did not even know what
sin was. There were no other conditions imposed upon them than they were
not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which
was in the midst of the garden--a preeminently goodly tree, "pleasant to
the eyes, and one to be desired."

(M5) Where was this garden--this paradise--located? This is a mooted
question--difficult to be answered. It lay, thus far as we know, at the
head waters of four rivers, two of which were the Euphrates and the
Tigris. We infer thence, that it was situated among the mountains of
Armenia, south of the Caucasus, subsequently the cradle of the noblest
races of men,--a temperate region, in the latitude of Greece and Italy.

(M6) We suppose that the garden was beautiful and fruitful, beyond all
subsequent experience--watered by mists from the earth, and not by rains
from the clouds, ever fresh and green, while its two noble occupants lived
upon its produce, directly communing with God, in whose image they were
made, moral and spiritual--free from all sin and misery, and, as we may
conjecture, conversant with truth in its loftiest forms.

But sin entered into the beautiful world that was made, and death by sin.
This is the first recorded fact in human history, next to primeval
innocence and happiness.

(M7) The progenitors of the race were tempted, and did not resist the
temptation. The form of it may have been allegorical and symbolic; but, as
recorded by Moses, was yet a stupendous reality, especially in view of its
consequences.

(M8) The tempter was the devil--the antagonist of God--the evil power of the
world--the principle of evil--a Satanic agency which Scripture, and all
nations, in some form, have recognized. When rebellion against God began,
we do not know; but it certainly existed when Adam was placed in Eden.

(M9) The form which Satanic power assumed was a serpent--then the most
subtle of the beasts of the field, and we may reasonably suppose, not
merely subtle, but attractive, graceful, beautiful, bewitching.

(M10) The first to feel its evil fascination was the woman, and she was
induced to disobey what she knew to be a direct command, by the desire of
knowledge as well as enjoyment of the appetite. She put trust in the
serpent. She believed a lie. She was beguiled.

(M11) The man was not directly beguiled by the serpent. Why the serpent
assailed woman rather than man, the Scriptures do not say. The man yielded
to his wife. "She gav