Reason may vaunt herself when the discovery is made, but she owes her clearest light and firmest convictions, to the voice of inspiration.

The Bible furnishes the full and satisfactory commentary on the book of nature. With the Bible in our hands, the heavens shine with redoubled lustre. The universe, which to the atheist is full of darkness and confusion, to the Christian, is resplendent with light and glory. The first sentence in the Bible, contains more to satisfy the inquisitive mind, than all the volumes of human speculation. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Here, in a few words, is comprehended the most sublime of all truths; -the production of a universe out of nothing, by the word of the Almighty. If God created the heavens and the earth, then, he existed before they were brought forth—even from eternity; for he who gives beginning to all other things, can have none himself. Before the world was, this august Being existed, independent and happy, in the plenitude of his own infinite perfections. This first word of written revelation teaches us, what reason in her boldest flights could never reach, namely, that the universe sprang from nothing :-not from nothing as its cause, but from the inconceivable working of almighty power, where nothing existed, from which it could be made. None of the heathen sages ever believed such a creation possible. They universally received it as an axiom, that, ex nihilo nihil fieri; but here we learn, "That the worlds were framed by the word of God, and that the things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear." This stupendous work, of giving being to so great a multitude and variety of creatures, is often celebrated in the sublime strains of sacred poetry, and in the commanding eloquence of the inspired prophets. "Thus saith the Lord, that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it." "Which made heaven and earth, the sea, and

all that therein is." "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and bath stretched out the heavens by his discretion."

"O Lord God, behold thou hast made the heavens and the earth, by thy great power."

"The Lord which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him."

The apostles tread in the footsteps of the prophets, in ascribing the creation of the universe to God alone, "The living God, which made the heavens and the earth, and all things therein."

"God that made the world and all things therein." "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead."

"He that built all things is God."

With such declarations as these, coming from the mouth of God himself, how is the mind enlarged and elevated, in contemplating the heavens and the earth! How grand, how beautiful, how wise, how harmonious, is the universe, when viewed through the medium of divine revelation. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy work; day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night teacheth knowledge."

"O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens❞— "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man that thou visitest him?"

Without the book of revelation, the book of nature would be as a volume sealed; but with this key, we can open its wonderful pages, and receive instruction from every creature of God.

2. But let us descend from the contemplation of the universe, to the consideration of some of its parts. Here is the race of mankind, and multitudes of living creatures, in the earth, the air, and the water; whence have they proceeded? What can reason and philosophy answer? Had man and the other animals, a beginning, or were they from eternity? If the former, from what cause, and by what steps did they arrive at their present condition? On no subject has philosophy betrayed her weakness more, than in her speculations respecting the origin of the human race. It would be poorly worth our while to review the absurd theories of ancient and modern philosophers, which more resemble the dreams of the sick, than the sober deductions of reason. One will give to the earth, I know not what prolific power, to produce men and animals; another chooses to place man, in his origin, on a level with the speechless brutes, from which condition he is supposed to arise by long and assiduous exertion; acquiring for himself the use of articulate and written language, and inventing, from time to time, all the arts which now minister to the comfort of civilized life. But such theories are too absurd for refutation. The idea of the production of animals or vegetables, by what was called equivocal generation, that is, without progenitors, or organized seeds and roots, has long since been exploded. Experiments the most decisive have demonstrated the falsehood of the notions, entertained by the ancients, of the generation of animated beings from mere corruption. The men and animals, now on the earth, belong to a series reaching back to eternity; or, they were formed, and placed on our globe, by an almighty Being. Let us then, for a moment, look at the theory which assigns to man an existence, without beginning. While the individuals die, the species is immortal. If such a hypothesis does not do violence to common sense, it would be difficult to say what does. Each individual is dependent, and yet the whole series of indivi

duals, independent. The absurdity and contradiction of such a theory, is only concealed by the darkness of eternity. By running back until we are overwhelmed with a subject which our minds cannot grasp, we are apt to lose sight of the unreasonableness of a supposition, which on a limited scale, every one can clearly see. As if one should say, here is a chain suspended, consisting of a thousand links, each one depending on the next above it; could such a chain of a thousand links remain suspended, without any thing to support it? To such a problem, every child would give the correct answer. The thing is manifestly impossible. Well, suppose the number of links be increased to a hundred million, could the chain support itself any better, than when it consisted of a thousand, or even ten links? Certainly not; would be the answer of every person of common sense; and such a person would be apt to say, the more links there are in the chain, the more support does it require, seeing its tendency to fall will be in proportion to its weight. But then, suppose the links so increased, that our minds can no longer conceive of the number, will such an increase, however great it may be, render a support less necessary? The answer ought be as decisively as before, in the negative. We have seen that the increase of the number, while within the limits of our conception, did not lessen the neces sity for a supporting power, and why should such an increase as goes far beyond our power of imagination be supposed to have this effect? The idea of a series of men without beginning, and without any Creator, to give them being, is one of the greatest absurdities which can be conceived.

Besides, when we consider the number of men; when we trace their history;—when we reflect upon their small advancement in the arts and sciences; and how recent the most useful inventions are; how can we, unless we renounce our reason, believe, that mankind have existed on this globe from eternity? The thing is impossible. The only reasona

ble hypothesis, therefore, is, that the human race, together with the various species of animals and vegetables, had a beginning; and that they were created by a wise and omnipotent Being, by whose care and sustaining power, they are still preserved.

But man feels too little satisfied with his own reasonings, to rest contented with such conclusions, as he can himself deduce. He wishes to see the face, or hear the voice, of his great Creator. He wants an explicit declaration from the mouth of his Father in heaven, assuring him of the truth of his own reasonings; and authorizing him to claim the relation of a creature, formed by the power and goodness of God.

Such a desire of divine instruction, is neither sinful nor unreasonable, in creatures situated as we are. Who would not wish to know his own earthly father? And who would like, on such a subject, to be left to reasonings founded on abstract principles? But how much more interesting is it, for us to know our heavenly Father, to whom we owe our very being, with all its faculties and capacities? Now this reasonable desire, the great Creator has condescended to gratify. He has, in the revelation which is contained in the Holy Scriptures, informed us, not only that he is our Maker, but has given us most particular information, of the time and circumstances of man's creation. After the heavens and the earth, and beasts, fishes, and birds, were formed; in short, after all things on earth were created, God, speaking in the glorious council of his own being, said, "Come let us make man in our own image, and after our own likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth."—"So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him." "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living

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