not yet immerged, and thus formed basaltic masses, that, during desiccation, split into columns; in other places they covered the carbonaceous masses already deposited, and, by absorbing much of their bitumen, rendered them less inflammable, and hence the connexion which the sagacious Werner observed between basalts and coal. The fixed or oxygen air, emptying from many of them, formed those cavities, which being filled with the subsequent infiltration of such of their ingredients as were superfluous to their basaltic state, formed chalcedonies, zeoliths, olivins, basaltines, spars, &c. Hence most of the mountains of Sweden that afford iron, afford also bitumen. Hence, also, the asphalt found with trap, and under basalts, and in balls of chalcedony found in trap.

This I take to be the last scene of this dreadful catastrophe; and hence no shells are found in basalts, they having been previously deposited, though some light marine vegetable remains have sometimes been found in them; some argillaceous, or sandstone strata, may also have been deposited at this period.

On this account, however, of the formation of the basalts, which crown the summits of several lofty peaks, I lay no more stress, than it can justly bear: I deliver it barely as an hypothesis more plausible than many others.

It has been objected to the Mosaic account, that the countries near Ararat are too cold to bear olive trees. Tournefort, who first made this objection, should recollect, that, at this early period, the Caspian and Euxine seas were joined, as he himself has well proved. This circumstance, surely, fitted a country lying in the 38th degree of latitude, to produce olives, (which now grow in much higher

latitudes,) at present chilled only by its distance from the sea.

A more plausible objection arises from the difficulty of collecting and feeding all the various species of animals now known, some of which can exist only in the hottest, and others only in the coldest climates. It does not, however, appear to me necessary to suppose, that any others were collected in the ark, but those most necessary for the use of man; and those only of the graminivorous, or granivorous classes; the others, most probably, were of subsequent creation. The universality of the expressions, Gen. vi. 9. Of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort, shalt thou bring into the ark, seem to me to imply no more than the same general expressions do in Gen. i. 30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, have I given every green herb for meat, where it is certain that only graminivorous animals are At this early period, ravenous animals were not only unnecessary, but would have been even destructive to those who had just obtained existence, and probably not in great numbers. They only became necessary when the graminivorous had multiplied to so great a degree, that their carcasses would have spread infection. Hence they appear to me to have been of posterior creation; and to this also I attribute the existence of those which are peculiar to America, and the torrid and frigid zones.

meant.

The atmosphere itself must have been exceedingly altered by the consequences of the flood. Soon after the creation of vegetables, and in proportion as they grew and multiplied, vast quantities of oxygen must have been thrown off by them into the then existing atmosphere, without any proportional counteracting diminution from the respiration or putrefaction of

animals, as these were created only in pairs, and multiplied more slowly; hence it must have been much purer than at present; and to this circumstance, perhaps, the longevity of the antideluvians may, in a great measure, be attributed. After the flood, the state of things was perfectly reversed the surface of the earth was covered with dead and putrefying land animals and fish, which copiously absorbed the oxygenous parts of the atmosphere, and supplied only mephitic and fixed air: thus the atmosphere was probably brought into its actual state, containing little more than one-fourth of pure air, and nearly three-fourths of mephitic. Hence the constitution of men must have been weakened, and the lives of their enfeebled posterity gradually reduced to their present standard. To avoid these exhalations, it is probable that the human race continued a long time to inhabit the more elevated mountainous tracts. Domestic disturbances in Noah's family, briefly mentioned in holy writ, probably induced him to move, with such of his descendants as were most attached to him, to the regions he inhabited before the flood, in the vicinity of China; and hence the early origin of the Chinese monarchy.

FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S MAGAZINE.

The state of the Reformed Church; as also of the different religious denominations in Holland, previous to the late revolution.

(Continued from p. 89.)

THE government of the Reformed Church in the

Netherlands is committed to Consistories, Classes, Provincial Synods, and a national Synod. Each Consistory is subordinate to its respective Classis, each Classis to its Provincial Synod, and the Provincial Synods to the national Synod.

In every congregation there is a Consistory, composed of the minister, or ministers, if there are more than one, and the elders. In some cities, the deacons are also admitted as members. The number of elders and deacons is left optional with every congregation. The ministers, if there are more than one, preside alternately in the meetings of the Consistory, which are weekly; and if there be but one minister, he is always president and secretary of the same.

In the Consistory and other ecclesiastical assemblies, the business is wholly ecclesiastical. Converts from Judaism, Mahometanism, and Paganism, are strictly examined before the Consistory. Sometimes applicants for admission the first time to the Lord's Supper are received by them; but most generally they are received by the ministers. They who remove from one place to another, procure a certificate of their standing from the Consistory of

the first place. The Consistory also possess the power of citing before them such members as lead offensive lives, or are unsound in the faith; and in case the persons cited do not obey the admonition given them, to suspend them from the Lord's table; and if they continue contumacious, to excommunicate them. This last measure may not be taken without previous leave of that Classis to which the Consistory is subordinate. Before the excommunication takes place, the congregation, at three different times, is exhorted to pray for the offender, whose offences and resistance to admonition, are stated at full length. In the first notification, the name of the offender is withheld. In the second, his name, with the consent of the Classis, is mentioned. In the third, the congregation are informed that unless he repents he will be excluded from the communion of the Church; which sentence is passed upon him, if he remains obstinate. If he repents after excommunication, his desire to be restored is made known to the congregation at some seasonable opportunity, and if they do not object, upon his declaring his penitence, he is restored. The sins which are considered as deserving punishment, are, false doctrine or heresy, public schisms, open blasphemy, perjury, adultery, fornication, theft, acts of violence, brawlings, habitual drunkenness, scandalous traffic, gaming, and the like*. The ministers who are guilty of these sins or of simony, faithless desertion of their office, or intruding into that of another, may be suspended by their Consistory, with the approbation of a neighbouring Consistory, called in for assistance: but they can be put

* By the Synod of Alkmaer, which met 1599, in the thirtysecond act, members who engage in mixed dances are declared censurable. This act is still in force.