III. the garden of the Hefperides, an evident CHAP. tradition of the Mofaical Paradife. It is faid to have produced golden fruit, and to have been guarded by a ferpent, which Lucretius deferibes, as encircling with its folds the trunk of the myfterious tree. Hercules overcame the ferpent and poffeffed himself of the fruit. This conclufion of the fable is fuppofed, by Sir Walter Raleigh, to have originated from the promise delivered to the woman immediately after the fall. "The fiction," fays he, " of thofe golden apples kept by a dragon, was "taken from the ferpent which tempted "Evah; fo was Paradife itself transported "out of Afia into Africa, and made the garden of the Hefperides: the prophecies, that Chrift fhould break the ferpent's head, and conquer the power of hell, occafioned the fables of Hercules killing the ferpent of the Hefperides, and defcending into hell, and captivating "Cerberush." 66 g "Aureaque Hefperidum fervans fulgentia mala 'Asper, acerba tuens, immani corpore ferpens, LUCRET. de Nat. Rer. lib. v. 33. h Raleigh's Hift. of the World, p. 73. VOL. I. G From SECT. 1. From the holiness of the garden of Eden, the Pagans probably borrowed their ancient cuftom of confecrating groves to the worship of their various deities. That fuch was the cafe with the inhabitants of Canaan, appears abundantly from numerous paffages of Scripture, in which the tendency of the Ifraelites to this mode of idolatry is feverely reprobated. Tacitus mentions a fimilar cuftom as being prevalent among the Semnones, a tribe of the Germans, and likewife among feveral other clans of the fame nation. We are informed by Pliny, that among the Romans, trees were formerly the temples of the Gods; and that even in his time, according to the ancient rites, the fimple peafantry yet dedicated every tree, which furpaffed the reft, to the Deity. The defcription given by Quintus Curtius of the facred grove of Jupiter Hammon is fingularly beautiful, and almost presents to the imagination the deep fhades i Tacit. de Mor. Germ. 39, 40. * "Arbores fuere numinum templa, prifcoque ritu fimplicia rura, etiam nunc, Deo præcellentem arborem di"cant." PLIN. Nat. Hift. lib. xii. c. 1. and and the crystal ftreams of Eden. "At CHAP., length," fays he, “ they arrived at the "confecrated habitation of the Deity, which, incredible as it may seem, was "fituated in the midst of a vast desert, and "shaded from the fun by fo luxuriant a vegetation, that its beams could scarcely penetrate through the thickness of the foliage. The groves are watered by the "meandering streams of numerous foun"tains, and a wonderful temperature of "climate, resembling most of all the delightful season of spring, prevails through "the whole year with an equal degree of falubrity!" The fame ancient mode of worship prevailed likewife among the Celtic nations, and the Druidical rites were folemnized in mystic circles of huge rocks, concealed from the gaze of profane eyes in the deep gloom of immenfe forests. Thus, even long after the time that Paradife was forfeited, sweet was its remembrance to the fons of Adam, and delightful every image which could recal it to their recollection. The grove formed a part SECT. equally in their pleasures, and in their reI. ligious rites; the fage delighted to mufe beneath its cooling fhades, and the moft folemn offices of a fplendid, though perverted worship were performed within its gloomy receffes. II. The fall. II. The happinefs, which man enjoyed in the garden of Eden, was probably of no very long duration. He tranfgreffed the pofitive commandment of God, and thus became utterly depraved and corrupted. The taint of this rash act of difobedience derived itself to his remoteft pofterity, and the whole race of his defcendants became vitiated to the very heart. The unaffifted powers of our darkened understandings are now unequal to the tafk of comprehending divine truths; and, as long as we remain in a state of nature, even the Gofpel itself is foolishness to us. Spiritual myfteries can only be spiritually difcerned, and fpiritual difcernment can only be acquired by the illumination of the Holy Ghost". Hence the Apostle prays in behalf of the Ephefians, that God would give unto them" the fpirit of wisdom and "revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of their underftanding being enlightened; that they might know what "is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory "of III. While our intellects are by nature thus fpi- CHÁP. ritually blind, our other faculties have experienced a fimilar degree of perversion and depravation. We have equally lost the defire and the power to obey the commands of heaven. Our affections are fet upon things below, not upon things above; and the creature is fet up as an object of worship, in oppofition to the Creator. Sunk in the deep fleep of fpiritual death, we are utterly unable of ourselves to help ourfelves; and the fame Almighty voice, that once called our material frame out of its original nothing, muft again be exerted, ere we can be roufed from our fatal lethargy. "We are tied and bound with "the chain of our fins," from which nothing but the pitifulness of God's great mercy can loofe us." And even when that is effected, our spiritual strength is fo "of his inheritance in the faints; (Ephef. i. 17.) that they "might be able to comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Chrift, which 'paffeth knowledge." Ephef. iii. 18. " " Thus Bp. Reynolds; "All the good we have is from "God; he only must be fought unto for it; we have none "in ourselves: I know that in me, that is in my flesh, "dwelleth no good thing; we can neither think, nor fpeak, nor do it." REYNOLDS's Works, firft Serm. on Hofea, P. 747. G 3 withered, |