382 On the Mosaic account of the Creation. 



Part 2d. — The occurrence of the secondary strata over 

 a great portion of the countries of the known world, imbed- 

 ding numbers of marine shells, sometimes in such profusion as 

 nearly to form the sole constituent of the rocks in which they 

 occur, has given rise to the opinion that the sea must former- 

 ly have stood for a long term of years over the continents of 

 the present earth, until at length by some severe convulsion 

 or revolution, the bottom or bed of that sea was raised to 

 form the existing dry land, while the former land in conse- 

 quence, became the bottom of the present sea. 



It has been asserted, moreover, that proof of such an oc- 

 currence exists in the records of the Scriptures, wherein it is 

 declared, that " the world which then was being overflowed 

 with waters perished •" from which passage Mr. Penn has 

 argued to establish a theory, that the former earth was depress- 

 ed in order to form a new bed for the sea, and he then pro- 

 ceeds to shew, that the reflux of the waters in their descent 

 would have swept the animal remains from off the depressed 

 earth, and would again have deposited them over the bed 

 which they were leaving ; and thus he would account for 

 our finding terrestrial animals entombed in strata overlying 

 those which contain marine productions. 



He is however compelled to the adoption of this opinion, 

 from his having entirely overlooked the proper period of the 

 first recorded revolution ; and thus he is obliged to refer the 

 fossils of the secondary and tertiary beds to the same epoch. 



Insisting that the Scriptures mention only two periods of 

 revolution, and declaring the separation of land and sea to 

 be the first of them, he consequently leaves only his second 

 revolution, or deluge, to account for the inhumation of all 

 fossil exuviae ; because his first revolution, as already shewn, 

 was completed before the creation of any organised beings. 



The words quoted from St. Peter by Mr. Penn, in support 

 of his views, namely, "The world which then was being 

 overflowed with waters, perished ;" are by no means intended 

 or even calculated to convey any actual change of places 



