of the image of God, he was now become the image of the devil, the bond-slave of hell: altogether spotted and defiled, he seemed to be nothing else but a lump of sin; and therefore, by the just judgment of God, he was condemned to everlasting death. Thus, in Adam, all men became universally mortal, having in themselves nothing but everlasting damnation of body and soul.” *

The same doctrine is delivered with the same plainness in the second part of the homily on the passion: "Adam died the death, that is, became mortal, lost the favour of God, and was cast out of paradise, being no longer a citizen of heaven, but a fire-brand of hell, and a bondslave of the devil. And St. Paul bears witness, that, by Adam's offence, 'death came upon all men to condemnation,' who became plain reprobates and castaways, being perpetually damned to the everlasting pains of hell-fire."*

Agreeable to this we are taught, in the second part of the homily on repentance, that " part of that virtue consists in an unfeigned acknowledgment of our sins to God, whom, by them, we have so grievously offended, that if he should deal with us according to his justice, we deserve a thousand hells, if there were so many."

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The same vein of wholesome, though unpleasant, doctrine runs through the liturgy of our church. She opens her service by exhorting us not to dissemble nor cloak our manifold sins and wickedness." She acknowledges in her confessions, that "we have erred and strayed from God's ways like lost sheep ;" that "there is no health in us;" that we are "miserable sinners, miserable offenders, to whom our sins are grievous," and "the burden of them is intolerable."

She begins her baptismal office by reminding us, that

Prejudiced persons, who, instead of considering the entire system or truth, run away with a part detached from the whole, will be offended here, as if our church" damned every body." But the candid reader will easily observe, that, instead of dooming any one to destruction, she only declares, that the Saviour finds all men in a state of condemnation and misery, where they would eternally remain, were it not for the compassionate equity of our gracious God, which does not permit him to sentence to a consciousness of eternal torments any one of his creatures, for a sin of which they never were personally guilty, and of which consequently, they can never have any consciousness.

"all men are conceived and born in sin."

She teaches in her catechism, that “ we are by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath." She confesses in the collect before the general thanksgiving, that "we are tied and bound with the chain of our sins," and entreats God to "let the pitifulness of his great mercy loose us :" and in her suffrages she beseeches him to "have mercy upon us," to spare us," and "make speed to save us;" a language that can suit none but condemned sinners.

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Duly sensible of our extreme danger till we have secured an interest in Christ, at the grave she supplicates the "most holy God, not to deliver us into the bitter pains of eternal death;" and in the litany she beseeches our Lord Jesus Christ," by his agony and bloody sweat, by his cross and passion," to "deliver us from his wrath and everlasting damnation." Thus is our church every where consistent with herself, and with the oracles of God, in representing us as corrupt, condemned creatures, in Adam, till we are penitent, absolved believers in Jesus Christ.

The doctrine to be demonstrated in this treatise being thus fully stated, in the consentaneous words of the sacred writers, and our pious Reformers, I shall close this part by an appeal to the reader's candour and common sense. If such are the sentiments of our church, are those churchmen reasonable who intimate, that all the maintainers of them are either her open or secret enemies? And may they rank with modest, humble Christians, who, instead of the self-abasing scripture doctrine here laid down, boldly substitute pompous, pharisaic descriptions of the present dignity and rectitude of human nature? Without waiting for the obvious answer, I pass to the first class of arguments, on which the truth of this mortifying doctrine is established.

PART II.

As no man is bound to believe what is contrary to common sense; if the above-stated doctrine appears

irrational, scriptures, articles, homilies, and liturgy are quoted in vain. When men of parts are pressed with their authority, they start from it as an imposition on their reason, and make as honourable a retreat as they possibly can.

Some, to extricate themselves at once, set the Bible aside, as full of incredible assertions. Others, with more modesty, plead that the scriptures have been frequently misunderstood, and are so in the present case. They put grammar, criticism, and common sense to the rack, to show that when the inspired writers say, the human “heart is desperately wicked," they mean that it is extremely good; or at least like blank paper, ready to receive either the characters of virtue or of vice. With respect to the testimony of our Reformers, they would have you to understand, that, in this enlightened age, we must leave their harsh, uncharitable sentiments to the old Puritans, and the present Methodists.

