and who knows not the least shadow of error, or deviation; can he think of voluntarily departing from the eternal rule of right, or allowing himself in any practice, which must offend Infinite Purity?

The consideration of the eternity or perpetual existence hereafter, of the Divinity, together with that of the necessary immutability of his nature, suggests to the pious and well-disposed mind, the comfortable prospect, that after all the changes and revolutions which may happen to it, to the kingdoms, and empires of this world, and to the world itself; after all the visible objects, which now are, have performed their courses, and are vanished, or renewed; after a period of duration long enough to obliterate from all human memory the idea of a sun, and stars, and earth; still he, who is now Governor of the Universe, will continue to fill the Supreme Throne, and to rule with boundless and uncontroled sway over his infinite domin ions; and consequently, that whoever is so wise as to strive above all things to gain his favour, may depend upon being always secure of the enjoyment of the happiness assigned him by the general Judge, and that no change in the affairs even of the whole universe, will ever remove him from that station which has been appointed him. For the Universal Governor will raise no one to happiness' hereafter, but such as he finds qualified for it. Nor will the time ever come, when it will not be in his power to keep those beings happy, which he has once made so; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and of his kingdom there will never be an end. Nor will the time ever come, when he will change his purpose or scheme of government; or, like a weak, earthly prince, degrade his favourites, or reverse his laws, or indulge uncertain caprice.

This shows the Supreme Being to be a very proper object of the trust of all his creatures. Had I the favour of all the crowned heads in the world, it is evident, that in so short a time as a century hence, it must be of no manner of value to me. Death will, in all probability, before that short period be elapsed, remove every one of them, and myself too, into a state, in which no favour will be of any avail, but that of the King of Kings, upon whom they must be as much dependent as 1. But to trust to Him who is eternal in his nature, and unchangeable in his purpose, and

who has it in his power to make and keep his favourites eternally happy, is building upon a sure foundation. I Here it is to be remembered, that it is only a course of obedience that we have any pretence to trust in God. All confidence in him, that is not founded in well-doing, is vain and presumptuous, and will in the end be disappointed. As the king on the throne has power to raise any person, whom he may judge worthy of honour, at the same time that it is vain and presumptuous to think of trusting to him in any other way, than such as may be likely to gain his favour; so, though the Supreme King of the Universe has power to raise any of his creatures to inconceivable happiness, it is not to be expected that he will bestow his favour upon any, but such as shall be found worthy of it. And his infinite wisdom will effectually prevent his being mistaken in his judgment of characters; and renders it impossibe that he should bestow his approbation amiss. So that there is no ground of confidence for any, but those who, make it their sincere and diligent endeavour to gain the Divine favour in the way which he has appointed.

It is impossible to survey, with a discerning eye, the world which we inhabit, without reading the illustrious characters of power, wisdom and goodness, which the Divine hand has inscribed upon it; each of which attri butes suggests to us a set of duties, and therefore deserves our particular consideration.

To create, or bring into existence, one particle of matter, which before was nothing, who can say what power is requisite? The difference between nothing and a real existence is strictly and properly infinite. Which seems to imply an infinite difficulty to be surmounted, before one particle of matter can be produced. And no power, inferior to infinite, is equal to an infinite difficulty. Be that as it will, it is unquestionable, that to produce great works, requires proportionable power. And if the works of na. ture are not great, there is no greatness conceivable. The calling forth a world into being, had it been from its creation to remain for ever at rest, had been an effect worthy of Divine power. But to give a system so huge and un wieldy, any degree of motion, much more to give a mo tion inconceivably swift, to masses of matter inconceivably

bulky; to accommodate velocity to what is the most unfit for being moved with velocity; to whirl a whole earth, a globe of twenty-five thousand miles round, with all its mountains and oceans, at the rate of near sixty thousand miles an hour; to carry on such an amazing motion for many thousands of years; to keep six such bodies in contin. ual motion, in different planes, and with different velocities, round a common centre, at the same time that ten others are revolving round them, and going along with them; what amazing power is requisite to produce such effects!

