it would be greater folly to believe that the natural course of things should be the same this Year as in former times than to assert that a Gamester should to day throw the Dice in the same order and with the same points uppermost as he did yesterday 'T is evident therefore that the Epicurean Doctrine having not the least shadow of Reason had never been receiv'd with applause but as 't is joyn'd with impiety 2. Some attribute the rise and course of things in the World to the sole necessity of Nature To this it may be replied 1. 'T is true there is an evident connexion of Causes and Effects in the Celestial and Elementary World whereby times and seasons are continued and the succession of mutable things is preserv'd so that Nature always consuming remains intire Though all vegetive and sensitive beings dye yet the species are immortal For the living are brought forth to succeed in the place of the dead But the inquiring mind cannot rest here for 't is impossible to conceive a train of Effects one caused by another without ascending to the first Efficient that is not an Effect For nothing can act before it exists The order of Causes requires that we ascend to the Supream which derives being and vertue to all the intermediate Thus Nature produces things from seminal Causes that depend on things already in being The Seed of Flowers and Trees suppose the Fruits of the Earth before growing but the first Tree could not be so produc'd To fancy an infinite succession of Causes depending one upon another without arriving to a first can only fall into the thoughts of a disordered mind How came this Horse that Lion in Nature 'T is by generation from another and that from another and so infinitely How came this Man into the World 'T is because he was begotten by such a Father and he by another and so infinitely Thus Atheism that rejects one truly Infinite Cause is obliged to admit an Infinity in all things an Incomprehensibility in all things 'T is therefore evident the efficient principles in Nature are from the sole power of the first and independent cause They could not proceed from themselves and that a most wise and powerfull Being is the original of all things is as evident Is it conceivable that the insensible Mass that is called Matter should have had an eternal being without original whereas there is not the least imaginable repugnance in the Attributes of the first and highest Being in whom all those Perfections concur which as proper to the Deity are form'd in the mind in the idea of it as his spiritual Nature Eternity Immensity Wisdom Omnipotence c. of which 't is equally true that no one either absolutely or relatively considered involve a contradiction that make it impossible for the Supream Being to possess it Is it not perfectly inconsistent to attribute to Matter the lowest and most contemptible of all Beings the highest and most noble Perfection an Independent Existence One may assert it in words but not seriously without the utter deserting of Reason Man incomparably excels this Matter he understands it and that understands not him yet he has a derived being in time 'T is therefore necessary that that should have some cause of its being But supposing the self subsistence of Matter from Eternity could the World full of innumerable Forms spring by an Impetus from a dead formless Principle T is equally impossible that a blind Cause casual or fatal should give being and order to the Universe Besides all subordinate Causes are sustained in their Beings and Powers by fresh influences from the first and directed in their operations To attribute the manifold Effects in the World to Second Causes working in a blind manner without an Universal Intellectual Mover that disposes tempers and governs them is as unreasonable as to attribute humane Works to the common Instruments of Art without the direction of the Understanding that uses them The Hand or Pencil has not skill to do any thing but as it obeys the Mind that gives it the impression of Art and regulates its Motion The Earth knows not the various Fruits that spring from it nor the Sea its living Productions And the Sun though a more specious is not a more intelligent and artificial Agent Nature under another name is the ordinary Power of God that by its intimate concourse with second-Second-Causes produces and supports things And 't is one of the considerable Wonders of his Providence that the stream of perishing things always emptying is always full there being a supply from the Fountains of continual Productions of what is lost in the dead Sea so that the World is always the same and always new And from what hath been argued we may judge how unreasonable it is to doubt whether there be a Principle in Nature of excellent Wisdome because not seen in his own Essence for if Reason compel us to acknowledg that the works of Art wrought by manual Instruments proceed from an unseen mind that directed their motions according to the idea framd in it self we ought more strongly to conclude there is a Divine Mind though invisible to mortal eyes that contriv'd at first and with knowledg performs all the works of Nature To deny the Existence of a Being not subjected to our outward Senses is equally of no force in both the instances By the same Reason St. Austin confounds the Atheist objecting that he could not see the Deity To whom he propounds this question That since his Body was only visible and not his Soul why should it not be buried And upon the reply That the quickning presence of the Soul was evident in the actions of Life perform'd by the Body he truly infers if a vital principle imperceptible in its self is discover'd by vital actions the Deity though by the perfection of his Nature undiscernable to our senses is clearly seen by the light of his effects And those who are wilfully blind if God should by any new sensible effects make a discovery of himself yet would remain inconvincible For the arguments of his presence from extraordinary effects are liable to the same exceptions pretended against the ordinary CHAP. V. The beginning of the World proved from the uninterrupted tradition of it through all ages The invention of Arts and bringing them to perfection an argument of the Worlds beginning The weakness of that fancy that the World is in a perpetual Circulation from Infancy to Youth and to full Age and a decrepit state and back again so that Arts are lost and recovered in that change The consent of Nations a clear Argument that there is a God The impressions of Nature are infallible That the most Men are practical Atheists that some doubt and deny God in words is of no force to disprove his Existence There are no absolute Atheists Nature in extremities has an irresistible force and compels the most obdurate to
is necessary they move now from whence is the principle of their motion from an internal form or an external Agent If they will be ingenuous and speak true they must answer thus from whence soever they have it they have it for if they did not move their Opinion cannot proceed a step further But supposing their motion to be natural what powerful Cause made them rest how are they so firmly united have they Hooks that fasten or Birdlime or Pitch or any glutinous matter that by touching they cleave so fast together They must grant something like this otherwise they cannot unite and compound and then the Epicurean Opinion is presently dissipated Supposing them triangular circular square or of any other regular or irregular figure yet they can make no other compound then a mass of Sand in which the several grains touch without firm union So that 't is very evident whether we suppose motion or rest to be originally in the nature of matter there must be a powerful Efficient to cause the contrary Besides by what art did so many meet and no more and of such a figure and no other and in that just order as to form the World a work so exact that by the most exquisite skill it cannot be made better Add further how could these minute Bodies without sense by motion produce it this is to assert that a Cause may act above the degree of its power Can we then rationally conceive that a confused rout of Atoms of divers natures and some so distant from others should meet in such a fortunate manner as to form an intire World so vast in the bigness so distinct in the order so united in the great diversities of natures so regular in the variety of changes so beautiful in the whole composure though it were granted that one of their possible conjunctions in some part of Eternity were that we see at present Could such a strict confederacy of the parts of the Universe result from an accidental agreement of contrary principles 'T is so evident by the universal experience of Men that regular Effects are caused by the skill of a designing Agent that works for an end that upon the sight of any such effects there is not the least shadow of a suspicion in the mind that it proceeded from blinde and counselless Chance If we should hear one make a plea for a Cause with such reasons as are most proper to convince and perswade his Judges to decide for him can we doubt whether he understands what he speaks or casually moves the organs of speech And yet if he did move them by Chance one of the casual motions equally possible with any other would be that he perform'd at present If a thousand brass Wheels were thrown on a heap would six or eight meet so fitly as by their conjunction to organize a Clock that should distinguish the hours or is a skilful hand requisite to joyn them and direct their motion And did the Planets those vast bodies by Chance ascend to the upper part of the World and joyn in that order as to measure the time exactly for so many past Ages Who ever saw a dead Statue form'd in the veins of Marble or a well proportion'd Palace with all Rooms of convenience and state arise out of a Quarry of Stones without a Sculptor to fashion the one and an Architect to frame the other Yet Marble and Stones are more dispos'd to make a Statue or a Building that are the materials of them and only require skill and workmanship to give them form than Atoms mixt together