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PENNY MAGAZINE.

No 59.

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY.

JULY 20, 1833.

PRINTED AND FUBLISHED BY C. WOOD AND SON, POPPIN'S COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON.

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HISTORIC NOTICES AND MANNERS OF THE ARABIANS.

OUR engraving will receive its most edifying illustra tion from the history of the fulfilment of a divine prophecy. The Arabs, as most of our readers know, claim relation to the patriarch Abraham, as their worthy progenitor; and they trace their descent from his son Ishmael. Concerning that remarkable son of Abraham, the angel of the LORD declared to his mother, before his birth, "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael (God who hears); because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." Gen. xvi, 10-12.

Divine providence concerning Ishmael has been truly wonderful through all generations to the present day. His family so increased, that in the second generation afterwards they were among the principal merchants of the East. Hence we read of "Ishmaelites trading VOL. II.

into Egypt." Gen. xxxvii. His posterity became exceedingly multiplied in the people of several famous clans in Arabia. Some of these clans were denominated Hagarenes, probably from Hagar his mother; others were called Nabatheans, from his eldest sou Nebaioth; and others Itureans, from his son Itur. These people increased amazingly; and in the middle ages, under the terrible name of Saracens, overspread a third part of the earth, conquering many powerful countries, not only in Asia, but in Africa and Europe.

Ishmael himself subsisted by rapine in the wilderness; and his posterity, in every succeeding age, rendered Arabia dreadful to their neighbours by their predatory incursions. There are almost innumerable clans of the Arabs; and every petty chief, in his own district, considers himself a sovereign: but though seemingly divided, they are all united in a sort of league, which has been manifested in a remarkable manner in cases of the invasion of their country. They have lived in a state of continual war with the rest of mankind, generally robbers by land and pirates by sea. And as they have been such enemies to the rest of the world, it can excite no surprise, that, in return, mankind have always been enemies to them. On this ac

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count, travellers, in every age, have been obliged to traverse their country in caravans, or large companies, with arms for their protection; and to defend theinselves from the assaults of freebooters, to march with their sentinels, and to keep watch like an army. Thus, according to the literal meaning of the prediction, has been fulfilled the declaration of the angel-"His hand shall be against every man."

Mohamined, the famous Arabian impostor, was one of this people. His system of religion corresponded with the depraved character of his countrymen; and after his escape from Mecca to Medina, he assumed the command of his followers as their martial chief. Every year after his flight was marked by battles and assassinations. In the nine following years of his life, he commanded his army in eight general engagements, and undertook, by himself or his lieutenants, fifty military enterprizes.

The death of Mohammed, A. D. 632, threw a temporary gloom over his cause, and the disunion of his followers threatened its extinction. Any other empire placed in the same circumstances would have crumbled to pieces: but the Arabs felt their power; they revered their founder as the chosen prophet of God; and their ardent temperament, animated by a religious enthusiasm, gave an carnest of future success, and encouraged the zeal or the ambition of their leaders. The succession, after some bloodshed, was settled, and unnumbered hordes of barbarians were ready to carry into execution the sanguinary dictates of their prophet, and with "The Koran, tribute, or death,' as their motto, to invade the countries of the infidels. During the whole of the succeeding century, their rapid career was unchecked; the disciplined armies of the Greeks and Romans were unable to stand against them; the Christian churches of Asia and Africa were annihilated; and from India to the Atlantic, through Persia, Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Asia Minor, Egypt, with the whole of northern Africa, Spain, and part of France, the impostor was acknowledged. Constantinople was besieged, Rome itself was plundered; and nothing less than the destruction of the whole Christian world was meditated on the one hand, and tremblingly expected on the other.

All this was wonderful; but the avenging justice of God, and the sure word of prophecy, relieve our astonishment. It was to punish an apostate race, that the Saracen locusts (see Rev. ix) were let loose upon the earth; and the countries which they were permitted to ravage were those in which the pure light of revelation had been most abused. The Eastern church was sunk in gross idolatry; vice and wickedness prevailed in their worst forms; and those who still called themselves Christians, trusted more to images, relics, altars, austerities, and pilgrimages, than to a crucified Saviour. "About a hundred and eighty years from the foundation of Bagdad, during which period the power of the Saracens had gradually declined, a dreadful reaction took place in the conquered countries. The Persians on the east, and the Greeks on the west, were simultaneously roused from their long thraldom, and assisted by the Turks, who, issuing from the plains of Tartary, now for the first time made their appearance in the east, extinguished the power of the caliphate, and virtually put an end to the Arabian monarchy, A. D. 936. A succession of nominal caliphs continued to A. D. 1258, but the provinces were lost; their power was confined to the walls of their capital; and they were in real subjection to the Turks and the Persians until the above year, when Mostacem, the last of the Abbasides, was dethroned and murdered by Holagou, or Huluka, the Tartar, the grandson of Zingis. This event, although it terminated the foreign dominion of the Arabians, left their native independence untouched.

They were no longer, indeed, the masters of the finest parts of the three great divisions of the ancient world: their work was finished; and, returning to the state in which Mohammed found them three centuries before, with the exception of the change of their religion, they remained, and still remain, the unconquered rovers of the desert."

As to that part of the prediction which declares, "He shall dwell in the presence of his brethren," it has been most remarkably fulfilled. The country of Ishmael is situated in that part of the globe where society originated, and the first kingdoms were formed. The greatest empires of the world arose and fell around them. They have not been secluded from correspondence with foreign nations, and thus through ignorance and prejudice remained attached to simple and primitive manners. In the early period of their history, they were united as allies to the most powerful monarchs of the East; and their conquests extended over the most considerable kingdoms of the earth. Through successive ages the caravans of the merchant, and the companies of the Mohammedan pilgrims, have passed regularly over their deserts; even their patriarchal religion has undergone several total changes. Yet all these circumstances, which it might be supposed would have subdued the inost inveterate habits, produced no effect upon the Arabs: they still preserve, unimpaired, a most exact resemblance to the first descendants of Ishmael.

The Arabians are the only people in the world who have preserved their descent, their independence, their language, and their manners and customs, from the earliest ages to the present time; and it is amongst them that we are to look for examples of patriarchal life and manners. Sir Robert Ker Porter has given a very lively sketch of this mode of life, in the person and tribe of an Arab sheik, whom he visited in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates: He says, "I had met this warrior at the house of the British resident at Bagdad; and came, according to his repeated wish, to see him in a place more consonant with his habits, the tented field; and, as he expressed it, at the head of his children.' As soon as we arrived in sight of his camp, we were met by crowds of its inhabitants, who, with a wild and hurrying delight, led us towards the tent of their chief. The venerable old man came forth to the door, attended by his subjects of all sizes and descriptions, and greeted us with a countenance beaming kindness; while his words, which our interpreter explained, were demonstrative of patriarchal welcome. One of my Hindoo troopers spoke Arabic; hence the substance of our succeeding discourse was not lost on each other. Having entered, I sat down by my host; and the whole of the persons present, to far beyond the boundaries of the tent (the sides of which were open), seated themselves also, without any regard to those civilized ceremonies of subjection, the crouching of slaves, or the standing of vassalage. These persons, in rows beyond rows, appeared just as he had described, the offspring of his house, the descendants of his fathers, from age to age; and like brethren, whether holding the highest or the lowest rank, they seemed to gather round their common parent. I thought I had never before seen so complete an assemblage of fine and animated countenances, both old and young; nor could I suppose a better specimen of the still existing state of the true Arab; nor a more lively picture of the scene which must have presented itself, ages ago, in the field of Haran, when Terah sat in his tent-door, surrounded by his sons, and his sons' sons, and the people born in his house. The venerable Arabian sheik was seated on the ground, with a piece of carpet spread under him; and, like the ancient Chaldean

ancestor, turned to the one side and the other, graciously answering or questioning the groups around him, with an interest in them all which clearly showed the abiding simplicity of his government, and their obedience. On the smallest computation, such must have been the manners of these people for more than three thousand years; thus, in all things, verifying the prediction given of Ishmael at his birth, that he, in his posterity, should "be a wild man," and always continue to be so, though "he should dwell for ever in the presence of his brethren." And that an acute and active people, surrounded for ages by polished and luxurious nations, should from their earliest to their latest times, he still found a wild people, dwelling in the presence of all their brethren (as we may call these nations) unsubdued and unchangeable, is indeed a standing miracle; one of those mysterious facts which establish the truth of prophecy."

