2. In making them all fo very good, confidering the number and variety, the rank and order, the end and defign of all of them.

3. In his continual prefervation of them.

4. In his providing fo abundantly for the welfare and happiness of all of them, fo far as they are capable and fenfible of it.

The first of these I fpoke largely to; I proceed to

fhew,

2dly, That the univerfal goodness of God appears, in making all these creatures fo very good, confidering the number and variety, the rank and order, the end and defign of all of them. His goodness excited and fet a-work his power to make this world, and all the créatures in it; and that they might be made in the best manner that could be, his wifdom directed his power; he hath made all things in number, weight, and meafure; fo that they are admirably fitted and proportioned to one another: And that there is an excellent contrivance in all forts of beings, and a wonderful beauty and harmony in the whole frame of things, is, I think, fufficiently visible to every difcerning and unprejudiced mind. The lowest form of creatures, I mean thofe which are deftitute of sense, do all of them contribute, fome way or other, to the ufe, and conveniency, and comfort of the creatures above them, which being endowed with fenfe, are capable of enjoying the benefit and delight of them, which being fo palpable in the greatest part of them, may reasonably be prefumed, though it be not fo difcernable concerning all the reft; fo that, when we furvey the whole creation of God, and the feveral parts, we may well cry out with David, Pfal. civ. 24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom haft thou made them all.

It is true, indeed, there are degrees of perfection in the creatures, and God is not equally good to all of them. Thofe creatures which are of more noble and excellent natures, and to which he hath communicated more degrees of perfection, they partake more of his goodnefs, and are more glorious inftances of it: but every creature partakes of the divine goodness in a certain degree, and according to the nature and capacity VOL. VII.

B

of

of it. God, if he pleafed, could have made nothing but immortal fpirits; and he could have made as many of thefe as there are individual creatures of all forts in the world; but it seemed good to the wife Architect, to make feveral ranks and orders of beings, and to difplay his power, and goodness, and wifdom in all imaginable variety of creatures; all which fhould be good in their kind, though far fhort of the perfection of angels and immortal fpirits.

He that will build an houfe for all ufes and purposes of which an houfe is capable, cannot make it all foundation, and great beams and pillars; muft not fo contrive it, as to make it all rooms of flate and entertainment; but there muft of neceffity be in it meaner materials, rooms and offices for feveral ufes and purposes, which, however inferior to the reft in dignity and degree, do yet contribute to the beauty and advantage of the whole: fo, in this great frame of the world, it was fit there fhould be variety, and different degrees of perfection in the feveral parts of it; and this is fo far from being an impeachment of the wifdom or goodnefs of him that made it, that it is an evidence of both: for the meanest of all God's creatures is good, confidering the nature and rank of it, and the end to which it was defigned; and we cannot imagine how it could have been ordered and framed better, though we can eafily tell how it might have been worse, and that if this or that had been wanting, or had been otherwife, it had not been fo good; and thofe who have been moft converfant in the contemplation of nature, and of the works of God, have been moft ready to make this acknowledgment.

But then, if we confider the creatures of God, with relation to one another, and with regard to the whole frame of things, they will all appear to be very good; and notwithstanding this or that kind of creatures be much less perfect than another, and there be a very great distance between the perfection of a worm, and of an angel; yet, confidering every thing in the rank and order which it hath in the creation, it is as good as could be, confidering its nature and ufe, and the place allotted to it among the creatures.

And

And this difference in the works of God, between the goodness of the feveral parts of the creation, and the excellent and perfect goodness of the whole, the fcripture is very careful to exprefs to us in the hiftory of the creation, where you find God represented, as first looking upon, and confidering every day's work by itself, and approving it, and pronouncing it to be good; Gen. i. 4. 10. 12. 18. 21. 24. at the end of every day's work, it is faid, that God faw it, and it was good: but then, when all was finished, and he furveyed the whole together, it is faid, ver. 31. that God faw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good: very good, that is, the best; the Hebrews having no other fuperlative. Every creature of God, by itself, is good; but, take the whole together, and they are very good, the best that could be.

