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3 1924 031 764 594

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Cornell University Library

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tliis

book

is in

Cornell University Library.

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031764594

MAP " In the Beginning

of the

God

WORLD

as a Plane.

created the Heavens and the Earth."—

bounded

'""'"

"pon the seos

„i/as/Cw

"Xq

^cf

^ ^v^2 «^

0^^^

enesis

TERRA FIRMA: THE EARTH NOT A PLANET. PROVED FROM

SCRIPTURE, REASON, AND FACT.

WARDLAW

DAVID

SCOTT,

AUTHOR OF " Dora MarcelH ; " " The Contrast, and other Poems ;" " Water and the Spirit; "God Misunderstood;" " The Purpose of the Ages ;" "Hades and Beyond;" &c.

Fot

hath founded

upon

the seas,

and established

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Psahn xxiv,

upon the

floods."

LONDON SiHFKiN, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent,

CALCUTTA: Tracker, Spink, &

BOMBAY: Thacxer & Co., *

Co.,

Ltd.

Co. '

Ltd.

fgoi.

A^Sg&Ufi

PREFACE. am now an

had

old man, and,

I consulted

my own

comfort, would never have penned a line of this book,

some years

as for

that

write.

being

have had cataract in both eyes, so

was not without

still

difficulty

that I could read or

appeared to be the need, and

great, however,

anxious to serve

generation, I determined

to undertake this work, in order to expose the fallacies

Modem

of God, I

Astronomy, which are so contrary to the

and so conducive to the promotion

do not enter the

Word

of Infidelity.

arrayed in the panoply of Neo-

lists

Science, to fight this great Goliath, but only with a few

pebbles of the brook, yet

I trust that,

the attempt may not be altogether I

so shall

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

well aware that it

be also

Luke

xvii.

fiis

Coming,

the

was in the days of Noe,

in the days of the

Man

Son of

we should be ever ready for not for us " to know the times or

But, while

26. it

which the Father hath put

seasons,

power "

" as

with God's blessing,

fruitless.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

His own

moming 7; not thine hand, in the evening wFthhold sow thy seed, and Acts

and we are exhorted

for thou knowest not

which

shall

" in the

prosper"

Ecc. xi. 6.

may be that these pages may meet the need of some, who have not altogether been misled by unprovable fancies, and who will rejoice to find that the Biblical It

account of Creation

is,

after

all,

be depended upon, and that its

kindred

theory

the only one which can

Modem

Evolution,

that

Astronomy,

dangerous

and

degraded form of Buddhist metempsychosis,

but " a mockery, a delusion, and a snare."

Thus may

nothing

PREFACE. the eyes of the understanding be cleared of that obstruc-

which obscures the sight of many otherwise sound minds, owing to the evil effects produced thereon tive cataract,

falsely so called "

by " science

—

Tim.

20.

vi.

Not being a professional Astronomer, I required read and think much while writing this book, and had

to to

weigh every matter in an even balance, so as to make no statement which

not in

strict

conformity with Scripture,

indebted to "

The

Earth (not a Globe) Review," which was the means of

first

Reason, or Fact.

inducing

" Zetetic

The Earth

Carpenter's not a Globe "

would also

(not a Globe) Review," who, at

manuscript before

and who, on returning I

Cosmogony."

its

request,

being sent to the

wrote

to be in perfect accordance with so

book."

Mr.

^to

best thanks to " Zetetes," the late Editor of

carefully read Printers,

Rowbotham's

Dr.

^to

Proofs that the Earth

and to Mr. Winship's "

especially

me to begin work— "Zetetic Astronomy" —

One Hundred

express

this

(Parallax)

—

much

" I

that

pleased in your

could not expect him to say more, as

rarely

happens that men of independent thought can see everything in exactly the same light.

The

favourable testimony

of such an expert in Astronomic subjects as "Zetetes," gives

confidence in placing the result of

before the Public, and I sincerely trust that

be "in vain

in the Lord," but that

will

my it

labour

may not

be helpful to

those of

truth of

God, as revealed in His works of Creation.

Readers who are desirous of searching out the D.

25 Trinity Road, Wood Green, London,

March, 1901.

WARDLAW

SCOTT.

CONTENTS. PAGE

Map of

the

World

as a Plane

Preface

Frontispiece -

CHAPTER

iii

Introductory Rbmarks.

...

SECTION 1.

A few words about

Gravitation

...

men

Testimonies of some able

Quotations showing some of the Atheistical Results of

Theory

against

Modern Astronomy

The Adamic J.

The Days

Not two

l<be

Copernican

CHAPTER

Fundamental difference of opinion among Modern Astronomers

Creation.

of Creation not long periods of time, but Six Natural Days of twenty-four hours each

races of Adamites

...

Refutation of the Theory of two different authors of Genesis, from the use of the distinguishing words

Elohim and JEHOVAH-Elohim 4.

Primeval Fauna and the Ages

regarding the Adamic Creation,

Discrepancy exists, in the accounts given in Genesis

and -

Chipped Flints

The supposed

Glacial Period

II. -

47 50

"57 55

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER The Nebular Hypothesis:

III.

Examination of three

Alleged Proofs of the World's Globularity. PAGE

SECTION 1.

The Nebular Hypothesis

The Circumnavigation

of the Earth

The Appearance and Disappearance

The Earth's shadow

of Ships at Sea

a Lunar Eclipse

CHAPTER

IV.

Remarks on some other Alleged Proofs of the World's Globularity. Pendulum Vibrations

Variability of

Supposed Manif^tation of the Rotation of the Earth

Railways and Earth's Centrifugal Force

Declination of the Pole Star

Motion of Stars North and South

The Planet Neptune

CHAPTER The World

Circular, but not Globular

;

has immovable

Foundations, therefore not a Planet. 1.

Relative Proportion of

The Compass a

Dangers of Navigation

Land and Water

proof that the Earth

not a Planet

World

Southern Seas, caused by the is Globular

The supposed Revolution

of the Earth around the sun

The Earth

The Earth proved

theory that the

proved to be untrue stretched out

108

upon the Waters, which have

an Impassable Circumference

have Immovable Foundations

102

m 117

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

vii

VI.

The Horizontality of Land and Water Proved. SECTION

Railways

Rivers

Canals

.... -

122

126 127

Submarine Cables

The Light

PAGE

of Lighthouses seen at a distance

134

135

CHAPTER Vn. The

Sun, Moon, and Stars, according to

Modern

Astronomy. 1.

2. 3.

The Sun The Moon The Stars -

147 -

CHAPTER The

140

152

Vlll.

Sun, according to the Scriptures.

Light comes out of Darkness

i6j

167

Measurements respecting the Distance and Diameter of the Sun Some Particulars respecting the Sun

Scriptural Proofs of the Rising

and Setting of the Sun

180

Zetetic

CHAPTER

IX.

The Sun's Path and Work 1.

the Heavens.

The cause of Day and Night and the Seasons The reason for gain and loss of time at Sea The Seasons of the Year The Midnight Sun, and the alternation of Summer and -

184

18&

Winter

The Sun and

...

the Northern Centre the Zodiac

174.

187

190 -

195

CONTENTS.

viii

CHAPTER Thb Sun standing

still and returning backwards. PAGE

SECTION 1.

The Sun The

standing

still

over Gibeon

Shadow turning back Ahaz

Sun's

CHAPTER

ten degrees on

204

the dial

2IO

XI.

The Delugeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Biblical Account. and extent of the Deluge

The

God's instructions to

Some

date, cause,

Noah

respecting the

214

Ark

objections against the Deluge answered

217

219

The Earth not a Planet proved by the waters their own level above the highest mountains

finding

Subsidence of the waters, and safe debarkation of and all with him from the Ark

The Noachian Covenant

The Last Judgment on

221

Noah -

the Earth to be by Fire

226 229

231

CHAPTER Xn. The Delugeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Traditional Records. many

Marks

234

The Accadian, or

old Chaldean, account of the Deluge

237

Extracts from old Chaldean Epics, declaring the revolution of the sun, and the creation of men and animals

247

Babylonia identified with the Garden of Eden

251

of the Deluge visible in

lands

... -

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

XIII.

The Great Deep a Proof that the Earth

not

A Planet. SECTION 1.

PAGB

The Earth

in solution before the

showing horizontality by

Adamic

The Tides and

The Great Gulf Stream and Currents

The Rivers come from and

the Great

its strata

Deep

256 -

25S

Deep

265

of the Great

return to the Great

CHAPTER

Creation,

Deep

267

XIV.

Fragments Gathered Up.

A 6xed locality Up and Down

Some

Concluding remarks

other reasons

272

why the Earth is

SUPFLBMENTAI. INDEX

274 not a Planet -

278 283

SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX. Absurdity of Modern Astronomy shown the heavenly orbs

in its description of -

Accommodation, The argument

of,

utterly

142, 144. 14S. '54

condemned I20, 121, 284, 285

Adams, The two contrasted

Adventures of Gilmanes, a kind of ancient Hercules

...

23S

Ages, referred to in Scripture, before and after this present

world

Angels, a different order of beings from

Ark, The, „

men

shown to be su£Bciently large for

its

•

requirements 219, 220

now acknowledged

to have been built on the most approved principles to combine strength, capacity, and

stabiHty „

53—55

a type of Christ

233

Astronomic Curvature, The law of, unnatural and untrue „

„

123

disallowed by the British Government

T24

method of teaching the young

„

224, 225

Axial Motion not in the Earth, proved by the firing of cannons

and other'projectiles

gg_ go,

Babylonian Seal, representing the Temptation in the Garden of Eden -

282

252

Bacon, Lord, altogether disapproved of the Copernican Theory 18,

...

the horizon always appears level with the eye, thus showing the earth to be horizontal 7<j_

Balloon, In

Bera, in

Hebrew, primarily means to create that which had no

previous existence

Bedford Canal, The, proved by experiments to be level „

the wager trial respecting

Boldness required in dealing with error

.... it

explained

33 127

— 130

130—133 284, 287

SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX.

PAGE

Circumnavigation of the world confessed by Keith proof that Clarke's,

a sphere

no -

69 204

Dr. Adam,

letter

his failure to explain that miracle on

„

to be

the Rev. Thomas Roberts respecting the sun standing still over Gibeon -

it is

Copemican

lines

209

as also that of the sun's

backward on the

dial

shadow turning ten degrees of Ahaz

Comets not absorbed by the Sun

Comparison between the old Chaldean and the Biblical account of the Deluge 245, 246 between the old Chaldean and the modern Evolu„ tionists' idea of

Creation

230, 251

Copernicus admitted that his system of the Earth's revolution round the Sun was only a supposition 11, 12

Condemned by Pope Urban

Critics,

The so-called Higher, and not

„

The

late

VIII.

at variance

be depended upon

at sea in astronomical

misleading

World

— 166

of the 15.

Deep, The, thought to be enclosed in a vast rocky basin

Diagrams of ships

35—37

...

48,

164

light

Modern Astronomers regarding the motion

Sun

Dial, The,

—46

Mr. H. L. Hastings's remarks on same

Darkness an entity, and not the mere negation of Day, various meanings of the word in Scripture Deceit of

amongst themselves,

98,

119,

286 120

books are most -

— 77

a daily proof of the Sun's revolution round the .

Difference of opinion should be no cause for ill-feeling

211

288

Discrepancies of Astronomers as to the distance of the Sun from the Earth 12, 13, 141, 142 Distance, The, round the surface of the world at 45 degrees N. Latitude being only half of what it is at 45 degrees S. Latitude, proves that the world

Dove's, Rev. John, vindication of the

Modern Astronomy

not globular Scriptures -

280, 281

against -

SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX.

xii

PAGE

Earth, The, proved to be horizontal, immovable, and stretched in upon the waters therefore it is not a Planet distinguished from the Seas by the term Dry Land „ Earthquake of Lisbon, its effects on lakes, springs, and rivers

— 113

;

a great distance

—264

262

Eclipses are calculated from previous observations and tables, irrespective of any particular theory as to the shape of the

Earth

....

178

77, 78,

Evolution, a dangerous form of Buddhist metempsychosis, altogether unscriptural, unnatural, and untrue iii,

Final

dissolution of the

Heavens and the Earth

Foundations of the Earth proved by Scripture

51, 112, 250, 231

—233 — 119

161, 162, 231 -

117

Geological conjectures not to be trusted 50, 51 Globe, The word not mentioned in the Bible at all 113 " Globe, One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is not a," by the

late

Carpenter, quoted

13, 191, 192,

Gothe's opposition to the Newtonian hypothesis

—282

278

19,

Government inconsistent as regards Astronomic teaching

138

Horizon, The line being straight proves the world to be horizontal and not globular 74, 75, 91, 281 Hull, The, of a ship leaving port often restored to sight telescope, after being lost to the

naked eye

Humboldt's remarks on the colour of the ,.

„

...

stars

„

Deluge

„

Level of the Sea

•

by the -

. -

152

235, 236

223

Indifference as to the statements of Scripture respecting the stability of the Earth condemned 284, 285 Infidelity shown to arise from the false theories of Modern Astronomy 22 25

—

JosEPHDs's testimony as to the

fact of the

Deluge

Laws shovm

be erroneous

La Place's "grand conceptibn" only a myth

236

....

Kelvin's, Lord, " wonderful stone " Kepler's famous

jij 4i

of the Nebular hypothesis -

63,

SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX.

xiii

PAGE

Verrier's

calculations

entirely erroneous

Lunarians,

Men

What

respecting

the

planet

Neptune

the supposed, are supposed to see

147, 148

...

are not fastened to a globular earth like needles to a

spherical loadstone

Mistake,

280

The sad, into which some Christian writers have fallen

in calling this world " a globe

274,275

Mistranslation of Authorized Version (Genesis i. 20) respecting the water bringing forth fowl 41, 42 of the Hebrew words for " Sun " and " Moon " „

by Calmet and Parkhurst with respect

to the miracle related in Joshua x. 203 207 of Sheol and Hades as " hell " and " the grave " instead of the place of the dead 275, 276

—

of the

„

word

belimeh as

"fastenings," in /06

Newton,

Ocean beds comparatively

a warning to others

— 116 84 15

97,

.....

means of solving

Ovid's reference to a great deluge

4. 83, -

flat

Original text, The, often the

difficulties

remark on men's stupidity

„

114

Sir Isaac, proposed his system only as a supposition his career should be

„

"nothing" instead of

;i;;ifOT.

Pail of water whirled round the head a the world revolving round the sun

236

127

false illustration of i

—

Parkhurst failed in his theory of the motion of the Earth by 116,166,167 means of conflicting ethers Parallels of Latitude increase in width progressively from the Northern centre to the Southern circumference, prov-

ing the world not to be globular Perspective,

The

mers

true law

of,

disregarded

71, 72, 105,

106

by Modern Astrono-

74, go, 91

David Brewster's argument for, from analogy shown to be unsound Mr. W. Bathgate's argument against this from Scrip-

Plurality of Worlds, Sir

ture

156,

154

157

SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX

jdv

PAGE

Poem, The Pole,

no South whatever Star,

„

as " Alpha " in

Pre-Adamite

255 71. 72.

Man shown

Mr.,

200, 201

Ursa Minor

locality of

The North

" Pretty

shown to be no proof

loi, 273

be an unscriptural myth

Precession of the Equinoxes Proctor's,

The, anciently regarded as " Alpha " in Draco, now

shows the

„

world

oldest, in the

37, 38

201, 202

Proof of the Earth's Rotundity,"

73. 74 Ptolomy, in 2nd century, a.d., restored the ancient cosmogony of the Earth being immovable 13, 14

at all

Pyramid, The Great, and the Sphinx

199

Pythagoras, a Heathen philosopher, first broached the idea of the Earth revolving round the Sun 13, 143

Qdeen of Heaven,

Astarte or Ashtaroth, the worship

identified with that of the

of,

Romish Virgin Mary

143

Rainfall, The, and exhalations from the Ocean and other waters of the Earth, are insu£Scient to maintain the flow of rivers, which must be replenished from the waters of the Great Deep 270, 271 Refraction, so uncertain in

its action,

as noL usually to be

reckoned in astronomic calculations

137, 212

Rotation of the Earth quizzed by Punch

Satan the presumed source of Modern Astronomy

66, 67, 287, 288

Science, Modern, but a development of the old

„

real in

285, 286

the Bible than anywhere else 157, 166, 200, 232, 268, 284

The riddle of the Storms, The greatest, do not Sphinx,

ninety feet below the surface, quite

still,

jgg

more than about beneath which the water is

affect the sea

thus proving that the sea does not revolve

round the sun

Stratification of the rocks effected

Earth, thus proving

its

by the

horizontality

267

dissolution of the -

33, 34,

256

—258

SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX.

xv PAGE

Tit-bits from Modern Astronomy Professor Huxley on the convexity of water

Professor Airy on the Assumptions of

Newton

83,

Norman

Lockyer's " to take it as proved " Sir John Herschel's " take for granted " the late Mr. Proctor's " we find that the earth is not flat but a globe" Sir

„

Herschel's " in the disorder of the senses "

Tycho Brahe's testimony

Water, always

finding

84 84 84

140,141

against the Copernican system 18, 108, 109

its

own

level,

proves that the Earth is 135, 222

—224

not a Planet

Weather much more

severe in the Southern than in the Northern Latitudes of the same degree

Wesley's, Rev. John, disbelief of Modern Astronomy " Witness, The, of the Stars," by the Rev. Dr. BuUinger, highly recommended, and quoted

71 19

196, 197, 2oi, 202

Woodhouse's, Dr., testimony respecting Modern Astronomy

20, 21

World, This, of ours, with the exception of that beyond, the only one referred to in the Scriptures 153, 154, 157, 158

XisnTHRUs, the name by which Noah Accadian Tablets

Zetetbs quoted

is called

in the old

iv, 76, 77, 172,

" Zetetic Astronomy," by the late Dr. quoted 71, 80, 103 105, 128

—

...

Rowbotham

—

238 173

(Parallax

—

130, 130 133, 155, 168—170 Cosmogony," by Mr. Thomas Winship, of Durban,

Natal, quoted

— 138, 171, 172, 174, 188, 189

136

The Earth is Jehovah's, and the fulness The World, and they that dwell therein For

And

established

hath founded it

upon the

thereof

seas,

floods."

Psalm

xxiv., i, s.

TERRA FIRMA: THE EARTH NOT A PLANET, PROVED FROM

SCRIPTURE, REASON, and FACT.

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. section i.

page

a few

words about gravitation

was

...

Fundamental difference of opinion among Modern Astronomers Testimony of able men against the Cofernican THEORY Quotations showing some of the Atheistical RESULTS OF Modern Astronomy -

SECTION A FEW WORDS ABOUT I

18 21

GRAVITATION.

remember being taught when a boy,

that the Earth

a great ball, revolving at a very rapid rate aromid

the Sun, and,

when

I expressed to

teacher

that the waters of the oceans would tumble told that they were prevented from doing so

fears

was by Newton's I

off,

great law of Gravitation, which kept everything in

proper place.

presume that

have shown some signs of

its

countenance must

incredulity,

for

teacher

TERRA FIRMA.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

chap,

i.,

sec.

can show you a direct proof of this; a man can whirl around his head a pail filled with water without its being spilt, and so, in like manner, can the oceans be carried round the Sun without losing immediately added

a drop.

this

illustration

settle the matter, I

Had man,

proposed to

such been

answered

would have

was evidently intended to

then said no more upon the subject

afterwards

somewhat

follows

you have given of a man whirling a pail of water round his head, and the oceans revolving round the Sun, does not in any degree beg to say that the

Sir, I

illustration

confirm your argument, because the water in the two cases but,

placed under entirely different circumstances,

to be

the conditions in each case

of any value,

must be the same, which here they are is

hollow

which

vessel

holds

The

not.

water

the

pail

inside

whereas, according to your teaching, the Earth

it,

ball,

with a continuous curvature outside, which, in agreement

with the laws of nature, could not retain any water; besides, as the Scriptures plainly tell us

the water

in the water.

Again, the

circuit,

for,

immediately be

man who

whirls the pail around

good care to hold

his head, takes very

even

2 Pet. Hi.

not contained in the Earth, but the Earth

spilt.

did

not,

the

straight in an

water

would

But you teach us that the Earth

goes upside down and downside up, so that the people in Australia,

Globe,

being on the other side of the so-called

have their feet exactly

opposite

which reason they are named Antipodes.

ours,

for

are not

which, by the peculiar conformation of their

flies

feet,

can crawl on a

ball,

but

are

human

beings,

require a plane surface on which to walk;

who

and how

A FEW WORDS ABOUT GRAVITATION. we be

could

fastened to the Earth whirling, according

to your theory, around the Sun, at the rate of eighteen

The famed law of Gravitation will though we are told that we have fifteen pounds

miles per second?

not

avail,

of atmosphere

logical, for there are

their

on every square inch of our

pressing

but this does

bodies,

own

appear to be

not

many

athletes

leap nearly

in less than five

and run a mile race

height,

particularly

who can

minutes, which they could not possibly do were they

thus handicapped. revolution

by the pail of water, Carpenter

said

outrage upon

human

Robert

Sir

utterly worthless,

man;

any thinking

convince

your assertion respecting the

Sir,

the world round the sun,

Ball,

is,

never

will

the

astronomical

another

illustrated

and

late

theory,

Mr. "

understanding and credulity." the Astronomer Royal for Ireland,

says, speaking of Gravitation

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" In the case of the sun, and of the planetary system generally, the mass of the central body enormously exceeds that of any of his planets.

The

sun, for example,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the heaviest of the planets

Jupiter

;

1047 times as heavy as

while,

the luminary were

subdivided into a million equal pieces, the mass of each one of

them would be

greater than the

mass

of the earth.

It,

therefore,

follows that the centre of gravity of the sun and of the earth lies close to the sun's centre.

" The universal law asserts that every body attracts every other body, and therefore there

attraction not alone between planet

and sun, but also between planet and attracted

by the sun, and

retaliates

Jupiter also attracts the earth, and earth.

In like manner there

planet.

Jupiter

not only

by attracting the sun, but is

in turn attracted

by the

a mutual attraction between every

pair of planets, the intensity of which

measured by the product

TERRA FIRMA.

two

of the masses of the

chap,

planets, divided

i.,

sec.

of the

by the square

distance apart."*

So with regard to

celestial things,

and

man

ful law of Gravitation, the

woman

the flea,

this

attracts the

wonder-

woman, and

the man, the elephant attracts the

attracts

and the

we suppose,

so,

with regard to terrestrial matters also;

flea attracts

the elephant, the cat attracts

mouse

the mouse, and the

attracts the cat,

and so on

by the square of the distance, some appear plausible, were there only a few particular objects concerned, but, when there are countless millions of things, both celestial and ter-

Calculation,

infinitum.

might,

restrial,

perhaps,

all

would

same time

struggling at the

other, such a law,

necessarily

would

create,

absurdity but an impossibility. self

does not even attempt

of Gravitation

toi

him Thus he

with

;

tO'

attract

each

from the inextricable confusion which

beginning to end.

Sir

only be an Newton himIsaac

not

give one proof of the truth is

only supposition from

says

" But the reason of these properties of gravity I could never hitherto deduce from

phenomena

hypotheses about them;

phenomena ought

;

and am unwilling to frame

for whatever

to be called

not deduced from

an hypothesis, and no sort of

hypotheses are allowable in experimental philosophy wherein propositions are deduced from phenomena, and not

made general

by deduction."

The famous

laws of Kepler, once considered to be

so helpful in establishing the theory of Gravitation, axt

now found Professor *

to have

been only erroneous suppositions, as

B. Carpenter writes in the October, 1880,

" The Cause of a Glacial Age," page 62 Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner Parliament House, Charing Cross Road, London. ;

& Co.,

A FEW WORDS ABOUT GRAVITATION. "

No. of the

Modem

Review," from which

quote the

following extract "

took as his guide another assumption no

In order to make this

tances from the Sun.

he was drawn

facts,

densities,

says,

which we now know

unless

we assume

be false,

to be utterly

had

untrue

;

for, as

made by Kepler

detected, are

what he considered

deduced from any given

now

law

to explain the

undisputably known to

to be the proof of

being only a

result

might be

may now

exclaim,

principle.'

Brute! the Newtonian Caesar

iu,

he himself

Thus, says his Biographer,

mode of false reasoning by which any required

with the

fit

this proposition of the densities, the

three out of the four suppositions

beautiful law he

last

to assume a relation of their respective

of the periodic time will not answer.' '

less erroneous,

that the masses of these planets increased with their dis-

viz.,

as he falls by the dagger of his old friend Kepler.

Gravitation

a big woid, derived from the Latin

adjective gravis, heavy, and heavy, indeed, has been the trouble which its

has caused to

Modern Astronomers by made for it by

not acting in obedience to the laws

their Delphic Oracle Sir Isaac

Newton.

was

at first

introduced to the public as a mere hypothesis, but, by degrees,

paid as

became little

Newton,

be considered as a law, though

attention to the law

propounded

Red Republican does Moon refused to

country; for the small

great Sun, nor would even a splint of

by an iron mountain.

The

truth

for

that

circle

Attraction, Cohesion are only scientific

by his

round the

wood be

attracted

that Gravitation,

names invented

to cover men's ignorance of God's works in nature, pre-

tending to explain

nothing at

all.

facts,

when, in

Far wiser would

reality,

they explain

have been to have at

TERRA. FIRMA.

once confessed that

only by the Fiat of

chap,

the substances of things are kept together, for

alone that upholdeth

power

Heb.

power,

hath

And

Jer. x. 12.

binds things together now, their

sec.

God it

that

made

the Earth by His

hath established the world by His wisdom,

and by His understanding hath

Heavens

by the word of His

things

all

separation,

stretched

out the

that Omnipotent God, who

will, in

" the

for

His own time,

effect

elements shall be dissolved

with fervent heat, and the earth and the things that are therein shall be burned

Pet. in. 10.

Speaking of Newton's law of Gravitation, Sir Richard Phillips said in his "

Million of Facts,"

waste of time to break a butterfly on a wheel, but, as

It is

Astronomy and and repulsion,

all

it is

science

beset with fancies about attraction

necessary to eradicate them."

Mr. Breach of Southsea remarks " Newton's supposed law of Gravitation was lost in the Moon.

Newton found to

perform

that the Moon's perigee ought to require r8 years

its

revolution in the heavens, while observation

showed that the revolution was performed in one-half

period.

exhausted

all his skill

and power

but died, leaving the problem unsolved.

difficulty,

of this

overcome the His successor

Clairant also finally abandoned the law of Gravitation as being

incapable of explanation."*

In his article " Nature and Law," which appeared in the "

Modern Review

of October,

1890, Professor

B. Carpenter writes as follows "

have no proof, and, in the nature of things, can never

get one, of the assumption of the attractive force exerted * "Twenty reasons against Newtonianism, anij

the Earth

an extended Plane "

;

S. Phillips, 3

by the

Twenty Geographical Proofs that Great Southsea Street, Southsea.

FEW WORDS ABOUT

GRAVITATION.

Earth, or by any other bodies of the Solar system, upon other

Newton himself

bodies at a distance.

strongly felt that the

impossibility of rationally accounting for action at a distance

through an intervening vacuum, was the weak point of his system.

All that

we can be

from our own experience. tion

for

the Earth and

which we learn

that

in regard to the Sun's attrac-

we have no

Planets,

certain

experi-

Unless we could be transported to his surface,

ence at all.

have no means

comparing Solar gravity with

of experimentally

Terrestrial gravity, and,

could ascertain

this,

we should be

of his attraction for bodies at a

no nearer the determination distance.

know

said to

Now,

The doctrine of Universal Gravitation, then,

A PURE ASSUMPTION." If Gravitation in the vast

Sun were a

reality,

why does

body of our Astronomers' not

attract, or even, as it

might be expected to do, absorb such a Comet, when long gossamer

comes so near

tail

it,

light

body as a

instead of letting

its

Miss Gibeme, in

depart unscathed?

writing of Comets, remarks "

They obey the

attraction of the Sun, yet he appears to have

the singular power of driving the Comet's Tail

away from him-

For however rapidly the Comet may be rushing round the

self.

Sun, and however long the to stream in

tail

may

curious,

singular

for

power of

first

Sir Isaac's apple Moon, and Stars,"

not explanatory,

Sun

are at

have the

attracting

and then repelling the

mode

of Gravitation not per-

mitted to our poor Earth, which,

* " Sun,

almost always found

they suppose the

hapless Comet, a peculiar

down

it is

an opposite direction from the Sun."

Miss Giberne's remarks, least

be,

from the

p. 73

;

Seeley

Street,

tree,

said,

could draw

but had no power

Co., Limited, 38 Great Russell

London.

TERRA FIRMA.

send

back

its

The

again.

stalk

Astronomer on Earth, nor anybody

which

fact respecting Gravitation,

chap,

else, is

truth

knows one

single

an unknown and an

unknowable quantity, and the sooner

committed

more scope

to the grave of oblivion, the

sec.

i.,

will

be given

for

the advancement of true science.

Any is

object which is heavier than the

air,

and which

unsujyported, has a natural tendency to

fall

own

its

Newton's famous apple at Woolsthorpe, or any

weight.

when

other apple

hold of

ripe, loses

its

stalk,

and, being

heavier than the air, drops as a matter of necessity, to

the ground, totally irrespective of any attraction of the Earth.

For,

such attraction existed,

why does not

Earth attract the rising smoke which

The answer

heavy as the apple? the smoke

not

fall

lighter than

but ascends.

employed by Newton

the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

simple

and,

air,

Gravitation in his

^because

does

therefore,

only a subterfuge,

attempt to prove that the

Earth revolves round the Sun, and the quicker relegated to the it

be for

tomb

draped

the

thoughtless

alteration of Byron's

his idol with

the tawdry tinsel of false science, knowing well beguile

of all the Capulets, the better will

classes of society.

all

the

not nearly so

multitude,

famous

for,

with

how a

little

lines, it is still true that

" Mortals, like moths, are often caught by glare.

And

folly wins success where Seraphs might despair."

Gravitation

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;heads

pocus

a clever illustration of the art of hocus-

I win, tails

and the people

you lose

lost their senses.

;

Newton won

his fame,

DIFFERENCES AMONG ASTRONOMERS.

SECTION

FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE OF OPINION AMONG MODERN ASTRONOMERS. from

Judging

the

manner

which

such

able

champions of Zetetic truth as Rowbotham, Hampden,

and Carpenter, who have passed away, have been as also

some strong advocates

I have

for

who

are

treated,

still

great expectation that anything which I

say will have

They may

much

may

on Astronomers themselves.

effect

rather be expected to exclaim, in a

somewhat

Lord with respect to

similar strain as a certain noble

the " old NobiUty

alive,

"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" Let Scripture, Reason, Fact, and Learning die,

But spare us Newton's grand Astronomy."

Many books have been but

afraid that

written

Modem

Astronomy,

most of them are planned more as than as handbooks of useful

tales of sensational fiction

and require to be read not only with one

instruction,

but with many grains of

salt.

have been informed,

on good authority, that some of our Astronomers do already know the Plane truth, and surely it behoves such no longer to hide their light under a bushel, but to let it shine before men, so that others may be benefited and

God may be

that

are

still

must

just

glorified

thereby.

If,

however, they

determined to conceal their knowledge,

some others

left

will

severely alone.

come

to the front,

may hope

who

will

they that

brush away

the cobwebs of theory, and build upon the granite of truth.

splendid opportunity

now

before

such so

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

i.,

sec. 2.

much-needed men, who might enrich the world with volumes of real value respecting the Heavens, and the Earth, based upon the lines of Scripture, Reason, and Fact.

The system

Modern

Universe, as taught by

of the

Astronomers, being founded entirely on theory, for the truth of which they are unable to advance one single

they have entrenched themselves in a con-

real proof,

and decline to answer any objections

spiracy of silence,

which may be made to for

Truth

rather resembles

be neither wise nor

and must ultimately

great,

Such a method

their hypotheses.

of defence appears to

the tactics of the

effectual,

prevail.

which, in

ostrich,

order to elude his pursuers, hides his head in the sand, thus leaving the greater part of his body exposed to view.

Lord Beaconsfield wisely that

not

will

Copernicus

bear

discussion

who

himself,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

said

subject

the

revived

system

Both

doomed."

theory

the

heathen philosopher Pythagoras, and his great exponent Sir

Newton,

Isaac

confessed

that

their

system

revolving Earth was only a possibility, and could not be

proved by decorated

facts. it

with the

of an " exact science," yea,

according to them, " the most exact of

Yet

Astronomer

one

Royal

for

all

The

tainty,

out of

matter

is left in

and

I shall

it."

What

to be

science "

this

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;nothing known but on

celestial

said,

system

any one can help

a very sad position for an

uncertain culations

once

Solar

a most delightful state of uncer-

be very glad

the sciences."

England

speaking of the motion of the whole "

who have

only their followers

name

things

" exact

Nothing certain but the the unknown. Their calare

preposterous

and

DIFFERENCES AMONG ASTRONOMERS. vague that

"no

fella" can understand

Sun's distance from the Earth

be about 92,000,000

The Sun

just look

Modern Astronomic Science

at the following tit-bits of

The

them;

reckoned to

miles.

larger than the Earth 1,240,000 times.

58,000 Suns would be required to equal the cubic contents of the Star Vega.

Struve

tells

magnitude,

us that light from Stars of the ninth

with

travelling

the

velocity

12,000,000

miles per minute, would require to travel space for 586 years before reaching this world of ours

The

late

Mr.

Proctor

said

—

a moderate

think

" I

estimate of the age of the Earth would

be 500,000,000

years.

The weight

the Earth,

according

the

same

authority, is 6,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons

And

so on ad nauseam.

Now

what confidence can any man place

a science

which gives promissory notes of such extravagance as these?

They

are simply bankrupt

paper on which they are written. say,

many

foolish people endorse

them

good, the reason being that they are for themselves,

bogus notes as

and, to their

strange to

yet,

they were

toO' lazy

own sad

cost,

to think

accept the

they had been issued by a Rothschild.

" True

What

not worth the

bills,

And

'tis

pity—pity

a sad illustration

'tis 'tis

true."

•

given by the above state-

ments as to the utter worthlessness of

Modem

Astronomy

in the closing days of this boastful Nineteenth Century!

—"

Copernicus wrote

true or even probable

;

It is

it is

not necessary that hypotheses be

sufficient that they lead to results of

calculation which agree with calculation.

Neither

let

any

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

i.,

sec.

one, as far as hypotheses are concerned, expect anything certain

from Astronomy, since that science can afford nothing of the kind, lest in case he should adopt for truth things feigned for

another purpose, he should leave the science more foolish than

when he came. was nothing

The hypothesis

of the terrestrial motion

but an hypothesis, valuable only so far as

phenomena not considered with

explained

reference to absolute truth or

falsehood." If

such was the conviction of Copernicus, the reviver

of the old its

Pagan system

chief expounder,

what right have

of the pn-oblem

while Meyer enlarged

much

but in

being only three millions,

to one hundred and four millions

many

my young my old it

estimates between these

days

was reckoned to be

has been reduced to about

Such discrepancies remind

ninety-two millions of miles.

differ so

as regards the very first elements

of miles, and there are

ninety-five,

Astronomers

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the distance of the Sun from the Earth

Copernicus computed

two extremes.

Modem

when they

possibility, is a fact, especially

among themselves even

and of Newton,

which was given only as a

a theory,

that

assert

of Pythagoras,

of the confusion which attended those

who

in olden

days attempted to build the Tower of Babel, when their

language was confounded, and their labour brought to nought. all

But no wonder

is it

that their calculations are

wrong, seeing they proceed from a wrong

basis.

They

assumed the world to be a Planet, with a circumference of 25,000 miles,

and took

their

measurements from

its

supposed centre, and from supposed spherical angles of measurement on the surface. Again, how could such

measurements possibly be correct while, as we are told, the Earth was whirling around the Sun faster than a

DIFFERENCES AMONG ASTRONOMERS. cannon

the rate of eighteen miles per second,

ball,

a force more than

man, woman,

sufficient to kill every

and child on

its

the Earth

supposed to have various other motions,

Then,

surface in less than a minute?

into the discussion of which I need not enter here, and

supposed rotation round

will only notice that of its

imaginary axis at the miles per

rate, at the

with an inclination

hour,

its

Equator, of a thousand of

degrees.

23^^

Let me, however, remind our Astronomers of a pertinent remark

by Captain R.

itiade

Morrison, late Compiler

of Zadkiel's Almanac, who, from the position he held,

ought

good

considered

authority

such

subjects " We declare that this motion is all mere bosh,' and that the arguments which uphold it are, when examined by an eye that seeks Truth, mere nonsense and childish absurdity."* '

How

contrary are

all

teaching of the

plain

founded upon the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

seas,

these fancied motions to the that

Scriptures,

the Earth

and established upon the

" is

floods"'

Yea that God's own hand " hath laid Psa. xxiv. 2. the foundations of the Earth " Isa. xlviii. 13. Pythagoras lived,

who

Samos, a heathen philosopher,

thought, about 500 years B.C.,

taught that the Sun

its

headway.

vast

his

opinion did not

one

make much

In the second century A.D., Claudius Ptolemy

of Alexandria, a of

But

satellites.

first

the stationary centre of the

Universe, and that the Earth revolved around of

the

who

man

learning

Cosmogony,

that

reported

and the

among

wisdom, Earth

the Greeks to be

restored in

the

centre

ancient.

the

Carpenter's " One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is not a Globe," No. gS John Williams, 54 Bourne-street, Netherfield, Notts.

TERRA FIRMA.

Universe,

Stars revolved around

as instruments to give

it,

This system generally prevailed

year

i.,

sec.

immovable, and that the Sun, Moon, and

who was bom

Copernicus,

chap,

1472.

till

Thorn

philosophy

studied

light.

the time of Nicolaus in Prussia, in the

and

medicine

Cvacova, and afterwards became Professor of MathemaAfter some years he returned to his native began to investigate the various systems and country,

tics at

Rome.

of Astronomy.

after

preferred that of Pythagoras,

than twenty years' study,

of the Universe to the world. as being so heretical,

that

was then condemned

he was imprisoned by Pope

Urban VIII., and only released when he made a

tion of his opinions.

and,

he gave his scheme

recanta-

died in 1543, but his system

was followed by Galileo and other able men, and the introduction of the telescope greatly helped on the cause.

last,

1642, Isaac

Newton was bom, the son

John Newton, a gentleman of small independent means, at Colesworth, near Grantham, Lincolnshire. At Mr.

uncommon

genius,

and

due time went to Trinity College, Cambridge.

an early age he showed signs of

1669,

when only

27 years of age, he was chosen Professor

of Mathematics in the University there,

and

1687 he

published his " Principia," confirming and improving the

system of Copernicus,

somewhat

after

the manner in

which the cook in a boarding-school dishes up what the boys the

call

same

a " resurrection pie," the chief ingredient being as

scientifically

was previously, but with some spice

added

palate of the day.

tO'

suit

the taste of the more fastidious

This work brought him into great

repute as an astronomer, and afterwards led to his being

made Master

of the Mint and Knighted.

DIFFERENCES AMONG ASTRONOMERS.

As years rolled on so did Sir Isaac's fame, and, as Harry Hotspur bewitched the world with his horsemanship, so has this

much-lauded philosopher beguiled the

But error

multitude with his Astronomy.

and cannot

last for

have honestly examined to reject

it,

as being utterly

think for themselves.

unworthy of

Newton.

still,

day

his

belief,

and

when they begin

so,

sadder instance of the perver-

sion of splendid talents I do not Sir Isaac

error

have been compelled

his system,

many more may do

trust that

and many, who since

ever,

know than

spent a long

the case of

teaching a false

life in

system of Astronomy, unsupported by any fact in nature,

and

in direct contradiction to the plain statements of the

Bible, that priceless

but of as a

all

mine not only of

May

sound philosophy.

true religion,

all

example serve

his sad

warning to others.

Newton

Pythagoras, Copernicus, and Sir Isaac sidered the

many

Sun

years other Astronomers followed "

A change came

and they now say that the

world,

" Hercules,"

but

does move,

towards

system,

and

the

round

constellation

to be journeying

In proof of this most

had

alters the base

been honest,

they

on the discovery, have been

should,

dream,"

which wholly

which,

but

not, indeed,

a jwint in

though some imagine

serious change of opinion, their

suit,

o'er the spirit of the

towards Alcyone in the Pleiades.

con-

stationary, and, in that idea, for

once publicly

acknowledged, I beg to give the following extract from pp. 280, 281 of " Sun,

Giberne,

very

* Seeley

Moon, and

enthusiastic

Stars "*

by Miss Agnes

Astronomical

writer

Co., Limited, 38 Great Russell Street,

London.

TERRA FIRMA.

with

subjects,

&c.,

F.R.S.,

Preface

laudatory

M.A.,

Pritchard,

chap,

sec. 2.

Rev.

Professor

the

Savilian

i.,

Astronomy, in the University of Oxford. " is

The

rate of its (the Sun's) speed is not very certain, but

generally believed to be one hundred and

"When

the Sun's movements,

speak of

much

Possibly he moves in reality

miles each year.

little

boats.

From one

of the little boats

judge of the steamer's motion quite as well as the steamer

him

;

you could

you were on

drift of stars to

the right or left

and the watching can be as well accomplished from

earth as from the " After

Among

wake a

Astronomers can only judge of the Sun's

itself.

motion by watching the seeming

of course

as a great steamer in the sea might drag in her

number

faster.

must

move with him,

be understood that the earth and planets all

much

millions of

fifty

all,

this

Sun

himself.

mode

of judging is

the millions of stars visible

and must be very uncertain.

we only know

tance of ten or twelve, and every star has

which has

to be separated

its

own

the real dis. real

motion

from the apparent change of position

caused by the Sun's advance. " It seems

now

pretty clear that the Sun's course

towards a certain point in the Constellation Hercules.

directed If

the

Sun's path were straight he might be expected by and by, after

long ages, to enter that constellation. orbits of planets, are ellipses,

But,

will curve

orbits of suns, like

away sideways long

before he reaches Hercules."

Miss Giberne also remarks that a German Astronomer believes that the

Sun and the

stars in

The Milky Way

are travelling to Alcyone, the chief star in the Pleiades, but wisely adds " Much stronger proof will be required

before the idea can be accepted."

Now

let

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;How

seriously ask

can any thoughtful

DIFFERENCES AMONG ASTRONOMERS. man such

give the slightest credence to a system which holds

and contradictory hypotheses

absurd

Astronomers

tell

place in those

What

us to believe?

who

Modem

confidence can

deliberately reject, not only the direct

evidence of their senses, as shown by their talk about "

apparent motions," the reality of which they refuse to

admit, but also the plain testimony of the

and

have

turned

Scriptures,

unto vain jangling,

aside

desiring

to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what

they say, nor whereof they affirm "

Tim.

6, 7.

One

might almost as soon credit the godless aberrations of the Evolutionist,

who

derives

man from a monad,

after-

wards passing through various gradations, not one of

which has ever yet been discovered, and which are said occupy millions of years,

form of a

he obtains the hairy

till

and

chimpanzee,

then,

after

still

further

developments, comes to the state of a real man,

fitted^

become the honoured Oh how true is the President of the Royal Society. '" divine Word " The world by wisdom knows not God as the survival of the

fittest,

—

Cor.

21.

—

craftiness''

^and

again

the wise that they are

taketh

—

vab

He "

—

the

wise

their

owm

knoweth the thoughts' of / Cor, in. ig, 20.

SECTION

TESTIMONY OF SOME ABLE MEN AGAINST THE COPERNICAN THEORY. It is not surprising that able

men, who have studied

he subject of Modern Astronomy, have rejected with ontempt the theory of the Earth being a revolving

TERRA FIRMA.

Planet.

Let

names.

Tycho Brahe, the

who

mer,

chap,

i.,

sec.

a few instances from well-known

cite

distinguished Danish Astrono-

soon

flourished

after

Copernicus,

writes

follows "

The heavy mass

of earth, so

little fit

respect, could not be displaced in the

moved .a

ways

in three different

for

motion

in every

manner they propose, and

like the Celestial bodies, without

shock to the known principle of physics, even

they could set

;aside the express testimony of Scripture."

The his age,

great

of Astronomy, his "

Lord Bacon, the profoundest thinker

was completely opposed to the Copernican system

Novum

may be

seen in several passages of

Organum,'' from one of which

quote the

following " In like manner,

the motion inquired into be that other

let

Motion of Rotation, so celebrated among Astronomers,

and opposed

to the diiirnal motion, viz.,

which the old Astronomers attributed to the starry heavens, but

Earth ; and

let it

and

Copernicus and his followers to the

be not rather a theory fabricated and

for the convenience

and abbreviation of calculation,

to favour that beautiful project of explaining the heavenly

bodies by perfect circles.

may reason

like plain

men,

for

of Astronomers and the schools,

do violence

to the senses,

and

And most

certain

;

and we once caused

composed

is,

a while (dismissing the

whose fashion to prefer

it is

what

that this motion does appear to the senses as it

east,

and also

to the planets,

be asked whether any such motion be found in

Nature, or whether

assumed

resisting

from west to

to be represented

unreasonably

most obscure),

we have

by a

fictions

described

sort of

machine

of iron wire."*

* " Essays, Civil

and Moral, Advancement of Learning, Novum Organun," &c., Ward, Loclc, Bowden & Co., London.

p. 3Sii edition 189s,

TESTIMONIES AGAINST COPERNICANISM.

In his " Confession of Faith," Lord Bacon also says " I believe that

God

created the heavens and the earth, and

gave unto them constant and perpetual laws, which we '

Laws

of Nature,' but

call

which mean nothing but God's laws

Creation.''

The Rev. John Wesley,

in various parts of his Journal,

expresses his disbelief in the Copemican or Newtonian

theory of the Universe.

For brevity

quote only one

passage "

The more

Astronomy

;

consider them the more I doubt

all

systems of

doubt whether we can with certainty know either

the distances or the magnitude of any star in the firmament,

why do Astronomers

else

distance of the (three

immensely differ with regard to the

and others ninety millions

I shall just

Sun from the Earth? some

may be

affirming

be only

add the vigorous testimony of Gothe

man be found, who could suffer Newton,

boldly asked where can the

possessing the extraordinary

gifts of

himself to be deluded by such a hocus-pocus, first

of miles'."*

instance wilfully deceived himself?

he had not in the

Only those who know

the strength of self-deception, and the extent to which

some-

times trenches on dishonesty, are in a condition to explain the .conduct of

Newton and of Newton's school. To support his Newton heaps fiction upon fiction, seeking to

-unnatural theory

dazzle where he cannot convince." t

In a Scientific Lecture, delivered in 1878, at Berlin by Dr. Schcepper, proving that the Earth neither rotates nor revolves, he quoted the following still stronger protest of

Gothe against the delusions of Modern Astronomy. Works of Rev. John Wesley, vol ii., p. 39s! Mason, London, part Hi., p. 353. t " Proceedings of the Royal Institution," vol. iz.,

TERRA FIRMA.

" In whatever way or manner I

must

still

chap,

i.,

sec.

may have occurred this business,

say that I curse this modern theory of Cosmogony,

and hope that perchance there may appear, in due time, some

young

scientist of genius,

who

up courage enough

will pick

upset this universally disseminated delirium of lunatics." I could easily cite other

show

good authorities to

similar

but I think enough have been already given, to

effect,

that the absurdities of

Modem

Astronomy have not

been palmed upon the world without a strong protest from thoughtful minds, and

may prove

following pages

not

only

exposing

sincerely

useful to

the

trust

some honest

fallacies

this

that

the

thinkers,

chimerical

science, but in showing the true position of the world,

as proved

Word

facts

nature,

That Word

God.

and as unfolded

the

the only true exponent

which we possess for opening up to us the Wisdom and the

Power

God, as displayed

as well as in the

still

in the

works of nature,

higher revelation of His divine

purposes of grace, in bringing at

last

the whole creation

into complete harmony with Himself. It gives

1893, No. of "

real pleasure to subjoin,

The

from January,

,Earth (not a Globe) Review," the

following extract, written by the late Dr.

Woodhouse,

formerly Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge

"When we

consider what the advocates of the Earth's

stationary and central position can account for, and explain thfr celestial

phenomena

as accurately to their

own

thinking as

can ours, in addition to which they have the evidence of their SENSES and Scripture and facts in their favour, which not;

it is

superiority of their system.

appear

in.

we have

not without a show of reason that they maintain the

our

own

However

perfect our theory may-

estimation, and however simply

and

satis-

QUOTATIONS SHOWING ATHEISTICAL RESULTS. factorily the

Newtonian hypotheses may seem

ioi all the celestial

to us to account

phenomena, yet we are here compelled

admit the astounding truth,

our premises be disputed and

our facts challenged, the whole range of Astronomy does not contain one proof of

its

own

accuracy."

SECTION

QUOTATIONS SHOWING SOME OF THE ATHEISTICAL RESULTS OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.

How

sinful

and

unerring

Word

foolish

God

hypotheses of men! chapter

without

for any

is it

for the

unproved and unprovable

do not think

few

one to reject the

words

should close this

serious

but

loving

warning to professing Christians, in the hope that they at

least

may be

kept'

from

the

snares

Modem

Astronomy, Evolutionism, Spiritualism, Ritualism, Demagogism,

and

other

from the cancerous

evils

infidelity

the

which

day, is

arising

chiefly

eating out the very

heart of true religion, preparatory to the revelation of

"the

Man

of Sin, the

Son of Perdition, who. opposeth

and exalteth himself above is

all

this called God,., or that,

worshipped, so that he, as God, sitting in the temple

of God, showing himself that he is

God "

2 Thess.

ii.

3,4.

There are many ministers of the Gospel,, some, of, whom I personally know, who teach. things contrary to Bible truth, but I refrain from giving names, trusting that they is

being

may

yet repent.

leavened

with

Indeed the mass of society the

virus

dishonesty

and

TERRA FIRMA.

22 infidelity,

sec. 4.

old landmarks are being rapidly removed;

the very Deluge

only a veneer.

i.,

not only in this country, but throughout the

The

world.

chap,

Our

repudiated by many.

civilization

have been informed that there are

conventicles for the express worship of Satan both in

London and

Demonology and Witchcraft,

Paris.

Men

course under other names, are rampant.

think them-

duped on every hand. What may be applied to this corrupt and age " The whole head is sick and the is faint. From the sole of the foot even

selves very clever, but are

Isaiah said of Israel

vainglorious

whole heart

unto the head, there

no soundness

and bruises and putrifying sores

show that

it,

Isa.

but wounds

using no exaggerated language,

beg

quote a few specimens out of the many which might be given.

The common notion had been

heaven a

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

^the

little

way above

wicked dead,

not

all

the dead

These were ancient ideas, and the Bible

that the Earth

was

flat,

and

the clouds, and the place of the dead

one proof that the Bible

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;somewhere underneath.

fact that

find

them

in the

an ancient book."

"Severend" of Cardiff.

" If Moses can be shown to be caught redhanded, in ignorance

and error; what referred to

him

shall

think of the Christ

who quoted and

an authority?" Present

" If

shall turn out that

Day

Atheist.

Joshua was superior to La Place,

Moses knew more about geology than Humboldt, that Job as a scientist was superior to Kepler, that Isaiah knew more than

that

Copernicus, then

I will

admit that

infidelity

must become speech-

less for ever."

IngersolPs Tilt with Talmage.

QUOTATIONS SHOWING ATHEISTICAL RESULTS.

"We

date from the First of January, 1601.

Man

the Era of

M.) to distinguish

(E.

epoch that preceded to be

This era

its

;

below was the kingdom of the dead,

Then came

the Bible.

called

attendant light, revolving about

Above was Heaven, where God ruled supreme over and powers

from the theological

In that epoch the Earth was supposed

it.

the Sun was

flat,

the new Astronomy.

it.

all

potentates

hell.

So taught

demonstrated

that the Earth is a globe revolving about the Sun, that there is

up and down

vanished the old Hell

And when Church, as

the

;

Vanished

space.

Heaven,

old

the

home

the Earth became the

man.

modern Cosmogony came, the Bible and the

infallible oracles,

had

to go, for they

had taught that

regarding the universe which was shown to be untrue in every particular." Lucifer, Dec. z^rd, E.

"We

on the eve

are trembling

revolutionize the

whole thought

universal opinion of scientific

z8f ( i88f).

of a discovery, of the

men

that the Planet

inhabited by beings like or superior to ourselves.

have discovered canals cut in

which can only be the work

some

snowfields,

and

its

whether sentient beings this

pieces. wife's

face in geometrical form,

only requires a telescope, a

exist in that planet.

They have little

stronger

mystery as to

to reveal the If it

be found that

the case, the whole Christian religion will crumble to

The tale.

story of the Creation has already

Hell

become an old

never mentioned in any well-informed

society of clergymen, the Devil has is

Mars

Already they

of reasoning creatures.

than those already in existence,

which may

The almost

world.

become a myth.

inhabited the irresistible deduction will be that

planets are inhabited.

all

Mars

the other

This will put an end to the fable

-prompted by the vanity of humanity, that the Son of God came

on earth and suffered of

monkeys.

It is

for creatures

who

are the lineal descendants

not to be supposed that the

Hebrew carpenter

TERRA FIRMA.

chap.

I.,

went about as a kind of theosophical missionaiy to

sec. 4.

all

the

planets of the Solar system re-incarnate, and suffered for sins of

various pigmies or giants as the case

may be who may

The Astronomers would do well

there.

to us the magnificent secret

make

dwell

haste to reveal

which the world impatiently awaits."

Reynolds' Newspaper, 14th August, i8gs.

" There are always enough faddists in this world to afford an

Have we not the

unfailing source of amusement.

and the

The

Zetetic Society?

covered that the earth

it.

Theosophists,

body claim

to have dis-

a motionless and circular plane, over

which the sun and moon and above

latter

moderate distances

stars revolve at

would be unnecessary

to take notice of this pre-

posterous theory except to lament that any person of intelligence

upon so gross an absurdity.

should waste his time capability of the stration

may be

from the Bible.

members

when

guessed,

Now

of .this Society for scientific

The demon,

say that they take their science

the Old Testament

elementary scientific inaccuracies.

Modern

most

full of the

science has proved

over and over again that the writers of the Old Testament knew

nothing about the physical condition of the earth, and certainly nothing of heaven, which indeed

not mentioned."

