the morning to the second day, +which would deprive the first day of a morning, and render the +creative days, whatever their length, altogether different from +Hebrew natural or civil days? It is unnecessary to pursue such +inquiries farther, since it is evident that the terms of the +record will not agree with the supposition of natural evening and +morning. This is of itself a strong presumption against the +hypothesis of civil days, since the writer was under no necessity +so to word these verses that they would not give any rational or +connected sense on the supposition of natural evening and +morning, unless he wished to be otherwise understood.</p> + +<p>But what is the meaning of evening and morning, if these days +were long periods? Here fewer difficulties meet us. First: It is +readily conceivable that the beginning and end of a period named +a day should be called evening and morning. But what made the use +of these divisions necessary or appropriate? I answer that nature +and revelation both give +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +grounds at least to suspect that the +evening, or earlier part of each period, was a time of +comparative inaction, sometimes even of retrogression, and that +the latter part of each period was that of its greatest activity +and perfection. Thus, on the views stated in a former chapter, in +the first day there was a time when luminous matter, either +gradually concentrating itself toward the sun, or surrounding the +earth itself, shed a dim but slowly increasing light; then there +were day and night, the light increasing in intensity as, toward +the end of the period, the luminous matter became more and more +concentrated around the sun. So in our own seventh day, the +earlier part was a time of deplorable retrogression, and though +the Sun of Righteousness has arisen, we have seen as yet only a +dim and cloudy morning. On the theory of days of vision, as +expounded by Hugh Miller, in the "Testimony of the Rocks," in one +of his noblest passages, the evening and night fall on each +picture presented to the seer like the curtain of a stage. +Secondly: Though the explanation stated above is the most +probable, the hypothesis of long periods admits of another, +namely, that the writer means to inform us that evening and +morning, once established by the separation of light from +darkness, continued without cessation throughout the remainder of +the period—rolling from this time uninterruptedly around our +planet, like the seal cylinder over the clay. +<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> + This explanation is, however, less applicable to the following days +than to the first. Nor does this accord with the curious fact +that the seventh day, which, on the hypothesis of long periods, +is still in progress, is not said to have had an evening or +morning.</p> + +<p>(3.) It is objected that the first chapter of Genesis "is not a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +poem nor a piece of oratorical diction," but a simple prosaic +narrative, and consequently that its terms must be taken in a +literal sense. In answer to this, I urge that the most truly +literal sense of the word, namely, the <i>natural</i> day, is excluded +by the terms of the narrative; and that the word may be received +as a literal day of the Creator, in the sense of one of his +working periods, without involving the use of poetical diction, +and in harmony with the wording of plain prosaic passages in +other parts of the Bible. Examples of this have already been +given. It is, however, true that, though the first chapter of +Genesis is not strictly poetical, it is thrown into a metrical +form which admits of some approach to a figurative expression in +the case of a term of this kind.</p> + +<p>(4.) It has been urged that in cases where day is used to denote +period, as in the expressions "day of calamity," etc., the +adjuncts plainly show that it can not mean an ordinary day. In +answer to this, I merely refer to the internal evidence already +adduced, and to the deliberate character of the statements, in +the manner rather of the description of processes than of acts. +The difficulties attending the explanation of the evening and the +morning, and the successive creation of herbivorous and +carnivorous animals, are also strong indications which should +serve here to mark the sense, just as the context does in the +cases above referred to.</p> + +<p>(5.) In Professor Hitchcock's valuable and popular "Religion of +Geology," I find some additional objections, which deserve notice +as specimens of the learned trifles which pass current among +writers on this subject, much to the detriment of sound +Scriptural literature. I give them in the words of the author. 1. +"From Genesis ii., 5 compared with Genesis i., 11 and 12, it +seems that it had not rained on the earth till the third day; a +fact altogether probable if the days were of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +twenty-four hours, +but absurd if they were long periods." It strikes us that the +absurdity here is all on the side of the short days. Why should +any prominence be given to a fact so common as the lapse of two +ordinary days without rain, more especially if a region of the +earth and not the whole is referred to, and in a document +prepared for a people residing in climates such as those of Egypt +and Palestine. But what could be more instructive and +confirmatory of the truth of the narrative than the fact that in +the two long periods which preceded the formation and clearing up +of the atmosphere or firmament, on which rain depends, and the +elevation of the dry land, which so greatly modifies its +distribution, there had been no rain such as now occurs. This is +a most important fact, and one of the marked coincidences of the +record with scientific truth. The objection, therefore, merely +shows that the ordinary day hypothesis tends to convert one of +the finest internal harmonies of this wonderful history into an +empty and, in some respects, absurd commonplace. 2. "This +hypothesis (that days are long periods) assumes that Moses +describes the creation of all the animals and plants that have +ever lived on our globe. But geology decides that the species now +living, since they are not found in the rocks any lower than man +is, +<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> + could not have been contemporaneous with those in the +rocks, but must have been created when man was—that is, in the +sixth day. Of such a creation no mention is made in Genesis; the +inference is that Moses does not describe the creation of the +existing races, but only of those that lived thousands of years +earlier, and whose +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +existence was scarcely suspected till modern +times. Who will admit such an absurdity?" In answer to this +objection, I remark that it is based on a false assumption. The +hypothesis of long periods does not require us to assume that +Moses notices all the animals and plants that have ever lived, +but on the contrary that he informs us only of the <i>first +appearance</i> of each great natural type in the animal and +vegetable kingdoms; just as he informs us of the first appearance +of dry land on the third day, but says nothing of the changes +which it underwent on subsequent days. Thus plants were created +on the third day, and though they may have been several times +destroyed and renewed as to genera and species, we infer that +they continued to exist in all the succeeding days, though the +inspired historian does not inform us of the fact. So also many +tribes of animals were created in the early part of the fifth +day, and it is quite unnecessary for us to be informed that these +tribes continued to exist through the sixth day. If the days were +long periods, the inspired writer could not have adopted any +other course, unless he had been instructed to write a treatise +on Palæontology, and to describe the fauna and flora of each +successive period with their characteristic differences. 3. +"Though there is a general resemblance between the order of +creation as described in Genesis and by geology, yet when we look +at the details of the creation of the organic world, as required +by this hypothesis, we find manifest discrepancy. 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 rocks, all below the +carboniferous, although abounding in animals, contain scarcely +any plants, and these in the lowest strata fucoids or sea-weeds. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +But the Mosaic account evidently describes flowering and +seed-bearing plants, not flowerless and seedless algæ. 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 were in course +of deposition, as their tracks on those rocks in Nova Scotia and +Pennsylvania evince. +<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> + In short, if we maintain that Moses +describes fossils as well as living species, we find discrepancy +instead of correspondence between his order of creation and that +of geology." In this objection it is assumed that the geological +history of the earth goes back to the third day of creation, or, +in other words, to the dawn of organic life. None of the greater +authorities in geology would, however, now venture to make such +an assertion, and the progress of geology is rapidly making the +contrary more and more probable. The fact is that, on the +supposition that the days of creation are long periods, the whole +series of the fossiliferous rocks belongs to the fifth and sixth +days; and that for the early plant creation of the third day, and +the great physical changes of the fourth, geology has nothing as +yet to show, except a mass of metamorphosed eozoic rocks which +have hitherto yielded no fossils except a few Protozoa; but which +contain vast quantities of carbon in the form of graphite, which +may be the remains of plants.</p> + +<p>I have much pleasure in quoting, as a further answer to these +objections, the following from Professor Dana: +<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> + +<p>"Accepting the account in Genesis as true, the seeming +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +discrepancy between it and geology rests mainly here: Geology +holds, and has held from the first, that the progress of creation +was mainly through secondary causes; for the existence of the +science presupposes this. Moses, on the contrary, was thought to +sustain the idea of a simple fiat for each step. Grant this first +point to science, and what farther conflict is there? <i>The +question of the length of time</i>, it is replied. But not so; for +if we may take the record as allowing more than six days of +twenty-four hours, the Bible then places no limit to time. <i>The +question of the days and periods</i>, it is replied again. But this +is of little moment in comparison with the first principle +granted. Those who admit the length of time and stand upon days +of twenty-four hours have to place geological time <i>before</i> the +six days, and then assume a chaos and reordering of creation, on +the six-day and fiat principle, after a previous creation that +had operated for a long period through secondary causes. Others +take days as periods, and thus allow the required time, admitting +that creation was one in progress, a grand whole, instead of a +<i>first</i> creation excepting man by one method, and a <i>second</i> with +man by the other. This is now the remaining question between the +theologians and geologists; for all the minor points, as to the +exact interpretation of each day, do not affect the general +concordance or discordance of the Bible and science.</p> + +<p>"On this point geology is now explicit in its decision, and +indeed has long been so. It proves that there was no return to +chaos, no great revolution, that creation was beyond doubt one in +its progress. We know that some geologists have taken the other +view. But it is only in the capacity of theologians, and not as +geologists. The Rev. Dr. Buckland, in placing the great events of +geology between the first and second verses of the Mosaic +account, did not pretend that there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +was a geological basis for +such an hypothesis; and no writer since has ever brought forward +the first fact in geology to support the idea of a rearrangement +just before man; not one solitary fact has ever been appealed to. +The conclusion was on Biblical grounds, and not in any sense on +geological. The best that Buckland could say, when he wrote +twenty-five years since, was that geology did not absolutely +disprove such an hypothesis; and that can not be said now.</p> + +<p>"It is often asserted, in order to unsettle confidence in these +particular teachings of geology, that geology is a changing +science. In this connection the remark conveys an erroneous +impression. Geology is a progressive science; and all its +progress tends to establish more firmly these two principles: (1) +The slow progress of creation through secondary causes, as +explained; and (2) the progress by periods analogous to the days +of Genesis."</p> + +<p>I have, I trust, shown that the principal objections to the +lengthening of the Mosaic days into great cosmical periods are of +a character too light and superficial to deserve any regard. I +shall now endeavor to add to the internal evidence previously +given some considerations of an external character which support +this view.</p> + +<p>1. The fact that the creation was progressive, that it proceeded +from the formation of the raw material of the universe, through +successive stages, to the perfection of living organisms, if we +regard the analogy of God's operations as disclosed in the +geological history of the earth and in the present course of +nature, must impress us with a suspicion that long periods were +employed in the work. God might have prepared the earth for man +in an instant. He did not choose to do so, but on the contrary +proceeded step by step; and the record he has given us does not +receive its full significance +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +nor attain its full harmony with +the course of geological history, unless we can understand each +day of the creative week as including a long succession of ages.</p> + +<p>2. We have, as already explained, reason to believe that the +seventh day at least has been of long duration. At the close of +the sixth, God rested from all his work of material creation, and +we have as yet no evidence that he has resumed it. Neither +theologians nor evolutionists will, I presume, desire to maintain +that any strictly creative acts have occurred in the modern +period of geology. We know that the present day, if it is the +seventh, has lasted already for at least six thousand years, and, +if we may judge from the testimony of prophecy, has yet a long +space to run, before it merges in that "new heaven and new earth" +for which all believers look, and which will constitute the first +day of an endless sabbatism.</p> + +<p>3. The philosophical and religious systems of many ancient +nations afford intimations of the somewhat extensive prevalence +in ancient times of the notion of long creative periods, +corresponding to the Mosaic days. These notions, in so far as +they are based on truth, are probably derived from the Mosaic +narrative itself, or from the primitive patriarchal documents +which may have formed the basis of that narrative. They are, no +doubt, all more or less garbled versions, and can not be regarded +as of any authority, but they serve to show what was the +interpretation of the document in a very remote antiquity. I have +collected from a variety of sources the following examples:</p> + +<p>The ancient mythology of Persia appears to have had six creative +periods, each apparently of a thousand years, and corresponding +very nearly with the Mosaic days. +<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> + The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> + Chaldeans had a similar system, to which in a previous chapter we have already +referred. The Etruscans possessed a history of the creation, +somewhat resembling that of the Bible, and representing the +creation as occupying six periods of a thousand years each. +<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + +<p>The Egyptians believed that the world had been subject to a +series of destructions and renewals, the intervals between which +amounted to 120,000 years, or, according to other authorities, to +300,000 or 360,000 years. This system of destruction and renewal +the Egyptian priests appear to have wrought out into considerable +detail, but though important truths may be concealed under their +mysterious dogmas, it will not repay us to dwell on the fragments +that remain of them. There can be no doubt, however, that at +least the basis of the Egyptian cosmogony must have been the +common property of all the Hamite nations, of which Egypt was the +greatest and most permanent; and therefore in all probability +derived from the ideas of creation which were current not long +after the Deluge. The Egyptians appear also, as already stated, +to have had a physical cosmogony, beginning with a chaos in which +heaven and earth were mingled, and from which were evolved fiery +matters which ascended into the heavens, and moist earthy matters +which formed the earth and the sea; and from these were produced, +by the agency of solar heat, the various animals. The terms of +this cosmogony, as it is given by Diodorus Siculus, indicate the +belief of long formative periods. +<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> + +<p>The Hindoos have a somewhat extended, though, according to the +translations, a not very intelligible cosmogony. It +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +plainly, however, asserts long periods of creative work, and is +interesting as an ancient cosmogony preserved entire and without +transmission through secondary channels. The following is a +summary, in so far as I have been able to gather it, from the +translation of the Institutes of Menu by Sir W. Jones. +<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> + +<p>The introduction to the Institutes represents Menu as questioned +by the "divine sages" respecting the laws that should regulate +all classes or castes. He proceeds to detail the course of +creation, stating that the "Self-existing Power, +<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> +undiscovered, but making this world discernible, He whom the mind +alone can perceive, whose essence eludes the external senses, who +has no visible parts, who exists from eternity, even the soul of +all being, whom no being can comprehend, shone forth in person."</p> + +<p>After giving this exalted view of the Creator, the writer +proceeds to state that the Self-existent created the waters, and +then an egg, from which he himself comes forth as Brahma the +forefather of spirits. "The waters are called Nara because they +are the production of <i>Nara</i>, the spirit of God, and since they +were his first <i>Ayana</i>, or place of motion, he thence is named +<i>Narayana</i>, or moving on the waters. In the egg Brahma remained a +year, and caused the egg to divide, forming the heaven above and +the earth beneath, and the subtile ether, the eight regions, and +the receptacle of waters between. He then drew forth from the +supreme soul mind with all its powers and properties." The rest +of the account appears to be very confused, and I confess to a +great extent unintelligible +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +to me. There follows, however, a +continuation of the narrative, stating that there is a succession +of seven Menus, each of whom produces and supports the earth +during his reign. It is in the account of these successive Menus +that the following statement respecting the days and years of +Brahma occurs:</p> + +<p>"A day of the Gods is equal to a year. Four thousand years of the +Gods are called a Critya or Satya age. Four ages are an age of +the Gods. <i>One thousand divine ages (equal to more than four +millions of human years) are a day of Brahma the Creator.</i> +Seventy-two divine ages are one manwantara. * * * The aggregate +of four ages they call a divine age, and believe that in every +thousand such ages, or in every day of Brahma, fourteen Menus are +successively invested with the sovereignty of the earth. Each +Menu they suppose transmits his authority to his sons and +grandsons during a period of seventy-two divine ages, and such a +period they call a manwantara. Thirty such days (of the Creator), +or calpas, constitute a month of Brahma; twelve such months one +of his years, and 100 such years his age, of which they assert +that fifty years have elapsed. We are thus, according to the +Hindoos, in the first day or calpa of the fifty-first year of +Brahma's life, and in the twenty-eighth divine age of the +<i>seventh manwantara</i> of that day. In the present day of Brahma +the first Menu was named the Son of the Self-existent, and by him +the institutes of religion and civil duties are said to have been +delivered. In his time occurred a new creation called the <i>Lotos</i> +creation." Of five Menus who succeeded him, Sir William could +find little but the names, but the accounts of the seventh are +very full, and it appears that in his reign the earth was +destroyed by a flood. Sir William suggests that the first Menu +may represent the creation, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +that the seventh may be Noah. +The name Menu or Manu is equivalent to "man," and signifies "the +intelligent." +<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> + +<p>In this Hindoo cosmogony we have many points of correspondence +with the Scripture narrative: for instance, the Self-existent +Creator; the agency of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit; the +absolute creation of matter; the hovering of the Spirit over the +primeval waters; the sevenfold division of the creative process; +and the idea of days of the Creator of immense duration. If we +suppose the day of Brahma in the Hindoo cosmogony to represent +the Mosaic day, then it amounts to no less than 4,320,000 years; +or if, with Sir W. Jones, we suppose the manwantara to represent +the Mosaic day, its duration will be 308,571 years; and the total +antiquity of the earth, without counting the undefined +"beginning," will be either more than twenty-five or than two +millions of years. It would be folly, however, to suppose that +these Hindoo numbers, which are probably purely conjectural, or +based on astronomical cycles, make any near approximation to the +facts of the case. The Institutes of Menu are probably in their +present form not of great antiquity, but there are other Hindoo +documents of greater age which maintain similar views, and it is +probable that the account of the creation in the Institutes is at +least an imperfect version of the original narrative as it +existed among the earliest colonists of India. +<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> + It corresponds +in many points with the oldest notions on these subjects that +remain to us in the wrecks of the mythology of Egypt and other +ancient +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +nations, and it aids in proving that the fabulous ages +of gods and demigods in the ancient mythologies <i>are really +pre-Adamite</i>; and belong not to human history, but to the work of +creation. It also shows that the idea of long creative periods as +equivalents of the Mosaic days must, in the infancy of the +postdiluvian world, have been very widely diffused. Such evidence +is, no doubt, of small authority in the interpretation of +Scripture; but it must be admitted that serious consideration is +due to a method of interpretation which thus tends to bring the +Mosaic account into harmony with the facts of modern science, and +with the belief of almost universal antiquity, and at the same +time gives it its fullest significance and most perfect internal +symmetry of parts. It is also very interesting to note the wide +diffusion among the most ancient nations of cosmological views +identical in their main features with those of the Bible, +proving, almost beyond doubt, that these views had some common +and very ancient source, and commanded universal belief among the +primitive tribes of men.</p> + +<p>I have hitherto in this part of the discussion avoided detailed +reference to what may be regarded as the "prophetic day" view of +the narrative of creation. This may be shortly stated as follows: +In the prophetical parts of Scripture the prophet sees in vision, +as in a picture or acted scene, the events that are to come to +pass, and in consequence represents years or longer periods by +days of vision. Now the revelation of the pre-Adamite past is in +its nature akin to that of the unknown future; and Moses may have +seen these wondrous events in vision—in visions of successive +days—under the guise of which he presents geological time. Some +things in the form of the narrative favor this view, and it +certainly affords the most clearly intelligible theory as to the +mode in which such a revelation may have been made to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +man. It is advocated by Kurtz, by the author of an excellent little work, +the "Harmony of the Mosaic and Geological Records," by Hugh +Miller, and more recently by Tayler Lewis. To these writers I +must refer for its more full illustration, and for the grand +pictorial view which it gives of the vision of the creative week.</p> + +<p>In reviewing the somewhat lengthy train of reasoning into which +the term "day" has led us, it appears that from internal evidence +alone it can be rendered probable that the day of creation is +neither the natural nor the civil day. It also appears that the +objections urged against the doctrine of day-periods are of no +weight when properly scrutinized, and that it harmonizes with the +progressive nature of the work, the evidence of geology, and the +cosmological notions of ancient nations. I do not suppose that +this position has been incontrovertibly established; but I +believe that every serious difficulty has been removed from its +acceptance; and with this, for the present, I remain satisfied. +Every step of our subsequent progress will afford new criteria of +its truth or fallacy.</p> + +<p>One further question of some interest is—What, according to the +theory of long creative days and the testimony of geology, would +be the length and precise cosmical nature of these days? With +regard to the first part of the question, we do not know the +actual value of our geological ages in time; but it is probable +that each great creative æon may have extended through millions +of years. As to the nature of the days, this may have been +determined by direct volitions of the Creator, or indirectly by +some of those great astronomical cycles which arise from the +varying eccentricity of the earth's orbit, or the diminution of +the velocity of its rotation, or by its gradual cooling.</p> + +<p>With reference to these points, science has as yet little +information +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +to give. Sir William Thomson has, indeed, indicated +for the time since the earth's crust first began to form a period +of between one and two hundred millions of years; but Professor +Guthrie Tait, on the other hand, argues that ten or fifteen +millions of years are probably sufficient, +<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> + and Lockyer has suggested an hypothesis of successive rekindlings of the solar +heat which might give a more protracted time than that of +Thomson. Some of the hypotheses of derivation current, but which +are based rather on philosophical speculation than on scientific +fact, would also require a longer time than that allowed by +Thomson; and it is to be regretted that some geologists, by +giving credence to such hypotheses of derivation, and by loose +reasoning on the time required for the denudation and deposition +of rocks, have been induced to commit themselves to very +extravagant estimates as to geological time. On the whole, it is +evident that only the most vague guesses can at present be based +on the facts in our possession, though the whole time required +has unquestionably been very great, the deposition of the series +of stratified rocks probably requiring at least the greater part +of the minimum time allowed by Thomson. +<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> + +<p>As to the cosmical nature of the periods, while some geologists +appear to regard the whole of geological time as a continuous +evolution without any breaks, it is evidently more in accordance +with facts to hold that there have been cycles of repose and +activity succeeding each other, and that these have been of +different grades. In the succession of deposits it is plain that +periods of depression and upheaval common to all the continental +masses have succeeded each other at +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +somewhat regular intervals, +and that within these periods there have been alternations of +colder and warmer climates. These, however, are not equal to the +creative days of our record, for they are greatly more numerous. +They are but the vastly protracted hours of these almost endless +days. Beyond and above these there is another grade of geological +period, marked not by mere gradual elevation and depression of +the continental areas, but by vast crumplings of the earth's +crust and enormous changes of level. Such a great movement +unquestionably closed the Eozoic period of geology. Another of +less magnitude occurred in what is termed the Permian age at the +end of the Palæozoic. A third terminated the Mesozoic age, and +introduced the Tertiary or Kainozoic. Perhaps we should reckon +the glacial age, though characterized by far less physical change +than the others, as a fourth. The possible physical causes which +have been suggested for such greater disturbances are the +collapses of the crust in equatorial regions, which may be +supposed to have resulted at long intervals of time, from the +gradual retardation of the earth's rotation caused by the tides, +or the similar collapses and other changes due to the shrinkages +of the earth's interior caused by its gradual cooling, and to the +unequal deposition of material by water on different parts of its +surface. +<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> + The more full discussion of these points belongs, +however, to a future chapter.</p> + +<p>These greater movements of the crust, would, as already stated, +coincide to some extent with the later creative days in the +manner indicated below:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> +<table summary="crust movements"> +<tr> +<td>Collapse of crust at close of Eozoic Time,</td><td>}</td> +<td>Close of Fourth Æon, and beginning of Fifth.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Collapse in Permian Period and end of Palæozoic Time,</td><td>}</td> +<td>Middle of Fifth Æon.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Great subsidence and collapse at close of Mesozoic Age,</td><td>}</td> +<td>Close of Fifth Æon, and beginning of Sixth.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Great subsidence of the Pleistocene or Glacial Age,</td><td>}</td> +<td>End of Sixth Æon.</td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<p>The question recurs—Why are God's days so long? He is not like +us, a being of yesterday. He is "from Olam to Olam," and even in +human history one day is with him as a thousand years; and we who +live in these later days of the world know full well how slow the +march of his plan has been even in human history. We shall know +in the endless ages of a future eternity that even to us these +long creative days may at last become but as watches in the +night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">THE ATMOSPHERE.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:50%;">"And God said, Let there be an expanse between the waters; +and let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse, and separated +the waters which are under the expanse from the waters which are over the expanse: and +it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the +second day."—Genesis i. 6-8.</span></h2> + + +<p>At the opening of the period to which we are now introduced the +earth was covered by the waters, and these were in such a +condition that there was no distinction between the seas and the +clouds. No atmosphere separated them, or, in other words, dense +fogs and mists everywhere rested on the surface of the primeval +ocean. To understand as far as possible the precise condition of +the earth's surface at this period, it will be necessary to +notice the present constitution of the atmosphere, especially in +its relations to aqueous vapor.</p> + +<p>The regular and constant constituents of the atmosphere are the +elements oxygen and nitrogen, which, at the temperature and +pressure existing on the surface of our globe, are permanently +aeriform or gaseous. Beside these gases, the air always contains +a quantity of the vapor of water in a perfectly aeriform and +transparent condition. This vapor is not, however, permanently +gaseous. At all temperatures below 212 degrees it tends to the +liquid state; and its elastic force, which preserves its +particles in the separated state of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +vapor, increases or +diminishes at a more rapid rate than the increase or diminution +of temperature. Hence the quantity of vapor that can be suspended +in clear air depends on the temperature of the air itself. As the +temperature of the air rises, its power of sustaining vapor +increases more rapidly than its temperature; and as the +temperature of the air falls, the elastic force of its contained +vapor diminishes in a greater ratio, until it can exist as an +invisible vapor no longer, but becomes condensed into minute +bubbles or globules, forming cloud, mist, or rain. Two other +circumstances operate along with these properties of air and +vapor. The heat radiated from the earth's surface causes the +lower strata of air to be, in ordinary circumstances, warmer than +the higher; and, on the other hand, warm air, being lighter than +that which is colder, the warm layer of air at the surface +continually tends to rise through and above the colder currents +immediately over it. Let us consider the operation of the causes +thus roughly sketched in a column of calm air. The lower portion +becomes warmed, and if in contact with water takes up a quantity +of its vapor proportioned to the temperature, or in ordinary +circumstances somewhat less than this proportion. It then tends +to ascend, and as it rises and becomes mixed with colder air it +gradually loses its power of sustaining moisture, and at a height +proportioned to the diminution of temperature and the quantity of +vapor originally contained in the air, it begins to part with +water, which becomes condensed in the form of mist or cloud; and +the surface at which this precipitation takes place is often +still more distinctly marked when two masses or layers of air at +different temperatures become intermixed; in which case, on the +principle already stated, the mean temperature produced is unable +to sustain the vapor proper to the two extremes, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +moisture is +precipitated. It thus happens that layers of cloud accumulate in +the atmosphere, while between them and the surface there is a +stratum of clear air. Fogs and mists are in the present state of +nature exceptional appearances, depending generally on local +causes, and showing what the world might be but for that +balancing of temperature and the elastic force of vapor which +constitutes the atmospheric firmament. +<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> + +<p>The quantity of water thus suspended over the earth is enormous. +"When we see a cloud resolve itself into rain, and pour out +thousands of gallons of water, we can not comprehend how it can +float in the atmosphere." +<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> + The explanation is—1st, the +extreme levity of the minute globules, which causes them to fall +very slowly; 2d, they are supported by currents of air, +especially by the ascending currents developed both in still air +and in storms; 3dly, clouds are often dissolving on one side and +forming on another. A cloud gradually descending may be +dissolving away by evaporation at the base as fast as new matter +is being added above. On the other hand, an ascending warm +current of air may be constantly depositing moisture at the base +of the cloud, and this may be evaporating under the solar rays +above. In this case a cloud is "merely the visible form of an +aerial space, in which certain processes are at the moment in +equilibrium, and all the particles in a state of upward +movement." +<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> + But so soon as condensation markedly exceeds +evaporation, rain falls, and the atmosphere discharges its vast +load of water—how vast we may gather from the fact +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +that the +waters of all the rivers are but a part of the overflowings of +the great atmospheric reservoir. "God binds up the waters in his +thick cloud, and the cloud is not rent under them." It is thus +that the terrestrial waters are divided into those above and +those below that expanse of clear air in which we live and move, +exempt from the dense, dark mists of the earth's earlier state, +yet enjoying the benefits of the cloudy curtain that veils the +burning sun, and of the cloudy reservoirs that drop down rain to +nourish every green thing.</p> + +<p>We have no reason to suppose that the laws which regulate +mixtures of gases and vapors did not prevail in the period in +question. It is probable that these laws are as old as the +creation of matter; but the condition of our earth up to the +second day must have been such as prevented them from operating +as at present. Such a condition might possibly be the result of +an excessive evaporation occasioned by internal heat. The +interior of the earth still remains in a heated state, and +includes large subterranean reservoirs of melted rock, as is +proved by the increase of temperature in deep mines and borings, +and by the widely extended phenomena of hot springs and volcanic +action. At the period in question the internal temperature of the +earth was probably vastly greater than at present, and perhaps +the whole interior of the globe may have been in a state of +igneous fluidity. At the same time the external solid crust may +have been thin, and it was not fractured and thickened in places +by the upheaval of mountain chains or the deposition of great and +unequal sheets of sediment; for, as I may again remind the +reader, the primitive chaos did not consist of a confused +accumulation of rocky masses, but the earth's crust must then +have been more smooth and unbroken than at any subsequent period. +This being the internal condition of the earth, it is quite +conceivable, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +without any violation of the existing laws of +nature, that the waters of the ocean, warmed by internal heat, +may have sent up a sufficient quantity of vapor to keep the lower +strata of air in a constant state of saturation, and to occasion +an equally constant precipitation of moisture from the colder +strata above. This would merely be the universal operation of a +cause similar to that which now produces fogs at the northern +limit of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, and in other localities where +currents of warm water flow under or near to cooler air. Such a +state of things is more conceivable in a globe covered with +water, and consequently destitute of the dry and powerfully +radiating surfaces which land presents, and receiving from +without the rays, not of a solar orb, but of a comparatively +feeble and diffused luminous ether. The continued action of these +causes would gradually cool the earth's crust and its incumbent +waters, until the heat from without preponderated over that from +within, when the result stated in the text would be effected.</p> + +<p>The statements of our primitive authority for this condition of +the earth might also be accounted for on the supposition that the +permanently gaseous part of the atmosphere did not at the period +in question exist in its present state, but that it was on the +second day actually elaborated and caused to take its place in +separating the atmospheric from the oceanic waters. The first is +by far the more probable view; but we may still apply to such +speculations the words of Elihu, the friend of Job:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Stand still and consider the wonderful works of God.<br /> +Dost thou know when God disposes them,<br /> +And the lightning of his cloud shines forth?<br /> +Dost thou know the poising of the dark clouds,<br /> +The wonderful works of the Perfect in knowledge?"</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +We may now consider the words in which this great improvement in +the condition of the earth is recorded. The Hebrew term for the +atmosphere is <i>Rakiah</i>, literally, something expanded or beaten +out—an expanse. It is rendered in our version "firmament," a +word conveying the notion of support and fixity, and in the +Septuagint "<i>Stereoma</i>," a word having a similar meaning. The +idea conveyed by the Hebrew word is not, however, that of +<i>strength</i>, but of <i>extent</i>; or as Milton—the most accurate of +expositors of these words—has it:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10em;font-size:90%;">"The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure,<br /> +Transparent, elemental air, diffused<br /> +In circuit to the uttermost convex<br /> +Of this great round."</p> + +<p>That this was really the way in which this word was understood by +the Hebrews appears from several passages of the Bible. Job says +of God, "Who alone <i>spreadeth</i> out the heavens." +<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> + David, in the 104th Psalm, which is a poetical paraphrase of the history of +creation, speaks of the Creator as "<i>stretching</i> out the heavens +as a curtain." In later writers, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, +similar expressions occur. The notion of a solid or arched +firmament was probably altogether remote from the minds of these +writers. Such beliefs may have prevailed at the time when the +Septuagint translation was made, but I have no hesitation in +affirming that no trace of them can be found in the Old +Testament. In proof of this, I may refer to some of the passages +which have been cited as affording the strongest instances of +this kind of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +"accommodation." In Exodus xxiv., 10, we are told, +"And they saw the God of Israel, and under his feet as it were a +paved work of sapphire, and as it were the heaven itself in its +clearness." This is evidently a comparison of the pavement seen +under the feet of Jehovah to a sapphire in its color, and to the +heavens in its transparency. The intention of the writer is not +to give information respecting the heavens, or to liken them +either to a pavement or a sapphire; all that we can infer is that +he believed the heavens to be clear or transparent. Job mentions +the "pillars of heaven," but the connection shows that this is +merely a poetical expression for lofty mountains. The earthquake +causes these pillars of heaven to "tremble." We are informed in +the book of Job that God "ties up his waters in his thick cloud, +and the cloud is not rent under them." We are also told of the +"treasures of snow and the treasures of hail," and rain is called +the "bottles of heaven," and is said to be poured out of the +"lattices of heaven." I recognize in all these mere poetical +figures, not intended to be literally understood. Some learned +writers wish us to believe that the intention of the Bible in +these places is actually to teach that the clouds are contained +in skin bottles, or something similar, and that they are emptied +through hatches in a solid firmament. To found such a belief, +however, on a few figurative statements, seems ridiculous, +especially when we consider that the writers of the Scriptures +show themselves to be well acquainted with nature, and would not +be likely on any account to deviate so far from the ordinary +testimony of the senses; more especially as by doing so they +would enable every unlettered man who has seen a cloud gather on +a mountain's brow or dissolve away before increasing heat to +oppose the evidence of his senses to their statements, and +perhaps to reject them with scorn as a barefaced +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +imposture. But, lastly, we are triumphantly directed to the question of Elihu in +his address to Job:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10em;font-size:90%;">"Hast thou with him stretched out the sky,<br /> +Which is firm and like a molten mirror?"</p> + +<p>But the word translated sky here is not "<i>rakiah</i>," or +"<i>shamayim</i>," but another signifying the <i>clouds</i>, so that we +should regard Elihu as speaking of the apparent firmness or +stability, and the beautiful reflected tints of the clouds. His +words may be paraphrased thus: "Hast thou aided Him in spreading +out those clouds, which appear so stable and self-sustaining, and +so beautifully reflect the sunlight?" +<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> + The above passages form +the only authority which I can find in the Scriptures for the +doctrine of a solid firmament, which may therefore be +characterized as a modern figment of men more learned in books +but less acquainted with nature than the Scripture writers. As a +contrast to all such doctrines I may quote the sublime opening of +the poetical account of creation in Psalm civ., which we may also +take here as elsewhere as the oldest and most authoritative +commentary on the first chapter of Genesis:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10em;font-size:90%;">"Bless the Lord, O my soul!<br /> +O Lord, my God, thou art very great:<br /> +Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,<br /> +Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment,<br /> +Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain (of a tent),<br /> +<i>Who layest the beams of thy chambers in the waters,<br /> +Who makest the clouds thy chariots,<br /> +Who walkest upon the wings of the wind</i>."</p> + +<p>The waters here are those above the firmament, the whole +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +of this +part of the Psalm being occupied with the heavens; and there is +no place left for the solid firmament, of which the writer +evidently knew nothing. He represents God as laying his chambers +on the waters, instead of on the supposed firmament, and as +careering in cloudy chariots on the wings of the wind, instead of +over a solid arch. For all the above reasons, we conclude that +the "expanse" of the verses under consideration was understood by +the writers of the book of God to be <i>aerial</i>, not <i>solid</i>; and +the "establishment of the clouds above," as it is finely called +in Proverbs, is the effect of those meteorological laws to which +I have already referred, and which were now for the first time +brought into operation by the divine Legislator. The Hebrew +theology was not of a kind to require such expedients as that of +solid heavenly arches; it recurred at once to the will—the +decree—of Jehovah; and was content to believe that through this +efficient cause the "rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not +full," for "to the place whence the rivers came, thither they +return again," through the agency of those floating clouds, "the +waters above the heavens," which "pour down rain according to the +vapor thereof."</p> + +<p>God called the expanse "Heaven." In former chapters we have +noticed that heaven in the popular speech of the Hebrews, as in +our own, had different meanings, applying alike to the cloudy, +the astral, and the spiritual heavens. The Creator here sanctions +its application to the aerial expanse; and accordingly throughout +the Scriptures it is used in this way; <i>rakiah</i> occurs very +rarely, as if it had become nearly obsolete, or was perhaps +regarded as a merely technical or descriptive term. The divine +sanction for the use of the term heaven for the atmosphere is, as +already explained, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +to indicate that this popular use is not to +interfere with its application to the whole universe beyond our +earth in verse 1st.</p> + +<p>The poetical parts of the Bible, and especially the book of Job, +which is probably the most ancient of the whole, abound in +references to the atmosphere and its phenomena. I may quote a few +of these passages, to enable us to understand the views of these +subjects given in the Bible, and the meaning attached to the +creation of the atmosphere, in very ancient periods. In Job, 38th +chapter, we have the following:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10em;font-size:90%;">"In what way is the lightning distributed,<br /> +And how is the east wind spread abroad over the earth?<br /> +Who hath opened a channel for the pouring rain,<br /> +Or a way for the thunder-flash?<br /> +To cause it to rain on the land where no man is,<br /> +In the desert where no one dwells;<br /> +To saturate the desolate and waste ground,<br /> +And to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth."</p> + +<p>Here we have the unequal and unforeseen distribution of +thunder-storms, beyond the knowledge and power of man, but under +the absolute control of God, and designed by him for beneficent +purposes. Equally fine are some of the following lines:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10em;font-size:90%;">"Dost thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,<br /> +That abundance of waters may cover thee?<br /> +Dost thou send forth the lightnings, and they go,<br /> +And say unto thee, Here are we?<br /> +Who can number the clouds by wisdom,<br /> +Or cause the bottles of heaven to empty themselves?<br /> +When the dust groweth into mire,<br /> +And the clods cleave fast together?"</p> + +<p>In the 36th and 37th chapters of the same book we have a grand +description of atmospheric changes in their relation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +to man and his works. The speaker is Elihu, who in this ancient book most +favorably represents the knowledge of nature that existed at a +time probably anterior to the age of Moses—a knowledge far +superior to that which we find in the works of many modern poets +and expositors, and accompanied by an intense appreciation of the +grandeur and beauty of natural objects:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10em;font-size:90%;">"For he draweth up the drops of water,<br /> +Rain is condensed +<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> + from his vapor,<br /> +Which the clouds do drop,<br /> +And distill upon man abundantly.<br /> +Yea, can any understand the distribution of the clouds<br /> +Or the thundering of his tabernacle. +<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a><br /> +Behold he spreadeth his lightning upon it,<br /> +He covereth it as with the depths of the sea. +<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a><br /> +By these he executes judgment on the people,<br /> +By these also he giveth food in abundance;<br /> +His hands he covers with the lightning,<br /> +And commands it (against the enemy) in its striking;<br /> +He uttereth to it his decree, +<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a><br /> +Concerning the herd as well as proud man.<br /> +At this also my heart trembles,<br /> +And bounds out of its place;<br /> +Hear attentively the thunder of his voice,<br /> +And the loud sound that goes from his mouth.<br /> +He directs it under the whole heavens,<br /> +And his lightning to the ends of the earth.<br /> +After it his voice roareth,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +He thundereth with the voice of his majesty;<br /> +And delays not (the tempest) when his voice is heard.<br /> +God thundereth marvellously with his voice,<br /> +He doeth wonders which we can not comprehend;<br /> +For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth.<br /> +Also to the pouring rain, even the great rain of his might.<br /> +He sealeth up the hand of every man,<br /> +That all men may know his work.<br /> +Then the beasts go to their dens,<br /> +And remain in their caverns.<br /> +Out of the south cometh the whirlwind<br /> +And cold out of the north,<br /> +By the breath of God the frost is produced<br /> +And the breadth of waters becomes bound;<br /> +With moisture he loads the thick cloud,<br /> +He spreads the cloud of his lightning,<br /> +And it is turned about by his direction,<br /> +To execute his pleasure on the face of the world;<br /> +Whether for correction, for his land, or for mercy,<br /> +He causeth it to come.<br /> +Hearken unto this, O Job,<br /> +Stand still and consider the wonderful works of God.<br /> +Dost thou know when God disposes these things,<br /> +And the lightning of his cloud flashes forth?<br /> +Dost thou know the poising of the clouds,<br /> +The wonderful work of the Perfect in knowledge?<br /> +When thy garments become warm<br /> +When he quieteth the earth by the south wind;<br /> +Hast thou with him spread out the clouds<br /> +Firm and like a molten mirror?" +<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +It would not be easy to find, in the poetry of any nation or +time, a description of so many natural phenomena, so fine in +feeling or truthful in delineation. It should go far to dispel +the too prevalent ideas of early Oriental ignorance, and should +lead to a more full appreciation of these noble pictures of +nature, unsurpassed in the literature of any people or time. I +trust that the previous illustrations are sufficient to show, not +only that the <i>stereoma</i>, or solid firmament of the Septuagint, +is not to be found in Scripture, but that the positive doctrine +of the Bible on the subject is of a very different character. For +instance, in the above extract from the book of Job, Elihu speaks +of the poising or suspension of the clouds as inscrutable, and +tells us that God draws up water into the clouds, and pours down +rain according to the vapor thereof; he also speaks of the clouds +as being scattered before the brightness of the sun; and notices, +in truthful as well as exalted language, the nature and +succession of the lightning's flash, the thunder, and the +precipitation of rain that follows. Solomon also informs us that +the "establishment of the clouds above" is due to the law or will +of Jehovah. Finally, in this connection, the divine sanction +given to the use of the term heaven for the atmosphere may in +itself be regarded as an intimation that no definite barrier +separates our film of atmosphere from the boundless abyss of +heaven without.</p> + +<p>Of this period natural science gives us no intimation. In the +earliest geological epochs organic life, dry land, and an +atmosphere already existed. At the period now under consideration +the two former had not been called into existence, and the latter +was in process of elaboration from the materials +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +of the primeval deep. If the formation of the atmosphere in its existing +conditions was, as already hinted, a result of the gradual +cooling of the earth, then this period must have been of great +length, and the action of the heated waters on the crust of the +globe may have produced thick layers of detrital matter destined +to form the first soils of the succeeding æon. We know nothing, +however, of these primitive strata, and most of them must have +been removed by denuding agencies in succeeding periods, or +restored by subterranean heat to the crystalline state. The +events and results of this day may be summed up as follows:</p> + +<p>"At the commencement of the period the earth was enveloped by a +misty or vaporous mantle. In its progress those relations of air +and vapor which cause the separation of the clouds from the earth +by a layer of clear air, and the varied alternations of sunshine +and rain, were established. At the close of the period the newly +formed atmosphere covered a universal ocean; and there was +probably a very regular and uniform condition of the atmospheric +currents, and of the processes of evaporation and condensation."</p> + +<p>But while we must affirm that no idea of a solid atmospheric +vault can be detected in the Bible, and while we may also affirm +that such an idea would have been altogether foreign to its tone, +which invariably refers all things not to secondary machinery, +but to the will and fiat of the Supreme, we must not forget that +a most important moral purpose was to be served by the assertion +of the establishment of the atmospheric expanse. Among all +nations the phenomena of the atmosphere have had important +theological and mythological relations. The ever-changing and +apparently capricious aspects of the atmosphere and its clouds, +the terrible effects of storms, and the balmy influence of +sunshine and calm, deeply +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +impress the minds of simple and +superstitious men, and this all the more that in their daily life +and expeditions they are constantly subjected to the effects of +atmospheric vicissitudes. Hence the greatest gods of all the +ancient nations are weather-gods—rulers of the atmospheric +heavens—displaying their anger in the thunder-storm and tornado. +It is likely that in most cases, as in many barbarous tribes of +modern times, these weather-gods were malevolent beings +contending against the genial influences of the heavenly Sun-god; +but in nearly every case their supposed practical importance has +elevated them, as in the case of the Olympian Zeus, the +Scandinavian Thor, and the American Hurakon, to the place of +supreme divinity. This was one of the superstitions which the +Hebrew monotheism had to overcome. Hence the atmosphere is +affirmed to be under Jehovah's law, and all its phenomena are +attributed to his power. The value of this as cutting at the root +of the most widespread superstitions it is easy to understand, +and it has a farther value in teaching that even the apparently +unstable and capricious air is a thing established from the first +and amenable to the ordinance of God. How difficult it has been +to eradicate superstitious views of the atmosphere may be learned +from the fact that St. Paul, in writing to the enlightened +citizens of Ephesus, could speak of the power which the heathen +worshipped as the "Prince of the powers of the air," and it is +also evidenced by the abundant notions of this kind which have +survived from the Middle Ages among the more ignorant part of the +people even in lands called Christian.</p> + +<p>While, however, the Bible affirms the atmosphere to be subject to +law, it does not carry this into the domain of physical +necessity, and affirm with some modern materialistic philosophers +that it is useless to pray for rain. It is God who gives +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, and what he gives he can +withhold. Perhaps no part of our subject can better than this +illustrate the rational distinction between a mere physical +fatalism, or a mere superstitious fear of capricious nature, and +that belief in a divine Lawgiver which lies between these +extremes. Modern science may smile at the poor Indian, who in his +fear invokes Hurakon or Tlaloc or the terrible Thunder-bird, and +may even despise that nobler worship of the great Phoenician +Sun-god, the source and fountain of all light and life; against +which, though it was the grandest of all the old idolatries, +Elijah waged war to the death. But may it not equally deride the +faith of Elijah himself, when, after three years of drought, he +prayed in the sight of assembled Israel for rain? It may do so if +physical law amounts to an invariable necessity, and if there is +no supreme Will behind it. But if natural laws are the expression +of the divine will, if these laws are multiform and complicated +in their relations, and regulate vastly varied causes interacting +with each other, and if the action and welfare of man come within +the scope of these laws, then there is nothing irrational in the +supposition that God, without any capricious or miraculous +intervention, may have so correlated the myriad adjustments of +his creation as that, while it is his usual rule that rain falls +alike on the evil and on the good, he may make its descent at +particular times and places to depend on the needs and requests +of his own children. In truth the belief in law is essential to +the philosophical conception of prayer. If the universe were a +mere chaos of chances, or if it were a result of absolute +necessity, there would be no place for intelligent prayer; but if +it is under the control of a Lawgiver, wise and merciful, not a +mere manager of material machinery, but a true Father of all, +then we can go to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +such a being with our requests, not in the +belief that we can change his great plans, or that any advantage +could result from this if it were possible, but that these plans +may be made in his boundless wisdom and love to meet our +necessities. There is also in the Bible the farther promise that, +if we are truly the children of God, regulating our conduct by +his will and enlightened by his spirit, we shall know how to pray +for what is in accordance with his divine purpose, and how to +receive with gladness whatever he sees fit to give. While, +therefore, the Biblical doctrine as to natural law emancipates us +from fears of angry storm-demons, it draws us near to a heavenly +Father, whose power is above all the tempests of earth, and who, +while ruling by law, has regulated all things in conformity with +the higher law of love. When God had made the atmosphere, he saw +that it was good, and the highest significance is given to this +by the consideration that God is love. The position of the Bible +is thus the true mean between superstitions at once unhappy and +debasing, and a materialistic infidelity that would reduce the +universe to a dead, remorseless machine, in which we must +struggle for a precarious existence till we are crushed between +its wheels.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">THE DRY LAND AND THE FIRST PLANTS.</span><br /></h2> + +<p style="font-size:70%;text-align:left;text-indent:3em;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be +gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God +called the dry land earth, and the gathering of waters called he seas; and God +saw that it was good.</p> + +<p style="font-size:70%;text-align:left;text-indent:3em;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the springing herb, the herb bearing seed, +and the fruit tree yielding fruit, after its kind, whose seed is in it on the earth: +and it was so. And the earth brought forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed, +and the tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, after its kind; and God saw that it +was good."—Genesis i., 10, 11.</p> + +<p>These are events sufficiently simple and intelligible in their +general character. Geology shows us that the emergence of the dry +land must have resulted from the elevation of parts of the bed of +the ancient universal ocean, and that the agent employed in such +changes is the bending and crumpling of the outer crust of the +earth, caused by lateral pressure, and operating either in a slow +and regular manner or by sudden paroxysms. It farther informs us +that the existing continents consist of stratified or bedded +masses, more or less inclined, fissured and irregularly elevated, +and usually supported by crystalline rocks which have been +produced among them, or forced up beneath or through them by +internal agencies, and which truly constitute the pillars and +foundations of the earth. These elevations, it is true, were +successive, and belong to different periods; but the appearance +of the first dry land is that intended here.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +The elevation of the dry land is more frequently referred to in +Scripture than any other cosmological fact; and while all have +been misapprehended, the statements on this subject have been +even more unjustly dealt with than others. In the text, the word +"earth" (<i>aretz</i> +<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> +) is, by divine sanction, narrowed in meaning +to the dry land; but while some expositors are quite willing to +restrict it to this, or even a more limited sense, in the first +and second verses of this chapter, almost the only verses in the +Bible where the terms of the narrative make such a restriction +inadmissible, they are equally ready to understand it as meaning +the whole globe in places where the explanatory clause in the +verse now under consideration teaches us that we should +understand the land only, as distinguished from the sea. I may +quote some of these passages, and note the views they give; +always bearing in mind that, after the intimation here given, we +must understand the term "earth" as applying <i>only to the +continents</i> or <i>dry land</i>, unless where the context otherwise +fixes the meaning. We may first turn to Psalm civ.:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Thou laidst the foundations of the earth,<br /> +That it should never be removed;<br /> +Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment;<br /> +The waters stood above the mountains;<br /> +At thy rebuke they fled;<br /> +At the sound of thy thunder they hasted away;<br /> +Mountains ascended, valleys descended<br /> +To the place thou hast appointed for them:<br /> +Thou hast appointed them bounds that they may not pass,<br /> +That they return not again to cover the earth."</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +The position of these verses in this "the hymn of creation" +leaves no doubt that they refer to the events we are now +considering. I have given above the literal reading of the line +that refers to the elevation of mountains and subsidence of +valleys; admitting, however, that the grammatical construction +gives an air of probability to the rendering in our version, +"they go up by the mountains, they go down by the valleys," +which, on the other hand, is rendered very improbable by the +sense. In whichever sense we understand this line, the picture +presented to us by the Psalmist includes the elevation of the +mountains and continents, the subsidence of the waters into their +depressed basins, and the firm establishment of the dry land on +its rocky foundations, the whole accompanied by a feature not +noticed in Genesis—the voice of God's thunder—or, in other +words, electrical and volcanic explosions. The following +quotations refer to the same subject:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Before the mountains were settled,<br /> +Before the hills was I (the Wisdom of God) brought forth;<br /> +While as yet he had not made the earth,<br /> +Nor the plains, nor the higher parts of the habitable world.<br /> +When he gave the sea his decree<br /> +That the waters should not pass his limits,<br /> +When he determined the foundations of the earth."<br /> +<span style="margin-left:15em;">—Proverbs viii., 25.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 7em;font-size:90%;">"Thou hast established the earth, and it endureth,<br /> +According to thy decrees they continue this day,<br /> +For all are thy servants."<br /> +<span style="margin-left:15em;">—Psalm cxix., 90.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 9em;font-size:90%;">"Who shaketh the earth out of its place,<br /> +And its pillars tremble."<br /> +<span style="margin-left:15em;">—Job ix., 6.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 7em;font-size:90%;">"Where wast thou when I founded the earth?<br /> +Declare, if thou hast knowledge.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +Who hath fixed the proportion thereof, if thou knowest?<br /> +Who stretched the line upon it?<br /> +Upon what are its foundations settled?<br /> +Or who laid its corner-stone,<br /> +When the morning stars sang together,<br /> +And all the sons of God shouted for joy?<br /> +Who shut up the sea with doors<br /> +In its bursting forth as from the womb?<br /> +When I made the cloud its garment,<br /> +And swathed it in thick darkness,<br /> +I measured out for it my limit,<br /> +And fixed its bars and doors;<br /> +And said, Thus far shalt thou come, but no farther,<br /> +And here shall thy proud waves be stayed."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">—Job xxxviii., 4.</span></p> + +<p>In these passages the foundation of the earth at first, as well +as the shaking of its pillars by the earthquake, are connected +with what we usually call natural law—the decree of the +Almighty—the unchanging arrangements of an unchangeable Creator, +whose "hands formed the dry land." +<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> + This is the ultimate cause +not only of the elevation of the land, but of all other natural +things and processes. The naturalist does not require to be +informed that the details, in so far as they are referred to in +the above passages, are perfectly in accordance with what we know +of the nature and support of continental masses. Geological +observation and mathematical calculation have in our day combined +their powers to give clear views of the manner in which the +fractured strata of the earth are wedged and arched together, and +supported by internal igneous masses upheaved from beneath, and +subsequently cooled and hardened. A general view of these facts +which we have learned from scientific inquiry, the Hebrews +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +gleaned with nearly as much precision from the short account of +the elevation of the land in Genesis, and from the later comments +of their inspired poets. From the same source our own great poet, +Milton, learned these cosmical facts, before the rise of geology, +and expressed them in unexceptionable terms:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 7em;font-size:90%;"><span style="margin-left:5em;">"The mountains huge appear</span><br /> +Emergent, and their broad bare backs upheave<br /> +Into the clouds, their tops ascend the sky.<br /> +So high as heaved the tumid hills, so low<br /> +Down sunk a hollow bottom, broad and deep,<br /> +Capacious bed of waters."</p> + +<p>In further illustration of the opinions of the Scripture writers +respecting the nature of the earth, and the disturbances to which +it is liable, I quote the following passages. The first is from +the magnificent description of Jehovah descending to succor his +people amid the terrors of the earthquake, the volcano, and the +thunder-storm, in Psalm xviii.:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Then shook and trembled the earth,<br /> +The foundations of the hills moved and were shaken,<br /> +Because he was angry.<br /> +Smoke went up from his nostrils,<br /> +Fire from his mouth devoured,<br /> +Coals were kindled by it.<br /> +Then were seen the channels of the waters,<br /> +And the foundations of the world were discovered,<br /> +At thy rebuke—O Jehovah—<br /> +At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils."</p> + +<p>In another place in the Psalms we find volcanic action thus +tersely sketched:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 15em;font-size:90%;text-indent:-.5em;">"He looketh on the earth and it trembleth,<br /> +He toucheth the hills and they smoke."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—Psalm civ., 32.</span> +</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +Perhaps the most remarkable discourse on this subject in the +whole Bible is that in Job xxviii., in which mining operations +are introduced as an illustration of the difficulty of obtaining +true wisdom. This passage is interesting both from its extreme +antiquity, and the advancement in knowledge and practical skill +which it indicates. It presents, however, many difficulties; and +its details have almost entirely lost their true significance in +our common English version:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"Surely there is a vein for silver,<br /> +And a place for the gold which men refine;<br /> +Iron is taken from the earth,<br /> +And copper is molten from the ore.<br /> +To the end of darkness and to all extremes man searcheth,<br /> +For the stones of darkness and the shadow of death.<br /> +He opens a passage [shaft] from where men dwell,<br /> +Unsupported by the foot, they hang down and swing to and fro. +<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a><br /> +The earth—out of it cometh bread;<br /> +And beneath, it is overturned as by fire. +<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a><br /> +Its stones are the place of sapphires,<br /> +And it hath lumps +<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> of gold.<br /> +The path (thereto) the bird of prey hath not known,<br /> +The vulture's eye hath not seen it. +<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a><br /> +The wild beasts' whelps have not trodden it,<br /> +The lion hath not passed over it.<br /> +Man layeth his hand on the hard rock,<br /> +He turneth up the mountains from their roots,<br /> +He cutteth channels [<i>adits</i>] in the rocks,<br /> +His eye seeth every precious thing.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +He restraineth the streams from trickling,<br /> +And bringeth the hidden thing to light.<br /> +But where shall wisdom be found,<br /> +And where is the place of understanding?"</p> + +<p>This passage, incidentally introduced, gives us a glimpse of the +knowledge of the interior of the earth and its products, as it +existed in an age probably anterior to that of Moses. It brings +before us the repositories of the valuable metals and gems—the +mining operations, apparently of some magnitude and difficulty, +undertaken in extracting them—and the wonderful structure of the +earth itself, green and productive at the surface, rich in +precious metals beneath, and deeper still the abode of intense +subterranean fires. The only thing wanting to give completeness +to the picture is some mention of the fossil remains buried in +the earth; and, as the main thought is the eager and successful +search for useful minerals, this can hardly be regarded as a +defect. The application of all this is finer than almost any +thing else in didactic poetry. Man can explore depths of the +earth inaccessible to all other creatures, and extract thence +treasures of inestimable value; yet, after thus exhausting all +the natural riches of the earth, he too often lacks that highest +wisdom which alone can fit him for the true ends of his spiritual +being. How true is all this, even in our own wonder-working days! +A poet of to-day could scarcely say more of subterranean wonders, +or say it more truthfully and beautifully; nor could he arrive at +a conclusion more pregnant with the highest philosophy than the +closing words:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;font-size:90%;">"The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;<br /> +And to depart from evil is understanding." +</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +The emergence of the dry land is followed by a repetition of the +approval of the Creator. "God saw that it was good." To our view +that primeval dry land would scarcely have seemed good. It was a +world of bare, rocky peaks, and verdureless valleys—here active +volcanoes, with their heaps of scoriæ and scarcely cooled lava +currents—there vast mudflats, recently upheaved from the bottom +of the waters—nowhere even a blade of grass or a clinging +lichen. Yet it was good in the view of its Maker, who could see +it in relation to the uses for which he had made it, and as a fit +preparatory step to the new wonders he was soon to introduce. +Then too, as we are informed in Job xxxviii., "The morning stars +sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." We also, +when we think of the beautiful variety of the terrestrial +surface, the character and composition of its soils, the variety +of climate and exposure resulting from its degrees of elevation, +the arrangements for the continuance of springs and streams, and +many other beneficial provisions connected with the merely +mechanical arrangements of the dry land, may well join in the +tribute of praise to the All-wise Creator. There is, however, a +farther thought suggested by the approval of the great Artificer. +In this wondrous progress of creation, it seems as if every thing +at first was in its best estate. No succeeding state could +parallel the unbroken symmetry of the earth in the fluid and +vaporous condition of the "deep." Before the elevation of the +land, the atmospheric currents and the deposition of moisture +must have been surpassingly regular. The first dry land may have +presented crags and peaks and ravines and volcanic cones in a +more marvellous and perfect manner than any succeeding +continents—even as the dry and barren moon now, in this respect, +far surpasses the earths. In the progress of organic +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +life, geology gives similar indications, in the variety and magnitude +of many animal types on their first introduction; so that this +may very possibly be a law of creation.