went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground'. And out of the ground, made the Lord God to grow every tree which is pleasant to the sight, and good for food." And there were fountains and streams of water, and all the wondrous variety of the animal race-the beasts of the field, and the feathered tribes; not as we see them now, jealous of harm, and scared at the sight of man, but approaching without fear, and acknowledging without reluctance his dominion over them. But, above all, their abode was blessed by the presence of God himself, who deigned to hold communion with his creatures whom He had formed, after his own image, in purity and holiness.

For us, who live amidst the strife, and vanity, and jarring interests of the present world; whose purest imaginations are tainted with sin; who commune so hardly and so imperfectly with our Father in Heaven, and feel so little of the elevation

1 Gen. xi.

of soul which the contemplation of his works ought to inspire, it requires no slight effort of the imagination, to picture to ourselves those scenes of perfect happiness which our first parents enjoyed, before sin and sorrow entered into their dwelling-place. But we can better sympathize with their grief when, having lost their innocence, they were driven from the abode of their bliss; when the gates of Eden closed on them for ever, and the world was all before them, such as wild nature now presents it, barren, dreary, and disconsolate.

Then, for the first time, did they experience those natural ills which human flesh has since been heir to. The whole constitution of nature appears to have undergone a change, which rendered the life of man more hard and toilsome than before. No longer did the earth of itself produce trees laden with fruit for their consumption; they were compelled to earn their food with painful toil; thorns and thistles sprang up to mar their labours; in the sweat of their brow, and

in sorrow, were they doomed to eat bread all the days of their life.

Such was the change which the face of nature underwent, and such was the origin of LABOUR. From that time forth

till now, man has been compelled to toil for the bread which he eats; and so he must continue to do, during his sojourn in this wearisome world.

There may be, at first, a seeming harshness in God's dealings with his people; but a slight consideration will show us that they are based, not only on justice but on mercy. Justice surely demanded that man, for the transgression of the only restriction imposed on him, should incur severest punishment. The very smallness of the restriction only enhanced the guilt of the disobedience, and added to the wilfulness of the sin. But let us mark how the mercy of God has made that punishment eventually conducive to the offender's good. We now know that this world is not to be the scene of our permanent abode, but that it is a place where we are ap

pointed to sojourn for a while, in our journey to another. On our conduct here, depends our condition hereafter. When, therefore, we observe how those who, more fortunate as they suppose than others, have possessed themselves of a few of this life's poor and perishable comforts, set their affections on them, and in the enjoyment of their short-lived pleasures, forget their God and their Saviour, and sacrifice their hopes of heaven; we learn to view it as a merciful dispensation, that God does not suffer us, corrupt and fallen as we are, to dwell in a place of indolent enjoyment, but has ordained the discomfort and hardship of this life to be to us a spur and continual inducement to seek a happier inheritance hereafter. If men were not compelled to work for their subsistence, but lived in luxurious indolence, what a scene of riot and dissoluteness would ensue; each one would indulge without let or hindrance in the depraved imaginations of an unoccupied mind, and would be intent

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on little else, but to gratify his unholy desires, and pander to his sinful passions. But now stern necessity compels man to labour, and he is glad to employ his hours of leisure in recruiting his wearied frame.

Thus in the curse of the earth and the sentence of labour imposed on us, we see a measure which at once exhibits the justice and mercy of God; and thus may he ruggedness, and toil, and sorrow, of this life be in no slight degree softened, if we view them with the eye of faith, as the means of leading our minds to dwell on the hope of a future and happier state, and rendering us more fit to attain it.

It will however occur to us, that although, in the rude simplicity of ancient times, it may have been necessary for all to labour with their hands, in the present age there is a large portion of the community which is able to live in affluence without such labour, some indeed without any labour at all.

I will