which are found in the diluvial formations, that it occurred since the existence of the present races of animals, and probably since the existence of man. The Scriptures inform us definitely when this great event did occur, and why; and its representations accord entirely with the conclusions of science on the same subject.

9. Geology teaches that the deluge, of which we speak, must have come over the earth suddenly, by some violent interruption of the regular course of nature. The waters seemed to have rushed with great violence from the north to the south, overtopping the highest mountains, and carrying along with them prodigious quantities of stones and earth. As to the extent and suddenness of the deluge, the Bible teaches the same doctrine. We are told expressly that the waters covered the highest mountains. We are told, too, that the guilty inhabitants of the earth "were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and knew not"-so sudden was the event to them-they "knew not till the flood came, and swallowed them all up," Matt. xxiv. 37-39. The fountains of the great deep were suddenly broken up, and the waters seem to have rolled over them in one wide wave of instant desolation.*

10. Geology informs us that the same species of animals existed before the deluge which exist now. Consequently, they must have been, in some way, preserved through the deluge, or, contrary to previous analogy, the same races which had been destroyed must have been reproduced afterwards. The Scriptures inform us that the different kinds of antediluvian animals were preserved through the deluge, and how they were preserved. They were safely lodged with Noah in the ark.

11. Geology indicates that there have been violent volcanic eruptions, near the site of the ancient Sodom and Gomorrah; and that what is now the Dead Sea was, in all probability, sunk in one of these eruptions. The account given in the Scriptures of the destruction of Sodom and the cities of the plain, is altogether coincident with those indications.

12. Geology teaches that, as the earth we inhabit has undergone already re

Without doubt, there was great and incessant

rain, at the time of the coming in of the deluge;

but that the event was not caused by mere rain, is evident from the nature of the case, as well as from the express language of Scripture, Gen. vii. 11.

peated revolutions, in which it has been rent from its deep foundations, and the races of creatures existing on it have been destroyed, to give place to others of a more perfect organisation; so, in all probability, another terrible revolution awaits our globe. It is to be destroyed (so to speak) again; and fitted up again, to be the habitation of nobler races of beings than those which now dwell upon it. Such, reasoning from analogy, are the deductions of geology, in regard to this momentous subject. And these deductions are in perfect accordance with the teachings of revelation. The present earth is to be destroyed at least, the present organisation of it; after which we look for a new heavens and a new earth, in which dwelleth righteousness," 2 Pet. iii. 13.

now.

13. Geology renders it altogether probable that the next overwhelming destruction of this world will be by fire. The earth is full of the most combustible materials; and it is on fire even The smoke of its burning is ascending up from a thousand furnaces. Its molten lavas are belching forth from its heaving bosom, and pouring down the sides of its mountains, and scorching its plains. We have about as much evidence geologically that this earth is one day to be destroyed by fire, as we should have that a house would be destroyed by fire, when we saw the smoke and flame issuing from its roof, and bursting forth from its opened windows. Now the Scriptures expressly assure us that this earth is one day to be destroyed by fire. "The heavens and the earth which are now are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men." "The day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." 2 Pet. iii. 7. 10.

14. I shall notice but another of the coincidences between the teachings of geology, and those of revelation. It appears from both these sources of evidence, that we are living, every day, on the sovereign forbearance and mercy of the Supreme Being. Nothing can be more critical, startling, and-were it not for the Divine forbearance-alarming than is our situation, and that of every other human being, viewed geologically. It is known that the heat of the earth increases, in

regular proportion, the deeper we penetrate into its bosom. Should this proportion of increase continue, as we descend into the earth,-and no reason can be assigned why it should not-at the depth of a few miles only we should reach a temperature which would instantly melt the solid rocks. The pro

bability therefore is, that the unknown interior of the earth is one vast sea of liquid fire; or, at least, that it consists of materials which would instantly take fire, and rage with resistless desolation, the moment they should come in contact with the waters of the ocean which roll above them. It is these pent-up fires which have already upheaved the mountains, and shaken whole continents in a single earthquake.* It is these which have rived the solid rocks in sunder, and streamed up lavas through them, in the form of trap dykes, for many thousands of feet. It is these which are smoking in the craters of volcanoes, and boiling in their bosoms, in every part of the earth. Here then we live, on a thin and already broken crust, which is extended over a vast ocean of liquid fire. And why do we live here at all? Why do not the smothered flames burst out and consume us? It is only because of the Divine forbearance and mercy. It is only because, as the Scriptures express it,speaking in reference to this very subject, "God is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' 2 Pet. iii. 9. It is God, in his mercy, who holds these awful fires in check. It is God who puts his great hand, so to speak, upon the smoking crevices of the heaving earth, and bridles in the smothered flames-till all the purposes of his grace are accomplished-till the great moral crisis of the world has come,-and then its physical crisis will come in a twinkling. Then the impatient fires will be let loose, and the whole frame of nature will be speedily dissolved.

