attempt upon him with any hopes of fuccefs; and that was, by disguising his personal form. He must conceal himself within fome creature, in habit and attitude, the remoteft that could be from his own order. And to prevent all fufpicion and alarm, it must be some creature which is familiar to him. The ferpent was the furtheft in form and attitude and therefore thought to be the fittest for the purpose. Here an angel may lie concealed long enough without being fufpected. And though the creature hereby was to be influenced to deviate from the common rule by speaking, yet any thing might be fuppofed fooner than that an angel refided or acted within. He might reason with himself and fay, It may raise fomething of a wonder to hear the dumb creature fpeak, and it is to be hoped that this will ferve only as a diversion, but will never raise a suspicion that I am there. I shall thus concealed, pass for a serpent and no more.

But yet I am afraid that I fhall not. Adam is endowed with fuch a depth of understanding and poffeffes fuch talents, of which he has lately given fufficient demonstrations, in giving

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all the creatures fuch defcriptive names, that his difcernment and presence of mind is to be dreaded. As foon as he hears the reptile fpeak articulately, he will fay, ferpents, though fubtle, were not made to be orators, but to crawl, and be dumb and without reafon. Therefore thou must be fome hypocrite in difguife, whofe business will not admit of his appearing in his real character..

There is therefore but one way left; and that is, to make the attack upon the woman when alone. She is younger in existence, weaker in faculties and more likely to be feduced.

And thus the devil attacked the woman alone, who was not well verfed in the various properties and organs of the creatures: and plainly, in the character of an innocent and honeft querift, took her by surprise. Adam was not deceived, but overcome by his love to the woman, and unable to bear the thought of parting, plunged himself into her condition, and fo compleated the fall and ruin, of human nature.

And hence it is that the devil came to be called

a ferpent. For he pretending to be but a ferpent, that he might accomplish his wicked defigns, God, to mortify and mock him, faftens upon him the character of the mean reptile, whofe form he had affumed. From a ftate of real grandeur and glory, among the first creatures in the fcale of being, for bafe ends he tranfmigrated and me tamorphofed himself into a ferpent; but he never dreamt of the confequence. To his great furprise, he found he could not difentangle himfelf nor quit his fituation was bound to ftay there, and to appear before God in that degraded and humiliating form. And God talks to him now, as if he had ceased to be an angel of any fort good or bad, and takes upon him, as if he did not apprehend that there was any thing higher or better in name or nature, than a mean and crawling ferpent before him. It is as if he had faid to him, Thou haft despised a flate of grandeur and honor and fplendor in fubjection to me; and haft defcended to the laft degree of meanness. I now confirm thy choice, and entail upon thee all the difgrace which thou haft made thine own. Thou haft made thyself a ferpent, fo I call thee and so I efteem thee. By all in heaven and on earth,

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and to all eternity, thou shalt be called and deemed a ferpent. And it is, very probable that hereupon God impreffed upon him fomething of the form and likeness of this crawling reptile, and doomed him to go on his belly and to eat dust. That is, he made him in perfonal form, attitude, motion and practice, defpicable beyond any other creature; the very picture and pattern of all deformity and uncomeliness. So that the fight of him will ever leffen him in every mind, and will raile lothing and difguft in every breast against him. There was a great deal of wit and management in the above contrivance and tranf migration, but the fad confequence, which he never thought of, spoiled all, and made it to a being whose predominant fin was pride, mortifying and cutting beyond expreffion. He is told that now he is caft down under foot and that his head, by every heel is liable to be injured.

The love of God to man further appears in appointing Adam, under every poffible advantage, to act in an inferior degree the part of a mediator and substitute for all his pofterity. This is plain from

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