The former was
confined
to the angels; but
the latter, as we learn by the vision of St.
the latter, as we learn by the vision of St.
Childrens - The Creation
xxx.
15--The Grasshopper, Numb.
xiii.
33; Eccles.
xii.
5--The Worm,
Job xix. 26, 27--Conclusion, from Cowper:--
Come, then, and, added to thy many crowns,
Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,
Due to thy last, and most effectual work--
Thy word fulfilled--the conquest of a world!
Pp. 356--384
Pp. 385--39 8
Appendix
Hymn
P. 399
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? INTRODUCTION.
The first and greatest thought that should occupy the mind of a parent,
who himself has felt the power of divine truth, is, that the children whom God
has given to him may be partakers of the same mercy. For though he knows,
and would readily acknowledge, that it is God alone, " who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness," that can shine into the hearts of his children,
to give them " the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ," yet should he ever remember, both for his instruction and
encouragement, how often the Lord has enjoined parental care for the nur-
turing of the little ones, and how often he has blest--abundantly blest--the
earliest instruction from a mother's lips.
The command of God, by the lips of Moses, to the Hebrew parent is full of
instruction :--" And these words which I command thee this day shall be in
thine heart f--not in thine understanding only, but in thine heart,--the seat
of the affections ; and then, showing that our children are our first and espe-
cial care, the command is added, (Deut. vi. 6, 7,) " And thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children :"--diligently; this implies care, earnestness in
the matter,--not a lesson alone of duty, but the whole heart engaged in it.
And again, in the institution of the Passover, how beautiful and touching is
the incidental allusion to children, (Exod. xii. 27:) they were represented as
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? xii
INTRODUCTION.
certain to inquire what was the meaning of this rite,--why the Paschal Lamb
bled, and why the lintel was sprinkled with the blood;--and the inquiry was
not to be repressed, but rather the parent was to cherish it, and evidently with
delight to reply,--" It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over
the children of Israel, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. "
And so should the Christian parent explain to his children the Supper of the
Lord, and bring before their young minds the love of that Saviour, who, as
the true Paschal Lamb, gave his life a ransom for many; and that, sprinkled
with his precious blood, there is peace, and the sword of the avenger passes
over; but where that blood is not, he passes through in judgment. And who
can have read that solemn prophetic account of the destruction of Jerusalem,
by Nebuchadnezzar and his six princes, without seeing the part that children
had in it 1 some (evidently the Lord's) were weeping for the sins around them ;
and, marked by the man clothed in linen, the six avengers with the destroying
weapons came not near them; while all those unmarked--not in the Lord's
family--were swept away in the desolating judgment. The whole chapter
(Ezek. ix. ) is most solemn, but especially from verse 3 to 7. And in that
affecting call by the prophet Joel (Joel ii. ), when the trumpet for the solemn
assembly was sounded, and all Israel assembled before the Lord, the children
are in the scene, and even the mother, with the suckling at her breast, was
prostrate before the Lord. Many other passages might be adduced from the
Old Testament which are doubtless familiar to the Christian parent; but let
these suffice. And then, as it regards the New Testament, what parent who
reads this has not rejoiced in the compassion of His heart, who, when the
disciples would rudely have turned away the mothers with the children,
uttered that word so full of benignity,--" Suffer the little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. " All
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? INTRODUCTION.
Xlll
parental instruction, and, as much as possible, all the after stages of education,
should have steadily in view, even as the polar-star, this one absorbing thought,
the salvation of the child. Alas ! how often has one witnessed a child grow up,
admired and caressed by all around, his literary career all brilliant, when in a
moment his sun has gone down at noon-day; and, it may be, ignorant of the
great truth, that a sinner is saved alone by faith in the precious blood of Christ,
his soul has been called away to give an account to that God, the gospel of whose
grace he had slighted. Very much that is excellent has been written for
children during the present century; no age or station has been forgotten;
every year has brought forth some fresh theme of instruction, and new fields
have been opened out to meet the increased desire for knowledge : but still the
theme is inexhaustible. It is now many years since the writer of the following
letters had his mind more especially directed to the instruction of children ;
and no part of Scripture has he found so to arrest their young minds as
Genesis i. From thence all natural history may be said to take its rise; for
though the record of Moses is very brief, yet it necessarily contains the leading
history of the creation of each day; and thus all that we see around us must
be traced back to this original source, and so also all those beautiful illus-
trations of divine truth with which the word of God abounds.
