Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1857-02-24
Hugh y1ilier's Inst Work.

| had completed only the dav before his death. il
now passing through the press. and will soon be
published II i entitled, Tho Testimony Of
! the Rocks; or the BEARINGS of Geology on tho
| Two Theoogie>, Natural and Revealed" II
will be illustrated by some hundred highly finish.
ed ongfavings. cut in Pati, expressly for the
work. In one of the chapters on The Mosaic
Vision Of Creation the author argues with sin.
gula- originality and force. that the revelation
OF Creation as given in Genesis was addre ssed
To the .ys and not to the of Moses. The ao-
count l. "A description of what Moses saw in n
vision, MT description dictated by inspiration
in many words. He snpposes that the Al
mighty caused u phontasmagorc picture of the
Six Days to pass before the eyes of Moses, ind
that he describes these Appearances. He thus
each great Day, fon under its most
characteristic aspect. No account here can do
Justice 10 the argument by which this position is
maintained. but the following extract will CON
rey u good idea of tho authors style and trent.
ment Of the subject
Such description of the creative vision of
Moses. as the one given by Milton Of that vision
Of the future which he represents 5 conjared up
before Adam by the archangel, would be task
rather for the scientific poet than for the mere
practical geoogist or sober theologan Let us
suppose that it took place far from man, in an
untrodden recess of the Mdian desert, ere yet
the vision Of the burning bush had been vouchsa-
fed; and that the vision of st. John in Patmos,
voices were mingled with scenes, and tho ear rs
certainly addressed IN the eye. great dark
ness" first falls upon tho rhophet like that which
in an earlier age fell upon Abraham, but without
the 'horror," and, as the Divine Spirit moves
the fuce of the wildly troubled waters, as IA vis.
bic enveloped by the pitchy cloud the
great doctrine. is orally enumerated, that "in the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth
Unreckoned ages condensed in the vision into
few briei moments, pass away; the creative voice
is again heard, Let there DO light" and straight
way gray diifused light springs up in the east
and casting its slekly CLEAN over cloud limited
eXpanse OF steamng, yaporous sea, journeys
through the heavens towards the west. One
heavy, sunless day is made the representative Of
myrads; the faint hight wakes fanter-it sink,
beneath the dim. underlined horizon; the first
scene of the drama closes upon the seer; and he
sits awhile on the hilltop in darkness, solitary
but not sad in what seems to be Il calm and
staress nj ght.
The light again hrightens--it is day; and o
yer an oxpnnse of ocean without visible bound
the horizon has become wider and sharper of
outline than before. There is life in that great
tea-invertebrate. mayhap also iohthyic. life;
but, from the compartive distance OF the point
of view occupied by the prophet. only tho slow
loll of its WIVES can be dscerned as they rise
and fall in long unduatons before gentle gale,
and what most strongly mpresses the eye is the
10 scenery That lower stratum of the heavens
occupied in the previous vision by seethng
steam or gray, smoke like fog, is clear and
transparent and only in an upper region, where
tho previously invisible vapor of tho tepid sea
has thicked in tho cold, do the clouds appear
But there, in the higher strata Of the atmos
here they lie, thick and maniod-an upper
sea OF great waves separated from those beneath
10y the transparent armament, and like them to
lmpelied in rolling masses by the wind. A nigh
~ advance has taken place in creation: bot its
most suspicious optical sign is the existence OF
= Transparent almosphere-of armament
stretched out over the earth, that separates n
hove from the waters below. But darkness de-
,cends for the third time upon the seer, for the
evening and the morning have completed the Sc
cond day.
\ II again the light rises under n canopy OF
cloud, but the scene has changed, and there is
no longer unbroken expunse of sea. The
| white suIf breaks, ut the distant horizon, on an
| insulated reef, formed mayhap by the Slurian
! ar Old Red coral zonphytes ages before, during
| the bygone Yesterday; and beats in long lines OF
! foam, nearer at hand against low, winding
! shore. the senward barrier of Il widely spread
! country. For nj the Divine command the land
! has arisen from the dcep-not incansWcuously
! aud in scattered i,lets rs at an earlier time but
! in extensive though flat and mshy contents,
! l'tc raisrd over The sea level; and yet further
! lous hern. Tho scene Is one OF mighty forests
of cone bearing trces--of palms, md ec-ferns,
| aud gigantic club mo>ses, ON the opener slopes,
nud o great reeds clustering by the, lIes ot quiet
! axes aud dark rolling rivers. There is deep
gloom in the recesscs of thick woods, and low
| thick mlsis creep along the dank marsh slug
! gi>h stream. But there is general tightening
| of the sky overhead; rs tho day declines, n red
der flush than had hitherto lighted up the pos.
| poet falls uihwart fern covered bank and long
withdrawing glade. And while the fourth even
! ing has fallen ON the prophet, ho becomes scns-
! bile, rs it wears and the fourth dawn approach
"s that yet another change has taken place. The
! Creator has spoken. aud the stars look out from
| openings &c deep unclouded blue; and as day II.
scs, and the planet of morning palcs in the east,
| tho broken cloudets are transmitted from bronze
| INTO gold, and anon the gold b, comes fire, and ut
| length the glorious sun rises out of the sea, and
enters his rejoicing 1t isl brilliant day;
the wavesof deeper and softer blue than before,
dance and sparkle in the light; the earth, with
little else to attract the gaze, has assumeda garb
of brighter green; and as the sun dcclines amid
even richer gores than those which had enclr
cled his rising, tho moon appears full "rbed IN
| the east-to the human eye the second great III
| minary of the heavens-and climbs slowly to the
} zenith "a night advances, shedding its mild radi-
/ anoe on land and sea.
Again the day breaks; the prospect consists
Us before. nf land and ocean. There are great
| pine woods reed covered swamps, wide plains
winding rivers. aud broad lakes: aud a bright
sun shines over all. But the landscape derives
| its interest and novelty from feature unmarked
! before. Gigantic birds stalk along the sands or
wade far into the water ia quest of their ichthyic
| food; while birds of lesser size hont upon the
lakes, or scream discortant in lowering focks
! thick ~ insects in the calm Of summer even
| ing. OYER the narrower seas or brighten with the