But indeed, after all, it is only for want of our knowing these Things better, that we do not admire[p] them enough; it is our own Ignorance, Dulness or Prejudice, that makes us charge those noble Works of the Almighty, as Defects or Blunders, as ill-contriv’d, or ill-made.
It is therefore fitter for such finite, weak, ignorant Beings as we, to be humble and meek, and conscious of our Ignorance, and jealous of our own Judgment, when it thus confronteth infinite Wisdom. Let us remember how few Things we know, how many we err about, and how many we are ignorant of: And those, many of them, the most familiar, obvious Things: Things that we see and handle at Pleasure; yea, our own very Bodies, and that very Part of us whereby we understand at all, our Soul. And should we therefore pretend to censure what God doth! Should we pretend to amend his Work! Or to advise infinite Wisdom! Or to know the Ends and Purposes of his infinite Will, as if we were of his Council! No, let us bear in Mind, that there Objections are the Products, not of Reason, but of Peevishness. They have been incommoded by Storms and Tempests; they have been terrify’d with the burning Mountains, and Earthquakes; they have been annoy’d by the noxious Animals, and fatigu’d by the Hills; and therefore are angry, and will pretend to amend these Works of the Almighty. But in the Words of St. Paul[q], we may say, Nay, but O Man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the Thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the Potter power over the Clay, of the same Lump to make one Vessel to honour, and another to dishonour? If the Almighty Lord of the World, had for his own Pleasure, made this our World more inconvenient for Man, it would better become us to sit still, and be quiet; to lament our own great Infirmities and Failings, which deserve a worse Place, a more incommodious Habitation, than we meet with in this elegant, this well contriv’d, well formed World; in which we find every Thing necessary for the Sustentation, Use and Pleasure, both of Man, and every other Creature here below; as well as some Whips, some Rods to scourge us for our Sins[r]. But yet so admirably well temper’d is our State, such an Accord, such an Harmony is there throughout the Creation, that if we will but pursue the Ways of Piety and Virtue, which God hath appointed; if we will form our Lives according to the Creator’s Laws, we may escape the Evils of this our frail State, and find sufficient Means to make us happy while we are in the Body. The natural Force and Tendency of our Virtue, will prevent many of the Harms[], and the watchful Providence of our Almighty Benefactor, will be a Guard against others; and then nothing is wanting to make us happy, as long as we are in this World, there being abundantly enough to entertain the Minds of the most contemplative; Glories enough to please the Eye of the most curious and inquisitive; Harmonies and Conforts of Nature’s own, as well as Man’s making, sufficient to delight the Ear of the most harmonious and musical; All Sorts of pleasant Gusto’s to gratify the Taste and Appetite, even of the most luxurious; And fragrant Odours to please the nicest and tenderest Smell: And in a Word, enough to make us love and delight in this World, rather too much, than too little, considering how nearly we are ally’d to another World, as well as this.
FOOTNOTES:
[a] Though there are some that think Mountains to be a Deformity to the Earth, &c. yet if well considered, they will be found as much to conduce to the Beauty and Conveniency of the Universe, as any of the other Parts. Nature (saith Pliny) purposely framed them for many excellent Uses; partly to tame the Violence of greater Rivers, to strengthen certain Joints within the Veins and Bowels of the Earth, so break the Force of the Sea’s Inundation, and for the Safety of the Earth’s Inhabitants, whether Beasts or Men. That they make much for the Protection of Beasts, the Psalmist testifies, The highest Hills are a Refuge for the wild Goats, and the Rocks for Conies. The Kingly Prophet had likewise learnt the Safety of those by his own Experience, when he also was fain to make a Mountain his Refuge from the Fury of his Master Saul, who prosecuted him in the Wilderness. True indeed, such Places as these keep their Neighbours poor, as being most barren, but yet they preserve them safe, at being most strong; witness our unconquered Wales and Scotland.——Wherefore a good Author doth rightly call them Natures Bulwarks, cast up at God Almighty’s Charges, the Scorns and Curbs of victorious Armies; which made the Barbarians in Curtius so confident of their own Safety, &c. Bishop Wilkin’s World in the Moon, pag. 114.
[] Ray’s Wisdom of God, &c. pag. 251. Dissolution of the World, pag. 35.
[c] Theophrastus having reckoned up the Trees that delight most in the Hills, and others in the Valleys, observeth, Ἅπαντα δὲ ὅσα κοινὰ τῶν ὀρῶν καὶ τῶν πεδίων, μείζω μὲν καὶ καλλίω τῄ ὅψες τὰ ἐν τοῖς πεδιοις γινε ται. κρείττω δὲ χρήσες τῶν ξύλων καὶ τῶν καρπῶν, τὰ ὀρεινά. Theoph. Hist. Pl. l. 3. c. 4. Ἅπαντα δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὀικείοις τόποις καλλίω γίνεται, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐυσθενεῖ·——Τὰ μὲν γαρ φιλει τοὺς ἐφίδρους καὶ ἑλώδεις.——Τὰ δὲ, τοὺς ἐυτκεπεῖς καὶ ἐυηλιους. Ib. l. 4. c. 1.
[d] Wisdom of God, p. 252.
[e] Ubi supra.
[f] Many have taken Notice, that some of the greatest Eminences of the World run generally East and West, of which take the late ingenious and learned Dr. Nichols’s Account, [Confer. with a Theist, Part 2. pag. 191.] To go no farther than our own Country, all our great Ridges of Hills in England run East and West; so do the Alps in Italy, and in some Measure the Pyrenees; so do the Mountains of the Moon in Africk, and so do Mount Taurus and Caucasus. This he saith is a wise Contrivance to prevent the Vapours, which would all run Northwards, and leave no Rains in the Mediterranean Countries.