22 OCTOBER 1887, Page 15

THE DOCTRINE OF THE FALL.

[To ran romans or THE “Sracreroa."] Sts,—I run thankful to my friend Miss Whately for showing you that the doctrine of the Fall is not so entirely exploded as you thought. For my own part, I cannot see how it can be disputed by any historical scholar reasoning upon facts. The gentlemen who argue from " missing links" may persuade them- selves of anything.

If your query implies that the first Egyptians were savages, it is simply a petitio principii. Our contention is that " God made man upright ; but they have sought out many inventions." Progress is not denied ; but in religion and morals, which are the life-blood of civilisation, the progress was downward, and required a revelation from without to turn it upward. According to the Bible, Egypt waa peopled by the immediate descendants of Noah. Their traditions placed the first human king, Moues, only one step from the gods. The oldest monuments, the Pyramids, have no trace of the idolatry that covers every inch of the later temples. The Pharaohs of Abraham and Joseph and Moses exhibit a distinct moral deterioration. I know nothing of the Chinese ; bat, unless I mistake, they, in common with all other nations, ascribe wisdom to their ancestors, and deterioration to their oaterity.—I am, Sir, erc.,