G O I). 



jt>rt to him ; notlii'.ipf ran refill tli^ expcutioii of his will. 

 II. The liiprcnic c;mfe and aiitlior of all things mutl of ne- 

 ceflity be i'lfinitcly wile. This follow:, from tho propofitions 

 already ell.iblilhed ; and the proof a pjjleriwi, of tli" infinite 

 wifdom of Gild, from the confideration of the exqinfilc per- 

 feftion and confuminate exepllency of his works, is no lefs 

 lining and undeniable. 12. The fupreme caiife and author 

 of all things niuft of nccrffity be a being of infinite good 



motions, arc very different from tliofe wliich wer^ n^cef- 

 fary to have produced it from nothing, or to ha\. uifpofed 

 It in the admirable form in whieh it now proc-e''.^ 



of ' i- article, 

 our ov. n !■. bi- 

 tation, we were to enumerate only the principal ..aces of 

 defign and wifdom, as well as goodnefs, w hie'-, are dif- 

 cernible in its figure and conlUtueiit paru, in its diurnal 



'"^ u^i.iiiiaun; lurin m winen it now proc 



But wc fiiould far exceed the proper linils. ( 

 if, confining our obfervation to the earth, o 



n-fs, julHce, and truth, and all other moral perfeaions ; fuch and annual motion, in the po.fition of iis, axis with regard 



as become the fupreme governor and judge of the world. 

 The will of a being, infinitely knowing :ind wife, iiidf;)en- 

 dent and all-powerful, can iiev-,-r be iufluc-nced bv anv wrong 

 affeiftion, and can never be milled or oppofjd froiii v.ithout ; 

 and, tlur.'fore, he muft do always what he knows llttell to 

 be done ; that is, he mull acl always according to the ftridleil 

 rales of infinite goodnels, jullice, cmd truth, tind all other 



to its orbit, in the benefit which it derives from the light 

 and heat of the fun, and the alternate viciflituce of the 

 feafons ; in the atmofphere which furrounds it, and in the 

 diiferent fpecies and varieties of vegetables and aninials with 

 whichit is replenifiied. No one can furvey the vegetable 

 productions of the earth, f„ various, beautiful, and ufeful, 

 nor the various gradations of aiiim;.l life, in fuch a variety 



moral perfecV.ons, and more particularly, being infinitely and of fp.-cies, all preferved dillincl, and' propagated bv a 

 n-c-etrarily happy and p.ll-fufficieiit, he mull be unalterably f ttled law, each fitted to its own element, pro%id.d with 



!>'■"?'-''■ food, and with inilincls and organs fuitcd to it 



diipofed to do and to communicate good oi happinefs. See 

 Clarke's Demonllration of tlie BL-iiig and Attributes of God, 

 paffim. 



To this more abllrufe argument <i priori, for the exill- 

 ence of God, we mav add another, more generally obvious, 

 and carrying irrefillible conviction, which is deduced from 

 the frame of the uni'wrle, and from the traces of evident 

 contrivance and fitnefs of things for one another that 

 occur through all the parts of it. Tliefe confpire to 

 prove, that the material world, which in its nature is ori- 

 '^inatod and dependent, could not have been the efFeCl of 

 chance or necefiity, but of intelligence and defign. The 



k and fituation, and efpecially with the powers of fen- 

 f.ition and Iclf-motion, and all more immediately or remotely 

 fublervieiit to the government and ufe of man^ without ad- 

 miring the llvill and defign of the original Former. But 

 thefe are more fignally manifeiled in the ftructure of the 

 human frame, and in the noble powers and capacities of the 

 human mind ; more efpecially in the moral principles and 

 faculties-, which are a diilrngui{hin<r part of our conditution, 

 and lead to the perception and acknov.ledgment of I'jc ex- 

 illence and government of God. In thofe i:»1tii 



ances that 

 ''a^'*^ no^v been recited, and a variety of limilar ii-,(lance» 

 beautiful, harmonious, and beneficial arrangement of the fuggelled by them, or naturally occurring to the notice 

 various bodies that compofe the material lyflem ; their of the curious and reflecting mind, contrivance i.-, inani- 

 mutual dependence and fubferviency ; the regularity of fell, and immediately, without aiiv nice or fubtle reafon- 

