ot at ena eas ue cence ibe oe ne at se dephatis ae Saar Sheth a pape sah shee ke ah isi “i a othe a as | . ne Phi oe ae a Ne ! Aa : syed i ete Waele - is he aban ay sip ee eRe att statics "y Babette ey a : AA SAS a a els ‘ xe i bes Fat fa Ste ie ihe POU ce Beli Ra eR aS ah sme ata cn Se i oh Sa peek Sa a ne Sipe se me so ek a ee SN : a oS os y oS yi Padi ty ith NY ES Gch be ay aa et ay Re o of i »? a 4 fal yah a ae oo ty ae sh ae ee a x sf Be : : pana ia - i NY oy atten tice ey Sana ae mht hor % a a a ee oo a a os tye Thad been nec pend Nie am Rie a aay RS We Pn, alt aut oO . STNG nation Sey « Be aN ee se - Sahat | LIBRARY : Gheological Seminary, BT 1101 .R34 1867. Ragg, Thomas, 1808-1881. Creation's testimony to God he ee rey he ws 0 eager CREATION’S TESTIMONY TO ITS GOD. Ge" 3 _ a oo ~- Hy ) a iy ni Hh ora ees [es =e =< = a] i . 7 ; Sid 4 Ry) CREATIONS TESTIMONY TO ITS GOD THE ACCORDANCE SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND REVELATION A MANUAL OF THE EVIDENCES OF NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION, WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE, AND ADVANCE OF KNOWLEDGE BY THE REV. THOMAS RAGG ELEVENTH EDITION, REVISED AND .ENLARGED WITH ANALYTICAL INDICES, GLOSSARY, ETC. ETO. LONDON CHARLES GRIFFIN AND COMPANY 10, STATIONERS’ HALL COURT 1867 JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS, DEDICATION. TO THE REV. J. B. OWEN, M.A., MINISTER OF 8ST JOHN’S CHAPEL, BEDFORD ROW, LONDON. My pear Sir, This Work, in all probability the last of any magnitude which will proceed from my pen, I dedicate to you above all others, as a mark of my reverence for your character, personal and official; of admiration for your talents, original and acquired ; and as a memento of that earnest, truthful friendship, with which for so many years I have been honoured, and which I hope to retain as long as life endures. I am, my dear Sir, Yours sincerely THOMAS RAGG. Digitized by the Internet Archive In 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/creationstestimoOOragg PREFACE TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION. Ir the tenth edition of this work had been published a few months subsequently to the time when it was issued, it is pro- bable that the arrangement might have been somewhat altered to meet the theories put forth in Sir Charles Lyell’s “Antiquity of Man.” Indeed, the Author regretted, when that book ap- peared, that so large an edition had been previously printed, in which no reply to it could be given. The interval which hag since occurred has shown the benefit of patient waiting: Sir Charles’s theories have, one after another, come to be regarded as fancies, and the controversy is in a very similar position to that which it occupied before his book appeared. On mature consideration the author sees no reason for altering the text of his “Testimony,” in which he has not a single sentence to with- draw ; but has added brief chapters, in the form of Appendices, on “Man’s Antiquity and Origin,” and the more interesting and important subject of “Spectral Analysis.” _ Lawley, near Wellington, Salop, September, 1867. ERRATA. The following few errors in the notes, &c., escaped notice while the work was passing through the press :-— Page 309, foot-note, 6th line from bottom, for Mosaic read Mesozoic. Page 371, foot-note, 2nd line from bottom, for opyeg read opyi. In Glossary, article Chemical Elements, 4th line from bottom, for which word means read which truly is. ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE Present state of the Controversy—The Deficiencies and Requirements of the Age in reference to it—The Spirit in which it should be conducted— Anticipation of its final close oe ah ip cf Aye ix PART. I.—Narurau ReEtteron. CHAPTER I. Some general Principles laid down, and the whole Course of the Argument indicated—The Being of a God demonstrated by the existence of the Ma- terial Universe—The Relation borne by the Material Universe to the Space or Immensity in which it exists, similar to, and capable of illustrating, that borne by Duration to Eternity in which it exists—Difference be- tween Eternal and Immortal—Proof that though the Material Universe may be Immortal, it cannot be Eternal, since it must have begun to ex- ist, and, therefore, have been Caused or Created—The necessary existence of a First Cause, or Creator, deducible from these Propositions, and also from the nature of Eternity and Space... ce = ee CHAPTER II. The Being of a God demonstrated by the existence of the Principle of Life, or Inherent Volition—Life not essential to Matter; but an Accompani- ment or Accident of it: a Gift bestowed by Self-existent Life—Spontaneous or Uncaused