it will be no hard task to demonstrate to you that all the things of this World are uncertain and doubtful and that the knowledge we have of 'em is rather Opinion than Certainty so that I cannot but wonder when I see some Men so lazy as rather inconsiderately to yield to the first Opinion that presents it self than to be at the pains to search things to the bottom It is indeed a thing to be lamented and which puts one into a passion to think on 't to see some ignorant men who have no manner of Learning and do scarce throughly understand any of the ordinary Mechanick Arts boldly to decide the highest and most important Matters in the World which have exercis'd the Wits of the Philosophers of all Ages and who after all have never been able to come to a final determination of them For Man's understanding is so little capable of such transcendent knowledge that we cannot apprehend even things that lye at our feet And it seems to me a kind of impiety to be so curious as to sound the secrets of Providence and in our inquiries to reach after the heights of Heaven above or to rifle the bowels of the Earth beneath Happy therefore and wise enough should we be if according to the ancient Oracle of Wisdom we could but know our selves and keep our mind from this vexatious and unprofitable labour and confine it within the bounds of Reason and its own mediocrity And if notwithstanding our creeping on the ground as we do we cannot hinder our selves from attempting to mount up to the Heavens and to soar above the Stars let us not at least add this second Error to the former and fill the World with vain Opinions and Fancies on purpose to affright men For whether the Principles of Things be certain Seeds which by a Natural propensity have joyn'd and united themselves together or that the Members of all this spacious Universe have meerly by Chance been fram'd and settled in the orderly manner in which they now are What reason is there why men should fancy a God Creator of the World What if we suppose the Fire to have kindled the Stars and the matter whereof the Heavens are made to have spread and sustain'd it self that the Earth was poised by its own weight and the Sea made out of the moisture which was drain'd from that heavy lump What ground is there in all this for this Religion for these Fears What means all this Superstition Pray what is Man and all other Creatures in the World but a mixture of Elements which in a short time dissolve themselves and return into their first Being without the help of an overseer workman or disposer of all these Changes Thus by a continual confluence of the fiery parts of matter of which the Celestial Lights are made we daily behold new Suns to shine And by a like cause the Vapours and Exhalations of the Earth produce Clouds which afterwards being condensed and by degrees carried upwards do at last dissolve themselves into Rain or else cause blustring Winds ratling Hail roaring Thunder and dazling Lightning Which is the reason also why these Meteors do casually and indifferently discharge themselves sometimes on the top of a Hill sometimes on a Tree sometimes upon Temples and Consecrated places sometimes upon Palaces sometimes on such as fear God and sometimes upon those that contemn him Shall I speak of the variety and uncertainty of Storms and tempestuous weather wherein it is easy to be observ'd that without any choice or exception all things here below are turn'd topsy-turvy Don't we see both good and bad involv'd in the self same shipwrack without any distinction of Vice and Virtue the guilty and innocent consum'd in one fire and almost all confusedly perish in time of Plague and in War the best many times are the first cut off Nay in time of Peace Wickedness is not only upon equal terms with Virtue but prefer'd and ador'd So that when a man considereth the prosperity of the Wicked he is at a loss what to think of them and does not know whether he has more reason to detest their Crimes or desire their happiness Now if the World were govern'd by a Divine Providence and the authority of a wise and powerful Being surely Phalaris and Dionysius the Tyrant had never mounted a Throne nor Rutilius and Camillus ever been banish'd nor Socrates forc'd to take down the deadly draught We see here Trees loaden with Fruits Fields well stor'd with Corn and Hills with Grapes ready for Vintage which promise a plentiful Harvest and all on a suddain this may be utterly spoil'd with rain or destroy'd by a tempest Surely it must be own'd that either Truth lyes deep buried and the secret springs and wheels of Providence are altogether unknown or which is the most probable that Chance only governs the World without any Law or Order And therefore since either the vicissitudes and motions of Nature are uncertain or we our selves certainly under the Dominion of Fortune how much more reasonable and just is it to retain the Doctrine of our Ancestors and adore the Gods which our Fathers have worshipp'd