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this sense, that he is said to dwell in heaven: though omnipresent, yet there he particularly manifests his majesty and glory.It is in this sense, that he is said to dwell in temples upon earth: though omnipresent, yet there he particularly manifests to the faithful his grace and truth.'-It is in this sense, that he is said to dwell in the heart of every good man: though omnipresent, yet there he particularly manifests his sanctifying and consoling influence. He inspires every good man with holy thoughts: he forms within him generous and noble purposes: he purifies and elevates his mind: he makes him thoroughly furnished unto every good work.' He would be grossly ignorant indeed then, who would ever think of interpreting such scriptural figures in a literal sense. It was never an object of Scripture to represent God as having, strictly speaking, any local habitation. He can be confined neither to any temple upon earth, nor to any dwellingplace in heaven. Neither earth, nor heaven itself, can contain him. Could you rise above the earth: could you soar beyond the moon, and pass through all the planetary choir could you even reach

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what you may conceive to be the utmost orbit of the universe, even there you would be under his eye, and comprehended by his presence. Who can go where he is not? All nature is his temple: all space is his abode.*

* There is a most beautiful and sublime description of the omnipresence of God in the 139th Psalm, verses 7, 8, 9,. 10, 11, 12. Whither,' says the Psalmist, shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence.—If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there: if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the · sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right • hand shall hold me: if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me: yea the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to thee,' It is remarkable, that an ancient philosopher, generally and deservedly esteemed, has been led into almost the very same train of thought, and the very same mode of expression with the Psalmist, which shews, (as Clemens Alexandrinus some. where says), that Αἱ μεγαλαι φύσεις και γυμναι παθῶν εὐτοχᾶσι πws Tegì TMηv ¿λúðar. i. c. exalted and ingenuous minds have a particular sagacity in the discovery of truth. The philosopher, to whom I allude, after observing that the wicked shall not ge unpunished, adds: Boast not thyself, however fortunate thou mayst be, that thou shalt escape the divine justice. "Overlooked by her thou canst not be, no, not though small as thou art, thou shouldst descend into the depths of the earth, or though raised on high thou shouldst fly up into heaven.'

PLATO de Legibus, x.

HAVING thus seen what proof we have of the omnipresence of God, and also how we should endeavour to conceive of it, let us now consider some of THE CONCLUSIONS which may be fairly drawn from this grand and interesting subject..

THE Conclusions that may be drawn from this subject, are of two kinds,—those that immediately respect God, and those that immediately respect ourselves.

THOSE that immediately respect God are the following:-Since He, the great Original independent Being is omnipresent, he must also be Omniscient: infinitely Powerful and infinitely Wise.

HE must be OMNISCIENT.-He is the Maker of all things; and all the things which he hath made, strikingly demonstrate his knowledge. Now, his knowledge must be of the same extent with his presence; for his knowledge is inseparable from his being. But his presence is infinite; therefore, it follows, that his knowledge is infinite also. God cannot but know and perceive every thing that exists,

and every event that takes place, whereever he himself resides: and as he necessarily resides throughout infinite space, infinite space gives room to infinite knowledge it is, as it were, an organ to omniscience.'' Does not God fill heaven and

earth? Can any then hide himself in 'secret places that he shall not see him?—

All things lie open and naked to him

⚫ with whom we have to do.'-He perceives with one simple attention, every side of every object, every atom of every body, and every thought of every breast.'He searcheth the heart, he trieth the • reins.' He has a full and immediate prospect of the inmost nature and essence. of every thing, and of all its results, so that nothing, whether it be past, present, or to come, can be concealed from his inspection. This, it must be granted, is a truth far above our comprehension; but it is a truth which, by fair and irrefragable reasoning, we are compelled to admit.—What a sublime, impressive, and instructive idea does this give us of God!

GOD must also be INFINITELY POWERHe who made all things, and who

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is, every moment, present everywhere, preserving and governing all things, cannot experience any prevailing opposition to hiswill. It is manifest that no conceivable bounds can be set to his power. This is so manifest that nothing more is necessary than to give lively and affecting descriptions of it: such descriptions as may properly impress the mind with the supreme majesty of God, and with the absolute necessity of our becoming dutiful subjects of his government. And for these, whe ther can we turn with such advantage as to the Holy Scriptures? Let us then carefully read, and devoutly attend to what they say. The earth is the Lord's, and ⚫ the fulness thereof; the world and they 'that dwell therein: for he hath founded • it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened • himself against him and has prospered? -Which removeth the mountains and they know not; which overturneth them in his anger; which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble; which commandeth the sun and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars;