combine; all the different effects of which he can evidently foresee. He will see, in what time motion will be communicated from the first of these wheels to the second, at what time the second will move the third, and so of the rest: he will foretell all their different motions, and all the effects which must result from their different combinations.

Hitherto this is only supposition, my brethren, but it is a supposition that conducts us to the most certain of all facts. This workman is God. God is this sublime, exact, infinite genius. He calls into being matter, without motion, and, in some sense, without form. He gives this matter form and motion. He makes a certain number of wheels, or rather he makes them without number. He disposes them as he thinks proper. He communicates a certain degree of motion agreeable to the laws of his wisdom. Thence arises the world which strikes our eyes. By the forementioned example, I conceive, that God, by his own intelligence, saw what must result from the arrangement of all the wheels that compose this world, and knew, with the utmost exactness, all their combinations. He saw that a certain degree of motion, imparted to a certain portion of matter, would produce water; that another degree of motion, communicated to another portion of matter, would produce fire; that another would produce earth, and so of the rest. He foresaw, with the utmost precision, what would result from this water, from this fire, from this earth, when joined together, and agitated by such a degree of motion as he should communicate. By the bare inspection of the laws of motion, he foresaw fires, he foresaw shipwrecks, he foresaw earthquakes, he foresaw all the vicissitudes of time, he foresaw those which must put a period to time, when 'the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the earth, with all the works that are in it, shall be burnt up,' 2 Pet. iii. 10. 2. But, if God could combine all that would result from the laws of motion communicated to matter, he could also combine all that would result from intelligence, freedom of will, and all the faculties which make the essence of spirits; and, before he had formed all those spiritual beings which compose the intelligible world, he knew what all their ideas, all their projects, all their deliberations, would for ever be.

I am aware, that a particular consequence, which follows this doctrine, has made some divines exclaim against this thesis, and, under the specious pretence of exculpating the Deity from the entrance of sin into this world, they have affirmed that God could not foresee the determinations of a free agent ; for, say they, had he foreseen the abuse which man would have made of his liberty, in resolving to sin, his love to holiness would have engaged him to prevent it. But to reason in this manner is, in attempting to solve a difficulty, to leave that difficulty in all its force.

All that they say on this article proceeds from this principle, that a God, infinitely just, and infinitely powerful, ought to display (if it be allowable to say so) all the infinity of his attributes to prevent sin. But this principle

is notoriously false. Witness that very permission of sin which is objected to us. Ye will not acknowledge that God foresaw man's fall into sin; acknowledge, at least, that he foresaw the possibility of men's falling, and that, in forming a creature free, he knew that such a creature might choose virtue or vice; acknowledge, at least, that God could have created man with so much knowledge, and could have afforded him so many succours; he could have presented such powerful motives to holiness incessantly, and discovered to him the dreadful consequences of his rebellion so effectually; he could have united obedience to his commands with so many delights, and the most distant thought of dis obedience with so many disgusts; he could have banished from man every temptation to sin, so that he would never have been a sinYet God created man in another manner; consequently it is not true, even in your system, that God hath exerted all the power he could to prevent sin's entrance into the world. Consequently it is false, that a being, who perfectly loves holiness, ought to display the whole extent of his attributes to prevent sin, and to establish virtue. Consequently, the principle on which ye ground your denial of God's comprehension of all the dispositions of spirits, is an unwarrantable principle, and to attempt to solve the difficulty, in this manner, is to leave it in all its force.

ner.

But, if ye consult revelation, ye will find that God claims a universal knowledge of spirits. He says, that he 'searcheth and knoweth them,' Jer. xvii 10.; Rev. ii. 23.; Gen. xv. 13.; Exod. iii. 19. He foresaw, he foretold, the afflictions which Abraham's posterity would endure in Egypt, the hardening of Pharaoh, the infidelity of the Jews, the faith of the Gentiles, the crucifixion of the Messiah, the coming of the prince or leader, that is of Vespasian, or Titus, who would destroy the city and the sanctuary,' Dan. ix. 25, 26. And consequently, we have a right to affirm that God knows all the thoughts of the mind, and all the sentiments of the heart, as well as that he knows all the motions of matter.

Perhaps ye wish, my brethren, that our speculations were carried further; perhaps ye would have us disentangle the subject from all its difficulties; perhaps ye wish we could make you comprehend, in a clear and distinct manner, how it is possible that such immense objects can be always present to the Supreme Intelligence? but what mortal mouth can express such sublime truths, or what capacity is able to conceive them! On this article, we are obliged with our prophet to exclaim,

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high I cannot attain unto it!' ver. 6. In general, we conceive that the sphere of divine knowledge is not contracted by any of the limits that confine the spirits of mankind.

