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2.

GENESIS VII.

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female; and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

The Levitical law of distinction between clean and unclean was not yet given: but certain animals appear to have been always considered unclean by nature.

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Horses, beasts of burden, and other animals, profane and unclean, were consumed in this time of extremity."-TAC. Hist. 1. Iv. c. 60.

18. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

21. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man :

22. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

23. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

"In tales of ancient lore 'tis said

O'er earth, the whelming waters spread,
Urged all their congregated force.

But Jove's high will his headlong course
Bade the usurping foe restrain,

And sink absorbed the refluent main."-PIND. Olymp. IX. v. 75.

"I remarked that shells are found on the mountains of Egypt."—HDT. 1. II. c. 12. "There have been frequent destructions of the human race through deluges and diseases, and many other events, in which some small family of mankind was left. PLAT. de leg. 1. ti. c. 1.

"Jove spread the sluices of the skies

In wild uproar: Earth heard the billows break
About her, and above; high palaces

Came crashing down; and the pale sons of men
Swam, and saw death in every swelling wave.
On fruits, and acorns, and the growth of grapes,
Sea-monsters batten'd: e'en upon that couch
Where luxury had languished, cumbrous forms,

Dolphins and orcs, wallowed unwieldily."-LYCOPHR. Cassand. v. 79.

"In the deluge which happened in the time of Deucalion, almost all flesh died."

DIOD. SIC. 1. I. c. 10.

"Eratosthenes points out as an interesting subject for disquisition, the fact of our finding, often quite inland, two or three thousand stadia from the sea, vast numbers (f muscle, oyster, and scallop shells, and salt water lakes."-STRAB. 1. I. c. 3.

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'Sylla took Athens on the Calends of March, when the Athenians were performing many rites, in memory of the destruction of the country by water, fo the deluge was believed to have happened about that time of the year."-PLUT. Sull. c. 14.

"The great deluge of Deucalion drowned everything that had life; one ark, containing the remnant of the human race, alone being saved."-LUCIAN. de Saltat. c. 39.

"The history of Dencalion I have heard related by the Greeks after their manner, and it runs thus:- The present race of men is not the same as at the beginning; but those of the first race all perished. Mankind, as they now are, are a new and second race, that were spread abroad again by Deucalion in these vast numbers. Of those first men it is reported that they were haughty, fierce people, who committed heinous iniquities; for they neither kept their oath, nor exercised hospitality, nor spared the vanquished, though imploring mercy. For all this, however, a horrible calamity came over them. All at once the waters burst forth from all parts of the earth, prodigious showers of rain poured down from above, the rivers swelled and overflowed, the sea rose far above its shores; in short, all was water and all were drowned. Deucalion alone was preserved, on account of his piety and good nature, for the propagation of a new race, and that in the following manner. He had a very large chest, into which he packed his wife and children, and when they were all in, he, at last, went in himself. Just as he was entering there came running to him swine and horses, and all kinds of wild beasts and creeping creatures; in one word, every animal that feeds upon the earth, pairwise. He took them all in, and Jupiter instilled into them such peaceful dispositions that they did him no harm; but they lived all together in this delightful concord: and so they were all preserved in this single chest as in a ship, as long as the flood lasted. This the Greeks relate touching Deucalion. LUCIAN. de dea Syria, c. 12

"Seas once prevailed, nor could the towns withstand
The raging waves: they spread o'er all the land :
But when the numerous seeds, the mighty mass
Supplied, were turned from this into another place,
The water ceased, and the continual rain;
And rivers ran within their banks again."

LUCRET. de rer. nat. I. v. v. 412.

"When to the mountain-summit Proteus drove

His sea-born herd, and where the woodland dove
Late perched, his wonted seat, the scaly brood
Entangled hung upon the topmost wood,

And every timorous native of the plain

High-floating swam amid the boundless rain."- HOR. 1.1. carm.2.

"The skies, from pole to pole, with peals resound

And showers, enlarged, come pouring on the ground.

