president's address. 227 



God's Word, than did the demonstration of the solar system. 

 For why ? Scripture does not profess to be a cosmogony, or 

 account of the original erection of the material universe. Its 

 object was only to tell man his history, Ms origin and fall, and 

 to draw his mind to his Eedeemer. The only cosmogony is in 

 Genesis i. 1, " created^ In the whole of the rest of the account 

 the word, as every Hebrew scholar knows, is simply " did,^'' or 

 '-'- formed'"' And thus criticism rises up and teaches us to 

 harmonize Scripture and Science. It is the same as to the 

 universality of the deluge. The strongest term, " the hills that 

 were under the whole heavens," is used elsewhere when the 

 context shows that only Palestine and its immediate neighbour- 

 hood could be implied. 



In like manner, we may rest calmly assured, that however the 

 now vexed question, of the origin of species, ultimately be decided 

 by science, all proved facts will be found, like their predecessors, 

 in perfect accordance with Scripture. The tw^o have never yet 

 been found at variance, though they have often been charged 

 with being so. The great truths of the one — the origin of 

 man, the origin of evil, the promise of a Saviour — science never 

 had discovered; and with those revealed truths, are mixed up 

 statements respecting the condition of the earth. The language 

 of that record was fixed thousands of years ago, while science 

 was in its infancy. Meanwhile it has been opening the book of 

 nature, and of late years has been rapidly turning over its count- 

 less leaves. Is it to be wondered at that the immature deductions 

 of science have sometimes appeared to contradict Scripture, while 

 those settled results, on which all are agreed, have only tended 

 to confirm and illustrate the sacred volume. Let us then pursue 

 the investigation of nature in an unbiassed and truth-seeking 

 spirit, but let us lay our conclusions reverently at the feet of 

 revelation, and see how they harmonise. The pursuit of natural 

 science is more than a luxury, it is a duty. " To live in ignorance 

 of the history and material laws of the universe of which he 

 forms a part, is a libel on that commanding gift with which God 

 has endowed man, rendering him pre-eminent above the rest of 

 His creatures. The progress of science is the setting forth of the 



