_original Transgression_. But allowing we are born into the
World, with this _Propensity to Evil_, and that we derive it from
_Adam's_ Sin; yet if God be _merciful_, he could never leave us in
this deplorable Condition; nor would his _Impartiality_ admit of
_redeeming_ the one Part of Mankind in a mere arbitrary Manner, and
_leaving_ the other _to perish_. Nor can much Righteousness be
expected from the _Justice_ of that Being, whose Mercy can be an
idle and unconcerned Spectator, in so very moving, piteous, and
Miserable a Circumstance. As to _Adam's_ Posterity, where is the
Difference to them, whether their present weak and despoiled
Condition (as these Men deem it) be the immediate Work of _Creation_
itself, or the _Effect_ of _Adam's Sin_, and Abuse of his
intellectual Powers. We are what we are by _Necessity_, strict
_Necessity:_ and though it may be called _moral Necessity_, in order
to palliate and distinguish it from that which is natural; it
operates on us, to all Intents and Purposes, equally the same; and
the giving it a milder Name, looks like a sophistical Artifice. If
Man's Nature be impaired by the Act of another, God, as a _just_ and
_good_ Being, will either abate of the Rigour of his original Law,
or replenish and restore our decayed Powers.

The _same Goodness_ (if these Gentlemen will allow it was
_Goodness_) which prompted the Almighty to make Man such an
excellent and blessed Creature in the Beginning, must also prevail
with him, to look even on _Adam_ himself with an Eye of Pity and
Compassion, after he had sinned; and much more must he be inclined
to provide for the _Restoration_ of his Off-spring, who themselves
had not _actually_ sinned, but yet had their Natures impaired by the
_Fall_. Besides, if Man was first enslaved by the Devil, not of
_Force_, but by _Fraud_ and _Temptation;_ and Jesus Christ be a kind
of _Chieftain_, set up against Antichrist; his Method of _Recovery_
must be as extensive as the _Fall_--Why does he save some? but as
they are Objects of Mercy, and to recover, with a just Indignation,
Souls, originally God's own, out of the Hand of an Usurper, Tyrant,
and Destroyer. How can these Reasons operate as to a Part, and have
no Influence as to the Remainder? The more I reflect upon the
Doctrine, and view it in every light, the more terrifying and
deformed it appears: and there is no Argument, short of God's
_Sovereignty_, that will relieve the Difficulty; which admitted,
will