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various sources, including the best commentators on the Bible History. Some are given verbatim, others have been simplified. To have placed the extracts within inverted commas, or to have given the authorities, would have encumbered the pages without any adequate advantage. is therefore hoped, that this general acknowledgement of the benefits derived from the labours of others will be sufficient.

It

The three Series of Explanations and Preceptive Lessons are designed for the elucidation and illustration of the truths of our holy religion from the Historical Facts of the Bible; the doctrines to be believed, the moral and social duties to be performed, and the sins to be avoided. We cannot, in learning the Facts of the Bible, refuse to draw lessons from them any more than we can reject the instruction which a simple parable, a fable, or an event of common-life conveys; the lessons we thus draw from the Bible History are the Doctrines on which our faith is founded.

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The conciseness observable throughout the Series is intentional. In the LESSONS, the pupil has the advantage of a short narrative, rather than a long one. In the EXPLANATIONS and PRECEPTIVE LESSONS, the teacher is furnished with Hints, which he may expand at pleasure. By this condensation of language, much more matter is brought within the compass of a page, than could have been given had the several portions been written with greater fullness and freedom. Those teachers who regard the whole as Notes of Lessons" will easily amplify each portion as they teach it. Care however should be taken not to overload any subject. At the same time, the Manuals are not intended for those experienced teachers who have devoted their time and thoughts continuously through years to the laborious work of instruction, but for the increasing class of domestic teachers, including mothers and governesses-for the pupil-teachers,—now becoming so numerous in our public schools,-and for the patient and self-denying body of Sunday School Teachers, to whom teaching is only an occasional occupation.

TO THESE CLASSES OF TEACHERS, MORE ESPECIALLY, THE MANUALS OF BIBLE HISTORY ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

MANUAL

OF

BIBLE HISTORY.

PERIOD I.

FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE.

B.C. 4004-B.C. 2348.

1656 years.

Containing the History of the World before the Flood;The Creation-The Fall of Man-The first Promise of the Saviour The progress of Sin-and The Destruction of Mankind (except Noah and his family) by the Deluge.

various sources, including the best commentators on the Bible History. Some are given verbatim, others have been simplified. To have placed the extracts within inverted commas, or to have given the authorities, would have encumbered the pages without any adequate advantage. is therefore hoped, that this general acknowledgement of the benefits derived from the labours of others will be sufficient.

It

The three Series of Explanations and Preceptive Lessons are designed for the elucidation and illustration of the truths of our holy religion from the Historical Facts of the Bible; the doctrines to be believed, the moral and social duties to be performed, and the sins to be avoided. We cannot, in learning the Facts of the Bible, refuse to draw lessons from them any more than we can reject the instruction which a simple parable, a fable, or an event of common-life conveys; the lessons we thus draw from the Bible History are the Doctrines on which our faith is founded.

The conciseness observable throughout the Series is intentional. In the LESSONS, the pupil has the advantage of a short narrative, rather than a long one. In the EXPLANATIONS and PRECEPTIVE LESSONS, the teacher is furnished with Hints, which he may expand at pleasure. By this condensation of language, much more matter is brought within the compass of a page, than could have been given had the several portions been written with greater fullness and freedom. Those teachers who regard the whole as "Notes of Lessons" will easily amplify each portion as they teach it. Care however should be taken not to overload any subject. At the same time, the Manuals are not intended for those experienced teachers who have devoted their time and thoughts continuously through years to the laborious work of instruction, but for the increasing class of domestic teachers, including mothers and governesses-for the pupil-teachers,—now becoming so numerous in our public schools,--and for the patient and self-denying body of Sunday School Teachers, to whom teaching is only an occasional occupation.

TO THESE CLASSES OF TEACHERS, MORE ESPECIALLY, THE MANUALS OF BIBLE HISTORY ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

MANUAL

OF

BIBLE HISTORY.

PERIOD I.

FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE.

B.C. 4004-B.C. 2348.

1656 years.

Containing the History of the World before the Flood;The Creation-The Fall of Man-The first Promise of the Saviour The progress of Sin-and The Destruction of Mankind (except Noah and his family) by the Deluge.

Lesson 1. The Creation and the Fall of Man.

Genesis i-iii. 24.

In the beginning God 'created 'the heaven and the earth, and all things in them. And the earth was 'without form, and 'void; and darkness was upon the face of the 'deep. The first day God created *light. On the second day God made the 'firmament. On the third day God ‘divided the waters from the land, and created plants. On the fourth day God made the 'sun, 'moon, and 'stars. On the fifth day God created the fishes and the birds. On the sixth day God created the beasts, the cattle, and the creeping things; and lastly, he made man 'in his own image. God having created all things in six days, pronounced them to be 'very good. He 'rested on the seventh day, and "blessed it.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in "Eden; and out of the ground he caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him"; so he formed a woman, and brought her unto the man. And the Lord God 'put the man and the woman whom he had formed into the garden of Eden, to 'dress it and keep it.

God permitted Adam to eat of all the fruits that grew in Eden, except the fruit of the tree of knowledge. The serpent deceived 'Eve, and tempted her to sin. She ate of the fruit which God had forbidden, and gave also to Adam, her husband, and he did eat; thus they both disobeyed God. God cursed the serpent, and promised a Saviour to 'redeem man from his power. He told the woman that her sorrow should be increased with the increase of children; and to the man he said, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; . in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

When God had thus sentenced Adam and Eve to suffering and death, he expelled them from the garden of Eden.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

Eden-supposed to have been situated near the head of the Persian Gulf, where the rivers Euphrates and Tigris empty their waters; but several other situations have been assigned to the garden of Eden. The name, Eden, means pleasure or delight, thus indicating the great beauty and richness of Adam's first inheritance; hence it was not uncommon for pleasant and fruitful localities to be called Eden.

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