expressions of the foolish and limited notions which are frequently entertained respecting the operations of Omnipotence? When it has been asserted that the earth, with all its load of continents and oceans, is in rapid motion through the voids of space-that the sun is ten hundred thousand times larger than the terraqueous globe-and that millions of such globes are dispersed throughout the immensity of nature -some, who have viewed themselves as enlightened Christians, have exclaimed at the impossibility of such facts as if they were beyond the limits of Divine power, and as if such representations were intended to turn away the mind from God and religion; while, at the same time, they have yielded a firm assent to all the vulgar notions respecting omens, apparitions, and hobgoblins, and to the supposed extraordinary powers of the professors of divination and witchcraft. How can such persons assent, with intelligence and rational conviction, to the dictates of revelation respecting the energies of Omnipotence which will be exerted at "the consummation of all things," and in those arrangements which are to succeed the dissolution of our sublunary system? A firm belief in the almighty power and unsearchable wisdom of God, as displayed in the constitution and movements of the material world, is of the utmost importance to confirm our faith and enliven our hopes of such grand and interesting events.

Notwithstanding the considerations now stated, which plainly evince the connection of the natural perfections of God with the objects of the Christian revelation, it appears somewhat strange that when certain religious instructors happen to come in contact with this topic, they seem as if they were beginning to tread upon forbidden ground; and, as if it were unsuitable to their office as Christian teachers, to bring forward the stupendous works of the Almighty to illustrate His nature and attributes. Instead of expatiating on the numerous sources of illustration, of which the subject admits, till the minds of their hearers are thoroughly affected with the view of the essential glory of Jehovah, they despatch the subject with two or three vague propositions, which, though logically true, make no impression upon the heart; as if they believed that such contemplations were suited only to carnal men and mere philosophers; and as if they were afraid lest the sanctity of the pulpit should be polluted by particular descriptions of those operations of the Deity which are perceived through the medium of the corporeal senses. We do not mean to insinuate, that the essential attributes of God, and the illustrations of them derived from the material world, should form the sole or the chief topics of discussion in the business of religious instruction: but, if the Scriptures frequently direct our attention to these subjects-if they lie at the foundation of all accurate and extensive views of the Christian revelation-if they be the chief subjects of contemplation to angels, and all other pure intelligences, in every region of the universe-and if they have a tendency to expand the minds of professed Christians, to correct their vague and erroneous conceptions, and to promote their conformity to the moral character of God-we cannot find out the shadow of a reason why such topics should be almost, if not altogether, overlooked, in the writings and the discourses of those who profess to instruct mankind in the knowledge of God, and the duties of His worship.

We are informed by our Saviour Himself that "this is life eternal, to

know thee the living and true God," as well as "Jesus Christ whom He hath sent." The knowledge of God, in the sense here intended, must include in it the knowledge of the natural and essential attributes of the Deity, or those properties of His nature by which He is distinguished from all "the idols of the nations." Such are His self existence, His all-perfect knowledge, His omnipresence, His infinite wisdom, His boundless goodness, and almighty power-attributes, which, as we have just now seen, lie at the foundation of all the other characters and relations of Deity revealed in the Scriptures. The acquisition of just and comprehensive conceptions of these perfections must therefore lie at the foundation of all profound veneration of the Divine Being, and of all that is valuable in religion. Destitute of such conceptions, we can neither feel that habitual humility, and that reverence of the majesty of Jehovah which His essential glory is calculated to inspire, nor pay Him that tribute of adoration and gratitude which is due to His name. Devoid of such views, we cannot exercise that cordial acquiescence in the plan of His redemption, in the arrangements of His providence, and in the requirements of His law, which the Scriptures enjoin. Yet, how often do we find persons who pretend to speculate about the mysteries of the Gospel, displaying, by their flippancy of speech respecting the eternal counsels of the Majesty of heaven-by their dogmatical assertions respecting the Divine character, and the dispensations of providence and by their pertinacious opinions respecting the laws by which God must regulate His own actions-that they have never felt impressive emotions of the grandeur of that Being, whose "operations are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out?" Though they do not call in question His immensity and power, His wisdom and goodness, as so many abstract properties of His nature; yet the unbecoming familiarity with which they approach this august Being, and talk about Him, shows that they have never associated in their minds the stupendous displays which have been given of these perfections in the works of His hands; and that their religion (if it may be so called) consists merely in a farrago of abstract opinions, or in an empty

name.

