317 
was a faulty illustration, but I should like to carry it one step further. Let 
us suppose a hypothetical case. Supposing that human remains were to be 
found in the Silurian series ; that would be a scientific fact that they were 
found in a certain stratum, in a certain position, underlying certain other 
strata. But while that would remain a fact, the conclusion that therefore 
those remains must be millions of years old, or at all events more than 6,000 
years old — that conclusion I think is only to be arrived at by a process of 
reasoning which may be most essentially fallacious. I think there was a 
fallacy in the illustrations w hich Mr. Garbett brought forward. Mr. Garbett, 
I am afraid, like many others of our friends, has a certain lingering belief 
that the theories of geologists, which I believe to be mere hypotheses not 
founded on real facts, may some day or other be proved to be true ; and this 
is an endeavour to hedge ourselves in such a manner that, supposing they 
are found to be true, we may still hold the Bible with them. But I say, first 
prove that these things are true, and then it will be time enough to see 
whether you require to accommodate your Bible to them. Suppose your 
Silurian men are found of a different creation : you have first to prove that 
they belong to a different creation, arid then you have to prove their 
antiquity. It is very dangerous theology indeed, and cannot fail to be taken 
advantage of by the sceptic, when you say that the Bible is such an accom- 
modating book altogether, that it does not matter whether these things are 
true or not for anything the Bible says to the contrary, and that there may 
have been hundreds of different races in existence. That is not my own 
view. It may be false, but I do not think that any man who reads his Bible 
honestly would say that it accords with the pre- Adamic hypothesis of the 
existence of former races. All sorts of efforts are made to make the Bible 
square with these hypotheses : this only arises from a great fear that 
science has proved that which it has not proved. I believe that the whole 
progress of geology is antagonistic to any such views ; and if not, we should 
wait until geology has spoken a little more clearly, and leave geologists to 
fight their own battles among themselves. Then I believe they will come 
back to the six- days’ creation, and believe that all races of men were 
derived from Adam, and that there were no pre-Adamic races at all. 
(Hear, hear.) 
The meeting was then adjourned. 
