In motion, and wound up the vast machine?
Who rounded in his palm these spacious orbs?
Who bowl'd them flaming through the dark profound,
Num'rous as glittering gems of morning dew,
Or sparks from populous cities in a blaze,

And set the bosom of old Night on fire?

Who marshals this bright host? enrols their names?
Appoints their posts, their marches, and returns,
Punctual at stated periods? Who disbands

These vet'ran troops, their final duty done,
If e'er disbanded?

HE

Who call'd them out of Chaos to the field

Where now they war with vice and unbelief." *

cease to pray

There are cases in which it may be difficult to distinguish between a miracle, strictly so called, and an ordinary interposition of Divine providence; but, generally speaking, the distinction is obvious, and is everywhere acknowledged. A hand or a foot is diseased; and we pray that God may render successful the means which are used for its recovery. Mortification ensues, the member is amputated, and we for its recovery. A friend is afflicted, we pray for the renewal of his health; he dies, and we discontinue our prayers in his behalf. Why is this? Is not God as able to restore an amputated limb, as to heal a limb that is diseased ? Is He not as able to raise the dead, as to heal the sick? Unquestionably He is. But He is pleased to reserve these extraordinary displays of His power for the confirmation of revealed truth. We have therefore no right to ask for them, or to expect them, for any other purpose, or upon any other occasion. Pope, whose mind was sadly perverted by intercourse with his infidel friend Bolingbroke, treats the doctrine

of a particular providence with ridicule; and asks whether the law of gravitation will be suspended, supposing a good man to be passing by a hanging wall, so that it will not fall till he is out of the reach of danger : assuming that there can be no particular providence in the case unless a miracle be wrought. The answer is, There may be no miracle in the case, no suspension of the law of gravitation; and yet there may be a direct and merciful interposition of the providence of God. The man may be induced by motives to us unknown, and coming from a quarter we may not suspect, to pass by the wall before the law of gravitation causes it to fall; or he may be induced by the same means to defer his walk till the wall has actually fallen; or he may prosecute his walk in another direction; or it may please God that the wall shall fall upon him, and inflict upon him such an injury as may prevent a greater calamity, or be to him matter of salutary discipline, or even extinguish life, and thus end his sufferings for ever. In whatever manner it may please God to deal with good men, and whatever a miserable and shallow scepticism may suggest to the contrary, "He careth for them;" and so minute is His care, that " even the very hairs of their head are all numbered." (1 Peter v. 7; Luke xii. 7.) It is no valid objection to the Scripture doctrine of a particular providence, to say that the best of men occasionally receive bodily injury, and are even slain, by what are called accidents and casualties, in common with the rest of mankind: for to them bodily injuries, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, are a means of improving their virtue; and to them death is gain, in whatever form it may come.

CHAPTER II.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD VIEWED IN CONNEXION WITH THE FALL AND THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND.

In the Mosaic account of the creation of the heaven and the earth, with all that they contain, we observe a wise gradation, every object preparing the way for that which is to follow, and all rising in importance as they successively appear. Inorganic matter is first created; then the varieties of vegetable nature; then the brute creatures, designed to inhabit the earth, the air, and the sea; and then MAN appears as the crown of all, the tributary lord of this lower world. The earth, the sea, the light, the heavenly bodies, the atmosphere, trees, shrubs, flowers, were called into existence by the simple command of God; various classes of animals rose out of the earth, or out of the sea, but the creation of man is spoken of as matter of deliberate counsel; the two constituent parts of his nature are distinctly specified, with the separate origin of each. His body is formed out of the dust of the ground, moulded by the hand Divine; the soul comes more immediately from God, and is described as the breath of the Almighty. Dominion over the inferior creatures is represented as one direct object of his creation; and he is said to be made in "the image of God;" by which we understand not merely the right of dominion, but also an immaterial and immortal

nature, and especially "righteousness and true holiness." (Eph. iv. 24.)

For the happiness of man, thus distinguished in his creation, every provision was made that wisdom and goodness could devise. The earth was prepared as his place of residence; the air, for him to breathe; the light, to discover the works of God by which he was surrounded; fruit-trees, to supply him with food; the heavenly bodies, to measure time for his advantage; the brute creatures, of every form and habit, in earth and air and sea, subjected to his use and will; his understanding clear as a lamp of light; his affections pure, and directed to holy objects; his conscience more than tranquil, being a faithful witness of God's approval; his appointed home the garden of Eden, enclosed, planted, and adorned by the hand of God Himself. Between his mental faculties and his bodily appetites the most perfect harmony subsisted; and all his enjoyments were doubled by the presence and perfect sympathy of the "help meet for him," the fair and beautiful companion, whom God had graciously provided to relieve his solitude. In this state he was free from evil; he knew neither sickness, pain, nor sorrow; every object around him ministered to his enjoyment; all his wants were bountifully supplied; and God was ever with him as the true source of happiness, and the one object of his confidence, delight, and love. Possessed of his Maker's image, he was, of course, regarded by his Maker with perfect complacency. The Lord took pleasure in him; and, as in the case of the holy angels, he had the freest access to God, and the most intimate and joyous communion with Him. While all nature, above,

around, beneath, reflected the glory of the great Creator, and everywhere told of His wisdom, goodness, and love, man beheld and recognised that glory, and in raptures of holy admiration and delight rendered to the Lord the glory due unto His name.

This state of blessedness was transient in its duration. It was held by a specified tenure, and was vilely cast away for a thing of nought.

Having invested His human offspring with understanding, and given them a nature which was perfectly righteous and holy, it pleased God to place them in subjection to His authority, requiring of them a spiritual worship, and an uninterrupted course of obedience to His law, which is "holy, and just, and good;" an expression of His essential purity and righteousness, directly adapted to promote their best and highest interests for no real happiness can any intelligent creature enjoy in the absence of spiritual and moral rectitude.

:

In the exercise of His righteous sovereignty, it pleased God to try the obedience of our first parents by other means beside that of the moral law. He placed in the midst of the garden of Eden "the tree of knowledge of good and evil," from the fruit of which He commanded them to abstain, on pain of death; allowing them, at the same time, free access to the fruit of every other tree in that sacred enclosure. He also subjected them to the further test of exposure to the wiles of Satan, the leader of the rebel host of fallen angels; who is denominated "the devil," "a liar," that "abode not in the truth," "that old serpent," and "a murderer from the beginning." Without the permission of God