A, M. 1656. A. C. 2349; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2256. A. C. 3155. GEN. CH. vi. 12. TO ix. 20.

of the vessel however was not to make way, (as they call | every thing that was to be contained in it. For it apit at sea,) but to preserve its inhabitants; and this it was pears from the sacred text, that the form of the ark was more capable of doing (as may be proved to a demon-rectangular; and being intended only for a kind of stration) than if it had been built according to the most modern model, even supposing the waters, from the first to the last, to have been never so boisterous. But this they were not: whatever storms and convulsions there might be in particular places, when the floodgates of heaven were at first opened, and the fountains of the great deep broken up, (and then the ark was not afloat,) the sacred text takes no notice of any rough weather till after the 150 days of the flood's gradual increase, when, upon the ceasing of the rains from above, and the waters from beneath, God sent forth a strong driving wind, but then the ark was at rest. So that all the time that the ark was afloat, or (as the Scripture expresses it) while it went on the face of the waters,' the winds were asleep, and the weather, though rainy, was free from all storms and angry commotions. Upon the whole, therefore, we may conclude, that, be the structure of the ark what it will, it was certainly suited both to the burden it was to carry, and the weather it was to live in; and on this, and sundry other accounts, upon experiment, perhaps it may be found to be the most complete and perfect model that ever was devised.

float to swim above the water, the flatness of its bottom did render it much more capacious. It appears from the same text, that this ark consisted of three stories, and the whole height of it being 45 feet, it may well be supposed that this height was equally divided among the three stories, and so each story was 15 feet high, only deducting a foot and a half, or one cubit, for the slope of the roof, or the cover of the upper story. It is likewise pretty well agreed by interpreters, that the lowest story was appointed for four-footed animals, as most commodious for them; the middle story for their provender, and what they were to live upon; and the upper story partly for the birds, and what they were to eat, and partly for Noah and his family, together with their utensils: and that each of these stories was spacious enough to receive what was to be put therein, will appear to any one who will give himself the trouble cof making a geometrical calculation.

Had we never seen a ship, and should be told what a number of men, and what a quantity of provision and merchandise one of the largest rates will carry, it would seem no less incredible to us than what Moses tells us of the things which were contained in the ark. The ark, according to his account, was 300 cubits in length, 50 in breadth, and 30 in height; and if we suppose the cubit, here mentioned, at the lowest computation, to be but a foot and a half long, yet was the length of it (according to that proportion) 450 feet, the breadth 75, and the height 45; and consequently the whole capacity 1,580,750 cubical feet, which was space enough, in all conscience, to receive every thing, and much more than

• For let us suppose, that without any addition of art, it was nothing more than an oblong square, whose length was sextuple to the breadth, and decuple to the height; it is demonstrable, tint a piece of wood of that proportion being lighter than the water, will be always supported by it. For instance, take a piank of oak exactly square, let it be one foot broad, six feet long, and seven or eight inches thick, answering the proportion of the ark; there is nobody, I believe, will say, that any waves or winds will be strong enough to break this piece of timber, potwithstanding its right angles. Now, let any solid of this fashion be multiplied in a decuple, centuple, or millecuple proportion, and let the force of the waves, and the invasive power of the wind, be multiplied also with it in the same proportion, the resistance of a rectangular solid (which is perfectly impenetrable, and exactly the case of the ark) will be proof against any given force whatever.-Bibliotheca Biblica, vol. 1.; Occasional AnnoLetions, 13.

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He who looks upon the stars, as they are confusedly scattered up and down in the firmament, will think them to be (what they are sometimes called) innumerable, and above the power of all arithmetic to count; and yet, when they are distinctly reduced to their particular constellations, and described by their several places, magnitudes, and names, it appears, that of those which are visible to the naked eye, there are not many more than 1000 in the whole firmament, and few more than half so many (even taking in the minuter kinds of them) to be seen at once in any hemisphere. And in like manner, he who should put the question, How many kinds of beasts or birds there are in the world? would be answered, even by such as in other respects are knowing and learned enough, that there are so many hundreds of them as cannot be enumerated; whereas, upon a distinct