</p> + +<p>During the emergence of the first dry land, large quantities of +detrital matter must have been deposited in the waters, and in +part elevated into land. All of these beds would, probably, be +destitute of organic remains; but if such beds were formed and +still remain, they are probably unknown to us, for the oldest +formations that we know—those of the Eozoic age—contain traces +of such remains. It has, indeed, been suggested that these most +ancient organisms are, as it were, overlooked in the history of +creation, or regarded as equivalent to those shapeless monsters +and animals of the darkness that are referred to in the older +Turanian versions of this story of creation. I doubt very much, +however, if this is a fair interpretation of our ancient record; +but we shall be in a better position to discuss it when we come +to the actual introduction of animals.</p> + +<p>Modern analogy would induce us to believe that the land was not +elevated suddenly; but either by a series of small paroxysms, as +in the case of Chili, or by a gradual and imperceptible movement, +as in the case of Sweden—two of the most remarkable modern +instances of elevation of land—accompanied, however, in the case +of the last by local subsidence. +<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> + In either of these ways the +seas and rivers would have time to smooth the more rugged +inequalities, to widen the ravines into valleys, and to spread +out sediment in the lower grounds; thus fitting the surface for +the habitation of plants and animals. We must not suppose, +however, that the dry land had any close resemblance to that now +existing in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +its form or distribution. Geology amply proves that +since the first appearance of dry land, its contour has +frequently been changed, and probably also its position. Hence +nearly all our present land consists of rocks which have been +formed under the waters, long after the period now under +consideration, and have been subsequently hardened and elevated; +and since all the existing high mountain ranges are of a +comparatively late age, it is probable that this primeval dry +land was low, as well as, in the earlier part of the period at +least, of comparatively small extent. It is, however, by no means +certain that there may not have been a greater expanse of land +toward the close of this period than that which afterwards +existed in those older periods of animal life to which the +earliest fossiliferous rocks of the geologist carry us back; +since, as already hinted, it seems to be a rule in creation that +each new object shall be highly developed of its kind at its +first appearance, and since there have been in geological time +many great subsidences as well as elevations. Neither must we +forget that the oldest land has been subjected throughout +geological time to wearing and degrading agencies, and that from +its waste the later formations have been mainly derived.</p> + +<p>It would be wrong, however, to omit to state that, though we may +know at present no remains of the first dry land, we are not +ignorant of its general distribution; for the present continents +show, in the arrangement of their formations and mountain chains, +evidence that they are parts of a plan sketched out from the +beginning. It has often been remarked by physical geographers +that the great lines of coast and mountain ranges are generally +in directions approaching to northeast and southwest, or +northwest and southeast, and that where they run in other +directions, as in the case of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +south of Europe and Asia, they +are much broken by salient and re-entering angles, formed by +lines having these directions. Professor R. Owen, of Tennessee, +and Professor Pierce, of Harvard College, were, I believe, the +first to point out that these lines are in reality parts of great +circles tangent to the polar circles, and the latter to suggest a +theory of their origin, based on the action of solar heat and the +seasons on a cooling earth. This has been more fully stated by +Mr. W. Lowthian Green in his curious book, "Vestiges of the +Molten Globe." +<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> + It would appear that the great circles in +question are in reality at right angles to the line of direction +of the attraction of the sun and moon at the period of either +solstice, and when they happen to be in conjunction or opposition +at these periods; and that such circles would be the lines on +which the thin crust of a cooling globe would be most likely to +be ruptured by its internal tidal-wave. Whatever the cause of the +phenomenon, it is evident that in the formation of its surface +inequalities the earth has cracked—so to speak—along two series +of great circles tangent to the polar circles; and that these, +with certain subordinate lines of fracture running north and +south and east and west, have determined the forms of the +continents from their origin.</p> + +<p>M. Elie de Beaumont, and after him most other geologists, have +attributed the elevation of the continents and the upheaval and +plication of mountain chains to the secular refrigeration of the +earth, causing its outer shell to become too capacious for its +contracting interior mass, and thus to break or bend, and to +settle toward the centre. This view would well accord with the +terms in which the elevation of the land is mentioned throughout +the Bible, and especially with the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +general progress of the work +as we have gleaned it from the Mosaic narrative; since from the +period of the desolate void and aeriform deep to that now before +us secular refrigeration must have been steadily in progress. Let +us also observe here that the earliest fractures of the crust +would determine the first coast lines, and the first slopes along +which sedimentary matter would descend from the land and be +deposited in the sea. They would also modify the direction of the +ocean currents. Thus the deposition of new formations would be +directed by these old lines, as would also to some extent the +course of all subsequent fractures and plications. Thus it +happens that the lines of outcrop of the oldest rocks first +raised out of the waters already marked out the forms of the +continents, and that the later formations appear rather as +fillings-up and extensions of the skeleton established by the +first dry land. Farther, the lines of plication first established +along the borders of the continents formed resisting walls along +which, in the continued contraction of the earth, pressure was +exerted from the ocean bed, widening and elevating these lines of +upheaval, and still farther fixing the general forms of the +continents, and giving variety to their surfaces. In the progress +of geological time there have also been successive depressions +and re-elevations of the continental plateaus, subjecting them +alternately to the wearing and disintegrating action of the +atmosphere and its waters, and to the influence of waves and +ocean currents, and especially to that of the deep-seated polar +currents which have throughout geological ages been loading the +submerged areas of the earth's surface with the products of the +waste caused by frost and ice in the polar regions. These causes +again have been progressively increasing the oblateness of the +earth's figure, and, along with the slackening of its rotation, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +preparing the way for those periodical collapses in the +equatorial and temperate regions which form the boundaries of +some of our most important geological periods. +<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> + Throughout all +these changes the great general plan of the continents, first +sketched out when the "foundations of the earth" were laid, +before Eozoic time, was being elaborated.</p> + +<p>The same creative period that witnessed the first appearance of +dry land saw it also clothed with vegetation; and it is quite +likely that this is intended to teach that no time was lost in +clothing the earth with plants—that the first emerging portions +received their vegetable tenants as they became fitted for +them—and that each additional region, as it rose above the +surface of the waters, in like manner received the species of +plants for which it was adapted. What was the nature of this +earliest vegetation? The sacred writer specifies three +descriptions of plants as included in it; and, by considering the +terms which he uses, some information on this subject may be +gained.</p> + +<p><i>Deshé</i>, translated "grass" in our version, is derived from a +verb signifying to spring up or bud forth; the same verb, indeed, +used in this verse to denote "bringing forth," literally causing +to spring up. Its radical meaning is, therefore, vegetation in +the act of sprouting or springing forth; or, as connected with +this, young and delicate herbage. Thus, in Job xxxviii., "To +satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of +the <i>young herbage</i> to spring forth." Here the reference is, no +doubt, to the bulbous and tuberous rooted plants of the desert +plains, which, fading away in the summer drought, burst forth +with magical rapidity on the setting-in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +of rain. The following +passages are similar: Psalm xxiii., "He maketh me to lie down in +green pastures" (literally, young or <i>tender herbage</i>); +Deuteronomy xxiii., "Small rain upon the <i>tender herb</i>;" Isaiah +xxxvii., "<i>Grass</i> on the house-tops." The word is also used for +herbage such as can be eaten by cattle or cut down for fodder, +though even in these cases the idea of young and tender herbage +is evidently included; "Fat as a heifer at <i>grass</i>" (Jer. +xiv.)—that is, feeding on young succulent grass, not that which +is dry and parched. "Cut down as the grass, or wither as the +green herb," like the soft, tender grass, soon cut down and +quickly withering. With respect to the use of the word in this +place, I may remark: 1. It is not here correctly translated by +the word "grass;" for grass bears seed, and is, consequently, a +member of the second class of plants mentioned. Even if we set +aside all idea of inspiration, it is obviously impossible that +any one living among a pastoral or agricultural people could have +been ignorant of this fact. 2. It can scarcely be a general term, +including all plants when in a young or tender state. The idea of +their springing up is included in the verb, and this was but a +very temporary condition. Besides, this word does not appear to +be employed for the young state of shrubs or trees. 3. We thus +appear to be shut up to the conclusion that <i>deshé</i> here means +those plants, mostly small and herbaceous, which bear no proper +seeds; +<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> + in other words, the Cryptogamia—as fungi, mosses, +lichens, ferns, etc. The remaining words are translated with +sufficient accuracy in our version. They denote seed-bearing or +phoenogamous herbs and trees. The special mention of the +fructification of plants is probably intended not only for +distinction, but also +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +to indicate the new power of organic +reproduction now first introduced on the surface of our planet, +and to mark its difference from the creative act itself. That +this new and wondrous phenomenon should be so stated is thus in +strict scientific propriety, and it is precisely the point that +would be seized by an intelligent spectator of the visions of +creation, who had previously witnessed only the accretion and +disintegration of mineral substances, and to whom this marvellous +power of organic reproduction would be in every respect a new +creation.</p> + +<p>The arrangement of plants in the three great classes of +cryptogams, seed-bearing herbs, and fruit-bearing trees differs +in one important point—viz., the separation of herbaceous plants +from trees—from modern botanical classification. It is, however, +sufficiently natural for the purposes of a general description +like this, and perhaps gives more precise ideas of the meaning +intended than any other arrangement equally concise and popular. +It is also probable that the object of the writer was not so much +a natural-history classification as an account of the <i>order</i> of +creation, and that he wishes to affirm that the introduction of +these three classes of plants on the earth corresponded with the +order here stated. This view renders it unnecessary to vindicate +the accuracy of the arrangement on botanical grounds, since the +historical order was evidently better suited to the purpose in +view, and in so far as the earlier appearance of cryptogamous +plants is concerned, it is in strict accordance with geological +fact.</p> + +<p>A very important truth is contained in the expression "after its +kind"—that is, after its <i>species</i>; for the Hebrew "<i>min</i>," used +here, has strictly this sense, and, like the Greek <i>idea</i> and the +Latin <i>species</i>, conveys the notion of form as well as that of +kind. It is used to denote species of animals, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +in Leviticus i., 14, and in Deuteronomy xiv., 15. We are taught by this statement +that plants were created each kind by itself; and that creation +was not a sort of slump-work to be perfected by the operation of +a law of development, as fancied by some modern speculators. In +this assertion of the distinctness of species, and the production +of each as a distinct part of the creative plan, revelation +tallies perfectly with the conclusions of natural science, which +lead us to believe that each species, as observed by us, is +permanently reproductive, variable within narrow limits, and +incapable of permanent intermixture with other species; and +though hypotheses of modification by descent, and of the +production of new species by such modification, may be formed, +they are not in accordance with experience, and are still among +the unproved speculations which haunt the outskirts of true +science. We shall be better prepared, however, to weigh the +relations of such hypotheses to our revelation of origins when we +shall have reached the period of the introduction of animal life.</p> + +<p>Some additional facts contained in the recapitulation of the +creative work in Chapter II. may very properly be considered +here, as they seem to refer to the climatal conditions of the +earth during the growth of the most ancient vegetation, and +before the final adjustment of the astronomical relations of the +earth on the fourth day. "And every shrub of the land before it +was on the earth, and every herb of the land before it sprung up. +For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and +there was not a man to till the ground; but a mist ascended from +the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground." This has +been supposed to be a description of the state of the earth +during the whole period anterior to the fall of man. There is, +however, no Scripture evidence of this; and geology informs us +that rain fell as at +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +present far back in the Palæozoic period, +countless ages before the creation of man or the existing +animals. Although, however, such a condition of the earth as that +stated in these verses has not been known in any geological +period, yet it is not inconceivable, but in reality corresponds +with the other conditions of nature likely to have prevailed on +the third day, as described in Genesis. The land of this period, +we may suppose, was not very extensive nor very elevated. Hence +the temperature would be uniform and the air moist. The luminous +and calorific matter connected with the sun still occupied a +large space, and therefore diffused heat and light more uniformly +than at present. The internal heat of the earth may still have +produced an effect in warming the oceanic waters. The combined +operation of these causes, of which we, perhaps, have some traces +as late as the Carboniferous period, might well produce a state +of things in which the earth was watered, not by showers of rain, +but by the gentle and continued precipitation of finely divided +moisture, in the manner now observed in those climates in which +vegetation is nourished for a considerable part of the year by +nocturnal mists and copious dews. The atmosphere, in short, as +yet partook in some slight degree of the same moist and misty +character which prevailed before the "establishment of the clouds +above"—the airy firmament of the second day. The introduction of +these explanatory particulars by the sacred historian furnishes +an additional argument for the theory of long periods. That +vegetation should exist for two or three natural days without +rain or the irrigation which is given in culture, was, as already +stated, a circumstance altogether unworthy of notice; but the +growth during a long period of a varied and highly organized +flora, without this advantage, and by the aid of a special +natural provision afterward discontinued, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +was in all respects so +remarkable and so highly illustrative of the expedients of the +divine wisdom that it deserved a prominent place.</p> + +<p>It is evident that the words of the inspired writer include +plants belonging to all the great subdivisions of the vegetable +kingdom. This earliest vegetation was not rude or incomplete, or +restricted to the lower forms of life. It was not even, like that +of the coal period, solely or mainly cryptogamous or +gymnospermous. It included trees bearing fruit, as well as +lichens and mosses, and it received the same stamp of approbation +bestowed on other portions of the work—"it was good." We have a +good right to assume that its excellence had reference not only +to its own period, but to subsequent conditions of the earth. +Vegetation is the great assimilating power, the converter of +inorganic into organic matter suitable for the sustenance of +animals. In like manner the lower tribes of plants prepare the +way for the higher. We should therefore have expected <i>à priori</i> +that vegetation would have clothed the earth before the creation +of animals, and a sufficient time before it to allow soils to be +accumulated, and surplus stores of organic matter to be prepared +in advance: this consideration alone would also induce us to +assign a considerable duration to the third day. After the +elevation of land, and the draining off from it of the saline +matter with which it would be saturated, a process often very +tedious, especially in low tracts of ground, the soil would still +consist only of mineral matter, and must have been for a long +period occupied by plants suited to this condition of things, in +order that sufficient organic matter might be accumulated for the +growth of a more varied vegetation; a consideration which perhaps +illustrates the order of the plants in the narrative.</p> + +<p>It may be objected to the above views that, however accordant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +with chemical and physiological probabilities, they do not +harmonize with the facts of geology; since the earliest +fossiliferous formations contain almost exclusively the remains +of animals, which must therefore have preceded, or at least been +coeval with, the earliest forms of terrestrial vegetation. This +objection is founded on well-ascertained facts, but facts which +may have no connection with the third day of creation when +regarded as a long period. The oldest geological formations are +of marine origin, and contain remains of marine animals, with +those of plants supposed to be allied to the existing algæ or +sea-weeds. Geology can not, however, assure us either that no +land plants existed contemporaneously with these earliest +animals, or that no land flora preceded them. These oldest +fossiliferous rocks may mark the commencement of animal life, but +they testify nothing as to the existence or non-existence of a +previous period of vegetation alone. Farther, the rocks which +contain the oldest remains of life exist as far as yet known in a +condition so highly metamorphic as almost to preclude the +possibility of their containing any distinguishable vegetable +fossils; yet they contain vast deposits of carbon in the form of +graphite, and if this, like more modern coaly matter, was +accumulated by vegetable growth, it must indicate an exuberance +of plants in these earliest geological periods, but of plants as +yet altogether unknown to us. It is possible, therefore, that in +these Eozoic rocks we may have remnants of the formations of the +third Mosaic day; and if we should ever be so fortunate as to +find any portion of them containing vegetable fossils, and these +of species differing from any hitherto known, either in a fossil +state or recent, and rising higher, in elevation and complexity +of type, than the flora of the succeeding Silurian and +Carboniferous eras, we may then suppose that we have penetrated +to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +the monuments of this third creative æon. The only other +alternative by which these verses can be reconciled with geology +is that adopted by the late Hugh Miller, who supposes that the +plants of the third day are those of the Carboniferous period; +but, besides the apparent anachronism involved in this, we now +know that the coal flora consisted mainly of cryptogams allied to +ferns and club-mosses, and of gymnosperms allied to the pines and +cycads, the higher orders of plants being almost entirely +wanting. For these reasons we are shut up to the conclusion that +this flora of the third day must have its place before the +Palæozoic period of geology.</p> + +<p>To those who are familiar with the vast lapse of time required by +the geological history of the earth, it may be startling to +ascribe the whole of it to three or four of the creative days. +If, however, it be admitted that these days were periods of +unknown duration, no reason remains for limiting their length any +farther than the facts of the case require. If in the strata of +the earth which are accessible to us we can detect the evidence +of its existence for myriads of years, why may not its Creator be +able to carry our view back for myriads more. It may be humbling +to our pride of knowledge, but it is not on any scientific ground +improbable, that the oldest animal remains known to geology +belong to the middle period of the earth's history, and were +preceded by an enormous lapse of ages in which the earth was +being prepared for animal existence, but of which no records +remain, except those contained in the inspired history.</p> + +<p>It would be quite unphilosophical for geology to affirm either +that animal life must always have existed, or that its earliest +animals are necessarily the earliest organic beings. To use, with +a slight modification, the words of an able thinker +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +on these subjects, +<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> + "For ages the prejudice prevailed that the +historical period, or that which is coeval with the life of man, +exhausted the whole history of the globe. Geologists removed that +prejudice," but must not substitute "another in its place, viz., +that geological time is coeval with the globe itself, or that +organic life always existed on its surface."</p> + +<p>A second doubt as to the existence of this primitive flora may be +based on the statement that it included the highest forms of +plants. Had it consisted only of low and imperfect vegetables, +there might have been much less difficulty in admitting its +probability. Farther, we find that even in the Carboniferous +period scarcely any plants of the higher orders flourished, and +there was a preponderance of the lower forms of the vegetable +kingdom. We have, however, in geological chronology, many +illustrations of the fact that the progress of improvement has +not been continuous or uninterrupted, and that the preservation +of the flora and fauna of many geological periods has been very +imperfect. Hence the occurrence in one particular stratum or +group of strata of few or low representatives of animal and +vegetable life affords no proof that a better state of things may +not have existed previously. We also find, in the case of +animals, that each tribe attained to its highest development at +the time when, in the progress of creation, it occupied the +summit of the scale of life. Analogy would thus lead us to +believe that when plants alone existed, they may have assumed +nobler forms than any now existing, or that tribes now +represented by few and humble species may at that time have been +so great in numbers and development as to fill all the offices of +our present complicated flora, as well as, perhaps, some of those +now occupied +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +by animals. We have this principle exemplified in +the Carboniferous flora, by the magnitude of its arborescent +club-mosses, and the vast variety of its gymnosperms. For this +reason we may anticipate that if any remains of this early +plant-creation should be disinterred, they will prove to be among +the most wonderful and interesting geological relics ever +discovered, and will enlarge our views of the compass and +capabilities of the vegetable kingdom, and especially of its +lower forms.</p> + +<p>A farther objection is the uselessness of the existence of plants +for a long period, without any animals to subsist on or enjoy +them, and even without forming any accumulation of fossil fuel or +other products useful to man. The only direct answer to this has +already been given. The previous existence of plants may have +been, and probably was, essential to the comfort and subsistence +of the animals afterwards introduced. Independently of this, +however, we have an analogous case in the geological history of +animals, which prevents this fact from standing alone. Why was +the earth tenanted so long by the inferior races of animals, and +why were so much skill and contrivance expended on their +structures, and even on their external ornament, when there was +no intelligent mind on earth to appreciate their beauties. Even +in the present world we may as well ask why the uninhabited +islands of the ocean are found to be replete with luxuriant +vegetable life, why God causes it to rain in the desert where +human foot never treads, or why he clothes with a marvellous +exuberance of beautiful animal and plant forms the depths of the +sea. We can but say that these things seemed and seem good to the +Creator, and may serve uses unknown to us; and this is precisely +what we must be content to say respecting the plant-creation of +the Eozoic period.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +Some writers +<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> + on this subject have suggested that the cosmical +use of this plant-creation was the abstraction from the +atmosphere of an excess of carbonic acid unfavorable to the +animal life subsequently to be introduced. This use it may have +served, and when its effects had been gradually lost through +metamorphism and decay, that second great withdrawal of carbon +which took place in the Carboniferous period may have been +rendered necessary. The reasons afforded by natural history for +supposing that plants preceded animals are thus stated by +Professor Dana:</p> + +<p>"The proof from science of the existence of plants before animals +is inferential, and still may be deemed satisfactory. Distinct +fossils have not been found, all that ever existed in the +azoic +<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> + rocks having been obliterated. The arguments in the +affirmative are as follows:</p> + +<p>"1. The existence of limestone rocks among the other beds, +similar limestones in later ages having been of organic origin; +also the occurrence of carbon in the shape of graphite, graphite +being, in known cases in rocks, a result of the alteration of the +carbon of plants.</p> + +<p>"2. The fact that the cooling earth would have been fitted for +vegetable life for a long age before animals could have existed; +the principle being exemplified everywhere that the earth was +occupied at each period with the highest kinds of life the +conditions allowed.</p> + +<p>"3. The fact that vegetation subserved an important purpose +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +in the coal-period in ridding the atmosphere of carbonic acid for +the subsequent introduction of land animals, suggests a valid +reason for believing that the same great purpose, the true +purpose of vegetation, was effected through the ocean before the +<i>waters</i> were fitted for animal life.</p> + +<p>"4. Vegetation being directly or mediately the food of animals, +it must have had a previous existence. The latter part of the +azoic age in geology we therefore regard as the age when the +plant kingdom was instituted, the latter half of the third day in +Genesis. However short or long the epoch, it was one of the great +steps of progress."</p> + +<p>In concluding the examination of the work of the third day, I +must again remind the reader that, on the theory of long creative +periods, the words under consideration must refer to the first +introduction of vegetation, in forms that have long since ceased +to exist. Geology informs us that in the period of which it is +cognizant the vegetation of the earth has been several times +renewed, and that no plants of the older and middle geological +periods now exist. We may therefore rest assured that the +vegetable species, and probably also many of the generic and +family forms of the vegetation of the third day, have long since +perished, and been replaced by others suited to the changed +condition of the earth. It is indeed probable that during the +third and fourth days themselves there might be many removals and +renewals of the terrestrial flora, so that perhaps every species +created at the commencement of the introduction of plants may +have been extinct before the close of the period. Nevertheless it +was marked by the introduction of vegetation, which in one or +another set of forms has ever since clothed the earth.</p> + +<p>At the commencement of the third day the earth was still covered +by the waters. As time advanced islands and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +mountain-peaks arose +from the ocean, vomiting forth the molten and igneous materials +of the interior of the earth's crust. Plains and valleys were +then spread around, rivers traced out their beds, and the ocean +was limited by coasts and divided by far-stretching continents. +At the command of the Creator plants sprung from the soil—the +earliest of organized structures—at first probably few and +small, and fitted to contend against the disadvantages of soils +impregnated with saline particles and destitute of organic +matter; but as the day advanced increasing in number, magnitude, +and elevation, until at length the earth was clothed with a +luxuriant and varied vegetation, worthy the approval of the +Creator, and the admiring song of the angelic "sons of God."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">LUMINARIES.</span><br /></h2> + +<p style="font-size:70%;text-align:left;text-indent:2em;font-weight:bold;">"And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse +of heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, +and for days and for years. And let them be for luminaries in the expanse of heaven, +to give light on the earth: and it was so.</p> + +<p style="font-size:70%;text-align:left;text-indent:2em;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary to +preside over the day, the lesser luminary to preside over +the night. He made the stars also. And God placed them in +the expanse of heaven to give light on the earth, and to +preside over the day and over the night, and to separate the +light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And +the evening and the morning were the fourth day."—Genesis +i., 14-19.</p> + + +<p>After so long a sojourn on the earth, we are in these verses +again carried to the heavens. Every scientific reader is struck +with the position of this remarkable statement, interrupting as +it does the progress of the organic creation, and constituting a +break in the midst of the terrestrial history which is the +immediate subject of the narrative; thus, in effect, as has often +been remarked, dividing the creative week into two portions. Why +was the completion of the heavenly bodies so long delayed? Why +were light and vegetation introduced previously? If we can not +fully answer these questions, we may at least suppose that the +position of these verses is not accidental, though certainly not +that which would have been chosen for its own sake by any +fabricator of systems ancient or modern. Let us inquire, however, +what are the precise terms of the record.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +1. The word here used to denote the objects produced clearly +distinguishes them from the product of the first day's creation. +Then God said, "Let <i>light</i> be;" he now says, "Let <i>luminaries</i> +or light-bearers be." We have already seen that the light of the +first day may have emanated from an extended luminous mass, at +first occupying the whole extent of the solar system, and more or +less attached to the several planetary bodies, and afterwards +concentrated within the earth's orbit. The verses now under +consideration inform us that the process of concentration was now +complete, that our great central luminary had attained to its +perfect state. This process of concentration may have been +proceeding during the whole of the intervening time, or it may +have been completed at once by some more rapid process of the +nature of a direct interposition of creative power.</p> + +<p>2. The division of light from darkness is expressed by the same +terms, and is of the same nature with that on the first day. This +separation was now produced in its full extent by the perfect +condensation of the luminiferous matters around the sun.</p> + +<p>3. The heavenly bodies are said to be intended for <i>signs</i>—that +is, for marks or indications—either of the seasons, days, and +years afterwards mentioned, or of the majesty and power of the +true God, as the Creator of objects so grand and elevated as to +become to the ignorant heathen objects of idolatrous worship; or +perhaps of the earthly events they are supposed to influence. The +arrangements now perfected for the first time enabled natural +days, seasons, and years to have their limits accurately marked. +Previously to this period there had been no distinctly marked +seasons, and consequently no natural separation of years, nor +were the limits of days at all accurately defined.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +4. The terms <i>expanse</i> and <i>heaven</i>, previously applied to the +atmosphere, are here combined to denote the more distant starry +and planetary heavens. There is no ambiguity involved in this, +since the writer must have well known that no one could so far +mistake as to suppose that the heavenly bodies are placed in that +atmospheric expanse which supports the clouds.</p> + +<p>5. The luminaries were <i>made</i> or appointed to their office on the +fourth day. They are not said to have been created, being +included in the creation of the beginning. They were now +completed, and fully fitted for their work. An important part of +this fitting seems to have been the setting or placing them in +the heavens, conveying to us the impression that the mutual +relations and regular motions of the heavenly bodies were now for +the first time perfected.</p> + +<p>6. The stars are introduced in a parenthetical manner, which +leaves it doubtful whether we are merely informed in general +terms that they are works of God, as well as those heavenly +bodies which are of more importance to us, or that they were +arranged as heavenly luminaries useful to our earth on the fourth +day. The term includes the fixed stars, and it is by no means +probable that these were in any way affected by the work referred +to the fourth day, any farther than their appearance from our +earth is concerned. This view is confirmed by the language of the +104th Psalm, which in this part of the work mentions the sun and +moon alone, without the fixed stars or planets.</p> + +<p>It is evident that the changes referred to this period related to +the whole solar system, and resulted in the completion of that +system in the form which it now bears, or at least in the final +adjustment of the motions and relations of the earth; and we have +reason to believe that the condensation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +of the luminous envelope +around the sun was one of the most important of these changes. On +the hypothesis of La Place, already referred to as most in +accordance with the earlier stages of the work, there seems to be +no especial reason why the completion of the process of +elaboration of the sun and planets should be accelerated at this +particular stage. We can easily understand, however, that those +closing steps which brought the solar system into a state of +permanent and final equilibrium would form a marked epoch in the +work; and we can also understand that now, on the eve of the +introduction of animal life, there is a certain propriety in the +representation of the Creator interfering to close up the merely +inorganic part of his great work, and bring this department at +least to its final perfection. The fourth day, then, in +geological language, marks <i>the complete introduction of +"existing causes" in inorganic nature</i>, and we henceforth find no +more creative interference, except in the domain of organization. +This accords admirably with the deductions of modern geology, and +especially with that great principle so well expounded by Sir +Charles Lyell, and which forms the true basis of modern +geological reasonings—that we should seek in existing causes of +change for the explanation of the appearances of the rocks of the +earth's crust. Geology probably carries us back to the +introduction of animal life; and shows us that since that time +land, sea, and atmosphere, summer and winter, day and night—all +the great inorganic conditions affecting animal life—have +existed as at present, and have been subject to modifications the +same in kind with those which they now experience, though perhaps +different in degree. In this ancient record we find in like +manner that the period immediately preceding the creation of +animals witnessed the completion of all the great general +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +arrangements on which these phenomena depend. The Bible, +therefore, and science agree in the truth that existing causes +have been in full force since the creation of animals; and that +since that period the exercise of creative power has been limited +to the organic world. This has a curious bearing, not often +thought of, on modern theories of evolution as compared with the +teaching of the Bible. In one important sense, absolute creation, +in so far as the inorganic universe is concerned, is in our +Mosaic narrative limited to the production of matter and force at +first. All else is called making, forming, or appointing. Thus +the production of all the arrangements of the waters, the +atmosphere, the earth, and the heavens, in the work of the first +four days, and even the introduction of plants, may be correctly +termed an evolution or development from preformed materials, with +the single exception that the reproductive power and specific +diversities of plants are recognized as entirely new facts. +Creation is properly resumed when animal life is introduced. +Hence, in so far as a comparison with the terms of Genesis is +concerned, hypotheses as to the evolution of animal life from +inorganic matter are in a different position from hypotheses as +to the previous evolution of the parts of inorganic nature; and +still more so from statements as to the progress of inorganic +nature subsequent to the introduction of animals; since within +that period, which really includes the whole of geological time, +absolutely no creation whatever in the domain of inanimate nature +is affirmed in the Biblical record to have taken place. On the +contrary, all the arrangements of inorganic nature are +represented as finally completed before the creation of animals.</p> + +<p>The obliquity of the earth's axis, which gives us the changes of +the seasons, is apparently included in the arrangements +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +of the fourth creative day. The cause of this obliquity, and the time +when it may have attained to its present amount, have been +fertile themes of discussion. It is clear, however, that if this +obliquity was established, as appears to be stated here, before +the introduction of animal life, it can have no bearing on the +changes of climate of which we have evidence in geological time +since the dawn of animal life, unless, indeed, it is capable of +greater variation than astronomers admit; and the same remark +applies to supposed changes in the position of the poles +themselves. There is, however, nothing in this record to oppose +the idea of any secular changes in these arrangements under the +laws appointed in the fourth creative period.</p> + +<p>The record relating to the fourth day is silent respecting the +mundane history of the period; and geology gives no very certain +information concerning it. If, however, we assume that any of the +Eozoic or pre-eozoic rocks are deposits of this or the preceding +period, we may infer from the disturbances and alteration which +these have suffered, prior to the deposition of the Cambrian and +Silurian, that during or toward the close of this day the crust +of the earth was affected by great movements. There is another +consideration also leading to important conclusions in relation +to this period. In the earliest fossiliferous rocks there seems +to be good evidence that the dry land contemporary with the seas +in which they were formed was of very small extent. Now, since on +the third day a very plentiful and highly developed vegetation +was produced, we may infer that during that period the extent of +dry land was considerable, and was probably gradually increasing. +If, then, the Cambrian and Silurian systems, so rich in marine +organic remains, belong to the commencement of the fifth day, we +must conclude that during +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +the fourth much of the land previously +existing had been again submerged. In other words, during the +third day the extent of terrestrial surface was increasing, on +the fourth day it diminished, and on the fifth it again +increased, and probably has on the whole continued to increase up +to the present time. One most important geological consequence of +this is that the marine animals of the fifth day probably +commenced their existence on sea bottoms which were the old soil +surfaces of submerged continents previously clothed with +vegetation, and which consequently contained much organic matter +fitted to form a basis of support for the newly created animals. +</p> + +<p>I shall close my remarks on the fourth day by a few quotations +from those passages of Scripture which refer to the objects of +this day's work. I have already referred to that beautiful +passage in Deuteronomy where the Israelites are warned against +the crime of worshipping those heavenly bodies which the Lord God +hath "divided to every nation under the whole heaven." In the +book of Job also we find that the heavenly bodies were in his day +regarded as signal manifestations of the power of God, and that +several of the principal constellations had received names:</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5em;">"He commandeth the sun, and it shineth not;<br /> +He sealeth up the stars; +<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a><br /> +He alone spreadeth out the heavens,<br /> +And walketh on the high waves of the sea; +<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +He maketh Arcturus, Orion,<br /> +The Pleiades, and the hidden chambers of the south;<br /> +Who doeth great things past finding out;<br /> +Yea, marvellous things beyond number."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">—Job ix., 9.</span></p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5em;"> +"Canst thou tighten the bonds of the Pleiades, +<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a><br /> +Or loose the bands of Orion?<br /> +Canst thou bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season,<br /> +Or lead forth Arcturus and its sons?<br /> +Knowest thou the laws of the heavens,<br /> +Or hast thou appointed their dominion over the earth?"<br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">—Job xxxviii., 31.</span></p> + +<p>I may merely remark on these passages that the chambers of the +south are supposed to be those parts of the southern heavens +invisible in the latitude in which Job resided. The bonds of +Pleiades and of Orion probably refer to the apparently close +union of the stars of the former group, and the wide separation +of those of the latter; a difference which, to the thoughtful +observer of the heavens, is more striking than most instances of +that irregular grouping of the stars which still forms a question +in astronomy, from the uncertainty whether it is real, or only an +optical deception arising from stars at different distances +coming nearly into a line with each other. I have seen in some +recent astronomical work this very instance of the Pleiades and +Orion taken as a marked illustration of this problematical fact +in astronomy. <i>Mazzaroth</i> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +are supposed by modern expositors to be the signs of the Zodiac.</p> + +<p>On the whole, the Hebrew books give us little information as to +the astronomical theories of the time when they were written. +They are entirely non-committal as to the nature of the +connections and revolutions of the heavenly bodies; and indeed +regard these as matters in their time beyond the grasp of the +human mind, though well known to the Creator and regulated by his +laws. From other sources we have facts leading to the belief that +even in the time of Moses, and certainly in that of the later +Biblical writers, there was not a little practical astronomy in +the East, and some good theory. The Hindoo astronomy professes to +have observations from 3000 B.C., and the arguments of Baily and +others, founded on internal evidence, give some color of truth to +the claim. The Chaldeans at a very early period had ascertained +the principal circles of the sphere, the position of the poles, +and the nature of the apparent motions of the heavens as the +results of revolution on an inclined axis. The Egyptian astronomy +we know mainly from what the Greeks borrowed from it. Thales, 640 +B.C., taught that the moon is lighted by the sun, and that the +earth is spherical, and the position of its five zones. +Pythagoras, 580 B.C., knew, in addition to the sphericity of the +earth, the obliquity of the ecliptic, the identity of the evening +and morning star, and that the earth revolves round the sun. This +Greek astronomy appears immediately after the opening of Egypt to +the Greeks; and both these philosophers studied in that country. +Such knowledge, and more of the same character, may therefore +have existed in Egypt at a much earlier period.</p> + +<p>The Psalms abound in beautiful references to the creation of the +fourth day</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5em;"> +:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +"When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers,<br /> +The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;<br /> +What is man, that thou art mindful of him?<br /> +Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">—Psalm viii.</span></p> + + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:10em;"> +"Who telleth the number of the stars,<br /> +Who calleth them all by their names.<br /> +Great is our Lord, and of great praise;<br /> +His understanding is infinite.<br /> +The Lord lifteth up the meek;<br /> +He casteth the wicked to the ground."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—Psalm cxlvii.</span></p> + + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:3em;"> +"The heavens declare the glory of God,<br /> +The firmament showeth his handiwork;<br /> +Day unto day uttereth speech,<br /> +Night unto night showeth knowledge.<br /> +They have no speech nor language,<br /> +Their voice is not heard;<br /> +Yet their line is gone out to all the earth,<br /> +And their words to the end of the world.<br /> +In them hath he set a pavilion for the sun,<br /> +Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,<br /> +And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.<br /> +Its going forth is from the end of the heavens,<br /> +And its circuit unto the end of them.<br /> +And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">—Psalm xix.</span></p> + +<p>These are excellent illustrations of the truth of the Scripture +mode of treating natural objects, in connection with their Maker. +It is but a barren and fruitless philosophy which sees the work +and not its author—a narrow piety which loves God but despises +his works. The Bible holds forth the golden mean between these +extremes, in a strain of lofty poetry and acute perception of the +great and beautiful, whether seen in the Creator or reflected +from his works.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +The work of this day opens up a wide field for astronomical +illustration, more especially in relation to the wisdom and +benevolence of the Creator as displayed in the heavens; but it +would be foreign to our present purpose to enter into these.</p> + +<p>It may be well, however, to think for a moment of the importance +of the facts suggested by the writer of Genesis in mentioning the +use of the heavenly bodies as signs of time. To what extent +civilization or even the continued existence of man as an +intelligent being would have been possible without the marks of +subdivision of time given by the great astronomical clock of the +universe, it is almost impossible for us to imagine. Without such +marks of time, in any case, the whole fabric of human culture +must have been different from what it is. Farther, in connection +with this, it is a grand thought of our early revelation that all +these heavenly bodies, however magnificent, and however they +might seem to the heathen to be objects of worship, are but marks +on God's clock, parts of a mere machine which keeps time for us, +and is therefore our servant, as the children of the great +Artificer, and not our ruler. The idea has been termed an +astrological one; but astrology as a means of divination has no +place in the record. The heavenly bodies are under the law of the +Creator, and their function relatively to us is to give light and +to give time. Astrological divination is an outgrowth of the +Sabæan idolatry, and held in abomination by the monotheistic +author of Genesis. His object may be summed up in the following +general statements:</p> + +<p>1. The heavenly hosts and their arrangements are the work of +Jehovah, and are regulated wholly by his laws or ordinances; a +striking illustration of the recognition by the Hebrew writer +both of creative interference, and that stable, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +natural law which too often withdraws the mind of the philosopher from the +ideas of creation and of providence.</p> + +<p>2. The heavenly bodies have a relation to the earth—are parts of +the same plan, and, whatever other uses they were made to serve, +were made for the benefit of man.</p> + +<p>3. The general physical arrangements of the solar system were +perfected before the introduction of animals on our planet.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">THE LOWER ANIMALS.</span><br /></h2> + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-indent:3em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarming living +creatures, and let birds fly on the surface of the expanse +of heaven. And God created great reptiles, and every living +moving thing, which the waters brought forth abundantly, +after their kind, and every bird after its kind; and God saw +that it was good.</p> + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-indent:3em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and +fill the waters of the seas, and let the flying creatures +multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were +the fifth day."—Genesis i., 20-23.</p> + + +<p>In these words, so full of busy, active, thronging life, we now +enter on that part of the earth's history which has been most +fully elucidated by geology, and we have thus an additional +reason for carefully weighing the terms of the narrative, which +here, as in other places, contain large and important truths +couched in language of the simplest character.</p> + +<p>1. In accordance with the views now entertained by the best +lexicographers, the word translated in our version "creeping +things" has been rendered "prolific or swarming creatures." The +Hebrew is <i>Sheretz</i>, a noun derived from the verb used in this +verse to denote bringing forth abundantly. It is loosely +translated in the Septuagint <i>Erpeta</i>, reptiles; and this view +our English translators appear to have adopted, without, perhaps, +any very clear notions of the creatures intended. The manner in +which it is used in other passages places its true meaning beyond +doubt. I select as illustrations of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +most apposite character those verses in Leviticus in which clean and unclean animals are +specified, and in which we have a right to expect the most +precise zoological nomenclature that the Hebrew can afford. In +Leviticus xi., 20-23, <i>insects</i> are defined to be <i>flying +sheretzim</i>, and in verse 29, etc., under the designation +"<i>sheretzim of the land</i>," we have animals named in our version +the weasel, mouse, tortoise, ferret, chameleon, lizard, snail, +and mole. The first of these animals is believed to have been a +burrowing creature, perhaps a mole; the second, from the meaning +of its name, "ravager of fields," is thought to have been a +mouse. Some doubt, however, attends both of these +identifications, but it appears certain that the remaining six +species are small reptiles, principally lizards. We learn, +therefore, that the smaller reptiles, and <i>perhaps</i> also a few +small mammals, are <i>sheretzim</i>. In verses 41 and 42 we are +introduced to other tribes. "And every <i>sheretz</i> that swarmeth on +the earth shall be an abomination unto you; it shall not be +eaten; whatsoever goeth upon the belly (serpents, worms, snails, +etc.), and whatsoever hath more feet (than four) (insects, +arachnidans, myriapods)." In verses 9 and 10 of the same chapter +we have an enumeration of the <i>sheretzim</i> of the waters: +"Whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas and +in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins and +scales in the seas and the rivers, of all that swarm in the +waters (all the <i>sheretzim</i> of the waters), they shall be an +abomination unto you." Here the general term <i>sheretz</i> includes +all the fishes and the invertebrate animals of the waters. From +the whole of the above passages we learn that this is a general +term for all the invertebrate animals and the two lower classes +of vertebrates, or, in other words, for the whole animal kingdom +except the mammalia and birds. To all these creatures the name +is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +particularly appropriate, all of them being oviparous or +ovoviviparous, and consequently producing great numbers of young +and multiplying very rapidly. The only other creatures which can +be included under the term are the two doubtful species of small +mammals already mentioned. Nothing can be more fair and obvious +than this explanation of the term, based both on etymology and on +the precise nomenclature of the ceremonial law. We conclude, +therefore, that the prolific animals of the fifth day's creation +belonged to the three Cuvierian sub-kingdoms of the Radiata, +Articulata, and Mollusca, and to the classes of Fish and Reptiles +among the vertebrata.</p> + +<p>2. One peculiar group of <i>sheretzim</i> is especially distinguished +by name—the <i>tanninim</i>, or "great whales" of our version. It +would be amusing, had we time, to notice the variety of +conjectures to which this word has given rise, and the +perplexities of commentators in reference to it. In our version +and the Septuagint it is usually rendered dragon; but in this +place the seventy have thought proper to put <i>Ketos</i> (whale), and +our translators have followed them. Subsequent translators and +commentators have laid under contribution all sorts of marine +monsters, including the sea-serpent, in their endeavors to attach +a precise meaning to the word; while others have been content to +admit that it may signify any kind or all kinds of large aquatic +animals. The greater part of the difficulty appears to have +arisen from confounding two distinct words, <i>tannin</i> and <i>tan</i>, +both names of animals; and the confusion has been increased by +the circumstance that in two places the words have been +interchanged, probably by errors of transcribers. <i>Tan</i> occurs in +twelve places, and from these we can gather that it inhabits +ruined cities, deserts, and places to which ostriches resort, +that it suckles +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +its young, is of predaceous and shy habits, +utters a wailing cry, and is not of large size, nor formidable to +man. The most probable conjecture as to the animal intended is +that of Gesenius, who supposes it to be the jackal. The other +word (<i>tannin</i>), which is that used in the text, is applied as an +emblem of Egypt and its kings, and also of the conquering kings +of Babylon. It is spoken of as furious when enraged, and +formidable to man, and is said to be an inhabitant of rivers and +of the sea, but more especially of the Nile. In short, it is the +crocodile of the Nile. We can easily understand the perplexity of +those writers who suppose these two words to be identical, and +endeavor to combine all the characters above mentioned in one +animal or tribe of animals. As a farther illustration of the +marked difference in the meanings of the two words, we may +compare the 34th and 37th verses of the fifty-first chapter of +Jeremiah. In the first of these verses the King of Babylon is +represented as a "dragon" (<i>tannin</i>), which had swallowed up +Israel. In the second it is predicted that Babylon itself shall +become heaps, a dwelling-place for "dragons" (<i>tanim</i>). There can +be no doubt that the animals intended here are quite different. +The devouring <i>tannin</i> is a huge predaceous river reptile, a fit +emblem of the Babylonian monarch; the <i>tan</i> is the jackal that +will soon howl in his ruined palaces. It is interesting to know +that philologists trace a connection between <i>tannin</i> and the +Greek <i>teino</i>, Latin <i>tendo</i>, and similar words, signifying to +stretch or extend, in the Sanscrit, Gothic, and other languages, +leading to the inference that the Hebrew word primarily denotes a +lengthened or extended creature, which corresponds well with its +application to the crocodile. Taking all the above facts in +connection, we are quite safe in concluding that the creatures +referred to by the word under consideration are +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +literally large reptilian animals; and, from the special mention made of them, we +may infer that, in their day, they were the lords of +creation. +<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p> + +<p>3. In verse 21 the remainder of the <i>sheretzim</i>, besides the +larger reptiles, are included in the general expression, "Living +creature that moveth." The term "living creature" is, literally, +"creature having the breath of life;" the power of respiration +being apparently in Hebrew the distinctive character of the +animal. The word moveth (<i>ramash</i>), in its more general sense, +expresses the power of voluntary motion, as exhibited in animals +in general. In a few places, however, it has a more precise +meaning, as in 1 Kings iv., 33, where the vertebrated animals are +included in the four classes of "beasts, fowl, <i>creeping things</i> +(or reptiles, <i>remes</i>), and fishes." In the present connection it +probably has its most general sense; unless, indeed, the apparent +repetition in this verse relates to the amphibious or +semi-terrestrial creatures associated with the great reptiles; +and, in that case, the humbler reptilian animals alone may be +meant.</p> + +<p>4. We may again note that the introduction of animal life is +marked by the use of the word "create," for the first time since +the general creation of the heavens and the earth. We may also +note that the animal, as well as the plant, was created "after +its kind," or "species by species." The animals are grouped under +three great classes—the Remes, the Tanninim, and the Birds; but, +lest any misconception should arise as to the relations of +species to these groups, we are expressly informed that the +species is here the true unit of the creative work. It is worth +while, therefore, to note that this most ancient +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +authority on this much controverted topic connects species on the one hand +with the creative fiat, and on the other with the power of +continuous reproduction.</p> + +<p>5. In addition to the great mass of <i>sheretzim</i>, so accurately +characterized by Milton as</p> + +<p style="text-align:center;">"——Reptile with spawn abundant,"</p> + +<p>the creation of the fifth day included a higher tribe of +oviparous animals—the birds, the fowl or winged creature of the +text. Birds alone, we think, must be meant here, as we have +already seen that insects are included under the general term +<i>sheretzim</i>.</p> + +<p>6. It is farther to be observed that <i>the waters</i> give origin to +the first animals—an interesting point when we consider the +contrast here with the creation of plants and of the higher +animals, both of which proceed from the earth.</p> + +<p>7. It can not fail to be observed that we have in these verses +two different arrangements of the animals created, neither +corresponding exactly with what modern science teaches us to +regard as the true grouping of the animal kingdom, according to +its affinities. The order in the first enumeration should, from +the analogy of the chapter, indicate that of successive creation. +The order of the second list may, perhaps, be that of the +relative importance of the animals, as it appeared to the writer. +Or there may have been a twofold division of the period—the +earlier commencing with the creation of the humbler +invertebrates, the later characterized by the great +reptiles—which is the actual state of the case as disclosed by +geology.</p> + +<p>8. The Creator recognizes the introduction of sentient existence +and volition by <i>blessing</i> this new work of his hands, and +inviting the swarms of the newly peopled world to enjoy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +that happiness for which they were fitted, and to increase and fill +the earth, inaugurating thus a new power destined to still higher +developments.</p> + +<p>When we inquire what information geology affords respecting the +period under consideration, the answer may be full and explicit. +Geological discovery has carried us back to an epoch +corresponding with the beginning of this day, and has disclosed a +long and varied series of living beings, extending from this +early period up to the introduction of the higher races of +animals. To enter on the geological details of these changes, and +on descriptions of the creatures which succeeded each other on +the earth, would swell this volume into a treatise on +palæontology, and would be quite unnecessary, as so many +excellent popular works on this subject already exist. I shall, +therefore, confine myself to a few general statements, and to +marking the points in which Scripture and geology coincide in +their respective histories of this long period, which appears to +include the whole of the Palæozoic and Mesozoic epochs of +geology, with their grand and varied succession of rock +formations and living beings.</p> + +<p>In the Primordial or oldest fossiliferous rocks next in +succession to those great Eozoic formations in which protozoa +alone have been discovered, we find the remains of crustaceans, +mollusks, and radiates—such as shrimps, shell-fish, and +starfishes—which appear to have inhabited the bottom of a +shallow ocean. Among these were some genera belonging to the +higher forms of invertebrate life, but apparently as yet no +vertebrated animals. Fishes were then introduced, and have left +their remains in the upper Silurian rocks, and very abundantly in +the Devonian and Carboniferous, in the latter of which also the +first reptiles occur, but are principally members of that lower +group to which the frogs and newts and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +their allies belong. The animal kingdom appears to have reached no higher than the +reptiles in the Palæozoic or primary period of geology, and its +reptiles are comparatively small and few; though fishes had +attained to a point of perfection which they have not since +exceeded. There was also, especially in the Carboniferous age, an +abundant and luxuriant vegetation. The Mesozoic period is, +however, emphatically the age of reptiles. This class then +reached its climax, in the number, perfection, and magnitude of +its species, which filled all those stations in the economy of +nature now assigned to the mammalia. Birds also belong to this +era, though apparently much less numerous and important than at +present. Only a few species of small mammals, of the lowest or +marsupial type, appear as a presage of the mammalian creation of +the succeeding tertiary era. In these two geological periods, +then—the Palæozoic and Mesozoic—we find, first, the lower +<i>sheretzim</i> represented by the invertebrata and the fishes, then +the great reptiles and the birds; and it can not be denied that, +if we admit that the Mosaic day under consideration corresponds +with these geological periods, it would be impossible better to +characterize their creations in so few words adapted to popular +comprehension. I may add that all the species whose remains are +found in the Palæozoic and Mesozoic rocks are extinct, and known +to us only as fossils; and their connection with the present +system of nature consists only in their forming with it a more +perfect series than our present fauna alone could afford, unless, +indeed, we should find reason to believe that any modern animals +are their modified descendants. They belong to the same system of +types, but are parts of it which have served their purpose and +have been laid aside. The coincidences above noted between +geology and Scripture may be summed up as follows:</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +1. According to both records, the causes which at present +regulate the distribution of light, heat, and moisture, and of +land and water, were, during the whole of this period, much the +same as at present. The eyes of the trilobite of the old Silurian +rocks are fitted for the same conditions with respect to light +with those of existing animals of the same class. The coniferous +trees of the coal measures show annual rings of growth. +Impressions of rain-marks have been found in the shales of the +coal measures and Devonian system. Hills and valleys, swamps and +lagoons, rivers, bays, seas, coral reefs and shell beds, have all +left indubitable evidence of their existence in the geological +record. On the other hand, the Bible affirms that all the earth's +physical features were perfected on the fourth day, and +immediately before the creation of animals. The land and the +water have undergone during this long lapse of ages many minor +changes. Whole tribes of animals and plants have been swept away +and replaced by others, but the general aspect of inorganic +nature has remained the same.</p> + +<p>2. Both records show the existence of vegetation during this +period; though the geologic record, if taken alone, would, from +its want of information respecting the third day, lead us to +infer that plants are no older than animals, while the Bible does +not speak of the nature of the vegetation that may have existed +on the fifth day.</p> + +<p>3. Both records inform us that reptiles and birds were the higher +and leading forms of animals, and that all the lower forms of +animals co-existed with them. In both we have especial notice of +the gigantic Saurian reptiles of the latter part of the period; +and if we have the remains of a few small species of mammals in +the Mesozoic rocks, these, like a few similar creatures +apparently included under the word <i>sheretz</i> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +in Leviticus, are not sufficiently important to negative the general fact of the +reign of reptiles. +<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> + +<p>4. It accords with both records that the work of creation in this +period was gradually progressive. Species after species was +locally introduced, extended itself, and, after having served its +purpose, gradually became extinct. And thus each successive rock +formation presents new groups of species, each rising in numbers +and perfection above the last, and marking a gradual assimilation +of the general conditions of our planet to their present state, +yet without any convulsions or general catastrophes affecting the +whole earth at once.</p> + +<p>5. In both records the time between the creation of the first +animals and the introduction of the mammalia as a dominant class +forms a well-marked period. I would not too positively assert +that the close of the fifth day accords precisely with that of +the Mesozoic or secondary period. The well-marked line of +separation, however, in many parts of the world, between this and +the earlier tertiary rocks succeeding to it, points to this as +extremely probable.</p> + +<p>It thus appears that Scripture and geology so far concur +respecting the events of this period as to establish, even +without any other evidence, a probability that the fifth day +corresponds with the geological ages with which I have endeavored +to identify it. Geology, however, gives us no +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +means of measuring precisely the length of this day; but it gives us the impression +that it occupied an enormous length of time, compared with which +the whole human period is quite insignificant; and rivalling +those mythical "days of the Creator" which we have noticed as +forming a part of the Hindoo mythology.</p> + +<p>Why was the earth thus occupied for countless ages by an animal +population whose highest members were reptiles and birds? The +fact can not be doubted, since geology and Scripture, the +research of man and the Word of God, concur in affirming it. We +know that the lowest of these creatures was, in its own place, no +less worthy of the Creator than those which we regard as the +highest in the scale of organization, and that the animals of the +ancient, equally with those of the modern world, abounded in +proofs of the wisdom, power, and goodness of their Maker. +Comparative anatomy has shown that these extinct animals, though +often varying much from their modern representatives, are in no +respect rude or imperfect; that they have the same appearance of +careful planning and elaborate execution, the same combination of +ornament and utility, the same nice adaptation to the conditions +of their existence, which we observe in modern creatures. In +addition to this, the many new and wonderful contrivances and +combinations which they present, and their relations to existing +objects, have greatly enlarged our views of the variety and +harmony of the whole system of nature. They are, therefore, in +these respects, not without their use as manifestations of the +Creator, in this our later age.</p> + +<p>There is another reason, hinted at by Buckland, Miller, and other +writers on this subject, which weighs much with my mind. All +animals and plants are constructed on a few leading types or +patterns, which are again divided into subordinate +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +types, just as in architecture we have certain leading styles, and these +again may admit of several orders, and these of farther +modifications. Types are farther modified to suit a great variety +of minor adaptations. Now we know that the earth is, at any one +time, inadequate to display all the modifications of all the +types. Hence our existing system of organic nature, though +probably more complete than any that preceded it, is still only +fragmentary. It is like what architecture would be, if all +memorials of all buildings more than a century old were swept +away. But, from the beginning to the end of the creative work, +there has been, or will be, room for the whole plan. Hence +fossils are little by little completing our system of nature; +and, if all were known, would perhaps wholly do so. The great +plan must be progressive, and all its parts must be perishable, +except its last culminating-point and archetype, man. Tennyson +expresses this truth in the following lines:</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left: 30%;">"The wish that of the living whole<br /> +<span style="margin-left:2em;">No life may fail beyond the grave;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left:2em;">Derives it not from what we have</span><br /> +The likest God within the soul?<br /><br /> + +Are God and Nature then at strife,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That Nature lends such evil dreams?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So careful of the type she seems,</span><br /> +So careless of the single life.<br /><br /> + +'So careful of the type?' but no.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From scarped cliff and quarried stone</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She cries, 'a thousand types are gone;</span><br /> +I care for nothing, all shall go.<br /><br /> + +'Thou makest thine appeal to me:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I bring to life, I bring to death:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The spirit does but mean the breath:</span><br /> +I know no more.' And he, shall he,<br /><br /> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +Man, her last work, who seem'd so fair,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Such splendid purpose in his eyes,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies,</span><br /> +Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,<br /><br /> + +Who trusted God was love indeed,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And love Creation's final law—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw,</span><br /> +With ravine, shriek'd against his creed—<br /><br /> + +Who loved, who suffer'd countless ills,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who battled for the True, the Just,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be blown about the desert dust,</span><br /> +Or seal'd within the iron hills?<br /><br /> + +No more? A monster, then, a dream,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A discord. Dragons of the prime,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That tare each other in their slime,</span><br /> +Were mellow music match'd with him.<br /><br /> + +O life as futile, then, as frail!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O for thy voice to soothe and bless!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What hope of answer, or redress?</span><br /> +Behind the veil, behind the veil."</p> + +<p>The farther explanation given by evolutionists that those ancient +forms of life may be the actual ancestors of the present animals, +and that through all the ages the Creator was gradually +perfecting his work by a series of descents with modification, +was probably not before the mind of our ancient Hebrew authority, +nor need we attach much value to it till some proof of the +process has been obtained from Nature. A farther reason, however, +which was intelligible to the author of Genesis, and which is +fondly dwelt on in succeeding books of the Bible, depends on the +idea that the Creator himself is not indifferent to the +marvellous structures, instincts, and powers which he has +bestowed upon the lower races of animals. