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'->V ' -T/-\ “c’EST, LA BIBLE A LA MAIN, QUE NOUS DEVONS ENT RES DANS LE TEMPLE AUGUSTE DE LA NATURE, POUR BIEN CGMFREN- DRE LA YOIX DU CREATEUR, GAEDE 1 ON THE POWER, WISDOM, AND GOODNESS OF GOD AS MANIFESTED in %\t Cmtifftt of AND IN their history, habits, and instincts. by the EEV. WILLIAM KIRBY. M.A., E.R.S., etc. RECTOR OF BARHAM, PROFESSOR OF SEW EDITION, EDITED, WITH NOTES, BY THOMAS RYMER JONES, F.R. COMPARATIVE ANATOMY, IN KINGS COL &K. L° |! V IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. ARMADILLO i PREFACE. In giving a new edition of Kirby’s Bridgewater Treatise to the world, the aim of the Editor has been simply to add a few notes to the text, explanatory of omissions and errors incidental to the condition of Zoological knowledge at the tirpe of its publication. The arguments of the venerable and reverend author remain untouched ; a few slight corrections only have been introduced, where from the advance of science they have become necessary ; the illustrative en- gravings have been corrected by reference to better examples, many new ones have been added, and the whole are inserted in the body of the text, instead of, as heretofore, at the end of the volume. T. R, J. NOTICE rf>- The series of Treatises, of which the present is one, is published under the following circumstances : The Right Honourable and Reverend Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater, died in the month of February, 1829 ; and by his last Will and Testament, bearing date the 25th of February, 1825, he directed certain Trustees therein named to invest in the public funds the sum of eight thousand pounds sterling ; this sum, with the accruing dividends thereon, to be held at the disposal of the President, for the time being, of the Royal Society of London, to be paid to the person or persons nominated by him. The Testator further directed, that the person or persons selected by the said President should be appointed to write, print, and publish one thousand copies of a work On the Power , Wisdom , and Goodness of God , as manifested in the Creation ; illustrating such Work by all reasonable arguments, as for instance the variety and formation of God’s creatures in the animal , vegetable , and mineral king- doms ; the effect of digestion , and thereby of conversion ; the con- struction of the hand of man , and an infinite variety of other argu- ments ; as also by discoveries , ancient and modern , in arts , sciences , and the whole extent of literature . He desired, moreover, that the profits arising from the sale of the works so published should be paid to the authors of the works. I The late President of the Royal Society, Davies Gilbert, Esq., requested the assistance of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and of the Bishop of London, in determining upon the best mode of carrying into effect the intentions of the Testator. Acting with their advice, and with the concurrence of a nobleman immediately connected with the deceased, Mr. Davies Gilbert appointed the following eight gentlemen to write separate Treatises on the different branches of the subject as here stated : — THE REY. WILLIAM KIRBY, M.A., F.R.S. ON THE HISTORY, HABITS, AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. JOHN KIDD, M.D., F.R.S. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. ON THE ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL NATURE TO THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF MAN. VIII NOTICE. THE KEY. WILLIAM WHEWELL, M.A.,F .R.S. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. ASTRONOMY AND GENERAL PHYSICS CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO NATURAL THEOLOGY. THE REV. THOMAS CHALMERS, D.D. PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. ON THE POWER, WISDOM, AND GOODNESS OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN THE ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL NATURE TO THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONSTITUTION OF MAN. SIR CHARLES BELL, K.G.H., F.R.S. L. k E. THE HAND: ITS MECHANISM AND VITAL ENDOWMENTS, AS EVINCING DESIGN. PETER MARK ROGET, M.D. FELLOW OF AND SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY. ON ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGV. THE REV. WILLIAM BUCKLAND, D.D., F.R.S. CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. ON GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. WILLIAM PROUT, M.D., F.R.S, CHEMISTRY, METEOROLOGY, AND THE FUNCTION OF DIGESTION, CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO NATURAL THEOLOGY. Hts Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, President of the Royal Society, having desired that no unnecessary delay should take place in the publication of the above-mentioned treatises, they will appear at short intervals, as they are ready for publication. CONTENTS djjfc OF THE FIEST VOLUME. List of Illustrations Introduction . Chap. I. Creation of Animals II. Geographical Distribution of Ditto Migrations of Ditto Local Distribution of Ditto III. General Functions and Instincts of Ditto IV. Functions and Instincts. Infusories . V. Functions and Instincts. Polypes VI. Functions and Instincts. Radiaries VII, Functions and Instincts. Tunicaries VIII. Functions and Instincts. Bivalve Molluscans IX. Functions and Instincts. Univalve Molluscans X. Functions and Instincts. Cephalopods XI. Functions and Instincts. Worms XII. Functions and Instincts. Annelidans Appendix ...... Notes ... . . . . Page x 1 55 86 118 149 155 160 174 197 219 231 256 285 296 306 321 333 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VOLUME I. FIG. . PAGE. 1 . A species of callicthys, a fish with the same habits with the doras 142 2. The pectoral ray of another siluridan 142 3. a . Enchelis pupa .. 165 b. Alimentary canal of ditto 165 4. a. b. c. d. Rotifera vulgaris 166 5. Eosphora Naias 168 6. Cel 1 aria cirrata 177 7. Sortularia volubilis 178 a. a. Ovaries. 8. Hydra viridis 181 9. a. Fungia patellaris, under side 182 b. Upper side. 10. Madrepora muricata 188 11. Yelella 200 a. Upper surface. b. Under surface, showing the nutritive suckers. 1£. Rhizostoma 201 13. Physalus pelagica. Portuguese Man o’ War 202 14. Cephea mosaica 202 15. Echinus. 205 16. A portion of shell of Echinus esculentus 208 a. a. a. Tuberculated plates. b. b. Perforated plates for suckers. c. c. Smaller tuberculated plates. 17. Inside of the same shell . 209 a. a. Dentated suture. b. Central ridge of smaller tuberculated plates. c. c. Series of apertures through which the suckers are protruded. d. One of the frames to which the jaws are fixed. 18. a. Suture of a portion of the alleys at the lateral grove 210 b. Suture of a portion of the lateral grove uniting with the above. 19. Suture of the intermediate grove divided at the ridge. (See fig. 17, b.) 210 20. Portions of Echinus esculentus 212 21. One of the suckers 212 a. The sucker. b. The stalk of the sucker. 22. Portions of Echinus esculentus 213 a. The jaw. 5. The tooth. 23. Circular space round the mouth of Echinus esculentus 213 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XI FIG. PAGE. 24. Spines of Echinus cidaris *216 a. Muscular fibres. b. The muscular capsule laid open. c. The origins of the muscles. d . One of the tubercules. 25. Cephalitus Bowdichii 222 26. Salpi cyanogastra 223 27. Pyrosoma giganteum 226 28. Clavellina borealis 227 29. Cynthia Momus 229 30. Venus Gallina 234 a . b. Respiratory tubes, c. The foot. 31. Solen Siliqua 236 a. The foot. 32. Pholus dactylus 241 a . b. Respiratory syphons. 33. Pinna muricata 245 34. Parasite crab to Pinna muricata 246 35. Anomia Cepa 252 a . The tendon. b. Aperture of the upper valve. 36. Anomia Ephippium 253 a . Aperture. 37. Terebratula 254 38. Trigonia margaritacea 255 a. The foot. b. b. Valves. 39. Cliodites fusiformis 257 40. Polycera capensis 257 41. Laplysia 260 42. Chiton cenereus 261 43. Voluta sethiopica 268 «. The eye, showing iris and pupil. b. The right hand tentacle. c. The proboscis exserted. d. The frontal margin of the head. e. The respiratory tube or siphuncle. /. Appendage at its base. g . g. The two gills, of which the right hand one has but one series of laminae. h. Termination of the alimentary canal. i. i. The right hand margin of the mantle. k. The male organ. 1. 1. The foot, 44. Janthina 277 a. The mouth. b. The shell. c . The air vesicles. 45. Carinaria cymbinum 284 xii ■ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIG. PAGE 46. Argonauta argo 287 a. The shell. b . Portion of one of the arms, showing the suckers. c. The animal removed from its shell. 47. Extremities of long tentacula of Onychoteuthis 293 48. Loligo cardioptera 294 49. Spirula australis 295 50. Botryocephalus bicolor 303 51. Eye of a perch infested by the diplostoma 305 52. Diplostomum volvens, magnified 305 53. Hirudo medicinalis, medicinal leech 309 a. Anterior sucker. b. Posterior sucker. 54. Head of serpula ... 315 a. Parasol-like opercular tentacle. b. Branchial fringes or respiratory apparatus. c. Upper extremities of the shell. 55. Lycoris aegyptia 317 56. Peripatus juliformis 318 a. The mouth. b. b. The eyes. c. c. First pair of legs. 57. Bacillaria multipunctata 321 58. Bacillaria Cleopatra 322 59. Vorticella cothurnata 322 60. Zoobotryon pellucidum 323 61. Portion of zoobotryon pellucidum, magnified 323 62. Diplozoon paradoxum 327 a. Natural size. b. b . Mouths and oral suckers. c. c. Caudal plates and suckers. 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 w^as 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 Goodness of the Deity, as manifested in the Wjpr&s of Creation ; but it is not only directed that these primary attributes should be proved by all reasonable argu- ments 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 * The pious Heinrich Moritz Gaede, Professor of Natural History in the University of Liege. + See Monographia Apum Anglise, i. 2, and Introd. to Ent. i. Pref. xiii. &c. % VOL. I. B 2 I^TTKODTJCTIOK. 