Lastly, Is it not natural for us to extenuate our sin, and transfer the guilt upon others? And when God examined our guilty first parents, did not Adam lay the blame on the woman? And did not the woman lay the blame on the serpent? Gen. iii. 12, 13. Now Adam's children need not be taught this hellish policy; for before they can well speak, (if they cannot get the fact denied) they will cunningly lisp out something to lessen their fault, and lay the blame upon another. Nay, so natural is this to men, that in the greatest of sins, they will lay the fault upon God himself; they will blaspheme his holy providence, under the mistaken name of misfortune or ill luck, and thereby lay the blame of their sin at heaven's door. And was not this one of Adam's tricks after his fall? Gen. iii. 12. And the man said, the woman whom thou ga••st to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Observe the order of the speech. He makes his apology in the first place; and then comes his confession: his apology is long; but his confession ⟨p. 45⟩very short; it is all comprehended in a word, And I did eat. How pointed and distinct is his apology, as if he was afraid his meaning should have been mistaken? The woman, says he, or that woman, as if he would have pointed the judge to his own work, of which we read, Gen. ii. 22. There was but one woman then in the world; so that one would think he needed not have been so nice and exact in pointing at her; yet she is as carefully marked out in his defence, as if there had been ten thousand. The woman whom thou gavest me: here he speaks, as if he had been ruined with God's gifts. And to make the shift look the blacker, it added to all this, thou gavest to be with me, a constant companion, to stand by me as a helper. This looks as if Adam would have fathered an ill design upon the Lord, in giving him this gift. And after all, there is a new demonstrative here, before the sentence is complete: he says not, The woman gave me, but the woman she gave me, emphatically, as if he had said, She, even She gave me of […]. This much for his apology. But his confession is quickly over, in one word, (is he spoke it) and I did eat. And there is nothing here to point to himself, and as little to show what he had eaten. How natural is his black art to Adam's posterity? He that runs may read it. So universally does Solomon's observe hold true, Prov. xvii.
Lastly, Is it not natural for us to extenuate our sin, and transfer the guilt upon others? And when God examined our guilty first parents, did not Adam lay the blame on the woman? And did not the woman lay the blame on the serpent? Gen. iii. 12, 13. Now Adam's children need not be taught this hellish policy; for before they can well speak, (if they cannot get the fact denied) they will cunningly lispout something to lessen their fault, and lay the blame upon another. Nay, so natural is this to men, that in the greatest of sins, they will lay the fault upon God himself; they will blaspheme his holy providence, under the mistaken name of misfortune or ill luck, and thereby lay the blame of their sin at heaven's door. And was not this one of Adam's tricks after his fall? Gen. iii. 12. And the man said, the woman whom thou ga••st to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Observe the order of the speech. He makes his apology in the first place; and then comes his confession: his apology is long; but his confession ⟨p. 45⟩very short; it is all comprehended in a word, And I did eat. How pointed and distin•t is his apology, as if he was afraid his meaning should have been mistaken? The woman, says he, or that woman, as if he would have pointed the judge to his own work, of which we read, Gen. ii. 22. There was but one woman then in the world; so that one would think he needed not have been so nice and exact in pointing at her; yet she is as carefully marked out in his defence, as if there had been ten thousand. The woman whom thou gavest me: here he speaks, as if he had been ruined with God's gifts. And to make the shift look the blacker, it added to all this, thou gavest to be with me, a constant companion, to stand by me as a helper. This looks as if Adam would have fathered an ill design upon the Lord, in giving him this gift. And after all, there is a new demonstrative here, before the sentence is compleat: he says not, The woman gave me, but the woman she gave me, emphatically, as if he had said, She, even She gave me of 〈…〉. This much for his apology. But his confession is quickly over, in one word, (is he spoke it) and I did eat. And there is nothing here to point to himself, and as little to shew what he had eaten. How natural is his black art to Adam's posterity? He that runs may read it. So universally does Solomon's observe hold true,
