CHAP. III.

1. That there is nothing in Nature but what passes the approbation of a Knowing Principle. 2. The great Usefulness of Hills and Mountains. 3. The Condition of Man in order and respect to the rest of the Creation. 4. The designed Usefulness of Quarries of Stone, Timber-Wood, Metalls and Minerals. 5. How upon these depend the glory and magnificence <48> both of Peace and Warre: 6. As also the defense of Men against Beasts.

1. LET us therefore swiftly course over the Valleys and Mountains, sound the depth of the Sea, range the Woods and Forrests, dig into the Entrails of the Earth, and let the Atheist tell me which of all these places are silent, and say nothing of a God. Those that are most dumb will at least compromise with the rest, that all things are by the guidance and determination, (let the Matter move as it will) or at least by the allowance and approbation, of a Knowing Principle. As a Mason that makes a wall, sometimes meets with a stone that wants no cutting, and so only approving of it, he places it in his work: and a piece of Timber may happen to be crack'd in the very place where the Carpenter would cleave it, and he need not close it first, that he may cleave it asunder afterwards. Wherefore it the mere Motion of the Matter can doe any rude general thing of good consequence, let it stand as allowable: But we shall find out also those things which do so manifestly savour of Design and Counsel, that we cannot naturally withhold our assent, but must say There is a God.

2. And now let us betake our selves to the search, and see if all things be not so as our Reason would desire them. And to begin at the Top first, even those rudely-scattered Mountains, that seem but so many Wens and unnaturall Protuberancies upon the face of the Earth, if you consider but of what consequence they are, thus reconciled you may deem them ornaments as well as useful.

For these are Nature's Stillatories, in whose hollow Caverns the ascending vapours are congealed to that universal Aqua vitæ, that good fresh-water, the liquor of life, that sustains all the living Creatures in the world, being carried along in all parts of the Earth in the winding Chanels of Brooks and Rivers. Geography would make it good by a large induction. I will onely instance in three or four; Ana and Tagus run from Sierra Molina in Spain, Rhenus, Padus and Rhodanus from the Alps, Tanais from the Riphean, Garumna from the Pyrenean Mountains, Achelous from Pindus, Hebrus from Rhodope, Tigris from Niphates, Orontes from Libanus, and Euphrates from the Mountains of Armenia, and so in the rest. But I will not insist upon this; I will now betake my self to what doth more forcibly declare an Eye of Providence directing and determining, as well as approving of, the results of the supposed agitation of the parts of the Matter.

3. And that you may the better feel the strength of my Argument, let us first briefly consider the nature of Man, what Faculties he hath, and in what order he is in respect of the rest of the Creatures. And, indeed, though his Body he but weak and disarmed, yet his inward abilities of Reason and Artificial contrivance is admirable. He is much given to Contemplation, and the viewing of this Theatre of the world, to traffick and commerce with forein Nations, to the building of Houses and Ships, to the making curious instruments of Silver, Brass or Steel, and the like: in a word, he is the flower and chief of all the products of Nature <49> upon this Globe of the Earth. Now if I can shew, that there are designs laid even in the lowest and vilest products of Nature that respect Man the highest of all, you cannot deny but that there is an Eye of Providence that respecteth all things, and passeth very swiftly from the Top to the Bottom, disposing all things wisely.

4. I therefore now demand, Man being of this nature that he is, whether these noble Faculties of his would not be lost and frustrate, were there not Materials to exercise them on. And in the second place, I desire to know, whether the rude confused Agitation of the particles of the Matter do certainly produce any such Materials fit for Man to exercise his skill on, or no: that is to say, whether there were any Necessity that could infallibly produce Quarries of Stone in the Earth, which are the chief Materials of all the Magnificent Structures of building in the world; And the same of Iron and Steel, without which there had been no use of these Stones; and then of Sea-Coal and other necessary Fewel, fit for the working or melting of these Metalls; and also of Timber-Trees, for all might have been as well brush-wood and shrubs, and then assuredly there had been no such convenient Shipping, whatever had become of other buildings: and so of the Load-stone, that great help to Navigation, whether it might not have lain so low in the Earth as never to have been reached by the industry of Man; and the same may be said also of other Stones and Metalls, that they being heaviest, might have lain lowest. Assuredly the agitated Matter, unless there were some special over-powering guidance over it, might as well have over-slipt these necessary useful things as hit upon them: But if there had not been such a Creature as Man, these very things themselves had been useless, for none of the brute Beasts make use of such commodities. Wherefore unless a man will doe enormous violence to his Faculties, he must conclude, that there is a contrivance of Providence and Counsel in all those things, which reacheth from the beginning to the end, and orders all things sweetly: and that Providence foreseeing what a kind of Creature she would make Man, provided him with materials from whence he might be able to adorn his present Age, and furnish History with the Records of egregious exploits both of Art and Valour.

5. But without the provision of the forenamed Materials, the Glory and Pomp both of War and Peace had been lost. For men in stead of those magnificent Buildings which are seen in the world, could have had no better kind of dwellings then a bigger sort of Bee-hives or Birds-nests, made of contemptible sticks, and straws, and durty morter. And in stead of the usual pomp and bravery of War, wherein is heard the solemn sound of the hoarse Trumpet, the couragious beating of the Drum, the neighing and pransing of the Horses, clattering of Armour, and the terrible thunder of Cannons; to say nothing of the glittering of the Sword and Spear, the waving and fluttering of displayed Colours, the gallantry of Charges upon their well-managed Steeds, and the like: I say, had it not been for the forenamed provision of Iron, Steel and Brass, and such like necessary Materials, in stead of all this glory and solemnity there had been nothing but howlings and shoutings of poor naked men, belabouring <50> one another with snag'd sticks, or dully falling together by the ears at Fisti-cuffs.

6. Besides this, Beasts being naturally armed, and men naturally unarmed with any thing save their Reason, and Reason being ineffectual having no materials to work upon; it is plain, that that which made Men, Beasts and Metalls, knew what it did, and did not forget it self in leaving Man destitute of naturall Armature, having provided Materials, and giving him wit and abilities to arm himself, and so to be able to make his party good against the most fierce and stoutest of all living Creatures whatsoever; nay indeed, left him unarmed on purpose, that he might arm himself, and exercise his natural wit and industry.

CHAP. IV.

1. Distinction of Land and Sea not without a Providence. 2. As also the Consistence of the Sea-Water that it can bear Ships. 3. The great convenience and pleasure of Navigation. 4. The admirable train of fit Provisions in Nature for the gratifying the Wit of man in so concerning a Curiosity.

1. HAving thus passed over the Hills, and through the Woods & hollow Entrails of the Earth, let us now view the wide Sea also, and see whether that do not inform us that there is a God; that is, whether things be not there in such sort as a rational Principle would either order or approve, whenas yet notwithstanding they might have been otherwise. And now we are come to view those Campos natantes, as Lucretius calls them, that vast Champain of Water, the Ocean; I demand first, Whether it might not have been wider then it is, even so large as to overspred the face of the whole Earth, and so to have taken away the habitation of Men and Beasts. For the wet particles might have easily ever mingled with the dry, and so all had either been Sea or Quag-mire.

2. And then again, though this distinction of Land and Sea be made, Whether this watry Element might not have fallen out to be of so thin a consistency as that it would not bear Shipping; for it is so far from impossibility, as there be de facto in Nature such waters, as the River Silas, for example, in India. And the waters of Borysthenes are so thin and light, that they are said to swim upon the top of the Stream of the River Hypanis. And we know there is some kind of wood so heavy that it will sink in any ordinary kind of water.

I appeal therefore to any mans Reason, whether it be not better that there should be a distinction of Land and Sea, then that all should be mire or water; and whether it be not better that the Timber-trees afford wood so light that it swim on the water, or the water be so heavy that it will bear up the wood, then the contrary. That therefore which might have been otherwise, and yet is settled according to our own hearts wish, who <51> are knowing and rational Creatures, ought to be deemed by us as established by Counsel and Reason.

3. And the closer we look into the business, we shall discern more evident foot-steps of Providence in it: For the two main properties of Man being Contemplation, and Sociableness or love of Converse, there could nothing so highly gratifie his nature as power of Navigation, whereby he riding on the back of the waves of the Sea, views the wonders of the Deep, and by reason of the glibness of that Element, is able in a competent time to prove the truth of those sagacious suggestions of his own Mind; that is, whether the Earth be every way round, and whether there be any Antipodes, and the like; and by cutting the Æquinoctial line, decides that controversie of the habitablenesse of the Torrid Zone, or rather wipes out that blot that lay upon Divine Providence, as if so great a share of the world had been lost by reason of unfitness for Habitation.

Besides, the falling upon strange Coasts, and discovering men of so great a diversity of manners from our selves, cannot but be a thing of infinite pleasure and advantage to the enlargement of our thoughts from what we observe in their Conversation, Parts and Policy. Adde unto this the sundry Rarities of Nature, and Commodities proper to several Countreys, which they that stay at home enjoy by the Travels of those that go abroad, and they that travel grow rich for their adventure.

4. Now therefore Navigation being of so great consequence to the delight and convenience of humane life, and there being both wit and courage in man to attempt the Seas, were he but fitted with right Materials and other advantages requisite: when we see there is so pat a provision made for him to this purpose in large Timber, for the building of his Ship; in a thick Sea-water, sufficient to bear the Ship's burthen; in the Magnet or Load-stone, for his Compass; in the steady and parallel direction of the Axis of the Earth, for his Cynosura; and then observing his natural wit and courage to make use of them, and how that ingenite desire of knowledge and converse, and of the improving of his own parts and happiness, stir him up to so notable a designe; we cannot but conclude from such a traine of Causes so fitly and congruously complying together, That it was really the counsel of an Universal and Eternal Mind, that hath the overseeing and guidance of the whole frame of Nature, that laid together these Causes so carefully and wisely; that is, we cannot but conclude That there is a God.

And if we have got so fast foot-hold already in this Truth by the consideration of such Phænomena in the world that seem more rude and general, what will the contemplation of the more particular and more polished pieces of Nature afford in Vegetables, Animals, and the Body of Man?

CHAP. V.

1. That the Form and Beauty, Seed and Signature of Plants are Arguments of a Providence. 2. That though the mere motion of the Matter might produce certain Meteors, as Haile, Snow, Ice, &c. yet it will not follow that the same is the adequate cause of Animals and Plants. 3. That it were no great botch nor gap in Nature, if some more rude Phænomena were acknowledged the Results of the mere Mechanical Motion of Matter. 4. That the Forme and Beauty of Flowers and Plants are from an higher Principle. 5. That there is such a thing as Beauty, and that it is the Object of our Intellectial Faculties. 6. From whence it follows, that the beautiful Formes and Figures and Plants and Animals are from an Intellectual Principle.

1. HItherto we have onely considered the more rude and careless strokes and delineaments of divine Providence in the world, set out in those more large Phænomena of Day and Night, Winter and Summer, Land and Sea, Rivers, Mountains, Metalls, and the like; we now come to a closer view of God and Nature in Vegetables, Animals, and Man.

And first of Vegetables, where I shall touch only these four heads, their Form and Beauty, their Seed, their Signatures, and their great Use as well for Medicine as Sustenance. And that we may the better understand the advantage we have in this closer Contemplation of the works of Nature, we are in the first place to take notice of the condition of that Substance which we call Matter, how fluid and slippery and undeterminate it is of it self; or if it be hard, how unfit it is to be chang'd into any thing else. And therefore all things rot into a moisture before any thing can be generated of them, as we soften the wax before we set on the Seal.

2. Now therefore, unless we will be so foolish, as, because the uniform motion of the Aire, or some more subtile corporeal Element, may so equally compress or bear against the parts of a little vaporous moisture, as to form it into round drops (as some say it doth in the Dew and other Experiments) and therefore because this more rude and general Motion can doe something, conclude that it does all things; we must in all Reason confess that there is an Eternal Mind, in virtue whereof the Matter is thus usefully formed and changed.

