INTRODUCTION. THE Works of God and the Word of God may be called the two doors which open into the temple of Truth; and, as both proceed from the same Almighty and Omniscient Author, they cannot, if rightly interpreted, contradict each other, but must mutually illustrate and confirm, "though each in different sort and manner," the same truths. Doubtless it was with this conviction upon his mind, that the learned Professor,' from whom I have borrowed my motto, expresses his opinion—that in order rightly to understand the voice of God in nature, we ought to enter her temple with the Bible in our hands. The prescribed object of the several treatises, of which the present forms one, is the illustration of the Power, Wisdom, and Good 1 The pious Heinrich Moritz Gaede, Professor of Natural History in the University of Liege. ness of the Deity, as manifested in the Works of Creation; but it is not only directed that these primary attributes should be proved by all reasonable arguments derived from physical objects, but also by discoveries ancient and modern, and the whole extent of literature. As the Holy Scriptures form the most interesting portion, in every respect, of ancient literature; and it has always been the habit of the author of the present treatise to unite the study of the word of God with that of his works; he trusts he shall not be deemed to have stepped out of the record, where he has copiously drawn from the sacred fountains, provided the main tenor of his argument is in accordance with the brief put into his hands. Those who are disposed to unite the study of scripture with that of nature, should always bear in mind the caution before alluded to, that all depends upon the right interpretation, either of the written word or created substance. They who study the word of God, and they who study his works, are equally liable to error; nor will talents, even of the 1 See Monographia Apum Angliæ, i. 2, and Introd, to Ent. i. Pref. xiii. &c. highest order, always secure a man from falling into it. The love of truth, and of its Almighty Author, is the only sure guide that will conduct the aspirant to its purest fountains. High intellectual powers are a glorious gift of God, which, when associated with the qualities just named, lead to results as glorious, and to the light of real unsophisticated knowledge. But knowledge puffeth up, and if it stands alone, there is great danger of its leading its possessor into a kind of self-worship, and from thence to self-delusion, and the love of hypothesis. It is much to be lamented that many bright lights in science, some from leaning too much to their own understanding, and others, probably from having Religion shown to them, not with her own winning features, nor in her own simple dress, but with a distorted aspect, and decked meretriciously, so that she appears what she is not, without further inquiry and without consulting her genuine records, have rejected her and fallen into grievous errors. To them might be applied our Saviour's words, Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures. These observations apply particularly to two of the most eminent philosophers of the present age, one for the depth of his knowledge in astronomy and general physics; and the other in zoology. It will be easily seen that I allude to La Place and Lamarck, both of whom, from their disregard of the word of God, and from seeking too exclusively their own glory, have fallen into errors of no small magnitude. It is singular, and worthy of observation, that both have based their hypothesis upon a similar foundation. La Place says, An attentive inspection of the solar system evinces the necessity of some central paramount force, in order to maintain the entire system together, and secure the regularity of its motions."1 One would expect from these remarks, that he was about to enforce the necessity of acknowledging the necessary existence of an intelligent paramount central Being, whose goings forth were co-extensive with the universe of systems, to create them at first, and then maintain their several motions and revolutions, so as to prevent them from becoming eccentric and interfering with each other, thus-Upholding all things by the word of his power. But 1 System of the World, E. Tr. ii. 330. |