8 NORTHERN MEMOIRS. 



days of old, and such are we now, because over- 

 grown in sin. How often have we violated the 

 authority of our commission ? and how often 

 have infringed the liberties of the creation ? Now, 

 in the primitive state, there were no such pro- 

 ceeds ; for then the creatures flew as naturally to 

 Adam's hand, as terrified now they fly from ours. 

 The turtle then was heard in every grove, now 

 they coo nowhere except in aviaries ; all the 

 families of birds then fill'd the air, now they are 

 compell'd to whistle in cages ; then they ex- 

 prest their gratitude with demonstrations of 

 joy now they lament their destiny, because 

 doomed to die. This was the golden age our an- 

 cestors liv'd in, but it's the iron age we live in 

 now. For innocency, in effect, is almost lost, 

 and it's well if we lose not ourselves. 



Arn. However, I cannot yield to this conclu- 

 sion ; that Adam's commands were so torn and 

 macerated, that surviving posterity should ne- 

 glect their obedience ; for if, when to consider 

 how many generations have travelled through 

 the map of time, (from our ancestors to us,) and 

 time you know informs us of experience, how 

 rational is it then to conclude (but I only offer 

 it for argument sake) that, was Adam repos- 

 sess'd of paradise again, and premonished of sin, 

 (as we are daily precautioned,) whether or no it 

 might not be thought to raise a circumspection 



