throne," yet, "clouds and darkness are often round about him." It is perfectly inconsistent with the humility becoming worms of the dust, to sit in judgment on the conduct of God, and to treat as improper, what our feeble reason cannot perfectly comprehend. In things that are mysterious, let us always bend and adore, “knowing that the Judge of all the earth will do right."

The following is the substance of what we know concerning this interesting event. God, no doubt in infinite wisdom, appears to have thought proper to subject all his intelligent creatures to some trial be- V fore they were confirmed, to place them in a state of probation before they were established. This was the case with the angels, some of whom fell; this was also the case with men. To produce and to preserve upon their minds a sense of their dependence upon God, and of his authority over them, some test of their obedience must be given. This test, from the situation in which the world then was, could not be any of those great moral precepts, which would answer this purpose with regard to us. What moral precept could have been given to Adam for his trial, and as the condition of the covenant formed with him? He could not be enjoined to honour his parents he had none: nor to abstain from murder, since, even if he had known what death was, and how to inflict it, this crime could be committed only upon the object of his dearest affections, without whom the world would be a solitude to him: the only two of the human race could not violate the marriage bed: Adam could not steal nor covet, because all things belonged to him: nor bear false witness, since there was no motive that could incite him to do it against the wife of his bosom: nor for

give his enemies-none existed. It is the same with regard to the first table of the law: false gods were yet unknown; and images, invented to bring to mind the absent and invisible, could not be made by those who daily saw the glory, and heard the voice of God in the garden: perjury was the result of a more corrupted state of society; and the visible splendour of the Shekinah was too great to permit them to trifle with, or profane the name of its ardorable resident: the rest of the Sabbath could not be violated by those who had no occasion for labour; who on that day enjoyed the special visitations and presence of God, and who just come from the forming hands of their Maker, could not possibly forget the wonders of creation. What moral precept then can you select, proper to be used as a test of the obedience of our first parents? These moral precepts they could not violate, and therefore their keeping them would be no test of virtue. Besides, the holiness of man rendered moral precepts improper for this purpose. To man, depraved and sinful, whose natural inclinations are estranged from God and holiness, they may serve as tests, since his compliance with them, in opposition to the seductions of corruption, may prove his regard to the authority of God. But in innocent man, all whose inclinations and desires led to their performance, who had no bias contrary to them, whose nature and constitution induced him to comply with them; in such a being obedience to them could not be a proof of his regard to the commands of God, since such an obedience would be the necessary result of his nature and the habits of his soul. It was then necessary that the test should be some positive precept; and the more simple and easy this precept, the more

would it display the goodness of God, and render man inexcusable for its violation. What then could be more suitable and proper for our first parents, living in a garden, than the command to abstain from a particular tree? Where now are all the impious witticisms of libertines on this subject?

The same God who, in consistence with his attributes, permits us still to meet with seductions and to be exposed to tempters, permitted it then. The apostate spirit assumed the body of the serpent, which in the state of innocence was as familiar with man as any other animal, and inspiring it with new wisdom, addressed himself to that party, which, being more tender and pliable, might more easily be led astray, and being more amiable and persuasive, would, when depraved, more probably seduce the other. We are not acquainted with the whole process of the temptation; we know enough to perceive that it was subtle. Satan first inquires, as though for information, whether this tree be prohibited: he suggests that she may have erred in her opinion; he insinuates that it was the envy of their Creator, which debarred them from this valuable fruit; he speaks of it as pleasant to the taste, as desirable to make one wise, and at last he boldly declares that the threatening will not be executed, but they exalted to a higher rank of being, by a violation of the command: "Ye shall not die, but shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.” She was made with power to stand, but free to fall: she listened to the tempter, and in an evil hour she plucked and ate. Adam, overcome by Eve's persuasions and seductions, yet "not deceived," says the apostle, (1 Tim. ii. 14.) presumptuously partook of her guilt and her punishment.

Here again the infidel sneers, and speaks of this

as a trifling crime. Let him consider, and he will find that it was a sin great as can be conceived. In violating this precept, our first parents defied the power of the Almighty; accused the God of truth of falsehood; attempted to deceive the Omniscient: with a baseness and ingratitude, which causes us to shudder, they suspected of malice and envy, Him who is love itself, and who had crowned them with blessings, so numberless and immense. In the covenant formed with them, an abstinence from this tree was made the test of their allegiance to their Creator; by eating of it, therefore, they rejected him as their sovereign, and renounced their fealty to him. Looking for knowledge and felicity elsewhere than from God, desirous to be more independent of him, believing satan in opposition to him, they withdrew themselves from him, and united themselves to the apostate spirits. This crime was also inconceivably aggravated by the advantages which they possessed, for knowing and performing the will of God, and by their freedom from those vicious inclinations and unholy passions, which are found in fallen man.

The pleasures of sin endure but for a moment. Soon were those hopes of felicity from eating the forbidden fruit, which they had foolishly entertained, blasted for ever. In the cool of the day, perhaps at the period when they had been accustomed to unite in pouring out their souls before God," they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden;" and probably some visible tokens of the Divine Presence were manifested. It was a voice which was familiar, and had once been dear to them; they were tokens which they had once welcomed with exulting joy; but now that they know their nakedness, that they see themselves despoiled of their innocence, that

the blessings of the covenant are forfeited, and its curse incurred, they flee with confusion and terror, and foolishly attempt to conceal themselves from him who is omnipresent. But they are brought as criminals to the bar of their God: and what is here their conduct? Do they melt into tears? Do they bewail their transgressions? Do they confess their crime with humility, and pour out their prayers for pardon? No; instead of this, we behold only the most trifling evasions and subterfuges. But these are useless; they cannot deceive the Judge of all, who reads the thoughts of the heart; their mouth, as will at the decisive day be the case with those sinners who now like them plead excuses for their guilt,-was stopped, and they were compelled to stand guilty before God. Their body by their transgression has lost its primitive glory, and has become subject to pains, to disease, and death. Instead of the sacred peace and holiness and tranquillity which dwelt in their souls, they now have become polluted, estranged from God; his image is departed and his communion is lost; the passions, once harmonious, now render their souls a tumultuous field of battle; conscience becomes their foe and points to the eternal misery which they have deserved; they see nothing which can save them from endless perdition. They stand trembling and in despair waiting for their sentence. What joy, what gratitude must they have felt when they heard a promise of mercy mingled with the denunciations of God; when they were pointed to the seed of the woman, to that blessed Messiah who should gain a victory over their seducer; and when to strengthen their faith in him, sacrifices to prefigure him were instituted. They were expelled from Eden; the ground was cursed for their