and in whose Service we have been brought up from our infancy than to go about to judge of Things so far above our reach as the Deity is And is it not better and safer to believe our first Fore-fathers who living in an Age of great simplicity and in the very infancy of the World deserv'd to have their Gods either easie and propitious or exercising a gentle government like that of Kings For indeed we see all the Towns Provinces and Kingdoms of the World have some Religion or other and peculiar Ceremonies each worshipping their own Country-Gods as the Eleusinians do Ceres the Phrygians Cybele the Epidaurians Aesculapius the Chaldeans Bell the Assyrians and Sydonians Astarte the Scythians Diana the Gauls Mercurius and the Romans all of them together which is the reason why their Power is so greatly encreas'd and themselves become Masters of the whole World having carried their Dominion almost beyond the course of the Sun and the bounds of the Ocean For by the Religion and Valour of their Arms by guarding their City with the Service of the Gods Nunneries of Vestals and other Chast Votaries with a vast number of Priests and Ceremonies by appeasing their angry Gods when other Nations would have Blasphemed them and even at that time when Rome was sackt and had nothing left her but the Capitol by adventuring in celebrating their Mysteries to pass unarm'd through the Camp of their Enemies whom they astonished and daunted with the bold daringness of their Zeal by continuing still to worship their vanquished Gods even at the very instant when their Enemies having taken their City made 'em feel the insolence which their Victory prompted them to by searching for Deities throughout the World to adore them and give them Temples at Rome nay besides all this
rashness upon the doubtfulness and uncertainty of all things and had rather condemn every thing and believe nothing at all than concern themselves in Matters that are so doubtful and lyable to mistake 'T is therefore our interest to have a care lest this should make us have an aversion for all manner of Discourse and Conferences or which is worse make us distast and hate the company of Men. For those who easily believe any thing finding themselves frequently deceiv'd by persons whom they before esteem'd homest and good Men fall into another extreme which is That they suspect all the World and mistrust even those in whom they have reason to repose the greatest confidence Wherefore since it is so natural for every one to employ all their might in the vindication of their own Opinions and since also in such Disputes as these the one has commonly more Truth on his side though obscure and unperceiv'd and the other more Wit and Eloquence even so far as sometimes to perswade things that are not it is our Duty to ponder and consider of the Whole with all the strictness and exactness imaginable that we may pick out approve and receive what 's good in it contenting our selves to commend what is wittily said without believing it YOU transgress the bounds and keep not the measures of an equal Judg reply'd Caecilius by interrupting our Dispute with a Discourse that endeavours to weaken the strength and take away the credit of what I have said especially seeing Octavius has all the Particulars of my Reasoning whole and entire before him and may answer and refute them if he can And for all your reflecting on my Discourse if I be not mistaken I have done nothing but what 's for the interest of us both having endeavour'd only to exhibite a Compendium of the Matters in Question between us to the end that what I have deliver'd might be examin'd rather by the force and soundness of Reason than by any high and pompous Eloquence And we ought not any more take off our attention from considering the Things themselves as you well observe since our Januarius is now preparing and raising himself to take his turn if we can but have the patience to hear him with silence I SHALL speak said Octavius as much to the purpose as I can But we must first endeavour to wipe off all injuries calumnies and reflections and to dispel those clouds with the light of Truth To begin therefore I must first of all tell you plainly That you have express'd so great an uncertainty about the things you spoke of that I doubted whether you fail'd in point of Learning or Knowledge or were blinded by Error For sometimes you said that you believ'd there were Gods and sometimes again that you did not know what to believe of 'em as if you had a design by your ambiguous Expressions to avoid the dint of my Answer But I can't think this of Caecilius These crafty tricks are beneath the greatness of his Wit and the simplicity of his temper But he does like those who knowing not the way stop when it divides into many and are at a loss which to take because they cannot believe them all right and dare not chuse any one In like manner he who hath no firm judgment of Truth is doubtful and divided in his Opinion about it