The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-10-24

ON the oatth's structure, Ito genesis aud
development exact, certain aud It bic d?
We'll may the late Mr.. Barnes ask, "On
what points outside the small circle of
mathematical demonstrations is science
certain ? What is light ? What is matter I?
What is galvanism Nhat is gravita-
ton? What is attraction What is heat /?
What is lie How many are the origi-
nal elements Of matter? In what proper
tons do they combine, and by what pow.
or are they held in combination -? How
many arc the waters that roll above us
What is the duration of our globe When
and how was it formed aud moulded 2
And what exact changes has it UNDER
gone Is there any one ofthesc and num-
berless kindred points on which the views
OF scientific men are settled and certain
Is there any one on which there are not
as many different and shadowy opinions as
there arc on the doctrine Of the Trinity
or Incarnation
IIct me remind or inform those who re-
gard the ultcranccs of these spiritsts as
to the ccrtaintics and exacness of science
and Of its superiority in truthlulncss to
the Bible, that so carly as 1906, the
French Institute counted moro than eighty
theories hostile to scripture history, not
one of which has stood to the present day.
How will it DO with these fifty years
hence?
1t may hitch on to some stray splinter
Of cone bearing wood Gsh's tooth or
skull, the vortcbra Of reptile, the hui
mcrus Of bird, the jaw Of u quadruped,
and knock off a piece ofstony nature here
aud there, and not very extensively at
that, but whether so or not, what clue
does it all furnish you with to unravel
the unapproachable mysteries of creation
Thcorize about them will you, get up
wild assertions about the "etcrnity of
matter :" But what presumption. Nay,
rather, what rebellion against common
sense AS Tyndall, in his fragments of
science says, when speaking Of the con-
stituton of nature and of "attraction,"
in particular, "of the inner quality that
enables matter to attract matter we know
nothing" Again he says in his lecture on
matter and force" "But behind, and
above, and around all, the real mystery
of this universe lies unsolved, and, as far
as We are concerned, is incapable of sou.
ton So comedies this high priest of
science. Indeed, it behoovcs all men,
scientific men with others, to be not lit.
tie modest when they set up their claims
of what science is doing and will do.
In the light Of these observations, and
| could support them by the confessions
of the best scientists OF the day, what
shall We say to such vaporings as these,
Build to the skies, she (sciencc) will
soar and scan the very top.stonc dig
center deep, she will dive to the iounda.
ton. Heaven is not too high for her fct.
tcrlcss wings, nor the fiery hell hot enough
to prevent her most searching examine
ton Such extravagant puerility as that
in the beginning OF our examination does
not seem likely to induce candid mind
TO turn over the remaining shells with
any great degree Of respect or Difference.
1t is easy for these men to assume that
science is the true regula fdei
the pillar and ground of the
faith, and to attempt making
science the interpreting oracle, and
oql scriptures nose Of wax to be formed
into any shape that their high:authorty or
the authority they personally represent,
may dictate, and that without regard to
any method of cxegesis having its rule
and sanction in itself
In assaiing the account of the crea-
ton in Genesis, indnlging as they 90 on,
in their God-hating characteristics, they
stumble over the sublime opening Of that
account namely "ln the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth" af.
iording as it thus does, at the very thresh-
old Of the account ample room for all "the
expansion Of astronomical and geological
cras, cycle upon cycle which the most
exlravagant demands of an eternity past
can require, in which to bnild up a world
or universe. They declare that they
have found "a key" to the time of the
"beginning,' and that that key limits the
time since "the world began" to less than
six thousand years. For they conclude
which for scientific men is quite an an.
omalouslsort Of nstration-they "con.
cludc' in direct opposition to Biblical
fact, that whatever heaven"
means in one place. it means in another.
But We will resume at this point another
week. A. +. BAILEY.