TO give you now my thoughts of the second Question, viz. Whether we may consider Final Causes in all sorts of Bodies, or only in some peculiarly Qualify’d Ones. I must divide Natural Bodies into Animate and Inanimate. The former of which Terms, I here take in the larger sense of those, who under it comprehend, not only Animals, but Vegetables; tho’ I shall not disdainfully reject the Opinion of those Learned Men, that are unwilling to allow Plants a soul or life, at least as properly so call’d, as that which is confessedly granted to Animals.
Of the Inanimate Bodies of the Universe, the Noblest, and those which on this occasion deserve chiefly to be considered, are the Sun, Planets, and other Coelestial Bodies. For, when Men saw those vast and luminous Globes, and especially the Sun, move so constantly, and so regularly, about the Earth, and diffuse on it Light and Heat; and by their various Revolutions produce day and night, Summer and Winter, and the Vicissitudes of Seasons, that are so opportune for the Inhabitants of the Earth: The observers, I say, of all this concluded, both that these Motions were guided by some Divine Being, and that they were design’d for the benefit of Man Whether this be a demonstrative Collection, I shall not now debate; but I see not, why it may not have thus much of Probability in it; that in case a Man shall think, that the Fabrick of the Coelestial parts of the World, was the curious Production of an Intelligent and Divine Agent, the regular Phaenomena of the Heavens will not contradict him; since there is nothing in that Fabrick that misbecomes a Divine Author; and the Motions and Operations of the Sun and Stars are not such, but that they will allow us to think, that, among other purposes, they were made to Illuminate the Terrestrial Globe, and bring Heat and other Benefits to the Inhabitants of it: So that the Contemplation of the Heavens, which so manifestly declare the Glory of God, (Psal. 19.1) may justly excite Men, both to admire his Power and Wisdom in them, and to return him Thanks and Praises, for the great Benefits that accrue to us by them.
But now, on the other side, it may be said, that in bodies Inanimate, whether the portions of Matter they consist of be greater or lesser, the Contrivance is very rarely so Exquisite, but that the various Motions and Occursions of the parts of Matter may be, without much Improbability, suspected to be capable, after many Essays, to cast one another into divers of those Circumvolutions of Matter, that, I remember, Epicurus calls […] and Des-Cartes Vortices; which being once made, may continue very long, by the means express’d by Cartesius, or by some other as probable Ones. But, without allowing this Hypothesis to be more than not very improbable, when I consider, what Causes there may be to fear, that we are not yet sufficiently acquainted with the true System of the World, and are not usually sensible enough, how small a part We, and the Terrestrial Globe we inhabit, make of the Universe; I am apt to fear too, that Men are wont, with greater Confidence than Evidence, to assign, the Systematical Ends and Uses of the Coelestial Bodies, and to conclude them to be made and moved, only for the service of the Earth and its Inhabitants. And tho’, even as a meer Naturalist, I will not deny, that, as Man actually receives Benefits by the establish’d order and motion of the Stars, so one of the several Uses intended by the Author of Nature in them, may particularly respect Men; yet I am apt to think, that by what we hitherto know, ‘twill not be easie to be prov’d, that some, at least, of the Coelestial Bodies and Motions, may not be intended more for other purposes, than to cast their Beams, or shed their Influences (supposing they have some) upon the Earth. And at least, I cannot but think, that the Situations of the Coelestial Bodies, do not afford by far so clear and cogent Arguments, of the Wisdom and Design of the Author of the World, as do the bodies of Animals and Plants. And for my part I am apt to think, there is more of admirable Contrivance in a Mans Muscles, than in (what we yet know of) the Celestial Orbs; and that the Eye of a Fly is, (at least as far as appears to us,) a more curious piece of Workmanship, than the Body of the Sun.
As for other Inanimate Bodies, as Stones, Metals &c, whose matter seems not organiz’d; tho’ there be no absurdity to think, that they also were made for distinct particular purposes, if not also for Human Uses; yet most of them are of such easy and unelaborate contextures, that it seems not absurd to think, that various occursions and justlings of the parts of the Universal matter, may at one time or other have produc’d them; since we see in some Chymical Sublimations, and Christallizations of Mineral and Mettalline Solutions, and some other Phaenomena, where the motions appear not to be Particularly guided and directed by an Intelligent Cause, that Bodies of as various Contextures, as those are wont to be, may be produc’d; of which I have elsewhere given some Instances.
