Fifth day, Fishes and Birds.

Sixth day, Beasts and Creeping Things, and Man.

Seventh day, Nothing; God rested.

All things the mighty Lord,
Created by his word;
And all his creatures are,
From worm to brightest star;
His wonders none can imitate,
Or out of nothing can create.

Were angels to unite

Their heavenly skill and might,
How vainly they would try
To make one little fly!

For life they never could bestow,

Nor cause the meanest flower to grow.

Angels so fair and strong

Unto the Lord belong;

From him their beauty came;

'Tis he sustains their frame:
They could not live one single hour,

Unless supported by his power.

And this the angels know;
Around God's throne they bow,

And humbly they confess
Their own unworthiness;

And still the King of kings admire,

And praise him with their tongues of fire.

Far lower should I lie

Before the Lord most high;
For how can I compare
With angels strong and fair!
I who am made of sinful clay,
And like the grass must fade away

?

CHAPTER II.

THE SIN OF ADAM.

Gen. iii.

You remember that God put Adam and Eve in a pretty garden. There they lived very happily. They never quarrelled with each other: they were never sick nor in pain. Adam worked in the sweet garden; but not so hard as to tire himself. His work was quite pleasant, for it was never too hot nor too cold in that sweet garden; and there were no weeds nor thistles growing in the ground.

You know there was one tree of which Adam might not eat. The name of the tree was "The tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

God had said, that if Adam ate of it, he should die. Adam and Eve might eat of all the other trees in the garden.

Do you not think that they had fruit enough without eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? They did not wish to eat of it, as God had told them not. They loved God. He was their friend, and used to walk and talk with them in the garden. Now you shall hear how Adam and Eve grew wicked.

You know that there are a great many wicked angels; one of them is called "Satan," and he is the prince of the wicked angels. Satan knew that if Adam and Eve grew wicked, they would die

and go to hell. Satan hated them, and wished to make them unhappy; so he thought, "I will try and persuade them to eat that fruit which God has told them not to eat." So Satan put on the body of a serpent,* and came into the garden.

He saw Eve; he pretended to be kind, and said to her, "Why do you not eat of the fruit?"

But she said, "God has told us not to eat of that fruit, and that if we do, we shall die."

But the serpent said, "No; you shall not die; but this fruit will make you wise, like God."

The woman was afraid to eat; but she looked, and thought the fruit nice; she looked again, and thought it pretty;† and she thought "I should like to eat it."

some to Adam.

So she took the fruit and gave

Sad was that hour! no more happy days for Adam and Eve. They were grown naughty; they knew they had done wrong; they were afraid of seeing God. Soon they heard his voice in the garden; they went and hid themselves among thick trees. They wished they had some clothes to cover them; but they had only some leaves that they sewed together.

the

God called Adam, and said, "Adam, where art thou?"

Then Adam said, "I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."

• That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.-Rev. xii. 9.

† And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, &c.-Gen. iii. 6.

Then God said, "Who told you that naked? have you eaten of that tree?"

you were

Then Adam said, "The woman you gave me, to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."

God said to the woman, "What is this that thou hast done ?"

And she said, "The serpent deceived me, and I did eat."

God was angry with them all, but most of all with the serpent. God cursed him, and said, "You shall always crawl on the ground, and eat dust."

Then God said to the Woman, "You shall often be sick, and Adam shall be your master, and you must obey him."

And God said to Adam, " You shall work hard, and dig the ground; thorns and thistles shall grow; you shall have bread to eat; but you shall be obliged to work so hard that drops of sweat shall often stand upon your forehead; you shall be sad while you live, and at last you shall die; your body was made of dust, and it shall turn into dust again."

What sad punishments these were! How sad Adam and Eve must have felt when they heard them! But this was not all; they were not allowed to stay in the pretty garden. God drove them out, and God would not let them come into the garden again; so he desired an angel with a fiery sword to stand near it; yet God showed his pity

by giving them clothes made of skins of beasts. They had tried to make clothes of the leaves of the trees, but God gave them better clothes.

Where do you think the souls of Adam and Eve must go when their bodies were dead? To Satan? That was what Satan hoped. But the blessed Lord Jesus had promised his Father to come down and save Adam and Eve, and their children, from hell.

Adam and Eve knew that a child should one day be born, who should save people from going to hell.* So they had some comfort in their hearts, when they went out of the garden.

It was a long while before Jesus did make himself a little child, and did come into this world; but at last he came, and died upon the cross.

to

My little children, was it not very kind in Jesus say that he would come and die for us?-ought we not to love him very much?

How pleasant once was Adam's toil

In Eden's cool retreat!

But now he tills a thorny soil,

And faints beneath the heat.

How lovely once (how altered now!)

Were Adam's form and face!

Bright was that eye, and smooth that brow,

Now clouded by disgrace.

God said to the serpent, in the presence of Adam and Eve. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. iii. 15.