To render familiar to a child's mind the peculiar characteristics that marked
the successive creation of each day, a series of Designs have been engraved, in
which at least the attempt has been made to give a faithful outline of the
Mosaic record ; nothing has been added for effect, but the description in Genesis
has been taken, and, as far as possible, faithfully delineated. The subject is one
of acknowledged difficulty, but no pains or care has been spared to make it an
instructive vehicle to the mind of childhood. Each Engraving (after the first)
takes up the subject of the previous day; so that, whilst the first simply
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? xiv
INTRODUCTION.
exhibits light beaming forth on tfie Globe of waters* and the dark clouds which
enshrouded it rolling back; the second, in addition to this, represents the
firmament (in which the birds of the fifth day flew, which is evidently the
same as the atmosphere) as surrounding the globe, while the third day,
together with the light and atmosphere, represents the dry land (Ps. civ. 6)
rising up from the depths of the waters, and the three great orders of vege-
tation--trees, herbs, and grass, springing up on its surface; and so in the
fourth the sun is seen in his brightness beaming forth from the one part of
the heavens, through the earth's atmosphere, on all the newly-formed beauty
of the third day, and sparkling on the deep, and henceforth the great source
of light:--while, shining in the dark shades of night, the moon and the stars
are beheld as gladdening the scene. The fifth, with all the blessings of the
four previous days, represents the air and sea animate with life, the fowls
flying in the open firmament of heaven, and the great whales and fish swim-
ming in the deep; whilst in the sixth and last day, in addition to all that
had gone before, are seen the quadrupeds, each in those countries where first
* The passage in Gen. i. 2, " And the earth was without form and void, and darkness
was upon the face of the deep," has presented a difficulty to some minds, as if at first the
earth was a shapeless mass, though this indeed could not be. The most learned Hebraists
have translated the passage, " And the earth was desolate and waste:" and Jer. iv. 23
corroborates this view, where the words are the same, and demand this translation; by
which the simple idea presented to the mind is, that in the beginning, when God created
the heavens and the earth, the earth was a desolate and dark sphere of waters, (for there
is no account given subsequently of its being formed into a sphere,) having in its depths
or abyss the dry land which the Lord had destined in its appointed day to rise up ; and,
doubtless, from the moment of its creation it was placed in its appointed orbit, and revolved
on its own axis. " And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. " Thus the
first day's creation was not to form it into a sphere, but to let the bright rays of light shine
upon the sphere already formed; and, moving on its own axis, it made the alternation of
day and night, " and the evening and the morning were the first day. "
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? INTRODUCTION.
XV
known, and Adam and Eve* in that part of the earth where it is generally
supposed was planted the Garden of Eden.
It may be necessary to remark, that in the Engravings, from the third
inclusive, the great divisions of the globe, as known subsequent to the flood,
are preserved; for though the deluge doubtless caused vast changes in the
earth's structure, yet there is great reason to believe that its general character
remained the same; for Moses, writing near one thousand years subsequent to
the flood, speaks not only of the four rivers of Eden, as then known, but also
enlarges on the countries through which they flowed :--" The first, Pison ;
that which compasseth the wlwle land of Havilah, where is gold : the second,
Gihon, encompassing the whole land of Ethiopia : the third, Hiddekel, which
goeth towards Assyria: and the fourth, Euphrates. " On the banks of the
third river, Daniel had his visions, and the fourth bears the same name to
this dayf
In the Letters from a Father to his Children, that accompany the Plates, the
object has been,--first, in language adapted to the tender age of childhood, to
show the goodness and beneficence of God in each day's creation ; then to
explain what may be called the natural history of each day's mercies ; and,
thirdly, to point out, from Scripture examples, how continually the Holy
Spirit, through the Word, uses the natural figures of creation to set forth
Divine truth,--of which the pathetic lamentation of our blessed Lord over
Jerusalem affords, perhaps, the tenderest example : "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
* It is manifest, from Gen. v. 2, that Eve was created in Adam; but whether she was
brought to him the sixth day, is not revealed. Their oneness is strikingly shown in the
words, " Male and female created he tliem, and blessed thim, and called their name Adam,
in the day they were created. "
f It is quite true that Moses does not expressly say that this was the course of these
rivers before the flood, but still the language seems to imply as much.
