stances of the destruction of the former world by means of the flood; and he relates that, on the subsiding of the waters, the ark, with its inhabitants, grounded on one of the points of a ridge of mountains, which was, from henceforth, to be remarkable amongst the inhabitants of the East, and to which, those saved from the deluge gave the expressive name of Ararat, or the CURSE OF TREMBLING, (which is the meaning of the Hebrew word) that the memory of the dreadful event from which they had just escaped might be handed down as long as the mountain was in being, on which they had been saved. We may also come to the same conclusion, when we consider the improbability of the ark floating quietly for nearly a year on the surface of an ocean as much affected by winds, and tides, as our present seas, being stranded in the immediate neighbourhood of the place whence it is generally, but erroneously supposed to have been first borne up by the waters: and, also, the equally improbable circumstance of any mountain of the old world bearing such a title as the curse of trembling, previous to any event, likely to call forth so remarkable a name. We must not forget, besides, that even those who support the idea of our now inhabiting the antediluvian earth, admit that the effects of the deluge were such as would probably prevent the recognition by those in the ark, of any part of the former countries they had known; as the surface must have been every where loaded with diluvial soils, of very great depth. All these reasons, taken collectively, and supporting the positive sentence of destruction passed upon "the earth that then was," leave no room to doubt as to the mode by which this sentence was put in execution. We may, therefore, conclude, that when the time was come, when this great revolution was to happen, the dry land began gradually and insensibly to sink, or the surface of the bed of the former ocean as gradually to rise; the whole accompanied with such a convulsion of the elements, such torrents of rain, and, probably, such peals of thunder, as would be calculated not only to make a lasting impression upon the minds of those who escaped; but to render the punishment of those who suffered from this Curse of Trembling the most awful and heart-rending that the mind of man can conceive!* The * We may apply to this subject the sublime expressions of the Inspired Psalmist, when alluding to the miraculous preservation of the children of Israel, pursued by the Egyptians; and it is even probable, that he had also in view the very event we are now contemplating. 66 "The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The living creatures upon the earth, of every kind, must then have been gradually swept from the elevations on which they would naturally seek safety and at the end of forty days the whole globe became again overspread with the same thin coat of water, from the effects of which it was "invisible" on the first and second days of the creation. Jamque mare et tellus nullum discrimen habebat ; For 150 days, or for about five months, this universal aqueous covering remained nearly sta"clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: "thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thun der was in the heaven: the lightenings lightened the "world; the earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in "the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known."-Psalm, lxxvii. 66 In the 104th Psalm, we find what may be considered a more direct allusion to the Creation, and to the period of the Deluge, in the following sublime passage. "Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should "not be removed for ever. "Thou coveredst it with the deep, as with a garment: "the waters stood above the mountains. "At Thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of Thy thun"ders they hasted away. "They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which Thou hast founded for "them. 66 "Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; "that they turn not AGAIN to cover the earth.” tionary; and it is from this long continuance of the waters upon the earth, that we can account, in a satisfactory manner, for many of the stratified appearances in the upper beds, which we had before remarked in the lower secondary formations. We feel quite assured, that though, by this great revolution, the face of all things upon the earth's surface was to become changed, yet the planet still retained its regular position, and place in the solar system, and must, consequently, have continued to be affected, as it was at other times, by the influences of the sun and of the moon. The action of the tides and of the currents, which we have before considered, must now have had a most powerful influence both during the rise, the continuance, and the abatement of the waters. The surface of the all-prevailing ocean must now have been covered with the wreck and ruin of the animal and vegetable world floated off in various directions, according to the currents, and the eddies, which must have every where prevailed. The soils of the old earth, loosened by the moisture, must now have become suspended in the turbid waters, and been deposited in the bed of the ocean as at other times, only in unusual quantity.* Dead bodies of every description, * In a former note, referring to the lately published work of Mr. Lyell, (see page 107,) we had occasion to observe swelled up by corruption, must now have followed the courses of the currents, and floated or sunk according to the state they happened to be in. Those of the larger animals more especially, would long continue floating on the waves, like strong bladders filled with mephetic vapours, and be hurried far from their natural climates, to excite the wonder and speculation of succeeding generations. At length the waters are permitted to subside; the full purpose of the Almighty has been accomplished. The earth and its inhabitants have been destroyed; and the waters are again to be " gathered unto one place," to let the dry land" once more 66 appear. What a scene now presents itself to the mind's eye! ! for no human eye could look upon it; even Noah himself could form no distinct idea of the state of the new earth, but by sending the wonderful effects of rivers, in transporting materials for the formation of secondary strata in the bed of the sea. The account given in that note, of the mud of the Ganges, in its daily course, will serve to give us some faint idea of the turbid state of the whole ocean, at this eventful period: and the sediments deposited by this catastrophe, added to the secondary formations in the antediluvian sea, formed in the space of 1650 years, will produce a much more consistent result than can possibly be extracted from the theories of Geology, which give an unlimited time to the age of the world. |