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 inter- pretation, 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 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 un- sophisticated knowledge. But knowledge puffetli 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 under- standing, 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 mere- triciously, 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, SOPHISMS OF LA PLACE AND LAMAPCK.^ from their disregard of the word of Grod, and from Treeing" too exclusively their own glory, have fallen into errors no small magnitude. It is singular, and worthy of obsei tion, that both have based their hypothesis upon a similar foundation. La Place says, “An attentive inspection of the solar systbm evinces the necessity of some central para- mount force, in order to maintain the entire system to- gether and secure the regularity of its motions.” # One would expect from these remarks, that he was about to enforce the necessity of acknowledging the necessary ex- istence 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 becom- ing eccentric and interfering with each other, fi thus— Upholding all things bg the word of his power. But no — when he asks the question, What is the primitive cause P J instead of answering it immediately, he refers the reader for his hypothesis to a concluding note, in which we find that this primitive cause, instead of the Deity, is a nebulosity originally so diffuse, that its existence can with difficulty be conceived. § To produce a system like ours, one of these wandering masses of nebulous matter distributed through the immensity of the heavens, || is converted into a brilliant nucleus, with an atmosphere originally extending beyond the orbits of all its planets, and then gradually contracting itself, but at its successive limits leaving zones of vapours, which, by their condensation, formed the several planets and their satellites, including the rings of Saturn ! ! ®|f It is grievous to see talents of the very highest order, and to which Natural Philosophy, in other respects, is so * System of the World, F. Tr. ii. 330. t Ibid. Appendix, concluding note. § Ibid. 357. || Ibid. 332. J Ibid. ii. 320. t Ibid. 358. 4 INTEODU CTIOIST. deeply indebted, forsaking tbe Uns JEntium , the Grod of Grods, and ascribing tbe creation of tbe universe of worlds to a cause wbicb, according to bis own confession, is all but a non-entity. He speaks, indeed, of a Supreme Intelli- gence, but it is as Newton’s god, — whom be blames for attributing tbe admirable arrangement of tbe sun, of the planets, and of tbe comets, to an Intelligent and Almighty Being, ^ — and of an Author of Nature, not, however, as the preserver and upholder of tbe universe, f but as perpetually receding, according as tbe boundaries of our knowledge are extended ; J thus expelling, as it were, the Deity from all care or concern about bis own world. While tbe philosopher thus became vain in his imagina- tions, tbe naturalist attempted to account for tbe production of all the various forms and structures of plants and animals upon similar principles. Lamarck, distinguished by the variety of his talents and attainments, by tbe acuteness of his intellect, by tbe clearness of bis conceptions, and re- markable for bis intimate acquaintance with bis subject, thus expresses bis opinion as to tbe origin of tbe present system of organized beings. “We know, by observation, that tbe most simple organizations, whether vegetable or animal, are never met with but in minute gelatinous bodies, very supple and delicate ; in a word, only in frail bodies almost without consistence and mostly transparent.” These minute bodies be supposes nature forms, in tbe waters, by tbe power of attraction ; and that next, subtile and expan- sive fluids, such as caloric and electricity, penetrate these bodies, and enlarge tbe interstices of their agglutinated molecules, so as to form utricular cavities, and so produce irritability and life, followed by a power of absorption, by wbicb they derive nutriment from without. § * System of the World, E. Tr. ii. 331. f lb. 332. J lb. 333. § Anim. sans Vertebr. i. 174. lamaeck’s hypothesis. The production of a new organ in one of these, so formed, animal bodies, he ascribes to a new want , which continues to stimulate ; and of a new movement which that want produces and cherishes. # He next relates how this can be effected. Bod}", he observes, being essentially constituted of cellular tissue, this tissue is in some sort the matrix, from the modification of which by the fluids put in motion by the stimulus of desire, membranes, fibres, vascular canals, and divers organs, gradually appear ; parts are strengthened and solidified ;t and thus progressively new parts and organs are formed, and more and more perfect organizations pro- duced ; and thus, by consequence, in the lapse of ages, a monad becomes a man ! ! ! The great object both of La Place and Lamarck seems to be to ascribe all the works of creation to second causes , and to account for the production of all the visible universe, and the furniture of our own globe, without the intervention of a first. Both begin the work by introducing nebulosities or masses of matter scarcely amounting to real entities, and proceed as if they had agreed together upon the modus operands. As Lamarck’s hypothesis relates particularly to the animal kingdom, I shall make a few observations upon it, calculated to prove its utter irrationality. When, indeed, one reads the above account of the mode by which, according to our author’s hypothesis, the first vegetable and animal forms were produced, we can scarcely help thinking that we have before us a receipt for making the organized beings at the foot of the scale in either class — a mass of irritable matter formed by attraction , and a repulsive principle to introduce into it and form a cellular tissue, are the only ingredients necessary. Mix them, and you will have an animal which begins to absorb fluid, and * Anim. sans Vertebr. i. 181. f Ibid. 184. 6 IXTEODTTCTIOF. move about as a monad or a vibrio, multiplies itself by scissions or germes, one of which being stimulated by a want to take its food by a mouth, its fluids move obediently towards its anterior extremity, and in time a mouth is obtained ; in another generation, a more talented individual discovering that one or more stomachs and other intestines would be a convenient addition to a mouth, the fluids im- mediately take a contrary direction, and at length this wish is accomplished ; next a nervous collar round the gullet is acquired, and this centre of sensation being gained, the usual organs of the senses of course follow. But enough of this. Let any one examine the whole organization and struc- ture, both internal and external, of any animal, and he will find that it forms a whole , in which the different organs and members have a mutual relation and dependence, and that if one is supposed to be abstracted, the whole is put out of order and cannot fulfil its evident functions. If we select, as a well known instance, the Hive-bee for an example. Its long tongue is specially formed to collect honey : its honey stomach to receive and elaborate it either for regurgitation, or for the formation of wax ; and other organs or pores are added, by which the latter can be transmitted to the wax pockets under its abdomen ; connected with these, are its means and instruments to build its cells, either for store cells to contain its honey and bee-bread, or its young brood, such as the form of its jaws, and the structure and furni- ture of its hind legs. Now here are a number of organs and parts that must have been contemporary, since one is evidently constructed with a view to the other : and the whole organization and structure of the whole body forming the societies of these wonder-working beings; that, I mean, of the males, females, and workers, is so nicely adjusted, as to concur exactly in producing the end that an intelligent MATERIALISM OE LAMARCK. 7 Creator intended, and directing each, to that function and office which he devolved upon them, and to exercise which he adapted them. Were we to go through the whole animal kingdom the same mutual relation and dependence between the different parts and organs of the structure and their functions would be found. Can any one in his rational senses believe for a moment that all these adaptations of one organ to another, and of the whole structure to a particular function, resulted origi- nally from the wants of a senseless animal living by absorp- tion, and whose body consisted merely of cellular tissue, which in the lapse of ages, and in an infinity of successive generations by the motions of its fluids, directed here and there, produced this beautiful and harmonious system of organs all subservient to one purpose : and which in nume- rous instances vary their functions and character, but still preserve their mutual dependence, while passing through three different states of existence. Lamarck’s great error, and that of many others of his compatriots, is materialism ; he seems to have no faith in anything but tody, attributing everything to a physical and scarcely anything to a metaphysical cause. Even when, in words, he admits the being of a Glod, he employs the whole strength of his intellect to prove that he had nothing to do with the works of creation. Thus he excludes the Deity from the government of the world that he has created, putting nature in his place ; and with respect to the noblest and