though unexpected, yet conclusive and satisfactory, result, to trace the universality of the same law throughout all the combinations of matter.

Men already knew that, in all combinations of two or more substances, it was of the utmost importance to find out what were the best proportions of the different ingredients-how the acids could be employed with most effect, or when they might be entirely neutralized-what proportions of the metals gave to brass or steel its best temper for the use of man—and from what mixture of ingredients we might most closely imitate the crystal in its clearness, and the colours of the gems and the flowers. They also knew that, in some of the combinations of art, union took place up to a certain extent without increasing the bulk of the larger substance by the addition of the smaller water, for instance, will receive a considerable quantity of salt without increasing its bulk, and copper in a state of fusion may have ten per cent. of tin incorporated with it, yet the compound only occupy the same space as the copper did without the tin; the one substance being, as it were, absorbed within the pores and interstices of the other, and adding to its weight, yet not increasing its bulk. Dalton found that, where two substances were thus capable of uniting, the proportion which the one bore to the other was always either precisely the same, or such a proportion as would result from multiplying one of the ingredients in the first combination, and no other proportions would combine. Thus, supposing ten per cent. of tin to enter into combination with copper, if any further combination be possible it will not be of twelve per cent. or of fifteen per cent., but of twenty per cent., thirty per cent., or some multiple of ten, of that proportion which appeared in the first combination. And a still more remarkable fact was also brought out by Dalton, namely, that in these combinations of elastic gases-from experiments on which it was that these laws of matter were first deduced-the particles or atoms thus combined still retained their distinctness in some respects: so that each particle presses upon its kindred particles alone, and not upon those of the other substance with which it enters into combination-neutralizing, as it were, the effects of gravitation on the compound as one mass, but retaining those effects on the several ingredients of the compound. Or, taking common water and the air we breathe for our illustrations: water, in all situations, consists of the two ingredients, oxygen and hydrogen, and the oxygen is always precisely eight times the weight of the hydrogen, the particles of each being kept in equal diffusion by the oxygen pressing solely on particles of

oxygen, the hydrogen solely on particles of hydrogen: and this quite independent of the water being pure or foul; because all impurities are mere mixtures, and we are speaking of the elementary constituents of the water. In consequence of this law the oxygen, which is heavier than the hydrogen in the proportion of eight to one, does not subside, nor the hydrogen rise to the surface of the water, but they remain in equal combination throughout. And so in elastic compounds, such as the atmosphere, the oxygen and nitrogen are of very different densities, yet they remain in equable diffusion, because oxygen repels only the oxygen, nitrogen only the nitrogen; and thus in the lower and higher strata of the atmosphere the composition remains the same. "When two elastic fluids (says Dalton), denoted by A and B, are mixed together, there is no mutual repulsion among their particles-that is, the particles of A do not repel those of B, as they do one another; consequently, the pressure or whole weight upon any one particle arises solely from those of its own kind."

Dalton believed that the experiments he had made, with such uniform results in all cases, were sufficiently numerous to warrant the conclusion that these properties and laws pervade all matter, and afford an explanation of the order and connection which subsists among the primary elements of all terrestrial bodies; and Sir I. Newton, who had formed his opinions mainly from the contemplation of celestial bodies and the laws by which their motions are governed, arrived at a conclusion which is substantially the same, saying-"All things considered, it seems probable that God, in the beginning, formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable particles, of such sizes, figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which He formed them; and that these primitive particles, being solids, are incomparably harder than any porous bodies compounded of them; even so very hard as never to wear or break to pieces, no ordinary power being able to divide what God made one in the first creation."

Geology will not take its place as a science until its phenomena are so far understood as to fall into some agreement with these principles and laws by which all inert matter is regulated; every thing having found its place by a species of instinct, and everything being kept in harmony by the constant operation of the same universal constraint. And yet other phenomena come also into consideration, which prove that these laws are not of matter itself, not self-generated or selfsustained, but implanted and superintended by One who is

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above and beyond them all, and is by them accomplishing other and higher purposes; One who is making known His own being and attributes, and exercising moral government in accordance with that being and those attributes. The disturbances of order in the works of creation-which are quite as remarkable among geological phenomena as are the proofs of order-are as necessary a part of the problem to be solved; and the geologist has only done half his work when he has explained the orderly part of his subject, and abandons us to chance for the remainder. On the contrary, we, knowing this last part to be the most difficult, believe it also to be the test of the truth of all the rest of the explanation; and if it will not stand this test, we reject the explanation altogether. If the heavenly bodies obey these laws in their vast orbits; satellites around planets, and these around their suns, and all suns keeping their relative places; and if the minute particles of matter, and the very constituents of the limpid water and viewless air answer to the same general laws, in measure and in weight; much more do we require their application to be recognized in the mountains, rocks, and strata which form the solid crust of the earth, and where, in an especial manner, such universal laws should have their manifestation.

