36 BOYS OF THE BIBLE.

When you boys get a little older, and take to the seri-
ous study of literature, you will have your attention called
to the works of John Milton, who was Secretary of State,
in the days of Oliver Cromwell, the uncrowned King of
England. Milton was a great genius, in an age crowded
with deep thinkers and delightful writers. His matchless
poem, ‘Paradise Lost,” will live as long as any language of
the world endures. In that poem the gorgeous fancy of the
poet has wrought its best to describe the beauty of Para-
dise, and has failed. This failure is not a reflection on the
genius of the poet, but a revelation of this great truth, that
God’s handiworks are above the power of mortals to describe.
There is more beauty in a vernal wood, more music in a
waterfall, than all the words men speak are adequate to
describe. When men attempt to describe the Alps of Swit-
zerland, the Falls of Niagara, or some majestic canon of our
western world, they become aware that, rich as language is,
it is very poor when it sets itself to portraying the wonder-
ful works of God, and can only sing as Milton did:

“ These are thy glorious works, Parent of Good, ~
Almighty, thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair. Thyself, how wondrous thee!
Unspeakable, who sittest above these heavens,
To us invisible or dimly seen

In these, thy lowest works; yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine.”

But the beauty of the Garden of Eden was not its chief
glory. The personal presence, the friendship and fellowship
of God, made Paradise sublime. When this was lost, Para-
dise was lost indeed! What the exact nature of that fellow-
ship we do not know. Adam and Eve seem to have had
constant, unhindered fellowship with God. Think what all
this means! The privilege of seeing God face to face, and