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but was not ashamed; for only the consciousness of a higher being, or higher standard, can make us ashamed, or conscience-stricken. But with advancing knowledge he came to see himself in the light of a fragmentary intelligence—a portion of a perfect soul; and awed by the thought of that perfection of which he had so little — hearing the voice, and feeling the presence of God in all the world of beauty, he was ashamed and afraid. This sense of nakedness is the first result of his knowledge of good and evil—the infinite and the finite. "Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten," &c.—Who waked thee from the soul conscious to the soul self-conscious? Thou hast obtained the forbidden knowledge.

The fault we find with all these fables is, that there is no clear assurance whether the evils which came of this advancement to knowledge as of the gods were in truth a punishment or an alleviation. The dullest eye must see that knowledge as of the gods, even though forbidden knowledge, must afford man some compensation, and do him some good. Therefore in the fable, God no where curses man; but rather, "cursed is the ground for thy sake." Yet there is no reason given for this cursing of the ground, except God's will. So in the fable of Prometheus, hope is still left in the parcel of our evils; but the rationale of that hope is left for the reader to prescribe.—Death was assured of the Lord God as the result of this forbidden knowledge. Many have doubted whether death was not welcome to an old man; and we cannot judge whether this was meant