The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-08-11
Morning Star and Catholic Mssssnssn
nv oRLRANs suNpAY, AUGUST II. l:!s.
THE DAYS OF CREATION.
HUXLEY AND "D p, s."


The objections of your correspondent -. r. D.
AXE some additional remarks on the days OF
seAton necessary. You will remember that
1my eclipse article called attention to the
aot that the sun was created on the 4sh day,
nd consequently that the preceding three
sud not have been measured by the sun. And
e the fourth day" comme enced before the sun
.,as created, neither could that day have been
measured by 1t. The deduction, that they
were not natural days, produced like ours
(twepty four hours long), seems TO me to fol-
low qnite plainly, and confirms the view Of
creation which shall give herein after. Mean
while cheerfally admit God could have made
the light and darkness follow one smother
around the earth every twenty four hours be-
fore He created the sun-bnt do not think it
likely that He did so. These and similar ques-
tions are old among theologisn.; and the Doc.
tors and Fathers Of the Church have, in COM
1nenting on Genesis, mostly inclined to that
Interpretation which Involves the least nnm.
ber of miracles and the greatest opportunity
for operation cf natural laws instituted, OF
course. and guided by the Almighty God.
Thus, st. Thomas Aquinas quotes with appro-
val the saying of st. Augustine that in the drst
Institution ofNature We are not to look for
siraoles but for lascs of mature:
"In prima iastitutione natur9 non quaritur
sairacaluDs sed qmid naturG rerum habeat. ut Au-
gnstinas dieit."-L st. Thomas, Summs, l. quest.
81, art. 4, ad. 3
This gives me the more confidence in re-
asserting that since most of the days of creation
were not measured by the sun, and could not
have been, under the circumstanc ces, the word
"day" in all those texts must be izuratively
Sed. But have other weighty reasons for
.Siug so, as will appear further on.
d. P. 8. asserts that the holy monk of the
ieventh century did net write in favor of
Oriods of Creation and of fgurative days! He
fuses o strong dash of contempt into his re-
lrence to this holy man. Allow me to caution
PAP. s that such contempt is not justified by
the fact that could not remember his name,
and still less by the circumstance that d. P. 8.
never heard Of him before. The spirit of con-
tradIction should always be held within res.
eonable bounds. 1t is as grave error
in the sight of Almighty God to assert for
Gel Ain what one knows nothing about as
10 asset for truth what one knows to be
error. Apparently in the came spirit D.
p. 8. says that 1t was the "in6del philcs ophers
Of the 18th and 19Gh centuries" who frat tried
to prove that the days If creation we're periods
and probably long ones. 1t is impossible to
comment patiently on such a.dariug and erro-
neous supposition. Infdels dare not pursue
suoh O course. 1t would be undermining
themselves. They insst-yes, insist passion
stsly that the Bible says six "natural days."
and that, therefore, the Bible is false.
But here 10 an extract from Huxley's Nash
vile speech which will show what iufdels de-
light to hold. As this is really the only
question between me and d. P. g., my answer
to Huxley will constitute 50 icient answer TO
D. p. 8. also. That both may be answered to-
gether is curioua enough.
Here is what Huxley said:
Take, for example, the oase Of the oAteract
of Niagara. where have been recently spend
ing some time, so that might 6ll myself
with the grandeur and beauty of that ex-
taordinary natural phenomenon it ls qnite
ssy to see chat the Niagara river has fol- msd
Sown valley, has cot its way back through
plateau of rock from which it falls for
me six miles. There is not the slightest
lficulty in seeing that. The great diff
om which it tam Siss is formed of two kinds
trook-bard rock at the top and soft rock
lderneAth. The water updermines the soft
ck below, when the solid stratum m 0bo We falls
over. YOu can trace the gradual excavation
of that valley for ix miles from that marvel
ous Glnh which, from ProctH's monument,
Overlo, k. the plain Of Ontario. Now, the rate
at whicn that work 10 going has not yet been
positively 1scertained, bat we may be perfect
~ OoElNin "a ou now bpobkipE AAEBoIy
the limit) that that work If QUITTING back does
not go on at the rate of Q yard in q year. We
have SIX miles OF suoh cutting, which will
bring you to period Of 10000 years for the
QUITTING back of Niagara alone. It is an i'm
material latter to me how many yeas it takes,
but 1t would bs nearer probability, much
nearer the truth, if had said three or four
times that amount.
What relation does period of that kind
bear to the vast duration expressed by these
vast lodges OF strata which form the globe
We are u people curious enough TO form n very
distinct calculation OF this. The sides Of the
FAvine through which Niagara is cutting it's
way are formed by masses OF alluvial matter,
which must be older than the river which has
cut through il. While in that ailuvial matter
yon find the RENAME of shell Ash undistin-
q1ishable from those which now inhabit the
lake, and along with them you 6nd-as has
been fouud-the teeth of the mastodon, which
We know from abundant evidence was in
habltant of the continent of North America ct
. comparatively recent period, the very lsSs
step Of that long series of changes, of whion
sne limestone, upon which you are now stand
ing, indicates one Of tae older ones.
Tins IL follows that the whole work of Nj