But mere rude and undirected Motion, because naturally it will have some kind of Results, that therefore it will reach to such as plainly imply a wise contrivance of Counsel, is so ridiculous a Sophism, as I have already intimated, that it is more fit to impose upon the inconsiderate Souls of Fools and Children, then upon men of mature Reason and well exercis'd in Philosophy. Admit that Rain and Snow and Wind and Hail and Ice, and such like Meteors, may be the products of Heat and Cold, or of the Motion and Rest of certain small particles of the Matter; yet that the <53> useful and beautiful contrivance of the branches, flowers and fruits of Plants should be so too (to say nothing yet of the bodies of Birds, Fishes, Beasts and Men) is as ridiculous and supine a Collection, as to infer that, because mere Heat and Cold does soften and harden Wax, and puts it into some shape or other, that therefore this mere Heat and Cold, or Motion and Rest, without any Art or direction, made the Silver Seal too, and graved upon it so curiously some Coat of Arms, or the shape of some Birds or Beasts, as an Eagle, a Lion, and the like. Nay, indeed, this inference is more tolerable far then the other, these effects of Art being more easie and less noble then those others of Nature.

3. Nor is it any botch or gap at all in the works of Nature, that some particular Phænomena be but the easie results of that general Motion communicated unto the Matter from God, others the effects of more curious contrivance, or of the divine Art or Reason (for such are the λόγοι σπερματικοὶ, the *^[5] Rationes Seminales) incorporated in the Matter, especially the Matter it self being in some sort vital; else it would not continue the Motion that it is put upon, when it is occasionally this or the other way moved: and besides, the Nature of God being the most perfect fulness of Life that is possibly conceivable, it is very congruous that this outmost and remotest shadow of himself be some way, though but obscurely, vital. Wherefore things falling off by degrees from the highest Perfection, it will be no uneven or unproportionable step, if descending from the Top of this outward Creation, Man, in whom there is a principle of more fine and reflexive Reason, which hangs on, though not in that manner, in the more perfect kind of Brutes, as Sense also, loth to be curb'd within too narrow compass, lays hold upon some kinds of Plants, as in those sundry sorts of Zoophyta, (but in the rest there are no further foot-steps discovered of an Animadversive form abiding in them, though there be the effects of an Inadvertent form (λόγος ἔνυλος) of materiated or incorporated Art or Seminal Reason:) I say, it is no uneven jot, to passe from the more faint and obscure examples of Spermatical life to the more considerable effects of general Motion in Minerals, Metalls and sundry Meteors, whose easie and rude shapes have no need of any Principle of Life, or Spermatical form distinct from the Rest or Motion of the particles of the Matter.

4. But there is that Curiosity of Form and Beauty in the more noble kind of Plants, bearing such a sutablenesse and harmony with the more refined sense and sagacity of the Soul of Man, that he cannot chuse (his Intellectual Touch being so sweetly gratifi'd by what it deprehends in such like Objects) but acknowledge that some hidden Cause, much akin to his own nature, that is Intellectual, is the contriver and perfecter of these so pleasant spectacles in the world.

5. Nor is it at all to the purpose to object, that this business of Beauty and Comeliness of proportion is but a conceit, because some men acknowledge no such thing, and all things are alike handsome to them, who yet notwithstanding have the use of their Eyes as well as other folks. For, I say, this rather makes for what we aime at, that Pulchritude is conveigh'd indeed by the outward Senses unto the Soul, but a more Intel <54> lectual Faculty is that which relishes it; as a Geometrical Scheme is let in by the Eyes, but the Demonstration is discern'd by Reason. And therefore it is more rational to affirm, that some Intellectual Principle was the Author of this Pulchritude of things, then that they should be thus fashion'd without the help of that Principle. And to say that there is no such thing as Pulchritude, because some mens Souls are so dull & stupid that they relish all Objects alike in that respect; is as absurd and groundless, as to conclude there is no such thing as Reason and Demonstration, because a natural Fool cannot reach unto it. But that there is such a thing as Beauty, and that it is acknowledged by the whole generations of men to be in Trees, Flowers and Fruits, the adorning and beautifying of Buildings in all Ages is an ample and undeniable Testimony. For what is more ordinary with them then the taking in Flowers and Fruitage for the garnishing of their work? Besides, I appeal to any man that is not sunk into so forlorn a pitch of Degeneracy, that he is as stupid of these things as the basest of Beasts, whether, for example, a rightly-cut Tetraedrum, Cube or Icosaedrum have no more pulchritude in them, then any rude broken stone lying in the field or high-ways; or to name other solid Figures, which though they be not Regular, properly so called, yet have a settled Idea and Nature, as a Cone, Sphear or Cylinder, whether the sight of these doe not gratifie the minds of men more, and pretend to more elegancy of shape, then those rude cuttings or chippings of free-stone that fall from the Mason's hands, and serve for nothing but to fill up the middle of the Wall, and so to be hid from the Eyes of Man for their ugliness. And it is observable, that if Nature shape any thing near this Geometrical accuracy, that we take notice of it with much content and pleasure: as if it be but exactly round (as there are abundance of such stones found betwixt two hills in Cuba, an Island of America) or ordinately Quinquangular, or have the sides but Parallel, though the Angles be unequal, as is seen in some little stones, and in a kind of Alabaster found here in England; these stones, I say, gratifie our sight, as having a nearer cognation with the Soul of Man, that is Rational and Intellectual, and therefore is well pleased when it meets with any outward Object that fits and agrees with those congenite Ideas her own nature is furnished with. For Symmetry, Equality and Correspondency of parts, is the discernment of Reason, not the Object of Sense, as I have heretofore proved.

6. Now therefore it being evident that there is such a thing as Beauty, Symmetry and Comeliness of Proportion (to say nothing of the delightful mixture of Colours) & that this is the proper Object of the Understanding and Reason, (for these things be not taken notice of by the Beasts) I think I may safely infer, That whatever is the first and principal Cause of changing the fluid and undeterminated Matter into shapes so comely and symmetrical, as wee see in Flowers and Trees, is an Understanding Principle, and knows both the nature of man, and of those Objects he offers to his sight in this outward and visible world. For these things cannot come by chance, or by a multifarious attempt of the parts of the Matter upon themselves; for then it were likely that the Species of things (though some might hit right, yet most) would be maim'd and ridicu <55> lous; but now there is not any ineptitude in any thing, which is a sign that the fluidness of the Matter is guided and determined by the overpowering counsel of an Eternal Mind, that is, of a God.

If it were not needless, I might now instance in sundry kinds of Flowers, Herbs and Trees: but these Objects being so obvious, and every mans phansy being branched with the remembrance of Roses, Marigolds, Gillyflowers, Pionyes, Tulips, Pansies, Primroses, the leaves and clusters of the Vine, and a thousand such like, of all which they cannot but confess, that there is in them beauty and symmetry and grateful proportion; I hold it superfluous to weary you with any longer Induction, but shall pass on to the three Considerations behind, of their Seed, Signatures and Usefulness, and shall pass through them very briefly, the Observables being very ordinary and easily intelligible.

CHAP. VI.

1. Providence argued from the Seeds of Plants. 2. An Objection answered concerning stinking Weeds and poisonous Plants. 3. The Signature of Plants an argument of Providence. 4. Certain Instances of Signatures. 5. An Answer to an Objection concerning such Signatures in Plants as cannot referre to Medicine.

1. I Say therefore, in that every Plant has its Seed, it is an evident sign of Divine Providence. For it being no necessary Result of the Motion of the Matter, as the whole contrivance of the Plant indeed is not, and it being of so great consequence that they have Seed for the continuance and propagation of their own Species, and for the gratifying of mans Art also, industry and necessities (for much of Husbandry and Gardening lies in this) it cannot but be an Act of Counsel to furnish the several kinds of Plants with their Seeds, especially the Earth being of such a nature, that though at first for a while it might bring forth all manner of Plants, (as some will have it also to have brought forth all kinds of Animals) yet at last it would grow so sluggish, that without the advantage of those small compendious Principles of generation, the grains of Seed, it would yield no such births; no more then a Pump grown dry will yield any water, unless you pour a little water into it first, and then for one Bason-ful you may fetch up so many Soe-fuls.

2. Nor is it material to object, That stinking Weeds and poisonous Plants bear Seed too as well as the most pleasant and most useful: For even those stinking Weeds and poisonous Plants have their use. For first, the Industry of Man is exercised by them to weed them out where they are hurtful. Which reason if it seem slight, let us but consider, that if humane Industry had nothing to conflict and struggle with, the fire of mans Spirit would be half extinguish'd in the flesh; and then we shall acknowledge that that which I have alledged is not so contemptible nor invalid.

But secondly, who knows but it is so with poisonous Plants as vulgarly is phansied concerning Toads and other poisonous Serpents, that they lick the venome from off the Earth? so poisonous Plants may well draw to them all the malign juice and nourishment, that the other may be more pure and defæcate; as there are Receptacles in the Body of Man and Emunctories to drain them of superfluous Choler, Melancholy, and the like.

But lastly, it is very well known by them that know any thing in Nature and Physick, that those Herbs that the rude and ignorant would call Weeds are the Materials of very soveraign Medicines, that Aconitum hyemale or Winter-wolfs-bane, that otherwise is rank poison, is reported to prevail mightily against the bitings of Vipers and Scorpions, which Crollius assenteth unto; and that that Plant that bears death in the very name of it, Solanum lethiferum, prevents death by procuring sleep, if it be rightly apply'd in a Feaver. Nor are those things to be deemed unprofitable whose use we know not yet; for all is not to be known at once, that succeeding Ages may ever have something left to gratifie themselves in their own discoveries.

3. We come now to the Signatures of Plants, which seem no less Argument that the highest Original of the works of Nature is some Understanding Principle, then that so careful provision of their Seed. Nay, indeed, this respects us more properly and adequately then the other, and is a certain Key to enter Man into the knowledge and use of the Treasures of Nature. I demand therefore, whether it be not a very easie and genuine inference, from the observing that several Herbs are marked with some mark or sign that intimates their virtue, what they are good for, and there being such a creature as Man in the world that can read and understand these signs and characters; hence to collect that the Authour both of Man and them knew the nature of them both: For it is like the Inscriptions upon Apothecaries Boxes, that the Master of the Shop sets on that the Apprentice may read them; nay, it is better, for here is in Herbs inscribed the very nature and use of them, not the mere name. Nor is there any necessity that all should be thus signed, though some be; for the rarity of it is the delight; for otherwise it had been dull and cloying, too much harping upon the same string. And besides, Divine Providence would onely initiate and enter mankind into the useful knowledge of her Treasures, leaving the rest to imploy our industry, that we might not live like idle Loyterers and Truants: For the Theatre of the world is an exercise of Mans wit, not a lazy Polyanthea, or book of Common-places. And therefore all things are in some measure obscure and intricate, that the sedulity of that divine Spark, the Soul of Man, may have matter of conquest and triumph, when he has done bravely by a superadvenient assistance of his God.

4. But that there be some Plants that bear a very evident Signature of their nature and use, I shall fully make good by these following instances.

Capillus Veneris, Polytrichon or Maiden-hair, the lye in which it is sodden or infus'd is good to wash the head, and make the Hair grow in those places that are more thin and bare.

And the decoction of Quinces, which are a downy and hairy fruit, is accounted good for the fetching again Hair that has fallen by the French Pox.

The leaf of Balm and of Alleluia or Wood-Sorrel, as also the Roots of Anthora, represent the Heart in figure, and are Cardiacal.

Wall-nuts bear the whole signature of the Head. The outward green Cortex answers to the Pericranium, and a salt made of it is singularly good for wounds in that part; as the kernel is good for the Brains, which it resembles.

Umbilicus Veneris is powerful to provoke Lust, as Dioscorides affirms. As also your several sorts of Satyrions, which have the evident resemblance of the genital parts upon them; *^[6] Aron especially, and all your Orchisses, that they have given names unto from some beasts or other, as Cynosorchis, Orchis Myodes, Tragorchis, and the like. The last whereof, notorious also for its goatish smell, and tufts not unlike the beard of that lecherous Animal, is of all the rest the most powerful Incentive to Lust.

The leaves of Hypericon are very thick prick'd, or pink'd with little holes, and it is a singular good wound-herb, as useful also for de-obstructing the pores of the body.

