Chapter VII: Part II: Chap. I (5)

_Cain._ That may indeed be the Case, nor do I think of attempting any more to bring an Offering, for I rather take it, that I am forbidden for the present; but then, what is it that my younger Brother Triumphs in? and how am I insulted, in that he and his House are all Joy and Triumph, as if they had some great Advantage over me, in that their Offering was accepted when mine was not?

_D._ Does he Triumph over your Majesty, our Lord and Sovereign? give us but your Order, and we will go and pull him and all his Generation in pieces; for to triumph over you who are his elder Brother, is a horrid Rebellion and Treason, and he ought to be expell'd the Society of Mankind.

_Cain._ I think so too, indeed; however, my dear Children and faithful Subjects, tho' I accept your Offer of Duty and Service, yet I will consider very well, before I take up Arms against my Brother; besides, our Sovereign Father and patriarchal Lord, _Adam_, being yet alive, it is not in my Right to act offensively without his Command.

_D._ We are ready therefore to carry your Petition to him, and doubt not to obtain his Licence and Commission too, to empower you to do your self Justice upon your younger Brother; who being your Vassal, or at least inferior, as he is junior in Birth, insults you upon the fancied Opinion of having a larger Share in the Divine Favour, and receiving a Blessing on his Sacrifices, on Pretence of the same Favour being denied you.

_Cain._ I am content, go then, and give a just Account of the State of our Affairs.

_D._ We shall soon return with the agreeable answer; let not our Lord and Father continue sad and dejected, but depend upon a speedy Relief, by the Assistance of thy numerous Issue, all devoted to thy Interest and Felicity.

_Cain._ My Blessing be with you in your Way, and give you a favourable Reception at the venerable Tent of our universal Lord and Father.

* * * * *

Note, Here the cursed Race being fully given up to the Direction of the Evil-Spirit, which so early possess'd them, and swelling with Rage at the innocent _Abel_ and his whole Family, they resolved upon forming a most wicked and detestable lie, to bring about the Advice which they had already given their Father _Cain_ a touch of; and to pretend that _Adam_ being justly provok'd at the undutiful Behaviour of _Abel_, had given _Cain_ a Commission to chastise him, and by Force to cut him off and all his Family, as guilty of Rebellion and Pride.

Fill'd with this mischievous and bloody Resolution, they came back to their Father _Cain_, after staying a few Days, such as were Sufficient to make _Cain_ believe they had been at the spacious Plains, where _Adam_ dwelt; the same which are now call'd the blessed Valleys, or the Plains of _Mecca_ in _Arabia Faelix_, near the Banks of the _Red-Sea_.

Note here also, that _Cain_ having received a wicked Hint from these Men, his Children and Subjects, as before, intimating that _Abel_ had broken the Laws of Primogeniture in his Behaviour towards him, (_Cain_) and that he might be justly punish'd for it; Satan, that cunning Manager of all our wayward Passions, fan'd the Fire of Envy and Jealousy with his utmost Skill all the while his other Agents were absent; and by the Time they came back had blown it up into such a Heat of Fury and Rage, that it wanted nothing but Air to make it burn out, as it soon afterwards did in a furious Flame of Wrath and Revenge, even to Blood and Destruction.

Just in the very critical Moment, while Things stood thus with _Cain_, Satan brings in his wicked Instruments, as if just arriv'd with the Return of his Message from _Adam_, at whose Court they had been for Orders; and thus they, that is the _Devil_ assuming to speak by them, approach their Father with an Air of solemn but chearful Satisfaction at the Success of their Embassy.

* * * * *

_D._ Hail Sovereign, Reverend, Patriarchal Lord! we come with Joy to render thee an Account of the Success of our Message.

_Cain._ Have you then seen the venerable Tents where dwell the Heaven-born, the Angelic Pair, to whom all human Reverence highly due, is and ought always to be humbly paid?

_D._ We have.

_Cain._ Did you, together with my grand Request, a just, a humble Homage for me pay, to the great Sire and Mother of Mankind?

_D._ We did.

_Cain._ Did you in humble Language represent the Griefs and Anguish which oppress my Soul?

_D._ We did, and back their Blessing to thee bring.

_Cain._ I hope with humblest Signs of filial Duty you took it for me on your bending Knees?

_D._ We did, and had our Share; the Patriarch lifting his Hands to Heaven express'd his Joy to see his spreading Race, and bless'd us all.

_Cain._ Did you my solemn Message too deliver, my Injuries impartially lay down, and due Assistance and Direction crave?

_D._ We did.

_Cain._ What spoke the Oracle? he's God to me; what just Command d'ye bring, what's to be done? am I to bear the insulting Junior's Rage? and meekly suffer what unjustly he, affronting Primogeniture and Laws of God and Man, imposes by his Pride unsufferable! Am I to be crush'd, and be no more the firstborn Son on Earth, but bow and kneel to him?

_D._ Forbid it Heaven! as _Adam_ too forbids, who with a justice God-like and peculiar to injur'd Parents, _Abel_'s Pride resents, and gives his high Command to thee to punish.

_Cain._ To punish? say you, did he use the Word, the very Word? am I commission'd then to punish _Abel_?

_D._ Not _Abel_ only, but his rebel Race, as they alike in Crime alike are join'd in Punishment.

