sure, Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."* Diseases will be, in a great meabanished from the world, and the life of man extended far beyond its present duration -agriculture will be brought to perfection commodious habitations erected for the comfortable accommodation of all ranks-cities built on elegant and spacious plans, adapted to health, ornament, and pleasure; divested of all the filth, and darkness, and gloom, and narrow lanes, which now disgrace the abodes of men-roads will be constructed on improved principles, with comfortable means of retreat for shelter and accommodation at all seasons; and conveyances invented for the ease, and safety, and rapid conveyance of persons and property from one place to another. Either the climates of the earth will be meliorated, by the universal cultivation of the soil, so that storms and tempests, thunders and lightnings, shall no longer produce their present ravages, or chymical and mechanical contrivances will be invented to ward off their destructive effects. The landscape of the earth will be adorned with vegetable and architectural beauty; and, instead of horse-racing, demoralizing plays, routs and masquerades, boxing and bull-baitsartificial displays of scenery will be exhibited, more congenial to the dignity of rational, renovated, and immortal minds. For "the knowlege of the Lord," and the "beauties of holiness," will pervade men of all ranks and ages, "from the least even to the greatest."+ Now, as we have no reason to expect any miraculous interference, we must regard the past and the future useful inventions of philosophy and mechanics, as having a bearing on this glorious period, and a tendency to promote the improvement and the felicity of those who shall * Psalm lxvii. Isaiah xxx. 23, 24, xxxiii. 24. lxv. 21, 23, &c. The various circumstances above stated may be considered as the natural results of a state of society on which the light of science and of revelation has diffused its full influence, and where the active powers of the human mind are invariably directed by the pure principles and precepts of Christianity, That the duration of human life, at the era referred to, will be extended beyond its present boundary, appears to be intimated in some of the passages above quoted particularly the following" As the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." And, if the life of man will be thus protracted to an indefinite period, it will follow, that those diseases which now prey upon the human frame, and cut short its vital action, will be in a great measure ex tirpated. Both these effects may be viewed (without supposing any miraculous interference) as the natural consequence of that happiness and equanimity of mind which will flow from the practice of Christian virtues, from the enlargement of our knowledge of the principles of nature, and from the physical enjoyments which such a state of society will furnish live during this era of Messiah's reign. If diseases are to be generally abolished, it will be owing to the researches of the scientific physi cian in discovering certain antidotes against every disorder, and to the practice of temperance, meekness, equanimity of mind, and every other mean of preserving the vigour of the animalj frame. If the earth is to produce its treasures in abundance, and with little labour, it will be owing in part to the improvement of agriculturai science and of the instruments by which its operations are conducted. If the lightnings of heaven shall no longer prove destructive to man and to the labours of his hands, it will be effected either by machinery for drawing off the electricity of a stormy cloud, or by the invention of thunder-guards, which shall afford a complete protection from its ravages. In these, and numerous other instances, the inventions of men, under the guidance of the Spirit of wisdom, will have a tendency to remove a great part of the curse which has so long hung over our sinful world. world. And since the inventions of human skill and ingenuity for the melioration of mankind, and for the swift conveyance of intelligence, have, of late years, been rapidly increasing, at the same time when the Christian world is roused to increased exertions in disseminating the Scriptures throughout all lands, when general knowledge is increasingly diffused, and when the fabric of superstition and despotism is shaking to its foundations—these combined and simultaneous movements seem plainly to indicate, that that auspicious era is fast hastening on, when "the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together," when "righteousness and praise shall spring forth before all nations," and when "holiness to the Lord shall be inscribed on all the pursuits, and implements, and employments of men. Lastly,-If the remarks suggested above be well founded, we may conclude, that the mechanical and philosophical inventions of genius are worthy of the attentive consideration of the enlightened Christian, particularly in the relation they may have to the accomplishment of religious objects. He should contemplate the experiments of scientific men, not as a waste of time, or the mere gratification of an idle curiosity, but as imbodying the germs of those improvements, by which civilization, domestic comfort, knowledge, and moral princip.e may be diffused among the nations. To view such objects with apathy and indifference, as beneatn the regard of a religious character, argues a weak and limited understanding, and a contracted view of the grand operations of a superintending Providence. 