the accomplishment of the business allotted to the race of

man.

How expressive of infinite Power were the acts of calling it into being, uniting its parts, preserving its structure, moving it through the boundless void, and regulating with perfect harmony all its various affections.

How expressive of infinite Wisdom is the endless diversity of beings which it contains; their structure, qualities, and uses; their relations and dependences, their wants and supplies, their endlessly various beauty, novelty and grandeur.

Nor is infinite Goodness less wonderfully manifested by the bounty everywhere displayed in providing for the least as well as the greatest; in making the least, that it might be provided for, and in giving to each its own peculiar happiness. How evidently are all these things the work of a God!

2. How wonderful is the order of things which was established at the creation.

This subject may be advantageously divided into two parts: -the order of things which is permanent, and that which is subject to perpetual revolutions.

Of the former class are the stable position of the globe at given distances from the heavenly bodies, the position of its poles, its regular motions round its axis and round the sun, by which the revolutions of the seasons, and the returns of day and night are accomplished; the steady attractions of gravitation and cohesion, which produce the stability of the earth itself, and all its great affections. All these are indispensable to the existing state of the world and its inhabitants. The order of these things I call permanent, although subject to many changes, and in several instances a mere series of changes; because they are stable, regular, and unvarying in their nature.

The other and more mutable course of things respects the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; the state of the atmosphere, the ocean, and the surface of the earth. These all are subjects of unceasing changes; and several of them of continual decay, and continual renovation. Plants and animals are formed to renew and perpetuate their kinds through an indefinite period; and were the date of the earth to be sufficiently protracted, to continue them for ever. Nor are mineral substances, so far as they are liable to decay, unpro

vided with the means of re-production. Stones decay, and return to earth; and earth is petrified, or hardened into stone. Ores are supposed to be exhausted and renewed. Gems and other beautiful substances are multiplied, and worn out. Soils are furnished anew for the most luxuriant vegetation. The ocean is also, in a sense, emptied and filled again. From that great storehouse of waters, vapour perpetually ascends, and is discharged on the earth in rain, snow and hail, in mists and dews; while the earth, through its various channels, returns again its tribute of waters to the ocean. Thus, in the language of the wisest of men:

'Generation goeth, and generation cometh;

But the earth doth ever abide.

The sun also riseth, the sun also setteth,

And hasteth to the place where it rose;

It passeth to the south; again it circleth to the north.
Round and round goeth the wind,

And ever repeateth its circuits.

All the rivers run down into the sea,

Yet the sea doth not overflow:

To the place, whence the rivers go forth,

To the same, to flow again, do they return.

All the things thus at their task, no man can recount;

The eye would not be able to behold them,

Nor would the ear be competent to hear them.'

3. How wonderful are the uses of the various things which constitute this earthly system.

How important to mankind is the mineral kingdom! How indispensable is the soil for vegetation, the stones and clay for building, the peat and coal for fuel, the metals for all the necessary and elegant arts of life, and for the existence of almost every thing which we name a convenience, or a comfort. Iron alone is indispensable to the employments, and even to the existence of civilized life. Without it, agriculture, commerce, arts and science, would dwindle speedily into nothing; and but for its aid, would never have been. To minerals also we are indebted for medicines of the most valuable nature, indispensable to the restoration of health, and the continuance of life.

What then shall be said of the vegetable kingdom; of grass,

as food for cattle; and herbs and grain. as the food of men; of the flax, cotton, and hemp, with which we are clothed; of trees, as the materials of fuel, building, and fencing; and as the means of accomplishing a multitude of other purposes, equally demanded by necessity and comfort.

Finally, What shall be said of the animal kingdom; of the horse, the ox, the cow, the camel, and the sheep; of the furry tribes, and the silk-worm; all of which so largely contribute either to the husbandry of man, his food, his clothing, or his pleasure.

