erty to search out and apply the interpretation for themselves. It was to the humble, anxious seeker for light, that blessed light which cometh down from heaven, and not to the captious fault-finder, the gainsayer, the reviler of God's messages of love, that those holy men addressed themselves. Such persons are not, however, overlooked or neglected by the divine penmen, but to the contrary, they have their promises of reward according to their works, as well as others. But to return to the text now under consideration, notwithstanding such apparent discrepancy, and which is purely verbal, the sense is clear to the comprehension of any one of ordinary capacity who really wishes to understand it. The work referred to was the creation of this world, which had been that far accomplished, as designed, and on the seventh day God having finished, "ended” that work, rested "from all his work which he HAD made," and no doubt from all that work. There is not the slighest intimation here that he had created nothing before that week, or that he would make nothing thereafter. All that we have any sufficient reason to believe was intended to be reported here, was the work of the immediately preceding six days. For proof conclusive of the fact that the work of creation did not stop there, it is only necessary to look at the twenty-second verse of this chapter and the twenty-first verse of the third chapter; where it will be seen that the master-piece of architecture, the crowning beauty of all this terrestrial mechanism, was made afterward, and that the necessity for the most trivial articles of all that work, as found of record, had not then arisen. We will now notice the account of the creation of man, so far as is necessary, to maintain the affirmative of the proposition, that the Mosaic history does not preclude the idea of a previous creation of celestial beings. And for convenience, the several passages referring to it are presented together, and will be so treated: "And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."-Gen. 1: 26, 27. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” -2: 1. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”—2: 7. Had the account of the creation of man stopped with the first statement of it, we would have had no evidence there that he was, in any very distinguishing feature, different from other animals, or that he was endowed with a "living soul;" as the statements there made in relation to his creation are similar to those made of other creatures, except as to his image, and that could readily have been construed as referring to the form and appearance of his body. But the subject is resumed in the seventh verse of the second chapter, and there we find two additional facts as to the creation of man, and such as are not stated in the history of the creation of any other being. The first is as to the matter of which he is made, "of the dust of the ground;" and (which is to us the most important item of all connected with the whole creation), that the Lord God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of LIFE, and man became a LIVING SOUL.” That the body of Adam was then made, none doubt, who admit the truth of the Bible; but that the light, the LIFE, the LIVING SOUL, which was breathed into that body, was then first brought into existence, is certainly not stated by the sacred historian. And from the bare fact, that a circumstantial account is given of the making of his body, which is but dust, and not a word said about the creation of his soul (of which our Savior asked the potent question: "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?") such interest is awakened as to the origin, nature, and destiny of the human soul, as to demand the most diligent investigation of that vital question. But, for the present purpose, it is only sought to show, that the Scripture under review may be true, and yet that the soul of Adam MAY HAVE EXISTED before his body was made. May not so much be safely assumed without saying more here? The first verse of the second chapter having been commented on, when speaking of the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, the reader is respectfully referred to the remarks made there as to it. The object for repeating it, as part of the history of the creation of man, was simply to present all that account at one view. The subject is again, but incidentally only, referred to in the first and second verses of the fifth chapter, thus: "This is the book of the generations of Adam. In THE DAY that God created MAN, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female CREATED he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, IN THE DAY WHEN THEY WERE CREATED." Careful attention is invited to the liberal use of words to express different things, and which appears in all the sacred writings. To read this paragraph alone, every one would agree that God made man and woman at the same time, or at least on the same day; that they were made in the same way, that is, of the same material, and the common name Adam (or man) was applied to, and the blessing pronounced upon them all at once. The contrary of all which is, nevertheless, clearly taught in this very account of the creation. Man was made on the sixth day. How long it was afterward when Eve was made, no specific account is given; but from what is said about it, some considerable time must have elapsed between the making of the two; it may have been days, weeks, months, or years, so far as anything to the contrary is stated in the Bible. By reference to the eighth and ninth verses of the second chapter, it will be seen that Adam was not made in the garden of Eden, but somewhere else; and that the garden was afterward planted, and he was "PUT" into it. The trees, herbs, and grass which were first created, were, as it appears, made to spring out of the ground, and miraculously grow up at once into full maturity, bearing fruit and seed, each after its kind, and in perfection; all ready to supply food for beast, fowl, and man. (See chap. 1.) This was necessary for the support of those living creatures which required food to sustain them. It was not so with the production of Eden. We are informed that there: "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.” The language used here is such as is commonly employed to express the ordinary growth of vegetation. There is no apparent reason why time should not have been allowed for the natural growth of all the trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, etc., in the garden; because food in abundance, doubtless, was already prepared for use outside of it. And it is expressly said: "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."-2:15. This language implies a growth, as in ordinary cases, of the production of the garden, else, why the necessity for its being dressed and kept? Adam was alone in the garden also; how long we are not informed. There was a cause for his being there alone, as we must conclude; for we will not admit that God acted in anything without good and sufficient reason. The most natural inference, perhaps, is that by living alone for a time, and having for his associates none but brute beasts, he would the more highly appreciate the value of the companion intended for him. Eve, it seems, was not created until after all the other living creatures had been present before Adam, and each received an appropriate name. this required time. All "And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."-2: 18. This must not be taken to mean that God had just discovered that it "was not good that man should be alone," but that Adam had learned his lonely condition and craved the companionship of a rational being like himself; for that God had intended from the beginning to create Eve also, no one can pretend to doubt. The whole scheme of this creation would have failed of its purpose without her. Our well-intending, but unfortunately too confiding mother Eve, was, as we have every reason to believe, reserved for the crowning work of this creation. Adam had been made, and had lived outside of that beautiful place. He had afterward been brought into it, and had witnessed the excellencies of that garden above even the virgin perfections of the outside world. Here he had resided in perfect bliss, save that one comfort alone was wanting. When his experience had been sufficient in that manner of life, and his mind was fully prepared to appreciate the blessing, a deep sleep was brought upon him in the garden, and then from his side, near his heart, a rib was taken, and of that to him precious material, and by the immediate hand of his own Maker "an help meet for him" was made. The flesh was closed up and immediately healed by the creative power of God. Adam was then, as we may reasonably infer, gently aroused from his deep sleep, when, to his amazement and delight, before him stood, in the bloom of youth and blushing beauty, Eve-of size and model perfect, her curling tresses waving in the morning breeze, and her sparkling eyes reflecting the wonder of his own. "Yet was there light around her brow, A holiness in those dark eyes, Which show'd, though wand'ring earthward now, The ecstatic joy that filled his pure heart (for Adam was then a stranger to sin) may be imagined, but can not be described by any power below that of Him whose loving kindness gave it. To infer from that passage that Adam and Eve were created on the same day would involve difficulties from which it would be hard to escape. But to construe the expression, “in the day," which occurs there twice, simply |