was four hundred and fifty feet
long, seventy-five wide, and forty-five deep; and was constructed so
curiously as to hold specimens of all known animals and birds, with
provisions for them for more than ten months.

(M23) This sacred ark or ship, built of gopher wood, floated on the
world's waves, until, in the seventh month, it rested upon the mountains
of Ararat. It was nearly a year before Noah ventured from the ark. His
first act, after he issued forth, was to build an altar and offer
sacrifice to the God who had preserved him and his family alone, of the
human race. And the Lord was well pleased, and made a covenant with him
that he would never again send a like destruction upon the earth, and as a
sign and seal of the covenant which he made with all flesh, he set his bow
in the cloud. We hence infer that the primeval world was watered by mists
from the earth, like the garden of Eden, and not by rains.

(M24) "The memory of the Deluge is preserved in the traditions of nearly
all nations, as well as in the narrative of Moses; and most heathen
mythologies have some kind of sacred ark." Moreover, there are various
geological phenomena in all parts of the world, which can not be accounted
for on any other ground than some violent disruption produced by a
universal Deluge. The Deluge itself can not be explained, although there
are many ingenious theories to show it might be in accordance with natural
causes. The Scriptures allude to it as a supernatural event, for an
express end. When the supernatural power of God can be disproved, then it
will be time to explain the Deluge by natural causes, or deny it
altogether. The Christian world now accepts it as Moses narrates it.

CHAPTER II.

POSTDILUVIAN HISTORY TO THE CALL OF ABRAHAM.--THE PATRIARCHAL CONSTITUTION,
AND THE DIVISION OF NATIONS.

(M25) When Noah and his family issued from the ark, they were blessed by
God. They were promised a vast posterity, dominion over nature, and all
animals for food, as well as the fruits of the earth. But new laws were
imposed, against murder, and against the eating of blood. An authority was
given to the magistrate to punish murder. "Whosoever sheddeth man's blood,
by man shall _his_ blood be shed." This was not merely a penalty, but a
prediction. The sacredness of life, and the punishment for murder are
equally asserted, and asserted with peculiar emphasis. This may be said to
be the Noachi