INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.

WHETHER or not we live in a fatherless universe; whether the great series of causes and effects which appear in Nature spring from an intelligent and self-existent cause, or from blind chance, or an equally blind necessity, operating by certain inherent properties of matter; whether we, as rational beings, sustain relations and responsibilities to a Supreme Being, as our Creator, Benefactor, and Governor, in whose providence we may confide, for whose favour we may hope, and to whose tribunal we are accountable; or whether we sustain no relations or responsibilities to any being superior to our own species-are questions confessedly of the highest interest and importance.

If, indeed, the existence of God were propounded merely as an abstract proposition; if it had no connection with ethics, and involved no responsibilities; if it had no more relation to the weal or woe of our being than the most abstract problem, yet would it legitimately come within the scope of scientific inquiry, and have a paramount claim to our attention. The province of science is the interpretation of Nature by the discovery of truth. To this end science accumulates facts and deduces principles. From the operations of Nature she ascends to Nature's laws-from effects to their causes. Nor is true science satisfied with proximate and subordinate causes, but pursues the path of discovery to the utmost limits attainable by experiment and reason, ever seeking for those

ultimate facts and primary causes which afford the most complete and comprehensive generalizations of truth. Indeed, the farther science can trace the converging lines of subordinate causes, the more valuable are her discoveries, and the more brilliant her achievements; for it is thus the simplicity and unity, the harmony and grandeur, of Nature are seenAs, therefore, the proposition that There is a God, assumes to furnish the Cause of causes, the great ultimate principle in philosophy, the last and sublimest generalization of scientific truth, it not only comes legitimately within the province of scientific inquiry, but claims the highest place in its investigations.

If true philosophy is, as its name imports, "the love of wisdom," no philosopher can designedly or negligently ignore the existence of a Supreme Being. If science be the interpretation of Nature, he cannot decline an investigation as to the great Author of Nature, without discarding the highest claims of science. Let the philosopher pursue his studies in the walks of science; let him daily ply his laboratory to extort the secrets of Nature, or nightly turn his watchful eye to the heavens, exploring the depths of space, and extending further and yet further his researches into stellar arrangements and dynamic forces; but let him not refuse to inquire into the Great First Cause, the ultimate principle in philosophy, the primal source of all the phenomena of Nature; for that were to do injustice to truth, and break off his investigations at the moment they culminate to the point of their highest interest and grandeur.

If the beauty and sublimity of Nature be attractive to a refined and cultivated mind, the same inducement should operate with augmented force in reference to the existence and perfections of a Supreme Being; for whatever elements of beauty or grandeur there may be in the material universe, they are all comprehended and surpassed in the conception of a God. If the extent of the visible universe inspires the mind with a conception of the vastness of Nature, that idea becomes sublimer still when associated with the personal

existence of a Being whose presence fills immensity. If the dynamics of the universe give us a sublime conception of the energy of Nature, that sublimity is surpassed in the idea of a personal Existence who is omnipotent. If the comprehensive arrangements, the harmonious laws, the complicated yet systematic and orderly operations of the universe, excite admiration, that feeling becomes deeper and richer when we conceive of a Being in whom dwells the profound wisdom that originated those harmonious laws, and devised those marvellous arrangements. If the stability of Nature, and the regularity of its multifarious operations, impress the mind with awe at the indefinite ages of its duration, that conception is heightened the moment we contemplate a Being who literally inhabiteth eternity, and who, amid the cycles of Nature's revolutions, changeth not. There is, indeed, no element of sublimity either actually existent or even conceivable in Nature, but what is indefinitely surpassed in the idea of a God. (The proposition, therefore, that there is a God, has no equal, no competitor; it stands alone in unrivalled and unapproachable grandeur; and if its sublimity does not prove its truth, it renders it at least worthy of inquiry, and imposes a weighty task on the unbeliever; for if it be false, it is not only the sublimest of all errors, but is an error more sublime than truth itself—yea, more ennobling and elevating to the mind than any truths which Nature herself can present to our contemplations. If this be a paradox, its solution is a task devolving on those who deny the being of a God)

