“The soul, secure in her existence, smilesAt dissolution, and defies its power.The stars shall fade away, the sun himselfGrow dim with age, and nature sink in years;But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth—Unhurt, amidst the war of elements,The wreck of matter, and the crash of worlds.”
“The soul, secure in her existence, smiles
At dissolution, and defies its power.
The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth—
Unhurt, amidst the war of elements,
The wreck of matter, and the crash of worlds.”
In a word, since the soul is not material, it can have no parts; if it have no parts, then it cannot be separated; if it cannot be separated, then it cannot be dissolved; if it cannot be dissolved, then it is incorruptible; and if it be incorruptible, then it is immortal.
Thus it is evident, from all the perceptions of the soul, that it is not compounded like the body. Those powers and affections, such as thought and reason, judgment and liberty, love and hatred, joy and sorrow, can never be the properties or effects of matter, in any possible variation or modification of its parts. Nor can matter ever produce those noble and just sentiments, those sublime and generous affections, to which the soul sometimes rises in its contemplations of God, the phenomena of the universe, and the operation of Providence which sustains and governs all things. All this cannever be produced by matter, which is altogether inactive of itself; and when motion is impressed on it, the only change produced is in the situation and contexture of its parts. Surely all attempts to account for these things, by any laws of nature known in the corporeal world, are absolutely ridiculous.
How strange is it then, that such a spiritual being should be united so closely to flesh and blood, imprisoned in a tenement of clay, and use the body as the instrument of active operations.—Several philosophers, among whom is Socrates, have called the bodyτης ψυχης οικητηριον,the habitation of the soul; yea,φυλακη και ταφος, her moveableprison, and livingsepulchre. These two essential parts of man, which God, at his creation, united so closely together, that both make but one person, is a great mystery; considering the different natures that adhere, soul and body, matter and spirit. All this is unintelligible to the human intellect, however improved and capacious. The disputers of this world will find themselves completely perplexed, in attempting to explain by what ties a spirit is united to a piece of clay; and what holds it confined to its habitation. The adhesion of the material particles in the human body, the flame of animal life kindled and burning clear and strong within us, and the union of spirit and matter, so that the one is the tenement of the other, and the instrument of its operations, are, as to their manner, mysterious, and attended with difficulties that would perplex and confound the most penetrating and sagacious mind.
Man then was created in thenaturalimage of God, which consisted chiefly in the spiritual nature, amazing powers, and immortality of his soul; like God, it is aspirit, immaterial, invisible, active, intelligent, free, and immortal: and partly, in a lower sense, in the privilege of his body, which, in his state of innocence, was, by the promise of his Creator, entitled to a gratuitous immortality. Some make reason or understanding to be the image in which God created man: but, though this may be included, yet, it is not the principal thing intended by the Divineimage: for if rationality were the image, it could never be lost. Sin, which defaces this beautiful image, does not deprive man of intellect: his nature will for ever continue rational; he can never, I presume, be deprived of his reason so as not to possess it any more. Thought and consciousness are inseparable from the nature of man, and therefore thisimageof God in which Adam was created, must be something distinct from reason. Indeed reasonable creatures only can be the subjects of it, but reason is not the thing itself. To suppose that mere reason is God’s image in man, is an hypothesis unworthy of a reasonable nature; and with how much confidence soever some assert, the assertion is reproachful to our Maker.
The chief thing intended by the Divineimage, is moral rectitude; man was created in themoral imageof God; but thatimage in man was only alikeness, it did not equal,but resembled its high original—a disparity which necessarily exists between a creature and its Creator. According to any rational opinion we can form of God, we must believe that he is a spiritual Being; which includes the simplicity of his nature, his indivisibility, and his immortality; possessed not only of every natural perfection, but of all moral excellencies. He is not only an intelligent, omnipresent, omniscient, almighty Being, but wise, holy, righteous, and good. Without moral perfections, his character would not be very interesting to us. If he had no radical and constitutional principle in his nature that could move him to regard the temper of our minds, and the complexion of our actions, or cause him to be either pleased or displeased with our behavior, however conducted, we should have no reason to act either from motives of love or fear of him. His natural attributes alone, are very far from finishing his character; in conjunction with these, his moral excellencies complete his glory, exhibit him as the most perfect Agent, and render him in the most exalted sense our Governor. His holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, are called moral attributes, or communicable perfections; because we can trace some resemblance in angels and men; though there is an infinite disproportion between these perfections as they exist in God, and are faintly displayed in the creatures: in him they are infinite, in the creatures finite and limited.
These moral perfections constitute God a proper object of religious adoration, and without which no worship would be due or could be rendered to him. The Divine Nature is the foundation of that worship which we, as rational beings, are under obligations to perform; and the revelation of the will of God, with which he has graciously favored us in the Scripture, is the constant rule of his worship. On believing his existence, and cultivating the knowledge of his attributes, especially those which are so astonishingly displayed and harmonized in the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ, it very naturally follows, to every reflecting mind, that we owe him ourselves, and are bound by the strongest ties to present to him the most spiritual worship of which our intelligent nature is capable.
