Pre-Adamite Man; or the story of our old planet, etc

Front matter

PRE-ADAMITE MAN; or, The Story of our Old Planet and its Inhabitants, told bv Scripture & Sciet, BY MRS GEORGE JOHN C. DUNCAN. " Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee ; And the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee ; Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee : And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." Job xii. 7, S. Fifth Edition L oudon : James Nisbet and Co., 21 Berners Street. 1866. Right of Translation reserved. Edinburgh : Printed by John Greig cf- Son. >

Preface

TO THE EIFTH EDITION. AN this occasion, for the first time, the Authoress allows her name to appear on the title-page. Till this change was made, she felt debarred from such personal allusions as she would ere now have been glad to make, and several mistakes have been the result. The reviewers of her book, to whom, generally, she desires to express her sincere obligations, at first attributed the authorship to a male hand. Some may suppose that this would have been esteemed complimentary, seeing that the lords of the creation monopolize so jealously, and as yet so successfully, the best opportunities of mental culture. But, whether or not, she took care in following editions to correct that impression, acknowledging at the same time her large obligations to the higher learning of a friend of the sterner sex.

She now thinks that the time is come when she may cast off her disguise, and give a fuller ac count of the origin of "Pre-Adamite Man." It happened about a year and a half before its appearance, that while walking in the grounds of a friend several hundred miles from her home, she met with a severe but not danger ous accident, which confined her for several months to the house, and threw her on such resources for the occupation of her time as the kindness of many sympathizing friends sup plied. Among the books which flowed in upon her, and which she eagerly attacked, were several on Geology, a subject to which her old difficulties on the first chapters of Genesis had for some time been leading her attention, and which, therefore, was not altogether new, though extremely interesting. Former trains of thinking were thus summoned anew before her mind, as she read and pondered, when to her surprise and delight, in the midst of the confusion of thought and anxious speculation by which she was agitated, a theory suggested itself, wdiich seemed rapidly to develop into a wonderful truth, unravelling all her per plexities, explaining all her difficulties, and singularly glorifying the wisdom and goodness of the Creator.

V The more her mind dwelt on the subject, and the more she read and reasoned, the more distinct and well-knit became the various parts of what now assumed the character of a new system of anthropology, quite in unison with revelation, equally so with the discoveries of science, and fitted to obviate difficulties which had perplexed many intelligent believers. At length, fairly enamoured of the subject, she gave herself to diligent study ; and searching with great earnestness into all sources of infor mation and intelligence that opened to her, she found objections one by one disappear, and the system which had been gradually taking form, beginning to assume an admirable unity, symmetry, and consistency. The dry bones, as in the vision, came together, bone to his bone, flesh and skin clothed them ; and, as she looked, she became persuaded that she had made a discovery which must come in aid of many, who, fearless in the investiga tion of truth, had never found the way by which truth in Scripture and truth in science could be fairly reconciled.

To her own satisfaction, at least, here was the connecting link, possessing which, the geological difficulty vanished. b VI Naturally desirous to spread her new acqui sition wherever it might be profitable, she sought the counsel of friends whom she could trust ; and by their advice, though as yet an entire stranger to authorship, and shrinking from publicity, she resolved to give her ideas to the world without publishing her name. She soon found that she had thus undertaken a great deal more of labour and research than she had contemplated ; for it is one thing to persuade one's self j and quite a different thing to instruct others. This, however, she gladly undertook ; and having access to some of the best libraries, she made it her business to investigate all that had been written on kin dred topics.

She especially studied with close attention every book of the Bible with refer ence to the subject. She endeavoured, at the same time, to bring all probable objections to the test ; and having thus armed herself, as she thought, at all points, she felt ready to lay her mature thoughts before the public. But how was this to be done ? She had no experience in bookmaking ; and, unaided, she might well have shrunk from so formidable an effort. But all such difficulties were happily obviated by the willing assistance rendered by her husband, who, though sus pending his own adhesion to her theory, con tributed the literary skill and labour by which the materials were arranged and prepared for the press. To him it also owes the critical exegesis needed in several parts of the inves tigation, for which she does not pretend to possess the requisite learned attainments.

The Authoress is truly happy to be assured that many most intelligent minds have been convinced of the truth of her principles ; and have seen in them a safe answer to the cavils of infidel anthropologists, who ignore her theory, or refuse to look at it. 18 Pembridge Gardens, Bayswater, W., 25th December 18C5.

