OMNIPOTENCE OF THE DEITY. 



U 



factions of God. The miracles to which we have 

 now referred, and every other supernatural fact 

 recorded in the Bible, were not intended so much 

 to display the plenitude of the power of Deity, 

 as to bear testimony to the Divine mission of 

 particular messengers, and to confirm the truths 

 they declared. It was not, for example, merely 

 to display the energies of Almighty power, that 

 the waters of the Red Sea were dried up before 

 the thousands of Israel, but to give a solemn and 

 triking attestation to all concerned, that the Most 

 High God had taken this people under his peculiar 

 protection that he had appointed Moses as their 

 leader and legislator and that they were bound 

 to receive and obey the statutes he delivered. 

 The most appropriate and impressive illustra 

 tions of Omnipotence, are those which are taken 

 from the permanent operations of Deity, which 

 are visible every moment in the universe around 

 us; or, in other words, those which are derived 

 from a detail of the facts which have been observ 

 ed in the material world, respecting magnitude 

 and motion. 



In the first place the immense quantity of mat 

 ter contained in the universe, presents a most 

 striking display of Almighty power. 



In endeavouring to form a definite notion on 

 this subject, the mind is bewildered in its con 

 ceptions, and is at a loss where to begin or to 

 end its excursions. In order to form something 

 approximating to a well-defined idea, we must 

 pursue a train of thought commencing with those 

 magnitudes which the mind can easily grasp, pro 

 ceeding through all the intermediate gradations 

 of magnitude, and fixing the attention on every 

 portion of the chain, till we arrive at the object 

 or magnitude of which we wish to form a con 

 ception. We must endeavour, in the first place, 

 to form a conception of the bulk of the world 

 in which we dwell, which, though only a point 

 in comparison of the whole material universe, is 

 in reality a most astonishing magnitude, which 

 the mind cannot grasp, without a laborious effort. 

 We can form some definite idea of those protu- 

 berate masses we denominate hills, which arise 

 above the surface of our plains ; but were we 

 transported to the mountainous scenery of Swit 

 zerland, to the stupendous range of the Andes in 

 South America, or to the Himmalayan moun 

 tains in India, where masses of earth and rocks, 

 in every variety of shape, extend several hun 

 dreds of miles in different directions, and rear 

 their projecting summits beyond the region of 

 the clouds we should find some difficulty in 

 forming an adequate conception of the objects of 

 our contemplation. For, (to use the words of 

 one who had been a spectator of such scenes,) 

 Amidst those trackless regions of intense si- 

 fence and solitude, we cannot contemplate, but 

 with feelings of awe and admiration, the enor- 

 pious masses of variegated matter which lie 

 around, beneath, and above us. The mind la 



bours, as it were, to form a definite idea of those 

 objects of oppressive grandeur, and feels unable to 

 grasp the august objects which compose the sin* 

 rounding scene.&quot; But what are all these mou&- 

 tainous masses, however variegated and sublime, 

 when compared with the bulk of the whole 

 earth ? Were they hurled from their bases, ana 

 precipitated into the vast Pacific Ocean, they 

 would all disappear in a moment, except perhaps 

 a few projecting tops, which, like a number of 

 small islands, might be seen rising a few fathoms 

 above the surface of the waters. 



The earth is a globe whose diameter is nearly 

 8,000 miles, and its circumference about 25,000, 

 and, consequently, its surface contains nearly two 

 hundred millions of square miles a magnitude 

 too great for the mind to take in at one. concep 

 tion. In order to form a tolerable conception of 

 the whole, we must endeavour to take a leisurely 

 survey of its different parts. Were we to take 

 our station on the top of a mountain, of a mode 

 rate size, and survey the surrounding landscape, 

 we, should perceive an extent of view stretch 

 ing 40 miles in every direction, forming a circle 

 80 miles in diameter, and 250 in circumference 

 and comprehending an area of 5,000 square 

 miles. In such a situation the terrestrial scene 

 , around and beneath us consisting of hills and 

 plains, towns and villages, rivers and lakes 

 would form one of the largest objects which the 

 eye, and even the imagination, can steadily 

 grasp at one time. But such an object, grand and 

 extensive as it is, forms no more than the forty- 

 thousandth part of the terraqueous globe ; so that 

 before we can acquire an adequate conception of 

 the magnitude of our own world, we must con 

 ceive 40,000 landscapes of a similar extent, to 

 pass in review before us : and were a scene, of 

 the magnitude now stated, to pass before us every 

 hour, till all the diversified scenery of the earth 

 were brought under our view, and were 12 hours 

 a day allotted for the observation, it would re 

 quire 9 years and 48 days before the whole sur 

 face of the globe could be contemplated, even in 

 this general and rapid manner. But, such a 

 variety of successive landscapes passing before 

 the eye, even although it were possible to be real 

 ized, would convey only a very vague and im 

 perfect conception of the scenery of our world ; 

 for objects at the distance of 40 miles cannot be 

 distinctly perceived ; the only view which would 

 be satisfactory would be, that which is compre 

 hended within the range of 3 or 4 miles from the 

 spectator. 



Again, I have already stated, that the surface 

 of the earth contains nearly 200,000,000 of square 

 miles. Now, were a person to set out on a minute 

 survey of the terraqueous globe, and to travel till 

 he passed along every square mile on its surface, 

 and to continue his route without intermission, 

 at the rate of 30 miles every day, it would require 

 18,264 years before he could finish his tour, and 



