WISDOM OF THE DEITY. 



Bible substances, termed oxygen gas and nitfo- 

 gen. gas. Oxygen, as formerly stated, is the 

 principle of vitality and combustion, nitrogen is 

 destructive both to flame and animal life. Were 

 we to br-athe oxygen by itself, it would cause 

 our blood to circulate with greater rapidity, but 

 it would soon waste and destroy the human 

 frame by the rapid accumulation of heat. Were 

 the nitrogen to be extracted from the atmo 

 sphere, and the oxygen left to exert its native 

 energies, it would melt the hardest substances 

 and set the earth on flames. If the oxygen were 

 extracted and the nitrogen only remained, every 

 species of fire and flame would be extinguished, 

 and all the tribes of animated nature instantly 

 destroyed. The proportion of these two gases 

 to each other is nearly as one to four. Were 

 this proportion materially altered, a fluid might 

 be produced which would cause a burning pain 

 and instantaneous suffocation. The specific 

 gravity of these two substances is nearly as 37 

 to 33, that is, the nitrogen is a small degree 

 tighter than the oxygen. Were this proportion 

 reversed, or, in other words, were the oxygen 

 of the atmosphere a small degree lighter than 

 the nitrogen, so that the nitrogen might become 

 a little heavier than common air, as this gas is 

 thrown off continually by the breathing of men 

 and other animals, it would perpetually occupy 

 the lower regions of the atmosphere, and be 

 productive of universal pestilence and death. 

 Again, oxygen gas is separated from the nitro 

 gen in the lungs ; it is absorbed by the blood, 

 and gives it its red colour, and is the source of 

 animal heat throughout the whole system. It 

 forms the basis of all the acids ; it pervades the 

 substance of the vegetable tribes, and enables 

 them to perform their functions, and it forms a 

 constituent part of the water which fills our 

 rivers, seas, and oceans. Arid as the atmosphere 

 is daily liable to be deprived of this fluid b.y 

 combustion, respiration, and other processes, the 

 leaves of trees and other vegetables give out a 

 large portion of it during the day, which, uniting 

 with the nitrogen gas thrown off by the breathing 

 of animals, keeps up the equilibrium, and pre- 

 erves the salubrity of the air in which we move 

 and breathe. 



These facts demonstrate the infinite know 

 ledge and the consummate wisdom of the Con- 

 tiiver of the universe, in the exquisitely nice 

 adjustment of every minute circumstance, so as 

 to preserve the balance of nature and secure the 

 happiness of his sensitive and intelligent off 

 spring. What an all-comprehensive intelligence 

 does it indicate in the Divine Mind, to cause 

 one single principle in different combinations 

 to produce so immense a variety of important 

 effects! What dreadful havoc would be pro 

 duced throughout the whole of our sublunary 

 system, if a substance like oxygen gas, which 

 pervades every part of nature, were not nicely 

 12 



balanced and proportioned. All nature might 

 soon be thrown into confusion, and all the tribes 

 of the living world either be reduced to misery, 

 or swept into the tomb. A material difference 

 in the proportion of the two airs which compose 

 the atmosphere, might be productive of the most 

 dreadful and destructive effects. One of the 

 most corrosive acids, aquafortis, is composed of 

 75 parts oxygen and 25 parts nitrogen. Were 

 this the proportion of these fluids in tha atmo 

 sphere, every breath we drew would produce the 

 most excruciating pain, and, after two or three 

 inspirations, the vital powers would be over 

 come, and life extinguished. Here then we per 

 ceive an admirable adjustment of means to ends, 

 and an evidence of that comprehensive know 

 ledge which penetrates into the energies of all 

 substances, and foresees all the consequences 

 which can follow from the principles and laws 

 of nature, in every combination and in every 

 mode of thajr operation. This is only one in 

 stance out of a thousand which the researches of 

 science afford us of the admirable economy of 

 the wisdom of God. From ignorance of such 

 facts, the bulk of mankind are incapable of ap 

 preciating the blessings they enjoy, under the 

 arrangements of infinite wisdom, and unqualified 

 for rendering a grateful homage to Him &quot; in 

 whom they live and move, and have their being.&quot; 

 3. The contemplation of nature through the 

 medium of science, affords innumerable displays 

 of the benevolence of the Deity. Benevolence, 

 or goodness, is that perfection of God which 

 leads him, in all his arrangements, to communi 

 cate happiness to every order of his creatures. 

 This attribute, though frequently overlooked is 

 so extensively displayed throughout the scene 

 of creation, that we feel at a loss to determine 

 from what quarter we should select instances 

 for its illustration. Wherever we find evidences 

 of wisdom and design, we also find instances of 

 benevolence ; for all the admirable contrivances 

 we perceive in the system of nature, have it as 

 their ultimate end to convey pleasure, in one 

 shape or another, to sensitive beings. If there 

 are more than 240 bones in the human body 

 variously articulated, and more than 440 mus 

 cles of different forms and contextures, such a 

 structure is intended to produce a thousand mo 

 difications of motion in the several members of 

 which it is composed, and to facilitate every 

 operation we have occasion to perform. If the 

 ear is formed with an external porch, a hammer, 

 an anvil, a tympanum, a stirrup, and a labyrinth, 

 this apparatus is intended to convey pleasure to 

 the soul by communicating to it all the modifi 

 cations of sound. If the eye is composed of three 

 coats, some of them opaque and some transpa 

 rent, with three humours of different forms and 

 refractive powers, and a numerous assemblage 

 of minute veins, arteries, muscles, nerves, glands, 

 and lymphatics, it is in order that the images of 



