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ia all our thoughts , and to bear upon our minds an habitual and constant regard to him ; if it be actually true , as I shall now attempt to prove , that all the common events of life are referred to him , and that nothing * can happen to us , or to any other being , but bv his appointment .
That there is a God who created the world and presides in it , is plain from the harmony , order and beauty of nature ; that this Supreme Being is powerful , wise and good , appears from the amazing grandeur and exquisite contrivance of the several parts of the
universe , and from the conspiring tendency of all particular beings to the welfare and perfection of the whole . At present I shall not enlarge upon the proofs of this principle ; but , taking for granted the existence and
perfections of God , and his direction of the greater parts and revolutions of the world , I would endeavour to shew that , as certainly as these principles are true , so certainly the Divine care reaches to the most minute affairs ,
and to those events which seem to be of less consequence . This will appear to be highly probable , if it be considered , that the world is not a collection of loose and separate beings , but one connected plan and regular system , all whose parts , both great and small , are joined ia the strictest union to the whole and
to one another . The vegetable creation sustains the animal , and both depend upon the earth and other elements . This globe , with whatever telongs to it , is connected with the sun , and with its fellow-wanderers the planets . Now , in a system whose parts have so extensive an influence ,
and such infinite mutual ties and relations , i 3 it possible that the general concern should be tolerably conducted and provided for , if no regard be had to the least things in it ? For these being neglected , and suffered to run at random , may bring disorder and confusion upon the greatest- If this earth
of ours be worthy of the Divine notice and concern , is it not chiefly for the Bake of its living inhabitants , which would inevitably perish , were not the plants and trees produced to support them ? And if the Divine care extends to the formation of plants and trees , must it not also be employed in the revolution of the seasons , and the
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influence of the heavenly bodies ; the state of the air , the surface of the earth , and the due provision of the necessary juices ? Thus the care of one thing includes in it the care of a thousand . An attention to what is of greater importance , supposes also aa attention to what is of less ; nor could the whole , or the more considerable
parts , of nature , be governed and preserved , while particular beings , and what concerns them , were overlooked and neglected . If but one of the movements in the vast machine were
suffered to stand still , if one small spring did but cease to act , or acted in an und . ue or irregular manner , the whole would presently be thrown into disorder , and might justly he said to want guidance and direction . We must either , then , deny a Providence altogether , or acknowledge that this Providence i 3 universal .
In like manner , the changes which happen in the world are not a number of independent events , of which one , or a few , might be neglected without prejudice to the rest ; but are connected together , so as to form one immense and beautiful scheme , which ,
if the least part were undirected , the whole would be disturbed and broken . Every thing" springs from a mixture of various causes , of different importance and efficacy ; and every particular being , however inconsiderable , contributes its share to a multitude of
effects , and often to such as are readily acknowledged to be of great importance . What is now present is the offspring of the past in a long ascending series , and will be the parent of what is future , in an indefinite
descending succession ; and that which is present in one place may affect and be affected by a vast number of other things in different places . Now , in this complicated scene of causes and effects , what bounds can we assign to the Divine Providence ? Or where is
the precise point , concerning which we may with any reason pronounce , that just hitherto it goes , and no farther ? Those who are assured that it has its limits , must certainly know where
they are . Let such describe these limits exactly , and we then shall yield up the point . Does God conceru himself about mankind ? If not , it is not worth our while to dispute whether there be any Providence at all or
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An Essay , by the late Rev . •/ . Holland , on the Providence oftiod . 511
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1823, page 511, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1788/page/15/
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