according as the reasons on either side do incline and sway him by turns Therefore it is no wonder if Caecilius also be toss'd to and fro by contrary Opinions Which that he may no longer be I will convince him of the Variety of his Errors by representing Truth to him which is but one and so settle and establish him for ever And because he takes it so heinously that unlearned and poor ignorant people as he calls us should maintain any Dispute about Divine Matters he must understand that all Men are born reasonable Creatures without any distinction of Age Quality or Sex and owe not their Wisdom to Fortune but to Nature Besides that Philosophers and other renowned Inventors of Arts and Sciences were accounted but mean people illiterate and poor till their wisdom made them Famous So true it is that the Rich who idolize their Treasures make more account of their Gold than of Heaven whereas such poor Fellows as we have always been the Searchers-out of Wisdom and Teachers of it to others Whereby we may plainly see that Wit and Wealth do not always go together neither is it so much the Effect of great Study and Industry as an advantage of Nature Men ought not therefore to quarrel or be angry when they see others make it their business to inquire into the truth of Divine Mysteries and declare the understanding they have of them seeing we ought not to regard so much the Authority or Quality of the Disputer as the Weight and Truth of what is said The strength of Reason appears most clearly when the Discourse is stript of all external Ornaments and Flourishes not painted and set off with an artificial Grace and Eloquence but supported by Truth which is the Rule of Right and Wrong Not that I deny for all that what Caecilius has given himself so much trouble to prove viz. That Man ought to know himself what he is from whence and for what end Whether he be compounded of the Elements or made up of Atoms or rather fram'd fashion'd and animated by GOD himself But this we cannot resolve without inquiring into the nature of the Universe seeing both these things have so near a relation and are so straitly linked to one another that we cannot rightly apprehend what Man is without a diligent enquiry into the nature of the Deity nor be able to manage the civil Affairs of this World without being acquainted with the constitution of this great City of the Universe And indeed it being this especially that makes us differ from Brutes that whereas they are continually stooping downwards to the ground looking no higher than their Food we on the contrary who have our Faces rais'd upwards to behold Heaven and are endued with the use of Speech and Reason which teaches us to acknowledge GOD to perceive and imitate Him we cannot without guilt shut our Eyes against this clear Light which continually glares upon our Senses it being the highest kind of Sacriledge to seek that on Earth which is not to be found but in Heaven And to speak the truth one must be blind and senseless to fancy all this great and admirable Fabrick of the World to have been form'd by a fortuitous concourse of blind senseless and unthinking Atoms rather than by the unsearchable Wisdom and immense Power of a God For what can be more plain evident or conspicuous whether we lift up our Eyes to Heaven or cast them down to the Earth than that there is an inconceivably-powerful and wise Spirit which does inspire influence move cherish and conduct whole Nature and every part of it
and Son-in-Law You may from these instances easily judge of the rest The Bees can suffer no more than one King Flocks follow one Leader and every Herd has its own Ruler And can you imagine the Supreme Power of Heaven to be divided and that the Soveraignty of that only true and Divine Monarchy is shared amongst many Especially when you consider that GOD the Father of all things has neither Beginning nor End and as he gives Beginning to all other things so an Eternity and perpetuity of Being to himself Who before this World was made was a World to Himself who by his Word commanded all things into Being governs them by his Wisdom and perfects them by his Power He cannot be seen because he is more bright and glorious than our sight can endure to behold Neither can He be comprehended being greater than our minds infinite immense and only known to Himself what He is indeed our breasts are too narrow to conceive and we can never form a worthy notion of Him but when we own Him Inestimable and Incomprehensible May I speak what I think Whosoever fancies he knows the Greatness of GOD has already lessen'd it and therefore he who would not lessen it must not pretend to know it Neither do thou enquire after his Name His Name is GOD. 