accommodate his revelations, in some degree, to the knowledge possessed by those, to whom he wrote ; (as Joshua did in regard to the standing still of the sun,) and that therefore he made the earth the primary planet, and wrote as if the sun, moon, and other parts of the planetary system were created on the fourth day, and subordinate to it. The Jews to whom he wrote, and not only those, but other nations of his time, -firmly believed the earth to be the immoveable centre, round which the sun and the entire starry firmament revolved. This idea had all the force of a deeply rooted prejudice. They religiously believed it. A statement therefore of the truth, in the concise manner in which his work was necessarily written, would have unsettled, rather than have convinced. They possessed not the means of verifying the novel and unexpected assertion by experiment. He must first have prepared their minds by large communications of scientific knowledge before he could have ventured on statements so unheard of, and so difficult to be received. This suited not his plan. His object was not the rectifying of an error, which after all might not, through inveterate prejudice, have been effected, not to create divisions in opinion, which might at last have degenerated by one party into a rejection of his authority altogether; -but to lead their minds up to God as the world's Creator, and to the divine establishment of the Sabbath. He did not therefore say:-In the beginning God created so many planets of which the earth was one;-but draws attention to the earth first, as in accordance with their ideas and state of knowledge, and mentions the rest, when

1

the whole system was arranged and perfected on the fourth day.

Now suppose this reasoning, and the facts on which it is founded to be true, how still should the day's work be elucidated? The sun and the planets have been framed on the first day. In relation to the earth, the two succeeding days were devoted by the Deity to the calling forth an atmosphere, and the production of vegetation. In regard to the works performed on the other planets, nothing has been disclosed to us. But judging from analogy,-from their forming parts of the same plan; their possession of an atmosphere; the similarity of their revolution on their own axes;-judging from these and other points of analogy, we might, far from irrationally, suppose, that the work on all was simultaneous. It is not necessary to the argument, that this should be the case; but certainly, it gives strength to it, by exhibiting in all, a degree of unity in design, which is wholly consistent with the usual operations of the Deity. Now the work of this day is laid down by Moses as one of arrangement; - one of devoting certain objects to certain defined uses;-of filling up and perfecting that, which at first was set into motion, as it were, in outline. We may perhaps start at this saying; and imagine, that whatever came from the hands of God, must of necessity at once be perfect. But there is nothing dissonant with the usual agency of God, nor derogatory in this supposition. The whole creation is one of degrees; gradations from the rough, formless chaos, to its perfection in man, formed after God's own image. Every work progresses; -the light; --the air; --the dry land;-vegetation; -animals;-man: and these acts, which, as we have said, might have been perfected in a moment, rose step by step to their full accomplishment, through a marked succession of six entire days.

We would say then, under this idea, either that the principal bodies having been formed on the first day, their satellites were furnished forth to them at the period under review; or that such an adjustment took place of the entire system-the minutiæ of which would be perhaps equally beyond the reach of our reasoning, or acquirement-that it may be truly said to constitute the work of which Moses speaks. In so sublime a topic, involving some of the greatest external works of the Deity, it were vain to expect so clear a narrative, that we should be enabled to make it square with every position that we took up, and adapt it to our curiosity in its minutest particulars; and it certainly appears to me, that either of the methods proposed is sufficiently conclusive to attest the veracity of Moses, and to take off the edge of the objections which might otherwise have been raised.

Imagine then the completion of the system in its various parts simultaneous; and that the several gradations which we know to have taken place on the earth, to have had corresponding degrees on the other planets. During three days, therefore, the whole machinery revolved round the sun; each day beholding an additional progress towards perfection. The outline of the whole was given; but it is not absolutely necessary, that the satellites, and other parts should at the same time have been added. It is not necessary to suppose that Saturn's ring was co-eval with the rounding of the chaotic mass of which that planet was composed. It is not necessary that the belts of Jupiter should have been thrown around him, as soon as he was placed in his destined orbit. Neither is it, that the moon should have been formed on the same day as the globe, which it accompanies. Indeed, upon this latter point, there is a positive evidence, which, (knowing that the fourth day was not without its work, and that this is said to have formed part of it) is sufficiently strong to authorize our belief, that it was not created at the first with the earth. “Let there be lights in the firmament of Heaven. And God made two

•

great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also." And if it be said, that the sun is also stated to have been made on this day, it yet seems not unreasonable to suppose, that (although before fixed as the centre of that system) it may yet again be named with the moon and planets, seeing that these latter are so intimately connected with that luminary, that they drew the light which they diffuse, solely from the self-existent light of that creation. And also, that the plan of Moses, tending to make the earth the chief and primary planet, he is compelled, in a manner, to make the sun and stars subordinate to it in his mention of them. The only real point of difficulty (and that is not much) respects the sense to be attributed to the stars "the stars also."

It is, I believe, generally supposed, that the sentence was written incidentally; with the idea of im

pressing on the mind, that the same God who made the sun, moon, and earth, also made the numberless constellations which deck the heavens; -a fact, which could scarcely be doubted by any one who believed at all; and which, under that simple idea alone, might almost seem irrelevant. But restricting the history to the solar system-to which Moses seems to restrain it "the stars" would receive a beautiful illustration by being interpreted of the planets; and in that case, whether the work of that day respected the garniture of those bodies with belts, rings, and satellites; or whether their mention were dependent on the naming the sun and the moon, as if to fill up the celestial scheme; in either case, both the truth of the record and its consistency would be equally preserved. The Israelites might not-nay, did not perceive this meaning, in that their knowledge was not equal to its reception; they might have believed it in its most obvious acceptation; but true in this outward form, it was also true in its inward sense; and as science enabled the astronomer to lay open to the world, the real condition and subsistence of our system; and as he turned to this record for confirmation, the finger of God was still perceived, pointing to the Truth, though veiling it for a season in mystery. When the Earth and the Sun were formed, he made the stars also.

The whole material system then having been completed, the principle of animal life is generated. "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. And let the earth bring forth the living creature after his