Noah and His Times; Embracing the Consideration of Various Inquiries Relative to the Antediluvian and Earlier Postdiluvian Periods, with Discussions of Several of the Leading Questions of the Present Day (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1854. Excerpt: ... EVENING THIRTY-FIRST. Young Gentlemen: The archaeological consideration, second in order, with which we proposed to introduce this Exercise, is the following: Those several nations who pretend to so vastly remote antiquity of origin as to make not barely the Noah but even the Adam of Genesis a comparatively very modern gentleman, need not travel far, no, not a step, either forward, backward, or laterally, to find a flat denial of their ridiculous pretensions. They may find it beneath their feet. The detritus and rocky strata of the parts of the globe where they dwell, furnish a substantial refutation of all pretensions of the kind. These say, No remains of such pretended far back ancestry lie in our bosom. And if the pretenders are not satisfied with such a declaration from the lips of the witness, let them penetrate her bowels and see whether they can get any more favorable response there.. In Cuvier's Theory of the Earth, the date of origin of the human species is discussed both on geological and historical grounds, embracing a large mass of learning; and the date usually assigned to the origin of mankind adopted. The same views have been expressed by Sir Charles Lyell; views which he espouses, not merely as the result of his own researches and reasonings, but of the prevalent conclusions of the highest geological authorities. "I need not dwell," observes Mr. Lyell, " on the proofs of the low antiquity of our species, for it is not controverted by any experienced geologist; indeed, the real difficulty consists in tracing back the signs of man's existence on the earth to that comparatively modern period when species, now his contemporaries, began to predominate. If there be a difference of opinion respecting the occurrence, in certain deposits, of the re...