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N° 531. Saturday, November 8.

Qui mare & terras variifque mundum
Temperat boris:

Unde nil majus generatur ipfo,

Nec viget quicquam fimile aut fecundum.

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IMONIDES being asked by Dionyfius the Tyrant what God was, defired a Day's time to confider of it before he made his Reply. When the Day was expired, he defired two Days; and afterwards, inftead of returning his Answer, demanded still double the Time to confider of it. This great Poet and Philofopher, the more he contemplated the Nature of the Deity, found that he waded but the more out of his Depth; and that he loft himfelf in the Thought, instead of finding an End of it.

IF we confider the Idea which wife Men, by the Light of Reason, have framed of the Divine Being, it amounts

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to this: That he has in him all the Perfection of a Spiritual Nature; and fince we have no Notion of any kind of spiritual Perfection but what we discover in our own Souls, we join Infinitude to each kind of these Perfections, and what is a Faculty in a Human Soul becomes an Attribute in God. We exist in Place and Time, the divine Being fills the Immenfity of Space with his Prefence, and inhabits Eternity. We are poffeffed of a little Power and a lit tle Knowledge, the Divine Being is Almighty and Omniscient. In short, by adding Infinity to any kind of Perfection we enjoy, and by joining all thefe different kinds of Perfections in one Being, we form our Idea of the great Sovereign of Nature.

THOUGH every one who thinks must have made this Observation, Ishall produce Mr. Locke's Authority to the fame purpose, out of his Effay on Human Understanding. If we examine the Idea we have of the incompre'henfible Supreme Being, we fhall find, 'that we come by it the fame way; and that the complex Ideas

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have both of God and feparate Spirits, are made up of the fimple Ideas VOL. XIV.

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we receive from Reflection: v.g. having from what we experiment in our felves, got the Ideas of Existence and Duration, of Knowledge and Power, of Pleasure and Happiness, and of feveral other Qualities and Powers, which it is better to have, than to be without; when we would frame an Idea the most suitable we can to the fupreme Being, we enlarge every one of thefe with our Idea of Infinity; and fo putting them togei ther, make our complex Idea of God.'

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IT is not impoffible that there may be many kinds of fpiritual Perfection, befides those which are lodged in a human Soul; but it is impoffible that we fhould have Ideas of any kinds of Perfection, except those of which we have fome fmall Rays and fhort imperfect Strokes in our felves. It would be therefore a very high Prefumption to determine whether the Supreme Being has not many more Attributes than those which enter into our Conceptions of him. This is certain, that if there be any kind of fpiritual Perfection which is not marked out in a human Soul, it belongs in its fulness to the Divine Nature.

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SEVERAL eminent Philofophers I have imagined that the Soul, in her feparate State, may have new Faculties =fpringing up in her, which fhe is not capable of exerting during her present Union with the Body; and whether thefe Faculties may not correfpond with other Attributes in the Divine Nature, and open to us hereafter new matter of Wonder and Adoration, we are altogether ignorant. This, as I have faid before, we ought to acquiefce in, that the Sovereign Being, the great Author of Nature, has in him all poffible Perfection, as well in Kind as in Degree; to fpeak according to our Methods of conceiving. I fhall only add under this Head, that when we have raised our Notion of this Infinite Being as high as it is poffible for the Mind of Man to go, it will fall infinitely short of what he really is. There is no end of his Greatness: The most exalted Creature he has made, is only capable of adoring it, none but himself can comprehend it.

THE Advice of the Son of Sirach is very juft and fublime in this Light. By his Word all things confift. We may speak much, and yet come short: wherefore in G 2

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fum, he is all. How fhall we be able to magnify him? For he is great above all his Works. The Lord is terrible and very great; and marvellous in his Power. When you glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for even yet will he far exaced. And when you exalt him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; for you can never go far enough. Who bath feen him, that he might tell us? And who can magnify him as he is? There are yet hid greater things than these be, for we have feen but a few of his Works.

I have here only confidered the Supreme Being by the Light of Reason and Philofophy. If we would see him in all the Wonders of his Mercy we must have recourse to Revelation, which represents him to us, not only as infinitely Great and Glorious, but as infinitely Good and Juft in his Dispensations towards Man. But as this is a Theory which falls under every one's Confideration, though indeed it can never be fufficiently confidered, I fhall here only take notice of that habitual WorThip and Veneration which we ought to pay to this Almighty Being. We fhould often refresh our Minds with the Thought of him, and annihilate our

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