Reynolds' Newsfafer, i^th

" To speak in plain terms, as far as Science

IDEA OF A PRESENT

late

1896.

concerned,

INCONCEIVABLE, as are also

all

the the

which religion recognizes in such a being."

attributes

The

GoD

May,

Mr. R. A.

Proctor, in "

Our Place

in the Infinities," f. 3.

"While, however, the idea of Government by a God

not

excluded by general consent from the dominion of science, the notion of Government by

Law

has taken

popular thought, but in the minds of to lead

it,

and

it is

its

place, not only in

many who claim

the validity of this which

the right

have now to

call

QUOTATIONS SHOWING ATHEISTICAL RESULTS. in question.

Philosophy finding no God in Nature, nor

SEEING THE NEED OF ANY.

"The advanced Philosophy iarther, asserting that Professor

Even

there

of the piesent times goes

B. Carpenter, in "Modern Review^' for October, 1880.

Churches onoe reputed

false science

for their orthodoxy,

has had a most withering

Thus the

effect.

Moderator of The Free Church of Scotland

last

still

no room for God in Nature."

lately

said

"The

remains that a

fact

in regard to religious truth

restless, is

uneasy, uncertain feeling

abroad.

The whole

trouble

has arisen from the mistaken assumption that the opening chapter of Genesis was meant to be an authoritative account of the method and order of creative work;

not prose, but

poetry, the great Creation Hymn.''

Professor

the

" Studies of Theology "

Even the myth

represented.

—

is,

same Church remarks

which the beginnings

The plain

truth

we do not know the beginnings we do not know them

the dark,

till

his

human

life

are

— and we have no reason to hide

history, of his sin;

cal evidence, and

"—

we should be content

science throws what light

of man's

to let

of his

life,

historically

histori-

them remain in

can upon them."

Quotations such as the above require

no'

comment,

as they speak for themselves, and show to what a debased state

brought,

infidelity

teaching of

God,

Modem

have

persons

ii.

broken 12.

Astronomy.

cisterns,

been

already

a great measure to the

They have

" the fountain of living waters,

cisterns,

Jer.

many

attributable

that

false

forsaken

and have hewn out

can hold no water"

Gutta cavat lapidem non vi $ed spepe cadendo.

TERRA FIRMA.

How

true

this saying

which

chap,

i.,

sec. 4,

learned sixty-seven years

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a drop hollows a stone

ago at the Edinboirgh Academy not by force but by often to

Modem

falling.

Astronomy.

is it

with regard

Children are taught in their

geography books, when too young to apprehend aright the meaning of such things, that the world

continuously, year by year,

till

a great

globe revolving around the Sun, and the story

repeated

they reach maturity, at

which time they generally become so absorbed

in other

matters as to be indifferent as to whether the teaching

be true or not, and, as they hear of nobody contradicting it,

they presume that

must be the correct

not to believe at least to receive

thus tacitly give their assent to a theory which, first

been presented to them

thing,

fact.

what are called

had

if it

" years of

they would at once have rejected.

discretion,"

They

This

astronomic method of instilling error into young minds, recalls

my remembrance

Pope's apt lines resj>ecting

vice

"Vice

a monster of such hideous mien,

be hated needs but to be seen

But, grown at length familiar with

first

its face.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;then pityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;then embrace."

abhor

The consequences

of evil-teaching, whether in religion

or in science, are far

disastrous than

generally

supposed, especially in a luxurious laisser faire age like our

own.

conscience

shown

The

intellect

seared,

the results

becomes weakened and the

has,

alas

only

too

sadly

been

developed by Modern Astronomy

and Sacerdotal Ritualism.

These delusions are paving

the way for the full-blown infidelity of the last days,

when

the great nations of the Earth will be gathered against

QUOTATIONS SHOWING ATHEISTICAL RESULTS. Jehovah and His Anodnted

Psa.

it.

—and

will

swept away, "like chaff of the summer threshing-floor"

—Dan. and

it.

Clearly the Rev.

3$.

esteemed

minister

indignant at the

wroite his " Vindication of the

150 years ago.

"Are

saw

when,

this,

Copemican Astronomy, he

falsities

John Dove, a learned

Glasgow,

Divine Cosmogony,'' about

remarked as follows

faithfully

there any abettors of this heathen philosophy (the

Copemican)

among us?

still

Yes, ten thousand

among our Church

the unlearned, but

scholars and teachers

;

not only

among

dignitaries, our classical

All on account of their ignorance and

unbelief.

" What will be the end of these things

but

no conjurer,

easy to determine what will be from what has already

it is

taken place.

has been the fate of

all

kingdoms, nations, and

people from the beginning of time, upon their rejecting or perverting the revelation of God, to fall into anarchy, confusion,

and

infidelity.

The

Bible

The

of our liberty.

is,

deserves to be, the great charter

loss of the Scriptures, or severing

from or

perverting the doctrines or history contained in them, has invari-

ably been attended with discomfiture and ruin, and always will

And

their successors continue their resistance, as they

done hitherto, destroying

cannot

and turning

Modem

into a field of blood."

object in writing this book

in these dangerous times,

have

deluge the kingdom with Atheism,

fail to

all social virtue,

It is

tO'

warn people

and to expose the absurdities

made

apparent,

" surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of

any bird "

—Pro. many

Astronomy,

17.

entangled in

for,

afraid

these are

it is

more than probable that

Readers may have already been more or its

less

meshes, but I earnestly hope that now,

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

i.,

sec. 4.

by thinldng for themselves, they may make a resolute effort to

Our

soul

fowler;

free, so that

the

Fsa. cxxiv.

they

may be

enabled to say

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

escaped as a bird out of the snare of the snare

broken and we are escaped"

CHAPTER

II.

THE ADAMIC CREATION. *

SECTION 1.

PAGE

The days of Creation not long

periods of

...-...-

time, but six natural days of 24 hours

EACH 2. 3.

Not TWO races of Adamites

Primeval Fauna and the Ages

Chipped Flints

The supposed Glacial Period

....

discrepancy exists regarding the Adamic Creation in the accounts given in Genesis I. and II.

STRONG

Geologists,

the

effort

-------55

has been

Adamic Creation

Adamite Man,"* propounding

made by some Astronomers,

and others to transform the

periods of time.

Refutation of the theory of two different Authors of Genesis, from the distinguishing words Elohim and JehovahElohim

...

31 -

The

into

late Mrs.

has, perhaps, this

six

theory,

six natural

days

long and indefinite

Duncan,

in her " Pre-

been the most successful and

although

she

apparently written in a reverent manner, she has, to

has

mind, permitted imagination to usurp the place of truth.

Being an Astronomer of the *

James Nisbst

& Co.,

Modem

School, she believed

Ltd., 2Z Berners Street,

London.

TERRA FIRMA.

30 in a Planetary Earth,

chap. u.

and has thereby got into

inextricable

confusion, by supposing the Earth to have turned on

from the beginning, and to have revolved around the Sun before, according to God's Word, there was any Sun to revolve around, as that luminary was not

axis

formed

until the

Fourth day of creation.

The word " Adam " is usually said to be derived from the Hebrew word dam, red, because Adam was made from the dust of the ground, but Mrs. Duncan with, in my opinion, much more propriety, takes it from the root dem, likeness, because God said " Let us make man in our image, ke-demut-nu, after

similar expression respecting

who monkey, and who are

errant

the

day or period,

Gen.

26.

at least five other

on purpose to confute those pedigree through

guilty of very great sin in thus

Word

Duncan imagined her

Mrs.

having been formed

trace man's

Evolutionists

daring to travesty the infallible

sixth

man

found in

in this glorious likeness is

passages of Scripture,* as

our likeness

God.

Prei-Adamites,

the

be a genus of Men-Angels

(superior in every respect to us Adamites),

who

lived in

great peace and felicity on the Earth until nearly the close

of the

seventh or Sabbatic age, when, in con-

sequence of some

terrific

they were brought

rebellion,

Then

to irretrievable ruin.

followed the catastrophe of

made

the supposed Glacial Period, which

completely desolated wilderness of the

eighth

day or period,

Adamites was created. leading, I think

the points *

named Gen.

V. I

;

our

As such

ice,

own

the Earth a

after which,

race

inferior

ideas

are most mis-

well to offer a few observations

in the heading of this Chapter. ix.

;

Cor.

zi.

;

Col.

ill.

;

Jam.

lil.

DAYS OF CREATION EACH OF

HOURS ONLY.

In order to make the meaning of certain words clearer to the general reader,

them from the

know

scholarship, but I

and of Greek,

make no

pretensions

quite enough both of

to enable

of which I have a

be necessary to explain

will

original.

Hebrew

to consult the best Lexicons,

my Readers may

good supply, so that

be assured that I shall give the true sense of the words I prefer reading

referred to in these languages.

Hebrew

without points, as these form no part of the original of that concise but most expressive tongue.

Hebrew

letters are

read from right to

In the original, left,

English reader they are printed here from so as to be in keeping with the

mode

SECTION

but for the left to right,

of reading English.

THE DAYS OF CREATION NOT LONG PERIODS OF TIME, BUT SIX NATURAL DAYS OF 24 HOURS EACH. The

last

clause

the

Hebrew

cannot be better translated than

text is

Gen.

our Revised

Version vg-yehe

"and

ve-jehe

oreb

there was

evening

beger

yum

ehhed

and there was morning day one";

the day being thus bounded by an evening and a morningj including, of course, the intervening hours between these times,

proves that

could only have been a natural

day of twenty-four hours duration;

and

this

limit

repeated in every one of the six days of the Adamic Creation.

Besides,

know

that

the

Seventh

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

Sabbath Day, in which

God

rested

consisted

hours

only,

of twenty-four

ii.,

sec.

from His warks, as

shown by the

following passage, proclaimed on the giving of the

Law

at Sinai

Remember

the Sabbath

shalt thou labour is

and do

all

Day

to keep

Six days

holy.

thy work, but the Seventh

Sabbath unto Jehovah thy God.

Day

thou shalt not do

any work, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger

Jehovah made

that is within thy gates, for in six days

heavens and the earth, the sea and

all that

within them

the is,

and rested the Seventh Day; wherefore Jehovah blessed the Seventh Day and hallowed

Now we know rather of Israel, Israel,

that

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;rSxod. xx. 8

the

//.

Sabbath of the Jews, or

the Jews form only a portion of

commenced

sunset of Friday and

ended

sunset of Saturday, a period of twenty-four hours, and that

Sabbath,

shown,

has been

is,

regards

Adamic Creation, it follows, things that are equal to the same thing being equal to one another, that the Sabbath of the Adamic duration, identified with that of the

Creation

consisted

hours

of twenty-four

each of the six days of Creation

also,

and,

evidently of the same

length as that of the Sabbath, each being bounded by

an evening and a morning, we are

Scripturally, as well

as logically led to the conclusion, that each of the six

days of the Adamic Creation consisted of twenty-four

hours only.

Another important that

God

fact

useful

notice also,

created the substance of the Heavens and the

substance of the Earth before the ,

commencement

DAYS OF CREATION EACH OF the

Adamic

The word

Creation.

33-

hera, to create, refers

had no previous

to a creation which

HOURS ONLY.

existence, asah

being

generally used to express a re-formation, and proves the utter

the word, eternal.

Of'

echei zoen en heauto

—John

26,

—

life are,

God The

only

in the strict sense of can:

be said

Father hath

self -existence,

i.e.,

Our immortality

tality.

Bera shows that

the Evolution myth.

falsity

neither matter nor created

life

ho Pater

in Himself

inherent immor-

only derived;

a gift,

bestowed upon believers through our Lord Jesus Christ,

who

says

—

John xiv. Verse

Because

Bera

ig.

live

also "

live

shall

only used thrice in Genesis

declare the creation of the Heavens and

the Earth.

To express the introduction of life. To denote the creation of the first

Verse 21, Verse 27,

Adam

In Genesis

read,

Be-yashit

bera

" In the beginning

created

When

the

Alehim God

he-shemihr

at the substance of

ve-at

he-arets

and the substance of

the earth."

because

This

verse of Genesis stands by

itself alone,

and

a creation long anterior to that which followed.

The word order, so

of knowing,

has not been revealed.

first

refers to

the heavens

beginning of Creation actually commenced

no human being knows, nor has any means

man,,

thus proving that there was no' Pre-Adamite man..

;

bera implies creation in the completeness of

we may

some great

justly conclude that,

in consequence

catastrophe, of the cause of which

are

not informed, but which might possibly be the introduc3

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

was broken

tion of sin through Lucifer, this first creation

we read

up, for, in the second verse,

hiUh

ve-he-ai-eis

and

without form

jBy giving the true force to the •of

vehhu

tehu

became

and the earth

word

tehu

and

so,

without

Word

of God,

this is corroborated

the Divine Record, where

passage in

"For thus

Jehovah

saith

created

This

Gen.

less

not without form " (tehu)

the very word that

The

it is

by another

written

that created the heavens.

God, that formed the earth and made

see that the

ve-behu,

jform and void, but that, according to the

had become

void.

became instead

hitch,

was, as rendered by our Translators,

•world was not originally created

u., sec. i.

it;

—Isa. xlv.

used for that expression in it

doubt-

appeared at the time of the Adamic Creation,

referred to

owanoi

e^an

the heavens

were

hoit

hudatos

kai

of water,

and

di'

kai

of old

and

the earth

out

hudatos

tau

Them

the

Word

ekfialai

sunesiosa

by means of water

This condition of things the

strata

compacted together

logo.

God."—2

will,

Pet.

iii. 5.

think, account for the

which have so long puzzled

and it goes to prove that the not a Planet but a " Terra Firma," " founded

Geologists and others,

Earth

by the Apostle Peter as follows

" That

formation

is it,

i8.

wrecked world, as

state of the

established

upon the

seas

Fsa. xxiv. 2.

and

established

upon

the

floods "

DAYS OF CREATION EACH OF The

God

Psalmist, speaking of

HOURS ONLY.

His creative works,

beautifully sings " Who laid the foundations of the earth.

That

should not be moved for ever,

Thou

coveredst

with the deep as with a vesture

The waters stood above At Thy rebuke they

At the

voice of

the mountains.

fled.

Thy thunder

they parted away

They went up by the mountains.

They went down by the

valleys.

Unto the place which Thou hast founded

for them."

Psa. I

-civ.

Modem

would mention here a custom, which our

Astronomers have, of calling the dry land and the waters of the seas collectively under the

one term

'Earth,

when

they refer to their supposed revolution round the Sun. It looks

very

like,

they attempted by this

artifice,

to hide the monstrosity of the idea that the waters which, at the very least,

occupy thrice the extent of the land,

round the Sun, without

are carried millions of miles

being emptied into the

tended

law

distinctly

notwithstanding their pre-

The

Gravitation.

mark

air,

Scriptures

the difference between these

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

of Creation, thus

God

most

two divisions

said Let the waters under the

heavens be gathered together into one place, and the dry land appear;

and

And God

was sa

let

called

the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the

waters called

Seas "

The word "day" meanings, and

where

its

occurs,

Gen. in

g, 10.

Scripture

has

a variety

particular interpretation, in each passage

must be gathered from the

Thus, to give a few

illustrations^

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;"For,

in the

context.

day that

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die"

sec.

ii.,

Gen.

ii.

17,

which threat received its fulfilment on the very day in which Adam sinned, for he then began to die, this expression being in exact accordance with the Hebrew, moot tamut, " dying thou shalt die." " One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day " 2 Pet. Hi. 8.

This, I think, foreshadows the continuance of this

world in

years

present state for six thousand years from

its

creation,

after

which

be ushered Sabbath

Millennial

the

will

its

the thousand

referred

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Rev. XX. 2

Sometimes the number of a

number

day

represents the

of a " year," thus

"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities,

even forty years, and ye shall know

promise "

Num.

"As Jonas was

This being

that

in the heart of the earth "

passage

refers,

expressive

continued

the

Sheol

Lord

our

breach of

three days and three nights in the belly of

the great sea-monster, so shall the Son of

and three nights

xiv. 34.

after

was

His

crucified

be three days

Matt.

course,

actual

Man to

xii. 40.

that

the

Christ

The

crucifixion.

days,

literal

time

Friday,

idea,

and

thus only remained a part of three days and three nights in Sheol,

opinion, opposed both to Scripture

criticism.

See the undermentioned pamphlets

is,

and sound

on that subject.* * "

Good Thursday, not Good Friday," by Rev. James Gall Gall & ;

90 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh,

"The Good

New Zealand

;

Inglis,

and 25 Paternoster Square, London. Friday Problem," by D. Nield, 7 Angus Avenue, Wellington, Brown & Co., Woodend, East Flnchley, London.

NOT TWO RACES OF ADAMITES. The Reader

he pleases can find scores of

tions relative to the specific

meaning

of the

illustra-

term

day

by reference to Cruden's Concordance under that word.

As a good

illustration as to the

beg to

of Creation, I

refer

work

of the six days "

Readers to

and Answers in the Bible and Nature," by

Lady

They

Blount.

Questions

another work by her Ladyship, called " Adrian

—

friend

be found in an Appendix to

will

Galileo,''

—

and 59 68, there are aJsoi some excellent observations on the Earth being a Plane and

in which, pp. 50

52,

not a Planet.*

There need,

be no doubt resj)ecting the Days of the Adamic Creation,

therefore,

exact length of the Six for

God

less

than

six

times in the First Chapter of Genesis

—

has called them

each to the Natural further.

—^morning," which

limits

hours;

and,

Evening

Day

of twenty-four

corroborates the fact, by reference to the

Seventh Day,

Exod. XX.

10,

the Sabbath of Jehovah thy

which we know consisted, and

still

God

consists

of twenty-four hours only.

SECTION

NOT TWO RACES OF ADAMITES. The

Bible never hints at two races of Adamites, but

speaks only of one, that from which

through

our progenitor Adam.

are descended,

There has never yet

* Since the above was written Lady Blount has become Kditress of a small but good Monthly Magazine called " The Earth," to which I beg to any reader who may be interested in the form of " the world we live Lady Blount's address is 63 Merton Road, Wimbledon.

refer in."

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

sec.

ii.,

been found the smallest vestige of a Pre-Adamite man, or of anything which he tnight be supposed to have left behind, in any fossil, rock, cave, or excavation in any part of the whole world.

Like the Evolutionists'

undiscovered "missing link" to connect our

men

own

still

race of

with the monad, tadpole, or monkey, the remains of

have never yet been found, and the

man

Pre-Adamite

myth may be

solution of the

safely left to the time of the

Greek Calends. Angels are an entirely different order of beings from men, and, in the Old Testament, are called Bent Elohim, "

Sons of God,"

vrhcy,

of the Earth were

The Poet may imagine " Angels are

and,

are told,

when the foundations

shouted for joy "

laid, "

Job xxxviii.

that

men

in lighter garments clad,"

under certain particular circumstances, they have

been mistaken for men, but,

in Scripture, the distinction

between them and ourselves has always been

essential,

when redeemed men are raised from the dead, or changed at the Coming of our Lord, that they are said to be made isangeloi, equal to the angels in the respect that " they shall die no more " and must so continue.

But

Luke XX. 36.

It is only

are, yet

without

as our

believe that,

Christ took our nature, and was in

all

Lord Jesus

points tempted as

we, through our special union

sin,

with Him, shall form a distinct order for ever.

government

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;each

Regal, not Republican

rank, not one dead level. sun,

There

own

one glory of the

and another glory of the moon, and another glory

of the stars, for one star differeth

glory

God's

in his

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;so

1 Cor. XV.

also 4.1,

42.

the

from another

resurrection

the

star in

dead

NOT TWO RACES OF ADAMITES.

Angels take an intense interest in man's redemption, as

find

their

the Old and in the

many

New

appearances, related both in

Testaments, especially in con-

They

nection with our Lord.

desire to look into the

things pertaining to the Gospel salvation

Vet.

12,

doubtless believing that, as our blessed Lord " gave

Him-

a ransom (Jiuper panton) for all, the testimony to be

self

borne in

fitting

when

last arrive,

when with

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

times " their

/ Tim.

it.

own formerly

the period will at

lapsed companions,

repentant, will be restored, and, in holy adoration, all

Name

other created beings bow, not

God being All 20^28 ; Rev. v. 13.

I Cor. XV.

at,

in All

of Jesus,

but in

Vhil.

(en)

ii.

the

But, putting altogether aside the idea of Pre-Adamite

not impossible that, before the commencement Adamic Creation, he who is called " the Anointed Cherub that covereth " Esek. xxviii. 14, may have held

MAN,

it is

of the

the sovereignty of the pristine world with millions of angels under pride,

him; but he

example.

was cast out of

his principality,

adhering legions with him, while those fealty

to God were doubtless removed

habitation.

The world might

which would eventually form the

do not sfwak

we have no

at all positively

direct revelation

who to

his evil

and his

kept their

some other

then have been destroyed

by the complete dissolution of I

God through

rebelled against

and induced a vast multitude to follow

its

component

strata in the Great

parts,

Deep.

on these matters, because on the subject, but there

are certain hints, given here and there in the Scriptures,

from which, perhaps, we might be led to Satan may have been Lord Paramount of its

original creation.

infer

this

that

world in

This might account for the cease-

TERRA FIRMA.

4°

chap,

sec. 2.

ii.,

enmity which be has shown against the inhabitants

less

new world from the days of Adam until now, especially against the Lord Jesus Christ, who,

of this

and more

in the intensity of His matchless love, gave Himself as

a Sacrifice for the world "

Satan as "

30;

xiv.

—even

John

the

of this world "

John

"—2

of this world

Cor. air,

iv.

the

and

spirit

worketh in the children of disobedience

Eph.

only alas

ii.

all

only

temporal,

for

our

gracious

through His own voluntary death upon the " to bring

that

Devil>

and might deliver

through fear of death were

bondage

cross,

But Lord,

came

nought him that had the power of death

tO'

the

is,

his

our woe,"

so that, in this sense, he had the power of death. is

The now

too successfully

" Brought death into this world and

death

;

man

Lordship of this world, and, by

his successor in the

that

Doubtless he would have a special antipathy to

lies,

xii.

II, and the Apostle Paul termed him^

xvi.

Prince of the power of the

glozing

life

Thrice our Lord speaks of

51.

vi.

The Prince

The God

" for

redemption

ouar

Heb.

ii.

14,

all

them,

who

their lifetime subject to

Blessed, indeed, are they

15.

who

believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,

and

that

Name

believing

they

may have

through His

life

John xx. ji.

Mrs. Duncan's supposition that there were two Adamic creations will stand the test neither of Scripture nor of

honest criticism.

She says

" In (Genesis, A.V.), Chapter the

fifth

day God '

moving creature

verses 20, 21,

we read that on

said, Let the waters bring forth

abundantly the

that hath

life,

I.,

and fowl that may

fly

above the

NOT TWO RACES OF ADAMITES. earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God

created great

whales and every living creature that moveth which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and winged fowl

and the evening and the morning were the

after his kind, day.'

But, in Chapter

account,

And

beast of the

unto

Adam

verses 18, 19,

II.,

out of the ground the

field,

to see

and every fowl of

what he would

called every living creature that

The

translators

we have

fifth

the following

Lord God formed every

the air,

call

and brought them

them, and what

Adam

was the name thereof."*

our Authorised Version of the

Hebrew of Gen. i. 20, when they said that the waters brought forth the fowl, and Mrs. Duncan herself confesses that other translators have rendered the Hebrew of that verse so as not Bible gave a Mw-rendering of the

necessarily to imply

more than that the fowl were created

on the same day

been more

and not have sought to build a matter

careful,

the fishes,t but she should have

of such vast importance as two

Adamic Creations on

the

mere conjecture that the fowl were brought forth out of

And

the water instead of the ground.

worthy of blame for of

Hebrew

this, as,

Edinburgh,

Scotland, " at the lug

she was the more

being the wife of a Professor she

was,

the law," that

said

in a position

is,

where she could obtain the best information on the It

subject.

clear

Gen.

on i.

so happens that the Hebrew text

the matter,

20 and Gen.

quite

and makes no discrepancy between ii.

ig.

Thus, Gen.

20 should be

translated as follows yeshreisu

he-mim

slierets

nepesh

hheyeh

Let bring forth

the waters

the moving creature

the soul

living

* "

Pre-Adamlte Man," pp.

t Ditto, p.

2 (4th Edition),

TERRA FIRMA.

The

ve-oup

youpep

he-arets

and fowl

let fly

above

the earth

late

ii.,

sbc. 2.

ol-ptm on the face of

yeqio

he-shemim

the firmament of

the heavens.

Robert Young, in

Dr.

chap,

loco,

a similar

gives

rendering, and so does the Revised Version of the Bible

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving

creature that hath

life,

and

let

fowl

fly

above the earth

in the firmament of heaven." It is astonishing what light may be thrown on obscure, and even app>arently discrepant passages of Scripture, by consulting the original. That truly would be the

Higher Criticism, and well worthy of

respect,

instead of distorting the Bible with imaginary

would honestly seek to explain

by elucidating the

The Word

of God,

His works of Creation, can bear the

strictest

text

and context from the

all

scrutiny, and, the will

it,

which,

difficulties,

the accuracy of

closely

its

meaning be observed.* Version have

original.

it is

diction,

The

examined, the more

and the depth of

its

translators of the Revised

made some good emendations,

but, in their

desire not to offend the so-called Orthodoxy of the day,

they have not always gone to the root of the matter, especially

their

to the future.

rendering of certain words relative friend,

Mr. Joseph Bryant Rotherham,

The Emphasised New Testament," is now engaged in making a new translation of the Old Testament, which I sincerely trust may, when published, be found to Author of

be more

literal

and correct than any hitherto undertaken.

* I know of no book where this fact is so clearly and so fully illustrated, as in the Rev. Dr. Bulllnger's magnificent work, " Figures of Speech, used In the Bible" it is a veritable mine of Scriptural research and learning. It may be obtained from Dr. BuUinger, 25 Connaught Street, London. ;

REFUTATION OF TWO AUTHORS OF GENESIS.

SECTION

REFUTATION OF THE THEORY OF TWO DIFFERENT AUTHORS OF GENESIS, FROM THE USE OF THE DISTINGUISHING WORDS ELOHIM AND

JEHOVAH-ELOHIM. Some

critics

authorship

used for

God

bring forward an argument for a dual

from

Genesis,

in the

term

Elohim being

Chapter, and the words Jehovah-

first

Elohim subsequently.

the

They

call

the one the Elohistic

and the other the Jehovistic account of Creation, and

this they

in hopes of setting aside the authority of

Moses, by thus trying to show that not he, but Uuo other

unknown

The

historians

were the writers of Genesis.

Bible, in the original is

most precise

Tasa graphs Theofneustos,

of proper terms.

ture is God-inspired " or " God-breathed " "

Thy word

true from the beginning

named words

and, instead of the above signs of

TWO

diflferent historians,

in its use " all Scrip-

2 Tim.

Hi. 16.

Psa. cxix. 160, exhibiting any

Moses, by the inspiration

of God, is found to be the sole Author of Genesis.

the

first

Chapter

God

reveals Himself

by the plural noun

Elohim, expressive of His being the Almighty

God

Creation and Judgment, and, in the following as Jehovah-

Elohim,

the

self-existing

creature

Adam.

subject,

For a

beg to

refer

God,

full

covenant with

His

exposition of this interesting

Readers to the able work

TERRA FIRMA.

mentioned below, by

Denniston, M.A.*

chap,

we must remember

that

friend,

late

says, p.

sec. 3.

ii.,

the

Rev.

" F6r appreciating the two names

Elohim

an ordinary, wide-spread word for Deity; while

Jehovah

a special divinely-given word with a meaning which,

was

after a time,

fully

opened up, and a

nected with the Covenant as

we may

from the very

infer that

significance

and value of

own."

which

—

First

the

that I

name had a

—

Hence certain

periphrase

^the

name "Alpha and Omega "-^the means that God is in Covenant with

the great

and the Last,

His people, as

when

distinct history con-

made with Shem.

first

its

Yaveh, or Jehovah of

first

will

be seen from the following passage,

was on the point of being delivered from

Israel

the bondage of Egypt "

And God spake unto Moses and

Jehovah

and

unto Jacob as not

known

him

said unto

—I

appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and

God Almighty, but by My name Jehovah I was And I have also established My Covenant

to them.

with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojourning, wherein they sojourned.

And moreover

have

whom the Egyptians remembered My Covenant. of Israel— I am Jehovah "

heard the groaning of the children of Israel keep

bondage,

and

have

Wherefore say unto the children Exod.

vi.

The

—

critics

do not agree among themselves, so that

their testimony is not reliable,

confusion.

They

and only genders

strife

and

are not even consistent in their folly;

**'Elohlm and Jehovah, or the Employment of the divine names from Genesis 1, to Exodus vi."; Morgan & Scott, 12 Paternoster Buildings, London.

REFUTATION OF TWO AUTHORS OF GENESIS. for example, while they

make Elohim and Jehovah-Elohim

the ground for two different authorships in Genesis, they pass over in silence other parts of Scripture, especially

where the

in Job,

words,

distinction, in the use of these

more marked.

still

Thus, in the

chapters of that wonderful book

and in the

again

last five it is

God, while in the

two two

first

Jehovah only

used,

prominent word for

the:

thirty-five intermediate chapters,

one exception, the word Elohim

used.

with

the dis-

cerning Christiaii the reason for thus using these two

names

Job's

trust

plain

;

in the

first

unshaken, while, in the

he was troubled with of

God

two and the Covenant

Jehovah's

his grievous trial,

Almighty

these learned critics, while they

was

faithfulness

intervening chapters,

thirty-five

the Elohim,

last five chapters,

make

and thought only power.

Further,

use of these words

Elohim, and JEHOVAH-Elohim as the ground for assigning two different authors to Genesis, saying that

no book

stultify

the Bible

themselves by

the

clearly

work of one author than Job, where these words are more forcibly distinguished than in Genesis.

The

reason

why

these so-called Higher-Critics

such a fierce attack on Genesis appears as

that is the beginning of the

that,

can

attempt wavelets vain

throw discredit

useless;

against

do they

the

in vain

all

its

the

make

be because, they think

authority,

rest.

do they dash

But

try to erase the

Book

name

they their

their frothy

impregnable Rock of Truth.

authorship of that First facts

Scriptures,

they can raise doubts as to

thus

tO'

far

Moses from the

of the Pentateuch, for the

which he unfolded undeniably remain, and his

authority has been endorsed by our Lord Himself over

TERRA FIRMA.

and

over

again

2Q—ji

Luke xvi.

John

;

3—g — 45

xix.

Mar.

;

u., sec. 3.

—p/

Let these

47.

among themselves

agree

first

Matt.

chap,

before

they

Critics

venture

shoot another arrow

"But no

clearer proof could be given of the truth of our

contention as to the disagreement

among

the

with

Critics

regard to the various theories and opinions than the fact that,

during the space of forty-seven years up to i8gi, the 'Critics'

had propounded no different theories

less

than seven hundred and forty-seven

How many

propounded by the

theories

'Critics' since 1891

above given number

(747)

may have

we know

been

not, but the

were found and tabulated and pub-

lished by the late T. M. Marshall, D.D., LL.D., in the year 1891."*

I think,

suitable

name

for these

Higher

Critics would,

be Hyper-Critics, for their criticism

very far from being high, but

proper criticism,

just

evidently

goes " over " or " beyond

the

Hyper-Calvinist,

dogmatic assertions, out-Herods Calvin himself. like

criticism,

hamartia,

me,

sceptics,

the

sin, is "

the

literal

of the foolish

his

Their

meaning of the Greek word

a missing of the mark."

assistance

They remind

which they so freely

young lady who,

oflfer

in her frantic

desire to help her lover in climbing the steep, " Flung to

him down her long black

Exclaiming wildly

—

and we need not be surprised, therefore,

and

critics

ignominiously

fall

hair.

There, love, there ' " if

both sceptics

below.

" The Higher Critics and their mistakes," by P. Brothers, Keswick House, Paternoster Row, London.

R. H.

;

Marshall

NO DISCREPANCY REGARDING MAN'S CREATION.

SECTION

NO DISCREPANCY EXISTS REGARDING THE ADAMIC CREATION IN THE ACCOUNTS GIVEN IN GENESIS I. AND II. There

discrepancy,

real

Duncan

Mrs.

supposes,* in the account of the creation

man

and Genesis

ii.

recorded in Genesis the

—31

he was created

states that

first briefly

his

formation,

result of

just

image

in the

and likeness of God, and the second gives the

—25/

details of

might mention the

historian

an important event in one chapter of his book,

and narrate the

particulars respecting

in another.

was doubtless considered unnecessary to repeat in the

Second Chapter what had already been mentioned a few verses before in the First, of in the

man

having been created

image and likeness of God, but to give a circum-

stantial

account of the formation of

Eve.

But,

that

the

man

identical with that of the

on where

generations of

Adam.

in the likeness of

first,

—

written

the

This

Adam

proved a is

In the day that

God made He

He them, and blessed name Adam in the day when created

and

his wife

Second Chapter little

further

the

book of the

God

created

man

him, male and female

them, and called their they were

Gen. V. I, 2; after which follows the Adam's descendants from Seth to Japheth.

created "

generations of

* " Pre-Adamite

Man," Chapter

It is

thus

TERRA FIRM A.

chap,

sec.

ii.,

CERTAIN that there were not two separate creations of Adamites.

Duncan was a

Mrs.

woman

also,

and

clever,

a good

believe

but she was misled by the wild chimeras of

and wrote some things which had

Geologists,

better

never have been written, as they only distract without enlightening that value, it

mind.

the

All

criticism,

statements,

Biblical

should be accurate and

just,

especially

any

but,

of late years,

has too frequently become so incorrect and

as to

go beyond

worthless.

all

bounds of reason, and

real

diffuse,

therefore,

is,

as Shakespeare speaks of glory

is,

" Like a circle in the water,

Which never Till

good

ceaseth to enlarge

by broad spreading

illustration

writer,

the

itself,

doth come to nought."

of such kind

in the following quotation

Christian

of criticism

given

from the pen of that excellent

late

Mr.

Hastings

Boston, U.S.A.

"We

have had already specimens

of their work,

and a more

amazing tangle of inconsistency and contradiction can hardly

be found in ancient or modern

literature.

The

old dispute

concerning the authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey, which

some one summed up '

were

not written

name and

as being demonstrated, that the

by Homer, but by another man

living at the

when compared with

same time and

place,'

was

poems

of the

same

lucidity itself

the revelations of the Higher Critics con-

cerning the original authorship of the forty-six books of the

Old and New Testaments.

There are plenty of people who may

be unable to judge of the correctness of the position occupied

by any one

of these learned

men, but there can be no possible

NO DISCREPANCY REGARDING MAN'S CREATION. cannot

dicts all the others, they

common

infallible,

and here

reader to exercise

little

sense."*

would be well

Bible a

done,

all

common

the opportunity of the

about deciding that, when each one of a dozen contra-

difficulty

than they appear to have

closely

many

as,

these learned Critics studied the

mare

little

instances,

their

knowledge of that

Book, in comparison with their shameless effrontery in warping

seems to ba as scanty as

it,

Falstaff's ha'p'worth

of bread to the unconscionable quantity of sack.

Moses they

rejecting

Lord Jesus

Christ,

Moses

reject the upholder of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

and to them may be applied the

withering reproof administered by our Lord Himself to

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

the

Jews

Had

Moses ye would have

believed

believed in Me, for he wrote of Me, but,

not his writings,

John

46,

ye believe

shall

ye believe

words ?

is,

however,

one

good thing which these

though unwittingly, have done;

some learned and examination

tO'

earnest

Christians

they have led

pay a closer

certain disputed facts mentioned in the

Bible, with the positive result that that blessed

now

rests

4.7.

There Critics,

how

on a stronger

basis than

ever.

Many

Book, state-

ments, which these' Critics most unwarrantably declared to be false, have been

now

proved, by the discovery of

ancient monuments, tablets, and other sources of infor-

mation,

absolutely

permitted, would I give

wonderful * "

confirmations

true.

some of

Gladly,

had

telling instances

God's

Word,

space

of these

but

must

Criticism," by the late H. L. Hastings, Boston, U.S.A. Agents, Marshall Brothers, Paternoster Row, London.

The Higher

TERRA FIRMA.

content myself by referring

chap,

Readers to

ii.,

sec.

works

tiie

mentioned below* which, are well worthy of their attentive perusal.

SECTION

PRIMEVAL FAUNA AND THE AGES. The

statements of Geologists, whether Dr.

or Sir Roderick Murchison, Lyell, Drs.

are

Dick or

Dr.

Buckland or Mantell,

Hugh

Pye Smith

Sir

Miller,

and

Charles others,

unsatisfactory, because they are only suppositive,

all

having no solid basis on which to build their assertions. Skertchley himself, in his " Geology," p. loi, remarks * "Inspiration and Accuracy o( the Holy Scriptures," 8vo, 7/6; and " Modern Discoveries and the Bible," 8vo, net 6/- both books by the Rev. John Urquhart. " The Higher Critics and their Mistakes," by P. and R. H.; Special Edition for gratuitous distribution. " The Higher Criticism the greatest Apostasy of the Age," 1/6 net, by D. K. Paton. " Daniel in the Critic's Den," by Dr. Anderson, 3/6. Leech's " Is my Bible true ? " 2/6. " The New Apologetics, or the Down-grade in Criticism," by Dr. Watts, 6/;

How God inspired the Bible," by Dr. J. Paterson Smyth, The Grand Old Book," by Rev. A. MoCaig, 3/6. " Many Infallible Proofs," by Dr. A. J. Pearson, s/-

2/6.

" 3d.

;

Remarks on 'The Mistakes of Moses,'" 4/-; and both by the late H. L. Hastings, of Boston, U.S.

"The Higher

Criticism,"

A II obtainable from Marshall Brothers, Keswick House, Paternoster Row, London. " History of

Babylonia," by the late George Smith, Esq., of the British Edited by the Rev. A. H. Sayce, M.A. 2/-. ; " Assyria, from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Nineveh," by the late George Smith, Esq., of the British Museum 3/-. " Sinai, from the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty to the Present Day," by the late Henry S. Palmer ; revised by the Rev. A. H. Sayce, M.A. ; with map, a/-. "Persia, from the Earliest Period to the Arab Conquest," by the late W. J. W. Faux, M.A. ; a new and revised edition, by the Rev. A. H. Sayce,

Museum

;

M.A.; "

2/-.

The Higher

A. H. Sayce, M.A.

and the Verdict of the Monuments," by the Rev. Published by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,

Criticism, ;

The

7/6.

Northumberland Avenue, London.

PRIMEVAL FAUNA AND THE AGES.

" So imperfect is the record of the earth's history, as told

we can never hope

in the rocks, that

the gaps in the chain

been well compared

volumes remain

to a history, of

that

autumn

up completely

all

of the rocks has

which only a few imperfect

which we can only What botanist would but despair of of wood and field from the dry leaves

restoring the vegetation

has to form

fill

to us, the missing portion of

up by conjecture.

fill

The testimony

of. life.

Yet from

scatters?

all his

than this the geologist

less

Can we wonder then

ideas of past flora.

" the imperfection of the geological world?

Yet,

some

notwithstanding

want of proper with as

much

nessed

the

admitted

this

imperfection,

drawn conclusions, which from

have

geologists

data, are, of course, incapable of proof,

assurance as

formation

Archibald Geikie

they themselves had wit-

primeval

the

Sir

rocks.

lately said that, in his opinion,

" 100,000,000 years

would

for that portion

suffice

of the

Earth's history which was registered in the stratified rocks of the crust.

But

the Palaeontologists found such a period too

narrow for their requirements, he could see no reason on the geological side,

why

they should not be at liberty to enlarge

as far as they might find to

it,

be needful for the evolution of

organized existence on the globe."*

From they

have

appearance

marks,

fossil

discernible,

from

constructed as,

some

jaw-bone,

use

animals

which tibia

an expression

are

scarcely

such

claw,

grotesque

common

days, "would be enough Models of some of these relics of a by-gone age were made some years ago under the direction of Mr.

to frighten the French."

young

'Report of the British Association " at Dover, from The Daily Graphic of

September

i8th, i8gg.

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

ii.,

sec. 5.

Hawkins, and have been placed in the grounds of the say, " are as large as life

With the

God

beginning

by no means

and twice as

verse

first

created the

natural."

and some

Chalmers

Dr.

late

the

that

believe

Bible

the

showman

as the

Sydenham, and which,

Crystal PaJaoe,

would

others,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" In

the

Heavens and the Earth

precludes the idea of a creation prior to

the Adamic, though when such creation was

quite

impossible to tell; but, from the testimony of infallible

and from the records of the past, I myself have shadow of a doubt that the creation, or if preferred the re-creation of the world in which we live, Scripture,

not

the

commenced

at the very

time assigned to

therefore, with perfect equanimity,

discover as

line

&c.,

tiles,

many

plesiosauri,

of land,

must be drawn,

and

tO'

certain

in the

Mosaic

can

afford,

of an Earlier

iguanodons,

or water, or

air,

pterodac-

but here the

been found,

for there never yet has

that there

Geologists

let the

Fauna

as they can of the

megatheria,

Earth,

thousand years ago.

history, less than six

never will be found, the

smallest trace of a supposed Pre-Adamite man, or a single

bone

theretoi,

any of Adam's race or of any any geological

strata

relics pertaining

the

Earth,

thus

showing that there never was any Pre-Adamite Man, and that the present world of the

hour older than

Adamic Creation

not one

represented to be in the Scriptures

of Truth.

Such

animals,

no doubt have had

those

above

world for man's future habitation, as in

vain,

for,

that

referred

to,

would

their use in the preparation of the

the world

God makes

nothing

was systematically made

ready for the occupation of man,

evident from the

PRIMEVAL FAUNA AND THE AGES.

particular stratification of the rocks, the chalk, the lime-

the slate, the building stone, the coalfields, &c.,

stone,

from the position of the metals,

as well as

&c., as also

tin,

from

iron,

lead,

and copper, and

gold, silver,

its

diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other precious

its

marvellous

world

and

within

stones.

without,

above and below, specially adapted by God's

own wisdom, "

that

and care for the habitation and use

love,

Well may we exclaim with the

man.

truly

men would

Jehovah

praise

for

Psalmist

His goodness,

and for His wonderful works unto the children of men

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" !

IPsa. cvii. 8.

From

a careful consideration of the aidnes or ages,

which are so often referred to in the Greek of the but which unfortunately are

Testament,

rendered in our Authorised Version, there were ages

that

before

the

sO'

New

obscurely

appears certain

Adamic

Creation,

there will be ages aftet this present dispensation has

passed away.

Let us look

briefly at the two' following

remarkable expressions respecting them. 1.

Sunteleia tou aidnos, the end or completion of the

Chronois aidniois, in age-past times.

age.

Matt.

xiii.

Matt.

xiii.

Matt. xxiv.

what the

Sunteleia tou aidnos.

$g, " The harvest is the completion of the Age." 40, " So shall it be at the end of the Age.'' 3,

"Tell us when shall these things be? and

shall be the sign of

Thy coming, and

of the completion of

Age." Matt, xxviii. 20, "

And

with you

all

the days even

unto the completion of the Age." Heb.

ix. 26,

" But

now

once, at the completion of the Ages,

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

hath been manifested to put away sin by the

n., sec. 5.

sacrifice of

Himself."

From will

the foregoing passages

His people

spirituaJly with

gather till

tiiat

Christ

the harvest, or

completion of this present age or dispensation, when

will again personally apj>ear to

Himself for ever. for " ages " it

In the

from which

in the plural,

would seem

that

there refers to tons aidnas epoiesen, the ages which

had made previous to

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

take them to be with

quoted passage the word

last

whom

through

this world, according to Heb.

Rom.

"Now

xvi. 25,

hath

made

the Ages."

Chronois aioniois.

according to

also

He i.

Him who

able to stablish yon

and the preaching

gospel,

of Jesus Christ,

according to the revelation of the mystery, kep^ in silence

through Age-fast 2 Tim.

but

times,

Who

now

manifested."

saved us, and called us with a holy

calling, not according to

our works, but according to His own

purpose and grace, which was given in Christ Jesus before Age-past times." Tit. lie,

" In hope of eternal life

It is evident,

His

which God, who cnnnot

promised before Age-past times."

from the above passages, that God chose

saints of the present age or dispensation, according

to the eternal purpose of

any' actual

were redeemed,

and gold,

His

will

existence except in

long before they had

His own mind.

not with corruptible things as

silver

but with precious blood, as of a lamb without

blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ,

was

They

foreordained

pro

hatdbole

kosmou,

before

who the

foundation of the world, but was indeed manifested ep

CHIPPED FLINTS.

eschaton ton chronon at the last stage of the times for your

sake"

I Pet.

thus

therefore,

world.

ig, 20.

see

that

presume

were

there

and we may,

ages,

before that of our

creations,

All that I contend for

is,

and on

Adamic

this point I

immovable, that our present world was not brought

out of the Great Deep of waters, and that there was no

now

creation of man, nor of any of the

existing species

of land animals, before the time indicated by Moses in

Genesds, which period has not yet reached six thousand years.

The tance

God I

study of the ages

one of the deepest impor-

towards understanding

the

eternal

purposes

with respect to His Creatures, and, with deference,

beg to

refer

any of

Readers,

who might

their farther consideration, to a volimie written

mentioned below,* as

know

desire

by myself,

no other work

which

the subject has been so fully treated.

SECTION

CHIPPED FLINTS. More than half a century ago: there was quite a furor among Geologists respecting Chipped Flints, which had recently been

discovered,

and which were

tooi

hastily

described as being arrow heads, spear heads, and axe heads, according to their

size,

niade by Ante-Diluvians

Hades and Beyond, with some Sidelights by the way," chapters iv., v., ix., and xviii. A copy of this work will be forwarded, post free, to given address, by sending a postal order for 3/6 to D. Wardlaw Scott, any 85 Trinity Road, Wood Green, London. *â&#x20AC;˘

X., xi., xiv., XV.,

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

sec. 6.

ii.,

who

Soberlived in what they called the " Flint-Age." minded people, however, had very grave doubts about

the

matter,

these

different places,

were

flints

and besides

found in

so miany

in localities so unlikely ever

to have been the abode of men,

and also

in such vast

quantities that the supposition of their ever having been

made by human hands was Mrs.

seriously entertained.

too'

preposterous

Duncan thought

tO'

one time

that they might be relics of her Pre-Adamites, and in

the

first

How-

Edition of her book, wrote accordingly.

when she

ever

some

afterwards went to examine

of these

had to acknowledge that she had

flints

for herself, she

made

a mistake, and abandoned the idea, as Mr. Jonathan

Oldbuck had to give up his Roman Camp, after the Eddie Ochiltree. She writes, as follows,

revelations of

in the Preface to the third Edition of her " Pre-Adamite

Man"â&#x20AC;&#x201D; " It seems desirable also to state that the argument (for

Pre-Adamite Man),

no respect founded on alleged

dis-

coveries of implements in the drift of the Pre-Adamite Age,

which came

to the Author's

knowledge

the work had

after

passed through the printer's hand, and was added by her to the proof-sheets only as a possible corroboration of her theory

and she begs now

add

that,

having since visited

St.

Achiel,

near Amiens, and having obtained some of the alleged Ante-

Diluvian implements on the spot, together with a portion, of the sand in which they were embedded

;

she has been led to

doubt very much whether these objects after peculiar appearance to the

hand

man.

It is

all

owe

their

remarkable that

the particles of sand, put under a powerful microscope, present

very

much

the same appearance as those larger chipped

flints,

suggesting the idea that the same process of attrition which

THE SUPPOSED GLACIAL PERIOD.

shaped the one may have produced the marks of chipping on At

the other.

events she

all

not confirmed by this

rather the reverse, in the belief that she

is entitled

visit,

but

to appeal

to this source as confirmatory of her views, but she does not

believe that her argument will be stance,

the

substantial

based, as the

title

bears,

much

affected

foundation on which

by the circumrests

being

on conclusions derived from Scripture

and Science."

Such of that "

the sad collapse of one of the " side-issues

most exact science

" of

Modem

Astronomy now

under our consideration.

SECTION

THE SUPPOSED GLACIAL PERIOD. The supposed and

Glacial Period, of which Mrs.

certain geologists

make so much,

Duncan

one of the most

improbable myths that was ever concocted in the human mind.

Mrs.

Duncan introduced

without

even

the

slightest

pretence of pwoof towards the close

Sabbatic

Age,

to the

the whole

which,

according

her

received meaning of the term Sabbatic, should have been

a period of unbroken of the

rest

an3 peace, when, on account

rebellion of her Pre-Adamifces,

was suddenly launched upon the world. thought

this catastrophe

The

Geologists

might be a good pretext by which they might

get rid of the UniversaJ. Deluge, but the attempt has

been in left

vain, for ice could not

by the Noachian Flood.

have produced the Sir

Robert

Ball,

effects

his

TERRA FIRMA.

book, "

The Cause

chap, n., sec.

of an Ice Age," previously mentioned,

has done his best to bewilder people's minds upon this

but he does not appear

subject,

headway even among

work

32,

assume the existence

assumption,

and the book

very

ill,

and

"I have found several

utterly

Indeed

it will

all

even one Ice

oppvosed

Scripture,

poor waif of a theory

not be long before

dishonoured grave.

this

For

necessary to

Ages."

Ice

as his

written.

real proof being given for

Reason, and Fact. is

and no wonder,

one of the most unconvincing ever

example, he says,

Age,

Scientists,

have made much

toi

it is

sent to a

remarks may seem severe, but

they are needed.

With

Sir

Robert Ball the Earth

is,

of course, only a

Planetary Ball, rolling round the Sun, land and water

being mysteriously held together, at the Astronomic rate of

65,000 miles per hour.

Mrs.

Duncan was content

with one Glacial Period for the destruction of the world of her Pre-Adamites, but Sir Robert thinks there have

been to

several, with

yet to follow

;

considering them

be caused by perturbations in the orbit of the Earth,

Thus he

through the influence of certain planets. p.

says,

172â&#x20AC;&#x201D; " It has been

object to

show the reasons

for thinking

that the planets, especially Jupiter and Venus, have been the

primary agents in the formation of Ice Ages stantial

;

we have

sub-

grounds for attributing to the agency of the Planets

the familiar indication of glaciation."

With

Sir Robert Ball's theory, the Bible unfortunately appears to be " an unknown quantity," as it is never

alluded to at

all.

Had he

consulted

it,

he might have

saved himself the trouble of writing his book, for

God

THE SUPPOSED GLACIAL PERIOD. His covenant with Noah

declares in "

Deluge

after the

While the earth remaineth seedtime and

cold and heat, and

summer and

shall not cease

Gen.

22.

viii.

H. H. Howorth,

Sir

harvest, and and day and night

winter,

in his

work

The

Glacial Night-

mare and the Deluge," would, indeed appear

have

already given this theory the coup de' grhce ; he writes as follows "

One

of the chief objects of this

Glacial theory, as usually taught, ignores,

and

issue with, laws

is at

of ice, while the geological to

be equal with

This

it.

work

partially

principal apostles of the Ice theory. as all

know

that the

but that

;

that

puny experiments, which can be

be explained refuse

They admit

we know

that ice, it

in the

tested,

and turn from the

potentiality in shape of portentous ice-sheets

and which, we are

of empirical tests,

That

experiments, to a priori

Assuredly this

to the vast

beyond the reach

told, act quite differently

to say, they appeal

and

are bidden to put aside our

which can be explained and examined,

to ordinary ice.

acknowledged by the

in the laboratory, or ice as

produces different effects

world.

;

acts quite differently to the ice they postulate,

glaciers,

show

which govern the movement

phenomena is

not sound

from sublunary

arguments drawn from a transcendental a curious position for the champions

of uniformity to occupy.

"I hold that the Glacial theory, as ordinarily taught, is based not upon induction but upon hypotheses, some of which are incapable of verification, while others can be shown to be false,

Ages. it

and

This

has is

false.

the infirmity of the Science of the Middle

all

why

have called

a Glacial Nightmare holding

hold further that no theory of modern times

has had a more disastrously mischievous of Natural Science.

effect

on the progress

TERRA FIRMA.

"I not only disbelieve in but of ice being

chap,

deny the

I utterly

moved over hundreds

n., sec. 7.

possibility

of miles of level countries,

such as we see in Poland and Russia, and the prairies of North

and South America, and distributed I

further deny

uneven ground. and

valleys,

capacity to

its

drift as

mount long

find

there.

slopes or to traverse

the excavation of lakes

similarly deny to

altogether question the legitimacy of argu-

and

ments based upon a supposed physical capacity which cannot be tested by experiment, and which hypothesis.

This means

that

entirely based

utterly

upon

question the prime

postulate of the Glacial Theory itself."*

From the preceding arguments we may now safely draw

think

the

this

Chapter,

following

con-

Creation

were

clusions 1.

That

the

days

Adamic

the

Natural days of twenty-four hours each. 2.

That there were not two

Adamites, but only 3.

one, that of

That Moses was the

withstanding

all

different

creations

our progenitor Adam.

sole

Author of Genesis,

not-

the carpings of the Hyper-Critics.

there is no discrepwmcy regarding the 4. That Adamic 'Creation in the accounts given of it in Genesis I.

and 5.

II.

That although there might possibly have been was no Man created Adam, at the time assigned by Moses. That the Chipped Flints were not made by human

creations before the Adamic, there

prior to 6.

hands. 7.

That

the

supposed

Glacial

Period

myth,

unworthy of true Science. * " The Glacial Nightmare and the Deluge a Second Appeal to Common Sense ftom the extravagance of some recent Geology," by Sir H. H. Howorth, ;

K.C.I.E., F.R.S.

THE SUPPOSED GLACIAL PERIOD. From

the above deductions

accordance with the Infallible

we may be assured, in Word of God, that the

Earth was emerged from the waters of the Great Deep, in which

has ever since continued stationary, not quite

when

not in existence as

And

thousand years ago.

six

was not formed

occurrence

that the Earth cannot

be a Planet revolving round the Sun;

possibility

the contrary, that the Sun

journeying daily around regulate

its

There

Earth was so emerged,

the Fourth day after that

until

—consequently

"The soul

are, indeed,

to give

and heat, and

two Adams, but very different are

man Adam

first

Adam is

natural (soulical)

Man

light

Duncan

in her Pre-

Man

Howbeit, that

matical).

times and seasons.

the last

;

by any but,

only a satellite of the Earth,

they from those described by Mrs.

