no time to develope the subject in this place. Nor can we stop here, even were it relevant to the subject, to show that such a view is easily reconcileable with the Mosaic history. We only remark, that the numerous extinctions and renewals of animal and vegetable life, that had taken place on the globe previous to this last catastrophe, afford an analogical argument that this also might have been succeeded by a similar exhibition of creative energy. The cases, already adduced from the earlier history of the globe, of successive creative acts, render it unnecessary, however, to resort to any example at all problematical. The subject, however, is so full of interest that we may resume it at a future time.

"The mathematician, Dr. Hutton, could see nothing in the revolutions which the crust of the globe has undergone, but an eternal series of changes, where the two antagonist principles of fire and water have been in ceaseless operation; the latter to wear down continents, and convey their detritus to the ocean, and the former, to elevate new continents from the deep. In the mechanism of the heavens, he thought he saw a correspondent series of revolutions, in which those very disturbing forces that seemed to threaten ruin to the system, by acting periodically in different directions, are made to give to the movement of the planets unending permanency. Thus he excluded all evidence of a creative and superintending agency from astronomy and geology; and this atheistical view of these sciences seems to have been but too generally admitted. But in the powerful language of Dr. Macculloch, the mathematician, accustomed to the sole contemplation of his own science, has forgotten that the laws of mechanics comprise but one of the two great powers in the universe. Chemistry is the other right hand of the Creator: the sources of change, the joint governor with mechanics; the opposing power, when its power is required. This mathematician, writing on geology, should not have forgotten that: as a mere astronomer, he ought not; for that Chemistry is acting in the comets and in the sun, as it has acted and is acting in every planetary and solar body throughout the universe*.' Nor was this mathematician aware of what geologists now admit, that the successive changes to which the earth has been subject, have been improvements in its condition as a habitable world; nor that there has been a correspondent advance towards perfection in the natures of the animals and plants which have been placed on it; nor that these races have been several times destroyed and renewed. In astronomy too, recent discoveries have rendered it extremely probable that there exist disturbing causes in the planetary spaces, which must inevitably produce ultimate derangement and ruin among the heavenly bodies; and, therefore, the present order among the heavenly bodies had a beginningt. Thus have the tables been completely turned on this subject; and astronomy and geology, especially the latter, conduct us back to the very act of creative power by which the universe was produced. And this is what no other science can do.

"2. Geology furnishes proof, both of the general superintending providence of God over our globe, and also of special interference from time to time with the usual order of things upon its surface.

"In spite of all the catastrophes and changes which the crust of the globe has undergone, the disturbing agencies have never been permitted to pass certain limits, nor to interrupt the general order, nor to interfere with the general good. Every change, however sudden and violent, appears to have been adapted to promote some important end in relation to the

* Macculloch's System of Geology, vol. i. p. 510, London, 1831. + Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise.

animals and plants which have flourished on our planet. To preserve a proper balance among such powerful agencies, and to make apparent disorder and confusion subserve the general good, is surely evidence of a divine superintendence, which only infinite wisdom, directing infinite power, can exercise. When events follow their causes with mathematical certainty, and we can see the infallible connection between antecedent and consequent, we are apt to feel as if we need look to no higher power than that which resides in nature, to explain phenomena, and the idea of a Divine Superintendence fails to impress us, because we see no need of such an over-ruling power. But when we see the powerful agencies of nature breaking forth at irregular intervals, as if for the destruction of the world, and ruin actually follows, yet on more thorough research we find these destructive agencies to have their limits assigned them, and to be subervient to important ends, our sense of the need of a superintending Providence greatly increases, as well as our admiration of the wisdom which can employ instruments of destruction for the preservation, security, and happiness of the universe.

"Now such a view of Divine Providence as this, geology presents. It does more. It furnishes us with examples of a special or particular Providence. It shows us that the regular order of events on this globe has been repeatedly interfered with. It informs us of several successive conditions of the globe, each different from that which preceded it, and furnished with new and peculiar races of animals and plants. The fact seems to have been, that the changes which the globe underwent from epoch to epoch, rendered it necessary to repeople it from time to time with new races, whose natures were adapted to a new condition of things. Now it is not difficult to conceive how these variations in the condition of the globe should have gradually destroyed the races of plants and animals that were adapted only to a particular state, as to temperature, climate, water, &c, even without the aid of such sudden and violent catastrophes as we have reason to believe did actually occur. But how, without falling into the grossest materialism, can we account for the repeopling of the renovated earth, without admitting a new and special act of creation? Sir Isaac Newton has said, that the growth of new systems out of old ones, without the mediation of a Divine Power, is absurd:' superlatively absurd, we may add, if the new system be stocked by new races of plants and animals. Even if we admit what some geologists maintain, (although we think incorrectly,) that species become gradually extinct, and are from time to time, replaced by new ones, still we perceive, that the same necessity exists for Divine interference; nay, according to this view, a new creation takes place a thousand times more frequently than the other supposition renders necessary.

