pens therein, the eyes of all are fixed upon the heavens. "Nobody looks at the sun, but when he is obscured; nobody observes the moon, but when she is eclipsed; then nature seems to be in danger; then vain supersti tion is alarmed, and every one is afraid for himself," "But surely," says St. Bernard, concerning the sun and moon, "these are great miracles, very great, to be sure; but the first production or creation of all things is a vast miracle, and makes it easy to believe all the rest; so that after it nothing ought to excite our wonder."

LECTURE XII.

Of the Creation of Man,

THIS great theatre being built, besides those spectators who had been but lately placed in the higher seats, it pleased the supreme Creator and Lord to have another company below, as it were, in the area: these he called forth into being by creation, and man was introduced into this area, "to be a spectator of him and of his works, yet not a spectator only, but also to be the interpreter of them." Nor yet was man placed therein merely to be a spectator and an interpreter; but also, in a great measure, to be possessor and lord thereof, or, as it were, the Creator's substitute, in a spacious and convenient house, ready-built, and stored with all sorts of useful furniture.

Now that man himself is a grand and noble piece of workmanship, appears even from this circumstance, that the most wise Operator, when he was going to create him, thought fit to preface his design with these words, Let us make man; so that he was created, not merely by a word of command, like the rest of the creatures, but "by a consultation of the blessed Trinity,"

And indeed man is a wonderful composition, the conjunction of heaven and earth-" the breath of God, and the dust of the ground" the bond of union between the visible and the invisible world—and truly a “world in mini

ature, a kind of mixed world, nearly related to the other two." Nor is he only a lively epitome and representation of the greater world, but also dignified with the image of his great Creator. He made the heavens

and the earth, the sea and the stars, and then all sorts of living creatures; but, in the words of the poet, “A more divine creature, and more capable of elevated sentiments, was yet wanting, and one that could rule over the rest; therefore man was born."

The rest of the creatures, according to the observation of the schoolmen, which is not amiss, had the impression of the divine foot stamped upon them, but not the image of the Deity. These he created, and reviewing them, found them to be good, yet he did not rest in them; but, upon the creation of man, the sabbath immediately followed. He made man, and then rested, having a creature capable of knowing that he was his Creator, one that could worship him and celebrate his sabbath, whose sins, if he should commit any, he might forgive; and send, clothed with human nature, his only begotten Son in whom he is absolutely well pleased, and over whom as the person who fulfilled his good pleasure he rejoices for ever, to redeem his favorite creature. By the production of man, the supreme Creator exhibited himself in the most admirable light, and, at the same time, had a creature capable of admiring and loving him; and, as St. Ambrose observes, "one that was under obligation to love his Creator the more ardently, the more wonderfully he perceived himself to be made," "And man,” says the same author, "was made a twofooted animal, that he might be, as it were, one of the inhabitants of the air, that he might aspire at high things, and fly with the wings of sublime thoughts."

And indeed the structure of man is an instance of wonderful art and ingenuity, whether you consider the symmetry of his whole fabric taken together, or all his parts and members separately. Gregory Nyssen speaks very much to the purpose, when he says, "The frame of man is awful and hard to be explained, and contains in it a lively representation of many of the hidden mysteries. of God." How wonderful is even the structure of his

body! which, after all, is but the earthen case of his soul. Accordingly, it is in the Chaldaic language called "Nidne," which signifies a sheath. How far does the workmanship exceed the materials! And how justly may we say, "What a glorious creature out of the meanest elements !" The psalmist's mind seems to have dwelt upon this meditation, till he was quite lost in it; How fearfully, says he, and wonderfully am I made! And that celebrated physician who studied nature with such unwearied application, in his book upon the structure of the human body, in which, after all, there is nothing divine, often expresses his admiration in these words, "Who is worthy to praise the wisdom and power of the Creator ?" and many other such exclamations. The Christian writers, however, are most full upon this subject, particularly St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, and others, who carry their observations so far as the nails and the hair, especially that on the eye-lids. And Nyssen, on the words, Let us make man, has the following observation; Man is a grand and noble creature ?-How can man be said to be any great matter, seeing he is a mortal creature, subject to a great many passions; from the time of his birth to that of his old age, exposed to a vast many evils and distresses; and of whom it is writ ten, Lord, what is man, that thou shouldest be mindful of him? The history we have of the production of man delivered me from this difficulty; for we are told, that God took some of the dust of the earth, and out of it formed man; from these words I understood, that man was at once nothing, and yet something very grand." He intended to say, that the materials out of which man was made were low, and as it were, nothing; but, if you consider the wonderful workmanship, how great was the honor conferred upon him! "The earth did not spontaneously produce man, as it did grasshoppers. God did not commit the production of this or that particular creature to his ministering powers; no, the gracious Creator took the earth in his own hand." But besides the noble frame of his body, though it was made of the dust of the earth, the divine breath, and, by means of it, the infusion of a precious soul, mixes beaven and

