continue, including definite or measurable time, till the visible universe is arranged for eternity. But as the Deity and all his immortal creatures will still continue to exist, and as we may conceive the Deity to have existed before he created any thing, this space or portion of his existence is eternity; and may be, nay must be, as much greater than measurable time, as the whole water of the ocean is greater than a single particle.

5. "What do you mean by spirituality, or when you say that God is a spirit?"

I mean that God has not a material body,limbs or shape, like men and animals,-that matter is no part of God.

"Tell me at once what you mean by spirit?" When I contemplate man, I perceive that he thinks, reasons, and acts. But then, when I consi

only find it (that is his

der what I see of man, I body) matter; and taking this matter per se, in the lump, piece by piece, or particle by particle, it differs nothing from the matter of all things around me; and most certainly these, such as stocks and stones, do neither reason nor think. I conclude, therefore, there is a something within man, the source of intelligence and power, which moves this piece of matter composing the human body, and which eludes the strictest scrutiny of my senses; and to this, whatever it be, I give the

name spirit. As to the powers or energies of matter, I shall discuss them at large in the follow ing chapter.

66 Do you then intend to say that God is such a spirit as animates man?"

By no means. But I give the name Matter to all substances subject to my senses, however they may differ among themselves; and in like manner I give the name spirit to all those sources of intelligence and power whose effects I see, whether they animate mere animals or men, as also to the Deity, whose operations I see in the visible world. Nor do I doubt there are as many orders of intelligent beings between man and the source of all intellect, as there are between man and the meanest insect. But this is more a matter of amusing speculation than an article of faith.

6. "What do you mean by the self-existence and self-sufficiency of the Deity?"

I have already stated, that every thing we see bears marks of contrivance, and must have had a contriver. Should we go back, we must come to a cause that never had a contriver, but must have both its existence and its power to contrive within itself. Such a cause cannot depend upon any auxiliar cause; for then that cause must be either co-eternal, of prior existence, or of later origin. If it is of later origin, it must have originated from

something else, and therefore implies a prior cause. If co-eternal, then there must be two wills, which I shall shortly disprove; and if of previous existence, then it must be that Great First Cause of which we are speaking.

7. "How do you prove God to be omniscient?" By the same arguments that I prove his omnipotence and his omnipresence. The Deity or Great First Cause is the designer, the contriver, the maker, and upholder of all things. He is therefore, in intelligence and power, present in all his works; and as he is the Author of man's intellect, it were absurd to suppose that he, who contrived such a masterpiece as the human intellect, is not himself infinite and all-perfect in intelligence. Neither is it less absurd to suppose that he has created so much as to overburthen his memory, so as to hold his intelligence and power in abeyance.

8. "When you speak of God's omnipresence or ubiquity, do you mean that he is dwelling every where, and in no place more than he is in our presence?"

By no means: I would rather suppose that all the visible creation is a mere outskirt of his real presence, and that his peculiar mansion is far removed from mortal ken. But still, as all these have existence in and through his power and wis

dom, his power and intelligence must be present with them, seeing they are as much depending upon him as the leaves growing upon a tree are on that tree; and therefore, though my intellect, mind, or soul, is no part or portion of the divine essence, yet he is as intimately acquainted with it, and as much present therein, as if it was really his own substance. As I said before,-I do not bear the same relation to him as a machine to its maker, nor as a child to its father, the relation and dependence are much more intimate. In making a machine, man adapts existing powers to use; and offspring depends little on man's controlling will. But God's will, creating and controlling power, are all in all.

9. "How do you prove that there is but one God?"

From the unity of design every-where present. Every thing in nature is as perfectly a part of one great whole, as if the globe of the earth was suspended by a chain from the sun, and that thing a link in the chain. No place has been found either manifesting a proof of deficiency of his presence, or of his acting by different counsels in his procedure. The proof is equally every where present, that the whole process of nature depends upon one moving power acting from the centre. There is no double, no resisting, nor controlling process nor power. There is no opposing, nor

double nor divided will,-no proof whatever of the fulfilling of more than one will, and that one free and independent, and therefore there is but one Godhead or Deity.

10. "What do you understand by Omnipotence?"

I have already shewn that all things must have proceeded from the will of one Great First Cause, that all are supported by him. It must, therefore, follow that all power dwells in him: for whatever power exists in the effect, must have existed in the cause. Nor can it be supposed that the Deity imparted a greater power than he possessed himself, or that he imparted power to such a number of beings that the aggregate should be beyond his own perfect control. So far from that, all power without intermission is upheld by him and altogether depends upon him. There is nothing in man which we can compare to the creative power of the Deity. Since if man give power to any thing, as in machinery, it is only an application of existing power, as that of gravitation, the expansive force of heat, the elasticity of matter, or muscular contraction. In this respect, as in most others, man has nothing of his own: God is all in all.

11. "How do you vindicate the divine claim to infinite or perfect wisdom, since we see so much