Arabian religion, we again remark, has changed. Originally it was the patriarchal, as was that of Abraham, embracing the only living and true God, and the tradition of Christ as the Redeemer of a guilty world: it became corrupted to idolatry, from which it was partially reformed by the imposture of Mohammed. Arabians were among the first converts to Christianity on the day of Pentecost, Acts ii, and the apostle preached the gospel in Arabia, Gal. i, 17. Patriarchal simplicity in their manners may still be retained by the Arabs, but they are included in "the fulness of the Gentiles," who are ordained to be brought into the Church of Christ. Rom. xi, 25.

BRITISH ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

No. VII. The mission of Augustin to the Anglo-Saxons. (Concluded from p. 209.)

CONFIRMED in his dignity by the authoritative grant of the pope, and in favour with the king, Augustin adopted various plans for the promotion of his ambition. Gregory had charged the king to destroy the idols and demolish their temples; but he afterwards sent instructions by Mellitus to pursue a different course, a policy adopted universally in that age. He directs Augustin to convert the idol temples into churches, consecrating them by sprinkling holy water, and placing under their altars some sacred relics of saints," of which he sent an abundant supply from Rome. As to the idolatrous festivals, he gives him these directions. "Whereas they were accustomed to kill many oxen in their sacrifices to devils, you may persuade them to make this change in that solemnity, that on the anniversary day of the dedication of their churches in honour of the saints whose names they bear, or whose relics are deposited in them, they may raise tents or booths about the same, and celebrate the solemnity with merry feasting; at which time they must not sacrifice their beasts to the devil, but kill them for meat to be eaten to the praise of God, their giver. By this means, while we allow them a continuance of their former jollities, their minds will more easily be brought to relish spiritual joys! For it will not be possible at once to draw such rude untractable minds from all their former customs; they will not be brought to perfection by sudden leaps, but leisurely by steps and degrees."

Augustin acted according to the criminal policy of Gregory in relation to the Saxon heathen festivals; and hence arose those shocking and immoral customs, of wakes, revels, and fairs, which are still held at the anniversaries of the dedication of churches in many

parts of England. How far this mode of proceeding differs from the practice of the apostles, may be judged from the direction of Paul to the Corinthians, "What concord hath Christ with Belial, and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." 2 Cor. vi.

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Meautime the poor Christian Britons, living peaceably at home, there enjoyed God, the gospel, and their mountains; little skilful in, and less caring for the ceremonies a la mode, brought over by Augustin: and indeed their poverty could not go to the cost of Augustin's silver cross, which made them worship the God of their fathers after their own homely, but hearty fashion; not willing to disturb Augustin and his followers in their new rites, but that he had a mind to disquiet them in their old service."

Augustin being thus confirmed by the pope in his new dignity as primate of all England, claimed jurisdiction over the ancient British Churches. These were considered schismatics: because, as Bede states, they did not keep the feast of the Passover on the same day with the Romans, "but observed many other things contrary to the unity of the church." By the assistance of King Ethelbert, Augustin summoned the British bishops to meet him in a synod, on the borders of the West Saxons, as is supposed on the boundaries of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Augustin informed them of his archiepiscopal authority, constituted by Pope Gregory, and made four propositions for their acceptance: First, To observe the Roman time of the Passover. Second, To adopt the Roman baptism and ceremonies. Third, To co-operate with him as the primate, and with the Roman clergy, in converting the Saxons. Fourth, To acknowledge the jurisdiction of the pope.

