all this is little to what we feel, when, after reflecting that the end he had in view was successive preservation, we come to examine the means he has made use of for that end; there it is that the curtain is evidently drawn aside, and the Divinity discovered in the full majesty of his glory; there it is that the proudest, the most reasonably proud of his creatures, and he that discovered the simple law by which all this universal harmony is preserved, and he that made man's first disobedience the subject of his sacred song, renounce the name of wise, which creatures as shortsighted as themselves had conferred on them; and, thoroughly conscious of their own littleness, ascribe the honour there where only it is due. Ascribe, how justly! For once admit what near six thousand years' experience has well confirmed that forming a proper receptacle for the creatures he meant to place in it, and successive preservation, were the designs of the Creator, and then consider what a manifestation of wisdom it was to have placed the sun in such a manner as that every spot by turns should be cheered by its appearance, and benefited by the treasure it gives birth to; what a manifestation of wisdom to have made animals various in number, and different in their natures, to find each its proper food and nourishment in the country it belongs to; to have furnished each with an apparatus for providing this nourishment, a weapon for its defence, an habitation adapted to its want of it; to have made so many of them abandon their way of life, and change, as it were, their very natures, when their young ones stand in need of their

protection. How comes it, if not from the deepest thought and design, that man possesses those parts double which minister immediately to his occasions; that the most useful to him are placed in that part of the body where they can be of the greatest utility; that those of which the loss would be more fatal are most remote from danger, and best fortified against its approaches? Why does the eye naturally contract itself when the light becomes too strong for it? Why does the stomach give such faithful indications of whatever would be contrary to the welfare of the whole frame? Why are the several passages, as well those of the senses as those through which the aliment takes its course, provided in such a manner with bolts, and bars, and doors, that shut spontaneously upon whatever has once passed through them, that nothing hurtful to that part of the system it would intrude into can get through, nothing useful can be sent back? Nor is this all: consider the two great points of reason and conscience; the one to teach us how to make our abode here as comfortable as we can; the other to remind us as often as we swerve from our duty. Which of us can take half these precautions for the welfare of the child he loves, which have been taken by the universal parent for all his children? Which of us has any scheme half so conspicuous, either for the wisdom of the means or the steadiness in pursuing them?

MATY,

VOL. I.

с

ON THE

OMNISCIENCE OF THE DEITY.

How incomprehensible is the knowledge of God, from whom nothing is concealed in heaven or on earth, or under the earth; who overlooks not the situation of a single atom, or the rising of a single thought! He counts the host of heaven, and through an immeasurable extent of empire calls all his subjects by their names. In one immense survey he beholds every creature, from the angel of his presence down even to the insect and the herb, and the dust we tread upon. The meanest individual of his kingdom is not unnoticed by him; or the meanest circumstance of the meanest individual. All hearts are open to him; all secrets are revealed to him; as to him there is no darkness and no mystery, so in him there is no ignorance, and for him there is no information. In every instant he discerns every motion and every thought, though they amount to myriads on myriads; and though in the instant they are produced they perish. As he discerns whatever is within us, or above us, or around us, or beneath us, as wide as immensity itself, without labour, without oversight, and without succession, easily, perfectly, and instantly; so he discerns whatever comes to pass throughout the universe, without error, without surprise, without confusion; clearly, calmly, and unweariedly accompanying, as it were, the universe through its unceasing changes, comprehending all things with

greater facility and certainty than the most enlarged mind he has created comprehends the smallest portion of his works; knowing even the most intelligent of his creatures more perfectly than they are known unto themselves.

Such is the knowledge which the great Ruler of the world must possess and exercise in the government thereof: a knowledge so high that we never can attain unto a just conception of it; surpassing all our thoughts, and justifying all our wonder. Nor could the government of the world be carried on if this knowledge were not as wonderful in its application as it is incomprehensible in its extent. What prudence, what wisdom is not necessary to maintain the order, the comfort, and interests of a little kingdom, of a less society, yea, even of a family; what wisdom then is not needful to him who undertakes the government of the world! What wisdom must he not possess who maintains the good government thereof, uninterrupted and uncontrolled! What innumerable ends are there to be pursued in conjunction with one another, in a just subordination, and all in subserviency to one great end, the happiness of his subjects! What innumerable principles not only different, but even opposite, in their natures, are there to be directed in their operation, combined together in their just proportion, actuated to a certain degree, and within those limits made effectual, beyond them to be counteracted and restrained! How many different species of creatures, how many different humours, how many different wills, what blind and impetuous passions, what per

verse and froward dispositions, what an infinite variety of objects to be attended to, and accommodated one unto another! He who can reconcile, and control, and regulate; he who, through all apparent disorders, can maintain the harmony of the world; he who, through all apparent evils, can promote its real interests, and raise out of what appears to our narrow minds a mighty chaos, that confounds us and oppresses us, the fair fabric of universal happiness; how wonderful must he be in counsel, how abundant must he be in means! Where but in God is wisdom to be found! Where but in the world's great Governor is the place of understanding!

CAPPE.

REFLECTIONS

ON THE

MAGNIFICENCE OF THE UNIVERSE.

THE characters of grandeur and magnificence are so legibly inscribed upon the general face of nature that the most untaught eye cannot fail to read them, nor can the most uncultivated imagination contemplate them without admiration. The surface of the earth, considered merely as a vast picture drawn by the hand of Nature, exhibits scenes adapted to excite emotions of sublimity. Plains whose extent exceeds the limits of human vision; mountains whose sides are embrowned with craggy rocks, and whose majestic summits hide themselves in the clouds; seas whose spread.