Genesis 10:32

By these were the nations divided, &c.— See Acts 17:26. From what hath gone before, it appears, that, to speak according to a general view of things, some instances excepted, the sons of Japheth peopled Europe; the sons of Shem, Asia; and the sons of Ham, Africa. But the question is, how came that fourth and late discovered part of the earth, America, to be peopled? For a full answer to this question we refer the reader to an excellent dissertation on this subject in the 20th volume of Anc. Univ. Hist. the authors of which have made it appear that, though it is very probable, the Phoenicians, AEgyptians, and Carthaginians might have planted colonies in that vast country, yet the bulk of the inhabitants must have come from the north-eastern part of Asia, particularly Great Tartary, Siberia, and the peninsula of Kamtschatka: and their remarks have been indubitably confirmed by the discoveries of that celebrated navigator, Captain Cooke. In the conclusion of their dissertation on this subject, they observe: "Thus have we endeavoured to evince, that the Americans were the descendants of Noah, as well as all the nations of the ancient world; which will likewise receive some further accession of strength from the traditions which the natives had about the flood, and the peopling of their country after that memorable event. The Peruvians believed, that there formerly happened a deluge, in which all the people of their continent perished, except a few, who escaped the common destruction by retiring into cavities or hollows upon the tops of the highest mountains, whose posterity at last re-peopled the world. Some traditional notions of that kind prevailed also among the ancient inhabitants of Hispaniola. There is likewise mention made in the ancient histories of Mexico of a general flood, which swept away the whole race of mankind, except one man and his wife. These two persons, according to them, had numerous issue; but all their children were dumb, till endued with the faculty of speech by a dove. To which they added, that the primitive language, spoken by the immediate descendants of the aforesaid pair, was split into such a variety of tongues or dialects, that they could not understand one another, and therefore were necessitated to emigrate into different regions, and these became the founders of different nations. Nay, some of the Americans expressly affirmed, that all men deduced their origin from four women, which seems to approach near the Mosaic history; all which traditional notions seem manifestly to imply, that some of the ancestors of the Americans were acquainted with the Mosaic history."

In confirmation, that all men are descended from one family, it has been observed, that there are many customs and usages, both civil and religious, which have prevailed in all parts of the world, and can owe their origin to nothing but a general institution; which institution could never have been, had not mankind been of the same blood originally, and instructed in the same common notions, before they were dispersed. Among these usages may be reckoned: 1st, the numbering by decads; 2nd, the computing time by a cycle of seven days; 3rdly, the observation of a seventh day as holy; 4thly, the use of sacrifices propitiatory and eucharistical; 5thly, the consecration of temples and altars; 6thly, the institution of sanctuaries, and their privileges; and, lastly, the universal tradition of a general deluge, and renewing mankind afterwards.