asters, this unshaken confidence in God will, upon every occasion, produce a great preponderance of enjoyment, so that if afflictions abound, consolations will much more abound, and peace, and hope, and gratitude, will be the temper of the enlightened and well-governed mind, in a state of the deepest external distress.

It has been asked by those who have speculated upon the subject, whether the laws of nature are the actual energy as well as the wise appointment of God; and whether those effects, which we usually ascribe to the powers of matter, be not, strictly speaking, attributable to the direct agency of the Supreme Being, exerted in correspondence with certain invariable rules which he has prescribed to himself.

A great majority of the wisest and best philosophers have maintained that the laws of nature are the immediate energy of God. They have argued that matter is essentially inert; that it cannot act beyond its surface; and consequently, that all those effects which are usually ascribed to the va

rious active powers of matter, are, in fact, the operation of some intelligent agent, probably of the Supreme Being himself, whose infinite knowledge can never be perplexed by the multiplicity of its objects, whose Almighty power can exert itself at the same instant, in every part of the universe, to produce the effects required; and in whose all-comprehending view events, which, singly considered, are trivial; yet, as parts of a system, are indispensably necessary, and often lead to the most important results.

I love that philosophy which teaches us to see God at all times, in all places, and in all events; and I relish not that cold and cheerless system which excludes the Supreme Being from all agency upon, and connexion with his works. But, whether the laws of nature be the actual energies of God, or whether they be powers derived from him, and acting in every circumstance agreeably to his appointment, producing at all times the very effect which he foresees and intends, is a problem of very difficult solution. Perhaps some may be

inclined to believe that matter is not to be considered and treated as that inert and

sluggish substance which the former systems of philosophy have taught. These philosophers may be disposed to think that all we know concerning matter is a combination of active powers, and that when these powers are suspended nothing of matter remains. Upon this supposition it would be still more proper to say that the powers of matter are the work of God, than that they are his actual energies; and that effects produced by them are the appointment rather than the immediate operation of the Supreme Being.

With this conclusion we may rest satisfied, without entering further into those speculations which lie, perhaps, beyond the reach of the human intellect. In this let us rejoice, that the Lord reigns that his authority is universal and unlimited: that all nature is subservient to his wise and benevolent designs: and that in this instance, as in all others, his will is done on earth, as it is in Heaven.

A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.

THAT the providence of God extends to all events which are brought to pass by the laws of nature, and that he is the proper cause of natural good and evil, is denied by none who profess to believe in the existence and government of the Supreme Being.

It is not equally obvious that events, which are accomplished by the instrumentality of intelligent and voluntary agents, also originate with God, and are justly to be ascribed to him as their proper and primary cause. This, however, is a certain fact; and the evidence of it will ap

pear satisfactory to every one who reflects seriously and calmly upon the subject.

The government of God extends to the thoughts, volitions, and actions of all intelligent and voluntary agents, and to all events which depend upon them. All are foreseen by him, and in their respective circumstances they are permitted, and even appointed by divine wisdom, and constitute necessary links in the magnificent chain of universal order, harmony, and happiness.

This observation is equally true and important, both as it respects individuals and societies. The divine plan is uniformly supported and fulfilled, and there is not a thought of the heart which deviates from its foreseen and appointed course.

First, With regard to individuals.

It is evident that the Maker and Lord of all bas communicated to each every power and faculty which he possesses, the capacity for thought, reasoning, action, enjoyment, or suffering. He has limited to each his measure and degree of intellectual ca