o be a
sign for seasons, and for days and years," is revealed, he regarded
himself as also informed respecting the principles on which the
chronometer was constructed, or at least respecting the true nature of
its movements; and several very important deductions may, I think, be
drawn from the carefully constructed passage in which he so unwittingly
records his error, and the grounds of it. In the first place, we may
safely hold that the texts of Scripture quoted by so able a theologian
are those which have most the appearance of being revelations to men
respecting the motions of the heavenly bodies. We may conclusively
infer, that if _they_ do not reveal the character of those motions, then
nowhere in Scripture is their character revealed. In the second place,
it is obvious that the cited texts do _not_ reveal the nature of the
motions. It would be as rational to hold that our best almanacs reveal
the Ptolemaic astronomy. In the scientific portion of our almanacs there
occur many phrases which are perfectly well understood, and indicate
very definitely what the writer really intends to express by them, that
yet, taken literally, are not scientifically true. The words, "Sun
rises," and "Sun sets," and "Moon rises," and "Moon sets," occur in
every page; there are two pages--those devoted to the months of March
and September--in which the phrase occurs, "Sun crosses the equinoctial
line;" and further, in the other pages, such phrases as "Sun enters
Aries," "Sun enters Taurus," "Sun enters Gemini," &c., &c., are not
unfrequent. The phrase, "new moon," is also of common occurrence. And
these phrases, interpreted after the manner of Turrettine, and according
to their strict grammatical meaning, would of course imply that the sun
has a motion round our planet,--that the moon moves round it every
twenty-four hours,--and that the earth is provided every month with a
new satellite. And yet we know that none of these ideas are in the mind
of the writer who, in compiling the almanac, employs the phrases. He
employs them to indicate, not the nature of the heavenly motions, but
the exact time when, from the several motions of the earth, the sun and
moon are brought into certain apparent positions with respect to either
the earth itself or to the celestial signs; or to indicate the time at
which the moon completes its monthly revolution, and presents a wholly
darkened disk to the earth. The commentator skilful enough to pledge the
alm