WISDOM OF THE DEITY. 



41 



peculiar features of his countenance every man 

 may be distinguished in the light; by the tones 

 of his voice he maybe recognized in the dark, 

 or when h is separated from his fellows by an 

 impenetrable partition ; and his handwriting can 

 attest his existence and individuality, when con 

 tinents and oceans interpose between hitn and his 

 relations, and be a witness of his sentiments and 

 purposes to future generations. 



Thus, I have taken a very cursory view of 

 some evidences of Divine Wisdom, which ap 

 pear in the general constitution of the earth, the 

 waters, and the atmosphere, and in the charac 

 teristic of variety, which is impressed on all the 

 objects of the visible creation. When these and 

 other admirable arrangements, in our sublunary 

 system, are seriously contemplated, every ratio 

 nal and pious mind will be disposed to exclaim 

 with the Psalmist &quot; There is none like unto 

 thee, O Lord, neither are there any works like 

 unto thy works.&quot; &quot; Thou art great, and dost 

 wondrous things, thou art God alone.&quot; &quot; O 

 that men would praise the Lord for his good 

 ness, and for his wonderful works towards the 

 children of men!&quot; 



When we consider not only the utility, but the 

 beauty and grandeur of the wise arrangements 

 of nature, what reason have we to admire and 

 adore the goodness of the great Author of our 

 existence ! Were all the diversities of shape and 

 colour, of mountains and vales, of rivers and lakes, 

 of light and shade, which now embellish the va 

 rious landscapes of the world, to disappear, and 

 were one unvaried scene perpetually to present it 

 self to the eye, how dull and wearisome, and unin 

 teresting, would the aspect of the universe appear 

 to an intelligent mind ! Although the variegated 

 beauties which adorn the surface of our globe, 

 and the vault of heaven, are not essential to our 

 existence, as sensitive beings, yet, were they 

 completely withdrawn, and nothing presented to 

 the eye but a boundless expanse of barren sands, 

 the mind would recoil upon itself, its activity 

 would be destroyed, its powers would be confin 

 ed, as it were, to a prison, and it would roam 

 in vain amidst the surrounding waste, in search 

 of enjoyment. Even the luxuries of a palace, 

 were it possible to procure them amidst such 

 a scene of desolation, would become stale and 

 insipid, and would leave the rational soul, almost 

 destitute of ideas and of mental energy, to the 

 tiresome round of a cheerless existence. But 

 in the actual state of the world we live in, there 

 is no landscape in nature, from the icebergs of 

 Greenland to the verdant scenes of the torrid 

 lone, in which objects, either of sublimity or of 

 beauty, in boundless variety, are not presented 

 to the view ; in order to stimulate the mind to 

 activity, to gratify its desire of novelty, and to 

 elevate its conceptions of the Beneficent Creator. 



And, if the present constitution of our world 

 6 



displays so evident marlrs of beauty and benevo 

 lent design, now that it is inhabited by an assem 

 blage of depraved intelligences, and Us physical 

 aspect deformed, in consequence of &quot; the wicked 

 ness of man&quot; what transporting beauties and 

 sublimities must it have presented, when it ap 

 peared fresh from the hand of its Almighty Ma 

 ker, and when all things were pronounced by him 

 to be very good ? After a deluge of waters has 

 swept away many of its primeval beauties, and has 

 broken and deranged even its subterraneous strataj 

 this terrestrial world still presents to the eye a 

 striking scene of beauty, order, and benefice nce. 

 But we have the strongest reason to believe, that 

 before sin had disfigured the aspect of this lower 

 world, all was &quot; beauty to the eye, and music to 

 the ear&quot; that &quot; immortality breathed in the 

 winds, flowed in the rivers,&quot; and exhaled from 

 every plant and flower. No storms disturbed the 

 tranquillity of nature, nor created the least alarm 

 in the breasts of its holy inhabitants. No earth 

 quakes shook the ground, nor rent the foundations 

 of nature. No volcanoes vomited their rivers of 

 lava, nor overwhelmed the plains with deluges of 

 fire. No barren deserts of heath and sand dis 

 figured the rich landscape of the world no tem 

 pests nor hurricanes tossed the ocean, nor scorch 

 ing heats, nor piercing colds, nor pestilence, nor 

 disease, annoyed the human frame. In the pa 

 radisaical state of the world, we may reasonably 

 suppose, that all the elements of nature contri 

 buted directly to the pleasure and enjoyment of 

 man, and of the other tribes of animated nature ; 

 and that they were not subjected, as they now 

 are, to the operation of those natural agents which 

 so frequently spread destruction and ruin among 

 the abodes of men. To suppose the contrary to 

 huve happened, would be inconsistent with the 

 state of pure and happy intelligences, and with 

 the benignity of the Creator ; and would imply, 

 that God was either unwilling or unable to re 

 move such physical evils. But we cannot sup 

 pose it beyond the limits of Infinite Wisdom and 

 Omnipotence, to create and arrange a world en 

 tirely free from those evils and inconveniences 

 which now flow from the operation of certain phy 

 sical agents; without, at the same time, supposing 

 that his power and intelligence are confined 

 within certain bounds, iseyond which they cannot 

 pass. And, therefore, if, in the existing consti 

 tution of things, the harmony of nature is occa 

 sionally disturbed, and its beauty defaced, by 

 earthquakes, storms, and tempests we must re 

 member, that the inhabitants of the earth are now 

 a depraved race of mortals, no longer adorned 

 with primeval purity and innocence ; and that the 

 physical economy of our globe has undergone a 

 certain derangement, corresponding to the moral 

 state of its present occupants. But since this 

 earth, even in its present state of degradation and 

 derangement, presents to the view of every be 

 holder so many objects ofbeauty and magnificence, 



