'_Tree of Life_' are the sublimest proofs
of the unity and continuity of tradition, and of its Eastern origin.
_The earliest records of the most ancient Oriental tradition refer to a
'Tree of Life,' which was guarded by spirits._ The juice of the fruit of
this sacred tree, like the tree itself, was called _Soma_ in Sanscrit,
and _Haoma_ in Zend; it was revered as the life preserving essence."
(Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, p. 414)

[3:1] "According to the Persian account of Paradise, _four_ great rivers
came from Mount Alborj; two are in the North, and two go towards the
South. The river Arduisir nourishes the _Tree of Immortality_, the Holy
Hom." (Stiefelhagen: quoted in Mysteries of Adoni p. 149.)

"According to the _Chinese_ myth, the waters of the Garden of Paradise
issue from the fountain of immortality, which divides itself into _four
rivers_." (Ibid., p. 150, and Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i., p. 210.) The
Hindoos call their Mount Meru the Paradise, out of which went _four_
rivers. (Anacalypsis, vol. i., p. 357.)

[3:2] According to Persian legend, Arimanes, the Evil Spirit, _by eating
a certain kind of fruit_, transformed himself into a _serpent_, and went
gliding about on the earth to tempt human beings. His Devs entered the
bodies of men and produced all manner of diseases. They entered into
their minds, and incited them to sensuality, falsehood, slander and
revenge. Into every department of the world they introduced discord and
death.

[4:1] Inasmuch as the physical construction of the serpent never could
admit of its moving in any other way, and inasmuch as it _does not eat
dust_, does not the narrator of this myth reflect unpleasantly upon the
wisdom of such a God as Jehovah is claimed to be, as well as upon the
ineffectualness of his first curse?

[5:1] "Our writer unmistakably recognizes the existence of _many gods_;
for he makes Yahweh say: 'See, the man has become as ONE OF US, knowing
good and evil;' and so he evidently implies the existence of other
similar beings, to whom he attributes immortality and insight into the
difference between good and evil. Yahweh, then, was, in his eyes, the
god of gods, indeed, but not the _only_ god." (Bible for Learners, vol.
i. p. 51.)

[5:2] In his memorial sermon, preached in Westminster Abbey, after the
funeral of Sir Charles Lyell. He further said in this address:--

"It is well known that when the science of geology first arose, it was
involved in endless sch