No. 565. pofed another Heaven of Suns and Worlds rifing ftill above this which we difcovered, and thefe ftill enlightned by a fuperior Firmament of Luminaries, which are planted at fo great a Diftance, that they may appear to the Inhabitants of the former as the Stars do to us. In fhort, whilft I purfued this Thought, I could not but reflect on that little infignificant Figure which I my self bore amidst the Immenfity of God's Works.

The

WERE the Sun, which enlightens this Part of the Creation, with all the Hoft of Planetary Worlds that move about him, utterly extinguished and annihilated ; they would not be miffed more than a Grain of Sand upon the Sea-fhore. The Space they poffefs is fo exceedingly little in Comparifon of the whole, that it would fcarce make a Blank in the Creation. Chafm would be imperceptible to an Eye, that could take in the whole Compafs of Nature, and pafs from one End of the Creation to the other; as it is poffible there may be fuch a Senfe in our felves hereafter, or in Creatures which are at prefent more exalted than our felves. We fee many Stars by the Help of Glaffes, which we do not difcover with our naked Eyes; and the finer our Telescopes are, the more ftill are our Difcoveries. Huygenius carries this Thought fo far, that he does not think it impoffible there may be Stars whofe Light is not yet travelled down to us,. fince their firft Creation. There is no Question but the Univerfe has certain Bounds fet to it; but when we confider that it is the Work of infinite Power, prompted by infinite Goodness, with an infinite Space to exert it felf in, how can our Imagination fet any Bounds to it ?

To return therefore to my firft Thought, I could not but look upon my felf with fecret Horror, as a Being that was not worth the smallest Regard of one who had fo great a Work under his Care and Superintendency. I was afraid of being overlooked amidst the Immenfity of Nature, and loft among that infinite Variety of Creatures, which in all Probability fwarm through all these immeafureable Regions of Matter.

IN

IN Order to recover my felf from this mortifying Thought, I confidered that it to took its Rife from thofe narrow Conceptions, which we are apt to entertain of the divine Nature. We our felves cannot attend to many different Objects at the fame Time. If we are careful to infpect fome Things, we must of Courfe neglect others. This Imperfection which we obferve in our felves, is an Imperfection that cleaves in fome Degree to Creatures of the higheft Capacities, as they are Creatures, that is, Beings of finite and limited Natures. The Prefence of every created being is confined to a certain Measure of Space, and confequently his Obfervation is ftinted to a certain Number of Objects. The Sphere in which we move and act, and understand, is of a wider Circumference to one Creature than another, according as we rife one above another in the Scale of Exiftence. But the wideft of thefe our Spheres has its Circumference. When therefore we reflect on the divine Nature, we are so used and accustomed to this Imperfection in our felves, that we cannot forbear in fome meafure afcribing it to him in whom there is no Shadow of Imperfection. Our Reafon indeed affures us that his Attributes are infinite, but the Poornefs of our Conceptions is fuch, that it cannot forbear fetting Bounds to every Thing it contemplates, till our Reafon comes again to our Succour, and throws down all thofe little Prejudices which rife in us unawares, and are natural to the Mind of Man.

WE fhall therefore utterly extinguifh this melancholy Thought, of our being overlooked by our Maker in the Multiplicity of his Works, and the Infinity of thofe Objects among which he feems to be inceffantly employed, if we confider, in the first Place, that he is Omniprefent; and, in the fecond, that he is Om

nifcient.

If we confider him in his Omniprefence: His Being paffes through, actuates, and fupports the whole Frame of Nature. His Creation, and every Part of it, is full of him. There is nothing he has made, that is either fo diftant, fo little, or fo inconfiderable, which he does not

effentially

effentially inhabit. His Subftance is within the Subftance of every Being, whether material or immaterial, and as intimately prefent to it, as that being is to it felf. It would be an Imperfection in him'clf, were he able to remove out of one Place into another, or to withdraw himself from any Thing he has created, or from any Part of that Space which is diffused and spread abroad to Infinity. In fhort to fpeak of him in the Language of the old Philofopher, he is a Being whose Centre is every where, and his Circumference no where.

