path: root/75644-0.txt

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75644 ***


                     The Sacred Theory of the Earth

[Illustration: The Sacred Theory of the Earth.]

[Illustration: Effigies Authoris.]




                     The Sacred Theory of the Earth

                      Containing an Account of the

                         Original of the Earth,

                             And of all the
                 General Changes which it hath already
           undergone, or is to undergo, till the Consummation
                             of all Things.

                            In Two Volumes.

                          The Two First Books
                         Concerning the DELUGE
                                  AND
                          Concerning PARADISE

                           The Two Last Books
                  Concerning the Burning of the WORLD,
                                  AND
                Concerning the New Heavens and New Earth

                With a REVIEW of the THEORY, and of its
             Proofs; especially in reference to Scripture.

                           The Sixth Edition.

                           To which is added,

                 The Author’s Defence of the WORK, from
           the Exceptions of Mr. Warren, and the Examination
                              of Mr. Keil.

                                  AND

                 An ODE to the Author by Mr. _Addison_.

         LONDON: Printed for J. HOOKE, at the _Flower-de-Luce_
      against St. _Dunstan’s-Church_ in _Fleet-street_. MDCCXXVI.




Ad Insignissimum Virum

D. THO. BURNETTUM,

_Sacræ Theoriæ Telluris Autorem_.

                   Non usitatum carminis alitem,
                   BURNETTE, poscis, non humiles modos:
                     Vulgare plectrum, languidæque
                       Respuis officium camœnæ.
                   Tu mixta rerum semina conscius,
                   Molémque cernis dissociabilem,
                     Terrámque concretam, & latentem
                       Oceanum gremio capaci:
                   Dum veritatem quærere pertinax
                   Ignota pandis, sollicitus parùm
                     Utcunque stet commune vulgi
                       Arbitrium & popularis error.
                   Auditur ingens continuò fragor,
                   Illapsa tellus lubrica deserit
                     Fundamina, & compage fractà
                       Suppositas gravis urget undas.
                   Impulsus erumpit medius liquor,
                   Terras aquarum effusa licentia
                     Claudit vicissim: has inter orbis
                       Reliquiæ fluitant prioris.
                   Nunc & recluso carcere lucidam
                   Balæna spectat solis imaginem,
                     Stellasque miratur natantes,
                       Et tremulæ simulacra lunæ.
                   Quæ pompa vocum non imitablis!
                   Qualis calescit spiritus ingenî!
                     Ut tollis undas! ut frementem
                       Diluvii reprimis tumultum!
                   Quis tam valenti pectore ferreus
                   Ut non tremiscens & timido pede
                     Incedat, orbis dum dolosi
                       Detegis instabiles ruinas?
                   Quin hæc cadentûm fragmina montium
                   Natura vultum sumere simplicem
                     Coget resingens, in priorem
                       Mox iterum reditura formam.
                   Nimbis rubentem sulphureis Jovem
                   Cernas; ut udis sævit atrox Hyems
                     Incendiis, commune mundo
                       Et populis meditata Bustum!
                   Nudus liquentes plorat Athos nives,
                   Et mox liquescens ipse adamantinum
                     Fundit cacumen, dum per imas
                       Saxa fluunt resoluta valles.
                   Jamque alta cœli mœnia corruunt,
                   Et vestra tandem pagina (proh nefas!)
                     BURNETTE, vestra augebit ignes,
                       Heu socio peritura mundo.
                   Mox æqua tellus, mox subitus viror
                   Ubique rident: En teretem Globum!
                     En læta vernantis Favonî
                       Flamina, perpetuósque flores!
                   O pectus ingens! O animum gravem,
                   Mundi capacem! si bonus auguror,
                     Te, nostra quo tellus superbit,
                       Accipiet renovata civem.

_Jo. Addison, è Coll. Magd. Oxon. 1699._




                                 AN ODE

                             To the LEARNED

                          Dr. _Thomas Burnet_,

                    AUTHOR of _The Sacred Theory of
                              the EARTH_.

I.

                   _No common Height the Muse must soar,
                     That wou’d thy Fame in Numbers try;
                   Nor dare in humble Verse adore,
                     But rise with Thee above the Sky:
                     You ask a bold and lofty Strain,
                     And what we meanly sing, disdain._

II.

                 _You Nature’s early Birth explore,
                   Her disunited Frame disclose,
                 From what mix’d Cause, and jarring Power,
                   The Infant Earth to Being rose:
                   How, in her circling Bosom sleep
                   Th’ imprisoned Seas, and bounded Deep._

III.

                  _Resolv’d great hidden Truths to trace,
                    Each learned Fable you despise;
                  And, pleas’d, enjoy the fam’d Disgrace,
                    To think, and reason singly wise:
                    Each Tale reject by Time allow’d,
                    And nobly leave the erring Crowd._

IV.

                 _Hark! from her weak Foundations tore,
                   The bursting Earth asunder flies,
                 And, prop’d by yielding Seas no more,
                   The dreadful Crack alarms the Skies:
                   Whose Arches rent, their Weight forego,
                   And plunge in opening Gulphs below._

V.

                _Now rushing from their watry Bed,
                  The driving Waves disdain a Shore;
                And with resistless Force o’erspread
                  That Orb, which check’d their Rage before:
                  While scatter’d o’re the foamy Tide,
                All Nature’s floating Ruins ride._

VI.

