124 



THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. 



enlarge, till more extended experiments shall 

 have been undertaken. 



In the preceding sketches I have presented a 

 few specimens of the relation which the inven 

 tions of human ingenuity bear to religious ob 

 jects I intended to have traced the same 

 relation in several other instances ; in the inven 

 tion of the electrical machine, the air-pump, 

 mills, clocks and watches, gas-lights, chymical 

 fumigations, inventions for enabling us to walk 

 upon the water, to prevent and alleviate the dan 

 gers of shipwreck, &c. &c. But, as my pre 

 scribed limits will not permit farther enlarge 

 ment, I trust that what has been already stated 

 will be sufficient to establish and illustrate my 

 general position. From this subject we may 

 learn 



1st. That the various processes of art, and 

 the exertions of human ingenuity, are under the 

 special direction of Him who arranges all things 

 &quot; according to the counsel of his will.&quot; As 

 &quot; the king s heart is in the hand of the Lord, 

 and, as the rivers of waters, he turns it whither 

 soever he pleases,&quot; so all the varied schemes 

 and movements of the human mind, the disco 

 veries of science, and the diversified experi 

 ments of mechanics, chymists, and philosophers, 

 are directed in such channels as may issue in 

 the accomplishment of His eternal purposes, in 

 respect to the present and future condition of 

 the inhabitants of our world. This truth is also 

 plainly taught us in the records of inspiration. 

 &quot; Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow ? 

 Doth he open and break the clods of his ground ? 

 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth 

 he not cast abroad the fitches, and /scatter the 

 cummin,* and cast in the wheat in the principal 

 [place,] and the barley in the appointed place, 

 and the rye in its proper place ? For his God 

 doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach 

 him. This also cometh forth from the Lord of 

 hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent 

 in working.&quot; Agriculture has, by most nations, 

 been attributed to the suggestions of Deitv ; for 

 &quot; every good and perfect gift cotneth down from 

 the Father of lights.&quot; It is he who hath taught 

 men to dig from the bowels of the earth iron, 

 copper, lead, silver, and gold, and to apply them 

 to useful purposes in social life; and who hath 

 given them &quot;wisdom and understanding&quot; to 

 apply the animal and vegetable productions of 

 nature to the manufacture of cloths, linen, mus 

 lin, and silk, for the use and ornament of man.&quot; 

 For &quot;all things are of God.&quot; &quot;Both riches 

 and honour come from him, and he reigneth over 

 all, and in his hand is power and might; and in 

 his hand it is to make great, and to give strength 

 to all.&quot; When the frame of the Mosaic ta 

 bernacle and all its curious vessels were to be 



Pitches is a kind of seed frequently sown in 

 Judea, for the use of cattle : and cummin is the seed 

 *f a plant somewhat like fennel. 



constructed, the mind of Bezaleel &quot;was fiiieo 

 with the spirit of God, in wisdom and undei- 

 standing, and in knowledge, and in all manner 

 of workmanship, to devise curious works in 

 gold, and in silver, and in brass.&quot; And, when 

 the fabric of the New Testament church is to 

 be reared, and its boundaries extended, arti 

 ficers of every description, adequate for carrying 

 on the different parts of the work are raised 

 up, and inspired with the spirit of their respective 

 departments some with the spirit, of writing, 

 printing, and publishing ; some with the spiri* 

 of preaching, lecturing, and catechising; some 

 with the spirit of fortitude, to make bold and 

 daring adventures into distant and barbarous 

 climes; and others with the spirit of literature, 

 of science, and of the mechanical arts all act 

 ing as pioneers &quot; to prepare the way of the 

 Lord,&quot; and as builders for carrying forward 

 and completing the fabric of the Christian 

 church. 



2dly. All the mechanical contrivances to 

 which I have adverted, all the discoveries of 

 science, and all the useful inventions of genius 

 which may hereafter be exhibited, ought to be 

 viewed as preparing the way for the millennial 

 era of the church, and as having a certain ten 

 dency to the melioration of the external condi 

 tion of mankind during its continuance. We 

 are certain, from the very nature of things, as 

 well as from scriptural predictions, that, when 

 this period advances towards the summit of its 

 glory, the external circumstances of this world s 

 population will be comfortable, prosperous, and 

 greatly meliorated beyond what they have ever 

 been in the ages that are past. &quot; Then shall the 

 earth yield her increase, and God, even our own 

 God, shall bless us. Then shall he give the rain 

 of thy seed, that thou shalt sow thy ground with 

 al; and bread of the increase of the earth ; and 

 it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall thy 

 cattle feed in large pastures ; the oxen likewise 

 and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat 

 savoury provender, which hath been winnowed 

 with the shovel and with the fan. And ihe in 

 habitants shall not say, I am sick. They shall 

 build houses and inhabit them, and plant vine 

 yards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall 

 not build, an i another inhabit; they shall not 

 plant, and another eat ; for as the days of a tree 

 are the days of my people, aiid mine elect shall 

 long enjny the work of their hands. They sha!\ 

 not labour in vain, nor bring forih for trouble; 

 for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, 

 and their offspring with them. Th* ifeii shall 

 be prosperous, the vine shall give her fruit, and 

 the ground shall give her increase, and the hea 

 vens shall give their dew ; the evil beasts shall 

 cease out of the land, and they shall sit every 

 man under his vine, and under his fiii-tree, and 

 none shall make him afraid ; for wars shall cease 

 to the ends of the world, and the knowledge of the 