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? xvi
INTRODUCTION.
that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not! " (Matt, xxiii. 37. ) And,
although in a work so purely elementary, the subjects of science are not gone
very deeply into, yet the general features of the earth's structure--the pro-
perties of light, the nature of our atmosphere, the great divisions of the mineral
and vegetable kingdoms, the size, position, and velocity of the heavenly
bodies, the natural history of birds, and fishes, and quadrupeds, are attempted
simply to be brought before the youthful mind, in the plainest language : the
difficult terms of science are as much as possible avoided, or, when of necessity
used, they are explained. The subject of Geology is not entered on in these
Letters ; it is one far too deep for young children ; and of late years so much
bold speculation has prevailed on it, and so many theories have been brought
forward and abandoned, that the ground is considered by some as dangerous
to tread on. If causes are too difficult to unravel, far better to abide by the
word of God, and in humble prayer to Him for his Spirit, to seek to know
the truth, rather than run into the wild regions of speculation and doubt.
The word of God must not be bent to suit man's notions of the fitness of
things, but man's notions must be tried by God's word. A solemn, prayerful
study of Geology cannot be wrong, but it requires great watchfulness and
caution.
And relative to the mercies with which we are daily surrounded, let any
parent inquire of his little family, when gathered around the breakfast table,--
" I wonder how many blessings of the six days' creation have lent their aid
to supply our wants this morning? " and such a parent shall see the eyes of
the little ones glisten with delight, while each, on the alert, seeks to make its
answer. " Light," one of them replies. " The sun, papa," the least, perhaps
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? INTRODUCTION.
xvii
calls out. " Our bread is made of wheat," a third answers ; while a little one
whispers, sitting close by his father, " and our sugar and our tea were made
the same day as the wheat, papa. " " And the cow, which was created the last
day, gives us milk and butter" another replies. And so the eggs and fish (if
such bounties were present) would offer another answer; while the eldest boy,
who might be musing the while with rather more science than the rest, would
say, " Is not, papa, the open firmament of heaven, in which the birds of the
air fly, and which was created the second day, the same as our atmosphere
which we breathe so pleasantly, and through which the bright rays of the sun
come to us refracted, making everything so bright, and warm, and cheerful? "
Thus the whole six days are continually pouring upon man their blessings;
for our God causeth his sun to shine on all, and opens his hands and fills
all things living with plenteousness. (Psalm cxlv. )
This little Work, which has been prayerfully undertaken, is thus earnestly
commended to the Lord for his blessing : may He sanctify _it to those so dear
to us, and cause the whole scene of the earth's beauty and the heaven's bright-
ness to come to their young minds filled with instruction, so that not only may
they become more and more intelligent concerning the works of God, and their
wonderful adaptation to man, as the great occupant or tenant of the globe,
but that also everything in nature they behold may bring before them some
divine truth illustrated by it;--the lamb of the fold will tell them of that
gracious Saviour so shadowed forth under that lowly emblem; the eagle
bearing her young on her wings, the power of God in bearing his people
through this wilderness : even the sparrows chirping on the spray, numbered
by our heavenly Father, will bring to their remembrance his gracious words,
who said, " Fear not, ye are of more value than many sparrows. " The lily of
the valley and the fragrant flowers, with which God has so beautifully and
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? xvm
INTRODUCTION.
richly clothed the field, are all full of instruction. For who can forget that
word (equally applicable now as then) with which our blessed Lord com-
forted his disciples,--" Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe
you, 0 ye of little faith f (Matt. vi. 30. )
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? THE CREATION.
LETTER I.
FOR BY HIM WERE ALL THINGS CREATED, THAT ARE IN HEAVEN, AND THAT ARE
IN EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THEY BE THRONES, OR DOMINIONS,
OR PRINCIPALITIES, OR POWERS: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, AND FOR
HIM : AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST. --
Colossians i. 16, 17.
it My dear Children,
I have lately thought that it might be useful, in addition to the designs
of the Six Days of Creation that I have had engraved for you and
other young friends of the same age, if I were to write you a few plain
and simple letters, opening out to your young minds the natural
history of each day's mercies, and the manner in which the things
around us are continually used in the blessed Word of God to set forth
divine truths; so that whilst, in our walks together, we gaze on the
earth's beauty and the heaven's brightness, you may be led more and
B
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? 2
THE CREATION.