               _New Heavens disclos’d, the silver Train
                 The SUN beneath their Waves admire;
               And gliding thro’ the enlight’ned Main,
                 Gaze at each Star’s diminish’d Fire,
                 Well pleas’d, the MOON’s bright Orb survey,
                 Trembling along their azure Play._

VII.

               _How strong each Line, each Thought how great,
                 With what an Energy you rise!
               How shines each Fancy? with what Heat
                 Does every glowing Page surprize?
                 While spouting Oceans upward flow,
                 Or sink again to Caves below._

VIII.

                   _As Nature’s Doom you thus impart,
                     The moving Scene we scarce endure;
                   But, shrinking, ask our anxious Heart,
                     If on our Earth we tread secure?
                     Whose Fate, unmov’d, as you persue,
                     We start and tremble but to view_.

IX.

                  _Yet these Remains we now behold,
                    Which tow’ring once in Hills arose;
                  Shall from a new and fairer Mould
                    A new and fairer Earth compose:
                    Which to her Fate shall owe her Bloom,
                    And rise more lovely from her Tomb._

X.

                   _Yet see This beauteous Fabrick end,
                     This second Pride of Fate expire;
                   While gushing from the Clouds descend
                     The burning Storm, the liquid Fire;
                     Where Worlds and Men consuming lie,
                     And in one bright Confusion die._

XI.

                 _Their naked Tops the Hills admire,
                   No longer white with fleecy Dew;
                 And as they moan the spreading Fire,
                   Add to the Flames dissolving too;
                   While Rocks from melting Mountains flow,
                   And roll in Streams thro’ Vales below._

XII.

                   _And now the kindling Orbs on high
                     All Nature’s mournful End proclaim;
                   When thy great WORK, (Alas!) must die,
                     And feed the rich victorious Flame:
                     Give Vigour to the wasting fire,
                     And with the World TOO SOON expire._

XIII.

                _Once more her Bloom the Earth renews,
                  Smooth’d into Green, eternal Vales;
                Her Glebe still moist with fragrant Dews,
                  Her Air still rich with balmy Gales:
                  No Change her flow’ry Seasons breed,
                  But Springs retire, and Springs succeed._

XIV.

                _Oh say, Thou Great, Thou sacred Name,
                  What Scenes Thy thoughtful Breast employ,
                Capacious as that mighty Frame
                  You raise with Ease, with Ease destroy?
                  Each World shall boast thy Fame; and YOU,
                Who charm’d the OLD, should grace the NEW._




                                 TO THE
                                 KING’s
                                  MOST
                           Excellent Majesty.

_SIR_,

New-found Lands and Countries accrue to the Prince whose Subject makes
the first Discovery; and having retriev’d a World that had been lost for
some thousands of Years, out of the Memory of Man, and the Records of
Time, I thought it my Duty to lay it at your Majesty’s Feet. ’Twill not
enlarge your Dominions, ’tis past and gone; nor dare I say it will
enlarge your Thoughts; but I hope it may gratify your Princely Curiosity
to read the Description of it, and see the Fate that attended it.

We have still the broken Materials of that first World, and walk upon
its Ruins; while it stood, there was the Seat of _Paradise_, and the
Scenes of the _Golden Age_; when it fell, it made the Deluge; and this
unshapen Earth we now inhabit, is the Form it was found in when the
Waters had retir’d, and the dry Land appear’d. These things, Sir, I
propose and presume to prove in the following Treatise, which I
willingly submit to your Majesty’s Judgment and Censure; being very well
satisfied, that if I had sought a Patron in all the List of Kings, your
Contemporaries, or in the Roll of your Nobles of either Order, I could
not have found a more competent Judge in a Speculation of this Nature.
Your Majesty’s Sagacity, and happy Genius for natural History, for
Observations and Remarks upon the Earth, the Heavens, and the Sea, is a
better Preparation for Inquiries of this kind, than all the dead
Learning of the Schools.

SIR, This Theory, in the full Extent of it, is to reach to the last
Period of the Earth, and the End of all Things; but this first Volume
takes in only so much as is already past, from the Origin of the Earth,
to this present Time and State of Nature. To describe in like manner the
Changes and Revolutions of Nature that are to come, and see thorough all
succeeding Ages, will require a steady and attentive Eye, and a Retreat
from the Noise of the World; especially so to connect the Parts, and
present them all under one View, that we may see, as in a Mirror, the
several Faces of Nature, from first to last, throughout all the Circle
of Successions.

YOUR Majesty having been pleas’d to give Encouragement to this
Translation, I humbly present it to your gracious Acceptance. And ’tis
our Interest, as well as Duty, in Disquisitions of this Nature, to
address our selves to your Majesty, as the Defender of _Philosophick
Liberties_, against those that would usurp upon the fundamental
Privilege and Birthright of Mankind, _The free Use of Reason_. Your
Majesty hath always appear’d the Royal Patron of Learning and the
Sciences; and ’tis suitable to the Greatness of a Princely Spirit to
favour and promote whatsoever tends to the Enlargement of human
Knowledge, and the Improvement of human Nature. To be Good and Gracious,
and a Lover of Knowledge, are, methinks, two of the most amiable Things
in this World: And that your Majesty may always bear that Character in
present and future Ages; and after a long and prosperous Reign enjoy a
blessed Immortality, is the constant Prayer of

                        _Your MAJESTY’s
                          Most Humble and
                            Most Obedient Subject_,

THOMAS BURNET.




