And a like skilfulness of Nature in the Mechanical Contrivance of the Parts, is more obviously discernable in the Structure of that admirable Engine, by which such variety of other Engines are made, the Hand: where (not to mention the Ligamentum latum, or Wrist-band, that keeps the Tendons that move under it from inconveniently starting up upon the Contraction of the respective Muscles) the wonderful perforations that are made through the Tendons of the Musculi per forat, by those of the Musculi perforantes, for the more commodious motion of the Joynts of the Fingers, may conspicuously manifest the Mechanical Dexterity of Nature; as it may her Husbanding (if I may so speak) of her Work, That in a Fœtus, whil’st it lies in the Womb, because the Lungs are not to be display’d as afterwards, and so the Blood needs not circulate thorow Them from the right Ventricle of the Heart, into the left, for the use of Respiration, as it must in grown Animals, she contrives a nearer way; and by certain short Pipes, peculiar to such young Creatures, she more commodiously performs in them the Circulation of the Blood, proportion’d to their present condition; and afterwards, when the Animal is brought out of the Womb into the open Air, and put upon the constant exercise of his Lungs, these temporary Conduitpipes little by little vanish. So careful is Nature not to do things in vain.

And therefore I do not much wonder, that Galen, though I remember he somewhere (unprovokedly and causelesly enough) derides Moses, and seems not over much inclin’d to make Religious acknowledgements; yet when he comes to consider particularly the exquisite Structure of a humane Body, should break forth into very elevated, and even pathetical Celebrations of God, and tell us, That in his Books,⁴ De usu Partium, he compos’d Hymns to the Creators praise. And certainly, he that shall see a skilful Anatomist dextrously dissect that admirable part of Man, the Eye, and shall consider the curious Contrivance of the several Coats, Humors, and other Parts it consists of, with all their adaptations and uses, would be easily perswaded, That a good Anatomist has much stronger Invitations to believe, and admire an Omniscient Author of Nature, then he that never saw a Dissection, especially if he should see how all of these concur to make up one Optical Instrument to convey the Species of the visible object to the Optick Nerve, and so to the Brain; as I have, with pleasure consider’d it, in the recent Eye of a Cat (for with keeping, it will grow flaccid) cut cleanly off, where the Optick Nerve enters the Sclerotis, and is going to expand it self into the Retina, for holding this Eye at a convenient distance betwixt yours and a Candle, you may see the Image of a Flame lively exprest upon that part of the back side of the Eye at which the Optick Nerve enters the above-mention’d Sclerotis: Some thing of this kinde we have also shown our Friends with the eyes of dead Men, carefully sever’d from their heads; and with the (dexterously taken out) Christalline humor of a Humane Eye, we have often read, as with a Lens or Magnifying glass. And to assist you in so pleasing a speculation, as that of the Eye, we shall adde, That by reason Ox Eyes are much larger, and much easier to be had then humane ones, we are wont to make much use of them, and to discern some things better in their Coats, we immerse them for a little while in boyling Water, and to be able to consider the form and bigness of the Vitreous and Crystalline humors, better then the fluidity of the one, and the softness of the other are wont to allow Anatomists to do; we have sometimes, by a way hereafter to be set down, speedily frozen Eyes, and thereby have turn’d the Vitreous humor into very numerous and Diaphanous Films (as it were of Ice, and the Crystalline into a firm Substance, but (which perhaps you will wonder at) not Transparent. An eye thus frozen, may be cut along that which Optical Writers call the Optical Axis, and then it affords an instructive Prospect, which we have not been able to obtain any other way. But because, notwithstanding this Expedient in the Eyes of Men, and the generality of Terrestrial Animals, the Opacousness of the Sclerotis hinders the Pictures that outward Objects (unless they be lucid ones) make with in the Eye to be clearly discern’d. We think our selves oblig’d to that excellent Mathematician of your Acquaintance, Pyrophilus, who, upon some Discourse we had with him concerning this Subject, lately advis’d us to make use of the Eyes of white Rabbets (for if those Animals be of another colour, he says, their Eyes will not prove so fit for our purpose) For having held some of these Eyes at a convenient distance betwixt my Eyes and the Window, I found them to be so transparent, That the rayes proceeding from the Panes of Glass, Iron Bars, &c. of the Window, passing through the Crystalline humor, and in their passage refracted, did on the Retina exhibit in an inverted Posture, according to the Optical Laws, the contracted, but lively Pictures of those external Objects; and those Pictures, by reason of the transparency of the Sclerotis, became visible through it to my attentive Eyes: As in a darken’d Room the shadows of Objects without it, projected on a fine sheet of Paper, may, by reason of the thinness of the Paper, be seen thorow it by those that stand behinde it. By Candle-light we could see little in the bottom of these eyes, but lucid Objects, such as the flame of the Candle, which appear’d tremulous, though inverted; but by Day-light we could manifestly discern in them both the motions of very neighboring Objects, and the more vivid of their colours.

