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following method of harmonizing these three narratives, then suggested itself to the author, which seemed to give satisfaction. The following are the passages to which I allude

St. Mathew says, chap. xxviii. 1. "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to DAWN towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene," &c. St. Mark, xvi. 2. says, "And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre, at the RISING of the sun." St. John has it, ch. xx. 1. "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark." St. Luke simply says, “very EARLY in the morning," without particularizing the exact appearance of light, or the rising of the sun.

It should be noticed, in the first place, as a confirmation of the truth of these accounts, that they all agree in saying that it was the first day of the week, and very early in the morning, and that the stone was rolled away from the door of the sepul chre. The apparent discrepance, therefore, is between Mathew, Mark, and John; the first of whom says, the day began to dawn; the second at the rising of the sun; the third while it was yet dark.

Now, it is manifest that the words dark and light, are to be used and understood in a comparative sense; for total darkness has never been experienced any more than total coldness. We might therefore say, when the day begins to dawn, in comparison to full day light, it is yet dark; and also, at this time, when compared to the darkness of midnight, it is light. "But St. Mark says, it was at the rising of the sun." True-but he does not say that the sun had actually risen above the horizon. The rising of the sun caused the dawn of which St. Matthew speaks; and yet it was not sufficiently elevated to disperse the darkness of which St. John speaks; but was so far risen as to indicate that it was very early in the morning, of which they all speak.

Take, then, the three narratives together, and you will behold a delightful harmony in their testimony. The rising sun just breaks the thick darkness which overspread the earth, so that it commenced its gradual recession; this caused the dawning light to appear, which announced the morning to have ap proached; while this twilight, or dawn, proclaims it yet dark in comparison to the light of day, when the sun is above the horizon.

Viewing the several narratives through this medium of interpretation, we cannot perceive how the coincidence could have been more striking, unless each writer had used the same expressions, which would have rendered the testimony more sus picious.

What a striking resemblance this, to the light of divine truth, penetrating the dark mind of an infidel, dispersing the thick darkness of his gloomy principles, and causing the dawn of spiritual illumination in his sceptical mind, thereby gradually conducting him forward to the cheering light of gospel day, until at length, emerging from the melancholy darkness of his comfortless system, he is brought under the irradiating beams of the Sun of righteousness. It is then that the divine harmony of revelation, shining with all its native brilliancy upon his reviv ing soul, convinces him that Jesus Christ has not only burst the bands of death, and ascended at the right hand of the Majesty on high, but also has risen upon his soul with healing in his wings. EVANGELUS.

New-York, October 12, 1818.

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD DISPLAYED.

ON THE WORKS OF CREATION.

(Concluded from page 426.)

Ir from one fluid element we turn our thoughts to another, the Air, new and astonishing wonders will still appear. The cause and its effects are replete with miracles, and both demonstrate the constant exertion of Divine power. We are well assured that this element is essentially necessary to human life; we are fully satisfied that without its assistance, respiration would be impossible; and without respiration, life could not be preserved; and, therefore, every breath we draw is a living evidence of a power, which must necessarily reside in God. Through this medium our sight is assisted; and we are enabled to behold, by this means, those distant orbs, which would otherwise have remained unknown. What power, then, adapted it to those particular uses for which it is so evidently designed? Who gave

to our atmosphere that elastic nature which we perceive in every portion that we can select? Who gave it that power, through which it roots up forests, demolishes cities, and foments the boiling ocean into a rage? Who gave it that penetrating influence, by which it enters into the minutest pores of our bodies? Who rendered it invisible to our sight, and placed it beyond the reach of microscopic discernment? Who called it forth into storms, and bade those storms subside; or who wrought the ocean into tempest, and then hushed that tempest into peace? In fine, there can be no end to questions which may be proposed, on the innumerable and astonishing works of God.

