ter the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison," &c. " And the name of the second is Gihon," &c. "And the name of the third, Hiddekel," &c. "And the name of the fourth river is Euphrates." Thus four rivers went out of Eden. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it."

Thus we see that man, even whilst in his state of perfection, was not to live a life of idleness, but was to dress and keep the garden into which he was put, with permission to eat of all the trees of the garden, excepting of the tree of knowledge of good and evil-of that he was forbidden to eat Concerning which I shall make a few remarks, after I have considered of the tree of life. THE ORDER OF THE CREATION, TYPICAL OF THE KINGDOM OF GRACE.

There is no doubt upon my mind, but that all the operations of God in setting the natural creation in order, as likewise the condition of the elements prior to his commencing the same, are symbolical of the kingdom of grace. For it cannot be supposed but that God saw that man would fall from that perfect state in which he was created, before he created him: so that the state of the confused chaos before the Spirit of God rated upon it, perfectly typified the true condition of man after he had fallen; and the method which the Creator took to set the creation in order, is the way in which he proceeds in renovating every poor sinner who returns to him: first he awakens him by the Holy Spirit, next he moves and en

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gages his affections towards him, and then makes him willing to serve him with body, soul, and spirit and, as the natural sun keeps up the life of nature, so doth Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, by the Holy Spirit which he hath received without measure, keep alive the kingdom of grace in his heart, until at last he " presents him faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." Jude, 24 v.

Thus was the fallen state of man typified: but, blessed be God, he set up in the garden of Eden the tree of life-a glorious and lively type of the blessed covenant of grace, by which fallen man should be restored to another and more glorious paradise than that which he lost by transgres

sion.

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I have just remarked, that the tree of life in the midst of Eden was a type of the everlasting covenant of grace, which I now proceed to shew: and, first, it was an emblem of Christ, who indeed, is the tree of life. But, in order to obtain some light upon the subject, I must draw my readers' attention to the 22nd chapter of Revelations, from the first verse, And he shewed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." And, again, in Ezek. xlvii. where the prophet, by the Spirit of God, (when speaking upon the same subject,) says, "And the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine."

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Thus is most clearly shewn the end and use for which the tree of life was designed. It set forth Christ, he being the very sum and substance of the covenant of mercy: therefore he is the root, the stock, and his members the branches.

Secondly. The fruit thereof, which were twelve manner, were for meat; which may be, love, joy, peace, holiness, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, hope, patience. But of this the christian is well assured, that these are the fruits upon which the sincere followers of Christ do constantly feed, and likewise produce, if they are walking in him. But its "leaves were for the healing of the nations." This appears to me typical of the word of God, whose leaves indeed are medicine: for, let a poor sinner's case. be as desperate as it may, yet may he find some of those to suit his malady; and Christ being the tree of life, the sum and substance, the beginning and the end of that book, and all the leaves thereof testifying of him-shewing the mind and purpose of God respecting man's salvation through him, as likewise his righteous dealing with all the diversified characters of men, both individually and nationally. In such a light may the pages of holy writ be viewed as the leaves which were for medicine. And the author can say on his own behalf, that when under great trouble and distraction of mind, he has found them suitable medicine indeed as well as myriads more besides him, in all ages. But now I must say a little about the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

While man refrained from tasting of its fruit, he only knew good, and the abstaining from its fruit, was the only test of his obedience. I do not

suppose that there was any inherent property in the fruit of that tree, to communicate knowledge to him, any more than that of any other tree; but it was partaking or not partaking thereof, upon which the opening of his eyes depended—and a woeful scene did he open his eyes to, when he gratified his lust of pride at the cost of his happiness, as we shall see in his future history, which, after this necessary digression, I again resume.

THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH MAN WAS CREATED.

Verse 15. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the midst of the garden, to dress it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 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 in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names" to every living creature, &c. Another instance in which he resembled his Maker-his first act of sovereignty his taking possession of his regal office, by naming the inferior order of animals: "And whatsoever he called every living creature. that was the name thereof." It is remarkable, that every Hebrew name attached to the various living creatures, are significant of their nature, as, for

instance, the name of the hare, signifies to crop the fruit of the ground, and the name of the eagle, to tear in pieces; and I think there is no room to doubt but the Creator directed the judgment of the man to give names to every living creature, descriptive of their nature.

Whether Hebrew was the language with which Adam was inspired, I cannot pretend with a certainty to determine; but I am inclined to conclude that it was: for, notwithstanding that the universal language was confounded and split into a variety of tongues at the building of Babel, yet there can be no reasonable doubt, but one branch of Noah's family retained the original; and as the word of God is very precise in recording the pedigree of those worthies who scrupulously adhered to the true worship of him, and has caused their genealogical line from Adam, the first man, down to the birth of Christ, to be recorded, it is more than probable, yea, perfectly rational to conclude, that the oracles of truth would be handed down to posterity in that original language with which God inspired the first man.

Verse 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field: but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him"-that is a partner to help him.

THE CREATION OF WOMAN.

"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 thereof, And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her