OUR ideas of presence, originally refer to extension and place, and as our ideas of extension and place are at first acquired by means of material and sensible objects; therefore, to these objects our ideas of presence must primarily belong. But when we speak of sensible and material objects being present anywhere, we mean that they occupy a certain portion of space, to the perfect exclusion of all other objects of the same kind. This is so very clear, that I need not enlarge: it is evident from the slightest consideration of the nature of matter. God, then, cannot be present in the same way that matter is. Were he thus present, then nothing could exist besides him. But matter actually does exist; and it has been proved that God too exists everywhere. His presence, then, cannot be like the presence of matter : his must be what we call a spiritual presence : we can conceive of him as present only by the exercise of his attributes.

BESIDES, were God, who is everywhere present, present in the same way that matter is, then there could be no such thing as motion; for motion always supposes

empty space. Now, were the omnipresence of God like the presence of body or matter, all space would be for ever necessarily occupied-for the smallest portion of it to be empty would be impossible, and, consequently, any thing like motion would be altogether inconceivable. But this is in perfect opposition to every man's sense and experience. We are led, then, to resume our former conclusion; viz. the presence of God cannot be like the presence of matter: His must be what we call a spiritual presence: we can conceive of him as present only by the exercise of his attributes.

We know and feel such a presence with in ourselves. We know and feel the existence of our own minds: we know and feel by their operations, that they are present in our own bodies by the exertion of their powers. And may we not easily conceive other minds having a much greater compass of exertion; a much wider sphere of perception; a much more extensive and absolute command of matter? Enlarging, in this way, our conceptions, we may come to form some faint idea of the

DivineOm nipresence. Let us conceive of God as pervading and actuating the universal system of nature, in a manner similar (though in infinitely greater perfection) to that in which our minds pervade and actuate our bodies.

By this, however, I am far from meaning that God is nothing more than the Soul of the universe; for this is a mean and unworthy idea of him. He existed and possessed infinite perfection before the universe came into being: he cannot, therefore, be dependent upon it, and affected by it, as our souls depend upon, and are affected, by the state of our bodies. If he were, he could not be, as he has been proved to be, eternal and self-existent. I mean only, by this very low and imperfect image, to assist our weak understandings in forming some idea of his intimate and inseparable presence with every thing that exists. I mean only, that as the soul sees, and hears, and feels, and determines for the whole bodily system, so, though, in a way unspeakably more perfect, the great God pervades and actuates the entire system of nature, of which we can see no end, and

which probably has no bounds. His power, and intelligence, and goodness, (by the exercise of which only we can apprehend his presence), extend throughout immensity. It is not possible for any thing, whether the least or the greatest in existence, to be for one moment without the sphere of their illimitable influence. While finite natures are each confined to one particular region, and while they are present, even in their respective regions, they are so only in a very imperfect manner :-each present only by successive motion, and without possessing any thing like supreme direction. But we must conceive of God as equally present, every instant, in every part of infinite space: as at all times comprehending, supporting, moving, and regulating all beings.*- Am I a God (saith he) at hand, and not a God afar off?

* Deum, namque ire per omnes

Terrasque, tractusque maris, cœlumque profundum.

VIRG. Georg. 4, v. 221.

For God the whole created mass inspires;

Through heaven and earth and ocean's depths he throws His influence round, and kindles as he goes.

DRYDEN.

• Can

any

hide himself in secret places that

I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do

not I fill heaven and earth? saith the 'Lord.'

BUT here it may be asked,—if God is alike present everywhere, how is it that he is often represented in Scripture as taking up his abode in particular places :-as dwelling, for instance, in heaven :-as dwelling in temples upon earth and as dwelling in the hearts of good men ?

To this it is answered, such language is evidently figurative, and, when properly understood, conveys nothing in the least contradictory to the doctrine which I have now endeavoured to establish.-It has just now been observed, that we are to conceive of God as present everywhere, by the exercise of his attributes. Now, cannot we conceive him, though at all times exercising his attributes throughout immensity, yet affording different displays of these attributes in different places, and to different persons ?-It is in this strongly figurative sense, that he is represented as fixing anywhere his habitation. It is in