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +Witness the answer of the Almighty to Job, when he spake out of the whirlwind to +vindicate his own plans in creation and providence; and brought +before the patriarch a long train of animals, explaining and +dwelling on the structure and powers of each, in contrast with +the puny efforts and rude artificial contrivances of man. Witness +also the preservation, in the rocks, of the fossil remains of +extinct creatures, as if he who made them was unwilling that the +evidence of their existence should perish, and purposely +treasured them through all the revolutions of the earth, that +through them men might magnify his name. The Psalmist would +almost appear to have had all these thoughts before his mind when +he poured out his wonder in the 104th Psalm:</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left: 10%;">"O Lord, how manifold are thy works!<br /> +In wisdom hast thou made them all.<br /> +The earth is full of thy riches;<br /> +So is this wide and great sea,<br /> +Wherein are moving things innumerable,<br /> +Creatures both small and great.<br /> +There go the ships [or "floating animals"];<br /> +There is leviathan, which thou hast formed to sport therein:<br /> +That thou givest them they gather.<br /> +Thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good;<br /> +Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled;<br /> +Thou takest away their breath, they return to their dust.<br /> +Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created,<br /> +And thou renewest the face of the earth."</p> + +<p>There are, however, good reasons to believe that, in the plans of +divine wisdom, the long periods in which the earth was occupied +by the inferior races were necessary to its subsequent adaptation +to the residence of man. To these periods our present continents +gradually grew up in all their variety and beauty. The materials +of old rocks were comminuted and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +mixed to form fertile soils, +<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> +and stores of mineral products were accumulated to +enable man to earn his subsistence and the blessings of +civilization by the sweat of his brow. If it pleased the Almighty +during these preparatory stages to replenish the land and sea +with living things full of life and beauty and happiness, who +shall venture to criticise his procedure, or to say to Him, "What +doest thou?"</p> + +<p>It would be decidedly wrong, in the present state of that which +is popularly called science, to omit to inquire here what +relation to the work of the fifth creative day those theories of +development and evolution which have obtained so great currency +may bear. The long time employed in the introduction of the lower +animals, the use of the terms "make" and "form," instead of +"create," and the expression "let the waters bring forth," may +well be understood as countenancing some form of mediate +creation, or of "creation by law," or "theistic evolution," as it +has been termed; but they give no countenance to the idea either +of the spontaneous evolution of living beings under the influence +of merely physical causes and without creative intervention, or +of the transmutation of one kind of animal into another. Still, +with reference to this last idea, it is plain that revelation +gives us no definition of species as distinguished from varieties +or races, so that there is nothing to prevent the supposition +that, within certain limits indicated by the expression "after +its kind," animals or plants may have been so constituted as to +vary greatly in the progress of geological time.</p> + +<p>If we ask whether any thing is known to science which can +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +give even a decided probability to the notion that living beings are +parts of an undirected evolution proceeding under merely dead +insentient forces, and without intention, the answer must be +emphatically no.</p> + +<p>I have elsewhere fully discussed these questions, and may here +make some general statements as to certain scientific facts which +at present bar the way against the hypothesis of evolution as +applied to life, and especially against that form of it to which +Darwin and his disciples have given so great prominence.</p> + +<p>1. The albuminous or protoplasmic material, which seems to be +necessary to the existence of every living being, is known to us +as a product only of the action of previously living protoplasm. +Though it is often stated that the production of albumen from its +elements is a process not differing from the formation of water +or any other inorganic material from its elements, this statement +is false in fact, since, though many so-called organic substances +have been produced by chemical processes, no particle of either +living or non-living organizable matter of the nature of +protoplasm has ever been so produced. The origin, therefore, of +this albuminous matter is as much a mystery to us at present as +that of any of the chemical elements.</p> + +<p>2. Though some animals and plants are very simple in their +visible structure, they all present vital properties not to be +found in dead albuminous matter, and no mode is known whereby the +properties of life can be communicated to dead matter. All the +experiments hitherto made, and very eminently those recently +performed by Pasteur, Tyndall, and Dallinger, lead to the +conclusion that even the simplest living beings can be produced +only from germs originating in previously living organisms of +similar structure. The simplest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +living organisms are thus to science ultimate facts, for which it can not account except +conjecturally.</p> + +<p>3. No case is certainly known in human experience where any +species of animal or plant has been so changed as to assume all +the characters of a new species. Species are thus practically to +science unchangeable units, the origin of which we have as yet no +means of tracing.</p> + +<p>4. Though the general history of animal life in time bears a +certain resemblance to the development of the individual animal +from the embryo, there is no reason whatever to believe that this +is more than a mere relation of analogy, arising from the fact +that in both cases the law of procedure is to pass from the +simpler forms to the more complex, and from the more generalized +to the more specialized. The external conditions and details of +the two kinds of series are altogether different, and become more +so the more they are investigated. This shows that the causes can +not have been similar.</p> + +<p>5. In tracing back animals and groups of animals in geological +time, we find that they always end without any link of connection +with previous beings, and in circumstances which render any such +connections improbable. In the work of our next creative day, the +series of animals preceding the modern horse has been cited as a +good instance of probable evolution; but not only are the members +of the series so widely separated in space and time that no +connection can be traced, but the earliest of them, the +<i>Orohippus</i>, would require, on the theory, to have been preceded +by a previous series extending so far back that it is impossible, +under any supposition of the imperfection of our present +knowledge, to consider such extension probable. The same +difficulty applies to every case of tracing back any specific +form either of animal or plant. This general result proves, as I +have elsewhere attempted to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +show, +<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> +that the introduction of +the various animal types must have been abrupt, and under some +influence quite different from that of evolution.</p> + +<p>These are what I would term the five fatal objections to +evolution as at present held, as a means of accounting for the +introduction and succession of animals. To what extent they may +be weakened or strengthened by the future progress of science it +is impossible to say, but so long as they exist it is mere folly +and presumption to affirm that modern science supports the +doctrine of evolution. There can be no doubt, however, that the +Bible leaves us perfectly free to inquire as to the plan and +method of the Creator, and that, whatever discoveries we may +make, we shall find that his plans are orderly, methodical, and +continuous, and not of the nature of an arbitrary patchwork.</p> + +<p>Though science as yet gives us no certain laws for the +introduction of new specific types, it indicates certain possible +modes of the origination of varieties, races, and sub-species of +previously existing types. One of these is that struggle for +existence against adverse external conditions, which, however, +has been harped upon too exclusively by the Darwinian school, and +which will give chiefly depauperated and degraded forms. Another +is that expansion under exceptionally favorable conditions which +arises where species are admitted to wider new areas of +geographical range and more abundant and varied means of +sustenance. Land animals and plants must have experienced this in +times of continental elevation; marine animals and plants in +times of continental depression. Another is the tendency to what +has been called reproductive retardation and acceleration which +species undergo under +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +conditions exceptionally unfavorable or +favorable, and which in some modern aquatic animals produces +differences so great that members of the same species have +sometimes been placed in different genera. Lastly, it is +conceivable that species may have been so constructed that after +a certain number of generations they may spontaneously undergo +either abrupt or gradual changes, similar to those which the +individual undergoes at certain stages of growth. This last +furnishes the only true analogy possible between embryology and +geological succession.</p> + +<p>While, however, science is silent as to the production of new +specific types, and only gives us indications as to the origin of +varieties and races, it is curious that the Bible suggests three +methods in which new organisms may be, and according to it have +been introduced by the Creator. The first is that of immediate +and direct creation, as when God created the great Tanninim. The +second is that of mediate creation, through the materials +previously existing, as when he said, "Let the land bring forth +plants," or "Let the waters bring forth animals." The third is +that of production from a previous organism by power other than +that of ordinary reproduction, as in the origination of Eve from +Adam, and the miraculous conception of Jesus. These are the only +points in which its teachings approach the limits of speculations +as to evolution, and they certainly leave scope enough for the +legitimate inquiries of science. +<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:90%;">THE HIGHER ANIMALS AND MAN.</span><br /></h2> + + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-indent:3em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God said, Let the land bring forth animals +after their kinds; the herbivora, the reptiles, and the carnivora, after their +kinds; and it was so. And God made carnivorous mammals after their kinds, +and herbivorous mammals after their kinds, and every reptile of the land after +its kind; and God saw that it was good.</p> + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-indent:3em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; and +let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and over +the herbivora and over all the land. So God created man in his own image, +in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. +And God blessed them; and God said, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish +the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over +the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.</p> + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-indent:3em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;"> +"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing +seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree +in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it +shall be for food, and to every beast of the earth and to +every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon +the earth wherein there is life, I have given every green +herb for meat; and it was so. And God saw every thing that +he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And evening and +morning were the sixth day."—Genesis i., 24-31.</p> + + +<p>The creation of animals, unlike that of plants, occupies two +days. Here our attention is restricted to the inhabitants of the +<i>land</i>, and chiefly to their higher forms. Several new names are +introduced to our notice, which I have endeavored to translate as +literally as possible by introducing zoological terms where those +in common use were deficient.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +1. The first tribe of animals noticed here is named <i>Bhemah</i>, +"cattle" in our version; and in the Septuagint "quadrupeds" in +one of the verses, and "cattle" in the other. Both of these +senses are of common occurrence in the Scriptures, cattle or +domesticated animals being usually designated by this word; while +in other passages, as in 1 Kings iv., 33, where Solomon is said +to have written a treatise on "<i>beasts</i>, fowls, creeping things, +and fishes," it appears to include all the mammalia. +Notwithstanding this wide range of meaning, however, there are +passages, and these of the greatest authority in reference to our +present subject, in which it strictly means the herbivorous +mammals, and which show that when it was necessary to distinguish +these from the predaceous or carnivorous tribes this term was +specially employed. In Leviticus xi., 22-27, we have a +specification of all the Bhemoth that might and might not be used +for food. It includes all the true ruminants, with the coney, the +hare, and the hog, animals of the rodent and pachydermatous +orders. The carnivorous quadrupeds are designated by a different +generic term. In this chapter of Leviticus, therefore, which +contains the only approach to a system in natural history to be +found in the Bible, <i>bhemah</i> is strictly a synonym of +<i>herbivora</i>, including especially ungulates and rodents. That +this is its proper meaning here is confirmed by the +considerations that in this place it can denote but a part of the +land quadrupeds, and that the idea of cattle or domesticated +animals would be an anachronism. At the same time there need be +no objection to the view that the especial capacity of ruminants +and other herbivora for domestication is connected with the use +of the word in this place.</p> + +<p>2. The word <i>remes</i>, "creeping things" in our version, as we have +already shown, is a very general term, referring to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +power of motion possessed by animals, especially on the surface of the +ground. It here in all probability refers to the additional types +of terrestrial reptiles, and other creatures lower than the +mammals, introduced in this period.</p> + +<p>3. The compound term (<i>hay'th-eretz</i>) which I have ventured to +render "carnivora," is literally animal of the land; but though +thus general in its meaning, it is here evidently intended to +denote a particular tribe of animals inhabiting the land, and not +included in the scope of the two words already noticed. In other +parts of Scripture this term is used in the sense of a "wild +beast." In a few places, like the other terms already noticed, it +is used of all kinds of animals, but that above stated is its +general meaning, and perfectly accords with the requirements of +the passage.</p> + +<p>The creation of the sixth day therefore includes—1st, the +herbivorous mammalia; 2d, a variety of terrestrial reptilia, and +other lower forms not included in the work of the previous day; +3d, the carnivorous mammalia. It will be observed that the order +in the two verses is different. In verse 24th it is herbivora, +"creeping things," and carnivora. In verse 25th it is carnivora, +herbivora, and "creeping things." One of these may, as in the +account of the fifth day, indicate the order of <i>time</i> in the +creation, and the other the order of <i>rank</i> in the animals made, +or there may have been two divisions of the work, in the earlier +of which herbivorous animals took the lead, and in the later +those that are carnivorous. In either case we may infer that the +herbivora predominated in the earlier creations of the period.</p> + +<p>It is almost unnecessary to say this period corresponds with the +Tertiary or Cainozoic era of geologists. The coincidences are +very marked and striking. As already stated, though in the later +secondary period there were great facilities +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +for the preservation of mammals in the strata then being deposited, only +a few small species of the humblest order have been found; and +the occurrence of the higher orders of this class is to some +extent precluded by the fact that the place in nature now +occupied by the mammals was then provided for by the vast +development of the reptile tribes. At the very beginning of the +tertiary period all this was changed; most of the gigantic +reptiles had disappeared, and terrestrial mammals of large size +and high organization had taken their place. Perhaps no +geological change is more striking and remarkable than the sudden +disappearance of the reptilian fauna at the close of the +mesozoic, and the equally abrupt appearance of numerous species +of large mammals, and this not in one region only, but over both +the great continents, and not only where a sudden break occurs in +the series of formations, but also where, as in Western America, +they pass gradually into each other. During the whole tertiary +period this predominance of the mammalia continued; and as the +mesozoic was the period of giant reptiles, so the tertiary was +that of great mammals. It is a singular and perhaps not +accidental coincidence that so many of the early tertiary mammals +known to us are large herbivora, such as would be included in the +Hebrew word <i>bhemah</i>; and that in the book of Job the +hippopotamus is called <i>behemoth</i>, the plural form being +apparently used to denote that this animal is the chief of the +creatures known under the general term <i>bhemah</i>, while geology +informs us that the prevailing order of mammals in the older +tertiary period was that of the ungulates, and that many of the +extinct creatures of this group are very closely allied to the +hippopotamus. Behemoth thus figures in the book of Job, not only +as at the time a marked illustration of creative power, but to +our farther knowledge also as a singular remnant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +of an extinct gigantic race. It is at least curious that while in the fifth day +great reptiles like those of the secondary rocks form the burden +of the work, in the sixth we have a term which so directly +reminds us of those gigantic pachyderms which figure so largely +in the tertiary period. Large carnivora also occur in the +tertiary formations, and there are some forms of reptile life, +as, for example, the serpents, which first appear in the +tertiary.</p> + +<p>I may refer to any popular text-book of geology in evidence of +the exact conformity of this to the progress of mammalian life, +as we now know it in detail from the study of the successive +tertiary deposits. The following short summary from Dana, though +written several years ago, still expresses the main features of +the case:</p> + +<p>"The quadrupeds did not all come forth together. Large and +powerful herbivorous species first take possession of the earth, +with only a few small carnivora. These pass away. Other herbivora +with a larger proportion of carnivora next appear. These also are +exterminated; and so with others. Then the carnivora appear in +vast numbers and power, and the herbivora also abound. Moreover +these races attain a magnitude and number far surpassing all that +now exist, as much so indeed, on all the continents, North and +South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, as the old +mastodon, twenty feet long and nine feet high, exceeds the modern +buffalo. Such, according to geology, was the age of mammals, when +the brute species existed in their greatest magnificence, and +brutal ferocity had free play; when the dens of bears and hyenas, +prowling tigers and lions far larger than any now existing, +covered Britain and Europe. Mammoths and mastodons wandered over +the plains of North America, huge sloth-like Megatheria passed +their sluggish +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +lives on the pampas of South America, and +elephantine marsupials strolled about Australia.</p> + +<p>"As the mammalian age draws to a close, the ancient carnivora and +herbivora of that era all pass away, excepting, it is believed, a +few that are useful to man. New creations of smaller size peopled +the groves; the vegetation received accessions to its foliage, +fruit-trees and flowers, and the seas brighter forms of water +life. This we know from comparisons with the fossils of the +preceding mammalian age. There was at this time no chaotic +upturning, but only the opening of creation to its fullest +expansion; and so in Genesis no new day is begun, it is still the +<i>sixth day</i>."</p> + +<p>The creation of man is prefaced by expressions implying +deliberation and care. It is not said, "Let the earth bring +forth" man, but let us form or fashion man. This marks the +relative importance of the human species, and the heavenly origin +of its nobler immaterial part. Man is also said to have been +"created," implying that in his constitution there was something +new and not included in previous parts of the work, even in its +material. Man was created, as the Hebrew literally reads, the +shadow and similitude of God—the greatest of the visible +manifestations of Deity in the lower world—the reflected image +of his Maker, and, under the Supreme Lawgiver, the delegated +ruler of the earth. Now for the first time was the earth tenanted +by a being capable of comprehending the purposes and plans of +Jehovah, of regarding his works with intelligent admiration, and +of shadowing forth the excellences of his moral nature. For +countless ages the earth had been inhabited by creatures +wonderful in their structures and instincts, and mutely +testifying, as their buried remains still do, to the Creator's +glory; but limited within a narrow range of animal propensities, +and having no power of raising a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +thought or aspiration toward the Being who made them. Now, however, man enters on the scene, +and the sons of God, who had shouted for joy when the first land +emerged from the bosom of the deep, saw the wondrous spectacle of +a spiritual nature analogous to their own, united to a corporeal +frame constructed on the same general type with the higher of +those irrational creatures whose presence on earth they had so +long witnessed.</p> + +<p>Man was to rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, +and the <i>bhemah</i> or herbivorous animals. The carnivorous +creatures are not mentioned, and possibly were not included in +man's dominion. We shall find an explanation of this farther on. +The nature of man's dominion we are left to infer. In his state +of innocence it must have been a mild and gentle sway, +interfering in no respect wilts the free exercise of the powers +of enjoyment bestowed on animals by the Creator, a rule akin to +that which a merciful man exercises over a domesticated animal, +and which some animals are capable of repaying with a warm and +devoted affection. Now, however, man's rule has become a tyranny. +"The whole creation groans" because of it. He desolates the face +of nature wherever he appears, unsettling the nice balance of +natural agencies, and introducing remediless confusion and +suffering among the lower creatures, even when in the might of +his boasted civilization he professes to renovate and improve the +face of nature. He retains enough of the image of his Maker to +enable him to a great extent to assert his dominion, and to +aspire after a restoration of his original paradise, but he has +lost so much that the power which he retains is necessarily +abused to selfish ends.</p> + +<p>Man, like the other creatures, was destined to be fruitful and +multiply and replenish the earth. We are also informed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +in chapter second that he was placed in a "garden," a chosen spot in +the alluvial plains of Western Asia, belonging to the later +geological formations, and thus prepared by the whole series of +prior geological changes, replenished with all things useful to +him, and containing nothing hurtful, at least in so far as the +animal creation was concerned. These facts, taken in connection, +lead to grave questions. How is the happy and innocent state of +man consistent with the contemporaneous existence of carnivorous +and predaceous animals, which, as both Scripture and geology +state, were created in abundance in the sixth day? How, when +confined to a limited region, could he increase and multiply and +replenish the earth? These questions, which have caused no little +perplexity, are easily solved when brought into the light of our +modern knowledge of nature. 1. Every large region of the earth is +inhabited by a group of animals differing in the proportions of +identical species, and in the presence of distinct species, from +the groups inhabiting other districts. There is also sufficient +reason to conclude that all animals and plants have spread from +certain local centres of creation, in which certain groups of +species have been produced and allowed to extend themselves, +until they met and became intermingled with species extending +from other centres. Now the district of Asia, in the vicinity of +the Euphrates and Tigris, to which the Scripture assigns the +origin of the human race, is the centre to which we can with the +greatest probability trace several of the species of animals and +plants most useful to man, and it lies near the confines of +warmer and colder regions of distribution in the Old World, and +also near the boundary of the Asiatic and European regions. At +the period under consideration it may have been peopled with a +group of animals specially suited to association with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +the progenitors of mankind. 2. To remove all zoological difficulties +from the position of primeval man in his state of innocence, we +have but to suppose, in accordance with all the probabilities of +the case, that man was created along with a group of creatures +adapted to contribute to his happiness, and having no tendency to +injure or annoy; and that it is the formation of these +creatures—the group of his own centre of creation—that is +especially noticed in Genesis ii., 19, <i>et seq.</i>, where God is +represented as forming them out of the ground and exhibiting them +to Adam; a passage otherwise superfluous, and indeed tending to +confuse the meaning of the document. 3. The difficulty attending +the early extension of the human race is at once obviated by the +geological doctrine of the extinction of species. We know that in +past geological periods large and important groups of species +have become extinct, and have been replaced by new groups +extending from new centres; and we know that this process has +removed, in early geological periods, many creatures that would +have been highly injurious to human interests had they remained. +Now the group of species created with man being the latest +introduced, we may infer, on geological grounds, that it would +have extended itself within the spheres of older zoological and +botanical districts, and would have replaced their species, +which, in the ordinary operation of natural laws, may have been +verging toward extinction. Thus not only man, but the Eden in +which he dwelt, with all its animals and plants, would have +gradually encroached on the surrounding wilderness, until man's +happy and peaceful reign had replaced that of the ferocious +beasts that preceded him in dominion, and had extended at least +over all the temperate region of the earth. 4. The cursing of the +ground for man's sake, on his fall from innocence, would +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +thus consist in the permission given to the predaceous animals and the +thorns and the briers of other centres of creation to invade his +Eden; or, in his own expulsion, to contend with the animals and +plants which were intended to have given way and become extinct +before him. Thus the fall of man would produce an arrestment in +the progress of the earth in that last great revolution which +would have converted it into an Eden; and the anomalies of its +present state consist, according to Scripture, in a mixture of +the conditions of the tertiary with those of the human period. 5. +Though there is good ground for believing that man was to have +been exempted from the general law of mortality, we can not infer +that any such exemption would have been enjoyed by his companion +animals; we only know that he himself would have been free from +all annoyance and injury and decay from external causes. We may +also conclude that, while Eden was sufficient for his habitation, +the remainder of the earth would continue, just as in the earlier +tertiary periods, under the dominion of the predaceous mammals, +reptiles, and birds. 6. The above views enable us on the one hand +to avoid the difficulties that attend the admission of predaceous +animals into Eden, and on the other the still more formidable +difficulties that attend the attempt to exclude them altogether +from the Adamic world. They also illustrate the geological fact +that many animals, contemporaneous with man, extend far back into +the Tertiary period. These are creatures not belonging to the +Edenic centre of creation, but introduced in an earlier part of +the sixth day, and now permitted to exist along with man in his +fallen state. I have stated these supposed conditions of the +Adamic creation briefly, and with as little illustration as +possible, that they may connectedly strike the mind of the +reader. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +Each of these statements is in harmony with the +Scriptural narrative on the one hand, and with geology on the +other; and, taken together, they afford an intelligible history +of the introduction of man. If a geologist were to state, <i>à +priori</i>, the conditions proper to the creation of any important +species, he could only say—the preparation or selection of some +region of the earth for it, and its production along with a group +of plants and animals suited to it. These are precisely the +conditions implied in the Scriptural account of the creation of +Adam. +<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> +The difficulties of the subject have arisen from +supposing, contrary to the narrative itself, that the conditions +necessary for Eden must in the first instance have extended over +the whole earth, and that the creatures with which man is in his +present dispersion brought into contact must necessarily have +been his companions there. One would think that many persons +derive their idea of the first man in Eden from nursery +picture-books; for the Bible gives no countenance to the idea +that all the animals in the world were in Eden. On the contrary, +it asserts that a selection was made both in the case of animals +and plants, and that this Edenic assemblage of creatures +constituted man's associates in his state of primeval innocence.</p> + +<p>The food of animals is specified at the close of the work of this +day. The grant to man is every herb bearing seed, and every +fruit-tree. That to the lower animals is more extensive—every +green herb. This can not mean that every animal in the earth was +herbivorous. It may refer to the group of animals associated with +man in Eden, and this is most likely the intention of the writer; +but if it includes the animals of the whole earth, we may be +certain, from the express +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +mention of carnivorous creatures in +the work of the fifth and sixth days, that it indicates merely +the general fact that the support of the whole animal kingdom is +based on vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +A most important circumstance in connection with the work of the +sixth day is that it witnessed the creation both of man and the +mammalia. A fictitious writer would probably have exalted man by +assigning to him a separate day, and by placing the whole animal +kingdom together in respect to time. He would be all the more +likely to do this, if unacquainted, as most ignorant persons as +well as literary men are, with the importance and teeming +multitudes of the lower tribes of animals, and with the typical +identity of the human frame with that of the higher animals. +Moses has not done so, we are at liberty to suppose, because the +vision of creation had it otherwise; and modern geology has amply +vindicated him in this by its disclosure of the intimate +connection of the human with the tertiary period; and has shown +in this as in other instances that truth and not "accommodation" +was the object of the sacred writer. While, as already stated, +many existing species extend far back into the tertiary period, +showing that the earth has been visited by no universal +catastrophe since the first creation of mammals; on the other +hand, we can not with certainty trace any existing species back +beyond the commencement of the tertiary era. Geology and +revelation, therefore, coincide in referring the creation of man +to the close of the period in which mammals were introduced and +became predominant, and in establishing a marked separation +between that period and the preceding one in which the lower +animals held undisputed sway. This coincidence, while it +strengthens the probability that the creative days were long +periods, opposes an almost insurmountable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +obstacle to every other hypothesis of reconciliation with geological science.</p> + +<p>At the close of this day the Creator again reviews his work, and +pronounces it good. Step by step the world had been evolved from +a primeval chaos, through many successive physical changes and +long series of organized beings. It had now reached its acme of +perfection, and had received its most illustrious tenant, +possessing an organism excelling all others in majesty and +beauty, and an immaterial soul the shadow of the glorious Creator +himself. Well might the angels sing, when the long-protracted +work was thus grandly completed:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20%;text-indent:10em;font-size:90%">"Thrice happy man,<br /> +And sons of men, whom God hath thus advanced,<br /> +Created in his image, there to dwell<br /> +And worship him, and in reward to rule<br /> +Over his works in earth, or sea, or air,<br /> +And multiply a race of worshippers<br /> +Holy and just; thrice happy, if they know<br /> +Their happiness and persevere upright."</p> + +<p>The Hebrew idea of the golden age of Eden is pure and exalted. It +consists in the enjoyment of the favor of God, and of all that is +beautiful and excellent in his works. God and nature are the +whole. Nor is it merely a rude, unintelligent, sensuous +enjoyment. Man primeval is not a lazy savage gathering acorns. He +is made in the image of the Creator; he is to keep and dress his +garden, and it is furnished with every plant good for food and +pleasant to the sight. In the midst of our material civilization +we need to disabuse ourselves of some prejudices before we can +realize the fact that man, without the arts of life or any need +of them, is not necessarily a barbarian or a savage. Yet even +Adam must have been an agriculturist with strong and willing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +hands, and must have had some need of agricultural implements +such as those with which the least civilized of his descendants +have been wont to till the soil. Still, without art or with very +little of it, he could enjoy all that is beautiful and grand in +nature, and could rise from the observation of nature to +communion with God. We need the more to realize this, inasmuch as +there seems so strong a tendency to confound material +civilization with higher culture, and to hold that man primeval +must have been low and debased simply because he may have had no +temples and no machinery. We must remember that he had nature, +which is higher than fine art, and that when in harmony with his +surroundings he may have had no need either of exhausting labor +or of mechanical contrivances. Farther, in the contemplation of +nature and in seeking after God, he had higher teachers than our +boasted civilization can claim.</p> + +<p>Alas for fallen man, with his poor civilization gathered little +by little from the dust of earth, and his paltry art that halts +immeasurably behind nature. How little is he able even to +appreciate the high estate of his great ancestor. The world of +fallen men has worshipped art too much, reverenced and studied +God and nature too little. The savage displays the lowest taste +when he admires the rude figures which he paints on his face or +his garments more than the glorious painting that adorns nature; +yet even he acknowledges the pre-eminent excellence of nature by +imitating her forms and colors, and by adapting her painted +plumes and flowers to his own use. There is a wide interval, +including many gradations, between this low position and that of +the cultivated amateur or artist. The art of the latter makes a +nearer approach to the truly beautiful, inasmuch as it more +accurately represents the geometric and organic forms and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +the coloring of nature; and inasmuch as it devises ideal combinations +not found in the actual world; which ideal combinations, however, +are beautiful or monstrous just as they realize or violate the +harmonies of nature. It is only the highest culture that brings +man back to his primitive refinement.</p> + +<p>Art takes her true place when she sits at the feet of nature, and +brings her students to drink in its beauties, that they may +endeavor, however imperfectly, to reproduce them. On the other +hand, the student of nature must not content himself with +"writing Latin names on white paper," wherewith to label nature's +productions, but must rise to the contemplation of the order and +beauty of the Cosmos as a revelation of Divinity. Both will thus +rise to that highest taste which will enable them to appreciate +not only the elegance of individual forms, but their structure, +their harmonies, their grouping and their relations, their +special adaptation, and their places as parts of a great system. +Thus art will attain that highest point in which it displays +original genius, without violating natural truth and unity, and +nature will be regarded as the highest art.</p> + +<p>Much is said and done in our time with reference to the +cultivation of popular taste for fine art as a means of +civilization; and this, so far as it goes, is well; but the only +sure path to the highest taste-education is the cultivation of +the study of nature. This is also an easier branch of education, +provided the instructors have sufficient knowledge. Good works of +art are rare and costly; but good works of nature are everywhere +around us, waiting to be examined. Such education, popularly +diffused, would react on the efforts of art. It would enable a +widely extended public to appreciate real excellence, and would +cause works of art to be valued just in proportion to the extent +to which they realize +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +or deviate from natural truth and unity. I +do not profess to speak authoritatively on such subjects, but I +confess that the strong impression on my mind is that neither the +revered antique models, nor the practice and principles of the +generality of modern art reformers, would endure such criticism; +and that if we could combine popular enthusiasm for art with +scientific appreciation of nature, a new and better art might +arise from the union.</p> + +<p>I may appear to dwell too long upon this topic; but my excuse +must be that it leads to a true estimate both of natural history +and of the sacred Scriptures. The study of nature guides to those +large views of the unity and order of creation which alone are +worthy of a being of the rank of man, and which lead him to +adequate conceptions of the Creator; but the truly wise recognize +three grades of beauty. First, that of art, which, in its higher +efforts, can raise ordinary minds far above themselves. Secondly, +that of nature, which, in its most common objects, must transcend +the former, since its artist is that God of whose infinite mind +the genius of the artist is only a faint reflection. Thirdly, +that pre-eminent beauty of moral goodness revealed only in the +spiritual nature of the Supreme. The first is one of the natural +resources of fallen man in his search for happiness. The second +was man's joy in his primeval innocence. The third is the +inheritance of man redeemed. It is folly to place these on the +same level. It is greater folly to worship either or both of the +first without regard to the last. It is true wisdom to aspire to +the last, and to regard nature as the handmaid of piety, art as +but the handmaid of nature.</p> + +<p>Nature to the unobservant is merely a mass of things more or less +beautiful or interesting, but without any definite order or +significance. An observer soon arrives at the conclusion +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +that it is a series of circling changes, ever returning to the same +points, ever renewing their courses, under the action of +invariable laws. But if he rests here, he falls infinitely short +of the idea of the Cosmos, and stands on the brink of the +profound error of eternal succession. A little further progress +conducts him to the inviting field of special adaptation and +mutual relation of things. He finds that nothing is without its +use; that every structure is most nicely adjusted to special +ends; that the supposed ceaseless circling of nature is merely +the continuous action of great powers, by which an infinity of +utilities are worked out—the great fly-wheel which, in its +unceasing and at first sight apparently aimless round, is giving +motion to thousands of reels and spindles and shuttles, that are +spinning and weaving, in all its varied patterns, the great web +of life.</p> + +<p>But the observer, as he looks on this web, is surprised to find +that it has in its whole extent a wondrous pattern. He rises to +the contemplation of type in nature, a great truth to which +science has only lately opened its eyes. He begins dimly to +perceive that the Creator has from the beginning had a plan +before his mind, that this plan embraced various types or +patterns of existence; that on these patterns he has been working +out the whole system of nature, adapting each to all the variety +of uses by an infinity of minor modifications. That, in short, +whether he study the eye of a gnat or the structure of a mountain +chain, he sees not only objects of beauty and utility, but parts +of far-reaching plans of infinite wisdom, by which all objects, +however separated in time or space, are linked together.</p> + +<p>How much of positive pleasure does that man lose who passes +through life absorbed with its wants and its artificialities, and +regarding with a "brute, unconscious gaze" the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +grand revelation of a higher intelligence in the outer world. It is only in an +approximation through our Divine Redeemer to the moral likeness +of God that we can be truly happy; but of the subsidiary +pleasures which we are here permitted to enjoy, the contemplation +of nature is one of the best and purest. It was the pleasure, the +show, the spectacle prepared for man in Eden, and how much true +philosophy and taste shine in the simple words that in paradise +God planted trees "pleasant to the sight," as well as "good for +food." Other things being equal, the nearer we can return to this +primitive taste, the greater will be our sensuous enjoyment, the +better the influence of our pleasures on our moral nature, +because they will then depend on the cultivation of tastes at +once natural and harmless, and will not lead us to communion with +and reverence for merely human genius, but will conduct us into +the presence of the infinite perfection of the Creator.</p> + +<p>The Bible knows but one species of man. It is not said that men +were created after their species, as we read of the groups of +animals. Man was made, "male and female;" and in the fuller +details afterwards given in the second chapter—where the writer, +having finished his general narrative, commences his special +history of man—but one primitive pair is introduced to our +notice. We scarcely need the detailed tables of affiliation +afterward given, or the declaration of the apostle who preached +to the supposed autochthones of Athens, that "God has made of one +blood all nations," to assure us of the Scriptural unity of man. +If, therefore, there were any good reason to believe that man is +not of one but several origins, we must admit Moses to have been +very imperfectly informed. Nor, on the other hand, does the Bible +any more than geology allow us to assign a very high antiquity +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +to the origin of man relatively to that of the earth on which he +dwells. The genealogical tables of the Bible may admit of some +limits of difference of opinion as to the age of the human world +or æon, and also of that of the deluge, from which man took his +second point of departure; but they do not allow us to put the +origin of man farther back than that of the present or modern +condition of our continents and the present races of animals. +They therefore limit us to the modern or quaternary period of +geology. The question of man's antiquity, so much agitated now, +demands, however, a separate and careful consideration; but we +must first devote a few pages to the simple statements of the +Bible respecting the Sabbath of creation and its relation to +human history.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br/><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">THE REST OF THE CREATOR.</span><br /></h2> + + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-indent:3em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;">"And the +heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. +And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he +rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. +And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it +God rested from all his work which he had created to make."—Genesis ii., 1-3.</p> + + +<p>The end of the sixth day closed the work of creation properly so +called, as well as that of forming and arranging the things +created. The beginning of the seventh introduced a period which, +according to the views already stated, was to be occupied by the +continued increase and diffusion of man and the creatures under +his dominion, and by the gradual disappearance of tribes of +creatures unconnected with his well-being.</p> + +<p>Science in this well accords with Scripture. No proof exists of +the production of a new species since the creation of man; and +all geological and archæological evidence points to him and a few +of the higher mammals as the newest of the creatures. There is, +on the other hand, good evidence that several species have become +extinct since his creation. Those who believe in the continuous +evolution of animals and men, it is true, can see no actual +termination of the process with the introduction of man; but even +they see that the appearance of a rational and moral being at +least changes the nature and order of the development. Nor can +they doubt +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +that man is the last born of nature, and that the +whole animal creation is crowned by him as its capital or topmost +pinnacle. The later speculators on this subject have never +reached any truth beyond that long ago stated by the lamented +Edward Forbes—a most careful observer and accurate reasoner on +the more recent changes of the earth's surface. He infers, from +the distribution of species from their centres of creation, that +man is the latest product of creative power; or, in other words, +that none of those species or groups of species which he had been +able to trace to their centres, or the spots at which they +probably originated, appear to be of later or as late origin as +man. "This consideration," he says, "induces me to believe that +the last province in time was completed by the coming of man, and +to maintain an hypothesis that man stands unique in space and +time, himself equal to the sum of any pre-existing centre of +creation or of all—an hypothesis consistent with man's moral and +social position in the world."</p> + +<p>The seventh day, then, was to have been that in which all the +happiness, beauty, and perfection of the others were to have been +concentrated. But an element of instability was present in the +being who occupied the summit of the animal scale. Not regulated +by blind and unerring instincts, but a free agent, with a high +intellectual and moral nature, and liable to be acted on by +temptation from without; under such influence he lost his moral +balance in stretching out his hand to grasp the peculiar powers +of Deity, and fell beyond the hope of +self-redemption—perpetuating, by one of those laws which +regulate the transmission of mixed corporeal and spiritual +natures, his degradation to every generation of his species. And +so God's great work was marred, and all his plans seemed to be +foiled, when they had just reached their completion. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +Thus far science might carry us unaided; for there is not a true +naturalist, however skeptical as to revealed religion, who does +not feel in his inmost heart the disjointed state of the present +relations of man to nature; the natural wreck that results from +his artificial modes of life, the long trains of violations of +the symmetry of nature that follow in the wake of his most +boasted achievements. But here natural science stops; and just as +we have found that, in tracing back the world's history, the +Bible carries us much farther than geology, so science, having +led us to suspect the fallen state of man, leaves us henceforth +to the teaching of revelation. And how glorious that teaching! +God did not find himself baffled—his resources are infinite—he +had foreseen and prepared for all this apparent evil; and out of +the moral wreck he proceeds to work out the grand process of +<i>redemption</i>, which is the especial object of the seventh day, +and which will result in the production of a new heaven and a new +earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. In the seventh, as in the +former days, the evening precedes the morning. For four thousand +years the world groped in its darkness—a darkness tenanted by +moral monsters as powerful and destructive as the old pre-Adamite +reptiles. The Sun of Righteousness at length arose, and the +darkness began to pass away; but eighteen centuries have elapsed, +and we still see but the gray dawn of morning, which we yet +firmly believe will brighten into a glorious day that shall know +no succeeding night. +<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> + +<p>The seventh day is the modern or human era in geology; and, +though it can not yet boast of any physical changes so +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +great as those of past periods, it is still of much interest, as affording +the facts on which we must depend for explanations of past +changes; and as immediately connected in time with those later +tertiary periods which afford so many curious problems to the +geological student. The actual connection of the human with +preceding periods is still involved in some obscurity; and, as we +shall see, there has recently been a strong tendency to throw +back the origin of man into prehistoric ages of enormous length, +on grounds which are, however, much less certain than is commonly +imagined. This question we have to examine; but before entering +upon it may shortly sketch the actual import of the statements of +the Hebrew Scriptures respecting what may be called the +prehistoric duration of the human species. This is the more +necessary, as the most crude notions seem very widely to prevail +on the subject. I shall, therefore, in this place notice some +general facts deducible from the Bible, and which may be useful +in appreciating the true relation of the human era to those which +preceded it. It will be understood that I shall endeavor merely +to present a picture of what the Bible actually teaches, and +which any one can verify by reading the book of Genesis.</p> + +<p>1. The local centre of creation of the human species, and +probably of a group of creatures coeval with it, was Eden; a +country of which the Scriptures give a somewhat minute +geographical description. It was evidently a district of Western +Asia; and, from its possession of several important rivers, +rather a region or large territory than a limited spot, such as +many, who have discussed the question of the site of Eden, seem +to suppose. In this view it is a matter of no moment to fix its +site more nearly than the indication of the Bible that it +included the sources and probably large portions of the valleys +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +of the Tigris, the Euphrates, and perhaps the Oxus and Jaxartes. +Into the minor difficulties respecting the site of Eden it would +be unprofitable to enter, and it will matter little if we accept +that view, which, however, I think less probable, that it was +placed in the lower part of the valley of the Euphrates. I may +merely mention one particular of the Biblical description, +because it throws light on the great antiquity of this +geographical delineation, and has been strangely misconceived by +expositors—the relation of those rivers to Cush or Ethiopia and +Havilah, a tribal name derived from that of a grandson of Cush. +On consulting the tenth chapter of Genesis, it will be found that +the Cushites under Nimrod, very soon after the deluge, are stated +to have pushed their migrations and conquests along the Tigris to +the northward, and established there the first empire. It is +probably this primitive Cushite empire, called Ethiopia in our +translation, which in the epoch of the description of Eden +occupied the Euphratean valley, and being bounded on one side by +the river called Gihon, was thus believed to extend over the old +site of Eden. Thus the Cush or Ethiopia of the description has no +direct connection with the African Ethiopia, and speculations +based on such a supposed connection are groundless. On the other +hand this feature furnishes an interesting coincidence with other +parts of Genesis, and throws light on many obscure points in the +early history of man; and since this Cushite empire had perished +even before the time of Moses, it indicates a still more ancient +tradition respecting the primeval abode of our species.</p> + +<p>2. Before the deluge this region must have been the seat of a +dense population, which, according to the Biblical account, must +have made considerable advances in the arts, and at the same time +sunk very low in moral debasement. +<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +Whether any remains of the central portions of this ancient population or its works +exist will probably not be determined with absolute certainty +till we have accurate geological investigations of the whole +country in the neighborhood of the Caspian Sea and along the +great rivers of Western Asia, though there is nothing +unreasonable in the belief that some of the old prehistoric men +whose remains are discovered in caves and river gravels in Europe +may belong to the antediluvian race. Should such remains be +found, we might infer, from the extreme longevity and other +characteristics assigned to the antediluvians, that their +skeletons would present peculiarities entitling them to be +considered a well-marked variety of the human species, and this +not of a low type of physical organization. We may also infer +that the family of man very early divided into two races—one +retaining in greater purity the moral endowments of the species, +the other excelling in the mechanical and fine arts; and that +there were rude and savage outlying communities of men then as at +present. If the so-called palæolithic men of Europe are +antediluvian, they were probably of such outlying tribes, and +possibly of the mixed race which sprung up in the later +antediluvian age, and who are described as mighty men physically, +and men of violence. It would be quite natural that this +intermixture +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +of the Sethite and Cainite races should produce a +race excelling both in energy and physical endowments—the +"giants" that were in those days. +<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> +If any remains of the two central nations of the antediluvian period are ever discovered, +we may confidently anticipate that the distinctive +characteristics of these races may be detected in their osseous +structures as well as in their works of art. Farther, it is to be +inferred from notices in the fourth chapter of Genesis, that +before the deluge there was both a nomadic and a settled +population, and that the principal seat of the Cainite, or more +debased yet energetic branch of the human family, was to the +eastward of the site of Eden. No intimations are given by which +the works of art of antediluvian times could be distinguished +from those of later periods; but that curious summary of the +treasures of antediluvian man contained in the notice that the +land of Havilah produced gold and agate and pearl (Gen. ii., 12) +would lead us to believe that the early antediluvian age was on +the whole an age of stone, in which flint for weapons, and gold +and shell wampum for ornaments, were the leading kinds of wealth. +On the other hand, the notices of antediluvian metallurgy, and +the building and construction of the ark, would lead us to infer +that the later antediluvians had attained to much perfection in +some constructive arts—a conclusion which harmonizes with the +otherwise inexplicable perfection of such art soon after the +deluge, as evidenced not only by the story of Babel, but also by +the early works of the Assyrians and Egyptians.</p> + +<p>3. When the antediluvian population had fully proved itself +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +unfit to enter into the divine scheme of moral renovation, it was +swept away by a fearful physical catastrophe. The deluge might, +in all its relations, furnish material for an entire treatise. I +may remark here, as its most important geological peculiarity, +that it was evidently a <i>local</i> convulsion. The object, that of +destroying the human race and the animal population of its +peculiar centre of creation, the preservation of specimens of +these creatures in the ark, and the physical requirements of the +case, necessitate this conclusion, which is now accepted by the +best Biblical expositors, +<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> +and which inflicts no violence on +the terms of the record. Viewed in this light, the phenomena +recorded in the Bible, in connection with geological +probabilities, lead us to infer that the physical agencies evoked +by the divine power to destroy this ungodly race were a +subsidence of the region they inhabited, so as to admit the +oceanic waters, and extensive atmospherical disturbances +connected with that subsidence, and perhaps with the elevation of +neighboring regions. In this case it is possible that the Caspian +Sea, which is now more than eighty feet below the level of the +ocean, +<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> +and which was probably much more extensive then than +at present, received much of the drainage of the flood, and that +the mud and sand deposits of this sea and the adjoining desert +plains, once manifestly a part of its bottom, conceal any remains +that exist of the antediluvian population. In connection with +this, it may be remarked that, in the book of Job, Eliphaz speaks +as if the locality of those wicked nations +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +which existed before the deluge was known and accessible in his time:</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:20%;">"Hast thou marked the ancient way<br /> +Which wicked men have trodden,<br /> +Who were seized [by the waters] in a moment,<br /> +And whose foundations a flood swept away?"<br /> +<span style="margin-left:15em;">—Job xxii., 15.</span></p> + +<p>On comparing this statement with the answer of Job in the 26th +chapter, verse 5th, it would seem that the ungodly antediluvians +were supposed to be still under the waters; a belief quite +intelligible if the Caspian, which, on the latest and most +probable views of the locality of the events of this book, was +not very remote from the residence of Job, +<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> +was supposed to mark the position of the pre-Noachic population, as the Dead Sea +afterward did that of the cities of the plain. Some of the dates +assigned to the book of Job would, however, render it possible +that this last catastrophe is that to which <i>he</i> refers:</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:20%;">"The <i>Rephaim</i> tremble from beneath<br /> +The waters and their inhabitants.<br /> +Sheol is naked before him,<br /> +And destruction hath no covering."</p> + +<p>The word <i>Rephaim</i> here has been variously rendered "shades of +the dead" and "giants." It is properly the family or national +name of certain tribes of gigantic Hamite men (the Anakim, Emim, +etc.) inhabiting Western Asia at a very remote period; and it +must here refer either to them or to the still earlier +antediluvian giants. +<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> +</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +It is also an important point to be noticed here that the +narrative of the deluge in Genesis is given as the testimony or +record of an eye-witness, and is to be so understood; and that +the terms of the record imply, not as usually held that all sorts +of animals were taken into Noah's ark, but only a selection, the +character of which is clearly indicated by a comparison of the +five lists of animals given in the narrative. Bearing this in +mind, and noticing that the writer tells of his own experience as +to the rise of the water, the drifting of the ark, the +disappearance of all visible shore, and the sounding fifteen +cubits where a hill had before been, all the difficulties of the +narrative of the deluge will at once disappear. These +difficulties have in fact arisen from regarding the story as the +composition of a historian, not as what it manifestly is, the log +or journal of a contemporary, introduced with probably little +change by the compiler of the book.</p> + +<p>After the deluge, we find the human race settled in the plains of +the Euphrates and Tigris, attracted thither by the fertility of +their alluvial soils. There we find them engaging in a great +political scheme, no doubt founded on recollections of the old +antediluvian nationalities, and on a dread of the evils which +able and aspiring men would anticipate from that wide dispersion +of the human race that appears to have been intended by the +Creator in the new circumstances of the earth. They commenced +accordingly the erection of a city or tower at Babel, in the +plain of Shinar, to form a common bond of union, a great public +work that should be a rallying-point for the race, and around +which its patriotism might concentrate itself. The attempt was +counteracted by an interposition of divine Providence; and +thenceforth the diffusion of the human race proceeded unchecked, +carrying with it everywhere the memory of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +celebrated tower, which perpetuated itself not only in the mounds of Assyria and +Babylon and the pyramids of Egypt, but in the teocallis and +temple mounds of the New World. The Babel enterprise is in fact +the first recorded development of that mound-building instinct +which the earlier races everywhere evince, and which has been a +distinguishing characteristic more especially of the Cushite or +Turanian race, and has apparently made them the teachers of +constructive arts to all other peoples. Perhaps a dread of the +total decay and loss of the surviving antediluvian arts in +construction and other matters may have been one impelling motive +to the building of Babel. Perhaps it was connected with the +communistic ideas of the Turanian race, and their conflict with +the patriarchal habits of the Semites. Out of the enterprise at +Babel, however, arose a new type of evil, which, in the forms of +military despotism, the spirit of conquest, hero-worship, and the +alliance of these influences with literature and the arts, has +been handed down through every succeeding age to our own time. +The name of Nimrod, the son of Cush, has been preserved to us in +the Bible, and also apparently in the tablets and inscriptions of +Assyria, as the founder of the first despotism. This bold and +ambitious man, subsequently deified under different names, +established a Hamite or Turanian empire, which appears to have +extended its sway over the tribes occupying Southwestern Asia and +Northeastern Africa, everywhere supporting its power by force of +arms, and introducing a debasing polytheistic hero-worship, and +certain forms of art probably derived from antediluvian times. +The centre of this Cushite empire, however, gave way to the +rising power of Assyria or the Ashurite branch of the sons of +Shem, at a period antecedent to the dawn of profane history, +except in its mythical form; and when the light of secular +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +history first breaks upon us, we find Egypt standing forth as the +only stable representative of the arts, the systems, and the +superstitions of the old Cushite empire, of which it had been the +southern branch; while other remnants of the Hamite races, +included in the empire of Nimrod, were scattered over Western +Asia, and, migrating into Europe, with or after the ruder but +less demoralized sons of Japheth, carried with them their +characteristic civilization and mythology, to take root in new +forms in Greece and Italy. +<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> +Meanwhile the Assyrian and Persian (Elamite) races were growing in Middle Asia, and probably +driving the more eastern remnants of the Nimrodic empire into +India, borrowing at the same time their superstitions and their +claims to universal dominion. These views, which I believe to +correspond with the few notices in the Bible and in ancient +history, and to be daily receiving new confirmations from the +investigations of the ancient Assyrian monuments, enable us to +understand many mysterious problems in the early history of man. +They give us reason to suspect that the <i>principle</i> of the first +empire was an imitation of the antediluvian world, and that its +arts and customs were mainly derived from that source. They show +how it happens that Egypt, a country so far removed from the +starting-point of man after the deluge, should appear to be the +cradle of the arts, and they account for the Hamite and perhaps +antediluvian elements, mixed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +with primeval Biblical ideas, as +the cherubim, etc., in the old heathenism of India, Assyria, and +Southern Europe, and which they share with Egypt, having derived +them from the same source. They also show how it is that in the +most remote antiquity we find two well-developed and opposite +religious systems; the pure theism of Noah, and those who +retained his faith, and the idolatry of those tribes which +regarded with adoring veneration the objects and stages of the +creative work, the grander powers and objects of nature, the +mighty Cainites of the world before the flood, and the +postdiluvian leaders who followed them in their violence, their +cultivation of the arts, and their rebellion against God. These +heroes were identified with imaginative conceptions of the +heavenly bodies, animals, and other natural objects, associated +with the fortunes of cities and nations, with particular +territories, and with war and the useful arts, transmitted under +different names to one country after another, and localized in +each; and it is only in comparatively modern times that we have +been able to recognize the full certainty of the view held long +since by many ingenious writers, that among the greater gods of +Egypt and Assyria, and of consequence among those also of Greece +and Rome, were Nimrod, Ham, Ashur, Noah, Mizraim, and other +worthies and tyrants of the old world; and to suspect that +Tubalcain and Naamah, and other antediluvian names, were +similarly honored, though subsequently overshadowed by more +recent divinities. The later Assyrian readings of Rawlinson, +Hincks, and the lamented George Smith, and the more recent works +on Egyptian antiquities, are full of pregnant hints on these +subjects. It would, however, lead us too far from our immediate +subject to enter more fully into these questions. I have referred +to them merely to point out connecting-links +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +between the secular and sacred history of the earlier part of the human period, as a +useful sequel to our comparison of the latter with the +conclusions of science, and as furnishing hints which may guide +the geologist in connecting the human with the tertiary period, +and in distinguishing between the antediluvian and postdiluvian +portions of the former.</p> + +<p>It may be said, however, that all this Biblical history, however +it may accord with the little that remains to us of the written +annals of early Oriental nations, is entirely at variance with +those modern archæological discussions which point to an immense +antiquity of the human race, and to a primitive barbarism out of +which all human culture was little by little evolved; and which +results of archæological investigation, while contradictory to +the Hebrew Scriptures, are entirely in accord with the +evolutionist philosophy. The prominence now given to such views +as these renders it necessary that we should denote a special +chapter to their discussion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">UNITY AND ANTIQUITY OF MAN.</span><br /></h2> + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-align:left;text-indent:3em;font-weight:bold;">"These are +the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their +nations: and by these were the nationsdivided in the earth after +the flood."—Genesis x., 32.</p> + + +<p>The theologians and evangelical Christians of our time, and with +them the credibility of the Holy Scriptures, are supposed by many +to have been impaled on a zoological and archæological dilemma, +in a manner which renders nugatory all attempts to reconcile the +Mosaic cosmogony with science. The Bible, as we have seen, knows +but one Adam, and that Adam not a myth or an ethnic name, but a +veritable man; but some naturalists and ethnologists think that +they have found decisive evidence that man is not of one but of +several origins. The religious tendency of this doctrine no +Christian can fail to perceive. In whatever way put, or under +whatever disguise, it renders the Bible history worthless, +reduces us to that isolation of race from race cultivated in +ancient times by the various local idolatries, and destroys the +brotherhood of man and the universality of that Christian +atonement which proclaims that "as in Adam all die, so in Christ +shall all be made alive."</p> + +<p>Fortunately, however, the greater weight of biological and +archæological evidence is here on the side of the Bible, and +philology comes in with strong corroborative proof. But just as +the orthodox theologian is beginning to congratulate himself +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +on the aid he has thus received, some of his new friends gravely +tell him that, in order to maintain their view, it is necessary +to believe that man has resided on earth for countless ages, and +that it is quite a mistake to suppose that his starting-point is +so recent as the Mosaic deluge. Nay, some very rampant theorists +of some ethnological schools try to pierce Moses and his abettors +with both horns of the dilemma at once, maintaining that men may +be of different species, and yet may have existed for an enormous +length of time as well. The recent prevalence of theories of +evolution has, however, thrown quite into the background the +discussions formerly active respecting the unity of man, but has, +along with geological and archæological discovery, given +increased prominence to those relating to the date of the origin +of our species and the manner of its introduction.</p> + +<p>The Bible gives us a definite epoch, that of the deluge, about +2000 to 3000 B.C., for all existing races of men; but this, +according to it, was only the second starting-point of humanity, +and though no family but that of Noah survived the terrible +catastrophe, it would be a great error to suppose that nothing +antediluvian appears in the subsequent history of man. Before the +deluge there were arts and an old civilization, extending over at +least two thousand years, and after the deluge men carried with +them these heirlooms of the old world to commence with them new +nations. This has been tacitly ignored by many of the writers who +underrate the value of the Hebrew history. It may be as well for +this reason to place, in a series of propositions, the principal +points in Genesis which relate to the questions now before us.</p> + +<p>1. Adam and Isha, the woman, afterward called Eve (Life-giver), +in consequence of the promise of a Redeemer, commenced a life of +husbandry on their expulsion from Eden, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +which, on the ordinary views of the Bible chronology, may be supposed to have occurred +from 4000 to 5000 years before the Christian era; and during the +lifetime of the primal pair, the sheep, at least, was +domesticated. The Bible, of course, knows nothing of the +imaginary continent of Lemuria, in which, according to some +hypotheses, men are supposed to have had their birth from apes. A +few generations after, in the time of Lamech, cattle were +domesticated; and the metals copper and iron were applied to +use—the latter probably meteoric iron; and hence, it may be, the +Hindoo and Hellenic myths of Twachtrei and Hephæstos in +connection with the thunderbolt. We learn, however, incidentally, +as already mentioned, in the description of Eden in Genesis, +chapter 2d, that there was a previous stone age, in which "flint, +pearls or shell beads, and stream-gold" were the chief treasures +of man, for this is implied in the "gold, bedolach, and onyx" of +the land of Havilah. It is certain also, from the discoveries +made in Assyria, on the site of Troy, and elsewhere, that the use +of stone implements continued in Western Asia long after the +deluge. In the time of Noah the distinction of clean and unclean +beasts, and the taking of seven pairs of certain beasts and birds +into the ark, imply that certain mammals and birds were +domesticated. +<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p> + +<p>2. Before the flood, as already remarked, there was a division of +man into two nationalities or races; and there was a citizen, an +agricultural, a pastoral, and a nomadic population. Farther, the +remarkable progress in the arts implied in the building of such +structures as the Tower of Babel, and other temple and palace +mounds in Assyria, and of the pyramids +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +of Egypt, within a few generations after the deluge, proves that a very advanced +material civilization and great skill in constructive arts had +been reached in antediluvian times. +<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> + +<p>3. After the deluge, the arts of the antediluvians and their +citizen life were almost immediately revived in the plain of +Shinar; but the plans of the Babel leaders, like those of many +others who have attempted to force distinct tribes into one +nationality, failed. The guilt attributed to them probably +relates to the attempt to break up the patriarchal and tribal +organization, which in these early times was the outward form of +true religion, in favor of some sort of national organization, +not compatible with the extension of man immediately over the +world, and tending to consolidation into dense communities. It +may be a question here whether the tribal communism which has +prevailed among the American Indians and other rude races was the +primitive form of society which the Babel-builders essayed to +change, or whether the Semitic patriarchal system had at first +prevailed, and the Babel difficulties were connected with a +conflict between this and communism or despotism, both new +Turanian or Aryan introductions. In any case, Babel, and Babylon +its successor, remain in the subsequent Biblical literature as +types of the God-defying and antichristian systems that have +succeeded each other from the time of Nimrod to this day.