Adamite

Sun was

further that the

at first the

The

(our

not ;

first

Lord

is spiritual,

afterwards that which

Adam

out of Heaven

—

living

Jesus Christ) a life-giving Spirit.

which

first

became a

(our progenitor)

but that which spiritual

of the earth earthy;

/ Cor. xv.

(pneu-

the Second

45—47-

Blessed are the children of the

first

Adam who

put

their trust in the atoning sacrifice of the Second, even

the Christ who, " having once for all been offered for the bearing of the sins of

many,

who

shall appear a second time, apart

are ardently waiting for

Him

from

sin,

unto salvation

unto those

"—Heb.

ix. zS.

CHAPTER

III.

THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. EXAMINATION OF THREE ALLEGED PROOFS THAT THE WORLD IS GLOBULAR. PAGE

SBCTION

The Nebular Hypothesis

The Circumnavigation of the Earth The appearance and disappearance of

The Earth's shadow

AT sea

was

only

Ships

in a

Lunar Eclipse

expected

our

that

Modern

Astronomers, in the absence of any real evidence, would invent is

some imaginary proofs, tO' show that the world They have accordingly given several, which

a Planet.

are usually introduced

"With words

of learnfed length

and thundering sound."

Before examining the three referred to at the heading of this Chapter, which, being thought to

on all what some

are generally brought forward I shall give a

specimen of

their best,

suitable occasions, of these gentlemen

consider to be a proof.

Mr. Schiedler, in his " Book of Nature," "

actual observation

are spherical, hence

so also."

we know

says,

that other heavenly bodies

unhesitatingly assert that the eailh

THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. It

true that things which are equal to the

same

thing are equal to one another, but Mr. Schiedkr, in his

attempted proof, coolly takes for granted the very

first

premise of the proposition, namely, that the heavenly bodies and the Earth are the same kind of things, which

even a child knows not to be tures emphatically deny

well

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

have said

therefore I tainly not

so,

and which the

Cor. xv.

4.0.

elephant has ears,

Scrip-

might as

have

ears,

an elephant," a fact which would

be proved by

cer-

this halting syllogism, although,

perhaps, from his absurd conclusion that the Earth spherical, because the heavenly bodies are,

some persons

might be led to infer that he does not possess the reasoning faculty of that sagacious quadruped.

SECTION

THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. Many, is

called

not most. Place's "

Modem Astronomers hold what Grand Conception," namely, The

Nebular Hypothesis, which, as stated by the well-known writer Figuier,

as follows

"The Nebular

theory assumes that the

a mass of incandescent matter

immense expansion and

to all

originally its

attenuation, the exterior rim of vapour

expanding beyond the sphere of attraction been thrown

Sun was

In consequence of

supposed to have

This doctrine

applied

the planets, and assumes each to have been in a

state of

off

centrifugal force.

incandescent vapour with a central incandescent nucleus.

TERRA FIRMA.

chap, m., sec.

the cooling went on, each of these bodies

have thrown tion of the

may be supposed

similar masses of vapour, which, by the opera-

off

same laws, would assume the rotary

satellites revolve

and as

state,

round the parent planet."

This theory, as underlined,

be seen by the words

will

have

one of mere assumption, without one single

proof being given as to

must have the

its

He who

truth.

credits

gudgeon, and he

gullibility of the

who can

It it would require the stomach of an ostrich. makes God's primary creation of the Universe to be only nehular, and all subsequent creation to be selj-

digest

man

formative, whether land or water,

or gold, grasses or trees.

the is

observes

Psalmist

no God

Psa.

H. D. Brown on

" Creation," "

" All

or animals, coals

downright Atheism thoughts

his

" Science

axe

such,"

as-

;

—there as

Mr.

remarks in his excellent pamphlet

knows not God."*

holding this hypothesis had only read aright

If those

the very

truly

—

It is

first

—

verse in the Bible

" In the beginning

created the heavens and the earth

—they

God

would have

seen that the derivation of the Earth as a Planet from

a nebulous

incandescent

contrary to

all

mass,

untrue

utterly

and

reason, because, according to the above

emphatic declaration, the Heavens and the Earth were distinctly

created

themselves

Word

into

by the

God Himself. fearful

They

position

bring

thus

denying

The

of God.

Carrying out the general idea of nebulosity, some

Astronomers imagine the

Moon

to have been

one

time a portion of the Earth, while in a state of incandescence.

Mr. *

Laing,

however,

who

Alfred Holness, 14 Paternoster

p>oses

chiefly

Row, London.

THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. Geologist, says,

doubts

casts

Thought

"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

his

upon

" In this state of things the

thrown

from the

off

earth.

Now

Thus he

subject.

and

Science

Moon .

be true or not as regards phases Silurian period, from which

that

Modem

supposed to have been these conclusions

may

of the earth's life prior to the

downwards Geology shows unmis-

takably that nothing of the sort, or in the least approaching it,

has occurred." It

into

sad to see the absurdities and contradictions

which

science leads

false

which rushes with the

trol,

at last itself,

lost all con-

down an

train

It is like

votaries.

its

bad locomotive, over which the driver has

ineline,

till

leaves the rails altogether, smashing not only

but drawing carriages with

serious disaster to

The Nebular

many

and thereby causing

of the unfortunate

passepgers.

Hypothesis, we are told, requires

many

millions of years for the development of the Universe.

Lord Kelvin for

the

maturity,

world and,

one time estimated 400,000,000 of years to

be brought

present

its

when some demurred

toi

that

state

enormous

period, he obligingly struck off 380,000,000, so that

then gave the requisite time as

20,000,000

of years

Apart from revelation we can form no calculation whatever as to the time occupied in creation by God, that

being utterly different from the manufacturing process of men.

With us both wine and bread take a consider-

able time to be made, but, by Christ, the wine at the

marriage feast of Cana, and the bread with which fed the multitudes in the wilderness, were

moment.

The

Psalmist

describing

the

made

Earth 5

a as

TERRA FIRMA.

being God's handiwork, says

He commanded,

done.

referring

doubtless

and

—

was

Psa. xxxiii. g,

when

time

hi., sec. i.

and

spake,

stood fast "

the

chap,

the

laid

foundations of the Earth in the waters of the mighty

Deep.

Then, as regards be

there

The

true

as well

and there was

light,"

Christian

rejoices

—

light.

simply said

God

the thought

;

own weak-

strengthens his faith and enables him, in his

Arms.

Christ's

and

ness, to feel the support of the Everlasting realizes

that

Christ

Nature

things are his, for he

all

God's

—

Cor.

Hi.

opened up to him as

22,

Let

Omnipotent Power

the

in the Infinite Love

instantaneously.

light

The

23.

field

Cowper

his possession, as

beautifully sings

" His are the mountains and the valleys His,

And

the resplendent rivers.

With a propriety But who, with

Pan

And I

confess

lift

that

filial

His

none can

to enjoy

feel,

confidence inspired.

heaven an unpresumptuous eye,

smiling say

that

—

Father made them

cannot imagine

all.'

how any human

being, in his proper senses, can believe that the stationary when, with his

own

eyes,

he sees

Sun

revolving

around the heavens, nor how 'he can believe that the Earth, on which he stands, of

lightning around

slightest motion.

the

Sun,

whirling with the speed

when he

feels

not

the

can only account for the delusion,

been introduced by Satan into the minds of men, who could inoculate those of others with

as having certain

the poison, his object being to * "

make

The Task," Book V.

appear that God

THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE EARTH. is

liar,

much

and to befool the human

abhors.

which he so

race,

by no means think that

Still

all

who

hold the Pythagorean fable are not Christians, for I

good men even among Astrono-

believe that there are

who

mers,

are

aware of the source from which

not

and who do not abet the

their theories spring,

to which

and whose

they tend,

And,

their philosophy.

we may be

a "

are

better

than

the heart be right with God,

sure that the mistakes of science will not

But we must remember

shut the door of grace. there

lives

infidelity

full

reward "

2 John

that

—

for some, who,

as richly-laden galleys, shall enter the Port of Peace

2 Pet.

—

^and that there is

a salvation for others,

who, like those who escape from a burning house, are saved " so as by

—

fire "

/ Cor. in. 15.

thus see that the Nebular Hypothesis

myth of the imagination, by any serious thinker, Scripture, Reason,

utterly

being

a meiie

unworthy of acceptance

opposed to

totally

and Fact.

Let us now proceed to consider the three beforementioned alleged proofs of the world's

SECTION

globularity.

THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE EARTH. Circumnavigation thing

but

loud-sounding

Homer's celebrated

simply means " sailing round." *

Iliad,"

term,

poluf-oisboio

34.

some-

thalasses,*

Thus a

yachts-

TERRA FIRMA.

man can at

leave

Ryde

Isle of

again,

Wight.

hi., bec. 2.

the morning, and, after a few

according to the

hours,

chap,

weather,

the

state

arrive

sailing

round the

So a man can circumnavigate

the world

by circumnavigating or

from any outlying port in the extreme South,

say,

for

example, Hobart, and return to the same port again, always premising that the sailing must be either from

East to West, or from West to East. Mercator's

map

you look

or even at a pasteboard

of the world,

globe, you wiU at once see the impossibility of a ship

circumnavigating the

North to South, or

Earth from

from South to North, owing to the position of the Continents, and the great barriers of ice both in the

Northern

and

Southern

equilateral triangle.

of course, take very is

exactly the

navigating the

illustration.

same Isle

But

regions.

no more proves the world

sailing

such

circular

be a globe than an

tO'

The sailing round the world would, much longer, but, in principle, it as

that of the yachtsman circum-

Let

of Wight.

boy wants to

sail

give

a simple

his iron toy boat

a magnet, so he gets a basin, in the middle of which he places a soap-dish, or anything else which he suitable to represent the Earth,

with water to display the

draws

by the magnet round his

boat never passes over the rim as

and then

sea.

fills

may

think

the basin

puts in his boat and little

sail

world.

But the

under the basin,

that were globular, instead of being simply circular.

So is it we can around

in this world of ours; sail it,

from the extreme South

from East to West or from West to East

but we cannot

from South to North, intervening lands,

sail

for

from North to South or

we cannot break through

nor pass the impwnetrable ramparts

THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE EARTH. of

ice

and rocks which Hobart

Circumference.

Geographers 40"

ward by

S.,

famous

ledges

that

barriers

Treatise the

on the use

called

thence in a South-

sail

his

Earth,

the

hitherto accomplished, does not prove

Keith,

Globes," acknow-

of the

circumnavigation

be stopped

last

Even

ice.

Southern

great

Latitude

the

our voyage would

direction,

impassable

and,

the

enclose

to be a sphere

thus he says "Since that time (Magellan,

1519-1523), the circumnaviga-

tion of the globe has been performed at different times, by Sir

Lord Anson,

Drake,

Francis

Cook,

Captain

&c.

The

voyages of the circumnavigators have been frequently adduced to prove that the Earth is a sphere all

;

but,

whep we

reflect that

the circumnavigators sailed westward round the globe (and

not northward and southward, round

it),

they might have per-

formed the same voyages had the Earth been in the form

drum

or cylinder."*

The

farthest Southern Latitude yet reached

78", and the written accounts of those

about sailed

plainly describe the horrors

in Antarctic

Seas,

inhospitable

region.

extracts

who have

may be

In his

from such.

well

give

of that

a few

Voyage to the South

Vasco de Gama remarks

"The waves heaved up

rose

to the clouds,

bed of the

oceian.

mountains im height;

ships

are

and apparently precipitated to the

The winds

are

piercing

cold,

and so

boisterous that' the pilot's voice can be scarcely heard, while

n dismal and almost continual darkness adds greatly to the

danger." * Keith's " Treatise

and improved,

on tile use of tlie Globes," Thiomas Atkinson, M.A.,

Stationers' Hall Court,

London

p. 43,

new

Simpliin,

edition condensed Marsliall & Co.,

TERRA FIRMA.

in., sec. 2.

chap,

writes

R.N.,

Captain Sir James Clarke Ross, follows in his " Antarctic Voyages "

sea quickly rising to a fearful height, breaking over

"The

the loftiest bergs.

ships were enveloped in an ocean

Our

of rolling fragments of ice, as hard as floating rocks of granite,

which were dashing against them with so much violence masts quivered as

their

blow.

The rudders were

they would

destroyed, and nearly torn from their

Hour passed away

stern-posts

that

at every successive

fall

hour without the

after

which we were

least mitigation of the awful circumstances in

placed."

In his

Exploring Expedition,"

Commander

Wilkes,

U.S.A., writes "

The

general health of the crew

feel ourselves obliged to report that in

decidedly affected.

our opinion a few more

days of such exposure, as they have already undergone, would reduce the number of the crew by sickness to such an extent as to hazard the safety of the ships, and the loss of all on

board."

Such scenes of rigour and desolation are unknown in the Northern regions, in the

which

those

Southern

seas.

and

extracts

In the Arctic there

Summer, however of birth

same degrees

above

the

brief,

this point

the

a Spring and

where Nature

loveliness.

of Latitude

refer

asserts her right

Wrangell writes

as follows " Countless

herds

sable and grey squirrels

reindeer, fill

elks,

black

bears,

the upland forests;

foxes,

stone foxes

and wolves roam over the low ground; enormous

flights of

swans, geese, and ducks arrive in spring, and seek deserts where

they

may

moult, and build their nests in safety.

Eagles, gulls.

THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE EARTH. and owls pursue

their prey

run in troops among the bushes; the brooks and in the morasses

little ;

ptarmigan

along the sea-coast;

among

snipes are busy

the social crows seek the

neighbourhood of man's habitations; and when the sun shines

may sometimes even hear

in spring, one

the finch, and in

have

autumn the

given

authorities, in order to exists in the

the

above extracts from

competent

show the vast difference which

same number of degrees of Latitude between and Antarctic

Arctic

the cheerful note of

that of the thrush."

The

and vegetation.

regions,

with regard

to hfe

reason of the great disparity of the

climate in these two regions cannot be better expressed

than in the words of Parallax "

Thus

light of the

a well ascertained fact that the constant sun-

North develops with the utmost rapidity numerous

forms of vegetable of living creatures.

life,

and furnishes subsistence

for millions

But in the South, where the sunlight never

dwells or lingers about a central region, but rapidly sweeps

over sea and land, to complete in twenty-four hours the great circle of the

Southern circumference,

and stimulate the

has not time to excite

surface, and, therefore, in comparatively

low

Southern latitudes, everything wears an aspect of desolation."*

A will

glance at the Map, at the beginning of this book,

show that the

verging

towards

Geographers

North

tell

centre

instead of con-

parallels of latitude,

the

South,

Astronomers

and

us they do, gradually expand from the

towards

the

boundaries

the

great

"Zetetic Astronomy; Earth not a Globe," pp. 116, 117, by Parallax, published by Day Sc Son, 17 Paternoster Square, London. I regret to say that this splendid work has for some time been out of print, and a new edition is very greatly requiredâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;meanwhile, perhaps, a stray copy might be Srocured by applying to Mr. John Williams, Secretary of the Universal I

etetic Society, 54 Bourne Street, Netherfield, Notts. heard was paid for the work was ÂŁ1. The original cost

The last was 7/6.

price which

TERRA FIRMA.

Southern circumference.

chap,

Within the

quite a mania for

there has been

last

hi., sec. 2.

seventy years

expeditions

the

North Pole, while the poor South has been shamefully Is this because

neglected. us, or

because

may be no

friends that there all

their

fond hopes " at

Planet would be "

And

cxf

one

the

by our Astronomical

South Pole at

so that

all,

Earth being a Globular

swoop

fell

very far away from

so'

secretly feared

" dispelled,

like the baseless fabric of a vision,

Leave not a wrack behind "?

The

result

of the Challenger's prolonged cruise,

much

has been stated, of 70,000 miles, did not do raise

their

expectations,

hound, that had

for,

a discouraged

a passage to the supposed

deer-

she did not discover

lost the quarry,

other

side

the

through the ice-bound waters of the South.

world,

Should,

however, our Astronomers consider the problem of a

South Pole to be

still

unsolved, I would advise them,

with the assistance of their good friend, the Government, to

fit

out

" Challenger,"

another

break the record " of former explorers. time I confess that

" to

and endeavour

the

have a strong conviction that

same their

steamer would be no more able to circumnavigate the world,

forcing

passage

through

the

ramparts of the South, than for a balloonist his course through the

mighty tO'

steer

Bands of Orion.*

* Since the above was written I have been glad to learn that a British Antarctic Expedition, assisted by the Government, is now in progress: also that another nas been promoted by Germany, both being expected to sail their respective countries in the ensuing summer.

from

APPEARANCE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF

SECTION

SHIPS.

THE APPEARANCE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF SHIPS AT SEA. The The

Astronomical argument hull

should at a distance be shore, but

is not,

should be

last seen,

in approaching the

first visible

the masts being

from the shore, the

in sailing

as follows

a ship, being larger than the masts,

but

is not,

first

hull, for the

Again,

seen.

above reason,

for the masts are

therefore the sea must be globular.

The

Huxley

Professor

late

gave

tit-bit

Astronomic reasoning on the above alleged proof, which is

so very recherche that

placed

the

might be gilt-framed and

the Royal

hall

Society.

follows "

other

we have no

assume the convexity of water, because

way

to explain the

appearance and disappearance of ships

at sea."

assume,

therefore water is convex!

celebrated Scientist should have

known

can be drawn from mere assumption.

may be Huxleyan, as

but

certainly not Baconian, and,

he acknowledged that he had no other explanation

to offer for the convexity of water, for

Surely this

no real proof The argument

that

what

it is

Some

worth, which

simply

we must

just take

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Nothing.

years ago the late Mr. R. A. Proctor, a well-

known

writer

articles

and

lecturer

Knowledge

on Astronomy, wrote two

on the above subject, called

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

hi., sec. 3.

But

alas! for

"Pretty proof of the Earth's Rotundity." " pretty proof," as it

the at

all,

prove

was soon found to be no proof

and would never have been brought forward to the supposed convexity of water from the

and disappearance of ships at sea, had Astronomers been aware of the true law of Perspective. appearance

This law at the horizon requires the eye of the observer to see the higher part of an object before he can see the lower.

The

where the sea and

horizon, or the line

the sky seem to meet,

always on a

level

with the

eye,

no matter how high the observer may be above the This

water's surface.

the

following extract

of July, 1857, will

"The

evident even from a balloon,

from the

London

Journal

show

chief peculiarity of the view

from a balloon,

considerable elevation, was the altitude of the horizon, which

remained practically on a level with thp eye, of

two miles, causing the surface

of the

Earth

an elevation

appear concave

instead of convex, and to recede during the rapidity of ascent,

while the horizon and the balloon seemed to be stationary."

Mr.

Glaisher

writes

manner

his

experience in a balloon "

The horizon always appears on a

Mr.

Elliot,

level with the eye."*

an American JEiomsxA, gives a similar

testimony in a letter from Baltimore' " I don't

may

know

if I

ever hinted heretofore that the aeronaut

well be the most sceptical

Earth. of the

man about

the rotundity of the

Philosophy impresses the truth upon us, but the view

Earth from the elevation

the deeper part of which

that of a vast terrestrial iasin,

that directly under one's feet.

* Mr. Glaisher's Report in the " Leisure Hour " of 2zst May, 1864.

APPEARANCE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF we

SHIPS. 73

ascend, the Earth seems to recede, actually to sink away,

while the horizon gradually, and gracefully

away further and further

slope stretching

a diversified

lifts,

to the line that at

Thus, upon

the highest elevation seems to close with the sky.

a clear day, the aeronaut feels as

suspended

about an equal

distance between the vast blue oceanic concave above and the

equally expanded basin below."

This law of Persjyective meets us on every hand;

and cannot be gainsaid.

If,

on a

observe a row of lamps, which are

shall find that,

but,

we look toward

ourselves approach

get to

if,

who appear

people

will

the farther end;

the nearer

that end,

tO'

ÂŠn a straight

frozen lake from a certain

size,

the higher proportionately will the lamps

it,

Again,

appear.

road,

same

of the

from our standpoint, their height

gradually diminish as

straight

all

we approach

we look

line,

distance,

shall

skating on their knees,

to be

sufficiently near,

forming graceful motions on their

shall see feet.

observe but,

them

Farther,

per-

look through a straight tunnel, we shall notice that the roof and

the

roadway below converge

light at the end.

a point of

the horizon, as the observer recedes, which

hills sink, to

explains

same law which makes the

It is the

how

the ship's hull disappears in the

would also remark that when the sea

offing.

undisturbed by

waves, the hull can be restored to sight by the aid of a

good telescope long naked

eye,

down behind still

sailing

after

has disappeared from the

thus proving that the ship had not gone the watery

on the

level of

hill

of a convex globe, but

a Plane

sea.

are generally treated in Astronomical books with

a diagram,

illustrative

Proctor's

"Pretty

proof"

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

ih., sec. 3.

three ships on the axe of a circle one being near the

and one toward each end

top,

me now

before

"Joyce's

my memory

some

with

work

published

Milner

I got it lately in order to

and Co., Limited, London. refresh

have one

the well-known

Dialogues,"

Scientific

Modern

of the arc.

the

of the arc measures three inches, and,

curiosities

The

Science, whilst writing this book. if

curve

were con-

the whole circle would be about eight inches,

tinued,

representing the presumed circumference of the world

equal to 25,000 miles at the Equator. ship

The

length of each

three-eighths of an inch, so that, by the rule of

simple proportion, each ship would be about 1,171 miles

Why

long!

are such absurd diagrams given,

not to

deceive the eye and warp the judgment of the unsus-

In closing

pecting reader ?

" Pretty

remarks on this

proof of the Earth's Rotundity," I beg to subjoin the

asked by " Zetetes

following questions

on "

" Ships

The Earth

Sea," in the October,

his

article

Number

1893,

(not a Globe) Review."*

" In the diagrams of ships at sea, given in Astronomical

works.

Why

Why the

and always

are the ships placed near the top first

"Has any tively as

to descend?

always on

and not under?

why near the go down afterwards?

ship not placed on ike top,

go up

first,

and then

top,

object in Nature ever been seen to rise perspec-

recedes,

and then, remaining

By whom?

ike iop of the

at the

same

When? Where? Is not Earth? If not, why not?

were a globe, would not the horizon be a tangent at the point of observation?

descend at once as soon as

If so,

the Earth

to the sphere

ought not a ship begin to

leaves the observer?

John Williams, 54 Bourne

altitude,

the observer

Why

Street, Netherfield, Notts.

does a

EARTH'S SUPPOSED SHADOW IN LUNAR ECLIPSE. vessel not suit

because

its

behaviour to the globular theory?

Why

only a theory?

Science

the

are exposed,

tricks

the

do Astronomers violate the

law of Perspective when they make diagrams

And now, when

why should

of ships at seal?

so-called

not

all

Astronomical

our readers believe

the plain truth, that the Earth and sea form one vast outstretched and circular plane?"

SECTION THE EARTH'S SHADOW The Moon has been a

A LUNAR ECLIPSE. Modern

sad trouble to our

Astronomers, as she has so often belied their theories but,

;

being determined to make use of her somehow,

they assert that the globularity of the world

proved by

the shadow of the Earth passing over her in a round

form during a Lunar Eclijwe. Before entering into

this subject,

to say a few words respecting Eclipses.

when they

find that

predicted,

are

Modem so

Eclipses

are

apt to think what

But the truth

mere matters

which have happened

known by

as well

people,

an Eclipse takes place at the time a wonderful science

Astronomy must be that can

exactly.

may be Many

that

foretell

such events

the recurrence of

calculation

from

at certain times before,

experience that such

and

those it

will take place at certaiA

times again.

The Chaldeans

of years agov

and Aristarchus and Ptolemy could predict

calculated

them thousands

THE EARTH STRETCHED UPON THE WATER. soon put matters

â&#x20AC;˘will

"The Earth and the theory

straight.

Shakespeare

115

says,

hath bubbles, as the water hath,'

world rushing round the Sun,

of the

impelled by the hypothetic law of Gravitation,

one of

the biggest that ever required pricking.

The Hebrew word support by " Shall

means to hang, suspend,

teleh

tree "

hang thee upon a

Gen. xl. ig.

the willows, in the midst thereof

harps "

Psa. cxxxvii.

men

" Will

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Eeek. XV.

we hanged up our

take a pin of

hang any vessel tbereoni?"

But belimeh, wrongly translated "nothing,"

Our

crucial word. it

from the noun

tion,

translators

hlee,

the

appear to have derived

signifying consiunption or desola-

and the pronoun meh, who, which, what, but the " nothing,"

meaning be very

drawn from these words, seems to

Hebrew

far-fetched.

in all probability the

a very ancient language,

most ancient of any, and

occurs,

however, right in

not

the

doubt,

slightest!

deriving the

xxxii.

" fastenings,"

and

exactly

agrees with what

farther

Whereupon made to sink,

sockets) thereof ? "

Job xxxviii.

belimeh

that

" supports,"

and

in,

so used

means

simply

this

interpretation

Jehovah asked Job a are the foundations

who

laid

the

little

{ademeh,

comer-stone

But, while I consider Park-

hurst to be correct as to the rendering of the belimeh, I believe

that

noun belimeh from

the verb belem, to confine,, restrain, or hold Psa.

belimeh

of course, difficult to test the mieaning.

is,

have myself, Parkhurst

being

this

the only place in the Bible where the word

Thus, to give a few instancesi

actteal contact.

him to be wrong

word

as to the strange

TERRA FIRMA.

them

Newton

as well as

chap,

hi., sec. 4.

Mrs. Somerville

Place.

in her " Physical Sciences," p. 46, remarks

particular theory

of every

required to calculate Eclipses, and

equal accuracy, independent

theory.''

remember a good

may be made with

the calculations

man who had

story respecting a

been summoned to give evidence in a certain

came

did not appear but a friend

asked the Judge,

Lord," replied the man,

a dozen reasons

Lord,

friend

Why,"

could give your Lordship

why he could not come."

have them, then," said the Judge.

does Mr. Blank not appear? " I

trial.

in his stead.

dead."

" In the

That

Let us

first

place,

will do," said his

Lordship, " you can keep your eleven other reasons to

So the Earth having been proved by

yourself."

experi-

no curvature, and is declared by God to be "founded upon the seas and established upon the ment

to have

a matter of course, to be a

floods," that fact ought, as sufiicient

reason

therefore, that

why

would be

not a wandering Planet, and, as impossible for its

shadow to

cause an Eclipse of the Moon, as for that dead give evidence in a Court of Law.

useful

and

interesting

Still,

perhaps,

may

make a few remarks

respecting this alleged proof, as they will

the great mistakes which our

man

Modem

show some

Astronomers have

made. According to the Newtonian theory, in a

Lunar Eclipse,

for the

necessary

Sun to be on the opposite

side of the supposed globular Earth, so that the Earth's

shadow may thus

passing be cast

But, as Lunar Eclipses have occurred

upon the Moon.

when both

the

EARTH'S SUPPOSED SHADOW IN LUNAR ECLIPSE. Sun and the Moon were above the reason

that,

such

horizon,

circumstances,

absolutely impossible for the

stands

would

shadow of the Earth to

have been the cause of the Eclipse of the Moon.

During an

Eclipse

Moon

the

thus

proving that

clearly

its

Eclipse

has

surface

its

repeatedly been seen during the whole time

could

been caused by the shadow of the Earth.

lasted,

have

not

quote the

following illustration of the fact from what took place at

CoUumpton, Devonshire, on 19th March, 1848 "

nine

The appearances were at that period,

;

and

as usual

shadow (umbra)

of an Eclipse, or the

twenty minutes past

till

for the space of the next hour, instead

Earth being the

of the

cause of the total obscurity of the Moon, the whole phase of that body

became very quickly and most beautifully

and assumed the appearance of the glowing heat furnace rather than tinged with a deep red.

Moon

of the

being as perfect with light as

The Moon

whatever.

disc during the total Eclipse."*

from the

The whole

disc

there had been no

positively gave

Eclipse

from

its

illuminated,

of fire

good

light

Again, the Earth, with a supposed diameter of 8,000 miles,

about

said to revolve

i,roo

miles

round the Sun, with the velocity per

minute;

the

Moon

being

reckoned to have a diameter of 2,200 miles, and to go

round the Earth at the

rate of

180 miles per minute,

thus, according to calculation, the Eclipse of the

by the shadow of the Earth passing four

minutes,

should not take

whereas the usual time

occupied by a

Lunar Eclipse

been known

have been extended to

Moon,

it,

generally about two hours,

* " Phllosophioal

and

four.

Magazine," No. 220, for August,

184B.

has

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

sec. 4.

hi.,

and quotes

Parallax sums

up the matter as follovsrs, show that the opinion has gained ground among Astronomers of note, that

lately

may

cause

several

instances

are non-luminous bodies in the heavens which

Moon

an Eclipse of the

"We

have seen that during a Lunar Eclipse the Moon's

self-luminous surface

thing

;

that this

covered by a semi-transparent

something

last contact

Moon

with the Moon.

some-

a definite mass, because

has a distinct and circular outline, as seen during

the

there

its first

and

Solar Eclipse occurs from

passing before the Sun, so, from the evidence above

collected,

it is

cause.

before

the

evident that a Lunar Eclipse arises from a similar

semi-transparent and well defined,

body,

Moon;

or between the Moon's

passing

surface and the

observer on the surface of the Earth. " That

many such

bodies exist in the firmament

almost

matter of certainty, and that one such as that which eclipses the is

Moon

no great distance above the Earth's

exists at

a matter admitted by

many

surface,

of the leading Astronomers of

the day."* It is thus clearly

of a proof that the

evident that there

shadow of the Earth

not the shadow is

the cause of

a Lunar Eclipse,

and therefore no argument can be

drawn from

alleged

this

proof

that

the

Earth

globular Planet. I

doubt not that many of

Readers know the

famous passage in the ^Eneid Facilis decensus Averni,

Scd revocare grwtus superasque evaders ad auras,

Hie

labor, hoc opus est.

Zetetic Astronomy," pp. 148, 149.

EARTH'S SUPPOSED SHADOW IN LUNAR ECLIPSE. 8r It is true that Virgil did

not write as an Astronomer,

but as a Poet, yet the thought has occurred to the

above

lines,

with

small

parenthetical

that

addition,

might be suitably employed to show the impossibility of

our

World careering round the Sun, and might, some of

perhaps, be read with renewed appreciation by

our repentant Astronomers, thus "

But

(for the

It is

easy to descend to the lower regions,

Earth) to retrace

its

steps

and ascend

skies,

There

the difficulty

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;this

the task."

to the

upper

CHAPTER

IV.

REMARKS ON SOME OTHER ALLEGED PROOFS OF THE WORLD'S GLOBULARITY. PAGE

SECTION 1.

Variability of Penddlum vibrations

Supposed manifestation of the Rotation of

Railway and Earth's Centrifugal force

Declination of the Pole Star

Motion of Stars North and South

The Planet Neptune

THE Earth

After

the

collapse

90 -

the

strongest

three

alkged

proofs for the globularity of the world, treated in the previous Chapter,

seems to

to be almost unneces-

sary to examine those of less importance, but, as some

they

Readers may, perhaps,

are, I

like to

beg to name the following

know

at least

what

list.

—Sphericity from —Spherical Excess —Theodolite Tangent—^Tangential Horizon—Station and Distance— Great Circle — Continued Daylight the extreme South—^Analogy favour of Rotundity Deflection bodies—Difference of Solar and Loss of time on

semi-fluidity

—^Degrees

sailing

westward

Longitude

sailing

falling

REMARKS ON OTHER ALLEGED PROOFS.

time— Station and Retro-gradation Planets —Transmission Light—Precession the Equinoxes — Pendulum —Supposed manithe Rotation of the Earth—Railways and the Earth's Centrifugal —Declination the Pole — Star ^Motion of North and South —The Planet Sidereal

Variability

festations

vibrations

force

Stars

Neptune. It

would take up too much time and occupy more

space in this volume than can be spared, to enter into

a detailed examination of

these alleged proofs, most

all

which are of a technical character,

may

Readers care to see them

and,

discussed,

add, fully refuted, in a masterly manner, I beg

them

refer

should any

but,

fairly

Astronomy,

tO'

Earth

not

Globe,"

mentioned.

already

However, in order to show somewhat of purpose making a few remarks on the of those

" Zetetic

the able work of Parallax,

their nature, I last half

dozen

named, and from these alleged proofs may be

learned the worthlessness of them

Some

all,

as far

as real

them are ingenious, and show that our Astronomical friends have had their wits evidence

concerned.

sharpened

by the desire

some

devise

upholding their theory that the Earth

their arrows fall short of the mark,

all

aside like a deceitful

The

following

bow"

tit-bit

reasons

being " turned

Psa. Ixxviii. 57.

from Professor Airy

quoting, as showing, in the absence of proof,

our

Astronomers

are

for

a Planet, but

Theory,

worth

how fond

Supposition,

and

Assumption. " Newton was the

first

person

who made

calculations of the

figure of the Earth, in the theory of gravitation.

took the

following supposition as the only one to which his theory covXd.

TERRA FIRMA.

be applied.

assumed the Earth to be a

he assumed to be equally dense in every

he supposed the

his theory

manner he

this

chap,

fluid

This

fluid.

part.

For

fluid

trial of

Earth to be a spheroid.

inferred that the form

of tfie

spheroid in which the length of the shorter

iv,

Earth would be a is to

the length of

the longer or equatorial diameter in the proportion of 229 to

230."*

The

following

Astronomy "

You have

Here "

a choice specimen of occult

tit-bit is

Norman Lockyer's work

taken from Sir

reasoning,

on.

to take it as

proved that the Earth moves."

another from Sir John Herschel

shall take for granted

from the outset the Copernican

system of the world."

These gentlemen do not conHescend to give even their system is true, and might

one single proof that with

much

granted that the

tit-bit

have

folly

Moon

said

made

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

for

One

copy from the pen of that redoubtable

champion of Modern Astronomy, the Proctor, as

take

shall

of green cheese."

late

Mr. R. A.

such a good illustration of the

it is

of Assumption,"

Doctrine "

so frequently set forth in this

most

exact " School of Science

"We

find that the Earth is not flat, but a globe, not fixed,

but in very rapid motion; not far smaller than the Sun,

authority? courts

find "

indeed,

Where

Law

the

much

larger than the

Moon, and

and the greater number of the but

quo

warranto,

stars."

what

the proof of the finding?

prisoner

* Professor Airy's Six Lectures

not condemned

on Modern Astronomy, 4th ÂŁd.,

till

p. 194.

VARIABILITY OF

PENDULUM VIBRATIONS.

has been proved guilty, so neither, in the courts of Com-

mon

can

Sense,

Earth

the

revolving round the Sun,

adjudged

guilty

has been proved to have

till

committed that preposterous offence.

from

see,

Professor Airy's

before

extract

from

given

he acknowledges

even

that

Newton's theory of the globularity of the Earth

that is

the

Lectures,

Modern

only supposition and assumption, and yet by

Astronomers

paraded about as

true deduction from exact " exactness " which Modem

possess is

its "

Word

had been a

experiment.

The

Astronomy

appears

inexactness," for

the Astronomy of the

God and

from

differs toto ccelo

only

the facts of

Nature.

SECTION VARIABILITY OF

PENDULUM VIBRATIONS.

The Pendulum was summoned tion

round

imaginary

The

axis.

Pendulum, vibrating seconds

globe,

attraction

The Earth being

argued that

of gravitation,"

revolu-

was found

58" N,

was

thus assumed to be a

must have " a centre of

and,

as the

Pendulum

falls

rapidly at the North Pole than at the Equator,

the radius must thus be shorter, so

Earth

its

length

at the Equator,

to be 39,027 inches, while at 79Â° 49'

39.197 inches.

to be

into court

witness for the spheroidity of the World, and

a sphere flattened at the Poles.

said that the

But

all

this

TERRA FIRMA.

86 is

beside the mark, for the very

wanting, namely, that the Earth

chap,

first

sec. 2.

element of proof

a globe

iv.,

at all.

a well ascertained fact that heat expands while

It is

cold contracts most metals, and

was

at last

acknow-

ledged that variations of temperature are quite sufficient to cause variations in the vibrations of the Pendulum.

Mr. Bailey, in Vol. 7 of Memoirs of the Royal Society, says that " the

vibrations

many

places by local attraction of the substratum on which

it is

us,

pendulum

powerfully

affected

swung, or by some other influence at present unknown to

and the

which

effect of

far exceeds the errors of observation."

General Sabine himself " Captain Foster

lums

are

of precisely

relates,

that

was furnished with two

invariable Pendu-

the same form and construction as those

which had been employed by Captain Kayter and myself. Both Pendulums were vibrated at all the stations, but, from some cause

which Mr. Bailey was unable

of one of

them was

explain, the observations

so discordant at South Shetland as

require

their rejection."*

The Pendulum for the

declines,

therefore, to stand sponsor

supposed Rotation of the Earth.

SECTION

SUPPOSED MANIFESTAtlON OF THE ROTATION OF THE EARTH. In 1851 M. Foucault made a strong of the

effort, by means Pendulum, to prove the Rotation of the Earth

* " Figure of the Earth,"

by Johannes Von Gumpach

;

and Edition, pp. ng-iH-

SUPPOSED PROOF OF THE EARTH'S ROTATION. round

its

imEiginaiy axis,

with

hailed

and the attempt was

delight

the

Scientific

for

a while

world.

The

following extract, from an article respecting

it,

appeared

in the Literary Gazette of the day. " Suppose

moving which

Pendulum

the

in a vertical plane

already

from North

described to

South

vibrates to ordinary observation,

;

set

would appear

M. Foucault, however, has succeeded

be stationary.

the place in

showing

that this is not the case, but that the plane itself is slowly

moving round the

fixed point as a centre in a direction con-

trary to the Earth's rotation,

from East

to West.

i.e.,

with the apparent heavens,

His experiments have since been repeated

in the hall of the Observatory, under the superintendence of

M. Arago, and

fully confirmed.

a point be attached to the

weight of a Pendulum by a long and fine wire, capable of turning in all directions, and nearly in contact with the floor of a room, the line

which

ground, and which

may be

will be

round

on the

this point appears to trace

easily followed

by a chalk mark,

found to be slowly, but visibly and continually moving

like the

hand

Many were and other

of a dial."

the experiments

halls

science

made

to test the

the Pantheon truth

this

wonderful experiment, but the indignant Pendulum would

not lend

itself

Earth, for

its

to lure

men

into the belief of a Rotating

vibrations were most variable,

and even

sometimes entirely contrary to what the Newtonians said they ought to be, so that this marvellous experiment,

which was to convince the public at sight, that the world is a Rotating Planet, had to be abandoned with disgust.

rotates

But how could at

the rate

be otherwise?

1,000

miles

per

If the

Earth

hour at the

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

iv.,

sec.

Equator, and in the same space of time goes 65,000

miles

Pendulum,

be an

journey round the

its

under

Sun,

how could any circumstances

disadvantageous

such

ever expected to beat equal vibrations?

would be

impossibility. Hence no proof can be adduced from the Pendulum that the Earth is a spheroid rotating on

an imaginary

Vunch could not miss the opportunity

axis.

of having a joke at the expense of this rotating

with which I shall close

-fiasco,

remarks of the supposed

manifestation of the rotation of the Earth.

" To the Editor "

of Punch,

Sir,

"Allow me to the extraordinary of the Earth,

you

which

to call your serious

and

polite attention

phenomenon demonstrating I at

the present

moment

the rotation

experience, and

yourself or anybody else, I have not the slightest doubt,

would be

satisfied

visible, but I say, fact.

under similar circumstances.

may doubt

sceptical individuals

that the Earth's

from personal observation,

line of a tangent

on a spherical

surface, nor axes, nor apsides, nor anything of the sort. all

rubbish.

All

know

coffee-room going round.

naked eye lant.

a positive

I don't care about latitude or longitude, or a vibratory

pendulum, revolving round the

Some

motion

witness

That

that I see the ceiling of this

perceive this distinctly with the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;only my sight has been sharpened by a slight stimu-

write after

sixth go of

brandy and water, whereof

hand. " SWIGGINS.

"Goose and "P.S.

Gridiron,

May

5, 1851.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;^Why do two waiters come when I only call one? "

RAILWAYS AND EARTH'S CENTRIFUGAL FORCE,

SECTION

RAILWAYS AND EARTH'S CENTRIFUGAL FORCE.

Newtonian

says

"Another proof

of the diurnal

motion of the Earth, has

heen made manifest since the introduction of railways.

railways running due North and South in the Northern hemisphere,

found that there

a greater tendency in the

carriages to run ofi the line to the right than to the left of a

person proceeding from the North to the South, or from the

South to the North in the Northern hemisphere.

the case in all parts of the world

But

this is

lines of railway so placed

whether they are long or short." It

would be

bounce.

difficult

to beat this piece of impertinent

not an

argument, but simple assertion

and assumption, and does not railway

Practical

men

really deserve

an answer.

such a statement as that

treat

above made with contempt, because they know that never has been found true in experience.

Astronomers

call the axis

to rotate " imaginary,'' as

round which the Earth it

That the Earth has no

shown by the

firing of

has no existence in rotation has

Well may is said

fact.

been frequently

a cannon loaded with

ball, fixed

firmly in the ground, in an exactly vertical position.

has been found that, after the cannon has been fired

by a slow match, the

ball

on an average took fourteen

seconds to ascend and fourteen seconds to descend, and that

generally

indeed, in

some

fell

within

instances,

two feet of the cannon, actually returned

to the

TERRA FIRMA.

cannon's

Now,

mouth.

Earth,

the

chap,

iv.,

sec. 4.

stated

Astronomers themselves, moves from West to East, and rotates in the latitude of England,

miles per hour,

of 600

rate

at the

being estimated at 1,000 at the Equator,

the ball should, by their calculations, have fallen

than a mile and a half behind the cannon, instead of

which is

close to

it fell

it,

thus clearly proving that there

rotatory motion in the Earth whatever.

SECTION

THE DECLINATION OF THE POLE

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

STAR.

Our Modem Astronomers have ransacked Creation the Heavens, Earth, and Sea, to discover some real

proof that this world of ours as unsuccessful as

a Planet, but have been

were the prophets of Baal

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

tO'

bring

down fire on Carmel i Kings xviii. 23 28. One of the many alleged proofs they have offered, is the Declination of the Pole Star, as the traveller journeys

They seem

from the North towards the Equator.

unaware that

this

Declination

to be

caused simply by the

law of Perspective, which makes an object appear lower the

further

we recede from

it,

has

been already

explained in the disappearance of ships at sea after their quitting the shore, or of mountains

behind.

The

angle

diminishes the farther at

when we

leave

under which an object

we recede from

a certain point, the line of

uprising surface of the Earth

sight,

them seen

that object, until,

and the apparently

upon or over which

MOTION OF STARS NORTH AND SOUTH. stands, will converge to the angle

The

horizon

seen,

which constitutes the

beyond which the object

vanishing point,

whether from the level of the

balloon three miles high in the the Earth

air,

sea,

invisible.

always a straight line wherever

may be from a

a certain proof that

a Plane and not a Planet.

SECTION

THE MOTION OF STARS NORTH AND SOUTH. It

has been asserted, as another supposed proof of

the rotundity of the Earth, that, as the Great Bear and

sweep around the Northern Polar

other constellations

Southern Cross and other

Star, so the

a small

star in the South, called

however, true,

stars circle

only assertion, not proof, and even

would not

be seen the Pole stars in the

This,

if it

affect the question as regards the

From

of the Earth.

round

Sigma Octantis.

were shape

every meridisui at the Equator can

Star, the

Great Bear and many other

Northern region, but cannot be seen from

the Equator the Southern Cross or the Sigma Octantis,

which ought

tO'

visible

there

there were a South

Cross tUl

James Clarke Ross did not see the Southern he was 8" South of the Equator,* and, in their

scientific

voyage to Brazil in

Pole.

Sir

Spix and Carl "

Von

1817

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;1820,

the 14th June, in Latitude 14" S., *

MM. Von

Martins wrote as follows

" South Sea Voyages," Vol.

we beheld

p. 119.

for the

TERRA FIRMA.

chap,

the

which

Cross,

its

perceived

Again,

"We

navigators

a token of peace,

and,

position, indicates the hours of the night.

had long wished hemisphere,

sec.

Southern heavens,

first time, the glorious constellation of the

according to

iv.,

for the constellation, as a guide to the other

when we

therefore felt inexpressible pleasure

in the resplendent firmament."

Humboldt

saw

says

distinctly,

for the

the Cross of the

time,

first

South on the nights of the 4th and 5th of July, in the i6th degree of Latitude.

from time

to time

was strongly

among the

inclined,

clouds.

and appeared

The pleasure

discerning the Southern Cross was warmly shared in by such of the crew as

Were

had been

in the Colony."

there such a thing as a South Pole

that the Southern Cross

The

nearest approach

of Sir

tO'

why

not visible at the Equator?

that

ever recorded was that

James Clarke Ross in 8"

S.,

and in Longitude

would be seen

far

above the horizoo,

30' W.

Again,

like the Great

Humboldt saw inclined,"

Bear round the Pole it

in Latitude

which means that

and joining with the other

16Â°

Star, whereas, S.,

was

when

" strongly

was

rising in the East,

stars in the great

movement

round the Northern heavens. It is evident,

therefore, that the world is

a Globular Planet than a Pole

shilling

is,

only an unproved assumption of our

Astronomers.

no more

and that a South

Modem

THE PLANET NEPTUNE.

SECTION

THE PLANET NEPTUNE.

When I was a young man, about half a century ago, had read a good deal concerning Astronomy and

Geology, and, although a Poet, one of a class usually allowed to have considerable scope for imagination, I

could never credit the Munchausen fables taught about the

stars

and

rocks.

confess,

however,

that

Modern Astronomy was, for a short time, somewhat shaJcen, when I heard that Dr. Galle of Berlin had discovered a Planet, whose existence had some time previously been independently predicted by M. Le Vender and the late Professor Adams of Camscepticism regarding

bridge. It

seems

that, for

some

time, perturbations

had been

observed in the Planet Uranus, and these Astronomers

thought that they must have been occasioned by some planet

beyond

paeans

Uranus,

The whole

accordingly.

triumph

appearance of

this

and

made

scientific

sounded

calculations

their

world was elated, and all

directions

newly found planet

And

at I

the

must

say I was not surprised, for sadly did our Astronomers

need some peg on which to hang a proof of the rotundity of the world.

long before as

But, unfortunately for them,

this

was not

supposed proof died a natural death,

was soon ascertained that Neptune, the

lately

discovered planet, did not at all answer to any of the

TERRA FIRMA.

94 calculations

made

respecting

it,

chap,

sec.

iv.,

as the following extract

from The Times of i8th September, 1848,

show

will

" Paris, September 15, 1848.

"The

Academy

only sittings of the

practical

nth

character,

inst.

were

those

the former day

cation respecting the planet

this

29th

the

which there

of late in

was anything worth recording, and even

was not

M. Rabinet made a communiNeptune, which has generally

been called M. Le Verrier's planet, the discovery of as

having,

has been said, been made by him, by theoretical deduc-

which astonished and delighted the

tions

What M. Le planets, least so

of it

some body which ought

was said

at the time,

communication Verrier.

Sun equal

M. Rabinet, that

He had

was

to exist

by actual

vision.

public.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;at

verified

Neptune was

and the honours But

Theorist obtained additional lustre.

M. Le

scientific

Verrier had inferred, from the action in other

actually seen by other Astronomers,

the

of a

and the

ult.

of the

appears from a

this is not the planet of

placed the planet at a distance from

to thirty-six times the limit of the terrestrial

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Neptune

orbit

of these limits,

revolves at a distance equal to thirty times

which makes

million of leagues!

difference of nearly two hundred

M. Le Verrier had assigned

to his planet

a body equal to thirty-eight times that of the Earth, Neptune

has only one-third of the volume

M. Le Verrier had

the revolution of his planet round the

Sun

two hundred and seventeen years, Neptune performs tion

Neptune

one is

hundred

and

sixty-six

years

not M. Le Verrier's planet, and

regards that planet

falls

find another planet, but

which he had made

Thus we

to the ground. it

will

stated

to take place in

its

Thus,

all his

revoluthen,

theory as

M. Le Verrier may

not answer the calculations

for Neptune.''

see that the supposed prediction respecting

THE PLANET NEPTUNE.

the planet Neptune, instead of being a proof of the truth of

Modern Astronomy, has only been instrumental

But even

driving

another big nail into

Verrier's

calculations

coffin.

its

had been

right,

might possibly have propped up for a

little

while

they

longer the

tottering fabric of this " science falsely so called," they

could not avert

its

ultimate

fall.

They

of the world's globularity, for there

afford

is no'

no proof

necessary con-

nection whatever between the size and revolution of a Planet, and the figure and stability of the Earth.

CHAPTER

THE WORLD CIRCULAR BUT NOT GLOBULAR; HAS IMMOVABLE FOUNDATIONS. THEREFORE NOT A PLANET. PAGS

SECTION 1.

Relative proportion of Land and Water

The Compass

......

a proof that the

A Planet 3.

Earth

not

Dangers of Navigation in Sodthern Seas, caused by the theory that the World is Globular

The

The Earth stretched out upon the waters,

revolution of the Earth ROUND the Sun proved to be untrue

which have an impassable Circumference 6.

102

supposed

The

Earth

proved Foundations

to -

have

Immovable 117

SECTION

108

THE RELATIVE PROPORTION OF LAND AND WATER.

When

I call

the idea that as a ball, the

meanings.

the

it is

World

Circular, I

mean

two adjectives having entirely

Again,

convey

Circular as a basin, but not Globular

when

distinctive

speak of the Earth or dry

RELATIVE PROPORTION OF LAND AND WATER. land

Homontal,

being

absolutely, as its

Mount

tion of its being a perfect Plane.

highest part of the Himalayan range,

about

and a half

five

but this

a mere

trifle

extent of the Earth.

above the

miles,

not

relatively

mountains at once refute the

supptosi-

Everest, the feet, or

29,000

level of the sea,

comparison with the vast

It is estimated

that that portiooi

of the Earth constituting the Continents of Europe, Asia,,

and Africa

about 10,800 miles in breadth, and that

the length of North and South America miles, besides

which there

about 8,200

the large, but

much

smaller

Continent of Australia, and islands innumerable, of great

The

and small degree. land above

sfea level is

The whole

average height of the whole-

considered to be about 1,000

feet.

surface of the world is reckoned to be-

about two hundred million square miles, of which threetenths

Some

and others only the

stated

authorities

sounded places

greatest

one-fourth,,

expanse of

any ocean as yet

Pacific,

where in some

over four thousand fathoms, which

more than four and a appear that the

for the

may be Professor W. as

from which

half miles,

little

would

irregularities of the sea are not so great

as those of the land. that,

land

depth

found to be in the

it is

the

one-fifth in proportion to the

The

water.

be land and seven-tenths water.*"

estimate

most seen

part,

has been supposed, indeed,

the great ocean beds are

flat,

from the following quotation from

B. Carpenter's work, "

The Deep Sea and

its contents "

" Nothing seems to have struck the *

"The

Challenger's

surveyors

Library Atlas," William Collins, Sons & Co., Limited Glasgow, London, and Edinburgh. ;

TERRA FIRMA

chap,

v., sec. 2.

more than the extraordinary flatness (except in the neighbourof the Earth's crust

hood of land) of that depressed portion which forms the fioor of the ocean area."

This compaxative

flatness

of the

vast

ocean beds

will account for the calm, regular flow of the immense

currents of the Great

Deep

and proves beyond

doubt

become shallower â&#x20AC;˘"

where

the

that

It is also

Planetary Globe.

ference,

to be referred to afterwards,

Earth

not

noteworthy that the oceans

in the vicinity of the Southern Circum-

the

soundings

the

Erebus

and

From Great Deep

Terror " varied from 400 to only 200 fathoms.*

this it

would appear that the waters of the

are contained in a vast circular rocky basin, and confirms

the Scriptural statement that the Earth " the seas and established

upon the

SECTION

floods "

founded upon Psa. xxiv.

THE COMPASS A PROOF THAT THE EARTH A PLANET.

NOT

Our Modem Astronomers have strained every nerve make p>eople believe that the Earth is a Globulai Of the many proofs which may be given that Planet. to

not,

it is

one of the simplest and

best, after those derived

from Scripture and the incontrovertible fact of the levelness of the sea,

Had it,

obtained from the Mariner's Compass.

the Astronomers, or their disciples, only consulted

they

would soon have been convinced, from the

following reasons, that the Earth *

"Imperial Gazetteer,"

not a Planet but a

article "Antarctic," p. 165.

THE COMPASS PROVES EARTH NOT A PLANET. The

Plane.

needle of this most important instrument

two ends pointing North and South at the

is straight, its

same

time,

consequently the meridians must be straight

lines also;

whereas, on a Globe, they aie semi-circles.

Even

Equator the needle points

at the

straight,

which

would be impossible, were that the mid-way of a vast convex Globe,

in such case, the one end would dip

as,

towards the North, and the other be pointed towards Again, the navigator,

the sky.

when he goes

to sea,

takes his observations, and relies on the Comp>ass to

guide him as to the direction in which he wishes to

proceed

;

he does not provide himself with the model of

a Globe, which, be the

maps or if

the world were a Globe, would surely

him

safest plan for

charts.

Thus, in

to adopt, but he takes practice,

sails his

fiat

ship as

the sea were horizontal, though in theory he had been

erroneously taught that I

shall

it is

convex.

not enter into a discussion respecting t^e

deviation or declination of the

Compass

in certain places,

especially in very high latitudes, the cause of which has

not yet been satisfactorily explained.

The

late

Astronomer Royal, Sir George B. Airy, says

in his treatise "

on Magnetism

the whole

we must

express our opinion that the general

cause of the Earth's magnetism

still

remains one of the mysteries

of cosmical physics."

Professor

Newmayer remarks

"That without an examination and survey of the magnetic it was utterly hopeless to

properties of the Antarctic regions, strive

with any prospects of success at the advancement of the

theory of the Earth's magnetism."

do not expect, however, that such examination, which,

TERRA FIRMA.

loo

indeed, should have been to clear

up the mystery

The

chap,

made long

ago, will

sec. 2.

v.,

do much

of the magnet.