last formed of his creatures, into whom he himself breathed the breath of life, he certainly admits him to be the most perfect of animals ; but instead of a son of Grod, the root of his genealogical tree, according to him, is an animalcule, a creature without sense or voluntary motion, or internal or external organs, at least in his idea : no wonder, therefore, that he considers his intellectual 8 INTRODUCTION* powers, not as indicating a spiritual substance derived from Heaven, though resident in his body, but merely as the result of his organization, # and ascribes to him in the place of a soul, a certain interior sentiment , upon the discovery of wrhich he prides himself, t In one of his latest descriptions of it, he thus describes the office of this internal sentiment: “ Every action of an intelligent individual, whether it be a movement or a thought, or an act amongst the thoughts, is necessarily preceded by a want of that which has power to excite such action. This want felt immediately moves the internal sentiment, and in the same instant, that sentiment directs the disposable portion of the nervous fluid, either upon the muscles of that part of the body which is to act, or upon the part of the organ of intelligence, where are impressed the ideas which should be rendered present to the mind, for the execution of the intellectual act which the want demands. In fact Lamarck sees nothing in the universe but bodies, whence he confounds sensation with intellect. Our eyes certainly show us nothing but bodies — their actions and motions, their structure, their form and colour ; our ears the sounds they produce ; our touch their degree of resistance, or comparative softness or hardness ; our smell their scent ; our taste their flavour ; but though our senses can conduct us no further, we find a very active substance in fall power within us that can. At a very early period of life we feel a wish to know something further con- cerning the objects to which our senses introduce us, which often generates a restless desire in the mind to gain informa- tion concerning the causes and origin of those things per- ceived by them ; now this is the result of thought , and thought is no body, and though the thinking essence inhabits a body, yet we cannot help feeling that our thoughts are an * N. Diet. D’Hist. Nat. xvi. Ar:ic. Intelligence, 344, comp. Ibid. Artie. Id6e, 78, 80. f Ibid. 332. £ Ibid. Artie. Intelligence, 350. CAUSATION OF THOUGHT. 9 attribute of an immaterial substance. Thought, discursive and excursive thought, that is not confined to the contem- plation of the things of earth, things that are immediately about us, but can elevate itself to heaven, and the heavenly bodies, not only to those of our own system, but can take flights beyond the bounds of time and space, and enter into the Holy of Holies, and contemplate Him who sitteth upon the churubim, the throne of his Deity. Thought, that not only beholds things present, however distant and removed from sense, but can contemplate the days of old and the years of many generations, can carry us back to hail with the angelic choirs, the birth- day of nature and of the world that we inhabit ; or looking into the abyss of futurity, can anticipate the termination of our present mixed scene — chequered with light and darkness, good and evil — and the beginning of that eternal sabbath which remaineth for the people of God in the heavenly kingdom of Christ : thought that can not only take these flights, and exercise herself in these heavenly musings ; but, accompanied as she is in our favoured race, with the gift of speech can reason upon them with a fellow mind, and by such discussion often digit sparks of truth, that may be useful to enlighten mankind. Who can believe that such a faculty, so divine and god-like and spiritual, can be the mere result of organization P That any juxta-position of material molecules, of whatever nature, from whatever source derived, in whatever order and form arranged, and wherever placed, could generate thought, and reflection, and reasoning powers ; could acquire and store up ideas and notions as well concerning metaphysical as phy- sical essences, may as safely be pronounced impossible, as that matter and spirit should be homogeneous. Though the intellectual part acts by the brain and nerves, yet the brain and nerves, however ample, howrever developed, are not the intellect, nor an intellectual substance, but only its instru- 10 I^TRODTT CTIOK. ment, fitted for the passage of the prime messenger of the soul, the nervous fluid or power, to every motive organ. It is a substance calculated to convey instantaneously that subtile agent, by which spirit can act upon body, wherever the soul bids it to go and enables it to act. When death separates the intellectual and spiritual from the material part, the introduction of a fluid homogeneous with the nervous, or related to it by a galvanic battery, can put the nerves in action, lift the eye-lids, move the limbs ; but though the action of the intellectual part may thus be imitated, in newly deceased persons, still there are no signs of returning intelligence ; there is no life, no voluntary action, not a trace of the spiritual agent that has been summoned from its dwelling. Whence it follows, that though the organiza- tion is that by which the intellectual and governing power manifests its presence and inhabitation, still it is evidently something distinct from and independent of it. Mr. Lyell has so fully considered that part of Lamarck’s hypothesis which relates particularly to the transmutation of species, and so satisfactorily proved their general stability, that it is unnecessary for me to enter more particularly into that subject : I must therefore refer the reader to that portion of his work.* Let us lastly inquire, to whom or what, according to our author, Grod has given up the reins ; whom he has appointed his viceroy in the government of the universe. Nature is the second power who sits on this viceregal throne, govern- ing the physical universe, whom we should expect to be superior in intellect and power to angel and archangel : but no ; he defines her to be “ An order of things composed of objects independent of matter, which are determined by the observation of bodies, and the whole amount of which con- stitutes a power unalterable in its essence, governed in all * Principles of Geology, ii. c. 1, 2. ATTRIBUTES 0 E NATURE. 11 its acts, and constantly acting upon all parts of the physical universe.”* And again, Nature, he affirms, consists of non- physical objects, which are neither beings, nor bodies, nor matter. It is composed of motion ; of laws of every descrip- tion ; and l^as perpetually at its disposal space and time.f With respect to the agency of this vicegerent of Deity, he observes that Nature is a blind power without intelli- gence which acts necessarily.^ That matter is her sole domain, of which however she can neither create nor de- stroy a single atom, though she modifies it continually in every way and under every form, — and causes the existence of all bodies of which matter is essentially the base ; — and that in our globe it is she that has immediately given exist- ence to vegetables, to animals, as well as to other bodies that are there to be met with. § From these statements, though he appears to admit the existence of a Deity, and that he is the primary author of all things, yet he considers him as having delegated his power to nature as his vicegerent, to whose disposal he has left all material subsistences, and who, according to him, is the real creator of all the forms and beings that exist, and who maintains the physical universe in its present state. It is not quite clear what opinion he held with respect to the creation of matter, as he nowhere expressly ascribes it to Grod; though, since he excludes nature from it, we may infer, unless he thought it to be eternal, that he meant it should be ascribed to the Deity; but, if such was his opinion, he ought to have stated it distinctly and broadly; which he certainly would have done had he felt any anxiety to prevent misrepresentation. As it is, his Grod is an exact counterpart of the Grod of Epicurus, who leaving all to * N. Diet. D’Hist. Nat. xxii. Art. Nature, 377. + Ibid. £ Ibid. 364. § Ibid. 369, 376. 12 LN'TKODTTCTIOIS'. nature or chance, takes no further care or thought for the worlds to which he had given being. But what is this mighty and next to omnipotent power? j “ This great-grandmother of all creatures bred, f Great Nature ever young, but full of eld ; Still moving, yet immoved from her sted ; Unseen of any, yet of all beheld ; Thus sitting in her throne ” as quaintly sings our great bard of allegory.