</p> + +<p>4. The human race was scattered over the earth in family groups +or tribes, each headed by a leading patriarch, who gave it its +name. First, the three sons of Noah formed three main stems, and +from these diverged several family branches. The ethnological +chart in the 10th chapter of Genesis gives the principal branches +under patriarchal and ethnic names +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +but these, of course, continued to subdivide beyond the space and time referred to by +the sacred writer. It is simply absurd to object, as some writers +have done, to the universality of the statements in Genesis, that +they do not mention in detail the whole earth. They refer to a +few generations only, and beyond this restrict themselves to the +one branch of the human family to which the Bible principally +relates. We should be thankful for so much of the leading lines +of ethnological divergence, without complaining that it is not +followed out into its minute ramifications and into all history.</p> + +<p>5. The tripartite division in Genesis x. indicates a somewhat +strict geographical separation of the three main trunks. The +regions marked out for Japheth include Europe and Northwestern +Asia. The name Japheth, as well as the statements in the table, +indicate a versatile, nomadic, and colonizing disposition as +characteristic of these tribes. +<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> +The Median population, the +same with a portion of that now often called Aryan, +<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> +was the only branch remaining near the original seats of the species, and +in a settled condition. The outlying portions of the posterity of +Japheth, on account of their wide dispersion, must at a very +early period have fallen into comparative barbarism, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +such as we find in historic periods all over Western and Northern Europe and +Northern Asia. Owing to their habitat, the Japhetites of the +Bible include none of the black races, unless certain Indian and +Australian nations are outlying portions of this family. The +Shemite nations showed little tendency to migrate, being grouped +about the Euphrates and Tigris valleys and neighboring regions. +For this reason, with the exception of certain Arab tribes, they +present no instances of barbarism, and generally retained a high +cerebral organization, and respectable though stationary +civilization, and they possess the oldest alphabet and +literature. The posterity of Ham differs remarkably from the +others. It spread itself over Southern, Central, and Eastern +Asia, Southern Europe, and Northern Africa, and constitutes the +stock alike of the Turanian and African races, as well as +probably of the American tribes. It has all along displayed a +great capacity for certain forms of art and semi-civilization, +but has rarely risen to the level of the Shemite and Japhetite +races. It established the earliest military and monarchical +institutions, and presents at the dawn of history—in Assyria, in +Egypt, and India—settled and arbitrary forms in politics and +religion, of a character so much resembling that of an old and +corrupt civilization that we can scarcely avoid supposing that +Ham and his family had preserved more than any of the other +Noachian races the arts and institutions of the old world before +the flood. It certainly presents itself in early postdiluvian +times as the first representative and teacher of art and material +civilization. The Hamite race is remarkable for the early +development of pantheism and hero-worship, and for the artificial +character of its culture. It presents us with the darkest colors, +and in the vast solitudes of Africa and Central Asia its outlying +tribes must have fallen into comparative +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +barbarism a few centuries after the deluge. It is farther to be observed that, +according to the Bible, the Canaanites and other Hamite nations +spoke languages not essentially different from those of the +Shemites, while the Japhetite nations were to them barbarians—"a +nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand." There was, too, +at the date of the dispersion of Babel, already a distinction of +tongues within each of the great races of men.</p> + +<p>6. All the divisions of the family of Noah had from the first the +domesticated animals and the principal arts of life, and enjoyed +these in a national capacity so soon as sufficiently numerous. +The more scattered tribes, wandering into fresh regions, and +adopting the life of hunters, lost the characteristics of +civilization, and diverged widely from the primitive languages. +We should thus have, according to the Hebrew ethnology, a central +area presenting the principal stems of all the three races in a +permanently civilized state. All around this area should lie +aberrant and often barbarous tribes, differing most widely from +the original type in the more distant regions, and in those least +favorable to human health and subsistence. In these outlying +regions, secondary centres of civilization might grow up, +differing from that of the primitive centre, except in so far as +the common principles of human nature and intercommunication +might prevent this. All these conclusions, fairly deducible at +once from the Mosaic ethnology and the theory of dispersion from +a centre, are perfectly in accordance with observed facts, though +in absolute contradiction to prevalent ethnological conclusions, +based on these facts in connection with theories of development.</p> + +<p>A multitude of Bible notices might easily be quoted illustrative +of these points, and also of the consistency of the Mosaic +narrative with itself. One of them may suffice here. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +Abraham, who is said by the Jews to have been contemporary with Shem, as +Menes by the Egyptians with Ham, at least lived sufficiently near +to the time of the rise of the earliest nations to be taken as an +illustration of this primitive condition of society. He was not a +patriarch of the first or second rank, like Ham or Mizraim or +Canaan, but a subordinate family leader several removes from the +survivors of the deluge. Yet his tribe increases in comparatively +few years to a considerable number. He is treated as an equal by +the monarchs of Egypt and Philistia. He defeats, with a band of +three or four hundred retainers, a confederacy of four Euphratean +kings representing the embryo state of the Persian and Assyrian +empires, and already relatively so strong that they have overrun +much of Western Asia. All this bespeaks in a most consistent +manner the rapid rise of many small nationalities, scattered over +the better parts of wide regions, and still in a feeble +condition, though inheriting from their ancestors an old +civilization, and laying the foundations of powerful states. If +we attach any historical value whatever to the narrative, it +obviously implies that at a date of about two thousand years +before Christ the regions afterward occupied by the oldest +historic empires were still thinly peopled, and their dominant +races little more than feeble tribes. This farther corresponds +with the authentic history of all the ancient nations, however +these may have been extended by previous mythical periods. About +or shortly before the time of Abraham, Menes was draining for the +first time the swamps of Egypt, Ninus or Nimrod was founding the +Assyrian empire, the Phoenicians were founding Sidon, +agriculture was being introduced into China, the Vedas were being +written in India, the Persian monarchy was being founded; and, in +short, all the historical nations of the East +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +were originating, and this apparently by springing into being with an already +formed civilization.</p> + +<p>Such being the Hebrew account of the date and early history of +man, it may be proper here to compare it with such deductions +from archæological and geological investigation as may seem to +conflict with it, and at the same time to make some comparisons +with the Turanian and Aryan traditions and speculations as to +human origins. The special lines of investigation important here +are: 1. Early historical records other than the Bible; 2. The +diversity of human languages; 3. The geological evidence afforded +by remains of prehistoric men found in caverns and other +repositories. The last of these is at present that which has +attained the greatest development.</p> + +<p>1. <i>Early Human History.</i>—Had the human race everywhere +preserved historical records, we should have had some certain +evidence as to the places and times of origination of its tribes +and peoples. Unfortunately this has not been the case. All savage +and barbarous races, and many of those now civilized, have lost +all records of their early history. Most of the so-called ancient +nations are comparatively modern, and their history after a very +short course loses itself in uncertain tradition and mythical +fancies. The only really ancient nations that have given us in +detail their own written history are the Hebrews, the Assyrians, +the Egyptians, the Hindoos, and the Chinese. The last people, +though professedly very ancient, trace their history from a +period of barbarism—a view confirmed by their physical +characters and the nature of their civilization; and on this +account, if no other, their history can not be considered as of +much archæological value. According to their own records, their +earliest authentic history goes back to about 2800 B.C., and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +was preceded by a prehistoric period of uncertain duration. The +astronomical deductions of Schlegel, which would extend their +history to 17,000 years, are evidently altogether +unreliable. +<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> +The early Hindoo history is palpably fabulous or +distorted, and has been variously modified and changed in +comparatively modern times. There is one great and very ancient +people—the Egyptian—evidently civilized from the beginning of +all history, that have succeeded in transmitting to us, though +only in fragments, their primeval history; and of late years +constant additions have been made from inscribed tablets and +monuments to our knowledge of the ancient history of the +Assyrians and Chaldeans.</p> + +<p>The Egyptian history has been gathered first from sketches by +Greek travellers, and from fragments of the chronicles of +Manetho, one of the later Egyptian priests; and, secondly, from +the inscriptions deciphered on Egyptian monuments and papyri. It +is still in a very fragmentary and uncertain state, but has been +used with considerable effect to prove both the diversity of +races of men and the pre-Noachic antiquity of the species. The +Egyptian, in features and physical conformation, tended to the +European form, just as the modern Fellahs and Berbers do; but he +had a dark complexion, a somewhat elongated head and flattened +lips, and certain negroid peculiarities in his limbs. His +language combined many of the peculiarities of the Semitic, +Aryan, and African tongues, indicating thereby great antiquity or +else great intermixture, but not, as some ethnographers demand, +both; most probably the former—the Egyptians being really the +oldest civilized people that we certainly know, and therefore, if +languages have one origin, likely to be near its root-stock.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +The actual history of Egypt begins from Menes, the first human +king, a monarch, or rather tribal chief, who took up his abode in +the flats and fens of Lower Egypt, certainly not very long after +the deluge. His name has been translated "one who walks with +Khem," or Ham; one, therefore, who was contemporary with this +great patriarch and god of the Egyptians, which will place his +time within a few centuries of the Biblical flood. The date of +Menes has been variously placed. In correction of the ordinary +Hebrew chronology, we have the following attempts:</p> + +<table cellspacing="0" border="1" summary="Egypt chronology"> +<tr><td>Josephus places his reign</td><td>2350 B.C.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Dr. Hales' calculation</td><td>2412</td></tr> +<tr><td>Manetho and the Monuments, as corrected by Syncellus<br /> +and calculated by various archæologists</td><td>2712<br />to<br />2782</td></tr> +<tr><td>Herodotus, astronomical reduction by Rennell</td><td>2890</td></tr> +<tr><td>Estimate by Gliddon in "Ancient Egypt"</td><td>2750</td></tr> +<tr><td>Bunsen, "Egypt's Place," etc.</td><td>4000</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The truth may be somewhere near the mean of the shorter +chronologies given in the list. +<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> +That of Bunsen is liable to +very grave objections; more especially as he adds to it other +views, altogether unsupported by historical evidence, which would +carry back the deluge to 10,000 years B.C. It rests wholly on the +chronology of Manetho, who lived 300 years B.C.; and who, even if +the Egyptians then possessed authentic documents extending 3700 +years before his time, may have erred in his rendering of them; +and is farther liable to grave suspicions of having merely +grouped the names on the monuments of his country arbitrarily in +Sothic cycles. Farther, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +they rest on an interpretation of Manetho, which supposes his early dynasties to have been +successive, while good reasons have been found to prove that many +of them consist of contemporaneous petty sovereigns of parts of +Egypt. The early parts of Manetho's lists are purely mythical, +and it is impossible to fix the point where his authentic history +commences. He copied from monuments which have no consecutive +dates, the precise age of which could only be vaguely known even +in his time, and which are different in their statements in +different localities. It is only by making due allowance for +these uncertainties that any historical value can be attached to +these earlier dynasties of Manetho. Yet Bunsen has built on an +uncertain interpretation of this writer, as handed down in a very +fragmentary and evidently garbled condition, and on the equally +or more uncertain chronology of Eratosthenes, a system differing +from all previous belief on the subject, from the Hebrew history, +and from all former interpretations of the monuments and +Manetho. +<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> +Discarding, therefore, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +in the mean time, this date, and the still older one claimed by Mariette, +<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> +we may roughly estimate the date of Menes as 2000 to 2500 years +B.C., +<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> +and proceed to state some of the facts developed by +Egyptologists.</p> + +<p>One of the most striking of these is the proof that Egypt was a +new country in the days of Menes and several generations of his +successors. The monuments of this period show little of the +complicated idolatry, ritual, and caste system of later times, +and are deficient in evidence of the refinement and variety of +art afterward attained. They also show that these early monarchs +were principally engaged in dyking, and otherwise reclaiming the +alluvial flats; an evidence precisely of the same character with +that which every traveller sees in the more recently settled +districts of Canada, where the forest is giving way to the +exertions of the farmer. Farther, in this primitive period, known +as the "old monarchy," few domestic animals appear, and +experiments seem to have been in progress to tame others, natives +of the country, as the hyena, the antelope, the stork. Even the +dog in the older dynasties is represented by one or at most two +varieties, and the prevalent one is a wolfish-looking animal akin +to the present wild or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +half-tamed dogs of the East. +<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> +The Egyptians, too, of the earlier dynasties, are more homogeneous in +their appearance than those of the later, after conquest and +migration had introduced new races; and the earliest monumental +notice referring to Negro tribes does not appear until the 12th +dynasty, about half-way between the epoch of Menes and the +Christian era, nor does any representation of the Negro features +occur until, at the earliest, the 17th dynasty. This allows ample +time—one thousand years at the least—for the development, under +abnormal circumstances and isolation, of all the most strongly +marked varieties of man. Still Egypt, even under the old +monarchy, presents evidence of the continuation of antediluvian +culture. +<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></p> + +<p>It is obvious, in short, that the whole aspect of early Egyptian +history presents to us a people already civilized taking +possession of that country at a period corresponding with that of +the subsidence of the Noachian deluge, and not finding there any +remains of older populations. Nor have any remains of such +populations been found by modern investigation. +<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></p> + +<p>In Assyria the results of the recent discoveries, so well known +through many learned and popular works, strikingly confirm the +Hebrew chronology. They indicate no slow emergence +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +from barbarism, but show that in Assyria as in Egypt implements of +stone and metal were used together by a primitive people, already +far advanced in civilization; and the oldest historical names +only carry us back to cities and sovereigns of the Abrahamic age, +while the story of the primitive empire of Nimrod and the +traditions of the deluge seem to have survived in more or less +mythical legends. The earliest Assyrian monuments would seem to +belong to a Turanian race, of which comparatively little is +known, but which may correspond with the primitive Cushites of +Biblical story. To these, it is true, Berosus attaches a fabulous +antiquity; but this is not confirmed by the monuments. These, +according to the latest facts disclosed by Smith, Rawlinson, and +others, appear to fix a date of about 1800 B.C. for the +foundation of the Assyrian monarchy proper, and the oldest +previous date given by Assurbampal, who reigned about B.C. 668 to +626, gives 1635 years before his time, or say 2280 B.C., as the +date of an Elamite king Kudarnankundi, who seems to be the leader +of a primitive tribe, one of the oldest in the region, and who +has been conjectured to have been the Chedorlaomer of Genesis, +but was probably one of his predecessors.</p> + +<p>We gather from the Assyrian annals that the early Turanian kings, +while mound-builders like their kindred elsewhere, and acquainted +with metals and with the cuneiform writing, yet constituted +comparatively small nations, and were much occupied with hunting +and other rude sports, and with predatory expeditions, so as to +answer very nearly to the Biblical conception of the early +Cushite kingdom of the valley of the Euphrates, which was +probably in the same stage of culture with the nations that in a +later period inhabited the valley of the Mississippi, and are +known as the Alleghans.</p> + +<p>In connection with the early history of man, much importance +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +has been attached to the division of the early historic and +prehistoric ages into the periods of Stone, Bronze, and Iron, and +of the former into a Palæolithic or ancient stone age, and a more +modern or Neolithic stone age. It is plain, however, that too +great importance has been attached to these distinctions, and +that they express rather differences of circumstances and of +culture than of age, so that they have really no bearing on the +Biblical chronology.</p> + +<p>If palæolithic or rudely chipped implements are the oldest known, +as they not improbably were the first tools used by man, yet +their use has extended in the case of rude nations all the way up +to the present time; and in America and Northern Asia we know +that their antiquity is but of yesterday, and that they were used +with highly finished implements of bone, and of those softer +stones that admit of being polished. No certain line can +therefore be drawn even locally between a Neolithic and a +Palæolithic period, especially since in localities where flint +implements were extensively quarried and made, as on the banks of +rivers in Northern France and Southern England, and in such +places as "Grimes' Graves" and Cissbury in the latter country, +where mines were sunk in the chalk for the extraction of flints, +it necessarily happened that vast multitudes of unfinished or +spoiled implements and weapons were left on the ground, while the +better-formed specimens were for the most part taken away. This +conclusion is amply supported by similar localities in America, +where people well acquainted with many of the arts of life have +left quantities of strictly palæolithic material. Wilson, +Southall, and other writers have accumulated so many examples of +this that I think the distinction of Palæolithic and Neolithic +ages must now be given up by all investigators who possess +ordinary judgment. A remarkable instauce is the celebrated "Flint +ridge" of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +Ohio, which was a great quarry of flint for implements +used by the ancient mound-builders, a highly civilized race, as +well as by the modern Indians. Here are found countless +multitudes of palæolithic flint implements of all the ordinary +types, but which are merely the unfinished material of workers +capable of producing the most exquisite implements. There can be +scarcely a doubt that the palæolithic implements of the European +gravels, in so far as they are the workmanship of man, are in +like manner merely the relics of old flint quarries. +<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></p> + +<p>Possibly a more accurate measurement of time for particular +regions of the world might be deduced from the introduction of +bronze and iron. If the former was, as many antiquarians suppose, +a local discovery in Europe, and not introduced from abroad, it +can give no measurement of time whatever. In America, as the +facts detailed by Dr. Wilson show, while a bronze age existed in +Peru, it was the copper age in the Mississippi Valley, and the +stone age elsewhere; and these conditions might have co-existed +for any length of time, and could give no indication of relative +dates. On the other hand, the iron introduced by European +commerce spread at once over the continent, and came into use in +the most remote tribes, and its introduction into America clearly +marks an historical epoch. With regard to bronze in Europe, we +must bear in mind that tin was to be procured only in England and +Spain, and in the latter in very small quantity; the mines of +Saxony do not seem to have been known till the Middle Ages. We +must further consider that tin ore is a substance not metallic in +appearance, and little likely to attract the attention of +savages; and that, as we gather from a hint of Pliny, it was +probably first observed, in the West at least, as stream tin, in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +the Spanish gold washings. Lastly, when we place in connection +with these considerations the fact that in the earliest times of +which we have certain knowledge, the tin trade of Spain and +England was monopolized by the Phoenicians, there seems to be a +strong probability that the extension of the trade of this nation +to the western Mediterranean really inaugurated the bronze +period. The only valid argument against this is the fact that +moulds and other indications of native bronze casting have been +found in Switzerland, Denmark, and elsewhere; but these show +nothing more than that the natives could recast bronze articles, +just as the American Indians can forge fish-hooks and knives out +of nails and iron hoops. Other considerations might be adduced in +proof of this view, but our limits will not permit us to refer to +them. The important questions still remain: When was this trade +commenced, and how rapidly did it extend itself from the +sea-coast across Europe? The British tin trade must have been in +existence in the time of Herodotus, though his notion of the +locality was not more definite than that it was in the extremity +of the earth. The Phoenician settlements in the western +Mediterranean must have existed as early as the time of Solomon, +when "ships of Tarshish" was the general designation of seagoing +ships for long voyages. How long previously these colonies +existed we do not know; but considering the great scarcity and +value of tin in those very ancient times, we may infer that +perhaps only the Spanish, and not the British deposits were known +thus early; or that the Phoenicians had only indirect access to +the latter. Perhaps we may fix the time when these traders were +able to supply the nations of Europe with abundance of bronze in +exchange for their products, at, say 1000 to 1200 B.C., as the +earliest probable period; and possibly from one to two centuries +would be a sufficient allowance for the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +complete penetration of the trade throughout Europe. But of course wars or migrations +might retard or accelerate the process; and there may have been +isolated spots in which a partial stone period extended up to +those comparatively recent times in which first the Greek trade, +and afterward the entire overthrow of the Carthaginian power by +the Romans, terminated forever the age of bronze and substituted +the age of iron. This would leave, according to our ordinary +chronologies, at least ten or fifteen centuries for the +postdiluvian stone period in Europe and Western Asia, a time +quite sufficient in our view for all that part of it represented +by such monuments as the Danish shell-heaps or the platform +habitations of the Swiss lakes; leaving the remains of the +prehistoric caverns and river gravels for the antediluvian +period. A few facts in illustration of these points, and also of +the Biblical history, may be mentioned here.</p> + +<p>We know perfectly that the early Chaldeans of the Euphratean +valley were acquainted with the use of metals—bronze certainly, +and at a very early date iron; yet flint knives and other +implements of stone are found under circumstances which show that +they were used in the palmy days of the Assyrian empire. The +inhabitants of Egypt were acquainted with bronze and iron long +before the date of the Exodus, yet the Egyptians used stone +knives for some purposes up to a comparatively modern time. +Joshua used stone knives for the purpose of circumcision; and +according to Herodotus there were Ethiopians in the army of +Xerxes who used stone-tipped arrows. If any antiquarian were to +stumble on the "hill of the foreskins"—a mound under which were +buried in all probability the multitudinous flint flakes used in +the circumcision of the thousands of Israel—or the grave in +which some of the Ethiopian auxiliaries of Xerxes were buried +with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +their flint arrow-heads and javelins of antelopes' horn, +how absurd would be the inference that these repositories were of +the palæolithic age. Nay, so late as 1870 a traveller was +informed that the Bagos, a people of Abyssinia, still made and +used stone hatchets and flint knives. +<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></p> + +<p>In Europe we find reason to believe that the Ligurians of +Northwestern Italy were flint-folk of very rude type until they +were conquered by the Gauls about 400 B.C. +<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> +Though the Gauls, Britons, and Germans of the age of Julius Cæsar had iron weapons, +yet it is evident that the metal was very scarce, and that bronze +was more common; and in confirmation of this it is found that in +the trenches before Alize, the Alesia of Cæsar, where the final +struggle of the Roman general with Vercingetorix took place, +weapons of stone, bronze, and iron are intermixed. All over the +more northern parts of Europe there is the best reason to believe +that the use of stone and bronze continued to a much later +period, and locally until long after the Christian era. It is +clear that such facts as these must greatly modify our ideas of +the probable age of the Swiss lake villages, and should induce +the greatest caution in claiming any special antiquity for +particular classes of implements.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable discoveries of modern times is that of +the site of ancient Troy by Dr. Schliemann, and it affords clear +and decisive evidence as to the historic value of the ages to +which we have referred.</p> + +<p>Troy was destroyed by the Greeks perhaps about 1300 B.C., and we +know from Homer that this was in what for the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +Greeks and Trojans may properly be termed the copper age, weapons and armor of that +metal being in common use, and also the mode of burial by +cremation. We may well suppose that at that early date the stone +age was still in full force in Northern Europe and Asia, and in +the mountains of Switzerland; and as the tin mines of England had +not yet been reached, bronze was scarce and dear even in Eastern +Europe and Asia. Now Schliemann has disinterred the undoubted +Trojan Ilium on the hill of Hissarlik; but he finds it to be only +one of several buried cities, and the succession of strata will +be most clearly seen in the section on the following page, +compiled from his clear and circumstantial descriptions. It is +needless to say that this presents a succession of the stone age +to one of comparatively high civilization. It also forms an +epitome of that of the whole East, and of primitive man in +general, in some very important respects. We have first, at a +date probably coeval with that of the earliest monarchies of +Assyria and Egypt, a primitive people whose arts and mode of life +remind us strongly of the American Toltecans and Peruvians. +<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> +Schliemann supposes them to have been Aryan, but they were more +probably of Turanian race. They must have occupied the site for a +very long time. They were succeeded by a more cultivated people +of fine physical organization, yet possibly still Turanians or +primitive Aryans, who by trade or plunder had accumulated large +stores of metallic wealth, and had made advances in the arts of +life placing them on a level with the early Phoenicians and +Egyptians, with whom they probably had intercourse. These +</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> +<table border="1" summary=""> +<tr><td>Surface<br />Fifth stratum to 6-1/2 feet.</td> +<td>The Greek Ilium, with buildings<br /> +and objects of art characteristic<br /> +of the Hellenic civilization of<br /> +historic periods.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Fourth stratum to 13 feet.</td> +<td>A second barbarous people, but<br /> +probably allied to the first.<br /> +Very coarse pottery. Implements<br /> +and weapons of copper or bronze—<br /> +stone knives and saws.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Third stratum to 23 feet.</td> +<td>Barbarous people occupying the<br /> +site of Troy. Rude stone<br /> +implements and rude pottery.<br /> +Buildings of small stones and clay.<br /> +Some objects of pottery found here<br /> +would on American sites be regarded<br /> +as probably tobacco-pipes.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Second stratum to 33 feet.<br />Rock.</td> +<td>Homeric Troy. Implements and<br /> +weapons of copper, bronze, and<br /> +stone. Pottery, some of it of<br /> +Peruvian and ancient Cypriot types.<br /> +Fine gold jewelry, and gold and<br /> +silver vessels. Armor similar to<br /> +that described by Homer. Stone<br /> +buildings and walls. This city had<br /> +been sacked and burned.</td></tr> +<tr><td>First stratum to 46 or 53 feet.</td> +<td>Primitive or prehistoric Troy.<br /> +Stone implements, polished and<br /> +chipped. Millstones, copper nails,<br /> +pottery—some with patterns<br /> +curiously resembling those of<br /> +America—bone implements,<br /> +terra-cotta disks. Stone buildings. +</td></tr> +</table> + + +<p>were the Trojans of the Homeric poems, and the destruction of +their city was probably in the first instance celebrated in their +own native songs, which Homer at a date but little later +<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> +wove into his magnificent poem, and idealized and exaggerated. +The Trojans worshipped an owl-headed goddess—the Athena +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +of the Homeric poems; and from symbols found are believed also to have +had the worship of a sacred tree, and of fire or of the Sun. All +of these are widespread superstitions over both the Old and New +World. But while Troy flourished there were barbarous nations not +far off still in the stone age; and when the city had fallen, +these, possibly in successive hordes, took possession of the +fertile plain and used the old city as their stronghold, perhaps +till the foundation of the Greek city about 650 B.C. I have +sketched in some detail these interesting discoveries, as they so +clearly illustrate an actual succession of ages, and so +conclusively show the uncertainty of the classification into ages +of stone and metal, except when taken in connection with the +precise circumstances of each locality.</p> + +<p>I have referred above only to the question of historic or +postdiluvian man. We have still to consider what remains exist of +antediluvian man. These may be studied in connection with our +third head of geological evidences of man's antiquity; for if the +Mosaic narrative be true, the diluvial catastrophe must have +constituted a physical separation between historic man and +prehistoric; since, in so far as antediluvian ages are concerned, +all are prehistoric or mythical everywhere except in the sacred +history itself. Antediluvian men may thus in geology be +Pleistocene as distinguished from modern, or Palæocosmic as +distinguished from Neocosmic. +<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p> + +<p>2. <i>Language in Relation to the Antiquity of Man.</i>—In many +animals the voice has a distinctive character; but in man it has +an importance altogether peculiar. The gift of speech is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +one of his sole prerogatives, and identity in its mode of exercise is +not only the strongest proof of similarity of psychical +constitution, but more than any other character marks identity of +origin. The tongues of men are many and various; and at first +sight this diversity may, as indeed it often does, convey the +impression of radical diversity of race. But modern philological +investigations have shown many and unexpected links of connection +in vocabulary or grammatical structure, or both, between +languages apparently the most dissimilar. I do not here refer to +the vague and fanciful parallels with which our ancestors were +often amused, but to the results of sober and scientific inquiry. +"Nothing," says Professor Max Müller, "necessitates the admission +of different independent beginnings for the material elements of +the Turanian, Semitic, and Aryan branches of speech; nay, it is +possible even now to point out radicals which, under various +changes and disguises, have been current in these three branches +ever since their first separation." Of the truth of this I have +convinced myself by some original investigation, and also of the +farther truth that of this radical unity of all human tongues +there is more full evidence than many philologists are disposed +to admit, and that the results of future study must be to connect +more and more with each other the several main stems of language. +Whether this results merely from the psychical unity of the human +race, or from the historical derivation of languages from one +root, is not so material as the fact of unity; but that the +latter is implied it would not be difficult to show. +<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> +Let us examine for a little +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +these results as they are presented to us +by Latham, Müller, Bunsen, and other modern philologists.</p> + +<p>A convenient starting-point is afforded by the great group of +languages known as the Indo-European, Japhetic, or Aryan. From +the Ganges to the west coast of Ireland, through Indian, Persian, +Greek, Italian, German, Celt, runs one great language—the +Sanscrit and the dark Hindoo at one extreme, the Erse and the +xanthous Celt at the other. No one now doubts the affinity of +this great belt of languages. No one can pretend that any one of +these nations learned its language from another. They are all +decided branches of a common stock. Lying in and near this area +are other nations—as the Arabs, the Syrians, the Jews—speaking +languages differing in words and structure—the Semitic tongues. +Do these mark a different origin? The philologists answer in the +negative, pointing to the features of resemblance which still +remain, and above all to certain intermediate tongues of so high +antiquity that they are rather to be regarded as root-stocks from +which other languages diverged than as mixtures. The principal of +these is the ancient Egyptian, represented by the inscriptions on +the monuments of that wonderful people, and by the more modern +Coptic, which, according to Bunsen and Latham, presents decided +affinities to both the great classes previously mentioned, and +may be regarded as strictly intermediate in its character. It has +accordingly been designated by the term Sub-Semitic. +<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> +But it shares this character with all or nearly all the other African +languages, which bear strong marks of affinity to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +Egyptian and Semitic tongues. On this subject Dr. Latham says, "That the +uniformity of languages throughout Africa is greater than it is +either in Asia or in Europe, is a statement to which I have not +the least hesitation in committing myself." +<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> +To the north the Indo-European area is bounded by a great group of semi-barbarous +populations, mostly with Mongolian features, and speaking +languages which have been grouped as Turanian. These Turanian +languages, on the one hand, graduate without any break into those +of the Esquimaux and American Indians; on the other, according to +Müller and Latham, they are united, though less distinctly, with +the Semitic and Japhetic tongues. They not improbably represent +in more or less altered forms the most primitive stock of +language from which both the Semitic and Japhetic groups have +branched. Another great area on the coasts and in the islands of +the Pacific is overspread by the Malay, which, through the +populations of Transgangetic India, connects itself with the +great Indo-European line. Mr. Edkins, in his remarkable book on +"China's Place in Philology," has collected a large amount of +fact tending to show that the early Chinese in its monosyllabic +radicals presents root-forms traceable into all the stocks of +human speech in the Old World; and the American languages would +have furnished him with similar lines of affinity. If we regard +physical characters, manners, and customs, and mythologies, as +well as mere language, it is much easier thus to link together +nearly all the populations of the globe. In investigations of +this kind, it is true, the links of connection are often delicate +and evanescent; yet they have conveyed to the ablest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +investigators the strong impression that the phenomena are rather +those of division of a radical language than of union of several +radically distinct.</p> + +<p>This impression is farther strengthened when we regard several +results incidental to these researches. Latham has shown that the +languages of men may be regarded as arranged in lines of +divergence, the extreme points of which are Fuego, Tasmania, +Easter Island; and that from all these points they converge to a +common centre in Western Asia, where we find a cluster of the +most ancient and perfect languages; and even Haeckel is obliged +to adopt in his map of the affiliation of races of men a similar +scheme, though he, without any good historical or scientific +evidence, extends it back into the imaginary lost continent of +Lemuria. Farther, the languages of the various populations differ +in proceeding from these centres in a manner pointing to +degeneracy such as is likely to occur in small and rude tribes +separating from a parent stock. These lines of radiation follow +the most easy and probable lines of migration of the human race +spreading from one centre. It must also be observed that in the +primary migration of men, there must of necessity have been at +its extreme limits outlying and isolated tribes, placed in +circumstances in which language would very rapidly change; +especially as these tribes, migrating or driven forward, would be +continually arriving at new regions presenting new circumstances +and objects. When at length the utmost limit in any direction was +reached, the inroads of new races of population would press into +close contact these various tribes with their different dialects. +Where the distance was greatest before reaching this limit, we +might expect, as in America, to find the greatest mutual variety +and amount of difference from the original stock. After the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +primary migration had terminated, the displacements arising from +secondary migrations and conquests, would necessarily complicate +the matter by breaking up the original gradations of difference, +and thereby rendering lines of migration difficult to trace.</p> + +<p>Taking all these points into the account, along with the known +tendencies of languages in all circumstances to vary, it is +really wonderful that philology is still able to give so decided +indications of unity.</p> + +<p>There is, in the usual manner of speaking of these subjects, a +source of misapprehension, which deserves special mention in this +place. The Hebrew Scriptures derive all the nations of the +ancient world from three patriarchs, and the names of these have +often been attached to particular races of men and their +languages; but it should never be supposed that these +classifications are likely to agree with the Bible affiliation. +They may to a certain extent do so, but not necessarily or even +probably. In the nature of the case, those portions of these +families which remained near the original centre, and in a +civilized state, would retain the original language and features +comparatively unchanged. Those which wandered far, fell into +barbarism, or became subjected to extreme climatic influences, +would vary more in all respects. Hence any general +classification, whether on physical or philological characters, +will be likely to unite, as in the Caucasian group of Cuvier, men +of all the three primitive families, while it will separate the +outlying and aberrant portions from their main stems of +affiliation. Want of attention to this point has led to much +misconception; and perhaps it would be well to abandon altogether +terms founded on the names of the sons of Noah, except where +historical affiliation is the point in question. It would be well +if it were understood that when the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +terms Semitic, Japhetic, +<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> +and Hametic are used, direct reference is made to +the Hebrew ethnology; and that, where other arrangements are +adopted, other terms should be used. It is obviously unfair to +apply the terms of Moses in a different way from that in which he +uses them. A very prevalent error of this kind has been to apply +the term Japhetic to a number of nations not of such origin +according to the Bible; and another of more modern date is to +extend the term Semitic to all the races descended from Ham, +because of resemblance of language. It should be borne in mind +that, assuming the truth of the Scriptural affiliation, there +should be a "central" group of races and languages where the +whole of the three families meet, and "sporadic" +<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> +groups representing the changes of the outlying and barbarous tribes.</p> + +<p>While, however, all the more eminent philologists adhere to the +original unity of language, they are by no means agreed as to the +antiquity of man; and some, as for instance Latham and Dr. Max +Müller, are disposed to claim an antiquity for our species far +beyond that usually admitted. In so far as this affects the Bible +history, it is important, inasmuch as this would appear to limit +the possible antiquity of all languages to the time of the +deluge. The date of this event has been variously estimated, on +Biblical grounds, at from 1650 B.C. (Usher) to 3155 B.C. +(Josephus and Hales); but the longest of these dates does not +appear to satisfy the demands of philology. The reason of this +demand is the supposed length +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +of time required to effect the +necessary changes. The subject is one on which definite data can +scarcely be obtained. Languages change now, even when reduced to +a comparatively stable form by writing. They change more rapidly +when men migrate into new climates, and are placed in contact +with new objects. The English, the Dutch, and the German were +perhaps all at the dawn of the mediæval era Mæso-Gothic. At the +same rate of change, allowing for greater barbarism and greater +migrations, they may very well have been something not far from +Egyptian or Sanscrit 2000 years before Christ. The truth is that +present rates of variation afford no criterion for the changes +that must occur in the languages of small and isolated tribes +lapsing into or rising from barbarism, possessing few words, and +constantly requiring to name new objects and until some ratio +shall have been established between these conditions and those of +modern languages, fixed by literature and by a comparatively +stationary state of society, it is useless to make any demands +for longer time on this ground. +<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> + +<p>Even in the present day, Moffat informs us that in South Africa +the separation of parts of a tribe, for even a few months, may +produce a notable difference of dialect. If we take the existing +languages of civilized men whose history is known, we shall find +that it is impossible to trace many of them back as far as the +Christian era, and when we have passed over even half that +interval, they become so different as to be unintelligible to +those who now speak them. Where there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +are exceptions to this, they arise entirely from the effects of literature and artificial +culture. While, therefore, there is good ground in philology for +the belief in one primitive language, there seems no absolute +necessity to have recourse even to the confusion of tongues at +Babel to explain the diversities of language. +<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> +Farther, the Bible carries back the Semitic group of languages at least to the +time of the Deluge, but it does not seem necessary on the mere +ground of antediluvian names, to carry it any farther back, and +the Assyrian inscriptions show the coexistence of Turanian and +Semitic tongues at the dawn of history in the region of the +Euphrates and Tigris. One or other of these—or a monosyllabic +language underlying it—was probably an antediluvian tongue, and +the other a very early derivative; and both history and philology +would assign the precedence to the Turanian language, which was +probably most akin to that which had descended from antediluvian +times, and which at that early period of dispersion indicated in +the Bible story of Babel, had begun to throw off its two great +branches of the Aryan and Semitic languages. These, proceeding in +two dissimilar lines of development, continue to exist to this +day along with the surviving portions of the uncultivated +Turanian speech. To this point, however, we may return under +another head.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">UNITY AND ANTIQUITY OF MAN—(<i>Continued.</i>)</span><br /></h2> + + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-align:left;text-indent:3em;font-weight:bold;"> +"By the word of God the heavens were from of old, and the +earth, formed out of water, and by means of water, by which +waters the world that then was, being overflowed with water, +perished."—2 Peter iii., 5, 6.</p> + + +<p>3. <i>Geological Evidence as to the Antiquity of Man.</i>—No +geological fact can now be more firmly established than the +ascending progression of animal life, whereby from the early +invertebrates of the Eozoic and Primordial series we pass upward +through the dynasties of fishes and reptiles and brute mammals to +the reign of man. In this great series man is obviously the last +term; and when we inquire at what point he was introduced, the +answer must be in the later part of the great Cainozoic or +Tertiary period, which is the latest of the whole. Not only have +we the negative fact of the absence of his remains from all the +earlier Tertiary formations, but the positive fact that all the +mammalia of these earlier ages are now extinct, and that man +could not have survived the changes of condition which destroyed +them and introduced the species now our contemporaries. This fact +is altogether independent of any question as to the introduction +of species by derivation or by creation. The oldest geological +period in which any animals nearly related in structure to man +occur is that named the Miocene, and no traces of man have as yet +been found in any deposits of this age. All human remains known +belong either to the Pleistocene or Modern. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +Now the Pleistocene was characterized by one of those periods of glacial cold which +have swept over the earth—by one of those great winters which +have so chilled the continents that few forms of life could +survive them—and man comes in at the close of this cold period, +in what is called the Post-glacial age. Some geologists, it is +true, hold to an interglacial warm period, in which man is +supposed to have existed, but the evidence of this is extremely +slender and doubtful, and it carries back in any case human +antiquity but a very little way. I have, in my "Story of the +Earth and Man," shown reason for the belief, in which I find +Professor Hughes, of Cambridge, coincides with me, +<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> +that the interglacial periods are merely an ingenious expedient to get rid +of the difficulties attending the hypothesis of the universal +glaciation of the northern hemisphere.</p> + +<p>But, though man is thus geologically modern, it is held that +historically his existence on earth may have been very ancient, +extending perhaps ten or twenty, or even a hundred times longer +than the period of six or seven thousand years supposed to be +proved by sacred history. Let us first, as plainly and simply as +possible, present the facts supposed thus to extend the antiquity +of man, and then inquire as to their validity and force as +arguments in this direction.</p> + +<p>The arguments from geology in favor of a great antiquity for man +may be summarized thus: (1) Human remains are found in caverns +under very thick stalagmitic crusts, and in deposits of earth +which must have accumulated before these stalagmites began to +form, and when the caverns were differently situated with +reference to the local drainages. (2) Remains of man are found +under peat-bogs which have grown +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +so little in modern times that their antiquity on the whole must be very great. (3) Implements, +presumably made by men, are found in river-gravels so high above +existing riverbeds that great physical changes must have occurred +since they were accumulated. (4) One case is on record where a +human bone is believed to have been found under a deposit of +glacial age. (5) Human remains have been found under +circumstances which indicate that very important changes of level +have taken place since their accumulation. (6) Human remains have +been found under circumstances which indicate great changes of +climate as intervening between their date and that of the modern +period. (7) Man is known to have existed, in Europe at least, at +the same time with some quadrupeds formerly supposed to have been +extinct before his introduction. (8) The implements, weapons, +etc., found in the oldest of these repositories are different +from those known to have been used in historic times.</p> + +<p>These several heads include, I think, all the really material +evidence of a geological character. It is evidence of a kind not +easily reducible into definite dates, but there can be no doubt +that its nature, and the rapid accumulation of facts within a +small number of years, have created a deep and widespread +conviction among geologists and archæologists that we must +relegate the origin of man to a much more remote antiquity than +that sanctioned by history or by the Biblical chronology. I shall +first review the character of this evidence, and then state a +number of geological facts which bear in the other direction, and +have been somewhat lost sight of in recent discussions. Of the +facts above referred to, the most important are those which +relate to caverns, peat-bogs, and river-gravels. We may, +therefore, first consider the nature and amount of this +evidence.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +That the reader may more distinctly understand the geological +history of these more recent periods of the earth's history which +are supposed to have witnessed the advent of man, in Western +Europe at least, I quote the following summary from Sir Charles +Lyell of the more modern changes in that portion of the world. +These are:</p> + +<p>"First, a continental period, toward the close of which the +forest of Cromer flourished; when the land was at least 500 feet +above its present level, perhaps much higher. * * * The remains +of <i>Hippopotamus major</i> and <i>Rhinoceros etruscus</i>, found in beds +of this period, seem to indicate a climate somewhat milder than +that now prevailing in Great Britain. [This was a <i>Preglacial</i> +era, and may be regarded as belonging to the close of the +Pliocene tertiary.]</p> + +<p>"Secondly, a period of submergence, by which the land north of +the Thames and Bristol Channel, and that of Ireland, was +generally reduced to * * * an archipelago. * * * This was the +period of great submergence and of floating ice, when the +Scandinavian flora, which occupied the lower grounds during the +first continental period, may have obtained exclusive possession +of the only lands not covered with perpetual snow. [This +represents the Glacial period; but according to the more extreme +glacialists only a portion of that period.]</p> + +<p>"Thirdly, a second continental period, when the bed of the +glacial sea, with its marine shells and erratic blocks, was laid +dry, and when the quantity of land equalled that of the first +period. * * * During this period there were glaciers in the +higher mountains of Scotland and Wales, and the Welsh glaciers * +* * pushed before them and cleared out the marine drift with +which some valleys had been filled during the period of +submergence. * * * During this last period +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +the passage of the Germanic flora into the British area took place, and the +Scandinavian plants, together with northern insects, birds, and +quadrupeds, retreated into the higher grounds. * * *</p> + +<p>"Fourthly, the next and last change comprised the breaking up of +the land of the British area once more into numerous islands, +ending in the present geographical condition of things. There +were probably many oscillations of level during this last +conversion of continuous land into islands, and such movements in +opposite directions would account for the occurrence of marine +shells at moderate heights above the level of the sea, +notwithstanding a general lowering of the land. * * * During this +period a gradual amelioration of temperature took place, from the +cold of the glacial period to the climate of historical +times." +<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></p> + +<p>The second continental period above referred to is that which +appears on the best evidence to have been the time of the +introduction of man; but such facts as that of the Settle Cave, +and the implements of the breccia in Kent's Cave, if rightly +interpreted, would make man preglacial or "interglacial."</p> + +<p>The deposits found in caverns in France, Switzerland, Germany, +Belgium, and England have afforded a large proportion of the +remains from which we derive our notions of the most ancient +prehistoric men of Europe. From the Belgian caves, as explored by +M. Dupont, we learn that there were two successive prehistoric +races, both rude or comparatively uncivilized. The first were men +of Turanian type, but of great bodily stature and high cerebral +organization, and showing remarkable skill in the manufacture of +implements +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +and ornaments of bone and ivory. These men are +believed to have been contemporary with the earlier postglacial +mammals, as the mammoth and hairy rhinoceros, and to have lived +at a time when the European land was more extensive than at +present, stretching far to the west of Ireland, and connecting +Great Britain with the Continent. The skeletons found at +Cro-Magnon, Mentone, and elsewhere in France fully confirm the +deductions of Dupont as to this earliest race of Palæocosmic, +Palæolithic, or antediluvian man. This grand race seems to have +perished or been driven from Europe by the great depression of +the level of the land which inaugurated the modern era, and which +was probably accompanied by many oscillations of level as well as +by considerable changes of climate. They were succeeded by a +second race, equally Turanian in type, but of small stature, and +resembling the modern Lapps. These were the "allophylian" peoples +displaced by the historical Celts, and up to their time the +reindeer seems to have existed abundantly in France and Germany. +These two successive prehistoric populations have been termed +respectively men of the "mammoth" age and men of the "reindeer" +age. The Bible record would lead us to regard the earlier and +gigantic men as antediluvian, and the smaller or Lappish race as +postdiluvian. We may therefore, having already at some length +considered the postdiluvian age, take up the mode of occurrence +of the remains of the earlier of the two races—that of the +mammoth age.</p> + +<p>The caverns themselves may be divided into those of residence, of +sepulture, and of driftage, though one cavern has often +successively assumed two at least of these characters. In the +caverns of residence large accumulations have been formed of +ashes, charcoal, bones, and other débris of cookery, among which +are found flint and bone implements, the general +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +character of which, as well as that of the needles, stone hammers, mortars for +paint, and other domestic appliances, are not more dissimilar +from those of the Red Indian and Esquimau races in North America +than these are from one another, and in many things, as in the +bone harpoons, the resemblance is very striking indeed. In +tendency to imitative art, and in the skill of their delineations +of animals, the prehistoric men seem to have surpassed all the +American races except the semi-civilized mound-builders and the +more cultivated Mexican and Peruvian nations. With regard to the +residence of these men of the mammoth age in caverns, several +things are indicated by American analogies to which some +attention should be paid.</p> + +<p>It is not likely that caverns were the usual places of residence +of the whole population. They may have been winter houses for +small tribes and detached families of fugitives or outlaws, or +they may have been places of resort for hunting parties at +certain seasons of the year. The large quantities of broken and +uncooked bones of particular species, as of the horse and +reindeer, in some of the caverns, would farther indicate a habit +of making great battues, like those of the American hunting +tribes, at certain seasons, and of preparing quantities of +pemmican or dried meat preserved with marrow and fat for future +use. The number of bone needles found in some of the caves would +seem to hint that, like the Americans, they sewed up their +pemmican in skin bags. The multitude of flint flakes and of rude +stone implements applicable to breaking bones certainly indicates +a wholesale cutting of flesh and preparation of marrow. In the +"Story of the Earth," I have suggested in connection with this +that there may have been towns or villages of these people +unknown to us, and which would afford higher conceptions of +their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +progress in the arts. This anticipation appears recently +to have been realized in the discovery of such a town or +fortified village of the mammoth age at Soloutre, in France, and +which seems to afford evidence that these ancient people had +already domesticated the horse, using it as food as well as a +beast of burden, in the manner of the Khirgis and certain other +Tartar tribes of Central Asia. +<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> +This, with the undoubtedly high cerebral organization indicated by the skulls of the mammoth +age, notably raises our estimate of the position of man at this +early date.</p> + +<p>With regard to caves of sepulture, the same remark may be made as +with regard to the caves of residence. They do not seem to have +been the burial-places of large populations, but only occasional +places of interment, few bodies being found in them, and these +often interred in the midst of culinary débris, evidencing +previous or contemporary residence. With regard to the latter, it +seems to have been no uncommon practice with some North American +tribes to bury the dead either in the floors of their huts or in +their immediate proximity. It is probable, however, that the few +examples known of caves of sepulture of this period indicate not +tribal or national places of burial, but occasional and +accidental cases, happening to hunting or war parties, perhaps +remote from their ordinary places of residence. In so far as +method of burial is concerned, the men of the Palæocosmic or +Mammoth age seem to have buried the dead extended at full length, +and not in the crouching posture usual with some later races. +Like the Americans, they painted the dead man, and buried him +with his robes and ornaments, and probably with his weapons, thus +intimating their belief in happy hunting-grounds +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +beyond the grave. +<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> +I may remark here that all the known interments of +the mammoth age indicate a race of men of great cerebral +capacity, with long heads and coarsely marked features, of large +stature and muscular vigor, surpassing indeed much in all these +respects the average man of modern Europe. These characteristics +befit men who had to contend with the mammoth and his +contemporaries, and to subdue the then vast wildernesses of the +eastern continent, and they correspond with the Biblical +characteristics of antediluvian man.</p> + +<p>Among caves of driftage may be classed some of those near Liège, +in Belgium, and, partially at least, those of Kent's Hole and +Brixham, in England. In these only disarticulated remnants of +human skeletons, or more frequently only flint implements, some +of them of doubtful character, have been found. In my "Story of +the Earth," I have taken the carefully explored Kent's Cavern of +Torquay as a typical example, and have condensed its phenomena as +described by Mr. Pengelly. I now repeat this description, with +some important emendations suggested by that gentleman in more +recent reports and in private correspondence.</p> + +<p>The somewhat extensive and ramifying cavern of Kent's Hole is an +irregular excavation, evidently due partly to fissures or joints +in limestone rock, and partly to the erosive action of water +enlarging such fissures into chambers and galleries. At what time +it was originally cut we do not know, but it must have existed as +a cavern at the close of the Pliocene or beginning of the +Post-pliocene period, since which time it has been receiving a +series of deposits which have quite filled up some of its smaller +branches.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +First and lowest, according to Mr. Pengelly, of the deposits as +yet known, is a "breccia," or mass of broken and rounded stones, +with hardened red clay filling the interstices. Some of the +stones are of the rock which forms the roof and walls of the +cave, but the greater number, especially the rounded ones, are +from more distant parts of the surrounding country. Many are +fragments of grit from the Devonian beds of adjacent hills. There +are also fragments of stalagmite from an old crust broken up when +the breccia was deposited, and possibly belonging to Pliocene +times. In this mass, the depth of which is unknown, are numerous +bones, nearly all of one kind of animal, the cave bear or bears, +for there may be more than one species—creatures which seem to +have lived in Western Europe from the close of the Pliocene down +to the modern period. They must have been among the earliest and +most permanent tenants of Kent's Hole at a time when its lower +chambers were still filled with water. Teeth of a lion and of the +common fox also occur in this deposit, but rarely. Next above the +breccia is a floor of "stalagmite," or stony carbonate of lime, +deposited from the drippings of the roof, and in some places more +than twelve feet thick. This also contains bones of the cave +bear, deposited when there was less access of water to the +cavern. Mr. Pengelly infers the existence of man at this time +from the occurrence of chipped flints supposed to be artificial; +but which, in so far as I can judge from the specimens described +and figured, must still be regarded as of doubtful origin.</p> + +<p>After the old stalagmite floor above mentioned was formed, the +cave again received deposits of muddy water and stones; but now a +change occurs in the remains embedded. This stony clay, or "cave +earth," has yielded an immense quantity of teeth and bones, +including those of the elephant, rhinoceros, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +horse, hyena, cave bear, reindeer, and Irish elk. With these were found weapons of +chipped flint, and harpoons, needles, and bodkins of bone, +precisely similar to those of the North American Indians and +other rude races. The "cave earth" is four feet or more in +thickness. It is not stratified, and contains many fallen +fragments of rock, rounded stones, and broken pieces of +stalagmite. It also has patches of the excrement of hyenas, which +the explorers suppose to indicate the temporary residence of +these animals; and besides fragments of charcoal scattered in the +mass, there is in one spot, near the top, a limited layer of +burned wood, with remains which indicate the cooking and eating +of repasts of animal food by man. It is clear that when this bed +was formed the cavern was liable to be inundated with muddy +water, carrying stones and perhaps some of the bones and +implements, and breaking up in places the old stalagmite +floor. +<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> +One of the most puzzling features, especially to +those who take an exclusively uniformitarian view, is that the +entrance of water-borne mud and stones implies a level of the +bottom of the water in the neighboring valleys of nearly one +hundred feet above its present height. The cave earth is covered +by a second crust of stalagmite, less dense and thick than that +below, and containing only a few bones, which are of the same +general character with those beneath, but include a fragment of a +human jaw with teeth. Evidently when this stalagmite was formed +the influx of water-borne materials had ceased, or nearly so; and +Mr. Pengelly appears to affirm, though without assigning any +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +reason, that none of these bones could, like the masses of +stalagmite, have been lifted from lower beds, or washed into the +cave from without.</p> + +<p>The next bed marks a new change. It is a layer of black mould +from three to ten inches thick. Its microscopic structure does +not seem to have been examined; but it is probably a forest soil, +introduced by growth, by water, by wind, and by ingress of +animals, all of them modern, and contains works of art from the +old British times before the Roman invasion up to the porter +bottles and dropped half-pence of modern visitors. Lastly, in and +upon the black mould are many fallen blocks from the roof of the +cave.</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt that this cave and the neighboring one of +Brixham have done very much to impress the minds of British +geologists with ideas of the great antiquity of man; and they +have, more than any other postglacial monuments, shown the +existence of some animals now extinct up to the human age. Of +precise data for determining time, they have, however, given +nothing. The only measures which seem to have been applied, +namely, the rate of growth of stalagmite and the rate of erosion +of neighboring valleys, are, from the very sequence of the +deposits, obviously worthless; and the only apparently constant +measure, namely, the fall of blocks from the roof, seems not to +have been applied, and Mr. Pengelly declares that it can not be +practically used. We are therefore quite uncertain as to the +number of centuries involved in the filling of this cave, and +must remain so until some surer system of calculation can be +devised. We may, however, attempt to sketch the series of events +which it indicates.</p> + +<p>The animals found in Kent's Hole are all "postglacial," some of +them of course survivors from "preglacial" times, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +and some of them still surviving. They therefore inhabited the country after +it rose from the great glacial submergence. Perhaps the first +colonists of the coast of Devonshire in this period were the cave +bears, migrating on floating ice, and subsisting like the arctic +bear and the black bear of Anti-costi, on fish, and on the +garbage cast up by the sea. They may have found Kent's Hole a +sea-side cavern, with perhaps some of its galleries still full of +water and filling with breccia, with which the bones of dead +bears became mixed. In the case of such a deposit as this +breccia, however, the precise time when its materials were +finally laid down in their present form, or the length of time +necessary for its accumulation, can not be definitely settled. It +may be a result of continued torrential action or of some sudden +cataclysm. As the land rose, these creatures for the most part +betook themselves to lower levels, and in process of time the +cavern stood upon a hill-side, perhaps several hundreds of feet +above the sea; and the mountain streams, their beds not yet +emptied of glacial detritus, washed into it stones and mud, and +probably bones also, while it appears that hyenas occupied the +cave at intervals, and dragged in remains of mammals of many +species which had now swarmed across the plains elevated out of +the sea, and multiplied in the land. This was the time of the +cave earth; and before its deposit was completed, though how long +before an unstratified and therefore probably often-disturbed bed +of this kind can not tell, man himself seems to have been added +to the inhabitants of the British land. In pursuit of game he +sometimes ascended the valleys beyond the cavern, or even +penetrated into its outer chambers; or perhaps there were even in +those days rude and savage hill-men, inhabiting the forests and +warring with the more cultivated denizens of plains below, which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +are now deep under the waters. Their weapons, and other +implements dropped in the cavern or lost in hunting, or buried in +the flesh of wounded animals which crept to the streams to +assuage their thirst, are those found in the cave earth. The +absence of the human bones may merely show that the mighty +hunters of those days were too hardy, athletic, and intelligent +often to perish from accidental causes, and that they did not use +this cavern for a place of burial. The fragments of charcoal show +that they were acquainted with fire, and possibly that they +sometimes took shelter in the cave. But the land again subsided. +The valley of that now nameless river, of which the Rhine and the +Thames may have alike been tributaries, disappeared under the +sea; and perhaps some tribe, driven from the lower lands, took up +its abode in this cave, now again near the encroaching waves, and +left there the remains of their last repasts ere they were driven +farther inland or engulfed in the waters. For a time the cavern +may have been wholly submerged, and the charcoal of the +extinguished fires became covered with its thin coating of clay. +But ere long it re-emerged to form part of an island, long barren +and desolate; and the valleys having been cut deeper by the +receding waters, it no longer received muddy deposits, and the +crust formed by drippings from its roof contained only bones and +pebbles washed by rains and occasional land floods from its own +clay deposits. Finally, the modern forests overspread the land, +and were tenanted by the modern animals. Man returned to use the +cavern again as a place of refuge or habitation, and to leave +there the relics contained in the black earth. This seems at +present the only intelligible history of this curious cave and +others resembling it; though, when we consider the imperfection +of the results obtained even by a large amount of labor, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +the difficult and confused character of the deposits in this and +similar caves, too much value should not be attached to such +histories, which may at any time be contradicted or modified by +new facts or different explanations of those already known. The +time involved depends very much on the answer to the question +whether we should regard the postglacial subsidence and +re-elevation as somewhat sudden, or as occupying long ages at the +slow rate at which some parts of our continents are now rising or +sinking.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pengelly thinks it possible, but not proved, that the lower +breccia of Kent's Cavern may be interglacial or preglacial in +age. One case only is known where a human bone has been found in +a cavern under deposits supposed to be of the nature of the +glacial drift. It is that of the Victoria Cave, at Settle, in +Yorkshire. At this place a human fibula was found under a layer +of boulder clay. But there are too many chances of this bone +having come into this position by some purely local accident to +allow us to attach much importance to it until future discoveries +shall have supplied other instances of the kind. +<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p> + +<p>I may close this survey of the cave deposits with a summary of +the results of M. Dupont, as obtained from two of the caves +explored by him, that of Margite and that of Frontal. In the +first of these caverns, resting on rolled pebbles which covered +the floor, were four distinct layers of river mud deposited by +inundations, and amounting to two yards and a half in thickness. +In all of these layers were bones. The lowest contained rude +flint implements, and bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros, bear, +horse, chamois, reindeer, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +stag, and hyena. In the overlying +deposits are some flint implements of more artistic form and a +greater prevalence of the bones of the reindeer. In the second +cave, that of Frontal, over a similar deposit of alluvial mud of +the mammoth age, was found a sepulchre containing the remains of +sixteen individuals, of the second or diminutive Lappish race +before referred to. The door of the cave had been closed by these +people with a slab of stone, and in front was a hearth for +funeral feasts, built on the deposits of the mammoth age, and +containing bones of animals all recent or now living in Belgium, +and without any traces of the bones of the extinct quadrupeds. +This burial-place belonged to the Neocosmic yet prehistoric race +which replaced the Palæocosmic men of the mammoth age.