ply, such as "infinite faithfulness, infinite justice, infinite truth," &c. an application of the term which is never sanctioned by Scripture, and which has a tendency to introduce confusion into our conceptions of the perfections of God. Granting that the statements and reasonings in such an extract as the above were unquestionable, yet what impression can they make upon the mind? Would an ignorant person feel his conceptions of the Divinity much enlarged, or his moral powers aroused by such vague and general statements? And, if not, it appears somewhat unaccountable, that those sources of illustration, which would convey the most ample and definite views of the "eternal power" and glory of God, should be studiously concealed from the view. Vague descriptions and general views of any object will never be effectual in awakening the attention, and arresting the faculties of the mind. The heart will always remain unimpressed, and the understanding will never be thoroughly excited in its exercise, unless the intellect have presented before it a well-defined and interesting object, and be enabled to survey it in its various aspects; and this object must always have a relation to the material world, whether it be viewed in connection with religion, or with any other subject. Thus I have endeavoured, in the preceding sketches, to present a few detached illustrations of the Omnipotence and grandeur of the Deity, as displayed in the vast magnitude of the material universe-the stupendous yelocities of the celestial bodies-and in the immeasurable regions of space which surround them, and in which their motions are performed. Such a magnificent spectacle as the fabric of the universe presents-so majestic, Godlike, and over-whelming to beings who dwell "in tabernacles of clay"— was surely never intended to be overlooked, or gazed at with indifference, by creatures endowed with reason and intelligence, and destined to an immortal existence. In forming a universe composed of so many immense systems and worlds, and replenished with such a variety of sensitive and intelligent existences, the Creator, doubtless, intended that it should make a sublime and reverential impression on the minds of all the intellectual beings to whom it might be displayed, and that it should convey some palpable idea of the infinite glories of his nature, in so far as material objects can be supposed to adumbrate the perfections of a spiritual and uncreated Essence. Dwelling in "light inaccessible" to mortals, and for ever veiled from the highest created being, by the pure spirituality and immensity of his nature, their is no conceivable mode by which the infinite grandeur of Deity could be exhibited to infinite intelligences, but through the medium of those magnificent operations which are incessantly going forward throughout the boundless regions of space. Concealed from the gaze of all the "principalities and powers" in heaven, in the unfathomable depths of his Essence, he displays his presence in the universe he has created, and the glory of his power, by launching magnificent worlds into existence, by adorning them with diversified splendours, by peopling them with various ranks of intelligent existence, and impelling them in their movements through the illimitable tracts of creation. It will readily be admitted by every enlightened Christian, that it must be a highly desirable attainment, to acquire the most glorious idea of the Divine Being which the limited capacity of our minds is capable of receiving. This is one of the grand difficulties in religion. The idea of a Being purely IMMATERIAL, yet pervading infinite space, and possessed of no sensible qualities, confounds and bewilders the human intellect, so that its conceptions on the one hand, are apt to verge towards extravagancy, while, on the other, they are apt to degenerate into something approaching to inanity. Mere abstract ideas and reasonings respecting infinity, eternity, and absolute perfection, however sublime we may conceive them to be, completely fail in arresting the understanding, and affecting the heart; our conceptions become vague, empty, and confused, for want of a material vehicle to give them order, stability, and expansion. Something of the nature of vast extension, splendid and variegated objects, and mighty movements, is absolutely necessary, in order to convey to spirits dwelling in bodies of clay, a definite conception of the invisible glories of the Eternal Mind; and, therefore, in the immense variety of material existence with which the universe is adorned, we find every requisite assistance to direct and expand our views of the Great Object of our adoration. When the mind is perplexed and overwhelmed with its conceptions, when it labours, as it were, to form some well-defined conceptions of an infinite Being, it here finds some tangible objects on which to fix, some sensible substratum for its thoughts to rest upon for a little, while it attempts to penetrate, in its excursions, into those distant regions which eye hath not seen, and to connect the whole of its mental survey with the energies of the "King Eternal, Immortal, and Invisible." To such a train of thought we are uniformly directed in the sacred oracles, where Jehovah is represented as describing himself by the effects which his power and wisdom have produced.