And many of these men were very cruel and wicked. Being strong they oppressed the weak, and said many bad words like wicked people now-a-days. And when Enoch told them that the Lord was angry and would punish them, they despised the Prophet, and the Lord took him away without dying from before their eyes. Yet were their hearts so hard that they got worse and worse. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." But to show them that he would still give them time to think and mend their ways, he said " My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Now was not this very kind and tender in the great and blessed God, to have so much patience with such wicked people? There was one man who feared the Lord, and he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. His name was Noah, and he was a Prophet, a preacher of righteousness, a man of God; and the Lord told Noah what he was going to do. So Noah moved by fear prepared an ark as the

Lord commanded him. But all the wicked people laughed him to scorn. Long time was he building this great ship. Year after year he went on with the building of it, and every stroke of the hammer upon it, was as a warning to the people to repent and turn to God; but they went on in their evil ways, and mocked the man of God, until the flood did at last come and sweep them all away. Many a time no doubt they asked the Prophet of what use his old wooden ship would be, and perhaps they might threaten to make a great bonfire of it. But at last the morning, the dreadful morning came. They were marrying and giving in marriage, and eating and drinking, and making merry; and the little boys and girls might be playing in the streets, not thinking of what was coming; but all on a sudden the heavens gathered blackness, and the rain began to pour down fast, and they got into their houses out of the way; but they found that it came so fast that it would soon be in their houses, and snatching up their children, they ran to the hills or mountains, or climbed up the trees. But where was Noah all this time? He was in the ark. God had told him what he was going to do, and Noah believed God, and got ready and went with his wife and sons and their wives into the ark, and God shut him in. And when it had rained for some time, the ark was floated up by the water, and they rode safe above all the houses and towns and gardens,

and over all the high hills. Oh what a sad sight it would be to see the poor creatures climbing up the high hills, and when they got there to see the water still rising. And as they climbed up higher to see it still following them, till at last they all sunk in the great deep! For the water at last covered all the hills, and rose above the tops of the highest of them, so much that if four of the tallest men had stood upon one another's heads, the head of the man at the top would not have been seen! And so "All flesh died that moved upon the earth. And Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark."

This great flood should teach us how easily God Almighty can do what he pleases, and how foolish as well as wicked it is to resist his will.

And although God has promised that he will no more drown the world with water, yet a more fearful doom awaits it. We are told by Him, and he cannot lie, that one day the Earth and all that are therein shall be burned up. O what an awful day will that be! The world in flames! Where, O where shall we be? If we love Jesus, who died for our sins, we shall be safe.

THE DELUGE.

THE Deluge at the Almighty's call,
In what impetuous streams it fell!
Swallow'd the mountains in its rage,
And swept a guilty world to hell.

How dire the wreck! how loud the roar!
How shrill the universal cry
Of millions, in the last despair,
Re-echoed from the lowering sky.

Yet Noah, humble happy saint!
Surrounded with the chosen few,
Sat in his ark, secure from fear,

And sang the grace that steer'd him through,

So may I sing, in Jesus safe,

While fiery storms around me fall; Conscious how high my hopes are fixed Beyond what shakes this earthly ball.

THE ARK AND DOVE.

"Tell me a story, please"-my little girl
Lisp'd from the cradle.-So I bent me down
And told her how it rain'd and rain'd and rain'd,-
Till all the flowers were cover'd, and the trees
Hid their tall heads, and where the houses stood,
And people dwelt, a fearful deluge roll'd:-
Because the world was wicked, and refused
To heed the words of God. But one good man,
Who long had warn'd the sinful to repent,
Obey, and live,-taught by the voice of Heaven,
Had built an Ark, and thither with his wife
And children, turn'd for safety.-Two and two,
Of beasts and birds and creeping things he took,
With food for all,-and when the tempest roar'd,
And the great fountains of the sky pour'd out
A ceaseless flood, till all besides were drown'd—
They in their quiet vessel dwelt secure-

And so the mighty waters bare them up,
And o'er the bosom of the deep they sail'd
For many days.

Then I look'd

Upon the child, to see if her young thought
Wearied with following mine. But her blue eye
Was a glad listener,-and the eager breath
Of pleased attention curl'd her parted lips-
And so I told her how the waters dried,-

And the green branches waved, and the sweet buds
Came up in loveliness,-and that meek Dove
Went forth to build her nest, while thousand birds
Awoke their songs of praise, and the tired Ark
Upon the breezy breast of Ararat

Reposed, and Noah with glad spirit rear'd
An altar to his God.

Since, many a time

When to her rest, ere evening's earliest star,
That little one is laid,-with earnest tone,
And pure cheek prest to mine, she fondly asks
"The Ark and Dove."

Mothers can tell how oft,
In the heart's eloquence, the prayer goes up
From a seal'd lip :-and tenderly hath blent
With the warm teaching of the sacred tale
A voiceless wish,-that when that timid soul,
Now in the rosy mesh of infancy

Fast bound,-shall dare the billows of the world,
Like that exploring Dove, and find no rest,
-A pierced, a pitying, a redeeming Hand
May gently guide it to the Ark of Peace.