How do we admire the effects produced by a combina. tion of mechanic powers (which also act by Divine Power, or Laws of Nature) in raising weights, and overcoming the vis inertia of matter? What should we think of a machine, constructed by human hands, by which St. Paul's church or a little hill, should be transported half a mile from its place, with ever so slow a motion? But the greatest mountain is no more in comparison with the whole earth, than a grain of sand to a mountain. Yet the whole cumbrous mass of earth has been whirled round the sun, for these five thousand years and upwards, with a rapidity, frightful to think of, and for any thing we know, with undiminished force. And the comet in 1680-81, must, according to the Newtonian principles, have moved in its perihelion, or nearest approach to the sun, at the rate of above a million of miles in an hour; which was a flight near twenty times more rapid than that of the earth in its annual course! Now the swiftest speed of a horse, that ever has been known, was at the rate of one mile in one minute, which continued, would give sixty miles in an hour, instead of more than a million, the comet's motion. The swiftest horse, at full speed, may move twenty feet in the time that one can pronounce one, or sixty feet, while one can say one, two, three. But to form some concep tion of the motion of the Newtonian comet, let the reader suppose himself placed upon such an eminence as will give him a prospect of fifty miles on each hand; the rapidity of that tremendous body in the swiftest part of its course, was such that in the time of pronouncing one syllable, or in the twinkling of an eye, it would fly across that space of one hundred miles, while the swiftest horse would have proceeded twenty feet. Yet those enormous bodies

are by the parallax they give, supposed to be nearly of the magnitude of our globe of earth and ocean, and some of them perhaps larger.

Now their is nothing more evident, than that in proportion to the quantity of matter to be moved, and the velocity with which it is to be moved, such must be the moving force. Let the reader, therefore, if he has any talent in calculation, try to estimate the force required to give such a furious rapidity to bodies of such stupendous magnitude; if he has any imagination, let him fill it with the sublime idea of Omnipotence; and if he has either reason or religion, let him prostrate his soul, and adore such tremendous and irresistible power.

Nor is less command of matter required to produce the astonishing appearances in the minute, than in the great world; to carry on the various secretions, circulations, and transmutations in vegetation, and the production, growth, and life of animals; especially when the degree of minuteness is such,as it must be in an animalcule, of which millions would only equal the bulk of a grain of sand. What power is required to wing the rapid light from its fountain, the sun, to us in seven or eight minutes, with such swiftness, that in the instant of pronouncing the word light, sixty thousand miles are passed through!

To a being possessed of rightful power over us, the proper duty is evidentally fear, or awe; and the consequences of that is obedience. If we consider the Supreme Being as possessed of infinite or boundless power over all his creatures, we must see the indispensable necessity of the most profound submission to him, both in our dispositions and practices. If we consider him as our Creator, we must be convinced that he has an absolute right to us and to all our services. If we think of him as irresistible, rebellion against him is a degree of madness beyond all computation. For what lasting and inconceivably dreadful punishments may not such power inflict upon those perverse and impenitent beings, who become the objects of his vengeance? And what chance can the worms of the earth have to deliver themselves out of the hands of the Almighty?

There is no inconsistency between the fear we owe to God, and the duty of love. On the contrary, love ever

implies a fear to offend the person beloved. As on one hand, nothing is so perfectly amiable as infinite perfection; so neither is there any so proper object of fear, as he who is infinitely great and awful. And there is a wide difference between the slavish fear, which a criminal has for his judge, or that which a miserable subject has for a tyrant, and that of a son for an affectionate father. Of this last kind is the reverence with which we ought to think of our Creator. Only we must take the utmost care not to entertain any notion of God, as of one capable of any weakness resembling that of earthly parents. For it is certain, that the Judge of the world, whose rectitude and justice are absolutely perfect and inviolable, will not, cannot, be mislead, by fondness for his own creatures, to make the obdurately wicked happy. For, though he loves his crea tures, he loves justice more, and will not sacrifice his own eternal and immutable attribute for the sake of any num ber of worthless rebellious beings whatever.

As to the Divine Wisdom appearing in the works of creation, we are peculiarly at a loss to conceive properly of it. For we come into a world ready finished, and fit to be inhabited; and therefore have no conception of the im mense stretch of thought, the amazing depth of inven tion (if we may so speak) that was necessary to plan an universe. Let any man imagine the state of things before there was any created being, if ever such a time was; when there was no plan, no model, or pattern to proceed upon; when the very idea of an universe, as well as the particular plan and execution of it, was to be drawn, so to speak, out of the Divine Imagination. Let the reader suppose himself to have been first produced, and to have had it revealed to him by his Creator, that an universe was to be created. An universe! What idea could he have formed of an universe? Had he been consulted upon the plan of it, which part would he have begun at ? Before light existed, could he have conceived the idea of light? Before there was either sun, stars, or earth, could be have formed any conception of a sun, stars, or earth? Could he have contrived light for the eye, or the eye for light? Could he have suited a world to its inhabitants, or inhabitants to a world? Could he have fitted bodies to minds, or minds to bodies?