THE RESTING-PLACE OF THE ARK.

39

I have only to offer one further suggestion in connexion with this subject, which is, that the mountains of Ararat were situate on the southern side of the stream; and that for the following reasons: First, supposing the two sides of the river to have been in all respects similar, Noah and his family would most likely have continued upon that side on which they first commenced their journey; and by following the southern side, they would at once have been conducted into the land of Shinar or Mesopotamia; whereas, by remaining on the northern side, they might indeed have been led into Syria, but could not have gone into Mesopotamia, without crossing the river. Another reason for this conclusion is, that the western side of the mountains, to the south of the river, would at the same time have an inclination somewhat northward, so that the descent of Noah being in that direction, his face would have been turned more entirely towards "the bow in the cloud," than if his position had directly faced the west. It may be remarked, further, that the country on the southern banks of the river, under the shade of the mountains on the south, would be far more delightful, and its pasture would be more abundant, than that on the northern side, which, facing the south, would throughout the greater part of the day be exposed to the scorching rays of the sun.

Taking all these points into consideration, the result appears to be, that the place where the Ark

40 RESULT OF THE FOREGOING INQUIRY.

rested among the mountains of Ararat, must be sought to the south of the Euphrates; that it must have been situate at a considerable elevation (probably on the highest peak of the district); that it had a westerly or north-westerly aspect and declivity; that the descent from it to the lowlands was not precipitous, but easy and practicable; and that either the Euphrates itself, or some principal branch of that river, was fully in sight from it. The range of the Barema mountains (the Taurus of Strabo',) would seem to include spots likely to fulfill all these conditions; but by personal investigation alone can it be determined what particular locality in that chain, will answer absolutely to the above description.

1 Géogr. de Strabon, trad. par MM. De la Porte du Theil et Coray, liv. xi. ch. xvii. ; tom. iv. p. 300.

CHAPTER III.

progres

General opinion of antiquity as to the primitive state of man.— The golden age a poetical fable.-The notion of the sive civilization of mankind adopted in the present day.Views of Cuvier, Malte Brun, Heeren, Keightley, and Archbishop Whately.-These views erroneous.-The first state of man after the Deluge that of a member of a previous social state. The amount of culture possessed by Noah considered; -probably equal to that of the Egyptians and other nations of antiquity.—Instances of the early advanced state of society from the Book of Job.-Deficiency of scientific knowledge among the ancient nations.—This deficiency the cause of our ignorance of the actual state of their knowledge in general.—Theory of the gradual declension of civilization.

It will be advisable, before proceeding further with the express subject of the present investigation, to deviate for awhile from our direct course, for the purpose of considering what was the state of society in the ages immediately succeeding the Flood.

I need scarcely do more than allude to the recognised principle of profane history, that mankind in the first ages lived in a state which, although probably one of perfect innocence, must in point of civilization have been but little elevated above that of the brute creation'. Thus the poems of Hesiod,

1 The Generations of Sanchoniatho, however, would seem to represent the first state of mankind to have been not merely the

42 THEORY OF THE GRADUAL PROGRESS OF MAN

which are among the earliest writings of the heathen world that have been transmitted to us in a direct manner, sing:

.....

"The first age they stile an age of gold: "Men spent a life like gods in Saturn's reign,

Nor could the ills of time their peace destroy; "In banquets they delight, remov'd from care; "Nor troublesome old age intruded there :

They die, or rather seem to die; they seem "From hence transported in a pleasing dream. "The fields as yet untill'd, their fruits afford, "And fill a sumptuous, and unenvied board'."

This idea of a golden age, which was considered to have been succeeded by others of an inferior nature, designated by metals of inferior rank, has been justly regarded as a poetical fiction: the notion involved in it, however, that in the first ages the human race existed in the lowest state of civilization, or that of the mere consumers of the spontaneous productions of nature, has maintained its ground; and the generally received opinion has aclowest in the scale of civilization, (the commonest arts having, according to his statement, ubi infr., been unknown to them,) but also to have been one which was characterized by an unrestrained compliance with all their natural inclinations, so as in fact to give them no advantage over the brute creation beyond the faculty of reason,τῶν τότε γυναικῶν ἀναίδην μισγομένων οἷς av évτúxoiev.—Euseb. Præp. Evan. lib. i. cap. 10., in Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 6.

1 Works and Days, book i. ver. 159 et seq.: Cooke's Translation.

FROM THE SAVAGE TO THE CIVILIZED STATE. 43

cordingly been, that from this first state mankind progressively ascended through the several conditions of the hunter, the herdsman, and the agriculturist; until, in this last state, an absolute property having been acquired in the ground thus subjected to cultivation, the residences of mankind became fixed and permanent, and societies by degrees were formed, at first simply patriarchal, but which, from their subsequent increase and union, required the institution of laws for their government and mutual protection; whence ultimately resulted the establishment of monarchies and other forms of civil rule.

In whatever manner these ideas may have been modified, it is certain that the general principle above referred to, has been recognised by all physiologists, historians, jurists, political economists, and others who have treated of the primitive state of man, and of the rise and progress of society'.

The late Baron Cuvier, than whom no one might seem better qualified to impart to the world new and correct ideas on a subject so deeply interesting to the entire human race, follows the opinions of those

1 See Grotius, de Jure Belli ac Pacis, lib. ii. cap. 2. ¶ii; Blackstone, Comment., book ii. ch. 1., or (fifteenth edit., by Prof. Christian,) vol. ii. p. 3-8.; Paley, Principles of Moral and Polit. Philos. book iii. parti. ch. 3.; and Sadler, Law of Population, vol. i. p. 136; vol. ii. p. 572. Professor Macculloch, also, I am informed, has distinctly advocated the same view of the subject, in his lectures on Political Economy, recently delivered in the University of London.