PHYSICS.

Revelation allows us to Speak

than natural

philofophy.

And now, to give my thoughts upon the fecond question. 1. I think he naturalift may draw arguments from the ends and uses of the parts of living bodies, provided he proceeds herein with due caution. 2. 'Tis my opinion, that the inanimate bodies here below, proceeding not from feminal principles, have but a more flight texture; fuch as earths, liquors, flints, pebbles; and will not fufficiently warrant reafonings drawn from their fuppofed ends. 3. It feems to me, that the celeftial bodies abundantly declare God's power and greatnefs, by the immenfity of their bulk, and, if the earth ftand ftill, the celerity of their motions; and alfo argue his wifdom, and general providence, with regard to them: becaufe he has, for fo many ages, kept fuch a variety of vaft vortices, or other maffes of matter in motions immenfely rapid, without permitting them to destroy one another, or lofe their regularity. And I fee no abfurdity in fuppofing that, among other ufes of the fun, and of the ftars, the fervice of man might be intended; tho' I doubt whether, from the bare contemplation of the heavens, and their motions, it can be cogently inferr'd, that the chief end of them all, is to enlighten the earth, and bring benefits to the creatures that live upon it.

Hitherto I fuppofe the naturalift to difcourfe merely upon phyfical more pofitively grounds; but if revelation be admitted, we may rationally believe more, of final canes, and fpeak lefs doubtfully of the ends of God, than bare philofophy will warrant us to do. For if God is pleas'd to declare any thing to us concerning his intentions in the making of his creatures, we ought to believe it, tho' the confideration of the things themfelves did not give us the least fufpicion of it; which yet, in our cafe, they do. The fcriptures exprefly teach us, that "God made the two great luminaries, the greater to rule "the day, and the leffer to rule the night;" that " he made the stars alfo, and fet them in the firmament, or expanfum of heaven, to give light upon the earth." And thefe are reckon'd among the ufes of these -luminaries: to divide the day from the night; and to be for figns, and "for feafons, and for days and years." And Mofes, diffuading the Ifraelites from worshipping the fun, the moon, and the ftars, fays, that "the Lord "had imparted them unto all nations under the heaven." And therefore thofe Cartefians, who admit the authority of holy fcripture, fhould not reject the confideration of fuch final caufes as revelation discovers to us; fince 'tis certainly no prefumption to think we know God's ends, when he himself acquaints us with them: nor to believe that the fun, tho', generally, esteem'd a nobler body than the terreftrial globe, was made, among other purpofes, to enlighten it. 'Tis recorded, in the book of Genefis, that God's defign in making man, was, that he should fubdue the earth, and have dominion over the fish of the fea, and over the "fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." And the fame book informs us, that, after the deluge, God "deliver'd all terreftrial beafts, and fowl, and fish, and every moving thing that lives," into the hands of men, and intended that they fhould eat animals; as, before the flood, he

had

had appointed them all the forts of wholefom vegetables for their food. PHYSICS. And, fince God was pleafed to appoint, that men fhould live on these creatures; it cannot be abfurd to fay, that, among other purposes to which he deftin'd the fun, his fhining upon the earth was one; fince, without his light and heat, men could not provide for themselves; and neither those plants, that men and cattle muft feed upon, could grow and ripen; nor, confequently, thofe animals that were to be their principal food, and ferve them for other ufes, could be fuftain'd, and provided for. Many other texts might be here alledged to the fame purpofe; but I fhall content myself to mention that of the royal prophet, when, fpeaking of man to his maker, he fays, "Thou haft made him a little lower than the angels, and haft crown'd him with glory and honour. Thou madeft him to have dominion over the works of thine hands, and hast under his feet."

put all things Indeed, if we confider only that vifible part in man, his body; the fmallness thereof may make it feem improbable, that portions of the univerfe, incomparably greater than he, fhould be intended for his fervice. But chriftians will not think this incredible, if they confider man, as he chiefly confifts of a rational mind; which proceeds immediately from God, and is capable of knowing him, loving him, and being eternally happy with him. They who defpife man, confider'd in this capacity, very little know the worth of a rational foul. But God, who is the best judge in this case, was pleas'd to confider men fo much, that it gave David caufe to admire, as we just now faw; and not only to form them in his image, at their firft creation; but, when they had wilfully loft, and forfeited it, he vouchfafed to redeem them by the fufferings and death of his own fon, who is incomparably more excellent than the whole world. And 'tis not incredible, that God fhould have intended many of his other works to be ferviceable to man; fince, by miraculous operations, he hath, fometimes, fufpended the laws of nature; and, fometimes, over-ruled them for his fake: as appears by the flood, by the paffage of the Ifraelites thro' the red-fea, and the river of Jordan; by the ftanding-ftill of the fun and moon, at Joshuah's command; by the inefficacy of the burning fiery-furnace on Daniel's three companions; and, in fhort, by the stupendous eclipfe of the fun, at the crucifixion of the Meffias.

