GENESIS AND GEOLOGY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1027, 2 March 1869, Page 3

GENESIS AND GEOLOGY.

]From tho ' Wellington Independent,' Feb. IS] Recknt/.y a lecture was delivered by the Rev. A. Stook, 8.A., on "The first chapter of Genesis compared with the records of Geology," which was of so interesting a character that wo have been ca rues ily requested to publish it in our columns. After some appropriate introductory remarks the reverend lecturer proceeded as follows :— ' The first words of our chapter cannot be surpassed in their sublime simplicity, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." All that is, is of God. All that is, is from his Avill. In the beginning He was pleased to create all that has existence ; to call into existence that which before existed not. Tho science of geology is the reading of the world's history from its rock strata, j aud from the relics of a past life yet preserved in them. It is a new science. Forty years ago ib had scarcely spoken. When rightly understood it furnishes abundant proof of God's existence, and of His continual interference with his work : that, if He made the world He had again and again re-ordered and re-fashioned it from time to time. I may be here excused if I give a short description of the principle of geology. If we suppose a number of books piled up, one over the other, we have an illustration of the different succession of the rock strata of the earth. Now those strata always occur in regular order. Book one will be always found under book two and three ; never is the order inverted. We. never, for instance, find the order three, two, one, four. All the different strata are not found in any one place, sometimes this or that book are wanting ; but if, in auy place, the strata one and four are seen, one is always below four. The old red sandstone rocks, of the East of Scotland for instance, are always below the coal bearing strata of the North-East of England. These rocky strata were evidently once sea bottoms, and were formed from mud settling down, as we see any day in our harbor after rain, and then hardened, by heat, pressure, and chemical agency, into rock. It is clear then, that one is older than two ; two than three ; and so on ; — one having settled down first, and so forming a bed for two to rest on ; — and, further, as these strata are often full of the most delicate shells, still uninjured, it is equally clear that these shells sunk down quietly on the mud surfaces, and were imbedded in them without disturbance ; just as now shells brought up in mud from the bottom bed of the Atlantic are perfect. All this then must have required time ; but no one can tell how long a time. It is rather the fashion for learned men to ask for almost infinite periods for these formations. Yet all thi3 is guess work. We only know that the mud settled down quietly, and was afterwards altered into rock, but not how long or how short a time was concerned in the process. Manifestly a long succession of years were required for each successive formation. But more than this we cannot expect to know, as we cannot ascertain the rate of this mud deposition — whether it required the same time always ; whether the mud deposits were not more abundant at ono time than at another ; we certainly may not assume, if we find a certain thickness of mud deposited now, in a certain number of years, that this was always the rate of deposition in every one of the strata. But however vast may be the demand for time of the geologist ; let his demand be increased tenfold, then, after all, the verse before us reaches back still further, in tho words, "InthebeginningGoclcreafcecl ftio "heaven and eiu'fch." There must have been a beginning. The geologist shows the gradual formation of the rock-strata one from the other. The ruin of the first has helped to build up the second ; of the second lho third. But there is, after all, a starting point, and now beyond that starting point is GOD. There was a time . when the heavens and the earth wore not. But God then was. His will called them into existence. "He spoke," saith the Psalmist, "and it was done: He commanded and it stood fast." The common opinion concerning the age of the world, before that geology had begun to speak surely, from the certainty of this slow, gradual, and quiet building up of the rock-strata, was that the earth was only 6000 years old. Much of the first hostility to geology was excited un- \ fairly, and from the mistaken idea that, demanding so much time for the forming of the world, it was opposed to the Bible. Man's existence upon the world is, I believe, but 6000 years ; but many an ago would be required for the earth's formation and fit ordering as a dwelling-place for man. But if, I repeat again, the geologist demands, and rightly, ages upon ages for his work, the very first words of the Bible go back with him to his furthest point, and reach far far beyond that. There is no possible limit of time in the words " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The chapter continues, " And tho earth was without form and void." The right rendering of the Hebrew words is, " The earth was invisible and unfurnished." Tho earth is a sphere slightly flattened at the poles. The polar diameter is shorter than tho equatorial diameter by about twenty-seven miles. It has exactly the figure which a fluid globe of the size of the earth would assume if it were rotated at the rato of the earth's rotation, once in twenty-four hours. The earth was therefore once a fluid body, and rotated then with the speed of its present motionAll the matter of tho earth, it is therefore assumed, was once molten; jusb