Compass into Europe is of most probably the first application of it there was made by Marcus Paulus, a Venetian, who had travelled in China, and brought back introduction of the

comparatively

date;

recent

What

the invention from that country in 1260. this conjecture

is,

as stated under the article "

confirms

Compass

in the Encylopsedia Britannica

" That at

first

as the Chinese

they used the Compass in the same manner

still

do,

i.e.,

they

let it float

on a

little

piece of

added that their Emperor Chiningus, a celebrated Astrologer, had a knowledge of it

on a

cork, instead of

pivot.

It is

1,120 years before Christ."

The

Phoenicians,

and the

their

Cassiterides,

long voyages

they

and from Tarshish

their three-year expeditions to

and Ophir.*

its use,

when

as also the Israelites in the time of Solomon,

made

Carthage

must doubtless have known

Modems, who deem themselves " so very many things, mere parvenus

" in science, are, in

advanced

to the Ancients.

Our Astronomers,

as also all

the use of the Compass, its tell

who

are acquainted with

when

that,

us,

the

Earth

axis,

continuously

twenty-four

turning

North

as they

round

its

Sun upwards

of five

sixty millions of miles every year, it follows,

as a matter of course, that the needle

the

if,

thousand miles every day,

well as travelling around the

hundred and

undisturbed,

Now

needle always points to the North.

imaginary as

know

as being in every part of

heavens, during the time occupied * I

Kings

X. II, 22; 2

would point out tJie

circuit of the

by the Earth

Chron.

x. 21.

its

THE COMPASS PROVES EARTH NOT A PLANET. supposed revolutions; so

that, in this case, the

Magnetic

would be a

Pole, instead of being a specific point,

loi

vast

circle.

But the North does not

leave

that particular locality which

under the Pole or North

situate immediately

The Compass,

habitat

its

Star,

carried round with the world, while

its

and

being

needle would

still

point to the North, would consequently cease to be of any service whatever in showing the true direction by

land or sea j for the

whims its

its

North of

occupation, like Othello's, would be gone,

not change

will

Modem

God

place was fixed by

—there

now

—and

heavens be no more

position to suit the

Under the Pole

before the creation of

there

Job and the works that are therein

2 Pet

its

Astronomers.

remain "

will

xiv. 12,

and

shall

" the

Star

Adam

till

the

Earth also

be burned up

Hi. 10.

Notwithstanding

our Astronomers

this

still

persist

in teaching the Earth's axial motion, and its revolution

round the Sun, theories which,

true,

would, for the

reasons above given, result in the utter obliteration of all

locality,

engulfment of

North, all

one universal chaos. Jacob

—Gen.

O my

xlix.

soul,

To what depths the Word of God

and West, and the

such I would exclaim with

enter not thou into their secret for poor Astronomic

Alas!

East,

South,

the distinctive landmarks of nature in

of folly

does

for fables.

descend when

The

fact of the

Science! it

rejects

Compass

needle always pointing to the North, like the fact of

water invariably finding

its

own

level, conclusively

—a

that the Earth is stationary

and not a revolving Planet.

proves

veritable Terra Firma,

TERRA FIRMA.

SECTION

chap,

v.,

sec. 3.

DANGERS OF NAVIGATION IN SOUTHERN SEAS, CAUSED BY THE THEORY THAT THE

WORLD Modem shipping in

GLOBULAR.

Astronomers have caused great danger to Southern

by inducing the Nautical

Seas,

on the we look at

Authorities to frame their tables of Navigation

assumption that the world

any globe we see that at the

its

Globular.

circumference

middle than at any other

the

world

the

part.

Equator

Astronomers as being about 25,000

If is

always greater

The

circumference

our

statute, miles,

and

estimated

consequently longitudes decrease contintiously from that line to

what they

upon the

call

the North and South Poles.

principle, as taught

observation, that the world

not a Planet, but consists

of vast masses of land stretched out "

the

North

But,

by Scripture and common

upon

being the centre of the system,

level

it is

seas,

evident

that the degrees of longitude will gradually increase in

width the whole way from the North centre to the icy

boundary of the great Southern Circumference.

In con-

sequence of the difference between the actual extent of

them by the Nautical Cape of Good Hope, has been estimated to amount to a great number of miles, many Ship-masters have lost their longitudes and that allowed for

Authorities,

which

reckoning, and

difference, at the latitude of the

many

vessels

have been wrecked.

DANGERS OF NAVIGATION Parallax,

able

his

previously mentioned,

but the whole shall confine

SOUTHERN " Zetetic

work

SEAS.

103

Astronomy,"

has gone fully into this matter,

too long for

quotation

here,

myself only to a few of the more important

particulars

"In laying the Atlantic cable from the Great Eastern steamer in i865 the distance from Valencia, on the South-

Western coast of Ireland, to Trinity Bay, in Newfoundland,

was found 30'

to be 1,665 miles.

The longitude

W., and of Trinity Bay 53° 30' W.

The

of Valencia is 10"

difference of longi-

tude between the two places being 43', and the whole distance

round the earth being divided into 360°-

Hence,

43° be

found to be 1,665 nautical or 1942 statute miles, 360° will be 13.939 nautical or 16,262 statute miles tion

i!,556

radius to circumference,

statute

then taking the propor-

;

we have

nautical or

2,200

miles as the actual distance from Valencia in

Ireland to the Polar centre of the earth's surface."

The above reckoning was

p. 91.

corroborated almost exactly

United

States

"the difference of longitude between Heart's Content

station,

by Mr.

Gould,

Coast Surveyor to the

Government, who ascertained

Newfoundland, and that

at Valencia, or in other words, be-

tween the extreme points of the Atlantic cable

—to be

2 hours,

51 minutes, 56.5 seconds."*

The Sun passes over

the earth, and returns to the same

point in twenty-four hours. seconds,

in 2 hours, 51 minutes, 56.5

passes from the meridian of the Valencia end of the

cable to that of the termination at Heart's Content, a distance of 1,942 statute miles,

hours?

On making

how

the

far will

calculation,

travel in twenty-four

the

answer

* Liverpool Mercury, 8th January, 1867.

16,265

TERRA FIRMA.

I04

The

statute miles.

"In

Icxjk at

first

Almanac

the Australian

page

process."

which

Sydney

50'

05"

Sydney 33"

51'

Almanac

and longitude 174°

45"

S.,

given as 1,315 miles

equal to 1,534 statute miles.

of the Australian

for 1871, page 126,* the distance

H.M.S. Acheron, communicates the 36°

p. 92.

a Southern Longitude

from Auckland (New Zealand) nautical measure,

v., sec. 3.

result is only three miles greater distance

than that obtained by the

Let US now

chap,

for 1859, Captain Sloper,

latitude

and longitude 151°

;

34'

latitude of

The

15" E.

16'

difference in longitude or time distance, is 23° lating as in the case of Valencia to

Auckland

40'' E.

51'

25", calcu-

Newfoundland, we

find that

23° 34' 25" represents 1,534 statute miles, 360° will give 23,400 statute miles as the circumference of the earth at the latitude

of Sydney, Auckland,

and the Cape of Good Hope.

Hence

the radius or distance from the centre of the north to the is,

round numbers, 3,720 miles.

in the same way,

find that

above places

Hope

is fully

from Sydney

to the

8,600 statute miles."

pp. 93, 94.

Longitudes

farther

regaids

still

Calculating

Cape

Good

South Parallax

writes as follows " Having seen that the diameter of the Earth's surface

taking the distance from Auckland in

and thence

Cape

to the

7,440 statute miles

;

we may

New

Good Hope, inquire

how

Zealand, to Sydney, as a far

datum

it is

arc

—

from any of

the above places to the great belt of ice which surrounds the

Southern oceans.

Although large ice islands and icebergs are

met with a few degrees beyond Cape Horn, what may be

often

called the solid, immovable ramparts of ice seem to be as far

south as 78 degrees. *

In a paper read by Mr. Locke before the

Published by Gordon

Gotch, London, Sydney, and Melbourne.

DANGERS OF NAVIGATION

SOUTHERN

SEAS.

105

Royal Dublin Society, on Friday evening, November 19th, i860, and printed in the Journal of that Society, a map is given representing Antarctic discoveries, on which

posed exploration

route,'

the third paragraph

diagram No.

traced

'pro-

by Captain Maury, U.S.A.; and in said:

request attention to the

representing an approximate tracing of the

supposed Antarctic continent, and showing the steamer track, about twelve days from Port Philip, the chief naval station of the Austral seas, to ravine,

some available landing

point, bight or

under the shadow of the precipitous

steamer's track

map

given on this

The

coast.'

in a dotted line, curving

eastwards from 150 degrees to 180 degrees longitude, and from Port Philip to 78 degrees south latitude. of such an arc,

take the chord

shall find that the direct distance

from Port

Philip to jS degrees south would be about nine days' ten days' from Sydney.

ordinary steamer would

sail,

sail

such latitudes more than 150 miles a day; hence ten times 150

would be

which added

to the previous ascertained

would make the

total radius of the earth,

1,500 miles;

radius at Sydney,

from the northern centre

to the farthest

cumference,

statute

5,224

known southern Thus,

miles.

practical data, setting all theories aside,

it is

cir-

from purely

ascertained that

the diameter of the earth, from the Ross Mountains, or from the

volcanic mountains of which

Mount Erebus

same radius distance on the opposite centre, is

more than

10,400 miles

;

the chief, to the

side of the northern

and the circumference, 32,800

statute miles." pp. 97, gf.

In consequence of the difference between

fact

and

theory, as exemplified by the actual extent of longitudes

in Southern seas greatly exceeding the calculations

Official Authorities,

tion

that

the world

made

which are based on the supposiglobular,

instead

of horizontal,

TERRA FIRMA.

io6

many

chap,

have been

valuable lives and vessels

who have been educated know not how tO' account for

Ship-captains, theory,

much

out of their course in

generally put futile,

down

sacrificed.

in the globular their

getting so

and

Southern latitudes,

but this reason

to currents;

may

although currents

for

v., sec. 3,

and

usually run in opposite directions,

they

do not

vessels

are fre-

exist,

Even

quently wrecked, whether sailing East or West.

James Clarke Ross, R.N.,

such an astute navigator as Sir

remarks in his " South Sea Voyages " " We found ourselves every day from twelve to sixteen miles

by observation "

By our

in advance of our reckoning."

observations at noon

we found

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

^Vol. I., p. 96.

ourselves fifty-eight

miles to the eastward of our reckoning in two days."

As proof from

that

much danger

great nautical mistake

this

of longitudes

Southern

seas,

p. 27.

and property

life

respecting the I

arises

extent

beg to subjoin the

following testimony from independent sources " In the Southern hemisphere navigators to India have often

fancied themselves east of the

Cape when

still

west,

and have

been driven ashore on the African coast, which, according to their reckoning, lay behind them.

This misfortune happened

to a fine frigate the Challenger in 1845."*

How came Her

Majesty's ship Congueror to be lost?

have so many other noble

vessels, perfectly

navigated, been wrecked in

manned,

How

perfectly

calm weather, not only in a dark

night, or in a fog, but in broad daylight

and sunshine

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;in the

former case upon the coasts, in the latter upon sunken rocks

from being

now have

out of reckoning,' under circumstances which until

baffled every satisfactory explanation. "t "

t "

Tour through Creation," by Rev, Thomas Milner, M.A. Figure of the Earth," p. ao6, by Von Gumpach,

DANGERS OF NAVIGATION

SOUTHERN

SEAS.

107

"Assuredly there are many shipwrecks from alleged errors of reckoning,

which may

arise

from a somewhat

false idea of

the general form and measurement of the Earth's surface a

subject,

cussed."

therefore,

;

such

ought to be candidly and boldly

dis-

So long as our Nautical Authorities continue under the mesmerism of Modem Astronomers, we may expect but little, if any, change in the Laws of Navigation, and, as for the Astronomers,

judging from the past, there

much chance

does not seem

not impossible that even from

spirits

may

arise,

of amendment.

Still,

among them, some brave

common

who, for the sake of our

humanity, will break the bonds of theory by grasping the

sword of that the

and

fact.

would respectfully and earnestly suggest

Government

appoint

itself

should take up the matter,

competent

Committee

world

Globular or Horizontal.

Committee are honest,

would

who'

as to whether the

thoroughly investigate the subject,

men

If the

of that

and willing to determine the

question by their appeal to facts, corroborated by actual

demonstration, as slightest

weU

doubt that the

by Scripture, result

have not the

of their verdict would

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

that the Earth is a Terra Firma, stretched out

the horizontal waters of the Great Deep.

ment

could

then

give

instructions

Nautical

the

Authorities at the Board of Trade, to

amend

of Navigation accordingly, just as in

1862, the

Lords and

Commons

issued an Order that

their

all

The BuUdtr, 90th September

1862,

Laws

Houses

Railways

were to be constructed on a Datum Horizontal without allowing one inch for curvature.

The Govern-

line

TERRA FIRMA.

io8

SECTION

chap,

v.,

sec. 4,

THE SUPPOSED REVOLUTION OF THE EARTH

AROUND THE SUN PROVED TO BE UNTRUE. Mr. Laing, on page 122 of " Modern Science and

Modem

Thought,"

"The miles,

tells

us that

distance of the Earth from the

and

its orbit

Mid-Winter, in round numbers,

from the spot where

was

it is

true

93 million

there

would,

altogether fabulous.

by observation, be

covered a difference in the relative position of the

but there

in,

186 million miles distant

Mid-Summer."

Such revolution of the Earth wiere

Sun being

ellipse nearly circular, it follows that

disstars,

This fact was one of Tycho Brahe's

not.

chief objections against the theory of a revolving Earth.

Experiments were tried in

months to

test if there

his

was any

day at intervals of

six

difference, but, after the

keenest scrutiny, none was found, thus proving the Earth to be stationary.

Tychoi Brahe was not only a great

Astronomer, but an honest man, and dared, in spite of all

toi speak what he believed to be true. we had a few more like him now; in such would soon be a change in Astronomic and

opposition,

Would

that

case there

Geograpliic text-books, as far as regards the figure of

the world.

Mr. Laing attempts an explanation, as follows "Their

(the

stars)

distance

so vastly greater than 186

million miles, that a change of basis to this extent makes no

REVOLUTION OF EARTH SHOWN TO BE UNTRUE.

109

change perceptible to the most refined instruments in their bearing as seen from the Earth."

Nil

Dicit,

his explanation is simply

presumed measurements of a stars,

and

hjave

are,

bjeen

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

made on an

entirely erroneotts

therefore, not of the slightest value.

objection against the revolution of the Earth to

The

^nothing.

few, apparently the nearest,

be as valid now, as when he proved

basis,

Tycho's is

known more

truth

its

than 300 years ago, and the subterfuge used to evade

is utterly futile.

Our Modem Astronomers were at first of opinion Sun was the Centre of the Universe, but in later

that the

years, as has

been already observed, most,

not

all

those whose ideas respecting the infinite have become

now

very considerably enlarged, subsidiary

itself,

They

Solar system.

mere

although

satellite of

still

think the

feel the

motion?

like myself,

at the

Dear Reader, do

trow not, for

would not so quietly be reading you have been,

to be a

consider the Earth to be a

the Sun, and to revolve around

rate of eighteen miles per second!

you

Sun

the Baal or Lord of the

book.

you I

did,

you

doubt not

on a railway platform when

an express train rushed wildly past at the rate of per hour, when the concussion of the

sixty-

air

almost

terrible

would

be the shock of the Earth's calculated motion of five thousand miles per hour, one thousand times

sixty-

five miles

knocked you down.

But how much more

faster

than the speed of the railway express. Astronomers try to evade the argument that persons would be killed thereby, by saying that, as the air goes around with the

Sun, the shock would not be felt, but this will not meet the facts of the case, for thousands of people travel from

TERRA FIRMA.

East to West, which

chap,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;so

that

^from

West

such travellers would have to bear the

whole force of the concussion. deaths,

sec.

directly contrary to the course

which Astronomers say the Earth takes East

v.,

Happily, however, no

resulting from such a catastrophe, have as yet

been recorded in the columns of The Times or Telegraph, so that

would decidedly seem that the tremendous

revolution of the Earth, whirling round the Sun, were a

mere phantom

What

of the Astronomic brain.

about

That

floats

The lazy-pacing cloud, upon the bosom of the air? "

According to the dictum of science,

should, with the

speed of lightning, follow the atmosphere of the Earth

round the Sxm, but "

moves

as.

The boy, with

slowly as

satchel

his back.

Creeping like snail unwillingly to school."

What about

the lark which, at early of luscious

trilling its lays

melody?

mom,

Why

swept away in the tumultuous atmosphere?

soars

aloft,

was

But

it still

not

continues singing, in happy ignorance of any commotion in

the

Summer

heavens.

Who

has not noticed,

on a calm

day, the thistIfr<iowii floating listlessly in the

and the smoke ascending,

straight

as an

arrow,

air,

from

Would not such light things as smoke have to obey the impulse and go with the Earth also? But they do not. I am sure that neither Mr. Coxwell and his companion, nor, indeed, any other asronauts, would ever have ventured into the car of a the peasant's cottage? thistle-do*n and

balloon,

they thought they would run the risk of being

carried round

atmosphere

the Sun by the resistless force of the

accompanying

the

Earth.

Yet

such,

THE EARTH STRETCHED UPON THE WATER,

iii

according to the law of science, would undoubtedly be the case with respect to the balloon, but, whether the bodies of the unfortunate aeronauts would continue to

be carried round the Sun,

Ixion on the wheel, or

whether, becoming melted by the heat, like the wax on the wings of Icarus, they would is

a question which

decide,

and prefer leaving

fall

not

into the gulf below,

sufficiently

learned

for discussion at an early

meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society. It is evident, therefore,

there

no revolution

from the above reasons, that

of the Earth around the Sun.

SECTION

THE EARTH STRETCHED UPON THE WATERS, WHICH HAVE AN IMPASSABLE CIRCUMFERENCE. If the

Reader

will

kindly look at the

Map

at the

beginning of this book, he will see that the centre of this

world

that part

which our Astronomers

call

the

no very great distance, Europe, Asia, and North America the Continents of commence their far-extending masses amid vast oceans North Pole, around which,

towards the great icy barriers of the Southern Circumference, which

no human being has ever

yet passed.

According to the teaching of the Bible, the Earth

STRETCHED OUT UPON THE WATERS ItTUgO he arets ol hi-mim Fsa. cxxxvi. 6. Zeruqo comes from the verb

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

TERRA FIRMA.

112

chap,

hence the noun

re^o, to stretch out, extend, or expand,

expanse of the

reqio, the finnament, or the stretched out

There

no idea whatever of globularity in the simply means " stretched out " or " spread

heavens.

word,

v., sec. 5.

This we may see by the following quotations— They did beat into thin plates the gold " veriqou at pehhe

abroad." "

—Exod.

htzehheb

xxxix.

Again

that

spread

abroad the Earth and that whiqh cometh out of

SpeaMng

Isa. xlii. 5.

among

the Temanite, said to Job

measure thereof

of the greatness of God, Zophar,

other similitudes

—

" the

longer than the Earth and broader

than the Sea" question

Job xi. g, and Jehovah asks Job the Hast thou considered the breadth of the

—

Earth ? "

There

Job xxxviii. 18.

spheroddity in

measures of length and breadth.

upon the waters

Farther, this stretching out the Earth

was done by God alone

by Myself" Earth

re^o

—

he arets meati

fortuitous

out the Earth

" that stretcheth

concourse

Isa.

xliv.

atoms,

24..

The

some

suppose, nor an off-shoot from the Sun, as thought by others, nor even

metamorphosed from that

when of

Professor Thomson,

Glasgow audience

indeed,

most

wonderful

Lord Kelvin,

stone," with the mythic account of which.

weak nerves That was, shot from some

astonished the

some years

" wonderful

stone,"

ago.

ruptured body in the heavens, containing germs which, in the course of unfxjdd millions of years,

into varying forms of life

and

were evolved

usefulness, until at last

the " wonderful stone " became this beautiful world of ours!

With

this

marvellous

great goddess Diana, which, Jupiter,

stone

was

the

image of the

said, fell

down from

was nothing whatever in comparison.

Let us

THE EARTH STRETCHED UPON THE WATER. hear the

Word

things;

that

—

God

am Jehovah

" I

out

stretcheth

maketh

that

heavens

the

113 all

that

aJone,

spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself; that frustrateth the tokens of the

liars, and maketh diviners mad; that tumeth wise men backward, and maketh their know-

ledge foolish "

The

waters under

of course,

has,

it;

read that the

were commanded as follows

Israelites

Isa. xliv. 24, 25.

Earth, being thus " stretched upon the waters,"

Thou

shalt not

make unto thee any graven image,

or any

likeness of any thing that is in the Earth beneath, or that

under the Earth"

the waters

shalt not

waters could

—but

the Earth

any

or any likeness of

Heaven above, or on the Earth beneath, or that

in the waters beneath the

Planet

—"Thou

and again

4.;

make thee any graven image,

thing that is

Exod. xx.

waters

Earth "

—Deut.

v. 8.

under a revolving

possibly exist exist

under the Earth

—therefore

not a revolving Planet.

In Isaiah

xl.

upon or over

Hebrew word

22 God

(pt)

" the

poetically described as sitting circle

there used for circle

The

Earth."

the is

hhoog, a circle or

circumference, not a globe, and the Greek word used to translate

the same passage in the

no word

circle

fact is that

for " globe " or " sphere " occurs in the Bible

from beginning to end. read,

Septuagint

The

guros, a circle, not sphaira, a sphere.

Again, in Proverbs

be-hhegoo hhoog ol pent tehoom, "

upon the face

the

deep,"

viii.

when

27,

referring

set a

the

impassable ice barriers of the great Southern Circumference.

This

—"He

corroborated by Job xxvi. 10

hath described a circumference upon the face of the 8

TERRA FIRMA.

114

unto the boundary

waters, or,

Young

as Dr.

translates it

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

The word here used

darkness "

with

light

a limit hath

on the waters, unto the boundary of

v., sec. 5.

chap,

placed

light with darkness."

"boundary" or "limit"

for

hhoog, the same as described as " circle " or " circumference," as previously noted.

Before there

leaving

subject

this

Circumference,

the

one other passage in the Authorised Version of

the Bible to which

made a

would

been

like to refer, as it has

pretext for believing the theory of the Earth

round

whirling

Sun.

the

stretcheth out- the

North over

empty

tTie

hangeth the Earth upon nothing

Hebrew

tehoo

belimeh,

the

neteh

tsephoon

proper

translation

follows

The

tehleh

which

He and

place,

Job xxvi.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

arets

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

spreadeth out the North over the desolate' place (the abyss

waters),

fastenings."

and

am much

supporteth surprised

translators of the Authorised

such a distinguished

upon

Earth

the that

not

only

scholar as

the late

Dr.

Robert

Young, could have made such a strange mistake, say that is

distinctly contradicts

many

as to

hangeth the Earth upon nothing," which

common the Word

neither a proper rendering nor

which in

God

the

and Revised Versions, but

sense of

;

God

besides

which,

other places, declares that the Earth rests

upon Foundations.

There must be a support for any

thing that hangs, and our

Modem

Astronomers were not

long in taking advantage of the above mistranslation by saying that, as

was impossible for such a heavy mass

itself, the passage must mean Sun by the force of Gravitation. examination of two words in the original

as the Earth to stand by that

But a

whirls round the little

TERRA FIRMA.

ii6

application of

"What can

chap,

v., sbc. 5.

which he makes when he says

this

mean but

between which the Earth

the columns of light and

suspended (comp.

which, like the two leins of a bridle, hold the expression) the mighty steed within

its

(if

it.

may be

spirit,

and

8),

allowed

circular course."*

That Paxkhurst, from the "Record an excellent man, there

Sam.

of his Life," was

every reason to believe, and

was a profound scholar we know, but he was

that he

and held peculiar views as to the movements by means of conflicting ethers, which he drags in on every possible occasion. I cannot here a Hutchinsonian,

Earth's

enter

into

his

untenable,

but

examine

to an able

The

work by Mr.

be quite

A. Macdonald,

a Critique and an

" Analytical

Hebrew and Chaldee

" also gives the

bind,

and the Bible ;

Argument." f Bagster's

authority,

consider

would refer any who might wish to

Principia

Lexicon

which

theory,

bridle,"

meaning

and

of the verb belem, " to

informed,

reliable

that Breslau also derives belimeh from belem

to fasten, but I have not his Lexicon at

hand to

verify

the fact myself. It

is,

therefore, evident

that the real

God

from the above examination,

meaning of belimeh

supports the Earth

upon

in Job xxvi. y

fastenings,

or,

that

other

words, upon "foundations," the truth of which will be fully will

confirmed in the following Section, in which

be seen that the Earth

not only stretched out

upon the waters which have an impassable circumference, but

that

has

Immovable Foundations,

therefore

CANNOT BE A PLANET. * Parkhurst's Hebren Lexicon, p. 65, 8th Edition Bridge Street, London. t Judd Sl Glass,

New

;

& J.

Rivington, London,

THE EARTH HAS IMMOVABLE FOUNDATIONS.

SECTION

117

THE EARTH PROVED TO HAVE IMMOVABLE FOUNDATIONS. "The "

—

The foundations

rebuke of Jehovah

Declare

it.

when

" The world also Psa.

xviii. 75.

understanding.

Who

determined

the

sockets

\yestdtK)

to sink? or

—

upon the

floods "

upon the is

made

/06 xxxviii.

and estab-

seas,

Psa. xxiv.

established that

who

cannot be moved "

xciii. t and. xcvi. 10.

"Of Psa.

the

thou knowest? or who stretched the line

He hath founded

lished (yeboeneneh)

foundations of the Earth?

I laid the

" laid the corner-stone thereof? "

and Psa.

xxii. 16,

Whereupon were the

it?

set

world were discovered

of the

thou hast

measures thereof

upon

Sam.

2 Sam.

" Where wast thou

He hath

Earth are the Lord's, and

pillars of the

the Earth upon them "

old hast

cii.

"He moved

(vetomed)

Earth"—

laid the foundation of the

25.

founded the Earth upon

for ever "

Thou

Psa.

its

bases that

cannot be

civ. 5.

hast established (kunenet) the Earth and

abideth"

—Psa. cxix. go.

"Jehovah

wisdom

founded

the

(yisti)

Earth"

Pro. Hi. ig-

When He

gress His of the

gave the sea

its

bound, that

should not trans-

commandment, when He appointed

Earth "—Pro.

the foundations

viii. eg.

" For the windows on high are open, and the foundations of the Earth do shake "—Isa. xxiv.

i8.

TERRA FIRMA.

ii8

"Have ye not understood from Earth?"—/ja. xl. zi.

chap,

v., sec. 6.

the foundations (musduf)

of the

"Yea, mine hand hath laid the foundation of the Earth" Isa. xlviii. 13.

" If

Heaven above can be measured, and the foundations

the Earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off

seed of Israel for

all

they have done, saith Jehovah"

all that

the

—

Jer. xxxi. 57.

" Hear,

ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy, and ye

enduring foundations of the Earth "

Mic.

foundation (katabole) of the world "

used in

this

vi. z.

things which have been kept secret from the

I will utter

Matt.

xiii. 35.

down," see Heb.

xi.

The word

literally "

passage for foundation means

a casting

Parkhurst in his Greek and English

11.

Lexicon, p. 299,* writes as follows " If katabole in this expression be understood strictly in this sense,

seem

will

laying

kosmou to the Hebrew

which

the Earth,

" Inherit the

Hebrew

parallel to the

foundation,

and

the

arets

yesed,

whole

The blood

of all the prophets

foundation of the world " " For

world " "

Thou John

Even

world"

lovedst

Luke

tou

Old Testament,"

&o.

for you, pro katabole kosmou,

before the foundation of the world "

katabole

laying the foundations of

several times used in the

Kingdom prepared

yesed, founding or

phrase

Matt. xxv. 34.

which was shed from the

xi. 50.

(fro) before

the foundation of the

xvii. 24.

Eph.

chose us in

Him

before the foundation of the

" Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of

the

Earth"—H(!i.

10.

" Who was fore-ordained, indeed, before the foundation of the

world"

—

/ Pet.

zo.

* Edition, 1851,

Longman &

Co.,'

London.

THE EARTH HAS IMMOVABLE FOUNDATIONS. "Whose names Lamb,

"And

they

that

There

may

of the

on the Earth

dwell

whose names were not written foundation of the world" Rev.

still

—Granting

wonder,

they

of Life from the

xvii. 8.

that the Earth has foundations, fixed,

there

for

water by which the Earth could be firmly

—the

answer

this

the Earth was fixed

from

Scriptures

—

true

the waters or seas, but that

(ol)

other

Bible does not say that it

upon or over them, which we know

was founded positively

JRev. xiii. 8.

however, one question which the enquirer

is,

ask

stability in

held?

of Life of the

shall

Book

the

what are these foundations

Book world"

are not written in the

from the foundation

slain

119

mentioned

previously

undkr the Earth What difficulty would there

the

waters

Exod. XX. 4; Deut. v. 8. be for God, who made the strong firmament of the

Heavens above, and with whom

—Mar.

things are possible

all

" 23, except to " deny Himself

ix.

z Tim.

it.

13,

to form such a vast basin of impregnable rocks as would

Great Deep?

contain the whole waters of the

not written

Who

estabhshed

hath

Pro. XXX. the

hath

Upon

Pro.

Sam.

ii.

and the

settled,

25.

The

pillars

of the farthest

earth

hills

ix.

The

known Southern

mountains, and other

Seas,

in various parts

may

in all proba-

which girdle the mighty basin of the world's

—

which

of the Earth

form the beginning of those impassable

designated by Job as

? "

hath set the world upon them "

lands, which have been already discovered

bility,

such a basin the foundations of

Job

garment ?

in a

ends of the

the

all

viii.

are Jehovah's, and /

bound the waters

mountains could be

were of old

—

barriers location,

a circumference upon the face of

TERRA FIRMA.

120

chap,

v., sec. 6.

the waters, unto the boundary of light with darkness"

Joh xxvi.

10.

One more means could

be asked

still

—by

Word

pathless

God?

becomes

forest.

the Fiat of God, His Power " Heb.

utterly fails in attempting to solve the

Omnipotence.

—By

what

stupendous basin of rocks be upheld?

once

I reply at

things by the

may

question

this

Canst

thou

upholding

all

Thought

problem of God's a

lost,

little

child in a

searching

out

find

Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfec-

tion?

high

Deeper than Sheol, In depths such as

Heaven what canst thou dO'? what canst thou know " Job xi. 7, 8. this, the only right way for us is, in as

humility of heart, like the poor lacemaker, " Who knows, and knows no more, her Bible true,

truth the brilliant

to believe what

—

God

Frenchman never knew,"*

who cannot

lie "

Tit.

—

founded upon declares to be true, that the Earth is the seas, and established upon the floods " Vsa. xxiv. 2. Oiu:

ignorance

will,

through

then,

changed to knowledge, and our

faith

His teaching,

become a

citadel

of strength. I

quite aware of the argument of Accommodation,

used by some, especially by as

scientific parsons, I

a sort of soporific to their conscience,

God knew states

that

the

Bible,

goes round

world that

the

deference to the ignorance

the

Sun,

Sun goes round

Such

men who

daily

prevarication

apparently

revolving.

appears to

to be nothing less than *

presume

that, of course,

Cowper's "Truth."

but in

it,

see

making a

this liar

THE EARTH HAS IMMOVABLE FOUNDATIONS. of

Him

to lie "

whom

Heb.

it is

the contempt that

" It is impossible for

written

God

and requires to be treated with

18,

vi.

121

What a

deserves.

travesty

would

such be in the character of the Holy God, in thus lending Himself to such a Jesuitical and such a useless

deception

Dear Reader, do not

let

make any mistake

matter of such deep importance as serve

two masters

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

^we

cannot believe that

and Modern Astronomy are both of the one

is diamietrically

writer in "

this.

Bible

the

true, for the teaching

opposed

The Earth and

in a

cannot

tO'

that of the other.

Evidences," of October,

its

1888, truly remarks'

"The

attempt to harmonize the Mosaic and the modern or

professional system of the universe,

communion

of light with

darkness.

waited on such incongruous unions

who

plainly to attempt the

How But

often has

still

never seem to recognize the hopelessness of the task."

Even the infidel Thomas Paine clearly saw ago when he wrote in " The Age of Reason " "

failure

some there are

The two

who

beliefs

this

years

cannot be held together in the same mind,

thinks he can believe both, has thought very

little

either."

As God

so distinctly declares that of old

the foundations of the Earth

Fsa.

cii.

25,

us be so sinful and foolish as to say that

do not

laid let

did not.

Only shame and confusion of face can be exj>ected to follow those, of

the

Living

dying men.

who defiantly reject the revealed Word God for the contradictory theories of

CHAPTER

VI.

THE HORIZONTALITY OF LAND AND WATER PROVED.

...

SECTION 1.

Railways

PAGE .

Rivers

122

126

Canals

127

Submarine Cables

134

Th^ light of Lighthobses seen at a distance

133

SECTION

RAILWAYS.

Our Modem

Astronomers

consisting of land

little

at the Equator,

orange.

tell

that

the

world,

and water, forms a Globe bulging out

somewhat

Geographers follow

suit,

in the

shape of an

and, in illustration of

the theory, have manufactured a -pasteboard globe, on

which are marked the principal places a North Longitude,

and

South Pole, &c.

&c.,

parallels

have beside

in the world, with

Latitude

me now

and

Keith's

well-known " Treatise on the use of the Globes," which, I

sure,

would

ordinary mortal

try the patience

who may attempt

and the brains of any to master its pages.

Astronomers have also favoured us with a Globe of the

RAILWAYS.

125

Heavens, made, like a dress-coat, to order, in the most

approved

style

though the

of fashion,

fact is that the

Heavens are no more a Globe than the Earth written that

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

is,

for

Stretcheth out the Heavens as a

and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in"

curtain,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

22 ; Zech.

Isa. xl.

shown,

God

called in

xii.

The

Hebrew

reqio,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

firmament, as already

a stretched out expanse,

and Job is asked the question " Canst thou with Him (God) spread out the sky, which is strong as a molten mirror ? "

Job xxxvii. 18.

But, as

are

now

dealing

with things that are Terrestrial we shall leave those that are Celestial for the present.

Rational people believe Salisbury Plain to be a Plane,.

Lake

and

Windermere

Astronomers say that

but

horizontal,

this is all a mistake, that

our

we must

not trust our eyes, when we see these or other such

we should believe Lake Windermere, and places upon the

places, as being horizontal, but that

what they teU as

also

us, that Salisbury Plain,

other plains,

all

lakes,

Earth, as well as the vast Pacific and are only parts

have a curve;

of a great Globe,

all

and,

other oceans,

therefore,

besides which, mirabile dictu,

must

that

all

rush together round the Sun at the rate of 65,000 miles per hour

Thiey give their law for this fancied curvature,

based on the world being 25,000 miles in circumference at

the Equator, as being 8 inches for the

first

2 feet 8 inches for the second, 6 feet for the third,

so on, the rule being to square the

number

mile,

and

of miles

between the observer and the object, then multiply that square by 8 inches and divide by 12 to bring the

quotient

nately,

being the supposed

curvature.

into feet,

Unfortu-

however, for Astronomers this theory does not

TERRA FIRMA.

124

chap,

sec.

vi.,

agree with fact, for this rule of curvature has been fomid

both on land and water.

utterly fallacious

All

houses have to be built on level ground, but no allowance

whatever

made

even sea

horizontal,

globular, for

at the

same time

which incontestably proves that the

at the Equator,

and

for the curvature of the Earth,

compasses point North and South

all

and, therefore, that the world

not

were, one end of the niagnet would

then dip towards the North and the other point to the

Heavens. Seeing,

law

doubtless,

the absurdity of the Astronomic

and

curvature,

the

the Houses of Lords and .

1862,

made

Commons,

which,

difficulties

attempted to be carried out in practice,

would

lead,

in the Session of

the following Order with regard to Railway

operations

"The

section shall be

drawn

to the

same

horizontal scale

as the plan, and to a vertical scale of not less than one inch to

eveiy one hundred

and

feet,

shall

show the surface

ground marked in the plan, the intended level

of the

of the proposed

work, the height of every embankment, and the depth of every cutting,

and a datum

horizontal line, which shall be the same

through the whole length of the work; or any branch thereof respectively,

and

shall be referred to

near either of the termini.

(See line

some

D.D.

fig.

fixed point.

2)."*

Besides the above Government Order for the con-

on a datum horizontal line, we ate informed in " Theoretic Astronomy," p. 47, as follows struction of Railways

plate,

the Royal Observatory wall at Greenwich

a brass

mark

154 feet

which *

states that

Vacher

certain horizontal

Sons, Broad Sanctuary, Tothill Street, London,

RAILWAYS. above mean water

125

Greenwich, and 155.7 feet above mean

water at Liverpool."

Here our Astronomers

publicly acknowledge that the

water between Greenwich

diflference of the level of the

and Liverpool their

theoretic

only one foot seven inches, while, by

law of curvature, reckoning the

direct

distance as 180 miles, the difference of level between these two places should be over four miles

completely

own law

their

stultify

They thus

and

curvature,

expose themselves to ridicule by thus upholding a theory so contrary to ascertained fact.

In proof of the Astronomic supposed curvature not being allowed for in the construction of Railways,

cite the case of the

let

well-known London and North-

western Railway between London and Liverpool, which forms a straight line between these two places of 180

The

miles".

highest

point,

Birmingham, which

station of

of the sea at

London and

about midway, is

the

240 feet above the level

Liverpool.

we suppose the

Earth to be a globe, the chord of the arc between London

and Liverpool, according to Astronomic theory, would be to

Birmingham 5,400

feet

above sea

which the actual height of the

(240

feet),

height

than

there

when of

thousand

would feet,

5,640 feet

station at

have

level,

the

which' would

above Ben

Nevis,

added

Birmingham theoretic

the

more loftiest

Britain, which everyone who has been Birmingham knows not to be the case. Thus it is

mountain in Great at

clear that thig Astronomic law of curvature fails in actual practice.

In a long

line,

like that of the

Great Pacific

Railway, extending across North America, the supposed curvature

would,

of course,

be proportionately

great.

TERRA FIRMA.

iz6

extending to

many

chap,

vi.,

skc.

miles in height, but not one inch was

allowed by the engineers for curvature during the whole course of the construction of that vast line of Railway.

And,

we think

how

it,

could

be otherwise?

Railway metals must, of necessity, be

straight,

for

All

how

could any engine or carriage run with safety on a convex surface ?

SECTION

RIVERS. Let us look at the case of Rivers. language of Scripture

said of

with rivers "

cleave the Earth

Hab.

In the grand

Godâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Thou

in. g, every

didst

one of

which, large or small, a nameless brook or the mighty

Amazon,

flows

downwards,

run into the sea in

any part of

its

Ecc.

written

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" All rivers

Whoever heard

course flowing uphill?

of a river

Yet

would require to do were the Earth a Globe. like the Mississippi,

this

Rivers,

which flow from the North south-

wards towards the Equator, would need, according to

Modem

Astronomic theory, to run upwards,

Earth at the Equator

the

said to bulge out considerably

in other words, is higher than at any other

more,

or,

part.

Thus

3,000

miles,

the Mississippi, in

its

immense course

of over

would have to ascend 11 miles before

reached the Gulf of Mexico!

Whereas

described

as " a rapid desolating torrent, its violent floods from the melting

CANALS. snow

of the

127

sweeping away whole

in the higher latitudes,

forests."*

Again, in one portion of

long route, the great river

its

Nile flows for a thousand miles with a foot,

fall

of only one

which, of course, would be a sheer impossibility,

were the Astronomic curvature a vature

Modern

Yet

reality.

acknowledged to be an

still

this cur-

essential part of

Astronoctiic Science, as taught in this tinsel age.

Well might even Ovid exclaim "Prob Superi! quantum mortalia pectora

cccca

Noctis haieni."

Heavens and

what thick darkness pervades mortal

Jeremiah

might

repeat

his

wail

breasts,

sorrowful

reproach "

wonderful and horrible thing

come

to pass in the

land, the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule

their

will ye

means, and

people love to have

do in the end thereof?

so,

and what

/er. v. 31.

SECTION

CANALS.

shall

now

take evidence of the non-curvature of

the Earth from Canals, and

may be

well to

commence

with the Bedford Canal, as that some years ago attracted

a good deal of attention among

The

late

Scientific

men.

Mr. John Hampden, of Swindon, Wilts, a

* " Imperial Gazeteer," article " Mississippi,"

Blackle Edinburgh, and London.

Son, Glasgow,

TERRA FIRMA.

128

chap,

vi.,

sec. 3.

great opponent of the Copernican theory of the Earth, offered to wager ^ÂŁ500 that the water of the Bedford

Canal was perfectly

and, after

level,

some considerable

time had elapsed, the challenge was ax;cepted by Professor Alfred Russell Wallace of London.

accompanied by

their

the

friends,

These gentlemen, late

Mr.

William

Carpenter, then of Lewisham, afterwards of Baltimore,

Mr.

B. Coulcher of

Editor

Walsh,

Downham

Market, and Mr.

The Field, who held thie stakes, the Bedford Canal on 5th March, 1870,

accordingly met at

to decide the question.

was originally intended to

test

experiments similar to those which had been made by Parallax

several

years

before,

but,

unfortunately,

this

moment abandoned, and another mode of trial adopted, the effect of which Mr. Hampden did not understand; in consequence of which, much to plan was, at the last

his disgust,

Parallax,

from

his

he believed he was done out of the wager.

when he heard the decision, was assured own former experiments on the Canal, that

there must have been something wrong in carrying out

the test of sth March, and accordingly went afterwards to the Bedford Canal to

proof of the water being

level.

account of an experiment then 21,

" Zetetic

make

down soon still

further

gives the following

made by

on pp. of his excellent work, previously mentioned

Astronomy

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Earth not a Globe

himself,

"Although the experiments already described and many similar ones, have been tried and often repeated,

first

in 1838,

afterwards in 1844, in 1849, in 1856, and in 1862, the Author

was induced

in 1870 to visit the scene of his former labours,

and to make some other (one or more) experiments character, that

no error

of so simple

of complicated instruments, or process

CANALS.

129

of surveying could possibly be involved.

Downham 1870,

and arrived

London

(for

remarkably

clear,

The atmosphere was

and the sun was shining brightly on and

against the western face of the bridge. side of the arch, a large notice board tolls, &c., for

was

the navigation of the Canal).

board was 6

Old Bedford Sluice Bridge about two

at the

miles from the station, at twelve o'clock.

this

left

Market Station), on Tuesday morning, April

feet 6 inches

the right

hand

affixed (a table of

The lower edge

above the water as shown

figure 12.

empty

train of several

turf boats

had

just entered the

Canal from the river Ouse, and was about proceeding to Romsey in '

Huntingdonshire.

Captain

arrangement was

made with the

to place the shallowest boat the last in the train

on the lowest part of the stern of the boat a good telescope

was

fixed, the elevation

The sun was

being exactly 18 inches from the water.

shining strongly against the white notice-board,

the air was exceedingly

still

and

clear,

and the surface of the

water smooth as a molten mirror, so that everything was extremely favourable for observation.

boats started for Welney.

1.15 p.m. the train of

the boat receded the notice-

board was kept in view, and was plainly visible to the naked eye for several miles; but, through the telescope tinctly seen throughout the

whole distance of

was

six miles.

dis-

But,

on reaching Welney Bridge, a very shallow boat was procured, and so fixed that the telescope was brought of the surface of the water;

board was clearly

visible.

and

The

still

to within 8 inches

the bottom of the notice-

elevation of the telescope being

TERRA FIRMA.

13Â°

8 inches, the line of sight exists, at the distance of

remaining

chap,

would touch the horizon,

vi.,

sec. 3.

convexity-

one statute mile; the square of the

by 8 inches, gives a curvature

five miles, multiplied

of 16 feet 8 inches, so that the bottom of the notice-board

6 feet 6 inches atbove the water

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;should

2 inches below the horizon, as shown in

FIG.

may perhaps be

fig.

have been 10

13.

possible that

some persons may

imagine water to be globular, from the decision

still

having been given against Mr. Hampden, the following

join

who

summary

thoroughly investigated

from which

from

will

the

case

beg to subby Parallax,

at the time of occurrence,

be seen that the mishap

the convexity of the

instrument by which

the

feet

13 "

arose,

not

water of the Canal, but from it

was measured having been

improperly adjusted. "

the 5th of March, 1870, a party, consisting of Messrs.

John Hampden,

of Swindon, Wilts, Alfred Wallace, of London,

William Carpenter, of Lewisham, M. W. B. Coulcher, of Down-

ham

Market, and

H. Walsh, Editor

assembled on the northern bank of the

of '

The Field newspaper,

Old Bedford Canal,'

repeat experiments similar to those described in

and

on pages

11 to 14 of this

need not be referred intention,

of the at

to here,

work.

an elevation of

at Salter's

feet

3, 4,

But, from causes which

they abandoned their original

and substituted the following.

Old Bedford Bridge,

figs,

the western face

Lode, a signal was placed

4 inches above the water in the

CANALS. Canal

;

131

at the distance of three miles a signal post, with a disc

was so

12 inches in diameter on the top,

fixed that

the disc was 13 feet 4 inches above the water line

the centre of

and

;

at the

distance of another three miles (or six miles altogether), on

the eastern side of the Welney Bridge, another signal was

placed '3 inches above the top

rail of the bridge,

4 inches above the water-line.'* sented in the following diagram,

and

This arrangement

fig.

13 feet

repre-

94.

FIG. 94.

"A,

the signal on the Old Bedford Bridge; B, the telescope

on Welney Bridge

;

The

from each end.

and C, the centre signal

post, three miles

object-glass of the telescope

was

diameter; hence, the centre, or true eye-line, was

higher than the top of the signal B,

top of the signal-disc at C. a

power

of 50,'

and

was,

;

inches inches

inches below the

directing the telescope,

with

towards the signal A, the centre of which was

2j^ inches below the centre of the telescope,

below

^% 2%

was seen

but the disc on the centre pole, the top of which

to begin

with,

inches above the centre, or line of sight,

from the telescope, was seen the signal A.

From which,

to stand considerably higher

than

three of the gentlemen immediately,

but most unwarrantably, concluded that the elevation of the disc in the field of view of the telescope

was owing

in the water of the Canal, showing convexity

nothing more than simply the upward divergence â&#x20AC;˘which was already *

to a rise

whereas

{of

was that

inches above the line of sight), produced

Report by Messrs. Carpenter of

March

Coulcher, published in The Fitld, leth, 1870.

TERRA FIRMA.

132

by the magnifying power

of the telescope,

experiment with the lens, on page 267,

"Why

chap,

shown

in the

inches

made by a magnifying power

to appear to stand considerably above the eye-line,

a mere hair's-breadth of dip detected

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;towards

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;an

distant

the

Why

for several feet?

was

the centre disc signal

A? Why,

also,

of 50,

and that

amount which could not be

signal

diverging, or dilating all above

sec. 3.

fig. 92.

did they omit to consider the fact that

excess of altitude would be

vi.,

it,

would by magnifying,

make

appear to be

lifted

did they not take care that the io^ of

a line with the telescope and the distant

was the centre of the

object-glass fixed

inches higher than the centre of the object of observation

at the other

There was no

end?

of the telescope, the top of the

the farthest signal

mark

For

their

straight line.

at the

own

the sake of the cause they

difficulty in placing the centre

middle disc, and the

centre of

same altitude, and therefore in a

sake as gentlemen, as well as for

had undertaken

to champion,

unfortunate that they acted so unwisely; that they so foolishly laid themselves

Had

signals.

open to charges of unfairness

was horizontal, and therefore

surface of the water felt

in fixing the

they already seen enough to prove that the

desire to

instinctively

their best to delay as long as they could

the day of general denunciation of their cherished doctrine of the Earth's rotundity?

Such questions are

relation to conduct so unjust

perfectly fair in

and one-sided.

It is evident that

their anxiety to defend a doctrine

which had been challenged

by others overcame

for

consequences

shadow

' ;

their

desire

truth without fear of

and they eagerly seized

of evidence to support themselves.

of invention, a

was never drawn; procedure

upon the

veriest

In the whole history

hasty, ill-conceived, illogical conclusion

and

well for civilization that such

almost universally

denounced.

scarcely

possible to draw a favourable conclusion as to their motives in

CANALS. departing from their

Why

intention.

first

133

did they not confine

themselves to the repetition of the experiments, an account of

which

had long previously published

which the expedition was

test

first

and to

to the -world,

arranged?

That of sending

out a boat for a distance of six miles, and watching

its

progress

from a fixed point with a good telescope, would have completely satisfied

and

water;

them as

engaged must

altitude

should cling to complication, and prefer action, is difficult to understand, except of old,

certain that for their truth,

many

nor

result,

once have submitted to the simple truth as

developed by the simplest possible experiment.

was said

of the

signals,

have influenced the

peculiarities of instruments, could all

form of the surface

to the true

irregularity

some love darkness

That

men

to simplicity of

on the principle as

better than light.'

It is

are ever ready to contend almost to death

mere opinions, who have

however important in

its

little

or no regard for actual

bearings

sacred

its

character."* I shall

of which

now

Political world.

Many

remind

such,

in the

are fond of speaking of this canal

as a marvellous triumph of

well

Suez Canal, the construction

refer to the

some years ago caused such a commotion

Modern

that

the

Science, so feat

may be

joining

the

Mediterranean and Red Seas by means of a Canal, for the purpose of commercial navigation, had been accom-

Neco, the

plished by the Ancients long, long before.

Pharoah-Nechoh of 2 Kings

monarch who reigned 617

xxiii.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;681

zgâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;35,

an Egyptian

B.C., was the

first

begin the Canal, which, after beng used for centuries,

was

at last

overwhelmed by the sands of the desert in

767 A.D.t * " Zetetic Astronomy," pp. 268-271, + " Egypt, Past and Present," by W. H. Davenport T. Nelson & Sons, London, Edinburgh, and New York.

Adams

pp. 55, 365, 366.

TERRA FIRMA.

134

The

distance between the

Mediterranean Sea

chap,

Red Sea

at Suez

vi.,

sec. 4.

and the

100 statute miles, the datum line of

the Canal being 26 feet* below the level of the Mediterrar nean, and

continued horizontally the whole way from

sea to sea, there not being a single lock on the Canal, the surface of the water being parallel with the datum line.

thus clear that there

globularity for

the whole

Mediterranean

and

the

no curvature

hundred miles between the

Red Sea;

had

there

been,

according to the Astronomic theory, the middle of the

Canal would have been 1,666 feet higher than end, whereas the Canal

at either

perfectly horizontal for the

whole distance.

The Great Canal of China, said to be 700 miles in made without regard to any allowance for

length, was

supposed curvature, as the Chinese believe the Earth to

be a Stationary Plane. was made for

may

also

the North

add that no allowance

Sea Canal, or

the

Manchester Ship Canal, both recently constructed, thus clearly proving that there is

globularity in Earth or

Sea, so that the world cannot possibly be a Planet.

SECTION

SUBMARINE CABLES. Let us now pass on to the Atlantic Submarine Cable,

which stretches

its

huge length between Valencia on the

west coast of Ireland and Trinity Bay in Newfoundland, * Its

depth has since then been increased to 28

feet.

LIGHT OF LIGHTHOUSES SEEN AT A DISTANCE. a

distance

Surely, it

1,665

would be found

it is

nautical

convexity in water

in such

simply a case of non

reason that there

must,

miles.

statute

1,942

to be discovered anywhere,

a long distance as

est inventus, for

all.

The

have absconded.

forger,

but

this,

the very good

no curvature to be found

bank-note

135

depth of the Atlantic was sounded at about

greatest

the

one-third

fathoms;

the

Newfoundland,

from

distance

deepest

2,424

was

fathoms,

2,400

part,

about one-third of the way from Valencia, while in the

middle

was

less

than 1,600 fathoms, at which place,

according to Astronomic calculation,

about Facts,

119 it

statute said,

miles

no curvature

own

either

level, it is

end! thus

and

in the Atlantic,

according to the law of nature,

as,

are " stubborn things," and

evident that there

finds its

should have been

than

higher

proved that

water everywhere

has no globularity

throughout the oceans of the whole world.*

SECTION

THE LIGHT OF LIGHTHOUSES SEEN AT GREAT DISTANCES. I confess that

appears to

be almost

as gUding gold or painting the

sary,

evidence that the Earth

lily,

not a Planet,

as unneces-

to give further still,

some

people are fond of having assurance made doubly sure, piling *

an Ossa up>on a Pelion,

I shall

add another proof

See paper respecting the Atlantic Cable published by the Admiralty, 8th October, 1869.

TERRA FIRMA.

136

no curvature

to the fact that there is

chap,

vi.,

sec.

from the

in the sea,

Light of Lighthouses seen at great distances.

glance at "

show

visible,

The Lighthouses

of the World,"* will

what great distances some of

which would be

convex, as

Modem

ouir

name a few The Cardonan

I shall

were the sea

Astronomers pretend

to be.

on the Gironde, on the west

light

miles.

we make the

usual

invisible, as it

is visible

Astronomic

allowance for the supposed curvature of water,

be quite

instances

coast of France, has an altitude of 207 feet, and statute

are

their lights

utterly impossible

should

would, allowing for the height of

the spectator, be about 210 feet below the horizon.

The Madras

light is 132 feet high,

and can be seen

28 statute miles, but, reckoning the Astronomic convexity,

and allowing as

for spectator's height,

would be ielow

The

extracts

following

could not be seen,

220

feet.

copy from

pamphlet, lately received, called written by Mr.

the horizon at least

" Zetetic

Thomas Winship, Durban,

excellent

Cosmogony,"

Natalt

" Another and an unconscious witness to the horizontality oÂŁ

water

Mr. Smith of Cape Point, as the following shows

'"A Light from "

was

Sir, at

afar.

the Editor of the Cape Times.

nine o'clock this evening, the Danger Point Light

distinctly visible to the

Cape Point, (about 150

feet

naked

eye,

above sea

from the homestead

level)

;

this being the first

occasion, since the erection of the Danger Point Lighthouse, on

which the

flashes of light

had been noticed by myself.

* R. H. Laurie, 35 Minories, London. + T. L. CuUlngworth, 40 Field Street, Durban, Street, Netberfield, Notts.

54 Bourne

Natal

;

The

John Williams,

LIGHT OF LIGHTHOUSES SEEN AT A DISTANCE. light

must be most powerful

fifty

miles in a clear night.

between three quick

to be seen

from a distance

137

of over

think half a minute interval

flashes.