_Cain._ The Race indeed have shar'd the Merit with him; how did they all insult, and with a Shout of Triumph mock my Sorrow, when they saw me from my Sacrifice dejected come, as if my Disappointment was their Joy?

_D._ This too the venerable Prince resents, and to preserve the Race in Bounds of Laws subordinate and limited to Duty, Commands that this first Breach be not pass'd by, lest the Precedent upon Record stand to future Times to encourage like Rebellion.

_Cain._ And is it then my Sovereign Parent's Will?

_D._ It is his Will, that thou his eldest Son, his Image, his belov'd, should be maintain'd in all the Rights of Sovereignty deriv'd to thee from him; and not be left expos'd to injury and Power usurped, but should do thy self Justice on the rebel Race.

_Cain._ And so I will; _Abel_ shall quickly know what 'tis to trample on his elder Brother; shall know that he's thus sentenc'd by his Father, and I'm commission'd but to execute his high Command, his Sentence, which is God's, and that he falls by the Hand of Heavenly Justice.

* * * * *

So now Satan had done his Work, he had deluded the Mother to a Breach against the first and only Command, he had drawn _Adam_ to the same Snare, and now he brings in _Cain_ prompted by his own Rage, and deluded by his, (Satan's,) Craft, to commit Murder, nay a Fratricide, an aggravated Murther.

Upon this he sends out _Cain_, while the bloody Rage was in its Ferment, and wickedly at the same Time bringing _Abel_, innocent and fearing no ill, just in his Way, he suggests to his Thoughts such Words as these.

Look you _Cain_, see how Divine Justice concurs with your Father's righteous Sentence, see there's thy Brother _Abel_ directed by Heaven to fall into thy Hands unarm'd, unguarded, that thou may'st do thy self Justice upon him without Fear; see thou may'st kill him, and if thou hast a Mind to conceal it, no Eyes can see, or will the World ever know it, so that no Resentment or Revenge upon thee, or thy Posterity, can be apprehended, but it may be said some wild Beast had rent him; nor will any one suggest that thou, his Brother, and Superior, could possibly be the Person.

_Cain_ prepar'd for the Fact, by his former avow'd Rage and Resolution of Revenge, was so much the less prepar'd to avoid the Snare thus artfully contriv'd by the Master of all Subtilty, the _Devil_; so he immediately runs upon his Brother _Abel_, and after a little unarm'd Resistance, the innocent poor Man expecting no such Mischief, was conquer'd and murther'd; after which, as is to be supposed, the exasperated Crew of _Cain_'s outrageous Race, over-run all his Family and Houshold, killing Man, Woman and Child.

It is objected here that we have no Authority in Scripture to prove this Part of the Story; but I answer, 'tis not likely but that _Abel_, as well as _Cain_, being at Man's Estate long before this, had several Children by their own Sisters, for they were the only Men in the World who were allow'd the Marrying their own Sisters, there being no other Women then in the World; and as we never read of any of _Abel_'s Posterity, 'tis likewise as probable they were all murther'd, as that they should kill _Abel_ only, whose Sons might immediately fall upon _Cain_ for the Blood of their Father, and so the World have been involv'd in a Civil War as soon as there were two Families in it.

But be it so or not, 'tis not doubted the Devil wrought with _Cain_ in the horrid Murther, or he had never done it; whether it was directly or by Agents is not material, nor is the Latter unlikely; and if the Latter, then there is no Improbability in the Story, for why might not he that made Use of the Serpent to tempt _Eve_, be as well supposed to make a Tool of some of _Cain_'s Sons or Grandsons to prompt him in the wicked Attempt of murthering his Brother? and why must we be oblig'd to bring in a Miracle or an Apparition into the Story, to make it probable that the _Devil_ had any Hand in it, when 'twas so natural to a degenerate Race to act in such a Manner?

However it was, and by whatever Tool the _Devil_ wrought, 'tis certain that this was the Consequence, poor _Abel_ was butcher'd, and thus the _Devil_ made a second Conquest in God's Creation; for _Adam_ was now, as may be said, really Childless, for his two Sons were thus far lost, _Abel_ was killed, and _Cain_ was curst and driven out from the Presence of the Lord, and his Race blasted with him.

It would be a useful enquiry here, and worthy our giving an Account of, could we come to a Certainty in it, namely, what was the Mark that God set upon _Cain_, by which he was kept from being fallen upon by _Abel_'s Friends or Relations? but as this does not belong to the _Devil_'s History, and it was God's Mark, not the _Devil_'s, I have nothing to do with it here.

The _Devil_ had now gain'd his Point, the Kingdom of Grace, so newly erected, had been as it were extinct without a new Creation, had not _Adam_ and _Eve_ been alive, and had not _Eve_, tho' now 130 Years of Age, been a breeding young Lady, for we must suppose the Woman, in that State of Longevity, bare Children till they were seven or eight hundred Year old: This Teeming of _Eve_ peopled not the World so much as it restored the blessed Race; for tho' _Abel_ was kill'd _Cain_ had a numerous Offspring presently, which had _Seth_, (_Adam_'s third Son) never been born, would soon have replenish'd the World with People, such as they were; the Seed of a Murtherer, cursed of God, branded with a Mark of Infamy, and who afterwards fell all together in the universal Ruine of the Race by the Deluge.