                         PREFACE TO THE READER.


Having given an Account of this whole Work in the first Chapter, and of
the Method of either Book, whereof this Volume consists, in their proper
Places, there remains not much to be said here to the Reader. This
Theory of the Earth may be called _Sacred_, because it is not the common
Physiology of the Earth, or of the Bodies that compose it, but respects
only the great Turns of Fate, and the Revolutions of our natural World;
such as are taken notice of in the Sacred Writings, and are truly the
Hinges upon which the Providence of this Earth moves; or whereby it
opens and shuts the several successive Scenes whereof it is made up.
This _English_ Edition is the same in Substance with the _Latin_,
though, I confess, ’tis not so properly a Translation, as a new
Composition upon the same Ground, there being several additional
Chapters in it, and several new-moulded.

As every Science requires a peculiar Genius, so likewise there is a
Genius peculiarly improper for every one: And as to Philosophy, which is
the Contemplation of the Works of Nature, and the Providence that
governs them, there is no Temper or Genius, in my Mind, so improper for
it, as that which we call a _mean_ and _narrow Spirit_; and which the
_Greeks_ call _Littleness of Soul_. This is a Defect in the first Make
of some Mens Minds, which can scarce ever be corrected afterwards,
either by Learning or Age. And as Souls that are made little and
incapacious cannot enlarge their Thoughts to take in any great Compass
of Times or Things; so what is beyond their Compass, or above their
Reach, they are apt to look upon as fantastical, or at least would
willingly have it pass for such in the World. Now as there is nothing so
great, so large, so immense, as the Works of Nature, and the Methods of
Providence, Men of this Complexion must needs be very unfit for the
Contemplation of them. Who would set a purblind Man at the Top of the
Mast to discover Land? Or upon an high Tower to draw a Landskip of the
Country round about? For the same Reason, short-sighted Minds are unfit
to make Philosophers, whose proper Business it is to discover and
describe in comprehensive Theories the _Phænomena_ of the World, and the
Causes of them.

This Original Disease of the Mind is seldom cur’d by Learning, which
cures many others; like a Fault in the first _Stamina_ of the Body, it
cannot easily be rectified afterwards. ’Tis a great Mistake to think
that every sort of Learning makes a Man a competent Judge of Natural
Speculations: We see unhappy Examples to the contrary amongst the
Christian Fathers, and particularly in St. _Austin_, who was
unquestionably a Man of Parts and Learning; but interposing in a
Controversy where his Talent did not lie, shew’d his Zeal against the
_Antipodes_ to very ill purpose, though he drew his Reasons partly from
Scripture. And if within a few Years, or in the next Generation, it
should prove as certain and demonstrable that the _Earth is mov’d_, as
it is now, that there are _Antipodes_; those that have been zealous
against it, and engag’d the Scripture in the Controversy, would have the
same Reason to repent of their Forwardness, that St. _Austin_ would have
now, if he was alive. ’Tis a dangerous thing to engage the Authority of
Scripture in Disputes about the Natural World, in Opposition to Reason;
lest Time, which brings all Things to Light, should discover that to be
evidently false which we had made Scripture to assert: And I remember
St. _Austin_, in his Exposition upon _Genesis_, hath laid down a Rule to
this very purpose, though he had the Unhappiness, it seems, not to
follow it always himself. The Reason also, which he gives there for his
Rule, is very good and substantial: For, saith he[1], _if the
Unbelievers or Philosophers shall certainly know us to be mistaken, and
to err in those things that concern the Natural World, and see that we
alledge our (Sacred) Books for such vain Opinions, how shall they
believe those same Books when they tell them of the RESURRECTION of the
Dead, and the World to come, if they find them to be fallaciously writ
in such things as lie within their certain Knowledge?_

We are not to suppose that any Truth concerning the Natural World can be
an Enemy to Religion; for Truth cannot be an Enemy to Truth, God is not
divided against himself; and therefore we ought not upon that Account to
condemn or censure what we have not examin’d or cannot disprove; as
those, that are of this narrow Spirit we are speaking of, are very apt
to do. Let every thing be try’d and examin’d in the first Place, whether
it be _True_ or _False_; and if it be found false, ’tis then to be
consider’d whether it be such a Falsity as is prejudicial to Religion or
no. But for every new Theory that is propos’d, to be alarm’d, as if all
Religion was falling about our Ears, is to make the World suspect that
we are very ill assur’d of the Foundation it stands upon. Besides, do
not all Men complain, even these as well as others, of the great
ignorance of Mankind? how little we know, and how much is still unknown?
and can we ever know more, unless something new be discover’d? It cannot
be old when it comes first to light, when first invented, and first
propos’d. If a Prince should complain of the Poorness of his Exchequer,
and the Scarcity of Money in his Kingdom, would he be angry with his
Merchants, if they brought him home a _Cargo_ of good Bullion, or a Mass
of Gold out of a foreign Country? and give this Reason only for it, He
would have no _new Silver_; neither should any be current in his
Dominions but what had his own Stamp and Image upon it: How should this
Prince or his People grow rich? To complain of Want, and yet refuse all
offers of a Supply, looks very sullen, or very fantastical.

