The Realms of Mystery 271 



conflict over the authorship of the Pentateuch, and 

 the dates of its various parts. In these questions 

 I take little interest, and with them, in this writing, 

 have nothing to do. My purpose is to take the 

 writing as I find it, "asking no questions for con- 

 science' sake," and impartially study it for the 

 intent and meaning of its author. To put it on its 

 lowest ground, a decent respect for an author re- 

 quires that he shall be read for what he says and 

 means, and not, in the interest of any philosophy, 

 dogma, sect, or other motive, be subjected to con- 

 structions and glosses that were foreign to his mind. 

 It has been otherwise inexplicable to me, that of the 

 thousands of volumes, and I may say millions of 

 sermons, that have traversed the story of Adam, 

 not one, so far as I am aware, has perceived the 

 thought most obvious on the page of Moses; nor 

 has seen the picture of Adam in Eden which he 

 drew in lines simple, striking, and beautiful, and 

 full, nevertheless, of the profoundest thought con- 

 cerning man. 



It is not questioned that the materials employed 

 by Moses are very ancient; that dealing with the 

 beginnings, he went back to the beginnings as they 

 were. He even seems to have, of design, left the 

 marks of great antiquity on his page, in order that 

 the thoughtful scholar might be assured. Why else 

 should the brief song of Lamech be left lying on 

 the surface of his narrative, though foreign to it, 

 like a granite bowlder on a green meadow, dropped 