And really, Pyrophilus, it seems to me not onely highly dishonorable for a Reasonable Soul to live in so Divinely built a Mansion, as the Body she resides in, altogether unacquainted with the exquisite Structure of it; but I am confident, it is a great obstacle to our rendring God the Praises due to him, for his having so excellently lodg’d us, that we are so ignorant of the curious Workmanship of the Mansions our Souls live in; for not onely the Psalmist, from the consideration of the Divine Art display’d by God, in the moulding and fashioning his Body in the Womb, takes a just occasion to celebrate his Maker, I will praise thee (says he) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy works, and that my Soul knoweth right well: My substance was not hid from thee,⁵ when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought (with as much curiosity as Tapstry or Embrodery, as the Hebrew Rukkamti seems to import) In the lowest parts of the Earth, thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy Book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them. But even from Galen himself Anatomical Reflections have been able to extort Expressions of Devotion: Cum igitur (says he) quod in omnibus recte fit, omnes ad artem referunt,⁶ quod autem in uno, aut duobus non ad artem, sed fortunam; merito ex nostri structura corporis licet admirari summam artem, aequitatem, & vim naturae, quae nos construxit. Constat siquidem corpus nostrum ex ossibus pluribus quam ducentis, ad singula ossa vero pervenit nutriens vena; sicut ad musculos: cum hâc etiam arteria, & Nervi; pariaque adamussimsunt, & animo similia in dextra animantis parte sita, iis quae in altera sunt; Os ossi, Musculus musculo, Vena vena, Arteria arteriae, ac Nervus nervo; idque exceptis visceribus, atque nonnullis particulis quae habere propriam descriptionem videntur. Duplices itaque corporis nostri partes, omnino inter se sunt similes, & magnitudine & conformatione, sicuti & consistentia quam voco juxta mollitiem, duritiemque differentia. Quemadmodum igitur de Humanis effectibus judicium facimus, ex navi summa arte constructa cognoscentes peritiam artificis, ita etiam de Divinis facere convenit, corporisque nostri Opificem admirari, quicunque tandem is Deorum existat, etiamsi eum non videmus.

Perhaps it may be truly said yet further, That although in humane Bodies, many Wonders, as we have lately mention’d, have been discover’d to us by Anatomy, yet Anatomy it self has not discover’d to us all the Wonders to be met with in a humane Body, nor will detect them, till Anatomists be skill’d in some other things over and above that of dexterously Dissecting: For it seems very probable, that the excellent contrivance of some parts will never be fully apprehended, without a competent knowledge of the Nature of those Juices that are to pass thorow them, and some of them receive their beginning or some alteration in them; And the Nature of these Juices will scarce be exactly known, without some skill in divers parts of Physiology, and especially in Chymistry. Besides, the reason of the Origination, Shape, Bulk, Length, Progress, and Infection of each particular Muscle, can hardly be well accounted for, without some skill in the Principles of Mechanicks, and in the nature and properties of Leavers, Pulleys, &c. Moreover, there is a certain Harmonious Proportion betwixt the parts of a humane Body, in reference both to the whole, and to one another, which is not wont to be heeded by Anatomists, but much taken notice of by Statuaries and Painters: For they reckon, that when a Mans Arms are display’d, the distance betwixt his middle Fingers is equal to the height of his Body; so they reckon sometimes seven, sometimes eight lengths of the Head, to the length of the Body, and four times the length of the Nose to that of the Head, as three times the same length to that of the Face: And divers such Observations we have met with among them, which we shall not now insist on, but rather tell you, That without some skill in Opticks, it will be hard for an Anatomist to shew the Wisdom of God in making the Crystalline humor of the Eyes of Men, onely of a somewhat convex or lenticular form, rather then as those of Fishes of an almost perfectly Spherical one. Nor do I remember that in Anatomy Schools I have heard any account given of this difference, which yet tends much to manifest the Wisdom of the Author of Nature, who has so excellently suited the Eyes of Animals to the several parts of the Universe he design’d them to inhabit. For Men, and other Terrestrial Animals living in the Air, the Beams of Light, reflected from visible Objects, and falling over the Cornea and the Aqueous humor, do necessarily suffer a Refraction there, as coming from the Air, which is a thinner Medium into a thicker, and so there needs the less of further Refraction to be made by the Crystalline humor, and consequently its Figure needs to be but moderately convex; whereas Fishes living constantly in the Water, the Medium, through which they see things, is almost of a like thickness with the Cornea and Aqueous humor; so that there being little or no Refraction made in their Eyes but by the Crystalline it self, it was necessary that that should be exceedingly convex, that it might make a very great Refraction, and thereby unite the Beams nearer at hand; which if the Crystalline were less convex, would tend to a point of Concourse beyond the Retina, and consequently paint on it but a languid and confus’d Picture of the Object they should represent.

As for Paracelsus, certainly he is injurious to Man, if (as some eminent Chymists expound him) he calls Man a Microcosm, because his Body is really made up of all the several kindes of Creatures the Macrocosm or greater World consists of,⁷ and so is but a Model or Epitomy of the Universe: For (to omit that the Antients (as Galen informs us) gave the Title of Microcosms to Animals in general) ‘tis the Glory and Prerogative of Man, that God was pleas’d to make him not after the Worlds Image, but His own. On which occasion, give me leave to tell you, That however, the consideration of the dignity conferr’d on us in the Image of God, (in whatever that Image be resolv’d to consist) should, methinks, be some engagement to us to look upon our selves as belonging unto God; As our Saviour, from the Image of Caesar stampt upon a Coyn, pronounc’d it fit to render unto Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God, those of God.

