RUTES TO BE OBSERVED IN SPEAKING OF OTHERS. The following resolutions of Dr. Cotton Mather, on the subject of slander, are recommended to the consideration of the lovers of peace. "He resolved he never would speak evil falsely of any man; and if ever he spoke against any, it should be under the following restrictions and limitations, which he conscientiously observed:

"He would consider whether it would not he proper to speak to the person himself, concerning the evil, before he spoke of it to any one else.

"He would ordinarily say nothing reflecting on any man, behind his back, which he would not readily say to his face.

"He would aggravate no evil, of another, which he had occasion to speak of, nor make it worse than it was.

"When he was properly called to speak against any man, if he knew any good of him, he would speak of that too.

"He would be sure to maintain charity towards the persons of all that he had occasion to speak against, and would heartily wish. them all good."

POETRY.

From the Episcopal Watchman.

ALL THY WORKS PRAISE THEE.

In all thy works, O God! we see
Indexes pointing up to Thee,

As rolls away each silent hour:
The ocean, when it calmly sleeps,
And when the tempest o'er it sweeps,
Proclaims to man thy boundless power.

In dale and mountain, stream and grove,
In earth, in air, and heaven above,

We see thy great perfections shine,
Where music floats, and beauty dwells,
And every joyous creature tells,

"The hand that made us is divine."

While thus in all things Thou hast made,
To man thy glories are displayed,

And lessons of instruction given,
May we our hearts and voices raise,
And join in Nature's song of praise

To Thee, the Lord of Earth and Heaven.

LATIMER.

1

ERRATA.

p. 1. line 22d, between is and no, insert of.

p. 32. 1. 1, For READING, read PREACHING.
1. 10, for inginuity r. ingenuity.

b

p. 41. 1. 11, for loose r. lose.

p. 50. 1. 28, for

p. 66. 1. 27, for I John, V. 6, r. I John, 1. 6.
29, erase speak.

30, for calamitious r. calamitous.

bacca r. Habaccuck.

p. 69. 3d line from bottom, erase the.

p. 73. 1. 18, for Gadwin r. Godwin.
psudo r. pseudo.

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VOL. IV.

MAY, 1831.

NO. 7.

SERMON.

I JOHN, I. 5.-This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Light is the cause of knowledge, and darkness is the cause of ignorance. Light gives us the knowledge of all visible objects.And this knowledge is the most pleasant and the most certain.Solomon says, "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." What the sun gives us light to see with our own eyes, we always consider as sure, infallible knowledge. Clear light excludes all doubt, respecting the things our eycs behold. But on the other hand, darkness is the cause of ignorance. When we are deprived of all rays of light, we are plunged in darkness, and of consequence, in total ignorance in regard to all objects discoverable by the eye. others, often put the cause for the effect. They often use the word Now, the inspired writers, like all light to signify knowledge, which is the effect of light; and darkness for ignorance, which is the effect of darkness. tive sense, we are to understand light and darkness. in reference to God. When the Apostle says, "that God is light, and in him is In this figurano darkness at all;" his meaning is, that in God there is knowledge, and in him there is no ignorance at all. That is, his knowledge is clear, full, and perfect, without the least defect, limitation, or obscurity. This declaration, he says, he was desired to make to christians, concerning God. saints, that God is possessed of all knowledge, in perfection. There And it is a consolation to all real are two kinds of knowledge, namely, speculative and practical.Speculative knowledge belongs to the understanding, or the bare perception of things; but practical knowledge belongs to the heart as well as to the understanding, and comprizes the knowledge of acting as well as of perceiving. belong to God in the highest degree. Hence the text warrants us Both these kinds of knowledge to say,

That God always knows what is best for him to do with his creatures. I shall,

I. Show that God always has something to do with his creatures. II. Show that he always knows what is best for him to do with them.

