millions of human beings are supposed to have perished, in that single country, by the influence of Atheism. Were the world to adopt, and be governed by, the doctrines of France, what crimes would not Mankind perpetrate; what agonies would they not suffer?

Let us now turn our view from this prospect of guilt and desolation, this dark and final abyss of sin and ruin, where no solitary virtue gleams, where no ray of hope or comfort trembles, through the profound midnight; and refresh the wearied sight by casting a momentary glance over the moral world of the Christian. Here, at the head of the vast chain of moral being, reaching like Jacob's ladder from Earth to Heaven, sits on the throne of infinite dominion, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob; the God of all, who, like them, believe, worship, and obey their Creator. In him, the Self-existent and Infinite Mind, the Christian beholds unceasingly, an object of boundless sublimity, grandeur, beauty, and loveliness; commanding by the disclosure of his character, and exhausting, all finite admiration, complacency, love, and praise; expanding every view, refining every affection, and ennobling every attribute. From the immediate contemplation of this glorious Being, raised to a superiority and distinction, of which he could otherwise have never conceived, he casts his eyes abroad into the Universe, which that Being has created. There he beholds an endless train of Intelligent minds reflecting, with no unhappy lustre, the beauty and glory of their Maker. From the pre-eminent dignity of the Archangel, through the glowing zeal of the Seraph, and the milder wisdom of the Cherub; through the high endowments of Moses, Isaiah and Paul; down to the humble but virtuous inhabitant of a cottage, one spirit lives, and breathes, and actuates, in all; and that spirit is divine. Each wears, and exhibits, in his own manner, and that manner a delightful and useful one, the image and beauty of JEHOVAH. All, though of different magnitudes, diffuse a real light; all are stars, though one star differeth from another star in glory. All are the subjects of virtuous affections; all are fitted to admire and adore, to glorify and enjoy, their Creator: all are formed, and disposed voluntarily, to fill up their existence with doing good, with promoting individual enjoyment and increasing universal happiness: all are bound together as children of one God and brethren of each other, by love the bond of perfection. Every one, therefore, is lovely in the sight of his Maker.

To this Universe of Minds the Christian believes, that the Crea tor, who is of course the rightful lawgiver, has given laws, for the direction of its members, which require perfect conduct, and ensure to it perfect happiness. These laws extend to all the thoughts words, and actions, alike; and regulate each with unerring pro priety. Their obligation is, and is acknowledged to be, divine, nothing can sunder, nothing can lessen it. This, instead of being

a source of regret to him, is his delight; for what these laws require is better than any thing else; and more fraught with self-approbation, worth, and enjoyment. Of course, in all the relations and situations in life, as a parent or a child, a neighbour or a friend, a magistrate or a subject, he feels himself, on the one hand, irresistibly obliged, and, on the other, entirely delighted, to obey their dictates. As these dictates reach every moral being, in every situation, and with respect to every action, they provide of course, and universally, for that conduct, in every being, which is commendable and desirable.

Here an immoveable foundation is laid for peace within, for dignity of mind, for real and enduring enjoyment, in the recesses of solitude; and for the endless train of duties and blessings, necessary to the happiness of Society. A Ruler, formed in this manner, will govern only to bless. Subjects of the same character will obey, because rectitude demands their obedience, and because their obedience will insure the happiness both of themselves and their Rulers.

3dly. I will now examine the views, which the Atheist forms of the Future World.

On this subject, a few observations only will be necessary. The whole of the Atheist's Creed, with respect to the future world, is comprised in the following summary: That his body, begun by Chance or Necessity, is continued without design, and perishes without hope; and that his soul is a mere attribute of his body, useless and worthless while he lives, and destined at his death to rottenness and corruption: "Death an eternal sleep" he engraves on the gate-posts of every church-yard; and consigns, by his mandate, the numerous inhabitants to the dark and desolate regions of annihilation.

By this sweeping sentence, which he passes on all the human race, he takes away from himself, and his fellow-men, every motive, furnished by the fear of future punishment, or the hope of future rewards, to virtuous, upright, and amiable conduct.

From these three sources, expressed by the several heads of discourse, arise all motives, and all tendencies, to virtuous conduct; to truth, justice, and kindness, between man and man. From the two former, we have already seen, the Atheist derives neither motives nor tendencies to this conduct. The source, under consideration, is to him, if possible, still more barren of both. There is, therefore, nothing in this scheme, which will prevent him from doing evil, or induce him to do good. How deplorable, then, is his system, if it may be called a system of doctrines!

