on, h all the parts of the world are fo well conAtituted, that they could neither be more convenient for ufe, nor more beautiful for shew, than they are. And therefore fome of them have owned, that he ought not to be counted for a man, who is not moved to gratitude, by the beautiful order of the stars, by the pleafing viciffitude of day and night, by the grateful mixture and contemperation of the feafons, and by all thofe things which are fo bountifully produced for our ufe and benefit. So that this argument, drawn from the order of the world, and the severaļ parts of it, does, to the common apprehenfion of mankind, not merely prove the Being of a God, but likewife fhews, what kind of Being he is, by demonftrating these his principal Attributes of power, wifdom and goodness, which are the foundation of all natural Religion; the want or abuse of which, the Apostle fo feverely charges upon the Heathen world

in

Quòd fi omnes mundi partes ita conftitutæ funt ut neque ad ufum meliores potuerint effe, neque ad fpeciem pulchriores, videamus utrùm ea fortuita fint, &c. Cic. de Nat. D. 1. 2. cap. 34.

i Quem verò aftrorum ordines, quem dierum noctiumq; viciffitudines, quem menfium temperatio, quemque ea quæ gignuntur nobis ad fruendum, non gratum effe cogant, hunt bominem omnino numerare qui decet? Cic. de Leg. 1. 2.

in this chapter. And the due improvement of this Argument, is a proper employment for the minds of all speculative men, who are inquifitive into the works of Nature, which are a fubject that will never be exhausted, but the more they are fearched into, the greater matter they will always gradually afford for admiration and praise of the infinite perfections of their Author.

But because my intended method will not allow me to purfue this Argument at large, through all the feveral branches of it, there being no part of the creation which does not, when viewed in a proper light, afford ample matter for the proof and illuftration of a Divine wisdom prefiding over it; and because there are already many excellent treatises upon this fubject, made by perfons of great ability in natural and experimental knowledge, which, no doubt, will be conftantly encreafing; I fhall, at present, chuse to mention only fome fuch general confiderations, as may be moft eafily applied to thofe obfervations, which almost any man of common capacity, with a moderate attention, may make for himself.

Now if we confider, either the stupendous Magnitude and extent of the whole Crea

tion; or the prodigious Number and variety of creatures contained in it; or the exquifite Minuteness of the feveral parts of which they confift; or the beauty, order and regularity, of every diftinct fpecies; or the Harmonious correfpondence of each part of nature to the other, even in the inanimate part of the world; or if we contemplate the Curious structure of fo many vastly different forts of animals, and how exactly they are all fitted to their feveral ftates and condions of life, and what provifion is made for the preservation and continuance of their feveral kinds; or, laftly, if we confider Man, the principal inhabitant of this visible part of the world, which falls moft within our notice, we shall evidently perceive fuch manifest tokens of infinite power, wifdom and goodnefs, as cannot be ascribed to any thing but a providence, or mind, infinitely perfect in all these Attributes.

1. If we confider the amazing magnitude and extent of the whole creation, it gives us a notion of power incomprehenfible, in the production and preservation of it. We cannot say indeed, that the creation is, properly and strictly speaking, infinite, or without all poffible bounds, but only that the limits of it

are

aré to us, or perhaps to any created mind, unfearchable. Its extent is beyond all the power of fight which we have or can have from the affiftance of the beft Telescopes. The dif tance from the Earth to the Sun is prodigiously greater than perhaps any man, who is not something acquainted with Aftronomical Speculations, would easily conceive. And yet, how vaft foever this diftance is, it is very inconfiderable in comparison of the distance from the fix'd Stars, which are vifible to our naked eye; and yet more fo in comparison of those which are fo remote as not to be seen without the best glaffes; And how many more there may be, which by reafon of their vaftly greater difrance are invifible, we cannot guess, though we have reafon to believe them to be an inconceivable number. And these being all fuppofed like Suns to so many several systems of other Planets attending them, must require fuch an immenfefpace, for their feveral revolutions, without interfering with one another, as is almost beyond all human conception to imagine. And then

2. If we confider the prodigious Number

and

k Being according to the most exact calculation, 21600 Semidiameters of the Earth, i. e. above 86 Millions of English Miles 86,051,398. Derham's Aftro-Theology.

and Variety of creatures contained in this immense space, it fhews a wisdom and contrivance equal to that infinite power which produced them. If we view only this Earth, with which we are beft acquainted, as having the nearest means of knowing it, which is but a point, as it were, in comparison of the Universe, what an amazing variety does it afford us? Under the earth, how many kinds of foffils, ftones, gems, minerals, metals? Upon the furface, what an incredible number of vegetables, trees, plants, fhrubs, graffes, with their feveral diftinct feeds, leaves, flowers and fruits? Upon the Earth, in the Water, and in the Air, how many thousand forts, or tribes, of Animals of different bulk and figure, beafts, reptils, birds and infects? And if the various kinds are fo many, how numberless are the individuals of each kind? It might also be observed, that there is a wonderful variety among the individuals themselves of the fame fpecies. Even in several nations of mankind only there is fuch an incredible diversity, as to colour, ftature, language, and the like, as made even 1 Pliny himself fay, that the

power

Naturæ verò rerum vis atque majeft as in omnibus momentis fide caret; fi quis modò partes ejus ac non totam complectatur Animo. Plin. Nat. Hift. lib. 7. cap. 1.