or three other things, wherein I cannot acquiefce. As, firft, that 'tis felf. PHYSICS. evident, we cannot know the ends of God, unless he himself reveals them to us. For what he here fays to be felf-evident, is not fo to the generality of mankind, or even of philofophers; and therefore I think it ought not to be barely afferted, but prov'd. In the next place, he does not fhew how we are obliged to praise God for his works, if God had no intentions that we fhould do fo, or that we fhould discover none of the ends for which he defign'd them. If a judicious man should see a book written in fome language which he is an utter ftranger to, and should know nothing farther of it than that 'twas compofed by a very intelligent phyfician; he might indeed conclude, that it was not written by chance; but could not, by inspecting the book itself, be convinced that it was form'd with great skill and kindnefs, and deferv'd his praife and thanks, fince he was unable to know any of the particular ends to which the feveral chapters of it were defign'd, and confequently could not fee how well they were fitted to anfwer fuch ends. What Des Cartes fays, that it is childish and abfurd to think God had created the fun, which is vaftly bigger than the earth, only to afford light to a fmall number of men, is fomewhat invidioufly propos'd; for there are few eminent writers who confine the utility of the fun directly to its affording light to man: and the small bulk of mankind ought not to make it feem abfurd, that God may have had an especial eye to their welfare in framing that bright globe; fince that moft excellent machine, the human body, appears to be a more admirable thing than the fun: befides, the rational and immortal foul that refides in it, is incomparably more noble than a thousand maffes of brute unorganized matter can be justly reputed. And fince, in this very difcourfe, our author confeffes that we may know the ends of God's corporeal works, if he reveal them to us; a christian philosopher may be allow'd to think the fun was made, among other purposes, to enlighten the earth, and for the ufe of man; fince the scripture teaches, that not only the fun and moon, but the stars of the firmament, which Des Cartes, not improbably, thinks to be fo many. funs, were made to give light to the earth, and were divided to all the nations that inhabit it. Perhaps it were not rash to add, that we may know fome of God's ends in things corporeal, without leffening our veneration of his wisdom, as we know fome of them in other matters, of which the scripture furnishes us with a multitude of inftances; as particularly Job's facrificing for his friends, and the declar'd uses of the Urim and Thummim: fince God may, if he pleases, declare truths to men, and inftruct them by his creatures and actions, as well as by his word. And thus he taught Noab by a rain-bow,and Jonah by a gourd and a worm, and regulated the encampments of the Ifraelites by the guidance of a cloud, and a fiery pillar. Lastly, Des Cartes objects, that thofe he diffents from talk as if they look'd upon God as a proud man, who defign'd his works only to be praised for them; but I know not whether he herein fpeaks fo cautiously and reverently of God, as he ought, and elsewhere ufes to do. For as humility, tho' a virtue in men,

PHYSICS. is extremely remote from being any of God's perfections; fo that may

be

pride in a man, who is but a creature imperfect, dependant, and having nothing of his own, which wou'd be none at all in the creator, who is incapable of vice, and who may, if he pleases, juftly propofe to himself his own glory for one of his ends, and both require and delight to be prais'd by men for his works; fince he is moft worthy of all praife, which it is their duty and reasonable service to pay him.

'Tis not without concern that I find myself obliged thus to oppose some fentiments of M. Des Cartes, for whom I have otherwise a great esteem; for I am not at all of their mind who think that author a favourer of atheifm, which, to my apprehenfion, would fubvert the very foundation of his own philofophy. But judging that his doctrine, as generally understood, as to the rejection of final caufes from the confideration of philofophers, tends to weaken one of the best and most successful arguments for the being of a God, whom they ought to admire, praise, and reverence; I think it my duty to prefer an important truth before my respect to any man, how eminent foever, who opposes it; and to confider more the glory of the great author of nature, than the reputation of any of her interpreters.