IN the fecond Place, he is Omnifcient as well as Omniprefent. His Omniscience indeed neceffarily and naturally flows from his Omniprefence; he cannot but be confcious of every Motion that arifes in the whole material World, which he thus effentially pervades, and of every Thought that is ftirring in the intellectual World, to every part of which he is thus intimately united. Several Moralifts have confidered the Creation as the Temple of God, which he has built with his own Hands, and which is filled with his Prefence. Others have confidered infinite Space as the Receptacle, or rather the Habitation of the Almighty: But the noblest and moft exalted Way of confidering this infinite Space is that of Sir Ifaac Newton, who calls it the Senforium of the Godhead. Brutes and Men have their Senforiola, or little Senforiums by which they apprehend the Prefence and perceive the Actions of a few Objects, that lie contiguous to them. Their Knowledge and Obfervation turns within a very narrow Circle. But as God Almighty cannot but perceive and know every I hing in which he refides, infinite Space gives Room to infinite Knowledge, and is, as it were, an Organ to Omnifcience.

WERE the Soul feparate from the Body, and with one Glance of Thought fhould ftart beyond the Bounds of the Creation, fhould it for Millions of Years continue its Progrefs, through infinite Space with the fame Activity, it would still find itself within the Embrace of its Creator, and encompaffed round with the Imnenuity of the Godhead. Whilst we are in the Body

he

he is not lefs present with us, because he is concealed from us. O that I knew where I might find him, fays Job. Behold I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, where he does work, but I cannot behold him: he bideth bimfelf on the right hand that I cannot fee him. In short, Reason as well as Revelation affures us, that he cannot be abfent from us, notwithstanding he is undiscovered by us.

.

IN this Confideration of God Almighty's Omnipre fence and Omnifcience every uncomfortable Thought vanishes. He cannot but regard every Thing that has Being, especially fuch of his Creatures who fear they are not regarded by him. He is privy to all their Thoughts, and to that Anxiety of Heart in particular, which is apt to trouble them on this Occafion: For, as it is impoffible he should overlook any of his Creatures, fo we may be confident that he regards, with an Eye of Mercy, thofe who endeavour to recommend themfelves to his Notice, and in an unfeigned Humility of Heart think themselves unworthy that he should be mindful of them.

No.566.

Monday, July 12.

Militia Species Amor eft

A

Ovid.

S my Correfpondents begin to grow pretty numerous, I think my felf obliged to take fome Notice of them, and fhall therefore make this Paper a Miscellany of Letters. I have, fince my reaffuming the Office of SPECTATOR, received abundance of Epiftles from Gentlemen of the Blade, who, I find, have been so used to Action that they know not how to lie ftill. They leem generally to be of Opinion, that the Fair at home ought to reward them for their Services abroad, and that, till the Cause of their Country calls them VOL. VIII.

C

again

1

again into the Field, they have a fort of Right to quarter themselves upon the Ladies. In order to favour their Approaches, I am defired by fome to enlarge upon the Accomplishments of their Profeffion, and by others to give them my Advice in the carrying on of their Attacks. But let us hear what the Gentlemen say for themfelves.

Mr. SPECTATOR,

TH

'HO' it may look fomewhat perverse amidst the Arts of Peace, to talk too much of War, it is ⚫ but Gratitude to pay the last Office to its Manes, fince even Peace itself is, in fome measure, obliged to it for its Being.

You have, in your former Papers, always recom'mended the Accomplished to the Favour of the Fair; and, I hope, you will allow me to represent some Part of a Military Life not altogether unneceffary to ⚫ the forming a Gentleman. I need not tell you, that in France, whofe Fashions we have formerly been fo • fond of, almost every one derives his Pretences to Merit from the Sword; and that a Man has fcarce the Face to make his court to a Lady, without fome Credentials from the Service to recommend him. As the Pro⚫feffion is very antient, we have Reafon to think fome of the greatest Men among the old Romans, derived many of their Virtues from it, their Commanders being frequently, in other Refpects, fome of the most fhining Characters of the Age.

THE Army not only gives a Man Opportunities of exercifing those two great Virtues Patience and • Courage, but often produces them in Minds where they had fcarce any Footing before. I muft add, that it is one of the beft Schools in the World to receive a general Notion of Mankind in, and a certain Freedom of Behaviour, which is not fo eafily acquired in any other Place. At the fame Time I must own, that fome Military Airs are pretty extraordinary, and that " a Man who goes into the Army a Coxcomb will come out of it a fort of publick Nuifance: But a Man of . Senfe, or one who before had not been fufficiently ⚫ufed to a mixed Converfation, generally takes the true

Turn.