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THE

SACRED MIRROR.

CHAPTER I.

From the Creation to the Deluge,

THE first idea given, by the inspired historian, reș

specting our habitable globe, is that of a rude and unintelligible chaos. "The earth," says he, "was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the great deep." But, by the operation of the Spirit of God, which is expressly said to have moved upon the face of the waters, this confused mass was gradually separated, harmonized, and wrought into that beautiful variety of appearance which, from the earliest ages to the present period, has filled the breast of every pious individual with sentiments of mingled gratitude, wonder, and ad

miration.

The Adorable Being, who, in the Old Testament, is designated by the sacred epithets GOD, JEHOVAH, and the great I AM, but who, in later ages, has revealed himself more fully in the person of his coequal and coeternal son JESUS CHRIST, first commanded the light to shine out of darkness, and, by his eternal fiat, produced a glorious day; not merely as introductory to his other

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great works, or as a symbol of his own purity, but as typical of that radiance which, in the fulness of time, should arise upon the sons of men, and disperse the dark clouds of error and superstition.

Subsequent to this effect of creative power, the firmament, or lower heaven, was expanded to divide the upper from the lower waters; the floods unanimously rushed into their appointed bed, and received the appellation of seas; and the dry land (now distinguished by the name of earth,) was suddenly crowned with a verdant mantle, enriched with innumerable trees and shrubs, and embroidered with flowers of every tint and fragrance. The beauteous canopy of heaven was, also, spangled with myriads of stars; and the sun and moon, those greater luminaries, were so disposed as to enlighten the newly created world, to divide the revolving seasons, and to form a perpetual distinction between day and night.

The waters were next replenished with an abundant variety of fish, and aquatic animals; the birds of the air, starting into existence, hailed, with mellifluous songs, their Maker's goodness; and the teeming earth brought forth abundantly her appropriate tribes. Lastly, to complete his great design, and eclipse the glory of all his preceding works, God created man, in his own image, out of the dust of the ground, and infused into his nostrils the breath of immortality, in consequence of which Moses asserts that," man became a living soul." This favorite of the Deity was immediately invested with unlimited authority over every other created being and substance, and a suitable companion was formed for himself out of his own side, wherefore he gave her the appellation of woman, saying, "this is now bone of my bone,

and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man."

*

Thus, by the miraculous operation of the Holy Trinity were the heavens and the earth created, in the space of six days, when such harmony pervaded each constituent part, and such exquisite beauty glowed upon the universal face of nature, that the Omnipotent Architect pronounced it very good, and † all the morning stars sang together. On the seventh day God rested from all his works, and instituted that sabbath which was ever afterward kept holy by the true worshippers.

Our first progenitors, Adam and Eve, were now placed in the garden of Eden, with instructions to dress and keep it, and with full permission to eat of all the fruits with which it abounded, except of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from which they were commanded to abstain, on penalty of inevitable death. The Deity himself vouchsafed to honor this delightful abode with his immediate presence; the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field, were here brought to receive their respective names from their highly-favored master; and the objects of divine love were equally happy in their native innocence, and their total ignorance of evil.

This felicity, however, was soon interrupted and effectually destroyed by Satan; who, under the form of a

* As we have already observed, that God created the heavens and the earth, and that the SPIRIT OF GOD moved upon the face of the waters, it is only necessary to remind our readers, in this place, that the WORD (Jesus Christ) was in the beginning with God; that all things were made by him, and that without him was not any thing made that was made. See the gospel of St. John, chap. i. verses 2, 3.

+ See Job, chap. xxxviii, verse 7.

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