more--not merely to sip the honey from the flower and pass on--but,
reflecting on what you see, may get instruction from every object
around. And, indeed, I have witnessed, with delight and thank-
fulness, your attention whilst I have endeavoured, by the help of the
Spirit of God, to explain to you the first chapter of Genesis. For
though it is quite true that the description there is very brief, yet
every word is full of meaning and power, and the whole chapter is
continually alluded to in other parts of Scripture, and especially in
the 38th chapter of Job. The scene there brought before us is full
of instruction. The Lord, for wise purposes, had afflicted his servant
Job, but he had failed to discern the hand of God in the affliction;
and, at last, the Lord is represented coming in great condescension,
and thus addressing him:--" Where wast thou when I laid the foun-
dations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath
laid the measures thereof? if thou knowest; or who hath stretched the
line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened 1 or
who laid the corner-stone thereof, when the morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? " (Job xxxviii. 4--7. )
Here a new feature is presented to us, concerning which the Spirit in
the book of Genesis was altogether silent. The heavenly host were
not silent spectators of the stupendous work of Creation; but, doubt-
less, day after day, as the mighty work went on increasing in glory
and beauty, songs of praise and shouts of joy burst forth from
"Those shining millions round His throne. "
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? LETTER L
3
And there is a day rapidly hastening,--" the times of restitution,"
(Acts iii. 21,) when God shall make all things new; and the song of
that day--the day of Redemption--shall be far more glorious than
the song of Creation.
The former was confined to the angels; but
the latter, as we learn by the vision of St. John, in the Isle of Patmos,
shall be joined by all the redeemed creation; and this shall be their
triumphant hymn of praise:--" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and
glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on
the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that
are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and
power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb
for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four
and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever
and ever. " (Rev. v. 12--14. )
The first subject that calls for our attention in the book of Genesis
is brought before us in the verse I have selected for the motto of this
Letter; from which it is plain that the almighty Agent in Creation
was the Son of God, of whom St. John says, " In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All
things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made
that was made. " (John i. 1, 2. ) The things invisible (unseen by us),
whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers, came
into being at His word. The things visible (seen by us),;--the heavens,
b2
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? 4
THE CREATION.
the air, the esirth, the sea;--life, animate and inanimate, sprang into
existence at His command, who, in the fulness of time, though he
was thus in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal
with God, yet made himself of no reputation, and took on him the
form of a servant, and was made man. (Phil. ii. 6. ) For the great
and ever blessed One came and dwelt a homeless stranger in the
world his own hands had framed, and died the accursed death by men
whom his own hands had created, and for a little--a very little--was
held a prisoner in the heart of that earth He had brought into being:
but in death he triumphed over death; and, bruising the serpent's
head, he rose triumphant, and became (as before he had been of
Creation) the Author of eternal Redemption to all that believe on
his name. And ascending on high, he claimed the right of entrance
as the obedient Man, who was God, to the right hand of the Majesty
in the heavens, angels and principalities and powers being subject
unto Him. And in like manner as he ascended/so shall he come again
(Acts i. ), and be acknowledged the " Prince of the kings of the earth,"
--" King of kings, and Lord of lords. " Yes, my beloved children,
that blessed One, who hung despised on the cross, with the hand-
writing of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us nailed
there and there answered for by Him,--our gracious, blessed SUB-
STITUTE, was " the Creator of all things,"--" and upholder of all
things,"--" God manifest in the flesh. " (1 Tim. iii. 16. ) A less
glorious being than this could not have redeemed man, a greater
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? LETTER I.
5
there was not,--could not be. On Him, and on Him alone, never
came yoke. He was "the uncreated Son of the Blessed. " This, then,
is the first truth I am anxious, and more than anxious, to impress on
your earliest thoughts, that when you look around on the earth's
beauty--beautiful in its ruins (and destined to be all glorious), you
may remember, and never cease to remember, by whom it was created,
by whom it was redeemed, and by whom it shall, ere long, be reigned
over in righteousness and peace. Having thus considered the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Creator of all things, we will now look
at the Creation itself.
GENESIS! 1.
The first verse of the 1st chapter of Genesis brings before your
minds that simple, but sublime truth, that " in the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form
and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit
of God moved* upon the face of the waters. " Whether, my dear
children, this Creation of the heavens and the earth immediately
preceded the first day is not expressly revealed (though Job xxxviii.
