THE SACRED HISTORY OF THE WORLD, ATTEMPTED TO BE PHILOSOPHICALLY CONSIDERED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A SON. BY SHARON TURNER, F.S.A. & R.A.S.L., PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES PREFACE. THIS second volume continues the attempt to trace the outlines of the sacred history of the world, as the phenomena of nature and the experience of life unfolds it to us, with such illustrations as the superior sources of our knowledge upon it more certainly supply. The former Letters were principally directed to consider it in the formations and system of the material laws and structure of our globe, and in the various classes of organic and sentient life which appear upon it. The present correspondence carries on the investigation; but is more particularly applied to observe and delineate the divine economy in its more special reference to mankind, and to exhibit the plans, and principles, and purposes, which seem to have been pursued with respect to them, and to the progression of human nature in their successive generations, and therefore in the conduct and history of human affairs, so far as the author has been able to perceive and to describe them. For this purpose he has selected such topics as he thought would most impressively and satisfactorily display them, and has endeavoured to elucidate his views by such facts and reasonings as have the greatest tendency to explain and support them. His rule throughout has been, to reason always from facts, to select such of these as were most applicable, and would give the largest and fairest prospect of his various topics, and to draw the correct inferences from them. He has tried to be careful never to press his conclusions beyond the boundary of the deductions which his groundwork warranted; |