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Were it otherwise-were the earth to stop in its diurnal revolution, and delay to usher in the dawn at its appointed time, or were the planets to dash one against another, and to run lawlessly through the sky, the system of Nature would run into confusion, its inhabitants would be thrown into a state of anarchy, and deprived of all their enjoy. ments. But, in consequence of the order which now prevails, the whole presents to the eye of intelligence an admirable display of beauty and harmony, and of infinite wisdom and design.

In like manner, if we attend to the arrangements of our sublunary system-to the revolutions of the seasons, the course of the tides, the motions of the rivers, the process of evaporation, the periodical changes of the winds, and the physical economy of the animal and vegetable tribes→ the same systematic order and harmony may be perceived. --In the construction and movements of the human frame, there is a striking display of systematic order and beauty. Hundreds of muscles of different forms, hundreds of bones variously articulated, thousands of lacteal and lymphatic vessels, and thousands of veins and arteries all act in unison every moment, in order to produce life and enjoyment. Every organ of sense is admirably fitted to receive impressions from its corresponding objects. The eye is adapted to receive the impression of light, and light is adapted to the peculiar construction of the eye; the ear is adapted to sound, and the constitution of the air and its various undu. lations are fitted to make an impression on the tympanum of the ear. Even in the construction of the meanest insect we perceive a series of adaptations, and a system of orga. nization no less regular and admirable than those of man;

-and as much care appears to be bestowed in bending a claw, articulating a joint, or clasping the filaments of a feather, to answer its intended purpose, as if it were the only object on which the Creator was employed.--And it is worthy of remark, that our views of the harmony and order of the material world become more admirable and satisfactory, in proportion as our knowledge of its arrangements is enlarged and extended. Whether we explore, with the telescope, the bodies which are dispersed through the boundless regions of space, or pry, by the help of the mi

croscope, into the minutest parts of nature, we perceive traces of order, and of exquisite mechanism and design which excite admiration and wonder in every contemplative mind. Before the invention of the microscope, we might naturally have concluded, that all beyond the limits of natural vision was a scene of confusion, a chaotic mass of atoms without life, form, or order; but we now clearly perceive, that every thing is regular and systematic, that even the dust on a butterfly's wing, every distinct particle of which is invisible to the naked eye, consists of regularly organised feathers-that in the eye of a small insect, ten thousand nicely polished globules are beautifully arranged on a transparent network, within the compass of one-twentieth of an inch-and that myriads of living beings exist, invisible to the unassisted sight, with bodies as curiously organised, and as nicely adapted to their situations as the bodies of men and of the larger animals. So that the whole frame of the material world presents a scene of infinite wisdom and intelligence, and a display of systematic order, beauty, and proportion. Every thing bears the marks of benevolent design, and is calculated to produce happiness in sentient beings.

On the other hand, when we take a survey of the moral world in all the periods of its history, we perceive throughout almost every part of its extent, an inextricable maze, and a scene of clashing and confusion, which are directly opposed to the harmony and order which pervade the material system. When we take a retrospective view of the moral state of mankind, during the ages that are past, what do we behold, but a revolting scene of perfidy, avarice, injustice, and revenge,-of wars, rapine, devastation, and bloodshed; nation rising against nation, one empire dashing against another, tyrants exercising the most horrid cruelties, Superstition and Idolatry immolating millions of victims, and a set of desperate villains, termed heroes, prowling over the world, turning fruitful fields into a wilderness, burning towns and villages, plundering palaces and temples, drenching the earth with human gore, and erecting thrones on the ruins of nations? Here we behold an Alexander, with his numerous armies, driving the ploughshare of destruction through surrounding nations, levelling cities

with the dust, and massacring their inoffensive inhabitants in order to gratify a mad ambition, and to be eulogised as a Hero, there we behold a Xerxes, fired with pride and with the lust of dominion, leading forward an army of three millions of infatuated wretches to be slaughtered by the victorious and indignant Greeks. Here we behold an Alaric, with his barbarous hordes, ravaging the southern countries of Europe, overturning the most splendid monuments of art, pillaging the metropolis of the Roman empire, and deluging its streets and houses with the blood of the slain, -there we behold a Tamerlane overrunning Persia, India, and other regions of Asia, carrying slaughter and devas. tation in his train, and displaying his sportive cruelty by pounding three or four thousand people at a time in large mortars, and building their bodies with bricks and mortar into a wall. On the one hand, we behold six millions of Crusaders marching in wild confusion through the eastern parts of Europe, devouring every thing before them, like an army of locusts, breathing destruction to Jews and Infidels, and massacring the inhabitants of Western Asia with infernal fury. On the other hand, we behold the immense. forces of Jenghiz Kan ravaging the kingdoms of Eastern Asia, to an extent of 15 millions* of square miles, beheading 100,000 prisoners at once, convulsing the world with terror, and utterly exterminating from the earth fourteen millions of human beings. At one period, we behold the ambition and jealousy of Marius and Sylla embroiling the Romans in all the horrors of a civil war, deluging the city of Rome for five days with the blood of her citizens, transfixing the heads of her senators with poles, and dragging their bodies to the Forum to be devoured by dogs. At another, we behold a Nero trampling on the laws of nature and society, plunging into the most abominable debaucheries, practising cruelties which fill the mind with horror, murdering his wife Octavia and his mother Agrippina, insulting Heaven and mankind by offering up thanksgivings to the gods on the perpetration of these crimes, and setting

