of You. If there were no Feet, what would become of the locomotive Faculty? Or how could the Body convey itfelf from one Place to another? If there were no Hands, what should we do for the Inftruments of Action? Or how could the animal Frame be defended and accommodated?—Nay, the Parts, which feem to be less honourable, are neceffary. Even thofe, which form the Sediments, or throw off the Dregs, are of the laft Importance to Life and its Comforts. Should those be obftructed in their Action, the moft raging Torment enfues; fhould the Obstruction continue, Death is the inevitable Confequence. By this wife Adjustment, there is no Schifm in the Body; no feparate or inter fering Ends are purfued by the Members; but the Safety and Support of each are the one undivided. Care of all. Thus fhould it be among Men, and among Chriftians; in the Civil Community, and in the Catholic Church. There is in both a Subordination of Perfons, but a Concatenation of Interefts. For which Reafon, a general Agreement fhould take place, and a mutual Subferviency to each other's Welfare. -The Meanest have no Caufe to be diffatisfied with their Condition; but to acquiefce in the unerring Difpofal of Providence, and chearfully contribute their Share to the common Good.-The Highest fhould condefcend to Men of low Eftate; and maintain a Regard for the Well-being of the Pooreft, as that which is intimately connected with their own. In a Word; each fhould feel a tender Concern for all; rejoicing in their Happiness, and ftudying to establish it; fympathizing with their Miferies, and endeavouring to relieve them. I I am fure, my Theron will be pleafed with this fine Comparison, ufed by the Apoftle; and adapted to Purposes, at once fo noble and fo benevolent. Efpecially, as it receives additional Propriety and Force from his own Obfervations.-But I have one more Enquiry to make. Your Syftem, though organized, though endued with a Principle of Motion, and furnished with the Powers of Nutrition, is ftill deftitute of Senfe.-The Creation abounds with Objects, fitted to yield the moft refined Entertainment. The Sun impurples the Robe of Morning, and Stars befpangle the Curtains of Night. Flowers of filver Whitenefs, and of golden Luftre, enamel the Ground. Fruits of all radiant Hues, and of every delicious Tafte, hang amiably dangling on the Boughs. Airs alfo, vernal Airs, Breathing the Smell of Field and Grove, attune But We hear of no Capacities, formed for the Enjoyment of these various Delights. Without which, the Breath of Fields muft lofe its reviving Fragrance; the whispering Grove muft degenerate into fullen Silence; and Nature's,Book of Knowledge, all fair and inftructive, be no better than a vast unmeaning Blank. Ther. Therefore, the great CREATOR, profufely gracious to Mankind, has made Us a Present, an inestimable Prefent, of the Senfes. To be the Inlets of innumerable Pleafures, and the Means of adminiftering innumerable Advantages. High High in the Head, bright and conspicuous as a Star in the Brow of Evening, is placed the Eye. In this elevated Situation, like a Centinel posted in his Watch-tower, it commands the most enlarged Profpect.-Confifting only of fimple Fluids, inclofed in thin Tunicles, it conveys to our Apprehenfion all the Graces of blooming Nature, and all the Glories of the visible Heavens.-How prodigiously wonderful! That an Image of the hugeft Mountains, and a Transcript of the most diverfified Landscapes, fhall enter the fmall Circlet of the Pupil-How furprisingly artful! That the Rays of Light, like an inimitable Pencil, fhould paint on the optic Nerves; paint in an Inftant of Time; paint in their trueft Colours, and exactest Lineaments, every Species of external Objects! The Eye is fo tender, that a flight Accident, scarce perceivable by fome other Parts of the Body, would be very injurious to its delicate Frame. It is guarded therefore with remarkable Circumfpection, and the moft folicitous Care: with a Care, evidently proportioned to its nice Texture, and extenfive Ufefulnefs. It is intrenched deep in the Head; and barricadoed, on every Side, with a ftrong Fortification of Bones. As the Incurfion of the