And to confirm what I have hitherto deliver'd, 'tis remarkable that the excellent contrivance of the great fyftem of the world, and efpecially the curious fabric of animal bodies, with the ufes of their feveral fenfes and parts, have been the great motives which in all ages and nations induced philofophers to acknowledge a Deity; and that the noblest and most intellectual praises have been paid him by the priests of nature, as proceeding from the tranfcendent admiration rais'd in them by the attentive contemplation of the fabric of the universe, and of the curious structures of living creatures. And therefore it feems injurious to God, as well as unwarrantable in itself, to banish from natural philofophy the confideration of final causes; from which, chiefly, I cannot but fuppofe that God muft reap the honour due to thofe glorious attributes, his wisdom and his goodness. And I confefs I fomewhat wonder that the Cartefians, who have generally, and fome of them with skill, maintain'd the existence of a Deity, fhould endeavour to make men throw away an argument which the experience of all ages fhews to have been the most fuccefsful, and in fome cafes the only prevalent one, to establish among philofophers the belief and veneration of God. I know the Cartefians fay, that their mafter has demonstrated the existence of a God, by the innate idea men have of a Being infinitely perfect, who left it upon the human mind as the mark of an artist impress'd upon his work; and that they also ascribe to God the creation of matter out of nothing, and its motion; which fufficiently argue the immenfity of his power. But tho' I would by no means weaken the argument drawn from the innate notion of God, fince many learned men have acquiefced in it; yet why may we not reasonably think that God, who has taken care men fhould acknowledge him, may have alfo provided for the fecuring a truth of fo great confequence, by ftamping characters, or

leaving impreffions of his wifdom and goodness, as well externally upon PHYSICS. the world, as internally upon the mind? The bare contemplation of the fabric of the world, without confidering any part of it as deftin'd to certain ufes, may ftill leave men unconvinced that there is any intelligent, wife, and provident author and difpofer of things; fince we fee the Ariftotelians, notwithstanding the extent, fymmetry, and beauty of the world, generally believed it to have been eternal. And tho' they did not allow it to have been created by God, yet because they afferted that animals, plants, &c. act for ends; they were obliged to acknowledge a provident and powerful Being, that maintain'd and govern'd the univerfe, which they call'd Nature; tho' they often dangeroufly miftook, by confounding this Being with God himself; and at other times fpeaking of it as co-ordinate with him; as in that famous axiom of Aristotle, "God and nature do nothing. "in vain." I acknowledge, therefore, that as I fet a juft value upon the Cartefian proof of God's exiftence; fo I fee no reason why we fhould give up any other strong argument, that proves fo noble and important a truth; efpecially fince the Cartefian way of confidering the world, tho' very proper, indeed, to fhew the greatnefs of God's power, does not, like the way I plead for, manifeft that of his wifdom and beneficence. For while a Cartefian only fhews that God is admirably wife, upon the fuppofition of his exiftence; the fame thing is manifefted in our method, by the effect of a wisdom as well as power, that cannot reasonably be afcribed to any other than a most intelligent and potent Being: fo that by this means men may at once be brought to acknowledge God, to admire him, and to praise him.

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SECT. II.

EFORE I proceed to the fecond question, Whether we may con- Whether final fider final caufes in all forts of bodies, or only in fuch as are peculi- causes are to arly qualified? I must divide natural bodies into animate and inanimate. be expected in The former term I here take in the larger fenfe, to comprehend not only fome particular all, or only in animals, but vegetables; tho' I fhall not reject the opinion of those who bodies? are unwilling to allow plants fuch a foul or life, as is confeffedly granted to animals.

Of the inanimate bodies of the univerfe, the nobleft, and those which chiefly deserve to be confider'd on this occafion, are the fun, planets, &c. For when men faw thofe vaft luminous globes, and efpecially the fun, to move fo conftantly and regularly about the earth, diffufing thereon both light and heat, and by their various revolutions to produce day and night, fummer and winter, and the viciffitudes of feafons; they concluded that thefe motions were guided by fome divine Being, and defign'd for the benefit of man. Whether this be a demonftrative proof, I fhall not now debate; but furely it may carry thus much of probability with it, that in cafe a man fhall think the fabric of the celestial bodies was the production of an intelligent and divine agent, the irregular phenomena will not contradict him; fince

