that all things, which do not involve a contradiction, are possible with the Omnipotent God; that a sober man can scarcely fail to wonder, how these persons can hesitate to believe, that the act of creating or giving being, is within the limits of his power. The acts of preserving and governing the universe, also seem to be equally evidential of Omnipotence, and equally to demand its exertions. I cannot easily conceive how any man can admit, that God governs the Universe, and doubt whether he brought, or was able to bring, it into being. At the same time, the several modes, adopted by these very men to account either for the existence, preservation, or government, of all things, are attended with incomparably more difficulty: being indeed palpable absurdities, and involving evident contradictions. This, it is believed, has been proved in a former discourse.*

But the formation of the human Soul, is itself a continual exhibition of creating power. It is, unquestionably, as difficult to create Minds, as to create Matter. But that God creates Minds is certain; because Matter, being unintelligent, cannot communicate intelligence, and therefore, even if admitted to possess active power, cannot bring into existence a Mind. Nor ought it to be forgotten, that this opinion rests upon no evidence. On the contrary, it is a doubt, or denial, gratuitously assumed. The abettor of it merely doubts, or denies, the fact, that God created all things; and to justify himself, alleges, that he cannot conceive such an act to be possible. But he ought to show, that he does see it to be impossible. That he cannot discern what Omnipotence can do, any farther than God discloses it, either by his acts, or his declarations, is very obvious; but that this ignorance should be a foundation of doubt to himself; or of conviction, or even of attention, to others; is, I think, explicable only by the supposition of extreme folly in either case.

As this amazing Work is in the text divided into two great parts; the Heavens, and the Earth; I shall adopt this natural, and pertinent, division in my discourses; I shall begin my consideration of it with the subject, mentioned first in the text, viz. the Heaven.

The word Heaven, in the text, is used to denote what is elsewhere called the Heavens; as is evident from the first verse of the following chapter; in which it is said, with a reference to exactly the same subject, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. As the term is variously applied in the Scriptures; it will be proper in this place to mention the objects, to which this application is made. In the first place, Heaven, or Heavens, (for the word is used indifferently in either the singular or plural number) is applied to God. Until thou know, that the Heavens do rule. Dan. iv. 26.

2dly. To Angels. The heavens are not clean in his sight. Job

xv. 15.

* See Sermon II.

sdly. To the church. 4thly. To a great height. Cities walled up to heaven. Deut. i. 28. 5thly. To distinguished glory. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Isai. xiv. 12.

There was war in heaven. Rev. xii. 7.

All these are plainly figurative senses of this word. In a literal sense, it seems to have been used by the Jews to denote,

1st. The Air. As when the Scriptural writers speak of the dew, winds, and fowls, of heaven.

2dly. The Firmament, or expansion over our heads. Thus it is said in the context, verse 17, God set them, that is, the sun, moon, and stars, in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth.

3dly. The supreme Heaven; styled also the Heaven of Heavens. Behold the Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens, is the Lord's. Deut. x. 14. God also is styled the God of Heaven; and St. John beheld a door opened in Heaven, and was directed by a voice to go up thither; and was immediately carried in the spirit before the throne of God.

From these, and many other passages, it is evident, that the Jews acknowledged three heavens; and considered all things, beside the earth and that which it contains, and the world of punishment, as being included under the word, heaven. As this is the common language of Scripture, I shall consider the subject in the same manner, and in the order already specified.

I. The Air, or Atmosphere, by which the earth is surrounded, is replete with wonderful displays of the power and wisdom of God. Particularly it has ever engaged the attention of wise and observant men, and merits our own attention:

1st. As it is the immediate mean of life to mankind, and to the animal and vegetable kingdoms.