â&#x20AC;˘

am, &c., " A. E. Smith." '

"According to

this, therefore, if the

light should have been 1,666 feet below

world be a globe,

Mr. Smith's

line

the

of sight."

P-S9" But, says someone, there is

no allowance made That

tion in any of the foregoing calculations.

for refrac-

quite true,

but constitutes no valid objection, in the light of the following extract from the

'We suppose on account

Encyclopsedia Britannica,' article

Levelling.'

the visual rays to be a straight line, whereas,

of the unequal densities of the air

at diÂŁEerent

distances from the earth, the rays of light are incurvated by refraction.

The

effect of this is to lessen the difference

between

the true and apparent levels, but in such an extremely variable

and uncertain manner, that be made for greater

error

any constant or fixed allowance

in formula or tables,

than what

though the refraction may

and

at other times

have, therefore,

foregoing formulae.' "

The

Signals at Sea is

Weekly of the

we have not

In August, 1890, the

For,

for about

sometimes exceeds

for refraction in the

p. 62.

imcontestably that the Earth "Pearson's

obviate.

does not amount to one-fifteenth.

made no allowance

distances which

'Evidently

mean compensate

one-seventh of the curvature of the Earth, one-fifth,

will often lead to a

was intended

can be seen prove

December,

agith

1894,

says

got to the bottom of the matter yet.

C Manoeuvre Artist,

Fleet signalled with Search

The information comes who was on board at the time.

Light to colliers 70 miles away.

from Mr. F. T. Jane the

a motionless Plane.

TERRA FIRMA.

138

According to the Astronomers

chap,

vi., sec. 5.

should have been 3,200

these vessels

on the

feet below the horizon, allowing for a height of 40 feet

signalling vessel,

may add

impossible

115

but

Mail

any lack of matter, but so that

it,

Search-light

would be

add many more proofs to

forbear; the fact

difficulty in writing this

condense

November,

course,

the riches of evidence that the Earth

and

of loth

This,

miles!

! !

the Earth were a Globular Planet.

colliers

to have been visible

stated

I could very easily effect,

on the

representation

Kimberley which distance

feet

that the Daily

the

gives

1899,

and 26

as to

may be

not a Planet,

book has not

how

similar

embarrassed with

may

arisen frojn

best select and

of most use to

Readers,

without omitting anything of real importance.

In closing this Chapter

cannot help remarking to

what opposite extremes Inconsistency

leads, and what makes with Truth. Here we have on the one hand our Government making a Resolution or Order

sad havoc

respecting

the

horizontal

line,

construction

on the

Stationary Plane, and,

principle

Railways that

the

on a datum Earth

on the other hand, subsidising

the Astronomical Society and Board Schools which teach

a Whirling Ball.

some honest M.P., and possesses

that

who

sees the absurdity of such procedure,

the

ability

propose

the

I wish

remedy,

would have the

courage to bring the matter before Parliament;

sure he would well deserve the thanks of the Nation.

So long

as our

Astronomers are abetted by the Govern-

ment, so long, I notes,

and

fear,

they will utter their discordant

flaunt their rags of false science before the

gaping multitude with a pride " that might make angels

LIGHT OF LIGHTHOUSES SEEN AT A DISTANCE. weep." light of

No wonder what

139

who possessed the when our own country

that the Chinese,

is called Civilization,

was steeped in heathen darkness, should consider us to

be barbarians now round the Sun.

mon

for believing that the world rushes this

matter they at least have com-

sense upon their side, while we, as a nation, have

abandoned

ours,

and bow the knee to Baal.

140

CHAPTER THE

VII.

MOON AND STARS ACCORDING TO MODERN ASTRONOMY.

SUN,

SEC^ON

PAGE

The Sun

The Moon

The Stars

140

147

132

SECTION

THE SUN. It

truly painful to

—

Astronomy

^its

contemplate the results of of

rejection

the

Word

respect to the revolution of the Sun, and

tendency towards

and

its

teaching ^fiU

real

—

its

Modem

God

with

consequent

abandonment of reason,

denial of the proper use of our senses as to the

observation

—

infidelity

the

proof

—

facts

the

^its

brazen

most

effrontery

ridiculous

fallacies

minds of the thoughtful and devout with

sorrow,

beguiled,

actual

without

knowing that so many have been already

and so many are

still

being beguiled under

its

baneful influence. Herschel, perhaps, in one sense, as

much

Newton

THE make

himself, tried to

following

SUN.

fools of us

141

when he wrote the

tit-bit

" In the disoidei of our senses of the Earth to the Sun,

and the

transfer in idea the

motion

Sun

to the

stillness of the

Earth!"

which statement

own common if

virtually

means

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Do

not believe your

senses, but take our theories for granted

you do not

feel

any motion in the Earth, imagine that

you do; and

you see the Sun circling in the heavens,

suppose that

was

his

that

own is

the Earth which does so!

senses which were disordered

Truly

when he taught

The Modern Astronomy are nowhere more

the Earth and not the Sun that moves.

absurdities

apparent than in the theories respecting the Sun, to a

few of which It is

now beg

to refer.

by the presumed distance of the Sun from the

Earth that Astronomers make their calculations.

"The

determination of the Sun's distance

important problem

general

Thus,

The Sun

as Mr. R. A. Proctor states in "

Astronomy,

but

not only an it

may be

regarded as the very foundation of all our researches."

As previously stated Astronomers have differed much respecting its distance, even from three

very

one hundred and four millions of miles, of necessity, their calculations

Besides,

when

these were

to their theory, that

was

moves, and,

first

that, as

must be

so to

a matter

radically wrong.

made, the Sun, according

stationary,

now

they acknowledge

since its creation,

has always been

moving, so that their computations cannot possibly be correct.

among

However, for the present, themselves,

they

the distance of the

have settled

Sun from the

TERRA FIRMA.

142

chap. vn.. sec.

Earth to be between ninety-one and ninety-two millions of

miles.

Its

hundred and its

size

computed to be about twelve

forty thousand times larger than our world;

hundred and

diamieter being estimated at eight

fifty

to eight hundred and eighty-two thousand miles, and entire cubic space at six

hundred and

and

nine

eighteen

thousand

billions,

and

hundred

Credite

miles!!!

millions

eighty-six

its

thousand

sixty-eight

posteri!

will

posterity believe that their fc'refathers could ever have

been so foolish as to accept such ridiculous fancies as

And

facts?

yet

this

what grey-haired savants

Truth, and gushing Journalists who, I

call

inclined to

do not personally know much about the matter,

believe,

write fulsome articles to bolster

One

of the fables

delight in telling us,

Earth and the Sun

the delusion.

which our Astronomers seem to that the distance between the great,

soi

that

would take an

express train, going at the rate of sixty miles per hour,

one hundred and seventy-three years to reach wonderful news could he hear

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Pro-di-gi-ous wanted to

would exclaim with

it,

What would be

times larger than the

preposterous world,

own

fit

act,

room

itself?

for a lunatic

working"

special emphasis

man who

a lamp 1,240,000

Would not asylum?

his friends

Yet such a

with respect to the lighting of this

who

Isa.

palmed upon the Jehovah

" wonderful in counsel xxviii.

2g.

doeth

and

excellent in

all

things well,

proportioning the means to the end which view.

which

not attributed by some Astronomers to their

deity " Natural Law,"

of Hosts,

Sampson,

thought of a

light his dining-room with

think him only

it,

doubt not that Dominie

has in

THE It

appears to

Catholicism,

The

that

SUN.

Modem

143

Astronomy,

Roman

an attempt to revive Pagan superstition.

former, for temples has observatories, and the latter

Pantheon has the Vatican; for Baal the Astrono-

for the

mers have Newton, and for Astarte, the Queen of Heaven,

Roman

the

lately

Catholics have the Virgin

been

strengthened

adoration of the Virgin the worship of Astarte

Mary or

Aylston,

Readers, as work, " The

Leicester,

have

that

the

only a continuation of

by an admirable

Astaroth,

Lecture delivered by the late Rev. G. of

Mary.

conviction

the

which

Straten, Rector

beg to

refer

and learned

also

Two

Babylons," written by the late Rev.

Hislop

that

very

Arbroath,

excellent

both

obtained as mentioned below.*

which may be

The

Bible order of the

heavens has been completely subverted by our Astrono-

mers

Sun revolving round the world,

instead of the

;

the world

Planet of

declared to revolve round

God gave His own

Blessed Son of

regard

a mere

heart's

blood for

its

Angels desire to look into that wondrous

redemption. sacrifice,

it,

note in Astronomic esteem, although the

little

which only

Scientists

with

cynical

Huxley

scorn,

and

because

Darwin of

their

ignorance of that in which the highest and truest science consists.

The Greek heathen

philosopher Pythagoras brought

him from Egypt, where he had a considerable time, and had been initiated

the Sun worship with

resided for into

its

mysteries

Astronomy lingered

the

His

Priests.

for a while,

till

system

was supplanted

by that of Ptolemy, and for many centuries seems to * S.

Partridge

Co., Paternoster

Row, London.

TERRA FIRMA.

144

have been forgotten, phoenix from

has been

modern

vii.,

sec. i.

Copernicus drew the fabled

till

By Newton and

its ashes.

his followers

adapted to suit the depraved idolatry is far from being extin-

taste of

skillfully

idolatry,

chap,

for

guished in Christendom, and

still

flourishes,

in various

forms, in this degenerate age under assumed names.

The Sun

Fabricius, nearly three

has spots.

hundred

among Modem Astronomers to note them, although they were known to the Chaldeans Since his time many Astronomers have in early ages. their special study; one in particular is said them made to have observed them for thirty years every day on which the Sun was visible. They appear and disappear, and it is yet not really known what they are, but, the chief deduction drawn from them is, that the Sun turns upon an axis in about twenty-four days. Some of the

years ago, was the

first

spots observed on the photosphere, or disc of the Sun, are whiter than iron at a white heat, and

come and go The

so rapidly, that they are called facula or torches.

edge of the disc " sierra," or, as

called the chrotnatmosphere, or the

one has expressed

it,

" a quivering fringe

fire."

might, perhajK, be thought that, in describing the I

will

wonders of the Sun, myself, I think

or two from the works of

who,

acting the part of a safer for

Munchausen

to quote a passage

Modern Astronomers

themselves,

sometimes considered prone to exalt their own

importance, should not, as a matter of politeness, be

supposed guilty of exaggerating the marvels of their own idol.

Sir

Robert Ball says

" Unparalleled in

its lustre,

the planet Venus

unexampled in

THE

SUN.

the intensity of the pull with which

swerve from

143 seeks to

revolution around the Sun.

its

magnitude of

have calculated the

and when expressed

this force,

make the Earth

in tons the figures

that are required baÂŁBe onr power of comprehension.

the attraction, or rather,

Venus are comparable with the miles is

The

tons in

ought to say, in the disturbing force, of

indeed 130,000,000,000,000 tons "

The

in star distances.

force

Miss Giberne writes as follows " It sounds to us both grand and startling to hear of jets of liquid lava from

Mount Vesuvius,

ten thousand feet in height,

or to read of a river of lava from a volcano in Iceland pouring in one unbroken stream for fifty miles.

"But what

shall be thought of the long flames

to a height of fifty or a

Sun?

of the

enough

What

mounting

hundred thousand miles above the edge-

shall be thought of a tongue of fire long

fold three or four times .round our solid

Earth?

shall be thought of the awful rush of burning gases

some'

times seen, borne along at the rate of one or two or even three

hundred miles in a

single second across the

What

shall be thought of the

fiery

ocean,

rents

commonly from

thousand miles across,

" Fifty thousand miles

Sun's surface?

huge dark rents in fifty

this

one

mighty

hundred

not seldom more? !

a mere speck scarcely visible without

a telescope; yet large enough to hold seven Earths like ours flung in together.

The

largest spot

measured was so enormous

that eighteen Earths might have been arranged in a

the breadth of

cavern,

itj

and to have

row across

huge boulders of rocks in a mountain filled

up the

entire

hole

about

one

hundred Earths would have been needed."+ *"The

cause of the Glacial Age," pp.

73, 74;

Kegan Paul, Triibner &

Co.,

London. t " Sun,

London,

Moon and

Stars," pp. ig, to

;

Seeley

Co., 38 Great Russell Street,

TERRA FIRMA.

146

Now

all this,

but

talk,"

Modern Astronomy not

to give statements as facts,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

been proved to be

first

think that he knoweth

anything,

know"

yet as he ought to

true

Cor.

till

man

any

" If

he knoweth nothing

The

viii.

that in this time-state our knowledge

arti di' esoptron en ainugmati, " for

yet through

a mirror

as in

obscurely," or,

In the Great Beyond

fact is

very imperfect:

blepomm gar

z Cor. xiii. 12.

only

the votaries of

teach

assumption, and should at least

sec. i.

vii.,

say, is " very tall

Yankee would

as the

amounts to nothing, because

they have

chap,

see' as

a riddle

shall see face

and fully know even as we are fully known."*

to face,

Even such an

enthusiastic

writer

Miss Gibeme

confesses

"We

do not know with any certainty whether the Sun

through and through one mass of glowing molten heat, or

whether he may have a solid or even a cool body within the

other.

flame,

quiet

only

the one and some the

Some have thought

blazing covering.

know

that he

a mighty furnace of heat and

beyond anything that we can possibly imagine little

in our

earth." t

Our talented Authoress must surely, in describing our Earth as " quiet," have had in her mind the teaching of

the

Bible,

sitteth still

state

that

and

where is

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

says

at rest"

Zech.

Behold i.

iz,

all a.

the

Earth

very different

from that which our Astronomers teach, namely, it is

rushing round the Sun at the rate of

sixty-five

thousand miles per hour, one thousand times faster than

an Express Railway

train.

* Epi'ginosko. t

"Sun, Moon and Stars,"

p. i8.

THE WOON.

SECTION

147

THE MOON. Although the Moon

Modem

bHe noir of our

ways, she refuses to act

so silvery white, she

Astronomers,

as,

the

various

as,

according to their theories,

Being the orb nearest the Earth, they

she ought to do.

have taken special pains to

map

mountains and

she had been one of its bound to confess that it is

seas,

continents, though they are

her out with so-called

only " the eye of a practised Astronomer to discriminate

been photographed,

also

his " Story of the

able

She has

at least after a certain fashion,

as explained by Sir Robert Ball in a note

that

between the one and the other.

62 of

Heavens "

The photographs were taken by Mr. Nasmyth from models by him to illustrate the features of the

carefully constructed

Moon. I

This

no doubt a somewhat imaginary

have not the least doubt of

prepared It is

Moon

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

was so systematically

gulling of the people.

now, however, said to be discovered that the

has neither water nor atmosphere, so that not even

the famous " the

myself, but it answers

the Astronomic purpose for which

sketch.''

Man

in the

Moon

once celebrated Crisian Sea

prceterea nihil.

could reside there, and is

Yet notwithstanding

now, alas! vox this

want of water and atmosphere, the Author of the "

Moon," in

The

Dictionary of Arts

acknowledged article

and Sciences,"

TERRA FIRMA.

148

chap,

sec. 2.

vii.,

writes as specifically regarding its supposed inhabitants,

he had obtained

selves

from them-

his information direct

the spot, thus

" As the

Moon

illuminates the Earth by a reflex light, so

does the Earth the Moon; but the other phenomena will be

most

different for the

The Earth

"i.

"2.

more than

Lunar inhabitants.

one-half of the

least to

part.

will be visible to but a little

who

those

see

the Earth will appear fixed, or at

it,

have no circular motion, but only that which results

from the Moon's

libration.

who

"3. Those

live

in the middle of the

Moon's

visible

hemisphere see the Earth directly over their heads. "4.

To those who

live in the extremity of that

hemisphere,

the Earth seems always nearly in the horizon, but not exactly there,

"5.

by reason of the

The Earth

same phases

Moon

is at

libration.

as the

Moon

with a

full face

or half light and half dark; at the part

"6.

all

the

Thus the Lunarians, when the

has.

E. in the middle of their night, see the Earth as

full or shining

and

month would have

in the coufse of a

between these

The Earth appears

at C.

;

it is

and G.

it is

dichotomised

wholly dark or new;

gibbous.

variegated with spots of different

magnitudes and colours arising from the continents, islands, oceans, seas, clouds, &c. " 7. These spots will appear constantly revolving about the

Earth's axis, by which the Lunarians will determine the Earth's diurnal motion in the same

From

the

intelligence,

that the

Earth

imagination, for

above

way

we do

interesting

learn that the is

a Planet!

that of the Sun."

tit-bit

Moon That

no proof whatever

is is,

Astronomic

inhabited, in

the

and

writer^

tendered that such

THE MOON. is

the case.

little

It is

a pity he did not carry his observations

farther,

149

us what sort of beings the

telling

who can manage to exist without water and atmosphere. Perhaps they may be like Newtonians, who conceive theories without reason, and draw deducLuiiarians are,

tions without proof.

As the Moon is allowed by our Astronomers to be "very considerably smaller than the Earth," she ought, like the Earth, in accordance with Newton's wonderful

law of Gravitation, to revolve around the Sun, as they say the Earth does from West to East, but, like a willed maiden, she takes her

own way, and

the Earth from East to West.

Besides,

self-

revolves round

was considered

to be her province to control the tides, but such great diflSculties

have

arisen

that

direction,

many

that

Astronomers are now seeking for some other causes to explain the working of their regular flux and reflux in the grand economy of nature. In writing of the Moon, Miss Giberne remarks " Her

diameter

about

diameter, her entire surface

the Earth's surface, her size

two-sevenths

the

Earth's

about two twenty-sevenths of about two ninety-ninths of the

Earth's size, and her whole weight

about one-eightieth of the

Earth's weight."*

The Moon's

distance from the Earth

Astronomers to be 240,000 miles.

be passing strange that

Wisdom

as in

He who

It is

His Love, should place

was expressly made to

light the

an enormous distance from *

"The

Sun,

by our would

as infinite in this luminary,

His

which

world at night, at such

as this, and I

Moon and

said,

certainly

Stars," p. 150,

sure chat

TERRA FIRMA.

150

their

calculation is

chap,

Some

Moon

estimated the distance of the

be about one thousand times our Astronomers, that

Zetetics have

from the Earth, to

than that supposed by

only about 240 miles, and this

undoubtedly appears to

less

sec.

even as that of

erroneous,

utterly

their fancied distance of the Sun.

vii.,

far

more probable than

their

preposterous calculation of 240,000 miles.

Modem

If our

least apvpear

Astronomers do not deny God, they their writings to ignore

His Power,

Wisdom, and Superintendence. They despise the true science of the Bible, and substitute for it the false They do not seem theories of their own wayward fancy. to

be aware that the works of God's creation are

all

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

that

made according

order, adaptation,

and usefulness ate combined

Man

part of the universe.

made "

Tsa. cxxxix. 14.

ably designed,

and measure

to number, weight,

is " fearfully

The eye

the mechanism

of a

fly is

the

in every

and wonderfully as admir-

Sun

the

Heavens " For

(God) looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth

under the whole heaven, when

wind

;

yea,

He maketh

decree for the rain, a

Job

xxviii.

Who

He maketh

the waters by measure,

way

a weight for the

when He made

for the lightning of the

thunder "

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;26.

Z4.

hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales,

and the

hills in a

balance?

Who

hath directed the

spirit

Jehovah, or being His counsellor hath taught Him?

Isa. xl. 12, 13.

Our Astronomers her

light

also state that the

from the Sun,

which

Moon

receives

an unwarrantable

THE MOON. mistake, for Scripture

tells

—

151

God made two

great

luminaries, the greater luminary to rule the day, and the

luminary to rule the night"

lesser

Hebrew word here used instrument, from aur

light,

as well as the Sun,

imparting

its

own

Gen.

for luminary

The

16.

maur, a noun of

Moon,

thus showing that the

an independent light-giver, each

light irrespective of the other.

often see the Sun and the

Moon

same

at the

time in the heavens, the Sun rising in the East, and the

Moon

setting in the West.

Now, were the Newtonian

Moon

receives her light from the

theory true that the

Sun, and, were

possible for a sphere, as the

to be, to act as a ref.ector at

all,

Moon

said

the Moon, thus facing, the

Sun, ought to grow brighter, instead of which, as Hamlet's

ghost said of the glow-worm as the matin drew nigh "It 'gins to pale

its ineffectual fire."

Having already shown from Scripture does this

that the

Moon

receive her light from the Sun, before closing

riot

Chapter, I shall add a few thoughts from Reason and

Fact, to prove that she: possesses a light of her own, totally different

The

light

from that of the Sun.

which

reflected

must necessarily be of

the same character as that which causes the

but the light of the

Moon

is altogether

diferent from the

light of the Sun, therefore the light of the

reflected

The

from the Sun.

Sun's light

for the table, but the

—the

and

Moon

not

red and hot,

Sun's dries and preserves

fruit,

such as cod and grapes,

Moon's turns such

Sun's will often put out a coal

wUl cause

—the

the Moon's pale and cold certain kinds of fish

reflection,

bum more

fire,

brightly

to putrefaction

while the Moon's

—

^the

rays

the

TERRA FIRMA.

152

chap,

vii.,

Sun, fcxjussed through a burning-glass, will set

sec.

wood on

and even fuse metals, while the rays of the Moon, concentrated to the strongest power, do not exhibit the fire,

very slightest signs of heat.

Moon

that the light of the

have myself long thought

Electric, but,

be that as

may, even a Board School child can perceive that

its

light is totally unlike that of the Sun.

SECTION THE The

STARS.

Moon

Stars are in Scripture associated with the

—

in their rule of the night

by night

rule

of light "

" the

Psa. cxxxvi.

Moon and They

Psa. cxlviii. 3, from which

the Stars to

are called it

would

—

" Stars

certainly

appear that they have an independent, and not a borrowed

They have

light.

says

the aid of the telescope have been discovered in the

starry vault in the celestial fields

Humboldt

a variety of colours.

which

corallas of our flowering plants,

light traverses, as in

and in the metallic oxides,

almost every gradation of prismatic colour between the two

extremes of refrangibility. ... In a cluster near the Southern

Cross

—

^red,

green,

telescopes, like

blue,

gems

and bluish green

many

colours,

—appear

large

a superb piece of

fancy jewellery."

Note

also the following Scriptural passages respecting

their light-giving

power

" For the Stars of heaven and the constellations thereof will

THE not give forth,

STARS.

153

the Sun shall be darkened in his going

their light;

and the Moon

shall not cause

shine"

hir light to

Isa. xiii. to.

The sun and

their shining "

Uu;

Joel

moon

ii.

are darkened, and the stars withdraw

10.

" Thus saith Jehovah, which giveth the sun for a light by

day, and the ordinances of the

by night "

moon and

of the stars for a light

Jer. xxxi. 55.

Modem

•Our

immense worlds

Astronomers imagine the Stars to be

some

or suns,

them many thousands

of times larger than our own, and at an enormous distance.

Robert

Sir

Ball,

in his "

Cause of an Ice-Age,"

—that of from us as the Sun —that says

Sirius

is,

a million times as that

it is

of millions of miles from the Earth! Stars are in a

more or

less

advanced

77,

distant

ninety-two millions

thought that

It is

state of development,

and that probably some of them may be already inhabited by beings suited to

their spheres.

Their distance from us

they calculate to be so immense, that, according to Sir

William Herschel, the

light

from some of them

thousand years to reach this world of ours the Almighty and All-wise light to this

show

God making a

will take

Just fancy

star

to give

world which would take a thousand years

was not thus

first

glimmer there!

acted on the

first

day of the Adamic Creation, when

there

said

Gen.

its

Let

light,

and

there

was

He He

light "

have neither in Scripture, nor

least hint of

nature,

any world except our own and the

the

invisible

one beyond, and we have no other means of information

on the

subject.

show any

The

best

teMscopes have

failed

signs of any inhabitant in any star or planet.

TERRA FIRMA.

IS4

Some

years ago

chap,

vii.,

sec. 3.

was fancied that canals were seen in

and that, therefore, presumably, it would be inhabited, but they have since vanished like a morning dream. Planet

the

Mars,

David Brewster argued from Analogy that the and Planets must be inhabited, because the Earth

Sir

Stars

But

is.

this

argument

begging of the question, for the Earth

must

a mere

principii,

petitio

first

be proved that

a heavenly body, which never has been, and

There

never can be proven.

a great

diflference, indeed,

between Heavenly bodies, and the body of

this

Earth,

notwithstanding the revelations of the spectroscope.

They

are particularly contrasted in Scripture, thus " There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but of one is the glory of the heavenly, and of another kind the glory of the earthly " / Cor. xv. 40.

kind, indeed, is

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Thus,

presumed argument

this

from Analogy

nevertheless.

Dr.

argument

his

for

Plurality of worlds

one

Henderson

boldly

" Treatise

single

that

great probability is that every Star

own little

Sun.

native light.

Vega

Star

The

Stars

What when it is .

be,

the the

for

Green is

a Sun, far

passing ours in magnitude and splendour; they their

Yet,

straw.

reproduces

on Astronomy,''

especial benefit of Mr. Verdant

"The

not worth

all

a most powerful

sur-

shine by

Sun must

53,937 times larger than our

being thus supposed to be suns,

extremely probable that they are the centres of other systems of

worlds round which

and

satellites.

may

revolve a numerous retinue of planets

Therefore

(sic)

there

must be a

plurality

and a plurality of worlds."

suns

How sition,

wonderful

but,

is this

unfortunately

argument of analogical suppofor

Modem

Astronomers,

THE the

lacks

smpport

STARS.

Truth,

155

therefore

conclusion

its

cannot bring conviction to the thoughtful mind.

No made

revolving body,

we know, was

so far as

ever

permanent residence of any rational being.

for the

few minutes afford quite

sufficient

sensation to the

occupant of a seat in the showman's merry-go-round or Great Wheel; no one would like to spend a night in

The

either.

Stars,

which Byron so

felicitously

most

habitation, are

useful, not only for giving light

showing us our position by night, but, in are of service in the

which we

styled,

Heaven," although not designed for human

" the poetry of

all

and

probability,

economy of nature in a manner of Did not Jehovah ask Job

dream.

little

" Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades ? "

One

Job xxxviii. 31.

Star was especially used to guide

Wise Men of the East to the birthplace of our

the

They

Blessed Saviour.

are

splendid lamps,

the canopy of the sky, to give

light,

blessing to this world of ours, and

placed in

instruction,

we may be

much

certain that, like the lamps of a city, they are very

smaller than the place they were

made

and

positively

to Ulumine.

Instead of the enormous distances attributed to the Stars

Modem

Astronomers, they cannot, from the

position assigned to

them by God, as Parallax was

Earth, be very far away. "that

all

light-givers

tO'

the

of opinion

the visible luminaries of the firmament are contained

within a vertical distance of 1,000 statute miles."* " What

will not

one world content thee, atom.

But thou must create more In thy imagination? *

;

yes,

Where

world on world thy warrant?

Zetetic Astronomy," p. 104.

TERRA FIRMA.

156

And

canst thou prove

chap,

from the Word

Must we believe because thou sayest

vii.,

sec. 3.

Truth?

Without a greater proof?

Make good thy

other sayings, then

we may

Afford thee credit such as thou deserv'st

But the Word

And

this

God

says no such thing

beyond thy word.

credit far

Consider this one well, and thou wilt want

The

other earthly world, but only heaven."

following

remsurks

forcible

â&#x20AC;˘

Mr.

William

Bathgate, bearing upon this subject, are well worthy of attentive consideration.

"Astronomers, and

scientific

men

strenuously

generally,

oppose any comparison between their theories and the Bible,

knowing that they cannot be reconciled. for

them

Of what use

suns and worlds show forth the glory of God,

men

have

less respect for the Bible?

cannot disagree Sir

they seem to do so,

Horace Walpole became an

infidel,

and the

they cause

Revelation and nature

man

is to

blame

for

it.

because he could not

reconcile Christianity with the plurality of worlds, and discoveries in

of innumerable

to say that their magnificent ideas

Modern

Astronomy and Geology with a divine revelation

Thomas

infidel

Paine, and a host of other persons

have based their strongest arguments upon the assumption that the Copernicau theory

is true,

fort with the infidels for set forth the glory of

God? In and

the Bible

which system has been a strong

many

generations.

the heavens

Newton, or do they declare the glory

are led to believe that the sun,

stars are subservient to the earth

;

moon,

that in consequence of

events having taken place on the earth, these heavenly bodies

were darkened; that God took *

five

times as long to

Lander's "David and Goliath,"

p. 49.

make

the

THE He

earth as

STARS.

157

Who

did the heavenly bodies.

man an

that God, in giving to

has a right to say

account of His creation, as

contained in the First Chapter of Genesis, misrepresented the order and nature of the facts to suit man's capacity?

man could not have understood them as easily from the Word of God as he does from the mouths of the Astronomers ? "

Who

ever heard

mechanism

its

a person,

after

some

constructing

workmanship, explaining the order and nature

intricate piece of

entirely difierent

from the truth

to suit

the

capacity of his hearers?

"What had made, "

The Bishop

Peterborough says

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

have no fear whatever

that the Bible will be found in the long run to contain

science than

and there

was

the earth to revolve round before the sun

are to believe the Newtonian theory?

the theories of philosophers put together

all

no doubt that when the earth

generally believed

be a plane, the Bible will be respected more than ever, since

will

be found

Creation,

and

infidelity

literally

will lose

when speaking

true

strongest hold

its

the

against

Christianity."*

Our Astronomers

confess that

no human being could

ever dwell in the Stars or Planets, the constitution of

which

entirely

necessity

be of a

The

Bible

that

* "

The Shape

all,

their

occuj>ants

not the slightest hint

we have no other means

while speculation

Scriptures,

different order of creation

gives

respecting such

know

opposed to the requirements of our

inhabited

nature.

useless.

live in the

with

the

must of

from ourselves. of

such,

and

of knowledge,

enough for us to

only world recognized in the

exception,

course,

ten

of the Earth," by William Bathgate John Parker, Green Lane, Stoneycroft, Liverpool. ;

TERRA FIRMA.

158

chap,

oikoumenen ten mellousan, the world that

which

through His vicarious this

left

Lord

believers in the

all

nun

estin,

and a glorious world

Word

was

till

sin, but,

more than

redeemed they have

after

now

This world

is.

God—John

1—3,

through the entrance

lost

according to promise,

Sacrifice, will

sec. 3.

to come, to

Jesus Christ,

the world that

was made by Christ—The

vii.,

will

be restored again

Our Lord,

its pristine loveliness.

in the

depth of His immeasurable Love, gave Himself "for the of the world " John vi. 51, and the Apostle Peter points to the times apokdtastaseos panton, " of the restoralife

tion of all things,

all

which God hath spoken by the mouth

His holy prophets since the world began

Acts Hi. 21, and, as Dryden sang " 'Twas great to speak a world from nought

redeem."

'Tis greater to

would also remark, while on

this subject, that the

only places in the Bible, where the word " world "

used in the

each

plural, " worlds," are in

which

the

Heb.

2 and

xi. 3,

word has been mistranslated

" worlds " instead of " ages

—thus—

God

having of old

time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath in the end of these

days spoken to us in His Son, through aionas epoiesen, faith

ages

Heb.

He made

we understand were xi.

fitted 3.

the ages

katertisthai

together

Thus

there

by is

whom

—Heb.

tous

the

aidnas,

Word

no such

thing

also tous 2.

— " By

that

the

God " as " The

Plurality of worlds,'' in the Astronomic sense of the term,

ever mentioned in the Scriptures.

are told in the Bible, that

some of the

Stars will

THE fall

upon the Earth

but

its destruction

STARS.

159

though not to destroy

to hurt,

it,

would be inevitable were they of such

enormous magnitude

our Astronomers declare them

Thus we read

to be.

" There fell from heaven a great Star, burning as a torch,

and

fell

upon the

fountains of waters " "

The

Rev.

figs,

when

she

again,

as a fig-tree

shaken of a mighty wind "

vi. 13.

any sensible

I ask

man which

stars is the safer to believe

And

viii. to.

Stars of heaven fell unto the Earth,

casteth her unripe '

and upon the

third part of the Earth,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

account concerning the

Word

of the infallible

^that

men?

God, or the mere theories of erring

may,

perhaps, be thought very narrow-minded in thus depriving the Astronomers of their

many

broadness

Beyond," but

views

but

fanciful worlds,

not think that I can be justly called

so,

expressed

considering the

Hades and

have long been an advocate for Truth

" according to the Scriptures," having for that sacrificed

much, and, so long as fear not

The " fixed,"

have them upon

what men may think or

or groups

constellations,

side,

Stars,

are

called

because they do not change in their relative

position to each other, but this for they, like the others, "

the heavens Sisera "

say.

Jud.

The v.

all circle

a misleading

Stars, in their courses,

20.

definition,

in faultless oirder

round

fought against

already stated the Stars are

for service to the Earth, with different degrees of size

and

brilliancy,

the

people

They

are

all

for

under

them the

God hath

whole heaven

divided unto "

Deut.

numbered and named by God, who

iv.

all

ig.

" telleth

TERRA FIRMA.

i6o

the number of the Stars; names " Psa. cxlvii. 4.

The

giveth

chap.

vii..

sbc. 3.

them

all

their

distance attributed to the few Stars, which our

Astronomers have attempted to measure,

beyond

belief;

which

in proof of

quotation from Miss Gibeme's " Sun,

extravagant

give the following

Moon, and

Stars,"

pp. 91, 92.

"Alpha "

the second Star which

Centauri,

with success,

the nearest of

You have heard how

far the

Alpha Centauii

distance of

was attempted

whose distance we know.

all

Sun

from the Earth.

The

two hundred and twenty-five

thousand times as much. "

Can you

picture to yourself that vast reach of space

line ninety-one millions of miles long repeated over

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

and over

again two hundred and twenty-five thousand times.

" But Alpha Centauri Star whose distance

thousand times as

one of the very nearest.

was measured,

far as the Sun,

61 Cygni,

and the

nearly one million times as far as the Sun. to

show the smallest change

little

The

first

hundred

brilliant Sirius is

Others uttely refuse

of position."

The Modem Astronomer upon the

is five

so fond of expatiating

glories of his starry worlds, that

he thinks but

of his own, like the cloud-soaring eagle, " Seeming to wonder that a world so dim

Should not have been more beautiful for him."

His mind has become so engrossed with the inconceivable magnitude of

Sirius,

Vega, and other Staxs, that he

calls

the world in which he lives " an atom of a world," though that "

atom

of a world," according to his

own

showing,

25,000 miles in circumference, quite large enough for all

the purposes for which

required,

and the chief

THE of these purposes

is,

that

STARS.

i6i

by the works of God's Creation,

as well as by the Revelation of His

the Holy Spirit,

God, and Jesus Christ ]ohn

Life Eternal

Word,

we may know Him

whom He

hath sent, for

first

Common

this is

xvii. 3.

The Modem Astronomer appears the very

as taught

as the only true

deficient in

necessary for useful

principle

enquiry

Sense.

" Like the Chaldean he

would watch the

but he lacks the standpoint of the Chaldean

stars,"

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a stationary

Earth, for that, according to him, revolves around the

Sun

possible

him to measure

for

especially such a circling

body as a

how

second; and

at the rate of eighteen miles per

could

anything,,

Star, with accuracy,

handicapped by such a cannon-ball motion as he would only take the trouble to think

that?"

seriously,.

instead of indulging in wild speculation, he would sooni

see the absurdity of his theoretic calculations.

a thoughtful

heavens

man

truly solemn,

the contemplation of the starry

when he knows

that they,

well as the familiar Earth from which he gazes on them, shall all pass away, " as

would appear, was

mind

in the

tale that is told."

of the Psalmist

Such,

when he

exclaimed " Of old hast

Thou

laid the foundations of the Earth,

the Heavens aie the work of

but

Thou

Thy hands.

shalt endure; yea, all of

them

They shall

and

shall perish,

wax

old like a

garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed ; but Thou no end.

The children

art the

same, and

Thy

years shall have

servants shall continue,

their seed shall be established before

Thee "

Psa.

cii.

and

z^â&#x20AC;&#x201D;zS.

TERRA FIRMA.

i62

also,

chap,

vii.,

sec.

the coming dissolution of the Heavens,

proclaimed by the Prophet Isaiah

"The

host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens

shall be rolled together as a scroll,

away

as the leaf falleth

of the fig-tree "

And

from

ofi

and

all their

host shall

fall

the vine, and as a fading leaf

Isa. xxxiv. 4.

the 'inspired Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews,

quoting from the prophet Haggai, sums up the matter as follows

"Yet once more Ibut also the

will I

make

And

Heavens.

this

to tremble not the Earth only

word, yet once more,

signifieth

the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that

have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. shaken,

Wherefore, let

receiving

us have grace, whereby

Kingdom we may

that

pleasing to God, with reverence and awe, for our

suming

fire."

Heb.

xii.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

29.

cannot

offer service well-

God

a con-

i63

CHAPTER

VIII.

THE SUN ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES. Section

Page

Light comes out of Darkness

Zetetic measurements respecting the tance AND diameter OF THE SUN

dis-

l6j

174

Scriptural proof of the Rising and Setting OF the Sun .

180

Some particulars respecting the Sun

163

SECTION

LIGHT COMES OUT OF DARKNESS. It

good to pass from

instead of a cross

the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

stream

to fact

fiction

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

^to

have,

a strong bridge on which to

rotten plank, lieu

panting

the

foggy

atmosphere of impossible Theory, to breathe the pure air of

Let us now, therefore, endea-

heavenly Truth.

vour to learn something of what the Bible

tells

concerning the Sun.

"And God

said, let there

be luminaries

(light-givers) in the

firmament of the heavens, to divide the day from the night,

and

let

years;

them be and

let

for signs

them be

and

for seasons,

and

for

days and for

for light in the firmament of the

TERRA FIRMA.

i64

chap,

heavens, to give light upon the Earth, and

was

viii.,

sec.

And God

so.

great luminaries, the greater luminary to rule the

made two

day, and the lesser luminary to rule the night, the Stars also

and God

them

set

firmament of the heavens to give light

in the

upon the Earth, and

to rule over the

and to divide between the

God saw

that

the

ig.

must have been

Be not so

days."

left

till

with your

fast

Mr. Sceptic; there was light before the Sun's

formation, as there hereafter. "

Creation light "

was

world

the

darkness for three criticism,

—

have been, not to make the Sun

this

day;

fourth

Gen.

the Sceptic, " what a bunghng perfor-

says

manoe must

and between the darkness, and

light

was good, and the evening and the morning

were the fourth day " "

day and over the night,

remarked,

On God

very

without first

3, the record of

one of the

now, and

day

will

Adamic

the

Let there be

said,

Gen. is

is light

the

and there

light,

which, as Longinus

finest instances of the sublime.

Light, strictly speaking, is a formation, not an original

—

God

creation.

said

" I

create (ve-berd) darkness "

form

the

(yuiser)

light,

and I

Great have been

Isa. xlv. 7.

among

the differences of opinion as to light

Scientists,

some advocating the corpuscular and others the undular

Had

tory theory.

much as

womb

neglect, they

may seem

they gone to the Book, which they so

would have learned long ago, strange

to them, that Light is

of Darkness.

Darkness

—but

absence of light density.

" Darkness

and that the

Thus we was upon

God

darkness,

bom

out of the

not a negation

—a mere

a substance of various degrees of are

told

that

the face of the

the

Deep

beginning Gen.

divided between the light and between

and God called the

light

day,

and the

LIGHT COMES OUT OF DARKNESS.

darkness there

—one day

a morning

Thus we

Gen.

4, 5.

what

Nature, but which, to speak more

God,

correctly, is the Providence of

darkness,

an evening, and

find that in the mysterious order of

generally called

and there

called night,

165

beautiful

light sprang out of

which

illustration

the

truth,

Apostle Paul, doubtless with reference to this very us in spiritual

gives

things

—

For God,

who commanded

skotous phds lampsai,

fact,

eipon ek

light to shine out

of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of Himself in the face of Jesus Christ

—2

Cor.

iv.

Again,

gar poti skotos nun de phds

ete

en Kurio hos tekna phdtos peripateite, " for at one time

now

ye were darkness, but

are ye fight in the Lord, walk

Eph.

as children of light"

— Unto the upright there —Fsa. "

exit.

The

resemble

sometimes

that

over

evolved,

felt "

by groping.

unto the thick darkness, where Milton

—

Again

but darkness perhaps,

some

itself

Egypt,

" that

might

Moses drew near

God was "

writes of " darkness visible," that

so gross or

land

the

recorded in Exodus x. 21, the darkness,

4..

darkness, out of which light

various degrees of density;

thick

8 ; and the Psalmist says

ariseth light in the darkness

is,

Exod. xx. 21.

where nothing

can be seen, an experience, which,

one special occasion,

Readers may have known, I

have myself.

that the opinion entertained

Thus,

it is

as,

evident

by most, that darkness

merely the privation of

light,

comes out

proves that darkness must be

of darkness

a veritable entity or substance.

erroneous.

light

This may be marvellous

to us, but all God's works axe marvellous, and I

do not

TERRA FIRMA.

i66

know

that

certain

it is

more so than that water is composed of and hydrogen gases. The of Creation are inexplicable.

see results, but as to the

"why" and

the "how,"

they are to us hidden as the writing in a sealed

must have

God does

faith

possible,

"Know that God

the wisest

and we

tells us, is Just,

And, where we can't unriddle, learn to

accordance with

letter.

to believe that everything which

done in the best manner

should, as Pamell

portions of oxygen

truth is that the marvels

chap, vih., sec.

who knows

his Bible best,

There

teaching.

its

trust."

be found in the Bible, particularly

and

lives in

real science

Genesis, Job,

Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, than

and Observatories in the Grand nuggets of true knowledge are embedded

world.

but they are required to be sought for in a reverent

spirit,

in all the Universities

for "

God

humble

resisteth the

James

iv.

there,

proud but giveth grace unto the

Our Lord

said

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" I

thank Thee,

Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because

Thou

hast

hid these things from the wise and understanding, and hast revealed it

them unto babes, even

seemeth good in Thy sight

Matt.

so.

Father, for so

xi. 25, 26.

Parkhurst held strongly the procession of light out indeed, in one sense,

of darkness;

might be called

the basis of his system of the circulation of the celestial fluids,

which, as he thought, caused the revolution of

the world.

uphold

his theory,

afraid,

however, that, in his zeal to

he sometimes got an esoteric meaning

from certain Hebrew words to harmonize with other good lexicographers

it,

which

do not appear to -have found.

ZETETIC MEASUREMENTS OF THE SUN.

Still,

approve of

it,

opinion,

his

although

system,

to Newton's

is suj)erior

167

cannot

he held that there

;

a plenum in the heavens, which Newton, on account of

and he had a

his fancied law of Gravitation, rejected,

reverence for the

Word

God which Newton,

theory of the universe, deliberately ignored. able exponent, Macdonald, in his work, "

in his

Parkhufst's

The

Principia

and the Bible," previously quoted, has some important remarks on

light,

which

would

especially in

any of

refer

Chapter

of Part II.,

II.

Readers

who may be

interested in that important subject.

SECTION

ZETETIC MEASUREMENTS RESPECTING THE DISTANCE AND DIAMETER OF THE SUN. Zetetics,

the

truth

who, as the name implies, seek only to know

God's wonderful works

Creation,

although somewhat differing as regards the exact distance of the

Sun from the Earth, are all agreed Those now most in the

comparatively near. sider

that

to be under or about three thousand miles,

they utterly repudiate the estimate of !

The Sun was made

and

Modern Astrono^

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;92,000,000 miles â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

mers

front con-

as being contrary to

all

reason.

to give light and heat to "the Earth,

and what a wasted expenditure of both would there be at such an to

enormous

distance.

The

idea

too absurd

be attributed to any human Architect, much

less

TERRA FIRMA.

i68

chap,

the All-wise Creator of the Universe.

some

ing to

mention

of oair Astronomical

briefly

been taken,

how

Zetetic

these

may be

measurements have

make some

they might then, perhaps,

interest-

for

friends,

sec.

viii.,

practical experiments, themselves, and thus be convinced that the extravagant distances, calculated on the theory

of a Planetary Earth, are altogether erroneous.

Rowbotham's

Dr.

simple

;

own words,

" Zetetic Astronomy,'' pp. 102

"The

experiment

(Parallax)

I shall give it in his

illustration given

was very

as described in

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 104

above (that of measurements by

plane trigonometry), have referred to a fixed object; but the

Sun

not fixed, and, therefore, a modification of the process,

but involving the same principle, must be adopted. of the simple triangle

and plumb

Instead

line represented in

fig.

an instrument with a graduated arc must be employed

two observers, one

must it

at the

57,

;

and

each end of a North and South base

line,

same moment observe the under edge

of the

Sun

passes the meridian; when, from the difference of the angle

observed, and the distance of the

known

length of the base line, the actual

Sun may be

importance.

"The

(Taken 13th July, of

distance

day

1870.)

at the

Bridge,

was found

same moment

the

50 statute miles.

at 12 o'clock, the altitude of the

London

following case

as well as its result and

London Bridge

Brighton, in a straight line,

The

calculated.

will fully illustrate this operation,

sea-coast

a given

Sun from near the water

61 degrees of

of time, the altitude

arc, and,

from the sea-coast

Brighton was observed to be 64 degrees of an arc, as shown by fig.

58.

angle at

The base

line

degrees,

from

to B, 50 measured miles, the

and the angle

64 degrees.

addition to the method by calculation, the distance of the

ZETETIC MEASUREMENTS OF THE SUN.

b.N'o

V5>

vaFIG. 58.

•9

•J

-2

-I

169

TERRA. FIRMA.

I70

chap,

viii.,

sec. ^,

under edge of the Sun may be ascertained from these elements

by the method is,

the

that

'constructed,'

drawn

an angle of

drawn

an angle of 64 degrees.

from

The diagram,

'construction.'

called

above case,

and the

represents 50 statute miles, 61

and the

degrees,

Both

are produced

each other at the point

until they bisect or cross

58, line

line L, S, is

line

lines

fig.

the base

is,

Then,

with a pair of compasses, measure the length of the base line

how many

B, L, and see

the line L, S, or B, S. sixteen

times the same length

equal to 800

times 50 miles,

measure in the same way the vertical

Hence

found to be 700 miles.

may

be found in

be found to be sixteen times, or

It will

it is

statute

line

Then

miles.

and

will

demonstrable that the

tance of the Sun over that point of the Earth to which

disis

vertical is only 700 statute miles."

Another method of measurement was adopted by the

John Hampden, below,* from which I quote late

Mr.

The Sun

travels

15 miles a minute,

a Pamphlet mentioned

as follows

from east to west on the equator,

just

or goo miles in the 60 minutes, and

enlarges or diminishes

its

orbit just

15 miles

every day, or

goo miles every 60 days.

"And

again, precisely the

same

figures

must be employed

to define the width of the twelve or fifteen meridians of longi-

tude from North to South as are used to describe the daily

enlargement of the Sun's orbit from one parallel of latitude to

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;that

the next, and the next, occupying 90 days

by iiji from 7J^ and

"The

to 1,350

Sun's altitude, at

all

seasons,

just equal to a meridian of longitude

June or Northern Solstice

increases

40j 41.

only goo miles, or

on the Equator.

vertical at 1,350 miles

In the

from the

the Elementary Principles of Physical Cosmogonv "; ClvU Publishing Co., 8 Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London.

*"A Dialogue on .Service Printing

it is

is, it

and iS7%-" PP-

ZETETIC MEASUREMENTS OF THE SUN. Equator

;

May and

April and August,

and September, October,

November or

it is

December

"The

July

vertical at 450 miles, north;

it is

crossing

the

line;

vertical at 900 miles, south

Solstice

1,350 miles

it is

;

that of

and

in the Southern

from the Equator.

Equinoxial orbit

its

in January and

diameter of the Sun's Northern or June orbit

4,200 miles

;

March

February

south;

vertical at 450 miles,

171

900 miles, north

it is vertical at

6,900 miles

;

just

and that

of its diameter or Southern orbit 9,600 miles; or a difference of 2,700 miles between each "

(p. 42).

Thomas Winship

Mr.

Durban, Natal, gives his

measurement of the Sun's distance

"When

the

Sun

clination, the angle

distances

on that

as follows

on the Equator, and thus has no de-

makes with the Earth and the sea on

circle is a right angle.

At an angular

all

dis-

tance of 45 degrees from the Equator, north or south, the distance of the base line from the observer to the Equator of necessity the

Earth's Equator.

where the angle

same

as the Sun's vertical distance

That at the

to say, in

any right-angled

apex of the triangle

from the triangle,

45 degrees, the

other angle must of necessity be the same, as these two angles in any degrees.

such triangle are equal to the right angle,

The angles being equal

equal; therefore the base line "

Let S

right-angled

and " is

equal to the vertical.

E O at E

;

S the Sun,

the figure

it is

the Equator,

north latitude.

evident that 45 degrees

the angular distance of the

north,

be a right-angled triangle,

observer at 45 degrees

From

viz.,

the sides, are of necessity

Sun

at 45 degrees

and no other angle can be got in

actual practice (allowing, of course, for such

corrections as height of eye, semi-diameter, &c.)

;

so that the

TERRA FIRMA.

172

chap,

viii.,

sec.

—^from

distance on the surface of the Earth to the Equator

Sun

in the heavens

to E, is the

same as from the Equator

—E

Multiplying 45 by 60 (60 Geographical miles equal

to S.

degree),

to E,

to the

get 2,700 Geographical miles as the distance

and thus from

to S.

The Sun

MILES DISTANT FROM THE Eaeth.

is,

from

therefoee, 2,700

the Sun Were 96,000,000

miles distant from the Earth, our observer at 45 degrees N. or "» S. latitude would be that distance from the Equator !

Another Zetetic, the late Editor of " The Earth (not a Globe) Review," known as "Zetetes," has written an able paper on the distance of the Sun, the whole of which is

too long for insertion here, so I must content myself

by quoting only the preliminary is sufficient

be about three thousand miles "But take

when

the

part,

which, however,

to show that " Zetetes " considers the

Sun

distant

Sun

from the Earth.

the time of the vernal and autumnal equinox, is directly

over the Equator.

will also take

the Astronomer's assumption that the light of the Sun travels in straight lines, except just near the surface of the Earth,

when they sometimes allow

for

what

as they have no agreed and definite

and what they do sometimes allow

may

termed

refraction.

But

standard of refraction,

only a small figure,

at present ignore this for the purpose of simplifying the

problem before

They cannot reasonably

us.

object

our

following their lead here.

"Now

a well-known property that

all

the angles of

any triangle are together equal to two right angles, or 180 degrees.

If,

then,

take any right-angled triangle as A, B,

having one angle at the base B a right angle, and the other angle at the base *

Zetetic

Durban, Natal

45 degrees

Cosmogony " ;

we know

that the angle at the

pp. 115, 117; T, L. CuUingworth, 40 Field Street, Street, Netherfield, Notts.

John Williams, 54 Bourne

ZETETIC MEASUREMENTS OF THE SUN.

apex

must

also be 43 degrees,

equal to the base "

Now let A

line,

173

and the perpendicular B, A,

B, C.

represent the Sun's position over

the Equator on the 21st of March, and

the

place of some spectator on the Equator directly

beneath the Sun when on the meridian say of

Bordeaux, which

and

lef

almost that of Greenwich,

represent the town of Bordeaux in

France at about 45 degrees N. Lat.

Here, then,

we have some

general data for determining the Sun's distance from the Earth that

is,

equal to the line C, B, or the base

distance between Bordeaux and the point "

Sun above

the line A, B, or the perpendicular height of the

the Equator at B,

Now

Geographers

the

affirm

geographical or 69^^ statute miles.

by these

line,

on the Equator.

that

degree

equals

Then- multiply 45 degrees

and we get the distance, according to the

figures,

Astronomers, that Bordeaux

from the nearest point of the

Equator on the same meridian, namely 2,700 geographical miles,

about

3,107

English

statute

numbers, then, 3,000 miles proximately

round

the distance of the

Sun from the Equator, shown according

miles.

terms of the

to the

Astronomers themselves."

With

regard

estimates of

the

Modem

Diameter

the

Sun,

the

Astronomers vary from 850,000 to

882,000 miles, thus making a difference between themselves of 32,000 miles

These

calculations are so pre-

posterously absurd that they only deserve to be treated

Mr. Winship of Natal, who

with contempt.

in nautical matters, asserts that its

an Expert

Diameter

only 32

geographical miles, as will be seen from the following extract

from

120

his

valuable

Cosmogony," previously mentioned

work,

" Zetetic

TERRA FIRMA.

174

chap,

sec.

viii.,

" If the navigator neglects to apply the Sun's semi-diameter to his observation at sea,

16 nautical miles (nearly) out

in calculating the position his ship is in.

minute of arc on

the sextant represents a nautical mile, and,

the semi-diameter

be 16 miles, the diameter is, of course, 32 miles. And, as measured by the sextant, the Sun's diameter is 32 minutes of Let him disprove arc, that is 32 nautical miles in diameter. If ever disproof is attempted, it will hâ&#x201A;Ź a literary this who can. curiosity, well

worth framing."

Personally I do not feel competent to decide what

the exact distance and diameter of the Sun, but, from

testimony

the

appointed by

God

Scripture,

that

to give light

and

reason with regard

convinced that

heat, days

previously

Zetetics

allowed for of

and

referred

what might be required for it

was created.

certain that the vast distance it

years,

dictates

to,

its

us,

and

distance

and the diameter

by Mr. Winship, are the very extreme

purposes for which

ascribed to

was

the fitness of things, I

tO'

must be comparatively near

consider that the measurements as to the

luminary

that

and seasons to the Earth, as also from the

signs

Modem

its

performance of the

We may

positively

and diameter of the Sun,

Astronomers,

only a wild

chimera of the brain, and at complete variance with Scripture, Reason,

and Fact.

SECTION

SOME PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE SUN. Let us now look at the following points I.

In the beginning darkness was upon the face of

the Deep, or vast abyss of waters, in which the Earth,

SOME PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE before

Adamic

the

Creation,

God

and

said

Let

there

17s

was wholly submerged.

God moved upon

Afterwards the Spirit of

SUN.

light,

the waters,

and

was

there

light."

God

divided between the light and between the

darkness, from which

would seem

consequence

that, in

of this operation, the finer particles were separated from

the grosser, and formed by God's

fiat

The

into light.

