HINTS AND CONJECTURES. 31 r 



succeeding, occupied no more than the space of a week ; or at least, 

 that the seventh day was of the same length with each of the six. If 

 therefore, each of the six days was along period, of a thousand or an 

 hundred yeai'S, the seventh day must have been of the same duration; 

 an idea which is glaringly inconsistent with the narrative of Adam's 

 history. — We may add, that in the sacred volume, the misery and 

 destruction of the creatures are represented as the bitter fruits of 

 man's transgression; and how then can we admit, that the catastro- 

 phes belonging to the formation system, were antecedent to the 

 introduction of sin, and even to the creation of man ? 



Instead of assigning such high antiquity to the whole of the 

 strata, why may we not rather suppose, that a great proportion of 

 them, particularly such as contain organic remains, might be formed 

 at the era of the deluge? We are far from adopting on this subject 

 the crude notions of Dr. Woodward ; yet we are persuaded, that he, 

 and Mr. Howard and others, who ascribe to the deluge the principal 

 changes which the crust of our globe has undergone, in so far come 

 nearer the truth, than those who would throw back those changes 

 into long ages that preceded the creation of man, involving them in 

 the darkness of the chaos. Aware that our sentiments on this sub^ 

 ject differ materially from those of a great proportion of our literary 

 friends, we would beg of them a patient hearing; that they may not 

 condemn our remarks, till they have candidly weighed them. 



It is common to ascribe to the deluge only the formation of some 

 alluvial beds ; nay, some authors will scarcely allow it a share even in 

 forming the alluvium. A writer in the Philosophical Journal, for July, 

 1820, alleges that, "according to Moses," the deluge was only "a quiet 

 effusion of water upon the surface of the earth;" by which "the surface 

 was not torn up or moved, so as in any material degree to disturb and 

 root up the vegetable races ; " and which did not wash away even the 

 vegetable mould. In proof of which view of the deluge, the writer 



