hath placed him there. We render praise to God that we have been permitted once more to meet that venerable man at whose feet many of us have delighted to sit, and by whose hand we have received the honours of this institution. We wait, before we go hence, only that we may lift the voice of entreaty to Heaven, that God would make the evening of his days tranquil and serene, and prepare him abundantly for that rest which awaits him in heaven; and to pledge ourselves, that, wherever we are, and whatever may be our situation in life, we shall rejoice to be able to advance the interests of our ALMA MATER.

XVII.

[BIBLICAL REPOSITORY, 1837.]

The Law of Paradise.

THE law of Paradise is stated in the following words, viz.: "And JEHOVAH God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die." Gen. ii. 16, 17.

This important passage, on many accounts, has a claim to consideration and requires explanation. It is the first recognition which we have of the personal responsibility of man; and is the commencement of the institution of moral government in the world. It is the beginning of law;-of law everywhere now felt to be necessary to bind, govern, and restrain men ;and it involves the first statement of penalty-penalty inseparable from law, and the effects of which the world everywhere so painfully sees and feels. It is the first statement of an attempt to bind the faculties of man to his Maker by statute; and it is a beautiful illustration of the doctrine that the laws of God are designed to be proportionate to the capabilities of man. It is intended to settle this great principle in Paradise,-to usher man into the world, and to lay the foundation of all future society with this standing in the very forefront of all enactments, that the law binds faculties as soon as they begin to act; that man is a responsible being; and that the law of the Creator will be in all instances proportionate to the powers, and level to the capacity of man. The passage derives also special

importance from the fact that in it first occurs the awful, solemn, mysterious word, DEATH-and that even in Eden we hear announced the beginning of that tremendous train of ills which death rolls along on the earth, and of which all men so deeply partake. Strange that such a word should have been. heard amid the bowers of Paradise! Strange that the melody of the groves and the voice of praise should have been interrupted and suspended while the Creator should utter the solemn words "Thou shalt surely die!" And the word is strange and mysterious still. The earth groans; and the race trembles, and turns pale, and weeps, under the dominion of death, and withers beneath his gloomy, far-stretching shadow. On every account, therefore, the passage before us demands our attention. Why is the "man" here mentioned alone as receiving the law? Why was the law given? What was its nature? What was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? What was the penalty? Whom was it designed to affect?— These inquiries are all of the deepest interest. A portion of them it is our wish to answer in this article.

I. The first inquiry that meets us, is, why is THE MAN particularly designated? "And JEHOVAH God commanded THE MAN," &c. From this statement it has been sometimes inferred that God made a special compact with THE MAN as THE head of the race; and that this command was not binding on the woman except through him as her representative, in the same sense as he acted for all the race. An argument has been attempted to be drawn from this statement, therefore, to prove that God made a special covenant with Adam, in which the woman did not participate, and which was communicated to the woman by the man.

Without entering into this inquiry, at present, we may state the following reasons why THE MAN was particularly designated :

1. It is usual in all narratives, statutes, covenants, &c., to

designate man as concerned in them without indicating the sex particularly. Thus we say that man lives; man sins; man dies; man is redeemed; man is a social being, is a moral agent, &c., meaning the race, and not indicating particularly the sex. It was the evident design both of Paul (Rom. v. 12) and Moses, to show that sin came in by the parentage of the human race. The idea of Paul (Rom. v. 12) is, that death did not come otherwise than by the fact that man was a sinner; and that this had its origin with the first of the human family. It may be remarked also, that the same thing is observed in all laws, and compacts, in all countries. Man is spoken of as entitled to priority and eminence in rank, and that priority is everywhere recognised.

2. The name Adam (man) was given by God to the first created pair, the parents of the human family. Gen. v. 1, 2: "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called THEIR name Adam." The name ADAM, therefore, or man, was the common name of the created pair; and by a command given to man, or to Adam, is denoted a command given to the united head of the human race.

3. That Eve was included in this command, and that it was known to her, and binding on her in the same sense as on Adam, is apparent by two considerations. One is, that she expressly regarded the law as binding on herself. She specified no exception in her case, and suggested no modification in regard to its obligatory nature, when the temptation was presented by the tempter. Gen. ii. 2, 3: "And the woman said unto the serpent, 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 hath said, YE shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." It is evident, therefore, that both the tempter (v. 1) and Eve, regarded this special, positive law, that was to be a test of obedience, as binding on the woman as

really, and to the same extent as on the man himself. The same thing is apparent from 1 Tim. ii. 14: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in THE transgression;" èv napaßácet, that is, was implicated, guilty, participant of the guilt, whatever it was, of the transgression. The passage proves that there was no guilt in the case which was not shared by the woman. Indeed, the whole structure of the passage, and the argument of the apostle in the place, would rather lead to the inference that she was peculiarly guilty, or had a pre-eminence in the transgression.

4. In transactions where man and woman are mutually concerned, it is usual to speak of the man first, as being constituted superior in rank and authority. Thus it is in laws which are designed to bind a man and woman alike. They designate man; they pronounce a penalty for violation in him; but it is by no means designed to be understood as if they were not obligatory also on the other sex.

5. We discern here an instance in the very first organization of society of the respect which is given to man as of superior rank, and of the superiority with which he was invested. The transaction was with the man. The command was given to him. But it was evidently understood as applicable also to the woman. So Satan regarded it, (ch. iii. 1;) so the woman regarded it, (ver. 3;) and so it was evidently regarded both by Adam and by God. The man was thus deemed qualified to receive laws which should be binding on his wife and family— just as man now, by the constitution of society, is qualified to receive laws, and to act for his partner in life, in some respects, and for his children. He was regarded as the head of the family and of the race, and a law given to him, was, in fact, a law given to her, and to the entire race. On this principle society is organized still; and on this principle the world still acts.

6. The whole narrative is against the supposition which has