PREFACE. IN presenting the following pages to the judgment of the world, I have reason to fear, that the very title of the work will excite, in the minds of some, feelings by no means favourable to an unprejudiced perusal of it, I am fully aware of the objections which have frequently been raised to the endeavours to connect physical facts with the details of scripture; and I am, also, aware of the mischief that has sometimes ensued to the cause of religion, from the imprudent or unskilful defence made by those whose wishes and intentions were the most friendly to it. The course of every science must be progressive; beginning in faint attempts to dissipate the obscurity of ignorance, and gradually advancing towards the full light of truth. To this usual course, the science of geology cannot be considered as an exception, having already passed through some of its early stages, which were avowedly marked with obscurity and error. During these stages of geological ignorance, I am free to admit, that the attempt to connect the supposed discoveries in the physical phenomena of the earth, with the truths announced to us in the sacred record, could not but tend to injure either the one cause or the other; because, it is impossible that any concord can exist between truth and In this case it unfortunately happened that the assertions of philosophy were uttered with such boldness, and so error. B supported by the deccptious evidence of physical facts, seen under a false light, that it was difficult for the supporters of revelalation, ignorant, as they generally were, of the nature of these facts, to hold their ground with success, or not to weaken their own cause by an apparent failure in its support. The necessity which has, however, been acknowledged, of rejecting the geological theories of those days, opposed, as they were, to the Mosaical History, was, therefore, a fair source of hope and encouragement to such as advocated the unerring character of Inspired Scripture. It, at least, left that Mosaic Narrative uninjured by the assault; and encouraged a hope, that, as in all other cases, the truth would finally uppear and prevail. It has been well remarked, by the able author of a work which has lately appeared, full of information, and written upon the soundest principles,—"It is now thirty-five years since my attention was first directed to these considerations. It was then the fashion for science, and for a large part of the educated and inquisitive world, to rush into a disbelief of all written Revelation; and several geological speculations were directed against it. But I have lived to see the most hostile of these destroyed by their own as hostile successors; and to observe, that nothing, which was of this character, however plausible at the moment of its appearance, has had any duration in human estimation, not even among the sceptical." Of late years, accordingly, fact after fact has been gradually accumulating; each tending to temper the wild character of an hypothetical philosophy; and every day produces some new evidence of the hasty and erroneous conclusions from physical facts, to which the friends of Revelation had found it too often necessary to succumb. Each of these errors in philosophy has been a source of triumph to the cause of truth; and the time is gradually approaching, if it be not yet fully come, when the trial must be * Sacred History of the World, by Mr. Sharon Turner. brought to a positive issue, and when those undeniable physical facts, seen in a new and more correct light, will lend their aid to the support instead of to the destruction of our confidence in Scripture; and when the simplicity and consistency of the Geology of Scripture, will make us regard with astonishment and contempt, schemes that could so long have exerted so powerful an influence over our reason and understanding. I am not vain enough to suppose that I am myself qualified to bring about so desirable an end: but, as it is the duty of every one to lend a hand to the demolition of ERROR, and to the encouragement of TRUTH, I propose, in the following pages, to endeavour, in as clear and concise a manner as the subject will admit of, to account for the geological structure of the upper surface of our earth; taking the Mosaical History for my guiding star, to be kept constantly in view throughout my course. A great part of my object will be attained, if I can succeed in bringing any one of those able minds, who are now so influential in the geological world, to view, in the same light as myself, the phenomena presented to our examination on the earth. I am persuaded, that many of those individuals, so distinguished in science, are not so wedded to a party or theory, as not to acknowledge and retract an error in judgment, if they are convinced of its existence. Amongst the many unquestionable physical facts, therefore, which I hope to be able to produce in the course of this treatise, supporting, in a remarkable manner, the Sacred History of the early events in the world, should any thing be found sufficiently strong, and sufficiently pointed, to shake the foundations of many of the present received opinions in geology, I hope that some one, or more, of those gifted individuals, may be found with sufficient candour to retrace his steps, and to lend the aid of a powerful and active mind to the cause of Revelation. It is, however, to be feared, that there are many geologists, (if indeed they are deserving of the name,) whose great de light in this subject arises from the play of fancy its consideration, under a false view, gives rise to; and who would, consequently, be unwilling to yield so pleasing a source of argument and hypothesis to the plain and simple course of events which the Mosaical History unfolds. Notwithstanding, however, the opposition I may meet with from such theorists, and in the absence of more able advocates for the support of this view of the subject, I propose to follow the course I have laid down; and I feel perfectly confident, that any failure in the proposed plan will not arise from the defective nature of the plan itself, or from the materials within my reach for the completion of it; but merely from the inability of the builder, which defect may, at any time, be remedied, by the same materials being placed in the hands of a more able, though not more zealous advocate for the cause of truth. It must, however, be kept in view, that it is not the object of this treatise to enter minutely, or in detail, into the nature and history of each particular formation in the upper strata of the earth. We must first lay a solid foundation for our views, by an enlarged and general system; and when this great and primary object has been perfectly attained, we may then, with safety, examine in detail the many interesting objects presented to our inspection, without, at any time, however, losing sight of the great first principles by which we had found it expedient to be guided in our course. We may thus hope to be led, by the full light of day, through those devious paths, over which so complete a twilight has hitherto been spread; and we shall, undoubtedly, have the gratification of finding, that the same dignified simplicity and truth which have always been remarked as the characteristics of the other parts of Inspired Scripture, are not less remarkable, in the concise but emphatic details of the early events of the world. GEOLOGY OF SCRIPTURE. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. The very high interest and importance of the history of the globe which we inhabit, will be admitted by all whose minds are capable of entering beyond a mere superficial consideration of the objects around us; and the principles of curiosity, and the innate love of truth, so inherent in the human mind, lead us, step by step, from the consideration of objects themselves, to the GREAT FIRST CAUSE from whence all things have originally sprung. I have always felt an ardent desire to study, and endeavour to follow up, the theories which, from time to time, have been formed by philosophy, respecting the original formation and subsequent changes of the globe which sustains us; and for many years of my life I have regularly studied almost every thing that has been advanced on those important subjects. In the course of repeated travels over a great part of Europe, I have also had many opportunities of practically forming a judgment of the more visible and tangible evidences adduced in support of those theories. I have never felt, however, either on the subject of the primitive or secondary formations of geology, that firm conviction of the truth of the doctrines taught by the great leaders in science, which is the necessary consequence to be looked for in sound and truly logical reasoning. In the very opening of the subject, in treating of the mode of first formations, and in the numerous revolutions which are said subsequently to have left unquestionable tra |