But after the Murther of _Abel_, _Adam_ had another Son born, namely, _Seth_, the Father of _Enos_, and indeed the Father of the holy Race; for during his Time and his Son _Enos_, the Text says that Men began to call on the Name of the Lord; that is to say, they began to look back upon _Cain_ and his wicked Race, and being convinc'd of the Wickedness they had committed, and led their whole Posterity into, they began to sue to Heaven for Pardon of what was past, and to lead a new sort of Life.

But the _Devil_ had met with too much Success in his first Attempts, not to go on with his general Resolution of debauching the Minds of Men, and bringing them off from God; and therefore as he kept his Hold upon _Cain_'s cursed Race, embroil'd already in Blood and Murther; so he proceeded with his degenerate Offspring, till in a Word he brought both the holy Seed and the degenerate Race to joyn in one universal Consent of Crime, and to go on in it with such aggravating Circumstances, as that it repented the Lord that he had made Man, and he resolv'd to overwhelm them again with a general Destruction, and clear the World of them.

The Succession of Blood in the royal original Line of _Adam_, is preserv'd in the sacred Histories and brought down as low as _Noah_ and his three Sons, for a continu'd series of 1450 Years, say some, 1640 say others; in which Time Sin spread it self so generally thro' the whole Race, and _the Sons of God_, so the Scripture calls the Men of the righteous Seed, the Progeny of _Seth_, came in unto the _Daughters of Men_, that is, join'd themselves to the curs'd Race of _Cain_, and married promiscuously with them, according to their Fancies, the Women it seems being beautiful and tempting; and tho' the Devil could not make the Women handsome or ugly in one or other Families, yet he might work up the Gust of wicked Inclination on either Side, so as to make both the Men and Women tempting and agreeable to one another, where they ought not to have been so; and perhaps, as it is often seen to this Day, the more tempting for being under legal Restraint.

It is objected here, that we do not find in the Scripture that the Men and Women of either Race were at that Time forbidden intermarrying with one another; and it is true, that literally it is not forbid; but if we did not search rather to make doubts than to explain them, we might suppose it was forbidden by some particular Command at that Time; seeing we may reasonably allow every Thing to be forbidden, which they are tax'd with a Crime in committing; and as the Sons of God taking them Wives as they thought fit to choose, tho' from among the Daughters of the cursed Race, is there charg'd upon them as a general Depravation, and a great Crime; and for which, 'tis said, GOD even repented that he had made them, we need go no farther to satisfy our selves that it was certainly forbidden.

_Satan_ no doubt too had a Hand in this Wickedness; for as it was his Business to prompt Men to do every Thing which God had prohibited, so the Reason given why the Men of those Days did this Thing was, they saw the Daughters of Men, that is of the wicked Race or forbidden Sort, _were fair_, he tempted them by the Lust of the Eye; in a word, the Ladies were beautiful and agreeable, and the _Devil_ knew how to make use of the Allurement; the Men liked and took them by the meer Direction of their Fancy and Appetite, without regarding the supreme Prohibition; _They took them Wives of all which they chose_, or such as they lik'd to choose.

But the Text adds, that this promiscuous Generation went farther than the meer outward Crime of it, for it shew'd that the Wickedness of the Heart of Man was great before God, and that he resented it; In short, God perceived a Degeneracy or Defect of Virtue had seiz'd upon the whole Race, that there was a general Corruption of Manners, a Depravity of Nature upon them, that even the holy Seed was tainted with it, that the Devil had broken in upon them, and prevail'd to a great Degree; that not only the Practice of the Age was corrupt, for that God could easily have restrain'd, but that the very Heart of Man was debauch'd, his Desires wholly vitiated, and his Senses engag'd in it; so that in a Word, it became necessary to shew the divine Displeasure, not in the ordinary Manner, by Judgment and Reproofs of such kind as usually reclaim Men, but by a general Destruction to sweep them away, clear the Earth of them, and put an End to the Wickedness at once, removing the Offence and the Offenders all together; this is signify'd at large, Gen. vi. 5. _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 again ver. 11, 12. _The Earth also was corrupt before God; and the Earth was fill'd with Violence. And God look'd upon the Earth and behold it was corrupt; for all Flesh had corrupted his Way upon the Earth._

It must be confess'd it was a strange Conquest the _Devil_ had made in the Antediluvian World, that he had, as I may say, brought the whole Race of Mankind into a general Revolt from God; _Noah_ was indeed a Preacher of Righteousness, and he had preach'd about 500 Years to as little Purpose as most of the good Ministers ever did; for we do not read there was one Man converted by him, or at least not one of them left, for that at the Deluge there was either none of them alive, or none spar'd but _Noah_ and his three Sons, and their Wives; and even they are ('tis evident) recorded, not so much to be sav'd for their own Goodness, but because they were his Sons; Nay, without Breach of Charity we may conclude, that at least one went to the _Devil_ even of those three, namely, _Ham_ or _Cham_ for triumphing in a brutal Manner over his Father's Drunkenness; for we find the Special Curse reach'd to him and his Posterity for many Ages; and whether it went no farther than the present State of Life with them, we cannot tell.

We will suppose now that thro' this whole 1500 Years the Devil having so effectually debauch'd Mankind, had advanc'd his infernal Kingdom to a prodigious Height; for the Text says, _the whole Earth was fill'd with violence_; in a Word, Blood, Murder, Rape, Robbery, Oppression and Injustice prevail'd every where, and Man, like the wild Bear in the Forest, liv'd by Prey, biting and devouring one another.

