changes which the earth has undergone since the origin of man; so is
that of the origin of the various races and nations of men, with all
their varieties of language and physical conformation. Whether the
earth moves round the sun or the contrary; whether the bodily and mental
diseases of men and animals are caused by evil spirits or not; whether
there is such an agency as witchcraft or not--all these are purely
scientific questions; and to all of them the Canonical Scriptures
profess to give true answers. And though nothing is more common than the
assumption that these books come into conflict only with the speculative
part of modern physical science, no assumption can have less foundation.

The antagonism between natural knowledge and the Pentateuch would be as
great if the speculations of our time had never been heard of. It arises
out of contradiction upon matters of fact. The books of ecclesiastical
authority declare that certain events happened in a certain fashion; the
books of scientific authority say they did not. As it seems that this
unquestionable truth has not yet penetrated among many of those who
speak and write on these subjects, it may be useful to give a full
illustration of it. And for that purpose I propose to deal, at some
length, with the narrative of the Noachian Deluge given in Genesis.

The Bampton lecturer in 1859, and the Canon of St. Paul's in 1890, are
in full agreement that this history is true, in the sense in which I
have defined historical truth. The former is of opinion that the account
attributed to Berosus records a tradition--

not drawn from the Hebrew record, much less the foundation of
that record; yet coinciding with it in the most remarkable way.
The Babylonian version is tricked out with a few extravagances,
as the monstrous size of the vessel and the translation of
Xisuthros; but otherwise it is the Hebrew history _down to its
minutiae._ (p. 64).

Moreover, correcting Niebuhr, the Bampton lecturer points out that the
narrative of Berosus implies the universality of the Flood.

It is plain that the waters are represented as prevailing above
the tops of the loftiest mountains in Armenia--a height which
must have been seen to involve the submersion of all the
countries with which the Babylonians were acquainted (p. 66).

I may remark, in passing, that many people think the size of Noah's ark
"monstrous," considering the probable state of the a