The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 16
CHAP. XVI. Of the extent of Providence to the Beaſts of the earth; of a speciall Providence in providing for Lions, and other Beaſts of prey.
I Now proceed to ſpeak of Gods Providence,Iddio riguardo egli propriamente ai buoi quando ci detre queſia legge? Imperoche altrimenti la providentia di Dio abbraccia ancora ogni minima coſa come. 1 Tim. 4.13. Ital. Annot. in 1 Cor. 9.9. extended to the Beaſts that live upon the earth. Ask now the Beaſts, and they ſhall teach thee, ſaith Job, that is, they ſhall teach thee that there is a Providence; who knoweth not in all theſe that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? in whoſe hand is the ſoul of every living thing, Job 12.7, 10. For what reaſon can be rendered, that Beaſts (as well as Fowls) know their appointed times, and keep the ſame courſe and order every year, but becauſe God hath given them a kind of naturall inſtinct, whereof all the Philoſophers in the world are not able to render a reaſon. Gods Providence is ſeen in providing food for the Beaſts; he is ſaid to take the care of Oxen, 1 Cor. 9. He prepareth rain for the earth, he maketh graſs to grow upon the mountains, he giveth to the Beaſt his food, Pſal. 147.8, 9. Every Beaſt of the Forreſt, ſaith he, is mine, and the Cattell upon a thouſand hills, I know all the Fowls of the mountains, and the wild beaſts of the field are mine; or as the Hebrew hath it, they are with me; they are under my care and proviſion, Pſal. 50.9, 10. He ſendeth the ſprings into the vallyes, which run among the hills, they give drink to every Beaſt of the field, the wild Aſſes quench their thirſt; he cauſeth the graſs to grow for the Cattell, and herb for the ſervice of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth: the high hills are a refuge for the Goats, and the rocks for the Conies, Pſal. 104.10, 11, 14, 18. O Lord thou preſerveſt man and beaſt, ſaith David, Pſal. 36.6. and here the ſingular Providence of God is to be obſerved, even in the Birds of the Wood, and the wild Beaſts. Now on the contrary, although in our Stalls, Stables and Folds, both we our ſelves, and our Children and Servants,I no ſooner ſet my foot on the earth, but there I ſee the ſheep feeding, here the horſe and oxe plowing, there the ſheep giveth us her lambs, and her wool, here the cow giving her calf and her milk, here I ſee an hedge, and as much care to keep it ſtrong, as there was to plant the field with any of theſe, there I ſee Behemoth Beaſts, ſo called for her greatneſs, viz. the Elephant. Woodward. Childs patrim. do take great care of our Horſes, Sheep, Kine, and other Creatures that we keep about us, yet with how much difficulty theſe Creatures are brought up, it is evident: many Lambs are loſt, many Calves die, yea their Dams do die with diſeaſes, notwithſtanding all our wiſdome, care and diligence. But the Birds of the Wood, the Fiſhes in the Waters, and the wild Beaſts, are deſtitute of all this help and ſuccour; yet they multiply much better, are better propagated, are not afflicted with ſuch diſeaſes as thoſe Creatures are, which mans care and diligence is moſt exerciſed about, becauſe their generation, birth and growing up, dependeth wholly upon the care and Providence of God.
And here it is admirable to conſider how God maketh proviſion for Lions, Bears, Tigres, Elephants, and all other wild Beaſts, which are many in number, and of divers kinds, elſe they would ſoon deſtroy the Inhabitants of the Earth: the young Lions are ſaid to roar after their prey, and ſeek their meat from God, Pſal. 104.21. the roaring of the Lions is their ſeeking and praying to him; the noiſe that the Beaſts make in their neceſſity, is their naturall deſire of help, which they cannot better expreſs: they know not God; they confuſedly utter their deſires unto him: their ſpirits (as one well noteth) are not materiall,Struth. obſerv. Cent. 2. Some have obſ…rve… that the Bea… (thoſe Beaſts of prey) when the ground is covered with ſnow, … live by ſucking of their feet, whence they draw nouriſhment to themſ…lves. ariſing of their temperature and humours; it can apprehend no eternall thing, but is only moved with the ſenſe of their own wants. The Lord ſatisfieth theſe ravenous Creatures, notwithſtanding they have great need of nouriſhment, and therewithall the world is preſerved in its ſtate. Though all the Beaſts of the Forreſt do creep forth in the night, and the young Lions roar after their prey, yet when the Sun ariſeth, they gather themſelves together, and lay them down in their Dens, and man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour untill the evening, Pſal. 104.20, 21, 22, 23. The light of the Sun driveth away the wild Beaſts to their Dens, that men may have liberty to go about their buſineſs:It is a great gain to us, that ſavage Beaſts are not ſubdued to us as other Beaſts are; what profit would it be if we could tame Lions and Libbards? it were but to make us more proud and arrogant, therefore Gods providence hath exempted theſe from our power; thoſe hath he made tame that are moſt profitable to us. Chryſoſt. in Pſalm. 8. for if God ſhould not ſhut up the wild Beaſts after that manner, and give men the Earth to labour and traffick in, we ſhould ſcarce have a corner to put our heads in, and if God did not feed the young Lions, who do often lack and ſuffer hunger, as the Pſalmiſt tells us, Pſal. 34.10. and ſometimes are three dayes together without meat, as Naturaliſts tell us, they would make havock of all men, and ſoon rid all from off the face of the earth.
And here we may take notice, that the Lord in chooſing Earth-Creatures for ſacrifice under the Law, he chooſeth out not only ſuch as could moſt readily be acquired, but alſo ſuch as might moſt ſafely be handled: he might have required his people to have preſented Lions, Bears, Leopards, (as Daniel ſaw the Chaldeans, Medes, Perſians, and Greeks to be no better; and as Saint John ſaw the Romans to be all of them Beaſts joyntly, ſo by nature we are all no better conditioned,Claphams manual bibl. doct. as one obſerveth) which the Perſians well underſtood, who once in a year kept a Feſtivall day, called, The death of Vices, in which day they practiſed the killing and deſtroying of all ſorts of Serpents. But as God would not charge Iſrael with animals, either hardly or dangerouſly to be acquired, ſo by the tamer kind of Creatures, he would teach us more commendable qualities.
And in this Chapter let me ſhew how Gods Providence is to be obſerved in the Mole, that little Creature, whoſe dwelling is in the Earth, where nothing is to be ſeen; therefore nature hath ſo obſcurely fitted her with eyes, that Naturaliſts can ſcarce agree whether ſhe have any ſight at all or no; but for amends, ſhe is very quick of hearing, as one hath well obſerved:Moors Antidote againſt Atheiſm. by her ſhort tail and legs, but broad fore-feet armed with ſharp claws, ſhe ſwiftly worketh her ſelf under ground, and makes her way apace into the Earth; therefore her legs be ſhort, that ſhe need dig no more than will meerly ſerve the thickneſs of her body, and her fore-feet are broad, by which ſhe rids away much earth at once; her tail is very ſmall, becauſe ſhe runs not upon the ground after the faſhion of the Rat or Mouſe,Quatuor ex puris vitam ducunt elementis; Chameleon, Talpa, & Maris Halec, & Salamandra. Halec unda fovet, ignis paſcit Salamandram: Talpam terra nutrit, ſed aer quo que Chameleontem. Hiedf. Sphinx. c. 9. though ſhe be not much unlike them, but her habitation is under ground, and the Earth alſo is her nutriment.