Hebrew for light is aur, from the root ar to flow, we also have yaur, a river, .so called from its

whence flowing

motion.

and

God,

who

independent

with

light

unknown

only

the

all

that these were

combinations

or other product

ether,

which are

Stars,

appears to

different

God made

the Fourth day of Creation

Moon and

the Sun,

light-givers,

formed from

all

some pervading

Word

by the

to us,

Alchemist

perfect

the

universe.

—

The word

aur, light, is occasionally used for fire

" a third part shalt

of the city "

Ezek.

thou

bum

a development of

light,

which,

immense

said,

in the fire,

whence

as exhibited

flames,

in,

seems as

the midst

by the Sun, from

discoverable by the

telescope, proceed.

Light

light is

can

be reconverted into darkness

darkened in the heavens thereof"

The Sun

Seek

shall

Him

that

be turned into darkness

maketh the seven

were

if fire

—

" the

Isa. v. "

Joel

—

it.

31.

Stars (the Pleiades),

and Orion, and tumeth the shadow of death into the morning,

Amos

V. 8.

The

and

maketh

light of the

the

day

dark

with

Sun and Moon can

night"

also be

much

TERRA FIRMA.

lyS

— increased

Moreover the

as the light of the Sun,

chap,

Moon

the

light of

and the

light of the

sec.

viii.,

shall

Sun

shall

as the light of seven days, in the day that

seven-fold,

Jehovah bindeth up the healeth the stroke of their

hurt

His

of "

wound

and

people,

The

Isa. xxx. 26.

—"And

heat also of the Sun shall be greatly intensified

the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the Sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire,

and men were scorched with great heat 7. I

Rev. xvi. 8,

have already proved from Scripture that

existed before the Sun, and I shall shall

come when

now show

Speaking of the restoration of God's ancient people,

all.

light light

—

Isaiah

Israel,

says

The Sun

shall

by day, neither for brightness

no more be

thy

Moon

give

shall the

unto thee, but Jehovah shall be unto thee an

everlasting light,

and thy God thy glory"

New

Again, of the

Jerusalem

it,

God

for the glory of

thereof

cerning

the

Hereafter

Lamb"

the

habitation

we read

—

did lighten Rev.

There

xxi.

the shall

ig.

City

to shine

and the lamp

And,

23.

no'

Ix.

The

Moon

it,

Saints

Isa.

—

written

hath no need of the Sun, neither of the in

a time

that

be required

that luminary will not

light

the

con-

Grand

night there, and

they need no light of lamp, neither light of Sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, reign for ever and ever " Rev. xxii. 5.

Thus we see

that the

universe, but only an

Sun

Ohed or

and they

no Baal or Lord of the formed by God to

servant,

give light and heat to our world, and to regulate

and seasons as

shall

at present constituted,

its

times

but whose service

can be dispensed with when no longer required. 8.

God made

light

on the

First day,

and what was

SOME PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE then given was quite

SUN.

177

days of

sufficient for the first three

when vegetable and He made the Sun, as also

Creation, but, on the Fourth day,

organic

were introduced,

life

Moon and

the

Stars,

such being necessary for the higher

state of existence, for

means

In Genesis

God

always admirably adapts the

to the end.

16 we read

literally

Ve-yosh

Alehtim

sheni

he-mant

And made

God

the substance

two

the luminaries

he-maw

he-gedlim

h-memshelit

he-yum

for the ruling

the day

he-geiel

the greater

the luminary

the substance

the great

he-maur

vt-at

the luminary

and the substance

he-qethen

U-memshelet

the lesser

for the ruling

ve-at

he-liUh

and the

the night

substance.-

ke-hukebim

the stars.

From are

all

the above passage

independent

we may

bodies of

different chemical combinations or

red and heat-caUsing, the

Moon

Stars of a variety of colours. that

also,

gather that these

light,

concentrated

affinities;

Sun

the

pale and cold, and the It

may be

well to note

the account of the formation of the

Stars

occupies only four words in the Hebrew, while that of

the Earth and

its

inhabitants takes a great

many more;

whereas, were they the vast bodies which our Astrono^ be, we would naturally expect made concerning them would have

mers represent thiem to that

the

been

far

relation

fully detailed in the Inspired

Record than

it is.

How ished,

these luminaries are being continuously replen-

we cannot know with

certainty,

because

we 12

are

TERRA FIRMA.

178

chap,

sec. 3.

viii.,

not told by Scripture, but, from whatever source,

amply

for

sufficient

purpose,

the

as,

their

after

long

course of well nigh six thousand years, their light

good as

still

finite

God

are very mysterious to

minds, but, by and bye,

wise and yet

how

The Sun

10.

The ways

the heavens.

our

might possibly be by their absorbing of the plenum of space, as they circle round

would suggest that the entities

might hazard a conjecture,

If I

ever.

simple they is

shall

know how

are.

sometimes eclipsed for a short time,

in consequence of the

Moon coming between

observer on the Earth.

and the

Such eclipses, as before men-

tioned, are quite independent of any particular theory,

being calculated from those which have been previously observed.

Thus, as Professor Olmsted remarks

" It is not difficult to form

process of calculating Eclipses.

some general notion It

may be

the

easily conceived

by long-continued observation on the Sun and Moon, the

that,

laws of their revolution

may

be so well understood, that the

exact place which they will occupy in the heavens at any future

time

may

be foreseen and laid down in tables of the Sun's

and Moon's motions ; that we may thus the tables, the instant

when

ascertain,

by inspecting

these bodies will be together in

the heavens, or be in conjunction."*

" Hippocratus (150 B.C.) constructed tables of the motions of the

Sun and Moon;

collected accounts of such Eclipses, as

had been made by the Egyptians and Chaldeans, and calculated all that

11.

were to happen for 600 years to come."t

God made

the Sun and Moon, not only to give

light to the world, but to * " t

be for signs and seasons,

Mechanism of the Heavens/' p. 191. "EncyclopsBdia Londonensis," Vol. 11, p. ^o^.

for

SOME PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE SUN.

179

The Sun is the chronometer of the and by it all time is regulated by land and by sea. Through it, by means of Eclipses, Mr. Dimbleby claims days and for years.

world,

to have calculated the very day

on which the present

Kosmos, or ornamented world, began to be formed.* the

word Kosmos

in order to distinguish

from

use

arets,

the

Earth which was without form and void, when Darkness

was upon the face of the Deep.

When

that

unformed

Earth was originally created no human being knows,

and the guesses of Astronomers and Geologists, its

possible age, are utterly without value, because they

have no data on which to base their calculations. In order to

12.

made

the Sun,

fulfil

stationary, to revolve it

gives light

for

Spring,

seasons,

for days,

when man goeth

—and

specially

means

this

in its various parts,

a sign in the calculation of

different

evening

instead of being

around the world.

and other heavenly motions

eclipses

it,

and heat to the Earth

besides which,

God

the purposes for which

was necessary

—

^for

regulating the

Summer, Autumn, Winter forth to his labour

distinguish

—and

Seventh day from the others

the

till

the

Sabbath or

for years to

mark

particular occurrences, such as the lives of the Patriarchs,

the date of the Deluge, the call of Abraham, the Exodus, the Jewish

Captivity,

birth of Christ,

be mentioned

the

Times of the

Gentiles,

the

and other notable events which need not

here.

God, who knows the thoughts and intents of the heart, was, of course, well aware that

themselves by worshipping the *" All Past Time,"

pp. 9, 73, I4«, 38 Paternoster

some would debase and that others

Sun,

by J. B, Dimbleby; E. Nester, Row, London.

TERRA FIRMA.

i8o

would imagine

in describing, in the

round the world, so that

Scriptures, its daily revolution

men might be

the immovable centre of the

to be

been most particular

universe, has

chap, vni., sec.

without excuse as regards either their

idolatry or their ignorance.

Every evening,

various

hours, according to the time of the year, and the place in

which we

are, the

Sun seems

to us to

go down or

set,

but always re-appears at dawn of day, " Arising,

To mock In

the

Arctic

when morn beameth on the

region,

however,

the

Sun,

days in Summer, does not visibly set at seen,

lea,

the doctrine of the Sadducee."

all,

for

certain

but

may be

during the whole twenty-four hours of the day,

performing

its

positive that

regular circle round the heavens, a proof

it is

only a

satellite

of the stationary Earth,

which cannot, therefore, be a Planet.

SECTION

SCRIPTURAL PROOF OF THE RISING AND SETTING OF THE SUN.

The

passages of Scripture respecting the rising and

setting of the Sun, are so very

numerous that

occupy too much space to record them

all,

mention a few, which, however, axe quite the purpose; a complete in

list

would

so I shall only

can be found,

sufficient for if

required,

any good Concordance "

From

the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great

river, the river

Euphrates,

all

the land of the Hittites, and unto the

SCRIPTURAL PROOF OF RISE AND SET OF SUN.

be your

" Thus spake Joshua to Jbhovah, in the day when

Jehovah

Sea, towards the going down of

border"

Jos.

delivered thou

Sun

that

the Amorites before the children of Israel, Sun, stand

stood

still

And

there

fought for Israel "—Jos.

them

let

And

And is

shall

shalt rise early

what

was no day

and

men

the

and hasted not

go down

or after

like that before

Jehovah

voice of a man, for

Him

"^ud.

(Jehovah) be as the Sun when 31.

in the morning, as soon as the

set

x. 12-14.

that love

he goeth forth in his might

in the valley of Ajalon.

in the midst of heaven,

Jehovah hearkened unto the

" But

the

upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon,

still

the

about a whole day. it

i8i

Sun, shall

Great

upon the

city

"—Jud.

of the city said unto

him

Sun

down,

before the sun went

sweeter than honey, or stronger than a lion? "

So they passed on and went

thou

up,

ix. 33.

their way, and

Jud. xiv. 18. the

sun

went

down upon them, even by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin " Jud. xix. 14.

"David

sware, saying,

taste bread or

ought else

And Hezekiah

Jehovah

will heal

Jehovah the

third

So do God

till

the

Sun

said unto Isaiah,

me, and that

day

And

me and more

down "

what

I shall

— 2 Sam. shall

also, if I

Hi. 35.

be the sign that

go up to the House of

Isaiah said, This shall be the sign

unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that

hath spoken

(degrees) or go back ten steps ?

And Hezekiah

answered.

light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps, nay, but return backward ten steps.

Jehovah and He gone on the dial "

down

So "

the

—

Shall the shadow (of the Sun) go forward ten steps

Isaiah

the

It is

the

had

—2 Kin^sxx. 8-n.

returned ten degrees,

Isa. xxxviii. 8.

shadow

Prophet cried unto

brought the shadow ten steps backward on which

ofAhas"

Sun

And

let

by which degrees

was gone

TERRA FIRMA.

i82

" In them (the heavens) hath which

viii.,

sbc. 4.

Sm,

as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and refoiceth as a

young man

run his

and

heavens,

retumeth

to the

And

also ariseth (xeret)

came

and

" place where he arose to pass

a sultry east wind "^on. ""that ye heaven, for

His going forth

course.

his circuit unto the end of it

" The Sun

chap,

set a tabernacle for the

may be maheth

when

—

—Psa.

Ecc.

the

Sun

xix. 4-6.

Sun

the

down

(6m),

arose, that

God

prepared

the children of your Father which

the

Sun

to rise

on the

is in

and on the good,

evil

Matt.

Eph.

v. 43.

iv.

26.

no sooner risen with a burning heat but

withereth the grass "—Jam.

and

" Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath is

goeth

and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust " For the Sun

from the end of the

11.

Such testimony from the Scriptures that the Earth is

a Terra Firma, and that the Sun rises arid sets each

day in his journey round the heavens, must be convincing to

every

unprejudiced mind,

and

really

superfluous to add proof from secular sources, with which

every country teems, and of which I could quote pages.

But what would be the use? what God declares

what

their

own

—^what

people

common

will not credit

sense teaches

—and

eyes behold, further arguments would be

of no avail, and they must just be left in their ignorance.

In the world beyond they

and deeply and so

will

have their sight opened,

they deplore that they were so sinful

foolish as to believe a

Pagan

lie

instead of the

overwhelming evidence, afforded to tfiem during their sojourn here, of Scripture, Reason, and Fact, that the

Earth

not a Planet

i83

CHAPTER THE

IX.

AND WORK

SUN'S PATH

THE HEAVENS.

PAGE

SECTION 1.

The trde cause of Day and Night and

The reason for Gain

THE Seasons AT Sea

184

...

and Loss op Time

186

The Seasons of the Year

187

The Midnight Sun, and the alternation of Summer and Winter in the Northern

Centre

igo

The Sun and the Zodiac

There of those

the

195

subject, with the exception, of course,

which are essentially

human mind

the

divine,

right

so ennobling to

contemplation

the

The atmosphere dew the hurricane

wonders of the spacious firmament.

—the and the — —the thunder and the

and the clouds and

the'

—

lightning

lessons of love

The

rain

hail

majestic Sun, as

travels

its

path, the silvery

Moon, "walking in brightness," and the variegated emblazoning,

^teach

and of thankfulness, of pity and of awe.

costly

jewels,

the

mantle

draw us from ourselves, and "Lead from Nature up

to Nature's

God."

Stars,

night,

TERRA FIRMA.

i84

How

chap,

sec. i.

ix.,

deeply must the Sweet Singer of Israel have

felt

he exclaimed

this when,

"The heavens

declare the glory of God, and the firmament

unto day uttereth speech, and

Day

showeth His handiwork.

There

night unto night teacheth knowledge.

language where their voice

not heard.

the earth, and

out through

all

the world"

Fsa. xix. i

their

no speech nor

Their line

gone

words unto the end of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

4..

SECTION

THE CAUSE OF DAY AND NIGHT AND THE SEASONS. The Path contracting easily

Sun

of the

daily

for

Concentric, expanding and

months

six

This

alternately.

proved by fixing a rod, say at noon on the 21st

of December, so that, on looking along vision will touch the lower

it,

the line of

edge of the Sun.

of sight will continue for several days pretty

same, but, on the ninth or tenth day, that the rod will have to

will

This

line

much

the

be found

be moved considerably toward

the zenith, in order to touch the lower edge of the Sun,

and every day afterwards

22nd

of June.

Then

will

have to be raised

there will be

little

till

the

change for a

few days as before, but day by day afterwards the rod

wiU have the Sun

be lowered

is farthest

dark

there.

Sun's

path

This

till

the zist of December,

when

from the Northern Centre, and expansion

continues

every

and contraction year,

and

it is

the

termed

the

Northern and Southern Declination, and should demon-

CAUSE OF DAY AND NIGHT AND THE SEASONS. strate to

Modem

World a

the

Astronomers the absurdity of calling

Planet, as

Sun continues

183

circling

remains stationary while the

round the heavens.

has been observed, that both the June and the

December paths

Sun have for centuries been

of the

gradually receding

the Northern Centre, which

fronj,

may

account for the fact that in Great Britain, as well as in the remains

other northern countries,

tropical

pro-

ductions have been found, thus appearing to show that these localities were at one time warmer than they are

now.

has also been noticed that the inclemency of

the weather in the far Southern latitudes, though stUl

much

greater than

it is

in the North, seems to

were

first

same degrees of

in the

be somewhat

less than

when they

discovered.

thus be seen that, in consequence of this

will

expanding and contracting path of the Sun, as travels six

latitude

round the world,

months

alternately, as

from the Northern Centre,

an inner or outer

daily

circle, for

advances towards or recedes or,

Geographers

call

it,

the North Pole, are produced the various changes in the length

twilight,

each the

day and night,

different

seasons

morning and evening of

the

year,

Spring,

Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and the long periods of alternate

light

and darkness

the

Northern

Centre.

Such was God's purpose when He first made the Sun, and such was His determination after the whole Earth

had been swept by the Noachian Flood, in the

Book

for

we read

of books

" While the Earth remaineth seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease''

Gen.

viii. 22.

TERRA FIRMA.

i86

SECTION

chap,

sec.

ix.,

THE REASON FOR GAIN AND LOSS OF TIME AT

often hear

SEA.

stated that the fact of the mariner

gaining or losing a day, in circumnavigating the Earth, is

evidence that

it is

a Globe, whereas, on the contrary,

a direct proof that

it is

beg to quote the following

a Plane.

terse

this point I

words of the

late Mr.

W. Carpenter of Baltimore, from No. 100 of his "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is not a Globe."* "The brings

Sun, as

noon

travels

to all places

over the surface of the Earth,

on the successive meridians which

crosses, his journey being

made

in a westerly direction,

places east of the Sun's position have had their noon, whilst places in the west of the Sun's position have Therefore,

Earth where 'put on,' or

hand, '

wc '

travel easterly,

time

we may be

said 'to gain time.'

travel westerly,

'lose time.'

still

to get

arrive at places

But,

If,

where

put back,' and

to be

on the other is still

may be

said

travel easterly, so as to cross

a loss there of a day, which will

the i8oth meridian, there

neutralize the gain of a

whole circumnavigation, and

travel westerly,

it.

at the part of the

more advanced, the watch has

morning,' the watch has to be

that

and arrive

and cross the same meridian, we experience

the gain of a day, which will compensate for the loss during

a complete circumnavigation in that direction.

The

fact

losing or gaining time in sailing round the world, then, instead *

John Williams, 54 Bourne

Street, Netherfield, Notts.

THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR. of being evidence of the Earth's rotundity, as to be,

in its practical exemplification,

is,

187

imagined

an evident proof

that the Earth is not a Globe."

SECTION

THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR. Our Modern Astronomers have found

great diflBculty

in accounting for the alternation of day and night, and

the return of the Seasons of the year, so as to be in keieping with their theory of the world revolving round the

They

Sun.

upon the expedient of supposing upon an imaginary axis once in every

at last hit

the Earth to rotate

twenty-four hours to explain day and night, and gave

degrees, so as to bring in the

peculiar lurch of 23^^

Seasons in their course.

was a clumsy device, and,

of course, utterly fallacious, for, as already shown, the

Earth does not rotate

all,

but "

and established upon the

seas their

vain

philosophy,

teaching of the Bible,

founded upwn the

Had

floods."

and given heed to

they the

left

plain

and practical observation, they

would have discovered how simple are the laws

and how

unfailing in their action.

work, as our Astronomers do, for

way

is perfect "

of the Seasons, I

Psa. xviii. 30.

do not think

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

of God, makes no patch-

for

God His

In explaining the cause that I can

better for

Readers than by giving the following extract from

TERRA FIRMA.

i88

124,

pp.

chap,

Natal, who, in the

Thomas Winship

remarks on that subject, from pp.

The nearer the Sun the higher

rises,

"The

16,

Stars "

gets to the Pole star,

reaches at noon, and the later

paragraph, quotes Mr. Russell's

first

Wonders of the Sun, Moon, and '

125 of "Zetetic Cosmogony,"* a paxticularly

able work, lately published by Mr.

sec.

ix.,

the earlier it sets.

This

apparenl independent motion of the Sun, therefore, seems to

account for longer and shorter days, and the whole phenomena

why

of the seasons, but

Sun

the

moves northerly and southerly

lags as described, or

why

at alternate periods, there

apparent evidence.'

the above

paragraph Mr.

Winship remarks as

follows "

the supposition that the world

against the Sun,

a globe rotating

and revolving round that luminary,

impossible to account for what Mr. Russell calls the lagging

movement

known As

of the Sun.

to be, there

But, on a

flat surface, like

no assumption needed

have shown the Earth

the world

to account for

is it.

a stretched-out structure, which

diverges from the Central north in all directions toward the

The Equator, being mid-way between

south.

the north centre

and the southern circumference, divides the course into north

and south

the world which the Sun makes, greatest southern declination. circle is contracted.

extremity of

its

* E.

Sun

when

has reached

its

Gradually going northward the

In about three months after the southern

Still

pursuing a northerly course as

L. CuUingworth, 40 Field Street, Street, Netherfield, Notts.

Bourne

of the

longest circle round

path has been reached, the Sun makes a circle

round the Equator.

The

declinations.

Durban, Natal; John Williams,

THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR.

189

goes round and above the world, in another three months the greatest northern declination is reached,

Sun

and

sets later;

going north,

rises earlier

when the Sun again

In northern latitudes when the

begins to go towards the south.

each day,

higher at noon,

while in southern latitudes, at the same time,

the Sun, as a matter of course, rises later; reaches a lesser altitude at

noon and

sets earlier.

In northern latitudes during

the southern summer, say from September to December, the

Sun

rises later

each day,

while in the south he rises

lower at noon, and sets earlier;

noon, and sets later each day.

Earth daily

reaches a higher altitude at

earlier,

This movement round the

the cause of the alternation of day and night;

while his northern and southern courses produce the Seasons.

When

the

Sun

south of the Equator

south and winter in the north, and alternation

of the Seasons

flatly

summer

in the

The

fact of the

contradicts the

Newtonian

vice-versa.

delusion that the Earth revolves in an orbit round the Sun. It

'is

said that

summer

Sun, and winter by

its

caused by the Earth being nearer the

being farthest from the Sun.

But,

the

reader will follow the argument in any text-book, he will see that according to the theory,

when the Earth

Sun there must be summer

in both northern

latitudes;

Sun

and

in like

must be winter

manner when all

nearest the

and southern

farthest

from the

over the Ecirth at the same time,

because the whole of the globe-earth would be farthest from the

Sun

In short

of the Seasons

and that

it is

impossible to account for the recurrence

on the assumption that the Earth

revolves in an orbit round the Sun."

globular,

TERRA FIRMA.

igo

SECTION

chap,

ix.,

sbc. 4.

THE MIDNIGHT SUN, AND THE ALTERNATION OF SUMMER AND WINTER IN THE NORTHERN CENTRE. In Winter the continues

for

Northern Centre

some months

again in Summer, and illumines

the

till

darkened,

with

Sun its

and

returns

brightness.

have then the phenomenon of " The Midnight Sun,"

the following vivid account of which appeared in

The

Brighton Examiner" of July, 1870.

The

party referred

to consisted of Mr. Campbell, the United States' Minister

for Norway, cliff

and some other gentlemen who ascended a

1,000 feet high, overlooking the Arctic Ocean

" It

away

was

late

but

The

sunlight.

still

Arctic

in silent vastness at our feet, the

scarcely reached our airy look-out.

Away

tall

stretched

in the north the

huge old Sun swung low along the horizon, of the

Ocean

sound of the waves

like the

slow beat

clock in our grandfather's parlour corner.

stood silently looking at our watches.

When

all

both hands stood

together at twelve midnight, the full round orb hung trium-

—a bridge

phantly above the waves

of gold running due north

spangled the water between us and him. silent majesty •off

our hats

sunrise

which knew no

—no

word was

tains.

•said.

you ever saw, and

gorgeous colouring which

setting.

lit

its

There he shone

involuntarily took

Combine the most

brilliant

beauties will pall before the

up the ocean, heaven, and moun-

In half an hour the Sun had swung up perceptibly on

its

beat,

MIDNIGHT SUN AT NORTHERN CENTRE. the colours had changed to those of morning. A

breeze had rippled over the florid sea;

191

fresh

one songster after

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;we

had

another piped out of the grove behind us

slid into

another day."

What a of the

splendid visible proof

Sun revolving round a

the above description

stationary Earth!

There,

saw from

in that high

Norwegian

a lofty

the Sun at Midnight passing in his journey,

cliff,

latitude, these travellers

without having set at

and

proclaiming

with

all,

effulgent

" Th' unwearied

And

brightness

the

grand

Thus, as the Poet sings

beneficence of God.

Doth

from one day into another,

its

Sun from day

to day,

Creator's power display.

publishes in every land

The work

His Almighty hand."

Had p>oor Proctor been there I think he would never have written his " Pretty proof of the Earth's rotundity." Facts, such as those above narrated, are too strong to

be resisted even by

scientific prejudice.

would doubt-

less teach a useful lesson, as also afford a pleasant holiday,

some of our Astronomic friends, were they to take a The Land of the Midnight Sun " in one of the

trip to "

steamers advertized for that voyage in the newspapers. I

think that they would return wiser than before they

went,

with

less

admiration

for

the

Copernicus, with more reverence for the

and with more Respecting

respiect for

hypothesis

Word

of God,

common sense

this matter the late

Mr. Carpenter writes

pithily in Nos. 38 and 39 of his " One Hundred Proofs before-mentioned, which I beg here to subjoin

"38.

When

the

Sun

crosses the Equator in

March and

TERRA FIRMA.

192

chap,

sec. 4.

ix.,

begins to circle lound the heavens in north latitude, the inhabitants of high northern latitudes see

him skimming round

their

horizon and forming the break of their long day in a horizontal course, not disappearing again for six months,

as he rises

higher and higher in the heavens, whilst he makes his twentyfour hours' circle until June,

goes on

when he begins

to descend, and

he disappears beyond the horizon in September.

till

Thus, in the northern regions they have what the traveller the

Midnight Sun

in the

more southern

for one half the year,

latitudes

we may

it is

always midnight.

see for ourselves the

horizontal circles round the heavens, for the other half,

boundary of our plane

"39.

If then,

Sun making

presumptive

that,

doing the same although beyond the

This being a proof that the Earth

vision.

a proof that the Earth

daily round

calls

as he sees that luminary at a time when,

not a Globe.

have abundance of evidence that the Sun moves

and over the Earth in

circles concentric with the

northern regions, over which hangs the North Star; but, since the theory of the Earth being a globe

with the theory of it

falls to

its

the ground

which we speak, and, is

necessarily connected

motion round the Sun in a yearly

when we

orbit,

bring forward the evidence of

in so doing forms a proof that the Earth

not a Globe."

The and

foregoing observatdoos, with respect to the path

work

the

Sun,

apply

latitudes; in those of the South,

specially

Northern

owing to the

differing

circumstances of position, Considerable modifications are, of

course,

particular

be expected.

motion of the

In Southern latitudes the

Sun appears

imperfectly known, and further investigation required.

The South

radiated

yet is

assuredly

from the Northern

MIDNIGHT SUN AT NORTHERN CENTRE-.

193

Centre, from which proceed vast stretches of land and water, especially the latter, which, towards the extremity,

have an impenetrable circumference of ice and rocks, de" scribed by Job as " the boundary of light with darkness

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Job

xxvi. 10.

Since the above was written, I have read a very interesting

Antarctic

article,

loe,"

Two

Thousand

May No.

last

Magazine,"* by Dr. Cook,

late

Miles

the

Windsor

Surgeon and Ethnologist

in the Belgian expedition to the Antarctic Ocean, from,

which

appears that the Midnight Sun

The steamer

that region.

ice-pack, in Latitude 71!*,

also seen in

Belgica was imbedded in

22'

S.,

Longitude 84',

55',

an^

W.,

from 4th March, 1898, to 14th February, 1899, so that: the Explorers had thus ample time for observation. The Winter long night of darkness and the Summer long day of light

were

difference,

distinctly

marked, though with somewhat of a

as regards circumstantial surroundings,

those of the Arctic regions.

Thus

Dr. Cook,

from

who had

himself thrice previously visited the North Polar Seas,

and knew by experience what they

are, writes

respecting

the Antarctic as follows "

can imagine nothing more desperate than a storm on the

edge of the pack.

At best

it is

a dull, cold, and gloomy region,

with a high humidity, and constant drizzly fogs. is

here a rare exception.

Storms, with rain,

Clear weather

sleet,

and snow,

the normal weather condition throughout the entire year." p. 721.

" in *

Again

The Aurora

April,

May,

Ward, Lock &

Australis July,

was in evidence nearly every night

and August.

was never

brilliantly

Co., Limited, Waiwicic House, Salisbury Court,

London.

TERRA FIRMA.

194

chap,

sec. 4.

ix.,

luminous, or so fantastic in figuie as the Aurora Borealis.

weird form was that of an

arc,

Above and below

South-Western sky.

The

without motion, resting on the it

were ragged, cloud-like

fragments, which changed in form and brilliancy every few

The colour was

seconds.

was never

faintly yellow,

and the

light emitted

be visibly thrown on the surface snow."

suflScient to

P- 732-

from the foregoing that the Sun, or the

It is evident

Sun's rays, must have a motion over Southern regions

which, as far as

aware, has never hitherto been

observed by any explorers there, and

I sincerely

hope that

the Antarctic expeditions lately organized by British and

may be

German

enterprise,

important subject.

this

able to throw additional light

ocean to the South of Cape

whole

Southern

Not only those parts of the Hom and Australia, but the

circumference

should

carefully

examined, as near the barriers of ice as can be safely accomplished.

Truth

never

afraid

the

fullest

investigation.

The Sun

being

visible

Midnight

Antarctic

regions during a certain period of the year proves that it

has work to do there which has never heretofore been

properly recognized, but that does not, in the slightest degree,

show the Earth

to be a Planet, for

it is

found, by

accurate observation, that the waters of the Antarctic form

one complete all

the

level with those of the Arctic

intervening

seas.

The Earth

generally even platform, stretched out for,

according

the

" founded ufÂťon the seas,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fsa,

xxiv. 2.

infallible

Ocean, and with is

a vast and

upon

these waters,

Word

God,

and established upon the

floods

THE SUN AND THE

SECTION

ZODIAC.

igs

THE SUN AND THE ZODIAC. The Zodiac

that vast circle in the heavens, through

which the Sun passes

in its annual course, or, to

speak

more correctly, in 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 48 seconds. The Zodiac has been known so long that its origin

is lost

in the mist of antiquity.

by some, and

It has

been thought

I think with very great probability,

that

its

pictures or signs, with their meaning, were revealed

Adam

soon

Cassini, in his " History

after the Fall.

of Astronomy," saySi "

It is

impossible to doubt that Astronomy was invented from

the beginning of the world; history, profane as well as sacred, testifies to this truth."

The

and other

signs of the Zodiac,

revolution of the

Chaldeans,

the

Sim

in the heavens,

and

earliest

facts regarding the

were known to the Astronomers,

best

Astrologers as they were then called, some himdreds of years

before

Accadian

the

tablets

Drummond

birth

recently

Moses,

exhumed,

proved

and

Sir

by the William

remarks that " the traditions of the Chaldean

Astronomers seem the fragments of a mighty system fallen

into

ruins."

There

are

still

extant

pictorial

records of the Zodiac in the Egyptian temples of Dendera

and

Esn^

considered to be about 4,000 years old, and

these are supposed to be only copies of others of a earlier date.

still

TERRA FIRMA.

jge

The in

chap,

ix., sec. 5.

following axe the signs of the Zodiac in the order

which they have always appeared

Aries, the

Ram.

« Taurus, the Bull, n Gemini, the Twins, ffi

Cancer, the Crab.

Leo, the Lion,

•njj

Virgo, the Virgin.

=e=

Libra, the Balance or Scales.

TTJ,

Scorpio, the Scorpion. Sagittarius, the Archer.

yy Capricornus, the Seagoat. sx Aquarius, the Water-carrier.

X The above ever

the

represent;

Pisces, the Fishes.

signs

do not bear any resemblance what-

ConsteHations

which

they

are

said

but appear to have been given to declare

the grand purposes of

God

towards man, for the heavens

not only set forth the glory of God, but, like a volume unrolled, are intended for the instruction of humanity.

The Rev.

Dr. Bullinger, with

whom

am happy

have some personal acquaintance, published a few years ago a most interesting work, called " The Witness of the Stars,"* in which he gives an able exposition of the

Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, and the with

tions

thirty-six Constella-

which they are connected.

would remark that there may possibly be a

passing

to the signs of the Zodiac in Isaiah xiii. 12, where

read

—

* "

^"the

stars

heaven

and

the

latent allusion

constellations

Witness of the Stars," Rev. Dr. Bullinger, as Connaught Street, London, W.C.

THE SUN AND THE This book

thereof."

Modem

and not

for the praise of its

able here.

Zodiac

not from zao to

Hebrew

Sodi,

its

and

itself is

live,

which

To an

God

the glory of

Readers.

Perhaps a brief

may

not be unaccept15

from the Greek Zodiakos, which

but from a primitive root through the

in Sanscrit

used of the

move among "

^for

teachings

has no connection with living step,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

men, and I would strongly

quote the following from

"The word is

Astronomy

perusal to

some

reference to

197

written on the lines of Ancient

and not

recommend

ZODIAC.

way

means a way.

creatures,

etymology

Its

but denotes a

or path in which the

way

Sun appears

the Stars in the course of the year.

observer on the Earth the whole firmament, together

with the Sun, appears to revolve in a circle once in twenty-four

But the time occupied by the Stars in going round,'

hours.

from the time occupied by the Sun.

differs

amounts

This difierence

about one-twelfth part of the whole circle in each

month, so that when the

circle of the

heavens

divided up into

twelve parts, the Sun appears to move each month through one of them.

Stars

This path which the Sun thus makes amongst the

called the Ecliptic."

The Apostle Paul had of the Stars when, Gentiles,

evidently learned the lesson

speaMng with regard both to Jews and

he says

" For whosoever shall call upon the

be saved.

How then

not believed?

shall they call

And how

they have not heard?

preacher?

....

And how

name

on Him

shall they believe

And how

of the

Lord

whom in Him

shall

they have of

whom

shall they hear without a

shall they preach except they be sent?

Have they not heard? Yea, verily, their SOUND WENT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS UNTO Ij, 18. THE END OF THE WORLD." Rotlt. X. 1 But, I say.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

TERRA FIRMA.

igS

The words

chap,

Psalm

in small capitals are taken from

which beautiful Psalm in verses

"The heavens

ix.,

sec. 5.

xix. 4,

2 testifies that

declare the gloiy of God, and the firmament

Day unto day

showeth His handiwork.

uttereth speech, and

night unto night showeth knowledge."

But Paul, in Romans

20, vindicates the teaching of

God by His works "For

the invisible things of

Him

from the creation of the

world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are

made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

The

twelve signs of the Zodiac are twice referred to

once in 2 Kings

in the Bible (margin),

5 and once

xxiii.

in Job xxxviii. 32, in the latter of which passages the

question

asked

Canst thou bring forth the Mazzaroth,

The

(the twelve signs of the Zodiac), in their season ? "

Stars are all

lacking"

the Exodus,

Hebrew, and from is,

—"not one

In Job, which, from the ancient

Isa. xl. 26.

style of the

Bible, a

numbered and named by God its

having no reference to

in all probability, the oldest

book

in the

few of the original names of the Constellations

are given.

Thus

in Job ix. g

Arcturus

{flsh,

Pleiades

{Chimah,

we read

Great Bear),

the

Chapter xxxviii. 31,

seven

the

God

asks

—"which maketh

Orion

(Chisel),

and

Again,

stars)."

Job—" Canst

thou bind

the sweet influences of Pleiades (Chimah), or loose the

bands of Orion? (Chisel) " " Seek

Him who maketh

Also in Amos

8 yre read

the seven stars (Chimah, the

Pleiades) and Orion (Chisel)."

The

twelve signs or pictures of the Zodiac form a

vast circumference in the heavens, and, as proverbially.

THE SUN AND THE a

ZODIAC.

199

circle has neither beginning nor end, the difficulty

to find at which sign the story of the Stars commences.

Astronomers have for ages begun the

Ram, but

this unfolds

ever, is of opinion,

history.

circle at Aries, the

Dr. BuUinger, how-

from a representation of part of the

Zodiac, on the roof of the portico of the Old Egyptian

temple of Esn^h in Upper Egypt, that with Virgo, and

its

gestive picture, which

we have on

the

left

end with Leo. is

in the

its

true beginning

In this very sug-

form of a parallelogram,

a delineation of the Lion, and on

the right that of the Virgin, while between them the figure of the Sphinx, with the head of a

depicted

woman and

the body of a lion, with the serpent underneath. " Sphinx "

The word

derived from the Greek word

sphingo, to bind together, and, with the above clue Dr. Bullinger endeavours to show the conjunction between

the beginning and the end of the wondrous History of

Redemption, unfolding the meaning of the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

that the Seed of the

Lion of the

tribe of Judah, will

over Sin and death.

forty centuries, as, is

first

prophecy

would bruise the serpent's

Gen. Hi. 15, and that the Lord Jesus Christ, the

head last

Woman

be supreme Conqueror at

For considerably more than

from documents

lately discovered, it

proved to be older than the Great Pyramid, has the

Sphinx

lifted

desert, as

her calm, solemn face, gazing on the Lybian peering into the depths of futurity, not far

from the Great Pyramid, that most extraordinary and enduring work of architecture ever made by man.

The

Sphinx has for ages been an inscrutable mystery to the world, but,

Dr. BuUinger's exposition be correct,

riddle has been solved at

last.

respecting the Zodiac and

its

Of course

all

its

this talk,

teachings, will, to the

man

TERRA FIRMA.

joo

chap,

ix.,

sbc. 5.

of the world, be as " Greek to the gentlemen of the Jury," just as the primrose

was to Wordsworth's hind

"A primrose by the river's brim, A yellow primrose was to him. And

was nothing more,"

the mere Cosmopolitan knows not the witness of

for

the Stars, " For ever singing as they shine.

The hand

made us

Divine."

has yet to learn the proper meaning of the words

and " Revelation," and well would

" Creation "

him

ledge of to

John

and accept the pure mathematics of the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

was well said by Dr. Carson years ago

for,

for

to leave the vain babblings of " Science falsely so

called," It

that

God

the most excellent of

know Him

Christ

true.

The know-

the sciences,"

all

Everlasting

Life

xvii. j.

When

the Sun

first

began his journey

in the Zodiac,

the Pole Star of the heavens was Alpha in the Constella-

From

tion Draco.

the peculiar position of the opening

of a certain gallery of the Great P)rramid, which,

believed, faced the Pole

some conjecture may perhaps be made this

Star at the time of erection,

wonderful structure, which was

as to the age of

built,

on the most

exact astronomical and mathematical' lines, by a master-

mind which,

in this department has, I think, never yet

been equalled. which the

stars

But the Pole Star of the heavens, round

now appear

twenty-four hours,

Ursa Minor,

to revolve

once in every

not Alpha in Draco but Alpha

some distance from the former

iri

position.

This recession of the Pole Star has been very gradual,

THE SUN AND THE

ZODIAC.

amounting only to about 50 seconds

201

the course of a

iJi

year. If

the circle of the heavens be divided into twelve,

the Sun appears to travel each month through one of these

parts

degrees, and

divisions,

each of which

by a

distinguished

about

particular representar

tion or picture, the whole of which are called the

Twelve

Signs of the Zodiac, and through the whole of which It will thus

the Sun travels in the course of a year.

seen that the Zodiac has been for well-nigh 6,000 years a continual proof of the revolution of the Sun around the world, so that our

Modem

Astronomers are positively

without excuse in calling the Earth a Planet;

and the

sooner they honestly confess their error, the better will

for themselves as well as for others.

I shall

now

conclude this Chapter with the following valuable note

from Dr. Bullinger's delightful volume,

The Witness

of the Stars," pp. 15, 16. " Besides these monthly differences (between the motion of the

Sun and that

for at the

to exactly the

year, but

of the Stars), there is also

same point little

occurs every year, the

Sun

cession

in the Sign

behind

it.

so small that

the Equinoxes; i.e., If

the Sun

which commenced the

But this it

to complete this vast cycle,

one years.

an annual diffeience

end of twelve months, the Sun does not come back

difierence,

though

will take 25,579 y^^rs for

which

called

The Pre-

about one degree in every seventy,

came back

to the precise point at

which

began the year, each sign would correspond always and

regularly, exactly with a particular month, but

constant regression, the Sun (while

owing

to the

goes through the whole

twelve signs every year) commences the year in one sign for

only 2,131 years.

In point of fact since the Creation the com>

TERRA FIRMA.

202

mencement

chap,

ix.,

sec.

of the year has changed to the extent of nearly

three of the signs.

When

Virgil sings

" ' The White Bull with golden horns opened the year,'

he does not record what took place in his own day.

This

another proof of the antiquity of these signs.

"The

Ecliptic, or

path of the Sun,

could be viewed

if it

from immediately beneath the Polar Star, would form a com-

and perfect

plete

and

all

circle,

would be concentric with the Equator,

the Stars and the

Sun would appear

never rising nor setting.

move

in this

a person north or south of

the Equator, the Stars rise and set obliquely;

while to a

person on the Equator they rise and set perpendicularly, each star

being twelve hours above and twelve hours below the

horizon.

"The

points where the two circles (the Ecliptic and the

Equator) intersect each other are called Equinoctial is

the

movement

of these points (which are

points.

now moving from

Aries to Pisces) which gives rise to the term Thi Precession of thi

Equinoxes"

203

CHAPTER THE SUN STANDING

RETURNING

STILL AND

BACKWARDS. fags

section 1.

The Sun standing

The

still over Gibbon

204

....

Sun's shadow turning back ten degrees ON THE DIAL OF ABAZ

These two

2IO

miracles are so diametrically opposed to

the idea of the world careering round the Sun, that, for the most part, our

knot

denying

Modem them

Astronomers cut the Gordian altogether.

authors,

among whom may be

late Dr.

Adam

miracles,

still

Some

Christian

mentioned the

specially

Clarke, while they wished to uphold the

clung to the theory of a revolving Earth,

and have done

their

best

explain

them with

that

was only to be expected,

proviso, although, as, indeed,

they have signally failed in their attempt.

They would

have been wiser, had they treated these miracles in the manner, as adopted with respect to Joshua's, by the Dr. Gill,

who

late

wrote

"It was a most wonderful and surprising phenomenon to see both luminaries standing

still

in the midst of heaven.

this is to be reconciled with the

with

this, I shall

not enquire."

How

Copernican system, or that

TERRA FIRMA.

204

SECTION

chap,

a.,

sec.

THE SUN STANDING STILL OVER GIBEON. Dr. Clarke was a good and also a learned man, having

LL.D. and F.A.S. tacked to his name, but, he was sadly tarred with the brush of Modern Astronomy. When, in writing his Commentary on the Bible, he came to Joshua x., the famous miracle the

letters

unfortunately,

of the Sun standing

stared him in the face, and he on Cop^mican lines. How he how he failed to succeed, may be

still

hard to explain

tried

succeeded, or rather

learned from the following extract from a

letter,

written by

himself at the time, to his particular friend, the Rev.

Thomas Roberts

of Bath

"Joshua's sun and

moon

standing

more vexation than anything

now

still

have ever met with, and even

my own solution am confident that I have removed

even but about half satisfied with

of all the difficulties, though I

mountains that were never touched before.

my workâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;so

heartily wearied of

thousand times wished

have kept me going

That one Chapter has afiorded me

for nearly three weeks.

had never written a page

repeatedly purposing to give

Let us now look

Shall I say that I

wearied that

have a

it,

and

up."*

at the miracle itself.

After the

fall

of Jericho and Ai, the Gibeonites, being afraid of their

own

destruction should they

resist, craftily

a covenant of peace with the *

" Life of Di.

Adam

Clarke

Israelites, "

;

sought to make in

which they

Mason, London.

THE SUN STANDING STILL OVER GIBEON. succeeded.

Adoni-zedec,

205

King of Jerusalem, was so

enraged at the Gibeonites for acting thus, that he confederated with four other kings of the Amorites to punish

them left

severely.

When

Joshua heard of this he immediately-

Gilgal with his ajmy, and, by a forced march, all

night, unexpectedly attacked the

A fierce battle

ensued, in which

banded host next day.

God

assisted the Israelites

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" There by sending great hailstones whom the were more died with hailstones than they

upon the Amorites

Children of Israel slew with the sword "

Jos.

11.

Joshua, knowing the immense importance of completely defeating the Canaanites, and seeing that the day was nearly done, cried out, doubtless inspired by a divine afflatus.

Shemesh

TERRA FIRMA.

2o6

Againâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; "Now

shemtsh."

Joshua arrested,

solar light,

stood instead of

chap,

x., sec. i.

was the shemesh and yareh which and lunar

light

sun ' and

should be under-

moon,' and the objection in

question will instantly disappear."*

Thus both Calmet and Parkhurst sought appear that

was only

make

proceeding from the

the light

Sun and Moon which Joshua commanded

to stand

still,

while the bodies of these luminaries were not affected at all,

so that the Earth might revolve around

the

Moon around

what miserable I

the Earth as before!

shifts

and

its axis,

thus see to

a false science leads.

have turned up the references given by Calmet, and

see nothing whatever in

them

to justify his assertion,

which, I think, would never have been

a person determined,

a revolving Earth.

Moreover,

any

made

except by

uphold the theory of

cost, to

have examined every

passage in which the word shemesh occurs, in one of best tool-books, "

The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee

Concordance," with the word shemesh

every Isaiah

one

liv.

12,

the

result.

with is

the

single

Sun,

namely,

times;

aur

Hebrew

light,

from

There are

occasionally used for the

where

hhamah, from hham, hot, warm,

hheres, probably

that

exception

translated " windows,"

applied to the " Sun " simply as the " Sun." three other words in

find

used in the Bible 133 times, in

which,

where

following

hheres, the itch,

mentioned

five

six times;

and

on account of

its

heat, three times. It is

shemesh

thus evident that in the is

that which â&#x20AC;˘ "

Hebrew

Bible, the

word

used by far the most frequently

Princlpla and the Bible," &c., pp. ia7, is6.

THE SUN STANDING Sun

for the

and heat,

as a whole, that

STILL OVER GIBEON. is,

207

in its trinity of body, light,

being ten times to one oftener so used than

the other duiee above-named words put together, and that

meaning

to limit the

light proceeding

word shemesh only to

of the

from

the

neither Scriptural, scholarly,

it,

nor necessary.

manner have

Hebrew word yarehh

the

light of the

Moon.

Thus inch

Moon," as meaning only

Calmet

Moon

from the Moon, and

itself; as Deut. xxxiii.

vant as proof of such a statement.

14: Isa.

it,

Moon

" in

mentioned only

thrice.

the

zo."*

totally irrele-

fact

is,

that the

in the

common

Hebrew word I have

Old Testament

Hebrew Concordance,

occurs twenty-seven times, in

lebneh, the other

The

Ix.

in Joshua x. 12, zj, is that

In looking into the

rendered "

term

Moon

commonly applied

Scriptures.

see that

for

the

says,

but the passages here quoted apf>ear to be

word yarehh, used

should

meaning of

restricted the

signifies the light reflected

not the iody of the

which

men

exceedingly sorry that these learned

also in a similar

all

which

I it

acceptation of the

for the

Moon, being

been the more anxious to

expose the uncritical criticism of these learned men, in giving a wrong rendering to such important words as "

Sun

and

Moon," as so many persons are influenced

by great names, and do not take the trouble

to investigate

for themselves as to the correctness of the statements

made. "

body Dr.

Besides, " emitting

how could it

the " light " stand

still,

the

were moving ?

Clarke took the word dum, translated " stand >

Calmet's Dictionary, Vol.

III., p. 292.

TERRA FIRMA.

2o8 still,"

The terms

conceived him silent'

round

of the

command

to be

or inactive, that

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Cockbum

(of

is,

as I understand

Edinburgh) expressed

made the huge mass

Dr. Clarke,

performing

its

that the

to revolve

Lord

late

as Peebles " if,

but

;

according to

its axis.

The

truth

Sun did exactly what Joshua commanded

So the Sun

" stood still," as narrated in verse 13

stood

hasted not to go

still

dum but

in the midst of heaven, and

down about a whole

the word used for " stood

still

omed, " stood

of which word there

Further,

day."

" in the verse last quoted,

still,"

respecting the meaning

difference of opinion whatever,

so that the conjectural criticism about

be dismissed

the

of this world to cease

supposed rotation on

to do, namely,

not

inactivity in another

the Sun showed no sign of inactivity,

'Refrain thy

it,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;even

he had

word dum may be properly

or even be,

silent,"

matter, " as quiet as the grave

still,"

its axis.'

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

says

are worthy of particular note.

longer act upon the Earth to cause

^no

translated

is,

running his race round the world, but 'Be

willingly grant that the

sec.

on the passage

Joshua does not say to the Sun " stand

influence

x.,

Copemican Earth, and

as his defence for a

in his notes "

chap,

dum may

once

as being altogether irrelevant.

The words

bechetse

he^kemim,

" in

thte

midst of

heaven," would have been more properly translated, " in the partition or division of the heavens," that horizon, for,

had the Sun been

is,

in the Meridian,

the

there

would have been no necessity for such a miracle, nor it have been then observed, but, when the Sun was near the horizon, about setting, the need of longer

would

THE SUN STANDING STILL OVER GIBEON.

209

time was great, and the miracle most apparent and opportune.

Moon

Besides, the

of oaks, shows that

The it

being over Ajalon, the valky

was about the time of evening.

miracle was of the utmost value to the Israelites, for

caused the complete discomfiture of the Amorites, and

led to their further conquests in Canaan.

There

an old rhyme. Si Lyra non

lyrassit

Lutherus non saliassii,

" If Lyra had not piped Luther would not have danced,"

and, with respect to this miracle, '

Had Newton

may be

said

never lived to dupe mankind,

Clarke never had to Joshua's Sun been blind.'

Other

besides the foregoing, have tried

writers,

reconcile this miracle with a revolving Earth, but

The

vain.

last I

have heard of

the Rev.

of Liverpool, who, in his Lecture

belief is that

foe,

God caused

to im

W. W. Howards subject, says

Joshua and his men, having marched all

night, as the 9th verse tells us,

but

on the

all

would be

tired next morning,,

among the

great trembling to spread itself

and there was an easy

victory.

When

pursued the Amorites some distance, hailstones

and did much damage;

at the

the

fell

war had

upon them,

approach to Bethoron the

hail-

stones increased in fury, and Joshua seeing the devastation

produced, and being cognisant of the fatigue of his men,

prayed heaven disaster

was

This

to let the hurricane

go on

till

total

and irreparable

inflicted."*

such a very feeble exposition of the miracle

that I marvel

was ever attempted

* " Joshua commanding the Sun to stand Author, 47 Heeman Street, Liverpool.

still,"

all.

Joshua did

&e., to be obtained of the

TERRA FIRMA.

210

chap,

x.,

sec.

not pray for thÂŁ hurricane to go on, but, inspired by God, said

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" Sun, stand thou

still

in the valley of Ajalon,"

over Gibeon and thou, Moon,

and that prayer was immediately

answered, thus proving that day and night are caused by the actual revolution of the Sun, and not by the supfjosed rotation of the Earth.

SECTION THE

SUN'S

The to it

SHADOW TURNING BACK TEN DEGREES ON THE DIAL OF AHAZ.

sun-dial

show the time

a very ancient invention, constructed of the day

by the shadow cast upon

by the Sun's revolution round the world.

of Judea, reigned from 726 to 741 B.C.,

probable that

this dial

was called

after his

Ahaz, King

and

it is

most

name, owing

some enlargement or improvement having been made in it in his reign, as from 2 Kings ix. 13, it would appear to have been in existence for at least 150 years before,

when Jehu was made King over

Israel.

Chaldea, I have no doubt, was the birthplace of the dial,

Calmet says

was of Astronomy, but others

believe,

in his Dictionary,

"that this invention came fiom the Phoenicians, and that the .first

traces of

Nesos

are discoverable in tis

what Homer says

Surie kekleisketai feipon akoneisj,

Oriugies kathaperihein othi tropoi Helioio.

Odyss. XV.

V. 4.0a.

SHADOW RETURNING ON DIAL OF AHAZ.

SUN'S

211

of an island csdled Syriaj lying above Ortygia, where the revolutions of the

Sun

are observed:

i.e.,

they see the returns of

the Sun, the solstices."*

At all events the Dial has been long enough known to make every Modem Astronomer blush for shame, when it is

mentioned,

as its

faithful,

though

testimony

silent,

gives daily visible evidence of the revolution of the Sun.

This

summer

fine

day, take a rod

perpendicularly in any quiet spot, a garden

for example, where day,

easily proved.

and place

and watch

can catch the rays of the Sun

for about twelve hours.

all

Every quarter

of an hour place a small peg at the extremity of the

shadow, and you

shadow

by the

will find that the line described

curve.

neighbourhood of

At the beginning of May, in the London, the curve made in twelve

hours will be nearly the half of an

the greater

ellipse,

diameter of which wUl be about thrice the length of the shorter diameter. in the

same place

you

test this in different places, or

at different times,

you

will get the data

for proving the Sun's particular motion over a stationary

Earth.

From

Sun-dials are of various forms of construction.

the meaning of the Hebrew word molut, translated steps, or degrees, I

that the dial of

stairs,

inclined to think with Dr. Clarke,

Ahaz was made

raised by steps or degrees

for public use,

and was

which recorded, according to

the shadow caused by the Sun, the divisions or hours of

the day.

In his Commentary on 2 Kings

13,

Dr.

Chaldees, the rabbins,

and

ix.

Clarke writes as follows " On the top of the

stairs.

The

several interpreters, understood this of the public sun-dial; * Calmet's Dictionary, Vol.

I.,

articleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;" Dial,"

TERRA FIRMA.

212

chap,

which in these ancient times was formed each

step seiring to indicate,

was no doubt

it,

its

sec. 2.

of steps like stairs,

shadow, one hour, or such

was commonly used in that country.

division of time as dial

x.,

in the

most public

place,

This

and upon the top

or on the platform on the top, would be a very proper

place to set Jehu, while they blew the trumpets and proclaimed

him King. Chap. XX.

The Hebrew molut

the

9, to signify the dial of

same word which

used

Ahaz, and this was probably

the very same dial on which that miracle

was afterwards

wrought; and this dial molut, from olak to go up, ascend, was

most evidently made

by a gnomon, to

show the popular

of steps, the shadows projected

at the different elevations of the

on which,

Sun, would serve

divisions of time."

not, however, at all agree with Dr.

Clarke, in

attributing to Refraction the miracle of the Sun's shadow

returning ten degrees

on the

dial of Ahaz.

Refraction

so uncertain and unreliable a nature, that even Astrono-

mers themselves generally omit besides,

once,

in their calculations;

had such a remarkable instance might have happened at other

occurred

but no

times,

such phenomenon, as that described by. the Scriptures, has ever been seen or heard of either before or after the

The Doctor has done

days of Hezekiah.

his

power to save the theory of a revolving Earth, in

his

all

comments on the Sun's shadow returning ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz,

well

on the Sun and Moon

standing stUl at the conunand of Joshua; but neither he,

nor

all

that "

The

the Astronomers of Christendom, can avert from

hapless

theory

the

contempt which

Scripture cannot be broken

John

deserves. 35.

The

miracles happened just as they were described to have

done, and no

human

reasoning can explain them away.

SUN'S

SHADOW RETURNING ON DIAL OF AHAZ.

