PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 7 



as an authority, because he "thought it impor- 

 tant to show, independently of that authority 

 and from a monument actually before our 

 eyes — the existence, namely, of civilized man 

 — that there is no escaping such conclusions 

 as agree with the Bible narrative." The 

 opposite argument is, of course, maintained 

 always from the same basis of scientific in- 

 dependence, and those who urge it do not 

 generally profess or care to reconcile the 

 conclusion arrived at, with the Mosaic narra- 

 tive. Sir J. Lubbock at the close of his paper 

 says emphatically, " These views follow, I think, 

 from strictly scientific considerations." No 

 doubt, if the inquiry is to be pursued at all 

 upon this basis, it must be conducted hon- 

 estly, and the conclusions legitimately reached 