The nature of life, and the manner in which it is maintained, are both very imperfectly understood; nor will it be expected from me, that I should here attempt to give an account of such discoveries, as have been made by inquisitive men concerning these mysterious subjects. The remarks of a Minister of the Gospel, and not those of an Anatomist, the views of common sense, and not those of chymical, or medical science, will be expected in the present discussion. All men know, that living beings depend, in this world, for the continuance of life, on respiration; and that the medium of respiration is Air. Among the wonders, which pertain to this subject, this is one; that, although the Air is a compound substance, made up of very diverse materials, one of them noxious, and a second by itself perfectly unproductive of life; yet these are so blended with the third, in which alone the power of maintaining life resides, that in their combination they are better fitted to continue life, than even the life-giving principle would be, if it existed pure and unmixed. Another is, that this combination is maintained in such a manner, that the proportional quantities of these materials are at all times substantially, if not exactly, the

When we consider the innumerable revolutions, of which the Air is the subject, and the perpetual fluctuations; it seems scarcely less than a miracle, that this equability, so necessary for the continuance of life, should be always, and every where, preserved. Nothing less than the wisdom of God could have contrived the means, by which this fact is accomplished.

2dly. As it is the great instrument of dissolution.

This world is formed to be a theatre of successive existence. The beings which exist in it, are intended to fulfil the end, for which they exist, and then to leave the stage vacant to those, who succeed them. Of course they dissolve; and return to their original Just. Of this dissolution, Air is acknowledged by Philosophers to be the primary means. If we had never been witnesses of the fact; few things could seem more strange and improbable to us, than that the same element should be, at once, the chief means of preserving life, and the chief means of dissolution; and that both these processes should, without any confusion, go on from age to age in perfect harmony, and as indispensable parts of a complete system.

3dly. As it is a principal mean of heat and cold.

These great effects are both produced by different operations of the same element, hitherto inexplicably mysterious, but without any discord or confusion. The manner, in which Air withdraws heat from other objects, and again gives it out to those objects, must be confessed, familiar as the fact is, to be eminently wonderful: while, at the same time, the operation is absolutely necessary. On it, depends a great part of the activity, comfort, and usefulness, of mankind. From it, spring in a great degree, those changes of the seasons, those varieties of temperature, which are so pleasing, necessary, and useful, to the world. In a word, from this source, in a great measure, arise the growth and perfection of the vegetable world, the existence of a great part of the comforts and necessaries of life, and apparently the continuance of our being.

4thly. As it is the medium, by which are conveyed to us rain, dew, hail, and snow; and, as it is, also, the source of drought, in its various degrees.

The attraction between air and vapour, existing in such a manner as to diffuse the vapour, in a sense equably, throughout the lower regions of the atmosphere, seems to be indispensable to that great and mysterious process in the natural world, which is called evaporation. Every person knows, that without this process, rain and dew, snow and hail, could not exist; and that without these there could be neither vegetation, food, raiment, nor even existence, to mankind. At the same time, by a mysterious process of nature, respecting, especially, a peculiar state of the Atmosphere, the seasons become dry; the rain, in the emphatical language of the Scriptures, is changed into powder and dust; the heavens are as brass over our heads; and the earth as iron under our feet. Drought VOL. I.

36

and famine then spread their baleful influence over the world; and mankind are compelled by thousands to the grave.

5thly. As it is eminently the source of health and sickness.

Among the various exhalations, accomplished on the surface of the earth by means of the Atmosphere, there are many, which are impure, noxious, and fraught with poison and death. Of this nature, in an eminent degree, is that suffocating vapour, conveyed over the deserts of Nubia in the fatal blast, which is called the Simoon. Of a similar nature, are numerous other exhalations; not so immediately, but often more extensively, destructive, to human life; which arise from marshes, ponds, and other stagnations of water; as well as many more, ascending from decayed vegetables, and other masses of putrefaction. All these, but for the Atmosphere, would be confined to the surface; and fail of their malignant influence on human life. At the same time, Air is the great source of health; and, wherever it passes freely, contributes perhaps to the preservation, or restoration, of this essential blessing. In its purest state, it seems, in the ordinary circumstances of man, to promote health only; and often restores such as are languishing and decayed, more than all other causes united.