Job xix. 26, 27--Conclusion, from Cowper:--
Come, then, and, added to thy many crowns,
Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,
Due to thy last, and most effectual work--
Thy word fulfilled--the conquest of a world!
Pp. 356--384
Pp. 385--39 8
Appendix
Hymn
P. 399
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? INTRODUCTION.
The first and greatest thought that should occupy the mind of a parent,
who himself has felt the power of divine truth, is, that the children whom God
has given to him may be partakers of the same mercy. For though he knows,
and would readily acknowledge, that it is God alone, " who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness," that can shine into the hearts of his children,
to give them " the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ," yet should he ever remember, both for his instruction and
encouragement, how often the Lord has enjoined parental care for the nur-
turing of the little ones, and how often he has blest--abundantly blest--the
earliest instruction from a mother's lips.
The command of God, by the lips of Moses, to the Hebrew parent is full of
instruction :--" And these words which I command thee this day shall be in
thine heart f--not in thine understanding only, but in thine heart,--the seat
of the affections ; and then, showing that our children are our first and espe-
cial care, the command is added, (Deut. vi. 6, 7,) " And thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children :"--diligently; this implies care, earnestness in
the matter,--not a lesson alone of duty, but the whole heart engaged in it.
And again, in the institution of the Passover, how beautiful and touching is
the incidental allusion to children, (Exod. xii. 27:) they were represented as
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? xii
INTRODUCTION.
certain to inquire what was the meaning of this rite,--why the Paschal Lamb
bled, and why the lintel was sprinkled with the blood;--and the inquiry was
not to be repressed, but rather the parent was to cherish it, and evidently with
delight to reply,--" It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over
the children of Israel, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. "
And so should the Christian parent explain to his children the Supper of the
Lord, and bring before their young minds the love of that Saviour, who, as
the true Paschal Lamb, gave his life a ransom for many; and that, sprinkled
with his precious blood, there is peace, and the sword of the avenger passes
over; but where that blood is not, he passes through in judgment. And who
can have read that solemn prophetic account of the destruction of Jerusalem,
by Nebuchadnezzar and his six princes, without seeing the part that children
had in it 1 some (evidently the Lord's) were weeping for the sins around them ;
and, marked by the man clothed in linen, the six avengers with the destroying
weapons came not near them; while all those unmarked--not in the Lord's
family--were swept away in the desolating judgment. The whole chapter
(Ezek. ix. ) is most solemn, but especially from verse 3 to 7. And in that
affecting call by the prophet Joel (Joel ii. ), when the trumpet for the solemn
assembly was sounded, and all Israel assembled before the Lord, the children
are in the scene, and even the mother, with the suckling at her breast, was
prostrate before the Lord. Many other passages might be adduced from the
Old Testament which are doubtless familiar to the Christian parent; but let
these suffice. And then, as it regards the New Testament, what parent who
reads this has not rejoiced in the compassion of His heart, who, when the
disciples would rudely have turned away the mothers with the children,
uttered that word so full of benignity,--" Suffer the little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. " All
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? INTRODUCTION.
Xlll
parental instruction, and, as much as possible, all the after stages of education,
should have steadily in view, even as the polar-star, this one absorbing thought,
the salvation of the child. Alas ! how often has one witnessed a child grow up,
admired and caressed by all around, his literary career all brilliant, when in a
moment his sun has gone down at noon-day; and, it may be, ignorant of the
great truth, that a sinner is saved alone by faith in the precious blood of Christ,
his soul has been called away to give an account to that God, the gospel of whose
grace he had slighted. Very much that is excellent has been written for
children during the present century; no age or station has been forgotten;
every year has brought forth some fresh theme of instruction, and new fields
have been opened out to meet the increased desire for knowledge : but still the
theme is inexhaustible. It is now many years since the writer of the following
letters had his mind more especially directed to the instruction of children ;
and no part of Scripture has he found so to arrest their young minds as
Genesis i. From thence all natural history may be said to take its rise; for
though the record of Moses is very brief, yet it necessarily contains the leading
history of the creation of each day; and thus all that we see around us must
be traced back to this original source, and so also all those beautiful illus-
trations of divine truth with which the word of God abounds.
