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become occupied by the Virgin Mary, and other saints of inferior character, who have received much greater abundance of these marks of devotion and homage than the Supreme Being himself. So impossible is it for the Church of Rome to purge itself from the charge of that idolatry which the Scriptures most severely denounce. Were there no other reason to deter persons from the communion of that church, her profane tampering with the very elements of devotion, and poisoning the first principles of religion, were alone sufficient to inspire all true Christians with the utmost abhorrence. For the same authority which forbids the transfer of worship from a right to a wrong object, also stigmatizes all deviation from the prescribed standard, in the manner of worshipping the Divine Being himself. Could we see nothing of a tendency to lead on to greater abominations in this "chamber of imagery," till it terminate in hero and idol worship, nay, in the worship of wood and stone, it is expressly forbidden; and this prohibition is alone sufficient to stamp it with the character of impiety.

III. That God is a spirit, and not flesh, is inseparably connected with his immensity and omnipresence, or the capacity of being present in all parts of his creation.

Omnipresence is an attribute which both reason and scripture teach us to ascribe to the Deity, and which he repeatedly assumes to himself: "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? 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." "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."† We are taught to believe that the essence of the Divine Being is diffused over all space-that there is not an atom existing in its boundless extent which he does not fill with his presence and energy. Were his nature material this could not be, for the following reasons:

1. It is necessary that matter should have some figure, without which we cannot even conceive it to exist, whether we regard it as a whole, and include the aggregate of material substances, or look at the several portions of which that aggregate consists, and contemplate its parts as having a separate existence. Figure seems essential to the conception of all matter; but that which has any assignable figure must be circumscribed within a certain outline; there must, then, be some point of space where it terminates, and where vacuity begins, consequently it must be limited. To conceive, therefore, of the Divine Being as material, would be to involve ourselves in absurdity; for

matter infinitely extended implies a contradiction, by uniting two opposite and irreconcilable suppositions.

2. If matter were unlimited there would be no possibility of motion; but this is a supposition contrary to fact and experience; for we perceive that motion everywhere exists. It is obvious that there could be no motion unless there were some space not previously occupied by body. In a perfect plenum, motion would be impossible, because there would be no possibility of conceiving that space into which the first moving body might pass.

3. If the Divine Being were material, it would be impossible that he should be infinite in his essence, fill all space, penetrate all substances, pervade all minds; because, on that supposition, he would render impossible the co-existence of created beings. We cannot conceive of two portions of matter occupying the same part of space. Were the Deity therefore material, he must exclude from the space he occupies all other matter; and since he is infinite, that exclusion must be perfect and entire but this, being contrary to physical fact, is certainly contrary to intellectual truth. Whereas God, being a spirit, subsists in a totally different manner from all material substances; his manner of existence being altogether peculiar to himself, and such as we cannot adequately conceive. It follows, however, that any material substance and the Divine Being are capable of being present in the same place, at the same time, without destroying each other's properties and attributes. Such a Being also can be equally present at one and the same moment in innumerable myriads of worlds, and to all parts of the universe

The Infinite Spirit is present with every part of his creation, as intimately as the soul of man is present throughout all the parts of that corporeal substance which it animates and sustains. His essence is diffused over all space. He is intimately present with all his creatures, as intimately as they are to themselves, is perfectly acquainted with the thoughts of all intelligent beings, unites himself with the very constitution of their nature. They exist within the grasp of his omnipotence, within the perpetual comprehension of his presence, within the sphere of his energy, and the light of his countenance. "In him they live, and move, and have their being." We frequently speak of God dwelling in the world, by the manifestations of his power and providence; but it may with equal truth be said, that the world dwells in God; all creatures being surrounded by his presence, and enclosed in his essence. We cannot for a moment conceive of such a being as separated from any part of the universe, or point of space: all creatures, spiritual and material, subsist in Him who, maintaining his own separate existence distinct from the external world, exercises absolute universal dominion over all the beings he has formed. This particular property of his nature, this peculiar mode of his existence, renders him capable of being the all-comprehending God, of holding in his own hand all the innumerable creatures he has formed.

already referred to, the Psalmist infers his infinite cognizance of his creatures, from the fact of his incessant and intimate presence with them. The infinite knowledge which God has of his works is indeed inseparably connected with this part of his character. As the Infinite Spirit-the great Father of spirits-he is the source of all the intelligence and wisdom which exist in created spirits. He must be perfectly acquainted with all the operations and results of all other minds, since he has constituted them, and they are entirely the effect of his own intelligence and wisdom. When the heathen world lost sight of the spirituality of God, they also lost sight of his omniscience; and after gradually sinking lower in proportion as they receded farther from that view of his character, their notions of him became at length so debased that they invested him with a corporeal form. The spirituality of the Divine nature, having been attested by the Saviour, and made one of the principles of his religion, has raised the conceptions of the human mind far beyond what the greatest philosophers could previously attain; and enabled children to surpass, in both spiritual and intellectual illumination, the sages of pagan antiquity.

V. The doctrine of the spirituality of the Divine nature establishes a most intimate relation between him and all his intelligent creatures : it becomes a bond of the most subtile union between himself and the intellectual part of the creation.

He stands in close and intimate relation to all creatures: their dependence on him is absolute, their subjection to him constant and incessant; but in a special manner is he the Father of spirits. The relation between father and child is very intimate, but that between God and man is much more so. An earthly parent is but the instrument, God is the author of our existence; one is the father of the flesh, the other of the spirit. In proportion as the spirit is the most important part of human nature, this relation which we sustain to God is most essential, interesting, and extensive. The body connects us with the material universe around us; the soul connects us immediately with the Deity. At death, the body returns to the earth, its native element; "the spirit returns to God, that gave it." The body has a tendency to separate us from God by the dissimilarity of its nature; the soul, on the contrary, unites us again to him by means of those principles and faculties which, though infinitely inferior, are of a character congenial with his own. The body is the production of God, the soul is his image. . . . .

To estrange ourselves from God is therefore to be guilty of a new and most enormous kind of offence: it is forgetting our proper parent, losing our great portion, the very source of our existence. To love him, to seek union with him in the closest manner possible, is to return to our proper original,-to seek Him from whom all our powers are derived, and by whom alone they can be sustained in time, and must be consummated and completed in eternity. If you were to see a person manifest no desire for the presence of an earthly parent, you would be shocked at the spectacle, and would be ready