No. 531. Saturday, November 8. Qui mare & terras variifque mundum Unde nil majus generatur ipfo, Nec viget quicquam fimile aut fecundum. Hor. IMONIDES being ask'd by Dionyfius the Tyrant what God was, defired a Day's time to confider of it before he made his Reply. When the Day was expired, he defired two Days; and afterwards, instead of returning his Anfwer, demanded still double the Time to confider of it. This great Poet and Philofopher, the more he contemplated the Nature of the Deity, found that he waded but the more out of his Depth; and that he lost himself in the Thought, inftead of finding an End of it. If we confider the Idea which wife Men, by the Light of Reafon, have framed of the Divine Being, it amounts to this: That he has in him all the Perfection of a Spiritual Nature; and fince we have no Notion of any kind of fpiritual Perfection but what we difcover in our own Souls, we join Infinitude to each kind of these Perfections, and what is a Faculty in a human Soul becomes an Attribute in God. We exist in Place and Time, the Divine Being fills the Immenfity of Space with his Prefence, and inhabits Eternity. We are poffeffed of a little Power and a little Knowledge, the Divine Being is Almighty and Omnifcient. In short, by adding Infinity to any kind of Perfection we enjoy, and by joining all thefe different kinds of Perfections in one Being, we form our Idea of the great Sovereign of Nature. THOUGH every one who thinks must have made this Obfervation, I fhall produce Mr. Lock's Authority to the fame Purpose, out of his Effay on Human Understanding. If we examine the Idea we have of the incom. prehenfible K 2 prehenfible Supreme Being, we shall find, that we come by it the fame way; and that the complex Ideas we have both of God and feparate Spirits, are made up of the fimple Ideas we receive from Reflection; v. g. having from what we experiment in our felves, got the Ideas of Existence and Duration, of Knowledge and Power, of Pleasure and Happiness, and of feveral other Qua⚫lities and Powers, which it is better to have, than to be without; when we would frame an Idea the most ⚫ fuitable we can to the Supreme Being, we enlarge every ⚫ one of these with our Idea of Infinity; and fo putting them together, make our complex Idea of God. Ir is not impoffible that there may be many kinds of fpiritual Perfection, befides those which are lodged in an human Soul; but it is impoffible that we fhould have Ideas of any kinds of Perfections, except those of which we have fome fmall Rays and short imperfect Strokes in our felves. It would be therefore a very high Prefumption to determine whether the Supreme Being has not many more Attributes than thofe which enter into our Conceptions of him. This is certain, that if there be any kind of fpiritual Perfection which is not marked out in an human Soul, it belongs in its Fulness to the Divine Nature. SEVERAL eminent Philofophers have imagined that the Soul, in her feparate State, may have new Faculties fpringing up in her, which fhe is not capable of exerting during her prefent Union with the Body; and whether thefe Faculties may not correfpond with other Attributes in the Divine Nature, and open to us hereafter new Matter of Wonder and Adoration, we are altogether ignorant. This, as I have faid before, we ought to acquiefce in, that the Sovereign Being, the great Author of Nature, has in him all poffible Perfections, as well in Kind as in Degree; to fpeak according to our Methods of conceiving. I fhall only add under this Head, that when we have raised our Notion of this Infinite Being as high as it is poffible for the Mind of Man to go, it will fall infinitely fhort of what he really is. There is no End of his Greatness: The moft exalted Creature he has made, is only capable of adoring it, none but himfelf can comprehend it. THE THE Advice of the Son of Sirach is very juft and sublime in this Light. By his Word all Things confift. We may speak much, and yet come short; wherefore in fum, he is all. How shall we able to magnify him? For be is great above all his Works: The Lord is terrible and very great; and marvellous in his Power. When you glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for even yet will be far exceed. And when you exalt him, put forth all your Strength, and be not weary; for you can never go far enough. Who hath seen him, that he might tell us? And who can magnify him as he is? There are yet bid greater Things than thefe be, for we have feen but a few of his Works. I HAVE here only confidered the Supreme Being by the Light of Reafon and Philofophy. If we would fee him in all the Wonders of his Mercy, we must have Recourfe to Revelation, which reprefents