and fraud, have toiled with unrivalled exertions, to convert man into a savage, and the world into a desert. A wretched, and hypocritical, philanthropy, also, not less mischievous, has stalked forth as the companion of these ravagers: a philanthropy born in a dream, bred in a novel, and living only in professions. This guardian genius of human interests, this friend of human rights, this redresser of human wrongs, is yet without a heart to feel, and without a hand to bless. But she is well furnished with lungs, with eyes, and a tongue. She can talk, and sigh, and weep, at pleasure; but can neither pity, nor give. The objects of her attachment are either knaves and villains at home, or unknown sufferers, beyond her reach abroad. To the former, she ministers the sword and the dagger, that they may fight their way into place, and power, and profit. At the latter, she only looks through a telescope of fancy, as an astronomer searches for stars, invisible to the eye. To every real object of charity, within her reach, she complacently says, Be thou warmed; and be thou filled; depart in peace.

By the daring spirit, the vigorous efforts, and the ingenious cunning, so industriously exerted on the one hand, and the smooth and gentle benevolence, so softly professed on the other, multitudes have been, and you easily may be, destroyed. The mischief has indeed, been met, resisted, and overcome; but it has the heads, and the lives, of the Hydra; and its wounds, which at times have seemed deadly, are much more readily healed, than any good man could wish, than any sober man could expect. Hope not to escape the assaults of this enemy: To feel, that you are in danger, will ever be a preparation for your safety. But it will be only such a preparation; your deliverance must ultimately, and only, flow from your Maker. Resolve, then, to commit yourselves to him, with a cordial reliance on his wisdom, power, and protection. Consider how much you have at stake; that you are bound to eternity; that your existence will be immortal; and that you will either rise to endless glory, or be lost in absolute perdition. Heaven is your proper home. The path, which I have recommended to you, will conduct you safely, and certainly, to that happy world. Fill up life, therefore, with obedience to God; with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and repentance unto life; the

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obedience to the two great commands of the Gospel; with supreme love to God, and universal good-will to men; the obedience to the two great commands of the law. On all your sincere endeavours to honour him, and befriend your fellow-men, he will smile every virtuous attempt he will bless every act of obedience he will reward. Life in this manner will be pleasant amid all its sorrows; and beams of hope will continually shine through the gloom, by which it is so often overcast. tue, the seed that cannot die, planted from heaven, and cultivated by the divine hand, will grow up in your hearts with increasing vigour, and blossom in your lives with supernal beauty. Your path will be that of the just; and will gloriously resemble the dawning light, which shines brighter, and brighter, to the perfect day. Peace will take you by the hand, and offer herself as the constant and delightful companion of your progress. Hope will walk before you, and with an unerring finger point out your course; and joy, at the end of the journey, will open her arms to receive you. You will wait on the Lord, and renew your strength; will mount up with wings, as eagles; will run, and not be weary; will walk, and not faint.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the preceding discourses I have considered the existence and perfections of God; his decrees, or that pleasure, or choice, with which he willed the existence of all things; and the sovereignty with which he disposes of them. The next subject in such a system of discourses is the Works of God; which are no other than the execution of that pleasure. These are generally and justly distributed under two great heads, Creation and Providence. Under these heads I propose to consider them.

In the text it is asserted, that, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The phrase, In the beginning, is universally expressive, in the Scriptures, of the commencement of created, or finite existence. Whether it is intended to be applied in the present case to both the heavens and the earth, with exactly the same meaning, is uncertain; as will be evident from the proper import of this phraseology. The word, created, denotes, brought into existence. The heaven and the earth, is a Jewish phrase, denoting the Universe and all things which it contains. As some of these things, particularly the souls of men, were not created at the same time with the earth, it is evident, that the phrase, in the beginning, cannot be particularly, and strictly, applied to every created being.

In the text, thus explained, the following doctrine is evidently asserted;

THAT ALL THINGS, WERE BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE BY GOD.

The truth of this doctrine has been already sufficiently evinced in the two first of these discourses; so far as arguments from Reason are concerned. That it is the real doctrine of the text; and that the word, created, does not mean merely moulded, or fashioned, is completely evident from the explanation of Moses himself; who undoubtedly will be allowed to be his own Commentator. In Gen. ii. 3, he says, And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. In the original language it is, which God created, to make, that is, which he created, or brought into being, first; and made, or fashioned, afterwards, into all the innumerable forms and beings, with which the Universe is, in a sense endlessly, replenished.

This truth has by various persons, of no small note in the world, as men of science, been called in question. It seems so evident that all things, which do not involve a contradiction, are possible with the Omnipotent God; that a sober man can scarcely fail to wonder, how these persons can hesitate to believe, that the act of creating, or giving being, is within the limits of his power. The acts of preserving and governing the universe, also seem to be equally evidential of Omnipotence, and equally to demand its exertions. I cannot easily conceive how any man can admit, that God governs the Universe, and doubt whether he brought, or was able to bring, it into being. At the same time, the several modes, adopted by these very men to account either for the existence, preservation, or government, of all things, are attended with incomparably more difficulty: being indeed palpable absurdities, and involving evident contradictions. This, it is believed, has been proved in a former discourse*.

But the formation of the human Soul, is itself a continual exhibition of creating power. It is, unquestionably, as difficult to create Minds, as to create Matter. But that God creates Minds is certain; because Matter, being unintelligent, cannot commu

See Sermon II.