space. As they are not themselves substances, he contends that they prove the existence of a being, of whom immensity and eternity are necessary attributes. Sir Isaac Newton considers infinite space as the sensorium of the Godhead; it gives room to infinite knowledge, and is as it were an organ to omniscence." Thus having proved by other methods, as has been done, the existence of an intelligent cause. the impressions made on us by the contemplation of space and duration may be employed in ilustrating and Confirming the possibility if not the necessity, of an infinite Being who is above and independent of all visible things, and incorporeal entities. Reflection further convinces us that the cause of ail things, which are in themselves finite, and subject to change must be independent, uncaused, and therefore eternal. It would be the height of absurdity to suppose the Being who is the cause of ail existence, to act in His own creation, before He existed. It is not in our power to fix any limit to the chain of infinite being; but it would be most palpably absurd to say that this chain needs no other support than its own connected links. We rise from one state of dependent and finite existence to another, till we at last rest in the absolute and infinite, and there find the sure support of the

“Vast chain of being.”—

Is Jehovah one? The answer to this is implied in the proof that He is infinite; for it would involve a contradiction to suppose the existence of two infinite beings; or at least, the sense of the human mind has everywhere been against the admission of more than one infinite being. Descartes contended that men, from the very constitution of their nature, as soon as they conceive of a Deity, attribute to Him all possible perfection. The polytheism and creature worship of the heathen do not prove that they consider the things which they worship as the Supreme God. Influenced by custom and superstition, and in direct opposition to reason and common sense, they adopt the rites and idols of their forefathers. Their intellectual and moral perverseness, as dis played in their ideas and customs, respecting the character and worship of God, is to be viewed as a Divine infliction, in punishment of inexcusable unbelief. (Rom. 1: 18, 28.) There is much ground therefore, for the opinion that the very idea of the true God is accompanied with the belief that He is infinitely perfect.-Thus does it appear, from a process of reflection, that that God whose existence we infer from the image which He has engraved on the soul of man, is infinite, eternal, underived one, and possessed of all possible perfection. He is not a mere intelligence, residing in the different species of being. He is not a "plastic power:" He is not the universe itself; but He is an eternal, uncaused, independent, necessary being, possessed of power, life, wisdom, good

ness, and every supposable perfection, in the highest possible degree.

The way is now prepared to proceed to another stage in the argument, and one that has been more commonly, and independently, relied upon to prove the existence of God. That portion of the proof which has been presented, viz, that an effect presupposes an adequate cause-a created mind and an uncreated one, renders the argument from design perfectly conclusive. The argument from design is founded on this plain principle that everything in which may be observed marks of contrivance, necessarily implies creative skill, and of course the existence of a being to whom this skill belongs.

The being of God from evidences of design.

1. Evidences of design presented in the phenomena of mind. The ancient philosophers drew proofs of design from the constitution of the mind, as well as from the external world. Thus Cicero says, -"Jam vero animum ipsum mentemque hominis, rationem, consilium, prudentiam, qui non divina cura perfecta esse perspicit, is his ipsis rebus mihi videtur carere. De quo dum disputarem, tuam mihi dari vellem, Cotta, eloquentiam.

**

Jam vero domina rerum, (ut vos soletis dicere) eloquendi vis, quam est praeclare, quamque divina! quae primum efficit, ut ea, quae ignoramus, discere, et ea, quae scimus, alios docere possimus. Deinde hac cohortamur, hac pursuademus, hac consolamur afflictos, etc."" Lord Brougham has handled this part of the subject most ably, and nothing more will be necessary than to refer to what he has given in relation to it, in his admirable "Discourse." From the nature and operations of mind, he says, we gather proofs of design, by the strict method of induction, as conclusive as we do from the phenomena of matter. The structure of the mind affords evidence of the most skillful contrivance. He considers particularly the power of reasoning-curiosity-the phenomena of memory, its tenacity and readiness-the effect of habit on our intellectual system-and the feelings and passions with which we are moved. "But view the intellectual world as a whole, and surely it is impossible to contemplate, without amazement, the extraordinary spectacle which the mind of man displays, and the immence progress which it has been able to make in consequence of its structure, its capacity, and its propensities, such as we have just been describing them. If the brightness of the heavenly bodies, the prodigious velocity of their motions, their vast distance and mighty bulk, fill the imagination with awe, there is the same wonder excited by the brilliancy of the intellectual powers-the inconceivable swiftness of thought-the boundless range which our fancy can take the vast objects which our reason can em

'De Nat. Deor. lib. ii. 59.

brace. That we should have been able to resolve the elements into their more simple constituents-to analyze the subtle light which fills all space-to penetrate from that remote particle in the universe, of which we occupy a speck, into regions infinitely remote-ascertain the weight of bodies at the surface of the most distant worlds-investigate the laws which govern their motions, or mould their forms-and calculate, to a second of time, the periods of their re-appearance, during the revolutions of centuries,all this is in the last degree amazing, and affords much more food for admiration than any of the phenomena of the material creation. The most abstruse investigations of the mathemetician are conducted without any regard to sensible objects; and the help he derives in his reasonings from material things at all, are absolutely insignificant, compared with the portion of his work which is altogether of an abstract kind-the aid of figures and letters being only to facilitate and abridge his labor, and not at all essential to his progress. Nay, strictly speaking, there are no truths in the whole range of the pure mathematics which might not, by possibility, have been discovered, and systematized by one deprived of sight and touch, or immured in a dark chamber, without the use of a single material object. The instrument of Newton's most sublime speculations, the calculus which he invented, and the astonishing system reared by its means, which have given immortality to the names of Euler, Lagrange, Laplace, all are the creatures of pure abstract thought, etc. These surely are the greatest of all the wonders of nature, when justly considered, although they speak to the understanding, and not to the sense. Shall we, then, deny that the eye could be made without skill in optics, and yet admit that the mind could be fashioned and endowed without the most exquisite of all skill, or could proceed from any but an intellect of infinite power?"

