Itisuponthisandotherunimpeachablegroundsthat，asI
venturedtosaysometimeago，personswhoaredulyconversantwitheventheelementsofnaturalsciencedeclinetotaketheNoachiandelugeseriously；andthat，asIalsopointedout，candidtheologians，who，withoutspecialscientificknowledge，haveappreciatedtheweightofscientificarguments，havelongsincegivenitup。But，asGoethehasremarked，thereisnothingmoreterriblethanenergeticignorance；andthereare，evenyet，veryenergeticpeople，whoareneithercandid，norclear—
headed，northeologians，stilllessproperlyinstructedintheelementsofnaturalscience，whomakeprodigiouseffortstoobscuretheeffectoftheseplaintruths，andtoconcealtheirrealsurrenderofthehistoricalcharacterofNoah’sdelugeundercoverofthesmokeofagreatdischargeofpseudoscientificartillery。Theyseemtoimaginethattheproofswhichaboundinallpartsoftheworld，oflargeoscillationsoftherelativeleveloflandandsea，combinedwiththeprobabilitythat，whenthesea—levelwasrising，suddenincursionsofthesealikethatwhichbrokeinoverHollandandformedtheZuyderZee，mayhaveoftenoccurred，canbemadetolooklikeevidencethatsomethingthat，bycourtesy，mightbecalledageneralDelugehasreallytakenplace。Theirdiscursiveenergydragsmisunderstoodtruthintotheirservice；and\"theglacialepoch\"isassuretocropupamongthemasKingCharles’sheadinafamousmemorial——withaboutasmuchappropriateness。TheoldstoryoftheraisedbeachonMoelTryfaenistrottedout；though，evenifthefactsareasyetrightlyinterpreted，thereisnotashadowofevidencethatthechangeofsea—levelinthatlocalitywassudden，orthatglacialWelshmenwouldhaveknownitwastakingplace。Surelyitisdifficulttoperceivetherelevancyofbringinginsomethingthathappenedintheglacialepoch（ifitdidhappen）toaccountforthetraditionofafloodintheEuphratesvalleybetween2000and3000B。C。ButthedateoftheNoachianfloodissolidlyfixedbythesoleauthorityforit；noshufflingofthechronologicaldatawillcarryitsofarbackas3000B。C。；
andtheHebreweposagreeswiththeChaldaeaninplacingitafterthedevelopmentofasomewhatadvancedcivilisation。
TheonlyauthorityfortheNoachiandelugeassuresusthat，beforeitvisitedtheearth，Cainhadbuiltcities；Jubalhadinventedharpsandorgans；whilemankindhadadvancedsofarbeyondtheneolithic，nayeventhebronze，stagethatTubal—cainwasaworkeriniron。Therefore，iftheNoachianlegendistobetakenforthehistoryofaneventwhichhappenedintheglacialepoch，wemustreviseournotionsofpleistocenecivilisation。