PREFACE.

TO THE THIRD EDITION. TN submitting the third edition of Pre- Adamite Man to the eye of an indulgent public, the author is glad of the opportunity of thanking them for the spirit of candour with which her book has been received and canvassed. This is the more gratifying, as the theory it advances, as far as she has the means of judging, is quite original. The theological lucubrations of Isaac de Peyrere, noticed in the preface of the first edition, which have been, to some extent, elucidated by several of the reviewers, have not the remotest analogy to the views which the writer has ventured to propound, and, in fact, locked up as they are in an ill-printed volume of what has been described as very cramped Latin, had only been cursorily brought under her notice by a friend, after her book was far advanced towards completion. It seems desirable, also, to state that the X

PREFACE.

TO THE THIRD EDITION. argument is in no respect founded on any alleged discovery of implements in the drift of pre-Adamic ages, which came to the author's knowledge after the work had passed through the printer's hands, and was added by her to the proof sheets, only as a possible corrobora tion of her theory ; and she begs now to add that, having since visited St. Acheul, near Amiens, and having obtained some of the alleged antediluvian implements on. the spot, together with a portion of the sand in which they were imbedded, she has been led to doubt very much whether those objects, after all, owre their peculiar appearance to the hand of man. It is remarkable that the particles of sand, put under a powerful microscope, present very much the same appearance as those larger chipped flints, suggesting the idea that the same process of attrition which shaped the one may have produced the marks of chipping on the other.

At all events, she is not confirmed by this visit, but rather the reverse, in the belief that she is entitled to appeal to this source as confirmatory of her views, but she does not believe that her argument will be much affected by this circumstance, the sub stantial foundation on which it rests being based, as the title bears, on conclusions de rived from " Scripture and Science." PEEFACE. BRE-ADAMITE MAN ! The idea suggested by this title would, till lately, only have excited a smile ; and on this, as on most subjects, some ridiculous absurdities have been written. Isaac de Peyrere, about two hundred years ago, maintained, with many arguments, that St Paul affirms the. existence of a pre-Adamite race when he speaks of those " who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's trans gressions," Romans v. 14 ; and a modern writer claims Moses as on the same side, because he speaks of the sons of God as of a different race from the daughters of men, who, unquestionably, were descendants of Adam (Genesis vi. 2). Though the public have no sympathy with such reasonings, the subject, unquestionably, is awakening, at present, a serious interest,

PREFACE.

. XII and demands deliberate investigation. Infi delity seems to expect, from recent disclosures, a new argument wherewith to resume its assaults upon the Bible ; while the Christian hears, without alarm, but not without a de sire for further information, of discoveries hostile to cherished opinions, which, if not derived from Scripture, have, at least, been held by many as resolutely as if they were. Some of these discoveries are of the latest date, and even since our going to press the investigations of geologists have brought im portant facts to light. M. Boucher de Perthes, who attempted, some years ago, but with little success, to draw attention to stone implements found in the drift near Amiens and Abbeville, which he asserted must have belonged to antediluvian, or rather pre-Adamite times, has just produced a new work — the result of years of application — in which he proves, to his own satisfaction, the theory he has adopted ; and while the last sheet of this volume is in the printer's hands, the periodical press is diligently drawing public attention to this most interesting topic. " The Geological Magazine" devotes some space to its discus sion, and the scientific journals are likely, ere

PREFACE.

. XIII long, to be fully occupied with it. One extract from the intelligent letter of Mr Flower of Croydon to the editor of The Times, will shew how the subject strikes some inquirers : — "The discovery of these relics of a race which seems to us to have been of far greater antiquity than any that has hitherto been supposed to have inhabited our planet, involves many interesting and difficult questions. We feel as much at a loss to imagine who those were thus contemporary in France with the mammoth and the hippopotamus, as Robinson Crusoe was perplexed by seeing the footprints of his mysterious visitor in the sands of his desert island. Nor is this the only perplexity in which we are involved. How are we to account for the circumstance that no trace of human bones has been found associated with these implements ?" &c. In the question with which this extract concludes, there is suggested a subject for inquiry and reflection of the gravest interest.

Intimately mingled with these stone implements, which it is believed could only have been formed by the ingenuity and for the use of man, numerous mammalian remains, such as bones and teeth, are found.