1 CHAPTER IV. SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATED FROM THE SYSTEM OF NATURE." WITHOUT spending time in any introductory observations on this subject, it may be remarked in general, I.—That scientific knowledge, or an acquaintance with the system of nature, may frequently serve as a guide to the true interpretation of Scripture. It may be laid down as a universal principle, that there can be no real discrepancy between a just interpretation of Scripture and the facts of physical science; and on this principle, the following canon is founded, which may be considered as an infallible rule for Scripture interpretation, namely,-That no interpretation of Scripture ought to be admitted which is inconsstent with any well-authenticated facts in the material world. By well-authenticated facts, I do not mean the theories of philosophers, or the deductions they may have drawn from them, nor the confident assertions or plausible reasonings of scientific men in support of any prevailing system of natural science; but those facts which are universally admitted, and the reality of which every scientific inquirer has it in his power to ascertain: such as that the earth is not an extended plane, but a round or globular body, and that the rays of the sun, when converged to a focus converged to a focus by a large convex glass, will set fire to combus tible substances. Such facts, when ascertained, ought to be considered as a revelation from God, as well as the declarations of his word. For they make known to us a portion of his character, of his plans and his operations.-This rule may be otherwise expressed as follows:-Where a passage of Scripture is of doubtful meaning, or capable of different interpretations, that interpretauon ought to be preferred which will best agree with the established discoveries of science. For since the Author of revelation and the Author of universal nature is one and the same infinite being, there must exist a complete harmony between the revelations of his word, and the facts or relations which are observed in the material uni verse. To suppose the contrary, would be to + Under this head, it was originally intended to embrace an elucidation of a considerable variety of the facts recorded in sacred history, and of the allusions of the inspired writers to the system of Lature; but as the volume has already swelled beyond the limits proposed, I am reluctantly compelled to confine myself to the illustration of only two or three topics suppose the Almighty capable of inconsistency the For To illustrate the rule now laid down, an example or two may be stated. If it be a fact that geological research has ascertained that the materials of the strata of the earth are of a more ancient date than the Mosaic account of the commencement of the present race of men; passages in the first chapter of Genesis, and other parts of Scripture, which refer to the origin of our world, must be explained as conveying the idea, that the earth was then merely arranged into its present form and order, out of the materials which previously existed in a confused mass, and which had been created by the Almighty at a prior period in duration. Moses no where asserts, that the materials of our globe were created, or brought into existence out of nothing, at the time to which his history "For the refers; but insinuates the contrary. earth" says he, prior to its present constitution, was without form and void," &c. Again, if it be a fact that the universe is indefinitely extended, that, of many millions of vast globes which diversify the voids of space, only two or three have any immediate connexion with the earth, then it will appear most reasonable to conclude, that those expressions in the Mosaic history of the creation, which refer to the creation of the fixed stars, are not to be understood as referring to the time when they were brought into existence, as if they had been created about the same time with our earth; but, as simply declaring the fact, that, at what period soever in duration they were created, they derived their existence from God. That they did not all commence their existence at that period, is demonstrable from the fact, that, within the space of 2000 years past, and even within the space of the two last centuries, new stars have appeared in the heavens which previously did not exist in the concave of the firmament; which, consequently, have been created since the Mosaic period; or, at least, have undergone a change analogous to that which took place in our globe, when it emerged from a chaotic state to the form and order in which we now behold it. Consequently, the phrase, "God rested from all his works," must be understood not absolutely, or in reference to the whole system of nature, but merely in relation to our world; and as importing, that the Creator then ceased to form any new species of beings on the terraqueous globe. The same canon will