rior being, we must suppose, either that this superior being is uncaused-in which case it is he who will answer to our conception of the Deity--or that he is dependent upon a third, and that this third is dependent on a fourth, and so on in an infinite series. But this infinite succession of dependent beings requires a first and independent cause, as much as any one in the series; and, however far we may choose to carry our thoughts backward, we must at length come to the conclusion, that there is some one independent, underived Being, the peculiarity of whose nature we endeavor to express by saying that he is self-existent. It is this Being that we term God, and that we suppose to be the Creator of the world.

If, in this visible creation, there be proofs of such contrivance as cannot but convince the mind that it is the production of infinite intelligence, it likewise contains indications of such power as we must acknowledge to be altogether without limits. He who could create such a world as this must be able to do whatever it is possible for wisdom and power to accomplish. We have therefore no difficulty in conceiving, that the Author of this part of the creation is the Author of the universe, however unlimited it be, or however amazing the degree of wisdom and power necessary to the production of it; for, though other worlds may be much greater in magnitude than this, and may contain much higher and nobler displays of wisdom, (which may possibly be the case, though we can scarcely conceive how even infinite wisdom can go beyond some contrivances with which we are acquainted,) yet there are in this globe sufficient appearances of it, to account for any which may exist in other parts of the creation, however glorious they may be.

The discoveries of modern science have exhibited in the most striking light these indications of wisdom in the economy of nature, and education, which is now generally diffused, has rendered them so familiar, that few are entirely ignorant of them. Amidst all these wonders, in nothing, perhaps, is the matchless skill of the Creator more admirably displayed, than in the simplicity of the means which he has adopted to accomplish his vast and

mighty purposes. By one single principle he preserves the planets in their orbits, regulates and adjusts their various movements, determines the descent of bodies to the earth, and retains them at its surface. By a similar, if not the same principle, he causes the particles of matter of which bodies are composed to cohere, and, by the same power, exerted between particles of different kinds, all existing and all possible combinations of matter are formed. The same sun, which gives stability to the system of which it is the centre, furnishes it with light and heat. The same air, which sustains animal life in respiration, alike promotes the process of vegetation, supports combustion, equalizes temperature over the globe, dissolves, elevates, and diffuses water, deposits it again in the form of dew or rain, and thus enriches and beautifies the earth. Though by respiration, by the process of vegetation, and by many other chemical changes which take place without ceasing at the earth's surface, there is a constant consumption of one of the constituent principles of this air, and as constant a production of another, yet it is never deteriorated; because, by an arrangement which, if subsequent investigation shall establish its correctness, must be ranked amongst one of the most admirable adjustments in the whole economy of nature, that part of the air which is no longer fitted for the function of respiration, but which would prove deleterious to animals, is the very part which ministers to the nourishment of plants; and that part which plants exhale, animals inhale. Neither is the air in the least degree exhausted by the constant expenditure of it, either by the two tribes of animated beings, or by the innumerable processes which are constantly taking place, and to which it affords the materials; but, by the disengagement of its simple gases in other processes, and their re-union, the necessary supply, the just equilibrium, is kept up.

The same comprehensive wisdom is seen in the means which have been provided to secure the constant fertility of the earth, by the appointment of the law, that the destruction of one vegetable shall afford nourishment

to another, and in like manner to keep up the supply of food for animals, by the appointment of the law, that they shall furnish subsistence to each other.

Were it necessary, in this argument, to descend to the consideration of the structure of individual bodies belonging to the animal or vegetable kingdom, it would be easy to point out, in both, instances of such consummate skill, as no mind could possibly contemplate without the highest admiration.

The proof of the goodness of the Creator is as complete as that of his wisdom, and even of his existence itself. We infer his existence from the appearance of design in his works, and his wisdom from the exquisiteness of that design; but every proof of design is equally a proof of benevolence, because the object of every contrivance is the production of good. We are not, therefore, more certain of the existence and wisdom of the Deity, than of his goodness; for the very facts on which we ground our belief of the former equally establish the latter.

