darknefs over the whole region of the foul; you have endeavored, with your ftupefactive poifon, to blunt the fword in the hands of the cherubims, which, for your fake, keeps us from the tree of life.

A mistaken idea has been entertained of fin, even by profeffors. I have often heard fincere minifters preach, in their reproofs to their hearers, that it was the greatest folly in the world, for people to forego falvation, in a future ftate, for the comforts and pleasures of sin in this. Such exhortations really defeat their intentions. The wifh of the honeft preacher is, that the wicked fhould repent of their fins, and do better; but, at the fame time, he indicates, that fin, at present, is more productive of happiness than righteousness; but that the bad will come in another world; that although doing well is a hard way, yet, its advantages will be great, in another ftate. Juft as much as any person thinks fin to be more happify ing than righteoufnefs, he is finful; his heart efteems it, though, in fome poffible cafes, for fear of the lofs of falvation in the world to come, he may abftain from fome outward enormities; yet his heart is full of the defire of doing them. A thief paffes a

mer

chant's fhop, wishes to fleal fome of his goods, but durft not, for fear of apprehenfion and punnishment. Is this man lefs a

thief, at heart, for not actually taking the goods? I have been told, by persons of high professions in christianity, that if they were certain of falvation in the world to come, they would commit every sin, to which their unbridled passions might lead them; even from the lips of fome who profess to preach the righteousness of Christ, have I heard fuch-like expreffions! I do not mention thefe things to cast refections on any perfon, or denomination in the world; for I have a favorable hope, that there are fome, in all denominations, who are not fo deceived; but I mention them, in order to fhow how deceiving fin is, to the mind. It is as much the nature of fin, to torment the mind, as it is the nature of fire to burn our flefh. Sin deprives us of every rational enjoyment, fo far as it captivates the mind; it was never able to furnish one drop of cordial for the foul; her tender mercies are cruelty, and her breasts of consolation are gall and wormwood. Sin is a falfe mirror, by which the finner is deceived in every thing on which his mind contemplates. If he thinks of his Maker, who is his best friend, it ftrikes him with awe, fills his mind with fearful apprehenfions, and he wishes there was no fuch being. If he thinks of any duty which he owes his Maker, he fays, in a moment, God is a hard mafter,

why fhould he require of me what is fo contrary to my happiness? Religion is only calculated to make men miferable; righteousness blunts my paffions, and deprives me of pleafures for which I long.— But it represents ftolen waters to be sweet, and bread eaten in fecret to be pleafant." In a word, fin is of a torment giving nature to every faculty of the foul, and is the moral death of the mind.

Well, fays the reader, can fin have all thofe evil effects, and not be infinite ?Undoubtedly, as all thofe evil effects are experienced in this finite ftate. Thoufands, who, I hope, are gone to greater degrees of reft, than the most upright enjoy here, were once tormented with fin, were once under the dominion of the carnal mind. The effects of fin, as fin, are not endless, but limited to the ftate in which it is committed. This, perhaps, will be contrary to the opinion of many who read this treatise, as they are wont to fuppofe, that there are three cardinal consequences produced by fin, viz. Death temporal, death spiritual, and death eternal.

As to the first of thefe confequences, I think I have plainly refuted it. Men die natural deaths, becaufe they are naturally mortal; but they are not mortal beG

caufe of fin, for man was mortal before he finned; if he was not, he never could have finned. My opponent will fay, that the death of the body is the confequence of fin, when one man murders another; to which I reply, one man could not murder another, if men were not mortal. Sin cannot be faid to be the cause of natural death, any more than of natural life. I will acknowledge that fin is often the mean whereby natural life is ended, and my oppofer must acknowledge, that it is often the mean of perfons being introduced into natural life. Perhaps an hundred are introduced into existence by illicit connexions, where one is taken out by malice prepence. But the meaning of the objector is, that man became mortal by fin; to which I reply, if immortality is corruptible by fin, the chriftian hope of immortality is a vain one. The death which Adam died, in confequence of fin, happened on the day of tranfgreffion, if we may believe the fcripture account about it; but Adam did not die a natural death, on that day, nor for fome hundreds of years afterwards.

The way in which many have tried to reconcile the fcriptures with their traditions, in this matter, appears strange to me; they quote 2 Peter, iii, 8. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,

that one day with the Lord, is as a thoufand years, and a thousand years as one day ;" and as Adam died fhort of a thoufand years, he died in the day of tranf greffion. But, in order for the text to read to their meaning, it ought to read thus, "One day with the Lord is a thoufand years, and a thousand years is one day;" as they understand the text, the conjunction as has no poffible meaning. In respect to spiritual death, I believe it was all that was meant by the word," in the day thou eateft thereof thou fhalt furely die." But, if eternal death was alfo intended, there was no recovery for man. Why divines have carried this matter fo erroneously beyond all scripture tenets, I cannot imagine. But it is faid, fpiritual or moral death would be eternal, were it not for the difpenfation of the gospel, by which death is fwallowed up of life. So we might fay of any thing elfe, even of a momentary nature; it would be eternal, if it were never to end. The days of a man's life would be eternal, if they were never to end. The fpring would be eter· nal, if it were not fucceeded with the fummer. A rofe would be an eternal flower, if it never withered. And youth would be eternal, if it were not for old age and death. But what do all fuch ar guments avail? The grand, fublime and