LET. upon and presupposing the truth and XI. reality of his temptation and fall, effected by the wiles of his enemy who, for that reason, was to be crushed, together with his works, by the power of the Redeemer. As to the change wrought in the natural ferpent after the fall (a fubject on which the infidels divert themselves more than they will divert any body elfe) no man can deny that a change might take place; and no man can precifely af certain the nature of fuch change, unless he knew the form in which that fpecies of creatures was originally made. Nor does the fentence (so far as it may relate to the natural ferpent) imply, that he fhould chufe duft for his food, or that it fhould be his only food. They who grovel in duft, must sometimes come in for a mouth XI. mouthful. The expreffion intimates LET. to us the very lowest degree of prostration, humiliation, and the most abject wretchednefs, fimilar to that other. of the prophet, "His enemies fhall "lick the duft."-Let gentlemen take care, that they are not of the number. The hiftory of man's fall is no fable, and will hereafter be found no jest. P. 6.-" A tree of life, which God "was obliged to guard by Cherubim "and a flaming fword, left man "fhould eat of the fruit, and become "immortal?" The paffage here alluded to has long been a fubject of ridicule among unbelievers. It may, perhaps, ceafe to be fo, when the following particu lars are duly weighed and confidered 1. There is no reafon in the world for fuppofing the Cherubim here menM 2 tioned LET. tioned to have been different from XI. thofe defcribed at large, as exhi bited in vifion to Ezekiel, figures of which were placed in the tabernacle and temple. Mofes fays, "God placed "Cherubim." The people for whom he wrote were perfectly well acquainted with the nature, form, and defign of them. The prophet, upon beholding them in vifion, declares, "I knew that they were the Cherubim.' 2. The words rendered in our tranflation, "A flaming fword turning every way," may, and, it is apprehended, ought to be rendered, “ A devouring fire, turning, or rolling upon itself;" as the Cherubim, which Ezekiel faw, are faid to have ftood in the midst of a fire "catching, "or infolding itself." The expreffions are equivalent, and correfpond exactly. 3. This XI. 3. This body of fire, generally at- LET. tended by, and fubfifting in a cloud, is styled "the glory of the Lord;" and always accompanied the appearance of the Cherubim. 4. The most ancient expofitions left in the world, which are the two Jewish Targums, paraphrase the verse thus; "And he thrust out the man, and "caused the glory of his prefence to "dwell of old, at the east of the garden of Eden, above the two "Cherubim." 66 5. If fuch be the real import of the paffage, and it relate only to the manifeftation of the divine prefence, by it's well known fymbol, above or between the Cherubim, may we not fairly and reasonably conclude, that the defign of such manifestation, at the east of the garden of Eden, was the fame XI. LET. as it was confeffedly afterwards, in the tabernacle and temple; namely, to reveal the will of God for the conduct of his people; to accept the facrifices offered to him; and favourably to regard the prefigurative atonement made by" the fprinkling of blood, without "which there was (after the fall) no "remiffion ?" And all this was done "to KEEP, or PRESERVE, the way to "the Tree of Life," immortality being now the object of a new covenant, with other conditions. There were good reafons why our firft parent fhould not be fuffered, in the state to which he had reduced himself, to 66 put forth his hand, and take, and "eat." The difpenfation of Eden was at an end. Old facraments were abolifhed, and new ones were to be inftituted. In the fpirit of repentance and |