God would not have drowned the world, but would have saved them from that destruction, as he did the great city of Nineveh, when they repented at the preaching of Jonah, though he had said, in an unqualified manner, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown:" the threatenings and promises of God, relating to men, are always to be understood as conditional, while man is a probationer.

But the building of the Ark continued to progress, and the time drew nigh when the prophecies of this singular character were to be fulfilled, to his honour and everlasting renown; or to fall to the ground, to his great shame and confusion.

No doubt, he had suffered abundance of ridicule, for his strange preaching and his stranger work, and perhaps, added to that, persecution, for they of his generation were a violent race of rebels against God; and had not his special providence protected the Ark, it is very probable they would have burned it, as often as Noah, with all his power, could have built it.

The Ark at length was finished, and six days were allowed to Noah and his family to remove into it, and to bring the several kinds of animals, and put them in their places, and to store away food for man and beast, for on the seventh, God would pour out his rains from Heaven, for God had said, "Yet seven days, and 1 will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.”—Gen. vii. 3.

How wonderful a sign was this-the huge vehicle

stood finished in their sight, when from the hills and fields came all beasts with fowls, by sevens and by pairs, male and female, voluntarily to the Ark, and went in last of all, Noah and his family went in, and God, by his invisible hand, shut and fastened the door!

Perhaps at this juncture, there were gathered together immense multitudes, to see the strange spectacle of a man's shutting himself up on dry land, to keep from drowning.

But while they mocking and wondering stood, to see from whence a flood should come, far in the south black clouds began to rise and scud along the heavens in frightful haste.

From the north, and from every point of the four winds, it was evident a dreadful storm was gathering unusual thunders began to rive the heavens, and terrifying lightnings to flash around; anon, the rains began to pour, the earth to tremble, the sea to spout its waters in tall cataracts to the stormy skies, through the opening fissures of regions sinking to the depths, beneath.

But it is probable, the millions of those countries thought this storm of no long continuance, but would be soon assuaged, as other storms had always been. But after several days of continual storm, and anxious expectation that the rain would cease, their hopes began to fail them, and horrors, instead of hope, possessed their souls, lest the fatal prophecy of the venerable Noah was indeed fulfilling. But there stood the steadfast Ark in its place-the waters already risen and involved its keel-every where the flood increased

with hastening fury-the vallies, it was evident, were fast filling-from the hills, whole rivers began to pour, bearing the earth, in many places, with trees and all their load, with roaring fury, to the vales beneath. Now, terrors began to seize their unbelieving souls, and fearful forebodings to shake their self-begotten confidence, while they fled from their houses, or their tents, in all the country where they dwelt, to the nearest hills or mountains. But still the flood pursued, and in awful haste climbed up their sides, enveloping the tallest trees beneath in a deep of dreary waters. As far as the eye could reach, nothing but one extended inundation could be seen: houses, with all the works of man, lay floating on its rippling tide, with beasts of every kind struggling in the waves with mighty death.

Far from the former haunts of man, on the mountains' rough and rugged sides, were seen crowds of men, with feeble women and children, climbing up, disputing as they scrambled through the tangled woods; whole droves of fleeing beasts, that bit and tore them. as they fled, each aiming at the highest point of land, to save the precious life.

Oh, what a sight was this to pitying angels, and to suffering men, that while they climbed, the weaker fell behind, worn down with the descending storm, they fall and roll downward to the black waves beneath, or sit in dead despair, till the unpitying flood engulfs them in its foam. But here, there is none should doubt, though mercy was denied the body, yet to the soul that sweetest balm was given, to all that mercy

sought, and bewailed their sins. But soon the highest hills were sunk beneath the flood; the race of man was extinct, except the eight who now outrode the prevailing waters, safe in the wondrous ark, the labour of more than a hundred years, and perhaps of more than a hundred men; a history of which we shall now give. See Clarke's Commentary.

When God said to Noah, make thee an Ark of gopher wood. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of. The length of the Ark shall be three hundred cubits, which is five hundred and forty-seven feet: let it be remembered that the ancient cubit was nearly twenty-two inches, which was ascertained by Mr. Greaves, who travelled into Greece, Palestine and Egypt, in order to be able to ascertain the weights, inonies and measures of antiquity.

Its length, therefore, was five hundred and fortyseven feet. The breadth of it fifty cubits, which is ninety-one feet two inches. And the height of it thiry cubits, which is fifty-four feet eight inches.

It is plain enough, therefore, that this vast vessel was amply large to contain all beasts and men, said to have been in it; and also, to contain food for them in abundance for more than twelve months.

Dr. Arbuthnot computes this vessel at eighty-one thousand and sixty-two tons burthen.*

A history of the Ark, as given in the Scriptures, of its containing every thing of all flesh, two of every sort, and food sufficient for their subsistence for a year, has been made an objection to the truth of the Mosaic Instory.-Gen. vi. 19. But to obviate this objection,

* Which is equal to a fleet of 81 ships of one thousand tons burden.

F

3

perhaps I cannot do better than to introduce, in this place, the following observations on the subject.

At the first view, the number of animals may appear so immense, that no place but the forest could be thought large enough to contain them. If, however, we come to a close calculation, the number of the dif ferent kinds of animals will be found much less than is generally imagined.

Naturalists have divided the whole system of zoology into classes and orders, 'containing genera and species.

There are six classes thus denominated. 1. Mammalia. 2. Aves. 3. Amphibia. 4. Pices. 5. Insectæ; and 6. Vermes. With the three last of these, viz. fishes, insects and worms, the question can have nothing to do.

The first class, Mammalia, or animals with teats, contain seven orders, and only forty-three genera, if we except the seventh order, i. e. all the whale kind, which certainly need not come into this account. The different species in this class amount (the whale kind excluded) to five hundred and forty-three.

The second class, Aves, or birds, contains six orders, and only seventy-four genera, if we exclude the third order, Anseres, or web-footed fowls, all of which could very well live in the water. The different species in this class, the Anseres excepted, amount to two thousand three hundred and seventy-two.

The third, Amphibia, are only two orders, reptiles and serpents. These comprehend only ten genera, and three hundred and sixty-six species; but of reptiles, many could live in the water, such as the tortoise,