                  *       *       *       *       *

I might mention also upon this occasion another Genius and Disposition
in Men, which often makes them improper for Philosophical
Contemplations; not so much, it may be, from the Narrowness of their
Spirit and Understanding, as because they will not take Time to extend
them. I mean Men of Wit and Parts, but of short Thoughts and little
Meditation, and that are apt to distrust every Thing for a Fancy or
Fiction that is not the Dictate of Sense, or made out immediately to
their Senses. Men of this Humour and Character call such Theories as
these philosophick Romances, and think themselves witty in the
Expression; they allow them to be pretty Amusements of the Mind, but
without Truth or Reality. I am afraid if an Angel should write the
Theory of the Earth, they would pass the same Judgment upon it; where
there is Variety of Parts in a due Contexture, with something of
surprizing Aptness in the Harmony and Correspondency of them, this they
call a Romance; but such Romances must all Theories of Nature and of
Providence be, and must have every Part of that Character with
Advantage, if they be well represented. There is in them, as I may so
say, a _Plot_ or _Mystery_ pursued thro’ the whole Work, and certain
grand Issues or Events upon which the rest depend, or to which they are
subordinate; but these Things we do not make or contrive our selves, but
find and discover them, being made already by the great Author and
Governor of the Universe: And when they are clearly discover’d, well
digested, and well reason’d in every Part, there is, methinks, more of
Beauty in such a Theory, at least a more masculine Beauty, than in any
Poem or Romance; and that solid Truth that is at the Bottom gives a
Satisfaction to the Mind, that it can never have from any Fiction how
artificial soever it be.

To enter no further upon this Matter, ’tis enough to observe, that when
we make Judgments and Censures upon general Presumptions and Prejudices,
they are made rather from the Temper and Model of our own Spirits, than
from Reason; and therefore, if we would neither impose upon our selves,
nor others, we must lay aside that lazy and fallacious Method of
censuring by the Lump, and must bring things close to the Test of _True_
or _False_, to explicit Proof and Evidence; and whosoever makes such
Objections against an _Hypothesis_, hath a Right to be heard, let his
Temper and Genius be what it will. Neither do we intend that any thing
we have said here should be understood in another Sense.

To conclude, This Theory being writ with a sincere Intention to justify
the Doctrines of the _Universal Deluge_, and of a _Paradisiacal_ State,
and protect them from the Cavils of those that are no Well-wishers to
sacred History, upon that Account it may reasonably expect fair Usage
and Acceptance with all that are well-dispos’d; and it will also be, I
think, a great Satisfaction to them to see those Pieces of most ancient
History, which have been chiefly preserv’d in Scripture, confirm’d anew,
and by another Light, that of Nature and Philosophy; and also freed from
those Misconceptions or Misrepresentations, which made them sit uneasie
upon the Spirits even of the best Men that took Time to think. _Lastly_,
In things purely speculative, as these are, and no Ingredients of our
Faith, it is free to differ from one another in our Opinions and
Sentiments; and so I remember St. _Austin_ hath observ’d upon this very
Subject of _Paradise_; wherefore as we desire to give no Offence our
selves, so neither shall we take any at the Difference of Judgment in
others; provided this Liberty be mutual, and that we all agree to study
_Peace_, _Truth_, and a _good Life_.

Footnote 1:

  Gen. ad lit. lib. 1. c. 19. Plerumque accidit ut aliquid de Terrâ de
  Cœlo, de cæteris hujus mundi elementis, _&c._ Cùm enim quenquam
  Christianorum in eâ re quam optimè nôrunt, errare deprehenderint, &
  vanam sententiam suam ex nostris libris asserere, quo pacto illis
  libris credituri sunt de Resurrectione Mortuorum, & spe vitæ æterne
  regnoque cœlorum, quando de bis rebus quas jam experiri vel
  indubitatis numeris percipere potuerunt, fallaciter putaverint esse
  conscriptos?




                       CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS.

The FIRST BOOK.

CHAP. I.

_The Introduction: An Account of the whole Work, of the Extent and
general Order of it._ ... Page 1

CHAP. II.

_A general Account of Noah’s Flood. A Computation what Quantity of Water
would be necessary for the making of it; That the common Opinion and
Explication of that Flood is not intelligible._ ... 10

CHAP. III.

_All Evasions concerning the Flood answer’d; That there was no Creation
of Waters at the Deluge, and that it was not particular or national, but
extended throughout the whole Earth. A Prelude and Preparation to the
true Account and Explication of it. The Method of the first Book._ ...
25

CHAP. IV.

_That the Earth and Mankind had an Original, and were not from Eternity;
prov’d against Aristotle. The first Proposition of our Theory laid down,
viz. That the Antediluvian Earth was of a different Form and
Construction from the present. This is prov’d from divine Authority, and
from the Nature and Form of the Chaos, out of which the Earth was made._
... 47

CHAP. V.

_The second Proposition is laid down, viz. That The Face of the Earth
before the Deluge was smooth, regular and uniform; without Mountains,
and without a Sea. The Chaos out of which the World rose is fully
examin’d, and all its Motions observ’d, and by what Steps it wrought it
self into an habitable World. Some things in Antiquity relating to the
first State of the Earth are interpreted, and some things in the sacred
Writings. The divine Art and Geometry in the Construction of the first
Earth is observ’d and celebrated._ ... 71

CHAP. VI.

