460 



in which the loss of a single link would prove the destruction of the 

 whole. 



During the progress of our inquiries, one fact was discovered, 

 which demands our particular notice, in this place. During the 

 numerous explorements of the strata containing the remains of 

 those substances, which existed in the world before the flood, 

 not a single antediluvian piece of art has been ever found. This 

 circumstance, alone, constitutes an argument of no small force 

 against the eternity, at least, of the existence of man ; since had 

 the earth, peopled by mankind, existed eternally, the number of 

 human beings which would have existed at the time of the deluge, 

 would have been so great, and their spread over the face of the 

 earth would have been so general, that their weapons,, their various 

 utensils, and articles of furniture, must necessarily have been fre- 

 quently discovered among the antediluvian remains. This circum- 

 stance, it must, however, be admitted, appears to prove too much ; 

 since, as none of the remains of the labours of man have been thus 

 discovered, we are without a proof of the existence of any human 

 beings, at the time of the deluge ; and therefore have more reason 

 to suppose, that man had not been created, at the period, at which 

 this event occurred, than that the whole species, excepting a very 

 few individuals, were destroyed with it. 



Why the earth was at first so constituted that the deluge should 

 be rendered necessary why the earth could not have been at first 

 stored, with all those substances, and endued with all those pro- 

 perties, which seem to have proceeded from the deluge- why so 

 many beings were created, as it appears, for the purpose of being 

 destroyed are questions which I presume not to answer. Trusting, 

 that what has already been said must render their solution less diffi- 

 cult, and lead to conclusions less repugnant to reason, than some 