The moral image of God, after which man was created, was his greatest excellence. Hisunderstandingpossessed a large capacity for improvement, equal to an extensive and accurate acquaintance with things both natural and divine, the acquisition of which would facilitate his own happiness, by rendering him more competent to answer the benevolent design which his Creator projected in calling him into existence. This capacity was amply supplied by his Creator; for all divine knowledge is given by revelation; which he must either communicate to man, or he must remain ignorant of him. The capacity is one thing, and its improvement is another;which, as it is not naturally inherent in man, so it must be acquired. The knowledge of the nature, perfections, and will of God, can, in the first instance, only be made known by himself; for there is not a correct notion of him in the whole intellectual and moral world, but what has been received from either Divine revelation, or his own immediate influence. Adam, then, as an intelligent creature, was endued with the knowledge of God, so far as was necessary to enable him to fear, love, and serve him. Without a perception of his existence and perfections, and the knowledge of his will, he could not perform any acts of adoration, reverence, reliance, regard, and delight, toward him. If therefore man, in his primitive state, was obliged to worship his Creator (of which certainly no one can doubt,) it must be granted that he possessed knowledge equal to the nature and extent of his obligations. In his state of innocence, he did not perform a blind devotion, or worship he knew not what. Such ignorance is the consequence of sin; therefore he could not be the unhappy subject of it before he transgressed.
Some persons have thought that Adam, in his primeval state, understood the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons or Subsistencies in the Godhead. Though the knowledge of this important doctrine cannot be attained by reasoning on the operations of Divine wisdom, power, and goodness, visibly and conspicuously displayed in the universe; yet, as Adam received by immediate revelation some truths, why may we not suppose that this mystery was not conveyed to him in the same way, that his acts of devotion might comport with the honors due to each of the Sacred Three? The Divine Nature is without multiplicity, it is one; but the Three Subsistencies in that Essence are essential to the Godhead: this arrangement is radical, constitutional, and eternal. Therefore why should not God be worshipped according to his own natural distinction of Persons in his undivided Essence, by man in his primitive state? A Trinity in Unity is the most correct view of God; and, consequently, the worship that accords with it, being the most accurate, must be acceptable to him. The Christian religion has not given existence to this doctrine of the Trinity; for independently of the mediatorial scheme of redemption and salvation by Christ, God was from eternity the same Triune Being, and cannot change. It is not improbable that man, while he retained his pristine state, worshipped the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in all his acts of religious worship. Lord Bacon, in his Confession of Faith, says,—“I believe that nothing is without beginning but God; no nature, no matter, no spirit, but one only, and the same God. That God, as he is eternally almighty, only wise, only good, in his nature; so he is eternally Father, Son, and Spirit, in Persons.”
We cannot rationally suppose that Adam was a stranger to hisduty, either in its nature, manner, or extent. If he had not knownwhat duties his Creator required him to perform, it would have been impossible for him to act agreeably to his will. Obedience to any authority necessarily supposes a knowledge of what it enjoins: and, consequently, Adam must have known what he ought to practise, in what manner, and with what views; for, otherwise, he could not be obedient to the will of God in what he did. Hence we must conclude, that he was acquainted with the whole compass of his duty. As his understanding was not blinded by contracted prejudices, so it was free from any natural defect. His mind was furnished with correct views of God, his own dependence upon him, relations and obligations to him, and the way to please and enjoy him.
Adam, in his primitive state, knew wherein hishappinessconsisted. If he had been ignorant of that happiness to which he was entitled so long as he preserved his integrity, how could he have enjoyed it while in his possession; for a delight in any present good arises from a perception of its nature and value. Neither was he ignorant of the misery, into which an action committed against the will of his Creator would bring him. He certainly knew that sinning against God would inevitably be attended with fatal effects to himself. His unclouded reason could not but discern, that rebellion against the dignity and sovereignty of his Maker would unavoidably expose him to his righteous displeasure.
As the judgment of Adam could not but entirely approve of the supreme Good, in all the perfections of its nature, and revelation of the Divine Mind; so hiswill, with great freedom following its dictates, readily embraced what was right, and exactly harmonized with every requisition. He had a holy disposition, such as comported with the infinite perfection of holiness, so resplendent in the Divine Nature. Some have asserted, that God formed man without any direction in his will either to good or evil. But this imagination is irrational, for it supposes that he was neither holy nor unholy. It is evident from Scripture, that he was created good in an ethical or moral sense, for he was made in theimageof God, which chiefly consisted in a conformity to his moral perfections. He resembled these, particularly that of holiness; so that, though in an infinitely lower degree, he was holy as God is holy; without the least taint of sin in his nature, or any inclination to evil, all his powers and faculties being disposed to comply with his utmost requisition.
Adam’saffectionswere subordinate and obedient to the higher faculties of his soul, and moved without the least tumult or disorder. Being pure and regular, there was no depravity or discord among them. No temptation arose from vanity seated in any of the inferior powers: neither was there a rebellious disposition among the passions directed against his reason. No unlawful love, delight, or aversion had any place in his innocent nature, andtherefore the dictates of reason did not meet with any control from corruption in the affections; and, consequently, obedience to his Creator was not rendered difficult by unruliness in the passions. Being thus made after thelikenessof God, he had the moral law written on his heart: that hereby he might have a perfect rule of obedience, and be easily apprised of his duty to him. And as he was indispensably obliged to yield obedience to this law, and the consequence of violating it would be endless ruin, God, as a just and gracious Sovereign, gave him ability to keep it. Herein he treated him as a rational creature, and a subject of moral government.
The inferiorappetitesof Adam were in a state of perfect subjection, and never indulged to the least excess. The animal structure requiring food for its support, there was a great variety provided. But while surrounded with plenty, he was strictly temperate; his appetite was regular, consistent with purity, and in harmony with his devotions. Thesensesalso corresponded to the faculties of the soul, and were inlets to wisdom and enjoyment. Thus, as one observes, all his faculties both of body and mind were subservient to the glory of God, and contributed to his own felicity: a state which we are to regain by Christ.