PREFACE.

. Why are there none of the men themselves ? Human bones and teeth are not so perishable as to account for their total absence. On this subject M. de Perthes thus states the case : — " Comment n'y aurait-il pas eu d'hommes, puisqu'il y avait sur la terre, tout ce qu'il faut pour faire vivre les hommes ? La preuve c'est que les grands mammiferes y vivaient, et Ton sait que l'homme peut exister ou ils existaient. " Sans doute, la possibilite du fait n'est pas le fait, mais c'est une grande presomption. . . " Ma conviction est done entiere a, cet egard, a l'epoque du dernier cataclysme, qui a change la surface de notre planete, et meme long temps avant, l'homme y existait, et Ton doit y rencontrer ses os."* Why, then, are they not found ? M. Perthes still expects that they will be, though, as he has now, personally or by deputy, examined large regions with much perseverance, in vain, we are disposed to give him credit for more faith than reason in cherishing this hope. In the course of the inquiry which this book pursues, the difficulties suggested above are * " Antiquity Celtiques et Antediluviennes," p. 22.

PREFACE.

. XV fairly met, and the premises laid down are followed to their legitimate conclusions. By some readers these may be regarded as fanciful because they are new. But in the belief that those who are likely to take an interest in this subject, are too enlightened to refuse to the book a candid hearing, the Author commits it to the public, assured that the success of the argument will be estimated, not by the prejudices or prepossessions of education, but by a deliberate judgment of the facts and reasonings it adduces. Blackheath, March 1. 1862. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. The Morni:;g Advertiser. Some well-meaning, but narrow-minded persons, take up a work of this kind with remarkable distrust. Weak in faith, and ignorant of scientific truths, they perpetually look forward to the discovery of some discrepancy between the story told by Moses, and that which the rocks and hills have handed down to us.

They fear that Genesis and geology will some day be 6hewn to be at variance— that science and Scripture will con tradict each other. This feeling is fostered by the overweening conceit of some superficial thinkers and writers on the subject, who are merely conversant with a few of its elemental truths and principles, but whose sceptical tendencies induce them to distort all they see to their one great object of disproving the truth of the Mosaic narrative. The author before us, however, exhibits a profound and earnest reverence for Scripture, and at the same time, a deep and varied knowledge of the scientific truths which bear on the theory which she advances. This theory is startling by reason of its novelty — it exhibits great originality in its conception, great power, great knowledge, vast and varied ability in the method of its treatment — and, without committing ourselves to the author's views, we must do her the justice to admit that she displays much ingenuity in supporting her theory.

It will not be expected that in these columns we should enter into any detailed discussion of the author's notions, either from a scientific or from a theological point of view. . . . We can only, therefore, speak favourably of the work so far as regards its simple earnestness, the originality of its conceptions, the eloquence and elegance of its style and diction, and the large amount of interesting information on the subject treated, which is communicated in a very lucid, popular, and pleasing manner. The Geologist, an Illustrated popular Monthly Magazine of Geology. Hardly have geologists agreed as to the possible existence of men amongst the mammoths, than the subject is regarded in its theological bearing, and a volume, by no means unpreten tious, is placed on our table. The Morning Herald.

Those who wish to become acquainted with the arguments pro and con on this theory of pre-Adamite Man, cannot do better than consult the very learned and able volume which now lies before us. Its author has evidently studied the sub ject most thoroughly, and approaches it in a spirit of candour and reverence, which will produce its due effects upon the mind of the student. . . . The stores of learning which the writer brings to bear on the subject, render the book valuable to men of more than ordinary attainments. . . . The illustrations to the volume are admirable, and convey better than any mere explanation that which the author intends to set forth. The book is one, alike fitted for the study of the philosopher and the table of the library, as a companion to the geologist in his rambles, and the instruction of the mechanic in his nstitute.

The John Bull The book possesses a fascination which we believe few of its readers will be able to withstand, and whatever we may think of the theory of the writer, we cannot agree with some of our contemporaries who have denounced the work as a wicked attempt to beguile men from the truths of Revelation. Th? speculations of the writer are conceived in a devout and reve rent spirit, and where this is the case, we need not fear to " speak to the earth, and it shall teach us." The Athenæum. For a mere poetical vision, few subjects connected with ter restrial possibilities are fitter than a pre-Adamite race of human beings. Plumed for such a flight, fancy might soar above the Aonian Mount, while she pursued things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. She might wing her adventurous way to the remotest region of some pristine Armenia, and only furl her plumes when she hovered over the pre-Edenic Eden. . . .

