Sir militant tTemple 89 



ployment and a possession, for which no man 

 is too high nor too low. 



If we believe the Scripture, we must allow 

 that God Almighty esteemed the life of a man 

 in a garden the happiest he could give him, or 

 else he would not have placed Adam in that of 

 Eden ; that it was the state of innocence and 

 pleasure ; and that the life of husbandry and 

 cities came after the fall, with guilt and with 

 labor. 



Where paradise was, has been much debated, 

 and little agreed ; but what sort of place is 

 meant by it may perhaps easier be conjectured. 

 It seems to have been a Persian word, since 

 Xenophon and other Greek authors mention 

 it, as what was much in use and delight among 

 the kings of those Eastern countries. Strabo, 

 describing Jericho, says : " Ibiestpalmetum, cui 

 immixtae sunt etiam alice stirpes hortenses, 

 locus ferax , palmis abundans, spatio stadiorum 

 centum, totus irriguus, ibi est regi et balsami 

 paradisus" He mentions another place to be 

 " prope libanum etparadisum. ' ' And Alexander 

 is written to have seen Cyrus' tomb in para- 

 dise, being a tower not very great, and covered 

 with a shade of trees about it. So that a para- 

 dise among them seems to have been a large 

 space of ground, adorned and beautified with 