'Wilkins's Essay towards a Real Character. Wells's Geography, vol. 1. c. 2.; Lamy's Introduction.

c Buteo has plainly demonstrated, that all the animals contained in the ark could not be equal to 500 horses; (the learned Heidegger, from Temporarius, makes them 400 oxen;) and yet it is not to be questioned, but that a building very near as long as St Paul's church, and as broad as the middle isle of that church is high within, is capable of affording stabling for such a number of horses.-See Dr Bundy's translation of Lamy's Introduction. Kircher (in his Ark of Noah, c. 8.) has given us large calculations of the dimensions of the ark, and from thence concludes, that this vessel was capacious enough to receive, not only Noah and his family, all other creatures and their food, but even an entire province likewise. Wilkins, (in his Essay towards a Real Character), and from him Wells (in his Geography of the Old Testament) have both entered into a large detail of things, and given us an exact and complete idea of the capacity of the ark, and of its proportion, together with what it might About the beginning of the last century, Peter Janson, a contain. Le Peletier (in his Essay on the Ark of Noah) follows Dutch merchant, caused a ship to be built for him, answering another English author, Bishop Cumberland, who, in his Disin its respective proportions, to those of Noah's ark, the length covery of the weights and measures of the Jews, has proved, that of it being 120 feet, the breadth of it 20, and the depth of it 12. the ancient cubit of the Jews was the old derah of Memphis; At first this ark was looked upon no better than as a fanatical whereupon Peletier allows 1,781,377 cubical feet of Paris for the Vision of this Janson, (who was by profession a Menonist,) and, whole contents of the ark, so that it might hold (as he pretends) whilst it was building, he and his ship were made the sport of 42,413 tons of lading. But a certain anonymous author has the seamen, as much as Noah and his ark could be. But after-published a dissertation upon the same principles, wherein he wards it was found that ships built in this fashion were, in the time of peace, beyond all others most commodious for commerce: because they would hold a third part more, without requiring any more hands, and were found far better runners than any made before.-Bibliotheca Biblica, vol. 1.

compares the ark to our modern ships, and computes its measure according to the tons it might contain, and thereupon makes it larger than forty ships of 1000 tons each.-See Dissertation, Historical, Chronological, Geographical, &c. d. 2.; Journal of Paris for January, 1712, vol, 51. p. 9.

A. M. 1656. A. C. 2349; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2256. A. C. 3155. GEN. CH. vi. 12. TO ix. 20.

inquiry into all such as are yet known, or have been described by credible authors, it will appear, that they are much fewer than is commonly imagined, 'not an 100 sorts of beasts, and not 200 of birds.

And yet, out of this number, as small as it is, we must except all animals that are of equivocal generation, as insects; all that are accustomed to live in water, as fish and water-fowl; all that proceed from a mixture of different species, as mules; and all that, by changing their climate, change their colour and size, and so pass for different creatures, when in reality they are the same. We must observe farther, that all creatures of the serpentine kind, the viper, snake, slow-worm, lizard, frog, toad, &c., might have sufficient space for their reception, and for their nourishment in the hold or bottom of the ark, which was probably three or four feet under | the floor, whereon the beasts are supposed to stand: and that the smaller creatures, such as the mouse, rat, mole, &c., might find sufficient-room in several parts of the ark, without having any particular places or cells appointed for them: so that the number of the several species of animals to be placed in the first, or lowest story, upon the foot of this deduction, stands thus:

Now, concerning these creatures God gives Noah this injunction; 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and the female; and of beasts that are not clean, by two, the male and the female. Taking the words then in their highest acceptation, namely, that Noah was to receive into the ark one pair of every species of unclean animals, and seven pair of every species of clean; yet, considering that the species of unclean animals, which were admitted by pairs only, are many in comparison of the clean, and the species of large animals few in comparison of the smaller; we cannot but perceive (as by a short calculation it will appear) that this lower story, which was ten cubits high, three hundred long, and fifty broad, that is, 225,000 solid feet in the whole, would be capable of receiving with all manner of conveniency, not only all the sorts of beasts that we are acquainted with, but probably all those other kinds which, are any where to be found under the copes of heaven.

