The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-03-22

vi STafllatlOn as n flCtltl0uS ngpotuesS, else
il would conflict with the DEGREES of the
Popes against the motion of the earth. But
there fs another reconciliation. Of the higher
kind, or rather not reconciliation, but an
acknowledgment Of The affinity and identity
which exist between the spirit Of scieuee
and the spirit of the Bible. First, there is
a likeness OF the general spirit of she truths
| Of science TO the general spirit of the Bible
truths; and secondly, there is a likeness In the
methods. For instance, the geological truth
which our iilustrious student was the chief
instrument in clearly setting forth and estab-
| fishing was the doctrine, wrought out by care
FIJI, cautious inquiry in all Pirts of the world,
that the frame of this earth was gradually
brought into its present conditions, not by,
sudden and violent convulsions, but by the
slow and silent action of the same cawses
| which we see now, but operating through
| long succession Of ages beyond the memory
| and imagination Of man. There need be 40
| question whether this doctrine agrees or not
with the letter OF the Bible. We do not ex..
pect it should. For, had there been no such
scientific conclusions, we now know per-.
fectly well, from our increased insight into
| the nature and origin Of the early biblical re-
cords, that they were not and could not be
| literal, prosaic matter. of-fact descriptions Of
the beginning Of the world, Of which, as Of
| its end, no man kn0weth or can conceive ex.
cept by figures or parallel. ... ....,. t..sr
1t is now clear to all students Of the Bible
that the first and second chapters Of Genesis
contain two narratives oil the creation, side
by side, differing from each other in almost
every particular Of time and place and order.
1t is now known that the vast epecbs de-.
manded by scientific observation are incom-
patible both with the G, 900 years Of the Mo.
sale chronology and the six days of the Mo-
sale creation. No one now iniers from the
Bible that the earth is fixed, that it cannot
be moved, that the sun does literally 90 forth
rs bridegroom from bis chamber, or that
the stars sang with an audible voice in the
dawn Of the creation. BNt when we rise
to the spirit, the ideal, The general drift
and purposes Of the biblical accounts, we
find ourselves in an atmosphere of naoral ele-
yation which meets the highest requirements
philosophy can make. The discoveries of
geology are found to fill up the old religious
truths With a new life, and to derive from
them in turn hallowing glory. when the
historian of our planet points out that the
successive layers Of the earth'S surface were
formed by such agencies as we know Of now,
by the constant action OF wind and
wave, Of floating ice and rolling
s. soueS--that there were not separate
ntres of creation. but one prlmeyal
law which formed and governed all tbing@-
what is this but the echo Of those voices
which of old declared that in the beginning
| the heaven and earth were created, not by
| thousand couflictirg deities, but by One su.
preme and ndivisibe, and that He hath
given all things Inv that shall not be
broken. And we may compare the vast IL
tinilies of tluc and space, that long ascend
ing order. that gradual progress demanded
| by geology, With the words sublime III the
! Goth Psalm, read at the burial service: Z" y
thousand years IN thy sight are but as yes
| terday when it is past, and rs watch IN The
night"
Surely the view Of the gradual preparation
| of the earth for nnnkindiS grander than that
which makes him coeral with the beasts
| which perish, and we ought to honor the
archnoogist who by unhastlng, unrestlDg
research revealed in all its length and breadth
the sencalogy and the antiquity OF man and
of bis habitation. lie rent the veil and
showed the long vista in the temple OF the
Most High not made with hands" Apparel
| domus intus, ct ahia Tonga patescunt."
Not the limitation but the amplitication
of the idea of God is the result OF the
labor of such student, and not the descent
but the ascent of man is the outcome OF his
speculations. #, as he used TO say, we have in
| our bones the chill OF the contracted view Of
the past in which till now we were brought
IN. the enlargement which he ELECTED OF that
view ought 10 give a warmth, hire, TO our
soul Of souls, 10 proportion as we feel that
we are indeed not the creatures of'yeS' erday,
| but the heirs Of the ages and OF worlds that
have persisted in the making Of Us. AS 10
1.-the likeness of the general spirit OF the
method of science to that OF the Bible, the
Bible is model TO the student in its slow
| but increasing purpose OF revelation, through
suudrv times and divers manners, warning
each succeeding age 10 have It's eyes open,
and every member OF the human race 10
he the dlscple"-that is, "scholar,' as
the Founder of Christianity called his follow
ers. TO invest the pursuit Of truth with the
sanctity OF religious duty is the true recon-
cliation Of religion and science. Such
union has been the special glory OF the great
school of English gcooglatS, ana the Two
pioneers of the science at the lime WheD IL
had to fight its way against prejudice, lSno-
rance, and apathy, were both hoEored dlsnl-
taries of the English Chulch ; and now With
in these walls there rests beneath the monu-
lment of Woodward one who was the friend
of Sedswick and the pupil of Bucklaud. lie
followed truth with sanctitied zeal, child.
like humility. For discovering, confirming,
rectifyng his conclusions there was no jour
ney be would not undertake. .
From early youth to extreme old age ii
was to him religious duty frarlessly to cor
rect all his own mistakes, and he was always
ready to receive from others and reproduce
that which he had not 10 himself. In bis
| sfiap ifrin i,Ii iyis
; The freedom Of religious inquiry in
the National Church, the cause Of
humanity in the world at large, were to him
, as dear as though they were his own per.
sonal and peculiar concern. There is unu.
sual solemnity in the thought Of his passage
into the eternal world on which, as in q
shadow or mirrow, he had SO long medltated
| in those long ages Of which he was, as il
!, j.were, the first discoverer. The "lofty and
melancholy strain" the Goth Psalm, which
old tradition ascribes TO Moses, The Man .oi
God. whether it be or not the funeral hymn
of the great lawgiver, we'll represents the
feeling of one grown gray with vast expe.
> Derjence, who at the close OF his earthly
iourneyings contrasts the 1eetlng genera,
| lions of man with the granite forms OIL
the mountains at the feet OF which ne
has wandered, and contrasts those noun
taips and man alike with Him who existed
before, beyond, and above them all. II
sums ,tp with peculiar force the innefifie OIL
the Christian philosopher who concluded
bis chief work with the contrast between
the finite power OF man and the ATTRIBUTES
, of an infinite God, and who felt persuaded
that after all the discoveries on eartn or sea
or sky the religious sentiment renamed tnt
. greatest and most indestructlole lrstlnct o.
the human race.