And no less might I shew that of Reptiles and Fishes[o] to be, if it was convenient to enlarge upon this Branch of the Creator’s Works. How well adapted are the Annuli of some Reptiles, and the Contortions of the Skin of others, not only to fence the Body sufficiently against outward Injuries; but to enable them to creep, to perforate the Earth[p], and in a word, to perform all the Offices of their Reptile State, much better than any other Tegument of the Body would do? And the same might be said of the Covering of the Inhabitants of the Waters, particularly the Shells of some, which are a strong Guard to the tender Body that is within, and consistent enough with their slower Motion; and the Scales and Skins of others, affording them an easie and swift Passage through the Waters. But it may be sufficient to give only a Hint of these Things, which more properly belong to another Place.
Thus hath the indulgent Creator furnish’d the whole animal World with convenient, suitable Cloathing.
II. Let us in the next Place take a short View of the Garniture[q], and Beauty thereof. And here we shall thus far, at least, descry it to be beautiful; that it is compleat and workman-like. Even the Cloathing of the most sordid Animals, those that are the least beautified with Colours, or rather whose Cloathing may regrate the Eye[r]; yet when we come strictly to view them, and seriously consider the nice Mechanism of one Part, the admirable Texture of another, and the exact Symmetry of the Whole; we discern such Strokes of inimitable Skill, such incomparable Curiosity, that we may say with Solomon, Eccl. iii. 11. [God] hath made every Thing beautiful in his Time.
But for a farther Demonstration, of the super-eminent Dexterity of his almighty Hand, he hath been pleas’d, as it were on Purpose, to give surprizing Beauties to divers Kinds of Animals. What radiant Colours are many of them, particularly some Birds and Insects[], bedeck’d with! What a prodigious Combination is there often of these, yea, how nice an Air frequently of meaner Colours[t], as to captivate the Eye of all Beholders, and exceed the Dexterity of the most exquisite Pencil to copy?
And now, when we thus find a whole World of Animals, cloathed in the wisest Manner, the most suitable to the Element in which they live, the Place in which they reside, and their State and Occasions there; when those that are able to shift for themselves, are left to their own Discretion and Diligence, but the Helpless well accouter’d and provided for; when such incomparable Strokes of Art and Workmanship appear in all, and such inimitable Glories and Beauties in the Cloathing of others; who can, without the greatest Obstinacy and Prejudice, deny this to be GOD’s Handy-work? The gaudy, or even the meanest Apparel which Man provideth for himself, we readily enough own to be the Contrivance, the Work of Man: And shall we deny the Cloathing of all the Animal World betides (which infinitely surpasseth all the Robes of earthly Majesty; shall we, dare we, deny that) to be the Work of any Thing less than of an infinite, intelligent Being, whose Art and Power are equal to such glorious Work!
FOOTNOTES:
[a] Concerning the Cloathing of Animals, Aristotle observes, That such Animals have Hair as go on Feet and are viviparous; and that such are covered with a Shell, as go on Feet, and are oviparous, Hist. Anim. l. 3. c. 10.
[] Cujus [Hominis] causâ videtur cuncta alia genuisse Natura, magnâ & sævâ mercede contra tanta sua munera: ut non sit satìs æstimare, Parens melior homini, an tristior Noverca fuerit. Ante omnia unum Animantium cunctorum alienis velat opibus: cæteris variè tegumenta tribuit, testas, cortices, coria, spinas, villos, setas, pilos, plumam, pennas, squamas, vellera. Truncos etiam arboresque cortice, interdum gemino, à frigoribus, & calore tutata est. Hominem tantum nudum, & in nudâ humo, natali die abjicit ad vagitus statim & ploratum, nullumque tot animalium aliud ad lacrymas, & has protinus vita principio. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 7. Proœm.
Let Seneca answer this Complaint of Pliny, although perhaps what he saith might be more properly noted in another Place: Quisquis es iniquus æstimator fortis humana, cogita quanta nobis tribuerit Parens noster, quanto valentiora animalia sub jugum miserimus, quanto velociora assequamur, quàm nihil sit mortale non sub ictu nostro positum. Tot virtutes accepimus, tot artes, animum denique cui nihil non eodem quo intendit momento pervium est, Sideribus velociorem, &c. Senec. de Benef. l. 2. c. 29.
[c] Mirantur plurimi quomodo tutè, & sanè vivant homines in horrendis frigoribus plagæ Septentrionalis; hancque levem quæstionem ultra 30 annos audieram in Italia, præsertim ab Æthiopibus, & Indis, quibus onerosus videtur vestitus sub Zonâ terridâ.——Quibus respondetur,——Gaudet Indus multiplici plumarum genere, magìs forsan pro tegumento, quàm necessitate: rursus Scytha villoso vestitu——Ita sub polo Arctico adversùs asperrimas hyemes——opportuna remedia faciliter administrat [Natura]. Ligna videlicet in maxima copia, & levissimo pretio, & demum Pelles diversorum animalium, tam sylvestrium quàm domesticorum. Then he gives a Catalogue of them, and saith, Quarum omnium experti pellifices ita ingeniosè noverunt mixturas componere, ut pulcherrimum decorum ostendat varietas, & calidissimum fomentum adjuncta mollities. Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 6. c. 20.