5. We will cite one more historical fact to establish this theory The existence of a tribe of negroes has been traced (as stated in Chap. 16.) to near the date of Noah's flood, whose organization indicates a very near approach to the animal; thus showing, that, if they are descendants of Adam, he himself must have possessed an inferior or defective moral organization and character. 6. Let the reader, after noting these facts, read the history of the practical lives of the earliest races or nations whose deeds have been recorded, and he will find they sustain the same proportion; that their defective moral character corresponds (_ceteris paribus_) to the remoteness of the era in which they lived. The history of the Jews themselves illustrates and corroborates the proposition, as the character of the modern Jews is far superior to those of the era of Abraham and Moses. 7. Once more: The fact that the moral character of nearly all nations is constantly improving, proves beyond question that man once occupied a much lower plane, and that, instead of falling from a state of moral purity, he is constantly ascending toward that condition. 8. The current belief of man's primitive moral perfection is easily traced to its origin. Nearly all the Oriental nations had a tradition of a "golden age," when the most sublime and unalloyed bliss was the lot and enjoyment of the _genus homo_. But the serpent that beguiled Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit in Eden, the serpent who stole the recipe of immortal life in Assyria, the entering of Typhon into the golden paradise of Osirus in Egypt, the opening of Pandora's box in Greece, the piercing of the evil egg by Ahrimanes in Chaldea, the machinations of the snake in India, of the lizard in Persia, and the demon in Mexico, seem to have all had an agency in defeating the omniscient designs of Deity, and placing the reins of government in the hands of the world's omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient evil genius, thus prostrating for ever the great and glorious plans of Infinite Wisdom. CHAPTER XXXV.--ORIGINAL SIN AND FALL OF MAN.