</p> + +<p>What is the absolute antiquity of the Palæocosmic age in Europe? +We have no monumental or historical chronology to answer this +question, but only the measures of time furnished by the +accumulation of deposits, by the deposition of stalagmite, by the +gradual extinction of animals, and by the erosion of valleys and +other physical changes. These somewhat loose measures have been +applied in various ways, but the tendency of geologists, from the +prevalence of uniformitarian views, and the prejudice created by +familiarity with the long times of previous geologic periods, has +been to assign to them too great rather than too little value, +both as measures of time and as indicating a remote antiquity.</p> + +<p>With reference to the accumulation of deposits, whether derived +from disintegration of the roof and walls of the cave, introduced +by land floods or river inundations or by the residence of man, +their rate is of very difficult estimation. Loose stones fallen +from the roof, as in the case of Kent's Cave, would give a fair +measure of time if we could be sure +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +that the climate had continued uniform, and that there had been no violent +earthquakes. Mr. Pengelly has, however, hopelessly given up this +kind of evidence. Where, as in the case of many of these caves, +land floods and river inundations have entered, these may have +been frequent or separated by long intervals of time, and they +may have been of great or small amount. Where, for instance, as +in one of the Belgian caves, there are six beds of ossiferous +mud, but for the fact that five layers of stalagmite separate +them we might not have known whether they represent six annual +inundations, or floods separated by many centuries from each +other.</p> + +<p>In the case of the Victoria Cave at Settle, Dawkins, reasoning +from the accumulation of two feet of detritus over British +remains that may be supposed to be 1200 years old, gives a basis +which would at the same rate of deposit allow about 5000 years +for the date of palæolithic men; but Prestwich and others, on the +basis of stalagmite deposits, claim a vastly higher antiquity for +the men who made the implements found in Kent's Hole and Brixham.</p> + +<p>If we now turn to these stalagmite floors, when we consider that +they have been formed by the slow solution of limestone by +rain-water charged with carbonic acid, and the dropping of this +water on the floor, and when we are told that in Kent's Cavern a +marked date shows that the stalagmite has grown at the rate of +only one twentieth of an inch since 1688, and that there are two +beds of stalagmite, one of which is in some places twelve feet +thick, we are impressed with the conviction of a vast antiquity. +But when we are told by Dawkins that the rate of deposit in +Ingleborough Cave may be estimated at a quarter of an inch per +annum, and when we consider that the present rate of deposit in +Kent's Hole is probably very different from what it was in the +former condition of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +country, stalagmite becomes a very +unsafe measure of time. With respect again to the accumulation of +kitchen-midden stuff in the course of the occupancy of caverns, +this proceeds with great rapidity, when caves are steadily +occupied and it is not the practice to cleanse out the débris of +fires, food, and bedding. Even when the occupation is temporary, +a tribe of savages engaged with the preparation of dried meat and +pemmican in a very short time produce a considerable heap of +bones and other rejectamenta.</p> + +<p>Looking next to the extinction of animals, we find that the +species found in the oldest deposits containing human remains are +in part still extant. Others which are locally extinct we know +existed in Europe until historical times, that is, within the +last two thousand years. How long previously to this the others +became extinct we have no certain means of knowing, though it +seems probable that they disappeared gradually and successively. +We have, however, farther to bear in mind the possibility of +cataclysms or climatal changes which may have proved speedily +fatal to many species over large areas. In any case we have this +certain fact that, though the time elapsed has been sufficient +for the extinction of many species, it does not seem to have +sufficed to effect any noteworthy change on those that survived. +Farther, we may consider that time is only one factor in this +matter, and not the one which is the efficient cause of change, +since we know no reason why one species of animal should not +continue to be reproduced as long as another, but for the +occurrence of physical changes of a prejudicial character.</p> + +<p>We have still remaining the changes which have taken place in the +erosion of valleys since the caverns were occupied. Dupont +informs us that the openings of some of the caverns once flooded +by rivers are now in limestone cliffs two +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +hundred feet above the water, while no appreciable lowering of the bottoms of the +ravines is taking place now. This would in some contingencies put +back the period of filling of the caves to an indefinite +antiquity. But then the questions occur—Was there once more +water in the rivers or more obstruction at their outlets, or was +the erosive power greater at one time than now, or were the river +valleys excavated in still more ancient time, and partly filled +with mud when the water entered the caves, and may this mud have +been since swept away? So, in like manner, the waters flowing in +the channels near Brixham Cave and Kent's Hole were apparently +about seventy feet higher in times of flood than at present, but +the time involved is subject to the same doubts as in the case of +the Belgian caves. Hughes has well remarked that elevations of +the land, by causing rivers to form waterfalls and cascades, +which they cut back, may greatly accelerate the rate of erosion. +Farther, there is the best reason to believe that in the glacial +period many old valleys were filled with clay, and that the +modern cutting consisted merely in the removal of this clay. Belt +has shown in a recent paper +<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> + good reason to believe that this +is the case with the Falls of Niagara, and that the cutting +actually effected through rock within the later Pleistocene and +modern period has been that only of the new gorge from the +whirlpool to Queenstown, the main part of the ravine being of +older date and merely re-excavated. This would greatly reduce the +ordinary estimate of time based on the cutting of the Niagara +gorge.</p> + +<p>This leads us next to consider the occurrence of human remains +and objects of art in the river-gravels themselves, and the +amount of excavation and deposit involved in the deposition +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +of these gravels. In the river-gravels of the Somme, and of many +other rivers in France and Southern England, chipped flints and +rude flint implements are found in so great quantity as to imply +that the beds and banks of these streams were resorted to for +flint material, and that the unfinished and rejected implements +left in the holes and trenches, or on the heaps where the work +was carried on, were afterward sorted by running water, perhaps +in abnormal floods and debacles, such as occur in all river +valleys occasionally, perhaps in that great diluvial catastrophe +which seems to have terminated the residence of Palæocosmic man +in Europe. Wilson has well shown how the heaps left by American +tribes in and near their flint quarries would furnish the +material for such accumulations. The time required for the +erosion of the valleys and the deposit of the gravels has been +very variously estimated. In the case of the Somme, which river +is not appreciably deepening its bed, if we suppose it to have +cut its wide valley to the depth of one hundred and fifty feet +out of solid chalk since the so-called "high level" gravels of +France and the South of England were deposited, the time required +shades off into infinity. So Evans, in his work on "The Ancient +Stone Implements of Great Britain," looking upon the amount of +excavation of wide and deep valleys since the stone implements of +Bournemouth are supposed to have been deposited in gravel, says, +"Who can fully comprehend how immensely remote was the epoch when +that vast bay was high and dry land?" and he becomes poetical in +delineating the view that must have met the eyes of "palæolithic" +man. And undoubtedly, if one is to be limited to the precise +nature and amount of causes now at work in the district, the time +must not only be "immensely remote," but illimitably so. The +difficulty lies with the exaggerated uniformitarianism of the +supposition that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +such causes could have produced the results. +But, for reasons to be immediately stated, the time required is +liable to numerous deductions; and recently Tylor, Pattison, +Collard, and others have insisted ably on these deductions, as +has also Professor Hughes, of Cambridge. I have myself urged them +strongly in the work already referred to.</p> + +<p>In the first place, when we see a deep river valley in which the +present stream is doing an almost infinitesimal amount of +deepening, we are not to infer that this represents all its work +past and present. In times of unusual flood it may do in one week +more than in many previous years. Farther, if there have been +elevations or depressions of the land, when the land has been +raised the cutting power has at once been enormously increased, +and when depressed it has been diminished, or filling has taken +the place of cutting. Again, if the climate in time past has been +more extreme, or the amount of rainfall greater, the cutting +action has then been proportionally rapid. Perhaps no influence +is greater in this respect than that which is known to the +colonists in Northeastern America as "ice-freshets," when in +spring, before the ice has had time to disappear from the rivers, +sudden thaws and rains produce great floods, which rushing down +over the icy crust, or breaking and hurling its masses before +them, work terrible havoc on the banks and alluvial flats, +depositing great beds of gravel, and sweeping away immense masses +that had lain undisturbed for centuries. Now we know that in +Europe the human period was preceded by what has been termed the +glacial age, and as it was passing away there must have been +unexampled floods and ice-freshets, and a temporary "pluvial +period," as it has been called, in which the volume of the rivers +was immensely increased. Farther, it is an established fact that +the period of the appearance of man was a time when +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +the continents in the northern hemisphere were more elevated than at +present, and when consequently the cutting action of rivers was +at a maximum. This was again followed by a period of depression, +accompanied probably by many local cataclysms, if not by a +general deluge; and there are strong geological reasons to +believe that this convulsion was connected with the disappearance +from Europe of Palæocosmic man, and many of the animals his +contemporaries. This view I advocated some time ago in my "Story +of the Earth;" and more recently Mr. Pattison, in an able paper +read before the Victoria Institute, has developed it in greater +detail, and supported it by a great mass of geological authority. +If the Palæocosmic period was one of continental elevation, when +the greater seats of population were in the valleys of great +rivers now covered by the German Ocean and the English Channel, +and when the valleys of the Thames and the Somme were those of +upland streams frequented by straggling parties and small tribes, +and the seats of extensive flint factories for the supply of the +plains below, and if this state of things was terminated by a +diluvial debacle, we can account for all the phenomena of the +drift implements without any extravagant estimate of time.</p> + +<p>I quote with much pleasure on this subject the following from the +report of a lecture on "Geological Measures of Time," by +Professor Hughes, before the Royal Institution of London. Hughes +was, like myself, a companion of Sir Charles Lyell in some of his +journeys, though belonging to a younger generation of geologists, +and is an accurate observer and reasoner.</p> + +<p>"Another method of estimating the lapse of time is founded upon +the supposed rate at which rivers scoop out their channels. +Although no very exact estimates have been attempted, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +still the immense quantity of work that has been done, as compared with the +slow rate at which a river is now excavating that same part of +the valley, is often appealed to as a proof of a great lapse of +time.</p> + +<p>"The fact of such an enormous lapse of time is not questioned, +but this part of the evidence is challenged.</p> + +<p>"The previous considerations of the rate of accumulation of silt +on the low lands prepares us to inquire whether there is any +waste at all along the alluvial plains. Several examples were +given to show that the lowering of valleys was brought about by +receding rapids and waterfalls; for instance, following up the +Rhine, its terraces could often be traced back to where the +waterfall was seen to produce at once almost all the difference +of level between the river reaches above and below it. At +Schaffhausen the river terrace below the hotel could be traced +back and found to be continuous with the river margin above the +fall. The wide plains occurring here and there, such as the +Mayence basin, were due to the river being arrested by the hard +rocks of the gorges below Bingen so long that it had time to wind +from side to side through the soft rocks above the gorges. When +waterfalls cut back to such basins or to lakes they would recede +rapidly, tapping the waters of the lake, eating back the soft +beds of the alluvial plains, and probably in both cases leaving +terraces as evidence, not of upheavals or of convulsions, but of +the arrival of a waterfall which had been gradually travelling up +the valley. So when the Rhone cuts back from the falls at +Belgarde we shall have terraces where now is the shore of Geneva; +so also when the Falls of Schaffhausen, and ages afterward when +the Falls of Laufenburg have tapped the Lake of Constance, there +will be terraces marking its previous levels. And so we may +explain the former greater extent of the Lake of Zurich, which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +stood higher and spread wider by Utznach and Wetzikon before it +was tapped by the arrival of waterfalls, which cut back into it +and let its waters run off until they fell to their present +level.</p> + +<p>"A small upheaval near the mouth of a river would have a similar +effect. The Thames below London and the Somme below St. Acheul +can now only just hand on the mud brought down from higher +ground; but suppose an elevation of a hundred feet over those +parts of England and France (quite imperceptible if extended over +10,000, 1000, or even 100 years), and the rivers would tumble +over soft mud and clay and chalk, and soon eat their way back +from Sheppey to London, and from St. Valery to Amiens.</p> + +<p>"So when we want to estimate the age of the gravels on the top of +the cliff at the Reculvers, or on the edge of the plateau of St. +Acheul, we have to ask, not how long would it take the rivers to +cut down to their present level from the height of those gravels +at the rate at which that part of their channel is being lowered +now, but how long would it take the Somme or Thames, which once +ran at the level of those gravels, to cut back from where its +mouth or next waterfall was then to where it runs over rapids +now. We ought to know what movements of upheaval and depression +there have been; what long alluvial flats or lakes which may have +checked floods, but also arrested the rock-protecting gravel; how +much the wash of the estuarine waves has helped. In fact, it is +clear that observations made on the action of the rivers at those +points now have nothing to do with the calculation of the age of +the terraces above, and that the circumstances upon which the +rate of recession of the waterfalls and rapids depends are so +numerous and changeable that it is at present unsafe to attempt +any estimate of the time required to produce the results +observed."</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +I may close this discussion by quoting from the paper of my +friend Mr. Pattison, already referred to, the following summing +up of his conclusions, in which I fully concur:</p> + +<p>"We may assume it as established that there was a time when +England was connected with the Continent, when big animals +roamed in summer up the watercourses and across the uplands, +and man, armed only with rude stones, followed them into the +marshes and woods, hunted them for sustenance, and consumed +them in shelter of caves, then accessible from the river +levels. This state of things was continued until disturbed +by oscillations of surface, accompanied by excessive +rainfalls and rushes of water from the water-sheds of the +rivers, until the great animals were driven out or +destroyed, and man ceased to visit these parts. The +disturbances continued, the Strait of Dover was formed, the +configuration of the soft parts of the islands and +continents was fixed, action subsided, and the present state +of things obtained. Man resumed his residence, but with loss +of the mammoth and its companions. The reindeer now +constituted the type of a state of things which lasted down +to the historic period, without any other from that time to +this. * * *</p> + +<p>"Chronologists are agreed that about 2000 years B.C. Abraham +migrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and that at this time +Egypt at least was old in civilization. Beyond this we have +no positive scale of time in Scripture; for it is evident, +from the narrative itself, that the latter does not cover +the whole time. * * *</p> + +<p>"Ussher estimates from Scripture the creation of man as +about 2000 years before this. During the latter portion of +this time civilization was proceeding under settled +governments in the East, interrupted, says the record and +tradition, by a flood. * * *</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 2.5em;">"So Lucretius:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 10%;font-size:90%">'Thus, too, the insurgent waters once o'erpowered,<br /> +As fables tell, and deluged many a state;<br /> +Till, in its turn, the congregated waves<br /> +By cause more potent conquered, heaven restrain'd<br /> +Its ceaseless torrents, and the flood decreased.'</p> + +<p>Barbarism covered the whole Western world; neither in the +2000 years before Abraham, nor in the 2000 years afterward, +have we any light reflected from these regions to the East. +In this 4000 years, or in the somewhat longer period which +probably will be ultimately settled as warranted by the +record, we place hypothetically all the phenomena of the +later mammalian age, including the introduction of man as a +hunter, the first occupation of the caves by him also, the +diluvial phenomena of the wide valleys, the oscillations and +disturbances of the earth's crust, alterations in the +coast-line, and physical settlement of the country; after +this comes the second occupation of the caves. In short, if +we say that, hypothetically, the whole first known human age +occurred within 4000 years of the Christian era, no one can +say that it is geologically impossible. Who can say that +1643 years is insufficient to comprise all the phenomena +that occurred during a period confessedly characterized by +more rapid and extensive action than at present—a period +during which ruptures in the earth's crust, oscillations, +and permanent uprising took place, and the intermittent +action of violent floods caused the deposit and disturbance +and resettlement of the gravels and brick-earth? There is +nothing to interfere with the prevalent opinion that man was +introduced here while the glacial period was dying out, and +while it was still furnishing flood-waters sufficient to +scour and re-sort the gravels of the valleys down which they +flowed. This supposition may be extended to both the great +continents."</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +To conclude: Our mode of reconciling the Mosaic history of +antediluvian man with the disclosures of the gravels and caves +would be to identify Palæocosmic man, or man of the mammoth age, +with antediluvian man; to suppose that the changes which closed +his existence in Europe as well as Western Asia were those +recorded in the Noachian deluge; and that the second colonization +of the diminished and shrunken Europe of the modern period was +effected by the descendants of Noah. It may be asked—Must we +suppose that the Adam of the Bible was of the type of the +coarsely featured and gigantic men of the European caverns? I +would answer—Not precisely so; but it is quite possible that +Adam may have been Turanian in feature. We should certainly +suppose him to have been a man well developed in brain and +muscle. Such men as those found in the caves would rather +represent the ruder "Nephelim," the "giants that were in those +days," than Adam in Eden. Farther, the new colonists of Europe +after the deluge would no doubt be a very rude and somewhat +degenerate branch of Noachidæ, probably driven before more +powerful tribes in the course of the dispersion. The higher races +of both periods are probably to be looked for in Western Asia; +but even there we must expect to find cave men like those whose +remains were found by Tristram in the caves near Tyre, and like +the Horim of Moses; and we must also expect to find the +antediluvian age in the main an age of stone everywhere, and its +arts, except in certain great centres of population, perhaps not +more advanced than those of the Polynesians, or those of the +agricultural American tribes before the discovery of America by +Columbus.</p> + +<p>As a geologist, and as one who has been in the main of the school +of Lyell, and after having observed with much +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +care the deposits of the more modern periods on both sides of the Atlantic, I have +from the first dissented from those of my scientific brethren who +have unhesitatingly given their adhesion to the long periods +claimed for human history, and have maintained that their hasty +conclusions on this subject must bring geological reasoning into +disrepute, and react injuriously on our noble science. We require +to make great demands on time for the prehuman periods of the +earth's history, but not more than sacred history is willing to +allow for the modern or human age.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS.</span><br /></h2> + + +<p style="font-size:80%;text-align:left;text-indent:3em;font-weight:bold;"> +"Lo, these are but the outlines of his ways, and how faint +the whisper which we hear of him—the thunder of his power +who could understand?"—Job xxvi., 14.</p> + + +<p>In the preceding pages I have, as far as possible, avoided that +mode of treating my subject which was wont to be expressed as the +"reconciliation" of Scripture and Natural Science, and have +followed the direct guidance of the Mosaic record, only turning +aside where some apt illustration or coincidence could be +perceived. In the present chapter I propose to inquire what the +science of the earth teaches on these same subjects, and to point +out certain manifest and remarkable correspondences between these +teachings and those of revelation. Here I know that I enter on +dangerous ground, and that if I have been so fortunate as to +carry the intelligent reader with me thus far, I may chance to +lose him now. The Hebrew Scriptures are common property; no one +can fairly deny me the right to study them, even though I do so +in no clerical or theological capacity; and even if I should +appear extreme in some of my views, or venture to be almost as +enthusiastic as the commentators of Homer, Shakespeare, or Dante, +I can not be very severely blamed. But the direct comparison of +these ancient records with results of modern science is obnoxious +to many minds on different grounds; and all the more so that so +few men are at once students both of nature +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +and revelation. There are, as yet, but few even of educated men whose range of +study has included any thing that is practical or useful either +in Hebrew literature or geological science. That slipshod +Christianity which contents itself with supposing that +conclusions which are false in nature may be true in theology is +mere superstition or professional priestcraft, and has nothing in +common with the Bible; but there are still multitudes of good +men, trained in the verbal and abstract learning which at one +time constituted nearly the whole of education, who regard +geology as a mass of crude hypotheses destitute of coherence, a +perpetual battle-ground of conflicting opinions, all destined in +time to be swept away. It must be admitted, too, that from the +nature of geological evidence, and from the liability to error in +details, the solidity of its conclusions is not likely soon to be +appreciated as fully as is desirable by the common mind; while it +is unfortunately true that the outskirts of science are infested +with hosts of half-informed and superficial writers, who state +these conclusions incorrectly, or apply them in an unreasonable +manner to matters on which they have no bearing. On the other +hand, the geologist, fully aware of the substantial nature of the +foundations of the science of the earth, regards it as little +less than absurd to find parallels to its principles in an +ancient theological work. Still there are possible meeting-points +of things so dissimilar as Bible lore and geological exploration. +If man is a being connected on the one hand with material nature, +and on the other with the spiritual essence of the Creator; if +that Creator has given to man powers of exploring and +comprehending his plans in the universe, and at the same time has +condescended to reveal to him directly his will on certain +points, there is nothing unphilosophical or improbable in the +supposition that the same truths may be struck out on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +the one hand by the action of the human mind on nature, and on the other +by the action of the Divine mind on that of man. The highest and +most nobly constituted minds have ever been striving to scale +heaven above and dive into the earth below, that they may extort +from them the secret of their origin, and may find what are the +privileges and destinies of man himself. They have learned much; +and if through other gifted minds, and through his +heaven-descended Word and Spirit, God has condescended to reveal +himself, there must surely be much in common in that which God's +works teach to earnest inquirers and that which he directly makes +known. But few of our greatest thinkers, whether on nature or +theology, have reached the firm ground of this higher +probability; or if they have reached it, have dreaded the scorn +of the half-learned too much to utter their convictions. Still +this is a position which the enlightened Christian and student of +nature must be prepared to occupy, humbly and with admission of +much ignorance and incapacity, but with bold assertion of the +truth that there are meeting-points of nature and revelation +which afford legitimate subjects of study.</p> + +<p>In entering on these subjects, we may receive certain great +truths in reference to the history of the earth as established by +geological evidence. In the present rapidly progressive state of +the science, however, it is by no means easy to separate its +assured and settled results from those that have been founded on +too hasty generalization, or are yet immature; and at the same +time to avoid overlooking new and important truths, sufficiently +established, yet not known in all their dimensions. In the +following summary I shall endeavor to present to the reader only +well-ascertained general truths, without indulging in those +deviations from accuracy for effect too often met with in popular +books. On the other hand, we +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> +have already found that the +Scriptures enunciate distinct doctrines on many points relating +to the earth's early history, to which it will here be necessary +merely to refer in general terms. Let us in the first place +shortly consider the conclusions of geology as to the origin and +progress of creation.</p> + +<p>1. The widest and most important generalization of modern geology +is that all the materials of the earth's crust, to the greatest +depth that man can reach, either by actual excavation or +inference from superficial arrangements, are of such a nature as +to prove that they are not, in their present state, original +portions of the earth's structure; but that they are the results +of the operation, during long periods, of the causes of +change—whether mechanical, chemical, or vital—now in operation, +on the land, in the seas, and in the interior of the earth. For +example, the most common rocks of our continents are +conglomerates, sandstones, shales, and slates; all of which are +made up of the débris of older rocks broken down into gravel, +sand, or mud, and then re-cemented. To these we may add +limestones, which have been made up by the accumulation of corals +and shells, or by deposits from calcareous springs; coal, +composed of vegetable matter; and granite, syenite, greenstone, +and trap, which are molten rocks formed in the manner of modern +lavas. So general has been this sorting, altering, and +disturbance of the substance of the earth's crust, that, though +we know its structure over large portions of our continents to +the depth of several miles, the geologist can point to no +instance of a truly primitive rock which can be affirmed to have +remained unchanged and <i>in situ</i> since the beginning.</p> + +<p>"All are aware that the solid parts of the earth consist of +distinct substances, such as clay, chalk, sand, limestone, coal, +slate, granite, and the like; but, previously to observation, it +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +is commonly imagined that all had remained from the first in the +state in which we now see them—that they were created in their +present forms and in their present position. The geologist now +comes to a different conclusion; discovering proofs that the +external parts of the earth were not all produced in the +beginning of things in the state in which we now behold them, nor +in an instant of time. On the contrary, he can show that they +have acquired their actual condition and configuration gradually +and at successive periods, during each of which distinct races of +living beings have flourished on the land and in the waters; the +remains of these creatures lying buried in the crust of the +earth." +<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p> + +<p>2. Having ascertained that the rocks of the earth have thus been +produced by secondary causes, we next affirm, on the evidence of +geology, that a distinct order of succession of these deposits +can be ascertained; and though there are innumerable local +variations in the nature of the rocks formed at the same period, +yet there is, on the great scale, a regular sequence of +formations over the whole earth. This succession is of the +greatest importance in the case of aqueous rocks, or those formed +in water; and it is evident that in the case of beds of sand, +clay, etc., deposited in this way, the upper must be the more +recent of any two layers. This simple principle, complicated in +various ways by the fractures and disturbances to which the beds +have been subjected, forms the basis of the succession of +"formations" in geology as deduced from stratigraphical evidence.</p> + +<p>3. This regular series of formations would be of little value as +a history of the earth were it not that nearly all the aqueous +rocks contain remains of the contemporary animals and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +plants. Ever since the earth began to be tenanted by organized beings, +the various accumulations formed in the bottoms of seas and at +the mouths of rivers have entombed remains of marine animals, +more especially their harder parts, as shells, corals, and bones, +and also fragments or entire specimens of land animals and +plants. Hence, in any rock of aqueous formation, we may find +fossil remains of the living creatures that existed in the waters +in which that rock was accumulated or on the neighboring land. If +in the process of building up the continents, the same locality +constituted in succession a part of the bottom of the ocean, of +an inland sea, of an estuary, and a lake, we should find in the +fossil remains entombed in the deposits of that place evidences +of these various conditions; and thus a somewhat curious history +of local changes might be obtained. Geology affords more +extensive disclosures of this nature. It shows that as we descend +into the older formations we gradually lose sight of the existing +animals and plants, and find the remains of others not now +existing; and these, in turn, themselves disappear, and were +preceded by others; so that the whole living population of the +earth appears to have been several times renewed prior to the +beginning of the present order of things. This seems farther to +have occurred in a slow and gradual manner, not by successive +great cataclysms or clearances of the surface of the earth, +followed by wholesale renewal. This doctrine of geological +uniformity is, however, to be understood as limited by the +equally certain fact that there has been progress and advance, +both in the inorganic arrangements of the earth's surface and in +its organized inhabitants, and that there have, in geological as +in historical times, been local cataclysms and convulsions, as +those of earthquakes and volcanoes, often on a very extensive +scale. Farther, there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +are good reasons to believe that there +have been alternations of cold or glacial periods and of warm +periods, of periods of subsidence and re-elevation, and of +periods of greater and less activity of certain of the leading +agents of geological change. But as to the extent of these +differences and their bearing on the geological history, there is +still much uncertainty and difference of opinion. +<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> + +<p>In the sediment <i>now</i> accumulating in the bottom of the waters +are being buried remains of the existing animals and plants. A +geological formation is being produced, and it contains the +skeletons and other solid parts of a vast variety of creatures +belonging to all climates, and which have lived on land as well +as in fresh and salt water. Let us now suppose that by a series +of changes, sudden or gradual, all the present organized beings +were swept away, and that, when the earth was renewed by the +power of the Creator, a new race of intelligent beings could +explore those parts of the former sea basins that had been +elevated into land. They would find the remains of multitudes of +creatures not existing in their time; and by the presence of +these they could distinguish the deposits of the former period +from those that belonged to their own. They could also compare +these remains with the corresponding parts of creatures which +were their own contemporaries, and could thus infer the +circumstances in which they had lived, the modes of subsistence +for which they had been adapted, and the changes in the +distribution of land and water and other physical conditions +which had occurred. This, then, is precisely the place which +fossil organic remains occupy in modern geology, except that our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> +present system of nature rests on the ruins, not of one previous +system, but of several.</p> + +<p>4. By the aid of the superposition of deposits and their organic +remains, geology can divide the history of the earth into +distinct periods. These periods are not separated by merely +arbitrary boundaries, but to some extent mark important eras in +the progress of our earth; though they usually pass into each +other at their confines, and the nature of the evidence prevents +us from ascertaining the precise length of the periods +themselves, or the intervals in time which may separate the +several monuments by which they are distinguished. The following +table will serve to give an idea of the arrangement at present +generally received, with some of the more important facts in the +succession of animal and vegetable life, as connected with our +present subject. It commences with the oldest periods known to +geology, and gives in the animal and vegetable kingdoms the +<i>first appearance</i> of each class, with a few notes of the +subsequent history of the principal forms. It must, however, be +borne in mind that farther discoveries may extend some classes +farther back than we at present know them, and that a more +detailed table, descending to orders and families, would give a +more precise view of the succession of life. Farther, the several +geological formations would admit of much subdivision, and are +represented locally by various kinds and different thicknesses of +sediment. +<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> +</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p> +<p>TABULAR VIEW OF THE SUCCESSION OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS AND +ORGANIC REMAINS.</p> + + +<table border="1" summary="TABULAR VIEW OF THE SUCCESSION OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS AND ORGANIC REMAINS."> + +<tr> +<td>PERIODS.</td> +<td>SYSTEMS OF FORMATIONS.</td> +<td>CLASSES OF ANIMALS.</td> +<td>PLANTS.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>I. EOZOIC PERIOD.</td> +<td>Ancient Metamorphic rocks of Scandinavia, Canada, etc.</td> +<td>Eozoon and probably other Protozoa.</td> +<td>Graphite and Iron Ores representing Vegetable Matter.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td rowspan="14">II. PRIMARY OR PALÆOZOIC PERIOD.</td> + +<td rowspan="3">Cambrian.</td><td><i>Radiata</i> Hydrozoa, Echinodermata (Cystideans).</td><td rowspan="3">Algæ.</td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Mollusca</i> Brachiopoda, Lamellibranchiata,Gasteropoda, Cephalopoda (Bivalve and Univalve Shell-fishes).</td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Articulata</i>—Annelida, Crustacea (Worms andSoft Shell-fishes of the lower grades).</td></tr> + +<tr><td rowspan="3">Lower Silurian.</td><td><i>Radiata</i>—Anthozoa (coral animals),Echinodermata (sea stars, etc.).</td><td rowspan="3">Algæ.</td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Mollusca</i>—Polyzoa, Tunicata.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Other Mollusks and Articulates as before.</td></tr> + +<tr><td rowspan="2">Upper Silurian.</td><td>Radiates, Mollusks, and Articulates as before.</td><td rowspan="2">Acrogenous Land plants.</td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Vertebrata</i>—First Ganoid and Placoid Fishes.</td></tr> + +<tr><td rowspan="2">Erian or Devonian.</td><td><i>Articulata</i>—Insects and higher Crustaceans.</td><td rowspan="2">Acrogens and Gymnosperms.</td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Vertebrata</i>—Fishes, Ganoid and Placoid.</td></tr> + +<tr><td rowspan="3">Carboniferous.</td><td><i>Mollusca</i>—Pulmonata (Land Snails).</td><td rowspan="4">Acrogens, Gymnosperms, Endogens?</td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Articulata</i>—Myriapods, Arachnidans (Gallyworms, Spiders and Scorpions).</td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Vertebrata</i>—Batrachians or Amphibians prevalent.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Permian.</td><td><i>Vertebrata</i>—Lacertian or Lizard-like Reptiles.</td></tr> + +<tr><td rowspan="3">III. SECONDARY OR MESOZOIC PERIOD.</td><td>Triassic.</td> +<td><i>Vertebrata</i>—Higher Reptiles prevalent Marsupial Mammals.</td><td rowspan="2">Endogenous trees.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Jurassic.</td><td><i>Vertebrata</i>—Great prevalence of higher Reptiles; Fishes, homocerque; Earliest Birds.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Cretaceous.</td><td><i>Vertebrata</i>—Decadence of reign of Reptiles; Ordinary Bony Fishes.</td><td>Angiospermous Exogens.</td></tr> + +<tr><td rowspan="4">IV. TERTIARY OR CAINOZOIC PERIOD.</td><td rowspan="2">Eocene.</td> +<td><i>Vertebrata</i> Mammals prevalent, especially Pachyderms; Cycloid and Ctenoid Fishes prevalent.</td> +<td>Exogens prevalent.</td></tr> +<tr><td>First <i>living</i> Invertebrates.</td><td rowspan="3">Some Modern Species appear.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Miocene.</td><td>Living Invertebrates more numerous.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Pliocene.</td><td>Living Invertebrates still more numerous.</td></tr> + +<tr><td rowspan="3">V. POST-TERTIARY OR MODERN PERIOD.</td><td rowspan="2">Post-Pliocene.</td><td>First living Mammals.</td><td rowspan="3">Existing vegetation.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Living Invertebrates prevalent.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Post-Glacial and Recent.</td><td>Man and living Mammals.</td></tr> +</table> + + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +The oldest fossil remains known are the Protozoa of the +Laurentian rocks. In the succeeding Cambrian or Primordial rocks +we find many extinct species of zoophytes, shell-fish, and +crustaceans, and the algæ or sea-weeds. In the Palæozoic period +as a whole, though numerous Batrachian or Amphibian reptiles +existed toward its close, the higher orders of fishes seem to +have been the dominant tribe of animals; and vegetation was +nearly limited to cryptogams and gymnosperms. In the Mesozoic +period, though small mammalia had been created, large terrestrial +and marine reptiles were the ruling race, and fishes occupied a +subordinate position; while, at the close, the higher orders of +plants took a prominent place. In the Tertiary and Modern eras, +the mammalia, with man, have assumed the highest or dominant +position in nature.</p> + +<p>On this series of groups, and the succession of living beings, +Sir. C. Lyell remarks "It is not pretended that the principal +sections called Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary are of +equivalent importance, or that the subordinate groups comprise +monuments relating to equal portions of time or of the earth's +history. But we can assert that they each relate to successive +periods, during which certain animals and plants, for the most +part peculiar to their respective eras, flourished, and during +which different kinds of sediment were deposited."</p> + +<p>We have already, in previous chapters, noticed the parallelism of +the succession of life in the earth as revealed in Genesis with +that disclosed by geology; but this subject must be farther +referred to in the sequel, and in the mean time the reader may +compare for himself the succession of life in the table with that +in the later creative days.</p> + +<p>5. The lapse of time embraced in the geological history of the +earth is enormous. Fully to appreciate this it is necessary to +study the science in detail, and to explore its phenomena as +disclosed in actual nature. A few facts, however, out +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> +of hundreds which might have been selected, will suffice to indicate +the state of the case. The delta and alluvial plain of the +Mississippi have an area of more than 12,000 square miles, and +must have an average depth of about 800 feet. At the present rate +of conveyance of sediment by the river, it has been calculated +that a period of about 33,000 years is implied in the deposition +of this comparatively modern formation. +<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> +To be quite safe, let us take 30,000 years, and add 50,000 more for the remainder +of the Post-pliocene or Quaternary. We may then safely multiply +this number by forty, for the length of the Tertiary period. We +may add three times as much for the Mesozoic period, and this +will be far under the truth. It will then be quite safe to assume +that the Palæozoic period was three times as long as the Mesozoic +and Tertiary together. This would give altogether, say, +51,280,000 years for the whole of geological time from the +beginning of the Palæozoic, leaving the duration of the Eozoic +and previous periods undetermined, but requiring perhaps nearly +as much time. Great though these demands may seem, they would be +probably far below the rigid requirements of the case were it not +for the probability that the present rate of transference of +material by the great river is less than it was in Post-pliocene +and early modern times. This might enable us to reduce our +estimate considerably within the scope of a hundred millions of +years. +<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> +Take another illustration from an older formation. An +excellent coast section at +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> +the Joggins, in Nova Scotia, exhibits +in the coal formation proper a series of beds with erect trunks +and roots of trees <i>in situ</i>, amounting to nearly 100. About 100 +forests have successively grown, partially decayed, and been +entombed in muddy and sandy sediment. In the same section, +including in all about 14,000 feet of beds, there are 76 seams of +coal, each of which can be proved to have taken more time for its +accumulation than that required for the growth of a forest. +Supposing all these separate fossil soils and coals to have been +formed with the greatest possible rapidity, forty thousand years +would be a very moderate calculation for this portion of the +Carboniferous system; and for aught that we know thousands of +years may be represented by a single fossil soil. But this is the +age of only one member of the Carboniferous system, itself only a +member of the great Palæozoic group, and we have made no +allowance for the abrasion from previous rocks and deposition of +the immense mass of sandy and muddy sediment in which the coals +and forests are imbedded, and which is vastly greater than the +deltas of the largest modern rivers.</p> + +<p>Considerations of a physical rather than of a geological nature +also give us long periods for the probable existence of the +earth, though they serve to correct somewhat the extravagant +estimates of some theorists. Croll has based an interesting +calculation on the amount of erosion of the land by rivers. That +of the Mississippi amounts to one foot in 6000 years. That of the +Ganges gives one foot in 2358 years, the average being, say, one +foot in 4179 years. Some smaller rivers give a much shorter time; +but the average of two great rivers, one draining a very large +area of the western and another of the eastern hemisphere, and in +very different climates and geographical conditions, will +probably be the most reliable datum. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +Croll, however, prefers the +Mississippi rate. +<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> +If we estimate the proportion of land to +water as 576 to 1390, this will give for the entire area of the +ocean a rate of deposition of one foot in 14,400 years. Now the +entire thickness of all the stratified rocks is estimated at +72,000 feet; and at this rate the enormous time of 1,036,800,000 +years would be necessary. But we have no right to assume that +deposition has been going on uniformly over the entire +sea-bottom. On the contrary, the greater part of it takes place +within a belt of about one hundred miles from the coasts, and the +deposit of calcareous and other matters over the remainder will +scarcely make up for the portions of this belt on which no +deposit is taking place. This will give an area of deposit of +about 11,650,000 square miles, consequently only one twelfth of +the above time, or about 86,400,000 years, would be required. +This can be but a very rough calculation; but it has the merit of +squaring very nearly with the calculations derived from physical +considerations, more especially by Sir William Thomson, which +limit the possible existence of the earth's solid crust to one +hundred millions of years. Similar conclusions have also been +deduced from what is known of the physical constitution of the +sun. Croll's own ingenious theory of glacial periods produced by +the varying eccentricity of the earth's orbit, along with the +precession of the equinoxes, would give, according to him, about +80,000 years ago for the date of the Glacial period, and for the +beginning of the Tertiary period about 3,000,000 years ago.</p> + +<p>It would thus appear that physical and geological science +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> +conspire in assigning a great antiquity to the earth, but not an +unlimited antiquity. They agree in restricting the ages that have +elapsed since the introduction of life within one hundred +millions of years. I confess, however, that a consideration of +the fact that all our geological measures of erosion and +deposition seem to be based on cases which refer to what may be +termed minimum action leads me to believe that the actual time +will fall very far within this limit. For example, if we were to +suppose an elevation of the land drained by the Mississippi even +to a small amount, its cutting power would be vastly increased +for a long time. The same effect would result from a subsidence +and re-elevation, or from any cause increasing the amount of +rainfall or deposition of snows in winter. Now we know that such +things have occurred in the past, while we have no reason to +believe that the amount of action was ever much less than at +present. Similar considerations apply to nearly all our +geological measures of time; and there has been a tendency to +exaggerate these, as if geologists were entitled to demand +unlimited time, and to stretch the doctrine of uniformity to the +utmost.</p> + +<p>6. During the whole time referred to by geology, the great laws +both of inorganic and organic nature have been the same as at +present. The evidence of light and darkness, of sunshine and +shower, of summer and winter, and of all the known igneous and +aqueous causes of change, extends back almost, and in some of +these cases altogether, to the beginning of the Palæozoic period. +In like manner the animals and plants of the oldest rocks are +constructed on the same physiological and anatomical principles +with existing tribes, and they can be arranged in the same +genera, orders, or classes, though specifically distinct. The +revolutions of the globe have involved +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> +no change of the general laws of matter; and though it is possible that geology has +carried us back to the time when the laws that regulate life +began to operate, it does not show that they were less perfect +than now, and it indicates no trace of the beginning of the +inorganic laws. Geological changes have resulted not from the +institution of new laws, but from new <i>dispositions</i>, under +existing laws and general arrangements. There is every reason to +believe that in the inorganic world these dispositions have +required no new creative interpositions during the time to which +geology refers, but merely the continued action of the properties +bestowed on matter when first produced. In the organic world the +case is different.</p> + +<p>7. In the succession of animal and vegetable life we find a +constant improvement and advance by the introduction of new types +of being. We have already given a general outline of this +advancement of organized nature. It has consisted in the +introduction, from time to time, of new and more highly organized +beings, so as at once to increase the variety of nature, and to +provide for the elevation of the summit of the graduated scale of +life to higher and higher points. At the same time, in each +successive period, it has been the law of creation that the forms +of life then dominant should attain their highest development, +and should then be succeeded by more advanced types. For +instance, in the earlier Palæozoic period we have molluscous +animals and fishes, then apparently the highest forms of life, +appearing with a very advanced organization, not surpassed, if +even equalled, in modern times. In the latter part of the same +period, some lower forms of vegetable life, now restricted to a +comparatively humble place, were employed to constitute +magnificent forests. In the Mesozoic period, again, reptiles +attained to their highest point +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> +in organization and variety of form and employment, while mammalia had as yet scarcely +appeared. +<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></p> + +<p>8. If now we ask in what manner the succession of life on the +earth has been produced, two apparently opposite hypotheses rise +before us. The one is that of introduction of new species by +creative acts, the other that of development of new species by +changes of those previously existing. In one respect the +difference of these views is little more than one of expression, +for the meaning of the statements depends on what we understand +by a species and what by a mere varietal form, and also on what +we understand by creation and what we mean by development. Twenty +years ago nearly all geologists were believers in creation, +though it must be admitted without precisely understanding what +they meant by the term. Now, the great impression produced by +Darwin's speculations and the prevalence of the evolutionist +philosophy have produced a leaning in the other direction. More +recently, however, the absurdities into which the extreme +evolutionists find themselves driven have produced a reaction; +and we hope that views consistent with revelation, or at least +with Theism, will again be in the ascendant, and that present +controversies will serve to give more precise and definite views +than heretofore of the relation of nature to God. As +illustrations of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +the opinions prevalent before the rise of the +development theory, I may quote from Pictet and Bronn, two of the +most eminent palæontologists.</p> + +<p>Pictet says, in the introduction to his "Traité de +Paléontologie:" "It seems to me impossible that we should admit, +as an explanation of the phenomena of successive faunas, the +passage of species into one another; the limits of such +transitions of species, even supposing that the lapse of a vast +period of time may have given them a character of reality much +greater than that which the study of existing nature leads us to +suppose, are still infinitely within those differences which +distinguish two successive faunas. Lastly, we can least of all +account by this theory for the appearance of new <i>types</i>, to +explain the introduction of which we must necessarily, in the +present state of science, recur to the idea of distinct creations +posterior to the first."</p> + +<p>The following are the general conclusions of Bronn, in his +elaborate and most valuable essay, presented to the French +Academy in 1856, as summarized in a notice of the work in the +Journal of the Geological Society:</p> + +<p>"1. The first productions of this power in the oldest Neptunian +strata of the earth consisted of Plants, Zoophytes, Mollusks, +Crustaceans, and perhaps even Fish; the simultaneous appearance +of which, therefore, contradicts the assumption that the more +perfect organic forms arose out of the gradual transformation in +time of the more imperfect forms.</p> + +<p>"2. The same power which produced the first organic forms has +continued to operate in intensively as well as extensively +increasing activity during the whole subsequent geological +period, up to the final appearance of man; but here also can no +traces be found of a gradual transformation of old species and +genera into new; but the new have every +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +where appeared as new without the co-operation of the former.</p> + +<p>"3. In the succession of the different forms of plants and +animals, a certain regular course and plan is perceptible, which +is quite independent of chance. While all species possess only a +limited duration, and must sooner or later disappear, they make +way for subsequent new ones, which not only almost always offer +an equivalent, in number, organization, and duties to be +performed, for those which have disappeared, but which are also +generally more varied, and therefore more perfect, and always +maintain an equilibrium with each other in their stage of +organization, their mode of life, and functions. There always +exists, therefore, a certain fixed relation between the newly +arising and the disappearing forms of organic life.</p> + +<p>"4. A similar relation necessarily exists between the newly +arising organic forms and the outward conditions of life which +prevailed at their first appearance on the earth's surface, or at +the place of their appearance.</p> + +<p>"5. A fixed plan appears to be the basis of the whole series of +development of organic forms, in so far as man makes his first +appearance at its close, when he finds every thing prepared that +is necessary to his own existence and to his progressive +development and improvement—which would not have been possible +had he appeared at a former period.</p> + +<p>"6. Such a regular progress in carrying out the same plan from +the beginning to the end of a period of millions of years can +only be accounted for in one of two ways. Either this course of +successive development during millions of years has been the +regular immediate result of the systematic action of a conscious +Creator, who on every occasion settled and carried out not only +the order of appearance, formation, organization, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +and terrestrial object of each of the countless numbers of species of +plants and animals, but also the number of the first individuals, +the place of their settlement in every instance, although it was +in his power to create every thing at once—or there existed some +natural power hitherto entirely unknown to us, which by means of +its own laws formed the species of plants and animals, and +arranged and regulated all those countless individual conditions; +which power, however, must in this case have stood in the most +immediate connection with, and in perfect subordination to, those +powers which caused the gradually progressing perfection of the +crust of the earth, and the gradual development of the outward +conditions of life for the constantly increasing numbers and +higher classes of organic forms in consequence of this +perfection. Only in this way can we explain how the development +of the organic world could have regularly kept pace with that of +the inorganic. Such a power, although we know it not, would not +only be in perfect accordance with all the other functions of +nature, but the Creator, who regulated the development of organic +nature by means of such a force so implanted in it, as he guides +that of the inorganic world by the mere co-operation of +attraction and affinity, must appear to us more exalted and +imposing than if we assumed that he must always be giving the +same care to the introduction and change of the vegetable and +animal world on the surface of the earth as a gardener daily +bestows on each individual plant in the arrangement of his +garden.</p> + +<p>"7. We therefore believe that all species of plants and animals +were originally produced by some natural power unknown to us, and +not by transformation from a few original forms, and that that +power was in the closest and most necessary connection with those +powers and circumstances which effected the perfection of the +earth's surface."</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +Barrande also, probably the greatest living palæontologist of +Europe, adheres substantially to these views; as Agassiz did, and +I believe Hall and Dana still do, in America.</p> + +<p>I have, for my own part, seen no reason to dissent from these +views, though in the sequel I shall endeavor to present some +considerations which may tend to reconcile with them some of the +hypotheses of a contrary nature now held. It must be admitted, +however, that the majority of geologists and biologists have +abandoned these views of Pictet and Bronn, and have gone over to +the evolutionist philosophy, with how little reason I have +endeavored to show elsewhere, +<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> +and shall farther illustrate in the Appendix. Let it be observed, however, that even evolution +does not affect the grand idea of the unity of nature, or the +fact that the plan of the Creator in the organic world was so +vast that it required the whole duration of our planet, in all +its stages of physical existence, to embrace the whole. There is +but one system of organic nature; but, to exhibit the whole of +it, not only all the climates and conditions now existing are +required, but those also of all past geological periods. Further, +the progress of nature being mainly in the direction of +differentiation of functions once combined, it has a limit +backward in the most general forms and conditions, and forward in +the most specialized. This is the history of the individual and +probably also of the type, of the world itself and of the +universe; and for this reason material nature necessarily lacks +the eternity of its author.</p> + +<p>It appears, from the above facts and reasonings, that geology +informs us—1. That the materials of our existing continents are +of secondary origin, as distinguished from primitive +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> +or coeval with the beginning. 2. That a chronological order of formation of +these rocks can be made out. 3. That the fossil remains contained +in the rocks constitute a chronology of animal and vegetable +existence. 4. That the history of the earth may be divided in +this way into distinct periods, all pre-Adamite. 5. That the +pre-Adamite periods were of enormous duration. 6. That during +these periods the existing general laws of nature were in force, +though the dispositions of inorganic nature were different in +different periods, and the animals and plants of successive +periods were also different from each other. 7. The introduction +of new species of animals and of plants, while indicating advance +in the perfection of nature, does not prove spontaneous +development, but rather a definite plan and law of creation.</p> + +<p>The parallelism of these conclusions of careful inductive inquiry +into the structure of the earth's crust, with the results which +we have already obtained from revelation, may be summed up under +the following heads:</p> + +<p>1. Scripture and Science both testify to the great fact that +there was a beginning—a time when none of all the parts of the +fabric of the universe existed; when the Self-Existent was the +sole occupant of space. The Scriptures announce in plain terms +this great truth, and thereby rise at once high above atheism, +pantheism, and materialism, and lay a broad and sure foundation +for a pure and spiritual theology. Had the pen of inspiration +written but the words, "In the beginning God created the heavens +and the earth," and added no more, these words alone would have +borne the impress of their heavenly birth, and would, if received +in faith, have done much for the progress of the human mind. +These words contain a negation of hero-worship, star-worship, +animal-worship, and every other form of idolatry. They still +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> +more emphatically deny atheism and materialism, and point upward +from nature to its spiritual Creator—the One, the Triune, the +Eternal, the Self-Existent, the All-Pervading, the Almighty. They +call upon us, as with a voice of thunder, to bow down before that +Awful Being of whom it can be said that he created the heavens +and the earth. They thus embody the whole essence of natural +theology, and most appropriately stand at the entrance of Holy +Scripture, referring us to the works which men behold, as the +visible manifestation of the attributes of the Being whose +spiritual nature is unveiled in revelation. Scripture thus begins +with the announcement of a great ultimate fact, to which science +conducts us with but slow and timid steps. Yet science, and +especially geological science, can bear witness to this great +truth. The materialist, reasoning on the fancied stability of +natural things, and their inscription within invariable laws, +concludes that matter must be eternal. No, replies the geologist, +certainly not in its present form. This is but of recent origin, +and was preceded by other arrangements. Every existing species +can be traced back to a time when it was not; so can the existing +continents, mountains, and seas. Under our processes of +investigation the present melts away like a dream, and we are +landed on the shores of past and unknown worlds. But I read, says +the objector, that you can see "no evidence of a beginning, no +prospect of an end." It is true, answers geology; but, in so +saying, it is not intended that the present state of things had +not an ascertained beginning, but that there has been a great +and, so far as we know, unlimited series of changes carried on +under the guidance of intelligence. These changes we have traced +back very far, without being able to say that we have reached the +first. We can trace back man and his contemporaries to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +their origin, and we can reach the points at which still older +dynasties of life began to exist. Knowing, then, that all these +had a beginning, we infer that if others preceded them they also +had a beginning. But, says another objector, is not the present +the child of the past? Are not all the creatures that inhabit the +earth the lineal descendants of creatures of past periods, or may +not the whole be parts of one continual succession, under the +operation of an eternal law of development? No, answers geology, +species are immutable, except within narrow limits, and do not +pass into each other, in tracing them toward their origin. On the +contrary, they appear at once in their most perfect state, and +continue unchanged till they are forced off the stage of +existence to give place to other creatures. The origin of species +is a mystery, and belongs to no natural law that has yet been +established. Thus, then, stands the case at present. Scripture +asserts a beginning and a creation. Science admits these, as far +as the objects with which it is conversant extend, and the +notions of eternal succession and spontaneous development, +discountenanced both by theology and science, are obliged to take +refuge in those misty regions where modern philosophical +skepticism consorts with the shades of departed heathenism. +<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p> + +<p>2. Both records exhibit the progressive character of creation, +and in much the same aspect. The Almighty might have called into +existence, by one single momentary act, a world complete in all +its parts. From both Scripture and geology we know that he has +not done so—why we need not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +inquire, though we can see that the +process employed was that best adapted to show forth the variety +of his resources and the infinitely varied elements that enter +into the perfect whole.</p> + +<p>The Scripture history may be viewed as dividing the progress of +the creation into two great periods, the later of which only is +embraced in the geological record. The first commences with the +original chaos, and reaches to the completion of inorganic nature +on the fourth day. Had we any geological records of the first of +these periods, we should perceive the evidences of slow +mutations, tending to the sorting and arrangement of the +materials of the earth, and to produce distinct light and +darkness, sea and land, atmosphere and cloud, out of what was +originally a mixture of the whole. We should also, according to +the Scriptural record, find this period interlocking with the +next, by the intervention of a great vegetable creation, before +the final adjustment of the earth's relations to the other bodies +of our system. The second period is that of the creative +development of animal life. From both records we learn that +various ranks or gradations existed from the first introduction +of animals; but that on the earlier stages only certain of the +lower forms of animals were present; that these soon attained +their highest point, and then gradually, on each succeeding +platform, the variety of nature in its higher—the +vertebrate—form increased, and the upper margin of animal life +attained a more and more elevated point, culminating at length in +man; while certain of the older forms were dropped, as no longer +required.</p> + +<p>In the oldest fossiliferous rocks next to the Eozoic, which so +far have afforded only Protozoa—e. g., the Cambrian and Lower +Silurian—we find the mollusca represented mainly by +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> +their highest and lowest classes, by allies of the cuttle-fish and +nautilus, and by the lowest bivalve shell-fishes. The Articulata +are represented by the highest marine class—the crustaceans—and +by the lowest—the worms, which have left their marks on some of +the lowest fossiliferous beds. The Radiata, in like manner, are +represented by species of their highest class—the starfishes, +etc.—and by some of their simpler polyp forms. At the very +beginning, then, of the fossiliferous series, the three lower +sub-kingdoms exhibit species of their most elevated aquatic +classes, though not of the very highest orders in those classes. +The vertebrated sub-kingdom has, as far as yet known, no +representative in these lowest beds. In the Upper Silurian +series, however, we find remains of fishes; and in the succeeding +Devonian and carboniferous rocks the fishes rise to the highest +structures of their class; and we find several species of +reptiles, representing the next of the vertebrated classes in +ascending order. Here a very remarkable fact meets us. Before the +close of the Palæozoic period the three lower sub-kingdoms and +the fishes had already attained the highest perfection of which +their types are capable. Multitudes of new species and genera +were added subsequently, but none of them rising higher in the +scale of organization than those which occur in the Palæozoic +rocks. Thenceforth the progressive improvement of the animal +kingdom consisted in the addition, first of the reptile, which +attained its highest perfection and importance in the Mesozoic +period, and then of the bird and mammal, which did not attain +their highest forms till the Modern period. This geological order +of animal life, it is scarcely necessary to add, agrees perfectly +with that sketched by Moses, in which the lower types are +completed at once, and the progress is wholly in the higher.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> +In the inspired narrative we have already noticed some +peculiarities, as, for instance, the early appearance of a highly +developed flora, and the special mention of great reptiles in the +work of the fifth day, which correspond with the significant fact +that high types of structure appeared at the very introduction of +each new group of organized beings—a fact which, more than any +other in geology, shows that, in the organic department, +elevation has always been a strictly <i>creative</i> work, and that +there is in the constitution of animal species no innate tendency +to elevation, but that on the contrary we should rather suspect a +tendency to degeneracy and ultimate disappearance, requiring that +the fiat of the Creator should after a time go out again to +"renew the face of the earth." In the natural as in the moral +world, the only law of progress is the will and the power of God. +In one sense, however, progress in the organic world has been +dependent on, though not caused by, progress in the inorganic. We +see in geology many grounds for believing that each new tribe of +animals or plants was introduced just as the earth became fitted +for it; and even in the present world we see that regions +composed of the more ancient rocks, and not modified by +subsequent disturbances, present few of the means of support for +man and the higher animals; while those districts in which +various revolutions of the earth have accumulated fertile soils +or deposited useful minerals are the chief seats of civilization +and population. In like manner we know that those regions which +the Bible informs us were the cradle of the human race and the +seats of the oldest nations are geologically among the most +recent parts of the existing continents, and were no doubt +selected by the Creator partly on that account for the birthplace +of man. We thus find that the Bible and the geologists are agreed +not only as to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +fact and order of progress, but also as to its manner and use.</p> + +<p>3. Both records agree in affirming that since the beginning there +has been but one great system of nature. We can imagine it to +have been otherwise. Our existing nature might have been preceded +by a state of things having no connection with it. The +arrangements of the earth's surface might have been altogether +different; races of creatures might have existed having no +affinity with or resemblance to those of the present world, and +we might have been able to trace no present beneficial +consequences as flowing from these past states of our planet. Had +geology made such revelations as these, the consequences in +relation to natural theology and the credibility of Scripture +would have been momentous. The Mosaic narrative could scarcely, +in that case, have been interpreted in such a manner as to accord +with geological conclusions. The questions would have arisen—Are +there more creative Powers than one? If one, is He an imperfect +or capricious being who changes his plans of operation? The +divine authority of the Scriptures, as well as the unity and +perfections of God, might thus have been involved in serious +doubts. Happily for us, there is nothing of this kind in the +geological history of the earth; as there is manifestly nothing +of it in that which is revealed in Scripture.</p> + +<p>In the Scripture narrative each act of creation prepares for the +others, and in its consequences extends to them all. The inspired +writer announces the introduction of each new part of creation, +and then leaves it without any reference to the various phases +which it assumed as the work advanced. In the grand general view +which he takes, the land and seas first made represent those of +all the following periods. So do the first plants, the first +invertebrate animals, the first +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> +fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals. He thus assures us that, however long the periods +represented by days of creation, the system of nature was one +from the beginning. In like manner in the geological record each +of the successive conditions of the earth is related to those +which precede and those which follow, as part of a series. So +also a uniform plan of construction pervades organic nature, and +uniform laws the inorganic world in all periods. We can thus +include in one system of natural history all animals and plants, +fossil as well as recent, and can resolve all inorganic changes +into the operation of existing laws. The former of these facts is +in its nature so remarkable as almost to warrant the belief of +special design. Naturalists had arranged the existing animals and +plants, without any reference to fossil species, in kingdoms, +sub-kingdoms, classes, orders, families, and genera. Geological +research has added a vast number of species not now existing in a +living state; yet all these fossils can be inserted within the +limits of recognized groups. We do not require to add a new +kingdom, sub-kingdom, or class; but, on the contrary, all the +fossil genera and species go into the existing divisions, in such +a manner as to fill them up precisely where they are most +deficient, thus occupying what would otherwise be gaps in the +existing system of nature. The principal difficulty which they +occasion to the zoologist and botanist is that, by filling the +intervals between genera previously widely separated, they give +to the whole a degree of continuity which renders it more +difficult to decide where the boundaries separating the groups +should be placed.