Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-03-22

causes 0lthe death, cJulu uol h"'c 81
much as inferred from it tho existence OF
n human creature. Every one is (dmill.
or with Palcy's illustration Of u watch
rounl on the waste willerncss-mafk
how il will apply in this case. From
the design exhibited in the cons truc'ion
Of the machine, The existence of de-
signcr is ialcrrel, whereas from stone
found in the same Wilderness, in which
no such marks Of design were apparent,
no such inference regarding the exis'
rcncc Of a designer could be drawn. But
what will we suy Of the man who could
assert, that the watch with oil its seem
ing design was note watch bu! s'onc'
and that Notwithstanding its springs, It's
wheels AMI lis index, i, had never been
intcn lei TO measure time. What wonId
BE- said OF the matchmaker when con-
s,yucting hi. watches, il constructing
them us he does, yet never intends that
they should be watches at oil but some
thing else Of an entirely different char
ac.cr-ihings to be buricl in the ground,
Or convcricl into lime or locked up
in sands,onc7 And yet such is the con
ccp.ion which the anti geologi>t, who
sees in the Garth with all its fossils, no
evidence that it may be more than day
old. formed Of Ike all wise creator. The
analogy which is drawn in the case
from the miracle Of creation, is no anal
ogy al all. ltis not contrary 10 the laws
of which control human belief, that the
first races Of every succeeding creation
should have been called into existence
in state of full maturity; but it is CON
trary 10 these laws that the all wise ere.
a,or should be maker of grave yards
full of The broken debris of carcas
ses which never lived, Of skeletons
never purposej to form the frame work
/ of animals-of watches never intended
to 10 aught than perform the part O.
stones.
We fnl the objection drawn ffom Gre
alton SO inccniouslv defended, so cX.
qnisi,ely adorncl in no place as in
quotation from: Chatcaubriand in Ali
sons review Of his writings
awe approach the last objection con
cerning the modern origin Of the globe
The earth it is said, is an old nurse
whose dscrepi,udc everything announ
ccs. Examine It's fossils, its marbles
its ,;sani.es, and you will deciphcr it
innumerablc years, marked by circle b,
stratum, or by branch, like those Of ,h
scrpcn, by his ra,tles, the horse by hi
teeth, or The stag by his horns
"This difficulty has been hundre'
times solved by this answer Go
shculN have created, and without ques
ton has created, the world, with all tn
marks of antiquity and completeness
which we now see
"Inleel it is probable that the Autho
of Nature first planted old forests an'
young shoots,--,hat animals were pro
duccd, some full of days, others adornc,
with all the graces Of infancy. Oaks
as they pierced the fruitful soil, woul
bear at once the foresakcn nest of tn
crow and the young posterity Of til
dove. The worm was chrysalis and but
ter;ly, the insect grazel on the hcrt
suspended lis eollcn EGG amidst the for
csts, or trcmblcd in the wavy air. Th
bee which had lived but singl morn
ing, reckoncl its ambrosia by genera
tons of flowers. We must believe tha
the sheep was not without its young, tn
iawn without its little ones,-that til
liickcts hid nighlingalcs, astonishc
with their own first music, in warmin
the nceting hopes Of their first loves.
tie world bad not been at once youn
and old, the grand, the serious, the MOI
al, would disappear from nature; lc
these sentiments belong essentially t
the antique. Every site would have los
its wonders. The ruined rock coul
not have hung over the abyss; the wood
despoiled of every chance appearance
would not have displayed that touchn
disorder Of trees bending over thei
roots, trunks leaning over the courses c
the rivers. Inspired thoughts, venerabl
sounds, magic voices, the sacred gloor
of forests, would vanish with the vaul,
which served them for retreats, and tn
solitudcs Of heaven and earth would IT
main naked and discnchanted, in losin
those columns Of oak which unite then
The very day when the ocean dashed il
first waves on its shores. it balhed-lf
US not doubt-rocks already worn b
the breakers, shores slrcwn with tn
wrecks of shells, and headlanls whic
sustained against the assaults of the wa
ters the crumbing shores of cartl