shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee." The earliest period which is mentioned in the book of Genesis, for the marriage of any of the Antediluvians, is sixtyfive years; making then all the allowances which the nature of the case requires, since Noah was five hundred years old when his eldest son was born, and six hundred years old when he entered the ark, a period of between twenty and thirty years must be assigned for its construction.

What was the size of the Ark?

It would be altogether useless to enter upon any analysis of the almost innumerable statements which have been made, relative to the magnitude of the ark. It is sufficient here to state, that if the measure of the cubit mentioned by Moses, be fixed at a foot and a half, the burthen of the whole amazing vessel, must have been upwards of forty-two thousand tons. It is further to be observed, that after the nicest computation, and taking the dimensions of the ark with the greatest geometrical exactness, the most able calculators, and those most conversant with the subject have concluded, that if the most skilful mathematicians had been employed in the construction of this immense building, it would have been impossible to have fixed upon better proportions, or a more eligible plan, than those which are mentioned in the Mosaic history—an impregnable demonstration of the divine authority of the Bible, since it was impossible for a man in the time of Noah, or in the time of Moses, or in the time of any subsequent writer in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, in the state of navigation during the whole period, to have invented the description, much less have effected the construction, of an edifice like the ark, whose dimensions and proportions were so exactly adapted for its purpose to give security and shelter to the ransomed remnant of the human race, and of the animal creation, with the requisite accommodation and provisions for upwards of a year.

Did the Antediluvians receive the warnings of Noah during the construction of the Ark?

Notwithstanding all the difficulties interposed by

the immensity of the undertaking, and no doubt the ridicule and derision, if not the more active opposition of the reckless unbelievers, Noah at length, under the direction of Infinite wisdom, and the protection of Omnipotent power, finished the wonderful edifice of the ark. No doubt, that though derided and insulted, ridiculed for his supposed folly, and detested for the unwelcome intrusion of his humiliating remonstrances and gloomy predictions upon the scenes of dissipation, and pleasure, and vice, he still continued to warn the unhappy multitudes, and to implore them, by a timely repentance and reformation, to avert the impending judgment of God. But they were all besotted, all infatuated; they continued to sing, and to dance, and to play, to maintain their thoughtless revels, or their impious and detestable orgies of debauchery, "to eat and drink, to marry and to be given in marriage,"* until their harvest was past, their summer was ended; until the thunder-clouds, big with the approaching tempest gathered over their heads; and the earth upon which they stood, heaved with the tremendous convulsions of its approaching dissolution.

What was the æra of the Deluge?

In the year of the world, one thousand six hundred and fifty-six, and most probably about the time of our month of October, Noah received the divine_mandate to enter into the ark; and the animals under the direction, and by the miraculous influence, of God, repaired in their appointed numbers to their shelter. The preparations were finished; Noah obeyed; the four-footed and the feathered tribes, each according to its kind, were collected; and the door of the ark was closed. Then the storm of Almighty wrath began, and the guilty population of the world found no refuge from its fury. The palaces and the cities, the fields and the plains, the most elevated rocks and the most stupendous mountains, were gradually covered beneath the swelling surge; the last shriek of despair, from the last living human being, ceased to vibrate upon the blast; and the whole earth was

* Matt. xxiv. 38.

desolated by one irresistible, unbounded, overwhelming waste of waters. "All flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth and every man......and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark."

What was the calendar of the Deluge?

It has been stated, that it is not improbable that Noah and his family, consisting altogether of eight persons, entered into the ark in the second month of the Jewish civil year, corresponding with part of our September and October. The calendar of this melancholy year has been thus stated. In November, the fountains of the great deep were broken up. In December, the rain mentioned by Moses descended, and continued for forty days and forty nights. In January, the earth was completely buried beneath the waters. In the latter part of March, the waters began to abate. In the middle of April, the ark rested upon mount Ararat. In May, Noah was waiting the retiring of the waters. In June, the mountains appeared. Towards the close of July, the dove which Noah sent out, brought back the olive branch. August, the dove went out, and returned no more. In September, the dry land generally appeared. And on the twenty-seventh of October, Noah A. M. 1657. and his family went out from the ark.