are to make the World Indeed Pliny faintly tells a story of a fabulous Ring of Pyrrhus in which an Agat was set distinctly representing not by Art but pure hazard Apollo with his Harp in the midst of the nine Muses The first Reporter was defective that he did not oblige us to believe that the sound of his Harp was heard in consort with the Muses It would have been a fine Miracle and the belief as easie that a Stone might be a Musitian as a Painter Now if the effects of Art are not without an Artificer can the immense Fabrick of the World be other than the work of a most perfect Understanding Who fixt the foundations of the Earth who laid the beautiful Pavement we tread on who divided and adorn'd the Chambers of the Spheres who open'd the Windows to the light in the East who encompass'd it with the immense vault of the starry Heaven hanging in the Air and supporting it self Could artless Chance build it No man unless totally deserted of Reason can possibly have such a fancy Let Reason judg how could the World be otherwise then 't is supposing it fram'd by a designing Cause all things are dispos'd divinely that is by perfect Wisdom as publick necessity and ornament require What the Psalmist observes concerning the Heavens is equally true of all the other parts of Nature Their line is gone out to signifie the exactness of their proportion If this be the effect of Chance what is the product of Design Can Reason distinguish between things artificial wherein the felicity of Invention appears and things rude not done by rules in the works of the Hands and can it not discover the manifest prints of Wisdom in the order of the Universe How much more Skill is evident in the frame of the World than in all the effects of humane Art so much the less folly would it be to attribute the most curious works of Art than the production of the World to Chance Add further The establisht order of the parts of the World is an argument that excludes all doubt that 't is govern'd and was at first fram'd by unerring Wisdom For if they were united by Chance would they continue in the same manner one day Is it not most likely that one of the innumerable possible combinations should succeed different from the same tenor of things that is but one especially if we consider that the parts of the World are never at rest The Heavens the Elements mixt bodies are in perpetual motion If Chance rul'd is it within the confines of probability that the Sun that runs ten or twelve thousand Leagues every day should be now in the same part of the Heavens where it was in former years in such a day when there are so many other places wherein by Chance it might wander Would the Stars keep a perpetual course regularly in such appearing irregularities Nec quicquam est tanta magis mirabilemole Quam ratio certis quòd legibus omnia parent Nusquam turba nocet nihil illis partibus errat Manil. lib. 1. Astrom Or would the sowing of Seed in the Earth certainly produce such a determinate sort of Grain for the other possible mixtures are so vastly numerous that it would be ten thousand to one but some other thing should spring up than what does According to this Hypothesis
stood in awe of their own imaginations The Philosophers privatly condemn'd what in a guilty compliance with the Laws of State they publickly own'd Nay even the lowest and dullest among the Gentiles generally acknowledged one Supreme God and Lord of all inferior Deities As Tertullian observes in their great distresses guided by the internal instructions of Nature they invok'd God not the Gods to their help 3. That the belief of one God is a pure emanation from the light of Nature is evident in that since the extinction of Idolatry not a spark remaining in many parts of the World 't is still preserv'd in its vigor and lustre in the breasts of Men. Since the plurality of Gods have been degraded of their Honour and their Worships chased out of many Countries and the ideas of various ancient superstitions are lost the only true God is served with more solemn veneration Time the wise discerner of Truth from Falshood abolishes the fictions of fancy but confirms the uncorrupted sentiments of Nature To conclude this Discourse what rational doubt can remain after so strong a witness of the Deity External from the Universe Internal from the frame of the humane Soul If we look through the whole compass of natural Beings there is not one separately taken but has some signature of wisdom upon it As a beam of light passing through a chink in Wall of what figure soever always forms a circle on the place where 't is reflected and by that describes the image of its original the Sun Thus God in every one of his Works represents himself tanquam Solis radio scriptum But the union of all the parts by such strong and sweet bands is a more pregnant proof of his omnipotent mind Is it a testimony of great military skill in a General to range an Army compos'd of divers Nations that have grat antipathies between them in that Order as renders it victorious in Battel And is it not a testimony of infinite Providence to dispose all the Hosts of Heaven and Earth so as they joyn successfully for the preservation of Nature 'T is astonishing that any should be of such a reprobate mind as not to be convinc'd by the sight of the World a visible Word that more gloriosly illustrates the perfections of the Creator than the sublimest Eloquence that conceals what it designs to represent When Sophocles was accused by his ungrateful Sons that his Understanding being declin'd with his Age he was unfit to manage the affairs of his Family he made no other defence before the Judges but recited part of a Tragedy newly compos'd by him and left it to their decision whether there was a failure in his Intellectuals upon which he was not only absolved but crown'd with Praises What foul ingratitude are those guilty of who deny the Divine Wisdom of which there are such clear and powerful demonstrations in the things that are seen Abhor'd impiety worthy of the most fiery indignation and not to be expiated with a single death None except base stupid spirits that are laps'd and sunk below the rational Nature as a noble Philosopher justly censures them are capable of such prodigious folly and perversness Yet these are the pretenders to free reason and strength of mind and with a contemptuous smile despise the sober World as fetterd with servil Principles and foolishly soften'd by impressions of an unknown uncertain being and value themselves as more knowing than all others because they contradict all Ridiculous vanity as if a blind Man in a crowd sometimes justling one sometimes another should with impatience cry out Do ye not see when he is under a double blindness both in his eyes and understanding not seeing himself and reproaching those that see for not seeing In short this great Truth shines with so bright an evidence that all the sons of darkness can never put out and can only be denied by obstinate Atheism and absurdity CHAP. VII The duties of understanding Creatures to the Maker of all things Admiration of his glorious perfections visible in them This is more particularly the duty of Man the World being made eminently for him The Causes why the Creatour is not honour'd in his Works are mens ignorance and inobservance Things new rather affect us than great An humble fear is a necessary respect from the Creature to the Divine Majesty and Power Love and Obedience in the highest degrees are due from men to God in the quality of Creator Trust and reliance on God is our duty and priviledg LEt us now briefly consider the indispensible Duties of rational Creatures with respect to the Maker of all things And those are 1. To acknowledg and admire the Deity and his perfections that are so visible in his Works For there must be a first Cause from whom that receives being that cannot proceed from it self In all the forms of things there are some Characters stampt of the Divine Wisdom that declare his Glory some footsteps imprest of his Power that discover him some lines drawn of his Goodness that demonstrate him And so much praise is justly due to the Artificer as there is excellence of Art and Perfection of workmanship appearing in the Work This Duty is especially incumbent on Man because the World was made with a more eminent respect for him than for Angels or Animals For if we consider the diversity of its parts the multitude and variety of sensitive Natures of which it consists and the Art whereby 't is fram'd according to the most noble Idea and design of highest Wisdom 't is evident it was principally made for Man there being an adequate correspondence between them with regard to the faculties and the objects 'T is true the Angels understand more perfectly than Man the union order and beauty of the World an incomparable proof of the Makers perfections but they are not capable of knowledg or pleasure by tasts smels sounds which are only proportion'd to make impressions on material Organs And is it agreeable to Wisdom that an Object purely sensible should be chiefly intended for a Power purely Spiritual Neither are the Beasts fit spectators of the Divine Works For the material part to which sense can only reach is the least notable in the frame of Nature and the oeconomy of the World They cannot discover the dependance between Causes and Effects the Means and End nor the Wisdom that ordered all These are only for the vision of the mind which they want The volume of the World to them is like a fair printed Book compos'd of sublime matter and style but opened to one that sees the beauty of the Characters without understanding the Language it speaks and the Wisdom it contains An Eagle by fixing its eyes on the Sun cannot measure its greatness nor understand the ends of its motion The World would be lost if only for them But the wise Creator united these two distinct natures in Man and plac'd him in this
