their beloved Abel, wherefore Eve called his name Seth, or the appointed, "for," said she, "God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew."

ex

The inspired historian confining himself chiefly to the line of Seth, from whom Noah was descended, relates. but few particulars respecting the posterity of Cain, cept that some of them were the inventors of mechanical arts and musical instruments. Josephus, however, and other writers of great respectability have asserted that they were a reprobate and licentious people, totally regardless of their Creator, and wholly addicted to the gratification of their own impure passions, on which account they were designated, in Holy Writ, by the epithets of men, and daughters of men, while the pious descendants of Seth were distinguished with the honorary. appellation of the sons of God.

Of Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, and Jared, the progeny of Seth, Moses has taken no farther notice than to record their respective births "and ages: but Enoch, the son of Jared, appears to have been a person of such exemplary piety, that he is emphatically said to have walked with God, and, after a well spent life of three hundred and sixty-five years, he was translated to Heaven, without experiencing the bitter pangs of death. This illustrious character seems to have been blessed with several children, of whom Methuselah, the eldest, attained to the age of nine hundred and sixty-nine years.

B. C.

Adam, having seen a numerous progeny issue 3074 from his own loins, was at length obliged to bow before "the king of terrors," whom himself had introduced upon the earth by disobedience; and, he accord, ingly, yielded up his soul into the hands of his Creator, after a life of nine hundred and thirty years.

Various

conjectures have been formed respecting the place of his sepulture, though none of them can be established, for want of Scriptural authority. Thus, St. Jerome asserts, that his remains were deposited in the cave of Machpelah; the Oriental Christians say that he was embalmed by four of his descendants, and buried in a cave, on the summit of a mountain, which was afterward called the cave of Al-Konuz; and most of the primitive fathers suppose him to have been interred near that part of Mount Calvary where Jesus Christ, the second Adam, made, by his voluntary offering of himself, a full, perfect, and sufficient oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the world.

Religion seems to have been publicly and zealously maintained for some generations in the family of Seth; but, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and were, in all probability, straitened for want of room, an unfortunate junction took place between the righteous seed of this patriarch and the posterity of Cain, and ma trimonial alliances ensued, which gradually estranged the hearts of the true worshippers from the performance of their duty, and eventually brought in a spirit of licentiousness, which provoked the indignation of the Most High, and occasioned the destruction of the old world by a tremendous deluge. "The sons of God," says Moses, "saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." From these unfortunate marriages issued a generation which seems to have been equally famous for their extraordinary stature and impiety: these were called giants, and their descendants, who may be reasonably supposed to have followed the wicked and tyrannical conduct of their fathers, are distinguished by the epithets mighty men and men of renown.

In this posture of affairs, while vice and profligacy were daily gaining ground, and every religious duty was rapidly sinking into neglect, the Almighty determined to chastise mankind for their unrighteousness; but he graciously allotted them one hundred and twenty years for repentance, mercifully observing, that they were but flesh. As, however, they still continued incorrigible, and the friendly admonitions of * Noah were totally disregarded, God is emphatically said to have repented of the formation of such impenitent creatures, and to have decreed their destruction, together with that of the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air. The Divine Justice, however, was sweetly tempered with mercy, and a reservation was made, by which the earth might be replenished when the threatened deluge should subside.

B..C.

At the expiration of the hundred and twenty 2348. years which God had allotted for, the probation of rebellious mortals, Noah was commanded to enter the ark, with his wife, his sons and his daughters-in-law, taking with him all kinds of beasts, birds and reptiles, by pairs and by sevens, according to their respective natures, and in compliance with the Divine injunction; while the residue of mankind treated the threatenings of their Maker with contempt, and continued in a state of careless security, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that the flood camer and destroyed them all; even to that memorable day

Amidst this general corruption of morals, Noah retained his integrity, and persevered in the worship of his Creator, wherefore he and his family found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and received instruction to build an ark, or large vessel, for the preservation of his own race, and of every species of living See Genesis vi. 14.

creatures.

when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and those overwhelming torrents began to fall, which continued forty days without abatement or intermission. The waters, thus brought upon the earth, from the heavens above and from the depths beneath, augmented gradually for the space of five months, when they rose to a considerable clevation above the tops of the highest mountains, and every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the earth, except Noah and they that were with him in the ark *.

The awful decree of Omnipotence being thus accomplished, a wind was caused to pass over the earth, in consequence of which the flood began to assuage, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.

From this period, the waters subsided so rapidly, that, on the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the hills began to appear; and, toward the latter end of the ensuing month, Noah opened one of the windows in the ark, and let out a raven, which flew to and fro till the earth was dry, but brought him no satisfactory intelligence. He then sent forth a dove three times, intermitting seven

*This vessel, supposed to have been built in the form of an oblong square, with a flat bottom, and a sloping roof elevated one cubit in the middle, is said to have consisted of three stories, which were divided into apartments, and properly supplied with light and air, by means of windows. Its dimensions, allowing, the Scripture cubit to contain 21,888 of our inches, were 547.2 English feet long; 91.2 broad, and 54.72 high. Though it had neither sails nor rudder, it was well adapted for lying steadily on the water, and conse quently for preserving the lives of its numerous inhabitants.

days between each excursion. The first time she returned quickly, having found no resting place; the second time she remained abroad till evening, and then brought an olive leaf in her mouth, as a proof that the waters were greatly subsided; and the third time she returned no more.

On the first day of the first month, answering to the twenty-third of our October, Noah removed the covering of his ark, in order to take a view of the circumjacent scenery, and perceived that the earth was entirely cleared of the waters. He remained, however, on board the ark till the twenty-seventh day of the second month, or the eighteenth of December, when he came forth, by his Maker's direction, with his family and all that were with him, having continued, with his various charge, under the especial protection of the Deity, for the space of one year and ten days, according to the antediluvian computation; or, according to the present, three hundred and sixty-five days.

Thus was desolation brought upon the earth by the wickedness and impenitence of mankind; and thus was the love of God manifested in the preservation of the only family, consisting of eight persons, which retained the profession and practice of religion in the midst of universal licentiousness,