INTUODUCTION. 13 



them/ With the astronomer you may ascend the skies, 

 contemplate with ecstasy the movements of the heavenly 

 bodies, and with the scientific Psalmist you will exclaim, 

 ' The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 

 showeth his handiwork/ With the voyager you may visit 

 distant climes, and viewing man in all his multiplied and 

 varied characters, you will be convinced that ' God hath 

 made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the 

 earth/ Thus it is that in every age the evidences of re- 

 vealed rehgion have advanced with the progress of sound 

 knowledge. Indeed, it cannot be otherwise; for the God 

 of Nature, whose operations it is the province of science to 

 explore, is the God of the Bible; and, as the God of truth, 

 he cannot set forth in his word principles at variance with 

 those which, as the God of Nature, he has established in 

 the material world. Both systems of knowledge, thus ema- 

 nating from the same source, must harmonize with each 

 other ; for the Bible is something like a new edition of the 

 book of nature, with a splendid appendix, which makes 

 known the wonderful scheme of human redemption. If 

 there is any apparent discrepancy in these editions of this 

 same great work, it arises from our> inability rightly to de- 

 cipher the characters employed." 