Considerations OF THE Existence of GOD AND OF THE Immortality of the Soul With the Recompences of the future state For the Cure of INFIDELITY the Hectick Evil of the Times By William Bates D. D. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. in Phileb LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazon Aylmer at the three Pigeons over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1676. THE PREFACE THE usual Method whereby the Enemy of Mankind trains so many into his bloody snares is by enticing the lower Faculties the Senses the Fancy the Passions to prevail upon the Will and Mind and accordingly his motives are pleasure or pain that affect us from sensible things But on the contrary the great Lover of Souls first inlightens the Understanding to discover what is the most excellent Good what the most pernicious Evil and by that discovery moves the Will to pursue the one and fly from the other and so descends to work upon the Affections and Senses that with readiness they follow the direction and command of the Superior Powers in Man These Objects being Spiritual and future and therefore rais'd above the highest Regions of Sense are only apprehended and become effectual by the evidence of Faith As the Spartan in Plutarch after trying many ways to set a Carcass upright in a living posture and finding that all his Endeavours were vain it was so suddenly discompos'd the head sinking into the bosom the hands falling and all the parts in disorder concluded something was wanting within that is the living Soul without which the Body has no strength to support it self Thus the most convincing Reasons prest with the greatest vehemence of Affection all the Powers of the World to come are of no Efficacy upon those who have not Faith the vital Principle of all Heavenly Operations We live in an Infidel Age wherein wickedness reigns with Reputation The thoughts of the Mind are discovered by the current of the Actions Were there a serious belief of the great Judgment and the terrible Eternity that follows it were not possible for Men to sin so freely and go on in a War so desperate against God himself Sensuality and Infidelity are Elements of a Symbolical quality and by an easie alteration are chang'd into one another Fleshly Lusts darken the Mind and render it unfit to take a distinct view of things Sublime and Spiritual They hinder serious consideration especially of what may trouble the Conscience by their impetuous Disorders And which is the worst effect the corrupt Will bribes the Mind to argue for what it desires 'T is the interest of Carnalists to put out the eye of Reason the prevision of things Eternal that they may blindly follow the sensual appetite Thus Epicurus with his herd as one of them stiles that Fraternity denied the Immortality of the Soul consonantly to his declared principle that the Supreme Happiness of Man consisted in the delights of Sense And 't is as natural that the disbelief of another state hereafter should strongly incline Men to follow their Licentious Pleasures If the Soul according to the impious fancy of those Infidels described in the Book of Wisdom be a spark of Fire that preserves the vital heat for a little time and gives motion to the Members Vigor to the Senses and Spirits for the Thoughts but is quench'd in Death and nothing remains but a wretched heap of Ashes What preeminence has Man above a Beast It follows therfore in the progress of their Reason 't is equal to indulge their Appetites as the Beasts do If what is immortal puts on mortality the consequence is natural Let us eat and drink for to morrow we must die Now though supernatural Revelation confirm'd by Miracles and the continual accomplishment of Prophecies has brought Life and Immortality into that open light that the meanest Christian has a fuller and more certain evidence of it than the clearest spirits of the Heathens ever had yet because the weight of Authority is of no force with Libertines 't is necessary to argue from common Principles which they cannot disavow Indeed the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit are our best Defence in the Holy War but with the use of equal Arms Reasons against Reasons the cause of Religion will be victorious 'T is the design of the ensuing Treatise to discover by the light of Nature invisible objects viz. that a Sovereign Spirit made and governs the sensible World that there is an Immortal Soul in Man and an Eternal state expects him hereafter There is such a necessary Connexion between these Supreme Truths The Being of God and future Recompences to Men that the denial of the one includes the denial of the other 'T is uncertain which of the two is the first step whether Men descend from the disbelief of the future state to Atheism or from Atheism to Infidelity in that point Some excellent Persons have imployed their Talents on this Subject from whom I have received advantage in compiling the present Work I have been careful not to build upon false Arches but on substantial Proofs and to perswade Truth with Truth as becoms a sincere Counsellor and well-willer to Souls And if the secure Person will but attentively and impartially consider he must be convinc'd that 't is the only true Wisdom to believe and prevent and not venture on the tryal of things in that state where there is no other mending of the error but an everlasting sorrow for it Those whose Hearts are so irrecoverably depraved that no motives can perswade to examine what so nearly touches them with calmness and sobriety and their minds so fatally stupified that no Arguments can awaken must miserably feel what they wilfully doubt of whom the Light does not convince the Fire shall OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. CHAP. I. Atheism is fearful of publick discovery Three heads of Arguments to prove the Being of GOD. 1. The visible frame of the World and the numerous Natures in it exactly modelled for the good of the whole prove it to be the work of a most wise Agent The World consider'd in its several parts The Sun in its situation motion and effects declare the Providence of the Creator The diurnal motion of the Sun from East to West is very beneficial to Nature The annual course brings admirable advantage to it The gradual passing of the sensible World from the excess of heat to the extremity of cold an effect of Providence The constant revolutions of Day and Night and of the Seasons of the Year discovers that a wise Cause orders them IN the managing the present subject I shall first propound such things as clearly discover that a Soveraign Spirit rich in Goodness most wise in Counsel and powerful in Operation gave being to the World and Man in it This part of my work may seem needless because there are very few if any declared Atheists As Monsters remain where they are born in the desert sands of Africa not
the highest parts to which no other Waters arise would be unfruitful Now the Winds are assigned to all the quarters of the World and as the Reigns are slack or hard they guide the Clouds for the advantage of the lower World The separation of the Sea from the Land and containing it within just bounds is the effect of Almighty Wisdom and Goodness For being the lighter Element its natural situation is above it And till separated 't was absolutely useless as to habitation or fruitfulness 'T is now the convenient seat of terrestrial Animals and supplies their Provisions And the Sea is fit for Navigation whereby the most distant Regions maintain Commerce for their mutual help and comfort The Rivers dispers'd through the veins of the Earth preserve its beauty and make it fruitful They are always in motion to prevent corrupting and to visit several parts that the labour of cultivating may not be in vain And that these Waters may not fail the innumerable branches spred through the Earth at last unite in the main body of the Sea What they pour into it through secret chanels they derive from it by a natural perpetual circulation not to be imitated by Art In this we have a clear proof of the Wisdom and Goodness of the Creator That the Earth is not an equal Globe but some parts are rais'd into Hills and Mountains others sunk into deep Valleys some are immense Plains affects with various delight and is useful for excelent ends not onely for the production of Minerals of Marble and Stones requisite for Buildings but for the thriving of several kinds of Grain and Plants that are necessary for Food or Medicine for some love the Shade others the Sun some flourish best on Rocks and Precipices others in low moist places some delight in Hills others in Plains Thus by the unequal surface of the Earth is caused a convenient temperature of Air and Soil for its productions Add further The Wisdom of the Creatour is discovered by observing the league of the Elements from whence all mixt bodies arise Of how different qualities are Earth Water Air Fire yet all combine together without the destruction of their enmity that is as necessary to preserve nature as their friendship Can there be imagin'd a greater discord in the parts of the Elementary World and a greater concord in the whole To reduce them to such an aequilibrium that all their operations promote the same end proves that there is a Mind of the highest Wisdom that has an absolute Dominion over all things and tempers them accordingly If we come to Plants and Flowers Who divided their kinds and form'd them in that beautiful order who painted and perfum'd them how doth the same Water dye them with various Colours the Scarlet the Purple the Carnation what causes the sweet Odors that breath from them with an insensible subtilty and diffuse in the Air for our delight from whence proceed their different vertues These admirable works of Nature exceed the imitation and comprehension of Man 'T is clear therefore they proceed from a Cause that excels him in Wisdom and Power That some Plants of excellent vertue are full of prickles in their stock and leaves to protect them from Beasts that would root them up or trample on them an Atheist acknowledg'd to be the effect of Providence The same Wisdom preserves the Seed in the Root under the flower and prepares the numerous Leaves of Trees not only for a shadow to refresh living creatures but to secure their Fruits from the injuries of the weather Therefore in the Spring they shoot forth always before