in a horizontal plane, or nearly so, they would have passed over the limestone; but since we find them out-cropping, or appearing on the surface, on either side of the limestone, we may fairly infer that a large mass of matter has been removed by denudation since the uplifting of the mass.

In some cases we have the coal-beds dislocated by slips or dykes. Sometimes we have these merely passing through the coal-beds, as A B in the accompanying section, altering scarcely at all the direction of the strata. C D,

1

I

1

2

2

2

3

3

3

B

F

D

however, and E F, are the result of a considerable subsidence of the mass of ground constituting the coal-measures, and the same motion also alters the beds on the left-hand side of the section. These slips are analogous in their character to the faults already described in the papers on metalliferous mines. In both cases they are indications of great movements of the earth's crust. Frequently in the coal-fields the position of the coal-beds is so altered, that considerable cost becomes necessary before the bed can be rediscovered, and sometimes the dislocation and subsidence of the coal have been so great that it is entirely lost.

*In "Excelsior," 1855.

R. H.*

THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH.

THE design of God in giving to man the Scriptures of Truth, was not to teach either mental or physical science, but to bring fully before the world His own glory, in the discovery to fallen man of his character as the just God, and yet in Christ the justifier of the ungodly. We might thus expect that the terms in which this rich and gracious design was made known, would be such as those who were most interested in it would easily understand. In a word, the revelation would be suited to the creature who needed it. This would imply that the current views of the intellectual nature of man, and of the phenomena of the outward world, would not be interfered with. To have done so would have given to the Bible a widely different aim than it has. It would have become a handbook of science, and ceased to be that sure word by which weary pilgrims are guided in a dark world on through the whole pilgrim path, and into the brightness and beauty of the eternal and incorruptible habitations.

Yet, while it was not primarily intended to explain the deep things of the constitution either of mind or matter, it often presents to us thoughts and expressions which reveal many of the hidden depths of both. The references which it makes to the present natural condition of each man's mind, the influences of other minds on that, and the effect on it of the revelation of God's mind to it, often flash such bright gleams down into the darkness of thought and affection, as make us acknowledge that man's mind,

not less than man's body, is fearfully and wonderfully made. We find it to be thus with regard to the outward world also. The works of God in nature stand out before most men as suggestive of what is useful in connexion with them, and man's thoughts concerning them, take rise and terminate either in their money value, or in the not much higher acknowledgment of their beauty when the eye is pleased. But the Word of God gives to all these things seen and temporal a widely different value, when they are regarded as mere symbols of the deep thoughts of a wise, loving, righteous, and gracious God. "They shew his eternal power and Godhead."

While, too, the great ends of the revelation of God were understood by men in early times, the intrinsic value and power of these could not be interfered with, by clothing them in language plain and intelligible to those most interested, even though it might, in after ages, be found neither intellectually nor scientifically correct. But, though the language of the remote past might thus seem to give countenance to erroneous views of the works of God, there can be no doubt that even the deep things of God's mind are often so expressed that, while they would be at once and easily intelligible to those to whom they were first spoken, they continue, also, to fit a highly advanced state of both mental and physical science. Looking at this, it might justly seem that the language used had been employed in anticipation of the discoveries of modern times. Perhaps, it will be found that in the degree in which the mind of the philosopher is in sympathy with the mind of the covenant God, will the very words of Scripture fit into and har

This has been well

monise with modern discovery. illustrated, by looking at the description which Peter gives. of the winding up of the present order of things, in the light of the present advanced condition of chemical science.

"He says that 'the heavens,' or atmosphere, will pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth, also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up; looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.'

"This language approaches nearer to an anticipation of the scientific discoveries of modern times than any other part of Scripture. And yet, at the time it was written, it would not have enabled any one to understand the chemistry of the great changes which it describes. But now that their chemistry is understood, we perceive that the language is adapted to it, in a manner which no uninspired writer would have done. The atmosphere is represented as passing away with a great noise; an effect which the chemist would predict by the union of its oxygen with the hydrogen and other gases liberated by the intense heat. Yet what uninspired writer of the first century would have imagined such a result?

66

Again, when we consider the notions which then prevailed, and which are still widely diffused, why should the apostle add to the simple statement that the earth would be burned up, the declaration that its elements would be melted? For the impression was, that the combustion would entirely destroy the matter of the globe. But the chemist finds that the greater part of the earth

has already been oxidised, or burned, and on this matter the only effect of the heat, unless intense enough to dissipate it, would be to melt it. If, therefore, the apostle had said only that the world would be burned up, the sceptical chemist would have inferred that he had made a mistake through ignorance of chemistry. But he cannot now draw such an inference; for the apostle's language clearly implies that only the combustible matter of the globe will be burned, while the elements, or first principles of things, will be melted; so that the final result will be an entire liquid, fiery globe."

The references made by the inspired writers to the foundations of the world, find their illustration in the discoveries of modern geology. No doubt, in this case, the illustration has not such a direct and positive bearing npon the exact words which refer to the foundations of the earth, but it is not less interesting on that account. It is generally believed that the time was when this world existed as a molten mass, and that the centre of the earth exists in the same state, and retains the same form. That is, that the foundations of the earth are molten lava, using the word foundation as indicating the remotest point from the surface of the earth's crust. "The form of the earth," says Buckland," is that of an oblate spheroid, compressed at the poles and enlarged at the equator. This is the exact form which any fluid mass would assume from revolution round its own axis." A more simple illustration of this may have been noticed by most in boyhood. When the air bubbles leave the pipe, in which they have been blown, they often glide gently round when falling, and their shape is precisely that of the philoso