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which gives us so sublime an idea of the power of the Almighty, equally great as the Creator, and as 
the dissolver of his works; and you would behold torrents of thawed ice and snow, issuing uom all 
the flood-gates of the poles, from the Straits of the Sea of Anadir, from the Gulphs of Kamschatka, 
from the Baltic Sea, from the Straits of Stagat, from the unknown sluices, of Spitzbergen, and Green¬ 
land, from Hudson’s Bay, and from parts which can have no name, and these issuing in two opposite 
directions, tearing up all before them, then were the elephants of Africa tossed among the firs of 
Siberia, whose bones are found to this day, and the shells of the sea-shore carried to the tops of moun¬ 
tains, vestiges of which are every where to be seen. In this confusion of elements every thing was 
mingled, cities, palaces, majestic pyramids, triumphal arches; and the vapoui arising from the comet, 
acting on these new waters, caused a perfect mist, and the rain of forty days and forty nights, and it 
was one hundred and fifty days before these waters returned to their proper channel and were again 
frozen at the poles. In employing a comet the Almighty acted by second causes, but He chose to 
make a miraculous preservation of one family, and one genus of each kind of animal and plant; and who 
shall put limits to his power, and say, that this was impossible? or can we suppose, that this deluge, 
of which every history has some record, was very extensive , but not universal, and that by means 
of navigation these desolated parts became again to be inhabited, and resume its wonted beauty, and 
accept of the figurative, rather than the literal interpretation of Scripture, in what relates to an 
historical representation? ‘ The fountains of the great deep were broken up,’ according to this inter¬ 
pretation, would relate to the fissures and cracks produced on the earth by the piercing heat of the 
fiery comet.— 
Turn facta est Libye raptis humoribus aestu 
Arida, turn Nymphse passis, fontesque lacusque 
Diflevere comis—v. 23/. 
Dissilit omne solum penetratque in Tartara rimis 
Lumen et infernum terret cum conjuge regem. 
Et mare contrahitur, siccasque est campus arense, 
Quod modo pontus erat; quosque altum texerat aequor 
Existunt montes, et sparsas Cycladas augent.—Ovid, v. 260 . 
That the deluge arose from the overflowings of the sea may be drawn from the book of Job, (chap, 
Xxxviii. ver. 8.) which was written by Moses as a moral tale, or parable, to inspire the children of 
Israel with patience and confidence in God. —Under his heavy affliction he asks, “ Who appointed 
gates to the sea, and shut it up again, after it had inundated the earth, rushing, as from the womb 
of its mother?”—This is mentioned in enumeration of the other wonderful works of God, illustrative 
of fiis Judgments and mei cy . Such contemplations to some may appear gloomy, but, on the contrary, 
they serve to elevate the mind, and raise it from low and vulgar conceptions, and to make us look 
forward with fond hope to another earth, where there are no mines ready to explode, under our very 
footsteps, or unite? s to buist their bounds, and ovei whelm us m an instant. Can there be any thoughts 
higher or more consoling than these we are recording? That successive generations of men have arisen 
to possess the eaith. By turns they have passed away, and gone into regions unknown. Us He hath 
raised tip, to occupy their room. We too shall shortly disappear. But human Existence never 
perishes. Life only changes its form, and is renewed. Creation is ever filling, but never full. As a 
shepherd leads his flock from one pasture to another, so the great Creator leads forth the souls 
which he has made, into new and prepared abodes of life. They go from this earth to a new earth, 
and new heavens; and still they remove, only from one province of the divine dominion to another! 
Amidst all these changes of nature, the great Ruler himself remains, “ without variableness or 
shadow of turning." To him, these successive revolutions of being are but “ as yesterday .” From 
ms eternal throne, he beholds worlds rising and passing away; measures out, to the creatures who 
inhabit them, powers and faculties suited to their state; and distributes amon»- them rewards and 
punishments, proportioned to their actions.-What an astonishing view do such meditations afford 
of the kingdom of God; infinite in its extent; everlasting in its duration; exhibiting, in every period, 
the reign of perfect righteousness and wisdom! « Who by searching can find out Goo? who can find 
out the Almighty to perfects? Great and marvellous are all thy works. Lord God Almighty! 
Just and true are ail thy ways, thou King of saints!” 
