F. Some have supposed, that it was proudly aspiring to a place which was not theirs. This opinion is grounded upon Paul's direction to Timothy, not to allow a novice to fill the office of a bishop, "lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil." Our Lord says, that "he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."

M. And he awfully manifested his character, when, by the serpent, he beguiled Eve. Miserable himself, and shut up in despair, he was filled with malice against God; he envied the happiness of these new creatures who were so much the objects of the divine complacency; and in revenge he determined on their destruction, that he might frustrate the divine intentions, blast this fair creation, and render God's beloved creatures as miserable as himself.

E. Oh, that was cruel.

F. What else could be expected of a liar and murderer? Observe how he shows his subtilty in effecting his purpose: he found the woman alone; he saw that the serpent was a fit instrument for his purpose; its sin. gular acuteness had already been noticed, and by employing it, his design would not be suspected. Had he employed a dull animal, the address of such a creature would

have excited surprise, if not suspicion; but by the serpent there was neither. It had previously shown its subtilty, and its now speaking seems to have excited no surprise. He began with a seemingly modest inquiry; but the words were artfully calculated to excite dissatisfaction, and to make her feel that she was under restraint. "Yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? If you may not eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden, why are they in the garden? they certainly were made for use."Thus many reason: "For what are the objects of pleasure made," say the men of the world, "but to be enjoyed? What are appetites for, but to be indulged?”

M. I have sometimes thought that the woman's reply, about not touching the tree, was adding to the prohibition against eating it, and that it rather shows she considered the restraint as irksome: the reply was, "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."

F. If there be any thing that betrays symptoms of the poison working in her heart, it is the manner in which she softens the threatening: God said, "Ye shall surely die;" she said, "lest ye die." It was proper to refrain from touching the tree; it was a preser

vative against eating it; and it is at all times necessary in us, if we would avoid evil, that we "shun every appearance of evil." By her reply, the tempter perceived where to attack her with success; he boldly denies what she faintly asserted, "Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” This was at once making God a liar; that he was an enemy to their happiness; and that he had laid them under such restraint, just to prevent them from being equal to God in knowledge, perfection, and happiness. If she would only make trial she would immediately prove the truth of his words, in being like gods, altogether independent.

E. This was base impudence.

F. And such impudence is common among Satan's agents every day; they first begin with seeming modesty to make inquiry, that they may know where they can successfully attack the religious principles of youth; and when they perceive that they have made any impression, they boldly assail them, and continue their assaults, till they have overcome their scruples, as they are called, and implant their pernicious and destructive maxims in their hearts.

E. The serpent obtained his end.

F. Yes, Eliza; the infernal device succeeded; the woman lost sight of the divine in

junction and awful sentence; she disbeliev ed her God, and believed the lie of the Devil. "She saw that the tree was good for food, and a tree to be desired to make one wise." It is highly probable that, as the serpent had the audacity to declare the truth of God to be a lie, he would also show the woman that there was nothing hurtful in the tree by eating of the fruit in her presence, and she might attribute his knowledge and the faculty of speech to this very thing. She might reason, if this fruit had such a wonderful and beneficial effect upon the serpent, it might have a still more powerful effect upon her. self and her partner, in raising them to the rank of gods, and endowing them with equal knowledge. "She therefore took of the fruit and did eat." It does not appear that she felt any thing unpleasant in its flavour, and no injurious effects followed; she sought out her husband, persuaded him to follow her example, and "he did eat." The Scriptures say nothing respecting the argument she used to induce him to be her companion in guilt. We are indeed informed, that "Adam was not deceived; but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.' She was first caught in the snare, and no sooner did she become a sinner than she became a tempter. Adam was not deceived; he sinned with his eyes open; such was the force of example in her whom he loved, that

he became her companion in iniquity; in doing which he acted a criminal part in hearkening to the enticing persuasions of his wife in preference to the express command of his God.

M. Here, my dear children, observe that the crime lay not in simply eating, but in gratifying the desire of eating that which God had expressly prohibited. The woman coveted a forbidden object; and she took what was not her own.

H. Still, mother, I think that an apple or a peach was no great matter.

M. Perhaps you imagine if she had coveted and taken some jewels of gold or silver, it would have been a great crime?

H. Oh, certainly it would have been a much greater crime than taking some fruit; because you know jewels of gold or silver are of much greater value than a little fruit.

M. No doubt in our estimation jewels are much more valuable than the fruit of a tree, but in the circumstances in which our first parents were placed, they were of no value whatever. And in the sight of God, to whom "the earth belongs and the fulness thereof," the one is of no greater account than the other. It was the evil desire, and the indulging of it, that were so offensive to God, and so awfully ruinous to the transgressors.

F. We read in the first epistle of John, of "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and