The human spirit is united to a portion of matter. Man can perform no operation without the agitation of his brain, without the motion of his animal spirits, without the help of his senses. But the brain wearies, the spirits dissipate, the senses are blunted, and the minutest alteration of body clogs the most penetrating and active genius. But God, as

we have represented him, thinks, understands, meditates, without brain, without spirits, without any need of senses; not participating their nature, he never participates their alteration, and thus hath intelligence immediately from the treasure of intelligence it self.

The spirit of man owes its existence to a superior Spirit, to a foreign cause, to a Being who gives him only such ideas as he thinks proper, and who hath been pleased to conceal numberless mysteries from him. But God, God not only does not owe his existence to a foreign cause, but all that exist derive their existence from him. His ideas were the models of all beings, and he hath only to contemplate himself perfectly to know them.

The spirit of man is naturally a finite spirit; he can consider only one circle of objects at once, many ideas confound him; if he would see too much he sees nothing, he must successively contemplate what he cannot contemplate in one moment. But God is an infinite Spirit; with one single look he beholdeth the whole universe. This is the first idea of the omnipresence of God. As I am accounted present in this auditory, because I see the objects that are here, because I am witness of all that passes here, so God is every where, because he sees all, because veils the most impenetrable, darkness the most thick, distances the most immense, can conceal nothing from his knowledge. Soar to the utmost heights, fly into the remotest climates, wrap thyself in the blackest darkness, every where, every where, thou wilt be under his eye. 'Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?'

But, 2. The knowledge of God is not a bare knowledge, his presence is not an idle presence; it is an active knowledge, it is a presence accompanied with action and motion. We said, just now, that God was every where, because he influenced all, as far as influence could agree with his perfections. Remark this restriction, for, as we are discussing a subject the most fertile in controversy, and, as in a discourse of an hour, it is impossible to answer all objections, which may be all answered elsewhere, we would give a general preservative against every mistake. We mean an influence which agrees with the divine perfections; and if, from any of our general propositions, ye infer any consequences injurious to those perfections, ye may conclude, for that very reason, that ye have stretched them beyond their due bounds. We repeat it then, God influenceth all things, as far as such influence agrees with his perfections.

When new beings appear, he is there. He influences their production. He gives to all life, motion, and being, Acts xvii. 28. Neh. ix. 6.; Thou, even thou, art Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, the heaven of hea vens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all, and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.-O Lord, I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy

works, and that my soul knoweth right well.' Ps. cxxxix. 14-16.; My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.-Thine hands have made me, and fashioned me together round about. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.' Ps. xxxvi. 5, 6. When beings are preserved, he is there. He influences their preservation. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thou preservest man and beast. When thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created, and thou rene west the face of the earth,' Ps. civ. 28-30.

When the world is disordered, he is there. He influenceth wars, pestilence, famines, and all the vicissitudes which disorder the world. If nature refuse her productions, it is because he has made the heaven as iron, and the earth as brass,' Lev. xxvi. 19. If peace succeed war, he makes both. If lions slay the inhabitants of Samaria,' it is 'the Lord who sends them,' 2 Kings xvii. 25. When tempestuous winds break down those immense ' banks which your industry has opposed to them, when a devouring fire reduceth your houses to ashes, it is he who makes the winds his messengers, and his ministers flames of fire,' Ps. civ. 4.

When every thing succeeds according to our wishes, he is there. He influenceth prosperity. Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is in vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows. It is God who giveth his beloved sleep,' Ps. cxxvii. 1, 2.

When our understanding is informed, he is there. He influenceth our knowledge. For ' in his light we see light,' Ps. xxxvi. 10. He lighteth every man that cometh into the world,' John i. 9.

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When our heart disposeth us to our duties, he is there. He influenceth our virtues. It is he who worketh in us, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure,' Phil. ii. 13. It is he who 'giveth us not only to believe, but to suffer for his sake,' Phil. i. 29. It is he who giveth to all that ask him liberally, and upbraideth not,' James i. 5.

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When the grossest errors cover us, he is there. He influenceth errors. It is God who sends strong delusions that men should believe a lie,' 2 Thess. ii. 11. Go make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,'

Isa. vi. 10.

When we violate the laws of righteousness, he is there. He influenceth sins, even the greatest sins. Witness Pharaoh, whose 'heart he hardened,' Exod. iv. 21. Witness Shimei, whom the Lord bade to curse David,' 2 Sam.

xvi. 11. Witness what Isaiah said, 'the Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst of Egypt,' Isa. xix. 14.

