AS to the Generality of Celestial Bodys, it seems not safe to propound Arguments of their Nature, from the supposition of particular Ends, at least of the Human ones, design’d by the Author of Nature in framing them.
I will not only Allow you, but Encourage you, to take a Rise from the Contemplation of the Celestial Part of the World, and the Shining Globes that Adorn it, and especially the Sun and Moon; To Admire the Stupendious Power and Wisdom of Him that was able to frame such Immense Bodys, and, notwithstanding their Vast Bulk, and (if the Earth stand still) scarce conceiveable Rapidity, keep them for so ma-Ages, so Constant, both to the Lines and Paces of their Motion, without justling or interfereing with one another. And I shall most willingly joyn with you, in returning Thanks and Praises to the Divine Providence and Goodness, for having so plac’d the Sun and Moon, and determin’d the former (or the Earth) to move in such Lines, under that Oblique Circle Astronomers call the Ecliptick, that there needs Skill in Cosmography to be able to Apprehend, how useful these Situations and Motions are, for the Good of Men and other Animals; and how disadvantageous it would have been to the Inhabitants of the Earth, if the Luminaries had been otherwise plac’d or moved than they are. But for all this, I dare not imitate Their Boldness, that not only affirm, that the Sun and Moon, and all the Stars, and other Celestial Bodys, were made solely for the use of Man; but Presume to ground Arguments, to evince such a System of the World to be True, and such another Erroneous, because the Former is, as they think, better fitted to the Conveniency of Mankind, or the other less suited to that End, or perhaps altogether Useless or unnecessary to it: As when they Argue, that the Sun and other vast Globes of Light, ought to be in perpetual Motion to Shine upon the Earth; because, as They fancy, ‘tis more convenient for Man, that those Distant Bodys, than that the Earth, which is His Habitation, should be kept in Motion. But, considering things as meer Naturalists, it seems not very likely, that a most Wise Agent should have Made such vast Bodys, as the Sun and the fixt Stars, especially if we suppose them to Move with that Inconceiveable Rapidity that Vulgar Astronomers Do and Must assign them; Only or Chiefly to Illuminate a little Globe, that without Hyperbole is but a Physical Point, in comparison of the Immense Spaces compris’d under the Name of Heaven; whose Lights might as well Illuminate the Earth, if They were a thousand times Lesser than they are, provided they were plac’d at a proportionably Less Distance from It. And ‘twill be very hard to Assign, what considerable Use the Terrestrial Globe or its Inhabitants Derive, from that Multitude of Celestial Globes that make the Milky Way; since each of those Stars is so far from being singly able to Inlighten the Earth, that Aristotle, and the generality of Philosophers for many Ages, (therein followd by divers of the Peripatetick Schools at this day) took the whole Aggregate of them for a Meteor. And what Light, or other known Advantage, can the Earth or its Inhabitants Derive from those many Fixt Stars that the Telescope only can discover, (and which for that reason I sometimes call Telescopical Stars) among the six or seven Conspicuous Ones of the Pleiades, or among those that the Naked Eye can see in the Belt or Girdle of Orion? which (Constellations) I scarce ever look upon, through a good Telescope, without Wonder.
I foresee, it may be said, that These and other the like Celestial Bodys may be at least Thus far Useful to Man, as to Discover to him, and give him a Rise to Admire and Praise, the Greatness and Power of the Divine Maker: And if this be said, I shall not quarrel with the Allegation, but readily grant, that, tho’ perhaps his Wisdom shines as bright to Us Men, in the Structure of a Gloworm, as in the Disposition of the unseen Stars that make up the Galaxy; yet the Immensity of his Power could not perhaps be so well declar’d by less Vast Productions of it. But still these Arguments are not purely Physical, but of that sort that I call Physico-Theological, whose Inferences Relate to the General Intendments of God in the Universe, which I therefore Style Cosmical Ends; but do not reach to Prove any thing about the determinate Nature of particular Bodys. And since the Utmost that Philosophy teaches us, is, that in general the Good of Man was One of the Ends design’d by God, in so framing the World as we see it is fram’d: There may be other Ends designd by the same Omniscient Author of Nature, of those Telescopical and other Small or Remote Stars, whose Uses to Us are doubtful or inconsiderable; towards the attainment of which Ends, those Celestial Bodies and Motions may be admirably contriv’d and directed. And, We not being able by meer Reason to Investigate what those Ends are, tho’ we have not near so much Reason to assure us that there may not be such Ends, as the Infiniteness of God’s Wisdom gives us to think there may be; ‘tis Presumptuous for Us to Judge of the System of the World, and of the Destinations of Fixt Stars so Remote, that, tho’ they be probably like so many Suns, We cannot so much as Discern them without good Telescopes. By That Systtems Greater or Lesser A[…]vantageousness to Us: Especially, since tho’ it were certain that, among other Uses, God intended they should be in some sort Serviceable to Us, yet he has no way declared to us, in what Capacity, or to what Degree, they shall be Useful to Us. And therefore if they be so in any Measure (as for example Mentally,) they are So, for what we know, as much as He design’d they should be: and That it self being an unmerited Favor, deserves our humble Thanks. And it seems very likely, that God did not design to all the parts of the Earth it self, Equal, and consequently not the Greatest, Advantages by the present Systeme of the Universe; since the Countries Inhabited by the Samoids and Novazemblans, and other Nations that like very near the Arctick Pole, want many Conveniencies and Advantages enjoy’d by the Inhabitants of the Temperate Zones, that lye nearer the Way in which the Sun moves.
