wisdom as well as of love; and in His infinite wisdom, He has established certain laws of Divine order, which cannot be violated without producing lasting injury to the human family,—without introducing inextricable confusion and disorder, and causing distress far greater than a temporary suspension of those laws, if such a thing even were possible, would alleviate. One of these laws is that of hereditary transmission, by which qualities and states both of body and mind descend from parents to their offspring. The existence of this law is a condition, necessarily attendant upon the great relation of parent and child, by means of which the human race, once created, was to be continued. And this last provision was plainly ordained by a wise and good Providence, as a chief source of human happiness. It is the basis of all the delightful family ties, of all the closest social relations, and the very foundation of social order. Were every human being created separately from all others, and directly from the Almighty Creator as the first man was, it is plain to see that the whole fabric of social order would be changed. There would be no tender relations of father, and mother, son and daughter, brother and sister, or any other family connections. Each human beings would be an isolated creature, with no dependence upon or connection with any other; he would pursue his solitary course through the world, without guardian or friend, other than such chance connections as outward circumstances might lead him to form; and he would at length drop out of existence, as he came into it, uncared-for, unnoticed, and unknown. Would such a state of things be tolerable? Can we even conceive of its existence, or of its continuance for any
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