turity; and many days, before a plant can yield good fruit. Every thing is imperfect, while advancing to perfection; and we cannot say of any thing, whether it be well or ill contrived for answering its end, till we know what its state of maturity will be, and what the effects are whereof it may be productive. Physical evils may, as will be shewn by and by, be improved into blessings; and it will also be shewn, that moral evil is a consequence of that law of nature which makes us capable of virtue and happiness. Even in this world, Providence often brings good out of evil; and every man of observation must have perceived, that certain events of his life, which when they happened seemed to be great misfortunes, have been found to be great blessings in the end.

423. If, then, that which seems evil may really be good, for any thing we know to the contrary, and if that which is really evil often does, and always may, produce good: how can man be so presumptuous as to suppose, because he cannot distinctly see the nature and use of some things around him, that therefore the Creator of the world is not supremely good and wise! No man can draw this conclusion, unless he believe himself infallible in his knowledge of all things past, present, and future; and he who believes so, if there be any such, is a fool.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES.

424. OUR knowledge of the Divine Nature, though sufficient to raise within us the highest adoration and love, must needs be very imperfect; for we cannot form a distinct idea of any moral or intellectual quality, unless we find some trace of it in ourselves. Now God must possess innumerable perfections, which neither we, nor any created being can comprehend. When we ascribe to him every good quality that we can conceive, and consider him as possessed of them all in supreme perfection, and as free from every imperfection, we form the best idea of him that we can: but it must fall infinitely short of the truth. The attributes of God, which it is in our power in any degree to conceive, or to make the subject of investigation, have been divided into NATURAL, as unity, selfexistence, spirituality, omnipotence, immutability, eternity; INTELLECTUAL, as knowledge and wisdom; and MORAL, as justice, goodness, mercy,

holiness.

425. That God is, has been proved already. That there are more gods than one, we have no evidence, and therefore cannot rationally believe. Nay, even from the light of nature, we have evi

dence, that there is one only. For, in the works of creation, there appears that perfect unity of design, which naturally determines an attentive spectator to refer them all to one first cause. Accordingly, the wisest men in the heathen world, though they worshipped inferior deities, (I should rather say, names which they substituted for deities), did yet seem to acknowledge one supreme god, the greatest and best of beings, the father of gods and men. It is probable, that belief in one god was the original belief of mankind with respect to deity. But, partly from their narrow views, which made them think that one being could not, without subordinate agents, superintend all things; partly from their flattery to living great men, and gratitude to the dead, disposing them to pay divine honours to human creatures; partly from fanciful analogies between the Divine Providence and earthly governments; and partly from the figures of poetry, by which they saw the attributes of the deity personified, they soon corrupted the original belief, and fell into polytheism and idolatry. And no ancient people ever retained long their belief in the one true God, except the Jews, who were enlightened by revelation; and even they were frequently inclined to adopt the superstitions of their neighbours. We see then, that, in order to ascertain and fix men's notions of the Divine unity, revelation seems to be necessary.

426. Self-existence, or independence, is another natural attribute of God. If he depended on any thing, that thing would be superior and prior to him, which is absurd; because he himself is the supreme and the first cause: therefore his existence does not depend on any thing whatever. The attribute of self-existence is something that surpasses our comprehension; and no wonder; since all the beings that we see around us in the world are dependent. But, as already observed, there are many things which we must acknowledge to be true, notwithstanding that we cannot comprehend them.

427. We see the material universe in motion; but matter is inert, and, so far as we know, nothing can move it but mind; therefore God is a Spirit. We do not mean that his nature is the same with that of our soul: it is infinitely more excellent. But we mean, that he possesses intelligence and active power in supreme perfection; and as these qualities do not belong to matter, which is neither active nor intelligent, we must refer them to that which is not matter, but mind.Some of the ancients thought, that God is the soul of the universe, and that the universe is, as it were, his body. But this cannot be ; for wherever there is body, there must be inactivity, and consequently imperfection. He is therefore a pure Spirit. Nor can we conceive, that he is confined within the limits of creation, as a soul is within its body; or

that he is liable to impressions from material things, as the soul is from the body; or, that material things are instruments necessary to the exertion of his attributes, as our bodies are to the exertion of our faculties. It must be as easy for him to act beyond the bounds of creation, as within them; to create new worlds, as to cease from creation. He is everywhere present and active; but it is a more perfect presence and activity, than that of a soul within a body. Another notion once prevailed, similar to that which has been just now confuted, that the world is animated, as a body is by a soul, not by the Deity himself, but by an universal spirit, which he created in the beginning, and of which the souls of men, and other animals, are parts or emanations. This I mention, not because a confutation is necessary, for it is mere hypothesis, without any shadow of evidence; but, because it may be of use in explaining some passages of ancient authors, particularly of Virgil, who once and again alludes to it.*

428. In order to be satisfied, that God is omnipotent, we need only to open our eyes, and look round upon the wonders of his creation. To produce such astonishing effects, as we see in the universe, and experience in our own frame; and to produce them out of nothing, and sustain them in the most perfect regularity, must certainly be the effect of power, which is able to do all things,

* Æneid. vi, 724. Geor. iv, 220.