“Enslav’d to sense, to pleasure prone,Fond of created good;Father, our helplessness we own,And trembling taste our food.Trembling we taste; for, ah! no moreTo thee the creatures lead;Chang’d, they exert a baneful power,And poison, while they feed.Curs’d for the sake of wretched man,They now engross himwhole;With pleasing force on earth detain!And sensualize hissoul.Groveling on earth we still must lie,Till Christ the curse repeal:Till Christ descending from on highInfected nature heal.Come then, our heavenly Adam, come,Thy healing influence give;Hallow our food, reverse our doom,And bid us eat, and live.Turn the full stream of nature’s tide:Let all our actions tendTo thee their source; thy love the guide,Thy glory be the end.Earth then a scale to heaven shall be,Sense shall point out the road;The creatures all shall lead to thee,And all we taste be God.”
“Enslav’d to sense, to pleasure prone,
Fond of created good;
Father, our helplessness we own,
And trembling taste our food.
Trembling we taste; for, ah! no more
To thee the creatures lead;
Chang’d, they exert a baneful power,
And poison, while they feed.
Curs’d for the sake of wretched man,
They now engross himwhole;
With pleasing force on earth detain!
And sensualize hissoul.
Groveling on earth we still must lie,
Till Christ the curse repeal:
Till Christ descending from on high
Infected nature heal.
Come then, our heavenly Adam, come,
Thy healing influence give;
Hallow our food, reverse our doom,
And bid us eat, and live.
Turn the full stream of nature’s tide:
Let all our actions tend
To thee their source; thy love the guide,
Thy glory be the end.
Earth then a scale to heaven shall be,
Sense shall point out the road;
The creatures all shall lead to thee,
And all we taste be God.”
Man washappyin his original state; he not only was free from pain and misery, but enjoyed delight. His pleasure was of a pure nature, not only such as God approved, but derived from a Divine source. If his mind had not been possessed of correctknowledge, his will disposed to obedience, his affections regular and holy, and his appetites and senses subject to a rational control, what pleasure could he have taken in the contemplation of infinite perfections, and in a compliance to the requisitions of the moral law? Happiness necessarily supposes delight, and delight as necessarily supposes a concordance between the disposition of the soul, and the objects from which its pleasure springs. Man was happy while innocent; he therefore enjoyed pleasure, which was pure, arising from positive holiness, and the presence and blessing of God. Surely it is reasonable to conclude, that Adam performed devotional acts with holy reverence and supreme delight. He could not but give the tribute of praise to his beneficent Creator, for his superabundant goodness toward him; being favored with every thing, not only necessary to his sustenance, in the excellent circumstances in which he was placed, but with whatever he could desire for the entertainment and delight of his innocent and heavenly mind. Above all, his grateful soul most certainly adored his Creator, for the glorious and beneficial displays of his wisdom, power, and goodness, and rejoiced in the interest he had in his approbation, protection, and kindness. While he retained his integrity, and enjoyed free access to his Maker, intimate communion with him, and was free from his displeasure, what serenity, satisfaction, and pleasure must fill his soul! He possessed that first and greatest of blessings, mentioned by Horace,mens sana in corpore sano, a sound mind in a healthy body.
Notwithstanding the excellent state in which Adam was created, and advantageous circumstances in which he was placed, yet he was liable to fall. By reason of the spiritual and intelligent principle in him, he became a moral agent, and a subject of moral government. He knew his duty, and had the power of determining his own choice and actions. He could choose good, and refuse evil, and be influenced by the hope of reward and the fear of punishment. He had no disposition to sin in his nature: for God could not create him in a sinful state, since that would render him the author of sin. He had full power to stand: but God could not interfere with the freedom of his will; and herein he acted toward him in a way agreeable to his condition of probation. The mutability of his will was essential to him as a rational creature, placed in a state of responsibility for his actions to the great Governor of the world. Dr. Paley says, “Free agency in its very essence contains liability to abuse. Yet, if you deprive man of his free agency, you subvert his nature.” God answers for himself in Milton:——
——“Man had of meAll he could have: I made him just and right,Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.”
——“Man had of me
All he could have: I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.”
The sentiments of Faber are very appropriate. “When the Almighty ceased from the work of creation, he pronounced all thathe had made to be very good. The new world was as yet free from the inroads of sin, and from the curse of sterility.
——‘Nature thenWanton’d as in her prime, and play’d at willHer virgin fancies.’
——‘Nature then
Wanton’d as in her prime, and play’d at will
Her virgin fancies.’
“The whole creation smiled upon man, and the golden age of the poets was realized. Blessed with perfect health, both mental and corporeal, our heaven-born progenitor was equally unconscious of the stings of guilt and the pangs of disease. His understanding was unclouded with the mists of vice, ignorance, and error; his will, though absolutely free, was yet entirely devoted to the service of God; and his affections warm, vigorous, and undivided, were ardently bent upon the great Fountain of existence. Though vested in an earthly body, his soul was as the soul of an angel, pure, just, and upright. He was uncontaminated with the smallest sin, and free from even the slightest taint of pollution. His passions perfectly under the guidance of his reason, yielded a ready and cheerful obedience to the dictates of his conscience; an obedience, not constrained and irksome, but full, unreserved, and attended with sensations of unmixed delight. Such was man when he came forth from the hand of his Creator, the image of God stamped upon his soul and influencing all his actions.”203
We may add, the authority anddominionwith which God invested Adam. This extended “over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.” God constituted him the ruler, under him, of all the inferior creatures. He probably inducted him into this office when he caused the creatures to pass in review before him. “And the Lord God brought every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, unto Adam to see what he would call them: and Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” Man alone, says Smellie, enjoys the power of communicating and expressing his ideas by articulate and artificial language. This inestimable prerogative is a great source of improvement to the human intellect. Without artificial language, though the Author of nature has bestowed on every animal a mode of expressing its wants and desires, its pleasures and pains, what a humiliating figure would the human species exhibit?