In the fourth place, I consider that the universal experience of all Ages manifests, That the contemplation of the World has been much more prevalent to make those that have addicted themselves to it, Believers, then Denyers of a Deity: For ‘tis very apparent that the old Philosophers, for the most part, acknowledg’d a God, and as evident it is by their want of revelation, by many Passages in their Writings, and by divers other things not now to be insisted on, That the consideration of the works of Nature, was the chief thing that Induc’d them to acknowledge a Divine Author of them. This Truth I could easily make out, were I at leisure to transcribe Testimonies, which, because I am not, I shall content my self to mention to you one, which may well serve for many, it being a Confession made by Aristotle, or whatever other Learned Philosopher it was, who writ the Book De Mundo, That Gods being the Architect and Upholder of the World, was the general belief of the Ages that preceded his: Vetus (says he) sermo est à majoribus proditus, inter omnes homines, universa tum ex Deo tum per Deum constituta fuisse, atque coagmentata,⁸ nullamque naturam satis instructam ad salutem esse posse, quae citra Dei praesidium, suae ipsa demum tutela permissa sit: And as for both the Opinion of that eminent Author himself, and the Grounds of it, he speaks of God and the Creation almost in the terms of St Paul:⁹ Proinde (says he) haec etiam de Deo sentienda nobis sunt, illo quidem, si vim spectes, Valentissimo, si decorem, Formosissimo, si vitam Immortali, denique si virtutem Praestantissimo. Quapropter cum sit inconspicabilis naturae omni interiturae, ipsis nihilominus ipse cernitur ab operibus, atque ea quidem quae aëre quoquomodo affecto, quae in terra, quae in aqua, ea certe Dei opera esse merito dixerimus; Dei inquam opera, eum imperio summo Mundum, ac pro potestate obtinentis, Ex quo deo ut inquit Empedocles Physicus.

Omnia quotquot erunt, quot sunt praesentia, quotque

Orta fuere antehac stirpes, hominesque feraeque

Inde etiam volucres, piscesque humoris Alumni.

And those few Philosophers (if ever there have been any at all) that have been really Atheists, are no ways considerable for their number, in respect of those that have asserted a Deity; and their Paradoxes have been lookt upon as so Irrational, that as soon as they have been propos’d, they have been disdainfully rejected and condemn’d by all the rest of Man-kinde, who have look’d upon the Patrons of them as Monsters rather then Philosophers. And if there be, at this day, any Nations (as Navigators inform us there are in Brasil, and some other parts of the Indies) that worship no God, they consist not of Naturalists, but Bruit, and Irrational Barbarians, who may be suppos’d rather to ignore the Being of God, then deny it; and who at least are little less strangers to the Mysteries of Nature, then to the Author of it. And if it be a Truth that there are really such Atheistical People, it may serve to recommend to us the Study of Physiology, by shewing us, That without the help of any such innate belief, or perswasion of a God, as is suppos’d connatural to Man, Reason exercis’d upon the Objects the Creation presents us with, is sufficient to convince Philosophers of a Deity; and indeed such a care has God taken, to make his Being conspicuous in his Creatures, that they all seem loudly and unanimously to speak to their attentive Considerers, in the Psalmists Language, Know ye that the Lord, he is God:¹⁰ ‘tis he that hath made us, and not we our selves: And as it is said,¹¹ That the Stars in their courses fought against Sisera, so it may be truly said, That not onely the Stars, but all the rest of the Creatures do in their courses fight against the Atheists, by supplying an unprejudic’d Considerer of them with Weapons fit to over-throw his impious Error. To which purpose, I remember Aristotle, in his Book De Mundo, makes use of a pretty Simile to declare the conspicuousness of the Creator in his Creatures: Fama est (says he) Phidiam illum statuarium, (Cap. 6) quum Minervam illam quae est in Arce, coagmentaret, in medio ejus scuto faciem suam expressisse, oculosque fallenti artificio ita devinxisse simulachro, eximere ut inde ipsam siquis cuperet, minime posset, aliter quidem certe, quam ut ipsum solveret simulachrum, opusque ejusmodi compactile confunderet; Hanc eandem rationem Deus habet in Mundo ut pote qui universorum coagmentationem cohaerentem cohibeat & coarctet, incolumitaetemque Universitatis conservet; Nisi quatenus non medio ille loco in Terra scilicet, ubi Turbida Regio est, sed in excelso situs est, purus ipse in puro loco.

But to declare how Atheists may be reduc’d either to confess a first Cause, or to offer violence to their own Faculties, by denying things as certain as those, which ‘tis apparent that (in other cases) themselves firmly assent to, would require a Discourse too large to be proper to be prosecuted here; and therefore if I have not, in another Treatise, an opportunity of insisting on that subject, I must content my self to refer you for further satisfaction on it, to the Writers of Natural Theology.

