fore com

VII. For, as created Existence neceffarily includes Godtherethe Evil of Imperfection, fo every Species of it is pared the fubject to its own peculiar Imperfections; that is, Good in to Evils. All the Species of Creatures then muft Things either have been omitted, or their concomitant with the Evils tolerated: the Divine Goodness therefore

Evils

which ne

tolerated

put the Evils in one Scale and the Good in the ceffarily other; and fince the Good preponderated, an infi-attend nitely good God would not omit that because of them; and the concomitant Evils, for that very Omiffion thofe Evils would have been attended with more and greater which Evils, and fo would have been lefs agreeable to in- were infe finite Goodness. VIII. The Good.

N

parable

from the

NOTES.

ly fecured from fuch Pains as might cause his Death, and that for a time, till removed to a better place.*

As to the 3d Cbjection, that if we had a perfect Knowledge of the Approach of every thing that could hurt us, and had only felt a withdrawing of pleasure when any fuch thing was nigh, we might by this means have been obliged to avoid it as effectually as the Senfe of pain could do it. I answer, ift. The withdrawing of pleafure or diminfhing it, is a greater Evil to us than the pains we feel on fuch Occafions: Which plainly appears from this, that we rather choose to endure thefe pains than lofe the pleasure our Senfes afford us; which is manifest in so many Inftances, that I hardly need mention them. The Gout is one of the most tormenting Diseases that attend us; and yet who would not rather endure it, than lofe the Pleafure of Feeling? Moft Men are fenfible that eating certain Meats, and indulging ourselves in the use of several Drinks, will bring it; and yet we fee this doth not deter us from them, and we think it more tolerable to endure the Gout, than lofe the Pleafure that plentiful Eating and Drinking yields us. What pains will not a Man endure rather than lofe a Limb, or the advantage that a plentiful Fortune yields? This expedient therefore is very improper for it would be an exchange for the worfe; deprive us of a greater Good, to prevent a leffer Evil.

See Note H. and the Sermon annex'd,

But

The Ax

VIII. The leaft Evil, you'll fay, ought not to iom about be admitted for the fake of the greatest Good. (For not doing Evil for to affirm that God does Evil that Good may come the fake of of it is Blafphemy.) Neither does the Diftinction between Moral and Natural Evil help any thing todoes not ward the Solution of this Difficulty: For what we take place where the call Moral Evil, as fhall be fhewn below, is that leaft Evil which is forbidden; now nothing is forbidden by

Good,

is chofen.

NOTES.

God

But, zdly, Either this Diminution of the Pleasure would be a more fenfible los to us than Pain is now, or otherwife. If it were more uneafy to us than Pain, the exchange, as before, would be for the worfe. If it were not, it would not be fufficient: for we plainly fee that in many cafes the greatest pains and clearest profpect of them are not fufficient to divert us from what may be hurtful, when it comes in competition with a Pleasure. We have therefore no Reafon to complain of God, who has given us warning by Pain of what might destroy us, fince a lefs effectual means could not have fecured us. In fhort, this is God's way: and for us to think we could have found a better, is pride and impudence; and there needs no more to give us a fenfible proof of it, than to confider the folly of the expedient propofed by the Objector,

But then it is urged that here is a farther Degree of our Mifery, and an argument that an ill Principle had a hand in framing us, that we cannot avoid one Evil but by the fear of a worse, and that we do not endure the pains and fears that accompany Life but on account of the greater fear we have of Death; and the imprinting in us fo great a Love of Life which has fo little Good in it, and in truth much less than it has Evil, must be the Work of a malignant and mischievous Author. But I answer, I have fhewed that it is the Good we feel in Life that makes us love it and afraid to lose it, and we only apprehend the lofs of Life, and flee it, because we fear the lofing fo good a thing. The love of Life is no otherwife imprinted in us but by the fenfe we have of its Goodnefs, and then the Quarrel against God is, that he has given us so good a thing that we are unwilling to part with it, and chufe to endure fuch pains as tend to preferve it, and without which we could not long enjoy it. It is a most wicked thought, to ima

See the Note Z.

gine

Göd but generally, at leaft, on account of the Inconveniencies attending the forbidden Actions: These Inconveniencies are Natural Evils; therefore Moral Evils are prohibited on account of the Natural ones, and for that reafon only are Evils, because they lead to Natural Evils. But that which makes any thing to be fuch, is itself much more fuch: therefore the Natural, you'll fay, are greater Evils than the Moral, and cannot with lets Blafphemy be attributed to God.

gine that God is like a Tyrant that delights to torture and toriment his Creatures. The contrary is plain by his fubjecting them to Pain, in no cafes but where that fene is neceffary to preferve a Good to them that counterbalances it.

