the Epicureans borrowed their hypothesis, say that the world was made by chance, and consequently, that mankind grew out of the earth like pumpkins. The stories that are told of Jupiter and Saturn, and the forming of men and women out of projected stones, are a disgrace to the Grecian theology. The Phonicians made air the principle of the universe, and supposed all intelligent creatures to be formed alike in the shape of an egg, and both male and female awakened into life by a great thunder-clap. And the absurd and contrary accounts of the Chinese and Mahometans are not less ridiculous; though all these, in other respects, are nations of great sagacity. But, Review the scripture account; there every thing is easy and natural, comporting with God's majesty, and not repugnant to the principles of philosophy; agreeing with the positions of the greatest men in the heathen world, the sentiments of their wisest philosophers, and the descriptions of their most renowned poets; so that were we to judge of Moses, merely as an historian, without attending to the supernatural proofs of his writings, and the advantage they have above all others for antiquity, the very manner of his treating the subject gives him the preference; who, though he had none of those systems before him, we now so much value, gives us a better idea of things, in the way of an easy narrative, than any philosopher, with all his hard works, and new invented terms, has yet been able to do, either in regard to plainness or brevity. E. Permit me to ask a few ques tions more before we proceed: Why did not God speak the world into being at once? T. We must not too curiously indulge our fancy in asking such useless questions; we must take the accounts of scripture as we find them; nor can we pretend to enter into all the reasons of the divine councils and operations. Possibly it might please the Divine Architect to employ six days in the formation of the world, that the angels thereby seeing the whole texture and contrivance of this glorious work, might value, praise, love and admire the Creator more, than they might have done, had the world started forth in an instant into this beautiful frame and order. And it possibly was in condescension to the weakness of our capacity that God is represented as dividing his work of creation into stated periods; that man might retain clearer notions of his eternal power and godhead; and that every particular day of the week might commemorate new and particular works for which we are to praise him. S. How could there be light before the sun was created? T. It is always allowed that the first remove from the chaos should he a tendency to light. And the light which was extracted from the chaos on the first day, was not the dy, such as proceed now from the darting of rays from a luminous bosun, but those particles of matter only, which we call fire, endowed with the properties of light and heat, which the Almighty produced, as a proper instrument for the preparation, and digestion of all other matter S. Why is the moon, which is an opaque body, called a great light? T. Because it is made of such a figure as to receive the full light of the sun, which by reflection, and by reason of its proximity to the earth, communicates more light and is of more use and benefit to us than all the other planets put together; which the inhabitants about the poles experience in a special manner. S. Why did God make the woman out of the man? T. He took her out of the man's side, to inculcate to them the greatest obligations to the strictest friendship and society in a married state; to beget the strongest love and sympathy between him and her, and all the whole race of men descending from them, as parts of the same whole; and to recommend marriage to all mankind, as founded in nature. S. Was man sensible of this work which God performed on him? T. No; the man was asleep, and when he awaked was agreeably surprized with the fair figure of a woman approaching him in the hand of her Almighty Maker. The innocent beauties that adorned her pe son, the comeli tess of her shape, and gracefulness of her gesturc, the lustre of her eyes, and sweetness of her looks discovered themselves more and more as she advanced, and convinced him that she was bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, and as such, to be the companion of his life, and partner in all his cares and pleasures. T. In the terrestrial paradise; a pleasant and delightful habitation or garden in the country of den, watered by four rivers, and stored with all kinds of trees, herbs, and flowers, which could any way delight the sight, the taste or the smell. S. On what conditions did God place our first parents in paradise? fruit of the tree of knowledge of T. He forbade them to eat of the good and evil, promising life to them and their posterity on their obedience, and death if they diso beyed and sinned; making this tree the proof and condition of continuing in that covenant, which God was then pleased to enter into with man, and giving them leave to use and to eat the fruit of all the other trees in the garden. S. Is it recorded what kind of tree this was? T. No; God has not thought fit to reveal it; therefore it is a vain curiosity to enquire after it. S. Why is it called, the tree of knowledge of good and evil? T. Not because it had any virtue to confer such knowledge, but because the devil, the more easily to it had: or, because when Adam had seduce the woman, pretended that eaten thereof he immediately found that he had forsaken God's com mand and done wickedly. S. How did they live in that state? T. They were both naked; but as they had no sinful inclinations, nor evil concupiscence in their minds, they were not ashamed; and S. Where did God put the man by God's appointment to shew his whom he had made? dislike to idleness, Adan was dmn C ployed in dressing and keeping this new plantation in order. T. No; they did not continue long in this happy state; for the devil envying their condition, and imagining probably, upon the first act of disobedience they should be destroy S. Was there a real, local, earth ly place, called Eden, or was it only an imaginary country? T. It was a real portion or part ed, appeared to Eve in the agrecable form of a serpent, and persuaded her to eat of the forbidden fruit and she prevailed with Adam to taste it also. of the habitable world. Moses had no imaginary paradise in view, but a place bounded with such countries and rivers, as were well known by the names he gave them in his time, and for many ages after. The word Eden in Hebrew signifies pleasure and delight, and therefore has been frequently given as a proper name to places remarkable either for their fruitful soil or pleasant situation; but the ancient paradise is undoubtedly lost; the flood, at least destroyed it. All that can be said towards ascertain ing the place of it is, that the ri. vers mentioned by Moses, are the surest clue we can have to guide us to that part of the world where it was situated. And here the Eden in Chaldæa, on the banks of Euphrates, whose situation agrees best with the