At this Time _Noah_ begins to preach a new Doctrine to them, for as he had before been a Preacher of Righteousness, now he becomes a Preacher of Vengeance; first he tells them they shall be all overwhelm'd with a Deluge, that for their Sins God repented they were made, and that he would destroy them all, adding, that to prevent the Ruin of himself and Family, he resolv'd to build him a Ship to have recourse to when the Water should come over the Rest of the World.

What Jesting, what Scorn, what Contempt did this Work expose the good old Man to for above a 100 Years? for so long the Work was building, as antient Authors say; let us represent to our selves in the most lively Manner how the witty World at that Time behav'd to poor old _Noah_; how they took their Evening Walks to see what he was doing, and passed their Judgment upon it, and upon the Progress of it; I say, to represent this to our selves, we need go no farther than to our own Witicisms upon Religion, and upon the most solemn Mysteries of Divine Worship; how we damn the Serious for Enthusiasts, think the Grave mad, and the Sober melancholy; call Religion it self Flatus and Hyppo; make the Devout ignorant, the Divine mercenary, and the whole Scheme of Divinity a Frame of Priestcraft; and thus no doubt the building an Ark or Boat, or whatever they call'd it, to float over the Mountains, and dance over the Plains, what could it be but a religious Frenzy, and the Man that so busied himself, a Lunatick? and all this in an Age when divine Things came by immediate Revelation into the Minds of Men! the _Devil_ must therefore have made a strange Conquest upon Mankind to obliterate all the Reverence, which but a little before was so strangely impress'd upon them concerning their Maker.

This was certainly the Height of the _Devil_'s Kingdom, and we shall never find him arrive to such a Pitch again; he was then truly and literally the universal Monarch, nay the God of this World; and as all Tyrants do, he governs them with an arbitrary absolute sway; and had not God thought fit to give him a Writ of Ejectment, and afterwards drown him out of Possession I know not what would have been the Case, he might have kept his Hold for ought I know till the Seed of the Woman came to bruise his Head, that is to say, cripple his Government, Dethrone him and Depose his Power, as has been fulfill'd in the Messiah.

But as he was, I say, drown'd out of the World, his Kingdom for the present was at an End; at least, if he had a Dominion he had no Subjects, and as the Creation was in a Manner renewed, so the _Devil_ had all his Work to do over again: Unhappy Man! how has he, by his weak Resistance, made the _Devil_, recovering his Hold too easy to him, and given him all the Advantages, except as before excepted, which he had before? Now whether he retired in the mean Time, and how he got footing again after _Noah_ and his Family were landed upon the New Surface, that we come next to enquire.

CHAP. X.

_Of the Devil's second Kingdom, and how he got footing in the renew'd
World by his Victory over_ Noah _and his Race_.

The Story of _Noah_, his building the Ark, his embarking himself and all Nature's Stock for a new World on board it; the long Voyage they took, and the bad Weather they met with, tho' it would embellish this Work very well, and come in very much to the Purpose in this Place, yet as it does not belong to the _Devil_'s Story, for I cannot prove what some suggest (_viz._) that he was in the Ark among the Rest, I say, for that Reason I must omit it.

And now having mention'd Satan's being in the Ark; as I say, I cannot prove it, so there are, I think, some good Reasons to believe he was not there: _First_, I know no Business he had there; _secondly_, we read of no Mischief done there, and these joyn'd together make me conclude he was absent; the last I chiefly insist upon, that we read of no Mischief done there, which if he had been in the Ark, would certainly have happen'd; and therefore I suppose rather, that when he saw his Kingdom dissolv'd, his Subjects all ingulph'd in an inevitable Ruin and Desolation, a Sight suitable enough to him, except as it might unking him for a Time; _I say_, when he saw this, he took care to speed himself away as well as he could, and make his Retreat to a Place of Safety, where that was, is no more difficult to us, than it was to him.

It is suggested that as he is Prince of the Power of the Air, he retired only into that Region. It is most rational to suppose he went no further on many Accounts, of which I shall speak by and by: Here he stay'd hovering in the Earth's Atmosphere, as he has often done since, and perhaps now does; or if the Atmosphere of this Globe was affected by the Indraft of the Absorption, as some think, then he kept himself upon the Watch, to see what the Event of the new Phaenomenon would be, and this Watch, wherever it was, I doubt not, was as near the Earth as he could place himself, perhaps in the Atmosphere of the Moon, or in a Word, the next Place of Retreat he could find.

From hence I took upon me to insist, that _Satan_ has not a more certain Knowledge of Events than we; I say, he has not a _more certain Knowledge_; that he may be able to make stronger Conjectures and more rational Conclusions from that he sees, I will not deny; and that which he most outdoes us in is, that he sees more to conclude from than we can, but I am satisfied he knows nothing of Futurity more than we can see by Observation and Inference; nor, _for Example_, did he know whether God would repeople the World any more or no.

I must therefore allow that he only waited to see what would be the Event of this strange Eruption of Water, and what God propos'd to do with the Ark, and all that was in it.

Some Philosophers tell us, besides what I hinted above, that the _Devil_ could have no Retreat in the Earth's Atmosphere, for that the Air being wholly condens'd into Water, and having continually pour'd down its Streams to deluge the Earth, that Body was become so small, and had suffer'd such Convulsions, that there was but just enough Air left to surround the Water, or as might serve by its Pressure to preserve the natural Position of Things, and supply the Creatures in the Ark with a Part to breath in.