</p> + +<p>We also find that the animals and plants of the earlier periods +often combined in one form powers and properties afterward +separated in distinct groups; thus in the earlier +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> +formations the sauroid fishes unite peculiarities afterward divided between the +fish and reptiles, constituting what Agassiz has called a +synthetic type. Again, the series of creatures in time accords +with the ranks which a study of their types of structure induces +the naturalist to assign them in his system; and also within each +of the great sub-kingdoms presents many points of accordance with +the progress of the embryonic development of the individual +animal. Nor is this contradictory to the statement that the +earlier representatives of types are often of high and perfect +organization, for the progress both in geological time and in the +life of the individual is so much one of specialization that an +immature animal often presents points of affinity to higher forms +that disappear in the adult. In connection with this, earlier +organic forms often appear to foreshadow and predict others that +are to succeed them in time, as the winged and marine reptiles of +the Mesozoic foreshadow the birds and cetaceans. Agassiz has +admirably illustrated these links of connection between the past +and the present in the essay on classification prefixed to his +"Contributions to the Natural History of America." In reference +to "prophetic" types, he says: "They appear now like a prophecy +in those earlier times of an order of things not possible with +the earlier combinations then prevailing in the animal kingdom, +but exhibiting in a later period in a striking manner the +antecedent consideration of every step in the gradation of +animals."</p> + +<p>4. The periods into which geology divides the history of the +earth are different from those of Scripture, yet when properly +understood there is a marked correspondence. Geology refers only +to the fifth and sixth days of creation, or, at most, to these +with parts of the fourth and seventh, and it divides this portion +of the work into several eras, founded on alternations +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> +of rock formations and changes in organic remains. The nature of +geological evidence renders it probable that many apparently +well-marked breaks in the chain may result merely from deficiency +in the preserved remains; and consequently that what appear to +the geologist to be very distinct periods may in reality run +together. The only natural divisions that Scripture teaches us to +look for are those between the fifth and sixth days, and those +which within these days mark the introduction of new animal +forms, as, for instance, the great reptiles of the fifth day. We +have already seen that the beginning of the fifth day can be +referred almost with certainty to the Palæozoic period. The +beginning of the sixth day may with nearly equal certainty be +referred to that of the Tertiary era. The introduction of great +reptiles and birds in the fifth day synchronizes and corresponds +with the beginning of the Mesozoic period; and that of man at the +close of the sixth day with the commencement of the Modern era in +geology. These four great coincidences are so much more than we +could have expected, in records so very different in their nature +and origin, that we need not pause to search for others of a more +obscure character. It may be well to introduce here a tabular +view of this correspondence between the geological and Biblical +periods, extending it as far as either record can carry us, and +thus giving a complete general view of the origin and history of +the world as deduced from revelation and science. In comparing +this table with that on page 330, it will be observed that the +latter refers to the last half of the creative week only, the +earlier half being occupied with physical changes which, however +probable inferentially, are not within the scope of geological +observation.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> +PARALLELISM OF THE SCRIPTURAL COSMOGONY WITH THE ASTRONOMICAL AND +GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH.</p> + +<table border="1" summary="PARALLELISM OF THE SCRIPTURAL COSMOGONY WITH THE ASTRONOMICAL AND GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH."> +<tr><td>BIBLICAL ÆONS.</td><td>PERIODS DEDUCED FROM SCIENTIFIC CONSIDERATIONS.</td></tr> +<tr><td>The Beginning.</td><td>Creation of Matter.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>First Day.—</i>Earth mantled by the Vaporous Deep—Production of Light.</td> +<td>Condensation of Planetary Bodies from a nebulous mass—Hypothesis of original incandescence.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>Second Day</i>.—Earth covered by the Waters—Formation of the Atmosphere.</td> +<td>Primitive Universal Ocean, and establishment of Atmospheric equilibrium.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>Third Day</i>.—Emergence of Dry Land—Introduction of Vegetation.</td> +<td>Elevation of the land which furnished the materials of the oldest rocks—Eozoic Period of Geology?</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>Fourth Day</i>.—Completion of the arrangements of the Solar System.</td> +<td>Metamorphism of Eozoic rocks and disturbances preceding the Cambrian epoch—Present arrangement of Seasons—Dominion of "Existing Causes" begins.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>Fifth Day</i>.—Invertebrates and Fishes, and afterward great Reptiles and Birds created.</td> +<td>Palæozoic Period—Reign of Invertebrates and Fishes.<br />Mesozoic Period—Reign of Reptiles.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>Sixth Day</i>.—Introduction of Mammals—Creation of Man and Edenic Group of Animals.</td> +<td>Tertiary Period—Reign of Mammals.<br />Post-Tertiary—Existing Mammals and Man.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>Seventh Day</i>.—Cessation of Work of Creation—Fall and Redemption of Man.</td> +<td>Period of Human History.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><i>Eighth Day</i>.—New Heavens and Earth to succeed the Human Epoch—"The Rest (Sabbath) that remains to the People of God." +<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></td> +<td> </td></tr> + +</table> + + +<p><i>Note</i>.—The above table is identical with that published in +"Archaia" in 1860, and which the author sees no reason now to +change.</p> + + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> +5. In both records the ocean gives birth to the first dry land, +and it is the sea that is first inhabited, yet both lead at least +to the suspicion that a state of igneous fluidity preceded the +primitive universal ocean. In Scripture the original prevalence +of the ocean is distinctly stated, and all geologists are agreed +that in the early fossiliferous periods the sea must have +prevailed much more extensively than at present. Scripture also +expressly states that the waters were the birthplace of the +earliest animals, and geology has as yet discovered in the whole +Silurian series no terrestrial animal, though marine creatures +are extremely abundant; and though air-breathing creatures are +found in the later Palæozoic, they are, with the exception of +insects, of that semi-amphibious character which is proper to +alluvial flats and the deltas of rivers. It is true that the +negative evidence collected by geology does not render it +altogether impossible that terrestrial animals, even mammals, may +have existed in the earliest periods; yet there are, as already +pointed out, some positive indications opposed to this. The +Scripture, however, commits itself to the statement that the +higher land animals did not exist so early, though it must be +observed that there is nothing in the Mosaic narrative adverse to +the existence of birds, insects, and reptiles in the earlier +Palæozoic periods. I have said that the Bible, which informs us +of a universal ocean preceding the existence of land, also gives +indications of a still earlier period of igneous fluidity or +gaseous expansion. Geology also and astronomy have their +reasonings and speculations as to the prevalence of such +conditions. Here, however, both records become dim and obscure, +though it is evident that both point in the same direction, and +combine those aqueous and igneous origins which in the last +century afforded so fertile ground of one-sided dispute.</p> + +<p>6. Both records concur in maintaining what is usually termed the +doctrine of existing causes in geology. Scripture and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> +geology alike show that since the beginning of the fifth day, or +Palæozoic period, the inorganic world has continued under the +dominion of the same causes that now regulate its changes and +processes. The sacred narrative gives no hint of any creative +interposition in this department after the fourth day; and +geology assures us that all the rocks with which it is acquainted +have been produced by the same causes that are now throwing down +detritus in the bottom of the waters, or bringing up volcanic +products from the interior of the earth. This grand +generalization, therefore, first worked out in modern times by +Sir Charles Lyell, from a laborious collection of the changes +occurring in the present state of the world, was, as a doctrine +of divine revelation, announced more than three thousand years +ago by the Hebrew lawgiver; not for scientific purposes, but as a +part of the theology of the Hebrew monotheism.</p> + +<p>7. Both records agree in assuring us that death prevailed in the +world ever since animals were introduced. The punishment +threatened to Adam, and considerations connected with man's state +of innocence, have led to the belief that the Bible teaches that +the lower animals, as well as man, were exempt from death before +the fall. When, however, we find the great <i>tanninim</i>, or +crocodilian reptiles, created in the fifth day, and beasts of +prey on the sixth, we need entertain no doubt on the subject, in +so far as Scripture is concerned. The geological record is +equally explicit. Carnivorous creatures, with the most formidable +powers of destruction, have left their remains in all parts of +the geological series; and indeed, up to the introduction of man, +the carnivorous fishes, reptiles, and quadrupeds were the lords +and tyrants of the earth. There can be little doubt, however, +that the introduction of man was the beginning of a change in +this respect. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> +A creature destitute of offensive weapons, and +subsisting on fruits, was to rule by the power of intellect. As +already hinted, it is probable that in Eden he was surrounded by +a group of inoffensive animals, and that those creatures which he +had cause to dread would have disappeared as he extended his +dominion. In this way the law of violent death and destruction +which prevailed under the dynasties of the fish, the reptile, and +the carnivorous mammifer would ultimately have been abrogated; +and under the milder sway of man life and peace would have +reigned in a manner to which our knowledge of pre-Adamite and +present nature may afford no adequate key. Be this as it may, on +the important point of the original prevalence of death among the +lower animals both records are at one.</p> + +<p>8. In the department of "final causes," as they have been termed, +Scripture and geology unite in affording large and interesting +views. They illustrate the procedure of the All-wise Creator +during a long succession of ages, and thus enable us to see the +effects of any of his laws, not only at one time, but in far +distant periods. To reject the consideration of this peculiarity +of geological science would be the extremest folly, and would +involve at once a misinterpretation of the geologic record and a +denial of the agency of an intelligent Designer as revealed in +Scripture, and indicated by the succession of beings. Many of the +past changes of the earth acquire their full significance only +when taken in connection with the present wants of the earth's +inhabitants; and along the whole course of the geological history +the creatures that we meet with are equally rich in the evidences +of nice adaptation to circumstances and wonderful contrivances +for special ends, with their modern representatives. As an +example of the former, how wonderful is the connection of the +great +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> +vegetable accumulations of the ancient coal swamps, and +the bands and nodules of iron-stone which were separated from the +ferruginous sands or clays in their vicinity by the action of +this very vegetable matter, with the whole fabric of modern +civilization, and especially with the prosperity of that race +which, in our time, stands in the front of the world's progress. +In a very ancient period, wide swamps and deltas, teeming with +vegetable life, and which, if they now existed, would be but +pestilent breeders of miasmata, spread over large tracts of the +northern hemisphere, on which marine animals had previously +accumulated thick sheets of limestone. Vast beds of vegetable +matter were collected by growth in these swamps, and the waste +particles that passed off in the form of organic acids were +employed in concentrating the oxide of iron in underlying clays +and sands. In the lapse of ages the whole of these accumulations +were buried deep in the crust of the earth; and long periods +succeeded, when the earth was tenanted by reptilian and other +creatures, unconscious of the treasures beneath them. The modern +period arrived. The equable climate of the coal era had passed +away. Continents were prepared for the residence of man, and the +edges of the old carboniferous beds were exposed by subterranean +movements, and laid bare by denudation. Man was introduced, fell +from his state of innocence, and was condemned to earn his +subsistence by the sweat of his brow; and now for the first time +appears the use of these buried coal swamps. They now afford at +once the materials of improvement in the arts and of comfortable +subsistence in extreme climates, and subjects of surpassing +interest to the naturalist. Similar instances may be gleaned by +the natural theologian from nearly every part of the geological +history.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> +Lastly. Both records represent man as the last of God's works, +and the culminating-point of the whole creation. We have already +had occasion to refer to this as a result of zoology, geology, +and Scriptural exegesis, and may here confine ourselves to the +moral consequences of this great truth. Man is the capital of the +column; and, if marred and defaced by moral evil, the symmetry of +the whole is to be restored, not by rejecting him altogether, +like the extinct species of the ancient world, and replacing him +by another, but by re-casting him in the image of his Divine +Redeemer. Man, though recently introduced, is to exist eternally. +He is, in one or another state of being, to be witness of all +future changes of the earth. He has before him the option of +being one with his Maker, and sharing in a future glorious and +finally renovated condition of our planet, or of sinking into +endless degradation. Such is the great spiritual drama of man's +fate to be acted out on the theatre of the world. Every human +being must play his part in it, and the present must decide what +that part shall be. The Bible bases these great foreshadowings of +the future on its own peculiar evidence; yet I may venture humbly +to maintain that its harmony with natural science, as far as the +latter can ascend, gives to the Word of God a pre-eminent claim +on the attention of the naturalist. The Bible, unlike every other +system of religious doctrine, fears no investigation or +discussion. It courts these. "While science," says a modern +divine, +<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> +"is fatal to superstition, it is fortification to a +Scriptural faith. The Bible is the bravest of books. Coming from +God, and conscious of nothing but God's truth, it awaits the +progress of knowledge with calm security. It watches the +antiquary ransacking among classic ruins, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +rejoices in every medal he discovers and every inscription he deciphers; for from +that rusty coin or corroded marble it expects nothing but +confirmations of its own veracity. In the unlocking of an +Egyptian hieroglyphic or the unearthing of some implement it +hails the resurrection of so many witnesses; and with sparkling +elation it follows the botanist as he scales Mount Lebanon, or +the zoologist as he makes acquaintance with the beasts of the +Syrian desert; or the traveller as he stumbles on a long-lost +Petra or Nineveh or Babylon. And from the march of time it fears +no evil, but calmly abides the fulfilment of those prophecies and +the forthcoming of those events with whose predicted story +inspiration has already inscribed its page. It is not light but +darkness which the Bible deprecates; and if men of piety were +also men of science, and if men of science were to search the +Scriptures, there would be more faith in the earth, and also more +philosophy."</p> + +<p>The reader has, I trust, found in the preceding pages sufficient +evidence that the Bible has nothing to dread from the revelations +of geology, but much to hope in the way of elucidation of its +meaning and confirmation of its truth. If convinced of this, I +trust that he will allow me now to ask for the warnings, +promises, and predictions of the Book of God his entire +confidence; and, in conclusion, to direct his attention to the +glorious prospects which it holds forth to the human race, and to +every individual of it who, in humility and self-renunciation, +casts himself in faith on that Divine Redeemer who is at once the +creator of the heavens and the earth, and the brother and the +friend of the penitent and the contrite. That same old book, +which carries back our view to those ancient conditions of our +planet which preceded not only the creation of man, but the +earliest periods of which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> +science has cognizance, likewise +carries our minds forward into the farthest depths of futurity, +and shows that all present things must pass away. It reveals to +us a new heaven and a new earth, which are to replace those now +existing; when the Eternal Son of God, the manifestation of the +Father equally in creation and redemption, shall come forth +conquering and to conquer, and shall sweep away into utter +extinction all the blood-stained tyrannies of the present earth, +even as he has swept away the brute dynasties of the pre-Adamite +world, and shall establish a reign of peace, of love, and of +holiness that shall never pass away: when the purified sons of +Adam, rejoicing in immortal youth and happiness, shall be able to +look back with enlarged understandings and grateful hearts on the +whole history of creation and redemption, and shall join their +angelic brethren in the final and more ecstatic repetition of +that hymn of praise with which the heavenly hosts greeted the +birth of our planet. May God in his mercy grant that he who +writes and they who read may "stand in their lot at the end of +the days" and enjoy the full fruition of these glorious +prospects.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size:70%;">A.—TRUE AND FALSE EVOLUTION.</span></h2> + +<p> +The term "evolution" need not in itself be a bugbear on +theological grounds. The Bible writers would, I presume, have no +objection to it if understood to mean the development of the +plans of the Creator in nature. That kind of evolution to which +they would object, and to which enlightened reason also objects, +is the spontaneous evolution of nothing into atoms and force, and +of these into all the wonderful and complicated plan of nature, +without any guiding mind. Farther, biological and palæontological +science, as well as the Bible, object to the derivation of living +things from dead matter by merely natural means, because this can +not be proved to be possible, and to the production of the series +of organic forms found as fossils in the rocks of the earth by +the process of struggle for existence and survival of the +fittest, because this does not suffice to account for the complex +phenomena presented by this succession. With reference to the +testimony of palæontology, I have in other publications developed +this very fully; and would here merely quote the summing up of +the argument, as given in my Address of 1875 before the American +Association for the Advancement of Science:</p> + +<p>"I have thus far said nothing of the bearing of the prevalent +ideas of descent with modification on this wonderful procession +of life. None of these of course can be expected to take us back +to the origin of living beings; but they also +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> +fail to explain why so vast numbers of highly organized species struggle into +existence simultaneously in one age and disappear in another; why +no continuous chain of succession in time can be found gradually +blending species into each other; and why in the natural +succession of things degradation under the influence of external +conditions and final extinction seem to be laws of organic +existence. It is useless here to appeal to the imperfection of +the record or to the movements or migrations of species. The +record is now in many important parts too complete, and the +simultaneousness of the entrance of the faunas and floras too +certainly established, and moving species from place to place +only evades the difficulty. The truth is that such hypotheses are +at present premature, and that we require to have larger +collections of facts. Independently of this, however, it appears +to me that from a philosophical point of view it is extremely +probable that all theories of evolution as at present applied to +life are fundamentally defective in being too partial in their +character; and perhaps I can not better group the remainder of +the facts to which I wish to refer than by using them to +illustrate this feature of most of the later attempts at +generalization on this subject.</p> + +<p>"First, then, these hypotheses are too partial in their tendency +to refer numerous and complex phenomena to one cause, or to a few +causes only, when all trustworthy analogy would indicate that +they must result from many concurrent forces and determinations +of force. We have all no doubt read those ingenious, not to say +amusing, speculations in which some entomologists and botanists +have indulged with reference to the mutual relations of flowers +and haustellate insects. Geologically the facts oblige us to +begin with cryptogamous plants and mandibulate insects, and out +of the desire of insects for non-existent honey, and the +adaptations of plants to the requirements of non-existent +suctorial apparatus, we have to evolve the marvellous complexity +of floral form +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> +and coloring, and the exquisitely delicate +apparatus of the mouths of haustellate insects. Now when it is +borne in mind that this theory implies a mental confusion on our +part precisely similar to that which in the department of +mechanics actuates the seekers for perpetual motion, that we have +not the smallest tittle of evidence that the changes required +have actually occurred in any one case, and that the thousands of +other structures and relations of the plant and the insect have +to be worked out by a series of concurrent evolutions so complex +and absolutely incalculable in the aggregate that the cycles and +epicycles of the Ptolemaic astronomy were child's play in +comparison, we need not wonder that the common-sense of mankind +revolts against such fancies, and that we are accused of +attempting to construct the universe by methods that would baffle +Omnipotence itself, because they are simply absurd. In this +aspect of them indeed such speculations are necessarily futile, +because no mind can grasp all the complexities of even any one +case, and it is useless to follow out an imaginary line of +development which unexplained facts must contradict at every +step. This is also no doubt the reason why all recent attempts at +constructing 'Phylogenies' are so changeable, and why no two +experts can agree about the details of any of them.</p> + +<p>"A second aspect in which such speculations are too partial is in +the unwarranted use which they make of analogy. It is not unusual +to find such analogies as that between the embryonic development +of the individual animal and the succession of animals in +geological time placed on a level with that reasoning from +analogy by which geologists apply modern causes to explain +geological formations. No claim could be more unfounded. When the +geologist studies ancient limestones built up of the remains of +corals, and then applies the phenomena of modern coral reefs to +explain their origin, he brings the latter to bear on the former +by an analogy which includes not merely the apparent results, but +the causes at +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> +work, and the conditions of their action, and it +is on this that the validity of his comparison depends, in so far +as it relates to similarity of mode of formation. But when we +compare the development of an animal from an embryo cell with the +progress of animals in time, though we have a curious analogy as +to the steps of the process, the conditions and causes at work +are known to be altogether dissimilar, and therefore we have no +evidence whatever as to identity of cause, and our reasoning +becomes at once the most transparent of fallacies. Farther, we +have no right here to overlook the fact that the conditions of +the embryo are determined by those of a previous adult, and that +no sooner does this hereditary potentiality produce a new adult +animal than the terrible external agencies of the physical world, +in presence of which all life exists, begin to tell on the +organism, and after a struggle of longer or shorter duration it +succumbs to death, and its substance returns into inorganic +nature—a law from which even the longer life of the species does +not seem to exempt it. All this is so plain and manifest that it +is extraordinary that evolutionists will continue to use such +partial and imperfect arguments. Another example may be taken +from that application of the doctrine of natural selection to +explain the introduction of species in geological time, which is +so elaborately discussed by Sir C. Lyell in the last edition of +his 'Principles of Geology.' The great geologist evidently leans +strongly to the theory, and claims for it the 'highest degree of +probability;' yet he perceives that there is a serious gap in it, +since no modern fact has ever proved the origin of a new species +by modification. Such a gap, if it existed in those grand +analogies by which we explain geological formations through +modern causes, would be admitted to be fatal.</p> + +<p>"A third illustration of the partial character of these +hypotheses may be taken from the use made of the theory deduced +from modern physical discoveries, that life must be merely a +product of the continuous operation of physical laws. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> +assumption, for it is nothing more, that the phenomena of life +are produced merely by some arrangement of physical forces, even +if it be admitted to be true, gives only a partial explanation of +the possible origin of life. It does not account for the fact +that life as a force or combination of forces is set in +antagonism to all other forces. It does not account for the +marvellous connection of life with organization. It does not +account for the determination and arrangement of forces implied +in life. A very simple illustration may make this plain. If the +problem to be solved were the origin of the mariner's compass, +one might assert that it is wholly a physical arrangement both as +to matter and force. Another might assert that it involves mind +and intelligence in addition. In some sense both would be right. +The properties of magnetic force and of iron or steel are purely +physical, and it might even be within the bounds of possibility +that somewhere in the universe a mass of natural loadstone may +have been so balanced as to swing in harmony with the earth's +magnetism. Yet we would surely be regarded as very credulous if +we could be induced to believe that the mariner's compass has +originated in that way. This argument applies with a thousandfold +greater force to the origin of life, which involves even in its +simplest forms so many more adjustments of force and so much more +complex machinery.</p> + +<p>"Fourthly, these hypotheses are partial, inasmuch as they fail to +account for the vastly varied and correlated interdependencies of +natural things and forces, and for the unity of plan which +pervades the whole. These can be explained only by taking into +the account another element from without. Even when it professes +to admit the existence of a God, the evolutionist reasoning of +our day contents itself altogether with the physical or visible +universe, and leaves entirely out of sight the power of the +unseen and spiritual, as if this were something with which +science has nothing to do, but which belongs only to imagination +or sentiment. So much has this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> +been the case, that when recently +a few physicists and naturalists have turned to this aspect of +the case, they have seemed to be teaching new and startling +truths, though only reviving some of the oldest and most +permanent ideas of our race. From the dawn of human thought it +has been the conclusion alike of philosophers, theologians, and +the common-sense of mankind that the seen can be explained only +by reference to the unseen, and that any merely physical theory +of the world is necessarily partial. This, too, is the position +of our sacred Scriptures, and is broadly stated in their opening +verse; and indeed it lies alike at the basis of all true religion +and all sound philosophy, for it must necessarily be that 'the +things that are seen are temporal, the things that are unseen +eternal.' With reference to the primal aggregation of energy in +the visible universe, with reference to the introduction of life, +with reference to the soul of man, with reference to the heavenly +gifts of genius and prophecy, with reference to the introduction +of the Saviour himself into the world, and with reference to the +spiritual gifts and graces of God's people—all these spring not +from sporadic acts of intervention, but from the continuous +action of God and the unseen world, and this we must never forget +is the true ideal of creation in Scripture and in sound theology. +Only in such exceptional and little influential philosophies as +that of Democritus, and in the speculations of a few men carried +off their balance by the brilliant physical discoveries of our +age, has this necessarily partial and imperfect view been +adopted. Never, indeed, was its imperfection more clear than in +the light of modern science.</p> + +<p>"Geology, by tracing back all present things to their origin, was +the first science to establish on a basis of observed facts the +necessity of a beginning and end of the world. But even physical +science now teaches us that the visible world is a vast machine +for the dissipation of energy; that the processes going on in it +must have had a beginning in time, and that all things tend to a +final and helpless equilibrium. This necessity +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> +implies an unseen power, an invisible universe, in which the visible universe must +have originated, and to which its energy is ever returning. The +hiatus between the seen and the unseen may be bridged over by the +conceptions of atomic vortices of force, and by the universal and +continuous ether; but whether or not, it has become clear that +the conception of the unseen as existing has become necessary to +our belief in the possible existence of the physical universe +itself, even without taking life into the account.</p> + +<p>"It is in the domain of life, however, that this necessity +becomes most apparent; and it is in the plant that we first +clearly perceive a visible testimony to that unseen which is the +counterpart of the seen. Life in the plant opposes the outward +rush of force in our system, arrests a part of it on its way, +fixes it as potential energy, and thus, forming a mere eddy, so +to speak, in the process of dissipation of energy, it accumulates +that on which animal life and man himself may subsist, and +asserts for a time supremacy over the seen and temporal on behalf +of the unseen and eternal. I say for a time, because life is, in +the visible universe, as at present constituted, but a temporary +exception, introduced from that unseen world where it is no +longer the exception, but the eternal rule. In a still higher +sense, then, than that in which matter and force testify to a +Creator, organization and life, whether in the plant, the animal, +or man, bear the same testimony, and exist as outposts put forth +in the succession of ages from that higher heaven that surrounds +the visible universe. In them, too, Almighty power is no doubt +conditioned or limited by law, yet they bear more distinctly upon +them the impress of their Maker; and, while all explanations of +the physical universe which refuse to recognize its spiritual and +unseen origin must necessarily be partial and in the end +incomprehensible, this destiny falls more quickly and surely on +the attempt to account for life and its succession on merely +materialistic principles.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> +"Here again, however, I must remind you that creation, as +maintained against such materialistic evolution, whether by +theology, philosophy, or Holy Scripture, is necessarily a +continuous, nay, an eternal influence, not an intervention of +disconnected acts. It is the true continuity, which includes and +binds together all other continuity.</p> + +<p>"It is here that natural science meets with theology, not as an +antagonist, but as a friend and ally in its time of greatest +need; and I must here record my belief that neither men of +science nor theologians have a right to separate what God in Holy +Scripture has joined together, or to build up a wall between +nature and religion, and write upon it 'no thoroughfare.' The +science that does this must be impotent to explain nature, and +without hold on the higher sentiments of man. The theology that +does this must sink into mere superstition.</p> + +<p>"In conclusion, can we formulate a few of the general laws, or +perhaps I had better call them general conclusions, respecting +life, in which all palæontologists may agree? Perhaps it is not +possible to do this at present satisfactorily, but the attempt +may do no harm. We may, then, I think, make the following +affirmations:</p> + +<p>"1. The existence of life and organization on the earth is not +eternal, nor even coeval with the beginning of the physical +universe, but may possibly date from Laurentian or immediately +pre-Laurentian times.</p> + +<p>"2. The introduction of new species of animals and plants has +been a continuous process, not necessarily in the sense of +derivation of one species from another, but in the higher sense +of the continued operation of the cause or causes which +introduced life at first. This, as already stated, I take to be +the true theological or Scriptural as well as scientific idea of +what we ordinarily and somewhat loosely term creation.</p> + +<p>"3. Though thus continuous, the process has not been uniform; but +periods of rapid production of species have alternated +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> +with others in which many disappeared and few were introduced. This +may have been an effect of physical cycles reacting on the +progress of life.</p> + +<p>"4. Species, like individuals, have greater energy and vitality +in their younger stages, and rapidly assume all their varietal +forms, and extend themselves as widely as external circumstances +will permit. Like individuals also, they have their periods of +old age and decay, though the life of some species has been of +enormous duration in comparison with that of others; the +difference appearing to be connected with degrees of adaptation +to different conditions of life.</p> + +<p>"5. Many allied species, constituting groups of animals and +plants, have made their appearance at once in various parts of +the earth, and these groups have obeyed the same laws with the +individual and the species in culminating rapidly, and then +slowly diminishing, though a large group once introduced has +rarely disappeared altogether.</p> + +<p>"6. Groups of species, as genera and orders, do not usually begin +with their highest or lowest forms, but with intermediate and +generalized types, and they show a capacity for both elevation +and degradation in their subsequent history.</p> + +<p>"7. The history of life presents a progress from the lower to the +higher, and from the simpler to the more complex, and from the +more generalized to the more specialized. In this progress new +types are introduced and take the place of the older ones, which +sink to a relatively subordinate place and become thus degraded. +But the physical and organic changes have been so correlated and +adjusted that life has not only always maintained its existence, +but has been enabled to assume more complex forms, and that older +forms have been made to prepare the way for newer, so that there +has been on the whole a steady elevation culminating in man +himself. Elevation and specialization have, however, been secured +at the expense of vital energy and range of adaptation, until +the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> +new element of a rational and inventive nature was +introduced in the case of man.</p> + +<p>"8. In regard to the larger and more distinct types, we can not +find evidence that they have, in their introduction, been +preceded by similar forms connecting them with previous groups; +but there is reason to believe that many supposed representative +species in successive formations are really only races or +varieties.</p> + +<p>"9. In so far as we can trace their history, specific types are +permanent in their characters from their introduction to their +extinction, and their earlier varietal forms are similar to their +later ones.</p> + +<p>"10. Palæontology furnishes no direct evidence, perhaps never can +furnish any, as to the actual transformation of one species into +another, or as to the actual circumstances of creation of a +species, but the drift of its testimony is to show that species +come in <i>per saltum</i>, rather than by any slow and gradual +process.</p> + +<p>"11. The origin and history of life can not, any more than the +origin and determination of matter and force, be explained on +purely material grounds, but involve the consideration of power +referable to the unseen and spiritual world.</p> + +<p>"Different minds may state these principles in different ways, +but I believe that, in so far as palæontology is concerned, in +substance they must hold good, at least as steps to higher +truths."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">B.—EVOLUTION AND CREATION BY LAW.</span></h2> + +<p>Evolutionist writers have a great horror of what they term +"intervention." But they should be informed that the idea of a +planning Creator does not involve intervention in an +extraordinary or miraculous sense, any more than what we call the +ordinary operations of nature. It is a common but childish +prejudice that every discovery of a secondary cause diminishes so +much of what is to be referred to the agency of God. On the +contrary, such discoveries merely aid us in comprehending the +manner of his action. But when evolutionists, in their zeal to +get rid of creative intervention, trace all things to the +interaction of insensate causes, they fall into the absurdity of +believing in absolute unmitigated chance as the cause of perfect +order. Evidences of this may be found by the score in Darwin's +works on the origin of species. I quote, however, from another +and usually clear thinker, Wallace, in a review of the Duke of +Argyll's "Reign of Law," which appeared some years ago, but +represents very well this phase of thought:</p> + +<p>"'It is curious,' says the Duke of Argyll, 'to observe the +language which this most advanced disciple of pure naturalism +[Mr. Darwin] instinctively uses, when he has to describe the +complicated structure of this curious order of plants [the +Orchids]. Caution in ascribing intentions to nature does not seem +to occur to him as possible. Intention is the one thing which he +does see, and which, when he does not see, he seeks for +diligently until he finds it. He exhausts every form of words and +of illustration by which intention or mental purpose can be +described. 'Contrivance'—'curious +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> +contrivance'—'beautiful contrivance'—these are expressions which occur over and over +again. Here is one sentence describing the parts of a particular +species: 'the labellum is developed into a long nectary, <i>in +order</i> to attract lepidoptera, and we shall presently give reason +for suspecting that the nectar is <i>purposely</i> so lodged that it +can be sucked only slowly, <i>in order</i> to give time for the +curious chemical quality of this viscid matter setting hard and +dry.'" Many other examples of similar expressions are quoted by +the duke, who maintains that no explanation of these +"contrivances" has been or can be given, except on the +supposition of a personal contriver, specially arranging the +details of each case, although causing them to be produced by the +ordinary processes of growth and reproduction.</p> + +<p>"Now there is a difficulty in this view of the origin of the +structure of orchids which the duke does not allude to. The +majority of flowering plants are fertilized, either without the +agency of insects, or, when insects are required, without any +very important modification of the structure of the flower. It is +evident, therefore, that flowers might have been formed as +varied, fantastic, and beautiful as the orchids, and yet have +been fertilized by insects in the same manner as violets or +clover or primroses, or a thousand other flowers. The strange +springs and traps and pitfalls found in the flowers of orchids +can not be necessary <i>per se</i>, since exactly the same end is +gained in ten thousand other flowers which do not possess them. +Is it not, then, an extraordinary idea to imagine the Creator of +the universe <i>contriving</i> the various complicated parts of these +flowers as a mechanic might contrive an ingenious toy or a +difficult puzzle? Is it not a more worthy conception that they +are some of the results of those general laws which were so +co-ordinated at the first introduction of life upon the earth as +to result necessarily in the utmost possible development of +varied forms?"</p> + +<p>A moment's thought is sufficient to show that there is no +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> +essential difference between the Creator contriving every detail +of the structure of an orchid and his producing it through some +intermediate cause, or his commanding it into existence by his +almighty word. The same mental process, so to speak, of the +contriver is implied in either case. But there is an immeasurable +difference between any of those ideas and that of the orchid +producing its parts spontaneously under the operation of +insensate physical law, whatever that may be, alone. Again, in +the same review, Wallace writes:</p> + +<p>"The uncertainty of opinion among naturalists as to which are +species and which varieties is one of Mr. Darwin's very strong +arguments that these two names can not belong to things quite +distinct in nature and origin. The reviewer says that this +argument is of no weight, because the works of man present +exactly the same phenomena, and he instances patent inventions, +and the excessive difficulty of determining whether they are new +or old. I accept the analogy, and maintain that it is all in +favor of Mr. Darwin's views; for are not all inventions of the +same kind directly affiliated to a common ancestor. Are not +improved steam-engines or clocks the lineal descendants of some +existing steam-engine or clock? Is there ever a new creation in +art or science any more than in nature? Did ever patentee +absolutely originate any complete and entire invention no portion +of which was derived from any thing that had been made or +described before? It is, therefore, clear that the difficulty of +distinguishing the various classes of inventions which claim to +be new is of the same nature as the difficulty of distinguishing +varieties and species, because neither are absolute new +creations, but both are alike descendants of pre-existing forms, +from which and from each other they differ by varying and often +imperceptible degrees. It appears, then, that however plausible +this writer's objections may seem, whenever he descends from +generalities to any specific statement his supposed difficulties +turn out to be in reality strongly confirmatory of Mr. Darwin's +view."</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> +Now that improved steam-engines are lineal descendants of other +steam-engines is absolute nonsense, in any other aspect than that +the structure of one suggested the structure of another to a +contriving mind. We need not affirm this of God; but we may +affirm that the plans of the creative mind constitute the true +link of connection between the different states and developments +of inorganic and organic objects. This is the real meaning of +creation by law, as distinguished from mere chance on the one +hand, and arbitrary and capricious intervention on the other. +Both of these extremes are equally illogical; and it can not be +too frequently repeated that divine revelation avoids both by +maintaining with equal firmness the agency of the Creator, and +that agency not capricious, but according to plan and purpose; +embracing not merely the action of the divine mind itself, but +under it of all the forces and material things created.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">C.—MODES OF CREATION.</span></h2> + +<p>A question often asked, but not easily answered, with reference +to the creation of animals and plants, is—What was its precise +method, and to what extent is such intervention conceivable. This +is, it is true, not a properly scientific question, since science +can not inform us of the act of creation. Nor is it properly a +theological one, since revelation appeals to our faith in the +facts, without giving us much information as to the mode. It can, +therefore, be answered only conjecturally, except in so far as +the law or plan of creation can be inferred from what is known, +either from science or revelation, as to the history of life.</p> + +<p>We may, in the first place, assume that law or plan must +characterize creation. The Scriptural idea of it is not +reconcilable with the supposition of a series of arbitrary acts +any more than the scientific idea. The nature of these laws, as +disclosed by Palæontology, has been already considered in a +preceding part of this Appendix. What we may conjecture as to the +nature of the creative act itself, from a comparison of nature +and revelation, may be summed up as follows:</p> + +<p>1. If we reduce organized beings to their ultimate +organisms—cells or plastids—and with Spencer and Haeckel +suppose these to be farther divisible into still smaller +particles or plastidules, each composed of several complex +particles of albumen or protoplasm, we may suppose the primary +act of creation to consist in the aggregation of molecules of +albuminous matter into such plastidules bearing the same +relations, as "manufactured articles," to the future cell that +inorganic molecules bear to crystals, and possessing within +themselves +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> +the potencies of organic forms. This is the nearest +approach that we can make to the primary creative act, and its +scientific basis is merely hypothetical, while revelation gives +us no intimation as to any such constitution of organized matter.</p> + +<p>2. The formulæ in Genesis, "Let the land produce," and "Let the +waters produce," imply some sort of mediate creation through the +agency of the land and the waters, but of what sort we have no +means of knowing. They include, however, the idea of the origin +of the lower and humbler forms of life from material pre-existing +in inorganic nature, and also the idea of the previous +preparation of the land and the waters for the sustenance of the +creatures produced.</p> + +<p>3. The expression in the case of man—"out of the dust"—would +seem to intimate that the human body was constituted of merely +elementary matter, without any previous preparation in organic +forms. It may, however, be intended merely to inform us that, +while the spirit is in the image of God, the bodily frame is "of +the earth earthy," and in no respect different in general nature +from that of the inferior animals.</p> + +<p>4. The Bible indicates some ways in which creatures may be +modified or changed into new species, or may give rise to new +forms of life. The human body is, we are told, capable of +transformation into a new or spiritual body, different in many +important respects, and the future general prevalence of this +change is an article of religious faith. The Bible represents the +woman as produced from the man by a species of fission, not known +to us as a natural possibility, except in some of the lower forms +of life. The birth of the Saviour is represented as having been +by parthenogenesis, and if it had pleased God that Jesus was to +remain on earth as the progenitor of a new and higher type of man +to replace that now existing, this might be regarded as the +introduction of a new species. To what extent the Creator may +have so acted on the constitution of organized beings as to +produce changes of this kind we have no means of knowing; but if +he have done so, we +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> +may be sure that it has been in accordance +with some definite plan or law.</p> + +<p>5. We have a right to infer from Scripture that there must be +some creative law which provides for the introduction of species, +<i>de novo</i>, from unorganized matter, and which has been or is +called into action by conditions as yet altogether unknown to us, +and as yet inimitable, and therefore in some sense miraculous. +Whether we shall ever by scientific investigation discover the +law of this kind of divine intervention it is impossible to say. +That all the theories of spontaneous generation and derivation +hitherto promulgated are but wild guesses at it is but too +evident.</p> + +<p>6. Since in inorganic nature we meet with such ultimate facts as +atoms of different kinds and with different properties; and ether +of non-atomic constitution, all of which seem to be necessary to +the existence of the world as it is, we may expect in like manner +to find at the basis of organic structures and phenomena varied +kinds of ultimate organisms and forces, probably much more +complicated than those of inorganic nature. The broad simplicity +of existing theories of derivation and evolution is thus in +itself a presumption against their truth, except as very partial +explanations.</p> + +<p>7. We have no right to consider the species "after their kinds" +of revelation as coincident with the species recognized by +science. Many of these may be merely races, the production of +which in the course of time and in special circumstances may fall +within the powers of created species, and which may merely be the +phases of such species in time and place. Only the accumulation +of vast additional stores of facts can enable us to have any +certain opinion on this point, and till it is settled the +doctrine of derivation must remain purely hypothetical.</p> + +<p>8. The inference of evolutionists that because certain forms of +life succeed each other in geological time, they must have been +derived from each other, has an aspect of truth and simplicity; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> +but the idea of law or plan in creation suggests that the link of +connection may be of a less direct nature than mere descent with +modification. This has been referred to under a previous head.</p> + +<p>9. In the scheme of revelation all the successions and changes of +organized beings, just as much as their introduction at first, +belong to the will and plan of God. Revelation opposes no +obstacle to any scientific investigation of the nature and method +of this plan, nor does it contemplate the idea that any +discoveries of this kind in any way isolate the Creator from his +works. Farther, inasmuch as God is always present in all his +works, one part of his procedure can scarcely be considered an +"intervention" any more than another.</p> + +<p>10. As an illustration of the hypothetical condition of this +subject, and of the views which may be taken as to its details, I +quote from a memoir of my own certain conclusions with reference +to the origin of the species of land plants which are found in +the older geological formations. The conclusions stated are at +the end of a detailed consideration of these plants and the +circumstances of their occurrence:</p> + +<p>"(1.) Some of the forms reckoned as specific in the Devonian and +Carboniferous formations may be really derivative races. There +are indications that such races may have originated in one or +more of the following ways: (<i>a</i>) By a natural tendency in +synthetic types to become specialized in the direction of one or +other of their constituent elements. In this way such plants as +<i>Arthrostigma</i> and <i>Psilophyton</i> may have assumed new varietal +forms. (<i>b</i>) By embryonic retardation or acceleration, +<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> +whereby certain species may have had their maturity advanced or +postponed, thus giving them various grades of perfection in +reproduction and complexity of structure. The fact that so many +Erian and Carboniferous plants seem to be on the confines of the +groups of Acrogens +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> +and Gymnosperms may be supposed favorable to +such exchanges. (<i>c</i>) The contraction and breaking up of floras +which occurred in the Middle Erian and Lower Carboniferous may +have been eminently favorable to the production of such varietal +forms as would result from what has been called the 'struggle for +existence.' (<i>d</i>) The elevation of a great expanse of new land at +the close of the Middle Erian and the beginning of the Coal +period would, by permitting the extension of series over wide +areas and fertile soils, and by removing the pressure previously +existing, be eminently favorable to the production of new, and +especially of improved, varieties.</p> + +<p>"(2.) Whatever importance we may attach to the above supposed +causes of change, we still require to account for the origin of +our specific types. This may forever elude our observation, but +we may at least hope to ascertain the external conditions +favorable to their production. In order to attain even to this it +will be necessary to inquire critically, with reference to every +acknowledged species, what its claims to distinctness are, so +that we may be enabled to distinguish specific types from mere +varieties. Having attained to some certainty in this, we may be +prepared to inquire whether the conditions favorable to the +appearance of new varieties were also those favorable to the +creation of new types, or the reverse—whether these conditions +were those of compression or expansion, or to what extent the +appearance of new types may be independent of any external +conditions, other than those absolutely necessary for their +existence. I am not without hope that the further study of fossil +plants may enable us thus to approach to a comprehension of the +laws of the creation, as distinguished from those of the +continued existence of species.</p> + +<p>"In the present state of our knowledge we have no good ground +either to limit the number of specific types beyond what a fair +study of our material may warrant, or to infer that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> +such primitive types must necessarily have been of low grade, or that +progress in varietal forms has always been upward. The occurrence +of such an advanced and specialized type as that of +<i>Syringoxylon</i> in the Middle Devonian should guard us against +these errors. The creative process may have been applicable to +the highest as well as to the lowest forms, and subsequent +deviations must have included degradation as well as elevation. I +can conceive nothing more unreasonable than the statement +sometimes made that it is illogical or even absurd to suppose +that highly organized beings could have been produced except by +derivation from previously existing organisms. This is begging +the whole question at issue, depriving science of a noble +department of inquiry on which it has as yet barely entered, and +anticipating by unwarranted assertions conclusions which may +perhaps suddenly dawn upon us through the inspiration of some +great intellect, or may for generations to come baffle the united +exertions of all the earnest promoters of natural science. Our +present attitude should not be that of dogmatists, but that of +patient workers content to labor for a harvest of grand +generalizations which may not come till we have passed away, but +which, if we are earnest and true to nature and its Creator, may +reward even some of us." +<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> +</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">D.—PRESENT CONDITION OF THEORIES OF LIFE.</span></h2> + +<p>One of the most learned and ingenious essays on this subject +recently published +<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> +states on its first page that all the +varieties of opinion may be summed up under two heads:</p> + +<p>"1. Those which require the addition to ordinary matter of an +immaterial or spiritual essence, substance, or power, general or +local, whose presence is the efficient cause of life; and,</p> + +<p>"2. Those which attribute the phenomena of life solely to the +mode of combination of the ordinary material elements of which +the organism is composed, without the addition of any such +immaterial essence, power, or force."</p> + +<p>It is quite true that physiologists have up to this time argued +out these two alternatives, and that at present the second is +probably the more prevalent. It is however also true that neither +includes or can possibly include the whole truth, and that +enlightened theism may enable us to hold both, or all that is +true in either. Undoubtedly we must hold that a higher spiritual +power or Creator is necessary to the existence of life; but then +this is necessary also to the existence of dead matter and force. +So that if physiologists think proper to trace the whole +phenomena of life to material causes, they do not on that account +in any way invalidate the evidence for a spiritual Creator, nor +for a spiritual element in the higher nature of man. Yet so +inconceivably shallow is much of the biological reasoning of the +day, that it is quite common to find physiologists referring all +life to spontaneous and uncaused material agencies, because they +have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> +concluded that the arrangements of matter and force are +sufficient to explain it; and, on the other hand, to find +theistic writers accusing physiology of materialism, if it finds +the causes of vital phenomena in material forces, as if God could +be present only in those processes which we can not understand.</p> + +<p>What we really know as to the material basis of life may be +summed up in a few words. Chemically, life is based on compounds +of the albuminous group. These are highly complex in a molecular +point of view, and seem to be formed in nature only where certain +structures, those of the vegetable cell, exist under certain +conditions. These albuminous substances do not necessarily +possess vital properties. They may exist in a dead state just as +other substances. Under certain conditions, however, those of +forming part of a so-called living organism, they present +phenomena of mechanical movement and molecular change, and of +transformation or transmission of force, which enable them to +transform themselves into various kinds of tissues, to nourish +these when formed, and to establish a consensus of action between +different parts of the organism; and these properties are vastly +varied in detail according to the kind of organism in which they +take place, and the conditions under which the organism exists. +The actually living matter presents no distinct structure +recognizable by the microscope, and can not be distinguished +chemically from ordinary albumen or protoplasm; but when living +it must either exist in some peculiar and complex molecular +arrangement unknown as yet to chemistry and physics, or must be +actuated by some force or form of force called vital, and not as +yet isolated or reduced to known laws or correlation. It does not +concern theism or theology which of these may eventually prove to +be the true view, or if it should be found, which is quite +possible, that there is no real difference between them. In any +case it is certain that in the lower animals, and in the merely +physiological properties +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> +of man himself, living matter may act +independently of any higher spiritual nature in the individual, +though of course not independently of the higher power of God, +which gave matter its properties and sustains them in their +action. It is farther certain that in man the spiritual nature +dominates and controls the vital, except when under abnormal +conditions the latter unduly gains the mastery, and quenches +altogether the spirit. In the language of the Bible, the merely +vital endowments of the man belong to the flesh ([Greek: sarx]), +and to the rational mind or soul ([Greek: psychê]). The higher +nature which man derives directly from God is the spirit ([Greek: +pneuma]). Either of these parts of the complex humanity is +capable of life ([Greek: zôê]) and of immortality. Either of them +is capable of being in a state of death, though the import of +this differs in its application to each. In Genesis, the body is +composed of the ordinary earth-materials—the "dust of the +ground." The higher nature is seen in the "shadow and likeness of +God," and in the inbreathing of the Divine Spirit whereby man +became a "living soul" in a higher sense than that in which the +animals possess the ordinary "breath of life." With these views +agree the later doctrines of the Bible as to the "trichotomy" of +"body, soul, and spirit" in man, and of the added influence of +the Spirit of God as acting on humanity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">E.—RECENT FACTS AS TO THE ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF MAN.</span></h2> + +<p>Several recent statements as to new facts supposed to prove a +preglacial antiquity for our species have been promulgated in +scientific journals; but so great doubt rests upon them that they +do not invalidate the statement that the earliest human remains +belong to the postglacial age. I may refer to the following:</p> + +<p>A very remarkable discovery was made in 1875 by Professor +Rutimeyer, of Basle. In a brown coal deposit of Tertiary, or at +least of "interglacial" age—whatever that may mean in +Switzerland—he found some fragments of wood so interlaced as to +resemble wattle or basket-work. Steenstrup has, however, +re-examined the evidence, and adduces strong reasons for the +conclusion that the alleged human workmanship is really that of +beavers.</p> + +<p>The Swedish geologists have shown that there is no properly +Palæolithic age in Scandinavia, and that even the reindeer had +probably disappeared from Denmark and Sweden before their +occupation by man. Some facts, however, seemed to indicate a +residence of man in Sweden before the great post-pliocene +subsidence. One of the most important of these is the celebrated +hut of Sodertelge, referred to in this connection by Lyell. +Recent observations have, however, shown that this hut was really +covered by a landslip, and that its age may not be greater than +eight centuries. Torel has recently explained this in the +Proceedings of the Archæological Congress of Stockholm.</p> + +<p>The human bone found in the Victoria Cave at Settle, apparently +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> +under a patch of boulder-clay, has been regarded as a good +evidence of the preglacial origin of man. It has, however, +always appeared to readers of the description as a very doubtful +case; and Professor Hughes, of Cambridge, has recently expressed +the opinion that the drift covering the bone may be merely a +"pocket" of that material disengaged from a cavity in the +limestone by the wearing of the cliff.</p> + +<p>The same geologist has also shown reason to believe that the +supposed case of the occurrence of palæolithic implements under +boulder-clay near Brandon, discovered by Mr. Skertchley, and +paraded by Geikie as a demonstration of the "interglacial" +antiquity of man, in accordance with his system of successive +glacial periods, is really an error, and has no foundation in the +facts of the case.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pengelly has endeavored to maintain the value of the deposit +of stalagmite as a means of establishing dates, in his "Notes of +Recent Notices of the Geology of Devonshire," Part I., 1874; but, +I confess, with little success. He urges, in opposition to the +Ingleborough Cave, that at Cheddar, where, according to him, no +appreciable deposit whatever is taking place on the existing +stalagmite. But this, of course, is evidence not applicable to +the case in hand, as in the Cheddar case no stalagmite crust +whatever would be produced. There are, no doubt, crevices and +caves in which old stalagmite is even being removed or diminished +in thickness. He farther asserts that in Kent's Cave teeth of the +cave bear and other extinct animals are found covered by not more +than an inch and a half of stalagmite, and consequently that if +this were deposited at the rate of a quarter of an inch per +annum—the supposed rate on the "Jockey Cap" at +Ingleborough—these animals must have lived in Devonshire only +six years ago, which is, of course, absurd. But he fails to +perceive that this mode of occurrence is quite intelligible on +the supposition of a rapid decrease in the amount of deposition +in the later part +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> +of the stalagmite period. He farther refers to +the fact that the thicker masses of stalagmite, which correspond +to the places of more active drip of water, are in the same +position in both crusts of stalagmite. This shows that the +sources of water containing bicarbonate of lime have been the +same from the first; but it proves nothing as to the rate of +deposit.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pengelly's own estimate of the rate of deposit gives, +however, a length of time which is sufficient to show that there +must be error somewhere in his calculations. He states the +aggregate thickness of the two crusts at twelve feet, and then, +assuming a rate of deposit of 0.05 inch in 250 years, or one inch +in 5000 years, he arrives at the conclusion that the whole +deposit required 720,000 years for its formation. He is "willing +to suppose" the mechanical deposits to have accumulated more +rapidly; but allowing one fourth of the time for them, we have +nearly a million of years claimed for the residence of man in +Devonshire, which, independently of other considerations, would +push back the Palæozoic trilobites and corals of that county into +the primitive reign of fire, and which in point of fact amounts +to a <i>reductio ad absurdum</i> of the whole argument.</p> + +<p>Professor Hughes +<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> +refers, as a case of rapid deposition of +matter akin to stalagmite, to the deposit of travertine in the +old Roman aqueduct of the Pont du Gard, near Avignon, where a +thickness of fourteen inches seems to have accumulated in about +800 years. Mr. J. Carey has given in <i>Nature</i>, December 18, 1873, +another instance where a deposit 0.75 inch thick was formed in +fifteen years in a lead mine in Durham. Mr. W. B. Clarke in the +same journal gives a case where in a cave at Brixton, known as +Poole's Hole, a deposit one eighth of an inch in thickness was +formed in six months. Such examples show how unsafe it is to +reason as to the rate of deposit in by-gone times, and when +climatal and local conditions +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> +may have been very different from those at present subsisting.</p> + +<p>In an able address before the biological section of the British +Association in 1876, Wallace adduces the following considerations +as bearing on these questions; and these are well worthy of +attention as showing that it is the necessities of evolution +rather than of geological facts that demand the assumption of a +great antiquity for man, and induce so many writers to accept any +evidence for this, however doubtful: (1) The great cerebral +development of the so-called Palæolithic men, which shows no +indications of graduating into inferior races. (2) The great +variety of the implements of these ancient men, and the +excellence of their carvings on bone and ivory, point to a +similar conclusion. (3) Man is not related to any existing +species of ape, but in various ways to several different species. +(4) There is an accumulation of evidence to show that the +earliest historical races excelled in many processes in the arts +and in many kinds of culture. He instances the wonderful +mechanical and engineering skill evidenced in the pyramids of +Egypt in proof of this. His conclusion is either that the origin +of man by development from apes must be pushed much farther back +than any geologists at present hold, and I may add far beyond any +probable date, or that he must have originated by some "distinct +and higher agency"—which last is no doubt the true conclusion.</p> + +<p>Haeckel, in his recent work, the "History of Creation," sketches +the development of man from a monad, in twenty-two stages; but he +has to admit that stage twenty-first, or that of the "Ape-like +man," nowhere exists, either recent or fossil. He has to assume +that this missing link has perished in the submergence of an +imaginary continent of Lemuria, in the Indian Ocean; and it is +instructive to observe that, after deducting this, his +affiliation of the races of men, as indicated in a map of the +distribution of the species, is in the main very +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> +similar to that with which we are familiar in ordinary collections of maps +illustrative of the Bible.</p> + +<p>The Post-glacial, Palæocosmic, or Palæolithic men of Europe are +not improbably antediluvian; and as to their precise date we know +little. As to postdiluvian man, Canon Rawlinson has recently +pointed out +<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> +the remarkable convergence of all historic dates +toward a time between 2000 to 3000 years B.C., or about the date +of the Biblical deluge, which may reasonably be inferred to have +occurred about 3200 B.C. He gives the following summary of +historical origins as ascertained from the best data, and which +accord with the representation of the Bible that in the time of +Abraham the great monarchies of Egypt and the East were scarcely +more powerful than the nomad tribe led by that patriarch:</p> + +<table summary="historical origins"> +<tr><td>Oldest date of </td><td>Babylon</td><td>2300 B.C.</td></tr> +<tr><td>" "</td><td>Assyria</td><td>1500</td></tr> +<tr><td>" "</td><td>Iran</td><td>1500</td></tr> +<tr><td>" "</td><td>India</td><td>1200</td></tr> +<tr><td>" "</td><td>China</td><td>1154</td></tr> +<tr><td>" "</td><td>Phoenicia</td><td>1700</td></tr> +<tr><td>" "</td><td>Troad</td><td>2000</td></tr> +<tr><td>" "</td><td>Egypt</td><td>2760</td></tr> +<tr><td>Sept. date of </td><td>Deluge</td><td>3200</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>He rejects, of course, the fabulous chronologies of Egypt, China, +and India as mythical, or referring to prehuman and antediluvian +periods. It is to be observed that while these dates place the +origins of the oldest civilized nations at periods considerably +subsequent to the deluge, they do not prevent us from supposing +that these nations commenced their existence wills an advanced +civilization borrowed from antediluvian times, which is indeed a +fair conclusion from the Biblical history, independently of the +monumental evidence referred to by Wallace in a previous +paragraph.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> +The Duke of Argyll, in his excellent little work "Primeval Man," +in which he discusses the arguments in favor of primitive +savagery advanced by Sir J. Lubbock in opposition to the views of +Archbishop Whately in his lecture on the "Origin of +Civilization," shows that there is no necessity to suppose a slow +progress of mankind in the arts extending over indefinite ages; +and his argument in this respect connects itself with the facts +as to the high cerebral organization of Palæocosmic men referred +to above by Wallace. In summing up one division of his argument, +he truly remarks: "If we assume with the supporters of the +savage-theory that man has himself invented all that he now +knows, then the very earliest inventions of our race must have +been the most wonderful of all, and the richest in the fruits +they bore. The man who first discovered the use of fire, and the +use of those grasses which we now know under the name of corn, +were discoverers compared with whom, as regards the value of +their ideas to the world, Faraday and Wheatstone are but the +inventors of ingenious toys. It may possibly be true, as Whately +argues, that man never could have discovered these things without +divine instruction. If so, it is fatal to the savage theory. But +it is equally fatal to that theory if we assume the opposite +position, and suppose that the noblest discoveries ever made by +man were made by him in primeval times."</p> + +<p>I may add that this is true, however far into antiquity we may +stretch back these primeval times.</p> + +<p>Professor E. S. Morse, in his address to the American +Association, in 1876, as vice-president, takes as a theme the +contributions of American zoologists to theories of evolution, +and closes with those which refer to what he modestly terms +"man's lowly origin." These contributions he sums up under three +heads, as bearing on the following points: "1. That in his +earlier stages he reveals certain persistent characters of the +ape; 2. That the more ancient men reveal more ape-like features +than the present existing men; and, 3. That certain +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> +characteristics pertaining to early men still persist in the +inferior races of men." Under the first head he gives +contributions to the well-known fact that embryonic stages of the +human being, like those of other high types, approximate to forms +permanent in lower types. This is a fact inseparable from the law +of reproduction; and as has been already shown in the text, +absolutely without logical significance as even an analogical +argument in favor of evolution. Under the second and third heads, +he refers to cases of exceptional skulls and bones belonging to +idiots and degraded races of men, as showing tendencies to lower +forms, which as a matter of course they do, though with essential +differences still marking them as human; and he assumes without +any proof that these were relatively more common in primitive +times, and that they are cases of reversion to a previous simian +stage, instead of being results of abnormal conditions in the +individual or variety. He sums up these arguments in the +following paragraph:</p> + +<p>"If we take into account the rapidly accumulating data of +European naturalists concerning primitive man, with the mass of +evidence presented in these notes, we find an array of facts +which irresistibly point to a common origin with animals directly +below us, and these evidences are found in the massive skulls +with coarse ridges for muscular attachments, the rounding of the +base of the nostrils, the early ossification of the nasal bones, +the small cranial capacity in certain forms, the prominence of +the frontal crest, the posterior position of the <i>foramen +magnum</i>, the approximation of the temporal ridges, the lateral +flattening of the tibia, the perforation of the humerus, the +tendency of the pelvis to depart from its usual proportions; and, +associated with all these, a rudeness of culture and the evidence +of the manifestation of the coarsest instincts. He must be blind, +indeed, who can not recognize the bearing of such grave and +suggestive modifications."