description given by Moses, and is allowed by travellers, to answer the character of pleasure and fruitfulness he gives of it, is probably enough imagined to be the Eden and paradise our first parents inhabited; and is the country which lies between Bagdat and Bassora. If so, paradise was situated on the east-side of one of the turnings of that river, which the conjunction of the Tigris and Euphrates makes, now called the river of the Arabs, and not far from the place, where Erec or Aracca, now stands, at the lowest great turning. ; S. How did the devil address himself so as to draw her from her duty to God, and to her own ruin? T. Satan, who had been originally created a happy angel, being banished for his pride and rebellion from the presence of God, and cast, with his wicked companions, into regions of dishonour and unhappi ness, abandoned himself to all wickedness, and resolving to endeavour also the ruin of man by drawing him into sin and misery, and to revenge himself on God, by defeating his intentions in the creation of mankind, usurped the organs of a serpent; which before the fall, it is said, was a bright and glorious creature, and, next to man, endued and understanding; and after some with the greatest talents of sagacity previous addresses, we may suppose, puts on an air of concern, and amazement that the bountiful creator should deny them the use of a tree, whose fruit was so tempting to and so able to make them wise ; the eye, so grateful to the palate, and finding her half inclined to comsured her that the prohibition and ply with and follow his advice, aspenalty enjoined by God was only an empty threat, intended to keep them in a state of ignorance and deS. Did they keep the covenant pendance; that the fruit had a virtue with God? to impart an universal knowledge to the person who tasted it; and that therefore God, who was jealous of his honour, and would admit of no competitor, had reserved this privilege to himself. So that swayed by the fond conceit of knowing good and evil, and of becoming like God, tempted by the sight and beauty of the tree, and beguiled by the suggestions of the tempter, Eve breaks through all restraint, yields to her natural curiosity, and at all adventures put out her hand, plucks and eats; and Adam, coming at that instant of time, and yielding to her solicitations, was easily persuaded to transgress with her; and thus both were involved in the same common guilt of transgression and disobedi ence. life, and in sorrow eat the herb of the field. After that fatal moment their lives were a continued train of miseries, insensibly leading to the chambers of death. The image of God, in which they were created, was defaced by disorderly and wasting passions let in upon the soul; all nature grew out of order; and their sin became the source of all misfortunes. 'Tis certain that all the torments that came into the world with sin, had never discomposed man's quiet in his state of innocence, The seasons had not been irregu lar; the elements had not bid him battle; the earth had been fruitful without tilling; and thorus, that are the fruits of sin, had not dishonoured the face thereof: the de luge, that drowned the world; S. What was the consequence of drought, that makes the fields barthis disobedience. T. Such an early insult upon God's authority, by creatures who had but just received their being from the munificence of their Creator, did justly provoke him to vindicate the honor of his broken laws; and punishment followed trangression so close upon the heels, that they lost their happiness as soon as they lost their innocence. The punishment common to them both was, that they were driven from that happy place, banished from the tree of life, and doomed to return to that dust whereof they were made; the particular punishment denounced against the woman, was that she should conceive, and bring forth in sorrow, that her desire should be to her husband, and he should rule over her; and against the man, that the ground was cursed for his sake, that he should earn his bread with labour all the days of his ren; pestilence, that depopulates cities, having no other cause but sin, had made no devastations in au innocent state; and men being up on good terms with God, had found their happiness under the protection of his grace; having lived some ages upon earth, they had been translated into heaven, without passing thro' the pangs of immortality. The two parts that compose man had not been separated, and the soul reigning with angels had not beheld her body devoured by worms in the sepulchre. S. By what name do you call this crime of their's? T. Original sin. S. How are mankind affected by their guilt? T. Our first parents being the common head and representatives of mankind, the immortality and happiness warranted to be the reward of their obedience, were to be derived through them to their posterity, as being virtually included in their loins, and partakers of their flesh; and the guilt and punishment of their transgression to be imputed to them likewise. Mortality, and the depravation of human nature, both as to the moral and natural perfection it was created in, were the immediate effect of their transgression. The depravity thus introduced hath been propogated with human nature, as streams partaking of the impurity of the fountain they are derived from; has brought guilt with it, and thereby made mankind obnoxious to the wrath of God, and curse of the law. If we were not part of Adam's flesh, we should inherit neither his sin nor his punishment; his offence is become the obliquity of whole nature, because It was included in him. : thy life and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and be tween thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel'. But as it was not the beast, but the devil in its body or shape that deceived the woman, this sentence was not so much to punish the serpent, as to make it a monument of man's apostacy; testimony of God's displeasure against sin; and an instructive emblem to deter all future ages from the commission of that, which a T. No. There was no more injustice in changing the form of the serpent for man's sake, than in suffering other creatures to be slain for his food; or in stoning an ox for goring a man. S. How did God punish the devil in this case? T. To the devil, God declares, that how much soever he might glory in his present conquest, a time should come, when a P'erson, descended from the seed of that very sex he had now deceived, should ruin all his new erected empire of sin and death. S. How long did they live in a state of innocence ? T. Many circumstances are omitted in scripture concerning the state of our first parents, and the manner of their transgression, of which this is one; for Moses only mentions what is necessary for man to know, and conducive to his short account of the most remarkable transactions from the beginning of the world to his time. But according to the most common opinion, before the tenth day from their creation, they sinned, against God, and were driven out of Paradise, though he was pleased to comfort them with the |