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beings who were defective in intelligence or goodness, and hence the origin of evil. Others imagined the original plan to have been marred or opposed by some envious spirit.

(Part II.-Chap. II. to be concluded in our next.)

On the Importance of adhering to Acknowledged Princi ples in the Interpretation of the Scriptures.—No. 4.

FROM the view which has been taken of the frame and constitution of man at his first creation, and of the moral state and circumstances of our primitive parents, it will I trust appear that no change, either physical or moral, need be supposed to have taken place in their nature, in order to realise the consequences which followed. Adam had not yet "eaten of the tree of life" that he might "live for ever:" but being "taken out of the ground," and continuing to be "dust," it could require no miracle to effect his return to the state from whence he originated. This concluding and principal part of his sentence therefore amounts to no more, than that, as he had now proved himself to be a morally frail and offending creature, so, his physical frame and constitution being composed of the like fragile materials, he would undergo all the hardships and sufferings which are the natural attendants of such a state, till it should terminate in dissolution. But that we may the more clearly trace the nature and design of the divine procedure, in the punishments awarded to the respective culprits, it may be requisite to review the whole transaction.

Upon an inquiry into the affair, it appeared that the leading and principal offender was the serpent; that the woman, deceived by his specious representations, was betrayed into a breach of the known and acknowledged command of her Maker; and that the man, won by ber example, had fallen into the same offence. that the sensible presence-the inquiries, of the Supreme It is evident Being, and his acquiescence in apparently attaching the largest share of guilt to the serpent, are accommodations to the capacities of those for whose immediate use this interview was designed. The narrative is very concise, and considerably more probably was said than is particularised, for the purpose of acquainting our primitive parents with the real sphere which the lowly reptile holds

in creation; that it was in truth incapable of giving birth to any such suggestions as those which they ascribed to it; that in reality these arose spontaneously in the mind of Eve, which proceeding from the operations of the subordinate appetites and passions, aided by an erring and licentious imagination, was the foe by which they had been deceived and injured, and against which it would therefore be their wisdom in future to use the most vigorous exertions of their best powers and affections, and to endeavour to crush every latent propensity to wickedness, in its birth (Gen. iii. 14, 15.) The whole of this sentence taken literally but describes the form and condition of the serpent; and its design in this view seems intended to mark the hue, nature, and vast inferiority of this reptile to the human species, as contrasted with those extravagant notions concerning its superior sense and subtilty, which had contributed to their seduction. A contrast seems represented between men and reptiles, to warn the former from being again misled and seduced from their duty by the supposed suggestions of inferior animals; especially by those, which, in reality, rank among the very lowest in the scale of creation. But under the literal sense, there seems to be couched an allusion to the real cause of their error and transgression. The moral world, as then centred in the minds of our first parents, seems represented under two great divisions, that which, like man in the visible creation, constitutes the glory and dignity of this invisible system, and destined to obtain an ascendancy over all which are by nature its inferiors; and that which, like the reptile in the animal world, holds the very lowest rank in the moral frame. In the present instance, this last had usurped a most unreasonable ascendant, having so darkened and perverted the intellectual faculties and the moral powers, that they had been betrayed into an act directly opposed to the plainest suggestions of reason, under the immediate guidance of a divine prohibition. It is however predicted that reason and religion would, upon the whole, maintain its just ascendant in the moral scale, as man actually does in the natural creation; and that though these nobler powers which may be identified with man himself, as being essential to his true place in creation, will be liable to be injured and impaired by the venom infused from the sordid propensities of this present condition, yet that these last are to be viewed as in a manner foreign from and at

variance with the true constitution and tendencies of his being; and that the powers of reason and religion, truth and virtue, will assert and maintain their true ascendancy, crushing every low and vile and impious propensity, with the stroke of destruction.