Nor does Physiology barely conduce to make Men believe the existence of a Deity, but admire and celebrate the Perfections of it: And the noblest Worship from that greater part of the World, to which God did not vouchsafe any explicite and particular Revelation of his Will, hath been paid Him, by those whom the beauty of this goodly Temple of the Universe, transported with a rational Wonder at the Wisdom, Power, and Goodness of the Divine Architect. And this kinde of Devotion being commonly proportionate to the discoveries of Nature that begot it, it needs not seem strange, that divers of the best Philosophers amongst the Heathens, should be the greatest Celebrators of God: And ‘twas therefore perhaps not without cause that the Indian Gymnosophists, the Persian Magi, the Egyptian Sacrificers, and the old Gauls Deruides, were to their Peoples both Philosophers and Priests; and that in divers Civiliz’d Nations, Philosophy and Priesthood were so ally’d, that those whose Profession should give them most interest in the definition of Man, made a more strict profession of celebrating and praising God. I might easily, with divers Instances, manifest how great a Veneration the Study of the Creatures has given Philosophers, for those Attributes of God that are stamp’d upon them, and conspicuous in them: But my willingness to hasten to the more Experimental part of what I have to say concerning the usefulness of Physiology, makes me content my self to present you with a couple, or a leash of Authorities, for proof of what has been alledg’d; the first shall be of Galen, in his third Book De usu Partium, where treating of the Skin that invests the sole of the Foot: Cutem ipsam (says he) non laxam, aut subtilem, aut mollem, sed constrictam, & mediocritèr duram, sensilemque ut non facile pateretur subdidit pedi sapientissimus Conditor noster: Cui commentarios hos, ceu hymnos quosdam compono, & in eo pietatem esse existimans, non si Taurorum Ἑκατόμβας ei plurimus quispiam sacrificarit, & casias aliaque sexcenta unguenta suffumigarit: Sed si noverim ipse primus deinde exposuerim aliis quaenam sit ipsius Sapientia, quae Virtus, quae Providentia, quae Bonitus; ignorantia quorum summa Impietas est, non si à sacrificio abstineas. Quod enim cultu convenienti exornavit omnia, nullique bona inviderit id perfectissimae Bonitatis specimen esse statuo, Invenisse autem quo pacto omnia adornarentur summae Sapientiae est, at effecisse omnia quae voluit Virtutis est invictae. To which Illustrious Passage he annexes much more, worthy of Galens Pen, and your perusal.

To this let me adde, in the second place, that of Hermes Trismegistus, almost at the very beginning of his first Book, Englished by Dr. Everard: He that shall learn and study the things that are, and how they are ordered and governed, and by whom, and for what cause, or to what end, will acknowledge thanks to the Work-man, as to a good Father, an excellent Nurse, and a faithful Steward; and he that gives Thanks shall be Pious or Religious, and he that is Religious shall know both where the Truth is, and what it is; and learning that, he will be yet more and more Religious: To which I cannot but adde a resembling Passage of that great Hermetical Philosopher (as his Followers love to call him) Paracelsus: Oppido (says he) admir abilis, in suis Operibus,¹² Deus est; à quorum contemplatione nec interdiu, nec noctu desistendum, sed jugiter illorum indagationi vacandum est, Hoc enim est ambulare in Viis Dei. All which bears witness to, and may, in exchange, receive Authority from that remarkable passage of that Great and Solid Philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon,¹³ who scruples not somewhere to affirm, “That it is an assured Truth, and a conclusion of Experience, That a little or superficial taste of Philosophy, may, perchance, incline the minde of a Man to Atheism, but a full Draught thereof, brings the Minde back again to Religion. For in the entrance of Philosophy, when the Second Causes, which are next unto the Senses, do offer themselves to the Minde of Man, and the Minde it self cleaves unto them, and dwells there, a forgetfulness of the Highest Cause may creep in: But when a Man passeth further, and beholds the Dependency, Continuation, and Confederacy of Causes, and the Works of Providence, then according to the Allegory of the Poets, he will easily believe that the highest Link of Natures Chain must needs be tyed to the foot of Jupiters Chair; or (to speak our Chancellors thoughts more Scripturally) That Physiology, like Jacobs Vision, discovers to us a Ladder,¹⁴ whose top reaches up to the foot-stool of the Throne of God: To which he deservedly addes, Let no Man, upon a weak conceit of sobriety, or ill-applyed moderation, think or maintain that a Man can search too far, or be too well studied in the Book of Gods Word, or in the Book of Gods Works, Divinity, or Philosophy: But rather let Men awake themselves, and chearfully endeavor and pursue an endless progress or proficiency in both; onely let them beware lest they apply Knowledge to Swelling, not to Charity; to Ostentation, not to Use: And again, That they do not unwisely mingle and confound these distinct Learnings of Theology and Philosophy, and their several Waters together.

In the fifth place, Pyrophilus, I consider, that when the Divines we are answering suppose Physiology likely to render a Man an Atheist, they do it (as hath above been noted already) upon this Ground, That Natural Philosophy may enable him to explicate both the regular Phaenomena, and the aberrations of Nature, without having recourse to a first Cause or God. But though this supposal were as great a Truth, as we have endeavored to make it a Mistake, yet I see not why a Studier of Physiology, though never so great a Proficient in it, may not rationally be an utter Enemy to Atheism: For the Contemplation of the Creatures, is but one of the ways of coming to be convinc’d that there is a God; and therefore, though Religion were unable to make use of the Argument drawn from the Works of Nature, to prove the existence of a Deity, yet has she other Arguments enough besides, to keep any Considerate and Impartial Man from growing an Atheist. And here give me leave, for the sake of these Divines, to observe, That though the Devils be Spirits, not onely extreamly knowing in the Properties of Things (by their hidden skill in Physiology, by which they teach Magicians, and their other Clients, to do divers of the strange things for which they are admired) But also unmeasureably proud, and willing to pervert their knowledge to the cherishing of Atheism; yet St. James informs us, That they themselves believe there is a God, (Jam. 11.19) and tremble at him; which argues, either that skill in Natural Philosophy does not necessarily lead to Atheism, or that there are other Arguments, besides those drawn from Science, sufficient to convince the most refractary of the existence of a Deity.

