spiritual darkness. A consciousness of their moral wrong filled their souls with guilty fear. This fear or dread of the Divine approach confused their judgment; and under the influence of terror and confusion, they vainly attempted to hide themselves. This conduct was a striking proof of their apostacy and degeneracy.

(2.) When questioned by his offended Maker"Where art thou ?"-as though he had said, What is the reason thou hast fled from my presence?-Adam, instead of acknowledging his guilt at once, and imploring mercy, gives further proof of his fallen condition, in the equivocal answer which he gave: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." His nakedness was not the primary cause of his shame and condemnation; but he seems to act and speak as though he could deceive the Almighty: "I was afraid, because I was naked." He ought to have said, I was afraid, because I have sinned and rebelled against thee.

Deception, fear, and falsehood still characterise the guilty posterity of the first apostate man.

(3.) When palpably charged with the crime he had committed, though obliged to acknowledge his transgression, he does it in such a way as to lead us to suppose that he expected mitigation, if not exoneration from punishment. "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." It may be said this reply was substantially true, and therefore why blame Adam for thus replying to his enquiring, offended Maker? To this I would answer: If Adam had been the first transgressor,

and had taken the fruit without being tempted by any creature, he might have made an apology somewhat similar. He might have said, These eyes which thou gavest me first beheld the fruit on the tree which thou plantedst in the garden, and these hands which thou gavest me took the fruit, and I did eat. For after all his excuses relative to God and the woman which God gave him, it was his own personal act. He took the fruit when it was offered to him, and did eat, knowing at the same time, we presume, it was forbidden fruit. He was therefore justly condemned.

When God said to the woman, "What is this that thou hast done?" the woman replied, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." She lays the blame upon the Serpent ; not "upon God and the Serpent," as stated by a learned commentator, but upon "the Serpent." It is a piece of injustice to attribute sayings to Adam and Eve which they never uttered, and which is not implied in their excuses. Their conduct was bad enough, without making it worse than it really was. One commentator puts the following language into the mouth of Eve, or supposes her reply to import such sentiments. "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Comment :-" Thou didst make him much wiser than thou didst make me; and therefore my simplicity and ignorance were overcome by his superior wisdom; I can have no fault here, the fault is his, and his who made him so wise and me so ignorant." To this comment I cannot subscribe. I admit the lack of confession, and that she made an effort to throw the blame upon the serpent; but her language does not imply that she, either directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, blamed her Maker,

ment.

in the way and manner imputed to her by the above comThe manner in which Adam and Eve excused themselves is still practised by the generality of transgressors. They blame each other, blame the tempter, their own nature, or the circumstances in which they are placed. They have recourse to anything rather than confess to God, humble themselves under his mighty hand, and seek for pardon and reconciliation. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

XIV. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL.

Some of the consequences were immediate. The whole human race fell in Adam. The importance of this doctrine in relation to the universality of the atonement. The curse pronounced on Adam: he is doomed to labour and sorrow; driven from God, and sentenced to temporal death. All men by nature are morally and spiritually polluted. The phrase, "original sin," does not occur in the Bible, but the doctrine is taught there. The opinion of Pelagius, and the "Semi-Pelagians," considered. Their opinions, in the 5th century, spread rapidly and extensively. Unitarians bold substantially the same opinions on this subject as Pelagins. Vossius opposed Pelagianism. Dr. Pye Smith's idea on the visible virtue of the moral world. The moral aspect of our world at present in all nations. War and its abominations. The moral condition of the ancient heathen world, a proof of universal depravity. Dr. Leonard Wood, and the Rev. J. Fletcher. The word of God is clear on the doctrine of universal depravity. Everything that is good or virtuous in man is, by the sacred writers, attributed to grace; while on the other hand wickedness is ascribed to human nature. Depravity is not immediately infused into the human soul by our Creator. The absurdity and impiety of such a notion. Dr. Pye Smith on " Human Apostacy."

SOME of the consequences of man's apostacy were immediate. I mean such as related to the first transgressors, in reference to their earthly condition, the mortality of their bodies, the degradation of their minds, and the danger of being for ever lost; to which danger they had exposed their immortal souls. The remote consequences relate to the spread of sin and misery through the universal family

of man, to all succeeding generations, through time and never-ending eternity. For, when Adam fell, he being the natural head from whom we have all sprung, we fell in him, and consequently are polluted, and naturally prone to transgression. The doctrine just stated, though doubted by some and denied by others, is, we think, deducible from the Apostolic argument relative to the priesthood of Melchisedec. In the epistle to the Hebrews, vii. 9, 10, he says, "Levi. paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him." The fact which is here stated is, that Levi, who was a descendant of Abraham, paid tithes to Melchisedec, not actually, but through Abraham, "he being in the loins of his father;" that is, Levi was seminally included in Abraham his forefather. Here is a divinely attested fact: Levi paid tithes, in the above sense, four hundred years before he was born. Now the conclusion, in reference to the subject under consideration is, that when Adam, the father of the human race, sinned, all his posterity sinned in him, not actually, but seminally, and consequently fell through him. A clear understanding of these facts are of the greatest importance, for when viewed theologically they stand in close relationship to the grand doctrine of the atonement, and to all the restorative means comprehended in the economy of divine grace. Had Adam retained his original purity and rectitude of character, whether he had continued on earth, or been removed to heaven, a Saviour would not have been needed. His native holiness and obedience would have ever secured the favour of his Maker; and his happiness would have been uninterrupted and abiding. But sin broke the link of spiritual affinity which existed