It is probable also, that the antediluvians had fixed places of public worship ; and that there was some spot where the Almighty particularly manifested his pre sence ; for we find Cain chiefly complaining, that, in consequence of his punishment, he should be hid from the presence of the Lord; which is scarcely intelligible, unless there was some place where the Shekinah, or divine presence, particularly dwelt. In order to relieve his apprehensions of danger, on account of this removal from the divine presence, God, we are told, set a mark upon him, or, as it should be translated, gave him a token, that no man should kill him. This is implied in the Septuagint translation,l wt. e _ (70 K V005 0 0E05 G-nt.c.flou Katy.
As the first race of men la ere thus immediately in structed by God, there can be little doubt that they were fully acquainted with the doctrine of a future state. \Varburton's notions on this subject are altoge ther untenable. Abel was no sooner publicly accepted of God, than he was slain. Can we suppose that the antediluvians were left to believe that murder and anni hilation were the rewards of acceptance with God ? It is impossible. They must have been convinced, that since Abel was accepted, he was properly rewarded ; and that could only be in another world. Besides, it is said that Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him ; which can only be understood, according to the apostle's interpretation, that he was translated, that he should not see death. Now, if his contemporaries knew that he did not die, as it appears from the his tory'that they certainly did, what were they to suppose had become of him ? Surely, that God had taken him to another world, to live for ever.
2. The subject of the Antediluvian arts, though inte resting, must be speedily discussed, for want of mate rials to furnish authentic information. The first city was built by Cain; but as to its size or architecture, the sacred historian is entirely silent. From the infant state of society, it is probable that it was at first at least of small dimensions ; and if, as has generally been sup posed, men were at that time ignorant of the use of iron and brass, the work must have been rudely exe cuted. It is said in scripture, that Tubal-cain, (from which the word Vulcan is supposed to be derived,) the seventh in descent from Adam, was the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. It may be doubted, however, whether this implies that they were entirely ignorant of these- arts before. Jabal and Juba!, the brothers of Tubal-cain, by the same father, though from different mothers, (their father Lamech being the first polygamist,) were also eminent for their proficiency in the useful and ornamental arts ; the former was the fa ther of such as dwell in tents and have cattle; the latter of all such as handle the harp and the organ. Nor, if we may believe the Jews, were the arts confined to the line of Cain : the descendants of Seth, we are told, were eminently skilled in astronomy ; and Joscphus as serts, that there were stone pillars erected by the chil dren of and covered with astronomical inscrip tions, to be seen, in his time, in the land of Siriad. Credal Jucls'us Appella. Josephus, in this instance, has undoubtedly been misled by false information ; for no body else has ever been able to discover these pillars, nor even to discover the land in which they are said to have been erected. The land of Siriad is as unknown
as the Terra Australis incognita. We have a surer proof of the progress of the arts in the line of Seth, in the construction of the ark which was built by Noah. It is probable that it would baffle the skill of modern artists to construct such a vessel ; and though it may be alleged that Noah had little merit in the affair, as the ark was' built according to directions from the Almighty ; yet these directions apply merely to its dimensions, which it was impossible for Noah to have known without di vine revelation. As to the construction of the vessel itself, there can be little doubt that this was left to his own ingenuity. It is absurd to suppose, with bishop Newton, that the antediluvians were unacquainted with the use of letters. 'We are informed by St Jude, that Enoch delivered prophecies, which kis reasonable to suppose were committed to writing. At any rate, we have never heard of any society, which had made such progress in the arts as the antediluvians certainly did, without being acquainted with the use of letters. The argument will be so much the stronger, if we suppose alphabetic characters to be by divine revelation. See ALPIIABET and ARK.
3. As to the Government of the Antediluvians, there can he little doubt that it was patriarchal. To use the words of a learned prelate, Newton, "The father of the family naturally became the prince and governor of it but it is absurd to infer from hence, that absolute domi nion, which Filmer and Lesly have so strenuously as serted, and Locke and Hoadly have so amply refuted. In all probability there were two great governments ; one in the line of Seth, and the other in the line of Cain, which were afterwards divided and subdivided into several branches, as mankind grew more numerous, and nations were more multiplied and diffused over the face of the earth." In the days, when the doctrines of passive obedience and the divine indefeasible rights of kings were in vogue, sir Robert Filmer, the first of the authors mentioned above, wrote a treatise, entitled Patriarcha, in order to prove that absolute monarchy was the only kind of government countenanced by the Almighty. This he endeavoured to make out from the grant of dominion which God gave to Adam. This doctrine became so fashionable among high-churchmen and courtiers, that the pretended antediluvian form of government had almost overturned the English consti tution. Mr Locke was obliged to take up the pen, to put a stop to this torrent of absurdity, and has devoted a treatise to the refutation of this courtly author. One of sir Robert's proofs was, the absolute dominion given to Adam over Eve and her posterity, which he contends is intimated in that part of the sentence pronounced against the woman; " Thy desire shall be to thy hus band, and he shall rule over thee." To which Mr Locke shrewdly replies, that that was not a time when Adam could expect grants and privileges ; and that God rather put a spade into his hand to subdue the earth, than a sceptre to rule over its inhabitants.