But, tho’ bare Philosophy does not favour the Bold Opinion I dare not assent to; yet I know, ‘twill be pretended, that Revelation does. And I readily confess, that the Terraqueous Globe, and its Productions, (among which perhaps the Atmosphere may be reckoned) and especially the Plants and Animals ‘tis furnish’d with, do by the Scripture appear to have been design’d for the Use and Benefit of Man, who has therefore a Right to Imploy as many of them, as he is able to Subdue: and that the two Luminaries themselves, the Sun and Moon,1 were appointed by God to give Light upon the Earth, and be useful to all the Nations that Inhabit it: And that therefore the Kingly Prophet had reason to exclaim, How manifold are thy works O Lord! How wisely hast thou made them all!2 when in the precedent and subsequent words, he applys this to the Terraqueous Globe, and its Inhabitants. And He might justly say, as he elsewhere did, That the Heavens declare the Glory of God, and the Firmament sheweth his handy Work. But these General Declarations,3 tho’ they be just Motives of our Wonder and Thankfulness; yet I fear they are not good Topicks to draw such Physical Conclusions from, in particular Cases, as some Learned Men adventure to do. For I do not remembar, that ‘tis any where declar’d in the Scripture, that the Service of Man was the Only, or perhaps so much as the Chief, Use of all the Celestial Lights, and other Bodys of that Immense Part of the World. And This Single Consideration ought to oblige us, to be very wary in making Ascriptions to our selves, as if the Great System of the World were to be estimated by Our Conveniencies. And if it be said, that Things meerly Corporeal have not, and Man alone has, a Rational faculty, whereby to Refer the great & wonderful Works of God to the Glory of their Maker; I shall take the Liberty to answer, that, tho this has been Affirm’d by Many, if not also Assented to by All, yet I have not found it prov’d by Any. And I somewhat wonder, that Divines should on this Occasion overlook that passage in the 38th. Chapter of Job, which they generally interpret of the Angels. For the Question, which God there puts to Job,4 may be justly applyed to Adam himself; Where wast thou when I laid the Foundations of the Earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. When the Morning Starrs sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy. And indeed, if We even may presume to Conjecture of such things, it seems to me reasonable to think, that God created the Angels before the Material World, thar He might have Intelligent Beings to pay him the just Tribute of Praises, for so Admirable a Spectacle as That of the Riseing World, or rather the Beginning and Progress of the Creation. However by the words last Cited out of the Book of Job, it appears, that before Man was made (for that he was not till the 6th. day) God wanted not Intelligent Spectators and Applauders of his Corporeal Works. And since the Angels are a Nobler Order of Intellectual Creatures than Men, and are not Unconcern’d Spectators of the Works of God: How do we know, but that in the Systeme of That Part of Heaven, of which we need Telescopes to Know that there is such a thing in rerum Natura; and in the Plants, Animals, or other furniture, what ever it be, of those Particular, and to Our naked Eyes Invisible, Stars, that serve Us men barely for Declarations of their Makers Power; such Intelligent Spirits as Angels may discern as Wise Destinations, and as Admirable Contrivances, as Those, which at the forming of the Earth and its Furniture, invited their devout Hymns and Acclamations? And in this Case, God will not loose any thing of the Glory due to the Divine Attributes, display’d in the Fabrick of the Celestial part of the World, tho the fixt Stars, should be neither Only nor Principally design’d for the Service of Men.
To what has been hitherto said, to let you see the Reasonableness of my first Caution, which represents the Making Particular and meerly Physical Inferences from the supposed Destinations of Celestial Bodyes, as a thing Unsafe, I shall now add in the Second place;
That ‘tis yet more unsafe, to ground Arguments of the Nature of particular Bodies that are Inanimate in the Sublunary World, upon the Uses we think they were design’d for.