_The Dissolution of the first Earth: The Deluge ensuing thereupon. And
the Form of the present Earth rising from the Ruins of the first._ ...
89

CHAP. VII.

_That the Explication we have given of an universal Deluge is not an
IDEA only, but an Account of what really came to pass in the Earth, and
the true Explication of Noah’s Flood. An Examination of Tehom-Rabba, or
the great Abyss, and that by it the Sea cannot be understood, nor the
subterraneous Waters as they are at present. What the true Notion and
Form of it was, collected from Moses and other sacred Writers.
Observations on Deucalion’s Deluge._ ... 103

CHAP. VIII.

_The particular History of Noah’s Flood is explain’d in all the material
Parts and Circumstances of it, according to the preceding Theory. Any
seeming Difficulties remov’d, and the whole Section concluded with a
Discourse how far the Deluge may be lookt upon as the Effect fect of an
ordinary Providence, and how far of an extraordinary._ ... 129

CHAP. IX.

_The second Part of this Discourse, proving the same Theory from the
Effects and the present Form of the Earth. First, by a general Scheme of
what is most remarkable in this Globe, and then by a more particular
Induction; beginning with an Account of Subterraneous Cavities and
Subterraneous Waters._ ... 146

CHAP. X.

_Concerning the Channel of the Sea and the Original of it; The Causes of
its irregular Form and unequal Depths: As also of the Original of
Islands, their Situation and other Properties._ ... 172

CHAP. XI.

_Concerning the Mountains of the Earth, their Greatness and irregular
Form, their Situation, Causes and Origin._ ... 188

CHAP. XII.

_A short Review of what hath been already treated of, and in what
manner. All Methods, whether philosophical or theological, that have
been offer’d by others for the Explication of the Form of the Earth, are
examin’d and refuted. A Conjecture concerning the other Planets, their
Natural Form and State compar’d with ours; especially concerning Jupiter
and Saturn._ ... 206

The SECOND BOOK.

CHAP. I.

_The Introduction and Contents of the Second Book. The general State of
the Primæval Earth, and of Paradise._ ... 235

CHAP. II.

_The great Change of the World since the Flood, from what it was in the
first Ages. The Earth under its present Form could not be Paradisiacal,
nor any Part of it._ ... 251

CHAP. III.

_The Original Differences of the Primitive Earth from the Present or
Postdiluvian. The three Characters of Paradise, and the Golden Age,
found in the Primitive Earth. A particular Explication of each
Character._ ... 264

CHAP. IV.

_A Digression concerning the Natural Causes of Longævity. That the
Machine of an Animal consists of Springs, and which are the two
principal. The Age of the Antediluvians to be computed by Solar, not
Lunar Years._ ... 277

CHAP. V.

_Concerning the Waters of the Primitive Earth: What the State of the
Regions of the Air was then, and how all Waters proceeded from them. How
the Rivers arose, what was their Course, and how they ended. Several
things in sacred Writ that confirm this Hydrography of the first Earth,
especially the Postdiluvian Origin of the Rainbow._ ... 307

CHAP. VI.

_A Recollection and Review of what hath been said concerning the
Primitive Earth, with a more full Survey of the State of the First
World, Natural and Civil, and the Comparison of it with the present
World._ ... 329

CHAP. VII.

_Concerning the Place of Paradise; It cannot be determin’d from the
Theory only, nor from Scripture only; What the Sense of Antiquity was
concerning it, as to the Jews and Heathens, and especially as to the
Christian Fathers. That they generally plac’d it out of this Continent,
in the Southern Hemisphere._ ... 345

CHAP. VIII.

_The Uses of this Theory for the Illustration of Antiquity; The Chaos of
the Ancients explain’d; The Inhabitability of the Torrid Zone; The
Change of the Poles of the World; The Doctrine of the Mundane Egg; How
America was first peopled; How Paradise within the Circle of the Moon._
... 363

CHAP. IX.

_A general Objection against this Theory, viz. That if there had been
such a Primitive Earth, as we pretend, the Fame of it would have sounded
throughout all Antiquity. The Eastern and Western Learning consider’d,
the most considerable Records of both are lost; what Footsteps remain
relating to this Subject. The Jewish and Christian Learning consider’d,
how far lost as to this Argument, and what Notes or Traditions remain.
Lastly, How far the Sacred Writings bear witness to it. The Providential
Conduct of Knowledge in the World. A Recapitulation and State of the
Theory._ ... 379

CHAP. X.

_Concerning the AUTHOR of NATURE._ ... 401

CHAP. XI.

Concerning NATURAL PROVIDENCE.

_Several Incroachments upon natural Providence, or Misrepresentations of
it, and false Methods of Contemplation. A true Method propos’d, and a
true Representation of the Universe. The Mundane Idea, and the universal
System of Providence. Several subordinate Systems. That of our Earth and
sublunary World. The Course and Periods of it. How much of this is
already treated of, and what remains. Conclusion._ ... 432




                        THE THEORY OF THE EARTH.
                                BOOK I.
        Concerning the Deluge, and the Dissolution of the EARTH.


                                CHAP. I.
                           The INTRODUCTION.


    _An Account of the whole Work; of the Extent and general Order of
    it._


Since I was first inclin’d to the Contemplation of Nature, and took
Pleasure to trace out the Causes of Effects, and the Dependance of one
thing upon another in the visible Creation, I had always, methought, a
particular Curiosity to look back into the Sources and ORIGINAL of
Things; and to view in my Mind, so far as I was able, the Beginning and
Progress of a RISING WORLD.