'T is then we stand in need of Names when we are to divide a multitude into particulars by their distinguishing Titles and proper appellations But GOD being alone and by himself the Name of GOD must wholly belong to Him and to none else For if I call Him Father you 'l be apt to think Him an Earthly One if I call Him King you 'l fancy Him a Worldly Prince if I call Him Lord you 'l apprehend Him Mortal Abstract but these additions of Names from our gross imagination and you 'l see Him in his own Brightness and Glory Besides in this I have the general assent of all Men concurring with me Mind the Common-people When they lift up their hands to Heaven whom have they in their mouths but GOD Their ordinary Saying is GOD is great GOD is true and ever and anon If it pleases GOD Which Words though they contain the Confession of a Christian yet are as well the Voice of Nature in the Common People Yea those who will have Jupiter to be the Soveraign of the Universe do only mistake in the Name but agree with us in the Thing it self That there is but One only Power The Poets also in their Verses celebrate One Father both of the Gods and Men and say That the Minds and Thoughts of Men are such as GOD every day puts into them And what shall we say of Virgil Does not he speak yet more clearly and more near to Truth when he saith That in the beginning there was a Spirit which inwardly cherished and foster'd both Heaven and Earth and that all the Parts of them were actuated by a Mind infused throughout the Whole and that from thence Men and all other Creatures derive their Original The same Prince of Poets calls in another place this Mind and Spirit GOD as where he saith that GOD is diffused throughout the vast Extent of the Earth and Seas and of the high Heaven and that from Him Men and Beasts Rain and Lightning do proceed And what do we say else but that GOD is an Eternal Mind Reason and Spirit Let us take a view if you please of the Opinions of Philosophers and you will find that though they seem diverse yet they all agree in this Matter And omitting those rude and primitive Men who by their Sayings purchased the Name of Sages Thales the Milesian who was before them all and who first maintain'd any Dispute concerning Celestial Things held that Water was the Original Matter of all things and that GOD was that Mind or Understanding Spirit who fram'd them out of it Which is certainly a more profound and sublime Account concerning the Water and its actuating Spirit than could proceed from the understanding of Man without the assistance of Divine Revelation Thus you plainly see that the Opinion of the first of Philosophers does entirely concur with ours After him Anaximenes and Diogenes Apolloniates make God to be Air but Immense and Infinite and in ascribing these perfections to the Divinity they also consent with us Anaxagoras was of opinion that GOD was an Infinite Spirit containing and moving all things Pythagoras calls Him a Mind penetrating all things and diffus'd through the Universe taking care of and giving Life to all the Creatures therein Zenophanes affirms That GOD is an Animated Infinity or a Spirit joyn'd with Infinite Matter Antisthenes declar'd That there were several Gods belonging to several Countries but that there was but One Principal and Soveraign amongst them all who was GOD by Nature Speusippus was of opinion that GOD was nothing else but a Natural Power quick'ning and governing all things Yea and does not Democritus himself though he was the first Inventor of Atoms often call Nature which is the Former of all Ideas and Understanding GOD Strato calls Him Nature And even Epicurus who either believed that there were no Gods or if there were that they were idle and without any concern about the things of this World yet sets Nature above them As for Aristotle though he seem sometimes divided in his thoughts about this Matter yet he positively asserts One Soveraign Power For sometimes he saith That an Understanding Spirit is GOD sometimes that the World is GOD and then again he will have GOD to govern the World Heraclides of Pontus asserts GOD to be a Divine Spirit but with some incertainty For sometimes he attributes the Supremacy to the Divine Spirit and sometimes to the World it self Theophrastus Zeno Chrysippus and Cleanthes do likewise vary in their Opinions Yet all of them at last agree in One Providence which superintends the Whole For Cleanthes sometimes affirms GOD to be a Spirit sometimes that He is an Aethereal Fire but most frequently calls Him Reason His Master Zeno holds a Natural and Eternal Law and sometimes Fire and sometimes Reason to be the first Cause of all things He also evidently reproves and convinceth the common Error about the Gods by shewing that Juno is nothing but the Air Jupiter Heaven Neptune the Sea and Vulcan the Fire And that many of their other Gods are but the Elements dress'd up in other Names Chrysippus is much of the same Opinion for with him sometimes a Divine Power and a Rational Nature is GOD and at other times the World and a fatal Necessity and imitates Zeno in his interpreting the Fables of the Gods which are found in Homer Hesiod and Orpheus In like manner Diogenes the Babylonian was us'd in his Discourses to declare That Jupiter's Brain being with child and deliver'd of Minerva and other like Stories were not an account of the true Original of their Gods but of some other things couch'd under those