as lava when thrown out by a volcano is liquid, and afterwards hardens into rock. Let us think now of the earth as a molten mass, liquid from intense heat. All the water of the earth would be in steam, and with this steam would be all the various gases of tho earth, so that of necessity around the earth would be a covering of thickest mist. The earth would bo invisible. Clearly, again, undor these circumstances, there would be no animal or vegetable life upon the earth. No life could exist upon or within these fiercest fires. Tho earth must have been unfurnished. It is not said how long this condition continued, but the next step in the building up of the world is recorded in the words, " And darkness "was upon the face of the deep." In process of time the matter of the earth would collect about the centre of gravity. The earth would cool down somewhat. The water would be deposited covering the central mass on every side, and still boiling furiously. The earth, therefore, would be enwrapped in a thick darkness ; for no light could by any possibility have penetrated through those dun clouds of steam. The deep existed, encircling the carth — a covering . of boiling water ; and "darkness was upon the face of the deep." These boiling waters would of necessity be loaded with mud, as the outer rocks were decomposed by the fierce aotion, both chemical and mechanical, of the boiling waters. This mud again would, as the cooling process continued, settle down; and so presently all the earth's surface would be encircled with a stratum of hot semi-fluid mud, resting upon the hardened igneous rocks, the outer cooled-ddwn crust

of the once molten lavas. The,Causrian rocks, the Silurian rocks, found abundantly in every part of the earth, are the results of this first mud deposition.. The Bible record continues : " The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The right, rendering of the Hebrew is: "The Spirit of God brooded upon the face ofthe waters." The. idea is that of a bird sitting upon her nest, and evoking life from the apparently lifeless egg. Now it is in the Cambrian and Silurian rocks strata that life is first discovered by the geologist. The life is of a very simple nature. The living creatures that first existed aro of forms that could live' in darkness. The oldest forms of life known aretheEozoonCanadeuse-Oldhamiajforms which were, to speak generally, like the humble zoophytes found upon bur present rocks and seaweeds. But here geology copfesses to an outside agency. What could have called this life into existence ? The veriest atheist must be compelled by common sense to acknowledge that here at least, in these first obscure starting points of life, is the finger of God. We now read, "And God said 'Let there be light, and there was light.' " There is nothing iv the words of the writer to suppose that then for the firyt time light started into existence ; they imply rather the contrary idea. It is not said that God created light, but rather that God said " Let there be light." I have noticed that the earth must, while yet fluid from intense heat, have rotated upon its axis once in twenty-four hours. The sun was, as. now, shining upon the earth, but the sun-rays were unable to penetrate the dense mist wrappers. If we watch steam passing over the suny we see at once how easyit is thus hidden. But at this point of the world's history God is pleased to let the light penetrate to the waters of the deep, still completely surrounding the earth. The earth has cooled down. The upper strata are but moderately warm. . The sea no longer boils, but is of a tepid heat. The steam does not rise in thick clouds of vapor as before. There is yet a mist-covering aroundHOßr — earth, but not so thick as to prevent the penetration of the sunlight ; as on a dull day we have light, although we cannot see the sun. The clouds hiding the sun yet allow its light to pass through td the earth. It is now, in the Silurian strata, that the geologist finds the remains ofthe tritobite, which was in form much like tho chitons of our rocks; and possessed a complex eye. The animals existing before this had no eyes. There was no light, and no useless eyes. But now the word has been altered, " Let there be light," and we find as answer from the rocks that the tritobite, with its eye of many lenses, was called into existence to enjoy this light. The narrative continues, " And God saw the light that it was good ; and God divided the light from the darkness ; and God called the light day ; and the darkness He called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." The earth's turning upon its axis is the cause of day and night ; but although this rotation had been from the very flrst, as we gathered from the shape of the earth, there could have been no day and night where all was dark from the thick mists around the earth. Now the light of the sun has penetrated the covering, and immediately we read of day and night. The day would not be a day of bright sunshine, but still there is a clear distinction now for the first time between day and night. The words day and night are found just where they should be found, if not Moses but a geologist had been describing tho earth's formation. The record would have lacked ifcs present exactness had'there not been here this mention of day and night. The concluding words need explanation. Tho right rendering of the Hebrew is, " Evening was, morning was, one day." There is for each day no definite article, as in our translation, until we come to the sixth day's conclusion, where it is rightly said, " Evening was, morning was, the sixth day. From this mistake in our English translation the