effects; it renders every grace, more graceful to the observation; and it diffuses around a sweet and fragrant essence, refreshing and purifying the entire demeanour. Against this spirit, there is no law : and, when all other things else shall have passed away, this will remain, as a memorial before God; before that God, who seeth in secret, and who rewardeth openly.

233

DISCOURSE IX.

ACTS, xv. 18.

Known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world.

WERE I about to involve you in those unprofitable subtleties respecting the divine decrees, which some have dignified with the title of Religion, I might well tremble, at my abuse of these valuable moments; and you might well be offended, at my presumption. Such intrusions upon the secrecy of that great Being, who guides us from behind the pillar of a cloud, we show no great humility, when we totally disclaim. But, there are other topics, similar, indeed, in their general aspect, yet, in spirit and tendency directly opposite; these are so clearly and forcibly inculcated in the Scriptures, that, as the most confident cannot hope to do more than illustrate, so, if he faithfully transcribe them, the most humble needs not fear. Such are the prescience, the providence, and the grace of God; not the inoperative abstractions of philosophy, but the instant and individual concern of us all. To these I would solicit your present attention; and the rather, because they supply a safe and practical exposition of the Seventeenth Article of our Church; which, it may be feared, is too frequently made the means, of stifling charity, and

exasperating dissent. Our Church, in her wisdom, continues to retain this Article; and many of my hearers may soon be called upon, to give solemn attestation of their belief in its assertions. Some observations on it, therefore, may have their use; were it only, in furnishing a new occasion for reflection, where ignorance would be mockery, and where levity would be a despite to the Spirit of God. This Article is regarded with much jealousy, by several excellent persons, who are justly shocked at its supposed consequences. Perhaps, however, it were better, not to anticipate dissent; not to give any pretext for the insinuation, that we fear truth: but to proceed cheerfully, so far as truth will warrant; and, then only, to express our doubts, when the deduction shall betray the first symptoms of fallacy.

In questions respecting the Divine Being, objections drawn from consequences, are seldom entitled to much consideration. When a proposition relating to Is nature or attributes, is supported by suitable direct evidence, it should be regarded as a fact, which neither requires, nor admits of, human explanation: and, although the pride of philosophy may rebel against this caution, it is a caution which Christians must observe. Even the exact sciences are an example, that conclusions involving infinites, must be considered as ultimate truths. How much more, in speaking of the Supreme Being; of whom, even when we say that he is infinite, we have no conception of the manner of his infinity?

If there be any truth respecting God, which no boldness presumes to question, it is his omnipresence: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit?" says the psalmist, 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." That man's feelings are little to be envied, who acknowledges no solemn or reverential emotion, when he contemplates the simple sublimity of these words. Yet, it cannot be denied, that a perverted ingenuity may deduce from them consequences the most revolting. The presence here described, it may be said, is local; and local presence implies divisibility. To avoid this consequence, Christians believe, that, although mysteriously omnipresent throughout all space, God is in substance unextended; and so, to avoid other absurdities, they must think of God, as omnipresent in essence, but without lapse, or succession, or change.

To the little span of our earthly conceptions, this is, indeed, a matter of difficulty. There are few things so uncompounded, as to be comprehended in the gross. The plainest geometrical figure, we are obliged to consider, line by line, and angle by angle; we resolve the sun-beam, into its prismatic elements; the simplest substance, is submitted to analysis. And, when an object transcends a cer

tain limit of minuteness, we invest the whole with a microscopic magnitude, that we may have parts for separate contemplation. How much more necessary is this partial consideration, when we strive to meditate upon infinity itself? But, while we endeavour, thus feebly, to contemplate by parts, we must not forget, that the Greatest and the Highest of beings, is, also, the most simple. Were it possible, that our earth were surrounded by an atmosphere so dense, as to decompound the sunbeam into its separate rays, it is evident that we should, then, regard that as the natural light, which we now know to be the broken ray of philosophy. And, in such a case, except, possibly, by the resources of scientific ingenuity, we should never see the sun as he is. Thus it is, in a great measure, with our present views of the Godhead. Every notice of his nature comes to the mind, divided, and discoloured, and disproportioned. But this, as every other imaginable illustration of Godhead, is utterly inadequate. These observations, therefore, are merely intended to show, that consequences, which to our minds would be perfectly conclusive, are entirely inapplicable to the Divine Being.

Let us, accordingly, suspend the consideration of these asserted consequences, and attend simply to the Article itself. It contains three propositions. First, that, before the foundations of the world were laid, God chose certain persons, as meet subjects for eternal happiness: Secondly, that to