Chapter XVIII

Sometimes I should soar above the stars, and inquire how the Heavens
ended, and what was beyond them? Concerning which by no means could
I receive satisfaction. Sometimes my thoughts would carry me to the
Creation, for I had heard now that the World which at first I had
thought was Eternal had a beginning: how therefore that beginning
was, and why it was; why it was no sooner, and what was before,
I mightily desired to know. By all which I easily perceived my
Soul was made to live in communion with God in all places of His
dominion, and to be satisfied with the highest reason in all things.
After which it so eagerly aspired that I thought all the gold and
silver in the world but dirt in comparison of satisfaction in any
of these. Sometimes I wondered why men were made no bigger? I would
have had a man as big as a giant, a giant as big as a castle, and a
castle as big as the Heavens. Which yet would not serve, for there
was infinite space beyond the Heavens, and all was defective and but
little in comparison; and for man to be made infinite, I thought it
would be to no purpose, and it would be inconvenient. Why also there
was not a better Sun and better Stars, a better Sea, and better
Creatures I much admired. Which thoughts produced that poem upon
moderation which afterwards was written.

Following this the author quotes a part of the poem he refers to, which, as it is printed on page 132, need not be given here. The argument of his verses is that everything is for the best and in the best possible proportion:

"God made man greater while he made him less."