of God's word, guard against presenting them faithfully and in their true light. They are skilful in disfiguring them, in showing that observance to the laws of God is incompatible with our weakness, that the morality of the gospel is not made for men, and that there would be injustice in chastisement inflicted upon those who do not conform their lives to them. They are skilful in throwing ridicule upon those who let the Bible speak for itself, believe it in its whole extent, and abandon the multitude to range themselves under the banner of obedience to their God. They are skilful in presenting, under a false light, the vital doctrines of the gospel, in showing that they are contrary to reason, and that we must, as soon as possible, apply to them the amendments of human wisdom. They are skilful in persuading those who hear them, that a living and true faith is a renunciation of reason, that filial submission is bondage, and that to give up the world, its joys, and its vanities, is to throw a veil of gloom and melancholy over the whole life. They would willingly say to the God of the Bible, if they were as sincere as the unprofitable servant in the parable, "I know that thou art an austere master, reaping where

thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed."

Now let the temptation present itself; every thing in the heart of the unhappy being who has lent an ear to the lying insinuations of the tempter, is prepared for the fatal hour of seduction . . and of ruin. Know ye, my brethren, the power of temptation? It is present, it presses the poor heart, in which it finds but too much sympathy; it draws it along by the charm of sin, decked in seducing colours; conscience lifts up its voice; the conflict begins; you resist, for the thunders of God's word against sin echo from afar, and bring trouble into the depths of your soul. But, in the heat of the conflict, a doubt arises; Hath God said? Will He be offended at this weakness? Will He care for it? Will He punish? Thus is broken the last restraint imposed upon the impetuosity of the temptation; the barrier of the Word of God is overthrown you yield And thus you are

delivered over to the torments of remorse; you come forth from a vortex, to taste all the bitterness of that which, a moment before, appeared to you so sweet!

Such, my brethren, is the scene which took

place in Eden; such is the history of our wretched heart, and of our miserable life! What truth there is in these facts, traced by the historian of man's woes! How true it is, that certain ruin follows a disbelief of the Word of God! How true it is, that "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith!" Ah! woe to him that lends an ear to the perfidious insinuations of the enemy! Woe! woe, especially to the false prophets, who propagate doubt, while they profess to have faith in the Word of God, our only safeguard! My God!" increase my faith!" My God!" lead us not into temptation!"

Let us now hear the words of the woman, and let us see if they do not confirm the truth of this melancholy picture of the temptation which I have endeavoured to draw. It seems, at first, that she remains firm, that the captious question of the devil has made no impression on her. She repels the lying exaggeration of her perfidious enemy: "We may eat," she says, "of the fruit of the trees of the garden; they are there for our enjoyment; God does not treat us, as you insinuate, like a hard and niggardly master. See the abundance, the riches, the beauty of the different

productions which He hath commanded the earth to produce for our comfort." And herein, my brethren, we ought to imitate Eve; it is well for us to avail ourselves of our glorious privileges, of the goodness and love of our God, to show to the world what happiness there is in the “ glorious liberty of the children of God," which to them appears a bondage; what joy there is in the ways of piety, which seem to them so gloomy. We ought to imitate Eve, also, in her promptitude in recalling to mind the express prohibition of God, in which her safety consisted : "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, lest ye die."

But here the wisdom of the woman ends, and probably, also, the purity of her innocence. Her first error was to stop, in presence of the temptation, to listen to a question which called in doubt the truth of God's word. Though her inexperience of evil, her simplicity, the captious expressions of the tempter, in whom she did not yet see the enemy of her soul, may, in some degree, serve to excuse her, why did not a doubt raised against the solemn command of her Creator, excite her

distrust and indignation? Let us, my brethren, who, to use the language of an apostle, "are not ignorant of the devices of Satan," and know, by sad experience, the deceitfulness and wickedness of our hearts-let us be on our guard against his insinuations; let us distrust ourselves; let us shun evil; let us never make a compromise with that which the Lord has cursed! Observe, then, that Eve does not repeat the prohibition of God as he had given it. She adds to it a clause, at least, useless; neither shall ye touch it: words by which she seems to wish to magnify her respect for the commandment of the Almighty. But why comment on, explain, and amplify a clear, positive, and complete command? Do not these words betray in her that inward uneasiness which always accompanies temptation, the feeling of a weakness which we wish to dissemble from ourselves and others, by an exaggerated expression of our horror for a thing which we secretly desire, and of our respect for the law of God, which we dare not yet infringe? Experience, doubtless, has taught you, that it is not those who speak in the loudest terms of the fear of God, of duty, and of virtue, that are the furthest from