Scorpioides, Echium, or Scorpion-grass, is like the crooked tail of a Scorpion, and Ophioglossum, or Adders-tongue, has a very plain and perfect resemblance of the tongue of a Serpent, as also Ophioscorodon of the intire head and upper parts of the body; and these are all held very good against Poison, and the biting of Serpents. And generally all such Plants as are speckled with spots like the skins of Vipers or other venemous creatures, are known to be good against the stings or bitings of them, and are powerful Antidotes against Poison.

Thus did divine Providence by natural Hieroglyphicks read short Physick-Lectures to the rude wit of man, that being a little entred and engaged, he might by his own industry and endeavours search out the rest himself; it being very reasonable that other Herbs that had not such Signatures might be very good for Medicinal uses, as well as they that had.

5. But if any here object, that some Herbs have the resemblance of such things as cannot in any likelihood refer to Physick, as Geranium, Cruciata, Bursa Pastoris, the Bee-Flower, Fly-Orchis, and the like; I say, they answer themselves in the very proposal of their Objection: for this is a sign that they were intended onely for ludicrous ornaments of Nature, like the flourishes about a great Letter, that signifie nothing, but are made onely to delight the Eye. And 'tis so far from being any inconvenience to our first Progenitors, if this intimation of Signatures did fail, that it cast them with more courage upon attempting the virtue of those that had no such Signatures at all; it being obvious for them to reason thus, Why may not those Herbs have Medicinal virtue in them that have no Signatures, as well as they that have Signatures have no virtue answerable to the signs they bear? which was a further confirmation to them of the former Conclusion; and still a greater provocation of their in <58> dustry, if they at any time light upon Signatures of a contrary effect.

And it was sufficient that those that were of so present and great consequence as to be Antidotes against Poison, (that so quickly would have dispatch'd poor rude and naked Antiquity,) or to help on the small beginnings of the world, by quickning and actuating their phlegmatick Natures to more frequent and effectuall Venery (for their long lives shew they were not very fiery) I say, it was sufficient that Herbs of this kind were both so obvious and so legibly sign'd with Characters that so plainly bewray'd their usefull virtues, as is manifest in your Satyrions, Ophioglossum, and the like. But I have dwelt too long upon this Theory; wee'l betake our selves to what follows, and what is more unexceptionably stringent and forcing.

CHAP. VII.

1. That the Usefulness of Plants argues a Providence, particularly those that afford Timber. 2. As also such Herbs and Plants as serve for Physick for Men and Beasts. 3. Of Plants fit for Food. 4. Of the Colour of Grass and Herbs, and of the Fruits of Trees. 5. The notable provisions in Nature for Husbandry and Tillage, with the universal Usefulness of Hemp and Flaxe. 6. The marvellous Usefulness of the Indian Nut-Tree.

1. WE are at length come to the fourth and last consideration of Plants, viz. their Use & Profitableness. We shall say nothing now of those greater Trees that are fit for Timber, and are the requisite Materials for the building of Ships and magnificent Houses, to adorn the Earth, and make the life of Man more splendid and delectable; as also for the erecting of those holy Structures consecrated to Divine Worship. Amongst which we are not to forget that famous Edifice, that glorious Temple at Jerusalem, consecrated to the great God of Heaven and Earth: As indeed it was most fit that He whose Guidance and Providence permitted not the strength of the Earth to spend it self in base gravel and pebbles in stead of Quarries of Stone, nor in briars and brush-wood in stead of Pines, Cedars and Oaks, that He should at some time or other have the most stately magnificent Temples erected to Him that the wit and industry of Man and the best of those Materials could afford; it being the most sutable acknowledgement of thanks for that piece of Providence that can be invented. And it is the very consideration that moved that pious King David to design the building of a Temple to the God of Israel: See now, says he, I dwell in a house of Cedar, but the Ark of God dwelleth within Curtains. But as I said, I will adde nothing concerning these things, being contented with what I have glanced upon heretofore.

2. We will now briefly take notice of the Profitableness of Plants for <59> Physick and Food, and then pass on to the consideration of Animals. And as for their Medicinal uses, the large Herbals that are every where to be had are so ample Testimonies thereof, that I have said enough in but reminding you of them. That which is most observable here is this, that brute Beasts have some share in their virtue as well as Men. For the Toad being overcharged with the poison of the Spider, as is ordinary believed, hath recourse to the Plantane leaf: The Weasel, when she is to encounter the Serpent, arms her self with eating of Rue: the Dog, when he is sick at the stomach, knows his cure, falls to his Grass, vomits, and is well: the Swallows make use of Celandine, the Linnet of Euphragia, for the repairing of their sight: And the Asse, when he is oppress'd with Melancholy, eats of the herb Asplenium or Miltwaste, and so eases himself of the swelling of the Spleen. And Virgil reports of the Dictamnum Cretense or Cretian Dittany, that the wild Goats eat it when they are shot with darts or arrows; for that Herb has the virtue to work them out of their body, and to heale up the wound. —non illa feris incognita Capris Gramina, cùm tergo volucres hæsere sagittæ.

Which things I conceive no obscure indigitation of Providence: For they doing that by Instinct and Nature which men, who have free Reason, cannot but acknowledge to be very pertinent and fitting; nay, such that the skilfullest Physician will approve and allow; and these Creatures having no such reason and skill themselves as to turn Physicians; it must needs be concluded, that they are inabled to do these things by virtue of that Principle that contrived them, and made them of that nature they are, and that that Principle therefore must have Skill and Knowledge, that is, that it must be God.

3. We come now to the consideration of Plants as they afford Food both to Man and Beasts. And here we may observe, That as there was a general provision of Water, by setting the Mountains and Hills abroach, from whence through the Spring-heads and continued Rivulets drawn together (that caused afterwards greater Rivers with the long winding distributions of them) all the Creatures of the Earth quench their thirst: so Divine Providence has spred her Table every where, not with a juiceless green Carpet, but with succulent Herbage and nourishing Grass, upon which most of the Beasts of the field do feed; and they that feed not on it, feed on those that eat it, and so the generations of them all are continued.

4. But this seeming rather necessary then of choice, I will not insist upon it. For I grant that Counsel most properly is there imply'd, where we discern a variety and possibility of being otherwise, and yet the Best is made choice of. Therefore I will onely intimate thus much, That though it were necessary that some such thing as Grass should be, if there were such and such creatures in the world; yet it was not at all necessary that Grass and Herbs should have that Colour which they have; for they might have been red or white, or some such Colour which would have been very offensive and hurtful to our sight. But I will not insist upon <60> these things; let us now consider the Fruits of Trees, where I think it will appear very manifestly, that there was one and the same Author both of Man and them, and that assuredly he knew what he did when he made them. For could Apples, and Oranges, and Grapes, and Apricocks, and such like fruit, be intended for Beasts that hold their heads downward, and can scarce look up at them, much less know how to reach them? When we feed our Dogs, we set the dish or trencher on the ground, nor on the Table. But you'l say, That at last these fruits will fall down, and then the Beasts may come at them. But one thing is, there are not many that desire them, and so they would rot upon the ground before they be spent, or be squander'd away in a moment of time, as it might easily fare with the most precious of Plants, the Vine. But Man, who knows the worth of the Grape, knows to preserve it a long season (for it is both eaten and drunk some years after the vintage) as he does also gather the rest of the Fruits of the Earth, and layes up both for himself and his Cattel. Wherefore it is plainly discoverable, that Man's coming into the world is not a thing of Chance or Necessity, but a Design, as the bringing of worthy Guests to a well-furnish'd Table.

5. And what I have intimated concerning the Vine is as eminently, if not more eminently, observable in the ordinary kinds of Grain, as Wheat and Barly, and the like, which also, like the Vine, are made either Edible or Potable by Man's Art and Industry. But that's not the thing that I care so much to observe. That which I drive at now is this; That Bread-corn, that brings so considerable increase by Tillage and Husbandry, would scarce be at all without it; for that which grows wildly of it self is worth nothing: but it being so wholesom and strengthning a food, that it should yield so plentiful increase, and that this should not be without humane Art and Industry, does plainly insinuate that there is a Divine Providence that intended to exercise the wit of Man in Husbandry and Tillage. Which we may the more firmly assure our selves of, if we adde unto this the careful provision of Instruments so exactly fitted out for this imployment; viz. the laborious Oxe, and the stout, but easily manageable, Horse; Iron for the plough-share, and Roaps for the horse-gears to pull by. And it is very seasonable to take notice of this last, it belonging to this consideration of the Profitableness of Plants. And I appeal to any body that will but take the pains a while to consider of what great use and consequence Cordage is in the affairs of Men, whether it was not a palpable Act of Providence to send out such Plants out of the Earth which would afford it. For we can discover no necessity in Nature that there must needs be such Plants as Hemp and Flax. Wherefore if we will but follow the easie suggestions of free Reason, we must cast it upon Providence, which has provided Mankind of such a Commodity, that no less affairs depend upon then all the Tackling of Ships, their Sails and Cable-roaps, and what not? and so consequently all forein Traffick, and then the transportation of wood and stone, and other necessary materials for building, or the carriage of them by land in Wains and Carts, besides the ordinary use of Pulleys or other Engines for the lifting up of heavy weights, which the strength of Man without these helps would not easily <61> master; besides what I hinted before concerning the use of Cordage in Husbandry, in plowing and carrying home the fruits of the Earth. The Uses indeed of the fore-named Plants are so universal, and take place so in every affair of Man, that if it were lawful to be a little merry in so serious a matter, a man might not unfittingly apply that verse of the Poet to this so general a commodity, Omnia sunt homini tenui pendentia filo; that all the businesses of Men do very much depend upon these little long fleaks or threds of Hemp and Flax. Or if you will say, that there may some scambling shift be made without them in long chaines of Iron, or sails of Woollen, and the like; yet we seeing our selves provided for infinitely better, are in all reason to judge it to proceed from no worse a Principle then Divine Providence.

6. I might now reach out to Exotick Plants, such as the Cinnamon-tree, the Balsame-tree, the Tree that bears the Nutmeg invelloped with the Mace, as also the famous Indian Nut-tree, which at once almost affords all the Necessaries of life. For if they cut but the twigs at Evening, there is a plentifull and pleasant Juice comes out, which they receive into Bottles, and drink in stead of Wine, and out of which they extract such an Aqua vitæ as is very sovereign against all manner of sicknesses. The Branches and Boughs they make their Houses of; and the Body of the Tree, being very spongy within, though hard without, they easily contrive into the frame and use of their Canoes or Boats. The Kernel of the Nut serves them for Bread and Meat, and the Shells for Cups to drink in; and indeed they are not mere empty Cups, for there is found a delicious cooling Milk in them. Besides, there is a kind of Hemp that incloses the Nut, of which they make Roaps and Cables, and of the finest of it Sails for their ships: and the Leaves are so hard and sharp-pointed; that they easily make Needles or Bodkins of them, for stitching their Sails, and for other necessary purposes. And that Providence may shew her self benign as well as wise, this so notable a Plant is not restrain'd to one Coast of the world, as suppose the East-Indies, but is found also in some parts of Africa, and in all the Islands of the West-Indies, as Hispaniola, Cuba, as also upon the Continent of Carthagena in Panama, Norembega, and several other parts of the New-found world.

But I thought fit not to insist upon these things, but to contain my self within the compass of such Objects as are familiarly and ordinarily before out eyes, that we may the better take occasion from thence to return thanks to him who is the bountiful Authour of all the supports of life.

CHAP. VIII.

1. The designed Usefulness of Animals for Man, as in particular of the Dog and the Sheep. 2. As also of the Oxe and other Animals. 3. Of Mans subduing the Creatures to himself.. 4. Of those that are as yet untamed. 5. The excellent Usefulness of the Horse. 6. The Usefulness of some Animals that are Enemies to such Animals as are hatefull or noisome to Man.

