acquaintance with science, who is not qualified to enter into the subtleties of endless disputation, that there are proofs of the existence of a Supreme Being, to which he can always have access. He needs not an acquaintance with the rules of logic, or the abstractions of metaphysics; let him place his hand on the beating of his heart, let him bend a finger or move a foot, and ask the bold denier of his Maker, to give a satisfactory account of the first origin of such surprising mechanism. In every sense, in every limb, in every motion, let him behold with adoring gratitude, the visible and constant proofs of the existence of his Father and his God.

And, finally, how well adapted is the view which we have taken of the human frame, to encourage the meek and lowly in heart, when oppressed with a sense of the greatness of the Divine Majesty, and of their own comparative insignificance. He who has formed worlds, and suns, and systems, whose 'greatness is unsearchable," and "his ways past finding out," has employed the same power and wisdom in the construction of every part of your frame. Can he that formed you, be unmindful of you? If you are the product of his power, can you be beneath his notice? Are not all the benevolent provisions, and beautiful arrangements, and methods taken to ward off danger, and to minister to your comfort, proofs of his care? "Cast," therefore, "all your care on him who careth for you." He whose ineffable glories dazzle the seraphim of heaven, and awe the loftiest spirits of the celestial world, has shown his kindness and his care in every nerve, in every muscle, in every joint of your mortal frame, and cannot, after so much wisdom and power displayed in your formation, forget you or disdain to notice you. If he frown, it is on the proud and the haughty, and "the wicked who forget God." Be assured, and triumph in the assurance, that "the High and Holy One, who inhabits eternity," ever dwells "with the humble and the contrite in heart."

LECTURE IV.

PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD FROM THE WORKS OF NATURE CONTINUED.-OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

PSALM CIV. 24.-" O LORD, HOW MANIFOLD ARE THY WORKS! IN WISDOM HAST THOU MADE THEM ALL."

THE subject of this psalm is the Creator and his works. On these topics its pious author expatiates with much feeling and at some length. Taking this sacred ode merely as a literary composition, it possesses excellencies of the highest order, which none who have a taste for the beauties of nature can read without satisfaction and pleasure. The Psalmist speaks of the invisible Jehovah in figures borrowed from some of the most splendid and magnificent of his works. His "garment" is the "light" of heaven, his "chariot" is "the clouds," his going forth is on the "wings of the wind," the tempest and the lightning are the messengers of his will. He is the divine architect who built the earth, and made its foundations sure "that it should not be moved;" who stretched out the heavens as a canopy, who covered the earth with the ocean as a robe, and gave to the sea its bounds, "that it should not pass over." This glorious being the psalmist contemplates as presiding over the whole economy of nature, pervading it by his presence, upholding

it by his power, and by his unremitted energy producing all its diversified appearances. He hears him in the roar of the thunder and the whisper of the breeze, he sees him in all the beauties and the splendors of creation. It is he who pours out the sea, waters the earth with its exhalations, bids springs rise in the vallies, and sends forth their streams for the fowls of the heavens and the beasts of the field. The inhabitants of the air, the earth, and the ocean, are dependent on his care; all the productions of the globe are the gifts of his bounty; the luminaries of heaven are the appointments of his mercy. It is after a brief survey of the benevolence and wisdom which nature exhibits, that he exclaims, " O Lord, how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches."*