common idea concerning these days is that they were days of twenty-four hours. But, I think, that if we had met with the words before us for the first time, without any preconceived notion concerning them, we should rather have supposed that the meaning of the writer was, that during a certain period of undefined length, there was always a succession of days and nights. I need hardly mention to any bible student that the word " day" is often used in the bible for a longer period of time than one of twenty-four hours. The word " day" should then be "period." The only possible objection to this reading is that tho command concerning the Sabbath day seems to require for each day twenty-four hours. We read, "God blessed thesevehth day and hallowed it, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and rested the seventh day." If then, it is said, the Sabbath be a day of twenty-four hours it follows that the other days are days of twenty-four hours. But the enforcement ofthe sanctity ofthe Sabbathdayisequally established by altering the word " day into "period," as thus, " God blessed the seventh day, of twenty-four hours, and hallowed it, for in six days or periods of time the Lord made heaven and earth, and rested at the seventh period." All that is needed is that we should follow, with our shorter intervals of time, the same rule that the Lord used with longer Jieriods. The Book of Genesis, as the iccord of Geology, indicates six clearly marked stages in the building up of the world, occupying six periods of time, of longer or shorter duration, but not certainly of twenty-four hours only. It is noteworthy here that the words, "Evening was, morning was," are not used for the seventh day. The seventh dayperiod of God's rest has not been erased. The work of the formation of the world for man's habitation has not been renewed. The world is, for the most part, now as God left it, when the sixth day's work was ended. 2. We have next the record ofthe work of the second day. " And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under tlie firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament. And God called the firmament heaven. And evening was, and morning was a second day." The work of this second day .is the creation of the atmosphere. The word firmament conveys a wrong idea of -'.the Hebrew word ; for it means that which, is solid — durable. The word here should have been rather expansion. For now was created that expanded covering of air, which covered the earth on every side to a probable thickness of forty miles. This atmosphere is the sustainer of the clouds, and divides the cloud water. It is also the great supporter of life. There are as yet no living creatures but- those beneath the waters, and they wbuld "find oxygen sufficient for their want in' the water, the sea weeds having then, as now, the power of liberating oxgen from water. But without this air, no matter how much of land had shewn itself above the water, there Could.have been no life on it.' Before that animals could have existed $ere must have been air for them, to breathe. On this day there is preparation made ibr the life of the third day. During "this

second day there is no dry land. All is under water. There was first the central mass of the earth still molten, then the hardened crust, then the Cambrian and Silurian strata formed from the wearing down of the igneous rocks. The igneous rock was lifeless — the Cambrian strata had some few obscure forms of life. t The Silurian strata were full of the remains of xnolunis, zoophytes, crustaceans, with the sea weeds in which they revelled. There is as yet no life above the sea surface. 3. We pass on to the record of the third day. " And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land earth ; and the gathering together ofthe waters called lie sea. And God. saw that i* was S 00 & *" We have here the first appearance of dry land above the waters. The land is forced up by volcanic action. The rocks thus upheaved are the old red sandstone. The Silurian rocks were formed from the deposit of dark grey mud. But at the close of the Silurian period, deposits are red and sandy, the red color being due to iron thrown out by volcanic action. Many of the mountain ranges of the earth were thus upheaved. It is now that we have an abundance of land vegetation, which, altered afterwards by long aotion of heat and pressure, form the carboniferous strata, the coal-bearing rocks. These strata, the old red sandstone, and the succeeding coal-bearers, are, I consider, the work of the third period of the world's flistory^-of the third day of our chapter. We must not, however, consider that these different periods are sharply, distinguished, in such sort as that the characteristics ofthe one are now entirely absent frohi the other. Inthe silurian period I said there was nothing but sea. This is true of the period generally ; but at the very close of. the period there are found ripple-marks upon some sandstones, and some few land plants, showing that here and there was land. Generally speaking, there were no fish in this period, but at its close, after many thousand feet of rockmud had been deposited, the remains of „-ilsh,are found. But it is important to notice that very nlany forms of life found in the silurian strata are not found in the old red sandstone. Eight hundred forms of life, says Hugh Miller, are found in the silurian strata, but only about a hundred of these are found in the old red sandstone; while, again, the new forms of life that are then introduced are entirely distinct from those existing previously. Another superior order has sprung into existence ; creatures with brains