CONSISTENCY OF GEOLOGY WITH SACRED HISTORY. 461 



hyenas, hippopotami, rhinoceros, &c. are found now abundantly 

 in the diluvium of England, and consequently England was dry 

 land before the deluge that buried these remains, and therefore the 

 existing continents have not been raised from the ocean since the 

 creation of terrestrial quadrupeds, unless they were submersed after 

 that epoch and then raised again, of which there is no proof. The 

 coal beds also present indubitable proofs of having been formed from 

 terrestrial vegetables, and therefore they were not submarine, although 

 the occasional occurrence of a few marine shells or plants may prove 

 that some of them were formed in islands or estuaries, where the sea 

 had occasional access. 



The result of all our enquiries, then, is this. 



We find that the geological formations are in accordance with the 

 Mosaic account of the creation ; but more time is required for the ne- 

 cessary events of the creation than is consistent with the common un- 

 derstanding of the days. The history is therefore true, but it must be 

 understood so as to be consistent with itself and with the facts. 



It is agreed on all hands, that there may be time enough for the 

 primitive rocks before the first day, and if the days be regarded as 

 periods of time, so as to allow room for the events assigned to them, 

 relating to organic beings, and to the masses in which they are en- 

 tombed, all difficulty is removed. 



On the contrary, if they are restricted to the usual popular sense, 

 it is not physically possible that the events should have happened 

 within the time assigned ; but they did happen, and as there was no 

 call for m.iracles in cases where natural operations alone were suffi- 

 cient, there can be no doubt that sufficient time was allowed. 



It is scarcely necessary to remark, that after the order and arrange- 

 ment of the creation were fully established, and man appeared on the 

 earth, the measures of time were, without doubt, the same as now, and 

 therefore we are not at liberty, as there is clearly no occasion, to re- 

 gard them in any other than the usually accepted sense. 



It is no valid objection to the supposition of more time than is com- 

 monly allotted to the week of the creation, that there were no human 

 beings to be spectators of the work. Even upon the popular view, 

 they were excluded, because the human race did not appear until the 

 very last act of the creation. Had they, however, been co-existent, 

 they would scarcely have understood what was passing, as most of the 

 geological facts were veiled by the ocean. But there were not want- 

 ing spectators ; God, and angelic beings, far superior in intelligence 