him to us, not only as infinitely Great and Glorious, but as infinitely Good and Juft in his Difpenfations towards Man. But as this is a Theory which falls under every one's Confideration, tho' indeed it can never be fufficiently confidered, I fhall here only take Notice of that habitual Worship and Veneration which we ought to pay to this Almighty Being. We fhould often refresh our Minds with the Thoughts of him, and annihilate ourselves before him, in the Contemplation of our own Worthleffnefs, and of his tranfcendent Excellency and Perfection. This would imprint in our Minds fuch a conftant and uninterrupted Awe and Veneration as that which I am here recommending, and which is in Reality a kind of inceffant Prayer, and reafonable Humiliation of the Soul before him who made it. THIS would effectually kill in us all the little Seeds of Pride, Vanity and Self-conceit, which are apt to shoot up in the Minds of fuch whofe Thoughts turn more on thofe comparative Advantages which they enjoy over fome of their Fellow creatures, than on that infinite Diftance which is placed between them and the Supreme Model of all Perfection. It would likewife quicken our Defires and Endeavours of uniting our felves to him by all the Acts of Religion and Virtue. SUCH an habitual Homage to the Supreme Being would, in a particular Manner, banish from among us that prevailing Impiety of ufing his Name on the most trivial Occafions. I FIND the following Paffage in an excellent Sermon, preached at the Funeral of a Gentleman who was an Honour to his Country, and a more diligent as well as fuccefsful Enquirer into the Works of Nature, than any other our Nation has ever produced. He had the pro⚫ foundest Veneration for the great God of Heaven and Earth that I have ever obferved in any Perfon. The very Name of God was never mentioned by him without a Paufe and a vifible Stop in his Difcourfe; in which, one that knew him moft particularly above twenty Years, has told me, that he was fo exact, that he does not remember to have obferved him once to fail in it. EVERY one knows the Veneration which was paid by the Jews to a Name fo great, wonderful and holy. They would not let it enter even into their religious Difcouifes. What can we then think of those who make ufe of fo tremendous a Name in the ordinary Expreffions of their Anger, Mirth, and most impertinent Paffions? Of thofe who admit it into the most familiar Questions and Affertions, ludicrous Phrafes and Works of Humour ? Not to mention those who violate it by folemn Perjuries ? It would be an Affront to Reafon to endeavour to fet forth the Horror and Profaneness of fuch a Practice. The very mention of it expofes it fufficiently to thofe in whom the Light of Nature, not to fay Religion, is not utterly extinguished. එම එම එම එම එම එම ම දහම ම ම ම ඒම ට ඒම දැම එම දම එම එම එ No. 132. Monday, November 10. IT Fungor vice cotis, acutum Reddere quæ ferrum valet, exfors ipfa fecundi. Hor. Tis a very honeft Action to be ftudious to produce other Men's Merit; and I make no Scruple of faying, I have as much of this Temper as any Man in the World. It would not be a Thing to be bragged of, but that it is what any Man may be Mafter of who will take Pains enough for it. Much Obfervation of the Unworthinefs in being pained at the Excellence of another, will bring you to a Scorn of your felf for that Unwillingness: And when you have got fo far, you will find it a greater Pleasure than you ever before knew, to be zealous in promoting the Fame and Welfare of the Praife-worthy. I do not fpeak this as pretending to be a mortified felf-denying Man, but as one who has turned his Ambition into a righ Channel. I claim to my felf the Merit of having extorted excellent Productions from a Perfon of the greatest Abilities, who would not have let them appeared by any other Means; to have animated a few young Gentlemen into worthy Pursuits, who will be a Glory to our Age; and at all Times, and by all poffible Means in my Power, undermined the Interests of Ignorance, Vice and Folly, and attempted to fubftitute in their stead Learning, Piety, and good Senfe. It is from this honeft Heart that I find my felf honoured as a Gentleman-ufher to the Arts and Sciences. Mr. Tickell and Mr. Pope have, it feems, this Idea of me. The former has writ me an excellent Paper of Verses in Praise, forfooth, of my felf; and the other enclofed for my Perufal an admirable Poem, which, I hope, will fhortly fee the Light. In the mean time [ cannot fupprefs any Thought of his, but infert his Sentiment about the dying Words of Adrian. I won't determine in the Cafe he mentions; but have thus much to fay in favour of his Argument, that many of his own K 4 Works |