Much time was vainly spent in arguing: for the British were unwilling to believe that their religious customs were improper, or that the pope had any authority over them. Bede seems to intimate that the latter point was most strenuously urged: but they could not be moved, either by threats or promises. Augustin is said, therefore, to have proposed that the dispute should be decided by a miracle. A blind Saxon was introduced to the assembly; and when the Britons tried in vain to cure him, Augustin restored his sight by his prayers. "But whether the miracle admitted of some dispute, because the blind man was a Saxon; or Bede, who lived long after the fact, was wrongly informed, the Britons stood out against this evidence." All that Augustin could obtain on this occasion was a promise that they would meet again, and determine the matter in a more numerous assembly.

This second synod having been appointed, seven British bishops attended, from Hereford, Llandaff, St. Paterns, Bangor, Clwyd, Worcester, and Morgan, with Dinoth, abbot of Bangor, and several monks. Previously to the meeting they consulted an aged hermit, fained for wisdom and sanctity, how they should determine in this affair. He expressed his opinion that it was unreasonable to make alterations in divine service merely at the request of a stranger: but as the essence of religion consisted in union of heart, in charity, it would not be wrong in some degree to comply with Augustin, if he were a holy man, and really a messenger from God. The bishops desired to be informed how this could be ascertained: he replied, that they might know this by the most certain mark of a true Christian-humility; reminding them of the words of Jesus, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." They would see, he added, whether Augustin was endued with this virtue, by his respectfully rising to salute them on

their entrance into the place of meeting; for if he should not show them such courtesy, it would be a certain proof of his pride and irreligion. Agreeably to this counsel, they contrived to enter after Augustin was seated; when he allowed them to come in without any expression of civility, and thus their prejudices were confirmed.

In the synod, no arguments or entreaties could prevail on the British bishops to comply with the wishes of Augustin, either to adopt the Romish rites, or to receive him for their archbishop. Mortified pride appears to have urged the ambitious prelate to press his claims with increasing warmth, and to insist upon their submission to the pope; when Dinoth replied to this effect: "Be it known unto you, that we all are, and every one of us, obedient and subject to the church of God, to the pope of Rome, and to every godly Christian, to love every one in his degree in perfect charity, and to help every one of them, by word and deed, to be the children of God: and other obedience than this I do not know due to him whom you name to be Pope, nor to be Father of the Fathers, to be claimed and to be demanded. And this obedience we are ready to give, and to pay to him, and to every Christian continually. Besides, we are under the government of the bishop of Caerlion upon Uske, who is to oversee us, to cause us to keep the way spiritual."

Augustin, it is said, despairing to overcome their firmness, terminated the long dispute by an indignant threatening : "Since you refuse peace with your bre thren, you shall have war with your enemies; and since you will not unite with us in preaching the word of eternal life to your neighbours, you shall have death at their hands."

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Dinoth's reply has been charged with undue warmth, and a spirit of obstinacy; and perhaps it does not display all the meekness and gentleness of Christ: but what shall be said of Augustin? It seems clearly manifest that Augustin gave serious provocation by his whole behaviour, and exhibited the vindictive haughtiness of the papal antichrist. Writers of the greatest judgment have been divided in opinion respecting the prophecy of Augustin, and to what degree he was concerned in its dreadful fulfilment as regards the monastery of Bangor : for Bede remarks, Events came to pass as Augustin had predicted." The fact is, that shortly afterwards Ethelfrid, king of Northumberland, invaded North Wales with a great army; when the ecclesiastics sought protection from their king Brochmail. The Northumbriaus had advanced to Chester, where they cut off the little army of the Welsh prince, who fell with his soldiers. Ethelfrid, provoked by hearing that a company of the monks of Bangor had assembled to pray for the success of their countrymen, threatened them as equally his enemies, endeavouring to engage their God against him. They retreated to their monastery, and Dinoth sent two hundred to Ethelfrid, entreating him to spare their establishment, and allow them in peace to serve and praise God, at the same time offering him all their property. But having heard their proposition, the savage pagan ordered the defenceless messengers to be immediately massacred; and advancing to Bangor, he reduced the monastery to a heap of ruins, and appointed above a thousand more to be put to death, very few of its pious inmates escaping his murderous sword

British writers charge that ambitious prelate with having persuaded Ethelbert to procure, or at least to promote, that invasion, out of enmity to the principles of that learned establishment; while others assert that the massacre was not perpetrated till after his decease. Others again assert, that Augustin was personally engaged in encouraging this enormous cruelty. But even

if he were dead before this bloody affair, yet the invasion, with its consequent calamities, might have originated with his recommendation. Bishop Jewell, however, considers the evidence against Augustin as conclusive; and having referred to many ancient writers on the subject, he says, "Hereby it appeareth that this Augustin not only enkindled this cruel war, but also was alive and present in the army."