The Atmosphere indeed might suffer some strange and unnatural Motions at that Time, but not (I believe) to that Degree, however, I will not affirm that there could be room in it, or is now for the Devil, much less for all the numberless Legions of Satan's Host; but there was, and now certainly is, sufficient Space to receive him, and a sufficient Body of his Troops for the Business he had for them at that time, and that's enough to the Purpose; or if the Earth's Atmosphere did suffer any particular Convulsion on that Occasion, he might make his Retreat to the Atmosphere of the Moon, or of _Mars_, or of _Venus_, or of any of the other Planets; or to any other Place, for he that is Prince of the Air could not want Retreats in such a Case, from whence he might watch for the issue of Things; certainly he did not go far, because his Business lay here, and he never goes out of his Way of doing Mischief.

In particular, his more than ordinary Concern was, to see what would become of the Ark; he was wise enough doubtless to see, that GOD, who had directed its making, nay even the very Structure of it, would certainly take Care of it, preserve it upon the Water, and bring it to some Place of Safety or other; tho' where it should be, the _Devil_ with all his Cunning could not resolve, whether on the same Surface the Waters drawing off, or in any other created or to be created Place; and this State of Uncertainty being evidently his Case, and which proves his Ignorance of Futurity, it was his Business, _I say_, to watch with the utmost vigilance for the Event.

If the Ark was (as Mr. _Burnet_ thinks) guided by two Angels, they not only held it from foundering or being swallow'd up in the Water, but certainly kept the Waters calm about it, especially when the Lord brought a strong Wind to blow over the whole Globe, which by the Way was the first, and, I suppose, the only universal Storm that ever blew, for to be sure it blew over the whole Surface at once; I say, if it was thus guided, to be sure the _Devil_ saw it, and that with Envy and Regret that he could do it no Injury, for doubtless had it been in the Devil's Power, as God had drown'd the whole Race of Man, except what was in the Ark, he would have taken care to have dispatch'd them too, and so made an End of the Creation at once; but either he was not empower'd to go to the Ark, or it was so well guarded by Angels, that when he came near it he could do it no harm: So it rested at length, the Waters abating on the Mountains of _Arrarat_ in _Armenia_, or some where else that Way, and where they say a Piece of the Keel is remaining to this Day; of which, however with Dr. ------ I say, I believe not one Word.

The Ark being safe landed, 'tis reasonable to believe _Noah_ prepared to go on Shore, as the Seamen call it, as soon as the dry Land began to appear; and here you must allow me to suppose Satan, tho' himself cloth'd with a Cloud, so as not to be seen, came immediately, and pearching on the Roof, saw all the Heaven-kept Houshold safely landed, and all the Host of living Creatures dispersing themselves down the Sides of the Mountain, as the Search of their Food or other proper Occasions directed them.

This Sight was enough; Satan was at no Loss to conclude from hence that the Design of God was to repeople the World by the Way of ordinary Generation, from the Posterity of these eight Persons, without creating any new Species.

Very well, says the _Devil_, then my Advantage over them, by the Snare I laid for poor _Eve_, is good still; and I am now just where I was after _Adam_'s Expulsion from the Garden, and when I had _Cain_ and his Race to go to work with; for here is the old expung'd Corrupted Race still, as _Cain_ was the Object then, so _Noah_ is my Man now, and if I do not master him one way or another, I am mistaken in my Mark. _Pardon me for making a Speech for_ the Devil.

_Noah_ big with a Sense of his late Condition, and while the Wonders of the Deluge were fresh in his Mind, spent his first Days in the Extasies of his Soul, giving Thanks, and praising the Power that had been his Protection, in and thro' the Flood of Waters, and which had in so miraculous a Manner, safely landed him on the Surface of the newly discover'd Land; and the Text tells us, as one of the first Things he was employ'd in, _He built an Altar unto the Lord, and offered Burnt-Offerings upon the Altar_. Gen. viii. 20.

While _Noah_ was thus employ'd he was safe, the _Devil_ himself could no where break in upon him; and we may suppose very reasonably, as he found the old Father invulnerable, he left him for some Years, watching notwithstanding all possible Advantages against his Sons and their Children; for now the Family began to encrease, and _Noah_'s Sons had several Children; whether himself had any more Children after the Flood or not, that we are not arriv'd to any Certainty about.

Among his Sons the _Devil_ found _Japhet_ and _Shem_, good, pious, religious, and very devout Persons; serving God daily, after the Example of their good old Father _Noah_, and he could make nothing of them or of any of their Posterity; but _Ham_ the second, or according to some, the younger Son of _Noah_, had a Son who was nam'd _Canaan_, a loose young profligate Fellow, his Education was probably but cursory and superficial, his Father _Ham_ not being near so religious and serious a Man as his Brothers _Shem_ and _Japhet_ were; and as _Canaan_'s Education was defective, so he prov'd, as untaught Youth generally do, a wild, and in short a very wicked Fellow, and consequently a fit Tool for the _Devil_ to go to work with.

_Noah_, a diligent industrious Man, being with all his Family thus planted in the rich fruitful Plains of _Armenia_, or wherever you please, let it be near the Mountains of _Caucasus_ or _Arrarat_; went immediately to work, cultivating and improving the Soil, encreasing his Cattle and Pastures, sowing Corn, and among other Things planting Trees for Food, and among the Fruit Trees he planted Vines, of the Grapes thereof he made no doubt, as they still in the same Country do make, most excellent Wine, rich, luscious, strong, and pleasant.