direct us in the interpretation of those passages which refer to the last judgment, and the destruction of the present constitution of our globe. When, in reference to these events, it is said, "that the stars shall fall from heaven," that "the powers of heaven shall be shaken," and that "the earth and the heaven shall flee away," our knowledge of the system of nature leads us to conclude, either that such expressions are merely metaphorical, or that they describe only the appearance, not the reality of things. For it is impossible that the stars can ever fall to the earth, since each of them is of a size vastly superior to our globe, and could never be attracted to its surface, without unhinging the laws and the fabric of universal nature. The appearance, however, of the "heaven fleeing away," would be produced, should the earth's diurnal rotation at that riod be suddenly stopped, as will most probably happen; in which case, all nature, in this sublunary system, would be thrown into confusion, and the heavens, with all their host, would appear to flee away. pe Now, the scientific student of Scripture alone can judiciously apply the canon to which I have adverted; he alone can appreciate its utility in the interpretation of the sacred oracles; for he knows the facts which the philosopher and the astronomer have ascertained to exist in the system of nature; from the want of which information, many divines, whose comments on Scripture have, in other respects, been judicious, have displayed their ignorance, and fallen into egregious blunders, when attempting to explain the first chapters of Genesis, and several parts of the book of Job, which have tended to bring discredit on the oracles of heaven. II.-The system of nature confirms and illustrates the scriptural doctrine of the DEPRAVITY OF MAN. : In the preceding parts of this volume, I have stated several striking instances of divine benevolence, which appear in the construction of the organs of the animal system, in the con- . stitution of the earth, the waters, and the atmos phere, and in the variety of beauties and sublimi ties which adorn the face of nature; all which proclaim, in language which can scarcely be mistaken, that the Creator has a special regar to the happiness of his creatures. Yet the Scriptures uniformly declare, that man has fallen from his primeval state of innocence, and has violated the laws of his Maker; that "his heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" and that "destruction and misery are in his ways." Observation and experience also demonstrate, that a moral disease pervades the whole human family, from the most savage to the most civilized tribes of mankind; which has displayed its virulence in those wars and devastations which have, in all ages, convulsed the world; and which daily displays itself in those acts of injustice, fraud, oppression, malice, tyranny, and cruelty, which are perpetrated in every country, and among all the ranks even of civilized life. That a world inhabited by moral agents of this description would display, in its physical constitution, certain indications of its Creator's displeasure, is what we should naturally expect, from a consideration of those attributes of his nature with which we are acquainted. Accordingly, we find, that, amidst all the evidences of benevolence which our globe exhibits there are not wanting certain displays of "the wrath of Heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men," in order to arouse them to a sense of their guilt, and to inspire them with reverence and awe of that Being whom they have offended. The following facts, among many others, may be considered as corroborating this position. །” In the first place, the present state of the interior strata of the earth may be considered as a presumptive evidence, that a moral revolution has taken place since man was placed upon the globe. When we penetrate into the interior recesses of the earth, we find its different strata bent into the most irregular forms; sometimes lying horizontally, sometimes projecting upwards, and sometimes downwards, and thrown into confusion; as if some dreadful concussion had spread its ravages through every part of the solid crust of our globe. This is visible in every region of the earth. Wherever the miner penetrates among its subterraneous recesses, wherever the fissures and caverns of the earth are explored, and wherever the mountains lay bare their rugged cliff, the marks of ruin, convulsion, and disorder meet the eye of the beholder. Evidences of these facts are to be found in the records of all intelligent travellers and geologists who have visited Alpine districts, or explored the subterraneous regions of the earth; of which I have already stated a few instances, in the article of Geology, pp. 74, 75, 77. These facts seem evidently to indicate that the earth is not now in the same state in which it originally proceeded from the hand of its Creator; for such a scene of disruption and derangement appears incompatible with that order, harmony, and beauty which are apparent in the other departments of nature. We dare not assert, that such terrible convulsions took place by chance, or independent of the will of the Creator; nor dare we insinuate, that