is fo far from an evidence that our first parents could go into an overt act of rebellion, confiftent with retaining any degree of love to God, that it is a proof of the contrary, and that man, by the first apoftacy, funk into total depravity, and became wholly a rebel, and altogether opposed to the divine law.

Ir has been obferved, and it is thought, proved in the foregoing chapter, that all mankind were created and comprehended in the firft man; as much as were all the trees and plants, in the first trees and plants which were made, with the feed in themselves, to produce a fucceffion of trees and plants, after their kind, to the end of the world. Therefore in what God faid to Adam, and his tranfactions with him in giving him law, and forming a covenant with him, he was confidered and treated as comprehending all mankind; and he was the real and conftituted head of the whole race, fo that his obedience, or tranfgreffion, fhould affect all mankind, as it affected him, and was to be confidered as the obedience or difobedience of all. It is propofed now, to attempt to explain this point more fully, and show how far, and in what refpects, all Adam's pofterity are comprehended in the firft tranfgreffion, and affected by it.

I. By the conftitution and covenant with Adam, his firft difobedience was the difobedience of all mankind. That is, the fin, and confequent ruin of all the human race, was by this conftitution infallibly connected with the firft fin of the head and father of the race. By the divine conftitution, the appointment of God, if the head and father of mankind finned, the whole race of men, all his pofterity, fhould fin; and in this fenfe it should be the fin of the whole. Accordingly, when the head became a finner, and moral corruption took poffeffion of the heart, a sure foundation was laid, by the conftitution

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under

under which man was, for the fame fin and moral corruption to take place and spread through all the human race Juft as by a divine appointment, or a law of nature, the fap of the root or original stock of a tree paffes into the numerous limbs, twigs and the fruit of the tree, as they fucceffively grow out of it. If the fap, or nature of the root or flock be bad, four or poisonous, the fame is communicated to the whole, and every branch, and all the fruit and feed of the whole tree, is corrupt, four, or poilonous, and of all the trees which spring from that, or are produced by the feed of it. Thus, if any tree was, when first created, of a poisonous nature, and produced fuch fruit, all that race of trees, or all that thould fpring from it, would of courfe be of the fame nature. And if a tree or plant, which was created at firft good and wholefome, did degenerate, and become corrupt and poifonous, all that should proceed from that would, of courfe, be equally corrupt.

The difobedience of Adam, decided the character of all his natural pofterity; and rendered it certain, according to a divine, revealed conftitution, that they fhould be born, and rife into existence as moral agents, in difobedience and rebellion; And that the fame moral corrup tion which then took place in his heart, fhould fpread through the whole race of mankind. In this fenfe, the firft fin carried in it the fin of all mankind, and contained the feed, and was the foundation of all the moral corrup tion of the human race; as by this they were all confli tuted finners.

II. As the firft fin was, in the fenfe juft explained, the common fin of all mankind, as the difobedience of them all was infallibly connected with it, and by it all the human race were conflituted or made finners; fo as his firft fin brought condemnation, or the penalty of the ..w on Adam, it fell equally on all mankind. For as

the

the fin of Adam inferred and implied the disobedience of all, the confequent condemnation of all, was equally implied and involved in the condemnation of Adam. Or the condemnation and penalty which fell on Adam, the father and head of mankind, really came upon all his pofterity. As the fin was common to all, so was the curfe. And it is here particularly to be obferved, that as Adam first disobeyed, and condemnation and the curfe came upon him, for his difobedience and in confequence of it; fo thefe take place juft in the fame order in his pofterity, their fin, or the moral corruption, which is common to all mankind, firft takes place, as the ground and reafon of their condemnation, and liableness to the threatened penalty.

The evidence that this was the original conftitution under which mankind were placed, has been in some measure given in the foregoing chapter. But there is more clear and certain evidence, that things have actually taken place in this manner and according to fuch a conflitution; and that the fin of all the pofterity of Adam, and the confequent condemnation and curfe, were thus connected with the firft fin of their common father and head, and come upon all mankind as the certain and appointed confequence of the original apoftacy of man; the former being implied, and involved in the latter. This is now to be brought into view, and carefully confidered.

1. The pain, forrow, and train of evils in this world, which iffue in the death of the body, to which all mankind are fentenced, and which actually came upon them all, in confequence of the original tranfgreffion, are a ftanding evidence, and full demonftration, that the fin and condemnation of all the pofterity of Adam, were infallibly connected with that firft fin, and involved in it. Though these evils were denounced to the first parents of mankind on their disobedience, and they only are addreffed

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dressed in the fentence; yet it is evident from fact, that all their pofterity were included in them, and fell under the fame fentence, and were doomed to the fame evils. This is not only an evidence that Adam was confidered, as including his pofterity as their common head, fo that what was faid to him and of him, was faid to, and of all mankind; but also renders it certain, that all his children were confidered as finners, in confequence of the apostacy of their first father; and that there was a certain connection between the firft fin, and the fin and guilt of all mankind. For furely it would not be proper or just to fentence all mankind to these evils, when confidered as perfectly innocent. There is therefore no poffible way to account for this, confiftent with the righteousness and equity of the divine government, but by fuppofing and granting, that all the pofterity of Adam were conftituted, and confidered to be finners, in confequence of his finning, or by his firft offence, there being a certain conftituted connection between his firft tranfgreffion, and the finning of all the human

race.

Separation of foul and body, and the numerous partic ular natural evils which now take place among mankind in this life, could have had no existence, if the ori ginal threatning had been executed without mitigation; or had not the redemption taken place, by which mankind are put into a new ftate of probation, as has been before obferved. Nevertheless, had not man finned, these evils which iffue in the death of the body could not have taken place, as redemption alfo could not. Therefore thefe evils are introduced, and inflicted on man, in confequence of fin, and as a ftanding teftimony of God's difpleasure with him, and confequently cannot be inflicted on any but finners. We are therefore fure that as the death of the body, with other attendant evils, are inflicted on all mankind, they are all confidered

and

and treated as finners; and confequently, that they are really finners; and that their being fuch had a certain connection with the firft fin, upon which they were condemned to these evils.

Adam is fentenced to the death of the body, and all the train of preceding evils, because he had finned, and offended his Maker; and this is exprefsly declared to be the ground of the fentence. And as this fentence was extended to all his pofterity, and they were included in it, as much as Adam himself, they were confidered and treated by this as being finners, whenever they fhould exift; which could not be, unless there were a certain eftablished connection between the fin of the firft man, and the finfulness of all mankind. If it were poffible that any of Adam's natural pofterity fhould be innocent, this fentence could not be extended to them; but they must have been excepted. Therefore as all are included in the fentence, not one of mankind can poffibly be innocent; but the finfulness and guilt of all are infallibly connected with the fin of Adam, and included in it, by an established conftitution.

Many particular inftances of the death of men, who have been cut off in divine providence, are reprefented to be expreffions of God's difpleasure with them for their fins, fuch as the drowning the old world; the deflruction of the inhabitants of Sodom, &c. and innumer. able other inftances. How much more muft the fentence of death upon all mankind, be an expreffion of God's difpleafure with them, for their finfulness and guilt?

2. That the fin and the confequent guilt and condemnation of all the human race, were by divine conflitution, connected with Adam's finning, is very particularly and exprefsly afferted by St. Paul.*

Wherefore, as by one man fin entered into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all

Romans, v. 12, &c.

men,