1. WE are now come to take a view of the nature of Animals: In the contemplation whereof we shall use much-what the same Method we did in that of Plants, for we shall consider in them also their Beauty, their Birth, their Make and Fabrick of body, and Usefullness to Mankind. And to dispatch this last first; It is wonderful easie and natural to conceive, that as almost all are made in some sort or other for humane uses, so some so notoriously and evidently, that without main violence done to our Faculties we can in no wise deny it. As to instance in those things that are most obvious and familiar; When we see in the solitary fields a Shepherd, his Flock and his Dog, how well they are fitted together; when we knock at a Farmer's door, and the first that answers shall be his vigilant Mastiff, whom from his use and office he ordinarily names Keeper; (and I remember, Theophrastus in his character Περὶ ἀγροικίας, tells us, that his Master when he has let the stranger in, ἐπλαβόμενος του ῥύγχους, taking his Dog by the snout, will relate long stories of his usefullness and his services he does to the house and them in it; Οὗτος φυλάοσει τὸ χωρίον καὶ του οἰκίαν καὶ τοὺς ἔνδον, This is he that keeps the yard, the house and them within) lastly, when we view in the open Champain a brace of swift Grey-hounds coursing a good stout and well-breathed Hare, or a pack of well-tuned Hounds and Huntsmen on their horse-backs with pleasure and alacrity pursuing their game, or hear them winding their Horns near a wood side, so that the whole wood rings with the Echo of that Musick and chearful yelping of the eager Dogs; to say nothing of Duck-hunting, of Fox-hunting, of Otter-hunting, and a hundred more such like sports and pastimes, that are all performed by this one kind of Animal: I say, when we consider this so multifarious congruity and fitness of things in reference to our selves, how can we withhold from inferring, That that which made both Dogs and Ducks and Hares and Sheep, made them with a reference to us, and knew what it did when it made them? And though it be possible to be otherwise, yet it is highly improbable that the flesh of Sheep should not be designed for food for men; and that Dogs, that are such a familiar and domestick Creature to Man, amongst other pretty feats that they doe for him, should not be intended to supply the place of a Servitour too, and to take away the bones and scraps, that nothing might be lost. And unless we should expect that Nature should make Jerkins and Stockens grow out of the ground, what could she doe better then afford us so fit materials for Cloathing as the <63> Wooll of the Sheep, there being in Man Wit and Art to make use of it? To say nothing of the Silk-worm, that seems to come into the world for no other purpose then to furnish man with more costly cloathing, and to spin away her very entrails to make him fine without.

2. Again, When we view those large Bodies of Oxen, what can we better conceit them to be, then so many living and walking powdring-Tubs, and that they have animam pro Sale, as Philo speaks of Fishes, that their life is but for Salt, to keep them sweet till we shall have need to eat them? Besides, their Hides afford us Leather for Shoes and Boots, as the Skins of other Beasts also serve for other uses. And indeed Man seems to be brought into the world on purpose that the rest of the Creation might be improved to the utmost usefulness and advantage: For were it not better that the Hides of Beasts and their Flesh should be made so considerable use of as to feed and cloath Men, then that they should rot and stink upon the ground, and fall short of so noble an improvement as to be matter for the exercise of the Wit of Man, and to afford him the necessary conveniences of life? For if Man did not make use of them, they would either dye of Age, or be torn apieces by more cruel Masters. Wherefore we plainly see that it is an Act of Reason and Counsel to have made Man, that he might be a Lord over the rest of the Creation, and keep good quarter among them.

3. And being furnish'd with fit Materials to make himself Weapons, as well as with natural Wit and Valour, he did bid battel to the very fiercest of them, and either chased them away into solitudes and desarts, or else brought them under his subjection, and gave laws unto them; under which they live more peaceably and are better provided for (or at least might be, if Men were good) then they could be when they were left to the mercy of the Lion, Bear or Tiger. And what if he do occasionally and orderly kill some of them for food? their dispatch is quick, and so less dolorous then the paw of the Bear, or the teeth of the Lion, or tedious Melancholy and sadness of old Age, which would first torture them, and then kill them, and let them rot upon the ground stinking and useless.

Besides, all the wit and Philosophy in the world can never demonstrate, that the killing and slaughtering of a Beast is any more then the striking of a Bush where a Bird's Nest is, where you fray away the Bird, and then seize upon the empty Nest. So that if we could pierce to the utmost Catastrophe of things, all might prove but a Tragick-Comedy.

4. But as for those Rebels that have fled into the Mountains and Desarts, they are to us a very pleasant subject of Natural History; besides, we serve our selves of them as much as is to our purpose: and they are not onely for Ornaments of the Universe, but a continual Exercise of Mans Wit and Valour when he pleases to encounter. But to expect and wish that there were nothing but such dull tame things in the world that will neither bite nor scratch, is as groundless and childish as to wish there were no Choler in the body, nor Fire in the universal compass of Nature.

5. I cannot insist upon the whole result of this war, nor must forget how that generous Animal the Horse had at last the wit to yield himself up, to his own great advantage and ours. And verily he is so fitly made <64> for us, that we might justly claim a peculiar right in him above all other Creatures. When we observe his patient service he does us at the Plough, Cart, or under the Pack-saddle, his speed upon the high-way in matters of importance, his docibleness and desire of glory and praise, and consequently his notable atchievements in War, where he will snap the Spears apieces with his teeth, and pull his Riders Enemy out of the Saddle; and then that he might be able to perform all this labour with more ease, that his Hoofs are made so fit for the Art of the Smith and that round armature of Iron he puts upon them; it is a very hard thing not to acknowledge; that this so congruous contrivance of things was really from a Principle of Wisdome and Counsel.

6. There is also another consideration of Animals and their Usefulness, in removing those Evils we are pester'd with by reason of the abundance of some other hurtful Animals, such as are Mice and Rats, and the like; and to this end the Cat is very serviceable. And there is in the West-Indies a Beast in the form of a Bear, which Cardan calls Ursus Formicarius, whose very business it is to eat up all the Ants, which some parts of that Quarter of the World are sometimes excessively plagued withall.

We might adde also sundry Examples of living creatures that not onely bear a singular good affection to Mankind, but are also fierce Enemies to those that are very hurtful and cruel to Man: and such are the Lizard, an Enemy to the Serpent; the Dolphin, to the Crocodile; the Horse, to the Bear; the Elephant, to the Dragon, &c. But I list not to insist upon these things.

CHAP. IX.

1. The Beauty of several brute Animals. 2. The goodly Stateliness of the Horse. 3. That the Beauty of Animals argues their Creation from an Intellectual Principle. 4. The difference of Sexes a Demonstration of Providence. 5. That this difference is not by Chance. 6. An Objection answered concerning the Eele. 7. Another answered, taken from the consideration of the same careful provision of difference of Sexes in viler Animals. 8. Of Fishes and Birds being Oviparous. 9. Of Birds building their Nests and hatching their Eggs. 10. An Objection answered concerning the Ostrich. 11. That the Homogeneity of that Crystalline liquor which is the immediate Matter of the generation of Animals implies a Substance Immaterial or Incorporeal in Animals thus generated. 12. An Answer to an Elusion of the foregoing Argument.

1. I Return now to what I proposed first, the Beauty of living Creatures: which though the course-spirited Atheist will not take notice of, as relishing nothing but what is subservient to his Tyranny or Lust; yet I think it undeniable but that there is comely Symmetry and Beautifulness in sundry living Creatures, a tolerable useful Proportion of <65> parts in all. For neither are all men and women exquisitely handsome, indeed very few, that they that are may raise the greater admiration in the minds of men, and quicken their natural abilities to brave adventures either of Valour or Poetry: But as for the brute Creatures, though some of them be of an hateful aspect, as the Toad, the Swine, & the Rat; yet these are but like Discords in Musick, to make the succeeding chord goe off more pleasantly; as indeed most of those momentany Inconveniences that the life of Man ever and anon meets withall, they do put but a greater edge and vigour upon his Enjoyments.

2. But it is not hard to find very many Creatures that are either καλὰ χρήματα, or ἀστεῖα, as the Philosopher distinguishes, that are either very goodly things and beautiful, or at least elegant and pretty; as most of your Birds are. But for Stateliness & Majestie, what is comparable to a Horse? whether you look upon him single, with his Mane and his Tail waving in the wind, and hear him coursing and neighing in the pastures; or whether you see him with some gallant Heros on his back, performing gracefully his usefull postures, and practising his exploits of War; who can withhold from concluding that a Providence brought these two together, that are fitted so well to each other, that they seem but one compleat Spectacle of Nature? which imposed upon the rude people near Thessaly, and gave the occasion of the fabulous Centaurs, as if they had been one living Creature made up of Horse and Man.

3. That which I drive at is this, There being that Goodliness in the bodies of Animals, as in the Ox, Grey-hound and Stag; or that Majestie and Stateliness, as in the Lion, the Horse, the Eagle and Cock; or that grave Awfulness, as in your best breed of Mastiffs; or Elegancy and Prettiness, as in your lesser Dogs, and most sorts of Birds; all which are several Modes or Beauty, and Beauty being an intellectual Object, as Symmetry and Proportion is (which I proved sufficiently in what I spake concerning the Beauty of Plants:) That which naturally follows from all this is, That the Author or Original of these Creatures which are deemed beautiful, must himself be Intellectual, he having contrived so grateful Objects to the Mind or Intellect of Man.

4. After their Beauty, let us touch upon their Birth or manner of Propagation. And here I appeal to any man, whether the contrivance of Male and Female in living Creatures be not a genuine Effect of Wisdom and Counsel; for it is notoriously obvious that these are made one for the other, and both for the continuation of the Species. For though we should admit, with Cardan and other Naturalists, That the Earth at first brought forth all manner of Animals as well as Plants, and that they might be fastned by the Navel to their common Mother the Earth, as they are now to the Female in the Womb; yet we see she is grown steril and barren, and her births of Animals are now very inconsiderable. Wherefore what can it be but a Providence, that whiles she did bear she sent out Male and Female, that when her own Prolifick virtue was wasted, yet she might be a dry-Nurse, or an officious Grand-mother, to thousands of generations? And I say it is Providence, not Chance, nor Necessity; for what is there imaginable in the parts of the Matter, that <66> they should necessarily fall into the structure of so much as an Animal, much less into so careful a provision of difference of Sexes for their continual propagation?

5. Nor was it the frequent attempts of the moved Matter that first light on Animals, which perpetually were suddenly extinct for want of the difference of Sexes, but afterward by chance differenced their Sexes also, from whence their kinds have continued. For what is perpetual is not by chance; and the Births that now are by putrefaction, shew that it is perpetual; for the Earth still constantly brings forth Male and Female.

6. Nor is it any thing to the purpose to reply (if you will make so large a skip as to cast your self from the land into the water to dive for Objections) that the Eele, according to Plinie and Aristotle, though it be ζῶον ἔναιμον, an Animal so perfect as to have blood in it, yet that it has no distinction of Sexe:^[7] For if it have not, there is good reason for it, that creature arising out of such kind of Matter as will never fail generation; for there will be such like Mud as will serve this end so long as there be Rivers, and longer too, and Rivers will not fail so long as there is a Sea. Wherefore this rather makes for discriminative Providence, that knew afore the nature and course of all things, and made therefore her contrivances accordingly, doing nothing superfluously or in vain.

7. But in other Generations that are more hazardous, though they be sometimes by putrefaction, yet she makes them Male and Female; as 'tis plain in Frogs and Mice. Nor are we to be scandalized at it, that there is such careful provision made for such contemptible Vermine as we conceive them: for this onely comes out of pride and ignorance, or a haughty presumption, that because we are incouraged to believe that in some sense all things are made for Man, that therefore they are not made at all for themselves. But he that pronounces thus is ignorant of the nature of God, and the knowledge of things. For if a good man be merciful to his beast; then surely a good God is bountifull and benign, and takes pleasure that all his Creatures enjoy themselves that have life and sense, and are capable of any enjoyment. So that the swarms of little Vermine, and of Flyes, and innumerable such like diminutive Creatures, we should rather congratulate their coming into Being, then murmure sullenly and scornfully against their Existence; for they find nourishment in the world, which would be lost if they were nor, and are again convenient nourishment themselves to others that prey upon them.

But besides, life being individuated into such infinite numbers that have their distinct sense and pleasure, and are sufficiently fitted with contentments; those little Souls are in a manner as much considerable for the taking off or carrying away to themselves the overflowing benignity of the first Original of all things, as the Ox, the Elephant, or Whale. For it is sense, not bulk, that makes things capable of enjoyments.

