return thanks and praifes to the divine goodness, for having fo placed the fun PHYSICS. and moon, and determin'd the former, or elfe the earth, to move in particular lines, for the good of men, and other animals. And how difadvantageous would it have been to the inhabitants of the earth, if the luminaries had moved after a different manner? I dare not, however, affirm, that the fun, moon, and other celeftial bodies, were made, folely, for the ufe of man; much lefs prefume to prove one fyftem of the world to be true, and another falfe; becaufe the former is better fitted to the conveniency of mankind, or the other lefs suited, or perhaps altogether useless to that end. Thus men fometimes alledge, that the fun ought to be in perpetual motion, to fhine upon the earth; because, as they fancy, 'tis more convenient for man, that those diftant bodies, than that the earth, which is his habitation, fhould be kept in motion. But confidering things as mere naturalifts, it feems not very likely, that a moft wife agent fhould have made fuch vaft bodies as the fun and the fix'd ftars, (efpecially, if we fuppofe them to move with fuch a prodigious rapidity, as vulgar aftronomers affign them) chiefly to illuminate a little globe, that, without an hyperbole, is but a phyfical point in comparison of the immenfe celeftial fpace; while thofe lights might as well illuminate the earth, if they were a thousand times lefs than they are; provided they were placed at a proportionable diftance from it. And twill be very hard to fay, what confiderable ufe the terreftrial globe, or its inhabitants, derive from that multitude of celeftial fpheres which compofe the milky way; fince each of thofe ftars is fo far from being fingly. able to enlighten the earth, that Ariftotle, and the generality of philofophers, for many ages, took the whole number of them for a meteor.. And what light, or other known advantage, can the earth, or its inhabitants, receive from those many fix'd ftars, that the telescope, only, can difcover, among the fix or feven confpicuous ones of the Pleiades; or among thofe, which the naked eye difcovers in the belt or girdle of Orion*? I forefee, it may be faid, that thefe and the like celeftial bodies are, at leaft, thus far ufeful to man, as to discover to him the power and greatnefs of the divine maker. And, indeed, tho' perhaps his wifdom appears as great to us men in the ftructure of a glow-worm, as in the difpofition of the fall ftars, that make up the galaxy; yet the immenfity of his power could *It feems difficult to fay, what ad vantages the earth can receive from the comets; yet late difcoveries have led us to conjecture at their use: and that most fagacious philofopher, Sir If. Newton, fupposes that one final cause of comers, is, "to recruit the feas, and the moisture "-in the planets, by a condensation of "their vapours, and exhalations thereFor as feas are abfolutely neceffary to the conftitution of our earth, to "the end..that the heat of the fun may 66. on. ་་ "thence raife vapours in great plenty, PHYSICS. Could not poffibly be fo well declared by lefs productions. Thefe arguments, nevertheless, are not purely phyfical, but of that fort which I call phyfico-theological, whofe inferences relate to the general defigns of God in the univerfe, which I therefore ftile cofmical ends; but do not reach to prove any thing about the determinate nature of particular bodies. And fince the utmoft that philofophy teaches, is, that in general, the good of man was one of the ends defign'd by God in framing the world as we fee it,; there may, by the fame omnifcient author of nature, be other ends defign d of thofe telescopical, and other fmall or remote ftars, whofe ufes to us are doubtful or inconfiderable; to attain which ends, thofe céleftial bodies and motions may be admirably contrived and directed. And we being unable by mere reafon to difcover what thofe ends are, tho' we have nothing near fo great caufe to think there may not be fuch ends, as the infin ite wifdom of God gives us to think there may; 'tis prefumptuous to judge of the fyftem of the world, and of the defign of vaftly remote fix'd ftars, by its being greater or lefs advantageous to us: efpecially fince tho' it were certain, that, among other ufes, God intended they should in fome fort be ferviceable to us; yet he has no way declared in what capacity, or to what degree, they fhall be fo. And therefore, if they prove ferviceable in any measure; that is, fo far as we know, all he defign'd they should be: and that itself, being an unmerited favour, deferves our humble thanks. And it feems very likely, that God did not defign equal advantages to all the parts of the earth, from the prefent fyftem of the univerfe; fince the countries inhabited by the Samoids and Nova-Zemblans, and other nations that lie very near the arctic pole, want many conveniencies and advantages enjoy'd by the inhabitants of the temperate zones. But tho' bare philofophy does not favour this bold opinion, yet I know 'twill be pretended that revelation does. And I readily confefs, that the terraqueous globe and its productions, especially the plants and animals 'tis furnish'd