Then, clad in colours of a various dye,

Junonian Iris breeds a new supply

To feed the clouds: impetuous rain descends;

The bearded corn beneath the burden bends;

Defrauded clowns deplore their perished grain :

And the long labours of the year are vain.

Then, with his mace, the monarch struck the ground;
With inward trembling earth received the wound,

And rising streams a ready passage found.

The expanded waters gather on the plain :
They float the fields, and overtop the grain;
Then reaching onwards, with a sweepy sway,

Bear flocks, and folds, and labouring hinds away.

Now seas and earth were in confusion lost;

A world of waters, and without a coast.

The frighted wolf now swims among the sheep;
The yellow lion wanders in the deep:

His rapid force no longer helps the boar:
The stag swims faster than he ran before.

The fowls, long beating on their wings in vain,
Despair of land, and drop into the main.

Now hills and vales no more destruction know,
And levell❜d nature lies oppress'd below.

The most of mortals perish in the flood:

The small remainder dies for want of food."

OVID. Metam. 1. 1. v. 269-312.

"Joppa, a city of the Phoenicians, existed, it is said, before the deluge of the earth.-PLIN. Hist. Nat. 1. v. c. 14.

GENESIS VIII.

4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

"A mountain of stupendous height there stands,
Betwixt the Athenian and Boeotian lands,

The bound of fruitful fields, while fields they were,
But then a field of waters did appear:

Parnassus is its name; whose forky rise

Mounts through the clouds, and mates the lofty skies.
High on the summit of this dubious cliff,
Deucalion wafting, moored his little skiff.

He with his wife were only left behind

Of perished man; they two were human kind."-Ov. Metam. 1. 1. v.316.

6. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

7. And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

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Both the raven and the dove were the objects of much superstitious regard. raven was sacred to Apollo, and was generally thought to be a bird of ill omen. "At nuptials, after the hymeneal hymn, it was customary to invoke the raven." ELIAN. Hist. Animal. 1. III. c. 9. ""Tis confirmed by auspices: on each side do the birds give good omens: the woodpecker and the crow are on my right; the raven also is on my left." PLAUT. Asin. Act. II. sc. 1, "How can an augur explain why the croak of a raven on the right hand and of a crow on the left, should be reckoned a good omen ? "-Cic. de. div. 1. 1. c. 39.

"The hoarse raven, on the blasted bough,

By croaking from the left presaged the coming blow."-VIRG. Ecl. I. v.18. "The crow is a bird with a very ill-omened garrulity; though it has been highly praised by some."-PLIN. Hist. Nat. 1. x. c. 14.

"Ravens are the only birds that seem to have any comprehension of the meaning of their auspices. They are of the very worst omen when they swallow their voice, as if they were being choked."-Ibid. c. 15.

8. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground:

9. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark,

10.

And he stayed yet other seven days: and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11. And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

At Dodona, a city of Chaonia, in Epirus, was a temple dedicated to Jupiter Dodoneus; and in a grove near it, a beech tree, on which two doves sat and prophecied. In the first ages, the dove was esteemed an interpreter of the will of the gods to man. "The doves of Dodona prophecied from their ancient beech tree.”

SOPHOс. Trachin. v. 171.

"The Priestesses of Dodona assert that two black pigeons flew from Thebes, in Egypt, and one of them settled in Africa, the other among themselves, which latter, resting on the branch of a beech tree, declared, with a human voice, that there, by divine appointment, was to be an oracle of Jove."-HDT. 1. II. c. 55.

"The Syrians do not suffer pigeons to be hurt."-XEN. Anab. 1. 1. c. 4.

"The deluge prevailed greatly in the Hellenic region, and particularly in that part called 'Ancient Hellas.' This is the country which lies about Dodona and upon the river Achelous."-ARISTOT. Meteorol. 1. 1. c. 14.

Among ancient mariners the dove was thought to be particularly auspicious. The most favourable season for sailing was at the heliacal rising of the seven stars near the head of Taurus; and these are in consequence called Pleiades, or the Doves. It was at this season that the Argonauts were supposed to have set out on their expedition. "Soon as the Pleiads shone, and milder May

Bade the light lambs o'er springing verdure play,
The flower of heroes, with a southern gale,

Spread on the Hellespont their rapid sail."-THEOCR. Idyll. XIII. v. 25.
Phineus charges the Argonauts, when about to attempt a difficult navigation :-
"First let a dove the dangerous passage try.

