ThE following article, from the Evangelical Repository, is worthy of a careful perusal. It is a well-known fact that most of the geological theories extant impinge against the plain teachings of God's word. Geologists would have us to know that their theory is correct, no matter what prophets and apostles may say to the contrary; thus divine truth must be sacrificed on the altar of geological speculations. And it is a gratifying thought that while the masses of Christian professors are being led astray by this snare of Satan, there are some, in the churches, men of culture and thought, who take a bold stand against such soul-destroying sentiments. (See Jacobus' Notes, and the writings of Mr. Lord.) There is a vein of sarcasm in the article below, which, considering the subject, is pardonable. Without forestalling the piece, we would say to all, read and be profited.
G.
"How does a man become a freemason?" we asked, after gazing with amazement on the prodigious beard of the patriarch, listening to the conversation of men familiar with Hiram, King of Tyre, capable of discussing the details of Solomon's temple, and learned in the pyramids. If such mysteries might be hinted at in fireside discourse, what incomprehensibilities must be included within the mystic triangle! what untold ancient lore locked up in the chest of their sanctum! And again we asked with wonderment, "How does a man become a freemason?" Unhappily, the process was performed in the town. Several of our good, honest acquaintances were duly initiated; and after a brief probation, were advanced to the degree of Masters of that ancient craft. From which we learned that a man might lawfully display a white sheepskin apron covered with all manner of hieroglyphics, without any midnight perusal of the Rabbins, or any profound acquaintance with grammar, arithmetic, or history, sacred or profane. The Grand Master, of course, knew all these, and all other sciences.
A similar state of incredulity is produced in the minds of readers of geological works, by the discovery of the incongruity between the lofty pretensions of the science and its slender performances; and still more, by the discrepancy between its very proper demands on its students for universal knowledge, and the very moderate amount of second-hand information possible for men engaged in the common businesses of life, (as most geologists are,) on any subject beyond the range of their own profession. The impression is still further deepened by an extending acquaintance with the works of professed geologists, in which the reader inevitably discovers their ignorance of matters of grave importance, their mutual contradictions, and the folly of accepting either the facts or theories of geology upon such unreliable testimony. We were once greatly impressed with admiration of the discourses of geologists concerning the subsidence of continents, the elevation of mountains, the plication of rocks, and the interior nucleus of our fire-bowelled globe. Desiring a knowledge of such mysteries, we procured the authorized text-books and began to study the demands of the science.
"Geology," said they, "is the science which treats of the materials of the earth's crust, their mode of arrangement, and the causes which seem to have produced that arrangement." Rather an extensive investigation, we thought. But the next was worse: "The science which treats of the structure and universal constitution of the globe,"—that was going a good deal deeper than the crust,—"and of the causes of its physical features." That demands positive knowledge of the laying of the foundations of the earth. Lyell is said to be modest; let us see what he proposes: "Geology is the science which investigates the successive changes that have taken place in the organic and inorganic kingdoms of nature; it inquires into the causes of these changes, and the influence they have exerted in modifying the external structure162of our planet." It is getting worse and worse, said we; the organic kingdoms are now to be got into the ark, and who knows but the stars may next be found to have some influence on the shape of our spheroid? Better stop here, lest the nebular theory down us before we set foot on our solid science rocks. But professional men are wont to magnify their office; perhaps the mountain may not be so utterly inaccessible; let us advance a few paces, and ascertain the demands of science: "To solve the numerous problems which geology thus embraces, a vast amount of research and knowledge is necessary. To account for the aggregation and positions of many rock masses, the geologist requires to be acquainted with the principles of mechanics; to treat of their composition and formation, the aid of chemistry must be called in; to describe and classify the remains of plants and animals, he must have recourse to botany and zoology; while generally speaking, there are many of his problems, for the successful solution of which the assistance of almost every branch of natural science is necessary." "It would be no less desirable that a geologist should be well versed in chemistry, natural philosophy, mineralogy, zoology, comparative anatomy, botany, in every science relating to organic or inorganic nature." We began to make inquiries about the merits of cyclopædias, and calculations of the time necessary for the study of some four hundred and seventy volumes, containing an abridgment of the natural sciences by approved authors; constituting, we are assured, a very meagre scientific library. Meagre it must have been, for the Catalogue Committee of the British Association report that since A. D. 1800, memoirs on the mathematical and physical sciences, excluding natural history, chemistry, and geology, published in Europe, amount to one hundred and twenty-five thousand. The catalogue alone makes ten quarto volumes. The leisure hours of three months would be required to master a volume, we were informed by a hard-working student. There are some which would demand six months; and mathematical works, which would well repay the labor of a year. There were works in French and German, indispensable to the geologists; and four or five years would be well employed in obtaining a mastery of those languages. The names of the fossils would be unintelligible without a knowledge of Greek and Latin; and one must be able to sketch landscapes, and draw fossils accurately from nature, to