On the other hand, how glorious are the Christian's views of the future world! From the promise of his Creator he learns, that his body, sown here in corruption, weakness, and dishonour, shall be raised, beyond the grave, in incorruption, power, and glory, with so many attributes of Mind, or Spirit, as to be denominated by him,

an open

who made it, a spiritual body. Ever young, active, and undecaying, it shall be reunited to the immortal mind, purified from every stain, and every error. This perfect man shall be admitted, with and abundant entrance, into the Heaven of Heavens, the peculiar residence of Infinite majesty, and the chosen seat of Infinite dominion. In this noblest of all habitations, this mansion of everlasting joy, he shall be united with an innumerable multitude of companions like himself, sanctified, immortal, and happy. Enrolled among the noblest and best beings in the Universe, a child, a priest, a king, in the house of his heavenly Father, his endless and only destination will be to know, love, serve, and enjoy God; to interchange the best affections, and the best offices, with his glorious companions; and to advance in wisdom, virtue, and happiness, for ever.

In the Future World of the Christian, therefore, motives, endless in their number, and infinite in their power, excite him unceasingly to all the conduct, which can make him useful and lovely, which can promote the happiness of his fellow-creatures, or secure the approbation of his God.

Thus have I taken a summary, comparative view of these two schemes of existence. In that of the Christian, an intelligent Mind, possessed of boundless power, wisdom, and goodness, existed from everlasting; commanded into being the Universe of Matter, and the Universe of Minds; is present in every place; sees, with an intuitive survey, every thing; controls all things with an almighty and unerring hand; and directs all to the accomplishment of the divine and eternal purpose, for which all were made. Over the Universe of Minds, destined to an immortal existence, he exercises a moral and eternal government; and prescribes laws, which require the best conduct, and insure the greatest happiness. To obedience he promises an endless reward; to disobedience he threatens an endless punishment. From this great source, the Christian sees himself derived; to this glorious end, believes himself destined; and in this sublime scheme, is presented with all motives to make him good, and with all means to make him happy.

The Atheist, on the contrary, supposes all things derived from chance, or necessity; originated without design; existing to no purpose, and terminating, whenever they do terminate, by the coercion of Fate, or the sport of Accident, as they began. Himself he regards as a lump of organized Matter; without a Mind; without law or government, except that of Fate or force; without moral action; incapable of obligation or rectitude; united to his fellow-men only by Time and Place; formed only to animal enjoyment; and destined to perish with his kindred brutes. By this scheme, all that is glorious, divine, and lovely, in that of the Christian, is annihilated; and all which, in the natural world, cannot be annihilated, and which possesses an inherent greatness and sublimity, is miserably contracted and degraded. Nothing is left to ex

pand his views, refine his affections, or ennoble his conduct. Mo tives to virtue, dignity, and usefulness, he obliterates from the creation. In the future World, he finds no such motives; for to him the future world is nothing. His evil passions, in the mean time, (for such passions, whencesoever derived, he possesses) are let loose without restraint, to rage and riot without control. Of all motives to do evil, his scheme is prolific; of motives to do good, it is absolutely barren. At the same time, it is founded on mere hypothesis, sustained by no evidence, and believed, against demonstration and impossibility.

Thus it is, I think, unanswerably evident, that he, who hath said, There is no God, is a Fool; that his Atheism is a scheme, dictated only by an evil heart; that it corrupts, of course, the whole moral character; that it is productive of all abominable works; and that it completely precludes the performance of any thing that is good.

SERMON IV.

UNITY OF GOD.

I. CORINTHIANS, viii. 4.—There is none other God but one.

IN the three preceding sermons, I have attempted to prove the Existence of God; to refute the Objections, and expose the systems, of Atheists; and by an examination of the necessary Influence of these systems on the intellect, heart, and life, compared with that of the Christian system, to show the malignant efficacy of the former, and the desirable consequences of the latter.

The text is a direct declaration of the Unity of God; the next subject of discourse in the order which I have proposed.

That there is but one God, is a doctrine acknowledged in this country by every man. No attempt, therefore, to prove the soundness of this doctrine by arguments, can be necessary, in order to produce conviction of its truth. My design, in choosing it for the subject of the present discourse, is, to exhibit the manner, in which we become possessed of it, and the evidence, with which it is attended. In pursuing this design, I shall inquire in the

I. place, What arguments are presented to us by the works of Creation and Providence in support of this doctrine:

II. What views men have entertained concerning it, under the direction of Reason:

III. What has been the influence of Revelation on the reception and continuance of this doctrine.

I. I shall inquire, what arguments are presented to us, by the works of Creation and Providence, in support of this doctrine.

In answer to this inquiry, I observe, that the works of Creation and Providence furnish to Reason, unaided by Revelation, the following considerations.

1st. The human mind, whenever it has admitted the being of One infinite God, has plainly found a difficulty in admitting the existence of more.

This argument I have chosen to express in these general terms, because I am aware, that different men have thought differently concerning this subject. This, indeed, is not at all to be wondered at, when we remember the peculiarly abstruse nature of those doctrines, which respect Infinity. The only conception, which the human mind is capable of forming concerning infinity, is that it exists. This fact we distinctly understand; and from it we can argue with success; but the nature of the thing, which is infinite, or, in more proper language, the nature of infinity itself, we cannot understand, nor can we argue from it at all. As the idea cannot enter