“Then the Bible goes on to say ‘And God saw the light, that it was good,’ and so it was, for it was life-giving, and was also accomplishing His purpose. ‘And God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night’—and for the first time there was ‘evening and morning.’ As yet there was no mention of a sun; the earth _itself_ had become light-giving, and day dawned and faded into night without any solar aid, for over all the earth there were thick and impenetrable mists which excluded all exterior light, if any existed, and precluded all life save that which was capable of existing in water, and necessarily of the most lowly form. Then we find a further development, for after these ages had passed, the Creator commences a new phase—‘And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters,’ and at His creative fiat the damp and heavy mists arose and, taking the form of clouds, floated upwards. ‘And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so’—and from that time humid clouds began to separate from the watery world, and between the two there lay a depth of atmospheric space stirred by life-giving winds, the open air and winds cleansing and purifying the seas, and then there followed the call into being of creatures which required air for existence.” “And is all this your own theory, or based on proof?” interrupted Godfrey. “Absolute proof, Spenser! indisputable proof from actual fossils and the geological structure of the earth.” As Godfrey remained silent, Sorrel continued his story,—“In course of time there then followed the appearance of dry land above the waters, for the capillary action of the atmosphere between the water and the clouds reduced the quantity of water and the absorption of the under-land would do the same, whilst in many places the moisture would reach the internal heat and volcanic eruptions would occur; these would also be brought about by the gradual gathering of gases and in many other ways, and the earth, by its upheavals, would be disturbed and tilted upwards and so give the seas and oceans limits which they could not pass, thus dividing land from water, this being what is known as the Devonian period. “After these had all done their work, and insects had formed islands and the ground had become adapted for growth, God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb _yielding_ seed, and the fruit-tree _yielding_ fruit after his kind, _whose seed is in itself_, upon the earth: and it was so.’ This, to my mind, Spenser, is a direct Creation, not evolution—a creation of everything first, and _then_ evolution, and varieties caused by adaptations to surroundings.”