we do not believe these stories we shall most certainly be roasted for 

 all eternity ; and indeed the New Testament distinctly bears out this 

 fearful fiat. According to this, every man in the whole world who has 

 been unfortunate enough to hear these two accounts read, and who is 

 endowed with sufficient intelligence to discriminate between a pop-gun 

 and an elephant, will inevitably perish ; for it is impossible for any sane 

 man to believe two such contradictory statements. It is not within the 

 power of any man to do so. You might just as well demand of a man 

 that he must believe that a brick and a pan-cake are identical articles. 

 He could not do so, no matter how hard he tried. 



Compared with these fables, how ennobling, grand and sublime is the 

 theory of evolution. We behold the great and mysterious energy of 

 universe operating in a manner calculated to inspire our minds with 

 wonder, awe arid admiration. The truly marvellous development of 

 ourselves from a chaotic nebula of attenuated matter, through all the 

 varied and manifold stages of existence, with their beautiful and useful 

 properties, is indeed an overwhelmingly convincing evidence of the 

 existence of an omniscient and omnipotent, although absolutely inscru- 

 table author ; and I doubt much whether anyone ever approached this 

 subject with an honest desire to be guided by reason in his search for 

 truth, who did not experience this profound reverence for the unknown 

 author. Can we believe that these two narratives in Genesis are also 

 calculated to inspire such a sentiment in the minds of those who are 

 fairly well educated and amenable to reason ? What kind of a deity, 

 think you, is this god of Genesis ? The concluding portion of the 2nd 

 narrative will at once inform us. 



This story is well known to all of us, and is a very remarkable one, 

 for we learn from it the startling fact that the serpent, or devil, was 

 the greatest benefactor to the human race, and, moreover, truthful ; 

 while god was the greatest enemy the race ever had, and was guilty 

 of falsehood and treachery. God placed this man and woman in the 

 garden, in front of a very strong temptation, pointed out the tempta- 

 tion to them, and threatened them with instant death if they yielded 

 to it. This god is supposed to be omnicieiit, and therefore knew well 

 enough before he placed them there that the poor creatures would fall 

 on the very first temptation. Can we conceive more glaring injustice 

 and diabolical cruelty than this ? Now the serpent knew very well 



