﻿90 
  PRIMEVAL 
  MAN. 
  

  

  of 
  Mankind. 
  And 
  to 
  those 
  facts 
  must 
  be 
  

   added 
  others 
  resting 
  on 
  evidence 
  which 
  is 
  stili 
  

   historical. 
  There 
  is 
  another 
  civilization 
  which 
  

   appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  almost 
  as 
  ancient 
  as 
  

   that 
  of 
  Egypt, 
  and 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  far 
  more 
  

   enduring. 
  The 
  authentic 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  

   Chinese 
  Empire 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  begin 
  in 
  the 
  

   twenty-fourth 
  century 
  B.C. 
  — 
  that 
  is, 
  more 
  

   than 
  300 
  years 
  before 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Abraham.* 
  

   They 
  begin, 
  too, 
  apparently 
  with 
  a 
  Kingdom 
  

   already 
  established, 
  with 
  a 
  capital 
  city, 
  and 
  

   with 
  a 
  settled 
  government.^ 
  Yet 
  this 
  civili- 
  

   zation 
  first 
  appears 
  at 
  the 
  farthest 
  extremity 
  

  

  * 
  "The 
  Chinese;" 
  G. 
  T. 
  T. 
  Meadows, 
  p. 
  34. 
  

  

  + 
  Since 
  this 
  passage 
  was 
  published 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  favoured 
  with 
  

   an 
  interesting 
  letter 
  from 
  the 
  Rev. 
  James 
  Legge, 
  who 
  has 
  spent 
  

   many 
  years 
  as 
  a 
  Missionary 
  in 
  China, 
  and 
  has 
  published 
  

   valuable 
  editions 
  of 
  the 
  Historical 
  works 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese. 
  

  

  