78 Chap. 3 S. e,efx Expfition upon the Book of J o a. Verf. lity of fpeaking, than of underfianding : And P eotarch endea- voureth to prove the fame in his Dialogue about that (Illation, Whether 6reste Beafts bave or areendued with Reafon ? But we af- firm the wifdome of Brutes is only bruriíh, and at moll, but fimi- litudinary to the rational aaings ofman & a fimilitude of,or fom- what like wifdom and reafon cannot with reafon be denyed them. It's Paid of the Serpent (Gen. 3. r.) that he was morefabtil than any Beafi ofthefield, which the Lord God hadmade; And when Chrift faith, (Math. to. a 6.) Be yeas wifoas Serpents, he imply- eth, according to that inGetee is, that Serpentshave force fhadow of wifdome, fomwhat like wifdome, And when the Prophet Je- remiah (Chap.8.7.) faith, The Stork, the Turtle, the Crane, and the Swallow, know the time of their coming, he affirms that thofe Fowls have a kindof knowledge. Another Prophet upbraids men with the Knowledg of Beafts, (Ifa. 1.1.) The Ox knoweth his ,Owner, and the aft his Matters Crib, tut, &c, l- ere in the Texr, to learn orbe taughtis afcribed toBeafts, becaufe they are tamed, broken, brought tohand, and made ufeful for the fervice of man. And wifdome is afcribed to the Fowls of the Air, be- caufe they keep their feafons duly., make their Netts fafely and fidy,and bring up their young ones tenderly, with pains and dili- gence. There are very firange inftances, fcarce credible, given by Pliny and others, concerning the fagacity and docibility of force Beafts of the earth,and Fowls of the Air ; we are told how theyhave abed more like rational creatures, than brutes : And daily experience gives proof enough, that they have a kind of knowledge,reafonandwifdome, only we cannot allow them rea- rm, wifdome, or knowledge inkind : They do works of Reafon and Underílanding, only (which is mans excellency) they under.. Rand not the reafon of their works. Secondly, Note ; Theknowledge or wifdome (filch as it is) that the Beafts of the Earth, andFowls ofthe eAir have, is ofGod. If he teacheth men more than the Beafts ofthe earth, mamaketb themwafer than the Few/s.fthe Air, then in force way and mea- lure he teacheth them, and maketh them wife. That wifdome and knowledge, whatfoever it is, which Beafts and Fowls have, is planted in them byGod ; they have that which ferves their turn, AMIN
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