A MORAL GOVERNOR. 267 



right, this conviction of a rule of action extend- 

 ing beyond the gratification of our irreflective 

 impulses, as an impress stamped upon the human 

 mind by the Deity himself; a trace of His na- 

 ture ; an indication of His will ; an announce- 

 ment of His purpose ; a promise of His favour ; 

 and though this faculty may need to be con- 

 firmed and unfolded, instructed and assisted by 

 other aids, it still seems to contain in itself a 

 sufficient intimation that the highest objects of 

 man's existence are to be attained, by means of 

 a direct and intimate reference of his thoughts 

 and actions to the Divine Author of his being. 



Such then is the Deity to which the researches 

 of Natural Theology point ; and so far is the 

 train of reflections in which we have engaged, 

 from being merely speculative and barren. With 

 the material world we cannot stop. If a superior 

 Intelligence have ordered and adjusted the suc- 

 cession of seasons and the structure of the plants 

 of the field, we must allow far more than this at 

 first sight would seem to imply. We must admit 

 still greater powers, still higher wisdom for the 

 creation of the beasts of the forest with their 

 faculties ; and higher wisdom still and more 

 transcendent attributes, for the creation of man. 

 And when we reach this point, we find that it is 

 not knowledge only, not power only, not foresight 

 and beneficence alone, which we must attribute 

 to the Maker of the World ; but that we must 



