fatally celebrated in the orgies of Bacchus, where serpents crowned the heads of the Bacchantes. But the most remarkable remembrance of the paradistical serpent is displayed in the position which he retains in Tartarus. cunodracontic Cerberus guards the gates; serpents are coiled upon the chariot-wheels of Proserpine; serpents have the abyss of torment; and serpents constitute the caduceus of Mercury, the talisman which he holds when he conveys the soul to Tartarus. The image of the serpent is stamped upon every mythological fable connected with the realms of Pluto. Is it not then probable that in the universal symbol of heathen idolatry we recognize the universal object of primitive worship-THE SERPENT OF PARADISE ?"*

In the Bhagabat, one of the sacred books of the Hindoos, Krishnu is represented as encountering a great serpent in the pool of Kalundea. This serpent had poisoned the waters, and had destroyed many of the inhabitants, and it was not till after a long conflict, and with much difficulty, that the god succeeded in overcoming him. Krishnu is often represented in the paintings, and in the statuary of the Hindoos as standing his foot upon the head of this serpent. No one can doubt, that, in this serpent, we see a manifest tradition of the serpent, who tempted Eve, and whose head was to be bruised by the woman's seed.

3. The longevity of the patriarchs, as recorded by Moses, finds a confirmation in the traditions of many nations. Josephus, referring to the length of patriarchal life, says:

*Patriarchal Age, pages 139 and 140-quoted from Dean's Worship of the Serpent, page 446.

"I have for witnesses to what I have said, all those who have written antiquities, both among the Greeks and the barbarians; for even Manetho, who wrote the Egyptian history, and Berosus, who collected the Chaldean monuments, and Mochus and Hestiæus, and, besides these Hieronymus the Egyptian, and those who composed the Phenician history, agree to what I here say; Hesiod, also, and Hecatæus, Helanicus and Acusilous, and besides these, Ephorus and Nicolus, relate that the ancients lived a thousand years."*

If such declarations of Josephus, in the face of the world, had not been true, how easily they might have been disproved, and would undoubtedly have met, at least, with contradiction.

"In relation to the longevity of the primeval race of man, Hesiod says, of the silver age, it was much worse than the golden, and adds, the 'growing child was nursed one hundred years by his careful mother-very infantine in his home.'" The aborigines of North America, have similar traditions.

That the great number of years ascribed by some heathen nations to the ancients, should not be sneered at as mere fable, appears from the fact that in many cases these years, in a most remarkable manner, coincide with those of the Bible patriarchs. In the records of the Chinese, it appears that between the aggregate reigns of eight of their emperors-from Fo-hee to Yao, and the aggregate time of eight patriarchs from the death of Noah to the death of Serug, there was a difference of only seventy-seven years. Such

Josephus' Antiquities, book 1, chap. 3.

a tradition, covering a period of seven centuries or more, and coming so near the Scripture history, can scarcely be regarded as accidental.*

4. The Flood finds confirmation in numerous traditions of different nations. According to Blair, "The Deluge begun Dec. 7, 1656, and continued three hundred seventyseven days. The Ark rested on Mount Ararat, May 6, 1657; and Noah left the Ark, Dec. 18, following. The year corresponds with that of 2348, B. C."

Now, about all nations have their traditions of a Flood. Ovid gives an account of the Deucalion Flood, which he takes from the traditions of his day. The Egyptians made Deucalion an Egyptian, while the Greeks made him a Grecian.

According to the Greeks, Deucalion was the grandson of Japetus. May not this refer to the Japhet of Moses, the son of Noah ?

In the annals of the Chaldeans, Berosus gives an account of a Deluge, in which Xisuthrus, King of Babylon, was saved, through a warning from Cronos. He minutely and graphically describes the Ark, the animals in pairs, and the birds that were sent out to see if the waters were dried up. Similar traditions to these existed in Media and Assyria.

Pliny speaks of a Deluge, as though it were a point. generally acknowledged in his day.

The Magi, amongst the Persians, were believers in a general Deluge, and the Chinese philosopher Confucius,

Patriarchal Age, page 186..

400 B. C., begins his history of China with the country still submerged in the waters of the Flood.

The Mahabarat, one of the sacred books of the Hindoos, was written principally to commemorate the event of the Deluge; Manu, a pious king, with other persons, including eight in number, is represented in this volume as being saved in a vessel which rested on Himovan mountain.

Other Hindoo shastress call the Hindoo Noah, Satyabrut, and he is represented as being saved in a ship, with eight thousand of his friends. Vishnoo made his appearance in the form of a fish, and bore the bark safely through the contending elements.

The African tribes, the North American Indian tribes, have similar traditions, and so have even the South Sea Islanders, and as Humbolt says: "All the nations of the earth possess these traditions, like the relics of a vast shipwreck."

The Flood is also inscribed on the Arundelian Marbles.✶ On the Apamean Medal† in a representation of the Ark, are a man wife and a dove.‡

* ARUNDELIAN MARBLES; containing the chronology of ancient history, from 1582 to 355 B. C., and said to have been sculptured 285 B. C. They consist of thirty-seven statues, one hundred twenty-eight busts, and two hundred fifty inscriptions, and were found in the Isle of Paros, in the reign of James I., about 1610. They were purchased by Lord Arundel, and given to the University of Oxford, 1627. The characters are Greek, of which there are two translations: by Selden, 1628; by Prideaux, 1676."-The World's Progress, page 177.

The APAMEAN MEDAL, is a coin which was "struck at Apamea, in the reign of Philip the elder. On the reverse of this

Thus we might go on to show, that not only the antediluvian, but very much of the postdiluvian history of the Bible, is strongly corroborated by the traditions of different nations. But our only object was to give the student of the Bible such a clue to the subject, as will turn his attention to the numerous excellent articles that have been and are still being written upon it.

II. Let us now attend to some points in patriarchal history, immediately succeeding the Deluge.

The ancient, and in many cases, the modern names of places, most strikingly resemble the names of Noah's grandsons and great grandsons, who inhabited those places. Thus the names of numerous localities, stand as an abiding witness to the truth of the Scriptures.

That the name of each individual, mentioned in Genesis 10th, stands as the representative of a nation, and that the whole chapter refers to a peaceful division and orderly dispersion of the human race, directly the reverse of the rebellious congregating for universal dominion, (undoubtedly under Nimrod, verse 10,) which forms the subject of the 11th chapter, is evident from the last verse. "These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their genera

Medal, is represented a kind of square chest, floating upon the waters; a man and woman are advancing out of it to dry land, while two other persons remain within. Above it flutters a dove, bearing an olive branch; and another bird, possibly a raven, is perched upon its roof. In one of the front panels of the chest, is the word NoE, in ancient Greek characters."- Horne, volume 1, page 83.

See Dew's Ancient and Modern History, page 8.