caused Enoch to be taken from the earth without passing through death. 719 At length a reverend sire among them came, And of their doings great dislike declar'd, At the birth of Noah, in the year of the world one thousand and fifty-seven, the earth was full of inhabitants, and iniquity had increased in an equal proportion with population. For a considerable time, it should seem, the children of Cain, and those of the other branches of Adam's family, kept at a distance from each other. The former were ingenious, and made discoveries of mechanical and elegant manner. But the men of this race were idolators, and devoted their skill to the corruption of morals and the dishonour of God. The goodness was soon swallowed up through the prevalence of iniquity. The blandishments of vice prevailed. Gay amusements paved the way to immorality, and the neglect of devotion led to infidelity and idolatry. The patriarch had faith in God; and he knew that it was his duty to labour with zeal in the province to which he was called, leaving the event to him from whom he had received his communion. The advice of wisdom should ever be on the minds of youth. "My Son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." 728 Then from the mountain hewing timber tall, Began to build a vessel of huge bulk; Having declared his intention of destroying the whole race of sinners, except the family of Noah, the Almighty commanded the patriarch to build 66 an ark for the saving of his house; at the same 737 time giving him directions of what wood and fashion the vessel should be formed. Make thee an ark of gopher-wood, rooms shalt thou make in it, pitch it within and without with pitch. The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits. And behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven: but with thee will I establish my covenant: and thou shalt come into the ark; thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy son's wives with thee. And of every thing of all flesh shalt thou bring into the ark, and take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be food for thee and for them. Gen. vi. 14, 15. and God made fast the door. No sooner is the valuable cargo placed in the ark, and Noah with his wife and children entered, but the Almighty with a tender care is said to have shut them in. Gen. vii. 16. While we contemplate this awful scene, let us pause, and in the sublime language of revelation exclaim, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints! Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thy judgments are made manifest. Rev. xv. 3, 4. but all the cataracts In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, 824 the same day were all the fountains of the great opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Gen. vii. 11. 861 Anon dry ground appears, and from his ark The ancient sire descends with all his train; On sunday, November the twenty-seventh, God commanded Noah to leave the ark, with all the creatures that were therein. The disembarkation took up six days, and the day following was set apart for rest and the public worship of God. "And Noah builded an altar to Jehovah." Gen. viii. 28. 890 Such grace shall one just man find in his sight Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Gen. vi. 8. Happy are those persons who commit their concerns into the hands of providence, and who consult the will of the Almighty as their only director in the affairs of life! 892 And makes a covenant never to destroy The earth again by flood: 896 The Almighty not only gave laws to the first inhabitants of the new world, but he entered into a covenant with them, promising no more to destroy the earth by a flood. will therein set His triple coloured bow, "And God said this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you, and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between 900 me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant which is between me and you, and every living creature, and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh." Gen. ix. till fire purge all thinys new, Both Heaven and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell. Then shall the heavenly luminaries be quenched in their orbs; the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and all therein shall be burnt up: But even then, all those that believe in Christ, and with obedient love have called upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved with an everlasting salvation. May that be through grace our happy portion; and may its prospects be daily brightning upon us, till it shall open in its full lustre, and shine beautiful and glorious amidst the flames of a dissolving world. END OF THE ELEVENTH BOOK. BOOK XII. 24 till one shall rise Of proud ambitious heart : It is supposed that the first goverments were patriarchial, until Nimrod laid the foundation for kingly government. 33 A mighty hunter thencc he shall be styled 101. Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. And Jehovah came down to the city and the tower which the children of men builded. And Jehovah said, Let us confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: Therefore is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth. Gen. x. Witness th' irreverent son Of him who built the ark, Ham, the son of Noah, who was himself the father of a family, coming from the secret part of his parents tent, laid open to ridicule the frailty which he had accidentally there witnessed. None but fools will make a mock of sin: but to turn it into exultation, to triumph over the failings of |