DIAGRAM V.
In the same manner Artesian wells have been sunk in other places, as at Hampstead Water Works, 450 feet deep; Combe & Delafield’s, 500 feet deep; and the Trafalgar-square Water Works, 510 feet deep.[[10]] Now, the reader has only to take this last diagram, and in imagination to apply it to the one on page [21], in order to see that so far as actual boring and investigation go, the geological theory of the earth’s crust is correct; only again let it be observed that this order is never inverted, although it frequently happens that some one or more of the strata may be absent.
Hitherto we have spoken of the earth’s crust without reference to that wondrous succession and development of living beings which once had their joy of life, and whose fossil remains, found in the different strata, waken such kindling emotions of the power of Deity, and enlarge indefinitely our conceptions of the boundless resources of His Mind. This will open before us a new chapter in the history of our planet, already the theatre of such vast revolutions, and which, under the influence of Divine truth, is yet to undergo one greater and nobler than any of these. We have as yet only glanced at the surface page of the wondrous book, now happily opened for us by geologists, to whose names we have already made reference; and as the mind rests with intense pleasure on the discoveries of Champollion, Belzoni, Lane, Layard, Botta, and others who have deciphered the hieroglyphics, in which were written the wars and the chronicles of ancient nations, whose names and deeds are becoming, by books and lectures, and above all by our noble national Museum, familiar even to our children, and a source of help and solace to the hard-toiling artisan; so with profounder interest, as carried back into remoter ages of antiquity, so remote that they seem to lie beyond the power of a human arithmetic to calculate, do we humbly endeavour to decipher the hieroglyphics,[[11]] not of Egypt or of Nineveh, but of the vast creation of God, written in characters that require, not only learning and science to understand, but modesty, patience, and triumphant perseverance. He who with these pre-requisites combines reverence for God and His revelation, will always find in Geology material both for manly exercise of thought, and also for reverent adoration of Him who is Himself unsearchable, and whose ways are past finding out.
“We not to explore the secrets, ask
Of His eternal empire, but the more
To magnify His works, the more we know.”—Milton.
Most happily for Christendom, our noblest men of science are not ashamed of the “reproach of Christ;” and we know not how to conclude this chapter in a strain more accordant with our own thoughts than by quoting the words of an eminent living naturalist:—“I can echo with fullest truth the experience of Bishop Heber; ‘In every ride I have taken, and in every wilderness in which my tent has been pitched, I have found enough to keep my mind from sinking into the languor and the apathy which have been regarded as natural to a tropical climate.’ Nay, I may truly say, I found no tendency to apathy or ennui. Every excursion presented something to admire; every day had its novelty; the morning was always pregnant with eager expectation; the evening invariably brought subjects of interest fresh and new; and the days were only too short for enjoyment. They were not days of stirring adventure, of dangerous conflicts with man or with beast, or of hair-breadth escapes in flood and field; their delights were calm and peaceful, I trust not unholy, nor unbecoming the character of a Christian, who has his heart in heaven, and who traces, even in earth’s loveliest scenes, the mark of the spoiler. The sentiments expressed by my friend[[12]] and fellow-labourer are those which I would ever associate with the study of science. ‘If the sight of nature,’ observes Mr. Hill, ‘were merely the looking at a painted pageantry, or at a spectacle filling the carnal mind with wonder and delight, the spirit would be overpowered and worked into weariness; but it is admiration at the wisdom, and reverence for the beneficence of Almighty power. He who dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see,’ is yet visible in His perfections through the works of His hand, and His designs are made manifest in the purpose of His creatures. Wherever our lot is cast, into whatever scenes our wayward impulses lead us, the mind-illumined eye gazes on divine things, and the spirit-stirred heart feels its pulses bounding with emotions from the touch of an ever-present Deity. The habit that sees in every object the wisdom and the goodness as well as the power of God, I may speak of, as Coleridge speaks of the poetical spirit, ‘it has been to me an exceeding great reward; it has soothed my afflictions; it has multiplied and refined my enjoyments; it has endeared my solitude; and it has given me the habit of wishing to discover the good and the beautiful in all that meets and surrounds me.’
“‘Great are thy works, Jehovah, infinite
Thy power! what thought can measure thee, or tongue
Relate thee?’”[[13]]