no matter, in the same manner as the angels (do,) and thus be similar to them; so that this is not said with regard to that form which may be perceived by the eye, nor does it refer to the life which is found in every creature possessing animal life; but (it refers) to that knowledge only which constitutes the quality of the soul; and it is of the QUALITY OF THE SOUL that the Scripture speaks (when saying,) In our image after our likeness!"-Yad Hachasak, cap. iv, p. 14. The Mohammedan traditions are so copious, and so mixed up with extraneous matter, that it is difficult to quote a pertinent passage. We select the following: "When God had created Adam, he acquainted the angels with his high dignity, and that he had distinguished him with superior knowledge; in proof of which he made him give names to every object. God made the angels consider Adam as a Mehaab, Ka'bah, and Kiblah,* to which the lights and the righteous were to pray."-El Mas'udi's Hist. Encycl., p. 55. "Our first parents are described to have borne on the exterior of their bodies a sort of transparent integument, in substance like the nail at the ends of our fingers, but of a silvery whiteness, effulgent like the stars of heaven; that part which still adhered to their fingers' ends being left as a perpetual memento of the state of perfect happiness from which they had fallen."-Tarikh Tebry, quoted in Price's History of Arabia, p. 4. The Jains, a Hindoo sect who worship Buddha or Menu under the title of Jain-Eswara, suppose " that the period of the world is divided into four ages. The first of these exactly corresponds with the golden age of the classical writers: during its continuance, we are told, men subsisted on the produce of ten celestial trees; that there were no kings; that all were abundantly blessed; and that the people who then flourished were distinguished by the appellation of the supremely happy inhabitants of the earth.' "—Asiatic Researches, vol. ix, p. 257. The Zendavesta contains the following striking allusion to the primitive condition of man: "After the world had been created in five successive periods, man himself is said to have been formed during a sixth. The first of the human species was compounded of a man and a bull; and this mixed being was the commencement of all generations. For some time after his production, there was a season of great innocence and happiness; and the man*Kiblah is that point to which the righteous turn their faces in their prayers bull resided in an elevated region, which the Deity had assigned to him."-Faber's Hora Mosaicæ, cap. i, p. 72. We now quote an ancient Egyptian author: "The Lord, who is the Creator of all things, whom we truly call God, made the world first. . . ... Because, therefore, that he made this first, and that the work seemed good and fair unto him, as most full of variety and good things, he loved it as a part of his divinity and power; and, therefore, because it was of such excellency and goodness, he would have man made, that he might behold the works he had thus made, and likewise imitate his wisdom and providence for the will of God is the chiefest perfection, in that he fulfilled both his will and his deed in the same moment of time. When he, therefore, perceived that that image of his (the soul) could not be studious of all things, unless he should clothe it with an earthly covering, he builded for it this house of clay, confounding and mixing both parts into one, as much as each body should be capable. Wherefore he made man of an immortal soul and mortal body, that, being a creature thus composed, he might satisfy both ends, which was, to be in admiration of heaven, and to pray for spiritual and heavenly things, and to inhabit and govern these earthly things below."-Hermes Trismegistus, book ii. Eng. trans. London, 1657. It is more than probable that the seventh fable in the Edda refers to this subject; but as this application is not certain, we do not quote it; and only add the testimonies of Hesiod and Ovid : They lived of old When Saturn reign'd in heaven; an age of gold. Hesiod's Works and Days. Elton's trans. "The golden age was first; when man, yet new, Metamorphoses, lib. i. Dryden's trans. Thus do the traditions of various heathen nations corroborate the Scriptural account of the primitive condition of man, and bear united testimony to his intelligence, dignity, moral purity, and intercourse with God. But, glorious as was our origin, we have soon to contemplate a sad reverse. Dark and dismal shadows of guilt, misery, and degradation, overspread the glorious condition of mankind. Yet these only serve to introduce us to an acquaintance with the divine scheme of redemption, the brightest display of God's love to man. These events are so closely allied in their historical relation, that we shall refer to them under one head in connection with the circumstances under which they transpired. The Scriptural account is as follows:— "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God 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 a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx-stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. And the 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 man, made 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees* in the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the * So our version renders it; but the original Hebrew has it, 777 y-which the Septuagint and other translations seem to render rightly, Εν μεσώ του ξύλου του papadɛtoov, (Gen. iii, 8,) “In the midst of the tree of Paradise." field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. 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. "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Gen. ii, 8-25; iii.. This, considering the important nature of the events narrated, is a very brief account of the most eventful period in the history of mankind. It contains, however, several obscure passages which merit careful investigation, and require a perspicuous and familiar exposition. We shall attempt something of this kind after we have furnished those illustrations of the subject which profane history and the mythological traditions and rites of the heathen afford. In endeavoring to confirm and illustrate the Scriptural account of these circumstances, by testimonies drawn from profane authors, it will be necessary to recall the attention of the reader to the most prominent points in the sacred narrative. The first pair were placed in a garden which had two trees in the midst; these were intimately associated with man's state of innocence, and his fall. The garden was watered by a river, which was |