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still the same; even the sins and follies of men, by its secret conduct, accomplish the ends of infinite wisdom and holiness.

Thus the divine superintendance, though generally unperceived and disregarded, is unremitting and universal, comprehending equally the private affairs of individuals, and the general interests of nations. The scriptures represent the Most High as ruling in the kingdom of men, and giving it to whomsoever he will*; as planting and building up a people, and again for their sins plucking up and destroying them. And we have before seen, that it was usual with the most eminent heathen legislators, to preface their laws with observing, That every citizen ought first to be persuaded, that the gods are the masters and rulers of the world, and that all things are under their power and providence.

If men held a nearer converse with the Deity, they would enjoy a quicker perception of his hand in all things; where they now can see only nature and human agency,

Dan. iv. 25. + Jer. xviii. 7-10.

they would discern the Lord of nature and the Sovereign of the world; the wheels of providence, as in the vision of Ezekiel, would appear full of eyes round about.

II. Upon these principles, a good man, such as we have above described, may live without anxiety amidst all the disorders of human life, whether they be of a private or public nature; since he may securely depend on the special protection of that Almighty Being whose dominion is absolute and universal.

If, notwithstanding all his prudent diligence, he is poor and necessitous, he may confidently look to him who feeds the sparrowe's and clothes the lilies; if he is threatened with injury by soine potent enemy, it will create in him no great alarm when he considers, that He who has the hearts of all in his hands, can easily restrain the mischievous intent, or divert it into another channel; or if he has actually suffered wrong, he may quiet his mind with the reflection, that it could not have happened without his wise permission, who is able to convert it to his greater

advantage; nay, he has ground to be assured, that while he is walking in the ways of piety and virtue, all things, whether prosperous or adverse, are co-operating for his real and permanent benefit.

Such a sense of things, when pure and genuine, must powerfully tend to extinguish in him all discontent, all envy, all resentment, all unmanly fear. He may say to his most formidable adversary,-Thou canst have no power against me, unless it be given thee from above. Thy malignity is indeed thine own, but is in itself impotent; and when armed with power, is under a superior control. I fear God, and fear none but him.

Of this heroic piety there have been eminent examples in all ages; and especially under the christian dispensation, the instances are innumerable of those who, supported by its promises, have undergone the most grievous trials with patience and cheerful

ness.

Could we at this day look into the interior state of our own country, we should doubtless discover many examples of such

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who in humble silence endure the oppressor's wrong, and all the whips and scorns of time, borne up by the hopes that christianity inspires. Many servants under hard masters, many among the labouring poor who are disabled by age or sickness, or perishing for want of employment, many in garrets or in cellars, unheeded and unknown, have found the art of possessing their souls in patience, by an access to resources with which few among the great and opulent, or even among the wise and learned, have the happiness to be acquainted. They have been taught to pray to their Father in secret, and to cast all their care upon him who careth for them, while neglected or despised by their fellow-creatures. Compared with these, the heroes and sages of the world, in a moral individual estimate, are vain and insignificant.

When a good man is led to contemplate the politics of the world, it is with this conviction, that all the consultations of states and princes are under a divine superintendance. He is satisfied that there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel, against

the Lord; that the deceived and the deceiver are his; that he taketh away the heart of the chiefs of a people, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. Thus when he mingled a spirit of giddiness in their public deliberations, the princes of Zoan became fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh became brutish, they seduced Egypt, and caused her to err in all her works, as a drunkard staggereth in his vomit §.

He is equally persuaded, that in the execution of their purposes, the princes and powers of the earth are under the same powerful direction. When the haughty Sennacherib boasted of the strength of his hand and of his wisdom, the prophet thus addressed him: Shall the are boast itself against him that heweth therewith; or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it ||? Which shows that this proud Assyrian, in all the career of his successful ambition, was an instrument in the hands of the universal

* Prov. xxi. 30. ↑ Job. xii. 16.

Ib. xii. 24. § Isaiah xix. 13, 14, (Bp. Lowth's Translation.)

Isaiah x. 15.

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