the firmament with abundance of moisture, for some time after the dry land had appeared. We know that, at the present day, aqueous exhalations are peculiarly dense on the ocean, and that they often hide the heavenly bodies for many successive days. Hence, when nothing but oceans existed on the surface of the globe, with the same atmosphere which we have at this day, it certainly cannot be unreasonable to conclude, that the sun and moon might have been entirely obscured, and prevented from throwing their direct rays upon the earth, for the space of three days. During this time there would have been a diffusive light, while the sources whence it came would be invisible.

Now, on the third day, the dry land appeared, and, therefore, the source of these exhalations became diminished, so that they, of course, became less dense than before. Under such circumstances, from what we observe of meteoric phenomena at the present time, we should expect that by the fourth day the exhalations and clouds would entirely disappear, and that the sun would shine forth in all its splendor. To the eye of an imaginary spectator, therefore, this would appear as a new creation, since the sun had never before shone upon the renovated earth; and, at night, the moon and stars would appear under the same aspect.

This supposition accounts satisfactorily, we think, for the division of light from darkness on the first day, and the succession of day and night, by the diurnal revolution of the earth afterwards, for as, at the present time, when the face of the sun is invisible, there is still a division of light and darkness, or day and night.

Hence, as it is not incompatible with the terms of the history to believe that the sun and moon were created on the first day, is it not more probable that this was the case, and that "the light was divided from the darkness," by the first revolution of the earth, than it is, that a phosphorescent light was created expressly for the use of an uninhabited earth, for so short a period, and during which, we cannot account for the succession of day and night?

Signs, Seasons, Days, and Years. Besides "dividing the light from the darkness," and "ruling the day and night," the sun and moon were to be for "signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years.” V. 14.

The vicissitudes of the seasons are caused by the annu

al revolution of the earth around the sun, together with the obliquity of the earth's axis. It is, therefore, the real motion of the earth, instead of the apparent motion of the sun, by which these changes are produced. The language is, however, in conformity with that employed in other parts of this history, the effect being attributed to the motion of the sun instead of to that of the earth.

In addition to the effects which these changes have upon the face of the earth, and the interests of the husbandman, the four seasons were particularly noticed in ancient times, because they fixed the periods of the sacred festivals.

The length of the year, is the time occupied, by the earth, in making one complete revolution around the sun, during which the sun appears to make 365 diurnal révolutions around the earth. The sun, therefore, in effect, is the cause of the seasons, the days, and the years; for, without his light and heat, none of these changes would take place; and, to this day, when it is universally known that the diurnal and annual revolutions of the sun are only apparent, his motions, in common language, are still spoken of as real, and time is every where measured by his motions instead of those of the earth. Thus, we say, the sun rises in the east," and "sinks in the west,"

&c.

66

That the historian here meant, we should understand by the word day, the time included between two settings of the sun, or a period which we call twenty-four hours, instead of an indefinite period, as some have claimed, for the days of creation, that, by the word seasons, he intended the common seasons of the year; and that by this term, was signified, from spring to spring again, or a term of 365 days, we believe no one will deny, who desires to give the Scriptures a fair and honest interpretation.

Creation of Creeping and Flying Things. On the fifth day, "God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth, in the open firmament of heaven." V. 20.

This is often rendered creeping, instead of moving creature. The root, in Hebrew, (sheretz,) is said to be

derived from a verb which signifies to bring forth or multiply abundantly, so that the translation ought not to be the creeping, but the rapidly multiplying creatures.*

The meaning is obviously intended to include the larger reptiles, as well as all the small animals inhabiting the water, as insects, worms, and shell fish, many tribes of which are known to be exceedingly prolific. The rapidity with which some shell fish, as the oyster, multiply, may be inferred from the vast numbers which are consumed for food; and there is reason to believe that other species, which are placed without the ordinary reach of man, or which he does not use for food, are equally prolific. The great thickness and extent of some strata, composed almost entirely of shells, are a sufficient proof of the almost infinite fecundity of these animals.

The word rendered fowl, (in Hebrew oph,) and by which its meaning is limited to the birds of the air, is said more properly to signify flying thing, and that the original will admit of such a meaning as to include flying insects, appears from Levit. xi. 20. All fowls that creep, going upon all four. We may therefore understand that flying insects, as well as shell-fish, reptiles, and birds, were created on the fifth day.

Creation of Mammalia and Man. On the sixth and last day of the creation, the "beasts of the earth," "cattle after their kind," and lastly man, were brought into exist

ence.

The "beast and cattle" are supposed to include the whole division of what are now called Mammalia, or milkgiving quadrupeds, the amphibious quadrupeds having been created on the fifth day.

Coincidences between Genesis and Geological facts. Having thus taken such notices of the history of the creation as our object requires, we will next proceed to show the coincidences between the successive creations, and the results which geology has been the means of unfolding. It was long since remarked by geologists, that impres sions of ferns, and other cryptogamous plants, were found

Professor Jameson's Ed. New Phil. Jour. 1832.

+ Ibid.

in the deepest secondary strata, or in the first deposited earth which contained any signs of organic life; while on the other hand, it was well known that the bones of mammiferous animals existed only near the surface. Successive discoveries have completed the series, and have shown that there exists an exact correspondence between the order of creations, as stated by Moses, and of the fossil remains of vegetables and animals discovered by geology

The basis of the following table is contained in Professor Jameson's new Philosophical Journal, published at Edinburgh, in 1832. In the references to Genesis, the events on which geology can throw no light, are in italics.

In the original table there is no reference to the distinctions which Moses has made with respect to the dif ferent kinds or classes of plants, and which we have shown to form the most striking coincidence between scripture and science. This coincidence, so far as we know, has never before been shown to exist in detail, and this discovery, if we may so call it, has not only been added to the table, but the whole has been enlarged about one half, by additional quotations from different authorities.

TABLE

OF COINCIDENCES BETWEEN THE ORDER OF EVENTS, AS DESCRIBED IN GENESIS, AND THOSE UNFOLDED BY GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS.

IN GENESIS,

Gen. i. 1, 2. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

V. 3, 4, 5. Creation of light. 6,7,8. Creation of the expansion

It is impossible to deny that the waters of the sea have formerly, and for a long time, covered those masses of matter which now constitute the highest mountains;, and further, that these waters, for a long time, did not support any living bodies.-Cu-: 1vier's Theory of the Earth.

Again, "Thus it is rational to believe, that shells and fishes did not exist at the period of the formation of the primordial layers."-Cuvier's Rev. of the Globe, p. 68.

It is unnecessary to stop to prove, that 2 our continents have once formed the bed of the sea; there is no longer any division