* Now this great-grandmother of the whole creation, who, according to our author, takes all troub]e off the hands of the God of Gods, sitting as it were in his throne, and direct- ing and upholding all things by the word of her power,— what is she ? Is she not at least a secondary spirit, co- extensive with the physical universe which she forms, and the limits of which alone terminate her action ? This the various and wonderful operations attributed to her by this her worshipper would proclaim her to be. How then are we surprised and astonished when studying and weighing every scruple of his definitions of this his great Diana of Ephesus, and casting them up, we find at the foot of the account that she literally amounts to nothing. That she is a compound of attributes without any subsistence to hang them upon. His primary character of her, on which he insists in every part of his works, declares her to be an Order of Things. What idea does this phrase convey to the mind ? That of things arranged and acting in a certain order. But no ; this is not his meaning. She is an order of things composed of objects independent of matter. These objects are all metaphysical, and are neither beings, nor bodies, nor matter. Eut if she is not a being , she can have no existence. Yes, says our author, she is composed of * Faerie Queene, B. vii. c. vii. st. 13. ATTRIBUTES OE LAW. 13 motion . But what is motion considered abstractedly, with- out reference to the mover or the moved ? Like its negative rest , it is nothing. He, Whose goings forth have been from of old , from everlasting , is the First Mover, and the motion which he hath generated in his physical universe, was com- municated by Him to existences, which he had created and formed to execute his will, and by them to others, and so propagated, as it were, from hand to hand, according to his laws, till the universe was in motion generally, and in all its systems and their several members. The Deity, at once the centre and circumference of creation, going forth inces- santly, all the systems that form the physical universe, severally concatenated into one great system, responding to his action, and revolving round and contained in that central and circumferential fountain of ever-flowing light and glory,^ that Spiritual Sun of the whole universe of systems, of which every sun of every system is a type and symbol. To Him be ascribed the Grlory, and the Power, and the Kingdom, in scecula sceculorum , Amen. Another object which Lamarck considers as constituting nature, is Law. But law considered abstractedly is also nothing. It may exist in the Divine counsels, but till it is promulgated, and powers appointed and empowered who can enforce it ; as likewise other objects brought into exist- ence upon which it can act, or that can obey it ; it is a word without power or effect. As in order to motion there must be a mover and something to be moved, so in order to a potential law, as well as a promulgator, there must be a being to "enforce it and another to obey it. With regard to his third ingredient, space and time , the theatre and limit of Nature’s operations ; they give her no * Deus omnium capax, Htrm. Pastor, I. ii. Mand. 1. Iren. Adv. fleeres. 1. ii. c. 55. 14 INTRODUCTION. subsistence, sbe still remains a nonentity; therefore, as defined by our author, she is nothing , and can do nothing. But although nature, as defined by Lamarck, consists merely of abstract qualities, independent of any essence or being, and therefore can neither form anything, nor operate upon what is already formed ; yet would I by no means be understood as contending that there are no inter-agents between Grod and the visible material word, by which he acts upon it, and as it were takes hold of it ; by which he has commenced and still maintains motion in it and its parts ; causing it to observe certain general and local laws ; and upholds, in the whole and every part, those several powers and operations that have been thus produced ; that action and counteraction everywhere observable, by which all things are maintained in their places ; observe their regular motions and revolutions ; and exhibit all those phenomena that are produced under certain circumstances. Whatever names philosophers have used to designate such powers, they have a real substance and being, and are a some- thing that can act and operate, and impart a momentum. Lord Yerulam’s two hands of nature, whereby she chiefly worketh,^ heat and cold , synonymous, according to some, with positive and negative electricity ;+ the plastic nature of Cudworth, and some of the ancients ; the spirit of nature of Dr. Henry More and the ether of Sir Isaac Newton ; all seem to express or imply an agency between the Deity and the visible world, directed by him. Attraction and repul- sion; centripetal and centrifugal forces, or universal gravita- tion, all imply a power or powers in action, that are some- thing more than names and nonentities, that are moving in two directions, and consist of antagonist forces. * Bacon’s Works, iii. Nat. Hist. Cent. i. p. 6.0. f See Lit. Gaz. January 7, 1835, p. 43. J See Yol. II. p. 254. LAMARCK' S THEORY OF LIFE. 15 If we consult Holy Scripture with the view of ascertain- ing whether any or what terms are therein employed to express the same powers, we shall find that generally speak- ing, the word heaven, or the heavens, and symbolically the cherubim, are used for that purpose. But upon this subject, which has considerable bearing upon the doctrine of in- stinct, I shall enlarge in a subsequent part of this intro- duction. Having stated Lamarck’s hypothesis with respect to nature, the Groddess which he worshipped, and wrhich he decked with divine attributes and divine power, I shall, as briefly as possible, give some account of his theory of life. -^'~"Life indeed is a subject that hath puzzled, doth puzzle, and will puzzle philosophers and physiologists, probably till time shall be no more. Thus much, however, may be predicated of it, that both in the vegetable and animal, like heat, it is a radiant principle, showing itself by successive developments for a limited period, varying according to the species, when it begins to decline and finally is extinguished : that some- times also, like heat, as in the seed of the vegetable and egg of the animal, it is latent, not manifesting itself by develop- ment, till it is submitted to the action of imponderable fluids, conveyed by moisture or incubation. But to return to our author. “We have seen,” says he, “ that the life wrhich we remark in certain bodies, in some sort resembled nature, insomuch that it is not a being, but an order of things animated by movements ; which has also its power, its faculties, and which exercises them necessarily while it exists. # He also ascribes these vital movements to an existing cause. Speaking of the imponderable incoercible fluids, and specifying heat, electricity, the magnetic fluid, &c., to which he is inclined to add light, he says, it is certain that without them, or certain of them, the phenomenon of * Anim. sans Yertebr. i. 32], 16 INTRODUCTION. life could not be produced in anybody.* Now, though heat, electricity, &c., are necessary to put the principle of life in motion, they evidently do not impart it. The seed of a vegetable, or the egg of a bird, have each of them, if I may so speak, a punctum soliens, a radiating principle, which, under certain circumstances, they can retain in a latent state, for a considerable time ; but if once that principle is extinct, no application of heat, or electricity, under any form, can revive it, so as to commence any development of the gerrne it animated. Experiments have been made upon human bodies, and those of other animals, which, by the application of galvanism, after death, have exhibited various muscular movements, such as lifting the eye-lids, moving the arms and legs, &c., but though motions usually produced by the will acting by the nerves upon the muscles have thus been generated by a species of the electric fluid, proving its affinity with the nervous power or fluid, yet the subjects of the experiment, when the action was intermitted, continued still without life ; no return of that power or essence which was fled for ever, being effected by it, which seems to render it clear that neither caloric nor electricity, though essential concomitants of life, form its essence. I trust I may render some service to the cause of truth and science, if I again revert to the subject which I men- tioned at the beginning of this introduction, I mean the study of the word of Grod, together with that of his works, with the view to illustrate one by the other. The great and wonderful genius before alluded to, Lord Verulam, who laid the foundation upon which the proud structure of modern philosophy is erected, who banished from science the visionary theories of the • speculator, f and the unfounded dogmas of the bigot, and made experiment, and, as it were, the anatomy of nature, the root of true * Anim. sans Vertebr. i. 43. + Idola Specus. HINDRANCES TO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. 17 physical knowledge ; warns the philosopher against making Holy Scripture his text hook, for a system of philosophy, which he says, is like seeking the dead amongst the living.* I am disposed, however, to think that this illustrious philo- sopher, by this observation, did not mean to exclude all study of the word of God, with a view to discover what is therein delivered concerning physical subjects, for he himself speaks of the book of Job, as pregnant with the mysteries of natural philosophy ;f but his object was to point out the evil effects of a superstitious and bigoted adherence to the letter of Scripture, concerning which men were very liable to be mistaken, and of inattention to its spirit , which is averse to all persecution, so that persons of a philosophic mind might not be interrupted in their investigations of nature, by the clamours or menaces of mistaken men. In the dark ages, anterior to the Reformation, supersti- tion occupied the seat of true and rational religion. Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures , was an observation almost universally applicable. The armed hand of authority wras lifted up against all such as endeavour to interpret either Scripture or nature upon just and rational principles. Every such effort was rejected, wras reprobated ex cathedra , and persecuted as a dangerous and pestilent heresy: thus every avenue to the discovery of truth, either in religion or science, was attempted to be closed. This evil spirit it was that proscribed the system of Copernicus, and, because it appeared contrary to the letter of Scripture, persecuted Galileo for affirming that the earth moved round the sun. Lord Yerulam clearly saw the evil consequences that would result to the cause of true philosophy, if the sober study of nature, and all experimental research into the works of crea- tion, were to be denounced as impious, because of some * De Augment. Sc. 1. ix. c. 1. § 3. f Ubi supr. 1. ix. c. 1, § 47, ed. 1740. C TOL. I. 18 INTBODUCTION. seeming discordance with the letter of Scripture, or because a narrow-minded theologian could not discern where the writers of the Bible adopted popular phraseology, in con- descension to the innocent prejudices and uninformed under- standings of those to whom they addressed themselves ; and he therefore employed all the energy of his powerful mind to persuade the learned theologian, that for the discovery of physical truth we must have recourse to induction from experiment and soberly conducted investigation of physical phenomena, while for spiritual we should seek to draw living waters from the fountain of life contained in Scripture. The Bible was not intended to make us philosophers, but to make us wise unto salvation. But it does not follow, because we are to seek for religious truth principally in the Bible, that we can derive none from the study of natural objects ; nor, on the contrary, because we are not to go to the Bible for a system of philosophy, that no philosophical truths are contained in it. The Scrip- ture expressly declares that the invisible things of God may be understood by the things that are made ; and if we may have recourse to the works of creation as well as to revela- tion to lead us to the knowledge of the Creator, we may, on the other hand, by parity of reason, without meriting any reprehension, inquire into what G-od has revealed in Scrip- ture concerning the physical world and its phenomena. Lord Bacon himself observes, that Philosophy is given to Religion as a most faithful handmaid; since Religion de- clares the will of Grod, and Philosophy manifests his power ; and he applies to this our Saviour’s reproof of the Jew^s: Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. That is, ve have not endeavoured to know him bv a right mode of studying either his word or his works. The study of both is necessary to the right understanding of either : we cannot rightly understand Grod’s word without a know- VERULAM AND FRIAR BACON. 19 ledge of his works, and perpetual appeal is made to his works in his word ; neither can we perfectly understand his works without the knowledge of his word. The penetrating mind of Bacon clearly perceived, that if supposed statements of Scripture were made the sole test by which philosophical systems were to be tried, there was an end of all progress in science, no use in making experi- ments, or pursuing a course of inductive reasoning. And this was the temper of the age in which he lived ; light was beginning to spring up, and because it was novel, it was thought to be heretical and subversive of Scripture. But men’s minds are now much altered in this respect, and there is no danger of persecution on account of heterodoxy either in religion or philosophy. In fact the tide seems turned the other way, and a clamour is sometimes raised against per- sons who consult the revealed word of God on points con- nected with philosophy and science. But surely if the Scrip- tures are, as we believe, a revelation from the Creator of that world concerning which we philosophize, and if some parts of them do contain mysteries of natural philosophy, as Bacon himself contends they do, some respect and deference are due to the word of God, and some allowance may be claimed by those who appeal to it on any point of science, even if their appeal originates in a misconception and mis- interpretation of any part of it ; the same allowance as is made for those, and they are many, who misinterpret nature. In the observations here made upon some dicta of the illustrious sage, who, unless we admit his venerable name- sake, Briar Bacon, to a share in that distinction, may be termed the first founder of modern philosophy, I have not the most distant thought of detracting from the splendour of his merits, or of deducting anything from the amount of the vast debt which science owes him ; but, as I have before observed, mankind, from the earliest ages, have been prone c 2 20 INTBODUCTION. almost to idolize those to whom they were indebted for any weighty benefits, or to whom they looked up as inventors of useful arts, or masters of hitherto occult sciences. Grati- tude, indeed, demands that great and original geniuses, whom God has enriched with extraordinary talents, by the due exercise of which they have become benefactors of the human race, should be loved and valued highly for their services ; but when we look only at the instrument, and see not the hand of Supreme Benevolence that employs it for our benefit, we then overvalue man and undervalue God; putting the former into the place of the latter, and making an idol of him ; and if any will not worship this idol, a clamour is raised against them, and they are almost persecuted. Our great philosopher himself complains of this tendency to over- value individuals as the cause and source of great evils to science: he considers it as a kind of fascination that be- witches mankind.* Since the time of Bacon, philosophers and inquirers into nature have for the most strictly adhered to his rule, if such it may be deemed ; and, with the exception of a single sect, who perhaps have gone too far in an opposite direction, t have made little or no inquiry as to what is delivered in Scripture on physical subjects, or with respect to the causes of the various phenomena exhibited in our system, or in the physical universe : but surely it is a most interesting, as well as novel field of study, for the philosopher to ascertain what has really been revealed in Scripture on these great subjects. The opinions of the ancients upon this head * Rursus vero homines a progressu in scientiis detinuit, et fere incantavit reverentia antiquitatis, et virorum, qui in philosophia magni habiti sunt, authoritas. Itaque mirum non est,si fascina ista antiquitatis, et authorum, et consensus, hominum virtutem ita ligaverint, ut cum rebus ipsis consues- cere (tanquam maleficiati) non potuerint. Nov. Organ. 1. i. aphor. 84. •f* The Hutchinsonians. METHOD OE DIVINE COMMUNICATION. 21 have been investigated and canvassed, and an approximation traced between them, in some respects, to those of modem philosophers if the same diligence was exercised upon the Scriptures, we might arrive at information with regard to the great powers that, under God, rule the physical uni- verse, which it is hopeless to gain by the usual means of investigation. But the great difficulty lies in the interpretation of those passages of Scripture that relate to physical phenomena. Bacon often repeats these words of Solomon, — It is the glory of God to conceal a thing. As Moses, when he descended from the mount, was obliged to veil his face, because the Israelites could not bear its effulgence ;+ so the Deity was pleased to conceal many both spiritual and physical truths under a veil of figures and allegory, because the prejudices, ignorance, and grossness of the bulk of the people could not bear them, but they were written for the instruction and admonition of those in every age whose minds are liberated from the misrule of prejudice, and less darkened by the clouds of ignorance: but still it requires, and always will require, much study and comparison of one part of Scrip- ture with another, to discover the meaning of many of those passages of Scripture which relate to physical objects. The Apostle to the Hebrews observes that the manner in which God revealed himself to the ancient world and the Jewish nation, was by dividing his communications into many parcels, delivered at different times ; J and by clothing them in a variety of figures, and imparting them under different circumstances, § so that in order to get a correct notion of them it is necessary to compare one part of Scrip- ture with another, and to weigh well the various figures Under which they are concealed, and the use of them on * See Prof. Daubeny’s Introd. to the Atomic Theory, 13. f Exod. xxxiv. 29, &c. X HoXu/ispojg. § no\vrpo7ra>g. 22 INTRODUCTION other occasions ; and also to consider the modes in which they were communicated to the mind of the prophet, whether in a vision exhibited to him when entranced; in a dream when asleep ; or under certain acts, which he was commanded, or by immediate inspiration excited, to perform. So that if we wish to ascertain the meaning of any particu- lar symbol, or of the terms in which any communication is made from Grod in Holy Scripture ; we must not be satisfied by studying merely the passage under our eye, but, compar- ing spiritual things with spiritual, hunt out the meaning, as it were, by considering all those passages where the same thing is alluded to. It is to be observed, that in all the communications which it has pleased the Deity to make of his will to mankind, respect is had to the then state of society, and the progress of knowledge, arts, and civilization — light was imparted to them as they were able to bear it ; they were fed with milk when they could not digest strong meat. Prejudices take usually so firm a hold upon the bulk of any people, that to attack them directly, instead of opening, closes all the avenues to the heart. Even the most enlightened in some respects, in others are often under their dominion; and, therefore, it is only by imparting truth here a little and there a little, as circumstances admit, and embroidering the veil, under which we are obliged to soften the effulgence of her light, with varied imagery, darkly shadowing out her mysteries, that a way is prepared for her final triumph and universal reception. She is often a light shining in a darh place, gradually expelling prejudice and error, and shining more and more unto the perfect day. It was not so much necessary for the conversion and re- formation of mankind to make them philosophers as to make them believers. The great bulk of mankind were ignorant and uninstructed persons, whence, in order to win their USE OE POPULAR PHRASEOLOGY. 