I cannot come into the Notion of our Criticks, who to excuse _Noah_ from the guilt of what followed, or at least from the Censure, tell us, he knew not the Strength or the Nature of Wine, but that gathering the heavy Clusters of the Grapes, and their own weight crushing out their balmy Juices into his Hand, he tasted the tempting Liquor, and that the _Devil_ assisting he was charm'd with the delicious Fragrance, and tasted again and again, pressing it out into a Bowl or Dish, that he might take a larger Quantity; till at length the heady Froth ascended and seizing his Brain, he became intoxicate and drunk, not in the least imagining there was any such Strength in the Juice of that excellent Fruit.

But to make out this Story, which is indeed very favourable for _Noah_, but in it self extremely ridiculous, you must necessarily fall into some Absurdities, and beg the Question most egregiously in some particular Cases, which way of arguing will by no means suppose what is suggested; at first you must support there was no such Thing as Wine made before the Deluge, and that no Body had been ever made drunk with the Juice of the Grape before _Noah_, which, I say, is begging the Question in the grossest Manner.

If the Contrary is true, as I see no Reason to question, if, _I say_, it was true that there was Wine drank, and that Men were or had been drunk with it before, they cannot then but suppose that _Noah_, who was a wise, a great and a good Man, and _a Preacher of Righteousness_, both knew of it, and without doubt had in his preaching against their Crimes, preach'd against this among the rest, upbraided them with it, reprov'd them for it, and exhorted them against it.

_Again_, 'tis highly probable they had Grapes growing, and consequently Wines made from them, in the Antediluvian World, how else did _Noah_ come by the Vines which he planted? For we are to suppose, he could plant no Trees or Shrubs, but such as he found the Roots of in the Earth, and which no doubt had been there before in their highest Perfection, and had consequently grown up and brought forth the same luscious Fruit before.

Besides, as he found the Roots of the Vines, so he understood what they were, and what Fruit they bore, or else it may be supposed also he would not have planted them; for he planted them for their Fruit, as he did it in the Provision he was making for his Subsistence, and the Subsistence of his Family: and if he did not know what they were, he would not have set them, for he was not planting for Diversion but for Profit.

Upon the whole it seems plain to me he knew what he did, as well when he planted the Vines as when he pressed out the Grapes; and also when he drank the Juice that he knew it was Wine, was strong and would make him drunk if he took enough of it: He knew that other Men had been drunk with such Liquor before the Flood, and that he had reprehended them for it; and therefore it was not his Ignorance, but the _Devil_ took him at some Advantage, when his Appetite was eager, or he thirsty, and the Liquor cooling and pleasant; and in short, as _Eve_ said, _the Serpent beguilded her_, and she DID EAT, so the Devil beguiled _Noah_, and _he_ DID DRINK; the Temptation was too strong for _Noah_, not the Wine; he knew well enough what he did, but as the Drunkards say to this Day, it was so good he could not forbear it, and so he got drunk before he was aware; or as our ordinary Speech expresses it, _he was overtaken with drink_; and Mr. _Pool_ and other Expositors are partly of the same Mind.

No sooner was the poor old Man conquer'd, and the Wine had lighten'd his Head, but it may be supposed he falls off from the Chair or Bench where he sate, and tumbling backward his Clothes, which in those hot Countries were only loose open Robes, like the Vests which the _Armenians_ wear to this Day, flying abroad, or the _Devil_ so assisting on purpose to expose him, he lay there in a naked indecent Posture not fit to be seen.

In this juncture who should come by but young _Canaan_, say some; or as others think, this young Fellow first attack'd him by way of Kindness and pretended Affection; prompted his Grandfather to drink, on Pretence of the Wine being good for him, and proper for the Support of his old Age, and subtilly set upon him, drinking also with him, and so (his Head being too strong for the old Man's) drank him down, and then, _Devil_ like, triumph'd over him; boasted of his Conquest, insulted the Body as it were dead, uncovered him on purpose to expose him, and leaving him in that indecent Posture, went and made Sport with it to his Father _Ham_, who in that Part, wicked like himself, did the same to his Brethren _Japhet_ and _Shem_; but they like modest and good Men, far from carrying on the wicked Insult on their Parent, went and cover'd him, as the Scripture expresses it, and as may be supposed inform'd him how he had been abus'd, and by whom.

Why else should _Noah_, when he came to himself, shew his Resentment so much against _Canaan_ his Grandson, rather than against _Ham_ his Father, and who 'tis supposed in the Story the guilt chiefly lay upon? we see the Curse is (as it were) laid wholly upon _Canaan_ the Grandson, and not a Word of the Father is mention'd, Gen. ix. 25, 26, 27, _Cursed be_ Canaan, _a Servant of Servants shall he be_, &c.

That _Ham_ was Guilty, that's certain from the History of Fact, but I cannot but suppose his Grandson was the Occasion of it; and in this Case the Devil seems to have made _Canaan_ the Instrument or Tool to delude _Noah_, and draw him in to Drunkenness, as he made the Serpent the Tool to beguile _Eve_, and draw her into Disobedience.

