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the pride of life:" all these were evidently indulged by the woman; she looked upon the tree; its fruit was beautiful; she wished to have it as her own; for what purpose? That she might gratify her appetite; and, above all, that she and her partner might be elevated in their circumstances,-that they might "be as gods." All the evil that is in the world springs from the lusts which John has mentioned, and this one transgression of our first parents, of which many think so lightly, was the opening of the fountain of corruption, which has deluged the world with crime, misery, disease, and death.

CONVERSATION III.

ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FIRST TRANSGRESSION.

F. Reflecting men among the heathen, in beholding the evils that are in the world, have been totally at a loss to account for them. They have acknowledged that this world has been created by a beneficent, as well as a powerful Being; they have admitted that mankind are the most perfect and the most privileged among all the creatures in

this world, but they have acknowledged that there are none among all the creatures so depraved, so vicious, and so perverse as they are, and that there are none so unhappy and wretched. They were subjected to pain, disease, sickness, and to death, in every form. But they could not say what was the cause of all these dismal effects; some had an idea that mankind are not what they once were; they talked of a golden age, in which men were once innocent and happy; of an iron age, in which they became corrupt and wretched; various reasons were assigned for the change, but these were fabulous and unsatisfactory.

E. It is solely to the Scriptures that we are indebted for information respecting the state of mankind in this world, is it not?

F. Yes, they give a simple and satisfactory account of the cause of all the evils that afflict the human race, "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death hath passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned." When God first blessed man,

the blessing included his posterity as well as himself; the enjoyment of the blessing was conditional upon his obedience; when he sinned he became not only a guilty creature, liable to the punishment of death, but a corrupt creature, under the influence of base propensities and evil passions.

H. But, father, our first parents did not die when they ate of the fruit.

F. If all that is meant by death was the separation of the soul from the body, they did not immediately die; but sin and death are intimately connected, though not always immediate. The first transgressors had enough immediately to convince them that they would suffer the full extent of the threatening which God denounced. "The tempter had flattered them with the hope that the consequences of their eating the fruit would be immediate. They were so, but how differently from his description! He had said their eyes should be opened. To mark their disappointment, the narrative emphatically says, the eyes of them both were opened." Were they now as gods knowing good and evil? An accession. of knowledge is indeed mentioned, but it is equally limited and humbling. They knew that they were naked. This consciousness was a deplorable contrast to the innocent and happy ignorance which belonged to their former state. No longer had they confidence in their own minds; the condition even of their bodies made them uneasy. Instead of being exalted, as they had fondly hoped, they probably felt a degradation in their feelings; and this was perhaps the first intimation of the sinfulness and folly of what they had done. In these circumstances they had recourse to an expedient which served only to

announce their guilt, and to display their help. less situation, "they plaited fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons or gir dles."*

M. I have often thought that there is such a strange weakness of mind attendant upon guilt, that even a child might detect it.

F. This does not prevent the guilty from endeavouring to prevent discovery; but their wretched expedients only discover their ig norance. When the voice of the Lord God was heard in the garden, the transgressors hid themselves among the trees of the garden. They could not hide themselves and their nakedness from their own eyes, how then could they hide themselves from the omniscient God?

H. Where did the malignant serpent hide himself?

F. Nothing is said respecting him; he might be glorying in secret over the mischief he had done; but "the triumphing of the wicked is short." He was detained in the garden either in expectation of seeing the God whom he hated, consigning them to equal misery with himself, or he was detained by his judge to hear his own doom. He might imagine that no greater punishment could be inflicted on him than what he already endured; in this he was mistaken; his judge is

* Ewing's Essays to the Jews.

infinite, and an increase of wickedness was followed by an increase of punishment. In the trial of the dupes of his villany, which is recorded in the third of Genesis, we find no acknowledgment of guilt. The man said, the “woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me and I did eat." Here was no repentance for their crime; no humbling of themselves before God, and asking his forgiveness. Sin is of a hardening nature, and it is manifest in the man shifting the blame from himself upon the woman, whom God gave to be with him; there is even here an insinuation that God himself was to blame. In this we see exemplified the truth of that declaration: "The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord." The woman blamed the serpent as beguiling her.

C. The serpent could say nothing for himself.

F. Nothing was asked as to his reason; it was quite obvious that malice and envy instigated him; and he is doomed, as an incorrigi ble enemy, to the lowest and most degraded condition among the creatures.

C. But was God angry with the serpent? F. No; but the animal was the instrument employed, and under that form the curse was denounced against Satan. The spirit of the sentence appears to be, "cursed art thou

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