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can exalt the mind, delight the imagination, and direct man through the difficulties of life, we can well understand how the Bible found its way from the East to all climes, near and far; and how, coming as the history of God's chosen people, it was hailed as God's own Book to teach and exhort, to gladden and to comfort.

The Bible consists of four-and-twenty Books which, as may be inferred from the preceding remarks, either contain laws and history, or poetry and prophecy. But they have been generally divided into three great classes:

I. THE LAW (in), which is embodied in the five Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, viz. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; though the Pentateuch is not exclusively a code of laws, but relates also the early history of mankind and that of the Hebrews down to the death of Moses.

II. THE PROPHETS (D''), subdivided into the Earlier

נְבִיאִים) and the Later Prophets (נְבִיאִים רָאשׁנִים) Prophets

D); the former comprising the historical Books of Joshua and Judges, two Books of Samuel and two Books of Kings; and the latter, the three great Prophets, viz. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and the twelve minor Prophets forming one book, viz. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

III. POETICAL AND OTHER WRITINGS (D), including the Psalms, Proverbs, and Job; the Song of Solomon, Ruth, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther; Daniel; Ezra, Nehemiah, and the two Books of Chronicles of these the first four and the Lamentations are properly poetical, Ecclesiastes is a philosophic work, and Daniel a prophecy, while the rest are historical.

I. THE EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND.

[GENES. I.-XI.]

1. THE CREATION.

[GENES. I. 1. II. 3.]

THE BIBLE Commences with an account of the origin of the world. That account of the Creation is grand in its simplicity. God produced the world out of nothing by the sole power of His will and command. In the beginning of time, He called into existence the matter out of which heaven and earth were to be formed. But this matter was in confusion and dreary darkness. Within six days He shaped it into a world of order and beauty. On the first day, He said: 'Let there be Light'—and 'there was Light.' The darkness was dispelled; the first great step was accomplished. On the second day, He divided the waters, which everywhere covered the original matter, by an expanse which He called Heaven: one part of the water was kept above the firmament, another beneath it, or upon the Earth. On the third day, He gathered the waters of the earth in certain parts and thus formed the Seas, so that, in other parts, the Dry Land became visible, which He at once clothed with verdure bright and beautiful, with every variety of vegetation, of flower and fruit-a world only wanting life to be

perfect. Thus the three first days were employed in calling into existence what was most essential-light, heaven, and earth. But each of these three creations was to be made more complete, and each therefore engaged again God's care and wisdom. For on the fourth day, He produced the light-giving bodies, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars; on the fifth, the Birds of the air that rise to the expanse of heaven, and the Fish that teem in the seas; while on the sixth day, He peopled the earth with Beasts, great and small, with cattle and reptiles-animating with joyous life, plain, and hill, and

forest.

But when the earth was beautiful in its fresh garb of verdure, when the bright sun beamed down from the blue heavens, and the cool waters girt the land like a broad belt, when air, sea, and earth were filled with happy and peaceful denizens; God, in His wisdom, saw fit to call forth a being able and worthy to enjoy all this beauty, and to rule over all this wealth; and He created Man in His own image, giving him a mind capable, if not of understanding, at least of adoring Him. Man, gifted with reason and an immortal soul, was entrusted with the dominion over the earth and all that is upon it, over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

The great work of creation was finished on the sixth day. On the seventh, God rested; and we are told, He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.' Thus it became the type of the Sabbath, which men should enjoy after six busy days of labour, and which was to be a blessing to the weary, and a sanctification to all.

2. PARADISE AND THE FALL.

[GENES. II. 4.-III. 24.]

The earth stood radiant in beauty; God had adorned it with luxuriant vegetation, with lovely flowers, and stately trees, and delicious fruits. The man, Adam, whom He had created, was placed by Him in a spot which well deserved its name as a 'garden of delight' or Eden. It was situated in the vicinity of that extremely fertile and beautiful region, where the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris meet, and where, besides, they are joined by two other streams, which the Bible calls Pison and Gihon. It must, therefore, be looked for in or around the district of the present province of Iran, though it is impossible for us to define its position with exactness. More perfect in its loveliness than any garden we have ever seen, blooming with every plant that is pleasant to look upon, filled with every fruit that is good to the taste, and watered by the four rivers which, separating in the garden towards all directions, flowed forth to fertilize the landsuch was the exquisite abode of our first ancestor. But he was to enjoy it only in proportion to the labour and care which he would bestow upon its cultivation. Therefore God commanded him to watch and tend it with eager zeal.

Among all the trees that abounded in Eden, there were two more wonderful than the rest-the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. And God commanded Adam Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for when thou eatest thereof thou must surely die.'

But the creation was not complete. Man was not yet perfectly happy. Animal life, so material for his enjoy

ment, indeed surrounded him on all sides. The numberless birds and the vast variety of beasts, which God brought to him to name, pleased and interested him. But he was without a real companion able to inspire him with deeper sympathy. He still felt alone. God determined upon another act of mercy. Adam fell into a profound sleep, and when he returned to awakening consciousness, it was to see before him a wondrous being, who was both the last and the most beautiful of God's creations. Man called this being Woman, and exclaimed with delight, This time it is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh;' and later he named her Eve, because she was to become the mother of all living.' Man and woman were designed by the Almighty to spend in the garden of Eden an eternal life of happiness and innocence.

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But this beautiful existence did not continue long. The serpent tempted the woman, to make her disobedient to the only command imposed by God upon the first man. That most subtle of all beasts cunningly asked Eve, 'Has indeed God said, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' To which the woman answered, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said, you shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' Then the serpent, craftily pursuing its object, and relying for success upon human weakness, assured the woman that she would certainly not die, but that by eating of the forbidden fruit her eyes would be opened, and she would, like God, be able to distinguish good from evil. The woman, so tempted, and moreover allured by the beautiful appearance of the tree, yielded, gathered of the fruit, and ate, and gave to her husband, who also tasted of it. Shame followed upon sin. Man and woman, hearing the voice of the Lord God in the garden, hid themselves, and were afraid. But God asked Adam

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