 their motions, and the aptitude of thefe motions for pro- ings, fuggefts a contriver. It ftrikes us like a fenfation ; 

 ducing the moll beneficial eftecls ; and many other pheno- and artful reafoninos ao-ainll it mav pi.z/le us, withoift 

 mena refulting from their relation, magnitude, fituation, fiiaking our belief. No perfoii, for' example, that knows 

 and ule, afford unquellionable evidences of the creating the principles of optics, and the flrucliu-e of the eve, can 

 power and wife difpofal of an intelligent and almighty believe that it was formed without IkiU in that fciriiie, and 



agent. The power of gravity, by which the celellial 

 bodies pcrfevere in their revolutions, deierves our parti- 

 cular conlideration. This power penetrates to the centres 

 of the fun and planets, without any diminution of its vir- 



therefore, LSturmius held that the examination of llie. «ye 



was a cure foratheifm ; and another excellent writer, cited ■ 



below, obfervcs, that if there were no example in the 



world of contrivance, except that of the eye. it would be 



tuc, and is extended to immenie dillances, regularly de- alone fufticient to fupport the conclufion which wc draw 



rrcafing, and producing the moil fenfible and important from it, as to the mcclFitv of en intelligent creator : nor can 



effects. Its action is proportional to the quantity of folid it be fuppofed that the ear was formed without the knowledge 



matter in bodies, and not to their furfaces, as is ufual ot iounds ; or that the male and female, created and pre- 



in mechanical cauies ; and, therefore, feems to iurpafs mere ferved in due proportion, were not formed fur c.-ch other* 



mechaiiifm. But however various the phenomena that de- and for continuing the fjKcies. AU tMir accounts cf nature 



pend on this power, and mav be explained by it, no media- are full of inlhuiccs of this kind.. The admirahlc.aad 



rical principles can account for its effects ; nuich lels could beautiful Ihucture of things for final caufcs exalt our idea 



it have produced, at the beginning, tiie regular fituation of of the contriver; and the unitv of defign fliew^ him to. be 



the orbs, and the prefcnt difpofitiin of things. Gravity one. The great motions in the fvftem, performed withthe 



could not have determined the plaa.ts to move from well fame facility as the leall, fug^t ll hisiahiiiglity pov. er, wiicL 



to call in orbits nearly circular, alniolt in tlie fame plane ; gave niotion to the earth and the celcilial bodies, with .equal 



nor could this pov. er have pro'iected the comets with all the eafe as to the minutcll pjirticles ; the fubtihtv of the niotions 



variety of their directions. If we fuppofe the matter of and actions in tiie inttru;il parts of bodiis, (hew-s that liis 



the fyltem to be accumulated in the centre by its gravity, 

 no mtehanical principles, with the aifiilance of tliis power, 

 could feparate the huge and unwieldy mals into fuch parts 

 as t!ie fun and planets ; and, after carrying them to their 

 different diftances, project them in their fevcral diredlions, 

 preferving flill tlie equality of aftion and re-aftion, or the 

 flate of the centre of gravity of the fyllcm. Such an ex- 

 quifite llruclure of things cculd only arife from the con- 

 trivance and powerful inlluences of an intelli:.:ent, free, and 



intluence peticlrates the inmoll receffi-s of things, r.'id. that 

 he is equally atJtivc and. pfefeiit every where. Tf:<» fiwpli- 

 city of the laws that prevail in the world, the cxsellrr.t dif- 

 pofition of things, in order to obtain the bed ec^ and the 

 beauty which adorns the worka of nature, far fujvcj>r to 

 any thing in art^ f>'ggell his conCumn\ate wuJdnm. Thif 

 ufefulnefs of the whole fchemc, fo well coiitrLvcd for the 

 intelligent beings who enjoy it, .with the internal difpoAtiou 

 and mor..l llructure of tiiofe beiiigs, (hews ULs unbounded 



moll potent agent. The fame powers, therefore, which at goodnefs. Thefe are argymenti whiei. are fuffidcn'ly open 

 prefent govern t!ie lEatcnal univcrfe and co.ndtict its various to the views and cr.pacities of the . unleii ned, while at the 



fame 



