ding doctrine of the universe being intended for us is a
miserable delusion; that the scale on which the world is constructed as
to time answers to that on which it is constructed as to space; that, as
respects our planet, its origin dates from an epoch too remote for our
mental apprehension; that myriads of centuries have been consumed in its
coming to its present state; that, by a slow progression, it has passed
from stage to stage, uninhabited, and for a long time uninhabitable by
any living thing; that in their proper order and in due lapse of time,
the organic series have been its inhabitants, and of these a vast
majority, whose numbers are so great that we cannot offer an
intelligible estimate of them, have passed away and become extinct, and
that finally, for a brief period, we have been its possessors.

Of the intentions of God it becomes us, therefore, to speak with
reverence and reserve. In those ages when there was not a man upon the
earth, what was the object? Was the twilight only given that the wolf
might follow his fleeing prey, and the stars made to shine that the
royal tiger might pursue his midnight maraudings? Where was the use of
so much that was beautiful and orderly, when there was not a solitary
intellectual being to understand and enjoy? Even now, when we are so
much disposed to judge of other worlds from their apparent adaptedness
to be the abodes of a thinking and responsible order like ourselves, it
may be of service to remember that this earth itself was for countless
ages a dungeon of pestiferous exhalations and a den of wild beasts.

[Sidenote: It elevates rather than degrades the position of man.] It
might moreover appear that the conclusions to which we come, both as
respects the position and age of the world, must necessarily have for
their consequences the diminution and degradation of man, the rendering
him too worthless an object for God's regard. But here again we fall
into an error. True, we have debased his animal value, and taught him
how little he is--how insignificant are the evils, how vain the
pleasures of his life. But, as respects his intellectual principle, how
does the matter stand? What is it that has thus been measuring the
terrestrial world, and weighing it in a balance? What is it that has
been standing on the sun, and marking out the orbits and boundaries of
the solar system? What is it that has descended into the infinite
abysses of space, examined the countless worl