6thly. As it is the seat, and in an important sense, the cause, of many highly magnificent displays of divine workmanship.

Storms, clouds, thunder, lightning, combustion, volcanoes, earthquakes, the magnificent rainbow, and the delightful breeze, are all dependent on air for their existence. All of them, also, are deeply interesting to man in many ways. Besides their obvious influence in promoting our daily health and comfort, our frequent delight and sorrow, the continuance of our life, and the arrival of death, they are in no small degree interesting to us, as displays of the divine presence and character, eminently beautiful, various, awful, and majestic, and productive of important and extensive moral influence on mankind.

7thly. As it is in many respects an important aid to Vision.

No small part of the beautiful, majestic, and interesting scenes of nature depend, for their peculiar appearance, upon the atmosphere. Such, in an eminent manner, is the twilight, which so usefully and beautifully returns, every morning and every evening. Such, also, is the sky, or firmament; that magnificent, azure concave, which apparently bends in so glorious a manner over this great world. Such, also, are all those scenes, in which the refraction of light is concerned. Without the aid of the Atmosphere, none of these things would appear to us at all.

These summary hints will be sufficient to exhibit the importance of this wonderful subject, so far as is necessary for the present design. I proceed therefore to observe,

II. That the Starry heaven is a still more wonderful, and magnificent, part of the Creation of God.

To the most uninstructed mind, and the most vulgar eye, the firm

ament, with the innumerable and glorious bodies which it contains, has ever been far the most wonderful part of the visible creation while minds of superior intelligence, especially when the subjects of piety, have ever regarded this amazing scene with study, admiration, and awe, as pre-eminently displaying the wisdom and greatness of God. When, says David, I consider the heavens, the work of thy finger, the moon, and the stars, which thou hast ordained; Lord! what is man, that thou art mindful of him; or the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Of all material objects, the Sun is beyond measure the most glorious and magnificent, and the noblest emblem of its Creator. This great world of light is, beyond every thing else, the most perfect symbol of the exaltation, unchangeableness, perpetuity, life-giving power, benevolent influence, omnipresence, omniscience, dominion, and greatness, of God.

The Moon, a softer, but not less beautiful, object, returns, and communicates to mankind, the light of the Sun in a gentle and delightful manner, exactly suited to the strength of the human eye: an illustrious and most beautiful emblem, in this and several other respects, of the divine REDEEMER of mankind; who, softening the splendour of the Godhead, brings it to the eye of the understanding, in a manner fitted to the strength of the mind; so that without being overwhelmed, or distressed, it can thus behold the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Stars, also, by their endless multitude, and their unceasing variety and beauty, with which they every where replenish the vast expansion, astonish, and delight, the mind, while they manifest the greatness and wisdom of Jehovah. No stronger proof can be given of the nature, or degree, of the impressions, with which these marvellous objects have affected the mind of man, than the fact, that in very early ages of the world they began, and through every succeeding period have continued, to be, objects of religious adoration ; and by a great proportion of our race, have been directly acknowledged as Gods.

Such have been the views, formed by the human mind, with the mere light of uninstructed reason, concerning this glorious part of the Creation. But, when the eye is permitted to look out of the window of Science into this vast field, it assumes an entirely new, and immensely nobler, character. Instead of a great and splendid luminary, hung up in the heavens to communicate light, and warmth, to this world, and to measure the returns of day and night to its inhabitants, the Sun is seen by the eye of the Astronomer to be a vast world of itself; possessed of the wonderful power of emitting this equally wonderful element in immeasurable quantities to immeasurable distances; and the centre of many other worlds, which receive from this, their light and warmth, their motion, regularity, and harmony. To the same eye, the planets no longer appear as gems of inherent and immortal lustre, adorning the con