Possibly _Canaan_ might do it without Design at first, but might be brought in to ridicule and make a Jest of the old Patriarch afterward, as is too frequent since in the Practice of our Days; but I rather believe he did it really with a wicked Design, and on Purpose to expose and insult his Reverend old Parent; and this seems more likely too, because of the great Bitterness with which _Noah_ resented it, after he came to be inform'd of it.

But be that as it will, the _Devil_ certainly made a great Conquest here, and as to outward Appearance no less than that which he gain'd before over _Adam_; nor did the _Devil_'s Victory consist barely in his having drawn in the only righteous Man of the whole Antediluvian World, and so beginning or initiating the new young Progeny with a Crime; but here was the great Oracle silenc'd at once; the Preacher of Righteousness, for such no doubt he would have been to the new World, as he was to the old, I say, the Preacher was turn'd out of Office, or his Mouth stopt, which was worse; nay, it was a stopping of his Mouth in the worst kind, far worse than stopping his Breath, for had he died, the Office had descended to his sons _Shem_ and _Japhet_, but he was dead to the Office of an Instructor, tho' alive as to his Being; For of what Force could his Preachings be, who had thus fallen himself into the most shameful and beastly Excess?

Besides some are of the Opinion, tho' I hope without Ground, that _Noah_ was not only overtaken once in his Drink, but that being fallen into that Sin it became habitual, and he continued in it a great while, and that it was this which is the meaning of his being uncovered in his Tent, and that his Son saw his Nakedness; that is, he continually exposed himself for a long Time, a hundred Years, say they, and that his Son _Ham_, and his Grandson _Canaan_ having drawn him into it, kept him in it, encourag'd and prompted it, and all the while Satan still prompting them, join'd their Scoffs and contempt of him, with their wicked Endeavours to promote the Wickedness; and both with as much Success as the Devil himself could wish for.

Then as for his two Sons modestly and decently covering their Father, they tell us, that Represents _Shem_ and _Japhet_ applying themselves in an humble and dutiful Manner to their Father, to entreat and beseech him to consider his ancient Glory, his own pious Exhortations to the late drowned World, and to consider the Offence which he gave by his evil Courses to God, and the Scandal to his whole Family, and also that they are brought in effectually prevailing upon him; and that then _Noah_ cursed the Wickedness of _Ham_'s degenerate Race, in Testimony of his sincere Repentance after the Fact.

The Story is not so very unlikely as it is certain that it is not to be proved, and therefore we had better take it as we find it (_viz._) for one single Act; but suppose it was so, 'tis still certain that _Noah_'s Preaching was sadly interrupted, the Energy of his Words flatter'd, and the Force of his Persuasions enervated and abated, by this shameful Fall; that he was effectually silenc'd for an Instructor ever after, and this was as much as the Devil had Occasion for; and therefore indeed we read little more of him, except that he lived three hundred and fifty Years after the Flood; nay, we do not so much as read that he had any more Children, but the contrary, nor indeed could _Noah_ have any more Children, except by his old and perhaps super-annuated Wife, who it was very likely he had had four or five hundred Year, unless you will suppose he was allow'd to marry some of his own Progeny, Daughters or Grandaughters, which we do not suppose was allow'd, no not to _Adam_ himself.

This was certainly a Master-piece of the _Devil_'s Policy, and a fatal Instance of his unhappy Diligence, (_viz._) that the Door of the Ark was no sooner open, and the Face of the World hardly dry from the universal Destruction of Mankind, but he was at work among them; and that not only to form a general Defection among the Race, upon the Foot of the original Taint of Nature, but like a bold _Devil_ he strikes at the very Root, and flies at the next general Representative of Mankind, attacks the Head of the Family, that in his Miscarriage the Rise and Progress of a Reformation of the new World should receive an early Check, and should be at once prevented; I say, like a bold Devil, he strikes at the Root, and _alas!_ poor unhappy _Noah_, he proved too weak for him, _Satan_ prevail'd in his very first Attempt, and got the Victory over him at once.

_Noah_ thus overcome, and Satan's Conquest carried on to the utmost of his own Wishes, the _Devil_ had little more to do in the World for some Ages, than to carry on an universal Degeneracy among Mankind, and to finish it by a like diligent Application, in deluding the Generality of the Race, and them as they came on gradually into Life; this he found the less difficult, because of the first Defection which spread like a Contagion upon the Earth immediately after.

The first Evidence we have of his Success in this mischievous Design was in the Building that great stupendious Stair-case, for such it seems it was intended, call'd _Babel_, which if the whole World had not been drunk, or otherwise infatuated, they would never have undertaken; even Satan himself could never have prevail'd with them to undertake such a preposterous Piece of Work, for it had neither End or Means, Possibility or Probability in it.

I must confess I am sometimes apt to vindicate our old Ancestors, in my Thoughts, from the Charge it self, as we generally understand it, namely, that they really design'd to build a Tower which should reach up to Heaven, or that it should secure them in case of another Flood; and Father _Casaubon_ is of my Opinion, whether I am of his or no, is a Question by it self; his opinion is that the Confusion was nothing but a Breach among the Undertakers and Directors of the Work, and that the Building was design'd chiefly for a Store-house for Provisions, in Case of a second Deluge; as to their Notion of its reaching up to Heaven, he takes the Expression to be allegorical rather than little, and only to mean that it should be exceeding high; perhaps they might not be Astronomers enough to measure the Distance of Space between the Earth and Heaven, as we pretend to do now; but as _Noah_ was then alive, and as we believe all his three Sons were so too, they were able to have inform'd them how absurd it was to suppose either the one or the other (_viz_.) (1.) that they could build up to Heaven, or (2.) that they could build firm enough to resist, or high enough to overtop the Waters, supposing such another Flood should happen; I would rather think it was only that they intended to build a most glorious and magnificent City, where they might all inhabit together; and that this Tower was to be built for Ornament and also for Strength, or as above, and for a Store-house to lay up vast Magazines of Provisions, in Case of extraordinary Floods or other Events, the City being built in a great Plain, namely, the Plains of _Shimar_ near the River _Euphrates_.