If these views are correct, they exhibit to us a more impressive exhibition of a special Divine Providence than can be derived from any other department of science. They carry us back to the period when the universe was produced out of nothing, and present the Deity to us, not as withdrawing from the vast machine of nature, as if it contained within itself the power to regulate and sustain, but watching over it, directing all its movements, and from time to time fitting it up anew for new purposes, just as really and assiduously as any human artist does in rela tion to a machine of his own contrivance and construction. And these we

think are fair inferences from a science, which many good men have regarded, and still regard, as favourable to atheism! It is curious too, that those very revolutions on the globe, disclosed by this science, behind which atheistical minds once entrenched themselves, should be found on a nearer inspection to be inscribed all over with the doctrine of a Special Providence!

"It ought not to be forgotten too, that the past special interference of the Deity, with the regular sequence of events on the globe, is an earnest of a similar interference in future, should His purposes require. And since we now see in slow progress the same causes which preceded former revolutions, we derive from hence a presumption in favor of the opinion, that God may hereafter put forth the like renovating and new creating energy. The presumption extends too, to other acts of special interference, such as miracles and revelations. So that the legitimate effect of geology is to prepare the mind for the disclosures of the Bible.

"3. Geology furnishes numerous illustrations of the Divine Benevolence. "1. It is illustrated by the nature of the soil resulting from the decomposition of the various rocks. Such decomposition, it is well known, is the origin of all soil: and we can see no reason in the nature of things, why the materials furnished by this process of disintegration should be adapted to the growth of those plants that are necessary for the sustenance and comfort of animals. But such is almost universally the case. True, there are wide deserts: but other causes, (the chief of which is a periodical deficiency of moisture,) besides the want of power to sustain vegetation, mainly contribute to make them such. And in this adaptedness of soils for so great a variety of plants as are necessary for the support of a far greater variety of animal natures, we think we see a clear indication of Divine Benevolence.

"2. We discover similar indications in the disruption, elevation, dislocation, and overturning of the rocks in the crust of the globe. With few exceptions, the stratified rocks were originally deposited in a nearly horizontal position. But we now find them, the older strata especially, tilted up at all angles, and divided by numerous fissures, along which extensive lateral, vertical, and oblique movements have taken place; whereby the continuity of their layers has been destroyed, their edges made to overlap, and often whole mountains to exhibit the appearance of a mighty ruin. Into these fissures the unstratified rocks have been protruded in every possible mode, and are often piled up in the most irregular manner upon the stratified rocks; so that the impression made upon the mind of the observer is altogether one of the wildest disorder and desolation. We can hardly avoid the inference, that when we compare all this confusion with the beautiful order and harmony which nature in all her other productions exhibits, that we have at length got into the region of chaos and old night; and that it is the wreck of creation which we see; the terrific mementos perhaps of some former penal infliction upon a guilty race*. But our impressions and inferences are hasty and erroneous. The scene before us is only a new mode for the exhibition of Divine skill and benevolence. Suppose the strata had been left in a horizontal position. One of the consequences would have been, that all, or nearly all those beds and veins of limestone, coal, and metallic ores, that are now so extensively wrought in almost every country, would have remained for ever hidden in the depths of the earth. But the elevation and dislocation of the strata bring them to view, and facilitate their exploration. Now consider what would be the condition of man, if deprived of lime, coal, and the metals! Was there no design, no benevolence, then, in the means by which they were brought within the reach of man?

"3. Design and benevolence are exhibited in the production and arrangement of the valleys that chequer the earth's surface. And most

* Such is the view taken of these facts in Gisborne's otherwise excellent treatise, entitled 'The Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity.' All this confusion he imputes to the Noachian deluge: an opinion which is entirely disproved by the whole records of geology.

of these valleys were originally produced by the same elevating and dislocating agency which we have seen to be so serviceable in other respects. For had the strata never been thrown up and disarranged, the earth's surface must have remained a dead level; and the sea would have covered the whole of it. Or, if we suppose dry land to have existed, yet without valleys, water could have existed on it only in stagnant ponds and lakes. Morasses and the rank vegetation of low and wet regions would have filled the atmosphere with pestilential miasms; and, indeed, have rendered the globe uninhabitable by such natures as now dwell upon it. In consequence of the existence of valleys, the water, raised by evaporation, and falling upon the mountains, finds its way to the great ocean; keeping itself and the atmosphere pure by its agitations, affording a wholesome beverage to all classes of animals, and sustenance to the whole vegetable kingdom; and aiding in a thousand ways to fill the world with beauty, life, and happiness. But without such an arrangement of valleys as now diversify its surface, this great system of circulation could not be carried on.