</p> + +<p>Yet Professor Morse knows that there is no true specific or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> +even generic kinship between man and any species of ape; that the +phenomena of idiocy and degeneracy have no real resemblance to +those of distinct specific types; that the resemblances of man to +apes, such as they are, point not in a direct manner to any stock +of apes, but in a desultory way to several; and consequently +that, if derived from any such animals, it must be from some +stock altogether unknown to us as yet, either among recent or +fossil animals. Farther, as Cope, himself an evolutionist, +admits, while we can trace the skeletons of Eocene mammals +through several directions of specialization in succeeding +Tertiary times, man presents the phenomenon of an unspecialized +skeleton which can not fairly be connected with any of these +lines. Lastly, his quotation from Fiske, with reference to the +supposed effect of a protracted infancy to develop the moral +characteristics of man, though accompanied with the usual unfair +and unreasonable sneer (which a naturalist like Morse should have +been ashamed to quote) against men "still capable of believing +that the human race was created by miracle in a single day," is +the feeblest possible attempt to bridge over the gap between the +spiritual nature of man and the merely psychical nature of +brutes.</p> + +<p>It is plain that if American naturalists have done nothing more +in favor of the lowly origin of man than that which Professor +Morse has been able, evidently with much industry and pains, to +gather, we need not for the present abandon our claims to a +higher origin. It is farther significant in connection with this +that Professor Huxley, in his lectures in New York, while resting +his case as to the lower animals mainly on the supposed genealogy +of the horse, which has often been shown to amount to no certain +evidence, +<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> +avoided altogether the discussion of the origin of +man from apes, now obviously complicated with so many +difficulties that both +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> +Wallace and Mivart are staggered by them. +Professor Thomas, in his recent lectures, +<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> +admits that there is no lower man known than the Australian, and that there is no +known link of connection with the monkeys; and Haeckel +<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> +has to admit that the penultimate link in his phylogeny, the ape-like +man, is absolutely unknown.</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIII. I have not touched on the question of the +absolute origin of language—this not being necessary to my +argument. On this interesting subject, however, we have, in the +naming of the animals by the first man, recorded in the second +chapter of Genesis, not only the primary truth of his superiority +to them, but a farther indication that the roots of human speech, +other than interjectional, lie in onomatopoeia, and especially +in the voices of animals, and that the gift of speech was not the +slow growth of ages, but an endowment of man from the first, just +as much as any of his other powers or properties. An interesting +discussion of this subject will be found in the concluding +chapters of Wilson's "Prehistoric Man," second edition. Farther, +the so-called "tallies" found with the bones of Palæocosmic men +in European caves, and illustrated in the admirable work of +Christy and Lartet, show that the rudiments even of writing were +already in possession of the oldest race of men known to +archæology or geology. (See Wilson, <i>op. cit.</i>, vol. ii., p. 54.)</p> + +<p>I have not noticed, except incidentally, the alleged discoveries +of very ancient human remains in America, as they all appear very +problematical. There is, however, some evidence of the +coexistence of man with the mastodon and other postglacial +animals in Illinois and elsewhere.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">F.—BEARING OF GLACIAL PERIODS UPON THE INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS.</span></h2> + +<p>Whatever views may be taken as to that period of cold which +occurs at the close of the Tertiary and beginning of the Modern +period, it can not be held to have constituted any such break as +to be considered, as it was at one time, an equivalent for the +Biblical chaos. This is proved by the survival through this +period of a very large proportion of the animals and plants still +existing in the northern hemisphere. The chronological system of +animals and plants has been continuous, as the Bible represents +it, since their first appearance on earth.</p> + +<p>It is further remarkable that while there is geological evidence +of climates colder than the present in the temperate regions, +there is equally good proof of warmer climates even within the +arctic circle than those of the cold temperate regions at +present. It is difficult to account for these vicissitudes of +climate, and much controversy exists on the subject; but it seems +certain that in the earlier Tertiary and Cretaceous periods, for +example, the supplies of heat and light were so diffused over the +earth as to permit the growth of a temperate vegetation in +Greenland, and even in Spitzbergen. Geologists, however +unwillingly, have been obliged to admit this as one of those +great possibilities, altogether unexpected beforehand, which have +been developed in the history of our planet. Various modes of +explaining this succession of cold and warm periods have been +adopted, all more or less hypothetical. Lyell has argued that it +may be explained by a different distribution of land and water +and of the ocean currents. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> +Croll accounts for it by the varying +eccentricity of the earth's orbit, in connection with the +precession of the equinoxes. Evans by a shifting of the axis of +rotation of the earth. Drayson, Bell, Warring, and others, by a +change in the inclination of the earth's axis. Others by the +secular diminution of the internal heat of the earth, and of that +of the sun. Others by the supposed recurrence of periods in which +the sun gives more or less heat, or in which the earth is passing +through colder or warmer regions of space. As the subject is of +interest with reference to possible correspondences of these +great summers and winters of the earth with the stages of the +creative work, it may be well to notice shortly the relative +merits of these theories.</p> + +<p>(1.) The hypothesis of Croll is one of the most ingenious and +elaborate of the whole; but it has two great defects. One is that +the causes alleged are so uncertain and so complicated that it is +difficult to estimate their real value. Another is that it proves +too much, namely, a regular succession of cold and warm periods +throughout geological time, of which we have no good evidence, +and which is on many grounds improbable.</p> + +<p>(2.) That the earth's axis of rotation has continued unchanged +throughout the whole of the geological ages seems proved by the +fact that the principal lines of crumpling and upheaval from the +Laurentian period downward are arranged in great circles of the +earth tangent to the polar circle; and that the lines of deposit +of sediment in the Palæozoic age are coincident with the present +direction of the arctic currents.</p> + +<p>(3.) Astronomers consider it improbable that the obliquity of the +ecliptic has materially changed, and serious differences of +opinion exist as to the effects which a greater or less obliquity +would produce on climate. It seems certain, however, that a less +obliquity would occasion a more uniform distribution of heat and +light throughout the year; and this, co-operating +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> +with other causes leading to a warm climate, might enable a temperate +vegetation to approach the pole more closely than at present.</p> + +<p>(4.) That the energy of the sun's radiation and the internal heat +of the earth have been slowly decreasing seems certain; but it is +now generally admitted that these changes are so gradual that +little effect can have been produced by them, except in the older +geological periods, and that they can have no connection with the +great glacial period of the Post-pliocene.</p> + +<p>(5.) It is otherwise with the hypothesis that the sun's heat may, +like that of some variable stars, have increased and diminished. +There is, of course, no direct evidence of this, except the small +differences observed in cycles of eleven and fifty-five years +from the greater or less development of sunspots, and the analogy +of observed variable stars. Still it is a possible cause of +variations of climate. It might also aid in accounting for the +extraordinary evidences of desert conditions and desiccation +presented by the salt deposits of different geological periods in +temperate latitudes.</p> + +<p>(6.) The theory of the passage of the earth through zones of +space of variable temperature is now generally abandoned, as +there seems no reason to believe that such differences exist.</p> + +<p>(7.) The theory of Lyell that changes in the distribution of land +and water may, with the possible co-operation of other causes, +have produced the observed diversities of climate, is that which +seems best to meet the conditions presented. It is based on the +known properties of land and water as to the absorption, +radiation, and convection of heat, and on the remarkable +diversities of climate in similar latitudes arising from this +cause at present. Farther, it accords with the known fact that +very great changes of level have occurred in connection with the +glacial period. This theory undoubtedly embraces a true cause, +admitted by all geologists, and it dispenses +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> +with the necessity of believing in the recurrence of glacial periods at regular +intervals. It farther accords best with the evidence afforded by +fossils, and especially by fossil plants. It has also the merit +of directing due attention to the diversities of geographical +conditions at different periods, and of dealing with causes of +change operating within the earth itself. The only doubt with +respect to it is its sufficiency to explain the changes which +have occurred, and the view entertained of this will depend very +much on the interpretation of the facts as to the intensity of +the last glacial period. If moderate views can be taken of this, +and if means can be found, by a less obliquity of the ecliptic or +otherwise, to furnish a continuous supply of light in the arctic +regions, the difficulties which have been alleged against it +would disappear.</p> + +<p>(8.) In connection with former periods of cold and warmth, and +with the existence of temperate and tropical vegetation in polar +latitudes, we should not forget that view which takes into +account the probable effects of different conditions of the +atmosphere, and the greater quantity of carbonic acid present in +it, in early geological periods. This would, of course, best +apply to the palæozoic floras, in so far as our present knowledge +extends; but there may have been similar conditions in later +periods. Dr. Sterry Hunt thus states this hypothesis:</p> + +<p>"The agency of plants in purifying the primitive atmosphere was +long since pointed out by Brongniart, and our great stores of +fossil fuel have been derived from the decomposition, by the +ancient vegetation, of the excess of carbonic acid of the early +atmosphere, which through this agency was exchanged for oxygen +gas. In this connection the vegetation of former periods presents +the curious phenomenon of plants allied to those now growing +beneath the tropics flourishing within the polar circles. Many +ingenious hypotheses have been proposed to account for the warmer +climate of earlier +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> +times, but are at best unsatisfactory, and it +appears to me that the true solution of the problem may be found +in the constitution of the early atmosphere, when considered in +the light of Dr. Tyndall's beautiful researches on radiant heat. +He has found that the presence of a few hundredths of +carbonic-acid gas in the atmosphere, while offering almost no +obstacle to the passage of the solar rays, would suffice to +prevent almost entirely the loss by radiation of obscure heat, so +that the surface of the land beneath such an atmosphere would +become like a vast orchard-house, in which the conditions of +climate necessary to a luxuriant vegetation would be extended +even to the polar regions."</p> + +<p>It is obvious that, in the production of complex effects of this +kind, various causes, whether astronomical or connected with the +mutations of the earth's crust, may have co-operated, and +probably in all extreme cases did co-operate.</p> + +<p>In any case it is evident that the vicissitudes of climate and +the great pulsations of the crust, which have raised and +depressed portions of the surface and changed the position of its +covering of waters, have been potent agents in the hands of the +Creator in effecting the changes and succession of living beings, +which are thus, as Genesis intimates, children of the waters and +of the land, and of the influences of the heavens. It is also +interesting in this connection to observe that the occurrence of +such periods of general warm climate as that in the Miocene shows +that it would have been possible for man, under certain +conditions, to have extended himself far more widely in his +Edenic state than we can conceive of in the present condition of +the earth. The modern world is perhaps even in this way "cursed" +for man's sake</p> + +<p>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">G.—DR. STERRY HUNT ON THE CHEMISTRY OF THE PRIMEVAL EARTH.</span></h2> + +<p>On looking back to the reference to this subject in Chapter V., I +think it may be desirable to present to the reader in some more +definite manner the conditions of a forming world; and I can not +do this in any other way so well as by quoting the words of Dr. +Sterry Hunt, as given in the abstract of his lecture on this +subject delivered before the Royal Institution of London in 1867:</p> + +<p>"This hypothesis of the nature of the sun and of the luminous +process going on at its surface is the one lately put forward by +Faye, and, although it has met with opposition, appears to be +that which accords best with our present knowledge of the +chemical and physical conditions of matter, such as we must +suppose it to exist in the condensing gaseous mass which, +according to the nebular hypothesis, should form the centre of +our solar system. Taking this, as we have already done, for +granted, it matters little whether we imagine the different +planets to have been successively detached as rings during the +rotation of the primal mass, as is generally conceived, or +whether we admit with Chacornac a process of aggregation or +concretion, operating within the primal nebular mass, resulting +in the production of sun and planets. In either case we come to +the conclusion that our earth must at one time have been in an +intensely heated gaseous condition, such as the sun now presents, +self-luminous, and with a process of condensation going on at +first at the surface only, until by cooling it must have reached +the point where the gaseous +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> +centre was exchanged for one of combined and liquefied matter.</p> + +<p>"Here commences the chemistry of the earth, to the discussion of +which the foregoing considerations have been only preliminary. So +long as the gaseous condition of the earth lasted, we may suppose +the whole mass to have been homogeneous; but when the temperature +became so reduced that the existence of chemical compounds at the +centre became possible, those which were most stable at the +elevated temperature then prevailing would be first formed. Thus, +for example, while compounds of oxygen with mercury or even with +hydrogen could not exist, oxides of silicon, aluminium, calcium, +magnesium, and iron might be formed and condense in a liquid form +at the centre of the globe. By progressive cooling, still other +elements would be removed from the gaseous mass, which would form +the atmosphere of the non-gaseous nucleus. We may suppose an +arrangement of the condensed matters at the centre according to +their respective specific gravities, and thus the fact that the +density of the earth as a whole is about twice the mean density +of the matters which form its solid surface may be explained. +Metallic or metalloidal compounds of elements, grouped +differently from any compounds known to us, and far more dense, +may exist in the centre of the earth.</p> + +<p>"The process of combination and cooling having gone on until +those elements which are not volatile in the heat of our ordinary +furnaces were condensed into a liquid form, we may here inquire +what would be the result, upon the mass, of a further reduction +of temperature. It is generally assumed that in the cooling of a +liquid globe of mineral matter, congelation would commence at the +surface, as in the case of water; but water offers an exception +to most other liquids, inasmuch as it is denser in the liquid +than in the solid form. Hence ice floats on water, and freezing +water becomes covered with a layer of ice, which protects the +liquid below. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> +With most other matters, however, and notably with +the various mineral and earthy compounds analogous to those which +may be supposed to have formed the fiery-fluid earth, numerous +and careful experiments show that the products of solidification +are much denser than the liquid mass; so that solidification +would have commenced at the centre, whose temperature would thus +be the congealing point of these liquid compounds. The important +researches of Hopkins and Fairbairn on the influence of pressure +in augmenting the melting-point of such compounds as contract in +solidifying are to be considered in this connection.</p> + +<p>"It is with the superficial portions of the fused mineral mass of +the globe that we have now to do; since there is no good reason +for supposing that the deeply seated portions have intervened in +any direct manner in the production of the rocks which form the +superficial crust. This, at the time of its first solidification, +presented probably an irregular, diversified surface from the +result of contraction of the congealing mass, which at last +formed a liquid bath of no great depth surrounding the solid +nucleus. It is to the composition of this crust that we must +direct our attention, since therein would be found all the +elements (with the exception of such as were still in the gaseous +form) now met with in the known rocks of the earth. This crust is +now everywhere buried beneath its own ruins, and we can only from +chemical considerations attempt to reconstruct it. If we consider +the conditions through which it has passed, and the chemical +affinities which must have come into play, we shall see that +these are just what would now result if the solid land, sea, and +air were made to react upon each other under the influence of +intense heat. To the chemist it is at once evident that from this +would result the conversion of all carbonates, chlorides, and +sulphates into silicates, and the separation of the carbon, +chlorine, and sulphur in the form of acid gases, which, with +nitrogen, watery vapor, and a probable excess of oxygen, would +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> +form the dense primeval atmosphere. The resulting fused mass +would contain all the bases as silicates, and must have much +resembled in composition certain furnace-slags or volcanic +glasses. The atmosphere, charged with acid gases, which +surrounded this primitive rock must have been of immense density. +Under the pressure of such a high barometric column, condensation +would take place at a temperature much above the present +boiling-point of water, and the depressed portions of the +half-cooled crust would be flooded with a highly heated solution +of hydrochloric acid, whose action in decomposing the silicates +is easily intelligible to the chemist. The formation of chlorides +of the various bases, and the separation of silica, would go on +until the affinities of the acid were satisfied, and there would +be a separation of silica, taking the form of quartz, and the +production of a sea-water holding in solution, besides the +chlorides of sodium, calcium, and magnesium, salts of aluminium +and other metallic bases. The atmosphere, being thus deprived of +its volatile chlorine and sulphur compounds, would approximate to +that of our own time, but differ in its greater amount of +carbonic acid.</p> + +<p>"We next enter into the second phase in the action of the +atmosphere upon the earth's crust. This, unlike the first, which +was subaqueous, or operative only on the portion covered with the +precipitated water, is sub-aerial, and consists in the +decomposition of the exposed parts of the primitive crust under +the influence of the carbonic acid and moisture of the air, which +convert the complex silicates of the crust into a silicate of +alumina, or clay, while the separated lime, magnesia, and +alkalies, being converted into carbonates, are carried down into +the sea in a state of solution.</p> + +<p>"The first effect of these dissolved carbonates would be to +precipitate the dissolved alumina and the heavy metals, after +which would result a decomposition of the chloride of calcium of +the sea-water, resulting in the production of carbonate of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> +lime or limestone, and chloride of sodium or common salt. This process +is one still going on at the earth's surface, slowly breaking +down and destroying the hardest rocks, and, aided by mechanical +processes, transforming them into clays; although the action, +from the comparative rarity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, +is less energetic than in earlier times, when the abundance of +this gas, and a higher temperature, favored the chemical +decomposition of the rocks. But now, as then, every clod of clay +formed from the decay of a crystalline rock corresponded to an +equivalent of carbonic acid abstracted from the atmosphere, and +equivalents of carbonate of lime and common salt formed from the +chloride of calcium of the sea-water." +<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> +</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">H.—TANNIN AND BHEMAH.</span></h2> + +<p>The following synopsis of the instances of the occurrence of the +words <i>tannin</i> and <i>tan</i> will serve to show the propriety of the +meaning, "great reptiles," assigned in the text to the former, as +well as to illustrate the utility in such cases of "comparing +Scripture with Scripture:"</p> + +<table style="font-size:90%;margin-right: 15%;" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="2">1. TANNIN.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Exod. vii., 9.—Take thy rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a <i>serpent</i>.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Probably a serpent, though perhaps a crocodile. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Deut. xxxii., 33.—Their vine is the poison of <i>dragons</i>.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Probably a species of serpent. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Job vii., 12.—Am I a sea, or a <i>whale</i>, that thou settest a watch over me.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Michaelis and others think, probably correctly, that the Nile and the crocodile, both objects of vigilance to the Egyptians, are intended. (Septuagint, "[Greek:drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Psa. lxxiv., 14.—Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength. Thou breakest the heads of the <i>dragons</i> in the waters.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Evidently refers to the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, under emblem of the crocodile. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Psa. xci., 13.—The young lion and the <i>dragon</i> thou shalt trample under foot.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">The association shows that a powerful carnivorous animal is meant. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Psa. cxlviii., 7.—Praise the Lord, ye <i>dragons</i> and all deeps.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Evidently an aquatic creature. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Isa. xxvii., 1.—He shall slay the <i>dragon</i> in the midst of the sea [river].</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">A large predaceous aquatic animal (the crocodile), used here as an emblem of Egypt. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Isa. li., 9.—Hath cut Rahab and wounded the <i>dragon</i>.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Same as above.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Jer. li., 34.—[Nebuchadnezzar] hath swallowed me up as a <i>dragon</i>.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">A large predaceous animal. (Septuagint, [Greek: "drakôn."])</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Ezek. xxix., 3.—Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great <i>dragon</i> that lieth in the rivers.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">In the Hebrew <i>tanim</i> appears by mistake for <i>tannin</i>. This is clearly the crocodile of the Nile. +Verses 4 and 5 show that it is a large aquatic animal with <i>scales</i>. (Septuagint, [Greek: "drakôn."])</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span></p> + + +<table style="font-size:90%;margin-right: 15%;" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan="2">2. TAN.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Psa. xliv., 19.—Thou hast sore broken us in the place of <i>dragons</i>.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Some understand this of shipwreck; but, more probably, the place of dragons is the desert. (Septuagint, [Greek: "kakôsis."])</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Isa. xxxiv., 13.—[Bozrah in Idumea] shall be a habitation of <i>dragons</i> and a court of owls [or ostriches].</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">An animal inhabiting ruins, and associated with the ostrich. (Septuagint, [Greek: "seirên."])</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Isa. xliii., 20.—The wild beasts shall honor me, the <i>dragons</i> and the ostriches, because I give water in the wilderness. </td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Evidently an animal of the dry deserts. (Septuagint, [Greek: "seirên."])</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Isa. xiii., 22.—Dragons in their pleasant palaces.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Represented as inhabiting the ruins of Babylon, and associated with wild beasts of the desert. (Septuagint, [Greek: "xchinos."])</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Isa. xxxv., 7.—And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of <i>dragons</i>, +where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">An animal making its lair or nest in dry, parched places. (Septuagint, [Greek: "hornis."])</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Job xxx., 29.—I am a brother of <i>dragons</i> and a companion of ostriches. </td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">The association indicates an animal of the desert, and the context that its cry is mournful. +(Septuagint, [Greek: "seirên."])</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Jer. ix., 11; x., 22.—I will make Jerusalem heaps, a den of <i>dragons</i>.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">Same as above. See also Jeremiah xlix., 33; li., 37; and Mal. i., 3, where the word is in the +female form (<i>tanoth</i>). (Septuagint, [Greek: "drakôn"] and [Greek: "strouthos."])</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Lam. iv., 3.—Even the <i>sea-monsters</i> draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones. +The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">In the Hebrew text the word is <i>tannin</i>, evidently an error for <i>tanim</i>. +The suckling of young, and association of ostriches, agree with this. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-right:1%;vertical-align:top;">Micah i., 8.—I will make a wailing like the <i>dragons</i>, and mourning like the owls [ostriches].</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top;">The wailing cry accords with the view of Gesenius that the jackal is meant. (Septuagint, "[Greek: drakôn].")</td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span></p> +<p>We learn from the above comparative view that the <i>tannin</i> is an +aquatic animal of large size, and predaceous, clothed with +scales, and a fit emblem of the monarchies of Egypt and Assyria. +In two places it is possible that some species of serpent is +denoted by it. We must suppose, therefore, that in Genesis i. it +denotes large crocodilian and perhaps serpentiform reptiles. The +<i>tan</i> is evidently a small mammal of the desert.</p> + +<p>I omitted to notice in the text a criticism of my explanation of +the word <i>bhemah</i> in "Archaia," made in Archdeacon Pratt's +"Scripture and Science not at Variance" (edition of 1872). He +opposes to the meaning of "herbivorous animals" which I have +sought to establish, two exceptional passages. In one of these, +Deut. xxviii., 26, the word is used in its most general sense for +all beasts, which the context shows can not be its meaning in +Gen. i. In the other, Prov. xxx., 30, he says it is applied to +the lion. The actual expression used, however, merely implies +that the lion is "mighty among <i>bhemah</i>," the comparison being +probably between the strength of the lion and that of oxen, +antelopes, and other strong and active creatures. It does not +affirm that the lion is one of the <i>bhemah</i>. While I have every +respect for the erudition of Archdeacon Pratt, and highly value +his book, I must regard this objection as an example of a style +of biblical exposition much to be deprecated, though too often +employed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">I.—ANCIENT MYTHOLOGIES.</span></h2> + +<p>The current views respecting the relations of ancient mythologies +with each other and with the Bible have been continually shifting +and oscillating between extremes. The latest and at present most +popular of these extreme views is that so well expounded by Dr. +Max Müller in his various essays on these subjects, and which +traces at least the Indo-European theogony to a mere +personification of natural objects. The views given in the text +are those which to the author appear alone compatible with the +Bible, and with the relations of Semitic and Aryan theology; but, +as the subject is generally regarded from a quite different point +of view, a little further explanation may be necessary.</p> + +<p>1. According to the Bible, spiritual monotheism is the primitive +faith of man, and with this it ranks the doctrine of a malignant +spirit or being opposed to God, and of a primitive state of +perfection and happiness. It is scarcely necessary to say that +these doctrines may be found as sub-strata in all the ancient +theologies.</p> + +<p>2. In the Hebrew theology the fall introduces the new doctrine of +a mediator or deliverer, human and divine, and an external +symbolism, that of the cherubic forms, composite figures made up +of parts of the man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle. These forms +are referred back to Eden, where they are manifestly the emblems +of the perfections of the Deity, lost to man by the fall, and now +opposed to his entrance into Eden and access to the tree of life, +the symbol of his immortal happiness. Subsequently the cherubim +are the visible indications of the presence of God in the +tabernacle and temple; and in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> +the Apocalypse they reappear as +emblems of the Divine perfections, as reflected in the character +of man redeemed. The cherubim, as guardians of the sacred tree, +and of sacred places in general, appear in the worship of the +Assyrians and Egyptians, as the winged lions and bulls of the +former, and the sphinx of the latter. They can also be recognized +in the sepulchral monuments of Greek Asia and of Etruria. +Farther, it was evidently an easy step to proceed from these +cherubic figures to the adoration of sacred animals. But the +cherubic emblems were connected with the idea of a coming +Redeemer, and this was with equal ease perverted into +hero-worship. Every great conqueror, inventor, or reformer was +thus recognized as in some sense the "coming man," just as Eve +supposed she saw him in her first-born. In addition to this, the +sacredness of the first mother as the mother of the promised seed +of the woman, led to the introduction of female deities.</p> + +<p>3. The earliest ecclesiastical system was the patriarchal, and +this also admitted of corruption into idolatry. The great +patriarch, venerable by age and wisdom, when he left this earth +for the spirit world, was supposed there, in the presence of God, +to be the special guardian of his children on earth. Some of the +gods of Egypt and of Greece were obviously of this character, and +in China and Polynesia we see at this day this kind of idolatry +in a condition of active vitality.</p> + +<p>4. As stated in the text, the mythology of Egypt and Greece bears +evident marks of having personified certain cosmological facts +akin to those of the Hebrew narrative of creation. In this way +ancient idolators disposed of the prehistoric and pre-Adamite +world, changing it into a period of gods and demigods. This is +very apparent in the remarkable Assyrian Genesis recovered by the +late George Smith from the clay tablets found in the ruined +palace of Assurbanipal.</p> + +<p>5. In all rude and imaginative nations, which have lost the +distinct idea of the one God, the Creator, nature becomes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span> +more or less a source of superstitions. Its grand and more rare +phenomena of volcanoes, earthquakes, thunder-storms, eclipses, +become supernatural portents; and as the idea of power associates +itself with them, they are personified as actual agents and +become gods. In like manner, the more constant and useful objects +and processes of nature become personified as beneficent deities. +This may be, to a great extent, the character of the Aryan +theology; but, except where all ideas of primitive religion and +traditions of early history have been lost, it can not be the +whole of the religion of any people. The Bible negatively +recognizes this source of idolatry, in so constantly referring +all natural phenomena to the divine decree. In connection with +this, it is worthy of remark that rude man tends to venerate the +new animal forms of strange lands. Something of this kind has +probably led some of the American Indians to give a sort of +divine honor to the bear. It was in Egypt that man first became +familiar with the strange and gigantic fauna of Africa, whose +effect on his mind in primitive times we may gather from the book +of Job. In Egypt, consequently, there must have been a strong +natural tendency to the adoration of animals.</p> + +<p>The above origins of idolatry and mythology, as stated or implied +in the Bible, of course assume that the Semitic monotheistic +religion is the primitive one. The first deviations from it +probably originated in the family of Ham. A city of the Rephaim +of Bashan was in the days of Abraham named after Ashtoreth +Karnaim—the two-horned Astarte, a female divinity and prototype +of Diana, and perhaps an historic personage, in whom both the +moon and the domestic ox were rendered objects of worship. This +is the earliest Bible notice of idolatry. +<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> +In Egypt a mythology of complex diversity existed at least as far back. We +must remember, however, that Egypt is Cush as well as Mizraim, +and its idolatry is probably +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> +to be traced, in the first instance, to the Nimrodic empire, from which, as from a common +centre, certain new and irreligious ideas seem to have been +propagated among all the branches of the human family. It is +quite probable that the correspondences between Egyptian, Greek, +and Hindoo myths go back as far as to the time when the first +despotism was erected on the plain of Shinar, and when able but +ungodly men set themselves to erect new political and social +institutions on the ruins of all that their fathers had held +sacred. In addition to this, the mythology and language of the +Aryans alike bear the impress of the innovating and restless +spirit of the sons of Japhet.</p> + +<p>I have stated the above propositions to show that the Bible +affords a rational and connected theory of the origin of the +false religions of antiquity; and to suggest as inquiries in +relation to every form of mythology—how much of it is primitive +monotheism, how much cherub-worship, how much hero-worship, how +much ancestor-worship, how much distorted cosmogony, how much +pure idealism and superstition, since all these are usually +present. I may be allowed further to remind the reader how much +evidence we have, even in modern times, of the strong tendency of +the human mind to fall into one or another of these forms of +idolatry; and to ask him to reflect that really the only +effectual conservative element is that of revelation. How strong +an argument is this for the necessity to man of an inspired rule +of religious faith.</p> + +<p>[The above note was in substance contained in the Appendix to +"Archaia" in 1860, and its correctness has, I think, been +confirmed by subsequent discoveries.</p> + +<p>]<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">K.—ASSYRIAN AND EGYPTIAN TEXTS.</span></h2> + +<p>Progress is continually being made in the decipherment and +publication of these, and new facts are coming to light in +consequence as to the religions of the early postdiluvian period.</p> + +<p>According to the late George Smith and to Mr. Sayce, in their +contributions to Bagster's "Records of the Past," the earliest +monumental history of Babylonia reveals two races, the Akkadian +or Urdu, a Turanian race, with an agglutinate language of the +Finnish or Tartar type, and the Sumir or Keen-gi, believed to be +Shemitic. The race of Akkad seems to have invented the cuneiform +writing at a very early period, and it no doubt represents the +primitive Cushites of the Bible, to whom is attributed the empire +of Nimrod, whose first cities were Babel and Erech and Akkad and +Calneh. Very ancient inscriptions of this early Chaldean or +Cushite race exist, probably earlier than the time of Abraham. +That of king Urukh, who is called "a very ancient king," on an +inscription of Nabonadius, 555 B.C., represents himself as +building temples to several gods and goddesses, so that in his +time there was already a developed polytheism, unless, indeed, he +was himself the inventor or introducer of much of it. Yet one can +gather from the probably contemporary Creation and Deluge tablets +translated by Mr. Smith, that a Supreme God was still recognized, +and that the subordinate deities, though their worship was +probably gaining in importance, were still only local and created +beings. Yet it was undoubtedly from this embryo idolatry that +Abraham dissented, and was thus led to leave his native land.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span> +In like manner, in the early Egyptian Hymn to Amen Ra, translated +by Mr. Goodwin, though we have the gods mentioned, they are +inferior beings, and not higher in position than the angels of +the Old Testament, while Ra himself is "Lord of Eternity, Maker +Everlasting," and is praised as</p> + +<p style="font-size:90%;margin-left:30%;">"Chief creator of the whole earth,<br /> +Supporter of affairs above every god,<br /> +In whose goodness the gods rejoice."</p> + +<p>Thus, although there can be little doubt that Ra was a sun-god, +there can be as little that he is the Il or El of the Shemitic +peoples, and that his worship represents that of the one God, the +Creator. It seems probable also that there was an esoteric +doctrine of this kind among the priests and the educated, however +gross the polytheism of the vulgar. In short, the state of things +in Assyria and Egypt was not dissimilar from that prevailing at +this day in India, where learned men may fall back upon the +ancient Vedas, and maintain that their religion is monotheistic, +while the common people worship innumerable gods. All this points +to a primitive monotheism, just as the peculiar forms of +adoration given to saints and the Virgin Mary in the Greek and +Roman churches historically imply a primitive Christianity on +which these newer beliefs and rites have been engrafted.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span></p> +<h2><span style="font-size:70%;">L.—SPECIES AND VARIETAL FORMS WITH REFERENCE TO THE UNITY OF +MAN.</span></h2> + +<p>In the concluding chapters of "Archaia" the nature of species, as +distinguished from varieties, was discussed, and specially +applied to the varieties and races of man. This discussion has +been omitted from the text of the present work; but, in an +abridged form, is introduced here, with especial reference to +those more recent views of this subject now prevalent in +consequence of the growth of the philosophy of evolution; but +which I feel convinced must, with the progress of science, return +nearer to the opinions held by me in 1860, and summarized below.</p> + +<p>We can determine species only by the comparison of individuals. +If all these agree in all their characters except those +appertaining to sex, age, and other conditions of the individual +merely, we say that they belong to the same species. If all +species were invariable to this extent, there could be no +practical difficulty, except that of obtaining specimens for +comparison. But in the case of very many species there are minor +differences, not sufficient to establish specific diversity, but +to suggest its possibility; and in such cases there is often +great liability to error. In cases of this kind we have +principally two criteria: first, the nature and amount of the +differences; secondly, their shading gradually into each other, +or the contrary. Under the first of these we inquire—Are they no +greater in amount than those which may be observed in individuals +of the same parentage? Are they no greater than those which occur +in other species of similar structure or habits? +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span> +Do they occur in points known in other species to be readily variable, or in +points that usually remain unchanged? Are none of them constant +in the one supposed species, and constantly absent in the other? +Under the second we ask—Are the individuals presenting these +differences connected together by others showing a series of +gradations uniting the extremes by minute degrees of difference? +If we can answer these questions—or such of them as we have the +means of answering—in the affirmative, we have no hesitation in +referring all to the same species. If obliged to answer all or +many in the negative, we must at least hesitate in the +identification; and if the material is abundant, and the +distinguishing characters clear and well defined, we conclude +that there is a specific difference.</p> + +<p>Species determined in this way must possess certain general +properties in common:</p> + +<p>1. Their individuals must fall within a certain range of uniform +characters, wider or narrower in the case of different species.</p> + +<p>2. The intervals between species must be distinctly marked, and +not slurred over by intermediate gradations.</p> + +<p>3. The specific characters must be invariably transmitted from +generation to generation, so that they remain equally distinct in +their limits if traced backward or forward in time, in so far as +our observation may extend.</p> + +<p>4. Within the limits of the species there is more or less +liability to variation; and this, though perhaps developed by +external circumstances, is really inherent in the species, and +must necessarily form a part of its proper description.</p> + +<p>5. There is also a physiological distinction between species, +namely, that the individuals are sterile with one another, +whereas this does not apply to varieties; and though Darwin has +labored to break down this distinction by insisting on rare +exceptional cases, and suggesting many supposed ways by which +varieties of the same species might possibly attain to this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> +kind of distinctness, the difference still remains as a fact in +nature; though one not readily available in practically +distinguishing species.</p> + +<p>These general properties of species will, I think, be admitted by +all naturalists as based on nature, and absolutely necessary to +the existence of natural history as a science, independently of +any hypotheses as to the possible changes of specific forms in +the lapse of time. I now proceed to give a similar summary of the +laws of the varieties which may exist—always be it observed, +within the limits of the species.</p> + +<p>1. The limits of variation are very different in different +species. There are many in which no well-marked variations have +been observed. There are others in which the variations are so +marked that they have been divided, even by skilful naturalists, +into distinct species or even genera. I do not here refer to +differences of age and sex. These in many animals are so great +that nothing but actual knowledge of the relation that subsists +would prevent the individuals from being entirely separated from +one another. I refer merely to the varieties that exist in adults +of the same sex, including, however, those that depend on arrest +of development, and thus make the adult of one variety resemble +in some respects the young of another; as, for instance, in the +hornless oxen, and beardless individuals among men. If we inquire +as to the causes on which the greater or less disposition to vary +depends, we must, in the first place, confess our ignorance, by +saying that it appears to be in a great measure constitutional, +or dependent on minute and as yet not distinctly appreciable +structural, physiological, and psychical characters. Darwin +states that Pallas long ago suggested, from the known facts that +the seeds of hybrid plants and grafted trees are very variable, +the theory that mixture of breeds tends to produce variability; +but Darwin does not seem to attach much importance to this, and +admits our inability to explain the origin of these +differences. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> +<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> +We know, however, certain properties of +species that are always or usually connected with great liability +to variation. The principal of these are the following: 1. The +liability to vary is, in many cases, not merely a specific +peculiarity; it is often general in the members of a genus or +family. Thus the cats, as a family, are little prone to vary; the +wolves and foxes very much so. 2. Species that are very widely +distributed over the earth's surface are usually very variable. +In this case the capacity to vary probably adapts the creature to +a great variety of circumstances, and so enables it to be widely +distributed. It must be observed here that hardiness and +variability of constitution are more important to extensive +distribution than mere locomotive powers, for matters have +evidently been so arranged in nature that, where the habitat is +suitable, colonists will find their way to it, even in the face +of difficulties almost insurmountable. 3. Constitutional +liability to vary is sometimes connected with or dependent on +extreme simplicity of structure, in other cases on a high degree +of intelligence and consequent adaptation to various modes of +subsistence. Those minute, simply organized, and very variable +creatures, the Foraminifera, exemplify the first of these +apparent causes; the crafty wolves furnish examples of the +second. 4. Susceptibility to variation is farther modified by the +greater or less adaptability of the digestive and locomotive +organs to varied kinds of food and habitat. The monkeys, +intelligent, imitative, and active, are nevertheless very limited +in range and variability, because they can comfortably subsist +only in forests, and in the warmer regions of the earth. The hog, +more sluggish and less intelligent, has an omnivorous appetite, +and no very special requirements of habitat, and so can vary +greatly and extend over a large portion of the earth. Farther, in +connection with this subject it may be observed that the +conditions favorable to variation are also in the case +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> +of the higher animals favorable to domestication, while it may also be +affirmed that, other things being equal, animals in a +domesticated state are much more liable to vary than those in a +wild state, and this independent of intentional selection. Darwin +admits this, and gives many examples of it.</p> + +<p>2. Varieties may originate in two different ways. In the case of +wild animals it is generally supposed that they are gradually +induced by the slow operation of external influences; but it is +certain that in domesticated animals they often appear suddenly +and unexpectedly, and are not on that account at all less +permanent. A large proportion of our breeds of domestic animals +appear to originate in this way. A very remarkable instance is +that of the "Niata" cattle of the Banda Orientale, described by +Darwin in his "Voyage of a Naturalist." These cattle are believed +to have originated about a century ago among the Indians to the +south of the La Plata, and the breed propagates itself with great +constancy. "They appear," says Darwin, "externally to hold nearly +the same relation to other cattle which bull-dogs hold to other +dogs. Their forehead is very short and broad, with the nasal end +turned up, and the upper lip much drawn back; their lower jaws +project outward; when walking they carry their heads low on a +short neck, and their hinder legs are rather longer compared with +the front legs than is usual." It is farther remarkable in +respect to this breed that it is, from its conformation of head, +less adapted to the severe droughts of those regions than the +ordinary cattle, and can not, therefore, be regarded as an +adaptation to circumstances. In his later work on animals under +domestication, Darwin gives many other instances of the +origination of breeds of cattle and other animals in this abrupt +and mysterious manner, and without any selection, though he +strongly leans to the conclusion that slow and gradual changes +are the most frequent causes of variation. It is to be observed, +however, that very slow changes are in more danger of being +accidentally diverted or obliterated by +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> +crossing, and that the first stages of an incipient change may be too unimportant to be +permanent.</p> + +<p>Many writers on the subject of the Unity of Man assume that any +marked variety must require a long time for its production. Our +experience in the case of the domestic animals teaches the +reverse of this view; a very important point too often +overlooked.</p> + +<p>3. The duration or permanence of varieties is very different. +Some return at once to the normal type when the causes of change +are removed. Others perpetuate themselves nearly as invariably as +species, and are named races. It is these races only that we are +likely to mistake for true species, since here we have that +permanent reproduction which is one of the characteristics of the +species. The race, however, wants the other characteristics of +species as above stated; and it differs essentially in having +branched from a primitive species, and in not having an +independent origin. It is quite evident that in the absence of +historical evidence we must be very likely to err by supposing +races to have really originated in distinct "primordial forms." +Such error is especially likely to arise if we overlook the fact +of the sudden origination of such races, and their great +permanency if kept distinct. There are two facts which deserve +especial notice, as removing some of the difficulty in such +cases. One is that well-marked races usually originate only in +domesticated animals, or in wild animals which, owing to +accidental circumstances, are placed in abnormal circumstances. +Another is, that there always remains a tendency to return, in +favorable circumstances, to the original type. This tendency to +reversion is much underrated by Darwin and his followers; yet +they constantly recur to it as a means of proving possible +derivation, and their writings abound in examples of it. Perhaps +the most remarkable of these reversions are those which occur +when varieties destitute of all the markings of the original +stock are crossed and reproduce +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span> +those markings, which Darwin +shows to occur in pigeons and domestic fowls. The domesticated +races usually require a certain amount of care to preserve them +in a state of purity, both on this account and on account of the +readiness with which they intermix with other varieties of the +same species. Many very interesting facts in illustration of +these points might be adduced. The domesticated hog differs in +many important characters from the wild boar. In South America +and the West Indies it has returned, in three centuries or less, +to its original form. +<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> +The horse is probably not known in a state originally wild, but it has run wild in America and in +Siberia. In the prairies of North America, according to +Catlin +<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> +they still show great varieties of color. The same is +the case in Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia +<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> +where herds of wild horses have existed since an early period in the +settlement of America. In South America and Siberia they have +assumed a uniform chestnut or bay color. In the plains of Western +America they retain the dimensions and vigor of the better breeds +of domesticated horses. In Sable Island they have already +degenerated to the level of Highland ponies; but in all countries +where they have run wild, the elongated and arched head, high +shoulders, straight back, and other structural characters +probably of the original wild horse, have appeared. We also learn +from such instances that, while races among domesticated animals +may appear suddenly, they revert to the original type, when +unmixed, comparatively slowly; and this especially when the +variation is in the nature of degeneracy.</p> + +<p>4. Some characters are more subject to variation than others. In +the higher animals variation takes place very readily +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> +in the color and texture of the skin and its appendages. This, from its +direct relation to the external world, and ready sympathy with +the condition of the digestive organs, might be expected to take +the lead. In those domesticated animals which are little liable +to vary in other respects, as the cat and duck, the color very +readily changes. Next may be placed the stature and external +proportions, and the form of such appendages as the external ear +and tail. All these characters are very variable in domestic +animals. Next we may place the form of the skull, which, though +little variable in the wild state, is nearly always changed by +domestication. Psychological functions, as the so-called +instincts of animals, are also very liable to change, and to have +these changes perpetuated in races. Very remarkable instances of +this have been collected by Sir C. Lyell +<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> +and Dr. Prichard. Lastly, important physiological characters, as the period of +gestation, etc., and the structure of the internal organs +connected with the functions of nutrition, respiration, etc., are +little liable to change, and remain unaffected by the most +extreme variations in other points; and it is, no doubt, in these +more essential and internal parts that the tendency survives to +return under favorable circumstances to the original type.</p> + +<p>5. Varieties or races of the same species are fully reproductive +with each other, which is not the case with true species. Mutual +sterility of varieties of the same species is an exceptional +peculiarity, if it ever truly exist; and, on the other hand, the +cross-fertilization of varieties of the same species, whether in +animals or plants, tends to vigorous life, and also to return to +the primitive or average type. On the other hand, intermixture of +distinct species rarely, if ever, occurs freely in nature. It is +generally a result of artificial +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> +contrivance. Again, hybrids produced from species known to be distinct are either wholly +barren, or barren <i>inter se</i>, reproducing only with one of the +original stocks, and rapidly returning to it; or if ever fertile +<i>inter se</i>, which is somewhat doubtful, rapidly run out. It has +been maintained by Pallas and others, and Darwin leans to this +idea, that there is still another possibility, namely, that of +the perfect and continued fertility of such mixed races, +especially after long domestication; but their proofs are derived +principally from the intermixture of the races of dogs and of +poultry, which are cases actually in dispute at present, as to +the original unity or diversity of the so-called species.</p> + +<p>If we apply these considerations to man, our conclusion must be +that, even in his bodily frame, he is not merely specifically but +ordinally distinct from other animals, and that the differences +between races of men are varietal rather than specific. This view +is confirmed by the following facts:</p> + +<p>1. The case of man is not that of a wild animal; and it presents +many points of difference even from the case of the domesticated +lower animals. According to the Bible history, man was originally +fitted to subsist on fruits, to inhabit a temperate climate, and +to be exempt from the necessity of destroying or contending with +other animals. This view unquestionably accords very well with +his organization. He still subsists principally on vegetable +food, is most numerous in the warmer regions of the earth; and, +when so subsisting in these regions, is naturally peaceful and +timid. On the whole, however, his habits of life are +artificial—more so than those of any domesticated animal. He is, +therefore, in the conditions most favorable to variation. Again, +man possesses more than merely animal instincts. His mental +powers permit him to devise means of locomotion, of protection, +of subsistence, far superior to those of any mere animal; and his +dominant will, insatiable in its desires, bends the bodily frame +to uses and exposes it to external influences +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> +more various than any inferior animal can dream of. Man is also more educable and +plastic in his constitution than other animals, owing both to his +being less hemmed in by unchanging instincts, and to his physical +frame being less restricted in its adaptations. If a single +species, he is also more widely distributed than any other; and +there are even single races which exceed in their extent of +distribution nearly all the inferior animals. Nor is there +anything in his structure specially to limit him to plains, or +hills, or forests, or coasts, or inland regions. All the causes +which we can suppose likely to produce variation thus meet in +man, who is himself the producer of most of the distinct races +that we observe in the lower animals. If, therefore, we +condescend to compare man with these creatures, it must be under +protest that what we learn from them must be understood with +reference to his greater capabilities.</p> + +<p>2. The races of men are deficient in some of the essential +characters of species. It is true that they are reproduced with +considerable permanency; though a great many cases of spontaneous +change, of atavism, or return to the character of progenitors, +and of slow variation under changed conditions, have been +recorded. But the most manifest deficiency in true specific +characters is in the invariable shading-off of one race into +another, and in the entire failure of those who maintain the +distinction of species in the attempt accurately to define their +number and limits. The characters run into each other in such a +manner that no natural arrangement based on the whole can +apparently be arrived at; and when one particular ground is +taken, as color, or shape of skull, the so-called species have +still no distinct limits; and all the arrangements formed differ +from each other, and from the deductions of philology and +history. Thus, from the division of Virey into two species, on +the entirely arbitrary ground of facial angle, to that of Bory de +St. Vincent into fifteen, we have a great number and variety of +distinctions, all incapable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> +of zoological definition; or, if +capable of definition, eminently unnatural. There are, in short, +no missing links between the varieties of men corresponding to +that which obtains between man and lower animals.</p> + +<p>3. The races of men differ in those points in which the higher +animals usually vary with the greatest facility. The physical +characters chiefly relied on have been color, character of hair, +and form of skull, together with diversities in stature and +general proportion. These are precisely the points in which our +domestic races are most prone to vary. The manner in which these +characters differ in the races of men may be aptly illustrated by +a few examples of the arrangements to which they lead.</p> + +<p>Dr. Pickering, of the U. S. Exploring Expedition +<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> +—who does not, however, commit himself to any specific distinctions—has +arranged the various races of men on the very simple and obvious +ground of color. He obtains in this way four races—the White, +the Brown, the Blackish-brown, the Black. The distinction is +easy; but it divides races historically, philologically, and +structurally alike; and unites those which, on other grounds, +would be separated. The white race includes the Hamite +Abyssinian, the Semitic Arabian, the Japhetic Greek. The +Ethiopian or Berber is separated from the cognate Abyssinian, and +the dark Hindoo from the paler races speaking like him tongues +allied to the Sanscrit. The Papuan, on the other hand, takes his +place with the Hindoo; while the allied Australian must be +content to rank with the Negro; and the Hottentot is promoted to +a place beside the Malay. It is unnecessary to pursue any farther +the arrangement of this painstaking and conscientious inquirer. +It conclusively demonstrates that the color of the varieties of +the human race must be arbitrary and accidental, and altogether +independent of unity or diversity of origin.</p> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span> +Some use has been made, by the advocates of diversity of species, +of the quality of the hair in the different races. That of the +Negro is said to be flat in its cross section—in this respect +approaching to wool; that of the European is oval; and that of +the Mongolian and American round. +<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> +The subject has as yet been very imperfectly investigated; but its indications point to +no greater variety than that which occurs in many domesticated +animals—as, for instance, the hog and sheep. Nay, Dr. Carpenter +states +<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> +—and the writer has satisfied himself of the fact by +his own observation—that it does not exceed the differences in +the hair from different parts of the body of the same individual. +The human hair, like that of mammals in general, consists of +three tissues: an outer cortical layer, marked by transverse +striæ, having in man the aspect of delicate lines, but in many +other animals assuming the character of distinct joints or +prominent serrations; a layer of elongated, fibrous cells, to +which the hair owes most of its tenacity; and an inner cylinder +of rounded cells. In the proportionate development of these +several parts, in the quantity of coloring matter present, and in +the transverse section, the human hair differs very considerably +in different parts of the body. It also differs very markedly in +individuals of different complexions. Similar but not greater +differences obtain in the hair of the scalp in different races; +but the flatness of the Negro's hair connects itself inseparably +with the oval of the hair of the ordinary European, and this with +the round observed in some other races. It generally holds that +curled and frizzled hair is flatter than that which is lank and +straight; but this is not constant, for I have found that the +waved or frizzled hair of the New Hebrideans, intermediate +apparently between the Polynesians and Papuans, is nearly +circular in outline, and differs from European hair mainly in the +greater +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> +development of the fibrous structure and the intensity +of the color. Large series of comparisons are required; but those +already made point to variation rather than specific difference. +Some facts also appear to indicate very marked differences as +occurring in the same race from constant exposure or habitual +covering; and also the occasional appearance of the most abnormal +forms, without apparent cause, in individuals. The differences +depending on greater or less abundance or vigor of growth of the +hair are obviously altogether trivial, when compared with such +examples as the hairless dogs of Chili and hairless cattle of +Brazil, or even with the differences in this respect observed in +individuals of the same race of men.</p> + +<p>Confessedly the most important differences of the races of men +are those of the skeleton, in all parts of which variations of +proportion occur, and are of course more or less communicated to +the muscular investments. Of these, as they exist in the pelvis, +limbs, etc., I need say nothing; for, manifest though they are, +they all fall far within the limits of variation in familiar +domestic animals, and also of hereditary malformation or defect +of development occurring in the European nations, and only +requiring isolation for its perpetuation as a race. The +differences in the skull merit more attention, for it is in this +and in its enclosed brain that man most markedly differs from the +lower animals, as well as race from race. It is in the form +rather than in the mere dimensions of the skull that we should +look for specific differences; and here, adopting the vertical +method of Blumenbach as the most characteristic and valuable, we +find a greater or less antero-posterior diameter—a greater or +less development of the jaws and bones of the face. The skull of +the normal European, or Caucasian of Cuvier, is round oval; and +the jaws and cheek-bones project little beyond its anterior +margin, when viewed from above. The skull of the Mongolian of +Cuvier is nearly round, and the cheek-bones and jaws project +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> +much more strongly in front and at the sides. The Negro skull is +lengthened from back to front; the jaws project strongly, or are +prognathous; but the cheek-bones are little prominent. For the +extremes of these varieties, Retzius proposed the names of +brachy-kephalic or short-headed, and dolicho-kephalic or +long-headed, which have come into general use. The differences +indicated by these terms are of great interest, as distinctive +marks of many of the unmixed races of men; but, when pushed to +extremes, lead to very incorrect generalizations—as Professor D. +Wilson has well shown in his paper on the supposed uniformity of +type in the American races—a doctrine which he fully refutes by +showing that within a very narrow geographical range this +primitive and unmixed race presents very great differences of +cranial form. +<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> +Exclusive of idiots, artificially compressed +heads, and deformities, the differences between the +brachy-kephalic and dolicho-kephalic heads range from equality in +the parietal and longitudinal diameter to the proportion of about +14 to 24. As stated by some ethnologists, these differences +appear quite characteristic and distinct; but, so soon as we +attempt any minute discrimination, all confidence in them as +specific characters disappears. In our ordinary European races +similar differences, and nearly as extensive, occur. The +dolicho-kephalic head is really only an immature form +perpetuated; and appears not only in the Negro, but in the +Esquimau, and in certain ancient and modern Celtic races. The +brachy-kephalic head, in like manner, is characteristic of +certain tribes and portions of tribes of Americans, but not of +all; of many northern Asiatic nations; of certain Celtic and +Scandinavian tribes; and often appears in the modern European +races as an occasional character. Farther, as Retzius has well +shown, the long heads and prominent jaws are not always +associated with each other; and his classification is really the +testimony of an able observer +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> +against the value of these characters. He shows that the Celtic and Germanic races (in part) +have long heads and straight jaws; while the Negroes, +Australians, Oceanians, Caribs, Greenlanders, etc., have long +heads and prominent jaws. The Laplanders, Finns, Turks, Sclaves, +Persians, etc., have short heads and straight jaws; while the +Tartars, Mongolians, Incas, Malays, Papuans, etc., have short +heads and prominent jaws.</p> + +<p>Another defect in the argument often based on the diverse forms +of heads is its want of acknowledgment of the ascertained and +popularly known fact that these forms in different tribes or +individuals of the same race are markedly influenced by culture +and habits of life. In all races ignorance and debasement tend to +induce a prognathous form, while culture tends to the elevation +of the nasal bones, to an orthognathous condition of the jaws, +and to an elevation and expansion of the cranium. +<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></p> + +<p>Again, no adequate allowance has been made in the case of these +forms of skull for the influence of modes of nurture in infancy. +Dr. Morton, observing that the brachy-kephalic American skull was +often unequal sided, and the occiput much flattened, suggests +that this is "an exaggeration of the natural form produced by the +pressure of the cradle-board in common use among the American +natives." Dr. Wilson has noticed the same unsymmetrical character +in brachy-kephalic skulls in British barrows, and has suspected +some artificial agency in infancy; and says, in reference to the +American instances, "I think it extremely probable that further +investigation will tend to the conclusion that the vertical or +flattened occiput, instead of being a typical characteristic, +pertains entirely to the class of artificial modifications of the +natural cranium familiar to the American ethnologist."</p> + +<p>While the points in which the races of men vary are those +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> +in which lower animals are most liable to undergo change, the +several races display a remarkable constancy in those which are +usually less variable. Prichard and Carpenter have well shown +this in relation to physiological points, as, for instance, the +age of arriving at maturity, the average and extreme duration of +life, and the several periods connected with reproduction. The +coincidence in these points alone is by many eminent +physiologists justly regarded as sufficient evidence of the unity +of the species.</p> + +<p>4. It may also be affirmed, in relation to the varieties of man, +that they do not exceed in amount or extent those observed in the +lower animals. If with Frederick Cuvier, Dr. Carpenter, and many +other naturalists, we regard the dog as a single species, +descended in all probability from the wolf, we can have no +hesitation in concluding that this animal far exceeds man in +variability. +<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> +But this is denied by many, not without some +show of reason; and we may, therefore, select some animal +respecting which little doubt can be entertained. Perhaps the +best example is the common hog (<i>Sus scrofa</i>), an undoubted +descendant of the wild boar, and a creature especially suitable +for comparison with man, inasmuch as its possible range of food +is very much the same with his, which is not the case with any +other of our domesticated animals; and as its headquarters as a +species are in the same regions which have supported the greatest +and oldest known communities of men. We may exclude from our +comparison the Chinese hog, by some regarded as a distinct +species (<i>Sus Indicus</i>), though no wild original is known, and it +breeds freely with the common hog. The color of the domestic hog +varies, like that of man, from white to black; and in the black +hog the skin as well as the hair partakes of the dark color. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> +abundance and quality of the hair vary extremely; the stature and +form are equally variable, much more so than in man. Blumenbach +long ago remarked that the difference between the skull of the +ordinary domestic hog and that of the wild boar is quite equal to +that observed between the Negro and European skulls. Darwin shows +that it is much greater, and illustrates this by an amusing pair +of portraits. The breeds of swine even differ in directions +altogether unparalleled in man. For instance, both in America and +Europe solid-hoofed swine have originated and become a permanent +variety; and there is said to be another variety with five +toes. +<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> +These are the more remarkable, because, in the +American instances, there can be no doubt that it is the common +hog which has assumed these abnormal forms.</p> + +<p>5. All varieties or races of men intermix freely, in a manner +which strongly indicates specific unity. We hold here, as already +stated, that no good case of a permanent race arising from +intermixture of distinct species of the lower animals has been +adduced; but there is another fact in relation to this subject +which the advocates of specific diversity would do well to study. +Even in varieties of those domestic animals which are certainly +specifically identical, as the hog, the sheep, the ox—although +crosses between the varieties may easily be produced—they are +not readily maintained, and sometimes tend to die out. What are +called good crosses lead to improved energy, and continual +breeding in and in of the same variety leads to degeneracy and +decay; but, on the other hand, crosses of certain varieties are +proved by experience to be of weakly and unproductive quality; +and every practical book on cattle contains remarks on the +difficulty of keeping up crosses without intermixture with one of +the pure breeds. It would thus appear that very unlike varieties +of the same species display in this respect, in an imperfect +manner, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> +the peculiarities of distinct species. It is on this +principle that I would in part account for some of the +exceptional facts which occur in mixed races of men.