Nor is this Doctrine inconsistent with the beleif of any True Miracle; for, it supposes the Ordinary and Settled Course of Nature to be maintain’d, without at all denying, that the most Free and Powerful Author of Nature is able, whenever he thinks fit, to Suspend, Alter, or Contradict those Laws of Motion, which He alone at first Establish’d, and which need His perpetual Concourse to be Upheld.

The Laws of Method would oblige me to conclude here this Section, and pass on to another: But in regard that all I thought my self oblig’d to say about it, leaves it so very short, as to be very Disproportionate in Bulk to the other Sections of this Discourse; I will crave leave to lengthen it in this place, with Something, which, tho’ it may be judg’d to belong more properly to Another, will not perhaps be thought to be impertinent Here; and much less to be useless to the design of this Discourse.

Here then you may please to take notice, that in all that I have discours’d in the second Section, or may elsewhere have occasion to say, against the receiv’d Opinion, that the whole material World was made for Man; I would not be understood to speak either too dogmatically, or too exclusively: my design being to deliver, what I thought might probably be represented, to take off the Prejudice, that Men are generally prepossess’d with in their own favour. For, tho’ the Arguments I alledge Against the vulgar Opinion, seem as yet to me more probable than those I have hitherto met with For it, especially as it relates to the vast Caelestial Region of the World; yet I am not only willing to grant, that, among the Ends design’d by the Authour of Nature in several of his Works, especially Plants, Animals and Metals, the Utility of men may be one, and perhaps one of the principal: but I am not averse from thinking, that Humane Ends, (or Uses that relate to Men,) may have been design’d by God in several Creatures, whose Humane Vses Men are not yet a ware of: And that he may have intended, that of several of his Creatures, whereof Men do already know, and make some Uses, they shall hereafter discover other Utilities, and perhaps nobler Ones.

Those that reflect on the Providence of God, whilst they represent what they call Nature as a Step-mother to Man, whom She brings Naked, Toothless, and Helpless into the World; whilst She furnishes the new Born Foetus’s of Brutes with Wooll or other Clothing, and both with a Power to Walk and Seek their Food, and (as to many of them) with Teeth to Eat it: Those men, I say, have been long ago answer’d by the Eloquent Lactantius, and other Champions of Providence. And therefore I shall only add this, that God by giving Man Necessity and Reason, has effectually Excited him, and richly Furnisht Him with Ability, to procure for himself far greater Accommodations and Advantages, than those Beasts come into the world with; and by vouchsafing him that Noble Faculty of Understanding, He has put it in his Power to convert to his own use those very Things, for which Profane Wits would have the Condition of Beasts preferable to His. For Man, by his Reason imploying skilfully such Admirable Instruments as his Hands, is able to Master and Apply to his own Uses, the fierceness of several Wild Beasts, as Leopards (which the Persians Hunt with,) the vast strength of Elephants, the huge bulk of Whales, the Sagacity of Spaniels, Hounds, and Setters, the Swiftness of Grey-Hounds, the Suttlety of Tumblers, and the Furs of Beavers, Martins, &c. To omit a Multitude of others, which God, by the single Gift of Reason to Man, has inabled him to master and make use of to his own advantage. And tho’ at first he be helpless enough, and unable to exercise his Dominion over inferiour Creatures; yet God has sufficiently provided for Him, by giving his Parents whilst he needs them, that στοργὴ Natural affection for Him, which engages them to take care of him, till he be in a condition to take care of himself; and become qualify’d to obtain such knowledge and Industry, as may make him Possessor of the advantages, whereof his Indulgent and Bountiful Creatour made him capable.

Those Moderns that think it rediculous to Imagine, that, in framing such Vast Bodies as the Earth, and some of the Caelestial Globes, their Creatour should have any Regard to so small a Part of the Earth as Man, and design’d that They should be some way or other serviceable to him, look upon Things rather as Surveyers, who consider mainly their Extent, than as Philosophers, that Estimate them by their Intrinsick Value. For tho’ it be true, that Man consider’d barely as an Animal, is a Creature little enough to be Contemptible; yet as He is endow’d with a Soul Immaterial, Rational, and Immortal, he is a Creature much more Noble and Excellent than the whole Terraqueous Globe, or a much vaster Masse of Corporeal Substance that is Stupid and Inanimate. For the Rational Soul is capaof Understanding and Willing, (which are higher Faculties than meer Matter can reach to) and which is more, of Knowing, Serving and Enjoying God. And Man being the only Visible Creature, that is capable to Understand the Wisdom, Power, and Beneficence of God in the Creation, and in many ways to Subdue a great Variety of the other Creatures, and Apply them to his Uses: it ought not to seem strange, that the Wise Author of the Universe, that made all things so as to bring Glory to himself, should have a more especial regard to so Noble a Piece of his Workmanship, than to any, that being meerly Corporeal, can neither Understand his Wisdom and his Power, nor Render him thanks nor Praises for the Manifold and admirable Effects of them. And that Littleness that is alledged to make Man a Contemptible Creature, is so far from being a Disparagement to that Noble part of him, the Soul, which makes him a Man, that is, a Rational Creature; that its Excellency consists in being less than the Minutest Body; Since not having Extension, it is not Divisible; which is the Prerogative of Substances, which, for that reason, are Immaterial and Immortal.

