vifible world, which we may speak of, without flattery of ourselves, and to the praise of our Maker. God when he had made the world, he made man after his own image. When he had finished the other part of the creation, he was pleased to fet up this picture of himself in it, as a memorial of the workman. Now we fhall a little more particularly confider this piece of God's workmanship, being it is better known, and more familiar to us, as it is more excellent than the reft, and confequently a higher inftance of the divine wisdom. It is obferved by fome, that concerning the parts of the creation, God fpeaks the word, Let there be light, and Let there be a firmament, and there was fo: but when he comes to make man, he doth, as it were, deliberate, and enter into confultation about him. And God said, let us make man in our i mage, after our likeness; and let him have dominion, Gen. i. 26. as if man, above all the reft, were the effect and result of divine wisdom, and the creature of his counfel.

Man may be confidered either in himself, and in refpect of the parts of which he confifts, foul and body; or with relation to the univerfe, and other parts of the creation.

1. Confider him in himself, as compounded of foul and body. Confider man in his outward and worfe part, and you fhall find that to be admirable, even to aftonishment; in refpect of which, the Pfalmift cries out, Pfal. cxxxix. 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works, and that my foul knoweth right well. The frame of our bodies is fo curiously wrought, and every part of it fo full of miracle, that Galen (who was otherwise backward enough to the belief of a God) when he had anatomifed man's body, and carefully furveyed the frame of it, viewed the fitnefs and usefulness of every part of it, and the many feveral intentions of every little vein, and bone, and muscle, and the beauty of the whole; he fell into a pang of devotion, and wrote a hymn to his Creator. And thofe excellent books of his, de ufu partium,

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of the usefulness and convenient contrivance of every part of the body, are a moft exact demonftration of the divine wisdom, which appears in the make of our body; of which books, Gaffendus faith, the whole work is writ with a kind of enthusiasm. The wifdom of God, in the frame of our bodies, very much appears by a curious confideration of the feveral parts of it; but that requiring a very accurate skill in anatomy, I chufe rather wholly to forbear it, than by my unskilfulness to be injurious to the divine wisdom.

But this domicilium corporis, the house of our bo dy, though it be indeed a curious piece; yet it is nothing to the noble inhabitant that dwells in it. This cabinet, though it be exquifitely wrought, and very rich; yet it comes infinitely fhort in value of the jewel that is hid and laid up in it! How does the glo rious faculty of reafon and understanding exalt us above the reft of the creatures! Nature hath not made that particular provifion for man, which it hath made for other creatures, because it hath provided for him in general, in giving him a mind and • reason. Man is not born cloathed, nor armed with any confiderable weapon for defence; but he hath reafon and understanding to provide these things for himself; and this alone excells all the advantages of other creatures: he can keep himself warmer and fafer; he can forefee dangers, and provide against them ; he can provide weapons that are better than horns, and teeth, and paws, and by the advantage of his reafon, is too hard for all other creatures, and can defend himself against their violence.

If we confider the mind of man yet nearer, how many arguments of divinity are there in it! That there fhould be at once in our understandings distinct comprehenfions of fuch variety of objects; that it fhould pafs in its thoughts from heaven to earth in a moment, and retain the memory of things paft, and take a profpect of the future, and look forward as far as eternity! Because we are familiar to ourselves, we cannot be ftrange and wonderful to ourselves ;

but the great miracle of the world, is the mind of man, and the contrivance of it an eminent instance of God's wifdom.

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2. Confider man with relation to the universe, and fhall find the wisdom of God doth appear, in that all things are made fo useful for man, who was defigned to be the chief inhabitant of this visible world, the guest whom God defigned principally to entertain in this houfe which he built. Not that we are to think, that God hath fo made all things for man, that he hath not made them at all for himfelf, and poffibly for many other ufes than we can imagine; for we much over-value ourselves, if we think them to be only for us; and we' diminish the wifdom of God, in reftraining it to one end: but the chief and principal end of many things is the use and service of man; and in reference to this end, you fhall find that God hath made abundant and wife provision.