It is from these works that we derive the argument of

* Such is the God of the bible, the God of all the pious Jews of old, and of all devout Christians in the present day. "To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?" asks the prophet. There is no object in nature that can resemble him, since he is the only Creator, and all other beings are creatures; he only is infinite, all others are finite. He is the one eternal, selfexistent, immutable being, who, " fills heaven and earth." To speak of his glory and majesty we must employ terms, make use of figures and resemblances taken from the works of his hands. Now what would any reasonable man think of a person, who should select some part of a figurative representation, employed in one place, and part of a metaphysical description in another place, who thus should take several parts from several distinct places of the Scripture, in which the Divine Being is spoken of in figurative language, and putting together literally these detached and incongruous parts of different metaphors, should make a monster of his own imagination, get it engraved, and writing under it, "The God of the Jews and Christians, the Great Jehovah, or the Trinity in Unity," should exhibit and circulate it as the means of support to an atheistic creed?-Would not every man possessed of the least glimmer of reason, or making any pretensions to integrity, think such dishonesty, such palpable falsehood, such shameless absurdity, equalled only by its profaneness, too glaring to catch the most simple, too dishonourable to be tolerated, even by the most confirmed and inveterate opposer of Christianity. Yet this has been done, and the profane caricature set in the windows of a most public place in the metropolis to gain attention, it has also found its way to Bradford, and I doubt not to many other places. Now is there one of my fellow-townsmen, whatever be his creed, is there a man living who has any sense of reason and justice, who would not blush for a man, who could have recourse to such an artifice, who would not be ashamed of a cause that needed such support!

this and the preceding lecture, for the existence of an intelligent Creator; they are such as can be assigned to no other cause. Our object is to prove that there are such manifestations of mind in the works of nature, as cannot be attributed to mere physical causes, as compel us, by the soundest deductions of reason, to believe in the existence of an Almighty Being, distinct from matter and superior to nature, "of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things." In doing this we have declined taking the wide range which nature offers in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, and have confined ourselves to one single department. All are rich in proofs of the existence of a wise, and benevolent, and all-powerful Creator, but we have selected MAN.

We have already, in examining his physical structure, exhibited many instances, which we think every mind not strongly biassed by the prejudices of a favourite system, must acknowledge to be convincing proofs of the existence of such a being; we shall now proceed to consider MAN IN RELATION TO THE WORLD WHICH HE INHABITS. And this view will corroborate all that we have before stated of evident design in the formation of man, and show also that the same marks of intelligence and wisdom are to be found extending to everything which has relation to his existence and welfare. The nature of the argument is the same with that which we have hitherto employed, but somewhat extended. We have already seen that in the composition of our corporeal structure, there are evident and mutual adaptations of parts to each other, combined with marvellous arrangements of complex machinery, working with admirable simplicity and certainty; we shall now endeavour to show that there are arrangements in nature of a very extensive kind, which exhibit the same adaptation to the condition of man, and the mode of his existence. We think

we can prove that there is as plain and irresistible evidence of the adaptation of man to external nature, and of external nature to man, as can be seen in any two separate things that have ever been made for each other, and with a view and design to each other, by the wisdom and ingenuity of man.

If we see a house capacious and elegant, the architecture of which is beautiful, and its conveniences complete; if we see everything in it and about it adapted to the wants and habits of those who are to occupy it; if we see adjoining it a garden furnished with vegetables, and fruits, and flowers, a good supply of water brought within the walls of the residence, and everything that can give shelter, and safety, and comfort; we conclude immediately, that in all these accommodations there was design, that the express object in view was to furnish a suitable residence for a family; and, moreover, that whoever built, and designed, and arranged the whole, was well acquainted with the wants and wishes of its future inhabitants, and with what would secure them from harm, supply their needs, and afford them pleasure and enjoyment. Now we think that it may be made evident that the fitting up of this world, with its furniture and accommodations, indicate much more strongly the intentions of a wise and benevolent being, and prove the existence of one well acquainted with the nature and constitution of man, with all that was necessary to his safety and his comfort. Who, possessing a knowledge of the laws of hydrostatics and pneumatics, if he saw a ship with its hollow interior, made of buoyant materials, fitted up with masts and sails, could doubt for a moment, even if he had never seen such an object before, that the vessel was constructed with a design that it should float on the water, be impelled by the wind, and guided by the rudder? Suppose a person well versed in the various branches of natural philosophy, and the practical use and combination of the