This will not appear an unreasonable Caution if we consider, How little we know of the Particular Purposes of Nature in those Bodies here below, which not being Organical, like those of Animals and Plants, cannot by the Curiousness of their Structure disclose to us the Particular Ends to which they were ordained. And as for their Motions, since they are extremely far from being so constant and Regular as those of the Celestial Bodies, the Caution we gave about drawing Arguments from the System of the Heavens, will not, sure, be thought unfit to take place when we speak of the Clays, Chalks, and Stones, and the like Terrestrial Bodies, whose Textures are, comparatively to those of Living Creatures, very Simple, and Slight, and seldom more Curious than may be made by Art,5 by Dissolving Stones and Metals in Chymical Menstruums, and afterwards Chrystallizing the Solutions; of which I elsewhere give Examples. Tis true, that, tho’ Revelation speaks rather of Gods having destinated Animals and Vegetables, than Inanimate Bodyes, to the Service of Men; yet there is no absurdity to conceive, that generally speaking, That may be one of the Ends design’d by the Author of Nature, in making Metals, Stones, and those other Inanimate parts of the Terrestrial Globe that Man is able to master and make use of. But whereas in this Globe the Surface is distant from the Center, above three thousand and five hundred Miles; and I do not find that either Mens Spades or their Plumming Lines have reach’d above one Mile of that great number; Nor is it very likely, that Human Industry will ever make its way down to the Thousandth part of that vast Depth: it seems very improbable, that the remaining Internal part of the Earth, that is above seven thousand Miles thick, and may, for ought we know, contain great varieties of Fossils and other Creatures, should be made Chiefly or Only for the service of Men, from whose sight they lye hid in a deeper Well than that of Democritus; and who do not so much as know what kind of Bodies they are. And tho’ it will not hence follow, that the Terraqueous Globe was made by Chance, no more than that any of the other Planets was so; because the Admirable Structure of Plants and Animals evinces the Existence and Providence of a most Wise and Powerful Author of things, who may justly be suppos’d to have made nothing in Vain, even among the Inanimate portions of our Globe, whose Animated portions are so wisely and exquisitely framed: yet, that those Inanimate Bodies were made for determinate Ends, is more easy to be deduc’d from the knowledge we have by oother Mediums, that they are the Productions of a Wise and Provident Author, than by the Contemplation of these Inanimate Bodies themselves. And perhaps it may be worth Inquriry, whether some things may not be made, even by a wise Agent, not out of a Primary Intention, but as Productions that will naturally follow upon the Establishment and Preservation of those grand Laws and Rules of Motion, that were most fit to be setled among Things Corporeal. And ‘tis very possible, that according to that Cosmical Establishment (if I may so call it,) many parts of the Terrestrial Globe should be so plac’d or dispos’d of, as not to be serviceable to Men; because the whole Aggregate, or Globulous Mass, could not otherwise be so wel suited to the General Destinations of the Universe, which, if otherwise Contriv’d would perhaps have been less serviceable than now it is to Man himself. To Countenance which Consideration, I shall observe, that, tho the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon be usually Unwelcom, and if Astrologers may be credited, often very Prejudicial to Multitudes of Men;6 yet the great Former of all things, or as the Original will bear it, of the whole, did not think fit to alter the Tracts or Lines of Motion, that he assigned the Luminaries, to avoid the Ecclipses that must yearly ensue upon their Moveing in such Lines. Whence we may also learn, that some Phoenomena may not belong to the Primary Intention of Nature, but are only the necessary Consequences and Effects, of the Primitive Constitution of the World, and the Catholick Laws of Motion. And if it be here demanded, what the Ends are, for which the Deep and hidden parts of the Terraqueous Globe, and the Telescopical Stars of the Firmament, were made; if they were not made for the Use of Man: I shall frankly answer, that I cannot tell: And I know not but such an Answer may be more expressive of the profound Reverence we owe the great Author of Nature, than Their Opinion is, that would have all these made for the Use of Man: since, To say that we know not why some Part of a Work is made by an Artist, whom other parts proclaim to be most Wise and Skillful, does both Acknowledge our own Ignorance, and leave it highly probable that such Pieces of Work are suited to Purposes worthy of Him, and suitable to Them; and seems therefore a safer and more respectful Opinion, than to suppose Him to have made such things for a Particular End, which we cannot make out to be in any considerable measure worthy of his Wisdom, and attainable by them.
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