It is as easy for

to stand

still,

213

God, who made the Sun, to cause

or to cause

its

shadow to return backwards,

without in any way injuring our stationary Earth, or any of the rolling orbs of heaven.

With reverence

may be

said respecting these miracles what was spoken regarding

an occurrence immeasurably greater our gracious Lord

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

^the

Resurrection of

" Blessed are they that have not seen

and yet have believed

Jokn xx. 2g.

214

CHAPTER THE DELUGE

XI.

BIBLICAL ACCOUNT. PAGE

SECTION 1.

The date, Deluge

God's

Some

and

cause,

extent

the

214

instructions

Noah

respecting

THE Ark

217

objections

against

answered 4.

Deluge

the

219

The Earth not a Planet, proved from the waters finding their own level above the highest mountains

The subsidence

thf. Ark The Noachian Covenant

The Last Judgment on the Earth

debarkation

221

of the

waters, and safe of Noah and all with him

FROM

226 -

SECTION

229

by Fire

231

THE DATE, CAUSE, AND EXTENT OF THE DELUGE. It

well to

mark the

great precision with which the

inspired writers of the Bible choose their words. is

This

very apparent in the word used for the Deluge in

Genesis, mebul.

There are no

less

than ten different

DATE, CAUSE, AND EXTENT OF words for " flood only one which

" in

THE DELUGE.

the Old Testament, but this

215

the

ever applied to the Deluge or Flood

of Noah, none of the other words being ever used for

such a catastrophe at

all.

This fact confirms the truth

of Scripture that that was the only Universal Flood which

has ever happened since the Adamic Creation, and that

such would never occur again.

The Deluge

Flood commenced on the Seventh

day or Sabbath, the seventeenth day of Bui, the second

month of

the Jewish

which corresponds

year,

civil

part with Octobeor and in part with

How

Calendar. ask.

—

declares

do you know

by the

In the

this?

Word

Infallible

God which

hundredth year of Noah's

six

November of our may some inquirer in

life,

the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were

all

Deep

the fountains of the Great

(tehoom rabah) broken up, and the windows (arbai, floodgates) of heaven were O'pvened " of the year

Gen.

11.

vit.

The

date

found in the following manner Year of the World.,

Gm.

„

Adam Adam when 130 years

27. Creation of 3. 6. 9.

12.

Seth

Enos Canaan

130

105

„

„,

Enos

235

„

Canaan

325

„

Mahalaleel 393

„

Jared

460

Enoch

622

15.

Mahalaleel

18.

Jared

21.

Enoch

„ 23. Methusalah

187

„

Lamech „ 182 Noah was 600

„

„ 28. vii.

old begat Seth

162

1656

„

Methusalah 687

Lamech Noah

874 1056

when the Deluge began 1636

TERRA FIRMA.

ai6

chap,

xi.,

sbc. i.

aware of the discrepancy which exists between

some of the dates here given and those of the Samaritan and Septuagint versions, but, after due consideration, I have no doubt that the above, which are taJcen from the Hebrew text, are correct. The Deluge was brought upon the world in consequence of the great depravity of the inhabitants;

"God saw earth,

man was

wickedness of

that the

great

and that every imagination of the thought of

was only

and Jebovah

evil continually,

man whom

and

and the creeping

beast,

said,

will

on the

his heart

destroy

have created from the face of the earth, both

and the fowl

things,

man

of the air"

Gen. vi. 6, 7.

The

illicit

connection of Beni ha Aleihm, or Sons of

God, called also ha Nephilim,* the daughters of

men

Gen.

vi.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

fallen ones, with the

had brought

sin to

the people one

climax, but God, in His mercy, gave

hundred and twenty years for repentance.

Noah, a

just

man, and a preacher of righteousness, found grace in God's

sight.

tion," probably

also called " perfect in his genera-

because his family had not been mixed

up with the Nephilim, and he Gen.

walked with

God "

vi. q.

"By as yet,

faith

Noah, being warned of God,

moved with

fear,

of things not seen

prepared an ark to the saving of his

house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness

which

faith "

Heb.

xi. 7.

* As to who the Nephilim are conjectured to have been, Readers to Chapter IV. of " Hades & Beyond," mentioned on

I beg to refer p. 55 of this boolc.

GOD'S INSTRUCTIONS RESPECTING

SECTION

THE ARK.

217

NOAH RESPECTING THE ARK.

GOD'S INSTRUCTIONS TO

"God Me;

behold

I will destroy

filled

with violence through them, and

them with the

earth.

Make

thee an ark

make

in the ark,

of gopher-wood;

rooms

and

within and without with pitch.

shalt pitch

shalt thou

(nests)

the fashion which thou shalt make

hundred cubits, the breadth of

and the height

A window

thirty cubits.

to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish

door of the ark shalt thou second, and third I,

thou make

flesh wherein is the breath of life

thing that establish

in the

earth

it.

fifty

cubits,

make

above, and the

with lower,

And behold

upon the earth

of waters

this is

shalt thou

set in the side thereof;

stories shalt

do bring a flood

And

the length of the ark

shall be three

even

come before

said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is

for the eaith is

to destroy all

from under heaven, and every

shall

die,

but with thee will

Covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou

and thy sons and thy

wife,

and thy

sons' wives with thee.

And

of every living thing of all flesh two of every sort shalt thou

bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee; they shall be

male and female.

Of fowls

after their kind,

and of

cattle after

their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind,

two of every

sort shall

come unto thee

take thou unto thee of all food that

gather

to thee,

and

them

eaten,

Gen. vi. 13^22.

to all that

alive.

And

and thou shalt

shall be for food for thee

Thus did Noah according did he "

to keep

and

for them.

God commanded him,

TERRA FIRMA.

2i8

" And Jehovah said unto Noah,

chap,

Come thou and

all

generation.

sevens

;

Of fowls also

of the air

the female to keep seed alive

upon the

For yet seven days, and

face of all the earth. to rain

upon the earth

forty days

living substance that I

and of beasts that are not

;

clean by two, the msile and his female.

by sevens, the male and

in this

shalt take to thee

Of every clean beast thou

the male and his female

thy house

into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before

sec. 2.

xi.,

cause

I will

and forty nights, and every

have made will

I destroy

from

off

the

And Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded him. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him into face of the earth.

Of clean

the ark because of the waters of the flood.

and of beasts that are not

clean,

beasts,

and of fowls,

and of

everything that creepeth upon the earth, there went in two

and two unto Noah

into the ark, the

had commanded Noah.

And

male and the female, as God

came

days, that the waters of the flood were six

hundredth year of Noah's

life,

pass

upon the

Deep broken

In the

in the second month, the

seventeenth day of the month, the same day, were tains of the Great

seven

after

earth.

up, and the

all

windows

the founof

heaven

were opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

In the self-same day entered Noah, and Shem,

and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with

them into the ark they, and every ;

beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every

creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and

every fowl after his kind, every bird of every

went in unto Noah into the is

the breath of

female of

life.

all flesh, as

And

ark,

two and two

sort.

And

of all flesh

they

wherein

they that went in went in male and

God had commanded him, and Jehotab

OBJECTIONS AGAINST DELUGE ANSWERED. him

shut

And

in.

the flood was forty days upon the earth,

and the waters increased, and bare up the

up above

219

the earth.

And

ark,

and

was

lift

the waters prevailed, and were in-

creased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon the face

And

of the waters. earth,

and

all

the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the

the high hills, that were under the whole heaven,

were covered.

Fifteen cubits

upward did the waters

And

and the mountains were covered.

moved upon and

that

man;

was

all in

whose

nostrils

in the dry land, died.

destroyed, which

and

And

Gen.

of the ground, both

earth,

and

man

and Noah only remained

and they that were with him in the

vii.

earth,

of life, of all

every living substance was

was upon the face

and they were destroyed from the

upon

prevailed

upon the

was the breath

and the creeping thing, and the fowl of the heaven,

cattle,

alive,

prevail,

died that

flesh

the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beast,

of every creeping thing that creepeth

every

all

iâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;

the

earth

hundred

ark.

and

And

the waters

fifty

days "

214.

SECTION

SOME OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE DELUGE ANSWERED. Infidels

have long sneered at the Ark, saying that

was not large enough to hold

all

the animals, fowls, and

creeping things, with their food for a year; and also that it

was impossible to gather them

get

them

into the Ark.

tion that has long since

all

With regard

together so as to to the

first

objec-

been answered, as the dimensions

TERRA FIRMA.

220

chap.

xi..

sec.

Ark being known, and, reckoning even by the

of the

smaller cubit,

Wilkins,*

has been geometrically found by Bishop

and other perfectly

have been amply sufScient for

all

reliable

tÂť

authorities,

the purposes required.

With respect to the second objection, there need not slightest trouble; the Deluge itself was un-

be the

doubtedly miraculous, and attending

difficulty

many

circumstances

the

were so likewise, and there was no more

and other

animals

God's collecting the

creatures together to be placed in the Ark, than there

was previously when

named

Gen.

it.

Adam

brought them to

to be

20.

Other objections against a Universal Deluge have

been

raised,

but,

as they are of

real value,

unnecessary to enter into them here; but I would refer

any curious Reader to Dr. Genesis, Chapters VI. in his Article

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

^IX.,

Clarke's

Commentary on

and to Calmefs Dictionary

on the Deluge, Vol.

The

fact

that

is,

such objections have been made through mere ignorance of the circumstances of the case; for example, one says that " not all the waters of the world, nor

all

marks "All the

air

the rain of

Another

heaven could cause such a catastrophe."

which encompasses the

condensed into vapour, would not make thirty-one of

water."

raised first

re-

earth,

feet

These objections would never have been

by any one who, in a proper

Chapter of Genesis.

There we

spirit,

had read the

find that,

on the

first

day of the Adamic Creation, the Earth was wholly

SUBMERGED IN WATER, verses 6

and

and On the second, God

said,

" Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and * See Bishop Wilkin's " Essay towards a Piillosopliical Character

and Language."

WATER'S LEVEL PROVES EARTH NOT A PLANET.

221

And God made

the

let it divide

the waters from the waters.

firmament,

and divided the

wateirs

which were under the

firmament from the waters which were above the firmament,

and

was

so."

was not

the

until

appeared, and,

when

third

day that

did appear,

that vast abyss of waters out of which

and which, by

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Deep

" the

inspiration, (tehooni)

the

had it

dry land under

still

both Moses and Jacob called that

Gen. xlix. 25, Deut. xxxiii. 13.

coucheth

beneath

Above the Earth

as a molten mirror "

Job xxxvii. 18, and on

the

" strong

which Job describes as being

reqio, or firmament,

was brought,

rests that

portion of the waters which was divided from the waters of the Great It will,

Deep on

therefore,

God

whatever with

the second day of that creatioa

be seen that there was no

difficulty

overwhelming a guilty world with

water, for

"All the fountaihs

of the Great

Deep were broken

up, and

the floodgates of the heavens were opened, and the rsdn

upon the Earth

forty days

and forty nights "

SECTION

Gen.

was

vii. 11, iz.

THE EARTH NOT A PLANET, PROVED FROM THE WATERS FINDING THEIR OWN LEVEL ABOVE THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINS.

are told

Gen.

vii.

20, " fifteen cubits

upwards the

waters prevailed, and the mountains were covered," from

TERRA FIRMA.

222

which

chap,

xi.,

sec. 4.

understand that the waters rose fifteen cubits

above the highest mountains, for in the preceding verse

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

we read

" All the

high

hills that

From

heaven were covered."*

were under the whole

this statement, as it is

we have Divine

level,

completely

assurance

under water.

that

The Jewish

own

the

Earth

was

civil

cubit

was

measured from the point of a man's elbow to the his

middle

and was reckoned as eighteen

finger,

The Sacred Cubit handbreadth,

(^zek. xliii.

13)

was

tip of

inches.

a cubit and a

Which

about four inches longer.

its

primal law of nature for water always to find

these cubits was to be taken, in the measurement of the

Ark,

are not informed, but,

we reckon

find

feet

above Mount Everest in Asia, the

that

Now,

the world.

twenty

the waters rose

always find their

loftiest

in Africa,

mountain in

as the waters covered

it,

and, as they

own

a matter of

level,

follows,

necessity, that they also overspread the

Moon

the lesser,

two and a half

Mont Blanc

Mountains of the

Andes

in Europe, the

South and the Rocky Mountains in North America, and, of course,

all

lower elevations

that the Earth

;

we have thus

positive proof

not a Planet but a horizontal Terra

Firma.

The

fact of water always finding its

own

level is so

apparent, from the water in the basin in which in the morning, to the water in the tumbler

drink at night

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

^from the

duckVpond

we wash

which we may

in the village green

to the steamer's bowling-green of the broad Atlantic, that it

a marvel that our

modem

Astronomers are

still

extremely foolish as to uphold convexity in water.

one of these freaks of fashion which they *

still

See Ray's " Physico-Theologioal Discourses," and Ed., 8vo.,

It is

follow,

1693.

WATER'S LEVEL PROVES EARTH NOT A PLANET. in

223

hopes of getting unthinking people to believe that the

world

globular

;

but daily are they " hoist by their

petard," for the levelness of water meets

Even

hand.

in his " Recollections

Henry Holland,

Sir

own

them on every

of a Past Life,'' second edition, p. 305, inadvertently lets

the cat out of the bag,

when he

refers to

and the Moon being above the horizon

Moon.

of an eclipse of the

both the Sun

at the occurrence

says

" This experience requires, however, a combination of

cumstances rarely occurring

Western horizon, and an that of the Sea, or

Mr.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a

entirely level intervening surface,

an African desert."

Darwin, in his " Voyage of a

cir-

Eastern and

perfectly clear

Naturalist,''

made a similar slip when he wrote am reminded of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres by

p. 328,

" I

the disc of the rising

Sun

seeing

intersected by a horizon, level as the

ocean."

confess I do not understand

really

how Humboldt could

have believed in the globularity of the world, when

he penned the following passage, knowing, as a Cosmogonist, that water occupies, at the very lowest computation, at least three times the extent of the surface of the

land

"Among

the causes which tend to lower the

temperature, level

of the

include the following

sea,

" Cosmos," Vol.

Parallax

when not forming I., p.

326,

believed

water would ultimately

Astronomy. Astronomy,"

362

mean annual

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Elevation

above

the

part of an extended plain."

Bohn's Edition. the

that lea'd

remarks,

proved the

death

levelness of

Modern

foUows, in his " Zetetic

TERRA FIRMA.

224

chap,

xi.,

SEC. 4.

" The great and theory-destroying fact was quickly discovered

was

that the surface of standing water

Here was another death-blow

perfectly horizontal

to the universal ideas

lations of pseudo-philosophers.

Just as the

and specu-

universal solvent

could not be preserved or manufactured, and, therefore, the

whole system

Alchemy died away, so the necessary proof

convexity on the waters of the Earth could not be proved, and, therefore, the doctrine of rotundity,

The death

worlds, must also die.

and of the

now

plurality of

a mere question of

time."

The Ark

however tumultuous they may

made

ages to be a clumsy,

have been,

for

waters, it

was

the instructions of God, and

in accordance with

Himself shut Noah

like the

upon the

floated in perfect safety

in.

The Ark was

considered for

hulk,

strangely-shaj>ed

somewhat

models sold in toy-shops for children, but, for

nearly the last three hundred years, that idea has been

In 1609 Peter Jansen, a Dutch ship-

entirely changed.

builder, determined to construct a ship

for the Ark, and, though

much

on the

lines given

ridiculed at the time, he

succeeded, and found that his ship would safely carry

from

thirty to forty

others,

and

his

per cent, more cargo in proportion to

example was soon followed.

Cyclopaedia, Vol. XIV., Art. " Ship," "

It is

remarkable that

its (the

In Appleton's

read

Ark's) proportions of length,

breadth, and depth are almost precisely the same, considered

by our most eminent

architects the best for

combining the

elements of strength, capacity, and stability."

later writer

" Ship-building

remarks

was

revolutionized,

and the millions that

go on the sea owe the change to the Bible.

Since that the

WATER'S LEVEL PROVES EARTH NOT A PLANET.

223

Cunarders, the Collins, the White Star, and Inman line Companies have built theix ocean steamships after the scientific

Him, whose 'way

pattern of

perfect,'

and who designed

Noah's Ark."*

When

the Deluge began, what horroa: of soul must

have been

felt

by those who had for so long heard the

preaching of Noah, but

who had

for repentance,

now

too late to be acted upon.

were

safe, while they

refused to listen to his

they saw that his warning was

call

Noah and

those with

were doomed to death.

him

Martin's

famous Picture of the Deluge gives a vivid idea of their agonizing despair. Still, praise be to God, the door of mercy was not shut against these Ante-Diluvians for ever,

we read Lord ^or

"being put

which

also

that,

after

the crucifixion of our blessed

to death in the flesh, but quickened in

spirit,

went, and preached unto the spirits in prison,,

which aforetime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of

God waited in the

wherein a few, that

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;I Pet.

days of Noah, is,

when the ark was a preparing,

eight souls, were saved through water "

Hi. jg, 20.

" For to this end was the Gospel preached, even to the dead, that they flesh,

but

might be judged, indeed, according to

may

live

according to

God

in spirit"

men

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;/ Pet.

in the

iv.

* "Christianity and Science," by D. S. Taylor, p. 13; Marshall Brothers, Paternoster Row, London. Since the above extract was written I have beard that some Atlantic Liners are now being built with a length nearly nine times their breadth, but such cannot be expected to have the stability of the Ark.

TERRA FIRMA.

826

SECTION

chap, xi., sec.

SUBSIDENCE OF THE WATERS, AND SAFE

DEBARKATION OF NOAH AND ALL WITH HIM FROM

THE ARK. "And God remembered Noah, and all the cattle that

wind

was with him

to pass over the earth,

every living thing, and

in the ark;

and God made a

The

and the waters assuaged.

fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

And

the

waters returned from off the earth continually; and after the

end

of the

hundred and

fifty

days, the waters were abated.

the ark rested in the seventh month,

the month, upon the

mountains of Ararat.

And

decreased continually until the tenth month;

month, on the

first

mountains seen.

came

the waters

in the tenth

day of the month were the tops

And

on the seventeenth day

of the

to pass at the end of forty days,

Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. And he sent forth a raven which went forth to and fro, until

that

the waters were dried

up from

a dove from him, to see

off

Also he sent forth

the earth.

the waters were abated from off the

face of the ground; but the dove found no rest fpr the sole of .her foot,

and she returned unto him into the

were on the

face of the

^and took her,

whole

ecirth ;

and pulled her in unto him into the

lie stayed yet other seven days;

.dove out of the ark ; and the dove

and

lo,

in her

ark, for the waters

then he put forth his hand

mouth was an

ark.

And

and again he sent forth the

came

in to

him

in the evening,

olive leaf pluckt ofi;

Noah

SUBSIDENCE OF WATER AND DEBARKATION. inew

that the waters were abated from off the earth.

227

And he

stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which -returned not again to

"And

came

him any more.

day

in the first month, the first

up from

.dried

And

4ay

of the

the earth

of the

first

year,

month, the waters were

and Noah removed the covering of

looked, and behold the face of the ground

the ark, and 4ry.

off

hundredth and

to pass in the six

was

in the second month, on the seven and twentieth

month was

"And God

the earth dried.

spake unto Noah, saying.

forth of the ark,

thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

Bring forth with thee every living thing that all flesh, both of

that creepeth

with thee, of

fowl and of cattle, and of every creeping thing

upon the

may breed abundantly

earth, that they

in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.

Noah went

And

and his sons, and his wife, and his sons'

forth,

Every beast, every creeping thing, and every

wives with him.

jowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kind,

went forth out of the

"And Noah

ark.

builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of

every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

and Jehovah any more is evil

And Jehovah

smelled a sweet savour,

said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground

for

man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart

from his youth; neither will

everything as I have done.

again smite any more

While the earth remaineth, seed-

time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter,

and day and night

Noah was

shall not cease "

in the

365 days.

Should

:seeing that

Noah

Ark

Gen.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

viii. i

22.

for exactly one Solar yKU' of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;How can

be asked

entered into the

this

Ark on

be correct,

the lyth day

TERRA FIRM A:

228

chap,

sec. 5.

xi.,

of the

month Bui, and did not leave it till the 27th day same .month in the following year? I reply as

follows

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Ante-Diluvians were thoroughly acquainted

of the

with the Solar period of revolution in 365 J^ days, but they reckoned by Lunar time, their year consisting of

354 days

the

only,

days

eleven

difference,

called

being adjusted by a method which

" intercallery,"

would take too long to enter into here, so that computar tions by Solar and Lunar time were made exactly to

Noah went

correspond.

into the

Ark on

Saturday, the

Sabbath, the Seventh day of the week, that being the 17th

day of Bui, 1656 A.M., which was the beginning of the new Solar year, when the people were in the midst of their " eating

festivities

Matt. xAiv. 38.

and

drinking,"

described

Counting from that day to Saturday,

the Sabbath or Seventh day of the week, the 27th day of Bui, in the following year,

precisely 365 days, as the

Lunar months intervening consisted only of 30 and 29 days alternately, so that the Solar year terminated on the 27th day of Bui, 1657; on which day

with him came out of the Ark.

For a

full

Noah and

all

exposition of

this interesting subject,

showing the extreme exactitude

of Biblical Chronology,

Mr.

" All

Dimbleby's

below.*

The

book,

objector

may

nate the essence of Truth " You

Readers to

Time,"

mentioned

beg to refer Past

cavil at, but

as the

;

may break, you may

he cannot elimi-

Bard of Erin

ruin the vase as you will.

But the scent of the roses will hang round

All Past

Time,

H. Dimbleby

;

sings

it still."

E. Nestor, s8 Paternoster

Row, London

THE NOACHIAN COVENANT.

SECTION

229

THE NOACHIAN COVENANT. On Noah

God made the all who had been

leaving the Ark,

Covenant with him, and with

following

with him

in that specially prepared rendezvous of safety

"And God Be

fear of

blessed

Noah and

you and the dread

the earth, and

upon the

you

upon every fowl

earth,

hand they

and said unto them,

his sons,

and multiply and replenish the

fruitful

and upon

of the air,

upon

flesh with

the

at the

hand

at the

;

hand

man

of every

will I require the life of

man

life

And

thereof shall ye not eat. will I require

;

thereof,

And

all

that

moveth

given you

which

surely your blood of your lives

at the

man.

all

the blood

of every beast will I require

and

it,

blood of every man's brother

Whoso sheddeth man's

shall his blood be shed, for in the

He man.

the

Every moving thing that liveth shall

are delivered.

But

And

the fishes of the sea; into your

all

be meat for you, even as the green herb have things.

earth.

upon every beast

shall be

blood,

image of God made

you, be fruitful and multiply ; bring foith abun-

dantly in the earth,

and multiply

therein.

And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying. And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your seed after you;

and with every

living creature that is with

you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with

you ; from

all that

go out of the ark to every beast of the

And

I will establish

flesh

be cut

there any

oft

earth.

covenant with you; neither shall

any more by the waters of a flood

more be a flood to destroy the

earth.

;

all

neither shall

And God

said.

TERRA FIRMA.

230

This

you, and every living creature that generations.

set

My bow

a token of a covenant between

come the

chap,

to pass,

bow

of all flesh;

upon

between

and

I shall

it,

And that I

And God

said unto

upon the earth "

Such

word

all flesh that

Noah, This

Gen. ix. i

—

Me and

upon

all flesh

It is referred to as

Mount

by our Lord Himself. of

Olives,

New

Testament,

In His address on

shortly before

suffered.

spoke as follows to certain of His Disciples,

Him

«\r

77.

bears the stamp of truth.

particularly

asked

the token of the

an accomplished fact several times in the

the

that

remember

the Biblical account of the Deluge, and every

is it

shall

the bow shall be in the cloud; and I may remember the everlasting covenant

covenant, which I have established between that is

earth,

Me and you, and every living creature

between God and every living creature of the earth.

And

earth.

be for

and the waters shall no more become a flood to

all flesh.

will look

and the

shall

bring a cloud over the :

sec. 6,

with you, for perpetual

in the cloud, and

shall be seen in the cloud

covenant, which

destroy

when

xi.,

make between Me and

the token of the covenant which I

who had

respecting His Coming, and the end of the

age— " As the days of Noah, so shall also the Coming of the Son of

Man

be.

For, as in the days that were before the flood,

they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the

day that Noah entered into the

the flood came, and took

Coming

of the

them

Son of Man be "

all

ark,

and knew not

away; so

Matt. xxiv. 37

Whoever, therefore, denies the

till

shall also the

—

^59.

fact of the Universal

Deluge denies the truth of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He hath said " Whosoever shall deny Me

—

LAST JUDGMENT ON EARTH TO BE BY FIRE. him

before men, is

in heaven "

will I also

deny before

231

Father which

Matt. x. 33.

SECTION

THE LAST JUDGMENT ON THE EARTH TO BE BY FIRE.

learn from the Noachian Covenant that a Univer-

Deluge

sal

will

the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;even

Earth

times

quote

all all

Acts Hi. 21.

Rotherham's

being the most

Fire,

things,

has told u*

Judgment awaits

terrible

dissolution

its

Restitution

from

still

spoken by the mouth of world began"

God

never occur again, but

His Word that a

before " the

which

God

hath

His holy prophets since the It is written as follows;

Emphasised

Translation,

literal

" Howbeit the

Day

of the

Lord

will be here as a thief, in

which the heavens with a rushing noise

will pass away, while

elements, becoming intensely hot, will be dissolved, and the earth and the works that are therein will be discovered.

then that

all

these things are thus to be dissolved, what

of persons ought (ye) all the while to be in holy

Seeing

manner

ways

of be-

haviour and acts of godliness, expecting and hastening the

coming of the Day fire

will be melted; but

God by reason

will be dissolved,

of which, heavens being

new Heavens and a new

Earth, according

His promise, are we expecting wherein righteousness

dwell "

s Pet.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Hi. 10

and elements becoming intensely hot,

13.

TERRA FIRMA.

23*

Scoffers

may laugh

at this

The

already been. foretold

This

—

Bible, a

fulfilled

that

very

xi.,

sec.

prophecy of the Apostle

Peter, just as they did at that of

assuredly

chap,

Noah, but the

respecting

manner

will

Deluge has

been

of dissolution has

decomposition of what are called elements.

^the

one of those nuggets of knowledge hidden in the problem which in its own way scientific chemistry

The gases of water Thames being set on fire

has long been attempting to solve. will

then be resolved, and the

will

no longer be a mere

Then

fact

—Sic

will

theire

figure of speech,

be a true

but a

terrific

The

the

realization transit of

Venus

will

occupy the attention of Astronomers no more.

They

will

then have discovered that the Stars and planets are

saying

transit gloria mundi.

very different bodies from what they imagined them to

The

be.

Apostle John, who' became in

Commentators

tell us,

on our Sunday,

hemera, in the Lordly day, or, in

—Rev. there

beheld,

was a

the Sixth Seal, and

lo,

became black

great earthquake, and the sun

heaven

her untimely

fell

figs,

moon became

as blood,

unto the earth, even as a

when she

and the

fig-tree casteth

shaken of a mighty wind.

the heavens departed as a scroll,

when

And

rolled together,

and every mountain and island were moved out of

And

most

Kuriake

the Day of the Lord

when he had opened

sackcloth of hair, and the stars of

10, thus writes

" And

spirit, not, as

but, en

their places.

the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,

and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-

man and

every freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the

rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the throne, and from the wrath of the

Him

Lamb,

that sitteth

for the great

on day

LAST JUDGMENT ON EARTH TO BE BY FIRE. who

of His wiath is come, and

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Sev. vi. 12 It

233

be able to stand?"

shall

77.

may be

well to notice here two statements in the

above passage, which axe at utter variance with the

Modem

teaching of to

become black

Astronomy.

First,

as sackcloth of hair,

blood, from which

we may

the

Sun

and the

said

Moon

learn that these luminaries are

entirely independent of each other,

and that the

does not derive her light from the Sun. declared that the Stars of heaven

fell

Moon

Secondly,

unto

{eis,

upon)

figs, when shaken by a great wind, from which we may gather, that the Stars are at no great distance from the Earth, and are

the Earth, as a fig-tree casts her green

very much smaller than it, instead of their being, as Modern Astronomers say, untold millions of miles away,

and inMneasurably larger than our world.

The Ark

a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Way,

the Truth, and the Life, our only means of salvation.

May we

all

through

and blameless, so look for "

Him that,

be found in peace, without spot with holy expectation, we

New Heavens and

dwelleth Righteousness "

New

2 Pet. Hi. 13.

Earth,

may

wherein

a34

CHAPTER

XII.

THE DELUGE TRADITIONAL RECORDS. :

pagc

sictioh 1.

Marks of LANDS

...

the

Deluge

visible

many 234

The Accadian or Old Chaldean account OF the Deluge Extracts from Old Chaldean Epics, declar-

237

ing THE Revolution of the Sun, and the Creation of Men and Animals 4.

247

Babylonia identified with the Garden op

Eden

251

SECTION

MARKS OF THE DELUGE VISIBLE IN MANY LANDS.

Those of our Modem Astranomers, who

discredit

the Biblical account of the Deluge, have not only done very wrong in denying what to be true, but they have in rejecting a

fatct,

God

the traditions concerning which have

been recorded, with more or different

parts of

has so explicitly stated

shown great want of judgment

the world.

less accuracy, in so

Even

many

a late Annual

Meeting of the British Association, the President of that

MARKS OF THE DELUGE Scientific Society

MANY LANDS.

spoke of the Deluge as

and not as an accepted Scriptural

legend,

only

235

a human Besides,

truth.

the great boulders, and other vestiges of that catastrophe,

which are

still

seen in numerous places, prove the pro-

—

priety of the old adage

those

who

will not see."

" there

are none so blind as

my own

and Scotland, especially in the

rambles in England

—^immense

observed such remains

have frequently

latter,

isolated

overgrown with moss or heather, lying in

partly

rocks,

positiojis

human hands

they never could have been placed by

which appear to have been denuded of

lofty hills

where

vast masses of water rushing over their tops

soil

and down

—

glens and valleys which have been scooped

their sides

out or levelled by torrents of water,

volume and power that of the

far, far

exceeding in

rivers or smaller streams

have flowed through them since the memory of man,

that

which

excavatings

existing,

who has horn

and

levellings

the

latter,

could never possibly have effected.

Wye, or the Find-

visited the rent courses of the

—the

as now Any one

levelled expanses of Strathmore or Strathfleet

—the barren steeps of Ben Arkle, or the stony mountains of Assynt— acknowledge the truth of my remarks. ^will

And

own Island, are small in may be witnessed in America, and many other countries.

these illustrations, from our

comparison of those which Switzerland,

The

New

Zealand,

learned Humboldt, though a Globist, strongly

believed the fact of a Universal Deluge "

The ancient

traditions of the

human

he says race which

find

dispersed over the surface of the globe, like the fragments of a vast shipwreck, prevail

blance

that

fills

among

with

all nations,

astonishment.

and bear a resemThere

are

many

languages belonging to branches, which appear to have no

TERRA FIRMA.

236

chap, xn., sec.

connection with each other, and these

same

The substance

fact.

transmit to us the

all

tradifions respecting the

of the

destroyed races and the renovation of nature,

about every-

where the same, although each nation gives a local colouring."

Deluge would never have been questioned, but for the fads of certain Geologists, and the

The

universality of the

exigencies

Modem

who

Astronomers,

preferred

rejecting the Biblical account of the Flood to abandoning their

nien

own theory

thoroughly

Christian learned

of a Planetary Earth.

Calmet

and

Adam

Dr.

Scriptural statements concerning

who had

considered

matter,

the

investigated

Clarke,

literally

the true,

still clung to the Copemican system. how any one who has at all studied the with the records of past ages now disclosed,

even though they

The marvel subject,

and the him,

but visible proofs of the catastrophe around

silent

could

ever

believe

otherwise,

but

there

human mind.

gauging the eccentricity of the

would

occupy too much space to enter into the very numerous national traditions of the Deluge, and I shall give only

—

one

^that

—

the Old Chaldeans

^but

that

indeed,

is,

not only the most interesting, but the most ancient of any

with which

beg to

refer

vi.

—

^ix.,

named below.*

History,t

For other

acquainted.

traditions

Readers to Dr. Clarke's Commentary on

Chapters

Genesis, articles

Ovid sung of

Josephus referred to

and to Calmet under the

Apolodorus wrote of it

his

in his

" Metamorphoses,"!

in his " Antiquities,''§

—"Ammon

and past

* Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible or no Ammon," " Ark," Vol. I.; "Noah" Vol. II.; "Judeac History of Noah and the " " Deluge," see Fragments Vol. III.; "Plates," "Construction of the Ark," "Dagon," &c.—Vol. V. i Apolodor. Bib. lib. I. Cap. i. t " Metam." lib. IV., sTo. S "Antiq." Apion lib.. I. S. 3, ig.

"Deluge"

—

«.—

ACCADIAN ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE. ages are full of

237

marvels, as Bryant, in his "Ancient

its

Mythology," so clearly shows.

SECTION

THE ACCADIAN OR OLD CHALDEAN ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE. The

oldest

and most remarkable Secular account of

the Deluge appears to be that written in the Accadian, or

Old Chaldean, cunedfonn

The

tablets about 4,000 years ago.

translation of these tablets into English

is given in a small book, called the " History of Babylonia,"* a copy

of which British

was kindly sent to

Museum,

whom

mation on this subject. these ancient tablets,

me by

had

Dr.

Kenyon

of the

written, requesting infor-

some

I shall give

exhumed only

extracts

from

in recent years, as if

purposely to confute the infidelity of

modem

times, for

they not only record the fact of the Deluge, in most

unmistakable language, but also actually refer to several

minute incidental particulars which occurred as stated in the Biblical account.

The Chaldeans were

the earliest, and the most famoais

Astronomers of antiquity, their tablets

and,

on the Creation, we

the way, that they did not

some fragments of

find,

as side-lights by

demean themselves with

the

idea that they were derived from a monkey, nor did they * " History of Babylonia," by the late George Smith, Esq., of the British Museum; edited by the Rev. A. H. Sayoe, M.A., Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Northumberland Avenue, London.

TERRA FIRMA.

238

chap,

xii.,

sec.

imagine that the Earth was a rolling Planet, but declared

Sun made

that the

its

daily

round

circuit

it,

and

its

These

annual path through the Zodiac of the heavens.

form a portion of a large Epic, discoursing chiefly

tablets

on the Adventures of Gilmanes, a kind of early Hercules.

The Author

of " Babylonia," p. 41, says

" The Chaldean legend of the Flood was in existence at least 2,000 years before the Christian era,

of legends to which

and the events

of the series

belongs are ckrved on some of the most

ancient Babylonian seals."

Noah, or Xisuthrus, as he said

called in the Epic, was

be the tenth in descent in the mythological

Babylonian period before the Flood, thereby agreeing with the fact that he represented the tenth generation

from Adam; but the length of the dynasty

entirely

legendary, far exceeding the time occupied according to

the Mosaic history. virtues,

It is stated that,

by reason

of his

he was exalted to dwell among the gods, which

probably a warped tradition of the translation of his ancestor Enoch, "

Gen.

who was

not, for

God

took him

24.

Gilmanes became imwell and determined to recovery from Noah,

who was

said to

related to

At the request

whom

after

of Gilmanes,

him the account of the Deluge,

which he instructed Nis Ea how to cure him disease.

seek

be among the gods,

somewhere about the Persian Gulf, and various adventures he found.

Noah

after

of' his

Gilmanes then returned to Erech (now Warka),

the chief city of his dominion, which, with Babel, Accad,

and CaJneh,

mentioned in Genesis

x. 10, as

being the

beginning of Nimrod's kingdom, in the land of Shinar.

ACCADIAN ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE.

239

would seem, from the following quotation from

" Babylonia," pp. 48, 49, that the story of

a latent allusion to certain

much

Science the Chaldeans so " It

was

to, this

facts of

Gilmanes had

Astronomy, in which

excelled

epoch that the Adventures of

pre-historic

Gilmanes, one of the most celebrated of the Chaldean heroes,

Gilmanes was originally a Solar hero, and the

was assigned.

Great Epic in which his Adventures are described,

The Epic

conscious of the fact.

the subject matter of each book corresponding with the

Thus the

a Sign in the Zodiac.

still

divided into twelve books,

name

story of the Deluge is introduced

book which answers

to Aquarius,

the eleventh Sign of the Zodiac, while the bull slain

by Gilmanes

as an episode in the eleventh

in the

second book

The Adventures

Taurus the second Sign

of the Zodiac.

of the hero thus represent the passing of the

Sun through the twelve months retreat to the ocean,

of the year,

and his

illness

and

which surrounded the world, symbolize

the paling strength of the

Sun

of winter,

and his declension

Through the medium

towards the western ocean.

the

Phoenicians or Syrians, the story of Gilmanes seems to have

been carried to Europe,

at all events the

a lesser extent, Perseus,

Greek Herakles, and,

a reflection of the Chaldean

Gilmanes, being the prototype of Herakles."

Extracts from the eleventh Tablet of the Ishdubae Legends, giving the Accadian account of the Deluge.*

******* Column

LINE

8 Xisuthrus speaks to him, even to Gilmanes,

9 Let

me reveal to thee, â&#x20AC;˘ "

The

Gilmanes, the story of

my preservation,

History of Babylonia," pp. 33-40.

TERRA FIRMA.

240

chap,

xii.,

sec. 2.

LINE

And

the oracle of the gods let

The

city of Surippak, the city

huilt

12 This city

tell it to thee.

which as thou knowest,

on the Euphrates.

was

cilready ancient

when

the gods within

13 Set their hearts to bring on a deluge, even the great gods,

As many

as there are

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;their father Anu,

15 Their King the warrior Bel,

16 Their throne-bearer Ninup, 17

Their prince the lord of Hades.

18 ÂŁa, the lord of

wisdom, conferred with them and repeated

their decree to the

frame,

Reed-bed

Reed-bed,

O reed-bed, and understand, O frame! O man of Surippak, son of Ubara Tutu

Frame

Reed-bed,

frame,

Hear,

the house, build the ship, leave what thou canst,

seek

life.

22 Resign thy goods, and cause thy soul to live, 23

And

bid the seed of

life

of every kind

mount unto the midst

of the ship,

24 The ship which thou shalt build.

*******

....

I will

judge above and below

39 (But as for thee), shut (not) the door 40 (Until) the time come of which I will send thee word. 41 (Then) enter and turn the door of the ship (and)

42 Bring into the midst of

it,

thy com, thy property, and thy

goods,

Thy

(fatnily),

thy household, thy concubines, and the sons of

the people,

44 The

(cattle) of

as I

the field, the wild beast of the

would preserve.

field, as

mciny

ACCADIAN ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE.

241

45 I will send unto thee, and the door of thy ship shall preseive

them.

mouth and

46 Xisuthrus opened his 47

49 50 51

says to

speaks,

his lord,

(O my lord) no one yet has built a ship (in this On land to contain the beasts (of the field), (The plan?) let me see, and the ship (I will build), On the land the ship (I will build), .... As thou hast commanded (me).

fashion),

Column II.

5 I

made

its

side

and

enclosed

divided

I built six storeys, I

7 I divided its interior

it.

saw the rudder, and what was wanting

10 Six sari of 11

passages) seven times.

nine times.

8 I cut (worked) timber within 9 I

it.

(its

Three

bitumen

sari of

bitumen

added.

poured over the outside, poured over the

inside.

23 I caused the tackle to be carried above

and below.

24 (Then there went into

25 All that I into

had

it)

two-thirds (of

put into

it,

household),

all that of silver I

had

put

it,

26 All that of gold I 27 All that I

had

28 I brought

had

put into

it,

of the seed of life I put into

into the ship, all

The

The season Samas

slaves

it.

The whole

and concubines,

cattle of the field, the beasts of the field, the sons of the

people, all of

them did fixed,

bring up.

and 16

TERRA FIRMA.

44*

chap,

xii.,

sec. 2.

LIHS

"In the night

spake, saying,

will I cause the

heaven

to rain destruction.'"

32 Entei into the midst of the ship and shut the door. 33

The season came round

(of

which)

spake, saying, " In the night will

cause the heaven

to rain destruction."

watched with dread the dawning of the day.

Column 111. I

(The surface) of the land like

(They destroyed)

3 To

battle against

all life

men

4 Brother saw not

they wasted,

(fire)

from the face of the land.

they brought (the waters)

his brother;

men knew

not one another.

In heaven 5

The gods feared

the flood, and

6 Hastened to ascend to the heaven of

*****

Anu

(i.e.

the highest

heaven). Ic

19 Six days

and nights

The wind, the

The seventh

flood,

day,

and the storm go on overwhelming.

when

approached, the flood subsided,

the storm, 22

Which had fought

.23

Was

quieted.

against

The

men

an armed

host,

sea began to dry, and the

wind and

flood ended. ;24 I .25

beheld the sea and uttered a cry,

For the whole

mankind was turned to clay;

26 Like trunks the corpses floated. .27 I

opened the window, and the light sinote upon

.28 I

stooped and sat down,

wept.

itty

face,

the

ACCADIAN ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE.

243

LINE

39 Over

face flowed

teais.

30 I beheld a shore beyond the sea 31

The mountains

district rose

twelve times distant.

the mountains of Nizir the ship grotmded, of Nizir stopped the ship, and

able to pass over

The

first

was not

it.

day, the second day, the mountains of Nizir stopped

the ship. 35

The

third day, the fourth day, the mountains of Nizir stopped

The

fifth

the ship. day, the sixth day the mountains of Nizir stopped

the ship. 37

The seventh day when it approached

38 I sent forth a dove and

The dove went and

it left.

returned,

and 39

Found no

Then

resting place,

I sent forth

and

came back.

a swallow and

it left.

The swallow went

and returned, and 41

Found no

resting place,

43 I sent forth a raven 43

and

came back.

it left.

The raven went and saw the going down

44 It approached,

waded,

croaked ;

of the waters,

and

did not return.

45 I sent (the animals) forth to the four winds, I sacrificed a sacrifice,

I built

altar

on the peak

of the mountain,

47 I sent vessels (each containing the third of an ephah), by sevens.

48 Underneath them I spread reeds, cedar wood, and herbs. 49 The gods smelt the savour, the gods smelt the good savour. 50

The gods gathered

Thereupon the great goddess

like flies over the sacrifices.

at her

approach

TERRA FIRMA.

244

chap,

sec. 2.

xii.,

LINE

52 Lifted

up the mighty bow, which Anu had created according

to (his) wish.

The gods by my necklace never

will I forget.

Column IV.

his mouth, and he says to the warrior Bel;

Ea opened

13 "

Thou,

warrior, art the seer of the gods,

Why, why

didst thou not consider, but caused'st a flood?

15 Let the doer of sin bear his

the doer of wickedness

sin, let

bear his wickedness. 16

May

the just prince not be cut

the merciful that he be

ofi,

not (destroyed). 17 Instead of causing

a flood,

let lions

come and minish men,

18 Instead of causing a flood, let hyenas

come and minish men,

19 Instead of causing a flood let a famine happen, and

let it

(devour) the land.

20 Instead of causing a flood let plagues

come and minish men.

21 I did not reveal the determination of the great gods.

To Xisuthrus

alone a dream

sent and he heard the deter-

mination of the gods." 23

When Bel had

Even me he bade ascend, he united my wife

again taken council he went up to the midst of

the ship.

took

my hand and bade me

ascend, to

side.

turned himself to us, and stood between us, he blessed us (thus)

27 " Hitherto Xisuthrus has been a mortal man,

28 But

now Xisuthrus and

his wife shall be like the gods, even us.

29 Yea, Xisuthrus shall dwell afar livers.

oÂŁE,

at the

mouth

of the

ACCADIAN ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE.

24s

LIHB

They took us

mouth

afar off at the

of the rivers they

made

us dwell."

The above Deluge;

from

extracts,

this

ancient

show

Epic,

Chaldeans believed in a Universal

decidedly that the

the very differing in certain points from the

Biblical account, only proving that there

was no

collu-

was impossible, seeing that the Epic

sion; such, indeed,

was written several hundred years before the birth of

The Author was not a worshipper of the one God Jehovah, but was a polytheist, reverencing Ea, Anu, Moses.

Ninup,

Bel,

Column Noah's

III.,

Merodach, line 50,

sacrifice.

Nergal,

says,

and

who,

others,

gathered as

around

flies

Again, the Epic speaks of there being

only six days occupied in overwhelming the world with water, whereas the Bible states fliat the waters prevailed for

an hundred and

year in the Ark.

him

fifty

days,

says that

Noah took with

into the Ark, not only his family, cattle,

whUe the Bible

people,

wife,

of the

distinctly avers that only

Noah,

persons,

his three sons,

were saved,

animals, clean things

the

and

besides

their wives,

certain

and unclean, fowls of the Earth.

and beasts

and concubines and sons

of the field, but his slaves

his

and that Noah was a whole

The Epic

Again,

all

eight

proportion

air

Xisuthrus or

Gilmanes that he belonged to Surippak, a

and creeping

Noah city

tells

on the

Euphrates, not far from the Persian Gulf, whereas the Bible makes no allusion to it; but this

a matter of no

was by no means improbable that

consequence, and

Noah came from

there,

Mesopotamia was doubtless

the original habitation of the Ante-Diluvians. Several important and interesting particulars, narrated

TERRA FIRMA.

*46

may be noticed here of man was the cause

account, some of which

The wickedness

Deluge; Gen.

compare

sec. 2.

the

— 16

with

to build the

Ark;

IV.,

vi.

God

—45 with Gen. The preservation with Gen. ig—^i and CoL

Column

Epic,

5—8. The command

xii.,

mentioned in the Biblical

in the Epic, agree with those

chap,

vi.

The

Gen. via.

44,

the

Ark;

on the Earth;

utter destruction of all life vii.

—

23.

sends forth a raven; CoJ. III. 42

—44 with

Gen. via. 8, 8.

vi. 14..

Noah sends out a dove;

Col.

;

vii. 2, 3.

—26 with Gen.

Noah

16.

bitumen outside and inside

Pouring

Col. II. 10, II with Gen.

Col. III. I

—

of animals, &c.

vi.

Noah

Col. III.

38,

39 with

Col.

III.

—

the

36,

grounded on the mountains of

Ark

said

have

Nizir, which, it is believed,

are not far from the mountains of Ararat

on which

rested, according to Gen. viii. 4.

the ground becoming dry

animals, &c., out of the

Gen.

viii.

10.

Gen.

sent forth the

Col. III. 45 with

18, zp.

leaving

Col. III. 46 11.

Noah

Ark; compare

—

the

Ark Noah

50 with Gen.

The bow

viii.

in the cloud

offered

sacrifice;

20.

set;

Col. III. 52 with

ix. 13.

12.

The world

Col. IV. 17

—20 with

be destroyed no more by a flood;

Gen.

ix.

15.

After such confirmatory proof s as have

now been given,

I pity any who, either from prejudice or

from want of

CHALDEAN EPICS ON SUN AND CREATION. mental capacity,

may

a Universal Deluge.

still

Very

grateful shoulcl

able and self-denying men,

and

talents in recovering

relics of antiquity.

of the

works

who have

Ije

to those

given their time

and deciphering such important

cannot here enter into the story

Monuments, but beg to I

247

decline to believe the fact of

refer

have already mentioned,

Readers

tO'

the

50, in which, with

respect to them, will be found most interesting

and useful

Gradually the statements of Old Testament

information.

history are being corroborated

by the discovery of

tablets

and other memorials of past ages, which are being brought forward in testimony of Scriptural truth.

would

not,

much surprised, were the veritable Ark of Noah some day discovered among the mountains of Ararat, and the Ark of the Covenant exhumed from the

indeed, be

ruins of ancient Jerusalem.

SECTION

EXTRACTS FROM OLD CHALDEAN EPICS, DECLARING THE REVOLUTION OF THE SUN, AND THE

CREATION OF MEN AND ANIMALS. As bearing on in

iMs book,

certain Astronomic facts contended for

beg to subjoin the accompanying extracts

from some other old Accadian Epics, showing the belief of the Chaldeans in the Revolution of the regular Creation. late

The

Sun and a

following was discovered by the

Mr. George Smith of the British Museum,

who was

TERRA FIRMA.

248

of opinion that

much

wooild yet

chap,

xii.,

sec. 3.

be found, confirma-

tory of the truth of the early histories mentioned

Genesis.

The Epic

begins,* pp. 43, 44

" When on high the heavens proclaimed

not,

(And) earth beneath recorded not a name.

Then

the abyss of waters

The chaos

was in the beginning

of the deep (Tianat)

their generator.

was she who bore them

all.

Their waters were embosomed together, and

The

plant was ungathered, the herb (of the field) ungrown.

When the

gods had not appeared, any one

(of

them)

By no name were they recorded, no destiny (had Then were the (great) gods created Lakhmu and Lakhamu issued forth (the first).

they fixed).

Until they grew up (and waxed old).

When the

gods Sar and Kisar (the upper and lower firmaments)

were created;

Long were the days

The gods Anu

(Bel,

(until)

and Ea were

created),

Sar (and Kisar created them)."

From

the Fifth tablet

;

fp. 44, 4$.

" (Merodach) prepared the mansions of the great gods.

fixed the stars that correspond with them, even the

Twin-

stars.

ordained the year, appointed the signs of the Zodiac over

For each of the twelve months he fixed three

From the day when the year

it.

stars.

issues forth to its close.

founded the mansions of the Sun-god who passes along the ecliptic, that they might know their bounds.

That they might not

err, that

they might not go astray in any

way; * " History of Babylonia," pp. 43, 45.

CHALDEAN EPICS ON SUN AND CREATION. He

established the mansions of Bel and

Moreover he opened the gates on either

249

along with himsslf.

side.

He strengthened the bolts on the left hand and on the right. And in the midst of it he made a staircase. He illuminated the Moon-god that he might be watchman of

the

night.

And ordained

for

him the ending

of the night, that the

day may

be known. (Saying),

month by month, without

break, keep watch in (thy) disc.

At the beginning of the month rise brightly at evening

With

glittering horns, that the

heavens

may know.

the seventh day halve (thy) disc." I

quote the following lines from another old

also

Accadian Epic found by Mr. Pinches, «

"Merodach bound together the slime Dust he made, and poured

The gods were made

« (?)

before the waters,

out with the flood.

to dwell in a seat of joy of heart,

created mankirul

The god Aruru, the seed

He made

mankind, they made with him.

the beast of the

field,

and the

living creatures of the

desert

He made

the Tigris and Euphrates and set (them) in (their) place.

Well proclaimed he their name.

The

uisa plant, the ditta plant of the marshland, the reed

and

the forest he made.

He made The

the verdure of the plain.

land, the marshes,

and the greensward,

also.

Oxen, the young of the horse, the stallion, the mare, the sheep the locust

Meadows and

forests also

The he-goat and the

gazelle brought forth

(?)

him."

TERRA FIRM A.

2J0

chap, xn., sec.

Let US look at a few things in which the Chaldeans believed,

which we may gather from the foregoing extracts

from these Epics on Creation. That, before the appearance of the Heavens and

the Earth, there existed a great Abyss or

The

classical reader will doubtless

Deep

remember

and the great Greek philosopher, Thales, water to be the principle of everything, of the " Great

Deep "

tions of the Earth

of Scripture, in

were

Homer

also considered all

confirmatory

which the founda-

laid.

That Merodach made the

of waters.

that

Stars,

ordained the year,

appointed the Signs of the Zodiac, and for each of the twelve months fixed three Stars (or constellations), and

the path of the Sun in the ecliptic.

That he established the Moon-god

man

as the watch-

of the night, to give light quite independently of

the Sun. 4.

That mankind were created

mankind, and not

evolved out of a lower order of being. 5.

their

That beasts and

own

particular

all

other animals were created in

species,

and no hint whatever

given of any change or modification in their form or nature.

What a

contrast is this to the statement

made by

Sir

Michael Foster, M.P., President of the British Association, at the

meeting held at Dover in September, 1899

" That the shifting scenes of embiyonic

life

are hints and tokens

of lives lived

by ancestors in time long past "*

Were

statement

this

true

there

would be

a serious

" missing link " in Debrett's Peerage, for the chimpanzee, * Tkg Birmingham Daily GaiettCt 14th September, 1899.

BABYLONIA IDENTIFIED WITH EDEN. connection with the "upper ten,"

in its

351

altogether

omitted there.

That men, animals,

were

specially created,

all

mountains, forests, &c.,

rivers,

and did not spring spontaneously

out of debris from a nebulous Sun, as so

many

of our

Astronomers so foolishly imagine.

The Chaldeans were shipped many gods, but nature,,

doubtless

idolaters,

and wor-

far

as regards

matters of

they appear to have been

much more

gifted with

common

they saw the Sun in his daily journey

moving round the world, they did not say that the world that

Moon

moved round

put forth her pallid

be reflected from the

own

sense than most of the Scientists of our

When

times.

it;

and,

was

when they saw

the

they did not suppose

light,

fiery rays of

the Sun; nor did

they ever dream, like the night-mared Evolutionist, that

monad could man

the

ever

become a whale,

or the

monkey

SECTION

BABYLONIA IDENTIFIED WITH THE GARDEN OF EDEN. There I

would

Eden

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

one other passage in

like to allude

as described

although so

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

by the

Babylonia " to which

situation of the late

Garden of

Mr. George Smith,

does not bear directly on the Deluge,

indirectly,

testifying

the

veracity' of

for,

does those

TERRA FIRMA.

252

chap,

xii.,

sec. 4.

Scriptures which have so emphatically recorded the fact

of the Deluge. " The plain or

Field

of Babylon

old Accadian language, a

was called Edinna

in the

word which was boirowed by the old

Semitic conquerors of the country, under the form of Edinu or

This

Edin.

Eden

clearly the

of the

not surprising that the two

it is

Eden

main

Old Testament, so that rivers of the

Hiddekhel

the Accadian

name

Eden may have been

now marked by

near the town of Eridu,

of the Tigris id idikla, or

The garden planted

stream of Idikla.

