not only with plenteous food, but with every thing that could give them pleasure; pleasure unmixed with pain; for pain was not yet; it had not entered into Paradise. And they too were immortal. For "God made not death; neither hath he pleasure in the death of any living."adva 6. How true then is that word, "God saw every thing that he had made: and behold it was very good." But how far is this from being the present case! In what condition is the whole lower world! To say nothing of inanimate na« ture, wherein all the elements seem to be out of course, and by turns to fight against man. Since man rebelled against his Maker; in what a state is all animated nature } Well might the Apostle say of this, "The whole creation groaneth together, and travaileth together in pain until now!" This directly refers to the brute creation. In what state this is at present we are now to consider.

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II. As all the blessings of God in Paradise flowed through man to the inferior creatures; as man was the great channel of communication, between the Creator and the whole brute creation: so when man made himself incapable of transmitting those blessings, that communication was necessarily cut off. The intercourse between God and the inferior creatures being stopped, those blessings could no longer.now flow in upon them. And then it was that the creature, every creature," was subjected to vanity:" to sorrow, to pain of every kind, to all manner of evils. Not, indeed," willingly;" not by its own choice; not by any act or deed of its own: but by reason of him that subjected it;" by the wise permission of God, determining to draw eternal good out of this temporary evil.

2. But in what respect was the creature, every creature, then “made subject to vanity?" What did the meaner creatures suffer, when man rebelled against God? It is probable, they sustained much loss, even in the lower fa culties, their vigour, strength, and swiftness. But, un+ doubtedly, they suffered far more in their understanding more than we can easily conceive. Perhaps, insects and worms had then as much understanding as the most intel

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ligent brutes have now, whereas millions of creatures have; at present, little more understanding than the earth on which they crawl, or the rock to which they adhere. They suffered still more in their will, in their passions, which were then variously distorted, and frequently set in flat opposition to the little understanding that was left them. Their liberty, likewise, was greatly impaired, yea, in many cases, totally destroyed. They are still utterly enslaved to irrational appetites, which have the full dominion over them. The very foundations of their nature are out of course, are turned upside down. As man is deprived of his perfection, his loving obedience to God, so brutes are deprived of their perfection, their loving obedience to man.' The far greater part of them flee from him, studiously avoid his hated presence. The most of the rest set him at open defiance, yea, destroy him, if it be in their power! A few only, those we term domestic animals, retain more or less of their original disposition, (through the mercy of God,) love him still, and pay obedience to him.

3. Setting these few aside, how little shadow of good, of gratitude, of benevolence, of any right temper is now to be found in any part of the brute creation! On the contrary, what savage fierceness, what unrelenting cruelty, are invariably observed in thousands of creatures, yea, are inseparable from their natures! Is it only the lion, the tyger, the wolf, among the inhabitants of the forests and plains; the shark and a few more voracious monsters among the inhabitants of the waters; or the eagle among birds, that tears the flesh, sucks the blood, and crushes the bones of its helpless fellow-creatures? Nay, the harmless fly, the laborious ant, the painted butterfly, are treated in the same merciless manner even by the innocent songsters of the grove! The innumerable tribes of poor insects are con-› tinually devoured by them. And whereas there is but a small number, comparatively, of beasts of prey on the earth, it is quite otherwise in the liquid element; there are but few inhabitants of the waters, whether of the sea, or of the rivers, which do not devour whatsoever they can

master. Yea, they exceed herein all the beasts of the forest, and all the birds of prey. For none of these have been ever observed to prey upon their own species,

Sævis inter se convenit ursis.

Even savage-bears will not each other tear.

But the water-savages swallow up all, even of their own kind, that are smaller and weaker than themselves: yea, such, at present, is the miserable constitution of the world, to such vanity is it now subjected, that an immense majority of creatures, perhaps a million to one, can no otherwise preserve their own lives, than by destroying their fellow

creatures.