If, then, it be admitted, that it is essentially requisite, as the foundation of religion, to have the mind deeply impressed with a clear and comprehensive view of the natural perfections of the Deity, it will follow that the ministers of religion, and all others whose province it is to communicate religious instruction, ought frequently to dwell with particularity on those proofs and illustrations which tend to convey the most definite and impressive conceptions of the glory of that Being whom we profess to adore. But from what sources are such illustrations to be derived? Is it from abstract reasonings and métaphysical distinctions and definitions, or from a survey of those objects and movements which lie open to the inspection of every observer? There can be no difficulty in coming to a decision on this point. We might affirm with the schoolmen, that "God is a Being whose centre is every where, and His circumference no where ;" that " He comprehends infinite duration in every moment," and that "infinite space may be considered as the sensorium of the Godhead;" but such fanciful illustrations, when strictly analyzed, will be found to consist merely of words without ideas. We might also affirm with truth, that God is a

Being of infinite perfection, glory, and blessedness-that He is without all bounds or limits, either actual or possible-that He is possessed of power sufficient to perform all things which do not imply a contradiction-that He is independent and self sufficient-that His wisdom is unerring, and that He infinitely exceeds all other beings. But these, and other expressions of a similar kind, are mere technical terms which convey no adequate, nor even tolerable notion of what they import. Beings, constituted like man, whose rational spirits are connected with an organical structure, and who derive all their knowledge through the medium of corporeal organs, can derive their clearest and most affecting notions of the Divinity chiefly through the same medium, namely, by contemplating the effects of His perfections as displayed through the ample range of the visible creation. And to this source of illustration the inspired writers uniformly direct our views:-" Lift up your eyes on high, and behold! who hath created these orbs? who bringeth forth their host by number, and calleth them all by their names? The everlasting God, the Lord, by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power." "He hath made the earth by His power; He hath established the world by His wisdom; He hath stretched out the heavens by His understanding." These writers do not perplex our minds by a multitude of technical terms and subtle reasonings; but lead us directly to the source whence our most ample conceptions of Deity are to be derived, that, from a steady and enlightened contemplation of the effects, we may learn the greatness of the Cause; and their example in this respect ought doubtless to be a pattern for every religious instructor.'

The following are the instances which our author adduces to illustrate the omnipotence of God:

The earth is a globe whose diameter is nearly 8,000 miles, and its circumference about 25,000, and consequently its surface contains nearly two hundred millions of square miles-a magnitude too great for the mind to take in at one conception. In order to form a tolerable conception of the whole, we must endeavor to take a leisurely survey of its different parts. Were we to take our station on the top of a mountain of a moderate size, and survey the surrounding landscape, we should perceive an extent of view stretching 40 miles in every direction, forming a circle 80 miles in diameter, and 250 in circumference, and comprehending an area of 5,000 square miles. In such a situation the terrestrial scene around and beneath us, consisting of hills and plains, towns and villages, rivers and lakes, would form one of the largest objects which the eye, and even the imagination, can steadily grasp at one time. But such an object, grand and extensive as it is, forms no more than the forty thousandth part of the terraqueous globe; so that before we can acquire an adequate conception of the magnitude of our own world, we must conceive 40,000 landscapes of a similar extent to pass in review before us and were a scene, of the magnitude now stated, to pass before us every hour till all the diversified scenery of the earth were brought under our view, and were 12 hours a-day allotted for the observation, it would require 9 years and 48 days before the whole surface of the globe could be

contemplated, even in this general and rapid manner. But, such a variety of successive landscapes passing before the eye, even although it were possible to be realized, would convey only a very vague and imperfect conception of the scenery of our world; for objects at the distance of 40 miles cannot be distinctly perceived: the only view which would be satisfactory would be that which is comprehended within the range of three or four miles from the spectator.

Again I have already stated, that the surface of the earth contains nearly 200,000,000 of square miles. Now, were a person to set out on a minute survey of the terraqueous globe, and to travel till he passed along every square mile on its surface, and to continue his route without intermission, at the rate of 30 miles every day, it would require 18,264 years before he could finish his tour, and complete the survey of "this huge rotundity on which we tread:" so that, had he commenced his excursion on the day in which Adam was created, and continued it to the present hour, he would not have accomplished one third part of this vast tour.

