God's providence a source of comfort and courage to Christians.

Caption title. At head of title: No. 62. Authorship attributed to A.M. Poindexter. "Providence of God" (poem) by R. Lynden Cowper: p. 8.
'JUL - ^ No. 62. GOD’S PROVIDENCE A SOURCE OF ' COMFORT AND COURAGE TO CHRIS­TIANS. There arc few persons who deny, in terms, the P ovidential government o f God. But many adopt theories which are, in truth, a practical denial o f it. . [. Some contend that God governs the world ex­clusively by general laws. That, in creation, he imparted to the various forces, physical and moral, certain qualities which continue unchanged and un­changeable, and by tl^eir interaction produce the entire series o f events. Whatever glory this theory may be supposed to reflect, upon the Creator, it is utterly inconsistent with the idea of Providence. It represents God as flinging the Universe from his creative hand, to work out its destiny unguarded and unchecked. It is, in f ict, but a disguised form of the doctrine o f fate. Every event is the result o f necessity. As the watch marks the hour, or the vane veers to the wind, be­cause they are formed to do these things, so man and all other beings only accomplish their predestined and necessary ends. IT. Others advocate a complex theory. As to ordinary individuals and common events, their exist­ence and end result from fixed laws— the laws of nature— but God interposes to raise up distinguished characters, and to bring to pass great events. His Providence* they say, resembles a map upon which are marked the mountains and large rivers, the towns an d c it ie s ; while the hills and "gently undulating vallies, the smaller streams, little villages and the habitations o f the people are unnoticed. National calamities God orders and controls, great men for important crises he raises up and guides. But there is no eye ever watching over the multitude, no hand providing for their wants, administering to their hap­piness and soothing their sorrows. God may enter the palace o f the prince, but he passes, unheeding, the hovel o f the peasant. It needs but little reflection to perceive the ab-. surdity o f this theory. Great events are but the ag