DIFFICULTIES OF THE LITERAL SENSE. 29 Moreover, in the fourth chapter, there is an indication of the existence of another race of men, besides those described as the descendants of Adam, and who are popularly regarded as the first progenitors of the human race. When Cain went forth from the face of the Lord, it is said that a mark was set upon him, lest any, finding him, should slay him. At that period, Cain was the only surviving descendant of Adam, who, with his mother, Eve, made only three, then in existence. Why then set a mark upon him, to prevent others from slaying him, if there were no other persons than his father and mother to perpetrate the deed? Surely, the circumstance of imposing a mark for such a purpose, plainly indicates, to historical criticism, the existence of another race besides that of Adam. There is, also, another fact, leading to the same conclusion, related in the same chapter. Cain is described to have possessed a wife; but there is no intimation of her origin: he also had a son, and built a city in the land of Nod; which circumstance plainly indicates, that a number of persons must have been there collected, that some of them must have been acquainted with the arts, and many of them industriously employed in erecting required habitations. Further on, it is related, that the sons of God, who are commonly understood to have been angels, or at least, beings of some superior nature, fell in love with the daughters of men, and thereby originated a progeny that was mighty and valiant. We are also informed, that the ordinary period of human life extended over several hundred years, and that the Lord repented that he had made man upon the earth. These, and many other statements which could be easily selected, forbid both science and criticism to approach them, if they are to be received as real and credible history. This, however, was not its purpose. The meaning of these relations will be discussed in their proper place; we can here only generally observe, that they, with all the other peculiarities recorded in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, were never intended to convey to mankind, any information respecting the natural world, or the earthly history of its inhabitants. We believe that their true intention was to describe the moral and spiritual states, which distinguished the people of primeval times; and that they are related in a historical form, because that was the method of speaking of such things, common to those early periods of civilized life. CHAPTER II. GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE NARRATIVE CONTINUED "All who have treated of divine subjects, whether Greeks, or Barbarians, industriously involved the beginning of things, and delivered the truth in enigmas, signs, and symbols, in allegories and metaphors, and other such figures."-CLEMENT of Alexandria. Strom. 1. v. p. 658. Ox. Ed. THERE are few facts better established by learned criticism, than that the histories, pretending to describe the commencement of the eastern and western nations of antiquity, are of a singularly allegorical kind, partaking more of the spirit of mythology than history, and leaning rather to the character of poetic imagery than historic truth. The first written intimations which we have of the beginning of society, in India, Persia, and Egypt, are all of a mythological kind. If we examine the documents, which have come down to our own time, relating to the commencement of the Scythian, Celtic, and Scandinavian nations, the same fact is observable. And every one is aware how peculiarly applicable these remarks are, to what is said of the origin of the more recent nations of Greece and Rome. The city of Boetia, in the former, is related to have been built by men grown from dragons' teeth, which Cadmus had sown for the purpose: and Rome is said to have been founded by Romulus, who, with his brother Remus, were rescued, in infancy, from the Tiber, and subsequently, suckled by a wolf. Nor are the statements made in connection with the beginning of our own country entirely freed from mythos: but no one regards them, and the others referred to, to be historically true, and yet every one must admit, that they had a significancy well understood, at the time they were originally conceived. It was evidently the genius of the people, in those times, to express some facts in fable. The fables, however, have remained, from their having acquired a permanency in writing, but their significance has perished, because this was not recorded, and also, because the genius to which it was perceptible, has passed away. These facts are incontestable, and we are led from them to conclude that the documents of Genesis, popularly regarded as a description of the origin of the world, the beginning of humanity, and the first constitution and progress of society, are somewhat of a similar character, and that they describe the moral sentiments and religious conditions of men, through their corresponding images in nature. ANCIENT HISTORY ALLEGORICAL. - 31 The peculiar genius of the people, by whom the mythological history of nations was constructed and understood, was but the remains of a very superior condition of human character. Their mythic narratives were, for the most part, expressed through the fanciful selection of arbitrary and conventional images. But in a more remote antiquity - nearer those times which the poets have described to be the golden age men lived under the influence of more enlightened perceptions and sounder views. Their superior states must have enabled them to see, in natural objects, the actual symbols of those divine and spiritual sentiments, out of which they had originated: and under the influence of such a fact, it is easy to imagine, that they would be led to express their own thoughts and sensations, by means of appropriate images drawn from the theatre of nature. And we conceive that it was in such times, and by men of this genius, by whom, under the Divine auspices, the early chapters of Genesis were produced. Even Josephus, Pharisee as he was, informs us that Moses "spoke some things wisely, but enigmatically, and under a decent allegory:" and in another place, he asserts, that after the description of the seventh day, "he began to talk philosophically,”* that is, to express his