Excerpt from The Method the Divine Government: Physical and Moral We live in an age in which the reflecting portion of mankind are much addicted to the contemplation of the works of nature. It is the object of the author, in this Treatise, to "interrogate nature," with the view of inducing her to utter her voice in answer to some of the most momentous questions which the inquiring spirit of man can put. He thinks it needful to state, thus early, that ho proceeds on the inductive method in his inquiry, and not, on the one hand, after the plan of those British Rationalists, who set out with a preconceived system, which they dignify with the name of Rational, and then accommodate all that they see to it; nor, on the other hand, of those German Intuitionalists, who boast that they can construct the existing universe by a priori speculation. To guard against misapprehension, ho wishes it to be understood, that he treats in this book of the Method of the Divine Government in the world, rather than in the Church; of the ordinary providence of God, rather than his extraordinary dealings towards his redeemed people. The reader of severe taste will be inclined to regard the Introductory Book as too loose and discursive; and all the apology that the author has to offer is, that he was afraid of driving back the general reader, by leading him into the minutiae before he had contemplated nature under its general aspect. The general reader, on the other hand, may be disposed to complain, that the style of discussion followed in some of the Sections and Notes of the Second and Third Books, is of too abstruse a character. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."