In view of the interesting and important coincidences here noticed between geology and revelation, it surely is not enough to say of the former science, that it is not inconsistent with revealed religion. It is the handmaid of revealed religion. Its voice, on a great many points, is but the echo of that louder

The earthquake which destroyed Lisbon, in 1755, was felt in Iceland, and in other places in the north of Europe; an indication that its cause must have reached nearly to the centre of the earth.

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and more intelligible word, which proceeded from ancient men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The inquisition which has been made in modern times into the interior structure and past history of the earth, demonstrates that the God of nature is the God of the Bible, and that this holy book may be depended on, as a faithful exposition of his truth and will.

The time is within the recollection of many now living, when infidel writers were confident in their anticipations that the discoveries of the geologist would overthrow utterly the system of revealed truth. Brydone, Voltaire, and the French infidels generally exulted in the belief, that a light was beaming from the bowels of the earth, which would confound the advocates of Scripture, and explode utterly the Christian revelation. The issue of these high and boastful expectations is now before us. The investiga tions of geologists have been prosecuted -as they should have been-with the utmost ardour. Every accessible point, whether of mountain height or of ocean depth; of mine or cavern; of island shore, or volcanic steep, has been explored; and the conclusions of all respectable geologists are now decidedly in favour of Christianity. The more distinguished geologists, both of our own country and of Europe, are professed Christians. Several of them are Christian ministers. Instances might be mentioned, in which geological investigations have served to remove doubts in regard to the Divine authority of our sacred books, and confirm the unsettled faith of the sceptical inquirer. And why should they not? The coincidences which we have traced, between the teachings of geology, and those of revelation, are sufficient to convince any one, that the consistent geologist must be a Christian ;— that the unbelieving and undevout geologist is mad.

The disappointment of infidels in regard to the results of geological inquiry is not a soliary one. A great many of like nature have been inflicted on them, in the progress of investigation on other subjects. A few of these it may not be inappropriate very cursorily to notice.

Within less than a century it has been confidently pretended, that human beings are of different races. They are not all the descendants of a common father. God hath not "made of one blood all the nations of men, that dwell on the

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face of the whole earth." The representations of the Bible on this subject are false. "None but a blind man," says Voltaire, can doubt that the whites, the negroes, the Hottentots, Laplanders, Chinese, and American Indians, are distinct races." This assertion of the sage of Ferney, like most of his other impious assertions, was echoed and re-echoed by his numerous satellites. But in the present stage of scientific inquiry in regard to the natural history of our race, the man who should utter such a sentiment would be scouted. It has been satisfactorily ascertained, after the most careful metaphysical and anatomical research, that the human family are unquestionably a single family, and that the declarations of Scripture on this subject are true.

It has been pretended, within the last century, that the different languages spoken on the earth are so immensely numerous, and so widely distinct, as to give the lie to the account in Genesis, as to the confusion of tongues. This subject has been investigated anew, and investigated with great care and labour. The result will be presented in the language of a learned archæologist of the present day. After having expressed the opinion that the radically distinct languages spoken on the face of the carth are few, Dr. Wiseman adds, "We are driven to the conclusion that, on the one hand, these languages must have been primarily united in one, whence they drew the common elements essential to them all; and on the other, that the separation between them, which destroyed no less important resemblances, could not have been caused by any gradual departure, or individual development, but must have been occasioned by some violent, unusual, and active force, sufficient alone to reconcile these conflicting appearances and to account both for the resemblances and the differences."*

Such is the conclusion of mere scientific research, in regard to the different languages of men. It must be evident at a glance, how exactly it accords with the representation given in the Bible.