lodged in the head, and with a spinal cord enclosed in a vertebrated column, and with far higher powers of moving from place to place. The earth has advanced ; the creatures of the earth have advanced also. But if the animals of the silurian period are not found in the old red sandstone, its animals are not found in the coal strata. The characteristic winged fish of the old red sandstone die out, and, as it would seem, die out suddenly. In the coal strata there are new kinds of fish, many of huge size, but distinct and separate from those of any former time. The plants of this period are, as the Bible tells, seed-bearers ; and each is after its kind. Each class of plants is distinct, and there is no passing from one to the other. The ferns are not reeds ; nor are they like them. We find in the animal formations ofthe different periods creatures newly appearing, entirely separate, one kind from the other. So in the vegetable formations, there is a like marked distinction between one form of fife and another. But I would especially call your attention to the wonderful abundance of the vegetation in this third day period. Never since has the earth been so orowded with gigantic forms of vegetable life. The latter part of this third day is emphatically the reign of vegetables. lam not lecturing on geology, and must refer you to the numerous books on this science, which give ample illustrations of the different forms of life at this and at other periods of the earth's history. I would only say generally of the vegetation of this period, that it is for the most part of a soft, succulent character, such as the ferns and reeds of the present day. Now the sun's rays are composed of three distinct principles— -the heatingrays, the light rays, the chemical rays. These last, called the actinic rays, are the chief exciters of vegetable growth. The light rays are the hardeners of that growth. The wood of any actinic period, where there was no direct sunlight, would be, therefore, necessarily soft and succulent. We see this in any plant grown in the dark. The potato shoot growing in the dark is soft and colorless, but is at once hardened when the shoots come out into the light. During this third day we have just this growth. The sunlight is absent, but the actinio rays are in full activity. The crust of the earth has . not yet thoroughly cooled down, and the waters ofthe earth are warm still ; the heat of the earth is retained by the car-bon-laden atmosphere ; so that the earth may be likened to a large hothouse, purposely protected from the sunlight, or to the dense interior of a tropical forest. Such a condition is suited admirably to the growth of just that class of plants that are found upon the earth at this period. There is a profusion of rapidly growing plants, generally of soft texture. And most certainly would the Mosaic record have been defective, if there had not been marked mention of this abundance of vegetable life. But there is this mention, and just where geology teaches us to expect to find it. 4 We pass on to the 4th day record. " And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven, to diyide the day from the night ; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth : and it was so. And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. And God set them inthe firmament ofthe heaven, to give light upon the earth ; and to rule over the day and over the night; and to diyide the light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. Evening . was : morning was ; a fourth day." I haye said that the sun was in existence long before this period. And in exact accordance with this view, we find that here the Hebrew word for "made" is not " created " but " constituted " or " arranged" — "appointed." The sun and the stars 'were created at the time of the beginning, when God created the heaven and the earth, but the direct light of the sun : has hot reached the earth till now. The earth has cooled down. The mists do not , rise as before from the sea. The clouds have parted. The suns rays are poured down upon the earth. And now what says geoldgy P The rocks of this period are oail6d, "new red sandstone," and we now find woody growth, firm in texture. Lyell's Geology, 1855, p. 339, says:— • * "Trunks of sihcified trees have been met 1 : with ; several of them a foot and a half in diameter, and Some yards in length, and ntigs of annual growth." The Before this had but. little in'■feei^ inter:'iiial;h)e^at,,and the dense mist coverings, an yiiniifo*& vtotfc would have existed every-

where. But now the sun is the chief heatgiver. The earth would be warmed as it is now. There would be cold at the Poles, heat at the Equator ; while the rotation of the earth around the sun, its axis being inclined 23| degrees, would cause the seasons. The trees now growing would show season rings. It would have been out of place if Moses had spoken of seasons before this. The appearance of the sun, and the mention of all the effects of the sun's shining, must go together. Day and night — the length of the year — the seasons — all follow from the connection between the earth and the sun. But there is a marvellous exactness with the facts of astronomy and the language of the inspired record in these verses. The moon, it has been long known, does not shine by its own light, but from the light ofthe sun. It is a fight-bearer. The light of the sun streaming out into space falls upon the moon, and we are the illuminated surface. The sun, the body of the sun that is, does not give us light. The light and heat ofthe sun are thrown off by the heated and luminous covering of the sun, and this covering is held in its place by the