Finite Existence impossible—Spontaneous or Uncaused In- finite Existence not only possible, but necessary, in order to have origin- ated Finite Existence—The Necessary Existence, and the Eternal Exist- ence, of Finite or Creature Life, equally impossible with its Uncaused Existence; and the consequent Necessity, under any aspect, of an Inde- pendent Creator, to have called it into being 343 oe vt La CHAPTER ITI. The Power and Wisdom of God displayed in the Construction of Material things—The Vastness of Creation—Revelations of Modern Astronomy as to the System of the Universe—The unmistakeable Evidences it gives of Divine Power and Wisdom a sf = me CHAPTER IV. A closer view of that portion of the Universe which Man’s eye can search, and his intellectual powers investigate-—The Goodness, as well as the Power and Wisdom, of God exhibited in the Chemical Constitution of the Earth and its Atmosphere, and of Animal and Vegetable Tissues ; and also in the general distribution of the different Elementary Substances .. 48 al ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAGE a The Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as exhibited in Organic Nature— Cell Life—Vegetable Physiology —Antecedent probabilities respecting the Nature, &c., of Vegetable Productions, provided they were the Creation of a Being all-powerful, wise, and gocd:—These probabilities more than realized in the actual existence of things as they are—Conclusion 65 CHAPTER VI. Organic Nature, as exemplifying the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of Deity, continued—A glance at the various orders of the Animal Creation: their adaptation to their different spheres of being—Microscopic Animals : their wonderful construction and use in the Animal Economy—Some general Examples from higher orders of creatures—The Mechanical Construction of the Body—The Dental apparatus—The regulation of Fluids—In- voluntary Muscular Action—Prospective Contrivances—Conclusion 83 CHAPTER VII. Mental Phenomena; or, Instinct and Reason, as manifested in inferior crea- tures, and in man; with some of our Impulses, Passions, and Intel- lectual Faculties, as exhibiting the Wisdom, Power, and Goodness of God 100 CHAPTER VIII. Difficulties raised by Atheists, regarding the Wisdom and Goodness of God, met and obviated—Consideration of the principal views which have been promulgated to show that Material things furnish no evidence of Divine Wisdom and Goodness; or that a belief in Creation is not necessary, in order to account for what is now existing—Chance—Necessity—Nature —Development ag) che ase ; CHAPTER IX. The same subject continued—Development—Law ae af kod | CHAPTER X: The same subject continued—“ Induction’ —“ Natural Selection ” .. 150 CHAPTER XI. More direct Objections and Difficulties rerarding the Divine Wisdom and Goodness—The existence of Natural and Moral Evil—Consideration of the principal Theories offered to account for it, classed under the heads of Zoro- astrian and Ptolemaic—Their fallacy—The Epicurean class of Objections analyzed, and shown to be inapplicable—Proposal of a better Theory 167 CHAPTER XII. Summary.—Atheism, Christian Buddhism, Pantheism, and true Theism— The latter only consistent with the Teachings of Nature, and the Instincts of the human Soul io = fe Me + Se @e ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. vil a PART I1.—Reveatep Re.icion. CHAPTER XITI. PAGE Revelation considered—Introduction—Revelation the only sufficient mode of attaining to a knowledge of the Deity—Revelation PossIBLg, or per- fectly consistent with God’s Existence and Attributes, Creation itself being a Manifestation of Him, a Revelation that He is—Revelation a priori PROBABLE, from the darkness of the Human Mind, and the Uncertainties and Perplexities in which Man is involved, with Reason and Nature only for his guide—Revelation morally NECESSARY, in order to the Consist- ency and Perfection of God’s operations, as an answer to certain Instincts implanted in the Human Mind—And if Man’s Soul be Immortal, and he be a responsible creature destined to another state of existence, a Re- velation additional to Creation (one of God’s Nature and His Will) to be naturally expected from the Divine Wisdom and Goodness cea CHAPTER XIV. The Incorporeity of the Soul demonstrated, and its Immortality asserted— A Future State of Existence deducible from the facts of the present one ; and, therefore, every ground in force for believing that such a Revela- tion, as that suggested in the preceding Chapter, would be made «» 221 CHAPTER XV. The Christian Revelation ; its consistency with what Nature and Reason teach concerning the Deity—God’s Eternity, Immensity, and Immuta- bility—The Finitude of the Universe—The commencement of Duration, &c.