on the wings of that science which they dishonour, urge through the immensity of space their way; and though astonished at the magnificence of the orbs which blaze around them, tell those unnumbered suns and systems, that they shine with an unoriginated splendour. Let others descend into the strata of the earth, that they may find an argument to oppose the scripture; that they may call up the bones of the dead, to bear witness against the God of the living.

Be it mine, with the step of diffidence, to tread this hallowed, this mysterious ground. Be it mine, where demonstrations of the truth occur, to greet them with a holy rapture; and where difficulties arise, to believe that they shall be done away. Be it mine to meditate the Apostolic saying, "We see, as in a glass, darkly;" to solace my heart with the comfort of that gracious promise, "What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter;" and to lay my wearied head on the pillow of that heavenly declaration, Lo, I am with you always!"

66

But who is he, that is with us always? Who is this celestial guardian? It is Christ! Then may we dismiss our inquietudes and fears; for our defence is Christ, and Christ is God, and God is every where!

TO THE EDITOR OF THE IMPERIAL
MAGAZINE.

SIR,
IN the Essay on Geology, which you
have done me the honour of insert-
ing in your respected Miscellany;
I have laboured to convince the
reader, that the geological phæno-
mena cannot be referred to the flood
of Noah. Yet, as it is difficult to the
human mind, to get rid of any preju-
dices, but especially of those which
are imbibed in early childhood, and
are strengthened by continual reading,
converse, and education; I shall en-
deavour by additional arguments to
establish my position. Three more
reasons have presented themselves to
my mind. I proceed to state them, as
briefly as my habits of thinking, and
expressing my thoughts, will permit.

Firstly. During the period of the flood's continuance on the earth, the ark of Noah was calmly and securely borne on the bosom of the waters. But No. 11.-VOL. I.

if the crust of the earth had been
broken up, and if the globe itself had
been dissolved, the waters must have
How,
been tremendously agitated.
on such a sea, could the ark have lived?
You must not tell me that it was mira-
culously preserved. God, if he had
pleased, could have preserved both
man and beast without any ark at all.
The very circumstance of his com-
manding Noah to construct an ark,
and of his giving such minute direc-
tions, evinces, that it was his holy
pleasure to make use of secondary
causes.

Secondly. It is a remarkable fact,
that there are some fishes, whose or-
ganic remains are not generally dis-
persed through the various strata, but
are confined to two or three; and
there are some, whose remains are
It is a
confined to one stratum only.
positive fact, that Geologists some-
times meet with a stratum containing
shells, which are not to be found in
any of the inferior, or in any of the
superior strata. Is it possible to re-
concile this, with the notions which
are usually entertained?

Thirdly. The organic remains which are found at the very lowest depths, are chiefly the remains of zoophites; that is, of those beings which connect the animal with the vegetable kingdom. If we ascend a little, we come to the remains of moluscæ, and testaceous shell-fish; that is, fish of the most imperfect kind. Continuing our ascent, we find the remains of crustaceous shell-fish also; but these fish are totally unlike any which now exist. They are of different genera. Approaching nearer to the earth's surface, we discover shells which are of the same genus as some of those which exist at present; but the species is always different. newer the strata, the more do the shells approximate to those of the present day; and in the most recent of the alluvial soils, the shells appear to be precisely the

same.

The

sembling the bones of those animals which exist at present. These last, however, are not petrified, and as I have elsewhere observed, do not appear to have been deposited by an inundation.

The same circumstance which prevails with regard to the remains of animals, prevails also with respect to the remains of vegetables. In the lowest transition rocks, we find the petrified remains of marine plants; but they are totally unlike any with which we are now acquainted. Their very genera are different. In some of the flætz rocks, and in the older alluvial beds, we discover the petrified remains of land plants; but they are different from those which at present decorate the earth.

ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR

JANUARY, 1820.

London, Dec. 1st, 1819.

MR. EDITOR, HAVING had the pleasure of seeing my communication in your Magazine, I have sent the following, if approved of, for insertion.

Yours, &c. AN OBSERVer. THE Sun enters Aquarius on the 21st, at twenty-eight minutes past one in the morning. The Moon enters her last quarter on the 8th; she is new on the 15th; enters her first quarter on the 22d; and is full on the 30th. She will pass Mars on the 1st, the Georgian planet and Mercury on the 13th, Venus on the 16th, Jupiter on the 17th, Saturn on the 19th, and Mars again on the 28th. Venus is an evening star, setting on the 1st, about half-past five, and on the 31st about seven. She is