who have committed Incest with their own Mothers Daughters and Sisters 'T is therefore no wonder that that Vice is so frequent and fashionable amongst you since your very Gods are your encouraging Examples and Complices And indeed it is no strange thing if oft at unawares you commit Incest by your whoring indifferently every where and by exposing your Children to the mercy of others so that it cannot well be supposed but that you sometimes light upon them Thus you see that whilst you accuse us of feign'd Incests you are guilty of real ones your selves But Christians are not wont to make an outward shew of their Chastity but enshrine it in their Minds and do not study so much to seem chast as to be really so All of us have either one only wedded Wife or no Woman at all As for our Feasts they are not only Chast but Sober for we do not spend our time in over-charging our stomachs with Meat and Drink but we temper the joys of our Feasts with the gravity and seriousness of our Conversation And as we are thus Chast in our Assemblies so are we no less such every where else There are many amongst us who keep themselves undefil'd and holy in an unmarried state without boasting of it and we are so far from being incestuous persons that some of us are even asham'd of lawful pleasures As for what concerns Honors it doth not follow that because we decline your Purple and Dignities that therefore we are of the dregs of the people nor are we to be accounted Factious if we all aspiring after the same felicity keep company with one another and all meet together as peaceably as we behave our selves singly and alone Nor ought we to be accus'd for prating in corners if you be either asham'd or afraid to hear us in publick And if our Number daily increases it is not our Crime but our Commendation an excellent course of life is not only apt to engage those who are enter'd into it to persevere and continue in it but to invite and allure others to it We do not know one another by any marks we have on our bodies as you fancy but by our modesty and innocency That we love one another so entirely as you are troubled to see it is because we know not how to hate And that we call one another Brethren which you envy us for is because we have all One and the same Father one and the same Faith and one and the same Hope But for your part you do not owne one another you rage with envy and hatred against one another and the only sign of your Brotherhood is Parricide and your frequent imbruing your hands in the blood of your nearest Relations But you suppose that we conceal That which we worship because we have neither Temples nor Altars To what purpose should we make any form or representation of GOD whose living Image Man himself is Or what Temple should we raise to Him since this whole World which was made by Him is not able to contain Him Or shall we Mortals who live in great Palaces confine the Incomprehensible Glory of HIS MAJESTY to the narrow compass of some Temple or Chappel Were it not much better to dedicate our Mind for the place of his Abode and consecrate our Heart for his Altar Shall we offer to GOD Sacrifices and Oblations of such Creatures as he has made for our use Would not this look indeed as if we had a mind to reject his Bounty and to throw back his Gifts into his own Hands which speaks the greatest ingratitude especially since the only acceptable Offering to him is a good Mind and a pure Heart with a sincere Conscience So that he that lives innocently prays to GOD acceptably he that deals justly presents Him with an Offering of a sweet savour he who abstains from fraud doth most effectually propitiate and atone the Deity and he that rescues a Man that is in danger of his life does kill the fattest Sacrifice These are our Sacrifices these are our Mysteries and with us he is most Devout and Religious who is most Just But you wonder that we neither can shew to others the GOD whom we Worship nor see him our selves Does this seem strange to you Why for this very reason we do most assuredly believe Him to be GOD because we can perceive Him but cannot see Him For his omnipotent Virtue and Power is always present before our eyes in the Works which he has made and in the whole course of Nature when it thunders when it lightens when it is fair all his works proclaim Him Let it not therefore seem strange to you that you do not see GOD. All things are mov'd and driven by the Wind and yet you see it not And the Sun it self that makes all things to be seen is in a manner invisible by reason of its superlative and dazling brightness insomuch as should we gaze long and stedfastly fix our eyes on it it would blind them and put them out And canst thou think thy self able to bear the sight of his Glory who made the Sun and is the Fountain of all Light