iii, 20; 2 Peter ii, 5; iii, 6. And Paul speaks of it in a similar manner. Heb. xi, 7. It cannot therefore be doubted, that it is an authenticated portion of the sacred history of the world. The amount of the historical evidence by which this doctrine is sustained must also be taken into account. We have seen that memorials of it are incorporated with every system of heathen mythology; that three famous Triads arose out of reverential remembrance of the three sons of Noah; and that traditions of this event are found floating in the memory of mankind in every part of the world. Let us take these particulars together; and what will be the result? Let us admit that geological science holds the balances in equilibrio, and hesitates to pronounce any positive opinion on this doctrine. We have, then, the universal religion of mankind, the concurring history of all the nations of the world, and the direct authority of the word of God, all uniting to attest the reality of a universal deluge. We are content in these circumstances to leave the subject to the decision of every intelligent and Christian mind.

We cannot forbear to add the following excellent sentiments, from an author to whom we have been greatly indebted: "The true is true, at all times, whether we comprehend or like it, or not; it is therefore a hasty act of the mind, and not sound judgment, to reject the admission of the deluge because it does not suit our pre-adopted theories. It is wiser to mistrust them than to disbelieve what has been so authoritatively recorded. Most of the last series of geologists, and some of the present, have thought proper to discredit the interposition of the deluge, and have treated the idea of it, and its supporters, with mingled animosity and contempt. This is to be regretted, and will not deter the friends of intellectual religion from still desiring to see it in friendly harmony and coalition with real scientific knowledge. Nothing is done well by their disunion. The more you study geology, the more you will be convinced, that the opponents of the Mosaic deluge have not advanced one single step in accounting for the appearances and present state of things without it, nor will any degree of talent or labor be more successful that may choose to disregard it. For, as it is an event which has really occurred, it will be as impossible to form a true theory of the earth without it, as it would be to write an authentic history of England, and yet discredit or omit the Roman and Anglo Saxon or Danish invasions."-Turner's Sacred History, vol. ii, p. 307.

CHAPTER VI.

THE HISTORY OF MANKIND FROM THE DELUGE TO THE
DISPERSION.

Designs of God in the deluge-Affecting situation of Noah at its terminationCheering facts in his condition and prospects-Ararat-Noah's sacrifice-God's covenant with him—The rainbow-Noah's drunkenness-His prophecy-Condition and progress of mankind-Chronology of the period-Scantiness of materials for its history-Arphaxad-Cainan-Salah-Migration to Shinar-Time of its occurrence-Motives which induced it.

THE purposes of divine justice, in the punishment of a guilty world, were now executed; the designs of mercy, in the preservation of Noah and his family, had been fully answered; the intentions of infinite Wisdom, as to the future condition of the external structure of the globe, had been gradually accomplished; the ark rested on Ararat; and Noah "looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry." Gen. viii, 13.

It must be evident to every one who carefully peruses the sacred narrative, that the divine Being must have had some design in the infliction of the deluge, beyond the punishment of a sinful generation by an instant and violent death. If this only had been intended, it could have been accomplished in a single day; while, in the case before us, Noah was confined in the ark an entire year.

We think it extremely probable that this was designed to teach, that the Almighty in this procedure displayed a great and comprehensive purpose respecting the future destiny of mankind, and of the world which they were appointed to occupy. The length of time during which the waters covered the earth, must have produced a powerful impression on the family of Noah. It must have convinced them that nothing was too hard for the Lord, and that, in carrying out his plans, whether of judgment or of mercy, his resources of wisdom and power were fully equal to his designs. Besides, this lengthened period allowed the exercise and use of natural causes, for the accomplishment of the divine purpose, to the fullest possible extent. We do not refer to this, to derogate from the miraculous power which was exerted on that occasion; but we incline to think that this power was rather enhanced by the proof thus afforded, that all the energies and elements of the natural world were under the immediate guidance and control of

the moral Governor of mankind. Again: it appears to us that this extended period, during which the greater part of the world was covered with water, might, under the divine appointment, (seeing that "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years,”) have afforded opportunity for accomplishing many of those changes in the surface of the earth, which geology has so carefully observed, and so strikingly exhibited. Not that we entertain, for a moment, those extravagant theories which have been propounded, such as the entire dissolution of the globe, and its reconstruction, at the time of the deluge. On the contrary, it appears certain that a large portion of the surface of the earth remained after the flood in exactly the same state as that in which it had previously been. Hence we find Moses pointing out the geographical position of Paradise, and of the land of Nod; and to the same effect is the evidence furnished by the fact of "the olive-leaf plucked off;" proving that in this place, at least, not only was the surface of the earth left entire, but that even vegetation continued in vigorous action.

