walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." Ezek. xxviii. 12 to 16. Behold what a state

of purity and wisdom was here, and that too, "from the day he was. created!" But he fell from this state of righteousness; for the prophet goes on to say, "By the multitude of thy merchandize, they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire!"

James. There is a very striking resemblance between the state here described and that of our first parents, as represented by Moses: for it appears that this king of Tyrus had "been in Eden, the garden of God;" that he was "full of wisdom and perfect in beauty;" and that he was "perfect in his ways from the day he was created, till iniquity was found in him." And it appears, too, that his punishment was similar to that of Adam; for he was "cast as profane out of the mountain of God." Now it becomes an interesting inquiry with me, whether the cause of his fall was not similar to that of Adam, and whether all men are not, like him, created pure and innocent, by the great Author of our being: for "have we not all one Father?" and "hath not one God created us?" Mal. ii. 10. And if God is "the Father of spirits," as the apostle testifies, Heb. xii. 9, must not our souls come pure out of his hands?

Father. The first of these inquiries, in relation to the manner in which the king of Tyrus fell from his state of purity, is answered by the prophet Ezekiel. "Thus saith the Lord God, Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God; I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the sea; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thy heart as the

heart of God." Now it appears that the sin of our first parents was somewhat analogous to this; for they were induced to believe that they "should be as Gods, knowing good and evil;" and after they had yielded to the temptation, "the Lord God said, Behold the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil." Gen. iii. 5, 23.

James. There is a difficulty with me in understanding what Moses has said, about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was placed in the midst of the garden, and of which our first parents were forbidden to eat: for this appears to me like placing a temptation before them; and yet the apostle James has said, "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."

John. I cannot see that the difficulty would be removed, by saying, that the tree here spoken of was some evil principle in the mind of Adam: for all his principles before the fall were derived from above.— It appears to me, that the temptation was suggested by the serpent, who was only an instrument of Satan, and endowed by him with a miraculous power of speech and reason. We are told that the evil one has the power of " transforming himself into an angel of light;" and, therefore, it was in his power to assume the form of a serpent, in order to effect his malicious designs.

James. As far as my own experience is concerned, I have no evidence of an evil spirit as existing separately from man; all my temptations have arisen from the perverted appetites and desires of my own nature, which are sometimes so disguised by self-love, as to appear like ministers of happiness or angels of light.

Father. I do not think we shall gain any thing bydiscussing the much debated question about the existence of a devil; for, whether there be an evil spirit separate from man or not, I think it is very clear that, unless our first parents had possessed in them

selves a desire for the forbidden fruit, no persuasions of a disguised enemy could have induced them to eat it, contrary to the divine prohibition. A person with no appetite for food, would never fall into the vice of gluttony, especially if he knew that it would destroy his life. It is said, "The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise." Consequently she had an appetite or desire to partake of its fruit. This tree must have been created good, and intended for some good purpose; for when the work of creation was finished, "God saw every thing he had made, and behold it was very good." Now let us recur to our own experience, and we shall find that all our animal appetites, and all our mental desires and affections, are not only necessary to our existence, but conducive to our happiness, when kept under the government of the Divine Spirit, which gives life to the soul. It is only when they are perverted from their original purpose that they become instruments of evil. Adam was created in the image of God; that is to say, his mind was like the Divine mind, full of purity, benevolence; and joy; and he enjoyed the privilege of spiritual communion with God; which is to partake of "the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. ii. 7. But, although he was made a free agent, he was not intended to be so independent of God, as to know of himself what was good and what was evil, without waiting for divine direction. And when he presumed to set up his own will, and to be governed by it, in opposition to the Divine will, he assumed the place of God; and having thus turned away from the Holy Spirit, he ceased to partake of the tree of life;" and, consequently, he died a spiritual death. It was thus that he experienced the fulfilment of the Divine. prediction, "In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die;" for, "to be carnally minded is death;" but "to be spiritually minded is life and

peace." But in this state of alienation from God, Adam was not deserted by the mercy of his heavenly Parent; for he felt "the reproofs of instruction, which are the way of life." That same Divine Word which had been his joy and his consolation while in a state of innocence, now became his reprover and his chastener. It was to him as "a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life," and to exclude him from the garden of Eden, which he was no longer worthy to enjoy. Every one who has attended to his own experience, knows what it is to be condemned for deviating from a known duty; how completely it shuts him out from a state of enjoyment, and prevents him from partaking of that peace of mind which is the reward of obedience. "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Heb. iv. 12. How merciful, how beneficent, is the Divine Author of our being, that he will not suffer us to rest in peace, while in a state of disobedience to his holy law! For in this state of alienation from him we never could be happy. The happiness of man, both here and hereafter, is not made to depend upon any extraneous circumstances, such as the possession of an outward garden; but it depends upon the state of his mind, and the government of his affections. God is perfectly happy and beneficent himself, and he wills. that all his creatures should be happy; but it is impossible for any to participate in his happiness, without becoming.in some degree "partakers of his nature," and by the operations of the Holy Spirit, being renewed into the image of God, in which we were created.

John. This view of the subject is very different from the one I have always entertained, and it appears to me to be inconsistent with many passages in the Scriptures of truth, as well as some facts in the present condition of man, which I shall endeavour to state. In the first place, man being created in the image of God, he must have been immortal; not subject to disease nor death, until he tasted the fruit of "that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste brought death into the world, with all our woe." But having broken the Divine command, he incurred the penalty of death, which sentence was passed upon him when he was expelled from the garden; but the execution of the sentence was deferred for a long period; and he was doomed to eat his bread in the sweat of his face, till he returned unto the ground from whence he was taken.

Secondly. When Adam had eaten of this forbidden fruit, he lost the Divine image of holiness, wisdom, and immortality; and while in this state, his children. were born unto him in his own image of fallen nature; consequently, they must have been born in a state of sin, and subject to mortality..

Thirdly. There are many passages in the Scriptures to confirm these views of the inherent depravity of man, through the sin of Adam. King David says, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And again, he says of the children of men, "They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no not one." The apostle says, "We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." It is also said in relation to the world before the flood, that "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." That this state of depravity was owing to the sin of Adam, may be inferred from the writings of the apostle Paul; for he says, "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,