the study of the sacred Scriptures: as David says, he rejoiced over God's word as one that findeth great spoil,' as the miner when he meets with a good vein of some precious metal. And what delight must 'the knowledge of the Holy,' and fresh discoveries of his infinite excellencies, have yielded to Adam, seeing that he loved him with so pure a heart and so fervently-love him even better, we may suppose, than he did, who, when his soul was about to burst the bands of mortality, said, 'I love my God so much, that I think I could not love him more and live.' Delightful frame in death! O for more of

it in life!

It is not easy therefore to conceive the happiness which must have accrued to man from the perfection of his moral state, especially from union to God by love and perpetual communion with him. How happy are the truly pious not unfrequently rendered by a similar cause, by feeling their understanding irradiated with the heavenly light of divine truth and divine illumination: - by having their wills sweetly and powerfully subdued to God's, and the principles of corrupt nature made to submit to the 'divine nature.' What 'a little heaven below' it is to have the affections elevated above, and disentangled from the world and sin, and strongly fixed upon and solaced in God. In a word, who can describe the happiness of the regenerated soul when it is sensible of a divine union to Christ by faith, and to God by love, and is in the enjoyment of that fellowship with a triune Jehovah, which is one of the peculiar fea

tures and choicest privileges of the saints! 'O the delights-the heavenly joys' of the soul in such circumstances and seasons! And these hints on an interesting part of christian experience, are neither enthusiastic nor fictitious, as could easily be proved by many arguments and passages of holy writ. I shall however only refer to the words of St. Peter, in which they are in substance embodied: Whom having not seen, we love: in whom though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,' 1 Pet. i. 8. It will be immediately preceived how emphatically these remarks apply to the happiness of man in his primeval state as derived from the source above stated. These reflections however we shall leave you to apply: only adding, that in addition to the cause he had for satisfaction both with his God and himself, there was the of hope being, ere long, confirmed in his delightful state, and so rendered incapable of sinning and falling from it.

2. I shall briefly refer to the other part of man's nature, viz.: his bodily or sensitive faculties, by means of which his happiness was increased, as glorified bodies will increase the felicity of glorified souls. Upon man's primitive happiness in this respect Divines are wont to dwell on two things, viz.: the provision God made for the gratification of man's material nature, and the capacities of that nature to enjoy that provision. On the former of these think how admirably God provided for man's domestic happiness. All the rest of his provision was answer

able to this, and bore the stamp of the same wisdom and munificent liberality. Provision like that of the gospel, characterized by profuseness, suitableness and variety, and all bestowed with infinite kindness and freeness. The spot too-the delightful spot, created as well as allotted for the first and the happiest pair, was a paradise, such as the most magnificent monarch never possessed-such as 'the sun has never beheld in his wide career,' since sin blasted the beauty both of man and of the works of God. Ere this, what was the state of creation animate and inanimate? It was such as to yield pleasure, and only pleasure, to man: for neither were animals nor things noxious nor deformed, but such in respect of innocence, amiableness, and perfection, as was calculated to feast every sense of the body and every passion and principle of the soul. How great then must have been the felicity which existed, ere sin that greatest of all enemies to it obtained a footing in this lower world; especially so must it have been, when we consider man's capacity to enjoy without abuse or satiety the provision made for him by his bountiful Creator. He had no grief of soul to prevent him eating his bread with a merry heart. His health was firm-his senses perfect-all his bodily faculties vigorous, and his spirits ever sprightly, even, tranquil, and boyant. He had no unlawful wish after any absent good, nor the least propensity to destroy satisfaction by intemperance. The enjoyment of the creature depends very much upon the possession and exercise of piety-depends

much on the enjoyment of God in and by means of the creature. The disposedness of our minds to watch, and as it were, kiss the hand by which we are fed, supported and defended-depends in no small degree on our being inclined to recognize the displays of Divine goodness, and to abound with thankfulness and praise for them. Thus (as the Scriptures inform us, 'godliness is profitable for all things,') we see that piety is profitable as a capacity for enjoying the blessings of providence. But who upon earth has possessed this capacity in an equal degree to man in his primitive state? What fellowship with God in the creature had Adam? How full of thankfulness and praise was he! Surely such enticements to love and gratitude on the one hand, as those with which he was environed and pervaded, and on the other, such disposedness to the exercise of these cardinal virtues, must have rendered man happy beyond expression: for what are more powerfully productive of happiness than love and gratitude strongly excited towards God? Thus we see how the perfections of man's moral state contributed to his enjoyment from the creatures. Upon the whole, and to conclude this subject, man's happiness in his first state was in proportion to the perfection of his natural and moral constitution-in proportion to the provision made to promote his happiness, and such as even to bear a resemblance to the blessedness of God, in the image of whose blessedness he was created.

G

man.

How

What a world in respect of felicity would this have been, had man kept his first estate! Instead of which, what various, complicated, and heart rending misery do we behold. Sad and direful is the change which sin has wrought, not only in the character and condition of man, but as the Apostle says, 'the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together, being, 'subject to vanity by the sin of Weep my soul for sin, the cause of this, next to infinite woe-weep, to think that the effects of sin in respect of myriads, will not be confined to this world nor ever have an end in the next. ever, amidst our grief for the sighs of enrapturing bliss of which sin has deprived us, let us remember, and endeavour to think of it to some good purpose, that through benevolence incomparably greater than that discoverable in the glass of man's primitive state—an infinitely preferable state and place of happiness, even to that which we are considering, is provided in heaven for such as follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth.' O let us seek to be advanced to the second Adam's state, for the redeemed of the Lord,' when glorified in their whole nature, will be happier than ever Adam was, or ever would have been, had he even stood.

To these reflections, by way of improvement of this subject, we shall only add, with what brilliant lusture does the divine goodness shine in the glass of man's primeval happiness. As viewed through this medium, how great does the goodness of God appear