3dly, The univerfal goodness of God further appears, in the careful and continual prefervation of the things which he hath made: his upholding and maintaining the feveral creatures in being, in their natural state and order; those which have life, in life, to the period which he hath determined and appointed for them; in his preferving the whole world, his managing and governing this vaft frame of things, in fuch fort, as to keep it from running into confufion and diforder. This is a clear demonftration, no less of the goodness than of the wisdom and power of God, that for fo many ages all the parts of it have kept their places, and perform the offices and work for which nature defigned them; that the world is not, in the courfe of fo many thousand years, grown old and weak, and out of repair, and that the frame of things doth not diffolve and fall in pieces.

And the goodness of God doth not only take care of the main, and fupport the whole frame of things, and preferve the more noble and confiderable creatures, but even the least and meanest of them. The providence of God doth not overlook any thing that he hath made, nor defpife any of the works of his hands, fo as to let them relapfe, and fall back into nothing, through neglect and inadvertency; as many as there are, he takes care of them all. Pfal. civ. 27. 28. where the Pfalmift, fpeakB 2

ing

<

ing of the innumerable multitude of creatures upon the earth, and in the fea, Thefe, faith he, wait all upon thee, that thou mayeft give them their meat in due feafon; that thou giveft them, they gather thou openest thine hand, and they are filled with good. And, to the fame purpose, Pfal. cxlv. 15. 16. The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givet them their meat in due feafon; thou openest thine hand, and fatisfieft the defire of every living thing. The inanimate creatures, which are without fenfe; and the brute creatures, which, though they have fenfe, are without understanding, and fo can have no end and defign of felf-prefervation, God preferves them, no lefs than men who are endowed with reason and forefight to provide for themselves: Pfak. xxxiv. 6. Thou preferveft man and beaft. And, Pfal. cxlvii. 9. He giveth to the beaft his food, and to the young ravens which cry. And fo our Saviour declares to us the particular providence of God towards thofe creatures, Matth. vi. 26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they fow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; get your heavenly Father feedeth them. Ver. 28. 29. Confider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they fpin: and yet I fay unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of thefe.

And though all the creatures below man, being without understanding, can take no notice of this bounty of God to them, nor make any acknowledgments to him for it; yet man, who is the priest of the vifible creation, and placed here in this great temple of the world, to of fer up facrifices of praife and thankfgiving to God, for his univerfal goodnefs to all his creatures, ought to blefs God in their behalf, and to fing praifes to him, in the name of all the inferior creatures, which are fubjected to his dominion and ufe; because they are all, as it were, his family, his fervants and utenfils; and if God should neglect any of them, and fuffer them to peTish and mifcarry, it is we that should find the inconve nience and want of them; and therefore we should, on their behalf, celebrate the praises of God, as we find David often does in the Pfalms, calling upon the ina nimate and the brute creatures to praise the Lord..

4thly, The univerfal goodness of God doth yet further appear, in providing fo abundantly for the welfare and happiness of all his creatures, fo far as they are ca pable and fenfible of it. He doth not only fupport and preferve his creatures in being, but takes care that they fhould all enjoy that happiness and pleasure which their natures are capable of. The creatures endowed with fenfe and reafon, which only are capable of pleafure and happiness, God hath taken care to fatisfy the feveral appetites and inclinations which he hath planted in them; and, according as nature hath enlarged their de fires and capacities, fo he enlargeth his bounty towards them; he openeth his hand, and satisfieth the defire of every living thing. God doth not immediately bring meat to the creatures when they are hungry, but it is near to them, commonly in the elements wherein they are bred, or within their reach, and he hath planted inclinations in them to hunt after it, and to lead and direct them to it, and to encourage felf-prefervation, and to oblige and inftigate them to it; and that they might not be melan choly and weary of life, he hath fo ordered the nature of living creatures, that hunger and thirst are most implacable defires, exceeding painful, and even intolerable; and likewife that the fatisfaction of these appetites should be a mighty pleasure to them. And for thofe creatures, that are young, and not able to provide for themselves, God hath planted in all creatures a son, a natural affection towards their young ones, which will effectually put them upon feeking provifions for them, and cherish ing them, with that care and tenderness which their weak and helpless condition doth require: And reafon is not more powerful and effectual in mankind to this purpose, than this natural inftinct is in brute creatures; which fhews what care God hath taken, and what provifion he hath made in the natural frame of all his creatures, for the fatisfaction of the inclinations and appetites which he hath planted in them, the fatisfaction whereof is their pleafure and happiness. And thus I have done with the first head I propofed, the univerfal extent of God's goodness to his creatures. Let us now proceed

in the