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great weight to reconcile us to their pressure, independent of any religious consideration; of all these the most powerful is their inevitable necessity; for such is the nature of man, that we readily acquiesce in whatever we persuade ourselves is without a remedy, or happens to us independent of our own conduct. Much consolation may also be derived from seeing that our lot is not singular, but that all are subject to calamity, and that many suffer more severely than ourselves. It also is no small comfort to have it in our power to think, that whatever may befal us, we have done our utmost to make others happy; and that tho' we have failed in acquiring happiness ourselves, we have not contributed to make the world worse than we found it, but have increased the general sum of virtue and knowledge; and tho' we should not presume to consider ourselves more than mere mechanical agents, composing part of an immense universe, we at least may rejoice that we have been instruments of good, for the promotion of happiness and morality. By reasoning thus, we are more like rational beings than by flying for consolation to the

hope of uncertain futurity; but whether we are religious, or whether we are merely moral, does not depend on ourselves; the consolations and the terrors of religion are not in our own power and arise from circumstances, over which we have no control, they are more the result of imagination than of reason, but at any rate they are no more of our making, than we are the makers of ourselves- God, is said to be an uncreated Being, but all the world is uncreated, and has to my idea existed from all eternity.The operations of nature in some instances produce good, and in others evil, and therefore cannot proceed from infinite benevolence. The instinct of animals is said to be an admirable proof of divine wisdom, but it is no more so, than that fire should burn, or water quench it. The formation of the human body shews a wonderful adaptation of different parts to different useful ends, but they are as well adapted to produce pain when out of order, as pleasure when they perform their functions. The formation of stones in the kidneys and gall bladder, tends immediately to the production of exquisite pain, from the smallness of the passages thro' which they are forced-therefore to argue for the wisdom of providence from what is good, and neglect to consider what is defective,

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is a very partial mode of reasoning. All that can be said with safety on this subject is, that the universe is sufficient to excite the wonder and admiration of man, and when I am asked who made it, my answer is, "I cannot tell." ond general Men are not what they seem any more than deceptions women, generous savage, unaccustomof the Worlded to represent things otherwise than as they are, starts with surprise at the deceptions which men practise on each other; for such is the sophisticated state of civilized life, that no man is to be believed for his words, but rather to be suspected of intending the contrary to all that he professes. The world is full of fraud, deceit, and selfishness, and he who wishes to acquire any tolerable share of its comforts must be constantly on his guard against the arts of his competitors, and he who is born to hereditary wealth must be equally careful. Health and reputation are the most valuable possessions, but money is not to be despised, and he who neglects to acquire or preserve it, must not wonder if he is neglected. The world cares very little about individuals, individuals therefore must take care of themselves, and if they wish to be respected, must study to acquire those things which will always ensure respect, viz.-character and money.

LIBERTY AND NECESSITY.

The difficulty AMONG the many difficulties in the doc-reconciling trines of religion, which have put faith and omnisher reason at variance, and puzzled even the most a God, with the determined believers, that of reconciling the freewill of Man foreknowledge of God, with the free will of man is, without doubt, the most troublesome. Divines, philosophers, and poets, have tried to remove it, again and again, and left it just where they begun; some honestly confessing that the narrowness of our comprehension is not equal to the difficulty, but that, no doubt, it will be cleared up to us in a future state, that is to say, when it will be of no use to us, if it is any thing more than a mere speculative enquiry. To cut the knot which cannot be untied, is a concise mode of arguing, not much suited to the inquisitive spirit of the present times, and savors, perhaps, a little of the arbitrary decisions of former ages, when men who

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could not give a reason for a thing, contented themselves with assuming the point in dispute, and thus silencing all argument by saying, "It is so; but why, I do not know." On this subject I will imitate the laconic brevity of former disputants, but will not content myself with merely giving an answer; I will endeavour to find some reasons to support my opidenies that nion. I answer, "It is not so, and I will tell you why:" foreknowledge and free will cannot exist together, and to maintain it is just as ridiculous as to say that two and two make five, or that two opposite signs in algebra do not destroy each other. If there is such a being as an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent Deity, who created the universe, there cannot be in that universe any other being who has the power to act freely and independently; for if God is omniscient he must know every action of man before it is performed; if he is omnipotent, no being can have a power of doing any action contrary to his will; for if he could, such a being would in that instance be his superior; his omnipresence is only a consequence of the two former attributes. But if there is no such being as God in the world, then some men think that we must be free.What do they mean by free? Free to act

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