186 EXPLANATIONS. 



nisters of our convenience will yet be acknow- 

 ledged and dwelt on by all with admiration and 

 love. 



Is our own position affected injuriously by this 

 view, or can our relation to the universe and its 

 Author be presumed to be so ? Assuredly not. 

 Our character is now seen to be a definite part of 

 a system which is definite. The Deity himself 

 becomes a defined, instead of a capricious being. 

 Power to make and to uphold remains his as 

 before, but is invested with a character of tran- 

 quillity altogether new — the highest attribute we 

 can conceive in connexion with power. Viewing 

 him as the author of this vast scheme by the 

 mere force of his will, and yet as the indispen- 

 sably present sustainer of all ; seeing that the 

 whole is constructed upon a plan of benevolence 

 and justice ; we expand to loftier, more generous 

 and holy emotions, as we feel that we are essential 

 parts of a system so great and good. The place 

 we hold in comparison is humble beyond all 

 statement of a degree ; yet it is a certain and 

 intelligible place. We know where we stand, 

 and have some sense also of our chronological 

 place. The years of our existence occupy a 

 space in that mighty series, during some earlier 

 portion of which this globe, since the theatre of 

 glories and of sorrows numberless, was moulded 



