74 GEOGRAPHICAL AND LOCAL 



the Mongol, and the Negro, that now hold pos- 

 session of our globe. 1 I shall say something in 

 controversion of each of these theories, beginning 

 with the last. 



This indeed furnishes a clue for its own refu- 

 tation, since it admits three principal stems, which 

 is in accordance with the Mosaic account, that 

 from the families of the three sons of Noah, the 

 nations were divided in the earth after the flood. 

 The author of the above theory seems disposed 

 to admit the truth of the Mosaic account, but 

 insinuates that it may have been only intended 

 to instruct the Israelites in the history of the race 

 to which they belonged, while that of other races 

 may have been passed over in silence. It is too 

 much the fashion, in this sceptical age, to evade 

 the facts that are most clearly revealed in scrip- 

 ture, by saying the language must not be taken 

 strictly nor interpreted literally, even when it is 

 concerning events in which there is no room for 

 metaphor. One would think that the terms in 

 which God foretold the deluge were of this de- 

 scription. " And behold /, even /, do bring a 

 flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh 

 wherein is the breath of life from under heaven ; 

 and every thing that is in the earth shall die." 

 And again " And the waters prevailed exceed- 

 ingly upon the earth, and all the high hills that 

 ivere under the whole heaven were covered : fifteen 



1 Outlines of Hist. Cab. Cycl. ix. 4. 



