296 



. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



CONCLUSION. 



ILLUSTRATIONS of the power, wisdom and good- 

 ness of the Creator, might be produced from the 

 works of nature, without end; they meet us 

 at every turn ; and to whatever department our 

 enquiries are directed, they flow in upon us in 

 overwhelming abundance. It is well worthy of 

 remark, indeed, as shewing the depth and solidi- 

 ty of the foundation on which rests the existence 

 of a supreme, intelligent and beneficent First 

 Cause, that the farther we push our discoveries, 

 the more clearly are the Divine perfections ex- 

 hibited. It is not merely true, that on a super- 

 ficial view we perceive the necessity of believing 

 that a limited and changing world, such as that 

 in which we dwell, could neither exist without 

 being produced, nor be the author of its own ex- 

 istence ; and that there must therefore be, be- 

 yond the range of our senses, an independent and 

 uncreated Essence, without beginning, without 

 bounds, incapable of change, intelligent, ever 

 active, all-pervading ; but it is also certain, that 

 these primd facie views, as they may be called, 



