636 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY. 



tion for our feelings of trust, and reverence, and 

 hope, towards the Governor of the world, we may 

 expect that we shall be in no danger of collecting 

 from our authority erroneous notions with regard 

 to the power, and wisdom, and goodness of His 

 government ; or with respect to our own place, 

 duties, and prospects, and the history of our race 

 so far as our duties and prospects are concerned. 

 But that we should rightly understand the detail of 

 all events in the history of man, or of the skies, or 

 of the earth, which are narrated for the purpose of 

 thus giving a right direction to our minds, is by no 

 means equally certain ; and I do not think it would 

 be too much to say, that an immunity from per- 

 plexity and err our, in such matters, is, on general 

 grounds, very improbable. It cannot then surprize 

 us to find, that parts of such narrations which 

 seem to refer to occurrences like those of which 

 astronomers and geologists have attempted to deter- 

 mine the laws, have given rise to many interpreta- 

 tions, all inconsistent with one another, and most of 

 them at variance with the best established principles 

 of astronomy and geology. 



It may be urged, that all truths must be con- 

 sistent with all other truths, and that therefore the 

 results of true geology or astronomy cannot be irre- 

 concileable with the statements of true theology. 

 And this universal consistency of truth with itself 

 must be assented to ; but it by no means follows 

 that we must be able to obtain a full insight into 



