are perfectly in accordance with this scriptural state

ment.

The distinction between matter and spirit is repeatedly alluded to in the sacred writings. The organisation of the human body and its subsequent endowment with life is also unequivocally stated. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Theories of materialism have in all ages been prevalent in opposition to this view; yet the phenomena of life can never be satisfactorily explained on the supposition that it is the result of matter alone. The physiologist must assume a vital force, or power, or principle; the moralist a thinking principle or mind.

We cannot look at the intelligent eye-we cannot contemplate the motions and actions of even the simplest animal-without being conscious that there is something here more than in the rocks and stones, and the inert and lifeless matter around us. "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" (Ecclesiastes iii. 21.) "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern; then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto (Ecclesiastes xii. 6, 7.)

God who gave it."

When a seed of any plant, as wheat or barley, is put into the ground and subjected to the action of

E

heat, moisture, and air, the seed lobe or cotyledon immediately begins to assume a new action. The starchy matter of which the great bulk of it is composed undergoes a chemical change, and is speedily converted into a half-liquid sugar; in this state it affords nourishment to the young and minute germ in the centre, until this germ pushes out roots into the surrounding soil. In this respect the seed may be said to die, as its greater part passes from the organised state under which it had hitherto resisted decay, to the condition of inorganic or dead matter. Any one may satisfy himself of this by pulling up a plant of wheat or barley when it is about an inch above ground; the slough of the seed will then be found attached with its centre collapsed, and in a state of rottenness. Hence St Paul's comparison of the resurrection of the body to the germination of a seed is, in all that is necessary for such analogies, scientifically correct-"That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die." (1 Corinthians xv. 36.) We have the same comparison made by Christ himself "Verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John xii. 24.)

By some flimsy and superficial cavillers, these have been instanced as cases of the little dependence to be placed in the scientific accuracy of the Scriptures. Yet the speakers on these occasions were alluding to a fact which was within the sphere of the least observant of their hearers; for if they

examined a young plant, "it may chance of wheat or of some other grain," they could not fail to see attached to the green budding germ the remnants of the seed in a state of rottenness and decay. ·

The sacred writers frequently illustrate their precepts by allusions to the scenery and operations of nature. None are more frequent than references to the revolving seasons. "Spring time and harvest" breathe of cheering hope and of promises fulfilled. In Palestine, and indeed in all the warmer regions of the globe, the seasons differ somewhat in their sequences from what takes place in this country. Along the whole southern shores of the Mediterranean, and in the most fertile parts of Asia, including Palestine, in consequence of the early spring, the grain crops, as well as other fruits of the earth, come early to maturity, so that harvest comes on and is finished before midsummer. Hence that scriptural simile, "the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved," is strictly correct as to the sequence of the respective seasons, although it would appear an inaccurate allocation of terms as applied to our northern climates.

The Scripture language is very guarded with respect to all physical allusions beyond the sphere of our earth. The heavenly bodies-the sun, moon, and stars—are casually alluded to as objects displaying the majesty of the Creator; but astronomy was a field too wide and too remote from the moral wants of man to be entered into. Any actual information regarding these bodies would perhaps have

proved of too distracting a nature for his present limited sphere to be of any use. We accordingly find, that when any allusion is made to them, it is simply as they are seen by us. Hence the sun is said to rise and set, just in such language as is used at the present day by the vulgar, as well as by the best informed astronomers. And hence the famed persecution of Galileo arose from the bigotry of the age, and the supremacy of the religion to which he belonged; not to anything in Scripture in the slightest degree opposed to astronomical science.

This very reserve of the Scriptures on all delicate points is an internal evidence, amongst many others, of their authenticity and high authority. They are as remarkable for what they withhold as for what they impart. What mere mortal, in writing even on the most sacred subjects, is not fond of a somewhat overdisplay of knowledge? Perhaps this accurate and guarded language of Scripture in all that respects secular science, cannot be more forcibly brought out than by contrasting it with the writings of uninspired theologians. We need only allude here to the books called Apocryphal for examples of what we mean; and if we turn to the pages of the early fathers who wrote after the introduction of Christianity, we shall find that whenever these uninspired men touch upon science, it is but the science of their own day, and consequently full of all sorts of errors and crudities.

After these examples of scriptural accuracy, we ought surely to hesitate ere we give way to scepti

error.

cal doubts on any adverse propositions. Such is the imperfection of human science, that every new step we make in it is but the correction of an old We build up fabrics of speculation to-day, which the facts of to-morrow level with the dust; whereas the dicta of Scripture are the results of infinite wisdom, and are founded on the adamantine rock of ages.

Far be it from us, however, to seem to damp the energies of scientific pursuit, or to cast the slightest shade on the beauty and utility of true science. The more perfect that it becomes, the nearer will it resemble that Divine Wisdom which at first framed and continually upholds the material universe.