"All existing valleys, however, cannot be imputed to the original elevation and disruption of the strata. But in this mode were most of them commenced though without subsequent modification, they would have been only frightful rocky chasms. Powerful diluvial and fluvial action, therefore, has been repeatedly permitted to operate upon the sides and bottoms of these valleys, to wear away their angular projections, and fill up their deep and irregular cavities with soil, so as to give them those pleasing curves which most of them now exhibit, and to render them capable of cultivation. In most level countries this diluvial and fluvial agency has produced all the valleys that exist, and which are generally sufficient to form the beds of rivers, and redeem their banks from waste and desolation.

"We find then, that we are indebted to the volcanic power within the earth, and to the aqueous agency that has so repeatedly and powerfully swept over its surface, not only for bringing to the light of day the mineral resources of the globe, but for all that diversity of surface which gives so much beauty and grandeur to the landscape, and is indispensable for the circulation of a fluid whose motion is prolific of beauty and life, but whose stagnation is death. Can we any longer doubt, that there is design and benevolence in the apparent disorder and ruin of the crust of our globe? Surely here is design in the midst of confusion; beauty spreads over a scene, which, under another aspect, seemed but desolation and ruin, and the kind visage of benevolence beams upon us, where just before we saw only the flashes of an avenging Deity's wrath.

4. We derive another evidence of Divine Benevolence from the mode in which metallic ores are distributed among the rocks. If the great mass of the globe has been formerly in a state of fusion, as nearly all geologists now admit, the useful metals, being for the most part the heaviest materials of the earth, would have occupied the centre, and become enveloped by rocks and earth, so as to be for ever inaccessible to man. But either through the expansive force of internal fires, or by sublimation from the same cause, or by the operation of galvanic agents, or in some other unknown method, a portion of these metals is disposed in the form of veins in nearly all the rocks at the surface. That the great mass of these metals is actually accumulated in the central parts of the globe is probable from the very great specific gravity (about twice that of granite) of the internal portions of the earth. Now what but Divine Benevolence should thus, in apparent opposition to gravity, have forced towards the surface just enough of the metals to serve the important purposes of human society for which they are employed? They might have been thrown in immense

masses, and in a metallic state, over that surface; but the fact that industry alone can now obtain them, is another proof of design and benevolence; since this virtue is of more importance to human happiness than even the metals.

"And is not the relative proportion as to quantity in which the different metals are found, another evidence of the provident foresight and benevolent care of the Deity? Iron, by far the most useful, is far the most abundant, and most easily accessible. Of lead and copper, which are extremely important, but not so indispensable as iron, there is no lack at a moderate price. And as we proceed along the scale of the useful metals, we shall find for the most part, that the quantity of the metal is proportioned to its utility. The very scarcity of gold and silver gives them their value: for were they as abundant as iron, their use as a circulating medium must be abandoned. Yet scarce as they are, their astonishing ductility and malleability enable the artist to spread them over an immense extent of surface, and thus to employ their most valuable property, that of resisting oxidation, on a scale nearly commensurate with the wishes of man. In all these facts, can we fail to recognize a wisdom and benevolence which God only can possess?

"5. The accumulation of rock salt, gypsum, limestone, and coal in the earth, in past ages, affords another exhibition of Divine Foresight and Benevolence. Geologists are agreed, that all these substances were produced in a gradual manner; though as to the mode in which the two former were accumulated, they have not the most satisfactory evidence: but the origin of the various species of coal-lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite-seems now to be clearly understood. All of it had a vegetable or gin. The dense tropical forests that covered all parts of the globe in the earliest times have become converted, in the course of ages, into this most useful substance. If a superior but finite being had beheld this world, while yet only a sparse population of animals of inferior grade inhabited it, he might have thought it strange that such a vast superfluity of vegetation should cover its surface. But God was thus providing for the wants of future and superior races of beings. When man should in after times be multiplied in all lands, and forests should be swept away to make room for him, a supply of other fuel than the existing vegetation would be necessary for his comfort, and the perfection of society. God, therefore, provided beforehand for this exigency, by rendering the earth prolific in such a vegetation as would be converted into coal by the slow processes of nature. He buried this treasure in the earth, by means of aqueous and volcanic agencies, and permitted these same agencies to place it within the reach of human industry against the proper time. Who can doubt but this is an example of Divine prospective Benevolence? We see in it the providence of a kind Father, laying up a store for the support of his future offspring. And we learn from it, not to judge hastily of the ultimate designs of the Deity from present appearances. What seems superfluous now, or ill adapted to our present condition, may be intended for the comfort and happiness of other beings millions of ages hence. In human works, though laboured on with pain, A thousand movements scarce one object gain: In God's one single can its end produce, Yet seems to second too some other use.'

"The history of the formation of limestone conducts us to similar conclusions. For the most part this substance appears to be originally produced by mnrine animals; God having given them the power, either to obtain it by decomposing those salts of lime which the waters hold in solution, or by some unknown chemistry to form it anew out of more simple elements. With the lime obtained in this mysterious manner,

these animals construct their habitations; the most remarkable of which