144 ESSAYS AND OBSERVATION^ 



** curatione, atque a€lione privet : Mihi e- 

 ** nim, qui nihil agit, efTe omnino non vi- 

 " decur." Cic.de Nat. Deor. lib. II. cap* 

 1 6. 



We obferve indeed, in various inftan- 

 ces, a fubordinatian of natural caufes and 

 eflfe6:s, and a dependence of one thing 

 upon another. To inveftigate thefe, is 

 the proper province of natural philofophy. 

 The philofopher's bulinefs is, to learn the 

 conftitution of things as they really are ; 

 and to fearch out the laws and order efta- 

 blifhed in the material world, and by 

 which it is conduced. The mod fuccefs- 

 ful inquirers into nature have feen mofl: 

 reafon to refolve all things finally into an 

 incorporeal, intelligent, and powerful firfl: 

 caufe: And have rejoiced in the perfua- 

 iion, that they themfelves, and all parts 

 of the univerfe, are the offspring, and un- 

 der the adminiftratlon, of the fame great, 

 wife, and beneficent parent. But they 

 are not folicitous in limiting the number 

 of fecond caufes, far lefs in excluding 

 them altogether, as fome over zealous 



friend* 



