certain sign that the sacrifice was accepted, and, if not, that it was refused. Hence, men in these times could not act hypocritically before God; but wicked men, when they saw themselves refused, if they continued impenitent departed from the "presence of God" in Eden, and paid no more homage to the Almighty, which was another great cause, along with the intermarrying with the fair and beautiful but accursed and blood-stained daughters of Cain's race, of that great wickedness and licentiousness which provoked God to destroy the old world. We have not even a hint that idolatry prevailed among the Antediluvians; and indeed the first idolatry which was practised after the Flood was a corrupt imitation of the Antediluvian worship, the inventor of which was doubtless Nimrod. Thus, groves, in imitation of Eden, were the first temples, and Teraphim the first idols, the idea of which was taken from the cherubim who guarded that holy garden planted by God, typical of his church sacred on earth, and for ever glorified in heaven.

The inspired historian gives us only a few brief notices respecting the seat of primeval happiness, and a more particular description after the Fall of man could have been attended with no advantage. "The Lord God," he says, "planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed." The munificence of the Creator stored this garden with every plant, and flower, and tree, pleasant to the eye, or useful to the sustenance of its innocent tenants. "A river went out of Eden to water the garden," the refreshing streams of which invigorated every part of the sacred domain, diffused throughout it a perpetual verdure, and imparted to every tree, and shrub, and plant, unfading loveliness, vigour, and fertility. An idea may be formed of the beauty of this extraordinary region from the glowing language of some of the New Testament writers. Our Saviour on the cross cheered the last moments of the penitent thief, his companion in suffering, by a brief assurance which conveyed to the unhappy criminal the surest

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comfort and consolation, "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise," Luke xxiii. 43, though he used the word in that sense in which the Jews understood it-the place of happiness into which departed souls, when separated from the body, are immediately received. The "angel" of the church of Ephesus is exhorted to " pent, and do his first works," with this declaration, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God," Rev. ii. 7; namely, he who overcomes and conquers sin shall be restored to the happiness from which our first parents fell, and be again admitted to eat of the tree of life. The close of the Book of Revelation contains a number of allusive passages in the magnificent description of the Millennium. The redeemed are to dwell on the banks of a pure and majestic "river of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb,” and they are to drink its refreshing streams; they shall repose under the shade of the tree of life, the "leaves of which are for the healing of the nations," and they shall feast on its rich and various fruits; "and there shall be no more curse," nothing which looks like the curse upon the first Paradise; no flaming cherubim shall obstruct the way of the returning sinner, nor shall any serpent poison by its sting or charm by its deceitfulness. Here shall be realized the fine observation of Dr Young, "What is requisite to make a wise and happy man, but reflection and peace? Both are the natural growth of a garden. A garden to the virtuous is a paradise still extant-a paradise unlost."

The garden which "the Lord God planted" was "eastward in Eden." It lay on the banks of a large river which "went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads." It thus appears that only one stream watered the holy inclosure, which afterwards divided into four branches at each end of the neck of land of the peninsula round which it swept. The four streams are called Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Perath, by the

sacred historian; Euphrates in our version, but Perath or Prath in the Hebrew. It is necessary, therefore, in order to ascertain the true situation of Eden, to inquire into the course of those four celebrated streams, which can be the more easily done as one of them still retains its ancient name, and was so well known in the time of Moses that he gives no description of it, which he does of the others. We are to suppose that the courses of those rivers, or branches of one river, were not materially altered by the Deluge. That mighty event would unquestionably make a great impression on the appearance of the globe, but it would not completely change the aspect of nature. It might certainly dissolve and level some hills, swallow up the minor streams, or give them a different direction, leave immense lakes in valleys and plains, cover some extensive tracts of country with the waters of the ocean, and elevate parts of its bed into dry land. The Deluge, in short, must have made some changes in the beds of ancient rivers, and inferior agencies alone have been sufficient greatly to alter the ancient channels of the Tigris and Euphrates. This is said to be not only obvious by an inspection of the face of the country, but the memory of such events is preserved by local traditions, and even specified in the writings of Arabian geographers and historians. All this it is natural to expect would have been done, but the more solid parts of the world must have remained unaffected by the catastrophe. It was not with the earth that Jehovah was angry; He had already pronounced that magnificent workmanship of his hands "very good;" but it was against ungrateful and rebellious man that his wrath was kindled, who had defiled and polluted it. There is no necessity for supposing, as some have done, that the waters of the Deluge, in the space of one hundred and fifty days, could melt the almost adamantine mountains of Armenia, or give the vast masses of the mountains of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, different positions on the surface of the globe.

