so?' when, immediately, he put forth his hand, and transgressed the Divine commandment.

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These, and other considerations, which now fall to be noticed, render pointless the sneer of infidelity, at the trifling nature of the offence which brought death into the world with all our woe.' The transgression, by which Adam fell, was the first sprout from the root of all evil, unbelief-it was rebellion against God, an opon profession of union with those who questioned the justice and the equity of the Divine Government. From the terms in which the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was spoken of, and guarded against, there cannot be a doubt of God having revealed to Adam what the evil was against which he was so solemnly warned; and what the death to which he would be exposed in the very day he ate thereof. To suppose that terms, such as evil and death, would be made use of to Adam, without his knowing what they meant, is indeed to suppose that Adam was blindfolded, that he might be led into temptation. Adam was not deceived' we are expressly told, on authority which cannot be questioned; and if he was not deceived, but sinned under a full knowledge of his situation and the consequences of his rebellion, then he must have been forewarned that the angels had fallen through unbelief, and that he stood by faith.'

That the first man had been instructed concerning the lie, and taught the distinction between it and the truth;-that he knew it to be expected of him that he was to stand firm, in that allegiance from which others fell;-that he was extensively in

structed in the deep things of God,' as figuratively preached in the creation;—and that the spirit of prophecy also was granted to him, appears from many circumstances attending his situation.

His own form, as we have seen, was figurative or illustrative of a heavenly truth; and when Eve was taken from his side, he uttered a prophecy concerning the institution of marriage amongst his descendants, while as yet he had no children;-a prophecy which contained a great mystery or figure concerning Christ and the church.' He was placed in a garden containing figurative trees; he lived by a Sacramental Tree, the Tree of Life, in the midst of the Paradise of God:'-he was forewarned by another figurative tree; and he gave figurative names, as we shall afterwards find, to the animal creation; amongst which, it is most remarkable, was the prophetic name of Subtilty and Deceit, given by himself to the very creature through whose agency Eve was deceived, and he seduced!

It would be as vain, as it is unnecessary, to attempt an inquiry into the precise nature or extent of the knowledge possessed by Adam; but the circumstances above noticed are sufficiently indicative of a much more intimate acquaintance with the matters that were afterwards to be articles of faith, amongst his descendants, than is compatible with the current opinions respecting his situation in Paradise. Nor let it be objected to this kind of knowledge, that it was premature or unnecessary; for it is no more unreasonable that Adam should have been forewarned of the entrance of sin, than that

the church of God, in her periods of purity and simplicity, in her seasons of uprightness' and 'integrity,' should have been told of the fearful state of defection aud defilement into which she should fall; or that Paul should have said to the Elders of Ephesus' of your ownselves shall men arise speaking perverse things.' We have been led to notice the position of the first man, in this respect, not as a purely speculative point, but as explanatory of the mode of teaching, or form of doctrine, by which he and his descendants were instructed :a mode, not afterwards introduced, by man's device, to meet a state of matters unprovided for or unthought of by heaven, but one expressly provided for, by Divine Wisdom, when the heavens and the earth were created;-one peculiarly adapted to the frame and faculties of the human race.

The considerations already adduced receive great confirmation, when we observe how admirably the frame and faculties of man are fitted for receiving and sifting EVIDENCE. It is, indeed, remarkable, that the peculiar adaptation of the body, as well as the mind of man, for this purpose, has not engaged a greater share of the attention of physiological and psychological inquirers. There is something, even in the double formation of the organs of sense through which evidence is received, which points out the sifting of testimony as one of the primary, and most important, occupations for which man was formed. To this aptitude of the human faculties for reasoning by analogy,-for drawing conclusions from premises which at first sight appear uncon

nected with the result,-for judging of the whole by a part,-for, in short, imbibing more readily fixed opinions from presumptive than from direct evidence, to this peculiar and predominant faculty of the mind, conscience, and understanding, we are indebted for the largest share of our enjoyments as moral and intellectual creatures. Through this faculty most of our knowledge is obtained; and all who have studied the phenomena of the mind and understanding of man, either in its infantile or mature state, agree in this, that the most forcible impressions which it receives, are those which reach it in the form of allegory, or through the process of inductive reasoning.

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Such a constitution is precisely what we would expect, in a creature formed to 'live by Faith,' to be saved by Hope,' to be supported by Promises, to endure Trials and Afflictions, to act from Conviction. And when we see a creature so constituted, 'made subject to vanity,' placed in this very situation of trial, difficulty, and danger, yet surrounded by objects calculated to excite, arouse, and interest his mental powers; objects calculated to exercise the most noble faculty with which he is endowed-that of forming conclusions from presumptive and latent evidence; when, looking down from Eden through the course of time, we observe him receiving lesson after lesson, still more calculated to encourage the exercise of the same faculty; and, when we find those lessons recorded in a Book, all tending, amidst endless variety, to the same point-that of urging him to look through signs to the things signified

that of appealing to his capability of sifting evidence that of exhorting him to hold by the conviction arising from that evidence, in preference to any other mode of reasoning, however specious, in preference to any temporary gain, however great,— we are constrained to own, that the hand of GOD is here, and that none but his Maker, nothing but Omnipotence and Omniscience, could have, all along, and in so many diverse manners, surrounded him with 'so great a cloud of witnesses.'

In all these respects, save in the absence of affliction at first, Adam seems to have been similarly situated with his descendants. He lived by faith, in a state of trial. But faith, being a matter of conviction, being a thorough persuasion of the truth of certain propositions, must have had evidence to rest upon; and that evidence must have been conveyed to him, either by natural signs, or by miracles. Mere declaration, mere assertion, might have been explanatory, but it never could have served the purpose of evidence. Now, we are not left to conjecture which mode of instruction was employed. He was instructed by Figures; and the figures used were the visible objects of the creation by which he was surrounded. We read of him being placed amongst figurative trees; and we not only find two of them used by Divine Wisdom, in an especial manner, as instructors, but we see him, instantly on the conviction of sin arising, making use of another tree to cover himself with, the figurative name of which was Repentance. We are informed, that he gave names to the animals; and, immediately afterwards,