Page:The negro's origin.djvu/15

Rh the spot of man's first joys, and his first sorrows as well? He who searches for truth has little to do with consequences, which often stand like spectres to frighten men from their honest pursuits. Such souls have received the command, "Go forward," and nought remains but to obey The single question here to be entertained is, Did Moses mean by the Gihon, his own familiar Nile? A common rule of criticism is, that an author must explain himself; though it be to the confusion of all judges and commentators. Let Moses then interpret Moses. This is the more necessary, when we consider that after him, 500 years elapsed before another Scripture writer mentions the word, Cush. Job indeed mentions it, but his era is uncertain. The first after Moses was undoubtedly David. If we credit the generations of these 500 years, with the same curiosity we ourselves possess, how were they to satisfy themselves with regard to the geographical position of the land encompassed by the Gihon? Must they not learn it from other