with the richly-bought institutions of American freedom. We give thanks to God, this day, that this purpose has not been thwarted. It has met with reverses; it has been embarrassed; it has been called to struggle with difficulties: but may we not be permitted to say that it has already sent forth men who would have been an honour to any institution, and men whom their country will delight to honour in all the professions and callings of life?

Our prayers ascend to Heaven for its success; and why should it not be successful? It has a location in one of the most beautiful, the most rich, and the most healthy portions of our land. It is in the bosom of an intelligent community, amply able to sustain it, and which will not be slow to appreciate the advantages of solid learning and moral worth. It is under the instruction of men who deserve the confidence of this community; and that confidence the community will not be slow to repose in them. It should have all the pecuniary aid which it needs; for every community is benefited tenfold to the amount of all its pecuniary sacrifices by an institution of learning, in its augmented intelligence, and in the diffusion of pure morality and the sentiments of religion. It should have the prayers of the friends of virtue and of religion, for no institution of learning can long flourish without the blessing of Heaven. It should have, and will have, our best wishes and prayers; and our hands and hearts should be ready to aid it.

Brethren of the Alumni Association !-We separate, in all human probability, not to meet again. We have been permitted to turn aside from the busy scenes of professional toil and care, to visit the place where we sought once to prepare ourselves for usefulness. We have come to congratulate the friends of this institution on its prospects of augmented prosperity. We congratulate him who is called to preside over it, and the community, and the friends of the college, that the hand of God

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