THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION 157 



Hebrew narratives in Genesis and that the latter were undoubtedly 

 drawn from the former ; that the garden of Eden and its mystical 

 tree were known to the inhabitants of Chaldsea in pre-semitic days ; 

 that the belief that woman was created out of man, that man by sin 

 fell from a state of innocence, are drawn from very ancient Chaldean 

 Babylonian texts ; that Assyriology confirms the belief that the book 

 of Genesis is a compilation, that portions of it are by no means so 

 old as the time of Moses -, that the story of Joseph and Potiphar's 

 wife was drawn in part from the old Egyptian tale of the two 

 brothers. 



Andrew D. White in Popular Science Monthly. One of the 

 stories of creation deciphered by Mr. Pincher, of the British museum, 

 comes from the library of iVssar-Banepol, dates from 650 B. C., but 

 the Akkadian text Mr. P. thinks is a copy of one dating 3,000 B. C. 

 or earlier still. 



The tomb of the priests of Ammon recently discovered near 

 Thebes goes back to the nth dynasty, namely, 2,500 B. C , the 

 date assigned to the flood. But reason appeals in vain to the Rev. 

 Dr. Talmage and his fanatical admirers in Canada or the United 

 States. In one of his sermons he deplores that heretical opinions 

 prevail in all denominations. What a pity that such should be re- 

 corded ; that the very sanctuary itself could not prevent the entrance 

 of doubt in this faithless age ! If the Greek monks who translated 

 the old testament were infallible (incapable of errors), God-inspired 

 men, why repudiate the doctrines of this ancient Eastern Christian 

 church ? Does the reverend gentlemen possess an intimate know- 

 ledge of either Greek or Hebrew? He puts forth no such claim. 

 Neither does he appear to have heard that it is a theological error to 

 believe the Scripture, in part at least, existed in book form 4,000 

 years, as he alleges. It dates from the return of the Jews from 

 captivity, and the early portion was taken from oral tradition. Max 

 Muller proves the rijveda of the Hindoes is far older. Was that 

 also miraculously preserved ? In delivering one of his masterly 

 lectures the late Prof. Huxley laughingly noticed the abusive 

 epithets hurled at him by his clerical assailants — infidel, coward, 

 liar, etc. "^ Well," he said, " Agnostic as I am, I never doubted the 

 modern church still possesses the gift of tongues." The famous 

 Orientalist, Kennecott, who died at Oxford A. D. 1783, impeached 