there

PHYSICS. there is nothing in that fabric unworthy a divine author: and the motions and effects of the fun and ftars may well allow us to think, that, among other purposes, they were made to illuminate the terreftrial globe, and bring heat and other benefits to the inhabitants of it. So that the contemplation of the heavens, which fo manifeftly declare the glory of God, may juftly excite men both to admire his power and wisdom in them; and to return him thanks and praises for the great advantages we thence receive. On the other hand, it may be faid, that in bodies inanimate, whether the portions of matter they confift of be greater or lefs, the contrivance is very rarely fo exquifite, but that the various motions and occurfions of their parts may, without much improbability, be fufpected capable, after many effays, to caft one another into feveral of those circumvolutions call'd by Epicurus oosepàs, and by Des Cartes, Vortices; which being once made, may continue a long time, after the manner explain'd by the latter. But allowing this hypothefis to be poffible; when I confider that we are not yet fufficiently acquainted with the true fyftem of the world, nor ufually fenfible how small a part the terrestrial globe makes of the universe; I am apt to fufpect, that men often affign the systematical ends and uses of the celestial bodies upon flender evidence; concluding them made and moved only for the service of the earth, and its inhabitants. And tho' I will not deny that as we actually receive benefits by the established order and motion of the heavenly bodies, fo one of the several uses intended by the author of nature, may particularly regard our fpecies; yet perhaps 'twill not be eafy to prove, that fome of those bodies and motions are not rather intended for other purposes, than to caft their beams, or shed their influences upon the earth: at leaft, it seems probable to me, that the fituations of the celestial bodies do not afford, by far, fo clear and cogent arguments of the wisdom and defign of the author of the world*, as do the bodies of animals and plants. And for my part, I think I fee more of admirable contrivance in the muscles of a human body, than in what we yet know of the aftronomical world: and the eye of a fly, as far as appears to us, feems to be a more curious piece of workmanship, than the body of the fun itself.

"if in the orbit of Mercury, 'twould pre"fently exhale in vapour. For the fun's "light, to which his heat is proportionable, "is feven times more denfe in the orbit of "Mercury, than with us; and I have "found, by the thermometer, that water "will boil with a heat feven times as great as that of the fummer's fun. But the matter of Mercury is, doubtless, fitted for "heat; and therefore mult be denser than "that of our earth: fince all dense matter "requires a greater degree of heat, to per"form the operations of nature." Newton. Princip. p. 372.

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As for other inanimate bodies, the matter whereof feems unorganiz'd, PHYSICS. tho' there be no abfurdity in fuppofing that thefe were alfo made for diftin&t and particular purposes, if not alfo for human ufes; yet moft of them are of fuch easy and unelaborate textures, as to make it feem poffible that various occurfions and juftlings of the parts of the univerfal matter might, at one time or other, have produced them: fince we fee that in fome chymical fublimations and cryftallizations of mineral and metalline folutions, and other phenomena, where the motions appear not to be particularly guided and directed by an intelligent caufe, bodies of as various textures as thofe are producible.

If it be faid, that fuppofing chance, or any thing elfe, without the particular guidance of a wife and all difpofing caufe, can make a finely fhaped ftone, or a metalline fubftance, growing, as filver fometimes does, in the form of a plant; ought we not to allow that chance may alfo make vegetables and animals? I can by no means grant the confequence. For there are fome effects so eafy, and readily to be produced, that they do not infer any knowledge or intention in their caufes; whilft there are others that require fuch a number and conjunction of confpiring caufes, and fuch a continued feries of motions or operations, that 'tis utterly improbable they should be produced without the fuperintendency of a rational agent, wife and powerful enough to range and difpofe the feveral intervening materials and instruments, in a manner neceffary to produce fuch a remote effect: it will not therefore follow, that if chance could produce a flight contexture in a few parts of matter, we may fafely conclude it able to produce fo exquifite and admirable a contrivance, as that of the body of an animal. What does it argue then, if fometimes, in fawing pieces of variegated marble, we happen to meet with the delineations or pictures of towns, woods, and men? For, befides that the delightfulness and rarity of fuch fpectacles inclines the imagination to favour them, and to fupply their defects; would any wife man conclude from hence, that a real town or wood, much less numbers of men, fhould be made by fuch a fortuitous concourse of matter? What comparison is there betwixt the workmanship that seems to be exprefs'd in a few irregular lines, drawn upon a plane, with perhaps two or three colours luckily placed, and the great multitude of nerves, veins, arteries, ligaments, tendons, membranes, bones, glands, &c. required to compofe a human body; every one of the numerous parts whereof must have its determinate fize, figure, confiftence, fituation, Connexion, &c. and many, or all of them together, confpire to exercise and perform determinate functions and ufes? And indeed I never faw any inanimate production of nature, or, as they speak, of chance, whofe contrivance was comparable to that of the meaneft limb of the most defpicable animal; nay, there is infinitely more art exprefs'd in the structure of Evident marks a dog's foot, than in that of the famous clock at Strasburg. of defign in the And tho' the paw of a dog be far inferior in its ftructure to the hand of ftructure of the a man, yet even this is inconfiderable, if compared to the eye; the feveral eyes, and other

VOL. II.

Y

parts, of aniparts mals.