the fruits are form'd And tender delicate fruits are cover'd with broader and thicker leaves than others of a firmer substance In Winter they cast their leaves are naked and dry the vital sap retiring to the root as if careless of dying in the members to preserve life in the heart that in the returning Spring diffuses new heat and spirits the cause of their flourishing and fruitfulness The season of Fruits is another indication of Providence In Summer we have the cool and moist to refresh our heats in Autumn the durable to be preserved when the Earth produces none If we observe the lower rank of Animals their kinds shapes properties 't is evident that all are the Copies of a designing Mind the effects of a skilful Hand Some of them are fierce others familiar some are servile others free some crafty others simple and all fram'd conveniently to their Natures How incongruous were it for the Soul of a Lion to dwell in the body of a Sheep or that of a Hare to animate the body of a Cow It would require a volume to describe their different shapes and fitness to their particular natures Besides creatures meerly sensitive are acted so regularly to preserve themselves their kind that the reason of a superiour Agent shines in all their actions They no sooner come into the World but know their enemies and either by Strength or Art secure themselves They are instructed to swim to fly to run to leap They understand their fit nourishment and remedies proper for their Diseases Who infused into the Birds the art to build their nests the love to cherish their young How are the Bees instructed to frame their Hony-combs without hands and in the dark and of such a figure that among all other of equal compass and filling up the same space is most capacious The consideration of their Art and Industry their political Government and Providence and other miraculous qualities so astonish'd some great Wits that they attributed something divine to them Esse Apibus partem divinae mentis haustus Aetherios dixere some there are maintain That Bees deriv'd from a Coelestial strain And Heavenly race What moves the Swallows upon the approach of Winter to fly to a more temperate Clime as if they understood the Celestial Signs the Influences of the Stars and the Changes of the Seasons From whence comes the fore-sight of the Ants to provide in Summer for Winter their oeconomy fervour their discretion in assisting one another as if knowing that every one labour'd for all and where the benefit is common the labour must be common their care to fortifie their receptacles with a banck of Earth that in great rains it may not be overflowed have made them the fit emblems of prudent diligence This is excellently described by Virgil. Ac veluti ingentem formicae farris acervum Cum populant Hyenis memores tectoque reponunt It nigrum campis agmen praedamque per herbas Convectant calle angusto pars grandia trudunt Obnixa frumenta humeris pars agmima cogunt Castigantque moras Opere omnis semita fervet So when the Winter-fearing Ants invade Some heaps of Corn the Husbandman had made The sable Army marches and with Prey Laden return pressing the Leafy-way Some help the weaker and their shoulders lend Others the
Order of the March attend Bring up the Troops and punish all delay How could they propound such ends and devise means proper to obtain them 'T is evident from their constant and regular actings that an Understanding above man's who often fails in his designs signs imprest their unerring instincts and directs their motions CHAP. III. The Body of Man form'd with perfect design for Beauty and Usefulness A short description of its parts The fabrick of the Eye and Hand admirably discovers the Wisdom of the Maker The erect stature of the Body fitted for the rational Soul Man by speech is fitted for society How the affections are discovered in the Countenance The distinction of Persons by the face how necessary The reasonable Soul the image of a wise and voluntary Agent I Will now briefly consider Man with respect to both the parts of his compounded nature wherein are very clear evidences of a wise Maker The Body is the most artificial of all perishing things in the World 'T is justly called the store-house of proportions 'T is equally impossible to add any thing but what is superfluous or to take a-away any thing but what is necessary How many internal parts diverse in their qualities and figures are dispos'd with that providence that all operate according to their proper Natures and not one can be I do not say better but tolerably in any other place as well for its special as the common benefit All are so justly ordered with that mutual dependence as to their being and operations that none can be without the whole nor the whole without it So that if with attentive Eye we consider this it might seem that in making the Body the design was only respecting convenience and profit But if we turn our thoughts from that which is within this unparallel'd Piece and regard the various forms and structure of the outward parts the graceful order that adorns them we might imagine that the Maker only designed its regular visible beauty As Phavorinus comparing the Writings of two famous Orators observed that if one word be taken from a sentence of Plato you spoil'd the elegance if from Lycias the sense So the taking away the least considerable part from the Body spoils its comliness or usefulness Two great Philosophers have left excellent Discourses of the parts of the Body justly esteemed among their most noble works Galen after an exquisit observation of the Symetry of this Fabrick challeng'd the Epicureans to find but one of all the numerous parts that compose it the least Vein or Fibre that was not serviceable for its proper end or might be better if chang'd in its form temperature or place and he would embrace their opinion that Chance was the Authour of it And for this reason he says that by describing the use of the parts he compos'd a true Hymn in praise of the wise Maker What knowledg is requisit to describe all that is wonderful in it the contempering the differing humours in just weight and measure the inviolable correspondence establisht between all the parts for the performance of natural vital and animal operations To touch upon a few things The Stomach that by an unknown virtue prepares the nourishment the Heart and Liver the two Seas of blood the one more gross the other more refin'd and spirituous the Veins and Arteries their inseparable companions that diffuse themselves into innumerable rivolets and convey the blood and spirit of Life the Nerves the secret channels that from the Brain derive the spirits of sense and motion the Muscles that give it various motions the fleshy parts of different substance and quality according to their various Offices the Membrans in that diversity some finer some thicker weav'd according to the quality of the part they cover the inward fat that preserves the warm Bowels from drying up the Marrow wherewith the instruments of motion are oiled and made nimble and expedite the Bones that support the building of such different forms proportions qualities and so fitly joyn'd these are a full conviction that a Divine Mind contriv'd it a Divine Hand made and fashion'd it I will more particularly consider the curious fabrick of the Eye and Hand The Eye is a work of such incomparable Artifice that who ever understands it hath a sufficient proof of his Skill that form'd it This is most evident by dissecting it and representing the parts separate one from another and after reuniting them and thereby discovering the Causes of the whole Composure and of the Offices proper to every part That that may be understood without seeing it is that there is no member in the whole Body compos'd of more parts nor more different nor ordered with more exact wisdom between themselves in one frame Their situation is so regular and necessary that if any of them be never so little displac't the Eye is no more an Eye It includes three Humours that are transparant and of different thickness the one resembling Water the other Glass the other Chrystal and from them borrow their names to vary the place the distance the less or greater thickness the figure that is peculiar to each of them would render the Eye altogether useless for seeing for the refractions of the light that enters through the pupil would be disordered and the rays not be united in a point to paint in the Retina the images of visible objects which is the last disposition from whence the act of seeing follows Several tunicles involve it one of which is perforated as much as the little Circle in the middle that is called the pupil to give open passage to the images flowing from their objects The Muscles by their agency raise or cast down turn or fix it The Nerves fasten'd to the Brain convey a supply of spirits for the sight and transmit the representation of all visible objects without confusion to the internal senses If we consider the Hand by the most exact rule of proportion 't is evident that its substance and shape are most conducive to beauty and service If the Fingers were not divided and separately moveable but joyn'd together with one continued skin how uncomely how unuseful would it be Of an hundred effects ninety would be lost All that require variety of motion subtilty of art or strength could not be perform'd But the Fingers being disjoyn'd 't is fit to do whatever the mind designs or necessity requires It works intirely or in parts it brandishes a Sword or manages a Pen strikes on the Anvil with a Hammer or uses a delicate File rows in the Water or touches a Lute T is fit for all things adapting it self to the greatest and least all which advantages the Philosopher expresses with admirable brevity In divisione manus componendi facultas est in Compositione dividendi non esset Suppose the Fingers were of equal length and bigness great inconveniencies would follow And in this the Divine Wisdom is eminent