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given every green herb for meat:' « Nor do there want instances in history of some very ravenous creatures that have been brought to live upon other kind of food than flesh. So that there was no necessity for Noah's providing so many supernumerary sheep (as some would have it) to feed the carnivorous animals for a whole year. The same divine providence which directed all the animals, of whatever country, to make towards the ark, which took from them their fierceness, and made them tame and gentle upon this occasion, might likewise beget in them a loathing of flesh, (supposing they eat it before,) and an appetite for hay, corn, fruits, or any other eatables that were most obvious in this time of distress. And as they were shut up, and could not-spend themselves by motion, but might have their stomachs palled with the continued agitation of the vessel, they may well be supposed to stand in need of less provision than at other times.

If then (to make our computation) we should say, that all the beasts in the lower story of the ark were equal, in their consumption of food, to 300 oxen (which is more by a great deal than some calculations have allowed,) that 30 or 40 pounds of hay are ordinarily sufficient for an ox for one day; and that a solid cubit of hay, well compressed, will weigh about 40 pounds; then will this second story, being of the same dimensions with the other, that is, 225,000 solid feet, not only allow a space for a sufficient quantity of hay, but for other repositories of such fruits, roots, and grain, as might be proper for the nourishment of those animals that live not upon hay; and for such passages and apertures in the floor as might be necessary for the putting down hay and other provender to the beasts in the lower story.

Upon the whole therefore it appears, that the middle

Heidegger's History of the Patriarchs, Essay 17. 5 Wilkins's Essay, part 2. c. 5.

a It is not to be denied, but that several learned men have taken great pains to provide flesh for the carnivorous animals shut up in the ark, when it is beyond all controversy that the stomachs of that such food would be more salutary both for them and their such animals are fitted for the digestion of fruits and vegetables: keepers, and would create a less demand of drink throughout the course of so long a confinement; and yet there is not the least foundation from the text to suppose, that any such provision was made for creatures of such an appetite, but several instances in history do show, that even the most rapacious of them all may be brought to live upon other diet than flesh. Thus Philostratus, in his Apollonius, b. 5, tells us of a lion in Egypt, which, though it went into the temple constantly, would neither lick the blood of sacrifices, nor eat any of the flesh when it was cut in pieces, but fed altogether on bread and sweet-meats; and Sulpitius Severus [Dial. I. c. 7.] gives us this account of a monk of Thebais.

When we came to the tree, whither our courteous host led us, we there perceived a lion, at the sight of which I and my guide began to tremble; but as the holy man went directly up to it, we, though in no small fright, followed after. The beast at ous approach modestly retired, and stood very quiet and still, while the good man gathered it some branches of apples, and as he held them out, the lion came up and eat them, and so went off." The

It is a pretty general opinion, and what seems to be founded on Scripture, that before the flood, both men, beasts, and birds fed only upon fruits and vegetables. * Behold I have given you every herb,' says God, bear-like story is told by Phocas in his Description of the Holy Land ing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat; and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life; I have

rite, named Iberus, fed with pulse and crusts of bread; and to c. 13, of some lions beyond the river Jordan, whom an Anchothe animals in the ark, feeding in this manner, the prophet Isaiah, speaking of the times of the Messiah, (ch. xi. 6, 7,) is supposed by our author to allude. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them; and the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw with the ox.'-Heidegger's History of the Patriarchs, Essay 17.

A. M. 1656. A. C. 2349; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2255. A. C. 3155. GEN. CH. vi. 12. TO ix. 20.

story of the ark was likewise large enough to hold all that was requisite to be put therein and as for the third and upper story, there can no manner of doubt be made, but that it was sufficient to hold all the species of birds, even though they were many more than they are generally computed. The accurate Bishop Wilkins has divided them into nine sorts, and reckons them to be 195 in the whole; but then the greatest part of them are so very small that they might well enough be kept in partitions or cages piled one upon another. The food necessary for their sustenance would not take up any great proportion of room, and the remainder of the story would make a commodious enough habitation for Noah and his family, together with little closets and offices, wherein to dispose of their several domestic matters and utensils.

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