attempt upon him with any hopes of success; and that was, by disguising his personal form. He must conceal himself within some creature, in habit and attitude, the remotest that could be from his own order. And to prevent all suspicion and alarm, it must be some creature which is familiar to him. The serpent was the furthest in form and attitude and therefore thought to be the fittest for the purpose. Here an angel may lie concealed long enough without being suspected. And though the creature hereby was to be influenced to deviate from the common rule by speaking, yet any thing might be supposed sooner than that an angel resided or acted within. He might reason with himself and say, It may raise something of wonder to hear the dumb creature speak, and it is to be hoped that this will serve only as a diversion, but will never raise a suspicion that I am there. I shall thus concealed, pass for a ferpent and no more.

a

But yet I am afraid that I shall not. Adam is endowed with such a depth of understanding and poffefses such talents, of which he has lately given sufficient demonstrations, in giving

all

all the creatures such descriptive names, that his discernment and presence of mind is to be dreaded. As soon as he hears the reptile speak articulately, he will say, ferpents, though subtle, were not made to be orators, but to crawl, and be dumb and without reason. Therefore thou must be fome hypocrite in disguise, whose business will not admit of his appearing in his real character.

There is therefore but one way left; and that is, to make the attack upon the woman when alone. She is younger in existence, weaker in faculties and more likely to be seduced.

And thus the devil attacked the woman alone, who was not well versed in the various properties and organs of the creatures: and plainly, in the character of an innocent and honest querist, took her by surprise. Adam was not deceived, but overcome by his love to the woman, and unable to bear the thought of parting, plunged himself into her condition, and so compleated the fall and ruin of human nature.

And hence it is that the devil came to be called

a

a ferpent. For he pretending to be but a ferpent, that he might accomplish his wicked designs, God, to mortify and mock him, fastens upon him the character of the mean reptile, whose form he had assumed. From state of real grandeur and glory, among the first creatures in the scale of being, for base ends he transmigrated and metamorphosed himself into a serpent; but he never dreamt of the consequence. To his great surprise, he found he could not disentangle himself nor quit his situation: was bound to stay there, and to appear before God in that degraded and humiliating form. And God talks to him now, as if he had ceased to be an angel of any fort good or bad, and takes upon him, as if he did not apprehend that there was any thing higher or better in name or nature, than a mean and crawling ferpent before him. It is as if he had said to him, Thou hast despised a state of grandeur and honor and splendor in subjection to me; and haft descended to the laft degree of meanness. I now confirm thy choice, and entail upon thee all the disgrace which thou hast made thine own. Thou hast made thyself a ferpent, so I call thee and fo I esteem thee. By all in heaven and on earth,

and

and to all eternity, thou shalt be called and deemed a ferpent. And it is very probable that hereupon God impressed upon him something of the form and likeness of this crawling reptile, and doomed him to go on his belly and to eat dust. That is, he made him in personal form, attitude, motion and practice, despicable beyond any other creature; the very picture and pattern of all deformity and uncomeliness. So that the fight of him will ever lessen him in every mind, and will raise lothing and disgust in every breast against him. There was a great deal of wit and management in the above contrivance and tranfmigration, but the sad consequence, which he never thought of, spoiled all, and made it to a being whose predominant fin was pride, mortifying and cutting beyond expreffion. He is told that now he is caft down under foot and that his head, by every heel is liable to be injured.

The love of God to man further appears in appointing Adam, under every poffible advantage, to act in an inferior degree the part of a mediator and substitute for all his posterity. This is plain