n"
was the object of the sacred writer. While, as already stated, many
existing species extend far back into the tertiary period, showing
that the earth has been visited by no universal catastrophe since the
first creation of mammals; on the other hand, we can not with
certainty trace any existing species back beyond the commencement of
the tertiary era. Geology and revelation, therefore, coincide in
referring the creation of man to the close of the period in which
mammals were introduced and became predominant, and in establishing a
marked separation between that period and the preceding one in which
the lower animals held undisputed sway. This coincidence, while it
strengthens the probability that the creative days were long periods,
opposes an almost insurmountable obstacle to every other hypothesis
of reconciliation with geological science.

At the close of this day the Creator again reviews his work, and
pronounces it good. Step by step the world had been evolved from a
primeval chaos, through many successive physical changes and long
series of organized beings. It had now reached its acme of perfection,
and had received its most illustrious tenant, possessing an organism
excelling all others in majesty and beauty, and an immaterial soul the
shadow of the glorious Creator himself. Well might the angels sing,
when the long-protracted work was thus grandly completed:

"Thrice happy man,
And sons of men, whom God hath thus advanced,
Created in his image, there to dwell
And worship him, and in reward to rule
Over his works in earth, or sea, or air,
And multiply a race of worshippers
Holy and just; thrice happy, if they know
Their happiness and persevere upright."

The Hebrew idea of the golden age of Eden is pure and exalted. It
consists in the enjoyment of the favor of God, and of all that is
beautiful and excellent in his works. God and nature are the whole.
Nor is it merely a rude, unintelligent, sensuous enjoyment. Man
primeval is not a lazy savage gathering acorns. He is made in the
image of the Creator; he is to keep and dress his garden, and it is
furnished with every plant good for food and pleasant to the sight. In
the midst of our material civilization we need to disabuse ourselves
of some prejudices before we can realize the fact that man, without
the arts of life or any need of them, is not necessarily a barbarian
or a savage. Yet even Adam must have been an agricul