was wrapped up the first intimation of mercy to guilty man-a distinct promise of a Deliverer, who should arise to defeat the machinations of the devil, and restore man from the ruins of the fall. With the New Testament in our hands, we can clearly perceive that by the "seed of the woman" was intended the Messiah, Jesus, the Saviour of mankind; by the serpent "bruising his heel," the conflicts, sufferings, and death to which he submitted in accomplishing the work of human redemption, and in the infliction of which the agency of the devil was frequently exercised; and by " his bruising the serpent's head," the glorious victory which he achieved on the cross, when by dying, he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and ransomed from destruction, and raised to life and glory, myriads of the human race; a number which no man can number. Ancient believers were not favoured with light so clear as that which we possess; but on the gracious intimations held out in this first promise, their faith rested, and by it we have reason to believe that our first parents, and the patriarchs before the flood, were justified and saved. As we advance in the sacred history, we trace gradually clearer discoveries of this light from heaven, until, in the manifestation of the Son of God, it arrived at perfect day.

The woman, who had been first in the transgression, next received sentence; which condemned her a state of sorrow, and a state of subjection. Her

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sufferings, indispositions, and anxieties, in bringing forth and rearing her offspring, are all the bitter fruits of sin; and proverbially severe as they are, they are light in comparison with the vexations and griefs which many mothers endure through the folly and wickedness of their children; this is indeed the bitterness of the curse; a foolish son is a grief to his mother, and a heaviness to her that bare him: on the contrary, when pious parents have the unspeakable happiness of seeing "Christ formed" in their beloved children the hope of glory, all sufferings, anxieties, and expenses are forgotten, and the curse is turned into a blessing. Let young people ear nestly pray that divine grace may enable them thus to requite maternal sufferings and maternal cares.

Subjection too became the lot of woman, in consequence of sin. Woman, as we have already seen, was originally created and given as an helpmeet to man; this implied a degree and kind of subjection, but no degradation; a duty, but not a punishment; a yoke, but nothing galling or grievous. Woman sinned in a vain desire of superiority, and she is justly punished in a painful consciousness of inferiority. Much misery is endured, in consequence of the folly, caprice, and tyranny, of some husbands; and not less through the imprudence, self-will, and perverseness of some wives. This is all the fruit and consequence of sin; the grace of God alone can set all to rights, by teaching husbands to rule in wisdom, tenderness, and love; and wives, with discre

tion, humility, and meekness, to "obey as it is fit in the Lord."

Next comes the sentence on man, as he to whom the divine commands had been immediately given, and who was the head and representative of the whole human race. The nature of his sin is hinted at-a preference of the creature before the Creator: "Because thou hast bearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it." In consequence of this crime, the creature which had been so unduly exalted, was imbittered and put under a curse ; "cursed is the ground for thy sake." Fruitfulness had been its blessing for man's service, and barrenness was its curse for man's punishment; it should no longer spontaneously yield its valuable productions, they must be procured by constant and laborious toil. The ground, now become comparatively barren of good, became also productive of evil; thorns, and thistles, and every kind of noxious weed, sprang forth to render man's employment more toilsome, difficult, and discouraging. Man's body too became susceptible of weariness, and his mind of uneasy care; hitherto, his employment had been a delight and refreshment; but henceforward" in the sweat of his face, and in sorrow, should he eat bread,” continual labour, constant anxiety, and frequent disappointment, became his portion. His food too was appointed of a meaner kind. He who, when sur rounded with the delights of Eden, had sensually

coveted forbidden fruit, was reduced to feed upon the herb of the field, and brought in this instance more nearly upon a level with the brute creatures.

But the awful termination of the sentence, and that which was the substance of the threatening, soon closes all: "Thou shalt eat," but not long; thy earthly enjoyments will soon come to an end; "thou shalt eat in labour and sorrow ;"—but these too shall soon cease, they are to last only "until thou return unto the ground; for out of it thou wast taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." Thus death was brought into the world by sin; and death "passes upon all men, for that all have sinned." Adam, not only in his own person, but as the head of his posterity, became liable to natural death, and destitute of spiritual life; that liability we know descends to us all. Death is our certain inheritance, we are all born to it; and life is but the gate by which we approach it,-as Dr. Watts has expressed it,

"The moment that our lives begin,

We all begin to die."

But what Adam did not possess, he could not communicate. Hence we too are destitute of spiritual life; that is, the favour and friendship of God, and likeness to his moral image; we are by nature children of wrath, dead in trespasses and sins.

But life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel. In it is revealed "the second man, the

Lord from heaven," the Conqueror of death, and the Fountain of spiritual life. If we are united to him by faith, a new life is imparted to us; we live unto God; obey his laws, pursue his service, resemble his moral character, and possess the earnest of immortal life in his presence. Our flesh indeed, in consequence of the fall, is still liable to disease and death; but our Redeemer has ransomed us from the power of the grave, and will raise again these mortal bodies incorruptible and glorious. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ! let an interest in Him be the object of our highest concern, that as we have borne the image of the earthy, we may also bear the image of the heavenly Adam.

And now that, in prosecution of the divine sentence, our first parents were to be expelled from the delights of Paradise, placed out of reach of the tree of life, and sent forth into a state of exposure, the Divine mercy was manifested in furnishing them with clothing, at once designed for decency and warmth. Let it be remembered, that in both instances clothing was rendered necessary by sin, and let this constantly operate as a check upon pride of apparel. Little reason indeed have we to be proud of, or take delight in that, which is the badge of our poverty and infamy. However, let us adore the mercy of our God in providing for the supply even of those wants, and the alleviation of those distresses, which sin has brought upon us.

The beasts from which these skins were taken,