HOWEVERextensivethis WordNaturemay be, and whatever secundaryDefinitionsit may admit of; it is (in effect) nothing else than theDenouncerof the Divine Will and Pleasure, theEfficientCauseof naturalWorks, and theConservantof realExistences: Or, theOrderandSeriesof Sacred Works, obeying the Divine Will, Power, and Commands. At least I think all otherDefinitionsof this Word, taken in whatsoever Sense, may bereducedtoThesefollowing;viz.
NATUREis the implanted andinnate Qualityof Things.
NATUREis theFacultyandPropensityof every Mind.
NATUREis theMixtureandTemperatureof the four Elements.
NATUREis the Philosopher’sAxiomof Motion and Rest.
NATUREisthatwhich givethForm, by a specifick Difference, to every thing.
WHICHPower(in either Definition) can only be ascribed to that GreatGod, whoseinfinite ExistenceI’ve been hinting upon: Who is theAuthorof Nature andFramerof the Universe; who by his ownBreathandWord, without anymaterial Help, and at his ownWillandPleasure, created all Things. In whom all Thingslive,move, and have theirBeing. By whom a vivaciousFacultyis infused through all Things; so as that (by and throughHim) all Things subsist of their ownpeculiar Naturesandnatural Qualities; and by theseimplanted Qualitiesincrease, maintain, and defend themselves: Andthatso, that in such an immenseUniversity,and such a vastVarietyof Things, nothing is indeedidle,useless, orunprofitable. Nothing is maderashly,fortuitously, orin vain; but every Thing appears appointed to some certainUseandPurpose, and determined to some settledCourseandSphereofAction: EveryBeinganswering theEndof itsDesign, and theDesignof itsCreation.
ASManwas set on theTheatreof this World, to theEndthat he might admire, delight, and confide inGodhis greatCreator; so was theHumane Bodymade for theDivine Soul, and therespective Membersfor theBody: which all voluntarily concur in the Discharge of theirpeculiar Functions, for the Benefit and Use of theWhole.
ANDso was everyStemendued with its ownFaculty, and everyCreaturewith its ownNature; which madeAristotle[1]most pertinently say, “That there’s nothing so minute in the Nature of Things, nothing so abject or despicable, but may reasonably afford Men something of Admiration.”
NOW, I think, we may be soon brought to thisAdmiration, when we onlyviewthose Things which are so evidently exposed to our Eyes: such as theElements, theHeavens, theRisingandSettingof theSun,Moon, andStars, theDiurnalandNocturnal Vicissitudes, thefour Seasonsof the Year, comprehending the twoÆquinoctialsof Spring and Fall, and the twoSolsticesof Summer and Winter; by whoseDecourseor DescentGrassfades, andHerbsdecay; and again, by their Ascent orInfluence, spring up and revive.
ANDagain, when we consider theAnimals, theFacultiesandPropensionof their respectiveNatures, how they are endued with peculiarSense, because denied particularReason; and how wisely they are all dispos’d, some inhabiting theWaters, some enjoying the freeAir, and others possessing theDesarts; somereptileand creeping, somegradientand walking, somesolivagantand wandering, somewildand fierce, and others innocent andtame: I say the marvellous and inimitableArtificeofNaturein these, and all othernatural Works, is not only to be admir’d; but also theMajesty,Glory,Fullness, andMagnificenceof the GreatCreatorand Institutor of this Nature is to be most highly ador’d; in whom all things originallycenter, as their commonSourceand DivineFountain, and to whom all things are finallyreduced, as the PrimigeniousEssenceandArchetypeofNature.