rupted again for the fake of man's iniquity; or as the text itself expreffes it, though the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, Gen. viii. 21. With refpect to this covenant of temporal bleffings given to Noah, and to the fecond covenant of future glory given to Chrift, muft St. Paul be understood to speak, when he fays, Godliness is profitable to all things, having promife of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. In any other view the words are capable of no expofition confiftent with experience; or with the admonitions of the Gospel, which warn the righteous to expect fufferings in this world but true it is, that for godlinefs' fake the promife of the life that now is was confirmed with Noah; and for the fame reason was the covenant of better hopes confirmed with Christ.

These allufions, and many more, suppose a reftoration of the earth after the flood, and a new bleffing given to it in virtue of God's covenant; and without this fuppofition I know not how to account for fome paffages in Scripture which speak of the goodness of the earth, and the great plenty it affords. How comes it to pass, that this very earth, curfed with barrenness, and to be a nursery for thorns and thiftles, is afterwards reprefented as flowing with milk and honey, abounding with oil and wine, and every thing useful and pleasant in life? Can you imagine this land of plenty to be part of the curfed earth, doomed to bear thorns and thiftles, and to weary out its inhabitants with toil and labour? Yet this is the cafe, if no alteration has happened; and it will be no easy work to reconcile these contradictions. But if the curfe upon the earth was expiated at the

flood, if the earth has been once more bleffed by its Creator, there wants no art or invention to folve this difficulty: the thing speaks for itself.

I will leave this point upon these reasons: whether they are fufficient to establish an opinion fo contrary to the prejudices of mankind, I know not; they seem to me at least to be worth confidering.

Let us confider now the ftate of prophecy after the flood, and upon what foot the religion of the new world fubfifted.

I find no new prophecy given to Noah after the flood, nor to any of his children till the call of Abraham. The reafon of it seems to be this; the power and fovereignty of God were fo manifeftly difplayed in the deluge, and made fo ftrong impreffions upon the few persons then alive, and came fo well attested to the fucceeding generation, that religion wanted no other fupport: when idolatry prevailed, and the world was in danger of being quite loft to true religion, without the interpofition of God, the word of prophecy was renewed; as we shall find when we come to that period.

It may seem surprising, perhaps, that, after so great a revolution in the world as the deluge made, God fhould fay nothing to the remnant of mankind of the punishments and rewards of another life, but fhould make a new covenant with them relating merely to fruitful seasons, and the bleffings of the earth. All that I can fay to this difficulty is this; I think I fee plainly a gradual working of Providence towards the redemption of the world from the curfe of the fall; that the temporal bleffings were first reftored, as an earnest and pledge of better things to

follow; that the covenant of the age given to Noah had, ftrictly speaking, nothing to do with the hopes of futurity, which were referved to be the matter of another covenant in another age, and to be revealed by him, whose province it was to bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

The law of Mofes, though a divine revelation, and introduced to serve and advance the great ends of Providence with respect to mankind, yet, being given in the age of the first covenant, was in all things made conformable to it; and was founded in no other express promises, than those of temporal happiness and prosperity; in no other exprefs threatenings, than those of temporal lofs and mifery. Abraham's temporal covenant was the fame in kind with Noah's, though much enlarged and reeftablished upon further promifes and affurances as the curfe upon the ground for the wickedness of Cain was of the very fame kind with the curfe of the fall; differing from it not in kind, but in degree.

But though the first covenant given to Noah, and the law of Mofes, founded upon the terms of that covenant, contain no exprefs promises of future rewards, yet is it not to be imagined that all who lived under this covenant were void of fuch hopes and expectations. If there were any fuch hopes before the flood, grounded upon the prophecy confequent to the fall, the coming in of the flood could not deftroy them; and the covenant of temporal bleffings given to Noah was so far from superseding better hopes, that it did mightily strengthen and confirm them. For if Noah and his forefathers expected deliverance from the whole curse of the fall, the actual deliverance

from one part of it was a very good pledge of a further deliverance to be expected in due time. Man himself was curfed as well as the ground; he was doomed to return to duft; and fruitful feasons are but a small relief, compared to the greatness of his lofs: but when fruitful feasons came, and one part of the curfe was evidently abated, it gave great affurance that the other fhould not laft for ever.

That Noah had fuch expectations himself, and transmitted them to his pofterity, feems evident from the peculiar bleffing which he beftows on Shem. Bleffed, fays he, be the Lord God of Shem: Canaan fhall be his fervant. God fhall enlarge Japhet, and he fhall dwell in the tents of Shem. Gen. ix. 26, 27. Why the God of Shem, and not the God of Japhet? As to the behaviour of these two fons toward their father, it was the fame; they joined in the pious office done to him; in this refpect then they were equal, and equally deferving of a bleffing: if any preference was due to either from the father, it was to Japhet his firstborn; for fo he was, though commonly last named when the fons of Noah are mentioned together. This being the case, how comes Shem to be preferred? And what is the bleffing conveyed to him? The temporal covenant it could not be, for that was before confirmed with all the fons of Noah. Day and night, fummer and winter, feed-time and harveft, were a common gift to the world, bestowed, as our bleffed Lord obferves, on the evil as well as on the good. The bleffing therefore peculiar to Shem was no part of the temporal covenant; nor was it any thing in the power of his father to bestow; for then his elder brother, equally obe

dient and respectful to his father, must have been served before him. Of what other bleffing Noah had any notion, can never be imagined, unless we feek for it among the hopes he conceived of further deliverance from the curfe, grounded upon the divine promise, that the feed of the woman fhould finally prevail; the right to which promife was conveyed to him before the flood, With thee will I eftablish my covenant, Gen vi. 18. For Noah had, not only the temporal covenant given to him and his fons, but he was alfo, as the Apoftle to the Hebrews tells us, heir of the righteousness which is by faith, ch. xi. 7. If this be the cafe, then Noah's bleffing is like unto Lamech's prophecy; for as Lamech forefaw that Noah fhould receive from God the covenant of the earth's restoration; fo Noah forefaw, that the greater bleffing ftill behind, even the covenant that should reftore man to himself and to his Maker, should be conveyed through the pofterity of Shem. This accounts for the preference given to Shem; for Noah spoke not his own choice, but declared the counsel of God, who had now, as he frequently did afterwards, chofen the younger before the elder.