And now, can there be any one so marvellously obstinate, so amazingly obtuse, as not to admit the truth which these facts announce? Is it not writ-seen to the west of Jupiter, which ten as clearly as with a sun-beam? Is planet she will pass on the 18th. it not proclaimed as loudly as with Under the two planets we shall notice the trumpet's voice? Surely we are the four small stars in the tail of the here instructed, that the work of crea- | Goat, from which Venus receding, dition was gradual and progressive; rects her course to the eleventh of the that animal existence was brought by Water-bearer, near to, and under slow degrees unto perfection; and that which, she finishes it. Jupiter sets innumerable races of fishes and qua- on the 1st, about a quarter past seven drupeds, were successively created, in the evening, and about six on the and successively extinguished, until 31st. He is first seen above and near the earth and the ocean brought forth to the third of the Goat, and he passes their present inhabitants, and God, the fourth on the 8th, thus marking with his own Image, crowned the sum-out distinctly to us the two highest of mit of his temple. the four small stars in the tail of this constellation. The chief feature in his course is the passage of Venus by him on the 18th, and these two magnificent planets decorate the western hemisphere during the whole of the month. Saturn sets on the 1st, about a quarter before eleven in the evening, and about a quarter before nine on the 31st. He is seen under the four stars in square, in the constellation of Pegasus and Andromeda, but nearest to a line drawn through the two eastern of them. Mars rises on the 1st, about half-past five in the evening, and is in opposition to the Sun on the 16th, when he is at his nearest distance from the Earth. He is seen to recede from the two small stars of the Crab, directing his course under the two first of the Twins, passing between two small stars of the Crab, the twenty-third and twelfth, on the 14th. Continuing his course from these stars, he finishes it under the second of the Twins.

The learned Dr. 'Adam Clarke, one day discoursing on the doctrine of the Atonement, wisely observed, that the Deity never makes an unnecessary display of his power, but accomplishes the greatest purposes by the least possible means. We may now perceive, that God thus acted in the case of the deluge. What was its object? To destroy man and beast. This was its design; and we now see, that the waters calmly and unobtrusively performed their office, and that the sole memorials of their operation are the record of Scripture, and the histories and the traditions of heathen nations.

Before I close this letter, I feel it incumbent on me to state, that in a subsequent edition of Cuvier's Essay, Jameson has omitted the Preface, on which I have animadverted. I am Sir, Your obedient Servant, H. S. BOYD.

Dec. 5, 1819.

besides other absurdities, were all the beauty of the heavens transferred into the face of a vicious sinful woman, certainly no angel could have joyed in her; and St. Austine gives the reason of it: for their joy extends no further (saith he) than the works of God; but peccator non est inter opera Dei, a sinner is no work of God. Look in the first chapter of Genesis, you shall not find him in the whole catalogue of his creatures; as he is man, he is God's work, true; but as he is sinful man, he is his own work: see him in the pure robe of original righteousness, he is God's work; but look on him in the dressings of his own vanity, he is his own work, or if not his own, I am sure the devil's: no argument then of joy here, no ditty for such an anthem.

For do but consider with thyself, oh sinner, think of it seriously; the angels that were by, when God stampt his image on thee, when he wash'd thee in baptism as clean as the untouch'd snow, when he married thee to his son Christ Jesus, made thee a temple of his holy Spirit, how can they either know or joy in thee, when that image is rased out, that innocence polluted, that contract violated, that temple turn'd into a sink of filth, into a den of serpents? How will they look, think you, when God the Father turns away his face, God the Son cries out, thou hast crucified him again; thou hast pierced him with thy oaths, spit on him with thy lust, wounded him with thy malice, when God the Holy Ghost shall leave thee either to a fluctuating unquiet, or (which is worse) to a seared, a stupified conscience? Which of those spirits can then take joy in thee? shall not the ill angels rather give thee their plaudite?

Come, say those damned spirits, let us see this creature that was made to fill up our seats in heaven; this creature that was the angels' joy, and his God's delight, see where he is fallen, how deep, how dangerously fallen, how still he lies in his foul sins, without any motion left, any sense of grace: Ecce (say they) factus est tanquam unus è nobis, behold he is become like one of us.

But Mentimini mali Dæmones, (a devout father answers them) ye were liars all from the beginning; so are ye now. For though a sinner be fallen, though fallen into the depth of sin, he is not become like one of you; for you fell, nullo tentante, without a tempter: damn

ed are you therefore, nullo reparante, without a Saviour. But this fallen sinner you thus tread upon, alterius malitiâ cecidit, alterius meritis resurget, he fell by another's malice, and shall rise by another's merit. They were some of the black crew that helped to throw him down; the Son of God shall help him up again: for though sin hath been his poison, yet repentance may be his antidote; though his sins have made the devil sport, yet his repentance may breed his (God's) angels' joy. A sinner is no good prospect; but at the sight of a repentant sinner heaven opens all her windows: the text is warrant enough for such a doctrine, for there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.

Not for a sinner then, but for a repentant sinner; not for him that hardens himself in sin, but for the sensible, melting, bleeding sinner. But he that would draw repentance to the life, that would make such a resemblance of her, as the angels might delight in, let him look that he fit her with two faces, on the one side a mourning dejected countenance, looking sadly back on the sins she hath committed; on the other side a more cheerful lively aspect, looking forwards on new resolutions; for there is a beauty in both, in the sad as in the cheerful. God too, will look on both, or not at all.