Within the last two hundred years, the friends of revelation have been often assailed with the pretensions of some of the nations of the East to a prodigious antiquity. The Chinese and Japanese, the Egyptians and Hindoos, we * Lectures, &c., p. 67.

have been told, possess unquestionable historical records, and astronomical observations which carry back their origin to thousands and perhaps millions of years previous to the Mosaic account of the creation of man. The taunts and sneers, the boastings and exultations of infidel writers and talkers on this subject, have been loud, and confident, and long. But with persons of information, of whatever religious sentiments, they have come to a final end now. The whole matter has been investigated; and the result is, that after every allowance which can reasonably be made, the Chinese, Japanese, and Hindoos, have no claims to an antiquity higher than the days of Abraham. Egypt was settled at a very early period; but there are no traces of Egyptian history until about two centuries after the deluge. It would be impossible here to go into particulars on the interesting subject of antiquities; and yet there are a few incidents too amusing and instructive to be altogether passed over.

Less than fifty years ago, an Egyptian relic, called the zodiac of Dendera, was transported into France. It was covered with unintelligible figures and hieroglyphics, and was declared by the infidel savans to be of a very remote antiquity. They did not doubt that it had existed long anterior to the Mosaic account of the deluge, or even of the creation. But at length the hieroglyphics are deciphered, and the hand-writing on the zodiac of Dendera is read; when it appears that it dates back only to the time of the Roman emperors, somewhat later than the commencement of the Christian era!

In the last century, there was a Hindoo work, strongly resembling, in many points, the Christian Scriptures, translated from the Sanscrit, and published. It was called the Ezour Veda. Voltaire pounced on it at once, declared it a work of great antiquity, and had no doubt that the leading facts of the New Testament were borrowed from it. What then is the history of the Ezour Veda ? The matter has been fully investigated, so that there is no longer any doubt or uncertainty respecting it. The Ezour Veda was written by a Jesuit missionary in the year of our Lord 1621, and with a view to promote Christianity among the Brahmins of India.

It used to be said that the account given in Exodus of the building of the

tabernacle could not be true; because the materials composing it could not have been furnished at that early period. The arts were not sufficiently understood. But it has been recently discovered that the arts were at their greatest perfection in Egypt, at the time when the Israelites sojourned there, and became "skilled in all the wisdom of the Egyptians."

It used to be said on the authority of Herodotus, that the ancient Egyptians drank no wine; and of course that the story of Pharaoh's butler, recorded in Genesis, could not be true. But the researches of Champollion and others have settled the question, that ancient Egypt abounded in vineyards, and that its inhabitants were in the constant use of wine.

It has been said a thousand times that, admitting the Scriptures to have been originally inspired, they may have been essentially corrupted. The copies have been tampered with. They have been interpolated. Passages have been foisted in, and foisted out, to suit the convenience of interested individuals, till we can have no confidence in the accuracy of what remains. To this, it need only be said in reply, that the subject has been laboriously and critically examined, and it has been ascertained to a demonstration, that the various readings are of no essential moment. They are somewhat numerous, as might be expected, the books having passed through the hands of thousands of transcribers; but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, they consist in the mere accidental change of a letter, or a point, which makes no essential variation in the sense.

These instances have been introduced for the purpose of showing, that the disappointment of infidels, in regard to the results of geological inquiry, has not been their only disappointment. It is but one among a great many others of a similar character. Defeated in one course of inquiry, they have fled to another; and foiled here, they have resorted to a third. They have appealed to the heavens for a confutation of our sacred books. They have cried to the sun, and moon, and stars, "Come, curse ye them from thence." They have uttered the same cry to the rocks and caverns of the earth, "Come, curse ye these hated books from thence." They have looked to hoary legends, and crumbling monuments, and the catacombs of ancient kings, and have said in despair, "Come,

curse ye them from thence." But the curse, in every instance, has been turned into a blessing. And so it always will be. Scientific investigations, fairly and thoroughly conducted, must always turn to the furtherance of Christianity. For what is science, but a knowledge of nature's laws? And what are nature's laws, but rules which the Supreme Being-the God of the Bible, has prescribed to himself, in carrying into effect his vast designs? The God of nature and the God of the Bible are identical; and hence a consistent and thorough investigation of nature-the more thorough the better-must always tend, as in the case of geology, to illustrate the nature and support the evidence of Bible truth. None but smatterers, dabblers in the study of nature, as a general thing, become infidels, or are in any particular danger of becoming such. Was Newton an infidel? Were Boyle, and Bacon, and Leibnitz infidels? Were Cuvier, and Davy, and Bentley infidels? Yet before these hierophants in nature's temple, the puny infidels of modern times may well retire abashed, and “hide their diminished heads."

