ing beings he has made, especially to man, who is the lord of this lower creation. In him, says the apostles, we live and move, and have our being. God is the fountain of life; it is his free and beneficent gift. It flows from him; he inspires the very breath of all animal beings, and endows them with the very principles by which, as means, those beings are preserved. He has adapted the lungs for respiration, and has given the air to inflate them. All motion, voluntary or involuntary, proceeds from him; and by his continued energy, the existence of every being is preserved. Every state of being has its proper attributes; and every kind of being, its peculiar advantages and privileges. Each, in proportion to the powers and perfections with which it is endowed, and the necessities of its state, share the solicitude and attention of its Maker. Man, who appears at the head of the creation, is distinguished by a variety of peculiar privileges. On him, the most affectionate regards of his God seem to be concentrated. The condescending goodness of the Supreme Being towards man, and his watchful providence over him, has filled reflecting minds with astonishment and gratitude. What is man that thou shouldest magnify him, that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? and that thou_shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment. Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor; thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; the sheep, the oxen, the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fish of the

sea.

The providence of God is not limited to man, but extends to the whole creation. God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle. I, behold I establish my covenant with you and every living creature that is with you. The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. The providence of God extends even to the smallest objects. A sparrow shall not fall on the ground without your Father; but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

As God is the giver and preserver of life, so he, in his providence, has made the most ample provisions to support and sustain it. When we extend our thoughts through this vast universe, and consider the number and order of beings God has made, from the lowest to the highest link in the chain of the creation, we have a beautiful idea of Divine Providence, in supplying their numerous and multifarious wants. All nature is swarming with life; and this life, however diversified, is nourished by food suited to its nature, which is provided by the providence of God. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth. He sendeth the springs into the vallies, to quench the thirstof every beast of the field. He watereth the hills from his chambers, and 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. The young

lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. All creation waits upon him, that he may give them their meat in due season. What he gives them, they gather; he opens his hand, and they are filled with good. He hideth his face, they are troubled; he taketh away their breath, they die, and return to the dust. Of these vast multitudes, by far the greater proportion of them secure only one meal at a time, which is capable of sustaining nature only for a few hours, and yet the wants of all are generally supplied. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have store-house nor barn, and God feedeth them. The providence of God is equally evident in providing food for man. God gives us as much food as can be reasonably desired, to promote the general happiness of the community. Such is the gracious provision made for man at all times, as fully to illustrate the economy and bounty of the Divine Being. He never gives less than necessary, nor more than is sufficient. His economy forbids men to waste, by giving them, in general, no profusion. His bounty forbids them to want by giving as much as is sufficient for all the necessary purposes of his creatures. By not giving too much, he prevents luxury and riot; by giving enough, he prevents discontent and misery. Thus, he does mankind good, by causing his rain to descend upon the just and the unjust, and his sun to rise upon the evil and the good."

But the providence of God more particularly regards man as a moral and accountable being. Mankind obtained very early notices of the divine superintendence, by special interpositions. In the history of the Old Testament, we have an account of the loss of paradise by sin; of the banishment of Cain, for the murder of his brother; of the translation of Enoch, as the reward of his righteousness; for the wickedness of the old world, and its destruction by the deluge, Noah and his family only excepted, who, by the eminence of his piety, found grace in the sight of God to become the father of the new world. When this new world revolted from God and sunk into idoltary, Abraham was called out to be the head of a mighty nation, which grew up and flourished, by a series of the most wonderful providences; governed by laws of God's own appointment, with promises of protection and blessing, so long as they should be obedient, and threatenings of punishment and destruction, if they turned away to serve other gods; which, in the event, were all punctually and fully verified. Here, we have a visible and standing evidence of a governing providence. The doctrine, then, is established upon higher authority than reason, and upon better evidence than the light of nature. God has revealed himself to men, as the governor of the world, the avenger of the wicked, and the protector of the good. It should, however, be remembered, that in administering the affairs of the universe, it is not the design of providence to render a righteous tribulation to moral conduct in this mutable state. This would have defeated

the plan of providence, and superseded the necessity of the day of judgment.

Although it is not the economy of Divine Providence to reward virtue and punish vice in this state of probation, yet God has frequently interposed to punish signal wickedness, and to reward illustrious virtue. Thus, in the early ages of the world, he often miraculously interposed, to show the nations that he observed their righteous or unrighteous deeds; that he had power to vindicate the honor of his laws, and to make examples, whenever it was necessary, for the correction and reformation of men. Miraculous interpositions were not intended to be permanent or perpetual, but the providence of God was not to cease. Accordingly, he has informed us that what, in the first ages of the world, he had done visibly and by miracles, he would do in the latter ages; by the invisible direction of natural causes. The twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, is replete with this sentiment. Thus, all the elements of nature are at his disposal, and become the instruments of the Almighty to execute his will. They are commissioned to favor the good with national prosperity, with domestic comforts, with safety from their enemies, with fruitful seasons, with a numerous offspring, and with an abundance of all blessings; on the other hand, to punish the wicked with national distress, with indigence, with slavery, with destructions and molestations of every kind; by war, by famine, and by all sorts of diseases. From all of which, it is evident that the most common and the most familiar events are under the direction of God, and are used by him as instruments, either for the good or for the hurt of men. Thus, while he is guiding the sun and the moon in their course through the heavens, while, in this inferior world, he is ruling among empires, stilling the raging of the waters and the tumult of the people, he is, at the same time, watching over the humble and good man, who, in the obscurity of his cottage, is serving and rendering him homage.

