" The conclusion may be fairly drawn, in the words of the able translators and illustrators of Baron Cuvier's great work : ' We are fully warranted in concluding, both from the comparison of man with inferior ani- mals, so far as the inferiority will allow of such com- parison, and, beyond that, by comparing him with him- self, that the great family of mankind loudly proclaim a descent, at some period or other, from one common origin.'
" Thus, by an investigation totally independent of historical authority, we are brought to the conclusion of the inspired writings, that the Creator ' hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth' (Acts xvii, 26)." The more recent authorities on this question are : Prichard, Researches into the Physiological History of Mankind (Lond. 4 vols. 8vo, 1836-44) ; also Natural History of Man (London, 3d ed. 8vo, 1848) ; Bachman, Unity of the Human Race (Charleston, 1850, 8vo) ; Smyth, Unity of the Races (New York, 1850) ; Johnes, Philological Proofs of the Unity of the Human Race (London, 1846) ; Meth. Qu. Rev. July, 1851, p. 345; Jan. 1859, p. 162; Cabell, Testimony of Modern Science to the Unity of Mankind (New York, 1858, 12mo). See also Blumenbach, De gen. hum. Var. Nativa (Gott. 1776, 8vo) ; Quatrefages, in Rev. des Deux Mondes, L861 ; and the article Man.
III. The original capacities and condition of the first human pair have also formed the subject of much dis- cussion. It will be found, however, that the best con- clusions of reason on this point harmonize fully with the brief Scriptural account of the facts as they were.
1. It is evident, upon a little reflection, and the closest investigation confirms the conclusion, that the first human pair must have been created in a state equivalent to that which all subsequent human beings have had to reach by slow degrees, in growth, experi- ence, observation, imitation, and the instruction of others ; that is, a state of prime maturity, and with an infusion, so to speak, of knowledge and habits, both physical and intellectual, suitable to the place which man had to occupy in the system of creation, and ade- quate to his necessities in that place. Had it been otherwise, the new beings could not have preserved their animal existence, nor have held rational converse with each other, ncr have paid to their Creator the homage of knowledge and hive, adoration and obedi- ence; and reason clearly tells us that the last was the noblest end of existence. The Bible coincides with this dictate of honest reason, expressing these facts in simple and artless language : " And Jehovah God formed the man [Heb. the Adam], dust from the ground [ka-adamali], and blew into his nostrils the breath of life ; and the man became a living animal" (Gen. ii, 7). Here are two objects of attention, the organic mechanism of the human bod}-, and the vitality with which it was endowed, (a.) The mechanical material, formed (moulded, or arranged, as an artificer models clay or wax) into the human and all other animal bodies, is called "dust from the ground." This ex-
pression conveys, in a general form, the idea of earthy ■matter, the constituent substance of the ground on which we tread. To say that of this the human and every other animal body was formed, is a position which would be at once the most easily apprehensible to an uncultivated mind, and which yet is the most exactly true upon the highest philosophical grounds. We now know, from chemical analysis, that the ani- mal bod}- is composed, in the inscrutable manner call- ed organization, of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, lime, iron, sulphur, and phosphorus. Now all these are mineral substances, which in their various combi- nations form a very large part of the solid ground. (b.) The expression which we have rendered "living animal" sets bef.ire us the organic life of the animal frame, that mysterious something which man can- not create nor restore, which baffles the most acute philosophers to search out its nature, and which rea- son combines with Scripture to refer to the immediate agency of the Almighty — " in him we live, and move, and have our being."
2. But the Scripture narrative also declares that " God created man in his own image: in the image of God created he him ; male and female created he them" (Gen. i, 27). The image (resemblance, such as a shadow bears to the object which casts it) of God is an expression which breathes at once primitive sim- plicity and the most recondite wisdom ; for what term could the most cultivated and copious language bring forth more suitable to the purpose ? It presents to us man as made in a resemblance to the Author of his being, a true resemblance, but faint and shadowy ; an outline, faithful according to its capacity, yet infinite- ly remote from the reality : a distant form of the in- telligence, wisdom, power, rectitude, goodness, and do- minion, of the Adorable Supreme. As to the precise characteristics of excellence in which this image con- sists, theologians have been much divided. Tertuh- lian (Adv. Marc, ii, 5, 6) placed it in the faculties of the soul, especially in the power of choice between good and evil. Among the fathers generally, and the schoolmen after them, there were many different the- ories, nor are the later theologians at all more unani- mous. Many unnecessary disputes would have been avoided by the recognition of the simple fact that the phrase the image of God is a very comprehensive one, and is used in the Bible in more than one sense. Ac- cordingly, the best writers speak of the image of God as twofold, Natural and Moral.