history in some symbolical manner. The more deeply we look into ancient history, the more certainly shall we be convinced, that the style of writing which then prevailed, was of an allegorical character, and that the outer things narrated can only be considered as the vehicles, employed for the expression of some inward sentiment and thought. Concerning this, many authorities could be produced from the "Fathers" and others, if it were needful for so clear a truth. Origen, however, plainly asserts, that the narratives, describing the making of woman and the conversation of the serpent, were allegories expressive of some other facts than what appear. † The period of actual history, apart from that contained in the Bible, cannot be traced, with any certainty, far beyond the period of the first Olympiad. The narratives produced before that time, whatever might have been their precise meaning, are found to be pregnant with marvellous relations. Subsequently, this method of expression fell into disuse. The genius of the people in after-ages, became less poetic and more matter-of-fact: and every one now * See Antiquity of the Jews, Preface, sec. 4, chap. 1, sec. 1. ↑ Cont. Cels. 1. iv. p. 187, Ed. Sp. Referred to by the Rev. S. Noble, Plen. Ins. p. 559. perceives that the wonders, indicated in the fragmental writings of antiquity which have come down to us, are not to be received in their literal sense. This has been the fate of those profane documents, because, not having been hallowed by the sentiments of religious respect, they have been subjected to other thinking. Yet the statements which are contained in the Bible narrations, before the time of Abram, are not less amazing; and mankind would long ago have acknowledged their mythic character, but for the powerful influence of a traditional opinion to the contrary. But this can have but little real weight, when it is remembered, that such traditions were originated by ecclesiastical authority, at a time when the true signification of those writings had long been overlooked. It is well known, that there is a remarkable resemblance in points, between several events mentioned in acknowledged mythology, and some of the circumstances related in the early portions of Genesis: * as, for instance, between the flood of Deucalion, and that of Noah ; and between the Gigantes and Titanes of the Greeks, and the giants and mighty men spoken of in Genesis, vi. 4. It has been usual to regard such points of Attic and Oriental mythology as resemble the scripture narrations, to have been derived therefrom, and that the other descriptions, with which we find them associated, are the legendary embellishments of the respective nations where they exist. This might have been the case. But if so, it may be considered as offering some proof, that the people esteemed such narratives (whether derived to them from traditional or documentary sources, matters not) as embodying some other idea than what is literally expressed. They would hardly have chosen what they believed to have been the actual facts, pertaining to a more ancient people, to express the mythologic history of themselves. They must have seen, in some measure, the isoteric meaning of what they so selected, and thence its suitability for being incorporated into their own mystic relations. The extravagances of those relations, of course, render them incredible as facts: nevertheless, they must have been designed to express some ideas and sentiments, readily understood at the time of their origination. The adoption of points to be found in scripture narratives, into the fabulous relation of later times, evidently suggests that they were considered of a figurative character. * See Analysis of Ancient Mythology, by Jacob Bryant. And the Dissertations of Sir Wm. Jones in the Asiatic Researches. MEMORIALS OF THE DELUGE. 33 It is readily admitted, that mythological and traditional intimations of the deluge, are to be found among all nations. Sculptures among the Egyptian antiquities, and pictures among the more recent nations of Mexico and Peru, have been discovered, which are interpreted to be the memorials of that catastrophe. It is also said, that ceremonies and sacrificial rites were instituted for its commemoration among the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Greeks, Celts, and Scythians.* Inscriptions are collected, and even an ancient medal and a vase have been produced, having upon them objects allusive to the deluge. These circumstances are commonly referred to, as affording the most triumphant proofs that the Noetic deluge was a flood of waters, in agreement with the literal sense of the narration. But we contend, that all these facts may be granted, and yet that conclusion be consistently denied. It is evident, that the narrative of the flood, points to a very awful circumstance, brought about by the wickedness of man. But the language, in which it was originally described, may still be figurative, and the evidences referred to, nothing more than the traditional indications of the event so related. All those legends and historical notices must have sprung from one locality and the same description; they, therefore, do not prove that the literal sense of such description is to be received as credible history: they only preserve some general reminiscences of the mode, in which the circumstance was originally related; they do not exhibit its signification. That stands upon other ground, and has to be deciphered by other means. There cannot be any reasonable doubt, that the early portions of Genesis were the productions of a period, in which it was customary for mankind to express their religious states and sentiments in the form of allegory. If, then, those documents really did belong to such a period, and were the performances of such a genius, it is evident that they must have partaken of such a style; ‡ and * Dr. Pye Smith, on Scripture and Geology. Second edition, p. 101. See also, Records of Creation. By John Bird Sumner, M. A. Second edition. p. 39. + Dr. Wiseman's Lectures on the Connection between Science and Revealed Religion. Second edition, pp. 321, 336, where engravings are inserted. This argument is very beautifully stated in the following passage: "Let it, for a moment, be supposed that it had pleased the Divine Majesty, |