278 RUIN AND RECOVERY, &C. first among mankind? And though they had many guesses and, ,loose conjectures, yet none of them could give an account of this matter, to satisfy the minds of studious men. And if we should not hit upon such a solution of this difficulty now, as may on every side make all things lie quite straight and easy, yet if We can but propose a way to solve it, which may maintain the honour of God, and justify his conduct in a good degree, we may expect the reader should be candid in his censures, where the matter of fact is so evident, and yet the manner of account- ing for it is so difficult that it has employed the wisdom of great and learned men in all ages with so doubtful a success. To find an answer to this question, we shall not immediately run into revelation and scripture ; though doubtless, we have the most certain and satisfactory account of it given us there . yet since what the scripture says of this matter is so short, and'is to be derived chiefly from the third chapter of the book of Genesis, and the fifth chapter to the Romans, and from some few other general hints that are scatteredup and down in The bible, let us try whether we cannot by a train of reasonings, with a little help from scripture, find out some clue that will lead us into the spring and original of this sinful and miserable state ; and afterward we will enquire whether or no this very clue of rea- soning, this track of guilt and misery; be not the same which scripture more directly points out to us, and strongly confirms by all its sacred and divine discoveries on this subject. Inorder to trace out this matter by reasoning, let us begin according to the following propositions: I. This general degeneracy of mankind, so far as I can judge, can come upon them but by one of these three ways : either, 1. That the souls of all men existed in a former state, and sinned against their Maker there, and are sent to dwell in bodies in this world, attended with such unhappy circumstances of sin and misery, either as a natural consequent of, or as a ppnishinent for their former sins in some other world. Or, 2. That one original parent of them all sinned against his Maker, and sustained the miseries consequent upon it in his own person first, and when he became a father, he spread a sinful and miserable nature through all his race and offspring by mere propagation. Or, 3. Some original person stood before God, as a common federal head and representative of mankind, upon condition of bringinghappiness or misery on all the race according as he behaved, well or ill ; and through his disobe- dience, sin and misery came upon all whose head he was, or whom he represented. If the two first will not solve the diffi- culty, we shall be constrained to take in the last. Let us ses :+ów: far each will go. II. Thispresentwretched state of things, couldnot arise from
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