To what lengths of vindictiveness prelatic ambition may lead, we find illustrated in the whole history of the papal wars; and had this affair of Augustin been faithfully reported to Pope Gregory, it would still seem doubtful whether he would have censured him, while we recollect his own unprincipled conduct towards that usurper and murderer, the emperor Phocas!

Augustin died, according to Bede, A. D. 604, having appointed Laurentius to succeed him. "He trode in the steps of his predecessor," Milner remarks, "and laboured to promote the best interests of the English, by frequent preaching of the word, and by a diligent and useful example. I doubt not the sincerity of this prelate; though, seduced by the charms of a nominal unity, he laboured, as the first missionary had done, to bring the British churches to a conformity with the church of Rome. He was actuated by the same spirit of selfish ambition, of which even the best of men in all ages have not been void."

Charity would lead us to hope some good both of Augustin and of Laurentius; but Mr. Milner gives no evidence of this prelate's "frequent preaching of the word;" and as the services of religion were almost entirely the reading of Latin forms, and the performance of certain ceremonies, we have reason to doubt the good effects of his ministry in the bringing of souls to Christ. Of the "selfish ambition" of Laurentius, we have abundant proof. Pope Boniface being A.D. 606 declared Universal Bishop by the emperor Phocas, Laurentius was more determined in his policy, and wrote pressing letters to prevail on the Scots who inhabited Ireland," to conform to the English church. He bitterly complained of Dagham, a Scotch bishop, who, passing through Canterbury, refused to eat with him, on account of their difference in ceremonies. But his letters were fruitless. The British churches remained in Bede's time still distinguished from the English.

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Ethelbert died A. D. 612, when his son Edbald abandoned the profession of Christianity; and Sebert, king of Essex, dying A. D. 616, his sons having relapsed to idolatry, forbade the return of Mellitus bishop of London, who had been long absent at Rome, receiving counsel from Pope Boniface. Laurentius, however, received him at Canterbury, and also Justus bishop of Rochester, as the ill-instructed people of Essex and Kent had given up their profession of Christianity. After consultation, these three prelates resolved on leaving the reprobate Saxons, and retiring to France: Laurentius remaining behind, contrived to impose upon the king, by pretending that St. Peter had appeared to him in the night, and had severely whipped him for purposing to desert his station. The vision itself may justly be doubted: but Laurentius showed wounds on his body to Edbald. The king, touched with those appeals, returned to the profession of his former faith, and recalled Justus and Mellitus. The Londoners, however, refusing to allow Mellitus again to reside among them, he returned to Canterbury, and, A.D.624, succeeded Laurentius as archbishop. On his death, about A. D. 634, this dignity was sustained by Justus. Honorius and Deusdedit are mentioned as successively archbishops of Canterbury, but we know nothing of their labours to evangelize the people, or to diffuse the pure doctrines of salvation by Jesus Christ.

SCRIPTURE BIOGRAPHY.

NOAH.

The Ministry of Noah.

THE book of Genesis commends Noah to our admiration, chiefly as an example of uprightness and holiness: but it seems also to suggest, that this was not the whole of his character. The New Testament affords us additional information. That which was omitted by Moses, has been supplied by the apostles Paul and Peter. The Holy Spirit by Peter, styles Noah "the eighth preacher of righteousness." 2 Pet. ii, 5. The righteousness which Noah preached, was certainly that which he had obtained by faith for his own justification before God, and that which he practised in his holy life. believed "with the heart unto righteousness,” with "faith which worketh by love."