Nor ought we, in considering the nature of earthly things, to forget them, as the delightful means of beauty and orandeur. Were all the interesting diversities of colour and form to disappear, how unsightly, dull and wearisome, would be the aspect of the world. The pleasures conveyed to us by the endless varieties with which these sources of beauty are presented to the eye, are so much things of course, and exist so much without intermission, that we scarcely think either of their nature, their number, or the great proportion which they constitute in the whole mass of our enjoyment. But were an inhabitant of this country removed from its delightful scenery, to the midst of an Arabian desart; a boundless expanse of sand, a waste, spread with uniform desolation, enlivened by the murmur of no stream, and cheered by the beauty of no verdure; although he might live in a palace, and riot in splendour and luxury, he would I think, find life a dull, wearisome, me lancholy round of existence; and amid all his gratifications, would sigh for the hills and vallies of his native land, the brooks and rivers, the living lustre of the spring, and the rich glories of autumn. The ever-varying brilliancy and grandeur of the landscape, and the magnificence of the sky, sun, moon and stars, enter more extensively into the enjoyment of mankind than we perhaps ever think, or can possibly apprehend, without frequent and extensive investigation. This beauty and splendour of the objects around us, it is ever to be remembered, is not necessary to their existence, nor to what we commonly intend by their usefulness. It is therefore to be regarded as a source of pleasure, gratuitously superinduced upon the general nature of the objects themselves; and in this light, as a testimony of the Divine goodness, peculiarly affecting.

Still more deeply ought we to regard this part of the cre

ation as exhibiting, in the most convincing manner, the being and agency of God. How plainly, how delightfully, how solemnly is this glorious Being seen everywhere in these works of his hands. All these changes are the result of a cause adequate to their production. The living, acting thing, called man, is never directly perceived by other men. We see motions, and know that there is one who moves. We hear a voice, and know that there is one who speaks. We perceive actions, and know that there is an agent who gives them birth. This agent we denominate Man. So in every place, in every thing, and during every moment, we behold, throughout the creation, a perpetual progress of most wonderful events; and know that an agent, to us invisible, but adequate to their production, effectuates them all. This agent we call God; and discern his being, character and presence, as directly and clearly as we discern the being, character and presence of man. Thus all things hold out to every attentive eye, the living, acting, governing Jehovah.

At the same time, this earthly system strongly displays the anger of God against the sins of men. Amidst all these pleasing manifestations of the Creator, the world around us furnishes also many proofs of his displeasure. The storm plunges multitudes in the deep. The lightning destroys its victims in a moment. The famine sweeps its millions to the grave. The volcano overwhelms towns and cities with deluges of fire. The pestilence, walking in darkness,' drives before it whole nations into eternity: while death, both with and without the aid of these ministers, empties, once in thirty years, the world of its inhabitants. What awful, as well as decisive proofs are here furnished, that the Maker of all things regards our race with severe and terrible displeasure. How solemnly do they impress this humiliating truth upon every serious mind. How forcibly do they summon us to repent and reform, that we may find mercy!

There is still another point of view, in which these works ought to be remembered on the present occasion. Every thing in creation and providence appears not only to be useful, but to have many uses, and to answer very many purposes. God, so far as we can understand his agency, accomplishes his ends by the most direct, the simplest, and the fewest means.

'In human works, though labouring on with pain,
A thousand movements scarce one purpose gain;
In God's, one single can its end produce,

Yet serves to second too, some other use.'*

Thus water and iron become means of ends innumerable. The latter enters, to a vast extent, into almost all human arts and concerns: while the former is almost everywhere diffused through the great system of benefits which God has provided for mankind.

A great part of the usefulness found in the objects of this world, arises from the order established among them, and mentioned under a former head of discourse. From this order springs all the forecast of the human mind. By observing the regular succession of causes and effects around us, we learn to judge with a good degree of correctness, from past events, concerning those which are future. The nature of the seasons, exhibited in their past revolutions, teaches us how to prepare ourselves against both heat and cold; to sow our seed in the spring, and gather our harvests in the summer and autumn; to shelter ourselves from the inclemencies of the sky, to make the necessary provision for ourselves and our families, and to adjust universally, the arts and business of life. By the regularity of the system, all our profitable employments are wholly directed. Without this guide we could plan nothing, we could accomplish nothing; and should literally be unable to conjecture what a day, an hour, or a moment, would bring forth. Our existence would be a mere succession of accidents. Nor can we conceive how, in such a state, any means could be furnished, by which we might either enjoy comfort, or prolong our lives.

From the same source arises, in a chief measure, that full, unanswerable proof of the existence and character of God, which is presented by these works of his hands. The wisdom of God is principally seen in the design and contrivance exhibited throughout the globe. But contrivance and design appear only in the adaptation of means to ends: and wisdom is visible only in the choice of good ends, and of fit means to accomplish them. I have already remarked, that without this