The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-11-09
WHOLE NUMBER bO5.
NOah's Ark aud the "Great East.
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An elaborate article on the Deluys an.
osared ia the Church Of England 04irt.rly.
some thirteen years ago, which was after.
wards republished ia this country in LittsEs
LtrinS Age, and attracted considerable no.
tice. In that article the folio wing paragraph
on the Ark l. found
"Now ss it Is clearly impossible thsts
vessel Of the length and breadth of the Ark
could be other wise than q f1stine vessel
designed entirely for perfectly still waters,
We have supposed it to be fa,.bottomed
and straight.sided both as making it more
bhoyant and as giving to it The greatest ca.
pacity. II was devoid Of ell sailing proper.
lies had neither rigging nor rudder its
build was simply that Of huge a Iat, to all
outward appearance wholly at the mercy of
the winds and waves, l.ble to be drihed
or driven about ACCORDING as currents Or
winds for the time prevailed; bat as we
shall show the Ark could not Tor a moment
have been subjected to the inAu,nce of eli.
ther winds or tides. The eriraordincrv
length Of the Ark pTsves st once, the mirsc.
uIous power that was, at every moment, In
exercise for its preservation. since no vessel
OF the Ark's proportions could naturally live
IN disturbed waters the very first wave that
rose would Inevitably break its back and
rend it entirely asunder nor with ail our
experience in ship building would it be-
possible to construct vessel of the Ark's
proportions and to navip tie it from Dover
to Calais in rough weather-the least swell
OF the ocean, BY raising one end and depress.
ing the other would break it in the middle
and cause it to founder, nor could sny nos.
sible contrivance or ingenuity of construc.
ton prevent this consequence. And if the
very peculiar construction of the ARR had
not made such a conclusion irresistible, the
purpose for which it was built would have
proved that such was the tact, for had the
Ark pitched in the least from the swell OF
the waves, or rolled at oil from side TO side
under the influence Of the wind. which from
its great length and little ,cidlh. it must most
diStrsssing!y have done, the whole world of
animels therein contained could not huve
kept footing Of every necessity therefore a
dead calm must hsve prevailed around the
Ark during the whole OF the one hundred
and fifty days that it was floating on the wa.
ters."
Otthis the New York Courier and En-.
qutrer remarks:
"Here, we see, tits said that vessel 40
long as the Ark could not po- -sibly 1.-Two eS-
cept in a dead caIm--that the least agitation
would break its back-and that n continuous
miracle was necessary to avert such ca.
tastrophe. Yet here is the Great Eosters,
one hundred and thirty three fe,t longer,
about to navigate not from Dover to Culsist'
but from England to America, and after.
wards to 60 half round the world, making
sport Of all the winds and waves. It is
said. too, that the great length and little
width of the Ark would have caused such
pitching nnd rolling that the animals inside
could not have kept their footing. Yet here
is ship great deal longer and m teriay
narrower that will, if what they promise oi it
is true, maintain a condition of almost per.
feet equilibrium and repose even in the
toughest weather.
The late DR.. Scorsby conclusiyely e.tab.
lished by series Of experiments on the
waves of the Atlantic, that a vessel of some
six hundred ieet in length could never talf
iuto the trough Of the sea as ons wave
would counteract the effect of another
Thus instead Of miracle to save the Ark's
back, it would have taken miracle to have
broken its back, constructed as it was
The English Chnrchmsn is no, the first man
who has been superservicesble in clearing
up Scripture difficulties which had no exist.
enCe But in his own imagination. the "a.
cred records need no ekng out by mans in.
genuity it is best left to its own simple
statement"
To this the Presbyterian Bsnner:. per.
tinently adds:
The science Of the Scriptures is all right.
and neither the opposition of its enemies
nor the misinterpretati1ns OF its freuds car
affect its truth. How long must 1t be b..
fore men will seace to fly to the aid OF the
Diviie record wberA NJ s"h aid il req lirede
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