On the other hand, when we reflect on the vast Numbers of Infants,
that just struggle into Life, then weep and die, and at the same time
consider, that it can be in no wise consistent with the Justice and
Wisdom of an infinite Being, to create to no end, we may very
reasonably conclude, that those animated Machines, those _Men_ in
_miniature_, who know no Difference between Good and Evil, who are
incapable of any good Offices towards their Fellow-Creatures, or of
serving their Maker, were made for good and wise Designs and
Purposes, which Purposes, and Designs transcend all the Limits of our
Ideas and all our present Capacities to conceive. Should an able and
expert Artificer employ all his Time and his Skill in contriving and
framing an exquisite Piece of _Clock-work_, which, when he had
brought it to the utmost Perfection Wit and Art were capable of, and
just set it a-going, he should suddenly dash it to pieces; would not
every wise Man naturally infer, that his intense Application had
disturb'd his Brain and impair'd his Reason?
Let us now contemplate the Body of an Infant, that curious
Engine of Divine Workmanship. What a rich and artful Structure of
Flesh upon the solid and well compacted Foundation of Bones! What
curious Joints and Hinges, on which the Limbs are moved to and fro!
What an inconceivable Variety of Nerves, Veins, Arteries, Fibres and
little invisible parts are found in every Member! What various
Fluids, Blood and Juices run thro' and agitate the innumerable
slender Tubes, the hollow Strings and Strainers of the Body! What
millions of folding Doors are fixed within, to stop those red or
transparent Rivulets in their course, either to prevent their Return
backwards, or else as a Means to swell the Muscles and move the
Limbs! What endless contrivances to secure Life, to nourish Nature,
and to propagate the same to future Animals! Can we now imagine
after such a Survey, that so wise, so good and merciful a Creator
should produce _Myriads_ of such exquisite Machines to no other End
or Purpose, but to be deposited in the dark Chambers of the Grave,
where each of the Dead lie in their cold Mansions, in Beds of
Darkness and Dust.
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