But then, in the 4th Place, the Objection urges, that these Pains are in many cafes fruitless, and no way tend to help us. 'Tis alledg'd that the Gout and Gravel, and many acute Pains, are of no use, nor do they any ways contribute to prolong our Livés, I reply, The Gont, Gravel, &c. are distempers of the Body, in which the Humours or folid Parts are out of order: The Question then is, whether it would be better for us to be infenfible of this Disorder, or feel it. Let us fuppofe then a Man in a Fever (i. e. that his Blood and Humours should be in fuch a Ferment as is obfervable in that Distemper) and that he fhould feel no Pain or Uneafinefs by it; the confequence would be that he would die before he were aware. He would not avoid those things that increase it, or take thofe Remedies that allay it: He would not know how near he were to Death, or when he was to avoid the Air or Motion, either of which would deftroy him. There are Difeafes that take away our Senfes and become mortal, without giving us warning: None are more terrible than thefe, and moft would chuse to die of the most painful Distemper rather than be thus furprifed: We may judge then how it would be with us if all Distempers were of the like Nature. I doubt whether we could furvive one fit of the Gout, Gravel, or Fever, if the Pain we feel in them did not warn us and oblige us to give ourselves that Quiet, Eafe, and Abftinence that are neceffary to our Recovery. Thus foolishly they reafon that go about to mend the work of God.

Bat

Granting all this to be true, yet though Evil is not to be done for the fake of Good, yet the less Evil

NOTES.

But, 2dly, we find that Providence has join'd a certain train of Thoughts and Senfations with certain motions in our Body, and it is as impoffible that all motions fhould beget the fame Thoughts in us, as that the fame Letters fhould express all Words, or the fame Words all Thoughts. If therefore only fome Motions in our Body occafion pleafing Thoughts and Senfations, then the Abfence of thefe Motions must likewife deprive us of the Pleafure annexed to them, which is fo great an Evil that we are ready to prevent it with a great deal of Pain. And the contrary Motions muft by the fame Rule occafion contrary Senfations, that is unpleafant.

If therefore, a Fever or Gout deprive us of thefe grateful Motions in the Body that give Pleafure, and be contrary to them, it is a clear Cafe, that uneafy Senfations on fuch an Occafion cannot be avoided, except Man were fomething else than he is, i. e. no Man. Either therefore God muft not have made Man in his prefent Circumftances, nor given him a Body that is apt to be put out of order by the impulse of thofe neighbouring Bodies that furround him, or else he muft fuffer him to be fometimes disturbed by them, and let that Disturbance be accompanied with Pain.

If it should be alledged that God might have put Man into fuch Circumstances that no impulfe of other Bodies fhould have caufed fuch Motions in his as procure P.in. I answer, this might have done if the very Motion of his Joints and Mufcles, and the Recruiting of the Liquids of his Body did not continually wear and deftroy the Organs, and alter and corrupt the Blood and other Juices; and lastly, if there were no Bodies in his Vicinity that could hurt or alter the fe: But as the Frame of the World now is with folid and heterogeneous Bodies in it, and which the good of the whole required there fhould be, and whift these are all in Motion, and there is a continual Change of the Vicinity of thefe Bodies to the Bodies of Men, whilft there is Variety of Bodies on the Earth and thefe neceffarily fend out different and contrary Effluvia, that mix with the Juices of our Bodies: Laftly, whilft not only new Bodies move toward us, but we move from place to place, without which Power we should be very imperfect, and uncapable of the greatest part of the Happiness we now enjoy; 'tis unconceivable that we fhould not meet with things that by the Laws of Matter neceffarily disturb and diforder our Bo

Evil is to be chofen before the greater: And fince Evils neceffarily furround you whether you act or not, you ought to prefer that fide which is attended with the leaft: Since God was therefore compell'd by the neceffary Imperfections of created Beings, either to abftain from creating them at all, or to bear with the Evils confequent upon them: and fince it is a lefs Evil to permit thofe, than to omit these, 'tis plain that God did not allow of N 3 Natural

NOTES.

dies; and therefore, either the Earth must be void of Inhabitants, or they must be content to fubmit to and fuffer thefe Disturbances, and I have already fhewed that these must neceffarily Occafion uneafy Senfations in us, which I take to be the Definition of Pain.

To Sum up this Head. For ought I can fee the Fundamental Objection concerning natural Evils, is that God has given us mortal Bodies, for which I think the Book fully accounts; and if it once be confeffed, that it is not contrary to the Goodness of God to make fome mortal Animals; I do not fee how we can imagine fuch Animals fhould apprehend the Approach of Death and not fear it; or feel the Decay of their Bodies and not be uneafy at it; efpecially when that ́ Fear ferves to preserve them, and the Senfe of that Uneafinefs puts them on proper Methods to fupport themselves. I do not deny but the Infinite Wisdom of God might have found other means, but I deny that there could be any better; and he that' undertakes to prove that there might be better, muft underfland all the Circumstances of thefe Animals as they are now, and all the Confequences that must happen in an infinite series of times, in pursuance of the Method he propofes; but it is impoffible any one fhould know these things, and therefore, as the Book concludes, no Man has any Right to make use of such an Objection.

For a particular account of all the Paffions and their final Caufes, and the Neceffity of each, fee Mr. Huchejon's Effay on the Nature and Conduct of them, § 2. p. 48, 50, &c. and §. 6. p. 179. or Dr. Watts on the Ufe and Abuse of them, . 13. or Chambers's Cyclopædia under the Word Paffion, or Scott's Chriftian Life, P 2. C1. §. 2. par 23. or the Spectator, No. 255, 408. or Dr. J. Clarke on Natural Evil, p 256, &c. or Dr. More's Enchiridion Ethicum, B. 1. C 8, 9, 10, 11.