when thou art afraid of his Lightnings and hidest thy self from his Thunder Besides wouldst thou see GOD with thy Eyes of flesh when thou canst neither see nor take hold of thine own Soul by which thou dost live and speak But perhaps you will say GOD is ignorant of what we do and He being in Heaven can neither consider all nor take knowledge of every particular person and his concernments How greatly are you mistaken For how can He be far from any of us when all things in Heaven and Earth and in the immense space beyond them are full of Him and known to Him He is not only with us but within us And as the Sun though fixed in the Heavens yet diffuses it self through the whole Vniverse is present every where and mingles its light with every thing without staining its brightness so with much more reason can nothing be hid from or secret to GOD the Author and Beholder of all things the Darkness hides not from Him for He is there also nor the thoughts of Men which are the truer Darkness of the two We live not only under His Governance but as I may say with Him Neither ought we to presume upon our great Numbers as supposing that one may easily escape unseen among so vast a Multitude For though we may seem to our selves a great many yet are we but a few with respect to GOD. We indeed divide and distinguish the Earth into Countries and Nations but to GOD this whole World is but one House Kings cannot acquaint themselves with the State and Concerns of their own Kingdoms without the Eyes of many Ministers but the MONARCH of the whole World needs none to inform Him we being not only under his Eye but even in his Bosom You say it avail'd nothing to
the Jews that they worshipped One Only GOD with Temples Altars and a vast Number of Ceremonies but in this you mistake through ignorance if either not remembring or not knowing the History of former times you take notice only of some latter Events For whilst they ador'd our GOD holily religiously and innocently I say Our GOD for the same is the GOD of the whole World whilst they obey'd his Just Commands and wholesome Laws they became of a small Number a mighty Nation of poor they were made rich and from a state of Slavery arriv'd to a most puissant Monarchy A few of them and unarm'd put to flight great Armies and overthrew them the Elements at God's command fighting for them Look into their own Writings or if it like you better into those of the Romans read what Josephus and Antonius Julianus not to mention those Historians that were before them write of that People and you 'l find that their Sins drew down Calamities upon them and whatever Evils befell them were long before prophesied would overtake 'em in case they should still continue in their Rebellion So that indeed they forsook GOD before they were forsaken of Him and were not as you impiously say taken Captives with their GOD but given up by Him as deserters of his Discipline and Law AS to what concerns the general Conflagration of the Universe it is a vulgar Error to think it a thing difficult or impossible that the World should all on the sudden be set on fire and consum'd by that means There is no man doubts but that which has a Beginning must have an End and that that which is made must finally perish That the Heavens themselves and all things therein contain'd as they had a Beginning must likewise have an End and that ceasing to be nourish'd by the exhalations of fresh and salt-waters they will be inflam'd for so the Stoicks stedfastly believe that all the moisture of Nature being spent the whole World will presently take fire And the Epicureans are likewise of the same Opinion as touching the ruin of the Universe and the Conflagration of the Elements As for Plato he saith That some parts of the World are at times drown'd with floods and inundations others consum'd by fire and though he said that it was made so at the first as that it might continue for ever yet he adds that GOD Who is the Maker of it may destroy it when He pleases Which is not at all to be wonder'd at that a Workman can and may take to pieces his own Work So that herein you see the Philosophers do fully agree with us not that we do follow their steps but they have taken some shadow of this Truth out of the predictions of our Prophets and have fourbish'd and dress'd it up after their own way Thus also the most renown'd amongst them first Pythagoras and especially Plato have deliver'd down to us though very much corrupted and maimed the Doctrine of another Life after this for they assert That the Souls of Men after the dissolution of their bodies do perpetually remain and are continually passing into new Bodies and perverting the Truth still more they add That the Souls of Men do return into the bodies of Beasts and Birds an Opinion which does more beseem a Mountebank or Juggler than a grave Philosopher But it is enough for us that your Wisemen themselves do in some sort agree with us And who is so much a fool as to deny that He who