with, appear, from the fcripture, to have been defign'd for the ufe and benefit of man; who has, therefore, a right to employ any of them he is able to fubdue; and that the fun and moon were appointed by God to give light upon the earth, and be useful to all the nations that inhabit it: and that therefore the royal prophet had reafon to exclaim, ry way therein, and fpread thro' the "whole heavens; afterwards they are gradually attracted by the planets, from "their principle of gravity, and proba "bly intermix'd with their atmospheres. "I farther fufpect," fays this great philofopher, "that the fpirit, which is the "leaft, the moft fubtile, and the best part "of our air, and which is neceffary to the "life of all things, comes principally "from the comets." Newton. Princip. P. 472, 473. "how, "how manifold are thy works, O Lord! how wifely haft thou made them PHYSICS. all!" For he applies thefe expreffions to the terraqueous globe and its inhabitants; as he elfewhere juftly fays, that " the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament fheweth his handy-work." But these general declarations, tho' they properly excite our wonder and thankfulnefs, yet I fear, are not good topics, from whence to draw fuch phyfical conclufions in particular cafes, as fome learned men venture upon. For I do not remember 'tis any where declared in fcripture, that the fervice of man was the only, or principal ufe, of all the celeftial bodies. And this fingle confideration fhould make us very cautious, how we eftimate the great fyftem of the world by our conveniencies. And if it be faid, that man alone has a rational faculty, whereby to refer the great works of God. to the glory of their maker; I anfwer, that tho' this has been affirm'd by many, yet I have never found it prov'd. And I fomewhat wonder, that divines fhould, on this occafion, overlook that paffage in Job, which they generally interpret of the angels. For the queftion which God there puts to Job, may be juftly applied to Adam himself; " Where waft thou, when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou haft understanding. "When the morning-ftars fang together, and all the fons of God fhouted for joy?" And, indeed, if we may prefume to conjecture at such things, it seems reasonable to me, that God created the angels before the material world, that he might have intelligent Beings to pay him the just tribute of praises for fo admirable a fpectacle, as that of the rifing world, or the beginning and progrefs of the creation. However, it appears from thefe words in Job, that before man was made, God wanted not intelligent fpectators and applauders of his corporeal works. And fince the angels are a nobler order of intellectual creatures than men, and no unconcern'd fpectators at the works of God; how do we know, that in the fyftem of that part of the heavens which is invifible to us without the help of telescopes, and in the plants, animals, or other furniture, whatever it be, of thofe particular ftars that ferve us men, barely for declarations of their maker's power; fuch intelligent fpirits as angels may not difcern as wife defigns, and as admirable contrivances, as thofe manifefted in forming and furnishing the earth? And in this cafe, God will lofe none of the glory due to the divine attributes difplay'd in the fabric of the celeftial part of the world, tho' the fix'd stars fhould not be principally defign'd for the fervice of man. But, fecondly, 'tis yet more unfafe to form arguments upon the nature of particular inanimate bodies in the fublunary world, from the ufes we think them defign'd for. This will be made evident, by confidering how little we know of the And those that particular purposes of nature, in thofe terreftrial bodies, which being in- are terrestrial. organical, cannot, by their curious ftructure, difclofe to us the particular ends to which they were ordain'd. And their motions wanting that conftancy and regularity of the celeftial bodies, the caution given about drawing arguments from the aftronomical fyftem, will not, fure, be thought unfit to take place in clays, chalks, ftones, &c. whofe textures, compared PHYSICS. with thofe of living creatures, are very simple, flight, and feldom more curious than may be made artificially, by diffolving ftones and metals in chymical menftrua, and afterwards cryftallizing the folutions. 'Tis true, revelation fpeaks rather of God's having deftin'd animals and vegetables, than other inanimate bodies, to the fervice of men; yet there is no abfurdity, to conceive, in the general, the fame to be one of the ends defign'd by the author of nature, in making metals, ftones, and those other inanimate parts of the terreftrial globe, that man is able to mafter and make use of. But 'tis very unlikely, that the internal part of the earth, which may, for ought we know, contain great varieties of foffils, and other creatures, fhould be made chiefly for the fervice of men, from whofe fight they lie hid; and who will, in all probability, never defcend to a thousandth part of the depth requifite to difcover them, and do not fo much as know what kind of bodies they are. And tho' it will not hence follow, that