128 PRIMEVAL MAN. 



tific research. We know from past experience 

 how foolish and how futile it is to do so. 

 But unquestionably the Unity of the Human 

 Race, in respect to origin, is not easily separ- 

 ated from some principles which are of high 

 value in our understanding both of moral 

 duty and of religious truth. And precisely in 

 proportion as we value our belief in that 

 Unity ought we to be ready and willing to 

 accept any evidence on the question of Man's 

 Antiquity. The older the Human Family can 

 be proved to be, the more possible and pro- 

 bable it is that it has descended from a single 

 pair. My own firm belief is that all scientific 

 evidence is in favour of this conclusion ; and I 

 regard all new proofs of the Antiquity of Man 

 as tendinq; to establish it on a firmer basis. 



