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    we apply it to him who is absolutely perfect ! Is he omnipotent ? Nothing can obstruct the boundless extent of his operations . Is he unerringly wise ? He knows how to attain every object which he has in view . Is he infinitely good ? He cannot meditate the

    production of a limited sum of happiness , wiiile the greatest is equally within his power and , as the very words infinite goodness imply , equally his desire . However naturally and commonly we err in entertaining low thoughts of the Supreme Being , we cannot , on the other hand , form

    too elevated ideas of his perfections and operations ; though when Ave conceive of the universe as bounded , even while we extend it in fancy , to a considerable degree , it stiil bears no adequate proportion to its Divine Cause .

    If a man direct his eyes from any spot upon the earth to a given object , and remark that between himself and this object there is a . portion of air or land or water , he acquires hence the idea of space ; nor can he easily regard

    space as bounded ,. Now , for a mocotejir , let him imagine that the universe is limited , and let him place himself on its confines . In this case , I believe , the thought

    would instantly occur to him , that all beyond is a dark , indeed , but a real void , unoccupied by bodies , yet capable of containing bodies . And can a devout and benevolent mind be satisfied with the conclusion , that such an

    immense vacuity has been left by the great Creator , that there is so vast and untenanted a waste in the possession of the Sovereign prop rietor ? How far more rational acd elevating is the conviction

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    that the boundless regions of spac * are peopled by an innumerable . multitude and variety of beings ,, percipient , intellectual and moral , , each fitted to share in the bounty , t each fulfilling the sublime purposes , and exhibiting , in different ways , the glory of Us Maker ! Let us next inquire , what are the planets which resolve around the sun as their common centre ?

    What those stars and clysters oi stars , which the eye discerns in the heavens , on a cloudless night ? Sound philosophy rejects the

    notion that they shine and glitter , merely for the entertainment or the accommodation of mankind . Compared with some of the planets belonging to our system , what are the bulk and circumference of this globe ? What ,. indeed , is the system itself , when contrasted with that number ( " a number , " perhaps , " which no man can reckon , " ) of stars which are

    justly thought to be other suns , and to make parts of other systems ? Reasoning from what falls within the sphere of our discoveries and observation , together with what is known of the Divine omnipotence and goodness , is there no probability , that most of

    these glorious luminaries are the mansions of different classes of creatures , whose structure and constitution are severally adapted to their respective situations ? Large as is the catalogue of stars and constellations , which are

    perceptible by the naked eye , our sight , when it has not the assist * . ance of art , reaches only to a small proportion of the number . But when we learn that one hundred and sixteen thousand pass through the view of a telescope of mode , rate dimensions , in a quarter of an

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    14 Essay on the Infinity of Creation ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1813, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2424/page/12/