AND after some Essays of this Nature, and as I thought, not
unsuccessful, I carried on my Enquiries further, to try whether this
_Rising World_, when form’d and finish’d, would continue always the
same; in the same Form, Structure, and Consistency; or what Changes it
would successively undergo, by the continued Action of the same Causes
that first produc’d it; and, lastly, what would be its final Period and
Consummation. This whole Series and Compass of Things taken together, I
call’d a COURSE OF NATURE, or, a SYSTEM OF NATURAL PROVIDENCE; and
thought there was nothing belonging to the external World more fit, or
more worthy our Study and Meditation, nor any thing that would conduce
more to discover the Ways of Divine Providence, and to shew us the
Grounds of all true Knowledge concerning Nature. And therefore, to clear
up the several Parts of this Theory, I was willing to lay aside a great
many other Speculations, and all those dry Subtilties with which the
Schools and the Books of Philosophers are usually fill’d.

BUT when we speak of a _Rising World_, and the Contemplation of it, we
do not mean this, of the _Great Universe_; for who can describe the
Original of that vast Frame? But we speak of the _Sublunary World_, this
Earth, and its Dependencies, which rose out of a Chaos about Six
Thousand Years ago. And seeing it hath fallen to our Lot to act upon
this Stage, to have our present Home and Residence here, it seems most
reasonable, and the Place design’d by Providence, where we should first
employ our Thoughts, to understand the Works of God and Nature. We have
accordingly therefore design’d in this Work to give an Account of the
Original of the Earth, and of all the great and general Changes that it
hath already undergone, or is hence forwards to undergo, till the
Consummation of all things. For if from those Principles we have here
taken, and that Theory we have begun in these two first Books, we can
deduce with Success and Clearness the Origin of the Earth, and those
States of it that are already past; following the same Thread, and by
the Conduct of the same Theory, we will pursue its Fate and History
thro’ future Ages, and mark all the great Changes and Conversions that
attend it _while Day and Night shall last_; that is, so long as it
continues an Earth.

By the States of the Earth that are already past, we understand chiefly
_Paradise_ and the _Deluge_; Names well known, and as little known in
their Nature. By the future States we understand the _Conflagration_,
and what new Order of Nature may follow upon that, ’till the whole
Circle of Time and Providence be compleated. As to the first and past
States of the Earth, we shall have little help from the Ancients, or
from any of the Philosophers, for the Discovery or Description of them:
We must often tread unbeaten Paths, and make a Way where we do not find
one; but it shall be always with a Light in our Hand, that we may see
our Steps, and that those that follow us may not follow us blindly.
There is no Sect of Philosophers that I know of, that ever gave an
Account of the Universal Deluge, or discover’d, from the Contemplation
of the Earth, that there had been such a Thing already in Nature. ’Tis
true, they often talk of an Alternation of _Deluges_ and
_Conflagrations_ in this Earth, but they speak of them as Things to
come; at least, they give no Proof or Argument of any that hath already
destroyed the World. As to _Paradise_, it seems to be represented to us
by the _Golden Age_; whereof the Ancients tell many Stories, sometimes
very luxuriant, and sometimes very defective: For they did not so well
understand the Difference betwixt the new-made Earth and the present, as
to see what were the just Grounds of the _Golden Age_, or of _Paradise_;
though they had many broken Notions concerning those Things, as to the
_Conflagration_ in particular. This hath always been reckon’d one
amongst the Opinions, or Dogmata of the Stoicks, _That the World was to
be destroyed by Fire_, and their Books are full of this Notion; but yet
they do not tell us the Causes of the Conflagration, nor what
Preparations there are in Nature, or will be, towards that great Change.
And we may generally observe this of the _Ancients_, that their Learning
or Philosophy consisted more in Conclusions, than in Demonstrations;
they had many Truths among them, whereof they did not know themselves
the Premises or the Proofs: Which is an Argument to me, that the
Knowledge they had, was not a Thing of their own Invention, or which
they came to by fair Reasoning and Observations upon Nature, but was
delivered to them from others by Tradition and ancient Fame, sometimes
more publick, sometimes more secret: These Conclusions they kept in
Mind, and communicated to those of their School, or Sect, or Posterity,
without knowing, for the most part, the just Grounds and Reasons of
them.

’TIS the Sacred Writings of Scripture that are the best Monuments of
Antiquity, and to those we are chiefly beholden for the History of the
first Ages, whether Natural History or Civil. ’Tis true, the Poets, who
were the most ancient Writers among the _Greeks_, and serv’d them both
for Historians, Divines, and Philosophers, have delivered some Things
concerning the first Ages of the World, that have a fair resemblance of
Truth, and some Affinity with those Accounts that are given of the same
Things by Sacred Authors, and these may be of Use in due Time and Place;
but yet, lest any thing fabulous should be mix’d with them, as commonly
there is, we will never depend wholly upon their Credit, nor assert any
Thing upon the Authority of the Ancients which is not first prov’d by
natural Reason, or warranted by Scripture.

