A New System | Page 7

afforded the usual place of retreat for ignorance to shelter itself.
It will therefore be my endeavour to specify and distinguish the various
people under these denominations, of whom writers have so generally,
and indiscriminately, spoken. I shall say a great deal about the
Ethiopians, as their history has never been completely given: also of the
Indi, and Indo-Scythæ, who seem to have been little regarded. There
will be an account exhibited of the Cimmerian, Hyperborean, and
Amazonian nations, as well as of the people of Colchis; in which the
religion, rites, and original of those nations will be pointed out. I know
of no writer who has written at large of the Cyclopians. Yet their
history is of great antiquity, and abounds with matter of consequence. I
shall, therefore, treat of them very fully, and at the same time of the
great works which they performed; and subjoin an account of the
Lestrygons, Lamii, Sirens, as there is a close correspondence between
them.
As it will be my business to abridge history of every thing superfluous
and foreign, I shall be obliged to set aside many antient law-givers, and
princes, who were supposed to have formed republics, and to have
founded kingdoms. I cannot acquiesce in the stale legends of Deucalion
of Thessaly, of Inachus of Argos, and, Ægialeus of Sicyon; nor in the
long line of princes who are derived from them. The supposed heroes
of the first ages, in every country are equally fabulous. No such
conquests were ever achieved as are ascribed to Osiris, Dionusus, and
Sesostris. The histories of Hercules and Perseus are equally void of
truth. I am convinced, and hope I shall satisfactorily prove, that
Cadmus never brought letters to Greece; and that no such person
existed as the Grecians have described. What I have said about
Sesostris and Osiris, will be repeated about Ninus, and Semiramis, two
personages, as ideal as the former. There never were such expeditions
undertaken, nor conquests made, as are attributed to these princes: nor
were any such empires constituted, as are supposed to have been
established by them. I make as little account of the histories of Saturn,

Janus, Pelops, Atlas, Dardanus, Minos of Crete, and Zoroaster of
Bactria. Yet something mysterious, and of moment, is concealed under
these various characters: and the investigation of this latent truth will
be the principal part of my inquiry. In respect to Greece, I can afford
credence to very few events, which were antecedent to the Olympiads. I
cannot give the least assent to the story of Phryxus, and the golden
fleece. It seems to me plain beyond doubt, that there were no such
persons as the Grecian Argonauts: and that the expedition of Jason to
Colchis was a fable.
After having cleared my way, I shall proceed to the sources, from
whence the Grecians drew. I shall give an account of the Titans, and
Titanic war, with the history of the Cuthites and antient Babylonians.
This will be accompanied with the Gentile history of the Deluge, the
migration of mankind from Shinar, and the dispersion from Babel. The
whole will be crowned with an account of antient Egypt; wherein many
circumstances of high consequence in chronology will be stated. In the
execution of the whole there will be brought many surprising proofs in
confirmation of the Mosaic account: and it will be found, from repeated
evidence, that every thing, which the divine historian has transmitted, is
most assuredly true. And though the nations, who preserved memorials
of the Deluge, have not perhaps stated accurately the time of that event;
yet it will be found the grand epocha, to which they referred; the
highest point to which they could ascend. This was esteemed the
renewal of the world; the new birth of mankind; and the ultimate of
Gentile history. Some traces may perhaps be discernable in their rites
and mysteries of the antediluvian system: but those very few, and
hardly perceptible. It has been thought, that the Chaldaic, and Egyptian
accounts exceed not only the times of the Deluge, but the æra of the
world: and Scaliger has accordingly carried the chronology of the latter
beyond the term of his artificial[6] period. But upon inquiry we shall
find the chronology of this people very different from the
representations which have been given. This will be shewn by a plain
and precise account, exhibited by the Egyptians themselves: yet
overlooked and contradicted by the persons, through whose hands we
receive it. Something of the same nature will be attempted in respect to
Berosus; as well as to Abydenus, Polyhistor, and Appollodorus, who

borrowed from him. Their histories contained matter of great moment:
and will afford some wonderful discoveries. From their evidence, and
from that which has preceded, we shall find, that the Deluge