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Noah received a divine commission to preach "repentance and remission of sins:" and influenced by the purest benevolence towards his fellow-sinners, he was not content to enjoy, alone, salvation from the just indignation of an offended God; but laboured zealously to save the souls of others, by testifying against their iniquities, and declaring the judgments of God ready to fall upon them, if they remained impenitent. He called them to break off from sin, and fly to the revealed mercy of the LORD by faith in the promised Messiah.

A considerable part of Noah's life was thus consecrated to God, in seeking the salvation of sinners; in which we are called to admire the Divine long-suffering and mercy to the guilty: but the ministry of Noah was disregarded, few or none embracing the doctrine of pardon and life eternal, and the world of transgressors "filled up the measure of their iniquities," to their destruction. The awful purpose of God was not immediately carried into execution; and Noah and Methuselah continued their ministry of mercy in favour of guilty men; for the LORD said, "Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." Gen. vi, 3.

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It was not only by threatening admonitions and merciful invitations, that Noah exercised his ministry towards those around him: he preached in a manner altogether extraordinary by means of his works-a constant sermon, visible to all the inhabitants of the earth. The LORD gave a new commission to Noah. Having made known his purpose to destroy the whole race of transgressors, except the family of his servant, he commanded the patriarch to prepare the wondrous means of their salvation. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher-wood: rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two

of every sort shalt come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be food for thee and for them." Gen. vi, 13-21.

Prompt obedience distinguished Noah in relation to this difficult, and apparently impossible command. He had never seen such a prodigious vessel, and he could not fail to reflect upon the care and labour inseparable from the undertaking. Noah too was a philosopher, and he would consider what was necessary to procure the vast materials, and construct the capacious vessel, to collect the various animals and govern them, to prepare their suitable provisions, and to endure confinement with such company for a long period. But Noah was also a devout believer; and the Divine command contained an assurance of all needful assistance; therefore, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was 66 strong in faith, giving glory to God." By faith," says the apostle, "Noah, being warned by God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." Heb. xi, 7.

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Vigorous in confidence and hope, Noah commenced the amazing work, under the Divine direction: but his faith must have been put to a severe test, in the prospect of taunts and sneers from a world of atheistical unbelievers. The report of his proceedings soon spread far and wide, affording an admirable occasion to the profane to make him the butt of their reproach and ridicule. Considering the number of years in which it was building, the story of the marvellous work would be carried into all lands. That all the tribes of the earth were acquainted with the fact, seems to be intimated by the apostle, when he speaks of the work, "by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Heb. xi, 7. The testimony which this procedure of Noah gave to the world, was public and notorious, demanding their serious attention: no plea of ignorance can, therefore, be made at the last day, when it shall arise in judginent against their infidel criminality.

Crowds of the daring and trifling free-thinkers would flock around to see how the work advanced. Absurd and provoking questions would be proposed by them, to the diligent prophet; who, while they were laughing at his conduct, pursued his holy purpose, still inviting them to seek the LORD while they might obtain his offered mercy. Some would call him simpleton and fool. Others, pretending to superior wisdom and discerniment, would affect to pity him as a well-meaning enthusiast, deluded by the dreams of a contemptible superstition, and declare that "too much holiness had made him inad." Others again would jeer him, expressing their anxiety to see how he would manage the lions and tigers, while he sailed on the dry land over hills and mountains! His friends, and perhaps even some of his own family, would pity his extravagance, and recommend him to renounce his laborious enterprize, as preposterous, irrational, and ruinous.

"Alas! how fatally opposed,

The heart of guilty man is closed
Against that warning, and he deems
The Prophet's counsels idle dreams,
And laughs to hear the Preacher rave
Of bursting cloud and whelming grave."

Finding their remonstrances utterly ineffectual, and their ridicule lost and in vain, they would turn away from him as a weak old dotard, leaving him to what they would denominate "Noah's folly," and plunge into all the criminal excesses of their licentious associates. But fixed in his resolution, and guarded by the power of God, Noah persevered with his novel architecture, and completed the amazing vessel, agreeably to the Divine

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