If, then, the world be indeed the production of a Being who is infinite in wisdom, power, and goodness, the proof of his constant and perfect superintendence of it seems to be irresistible. For, since he is perfect in wisdom, he could not have created it without some design; and that design, whatever it be, he must be careful to accomplish. Whether we suppose he created it with a view to display to his intelligent creatures his wisdom and power, or with a design to impart enjoyment to an inconceivable number and variety of beings, we must believe, in the one case, that he will at all times provide against the interruption of that order which alone can illustrate his perfections, and the destruction of those faculties which are necessary to perceive them, and in the other, that he will suffer no event to happen, which can prevent or impair the happiness he determines to bestow. In every successive period, therefore, he must have exactly the same reason to superintend the events which take place in his creation, as he had at first to preform the glorious work.

Nothing is more evident, than that the inanimate and insensible part of the creation is fitted up for the accommodation, and designed to promote the happiness, of the sentient. The inanimate world is continually in motion, and every movement must influence, in a greater or less degree, the enjoyment of the animal creation. He, therefore, who constructed the wonderful fabric of the world, and so admirably adapted it to the enjoyment of the innumerable beings it contains, continually watches over the movements which take place within it, that they may not break in upon the order, nor impair the happiness he has established.

But the animal creation itself is likewise continually in motion. An animal possesses the power of originating motion, by which sometimes its existence, and always its happiness, in a greater or less degree, are affected. The care of the Deity must therefore extend to the movements of the animal, no less than to those of the material world.

Such, then, being the constitution of things-it being evident that the material* is made for the animal creation-that the material world is continually changing, thereby producing a change in the animal-that the animal world itself is endowed with the property of changing its situation, and every change of state being necessarily attended with a change of sensation—the doctrine which an enlightened philosophy teaches, is, that the Deity, with a view of making that sensation just what he has seen fit to appoint, continually superintends the changes which induce it.

If every particle of matter in the globe be more or less in motion, and if we can fix our eye on no spot where there is not organized and conscious existence, the view which is here given of divine providence is large enough to take in the superintendence of the myriads of changes which, according to this supposition, must be taking place in every instant of time. If every star which

*By material creation is here always meant that part of the world which is supposed to be without sensation, whether organized or unorganized.

shines in the firmament of heaven be a world crowded with inhabitants-if every fixed star be a sun, which illumines a system of worlds, as our sun illumines our system, and if all these worlds and systems be filled with organized and happy creatures, (which is at once the most sublime and the most probable view it is possible to take of the creation,) this account of the divine administration is sufficient to comprehend the superintendence of all the events which must be taking place, in every instant of time, throughout this universe of being, to the extent of which we can set no limits, and in the contemplation of which all our faculties are lost.

Whoever believes that the system of the universe did not start into being without a designing cause, acknowledges that its Author is every where present. Omnipresence is an attribute which seems essential to the very notion of a God. It is true, we cannot understand how, at one and the same instant, he is present in every part of the universe; but this difficulty in conceiving of the mode of the fact neither does nor ought to bring any doubt upon our belief of the fact itself, because our comprehension of every subject whatever is equally obscure and imperfect. We understand nothing of the mode of the existence of any being. We know that we ourselves exist, but we have no conception of the manner in which the wonderful phenomena of life are produced and continued. Of the existence of the Deity, it is impossible to doubt. We see his works-we feel his power; but in what manner he exists we do not know, because we have no data upon which to form even a conjecture respecting the mode of his existence. The reason that we do not know how he is every where present, is because we do not know how he is present any where; that is, because we do not at all comprehend the mode of his existence.

We see that man is bound to a little spot of earth, and that his presence at one time is restricted to that spot. This being the only kind of existence with which our senses have made us acquainted, it is natural that we should find it difficult to conceive how a Being can at the