When the waters of the Deluge retired, the torrents which before the dreadful visitation poured from the mountain sides would generally resume their wonted channels, which was certainly the case with the Euphrates, a river subsequently mentioned by the inspired historian, but never as a new stream, or as one which had changed its course.

It has been assumed by several writers, that in whatever situation, otherwise probable, the marks by which Moses characterises the Garden of Eden are to be found, we may conclude that we have discovered its probable locality. The fact that two of the four rivers of Eden, the Euphrates and Hiddekel, otherwise the Tigris, are specially mentioned as a united stream dividing into two branches above the Garden, and into two more below it, is of the greatest importance, and therefore the most exact inquirers have not sought for the spot at any point distant from those rivers. From the description of those rivers, as Dr Hales observes, given by the ancient and modern historians and geographers, it is satisfactorily inferred by Major Rennell, that previous to the time of Alexander the Great they kept distinct courses to the sea, although at no distant period afterwards they became united, and entered the sea in a collected form. The Cyrus and the Araxes also had anciently distinct courses, but this does not invalidate a primeval junction of the Euphrates and the Tigris even before the Deluge. Some have therefore looked for the site of the Holy Garden near the source of those rivers, and others in the low and flat plains through which they flow in the lower parts of their course. Hence, the first supposition places Eden in Armenia, near the sources of the Euphrates, Tigris (Hiddekel), Phasis (Pison), and the Araxes (Gihon). The similarity of sound between Phasis and Pison is considered to strengthen this opinion, although Chardin positively informs us that the Phasis or Phazzo, as was formerly noticed, does not rise in Armenia, but in the mountains of Caucasus. The similarity of meaning

between the Hebrew name Gihon and the Greek Araxes, both denoting swiftness or impetuosity, has also confirmed this supposition; and one consideration which induces a preference to this site is, that those who maintain it consider heads, as applied to the rivers which went forth from the Sacred Garden, to mean sources, which could only apply to a mountainous or hilly country, where the water necessary to form the four sources of the rivers could be produced. But those who allege that the Sacred Garden was situated at the other extremity of the two known rivers, consider it sufficient to reckon the four heads not as sources but as channels, which is more in accordance with the statement of the inspired historian, namely, that the Euphrates and Tigris united before they entered the Garden, and after leaving it divided again, and emptied themselves into the Persian Gulf by two mouths, thus forming four channels, two above and two below, called by different names. "The river or channel," says Dr Wells, "must be looked upon as an high way crossing over a forest, and which may be said to divide itself into four ways, whether the division be made above or below the forest." Satisfied with this view, several writers are inclined to take the Shat-ul-Arab (the single stream which is formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, and which afterwards divides to enter the Gulf) as the river which then went through or swept round the Garden; but on account of the evidence of Major Rennell, already cited, that those two rivers kept distinct courses to the sea until the time of Alexander the Great, although at no great distant period afterwards they became united, some writers have inferred that such a junction and subsequent diverging existed in the place indicated either before the Deluge or in the time of Moses. Thus we have the only two conjectures regarding the probable situation of the Sacred Garden which are entitled to attention; the one fixing it in Armenia, between the sources of the Euphrates, Tigris, Phasis, and Araxes; and the other locating it in

some part of the territory between Bagdad and Bussorah, where an ancient junction and subsequent séparation of the Euphrates and Tigris took place. We have already mentioned, in the account of Damascus, that the credulous inhabitants believe that city to be situated on the site of the Garden; the probable origin of this tradition is stated in the next article.