they were the effects of a random display of Almighty Power; and therefore, we are necessarily led to infer, that a moral cause, connected with the conduct of the rational inhabitants of the globe, must have existed, to warrant so awful an interposition of divine power; for the fate of the animated beings which then peopled the earth was involved in the consequences which must have attended this terrible catastrophe. The volume of revelation, on this point, concurs with the deductions of reason, and assigns a cause adequate to warrant the production of such an extraordinary effect. "The wickedness of man was great upon . the earth; the earth was filled with violence; every purpose and desire of man's heart was only evil continually. Man had frustrated the end of his existence; the earth was turned into a habitation of demons; the long period to which his life was protracted only served to harden him in his wickedness, and to enable him to carry his diabolical schemes to their utmost extent, till the social state of the human race became a scene of unmixed depravity and misery. And the physical effects of the punishment of this universal defection from God are presented to our view in every land, and will remain to all ages, as a visible memorial that man has rebelled against the authority of his Make:. 2. The existence of Volcanoes, and the terrible ravages they produce, bear testimony to the state of man as a depraved intelligence. A volcano is a mountain, generally of an immense size, from whose summit issue fire, smoke, sulphur, and torrents of melted lava, (see p. 66.) Previous to an eruption, the smoke, which is continually ascending from the crater, or opening in the top, increases and shoots up to an immense height; forked lightning issues from the ascending column; showers of ashes are thrown out to the distance of forty or fifty miles; volleys of red-hot stones are discharged to a great neight in the air; the sky appears thick and dark; the luminaries of heaven disappear; and these terrible forebodings are accompanied with thure der, lightning, frequent concussions of the earth and dreadful subterraneous bellowings. When these alarming appearances have continued sometimes four or five months, the lava begins to make its appearance, either boiling over the top, or forcing its way through the side of the mountain. This fiery deluge of melted minerals rolls down the declivity of the mountain, forming a dismal flaming stream, sometimes fourteen miles long, six miles broad, and 200 feet deep. In its course, it destroys orchards, vineyards, cornfields, and villages; and sometimes cities, containing twenty thousand inhabitants, have been swallowed up and consumed. Several other phenomena, of awful sublimity, sometimes accompany these eruptions. In the eruption of Vesuvius, in 1794, a shock of an earthquake was felt; and, at the same instant, a fountain of bright fire, attended with the blackest smoke, and a loud report, was seen to issue, and to rise to a great height from the cone of the mountain; and was soon succeeded by fifteen other fiery fountains, all in a direct line extending for a mile and a half downwards. This fiery scene was accompanied with the loudest thunder, the incessant reports of which, like those of a numerous heavy artillery, were attended by a continued hollow murmur, similar to that of the roaring of the ocean during a violent storm. The houses in Naples, at seven miles' distance, were for several hours in a constant tremor; the bells ringing, and doors and windows incessantly rattling and shaking. The murmur of the prayers and lamentations of a numerous population added to the horrors of the scene. All travellers, who have witnessed these eruptions, seem to be at a loss to find words sufficiently emphatic to express the terrors of the scene. "One cannot form a juster idea," says Bishop Berkley," of the noise emitted by the mountain, than by imagining a mixed sound made up of the raging of a tempest, the murmur of a troubled sea, and the roaring of thunder and artillery, confused altogether. Though we heard this at the distance of twelve miles, yet it was very terrible." In 1744, the flames of Cotopaxi, in South America, rose 3,000 feet above the brink of the crater, and its roarings were heard at the distance of six hundred miles. "At the port of Guayaquil, 150 miles distant (( we heard, from the crater," says Humboldt, day and night, the noise of this volcano, like continued discharges of a battery, and we distinguished these tremendous sounds even on the Pacific ocean. The ravages produced by volcanoes are in proportion to the terror they inspire. In the eruption of Etna, in 1669, the stream of lava destroyed, in 40 days, the habitations of 27,000 persons; and of 20,000 inhabitants of the city of Catania, only 3,000 escaped. In the 79, the celebrated cities of Pompeii and Hercu year aneum were completely overwhelmed and buried under ground by an eruption of Vesuvius, and the spots on which they stood remained unknown for 1600 years. Since that period, about 40 eruptions have taken place, each of them producing the most dreadful ravages. But the volcanoes of Asia and America are still more terrible and destructive than those of Europe. The volcanic