tence, and that a lower race, which
was incapable of attaining to their estate, and which, by the
over-stimulation of the lower propensities, sank into a state of
barbarism, in which the original sublime conceptions of a Deity were
obscured and the great learning of the past was lost, I can see no
reason to disbelieve it, especially as all the facts, both of tradition
and history, bearing upon this subject unite in proclaiming its truth.

After stating that in Chaldea has been found rather the debris of
science than the elements of it, Bailly asks:

"When you see a house built of old capitals, columns, and other
fragments of beautiful architecture, do you not conclude that a fine
building has once existed?... If the human mind can ever flatter itself
with having been successful in discovering the truth, it is when many
facts, and these facts of different kinds, unite in producing the same
results."

That the descendants of a once mighty nation lapsed into barbarism,
forgetting the profound knowledge of the sciences possessed by their
ancestors, is a fact too well attested at the present time to be doubted
by those who have taken the pains to acquaint themselves with the
evidence at hand.

Regarding the manner in which this ancient civilization was reached, or
concerning the way in which it was achieved, history and tradition
are alike silent, although it is believed that the present methods
of investigation will, at least in a measure, unravel the mystery. At
present we only know that, as far in the remote past as human ken can
reach, evidences of a high stage of civilization exist which it must
have required thousands upon thousands of years to accomplish.

CHAPTER VII. CONCEALMENT OF THE EARLY DOCTRINES.

After the decline of Nature-worship, and when through the constantly
increasing power gained by the ruder elements in human society a
knowledge of the scientific principles underlying ancient religion had
been partially lost or forgotten, it became necessary for philosophers
to conceal the original conception of the Deity and to clothe their
sacred writings in allegory. Hence it is observed that every ancient
form of religion has a cabala containing its secret doctrines--doctrines
the inner meaning of which was known only to the few. In order that
these truths might be preserved, they were inscribed on the leaves of
trees in characters or symbols understood only by the initiated. The
allegories beneath whi