institution, throughout the history of his church. The claim our Lord made of it as his own,* the various acts of love and mercy which he performed during his ministry and after his resurrection; the frequency of his appearance to his disciples on this more than any other day; the holy effects produced in all ages both before and since his coming; and the corresponding temporal benefits, derived from it by those nations which have most carefully maintained the observance of it, teach us that the sabbath was indeed made for man,† and that it is one of the most powerful means employed by the Almighty, to make this earthly course one of preparation for the enjoyment of heaven. The love and mercy which belong to the Author of this institution, as well as the immutability of his counsel, further confirm us in this belief; and reason and revelation alike teach us to conclude, that such were the designs of this type in Paradise; and although these benefits were interrupted by the fall, yet, by that divine goodness which willeth not the death of a sinner, but rejoiceth more in mercy than in judgment, they were restored, and again established by the substitution of another covenant, in the place of that which had become weak through transgression.

* Luke vi. 5.

+ Mark ii. 27.

If mortals in their present fallen state, have in any degree experienced such effects from the celebration of this holy day, how much more influential must it have been on our parents, whilst living in innocence? Their faculties unimpaired, their minds undefiled by guilt, and their desires pure and holy, how must their love for their Maker, their zeal for his service, and the enjoyment of his presence have been cherished, and their ardour for the glory of their divine Benefactor have been maintained and enlivened by the return of this sacred day, and its hallowed employ

ments.

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The garden of Eden was a spot of extraordinary beauty and fertility, so much so as to become the standing subject of proverbial comparison; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord."* "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God."† "The land is as the garden of Eden before them." Separated from the rest of the world, it was adorned with every plant that could contribute to its ornament, or the comfort of its inhabitants; the only portion of the terrestrial creation endowed with intelligence to understand, and faculties to enjoy so blessed an abode.

* Isaiah li. 3.

+ Ezek. xxviii. 13.

↑ Joel ii. 3.

*

Adam was not created, but placed in Eden. "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. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed." Man was therefore created in the parts of the earth exterior to, and which, compared with this garden of delight, could only appear as a barren wilderness. He was not suffered to remain there; but he was speedily removed to that favoured place, to enjoy every thing that could conduce to his comfort and welfare whilst in a state of trial.

Whether the Almighty in the creation of vegetables, as in that of animals, confined his operations to the formation of a single, or at most, to a pair of plants, is a circumstance on which revelation is silent; but from the economy which prevails in every part of his works, and the provision which is made for the rapid increase of those whose utility is most general and extensive, we can scarcely entertain a doubt, but that the same limit was used in this as in the other parts of the creation. Compare then the garden of Eden, where the choicest of these were first collected by their Maker, where they flourished under his care and blessing, * Gen. ii. 7, 8.

and where, to suit their natural habits, there must have been great diversity of local situation, with the aspect of the adjoining country, in many respects necessarily destitute of these advantages, and the relative excellence of the former must have been very striking. The one was not only a Paradise, and the other almost a desert, but their immediate vicinity forced upon the observer a comparison particularly impressive the one presented an image of a state of happiness, but not perfect; the other, one of hardship, poverty, and the suffering which arises from destitution. If he forfeited the former, and should be expelled to the latter, he foresaw what an awful change of circumstances must take place-a fit representation of the full and final execution of the sentence due to him, if guilty of a transgression of the divine commandment. It was evident that the happiness of the state in which he was placed, was closely connected with, and could not be separated from obedience, which would lead to the enjoyment of that real Paradise, of which this garden of Eden was only a type and shadow; as the wilderness without presented an image of death, the sure consequence of disobedience, so the Paradise within exhibited a picture of that life to which conformity to the will of his divine Master would certainly conduct him; a

E

state where earthly cares would cease, where the sabbath and its sacred engagements would be perpetual, and where the visible presence of the Almighty would not be occasional, but constant and permanent.

Two trees are particularly spoken of as growing in or near the middle of the garden: the one called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the other, the tree of life.

The fruit of the former was positively interdicted-however inviting to the eye, it was not to be eaten. The observance of this restriction was more particularly inculcated than that of any other commandment; and the punishment of transgression more directly attached to disobedience in this than in any other instance. It became the most prominent test, though not the rule, of man's conformity to the will of his Maker. The violation of this commandment was to be punished with death; not immediate in the full extent of the term, but certain and complete: not confined to one particular form or faculty, but extending itself to every relation by which the creature was united to the Creator; to every endowment by which he was prepared to serve and honour him. That divine resemblance, in which his mind, his soul, his affections and desires, combined to present a moral image or likeness of his Maker, was to be di