That such objectors may subscribe as a solemn truth, what they have hitherto rejected as a dangerous error; and that humbled sinners may see the propriety of an heart-felt repentance, and the absolute need of an almighty Redeemer; they are here presented with some proofs of our depravity, taken from the astonishing severity of God's dispensations towards mankind.

AXIOM.

If we consider the supreme Being, as creating a world for the manifestation of his glory, the display of his perfections, and the communication of his happiness to an intelligent creature, whom he would attach to himself by the strongest ties of gratitude and love; we at once perceive, that he never could form this earth and man in their present disordered, deplorable condition. It is not so absurd to suppose the meridian sun productive of darkness, as to imagine that infinite Goodness ever produced any kind or degree of evil.

Infinite Holiness and Wisdom having assisted infinite Goodness to draw the original plan of the world, it could not but be entirely worthy of its glorious Author, absolutely

free from every moral defilement and natural disorder; nor could infinite Power possibly be at a loss to execute what the other divine attributes had contrived. Therefore, unless we embrace the senseless opinion of the materialists, who deny the being of a God; or admit the ridiculous creed of the Manichees, who adore two gods, the one the gracious author of all the good, and the other the mischievous principle of all the evil, in the world; we must conclude, with Moses, that every thing which God made was at first "very good;" or, in other words, that order and beauty, harmony and happiness, were stamped upon every part of the creation, and especially on man, the masterpiece of creating power in this sublunary world. On this axiom I raise my

it".

FIRST ARGUMENT.

Does not the natural state of the earth cast a light upon the spiritual condition of its inhabitants? Amidst a thousand beauties, that indicate what it was, when God pronounced it "very good," and, as the original also imports, extremely beautiful; amidst the elegant and grand. ruins, which form the variety of our smiling landscapes, and romantic prospects; can an impartial inquirer help taking notice of a thousand striking proofs, that a multiplied curse rests upon this globe; and that man, who inhabits it, is now disgraced by the God of nature and providence?

Here, deceitful morasses, or faithless quicksands, obstruct our way: there, miry, impassable roads, or inhospitable sandy deserts, endanger our life. In one place, we are stopped by stupendous chains of rocky mountains, broken into frightful precipices, or hideous caverns; and in another, we meet with ruinous valleys, cut deep by torrents and waterfalls, whose tremendous roar stuns the astonished traveller. Many of the hills are stony, rude, and waste ; and most of the plains are covered over with strata of barren sand, stiff clay, or infertile gravel.

Thorns, thistles, and noxious weeds* grow spontane

* Those who oppose the doctrine of the fall say, that "weeds have their use." I grant they are serviceable to thousands of poor people, who earn their bread by pulling the general nuisance out of our fields and gardens. But till our objectors have proved that thistles are more useful,

ously every where, and yield a troublesome, never-failing crop; while the best soil, carefully ploughed by the laborious husbandman, and sown with precious seed, frequently repays his expensive toil with light sheaves, or a blasted harvest.

Consider that immense part of the globe which lies between the tropics: it is parched up by the scorching beams of the vertical sun. There, the tawny inhabitants fan themselves in vain; they pant, they melt, they faint on the sultry couch; and, like the birds of night, dare not appear abroad, till evening shades temper the insufferable blaze of day. View the frozen countries around the poles in summer, the sun just glances upon them by his feeble, horizontal rays; in winter, he totally deserts them, and they lie bound with rigorous frosts, and buried in continual night. There, the torpid inhabitants know neither harvest nor vintage, the ocean seems a boundless plain of ice, and the continent immense hills of

snow.

The temperate zones are indeed blessed with milder climates; but even here, how irregular are the seasons! To go no farther than this favoured island, what means the strange foresight, by which the ice of January is laid in to temper the ardours of July; and the burning mineral is stored up in June, to mitigate the frost in December? But, notwithstanding these precautions, what continual complaints are heard, about the intenseness of the heat, the severity of the cold, or the sudden, pernicious change from the one to the other!

Let us descend to particulars. In winter, how often do drifts of snow bury the starved sheep, and entomb the frozen traveller! In summer, how frequently do dreadful storms of hail cut down, or incessant showers of rain wash away, the fruits of the earth! Perhaps, to complete the desolation, water pours down from all the neighbouring hills; and the swelling streams, joining with overflowing rivers, cause sudden inundations, lay waste the richest pastures,

and therefore grow more spontaneously, and multiply more abundantly, than corn, we shall discover the badness of their cause through the slightness of their objection,