IV GENESIS VERSUS NATURE 141 



In the chapter on " The Primitive Revelation " 

 the scientific worth of the account of the Creation 

 given in the book of Genesis is estimated in terms 

 which are as unquestionably respectful as, in my 

 judgment, they are just ; and, at the end of the 

 chapter on " Primitive Tradition," M. Reville ap- 

 praises the value of pentateuchal anthropology in 

 a way which I should have thought sure of en- 

 listing the assent of all competent judges, even if 

 it were extended to the whole of the cosmogony 

 and biology of Genesis : 



As, however, the original traditions of nations sprang up in 

 an epoch less remote than our own from the primitive life, it is 

 indispensable to consult them, to compare them, and to associate 

 them with other sources of information which are available. 

 From this point of view, the traditions recorded in Genesis pos- 

 sess, in addition to their own peculiar charm, a value of the 

 highest order ; but we cannot ultimately see in them more than 

 a venerable fragment, well-deserving attention, of the great 

 genesis of mankind. 



Mr. Gladstone is of a different mind. He dis- 

 sents from M. Reville's views respecting the proper 

 estimation of the pentateuchal traditions, no less 

 than he does from his interpretation of those 

 Homeric myths which have been the object of his 

 own special study. In the latter case, Mr. Glad- 

 stone tells M. Reville that he is wrong on his 

 own authority, to which, in such a matter, all will 

 pay due respect : in the former, he affirms himself 

 to be " wholly destitute of that kind of knowledge 

 which carries "authority," and his rebuke is 