When magistrates, our earthly gods, consult and deliberate, he is there. He influenceth policy. It is he who hath the hearts of kings in his hand, and turneth them as the rivers of water,' Prov. xxi. 1. It is he who 'giveth kings in his anger, and taketh them away in his wrath,' Hos. xiii. 11. It is he who maketh 'the Assyrian the rod of his anger,' Isa. x. 5. 'Herod and Pilate, the Gentiles and the people of Israel, did what his hand and his counsel determined before to be done,' Acts iv. 27, 28.

When we live, when we die, he is there. He influenceth life and death. 'Man's days are determined, the number of his months are with him, he has appointed his bounds that he cannot pass,' Job xiv. 5. "To God the Lord belong the issues from death,' Ps. lxviii. 20. "He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up,' 2 Sam. ii. 6.

He influences the least events as well as the most considerable. Not being fatigued with the care of great things, he can occupy himself about the smallest without prejudice to the rest; 'number the hairs of our heads,' and not let even a sparrow fall without his will,' Matt. x. 29, 30.

But 3.When God communicates himself to all, when he thus acts on all, when he diffuseth himself thus through the whole, he relates all to his own designs, and makes all serve his own counsels: and this is our third idea of his immensity and omnipresence. God is present with all, because he directs all.

Doth he call creatures into existence? it is to manifest his perfections. It is to have subjects on whom he may shower his favours; it is, as it were, to go out of himself, and to form through the whole universe a concert resounding the Creator's existence and glory. For the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, are understood by the things that are made,' Rom. i. 20. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard,' Ps. xix. 1-3.

Doth he preserve creatures? it is to answer his own designs, the depth of which no finite mind can fathom; but designs which we shall one day know, and admire his wisdom when we know them, as we adore it now, though we know them not.

Doth he send plagues, wars, famines? it is to make these feel his justice who have abused his goodness, it is to avenge the violation of his law, the contempt of his gospel, the forgetting and the forsaking of the interest of his church.

Doth he afford us prosperity? it is to draw us with the bands of love,' Hos. xi. 4; it is to reveal himself to us by that love which is his essence; it is to engage us to imitate him, who never leaves himself without witness in doing good,' Acts xiv. 17.

Doth he impart knowledge to us? it is to discover the snares that surround us, the miseries that threaten us, the origin from which

we sprang, the course of life that we should follow, and the end at which we should aim.

Doth he communicate virtues? it is to animate us in our race; it is to convince us that there is a mighty arm to raise us from the abyss into which our natural corruption hath plunged us; it is that we may work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that God worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure,' Phil. ii. 12, 13.

Doth he send us error? it is to make us respect that truth we have resisted.

Doth he abandon us to our vices? it is to punish us for some other vices which we have committed voluntarily and freely, so that, if we could comprehend it, his love for holiness never appears more clearly, than when he abandons men to vice in this manner.

Doth he raise up kings? it is always to oblige them to administer justice, to protect the widow and the orphan, to maintain order and religion. Yet, he often permits them to violate equity, to oppress their people, and to become the scourges of his anger. By them he frequently teacheth us how little account he makes of human grandeurs; seeing he bestows them sometimes upon unworthy men, upon men allured by voluptuousness, governed by ambition, and dazzled with their own glory; upon men who ridicule piety, sell their consciences, negotiate faith and religion, sacrificing the souls of their children to the infamous passions that govern themselves.

Doth he prolong our life? it is because he 'is long suffering to us,' 2 Pet. iii. 9; it is because he opens in our favour the riches of his goodness and forbearance, to lead us to repentance,' Rom. ii. 4.

Doth he call us to die? it is to open those eternal books in which our actions are registered; it is to gather our souls into his bosom, 'to bind them up in the bundle of life,' 1 Sam. XXV. 29; to mix them with the ransomed armies of all nations, tongues, and people,' Rev. vii. 9.

Such are our ideas of the omnipresence of God. Thus God seeth all, influenceth all, directeth all. In this sense we are to understand this magnificent language of Scripture. 'Will God indeed dwell on the earth; behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee.' 1 Kings viii. 27. Thus saith the Lord, 'The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me? do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?' Isa. lxvi. 1. Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?' Jer. xxiii. 23, 24. This is what the heathens had a glimpse of, when they said, that God was a circle, the centre of which was every where, and its circumference no where. That all things were full of Jupiter. That he filled all his works. That, fly whither we would, we were always before his eyes. This is what the followers of Mohammed meant, when they said, that where there were two persons, God made the third; where there were three God made the fourth. Above all, this was our prophet's meaning throughout the Psalm, a part of which we have explained. O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down.