that what at first sight seems to be of no consequence yet is absolutely necessary not only for all the regular but for most works of the Hand If the Fingers were extended to the same measure it were able to do nothing but what the four longest can And how uncomely would such a figur'd hand appear when that beauty is lost that springs from variety in things alike Besides how unprofitable a part were the Hand if the Fingers had within one intire bone not flexible to grasp as occasion requires Or if a fleshy substance only how weak and unapt for service what strength or firmness for labour even the Nails are not superfluous besides their gracefulness they give force and sense to the points of the Fingers If one be lost the feeling in that extream part is very much lessen'd that is so necessary for the discerning of things To these I shall add two other considerations that discover perfect wisdom in the framing the humane Body 1. It s structure is very different from that of Brutes whereby 't is a fit instrument of the rational Soul The Brutes being meerly terrestrial Animals are perpetually groveling and poring downwards seeking no more than their food They have no commerce with the Heavens but so far as it serves them for the Earth as being only born for their Bellies But in Man the posture of his Body interprets that of his Soul The stature is streight and rais'd expressive of his dominion over the Creatures made for his use The Head is over all the less noble parts and the Eyes so plac't that the mind may look out at those windows to discover the World in its various parts to contemplate the Heavens its native Seat and be instructed and excited to admire and love the divine Maker 2. If we consider Man complexly as joyn'd with society to which he is naturally inclin'd he is so form'd as to give or receive assistance for his preservation and comfort The Tongue his peculiar glory the interpreter of the Thoughts and reconciler of the Affections maintains this happy commerce Besides the Face makes known our inward motions to others Love hatred desire dislike joy greif confidence dispair courage cowardice admiration contempt pride modesty cruelty compassion and all the rest of the Affections are discover'd by their proper Aspects By a sudden change of the countenance are manifested the deepest sorrow the highest joy As the face of the Heavens vail'd with Clouds by the breaking forth of the Sun is presently cleard up And which is above the imitation of Art different affections are represented in a more or less expressive appearance according to their stronger or remisser degrees Timanthes the famous Painter wisely drew a vail over Agamemnons Face present at the sacrifice of his innocent Daughter despairing to express and accord his several Passions the tenderness of a Father with the Majesty of a King and the generosity of the Leader of an Army This way of discovery has a more universal use then words The ministry of the Tongue is only useful to those that understand our Language but the Face though silent speaks to the Eye The Countenance is a Crystal wherein the thoughts and affections otherwise invisible appear and is a natural sign known to all For this manner of expression is not by the common agreement of Men as Signs absolutely free or mixt but from the institution of Nature that always chuses what is most proper to its end being guided by a superiour directour according to the rules of perfect Wisdom Moreover the innumerable different characters in the Faces of Men to discern every one is the counsel of most wise Providence for the universal benefit of the World For take away this distinction and all the bands of Laws of Commerce of Friendship are dissolv'd If we could not by singular inseparable lineaments distinguish the innocent from the guilty a Brother from a Stranger the worthy from the unworthy all truth in Judgments sincerity in Relations distinction of Merits security in Trade would be destroyed In short humane societies cannot be preserved without union and distinction the one prevents division the other confusion Union is maintain'd by speech and other signs of the inward dispositions of the Heart distinction is caus'd by the variety of countenances And 't is considerable that so few parts composing it and in so small a compass and always in the same situation yet there is such a diversity of figures as of faces in the World Seneca propounds this as a spectacle worthy of admiration though the Stoical pride falsely esteem'd greatness of mind would scarce admire Miracles And as the frame of Mans Body so much more the rational Soul his eminent prerogative above all sensible beings discovers the Deity The superior faculties the Understanding and Will whereby he makes a judgment and choice of things in order to his happiness declare it to be the living image and glory of a most Wise and voluntary Agent The admirable composition of two things so disproportion'd a spiritual and material substance in the humane nature is an argument of his omnipotent skil who united them in a manner inconceiveable to us But the nature qualities and operations of the Soul shall be more distinctly considered afterwards And by this short account of some parts of the World we may sufficiently discover the perfections of the Maker We must pluck out our Eyes and exstinguish common sense not to see infinite Wisdom Power and Goodness shining in them the proper marks of the Deity CHAP. IV. The vanity of Epicurus's Opinion of the Worlds original discover'd from the visible order in all the parts of it Chance produces no regular effects The constant natural course of things in the world proves that 't is not framed nor conducted by uncertain Chance The World was not caused by the necessity of nature In the search of Causes the mind cannot rest till it comes to the first Second Causes are sustain'd and directed in all their workings by the first The Creator though invisible in his Essence is visible in his effects BEfore I proceed to the other Head of Arguments I will briefly show the vanity of those Opinions that attribute the production of the World to Chance or to the sole necessity of Nature 'T was the extravagant fancy of Democritus and Epicurus after him that the original of the World was from the fortuitous encountring of Atoms that were in perpetual motion in an immense space till at last a sufficient number met in such a conjunction as form'd it in this order 'T is strange to amazement how so wilde an Opinion never to be reconciled with Reason could finde entertainment Yet he left a numerous School many followers tenacious of his Doctrine the heirs of his Frenzy 'T is very easie to shew the vanity of this conceit that supposes all and proves nothing That these particles of matter should thus meet together 't
Theater of his Magnificence that by the ministry of the senses he might have perception of the external part and by his reason discover what is most worthy to be known the admirable order that distinguishes and unites so many and such different natures and guides all their motions that 't is clear they depend upon one principle without knowing it and conspire to one end without willing it How should this raise his mind in the just praises of the Maker The true causes why the Creator is not duly acknowledged and honour'd for his Works are either Ignorance or a guilty neglect and inobservance of them 1. Ignorance in the composure of the World and of the several beings in it A Philosopher askt by one What advantage the instructions of Philosophy would be to his Son replied If no other yet that when he is a spectatour in the Theatre one Stone shall not sit upon another An ignorant person encompast with all the varieties of Nature wherein omniscient skill appears is insensible as a Stone carv'd into the shape of a Man Nay the most learned Professors know little more than the several kinds of things and the causes and manner of some particular effects How often are they forc't to take refuge in occult qualities when prest with difficulties or only assign universal causes of things and sometimes the same for operations extreamly contrary How many mysteries of Nature are still vaild and hid in those deep recesses where we can go only in the dark How much remains undiscover'd that is truly wonderful in the Works of God They are the Objects of the Eye and Mind but what is visible to the Eye is least worthy of admiration From hence the value of the Works and the Glory of the Author is much lessen'd Besides the rational pleasure of the mind is lost by not discerning the wise order that is infallibly observ'd in universal Nature 'T is not the viewing a musical Instrument the variety of the parts and of the strings in their size and length that produces delight but hearing the harmonious and pleasant diversity of their sounds contemper'd by the proportion of numbers Thus 't is not the sight of the meer outward frame of things but the understanding the intellectual Musick that springs from the just Laws of Nature whereby they are perfectly tuned and the conspiring harmony of so many mixt parts without the least harsh discord that ravishes the Soul with true pleasure 2. The inobservance of Man is another cause why the great Creatour is not magnified for all his Works If we did consider the least even one of those unius puncti animalia a Flea or Mite we should find what is admirable in that scarce-visible Atom of matter But the novelty not the excellence of things draws our thoughts The greatest works in Nature that are not Miracles only because common and usual are past by with a careless Eye Their continual presence is not moving but lessens our regard and attention The Naturalist observ'd it to be one of the solemn follies of Men to value Medicines not for their Virtue but the Country where they grow the Climate from whence they come if they have a Barbarous name they are reputed to have a mysterious efficacy and those Plants are neglected as unprofitable that are natives of their own Soil The rarity is esteem'd more than the merit of things 'T is a greater wonder to give light to the Sun than to restore it to the blind yet its daily presence does not affect us If a Chymist should extract a Liquor of such an extraordinary virtue that by pouring a few drops of it