cover in the superstitious observances of the different nations of the earth, in the complicated and cruel ceremonies of the Brahmin of the east, and the dark and mysterious worship of the Druid of the west, the uniform, though perverted, operation of that principle, by which man was originally formed to adore the Great Author of his being. Thus does it appear, without the light of revelation, that man has been formed with a capacity or power by which he is enabled to trace the appearances of the world to the wisdom and power of God; and is led to give to him, or to those imaginary deities which he substitutes in room of him, religious homage and adoration. The innate principles of his mind afford the most indubitable evidence of his being designed for the love and contemplation of infinite excellency; and that there is a tie which he cannot break, without doing violence to his nature, that binds him to the service and the worship of the living God.)

But, further, in the second place, that the light of nature clearly shews us the being of God, and that he is entitled to our homage and adoration is proved by the circumstance, that this fundamental truth is necessarily involved in the exercise of our mental faculties. But this argument, usually called the argument à priori, which exists independent of the consideration of the works of nature, is more difficult of being understood by the great body of mankind, and is, therefore, less adapted for general use. It is the less necessary to employ it as a weapon of defence, since, in the warfare which the present question involves, we are quite independent of its aid. The great Lord and Ruler of all has not left us to search for metaphysical arguments to prove that he exists: he has rendered it impossible

for us to look on the heavens above, or on the earth around, without perceiving the magnificent effects of his infinite perfection. Few are capable of abstruse speculation, or of receiving permanent impressions from the truths which it evolves; but all are able to understand what should be inferred respecting the great Artificer from the exquisite skill displayed in the mechanism he has formed; what conclusion should be deduced concerning his wisdom, from the intelligence and design which his operations discover *.

Let us, therefore, notice, in the third place, how clearly the being and perfections of God are proved from the appearances, the order, and government observable in nature and in providence. The clear marks and signatures of wisdom, power, and goodness, in the constitution and government of the world, are a demonstration stable as the mountains in proof of the being and universal presence of God; and it is an argument that has this peculiar advantage, that it gathers strength as human knowledge advances. If Galen, when he had examined the formation of the human body, at a period when its structure was less understood than it is now, saw such marks of design and skill in it as led him to renounce the atheistical system in which he had been educated, and to write a book for the very purpose of convincing others of the truth which had irresistibly forced itself on his own mind, can we, with the numerous discoveries of modern times before us, and with the heavens and the earth visibly presenting to us the signatures of infinite wisdom and power, fail to be convinced that God has never left himself without a witness, that all his works * See Note A.

have constantly proclaimed him the eternal, immortal, invisible God?

We are so formed, that we are irresistibly led to ascribe efficiency or power to that which produces change; and intelligence to the author of any work that indicates intelligence and contrivance. We cannot conceive any alteration to take place in the position or qualities of any thing without a cause; nor can we perceive a designed subserviency to a particular end, without inferring the existence of wisdom and knowledge in the contriver. In other words, every thing which begins to exist must have a cause; and design and intelligence in the cause, may be inferred with certainty from the effect. These are intuitive principles, and as such are, of course, universally admitted. Were we to reject them, we have no means left by which we can distinguish a rational being from the lower animals, or a man of understanding from a fool.

The same kind of evidence, then, that carries conviction every moment to our minds that others exist beside ourselves in the world, proves the being and perfection of God. For, in the works of man, no less than in the works of God, we discover only effects. We see the hands and the instruments of the artist, indeed, and we see the wonderful result which the application of these hands and instruments has produced; but we observe nothing more. It were a selfevident absurdity to say, that the designing cause, or principle, whose wisdom is seen in the effect, lies in the hands of the artist: for there is no more intelligence or power of contrivance in them than there is in the tools and instruments which are placed in them. Thus, it also holds, in regard to the works of God; whose

Wonder-working hand,

in majestic silence, sways at will

The mighty movements of unbounded nature.

In the mechanism of the animal frame, we discover the most skilful adaptation of instruments to the accomplishment of certain ends. In the eye, for example, we have a most beautiful and admirable piece of mechanism, adapted with exquisite wisdom for the important purposes which it is designed to serve. In this single organ we have the combined effect of almighty power, and infinite intelligence,-of a power that can create, and an intelligence that can render the creative energy subservient to subservient to purposes of the greatest utility; but the Being to whom these attributes belong is himself concealed from our view. His power, wisdom, goodness, are not, on this account, the less manifest; while they furnish evidence far more striking and palpable of his universal presence and operation, than the works of our neighbour afford of his existence. When we consider, that this organ is fully formed before there any use for its exercise, and adapted to the properties and action of an element with which it has no communication; and that its fabric shews it to be made with a designed reference to the qualities of that element hitherto entirely excluded, but with which it is to hold hereafter so intimate a relation, we have a proof, of the most convincing nature, of the intelligence of the Creator.

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This argument, which arises from an observation of the works and ways of God, is of mighty cogency, is continually in our view, and addresses itself to the heart, as well as to the understanding. If we should ask a sign in the heaven above, or in the earth beneath, what could we desire more for our conviction than what God

has already done, or, than he is constantly doing? Could we wish him to work a greater miracle than to create and uphold a world? What more impressive illustration of divine power, and wisdom, and beneficence, can we reasonably desire, than is afforded us in the continued existence of the vast fabric of nature, with its innumerable orders of organized and intelligent beings? Or, if the original act of creation be deemed too remote to furnish ground sufficient for impressing this conviction on our heart, let us look to that, which, but for its commonness, would awaken the surprise and astonishment of the most inattentive observer; let us look to the order, the harmony, the efficiency, the adaptation of means to specific ends, which mark all the works of God, which pervade the heavens and the earth, and be convinced of the universal presence, agency, and perfection of the Almighty. This is the language in which the Great Lord and Ruler of all speaks to the affections, not less than to the reason of the creatures which he has formed in his own image, and which is so well calculated to excite the emotions of awe, veneration, and gratitude.

It is the language which nature speaks in her beauteous, as well as in her sublime, aspects. Who has felt the freshness of the morning, and witnessed the glories which the sun on his appearing above the horizon diffuses over nature? Who has not sympathized with the happiness of the glowing scene, and acknowledged the goodness of that Eternal Power, to whose beneficence it is referable? Who has seen the bright and animated scene which the re-appearance of the heavenly luminary seemed rather to create, than

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