Dr. Beattie, in defining the human voice, says, it is air sent out from the lungs, and so agitated, or modified, in its passage through the windpipe and larynx, as to become distinctly audible. The windpipe conveys air into the lungs for the purpose of respiration and speech; the top or upper part of which is called the larynx,consisting of four or five cartilages, that may be expanded or brought together, by the agency of certain muscles which operate all at the same time. In the middle of the larynx there is a small aperture, called theglottis, through which the breath and voice are conveyed, but which, when we swallow any thing, is covered by a lid called theepiglottis. Authors have determined that the voice is produced by two semi-circular membranes in the middle of the larynx, which form by their separation the aperture that is termed the glottis. The space between them is not wider than one-tenth of an inch; through which the breath transmitted from the lungs must pass with considerable velocity. In its passage it is supposed to give a brisk vibratory motion to the membranous lips of the glottis, and so to form the sound which we callvoice: in order to the production of which, it, however, seems necessary, that, by an energy of the will, a certain degree of tenseness should be communicated to the larynx, or at least to the two membranes in the middle of it. The voice, thus formed, is strengthened and mellowed by a reverberation from the palate, and other hollow places in the inside of the mouth and nostrils; and as these are better or worse shaped for this reverberation, it is said to be more or less agreeable. The glottis is found to be narrower in women and young persons than in men; hence the voices of the latter are deeper, or more grave, than those of the former. We can at pleasure dilate or contract this aperture, so as to form the tones of the voice to every variety of the musical scale.If we consider the many variations of sound, which the same human voice is capable of uttering, together with the small diameter of the glottis; and reflect that the same diameter must always produce the same tone, and, consequently, that to every change of tone a correspondent change of diameter is necessary: we must be astonished at the mechanism of these parts and the fineness of the fibers, producing effects so minute, various, and uniform. For it admits of proof, that the glottis is capable of at least sixty distinct degrees of contraction and enlargement, by each of which a different note is produced.204
Concerning the origin of language, numerous conjectures have been formed. As an instance how far the human mind, unassisted by a Divine revelation, can go, Diodorus Siculus and Vitruvius have asserted, “that men at first lived like beasts in woods and caves, forming only strange and uncouth noises, till their fears caused them to associate together; and that on growing acquainted with each other, they came to correspond about things, first by signs, then to make names for them, and in time, to frame and perfect a language; and that the languages of the world are different, because different companies of men happening thus to come together in different places, would, of course, form different soundsor names of things; hence would arise the variety observable even in ancient languages.” Thus we perceive the necessity of the Scriptures relative even to this subject.
“The Mosaic History,” observes Dr. A. Clarke, “represents man as being immediately capable of conversing with his Maker: of giving names to the various tribes and classes of animals; and of reasoning consecutively, and in perfectly appropriate terms, concerning his own situation, and the relation he stood in to the creatures. As in man’s first attempt at speech, according to this account, there appear no crudeness of conception, no barrenness of ideas, and no inexpressive or unappropriate terms, it is most rational to conclude, that God who made and endued him with corporeal and mental powers, perfectly suited to his state and condition in life, endued him also, not only with the faculty of speech, but with speech or language itself; which latter was as necessary to his comfort, and, indeed, to the perfection and end of his being, as any other power or faculty which his Creator thought proper to bestow upon him.”
Some assert that Adamgave names, from an intimate knowledge of the nature and properties of each creature: that this shows the perfection of his knowledge, for the names affixed to the different animals in Scripture always express some prominent feature and essential characteristic of the creatures to which they are applied; and that had he not possessed an intuitive knowledge of the grand and distinguishing properties of those animals, he never could have given them such names. Dr. Leland states, that man was immediately endued with the gift of language, which necessarily supposes that he was furnished with a stock of ideas, a specimen of which he gave in giving names to the inferior animals, which were brought to him for that purpose. Dr. Johnson affirms, that the origin of language must have come by inspiration. But Bishop Warburton conjectures, that God, in this transaction with Adam, taught him language. Here, says he, by a common figure of speech, the historian, instead of directly relating the fact, that God taught man language, represents it, by showing God in theactof doing it, in a particularmodeof information; and that the most apposite we can conceive in elementary instruction; namely, the giving of names to substances; things with which Adam was to be conversant, and which therefore had need of being distinguished each by its proper name. And what a familiar image do these words give one of a learner of his rudiments?And God brought every beast to Adam toseewhat he would call them. But though it appears that God taught man language, yet we cannot reasonably suppose it any other than what served his present occasions, he being now of himself able to improve and enlarge it, as his future necessities should require. The celebrated Cowper, touching this subject says:——
“One man alone, the father of us all,Drew not his life from woman; never gaz’d,With mute unconsciousness of what he saw,On all around him: learn’d not by degrees,Nor aw’d articulation to his ear;But, moulded by his Maker into manAt once, upstood intelligent, survey’dAll creatures, with precision understoodTheir purport, uses, properties, assign’dTo each his name significant, and, fill’dWith love, and wisdom, render’d back to HeavenIn praise harmonious the first air he drew.He was excus’d the penalties of dullMinority. No tutor charg’d his handWith the thought-tracing quill, or task’d his mindWith problems.”
“One man alone, the father of us all,
Drew not his life from woman; never gaz’d,
With mute unconsciousness of what he saw,
On all around him: learn’d not by degrees,
Nor aw’d articulation to his ear;
But, moulded by his Maker into man
At once, upstood intelligent, survey’d
All creatures, with precision understood
Their purport, uses, properties, assign’d
To each his name significant, and, fill’d
With love, and wisdom, render’d back to Heaven
In praise harmonious the first air he drew.