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And in every attempt to explain the order of created things, the act of creation itself must be taken for granted. sume that the things exist, each with its own properties, constituting the distinction between it and all other matter; these primary elements themselves are not within the reach of science: we cannot account for their origin, but assume them as the basis of all our reasoning, and the foundation of the science itself. Science, properly speaking, is the knowledge of the primary and permanent qualities of each substance, and the manner in which, by means of these qualities, simple substances operate upon each other, and either seem to change, or enter into such combinations as to put on new appearances. It is mere quackery, and not science, to speculate upon what these things might have been before they took those forms, and were endowed with those corresponding properties, which the state of our knowledge at any given time makes us sure of: our knowledge may increase, and enable us still more to limit the number of primary substances, and still more to simplify the general laws by which these are to be governed, in their reciprocal action upon each other. But genuine science never goes beyond actual knowledge-never deals in mere speculation. Speculation may impiously assert that all things came by chance; but honest science, truth-telling science, whose

only object is truth, laughs at the folly of such speculations. Science knows that out of nothing, nothing can come; and that even after you have dead matter, this left to itself remains dead; it cannot produce any result; life, or some agent to give motion are necessary, and this under the controul of fixed and determined laws, before it could bring about any of those results which form the first elements of our knowledge, and lie at the foundation of science. And where speculation would be absurd, or must necessarily fail, natural theology comes to our aid; showing in all the things which we behold traces of intention, and accommodation of provisions in a most wonderful manner to definite ends, and those ends benevolent, to obtain the utmost enjoyment for the creature. Moreover, combining science with natural theology, we may advance a step further, and behold the things around us, still in the hands, and under the controul of One mightier than they of One who saith to the sea, "hitherto shalt thou go and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed:" of One who wields the thunderbolt, and holds the wind in his fist-who bids the earthquake open its mouth, or the volcano pour forth its torrents of fire, or the deluge of waters cover the earth.

And just where natural religion must necessarily terminate revelation takes up the strain-carries us onward in the theme -shows us who and what is the Being that hath made all these things, and hath them all under his controul--tells us wherefore they were made-for what purpose they are kept under controul-what are the laws by which the moral government of the universe is regulated, and why there hath been any interference with what may be called the regular course of nature. And to put these declarations concerning God's moral government beyond a doubt or question, similar interferences are recorded as historic facts; in an universal deluge; in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; in the dividing of the Red Sea; in the swallowing up of Korah and his company; in the long list of such interferences in behalf of the children of Israel: and above all in the acts of Christ the Lord; who, invested with the power of God, manifested it in every possible way, and often in the controul of those elements of the creation which lie beyond the reach of science: so that the spectators cried out in astonishment, "What manner of man is this, for he commandeth the winds and the sea, and they obey him!" We are Christians-we believe in the miracles wrought by our Lord-we believe all his words, and he continually appealed to the mighty acts which had been done in times of old-to the Deluge-to the destruction of Sodom

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-to former miracles of the same kind, for the same end; all are alike bound upon us by our faith as Christians.

Nor let the mere naturalist say that this appeal to revelation is out of place; for no other account can possibly be given of the present constitution of the earth, than one which admits of an agency which is supernatural. Things actually are in situations where they could not have placed themselves at first, and where they could not remain at the present time, save by the overruling of their natural properties and known laws, by some power superior to these; contravening them in the first instance, and resisting their tendencies ever since. And who can contravene or resist laws ordained by the Creator but he himself? What, for instance, can be a more general law of nature than gravitation? Namely, that bodies heavier than water should sink-bodies lighter than water should swim: and that when bodies of different gravity, yet heavier than water, are dissolved, they should subside to depths corresponding to their relative weights? But none of these things are so. For all the earths and stones, which form the land, are heavier than water; therefore, by the laws of nature, there should be no dry land-no earth or stones above the level of the sea. The whole globe, if left to arrange itself according to the laws of gravitation, would have been entirely covered by the sea; and even now, if left to the unrestrained action of those laws, would, by the natural tendencies of earth and water, speedily return to a condition in which neither men nor animals could subsist; and ere long, by the laws of gravitation, the heaviest bodies would reach the ocean, and be arranged one above the other according to their specific gravities; and one uniform sheet of water, varied only in its depth by tidal forces, would cover the whole surface of the earth.

And in scientific investigations, and when philosophising on the laws of matter, geologists cannot legitimately introduce volcanic and other irregular agencies, which either have no limits and are under no controul, or the laws of which are at the present time wholly unknown. We can allow a place for these or any other unlimited powers in the hand of God, and where he is allowed to be the immediate agent, because he is then both the reason and the law: the recognition of the presence of God assumes a reason why he should be presentassumes that there is sufficient cause-dignus vindice nodus; and assumes also limitation and controul over everything, in the presence of the Almighty, to accomplish his own purposes. But in any discussion of the laws of nature, and any enquiry into the mode in which we may explain how the earth took its