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from the Word; we, however, will only adduce, for each, one confirmatory instance.

That beasts represented the good affections of the celestial man, is evident from its being said, that "beasts were in heaven," and that "four beasts fell down and worshipped God, saying, Amen; Alleluia." (Rev. xix. 4, and vii. 11.) These circumstances cannot be predicated of natural beasts, but only of the good affections of celestial men which they represent.

That fowls denote the true perception of the spiritual màn, is plain, for similar reasons. An "angel cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the Great God." (Rev. xix. 17.) This invitation was not delivered to irrational, irresponsible birds, but to the intellectual perceptions of the spiritual man, of which they are significant. And that by the wild beasts are signified the general affections of the natural man, which are preserved in order by the influence of superior examples, appears from this declaration; "The wild beasts of the field shall honor me, because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people.” * Wild beasts give no honor to God on account of the blessings which he bestows upon mankind; but they are said to do so, on account of the representation they are selected to sustain.

Now the living creatures which were brought to Adam, were of three descriptions: they consisted of celestial affections, spiritual perceptions, and natural delights; and the Lord is said to have formed, and brought them unto him, to reveal that he is the author of their existence, and the giver of them to men.

But they were brought to Adam for a particular purpose, - to see what he would call them; that is, to observe the quality which he, in the exercise of his freedom and responsibility, would impress upon them. To call by a name, and to give a name, are forms of expression which frequently occur in the Scriptures, but they do not always mean to pronounce a vocable; their design is to indicate a quality. Thus the angel who wrestled with Jacob, said unto him, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel." (Gen. xxxii. 28.) This change of name was intended to express a change which had taken place in the quality of his character, hence

* Isaiah xliii. 20. This passage, in the authorized version, has simply beasts; but the original word here, and in several other places where it is translated beasts only, properly means wild beasts, as, indeed, the context commonly shows.

it is immediately added, "for as a prince thou hast power with God and with men, and hast. prevailed." So, again, when the Lord said of the church, "I have called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me,” (Isaiah xlv. 4;) the meaning is, that a new quality had been imparted, and yet its advantages had not been appreciated. The Lord said he would write his new name upon him who overcometh, (Rev. iii. 12;) to show that a new quality will be given to the spiritual character of those who conquer in temptations. And those "whose names are not written in the book of life," (Rev. xiii. 8;) are plainly those whose internal qualities are such as to exclude them from the heavenly kingdom. Hence, it is evident, that to give a name, denotes to impress a quality upon the object of which it is predicated; and this, also, is its meaning in the case of Adam naming the creation.

The circumstance will admit of illustration from experience. It frequently happens that some good affections and true ideas are suddenly introduced into the human mind. They come under circumstances in which we did not expect them, and we are enabled to perceive their excellence. Doubtless, these spiritual beasts and fowl, are of divine origination, and surely they are brought to us by infinite wisdom to see what we will call them, that is, to give us the opportunity of receiving, and impressing upon them, such a quality as we, in the exercise of our freedom, may choose to adopt, and which quality, when so impressed, remains upon them so far as our own individuality is concerned; a circumstance which the representative history thus expresses, "whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof."

Such, we conceive to have been the meaning of the narrative of Adam, naming the living creatures. Under this view, it is brought home to the business and bosoms of religious men. It is beautifully consistent with the Word of God, and eminently practical. The experience of men presents a counterpart of it, and so a rational interpretation.

CHAPTER IX.

ITS NOT BEING GOOD THAT ADAM SHOULD BE ALONE:-HIS DEEP SLEEP: -THE TAKING OF A RIB FROM HIM AND BUILDING IT INTO A WOMAN.

"It requires but little attention in any one, to discern that woman was not formed out of the rib of a man; and that deeper arcana are here implied."-SWEDENBORG. Arcana Calestia, n. 152.

IT is written, that "The Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help, meet for him. And the

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Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, builded he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man." (Gen. ii. 18, 21, 22, 23.)

These statements are remarkable, not only on account of their apparent singularity, but for other circumstances, when considered as a literal history. In that point of view, there are several difficulties which could not have existed, if the narrative had not been constructed with some more recondite design than what appears upon the surface.