If through the rocks unhurt she chance to fly,

And reach the sea beyond with prosperous flight,

Then forward rush-then ply your oars with might."

APOL. RHOD. Arg. 1. II. v. 328.

"The mythologists say that Deucalion sent forth a dove first out of the ark, to show, either by her quick return that bad weather was at hand, or by her continuing abroad, that it would be fine.”—PLUT. de solert. anim. c. 13.

"Of birds the most sacred, in the estimation of the Galli, is the pigeon."LUCIAN. de dea Syr. c. 54.

"The Hierapolitans eat all sorts of fowl, the dove alone excepted, which with them is sacred."-IBID. c. 14.

Eneas was conducted by the doves of Venus to the golden branch of Juno, by the aid of which he was enabled to cross in safety the river Acheron, in the boat of Charon.

"Scarce had he said, when, full before his sight,

Two doves, descending from their airy flight,
Secure upon the grassy plain alight.

They led him on

To the slow lake, whose baleful stench to shun,

They wing'd their flight aloft, then, stooping low,

Perch'd on the double tree that bears the golden bough."

VIRG. En. 1. vI. v. 190.

"Why should I tell how, sacred, through the skies

Of Syrian cities, the white pigeon flies?"-TIBUL. 1. 1. eleg. 7.

"A dove was sent forth as a leader over the unknown sea. On her I kept my eyes fixed constantly."-PROPERT. 1. II. eleg. 20.

"In traversing these seas the people of Taprobane take no observations of the but birds out to sea, which they let go from time to time, and so follow their course as they make for the land."-PLIN. Hist. Nat. 1. vI. c. 24.

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18. Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives, with him.

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'Eight souls.". In the ancient mythology of Egypt there were precisely eight principal gods.

"Egypt esteemed Pan as the most ancient of the gods, and even of those eight who are accounted the first."-HDT. 1. 2. c. 145.

The Priests of Amon, at certain seasons, used to carry in procession a boat, which was held in great veneration. The Egyptians had the same custom. Ancient temples were sometimes built in the form of a ship; and the same term was used by the Greeks to designate both,-vâvs, or vaós. Hence, perhaps, the ship Skidbladner of the Gothic mythology; and also the modern term nave.

"The god is carried about in a golden boat by eighty priests; these bearing him upon their shoulders, wander hither and thither, as they are directed by the impulse of the Deity."-DIOD. SIC. 1. XVII. c. 50.

20. And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

"Deucalion erected altars, and near the chasm (though which the waters had disappeared-see Lucian's account, at Gen. VII. 24.) consecrated a temple to Juno."LUCIAN. de dea Syr. c. 13.

"The mountain Nymphs and Themis they adore,
And from her oracles, relief implore.
The most upright of mortal men was he; (Deucalion)
The most sincere and holy woman she." (Pyrrha.)

"Heaven is pleas'd, nor ought we to complain,
That we, th' examples of mankind remain.
He said; the careful couple join their tears:

OV. METAM. 1. I. v. 320.

And then invoke the gods, with pious prayers."-IBID. v. 366.

"Deucalion, while, on every side,

The bursting clouds upraised the whelming tide,

Reached, in his little skiff, the forked hill,

And sought, at Themis' shrine, the Immortals' will.—Juv. Sat. 1. v. 81.

21. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; neither will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done.

"Since the days of Pyrrha, though you turn over every tragic theme, in none is a whole people made the perpetrators of the guilt."-Juv. Sat. 15. v. 30.

22. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.

"After the oath had been tendered to the Musta, we commemorated the sad necessity by which the earth was reduced to its chaotic state. We then celebrated Cronus, through whom the world, after a term of darkness, enjoyed again a pure serene sky.' ORPH. Arg. v. 11.

"Heaven never grows weary, leading on the months and years."
THEOCR. Idyl. xvi. v. 71.

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