earth together; not indeed in the common acceptation of that term, as if things so vastly different, were promiscuously jumbled together, and the order of nature subverted, but only implying, that the two parts of the human constitution are compounded with inexpressible art, and joined in a close union. As to the misery of the human race, and the contemptible light in which the life of man appears, it is to be ascribed to another source, very different from the earthly materials out of which his body was made. That he was created happy, beautiful, and honorable, he owed to his great and good Creator; but he himself is the author of his own misery. And hence it is, that though, with regard to his original and pure nature, we ought, for the strongest reasons, to speak more honorably of him than of any other part of the visible world, yet, if we view him in his present circumstances, no part of the creation deserves to be lamented in more mournful strains.

But what words can express, what thought can comprehend, the dignity and powers of that heavenly soul that inhabits this earthly body, and the divine image that is stamped upon it? The philosophers of all ages and nations have been inquiring into the nature of it, and have not yet found it out.

A great many have also amused themselves with whim sical conjectures and fancies, and have endeavoured to discover, by very different methods, a figure of the blessed Trinity in the faculties of the soul. Nor was Me thodius satisfied with finding a representation of this mystery in the soul of every particular man, but also imagined he had discovered it in the three first persons of the human race, Adam, Eve, and their first born son; because in them he found unbegotten, begotten, and proceeding, as also unity of nature, and the origination of all mankind. But, not to insist upon these, it is certain, the rational, or intellectual, and immortal soul; so long as it retained its original purity, was adorned with the lively and refulgent image of the Father of Spirits, its eternal Creator; but afterwards, when it became polluted and stained with sin, this image, though not immediately quite ruined, was, however, miserably

obscured and defaced. It is true, the beautiful and erect frame of the human body, which gives it an advantage over all other creatures, and some other external graces that man possesses, may possibly be some reflected rays of the divine excellence; but I should hardly call them the image of God. As St. Ambrose well observes, "How can flesh, which is but earth, be said to be made after the image of God, in whom there is no earth at all? And shall we be said to be like God, because we are of a higher rank than sheep and does?"

The dominion over the rest of the creatures, which man enjoys, is a kind of faint shadow of the absolute and unlimited sway of the supreme Majesty of heaven and earth. I dare not however venture to say, it is that image of which we are speaking; but, as those who draw the picture of a king, after laying down the lineaments of the face and body, use to add the purple robe and other ensigns of royalty, this dominion may certainly supply the place of these, with regard to this image of God on man. But the lively colors in which the image itself is drawn, are, says Nyssen, "purity, absence of evil, understanding, and speech." For even the eternal Son and the Wisdom of the Father seems to be intended by the philosophers under the term of the Creating Mind; and by the divine apostle John, he is called the Word. To these we have very good ground to add charity, as nothing can be named that renders man more like to God; for "God is love, and the fountain of it." It is true, charity is a valuable disposition of the mind, but it also discovers itself in the frame of the human body; for man was made quite defenceless, having neither horns, claws, nor sting, but is naked and harmless, and, as it were, entirely formed for meekness, peace, and charity.

The same author, speaking of the image of God on man, expresses himself as follows; "Wherefore, that you may be like God, exercise liberality and beneficence, study to be innocent, avoid every crime, subdue all the motions of sin, conquer all the beasts that are within you. What, you will say, have I beasts within me? Yes, you have beasts, and a vast number of them. And that you may not think I intend to insult you, is an