Such

sitting and mine up-rising, thou understandest my thoughts afar off Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thy hand upon me. knowledge is too wonderful for me, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be a light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to thee,' ver. 1, and following.

But perhaps, during the course of this meditation, ye may have murmured at our presenting an object of which all the preaching in the world can give you but imperfect ideas. Suspend your judgments, we are going to show you whither this discourse, all glimmering as it is, ought to conduct you. Ye are going to see what salutary consequences folfow our efforts, even the weak efforts that we have been making to explain the grandeur and omnipresence of God. Let us pass to the conclusion, the chief design of this discourse.

1. Our first reflection is on the difficulties that we meet with in fixing our minds on such subjects as we have been hearing. Ye have doubtless experienced, if ye have endeavoured to follow us, that ye are weary, and wander when ye would go beyond matter. Our minds find almost nothing real, where they meet with nothing sensible. As if the whole essence of beings were corporeal, the mind loses its way when it ceases to be directed by bodies, and it needs the help of imagination to represent even those things which are not susceptible of images; and yet whatever is most grand and noble in the nature of beings is spirit. The sublimest objects, angels who are continually before God, seraphims who cover their faces in his presence, cherubims who are the ministers of his will, thousand thousands which minister unto him, ten thousand times ten thousand which stand before him,' Isa. vi. 2. Dan. vii. 10; what is most glorious in man, what elevates him above other animals, a soul made in the image of God himself; the Being of beings, the Sovereign Beauty; all these beings are spiritual, abstract, free from sense and matter. Moreover, what pleases and enchants us in bodies, even that comes from a subject, abstract, spiritual and incorporeal. Without your soul, aliments have no taste, flowers no smell, the earth no enamel, fire no heat, the stars no brilliancy, the sun no light. Matter of itself is void, and gross, destitute of all the qualities with which our imagination clothes it, and which are proper to our souls. What ought we to conclude from this reflection? My brethren, have ye any idea of your dignity, and primitive grandeur? Have ye yet some few faint resemblances of beings formed in the Creator's image? ye ought, feeble as ye

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are, confined as ye are in a manner to matter, ye should deplore your misery, ye should groan under that necessity, which, in some sort, confounds your soul with a little dust; ye should sigh after that happy state in which your rapid, free, and unclogged souls shall meditate like themselves. This is the first duty that we would prescribe to you.

2. Our next reflection is on the majesty of our religion. That must certainly be thought the true religion which gives us the grandest ideas of God. Let our religion be judged by this rule. Where do we see the attributes of the Supreme Being placed in so clear a light? what can be more noble than this idea of God? what can be conceived more sublime than a Being whom nothing escapes, before whom 'all things are naked and open,' Heb. iv. 13.; who, by one single look, fully comprehend all beings past, present, and to come; all that do exist, all that possibly can exist? who thinks in the same instant, with equal facility on bodies and spirits, on all the dimensions of time and of matter? What more noble can be conceived than a Being who imparts himself to all, diffuses himself through all, influences all, gives life and motion to all? What can be conceived more noble than a Being who directs the conduct of the whole universe, who knows how to make all concur to his designs, who knows how to relate alike to the laws of order and equity, the virtues of the righteous, the vices of the wicked, the praises of the happy, the blasphemies of the victims sacrificed to his vengeance in hell? When we find in any heathen philosopher, amidst a thousand false notions, amidst a thousand wild imaginations, some few leaves of the flowers with which our Bibles are strewed, we are ready to cry a miracle, a miracle! we transmit these shreds of the Deity (if I may be allowed to speak so) to the most distant posterity, and these ideas, all maimed, and all defiled as they are, procure their authors an immortal reputation. On this principle, what respect, what veneration, what deference ought we to have for the patriarchs and the prophets, for the Evangelists and the apostles, who spoke of God in so sublime a manner! But be not surprised at their superiority over the great pagan ge niuses; if the biblical writers, like them, had been guided only by human reason, like them they would have wandered too. If they spoke so nobly of God, it was because they had received that spirit who searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God,' 1 Cor. ii. 10. It was because all Scripture was given by inspiration,' 2 Tim, iii. 16. It was because the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,' 2 Pet. i. 21.