If it be objected, that if we allow Chance, or any thing else, without the particular Guidance of a wise and All-disposing Cause, to make a finely shap’d Stone, or a metalline substance, growing, as I have some times seen silver to do, in the form of a Plant; it ought not to be denyed, that Chance may also make Vegetables and Animals: I can by no means allow the consequence. There are some effects, that are so easy, and so ready, to be produc’d, that they do not infer any knowledge or intention in their Causes; but there are others, that require such a number and concourse of conspiring Causes, and such a continued series of motions or operations, that ‘tis utterly improbable, they should be produced without the superintendency of a Rational Agent, Wise and Powerfull enough to range and dispose the several intervening Agent’s and Instruments, after the manner requisite to the production of such a remote effect. And therefore it will not follow, that if Chance could produce a slight contexture in a few parts of matter; we may safely conclude it able to produce so exquisit and admirable a Contrivance, as that of the Body of an Animal. What then, if sometimes in sawing pieces of variegated Marble, men happen, tho’ rarely, to meet with the Delineations or Pictures (some of which I have beheld with pleasure) of Towns, Woods, and Men? For, besides that the pleasingness and rarity of such spectacles inclines the Imagination to favour them, and supply their defects; would any wise man therefore conclude, that a real Town or wood, much less numbers of men, should be made by such a forluitons concourse of matter? What comparison is there, betwixt the workmanship that seems to be expressed in a few irregular Lines, drawn upon a plane superficies, and perhaps two or three Colours luckily plac’d; and the great multitude of Nerves, Veins, Arteries, Ligaments, Tendons, Membranes, Bones Glandules, &c. that are required to the compleating of a human Body; of which numerous parts (for the Bones alone are reckon’d to amount to three hundred) every one must have it’s determinate size, figure, consistence, situation, connexion, &c. and many or all of them together, must conspire to such and such determinate Functions or uses? And indeed, tho’ I keep by me some curious ones, yet I never saw any Inanimate production of Nature, or, as they speak, of Chance, whose contrivance was comparable to that of the meanest Limb of the dispicablest Animal: and there is incomparably more Art express’d in the structure of a Doggs foot, then in that of the famous Clock at Strasburg.
And, tho’ the Paw of a Dog will be confess’d, to be of a structure far Inferior to that of the Hand of a man: yet even This; however Aristotle prettily styles it the Instrument of Instruments, is a less considerable Instance to my present purpose, than another Instance, which therefore, since my intended brevity permits me not to consider many, I shall pitch upon, as that which I shall almost only insist on, in the following part of this Tract. And this Instance is afforded me by the Eye. For Tho’ the parts that concurr to make up that admirable Organ of vision, are very numerous, yet how little any of them could have been spar’d or alter’d, unless for the worse, may appear by that great Number of Diseases, that have been observ’d in that little part of the Body. Since each of those Diseases consist in this, that some of the Coats, Humors, or other parts of the Eye, is brought into a State differing from that whereto Nature had design’d it, and whereinto she had put it. ‘Twould be tedious so much as to enumerate the several distempers of the Eye, whereunto Physitians have given particular Names; wherefore I shall only mention two or three things, wherein one would scarce imagine, that a small recess from the natural state could bring any considerable, or perhaps sensible, inconvenience. That which we call the Pupil, is not (you know) a substantial part of the Eye, but only a hole of the Vvea: which aperture is almost perpetually changing it’s bigness, according to the differing degrees of Light, that the Eye chances from time to time to be expos’d to. And therefore one would not think, but that, whilst this hole remains open, it performs well enough it’s part; which is, to give admission to the Incident beams of Light, whether direct or reflected. And yet I lately saw and discours’d with a woman, who after a Feaver, was not able to debate the Pupils of her eyes as formerly; and tho’ they were so very little narrower then ordinary, that I should scarce have taken more notice that ‘twas at all so, if she had not told me of it, yet she complain’d she had thereby almost lost her sight, seeing Objects in certain Lights but very dimly and imperfectly. And tho’ the Praeternatural constriction of the Pupil be not a frequent distemper, yet tis not so rare, but that Physitians have given it a place among the Stated diseases of the eye. And on the other side tho’ it appear by what hath been newly related, that a competent wideness of the Pupil is requisite to clear and distinct Vision, yet if it’s wideness exceed due Limits, there is produced that distemper that is call’d Dilatatio pupillae; which is worse then the former, because it oftentimes deprives the Patient almost totally of his sight. And, tho’ it may seem but a slight circumstance, that the transparent coats of the eye should be devoid of colour, and of as little moment, that the cornea should be very smooth, provided it be transparent: yet when either of these circumstances is wanting, the sight may be much vitiated; as we see that in the Yellow-Jaundies, when ‘tis come to a high degree, the adventitious Tincture wherewith the Eye is Imbued, makes men think they see a yellowness in many objects, to which that colour does not belong. And I know an Ingenious Gentleman, who, having had a small pustula excited and broken upon the Cornea, tho’ the eye have been long whole; yet a very little Inequality or depression that still remains upon the Surface of the Transparent Cornea, does so affect him, that tho’ he can read well in a Room, yet when he comes into the open fields or the streets, he for a pretty while (as himself has particularly complain’d to me) thinks many of the Objects he looks on very Glareing, and sees many others, as men do stones at the bottom of a Brook or running water; which I impute to the want of Uniformity in the refraction of those reflected beams of Light, that fall upon the Cornea, whose surface is not so smooth and equal as it should be.