And we fhall the lefs fcruple to admit, that fuch vatt bodies, as the fun and moon may tend to ferve mankind, if we confider, 'tis far from being a conftant rule, that a thing more excellent cannot be employ'd for the good of a lefs excellent. Thus an angel was fent to relieve Hagar in the wilderness; another had regard to the life of a prophet's afs; and many more were employed on earth, in doing good offices to particular perfons: and, of all the angels in general, the epiftle to the Hebrews informs us, that "they are miniftring fpirits, fent forth to minister unto them who fhall be heirs of falvation.'

PHYSICS.

How inanimate

bodies may act

acquainted.

SECT. III.

Reparatory to the difcuffion of the third queftion, "Whether, and in what fenfe, the acting for ends may be afcribed to an unintelligent, with they are un- and inanimate body?" it will be neceffary to clear the grand difficulty that has before, and ever fince the time of Ariftotle, perplexed thofe who allow the confideration of final caufes in natural philofophy. This difficulty is obvious enough; for much the greater part of bodies being fenfelefs, and, most of them, lifeless too; it feems inconceivable how they fhould conftantly act for ends they are not capable of pre-defigning, and, appofitely employ means they have no knowledge to make choice of.

Ariftotle, who exprefly teaches, that nature does nothing in vain; and, rightly judg'd, that the actions of natural agents had a tendency to certain ends; takes no notice of this difficulty, but feems rather to fhift it off than refolve it.

But, to confider the difficulty itself, there are two accounts on which the actions of natural agents may be faid to tend to a certain end; as, either when the agent has a knowledge of that end, and acts with an intention to obtain it; or, when the action of the proximate agent is directed as it ought, to obtain an end, which, yet, is neither known, nor intended, by that proximate agent; but by a remoter, that is intelligent. In the former of thefe fenfes, I cannot admit, that any inanimate body acts for ends; fince that pre-fuppofes the agent both to know the end he is to obtain, and to purpose to obtain it: things whereof inanimate bodies are incapable. And, to fancy with fome, that they may have a knowledge, fui generis, as they fpeak; which, tho' confined to the actions proper to a particular kind of body, fhall yet fuffice to determine them to thofe actions, is, to offend against that rational, and receiv'd rule in philofophy, that Beings are not to be multiply'd, without there appears a neceffity for them; and to introduce a fort of knowledge that feems unintelligible.

It remains, then, that I embrace the fecond fenfe, in which 'twas formerly faid, natural things may work for an end; tho', in this cafe too, we must speak fomewhat improperly: for the action may more justly be attributed to the remote intelligent, than to the immediate agent, which is but, as it were, the inftrument of the other. Now, it appears to me, that the moft wife, and powerful author of nature, whofe piercing fight is able to penetrate the whole univerfe, and furvey all the parts of it at once; did, originally, frame material things into fuch a fyftem, and fettle among them fuch laws of motion, as he judged fuitable to the ends he propofed to himself in making the world. And as, by virtue of his vaft and boundless intellect that he, at firft, employ'd; he was able, not only to fee the prefent ftate of things he had made, but to foreknow all the effects that particular bodies, peculiarly qualify'd, and acting according to the laws of motion, by him established, would, in particular circumftances, have on one another; fo, by the fame omnifcient power,

