The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-12-12 00:00:00

LECTURES ON THE SUN AND MOON STAND-
ING STILL, AS RELATED IN " JOSHUA."

Mr. Linton delivered his third and last lecture on this
subject, at the Assembly Rooms, Great George-street,
last night. The audience was not very numerous. After
alluding to Mr. Taylor and the Rev. Dr. Clarke as having
disposed of the subject without due reference to philoso-
phical principles, he gave his definition of "a miracle,"
as something " produced by a natural cause, and that
cause being produced by the will of God." A miracle, he
conceived, did not involve a violation of the laws of nature,
but merely a new natural cause for its accomplishment.
He divided the phenomena of the miracle, which was the
subject of his lecture, into four heads. First, the sun stood
still; secondly, it stood still a whole day ; thirdly, the
moon also stood, at its accustomed proportionate distance ;
and fourthly, it was assumed that the sun set where it rose
during the miracle. The cause he attributed to a new
motion given to the earth at right angles to the earth's
diurnal motion. This was an oscillating and single mo-
tion, so far; the point of the oscillation was the earth's
centre; and this motion (or inclination from the north
pole, as we understood him) kept parallel with itself, the
diurnal motion being still maintained. He afterwards
illustrated his views by a balloon representing the earth,
with a black spot upon it to represent Gideon; and ma-
king the north pole of this dip towards the south pole of
the heavens, stated that in such a position, and the earth
having made a daily revolution, the words in Scripture
were verified ; inasmuch as Gideon being in latitude 35
deg. north, the city, by this inclination towards the sun
for " a whole day" —commencing when the sun, as stated,
was at his meridian over it—would have the sun over it
for twelve hours, and neither less nor more. The sun
would take six hours (as it was then the equinox) to rise
to its meridian, and six hours to set from it, from east to

west,—the miracle being in the interim, and lasting pre-
cisely 24 hours, making in all 36 hours. The moon, in its
relation to the sun, must, he said, have retained her rela-
tive position. The diagrams he exhibited were rather
ingenious ; but we cannot help observing that he has left
the matter, in
.our humble opinion, precisely where it
stood. If Sacred Writ is to be believed, a miracle was
performed—and he admits a miracle, or an alteration
by &vine cause in the heavenly bodies; and as nothing
is impossible to Him who made and rules the planetary
bodies, we think it rather too presumptuous to assume, as
he did that, he had discovered the true plan on which the
- - -

easy for omnipotent power to make the sun, which philo-
sophically stands still, while our earth in her daily revo-
lutions finds, from her own intervention to the rays of
light from that luminary, the alternations of night and
day,—it would be as easy, we say, to make the sun keep
pace with the world, and illuminate any meridian, as to
cause the earth to ascillate or bend down out of its steady
polar position, like a vascillating common air-balloon!
Mr. Linton, however, admits.that there was a "miracle,"
and we do not, therefore, incline to be severe upon him in
meddling with subjects that are beyond the reach of
human ken.

The Liverpool Trade's Cup will, in future, be handi-
capped after the Northumberland Plate race.
COMMITMENTS AT THE POLICE COURT YESTERDAY.
—Two men, Lewis and Taylor, were committed for trial,
on a charge of stealing a quantity of lead pipes, from the
premises of a Mr. Sherwood. They had placed nearly
l cwt. of the article in readiness to be carried off.—
John Roach, a man employed as a grate finisher, by Mr.
Bennett, at his extensive works in Sir Thomas's-build-
ings, was charged by his employer with stealing two ham-
mer heads, which were found in his coat pocket, on the
premises. lie stated that he did not intend to steal them,
but merely to put handles into them. The prisoner had
been seventeen years in one employ, and latterly, ten
weeks with Mr. Bennett. He was committed for trial.—
A man named John Hoben, was also committed for trial,
on a charge of having knocked down Mr. John Wilkin-
son, on Saturday night, and with the asst... ,f r
who came up, robbed him of the sum of i Gd
_ _

tance of o

land-roan
INTERESTING
very interesting meeting of the female teachers of the in-
fants' and girls' schools connected with the Church of
England Schools in Liverpool and the neighbourhood,
and also the Corporation Schools, took place in St.
Mary's girls' school, Edge-hill. The Rev. H. H. Higgins,
the inspector of schools in this place, arranged the meet-
ing for the furtherance of kindly intercourse amongst the
teachers, and had also engaged the services of several
clergymen to address them. The room was very hand-
somely decorated. Being carpetted and curtained, and
the walls being hung with flags, evergreens, and a por-
trait of the bishop of the diocese, it presented the appear-
ance of a very ample saloon. Nine tea tables we
out, the families in the neighbourhood very kindly lendirk
tea services for the occasion, and a piano was placed at
one end of the room. One hundred and two persons were
present, of whom seventy-four were teachers and their
assistants, and fourteen clergymen. After tea, addresses
delivered to the teachers, on the responsibility
chers' office, by the Rev. J. Cordeaux. On
mragements belonging to teachers in their
Rev. J. Jones. On the qualifications
by the Rev. F. Barker. On the

complainant afterwards followed the prisoner into Scot-
and had him secured. He was sent for trial,

wer
of the ty

work, by th
of a teach

'eral hymns
hin

M EETI

liggins

—On Friday evenin

ious instruction, by the

most t

v. F. Parry

instructive, and listened to with
In the intervals between them,
. At ten o'clock the tables were

witu truly and wine, and after a short ad-
er from the Rev. J. H. Ste Wart, the party

highly d

ring's enteitain-
;iven to the rev.

cur ms Kindness in devising, and his zeal and
erality in accomplishing, this useful and instructive
eting, of which it is to be honed that the heni.fit

tents were successful

VALLASEY FREE SCHOOL

labitants of Wallasey

meeting of the
nd

—A vestr.
ve to the rnar

airs or tne rree school, was held on Th-ursday
mount to notice; and the ratepayers had been espe-
illy called upon to attend, by a placard extensively cir-
hated throughout the parish, and signed " Henry
inch," Seacombe. This document was to .the effect
it the school had an estate of £l5O a year, which was
elv fn inorana. ----- . .

1 proportion to the growing

s nevertli

ficiency, ti

proper

the extension of its value

id without

s prevent

e affairs c

Writer
y these

ce he cot

perty was
court, yes

as not yet f