CHAP. XVI.The Conclusion.
The Conclusion.
Thus I have, as briefly as well I could (and much more briefly than the Matters deserved) dispatched the Decad of Things I proposed in common to the sensitive Creatures. And now let us pause a little, and reflect. And upon the whole Matter, what less can be concluded than that there is a Being infinitely Wise, Potent, and Kind, who is able to contrive and make this glorious Scene of Things, which I have thus given only a Glance of? For what less than Infinite, could stock so vast a Globe with such a noble Set of Animals? All so Contrived, as to minister to one another’s Help someWay or other, and most of them serviceable to Man peculiarly, the Top of this lower World, and who was made, as it were, on purpose to observe, and survey, and set forth the Glory of the infiniteCreator, manifested in his Works! Who! What but the GreatGODcould so admirably provide for the whole Animal World every Thing serviceable to it, or that can be wished for, either to conserve its Species, or to minister to the Being or Well-being of Individuals! Particularly, who couldFeedso spacious a World, who could please so large a Number of Palates, or suit so many Palates to so great a Variety of Food, but the infinite Conservator of the World! And who but the same greatHE, could provide such commodiousCloathingfor every Animal; such properHouses,NestsandHabitations; such suitableArmatureandWeapons; suchSubtilty,ArtificeandSagacity, as every Creature is more or less armed and furnished with, to fence off the Injuries of the Weather, to rescue it self from Dangers, to preserve it self from the Annoyances of its Enemies; and, in a word, to conserve its Self, and its Species! What but an infinite superintending Power could so equallybalancethe several Species of Animals, and conserve theNumbersof the individuals of every Species so even, as not to over or under-people the terraqueous Globe! Who, but the infinite wise Lord of the World, could allot every Creature its most suitablePlaceto live in, the most suitable Element tobreath, andmove, andactin. And who butHEcould make so admirable a Set of Organs, as those of Respiration are, both in Land and Water-Animals! Who could contrive so curious a Set of Limbs, Joynts, Bones, Muscles, and Nerves, to give to every Animal the most commodiousMotionto its State and Occasions! And to name no more, what Anatomist, Mathematician, Workman, yea Angel, could contrive and make so curious, so commodious, and every way so exquisitea Set of Senses, as thefive Sensesof Animals are; whole Organs are so dexterously contrived, so conveniently placed in the Body, so neatly adjusted, so firmly guarded, and so compleatly suited to every Occasion, that they plainly set forth the Agency of the infinite Creator and Conservator of the World.
So that here, upon a transient View of the Animal World in general only, we have such a Throng of Glories, such an enravishing Scene of Things as may excite us to admire, praise, and adore the infinitely wise, powerful, and kindCREATOR; to condemn all atheistical Principles; and with holyDavid,Psalmxiv. 1. to conclude that he is in good earnest aFool, that dares to say,There is no God, when we are every where surrounded with such manifest Characters, and plain Demonstrations of that infinite Being.
But in the next Book we shall still find greater Tokens, if possible, when I come to take a View of Animals in particular.