The proposition that there is a God derives additional interest when viewed in its moral aspects, for it comprehends ideas of infinite moral excellence. Whatever moral excellence may be supposed to exist in the creature, is assumed to dwell in the Creator without alloy, and in infinite plenitude and perfection. Absolute truth and rectitude, spotless purity and holiness, united with boundless benevolence, are comprehended in our conception of God. Thus, while his natural attributes invest him with infinite grandeur, his moral perfections array him with infinite loveliness and dignity. As such, his exist

ence presents higher claims to our sober consideration. For if the contemplation of the sublime be adapted to invigorate and expand the mental faculties, the contemplation of a Being resplendent with all moral perfections must tend to refine and ennoble our moral powers. If models of excellence stimulate to the love and imitation of virtue, the due contemplation of the most pure and perfect, the most holy and benevolent Being, must restrain the vicious and excite the good affections of our nature. Thus the conception of a God is the ally of virtue, and the most powerful incentive to goodness; and if this be not a demonstration of its truth, it evinces, at least, its importance; it asserts its high claim to calm and honest inquiry, and demands that those who reject it as false should be well satisfied that their own theory is true.

If the conception of a God serves to refine, expand, and exalt our intellectual and moral nature, it is no less powerful in its influence on the happiness of our being. For in what consists the happiness of our existence but in the appropriate exercise of our faculties, and the full satisfaction of our desires? The material and the sensible world may meet the limited wants of our animal nature; but does not our consciousness attest the want of something higher to meet the aspirations and capacities of our intellectual and moral nature? Exclude the idea of a God, and how are these requirements to be met? Let it be believed that the universe has no Architect, no Author-that man has no relation to any being higher than himself and our thoughts at once collapse, the faculties of the mind are imprisoned, and our loftiest aspirations mocked and restrained. The conception of a fatherless universe is a cold and barren thought, which makes Nature a vast solitude-a dreary wilderness, in which the mind is left without adequate fellowship or sympathy, without comfort, and without hope.

In the view of these facts, every lover of truth and virtue, every one who feels an interest in the intellectual and moral elevation of himself and his species, will admit that the existence of a God is desirable, and will regard the subject as paramount in its claims to his most careful and thorough examination.

Even the sceptic and the infidel, if influenced by a love of truth, and conscientious in their sentiments, should be anxious to go thoroughly into this question, and to ascertain whether their opinions will bear the ordeal of logical analysis and philosophic investigation.

Judging from the writings of avowed atheists, it would appear that few indeed, if any of them, hold their denial of a God with such a firm conviction as excludes every doubt from their minds. Their prevailing opinions claim rather the appellation of scepticism than of confirmed, speculative atheism. Unbelief there may be, but it is the companion of a tremulous apprehension that possibly, after all, there may be a God; and in the most elaborate arguments put forth in defence of atheism, we often find admissions and confessions which clearly indicate the absence of settled convictions and of fixed principles. These corroding doubts must be an unenviable inheritance to their possessor, uncongenial to the philosopher, and a source of disquietude and danger to the man; for they involve contingencies which cannot be viewed by the sceptic without apprehension and alarm. The bare possibility of a God is prolific in suggestions of other possibilities of infinite moment. The possibility of relations, of obligations, and responsibilities to an infinite Creator stands. inseparably connected with the possibility of his being, suggesting a train of grave and anxious reflections to every thoughtful mind. For if there be a God, he is my Creator and Lord; I am his creature and subject; and, as a rational being, deriving my existence and all I enjoy from his goodness, I owe him my grateful allegiance, my cheerful obedience to his known will, and I am accountable to his tribunal for my conduct.

The bare contingency of such momentous truths will rouse a conscientious mind to inquiry and research. Such a one will not rest in darkness, if light can possibly be had; will not remain in doubtful suspense, if satisfaction can be attained; will not, like Pilate, hurriedly ask, "What is truth?" and impatiently turn away before an answer can be given; but will apply himself with ceaseless energy to determine that which is