But to counteract this natural tendency in the creature man, God gave him, in his providence, access to this tree of life, that he by its use might live forever Or till the time should arrive, when he, with numbers infinite, along the flow of ages, ad infinitum, should be translated to a higher state of being, whico would have been the fact, if he had not sinned; neither would the earth have fallen under the verdict of heaven, to be finally destroyed by fire.

But when the man sinned, his Judge took him from the delectable field, wherein grew life's fair tree, and fenced up the only way of approach to the blissful garden with the dreadful sword of the cherubim, and was thus made inaccessible to the approach of man, till the deluge came and destroyed the blissful eminence ; so that the precise situation cannot now be ascertained, yet the region where it probably was, is on the river Shat al Arab, that is, the river of the Arabs, or the united streams of the Tigris and Euphrates.

But if our first parents were liable to death, by a natural tendency to dissolution, how then can it be said. that death was procured by sin? I answer, death was procured by sin, inasmuch as God judicially withdrew his providence in this particular, by removing them from this tree of life, which removal effectually exposed them to that dissolution, which was perfectly natural to them at first, and is natural to all life that depends on the use of food for its continuance.

But if this position is correct, what then prevented the happy pair from a voluntary death, in whatever manner they choose to effect it, even before they had

sinned? Nothing at all, indeed, if they would; for their persons cannot be considered invulnerable to the approach of violence, nor yet of starvation, even in the midst of Eden's plenty, if they refuse to eat. But as a sufficient barrier against such a catastrophe, was their own free will, and natural love of life.

The gift of food, their natural appetite to taste things pleasant, with every other pleasurable circumstance, are all resolved in this one idea. It was God's providence over his creature man to prevent their dissolution. But when man sinned, that particular providence of access to the tree of life, was taken away, when he became exposed therefore to death in every shape. But God, ever merciful in all his movements towards man while a probationer, in mercy and wisdom removed him from the happy garden for no other purpose than lest he should put forth his hand, and continue to eat of the tree of life, and live for ever in his horrid fallen state. Begetting children in his own abominable likeness, which would soon have filled the earth with a race o non-descript monsters whose appearance probably would have been in the form of man, but whose mind must have been perfect devil, the consequences of which among themselves, would have been that sort of confusion and perpetual misery, which none but a devil would rejoice to have effected, and none but a genius more than mortal could conceive the extent and degree of misery such a state would have produced. But, it may be inquired, why the fallen pair were not allowed to remain in their native Eden, seeing there was found a ransom for them, and this ransom made known at the

instant of the first promise. The reason is plain-if they had remained, they would have put forth the hand and eat of the tree of life, and consequently lived for ever. If this had been permitted, it would, to all intents and purposes, have defeated the threatened penalty, which was, In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die-which was accomplished by the fact of his becoming mortal at the very moment of his disobedience, from which moment he commenced a dying state, for then was withdrawn that peculiar providence, which heretofore had set at defiance the approach of all evil. This death, which was then commenced, was a temporal death; but if a further use of the tree of life had been permitted, the death of the body could never have gone into effect, and the spirit, which was then morally dead, must have ever existed in this horrid state, even in the still living body. But to prevent this, God in mercy, and in the greatness of his wisdom, removed the man from the tree of life, so that by faith he might have access to a better Tree of Life, which is Christ.

If this had not been done, an atonement could never have been effected-a mediator could never have appeared no light, which now lighteth every man which is born into the world, could ever have shined upon the wretched heart of man, for we might as well suppose, that the Word, the second person in the Godhead, could as easily become joined to the nature of devils in hell for their salvation, as that he could become incarnate with mortal flesh under such circumstances as are above described; but prevenient grace prepared the way,

which in the other case it could not have done. But when removed from the tree of life, we see that God's word could go into the fullest effect, which, if he were not removed, the threatened death could not have taken place but in part, and that as it relates to the soul only, which, as it regards God's veracity, is the same as if no part of his word had proved true.

But in anticipation of the man's being removed by the will of God, it pleased God so to love him as to give a ransom, that he might himself deliver his creature man from the blow which his own attribute, justice, necessitated him to strike.

On account, therefore, of this ransom, prevenient grace was sent abroad in the nature of man, which some have called initial salvation, which reinstated man in such a condition, that he can again make use of free volition to good, and become a proper subject of offered mercy as it relates to a further salvation; and a final one in the heavens above, if he lays hold on the hope set before him. On this account, therefore, it became possible for God to take upon him the seed of Abraham, and to become incarnate with man for his salvation.

But if man had not sinned, and in consequence had kept possession of that holy mount, and had continued to nave uninterrupted access to this wonderful tree, would not the happy fields of Eden, in process of time, have become too strait for the increase of its inhabitants? for it must be recollected, that when God first made the man and the woman, that he blessed them, and commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth, and

subdue it. This command was given before they fell. Therefore, as soon as they had increased to numbers more than Eden could sustain, they would have descended from this princely seat down by the way of the east of Eden to the broad earth below. Eden, the garden of God, is with great reason believed to have been vastly elevated from a common level with the country. surrounding it, and inaccessible by perpendicular rocks to a great height on all sides, except the east, where, to guard the way from the approach of man after he fell, was placed mysterious beings, called cherubims, armed with a dreadful sword, which probably had the appearance of a perpetual stream of lightning. Now if this were not the fact, could not those, who, after the fall of man, might wish to visit this Eden, have easily gone to it on the west side, or at any other point? I am, therefore, convinced that it was a mount, with table lands, rich and fertile, and consisted of quite an extent of country-thus elevated, overlooking to a vast distance a surrounding world, so that Adam when he sinned, fell not only from his moral rectitude, but from the most glorious location that ever graced this lower world. It man had not fallen, his posterity would soon have descended to the surrounding country, which was equally productive with the soil of Eden, for such would have been the direction of Providence, to prevent any inconvenience which otherwise must arise from an increase of numbers.

But if in Eden men would soon have so increased in numbers, as to require more room, consequently the