the infinite wisdom, bountiful goodness, and unlimited power of Divine Providence.

§ 8. In the Government of Men, as rational freeagents, God uses not compulsive force to make them either good or bad; but prescribes laws, and affords internal influence to guide and to assist them; defends them by his mighty power from external harm, and constantly watches over them to protect them from spiritual and corporeal danger. As instruments in the hands of Providence, their voluntary actions, both virtuous and vicious, are, however, over-ruled to the fulfilment of his secret counsels, to the regulation of society, and to the distribution of present rewards and punishments according to his righteous judgements.

§ 9. He who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity without indignation, cannot in the remotest sense be the Author of Sin; but he may be said to permit Sin, when he grants to man the use of his liberty in following the bent of his own evil propensities; and thus does not absolutely prevent the commission of sin, although it be in his power to do so. The Almighty not unfrequently, however, restrains and controuls the effects of sin within certain bounds, and to the most beneficial purposes; preserving his dominion over the evil action, yet without destroying the free-agency and consequent responsibility of the sinner.

§ 10. When God is said to "harden the hearts" and to "blind the eyes" of men, the expression only imports, that, either for the purpose of humbling

them under a sense of their corruption and protracted iniquity, or in penal vindication of his justice, he withdraws the influence of his Grace, and suffers them to fall into temptation, to confirm themselves in their obstinate rebellion and impenitence.

§ 11. However inscrutable may be the operations of Providence in the preservation and government of the world, there is no question but that they are ever in perfect consistency with all the moral Attributes of God; and are therefore to be regarded, with profound reverence and gratitude, as Divine Dispensations, to be humbly submitted to, and implicitly relied upon, as proceeding from Divine Appointment.

From Scripture.

SECTION I.

PROVERBS XV. 3. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Acts xv. 18. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Col. i. 17. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Psalm cxxxv. 6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and in all deep places. Dan. iv. 17. The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Isaiah Ixi. 11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Prov. xvi. 33. The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Eccles. ix. 11. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Job xii. 9. Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of the Lord bath wrought this?

SECTION II.

Heb. i. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right-hand of the Majesty on high. Psalm cxlviii. 8. Fire and hail; snow and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word. Psalm civ. 14. He causeth

the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth. Job ix. 7. Which commandeth the Sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars. Jer. xxxiii. 25. Thus saith the Lord, if my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth. Job xii. 23. He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them; he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. Gen. i. 21, 22. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let fowl multiply in the earth. Gen. xxviii. 15. 20, 21. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.

SECTION III.

Psalm xxxvi. 6. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgements are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. Acts xvii. 28. For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 1 Chron. xxix. 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

SECTION IV.

Psalm cxix. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants. 2 Peter iii. 4.

7. And, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store; reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men. Gen. vii. 3. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. Deut. iv, 19. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. Psalm xxxvi. 9. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. Psalm civ. 24, 25. 27, 28, 29, 30. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all : the earth is full of thy riches; So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. These all wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them, they gather thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth.

SECTION V.

Job vii, 20. I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou Preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? Gen. xlviii. 15. And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day. Jer. v. 24. Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Psalm civ. 14, 15. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for