ed with the welfare of the human race. Even where, as in the case of the deluge, the Scripture treats of great natural events, the principles of interpretation are so very far from being agreed upon, that the greatest caution should be employed in founding arguments upon it; and, if the attempt to connect the details of Scripture narrative with the results of physical inquiry, were prudent upon other topics, it would still be premature and dangerous in geology, from the very imperfect state of that branch of Natural History itself.

There is a passage in the Preface to Burnet's Treatise on the Theory of the Earth, + which is excellent upon this subject; and it is the more deserving of attention, as that celebrated work was written expressly in support of Sacred history. The author is speaking of Saint Austin, who,' he says, showed his zeal against the Antipodes to very ill purpose, though he drew his reasons partly from Scripture'--and if (continues Burnet, writing in 1697) within a few years, or in the next generation, it should prove as certain and demonstrable that the earth is moved, as it is now that there are Antipodes; those that have been zealous against it, and engaged the Scripture in the controversy, would have the same reason to repent of their for'wardness, that St Austin would have now if he was alive. It is a dangerous thing to engage the authority of Scripture in 'disputes about the natural world, in opposition to reason; lest Time, which brings all things to light, should discover that to 'be evidently false, which we had made Scripture to assert; and "I remember St Austin, in his exposition upon Genesis, hath 'laid down a rule to this very purpose, though he had the unhappiness, it seems, not to follow it always himself.' The

* Thus, Mr Buckland himself maintains confidently, that various species of animals were utterly lost and extinguished by the Deluge while the Mosaic account states distinctly, that they were all preserved; and even Mr Granville Penn, while he insists on the most literal adherence to the Sacred narrative in every thing relating to geology, admits that considerable liberty may be used with it in other matters; and quotes, with approbation, Rosenmuller's sweeping recipe for reconciling the mention of mornings and evenings before the creation of the sun. 'Loquitur,' says this reasonable theologian,' secundum veritatem Opticam, non Physicam: nec mirum; cum Vulgus altiora non capiat; nam Historia captui vulgi est accom

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'modata.

+ 8vo. Vol. i. pp. xix. xx.

It is singular, that the book to which these observations are prefixed, is itself only a splendid example of erroneous views in philosophy; the very title showing how much the author was mistaken

reason, also, which he gives for this caution, is admirable, and very finely expressed: For,' saith he, if the unbelievers or philosophers shall certainly know us to be mistaken, and to err in those things that concern the natural world, and see that we allege our (sacred) books for such vain opinions, how shall they believe those same books when they tell them of the resurrection of 'the dead and the world to come, if they find them to be fallaci" ously writ, in such things as lie within their certain knowledge?' We sincerely wish that Mr Buckland had considered the force of these excellent observations, before the publication of the present work; since, though we think very highly of his performance and of the talents which it displays, and will not yield to the author in a zealous desire to diffuse the blessings of revealed religion, we are by no means certain that he would not have done better, both as a divine and a geologist, if he had left altogether untouched the connexion of his subject with the Sacred narrative; and contented himself with the confirmation he has given to the fact, of the universal action of a deluge upon the earth's surface; leaving the propositions so established to find their place, and to produce their effect hereafter. It would be unjust however, not to add, that in the tone and language of the present volume, there is no trace of that polemic and offensive spirit, with which almost every thing else that we have read, where Scripture history is connected with physical inquiry, has been contaminated.

But whatever may be thought of the prudence of attempting to connect the discoveries of natural science with the sacred writings, it is evident, that if the testimony of science can ever be of any value in support of Scripture history, the physical researches, by which it is intended to confirm the historical statements, should be most strictly independent. No latent facility should incline us to accept weak evidence because of its tendency to the desired object;-but, for the sake of revelation as well as of science,-of truth in every form,-the physical part of the inquiry ought to be conducted as if the Scriptures were not in existence. Above all, the tone and language of such an inquiry should betray no desire to force conviction, by connecting with it extrinsic considerations; or by holding up to obloquy, those who dissent from our opinions, or reject

as to the province of physical inquiry.' The Sacred Theory of the Earth, containing an Account of the Original of the Earth, and of all the general Changes which it hath already undergone, or is to undergo, till the consummation of all things." 3d Edit. folio, 1697.

Gen. ad. tit. lib. 1. c. 19.

our arguments. Imputations of this character connected thus with a subject of acknowledged difficulty, are not less impolitic than uncharitable; for it may be retorted, that more tangible agents sometimes have a share in religious controversy, and that the hope of advancement in wealth, station, or authority, may be no less powerful in one direction, than the pride of scepticism on the other. But the great objection to all attempts to cramp the exercise of reason and conscience upon questions of this nature, rests upon much higher grounds:-they render doubtful the goodness of the cause whose advocates stoop to such resources; * and violate those maxims of mildness and benignity, which are the characteristic of our religion, and assuredly not the lowest proofs of its Divine origin.

