, the Sanskrit; and the Weddas are set down as descendants
of the Sanskritic Aryans, who conquered India. There are no savages of a
more debased type. They do not count beyond two or three; they have no
idea of letters; of all the animals the dog alone is domesticated; their
art consists in making bows and arrows and constructing rude huts; they
are dwindling and threaten to become extinct. See "Report of the British
Association for the advancement of science, for the Year 1875," part 3, p.
175.

Civilization and barbarism are states between which men oscillate, passing
from one to the other with equal ease, according to the influences brought
to bear upon them.

The mythical traditions of almost all peoples place at the beginning of
the history of the race, a "golden age," which is the opposite of savagery
and barbarism. The Chinese speak of a "first heaven," an age of innocence
and a state of happiness, when "all was beautiful and good, and all beings
were perfect." Mexican tradition speaks of the golden age of Tezcuco; and
Peruvian history commences with two "Children of the Sun," who established
civilization on the borders of Lake Titicaca. The Greeks described their
golden age as follows:

"The immortal gods, that tread the courts of heaven,
First made a golden race of mortal men.
Like gods they lived, with happy, careless souls,
From toil and pain exempt; nor on them crept
Wretched old age, but all their life was passed
In feasting, and their limbs no changes knew.
Nought evil came them nigh; and, when they died,
'Twas but as if they were o'ercome by sleep.
All good things were their portion; the fat soil
Bare them its fruit spontaneous, fruit ungrudged
And plentiful; they, at their own sweet will,
Pursued in peace the tasks that seemed them good,
Laden with blessings, rich in flocks, and dear
To the great gods."--_Hesiod._

Such is the light that shines from the region where myth and history meet
and wed. Can we go beyond this? There is no people, east or west,
characterized by an uninterrupted _progress_ from barbarism to
civilization. So the theory of time based upon such an idea is altogether
without foundation.

THE FLOOD VIEWED FROM A SCIENTIFIC AND BIBLICAL STANDPOINT.

Unbelievers usually pass over the events of the flood with mockery. There
is something about them that is only reconcilable with the mental
condition of the man