on the dust a Body should be form'd animated and move would any one be induc'd to believe it without the testimony of his own eyes and would it not be a surprising wonder Yet innumerable living Creatures spring from the Dust by the falling of Rain and few think it worthy of observation The raising a dead Body to life would astonish us but we are unaffected that every day so many living Men are born Yet if we consider things aright the secret forming a Body in the Womb is an equal Prodigy of Power and as truely marvellous as the restoring the vital congruities to a carcass that prepare it for the reception of the Soul What more deservs serious reflection than that from the same indistinct Seed so many and such various parts in their substance figure and qualities should proceed hard and dry for the Bones liquid for the humours moist and soft for the flesh tenacious for the Nerves perforated for the Arteries and Veins hot for the Liver and Heart cold for the Brain transparent for the Eyes How should it raise our wonder that that matter which in it self is simple and equal in Gods hand is capable of such admirable Art But the constant sight of living productions causes our neglect and deprives him of his just Honour Thus that from almost an invisible Seed weak and tender should spring a great Tree of that strength as to resist the fury of the Winds what miraculous virtue is requisit The inlightned observing Mind ascends from Nature to God whose instrument it is and with deliberate admiration praises Him for his excellent Works 2. The most humble fear is a necessary Duty from Man to the Majesty and Power of the Creatour A barren admiration of his omnipotent Art in his Works is not sufficient but it must be joyned with awful respects of his Excellent Greatness He has the right and to him is due the reverence and homage of universal King With what solemnity and composedness of Spirit should we approach the Divine Presence What a jealous watch ought to be plac'd over our Hearts in all our addresses to Him lest by carelesness and inadvertency we should disparage his Excellencies To think of Him without reverence is a profanation The Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods and from hence the necessary consequence is O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker What ever is Glorious is in Him in the most excellent degrees of Perfection The World with the innumerable variety of Creatures is but a drop compar'd to his Transcendent Greatness And what part is Man of that drop as nothing Time is but a point of his Eternity Dominion but a shadow of his Soveraignty 'T is the most natural duty of Man to walk humbly with his God and to fear above all things to displease Him The whole Creation even the insensible part and that seems least subject to a Rule and Law and least conducted by Reason obey his Will What is more light and rash than the Winds yet they do not breath but by his Command What is more fierce and impetuous than the Sea yet it does not transgress his Order When it threatens to over-run the whole Earth the weak Sand stops its foaming
understanding conceives spiritual Objects is not confin'd to singular and present things Reflects upon it self Corrects the errors of the sense Does not suffer from the excellence of the Object Is vigorous in its operations when the body is decay'd which proves it to be an immaterial faculty An answer to objections against the Souls spiritual Nature That the first notices of things are conveyed through the senses does not argue it to be a material faculty That it depends on the temper of the Body in its superior operations is no prejudice to its spiritual Nature HAving dispatch'd the consideration of the prime fundamental Truth that there is a most Wise and Powerful Creator of all things I shall next discourse of the Immortality of the humane Soul and the Eternal recompences in the future State In treating of the Souls Immortality I shall not insist on nice and subtile Speculations that evaporate and leave nothing substantial for conviction or practice but consider those proofs that may induce the mind to assent and work upon the will to make its choice of objects with respect to their endless consequences hereafter And first it must be premised that Immortality is not an inseparable perfection of its nature for 't is capable of annihilation What ever had a beginning may have an end God only hath immortality in an absolute sense and communicates it according to his pleasure The perpetual existence of Souls is a priviledge that depends on his sustaining vertue without which they would relapse into a state of not Being His Will is the measure of their duration I shall therefore consider such things as strongly argue that God will not withdraw his conservative influence that is necessary to their Immortality The Arguments are of two sorts Natural and Moral The first prove that God has made the Soul incapable of Death by any Internal Causes of perishing from its Nature and in that declares not obscurely that he will ever preserve it The second sort are drawn from the Divine Attributes the visible Oeconomy of Providence in the government of the World that are infallible and will produce a sufficient conviction in minds equally inclin'd 1. The Soul is incapable of Death by any Internal Causes of perishing in its Nature The dissolution of things proceeds from the corruptible principles of which they are compounded and the separable parts of which they consist and into which they are resolved Therefore all mixt and material Beings are subject to dissolution But the humane Soul is a spiritual substance simple without any disagreeing qualities as heat and cold moisture and driness the seeds of corruption The essences of things are best discover'd by their peculiar operations that argue a real distinction between them and from whence arise the different notions whereby they are conceived The soul of a Brute performs the same vital acts as the soul of a Plant yet 't is visibly of a more elevated nature because it performs the functions of the sensitive life that are proper to it The rational Soul performs the same sensitive acts as the soul of Brutes but that it is of a higher order of substances appears by its peculiar objects and immediate operations upon them The two principal faculties of the humane Soul are the Understanding and the Will and the Actions flowing from them exceed the power of the most refined matter however modified and transcend any Principle that is only endowed with the powers of sense and imagination confin'd to matter To proceed orderly I will first consider the Mind with respect to the quality of its objects and manner how it is conversant about them 1. The conception of things purely spiritual God Angels separate Souls the Analogies the differences and various respects of things argue it to be of a spiritual nature For 't is and evident principle there must be an Analogy between the Faculty and the Object A material Glass cannot represent a Spirit it has no receptivity to take into it an object without figure colour and diversity of parts the affections of matter A spiritual object can only be apprehended by a spiritual operation and that can only be produced by a spiritual Power The being of things is the root of their working Now rarifie matter to the highest fineness reduce it to imperceptible Atoms 't is as truly Matter as a gross Body For lightness and tenuity are as proper Attributes of matter as weight and density though less sensible If a Beast could apprehend what discourse is it were rational The Soul therefore that understands the Spirituality of things is Spiritual otherwise it should act extra sphaeram The intellectual eye alone sees him that is Invisible understands the reasons of Truth and Justice looks beyond the bright Hills of Time into the Spiritual Eternal World so that 't is evident there is an affinity and likeness in Nature between them 2. Material faculties are confin'd to the narrow compass of singular and present things but the Mind abstracts from all individuals their pure Nature and forms their Universal Species The Eye can only see a colour'd object before it the Mind contemplates the nature of Colours It ascends above all the distinctions of Time recollects what is past foresees what is to come no interval of space or time can hinder its sight Besides the swift flight of the thoughts over Sea and Land the soaring of the Mind in a moment above the Stars as if its essence were all vigour and activity prove that 't is not a material Power 3. Sense only acts in a direct way without reflecting upon its self or its own operations 'T is true there is an experimental perception included in vital and sensible acts but 't is far below proper reflection The Eye doth not see the action by which it sees nor the imagination reflect on it self for that being conversant only about representations transmitted through the senses cannot frame an Image of it self and gaze upon it there being no such resemblance conveyed by the mediation of the outward organs But the rational Soul not only contemplates an object but reflects on its own contemplation and retir'd from all commerce with External things views it self its qualities and state and by this gives testimony of its Spiritual and immortal Nature 4. The Mind rectifies the false reports of the Senses and forms the Judgment of things not according to their impressions but by such rational evidence of which they are not capable When the Object is too distant or the Medium unfit or the Organs distemper'd the Senses are deceived The Stars of the brightest magnitude seem to be trembling sparks of light but the Understanding considers that the representations of things are imperfect and less distinct proportionably to their distance and conceives of their magnitude accordingly A straight Oar appears crooked in the Water but Reason observes the error in the refractions when the Image passes through a double medium of