—And the Divine Attributes of Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Good- ness—The other Cardinal Doctrines of Revelation not at all discordant with Reason and Nature me 8 a ae .. 242 CHAPTER XVI. The Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, displayed in the continued suc- cession of Evidences to the Truth of His Revelation—in Miracles—in Prophecies, and their fulfilment—and in the numerous Modern Dis- coveries in Egypt, Nineveh, Arabia, &c., pe bone of the Truth of early Scripture History ; bo OY On CHAPTER XVII. The Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as exhibited in the System of Religion which forms the substance of Revelation, and removes the Mo- ral Difficulties of the world, and also in the premonitions of Philosophy, which exhibit the congruity of the Human Mind thereto—The Tri- Unity of Deity—The Christhood, or Headship, of the Material Creation— Man’s Depravity and Restoration to Holiness and God—The work of Vill ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. P Redemption the greatest possible display of Divine Wisdom and Goodness ; which are further manifested in the means instituted for rendering that work effectual we a 355 as 34 oe CHAPTER XVIII. “Scientific”? Difficulties and Objections concerning the Facts of Revelation met and obviated—Analogy between the Written and the Acted Revela- tion—God’s Word and Works—Consideration of the Objection “ that the Mosaic History of the Creation is incompatible with the known AGE 272 Facts of Science ”’ A of ts Vows CHAPTER XIX. Obviation of “Scientific” Difficulties and Objections continued—The Hu- man Era a 4 is 2B 43 a : CHAPTER XX. Obviation of “Scientific” Difficulties and Objections continued—Consider- ation of the Objection that the production of the whole Human Race by one Primeval Pair, and its more modern unity in the family of Noah, . 803 cannot be made consistent with the known Varieties of our Species 316 CHAPTER XXI. Obviation of “Scientific” Difficulties concluded—The reign of Death prior to the Adamic Creation—The Mosaic account of the Noachian Deluge consistent with all we really know—The Anthropomorphic Representa- tions of Deity, constantly occurring in the Holy Scriptures, perfectly compatible with correct ideas of God’s Infinitude & ‘ CHAPTER XXII. Difficulties raised by “Spiritualists,” “ Rationalists,” and “ Religious Pro- gressists,” met and obviated—Scripture History neither Myth nor Allegory—Its Miracles not to be accounted for by Mesmerism, nor its . 300 Prophecies by Clairvoyance 4 4 0 yo .. 346 CHAPTER XXIII. Objections brought against the great Doctrines of Revelation met and ob- viated—Mediation and Expiation—Verbal and Book Revelation—The Origin and Extinction of Evil eS es es CHAPTER XXIV. Doctrinal Difficulties concluded—Faith. Results—Adaptation of Chris- tianity to Man and Man’s World—Concluding Hymn . 366 APPENDIX A.—Spectral Analysis and the Nebular Theory jepeas seer ————_ B.—Man’s Antiquity and Origin. . des se 091 INTRODUCTION. PRESENT STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY.—THE DEFICIENCIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE AGE IN REFERENCE TO IT.—THE SPIRIT IN WHICH IT SHOULD BE CONDUOCTED.—ANTICIPATION OF ITS FINAL CLOSE. TuxoLocicaL Treatises are numerous. Works on the evi- dences of Christianity abound. Tach age has produced its champions for the truth, whose mighty minds have added to the voluminous resources of the past. Yet Scepticism is not slam, nor even dying. Realizing the fable of the ancient Hydra, it puts forth new heads as rapidly as the old ones are severed from its body: and seems to possess an indestructi- bility which testifies that conviction of the intellect alone is not sufficient—that the region of its vitality is the heart. There is little of novelty in the Scepticism of our own age. The cavils and arguments of objectors have certainly assumed new shapes. Yet, the replies which were called forth by the writings of abler and more learned objectors in a former age, might, with a little adaptation, be made to answer nearly all of them. Atheism, Pantheism, Rationalism, and Anti-Super- naturalism,—which embrace all the phases of disbelief,—have been refuted, time after time, by men of gigantic intellect, who have passed away from this world, but who, being dead, yet speak. From one quarter only have the modern pro- fessors of these “isms ” brought forward any novelty which has given them an advantage, however short-lived. “In that quarter they have been always on the alert, showing an alacrity which Christians would do well to imitate. Every new