A DAY IN A QUARRY. 83 



If the poet had lived to this day, he would have 

 been amongst the first to recognize the value of 

 geology, and to perceive its bearing upon some 

 of the most vital problems of life and religion." 



" But," said Baxter, " don't you think it would 

 have been all the better for religion if there had 

 never been any such thing as geology ? I, of course, 

 know nothing about the science, but one frequently 

 hears it said that geologists deny the Bible state- 

 ment that the world was created in six days, and 

 that their doctrines would make our planet many 

 millions of years old." 



" I am afraid, my dear fellow, that many Christians 

 misunderstand geologists, just as some geologists 

 misrepresent the Bible. I think, however, the 

 time is approaching when scientific men generally 

 will see that the Christian religion does not 

 necessarily make men narrow-minded and bigoted, 

 and when there will not be a single Christian who 

 will stand in dread of scientific inquiry and 

 discovery. Now you must bear in mind that Moses 

 does not assert that the world is only six thousand 

 years old. It is doubtful whether he said that even 

 the human race is that age. The chronology of the 

 Pentateuch has been arranged with the utmost 

 care, I know ; but you are perfectly aware of 

 the vast differences that exist amongst the various 

 calculations, as, for example, those of Hales and 

 Ussher. Geology, however, has not proved man to 

 be much older than about six thousand years. The 

 wild arithmetic of a few who are of rationalistic or 

 atheistic tendencies, and who are ready to deny 