Wherefore it was fit that there should be a safe provision made for the propagation and continuance of all the kinds of living Creatures, not onely of those that are good, but of those also that we rashly and inconsiderately call evil: For they are at least good to enjoy themselves, and to partake of the bounty of their Creator. But if they grow noisome and <67> troublesom to us, we have both power and right to curb them: For there is no question but we are more worth then they, or any of the brute Creatures.

8. But to return to the present point in hand; There are also other manifest footsteps of Providence which the Generation of living Creatures will discover to us; as for Example, the manner of Procreation of Fishes and Birds. For there being that notable difference in Animals, that some of them are Oviparous, others Viviparous; that the τὰ νηκτὰ (as Philo comprehends them by that general term) that Fishes and Birds should be Oviparous, is a plain sign of Counsel and Providence. For though it will be granted that their Species might continue and subsist though they had been Viviparous; yet it would have brought their Individuals to very small numbers.

For as for Fishes, since Grass and Herbs are no fruit of the Sea, it was necessary that they should feed one upon another, and therefore that they should multiply in very great plenty; which they could not have done any thing near to that fulness they now do, if they had been Viviparous, as four-footed Beasts are: But being now Oviparous, and the lesser kinds of them so many at first, and sending forth such infinite numbers of Spawn, their generations are neither extinct nor scanted, but are as plentiful as any Creatures on the Land.

And the reason why Birds are Oviparous and lay Eggs, but do not bring forth their yong alive, is, because there might be more plenty of them also, and that neither the Birds of prey, the Serpent nor the Fowler, should streighten their generations too much. For if they had been Viviparous, the burthen of their womb, if they had brought forth any competent number at a time, had been so big and heavy, that their wings would have failed them, and so every body would have had the wit to catch the Old one. Or if they brought but one or two at a time, they would have been troubled all the year long with feeding their young, or bearing them in their womb: besides there had been a necessity of too frequent Venery, which had been very prejudicial to their dry carcases. It was very reasonable therefore that Birds should propagate by laying of Eggs.

9. But this is not all the advantage we shall make of this Consideration. I demand further, What is it that makes the Bird to prepare her Nest with that Artifice, to sit upon her Eggs when she has laid them, and to distinguish betwixt these and her useless Excrement? Did she learn it of her Mother before her? or rather does she not doe she knows not what, but yet what ought to be done by the appointment of the most exquisite Knowledge that is? Wherefore something else has knowledge for her, which is the Maker and Contriver of all things, the Omniscient and Omipotent God.

And though you may reply, that the Hatching of their Eggs is necessary, else their generations would cease; yet I answer, that all the Circumstances and Curiosities of Brooding them are not necessary: for they might have made shift on the ground in the Grass, and not made themselves such curious and safe Nests in Bushes and Trees. Besides, if all <68> things were left to Chance, it is far easier to conceive that there should have been no such things as Birds, then that the blind Matter should ever have stumbled on such lucky Instincts as they that seem but barely necessary.

10. But you'l object, that the Ostrich lays Eggs and hatches them not, so that these things are rather by Chance then Providence. But this rather argues a more exquisite discerning Providence, then is any Argument against it. For the heat of the ground (like those Ovens in Ægypt Diodorus speaks of) whereon she lays them, proves effectual for the production of her young. So Nature tyes not the Female to this tedious service where it is needless and useless; as in Fishes also, who when they have spawn'd, are discharg'd of any further trouble: which is a most manifest discovery of a very curious and watchfull Eye of Providence, which suffers nothing to be done ineptly and in vain.

11. I will only make one advantage more of this Speculation of the Birth of Animals, and then pass on to what remains. It is observed by those that are more attentive watchers of the works of Nature, that the fœtus is framed out of some homogeneal liquour or moisture, in which there is no variety of parts of Matter to be contrived into bones and flesh: but as in an Egge for Example, about the third day the Hen has sate on it, in that part where Nature begins to set upon her work of efformation, all is turned into a Crystalline liquid substance about her; as also severall Insects are bred of little drops of dew; so in all Generations besides it is supposed by them, that Nature does as it were wipe clean the Table-book first, and then pourtray upon it what she pleaseth. And if thus be her course, to corrupt the subject Matter into as perfect Privation of Form as she may, that is, to make it as homogeneal as she can, but liquid and pliable to her Art and Skill; it is to me very highly probable, if not necessary, that there should be something besides this fluid Matter that must change it, alter and guide it into that wise contrivance of parts that afterwards we find it. For how should the parts of this liquid Matter ever come into this exquisite Fabrick of themselves? And this may convince any Atheist, that there is a Substance besides corporeal Matter; which he is as loath to admit of as that there is a God.

For there being nothing else in Nature but Substantia or Modus, this power of contriving the liquid Matter into such order and shape as it is being incompetible to the liquid Matter it self, it must be the Modus of some other Substance latitant in the fluid Matter, and really distinguishable from it; which is either the Soul, or some seminal Form or Archeus, as the Chymist calls it, and they are all alike indifferent to me at this time. I aiming here onely at a Substance besides the Matter, that thence the Atheist may be the more easily brought off to the acknowledgment of the Existence of a God.

12. Nor can the force of this Argument be eluded, by saying the Matter is touched and infected by the life of the Female whiles she bore the Egge, or that her Phansie gets down into her womb.

12. For what life or phansie has the Earth, which, as they say, gendred at first all Animals, some still? and what similitude is there betwixt a Bee <69> and an Ox, or a Wasp and an Horse, that those Insects should arise out of the putrefi'd bodies of these Creatures? It is but some rude and general congruity of vital preparation that sets this Archeus on work rather then another: As mere Choler engages the Phansie to dream of firing of Guns and fighting of Armies; Sanguine figures the Imagination into the representation of fair Women and beautiful Children; Phlegm transforms her into Water and Fishes; and the shadowy Melancholy intangles her in colluctation with old Hags and Hobgoblins, and frights her with dead mens faces in the dark. But I have dwelt on this Subject longer then I intended.

CHAP. X.

1. That the Fabrick of the Bodies of Animals argues a Deity: as namely the number and situation of their Eyes and Ears; 2. As also of their Legs. 3. The Armature of Beasts, and their Use thereof. 4. Of the general structure of Birds and Fishes. 5. The admirable Fabrick of the Mole. 6. Cardan's rapture upon the consideration thereof. 7. Of the Hare and Grey-hound. 8. Of the structure of the body of the Camel.

1. I Come now to the last consideration of Animals, the outward Shape and Fabrick of their Bodies; which when I have shew'd you that they might have been otherwise, and yet are made according to the most exquisite pitch of Reason that the wit of Man can conceive of, it will naturally follow that they were really made by Wisdom and Providence, and consequently That there is a God. And I demand first in general, concerning all those Creatures that have Eyes and Ears, whether they might not have had onely one Eye and one Eare apiece; and to make the supposition more tolerable, had the Eye on the one side the head, and the Eare on the other; or the Eare on the Crown of the head, and the Eye in the Forehead: for they might have lived and subsisted though they had been no better provided for then thus. But it is evident that their having two Eyes and two Ears, so placed as they are, is more safe, more sightly, and more useful. Therefore that being made so constantly choice of which our own Reason deemeth best, we are to infer, that that choice proceeded from Reason and Counsel.

2. Again, I desire to know why there be no three-footed Beasts, (when I speak thus, I do not mean Monsters, but a constant Species or kind of Animals) for such a Creature as that would make a limping shift to live as well as they that have four. Or why have not some Beasts more then four feet, suppose six, and the two middlemost shorter then the rest, hanging like the two legs of a Man a horse-back by the horse-sides? For it is no harder a thing for Nature to make such frames of Bodies then others that are more elegant and useful. But the works of Nature being neither useless nor inept, she must either be wise her self, or be guided by some <70> higher Principle of Knowledge: As that Man that does nothing foolishly all the days of his life, is either wise himself, or consults with them that are so.

3. And then again for the Armature of Beasts, who taught them the use of their Weapons? The Lion will not kick with his Feet, but he will strike such a stroke with his Tail, that he will break the back of his Encounterer with it. The Horse will not use his Tail, unless against the busie flyes, but kicks with his Feet with that force, that he lays his Enemy on the ground. The Bull and Ram know the use of their Horns as well as the Horse of his Hoofs. So the Bee and Serpent know their Stings, and the Bear the use of his Paw. Which things they know merely by natural instinct, as the Male knows the use of the Female. For they gather not this skill by observation and experience, but the frame of their nature carries them to it, as it is manifest in young Lambs that will butt before they have Horns. Therefore it is some higher Providence that has made them of this nature they are. And this is evident also in Birds that will flutter with their wings when there is but a little Down upon them, and they are as yet utterly unuseful for flying.

4. And now I have fallen upon the mention of this kind of Creature, let me make my advantage of that general structure observable in them: The form of their Heads being narrow and sharp, that they may the better cut the Aire in their swift flight; and the spreading of their Tails parallel to the Horizon, for the better bearing up their Body; for they might have been perpendicular, as the Tails of Fishes in the water. Nor is it any thing that the Owl has so broad a face, for her flight was not to be so swift nor so frequent.

And as for Fishes, to say nothing how handsomly their Gills supply the place of Lungs, and are replenish'd with the like plenty of Veins and Arteries, that their blood may be cool'd by the Water, as it is in the Lungs of other Animals by the Aire, we will take notice of more easie and vulgar considerations. The bladder of wind found in their Bodies, who can say it is conveigh'd thither by chance, but that it is contriv'd for their more easie swimming? as also the manner of their Fins, which consist of a number of gristly bones long and slender like pins and needles, and a kind of a skin betwixt, which is for the more exactness, and makes them thin and flat like Oars. Which perfect artifice and accuracy might have been omitted, and yet they have made a shift to move up & down in the water.

But I have fallen upon a Subject that is infinite and inexhaustible; therefore, that I be not too tedious, I will confine my self to some few Observations in ordinary Beasts and Birds, (that which is most known and obvious being most of all to our purpose) and then I shall come to the contemplation of Man.

5. And indeed what is more obvious and ordinary then a Mole? and yet what more palpable Argument of Providence then she? The members of her body are so exactly fitted to her nature and manner of life. For her dwelling being under ground, where nothing is to be seen, Nature has so obscurely fitted her with Eyes, that Naturalists can scarce agree whither she have any Sight at all or no. But for amends, what she <71> is capable of for her defence and warning of danger, she has very eminently conferr'd upon her; for she is exceeding quick of hearing. And then her short Tail and short Legs, but broad Fore-feet armed with sharp Claws, we see by the event to what purpose they are, she so swiftly working her self under ground, and making her way so fast in the Earth, as they that behold it cannot but admire it. Her Legs therefore are short, that she need dig no more then will serve the mere thickness of her Body; and her Fore-feet are broad, that she may scoup away much Earth at a time; and little or no Tail she has, because she courses it not on the ground, like the Rat or Mouse, of whose kindred she is, but lives under the Earth, and is fain to dig her self a dwelling there: And she making her way through so thick an Element, which will not yield easily, as the Aire or the Water, it had been dangerous to have drawn so long a train behind her; for her Enemy might fall upon her Reer, and fetch her out before she had compleated, or had got full possession of her works.

6. Cardan is so much taken with this Contemplation, that though I find him often staggering, yet here he does very fully and firmly profess that the contrivance of all things is from Wisdom and Counsel: his words are so generous and significant, that I hold them worth the transcribing. Palam est igitur, Naturam in cunctis sollicitam mirum in modum fuisse, nec obiter, sed ex sententia omnia prævidisse; hominésque, quibus hoc beneficium Deus largitus est, ut Causam rerum primam inveniant, participes esse illius primæ Naturæ; neque alterius esse generis Naturam quæ hæc constituit, ab illorum mente qui causam eorum cur ita facta sint plenè assequi potuerunt. Thus forcibly has the due contemplation of Nature carried him beyond Nature and himself, and made him write like a Man rap'd into a Divine Ecstasie.

7. But there are as manifest foot-steps of Divine Providence in other Creatures as in the Mole: as for Example, the Hare, whose temper and frame of body are plainly fitted on purpose for her condition.