But the Story, as it is recorded, suits better with Satan's Measures at that Time; and as he was from the Beginning prompting them to every Thing that was contrary to the Happiness of Man, so the more preposterous it was, and the more inconsistent with common Sense, the more to his Purpose; and it shew'd the more what a compleat Conquest he had gain'd over the Reason as well as the Religion of Mankind at that Time.

Again, 'tis evident in this Case, they were not only acting contrary to the Nature of Things, but contrary to the Design and to the Command of Heaven; for God's Command was that they should replenish the Earth, that is, that they should spread their Habitations over it, and People the whole Globe; whereas they were pitching in one Place, as if they were not to multiply sufficient to take up any more.

But what car'd the Devil for that, or to put it a little handsomer, that was what _Satan_ aimed at; for it was enough to him, to bring Mankind to act just contrary to what _Heaven_ had directed or commanded them in any thing, and if possible in every Thing.

But God himself put a stop to this foolish Piece of Work, and it was time indeed to do so, for a madder thing the Devil himself never proposed to them; I say, God himself put a stop to this new Undertaking, and disappointed the Devil; and how was it done? not in Judgment and Anger, as perhaps the Devil expected and hop'd for, but as pitying the Simplicity of that dreaming Creature Man, he confused their Speech, or as some say, divided and confused their Councils, so that they could not agree with one another, which would be the same Thing as not to understand one another; or he put a new Shibboleth upon their Tongues, thereby separating them into Tribes or Families, for by this every Family found themselves under a Necessity of keeping together, and this naturally encreased that Differing Jargons of Language, for at first it might be no more.

What a Confusion this was to them we all know, by their being oblig'd to leave off their building, and immediately separating one from another; but what a Surprize it was to the old Serpent, that remains to be considered of, for indeed it belongs to his History.

Satan had never met with any Disappointment in all his wicked Attempts till now; for first, he succeeded even to triumph upon _Eve_, he did the like upon _Cain_, and in short upon the whole World, _one Man_ (Noah) _excepted_; when he blended the Sons of God, and the Daughters of Hell, for so the Word is understood, together, in promiscuous voluptuous Living as well as Generation.

As to the Deluge, Authors are not agreed whether it was a Disappointment to the Devil or no, it might be indeed a Surprize to him, for tho' _Noah_ had preach'd of it for a hundred Year together, yet as he (_Satan_) daily prompted the People not to heed or believe what that old Fellow _Noah_ said to them, and to ridicule his whimsical Building a monstrous Tub to swim or float in, when the said Deluge should come; so I am of the Opinion he did not believe it himself, and am positive he could not foresee it, by any insight into Futurity that he was Master of.

'Tis true the Astronomers tell us, there was a very terrible Comet seen in the Air, that it appeared for 180 Days before the Flood continually; and that as it approach'd nearer and nearer every Day all the while, so that at last it burst and fell down in a continual Spout or Stream of Water, being of a watry Substance, and the Quantity so great, that it was forty Days a falling; so that this Comet not only foretold the Deluge or drowning of the Earth, but actually perform'd it, and drown'd it from it self.

But to leave this Tale to them that told it, let us consider the Devil, surpris'd, and a little amaz'd at the Absorption or Inundation, or whatever we are to call it, of the Earth in the Deluge, not, I say, that he was much concern'd at it, perhaps just the Contrary; and if God would drown it again, and as often as he thought fit, I do not see by any thing I meet with in Satan's History, or in the Nature of him, that he would be at all disturb'd at it; all that I can see in it, that could give Satan any Concern, would be that all his Favourites were gone, and he had his Work to do over again, to lay a Foundation for a new Conquest in the Generation that was to come; But in this his Prospect was fair enough, for why should he be discouraged, when he had now eight People to work upon, who met with such Success when he had but two? and why should he question breaking in now where Nature was already vitiated and corrupted, when he had before conquer'd the same Nature, when in its primitive Rectitude and Purity, just come out of the Hands of its Maker, and fortify'd with the Awe of his high and solemn Command just given them, and the threatning of Death also annext to it, if broken?

But I go back to the Affair of _Babel_: This Confusion of Language or of Councils, take it which way you will, as the first Disappointment that I find the Devil met with, in all his Attempts and Practices upon Mankind, or upon the new Creature, which I mentioned above; for now he foresaw what would follow; namely, that the People would separate and spread themselves over the whole Surface of the Earth, and a thousand new Scenes of Actions would appear, in which he therefore prepares himself to behave as he should see Occasion.

How the Devil learn'd to speak all the Languages that were now to be used, and how many languages they were, the several ancient Writers of the _Devil_'s Story have not yet determined; some tell us they were divided only into fifteen, some into seventy two, others into one hundred and eighty, and others again into several Thousands.