OF SERPENTS. 171 



/ 



Tree that had the Marks of Death upon it, would do them no. 

 harm, but by doing their own Will, or the Will of any other in 

 oppofition to his fovereign Will who had faid. Eat not. 



They were created pure, and capable of Perfeverance ; and 

 when they fell, God did not withdraw any Gift he had conferred 

 upon them : He did all that was necefTary on his Part for their Pre- 

 lervation, and they had remain'd fafe, if their Liberty had but 

 condudied itfelf aright : Their Liberty was not tied to any parti- 

 cular Objed:, as their Faculties were, but refpedred every thing 

 that could be done, or left undone, and it might have imploy'4 

 them after another manner. 



It's faid, Out of the Groujid i7iade the Lord God to grow ever^ 

 Tree that is pleafant to the Sights and good for Food ; a?id the T^ree 

 of Knowledge of Good and Evil, of which thou JJmlt not eat. Gen. 

 ii. 9, 17. Now, where lay the Difficulty of jwt eati?ig, wheil 

 they were in no want of Food ? And if in want, were not all 

 the Fruits of Paradife prepared for them ? Why would none fervc 

 but what was prohibited? And nothing prohibited but what was 

 deadly Poifon, and what Adam knew to be fo, by immediate 

 Revelation from Heaven, 



Thus furnifli'd with divine Armour, and all the agreeable En- 

 tertainments of Life, 'lis moft furprizing how they fliould indulge 

 an irregular Turn in the animal Paffions, and give way to fuch 

 Liadvertency. One thing that might lead them to this Overfight, 

 probably was, that they knew of no Enem)\ therefore dreaded 7io 

 Danger. But this Plea is of no force ; for their Bufinefs was 

 ftridly to regard the Voice of their Creator (who faid, Eat ?iot) 

 and not to give heed to any contrary Infinuations, tho' propofed 

 by a known Friend, much lefs by a Stranger, one of another 

 Kingdom, and of another Species, without fufficient Atteftation. 



Herc Lucifer play'd the Orator: He gave his Argument all 

 the Pvhetorick it would bear, by removing their fear of Deaths 

 and gratifying in them a certain Hope of bcrng Gods. The Wo- 

 man had the Tiireatning cf Death in her Thoughts, and there- 

 fore durlt not eat till fiie was made to believe, Jhe fould not die % 

 (by which it appears, (he had dreadful Ideas of dying.) And 

 thus (he was tempted to Unbelief Then Satan propofes the glo- 

 rious Advantages of Eatings viz. Te fjall be as Gods .... be inde- 

 pendent Beings, not fu^bjed to the Controul of a faperior Power ; 



7j 2 and 