and in true comparison infinitely excells all the allurements of Sin 2. 'T is true that as natural actions that are necessary to preserve the Species or the Individuals are mixt with sensible pleasures as an attractive to the performance of them so there is joyn'd to actions of Vertue that are more excellent a present complacency of a superiour Order to all carnal pleasures But 't is a frigid conceit that this is the entire reward For first besides the inward satisfaction that naturally results from the practice of Vertue there is an excellent Good that is properly the reward of the supream Governor of the World We have an Example of this in humane Justice which is an image of the divine For those who have been eminently serviceable to the State besides the joyful sense arising from the performance of Heroick Actions for the Good of their Country are rewarded by the Prince with great Honours and Benefits 2. This inward Joy is not here felt by all Holy Persons In this militant state after vigorous resistance of carnal Lusts they may change their Enemies and be assaulted with violent Fears and instead of a sweet calm and serenity fall into darkness and confusion The Soul and Body in the present conjunction mutually sympathize As two things that are unisons if one be touch't and moves the other untouch't yet moves and trembles The ‖ cause is from the Vibrations the sound makes in the Air and impresses on solid Bodies moving them according to the harmonious proportion between them Thus the Soul and the Body are two strings temper'd to such a correspondence that if one be moved the other resents by an impression from it If the Body be Sanguin or Cholerick or Melancholy the Soul by a strange consent feels the motion of the humors and is altered with their alterations Now some of excellent vertue are opprest with Melancholy Others are under strong pains that disturb the free operations of the mind that it cannot without Supernatural strengih delightfully contemplate what is a just matter of content The Stoical Doctrine that a wise Man rejoyces as well in torments as in the midst of pleasures that 't is not in the power of any external evil to draw a sigh or tear from him that he is sufficient in himself for happiness is a Philosophical Romance of that severe sect an excess unpracticable without Cordials of a higher nature than are compounded by the faint thoughts of having done what is agreable to Reason All their Maxims are weak supports of such triumphant Language 'T is true in a Body disorder'd and broken with Diseases and Pains the mind may be erect and compos'd but 't is by vertue of Divine Comforts from the present sense of Gods favour and the joyful hopes of eternal felicity in his presence hereafter 3. Those who suffer the loss of all that is precious and dear in the World and with a chearful confidence submit to death that singly consider'd is very terrible to nature but attended with torments is doubly terrible and all to advance the Glory of God cannot enjoy the satisfaction of mind that proceeds from the review of worthy actions if their being is determined with their life Now that love to God exprest in the hardest and noblest service should finally destroy a Man is not conceivable To render this Argument more sensible let us consider the vast multitude of the Martyrs in the first times of Christianity more easie to be admir'd than numbred It would be a History to describe the instruments of their cruel sufferings invented by the fierce wit of their persecutors the various torturs to destroy Life with a slow death such as were never before inflicted on the guiltiest Malefactours All which they willingly endured with an invariable serenity of countenance the sign and effect of their inward peace Nay with triumphant expressions of Joy Now to what original shall we attribute this fortitude of Spirit were such numbers of all conditions ages sects induc'd by rash counsel by frenzy of passion by a desire of vain-glory or any like cause to part with all that is precious and amiable in the World for Swords and Fire and Crosses and Wheels and Racks to torment and destroy their Bodies No humane Reasons neither the Vertue nor Vice of Nature Generosity nor Obstinacy could possibly give such strength under such Torments This was so evident that many Heathen Spectators were convinc'd of the Divine Power miraculously supporting them and became Proselytes of Christianity and with admirable chearfulness offered themselves to the same punishments Now this is an extrinsick testimony incomparably more weighty than from a bare affirmation in words or a meer consent of judgment that there is an unseen state infinitely better and more durable than what is present the hopes of which made them esteem the parting with all sensible things measur'd by time not to have the shadow of a loss And this was not a meer naked view of a future blessedness but joyned with an impression of that sweetness and strength that consolation and force of Spirit that it was manifest Heaven descended to them before they ascended to Heaven From hence they were fearless of those who could only kill the Body but not touch the Soul As the breaking a Christal in pieces cannot injure the light that penetrated and filled it but releases it from that confinement So the most violent Death was in their esteem not hurtful to the Soul but the means to give it entrance into a happy immortality Now is it in any degree credible that when no other principle was sufficient to produce such courage in thousands so tender and fearful by nature that the Divine hand did not support them invisible in operation but most clearly discovered in the effects And can it be imagined that God would encourage them to lose the most valuable of all natural things life it self and to their great cost of pains and misery if there were not an estate wherein he would reward their heroick love of himself with a good that unspeakably transcends what ever is desirable here below 2. Though Vice in respect of its turpitude be the truest dishonour of Man and be attended with regret as contrary to his Reason yet there is a further punishment naturally due to it Malefactors besides the infamy that cleaves to their crimes and the secret twinges of Conscience feel the rigour of civil Justice And if no Physical evil be inflicted as the just consequent of Vice the viciously inclin'd would despise the moral evil that is essential to it as an imaginary punishment And when the remembrance of Sin disturbs their rest they would presently by pleasant diversions call off their thoughts from sad objects 2. Supposing no other punishment but what is the immediate effect of Sin the most vicious and guilty would many times suffer the least punishment For the secret Worm of Conscience is most sensible when vice is
first springing up and has tender roots But when vicious habits are confirm'd the Conscience is past feeling the first resentments There are many instances of those who have made the foulest crimes so familiar as to lose the horror that naturally attends them And many that have been prosperous in their villanys dye without tormenting reflections on their guilt So that if there be no further punishments we must deny the Divine Providence of which Justice is an eminent part CHAP. XII Two Arguments more to prove future recompenses T is not possible for civil Justice to dispence rewards aud punishments according to the good and evil actions of Men. All Nations agree in the acknowledgment of a future state The innocent Conscience is supported under an unjust Sentence by looking to the superiour Tribunal The courage of Socrates in dying with the cause of it The guilty Conscience terrifies with the apprehension of judgment to come Tiberius his complaint to the Senate of his inward tortures An answer to the objection that we have not sensible evidence of what is enjoyed and what is sufferd in the next life Why sin a transient act is punished with eternal death 3. 'T Is not possible for humane Justice to distribute recompence exactly according to the moral qualities of actions therefore we may rationally infer there will be a future Judgment This appears by consideriug 1. That many times those crimes are equally punisht here that are not of equal guilt because they proceed from different sources that lye so low as the strictest inquisition cannot discover And many specious actions done for corrupt ends and therefore without moral value are equally rewarded with those wherein is the deepest tincture of virtue The accounts of civil Justice are made by the most visible cause not by the secret and most operative and influential Therefore a superior Tribunal is necessary to which not only sensible actions but their most inward principles are open that will exactly judge of moral evils according to their aggravations and allays and of moral good according to the various degrees that are truly rewardable 2. No temporal benefits are the proper and compleat reward of obedience to God Not the proper for they are common to bad and good but the reward of Holiness must be peculiar to it that an eminent distinction be made between the obedient and rebellious to the Divine Laws otherwise it will not answer the ends of Government And they are not the compleat rewards of obedience For God rewards his Servants according to the infinite treasures of his Goodness The sensible World a Kingdom so vast so rich so delightful is enjoyed by his enemies We may therefore certainly infer he has reserved for his faithful Servants a more excellent felicity as becomes his glorious goodness 3. The extreamest temporal evils that can be inflicted here are not correspondent to the guilt of Sin Men can only torment and kill the Body the instrument and less guilty part but cannot immediately touch the Soul the principal cause by whose influence humane actions are vicious and justly punishable From hence it follows that supposing the Wicked should feel the utmost severity of Civil Laws yet there remains in another World a dreadful arrear of misery to be endured as their just and full recompence 4. In testimony of this Truth that the Souls of Men are immortal to Rewards and Punishments not only the wisest Men but all Nations have subscrib'd The darkest Pagans have