reply to some of the most difficult questions which present
themselves in relation to the organized world and its archaeology.
Whether it is the conclusion at which we are ultimately
to arrive, after a careful investigation of particulars,
does not yet appear. Perhaps, indeed, this way óf getting
rid of doubts and perplexities is more like the cutting a knot
than the unlooseningO; it.
S ection I IL— O f Arguments which are urged on the opposite
side o f the Question. Relation o f these Inquiries to
the Scriptural History o f Mankind. Ï
I must now proceed to consider some of thé most obvious
reasons which havé been adduced in support of an’v? opposite
opinion. • . r
There is, in the first place, one Argument Which- has been
thought by many to be conclusive as to thé whole question,
and to render any further investigation' superfluous^ I allfeJé
to the inference deduced from the Sacred Scripturef ^ascrib-
mg one origin to the whole human family?^
Although nothing can be further from my intention than
to detract from the authority and importance of the Sacred
Writings, I yet do not feel that I can, with -propriety, avail
myself óf their- testimony in the present instance^*^
I am not prepared to adopt an opinion which'ha's been expressed
by writers of various times, that the Scriptures of the
Old Testament comprise only the history of one particular fa-
mfly of men, and that other tribes may have been created to
whose origin they make no allusion. Toffife^as^cdÖféiS1, it
appears evident that by the writers themselvefewho Wèrfe em-
plbyed in the composition of these books, the Holy Bérfp-
tures were coöfeilplated and set forth as containing a ^fcöïd
Aÿonquin stock preserve traditions which confirm this opinion. They relate that
when their ancestors first crossed from the westward the Namæsi-Sippu, or River of
Fish or Missisippi, they found the land already occupied by tribes of a different
complexion and figure from their own, who fled from their, approach. Iri Northern
Asia even tradition is silent as to the history of the extinct racfe of mem-whose
only vestiges açe tumuli spread over the vast regions of Siberia and containing the
“ i t ’WUh g0ldCn andSilVei °mamentS^ ^ ^ in g u ishC d b y ap e cu lia r
Of the dispensations of the Almighty Creator to all mankind ;
and if this be the fact, it can hardly be doubted that an account
is comprised in them of the origin of the whole human
family. ;
I t may be observed, that those who hold with entire conviction
the divine authority o f the: Holy Scriptures, are yet
accustomed to receive different portions of their contents, if
not with different degrees of assent, yet with an assent modified
by different considerations. Many subjects are treated
in these "books in regard to which the only rational inquiry
is, what in fact the Holy Scriptures have,delivered respecting
them. \Such are all matters which transcend the scope of
the .human faculties ;r? as the existence and nature of in-
visible>;agents, 'thé'fu:twe|; state, and th e ’relations of man to
the Unseen Power, to which^héis accountable for his actions.
On these>shbj^cfs> ';W,th|respe,Qf|to which-we must otherwise
have remained profoundly ■ ignorant, , Providence Tias,-eon->
descended Jjoigiye %£^,y^revelatiqn such knowledge as it was
important fór us-.tp^ pps^ySM, In jSuch instances’, the Holy
Scriptures.are the sole‘\“iprirwipium eognoscendi;” thq^jpnly
appeto^s .to them. . Uut. fl\e;most; sigepip believers in revelation*
do tfetigiveipreóisefylhé ga?me.$p§oie& of, assent to those
parts öf the SacredWritingsrwhiéhvrelate, to, subjects !ppqn to
the ordinary methods of, investigation; ;such ^m a tte r s of fact
ani|fbf historical testimony. These pdriionsjofiSeripture have
ever been regarded as admitting,, and even t s challenging the
toost 'unw'éariediaitdTSèste^scrutiny., Truth can never be in
Óppositrorpto truth ; - and the investigation .of all subjects comprehensible'
and refutable tp th e ; hutoan- faculties- is the undoubted
privilégéiolf, a rational.undemanding; To silence
inquiry in spqh instakces ,by an appeal, to the..Scriptures
geèms'tifo imply “an apprehension ;IeSt! something may be discovered
that may/ifwove them fto'^beexr’dneóus; it indicates a
secret doubt of their* entire truth! The palpable and almost
ridiculous absurditiesaiftto which some .writers.have been led,
in their attëmpt *t® speculate .‘riaipoto subj e^tÉflff sëcientifte in-
qtory, by-availing themselves of inferences deduced from
texts of Sfejipture, are sufficient to convince üs of the unreasonableness
of this proceeding. On the other hand it may