—“Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord, and there is none else." "I have made the earth and created man upon it, my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded." "Hearken nnto me, O Israel: I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together." "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and weighed the mountains in scales? He who sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, that fainteth not, neither is weary." "The Lord made the heavens, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts; honour and majesty are before him, and his kingdom ruleth over all."* Such sublime descriptions of Jehovah, and references to his material works, * Isa. xlv. 18, 12. xlviii. 12, 13. xl. 12, 22, &c. are reiterated in every portion of the sacred volume; and the import and sublimity of such expressions cannot be fully appreciated, unless we take into view all the magnificent objects which science has unveiled in the distant regions of creation. This subject is calculated, not merely to overpower the intellect with ideas of sublimity and grandeur, but also to produce a deep moral impression upon the heart; and a Christian philosopher would be deficient in his duty, were he to overlook this tendency of the objects of his contemplation. One important moral effect which this subject has a natural tendency to produce, is, profound HUMILITY. What an insignificant being does man appear, when he compares himself with the magnificence of creation, and the myriads of exalted intelligences with which it is peopled! What are all the honours and splendours of this earthly ball, of which mortals are so proud, when placed in competition. with the resplendent glories of the skies? Such a display as the Almighty has given of himself, in the magnitude and variety of his works, was evidently intended “to stain the pride" of all human grandeur, that " no flesh should glory in his presence." Yet, there is no disposition that appears so prominent among puny mortals, as pride, ambition, and vain-glory-the very opposite of humility, and of all those tempers which become those "who dwell in tabernacles of clay, and whose foundation is in the dust." Even without taking into account the state of man as a depraved intelligence, what is there in his situation that should inspire him with "lofty looks," and induce him to look down on his fellow-men with supercilious contempt? He derived his origin from the dust, he is allied with the beasts that perish, and he is fast hastening to the grave, where his carcase will become the food of noisome reptiles. He is every moment dependent on a superior Being for every pulse that beats, and every breath he draws, and for all that he possesses; he is dependent even on the meanest of his species for his accommodations and comforts. He holds every enjoyment on the most precarious tenure,—his friends may be snatch ed in a moment from his embrace; his riches may take to themselves wings and fly away and his health and beauty may be blasted in an hour, by a breath of wind. Hunger and thirst, cold and heat, poverty and disgrace, sorrow and disappointment, pain and disease, mingle themselves with all his pursuits and enjoyments. His knowledge is circumscribed within the narrowest limits, his errors and follies are glaring and innumerable: and he stands as an almost undistinguishable atom, amidst the immensity of God's works. Still, with all these powerful inducements to the exercise of humility, man dares to be proud and arrogant. "Man, proud man, Dressed in a little brief authority, Plays such fantastic tricks before high Heaven How affecting, to contemplate the warrior, flushed with diabolical pride, pursuing his conquests through heaps of slain, in order to obtain possession of " a poor pitiable speck of perishing earth;" exclaiming in his rage, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them"-to behold the man of rank glorying in his wealth, and his empty titles, and looking around upon the inferior orders of his fellow-mortals as the worms of the dust-to behold the man of ambition pushing his way through bribery, and treachery, and slaughter, to gain possession of a throne, that he may look down with proud pre-eminence upon his fellows-to behold the haughty airs of the noble dame, inflated with the idea of her beauty, and her high birth, as she struts along, surveying the ignoble crowd as if they were the dust beneath her feetto behold the smatterer in learning, puffed up with a vaiu conceit of his superficial acquirements, when he has scarcely entered the porch of knowledge-in fine, to behold all ranks, from the highest to the lowest, big with an idea of their own importance, and fired with pride and revenge at the least provocation, whether imaginary or real! How inconsistent the manifestations of such tempers, with the many humiliating circumstances of our present |