Garden

and the Hiddekhel.

are said to have been the Euphrates

the ruins of Abu-

Shahrein, in the south of Babylonia, which in the second

millenium before the Christian era stood on the sea shore. events Eric^lu

all

literature

near

;

was a

frequently termed

forest or

identified with the

Another most

It is

the good,' or

garden,' where grew

Tree of

Life.'

holy,'

exhumed from

this

an engraving on a Babylonian

now

depicted as seated on the right, and

desert

Seal, repre-

Adam

senting the Temptation in the Garden of Eden.t is

and

the holy palm-tree,'

interesting relic of Babylonian antiquity,

bearing on Eden, has been land.

reckoned as a sacred city in fiabylonian

Eve on

the

left,

with the Tree of Life between them, and an erect Serpent standing behind Eve.

Here

the Bible account of the Fall

our

modem

Some

unto

Him

is is

a direct testimony that

no myth, as even some of

divines suppose, but a veritable reality.

of the Pharisees (Jesus),

Master,

from among the multitude said rebuke Thy disciples.

And He

* " History of Babylonia," pp. 53, 54. + A copy of this Seal will be found facing p. 152 of " Babylonian Life and History," by E, A. Weller Bridge, Esq., M.A., tit the British Museum; Religious Tract Society, 36 Paternoster Row, London.

BABYLONIA IDENTIFIED WITH EDEN. answered and said,

you that

I tell

peace, the stones would immediately cry out "

And

233

these should hold their

Luke xix.

59, 40.

so the very stones of Babylon cry out against the

infidelity of this pretentious age.

have long sought to throw discredit on the

Infidels

Holy

Scriptures,

and with them the Deluge has been a sub-

Many

ject of special obloquy.

of our

Modern Astronomers,

and Hyper-critics have of

Scientists,

attack against

and

it,

anxious to prove

I have,

its truth,

late joined in the

therefore,

been the more

not only from Sacred, but from

Secular authority, and trust I have been successful. grieved to say that, such

the perversity of the

human

some Ministers of the Gospel have not

mind, even

scrupled to assert

their

disbelief

example, in The Christian

the

World Pulpit

1893, a well-known Minister of Liverpool

Deluge.

For

of 14th June, is

reported to

have said "

student of science

able to believe that any such flood

as that recorded in the eeirly Chapters of Genesis ever took place in the history of the

human

The

race

flood story is

nothing but a myth."

Seeing, then, the wide-spread mutiny which has arisen against the Deluge, that just sinful world,

judgment of God upon a

every, true Christian

should be firm as a

rock in upholding the truth of the Sacred Record.

Let

no one be faint-hearted; the promise has been given "

When

the

Jehovah

Isa. lix. ip.

enemy

shall

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Jehovah

shall

lift

Let

come a

in as

standard

flood, the Spirit of

against

him"

remind the gainsayer of the rebuke

TERRA FIRMA.

254 "

Who

is this

chap,

that darkeneth counsel

By words without knowledge?

Who

sec.

xii.,

shut up the sea with doors.

When it brake forth and issued out of the womb? When I made the clouds the garment thereof. And thick darkness a swaddling band for it. And prescribed for it my decree. And said, Hitherto shall thou come and no further, And here shall thy proud waves be stayed " '

Job xxxviii.

Some

of the over-zealous opponents of the

—

//.

Book

Genesis have stated that the art of writing was unknown in the days of Moses, and that 700 or 800 years after his time,

some impostor forged

his

name

to the Pentateuch,

thus seeking, by a side-issue, to overthrow I

have

not

the

doubt,

slightest

from

its

authority.

the

collateral

evidence afforded by Scripture, that writing was practised

from the time of Adam. Chaldean

tablets, written

the birth of Moses,

now

But, be that as

may, the

some hundreds of years before

stare

such

critics in

witnesses attest the truth of

living

are told that in the last days " evil

the face, and

Scripture.

men and

But

imposters

wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived " 2 Tint. Hi. 13, so that we need not be surprised if infidel objections will be continued to the end of time. Dear Cowper wrote more than a century ago

shall

—

The

infidel

has shot his bolts away.

Till his exhausted quiver, yielding none.

He gleans his blunted shafts that have recoil'd. And aims them at the shield of Truth again."* » "

The Task," Book VI.

BABYLONIA IDENTIFIED WITH EDEN.

255

Blessed are they who, trusting alone to the finished

work of our Lord Jesus

can look beyond the

Christ,

darkness for "

morning without clouds, when the tender grass springeth

up out of the earth through clear 2 Sam.

shining

after

rain "

xxiii. 4.

" Unto

you that

fear

name, saith Jehovah,

shall the

of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings "

Since the above was written,

Mai.

Sun

iv. z.

have read in the

Standard of 27th September, 1899, a most interesting article, headed " The Oldest Poem in the World," with

a reference to which few

years

I shall

ago Professor

now

close this Chapter.

Peitriei,

while

exploring

A the

Pyramid at Illahum, discovered a number of papyri, which were found to give many particulars of ancient Egyptian life.

Among them was

Usentisen

III.,

Royal Ode,

addressied

regarding which the writer of the article

says " Its value lies in its being certainly the oldest

world, nearly fifteen

(?)

also in the wonderful

Poem

in the

centuries before the time of Moses;

way

tive language, the great

which

and

describes, in most figura-

work that the King had done

in the

expansion of the Egyptian empire."

The work

published by Mr. Quaritch, and the auto-

type representations are said to be beautifully executed. I refer to these pap)Ti, as a corroborative proof of the very

which the art of writing was known, and show that the Ancients were by no means the ignorant barbarians which some Modem Scientists, early period in also to

dressed in a

sider

them

little

brief authority," so erroneously con-

to have been.

256

CHAPTER

XIII.

THE GREAT DEEP, A PROOF THAT THE EARTH NOT A PLANET. SXCTION I.

PAGE

The Earth

in solction before the Adamic Creation, showing horizontality by its STRATA

The Tides and the Great Deep

The Great

...

256

258

Gui-f Stream and Currents of

THE Great Deep 4.

265

The Rivers come from and return to the Great Deep

SECTION THE EARTH

IN SOLUTION

267

BEFORE THE ADAMIC

CREATION.

The

late Dr.

Woodward was

of opinion that, at the

time of the Noachian Deluge, the substance of the Earth

was completely dissolved.

But

this

could not possibly

have been the case then, because we read

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" All

the

mountains which were under the whole heaven were covered "

Gen. vii. /p ; which shows that there were still mountains in existence; and again, we find that, when the

waters were subsiding, the

Ark

rested

on the mountains of

EARTH DISSOLVED BEFORE ADAMIC CREATION.

257

which range

is,

Ararat

Gen.

viii.

the

loftiest

according to the British Almanac for 1900, 19,916 feet I believe, however, that

in height.*

before the Adamic

Creation, the Earth was in a state of solution, which will

account for the stratification of the different kinds of

most part according to their

rocks, &C., laid for tlie

in Genesis

" without of the

specific

This idea<is strengthened by the words

gravity or weight.

where the Earth

is said

tehu vebehu^

form and void," when darkness was on the face

Tehu ^gnifies unformed, confused, and

Deep.

behu, empty, void, loose, just like

expected to be before

what the Earth might be

was constituted, by the action of

These

the water, into the level stratification of the rocks.

words, teku, vebehu, occur together in two other of Scripture, illustrative of their shall stretch

out upon

Earth, and

lo, it

light there "

There

xxxiv.

Isa.

iv.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

particularly confirms this view

that there were heavens

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" I

void,

beheld the

and they had

from of

Hi.

"Pet.

For they old,

Rotherham's

(R.V.)

more emphatic

For

which

wilfully forget

and an Earth com-

pacted out of water, and amid water, by the

God."

22.

a remarkable verse, 2

was without f^rm and ]er.

meaning, namely

the lines of confusion, and the

stones of emptiness "

passages

translation,

Word

in loco, is

still

this they wilfully forget, that there

were heavens from of old, and an Earth, on account of water, of

and by means of water, compacted by the Word

God."

The Authorised

Version, has missed the full

interpretation of this important passage,

by not giving the

complete meaning of the word sunestosa, p. 231

;

Charles Letts

made

Co., Royal Exchange,

to stand

London.

TERRA FIRMA.

258 together.

when

]oh we find

In,

asked

Who

thou hast understanding. thereof, line

I laid the foundations of the

upon

Where wast thou

Earth?

Declare

hath laid the measures

may

refer td the granite bases of

the mountains, and the word mamdiah, in verse

upon them,

for

Tnadad to extend or stretch. the strata are

Or who hath stretched the Here the word yasadi, 4, 5.

foundations, in verse

strata laid

sec.

xiii.,

]oh xxxviii.

thou knowest?

it ?

chap,

all horizontal,

to the

derived from the root

would also observe that

with the exception, of course,

of those places where what are called " faults " or dis-

placements occur, which have been caused, either by the breaking up of

all

the

fountains of the

Great Deep

{tehoom rabah), at the time of the Deluge, or by volcanic disturbances in the Earth after the strata had been

The

horizontaJity of the layers proves that the

laid.

Earth

never whirled round the Sun, nor any other heavenly body, for,

had

done

so,

the strata would undoubtedly have

been curved, instead of which they are

may add

here I

revolving Planet, but

And

all straight.

another proof that the Earth horizontally fixed

not a

on the waters of

the Great Deep, from the fact that on every rock-bound coast,

where the mark of the tide may be seen, the

traced by the action of the sea

found to be

line

straight,

without any curvature whatever.

SECTION

THE TIDES AND THE GREAT DEEP. The

have for long been considered by the " attraction " of the Moon, but

tides of the ocean

as being caused

THE TIDES AND THE GREAT DEEP.

has been seriously questioned even by some

latterly this

Modem

of our

259

Astronomers, owing to certain discrepancies

which have been discovered between theory and

fact.

Indeed, the Moon, as has been previously remarked, has

been a source of great trouble to our Astronomers, as she persists in acting in so

what their theories himself confessed

many ways the

that

Sir

explanation

on the Tides was the

action

in direct opposition to

Even

require.

Isaac of

Newton

the Moon's

least satisfactory part of his

This theory asserts that the larger

theory of Gravitati'On.

object attracts the smaller, and the mass of the

Moon

being reckoned as only one-eighth of that of the Earth, follows that,

if,

by the presumed force of Gravitation,

the Earth revolves round the Sun,

same

reason, should the

which that wilful orb

still

Moon do

much

more, for the

so likewise, instead of

continues to go round our world.

Tides vary greatly in height, owing chiefly to the different

configurations

Chepstow

Dublin Bay late

the

rises to

feet, at

but

1 2,

and

it is

lands.

Wexford only

5 feet.

The

Captain George Peacock of the Royal Navy writes as

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

follows:

"At Holyhaven, near the mouth is

adjoining

Portishead to 50, while at

actually falling,

moment^ rising.

the river

Thames, the

tide

at the same

running up rapidly at London Bridge, and still There are four high waters and three low waters on St. Laurence (North America) at the same time, and is

it .

of the

and running down rapidly, while,

in the river

Amazon

(South America), there are no less than six

high waters and five low waters at the same time, and, in the dry season, as the

many

as seven high waters and six

low waters

same time have been known."*

* " Is the world Flat or

Round," by Captain George Peacock, R.N., F.R.G.S.; Bellows, Gloucester.

TERRA FIRMA.

26o

In the Mediterranean the tide

McCheyne

of his hymns, Mr.

expanse a " tides in

xiii.,

sec. 2.

so small that, in one

poetically called that great

extreme South, the

tideless sea," and, in the

some

parts are scarcely perceptible.

The Earth "

chap,

stated,

authority,

infallible

founded upon the seas and established upon the floods

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fsa. xxiv.

and, in

most part caused by the

opinion, the Tides are for the

flux

and the

reflux of the waters

of the Great Deep, with which the Earth

assuredly

He gathereth the waters of the heap. He layeth up the depth in

most closely connected

sea together as an storehouses " Psa. xxxiii. 7.

Such a cause of the Tides

was given by Parallax, who did such great service to true science by exposing the fallacies of

and Mr. Winship of Natal, Cosmogony,"*

Modem

Astronomy,

in his excellent work, " Zetetic

comes to the same conclusion

p. 131, thus

"Tides are caused by the gentle and gradual of the Earth

on the bosom

of the mighty deep.

there are no tides, which also proves that the

Earth or water to cause tides

attract the

the Tide-Keeper for the tides, nothing more. the

Moon

tells

what kind

does not and cannot

of a tide

attract

may be

rise

and

fall

In inland lakes

Moon cannot The Moon is

The

phase

expected, but she

either the solid

body

of the Earth

or the waters."

That the Earth

itself

has a slight tremulous motion

be seen in the movement of the fixed

as steadily

fluctuation

as possible,

may be

spirit-level,

may

even when

and that the sea has a

witnessed by the oscillation of an

anchored ship in the calmest day of summer. Âť T. L. Cullingford, 40 Field Street, Street, Netlierfield, Notts.

Durban, Natal

;

By what

John Wilson, 54 Bourne

THE TIDES AND THE GREAT DEEP. means the

tides are so regularly affected is at present

conjectured;

only

261

possibly

may be by

atmospheric

pressure on the waters of the Great Deep, and perhaps

even

Moon

the

Rowbotham,

or diminishing

and

rise

that

it is

by the

Dr.

late

Him

God

this

may be

but of one thing we

sure,

is for

suggested

barometric pressure, and indirectly the

its

just as easy for

Tides, as

influence the atmosphere, increasing

of the Earth in the waters."

fall

now be

cannot

itself,

may

certain,

to adjust the courses of the

to regulate the motions of the

heavenly bodies. Occasionally the sea coast

Some

a Great TidaJ Wave.

the Sunderabad, a low-ljdng

which caused much another,

still

Japan, by which,

swept by what

woody

loss of life to

disastrous,

called

years since such occurred in district

near Calcutta,

men and

animals; and

happened not long

remember

agO' in

24,000 persons

rightly,

were drowned, and ships were carried about two miles

How

inland.

but

think

means

these abnormal tides arise is

a moot point,

most probable that they are caused by

of Earthquakes displacing the land, and,

means, letting the volume of the sea

roll far

this

beyond

its

usual boundary.

The

great Earthquake, which occurred on the

morning

November, 1755, generally called that of Lisbon, that city suffered most from its terrible efi^ects, was the

of I St as

cause of immense loss of as

life

and property by sea

According to the writer of the

land.

article "

as well

Earth-

quake," in the edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica before me,

millions of square miles, in

many

now

extended over an area of at least four

places

and particulars of

were noted

from Morocco to Norway, and from

TERRA FIRMA.

262

Antigua to Bohemia.

chap, xm., sec. 2,

With regard to

Lisbon

its effects at

he remarks

"The bed

of the river

Tagus was in many places raised to

Ships were driven from their anchorage, and jostled

the surface.

together with great violence, nor did their masters

they were afloat or aground.

know whether

huge new quay sunk

unfathomable depth, with several hundreds of people

upon was

nor was one of the dead bodies ever found.

it,

at first seen dry

came

rolling in like a mountain,

and about Belein Castle the

notice what great disturbances this

It is interesting to

felt or

not

The bar

instant.''

Earthquake caused at that time in distant

and

from shore to shore, but suddenly the sea

water rose 50 feet almost in an

springs,

who were

where the shock

rivers,

felt at all.

lakes, ponds,

itself

was scarcely

quote a few instances from the

samie writer

"At Loch Lomond, nine in the morning,

in Scotland,

all of

wind, the water rose against immediately subsided

till

its

banks with great rapidity, but

was as low

body then present had ever seen Instantly

till

minutes after ten

became somewhat short

The

agitation continued at

minutes past ten the same morning,

fifteen

taking five minutes to rise and as till

many

The

subside.

From

eleven the height of every rise

of the immediately preceding, taking

minutes to flow, and as many to ebb,

entirely settled.

two

summer-drought.

returned toward the shore, and in five minutes'

the same rate

five

in appearance as any-

in the greatest

time rolled again as high as before.

fifteen

about half an hour after

a sudden, without the least gale of

the water

was

greatest perpendicular of the swell

was

till

feet four inches."

" At

Loch Ness, about

half an hour after nine a very great

THE TIDES AND THE GREAT DEEP. was obseived

agitation

of the loch,

About ten the

in the water.

which runs on the north side

was observed

263

river Oich,

of Fort

Augustus into the head

to sink very

much, and run upwards

from the loch with a pretty high wave, about two or three

The motion

above the ordinary surface. against the wind, and

the river.

the

feet

wave was

proceeded rapidly for about 200 yards

then broke on a shallow, and flowed three or

four feet on the banks, after which the loch.

returned immediately to

continued ebbing and flowing in this manner for

about an hour without ariy such remarkable wave as at but, about eleven o'clock a wave, higher than the rest,

first,

came up

and broke with so

much

side of the river,

ran upon the grass about thirty feet from the

force on the low ground on the north

bank."

river's

"At Cobham

in Surrey,

between ten and eleven o'clock, a

person was watering a horse at a pond, fed by springs.

While

the animal was drinking, the water suddenly ran away from

him, and moved toward the south with such swiftness that the

bottom of the pool was impetuosity that the

from

its

left bare.

man

sudden approach.''

very remarkable change was observed in the waters of

Toplitz (Carlsbad),

village in

The waters were discovered the principal spring of in the

returned again with such

leaped backwards to secure himself

its

baths.

from which time

them had constantly thrown hot water

same quantity, and

of the Earthquake,

Bohemia, famous for

in the year 762,

of the

same

quality.

In the morning

between eleven and twelve of the forenoon,

the principal spring cast forth such a quantity of water, that in

the space of half an hour, all the baths ran over.

About half

an hour before this great increase

the spring

of the water,

flowed turbid and muddy, then, having stopped entirely for a minute,

broke forth again with prodigious violence, driving

TERRA FIRMA.

864 befoie

a consideikble quantity of reddish ochre.

After that

and flowed pure as before.

continues

became

chap, xni., sec.

clear,

but the water

so,

It still

in greater quantity, and better than

before the Earthquake."

From

above we may learn something

facts such as the

of the great ramifications

which must

exist in

chambers

and channels under the Earth, evidently connected with the waters of the Great Deep.

Job was asked many questions by Jehovah, which he was unable to answer, a few of which are as follows " Where wast thou

Declare

Who

when

I laid the

foundations of the earth?

thou hast understanding.

determined the measures thereof,

Or who

stretched the line

upon

thou knowest?

it?

Whereupon were the foundations

Or who

thereof

laid the corner-stone thereof?

made

to sink?

....

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began.

And caused the That

dayspring to

know its

place.

might take hold of the ends of the earth?

....

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?

hast thou walked in the recesses of

The Deep? "

Job xxxviii.

Well would

for

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

6, 12, 13, z6.

our Astronomers,

if,

in con-

sidering such questions, they were brought into the state of

same

profound humility as that noble Patriarch, when

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

he said to Jehovah

" I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the

ear,

But now mine eye seeth Thee, Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." /oi

xlii. 5, 6.

GULF STREAM AND CURRENTS OF THE DEEP.

SECTION

263

THE GREAT GULF STREAM AND CURRENTS OF THE GREAT DEEP. Besides Tides, whose flux and reflux

more than

forty miles

streams or

Ocean Currents, some

not

felt for

from land, there axe mighty Gulf of which are from 200

400 miles in breadth, and from 3,000 to 4,000 miles in

length.

They

are deep, calm, and steady, and flow with

an average speed of one and a half to two miles per hour.

The

immense

courses of these

various

opposite

directions

currents,

through

the

which flow in ocean,

afford

another convincing proof that there cannot possibly be

any globularity there, because courses such as described could not exist on a convexity.

These are

Ocean more the upward vast

Rivers which cannot flow upvards in their routes, any

than the Rivers of the Earth can do in theirs,

flow of ruiming water being entirely contrary to the laws of

In Psalm xxiv.

nature.

Earth

upon the

seas,

we read

that

and established

The Hebrew word here used " rivers,"

God founded upon the

the

floods."

for " floods " is naharoth,

which

literally

there

must doubtless be those mighty ocean currents,

means

and the

rivers referred to

which so maijesticaJIy flow from the fountains of the Great Deep.

One

of the

Atlantic

Ocean

most noted of these vast Currents in the is

the Great Gulf Stream, which flows from

the Gulf of Mexico, where the temperature of the water is

about 86 degrees;

then sweeps through the Straits

TERRA FIRMA.

266

chap,

xiii.,

sec. 3.

of Florida northwards as far as latitude 31 degrees N.,

when

takes a north-eastern direction to about latitude

36 degrees N.

;

then crosses the Atlantic, past the

western side of the Azore Islands, of Europe.

When

issues

to the Western Coast

from the

Straits of Florida it

of a dark blue indigo colour, and can be distinguished from the green waters of the Atlantic for hundreds of Its mean breadth is about 350 mUes. miles. is

In the same ocean there are other immense currents

—the Equatorial—the North African Southern Connection—the Southern Horn—Rennels and Arctic

—the

and Guinea

—

Atlantic

comes from the Polar

some

regions, bearing

of which are 200 feet high, which

immence icebergs, means a depth of

Many

1,400 feet below the surface of the water. are left on the west coast of Greenland, drifted south to

Arctic

Th«'

Currents.

Cape

^the

of these

and others are

warmer regions where they are gradually

dissolved.*

The

Arctic Current, believed to arise at the North

Pole, runs along the east coast of Greenland, and, after

doubling Cape Farewell, flows up the west coast of Greenland to about Latitude 66 degrees N.,

northern end of Newfoundland

when

south along the west of Labrador.

divides,

turns

reaching the the smaller

portion passing through the Straits of Belle Isle, and the

main body going between the great and outer bank of Newfoundland,

and

ultimately

joins

the

Gulf

Great

Stream between Latitudes 44 degrees and 47 degrees N. Whence do these vast currents proceed ? " the cause of which," as the writer of the article " Atiantic Ocean * See article " Atlantic Ocean" in "Tlie Imperial Gazetteer"; Blackie Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London.

" in

Son,

RIVERS COME FROM AND RETURN TO THE SEA.

267

the " Imperial Gazetteer," p. 244, confesses, " are but imperfectly

known."

not at

all

surprised at Geographers

and Astronomers being unable to account for these great bodies of water flowing through the oceans, so long as

they imagine the Earth to be a whirling Planet, and ignore the Scriptural declaration that seas

" is

and established upon the floods

own opinion

founded upon the

Vsa. xxiv.

that these Currents flow from

fountains of the Great Deep, and, like

without use.

Part of that service

all

God, are meant for special service, for

do not

may be

the works of

for

In deep soundings

which have not the

promoting

it is

known

disturb the sea deeper

than about 90 feet, below which there delicate

of the

makes nothing

the circulation of the waters of the ocean, for that the greatest storms

some

shells are

slightest signs

a perfect calm.

often taken up,

of abrasion.

These

Currents are also of use in navigation, and are also thought to have a considerable climatic influence

bourhoods through which they pass.

on the neigh-

Our own

Great Britain and Ireland are believed to owe their verdant beauty,

and

perature, to their being

Islands of

much

their comparatively mild tem-

washed by the waters of the Great

Gulf Stream.

SECTION

THE RIVERS COME FROM AND RETURN TO THE GREAT DEEP. It

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

was said by Solomon who

Kings

iv.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

"All the livers lun into the

was wiser than

all

men

sea, yet the sea is not full;

TERRA FIRMA.

a68

There all

Bcc.

Modem

our

true science taught in this one verse than

the rivers come, thither they

unto the same place from whence return again"

chap, xni., sec.

Astronomers have ever known, else they It unfolds

never would have imagined a Planetary Earth. to us the fact that the Earth is founded

upon the Great

Deep, part of the waters of which percolate or flow through

its

in lakes,

body in various channels, forming the springs

hills,

their rise.

and

from which the

valleys,

Rivers have

upward course in any

of their journey to the sea,

piart

thus proving that the Earth

not a Planet.

Perhaps

not globular, and therefore

this continual interchange in their

flow from and to the Great Deep,

elements

towards

rivers take

a downward, and never an

all

solving

the

may be one

of the

problem of the Tides.

There are known to be many lakes and

rivers

which have

great springs in them, and even sprudels or fountains of water, which burst from

them with

great force, notably

There

the hot sprudel in the river Toplitz at Carlsbad. are also hot springs in

New

Zealand, Iceland, and

many

other parts of the world.

the Psalmist sings "

sendeth forth springs into the valleys

They run among the mountains." Psa.

The working

of mines

civ. to.

and quarries has sometimes to be

altogether abandoned, owing to the influx of water being

much more than the By sinking Artesian

engine-ptunps are able to carry away. wells water

parts of the Earth, and, as

may be found

a general

rule,

they are sunk the greater will be their flow.

in most

the deeper

Such waters

RIVERS COME FROM AND RETURN TO THE SEA. we know, from

cannot be deposited by rain, for

269

carefully

conducted experimients, that even in the most porous

soil,

more than a few feet, so that must come either from the Great Deep

water does not penetrate these supplies direct,

or from reservoirs of water connected with

caverns of the Earth.

There are also vand caverns or vents from which the

of the world,

in various parts

air occasionally issues

For example, Mr. Bryden, in

great violence.

in Sicily, says, in the

with

his travels

mountain of Neptune, there

" A gulf or crater on the summit, from which at particular times there issues an exceedingly cold is dif&cult

wind with such violence that

In the Lake of Geneva there a

to approach it."

subaqueous

current,

what

which

considered to be

occasionally

makes the

waters to rise like a Tidal wave; and there is a lake of

unknown depth, near Boleston, in Bohemia, which is sometimes so disturbed that " masses of ice are said to be thrown up to some height from

Although

its surface."

do not agree with Mr. Macdonald

exposition of Parkhurst's

Theory of the Earth, he

in his is

well

worthy of respect as a Christian and a scholar, and I have

much

pleasure in quoting the following extract from

his previously

Bible," pp.

taught in Ecc. the sea

mentioned work,

139

not

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 141, as 7â&#x20AC;&#x201D; All the it

full

;

The

Principia and the

fully corroborates the truth

rivers

run into the

sea, yet

unto the place from whence the rivers

come, thither they return again." " Varinius

and other competent authorities estimate that each

of the larger rivers pours into the sea, in a single year,

quantity of water sufficient to cover the whole surface of the

TERRA FIRMA.

270

chap, xni., sec. 4

But the number of the considerable rivers in the old

earth.

continent amount to 430, and those of the

The comparative smallness

at 140.

amply compensated by the vastness add

new may be

some

estimated

of the former is

of the latter; to this

the minor streams, which flow in every quarter of the

all

globe

( !

we may

safely conclude that a quantity of water is

annually poured into the ocean, which, cover the earth 570 times.

The

would

collected,

grand question then

first

Unless the heads of these rivers communicate with a great

whence does

central abyss of water,

water come?

The second question

this prodigious quantity of

equally pertinent

Unless

the ocean communicates with the same great abyss, and thereby

maintains the circulation of the rivers,

no perceptible variation

immense supply?

by assuming that

tated

upon the earth is

does

Our philosophers attempt

facts

of water

how

happen

that

from

this

in the water level results

rivers are supplied

to explain these

by vapours

in rain, snow, dew, &c.,

precipi-

and that a quantity

exhaled from the ocean by the solar heat equal to

that contributed by the rivers.

The

utter insufficiency of this

explanation, however, will be obvious from the following considerations.

"The

highest estimate of the

mean annual

fall

of rain,

dew, &c., throughout the world in our meteorological

treatises

Let

34 inches.

now be remembered

the surface of the earth

that only one-third of

dry land, so that only one-third of

the quantity of lain that falls would be available for the supply

of the rivers. sufficient to

This would be a quantity

What

of eleven inches.

volume which

of water

more than

proportion, then, does this bear to the

thrown into the sea by a single great

is estimated, as

mountains

little

cover the entire surface of the earth to the depth

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;not to

we have

seen, to

river,

submerge the highest

mention the aggregate volume from

all

the

RIVERS COME FROM AND RETURN TO THE SEA. rivers of the globe (!)

the rivers,

falls

Dobson

upon the land

is sufficient

vessel,

rain measured in another vessel

aperture, during the

same period, was 37.48 inches,

Then

leaving a residue of only 1.30 inches.

M. de la Hire show that a single leaves,

absorbed

lbs. of

of 3,194 lbs in a year.

series of experiments.

mean annual evaporation

twelve inches in diameter, to be

mean

36.78 inches, while the

same

without foreign aid, to

By a

life.

of Liverpool found the

from a cylindrical

of the

suflacient to feed all

from the earth by evaporation, the rain

air

supply the wants of vegetable Dr.

from being

271

questionable whether, after deducting what

resumed into the

which

far

fig-tree,

the experiments of

furnished with 130

water in five hours, or at the rate

With what reason, then, can

maintained that, after meeting the demands of evaporation and sustaining vegetable life

and growth, the rain

supply

fall into

all

the rivers that

sufficient to

Ray has

the sea?

also well

observed that the tops of the mountains above the sources of the Rhine, Rhone, Danube, and

of the year constantly covered with

are during the winter half

snow

to a great thickness,

no vapours could touch them, and yet these rivers run

so that

Now

as steadily in winter as in summer.

this is inexplicable

upon any other supposition than that of Solomon, rivers

draw

their supplies

viz.,

that

from the subterranean abyss into

which they return them again." sincerely trust that, after considering the evidence

which

Reader

has

been brought

Planet, as supposed real

before

will clearly see that this

by our

him,

the

thoughtful

world of ours

Modem

not a

Astrononiers, but a

Terra Firma, founded upon the waters of the Great

Deep,

from which come and to which return,

with

unceasing flow, the rivers of the Earth, in accordance with the wise and beneficent purpose of our Divine Creator.

272

CHAPTER

XIV.

FRAGMENTS GATHERED 1.

Locality

Up and Dowk

UP.

... ...

...

SECTION

....

Some other reasons why the Earth A Planet Concluding remarks

272

274

not

SECTION

PACK

278 283

LOCALITY.

Every human being has "

by which the

Earth

moment

A local habitation and a name,"

mean

that the veriest wanderer

on ihe face of

must occupy some particular place

of his

life,

for

every

not ubiquitous, and cannot

be in two places at the same time.

The Compass,

except for the variations previously

referred to, which are too unimportant to affect its general character, always points straight to the

opposite point, wherever

we look from

may

be,

North centre, the

bdng

the South.

the North to the South, the East will

be on

A FIXED LOCALITY. our

left

273

hand, and the West on our right, and,

from the South to the North, the East right

hand and the West on our

When

the dying gladiator

" Butchered to

left

fell in

make a Roman

we look

be on our

will

the Coliseum,

holiday,

His thoughts were with his heart, and that was far away,"

but his body remained in the arena the lions.

till

was sent to

disappeared, but the Coliseum

still

Rome, and Rome is still in Italy, and Italy is still in Europe, and Europe is still in the world, and the world is still

where

has been since the Adamic Creation, with

the Pole Star of the heavens shining over centre, as

the

desolate

fastenings "

written

place,

and

Job xxvi.

it is

its

Northern

spreadeth out the North over

supporteth

the

Earth

upon

Since I came to this house some years ago, both by

compass and observation, does to-day, as

has not

faced the South, even as

moved one

inch.

But,

six

months ago, according to the theory of our Astronomers, it

should then have looked towards the North, as the

Earth would at that time have performed one half of journey round the Sun. since ever I

But, alas

have been here

windows that the North has been still

faces

me from

its

for the poor theory,

only from the back

visible,

those of the front.

and the South

" say

our

Astronomers, " you must not trust your believe

what our system demands

own senses, but They seem to think

we are geese, and would thrust their crude conjectures down our throats with their theoretic air-pump, as the What a parody poulterer crams fowls for the market. on true science! What a climax to our boasted civiliza18

TERRA FIRMA.

274

chap, xiv., sec.

For myself

tion at the close of the nineteenth centuiy! I

reject

utterly

Readers may do so likewise.

respect

it is

all

high time for

Common

we may

say, with

Surely

innings now.

its

Modern Astronomy,

that

False Science has already

kept the wickets too long, and

Sense to have

and

such teaching,

trust

the

Poet

sang

ancient Ilium, that the day draws nigh,

"When Must

even thou. Imperial Troy, must bend,

see thy warriors fall

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;thy glories end."

Let US even hope, with regard to this barbaric system, that

we may be soon

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Troy

Troja fuit

able to exclaim

been, but exists no more

has

SECTION

UP AND DOWN.

Modem

With the neither "

Up "

nor

Astronomer there

Down," though

his assertion, every time

or " is

down

" to

really to

the minds of

this

" our

he looks " up

Yet

theoretically

toi

the heavens

Such aberration of

the ground. pitied.

his experience belies

it is

intellect

painful to find that even

some Christian authors have been so warped

erroneous teaching, that they speak of the Earth globe

with the greatest nonchalance.

particularly struck with this

Olam Haneshamoth,

was

some years ago when reading

View of the Intermediate

State," written about a century since

the Rev. George Bennet of Carlisle.

by a great It is

scholar,

a most learned

UP AND DOWN. and interesting Bishop

and was highly commended by

woork,

Much

Horsley.

275

useful

information

may be

gathered from the pages of this estimable author, but,

when he speaks of

place

of the situation of Sheol or Hades, the

departed

spirits,

hampered by the net of

he must

been

have

Modern Astronomy,

sadly

may be

seen from the following extract, p. 285

"In lost;

the boundless regions of space ascent and descent are

these being merely ideas impressed

upon us from our

infancy by reason of our union to matter.

earliest

naturally led to annex cheerfulness to ascent, bright splendour of the firmament above,

are

by reason of the

and gloom to

because of the interminable depth of earth, and

its

descent,

supposed

dark caverns, presenting themselves to the imagination from

below;

yet the skies are

may be

their motion,

everywhere, and

or particular

mode

spirits,

whatever

have

of existence,

nothing to do with the influence of attraction or gravitation, this

more naturally agreeing with the properties

Now

of body."

good man could never have written

this

thus,

had he not been inoculated as a boy with the virus of

Modern Astronomy.

would have been

open to

there is and a " Down,"

receive the explicit teaching of Scripture, that

an " ascent " and " descent," an " as

Up "

written

it is

fire is

kindled in Mine anger, and shall

lowest Sheol "

As high as heaven what canst thou do? what canst thou know? " /oi xi. 8. It is

much

bum

unto

the

Deut. xxxii. 22.

Deeper than Sheol,

be regretted that the Translators of our

Authorised Version

made such a

serious mistake as to

TERRA FIRMA.

276

chap,

xiv., sec. 2.

render the words « Sheol" and "Hades," "hell" and " the grave," instead of giving their proper

—^which

place of the dead

centre of the Earth, as

is situate

may

meaning

—the

somewhere about the

once be seen by comparing

the two following passages of Scripture, respecting the place to which our Lord went at His death

"Thou suffer

wilt not leave

"As Jonah was nights,

Matt.

kardia

Fsa. xvi.

Thou

10.

three days and three nights in the belly of

the great fish, so shall the

Son

Man

ges^ in

tes

the

be three days and three heart

earth"

the

—

xii. 40.

Sheol

thus shown to be in the heart or central part

The

of the Earth.

and deeply of

soul in Sheol, neither wilt

Thine Holy One to see corruption "

study of this subject

interesting,

Readers,

and

who may wish

most important

beg to

I respectfully

to consider

refer

it,

any

my own

work, " Hades and Beyond," where this matter has been investigated to the best of

prove an "

Up "

and a

ability.*

Down

" really

seems to

a work of supererogation, as the fact of there being such is

so patent to the perception of

see and judgment to discriminate;

some,

may perhaps be

all

who have

eyes to

for the sake of

still,

well to give a few Scriptural

illustrations

" So they, and into Sheol "

Num.

all that

pertained to them went down alive

xvi. 33.

" Elijah went uf by a whirlwind into heaven " " If

in Sheol,

ascend

behold.

heaven Thou

Thou

art there " *

See note on

art there

;

Psa. cxxxix. p. 55.

z Kings

if I

it.

11.

make my bed

UP AND DOWN. "

He knoweth

Rephaim

not that the

guests are in the defths of Sheol "

"The way win

;

yet thou shalt be brought

—Isa.

uttermost parts of the pit

and

Thus

may

depart

I will

be like

—Pro. xv. 24.

ascend above the heights of the clouds

The Most High "

and that her

are there, ix. 18.

of life is above to the wise, that he

from Sheol beneath " "I

Pro.

277

Jerovah,

saith

the foundations

down

;

to Sheol, to the

xiv. 14, 1$.

If the

heaven above can be measured,

of the earth searched out beneath, then will

also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they

—Jer.

xxxi. J7.

made the

nations to shake at the sound of his

I cast

him down

to Sheol,

with them that go down

have done "

when

fall,

—

into the pit

Eiek. xxxi. 16.

The

strong

among

the mighty shall speak to

him out

of the

midst of Sheol, with them that help him, they are gone down, they are uncircumcised, slain by the sword "

"Ye men

of Galilee,

This same Jesus which so come in like Acts

manner

stand ye looking into heaven?

taken

up from you

as ye beheld

Him

going into heaven "

that

what

ascended,

is it

save that

descended into the lower parts of the earth.

who

it is

all

fill

"And up

into heaven, shall

also first

Eph.

and they went up

Come

heaven in the cloud, and their

Rev. xi. iz.

must, indeed, have but a poor understanding,

who

does not see from the foregoing passages, that there "

iv. 9, 10.

they heard a loud voice out of heaven saying

hither;

that descended

also ascended even above all the heavens, that

things "

enemies beheld them"

—

II.

"Now

might

Ezek. xxxii. zt.

why

Up," and that there

a "

Down

—

that

Heaven

is is

TERRA FIRMA.

278

and that Sheol

aiove,

chap, xiv., skc.

beneath the surface of the Earth.

In the book

reasoning mind can question the matter.

of Ecclesiastes alone, "

the Sun

less

Solomon uses the expression

under

than twenty-five times, bearing reference

He who

to the Earth, or things pertaining thereto.

wisest

among men could never have been

arrant folly, as to suppose that the Earth

was

guilty of such

was only a Planet,

whirling round the Sun.

SECTION

SOME OTHER REASONS WHY THE EARTH A PLANET. In the course of

reading and meditations,

NOT

have

found other Reasons, besides those previously given, that the Earth

not a Planet.

Those already mentioned

ought, I think, to be quite sufficient to convince any

ordinary

mind

failed to

that

so, I

it is

beg

not, but, in case they

may have

quote a few other Reasons from

a very able pamphlet,* written by the late Mr. William

Carpenter of Baltimore, in the hope that they

successful,

book may be

desire being that every

as assured, as I

may be

Reader of

this

myself, that this Earth

not a Planet.

"II. As the Mariner's Compass points North and South at the

same time, and as the North,

that part of the Earth *

"One Hundred

Bourne

which

where the North Star

Proofs that the Earth

Street, Netherfield, Notts.

it is

attracted, is

in the zenith,

not a Globe."

John Williams,

OTHER REASONS WHY EARTH follows that there centre is North,

whole

279

'pole,' but while the

a proof that the Earth

As we have seen that there

(or pole),

NOT A PLANET.

no South 'point' or

vast circumference must be South in the

This

extent.

" 12,

is really

not a Globe.

no South point

but an infinity of points, forming together a vast

circumference

—the

boundary of the known world with

its

battlements of icebergs, which bid defiance to man's onward

—so

course in a Southerly direction

West

morrow it is

In fact, as there

there can be no East or

can be no 'yesterday' or

just as there

'points,'

one point that

is fixed (the

'to-

North),

East

impossible for any other point to be fixed likewise.

and West

merely directions at right angles with

are, therefore,

a North and South line, and, as the South point of the shifts

round to

all

parts of the circular boundary (as

Compass

may be and

carried round the central North), so the directions East

West, crossing this line continued form a circle at any latitude.

Westerly circumnavigation

Star continually

gation

a going round with the North

on the right hand, and an Easterly circumnavi-

performed only when the reverse condition of things

maintained, the North Star being on the

made.

These

facts,

left as

the journey

taken together, form a beautiful proof

that the Earth is not a Globe.

" 13. the it

As the Mariner's Compass points North and South

same time, and as a meridian

North and South

line,

follows that meridians can be no other than straight lines.

But, as the meridians on a globe are semi-circular,

incontrovertible proof that the Earth is not a Globe. ' 14. Parallels of latitude only

—are

the surface of the Earth sively

—of

circles,

all

imaginary lines on

which increase progres-

from the Northern centre to the Southern circumference.

The mariner's course

in the direction of

any one of these con-

TERRA FIRMA.

28o

chap, xiv., sec.

which increase

centric circles is his longitude, the degrees of

to such an extent beyond the Equator {going Southwards), that of the false

hundreds of vessels have been wrecked, because untruthfulness

idea created by the

the charts,

and the

globular theory together, causing the sailor to be continually

With a map

getting out of his reckoning.

true form, all this difficulty

of the

Earth in

its

done away with, and ships may

This, then, is a

be conducted anywhere with perfect

safety.

very important proof that the Earth

not a Globe."

" 16. If the Earth were a Globe the distance round the surface, say at 45 degrees

any greater than

South latitude, could not possibly be

same

at the

latitude North, but, since

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

to say the least

found by navigators to be twice the distance of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;or

double the distance

globular theory,

it is

a proof that the Earth

"21. Man's experience like the flies that

with as

much

can

ought to be according to the

live

safety as

tells

him

that he is not constructed

and move upon the

on a

not a Globe."

ceiling of a room,

floor, and, since the

modern theory

of a planetary Earth necessitates a crowd of theories to keep

company with

it,

and one of these

that inen are really

to the Earth by a force which fastens them,

like needles

bound round

a spherical loadstone,' a thing perfectly outrageous, and opposed to all

known

upon common

experience, sense,

follows that, unless you trample

and ignore the teaching of experience, we

have an evident proof that the Earth " 24.

When

man

speaks

amongst several things which claim it is

not a Globe."

is '

most complete

thing

be what that thing

is,

evident that they must fall short of something which the

â&#x20AC;˘most complete' thing possesses.

And when

the 'most complete'

failure,

others, all

an entire

and sundry, are worthless.

known

that

plain that the

Proctor's 'most com-

OTHER REASONS WHY EARTH plete proof that the Earth '

fact

NOT A PLANET.

a Globe,' lies in

what he

281

calls the

that distances from place to place agree with calculation.

But, since the distance round the Earth at 45 degrees South of the Equator

what

follows that '

fact

NOT a

twice the distance

would be on a globe,

the greatest astronomer of the age

fact, that his

most complete proof

calls a

a most

complete failure, and that he might as well have told us that he

had NO PROOF

Now

to give at all.

since,

the Earth be a

Globe, there would necessarily be piles of proof of us,

follows that

when Astronomers, with

are utterly unable to point one out

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;to

say nothing of picking

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

that they give us a proof that the Earth

one up

round

it all

all their ingenuity,

not a Globe."

" 28. Astronomers are in the habit of considering two points

on the Earth's surface, without,

seems, any limit as to the

distance that lies between them, as being in a level, and the

intervening section, even though

The

of water!

matter,

would form a

high

The idea

tained by

Atlantic Ocean, hill of

be an ocean, as a vast in taking this

hill

view of the

water more than a hundred miles

simply monstrous, and could only be enter-

made up

certainly requires

whose whole business

scientists,

materials of the same description, and

argument to deduce, from such

Science

as this, a satisfactory

proof that the Earth is not a Globe." " 35. If

the thing fectly

we examine itself,

straight

we and

a true picture of the distant horizon, or

shall find level

line.

coincides exactly with

Now,

nothing of the kind on a globe, and over the Earth, "41. '

When

it is

order

that

Astronomers assert that

find

a proof that the Earth

allowance for curvature

their

there

since

it is

level

be the case

'necessary' to

cutting

per-

all

not a Globe."

in canal construction,

idea a

could be

it is,

make

of course,

may be had

for

TERRA FIRMA.

282 the

How

water.

selves level

the curved surface of the Earth

when they say

What more can

them-

do they contradict

then,

flagrantly,

chap, xiv., SBC.

true

for a canal than a true level?

they want

Since they contradict themselves on such an elementary point as this,

an evidence that the whole thing

and we have a proof that the Earth "42.

and

It is certain

of its mobility

of its immobility

a delusion,

not a Globe.

that the theory of the Earth's rotundity,

must stand or

fall together.

proof, then,

Now,

virtually a proof of its non-rotundity.

that this Earth does not move, either

round the Sun, or anything Earth went through space,

else,

on an

axis, or in

easily proven.

at the rate of eleven

orbit, If

the

hundred miles

in a minute of time as Astronomers teach us, in a particular there

direction,

would unquestionably be a

result of firing off a projectile

difference in the

in that direction,

direction the opposite of that one^

and

But, as in fact, there is not

the slightest difference, in any, such case,

it is

clear that any

alleged motion of the Earth is disproved, and that, therefore,

we have a proof " 44. It

that the Earth

in evidence that

not a Globe.''

a projectile be fired from a

rapidly moving body in an opposite direction to that in which the body

going,

will fall short of the distance at

would reach the ground

Now,

since the Earth

said to

move

direction.

overthrow of

all

way

the thing

would make

all

may be

not the slightest differ-

done,

we have a

forcible

fancies relative to the motion of the Earth, and

a striking proof that the Earth

Want

the gun were fired in an opposite

But, as in practice, there

ence whichever

at the rate of nineteen

miles in a second of time, from West to East, the difference imaginable

which

fired in the direction of motion.

of space forbids

not a Globe."

giving farther extract.? from

CONCLUDING REMARKS. this vigorous

who may

pamphlet, to which

unfortunately

Modern Astronomy, though, conceive how any sane |)ersQn, can possibly

resist

would

cling

still

283

refer any

the

Reader

theories

must confess,

cannot

unless mailed in prejudice,

the plain and ample evidence, which

has been previously adduced, to prove that the Earth

not

a Planet.

SECTION

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

I am thankful to have now come to the closing pages my book, a work which I would never have undertaken,

had

I not

known the urgent

necessity for a strong protest

which has so

against the assumptions of a false science, greatly tended to foster

day.

Owing

part of

its

and increase the

to the badness of

infidelity of the

during a great

sight,

and writing have been

progress, both reading

very trying, and I believe that I never could have done as I have,

and If I

had

not been as an answer to

I can, therefore, the

have made any mistakes,

readily I

hope

much

prayer,

for its success.

a real

shall consider it

kindness to be corrected, but I have endeavoured to be very careful, as to the truth of every statement which 1

have made, and every passage which

one thing

perfectly certain,

not a

proved that the Earth

mers of Christendom

will

fact.

have quoted.

namely, that

Planet,

and

all

Of have

the Astronoi-

never be able to overthrow that

confess that at times I have

felt

sad that the

TERRA FIRMA.

284

chap, xiv., sec.

Stability of the

Earth should ever have required proving

at all, as such

shows into what a low condition sin has

brought the erring intellect of man.

me much pain, arose made by some Christian

Another matter, which caused from reading certain attempts,

Modem

to reconcile Scripture with

writers,

seemed to

lines in "

Christ were again being Zech. xiii. 6,

wounded

and Moore's

Fire-worshippers " rushed into

The "

His friends

in the house of

Astronomy.

my mind

colder than the wind that freezes

Founts that but now in sunshine play'd. Is that congealing

The

pang which

bosom when

trusting

seizes

betray'd."

Instead of boldly upholding Scripture, which " cannot be John. x. 35, they coolly speak of this world as " our globe," as if it were one in reality, and plausibly

broken

seek to accommodate the phrase to the teachings of a false

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a

Astronomy

and

terrible mistake,

utterly useless,

for one might as soon essay to reconcile iron with clay, as

Scripture

with

Modem

Astronomy.

As a kind

soporific to their conscience, they say that Scripture does

not attempt to teach science. is

taught in the schools, but

Certainly not, as science

never contradicts

and, to the true Christian student, science than

Some

all

facts,

teaches more real

the schools and colleges in the world.

foolishly say,

"What

does

matter to us whether

the Sun goes round the world, or the world goes round

the Sun ?

statements

whether I take

ought

to matter very

cannot be

be God or

and

much indeed

;

both

matters everything

man who does

not speak the truth.

true,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

stand with Paul and say

Let God be found

CONCLUDING REMARKS. true,

man

but every

liaj "

Rom.

285

in. 4.

a matter

It is

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE, and in charity I hope that those, who ask such a question, do not think of what it

involves, for often, as

" Evil

What

lEcc.

Modern Science

It is only the old

—

Solomon says

—

as by want of heart."

there in

so proud?

wisely said,

wrought by want of thought,

As well

Hood

we may be

no new thing under the Sun

Adam, before

There

of which

under another name, for as

the

gave

intuitively

Fall,

names, from their inherent properties, to every beast of the field and fowl of the air the '

Flood,

his

Gen.

ig, 20.

it.

—

descendant Jubal was

" the

Before

father

every one handling harp and organ," and Tubal-Cain (the

—

Vulcan of heathen mythology), was every artificer in brass and

could

equal

Who

Baalbac?

grandeur

the

halls

pillared

iron "

Gen.

an instructor of

iv.

20, 21.

Tadmor, or the

What

Temple,

Solomon's stately

the

columns of

could rebuild the wonderful Rameseion

Medinet Aboo, or the magnificent temples of Luxor

and Karnak,

all

memorials of the

—

Scripture*

sang?t

the hundred-gated

Who

Gizeh, with

could

its

now

No Ammon

Thebes of which Homer

reconstruct the Great Pyramid of

Astronomic teachings, and

its

geometric

proportions, or re-design the esoteric adaptations of

its

Mr. Alexander Mclnnes, a member

marvellous interior?]:

o' the Glasgow University Council, in his able pamphlet,

"The

Opposition of Science to Religion,"§ shows that Nahum

* Ezek 3EXX. 14 t "Iliad," Book ix. i See Profe!;soi Piazzi ;

iii.

Smyth's most Interesting work, "Our Inheritance in

the Great Pyramid." S

WllUam Love, «i Argyle

Street,

Glasgow.

TERRA FIRMA.

286

even Electrical Science

only a

chap. xiv.. sec.

the

when the statue of Memnon uttered a cry Sun arose, and wept as it appeared to set

of joy as

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;^when

magnetic image of Venus, held suspended in the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and

Mars

" a very old

image of AjkjIIo

left

now

arts

may be

inclined

to think that

than one, the Moderns are only

many

now

useful

nibbling the

cheese which the Ancients to the

least,

would be well for them to return

and humbly walk

ate.

left

With

Science of the Heavens, our

Astronomers have utterly failed to discern the it

priests,

learned from the past, and, that in more

parings of the respect,

by the

supix>rt."

to exalt Neo-Science at the expense of

the old, but I lessons

lifted aloft

hanging without any visible

fashionable

a an

air,

when Lucian declared he saw

iron one of

and

Magic exhibited of

further development of the Magnetic old,

or rather

revival,

truth,

and

to the " old paths,"

therein, with as little delay as possible.

Newton said " The Sun is the centre of the system and is immovable," and on this theoretic the calculations of Modem Astronomy have been

Sir Isaac

Solar ba^is,

made.

When

Sir

William Herschel discovered that the

Sun DOES MOVE, as he supposed towards Hercules, and others followed in his wake, surely in

common

honesty,

our Astronomers were bound to confess that their previous theory of a stationary Sun was wrong, instead of which they

still

continued to palm the results of their former

calculations for

on the public,

any change of opinion.

there had been no cause

Being a plain

man

I call

such

conduct " deceptive," though, perhaps, the Loyolas of the day would only consider it to be " smart." Some may probably imagine that on this point I speak too strongly,

but I think not more so than the occasion demands.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

287

to palaver with error as to soft-soap a was not with honeyed words that our Lord rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees, but he boldly exposed is

useless

crocodile.

—33.

their hypocrisy

" the

peaceable "

from you

flee

James "

in.

James

Modem Astronomy absurd

Mail, xxiii. 13

wisdom which

from above

17—

iv. 7.

first

are told that

If this

had been done when

introduced,

its

godless and

would never have saturated

theories

with infidelity as they have done

then

pure,

first

the Devil, and he will

" resist

was

—

had been nipped in the bud when

so'

many

Sacerdotal Ritualism it

first

appeared, our

now have been shadowed by the upas-tree Rome.* My dear Reader, for your own sake, as well as

land would not of

for that of our beloved country,

error I

and

evil of

be bold and firm against

every kind.

have no hesitation in saying that I believe the real

source of

Modern Astronomy to have been Satan. From Eve in the Garden of Eden until

his first temptation of

now, his great object has been to throw discredit on the

Truth of

—"Yea,

God

hath

God

eat of every tree of the garden

said that ye shall not "

Here the Tempter

meanness of God in withholding even one

insinuates the fruit

from man, and, when Eve replied, that they might

eat of every tree except that in the midst of the garden,

which they were not even to touch on the pain of death,

once gave

not surely die,

God the lie direct by saying for God doth know that, in

shall eat thereof,

—

shall

the day ye

your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall

be as gods, knowing good and

evil "

Gen.

Hi.

—

* For a telling exposure of the evils of Roire and Ritualism, I beg to refer my Readers to the following excellent work, "A Strong Delusion, a Book for which may be obtained &om the Author, Mr. Arthur Lee, Dudley, Worcester.— Post free, «/6.

the Times,"

TERRA FIRMA.

288

that the

corroborate

senses

the

Satan,

fact,

teaching, daringly asserts that this fact

Thus again he

the Sun. is

liar,

abounding

seeks to

and many, alas This

the truth of God.

not true, but

matters

us believe that

of the chief causes of the

sceptical

this

dear Christian Reader, that

make

trust the lie of Satan before

one

infidelity

delusive

his

and that the world moves round

that our eyes deceive us,

God

when God has so expressly told us in His own Sun moves round the world, and our own

Just so,

Word

chap, xiv., sec.

Say

age.

not,

to you whether

little

the Sun goes round the world, or the world goes round the Sun, because the principle or Satan

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;^whether God

involved

to be believed.

But, while I am, for the reasons already given,

opposed to

Modem

feeling

ill-will

indeed,

well

for

all

themselves,

the whole world.

Astronomers

our

have not the smallest

Astronomers

against

against anyone in

wish

fore

Astronomy,

or,

there-

personally,

hoping the best for them in days to come, and trust that they will forgive any seemingly harsh expressions

have used, kindly remembering that

may

was not against

themselves, but against their erroneous theories, that

remarks have been made. "

God of

Each one of us shall Rom. xiv. 12, and I

sincerely

Readers, as well as myself,

have been true and

faithful

leave this book, praying that

our fellow-creatures' good.

account of himself to

give

to it

hope that each one

may be found Him.

may be

at last to

In His hands for

His

Amen.

BAINES A SCARSBROOK, PRINTERS, SWISS COTTAQE, N.W.

glory,

and

;;lt'.{;4::K^tv5'