94 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 
Anyway the discovery of the French exploring party 
furnishes additional evidence of the correctness of Sir W. 
Dawson’s views regarding primitive man, and we must not 
forget he arrived at the conclusion long before the recent dis- 
coveries of Flinders Petrie and others in Egypt. 
But what effect will finding the cylinder of Nebuchadnez- . 
zar have on the traditionalists? ‘That may be easily foreseen ; 
what has repeatedly happened will occur once more ; they will 
point triumphantly to this single circumstance as convincing 
proof of the undoubted historical accuracy of the Hebrew 
writers, while pretending not to perceive anything else of the 
slightest interest in the remaining part of the find. Asa 
matter of course the stone implements and their position would 
be ignored altogether. Suppressing facts seems worse to me 
than open lies. Not long since the writer learned that the 
Rev. Dr. Talmage preached a sermon on witches, at Washing- 
ton. Having obtained a report of it from a Toronto paper, on 
examination I found as I anticipated, much had been sup- 
pressed. The Doctor states, ‘‘ under the form of a belief in 
witchcraft, their delusion swept the continent. So mighty 
was it that it included among its victims some of the greatest 
intellects of the time, the Chief Justice M. Hale, Sir Edward 
Coke, Cotton Mather, Richard Baxter, Archbishop Cranmer, 
Martin Luther. In the sixteenth century, in Geneva, 1,500 
were burned to death as witches ; in one part of France 1,000 
were burned.’’ Nowhere I notice a highly important omission 
on Dr. Talmage’s part. Why does he not give the number 
executed as witches in Great Britain during the Common- 
wealth, viz., 3,000 according to English authorities. He may 
think it an act of indiscretion to expose the fanatical bigotry 
of Puritanism, and note how carefully he avoids informing his 
hearers that the ancient Hebrew traditions and their baleful 
influence led to the cruelties in question. A leading English 
scientist, Sir John Lubbock (recently raised to the Peerage), 
informs us, ‘‘I have elsewhere endeavored to show the puri- 
fying and ennobling influence of science upon religion, how it 
has assisted, if indeed it may not claim the main share in 
