of his providence, and in the requirements of his law, which the Scriptures enjoin. Yet, how often do we find persons who pretend to speculate about the mysteries of the Gospel, displaying,-by their flippancy of speech respecting the eternal councils of the Majesty of Heavenby their dogmatical assertions respecting the divine character, and the dispensations of providence-and by their pertinacious opinions respecting the laws by which God must regulate his own actions--that they have never felt impressive emotions of the grandeur of that Being, whose "operations are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out?" Though they do not call in question his immensity and power, his wisdom and goodness, as so many abstract properties of his nature, yet, the unbecoming familiarity with which they approach this August Being, and talk about him, shows that they have never associated in their minds, the stupendous displays which have been given of these perfections, in the works of his hands; and that their religion (if it may be so called) consists merely in a farrago of abstract opinions, or in an empty name.

If, then, it be admitted, that it is essentially requisite, as the foundation of religion, to have the mind deeply impressed with a clear and comprehensive view of the natural perfections of the Deity, it will follow, that the ministers of religion, and all others whose province it is to communicate religious instruction, ought frequently to dwell, with particularity on those proofs and illustrations which tend to convey the most definite and impressive conceptions of the glory of that Being whom we profess to adore. But from what sources are such illustrations to be derived? Is it from abstract reasonings and metaphysical distinctions and definitions, or from a survey of those objects and movements which lie open to the inspection of every observer? There can be no difficulty in coming to a decision on this point. We might affirm, with the schoolmen, that "God is a Being whose centre is every where, and his circumference no where ;" that "he comprehends infinite duration in every moment;" and that "infinite space may be considered as the sensorium of the Godhead;" but such fanciful illustrations, when strictly analyzed, will be found to consist merely of words without ideas. We

might also affirm, with truth, that God is a being of infinite perfection, glory, and blessedness--that he is without all bounds or limits, either actual or possible-that he is possessed of power sufficient to perform all things which do not imply a contradiction--that he is independent and self-sufficient-that his wisdom is unerring, and that he infinitely exceeds all other beings. But these, and other expressions of a similar kind, are mere technical terms, which convey no adequate, nor even tolerable notion of what they import. Beings, constituted like man, whose rational spirits are connected with an organical structure, and who derive all their knowledge through the medium of corporeal organs, can derive their clearest and most affecting notions of the Divinity, chiefly through the same medium, namely, by contemplating the effects of his perfections, as displayed through the ample range of the visible creation. And, to this source of illustration, the inspired writers uniformly direct our views-" Lift up your eyes on high, and behold! who hath created these orbs? who bringeth forth their host by number, and calleth them all by their names? The everlasting God, the Lord, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power"

"He hath made the earth by his power; he hath established the world by his wisdom; he hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding.”—These writers do not perplex our minds by a multitude of technical terms and subtle reasonings; but lead us directly to the source whence our most ample conceptions of Deity are to be derived, that, from a steady and enlightened contemplation of the effects, we may learn the greatness of the Cause; and their example, in this respect, ought, doubtless, to be a pattern for every religious instructor.

SECTION II.

Illustrations of the Omnipotence of the DEITY.

In order to elucidate more distinctly what has been now stated, I shall select a few illustrations of some of the Na

tural attributes of the Deity. And, in the first place, I shall offer a few considerations which have a tendency to direct, and to amplify our conceptions of Divine Power.

Omnipotence is that attribute of the Divine Being, by which he can accomplish every thing that does not imply a contradiction-however far it may transcend the comprehensions of finite minds. By his power the vast system of universal nature was called from nothing into existence, and is continually supported, in all its movements, from age to age. In elucidating this perfection of God, we might derive some striking illustrations from the records of his dispensations towards man, in the early ages of the world-when he overwhelmed the earth with the deluge, which covered the tops of the highest mountains, and swept the crowded population of the ancient world into a watery grave-when he demolished Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, with fire from heaven-when he slew all the first-born of Egypt, and turned their rivers into blood-when he divided the Red Sea, and the waters of Jordan before the tribes of Israel-when he made the earth to open its jaws and swallow up Korah and all his company-and when he caused Mount Sinai to smoke and tremble at his presence. But, these and similar events, however awful, astonishing, and worthy of remembrance, were only transitory exertions of divine power, and are not calculated, and were never intended, to impress the mind in so powerful a manner as those displays of Omnipotence which are exhibited in the ordinary movements of the material universe. We have no hesitation in asserting, that, with regard to this attribute of the Divinity, there is a more grand and impressive display in the Works of Nature, than in all the events recorded in the Sacred History. Nor ought this remark to be considered as throwing the least reflection on the fulness and sufficiency of the Scripture revelation; for that revelation, as having a special reference to a moral economy, has for its object, to give a more particular display of the moral than of the natural perfections of God. The miracles to which we have now referred, and every other supernatural fact recorded in the Bible, were not intended so much to display the plenitude of the power of Deity, as to bear testimony to the Divine

