12 



hesitation, to be a vile falsehood and an insult to our intellects. The 

 vices and diseases of our ancestors are undoubtedly reproduced in our- 

 selves, as are their good deeds and lofty sentiments ; and we again 

 transmit these properties to our offspring. We have, in fact, the power 

 of rendering- happy or miserable those who follow us, and making- the 

 general state of society somewhat better or worse. Our great mental 

 attributes were not surely evolved within us for no purpose, and to lie 

 dormant, but that we should exercise them and use them for the moral 

 and social improvement of ourselves and our fellows. But to imagine 

 that we shall suffer ag-ain in some other condition of existence, because 

 of our fathers' sin?, is the height of insanity. 



Respecting- the authorship of these fables, we are told that the book 

 \vhich contains them, as well as the other four books of the Pentateuch, 

 were written by Moses, under the inspiration of what is called the holy 

 ghost ; but when we examine these books we find that this is without 

 doubt false, for it is not possible for any man to record his own death 

 and burial, and the lives of a succession of prophets who lived after 

 him, as is done in the last chapter of Deuteronomy. Then, ag-ain, in 

 the seventh chapter of Genesis clean and unclean beasts are mentioned 

 hi connexion with the ark fable, whereas, according to the Bible, clean 

 and unclean beasts were not declared such until GOO years after Moses 

 is said to have died ; which proves that Genesis was not written before 

 that late period. The town of Dan is also mentioned in the fourteenth 

 chapter, which town had no existence until 331 years after the recorded 

 death of Moses. In chap. XXXVI. a list is given of all the kings that 

 reigned over Edom u before there reigned any king- over the children 

 of Israel," proving- once more that this book was not written until long 

 after kings had reigned over Israel. Numerous other passages might 

 be quoted to show that Moses could riot have written the books that 

 arc ascribed to him. To cut the matter short, however, we are told in 

 the 2nd apocryphal book of Ezra that he and his clerks wrote all the 

 tooks of Moses ; and in Chronicles and Kings that Shaphan discovered 

 the writings in an old chest. 



We find, therefore, not only (hat these fables of the creation and 

 fall are not true records, but that it is not known who wrote them, 

 although suspicion attaches to one Ezra; and yet we are expected to 

 hang our chances of salvation upon them. We are handed these books 