To render familiar to a child's mind the peculiar characteristics that marked
the successive creation of each day, a series of Designs have been engraved, in
which at least the attempt has been made to give a faithful outline of the
Mosaic record ; nothing has been added for effect, but the description in Genesis
has been taken, and, as far as possible, faithfully delineated. The subject is one
of acknowledged difficulty, but no pains or care has been spared to make it an
instructive vehicle to the mind of childhood. Each Engraving (after the first)
takes up the subject of the previous day; so that, whilst the first simply
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? xiv
INTRODUCTION.
exhibits light beaming forth on tfie Globe of waters* and the dark clouds which
enshrouded it rolling back; the second, in addition to this, represents the
firmament (in which the birds of the fifth day flew, which is evidently the
same as the atmosphere) as surrounding the globe, while the third day,
together with the light and atmosphere, represents the dry land (Ps. civ. 6)
rising up from the depths of the waters, and the three great orders of vege-
tation--trees, herbs, and grass, springing up on its surface; and so in the
fourth the sun is seen in his brightness beaming forth from the one part of
the heavens, through the earth's atmosphere, on all the newly-formed beauty
of the third day, and sparkling on the deep, and henceforth the great source
of light:--while, shining in the dark shades of night, the moon and the stars
are beheld as gladdening the scene. The fifth, with all the blessings of the
four previous days, represents the air and sea animate with life, the fowls
flying in the open firmament of heaven, and the great whales and fish swim-
ming in the deep; whilst in the sixth and last day, in addition to all that
had gone before, are seen the quadrupeds, each in those countries where first
* The passage in Gen. i. 2, " And the earth was without form and void, and darkness
was upon the face of the deep," has presented a difficulty to some minds, as if at first the
earth was a shapeless mass, though this indeed could not be. The most learned Hebraists
have translated the passage, " And the earth was desolate and waste:" and Jer. iv. 23
corroborates this view, where the words are the same, and demand this translation; by
which the simple idea presented to the mind is, that in the beginning, when God created
the heavens and the earth, the earth was a desolate and dark sphere of waters, (for there
is no account given subsequently of its being formed into a sphere,) having in its depths
or abyss the dry land which the Lord had destined in its appointed day to rise up ; and,
doubtless, from the moment of its creation it was placed in its appointed orbit, and revolved
on its own axis. " And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. " Thus the
first day's creation was not to form it into a sphere, but to let the bright rays of light shine
upon the sphere already formed; and, moving on its own axis, it made the alternation of
day and night, " and the evening and the morning were the first day. "
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? INTRODUCTION.
XV
known, and Adam and Eve* in that part of the earth where it is generally
supposed was planted the Garden of Eden.
It may be necessary to remark, that in the Engravings, from the third
inclusive, the great divisions of the globe, as known subsequent to the flood,
are preserved; for though the deluge doubtless caused vast changes in the
earth's structure, yet there is great reason to believe that its general character
remained the same; for Moses, writing near one thousand years subsequent to
the flood, speaks not only of the four rivers of Eden, as then known, but also
enlarges on the countries through which they flowed :--" The first, Pison ;
that which compasseth the wlwle land of Havilah, where is gold : the second,
Gihon, encompassing the whole land of Ethiopia : the third, Hiddekel, which
goeth towards Assyria: and the fourth, Euphrates. " On the banks of the
third river, Daniel had his visions, and the fourth bears the same name to
this dayf
In the Letters from a Father to his Children, that accompany the Plates, the
object has been,--first, in language adapted to the tender age of childhood, to
show the goodness and beneficence of God in each day's creation ; then to
explain what may be called the natural history of each day's mercies ; and,
thirdly, to point out, from Scripture examples, how continually the Holy
Spirit, through the Word, uses the natural figures of creation to set forth
Divine truth,--of which the pathetic lamentation of our blessed Lord over
Jerusalem affords, perhaps, the tenderest example : "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
* It is manifest, from Gen. v. 2, that Eve was created in Adam; but whether she was
brought to him the sixth day, is not revealed. Their oneness is strikingly shown in the
words, " Male and female created he tliem, and blessed thim, and called their name Adam,
in the day they were created. "
f It is quite true that Moses does not expressly say that this was the course of these
rivers before the flood, but still the language seems to imply as much.