To give some further Proof, that the Eye was made with design, I shall here take notice of an observation or two, that do not occurr in the dissection of a human Eye, and therefore are not wont to be mentioned by Anatomists.
I have observed in Frogs, (as I presume some others also may have done) that, besides those parts of the Eye which they have in common with Men, Dogs, Cats, and the most part of other Animals, They have a peculiar, whether membrane, or Cartilage, or both, which ordinarily is not perceived; wherewith they can at pleasure cover the Eye, without too much hindering the sight, because this membrane is as well Transparent as strong; so that it may pass for a kind of moveable Cornea, and (if I may so call it) a kind of false-scabord to to the Eye. In furnishing frogs with this strong Membrane, the providence of Nature seems to be conspicuous: For they being Amphibious Animals, design’d to pass their lives in watery places, which for the most part abound with Sedges, and other plants endowed with sharp Edges or points; and the progressive motion of this Animal being to be made, not by walking, but by leaping; if his Eyes were not provided of such a sheath as I have been mentioning, he must either shut his Eyes, and so leap blindly, and by consequence dangerously, or, by leaving them open, must run a venture to have the Corneae cut, prickt, or otherwise offended, by the edges or points of the Plants, or what may fall from them upon the Animals Eye: whereas this Membrane, as was said, is like a kind of Spectacle that covers the Eye without taking away the sight; and as soon as the need of imploying it is past, the Animal at pleasure withdraws it into a little Cell, where it Rests out of the way, till there be occasion to use it again. This you may see, if you apply the point of a pin, or a Pen, or any such sharp thing, to the Eye of a frog, whilst you hold his head steady: for to screen his Eye, he will presently cover it (at least for the greatest part) with this Membrane, which when the danger is over he will again withdraw. And, because many if not most sorts of Birds, are wont or destinated to fly, (as more would do if not kept tame) among the Branches of Trees and Bushes; least the Prickles, Twigs, Leaves, or other parts should wound or offend their Eye. Nature hath given them likewise such another kind of horny Membrane, as we have been mentioning in frogs.
‘Tis known that Men, and the generality of Four-footed Beasts, and of Birds, have several Muscles belenging to their Eyes; by the help of which Muscles, they can turn them this way, or that way, at pleasure; and so can obvert the Organ of Sense to the Object, whether it be placed on the right hand or the left, or above or beneath the Eye. But, Nature having not given that Mobility to the Eyes of Flys, (the reason whereof I shall not now stay to consider) she hath in recompence furnish’d them with a multitude of little protuberant parts, finely rang’d upon the convex of their large and Protuberant Eyes: So that by means of the number of these little Studs (if I may so call them) many beams of Light that rebound from Objects placed on either hand, or above, or beneath, the level of the Eye, fall conveniently enough upon that Organ, to make the Objects they come from, visible to the Animal. Which you will the more easily believe, if you contemplate (as I have often done with great pleasure) even the Eye of an ordinary Flesh-Fly, (for Bees and other greater Insects have immoveable Eyes too, but I find them not so pretty) in a good Microscope and a clear Day. For you may reckon some hundreds of these little round Protuberances, curiously rang’d on the Convexity of a single Eye.