This mention of the Human Mind leads me to a further Reflexion, which is, That many parts of the Material World, whereof Man has not been known to make any advantage, in the Capacity of a meer Animal, may yet be highly useful to him, as he is a Rational Creature, that is, Capable, by Contemplating the great and Admirable Works of God, to Raise his Mind to the acknowledgment of the Divine Architects Power, Wisdom, and Beneficence, and thereby Find produc’d in him due Sentiments of Veneration, Gratitude and Love. And These may be safely reckon’d among those Ends or Uses, which in the first Section we have Styl’d Human Ones; Since some of the Heathen Philosophers themselves call’d the World a Temple, and one of the more Philosophical Fathers of the Church loftily Styles it, παιδευτήριον τῆς θεογνωσίας, καὶ ψυχῶν λογικῶν διδασκαλεῖον.

And indeed we find, that the Psalmist alone may furnish us with divers Instances to our present purpose.⁴ For not only He teaches us that the Heavens declare the Glory of God, and that in a Language, that, notwithstanding what happen’d at Babel, reaches to all the Nations of the World; but He imploys the Contemplation of Gods Visible Works, to excite in himself and others true Sentiments, both of Devotion and of particular Vertues. Thus the Consideration of his having been wonderfully form’d in his Mothers Womb,⁵ moves Him to Revere and Celebrate the admirable Skill of the Opificer.⁶ Elsewhere the Consideration of the Regular Vicissitudes observable in the course of Nature, invite him to Admire and Extoll the Providence of God. And when in another place, He beholds those Vast Bodies and Shining Ones,⁷ that compose and adorn the Coelestial part of the World, he justly falls into Sentiments of great Humility and deserved Gratitude.

And as to This Use, the Distance; and Vastness of the fixt Starrs, the Immensity of the Heavens, and the Regular Motion of the Superiour Planets, (supposing they can bring Man no other advantage) may do him good Service; since they afford him Rational and Solid Grounds to believe, admire, adore, and obey the Deity. For by thus Spiritualizing (if I may so speak) the Corporeal works of God, there may accrew to the Pious Soul, Uses far more valuable than they can afford the Body; since they will Perfectionate the Mind here, and Continue to be advantagious to it, when the Body will not need the World, and the World it self, as to its present Constitution, shall be destroy’d.

