The Author of our being, when he formed the first pair of human beings, left them not to the mere instincts of nature, as he did in the case of the inferior animals; but for them he especially instituted the contract of marriage; so that marriage is a divine appointment. At the Almighty’s command the waters brought forth in abundance; myriads of fishes swam in the sea; innumerable birds of every description winged their way in the firmament; animals of all kinds, from the gigantic elephant to the smallest creature imaginable, wandered up and down on the earth, and every kind of creeping thing; the largest of the feathered tribe built nests on the inaccessible cliffs; the lion and the tiger, with other ferocious beasts, prowled the forests; cattle and sheep and the mild animals cropped the herbage; the dove chose her mate; the nightingale warbled her song; the small insects, to which the leaf was a world, and the minute animalcule, whose universe was a water-drop—all were formed by the Almighty—and He commanded that they were to “Be fruitful, and multiply, in the earth.” It was different, however, with regard to the human family. As the members of that family were formed with an elaboration not displayed in other departments of creation, as their structure was different from that of any other creature, as man was formed from the dust of the earth, and God breathed into him the breath of life, as the woman was made from a portion of the man—bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh,—consequently there was a difference in the way in which they were directed to fulfil the great purpose of their creation, namely, to replenish the earth. The Almighty declared that it was not good for man to be alone, therefore woman was formed for an helpmeet for him. Throughout the teeming earth, the blue expanse, and the deep water, there was not a creature but what had found a mate; our first parent stood alone, without the society of one bearing his nature—isolated from the company of one with whom he could hold converse, and who could share in the enjoyments of the happy sphere in which he was at first placed. The Great Creator made woman, brought them together, and instituted marriage. Equal power and dominion over the inferior creatures was given to the woman, as that exercised by the man; and it was not until the disobedience and sin of our first parents, that the original order of things was changed, and that anything was heard of the subjection of Eve to Adam. The institution of Marriage was a wise and judicious arrangement, and peculiarly adapted to the position of the human race. It was of the greatest consequence to man that he should have a companion, a friend, a wife; and for this purpose it was ordained that a man should leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his own wife, and they twain should be one flesh.