23 * attention, it was necessary to address them in a language which they understood, and in a phraseology, with respect to physical objects, to which they were accustomed, and as those objects appear to the senses. Thus the moon is called a great light, because she appears so, and is so to us, though really. less than the planets and fixed stars; the sun is said to rise, and other parallel expressions, which are true with respect to us, and to the appearance of the thing, though not with respect to the fact physically considered. When the sacred writers speak of the Deity in terms borrowed from the human figure, as if he had hands, eyes, feet, and the like, and as if he was agitated by human passions, it is for the sake of illustrating the Divine attributes and pro- ceedings by those passions, faculties, senses, and organs in man, by which alone we can gain any idea of what may be analogous to them in the Divine Nature . But though such condescension is shown by the Holy Spirit to the ignorance and imperfections of his people, by adopting, as it were, a phraseology founded upon their innocent errors, and those misapprehensions of things into which they were led by their senses : it is not thence to be concluded that this popular language pervades the whole of the Holy Word ; or that it is impossible, or even difficult, to distinguish things spoken ad captum , from statements relat- ing to the physical constitution of nature which are to be received as spoken ex cathedra, and as dictated by the Holy Spirit. It should not be lost sight of, that the great object of Bevelation was to reclaim mankind from the debasing worship of those that were not gods by nature ; of those powers in nature, or their symbols, selected from natural objects, which Grod employed and directed as his agents in the formation and government of the globe we inhabit, and of the whole universe. “ But we,” says Bacon, “ dedicate or erect no capitol or pyramid to the pride of men ; but, in 24 INTRODUCTION. the human intellect, lay the foundations of a holy temple, an exemplar of the world.”* This passage is capable of an application that may lead us into an avenue terminating in such a temple, which, though not erected in the human intellect, may enlighten it in several points relating to physical truths concerning which it is now in darkness. The Mosaical tabernacle and the Solomonian temple were both erected not after the imaginings of the spirit of man ; but the former after a pattern which was shown to Moses in the mount ;t and the latter after another given by David to Solomon, which it is expressly stated he had by the Spirit , and which Jehovah made him understand in writing (or com- mit to writing) by his hand upon him.% Now, if these holy places were erected after a pattern divinely furnished, that pattern doubtless was significant , and intended to answer some important purpose. The great end which the Deity had in view by the selection of the Israelitish nation, was to prevent all knowledge of himself, as the Creator and Governor of the world, from being totally obliterated from the minds of men, and to keep alive the expectation of the promised seed, who was to effect the great deliverance of mankind from the yoke and consequences of sin, and the dominion of Satan. Had it not been for this step, the worship of those powers and intermediate agents by which God acts upon the earth and the world at large, and pro- duces all the phenomena observable in the physical universe; of their symbols ; or of deified men and women, would have entirely superseded the worship of their Almighty Author, and the whole earth would have been so covered by this palpable darkness, that no glimpse of light would have been left to foster the hope and prove the germ of a future day of glory. The great object, therefore, of the Godhead being * Nov. Org. aphorism. 1*20. f Exod. xxv. 40, xxvi. 30. { 1 Chron. xxviii. 12, 19. CHERUBIM IN THE TABERNACLE. 25 the assertion of his own supremacy, and to proclaim his own agency by the powers that are known to govern in nature, it was to be expected that a tabernacle or temple erected after a pattern furnished by the Deity would conspicuously do this. But before I enter further into this mysterious subject, it will be proper to obviate an objection that may be alleged, viz. that it is incongruous and out of place to introduce, into a work like the present, any inquiry into the nature and con- tents of the Jewish temple, especially the meaning of those symbolical images placed in the Holy of Holies and called the Cherubim ; but when it is further considered that these symbols are represented as winged animals with four faces, and that these faces are those of the kings and rulers, as it were, of the animal kingdom; — namely, the ox , the chief amongst cattle ; the lion , the king of wild beasts ; and the eagle, the ruler of the birds ; and lastly, Man, who has all things put under his* feet, — there seems to be no slight connexion between the cherubim and the animal creation. If we regard the antitypes of these images as exclusively meta- physical, this argument will not hold ; but if, as I hope to prove from Scripture, they consist of physical as well as metaphysical objects, by which the Deity acts upon the whole animal kingdom, and particularly in all instinctive operations, I trust I shall be justified in entering so fully into this interesting subject. In this inquiry I have endea- voured to guide myself entirely by the word of Grod, com- paring spiritual things with spiritual; at the same time taking into consideration those arguments, where the case seemed to require it, that his works supply. The Jewish tabernacle, which, as Philo calls it,* was a portable temple, every reader of Scripture knows was divided into two principal parts, or, according to the Apostle to the Hebrews, tabernacles ; the first of which wras called the Holy * ’Ispov tyoprjTov . De Vita Mosis, 1. iii. INTRODUCTION. 26 Place ; and the second, the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies. This last tabernacle is expressly stated in Scrip- ture to be a figure of heaven. “ For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands , which are the figures of the true.) hut into Heaven itself \ now to appear in the presence of God for us:”* * * § where allusion is evidently made to the annual entry of the Jewish high priest into the second tabernacle, as representing Christ’s entry into heaven itself, where the presence of God was manifested. Now if the second tabernacle represented the Heaven of Heavens, the first we may conclude, in which the ordinary service and worship of God were transacted, was a symbol of this world or our solar system.f If we consider the furniture of the two tabernacles, we gain further instruction on the subject we are considering. In the first was the golden candlestick with its seven lights, the table, and the shew-bread. Amongst the Jews, the candlestick seems to have been regarded as a kind of plane - tarium , representing the solar system, at least those parts of it that were visible to the unassisted eye.J It is worthy of remark that the central lamp, which appears to be four times the size of the rest, is stated by Philo to represent the sun. The table and the shew-bread, in a physical sense, may perhaps be regarded as symbolizing the earth and its productions, the table which God spreads and sets before us. But as well as a physical, these things have a meta- physical or spiritual meaning. The candlestick symbolizing the church and its ministers, who are characterized as “ Lights in the world,” § — the churches as candlesticks, and the principal ministers of Christ as stars. || * Heb. ix. 24. t ‘Ayiov Koafwcov. X Joseph. Antiq. 1, iii. c. 7, comp. Philo De Vita Mosis, 1. iii. 5 1 8, B. C. Ed. Col. All. 1613. § Philip, ii. 15. ^uxrrrjpsQ ev tcon/up. || Rev. i. 20. FLAMING SWOBD IN EDEN. 27 The contents of the second Tabernacle, or Most Holy Place, are now to be considered ; these were an ark or chest containing the two tables of the decalogue, over which was placed a propitiatory or mercy-seat of pure gold, at each end of which, and forming part of the same plate, was fixed a Cherub , or sculptured image so called. The directions for the fabrication of these images are not accompanied by any description of them. They are spoken of as objects well known to the Jews ; but in the prophecy of Ezekiel they are described as each having four faces and four wings ; the faces were those of a man and a lion on the right side ; the face of an ox on the left side ; and the face of an eagle ; with regard to their wings, two were stretched upwards, and two covered their bodies. Many other particulars are mentioned by the prophet, which I shall not here enlarge upon.