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SERM. ger than the Earth, but is now thought to be a vast deal more, and probably the Center of fuch a Planetary Syftem as ours. The Difpofition of the Solar Syftem, from whence the Difpofition of the Whole may with great Probability be inferr'd, is of all things the most beautiful and harmonious, compos'd according to the niceft Rules, and the exacteft Laws of Nature, the Planets being fo order'd as to be within the Sphere of each other's Activity, by which they are fufpended in the Air, and by the Force of Gravitation move round the Sun as their common Center. Thus are thefe glorious Bodies contriv'd to preserve each other from Defolation, and to fet forth the Glory of their Creator. If we confider only the Body of the Sun, how delightful and magnificent does it appear! according to that of Solomon; The Light is fweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the Eyes to behold the Sun. How delightful, and with what Splendor, when it firft lights up the Firmament! how magnificent, and with what Grandeur, when in its meridian Height! The Pfalmift excellently defcribes this, Pfal. xix. 6, 7. In them bath he fet a Tabernacle for the Sun, which cometh forth as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber, and rejoiceth as a Giant to

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run his Course; it goeth forth from the SERM. uttermoft Part of the Heaven, and runneth about unto the End of it again, and there is nothing hid from the Heat thereof. 'Tis by the Influence of this glorious Body that every thing in the World lives and thrives. "Tis this that gives the Earth a genial Warmth, and makes the Ground prolifick; that calls the tender Bloffom from the Bud, and gives to Trees and Plants their Bloom and Vigor. 'Tis this that thaws the Ice of old Age, and gives to Youth Nourishment and Activity. In fhort, it chears the Heart of Man and Beast, and spreads a univerfal Gladness over the Face of all Nature, within the Influence of whose Beams every thing is gay, chearful and lively, without it 'tis all Darkness, Horror and Defolation. 'Tis no Wonder then to find that there are fome Heathens among the idolatrous Nations that worship and adore it; for when once People are come to fuch a País as to be ignorant of the true God, whom Heaven and Earth adore, and worship Stocks and Stones, and other, many other, fuch contemptible, imaginary Deities, who are ignorant of their Devotions, and can't reward them for their La bour; when they worship not only that which hath no Divinity, but that which B hath

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SERM. hath no Life, which the Smith worketh in I. the Coals, and fashioneth with Hammers, and worketh with the Strength of his Arms; how much more natural is it, if any inanimate Creature could poffibly be thought worthy of Adoration, that the Sun fhould be that Creature, that is by many Degrees preferable to the reft, and appears with fo much fuperior Splendor and Magnificence!

But to proceed. Shall we go further and travel thro' every fix'd Star, and obferve the wonderful Make and Contrivance of them, and how they ftand to each other, and to the Whole? Or, fhall we launch out into the Immenfity of Space, and take a Profpect of the whole Creation at once, and from the infinite Expanse take a Survey of all Nature, as it lies wonderfully display'd

up and down in it, and view the fame Uniformity of Wisdom throughout this vast Infinity of Things, as in this World which we inhabit, and fee all things carried on by the fame Providence, and sustain'd by the fame almighty Power? At this Distance, how fmall and inconfiderable would this little Globe appear! what a trifling Speck in the mighty Void, hardly more important than the leaft Mite we fee in it! What a strange Sight! what an unexpected Profpect would

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this be to the proud and ambitious Man, SERM who has already plac'd himself not only at the Top of this Globe, but at the Top of the Universe, at the Head of all Things, tho' at the fame time neither he, nor the World he lives in, does to the whole bear the Proportion of the smallest Grain of Sand! How astonishing are these things to a finite Capacity! how mocking is the Confideration of them to a human Intellect! The Pfalmift fufficiently declares his Admiration of them, as he gives us thus to understand. When I confider the Heavens, the Work of thy Fingers, the Moon and the Stars which thou haft ordain'd, what is Man that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of Man that thou vifiteft him!

But what need we to call the Heavens and Stars to teftify the Wisdom of the almighty Creator, fince 'tis but to step back and vifit this Earth again, and we shall find that the leaft Part of the Creation, even a Lilly of the Field, bears fufficient Teftimony to it, and has the Seal of God, the Mark of the Divine Omnipotence vifibly ftamp'd upon it? How regardless are People generally of, them, and how inconfiderable are they for the most part accounted, and yet Solomon in all his Glory was not array'd like one B 2

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SERM. of these! And indeed the smallest Leaf is of fo wonderful a Contexture as to demonftrate the Divine Hand that made it, and to fhew it to be beyond the utmost Reach of all human Art. So that the fame Wifdom, which is display'd at large in the magnificent Profpect we have now been viewing, is equally confpicuous in the smallest Part of the Creation, the fame Wisdom, tho' not the fame Degree of it, being as neceffary. in the Formation of the minutest Animal, a Worm, or a Fly, as in the Formation of the World, or all things elfe that are in it. Whether therefore we confider the Works of God in whole or in part, at full Length or in Miniature, they exprefs the greatest Wisdom imaginable. To whom elfe then fhall we afcribe the Rife and Birth of all Things? Who laid the Measures of the Earth fays the Lord to Job; or whe hath ftretched the Line upon it? whereupon are the Foundations thereof faftned? or who laid the Corner Stone thereof? Haft thou commanded the Morning Since thy Days, and caufed the Day-fpring to know his Place Where is the Way where Light dwelleth and as for Darkness, where is the Place thereof Hath the Rain a Father or who hath begotten the Drops of Dew?