For why is she made so full of Fear and Vigilancy, ever rearing up and listning whiles she is feeding? and why is she so exceeding swift of foot, and has her Eyes so prominent, and placed so that she can see better behind her then before her? but that her flight is her onely safety; and it was needful for her perpetually to eye her pursuing enemie, against whom she durst never stand at the Bay, having nothing but her long soft limber Ears to defend her. Wherefore he that made the Hare, made the Dog also, and guarded her with these Properties from her eager foe, that she might not be too easie a booty for him, and so never be able to save her self, or afford the Spectator any considerable pastime. And that the Hare might not alwaies get away from the Grey-hound, see how exquisitely his shape is fitted for the Course: For the narrowness and slenderness of his parts are made for speed; and that seeming impertinent long Appendix of his body, his Tail, is made for more nimble turning.

8. There are other Animals also whose particular fabrick of Body does manifestly appear the Effect of Providence and Counsel, though Naturalists cannot agree whether it be in the behalf of the Beast thus framed, <72> or of Man. And such is that Creature which, though it be Exotick, yet is ordinarily known by the name of a Camel: For why are those bunches on his back, but that they may be in stead of a Pack-saddle to receive the burthen? and why has he four knees, and his hinder Legs bending inwards, like the fore-feet of other beasts, as also a Protuberancy under his Breast to lean on, but that, being a tall Creature, he might with ease kneel down, and so might the more gainly be loaden?

But Cardan will by no means have this the design of Nature, but that this frame of the Camel's body is thus made for his own convenience: For he being a Creature that lives and seeks his food in waste and dry Desarts, those Bunches he would have Receptacles of redundant Moisture, from whence the rest of his body is to be supply'd in a hard and tedious time of drought; and that his Legs being very long, he ought to have Knees behind and a knob beneath, to rest his weary limbs in the wilderness, by sitting or kneeling in that posture he does; for he could not so conveniently lie along, as the Horse, or Ass, or other Creatures. But I should not determine this to either alone, but take in both Causes, and acknowledge therein a richer design of Providence, that by this Frame and Artifice has gratifi'd both the Camel and his Master.

CHAP. XI.

1. Some general Observables concerning Birds. 2. Of the Cock. 3. Of the Turkey-Cock. 4. Of the Swan, Hern, and other Water-fowl. 5. Of the γαμψωνυχα and πληκ{illeg}οφόρα, and of the peculiarity of Sight in Birds of prey. 6. The Description of the Bird of Paradise according to Cardan. 7. The suffrages of Scaliger, Hernandes and Nierembergius. 8. Aldrovandus his Objections against her feeding on the dew onely, with what they might probably answer thereto. 9. His Objections against her manner of Incubiture, with the like Answer. 10. What Properties they are all five agreed on. 11. In what Pighafetta and Clusius dissent from them all, with the Author's conditional inclination to their judgment. 12. The main Remarkables in the story of the Bird of Paradise. 13. A supply from ordinary and known Examples as convictive or more convictive of a discerning Providence.

1. WE pass on now to the consideration of Fowls or Birds. Where omitting the more general Properties, of having two Ventricles, and picking up stones to conveigh them into their second Ventricle, the Gizzern, (which provision and instinct is a supply for the want of teeth;) as also their having no Paps as Beasts have, their young ones being nourished so long in the Shell, that they are presently fit to be fed by the mouthes of the old ones, (which Observations plainly signifie that Nature does nothing ineptly and foolishly, and that therefore there is a <73> Providence) I shall content my self in taking notice onely of the outward frame of some few kinds of this Creature that familiarly come into our sight, such as the Cock, the Duck, the Swan, and the like.

2. I demand therefore concerning the Cock, why he has Spurs at all; or having them, how they come to be so fittingly placed. For he might have had none, or so misplaced that they had been utterly useless, and so his courage and pleasure in fighting had been to no purpose. Nor are his Comb and his Wattles in vain, for they are an Ornament becoming his Martial Spirit; yea an Armature too, for the tugging of those often excuses the more usefull parts of his Head from harm. Thus fittingly does Nature gratifie all Creatures with accommodations sutable to their temper, and nothing is in vain.

3. Nor are we to cavil at the red pugger'd attire of the Turkey, and the long Excrescency that hangs down over his Bill, when he swells with pride and anger: for it may be a Receptacle for his heated blood, that has such free recourse to his Head; or he may please himself in it, as the rude Indians, whose Jewels hang dangling at their Noses. And if the Bird be pleasur'd, we are not to be displeased, being always mindful that Creatures are made to enjoy themselves as well as to serve us; and it is a gross piece of Ignorance and Rusticity to think otherwise.

4. Now for Swans & Ducks, and such like Birds of the Water, it is obvious to take notice how well they are fitted for that manner of life. For those that swim, their Feet are framed for it like a pair of Oars, their Claws being connected with a pretty broad Membrane; and their Necks are long, that they may dive deep enough into the water. As also the Neck of the Hern, and such like Fowl who live of Fishes, and are fain to frequent their Element, who walk on long stilts also like the people that dwell in the Marshes; but their Claws have no such Membranes, for they had been but a hindrance to those kind of Birds that onely wade in the water, and do not swim.

Aristotle is witty, in comparing the *^[8] long necks of these Water-fowls to an Angle-Rod, and their long Bills to the Line and Hook. And adds also another observable concerning their long Legs, that their Tails are therefore the shorter: though I do not much admire his reason, who makes them so for want of matter that was spent upon the Legs. But the reason is, because they are Birds less volacious; and besides, the posture of their long Legs cast backwards while they fly, supplies the office of a larger ὀῤῥοπύγιον, and so they are helps to their flying, whenas otherwise they would be a trouble and hindrance. Wherefore, as I said, their Tails are so short, not because the Matter was spent upon their Legs, but because their Legs supply the office of the Tail, according to that excellent Aphorims of *^[9] Aristotle, οὔτε περίεργον οὐδὲν οὔτε μάτην ἡ φύσις ποιεῖ, Nature does nothing vainly and superfluously.

Which is the reason Fishes have no Legs, though they have Fins; and that the Torpedo has no Fins at the sides of his round body, but onely at the sides of his Tail, the breadth and flatness of his body serving him in stead of fore-fins to swim with. But this speculation of the Water-fowls has engaged me amongst the Fishes further then I intended.

5.I shall return, and make a short stay with the Birds; those Martial ones, I mean, and Birds of Prey. In which the Philosopher has observed shortness of Neck as fittest for strength; and that none of the γαμψώνυχα, or Birds with crooked claws, have long Necks, or plain and straight Beaks, but crooked; and that all carnivorous Birds that are forced to hunt for their prey, are such.^[10] Γαμψὸν δὲ τὸ ὠμοφάγον. χρήσιμον γὰρ πρὸς τὸ κρατεῖν τὸ τοιοῦτον. τὴν δὲ τροφὴν ἀναγκαῖον ἀπὸ ζώων πορίζεσθαι. And therefore their crooked Talons are fit to hold fast the live prey that otherwise would wriggle from them, and their crooked Beaks to tear their tough flesh, (as it were with a sharp hook) that with a plain Beak would not so easily be riven in pieces. But the Bills of Geese and Ducks are quite of another form, but fit for rooting in the ground or mud, or shearing of herbs and grass, and such easie manner of feeding.

That also is ingeniously observed of Aristotle concerning the γαμψώνυχα, that their Bodies are but small in comparison of their Wings, their greatest succour lying in them if they were assaulted: But that more heavy Birds are otherwise provided for defence, namely either by Spurs that grow on their Legs, or by the strength and sharpness of some single cley in their Foot; as I have observed in the Cassoware or Emeu. But he gives it for a Maxime, That the same Birds are never γαμψώνυχα and πληκ{illeg}οφόρα, never have crooked claws and spurs together. For the Armature of Spurs is fit onely for such Birds as fight on the ground; but the crooked-claw'd Birds are scarce well provided to tread upon it. And therefore none of the heavy-bodied Fowl have crooked Talons.

But the greatest observable in Nature concerning these Birds of Prey is the strangeness of their Sight. For by a peculiar frame of their Eye they are inabled to spy their booty from aloft in the Aire, and see best at that distance, scarce see at all near at hand. So they are both the Archer and Shaft; taking aim afar off, and then shooting themselves directly upon the desired Mark, they seise upon the prey having hit it. The works of Providence are infinite: I will close all with the description of that strange Bird of Paradise, for the strangeness has made it notorious.

6. There is a Bird that falls down out of the Aire dead, and is found sometimes in the Molucco Islands, that has no Feet at all. The bigness of her Body and Bill, as likewise the form of them, is much-what as a Swallow's; but the spreading out of her Wings and Tail has no less compass then an Eagle's. She lives and breeds in the Aire, comes not near the Earth but for her burial; for the largeness and lightness of her Wings and Tail sustain her without lassitude. And the laying of her Eggs and brooding of her young is upon the back of the Male, which is made hollow, as also the breast of the Female, for the more easie incubation. Also two strings like two Shoe-makers ends come from the hinder parts of the Male, wherewith it is conceived that he is fastned closer to the Female while she hatches her Egges on the hollow of his back. The dew of Heaven is appointed her for food, her Region being too far removed from the approach of Flies and such like Insects.

This is the entire story and Philosophy of this miraculous Bird in Cardan, who professes himself to have seen it no less then thrice, and to <75> have describ'd it accordingly. The Contrivances whereof, if the Matter were certainly true, are as evident Arguments of a Divine Providence, as that Copper-Ring, with the Greek *^[11] Inscription upon it, was an undeniable monument of the Artifice and finger of man.

7. But that the reproach of over-much credulity may not lye upon Cardan alone, Scaliger, who lay at catch with him to take him tripping whereever he could, cavils not with any thing in the whole Narration but the bigness of the Wings and littleness of the Body; which he undertakes to correct from one of his own which was sent him by Orvesanus from Java. Nay he confirms what his Antagonist has wrote, partly by History, and partly by Reason; affirming that himself in his own Garden found two little birds with membranaceous wings utterly devoid of Legs, their form was near to that of a Bat's. Nor is he deterr'd from the belief of the perpetual flying of the Manucodiata, by the gaping of the feathers of her wings, (which seem thereby less fit to sustain her body) but further makes the narration probable by what he has observed in Kites hovering in the Aire, as he saith, for a whole hour together without any flapping of their wings or changing place. And he has found also how she may sleep in the Aire from the Example of Fishes,^[12] which he has seen sleeping in the water without sinking themselves to the bottome, and without changing place, but lying stock still,^[13] pinnulis tantùm nescio quid motiunculæ meditantes, onely wagging a little their fins, as heedlesly and unconcernedly as Horses while they are asleep wag their ears, to displace the flyes that sit upon them. Wherefore Scaliger admitting that the Manucodiata is perpetually on the wing in the Aire, he must of necessity admit also that manner of Incubation that Cardan describes;^[14] else how could their generations continue?

Franciscus Hernandes affirms the same with Cardan expresly in every thing: as also *^[15] Eusebius Nierembergius, who is so taken with the story of this Bird, that he could not abstain from celebrating her miraculous properties in a short but elegant copie of Verses; and does after, though confidently opposed, assert the main matter again in Prose.

8. Such are the Suffrages of Cardan, Scaliger, Hernandes, and Nierembergius. But Aldrovandus rejects that Fable of her feeding on the dew of Heaven, and of her Incumbiture on the back of the Male, with much scorn and indignation. And as for the former, his reasons are no waies contemptible, he alledging that Dew is near the Earth, and not at all times of the year, nor unless in clear daies, and that only in the Morning, and that the perpetual flying of the Bird must needs exhaust her spirits; lastly, that Dew is a body not perfectly-enough mixt, or heterogeneal enough for food, nor the hard Bill of the Bird made for such easy uses as sipping this soft moisture.

To which I know not what Cardan and the rest would answer, unless this, That they mean by Dew the more unctuous moisture of the Aire, which as it may not be alike every where, so these Birds may be fitted with a natural sagacity to finde it out where it is: That there is Dew in this sense day and night (as well as in the morning) and in all seasons of the year; and therefore a constant supply of moisture and spirits to <76> their perpetual flying, which they more copiously imbibe by reason of their exercise: That the thicker parts of this moisture stick and convert into Flesh, and that the lightness of their feathers is so great, that their pains in sustaining themselves are not overmuch: That what is homogeneal & simple to our sight, is fit enough to be the rudiments of Generation (all Animals being generated of a kind of clear Crystalline liquour) and that therefore it may be also of Nutrition: That Orpine and Sea-House-leek are nourished and grow being hung in the Aire, and that Duck-weed has its root no deeper then near the upper parts of the Water: and lastly, That the Bills of these Birds are for their better flying, by cutting the way, and for better ornament; for the rectifying also and composing of their feathers, while they swim in the Aire with as much ease as Swans do in the Rivers.

