ether with aquatic
creatures, and precede all land animals; according to the evidence of
geology, birds are unknown till a period much later than that at which
aquatic creatures (including fishes and amphibia) abound, and they are
preceded by numerous species of land animals--in particular, by insects
and other 'creeping things.'" Of the Mosaic account of the existence
of vegetation before the creation of the sun, Canon Driver said, "No
reconciliation of this representation with the data of science has yet
been found"; and again: "From all that has been said, however reluctant
we may be to make the admission, only one conclusion seems possible.
Read without prejudice or bias, the narrative of Genesis i, creates an
impression at variance with the facts revealed by science." The
eminent professor ends by saying that the efforts at reconciliation are
"different modes of obliterating the characteristic features of Genesis,
and of reading into it a view which it does not express."

Thus fell Mr. Gladstone's fabric of coincidences between the "great
fourfold division" in Genesis and the facts ascertained by geology.
Prof. Huxley had shattered the scientific parts of the structure, Prof.
Driver had removed its biblical foundations, and the last great fortress
of the opponents of unfettered scientific investigation was in ruins.

In opposition to all such attempts we may put a noble utterance by
a clergyman who has probably done more to save what is essential in
Christianity among English-speaking people than any other ecclesiastic
of his time. The late Dean of Westminster, Dr. Arthur Stanley, was
widely known and beloved on both continents. In his memorial sermon
after the funeral of Sir Charles Lyell he said: "It is now clear to
diligent students of the Bible that the first and second chapters of
Genesis contain two narratives of the creation side by side, differing
from each other in almost every particular of time and place and order.
It is well known that, when the science of geology first arose, it was
involved in endless schemes of attempted reconciliation with the
letter of Scripture. There were, there are perhaps still, two modes of
reconciliation of Scripture and science, which have been each in their
day attempted, AND EACH HAS TOTALLY AND DESERVEDLY FAILED. One is the
endeavour to wrest the words of the Bible from their natural meaning and
FORCE IT TO SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE." And again, speaking of the
earli