3. Make a third reflection. This grandeur of God removes the greatest stumbling. blocks that skeptics and infidels pretend to meet with in religion. It justifies all those dark mysteries which are above the comprehension of our feeble reason. We would not make use of this reflection to open a way for human fancies, and to authorize every thing that is presented to us under the idea of the marvellous. All doctrines that are incomprehensible are not divine, nor ought we to em

brace any opinion merely because it is beyond our knowledge. But when a religion, in other respects, hath good guarantees, when we have good arguments to prove that such a revelation comes from heaven, when we certainly know that it is God who speaks, ought we to be surprised if ideas of God, which come so fully authenticated, absorb and confound us? I freely grant, that had I consulted my own reason only, I could not have discovered some mysteries of the gospel. Nevertheless, when I think on the grandeur of God, when I cast my eyes on that vast ocean, when I consider that immense all, nothing astonishes me, nothing stumbles me, nothing seems to me inadmissible, how incomprehensible soever it may be. When the subject is divine, I am ready to believe all, to admit all, to receive all; provided I be convinced that it is God himself who speaks to me, or any one on his part. After this I am no more astonished that there are three distinct persons in one divine essence; one God, and yet a Father, a Son, and a Holy Ghost. After this I am no more astonished that God foresees all without forcing any; permits sin without forcing the sinner; ordains free and intelligent creatures to such and such ends, yet without destroying their intelligence, or their liberty. After this I am no more astonished, that the justice of God required a satisfaction proportional to his greatness, that his own love hath provided that satisfaction, and that God, from the abundance of his compassion, designed the mystery of an incarnate God; a mystery which angels admire while skeptics oppose; a mystery which absorbs human reason, but which fills all heaven with songs of praise; a mystery which is the great mystery,' 1 Tim. iii. 16, by excellence, but the greatness of which nothing should make us reject, since religion proposeth it as the grand effort of the wisdom of the incomprehensible God, and commandeth us to receive it on the testimony of the incomprehensible God himself. Either religion must tell us nothing about God, or what it tells us must be beyond our capacities, and, in discovering even the borders of this immense ocean, it must needs exhibit a vast extent in which our feeble eyes are lost. But what surprises me, what stumbles me, what frightens me, is to see a diminutive creature, a contemptible man, a little ray of light glimmering through a few feeble organs, controvert a point with the Supreme Being, oppose that Intelligence who sitteth at the helm of the world; question what he affirms, dispute what he determines, appeal from his decisions, and, even after God hath given evidence, reject all doctrines that are beyond his capacity. Enter into thy nothingness, mortal creature. What madness animates thee? How durst thou pretend, thou who art but a point, thou whose essence is but an atom, to measure thyself with the Supreme Being, with him who fills heaven and earth, with him whom heaven, the heaven of heavens cannot contain?' 1 Kings viii. 27. Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know?'

Job xi. 7. He stretcheth out the north over

the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, the pillars of heaven_tremble, and are astonished at his reproof. Lo, these are parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?' Job xxvi. 7. 11. 14. 'Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof? who hath stretched the line upon it? whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? who laid the corner-stone thereof, when the morn ing-stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Who shut up the ses with doors, when I made the cloud the gar ment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it? when I brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?' Job xxxviii. 3-5, &c. He that reproveth God, let him answer this. O Lord, such knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is too high, I cannot attain unto it!' Job xl. 2.

4. But, my brethren, shall these be the only inferences from our text? shall we reap only speculations from this discourse? shall we only believe, admire, and exclaim? Ah! from this idea of God I see all the virtues issue which religion prescribes! If such be the grandeur of the God whom I adore, misera. ble wretch what ought my repentance to be! I, a contemptible worm, I, a creature whom God could tread beneath his feet, and crush into dust by a single act of his will, I have rebelled against the great God, I have endeavoured to provoke him to jealousy, as if I had been stronger than he, 1 Cor. x. 22. I have insulted that Majesty which the angels of God adore; I have attacked God, with madness and boldness, on his throne, and in his em pire. Is it possible to feel remorse too cutting for sins which the grandeur of the of fended, and the littleness of the offender, make so very atrocious?

5. If such be the grandeur of God, what should our humility be! Grandees of the world, mortal divinities, who swell with va nity in the presence of God, oppose your selves to the immense God. Behold his eternal ideas, his infinite knowledge, his general influence, his universal direction; enter his immense ocean of perfections and virtues, what are ye? a grain of dust, a point, an atom, a nothing!

6. If such be the grandeur of God, what ought our confidence to be! If God be for us, who can be against us?' Rom. viii. 31. Poor creature, tossed about the world, as by so many winds, by hunger, by sickness, by persecution, by misery, by nakedness, by exile; fear not in a vessel of which God himself is the pilot.

7. But above all, if such be the grandeur of God, if God be every where present, what should our vigilance be! and, to return to the idea with which we began, what impression should this thought make on reasonable souls! God seeth me. When thou wast under the