All this had been effected; and Noah, with his wife and his three sons, and their wives, "every beast, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark," (Gen. viii, 19,) and again inhabited the earth. These circumstances must have been deeply affecting to Noah and his family. No persons had been so immediately brought into contact with divine judgments, and preserved, as they had been. The thousands of their fellow-men, with whom they had lived in social intercourse, had been swept away with a sudden and terrible destruction; they themselves had been confined a whole year in the dreary solitude of the ark; while the earth lay shrouded in death, buried beneath a wide expanse of waters. But now they had emerged from that which had been at once their sanctuary and their prison; they again walked forth on the green earth in the sunlight of heaven, and felt that they had been preserved by the mighty power of God, and were appointed to renew the existence of the human family on the face of the earth.

Descending the mountain, and once more entering upon the ordinary business of life, these eight human survivors of the deluge were to renew the population of the world. Helpless as they then were, amid the wreck of almost everything in nature and in social life, in which their hearts had been before interested, or with which

their senses had been formerly acquainted, would it have been wonderful if they had loathed the life that was spared to them, and had, in desponding sorrow, laid themselves down to die? Happily, joy in their own escape, and the new hopes which they were encouraged to conceive, gave them vigor and fortitude to struggle with the difficulties of their condition. They saw the former phases of the heavenly bodies, the previous state of the atmosphere, the ordinary revolutions of the seasons, restored. They saw the energy of vegetation again exerted over the surface of the earth. They saw the lower animals again rejoicing and multiplying around them. They forgot their griefs in a recollection of the judgment which others had suffered, and in a contemplation of the mercies with which they themselves were surrounded; adapted their sentiments to their circumstances; clung eagerly together; and looked fondly forward to fairer days.

The ark rested on Mount Ararat. But the precise situation of this mountain has greatly exercised the ingenuity, and perplexed the inquiries, of Biblical critics. Shuckford labors to prove that it was situated near Saga Scythia, on the hills beyond Bactria, north of India; while others, and, we think, with better reason, suppose it to be in Armenia. It must be admitted, that Moses has not pointed out the situation of Ararat with the same precision with which he has marked the geographical situation of some other places, and particularly of Paradise. He simply informs us that the place where the ark rested was one of the mountains of Ararat; but in what part of the world this was to be found, he does not say. Hence, there is scope for inquiry and difference of opinion. The conjecture of Shuckford—that it was situated in India-has since been powerfully supported by Mr. Wilford; but we think the arguments of Mr. Faber unanswerably prove that Ararat was in Armenia.

Much reliance has been placed, in this argument, on traditions which prevail in both localities, to the effect that the ark rested on those mountains respectively. But when it is remembered that almost every ancient nation identified the circumstances of the flood with its own primitive history and geography, but small importance will be attached to any evidence of this kind; and, even apart from this objection, as the traditions which prevail in Armenia must be allowed at least to equal those which abound in India, no decision can result from such data.

The principal argument, then, for identifying Ararat with the

neighborhood of Cashgar is that which is based on Gen. xi, 2, which says, "They journeyed from the east," on their way to Shinar. And it is contended that, as Armenia lies to the north of Shinar, this passage proves that Ararat could not be situated in that country; but that Saga Scythia, on the borders of India, precisely answers this requirement. Several attempts have been made to avoid the force of this objection by writers who have believed that Ararat was situated in Armenia; and we think that Mr. Faber, following Granville Sharpe, has fairly solved the difficulty. We give his own words: "It does not appear to me that even this argument would decisively prove the appulse of the ark to have been in Cashgar, supposing our common English version accurately to express the sense of the original; because we are not obliged to allow that the early postdiluvians traveled in a direct course from Ararat to Shinar. They who contend that Ararat is to be sought for in Armenia, might easily reply, that the builders of Babel first journeyed eastward, then inclined to the south, and lastly turned their faces toward the west; which course would obviously make them arrive at Shinar from the east and they might fairly adduce, in favor of this conjecture, the testimony of Berosus, who expressly asserts that the ancestors of the Babylonians, in order to reach the place of their settlement, traveled by a circuit, or in a circuitous route, from the country where the ark of Xisuthrus landed after the deluge. But I do not conceive that this is the proper answer; neither do I conceive that the circuit mentioned by Berosus would correspond with such a line of march. The truth of the matter is, that Moses does not speak of the route by which mankind arrived at Babel, but of the time when they journeyed there. The Hebrew word, ill-rendered in our translation from the east,' denotes 'before,' in the sense either of time or place. When used to describe the course of the Hiddekel, it intimated, as we have seen, that the river flowed before Assyria, not to the eastward of it; and here it teaches us, in a manner exactly agreeable to the general context of the history, not that the builders of the tower discovered the plain as they journeyed from the east, but as they first journeyed; that is to say, in the course of their first general migration from Ararat, near which they would doubtless remain after the flood, until their numbers had sufficiently increased for the forming of new settlements. In this sense, accordingly, the passage is rightly understood by Josephus, who says not a single