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Part II. I might add hereto, that even Pain, which is the most grievous and afflictive thing that we are fenfible of, is of great ufe to us. God hath annexed a Sense of Pain to all Difeafes and Harms of the Body inward and outward, (and there is no Pain but proceeds from fome Harm or Disease) to be an effectual Spur to excite and quicken us to feek for fpeedy Help or Remedy; and hath fo order'd it, that as the Disease heals, fo the Pain abates. Neither doth Pain provoke us only to feek Eafe and Relief when we labour under it, but also makes us careful to avoid for the future all fuch things as are productive of it; that is, fuch things as are hurtful to our Bodies, and deftructive of the Health and Well-being of them, which also are, for the most part, prohibited by God, and fo finful and injurious to our Souls. So we fee what Cure the Divine Providence hath taken, and what effectual Means it hath used for the Healing of our Diseases, and the Maintenance and Prefervation of our Health. This is the true Reason of Pain. Howbeit, I will not deny, but that God doth fometimes Himfelf immediately inflict Diseases, even upon His own Children, for many good Confiderations which I fhall not here enumerate. Neither fhall I mention the Ufes that Parents and Mafters make of it, for the correcting their Children and Servants, or Magiftrates for the punishing of Malefactors, they being beyond my Scope; only I cannot but take Notice, that it is a Tousov, a thing of manifold Ufes, and

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neceffary for the Government both of Commonwealths and Families.

XI. Some fetch an Argument of Providence from the Variety of Lineaments in the Faces of Men, which is fuch, that there are not two Faces in the World abfolutely alike; which is fomewhat strange, fince all the Parts are in Specie the fame. Were Nature a blind Architect, I fee not but the Faces of fome Men might be as like, as Eggs laid by the fame Hen, or Bullets caft in the fame Mould, or Drops of Water out of the fame Bucket. This Particular I find taken notice of by Pliny in his Seventh Book, Cap. 1. in these Words, Jam in facie vultuque noftro, cum fint decem aut paulò plura membra, nullas duas in tot millibus hominum indifcretas effigies exiftere, quod Ars nulla in paucis numero præftet affectando; to which, among other things, he thus prefaces, Nature verò rerum vis atque majeftas in omnibus mo・mentis fide caret.

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Though this at firft may feem to be a Matter of fmall Moment, yet, if duly confider'd, it will appear to be of mighty Importance in all Humane Affairs: For fhould there be an undifcernible Similitude between divers Men, what Confufion and Disturbance would neceffarily follow? What Uncertainty in all Sales and Conveyances, in all Bargains and Contracts? What Frauds and Cheats, and Suborning of Witneffes? What a Subverfion of all Trade and Commerce? What Hazard in all Judicial

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Judicial Proceedings? In all Affaults and Batteries, in all Murders and Affaffinations, in Thefts and Robberies, what Security would there be to Malefactors? Who could fwear that fuch and fuch were the Perfons that com→ mitted the Facts, though they faw them never fo clearly? Many other Inconveniencies might be inftanced in So that we fee this is no contemptible Argument of the Wisdom and Goodness of God.

Neither is the Difference of Voices less confiderable for the distinguishing of Sexes and particular Persons, and Individuals of all Animals, than that of Faces; as Dr. Cockburn makes out Effay, &c. Part II, Pag. 68, &c. Nay, in fome Cafes more. For hereby Perfons in the dark, and those that are blind, may know and distinguish one another, which is of great importance to them; for otherwife they might be most grofly cheated and abused.

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Farther, we may add out of the fame Author, p. 71. And to no other Cause [than "the Wife Providence of God] can be refer"red the no lefs ftrange Diverfity of Hand"writings. Common Experience fhews, that "though Hundreds and Thousands were

taught by one Master, and one and the fame "Form of Writing, yet they fhould all write "differently: Whether Men write Court or "Roman Hand, or any other, there is fome56 thing peculiar in every one's Writing, which diftinguisheth it. Some, indeed, can coun perfeit another's Character and Subfcription;

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"but the Inftances are rare, nor is it done "without Pains and Trouble: Nay, the most c expert and skilful cannot write much fo exCC actly like, as that it cannot be known, whe"ther it be Genuine or Counterfeit. And if "the Providence of God did not fo order it, "what Cheats and Forgeries too would daily "be committed, which would not only juftle private Men out of their Rights, but also unhinge States and Governments, and turn "all into Confufion? The Diversity of Handwritings is of mighty great Ufe to the Peace of the World; it prevents Fraud, and fecures Mens Property; it obligeth the Living "and Prefent to Honefty and Faithfulness; it importeth the Mind of the Abfent, and "fheweth the Wilk of the Dead, which ought to be facredly obferved. And what is fo any huvery Ufeful, is not the Effect of mane Concert. Men did not of themfelves agree to it, they are only carried to it by the "fecret Providence of God, who underftand"eth and mindeth what is for the Good and "Intereft of Mankind in general, and of every particular Perfon.

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Add farther to all this, That whereas there are feveral Parts peculiar to Brutes, which are wanting in Man; as for Example, the feventh or fufpenfory Muscle of the Eye, the nictating Membrane, the strong Aponeuroses on the fides of the Neck, called by fome Packwax, it is very remarkable, that these Parts are of eminent and conftant Ufe to them, as I fhall particularly

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Part II, ticularly fhew hereafter, but to Man would have been altogether ufelefs and fuperfluous.

I have done with my general Obfervations, I proceed now more accurately and minutely to confider fome particular Parts or Members of the Body; and Firft, the Head, because it was to contain a large Brain made of the most capacious Figure, as near as could be to a Sphe

rical; upon this grows the Hair, which though

it be efteemed an Excrement, is of great Ufe (as I fhewed before) to cherish and keep warm the Brain, and to quench the Force of any Stroke that might otherwise endanger the Skull. It ferves alfo to disburden the Brain of a great deal of fuperfluous Moisture wherewith it abounds.

I find it remark'd by Machetti, a famous Anatomift in Padua, that the Caufe of Baldnefs in Men is the Drynefs of the Brain, and its fhrinking from the Cranium or Skull; he having obferv'd, that in bald Perfons, under the bald Part, there was always a Vacuity or empty Space between the Skull and the Brain, And, Laftly, to name no more, it ferves alfo for a graceful Ornament to the Face, which our prefent Age is fenfible enough of, bestowing fo much Money upon false Hair and Periwigs.

Secondly, Another Member which I fhall more particularly treat of, is the Eye, a Part fo artificially compofed, and commodiously fituate, as nothing can be contrived better for

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