school form to the patient inquirer with spectacle on nose.


_The Raven and the Dove at the Deluge._

"We shall quote the interesting account which the Sacred Volume supplies
us, of the singular messenger employed by the patriarch, to procure
information as to the state of the diluvial waters;--'And it came to
pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark
which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went to and fro (in
going forth and returning), until the waters were dried up from off the
earth. Also, he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were
abated from off the face of the ground: but the dove found no rest for
the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark: for the
waters were on the face of the whole earth. Then he put forth his hand,
and took her and pulled her (caused her to come) in unto him into the
ark. And he stayed yet other seven days, and again he sent forth the
dove out of the ark: and the dove came into him in the evening; and lo!
in her mouth was an olive leaf, plucked off. So Noah knew that the
waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven
days, and sent forth the dove which returned not again unto him any
more.' This narrative, though simple in its style, is expressive and
beautiful. There is an eloquent charm which, while it touches the chords
of truth, makes the heart respond to the tale. The raven would find
sufficient for its carnivorous appetite in the floatage of the animal
remains, on the briny flood, and would return to roost on the ark; but
it was far different with Noah's bird, so long as the waters prevailed,
there could be no pause for her weary wing, and the messenger would
return to the ark. So soon, however, as the subsidence of the waters had
permitted the olive to emerge, a sprig was plucked off, and borne to the