NOAH'S FIRST SACRIFICE.

THE flood having subsided, the holy family descended from the ark, which had rested on Mount Ararat, into the plain. All the inhabitants of the postdiluvian world are here at once presented before us. Eight souls composed the whole population of the earth, and we now behold them assembled to perform a solemn act of homage to that God who had protected them amid the late desolating visitation of his wrath. In grateful acknowledgment for the preservation of himself and family, "Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." As in Abel's sacrifice, the smoke rises direct to heaven, a sign of God's acceptance. Noah stands before the sacrifice in an attitude of energetic devotion, whilst the other members of his family are seen in silent reverence around him. His wife appears on the right hand side of the altar, close to the patriarch, in a posture of deep humility, with her head bent upon her clasped hands as if unworthy to behold the solemn ratification of the covenant. Shem, the youngest son, kneels apart from the family group to mark his eminent distinction as the branch whence the Messiah was to spring, and as also significative of his own high personal qualities, being distinguished for his piety and filial behaviour. Japhet the elder, and Ham the second son, together with the wives of the brothers, form a single group behind the patriarch. The "token of the covenant" appears in the heavens to confirm the acceptance of Noah's sacrifice, and as a divine pledge to him and to his kindred that the world shall never again be overwhelmed by a deluge. The altar is raised upon the shore, beyond which the wide expanse of waters is visible, as if to remind the worshippers of the peril from which they had so lately escaped under the especial protection of Providence.