ground, and the restoration of the human race, but more especially of the holy line, from whence was to spring, in the fulness of time, the desire of all nations, and the hope of all the ends of the earth'. Vain, without him, were all merely human comforts and comforters, because they could not reach to the saving of the soul. This great salvation, exclusive of which every other was but a temporary reprieve, the date of which must expire, and the original sentence take place, they could only prefigure and shadow forth, until the seed should come, to whom the promise was made, and in whom alone it could be fulfilled. Of the blessed Jesus may it be said emphatically, and in every sense of the words ;-This same shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands. And thus he declares himself the accomplisher of this and all other the like prophecies, to as many as would receive and acknowledge him, and follow his directions-Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you, and give you rest: rest from sin, by forgiving it; rest from sorrow, by the joy consequent thereupon; rest from toil and trouble, by a holy and happy death: Blessed, saith the Spirit, from henceforth are the dead which die in the Lord; for they rest from their labours their bodies repose in peace, and their souls are entered into that rest which remaineth for the people of God. However the curse might be partially and for a time removed by the subsiding of the

flood, it shall not be finally taken off, until the overflowings of ungodliness are chased away for ever, and the new heavens and new earth arise, Phoenixlike, from the ashes of the old. There righteousness shall establish her everlasting throne; and as there will be no more sin, so St. John assures us, there will be no more curse". Whatever, therefore, be our lot in this world, however hard the curse, with its consequences, may for the present bear upon us, let us be of good courage, continually saying within ourselves of Jesus, what Lamech said of Noah-This same shall comfort us.

2. The Times in which he lived.

In order to form a right judgement of the character of Noah, it is necessary to take a view of the times in which he lived, virtue never appearing to so great advantage, as when seen in company with the diffi culties it has to combat. These, in the case before us, were as many and as great as the wickedness of man could make them, which was now at its utmost degree of exaltation, and called for that dreadful manifestation of divine vengeance, the universal deluge. When men multiplied upon the earth, sins multiplied in proportion. A multitude soon grows ungovernable, licentious, and luxurious.

3. Sensuality of the Antediluvians.

It is remarkable that our Lord, speaking of this generation, chiefly insists upon their carnality or world

h Rev. xxii. 3.

ly-mindedness, as the door at which all other abominations entered. In the days of Noah, says he, they were eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage'; thereby intimating to us, that when we see a people wholly immersed in the cares of the world and the pleasures of sense, regardless of that heavenly country to which they are travelling, it is a sure sign of approaching destruction. So was it in the days of Noah; so was it in the days of Lot; and so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. certainly then may we know that it is the last time, and that the judge standeth before the door! Let every reader of this examine the state of his own heart in this particular, and take heed lest at any time it be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day, the day either of particular or general judgement, come upon him unawares*.

How

4. Inter-marriages of Believers with Infidels.

Another thing which contributed not a little to disseminate corruption through the antediluvian world, and to hasten its destruction, was the practice of inter-marrying, which obtained between the believing race of Seth, called in Scripture, the sons of God, and the infidel progeny of Cain, styled the daughters of men. The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; so their mother saw the forbidden fruit, that it also was fair. Both saw, and both fell by seeing. The eyes are the windows, at which, when

left carelessly open, concupiscence enters as a thief, disarms the guard, and rifles the heart of its purity. They saw, and took them wives of all which they thus chose by the judgement of the sight, and not that of the understanding, becoming, herein, like to horse and mule which have no understanding, and are therefore guided only by sense. Thus these daughters of Cain proved to the sons of Seth what the Moabitish women were afterwards to the children of Israel, and what women of bad principles always have been and always will be to men of good ones, who are no wiser than to contract alliances with them in their state of error and delusion. With infinite wisdom, therefore, did the law of God provide against this evil, by limiting the people to their own tribes, and forbidding them to inter-marry with heathens, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. And let every Christian beware of being unequally yoked together with unbelievers, or persons of idolatrous, or schismatical communions; since neither the wisdom of the wisest, nor the strength of the strongest man was able to ward off the sad consequences of such unnatural conjunctions. But, to strike at the root of the disorder, let him be instant in prayer, that God would turn away his eyes from beholding vanity, to look on him whom, by their wantonness, they have so often pierced, till the flames of unlawful desires are extinguished by rivers of penitential tears; so shall he become master of himself, and be enabled to enter into that holy estate" which Christ adorned and beautified with his presence, and first miracle that he wrought in Cana of Galilee, reverently, discreetly, advisedly,

soberly, and in the fear of God, duly considering the causes for which matrimony was ordained'."

5. Corrupt Offspring of these Inter-marriages.

From the marriages of the sons of Seth with the daughters of Cain, sprang a race of men, who, whatever they were as to stature, became overgrown monsters of apostasy, impiety, and iniquity; so that in process of time the earth was totally overspread with corruption, and violence of all kinds; till every good principle being eradicated from the hearts of men, their thoughts and imaginations were only evil continually. While principles remain, practices may be altered and amended; but, those once gone, there remains no farther hope of a reformation, because there is then nothing to ground one upon, no hold upon the consciences of men, whereby to bring them round to the point from which they have wandered. A bowl that is furnished with a bias, although it deviate from its course, may return into it again; but one that has none must continue to deviate, so Let this be a warning

long as it continues to move. to all who would avert the judgements of God, and who wish to see returning righteousness once more visit and bless our land, to spare no time or pains in fixing Christian principles in the hearts of those for whom they are concerned, as governors, pastors, parents, tutors, or masters.

6. The withdrawing the Holy Spirit, and God's repenting that he had made man.

The enormity and universality of the antediluvian

I Matrimonial Service.