IV GENESIS VERSUS NATURE 155 



that the words " the evening and the morning " 

 have not the least reference to a natural day, but 

 mean a period of any number of millions of years 

 that may be necessary ; even if they are driven to 

 admit that the word " creation," which so many 

 millions of pious Jews and Christians have held, 

 and still hold, to mean a sudden act of the Deity, 

 signifies a process of gradual evolution of one 

 species from another, extending through immeasur- 

 able time ; even if they are willing to grant that 

 the asserted coincidence of the order of Nature with 

 the " fourfold order " ascribed to Genesis is an ob- 

 vious error instead of an established truth ; they 

 are surely prepared to make a last stand upon the 

 conception which underlies the whole, and which 

 constitutes the essence of Mr. Gladstone's " fourfold 

 division, set forth in an orderly succession of times." 

 It is, that the animal species which compose the 

 water-population, the air-population, and the land- 

 population respectively, originated during three 

 distinct and successive periods of time, and only 

 during those periods of time. 



This statement appears to me to be the inter- 

 pretation of Genesis which Mr. Gladstone supports, 

 reduced to its simplest expression. "Period of 

 time " is substituted for " day " ; " originated " is 

 substituted for "created"; and "any order re- 

 quired " for that adopted by Mr. Gladstone. It is 

 necessary to make this proviso, for if " day " may 

 mean a few million years, and " creation " may 



