GEOLOGICAL PROOF OF A DEITY. 443 



The whole coarse of the inquiry which we have now con- 

 ducted to its close, has shown that the physical history of 

 our globe, in which some have seen only Waste, Disorder, 

 and Confusion, teems with endless examples of Economy, 

 and Order, and Design ; and the result of all our researches , 

 carried back through the unwritten records of past time, 

 has been to fix more steadily our assurance of the Existence 

 of One supreme Creator of all things, to exalt more highly 

 our conviction of the immensity of his Perfections, of his 

 Might, and Majesty, his Wisdom, and Goodness, and all 

 sustaining Providence ; and to penetrate our understanding 

 with a profound and sensible perception,* of the " high Ve- 

 neration man's intellect owes to God."f 



The Earth from her deep foundations unites with the celes- 

 tial orbs that roll through boundless space, to declare the 

 glory and show forth the praise of their common Author 

 and Preserver ; and the voice of Natural Religion accords 

 harmoniously with the testimonies of Revelation, in ascribing 

 the origin of the Universe to the will of One eternal, and 

 dominant Intelligence, the Almighty Lord and supreme first 

 cause of all things that subsist — " the same yesterday to-day 

 and for ever" — " before the Mountains were brought forth, 

 or Ever the Earth and the World were made, God from 

 everlasting and world without End." 



of the world, with what he now terms "The Geological argument in behalf 

 of a Diety." Chalmers's Natural Theology, V. 1. p. 229. Glasgow, 1835. 



For Dr. Chalmars's interpretation of Genesis i. 1. et seq. see Edinburgh 

 Christian Instructor, April, 1814. 



* "Though I cannot with eyes of flesh behold the invisible God; yet, I 

 do in the strictest sense behold and perceive by all my senses such signs 

 and tokens, such effects and operations as suggest, indicate, and demon- 

 strate an invisible God." — Berkeley's Minute Philosopher, Dial. iv. c, 5. 



t Boyle, 