He was excus’d the penalties of dull
Minority. No tutor charg’d his hand
With the thought-tracing quill, or task’d his mind
With problems.”
However, by the creatures passing before Adam, probably in pairs, and he giving them names as they passed according to the nature and properties of each, one thing evidently appears, namely, he was convinced that none of these animals could be a suitable companion for him; for, among all which he had named, “there was not a help-meet for him:” one suitable and proper as an intimate companion and friend.
“He views the vast creation o’er,Marks his own structure more than e’er before;Sees all the creatures with their co-mates blest,Himself left pensive, far unlike the rest;Without compeer with whom his hours to spend,Or jointly at the sacred altar bend.Religion—sacred to the first great Cause:Philosophy—the voice of Nature’s laws;Andsocial dictates, all at once combineTo teach their pupil, that the whole designIs not completed, while his lonely lifeIs left without a helper, friend, and wife.Refulgent Sol, while traversing his way,Has Luna shining with her lucid ray;And though her glory is a borrow’d light,She reigns sole empress of the sable night.Soft purling streams to rivers speed their course,And blend themselves with their capacious source.The spreading branches of uxorious vines,Clasp round each other with encircling twines.The climbing Ivy does the Oak embrace,And meets with verdant wreaths his bending face.The feather’d tribes that wing the firmament,By instinct led, to wedded love consent:They range the neighb’ring meads in quest of food,And guard and cherish their young callow brood.And shall the creatures without just pretence,Alone possess this high pre-eminence?Though with abounding earthly comforts blest,Shall man pre-eminent still want the best:—A bosom friend, than virgin rose more sweet,And whom he can with heart-felt rapture greet;Of pleasing form, equal and tender mind,To whom he can in closest ties be join’d?”
“He views the vast creation o’er,
Marks his own structure more than e’er before;
Sees all the creatures with their co-mates blest,
Himself left pensive, far unlike the rest;
Without compeer with whom his hours to spend,
Or jointly at the sacred altar bend.
Religion—sacred to the first great Cause:
Philosophy—the voice of Nature’s laws;
Andsocial dictates, all at once combine
To teach their pupil, that the whole design
Is not completed, while his lonely life
Is left without a helper, friend, and wife.
Refulgent Sol, while traversing his way,
Has Luna shining with her lucid ray;
And though her glory is a borrow’d light,
She reigns sole empress of the sable night.
Soft purling streams to rivers speed their course,
And blend themselves with their capacious source.
The spreading branches of uxorious vines,
Clasp round each other with encircling twines.
The climbing Ivy does the Oak embrace,
And meets with verdant wreaths his bending face.
The feather’d tribes that wing the firmament,
By instinct led, to wedded love consent:
They range the neighb’ring meads in quest of food,
And guard and cherish their young callow brood.
And shall the creatures without just pretence,
Alone possess this high pre-eminence?
Though with abounding earthly comforts blest,
Shall man pre-eminent still want the best:—
A bosom friend, than virgin rose more sweet,
And whom he can with heart-felt rapture greet;
Of pleasing form, equal and tender mind,
To whom he can in closest ties be join’d?”
God did not approve of this state of solitude: he said, “It is not good that man should be alone,” or only himself. The Creator had not yet finished his works. He saw it necessary to relieve man in his solitary situation; and his goodness and power were ready to concur with the dictates of his wisdom. He said, “I willmake him ahelp-meetfor him;” i.e. his counterpart, one like himself in shape, constitution, and disposition; exactly adapted to both his body and mind, the very image of himself,a second self.
“Must the fair creature promis’d to be giv’n,Be sent to earth from the abode of heav’n?Angelic nature could not well supplyThe craving void, remote, and far too high.Will God select amongst the brutal race,One, and refine it for his fond embrace?Nay, that would be too mean for his respect,Beneath his nature, void of intellect.The wise Creator, to complete his plan,Resolves to make ahelp-meetfrom the Man,Procure the stamina from him alone,Thus constitute her “bone of his own bone.”From Man! but where? what part can he forego,From head majestic to the servile toe?The head imperial would be much too high,Lest she, perchance, should for the mast’ry try.The toilsome feet are base, of low renown,Lest he should trample the fair creature down.In Man’s organic structure, mark! the partIs that which lies contiguous to the heart;Main spring of life, whence all the frame looks gay,Centre, where all the lovely passions play;Under the shield of the protecting arm,Which can defend her from impending harm.”
“Must the fair creature promis’d to be giv’n,
Be sent to earth from the abode of heav’n?
Angelic nature could not well supply
The craving void, remote, and far too high.
Will God select amongst the brutal race,
One, and refine it for his fond embrace?
Nay, that would be too mean for his respect,
Beneath his nature, void of intellect.
The wise Creator, to complete his plan,
Resolves to make ahelp-meetfrom the Man,
Procure the stamina from him alone,
Thus constitute her “bone of his own bone.”
From Man! but where? what part can he forego,
From head majestic to the servile toe?
The head imperial would be much too high,
Lest she, perchance, should for the mast’ry try.
The toilsome feet are base, of low renown,
Lest he should trample the fair creature down.
In Man’s organic structure, mark! the part
Is that which lies contiguous to the heart;
Main spring of life, whence all the frame looks gay,
Centre, where all the lovely passions play;
Under the shield of the protecting arm,
Which can defend her from impending harm.”
