PT. i. Astronomy and Geology compared. 37 



space between Mars and Jupiter, show no symptom 

 of congregating together, although they might form 

 a planet of respectable dimensions. Progress and 

 decay are equally imperceptible in our Solar System. 

 Some theologists and divines may be startled at 

 this view, which they may consider at variance with 

 the prophecies of Scripture, which so frequently 

 refer to the end of the world ; but I think that no 

 such discrepancy will, on consideration, be found to 

 exist. Both the Old and New Testament relate 

 exclusively to the destinies of Man. Now whenever 

 the Almighty should, in His wisdom, determine to 

 end the mortal existence of man, such an exercise 

 of His power would not be difficult to conceive. 

 Life is so frail a possession that it would seem as if 

 the exercise of the Divine power were far more 

 needed to preserve than to extinguish it ; it would 

 but need the temporary abstraction of the oxygen 

 from 'the atmosphere, or the escape of some me- 

 phitic vapour from the bowels of the Earth, to 

 destroy, in an incredibly short space of time, all Life, 

 whether human, animal, or vegetable ; leaving the 

 earth a tabula rasa, to be re-occupied by new 

 forms, according to the will of the Creator. We 

 may also remark that Geology shows us that various 



