SERMON XLV. S1 iltat the Being, which made these active animals should nut have understanding and reason, and that far superior to all his crea- tures ? Should Mr. Boyle, or Sir Isaac Newton descend from heaven, and begin a complete lecture on this subject, it would last for years, for ages, even to the end of time ; and every in- structive moment would acquaint us with somenew glories of the Creator. Let us consider but our own natures, 'our parts and powers what wonders are contained in every sense? In the eye, what millions of objects are painted continually on one spot of that lit- tleball, and transferred inward to the brain in all their distinct coloursand shapes, and are beheld withoutconfusion there ? What varieties of sounds and voices, language and harmony, are taken in and distinguished by the ear in its winding caverns? How very various are the tastes and smells that we partake of by the palate and the nostrils ? How happily contrived is our sense of feeling, not confined to one part, but diffused throughout the whole body, and to give speedy notice of every thing within us, or without us, that may hurt our frame ? What a wonderful in- strument is the tongue, to convey our thoughts in ten thousand sounds to our fellow- creatures ? And what an excellent being is the principle of thought within us, even our souls or spirits, which can not only take in and converse about all the, millions of objects, which our senses give us notice of ; but millions more of numbers and quantities and intellectual ideas which our senses cannot reach ? Now can all these be formedwithout infinite wis- dom and skill ? I might demand of the sons of atheism, in the language of the Psalmist Ps. xciv. 6, 10. He that planted the ear, shall not he hear? Ile that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that gives knowledge to man, shall he not know? Ile that made spirits, bath not he all the powers of a spirit in, him, in a mosttranscendent manner and'degree? And as the wonders of contrivance in the works of God de- clare his depth of wisdom, so the difficulty of creating them out of nothing argues his almighty power. When wesurveythe hea- vensthe work of his hands, themoon and the stars which he loath created; Ps. viii. 3. what a glorious and powerful Being must that be, which formed these vast bodies at first, and which upholds their stupendous frame ? What an almighty voice was necessary to call this whole universe, these heavens and earth, and seas, with all the hosts of them, out of nothing into being, and constrain them to obey the call ? Man can Only change the shapes and qualities of things ; He can make a clock indeed, an elegant engine to measure time; but he must have brass and iron given him, for he cannot create these materials, though he gave them a new form ; But God's
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