But not to insist on any thing of this nature, nor so much as to mention what proofs the consideration of our own Minds, and their in-bred Notions, may afford us of a Deity, I shall content my self to minde you, That the several Patefactions which God has been pleas’d to make of himself, to Man especially, those made by seasonably accomplish’d Prophesies, and by Miracles, do not onely demonstrate the Being, but the Providence, and divers of the Attributes of God. And indeed, methinks, the Divines we reason with may well allow these Patefactions to be capable of evincing the existence of a God, since they are sufficient, and, for ought I know, the best Arguments we have to convince a rational Man of the truth of the Christian Religion. For the Miracles of Christ (especially his Resurrection) and those of his Disciples, by being Works altogether supernatural, overthrow Atheism; and being owned to be done in Gods Name, and to authorize a Doctrine ascrib’d to his Inspiration; his Goodness, and his Wisdom, permit us not to believe that he would suffer such numerous, great, and uncontrouled Miracles, to be set as his Seals to a Lie, and delude Men little less then inevitably into the belief of a Doctrine not true. And as for the Miracles themselves (especially that of Christs Resurrection, so much, and so deservedly insisted on by Peter to the Jews, and Paul to the Gentiles) the truth of them is so ascertain’d to us by many of the solemnist, and most authentick ways of Attestation, whereby the certainty of Matters of Fact is capable of being satisfactorily made out, that ‘tis hard to shew how these Testimonies can be deny’d, without denying some acknowledg’d Principle of Reason, or some other received Notion, which these Contradictors Opinions or Practice manifest them to look upon as a truth. And upon this account, so much might be said to evince the reasonableness of assenting to the Christian Religion, and to shew, that as much may be said for it, as need be said for any Religion, and much more then can be said for any other; that it need be no wonder, that, as Learned Men as ever the World admir’d, have not been many of them Embracers, but some of them Champions of it. But having more fully, in another Treatise, discours’d of this subject, I shall content my self to make this Inference from what has been alledg’d, that since the most Judicious Propugners of Christianity have held and found, that, upon the score of Gods miraculous Revelations of himself, rational Men might be brought to believe the abstruser Articles of the Christian Religion, those Revelations cannot but be sufficient to convince them of so fundamental and refulgent a Truth (which all the others suppose) as that of the existence of God.

In the sixth and last place, I will here adde (on this occasion) that an insight into Physiological Principles, may very much assist a Man to answer the Objections of Atheists, against the Being of a Deity, and the Exceptions they make to the Arguments brought to prove that there is one: For though it has long been the custom of such Men, to talk as if themselves, and those of their minde, were not alone the best, but almost the onely Naturalists; and to perplex others with pretending, that, whereas it is not conceiveable how there can be a God, all things are by the Principles of the Atomical Philosophy, made clear and facil. Though this, I say, have long been us’d among the Opposers of a Deity, yet he that not regarding their confidence, shall attentively consider the very first Principles of things, may plainly enough discern, that of the Arguments wherewith Natural Philosophy has furnish’d Atheists, those that are indeed considerable, are far fewer then one would readily think; and that the difficulty of conceiving the Eternity, Self-existence, and some other Attributes of God (though that afford them their grand Objection) proceeds not so much from any absurdity belonging to the Notion of a Deity, as such; as from the difficulty which our dim humane Intellects finde to conceive the Nature of those first Things (whatever we suppose them) which, to be the Causes of all others, must be themselves without cause: For he that shall attentively consider, what the Atomists themselves may be compell’d to allow concerning the Eternity of Matter, the Origine of local Motion (which plainly belongs not to the Nature of Body) the Infinity or Boundlesness of space, the Divisibleness or non-Divisibility of each Corporeal Substance into infinite Material Parts, may clearly perceive that the Atomist, by denying that there is a God, cannot free his Understanding from such puzling Difficulties as he pretends to be the Reasons of his Denyal. For instead of one God, he must confess an infinite number of Atoms to be Eternal, Self-existent, Immortal, Self-moving, and must make Suppositions, incumbred with Difficulties enough to him that has competently accustomed his Thoughts to leave Second Causes beneath them, and contemplate those Causes that have none. But I am unwilling to swell this Essay, by insisting on such Considerations as these, especially since you may finde them more aptly deduc’d in other Papers, some of which treat of the Truth of Christian Religion, and others are design’d for the Illustration of some things in this & the fore-going Essays. For I must confess to you, Pyrophilus, that by reason of the sundry Avocations, I have been so diverted from proposing some of the Reasons I have employ’d, to their best advantage, that I my self, at another time, could have both mention’d them with lesser disadvantage, and have added divers others: And therefore I have not onely had thoughts of enlarging upon some Passages of our past Discourse, but I long since made a Collection (though it be not now in my power) of Observations, and Experiments to elucidate a Point in one of those Discourses, whereby may be enervated one of the three chief Physiological Reasonings, that I have met with among the Atheists.

