sons.

One thing alone remained to be done, in order to bring the work of creation to a close; and to that Almighty God immediately addressed himself.

Throughout the infant world there was not yet to be found any living creature endowed with such faculties as might render it capable of understanding, duly appreciating, and, as a necessary consequence, fully enjoying, the great goodness of the Creator. Living things there were in abundance, each of which tasted as much of happiness as is consistent with the possession of mere instinct; but the rational mind was not among them, without which not only would the riches of the earth be wasted, but the link between angels and beings so low as the brutes would be wanting. To supply this defect, and to exhibit to the "sons of God," in a still more palpable point of view, proofs of his boundless power and benevolence, the Almighty determined to create MAN: and he proceeded to fulfil that determination with a solemnity and deliberation altogether worthy of the work which he had taken in hand.

The words put into the mouth of God by the inspired historian on this occasion, have received from commentators more than one interpretation. Whilst some suppose that the expression "Let us make man," implies a species of consultation between the three persons in the ever blessed Trinity, others have referred it to a solemn declaration addressed by the Divine Architect to the ministering spirits around him; the plural being used, as we are in the habit of seeing it used by earthly potentates, as a more dignified and royal form of speech than the singular. It is not for us to decide, at least in this place, upon a question of which we may remark, that the solution is to be found only by him who seeks for it throughout the Bible at large; but, whatever the true import of the phrase may be, one idea it undeniably excites, namely, that the creation of man was esteemed by God, and represented to other beings, as something far more excellent and important than the creation of any other terrestrial creature. The same feelings are kept alive, if not strengthened, as we proceed onwards with the remarkable detail. We are not told that God commanded the earth or the water to bring forth man, as he had commanded it to bring forth other animals; but that he formed an image out of the dust, or clay, and having breathed into it the breath of life, that man became a living soul. Thus was the very body of man, that frail machine in which the

invisible and restless soul is lodged, moulded and knit together, as it were, by the fingers of the Almighty; whilst the spirit, or living principle, with its innumerable qualities, its faculties, powers, capabilities, and aspirations, came immediately and directly from the Father of the Universe. Nor is the inspired penman content to excite our wonder, even by such memorials as these. He informs us that God, having resolved to create man, said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness: and let him 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." Thus was man formed not only with peculiar care, but expressly in the image of his Maker, and to him, as the representative of his Almighty Master, were all other terrestrial animals rendered subject.

We are well aware that the expression, "the image of God," has been frequently understood to signify that peculiar innocence and uprightness by which man, when he came first from the hands of God, was distinguished. Without doubt, the peculiar innocence referred to was not without its effect, in rendering man more perfectly than he has ever since been the image or representative of God; but we apprehend that the similitude spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis, was far from consisting, either wholly or principally, in the quality of innocence. It appears to us, that the phrase, if rightly interpreted, implies that man was appointed by the Creator of all to stand towards the inferior animals in a light somewhat similar to that in which He himself stands towards man; and hence, that upon earth, man represents or bears the image of God, somewhat in the same sense in which the governor of a province is said to represent or bear the image of his Sovereign. If it be asked wherein this similitude consists, we answer, that it is to be sought for in the whole being of man; in his moral, intellectual, and corporeal constitution, the combination of which renders him, even now, an object of instinctive dread to the fiercest animal that prowls the forest. That man was more completely the image or representative of God previous to the Fall, than he has ever since been, is proved by the fact, that all animals, even such as are now the most savage, dwelt in harmony with him; but that he wholly ceased to act in the Divine similitude, after he forfeited his innocence, seems to be a notion unsupported

either by reason or revelation. We know by experience that man still retains "a 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; whilst God himself assigns as his reason to Noah and his sons for the prohibition of murder, that "man's blood was not to be shed, because in the image of God created he man."