he

he was able to contrive the whole fabric, and all its parts, in fuch a PHYSICS. manner, that, whilft his general concourfe maintain'd the order eftablished, each part of this great engine fhould, without either intention, or knowledge, as regularly and conftantly act towards the attainment of the refpective ends he defign'd them for, as if themfelves really underftood, and induftriously profecuted thofe ends. Thus, in a well-made clock, the fpring, the wheels, the balance, &c. tho' each of them act according to the impulfe it receives, and the determination that is given it by the other parts of the engine, without knowing what the neighbouring parts, or what themfelves perform; yet their tendencies are fo determined, and over-ruled, and their motions fo regulated, by the ftructure of the machine, that the whole could not proceed more conveniently, nor better perform the office of a clock, if they knew they ought all to confpire, and were defign'd to make the index truly mark the hours. 'Tis not eafy, indeed, to conceive, how one agent fhould, by fo fimple an inftrument as local motion, direct fuch a multitude of others, as make up a world, to act with the fame regularity, as if each of them went upon its own particular defign, and yet all confpire to obey the laws of nature. But if we confider, that this great work is afcribed to an omnifcient, and almighty agent, it will not appear incredible; efpecially fince 'tis manifeft, that a multitude of bodies act as we have fuppofed and that, if we will not afcribe to God the direction, and fuperintendency of the motions that are manifeftly fitted for the attainment of ends, we must afcribe them to nature; which will not leffen, but increase the difficulty. And, upon viewing a great engine, wherein the works of many trades, and a great variety of other motions were perform'd by little puppets, that managed the tools of the feveral artificers; whilft all of them were fet on work by a fingle fpring, which communicated motions, regulated and determined by the particular ftructure of the little ftatues, &c. I could not think it impoffible, that the great creator fhould be able, by the motions and structures of matter, to fet very many partial, and fubordinate, engines a-going. For 'twill not, I hope, be faid, that the multitude of thefe, any thing near furpaffes that of those which I faw in the hand of an illiterate tradefman, fo far as the narrow knowledge of that artificer is furpaffed by the boundless understanding of an omnifcient artist. And God's wifdom and skill is more difplay'd in making fo many various bodies act according to their particular defignations, while they all confpire to the general ends of the univerfe; than barely in caufing bodies to act, appofitely, for ends to themfelves unknown. For, if moving bodies be duly difpofed, and have a fufficient connection, 'tis not difficult to direct a few of them to the attainment of an end propofed by an understanding agent, tho' unknown to the immediate agents: as, anciently, among Jewish husbandmen, and, at this day, in fome parts of the eaft, the ox, by treading the corn, feparates the grain from the ftraw, as well as the labourer who thrashes it, en purpofe to make that feparation; and a

22

the

horfe,

PHYSICS. horfe or an afs, by going round in a mill, may grind the corn as well as the miller himfelf.

How final causes are to be confi der'd.

bedies.

This doctrine, however, is not inconfiftent with the belief of any true. miracle; for it fuppofes the ordinary and fettled courfe of nature to be maintain'd; without at all denying, that the moft free and powerful author of nature is able, whenever he thinks fit, to fufpend, alter, or contradict. thofe laws of motion, which he, alone, at first establish'd, and which requires his perpetual concourfe to uphold.

SECT. IV.

O come to our laft question, "With what cautions, final caufes are: to be confider'd by the naturalift?" I muft obferve, that the cafes whereto it may relate, are fo many and various, that I can only touch upon fome few of them.

And to make way for what I am to offer, by a diftinction; there are two ways of reasoning from the final caufes of natural things, that ought not to be confounded. For fometimes men draw arguments from the ufe of bodies, that relate to the author of nature, and the general ends he is. fuppofed to have intended in things corporeal: as when from the manifeft usefulness of the eye, and all its parts, for vision, 'tis inferr'd that the eye was originally framed by a very intelligent Being, with a particular. care that animals fhould be furnish'd with the fittest organ of fo neceffary a fenfe. And fometimes, alfo, men ground arguments upon the fuppofed ends of things, as to the peculiar nature of the things themselves; and conclude, that this affection of a natural body or part ought to be granted, or that deny'd; because by this, and not by that, or by this more than by. that, the end defign'd by nature may be beft and moft conveniently obtain'd The latter fort of arguments I ufually call purely physical; and those of the former may be ftiled phyfico-theological, or, by a fhorter name, meta-. physical ones.

But in order to be the more clear upon this fubject, I fhall refer my, thoughts of it to the five followingpropofitions.

PROP. I.

As to the generality of the celestial bodies, it seems unfafe to draw arguments of their nature, on a fuppofition of particular ends, at least of the human ones, defign'd by God in their formation.

As to the celestial I am by all means for encouraging the contemplation of the celeftial. part of the world, and the fhining globes that adorn it, and efpecially the fun and moon, in order to raife our admiration of the ftupendous power: and wifdom of him, who was able to frame fuch immenfe bodies; and, notwithstanding their vaft bulk, and fcarce conceivable rapidity, keep them for fo many ages conftant both to the lines and degrees of their mo tion, without interfering with one another. And, doubtlefs, we ought to

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