We are reluctantly compelled to put off our singing robes, to lay aside our lyre, unwreath our garlands. From fancy to fact the passage is painful. We should prefer to remain in the sun tinged clouds, but our author has brought us plumb-down, and must not be surprised if we feel rather sore after the fall. It is not as a poetical dream that our anonymous scribe takes up the pre-Adamite conception, but as a sober verity, to be con firmed by Scripture and science, and to be argued for in plain, logical, and geological prose. Dumfries and Galloway Standard and Advertiser. The idea of a pre-Adamite race has something more to sup port it than mere imagination. The authoress of the volume does bring forward many strong facts and arguments from both Scripture and science, in favour of her hypothesis, and sets them before the reader with much ingenuity and eloquence.

She appeals on its behalf to the word of God, and to the testi mony of the rocks. She is obviously a diligent and devout student of both records, and consults them with a reverence and earnestness, which will beget respect even in the minds of those who may come to the conclusion that her theory is un tenable The book, though of a considerable size, we read almost at a sitting, so interested did we soon become in " the story " it tells, and so attractive did we find its style and illustrations. We cannot altogether subscribe to the views enunciated, but they are withal so beautiful to contemplate, and they explain so satisfactorily some hard passages of Scripture, and several puzzling problems of geology, that we would fain believe them XX to have some good foundation. The field of inquiry opened up is almost new ; it has been glanced at by others, but our authoress has the credit of being the first to explore it, and present it in a systematic form.

The Morning Star. . . . The tone of the book is eminently reverential, and evinces the highest possible respect for the inspired record ; and although the theory propounded by its author will ap pear to most persons startlingly novel, yet if it be accepted, it will be found to afford a complete explanation of a discre pancy of which many writers have before now availed them selves, to impugn the credibility of the Mosaic record of creation. No one, consequently, need be deterred from the perusal of this very remarkable volume, by a fear that its perusal will have a tendency to diminish his implicit trust in the teaching of Scripture. The motive which impelled the writer to enter into the inquiry was an admirable one, and the spirit in which it is pursued deserves the highest praise. We do not purpose to offer a positive opinion with regard to the truth of the theory, which has evidently been arrived at through a long course of careful research, and which is sus tained by a great amount of, to say the least, plausible rea soning. ...

In a narrative, remarkable alike for the extent of sound scientific knowledge displayed, and for the eloquence and poetic beauty of its style, each successive era of the six day creations is described ; and this portion of the work would alone suffice to give it a very high value, from the demonstra tion embodying unimpeachable facts, in language thoroughly comprehensible to those who are entirely destitute of techni cal knowledge, that the various objects in the matinal uni verse were really created in the order set down by the inspired penman. ... It is impossible to avoid feeling that the author has suggested an explanation of the origin of Satan, and the good and evil angels, and their interest in the concerns of man, which, if it can be accepted, will clear up much that has hitherto presented grave difficulties to the most thought ful mind. . . .

The book is in every respect one of the most remarkable that has appeared for a considerable period. . Every student, and more especially every student who feels an interest in the loftiest themes that can engage the human intellect, should make it his duty to read this work ; and at the same time, those who are utterly unversed in science cannot peruse it without reaping from it both profit and de light. The Illustrated News of the World. We cannot say that we are convinced of the author's reasoning, but we freely admit that the argument throughout is fraught with ingenuity, and displays a thorough acquaintance with science. If our readers suppose that such a thesis is merely imaginary, they will be not a little surprised at the calm and consistent logic that pervades this book, and the marvellous skill with which the discoveries and conclusions of science are marshalled in support of the author's hypo thesis.

Some of these are so startling, that we feel our long cherished notions somewhat staggered by them. The book is likely to create as great a sensation as the celebrated " Ves tiges of Creation," but unlike that work, it is characterised by a frank modesty, which immediately wins the reader's favour, and it contains nothing derogatory to the orthodox views of the Deity. The British Standard. This is curious reading for people whose business is amuse ment. The geological argument is, of course not only recognised, but elaborated. The days of creation constitute the subject of several chapters, all interesting and amusing, if not highly instructive. The book is necessarily one of speculation, but the thinking is always well regulated, often profound, and pervaded by a spirit of devotion. The book on the whole ought to excite attention, and we doubt not that, in the end, it will do so, although time may be required to bring anything so solid, scientific, and recondite before a thoughtless generation. c CONTENTS.'

