CHAPTEE XXY. 



PEOVIDENCE. 



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THOUGH it is shown in the foregoing pages, that creation 

 must have been developed, and must now be governed in 

 its operations, according to directive Wisdom existing in 

 the forms of fixed laws, there is nothing in the theory pre- 

 sented which contradicts, but every thing which confirms, those 

 deep intuitions of every well-regulated mind, respecting the con- 

 stant Providence of God as concerned in the unfolding and gov- 

 ernment of his creation. If, as we have seen, law of itself has 

 no creative force, but is simply a mode of action prescribed and 

 predetermined by the archetypes and intentions conceived in 

 the Divine Mind ; and if to the realization of each succeeding 

 stage of creation, however great o*r minute, an additional and 

 voluntative influx of Divine formative Energy, was absolutely 

 necessary ; and, moreover, if the same constant influx is ne- 

 cessary to sustain the life and motions of the system after it 

 is in being then it follows that every event, from the birth 

 of a world to the falling of a sparrow, or the rustling of a leaf 

 in the summer breeze, is, in some sense, a Providence that 

 is, it was provided for in the pre-determined course of Divine 

 intelligent volition and causation. But to prevent involving 

 creation in inextricable confusion, and to establish and preserve 

 an orderly relationship and affectionate interblending of all 

 forms, and a just and harmonious reciprocation in all their 

 offices and movements, God orders even his providences accord- 