Accordingly, God proceeded in his work: not as before, when he made man, and formed his body of the dust of the earth; but he took of the substance of man, and of that formed an associate for him. The process is mentioned by Moses, “And 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.” The wordתרדמהtranslateda deep sleep, signifies such a sleep as renders a man insensible of any thing done to him; which was not natural but an extraordinary sleep; not occasioned by any act of violence done to nature, but the immediate effect of the hand of God upon him. Sleep, says a German author, is one of the most remarkable effects of the Divine goodness. It is certainly a proof of the wisdom of our Creator, that we fall asleep imperceptibly. Sleep comes unsummoned: it is the only change in our manner of existence in which reflection bears no part; and is alike independent of the understanding and the will. Our situation, indeed, during the time of sleep, is wonderful. We live, but without knowing or perceiving it! The palpitations of the heart, the circulation of the blood, the process of digestion, and, in a word, all the animal functions continue to be performed without interruption. The mind appears, as it were, to suspend its activity, for a time: by degrees, it looses all sensation, every distinct idea. The senses are deadened, and stop their wonted operations. The muscles, by degrees, are moved more slowly, till all voluntary motion ceases. This change begins in the forehead: then the muscles of the eye-lids, and of the neck, arms, and feet, are so much deprived of theiractivity, that the man seems to be metamorphosed into a plant. The situation of the brain becomes such, that it cannot transmit to the soul the same ideas as when we are awake. The soul perceives no object, though the nerve of vision is not altered; and it would see nothing, were the eyes to be even open. The ears are not shut, and yet they hear nothing. In a word, we find an unceasing source of admiration, in the wonderful preparations, and the tender care, which the Divine Being has employed, to procure us the blessings of sleep. The following epigram, translated from the Latin by Dr. Wolcott, is beautiful:——
“Come, gentle sleep, attend thy votary’s prayer,And, though death’s image, to my couch repair!How sweet, thus lifeless, yet with life to lie,Thus without dying, oh how sweet to die!“
“Come, gentle sleep, attend thy votary’s prayer,
And, though death’s image, to my couch repair!
How sweet, thus lifeless, yet with life to lie,
Thus without dying, oh how sweet to die!“
The wordצלעtsela, and in the Septuagintπλευρα, rendered arib, most probably meansbone, andflesh, not a naked bone, but one with flesh adhering to it. “And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man,madehe a woman,” or, according to the Hebrew,builded it upto be a woman; signifying, that the human species was perfect when the woman was created, which before was like an imperfect building. This implies, an old author intimates, that as children are derived from their parents to build up the family, so the woman was derived from Adam to build up his great family, mankind, of his own nature and substance; and that his posterity might spring wholly from him, both in respect of himself, and of his wife, their common mother, who was taken out of him. What amazing wisdom is herein displayed; not only in producing a creaturelikeman, but out ofa part of man himself! God could have animated and organized the dust of the earth, and of it formed the woman; but had he done so, she would have appeared in the eyes of man as a distinct being, to whom he had no natural relation.205
“Her form completed, lo! she rises fair,Possess’d of beauties far beyond compare!This last production of the Artist’s skill,Best effort of his wisdom, might, and will,Gains science’ height: the high-wrought features shine,Her form displays a symmetry divine.Her pleasing gesture, as she walks along,Exceeds the powers of harmony and song.Her fine exterior, by her Maker drest,Is but the mansion of a brighter guest,To flesh superior far, howe’er refin’d;—A pure, reflective, comprehensive mind!Expression soft sits sparkling in her eyes,While from her bosom heavenly raptures rise;Intrinsic worth, comprising every grace,Displays its radiance in her roseate face.”
“Her form completed, lo! she rises fair,
Possess’d of beauties far beyond compare!
This last production of the Artist’s skill,
Best effort of his wisdom, might, and will,
Gains science’ height: the high-wrought features shine,
Her form displays a symmetry divine.
Her pleasing gesture, as she walks along,
Exceeds the powers of harmony and song.
Her fine exterior, by her Maker drest,
Is but the mansion of a brighter guest,
To flesh superior far, howe’er refin’d;—
A pure, reflective, comprehensive mind!
Expression soft sits sparkling in her eyes,
While from her bosom heavenly raptures rise;
Intrinsic worth, comprising every grace,
Displays its radiance in her roseate face.”
When the woman was formed, “God brought her unto the man,” i.e. he presented her to him to be his wife. We are not toimagine, bybringing her to the man, is meant, that God merely placed her before his eyes, and thus exhibited her: but that he joined the man and the woman together in marriage.
“Attending angels strike the choral lay,And hymn your anthems on this bridal day;While the first Pair unite their willing hands,Whose hearts are join’d in love’s eternal bands.”
“Attending angels strike the choral lay,
And hymn your anthems on this bridal day;
While the first Pair unite their willing hands,
Whose hearts are join’d in love’s eternal bands.”
On receiving the woman, Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Adam was the common stock and root of all mankind; not only all his posterity were wholly contained in him alone, but also the first woman, the mother of us all, had her vital life in him, and was part of his living flesh and bones: he saw that she was of the same nature, the same identical flesh and blood, the same constitution in all respects, having the same physical powers, mental faculties, and inalienable rights. He added, “She shall be calledWoman, because she was taken out of man;” i.e. she shall partake of my name as she does of my nature. A literal version of the Hebrew would appear strange, says Dr. A. Clarke, and yet a literal version is the only proper one.אישIsh, signifiesman; and the word used to express what we termwoman, is the same with feminine termination,אשהishah, and literally meansshe-man. Most of the ancient versions have felt the force of the term, and have endeavored to express it as literally as possible. The Vulgate Latin renders the Hebrewvirago, which is a feminine form ofvir, a man. Symmachus usedανδριςandris, a female form ofανηρ,aner, a man. Our own term is equally proper, when understood: it is a literal translation of the original; and we may thank the discernment of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors for giving it. Wombman, of whichwomanis a contraction, means theman with the womb. Verstegan, in his Restitution of Decayed Intelligence, justifies this sense of the word, on the ground of antiquity and propriety, and says it should be so written. The termwomanwas not peculiar to her, but common to the sex; she differing from man in sex only, not in nature. Afterward Adam called herחוהchavah, which answers exactly toζωηof the Septuagint, both signifyinglife, because she was the mother of allliving.
