_JEROM CARDAN_ informs us of some winged Dragons he had seen at _Paris_, so nicely preserved, that they very much resembled the Living; they were described with two Feet, weak Wings, a serpentine Head, and of the Bigness of a Rabbit. Why was the Deliverance of _Israel_ by a Machine made in the Form of a _Serpent_? Perhaps, these serpentine Strokes might be intended as Emblems, or Memento’s of the fatal Wound in Paradise, where Man’s Nature was first poisoned by the Devil, who made use of a real Serpent to seduce our first Parents. What is moral Evil but the Venom of the old Serpent? A Venom as pleasant to the Taste, as the forbidden Fruit to the Eye, but the End is Bitterness. And what are Incentives to Sin, but delusive Insinuations of the subtle Serpent? And what is Enjoyment, but a pleasing Illusion, which is no sooner grasp’d, but glides away as a Shadow, leaving behind it a wounded Conscience, direful Apprehensions and Prospects. And what are all sensual Entertainments but so many hot Gleams that portend the Approach of warring Winds and Storms? The Powers of Darkness that excel in Science, know how to regale the human Mind with pleasant Scenes, and how to divert the Senses with delightful Charms; Charms that have no Existence but in a deluded Imagination. The Cure by a brazen Serpent, might also be to shew, that the Almighty in relieving distressed Supplicants, is not tied to any particular Medium. When the _Israelites_ were poison’d by real Serpents, he heals them by the Image of a Serpent. When he would destroy _Goliath_ the Tyrant, he does it by a Sling in the Hands of _David_ a Youth, a very unlikely Person to encounter a Champion. Thus God by the Figure of a Serpent mortifies the Pride of _Lucifer_, the old Serpent, by which he acquir’d greater Honour, than if he had sacrificed to the Fire all the Serpents in the Wilderness. This may further intimate, that Providence may employ the same Kind of Instruments, either for the Display of Mercy or Justice upon Mankind. He who heals and wounds by the Mediation of Serpents, can turn Blessings into a Curse, or enable us to extract Sweetness out of the bitter Cup. SECT. III. This artificial Serpent might (as some have thought) prefigure the _Messiah_, the Healer of spiritual Maladies. Many take it for a Representation of his Passion and Crucifixion: The Analogy may be thus illustrated, _viz._ The Cures wrought by the Serpent and the Saviour, deriv’d their Efficacy from Divine Appointment. If the _brazen_ Serpent had been the mere Contrivance of _Moses_, it would not have answer’d the Intention: so all human Institutions adopted into Divine Worship will be as little available to true Happiness, (_Who has required this at your Hand?_) of that Sovereign, who accepts no Worship but what has the Sanction of his Wisdom and Will.