PROCEEDINGS OP PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES. 307 



evidence of so many writers eminent for their piety and their learn- 

 ing, establishing this interpretation, that it appears most unfair and 

 uncharitable to accuse geologists of the present day of the impious 

 attempt to bend the text of the sacred writings to their own preju- 

 dices and views/' From these and other arguments the lecturer 

 arrives at the conclusion that if, as the most approved science and 

 philosophy demonstrate, a world did exist, inhabited by unknown 

 animals, before our system was called into being, there is nothing 

 in the Mosaic account repugnant to such a view ; that his account 

 was intended as the history of the present earth and of the ancestors 

 of its present inhabitants, and also to convey religious and moral 

 instruction to the generation whom he addressed, and to all after 

 ages. After removing any religious difficulty that might exist in 

 the pursuits of Geology — a most important branch of natural science 

 — he thus cautions his hearers against rash and useless speculations : 

 " It would be foreign to my subject to enter in detail upon the six 

 days creation. Over many parts of that glorious and miraculous 

 event science has shed her light, over others mystery has thrown her 

 thickest veil, concealing them from the knowledge, yet leaving them 

 to the admiration, of man. Often, indeed, in our contemplations on 

 the works of providence, even when glorying in the splendid acces- 

 sions which science has made in these latter days, often are we con- 

 strained to acknowledge that the injunction of Milton is not devoid 

 of philosophy : — 



' Whether the sun, predominant in heaven, 

 Rise on the earth, or earth rise on the sun — 

 He from the east his flaming road begin, 

 Or she from west her silent course advance 

 With inoffensive pace that, spinning, sleeps 

 On her soft axle while she paces even 

 And bears thee soft with the smooth air along — 

 Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid : 

 Leave them to God above.' 



The doubt conveyed in these lines has been solved, but the warning 

 need not be disregarded." 



The lecturer next proved, by the authority of La Place, that no 

 animal could have existed at the time of the Mosaic creation, how- 

 ever they might before, thus destroying the unphilosophical theory 

 of an eternal successive generation of animals ; and also instanced 

 Cuvier's proof that man was first created about six thousand years 

 ago. He then proceeded to show, at considerable length, the har- 

 monious adaptations that pervade the universe, drawing his illustra- 

 tions from the mutual attractions and movements of the heavenly 

 bodies, and from thence the unity of design evinced in the animal 

 and vegetable kingdom, describing creative power in the words of 

 the poet : — 



" Lives through all life, extends through all extent. 

 Spreads undivided, operates unspent." 