Of three of the rivers, or channels of one united river, the inspired historian gives us a brief notice; of the fourth, the Euphrates, or Perath, he merely mentions the name, as it was well known in his time. "The name of the first," he says, "is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole Land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone." This river is mentioned first, because it was the branch nearest to Arabia Petræa, where Moses wrote; and, on the hypothesis respecting the Sacred Garden that it was situated between Bagdad and Bussorah, would be the western of the two channels into which the Euphrates and Tigris were divided. The theory which connects it with the Phasis in Armenia has been already mentioned. Dr Faber believes it to be the Absarus of Pliny, or Batoum of modern times, which flows from its source in Armenia into the Black Sea, but Dr Hales thinks the Araxes has a superior claim. Pison, the sacred historian informs us, passeth the whole Land of Havilah." In order to discover this Land of Havilah, we find it mentioned in other two parts of the Sacred Scriptures. Moses tells us that the posterity of Ishmael "dwelt from Havilah to Shur, that is before Egypt," Gen. xxv. 18; and it is recorded that "Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah, until thou comest to Shur, that is before Egypt," 1 Sam. xv. 7. Now, Arabia was the country allotted to Ishmael and his posterity, where they have dwelt from the remotest ages in "the presence of all their brethren," and therefore, although Faber and others, who place Eden in Armenia, identify

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Havilah with Colchis, which was famous in ancient times for its gold, to which Dr Hales adds Georgia, yet it must be situated near and at the head of the Persian Gulf, and is the eastern tract of Arabia Felix; for "Shur which is before Egypt" is the western extremity at the end of the Red Sea, which Moses himself indicates when he tells us that he "brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Wilderness of Shur." Shur is thus opposed by the inspired writer to Havilah, and consequently the latter is the eastern extremity of Arabia bordering on the Persian Gulf, which was washed by the winding branch called the Pison on one side. As to the productions of Havilah mentioned by Moses, although no gold is now found in Arabia, it certainly possessed it in ancient times. The Prophet Ezekiel (xxvii. 22) mentions the fact, and Diodorus Siculus affirms that the Arabian native gold was of so lively a colour that it greatly resembled the brightness of fire, and that it required neither purifying nor refining. The bdellium or belodach is understood differently by various writers. Some have supposed that it signifies pearls, and others that it is a kind of gum resin, of great repute for its medical virtues, but from what tree originally gathered is hitherto a subject of conjecture. Both of these are found in the Land of Havilah, which farther proves that it is eastern Arabia Felix on the Persian Gulf, of which the pearl is one of its distinguished productions; but the decision in this instance as to what the bdellium actually was is of little importance, because Moses in all probability meant the pearl, as it is expressed in the Arabic versions. It also produced the eben-hash-shcoham, or the onyx-stone, which Pliny assures us was no where found but in Arabia. It has a whiteish ground, variegated with bands of white and brown, which run parallel to each other, and is a semi-pellucid stone of a fine flinty texture, taking a beautiful polish, and is strictly of the flint or siliceous class. The resemblance which its ground colour has to the lunated spot at

the base of the humau nail, caused it to be designated xo, from rug, the nail. The belodach, or bdellium, is translated auga, a carbuncle, or the choicest kind of garnet; and for onyx stone, aídos ó govs, or prasium, a stone akin to the emerald, but inferior in hardness, lustre, and transparency. There can be little doubt, therefore, that the Pison was the western channel of the Euphrates; and on inspecting the maps both of ancient and modern geographers, we discover a stream washing in its course one side of the eastern extremity of Arabia, which contained the Land of Havilah, and also communicating with three other rivers by one common channel. The etymology of Pison, from pusch, to be full or increase, or from pochsa, to spread itself, is in unison with the situation allotted to it; and it is well ascertained that the tides in this part of the Persian Gulf are so high and violent, that no trenches furnish a sufficient defence against their irruption into the neighbouring channels, which are soft and low.

