LET. "us upon all occafions," but the neceffity of the cafe. There is no other way of fpeaking upon the fubject, fo as to be understood. Knowledge in God and man, however different in degree, or attained in a different manner, is the fame in kind, and produces the fame effects, fo far as relates to our present purpose. The knowledge of God is intuitive and perfect; that of man is by deduction, and is therefore imperfect, either when his premises are falfe, or when paffion and prejudice enter into his conclufion. But wifdom, which confifts in fixing upon proper ends, and fitly proportioning means to those ends, is wisdom, in whatsoever ob'ject, mode, or degree it may exift; and there is therefore no illufion, in faying, "Every houfe is builded by "fome E IV. LET. IV. "fome man, but he that built all things is God." You speak of thought, reafon, or defign, as "a little "agitation of the brain ;" as if you imagined, that Paradife loft, or the Advancement of Learning, might at any time be produced, by fimmering a man's brains over the fire. Certainly an author cannot compofe without brains, heart, liver, and lungs; but I am of opinion fomething more than all four must have gone to the compofition even of the Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. "Minute, weak, "and bounded, as this principle of "reafon and design is found to be "in the inhabitants of this planet," it can form and fruftrate mighty fchemes; it can raife and fubvert empires; it can invent and bring to perfection a variety of arts and sci ences; IV. ences; and in the hands of fome very LET. worthy gentlemen of my acquaintance, it can fet itself up against all that is called God, and revile the works of the Almighty through 364 pages together. TOм. I cannot but still think, there is fomething of partiality and felf love in the bufinefs. "Suppofe there were a planet wholly inhabited by spiders (which is very poffible;) they would probably affert, with the Bramins, "that the world arofe from an infinite fpider, who fpun this whole compli"cated mafs from his bowels, and an"nihilates afterwards the whole, or any part of it, by absorbing it again, "and refolving it into his own effence. "This inference would there appear "as natural and irrefragable as that "which in our planet afcribes the E 2 "origin LET. IV. "origin of all things to defign and intelligence. To us indeed it appears ridiculous, because a spider is a little contemptible animal, whofe "operations we are never likely to "take for a model of the whole "univerfe." * TIм. Poffibly not; but I fhould take that little contemptible ani"mal" for an exact model of a fceptical philofopher It fpins a flimfy web, it's flender store; And labours till it clouds itfelf all o'er. And were there a planet wholly inhabited by these fame philofophers, I doubt not of their spinning a cofmogony worthy an academy of fpiders And fo Toм, the voluntary bumility which difcovered itself at your fetting out, ends at laft in degrading * P. 142. man IV. man to a fpider; and reafon is either LET. exalted to the ftars, or depreffed to the earth, as best serves the cause of infidelity. In this particular, however, you are at least as bad as the parfons.*-But let us proceed. What have you more to say against the argument of the house? Том. I fay, that arguments concerning facts are founded on experience. I have seen one house planned and erected by an architect, and therefore I conclude the fame with regard to others. But will any man tell me, "with a serious countenance, that an 16 orderly univerfe muft arife from "fome thought and art like the hu man, because we have experience "of it? To afcertain this reafoning, it were requifite that we had expe"rience of the origin of workds.”+ *See Dialogues, P. 37. E 3 † P. 66. TIM. |