sun's body. All this has been ascertained certainly but very lately. Thus the sun is as much as the moon a light-bearer. The moon retains for our use the sun's light. The sun holds in its place its light and heat giving envelopes. And so Moses says, not that God made two great "lights," but two great "lightbearers." This is the true rendering of the Hebrew. The teaching of the Bible was 3000 years ago far in advance of all science. As, in the other instances which I noted at the commencement, we have proof of the inspiration of our chapter. Moses could not from his own knowledge of the faot have used the word "lightbearer" for the sun and moon. Again there is advance. The sun's rays purify the air. The trees use the carbon of the air, changing it into wood. The vast formations of limestone rock consume it also. The air-breathing animals, soon to be created, oan live upon the earth in the now thoroughly purified atmosphere. 6. The work of the fifth day period is given from the 20th to the 23rd verses. I will quote them with the translation properly amended — "And God said, let the waters swarm forth the reptile that hath the breath of life ; and let fowl fly over the earth upon the face of the expansion of the heaven. Then God created great sea monsters, and every soul of the creature that creepeth, which the waters swarmed out, after their kind ; and all flying of wing after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, " Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas ; and let fowl multiply in the earth. Evening was ; morning was ; a fifth day." The rock strata we have now reached are above the new red sandstone, and are called the oolite, the chalk systems. These strata are especially marked in the world's history. It is the era of huge reptiles, many of them being dwellers in the sea ; of huge birds ;of flying reptiles. They existed in vast abundance and were many of them of enormous size — The Elanisauria ; the Dinosauria ; the Pterodastyles; birds # whose footprints aro eighteen inches in length, moa-like iv form and size. All these are abundant everywhere. Well, then, might the words be written to describe such an exuberance of strange forms, " Let the waters swarm forth great sea monsters, let fowl fly above the earth in the expansion of heaven." The sixth day's creation begins at the 24th and 25th verses : " And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature, after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind ; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. And God saw that it was good." At this point are found the tertiary strata of the earth, the last of the rock strata. The animals now appearing for the first time are mammals. The same thing appears here which we have often noticed. The age of huge reptiles has passed away. Their relics are entombed within the earth, not to be seen until many an age has passed ; but then appearing, as do the ruins of dug up Nineveh, to bear witness to the truthfulness of the Bible. The dinosaur, the plasiosani, are gone. The dinothenium, the mastodon, the mammoth, have taken their place. And each is after his kind. Each species being distinct and separate from all other. And now man appears. We read, "And God said, let Us make man, in Our image, after Our likeness ; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created he them. # # # And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Evening was, morning was, the sixth day." The Bible record places man as the topstone of this pyramid of creation — the corner stone, completing all the fair building — telling by his brightness of appearance of the glory of his maker. He is made in the image of God. Like to God in mental qualities, in wisdom, in holiness. Like to God in the brightness of his outward form, the divinely gifted proprietor of all the wide dominion, so carefully prepared for him. There is no trace of man in the earlier rock strata ; yet his remains are not more perishable than are those of any other animal. Geology and Bible agree here also. Man is the last and the most excellent of all the creatures of God. In bringing this lectureto a conclusion I can only touch very briefly upon some , much disputed points amongst men of science, i 1. Many state that there was not one i central point for man, but many centres. They say that the present differences i amongst men are so great, that there . is proof that all the races could not : have sprung from one original ; that the , Negro — the Hotentot — the Whiteman — ; are not one. This statement is necessarily opposed directly to the Bible record. I i cannot however accept the reasonings by • which it is professedly established. Wo i find in horticulture certain plants have the ; power of " sporting." For instance, all • the varieties of the cabbage have con- > fessedly sprung from one centre. Yet the . cauliflower, tho Brussels sprout, are as [ different from the wild cabbage, and from i each other, as are the different races of > man. So > is it with certain animals. All i the varieties of sheep have been very lately i introduced by careful training. And I these varieties once gained, with due care ; remain constant. If then we allow to L man the liko tendency, all the difficulty is > removed. Nor does a change of type in , man require any great length of time. • Three generations were enough to produce, ; from the action of want and disease, an i almost ape-type of face in Mayo. A very l short time has produced the Yankee, and i the Australian cornstalk — having the same characteristics; the type being induced ■ evidently in both casos by the heat and , drynessof the climates of America and Australia.

