il6 The Wisdom of GOD Part I. 

 Birds fourfcore or an hundred. I^re I cannot 

 omit one very remarkable Obfervation I find in 

 Cicero : Ataue ut intelligamiis (faith he) nihil ho- 

 rum ejfe fortiiitum^ fed h(zc omnia provida Jblert if- 

 que naturce^ qua multiplices fcetm procreant^ ut 

 fues^ ut canes^ his mammarum data eft multitudOy 

 quas eafdem paucas hahent ece befiice qu£ pauca gig- 

 nunt, That we may underfiand that none of thefe 

 Things (he had been fpeaking of) is fortuitous^ 

 but that all are the EjfeBs of provident and faga- 

 cious Nature -, multiparous ^adrupeds^ as Swine ^ 

 and Dogs ^ are furnijloed with a Multitude of Paps: 

 Whereas thofe Beafis which bring forth feWy have 

 but a few* 



That flying Creatures of the greater Sort, that 

 is, Birdsy fhould all lay Eggs, and none bring 

 forth live Young, is a manifeft Argument of 

 Divine Providence, defigning thereby their Pfe- 

 fervation and Security, that there might be the 

 more Plenty of them ; and that neither the 

 Birds of Prey, the Serpent, nor the Fov/ler/ 

 fhould ftraiten their Generation too much: For 

 if they had been viviparous, the Burden of their 

 Womb, if they had brought forth any compe- 

 tent Number at a time, had been fo gr^at and 

 heavy, that their Wings would have fail%4:hem, 

 and they become an eafy Prey to their Enemies : 

 Or, if they had brought but one or two at a 

 time, they would have been troubled all the Year 

 long with feeding their Young, or bearing them 

 in their Womb. Dr. More Antid, Atheifm, I 2. 



This 



