"The Lord breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul."*

Other created beings were furnished with their several instincts and peculiar qualities, but he was to be capable of reflection, study, and all those operations of the mind, of which irrational animals discover no symptoms. "Thou madest him, O Lord! to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea.' Thus we see that he was created the unsullied image of his Maker, and directed not only to apply to each creature its proper appellation, but invested with a degree of power as subordinate lord of the creation, and possessed of a soul fitted for immortality. A celestial spirit with an earthly material were in him united, to bear relation both to a temporal and spiritual world. Man was formed an intelligent creature, to contemplate the works of his Creator, to worship him with holy

* In the sacred writings, the word soul is used in various senses; therefore, when we speak or write of the soul. we should first clearly ascertain the meaning of the word which we choose at that time to adopt. But by God's breathing into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, may be understood, his endowing him both with animal and rational life, with all the powers of body, and capacities of mind, such as volition, reason, reflection, memory, and imagination.

worship, and to reverence him as the Author of infinite greatness and perfection. His understanding penetrated clearly and truly divine things, his knowledge was free from error, and his judgment wise and equitable. His will accounted strictly to the will of his Maker; his thoughts excelled in purity and refinement; his affections were sincere and unreserved: he had no inordinate passions or desires, no ungovernable temper to subdue, or vanity to conceal, but all his inferior powers were subject to the dictates and direction of a superior intelligence.

Beneficent and wise as the Creator's care of man had been, his work was not yet completed. “God said, it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him an helpmate 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.”

The all-merciful Creator deemed it necessary to provide him with an associate or partner. He caused a profound sleep to fall on Adam-a peaceful rest, like that of a slumbering infant, who unconsciously breathes in an unknown state of happiness and innocence. And then arose in spotless purity, a being of exquisite form and beauty, de

signed to be his agreeable and cherished companion. Before the altar of heaven were their nuptials solemnized, while angels glorified the auspicious event with hallelujahs of praise and thanksgiving.

"Then, what a starry welcome rang !
Each orb an hymeneal sang,

While shapes unutterably bright

From heaven gazed down with new delight.
When first the ground a woman trod,

Just moulded by the hand of God!
Around her breast, in wreathy play,
Her locks like braided sunbeams lay;
And limbs unveil'd a radiance cast
Of purity, as on she pass'd
Amid the bloom and balm of flowers,
That cluster'd round Elysian bowers;
The bird and breeze together blent
Their notes of mildest languishment;
The sun grew brighter as he shed
His glory round her living head,
As if no orb of space were free
From one fine spell of sympathy,
When woman rose upon the scene,
Creation's fair and faultless queen !"

Ordained for the most holy and beneficent of purposes, the bonds of marriage are even stronger than those of nature; for which reason "shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife." Religion, therefore, must be the groundwork of the conjugal alliance: it must be distinguished by reciprocal love and mu

tual fidelity, and attended with unchanged and confidential repose; while they should mutually study to promote each other's happiness, and faithfully discharge the inviolable obligation of protecting and educating their offspring in Christian principles, and setting them worthy examples of piety and strict integrity. The charms of beauty and the blandishments of the world are frail and perishable; for however desirable external attractions may be found, they are but barren partners of life if unornamented by piety and virtue.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom in his choice; she is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her."

But to revert to the original happiness of man. What must have been the transport of Adam on viewing in perfect innocency a graceful and intelligent creature of congenial form and nature, framed to be the sharer of his bliss! From the hands of divine love he received her in the garb of youth and holiness, spotless, beautiful, and gentle. In elegance and simplicity, in humility and submission, in modesty and silence,

"On she came

Led by her heavenly Maker (though unseen),
And guided by his voice; not uninform'd
Of nuptial sanctity, and marriage rites:
Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye,
In every gesture dignity and love."

"And Adam said, this is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh." "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living."

With the image of God impressed upon them, and blest with a portion of the divine Spirit, our first parents were holy and happy. This leads us to consider the corporeal and mental faculties which are so nearly and tenderly allied, that the one cannot possibly be insensible to the effects and sensations of the other; for in their admirable connexion there is a wonderful wisdom which baffles all our inquiries, and their reciprocal union is as inconceivable as the will over which we have no control. The body was the chosen vassal of Almighty power to perform with ease and facility the mind's will; by means of the senses, it is mechanically informed of its interest, and its several members are arranged to act in direct accordance to its various dictates; its beauties and endowments also are temporary and futile; like an elegant flower, they quickly spring up, soon fade, and totally wither; but the soul is that heavenly lamp which can never be extinguished, and the charms and graces of it are virtues that inspire durable reward and lasting esteem.

The glory, bounty, and goodness, the beauty and harmony of God's work, are objects of our