Darwinism. The Noachian Flood / A lecture delivered before the Torquay Natural History Society, Jan. 31st, 1870

A lecture evaluates tensions between evolutionary science and the traditional account of a universal flood, arguing that biblical writers used ordinary, nontechnical language and that words like all should not be read as literal universals. It surveys linguistic usage and everyday examples to show how general expressions require contextual interpretation, and it confronts geological and physical objections to a recent global deluge, noting that the proposed mechanisms could not produce waters high enough to cover the highest mountains. The speaker argues the narrative is consistent with a non-universal or locally understood flood and that scripture need not assert scientific claims about Earth’s physical history.