9. To his great impatiency against their manner of Incubation they would haply return this Answer; That the way is not ridiculous, but, it may be, rather necessary, from what Aldrovandus himself not onely acknowledges, but contends for, namely, that they have no Feet at all. For hence it is manifest that they cannot light on the ground, nor any where rest on their bellies and be able to get on wing again; because they cannot creep out of holes of rocks, as Swifts and such like short-footed Birds can, they having no Feet at all to creep with. Besides, as Aristotle well argues concerning the long Legs of certain Water-Fowl, that they were made so long because they were to wade in the water and catch Fish, adding that excellent Aphorism,^[16] Τὰ γὰρ ὄργανα πρὸς τὸ ἔργον ἡ φύσις ποιεῖ, ἀλλ' οὐ τὸ ἔργον πρὸς τὰ ὄργανα. so may we rationally conclude, will they say, that as the long Legs of these Water-fowl imply a design of their hanting the Water, so want of Legs in these Manucodiata's argue they are never to come down to the Earth, because they can neither stand there, nor goe, nor get off again. And if they never come on the Earth or any other resting-place, where can their Eggs be lay'd or hatched but on the back of the Male?

Besides that Cardan pleases himself with that Antiphonie in Nature, that as the Ostrick being a Bird, yet never flies in the Aire; so this Bird of Paradise should alwayes be in the Aire, and never rest upon the Earth. And as for Aldrovandus his presumption from the five several Manucodiata's that he had seen, and in which he could observe no such figuration of parts as imply'd a fitness for such a manner of Incubation, Cardan will answer, my self has seen three and Scaliger one, who both agree against you.

10. However, you see that both Cardan, Aldrovandus and the rest do joyntly agree in allowing the Manucodiata no feet, as also in furnishing her with two strings hanging at the hinder parts of her body; which Aldrovandus will have to be in the Female as well as the Male, though Cardan's experience reached not so farre.

11. But Pighafetta and Cardan and Aldrovandus, if it be true which they report, and if they speak of the same kind of Birds of Paradise. For they both affirm that they have Feet a palme long, and that with all confidence imaginable. <77> But Nierembergius on the contrary affirms, that one that was an eye-witness, and that had taken up one of these Birds newly dead, told him that it had no Feet all. Johnston also gives his suffrage with Nierembergius in this, though with Aldrovandus he rejects the manner of their Incubation.

But unless they can raise themselves from the ground by the stifness of some of the feathers of their Wings, or rather by virtue of those nervous strings which they may have a power to stiffen when they are alive, by transfusing spirits into them, and make them serve as well in stead of Legs to raise them from the ground, as to hang upon the boughs of Trees by, (a slight thing being able to raise or hold up their light feathery bodies in the Aire, as a small twig will us in the Water;) I should rather incline to the testimony of Pighafetta and Clusius then to the judgment of the rest, and believe those Mariners that told him, that the Legs are pulled off by them that take them, and exenterate them and drie them in the Sun, for either their private use or sale.

Which Conclusion would the best salve the credit of Aristotle who long since has so peremptorily pronounced,^[17] Ὅτι πτηνὸν μόνον οὐδέν ἐστιν, ὥσπερ νευστικὸν μόνον ἐστὶν ἰχθὺς, That there is not any Bird that onely flies, as the Fish onely swims.

12. But thus our Bird of Paradise is quite flown and vanished into a Figment or Fable. But if any one will condole the loss of so convincing an Argument for a Providence that fits one thing to another, I must take the freedom to tell him, that unless he be a greater admirer of Novelty then a searcher into the indissoluble consequences of things, I shall supply his Meditations with what of this nature is as strongly conclusive, and re-mind him that it will be his own reproach if he cannot spy as clear an inference from an ordinary Truth, as from either an Uncertainty or a Fiction. And in this regard the bringing this doubtful narration into play may not justly seem to no purpose, it carrying so serious and castigatory a piece of pleasantry with it.

The Manucodiata's living on the Dew is no part of the Convictiveness of a Providence in this story: But the being so excellently-well provided of Wings and Feathers, tantâ levitatis supellectile exornata, (as Nierembergius speaks) being so well furnished with all te advantages for lightness, that it seems harder for her to sink down (as he conceits) then to be born up in the Aire; that a Bird thus fitted for that Region should have no Legs to stand on the Earth, this would be a considerable indication of a discriminative Providence that on purpose avoids all uselessness and superfluities.

The other Remarkable, and it is a notorious one, is the Cavity on the back of the Male and in the breast of the Female, for Incubation.

And the third and last, the use of those strings, as Cardan supposes, for the better keeping them together in this Incubiture.

If these considerations of this strange Story strike so strongly upon thee as to convince thee of a Providence, think it humour and not judgment, if what I put in lieu of them, and is but ordinary, have not the same force with thee.

13. For is not the Fishe's wanting Feet, (as we observed before) she being sufficiently supply'd with Fins in so thick an Element as the Water, as great an Argument for a Providence, as so light a Bird's wanting Feet in that thinner Element of the Aire, the extreme lightness of her furniture being approportionated to the thinness of that Element? And is not the same Providence seen, and that as conspicuously, in allotting but very short Legs to those Birds that are called Apodes (both in Plinie and Aristotle,) upon whom she has bestow'd such large and strong Wings, and a power of flying so long and swift, as in giving no Legs at all to the Manucodiata, who has still a greater power of Wing and lightness of body?

And as for the Cavities on the back of the Male and in the breast of the Female, is that design of Nature any more certain and plain then in the Genital parts of Male and Female in all kind of Animals? What greater Argument of Counsel and Purpose of fitting one thing for another can there be then that? And if we should make a more inward search into the contrivances of these parts in an ordinary Hen, and consider how or by what force an Egge of so great growth and bigness is transmitted from the Ovarium through the Infundibulum into the processus of the uterus, (the Membranes being so thin and the passage so very small to see to) the Principle of that Motion cannot be tought less then Divine. And if you would compare the protuberant Paps or Teats in the females of Beasts with that Cavity in the Breast of the sheManucodiata, whether of them think you is the plainer pledge of a knowing and designing Providence?

And lastly, for the Strings that are conceived to hold together the Male and Female in their Incubiture, what a toy is it, if compared with those invisible links and ties that engage ordinary Birds to sit upon their Eggs, they having no visible allurement to such a tedious service?

CHAP. XII.

1. That there is not an ampler Testimony of Providence then the structure of mans Body. 2. The safeness of the fabrick of the Eyes. 3. Their exquisite fittedness to their use. 4. The superadded advantage of Muscles to the Eye. 5. The admirable contrivance of Muscles in the whole Body. 6. The fabrick of the Heart and of the Veins. 7. Of the Teeth and of the Joynts, of the Arms and Legs. 8. Of the hinder parts of the Body, and Head, Vertebræ, Nails, Bones, &c. 9. That there is proportionably the same evidence of Providence in the Anatomie of all Bodies as in that of Man. 10. The sottishness of them that are not convinced from these Considerations. 11. Of the Passions in Man, and particularly that of Devotion. 12. Of the Passions of Animals, and their Usefulness to themselves; 13. As also to Man. The ridiculous Antipathie of the Ape to the Snail. 14. How inept and frustraneous a Passion Religion would be in Man, if there were neither God nor Spirit in <79> the World. 15. The outrageous Mistake of Nature in implanting this Property of Religion in Man, if there be no God. 16. The necessary cause of Disorder in Man's nature. 17. The exquisite fitness that there should be such a Creature as Man upon Earth. 18. That the whole Creation and the several parts thereof are an undeniable Demonstration that there is a God.

1. BUT we needed not to have rambled so far out into the works of Nature, to seek out Arguments to prove a God, we being so plentifully furnish'd with that at home which we took the pains to seek for abroad. For there can be no more ample testimony of a God and Providence then the frame and structure of our own Bodies. The admirable Artifice whereof Galen, though a mere Naturalist, was so taken with, that he could not but adjudge the honour of a Hymn to the wise Creator of it. The contrivance of the whole and every particular is so evident an argument of exquisite skill in the Maker, that if I should pursue all that suits to my purpose it would amount to an intire Volume. I shall therefore onely hint at some few things, leaving the rest to be supply'd by Anatomists. And I think there is no man that has any skill in that Art, but will confess, the more diligently and accurately the frame of our Body is examined, it is found the more exquisitely conformable to our own Reason, Judgement and Desire. So that supposing the same matter that our Bodies are made of, if it had been in our own power to have made our selves, we should have fram'd our selves no otherwise then we are.

2. To instance in some particular. As in our Eyes, the number, the situation, the fabrick of them is such that we can excogitate nothing to be added thereto, or to be altered, either for their Beauty, Safety or Usefulness. But as for their Beauty, I will leave it rather to the delicate wit and pen of Poets and amorous persons, then venture upon so tender and nice a subject with my severer style: I will onely note how safely they are guarded, and fitly framed out for that use they are intended. The Brow and the Nose saves them from harder strokes: but such a curious part as the Eye being necessarily liable to mischief from smaller matters, the sweat of the Forehead is fenced off by those two wreaths of hair which we call the Eye-brows; and the Eye-lids are fortifi'd with little stiff bristles, as with Palisadoes, against the assault of Flies and Gnats, and such like bold Animalcula. Besides, the upper-lid presently claps down, and is as good a fence as a Portcullis against the importunity of the Enemy: which is done also every night, whether there be any present assault or no; as if Nature kept garrison in this Acropolis of Man's body, the Head, and look'd that such laws should be duly observ'd as were most for his safety.

3. And now for the Use of the Eye, which is Sight, it is evident that this Organ is so exquisitely framed for that purpose, that not the least curiosity can be added. For, first, the Humour and Tunicles are purely Transparent, to let in Light and Colours unfoul'd and unsophisticated by any inward tincture. And then again, the parts of the Eye are made Convex, that there might be a direction of many rayes coming from one <80> point of the Object unto one point answerable in the bottom of the Eye; to which purpose the Crystalline Humour is of great moment, and without which the sight would be very obscure and weak. Thirdly, the Tunica Uvea has a Musculous power, and can dilate and contract that round hole in it which is called the Pupil of the Eye, for the better moderating the transmission of light. Fourthly, the inside of the Uvea is black'd like the wals of a Tennis-court, that the rayes falling upon the Retina, may not, by being rebounded thence upon the Uvea, be returned from the Uvea upon the Retina again; for such a repercussion would make the sight more confused. Fifthly, the Tunica Arachnoides, which invelops the Crystalline Humour, by virtue of its Processus Ciliares can thrust forward or draw back that precious useful part of the Eye, as the nearness or distance of the Object shall require. Sixthly & lastly, the Tunica Retina is white, for the better and more true reception of the species of things, (as they ordinarily call them) as a white Paper is fittest to receive those Images in a dark room. If the wit of Man had been to contrive this Organ for himself, what could he have possibly excogitated more accurate? Therefore to think that mere Motion of the Matter, or any other blind Cause, could have hit so punctually, (for Creatures might have subsisted without this accurate provision) is to be either mad or sottish.

4. And the Eye is already so perfect, that I believe the Reason of Man would have easily rested here, and admir'd at it's own contrivance: for he being able to move his whole Head upward and downward and on every side, might have unawares thought himself sufficiently well provided for. But Nature has added Muscles also to the Eyes, that no Perfection might be wanting: For we have oft occasion to move our Eyes our Head being unmoved, as in reading and viewing more particularly any Object set before us: and that this may be done with more ease and accuracy, she has furnish'd that Organ with no less then six several Muscles.