The globe being now supplied not only with herbs and inferior animals, but with man, the appointed head of all, God proceeded to bestow upon this his favoured creature, proofs more and more striking of his own bountiful goodness and of the high destinies which man was designed to accomplish. Adam no sooner rose into being, than his Almighty Master took him, as it were, under his own immediate tuition, and causing the whole of the brute creation to pass before him, instructed him in the use of language, by directing him how to bestow a name upon each. The injunction, likewise, to keep holy the Sabbath-day, appears to have been thus early given, since we are distinctly told that God hallowed that day, and this he could only do by directing his creature to keep it holy. Yet even now, after so many acts of benevolence and power, God's labours were not completed. Man was alone; for throughout the wide compass of creation, no "help meet for him" was to be found; and, till such were provided, his happiness could not be perfect. The same benevolence which prompted him to call man himself into existence, urged the Almighty to satisfy the natural desire of which his creature was conscious. "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 him." Thus was the man, in common with the other living creatures, furnished with a fitting companion, connected with himself by the closest ties, being "bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh," and the great principle of mutual intercourse, with all its endearing and purifying effects, was established. The formation of woman was God's last creative work. His gracious design being accomplished, and the world brought to realize the idea which he had formed, the Divine Architect blessed_his_creatures; and after sanctifying and setting Vol. I.-E.

apart the seventh day as one of holy rest, ceased to produce any more.

Having thus described the process by which Almighty God created the world, we might, with perfect consistency, close the present chapter, were we not anxious to meet a few objections which have been offered to it by infidel reasoners. Some of these, indeed the principal of them, we have already noticed, particularly such as hinge upon the supposed difficulty attending the date of the Mosaic cosmogony, and the inspired author's history of light. But others have been started-such as, "Why should God expend six days in creating that which he might have called into its fullest order in a moment? and whence arose the necessity of taking a rib from Adam's side, when woman might have been formed, as man had been, from the dust?" In sober truth, we scarcely know how to meet such objections; not because they are formidable, or weighty, or abstruse, but because they are quite unworthy of a serious answer.

With respect to the dedication of six days to the cosmogony, instead of six instants, or one, the matter is, we presume, very satisfactorily to be explained by the assertion, that such was the will of God. There cannot be a doubt that the power that was competent to create at all, was competent to create just as effectually in the twinkling of an eye, as in a century; and hence we may rest assured, that God, in devoting six days to the work, was actuated by some wise and good design. Probably he desired, that those "morning stars" which surround his throne should obtain a clear insight into his glorious proceedings. There is nothing unworthy of God in this; since we know, upon the authority of Scripture, that there are designs of the Most High, into which his angels desire to look ;" and to grant to them, as far as they may be capable of receiving it, an increase of knowledge, would only be to act with the perfect benevolence which characterizes all the Creator's proceedings. But there is another reason to be assigned, which, as it refers to man himself, will probably be received with greater readiness by such as are disposed to seek a reason at all. God acted in the case before us, as a great and unerring pattern for our imitation. He established the sanctity of the Sabbath, that most humane and merciful of all sublunary arrangements, as well by example as precept, and placed it upon a footing more secure, than by any other means it could have acquired. We are not now saying that these were the

motives which directed God, in his choice of time, for the mode of creation. We only assert, that had such been his motives, they would have been both rational and noble; but we refer the arrangement itself freely to his good pleasure, to which alone, under any circumstances, the act of creation is referrible.

The same argument which meets one weak objection, will with equal force apply to another. God took from the body of man the substance out of which he formed woman, because so it seemed best to him, and he probably did so for the purpose of instituting "the holy estate of matrimony," by showing that man and woman were created for mutual support and kindness. The speech of our first father, indeed, appears to meet the difficulty, if such there be, with so much effect, that we transcribe it; nor shall we weaken its effect by any comment of our own. "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; and she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh."

There is but one other difficulty which we esteem it worth while to consider, and which arises entirely out of a misapprehension of the design of Moses in writing. "Is it not remarkable that this small globe, by no means the largest in its own system, and as a drop of water to the sea when compared with the universe, should be regarded by the great Creator as the chief of his works? yet Moses every where expresses himself, as if the sun, the moon, and other heavenly bodies, were nothing more than ministers to our

wants."

We answer, that Moses wrote not to instruct mankind in astronomy, but to convey to his own countrymen, a simple and pastoral people, just notions of the Divine nature. He therefore speaks of other planets wholly as they seem to affect us; but he by no means affirms that they were called into existence for our benefit alone. On the contrary, we are left to form concerning them what conjectures we please, provided we regard them, as they must be regarded, as creatures of the great Creator; whilst his details are uniformly confined to the single subject of this world's early history. It is very possible, that other worlds have histories of their own, in which our globe is made to bear the same relation towards them, which they bear towards us;