DIALOGUE XIII.

HE Morning had been wet. At Noon the Rain ceased. But the Heavens ftill continued gloomy.-Towards Evening, a gentle eastern Gale sprung up;

which diffipated the dead Calm, and cleared the Face of the Sky.-The Sun, which had been muffled in Clouds, dropped the Veil. Difengaged from the dufky Shroud, He fhone forth with peculiar Splendor. His Beams, endeared by their late Sufpenfion, were doubly welcome, and produced unufual Gaiety.

At this Juncture, Theron and Afpafio walked abroad, They walked alternately on the Terraces; one of which was oppofite to the Country, the other contiguous to the Parterre.-Where the Gales, impregnated with the freshest Exhalations of Nature, breathed the Smell of Meads, and Fields, and Groves.Or elfe, fhaking the Clufters of Rofes, and fweeping the Beds of Fragrance, they flung Balm and Odours through the Air.

At a Distance, were heard the Bleatings of the Flock, mingled with the Lowings of the milky Mo thers. While more melodious Mufic, warbled from the neighbouring Boughs, and spoke aloud the Joy of their feathered Inhabitants.—And not only spoke their Joy, but fpread an additional Charm over all the Landscape. For, amidst fuch Strains of native Harmony, the breathing Perfumes finell more sweet; the ftreaming Rills fhine more clear; and the univerfal Profpect looks more gay..

Then was experienced, what Milton so delicately defcribes ;

As when, from Mountain-tops the dusky Clouds
Afcending, while the North Wind fleeps, o'erspread
Heav'n's chearful Face, the lowring Element
Scowls o'er the darken'd Landscape Snow or Sho'wr :
If chance the radiant Sun with farewel Sweet
Extend his Evening Beam, the Fields revive,
The Birds their Notes renew, and bleating Herds
Atteft their Joy, that Hill and Valley rings.

With Wonder and Delight our Friends obferved, both the exquifite Beauty, and the immenfe Magnificence of Things.-They were ftruck with the moft profound Veneration of that Almighty MAJESTY; who hung the Sun in Vaults of Azure, and clothed his Orb with Robes of Luftre. Whofe Right-hand fpanneth the Heavens, and ftretcheth them aut as a Tent, for innumerable Creatures, Worlds, Systems to dwell in +.-Charmed they were, at the Confideration of the CREATOR's boundless Beneficence. Who lifts up the Light of his Counte

nance,

Ifai. xlviii. 13.

+ Ifai. xl. 22.

nance, and Joy is fhed; who opens his munificent Hand, and Plenty is poured, throughout all the Regions of the Univerfe. Infomuch, that even inanimate Beings feem to fmile under a Senfe of the Bleffings and though they find not a Tongue to praise, yet fpeak their Acclamations by their gladdened Looks.

Ther. How very different, Afpafio, is this delightful Appearance of Things, from your ill-favoured Doctrine of original Guilt, and original Depravity! Your Doctrine is a Contradiction to the Language of Nature. Nature fays, through all her Works, "That GOD is good, and Men are made to be happy." Whereas, your Opinion would turn the whole World into a vaft Hofpital, and make every individual Perfon, a Leper or a Lazarus,

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Afp. I join with my Theron, and with univerfal Nature, in bearing witnefs to the Goodness of our GOD. And nothing, I am perfuaded, displays it more, nothing manifefts fo much, as the Doctrine of our Fall in Adam, connected with our Recovery in CHRIST.-Only in one Particular I am obliged to diffent. It is not my Opinion that would make, but the Sin of our Forcfather which has made, the whole World an Infirmary, and every individual Person a Leper.

Ther. At this Rate, You would croud into that fingle Act of Difobedience, Evils more numerous, and more fatal, than the Plagues which were lodged in Pandora's Box, or the Troops which were stowed in the Trojan Horse.

Afp. Far more numerous, and infinitely more pernicious. The Fable of Pandora's Box feems to

have been a Shred of the Doctrine, picked up by the Heathen Wits, and fashioned according to their fportive Fancy. This would, if there was any Occafion for fuch weak Affistance, bring in the Pagan Theology, as a subsidiary Evidence to our Cause. -The Trojan Horse poured Ruin upon a single City; but the primitive Tranfgreffion entailed Mifery upon all Generations.

Ther. You have advanced this heavy Charge pretty ftrenuously, I must confefs. But without defcending to Facts, or appealing to Experience. All the Invectives are general and declamatory, none pointing and particular.

Afp. It is eafy, my dear Friend, too eafy to draw up a particular Bill of Indictment; and not only to Specify the Facts, but to demonstrate the Charge. Experience, fad Experience will furnish Us with a Cloud of Witneffes, and prove my Remonftrances to be more than Invectives.

Were we to diffect human Nature, as, in our last Conference, You treated the animal Syftem, we fhould find the Leprofy of Corruption, fpreading itfelf through our whole Frame. For which Reafon, it is ftyled, by an inspired Writer, " The Old "Man *."-Old; becaufe, in its Commencement, it was early as the Fall; and, in its Communication to Individuals, is coeval with their Being.Man; because it has tainted the Body, infected the Soul, and difordered the whole Perfon.

St. Paul, defcribing a profligate Converfation, speaks in this remarkable Manner; fulfilling the Defares of the Flesh, and of the Mind +. By the Defires of the Flesh, He means thofe irregular Inclinations, which

* Rom. vi. 6.

+ Eph. ii. 3.

which correspond with the animal Part of our Constitution. By the Defires of the Mind, He denotes thofe evil Propenfities, which are more immediately feated in the intellectual Faculties. And by both, He very ftrongly expreffes the total Depravation of our Nature.

Ther. What You call evil Propenfities, I am apt to think, are not really finful, but appointed for the Tryal of our Virtue.-Nay, fince they are confeffedly natural, they cannot be in themfelves evil. Because, upon this Suppofition, GOD, who is the Author of our Nature, would be the Author also of our Sin.

Afp. Then You imagine, that Propensities to Evil, are void of Guilt. This is the Popish Notion, but neither the Mofaic nor the Apoftolic Doctrine.-In the Law of Mofes it is written, Thou shalt not covet *. The Divine LEGISLATOR prohibits, not only the iniquitous Practice, but the evil Defire.-The Apostle gives it in charge to the Coloffians, Mortify your Members, which are upon the Earth; Fornication, Uncleannefs, inordinate Affection, and, which is the Source of all, evil Concupifcence +. Now, must not that be finful, which is contrary to GOD's holy Nature, and a Tranfgreffion of his holy Law? Can that be free from Guilt, which We are commanded to mortify? Which, if not mortified, denominates Us Children of Difobedience, and fubjects Us to the Wrath of GOD?

Though thefe Propenfities are confeffedly natural, they may be evil notwithstanding. The facred Writers represent what is natural, as contrary to what is fpiritual. Instead of commending it, as innocent;

Exod. xx. 17.

P 4
+ Col. iii. 5.

+ Col. iii. 6.