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SUMMARY on THE ARGIJMENT.-:4-CHAP. II. SECT. xxrrr. 57
cannot object, because I have not denied a single particular of Genesis. My argument,
therefore, 1S conclusive to both." 7 V A ' >
‘OBSERVATION RESPECTING THE OPPOSITION or PRIESTS.-I-ICHAP. II.’
SECT. XXII. '
It has been observed to me, that it is useless to my theory or s stem to move the location
. . 3’
of the first inhabitants of the earth from between the seas to the East of the Caspian, and
that, by so doing, I should offend all the priests and devotees. I shall not give up an
argument founded in trutlz, whether it make for or against religion, as they may fancy,
to please any of them. It is not likely, then, that I should give up an argument which
I see is necessary not only to truth, but to the authenticity of the books of Genesis and
of Christianity also. It delights me to be able to place Genesis on a firm foundation,
by shewing that it is consistent with tradition, astronomy, and profane history. It
appears to me to be of the first importance to fix the situation of the first people where
I have placed it, instead of in the interval between the two seas, because it removes many
great and serious objections to the history, which are necessarily raised by the facts
pointed out by Baillie. Let it not be forgotten, that if philosophers had waited on
priests, they might still have been watching the sun running his diurnal course.‘
SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT.--CHAP. II. SECT. XXIII.
I have now, I think, proved, upon unquestionable evidence, that the Gomarians were
the Celtaa, and that they were situated to the East of the Caspian Sea. I have also
shewn, that this is not only not contrary to sacred writ, but that it is connected with
reasoning which explains the text of the sacred writer, and removes several great difficul-
ties. I shall, therefore, consider that I am justified in assuming it ‘as a proved fact.
I must now draw the reader’s attention to the famous UMBRIANS of Italy, and their
predecessors, their contemporaries, or their successors, the ETRUSCANS, by whom Mr.
Vallencey thought Ireland was colonized. There is no people on the face of the earth
whose history is more curious, or more involved in difficulty.
" I think it is very probable, that Mosrzs made the collection of tracts called Genesis, from the chronicles or
records of several of the patriarchal or Nomade tribes, which were first formed after the dispersion, taking such parts
of each as suited his purpose. This accounts for their difference of style, which is so evident in both the Hebrew
and the Greek, and, indeed, in the English also. The first tract ends with the 3d verse of the 2d chapter. The
second ends with the last verse of the 4th chapter. The third ends with the last verse of the 9th chapter. Then
come nine verses of chapter eleven, which form the fourth tract; and chapter ten forms the fifth tract. Considering
this collection of tracts in a religious point of view, of course no comparison can be made; but putting that con-
sideration out of sight, for the sake of argument, it is superior to most of the works of the Greek and Roman
historians. '
Ii