and the Greeks, the Romans and the Goths; CHAP. nor will it be eafy to account for this II. unanimity upon any other fuppofition, than that which is here adopted. Even the Mofaical method of reckoning by nights instead of by days has prevailed in more than one nation. The polished Athenians computed the fpace of a day from funfet to funfet; and from a fimilar cuftom of our Gothic ancestors, during their abode in the forefts of Germany, words expreffive of fuch a mode of calculation have been derived into our own language. The fame cuftom, as we are informed by Cefar, prevailed among the Celtic nations. "All the Gauls," fays he, "conceive themselves to be fprung from "father Dis, and they affirm it to have "been handed down to them by the "Druids. For this reafon, they measure "time not by the number of days, but of a "Eos (fcil. Athenienfes) a fole occafo ad folem iterum ❝ occidentem omne id medium tempus unum diem effe dicere." AUL. GELL. Noct. Attic. lib. iii. cap. 2. b" Nec dierum numerum, ut nos, fed noctium compu"tant (fe. Germani). Sic conftituunt, fic condicunt. Nox "ducere diem videtur." TAC. de Mor. Germ. c. 11. C Such as fortnight, fennight. F 4 66 nights. SECT. 66 "nights. Accordingly, they obferve their I. birth-days, and the beginnings of months " and years, in fuch a manner, as to caufe "the day to follow the night." We may perhaps here likewise, in the imaginary defcent of the Gauls, trace the fame general tradition, which has spread itself fo widely, of all things being fprung from night and darkness. The refult of the whole inquiry is, that the accurate resemblance between the Mofaical account of the creation, and the various cofmogonies of the Heathen world, fufficiently fhews, that they all originated from one common fource; while the ftriking contrast between the unadorned fimplicity of the one, and the allegorical turgidity of the others, accurately diftinguishes the inspired narrative from the distorted tradition. d Cæf. de Bell, Gall. lib. vi. cap. 18. CHAP. CHAP. III. PAGAN ACCOUNTS OF THE PERIOD BETWEEN TWEEN ADAM AND NOAH. counts of between luge. THE events, which took place between Pagan acthe creation of the world and the deluge, the period are buried in fuch remote antiquity, that the creation we are not to expect any very methodical and the deand accurate account of them among the Pagan nations. Their annals feldom extended beyond the catastrophe of the flood, which formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the excurfions of curiosity; yet, notwithstanding this circumftance, the antediluvian history of Mofes will be found obfcurely recorded in many profane traditions. I. The Author of the Pentateuch, after having defcribed the procefs of the creation, informs us, that man was placed by the I. Paradife I. SECT. the Deity in the garden of Paradife. This favoured portion of the earth is represented, as containing within itself every `external object capable of conferring happiness. The beauty of its scenery, the falubrity of its climate, the variety and excellence of its fruits, all contributed to the beatitude of the first pair, and tended to elevate their thoughts to that Being, who was the author and contriver of fuch numerous bleffings. Confidered in this point of view, it was equally a delightful refidence for man, and a kind of magnificent temple confecrated to the fervice of God. Its very name conveyed the idea of happiness and pleasure, which can only exift in their full perfection, when the will of man thoroughly coincides with the will of God, and when obedience is unattended with thofe painful acts of felf-denial, and with that hatred on the part of a debased world, which at prefent are inevitably attached to it. The beauty of the garden of Paradife cannot be conveyed to our minds in a ftronger light, than by confidering, that heaven itself is frequently defignated by this very appellation. "To day fhalt thou "be III. "be with me in Paradife," was the confo- CHAP. latory promife of our bleffed Saviour to the penitent thief. "If, therefore, we are taught," (to use the words of a late pious prelate) "that heaven resembles the garden of Eden, it seems fair and reasonable to "conclude, that the garden of Eden re"fembled heaven, and was, from the beginning, intended to do fo; that, like "the temple under the Law, and the "church under the Gospel, it was, to its 66 happy poffeffors, a place chosen for the “refidence of God; a place defigned to represent and furnish them with ideas of 66 heavenly things; a place facred to contemplation and devotion; in one word, "it was the primitive temple and church, "formed and confecrated for the use of man, in his state of innocence. There, "undisturbed by care, and as yet unaf"failed by temptation, all his faculties perfect, and his appetites in fubjection, "he walked with God, as a man walketh "with his friend, and enjoyed communion "with heaven, though his abode was upon "earth. He ftudied the works of God, as they came fresh from the hands of the workmafter; and in the creation, as in a glafs, he was taught to behold the glo "ries |