4. And is not the very form, the outward appearance of many of the creatures, as horrid as their dispositions? Where is the beauty which was stamped upon them, when they came first out of the hands of their Creator? There is not the least trace of it left: so far from it, that they are shocking to behold! Nay, they are not only terrible and grisly to look upon, but deformed, and that to a high degree. Yet their features, ugly as they are at best, are frequently made more deformed than usual, when they are distorted by pain, which they cannot avoid, any more than the wretched sons of men. Pain of various kinds, weakness, sickness, diseases innumerable, come upon them, perhaps from within, perhaps from one another, perhaps from the inclemency of seasons, from fire, hail, snow, or storm, or from a thousand causes which they cannot foresee, or prevent.

5. Thus, "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; even so death passed upon all men." And not on man only, but on those creatures also, that did not sin after the similitude of Adam's transgression. And not death alone came upon them, but all its train of preparatory evils: pain, and ten thousand sufferings. Nor these only, but likewise all those irregular passions, all those unlovely tempers, (which, in men, are sins, and even in brutes, are sources of misery,) passed upon all the inhabi

tants of the earth, and remain in all, except the children of God.

6. During this season of vanity, not only the feebler creatures are continually destroyed by the stronger; not only the strong are frequently destroyed by those that are of equal strength: but both the one and the other are exposed to the violence and cruelty of him that is now their common enemy, man. And if his swiftness or strength is not equal to theirs, yet his art more than supplies that defect. By this he eludes all their force, how great soever it be by this he defeats all their swiftness, and, notwithstanding their various shifts and contrivances, discovers all their retreats. He pursues them over the widest plains, and through the thickest forests. He overtakes them in the fields of air, he finds them out in the depths of the sea. Nor are the mild and friendly creatures, who still own his sway, and are duteous to his commands, 'secured thereby from more than brutal violence, from outrage and abuse of various kinds. Is the generous horse, that serves his master's necessity or pleasure, with unwearied diligence: is the faithful dog, that waits the motion of his hand, or his eye, exempt from this? What returns for their long and faithful service, do many of these poor creatures find! And what a dreadful difference is there between what they suffer from their fellow-brutes, and what they suffer from the tyrant, man! The lion, the tyger, or the shark, gives them pain from mere necessity, in order to prolong its own life; and put them out of their pain at once. But the human shark, without any such necessity, torments them of his own free choice and, perhaps, continues their lingering pain, till, after months or years, death signs their release.

III. 1. But will the creature, will even the brute creation always remain in this deplorable condition? God forbid that we should affirm this, yea, or even entertain such a thought! While "the whole creation groaneth together, (whether men attend or not,) their groans are not dispersed in idle air, but enter into the ears of him that made them. While his creatures "travail together in pain," he knoweth

all their pain, and is bringing them nearer and nearer to the birth, which shall be accomplished in its season. He seeth "the earnest expectation" wherewith the whole animated creation "waiteth for" that final “manifestation of the sons of God:" in which "they themselves also shall be delivered," (not by annihilation: annihilation is not deliverance,) "from the " present "bondage of corruption, into" a measure of " the glorious liberty of the children of God."

2. Nothing can be more express. Away with vulgar prejudices, and let the plain word of God take place. They shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into glorious liberty:" even a measure, according as they are capable, of "the liberty of the children of God."

A general view of this is given us in the twenty-first chapter of the Revelation. When he that "sitteth on the great white Throne," hath pronounced, "Behold, I make all things new" when the word is fulfilled, "The tabernacle of God is with men, and they shall be his people; and God himself shall be with them and be their God:" then the following blessing shall take place, (not only on the children of men; there is no such restriction in the text; but) on every creature according to its capacity. "God 'shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

3. To descend to a few particulars. The whole brute creation will then, undoubtedly, be restored, not only to the vigour, strength, and swiftness, which they had at 'their creation, but to a far higher degree of each than they ever enjoyed. They will be restored, not only to that measure of understanding which they had in Paradise, but to a degree of it, as much higher than that, as the understanding of an elephant is beyond that of a worm. And whatever affections they had in the garden of God, will be restored with vast increase, being exalted and refined in a manner, which we ourselves are not now able to comprehend. The liberty they then had will be completely re