CREATION.

BOOK I.

THE ARGUMENT.

The propofition. The invocation. The exiftence of a God demonftrated, from the marks of wifdom, choice, and art, which appear in the vifible world, and infer an intelligent and free caufe. This evinced from the contemplation, I. of the earth. 1. Its fituation. 2. The cohe fion of its parts, not to be folved by any hypothefis yet produced. 3. Its ftability. 4. Its ftructure, or the order of its parts. 5. Its motion diurnal and annual, or elfe the motion of the fun in both those refpects. The caufe of thefe motions not yet accounted for by any philofopher. 6. Its outfide or face; the beauties and conveniences of it; its mountains, lakes, and rivers. II. The exiftence of a God proved from the marks and impreffions of prudence and defign, which appear in the fea. its formation. 2. The proportion of its parts in refpect of the earthy. 3. Its fituation. 4 The contexture of its parts. 5. Its brackish or briny quality. 6. Its flux and reflux.

No more of courts, of triumphs, or of arms,

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No more of valour's force, or beauty's charms: The themes of vulgar lays, with just disdain, I leave unfung, the flocks, the amorous swain, The pleasures of the land, and terrors of the main.

See, how the earth has gain'd that very place,
Which of all others in the boundless space
Is most convenient, and will beft conduce
To the wife ends requir'd for nature's ufe.
You, who the mind and caufe fupreme deny,
Nor on his aid to form the world rely,
Must grant, had perfect wisdom been employ'd
To find, through all th' interminable void,
A feat most proper, and which best became

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The earth and fea, it must have been the fame.
Now, who can this furprizing fact conceive,
Who this event fortuitous believe,

That the brute earth unguided fhould embrace
The only useful, only proper place

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Of all the millions in the empty space?

Could ftupid atoms with impetuous fpeed
By different roads and adverse ways proceed;
From regions oppofite begin their flight,
That here they might rencounter, here unite;
What charms could these terreftrial vagrants fee
In this one point of all immenfity,

That all th' enamour'd troops fhould thither flow?
Did they its ufeful fituation know?

And, when the fquadrons with a swift career
Had reach'd that point, why did they fettle there,
When nothing check'd their flight, but gulphs of air;
Since Epicurus and his fcholars fay

That unobstructed matter flies away,

Ranges the void, and knows not where to ftay?

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Nature's high birth her heavenly beauties fhow;
By every feature we the parent know.
Th' expanded spheres amazing to the fight,
Magnificent with ftars and globes of light,

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The glorious orbs, which Heaven's bright hoft compose,
Th' imprifon'd sea, that restless ebbs and flows,
The fluctuating fields of liquid air,

With all the curious meteors hovering there,

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And the wide regions of the land, proclaim

The Power Divine, that rais'd the mighty frame.
What things foe'er are to an end referr'd,
And in their motions ftill that end regard,
Always the fitness of the means refpect,
These as conducive chufe, and those reject,
Muft by a judgement foreign and unknown
Be guided to their end, or by their own;
For to defign an end, and to pursue

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That end by means, and have it still in view,

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Demands à confcious, wife, reflecting cause,

Which freely moves, and acts by reafon's laws,
That can deliberate, means elect, and find

Their due connexion with the end defign'd.

And fince the world's wide frame does not include 60 A caufe with fuch capacities endued;

Some other caufe o'er nature muft prefide,

Which gave her birth, and does her motions guide..

And here behold the caufe, which God we name,

The fource of beings, and the mind fupreme;
Whofe perfect wisdom, and whose prudent care,

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With one confederate voice unnumber'd worlds declare.

See

very place,

See, how the earth has gain'd that
Which of all others in the boundless space
Is moft convenient, and will beft conduce
To the wife ends requir'd for nature's ufe.
You, who the mind and caufe fupreme deny,
Nor on his aid to form the world rely,
Muft grant, had perfect wisdom been employ'd
To find, through all th' interminable void,
A feat moft proper, and which best became
The earth and fea, it must have been the fame.
Now, who can this surprizing fact conceive,
Who this event fortuitous believe,

That the brute earth unguided fhould embrace
The only useful, only proper place

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Of all the millions in the empty space ?

Could ftupid atoms with impetuous fpeed
By different roads and adverfe ways proceed;
From regions oppofite begin their flight,
That here they might rencounter, here unite;
What charms could these terrestrial vagrants fee
In this one point of all immenfity,

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That all th' enamour'd troops fhould thither flow?
Did they its ufeful fituation know?

And, when the fquadrons with a swift career

Had reach'd that point, why did they settle there,
When nothing check'd their flight, but gulphs of air;
Since Epicurus and his fcholars fay

That unobstructed matter flies away,

Ranges the void, and knows not where to stay?

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Hence all the globe ('tis faid) we may conclude

With this prevailing energy endued :

That this attractive, this furprizing ftone

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Has no peculiar virtue of its own;

Nothing but what is common to the whole,
To fides, to axis, and to either pole.

The mighty magnet from the centre darts

This ftrong, though fubtle force, through all the parts; Its active rays, ejaculated thence,

Irradiate all the wide circumference..

While every part is in proportion blest,
And of its due attractive power poffeft;
While adverfe ways the adverfe atoms draw
With the fame ftrength, by nature's conftant law
Balanc'd and fixt; they can no longer move;
Through gulphs immenfe no more unguided rove.
If cords are pull'd two adverse ways, we find
The more we draw them, they the fafter bind.
So when with equal vigour Nature ftrains
This way and that these fine mechanic chains,
They fix the earth, they part to part unite,'
Preferve their structure, and prevent their flight.
Preffure, they fay, and weight, we must disown,
As things occult, by no ideas known,
And on the earth's magnetic power depend
To fix its feat, its union to defend.

Let us this fam'd hypothefis furvey,
And with attentive thought remark the

way,

How earth's attractive parts their force display.
The mafs, 'tis faid, from its wide bofom pours
Torrents of atoms, and eternal showers

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