The study of languages is against such a statement. We find nations differing in type, possessing languages of the same affinity. The language of the Hindoos and of ; the Englishman are from a Sanscrit root. The man has altered far more than the words he uses. 2. Geologists are now claiming for man's existence upon the earth a far longer period than that we have been accustomed to allot to it from the Bible record. Their arguments mainly if not altogether rest upon the presence in the earth s strata of certain stone implements which man has used, and which, it is said, man has formed. The whole of Sir C. Lyell's books on the Antiquity of Man is built upon this, that a stone axe or celt was found at the very lowest layer of certain Danish buried forests. Men of science are sometimes too ready with theories which fit in with their wishes. To ascertain the probable age of man holes were bored in the mud of the Nile. A piece of burnt pottery was brought up from a depth of some sixty feet. Now the Nile mud is deposited at a certain rate. These searchers then, assuming that this mud has always been deposited at the same rate, concluded that this burnt hardware was at least 20,000 years old. Sir C. Lyell was about to incorporate this fact into his book, when fortunately for his reputation, but unfortunately for his theory, one skilled in antique pottery proved that the tile was very modern, being in truth the work of a Roman hand. So with these stone axes ; I believe that they are all natural productions, from their abundance wherever they are found. Man has found them ready made to his hand, and has used them. So that the finding a celt in any stratum is by no means a proof that man was living when the stratum was deposited. We have, if they are not natural productions, but man-made, to shew how a very scanty population could have stored up these weapons in such arsenal-like abundance. We have confessedly the axes in very great number ; we have confessedly very few to make them ; and yet these multiplied stone axes are only just the lost, or the cast away, implements of these few. The philosopher tells us that he finds an insuperable difficulty in accepting the Bible deduced age of man. I find a far greater difficulty in accepting his proof of man's age from these stone axes. 3. Geology gives no support to the present favorite theory of development, which teaches that one animal has, by its own unaided faculties produced some new power, which has been continued in its successor ; and that thus an inferior race has been developed into a superior. But the rocks shew each class of animals, perfect in their kind, fitted admirably for the enjoyment of their life ; but it does not show any creature altering its nature, and so changing its kind. We see whole classes of animals dying out, and others, altogether different, taking their places ; and this not once, but repeatedly. This is not development, but interference from some external force. Here the Bible reader finds evidence of a creator, acting not once only, but repeatedly. If the one class died out, only He, who in the beginning created the first originals of life, could fill up the chasm — yet the progress of the world's history has been ever upward. First we found the zoophyte ; then the crustacean ; then the fish ; then the reptile and the bird ; then the mammal ; and then man, a being altogether apart from all others, richly endowed with a godlike energy ; with powers fitted to occupy and to rule the world so fairly decorated, so wisely fitted for his habitation in each gone-by age ; with mental faculties, which enabled him to see the wisdom and love of his Creator, the Maker and sole Designer of such universal excellence. And is this progress to be stayed here P The Book of Geology is perforce silent, but turn we. to the Book of God, and then we read of a future still fairer than any of the past hath been. "This mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption." "We shall be like the Lord, when we see Him as He is." And in this likeness shall man be for ever perfect. He shall know as He is known. All of God's work, every new hidden mystery, will be plain before him." " I shall be satisfied," said David in old time, "when I shall wake up after his likeness."