A Sermon on Occafon of a public Fail. 343 this one ufeful obfervation arifes from them SERM. all taken together, that God exercifes a fo- XIII. vereign dominion over the whole courfe of"v"" nature, animate and inanimate, and conti- nually interpofes in direfting it fo as to fulfil his own purpofes, particularly, the purpofes of his moral government over mankind. The things here referred to, have, fome of them, the greateft outward appearance of being ef- fees which depend upon neceffary and un- defigning caufes; as famines, we know, pro- ceed in fome countries, and at fome times, fromextraordinary droughts, or from exceflive rains, which men can only account for in general, by changes in the temperature of the air depending on the mechanifm of inanimate nature: like this alfo feems to be the imme- diate caufe of peftilences ; fome noxious va- pours wherewith the air is impregnated, or it may be infefts floating in it, which enter- ing into the human body prove fo deftruftive to it. Some of the fore judgments of God feem to be altogether fortuitous. What can be more fo, than the ftrolling of favage beafts from their haunts into an inhabited country, which rather feems to be the averfion of their nature ? And force of them are the imme- diate produftions of voluntary caufes, but Z 4 having
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