As already remarked, the first chapter of Genesis informs us, that the female was created upon the sixth day, and at the conclusion of that day's work it is said, that "God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good." But in the second chapter we find, that after the seventh day, when Adam had been placed in the garden, it was discovered "not to be good that he should be alone," and that this circumstance originated the woman. For the solution of these discrepancies, it is requisite to admit that the two chapters treat of two different conditions of the man of the church in these early times. Of this we have already spoken. But these different descriptions have led to curious results. Some have considered what is said of the creation of man, namely, "male and female created he them," to mean that Adam was originally distinguished by both sexes; and this was thought to derive confirmation from the peculiar circumstance of Eve's creation, afterwards related. Others have conjectured, that man and woman were, indeed, created upon the sixth day, but by some means fastened sideways to each other, so that she was as a rib to him; and that her separation from him during a deep sleep, with her subsequent presentation to him as a separate individual, are what are meant by taking from him a rib, and making it into a woman. (Cruden, Art. Woman.) All this is curious enough, and doubtless, the literal sense will admit of these and other equally ridiculous conjectures, which, surely, are sufficient to suggest the duty of taking other grounds from which to view these narratives.

It is indeed popular to consider the statement as "wise, benign, and simple;" and with a view to the maintenance of its literal character, it is asked whether the "imagination can frame a mode

of origin, so well adapted to endear her to her conjugate, as that the creative power should form her out of his actual bodily substance." (Dr. Pye Smith, Scrip. Geo., Sec. Ed. p. 285.) We could have understood this argument, whatever we might have thought of it, if it had been employed in reference to the first child, but what it has to do with the first conjugate, it is difficult to conjecture. Such a method of defending the history, suggests the idea of Adam being the mother of Eve rather than her husband! But if this mode of origination were really intended to supply the motive for endearment, which is assumed, what has become of it? When was it lost? Why has it not been perpetuated? How has it happened that such myriads of attachments are formed and continued, irrespective of such a motive to their existence? It is gone, and whensoever the statement is adverted to, there is felt more of the buoyancy of a smile, than the solemnity of belief. The supposed argument has no foundation in truth. The question, however, is not whether the imagination can form a more suitable idea of the origination of woman, but whether that which is commonly understood to be the description of it, is really so. We may fail in a conjecture of this sort, but that would not prove the literal sense of such a description true, and therefore, the narrative remains just where it was. It must be judged of from other grounds.

We have traced the rise and progress of the Adamic church, into the full enjoyment of Eden, with all its blessings. We have seen that that garden, and those felicities, consisted in the religious intelligence, high principles, sound virtue, and distinguished character of that people. We have ascertained that they received instractions in duty from their Maker, and there can be no reasonable doubt but what they were, for a time, carefully and happily obeyed. How long the people continued in their integrity there is no record. We are only informed of the fact and not of its duration. It is highly probable that it might have been maintained for several generations: but this is a matter with which we have not to deal: we find that in process of time, while they were yet in the garden, the discovery was made that it was not good for the man to be alone.

Now, we hold that this cannot be reasonably construed to mean, that he was the only existing human individual. If the literal sense is to be received as evidence, the male and female are of the same age, and Adam is their generic name. (Gen. v. 2.) The woman is distinctly declared to have been created in the same day

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as the man, (Gen. i. 27;) nor is there any thing in the statement to preclude the idea, that it was at the same moment. Moreover, a command was given to them to "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, before they were placed in the garden;" (Gen. ì. 28;) it is therefore plain, that Adam could not have been there alone, in the sense commonly understood by that term. Besides, she knew the command of God concerning the forbidden tree; (Gen. iii. 2, 3 ;) there is no intimation of Adam having communicated it to her; and therefore, it is to be inferred, that she was present at its delivery, which was before the time he is stated to have been alone and which, therefore, requires that this expression should not be understood to mean, that there was no woman then in existence. That statement is intended to furnish us with information, relating to the internal condition of a posterity of the most ancient church. It is an intimation concerning their decline from innocence and purity; in the record, that a period had arrived in that remote dispensation, when it was not good for man to be alone, we have presented to us the germ of that catastrophe, called the Fall. That circumstance was not a sudden calamity, it was the result of successive downward steps. They who had been gradually raised into the possession of every blessing, and so gifted with experimental evidences of their value, would not be instantaneously precipitated into flagrant guilt: that catastrophe was small in its beginning, and therefore, it is delicately spoken of, as not being good to be alone. It is expressive of an incipient disinclination to remain under the exclusive guidance of God. That is what the Scriptures treat of, when they speak of man being alone. They who submit themselves wholly to the divine guidance are said to be alone, because they are governed solely by the Lord. Hence Balaam's prediction concerning some future happy state of Israel was, “Lo, the people shall dwell alone." (Num. xxiii. 9.) Moses, also, in speaking of a similar circumstance, said, “Israel shall dwell in safety alone." (Deut. xxxiii. 28.) The prophet likewise said, "Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the Lord which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone." (Jer. xlix. 31.) Now the Adamic people, during the period of their integrity, had dwelt in "safety alone." They had been led, and influenced solely by the Lord: but with some of their posterity there arose an inclination to selfhood a desire to possess an individuality apart from the Lord. This was necessarily attended by the expe