THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 211 



of which Lesley may have been the 

 most noted member, belonging to that 

 class of boasting Infidels called " Posi- 

 TIVISTS," which was known as 

 " The First Positivist Society of New York" 

 whose pseudo-religious principles were 

 thus defined by themselves " Scientific 

 Religion ; the Dynamic Theory of the 

 Universe ; Time and Space explained ; 

 FORCE and its changes to account for all 

 Phenomena; and of a new System of 

 Morals." 



I will not, Gentlemen, insult your un- 

 derstandings by thinking that you will 

 deem this silly craze of the New York 

 Infidels other than devoid of all approach 

 to common sense and simple reason, but I 

 refer to it for the purpose of exposing the 

 depth of folly, to which some pretenders 

 to the name of savans could descend in 

 their wild speculations during the 19th 

 century. And I will content myself with 

 pointing out that these would-be regene- 

 rators of humanity have compressed their 

 creed into forty Articles ; adding, however, 

 p 2 