* A great variety of opinions have been held, both in ancient and modern times, concerning the meaning of these symbols, and what they are designed to represent, some of which I shall mention in another place. By most modern theologians they seem to be regarded as angels of the highest rank. The first mention of them in Holy Scriptures is upon the occa- sion of the expulsion of our first parents from Paradise. u And he drove out the man , and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims , and a flaming sword which turned every way , to keep the way of the tree of life” + The word which in our translation is rendered placed , means properly caused to dwell , or placed in a tabernacle, % and it was on this account probably that in the Septuagint translation the expression is referred to Adam. “ And he cast out Adam, and caused him to dwell opposite the garden of Eden. And he placed in order the cherubim , and the flaming sword which * Ezek. i. 6, 10, 11. + Gen. iii. 24. t Heb. pw\ 28 INTRODU CTIOK. turned to keep the way of the tree of life”* * * § The word in question is used by Jeremiah to denote God’s presence in his tabernacle in Shiloh.f It may be remarked also that, in the original, the phrase is not simply that God placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, but, as is evident from the particles prefixed to it, that he placed there the cherubim, namely such objects as were generally called by that name, and were familiar to the Jews. Had God given it in commission to angelic beings to keep watch and ward at the gate of Paradise, it would surely have been said upon this, as upon other occasions, that he sent them. When we reflect that these mystic beings, when only sculp- tured images, were symbols of the divine presence, and that God manifested himself in his tabernacle and in his temple by a cloud and glory when the work was finished according to the pattern, and the cherubim with the ark and mercy-seat were in their places, + surely some suspicion must enter our minds that these cherubim, before the gates of Paradise, might be stationed there for purposes connected with the worship of God after the fall. Indications of this are discoverable in other passages, as where it is said of Cain and Abel, that they brought an offering unto the Lord; a term implying that sacrifices were not offered in any place, according to the fancy of the worshipper. Again, after the murder and martyrdom of righteous Abel by his brother’s hand, and the divine sentence passed upon the latter, he says, “ Behold , thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth , and from thy face shall I be hid.” § And it is subsequently stated, “ And Cain went out from the presence * Gr. Kai e%s(3a\ 6 tov A Safi, xai kcitojkktsv avrov cnrtvavri rov 7rapad6UTov rrjg rpv(f>7]Q. Kai era%8 ra xtpovfiip, xai rr]v QXoyivijv po/iar. || Judges vii. 13 Job xxxvii. 12. 30 INTRODUCTION. cherubim, describing the fire that preceded their appearance, says that it infolded itself. # The last words of the passage in question, to keep the way of the tree of life , admit of two opposite interpretations — either to shut it up from all access, or to prevent it from being wholly closed. Perhaps the following interpretation — that the end for which the cherubim and flaming sword were placed at the east of the garden of Eden, was to close for ever the way to the old tree of life, and also to open the way to one better suited to man’s altered circumstances and situation — will reconcile both interpretations. As soon as man was expelled from Paradise, the original covenant was ended, and he was cut off from all the means of grace and spiritual life that it held forth ; and therefore it might be expected that his merciful and beneficent Creator would, in pursuance of the great scheme of salvation, through the promised seed of the woman, which he had thrown out to him as an anchor of hope, supply him with other means suited to his fallen state, by which he might be renewed unto holiness, and gradually nourished in grace, so as at last to be prepared to undergo the sentence passed upon him with a prospect before him of entering into that rest that remaineth for the people of G-od. Having, I trust, not upon slight grounds, made it appear probable, that the cherubim, by the Deity himself, were placed in the original temple or tabernacle, and were in- timately connected with that form of worship which was instituted by him in consequence of that sad event, the fall of man from his primeval state of holiness and happiness ; I shall next endeavour to ascertain what these multiform images represented. But I must first premise a few obser- vations upon the legitimate mode of collecting truths of this description from Holy Scripture, and I must here recall to * Ezek. i. 4. Heb. nnpbna wx. ORIGIN or SACRIFICES. 31 the reader’s recollection the observation of Solomon before quoted — It is the glory of God to conceal a thing . A num- ber of important truths are delivered in Holy Writ, which are veiled truths, which we shall never discover if we adhere to the letter^ content ourselves with admiring the rich- ness and beauty of the setting, without paying any atten- tion to the gem it encircles or conceals. Some writers require a clear, distinct, and explicit statement, before they will admit anything as revealed in Scripture, be the circum- stantial evidence of the fact ever so strong. For instance, some eminent theologians deny the Divine origin of sacri- fices, because no command of Giod to Adam or Noah to offer them is recorded to have been given ; yet one should think the practice of righteous Abel, and of Noah, perfect in his generations , and Grod’s acceptance of their respective sacri- fices,# was a sufficient proof that this was no act of will- worship, but one of obedience to a Divine institution. The circumstance that Grod clothed Adam and Eve in the skins of leasts , proves that beasts had been slain, which were most probably offered up as victims representing the great atone- ment, the promised seed ; and the clothing of them in their skins was an indication that they wanted garments, in the place of their own innocency and righteousness, to cover their nakedness, and that they now stood as clothed in the righteousness of Him whose heel was to be bruised for them. The distinction also of clean and unclean beasts directly sanctioned by the Deity, and which alone might be offered in sacrifice, f is another circumstance confirmative of the common opinion. Grod, both in his word and in his works, for the exercise and improvement of the intellectual powers of his servants, and that — “ By reason of use they may have their senses * Gen. iv. 4 ; viii. 20, 21. f Ibid, and vii. 2, 3. 32 INTRODUCTION. exercised to discern both good and evil lias rendered it indispensable that those who would understand them, and gain a correct idea of his plan in them, should collect and place in one point of view things that in Nature and Scrip- ture are scattered over the whole surface, so that by com- paring one part with another they may arrive at a sound conclusion. Hence it happens that, in Scripture, when any truth is first to be brought forward, it is not by directly and fully enunciating and defining it, so that he who runs mag read and comprehend it, but it is only incidentally alluded to, or some circumstance narrated which, if duly weighed and traced to its legitimate consequences, puts the attentive student in possession of it. Such notices are often resumed, and further expanded, in subsequent parts of the sacred volume, and sometimes we are left to collect that an event has happened, or an institution delivered to the patriarchal race, without its being distinctly recorded, from circum- stances which necessarily or strongly imply it. In a trial in a court of justice it very commonly happens that no direct proof of an event can be produced, and yet the body of circumstantial evidence is so concatenated and satisfactory as to leave no doubt upon the minds of the jury as to the nature of the verdict they ought to deliver. It would be a great and irreparable loss to the devout and sober student of Holy Scripture, if in his endeavours to become acquainted with the different parts of it, he is to be precluded from forming an opinion as to certain events and doctrines, be- cause it has pleased the Wisdom of God to record and reveal them not directly and at once, but indirectly, in many parcels, and under various forms. To apply this reasoning to the subject I am discussing. Having rendered it probable that the cherubim placed in a tabernacle at the east of the Garden of Eden, represented * Heb. v. 14. MEANING OE THE WORD CIIERUB. 33 the same objects, and were so far synonymous, with those afterwards placed in the Jewish Tabernacle in the most holy place overshadowing the mercy-seat, and that the Divine Presence was more particularly to be regarded as taking there its constant station, and there occasionally manifesting itself by a cloud and a fiery splendour, I shall next endeavour to show what the cherubic images really symbolized. The word Cherub, in the Hebrew language, has no root ; for the derivation of it from a particle of similitude and a word signifying the mighty or strong ones, which is pro- posed by Parkhurst and the followers of Mr. Hutchinson, seems to me not satisfactory. Archbishop ]STewcome# and others derive it from a Chaldee root, which signifies to plough, and the radical idea seems to be that of strength and 'power , which will agree with the nature of the derivative, as indicating the powers, whether physical or metaphysical, that rule under God. Other divines, as God is said to ride upon the cherubim, and they are called his chariot , would derive the word, by transposition, from a root which signifies to ride ;+ but if a transposition of the letters of the word may be admitted, I should prefer deriving it from a root which signifies to bless or to curse, % since, as we shall see, the cherubim are instruments of good or evil, according as God sees fit to employ them; fruitful seasons and every earthly blessing being brought about by their ministry. The word Cherub , pi. cherubim, considered as derived from any of the roots last mentioned, conveys therefore the idea of strength and power ; of God’s action upon and by them expressed by his riding or sitting upon them, and inhabiting them ; as likewise by his employing them as instruments both of good or evil, of blessing and cursing. That the cherubim are powers or rulers in nature is evi- dent, as was before observed, from their symbols — the man, * Newc. Ezek. c. i. 10, note. + --*■> J VOL. I. D 34 IOTEODTTCTIOtf. the lion, the ox, and the eagle. It is singular that amongst the descendants of the three sons of Noah, the three last animals should be adopted into their religion, — the ox, the Egyptian Apis, by the descendants of Ham the lion , as a symbol of light, by the Persians, t derived from Shem ; and the eagle by the Greeks and other nations descended from Japhet.