To whom MICHAEL made Anfwer thus: Thofe, whom thou faweft laft in Triumph and luxurious Wealth, are they who will first be feen in Acts of eminent Valour and great Exploits, but will be destitute of true Virtue; who have fpilt much Blood, and made a great Devastation in fubduing Nations, and having thereby obtained in the World Fame, high Titles, and rich Prey; fhall change the Course of their Lives to Pleasure, Eafe, Surfeit, and Luft; till Wantonness and Pride, even in Time of Peace, and among Friends, fhall caufe Strife, and hostile Deeds. Thofe alfo, who are conquered, and enflaved by War, fhall with their Freedom lofe all their Virtue, and all Fear of GOD; from whom (as they had but a pretended Piety) they found no Affiftance in the fharp Contest of Battle against Invaders; therefore grow cool in their Zeal, they fhall thenceforward practice how to live fecure, either in a worldly or diffolute Manner, upon what their Lords and Conquerors fhall leave them to enjoy: (for the Earth fhall bear much more than enough, for the Trial of Temperance) So, all fhall turn degenerate, all fhall be depraved, and Juftice, Temperance, Truth, and Faith be forgot; excepting NOAH (p), who shall be the only Son of Light in that dark Age; he will be good against all Allurements, Customs, and an offended World: Not standing in Fear of Reproach, Scorn, or Violence, he fhall admonish them of their Ways, and fet before them the Paths of Righteoufnefs, fhewing how much more fafe they are, and full of Peace; threatening Wrath to come, if

() Noab, or Noach; Heb. i. c. A Reft. Names were given Men in thofe Days, by divine Inspiration His Name was a Prophecy of Lamech's, that that Child fhould give Reft and Comfort to the new World, and rs

concile God to Man. Noe (whom the Tatars call Nui) was born A. M. 1056, and lived nine hundred and fifty Years. Noah is the Ogyges, Deucalion, and Saturn of the Heathens.

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they should remain impenitent; and for this teaching he fhall be derided by them. But the ouly juft MAN alive, being obferved by Gon, fhall by his Command build a wonderous Ark, (as thou haft beheld) to fave himfelf and his Houfhold, from a World devoted to univerfal Ruin. No fooner fhall he, with thofe of MANKIND, and all living Creatures felected to preserve the Kind, be lodged in the Ark, and shut in fast; but all the Cataracts of Heaven fhall be fet open, and pour Rain Day and Night upon the Earth; all the Fountains of the Deep fhall be broke up, and heave the Ocean beyond all its former Bounds; 'till an Inundation rife above the higheft Hills. Then this Mount of PARADISE, by the Power of the Waves fhall be moved out of its Place, by the Violence of the raging Flood, with all its Verdures fpoiled, and all its Trees adrift down the great River to the main Ocean; and there take Root, and be a bare and falt Island, be the Haunt of Fish, and he filled with the Noife of Water-Fowls; to teach thee, that GoD attributes no Holiness to Place, if none be brought thither by MEN, who frequent or dwell in it. And now behold what there is further to come to pafs.

ADAM looked and faw the Ark floating to and fro upon the Flood, which was now abated; for the Clouds were fled away, driven by a keen North Wind, · that blowing hard and dry, began to leffen the Bulk of the Waters, and the clear Sun fhone hot upon the the watery Deluge (q), and drew up confiderably from

(2) Deluge, Lat. i. e. Wah. ing or fweeping away; an Inundation or Overflowing of the Earth with Water. There have been feveral Deluges in different Countries: This was the firft, an univerfal one, and the moft fumous in Hiftory: It was in the 600th year of Noah, A. M. 1656. The fecond was that of

Ogyges King of Thebes, which laid all Attica under Water, A. M. 2185, or 2208, 1020 Years before the firit Olympiad, and in the Days of Jacob. The 3d was that of Deucalion, about 15 Years before the Children of If rael departed out of Egypt. There was a violent one at Pe

kin, A. D. 1688.

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the Waves; which made their Flowing fhrink, and they ebbed towards the Deep; whofe Sluices were now stopped, and the Windows of Heaven fhut alfo. The Ark now floats no longer, but feems on Ground, fixed faft on the Top of fome high Mountain (r) : Now the Tops of the Hills began to appear, like Rocks; from whence the rapid Currents drove their furious Tide, with great Noife and Violence, towards the retreating Sea. Forthwith a Raven (s) flies out of the Ark, and after him (what proved a furer Meffenger) a Dove, fent forth twice, to fee if the could find green Tree or Ground, whereon to fet her Foot; returning the fecond Time, fhe brings an Olive-leaf plucked off in her Mouth, which was a Sign of Peace between GOD and NOAH. After a while the dry Ground appears, and the antient juft Man defcends from his Ark with all his Train: Then, with Hands lifted up, and with devout Eyes grateful to Heaven, behold over his Head a dewy Cloud, and in the Cloud the distinct Appearance of a Bow, of three Colours variously intermixed, betokening Peace with Gon, and a new Covenant made with MAN; whereat the Heart of ADAM, which before had been fo fad, rejoiced greatly, and thus he joyfully cried out:

HEAVENLY Inftructor! who canft represent future Things, as clear as if they were prefent; this laft Sight revives me, feeing that it affures me, that MAN

(r) Mountain. This is call'd Ararat in Armenia, Gen. viii. 4. Some call it Lubar, others Baris; fome the Cardyaan, Gerdyaan, Godochian, and others the Carduchian Mountains.

(s) Raven. A rapacious and unclean Bird, Deut. xiv. 14. She was sent out first on the 17th Day of Auguft, and on the first Day of the Week, and forty

Days after the Tops of the Mountains appeared, but did not return; because she is a ravenous Creature, and fettles upon Carcaffes, or any dirty Grounds, which the Dove doth not; and therefore she went away upon Prey, but this returned to the Ark: She was fent out of the Ark on the 24th of August, and the firit Day of the Week. with

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with all the Creatures fhall live, and preferve their Seed. I don't lament now for one whole World of wicked Sons being deftroyed, fo much as I rejoice. to fee one MAN fo perfect and so just, that GoD vouchfafes from him to raise another World, and to forget all his Anger. But tell me what mean those coloured Streaks, that are ftretched out in Heaven, and look like the Brow of God appeafed? Or, do they ferve as a flowery Edge, to bind the fluid Skirts of that fame watery Cloud, left it fhould diffolve and fhower down upon the Earth?

To whom the Arch-Angel made Answer: What thou haft gueffed, is very near to the Purpose; fo willingly doth GOD remit his Anger, though fo lately he repented that he had made MAN, feeing he was become fo much depraved; being grieved at his Heart, when looking down he faw the whole Earth filled with Violence, and all Flesh corrupt in the Imagination of their Thoughts: Yet thofe once removed, one juft MAN fhall find fuch Grace in his Sight, that he relents, and determines not to blot out MANKIND, and makes a Covenant, that the Waters fhall never become a Flood, to destroy the Earth again, nor ever to let the Sea furpass its Bounds, nor Rain to fall fo as to drown the World, with MAN or Beaft therein: But, when he brings a Cloud over the Earth, he will fet his Bow in the Clouds, and it fhall be for a Token of a Covenant between GoD and the Earth; Day and Night, Heat and Cold, Seed-time and Harvest, fhall hold their Course, and not ceafe; till the general Conflagration purge and purify both Heaven and Earth, wherein thenceforward the Juft fhall dwell for ever.

The End of the ELEVENTH BOOK.

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