of creation, the evening is described as leading the morning. The succeeding period, or second day of the creation, exhibits our Comet as still whirling through space, but undergoing such a rapid reduction of temperature, that the waters which have hitherto been rarefied by the extreme heat, and in the form of vapor, repelled into the remote regions of the firmament around and above it, are now condensing and falling in such copious showers as finally and effectually to cover its rotund form entirely over. As periods succeed, so does development. The third day attests, that the Omnipotent voice commanded, that the waters should gather themselves together unto one place, and that the dry land should appear; and it was so. The impression conveyed in this sentence is undeniably that of unity: a single great continent, washed on either hand by a single great ocean, the waters of which, on the east and west sides, received the appellation of seas. It is on this day, too, that organic life begins to manifest itself that in the humblest form, the vegetable world first hears its Master's voice and comes. The lawns, the meadows and broad pastures of the sea become green with grasses; and the earth rejoiced in herb, and shrub and fruit trees yielding fruit, each bearing seed of its own kind within itself. But at length the fourth day comes, and with it comes the Sun. Now our Comet is no longer free to roam through the wild wastes of eternity, a mystery in the skies. She no longer pursues either straight or parabolic lines, but, spell-bound, gracefully glides into an elliptic orbit, and makes her first entire cir cuit in the heavens. Chained as to a pivot, from that day to this our Comet, in one continual annual round, has paid allegiance to the imperial monarch of the skies; and, for doing so, the astronomer calls her a planet. But, as names cannot alter things, she is a Comet still. Thus plainly must the reader see, that in Holy Writ our little orb is most intelligibly and unmistakably described as a wanderer in the skies, from her first creation up to the fourth period of her existence; she was then developing and maturing her varied powers, the better to sustain the teeming myriads soon to call her mother. Now, like a true and tender parent, mindful of the delicate natures of her progeny, she remains at home, dispensing blessings to all she bears. Our Comet, on the fourth day, or period of her existence, has abandoned her former erratic course of life, and assumed a matronly position in the steady social system of the planetary world. Her first chief pleasure is devoted to the culture of fruits and flowers. Meadows and lawns are covered with shrubbery and grasses, orchards are laden with goldentinted fruits; but all her roses are wasting their sweetness upon the desert air. Not even a minnow in the ocean, nor buzzing fly in the air, to break the dead silence that everywhere prevails. Such monotony is insufferable, and her kind Father, with the potency of his magic will, provides for all her wants. Every variety of fishes, from the tiny protozoa to the great whale, are soon found rejoicing in the depths and shallows of her broad ocean; and winged fowls of all sorts, from the gnat to the Dodo, glide through the thin air, plucking truits from her rich garden, or in robes of embroidery imbibing dewy nectar from her gay flowers. When these she has nurtured and learned well to take care of, others are sent her of different forms. These live on allfours, save his majesty, man, who, as a sort of subangel, was more highly endowed. The creatures first made all differed from those existing at present, and a glance at them, hereafter, will prove not only interesting but emphatically instructive. They have all changed, as their mother, the Comet, has changed; and so we shall find them hereafter, renewing their forms as she, as predestined, shall undergo other cometic mutations. All creatures are best known by the peculiarities of their respective natures. Capricious inconstancy is the characteristic of Comets. That our earth belongs to this family is clearly evinced, not only from Scripture, but by the many whimsical freaks of her earliest infancy. When first issued from the workshop, she is found a glowing ball of fire, illuminating the heavens with an effulgent train. Tired with her splendor, she changes, and becomes an orb of solid stone, suffused with robes of "The blackness of darkness." Fitful, she again changes and arrays herself in vestments of joyous light. Restless still, again she changes, and becomes an universal ocean, without a shore. This, too, she soon changes, and presents one-third of herself above the water as "dry land," and clothes herself with verdure. To this another change ensues, that reclaims her from the wanton wilds, and binds her to a certain path. Such caprices can only indicate the Comet, and we should study well and deeply her after-course in life, to learn what other freaks she may have committed. We may rest well assured, that although apparently reformed, she has at some time exhibited proofs of her innate temper, and that the dress of the Planet has not perpetually and effectually concealed this Comet's ears. CHAPTER III. THE ADAMLAND—ITS FORM, WINDS, AND RAIN. For when you breathe, the air in order moves, THE Mosaic history, thus clearly describing the Genesis of our Comet, with all things animate and inanimate upon it, happily for us does not stop here. Scepticism might deny and overthrow its simple and unsupported teachings, as with a powerful hand it has unsparingly assailed, and still assails, the statements it contains. The continuation of it, however, properly studied, overwhelmingly confirms its first developments; and the fabric of its details exhibits such a multitude of rare truths and facts, so nicely interwoven together, as to raise an impregnable fortress of defiance and defence to and against all its strongest and bitterest foes. It is not always an easy matter to recognize truth, when presented for our observation. Falsehood sometimes presents itself wearing the guise of truth ; and truth may even come dressed in such a garb as to defy recognition. Experience has devised certain methods by which to inspect these varying phases, and to discriminate between them. Those who have devoted long lives to the investigations of such questions tell us, that evidence is of two kinds: the one positive and direct, and the other circumstantial, and the most reliable of the two. In the first, a single false and fabricated matter may be presented as a fact, without corroborating testimony to attest its verity, and hence the character of the witness is the sole measure of its worth; but in the last, consisting of many different incidents, each and every one of them must prove true, and be in harmony, as well with each other as with. the main circumstance. It is another rule of courts of law, that in construing a written document, each and every part of it shall be preserved intact, if possible; and as no writer can be presumed to intend to contradict himself, such a meaning shall be given to his words and statements as will preserve their entire consistency in every part, if this can be rationally done. These simple rules are the suggestions of long experience, and are sustained by common sense; and they are as valuable to us in our present efforts to reach the Sacred Author's meaning, and to test the actual merit of his statements, as they are in other cases of minor importance. |