dis- covery in Science, every fresh utterance of the voice of N ature, has been by them misinterpreted, and made to appear discord- ant with that Book which professes to be a Revelation from on high. x INTRODUCTION. The Secularist in England, and the Positivist on the other side of the British Channel—who may be said to represent the most modern forms of Infidelity—both declare that Science is the proper study of man; and both profess to found their Scepticism upon the results of Scientific researches. To leave, then, to their interpretation the first Revelation of Deity—the physical Universe in which we dwell—is a sure way of making it appear to disagree with the second, the moral Revelation of His mind and will, the truth of which they call in question. Under these circumstances, it is to be regretted that a due proportion of the Course at our Collegiate Establishments, especially those connected with the National Church, is not devoted, by Students destined to be Religious Teachers, to the study of the physical Sciences, which have, during the past half-century, made such rapid advances. They come to their several spheres of labour too little acquainted with the facts which the Book of Nature—God’s elder Revelation—has made known. To meet the requirements of the age, they have a new study to commence; and that, not in the quiet of seclu- sion, but in the midst of conflicting engagements and constant demands upon their time—a study for which they have been well prepared by their previous mental training, but which too often entails a sacrifice of comfort, rest, and health. What marvel, then, if in many instances the misinterpretations of Nature’s utterances are left uncontradicted !—that when the Secularist brings in a bill of divorcement for the severance of the Universe from its Creator, the charges sometimes remain unanswered! What marvel if the Infidel’s suggested doubts leave disquiet in the minds of many who long for a satisfactory explanation, but find it not! Yet elaborate Treatises on the bearings upon Natural and Revealed Religion of any new facts which advancing Science, or untiring labour, may have brought to light, do not appear to be the chief requirement of the age. They may add their quota to those vast stores of information and argument which are already treasured up ; but will be found of less use to the mul- titude than to the learned: and it is not among the learned that Infidelity is now making way. Railroads, electric telegraphs, the rapid advance of discovery, and restless competition, have INTRODUCTION. xi communicated to the people—the throbbing heart of the nation —somewhat of their own velocity ; and he who would speak to them, and gain their attention, must speak briefly, and to the purpose. Time is their chief capital, their stock-in-trade ; and if they want information, they ask rather for a synopsis than for an additional chapter to the existing Cyclopedia, which is already beyond the reach of their time and means. There is another class of persons, also, for whom the particu- lar requirement of the age appears to be the same; I mean those who by their connections or occupations are continually led into temptation to disbelief. The weapons with which they are usually assailed are not philosophic or powerful arguments, but suggestions of doubts, inuendoes, and sneers. They are frequently told that Science will soon drive Religion out of the world; that the facts disclosed by its rapidly unfolding revela- tions are incompatible with the dogmas of Theology. And yet it often happens that the individuals who take upon themselves to deliver such a confident judgment, possess only a very su- perficial acquaintance with either the one or the other! For this class, too, it is not so much elaborate Treatises that are needed, as a combined summary of facts, so placed as to be made to tell with resistless foree—a Manual which will show in the clearest light the complete harmony between Science and Scripture. They cannot read a volume to dispel a single class of suggested doubts. They cannot go through a long course of argument to obtain an answer to a sneer. But give them clear evidence in a brief space—give them, especially, a telling ar- rangement of tangible, pertinent, and indisputable racts—and their unburthened hearts will bound with gratitude and joy. Nor does the requirement appear to be a different one for those most interested in the Controversy—Sceptics, and persons who have a mental tendency to Scepticism. There is an in- disposition among them—whether the result of indolence or prejudice—to read and examine diligently the traces of His existence whose footprints are impressed so indelibly upon the