“Mysterious framework of bone, locked up in the solid marble,—unwonted prisoner of the rock! an irresistible voice shall yet call thee out of thy stony matrix. The other organisms, thy partners in the show, are incarcerated in the lime for ever,—thou but for a term. How strangely has the destiny of the race to which thou belongest re-stamped with new meanings the old phenomena of creation!... When thou wert living, prisoner of the marble, haply as an Indian wife and mother, ages ere the keel of Columbus had disturbed the waves of the Atlantic, the high standing of thy species had imparted new meanings to death and the rainbow. The prismatic arch had become the bow of the covenant, and death a great sign of the unbending justice and purity of the Creator, and of the aberration and fall of the living soul, formed in the Creator’s own image,—reasoning, responsible man.”[122] FINIS:—THE GEOLOGIST’S DREAM. [Illustration: ALARM, BUT NO DANGER. ] CHAPTER XIII. SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY; OR, APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS RECONCILED. “By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”—PAUL. We have in the course of the previous volume alluded to certain discrepancies, supposed to exist between the statements of Scripture, and the teachings of Geology. We have more than once intimated our intention of discussing at some length these questions, that have so long been tabooed by truly religious people, and often needlessly exaggerated by those who have possessed a “microscopic eye,” in the discovery of the weak points of Christian faith or opinion. Dropping the convenient and euphonious form of egotism, which allows sovereigns and authors to adopt the plural, we shall crave to stand before our readers in our personal and singular, rather than in our impersonal and plural, form of speech. * * * * * To the reader let me first say, that while I do not wish to appear before him as an advocate, as if I held a brief or had a retaining fee on behalf of Moses, I nevertheless feel rather keenly that the “reverend” put before my name may give something like this aspect to all my remarks. It may be thought, and that honestly enough, that because mine is the clerical profession, I am bound, _per fas aut nefas_, to contend for the authority of Scripture. It may be thought—in fact, it is daily alleged against us—that the particular “stand-point” we occupy is an unfair one, inasmuch as a preacher is bound to “_stick to the Bible_;” and indeed that he always comes to it with certain _à priori_ conclusions, that to a great extent invalidate his reasonings, and destroy the morality of his arguments.