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The Lesson taught by Geology in regard to the Position 
of Man. 
Another important ‘lesson which Geology teaches, is the 
peculiarity of Man's nature and position. When the records 
of the different strata are laid open before our eye, and we 
examine one by one their pages of stone, they tell of a vast 
variety of species and genera that lived, and multiplied, and 
passed away ; but from the earliest appearance of life on the 
globe, up to the day of Adam's creation, during ages so long 
that we cannot conceive them, and among species and genera 
so numerous that the thought of their multitude overwhelms 
us, there is no trace of any creature possessing the faculties 
and feelings of a rational mind, the hopes and aspirations of 
an immortal soul. In all the epochs of the past, we find no 
evidence of any being exhibiting intelligence like that of -the 
human race. There are no remains of the builder's toil, or of 
the potter's art ; there is nothing to indicate the presence of 
mechanical skill capable of directing the agencies of Nature ; 
there is no sign of a master-mind capable of subduing the in- 
ferior orders to his will. Had such a being existed, he must 
have left some impress of his operations, some relics of his 
power. 
When Man appeared on the terrestrial scene an altogether 
new element was introduced into the constitution of earthly 
things. Mineral, vegetable, and animal existences had been 
there before ; but it was not till that time that an accountable 
and intelligent creature became a dweller here below. Geology 
teaches us that man stands alone, and that he is not to be classed 
with any other being that has hitherto inhabited the globe. 
His nature and his position are altogether peculiar. He is as 
highly, and as essentially, exalted above the most intelligent 
of the irrational animals as they are exalted above the vege- 
table, or as the vegetable is above the stone. He has before 
him a nobler destiny than theirs, and he has been created for 
a higher end. 
It is needless to remark that the lesson taught us by Geology 
is in perfect harmony with the doctrines of the Bible. We may 
go farther, and affirm that even the conjectures that are sug- 
gested by the study of the past, find a striking confirmation in 
the statements of Scripture. Science leads us to conclude 
that, if the primeval introduction of animal life into the globe 
was followed by brighter manifestations of the Creator's per- 
fections than had been exhibited before, the creation of a 
rational and intelligent being must be followed by still more 
striking exhibitions of His sovereign power. It bids us look 