But perhaps some, whose partiality for Chance makes them willing to ascribe the structures of Animals rather to That, then to a designing Cause; will make them draw an Objection, fit to be here obviated, against our Doctrine, from what we have observ’d of the difference between Human and other Eyes: Since they will pretend that all Organs of Sight ought to be conform’d to those of Men, as those that are the best and most perfect. ‘Tis true, that Man being justly reputed the most perfect of Animals, it is not strange that he should (as Men generally do) presume, that His Eyes and other parts of his Body, are the best contriv’d of any that are to be found in Nature. But yet I think we cannot from hence safely conclude, that all Eyes, which in other Animals are of Structures differing from those of Man, are for that reason defective. For I consider, First, That the admirable Wisdom display’d by the Author of Things, in fitting the Eyes and other Organical parts of Animals, for the Uses that seem manifestly to have been design’d in their Fabrick, and for the respective Functions we actually see them exercise, may justly persuade us, that the things whose Reasons or Uses we do not alike discern, are yet most wisely constituted: Such an Author as God, having too much knowledge to do any thing unskilfully; and We having too much presumption, if we think He can have in the framing of his Creatures, no Ends that are beyond our Discovery. And, Secondly, We may represent, that the Eye is not to be consider’d abstractedly as an Instrument of Vision, but as an Instrument belonging to an Animal of this or that kind; and who is ordinarily to make use of it in such and such Circumstances. And therefore I think it ought not at all to Disparage, but rather highly Recommend, the Wisdom and Providence of the great Author of Things; that he has furnish’d various Species of Animals, with Organs of Sight that are very differingly fram’d and plac’d: Since this diversity nobly manifests his great Providence, and (if I may so call it) Forecast; that has admirably suited the Eyes of the differing kinds of Animals, both to the rest of their Bodies, and (which I here mainly consider) to those parts of the great Theatre of the World, on which He designs that they shall live and act. Thus though diver. Beasts, as Horses, Oxen, and so[…] others, have their Eyes furnish’d with a seventh Muscle, besides the six they have in common with Men; we must not conclude, either that the Organs of Vision are Imperfect in Men, or that those of these Beasts have something superfluous. For Horses, &c. being to feed for the most part on grass and herbs of the Field, and, that they may the better chuse their Food, being oblig’d to make their Eyes look very long downwards; the seventh Muscle does excellently serve them to do so, without that weariness, which if they were not furnish’d with it, that durably constrain’d Pasture would be sure to give them; whereas Man who has no such necessity of looking assiduously downwards, would be but incumber’d by a seventh Muscle.
On the other side, the defectiveness observable in the Eyes of some Animals, in comparison of those of Man, may be ascrib’d to the thriftiness (if I may so speak) of Nature, that, on most occasions, declines doing that which is not necessary to the particular Ends, She aims at in the Fabrick of a Part. Thus Moles being design’d to live for the most part under Ground, the Eyes which Nature hath given them, are so little, in proportion to their Bodies, that ‘tis commonly believ’d, and even by some Learned Men maintain’d, they have none at all. But tho’ by Anatomy, I, as well as some others that have try’d, have found the Contrary; yet their Eyes are very differing from those of other Fourfooted Beasts. Which is not to be wonder’d at; considering, that the design of Nature was, that Moles should live under Ground, where a Sight was needless and useless; and where greater Eyes would be more expos’d to danger: And their Sight, as dim as ‘tis, is sufficient to make them perceive that they are no longer under Ground, (at least so as they are wont to be) which seems to be the most necessary use they have of Light and Eyes.
Zoographers observe, That the Camelion has avery uncommon structure of his visive Organs; since, to omit lesser, tho’ not inconsiderable, peculiarities, his Eyes often move independantly from one another; so that, for Instance, he may look directly forward with the right Eye, and with the other at the same time, directly backwards towards his Tail; or may turn the Pupil of the former straight upwards, whilst he looks downwards with the other. Which peculiar power seems to have been granted him by Providence, that, being a very low Animal, and destinated to live for the most part in Trees and Bushes, and there chiefly feed on Flys; He may perceive them, which way soever they chance to come within the reach of his long Tongue, by suddenly darting out of which, he catches his nimble Prey.
Whereas it may be observ’d, that many or most, if not all, meer Fishes have the Chrystalline Humours of their Eyes, almost spherical as to Sense, and consequently far more round than that Humour is wont to be found in Man, and other Terrestrial Animals. This difference of Figure, tho’ it would be inconvenient in Us, does very well accommodate Fishes; since they living in the Water, which as a thicker Medium, does much more refract the Beams of Light, than the Air through which they pass to our Eyes; ‘twas fit, that the Chrystalline Humour of Fishes should be very Globous, that by the help of their Figure, the Beams already refracted by the Water, should be yet so much refracted and made Convergent, as to Paint the Images so near, as upon the bottom of the Eye.
