876 THE STORY OP THE EARTH AND MAN. 



sequence of the geological changes and migrations 

 of the Modern period, furnishes, as already stated, 

 a strong if not conclusive argument against deriva- 

 tion ; which here, as elsewhere, only increases our 

 actual difficulties, while professing to extricate us 

 from them. 



The arguments in the preceding pages cover only 

 a small portion of the extensive field opened up by 

 this subject. They relate, however, to some of the 

 prominent and important points, and I trust are 

 sufficient to show that, as applied to man, the theory 

 of derivation merely trifles with the great question 

 of his origin, without approaching to its solution. 

 I may now, in conclusion, sketch the leading fea- 

 tures of primitive man, as he appears to us through 

 the mist of the intervening ages, and compare the 

 picture with that presented by the oldest historical 

 records of our race. 



Two pictures of primeval man are in our time 

 before the world. One represents him as the pure 

 and happy inhabitant of an Eden, free from all the 

 ills that have afflicted his descendants, and revelling 

 in the bliss of a golden age. This is the representa- 

 tion of Holy Scripture, and it is also the dream of 

 all the poetry and myth of the earlier ages of the 

 world. It is a beautiful picture, whether we regard 

 it as founded on historical fact, or derived from God 

 Himself, or from the yearnings of the higher spiritual 

 nature of man. The other picture is a joint product 