IT seems to me very reasonable to believe that besides the Precepts of
Religion, which are the principal Subject and Design of the Books of
Holy Scripture, there may be providentially conserved in them the Memory
of Things and Times so remote, as could not be retrieved, either by
History, or by the Light of Nature; and yet were of great Importance to
be known, both for their own Excellency, and also to rectify the
Knowledge of Men in other Things consequential to them: Such Points may
be, _Our great Epocha_, or the Age of the Earth, The Origination of
Mankind, The First and Paradisiacal State, The Destruction of the old
World by an Universal Deluge, The Longevity of its Inhabitants, The
manner of their Preservation, and of their Peopling the second Earth;
and lastly, The Fate and Changes it is to undergo. These I always look’d
upon as the Seeds of great Knowledge, or Heads of Theories fix’d on
Purpose to give us Aim and Direction how to pursue the rest that depend
upon them. But these Heads, you see, are of a mix’d Order, and we
propose to our selves in this Work only such as belong to the natural
World, upon which I believe the Trains of Providence are generally laid;
and we must first consider, how God hath order’d Nature, and then, how
the Occonomy of the Intellectual World is adapted to it; for of these
two Parts consist the full System of Providence. In the mean Time, what
Subject can be more worthy the Thoughts of any serious Person, than to
view and consider the Rise and Fall, and all the Revolutions, not of a
Monarchy or an Empire, of the _Grecian_ or _Roman_ State, but of an
entire World?

THE Obscurity of these Things, and their Remoteness from common
Knowledge, will be made an Argument by some, why we should not undertake
them; and by others, it may be, the very same Thing will be made an
Argument why we should. For my Part I think _There is nothing so secret
that shall not be brought to Light_, within the Compass of _our World_;
for we are not to understand that of the whole Universe, nor of all
Eternity, our Capacities do not extend so far; but whatsoever concerns
this Sublunary World in the whole Extent of its Duration, from the Chaos
to the last Period, this I believe Providence hath made us capable to
understand, and will in its due Time make it known. All I say, betwixt
the first Chaos and the last Completion of Time and all Things
temporary, this was given to the Disquisitions of Men: On either Hand is
Eternity, before the World and after, which is without our reach: But
that little spot of Ground that lies betwixt those two great Oceans,
this we are to cultivate, this we are Masters of, herein we are to
exercise our Thoughts, to understand and lay open the Treasures of the
Divine Wisdom and Goodness hid in this part of Nature and of Providence.

AS for the Difficulty or Obscurity of an Argument, that does but add to
the Pleasure of contesting with it, when there are Hopes of Victory; and
Success does more than recompense all the Pains. For there is no sort of
Joy more grateful to the Mind of Man, than that which ariseth from the
Invention of Truth; especially when ’tis hard to come by. Every Man hath
a Delight suited to his Genius, and as there is Pleasure in the right
Exercise of any Faculty, so especially in that of Right-Reasoning; which
is still the greater, by how much the Consequences are more clear, and
the Chains of them more long: There is no Chace so pleasant, methinks,
as to drive a Thought, by good Conduct, from one end of the World to the
other; and never to lose Sight of it till it fall into Eternity, where
all things are lost, as to our Knowledge.

THIS Theory being chiefly Philosophical, Reason is to be our first
Guide; and where that falls short, or any other just Occasion offers it
self, we may receive further Light and Confirmation from the Sacred
Writings. Both these are to be look’d upon as of Divine Original, God is
the Author of both; he that made the Scripture made also our Faculties,
and ’twere a Reflection upon the Divine Veracity for the one or the
other to be false when rightly used. We must therefore be careful and
tender of opposing these to one another, because that is, in effect, to
oppose God to himself. As for Antiquity and the Testimonies of the
Ancients, we only make general Reflections upon them, for Illustration
rather than Proof of what we propose; not thinking it proper for an
_English_ Treatise to multiply Citations out of _Greek_ or _Latin_
Authors.

I am very sensible it will be much our Interest, that the Reader of this
Theory should be of an ingenuous and unprejudiced Temper, neither does
it so much require Book-learning and Scholarship, as good natural Sense
to distinguish _True_ and _False_, and to discern what is well prov’d,
and what is not. It often happens that Scholastick Education, like a
Trade, does so fix a Man in a particular Way, that he is not fit to
judge of any thing that lies out of that Way; and so his Learning
becomes a Clog to his natural Parts, and makes him more indocile, and
more incapable of new Thoughts and new Improvements, than those that
have only the Talents of Nature. As Matters of Exercise had rather take
a Scholar that never learn’d before, than one that hath had a bad
Master; so generally one would rather chuse a Reader without Art, than
one ill instructed with Learning, but opinionative, and without
Judgment; yet it is not necessary they should want either, and Learning
well plac’d strengthens all the Powers of the Mind. To conclude, just
Reasoning and a generous Love of Truth, whether with or without
Erudition, is that which makes us most competent Judges what is true.
And further than this, in the Perusal and Examination of this Work, as
to the Author, as much Candor as you please; but as to the Theory, we
require nothing but Attention and Impartiality.




                               CHAP. II.