One that being Curious, had more Opportunity than I have, to survey and reflect on the various Structures of the Organs of Vision in differing Animals, may, if I mistake not, be able to find by comparing them with the other parts of the same Animal, and the Scene he is design’d to act on, and the uses he is to make of his Eyes in his most ordinary Circumstances; such a Person, I say, may be able to offer a probable Reason of several differences in those Organs, that, if commonly taken notice of, would seem to the Censorious to be aberrations of Nature, or defects: To which purpose I remember, that an ingenious Cultivator of Opticks, gives this Reason, of what both he and I, have taken notice of (tho’ it be usually overlook’d) about the Figure of the Pupil; namely, that, tho’ it be oblong in Horses, Oxen, and divers other Quadrupeds, as well as in Cats, yet in the former kinds of Animals, the Pupil lies transversly from the right side of the Eye to the left, but in Cats its situation is perpendicular; whereof he ingeniously guesses the Reason may be, that Horses and Oxen, being usually to find their Food growing on the Ground, they can more conveniently receive the Images of the laterally neighbouring Grass, &c. by having their Pupils transversly plac’d; whereas Cats, being to live chiefly upon Rats and Mice, which are Animals that usually climb up or run down Walls, and other steep Places; the commodiousest situation of their Pupil for readily discovering and following these Objects, was to be Perpendicular. But ‘tis time we proceed in our Discourse.
Other Instances to the same purpose with this are elsewhere deliver’d: and therefore I shall now, to strengthen the Apology for Divine providence, take notice, that the differing structures and Situations of the Eyes in several Animals, are very fit to shew the foecundity of the Divine Authors Skill, (if I may so speak,) in being able to frame so great a Variety of exquisite Instruments of Vision. And indeed, if I may presume to guess at any of Gods Ends that are not manifest, (for some others of his Ends seem Conspicuous;) I should think, that this delightful and wonderful Variety that we may observe, not only in Animals themselves consider’d as entire Systemes, but in those parts of them that appear destinated for the same Function, as particularly that of Seeing, was design’d, at least among other Ends, to display the multiplicity of the great Creators Wisdom, and Shew his intelligent Creatures, that his Skill is not confin’d to one sort of Living Engines; nor in the parts of the same kind, (as Eyes, Ears, Teeth, &c.) to the same Contrivances: but is able to make for the same use, a multitude of surprising Organs or Instruments, tho’ not perhaps all equally Perfect, (since to do so, we may think he must make no Animals but Men,) yet all of them curious and exquisite in their kinds, and in order to their differing Ends. To be able to frame both Clocks, and Watches, and Ships, and Rockets, and Granadoes, and Pumps, and Mills, &c. argues and manifests a far greater Skill in an Artificer, than he could display in making but one of those sorts of Engines, how artificially soever he contriv’d it. And the same superiority of knowledge would be display’d, by contriving Engines of the same kind, or for the same purposes after very differing manners. As Weights indeed are of great use and necessity in the famous Clock of Strasburg; and therefore it recommends the Inventors of Watches, not only that they can make Clocks of a very little and easily portable Bulk, which the Strasburg Machine is not, but can make a Clock without weights, and by means of a Spring perform their Office. And thus, tho’ to fly, it seems absolutely necessary that an Animal should be furnisht with Feathers; the Wise Creator hath shewn that he is not confin’d to make use of them for that purpose: since a Flying Fish is able to move a great way in the Air; and the Indies have lately furnisht us with a sort of flying Squirrils (whereof I saw one alive at White-Hall.) And tho’ the flight of these is not long, yet there is another kind of Animals without Feathers that can fly long enough, namely the Batt; tho’ some of these, as I have seen, be little less then Hens: and I have been assurd by a credible Eye-witness, that in the kingdom of Golconda, He had seen much bigger.