at first made Man can as easily restore and renew him For as he is nothing after Death so neither was he any thing before Life And therefore why should we think it strange that he who at the beginning was made of nothing should of nothing as to us be repair'd and recover'd to a new Life especially since it is much more difficult to create a thing which never was than to restore that to its former Being which has already been Or do you believe that every thing which disappears to our dull sight does perish in the sight of GOD Whether the Body moulder into dust or be dissolv'd into water or be reduc'd to ashes or be attenuated into Steam and Air it is only withdrawn out of our sight but to GOD it is preserv'd in the several Elements into which it is chang'd Neither do we fear as you fancy that any manner of prejudice comes to our Bodies by Burial only we observe the Custom of interring Dead Bodies as the best Do but look about you and you 'l see how to our comfort whole Nature is a lively Pourtraicture and Representation of our Resurrection The Sun rises and sets and so do the Stars Flowers dye and spring up again Trees renew their green Vesture every year and Seeds unless they dye and putrifie in the Earth do not return to a new life And why may not our Bodies like Trees in Winter hide and preserve their life and vigour under a seeming withering and deadness Indeed you cannot expect to see this in the depth of Winter but must stay till that great Spring comes which shall make our Bodies to flourish and live again Nor am I ignorant that there are very many who being sensible of their own demerits do rather wish than believe that they shall not be after Death chusing of the two rather utterly to be extinguish'd than to be restor'd to life again only to be punish'd which Errour encreases daily by reason of the extreme licentiousness of the Age and the long forbearance of GOD whose Judgments the slower they are by so much the more justly and heavily are they laid on at last And yet Men are told both by the Writings of Wisemen and Poets that there is a Stygian Lake and an ever-burning River prepar'd for the Eternal punishment of the Wicked according to the Oracles of true Prophets as well as the discoveries of the Daemons themselves Hence it is the Poets make Jupiter to swear by the burning Rivers and dark Deep for as he foresees the torments design'd both for himself and his worshippers so does he fear and tremble at them as being without measure and without end For in wonderful wise this Fire does both consume our Bodies and repair them devour and nourish them at once like the flashes of Lightning which blast and kill the body without consuming it or those Vulcano's of Aetna and Vesuvius and others that burn continually without wasting or going out Thus this infernal penal Fire is strangely fed without diminution of its Fewel and preys for ever upon the Bodies of the Damn'd without wasting them Now that GOD doth deservedly punish them that know him not impious and wicked men none but prophane Wretches can deny since it is scarce a less heinous Crime not to know the Father and Lord of all things than to provoke and affront Him And although the Ignorance of GOD is enough to make Men lyable to punishment as the true
Do but behold the Heavens Let your thoughts out into the vastness of their Extension consider the swiftness of their course view them by night when they sparkle and are all bespangl'd with Stars or by day when they are all bright and resplendent from the Sun and you will easily discern the wonderful and Divine skill of the Supream Governour in the ordering and poizing of all these Again consider how the Sun by his course through the Zodiack measures out the Year and distinguishes its Seasons as the Moon does the Months by her increase and decrease What shall I say of this continual vicissitude of Light and Darkness which affords us the agreeable and necessary enterchange of Labour and Rest But I must leave the further discourse of the Stars to the Astrologers whose proper business it is to inquire into their Virtues and influences and who teach us which of them rule the Winds and inform the wary Mariner in the Art of Navigation and which of them determine the time for Plowing and Reaping and are the perpetual Almanack of the laborious Husbandman From all which it is undeniably evident that these Wonders could never have been created fram'd and dispos'd in that excellent Order without the perfect Wisdom of the Supream Artist seeing we cannot so much as know or understand them without a great sagacity of mind and reason What shall we say of that exact Disposal of Time and Seasons wherein we do not know which we are to admire most their Constancy or their Variety How loudly do they proclaim their Divine Author and Wise Director The Spring is not more pleasant by its fair Days and Flowers than the heat of Summer is useful and advantagious to ripen the Fruits of the Earth and the liberal Plenty