Upon consideration of all the Premises, I confess, Pyrophilus, that I am enclined to think there may, perhaps, be more cause to apprehend, that the delightfulness of the Study of Phisiology should too much confine your Thoughts and Joys to the Creatures, then that your Proficiency in it should bring you to dis-believe the Creator: For I have observ’d it to be a fault, incident enough to Ingenious Persons, to let their mindes be so taken up, and, as it were, charm’d with that almost infinite variety of pleasing Objects, which Nature presents to their Contemplation, that they too much dis-relish other Pleasures and Employments, and are too apt to undervalue even those wherewith the improv’d Opportunities of serving God, or holding Communion with Him, are capable of Blessing the Pious Soul.

But, Pyroph: though comparatively to Fame, and Mistresses, and Baggs, and Bottles, and those other transient, unsatisfactory, (in a word) deluding Objects, on which the greatest part of mistaken Mortals, so fondly dote, the entertaining of our Noblest Faculties, with Objects suited to them, and proper both to gratifie our Curiosity, and to enrich our understandings, with variety of acceptable and useful Notions, affords a satisfaction that very well deserves the choice and preferrence of a rational Creature: Yet certainly, Pyrophilus, as God is infinitely better then all the things that he has made, so the Knowledge of Him is much better then the knowledge of them; and he that has plac’d so much delightfulness in a Knowledge, wherein he allows his very Enemies to become very great Proficients, has sure reserv’d much Higher, and more contenting Pleasures to sweeten and endear those Disclosures of Himself, which He vouchsafes to none but those that love Him, and are lov’d by Him.

And therefore, Pyrophilus, though I will allow you to expect from the Contemplation of Nature a greater satisfaction, then from any thing you need decline for it· yet I would not have you expect from it any such satisfaction as you may entirely acquiess in, for nothing but the enjoyment of Him that made the Soul for Himself can satisfie it, the Creatures being as well uncapable to afford us a compleat Felicity by our Intellectual Speculations of them, as by our sensual Fruitions of them; for though the knowledge of Nature be preferrable by odds to those other Idols which we have mention’d, as inferior to it, yet we here attain that knowledge, but very imperfectly, and our acquisitions of it cost us so dear, and the Pleasures of them is so allay’d with the disquieting Curiosity they are wont to excite, that the wisest of Men, and greatest of Philosophers among the Antients, scruples not, upon his own experience, (Eccles. 1.13) to call the addicting of ones heart to seek and search out by Wisdom, concerning all things that are done under the Heaven, a sore travel given by God to the sons of Men, to be exercis’d (or, as the Original hath it, to afflict themselves) therewith: And the same experienc’d Writer elsewhere tells us, That he that encreases knowledge, (Eccles. 1.18) encreases sorrow. And ‘twas perhaps for this reason that Adam was form’d out of Paradice, and afterwards by God brought into it, to intimate, That Felicity is not a thing that Man can acquire for himself, but must receive as a free gift from the liberal Hand of God: And as the Children of the Prophets sought translated Elias with very great diligence, but with no success,¹⁵ so do we as Fruitlesly as Industriously, seek after perfect Happiness here, both they and we, missing of what we seek for the same reason; because we seek for that on Earth, which is not to be found but in Heaven: And this I forewarn you of, Pyrophilus, not at all to discourage you from the study of Physiology, but to keep you from meeting with that great Discouragement of finding in it much less of satisfaction then you expected, and overgreat expectation from it, being one of the disadvantagiousest Circumstances with which it is possible for any thing to be enjoyed.