mission of particular messengers, and to confirm the truths they declared. It was not, for example, merely to display the energies of Almighty power, that the waters of the Red Sea were dried up before the thousands of Israel, but to give a solemn and striking attestation to all concerned, that the Most High God had taken this people under his peculiar protection-that he had appointed Moses as their leader and legislator-and that they were bound to receive and obey the statutes he delivered. The most appropriate and impressive illustrations of Omnipotence, are those which are taken from the permanent operations of Deity, which are visible every moment in the universe around us; or, in other words, those which are derived from a detail of the facts which have been observed in the material world, respecting magnitude and motion.

In the first place, the immense quantity of matter contained in the universe, presents a most striking display of Almighty power.

In endeavouring to form a definite notion on this subject, the mind is bewildered in its conceptions, and is at a loss where to begin or to end its excursions. In order to form something approximating to a well-defined idea, we must pursue a train of thought commencing with those magnitudes which the mind can easily grasp, proceeding through all the intermediate gradations of magnitude, and fixing the attention on every portion of the chain, till we arrive at the object or magnitude of which we wish to form a conception. We must endeavour, in the first place, to form a conception of the bulk of the world in which we dwell, which, though only a point in comparison of the whole material universe, is, in reality, a most astonishing magnitude, which the mind cannot grasp, without a laborious effort. We can form some definite idea of those protuberant masses we denominate hills, which rise above the surface of our plains; but were we transported to the mountainous scenery of Switzerland, to the stupendous range of the Andes in South America, or to the Himalayan mountains in India, where masses of earth and rocks, in every variety of shape, extend several hundreds of miles in different directions, and rear their projecting summits beyond the region of the clouds-we should find

some difficulty in forming an adequate conception of the objects of our contemplation. For, (to use the words of one who had been a spectator of such scenes,) "Amidst those trackless regions of intense silence and solitude, we cannot contemplate, but with feelings of awe and admiration, the enormous masses of variegated matter which lie around, beneath, and above us. The mind labors, as it were, to form a definite idea of those objects of oppressive grandeur, and feels unable to grasp the august objects which compose the surrounding scene." But what are all these mountainous masses, however variegated and sublime, when compared with the bulk of the whole earth? Were they hurled from their bases, and precipitated into the vast Pacific Ocean, they would all disappear in a moment, except perhaps a few projecting tops, which, like a number of small islands, might be seen rising a few fathoms above the surface of the waters.

The earth is a globe, whose diamater is nearly 8,000 miles, and its circumference about 25,000, and, consequently, its surface contains nearly two hundred millions of square miles-a magnitude too great for the mind to take in at one conception. In order to form a tolerable conception of the whole, we must endeavor to take a leisurely survey of its different parts. Were we to take our station on the top of a mountain, of a moderate size, and survey the surrounding landscape, we should perceive an extent of view stretching 40 miles in every direction, forming a circle 80 miles in diameter, and 250 in circumference, and comprehending an area of 5,000 square miles. In such a situation, the terrestrial scene around and beneath us, consisting of hills and plains, towns and villages, rivers and lakes-would form one of the largest objects which the eye, or even the imagination, can steadily grasp at one time. But such an object, grand and extensive as it is, forms no more than the forty thousandth part of the terraqueous globe; so that before we can acquire an adequate conception of the magnitude of our own world, we must conceive 40,000 landscapes, of a similar extent, to pass in review before us: and, were a scene, of the magnitude now stated, to pass before us every hour, till all the diversified scenery of the earth were brought under our