Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1853-04-21
commerce. and domestic comfort.

commerce, and domestic comfort.
The geological features of the country
have great influence on the employments
and character Of the inhabitants, as well
as on the productions of the respective
sections North, South, East, and West, as
was in the lecture Illustrated by facts.
But in the case of geology there is not
even literal discrepancy. On the con-
trary, all the geological formations cor
respond in the order of time, and as far
as they are described in the scriptures,
with the nature of the deposits, especial
ly in the succession of created beings
endowed with life, and man in both sys-
TENS crowns the whole.
The only change required is extension
of time, SO as to afford enough to allow
the events to happen by natural laws,
established by the Creator, expressive Of
his will, which is thus distincly recorded
in the earth itself. 'The beginning is
not limited in time, and may extend as
far back as the case may reqire; thus
providing for all the early formations.
The periods called days are not neces-
sarily such as we now denote by that
word. There could be no regulation and
division of time, as we now have it, un-
til the sun was set to rule the day.
Morning and evening may be, before
that time, fgurative expressions, denot-
ing merely beginning and ending, as we
say the morning and evening of life. The
word day is used, in this short narrative,
in all the senses in which it is ever en-
ployed in language; and significantly in
the recapitulation or summary, in the be-
ginning of the second chapter, day is used /,
for the whole period of the creation, and
in the same sense in various parts of the
scriptures.
The periods required for all the amazing
series of events recorded in the earth, are
necessarily long; and if time was measur-
ed by natural days in the fifth and sixth
periods, during the creation and sepul-
ture of innumerable races of marine and
terrestrial animals, there must have been
a repetition of very many of those days
to make out long epoch, which might
as we'll be regarded at once as period
of sufficient length for the work.
The Sabbath stands by itself after
the work is finished, a moral institution,
having no necessary connexion with the
preceding physical events. By it man is
every week reminded of his Maker and
his destination, and although neither
morning nor evening are in Genesis named
in connexion with the Sabbath, it has no
doubt always been of the same length as
now, and does not belong to the geological
epochs.
If this view is not acceptable, it is still
indispensable that in some way the time
was very long, and no other person can be
admitted as qualified to juolge in tie case.
There is reason to believe that man has
been in the world more than six thousand
years, and the antiquity of the planet
refers to ages before man was created, the
allusion in the commandments and in
other parts of the scriptures to the six
days, would. of course, be made in confor-
nifty with the language adopted in the
narrative, which, being for the mass of
mankind, was necessarily a popular
history, although of divine origin; and the
historian adopted division of time,
that was in general use, although as half
the time, at least, was inconsistent with
astronomical laws Extension of the time
to such length as to cover the events by
the operation of physical laws removes
every difficulty, interferes with no doctrine
of religion, and prepares US to exclaim
with our divine poets,
These are thy glorious works, Parent Of Good:
Almighty thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wohdrous then,
Unspeakable uho sits above the heavens,
To invisible, dmIy in these thy lower works
Yet these declare thy goodness beyond thought.
And power divine.-Millon.
Thou giveSt its luStre 70 an insects wing,
Ana wheel'st thy throne upon the rolling worlds.
From thee is all that cheers the life of man.
His high endeavor and his glad snccess-
His power to suffer and his Will TO serve:
But oh! thou bounteous Giver Of all good,
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown,
Give what thou caust; without thee are poor
And with the rich, take what thou wilt away-Cowper
The Poison Of Tobacco.
We had an opDOrtunitv on Sunday of