Considerable as is the extension of the Septuagint Chronology beyond that of the Hebrew, certain developments made within the past few years demand, in the judgment of some, a much longer chronology even than this. The first grave doubts respecting the correctness of the commonly received dates of the creation of man, the deluge, and the dispersion of mankind, were suggested by the researches made into the histories and monumental inscriptions of the various nations of the East, particularly those of the Egyptians, Hindoos, and Chinese. Scholars found themselves unexpectedly carried back by these some thousands of years beyond what the standard chronology of Europe would allow, and could discover no satisfactory way of reconciling these widely different reckonings of time. The matter, however, for some years made but little way beyond the limited circle of these students of oriental literature. But antiquarian research, or archæology, as the pursuit is now more commonly termed, turned up from time to time other evidences of quite a different character, which seemed altogether to favor the longer chronologies of those ancient nations. In many parts of Europe, traces of man's bones, and of the works of man's hands, were found associated with the remains of various species of animals long ages since extinct, in caves, in mounds, in lakes, and sometimes buried at great depths beneath naturally formed strata of loam or gravel. Many of these relics, by their general appearance, or by the peculiarity of their construction, or by the circumstances in which they were found, are believed by many to carry

back the date of man's origin very much further than was ever imagined before.

Attempts not a few have been made by sceptics to array the above class of facts against the Sacred Volume, and by means of them to undermine all faith in its historic records. The vast antiquity held to be proved by them has been pitted against what have been termed the "comparatively modern dates" of the Bible, and the conclusion at once drawn therefrom, that it is no longer worthy of credence. A great parade of learning has frequently been made of late in this direction; arguments of various sorts, garnished with scientific technicalities, have been thrust before the public as so many conclusive proofs that the "Old Book" is doomed to be soon cast aside as a thing of the past. To all this we have here simply to repeat what has already been said in substance, that whatever may be the truth concerning the antiquity which these records and relics serve to indicate, and whatever bearing they may have on the chronology commonly attached to the Bible, they do not, and cannot, in anywise or degree, affect the inspired Record itself. Though they should entirely change the earlier dates, and substitute others in their room, the Bible would still remain intact. The blow thus aimed at this holy Book hits quite another mark-it is what the computations of men say, and not what the inspiration of God has given, that such assaults impugn. The friends of the Bible are quite as desirous to ascertain the correct dates of the great events spoken of in its early records, as are any of its enemies,

come the information from what source or quarter it

may.

The genealogical tables of the Bible, being more or less incomplete, its most devoted friends have differed in their estimates of the periods which they cover. "The extreme uncertainty attending all attempts to determine the chronology of the Bible," says Dr. Hodge, "is sufficiently evinced by the fact that one hundred and eighty different calculations have been made by Jewish and Christian authors, of the length of the period between Adam and Christ. The longest of them make it 6984, and the shortest 3483 years. Under these circumstances, it is very clear that the friends of the Bible have no occasion for uneasiness. If the facts of science or of history should ultimately make it necessary to admit that eight or ten thousand years have elapsed since the creation of man, there is nothing in the Bible in the way of such concession. The Scriptures do not teach us how long men have existed on the earth. The tables of genealogy were intended to prove that Christ was the son of David and of the seed of Abraham, and not how many years have elapsed between the creation and the advent." *

With these necessary preliminary remarks, we now come to the question proposed to be discussed, namely, What are the actual bearings of recent developments on the antiquity of the human race? Do they in any way affect the credibility of the Bible history? Do they offer

* Systematic Theology, Vol. II., p. 41.

any certain or satisfactory evidence that man has been an inhabitant of the earth for a longer period than the Bible either allows or warrants us to believe?

In order to survey and understand as correctly as possible the wide and obscure field to which this inquiry leads us, it is necessary that we take up our position upon firm ground, and as near as practicable to its confines. And this we shall now attempt to do. The remotest standpoint or date, concerning which most chronologers are agreed, or at least are so nearly agreed that we may consider it as settled, is that of Abraham's arrival in the Land of Promise; this we may put down, without material error one way or the other, as having taken place in the year 2000 B. C.-this being the mean of the dates given for this event by Hales, Jackson, Usher, and Petarius. This period is the beginning of reliable chronology, and this date is the earliest in the history of mankind on which we can safely stand. All dates beyond are involved in much doubt.

Taking then our stand in time by the side of the "Father of the Faithful" on his arrival in the plain of Moreh, the centre of his promised inheritance, our first inquiry is, To what numbers had the family of Noah multiplied, and to what extent had they overspread the earth at that date? We have no sources of information from which we can gather a definite or direct answer to this question. The history given us of the period intervening between the Flood and the arrival of this Patriarch in Canaan is extremely brief, being all comprehended within three short chapters. The first of these

is occupied with a relation of the promises and instructions with which Noah and his family left the ark, and commenced life on the reclaimed earth; the second is taken up with the genealogies or the names of the tribes into which the descendants of his three sons divided; and the third is devoted to an account of the confusion of tongues, and a further genealogy of one branch of the family of Shem. This comprises all the information handed down to us of this period in the sacred history.

In the genealogy of this one branch of the descendants of Shem, "we have a list of names, which are names and nothing more to us. It is a genealogy which neither does, nor professes to do, more than to trace the order of succession among a few families only out of the millions. then already existing in the world. Nothing but this order of succession is given, nor is it at all certain that this order is consecutive or complete. Nothing is told us of all that lay behind that curtain of thick darkness, in front of which these names are made to pass. And yet there are, as it were, momentary liftings, through which we have glimpses of great movements which were going on, and had long been going on, beyond. No shapes are distinctly seen. Even the direction of those movements can be only guessed. But voices are heard, which are as the voices of many nations."*

In the narrative of Abraham's call out of Haran, and of his subsequent movements in the Promised Land, we find several statements and numerous incidental allu

*Primeval Man, p. 81.