But to proceed from this Use of the World, which is Theological, to a Humane Use, that is more Physical, as relating to the present welfare of Man, as he is an Animal, as well as a Rational Creature: I shall represent That, as a Nation is oftentimes, in the account of Providence, consider’d as one Man, notwithstanding Its various dispersions, and perhaps long continuance; as the Israelitish People, during many Ages, notwithstanding its Divisions and Captivities, was address’d to and treated, by the Prophets and Apostles commission’d by God, as one Person, nam’d Israel, whom God somtimes in the Scripture is pleas’d to call his Son:⁸ so perhaps it will not be absurd to conceive, that Mankind it self may in some regards, or as to some purposes, be lookt upon by its Author as one Man, who, by Successive Improvements of his knowledge, may from time to time be enabled to make New and considerable Uses of the things, that the Wise and bountiful Providence of his Maker had fram’d, with a Foresight that he would, and with Intention that he might, make them advantagious to him. And therefore it cannot safely be concluded That every thing whose Usefulness to Man is not yet obvious, nay, That every thing that seems hurtful to him, can never be made beneficial to him. For we see that Opium was for many ages look’d on only as a Poyson, but now is imploy’d as a Noble Remedy, (as indeed it is, if skilfully prepar’d & Judiciously exhibited) in many Violent, and oftentimes Dangerous, Distempers. Vipers are Venemous Animals; but yet their Flesh is a main Ingredient of that famous Antidote Treacle; and being in great part Dissolv’d in Tract of Time in good Spanish Wine, I have try’d it with Surprizing Success, in an uncommon and very difficult Case. Scorpions also afford, by bare Infusion, an Oyl that not only Cures their own Stings, but is very available in several Distempers. And I remember, that a learned Professor of Padua, having Cured the Widow of a Soveraigne Prince of a Fit of the Stone, answer’d me some few Days after, that the chief Remedy he Imploy’d and Rely’d on, was a Preparation (which he intimated to Consist mainly in a light kind of Calcination) of Scorpions, which, somewhat to my Wonder, he made his Patient take inwardly. And, tho’ the Roots of Maudioca be reckon’d among Poysons, when the Juice is in them, of which I elsewhere relate a Notable Instance; yet, when the Juice is Press’d out, and the Firm part reduc’d to Meal, it affords the Cassava, which is the Common Bread of a great Part of the Americans: and I did not scruple to Eat of it here in England. Nay the Poysonous Juice it self, in Divers places of the West Indies, is even by the unskilful Inhabitants turn’d into an Ordinary, and by them beloved Drink. But enough of this sort of Instances; I shall be more Brief in those of another Kind, whereof the first is afforded by the Loadstone, which, tho’ for many Ages admir’d by Greeks and Romans, for what is Commonly call’d its Attractive Vertue, had not its Directive Vertue known, at least any thing Vulgarly, in these parts of the World, till within less than four Ages; Since when, of what Vast Use this Stone has prov’d to Mankind, the discovery of the West-Indies, and of the Way of Sailing by the Cape of good Hope to the East-Indies, sufficiently declares. I will say nothing of the Uses of the Silk Worm, and the Sugar-Cane, which were little taken Notice of for many Ages, even by the Civiliz’d and Lux urious Greeks and Romans; but now, together with the lately discover’d Cocheneal, which is but an Insect, and far less than the Silk Worm, make a good part of the Trade of Europe, and furnishes the Tables of the Delicate with Sweet meats, and the Courts of Princes with many of their Finest Ornaments. But not to insist on such things as these, but to proceed.

It deserves also to be consider’d on this occasion, That many Things that are not thought Useful to Men, because we see not that they directly bring in many Immediate Advantages, may yet be of great Use to them, as they Minister to, or are Necessary for, other things that are very serviceable to them. As the excessive Rains that cause the overflowings of Rivers in divers parts of Africk, and some other Countries, tho’ they seem rather Destructive than profitable, do yet, by their seasonable Inundations, make Egypt and some other Countries exceeding Fertile, that without them would be very Barren: and among Us, those Clouds that do us no Immediate Service, do oftentimes, by Watering our Fields and Gardens in Summer, and by Manuring them, as ‘twere, in Winter, do Nourish those Trees, Grass, Corn, Herbs, and other Plants, whereof some Serve immediately for Aliments to Man, and others are necessary for the nourishment of Sheep, Oxen, Deer, and other Beasts that Men usually feed upon.

Not only Plants, and Animals, and Stones, and Metals, and such other smaller Bodies as are within Mans reach, are capable of being made use of by Him; but to advance a Step farther, to far greater Masses of Matter, and even some of those remote Caelestial Globes, which he is thought able only to Contemplate; One of those Ends, to which the Indulgent Creatour destinated them, may be To be serviceable to Man.

To say nothing of the advantage that skilsul Seamen make of the Ebbing and Flowing of that vast Collection of Waters, the Ocean; The Declination of the Mariners Needle, and the Variation of it, which probably depends upon the Motitions or changes of some Vast Internal Portion of the Terraqueous Globe, is found to be of great Use by Experienc’d Pilots and Navigators, in their Voyages through those Vast Seas they use to pass, between Europe and the East-Indies; as I learnt by particular Enquiry, from Eminent Persons, that have more than once Sail’d upon those Seas. The Moon, to omit her Light, serves Men, not only to make Moon-Dials by, and to foretell regularly the Times and Quantities of the Various Ebbings and Flowings of the Sea, the knowledge of which is very Beneficial, if not necessary, to Mariners, but serves Mathematicians for Divers other Purposes. The Sun, not to mention his ordinary Light and Heat, and the necessity of them to the Plants and Animals that afford Man Food and Medicines, and to the Production of many other Effects; whereon his Welfare depends, do inable him, by Concave and convext Glasses, to burn with Coelestial Beams, without the help of Culinary Fire; and enable the Gnomonist to make Accurate Dials, to know exactly how the Time passes; the Cosmographer, to make very useful Discoveries of the Elevation of the Pole, and Latitudes of Places; and the heedful Observer of his Rising and Setting, to discover what Artists call his Amplitude, which is of good use to Astronomers, and more to Navigators, by helping them to estimate, among other things, the Variation of the Compass, (from true North and South Points.) And the Conjunction or Opposition of the Sun and Moon in Ecclipses, tho’ it be a frightful thing to the Superstitious Vulgar, yet to Knowing Men, that can Skilfully apply them, these Ecclipses are of great Use, and such as common Heads would never have Imagin’d; Since not only They may, on divers occasions, help to settle Chronology, and rectify the Mistakes of Historians, that writ many Ages ago; but, which is, tho’ a less Wonder, yet of greater Utility, They are, as things yet stand, necessary to define with competent Certainty, the Longitude of Places or Points assign’d on the Terraqueous Globe; which is a thing of very great moment, not only to Geography, but to the most useful and important Art of Navigation. And lastly, at how stupendious a distance soever the Fixt Stars are plac’d, yet their remoteness cannot hinder the Industry of Man, from making even These Serviceable to his Uses; Since, if we should admit those determinate Coelestial Influences that are little less than the Idols of Astrologers, they would enable us to predict the Changes of Weather, the Fertility and Dearth, the Sickliness, or Healthiness, of any propos’d Season; and, not to lay any stress upon so Controverted a Science, ‘tis plain that Skilful Navigators can make use of any of the fixt Stars, to know by any of them, what Hour ‘tis of the Night: And ‘tis more known, that Fishermen and Pilots did generally for many Ages, till within these four last Centuries, make very great use of the Pole-Star, and other of the Northern fixt Ones, to guide them, when nothing else could, in the perilous Courses of their Navigations.