III. In confirmation of what the Scriptures teach on this subject, may be urged the experience of all mankind, which, in a greater or less degree, bears testimony in favor of the truth of the doctrine of a superintending providence. To illustrate and enforce this position, we need not have recourse to those sudden and unexpected vicissitudes which have sometimes astonished whole nations, and drawn their attention to the conspicuous hand of heaven. We need not appeal to the history of statesmen and warriors; of the ambitious and the enterprising. We shall confine our observation to those whose lives have been the most plain and simple, and who have had no desire to depart from the most ordinary train of conduct. In how many instances have we found that we are held in subjection to a higher power, on whom depends the accomplishment of our wishes and designs! Fondly we had projected some favorite plan, in the accomplishment of which, we anticipated great pleasure; we thought we had forecast, and had provided

for whatever might happen to intercept our plan; we had taken our measures with such vigilant prudence, that we seemed, to ourselves, perfectly guarded and secure on every side; but at length, some event came about, unforeseen by us and beyond our control, and which, although inconsiderable at first, yet turned the whole course of things into a new direction, and blasted all our hopes. At other times, our counsels and plans have succeeded; we then applauded our own wisdom, and sat down to feast upon the happiness we had anticipated; when, to our surprise, we found that happiness was not there, and that the decree of heaven had appointed it to be only vanity. We labored for prosperity, and obtained it not; it is sometimes made to drop unexpectedly upon us of its own accord. The happiness of man, depends upon secret springs, too nice and delicate to be adjusted by human art; it requires a favorable combination of external circumstances with the state of the mind. To accomplish, on every occasion, such a combination, is far beyond the power of man, but it is what God at all times can effect; as the whole series of external causes are arranged according to his pleasure, and the hearts of all men are in his hands, to turn them wheresoever he will, as the rivers of water are turned. From the imperfection of human knowledge to ascertain what is good for man, and from the defect of human power to bring about that good when known, arise all those disappointments which continually testify that the way of man is not in himself; that he is not the master of his own lot; that, though he may devise, it is God who directs; God, can make the smallest incident an effectual instrument of his providence for overtunring the most labored plans of men.

Accident, and chance, and fortune, are words which we often hear mentioned, and much is ascribed to them in the life of man, but they are no other than names for the unknown operations of Divine Providence; for it is certain, that in the compass of the whole universe, nothing comes to pass causelessly or in vain. Every event has its own legitimate and determined direction. That chaos of human affairs and intrigues where we can see no light, that mass of disorder and confusion which they often present to our view, is all clearness and order in the sight of him who is governing and directing all things, and bringing forward every event in its due time and proper place. The Lord sitteth on the flood. The Lord maketh the wrath of man to praise him, as he maketh the hail and the rain obey his words. He hath prepared his throne in the heavens; his kingdom ruleth over all. A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice.

Thus, we have demonstrated the truth of the doctrine of Divine Providence, from the principles of natural science, from the testimony of revelation, and from the history of man. The evidence is clear, conclusive, and convincing; and establishes the doctrine

beyond a reasonable doubt, or a successful contradiction. Let us embrace it with a firm and unyielding grasp; let it deeply penetrate into our hearts; and there let it live and flourish till the heart grows cold in death, and the immortal spirit wings itself away to the mansions of everlasting rest.

DISCOURSE VIII.

On the mode in which Divine Providence is carried on.

"The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice."-Psalm xcvii, 1.

HAVING, in a former discourse, established the doctrine of Divine Providence, we shall now proceed to illustrate the mode in which its operations are carried on.

1. The providence exerted by the author of nature over his works, is usually divided into two branches; a general, and a particular providence. By a general providence, we mean the management of the universe at large; by which the regularity, the beauty, and the order of nature are preserved, and by which animals and vegetables grow and decay. A particular providence chiefly regards intellectual, moral, and accountable beings, and extends to every individual of the human family. By this particular providence, not only nations rise and fall, but also individuals are exalted and abased, and all the hairs of our heads are numbered. The general and particular providence of God, however, are but parts of one great whole; they are links of the same chain. The general providence of God could not exist without his particular Providence; and his particular providence could not exist without his general providence. By the particular providence of God, his general providence is formed. He takes care of each individual, and, consequently, he takes care of the whole. On the particular providence of God the general providence is built, as a whole is made up of parts.

As it relates to a general providence, the world may be said to be governed, or, at least, cannot be said to fluctuate fortuitously, if there are general laws, or rules by which natural causes act; if the several phenomena in the universe succeed regularly, and in general, the condition of things is preserved, if there are rules observed in the production of herbs, plants, trees, and the like; if the several kinds of animals are furnished with faculties proper to determine their actions in the different stations they hold in the general economy of the world; and, lastly, if rational beings are taken care of in such a manner as will, at least, agree best with reason. By the providence of God, we ought to understand his