Universe He has made. They rest upon the opinions they have received, because it is much easier to indulge in dreamy reverie than steadily to exert the faculties of reason. They cleave to _ them because time, inclination, or both, perhaps, may be want- xi INTRODUCTION. ing in sufficient abundance to enable them to go through a re- futation whose details require many works of many volumes each, and even then are incomplete. With little difficulty, they might be persuaded to undertake the perusal of a single book; but that is generally calculated to satisfy them upon some one point only: whilst the grounds of their disbelief are many. If they enter upon a second or third volume, it is felt to be tiresome; and the intellect refuses to accord with that from which the heart and the taste recoil. To place before minds so constituted another elaborate Treatise, similar to many which in past ages have done honour to our name and nation, would only be like heaping Alps on Apennines, when the hills before them were already insur- mountable. Over them they cannot pass; but yet, perhaps, might be brought by a nearer and less laborious route to see and to acknowledge truth. The requirement of the age, then, even for these, appears to be a Manual in which the weightiest evidence may be presented in the strongest light, and that in the fewest words consistent with force and clearness. Men who would not read, and could not understand if they did read, the great works of our mightiest thinkers, may still, in all proba- bility, have the evidences of our faith presented to them in a comprehensible and acceptable form. It is by a thirst after knowledge that multitudes of them are usually led astray : and a gratification of that thirst is, at least, one of the likeliest methods of leading them back to the Fountain of true know- ledge and wisdom. By such means, their interest may be ex- cited ; and they will follow an argument which conveys inform- ation they are desirous of obtaining. They will read a Manual which intelligibly sets forth all the new facts advancing Science and patient research have made available; and thus, if in no other way, may be led to see the intimate union which subsists between true Science and Religion. The production of a work which on these accounts appeared to him to be required, has been the object of the Author in the present Volume. He has endeavoured to render it in- teresting as well as instructive—to impart secular knowledge, as well as draw inferences from it—to give a Manual of the physical Sciences, as well as the gathered results of their INTRODUCTION Xili positive teaching. Passing through the universe of matter and of mind, he has sought, while gathering out its first-fruits as an offering to the Deity, to inquire into the nature of that which is felt and seen—and thus exhibit the accordance be- tween Science, Philosophy, and Religion. Another question, however, arises: “In what spirit should the Controversy be conducted?” It must in honesty be con- fessed that the Disbeliever in Divine Revelation has not always been met in a manner which becomes the followers of Him who, while He sharply rebuked the Hypocrite and the Formalist, showed His compassion for the unhappy wanderer from truth by a reproof of tears.* Christians too often look upon Sceptics with more repugnance than sorrow—with more contempt than pity. Trained up in a belief of, and reverence for, a Supreme Ruler of all things, they look upon the individual who denies His existence, as a monster in creation—a being outside of humanity. Yet there are many who, with little idea of its worth, “wish they had faith,” while they esteem it a delusion. The writer can remember the time when, seeking for happiness, and unable to find it, he has envied those whom he looked upon as poor ignorant Christians, as he heard them joyfully singing the praises of their Redeemer. But if, at that time, he had been met with nothing but violent denunciations, for a disbe- lef which he felt to be a miserable yet inevitable inheritance, it would have been little calculated to lead him to seek for happiness in a God of Love. Doubts are not always the mere excuses of one too idle or too heedless to examine; but are sometimes the evidence of earnest and diligent examination, commonly resulting in belief, which (far better than a mere in- heritance) takes possession of the understanding and the heart. The mind is not to be cut and squared like stone from a quarry. Attempts to induce conviction by fire and sword have often been made, but as often failed. Persecution may generate Hypocrites, but can never make Believers. The Christian way of meeting a Sceptic is to treat him as