Chap. T. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. j 



without realbn ; for Man is undoubtedly at the top of tlie fcale of 

 Being here on earth, which we may obferve rifes by gradual af- 

 cent, according to the different degrees of excellency of the Beings 

 that compofe it. Tliofe of the loweft kind are the mere elements of 

 Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. Next to thefe is the Mineral, of na- 

 ture more various and more excellent, but without that diftindtion 

 of parts of different kinds, and ferving different purpofes, which we 

 call Organization. By the addition of this the Vegetable becomes 

 more excellent than the Mineral, being of more various and artifi- 

 cial ftrudlure, and, confequently, having more of Intelligence dif- 

 played in it. The Animal having, befides Organization, Senfation, 

 Appetites, and Defnes, is of a nature ftill more excellent : And, laft 

 of all, comes Intellect, which is fo muchfuperior to all the other things 

 I have named, that Alan^ who poffeffes it, may be faid to be the God 

 of this lower world. Man, therefore, is undoubtedly a proper 

 fubjedl for philofophy ; and, as it is only by the fludy of him that 

 we can ever attain to any knowledge of the God of the great world, 

 the fcience of Man may be ccnfidered as belonging to the l^irft Phi- 

 lofophy, being of abfolute neceffity for underllanding what is 

 higheft in that Philofophy, viz. Theology ; and the qaeftion above 

 mentioned, concerning the origin of evil, is as much a metaphyseal 

 and theological queftion as any can be. 



Man being, as well as every thing elfe in the Univerfe, a S\ftem 

 by himfelf, in order to confider him philofophically, we mult ana- 

 lyfe his Syftem into the feveral parts of which it is compofed, and 

 examine each of them by itfelf, particularly his Vegetable, his Ani- 

 nimal, and his Intelledual part, which makes the pioper diviiion of 

 my fubjedt into three parts. Under the firil of tuefe heads 1 will 

 alfo fay fomething of the Elemental part of his compofition. 



C HA P. 