If what has been published on the Geology of the Deluge, be tried by the tests we have now proposed, scarcely any writer of the last century, and but few of a more recent date, can be found, who has not weakened the force of his arguments by dogmatism and intolerance,- or so combined with false or absurd theory and vague assertion, whatever he may have contributed to real knowledge, as to render it practically of little service.

We have already, in a former article, + alluded to the singular opinions entertained, about the beginning of the last century, upon the nature of Petrifactions; which, no small number of philosophers contended, were not the remains of animated beings, but mere lusus naturæ, or perhaps the unfinished materials of generations not yet called into existence. But if these naturalists were sparing of life, Kepler and others had asserted, in return, that the entire globe possessed the principle of animation; and among these, Robinson § of Ouseby, is

Let every thing' says Burnet, be tried and examined in the 'first place, whether it be True or False; and if it be found false, it is then to be considered, whether it be such a falsity as is prejudi'cial to religion, or no. But for every new theory that is proposed, to be alarmed, as if all religion was falling about our ears, is to 'make the world suspect that we are very ill assured of the founda'tion it stands upon. '-8vo. yol. i. Preface xx. xxi.

+ Edin. Rev. vol. xxix. p. 314.

Cuvier-Discours preliminaire.

the Anato

that matter at

We allude to a Tract of this author, entitled my of the Earth,' 4to, 1694, in which he tells us 'first consisted of innumerable particles, of divers figures and different qualities, running a reel in dark confusion, till the world, by the infusion of a vital spirit, became a great animal, having

somewhat deserving of notice, since he has brought forward, in one of his publications, some striking proofs of design in

skin, flesh, blood,' &c. and he has given a chapter upon each of these divisions of his subject,-the eighth chapter, containing a description of the Belly of the earth' and what it may be supposed to contain, with an inquiry into the causes of earthquakes, makes rather a curious approach to certain modern theories. After stating that riches and metals are not digged from the innermost viscera terræ,' and that the works of miners are scratches rather in the skin of the earth, than wounds in her bowels;' the writer adds, that the state of things is such, as must unavoidably incline us to believe, that in the middle of the earth there is a vast cavity or hollow, of a regular multangular figure, as in the following scheme-'

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"wherein we suppose the mighty space, a, to be filled up with a 'crude and undigested matter, endued with several different and contrary qualities, which are in a continual struggle and contention among themselves. Above these, we have the crust or fleshy part of the earth, made up of the several leaves or foldings of stone, minerals, &c. as at b, b, b, b; together with the dykes and rakes, (or sinews and other ligaments) at c, c, c, c. Now, when, in the intestine war below, the airy particles prevail, they break through the joints of the earth in hurricanes, as at d, d; and when (on the contrary) the fiery particles are predominant, they force their passage the same way, as at e, e, causing thereby flaming eruptions and earthquakes; sometimes with that violence as to break the And very ribbs of the earth, swallowing up houses and towns. these convulsions are as natural to the earth as feavers, agues, and "other distempers are to the bodies of other animals.

* An Essay towards a Natural History of Cumberland and Westmoreland.'

the economy of nature. But, though he has ventured also to speculate upon the Mosaic account of the Creation and the Deluge, his writings are quite sufficient to show the very humble qualifications of geologists in those days, in judgment and good taste.

The discussions that took place about this period, respecting the nature and origin of fossil remains, in which several of the most eminent naturalists, both in England and on the Continent, took a part, render it the more surprising, that Voltaire, who affects to treat the question of the deluge as a natural philosopher, + should not only have denied the connexion of fossil bodies with that event, but even expressed doubts as to their existence; and it is hardly unfair to suppose, that his opinions upon this subject was influenced by the evidence which petrifactions were supposed to furnish, of what he had undertaken. to disprove, since, instead of investigating the facts himself, he tells us, that the fossil bones discovered in the interior of France, may have been stray specimens from the cabinets of collectors; and that the oyster shells, said to occur near Mont Cenis, are probably muscles (moules) from the adjoining lakes, -or even may have come from the hats of pilgrims, on their way from Spain to the Holy Land! Nor is he more fortunate in some of his other objections, since he reasons as to the physical difficulties involved by a general inundation, from the rate at which the waters of the Mediterranean are said to retire from the coast; and finds that two million two hundred and fifty thousand years would thus be required to enable the sea to make the tour of the globe!'-while he assumes, as the basis of another argument, where the ground is really strong, that the mean depth of the ocean, which the calculations of La Place have since shown to be about four leagues, is only five hundred feet.

Hutchinson was another of the numerous writers of those days who combined geology with disquisitions on the Mosaic history; and it must be presumed that he possessed some ability, as he was the founder of a sort of school, and seems to have inspired his pupils with considerable enthusiasm. He made some good observa

Observations on the Natural History of this World of Matter and World of Life; being a philosophical discourse grounded on the Mosaic system of the World, and of the Flood. By Thomas Robinson, Rector of Ouseby, in Cumberland. '—1699.

+ Dictionaire Philosophique portalif;-Articles, Coquilles, Deluge, Inondation, Miracles, &c.

La Place, quoted by Kirwan, Mem. Acad. des Sciences, &c. 1776, p. 213.