The author of "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation" propounds a theory of organic origin much more worthy of God, than that "mean view," which supposes Him "to come in on frequent occasions with new fiats or special interferences." Coolly bowing aside His authority, this writer has hatched a scheme, by which the immediate ancestor of Adam was a Chimpanzee, and his remote ancestor a Maggot! * * * * * In reviewing this array of opinions, is there not sufficient ground for regarding with caution the claim to certainty which has been boldly put forth for the conclusions of Geology? It cannot be denied that there is here room for a very considerable amplitude of choice among discordant hypotheses. All cannot be true, unless on the principle which was claimed for the Church by the Council of Trent--"_Cum enim ecclesia duarum expositionum ubertate gaudeat, non esse eam ad unius penuriam restrigendam!_" I do not for a moment intend to put all these hypotheses and assumptions on the same level. They vary widely as to their tenableness, and as to their prevalence. But if we leave out of view the fears of those who, from insufficient acquaintance with science, are not competent to adjudicate on its positions, and those who despise or decline Biblical authority altogether on this subject, we have still a somewhat wide range to choose from. Shall we accept the _antediluvian_, or the _diluvian_ stratification? the six _ages_ or the six _days_ of creation? the irruptions of internal fire that occurred chiliads _before Man was made_--those during his protracted _paradisaic state_, or those at the time _of the Flood_?--the extension of the Mosaic record _to universal nature_, or its limitation to a region of _south-western Asia_? I am not blaming, far less despising, the efforts that have been made for harmonizing the teachings of Scripture and science. I heartily sympathise with them. What else could good men do? They could not shut their eyes to the facts which Geology reveals: to have said they were not facts would have been simply absurd. Granting that the whole truth was before them--the whole evidence--they could not arrive at other conclusions than those just recorded; and, therefore, I do not blame their discrepancy _inter se_. _The true key has not as yet been applied to the wards._ Until it be, you may force the lock, but you cannot open it. Whether the key offered in the following pages will open the lock, remains to be seen. II. THE WITNESS FOR THE MACRO-CHRONOLOGY. "You shall well and truly try, and a true deliverance make,... and a true verdict give, according to the evidence."--(_Jury Oath._)