"The name of the second river," says Moses, "is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole Land of Ethiopia." The latter country is not the country in Afric beyond Egypt so called. In the Hebrew, and in the margin of our translation Ethiopia is rendered Cush, and is understood to apply to the country lying to the east of the channel of the Euphrates, supposed to be the Gihon of Moses. The statement which makes Pison the western makes Gihon the eastern channel by which the redivided Euphrates entered the Persian Gulf, although no trace can now be discovered in the country indicating either this name or that of Pison. to be observed, however, that the Arabs at the present time frequently designate a river by different names in various parts of its course. The Tigris has three names before it joins the Euphrates; and if two rivers joined and afterwards separated, the channels certainly would and do receive names different from the original streams. Some writers find Gihon in the Araxes, and many in the ancient

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Gyndes, which, entering the Tigris through Susiana, corresponds well with the hypothesis which places Eden in Irak Arabia, the name of one of the two divisions of the province called Irak (the other being Irak Ajem), a most extensive region, one of the most interesting portions of the globe, and which was also one of the most fruitful. Here, therefore, not on the borders of Ethiopia and Egypt, but near the country of Havilah, we find a district watered by the eastern branch of the Euphrates, which has received the name of Cush from the remotest antiquity, which the Greeks and Latins designated Susiana, and which is now termed Chusistan or Khusistan, or "the Land of Chus or Khus," evidently indicating its original appellation. It was an ancient province of the Babylonian Empire, extending to the Persian Gulf east from the mouth of the Euphrates, and is the same with Elymais, or the great province of Elam or Irac. It is the Cuthah of the Scriptures, which is the Chaldee form of Cutha or Cush, from which Shalmaneser transported a colony to repeople the desolated country of the Ten Tribes of Israel whom he had carried into captivity.

"The name of the third river is Hiddekel." It has never been disputed that this river is the Tigris, which is so rendered in the Septuagint, and is the same original word in a different form. Depriving Hiddekel of the prefixed aspiration Hid, the remainder Dekel has considerable analogy with Dijel, or Dijlah, by which the Tigris is locally distinguished. "That is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria." This is inaccurately translated in our version. In the marginal reading it is eastward to Assyria; and it should be simply rendered towards or before Assyria, for it has that signification as well as the other, and better expresses the course of the river, which does not run towards the east of the province anciently called Assyria, but before it, as it respects the place where Moses wrote. It has accordingly been rendered in the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac versions,

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over against or along the side of Assyria, in which they have been followed by the most distinguished Hebrew scholars of modern times. The boundaries of Assyria varied with the extent of the Assyrian Empire, but the geographical limits of Assyria Proper, which formed the nucleus of that Empire, nearly corresponded with those of the present Kurdistan, being bounded by Armenia on the north, Babylonia and Susiana (Chusistan) on the south, Media on the east, and the Tigris on the west. The term Assyria, therefore, in the time of Moses was not the designation of the Assyrian Empire, which latterly consisted of many extensive provinces, but of the single province of which Nineveh was the capital.

"The fourth river is Euphrates." This noble river, the original name of which is Phrath or Phrat, and by which it is still locally distinguished, was familiarly known to the Eastern nations in the time of Moses, and was termed Euphrates by the Greeks to adjust it to their own language. This river unites with the Tigris into one channel, and, after flowing together for a considerable distance, they again separate into two, the one, which is probably the Pison, taking a westerly, and the other, the Gihon, an easterly direction. The Holy Garden thus lay on the single channel common to the four rivers, "and from thence," namely, out of Eden, "it was parted and became four heads," or principal channels, excluding, as unworthy of particular notice, other inferior streams which might branch off in their progress towards the ocean. It was situated on one of the turnings of the river, and probably at the westerly end of the lowest great turning noticed by Ptolemy.

It is probable that the country received its designation of Eden from its external appearance and exuberant fertility, the name signifying pleasure and delight, a name which has become proverbial as expressing the same appearance and feeling, and often applied in successive ages to beautiful places and districts in various parts of the world. We now turn to the

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