More particularly we will confider man,

1. In his natural capacity, as a part of the world. How many things are there in the world for the fervice and pleasure, for the ufe and delight of man, which, if man were not in the world, would be of little ufe? Man is by nature a contemplative creature, and God has furnished him with many objects to exercife his understanding upon, which would be fo far ufelefs and loft, if man were not.

Who fhould obferve the motions of the ftars, and the courfes of thofe heavenly bodies, and all the wonders of nature Who fhould pry into the fecret virtues of plants, and other natural things, if there were not in the world, a creature endued with reafon and understanding? Would the beasts of the field study astronomy, or turn chymifts, and try experiments in nature?

What variety of beautiful plants and flowers is there, which can be imagined to be of little other ufe but for the pleasure of man. And if man had not been, they would have loft their grace, and been trod down by the beafts of the field, without pity or observation; they would not have

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made them into garlands and nofegays. How maforts of fruits are there which grow upon high trees, out of the reach of beasts! and indeed they take no pleasure in them. What would all the vast bodies of trees have ferved for, if man had not been to build with them, and make dwellings of them? Of what use would all the mines of metal have been, and of coal, and the quarries of ftone? Would the mole have admired the fine gold? Would the beafts of the foreft have built themselves palaces, or would they have made fires in their dens?

2. Confider man in his geographical capacity, as I may call it, in relation to his habitation in this or that climate or country. The wifdom of God hath fo ordered things, that the neceffities of every country are fupplied one way or other. Egypt hath no rains; but the river Nilus overflows it, and makes it fruitful. Under the line, where there are exceffive heats, every day there are conftant gales and breezes of cool wind, to fan and refresh the scorched inhabitants. The hotter countries are furnished with ma terials for filk, a light cloathing; we that are cooler here in England, with materials for cloth, a warmer cloathing; Ruffia and Mufcovy, which are extreme cold, are provided with warm furrs, and skins of beafts.

3. Confider man in his capacity of commerce and intercourfe. Man is a fociable creature; befides the advantages of commerce with remoter nations, for fupplying every country with thofe conveniencies and commodities, which each doth peculiarly afford. And here the wisdom of God does plainly appear, in dif pofing the fea into feveral parts of the world, for the more fpeedy commerce and intercourfe of feveral nations. Now if every country had brought forth all commodities, that had been needlefs and fuperfluous, because they might have been had without commerce; befides, that the great encouragement of intercourse among nations, which is fo agreeable to human nature, would have been taken away: If every country had been, as now it is, deftitute of many things other countries haye, and there had been no fea to

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give an opportunity of traffick, the world had been very defective as to the use of man. Now here appears the wisdom of God, that the world, and all things in it, are contrived for the best.

Thus I have endeavoured to do fomething toward the difplaying of God's wifdom in the workmanship of the world; although I am very fenfible how much I have been maftered and oppreffed by the greatness and weight of fo noble an argument. For who can declare the works of God! and who can fhew forth all his praife!

The ufe I fhall make of what has been faid, fhall be in three particulars:

1. This confutes the Epicureans, who impute the world, and this orderly and beautiful frame of things to chance. Thofe things which are the proper effects of counsel, and bear the plain impreffions of wifdom upon them, ought not to be attributed to chance. What a madness is it to grant all things to be as well made, as if the wifeft agent upon counfel and design had contrived them; and yet to afcribe them to chance! Now he that denies things to be fo wifely framed, muft pick holes in the creation, and fhew fome fault and irregularity in the frame of things, which no man ever yet pretended to do. Did ever any anatomift pretend to fhew how the body of a man might have been better contrived, and fitter for the ufes of a reasonable creature than it is, or any aftronomer to rectify the courfe of the fun! As for the extravagant and blafphemous fpeech of Alphonfus, That if he had ftood at God's elbow when be made the world, he could have told him how to have made it better; befides his pride, it fhews nothing but his ignorance; that he built his aftronomy upon a falfe hypothefis, as is generally believed now by the learned in that fcience; and no wonder he found fault with the world, when he mistook the frame of it: But thofe who have been moft verfed in nature, and have most pried into the fecrets of it, have moft admired the workmanfhip both of the great world, and the lefs.

But if we muft fuppofe the world to be as well made

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