As for the sadder look, though Andreas Vega, a Spanish writer, doted so much upon it, that he is censured by his own friend Bellarmine for maintaining that the sorrow of the heart for sin was of so high a value, that he that conceived that sorrow as he ought, needed no formal explicit purpose of amendment;-though I confess this melancholy friar went too far, yet let not any therefore deceive himself, or incline so far to the other side, as to think the way to heaven is strewed with roses, that he can leap out of the state of sin into the favour of his God, without so much as a single tear or sigh. No, as it cost thy Saviour more to redeem thy soul, so it must cost thee more to apply that redemption to thee. Saint Ambrose therefore calls repentance Laboriosum Baptismum, a laborious, a painful baptism, a baptism in Marah, in the waters of bitterness: for we must as well Flere commissa, as Flenda non committere, as well deplore the ill we have done, as not do again the ill we have deplored.

none.

It is true indeed what Saint Bernard | when his heart is thus broken, whether saith, non si te excories potes satisfacere, this care will be taken for it or no? is should we weep ourselves blind, kneel he loath to venture on so bitter a reourselves cripples, should we flay the ceipt without his physician's oath? skin from this wretched body of ours, Why, God will swear rather than thy all could not satisfy for sin, but our soul shall waver: for look in the 33d of joy is that Christ hath already done it; Ezekiel, the 11th verse, Vivo, inquit Dohis blood hath fully satisfied for the minus: As I live, (saith the Lord) I whole world: yet withal, there lies a take no delight in the death of a sinner: condition on every sinner vel hic flere, Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, vel in futuro, a condition that cannot for why will ye die, ye house of Israel? be avoided, either to mourn here, or Could any thing be spoken more pasin the world to come; either to endure sionately? He protests, he exhorts, he now a sorrow that shall have end, or to expostulates; why then do we doubt? endure then a sorrow that shall have will he not save us when we repent, that hath threatened not to save us unless we repent? Non patitur contriti cordis holocaustum repulsam. St. Cyprian had learned so much of holy David, A broken heart, O God, thou wilt not (or, as some translations render it, thou shalt not) despise: no, we have him safe in his own fetters, entangled to us in his own promises, if we repent, he will, he must forgive us, for he neither will nor can deceive us: let every one of us therefore make that confession as Saint Austine did, O Domine si non sum dignus oculos, orando ad cœlum levare, at sum dignus oculos plorando cæcare: though I am not worthy, O God, to lift up my eyes in praying, yet I am sure I am worthy to wear out my eyes in weeping; though I can plead no innocence, yet I would fain plead repentance; that as my sins have caused the sorrows of thy Son, so my sorrows might cause the rejoicing of thy angels.

But mistake me not, I do not counsel you to a sullen, continued, unintermitted melancholy: but yet pardon me, if I would have you thoroughly sensible of your sins when you have done them; for without sorrow on the earth, I am confident there is no joy in heaven; there is no sinner that repenteth.

But St. Austine makes the question, which were more bound to God, he that should be preserved ever innocent, or he that were converted to be truly penitent? and be resolves it thus: Innocens majora, hæmitens majis debet, extensively the innocent ones, more intensively the penitent. Innocence, a jewel of higher price in the substance, but repentance of greater value in the workmanship; so much of greater value, that in the 7th verse of this chapter, it is proclaimed, that there is more joy for one repentant sinner, than for ninety-nine that needed no repentance. I would go on, but methinks I hear But Saint Paul gives a reason for it, some troubled soul thus call to me,when he saith, that where sin hath abound- You tell me heavenly things of this reed, there grace hath much more abounded. pentance, what power a religious sorSo that I dare say, that God looks row hath, that the lizard doth not gaze neither on the heaven of heavens, nor more earnestly on him that sleeps, nor on the purest seraphim, with such con- the dolphin on the mariner, than the tent, such joy, as on a heart well angels do on a weeping sinner; nay, wrought, a heart either carved or cut, that God himself is pleased with such or inlaid with sorrows, where grief hath a sight; that he suffers all his anger been as witty in punishing, as pleasure to be washed away in such a shower: was before in sinning; a heart still Credo Domine, I believe this, O my under the hammer, and broken into a | God, but wretch as I am, I cannot sorthousand pieces. O how busy is thy row. He that should tell me, that all Saviour at such a sight; watching thy the joys of heaven were to be bought sighs, and numbering thy tears, ga- for one single tear, how could he comthering up the several pieces of thy fort me that could not shed that tear? broken heart, as if they were so many when my eyes are dried up like the scattered diamonds! how gently he parched earth in summer, my very heart handles them, how curiously he re-turned marble, what Moses shall I call unites them, like a rich watch took to, to strike this rock for water?—But asunder to be made cleaner, and set stay, be not discouraged whoever thou together again. But doth any doubt, | art; the mother of Peter Lombard,