or his adaptation of means to ends, for infinity in number, duration, and extent, are to us finite creatures unsearchable, and his works past finding out; yet so far as we can see into the methods of the Divine proceedings, in his works of Nature, Providence, and Grace; so far as He has been pleased to lay open his counsels to us, we see the highest reason to admire and adore his Goodness; and the farther we are able to penetrate into the laws and constitution of nature, the more do we see of their benevolent design and tendency. Every kind and degree of enjoyment and happiness which are experi enced by every percipient and rational being, in every part of every world, of every system of worlds which is scattered through the boundless Universe, is the effect of the Divine Bounty.

Thus God being infinitely, independently, and unchangeably powerful, wise, and good, He must be infinitely, independently, and unchangeably happy. There

is an absolute fullness in his nature. The unhappiness which men are exposed to, arises from, and is the consequence of an imperfect nature. It proceeds from ignorance, from want of power, or want of goodness. Remove the cause, and the effect will cease. In that venerable and adorable Being, in whom there is no defect natural, intellectual, or moral, there can be no want, no desire unaccomplished, no uneasiness, not the least degree of unhappiness. The possession and exercise of infinite power, unerring wisdom, and perfect Goodness, without interruption, and without end, must constitute a happiness, entire, absolute, and perfect.

The firm belief and habitual consideration of this truth, will prevent many erroneous opinions respecting the Divine administration, and will lay a foundation for consistency in religion, both in principle and in practice. It is not so necessary to point out the mode of its operation, as to fix the principle deeply

in our minds, and to leave it to its own exertion. Firmly persuaded that God is perfectly happy in Himself, we shall clearly understand the nature of Prayer, and of all religious addresses to Him, as well as of the death of Christ; the Law which He has given to direct our conduct, and the duties which He requires from us, which must be to promote our happiness and not His. Firmly persuaded that perfect felicity results from the possession of Power, Wisdom, and Goodness in the highest degree, we shall make use of all the means with which we are favoured, to acquire these in as high a degree as possible. The first indeed, Power, does not depend upon ourselves. Wisdom and Goodness are the only qualities which we should endeavour to obtain, trusting that God will, in some future period, bestow upon us that degree of power or ability, which will enable us to enjoy that happiness which our wisdom, and particularly our moral excellencies, qualify us to experience. From these last, from Wis

dom, and particularly from Goodness, our felicity must proceed. At present our own imperfection, and the imperfection of others around us, prevent us from the enjoyment of any high degree of felicity. Let us then not expect it in this scene of intellectual and moral weakness, in this school of rational beings for immortality; but let us prepare ourselves for the enjoyment of it in a future and better state. Let us cultivate those intellectual and moral faculties, in which our happiness must finally consist; and let us look forward to that glorious period, when we shall be free from the difficulties which at present surround us - when we shall be free from those temptations which are now so great a trial of our virtue when our minds will be no longer agitated by the folly or wickedness of those with whom we are connected ;-when we shall no longer see through a glass darkly, but face to face; when our knowledge will no longer be partial and defective, but we shall know even as also we are known.

LECTURE XL.

THE Comfort which arises from clear and rational views of the Divine Administration, depends not only upon the persuasion that things have been and are at present, under the direction of unerring wisdom and perfect goodness, but that they will remain so in future; or, in other words, that they will continue to be governed by the same laws, by which they are regulated at present. If we ask ourselves why we believe that the sun will rise tomorrow; why we expect that the food we eat will continue to nourish us, or that any of the Laws of Nature will any longer observe their wonted course; we find that we must résolve all into the will of that Being, at whose command Nature received her birth, by whom all the laws