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THIRTEENTH WEEK-THURSDAY.

V. GEOLOGY.-INDICATIONS OF THE ACTION OF THE DELUGE AT THE PERIOD ASSIGNED TO IT IN SCRIPTURE.

I AM now to consider the geological indications of that universal Deluge, by which a new epoch was formed in the history of the world, and by which, while the increasing wickedness of the human race, then existing, was visited by the Divine Governor with a signal display of His displeasure, a new order of things was prepared.

The account which the sacred historian gives of this awful event, is, that "the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days." It appears further from the Divine record, that in the sixth month from the commencement of the catastrophe, the waters began to subside; and that, at the end of a year, the seas were collected, or rapidly collecting, into their present channels, and the earth had become so dry, at least in the higher grounds, as to be again fit for the habitation of living creatures.

It has been too justly alleged, that there is a tendency to skepticism in the minds of scientific men; that, whether it be from a pride of understanding, which induces them to look down with contempt on the opinions of the vulgar, or from a consciousness of enlarged ideas, which

inclines them to distrust, as contracted or superstitious, the views they have acquired in the nursery and in their elementary schools of instruction, they frequently feel a pleasure in adopting views, and maintaining principles, at variance with revealed truth. At all events, the Mosaic account of the deluge, as well as of the creation, was certainly received with incredulity by those individuals who, about the beginning of the present century, took the lead in geological investigations; and I am by no means sure, that this reproach does not still attach to many who affect the name of philosophical inquirers. Brydone endeavored to throw doubt on the Scriptural account, by an allegation, (which was completely overturned, however, by subsequent discoveries,) regarding the time requisite for converting lava into vegetable soil, which would have given an antiquity to the earth's present surface, far beyond the period of the flood; and Bailly used, for the same purpose, and with similar success, the false and vainglorious chronology of the Hindoos.

Happily, however, a philosopher of a different stamp has arisen, who, rigidly questioning Nature, without reference to any preconceived opinion, and without regard, I believe, even to the authority of Scripture, has come to the conclusion, that the appearances on the surface of the earth, indicate the origin of its present state, as having taken its date at a period corresponding, with wonderful exactness, to the Mosaic account. The words in which M. Cuvier states this satisfactory opinion, are sufficiently pointed and precise. "I conclude," he observes, with MM. Deluc and Dolomieu, that, if there be any fact well established in geology, it is this, that the surface of our globe has suffered a great and sudden revolution, the period of which cannot be dated further back than five thousand or six thousand years. This revolution has, on the one hand, engulphed, and caused to disappear, the countries formerly inhabited by men, and the animal species at present best known; and, on the other, has laid bare the bottom of the last ocean, thus converting its channel into the now habitable earth."*

* That the Supreme Being, not only in the ordinary course of His

A rapid statement of the principles on which Cuvier founds his reasoning, may suffice to show, that it does not rest on mere theoretical views, but is based on incontrovertible facts.

It is well known, that great and constant changes are going on in the surface of the earth, by the decomposing power of the atmosphere, by the effects of rain and of frost, by the decay of vegetation, by the fall of forests, by the shifting and accumulation of sand drifted with the wind, and by the continual course and occasional overflowing of rivers and mountain torrents. The effects of these agents are indeed slow, but they are constantly progressive. They prove, as I have previously stated, that the present condition of the world has not been eternal, because, in the revolution of countless ages, the earth would, by such means, be necessarily reduced to a level; or rather, the whole land, being carried into the sea, would be submerged and overflowed by the water. Now, the rate at which these changes proceed, be subjected to calculation; and this is what Cuvier has actually effected. He examined the progress of accumulations at the mouths of rivers, at the bottoms of lakes, and in valleys; he formed an estimate of the rate at which rocks and mountains crumble, and sand, drifted from the sea, where it is formed, spreads into downs, and