make his acquisitions valuable. Thus, in about two hundred years, we might obtain a second-hand knowledge of what other people know about the science of geology. Or, by devoting one's whole time to the task, in eighty years we might master the literature of this gigantic science. A personal acquaintance with the rocks would demand an examination of the strata in situ; involving a visit to the Silurian system in Wales, the Old Red Sandstone in Scotland, the Laurentian system in Canada, the lavas of Etna and Vesuvius in the land of Antichrist, the extinct volcanoes of Auvergne, in the arsenal of his eldest son, the metalliferous deposits of the Ural range, the active volcanoes of the South American Republics, the coral tombstones of the submerged mountains and races of the Pacific. It would give great zest to such little excursions, could we bring home some trophies, and give reality and form to old existences, by inviting the British Association to breakfast on an omelette of moa eggs from New Zealand, and lunching the Zoological Section on a frozen mammoth steak from the Siberian ice cliffs. Such excursions, though somewhat expensive, would be doubly invigorating to mind and body; but with all the advantages of steam navigation, we found they would demand not less than thirty years. In that period, we were advised, it was probable, judging from the past, other fields of equal interest would be opened, demanding ten or twenty years for their exploration, which would result in new theories, leaving our existing theories as high and dry as Burnet's Theory. Geology is now producing about a hundred thousand pages yearly of books, reports, magazines, reviews, and the like; of which the geologist must keep himself informed, or fall behind the age—a fate more deplorable than that of an unsuccessful candidate. By reading a dozen magazines monthly, however, we were told one could keep tolerably posted, and even be able to make speeches at the American Association for the Promotion of Science. But then this reading twelve hundred pages monthly of contemporary literature would use up half one's time, and double the period required for obtaining a competent knowledge of the great business of world-making. About five or six hundred years, then, would be indispensably necessary for the life of a geologist. We dismissed the subject till the millennium, when philosophers living ten centuries can compare the value of as many conflicting systems at their leisure. We pronounced a knowledge of geology, as a science deserving of the name, impossible for mortal man in this short-lived world; and resolved henceforth to place the "Principles of Geology" and "Paradise Lost" on the same shelf, as magnificent creations of the human mind, visions, epics of the highest order. We indulged in a day-dream of megatheria, ammonites, coal formations, and flying crocodiles, occasionally, as men take to fast horses, or women to dancing, as a moderate insanity to quicken the pulse of life.
Just then, unhappily, we met with some geologists; and—must we confess it?—the lofty cliffs, seen gilt and glowing in the inaccessible distance, were ascertained to consist of common clay, which sundry little investigating streamlets dissolved into an all-enveloping mud. They were college boys, just graduated, who had learned everything at the university, including geology. But, alas for the prophet in his own country! We had known them well in their school days, when passing through the great tribulation of long division and the third declension, when the only geological phenomena with which they were familiar were the upheaval of the smaller boulders, in search of angling worms. In the brief period of four years they stood before us versed in Greek, Latin, logic, metaphysics, history, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, physiology, ethnology, zoology, geology, and if there be any other ology, with a competent knowledge of the constitution of the United States, a full understanding of the errors of the Pentateuch, and a delicate taste in meerschaums and mint-julips.
A little judicious inquiry unveiled the mystery. The source of their profound and accurate knowledge of geology was a single text-book. Thus they had no doubts, having no knowledge of conflicting systems. They had gone through the course without having handled a single specimen of the minerals, save those contained in the coal scuttle: some of them could not tell granite from limestone. This was not, however, their fault. We have inquired in vain, at four of the principal colleges of the United States, for a view of a complete set of minerals illustrative of the modern geological system, or even of the geology of our own country. But though ignorant of the facts described, and of the conflicting opinion of geologists regarding them, no Papist ever asserted the veracity of his mass-book, no Mohammedan the truth of his Koran, nor follower of Joe Smith the inspiration of the book of Mormon, more firmly than they did the accuracy of their Manual of Geology. Their Biblical knowledge and faith not being equally profound, they, like Bishop Colenso, "knew for certain, on geological grounds," the unhistorical character of Genesis.
Thousands in our land are now going through a similar process. Credulous youths swallow everything presented to them for science in college; having neither the desire nor the ability to separate facts from fictions. It is easier, and pleasanter, to accept the lecture, than to examine the theory. And no great harm comes of scientific speculation, provided it be not allowed to interfere with morals and religion; which the common sense of mankind, in most cases, sufficiently prevents. But when geological theories are advanced against the authority of the Ten Commandments, and the sanctity of the Sabbath and of marriage is denied upon the strength of notions about the fusion of granite, and the ancient existence of elephants and hyenas, it becomes necessary to show the utter uncertainty, not only of those, but of any other geological theories. The first step to this is a discovery of the errors and blunders of the accepted prophets of science. It is of no importance to our purpose to show how much truth may be in the system, while the facts and fictions are, for all practical purposes, lying in chaos; but the assurance with which notions are presented as facts, demands exposure.