“Oh blest existence! (now the man exclaims,And higher praises of his God proclaims.)My cup with blessings hast thou amply fill’d,Consummate joys for my great portion will’d:No wants are left, no good hast thou denied,Thy lib’ral hand has all I wish’d supplied.Thou Fount of being! source of pure delight!In thee my comforts center and unite:Thyself I love, thy vast perfections see,And all thy gifts receiv’d enjoy in Thee.He turns to Eve, whose charms are all in view,The perfect form which highest wisdom drew:Her sweet attractions touch his yielding mind,As three-fold cords his willing passions bind.Sensations soft with quick transition roll,And raise the transports of his grateful soul:While thrilling raptures through his bosom move,He feels his heart the seat ofGod—andlove.Their minds now glowing with celestial fire,They jointly bend before their graciousSire;Devotion’s flame with greater ardor burns,And both are vocal in his praise by turns.While thus their pow’rs in pleasing acts employ,Thesocialworship much augments their joy:Their warm addresses to the sacred throne,Ascend as incense, and bring blessings down.”
“Oh blest existence! (now the man exclaims,
And higher praises of his God proclaims.)
My cup with blessings hast thou amply fill’d,
Consummate joys for my great portion will’d:
No wants are left, no good hast thou denied,
Thy lib’ral hand has all I wish’d supplied.
Thou Fount of being! source of pure delight!
In thee my comforts center and unite:
Thyself I love, thy vast perfections see,
And all thy gifts receiv’d enjoy in Thee.
He turns to Eve, whose charms are all in view,
The perfect form which highest wisdom drew:
Her sweet attractions touch his yielding mind,
As three-fold cords his willing passions bind.
Sensations soft with quick transition roll,
And raise the transports of his grateful soul:
While thrilling raptures through his bosom move,
He feels his heart the seat ofGod—andlove.
Their minds now glowing with celestial fire,
They jointly bend before their graciousSire;
Devotion’s flame with greater ardor burns,
And both are vocal in his praise by turns.
While thus their pow’rs in pleasing acts employ,
Thesocialworship much augments their joy:
Their warm addresses to the sacred throne,
Ascend as incense, and bring blessings down.”
The relation betweenhusbandandwifeis the strongest union that results from the highest obligations of nature. “Therefore,” said Adam, “shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Here we perceive, as Dr. Delany intimates, that Adam had a perfect idea of father and mother, before any existed; that he had clear ideas of the affection arising from that relation, before any children were born into the world: and yet perceived that the endearment arising from marriage should be stronger than these ties, so as to attach a man with warmer affection to his wife, than to those very parents to whom he was indebted for life. Now if the received doctrines of philosophy be true, that the senses are the inlets of ideas, and that we can have no ideas without objects: then we must conclude, that as he had these ideas, and had them not from nature, he must have received them from express revelation. Hence our Saviour, in his answer to the Pharisees, informs us, that the words pronounced by Adam on this occasion, were the declaration of God himself. “Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh.” These two shall be considered asone body, having no separate or independent interests: or, these two shall befor the productionof one flesh; from their union a posterity shall spring, as exactly resembling themselves as they do each other. The Greek wordπροσκολληθησεται, translatedone flesh, signifies shall begluedto her.
How happy must such a state be, where the parties married come up to the design of this sacred institution! Dr. Hunter observes, “What an important era in the life of Adam! What a new display of the Creator’s power, skill, and goodness! How must the spirit of devotion be heightened, now that man could join insocialworship! What additional satisfaction in contemplating the frame, order, and course of nature, now that he possessed the most exalted of human joys, that of conveying knowledge to a beloved object! Now he could instruct Eve in the wonders of creation, and unfold to her their Maker’s nature, perfections, and will!“ Oh happy state! They are happy in the constitution of their nature,—being innocent, upright creatures; and in having their pure minds perfectly united in love and kindness to each other. They were happy in all their united acts of adoration and praise to their Creator,—exact harmony, unmixed delight, and untainted piety, residing in each breast! They lived in communion withGod, enjoyed a transporting sense of his favor, walked in the light of his countenance, and were raptured in their meditations on the Divine glory!