Into what region can we look for an evidence more sublime, or where can we hope to find more substantial proofs of the existence and infinite power of God, than we find concentrated in this fluid element of which we speak? The air is so wonderfully contrived by infinite wisdom, that while we discover those separate and distinguishing properties, on which we have already turned our thoughts, it presents itself before us in such a light, that every excellency appears combined. In this intermediate expansion which surrounds our globe, we at once perceive those breezes which are so necessary for health and commerce, supporting the clouds, and wafting them in a variety of directions. It is the atmosphere that gives existence to sounds by the motion of its parts; breath to all animal beings by the elasticity of its particles; and that conveys light by the transparency of its nature. In this fluid we behold a safe repository for thunder and lightning, and hail, and snow; so that it seems to be a vast magazine, which contains the artillery of heaven. It is from this repository that meteors are sent forth by the command of God, to purify the corrupted parts, and to give new life to those that are stagnant.. It is from this magazine that those elementary fires issue, which consume all noxious vapours, and pestilential effluvia, that either generate in the air, or exhale from the earth. It is in this circumambient atmosphere that the great distillation of nature is carried onward; that those saline particles of matter are extracted from the waters, which, by the action of those secondary causes which God has appointed, rise from their natural element, mount into this middle region, and are there prepared for that distribution which fertilizes the earth in gentle showers. What power suspended these clouds in this transparent element, committed the

waters to their keeping, and tinged their skirts with azure and with gold? Who poised them with such exactness, that they float along in the air, at such convenient distances from the surface of the earth, that they administer to the conveniency, without interrupting the affairs, of man? Who gave the air that astonishing, but unknown, power which it possesses, of wafting those torrents of water over our heads, and of distributing them in gentle dews over the different climates of the world; while in itself it is apparently unsolid, and incapable of obstructing the organs of vision? We can attribute these strange properties, and this strange combination of them, to no power less than God. Had the atmosphere been devoid of strength, it would be unable to sustain that weight of water which continually hangs upon it; had it been devoid of motion, those waters could not have been wafted from pole to pole, nor could the earth have been fertilized with those rains which now give life to the vegetable world. Had it been destitute of elasticity, it would have been unfit for the purposes of respiration, by which animal life is sustained; and had it been devoid of transparency, it would have obstructed, the action of our visual organs, it would have deprived us of the light of heaven, and it would have placed this world in nearly the same state of chaotic darkness, as that in which it lay before the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Who then has manifested that astonishing wisdom which we discover in the atmosphere that we every moment breathe? Its strength and elasticity surpass the powers of regular calculation; while its action and transparency seem to vie with each other, in laying claim to our amazement and surprise. To what power, but to that of God, can we attribute a combination of qualities which are so strange, and apparently so heterogeneous, as we thus discover in the air? No likeness can be traced in any other element; nor can we find, in any combination of properties and powers in the vast empire of nature, any thing which will bear to it the most distant resemblance. Its properties and its station are admirably adapted by God to those uses for which he designed them; its peculiar excellencies are visible in every direction; and it affords us a number of invincible arguments which prove, from final causes, the being and attributes of God.

In contemplating this scene of wonders with which we are thus surrounded, we behold a field of the most ample nature; a field in which the mind may wander in a variety of forms, and VOL. I.

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put forth all her powers, and wander forever without satiety of disgust. But these scenes present to our astonished views nothing but inanimate matter, wrought into the most exquisite forms by the almighty power of God. Were we to raise our views above those innumerable worlds with which we are encircled, and climb into the higher abodes of intellectual life; were we then to stretch our faculties to the utmost of their powers; new wonders would still arise, in which all the glories of creation that we have been contemplating would stand eclips ed; they would appear no other than a diminutive speck, in which the amazing power and infinite wisdom of God would seem comparatively small; and these worlds would even dwindle into trifles of no considerable weight. The degrees of intelligence which God has bestowed upon those higher orders of spiritual beings who surround his throne, were they to be unfolded to our view, would absorb our powers, and convince us of the littleness of the human understanding.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for us, and we cannot attain unto it; it is wisely withheld from our views, because the rank which we sustain in the vast chain of being has circumscribed our power; and God, who does all things well, has suited our faculties to our sphere. But when those impediments to our knowledge shall be removed; and our souls, separated from those bodies which now retard their excursions, shall take their flight into another world: when those faculties which are now in embryo shall ripen in their separate states, for that re-union which shall take place when the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed; when our bodies, awakened to immortal vigour, shall come forth in the morning of the resur rection, spiritualized and renovated, with all their organs refined, and in complete repair; and when new scenes shall unfold themselves, and this embryo state in which they are, shall give place to maturity in all its forms; then shall both body and soul, fitted and prepared by their separation from one another for a re-union which shall never end, dwell for ever in the abode of happy spirits; and be able to comprehend, with fagility and ease, all the properties and natures of those spiritual beings, whom we now attempt to know in vain.

In our present state, we already behold much more than we are able to comprehend; we are surrounded with innumerable wonders on every side. But we see enough to convince us,

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