T

Virg.

HOUGH there is a great deal of Pleasure in contemplating the material World, by which I mean that Syftem of Bodies into which Nature has fo curiously wrought the Mafs of dead Matter, with the several Relations which thofe Bodies bear to one another; there is ftill, methinks. fomething more wonderful and furprizing in Contemplations on the World of Life, by which I mean all those Animals with which every part of the Univerfe is furnished.The material World is only the Shell of the Universe: The World of Life are its Inhabitants,

IF we confider thefe parts of the material World which lie the neareft to us, and are therefore fubject to our

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Obfervations and Enquiries, it is amazing to confider the Infinity of Animals with which it is ftocked. Every part of Matter is peopled: Every green Leaf fwarms with Inhabitants. There is fcarce a fingle Humour in the Body of a Man, or of any other Animal, in which our Glaffes do not difcover Myriads of living Creatures. The Surface of Animals is alfo covered with other Animals, which are in the fame manner the Bafis of other Animals that live upon it; nay, we find in the most folid Bodies, as in Marble it felf, innumerable Cells and Cavities that are crouded with fuch imperceptible Inhabitants, as are too little for the naked Eye to dif cover. On the other hand, if we look into the more bulky parts of Nature, we fee the Seas, Lakes and Rivers teeming with numberlefs kinds of living Creatures: We find every Mountain and Marth, Wilderness and Wood, plentifully stocked with Birds and Beafts, and every part of Matter affording proper Neceffaries and Conveniencies for the Livelihood of Multitude's which inhabit it.

THE Author of the Plurality of Worlds draws a very good Argument from C 4

this

this Confideration, for the peopling of every Planet; as indeed it feems very probable from the Analogy of Reason, that if no part of Matter, which we are acquainted with, lies wafte and useless, thofe great Bodies which are at fuch a diftance from us fhould not be defart and unpeopled, but rather that they fhould be furnished with Beings adapt ed to their respective Situations.

EXISTENCE is a Bleffing to thofe Beings only which are endowed with Perception, and is in a manner thrown away upon dead matter, any further than as it is fubfervient to Beings which are confcious of their Exiftence. Accordingly we find, from the Bodies which lie under our Obfervatis on, that Matter is only made as the Bafis and Support of Animals, and there is no more of the one, than what is neceffary for the Existence of the other.

INFINITE Goodness is of fo communicative a nature, that it seems to delight in the conferring of Existence upon every degree of perceptive Being. As this is a Speculation, which I have often pursued with great pleasure to my felf, I fhall enlarge farther upon

it,

it, by confidering that part of the Scale
of Beings which comes within our
Knowledge.

THERE are fome living Creatures
which are raised but just above dead
Matter. To mention only that Spe-
cies of Shell-fish, which are formed in
the Fashion of a Cone, that grow to
the Surface of feveral Rocks, and im-
mediately die upon their being fevered
from the Place where they grow. There
are many other Creatures but one re-
move from thefe, which have no other
Senfe befides that of Feeling and Tafte.
Others have ftill an additional one of
Hearing; others of Smell, and others
of Sight. It is wonderful to observe,
by what a gradual Progrefs the World
of Life advances through a prodigious
Variety of Species, before a Creature is
formed that is compleat in all its Sen-
fes; and even among these there is fuch
a different degree of Perfection in the
Senfes which one Animal enjoys beyond
what appears in another, that though
the Senfe in different Animals be diftin-
guished by the fame common Denomi-
nation, it feems almost of a different
Nature. If after this we look into the
feveral inward Perfections of Cunning
Cr

and

and Sagacity, or what we generally call Inftinct, we find them rifing after the fame manner, imperceptibly one above another, and receiving additional Improvements, according to the Species in which they are implanted. This Progrefs in Nature is fo very gradual, that the most perfect of an inferior Species comes very near to the molt imperfect of that which is immediately above

it.

THE exuberant and overflowing Goodness of the Supreme Being, whofe Mercy extends to all his Works, is plainly feen, as I have before hinted, from his having made fo very little Matter, at least what falls within our knowledge, that does not fwarm with Life: Nor is his Goodness lefs feen in the Diverfity, than in the Multitude of living Creatures. Had he only made one Species of Animals, none of the reft would have enjoyed the Happiness of Exiftence; he has, therefore, specified in his Creation every degree of Life, every Capacity of Being. The whole Chafm in Nature, from a Plant to a Man, is filled up with diverfe kinds of Creatures, rifing one over another, by fuch a gentle and cafy Afcent, that the

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