that "Ezekiel, who was a Priest, and consequently well acquainted with the interior of the temple and the holy place, on seeing this glorious represen tation, exclaims, 'I knew that they were the cherubim.' (Chap. x. 20.)" The directions which were given to Solomon and to Moses, which, indeed, did not materially differ, are next mentioned, on which Mr. Smith remarks, It will be observed by the careful reader, that, minute and particular as is this account, we have in it no description of the cherubim: their position is most carefully pointed out, but their form is not described. This is a most important consideration, as it inevitably warrants the conclusion that these figures were well known, and that all that was necessary was to point out their relative position in the Mosaic tabernacle. Having finished his examination of these several passages, Mr. Smith leads us back to the original passage in Genesis, and quotes Morison on the rendering of the Hebrew words in the English authorized version. We can only give the result of these criticisms : Had the translators of the English Bible, then, not been misled by some idea about a guard around the tree, they would have rendered the verse thus: "So he drove out the man. And he inhabited (or dwelt) between the cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and the fire of wrath (a fierce fire) infolding itself to preserve inviolate the way of the tree of life." Our author closes this investigation with the following just observations: What is the judgment to which this extended investigation has conducted us? Simply this, that the cherubim, the fire, and the Divine Presence, were manifested in Eden as they were afterwards in the temple, to show God's anger against sin, to teach, through the mediation of the promised Saviour, a way of life, and to afford sinful man a way of access unto God. We think these memorials were intended to speak a language more forcible than that of words; and to say, as was afterwards said when the same figures were raised in the tabernacle, "There will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from between the cherubim." (Exod. xxv. 22.) If our opinion respecting the tree of life be correct,-that it stood in some way connected with religious privilege, that it was designed in some sense to represent a spiritual access unto God,-then the whole connexion of the subject gives a clear and consistent sense, and the God of all grace is seen seated between the cherubim to preserve and maintain among men the way of the tree of life, the way of spiritual access to himself. We have satisfied ourselves with general terms in this short exposition. We dare not attempt to give a more particular explanation, and doubt whether sufficient light has come down to us to render this possible. But we are of opinion that it was intended we should have some definite ideas of this part of holy Scripture; and, with all deference to the many other views which have been propounded, we think these to be substantially correct. (Pages 169-175.) We had marked for transcription several passages illustrative of the doctrinal clearness and soundness of the volume before us; but our limited space will only permit us to make this passing reference to the subject. It is due, however, to Mr. Smith, to record our admiration of the spirit in which he has propounded his views, of the absence in the volume of everything like a sectarian tendency. We have occasionally met with works of great merit whose value has been completely marred by the introduction of denominational preferences. The reader of this volume will meet with no such annoyances: while the author is careful to maintain the great principles of evangelical truth, in all their integrity, he is no less careful to abstain from everything which could offend the most sensitive of those who may differ from him in minor peculiarities. The following pledges in the preface have been fully redeemed : The author freely avows that it has been throughout an integral part of his design, to impart to the work a decidedly religious character. He has endeavoured not only to unite in the same investigation the history of every age with its religion, but to do this in a decidedly religious manner; and avoiding all sectarian peculiarities, uniformly to illustrate the grand elements of evangelical godliness, and to show their powerful efficacy in forming the finest characters of sacred antiquity, the most perfect specimens of exalted dignity and moral grandeur, of which our frail humanity, under the benignant ducture of divine teaching, has at any time been capable. (Page vii.) Mr. Smith has been led, in the course of his varied and multiform inquiries, to give his opinion on some few questions in natural philosophy. This he was called to do, especially in those parts of his work in which "the Creation of the World" and "the Deluge" come under review. As we shall have to remark on one or two points, it is right that we should give our readers an opportunity of understanding the principles on which our author has proceeded in these inquiries : Where the Scripture doctrine, that "God created the heavens and the earth," is known and received, there the first principle of true philosophy is recognised. Nature is considered, not as a necessary existence, but as the creature of the Almighty; and the laws of nature, Again : It is utterly absurd in a Christian to invest the inductions of science, or any other source of knowledge, with an authority superior to that which is awarded to the explicit declarations of holy writ. Two truths cannot contradict each other. If they appear to do so, the appearance must result from the incompetency of the person who endeavours to form a judgment on the subject. Therefore, in considering the origin of the world, although it may be wise not only to hear all that the researches of science have elicited as to the operations of nature in past ages, but even to search after this information with great diligence; it is not wise to be led away by the general influence of these deductions, so as to regard the existence and present condi not as the unalterable conditions of being, but as the manner in which unchangeable Wisdom operates to confer the highest benefits, and to manifest his preservation and government of the world. (Page 108.) tion of the world as the result of a series We admit the general soundness of these principles, and of others which the author has elsewhere laid down; but withal, we think he might have made concessions to the discoveries and deductions of geology, with less hesitancy than he appears willing to do, even without infringing the general principles which he had previously laid down. We also, with him, "do not believe either that the well-ascertained facts of geology contradict the narrative of Moses, or that the Scripture account impugns the validity of those facts;" but we must carefully avoid all à priori and prejudiced inter3 к VOL. III.