300 V 



reflected from His works, we acquire views, un- 

 doubtedly more just and appropriate, yet full 

 of obscurity, and embarrassed with many diffi- 

 culties. 



Now, the remarkable peculiarity of revelation 

 is, that, while it exhibits to us the very same 

 character of the Almighty which is to be found 

 inscribed on creation, all its discoveries tend 

 to remove the mystery in which that character 

 is involved, and to clear away the darkness with 

 which nature has surrounded it. This is just 

 what might have been expected in a communi- 

 cation from Heaven, and it tends to give a re- 

 markable credibility to the Divine record. It has 

 an effect on the mind similar, if the comparison 

 be allowable, to that which is produced by the 

 detail of a characteristic anecdote of some indivi- 

 dual with whose striking peculiarities we happen 

 to be acquainted. The incident might be diffi- 

 cult of belief if attributed to any one else ; but, 

 as soon as the individual is named, conviction is 

 carried strongly to the mind, and we instantly 

 say we believe it, " because it is so like the man." 



What then is the pervading and remarkable 

 feature exhibited in the works of nature ? The 

 answer is deducible from every department of 

 these works, and cannot fail to have been deep- 

 ly impressed on the mind in looking back to the 

 survey, superficial though it be, which we have 

 just finished. It is, that these works display a 

 system, not of abstract perfection, but of con- 

 trivances, expedients and compensations, con- 