the terraqueous globe was made by chance, any more than that the other plants were fo; because the admirable ftructure of plants and animals proves the exiftence and providence of a moft wife and powerful author of things, who may juftly be fuppofed to have made nothing in vain, even among the imanimate portions of our globe; yet that thofe inanimate portions were made for determinate ends, is more eafily deduced from the knowledge we have, by other means, of their being produced by a wife author, than from the contemplation of those bodies themfelves. And, perhaps, it is worth inquiry, whether fome things may not be made, even by a wife agent, not out of a primary intention, but as productions that will naturally follow, upon the establishment and prefervation of thofe grand laws and rules of motion, that were moft fit to be fettled among things corporeal. And 'tis very poffible, that, according to fuch a general establishment, many parts of the terreftrial globe are fo difpofed of, as not to be ferviceable to men ; because the whole mafs could not otherwife be fo well fuited to the general ends of the universe. Thus, tho' the eclipfes of the fun and moon be ufually unwelcome, and, if aftrologers may be credited, often prejudicial to men; yet "the great former of all things" did not think fit to alter the tracts or lines of motion that he affign'd the luminaries, to avoid the eclipfes that must yearly enfue upon their moving in fuch lines. Whence we alfo learn, that fome phenomena may not belong to the primary intention of nature; but are only the neceffary confequences and effects of the primitive conftitution of the world, and the univerfal laws of motion. But if it be here demanded, to what end the deep and hidden parts of the terraqueous globe, and the telescopic ftars of the firmament, were made, if not for the ufe of man? I freely acknowledge, that I cannot tell: and perhaps fuch an answer may be more expreffive of the profound reverence we owe the great author of nature, than their opinion, who would have all thefe made for the fole ufe of man. PROP. PRO P. II. 'Tis often allowable for a naturalift, from the manifeft and appofite ufes of the parts of animal bodies, to collect fome of the particular ends for which the creator defign'd them: and in fome cafes we may, from the known nature and structure of the parts, draw probable conjectures about the particular offices of them. To obviate mistakes, it must be here obferv'd, that I fpeak only of thofe ends and uses of the parts of an animal, that relate to the welfare and propagation of the animal itself, and which, therefore, I call animal ends; tho' I do not thereby deny any declaration made in the holy fcriptures, that God defign'd the entire animals, as well as their parts, to be ferviceable many ways to man. This premifed, I come to confider diftinctly the two parts of the propofition. And, firft, there is no work of nature known to us, wherein the confideration of final causes may fo juftly take place, as in the ftructure of animal bodies. For my own part, I confefs, that when I affift at a skilful diffection, I cannot but wonder there fhould be philofophers, who afcribe the admirable contrivance of a human body to blind chance. The Stoic, who in Cicero, ask'd an Epicurean why chance did not make palaces, and erect other buildings, feems to have propofed a pertinent queftion. But the most commodious houfes are far lefs curious ftructures than the human machine: for the materials of a palace are few, in comparison to the parts of an animal body; and their difpofition exceeding flight, compared to the curious and elaborate contrivance of the numerous folids and fluids of the human ftructure: the former whereof, alone, are above fome hundreds; yet in every one of thefe parts, the bulk, figure, confiftence, texture, fituation, connexion, and aptnefs for motion, are the most commodious that can poffibly be devifed; whilft all of them are wonderfully fymmetrical, both to one another, and the whole body. And this number of is fo artificially contrived and fet together, that tho' no room be loft, many of them, at the fame time, exercife very different motions, while each moves freely, and rather promotes than hinders the motion of others. parts Hurts or diseases may fhew how excellently all the parts of our bodies are contrived, in order to our welfare. For if even a finger be fwell'd, difplaced, kept in a wrong pofture by contractions, have its continuity violated, its tone chang'd by ftrains or contufions, its fenfe or motion taken away, its membranes fretted by fharp humours, or its motions diforder'd by convulfions; we quickly find, how commodioufly the parts affected were framed or difpofed; their natural figure, connexion, tone, c. being now alter'd. The eye, to fingle out again that part for an inftance, is fo exquifitely adapted for feeing, and fo little fitted for almoft any other office in the body; and that ufe is fo neceffary for the welfare of the animal, that it may well be doubted, whether any confidering man can really think it not defigned for that ufe. The fix or feven muscles, which move the whole ball VOL. II. A a of PHYSICS. |