is no more than a general Declaration, that when God had finished all his works, He had in his good Providence taken care for the Support and Suftenance of all the Creatures he had made, by ordering and contriving the produce of the Earth in fuch a manner, that all and every Species of Creatures might eat of it and live. It was not to say, that This or That Food was prohibited, or not to be eaten by Man; but to declare how well God had, in his infinite Wisdom, provided for the numerous Species of creatures which he had created.

But let us fuppofe Every Herb, and Every Tree granted to man for meat, This does not exclude all or any other Sort of Food which was proper for Man. And therefore the Stress is laid chiefly on the other Paffage-Every moving thing that is living fhall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things. But Flesh with the life thereof shall you not eat. Gen. ix. 3, 4.

That here was fomething faid in This that was not fo exprefsly faid in the former Grant, is certainly true. But that Sheep,

or

or Oxen, or Goats, or in Short all Animal Food is here first granted, will require further proof. The words are, Every

p?, or Creeping thing; way ipπelov, as the LXX. render it very juftly, is given for meat to man. Now that Sort of Animals which goes under the name of up, or Creeping thing, is diftinguifh'd from the Beafts of the Earth, and from the Fowls of Heaven, in the firft Grant, Gen. i. 30. And And fo it is Gen. i. 28. therefore, how a Grant to feed on Creeping things, fo diftinguish'd as they are from Other Animals, contains a Grant to feed on all or any other Animals, will be hard to fay. In the Account of the Creation, Gen. i. 21, it is faid, that God created every living creature that moveth; and in the next verfe, God created great Whales and every living creature that moveth, . Here the word is applied to Fish, gliding along in the waters. In the following verfes, the fame word is applied to things that creep upon the earth, as diftinguished from the reft of the Animal Creation. Have dominion, faith God, over the fish of the Sea, and over the fowls

of

of the Air, and over the Cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, v. 26. And thus it is in the very verfe preceding this Second Grant,- The fear of you, and the dread of you shall be upon every Beast of the Earth, and upon every Fowl of the Air; upon all we?, that moveth upon the Earth, and upon the Fishes of the Sea, into your hand they are delivered. Here the word is tranflated by the general word in English, moving thing: But this Signification feems to be too much extended: for throughout the Law of Mofes it is certain that it never takes in, or includes, Beafts of the Earth, or Birds of the Air ; but a Third Species of Animals, whatever they were, different from the Other Two, and contradiftinguished from them. And if one may guefs from the Ufe of it, it comprehends a Third Species of Animals, viz. all fuch, either Fish or Reptiles; that not having Feet, glide along. Thus, when in the Law of Mofes, certain rules are laid down concerning the various Sorts of Animals that might, or might not be eaten, it is faid, This is the Law of the

Beafs,

Beafts, and of the Fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, n, Levit. xi. 46. And in verse 44. Neither fhall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing wó̟in, that creepeth upon the Earth. Whatever therefore is the meaning of the Grant here made to Noah, it cannot take in all Animal Food, but only fomething different from Beafts and Birds. For had the word, ?, comprehended Sheep, and fuch Sorts of Animals, it would not conftantly have been used for Some third Species of Animals, which are not the Beafts of the Earth, or Fowls of the Air. And we find in the New Testament, when St, Peter faw the Heavens opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him— wherein were all manner of four-footed Beafts of the Earth, and wild Beafts, and, Tà prelà, creeping things, and Fowls of the Air, it is certain that the Creeping things, were very different creatures from either the four-footed Beafts of the Earth, or the Fowls of the Air.

Suppofing now that only Herbs and Fruits were allowed to be eaten by the

Antidiluvian people, This Grant to Noah cannot in any Senfe be admitted to be a á general Grant of Animal Food; but it must be of fuch Food only as the Word up, i. e. Creeping things, implies. And it cannot be in general, Animal Food; but fuch things only as are not to be contain'd under the words, Beafts, and Fowls and confequently, whatever is the meaning of this Grant, it may be confiftent with Men's eating Sheep and Bullocks and other Animals, from the beginning.

The Rabbi's tell us, that the word, Ramas, however wrote, with a Samech or a Sin, fignifies to tread, or to walk. And let it be fo: yet there must be some limitations ftill to fo general a word as is here fuppofed. All moving, or creeping, or Swimming Animals are not proper for Food: And tho' fome Nations are known to eat Serpents and Some other Reptiles, yet there are fome 'moving Animals that we never read that they were eaten, or were proper for Food. So that the Grant of Every moving thing that liveth fhall be Meat for you, is not a Grant to eat Animal Food, nor is intended for that

purpose,