In

What number of animals were preserved in the Ark? What number of animals entered and were supported in the ark during this awful period, has been generally stated in the Mosaic narrative, to have been seven males and females of those which were clean, and two of those which were unclean. The questions which curious inquirers have agitated upon this and other subjects connected with the deluge, have no connexion with the general credibility of the narrative. Moses has stated facts and he has done no more. That there are insuperable difficulties in the whole account, if human agency, in the arrange ments and conduct of Noah, and in the support and safety of the inhabitants of the ark, is exclusively to be regarded, must be evident to all who have paid

a moment's attention to the subject. But it must be remembered, that human agency was subordinate to the power and purpose of Him, "with whom all things are possible." Noah was but an instrument in his hands; HIS miraculous energy was employed; and in the whole transaction, HIS justice, holiness, omnipotence, and goodness, are to be acknowledged and adored.

What was the extent of the catastrophe of the Deluge?

It is not, of course, in unison with the design of this work, to enter into a formal discussion of the mode by which this tremendous judgment was inflicted upon a sinful world. It may be observed, however, briefly, that the language of God to Noah, compared with other passages in the divine writings, seem to designate a catastrophe far more extensive than is generally supposed. It is commonly believed, that by a continual and tremendous rain, the whole earth was overwhelmed, and the summits of the highest mountains were covered, so that all animals and all human beings perished, with the exception of those who were sheltered in the ark. But it appears, that the destruction was made more extensive than what this hypothesis supposes. Immediately prior to the deluge, God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth," i. e. together with the earth. The threatening then, alludes to the destruction of the earth upon which the race of Adam dwelt, as well as to the destruction of the sinners themselves. The apostle Peter, in describing the same event, says, that "the world which then was, being overflowed with water, perished ;"* and this destruction, he virtually declares, was co-extensive with that which will take place, when at the termination of time, the great conflagration shall consume the terrestrial globe. One of the best modern writers too, upon this subject, who has ably vindicated the Mosaic narrative from the cavils of geological sceptics, has shown, that the author of the book of Jobt has given the same account,

not only of the destruction of the wicked race themselves, but also of the foundation of the dwelling on which they existed. Two agencies in the deluge are mentioned in the Scriptures, "the windows of heaven were opened," alluding to the violent rains which descended; and "the fountains of the great deep were broken up," evidently alluding to the inroad of the sea upon the land. The character of this destruction, from the language of revelation and the present appearances of the earth, seems to have been the complete submersion of what was the Antediluvian habitable earth, with all the living beings it contained, beneath the waters of the ocean; and the elevation of what formerly was the bed of the sea above the waters; which former bed of the sea now constitutes the land, which has been the scene of human and animal existence, from the time of that appalling catastrophe to the present day. This representation is not only corroborated by the marine remains which are found upon the most elevated situations and in every quarter of the globe, but the most eminent geologists, who have even spurned at scriptural statements, and have attempted to invalidate the Mosaic narrative, have also confirmed the whole by stating, "That it is unnecessary to prove that our continents have formed the bed of the sea; there is no longer any division of opinions upon that point." But however complete was that tremendous destruction of the then inhabited globe, of which primeval ruin, so many convincing monuments are to be seen in every region of the world, it was repaired by the same Almighty Power by which it was caused; and the same energy, which at the time of creation called into existence animal and vegetable life, again clothed the rocks upon which the billows had dashed, and the plains over which the ocean had roared, with the verdure of the field or the foliage of the forest; again cleft the earth with rivers and sent the springs into the valleys; and again the mysterious Intelligence and Omnipotent Providence of God arranged for the perpetual population of the globe, until his own designs shall be completed, and the material creation abandoned to the flames,