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providence, but even when He interferes to execute judgement, generally makes use of second causes, seems to be admitted. In the case of the Deluge, He probably did not deviate beyond what is stated in the Sacred Volume, from this usual mode of operation, and human curiosity has led to the inquiry by what natural powers the flood was effected. That there are agents in Nature quite sufficient, in point of force and extent, to produce the effects described, cannot be doubted. The most obvious of these is thus stated by Dr. Fitton, in his Geological Sketch of the Vicinity of Hastings.' "The evidence in proof of great and frequent movements of the land itself, both by protrusion and subsidence, and of the connexion of these movements with the operation of volcanoes, is so various and so strong, derived from so many quarters on the surface of the globe, and every day so much extended by recent inquiry, as almost to demonstrate that these have been the causes by which those great revolutions were effected and, although the action of the inward forces which protrude the land, has varied greatly in different countries, and at different periods, they are now, and ever have been, incessantly at work in operating present change, and preparing the way for future alteration in the exterior of the globe."-Pages 85, 86.

encroaches on the vegetable soil; and he considered the amount of detrition which takes place in ravines, and in the bottom and banks of rivers. All these causes of change he investigated with his own characteristic acuteness; and he and his associates, in carrying back their calculations, found that they all united in pointing to a period when they commenced their united operations, which, as he states, 66 cannot be dated further back than five thousand or six thousand years." In other words, it appears as the result of these investigations, that the present surface of the earth cannot have been more than that number of years in existence.

It would seem, from what this philosopher states, when he gives a more specific account of his investigations, that, in naming these round numbers, he carries his concessions to the most extreme verge of possibility; and that his own settled opinion is, that the Mosaic account, which fixes the era of the flood at the distance of little more than four thousand years from the present time, is borne out with remarkable accuracy. In another part, afterwards quoted, he expressly says, "Geology apprizes us, that, of the various revolutions which have agitated our globe, the last evidently corresponds to the period which is assigned to the Deluge ;" and he distinctly states four thousand years as the period indicated by the alluvial deposits.

We shall, to-morrow, give an example or two of the manner in which Cuvier conducted his inquiries on this important and most interesting subject.

VI.

THIRTEENTH WEEK-FRIDAY.

GEOLOGY.-CUVIER'S CALCULATION RESPECTING

DELUGE.

THE

Ir is so desirable to remove skeptical doubts, as to the actual occurrence of the Deluge, that we cannot leave

this subject without stating a few further geological facts, which show the coincidence of actual observation with the declaration of Scripture. As an example of the manner in which the inquiries respecting the date at which the present surface of the earth was formed, have been conducted by Cuvier, and other geologists who adopt his views, it may be interesting to quote the following passage from that distinguished philosopher's 'Theory of the Earth.'

"M. de Raney, a learned member of the Institute, inspector-general of bridges and roads, has communicated to me some observations, which are of the greatest importance, as explaining those changes that have taken place along the shores of the Adriatic. Having been directed by government to investigate the remedies that might be applied to the devastations occasioned by the floods of the Po, he ascertained that this river, since the period that it was shut up by dykes, has so greatly raised the level of its bottom, that the surface of its waters is now higher than the roofs of the houses in Ferrara. At the same time, its alluvial depositions have advanced so rapidly into the sea, that, by comparing old charts with the present state, the shore is found to have gained more than six thousand fathoms since 1604, giving an average of a hundred and sixty or a hundred and eighty, and, in some places, two hundred feet yearly. The Adige and the Po are, at the present day, higher than the whole tract of land that lies between them; and it is only by opening new channels for them in the low grounds which they have formerly deposited, that the disasters which they now threaten may be averted.

"The same causes have produced the same effects along the branches of the Rhine and the Meuse; and thus the richest districts of Holland have continually the frightful view of their rivers held up by embankments, at a height of from twenty to thirty feet above the level of the land."

We have here a curious example of the kind and amount of detrition by which, in the course of years, the higher grounds are worn down to fill up valleys, and to

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