fmalleft Fly would incommode the polished Surface, it is farther defended by two fubftantial Curtains, hung on a most flender cartilaginous Rod. Which fecure it, not barely from Blows, and from any hurtful Attrition, but alfo from every troublefome Annoyance. In Sleep, when there is no Occafion to exercise the Senfe, but an abfolute Neceffity to protect the Organ, thefe Curtains fpontaneously clofe. At any Time, they will fly together with a Motion, quick as as the Alarm of Fear, I had almost faid, quicker than Thought itself. At all Times, they are lined with an extremely fine Sponge *, wet with its own native Dews. Which lubricate the Eye-ball; oil, as it were, its Wheels; and fit it for a Course of unwearied Activity.-At the End of this skinny Mantelet (if I may use the military Style) is planted a Range of briftly Pallifadoes †. Which keep out the leaft Mote; ward off even the ftraggling Atom; and moderate the otherwife too potent Impreffions of the Sun-beams ‡. The • The Glandula Lachrymalis and its Ducts; opening on the inner Part of the Eye-lid, and fecreting the Fluid, which Theron calls his Oil; because, it irrigates the Eyeball, and facilitates its Motion. + The Hairs, which arife upon the Extremities of the Eye-lafh, grow only to a certain convenient Length, and never ftand in need of cutting.-They are not flaccid and pendulous, like thofe of the Head; but fiff and prominent like Briftles. The firft Sort would be troublesome, the last is beneficial. Add to this, that their Points ftand out of the Way; that thofe of the upper Eye-lid being bent upwards, and thofe of the lower downwards. So nicely attentive is PROVIDENCE, even to such very fmall Matters! Or rather, fo gracious is our Almighty CREATOR, that He counts nothing small, which stands connected with our Comfort and Advantage. The inceffant, the more than fatherly Care, which the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY takes of his People, is reprefented in Scripture by this extraordinary Provifion, made for the Security of the Eye. Which is one of the finest Images, that Fancy can form; and one of the most confolatory Truths, that Faith can believe. He kept Him as the Apple of his Eye, Deut. xxxii. 10.He that toucheth You, toucheth the Apple of his Eye, Zech. ii. 8.-The Reader will eafily fee, that the Comparison, every Way beautiful, is carried to the higheft Pitch of Energy and Beauty, by the facred Writers. Not barely the Eye, but the Apple or Pupil of the Eye; the tenderest Part even of the most tender Member. The Brows are a kind of natural Pent-houfe, thatched and arched with curious Wreaths of Hair. The Thatch lies as fmooth, as the Linen that is neatly plaited, and newly ironed. It ferves to divert the Sweat, from trickling into the Eyes, and offending them with its Brine. The Arches are fo finely coloured, and fo elegantly turned, that they fet off the Whitenefs of the Forehead, and bestow additional Grace on the whole Countenance.-Becaufe, in our waking Hours, there is almoft an inceffant Call for thofe little Orbs, they run upon the finest Cafters; rolling upwards or downwards, to the Right-hand or to the Left; with the utmost Speed, and with equal Eafe. Which Circumftance, added to the Flexibility of the Neck, renders our two Eyes as useful, as if the whole Body, like the living Creature in St. John's Vilion, was full of Eyes before and behind *. The Ear confifts of an outward Porch and inner Rooms, with Tools of the moft admirable Contrivance and finished Workmanship. The Contrivance and the Workinanfhip incomparably nicer, than the Designs of Palladio, or the Architecture of Solomon's Temple; though the former were drawn from the magnificent Monuments of Rome, though the latter was built in the Tafte of Heaven. Yea; fo confummately nice is the Structure of this Organ, that GOD, the only wife GOD, is not afhamed to be called its Artificer. He that planted the Ear ↑, * Rev. iv. 6. is The Pfalmift ufes the Word planted, to describe the Situation of the Ear; and the Word formed, to denote the Structure of the Eye. In both which Expreffions, there feems to be the utmoft Propriety and the greatest 3 Delicacy. |