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It agrees with the fuppofition of the benevolence of the divine being, that there is the most ample provifion made for the happiness of thofe creatures which are naturally capable of the most enjoyment, particularly the human fpecies. We have a far greater variety and extent of powers, both of action and enjoyment, than any other inhabitants of the earth; and the world abounds with more fources of happiness to us than to any other order of beings upon it. So perfectly adapted are the inanimate, the vegetable, and the animal world to the occafions and purposes of man, that we may almost fay, that every thing was made for our ufe; and though there are both plants and animals, which, in some applications, are noxious to us, yet, in time, we come to find out their uses, and learn to avail ourselves of their extraordinary powers.

There are many things in the fyftem of nature, as tempefts, lightning, difeafes, and death, which greatly terrify and an

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noy us, and which are often the occafion of much pain and distress; but these evils are only partial; and when the whole fyftem, of which they are a part, and a neceffary confequence, is confidered, it will be found to be, as far as we canjudge, the best, and the moft friendly to us upon the whole; and that no other general laws, which fhould obviate and exclude these evils, would have been productive of so much happiness. And it should be a rule with us, when we are confidering any particular thing in the system of nature, to take in every thing that is neceffarily connected with it, and every thing that we should lose if we were deprived of it; fo that if, upon the whole, we should, in that cafe, lofe more than we should gain, we must pronounce the thing complained of to be beneficial to us, and should thankfully bear the evil, for the fake of the greater good that accompanies it. Fire, for inftance, is the occafion of a great deal of mischief and distress in the world, but this is not to be compared with the be

nefits that we derive from the use of that element.

It may be faid, indeed, that the divine being might have separated these things, and, if he had been perfectly benevolent, might have given us the good unmixed with evil. But there are many pains and evils which are useful to us, and upon the whole give us a greater enjoyment of life, as being pains and evils in themselves. It is a common obfervation, that many perfons are much happier, in a variety of respects, in the prime of life, and especially towards the close of it, for the pains and the hardships they suffered at their entrance upon it. The difficulties we meet with contribute to strengthen the mind, by furnishing proper exercise both for our paffions and our understandings, and they also heighten our relish of the good that we meet with. The more attention we give to evils of all kinds, the more good do we fee to accompany them, or to follow them; fo that, for any thing that we

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know, a better fyftem, that is, a system abounding with more happiness, could not have been made than this, even as it is at prefent; and much more if we fuppose, what is very probable, a tendency to much greater happiness in the completion of the whole scheme.

One of the greatest and most striking evils in the system of nature, is that one animal fhould be made to prey upon another, as lions, tygers, wolves, eagles, ferpents, and other beasts, birds, and infects of prey; and, at first fight, it might seem more agreeable to benevolence, to have formed no fuch carnivorous creatures; as every animal would then have lived without fear or apprehension, and the world, as we are apt to imagine, would have been the scene of univerfal peace and joy. But this is the conclufion of a fuperficial obferver. For it may eafily be demonftrated, that there is more happiness in the present system than there would have been in that imaginary one; and, there

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fore, that this conftitution of things, notwithstanding its inconveniences, must have appeared preferable in the eye of a benevolent being.

If all the fpecies of animals had been fuffered to multiply without interfering with one another, they would all have foon been involved in famine and diftrefs; and whenever they died, their carcaffes would have infected the air, and have made it naufeous and unhealthy; whereas, at prefent, all animals have, in general, a fufficiency of food; they fuffer very little from the fear of danger; while they are in their vigour, they are pretty well able to defend themselves, or to provide for their fafety by flight; when they grow feeble, and life would become a burthen, they serve to fupport the life and vigour of animals of a different fpecies; and the pangs of a fudden and violent death are not fo dreadful as thofe that are occafioned by lingering fickness. If any animals die by a natural death, there are other animals

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