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and with his horizon, and imagining ourselves thus, and looking upon the 
field as then occupied by the human family, the Flood would be to his vision 
universal. The flood swept over the whole field which man inhabited, 
covering everything he could see. For the human family as then existing it 
w T as a deluge, which “ covered every high hill under the whole heaven.” 
Now I feel warranted in saying so much to show that Mr. Davison’s views 
are not heretical, dangerous, or novel. I think his views are sound and 
substantial, making allowance for incidental slips and trivial errors, and I 
think they are the views which are likely to prevail. But whether they are 
or not, I think Mr. Davison did not merit the remarks which have been 
made in reference to his credulity, or to his careless use of Scripture lan- 
guage. With regard to the fact that we have not the origines of the Scrip- 
tures in the present day, I think it should be for the enemies rather than 
the friends of the Bible to allege that against us. The fact that we have not 
the original of the Bible is no reason why we should not make the best use 
we can of such materials as we do possess. I think the Biblical argument 
is well sustained by Mr. Davison in this paper. (Hear, hear.) 
The Chairman. — Notwithstanding the objections of our excellent friend, 
the Honorary Secretary, I confess I am much inclined to follow the opinions 
of the author of this able paper. I consider that the Noachian account of 
the Deluge must have referred to a limited deluge, and not to a deluge in- 
volving the whole surface of the globe. If we content ourselves with the 
supposition that the Deluge was universal, we cannot do it without insisting on 
what I may call a superfluous miraculous interference with the ordinary course 
of nature. What does the ordinary course of nature mean ? Nothing more 
than the succession of pre-ordained events which have been pre-ordained by 
the Almighty Creator of all things, and a miracle can be only an interference 
with the ordinary course of natural events — that is, with the events as pre- 
ordained and laid down by the Creator himself. Let me illustrate that by a 
single example, and take for the purpose the Marsupialia of Australia, a 
most remarkable class of animals. All the other mammal inhabitants of 
the regions on that side of the globe bring forth their young in a state of 
maturity, but these extraordinary animals bring forth their young in an 
immature condition, and they are matured by living in a pouch in proximity 
to the breast of the mother. It is a peculiar class of animals, and it existed 
originally nowhere else than in Australia. We know they can exist else- 
where, because we have them in our Zoological Gardens, where they breed 
their kind, and therefore they are capable of living in this climate. But if 
we assume a universal deluge, we must suppose that these animals were not 
only conveyed to the ark, but miraculously conveyed back again to their 
own country afterwards, which appears to me to be one of those strong cases 
of an inconceivable interference with the ordinary course of nature, for which 
we can see no necessity ; and I quite agree that the interference with the 
course of nature is rarely had recourse to, and only where the course of 
events as determined by the Deity may render it absolutely necessary. There 
is an old quotation from a heathen poet, which is nevertheless applicable to 
