That God hath imprinted notices of himselfthat he hath, so to speak, written his name upon his works in legible and luminous charactersthat he hath made a loud proclamation of “his eternal power and Godhead" in the fabric of heaven and earth, and peculiarly in the structure of that strange compound, the soul and body. of man-and therefore that every man living has access to important knowledge of his Maker, even in his own person-and such knowledge as must forever shame his ignorance and forgetfulness-is an indisputable truth. But to infer that all this is the discovery, or can be discovered, by our reason, corrupted and blind as it is, is certainly what the logicians call a non sequitur.

You would not say that the non-perception of a. mathematical truth affords any presumption that the truth is not perfectly clear in itself. You may have met with instances where a person could not tell where even the centre of a circle is to be found, while to us it is perfectly plain; and the hesitation about it only proves the immense stupidity which could have any doubt about the matter. To a young child, that three and two are five may appear a very abstruse proposition; to us it is as clear as the day.

How many things, moreover, are there in the common works of creation, which cannot be discerned without previous instruction, and are

yet altogether obvious to a disciplined observer? The very flowers of the field, the common grass upon which you habitually tread, disclose beauties and wonders to the eye of a botanist, which are entirely hidden to our own eyes.

What miracles of wisdom, power, design, glory, does the contemplation of the starry heavens unfold! There, if I may dare so to express myself, is the walk of the Almighty God. There he clothes himself with light as with a garment, and every footstep leaves behind him a demonstration that the Creator is there: insomuch, that, to quote the words of the poet,

An undevout astronomer is mad.

Yet the ranks of modern philosophy are full of these madmen. How often have men gazed upon this theatre of glory, where their Maker unveils himself to their notice, without one single thought of his greatness, his grandeur, or even of his being?

In his written word God has been pleased to make a plain revelation of his perfections and of his grace, so that "he may run who readeth." Yet what multitudes are there, to whom the simplest truths of the gospel, the very A B C of religion, are riddles and mysteries insolvable throughout?

Now, what shall we say to all this? Is the fault in the evidence, or in the observer? In many,

if not all, of the instances I have mentioned, it will be acknowledged that the evidence is clear enough, but that something is wrong about the faculties which ought to perceive it. This is precisely the solution of the problem of natural religion. The scriptures speak only of the evidence itself which God has given of himself and his perfections in his works. From this, worthy men have drawn an inference respecting the powers of human perception. In this inference lies the whole fallacy. Evidence in abundance -evidence clear as "the sun shineth in its strength "has he afforded of his "eternal power and Godhead." There it is, and there it shall remain, in the works of his hands, as long as those works endure. But man, miserable man, blinded and corrupted by his sin, cannot see that evidence-cannot read the letters of light in which the divine name is inscribedcannot hear the proclamation which the voice of God utters throughout the universe. The argument, therefore, from the testimony of the scriptures, must be abandoned; and the question returns upon us in all its force, Can man, unaided by divine revelation, discover by nature's light what he ought to know of God and of himself, to lead him in the way of truth and blessedness?

It is quite obvious that the knowledge which men ought to have of God for this purpose is such as should mingle itself with all the operations of their minds; such as should-ex

tend to all the relations which they bear to him; such as should be perfectly clear to the feeblest understanding.

1. It is such as should mingle itself with all the operations of their minds. God, I now take for granted, is a Spirit-that his chief rule is in and over spirit, and, subordinate to this, over the material world. Now, if there be any operations of created mind, which the knowledge of God is not to influence, then to the whole extent of such operations the rational creature would be independent of him, which is neither more nor less than partial Atheism.

2. It should be such as extends to all our relations; for if it does not, if any be exempted, we cannot give him all the glory which is his due; and we shall be unable to tell whether the point in which we are deficient is not essential to both our duty and our blessedness.

3. It ought to be perfectly clear to the feeblest understanding. We inquire after that, which, by the nature of the case, ought to be universal. If, then, there be a single human being, in the ordinary exercise of his powers, who cannot attain it, the whole scheme of natural religion is ruined. It will not do to produce us examples of men of great sagacity, great leisure, and great advantages, as examples of what human reason can do in a case in which every one who breathes the breath of life has an equal interest.

All are concerned to know; and if all have not either powers or means of knowing, I repeat, the cause of natural religion is ruined.

4. It must not only be clear, but accompanied with indubitable proofs, such proofs as exclude all uncertainty; for in so momentous a question as that concerning God, our duties, and our destiny, doubt is equivalent to ignorance; and we may think we are honoring God, and making rapid advances in the way of life, when we are most highly dishonoring him, and going just as rapidly the road to death. There are two, and but two, methods of deciding this controversy. The first is from matters of fact; the second is à priori, from the nature of the human faculties compared with the object which they are to effect.

I. I begin with the first of these, inquiring what man is able to do by examining what he has done. Our work here is very short. We ask what nation upon earth can be pointed out, who, with all their notions of divinity, had clear. and satisfactory ideas of the living and true God? What could they tell about his providence? What about the soul of man? Had they ascertained whether it is mortal or immortal? Did they know any thing about true holiness? about the chief good? about walking with God? about holding fellowship with him? If they did, let the fact be produced; if they did not,