But tho’ this consideration may suffice to justify the Wisdom of the Creator, who being an Agent most Free, as well as most Wise; Men ought not to find fault, if he think fit to Recommend his Wisdom by displaying it in very different manners: yet this is not all that may be said on this occasion. For there are many Cases, and perhaps far more than we imagine, wherein the peculiar, and in some regards less perfect, fabrick or situation of an Eye or other Organical part, may be more convenient than the correspondent Organ of Man, to attain the Ends for which was given to an Animal that was to act upon such a Theatre, and live by such Provision. Besides that an Organical part may, in some Animals, be intended for more uses than in others, and therefore may require a differing structure; as in Moles, the Feet are otherwise fram’d or situated than in other Quadrupeds; because the chief use they were to make of them was to walk upon the Ground, but to Dig themselves ways Under Ground. The provident […] wisely suiting the Fabrick of the Parts, to the Uses that were to be made of them: as a mechanist imploys another Contrivance of his Wheels, Pinions, &c. when he is to grind corn with a Mill that is to be driven by Water, than when he is to do the same thing by a Mill that is to be mov’d by the Wind. And the Camelion has a Tongue, both pecurliarly shap’d, and of a length disproportionate to that of his Body, because he was to take his Prey, by shooting out (if I may so speak) his Tongue at the Flies he was to live upon, and could not often approach them very near without frighting them away. And in many Cases in which this Reflection does not so properly take place, we may observe, that there is a wonderful Compensation made, for that which seems a desect in the parts of an Animal of this or that particular species, compar’d with the correspondent ones of a Man, or an Animal of some other species.
Thus Birds, that (except the Bat and one or two more) want Teeth to chew their food, are not only furnish’d with hard Bills to break it; and Birds of prey, as Hawks, &c. with crooked ones to tear it; but, which is more considerable, have Crops to prepare and soften it, and very strong Muscular Stomachs to digest and grind it: In which work they are usually help’d by gravel and little stones that they are led by Instinct to swallow, and which are often found (and sometimes in amazing numbers,) in their Stomachs where they may prove a vicarious kind of Teeth.
I shall hereafter have occasion to say somewhat more against Their Opinion, that find fault with those Animated Structures that we think to be Productions of the Divine Wisdom, under pretence that the Parts of some living Creatures are not so curious and Symmetrical, as not to have been casually producible. But in the mean time, I shall here note, for those that ascribe so much to Chance; that Chance is really no natural Cause or Agent, but a Creature of Man’s Intellect. For the things that are done in the Corporeal World, are really done by the parts of the Universal Matter, acting and suffering according to the Laws of Motion, establish’d by the Author of Nature. But we Men, looking upon some of these parts as directed in their Motions by God, or at least by Nature, and dispos’d to the attainment of certain Ends; if by the intervention of other Causes, that we are not aware of, an Effect be produc’d very differing from that which we suppos’d was intended; we say, that such an Effect was produc’d by Chance. So that Chance is indeed but a Notion of Ours, and such a thing as a Schoolman man might call an Extrinsecal Denomination, and signifies but this; that in our apprehensions, the Physical Causes of an Effect, did not Intend the Production of what they nevertheless produc’d. And therefore I wonder not, that the Philosophers that preceded Aristotle, should not treat of Chance, among Natural Causes; As we may learn from Aristotle himself; who is more just to Them in Suspecting they own’d not such a Cause, than in Taxing them of an Omission for not having Treated of it.
And on this occasion, I shall only add, before I proceed, that whereas some of the most curiously shap’d kind of Stones, as the Astroites, have embolden’d many of the Favourers of Epicurus, to bring them into Competition with these Animals, or Parts of Animals, from their likeness to which, they have receiv’d their Names; it is fit to be consider’d, First, that some Learned Men have of late made it very probable, that some of the curiousest sorts of these Stones were once really the Animals whose shapes they bear, or those Parts of Animals which they resemble; which Animal substances were afterwards turned into Stones, by the supervening of some Petrescent Matter, or Petrifying Cause; of which Metamorphosis I have met with, and do elsewhere mention, more Instances than are fit to be so much as named in this place. Secondly, Though some of those sorts of Stones were the Production of the Mineral Kingdom; (for I will not be Dogmatical in this Point) yet, besides that it would not clearly follow, that they owe their shapes to Chance, since there is no absurdity to admit Seminal Principles in some more elaborate sorts of Fossiles; I think it would be very injurious to make these Productions vye with the Animals, to which they are Compared.
