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been a creature, which crept on its belly, as does the snake; and this arises out of the phraseology of the curse, which reads,"cursed art thou above all cattle." Now, are cattle classed with snakes, or reptiles? Do snakes belong to quadrupeds? Are they so classed in the science of zoology? No, they are not: and never have been, in any age of the world, but be long to the reptile division of nature. The word Cattle, in the Hebrew, is BEHEMA, and distinguishes all those kinds of animals not belonging to fishes, reptiles, fowls, or insects:-but to beasts, which walk on the earth, with four feet. But Serpents are classed among reptiles, and consequently, could never, with propriety, have been thus alluded to, as a part of the creatures, belonging to such as the Divine Being, has in the text denounced Cattle, or Behema.

By some, however, this meaning is denied, who are determined to believe that the creature was a mere snake: and contend that the phraseology,-cursed art thou above all cattle,—meant: cursed art thou above all kinds of animals: whether of beasts, fishes, fowls, reptiles, or insects. But as the term Cattle, or Behema, is not descriptive of all kinds of animals, existing under all possible forms and circumstances, we conclude, that the creature belonged to that division of nature, called Behema, or it would have been said: cursed art thou above every creature under heaven, instead of--all cattle.

But says the querist, how is this?-could the Orang-outang, have been classed with creatures which went on four feet, when it is supposed that it went upright on two, like men? Yes, is our reply; it may so have been, on account of its arms being of great length: much longer, than those of man; and because the Divine Being, knowing his own purpose of then reducing this hitherto exalted animal, to the condition of all cattle, namely, go on four feet. But, says the querist, how is it, that this animal is cursed more than any other creature? Does it not in all respects enjoy itself, as an animal, as well as all other beings of the creation? Our answer is: no doubt it does, as it cannot know anything of its former shape, or attitude; yet in its motions,-whether upright, or on all fours-there is a strange shambling awkwardness, which characterises the creature, not accompanying the motions of any other animal of the whole creation: which marks it as having been cursed, and changed from its first erect and easy position of action. That the animal originally went upright, like a man, is shown, from the words of Moses :-"on thy belly shalt thou go;" or these words are without meaning, and the curse a solemn nothing. If it is enquired, whether the Orang-outang, or any of the Ape genus eat dust as the text reads,-"dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" it is answered, they do; inasmuch as they now are entirely indif

ferent to the circumstance of their food being in, or among the dust of the ground; but was not originally so, having in their upright position picked their food, which was the fruit of the woods, from the boughs, with their fingers, clean and pure, as produced from the bud and flowers of the trees,-unmigled with the dust of the ground. Dust, of itself, imparts no nourishment to any creature, and is never taken into the stomach of any animal, except by accident, or for some property, it often possesses, which is detected by the senses: such as salts, sacharine, &c. On this very account, we learn that the eating of dust, as the text reads, must take place, only in the act of receivering other food as it is incapable of sustaining animal life, and could never have meant that dust was to be the only food of any creature.

:

But to those who will believe a snake was the animal, we ask: does the snake, of any kind, subsist on dust? We answer, no-as flesh, living flesh is the food of all the serpent tribes, or otherwise, they eat nothing: but upon this, they feed, even to surfeiting, so as to disable them from crawling,-exceeding allbounds, except their own unconscionable stomachs.

This fact is of itself sufficient, without one additional reason to veto the idea of the creature having been a serpent, such as is commonly supposed. But, whatever this subtilist beast, or Behema of all the field, or world, was; we cannot suppose with some, who are of great account in the learned world, that it had naturally, the power of specch. The power of speech, so as to articulate words, conveying distinct ideas, supposes the presence of a rational soul, and of an intellectual mind,-which great and inestimable gift, is denied to all brute existences. It is true, however, that the animal in question, was found holding a conversation by articulate sounds, and intellectual reasoning, with the first woman: which at once proves it was inspired by some power superior to itself, which we believe to have been a bad, or evil power, and such an evil power as the Scriptures are commonly understood to assign to the nature of the devil,-whose character, and being, we shall in due time and order examine. If we admit the animal had naturally, the ability of reasoning, and gift of speech; we at once plunge into a number of strange absurdities, no less amusing than foolish. The first absurdity, is: we are presented with an instance of a mere brute, having a reasonable soul, or it could not have been capable of articulate speech,— and consequently of rational thought, and powers of argumentation. A second absurdity, is: we are presented with a dumb beast, which knew far more of the Law of God, and of the con sequences of breaking it, than even the man and woman-as perfect as they were; of whom it is said in Scripture, that he was created, head and superior, of all the works of God, belong

