means having been taken for the preservation of all living species intended to people the new earth, from man to the minutest insect, the fountains of the great deep were broken up,' and the windows of heaven were opened ;-by some amazing convulsion, in which the agency of natural causes was probably employed, an irresistible and overwhelming flood poured over the face of the whole earth, and, amidst the jarring of commingled elements, the work of destruction was accomplished. This awful event is thus graphically described by Mr. Sharon Turner, in the concluding sentence of his able work on the History of the Creation, &c-'We can but faintly conceive the appalling scene. Mankind were sur prised, in the midst of their usual festivities and employments, by the sudden alarm of portentous danger, rapidly rushing on them from the blackening and howling sky. The sun wa: seen no more,―midnight darkness usurped the day,-lightnings dreadfully illuminated,-thunder rolled with unceasing fury,-all that was natural ceased; and, in its stead, whirlwind and desolation,-earth rending,-cities falling, the roar of tumultuous waters,-shrieks and groans of human despair,-overwhelming ruin,-universal silence, -and the awful quiet of executed and subsiding retribution.' เ In the history of these first ages, a most instructive lesson is taught us with regard to the nature and consequences of mere human talent, destitute of divine illumination. Wedded to earth, the infidel branch of the human family sought an earthly reward, and obtained it. They found out many inventions; they increased in wealth, and surrounded themselves with conveniences and luxuries. In the eager course of selfishness, the boundaries of knowledge were extended,— desire was enlarged,-the faculties sharpened, and the taste refined. But in this worldly progress what became of morality, and where was the place of religion? Alas! they had fled. The pursuits of the world are essentially grovelling; they debase, harden, and contract the heart. Sensuality brutifies it; passion inflames it; evil communications corrupt it. Avarice is grasping, pride is arrogant,-ambition bloody, Even science itself, when pursued in a worldly spirit, is full of snares; in its self-sufficiency it usurps the sceptre of heaven, and banishes God from the throne of the universe. The awful catastrophe of the Deluge presents the Almighty before our minds in the tremendous light of an avenging and unrelenting judge; and, in contemplating it, we seem to lose sight of the gracious attributes by which the Universal Parent is endeared to the hearts of His children. But, when we divest the event of those adventitious qualities which the excited imagination throws around it, and view it in the pure light of truth, we perceive that, after all, except as regards time and manner, there was nothing more dreadful than what happens in the ordinary course of Providence. Every thing that lives is destined by the condition of its nature to die, some in infancy,-some in the opening blossom of youth, some in the full vigour of matured faculties,—and some in hoary age. And what greater calamity than this invaded the animal creation when the flood swept them away? They died, indeed, together, and the mode of their dissolution was violent and unusual. But was there not, even in these very circumstances, much to alleviate the calamity ? What varieties of protracted suffering were avoided! How many pangs of heart-rending sympathy were spared! There were no torturing diseases, no restless nights,―no tedious watchings,-no orphan children,—no sorrowing parents,-no widowed wives,—no bereaved husbands. To perish by flood! It is one of the easiest of deaths. To die together! It is a consummation which affection desires. But beyond death! This is the awful thought--Mysterious and appalling dispensation! Scene of horror and despair! Yet, in this respect, the deluge was not different in its consequences from a common deathbed. The crisis was sudden, indeed, but if the world was taken by surprise, it was not for want of ample warning. During the eventful period in which the ark was building,—a period of a hun dred and twenty years,-Noah was 'a preacher of righteousness,' and the long suffering of God waited."* This intimates to us the opportunity which even to the very last was afforded for penitence, and shows to what extent the conscience was seared, and how irretrievable was the moral and religious character of the world. And what a warning does it afford to us! The world will never indeed be again overwhelmed by a flood-but every individual of the human family, generation after generation, will go down to the dust from which he was taken, and his soul will be required of him for final judgment. We know not when this event will occur to any individual; but we are daily warned that the time is at hand; and ought we not to have 'our loins girded about, and our lamps burning?' Nor must it be forgotten that the period is approaching when the world shall be destroyed, not indeed by water, but by fire; and that the latter catastrophe will come as suddenly and as little expected as the former. 'As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it also be in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.'* How happy will those be who shall have taken shelter from such calamities under the everlasting wings, and to whom, in whatever form the King of terrors advances, he shall prove a messenger of immortal glory! * 1 Peter iii. 20, and 2 Peter ii. 5. + Luke xvii. 26, 27. GENERAL INDEX. The letters, Sp, Su, A, and W, refer to the Volumes on A Abbott on the pleasure arising from Affliction, spiritual training by, Sp. Africa, swallows supposed to migrate Agents in developing plants, Sp. Agriculture, ancient Greek, A. 162 Agricultural labours, Sp. 234. Al- Alternation of day and night, W. 81 American blue-bird, migrates to the lation of blood, 97; Creation, bal- Animalcules, infusory, W. 149- Apple, the, Su. 95. A. 121. Lives Arago, M., on meteoric showers, W. Arch, history of the, A. 308. Animal structure, Sp. 92-103; se- Modifica- | Beans, Sp. 323. Its original state, 257. Argument, general summary of the, Artesian wells, Sp. 35. Arts, the origin of, A. 78-82. Con- Bee, the parental care of, Sp. 137. Arum cordifolium, heat of its spa- Beet, the, Su. 75. Athenians, their dress, A. 193. Audubon, his account of the migra- Autumnal Sabbath evening, A. 330. Avery's steam engine, A. note, 334. Axis, inclination of the earth's, W. B Babel, tower of, A. 287. Babylonians, their early dress, A.192. Banks, Sir Joseph, note by him on Beetle, hybernation of the, W. 200. Bell, Sir Charles, on pain, W. 20. flying, 234. Of vision, 238. Blacklock, Dr., instance of somnam- Bleaching, the art of, A. 236. Bodies, colour of, Sp. 18. Figure Bonnycastle's account of phospho- Boy, wild, found in Hansay morass, Brassica, or cabbage, Su. 64. |