III. Show that he will always do what is best.

1. I am to show, that God always has something to do with his

creatures. We are obliged to conceive of God as a quiescent being, from eternity to the beginning of creation. Before he brought any thing into existence, we cannot conceive of his doing any thing ad extra, or without himself. He existed alone, and had nothing to do but contemplate his own amiable and glorious perfections. But ever since he brought creatures into existence, he has had something to do; and he always will have something to do as long as creatures continue to exist. For though he has brought immense multitudes of creatures into existence; yet he never has brought, and never can bring, any creature into existence, in an independent state.None of his creatures can live, or move, without living and moving in him. When he began to bring immortal creatures into existence, he began a work, which will never end. God has a work before him, and a great and eternal work. He must have something to do with his creatures, through every period of their existence; yea, he must have a great deal to do with them. He must continually exert his almighty power, to support and preserve their existence.This must appear an astonishing work, if we only reflect a moment upon the vast number of his creatures in all parts of his extensive dominions. He now supports, and will forever support, without the least conceivable intermission, all the human race and all the inhabitants of the invisible world. It is a great and lasting work, for God to exert his almighty power, in regard to every individual creature, from the greatest to the least. But he has much more to do with his creatures, than barely to preserve them in existence. He has to move them from place to place, until they are fixed in their final condition. They are now all in motion, from the highest angel to the smallest insect; and all their motions are owing to his constant and powerful operation. There is another and more important thing, which God has to do with his intelligent creatures; and that is, to work in them both to will and to do, in all their internal exercises and external actions. They are not sufficient of themselves, to think any thing as of themselves, but their sufficiency is of God. The preparation of their heart and the answer of their tongue, is from the Lord. He reigns in the hearts of kings, and all other men. God has as much to do with every creature, as the potter has to do with the clay. He forms, and moves, and disposes of his vessels, just as he pleases. So God forms, upholds, moves, and disposes of all his creatures, just as seems good in his own sight. He has something to do with them, in every respect possible. They cannot be more dependant upon him, than they are; and he cannot do more with them than he does. He cannot operate more constantly, more powerfully, or more universally, than he does operate, in preserving their existence, directing their movements, governing all their views, designs, intentions, words, and actions, and disposing of them in every state and stage of their being. He carries all their interests for time and eternity in his hand, and is the primary agent in all the good they enjoy, and in all the evil they suffer. But though he has so much to do with so many of his creatures, yet, II. He always knows what is best to do with them. "God is

light, and in him is no darkness at all." Though his creatures are
eften in darkness and ignorance, and know not what is best for them
to do; yet he is never in darkness or ignorance, but always knows
what is best for him to do with them. This will appear from vari-
ous considerations.

I. God knows all things individually. He knows every particle
of matter, and every combination of particles in every material
world he has made. He knows every creature in heaven, in earth,
in hell, and in every part of the created universe. He has a clear,
distinct, and particular view of every existence out of himself,
whether that existence be material, percipient, or rational. This is
plainly implied in the text, "that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all." If there were one single individual creature or
object concealed from the eye of God, he would be in respect to
that creature or object, in darkness and ignorance. The Apostle
says, "Known unto God are all his works from the begining of the
world." This supposes, that his knowledge is both particular and
universal; or that all things lie open and naked to his view. Our
Savior asserts, that "the hairs of our head are all numbered, by
God, and that a sparrow falls not to the ground without his knowing
the creature and the event. But there is no occasion of citing any
more passages of Scripture in proof of the knowledge which God
has of every thing that exists. For this knowledge may be fairly
inferred from the dependance of every thing upon the supporting
hand of God. If God exerts his almighty power to support every
Individual creature and object, then it necessarily follows, that ev-
ery individuul creature and object comes within the compass of his
universal knowledge. God must necessarily, as the Creator and
preserver of all things, have a clear, intuitive, and universal view
of the whole circle of operation, and of every particular creature
and object that exists.

2. God knows all things constantly, as well as individually.-
He is not only light, but the Father of lights, with whom there is
no variableness or shadow of turning. All that he sees once, in-
stiactively and individually, he constantly sees.
He has no occa-
sion of ever shutting or moving his omniscient eye.
He never
slumbers nor sleeps; he is never faint nor weary; he never turns his
eye from one object to another; but keeps it perpetually and with-
out intermission, steadily fixed upon every and all objects in the uni-
verse. He sees all things at once, more clearly than his creatures
can see one object at once; and he keeps his eyes more steadily
fixed upon all objects, than his creatures can keep theirs fixed upon
one object, one moment. "He is light, and in him there is no dark-
ness at all." His clear and comprehensive view of each and every
object, is never diverted, obscured or interrupted. There never has
been a moment since creation began to this time, and never will be
a moment henceforward to eternity, in which his view of each and
every object will be less clear, distinct, and constant. In created
beings, the knowledge of one thing often excludes the knowledge of
another; but the knowledge of God is as constant, as it is clear and

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