conscientious, though mistaken—to oppose him with facts rather than dogmatic assertions, with arguments rather than denunciations, with appeals to reason rather than to slavish fear. If we refuse to * Luke xix. 41, 42 XIV INTRODUCTION. give him credit for sincerity, he may treat us as Hypocrites or Fanatics. If we accuse him of designing to upturn the founda- tions of society, he may retort upon us that we have designs— to enslave the mind, and keep the intellect in subjection. But if Christians exhibited in their conduct a transcript of the heart of Him who has written upon every page of the Book of Nature, as well as in the Volume of Inspiration, His great name of Loves, then at least one stumbling-block would be re- moved out of the way, and many, who now, dispirited, dejected, broken-hearted, “ wander like a wave of the ocean which hath not a place of abiding,” would find repose in Him who hath said, “ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Oh! is it a delusive vision, or is there really coming for the earth a day of brighter, more transcendent glory, when man shall no longer wander from his Maker, or refuse to listen to the accents of His love? What means that flood of light, fresh bursting through the clouds that long enveloped her horizon? The blackness yields! It moves! It rolls away ! earth basks in the moral sunlight of her God! It is no vision —no delusion. Nature’s voice hath spoken. Her smiling mornings,—her reviving springs,—types of the time of happy restoration,— corroborate the instinctive, unextinguishable hopes to which the soul clings firmly. Tradition, too, hath given her utterance. In seasons of sorrow and anguish, of darkness and disquietude, she seeks to hush the travailing groans of creation with the ever-present assurance of a better time to come—the restoration of the golden age. And these are but the echoes of another and a mightier voice—the voice of Revelation ; for the promise has gone forth, that “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.” O glorious time! thrice glorious and thrice blest! when no mistaken in- ferences shall be drawn from the unrolled volume of creation— when Science and Philosophy shall take their true position as the handmaids of religion—and every voice shall joi with sweet accord in one harmonious, simultaneous anthem—“ HAt- LELUJAH! FOR THE Lorp Gop OMNIPOTENT REIGNETH !” ee a —_" = A ad a py ere a aay CREATION’S TESTIMONY TO ITS Gop. PART NATURAL RELIGION, CHAPTER I. SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES LAID DOWN, AND THE WHOLE COURSE OF THE ARGUMENT INDICATED—THE BEING OF A GOD DE- MONSTRATED BY THE EXISTENCE OF THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE —THE RELATION BORNE BY THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE TO THE SPACE OR IMMENSITY IN WHICH IT EXISTS, SIMILAR TO, AND CAPABLE OF ILLUSTRATING, THAT BORNE BY DURATION TO ETERNITY IN WHICH IT EXISTS——-DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETERNAL AND IMMORTAL——-PROOF THAT THOUGH THE MA- TERIAL UNIVERSE MAY BE IMMORTAL, IT CANNOT BE ETERNAL, SINCE IT MUST HAVE BEGUN TO EXIST, AND, THEREFORE, HAVE BEEN CAUSED OR CREATED—THE NECESSARY EXISTENCE OF A FIRST CAUSE, OR CREATOR, DEDUCIBLE FROM THESE PROPOSI- TIONS, AND ALSO FROM THE NATURE OF ETERNITY AND SPACE. 1. Howzver multifarious the forms of error may be, truth is simple and consistent. Opinions as well as fashions change. The axioms of one century become the jest and ridicule of another. The views of whole communities are modified or altered, as new discoveries shed their light around; or histori- cal facts, like coins long buried, are dislodged from dark ob- security, to testify to what has been. Yet truth, though often rejected and despised, is still immutable. 2. Truth cannot be opposed to itself; but the consistency of some of its phases or developments with others may not be obvious. It may be only gradually unfolding itself to the view of finite creatures ; or they may lack sufficient capacity, or their intellect sufficient cultivation, to see, to understand, and to reconcile what are only apparent contradictions. - 8. Hence should we learn to reason with submission, and 1 ae 2 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. draw conclusions with deep humility. If two propositions, apparently irreconcilable, are capable of separate demonstra- tion, or of evidence nearly approaching to demonstration, it 1s the province of finite wisdom to reject neither—that wisdom, at its utmost stretch, may be only capable of discerning the two extremities of an unbroken chain, merely because the con- necting links are buried or submerged. 4, If there be a God, He must be Truth.