ceffary to complete their Happiness, which intirely depended upon his unfinning Obedience; that, by his Tranfgreffion, he forfeited for them, as well as for himself, the Favour of his Maker, and the original Happiness of their State and Condition, from which they fell into their present lamentable State of Mortality and Corruption, it is natural to conceive, that as the whole animal Creation fympathizes and fuffers with their finful unhappy Lord and Master; fo they shall, with him, in due Time, recover their loft Happiness, and return to their primitive Perfection; that the Redemption and Glorification of the one, must neceffarily be the Redemption and Glorification of the other; that as they, as well as we, fell in, and by, the Tranfgreffion of the firft Adam, fo they, as well as we, fhall be reftored by the meritorious Obedience and powerful Interceffion of the Second, which the Royal Pfalmift plainly declares, P. xxxvi. 6. Thou, Lord, fhalt fave both Man and Beaft. And by Parity of Reason we may conclude, that the vegetable as well as animal Creation, fhall have their proportionable Degrees of the fame Bleffing, and be Partakers of the fame Glory; fo that all the original Bleffings implanted in the vegetable World at the first Creation shall be restored again: When all the Fruits and Flowers of Paradife, which were created to adminifter Nourishment and Pleasure to the paradifiacal Bodies of our fallen unhappy Parents, fhall recover their original Tincture, Life, and Spirit, to be the spiritual Food and Nourishment of the renewed human Nature. This our Bleffed Lord plainly tells us, Matt. xxvi. 29. when, at the Celebration of his laft Supper, he affures his Difciples. that he would thenceforth drink no more of the

Fruit of the Vine, until that Day when he should drink it new with them in his Father's Kingdom.

The Certainty of this grand Event, the Restitution of this whole visible World to its original Perfection, is plainly and fully attefted by St. Paul, Rom. viii. 19, 20, 21, 22. The earnest Expectation of the Creature waiteth for the Manifeftation of the Sons of God. For the Creature was made fubject to Vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the fame in Hope; because the Creature itself also shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God; for we know that the whole Creation groaneth and traveleth in Pain together until now. The great Point on which the true Interpretation of this Paffage depends, is to find out the true Meaning of the Word Creature, in what Senfe the Apoftle uses it in this Place. Most of our modern Commentators have gone violently out of the way in queft of any Meaning but the true one. The pious and learned Dr. Hammond understands by it the Gentile World, in Oppofition to the Jews, whom he fuppofes to be meant by the Sons of God; and, by this falfe Key, has entangled and perplexed, instead of opening and explaining, this glorious Prophecy. The late learned Dr. Whitby juftly cenfures this Interpretation, and has advanced another equally abfurd and contradictory. He understands by it the whole Race of Mankind; but feems himself to be fenfible he was in the wrong, by fhuffling over feveral Expreffions, which, if duly confidered, would have fhewn him his Miftake, and led him into a more confiftent Scheme of Interpretation. However, after he had fufficiently puzzled himself and his Readers with aiming at something like a Meaning, he attempts to

give you from Quotations out of two of the primitive Fathers, what he calls the antient and almofl primitive Expofitiou of thefe Words. After which, he modeftly fubjoins his own Judgment: I differ only from the Fathers in this Interpretation as to this fingle Circumftance, that I do not extend this Defire of the Redemption of the Body from Corruption to brute Beafts, and infenfate Greatures, but only to Mankind in general fubject by Adam's Fall to Mortality, p. 45. Now I muft needs fay, it would have been but modeft and reasonable in the Doctor, after having entered his Proteft, to have given us his Reasons for diffenting from this almoft primitive Expofition. And I believe it would be very hard to produce any Reafon againft their future Reftoration, which would not conclude as ftrongly against their firft Creation. If infinite Wisdom and Goodness faw fit to produce fuch numberlefs Ranks and Orders of Creatures, to complete the Harmony of the univerfal Syftem, and to fhare with Man in the Bleffings and Glories of Paradise, before Sin and Death entered into the World, is it not highly reasonable to imagine, that they are preferved by the fame infinite Wisdom and Goodness to be Sharers in the Happiness and Glory of the new World, when Sin and Sorrow fhall ceafe, when Corruption and Mortality fhall be no more, and Death itself fhall he fwallowed up in Victory?

There is one Expreffion in ver. 22. which seems plainly to determine what we are to understand by the Creature, and may be juftly confidered as an infallible Key to the Apostle's whole Meaning; and that is, that the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in Pain together till now. Now it is plain at first Sight, that VOL. I.

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the

the whole Creation, which groaneth and travaileth in Pain, is that very Creature that waiteth for the Manifeftation of the Sons of God; that very Creature that shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God. Whatever Part of the Creation, therefore, fuffers under any Shape or Degree of Imperfection, Misery, Corruption, and Mortality, may be justly confidered as groaning and travailing in Pain, and by consequence, as Candidates for Redemption and Immortality. Now, as it is plain that no one Part of the Creation is exempted from the Bondage of Corruption; fo it feems equally plain, that no one Part shall be excluded from the univerfal Deliverance; and that the Redemption from the Curfe must be as univerfal as the Curse itself; so that whatever fuffers by the Fall, fhall be reftored at laft into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God. And this may help us to an easy Explanation of an Expreffion, that cannot otherwise be eafily reconciled to the ordinary Forms of Speech. The Paffage is Mark xvi. 15. where the Apostles are commanded to preach the Gospel to every Creature; from whence fome of the legendary Writers of the Church of Rome have juftified the Preachments of their Saints to the Birds, Beafts, and Fishes, and thereby given the Precept a ridiculous Turn, and furnished Occafion of Mirth and Derifion to Infidels and Fools: But in this View it appears capable of a plain and natural Meaning, Go ye forth into all the World, and preach a joyful Meffage of Redemption to the whole Creation. And I muft needs fay, it has often puzzled me to think, why the fame Expreffion in the Original should be thus differently rendered in English, fo as to be called every Creature

in

in one Place, and the whole Creation in another; which, tho' really and truly the fame Thing, yet have a quite different Manner of Appearance in the different Manner of Expreffion, but on my Principles eafily reconciled. Accordingly I fhall endeavour to give you a plain and natural Paraphrase of this famous Paflage in the Epiftle to the Romans, Ch. viii. v. 19, 20, 21, 22. without troubling you with critical Remarks upon the Original, or Authorities from the Antients, both which concur to establish the Truth for which I am contending." The Struggles and Distreffes of every "Part of the visible Creation are ftrong Indications "of a universal Degeneracy and Curse, from which "they feem to labour and figh for Deliverance, and "which they fhall certainly obtain at the glorious "Appearance of their great Redeemer, who fhall

come in the Glory of his Father, and of his holy "Angels, and all his Saints with him, to triumph "over Sin and Death, to repair the Ruins of fallen "Nature, and establish the Kingdom of God upon "this very Earth, in which his Will fhall be done "as it is in Heaven. For the Vanity and Mifery "under which they now groan, was not the Effect "of any voluntary Guilt or Tranfgreffion of their

own, but was brought upon them by the Tranf"greffion of our first Parents, but under a fure and "certain Hope of Redemption, by the all-fufficient "Merits and Interceffion of our Lord Jefus Chrift, "who is their Saviour as well as ours; when he "fhall have accomplished the Number of his Elect, "and begun to establish his Kingdom: Then shall "the whole vifible Creation that fell under the Curfe "by the Sin of Man, be reftored with the human U 2 Nature,