And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind: and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

:

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons and for days and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so. And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kinds, and every winged fowl after its kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing

that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat and it was SO. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

And

on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it: because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.

This first chapter in the first book of the Bible contains the poem of creation.

It is a hymn of praise, giving us a moving picture of many marvellous scenes.

It stirs the heart and quickens the imagination by the simplicity, strength, and vividness of its conceptions, and by the sense it gives us of the dignity and majesty of creation.

The detail is crude, and without scientific accuracy; but it was never intended to have that. It would be ridiculous for us to criticise it as an explanation of creation. It is a hymn,—a grand, deep song of adoration. One cannot read it without feeling the emotions of worship.

"In the beginning, God."

That which makes this chapter so impressive, gives it its sense of profound dignity, that which thrills us as we read it, is not

OUR CHURCHES.

the individual steps of the great plan, nor the right or wrong order of their progress, nor the beauty of the poetic scenes, nor any of the flowing figures of the opening days, but the sublime, simple confidence with which the writer sees at the back of all these things, there, at the beginning, the one Eternal Being,—God.

We are led back to the void before the earth was, when darkness overspread the nothingness of space. Yet even there the spirit of God is brooding upon the deep. And while yet there was no sound, no light, no stir. He moves upon the face of the waters! There is mystery; but within it is God.

There is the vast expanse of dim and unknown time; yet, over and above and behind, there is his steadying hand; his eye, piercing the gloom; his voice, commanding the elements; his will, creating the world.

"In the beginning, God."

Our knowledge of God's methods of creation is certainly much greater to-day than that possessed by the author of Genesis; but we experience the same succession of evening and morning; we look up into the same spaceless heaven. We only understand a little more of the surrounding mystery. We see that the divine creation which was "in the beginning" is also now, that it never ceases; and so the "story of creation" repeats itself for each one of us within our own horizons.

We see that the great Creator not only creates, but that he supplies the material of creation, and calls us to enter into his joy by also creating, not only in the physical field, but in the higher world of heart and mind, of character and soul. He supplies us with an infinite stream of creative implements (passions, desires, ideals) out of which to create our own paradise of sweetness, holiness, and love.

CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH, LOUISVILLE, KY.*

BY JOHN H. HEYWOOD.

The Unitarian Church of Louisville was formed by a few clear-minded men and women, to whom the principles of "Liberal Christianity"- such as the unity and fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, the spiritual leadership of Jesus Christ, the reasonableness of religion, the final triumph of good over evil, and the unbroken continuity of life-were inestimably dear.

Rev. E. E. Hale, in his delightful volume, the memoir of Rev. James Freeman Clarke, the second pastor of the church, writes as follows: "Mr. Clarke found a small Unitarian society, which had built a neat, well-proportioned church. The society had been organized by a few earnest Unitarians, mostly from New England. Services had been held for several years in different places, generally in the schoolhouse of Mr. Francis E. Goddard, a man of wide attainments and an able teacher.

"John Pierpont, Bernard Whitman, and Charles Briggs were among the preachers who, in short visits to Louisville, had interested the worshippers. The church had been dedicated on the 27th of May, 1832. On that occasion Dr. Francis Parkman and James Walker-afterward president of Harvard College-took part in the services."

The church has had five pastors: Rev. Messrs. George Chapman, James Freeman Clarke, John H. Heywood, C. J. K. Jones, and J. B. Green.

On the 24th of June, 1832, Rev. George Chapman, of Boston, who had been invited to become pastor, preached his first sermon.

earnest religious spirit, and very attractive in personal qualities. His ministry was. winning and effective, rich in thought, and of marked spiritual power; but it was very brief, continuing only a year, when failing health compelled him to resign his charge.

Condensed for the Unitarian from the History of Louisville, Ky.