Chapter I. Contrast Of The Two Mosaic Histories Of The Creation Of

MAN. " 'I he works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." — Psalm cxi. verse 2. TN the first and second chapters of the Book of Genesis, we find two distinct accounts of the Creation of Man, materially differing from each other, yet generally interpreted as referring to the same event. To my mind, this interpretation has long presented serious difficulties. My embarrassment began by comparing the two accounts of the creation of the winged tribes, as given in these chapters respectively, where the difference strikes the careful reader at once. In chapter i., at verses 20, 21, 22, we read that on the fifth day, " God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open A firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind, &c. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." But in chapter ii., verses 18, 19, we have the following account, " And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." In the former of these passages, the flying fowl after his kind seems to have been pro duced from the waters. In the latter, the same creature is formed from the ground. I ascertained indeed, that some translators have rendered the Hebrew of the first chapter, so as not necessarily to imply more than that the fowl were created on the same day with the fishes.

But this translation is not generally recognised by Hebrew scholars, and cer tainly is not countenanced by the apocryphal Jewish writer Esdras (2 Esdras vi. 47), whose authority as a learned ancient Hebrew, will probably not be disputed in a point like this. Granting, however, that it might be right, still my difficulty was not solved, for while in the first chapter these and many other tribes of the lower animals come into existence on the fifth day, and therefore before man, in the other, man is made and placed in the garden of Eden before the creation of these humble races, which were formed by a special act of God intended to minister to a felt ne cessity of his newly-created child. — Chap. ii. 18, 19. Perplexing as the attempt to reconcile these passages in the usual way thus appeared, a further examination made it more and more so ; nor was it till I came to understand the theory of some of the most advanced Chris tian geologists regarding the Mosaic history of creation, that I obtained any satisfactory light on the subject.

I was thus led, with a conviction which has become always stronger by reading and reflection, to perceive that the true way of explaining these passages is to refer them to two distinct creations, belonging respectively to periods far removed from one another, and occurring under conditions extremely different. I hope, by and by, to give sufficient reasons for adopting the belief, now so generally re ceived by thinking persons, that the six days of creation were in fact six ages, or cycles ot ages, and I shall have to appeal to geological and astronomical discovery in addition to the Bible, in support of my views. If my readers will kindly and patiently accompany what follows to the end, I hope to make it plain, not only that my reading of those passages is right, and that the views thus suggested are perfectly consistent with all the doctrines and principles of evangelical religion, but that they cast a light on some of the sublimest topics of our holy faith.

I hope to see a way opened for further discoveries of the divine wisdom, holiness and power, in the dealings of God with this lower world and the creatures whom He has placed upon it, and thus to be made an instrument of good, though a very humble one, in the hands of Him who makes it one of the rules of His administration, by "the weak things of this world, to confound the things that are mighty." That the difficulties attending the usual mode of interpreting these passages may be more distinctly seen, I will begin by present ing in parallel columns, as follows, the different subjects treated in each, under five divisions, along with the passages themselves ; quoting in full such verses only as seem important for immediate reference. I do not affirm that Moses, as an inspired writer, was precluded from giving a second account of the same transaction, or from there expanding the nar ration by an addition of particulars omitted in the first and fainter sketch, but if we are to look upon the second chapter as standing in this relation to the first, we must at least expect that they will not be found contradic tory to one another, and that though the se cond must be more detailed than the first, there shall be no irreconcilable difference be tween them.

Let me ask the reader to exa mine them as they here appear — First Account. 1. Preliminary preparations. Genesis i. 1-11. Genesis i. 1. In the begin ning God created the heaven and the earth. 2. And the earth was with out form, and void ; and dark ness was upon the face of the deep i and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3. And God said. Let there be light : and there was light. 4. And God saw the light, that it was good : and God di vided the light from the darkness. 5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of Second Account. 1. Preliminary preparations. Genesis ii. 4-7. Genesis ii. 4. These [or the following] are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5.

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew : for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. PRE-ADAMITE MAN. the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament : and it was so. 8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land ap pear : and it was so. 10. And God called the dry land Earth ; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas : and God saw that it was good. 2.