MAN, to whom allsublunary Beingswere subjected, is most excellently qualified, far above all otherCreaturesof this World: In him is not only the vegetative Life ofPlants, and the sensitive Life ofAnimals, but also theAngelical Reason, the DivineUnderstanding, the trueConjunctionand gloriousPossessionof all Things: He is not only endued withReasonand theGift of Speaking, but also with aMindand aSoul, which participates of aCelestial NatureandDivinityitself; which can relate to the Nature of nothing else, and be compared to none butGodhimself: In and thro’whomhe has aSimilitudewith all things, anOperationwith all, andConversationwith all: He symbolizeth with all Matters in properSubjects; with theElementsin a fourfold Body; withPlantsin a vegetative Virtue; withAnimalsin a sensitive Faculty; with theHeavensin an Etherial Spirit; withAngelsin Wisdom and Understanding, and withGodhimself (as it were) in containing and comprehending all things, except the Divine Being. Hence nothing can so expresly representGodas theSoulof Man, by which he is dignified and railed to the veryImageandSimilitudeof himself. And inMANthe mirificentWisdomshines the more conspicuously;in that the wholeWorld, and theFabrickof all its Contents, however concise and artificial, can in no respect compare with the noble Structure of thisMicrocosm,Man. It is so marvellously concise, and so wonderfully artificial, that it seems no otherways, than as if theMaker(designingthisfor hisMaster-piece) would have his chief Glory, Esteem, and Reputation to depend upon it, and derive itself fromHence; or, as if theMaker(designing this for one signal Instance of hisDivinityto Men) would have us brought, merely by the Understanding and Knowledge of ourselves, to the trueKnowledgeand dueReverenceofHimself, our greatARTIFICER.
THATwe may be the more duly and sensibly affected towardshim, and the more admire and reverence theWisdomof his Nature, as he bountifully produced all things for the Use and Utility ofMAN; so he most appositely disposed theHerbsof the Field, some to ourNourishment, some to ourRemedies, and some toboth Necessities: assimilating and assigning them to our singularMembers, so that theirPowersandVirtuesarephysicallyconvey’d to suchPartsof ourBodies, as they are adapted to byNature.
ANDin the same manner he imbued theRootsof the Ground with suchnatural Qualities, that they by their respective innateFaculties, succour and relieve thoseMembers, to which they arespecificallydestinated; and suchMemberssensibly attract and imbibe from them, not only wholesomeNutriment, but also healthfulRemediespeculiarly appropriated to themselves byNature.
BUTthe immortalSOUL, which is only peculiar toMAN, whereby he so perfectly assimilates and resemblesGod; and itsGiftsandGraces, whereby he excels and out-shines all other sublunaryCreatures; is more properly theSubjectof theDivine, than thePhysician; wherefore I shall but touch it transiently.