“What will ye do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which shall come from far, to whom will ye flee for help?” Such is the enquiry which has been already addressed to the nation at large; to real, and to nominal Christians; let the faithful servants of the Lord throughout the land cause it to be sounded in the ears of a sinful nation; and let each use the utmost extent of his individual influence, in co-operation with others, to endeavour to rouse, through the Divine blessing and guidance, a people sunk into religious indifference and apathy. They are “visited,” and that not “after the visitation of all men;” for a pestilence as new in character, as fatal in its effects, has overtaken them; and their visitation has indeed come from far, for it has travelled from the remote bounds of their colonial empire. Still we have too much cause to apprehend that there are thousands who have never considered the awful character of the visitation, nor asked themselves the question, to whom shall we flee for help?
An irreligious age is little inclined to recognise the hand of God in the course of events, which are generally ascribed to natural causes and human means. But philosophy as well as Revelation will satisfy the mind of every impartial and deep enquirer, that nature must work under the control and direction of the great Author of nature. It would be to practically deny that God was the great governor of the universe, to suppose that nature or chance was allowed, unchecked and unguided, to produce the mighty results often referred to its sole agency. Sherlock has stated this with great force and clearness. “The same wisdom and power which made the world must govern it too: it is only a creating power that can preserve: that which owes its very being to power must depend upon the power that made it, for it can have no principle of self-subsistence independent of its cause: it is only creating wisdom that perfectly understands the nature of all things, that sees all the springs of motion, that can correct the errors of nature, that can suspend or direct the influence of natural causes, that can govern hearts, change men’s purposes, inspire wisdom and counsel, restrain or let loose their passions. It is only an Infinite Mind that can take care of all the world; that can allot every creature its portion; that can adjust the interests of states and kingdoms; that can bring good out of evil, and order out of confusion.” { 93} It would, therefore, be not less unphilosophical than unchristian to ascribe to any spontaneous operations of nature, a new and terrible pestilence, which has swept away more than twenty millions of human beings from the face of the earth. Nor may it be accounted for by an extraordinary combination of accidental circumstances; for “the most unexpected events, how casual soever they appear to us, are foreseen and ordered by God.” “For can we think otherwise, when we see as many visible marks of wisdom, and goodness, and justice, in what we call chance, as in any other acts of Providence? Nay, when the wisdom of Providence is principally seen in the government of fortuitous events? When we see a world wisely made, though we did not see it made, yet we conclude, that it was not made by chance, but by a Wise Being; and by the same reason, when we see accidental events, nay, a long incoherent series of accidents concur to the producing the most admirable effects, we ought to conclude, that there is a wise invisible hand which governs chance, which of itself can do nothing wisely. When the lives and fortunes of men, the fate of kingdoms and empires, the successes of war, the changes of government are so often determined and brought about by the most visible accidents; when chance defeats the wisest counsels and greatest power; when good men are rewarded, and the Church of God preserved by appearing chances; when bad men are punished by chance, and the very chance whereby they are punished, carries the marks of their sins upon it, for which they are punished; I say, can any man in such cases think that all this is mere chance? When, how accidental soever the means are or appear to be, whereby such things are done, there is no appearance of chance at all in the event; but the changes and revolutions, the rewards and punishments, are all as wisely done, as if there had been nothing of chance and accident in it. This is the great security of our lives amidst all the uncertainties of fortune, that chance itself cannot hurt us without a Divine commission.