For the Resemblance of shapes, wherein alone they and the Animals Agree, being but the Outward Figure, is but a Superficial thing, and not worthy to be mention’d, in comparison of that wherein they differ: The rude and slight Contexture of the best shap’d Stones, being incomparably inferior to the Internal contrivance of an Animal; which must consist of a multitude of Parts, of such a Figure, Bulk, Texture, Situation, &c. as cannot but be obvious to any that have seen Dissections skilfully made. And ‘tis not only in the Stable and Quiescent parts, that this great Internal Difference between Stones, and the Animals they resemble, is to be found; but there is in a Living Animal a greater difference, than any of the Knives of Anatomists can shew us in a Dead one betwixt a Stone, tho’never so curiously Figur’d, and an Animal. For there are, I know not how many, Liquors, Spirits, Digestions, Secretions, Coagulations, and Motions of the whole Body, and of the Limbs and other parts, which are lodged and perform’d in a Living Body, and not in a Cadaver; and are perchance far more admirable, even than the structure of the stable and quiescent Parts themselves. So that, tho’ a Stone, outwardly very like a Shellfish, were made by Chance; yet from thence to Conclude, that Chance may make a real Living Shell-fish, would be to argue worse than he that should contend, that, because even an unskilful Smith may make a hollow piece of Metal, like a Watch Case, tho’ he can fill it but with filings of Iron, or some other rude Stuff, he must be able to make a Watch; there being less difference betwixt the skill express’d in making the Case of a Watch, and the Movement, than in making a Body like a Shell, and the Internal parts of a real Fish: Or to say, that, because Putrefaction and Winds, have sometimes made Trees hollow, and blown them down into the Water, where they swim like Boats, therefore the like Causes may make a Galley built and contriv’d, as well within as without, according to the Laws of Naval Architecture, and furnish’d with Mariners to Row it, Steer it, and, in a word, to excite and guide all its Motions to the best Advantage, for the Preservation and various Uses of the Vessel. In short, if Chance sometimes does some strange things, ‘tis in reference to what She her self, but not to what Nature, uses to perform.
And now, to give you the Summary of my Thoughts, about the Second Question; 1. I think, that from the Ends and Uses of the Parts of Living Bodies, the Naturalist may draw Arguments, provided he do it with due Cautions, of which I shall speak under the fourth Question. 2. That the Inanimate Bodies here below, that proceed not from Seminal Principles, have but a more parable Texture, (if I may so speak) as Earths, Liquors, Flints, Pebbles, and will not easily warrant Ratiocinations, drawn from their supposed Ends. 3. I think, the Coelestial Bodies do abundantly declare God’s Power and Greatness, by the Immensity of their Bulk, and (if the Earth stand still) the Celerity of their Motions, and also argue his Wisdom and general Providence as to them; because He has for so many Ages, kept so many vast Vortices, or other Masses of Matter, in scarce conceivably rapid Motions, without destroying one another, or loosing their Regularity. And I see no Absurdity in supposing, that, among other Uses of the Sun, and of the Stars, the Service of Man might be intended; but yet I doubt, whether, from the bare Contemplation of the Heavens and their Motions, it may be cogently inferr’d, at least so strongly as Final Causes, may be from the structure of Animals, that either the sole, or the chief, End of them all, is to enlighten the Earth, and bring Benefits to the Creatures that live upon it.
In what has been hitherto said on our Second Question, ‘tis plain, that I suppose the Naturalist to discourse meerly upon Physical Grounds. But if the Revelations, contain’d in the Holy Scriptures, be admitted, we may rationally believe More, and speak less Haesitantly, of the Ends of God, than bare Philosophy will warrant us to do. For, if God is pleased to declare to us any thing concerning His Intentions, in the making of his Creatures, we ought to believe it; tho’ the Consideration of the things themselves, did not give us the least suspicion of it; which yet in our case they do. And therefore a late Ingenious Author did causlessly reflect upon me, for having mention’d the Enlightning of the Earth, and the Service of Men, among the Ends of God, which he thought undiscoverable by us. For whether or no we can discover them by meer Reason, as divers of the Heathen Philosophers thought they did; yet sure we may know Those that God is pleas’d to Reveal to us: And the Persons, I argu’d with, were apparently such as admitted the Authority of the Scriptures; which expresly teach us, (Gen. 1.16) that God made the two great Luminaries, (for so I should render the Hebrew words […]) the greater for the rule of the Day, and the lesser for the rule of the Night. And that He made the Stars also, and set them in the Firmament, or rather Expansum of the Heaven, to give Light upon the Earth. And a little above, among the Uses of the Luminaries these are reckon’d,1 to divide the Day from the Night, and to be for Signs, and for Seasons, and for Days and Years. And in another place, the Prophet Moses dehorting the Israelites from Worshiping the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, tells