But at length, Pyrophilus, though late, I begin to discern into how tedious a digression my zeal for Natural Philosophy, and for you, has mis-led me, and how it has drawn from my Pen some Passages, which may seem to relish more of the Preacher, then the Naturalist; yet I might alledge divers things to justifie, or, at least, extenuate what I have done: As first, That if in making this Excursion I have err’d, I have not done so without the Authority of great Examples; for not onely Seneca doth frequently both season his Natural Speculations with Moral Documents and Reflections, and owns, that he purposely does so, where he says, Omnibus rebus,¹⁶ omnibusque sermonibus aliquid salutare miscendum est, cum imus per Occulta Naturae, &c. but even Pliny (as far as he was from being guilty of over-much Devotion) does from divers Passages in his Natural History, allow himself to take occasion to inveigh against the Luxury, Excesses, and other Epidemical Vices of his time. And I might next represent, that perhaps the endeavoring to manifest, that the knowledge of the Creatures should, and how it may be referr’d to the Creators Glory, is not altogether impertinent to the design I have of promoting Physiology, for it seems consonant both to Gods Goodness, and that repeated Axiome in the Gospel, which tells us, That he that improves his Talents to good uses, shall be intrusted with more, That the imploying the little Knowledge I have in the service of Him I owe it to, may invite Him to encrease that little, and make it less despicable. And perhaps it is not the least cause of our ignorance, in Natural Philosophy it self, that when we study the Great Book of Nature, call’d The Universe, we consult, peradventure, almost all other Expositors to understand its Mysteries, without making any address for instruction to the Author, who yet is justly stil’d in the Scripture, (Jam. 1.17) That Father of Lights (in the plural Number) from whom descends every good and every perfect Gift, not onely those supernatural Graces, that relate to another World, but those intellectual Endowments, that qualifie Men for the prosperous Contemplation of this: And therefore in the Evangelical Prophet, (Isa. 28.25, 26) he is said, to instruct even the Plough man, and teach him the skill and understanding he displays in his own Profession. And though I dare not affirm, with some of the Helmontians and Paracelsians, that God discloses to Men the Great Mystery of Chymistry by Good Angels, or by Nocturnal Visions, as he once taught Jacob, to make Lambs and Kids come into the World speckled,¹⁷ and ring-streaked; yet perswaded I am, that the favor of God does (much more then most Men are aware of) vouchsafe to promote some Mens Proficiency in the study of Nature, partly by protecting their attempts from those unlucky Accidents which often make Ingenuous and Industrious endeavors miscarry; and partly by making them dear and acceptable to the Possessors of Secrets, by whose Friendly Communication they may often learn that in a few Moments, which cost the Imparters many a Years toyl and study; and partly too, or rather principally, by directing them to those happy and pregnant Hints, which an ordinary skill and industry may so improve as to do such things, and make such discoveries by virtue of them, as both others, and the person himself, whose knowledge is thus encreased, would scarce have imagin’d to be possible: And in effect, the chiefest of the Secrets that have been communicated to me, the Owners have acknowledg’d to me to have been attain’d, rather, as they were pleas’d to speak, by accidental Hints, then accurate Enquiries: confessions of this nature I have divers times met with in the Writings of the more Ingenious of the Chymists, and of other Naturalists, and by one of these accidental Hints, of late, the acute and lucky Pecquet was directed to finde the newly discovered Lactea Thoracica, as before him Asellius found without seeking, as himself confesseth, the Lactea Mesenterica; and by an accident too (as himself hath told me) did our industrious Anatomist, Dr. Jolive, first light upon those yet more freshly detected Vessels, which afterwards the Ingenuous Bartholinus, without being inform’d of them, or seeking for them, hath met with, and acquainted the World with, under the name of Vasa Lymphatica; and the two great Inventions of the later Ages, Gunpowder, and the Loadstones respect unto the Poles, are suppos’d to be due rather to Chance, then any extraordinary skill in Philosophical Principles (which indeed would scarce have made any Man dream of such extravagant Properties, as those of Magnetick Bodies) As if God design’d to keep Philosophers humble, and (though he allow regular Industry, sufficient encouragement, yet) to remain Himself dispenser of the chief Mysteries of Nature.

To what hath been represented, Pyrophilus, I might adde much more to excuse my Excursions, if I were not content to be beholden to you for a Pardon, and to invite you to grant it me, I shall promise you to be very careful not to repeat the like offence; and whereas most Chymical Writers take occasion from almost every Discovery or Process they acquaint us with, to digress and wander into tedious, and too often dull and impertinent Theological Reflections or Sermons. I have troubled you with almost all that I have to say (to you) of Theological at once, and I have endeavored to sprinkle it as far as the subject would allow me, with some Passages Experimental. And indeed I should not at all have engag’d my self into so long a Discourse of the not onely Innocency, but Usefulness of the knowledge of Nature, in reference to Religion, but that I could not acquiess in what I had met with on that subject in any of the Writers I have perus’d, Divines being commonly too unacquainted with Nature, to be able to manage it Physiologically enough, and Naturalists commonly esteeming it on part of their work to treat of it at all. And therefore I scruple not to confess freely to you, Pyrophilus, that, as I shall think my self richly rewarded for all the ensuing Essays, if the past Discourse but prove so happy as to bring you to value, and to make the Religious use of the Creatures recommended to you in it: So I had rather any of my Papers should be pass’d by unperused, then those parts of these Essays that treat of that use. And indeed ‘tis none of the least of Satisfactions, I hope, to derive from my Physical Composures, that by premising before them the now almost finish’d Discourse, I have done my hearty endeavor to manifest and recommend the true use of all the Discoveries of Nature, which either my Enquiries, or your own, may afford you. And indeed for my part, Pyrophilus, I esteem the Doctrine I have been pleading for of that importance, that I am perswaded, That he that could bring Philosophical Devotion into the request it Merits, should contribute as much to the solemnizing of Gods Praises, as the Benefactor of Choristers and Founders of Chauntries, and not much less then Davids so celebrated designation and settlement of that Religious Levitical Musick, instituted for the solemn Celebration of God.