5. And indeed this framing of Muscles not only in the Eye, but in the whole Body, is admirable. For is it not a wonder that even all our flesh should be so handsomly contriv'd into distinct pieces, whose Rise and Insertions should be with such advantage, that they do serve with such ease to move some part of the Body or other; and that the parts of our Body are not moved only so conveniently as will serve us to walk and subsist by, but that they are able to move every way imaginable that will advantage us? For we can fling our Legs and Arms upwards and downwards, backwards, forwards and round, as they that spin, or would spread a Mole-hill with their feet. To say nothing of Respiration, the constriction of the Diaphragme for the keeping down the Guts, and so enlarging the Thorax, that the Lungs may have play, and the assistance of the inward Intercostal Muscles in deep Suspirations, when we take more large gulps of Aire to cool our heart overcharged with Love or Sorrow: nor of the curious fabrick of the Larynx, so well fitted with Muscles for the modulation of the Voice, tunable Speech, and delicious Singing: nor, lastly, of Nature's so industriously perforating the Tendons of the second Joynts both of Fingers and Toes, and her so careful transmitting of the Tendons of the third Joynts through them.

6. You may adde to these the notable contrivance of the Heart, its two Ventricles and its many Valvulæ, so fram'd and situated as is most fit for the reception and transmission of the Blood, which comes about through the Heart, and is sent thence away warm to comfort and cherish the rest of the Body: For which purpose also the Valvulæ in the Veins are made, that the Blood may the more easily ascend upwards.

7. But I will rather insist upon such things as are easie and intelligible even to Idiots, who if they can but tell the Joynts of their Hands or know the use of their Teeth, they may easily discover it was Counsel, not Chance, that created them. For why have we three Joynts in our Legs and Arms, as also in our Fingers, but that it was much better then having but two, or four? And why are our fore-teeth sharp like chiesels to cut, but our inward-teeth broad to grind, but that this is more exquisite then having them all sharp or all broad, or the fore-teeth broad and the other sharp? But we might have made a hard shift to have lived though in that worser condition. Again, why are the Teeth so luckily placed, or rather why are there not Teeth in other bones as well as in the jaw-bones? for they might have been as capable as these. But the reason is, Nothing is done foolishly nor in vain; that is, there is a Divine Providence that orders all things. Again, to say nothing of the inward curiosity of the Eare, why is that outward frame of it, but that it is certainly known that it is for the bettering of our Hearing?

8. I might adde to these, that Nature has made the hindmost parts of our body which we sit upon most fleshy, is providing for our Ease, and making us a natural Cushion, as well as for instruments of Motion for our Thighs and Legs. She has made the hinder part of the Head more strong, as being otherwise unfenced against falls and other casualties. She has made the Back-bone of several Vertebræ, as being more fit to bend, more tough, and less in danger of breaking, then if they were all one intire bone without those gristly Junctures. She has strengthned our Fingers and Toes with Nails, whereas she might have sent out that substance at the end of the first and second joynt; which had not been so handsome nor useful, nay rather somewhat troublesome and hurtful. And lastly, she has made all the Bones devoid of sense, because they were to bear the weight of themselves and of the whole Body. And therefore if they had had sense, our life had been painful continually and dolorous.

9. And what she has done for us, she has done proportionably in the contrivance of all other Creatures; so that it is manifest that a Divine Providence strikes through all things.

10. And therefore things being contrived with such exquisite Curiosity as if the most watchful Wisdom imaginable did attend them, to say they are thus framed without the assistance of some Principle that has Wisdom in it, and that they come to pass from Chance or some other blind unknowing Original, is sullenly and humorously to assert a thing because we will assert it, and under pretense of avoiding Superstition, to fall into that which is the onely thing that makes Superstition it self hateful or ridiculous, that is, a wilful and groundless adhering to conceits without any support of Reason.

11. And now I have considered the fitness of the parts of Mans Body for the good of the whole, let me but consider briefly the fitness of the Passions of his Mind, whether proper, or common to him with the rest of Animals, as also the fitness of the whole Man as he is part of the Universe, and then I shall conclude.

And it is manifest that Anger does so actuate the Spirits and heighten the Courage of men and beasts, that it makes them with more ease break through the difficulties they encounter. Fear also is for the avoiding of danger, and Hope is a pleasant premeditation of enjoyment, as when a Dog expects till his Master has done picking of the bone. But there is neither Hope, nor Fear, nor Hate, nor any peculiar Passion or Instinct in Brutes, that is in vain: why should we then think that Nature should miscarry more in us then in any other Creature, or should be so careful in the Fabrick of our Body, and yet so forgetful or unlucky in the framing of the Faculties of our Souls; that that Fear that is so peculiarly natural to us, viz. the Fear of a Deity, should be in vain, and that pleasant Hope and Heavenly Joys of the Mind which man is naturally capable of, with the earnest direction of his Spirit towards God, should have no real Object in the world; and so Religious affection which Nature has so plainly implanted in the Soul of Man should be to no use, but either to make him ridiculous or miserable? Whenas we find no Passion or Affection in Brutes, either common or peculiar, but what is for their good and welfare.

12. For it is not for nothing that the Hare is so fearful of the Dog, and the Sheep of the Wolf: and it there be either Fear or Enmity in some Creatures for which we cannot easily discern any reason in respect of themselves, yet we may well allow of it as reasonable in regard of us, and to be to good purpose. But I think it is manifest that Sympathy and Antipathy, Love and Enmity, Aversation, Fear, and the like, are notable whetters and quickners of the Spirit of Life in all Animals; and that their being obnoxious to Dangers and Encounters does more closely knit together the vital Powers, and makes them more sensibly relish their present Safety; and they are more pleased with an Escape then if they had never met with any Danger. Their greedy assaults also one upon another while there is hope of Victory highly gratifies them both: and if one be conquer'd and slain, the Conqueror enjoys a fresh improvement of the pleasure of life, the Triumph over his Enemy. Which things seem to me to be contriv'd even in the behalf of these Creatures themselves, that their vital heat and moisture may not always onely simber in one sluggish tenour, but sometimes boil up higher and seethe over, the fire of Life being more then ordinarily kindled upon some emergent occasion.

13. But it is without Controversie that these peculiar Passions of Animals many of them are useful to Men, (as that of the Lizard's enmity against the Serpent,) all of them highly gratifie his Contemplative faculty, some seem on purpose contriv'd to make his Worship merry: For what could Nature intend else in that Antipathy betwixt the Ape and Snail, that that Beast that seems so boldly to claim kindred of Man from the resemblance of his outward shape, should have so little Wit or Cou <83> rage as to run away from a Snail, and very ruefully and frightfully to look back, as being afraid she would follow him, as Erasmus more largely and pleasantly tells the whole Story?^[18]

14. But that Nature should implant in Man such a strong propension to Religion, which is the Reverence of a Deity, there being neither God nor Angel nor Spirit in the world, is such a Slur committed by her, as there can be in no wise excogitated any Excuse. For if there were a higher Species of things to laugh at us as we do at the Ape, it might seem more tolerable. But there can be no end, neither ludicrous nor serious, of this Religious property in Man, unless there be something of an higher Nature then himself in the world. Wherefore Religion being convenient to no other Species of things besides Man, it ought to be convenient at least for himself: But supposing there were no God, there can be nothing worse for Man then Religion.

15. For whether we look at the External Effects thereof, such as are bloody Massacres, the disturbance and subversion of Commonweals, Kingdoms and Empires, most savage Tortures of particular persons, the extirpating and dispossession of whole Nations, as it hath hapned in America, where the remorseless Spaniards, in pretence of being educated in a better Religion then the Americans, vilified the poor Natives so much, that they made nothing of knocking them on the head merely to feed their dogs with them; with many such unheard of Cruelties: Or whether we consider the great affliction that that severe Governess of the life of Man brings upon those Souls she seizes on, by affrighting horrours of Conscience, by puzling and befooling them in the free use of their Reason, and putting a bar to more large searches into the pleasing knowledge of Nature, by anxious cares and disquieting fears concerning their state in the Life to come, by curbing them in their natural and kindly enjoyments of the Life present, and making bitter all the pleasures and contentments of it by some checks of Conscience and suspicions that they doe something now that they may rue eternally hereafter; besides those ineffable Agonies of Mind that they undergoe that are more generously Religious, and contend after the participation of the Divine Nature, they being willing, though with unspeakeable pain, to be torn from themselves to become one with that Universal Spirit that ought to have the guidance of all things, and by an unsatiable desire after that just and decorous temper of Mind (whereby all Arrogancy should utterly cease in us, and that which is due to God, that is, all that we have or can doe, should be lively and sensibly attributed to him, and we fully and heartily acknowledge our selves to be nothing, that is, be as little elated, or no more relish the glory and praise of Men, then if we had done nothing or were not at all in being) do plunge themselves into such damps and deadness of Spirit, that to be buried quick were less torture by far then such dark privations of all the joys of life, then such sad and heart-sinking Mortifications: I say, whether we consider these inward pangs of the Soul, or the external outrages caused by Religion (and Religious pretence will animate men to the committing such violences as bare Reason and the single Passions of the Mind unback'd with the fury of Su <84> perstition will never venture upon) it is manifest that if there were no God, no Spirit, no Life to come, it were far better that there were no such Religious propensions in Mankind as we see universally there are.

For the fear of the Civil Magistrate, the convenience of mutual aide and support, and the natural scourge and plague of Diseases would contain men in such bounds of Justice, Humanity and Temperance, as would make them more clearly and undisturbedly happy, then they are now capable of being from any advantage Religion does to either publick State or private person, supposing there were no God.

Wherefore this Religious Affection which Nature has implanted and as strongly rooted in Man as the fear of Death or the love of Women, would be the most enormous slip or bungle she could commit; so that she would so shamefully fail in the last Act, in this contrivance of the nature of Man, that in stead of a Plaudite she would deserve to be hissed off the Stage.

16. But she having done all things else so wisely, let us rather suspect our own Ignorance then reproach her, and expect that which is allowed in well-approved Comedies, θεὸς ἀπὸ μηχανῆς. for nothing can unloose this knot but a Deity. And then we acknowledging Man to dwell as it were in the borders of the Spiritual and Material world (for he is utriusque mundi nexus, as Scaliger truly calls him) we shall not wonder that there is such tugging and pulling this way and that way, upward and downward, and such broken disorder of things; those that dwell in the confines of two Kingdome being most subject to disquiet and confusion. And hitherto of the Passions of the Mind of Man, as well those that tye him down to the Body, as those that lift him up towards God. Now briefly of the whole Man as he is part of the Universe.

17. It is true, if we had not been here in the world, we could not then have missed our selves: but now we find our selves in being and able to examine the reasonableness of things, we cannot but conclude that our Creation was an Act of very exquisite Reason and Counsel. For there being so many notable Objects in the world, to entertain such Faculties as Reason and inquisitive Admiration, there ought to be such a member of this visible Creation as Man, that those things might not be in vain: And if Man were out of the world, who were then left to view the face of Heaven, to wonder at the transcursion of Comets, to calculate Tables for the Motions of the Planets and Fix'd Stars, and to take their Heights and Distances with Mathematical Instruments; to invent convenient Cycles for the computation of time, and consider the several forms of Years; to take notice of the Directions, Stations and Repedations of those Erratick Lights, and from thence most convincingly to inform himself of that pleasant and true Paradox of the Annual Motion of the Earth; to view the Asperities of the Moon through a Dioptrick-glass, and venture at the Proportion of her Hills by their shadows; to behold the beauty of the Rain-bow, the Halo, Parelii and other Meteors; to search out the causes of the Flux and Reflux of the Sea, and the hidden virtue of the Magnet; to inquire into the usefulness of Plants, and to observe the variety of the Wisdom of the first Cause in framing their bodies, and giving sundry ob <85> servable instincts to Fishes, Birds and Beasts? And lastly, as there are particular Priests amongst Men, so the whole Species of Mankind being indued with Reason and a power of finding out God, there is yet one singular End more discoverable of his Creation, viz. that he may be a Priest in this magnificent Temple of the Universe, and send up Prayers and Praises to the great Creator of all things in behalf of the rest of the Creatures. Thus we see all filled up and fitted without any defect or useless superfluity.

18. Wherefore the whole Creation in general and every part thereof being so ordered as if the most exquisite Reason and Knowledge had contrived them, it is as natural to conclude that all this is the work of a Wise God, as at the first sight to acknowledge that those inscribed Urns and Coins digg'd out of the Earth were not the Products of unknowing Nature, but the Artifice of Man.