2. Evidences of design in the external world. When we see a machine, with various parts, nicely adjusted, and all in harmonious action, the idea of its having come into existence of itself, or by chance, never once enters the mind; but we immediately connect it with some designing agent. Such a machine is the human body. Few comparatively seem to know the overwhelming force of evidence which we, as organized beings, bear around-within usevidence which establishes the being, attributes, and providence of a Supreme Being. The human frame-work is one of the best volumes on Natural Theology. "A piece of mechanism," remarks Sir Charles Bell, “as a watch, a barometer, or a dial, will fix attention; a man will make journeys to see an engine stamp a coin, or turn a block; yet the organs through which he has a thousand sources of enjoyment, and which are themselves more exquisite in design, and more curious in contrivance and mechanism, do not enter his thoughts." What admirable instruments are the human

hand and eye! How exquisite in workmanship! Though complicated, how nicely are all their parts adjusted, and adapted to their several ends! If we turn to the centre of the bodily system -the heart-we shall behold, if possible, still greater wonders. If we might suppose that the external covering of the body were made of some transparent substance, through which, as through glass, we could discern the circulation of the blood, and observe how it is admitted on one side, and let out of the other of that wonderful "laboratory," as John Howe' styles it-could we perceive all this, should we not be ready to pronounce that man mad, or an idiot, who could profess to regard so wonderful a piece of mechanism, as having come into existence by accident, or without a Maker? And that the same Being, who, as has been shown, was the Author of the human mind, was also the Maker of the body, is rendered certain by their adaptation the one to the other, and their mutual action on each other. They are entirely distinct, one being purely spiritual, and the other material, but this mutual adaptation is as much a part of their original design, as any other property that belongs to either, and hence it is evident that they proceeded from the same Designer. And that all other creatures and works were made by the same Being is evident inasmuch as the same wisdom and power are displayed in them, and it is absurd to suppose that there can be more than one absolute and infinite Creator. The more minute and extensive the examination, the more impressive and overwhelming will be the proofs of design, which are furnished in the works of creation. If we carry our inquiries into the microscopic world, they will be as obvious as in those broader fields surveyed by the telescopes of astronomers. "So full is nature of design and purpose," remarks Pres. Hopkins, "from the blade of grass to the sun in the heavens, that she now seems to stand as one great transparency, through which the workings of a designing agent may be seen." Proofs multiply as we extend our observation. If we look at a single plant grow ing at the wayside, we shall perceive the signatures of divine wisdom on every leaf and flower. If we look higher, at the motion of this earth, and other plants, we shall perceive the grand miracle of the universe-the sublime argument for the existence of Godmotion in a circle. The song of the spheres is-"There is a God; and that God, how great, how wise, how good!"

"Should fate command me to the farthest verge
Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes,
Rivers unknown to song, where first the sun
Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam
Flames on th' Atlantic isles,

Still God is ever present, ever felt,
In the void waste as in the city full.

Living Temple, i 3.

I can not go

Where universal love not smiles around,
Sustaining all yon orbs, and all their suns."

-“Deum namque ire per omnes

Terrasque, tractusque mavis, cœlumque profundum."

If now, at this point in the argument we open the Bible-a book which like the human mind is an effect without any adequate cause, except on the admission that there is an omniscient and holy God, who is its Author-we shall discern, written as with sunbeams, what we had read more faintly traced on the tablets of the soul, and the external world, that God is incomparably wise, great, good and holy. We see in Jesus, God incarnate-God with us-God manifest in the flesh. He who was the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person, has dwelt on earth, and men behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. God has stamped His image on the soul of man, and stamped His image on the Bible, and left traces of His power and wisdom on the broad earth and broader Rev. heavens, so that if we believe not we are without excuse. elation itself," remarks Dr. Dwight, "may for aught that appears, be so formed, as to become an indubitable proof of His existence and of any, or all, of His attributes. The Revelation itself is an effect; and from its nature, the nature of the cause, which gave it existence, may be as satisfactorily argued, as from any other effect. In other words, it may be such an effect as to prove the cause divine. Still more obviously may this be the case, when the Revelation, in question, is such a comment on the works of creation and providence, as to explain such mysteries in them, and remove such difficulties, as before prevented us from a correct judgment concerning their nature and tendency."

ARTICLE VIII.

PETERS AND SMITH ON BAPTISM.'

By Rev. J. JAY DANA, South Adams, Mass.

THERE has ever been a disposition in men to run to extremes in matters of religion. Some deem outward forms of no avail, and discard them altogether, while others neglect the spirit of religion, in their extreme devotion to its forms. The truly religious have

"Sprinkling, the only Mode of Baptism made known in the Scriptures; and the Scripture warrant for infant baptism. By Absalom-Peters, D. D. Albany: E. H. Pease & Co., 1848."

"Examination of sprinkling the only Mode of Baptism made known in the Scriptures, &c.; by Absalom Peters, D. D., by Rev. J. Torrey Smith, A. M., Boston John Putnam, 1849.