-FOURTH SERIES. pretation of those descriptions of natural phenomena contained in the book of inspiration. The few first words of Genesis (says Mr. Smith) are appealed to by geologists, 66 as containing a brief statement of the creation of the material elements," at a time distinctly preceding the operations of the first day because "it is nowhere affirmed that God created the heaven and the earth in the first day, but in the beginning," and it is contended, therefore, that "this beginning may have been an epoch at an unmeasured distance, followed by periods of undefined duration, during which all the physical operations of geology were going on.' Having thus stated the claims of geologists, Mr. Smith proceeds to observe, If putting this sense on the narrative be sufficient to satisfy the demands of geology, there cannot be the slightest reason for presuming that the science is directly opposed to the teaching of revelation. For the brief account of Moses certainly does not say that this creation took place on the first day; and therefore, if it is really necessary, we do not see why this concession may not be made, without at all impugning the verity of holy writ. So far, so good: but now our author hesitates, and appears anxious to retrace this step. "Yet," he continues,— We are by no means satisfied, either that the discoveries of geology at present establish a system of facts which neces sarily demand this interpretation, or that it is the natural sense of the words. The terms, "the beginning," are thus in their application thrown back into eternity; their connexion with the subject of the Mosaic narrative, if not cut off, is made distant and indirect; and therefore, at present, we will not presume to dogmatize on the subject, but take the language as distinctly teaching the creation of the matter of which our earth is composed, without at all determining the chronalogy of this great event. (Pages 118, 119.) And yet, when we look at the many difficulties which stand in the way of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion of the subject, arising principally from the indeterminate character of the science of geology, and the differences, and, indeed, contradictions, of those who are engaged in its pursuits, we cannot be surprised at the hesitancy with which Mr. Smith makes any concessions in its favour. We also have felt the same disinclination, especially as it respects the extravagant chronological demands which have been made by geologists, a subject on which Mr. Smith has some excellent remarks in the fifth chapter of his work. Sharon Turner, in his "Sacred History of the World," has recorded a fact which completely upsets this extravagant theory. We refer to a fossil tree which was discovered in 1830 in the Cragleith stone-quarry. Its total length was above sixty feet; and at an angle of forty degrees, it intersected ten or twelve different strata of the sand-stone. Its back had been converted into a thin stratum of the purest and finest coal. "The importance of the fact,” says Turner, "is, that its inclined position, passing through nearly a dozen different strata of sand-stone, is a proof that this hard rock does not require long time to form; and, therefore, such a circumstance clears geology of the extravagant suppositions that have been made, of the immense lapses of time which were conjectured to be necessary for the formation of our consolidated rocks." On the other hand, however, the difficulties presented by fossil remains, their series, succession of series, and successive relations to the respectively contemporaneous constitutions or adaptations of the globe, would incline us to isolate the initial passage of Genesis from the * Dr. Buckland's "Bridgewater Treatise," vol. i., p. 21. general scope of the book, rather than contend for the connexion which Mr. Smith appears disposed to advocate. Great care must be taken lest we limit and restrict the meaning of Scripture beyond what is reasonable and just. Mr. Smith says that, by this interpretation, the words, "In the beginning," are in their application thrown back into eternity. We are unable to perceive the force of this objection. Our author had already attached so much importance to the revelation of the great truth, that "GOD created the heavens and the earth," in opposition to those who contend for the eternity of matter, that he might, we think, have discovered strong and weighty reasons for ascribing a pre-existent application to the words in question, even although it should involve a break in the narrative. It is with great deference that we propound these remarks, which are designed rather to call attention to the subject, than to pronounce an absolute decision. We close them with a passage in favour of the geological interpretation of Genesis i. 1, 2, extracted from the "Biblical Review," vol. i., page 97 :"It is also important and interesting to observe, that the early Fathers of the Christian church appear to have entertained precisely similar views; for St. Gregory Nazianzen, after St. Justin Martyr, supposes an indefinite period between the creation and the first ordering of all things. St. Basil, St. Cæsarius, and Origen are much more explicit. To these might be added Augustine, Theodoret, Episcopius, and others, whose remarks imply the existence of a considerable interval between the creation, related in the first verse of Genesis, and that of which we have an account in the third verse. And in modern times, but long before geology became a science, the independent character of the opening sentence of Genesis was affirmed by such judicious and learned men as Calvin, Bishop Patrick, and Dr. David Jennings. And in some old editions of the English Bible, where there is no division into verses, you actually find a break at the end of what is now the second verse. And in Luther's Bible, (Wittenberg, 1557,) you have, in addition, the figure 1 placed against the third verse, as being the beginning of the account of the creation of the first day. Now these views were formed independently of all geological considerations. In the entire absence of evidence from this quarter,-probably even in opposition to it, as some would think,-these conclusions were arrived at on biblical grounds alone. Geology only illustrates and confirms them. The works of God prove to be one with this pre-conceived meaning of his word." Having said thus much, it would be unjust to Mr. Smith not to insert one or two considerations that appear to have swayed him in the opinion which he seems disposed to prefer. They are certainly worthy of attention, though, as he himself acknowledges, they do not meet the difficulty which is presented by the various series of fossil remains. When Adam came from the hands of his Maker, it is evident he was fully formed; as complete in his stature and strength, as in the development of his intellectual powers. If it were possible that the first man, in all the glow of his instantaneous maturity, could now be submitted to our investigation, guided by our experience of the ordinary and universal operations of nature, we should say, that twenty, thirty, or forty years must have been required to bring him to this state of perfection. progressive stages of infancy and youth; all admit that the power of God fashioned and perfected him in one day, and presented him to nature as its earthly lord. We are not puzzled with this case, because the body of the first man is removed from our sight: but it is not so with the "everlasting rocks," they remain open to our inspection; and as there is no reason for believing that, in respect of them, as well as in the case of animated nature, the Creator did not at once bring into perfect being, by the word of his power, what in the ordinary Yet no one ever imagines that he crept through the operations of nature it would have so extended an era for the works of creation. (Pages 116, 117.) required ages to concrete, so there is no reason for demanding, on this account, Again : Moses does not tell us that God spoke trees, shrubs, and flowers into existence, as he did the light and the air: he caused them to grow. He said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth." (Verse 11.) We have here a striking illustration of the sentiment advanced in a preceding page. The vegetable kingdom was called into being as vegetables now rise into being: so. they grew out of the earth. "And it was The grass, the herbs, the trees, grew in one day: they rose up into such perfect being, that God saw that it was good. If this does not teach that results which now, in the ordinary operations of nature, require a considerable time for their production, were then, by the power of God, produced in the same manner, but in the short space of a day, we candidly confess we can attach no meaning to the language. (Page 123.) We greatly admire the manner in which Mr. Smith has dealt with the pseudo-philosophers of the present day, in different parts of his work. Our readers will be gratified with the following eloquent and spirited passages :— But it may be asked, "Has this writer never heard of the laws of nature, which have most evidently conduced to the present state of material being? Has he never considered the effects of gravity, concretion, chemical affinity, magnetism, electricity, and various other natural agencies which are now, and have from the beginning been, in operation?" Yes: he has carefully considered all these, and asks in return, Whence did they arise ? Are they not all indubitable witnesses of the truth of this text? Do they not all attest the agency of the Spirit of God in creation? Let science display all the wonders of nature, let her testimony be implicitly received; but let the truth of revelation be at the same time granted, and we are necessarily conducted to this important conclusion, that the mysterious agencies which have been referred to, with all that are usually called "the laws of nature," are but records of what the Holy Ghost, in the beginning, imprinted on the passive elements of matter. And if the human mind faints in the attempt to follow these in their ordinary operation, need we wonder that we cannot unravel the mysteries which they produced when called into the most energetic action by the word of His power, when instinct with the omnipotent energy of the Spirit of God? Yet how wonderful is the fact, that, so far as the researches of physical science extend, it appears that the means which the wisdom and power of Jehovah employed in building up our world, are left by him as the great conservative principles of this terrestrial fabric; and through these natural laws and agencies nature proclaims, in all her works, the being, the wisdom, and the power of God! (Page 120.) Having spoken of the intellectual and moral dignity of man in Paradise, Mr. Smith proceeds : This is not allegory; it is fact. It is revealed by Him whose infinite wisdom and almighty power brought it to pass. How unlike the speculations of philosophy, the dreams of perverted reason! Vain man, who would be wise, spurns the teachings of revelation, and taxes his boasted powers to account for his own existence; and how does he perform his task? We might have supposed that, however defective, it would not lack dignity, tha it would be calculated to sustain the character of man, that it would not be unworthy of the mighty aspirations of his mind, the dazzling coruscations of his fancy, the burning energy of his genius. Alas! how different! These exhibitions all unite in one particular,-they all degrade him to the earth. Like frogs or mice, man arises from slumbering animation, and creeps into being from the mud of the Nile; or some one of the monkey tribe, more sagacious than his fellows, walks erect, and his descendants, after wading through ages of bestiality and barbarism, at length become the progenitors of man, of poets and philosophers! Perish such wisdom! The records of divine revelation furnish a true, and |