* "The conquests of Jenghiz Kan," says Millot, "were supposed to extend above eighteen hundred leagues from east to west, and a thousand from south to north.”—Modern History, vol. 1.

fire to Rome, that he might amuse himself with the univer sal terror and despair which that calamity inspired. At one epoch, we behold the Goths and Vandals rushing like an overflowing torrent, from east to west, and from north to south, sweeping before them every vestige of civilization and art, butchering all within their reach without distinction of age or sex, and marking their path with rapine, desolation, and carnage. At another, we behold the emissaries of the Romish See slaughtering, without distinction or mercy, the mild and pious Albigenses, and transforming their peaceful abodes into a scene of universal consternation and horror, while the Inquisition is torturing thousands of devoted victims, men of piety and virtue, and committing their bodies to the flames.

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At one period of the world,* almost the whole earth appeared to be little else than one great field of battle, in which the human race seemed to be threatened with utter extermination. The Vandals, Huns, Sarmatians, Alans, and Suevi, were ravaging Gaul, Spain, Germany, and other parts of the Roman empire; the Goths were plundering Rome, and laying waste the cities of Italy; the Saxons and Angles were overrunning Britain and overturning the government of the Romans. The armies of Justinian and of the Huns and Vandals were desolating Africa, and butchering mankind by millions. The whole forces of Scythia were rushing with irresistible impulse on the Roman empire, desolating the countries, and almost exterminating the inhabitants wherever they came. The Persian armies were pillaging Hierapolis, Aleppo, and the surrounding cities, and reducing them to ashes; and were laying waste all Asia, from the Tigris to the Bosphorus. The Arabians under Mahomet and his successors were extending their conquests over Syria, Palestine, Persia, and India, on the east, and over Egypt, Barbary, Spain, and the islands of the Mediterranean, on the west; cutting in pieces with their swords all the enemies of Islamism. In Europe, every kingdom was shattered to its centre; in the Mahommedan empire in Asia, the Caliphs, Sultans, and Emirs were waging continual wars;-new sovereignties were daily rising.

* About the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries of the Christian era.

and daily destroyed; and Africa was rapidly depopulating. and verging towards desolation and barbarism.

Amidst this universal clashing of nations, when the whole earth became one theatre of bloody revolutions,―scenes of horror were displayed, over which historians wished to draw a veil, lest they should transmit an example of inhumanity to succeeding ages the most fertile and populous provinces were converted into deserts, overspread with the scattered ruins of villages and cities-every thing was wasted and destroyed with hostile cruelty-famine raged to such a degree that the living were constrained to feed on the dead bodies of their fellow-citizens-prisoners were tortured with the most exquisite cruelty, and the more illustrious they were, the more barbarously were they insulted-cities were left without a living inhabitant-public buildings which resisted the violence of the flames were levelled with the ground-every art and science was aban. doned-the Roman empire was shattered to its centre and its power annihilated-avarice, perfidy, hatred, treachery, and malevolence reigned triumphant; and virtue, benevolence, and every moral principle were trampled under foot.

Such scenes of carnage and desolation have been displayed to a certain extent and almost without intermission, during the whole period of this world's history. For the page of the historian, whether ancient or modern, presents to our view little more than revolting details of ambitious conquerors carrying ruin and devastation in their train, of proud despots trampling on the rights of mankind, of cities turned into ruinous heaps, of countries desolated, of massacres perpetrated with infernal cruelty, of nations dashing one against another, of empires wasted and des. troyed, of political and religious dissensions, and of the general progress of injustice, immorality, and crime. Compared with the details on these subjects, all the other facts which have occurred in the history of mankind are considered by the historian as mere interludes in the great drama of the world, and almost unworthy of being recorded.

Were we to take a survey of the moral world as it now stands, a similar prospect, on the whole, would be presented to our view. Though the shades of depravity with which

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