acknowledged a Deity and a Providence and consequently a future Judgment Indeed this spark was almost drown'd in an Abyss of Fables for in explicating the process and Recompences of the last Judgment they mixt many absurd fictions with truth but in different manners they acknowledged the same thing that there remains another life and two contrary states according to our actions here Of this we have a perfect conviction from the immortal hopes in good Men and the endless fears in the wicked The directive understanding that tells Man his duty has a reflexive power and approves or condemns with respect to the Supreme Court where it shall give a full testimony Hence it is that Conscience so far as innocent makes an Apology against unjust Charges and sustains a Man under the most cruel Sentence being perswaded of a superiour Tribunal that will rectify the errors of Man's Judgement But when guilty terrifies the Offender with the flashes of Judgment to come though he may escape present sufferings Of this double power of Conscience I shall add some lively Examples Plato represents his admirable Socrates after an unjust Condemnation to Death in the Prison at Athens encompast with a noble circle of Philosophers discoursing of the Souls Immortality and that having finisht his Arguments for it he drank the Cup of Poison with an undisturbed Courage as one that did not lose but exchange this short and wretched life for a blessed and eternal For thus he argued That there are two ways of departing Souls leading to two contrary states of felicity and of misery Those who had defiled themselves with sensual Vices and given full scope to boundless lusts in their private conversation or who by frauds and violence had been injurious to the Common-wealth are drag'd to a place of torment and for ever excluded from the joyful presence of the blessed Society above But those who had preserv'd themselves upright and chaste and at the greatest distance possible from the contagion of the flesh and had during their union with humane bodies imitated the Divine Life by an easie and open way returned to God from whom they came And this was not the sense only of the more vertuous Heathens but even some of those who had done greatest force to the humane Nature yet could not so darken their Minds and corrupt their Wills but there remain'd in them stinging apprehensions of punishment hereafter Histories inform us of many Tyrants that encompast with the strongest Guards have been afrighted with the alarms of an accusing Conscience and seized on by inward terrors the forerunners of Hell and in the midst of their luxurious stupifying pleasures have been haunted with an evil Spirit that all the Musick in the World could not charm The persons executed by their commands were always in their view shewing their wounds reproaching their cruelty and citing them before the High and Everlasting Judg the righteous Avenger of innocent Blood How fain would they have kill'd them once more and deprived them of that life they had in their memories but that was beyond their power Of this we have an eminent instance in Tiberius who in a Letter to the Senate open'd the inward wounds of his Breast with such words of despair as might have moved pity in those who were under the continual fear of his Tyranny No punishment is so cruel as when the Offender and Executioner are the same Person Now that such Peace and Joy are the
inconveniencies afar off and lay the Scene to avoid them And is Reason only useful in the affairs of the Body and must Sense that cannot see an hands-breadth beyond the present be the guide of the Soul Well though the most powerful Reasons the most ardent Exhortations and stinging Reprehensions cannot prevail with the Sons of the Earth now to be apprehensive of the Evils that threaten them but they live in a blind manner regardless of the Soul yet in a little while Extremities will compel them to open their eyes When they are departing hence with one foot upon the brink of Time and the other lift up to enter Eternity how will they be astonish'd to see the distance between this World and the next which seem'd to them so wide to be but one step The present Life that in their imaginations would never end and the future that would never begin so intent were they for the provisions of the one and neglectful of the other behold the one is gone and the other come Time is at their back with all its vanities and Eternity before their faces with its great realities How are their thoughts and discourses changed in that terrible hour that will decide their states for ever they did foolishly for themselves but then speak wisely for the instruction of others How piercing and quick are their apprehensions then of Heaven and Hell which before were neglected as unworthy of regard or onely toucht the surface of their Souls what amazement what dejection of Spirit to find themselves in a sad unpreparedness for their great Account the remembrance that for the poor advantages of time they forfeited Eternal Glory and ventur'd on Eternal Misery cuts more sorely than the pangs of Death But suppose they harden their hearts to the last minute of life and are more stupid than the Beasts that tremble upon a precipice at the sight of extream danger yet a minute after Death O the heavy change when they shall feel themselves undone infinitely and irrecoverably What fierce and violent workings will be in the mind what a storm of passions rais'd But then Repentance will be with perfect sorrow without the least profit There are no returns to the possibility of mercy I will conclude this Discourse with a passage from the most humble and excellent St. Austin He bewails in his Confession his long bondage under Sin His carnal lusts adher'd as closely to him as the Ivy twines about the Oak that there can be no separation without eradicating it and plucking the Bark off the Tree He felt an inward continual Combat between the Flesh and Spirit He often shook the Chain wherewith he had voluntarily bound himself but had not the resolution to break it And thus for a time his Judgment abhor'd what his Affections were enclin'd to and he was neither victorious nor vanquish'd But when God was pleas'd by his omnipotent Grace to set him at liberty the last and most violent Assault of the Flesh and that which made his Conversion most difficult was this His Youthful Lusts presented themselves to his Imagination and as that impure Mistress did with chast Joseph shook the Garment of his Flesh and whisper'd Will you renounce us shall there be a divorce between you and your ancient Loves for ever shall not this or that desire of the Senses be contented for ever And what was that for ever it only signified the short remainder of his time after thirty three years which was then his Age. And this is the most effectual hinderance of the reclaiming of Sinners still They will not be induc'd to make an irrevokable unreserv'd dedication of themselves to God and firmly to resolve never to taste forbidden sweets more but always abhor the relish of them But if it be so hard and intolerable always to abstain from unlawful pleasures and much more to suffer pain in the short space the moments of this Life that it seems an Eternity to corrupt Nature what will it be in the true Eternity to be depriv'd of all Good and tormented with all Evils despairing of release or quenching one spark of that terrible Fire O that Men were wise to consider their latter end and the consequences of it their Mortality and Immortality FINIS THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS Chap. 1. pag. 1. ATheism is fearfull of publick discovery Three heads of Arguments to prove the Being of a God 1. The visible frame of the World and the numerous Natures in it exactly modelled for the good of the whole prove it to be the work of a most wise Agent The World considered in its several parts The Sun in its scituation motion and effects declare the Providence of the Creator The diurnal motion of the Sun from East to West is very beneficial to Nature The Annual course brings admirable advantage to it The gradual passing of the sensible World from the excess of Heat to the extremity of Cold an effect of Providence The constant Revolutions of the Day and Night and of the Seasons of the Year discovers that a wise Cause order them Chap. 2. pag. 19. The Air a fit medium to convey the Light and Influences of the Heavens of the lower World 'T is the repository of Vapours that are drawn up by the Sun and descend in fruitful showers The Winds of great benefit The separation of the Sea from the Land the effect of great Wisdom and Power That the Earth is not an equal Globe is both pleasant and useful The League of the Elements considered Excellent Wisdom visible in Plants and Fruits The shapes of Animals are answerable to their properties They regularly act to preserve themselves The Bees Swallows Ants directed by an excellent mind Chap. 3. pag. 34. The Body of Man form'd with perfect design for Beauty and Usefulness A short description of its parts The fabrick of the Eye and Hand admirably discovers the Wisdom of the Maker The erect stature of the Body fitted for the rational Soul Man by speech is fitted for Society How the Affections are discovered in the Countenance The distinction of Persons by the face how necessary The reasonable Soul the image of a wise and voluntary Agent Chap. 4. pag. 51. The vanity of Epicurus's Opinion of the Worlds original discovered from the visible order in all the parts of it Chance produces no regular effects The constant natural course of things in the World proves that 't is not framed nor conducted by uncertain Chance The World was not caused by the necessity of Nature In the search of Causes the mind cannot rest till it comes to the first Second Causes are sustain'd and directed in all their workings by the first The Creator though invisible in his Essence is visible in his effects Chap. 5. pag. 71. The beginning of the World proved from the uninterrupted Tradition of it through all Ages The Invention of Arts and bringing them to perfection an Argument of the Worlds beginning The weakness