ing to the earth; but this animal knew more, on the abstruse points of moral law, than both of them together. A third absurdity follows on this supposition, which is this: the animal, and consequently its whole race, were very likely to have become the teachers and monitors, of the human family, as we see they had, in the instance of this leading animal, already commenced a course of instruction, even on theology, when as yet, the two first of the human race, were in a state of sinless perfection. But if we believe some evil being, such as the Scriptures make Satan to be, entered into the organs of the animal's brain, and influenced it for the time being, causing it to utter words, accompanied with accurate reasoning powers, then we avoid the foregoing difficulties and absurdities.

But Universalists however, deny that there was any animal in the case, interpreting the whole affair, as descriptive of what they call the lusts of Eve, even before she had sinned. But as we shall have much to say on this subject, before we finish the work, we desist for the present, and bring forward in our next chapter, an account of serpents, and the arguments in favor of one of the species, having been the instrument of Satan in deceiving Eve, according to the popular opinion-instead of an Orangoutang.

Arguments and Ancient Tradition which go to prove, in the estimation of many, that a Snake was the Animal of the Text of Moses, made use of as an Instrument by Satan to deceive the First Woman, preluded by the opinion of Milton on that subject, as expressed in his Paradise Lost.

But notwithstanding the foregoing remarks, respecting the identity of the animal called in the book of Genesis, the subtilist beast of all the field, we shall in this chapter, introduce to the reader's notice, other opinions, respecting that matter. The popular, though in all probability, erroneous belief, that a snake was the instrument, by which Satan ruined our common parents, has obtained in all ages, and has spread abroad on the wide wings of tradition, and flown to the ends of the world: as all nations have in some shape, accounts of the seduction of the first woman, by a serpent, which tradition has obtained, even among the aboriginal Indians of both South and North America. Humboldt, in his researches in Mexico, found in their parchment books, the story of that occurrence, recorded by a picture painting, which exhibits a serpent, standing on the extreme point, or

end of its tail, in the act of conversing with a woman, by vibrating its forked tongue.

Upon the supposition of the animal having been a snake, Milton, the prince of poets, has beautifully told the story, in blank verse, in his Paradise Lost, which we will here briefly repeat in prose. From this writer's views, it appears, that after the fall of the angels,-who kept not their first estate, and had seconded the rebellion of Lucifer, and had been cast down from heaven to hell, with their great chief: that he made his escape from this prison, which is situated somewhere in space, far beyond the bounds of the rest of creation, and found his way to the Sun, where he seems to have halted awhile in his flight, for the purpose of observation. From so conspicuous a place, he viewed the several planets, or worlds, which roll in their orbits around the sun. And now remembering an ancient prophecy once rumored among the angels of heaven, before his fall, that a certain world was to be created, which should be inhabited by a race of beings, extremely singular, who were to be endowed with corporeal bodies, of a peculiar shape, and with minds, but little inferior to themselves, and were to be beloved by the Creator, in a very tender degree. But which of the worlds, then in view, was the one, he could not make out: or whether it belonged to the family of the sun, on which he then stood, as there were others in sight, rolling through the vast ocean of space. But from this dilemma of uncertainty, respecting the exact globe which contained the singular race called man, he was relieved by the sudden appearance of a youthful angel, who came flying on the easy pinions of excursive discovery, among the works of God. Of this youthful angel, Satan was resolved to enquire: but first, in a twinkling of light, before he should be discovered by the journeying seraph, he changed his shape and habiliments, from those of a thunder-scarred, and hell-burnt fugitive, with shorn and sooty wings, to those of a stripling angel, clothed with the bright and happy rays of heaven. (See the Plate.)

This done, Satan by a flutter of his wings, attracted the ear of the heavenly traveller, who in a moment, from celestial courtsey, Jet fall his gorgeous wings-which from his shoulders to his feet, clad him round with a starry brightness, and bowed him low, as heavenly spirits are wont to do, when they meet. But Satan, not a whit behind in good manners, being thus compelled by his own duplicity, also bowed in return. Compliments being ended, Satan, with submissive voice, as became his seeming youth, enquired which of all the worlds in sight, was the abode of man, as much he said, he wished to see and to admire this late display of creative power and wisdom. The angel which he here fell in with, was according to Milton, Uriel, one of the seven swift winged ministers of the throne of God, who were ever ready