We have here the first institution of marriage, and we see in it several things worthy of peculiar attention and regard. 1. God pronounces the state of celibacynot a good one: and the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone,”לבדוlebaddoonly himself. It was neither for his comfort, who was formed for society, nor for the accomplishment of God’s purpose in the increase of mankind. Though he was created in the image of God, and enjoyed delightful intercourse with him, his solitary condition required a suitable companion. 2. God made the womanforthe man; he was not madefor her, but she was madefor him, and derived, under God, her being from him. The apostle says, “Neither was the man created for the woman: but the woman for the man,” to be a suitable helper and comfort to him. And thus God has shown us, that every son of Adam should be united to a daughter of Eve to the end of the world. 3. God made the womanoutof the man: as Adam was immediately from God, so Eve was immediately from Adam; “the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man:” made of a part of his body, taken out, not of his head, to show that she was not to exercise dominion over him; nor of his foot, to indicate that she must not be his slave; but of his side, to intimate that she needs his counsel and direction; from under his arm, to teach him that he must protect her; and near his heart, to tell him that he must love her as himself. The closest union, and the most affectionate attachment, should subsist in the matrimonial connection. The man should ever consider and treat the woman as apart of himself; and as no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and supports it, so should a husband evince the greatest tenderness and affection for his wife: and on the other hand, considering that the woman derived her being from man, and was madeforhim, therefore the wife should “see that she reverence her husband.” “For as man is the image and glory of God; so the woman is the glory of the man.” 4. God himself instituted the marriage union, and being appointed and established by him, it must be an honorable state. “Marriage is honorable in all,” being a Divine institution; and consequently suitable for persons of any rank, or employment, either civil or sacred. The corruption of manners has strangely perverted this original purpose and institution of God. However, he will never accommodate his morality to the times, nor to the inclinations of men. What was settled at the beginning, he judged most worthy of his glory, most profitable for man, and most suitable to his nature. 5. Marriage was instituted immediately on the creation of man and formation of the woman;whence it is evident that God never designed that mankind should be preserved, and the earth peopled any other way. And as the marriage union took place while man was in a state of innocence, upright and pure, just such as his Creator made him, it is therefore suitable to the greatest purity both of heart and life. 6. The design of this institution was, that man and woman might be mutually helpful to each other, in all the necessities and uses of life partaking of the cares and labors of each other, reciprocally sharing in each other’s delights and pleasures, and combining together to love, serve, and please God.
Thesituationof Adam and Eve is worthy of our attention. The sacred historian says, “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” The wordעדןEden, signifyingpleasureordelight, is expressive of their excellent residence. The Septuagint render the passage thus:εφυτευσεν ὁ Θεος παραδεισου εν Εδεμ,God planted a Paradise in Eden. The Fathers of the Church; says Huet, both Latin and Greek, all the Interpreters of Scripture, ancient and modern, and all the Orientals, do agree, that Eden is a local name taken from the beauty of the place. The Garden or Paradise was situated in Eden, being two different places, as the whole from its part. “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. And the name of the first is Pison; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.” The most probable account of the situation of the terrestrial Paradise, says Dr. A. Clarke, is that given by Hadrian Reland. He supposes it to have been in Armenia, near the sources of the great rivers, Euphrates, Tigris, Phasis, and Araxes. He thinks Pison was the Phasis, a river of Cholchis, emptying itself into the Euxine Sea, where there is a city called Chabala, the pronunciation of which is nearly the same with that of Havilah, orחוילהChavilah, according to the Hebrew, thevauוbeing changed in Greek tobetaβ. This country was famous for gold, whence the fable of the Golden Fleece, attempted to be carried away from that country by the heroes of Greece. The Gihon he thinks to be the Araxes, which runs into the Caspian Sea, both the words having the same signification, namely, arapid motion. The land of Cush, washed by the river, he supposes to be the country of the Cussæi of the ancients; a nation of Asia, destroyed by Alexander to appease the manes of Hephæstion. The Hiddekel all agree to be the Tigris; and the other river,Phrat, orפרתPerath, to be the Euphrates. All these rivers rise in the same tract of mountainous country, though they do not proceed from one head.
Man, says Faber, was placed by the Deity in the garden of Paradise. The beauty of its scenery, the salubrity of its climate, the variety and excellence of its fruits, all contributed to the beatitude of the first pair, and tended to elevate their thoughts to that Being, who was the author and contriver of such numerous blessings. Trained, says Bishop Horne, in the school of Eden by the material elements of a visible world, to the knowledge of one that is immaterial and invisible, Adam found himself excited by the beauty of the picture, to aspire after the transcendent excellence of the Divine original.
From this, says Dr. A. Clarke, the ancient heathens borrowed their ideas of the gardens of Hesperides, where the trees bore golden fruit; the gardens of Adonis, a word which is evidently derived from the HebrewעדןAden; and hence the origin of sacred gardens, or inclosures, dedicated to purposes of devotion, some comparatively innocent, others impure. From the holiness of the garden of Eden, says Faber, the Pagans probably borrowed their ancient custom of consecrating groves to the worship of their various deities. The description given by Quintus Curtius of the sacred grove of Jupiter Hammon is singularly beautiful, and almost presents to the imagination the deep shades and the crystal streams of Eden. “At length,” says he, “they arrived at the consecrated habitation of the deity, which, incredible as it may seem, was situated in the midst of a desert, and shaded from the sun by so luxuriant a vegetation, that its beams could scarcely penetrate through the thickness of the foliage. The groves are watered by the meandering streams of numerous fountains; and a wonderful temperature of climate, resembling most of all the delightful season of spring, prevails through the whole year with an equal degree of salubrity.”
This golden age is described by Plato, in a manner which, independently of his confession (namely, that he gained his information from the Phœnicians, who received it from their ancestors,) proves him to have derived it, not from written records, but from traditional reports. His mansion of primeval bliss was not in this dark, diminished, and deformed, this corrupted globe, but in a pure, ethereal, and lucid orb of unlimited extent, where men breathed, not air, but light, drank nectar, and partook of fruits spontaneously produced. The inclement seasons were unknown, raiment was not yet invented, and nakedness produced no distress. When weary, the inhabitants reclined to sleep on soft herbage, which received the influence of one eternal spring. In these delightful regions no stormy winds interrupted their calm repose; no evil passion disturbed their serenity of soul; and reason, guided by benevolence,bore a universal sway. Whilst this state continued, man conversed freely with those animals, which, now wild, avoid his presence, and fly at his approach.
Virgil was no stranger to a golden age; and Seneca has well described the peaceful state whilst Saturn reigned. But of all the representations, that which we find in Ovid is the most beautiful, and, allowing for poetic imagery, is accurately just.