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tii u degree, of great or little only. All beyond is as 

 far beyond the reach of our conceptions, as if it had 

 never existed. 



Proofs of a wise, a good, and powerful being are in. 

 deed deducible from every thing around us y : but the 

 extremely great, and the extremely small, seem to 

 furnish us with those that are most convincing. And 

 perhaps, if duly considered, the fabric of a world, and 

 the fabric of a mite, may be found equally striking 

 and conclusive. 



Glasses discover to us numberless kinds of living 

 creatures, quite indiscernible to the naked eye. And 

 how many thousand kinds may there be, gradually 

 decreasing in size, which we cannot see by any help 

 whatever ? Yet to all these we must believe God 

 lias not only appointed the most wise means for pre- 

 servation and propagation, but has adorned them 

 with beauty equal at least to any thing our eyes have 

 seen. 



In short, the world around us is the mighty volume 

 wherein God hath declared himself. Human lan- 

 guages and characters are different in different nations. 

 And those of one nation are not understood by the 

 rest But the book of nature is written in an univer. 

 sal character, which every man may read in his own 

 language. It consists not of words, but things, which 

 picture out the divins perfections. The firmament 

 every where expanded, with all its starry host, declares 

 the immensity and magnificence, the power and wis- 

 dom of its Creator. Thunder, lightning, storms, 

 earthquakes aud volcanos, shew the terror of his 

 wrath. Seasonable rains, sun-shine aud harvest, de- 

 note his bounty and goodness, and demonstrate ho*r 

 he opens his hand, and fills all living things with 

 pleuteoubness. The constantly succeeding generations 

 of plants and animals, imply the eternity of their first 

 cause. Lite subsisting in millions of different forms, 

 shews the vast diffusion of this animating power, ami 

 death the infinite disproportion between him am! 

 every living thing. 



o 3 