I have seen, and been Master of a Telescope, made in the form of a Walking-Staff, so that it was fitted to serve for several purposes; whereof tho’ one was very different from the other, yet all of them were in the Idaea of the Artificer, and intended by him. The like may be said of a Concave Metalline Burning-Glass; which, tho’ it is imploy’d to magnify the Pictures of Objects, to cast their Images into the Air, and to Concenter the Sun-beams to a Focus, in which they will burn several Bodies; yet These and many other things, which, tho’ they seem to have little Affinity with these, are perform’d by a Metalline Concave, were beforehand destinated by the Artist, who foresaw and intended, that in such various Junctures of Circumstances, it should produce all those determinate Effects.

And indeed, if we consider Gods Omniscience and Providence, and how Indulgent a Creator he has been to Man; it may well seem reasonable to think, that as God foresaw that Men might make very various and profitable Uses of divers of his other Creatures, by the help of that Prerogative of Reason, which he had vouchsaf’d them; So he design’d that Men should reap the Advantages he had made many of his other Works capable of affording them. And I confess, I think this Reflection may justly serve to Recommend the Doctrine about Final Causes that we embrace, to Philosophers that are truly pious: Since it furnishes them with just Arguments for Gratitude to the Author of so many good things, as the Corporeal World, by being contemplated or possest, affords them. For to look upon the World, as vast and curious a Work as it is, only as a vast and curious piece of Workmanship; may indeed give a Man a great Idaea of the Power and Skill of the Divine Architect: But will rather exact his Wonder, than his Gratitude. And therefore the Ancient Aristotelians, who look’d upon the World as Eternal and Self-existent in a Condition like its present System; did not use to Thank God for the Benefits they receiv’d from things Corporeal: Tho’ some of them thought themselves Oblig’d to thank Nature; which they look’d upon as acting with Design, and proposing to her Self for Ends, the Welfare of the Universe, and of Men. To illustrate this with something, whose Application is Obvious. If a Traveller being in some Ill-inhabited Eastern Country, should come to a large and fair Building, such as One of the most Stately of those they call Caravanzeras; tho’ He would esteem, and be delighted with the Magnificence of the Structure, and the Commodiousness of the Apartments; yet supposing it to have been Erected but for the Honour or the Pleasure of the Founder, He would Commend so staely a Fabrick, without thanking him for it. But if he were Satisfied that this Commodious Building was design’d by the Founder, as a Receptacle for Passengers, who were freely to have the Use of the many Conveniencies the Apartments afforded; he would then think himself oblig’d, not only to Praise the Magnificence, but with Gratitude to acknowledge the Bounty, and the Philanthropy of so Munificent a Benefactor.

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Footnotes

1. viz. Whether, and in what sense, the Acting for Ends may be ascribed to an Vnintelligent, and even Inanimate Body? ↩

2. vid. Aristot. De Coelo, lib. II. c. 5. & eund. De Gen. & Interitu lib. II. cap. 10. ↩

3. Heb. 11.10. ↩

4. Psal. xix. 1, 2, 3. ↩

5. Ps. CXXXIX. 14. ↩

6. Psal. civ. thorowout especially v. 24. ↩

7. Psa. viij. 3.4. ↩

8. Exod. 4.22. Hos. 11.1. ↩