al, or Geological
science. I do not trouble myself about such matters. To me it is a
question of no importance or concern whatever. And I have no trouble
about the interpretation of the story.

It wants no interpretation. It is as plain as the light. And I take it
in its simple, obvious, literal, natural sense. I keep to the
old-fashioned meaning--the meaning generally given to it before the
disputes about Geology and Astronomy seemed to render a new and
unnatural one necessary. The days of the story are natural days, and the
nights are natural nights. The length of each of the six days was the
same as that of the Sabbath day. The seven days made an ordinary week.
The first verse does not refer to a Creation previous to the week in
which man was made. It is a statement of the work of Creation in
general, of which the verses following give the particulars. All the
work that is spoken of was believed by the writer to have been begun and
ended in six ordinary natural days.

As to whether the story be literally or scientifically correct or not, I
do not care to inquire. I am satisfied that it is the result of divine
inspiration--that he who wrote it or spoke it was moved by the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit of truth, of love, of purity, of holiness pervades it
from beginning to end. It does justice to God; it bears benignly on
man; it favors all goodness. I see, I feel the blessed Spirit in every
line, and I want no more.

We are told that there are _two_ accounts of Creation, and that on some
points they differ from each other. For anything I know this may be the
case. But one thing is certain, they do not differ in the views they
give of God or of His objects. They both represent Him as a being not
only of almighty power and infinite wisdom, but of pure, unsullied,
boundless generosity. In truth, the only impulse to Creation that
presents itself is, the natural, spontaneous goodness of the Creator.
And on some points the manifestations of God's love and purity, of His
righteousness and holiness, are more full and striking in the second
account than in the first. God's desire for the social happiness of man
comes out more fully. Man, according to this second account, is made
previous to woman, and permitted for a time to experience the sense of
comparative loneliness. He is left to look through the orders of
inferior creatures, in search of a mate, and permitted to feel, for a
moment, the sense of disappointment. At length he