VI PEEFACE. 



sorted, either ignorantly or intentionally, to misrepre- 

 sentation, he has been constrained, in justice to 

 himself and his subject, to prepare the following 

 extension, and seek for his views a wider, and he 

 trusts also a fairer consideration. 



If the reader has not hitherto directed his 

 attention to the natural-histoiy relations of Man — ^to 

 his origin, antiquity, and destiny — what follows may 

 assist him in his considerations ; if he has made the 

 question a subject of research, and his views should 

 coincide ia the main with those of the author, he 

 may glean from these pages some new facts to 

 strengthen his convictions ; and if, on the other hand, 

 he has been led by early training to entertain opinions 

 at variance with those herein expressed, a thoughtful 

 perusal may induce him, if not to forego his precon- 

 ceptions, at all events to review the evidence upon 

 which they have been founded. This is all the 

 author desires — ^the most he hopes for • his wish 

 being to contribute his mite to that modem movement 

 of mind which seeks to substitute inquiry for dogma- 

 tism, comprehensible methods for miracles, and rational 

 convictions for traditional beliefe. 



Though cursory — and intentionally so these 