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? xvi
INTRODUCTION.
that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not! " (Matt, xxiii. 37. ) And,
although in a work so purely elementary, the subjects of science are not gone
very deeply into, yet the general features of the earth's structure--the pro-
perties of light, the nature of our atmosphere, the great divisions of the mineral
and vegetable kingdoms, the size, position, and velocity of the heavenly
bodies, the natural history of birds, and fishes, and quadrupeds, are attempted
simply to be brought before the youthful mind, in the plainest language : the
difficult terms of science are as much as possible avoided, or, when of necessity
used, they are explained. The subject of Geology is not entered on in these
Letters ; it is one far too deep for young children ; and of late years so much
bold speculation has prevailed on it, and so many theories have been brought
forward and abandoned, that the ground is considered by some as dangerous
to tread on. If causes are too difficult to unravel, far better to abide by the
word of God, and in humble prayer to Him for his Spirit, to seek to know
the truth, rather than run into the wild regions of speculation and doubt.
The word of God must not be bent to suit man's notions of the fitness of
things, but man's notions must be tried by God's word. A solemn, prayerful
study of Geology cannot be wrong, but it requires great watchfulness and
caution.
And relative to the mercies with which we are daily surrounded, let any
parent inquire of his little family, when gathered around the breakfast table,--
" I wonder how many blessings of the six days' creation have lent their aid
to supply our wants this morning? " and such a parent shall see the eyes of
the little ones glisten with delight, while each, on the alert, seeks to make its
answer. " Light," one of them replies. " The sun, papa," the least, perhaps
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? INTRODUCTION.
xvii
calls out. " Our bread is made of wheat," a third answers ; while a little one
whispers, sitting close by his father, " and our sugar and our tea were made
the same day as the wheat, papa. " " And the cow, which was created the last
day, gives us milk and butter" another replies. And so the eggs and fish (if
such bounties were present) would offer another answer; while the eldest boy,
who might be musing the while with rather more science than the rest, would
say, " Is not, papa, the open firmament of heaven, in which the birds of the
air fly, and which was created the second day, the same as our atmosphere
which we breathe so pleasantly, and through which the bright rays of the sun
come to us refracted, making everything so bright, and warm, and cheerful? "
Thus the whole six days are continually pouring upon man their blessings;
for our God causeth his sun to shine on all, and opens his hands and fills
all things living with plenteousness. (Psalm cxlv. )
This little Work, which has been prayerfully undertaken, is thus earnestly
commended to the Lord for his blessing : may He sanctify _it to those so dear
to us, and cause the whole scene of the earth's beauty and the heaven's bright-
ness to come to their young minds filled with instruction, so that not only may
they become more and more intelligent concerning the works of God, and their
wonderful adaptation to man, as the great occupant or tenant of the globe,
but that also everything in nature they behold may bring before them some
divine truth illustrated by it;--the lamb of the fold will tell them of that
gracious Saviour so shadowed forth under that lowly emblem; the eagle
bearing her young on her wings, the power of God in bearing his people
through this wilderness : even the sparrows chirping on the spray, numbered
by our heavenly Father, will bring to their remembrance his gracious words,
who said, " Fear not, ye are of more value than many sparrows. " The lily of
the valley and the fragrant flowers, with which God has so beautifully and
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? xvm
INTRODUCTION.
richly clothed the field, are all full of instruction. For who can forget that
word (equally applicable now as then) with which our blessed Lord com-
forted his disciples,--" Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe
you, 0 ye of little faith f (Matt. vi. 30. )
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? THE CREATION.
LETTER I.
FOR BY HIM WERE ALL THINGS CREATED, THAT ARE IN HEAVEN, AND THAT ARE
IN EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THEY BE THRONES, OR DOMINIONS,
OR PRINCIPALITIES, OR POWERS: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, AND FOR
HIM : AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST. --
Colossians i. 16, 17.
it My dear Children,
I have lately thought that it might be useful, in addition to the designs
of the Six Days of Creation that I have had engraved for you and
other young friends of the same age, if I were to write you a few plain
and simple letters, opening out to your young minds the natural
history of each day's mercies, and the manner in which the things
around us are continually used in the blessed Word of God to set forth
divine truths; so that whilst, in our walks together, we gaze on the
earth's beauty and the heaven's brightness, you may be led more and
B
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? 2
THE CREATION.
