Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-09-18

YOUR to propagate against men OF science In
general. and eeologists in particular. All that
the learned now request, is that they may DC
allowed to enjoy in peace the fruit ot their Ia
bours. and that the cause of religion may not
be inconsiderately blended with the results oil
their inquiries -
We mus, observe, that, with respect to our
selves, we only consider The Book OF Genesis
here as ar historical monument Of great anti
guilty; 10 other words, simply in seien'ihc Poin'
of view: any other mode would be out oil place
in the bulletins Button, De Luc, Buckiana,
Webster, sc. have given great interest. 70 tni'
examination; and i, is time That the convention
al ridicule which some learned men atscn 70
the study Of this valuable monument should ne
done away with, when so much labour Is every
day applied 10 the scrutiny OF the cosmogonies
Of the Chinese, Hindoos, and Egyptians; when
history does not even disdain to nterroga'e 'he
dumb monuments of the remotest dates, or the
most extravagant alegories, OF the nations OF
antiquity Without seeking 10 support an o.
pinion or particular mode Of thinking, one may
take coenizance Of a fact, and intolerance would
be as blameable on the Que side as on the other
The Bishop Of Hernopolis, resting on 81.
Aueus,lne's opinion with regard to the meaning
Of the word day. expresses himself III the iol>
lowing manner, OF this fundamental question
"The chronology of Moses dates less from the
moment OF the creation of matter than from
ha, of the creation OF man, which only TOOK
place on the sixth day. The sacred writer
computes the number OF years oil the TIT st man
and his descendants, and the chronology OF the
Holy Books, therefore, is made up by the COM
2utation Of the years Of The successive patrl-
archs so that it extends less the origin OF the
globe itself, thon 10 The origin OF The human
species. Henceforward we can say 10 geolo'
gusts, dig as much as you please INTO the cow
els Of the earth, il your observations do not re-
cure that the days Of creation should have
been longer :han our ordinary days, we shall
continue TO follow the common opinion res2ec
ting the extent Of these days; but il, on the con-
rrary, you discover that the terrestrial globe,
with its plants and animals, must be much olcer
than the human race, the Book OF Genesis VIII
have nothing to say against such discovery; Tor
in each Of the six Gays you are permitted to see
so many Intermediate periods OF time, and then
your discoveries will be the explanatory COM
mencemenl Of passage the meaning OF which
is not perfectly determined"
Now, observation shows, that long period
Of time ELAPSED, Isl, between the consolidation
Of the primitive strata Of the globe and The ap
pearance OF life a. lis surface; I'd, between the
creation Of the diff, rent species Of plants, and
the various race, Of animals; 3dly, between tn,
latter and The creation Of man. The proofs Of
these facts are undrniable as these strata are
the product Of succession Of slow effects, and
the re mains Of plants and animals which some
Of them contain, suppose prodigious success
sion of distinct generations. The idea, there
fore, Of days like ours, is repealed by iaels. aud
a al gtIO n he ~
the distance of the fixed stars from the earth,
and nothing is more ridiculous in the ewes of
one who i, occupied in such Investigations,
han TO hear people speaking ofhe ace ofMe
'corid, the antiquity Qfthe uorid, &c.
As il is equally certain that the human spe-
cies is the last in the order Of creation. since
It's remains do no, occur among those Of the
other living beings which abound in The solid
strata, even the most superficial, of the globe,
il may be said hat all the phenomena, whatever
they may be, to which he formation Of these
strata may be referred belong 70 the scientific
history OF the epochs an ece dent 10 the exist
ence OF man. From this NAV be seen the emp
tiness oil the expression which we every day
hear repeated, that the revolutions TO ach,ch
the globe bears testimony are a proor of THE
detuge 1t is evident, from what
Of the earth only, that We can leok for with
some English geolog'sts, the traces of this
great cataclysm, and that the shells, the bones
'f animals, and the impressions Of plants, which |
are found In The solid strata Of the globe, have
40 connection with the deluge, since the objec, |
or which ii was produced was The destruction |
If the human race, and as all these strata, as
we'll as the phenomena which have CHANGED
heir order OF inclination, are anterior TO The
Existence Of man.
GoD, as NJ. de Frayssinous has observed,
:ouid certainly, by an act Of his will, have ere,
ted at once the whole consolidated earth, and
III the beings which embellish it; but as no.
hing prevents US from thinking that the will
u the creator might have received its accom-
'Ilshmsni by concentration or succession of
fleets, more or less rapid, or slow, with refet>
nee to The duration of human life, and as or,
hodoxy makes no opposition to the six DAYS
york being considered S'r indstcrmiaate DE-
'ods OF f'mei and, moreover, as Moses has no,
n'ered into detail Of the first causes by which
Tod determined this succession Of efE.crs ,,d