and Excellency of Virtue and moral Goodness, and the Turpitude and Deformity of Vice and Sin; the Power he hath of reflecting upon himself and his own Actions, with the unfpeakable Satisfaction which arifeth from a Confcioufnefs of Well-doing, and the Horror and Remorse which he is subject to from a Sense of a contrary Conduct; the kind and focial Affections implanted in the human Heart, which fhew that Man was defigned not merely to confult his own private Interest, but to promote the public Good and the Happiness of others as well as his own and, finally, the Power he hath of looking forwards to Futurity, and carrying his Views beyond the utmost Limits of this present Life: All thefe Things demonftrate him to be a noble Creature, a moral Agent, originally formed and defigned for high Degrees of Virtue and Happiness.

To all which may be added the admirable Laws of the vital Union between Soul and Body, whereby Substances of such different Natures are most closely and intimately joined. By virtue of this Union Man is rendered capable of taking in and relishing Beauties and Pleasures both of a material and fenfible, and of an intellec

tual.

tual Kind; and there is a close Connec= tion established between certain Motions and Impreffions on the bodily Organs and certain Affections and Senfations in the Soul; and all the Senfes are adjusted in fuch a Manner as is moft proper for the Ufe and Convenience of human Life: Man confidered in this View is one of the moft wonderful Compofitions in all Nature, nearly allied to the fpiritual and material World, and uniting both in himfelf.

Thus have we taken a brief and gene ral Survey of the Works of Creation. And with Regard to them we may justly fay that the Works of the Lord are great, fought out of all them that have Pleasure therein. One End for which fuch noble Faculties were given us was certainly this, that we fhould fearch into and contemplate God's wonderful Works. Nor must we imagine that none can do this but Perfons of Learning and who have made a Progrefs in philofophical Studies. Common Reafon and Attention, with fuch Helps as any Man may obtain who is heartily defirous to be informed, will lead us into fuch a Knowledge of thefe Things as is fufficient to fill our Souls with Wonder and Delight, and to

excite and enlarge holy and devout Affections in our Hearts. There is none of us but must be fenfible, that we might turn our Thoughts this Way more frequently than we do; and a Mind duly difpofed to this facred Excercife would find many Opportunities for making delightful Excurfions into the Works of God in the World about us, and admiring his glorious Perfections as manifested in them. One particular Defign_of_fetting a Part one Day in feven to the Purpofes of Religion is declared to be this, that we should commemorate the Creation of the World. We do not therefore answer the Intention of that wife Institution, if we do not frequently contemplate the invifible Things of God, which are clearly feen from the Creation of the World, being understood by the Things which are made, even his eternal Power and Godhead. This would have a manifeft Tendency to form us to a devout and truly religions Temper of Mind, and to produce in us a pure and fublime Delight to which no fleshly Gratifications are worthy to be compared.

When we behold that glorious Body the Sun, and feel its chearing Influences and Beams, which diffufe Light and Warmth to numberlefs Beings: When we

view the ample Sky spread out as a fair and magnificent Canopy over our Heads, and obferve the Balancings of the Clouds, with all their beautiful and grateful Variety of Shades and Colourings: When we hear the Winds blow, and the Thunder roar, and fee the Rains defcend with Water and refresh the Earth; and feel the Air breathing upon us its balmy and revi→ ving Influence: When we obferve the orderly Returns of the Seafons, the Beauties of the blooming Spring, the Summer and Autumn with their delicious Fruits and joyful Harvest, and even the Rigours of Winter, and the pleafing Varieties of a frofty Scene and a fnowy Landscape, all useful and beautiful in their Seafon: When we furvey the vaft Ocean, that astonishing Collection of Waters in which there, are innumerable living Creatures, fome of them. huge in Bulk, and all of them peculiarly fitted for inhabiting the watery Element: When we behold the high aspiring Mountains, and lowly Vales, and wide-extended Plains; the verdant Fields, and winding Brooks and Rivers; the Woods and Groves, with their ftately Trees and humble Shrubs and Plants; the Flowers in all their exquifite Beauties; with the feveral Kinds of Herbage and Grain,

"

which furnish Food for Man and Beaft: When we turn our Eyes to the numberlefs Animals that live and move around us, the Fowls of the Air and Beafts of the Field; fome of them remarkable for their Beauty, others for their Strength; fome to be admired for their Swiftnefs, others for their Courage, or for their Sagacity and the Acutenefs of their Senfes; and contributing in various Ways to the Convenience or Entertainment of human Life When we farther confider that in the Night Seafons, whilft Darkness seems to hide the Beauties of the Creation, and to spread a Vail over this lower World, a new and glorious Profpect openeth to us, than which nothing can be better fitted to strike the Mind with a pleasing Aftonishment: When we behold the Moon fhining in it's Brightnefs, the Firmament all glowing with innumerable Stars which fparkle in our Sight, and which, in the Judgment of thofe who have moft care→ fully examined thefe Things, are Bodies. of amazing Magnitude as well as Splendor, removed at a vast Distance from our Earth and from one another. But, above all, when we attentively confider the wonderful Structure of our own Bodies, and the noble and excellent Faculties of VOL. III.

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