The Deluge.

The flood of Noah and the ark are the next objects of his learned hilarity. In the ark, especially, he finds the fatted calf with which to make merry with his friends.

"The building of the ark, which had one door which shut on the outside, and one window twenty-two inches square. If Noah had any hobby in the world, it was ventilation. He went into this ark, taking his family with him, and a certain number of all the animals in the world. It had been ascertained that there were 1,100,000 insects necessary to go into this ark. The audience could see the trouble that man had. Some people said the flood was not universal, that it was partial; but if that was the case, why did God say "I will destroy every living substance beneath the whole heaven?" If it was partial, why did Noah put the birds in there—the eagle, the vulture, the condor? How did he get them in? Were they inspired to go there, or did he drive them up! There were also animals in this hemisphere. How did he get them across? It must be remembered that there are some animals which would be very unpleasant in an ark, unless the ventilation were perfect. After he got the animals in, God shut the door, and Noah pulled down the window. Then it began to rain. It kept on raining until the water went over the highest mountains whose peaks were covered with snow and ice. The water was five and one-half miles deep, and it must have rained 800 feet a day. How was that for dampness? Finally they came down upon Mount Ararat, 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. Then Noah opened the window and got a breath of fresh air, and they let out the animals, and Noah got a drink. Then God made a bargain with him that he wouldn't drown any more, and put the rainbow on the clouds as attesting what he said."

On the representation of the flood I remark,

1.	There is no evidence that the window spoken of was the only medium of light and ventilation.
2.	We cannot now determine either the form or the size of this window.
3.	The animals came to him by divine direction, the denial of which only raises the old question of miracles, on which infidels have been answered times without number.
4.	His statement respecting insects, if inside by any other man than an infidel, and to any other than an infidel audience, would be regarded as casting a reflection on the free school system.page 12
5.	From all that can be found in Genesis, it is not necessary to regard the flood as universal.
6.	The flood was most probably brought about by the upheaval of the earth's crust where it was thinest, thus elevating the ocean bed, and correspondingly depressing the land-portion. Only a few feet of elevation of the ocean bed would be needed. Hence the difficulties of the flood were manufactured for the occasion. And all their uproarious merriment is only another proof that men can laugh at the things of which they are wholly ignorant.