</p> + +<p>What, then, are the facts in the case of man? In producing +crosses of distinct species, as in the case of the horse and ass, +breeders are obliged to resort to expedients to overcome the +natural repugnance to such intermixture. In the case of even the +most extreme varieties of man, if such repugnance exists, it is +voluntarily overcome, as the slave population of America +testifies abundantly. By far the greater part of the +intermixtures of races of men tend to increase of vital energy +and vigor, as in the case of judicious crosses of some domestic +animals. Where a different result occurs, we usually find +sufficient secondary causes to account for it. I shall refer to +but one such case—that of the half-breed American Indian. In so +far as I have had opportunities of observation or inquiry, these +people are prolific, much more so than the unmixed Indian. They +are also energetic, and often highly intellectual; but they are +of delicate constitution, especially liable to scrofulous +diseases, and therefore not long-lived. Now this is precisely the +result which often occurs in domestic animals, where a highly +cultivated race is bred with one that is of ruder character and +training; and it very probably results from the circumstance that +the progeny may inherit too much of the delicacy of the one +parent to endure the hardships congenial to the other; or, on the +other hand, too much of the wild nature of the ruder parent to +subsist under the more delicate nurture of the more cultivated. +This difficulty does not apply to the intermixture of the Negro +and the European, though between the pure races this is a cross +too abrupt to be likely to be in the first instance successful.</p> + +<p>6. The races of man may have originated in the same manner with +the breeds of our domesticated animals. There are many facts +which render it probable that they did originate +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span> +in this way. Take color, for instance. The fair varieties of man occur only in +the northern temperate zone, and chiefly in the equable climates +of that zone. In extreme climates, even when cold, dusky and +yellow colors appear. The black and blackish-brown colors are +confined to the inter-tropical regions, and appear in such +portions of all the great races of mankind as have been long +domiciled there. Diet and degree of exposure have also evidently +very much to do with form, stature, and color. The deer-eating +Chippewayan of certain districts of North America is a better +developed man than his compatriots who subsist principally on +rabbits and such meaner fare; and excess of carbonaceous food, +and deficiency of perspiration or of combustion in the lungs, +appear everywhere to darken the skin. +<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> +The Negro type in its extreme form is peculiar to low and humid river valleys of +tropical Africa. In Australasia similar characters appear in men +of a very different race in similar circumstances. The Mongolian +type reappears in South Africa. The Esquimau is like the Fuegian. +The American Indian, both of South and North America, resembles +the Mongol; but in several of the middle regions of the American +continent men appear who approximate to the Malay. Everywhere and +in all races coarse features and deviations from the oval form of +skull are observed in rude populations. Where men have sunk into +a child-like simplicity, the elongated forms prevail. Where they +have become carnivorous, aggressive, and actively barbarous, the +brachy-kephalic forms abound. These and many other considerations +tend to the conclusion that these varieties are inseparably +connected with external conditions. It may still be asked—Were +not the races created as they are, with especial reference to +these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> +conditions? I answer no—because the differences are of a +character in every respect like those that appear in other true +species as the results of influences from without.</p> + +<p>Farther, not only have we varieties of man resulting from the +slow operation of climatal and other conditions, but we have the +sudden development of races. One remarkable instance may +illustrate my meaning. It is the hairy family of Siam, described +by Mr. Crawford and Mr. Yule. +<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> +The peculiarities here consisted of a fine silky coat of hair covering the face and less +thickly the whole body, with at the same time the entire absence +of the canine and molar teeth. The person in whom these +characters originated was sent to Ava as a curiosity when five +years old. He married at twenty-two, his wife being an ordinary +Burmese woman. One of two children who survived infancy had all +the characters of the father. This was a girl; and on her +marriage the same characters reappeared in one of two boys +constituting her family when seen by Mr. Yule. Here was a variety +of a most extreme character, originating without apparent cause, +and capable of propagation for three generations, even when +crossed with the ordinary type. Had it originated in +circumstances favorable to the preservation of its purity, it +might have produced a tribe or nation of hairy men, with no teeth +except incisors. Such a tribe would, with some ethnologists, have +constituted a new and very distinct species; and any one who had +suggested the possibility of its having originated within a few +generations as a variety would have been laughed at for his +credulity. It is unnecessary to cite any further instances. I +merely wish to insist on the necessity of a rigid comparison of +the variations which appear in man, either suddenly or in a slow +or secular manner, with the characters of the so-called races or +species.</p> + +<p>7. If we turn from the merely physical constitution of man, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> and +inquire as to his psychical and spiritual endowments, it would be +easy to show, as Dr. Carpenter and others have done, in +opposition to Darwin, that on the one hand an impassable barrier +separates man from the lower animals, and that on the other there +is an essential unity among the races of men. But this subject I +have discussed fully in the concluding chapters of my "Story of +the Earth."</p> + +<p>If man is thus so very variable, and if many of his leading +varieties have existed for a very long time, does not the fact +that we have but one species afford very strong evidence that +species change only within fixed limits, and do not pass over +into new specific types. Viewed in this way, variability within +the specific limits becomes in itself one of the strongest +arguments against the doctrine of descent with modification as a +mode of origination of new species.</p> + +<p>Let us now add to all this the farther consideration, so well +illustrated in the "Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ" of Christy and Lartet, +that the oldest-known men of the caves and gravels may be placed +in one of the varieties, and this the most widely distributed, of +modern man, and we have a further argument which tells most +strongly against the assumption either of the extreme antiquity +or of the unlimited variability of the human species.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES</h2> + + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> +Argyll's "Primeval Man."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> +Essays on Theism, 1875.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> +John i., 9.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> +Hebrews xi., 3.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> +I avail myself of the condensed translation in +Bancroft's "Native Races," vol. iii. The original French +translation of Brasseur du Bourbourg is more full.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> +The Feathered Serpent is perhaps the representative +of the Dragon and Serpent in the Semitic version; but has not the +same evil import, and his color gave sacredness to blue and green +stones, as the turquois and emerald, both in North and South +America, and perhaps also in Asia and Africa.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> +I do not think it necessary to attach any value to +the doubts of certain schools of criticism as to the Mosaic +authorship of the Pentateuch. Whatever quibbles may be raised on +isolated texts, no rational student can doubt that we have in +these books a collection of authentic documents of the Exodus. +They are absolutely inexplicable on any other supposition.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> +"Cosmos," Otté's translation.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> +Hamilton, "Royal Preacher."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> +Harvey, "Nereis Boreali Americana."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> +Osburn, "Monumental History of Egypt."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> +On this subject I may refer naturalists to the +intimate acquaintance with animals and their habits, indicated by +manner of their use as sacred emblems, and as symbols in +hieroglyphic writing. Another illustration is afforded by the +Mosaic narrative of the miracles and plagues connected with the +exodus. The Egyptian king, on this occasion, consulted the +<i>philosophers</i> and <i>augurs</i>. These learned men evidently regarded +the serpent-rod miracle as but a more skilful form of one of the +tricks of serpent-charmers. They showed Pharaoh the possibility +of reddening the Nile water by artificial means, or perhaps by +the development of red algæ in it. They explained the inroad of +frogs on natural principles, probably referring to the immense +abundance ordinarily of the ova and tadpoles of these creatures +compared with that of the adults. But when the dust of the land +became gnats ("lice" in our version), this was a phenomenon +beyond their experience. Either the species was unknown to them, +or its production out of the dry ground was an anomaly, or they +knew that no larvæ adequate to explain it had previously existed. +In the case of this plague, therefore, comparatively +insignificant and easily simulated, they honestly +confessed—"This is the finger of God." No better evidence could +be desired that the savans here opposed to Moses were men of high +character and extensive observation. Many other facts of similar +tendency might be cited both from Moses and the Egyptian +monuments.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> +That in Genesis, chap. ii.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> +Kitto's Cyclopædia, art. "Creation."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> +Much that is very silly has been written as to the +extent of the supposed "optical view" taken by the Hebrew +writers; many worthy literary men appearing to suppose that +<i>scientific</i> views of nature must necessarily be different from +those which we obtain by the evidence of our senses. The very +contrary is the fact; and so long as any writers state correctly +what they observe, without insisting on any fanciful hypotheses, +science has no fault to find with them. What science most detests +is the ignorant speculations of those who have not observed at +all, or have observed imperfectly. It is a leading excellence of +the Hebrew Scriptures that they state facts without giving any +theories to account for them. It is, on the contrary, the +circumstance that unscientific writers will not be content to be +"optical," but must theorize, that spoils much of our modern +literature, especially in its descriptions of nature.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> +Prof. Hitchcock.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> +McCosh, "Typical Forms and Special Ends."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> +I adopt that view of the date of Job which makes it +precede the Exodus, because the religious ideas of the book are +patriarchal, and it contains no allusions to the Hebrew history +or institutions. Were I to suggest an hypothesis as to its +origin, it would be that it was written or found by Moses when in +exile, and published among his countrymen in Egypt, to revive +their monotheistic religion, and cheer them under the apparent +desertion of their God and the evils of their bondage.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> +Tyndall seems to hold this.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> +Newton.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> +John v., 17; Rom. viii., 22; Heb. i., 2; 2 Peter +iii.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> +Heb. i., 2.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> +Eph. iii., 9.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> +1 Tim. i., 17.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> +Eph. iv., 11.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> +Job xxxviii. and xxxix.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> +Romans i., 20.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> +Essays on Theism.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> +Herschel, Dissertation on the Study of Natural +Philosophy; Maxwell, Lecture before the British Association.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> +Carpenter, "Human Physiology."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> +Asah.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> +McDonald, "Creation and the Fall."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> +Literally, "ages" or "time-worlds," as they have +been called.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> +Genesis i., 8, 26-28.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> +Job xxxviii., 37.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> +Gen. i., 14; Deut. xvii., 3.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> +Gen. xxviii., 17; Job xv., 15; Psa. ii., 4.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> +Not "created," as some read. The verb is <i>kana</i>, +not <i>bara</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> +The usual Septuagint rendering is <i>Abyssus</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> +Smith, "Assyrian Genesis." Brasseur de Bourbourg's +translation of the "Popol Vuh" of the ancient Central American +Indians.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> +It is impossible to avoid recognizing in +the Greek Theogony, as it appears in Hesiod and the Orphic poems, +an inextricable intermingling of a cosmogony akin to that of +Moses with legendary stories of deceased ancestors; and this has, +I must confess, always appeared to me to be a more rational way +of accounting for it than its reference to mere nature-myths. +Chaos, or space, for the chaos of Hesiod differs from that of +Ovid, came first, then Gaea, the earth, and Tartarus, or the +lower world. Chaos gave birth to Erebos (identical with the +Hebrew Ereb or Erev, evening) and Nyx, or night. These again give +birth to Aether, the equivalent of the Hebrew expanse or +firmament, and to Hemera, the day, and then the heavenly bodies +were perfected. So far the legend is apparently based on some +primitive history of creation, not essentially different from +that of the Bible. But the Greek Theogony here skips suddenly to +the human period; and under the fables of the marriage of Gaea +and Uranos, and the Titans, appears to present to us the +antediluvian world, with its intermarriages of the sons of God +and men, and its Nephelim or Giants, with their mechanic arts and +their crimes. Beyond this, in Kronos and his three sons, and in +the strange history of Zeus, the chief of these, we have a coarse +and fanciful version of the story of the family of Noah, the +insult offered by Ham to his father, and the subsequent quarrels +and dispersion of mankind. The Zeus of Homer appears to be the +elder of the three, or Japheth, the real father of the Greeks, +according to the Bible; but in the time of Hesiod Zeus was the +youngest, perhaps indicating that the worship of the Egyptian +Zeus, Ammon or Ham, had already supplanted among the Greeks that +of their own ancestor. But it is curious that even in the Bible, +though Japhet is said to be the greater, he is placed last in the +lists. After the introduction of Greek savans and literati to +Egypt, about B.C. 660, they began to regard their own mythology +from this point of view, though obliged to be reserved on the +subject. The cosmology of Thales, the astronomy of Anaxagoras, +and the history of Herodotus afford early evidence of this, and +it abounds in later writers. I may refer the reader to Grote +(History of Greece, vol. i.) for an able and agreeable summary of +this subject; and may add that even the few coincidences above +pointed out between Greek mythology and the Bible, independently +of the multitudes of more doubtful character to be found in the +older writers on this subject, appear very wonderful, when we +consider that among the Greeks these vestiges of primitive +religion, whether brought with them from the East or received +from abroad, must have been handed down for a long time by oral +tradition among the people; but obscure though they may be, the +circumstance that some old writers have ridden the resemblances +to death affords no excuse for the prevailing neglect of them in +more modern times.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> +Pages 21, 22, and 109, <i>supra</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> +The minor planets discovered in more recent times +between Mars and Jupiter form an exception to this; but they are +of little importance, and exceptional in other respects as well. +To give their arrangement and the motions of the satellites of +Uranus, would require the further assumption of some unknown +disturbing cause.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> +Nichol's "Planetary System."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> +Proctor's Lectures, etc.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> + This translation is as literal as is consistent +with the bold abruptness of the original. The last idea is that +of a cylindrical seal rolling over clay, and leaving behind a +beautiful impression where all before was a blank.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> + Professor Dana thus sums up the various meanings of +the word <i>day</i> in Genesis: "<i>First</i>, in verse 5, the <i>light</i> in +general is called day, the darkness night. <i>Second</i>, in the same +verse, <i>evening and morning</i> make the first day, before the sun +appears. <i>Third</i>, in verse 14, day stands for <i>twelve hours</i>, or +the period of daylight, as dependent on the sun. <i>Fourth</i>, same +verse, in the phrase "days and seasons," day stands for a period +of <i>twenty-four hours</i>. <i>Fifth</i>, at the close of the account, in +verse 4 of the second chapter, day means the <i>whole period of +creation</i>. These uses are the same that we have in our own +language." +Warring, in his book "The Miracle of To-day," has suggested that +the Mosaic days are <i>epochal</i> days, each considered as the close +and culmination of a period. This is an ingenious suggestion, and +very well coincides with the day-period theory as defended in the +text.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> + Psalm xc.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> + It may be desirable to give here, in a slightly +paraphrased version, but strictly in accordance with the views of +the best expositors, the essential part of the passage in +Hebrews, chap. iv.: +"For God hath spoken in a certain place" (Gen. ii., 2) of the +seventh day in this wise—'And God did rest on the seventh day +from all his works;' and in this place again—'They shall not +enter into my rest' (Psa. xcv., 11). Seeing, therefore, it still +remaineth that some enter therein, and they to whom it (God's +Sabbatism) was first proclaimed entered not in, because of +disobedience (in the fall, and afterward in the sin of the +Israelites in the desert), again he fixes a certain day, saying +in David's writings, long after the time of Joshua—'To-day, if +ye hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' For if Joshua had +given them rest in Canaan, he would not afterward have spoken of +another day. There is therefore yet reserved a keeping of a +Sabbath for the people of God. For he that is entered into his +rest (that is, Jesus Christ, who has finished his work and +entered into his rest in heaven), he himself also rested from his +own works, as God did from his own. Let us therefore earnestly +strive to enter into that rest." + +It is evident that in this passage God's Sabbatism, the rest +intended for man in Eden and for Israel in Canaan, Christ's rest +in heaven after finishing his work, and the final heavenly rest +of Christ's people, are all indefinite periods mutually related, +and can not possibly be natural days.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> + For the benefit of those who may value ancient +authorities in such matters, and to show that such views may +rationally be entertained independently of geology, I quote the +following passage from Origen: "Cuinam quæso sensum habenti +convenienter videbitur dictum, quod dies prima et secunda et +tertia, in quibus et vespera nominatur, et mane, fuerint sine +sole, et sine luna et sine stellis: prima autern dies sine +coelo." So St. Augustine expressly states his belief that the +creative days could not be of the ordinary kind: "Qui dies, +cujusmodi sint, aut perdifficile nobis, aut etiam impossibile est +cogitare, quanto magis discere." Bede also remarks, "Fortassis +hic diei nomen, totius temporis nomen est, et omnia volumina +seculorum hoc vocabulo includit." Many similar opinions of old +commentators might be quoted. It is also not unworthy of note +that the cardinal number is used here, "one day" for first day; +and though the Hebrew grammarians have sought to found on this, +and a few similar passages, a rule that the cardinal may be +substituted for the ordinal, many learned Hebraists insist that +this use of the cardinal number implies singularity and +peculiarity as well as mere priority.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> + It is to be observed, however, that on the +so-called literal day hypothesis the first Sabbath was not man's +seventh day, but rather his first, since he must have been +created toward the close of the sixth day.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> + "Footprints of the Creator."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> + This idea occurs in Lord Bacon's "Confession of +Faith," and De Luc also maintains that the Creator's Sabbath must +have been of long continuance.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> + See the quotation from Job, <i>supra</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> + This is not strictly correct, as many animals, +especially of the lower tribes, extend back to the early tertiary +periods, long before the creation of man; a fact which of itself +is irreconcilable with the Mosaic narrative on the theory of +literal or ordinary days.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> + Since this was written, the bones of many +Batrachian reptiles have been found in the Carboniferous, both in +Europe and America. No reptilian remains have yet been found in +the Devonian rocks.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> + <i>Biblical Repository</i>, 1856. See also an excellent +paper by Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, <i>Bibliotheca Sacra</i>, 1867.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> + Rhode, quoted by McDonald, "Creation and the Fall," +p. 62; Eusebius, Chron. Arm.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> + Suidas, Lexicon—"Tyrrenia."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> + Diodorus Siculus, bk. i. Prichard, Egyptian +Mythology.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> + "Asiatic Researches."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> + This name is exactly identical in meaning with the +Hebrew Jehovah Elohim.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> + Müller, Sanscrit Literature.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> + The theology of the Institutes is clearly primitive +Semitic in its character; and therefore, if the Bible is true, +must be older than the Aryan theogony of the Rig-Veda, as +expounded by Müller, whatever the relative age of the documents.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> + "Recent Advances in Physical Science."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> + Croll's "Climate and Time" contains some +interesting facts as to this.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> + See the discussion of this in the author's "Story +of the Earth," and in Sir William Thomson's British Association +Address, 1876.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> + Daniell's Meteorological Essays; Prout's +Bridgewater Treatise; art. "Meteorology," Encyc. Brit.; "Maury's +Physical Geography of the Sea."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> + Kaemtz, "Course of Meteorology."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> + Encyc. Brit., art. "Meteorology."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> + It is not meant that the word <i>rakiah</i> occurs in +these passages, but to show how by other words the idea of +stretching out or extension rather than solidity is implied. The +verb in the first two passages is <i>nata</i>, to spread out.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> + See also Humboldt, "Cosmos," vol. ii., pt. 1.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> + Heb., "they refine."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> + "His pavilion round about him was dark waters and +thick clouds of the skies," Psa. xviii. This expression explains +that in the text.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> + Or "He darkens the depths of the sea."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> + Translation of these lines much disputed and very +difficult. Gesenius and Conant render it, "His thunder tells of +him; to the herds even of him who is on high."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> + I take advantage of this long quotation to state +that in the case of this and other passages quoted from the Old +Testament I have carefully consulted the original; but have +availed myself freely of the renderings of such of the numerous +versions and commentaries as I have been able to obtain, whenever +they appeared accurate and expressive, and have not scrupled +occasionally to give a free translation where this seemed +necessary to perspicuity. In the book of Job, I have consulted +principally the translation appended to Barnes's Commentary, +Conant's translation, 1857, and those of Tayler Lewis and Evans +in Schaff's edition of Lange, 1874.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> + The word is one of those that pervade both Semitic +and Indo-European tongues: Sanscrit, <i>ahara</i>; Pehlevi, <i>arta</i>; +Latin, <i>terra</i>; German, <i>Erde</i>; Gothic, <i>airtha</i>; Scottish, +<i>yird</i>; English, <i>earth</i>.—Gesenius.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> + Psalm xcv.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> + Gesenius.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> + Perhaps "changed," metamorphosed, as by fire. +Conant has "destroyed."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> + "Dust" in our version, literally lumps or +"nuggets."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> + The vulgar and incorrect idea that the vulture +"scents the carrion from afar," so often reproduced by later +poets, has no place in the Bible poetry. It is the bird's keen +eye that enables him to find his prey.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> + Lyell's "Principles of Geology."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> + Stanford, London, 1875.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> + In further explanation of these general geological +changes, see "The Story of the Earth and Man," by the author.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> + "Tenera herba, sine semine saltem +conspicuo."—Rosenmüller, "Scholia."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> + Haughton, Address to the Geological Society, +Dublin.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> + See McDonald, "Creation and the Fall." Professor +Guyot, I believe, deserves the credit of having first mentioned, +on the American side of the Atlantic, the doctrine respecting the +introduction of plants advocated in this chapter.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> + "Eozoic" of this work. Professor Dana in the latest +edition of his Manual uses the name "Archaean."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> + This may refer to an eclipse, but from the +character of the preceding verses more probably to the obscurity +of a tempest. It is remarkable that eclipses, which so much +strike the minds of men and affect them with superstitious awe, +are not distinctly mentioned in the Old Testament, though +referred to in the prophetical parts of the New Testament.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> + Perhaps rather the high places of the waters, +referring to the atmospheric waters.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> + The rendering "sweet influences" in our version may +be correct, but the weight of argument appears to favor the view +of Gesenius that the close bond of union between the stars of +this group is referred to. I think it is Herder who well unites +both views, the Pleiades being bound together in a sisterly +union, and also ushering in the spring by their appearance above +the horizon. Conant applies the whole to the seasons, the bands +of Orion being in this view those of winter.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> + It would be unfair to suppress the farther +probability that the writer intends specially to indicate that +the sacred crocodile of the Nile was itself a creature of +Jehovah, and among the humbler of those creatures.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> + The interesting discovery, by Mr. Beale and others, +of several species of mammalia in the Purbeck, and that of +Professor Emmons of a mammal in rocks of similar age in the +Southern States of America, do not invalidate this statement; for +all these, like the <i>Microlestes</i> of the German trias and the +<i>Amphitherium</i> of the Stonesfeld slate, are small marsupials +belonging to the least perfect type of mammals. The discovery of +so many species of these humbler creatures, goes far to increase +the improbability of the existence of the higher mammals.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> + It is very interesting, in connection with this, to +note that nearly all the earliest and greatest seats of +population and civilization have been placed on the more modern +geological deposits, or on those in which stores of fuel have +been accumulated by the growth of extinct plants.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> + See Appendix.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> + See Appendix for farther discussion of this +subject.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> + See Lyell, Principles of Geology, "Introduction of +Species."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> + For the exposition of the details of the fall, I +beg to refer the reader to McDonald's "Creation and the Fall," to +Kitto's "Antediluvians and Patriarchs," and to Kurtz's "History +of the Old Covenant."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> + The Bible specifies, perhaps only as the principal +of these arts, music and musical instruments by Jubal, metallurgy +by Tubalcain, the domestication of cattle and the nomade life by +Jabal. It is highly probable that these inventors are introduced +into the Mosaic record for a theological reason, to point out the +folly of the worship rendered to Phtha, Hephæstos, Vulcan, Horus, +Phoebus, and other inventors, either traditionary +representatives of the family of Lamech, or other heroes wrongly +identified with them. Very possibly their sister Naamah, "the +beautiful," is introduced for the same reason, as the true +original of some of the female deities of the heathen.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> + I can not for a moment entertain the monstrous +supposition of many expositors that the "sons of God" of these +passages are angels, and the "Nephelim" hybrids between angels +and men.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> + See Lange's "Commentary on Genesis."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> + The Russian surveys of 1836 made it one hundred +and eight English feet; but later authorities reduce it to +eighty-three feet six inches below the Black Sea.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> + Kitto's "Bible Illustrations"—Book of Job.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> + See article "Rephaim" in Kitto's "Journal of +Sacred Literature." But Gesenius and others regard it, not as an +ethnic name, but as a term for the "shades" or spirits of the +dead. See Conant on Job.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> + On the Biblical view of +this subject, the so-called Aryan mythology, common to India and +Greece, is either a derivative from the Cushite civilization, or +a spontaneous growth of the Japetic stock scattered by the +Cushite empire. The Semitic and Hamitic mythologies are derived +from the primeval cherubic worship of Eden, corrupted and mixed +with deification of natural objects and stages of the creative +work, and with adoration of deified ancestors and heroes.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> + Genesis 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters. See also +our previous remarks on the deluge.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> + Genesis iv.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> + Japheth is "enlargement," his sons are Scythians +and inhabitants of the isles, varying in language and +nationality; and Noah predicts, "God shall enlarge Japheth, he +shall dwell in the tents of Shem, Ham shall be his servant." +These are surely characteristic ethnological traits for a period +so early. On the rationalist view, it may be supposed that this +prediction was not written until the characters in question had +developed themselves; but since the greatest enlargement of +Japheth has occurred since the discovery of America, there would +be quite as good ground for maintaining that Noah's prophecy was +interpolated after the time of Columbus.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> + The +language of this people, the stem of the Indo-European languages, +is, though in a later form, probably that of the Aryan or +Persepolitan part of the trilingual inscriptions at Behistun and +elsewhere in Persia.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> + Edkins, "China's Place in Philology."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> + Reginald S. Poole has adduced very ingenious +arguments, monumental, astronomical, and mythological, for the +date B.C. 2717.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> + It is curious that almost simultaneously with the +appearance of Bunsen's scheme a similiar view was attempted to be +maintained on geological grounds. In a series of borings in the +delta of the Nile, undertaken by Mr. Horner, there was found a +piece of pottery at a depth which appeared to indicate an +antiquity of 13,371 years. But the basis of the calculation is +the rate of deposit (3-1/2 inches per century) calculated for the +ground around the statue of Rameses II. at Memphis, dated at 1361 +B.C.; and Mr. Sharpe has objected that no mud could have been +deposited around that statue from its erection until the +destruction of Memphis, perhaps 800 years B.C. Farther, we have +to take into account the natural or artificial changes of the +river's bed, which in this very place is said to have been +diverted from its course by Menes, and which near Cairo is now +nearly a mile from its former site. The liability to error and +fraud in boring operations is also very well known. It has +farther been suggested that the deep cracks which form in the +soil of Egypt, and the sinking of wells in ancient times, are +other probable causes of error; and it is stated that pieces of +burnt brick, which was not in use in Egypt until the Roman times, +have been found at even greater depths than the pottery referred +to by Mr. Horner. This discovery, at first sight so startling, +and vouched for by a geologist of unquestioned honor and ability, +is thus open to the same doubts with the Guadaloupe skeletons, +the human bones in ossiferous caverns, and that found in the mud +of the Mississippi; all of which have, on examination, proved of +no value as proofs of the geological antiquity of man.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> + 5004 B.C.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> + Perhaps the earliest certain date in Egyptian +history is that of Thothmes III. of the eighteenth dynasty, +ascertained by Birch on astronomical evidence as about 1445 B.C. +(about 1600, Manetho); and it seems nearly certain that before +the eighteenth dynasty, of which this king was the fifth +sovereign, there was no settled general government over all +Egypt.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> + The Egyptians seem, like our modern +cattle-breeders, to have taken pride in the initiation and +preservation of varieties. Their sacred bull, Apis, was required +to represent one of the varieties of the ox; and one can scarcely +avoid believing that some of their deified ancestors must have +earned their celebrity as tamers or breeders of animals. At a +later period, the experiments of Jacob with Laban's flock furnish +a curious instance of attempts to induce variation.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> + See for evidence of these views early notices in +Genesis, and Lenormant and Osburne on Egyptian Monuments and +History.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> + There is no good reason to believe the flint +implements mentioned by Delanoüe and others, as found on the +banks of the Nile, to be older than the historic period.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> + Wilson, "Prehistoric Man," 2d edition, p. 68.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> + Southall has accumulated a great number of these +facts in his book on the antiquity of man.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> + Professor Issel, quoted in <i>Popular Science +Monthly</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> + Wilson has remarked the striking similarity of the +pottery of these people to American fictile wares. This +similarity applies also to the early Cyprian art.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> + I agree with Gladstone's conclusions as to the +date and country of Homer.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> + I suggested these terms in my lectures published +under the title "Nature and the Bible," 1875.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> + Since these words were written I have read the +remarkable book of Edkins on the Chinese language, which supplies +much additional information.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> + Donaldson has pointed out (British Association +Proceedings, 1851) links of connection between the Slavonian or +Sarmatian tongues and the Semitic languages, which in like manner +indicate the primitive union of the two great branches of +languages.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> + "Man and his Migrations." See also "Descriptive +Ethnology," where the Semitic affinities are very strongly +brought out.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> + I can scarcely except such terms as "Japetic" and +"Japetidæ," for Iapetus can hardly be any thing else than a +traditional name borrowed from Semitic ethnology, or handed down +from the Japhetic progenitors of the Greeks.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> + See art. "Philology," Encyc. Brit.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> + Grammatical structure is no doubt more permanent +than vocabulary, yet we find great changes in the latter, both in +tracing cognate languages from one region to another, and from +period to period. The Indo-Germanic languages in Europe furnish +enough of familiar instances.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> + It is fair, however, to observe that the Bible +refers the first great divergence of language to a divine +intervention at the Tower of Babel. The precise nature of this we +do not know; but it would tend to diminish the time required.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> + Lecture in the Royal Institution, March 24, 1876.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> + "Antiquity of Man," 4th ed.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> + Southall, <i>Op. cit.</i></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> + The Mentone skeleton described by Dr. Rivière +gives evidence of these facts.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> + Mr. Pengelly declines to admit this; but assigns +no cause for the breaking up of portions of the old floor, which +he merely refers in general terms to "natural causes."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> + This whole subject of supposed preglacial or +interglacial men is still in great confusion and uncertainty, and +is complicated with questions, still debated, as to the ages of +the supposed glacial and postglacial deposits.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> + <i>Quarterly Journal of Science</i>, April, 1875.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> + Lyell's "Manual of Elementary Geology."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> + For a full discussion of this subject, see the +"Story of the Earth and Man."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> + Such a table, with an admirable exposition of the +entire succession, as at present known, is given in the Appendix +to Lyell's "Students' Manual of Geology."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> + Lyell, basing his calculations on the surveys of +Messrs. Humphreys and Abbott, but others give very different +estimates.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> + A perfectly parallel example is that of the growth +of the peninsula of Florida in the modern period, by the same +processes now adding to its shores; and this has afforded to +Professor Agassiz a still more extended measure of the +Post-tertiary period.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> + Reade, of Liverpool, has recently given a much +slower rate—one foot in 13,000 years—as a result of recent +English surveys; but I have not seen his precise data, and the +result certainly differs from those of all other observations.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> + I am quite aware that it may be objected to all +this that it is based on merely negative evidence; but this is +not strictly the case. There are positive indications of these +truths. For example, in the Mesozoic epoch the lacertian reptiles +presented huge elephantine carnivorous and herbivorous +species—the Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, etc.; flying species, with +hollow bones and ample wings—the Pterodactyles; and aquatic +whale-like species—Pliosaurus, Ichthyosaurus, etc. These +creatures actually filled the offices now occupied by the +mammals; and, though lacertian in their affinities, they must +have had circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems far in +advance of any modern reptiles even of the order of Loricates.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> + "Story of the Earth"—concluding chapters.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> + This was written in 1860 for the first edition of +"Archaia." I see no reason to change it now, and its vindication +will be, found in the Appendix.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> + Heb. iv., 9; 2 Peter iii., 13.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> + Hamilton.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> + In the manner illustrated by Hyatt and Cope.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> + Report on Fossil Plants of the Upper Silurian and +Devonian, 1871.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> + Drysdale's "Protoplasmic Theories of Life."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> + Lecture before the Royal Institution of London.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> + <i>Leisure Hour</i>, 1876.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> + See critique in <i>International Review</i>, January, +1877.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> + Reported in <i>Nature</i>, 1876.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> + "History of Creation."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> + See also Hunt, "Chemical and Geological Essays," +p. 35.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> + Except, perhaps, Job xxxi., 27.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> + "Animals and Plants under Domestication," p. 406.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> + Prichard. This is admitted by Darwin, who gives +other examples, though he insists much on the climatal variations +which still remain in feral pigs.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> + "North American Indians."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> + Haliburton's "Nova Scotia;" Gilpin's Lecture on +Sable Island.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> + "Principles of Geology;" "Natural History of Man." +See also a very able article on the "Varieties of Man," by Dr. +Carpenter, in Todd's Cyclopædia.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> + "The Races of Men," etc. Boston, 1848.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> + Browne, of Philadelphia, quoted by Kneeland and +others.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> + Todd's Cyclopædia, art. "Varieties of Man."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> + "Prehistoric Man."</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> + Carpenter in Todd's Cyclopædia.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> + For an interesting inquiry into the origin of the +dog, see the article in Todd's Cyclopædia already referred to; +and the subject is fully discussed by Darwin, who leans to the +theory of the diversity of origin in dogs.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> + Prichard, Bachman, Cabell.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> + A curious note, by Dr. John Rae, on the change of +complexion in the Sandwich Islanders, consequent on the +introduction of clothing, may be found in the "Montreal Medical +Chronicle," 1856, and the "Canadian Journal" for the same year.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> + Latham's "Descriptive Ethnology."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2> + + +<p>Abraham, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</p> + +<p>Abrahamic Genesis, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</p> + +<p>Abyss, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</p> + +<p>"Accommodation," theory of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</p> + +<p>Adaptation in nature, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + +Æons of creation, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</p> + +<p>Agassiz on prophetic types, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on species, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</span><br /> + +Animals, higher, creation of the, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">lower, creation of the, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</span><br /> + +Antediluvians, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> + +Antiquity of man, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of man, geological evidence of the, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of man, history in relation to the, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of man, language in relation to the, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the earth, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</span><br /> + +<i>Aretz</i> (earth), <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.<br /> + +Argyll, Duke of, on creation by law, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Duke of, on the origin of civilization, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.</span><br /> + +Aryan race, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> + +Assyrian Genesis, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Texts, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</span><br /> + +Astronomy of the Bible, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /> + +Atmosphere, constitution of the, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">creation of the, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</span><br /> + +Augustine on creative days, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + +<i>Aur</i> (light), <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</p> + + +<p>Babel, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> + +<i>Bara</i> (create), <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.<br /> + +Beaumont, De, on continents, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.<br /> + +Bede on creative days, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.<br /> + +Beginning, the, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> + +<i>Behemoth</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /> + +<i>Bhemah</i> (herbivores), <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>.<br /> + +Birds, creation of, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.<br /> + +Bronn on the origin of species, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.<br /> + +Bronze, age of, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.<br /> + +Bunsen's chronology, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</p> + + + + + + +<p>Cainozoic period, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.<br /> + +Carnivora, creation of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + +Caverns, human remains in, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.<br /> + +Centres of creation, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> + +Chaos, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chemistry of, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</span><br /> + +Chinese language, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.<br /> + +Comparisons and conclusions, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.<br /> + +"Conflict of the Bible with science," <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + +Continents, their origin, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.<br /> + +Cosmogony, Assyrian, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Egyptian, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Greek, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hebrew, its character, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hebrew, its objects, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hebrew, its origin, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Indian, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Persian, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Phoenician, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</span><br /> + +Cranial characters of primitive men, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.<br /> + +Creation, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by law, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">centres of, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">days of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">modes of, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of birds, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of carnivora, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of great reptiles, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of herbivora, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of higher animals, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of lower animals, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of man, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of plants, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</span><br /> + +Croll, calculations of erosion, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">glacial theory of, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</span></p> + +<p>Dana on creation of plants, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on creative days, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on tertiary fauna, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</span><br /> + +Darwin on species, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.<br /> + +Day of creation, first, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of creation, second, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of creation, third, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of creation, fourth, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of creation, fifth, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of creation, sixth, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of creation, seventh, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</span><br /> + +Days of creation, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of creation compared with geological periods, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prophetic, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span><br /> + +Death before the fall, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>.<br /> + +"Deep," the, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<br /> + +Deluge, the, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> + +<i>Deshé</i> (herbage), <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> + +Design in nature, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + +Desolate void, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br /> + +Drysdale on theories of life, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.<br /> + +Dupont on Belgian caves, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</p> + +<p> +Earth, the, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its foundations, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</span><br /> + +Ecclesiastes, chap. i., <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> + +Eden, conditions of, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">site of, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</span><br /> + +Edkins on the Chinese language, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.<br /> + +Egypt, early history of, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.<br /> + +Egyptian Cosmogony, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Texts, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</span><br /> + +<i>Elohim</i>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> + +Evans on the erosion of valleys, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.<br /> + +Evening of creative days, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.<br /> + +Evolution as applied to animals, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.<br /> + +Excavation of valleys, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.<br /> + +Exodus xxiv., <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</p> + +<p> +Fall of man, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + +Final causes, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>.<br /> + +Firmament, the, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /> + +Fluidity, original, of the earth, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.<br /> + +Forbes on creation of man, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + +Foundations of the earth, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.<br /> + +Frontal, cave of, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</p> + +<p> +Genesis, chap. i., translated, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 1, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 2, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 3 to 5, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 6 to 8, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 10 to 11, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 14 to 19,<a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 20 to 23, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. i., 24 to 31, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. ii., 1 to 3, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. iv., 23, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chap. x., 22, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Abrahamic, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Assyrian, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Mosaic, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Quiché, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</span><br /> + +Geology, principles of, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>.<br /> + +Glacial periods, theories of, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.<br /> + +God, personality of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.<br /> + +"Grass" in Genesis i., <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> + +Greek myths, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.<br /> + +Green on the forms of continents, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</p> + +<p> +Haeckel on the affiliation of races, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on man and apes, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</span><br /> + +Hamite races, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + +Harmony of revelation and science, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.<br /> + +Havilah, productions of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + +<i>Hay'th-eretz</i> (wild beast), <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + +Heavens, the, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> + +Herbivora, creation of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> + +Hindoos, cosmogony of the, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /> + +Hitchcock on creative days, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> + +Horner on the alluvium of the Nile, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /> + +Hughes on the excavation of valleys, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on interglacial periods, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on stalagmite, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the Victoria Cave, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</span><br /> + +Humboldt on Hebrew poetry, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.<br /> + +Hunt on the chemistry of the primeval earth, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.<br /> + +Hurakon, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> + +Hut of Sodertelge, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.</p> + + +<p>Ice-freshets in America, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br /> + +Incandescence of the earth, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + +India, cosmogony of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</p> + + +<p>Japhetic races, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + +Jehovah, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.<br /> + +Job ix., 5, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ix., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xxii., <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xxviii., <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xxviii., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xxxvi., <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xxxvii., <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xxxviii., <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</span><br /> + +Jones, Sir W., on Indian cosmogony, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</p> + + +<p>Kent's Cavern, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /> + +Kurtz on days of vision, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</p> + + +<p>Lamech, his poem, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.<br /> + +Land, its creation, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">geological history of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</span><br /> + +Languages, unity of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.<br /> + +La Place, nebular hypothesis of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + +Latham on African languages, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the radiation of languages, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</span><br /> + +Laws of nature, in the Bible, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.<br /> + +Lemuria, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.<br /> + +Leviticus xi., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.<br /> + +Life, succession of, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">theories of, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.</span><br /> + +Light, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.<br /> + +Logos, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.<br /> + +Luminaries, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> + +Lyell on the cause of the glacial period, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the delta of the Mississippi, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the pleistocene period, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</span><br /></p> + + +<p>Mammals, creation of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> + +Mammoth age, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.<br /> + +Man, antiquity of, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">creation of, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">neocosmic, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">palæocosmic, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</span><br /> + +Man, unity of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>.<br /> + +Manetho, chronology of, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + +Margite, cave of, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.<br /> + +Menes, his epoch, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + +Mesozoic period, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.<br /> + +Miller on creative days, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + +Mining noticed in the Bible, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> + +Mississippi, delta of the, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.<br /> + +Mist watering the ground, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.<br /> + +Modern period of geology, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> + +Modes of creation, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.<br /> + +Moffatt on African languages, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.<br /> + +Morse on the evolution of man, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.<br /> + +Mosaic Genesis, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + +Müller's classification of religions, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.<br /> + +Mythology, ancient, its origin, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the atmosphere, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as related to the Bible, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</span><br /></p> + + +<p>Nature, study of, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.<br /> + +Neocosmic man, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.<br /> + +"Neolithic" men, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.<br /> + +Niagara, excavation of, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.<br /> + +Nimrod, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /> + +Noah, sons of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</p> + + +<p>Palæocosmic men, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.<br /> + +"Palæolithic" men, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.<br /> + +Palæozoic animals, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">period, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</span><br /> + +Parallelism of Scripture and geology, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.<br /> + +Pattison on the antiquity of man, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.<br /> + +Pengelly on Kent's Cavern, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on stalagmite, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</span><br /> + +Periods, creative, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">geological, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</span><br /> + +Persians, cosmogony of the, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> + +Philological evidence of the antiquity of man, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.<br /> + +Pictet on the origin of species, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.<br /> + +Pierce on the forms of continents, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.<br /> + +Pillars of the earth, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.<br /> + +Plants, creation of, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> + +Plastids and plastidules, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.<br /> + +Pratt, Archdeacon, on <i>bhemah</i>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>.<br /> + +Prayer and law, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.<br /> + +Progress in nature, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + +Proverbs, viii., <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.<br /> + +Psalm viii., <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">viii., 1, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xviii., <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xix., <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">xc., <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">civ., <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cxix., <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cxix., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cxxxix., <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cxlvii., <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cxlviii., 6, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</span><br /> + +Purpose in nature, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</p> + + +<p>Quiché Genesis, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</p> + + +<p><i>Rakiah</i> (the expanse), <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /> + +Rawlinson on historical dates, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.<br /> + +Reconciliation of the Bible and geology, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.<br /> + +Reindeer age, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.<br /> + +Religion, Aryan, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Turanian, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Semitic, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</span><br /> + +<i>Remes</i> (creeping things), <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> + +<i>Rephaim</i>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> + +Reptiles, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> + +Revelation, idea of, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.<br /> + +River valleys, excavation of, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.<br /> + +Ruach Elohim, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> + +Rutimeyer on interglacial men, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.</p> + +<p> +Sabbath, the, as related to ages of creation, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Creator, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</span><br /> + +Schliemann on Troy, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.<br /> + +<i>Shamayim</i> (heavens), <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.<br /> + +Shemite races, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + +<i>Sheretz</i> (swarming creature), <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.<br /> + +Somme, gravels of the, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.<br /> + +Song of creation, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /> + +Species, Agassiz on, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bronn on, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinct from varieties, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Genesis i., <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">origin of, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>.</span><br /> + +Spirit of God in creation, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> + +Stalagmite, deposition of, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>.<br /> + +<i>Stereoma</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /> + +Stone, ages of, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</p> + +<p> +Table of Biblical periods, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of geological periods, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</span><br /> + +Tait, Prof., on the age of the earth, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + +<i>Tannin</i> (great reptile), <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>.<br /> + +Tennyson on types in nature, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + +Theories of the origin of genesis, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /> + +Thomson, Sir Wm., on the age of the earth, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + +Time, geological, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.<br /> + +Torel on the Sodertelge hut, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.<br /> + +Troy, as described by Schliemann, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.<br /> + +Type in nature, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</p> + +<p> +Unity of man, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of nature, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</span><br /> + +Universe, the unseen, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</p> + + +<p>Variation, laws of, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>.<br /> + +Veda, its cosmogony, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.<br /> + +Vegetation, its creation, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Eozoic period, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</span><br /> + +Victoria Cave, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.<br /> + +Vision of creation, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.<br /> + +Void, the, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</p> + +<p> +Wallace on evolution, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on primitive man, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</span><br /> + +Waters above the heavens, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> + +"Whales, great," <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.<br /> + +Wilson on American skulls, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on ancient pottery, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</span><br /></p> + + +<p style="text-align:center;">THE END.</p> +<hr style="width:30%;" /> + + + + +<p style="font-size:200%;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;">By PRINCIPAL DAWSON.</p> +<hr style="width:10%;" /> + +<p style="font-size: 150%;">EARTH AND MAN.<span style="font-size:80%;">The Story of the Earth and Man. By J. W. <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Dawson</span>, +LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill +University, Montreal. With Twenty Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 +50.</span></p> + +<p style="text-indent:1em;">An admirable book. It is a clear and interesting <i>résumé</i> of +the results of geological investigation, told in simple +language, devoid of technicalities. The unscientific reader +will obtain more knowledge of geology in one hour's reading +of this book than he will in a week's study of more +elaborate and professional books upon the same subject. It +is vigorously written, and with a certain picturesqueness +that is exceedingly attractive. The chapters upon primitive +man are peculiarly interesting.—<i>Saturday Evening Gazette</i>, +Boston.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:1em;">The pleasantly written volume before us tells the story of +the paleontology and physical geography of the earth in +prehuman ages, and closes with a discussion of the theories +of the appearance, late in geological time, of man upon the +earth. Dr. Dawson's sketch of paleontology will, we feel +sure, be found interesting by all readers.—<i>Athenæum</i>, +London.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:1em;">Since Hugh Miller's time no scientific geologist has done +more than Principal Dawson to extend popular interest in +this branch of study, to secure attention to its educational +value, or to remove misapprehensions which exist in some +quarters as to the relations of science and Scripture on +geological questions.—<i>Leisure Hour</i>, London.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:1em;">We have read his book with profound interest. It is +intelligible, candid, modest.—<i>Boston Transcript</i>.</p> + +<hr style="width:10%;" /> + +<p style="font-size:150%;">ORIGIN OF THE WORLD.<span style="font-size:80%;"> The Origin of the World, according to +Revelation and Science. By J. W. <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Dawson</span>, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., +&c. 12mo, Cloth.</span></p> + +<hr style="width:10%;" /> + +<p style="font-size:130%;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;">PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.</p> + +<p style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Harper & Brothers</span> <i>will send either of the above works by mail, +postage prepaid, to any part of the United Slates, on receipt of +the price</i>.</p> + +<hr style="width:10%;" /> + +<p style="font-size: 200%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">By ALEXANDER WINCHELL,<br /></p> +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> + +<p style="font-size:150%;">SKETCHES OF CREATION<span style="font-size:80%;">: a Popular View of some of the Grand +Conclusions of the Sciences in Reference to the History of Matter +and of Life. Together with a Statement of the Intimations of +Science respecting the Primordial Condition and the Ultimate +Destiny of the Earth and the Solar System. By <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Alexander Winchell</span>, +LL.D. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</span></p> + + +<p style="font-size:150%;">A GEOLOGICAL CHART<span style="font-size:80%;">: exhibiting the Classification and Relative +Positions of the Rocks, and the Various Phenomena of +Stratigraphical Geology; together with an Indication of +Geological Equivalents, the most important American and Foreign +Synonyms, the Economical Products of the Rocks, and numerous +Typical Localities; with an Actual Section from the Atlantic to +the Rocky Mountains, near the Parallel of Thirty-nine Degrees. By +<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Alexander Winchell</span>, LL.D. Mounted on roller, $10 00.</span></p> + +<p style="font-size:150%;"><span style="font-size:80%;"><i>With a Key.</i> 8vo, Paper, 25 cents.</span></p> + + +<p style="font-size:150%;">THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION<span style="font-size:80%;">; its Data, its Principles, its +Speculations, and its Theistic Bearings. By <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Alexander Winchell</span>, +LL.D. 12mo, Cloth, $1 00.</span></p> + + +<p style="font-size:150%;">RECONCILIATION OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION<span style="font-size:80%;">. By <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Alexander Winchell</span>, +LL.D. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</span></p> + + +<p style="font-size:130%;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;"><i>Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York</i>.</p> + +<p style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Harper & Brothers</span> <i>will send any of the above works by mail, +postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of +the price.</i></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origin of the World According to +Revelation and Science, by John William Dawson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD *** + +***** This file should be named 33049-h.htm or 33049-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/0/4/33049/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, ismail user and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain works at the +University of Michigan's Making of America collection.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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