The seed of the serpent, viewed in this allegorical sense, must import generally those low propensities in mankind, by which they are seduced into error and sin; and in like manner, the seed of the woman must indicate generally the higher principles and affections of our nature. Though, therefore, in this instance, the struggle between the contending principles is pourtrayed only in a particular procedure on the part of Eve, yet it is to be regarded as a general representation of the workings of the human mind, under similar circumstances. In her case, the feebleness and imperfection of the latter had been manifested; but it is here predicted that acquiring strength and vigour in the course of its subsequent contests with its opposite, it would obtain its just superiority, and in the end effectually vanquish and destroy the adversary. And since a signal instance of this was exhibited in our Saviour, and the dignified struggle in which he was engaged with the seed of the serpent, in the plenitude of his power, is, in like manner, pourtrayed in similar allegorical terms, and this triumph was followed by his Gospel of deliverance from sin unto holiness, from death unto life and immortality, it is probable that here is a particular allusion to these glorious events. In this view, I apprehend that neither of these persons is to be regarded merely as an individual, but they are to be considered as representatives of their species; the trial and failure of Eve and her consort, exhibiting a too faithful specimen of our common frailty in the first stages of our moral being; while the triumphs of Jesus, in a much more arduous contest with the same adversary, afford a most noble exhibition of that superiority of which the principles of reason, religion, and virtue are capable, and of which many similar instances, though inferior in degree, were afterwards manifested in the lives of his primitive disciples. Both therefore were followed by general results; the sentences which were passed upon the primitive pair, are in fact but descriptive of our general state and condition as mortals; and we may learn from hence, that the evils of mortality are the appointed attendants of our moral imperfections and errors; and, in like

manner, "the deliverance of life," which our Saviour experienced when he was raised from the grave, is proclaimed to the whole human race, to be conferred upon them in all its glory and blessedness, whenever they shall have attained to an elevation and purity of character, which is suited to so glorious a transformation of their physical

nature.

Verse 16. This verse is no other than a prediction of the peculiar circumstances of trial and subordination, to which the female sex, in general, have been subjected. The conduct of Eve on this occasion, appears to have been viewed by God, as an indication of the general frailty of her sex; and, if it be admitted, that her failure was a result of the natural operations of her mind, unperverted by the potent subtilty and guile of an apostate archangel (a mere gratis hypothesis), and that her moral nature continued the same, though susceptible of great improvement, there is reason to conclude, that the inference was founded in reality; that, in a general view, our primitive mother was a just representative of her female descendants, under those circumstances of imperfection in which they all necessarily commence their moral career; and, consequently, that the similar trials to which they are subjected, furnishes a discipline which is suited to their common frailty.

Verses 17-19. We have here a prediction of what has since been the actual state of the soil and its produce, till it is cleared and cultivated by the care and labour of man; of the toil to which he is thus necessitated; and of that natural decay, terminating in dissolution, which is consequent to the frailty of his present animal structure. Here appears no indication of any change, either physical or moral, in the frame and nature of Adam; but on the contrary, it is merely a description of his actual imperfections and frailty, in consequence of which he was betrayed into a flagrant breach of duty. It refers to the fact of his humble origin and condition, and from this draws the consequence, that, being composed of such frail, perishing materials, he would, under the life of toil to which he was subjected, gradually decline and at length be resolved back into those inanimate materials of which he was composed. Nor does the sentence refer to his corporeal frame alone; it views him as a whole, and has a special reference to those moral imperfections which had been manifested by his disobedience. The last clause," Out of it wast thou

taken," &c. may, I conceive, be thus interpreted:-"The frail structure and humble materials of your frame is the index and accompaniment of a corresponding imperfection and frailty in your moral condition; you have made few attainments above your animal origin, and the low propensities appertaining to it, obtain so powerful an influence over the higher principles of your nature, that it is not possible, in the present sphere of your existence, for you to become morally fitted to be transformed to that state of immortality which might indeed have been the reward of your persevering obedience to my commands. Your person, instead of undergoing a translation to a state in which it will no more be liable to suffer dissolution, must be resolved into its primitive elements, and drop back into that state of inanimation from whence it was produced."

The sentence passed upon Adam, amounts then, I conceive, to this: that he was a mortal, because he was a morally imperfect and offending creature; a representation which implies, that had his moral state been more advanced, or had he persevered in maintaining an obedience to the divine commands, he might have attained to an exemption from what was now his appointed doom-an exemption which was realised in the case of his descendant, Enoch. This total escape from death, however, was peculiar to that patriarch, and to one or two more of the most eminently pious of our race. Upon all mankind, with these two or three exceptions, nature has been suffered to take its course. But, from these exceptions, and the intimation given by the occasion and terms of this "condemnation," we may derive the lesson, that every step in the course of righteousness, is an advance in that moral preparation which tends to obtain our deliverance from the evils of mortality. The present condition of our being is indeed humiliating; inheriting the nature of our primitive ancestor, we are all mortal, and all morally imperfect, and occasionally offending creatures; but the path of obedience is open to us; our moral powers grow in vigour and expansion by experience and exertion, and the course we are called to pursue, like the light of day advancing toward its meridian, presents to us, with increasing lustre, the light of immortality, as the ultimate blessing to be conferred upon our virtues. It is in vain, however, to expect that the soul of man can escape the fate

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