In estimating the size and extent of the earth, we ought also to take into consideration the vast variety of objects with which it is diversified, and the numerous animated beings with which it is stored;-the great divisions of land and water, the continents, seas, and islands, into which it is distributed; the lofty ranges of mountains which rear their heads to the clouds; the unfathomed abysses of the ocean; its vast subterraneous caverns and burning mountains; and the lakes, rivers, and stately forests with which it is so magnificently adorned; the many millions of animals, of every size and form, from the elephant to the mite, which traverse its surface; the numerous tribes of fishes, from the enormous whale to the diminutive shrimp, which "play" in the mighty ocean; the ærial tribes which sport in the regions above us, and the vast mass of the surrounding atmosphere, which encloses the earth and all its inhabitants as "with a swaddling band." The immense variety of beings with which our terrestrial habitation is furnished conspires, with every other consideration, to exalt our conceptions to that power, by which our globe, and all that it contains, were brought into existence.

The preceding illustrations, however, exhibit the vast extent of the earth considered only as a mere superficies. But we know that the earth is a solid globe, whose specific gravity is nearly five times denser than water, or about twice as dense as the mass of earth and rocks which compose its surface. Though we cannot dig into its bowels beyond a mile in perpendicular depth to explore its hidden wonders, yet we may easily conceive what a vast and indescribable mass of matter must be contained between the two opposite portions of its external circumference, reaching 8000 miles in every direction. The solid contents of this ponderous ball is no less than 263,858,149,120 cubical miles-a mass of material substance of which we can form but a very faint and imperfect conception-in proportion to which all the lofty mountains which rise above its surface are less than a few grains of sand, when compared with the largest artificial globe. Were the earth a hollow sphere, surrounded merely with an external shell of earth and water ten miles thick, its internal cavity would be sufficient to contain a quantity of materials one hundred and thirty-three times

greater than the whole mass of continents, islands, and oceans, on its surface, and the foundations on which they are supported. We have the strongest reasons, however, to conclude, that the earth, in its general structure, is one solid mass, from the surface to the centre, excepting, perhaps, a few caverns scattered here and there, amidst its. subterraneous recesses: and that its density gradually increases from its surface to its central regions. What an enormous mass of materials, then, is comprehended within the limits of that globe on which we tread! The mind labors, as it were, to comprehend the mighty idea; and after all its exertion, feels itself unable to take in such an astonishing magnitude at one comprehensive grasp. How great must be the power of that Being who commanded it to spring from nothing into existence, who "measureth the ocean in the hollow of His hand, who weigheth the mountains in scales, and hangeth the earth upon nothing!"

It is essentially requisite, before proceeding to the survey of objects. and magnitudes of a superior order, that we should endeavor, by such a train of thought as the preceding, to form some tolerable and clear conception of the bulk of the globe we inhabit; for it is the only body we can use as a standard of comparison to guide the mind in its conceptions, when it roams abroad to other regions of material existence. And from what has been now stated, it appears that we have no adequate conception of a magnitude of so vast an extent; or, at least, that the mind cannot, in any one instant, form to itself a distinct and comprehensive idea of it, in any measure corresponding to the reality.

Hitherto, then, we have fixed only on a determinate magnitude-on a scale of a few inches, as it were, in order to assist us in our measurement and conception of magnitudes still more august and astonishing. When we contemplate by the light of science those magnificent globes which float around us in the concave of the sky, the earth, with all its sublime scenery, stupendous as it is, dwindles into an inconsiderable ball. If we pass from our globe to some of the other bodies of the planetary system, we shall find that one of these stupendous orbs is more than 900 times the size of our world, and encircled with a ring 200,000 miles in diameter, which would nearly reach from the earth to the moon, and would enclose within its vast circumference several hundreds of worlds as large as ours. Another of these planetary bodies, which appears to the vulgar eye only as a brilliant speck on the vault of heaven, is found to be of such a size, that it would require 1,400 globes of the bulk of the earth to form one equal to it in dimensions. The whole of the bodies which compose the solar system (without taking the sun and the comets into account) contains a mass of matter 2,500 times greater than that of the earth. The sun himself is 520 times larger than all the planetary globes taken together; and one million, three hundred thousand times larger than the terraqueous globe. This is one of the most glorious and magnificent visible objects which either the eye or the imagination can contemplate; especially when we consider what perpetual, and incomprehensible, and powerful influence he exerts, what warmth, and beauty, and activity, he diffuses, not only on the globe we inhabit, but over the more extensive regions of surrounding worlds. His energy extends to the