mountain Pichinca, near Quito, caused, on one occasion, the destruction of 35,000 inhabitants. In the year 1772, an eruption of a mountain in the island of Java destroyed 40 villages, and several thousands of the inhabitants; and in October, 1822, eighty-eight hamlets, and above 2000 persons, were destroyed in the same island, by a sudden eruption from a new volcano. The eruption of Tomboro, in the island of Sumbawa, in 1815, was so dreadful, that all the Moluccas, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, to the distance of a thousand miles from the mountain, felt tremulous motions, and heard the report of explosions. In Java, at the distance of 340 miles, the clouds of ashes from the volcano produced utter darkness. Volcanoes are more numerous than is generally imagined. They are to be found in every quarter of the world, from the icy shores of Kamtschatka to the mountains of Patagonia. Humboldt enumerates 40 volcanoes constantly burning, between Cotopaxi and the Pacific ocean; 20 have been observed in the chain of mountains that stretches along Kamtschatka; and many of them are to be seen in the Phillippines, the Moluccas, the Cape de Verd, the Sandwich, the Ladrone, and other islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is stated in vol. 6th of Sup. to Ency. Brit. lately published, that about 205 volcanoes are known, including only those which have been active within a period to which history or tradition reaches. Europe contains 14; and, of the whole number, it is computed, that 107 are in islands and 98 on the great continents. Can we then suppose, that so many engines of terror and destruction, dispersed over every quarter of the globe, are consistent with the conduct of a benevolent Creator towards an innocent race of men? If so, we must either admit that the Creator had it not in his power, when arranging our terrestrial system, to prevent the occasional action of these dreadful ravagers, or that he is indifferent to the happiness of his innocent offspring. The former admission is inconsistent with the idea of his omnipotence, and the latter with the idea of his universal benevolence. It is not therefore, enthusiasm, but the fairest deduction of reason to conclude, that they are indications of God's displeasure against a race of transgressors who have apostatized from his laws. 3. The same reasoning will apply to the ravages produced by earthquakes. Next to volca noes, earthquakes are the most terrific phenome na of nature, and are even far more destructive to man, and to the labours of his hands. An earthquake, which consists in a sudden motion of the earth, is generally preceded by a rumbling sound, sometimes like that of a number of carriages driving furiously along the pavement of a street, sometimes like the rushing noise of a mighty wind, and sometimes like the explosions of artillery. Their effect on the surface of the earth is various Sometimes it is instantaneously heaved up in a perpendicular direction, and sometimes it assumes a kind of rolling motion, from side to side. The ravages which earthquakes have produced, are terrible beyond description; and are accomplished almost in a moment. In 1692, the city of Port-Royal, in Jamaica, was destroyed by an earthquake, in the space of two minutes, and the houses sunk into a gulf forty fathoms deep. In 1693, an earthquake happened in Sicily, which either destroyed, or greatly damaged, fifty-four cities, and an incredible number of villages. The city of Catania was utterly overthrown: the sea all of a sudden began to roar; mount Etna to send forth immense spires of flame; and immediately a shock ensued, as if all the artillery in the world had been discharged. The birds flew about astonished; the sun was darkened; the beasts ran howling from the hills; a dark cloud of dust covered the air; and, though the shock did not last three minutes, yet nineteen thousand of the inhabitants of the city perished in the ruins. This shock extended to a circumference of 7000 miles. Earthquakes have been producing their ravages in various parts of the world, and in every age. Pliny informs us, that 12 cities in Asia Minor were swallowed up in one night. In the year 115, the city of Antioch, and a great part of the adjacent country, were buried by an earthquake. About 300 years after, it was again destroyed, along with 40,000 inhabitants; and, after an interval of only 60 years, it was a third time overturned, with the loss of not less than 60,000 souls. In 1755, Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake, and it buried under its ruins above 50,000 inhabitants. The effects of this terrible earthquake were felt over the greater part of Europe and Africa, and even in the midst of the Atlantic ocean; and are calculated to have extended over a space of not less than four millions of square miles. In August, 1822, two-thirds of the city of Aleppo, which contained 40,000 houses, and 200,000 inhabitants, were destroved by an earthquake, and nearly thirty thousand inhabitants were buried under the ruins. To suppose that the human beings who have been victims to the ravages of earthquakes and volcanoes, "were sinners above ai! those who dwelt around them," would be the height of impiety and presumption. But, the ་ |