them, that the Lord, had imparted them unto all nations under the whole Heaven. (Deut. 4.19) And therefore those Cartesians, that being Divines, Admit the Authority of Holy Scripture; should not reject the Consideration of such Final Causes, as Revelation discovers to us; since ‘tis certainly no presumption to think we know Gods Ends, when he himself acquaints us with them; nor to beleive that the Sun, tho’ it be generally esteem’d to be a nobler Body than the Terrestrial Globe, was made, among other Purposes, to give Light to its Inhabitants. ‘Tis recorded in the Book of Genesis, (Gen. 1.26, 27, 28) the Design of God in making man, was, that men should Subdue the Earth (as vast a Globe as ‘tis) and have dominion over the Fish of the Sea, and over the Fowle of the Air, and over the Cattle, and over all the Earth, and (to speak Summarily) over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth.2 And the same Book informs us, that after the Deluge, God deliver’d all Terrestrial Beasts, and Fowle, and Fishes, and every moving thing that lives, into the hands of Men; and intended that they should eat Animals,3 as before the Flood, He had appointed them all the sorts of wholsome Vegetables for their Food. And since God was pleased to appoint that men should live on these Creatures, it cannot be absurd to say, that, among other Purposes to which he destinated the Sun, His Shining upon the Earth was one; since without His Light and Heat, men could not provide for, or enjoy themselves; and neither those Plants that Men and Cattel must live upon, could grow and ripen; nor (consequently) those Animals that were to be their principal Food, and serve them for many other uses, could be sustain’d and provided for. Many other Texts that show, how much God was pleas’d to intend mans welfare, and Dominion over many of his Fellow-creatures, might be here alledg’d. But I shall content my self to mention, what the Kingly Prophet sayes in the 8th Psalm,4 where speaking of Man to his Maker, he sayes; Thou hast made him, a little lower than the Angels, and hast crown’d him with Glory and Honour. Thou mad’st him to have dominion over the works of thine hands, and hast put all things under his Feet. Indeed if in Man we consider only that Visible Part, his Body; the smallness of it may make it thought improbable, that Portions of the Universe incomparably greater than He, should be at all intended to be serviceable to Him. But Christians ought not to think this incredible, if they consider Man, as he chiefly consists of a Rational Mind; which proceeds immediately from God, and is capable of knowing him, loving him, and being Eternally happy with him. They that despise Man consider’d in this capacity, do very little know the worth of a Rational Soul; and estimate things like Masons, and not like Jewellers, who justly value a Diamond no bigger than a Bean, more than a whole Quarry of ordinary Stones. And particularly to those Undervaluers of their own Species that are Divines; it may be represented, that God, who will not be deny’d to be the best Judge in this case, as in all others; was pleas’d to consider Men so much, as to give David cause to admire it in the words lately cited; and not only to endow them with his Image at their first Creation, but when they had criminally lost and forfeited it, he vouchsaf’d to Redeem them by no less than the Sufferings and Death of his own Son; who is incomparably more excellent than the whole World. And ‘tis not incredible that God should have intended, that many of his other works should be serviceable to Man; since by Miraculous Operations he hath some times Suspended the Laws of Nature, and sometimes Over rul’d them, upon the account of Man: as may appear by Noahs Flood; by the passage of the Israelites on dry Land through the Red Sea, and the River of Jordan; by the standing still of the Sun and Moon (or the Terestrial Globe) at Joshua’s command; by the in efficacy of the burning Fiery Furnace, on Daniels three Companions; and (to be short) by the stupendious Ecclipse of the Sun at the full Moon, at the Crucifixion of the Messias. To which I might add, that the chief part of Mankind, namely the Children of God, will by their most bountiful Remunerator, be thought fit to inhabit the New World (for that by an Hebraism is meant by the new Heavens and the new Earth St. Peter speaks of) which shall succeed the Renovation and Refinement of the Present World by the last Fire,5 that will not only Dissolve, but, if I may so so speak, Transfigure it.
And we shall the less scruple to admit that such vast and bright Bodies as the Sun and Moon, may be design’d (among other things) to be serviceable to Men; if we consider, that ‘tis so far from being a constant Rule, That a Thing more excellent cannot (by a wise Agent) be imploy’d for the good of one that is less so; that not only the first Angel whose Apparition we read of in the Scripture,6 was sent to relieve Hagar, a Slave wandring in a Wilderness; another had regard to the life of a Sooth-sayers Asse;7 and many others (and sometimes Companies of them) were imployd on Earth to do good Offices to particular persons: but of all the Angels in general; the Excellent Epistle to to the Hebrews informs us,8 That they are Ministring Spirits, sent forth to Minister unto them who shall be Heirs of Salvation.
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