the firmament decl reth the works of his hand. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech, no language, their voice is not heard; yet their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world.

He hath set a tabernacle in them for the sun, and he as a bridegroom coming out of his bridechamber, rejoiceth as a giant to run his course. His going out is from the end of heaven, and his circuit even to the end thereof, and nothing is hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls; the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones. The visitations of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever. The judgments of the Lord are truth, they are justified together. More to be desired than gold and many precious jewels, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. For by them is thy servant enlightened, and in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can understand his errors? From secret errors cleanse me, O Lord. Keep back thy servant from the proud; let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be without spot, and I shall be cleansed from great sin. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm xix.*

* xviii. of the Douay Version.

Adam placed in Paradise. The History of the Creation of the woman.

B. C. 4004.

FROM GENESIS II.

AND the Lord God fashioned man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And the Lord God had from the beginning* planted a garden in Eden,† wherein he placed the man whom he had formed. And the Lord God made to spring out of the ground every tree that was lovely to behold, and good for food, the tree of life in the midst of Paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, which from thence is divided into four heads. The name of the first is Pison, the name of the second is Gihon, the name of the third is Hiddekel [or Tigris,] which passes along by the Assyrians, and the name of the fourth is Euphrates.

Or, eastward. The Hebrew word has both significations. † Eden signifies pleasure, and may be rendered either as a proper name, or as an epithet denoting the character of the garden.

And the Lord God put the man into the pleasant garden to dress it and keep it. And he commanded him, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat, for in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt surely die.

And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make for him a help suited to him. And the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, and had brought them to Adam to see what he would call them, for whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was its name. And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs and filled up flesh for it. And the Lord God formed the rib which he had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of man. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

O LORD our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth, who hast set thy glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?— Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and honour; and hast set him over the works of thy hands.Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea. O LORD our Lord, how admirable is thy name in all the earth! Psalm viii.

WORDS, &C., TO BE EXPLAINED IN LESSON III.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON III.

Or what did God make man?

How did man become a living soul?

Where did God place man?

What was in the middle of the garden?

The river that watered the garden divided into fourwhat were their names?

When God had placed man in the garden, what did he

forbid him to do?

How was he to be punished if he discbeyed?

Why was Eve created?

Who gave names to the various animals?

How was Eve formed?

What did Adam say, when God brought Eve to him ?

LESSON IV.

The Fall of Adam and Eve into Sin.

B. C. 4004.

FROM GENESIS III.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees that are in Paradise we do eat, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of Paradise, God hath commanded, Ye shall not eat of it, neither touch it, lest ye die.And the serpent said to the woman, Ye shall not die, for God doth know, that in what day soever ye shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, and she took of the fruit of it, and did eat, and gave to her husband, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened; and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig-leaves, and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon air of the day; and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said to him, Who hath told thee that thou wast naked? hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? And Adam said, The