The Exiftmce of G 0 D. ~ Who ever faw a Dead Statue form'd in the veins ofMarble, o; a well proportion'd Palacer ~ ;~~p~~ ~o£.%:o~ ~l~:~~n;,en~~dn:n fl~;~hi~;~e ;:,u~,~~: ~·~J,e~~ S~~:S r:,;rt~~u:nd Stones are more difpos'd to make a Statue, or a Building, that are the materiaJs of them and only require skill and workman!hip to give them fOrm, tljan Atoms mixt together ar~ to make the World. Indeed * Pliny faintly tells a flory of a fabulous Ring of Pyrrhus in. whkh an A!lat was fer, diflinltlf reprefenting not by Art, but pure hazard, Apoll; ' W1th h1s Harp m the m1d!l of the nme Mufes. The firfl Reporter was defeCtive, that he did not oblige us to believe, that the found of his Harp was heard in confort ~ith the Mufes. It wouldhavebeen • wondrous fine Miracle, and the beliefas ealie that a Stone mightbea Mufician,asa Painter. Now if the etfe/h of Art are not without an Artificer, can the immenfe Fabrick of the World be other than the work ofa mofl perfeCt underflanding? 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 Eafl? Who encompafs'd it with the immeofe Vault of the flarry Heaven hanging in the Air, and fupporringit felf? Could Artlefs Ch•nce build it/ No Man, unJers totally deferred of ReaCon, can poflibly have fuch a fancy. Let Rea[on judge how could the World be orher- ;r;~~ i~:ab;r~~r~~J~i~J~~taa~·~u~i:kd~~!e%~~ ~~r~;n~~c~:i~l~u~;:. diW'~~ ~~~i~?J~ m if\: obfcrves concerning the Heavens, is equa1ly true ofall the ot~er pans of Nature, Tlitir ~~~a~i~0;heeo;:~~~~~fif{;et~ne~a~:tR{J~:idi~i~~(~'bet\::e~h~~l~~h=r~t~!~f~t~~~~~ the felicity of Invention appears, and things rude not done by rules in the works of the 11 si tfl aliquid Hands, and can it not difcover the rnanifefl: prints of Wifdom in the order of the Uniinrerum na- vcrfe? 11 How much more skill is evident in the frame of the World that in all the effeCts of ~~',:lnZU::en.r, humane Art, fo !lmch the lefsfolly would it be to attribute the mail: curious works ofArt; ~~?dr~tio, q11od than the produCbon of the ~orld to Chance. ftis qh~;~~e- Add further; The. ~1l:abl1fht .order of the parts O\ the V\'or1d.isan a~gument that ex- <Jfi<m"""f. eludes all doubt, that usgovernd and was at firflframd byunerrmg W1fdom. For, if fit, efl_:JI~~ 4 they were united by Chance, would they centinue in the fame manner one day? Is it not 'effi!~th~mln/ moft li kely that one of rhe innumerable poffible combinations fhould fuccced, different me!il~- I~an- fromthe fametenorofthingsthatisbut one? Efpccially if we confider d:at the partsof ~xfri; ~;,: the ~ World .are never at reft : The Heavens, the Elements, mixt Bodies ~re in pcrD<""'. pctual motion. If Chance rul'd, is it within the confines of probability, that rue Sun that runs ten or twelve thoufand Leagues every day, !hould be now in the fame part of the Heavens, wlJere it was in former years in fuch a day, when there are fo many other places wherein by Chance it might wander? Would the Stars keep a perpetual courfe regularly in fuch appearing irregularities? Nee q1ticquam e{t tanta magk mirabile t~~Q!e, /ib.tam ratio, & certif q1tod legibiH omnia parent ; Nufquam tnrba nocet, nihil iUif partib;u err at. Manil. lib. t Aflrom. Or would the fowing of Seed in the Earth certainly produce fuch a determinate fort of Grain? For the other pofiible mixtures are fo vaflly numerous, that it would be ten rhoufand to one but fame other thing !hould fpring up than what does. According to his Hypothejis, it would be greater folly to Believe that the natural courfe of things !hould be the fame this Year as in former times, than to affert that a Gamefler !hould to day throw the Dice in the fame order, and with the fame poinrsupperrnoflashedid yeflerday. 'Tis evident therefore that the Epicurean DoCtrine having not the leall !hadowof Rcafon, had never been receiv'd with applaufe but as 'tis joyn'd with impiety. 2 , Some attribute t!1e rifeandcourfeofthings in the World tothefole neceflity of Nature. To this it may be replied. 1. 'Tis true there is an evident connexion of Caufes and EffeCts in the Celeilial and Elementary World, whereby times and feafons are continued, and tlle fuccellion of mutable things is preferv'd, fo that Nature always confuming, remains entire. Though all vegetative and fenfitive B' ings dye, yet the Species are immortal. For the Living are brought forth to fucceed in the place of the Dead. But the inquiring Mind cannot refl here: For 'tis impoflible to conceive a train of effeCts, one caufed by another, without afcending to the firfl Efficient that is not an EffeCt. For nothing can aCt before it exifis. The order of Caufes requires that we a(cend to the fupream, which derives Being and ,Vertne
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