to be accountable for all he did, then indeed they had been justly chargeable with his fault; but when he is made their head by another, with their confent, and acts without their appointment, his fault cannot with any colour of juftice and equity be charged upon them. How unequal must it be for us to be chargeable with that guilt which was contracted five thousand years before we were born?

If it fhould be farther replied, upon this fuppofition, that it is unjuft in God to impute the fin of one perfon to another, which is no way acceffory to it, then God ftands convicted of injustice in his own word, inasmuch as he is there reprefented as punishing with death all mankind for Adam's tranfgreffion, and that he deftroyed the innocent babes of the old world by the flood, and thofe of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven, not only with, but for the fin of their wicked parents; and his dealing thus hardly with the children in the Babylonish captivity gave occafion for the use of that proverb in Ifrael, viz. the fathers have eaten fower grapes, and the children's teeth are fet an edge; as in Ezek. xviii. 2. Moreover, this was what God threatened he would do in the second commandment, viz. vifit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth ge

neration.

Anfwer, As God is the original fupreme caufe of all things, and fo is the original fountain of life, and of all other bleffings and comforts which every creature enjoys; fo the giving and continuing of life and of every other bleffing is wholly of his free grace, and not what he is in juftice obliged to, except he has any ways obliged himself by promife to them, which promife is alfo wholly of his free grace; fo likewife he may give M

and

and take away life, and every other bleffing, when, and in what way, and by what inftrument, and upon what motive he pleafes, without the leaft injuftice to thofe that he gives them to, and takes them from; because he gives and takes but his own, and invades no one's right and property in fo doing. This being fo, I fay, that tho' all mankind do die, because Adam tranfgreffed God's command, and tho' many thousand infants, which could not difcern between their right hand and their left, were drowned by the flood, and deftroyed by fire from heaven, and carried captive into Babylon, not only with, but because their wicked parents tranfgreffed God's laws; yet in this God did not act unjustly, by imputing the guilt of the parents to the children, and punishing the innocent for the guilty's fake; no, he only exercised his pleafure in taking away thofe bleffings, which according to the principles of juftice and equity, he might give and take, how, and whenfoever he pleafed. And tho' the fin of the parents was the occafion of God's withdrawing those bleffings from the children, yet this, with refpect to thofe children, was not a punishment for, but only a confequence of their parents folly. And tho' Adam's fin introduced death, and death paffed upon all men, as a confequence of his folly, yet it is fo far from being to mankind a punishment for his fin, that on the contrary fometimes God haftens it in tender mercy to the perfons on whom he inflicts it. Thus when he intended to vifit Jeroboam, and his house, for their wickednefs, he firft removed by death good Abijah, because in him there was found fome good thing towards the Lord God of Ifrael, in the boufe of Jeroboam; as in 1 Kings xiv. 12, 13. Ifaiah Ivii. 1. The righteous perisheth (dieth) and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken

away,

away, none confidering that the righteous is taken from the evil to come. Nay, even thofe babes which were drowned by the flood, confumed by fire, and carried captive into Babylon, tho' this was to them a confequence of their parents, and others folly, yet even death and captivity were a mercy to them; because as they were innocent, fo they were helpless; and for them to have been left, when their parents were deftroyed, or carried captive, would have put them into a state, that as it would have been worse, so it would, according to the natural courfe of things, have ended in death, and therefore the removing them, with their parents, was an act of mercy to them.

As to the fecond commandment, I answer; if this was given as a law to individuals, confidered as fuch, and. not confidered as a people or nation, then the threatning to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, refers only to fuch children as follow their parents example in fin, and fo juftify their practice, and confequently become acceffory to their crimes, and fill up the measure of their iniquity; but as for those children that confider and turn from their fathers folly, and cleave ftedfaftly unto God, they are not at all concerned in this threat; and therefore It is expreffed in the command, that God will vifit upon those that hate him, and shew mercy unto thoufands of them that love him, and keep his commandments: and thus it was made good in the idolatrous houfe of Jeroboam, thofe of his children, which followed his example in fin, came under the divine threat, and God executed his difpleafure upon them, but good Abijah was fingled out from the reft (tho' he was Jeroboam's fon) to be the object of God's love, because in him there was found fome good thing towards the Lord God of Ifrael, in the boufe of Jeroboam; as in 1 Kings xiv. 10---13. And thus this cafe is fairly stated in the aforeM 2 faid

faid 18th chapter of Ezekiel. But farther, I fay, if the ten commandments were given the children of Ifrael, confidered as a people or nation whom God had delivered out of the house of bondage, and had given them the land of Canaan, for an inheritance; then tho' every individual was obliged to keep thofe laws, and was interested in the promises and threatenings which God had given, as the arguments and motives to their obedience, yet these promifes and threats were intended and made good to them, confidered as a people. Thus, the fifth commandment faith, Honour thy father and mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. These words St. Paul interprets to be a promife, and calls it the firft commandment with promife; as in Eph. vi. 2. Now this promife was made good to them, not in every particular inftance of obedience, but when they, as a people, were obedient, that is, when the generality of youth did honour or were obedient to their parents, then they came under this gracious promise of living long in the land of Canaan, which the Lord their God had given them for a poffeffion; but as to every particular inftance of fuch obedience, the truth and juftice of God was not engaged to make good this promise thereon, because it was given to them as a people; and therefore those good youths, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, tho' we have reason to hope that they made confcience of this, as well as of the rest of God's laws, yet they were not kept to live long in Canaan, but were carried captive into Babylon. So in like manner the threatening in the fecond commandment was given to them, confidered as a people, that when they, as a people, or nation, did revolt from God, and fet up another god to ferve in his ftead, then God would fo manifeft his difpleasure against

them,

them, that the effects of that displeasure should defcend down to the third and fourth generation. This was made good in the Babylonish captivity. So then, upon the whole, I fay, that tho' God oftentimes fo punished the fins of the parents, as that. the effects of that punishment defcended down upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation; and tho' the fin of the parents may be an occafion of God's withdrawing his bleffing from their children; yet he never imputes the fin of the parents to the children, nor punishes the children for their parents faults; and confequently God hath not convicted himself of injustice in his holy word, as the objection represents him to have done.

If it fhould be farther objected, fuppofing it contrary to the principles of juftice and equity," to impute the guilt of one perfon's actions to another, who was no way acceffory thereto, then God is chargeable with iniquity, or elfe St. Paul is chargeable with preaching falfe doctrine to the world; because in his epiftle to the Romans, he hath declared that fin, and death, and condemnation have paffed from Adam to all his pofterity, and confequently to all those who did never perfonally tranfgrefs. Thus in chap. v. 12. As by one man fin entered into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all men, for that all have finned; and fo on to the end of that chapter.

Before I return an anfwer to this objection, I obferve, that as reafon affures us that God is a righteous Being, and that he deals in all cafes with his creatures, upon the principles of juftice and equity; fo he hath likewife declared this of himself, and that his delight is to do so, and that this is a proper ground of glorying to his creatures; as in Jeremiah ix. 23, 24. Thus faith the Lord, let not the wife man glory in his wisdom, neither.

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