For the sensible Representations of Gods Attributes to be met with in the Creatures, occurring almost every where to our observation, would very assiduously solicit us to admire Him, did we but arightly discern Him in them: And the Impressions made on the Minde by these Representations, proceeding not from a bare (and perhaps languid) whether Belief or Notion of the Perfections express’d in them, but from an actual and operative intuition of them, would excite an admiration (with the Devotion springing thence) by so much the more intense, by how much (it would be) more rational. And sure, Pyrophilus, so much admirable Workmanship as God hath display’d in the Universe, was never meant for Eyes that wilfully close themselves, and affront it with the not judging it worthy the speculating. Beasts inhabit and enjoy the World: Man, if he will do more, must study, and (if I may so speak) Spiritualize it: ‘Tis the first act of Religion, and equally obliging in all Religions: ‘Tis the duty of Man, as Man; and the Homage we pay for the Priviledge of Reason: Which was given us, not onely to refer our selves, but the other Creatures, that want it, to the Creators Glory. Which makes me sometimes angry with them who so busie themselves in the Duties and Imployments of their second and superinduc’d Relations, that they will never finde the leisure to discharge that Primitive and Natural Obligation, who are more concern’d as Citizens of any place, then of the World; and both worship God so barely as Catholick or Protestants, Anabaptists or Socinians, and live so wholy as Lords or Councellors, Londoners or Parisians, that they will never finde the leisure, or consider not that it concerns them to worship and live as Men. And the neglect of this Philosophical Worship of God, for which we are pleading, seems to be culpable in Men proportionably to their being qualified, and comply with that invitation of the Psalmist, to sing Praises to God with understanding, (Psal. 47.7) or (the Expression in the Original being somewhat ambiguous) to sing to him a learn’d Canticle, as he elsewhere speaks, (Psa. 150.2) to praise him according to his excellent Greatness. For Knowledge being a gift of God, intrusted to us to glorifie the Giver with it, the Greatness of it must aggravate the neglect of imploying it gratefully; and the sublimest Knowledge here attainable will not destroy, but onely heighten and enoble our admiration, and will prove the Incense (or more spiritual and acceptable part, of that Sacrifice of Praise (for those reflections which their Nature makes onely acts of Reason, their End may make acts of Piety) wherein the Intelligent Admirer offers up the whole World in Eucharists to its Maker. For admiration (I do not say astonishment or surprize) being an acknowledgement of the Objects transcending our Knowledge, the learneder the transcendent Faculty is, the greater is the admired Objects transcendency acknowledg’d: And certainly, Gods Wisdom is much less glorifi’d by the vulgar astonishment of an unlettered Starer (whose ignorance may be as well suspected for his Wonder, as the excellency of the Object) then from their learned Hymns, whose industrious Curiosity hath brought their understandings to a prostrate Veneration of of what their Reason, not Ignorance, hath taught them not to be perfectly comprehensible by them.

And as such Persons have such piercing Eyes, that where a transient or unlearned glance scarce observes any thing, they can discern an adorable Wisdom, being able (as I may so speak) to read the Stenography of Gods omniscient hand; so their skilful Fingers know how to choose, and how to touch those Strings that may sound sweetest to the Praise of their Maker. And on the open’d Body of the same Animal, a skilful Anatomist will make reflections, as much more to the honor of its Creator, then an ordinary Butcher can; as the Musick made on a Lute, by a rare Lutanist, will be preferable to the noise made on the same Instrument by a Stranger unto Melody. And give me leave to tell you, Pyrophilus, that such a reasonable Worship (λογικὴ λατρεία) of God (to use St. Paul’s Expression, (Rom. 12.1) though in an other sense) is perhaps a much nobler way of adoring him, then those that are not qualified to practise it, are aware of, and is not improper even for Christians to exercise: For, Pyrophilus, it would be considered, That as God hath not by becoming (as the Scripture more then once stiles him) our Saviour laid by his first Relation to us as our Creator (whence St. Peter exhorts,¹⁸ even the suffering Christians of his time, (1 Pet. 4.19) to commit their Souls to God under the notion of a Faithful Creator) so neither hath he given up his right to those Intelligent Adorations from us, which become us upon the account of being his rational Creatures; neither are such performances made less acceptable to him by the filial relation into which Christ hath brought us to him, that Glorious relation as well endearing to him our services as our persons.

And let me adde, Pyrophilus, that not onely Galen (as we have seen already) tells us, That the discerning ones self, and discovering to others the Perfections of God display’d in the Creatures, is a more acceptable act of Religion, then the burning of Sacrifices or Perfumes upon his Altars; and not onely Trismegistus forbidding Asclepius to burn Incense,¹⁹ tells him, That the Thanks and Praises of Men, are the noblest Incense that can be offered up to God: But God himself (in his written Word) is pleas’d to say, That he that sacrificeth Praise (for so ‘tis in the Original) honoreth him: And the Scripture consonantly mentions as a very acceptable part of Religious Worship, the Sacrifice of Praise, and the Calves of our Lips: By offering up of which, (Hebr. 13.15) we make that true use of the Creatures, of so referring them to their Creators Glory, that (to conclude this Discourse by Crowning it (as it were) with that excellent Circle mention’d by the Apostle) As all things are of him, (Rom. 11.36) and Through him, so they may be To him: to whom be Glory for ever Amen.

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← Essay 4. Containing a requisite Digression concerning those that would exclude · Contents

Footnotes

1. Arist: de Mundo, Cap. 6: ↩

2. Eodem Cap. ↩

3. Eodem Cap. ↩

4. Galenus, lib. 30. De usu Partium. ↩

5. Psal. 139 v. 14, 15, 16. ↩

6. Galen de plac: Hip: & Plat: Libr: 7. ↩

7. Lib. 3. De usu Part. ↩

8. Libro de Mundo, Cap. 6. ↩

9. Alibi eodem Cap. ↩

10. Psalm C. 3. ↩

11. Judg. V. 20. ↩

12. Paracesl: de Mineral; Tract. 1. ↩

13. Sir Francis Bacon Advan: of Learning, Lib. 1. ↩

14. Gen. 28. ↩

15. 2 Kings cap. 2. ↩

16. Seneca Nat: Quaest: lib. 2. cap. 59. ↩

17. Gen. 31. ↩

18. Tim. 1.1. Tit. 2.10. ↩

19. Hermes Tresmeg. In Asclep. cap. 15. ↩