"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."-Heb. xi. 7. "From mountain slope to mountain slope, Have mercy God! in mercy spare ! The waves swept by the bridegroom's side, And loosed the mother's passionate clasp,- And love's last weak despairing grasp : Vainly the little children cried ; Mid jests of those that higher stood, And curse and scoff, and blasphemy, Till solemn silence covered all, For dumbness, silence deeper than NOAH-THE DELUGE. The event with which his name is associated-Difficulties physical and moral-The theory of partial Deluge not at variance with Scripture-The extreme wickedness of the race-Mercy as well as judgment in the catastrophe-In spite of difficulties, no alternative but to believe in the event-Testimony of Scripture explicit-Corroborated by other evidence - Geology-History - Tradition - Mercy shown in what preceded the Deluge-And in the gradual manner in which it took place. HE name of Noah is associated with the most awful catastrophe which has occurred in the history of the human race. And, before attempting any delineation of his character, it will be necessary that we should glance not only at the history, but the physical and moral difficulties with which it is beset. In a work of this nature our notice of them must necessarily be very brief; but it would neither be justice to the reader nor to the subject, consistent with honesty, nor conducive to usefulness, to pass them by in silence. The physical difficulties have arisen chiefly, if not entirely, from hasty interpretations at variance with scientific discovery, which have proved to be uncalled for by the text, and are now rejected by the most accurate and scientific expositors. In this, as in other things, theories have been crudely formed on insufficient grounds, and even after increasing light has revealed their fallacy they have been clung to, and dogmatically maintained, to the perplexity of honest thinkers. Scientific facts, however, have at length led to the reinvestigation of the sacred narrative; and the application to its language of such principles of interpretation as are used in other parts of Scripture, has shown that it contains nothing at variance with scientific discovery, but that, on this, as on other matters, God's book of nature is strictly in harmony with His book of inspiration. The theory of a universal deluge, by which every portion of the globe was simultaneously inundated, presents immense difficulties. After all the ingenious attempts which have been made to crowd into the ark representatives of all species of animals by which the earth is peopled, the fact remains that it is geometrically impossible to crowd so much living bulk into the dimensions specified.* When we turn to the pages of inspiration, we find that the theory of a deluge covering the entire planet rests on the most insubstantial grounds; and is at once and easily disposed of by a principle of interpretation, the soundness of which, when applied to other parts of Scripture, is generally acknowledged. The part of the narrative which bears upon this point is contained in Gen. vii. 17-24: "And the flood was forty days upon the earth: and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the See Smith's Dictionary-Noah, vol. ii. p. 570. The Flood Universal as to Mankind. 107 earth, and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered. And 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. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days." This language is unquestionably very sweeping and very distinct. It cannot be doubted that it affirms the entire extinction of life within the limits to which it relates. The question is what are those limits? And to aid us in determining this we need to bear in mind: First, that the Flood was sent in consequence of the wickedness, and to rid the earth of the presence of man; and that supposing the human race to have been confined, as was probable at that early age of the world, to one locality, it is natural to conclude that the Flood would extend only so far as was necessary for that purpose. Keeping this in mind, let it be noticed, Secondly, that "this sort of language is common enough in the Bible when only a small portion of the globe is intended. Thus, for instance, it is said that 'all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn:' and that 'a decree went out from Cæsar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.' In these, and many similar passages, the expressions of the writer are obviously not to be taken in a literal sense. Even the apparently very distinct phrase, 'all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered,' may be |