ཚུ deemed state, that his condition would have been a horrible delirium, utterly incapable of reasoning at all. Therefore this good and perfect gift of reasoning powers came down from the Father of Lights, through the promised Messiah or Redeemer, so that man was enabled to reason, and to choose between good and evil. By this gift, therefore, I judge that a world of naked human beings was not intended by the Creator. If it is alleged, that in many countries of the torrid climates of the earth, that even now there are human beings who live naked, and in societies; and yet the fact is not abhorrent to their views of delicacy. But, it should be remembered, that such human beings are extremely wretched in other respects, not having sufficient knowledge to use the facilities which nature has put in their power for their comfort and well being But the moment the light of revelation, art and science shines upon them, they shrink from the gaze of huma eyes, and seek an instant refuge in the habiliments of refined society. But ignorance was not the condition of our first parents, neither ought we to imagine it would have been the condition of their progeny, if they had never fallen into sin and consequent wretchedness; because such a supposition would imply a most flagrant imbecility in the very constitution of the creature man, and would as certainly have led to innumerable miseries as ignorance now leads its victims, and would reflect upon the wisdom of the Creator. Nakedness, therefore, (excepting the two first, and even then a short time only) is incompatible with a state of holiness, innocence, and knowledge, whether before the fall or after, in a restored state; and is repugnant to every primitive virtue and delicacy possible to be conceived of. A second reason is, that we find an abundant provision, prepared for no other purpose but to clothe the creature man. Has God stored the great wardrobe of nature for nought? which must be the fact, if nakedness and holiness are inseparably connected; if neither the two first, nor their children, were to be clothed, as many suppose. Neither will it do, in order to show a propriety in providing the rudiments of clothing, to say, that man was to fall, in order to be capable of enjoying this provision, because the object gained is not equivalent to the loss. If we believe that God in six days made the earth, and also clothed it with all green herbs, trees, and every plant bearing seed, which now exists-then we subscribe to the opinion, that he at first made provision to clothe the human race; because among these are found the rudiments of various the convenience of men. insects, minister to the same animals, with sheep, goats, beasts. kinds of clothing, suited to The animal race, with some effect: witness all furred camels, and the skins of A third reason that man was to be clothed, arises from the fact that he was created naked. But if he were not to be clothed, then it will follow, that in this respect he was privileged far beneath the brute creation; for these have their several vestures some of fur, smoother than the downy velvet-others of feathers, with colours as it were dipped in a sunbeam-others, again, shine in the scaly lustre of gold and silver mail beneath the waters; but man alone, sole lord of earth, not clad in any of these, stalks forth in nakedness. From which it is evident, that a covering was designed his noble frame, of a different mode and manner than that of beasts. But the fact of his nakedness had not, till he sinned, amounted to an evil; and before such a consequence could have matured, a gracious God would have informed them of their situation, and also have clothed them, as we see he did when it became necessary. But did they not get a knowledge of their unclad state by means of their sin? It cannot be denied, but he thereby gained a premature knowledge of it. But this circumstance does not militate against the idea, that God would, in his own good time, have informed him that he and his Eve were naked. For who will deny that the way of obedience to God is the true way of knowledge; for it is ordained of heaven, that men shall get knowledge in the ways of righteousness, and not of disobedience, and by thus doing, shall know more and more from time to time; which would have been the case with Adam, besides that which he already knew by intuition, if he had not fallen; and would have received a knowledge, not only of his nakedness, but of all things else which could consist with his happiness, as the circumstances of his continuance might have required, till he would have been transla ted. *Sue Appendix (C.) NINTH DIVISION. Embraces a position, that when man fell from original holiness, he lost his power of governing all wild animals, and became thenceforward exposed to their natural fury and dispositions; but in the Millennium shall recover his government again. At first the morning stars, when shouting from the skies, An absolute government over all the beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven, and the fish of the sea, was given to man as soon as he was created. This dominion, if Adam had not sinned, would have continued to the present time, maintained by the superior majesty which shone out in every word and gesture of the then uncontaminated man. He, it is said, was created but a little lower than the angels; consequently, a glorious majesty sat upon his countenance, which, together with the subduing power of his voice, ruled at his pleasure the whole animal kingdom. If it is said of the angel who appeared to the wife of Manoah, the father of Samson, that his countenance was very terrible, so I conclude was the countenance of Adam, and in no small degree, because he was but little inferior to the very angels of heaven. But though terrible, yet glorious and beautiful to look upon, consequently the most powerful and most ferocious, as well as the weaker animals of ocean, air, or earth, were, at pleasure, awed into submission by this first and holiest of men. That all manner of wild beasts were perfectly mild and docile in themselves before man fell, cannot be true, for the very idea of government and dominion, which at first was given to man over them, supposes the contrary. God blessed him, and said, Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1, 28. Here, then, is a dominion, a government, to be exercised over the brute creation; and if, after the fall, in the days of Noah, a dread of man was to be on every beast of the mountains, how much more so, then, before he fell! But if perfect docility was the primitive character of every kind of beast, what a stupid position does this present them in, as subjects of natural dominion, The very idea of government, therefore, seems strongly to allude to the wildness and natural freedom of their natures. But notwithstanding any subjugation to which they may be compelled, there is in them a natural disposition to their original state of wildness and ferocity, which is proven if we leave them |