of Autumn is not more joyful than the wet and frost of Winter is needful Which Order might easily be disturbed if it were not dispensed by the steady Hand of Power and Wisdom Oh! the Wonders of Providence which has allay'd the nipping frosts of Winter and scorching heats of Summer with the intervening temperature of the Spring and Autumn and that with such exactness that the change of these extreams of heat and cold is so far from being intolerable that it is even easie and delightful giving us the pleasure of variety and yet sliding gently and insensibly from one extremity to another Cast your eye upon the Sea and to your amazement you shall see how the loose Banks of Sand give a check to its proud and raging Waves Consider the wonderful ebbings and flowings of the Ocean Behold the Springs whose waters flow continually View the Rivers which pursue their uninterrupted course without ceasing and ever returning to that vast Deep which is the Center of their Emanation Take a prospect of those vast Woods and Forrests which deck and grace the face of the Earth they are all fed from its bowels and yet the Earth is never the less What shall I say of that pleasant and useful disposal of the steepness of Mountains the risings of Hills the vast extension of Plains Or what shall I say of such numberless numbers of Creatures who are each of them severally furnish'd with their peculiar Weapons of defence some are armed with horns others fenced with teeth some strength'ned with hoofs others sharp'ned and edged with claws some appointed with stings and spurs others defended with a prickly and unaccessible skin whilst others again secure themselves by the lightness of their heels or swiftness of their wings Nature having bestow'd on every one of them either strength or cunning for their own defence But above all the perfection and beauty of the Shape of Man proclaims and owns GOD to have been the Artist that fram'd it His upright Stature his rais'd Countenance in the upper part whereof the eyes are posted as on a Watch-tower and where all the other Senses have their several Stations and Quarters allotted them as in a Castle or Citadel We should never have done in going about to treat in particular of all these Wonders There is not one part in Man which is not ornamental and graceful as well as necessary And what is yet more admirable is That the same Figure which is common to us all is diversified by such an infinite variety of Features in each of us that as there is a likeness in all so there is in every one something that makes him unlike to another Besides how wonderful is the manner of our Birth How strong and prevalent the desire of begetting our Like Upon whom can you father these Wonders but upon GOD alone who swells the breasts with milk against the time the Infant breaks his Prison and comes to breath the free and open Air suiting their nice tenderness with a proportionate delicate nourishment Nor do's this bountiful GOD content himself to take a general care of the Universe but provides also for each part of it What Great Britain wants of the heat of the Sun is made up by the warm Vapours which arise from the Sea that surrounds it The overflowing of the River Nilus serves Egypt instead of Rain Euphrates makes Mesopotamia fruitful and the River Indus is said both to sow and water those Eastern Parts If perchance you should come into a house and there find all the Rooms richly furnished beautified and adorned would you not without the least hesitancy conclude That there is some Lord and Owner of it who is far better than all this rich and glorious Furniture so likewise in this stately Palace of the World when you take a view of Heaven and Earth and that Providence Order and Law which dispenseth and directs all things in them doubt if you can that there is a Lord and Father of this great Family whose Glory far transcends that of the Sun Moon and Stars and who is more beautiful than the most lovely part of it But perhaps since there is no doubt whether there be a Providence or not you may think it a Question whether there be but one or many that have a hand in the administration of this Celestial Government it will not be a hard matter to fix this your incertainty if you will but attentively consider the Kingdoms of the Earth which are but so many Copies of the One Heavenly Original Empire When did ever a Monarch either admit of a Partner in his Soveraignty in full trust and confidence or lay him aside without blood I omit speaking of the Persians who refer'd the choice of their Prince to the neighing of an Horse and purposely pass-by that old Story of the Theban Brothers All the World knows what dissension there arose between two Twins which of them should be King over a Company of Shepherds and their poor Cottages The Wars of Caesar and Pompey have spread themselves over the whole World and the Fortune of so vast an Empire was not big enough to satisfie theambition of two so nearly ally'd as Father