% These powers, be they what they may, are described in Scripture as forming a chariot on which the Deity is repre- sented as riding, and sometimes in such terms as bring to our mind, to compare great things with small, the chariots and charioteering of mortals. Thus we are told of The chariot of the cherubim that spread out their wings , and covered the arh °f the covenant of the Lord.§ And in Ezekiel’s mystic visions, the glory of Jehovah sometimes went up from the cherubic chariot to the temple, when The house was filled with the cloud , and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory. || And again, the glory of the Lord departs from the house, and stands over the cheru- bim, when mounting on high from the earth, The glory of the God of Israel was over them above .^[ A common epithet of God, as king of Israel, was that of Insessor of the cherubim,* * * § ** Whose name is called by the name of the Lora God of Hosts that dwelleth between the cherubim ; or he that sitteth upon, above, or between the cherubim ; or as it * Other descendants of Ham, as the Phoenicians, regarded the ox or heifer as a sacred animal. Baal was worshipped as an ox as well as a fly. (Tobit i. 5.) f Mithras is to be seen with the head of a lion and the body of a man, having four wings, two of which are extended towards the sky, and the other two towards the ground. Montfaucon, i. 232. Comp. Ezek. i. U. X Every one knows that the eagle was sacred to the Grecian Jupiter. § 1 Chron. xxviii. 18. [| Ezek. x. 4. ^ lb. 19. ** 1 Sam. xiv. 4. 2 Sam. vi. 2. 2 Kings xix. 15. Ps. Ixxx. 1 • OBJECTS SYMBOLIZED BY CHERUBIM. 35 may be rendered, Lnhabiteth the cherubim. These expres- sions allude, not only to the presence of God in his taber- nacle and temple between or above the sculptured and symbolical cherubim, but to his riding upon, sitting upon, or inhabiting, that is ruling and directing those powers of whatever description, which are symbolized by those images or signified by that name. When the Lord came to deliver David from his enemies, it is stated that he rode upon a cherub and the prophet Habakkuk, alluding probably to the delivery of the Israel- ites by the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, exclaims, Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters ;+ and again, with a pro- spective view before him, perhaps, of some still mightier deliverance of the church from her enemies, Was the Lord displeased against the rivers ? was thine anger against the rivers ? Was thy wrath against the sea , that thou didst ride upon thy horses and upon thy chariots of salvation ? J He uses the same instruments when his will is to inflict a curse and execute judgments. The Lord will come with fire , and with his chariots like a whirlwind , to render his anger with fury and to rebuke with fames of fire. § In Ezekiel’s vision, coals of fire were taken from between the cherubim to scatter over Jerusalem. || Having noticed the ideal meaning of these mystic symbols, and their connexion with and subservience to Jehovah of Hosts, as the God of Israel, of Israel both according to the flesh and the spirit ;^[ our next inquiry must be whether there are no physical or metaphysical beings or objects, con- cerning which the same things are predicated in Holy Scripture as concerning the cherubim ; for if there are, a. * 2 Sam. xxii. 11. Ps. xviii. 10. + Hab* iii. 15. J lb. 8. § Isa. lxvi. 16. || Ezek. x. 2. ^[1 Cor. x. 18. D 2 36 INTBODTJCTIOtf. r- - equals of the same are equal to one another, it follows that these things must be synonymous. Every student of Holy W; rit, when he turns his attention to this observation, will immediately recollect passages in which the same things are predicated of the heavens ; thus it is said of God, as the God of Israel — Who rideth upon the heavens in thy help , and in his excellency upon the sky* ** And again, Extol him that rideth upon the heavens.f Him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens that were of old. f Every one knows that, in Holy Scripture, God is also perpetually described as he who sitteth upon the heavens ;§ that the heaven is God’s throne , and the earth his footstool : || that The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens ; % that he dwelleth in the heavens, though they cannot contain him that he filleth heaven and earth.ff With regard to Blessings and Curses , that the Heavens are the primary instruments by which God bestows the one and inflicts the other, is evident from many passages of Holy Writ. Thus it is said in Deuteronomy, JJ The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, §§ to give the rain unto thy land in his season , and to bless all the woiE of thine hand. The prophet Hosea has a passage, in which the hands by which blessings and fertility are transmitted to man step by step are strikingly described. And it shall come to pass in that day , Twill hear , saith the Lord, Twill hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil ; and they shall hear Jezreel.|||| Thus the blessing descends from God by the heavens to the earth, producing abundance for the * Deut. xxxiii. 26. f Ps. lxviii. 4. J lb. 33. § lb. ii. 4. || Matt. v. 34, 35. 1 Ps, ciii. 19. ** lb. cxxiii. 1. 1 Kings viii. 27. ++ Jer. xxiii. 24. ZZ Deut. xx viii. 12. $$ Heb. □'own nx :non nrix nx |||| IIos. ii. 21 , 22. SCRIPTURE USE OE THE WORD HEATED. 37 support and comfort of man. And with respect to curses it is said, The heaven that is over thee shall be brass. * Ye are cursed with a curse, saith Malachi, for ye have robbed one , even this whole nation. The curse alluded to, was the shutting of the windows of heaven, f Trom all these passages, it is evident that the same things are predicated both of the Heavens and the Cherubion , and that, therefore, they are synonymous terms, and signify the same powers. But this leads to another inquiry. What are the heavens ? This is a query which at first every one thinks he can answer, hut yet when the term comes to he sifted, it will be found that few have any definite idea of its real meaning. Generally speaking, the expanse over our heads, and the bodies it contains, are understood by the word Heavens: but when analyzed, it will be found chiefly to indicate powers in action contained in that expanse, and which act upon these bodies ; powers that in the various systems of the universe have various centres dispersed throughout space, each having a local or partial action upon its own system, and all derived originally and still main- tained, from and by one parent fountain, the centre of all irradiation, of all light, of all life and energy. In order to ascertain what the word heaven, or heavens, really means, the most satisfactory way is to submit it to analysis. In the Bible there are three terms employed to signify the heavens and heavenly powers, one of which J is usually rendered the Heavens; another, § the Sky ; and a third, || the Firmament . I shall consider each of these terms. 1. Heaven , or the heavens. — This word, in the Hebrew language, is derived from a root,^[ which signifies to dispose or place , with skill, care, and order, as say the lexicographers; * Hos. xxvii. 23. f Mai. iii. 9, 10. J n-Etf § crpnir || rpi "IT nw 38 INTRODUCTION. so that, literally, the common plural term would he the disposers or placers . It is singular, and worthy of particular notice, that the Pelasgians, according to Herodotus, gave no other names to their deities than that of gods* * * § so calling them because they were the placers + of all things in the world, and had the universal distribution of them. J We see here that the Grecian gods — which, as has been proved in another place, § were subsequent to the original chaotic state of the heavens and the earth when the one was without light, and the other without form and void — were really sy- nonymous with those ruling physical powers which God employed as his instruments, first in the formation of the heavenly bodies, and next in that of their organized appari- ture, whether vegetable or animal ; and lastly, in maintain- ing those motions or revolutions in the bodies just named, which he had produced, and other physical phenomena which were necessary for the welfare of the whole system and its several parts. These powers, whatever name we call them by, || form the disposers or placers , the heavens in action : these are the Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva of the Greeks and Eomans, and the various deities of other nations : For all gods of the nations are idols, saith the Psalmist, but Jehovah made the heavens , or the powers symbolized by the idols of the nations. These are those powers which, under God— w'ho, as the charioteer of the universe, directs them in all their operations, whether in heaven or on earth, to answer the purposes of his providence— execute the laws that have received his sanction. These are the physical cherubim represented by the earthly rulers — the man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle — these the chariot and throne of the Deity; * 0£OI. t Get 'Ttg, J 0 eovg 8e TrpoGiovofiacrav