more--not merely to sip the honey from the flower and pass on--but,
reflecting on what you see, may get instruction from every object
around. And, indeed, I have witnessed, with delight and thank-
fulness, your attention whilst I have endeavoured, by the help of the
Spirit of God, to explain to you the first chapter of Genesis. For
though it is quite true that the description there is very brief, yet
every word is full of meaning and power, and the whole chapter is
continually alluded to in other parts of Scripture, and especially in
the 38th chapter of Job. The scene there brought before us is full
of instruction. The Lord, for wise purposes, had afflicted his servant
Job, but he had failed to discern the hand of God in the affliction;
and, at last, the Lord is represented coming in great condescension,
and thus addressing him:--" Where wast thou when I laid the foun-
dations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath
laid the measures thereof? if thou knowest; or who hath stretched the
line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened 1 or
who laid the corner-stone thereof, when the morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? " (Job xxxviii. 4--7. )
Here a new feature is presented to us, concerning which the Spirit in
the book of Genesis was altogether silent. The heavenly host were
not silent spectators of the stupendous work of Creation; but, doubt-
less, day after day, as the mighty work went on increasing in glory
and beauty, songs of praise and shouts of joy burst forth from
"Those shining millions round His throne. "
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? LETTER L
3
And there is a day rapidly hastening,--" the times of restitution,"
(Acts iii. 21,) when God shall make all things new; and the song of
that day--the day of Redemption--shall be far more glorious than
the song of Creation.
The former was confined to the angels; but
the latter, as we learn by the vision of St. John, in the Isle of Patmos,
shall be joined by all the redeemed creation; and this shall be their
triumphant hymn of praise:--" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and
glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on
the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that
are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and
power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb
for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four
and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever
and ever. " (Rev. v. 12--14. )
The first subject that calls for our attention in the book of Genesis
is brought before us in the verse I have selected for the motto of this
Letter; from which it is plain that the almighty Agent in Creation
was the Son of God, of whom St. John says, " In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All
things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made
that was made. " (John i. 1, 2. ) The things invisible (unseen by us),
whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers, came
into being at His word. The things visible (seen by us),;--the heavens,
b2
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? 4
THE CREATION.
the air, the esirth, the sea;--life, animate and inanimate, sprang into
existence at His command, who, in the fulness of time, though he
was thus in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal
with God, yet made himself of no reputation, and took on him the
form of a servant, and was made man. (Phil. ii. 6. ) For the great
and ever blessed One came and dwelt a homeless stranger in the
world his own hands had framed, and died the accursed death by men
whom his own hands had created, and for a little--a very little--was
held a prisoner in the heart of that earth He had brought into being:
but in death he triumphed over death; and, bruising the serpent's
head, he rose triumphant, and became (as before he had been of
Creation) the Author of eternal Redemption to all that believe on
his name. And ascending on high, he claimed the right of entrance
as the obedient Man, who was God, to the right hand of the Majesty
in the heavens, angels and principalities and powers being subject
unto Him. And in like manner as he ascended/so shall he come again
(Acts i. ), and be acknowledged the " Prince of the kings of the earth,"
--" King of kings, and Lord of lords. " Yes, my beloved children,
that blessed One, who hung despised on the cross, with the hand-
writing of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us nailed
there and there answered for by Him,--our gracious, blessed SUB-
STITUTE, was " the Creator of all things,"--" and upholder of all
things,"--" God manifest in the flesh. " (1 Tim. iii. 16. ) A less
glorious being than this could not have redeemed man, a greater
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? LETTER I.
5
there was not,--could not be. On Him, and on Him alone, never
came yoke. He was "the uncreated Son of the Blessed. " This, then,
is the first truth I am anxious, and more than anxious, to impress on
your earliest thoughts, that when you look around on the earth's
beauty--beautiful in its ruins (and destined to be all glorious), you
may remember, and never cease to remember, by whom it was created,
by whom it was redeemed, and by whom it shall, ere long, be reigned
over in righteousness and peace. Having thus considered the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Creator of all things, we will now look
at the Creation itself.
GENESIS! 1.
The first verse of the 1st chapter of Genesis brings before your
minds that simple, but sublime truth, that " in the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form
and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit
of God moved* upon the face of the waters. " Whether, my dear
children, this Creation of the heavens and the earth immediately
preceded the first day is not expressly revealed (though Job xxxviii.