"No system ever laid itself open more completely to detection, if it contained any error, than that of Christianity. No book ever gave so many clues to discovery, if it tell an untruth, as the sacred volume. In it we have recorded the earliest and the latest physical revolu tions of our globe; the dispersion of the human race; the succession of monarchs in the surrounding countries, from the time of Sesostris, to the Syrian kings; the habits, manners, and languages of various nations; the great religious traditions of the human race; and the recital of many marvellous and miraculous events, not to be found in the annals of any other people." Add to this, that it is the work, not of one hand, but of many, between whom there could have been no collusion or design; and I appeal to the considerate reader, if there ever was a book which, if untrue, if an imposition, presented so many chances for detection and exposure. And yet its leaves were thrown fearlessly open, from two to three thousand years ago, to the investigation of philosophers and critics

to the scrutiny of friends and foes. Its leaves have lain unfolden from that time to the present, inviting discussioninviting research; saying virtually, like its great Author, "Testify against me

if you can" and it has passed the ordeal; it has stood the test. Its evidences, so far from being weakened by the labours of critics, the researches of philosophers, and the lapse of time, are becoming continually strengthened. Dark passages are brought out into light. Seeming discrepancies are reconciled. What were regarded as difficulties two hundred years ago are found such no longer. Every science, every pursuit, as it makes a step in its own natural, onward progress, increases the mass of our confirmatory evidence." The very efforts of infidels are made to recoil on their own heads, and are over-ruled for the establishment and advancement of the Gospel. And shall Christians tremble now for the safety of their precious ark? Shall they fear now, that the progress of any real science can shake the foundation of their hopes?

There are many Christians, it may be feared, who have no practical conception of the unmoveable security of that foundation on which it is their privilege to stand. They are easily terrified at appearances. The boastful pretensions of some infidel hypothesis, some misnamed science, alarms them. Or, what is worse, they are drawn away, it may be, for a time, from the clear shining of the light of heaven, to follow in the glare of some meteor, or mock sun. The subject here discussed is calculated to impress upon all Christians the folly of such terrors-the guilt and danger of such aberrations. In the faith of the Gospel, we have a rock beneath our feet; and it is our own fault if we leave it, and become lost and buried in the sands. "We have a sure word of prophecy, to which we do well to take heed, as to a light shining in a dark place;" and it is our own fault, if we turn from it, in the pursuit of wandering stars.

There will be dreams and visions, plausible theories and lying vanities, in days to come, as there have been in days past. There will be false pretenders to science, speaking great swelling words, and leading unwary souls astray. But let the Christian possess himself in perfect peace, as most assuredly he is in a situation of perfect security. The storm may rage around him for a season, but it will pass over. The lightnings may flash and the thunders roar, but they will ere long be hushed. And Christianity will come out of every new trial,

But in speaking thus confidently of the truth of Christianity-of its eternal, inflexible truth, are those who profess it aware, in all cases, of what they affirm? What is Christianity? What does the sacred volume teach? Its conclusions, in many points, are coincident, as we have seen, with those of science; but in various other points, it discloses what no mere science ever taught, or ever can. It publishes truths-and this is the reason why it has been so violently assailed -truths, humbling to the pride of man, startling to his fears, wounding to his carnal peace, and fatal to his unfounded hopes. It tells of guilt-awful guilt; and of impending judgment-awful judgment. It tells of a Deliverer, who saves all that embrace and follow him, but who punishes all others with an aggravated condemnation. It tells, not only (like geology) of melting elements and burning worlds, but of a great white throne, and of Him who is to sit upon it, before whom the earth and the heavens are to flee away. It shows us the rising dead, the assembled worlds, the open books, the final awards. It shows us heaven-and it shows us hell. It calls us to look upward, and behold the unmingled joys and glories of the saved. It permits us to look downward, and listen to the wailings of the lost.

There are truths-and they are truths, if Christianity is true-which, for solemn interest and impression, cast all others into the shade. Here are truths, on the heights of which the Christian may plant himself, and look far down upon mere questions of science, as manhood looks upon the baubles of infancy, or as angels may be supposed to look upon the trifling pursuits of men.

I

Of the reader of these pages, may be permitted to inquire, before we part, Do you believe the truths of the Bible? Dare you disbelieve them? Or perhaps I might better inquire, Dare you believe them? Dare you feel, and live, and act, in all your intercourse with the world, as though the Bible was the truth of God?

I know there are some, who are very ready to profess their belief of the truth of Christianity, and then live as though there was no truth in it. But what good can such a belief of Christianity do? Must