    _A general Account of NOAH’s Flood; a Computation what Quantity of
    Water would be necessary for the making of it; that the common
    Opinion and Explication of that Flood is not intelligible._


’TIS now more than five Thousand Years since our World was made, and
tho’ it would be a great Pleasure to the Mind, to recollect and view at
this Distance those first Scenes of Nature; what the Face of the Earth
was, when fresh and new, and how Things differ’d from the State we now
find them in, the Speculation is so remote, that it seems to be
hopeless, and beyond the reach of human Wit. We are almost the last
Posterity of the first Men, and fallen into the dying Age of the Worlds;
by what Footsteps, or by what Guide can we trace back our Way to those
first Ages, and the first Order of Things? And yet, methinks, it is
reasonable to believe, that Divine Providence, which sees at once
throughout all the Ages and Orders of the World, should not be willing
to keep Mankind finally and fatally ignorant of that part of Nature, and
of the Universe, which is properly their Task and Province to manage and
understand. We are the Inhabitants of the Earth, the Lords and Masters
of it; and we are endow’d with Reason and Understanding; doth it not
then properly belong to us to examine and unfold the Works of God in
this part of the Universe, which is fallen to our Lot, which is our
Heritage and Habitation? And it will be found, it may be, upon a
stricter Enquiry, that in the present Form and Constitution of the
Earth, there are certain Marks and Indications of its first State; with
which if we compare those Things that are recorded in Sacred History,
concerning the first Chaos, Paradise, and an Universal Deluge, we may
discover, by the help of those Lights, what the Earth was in its first
Original, and what Changes have since succeeded in it.

AND tho’ we shall give a full Account of the Origin of the Earth in this
Treatise, yet that which we have propos’d particularly for the Title and
Subject of it, is to give an Account of the primæval _Paradise_, and of
the Universal _Deluge_, those being the two most important things that
are explained by the Theory we propose. And I must beg leave in treating
of these two, to change the Order, and treat first of the _Deluge_, and
then of _Paradise:_ For though the State of Paradise doth precede that
of the Flood in Sacred History, and in the Nature of the Thing, yet the
Explication of both will be more sensible and more effectual, if we
begin with the Deluge; there being more Observations and Effects, and
those better known to us that may be referr’d to this, than to the
other; and the Deluge being once truly explain’d, we shall from thence
know the Form and Quality of the Ante-diluvian Earth. Let us then
proceed to the Explication of that great and fatal Inundation, whose
History is well known; and according to _Moses_, the best of Historians,
in a few Words is this——

SIXTEEN Hundred and odd Years after the Earth was made, and inhabited,
it was over-flowed and destroyed in a Deluge of Water. Not a Deluge that
was National only, or over-run some particular Country or Region, as
_Judea_ or _Greece_, or any other, but it over-spread the Face of the
Whole Earth, from Pole to Pole, and from _East_ to _West_, and that in
such Excess, that the Floods over-reacht the tops of the highest
Mountains; the Rains descending after an unusual Manner, and the
Fountains of the _Great Deep_ being broke open; so as a general
Destruction and Devastation was brought upon the Earth, and all Things
in it, Mankind and other living Creatures; excepting only _Noah_ and his
Family, who by a special Providence of God was preserved in a certain
Ark, or Vessel made like a Ship, and such kinds of living Creatures as
he took in to him. After these Waters had rag’d for some time on the
Earth, they began to lessen and shrink, and the great Waves and
Fluctuations of this _Deep_ or _Abyss_ being quieted by degrees, the
Waters retir’d into their Channels and Caverns within the Earth; and the
Mountains and Fields began to appear, and the whole habitable Earth in
that Form and Shape wherein we now see it. Then the World began again,
and from that little Remnant preserv’d in the Ark, the present Race of
Mankind, and of Animals, in the known Parts of the Earth, were
propagated. Thus perish’d the Old World, and the present arose from the
Ruins and Remains of it.

THIS is a short Story of the greatest Thing that ever yet hap’ned in the
World, the greatest Revolution and the greatest Change in Nature; and if
we come to reflect seriously upon it, we shall find it extreamly
difficult, if not impossible, to give an Account of the Waters that
compos’d this Deluge, whence they came, or whither they went. If it had
been only the Inundation of a Country, or of a Province, or of the
greatest part of a Continent, some proportionable Causes perhaps might
have been found out; but a Deluge overflowing the whole Earth, the whole
Circuit and whole Extent of it, burying all in Water, even the greatest
Mountains in any known Parts of the Universe, to find Water sufficient
for this Effect, as it is generally explained and understood, I think is
impossible. And that we may the better judge of the whole matter, let us
first compute, how much Water would be requisite for such a Deluge; or
to lay the Earth, consider’d in its present Form, and the highest
Mountains, under Water. Then let us consider whether such a Quantity of
Water can be had out of all the Stores that we know in Nature: And from
these two, we will take our Ground and Rise, and begin to reflect,
whether the World hath not been hitherto mistaken in the common Opinion
and Explication of the general Deluge.

TO discover how much Water would be requisite to make this Deluge, we
must first suppose enough to cover the plain Surface of the Earth, the
Fields and lower Grounds; then we must heap up so much more upon this,
as will reach above the tops of the highest Mountains; so as drawing a
Circle over the tops of the highest Mountains quite round the Earth,
suppose from Pole to Pole, and another to meet it round the middle of
the Earth, all that Space, or Capacity, contain’d within these Circles,
is to be fill’d up with Water. This I confess will make a prodigious
Mass of Water, and it looks frightfully to the Imagination; ’tis huge
and great, but ’tis extravagantly so, as a great Monster: It doth not
look like the Work of God or Nature: However let’s compute a little more
particularly how much this will amount to, or how many Oceans of Water
would be necessary to compose this great Ocean rowling in the Air,
without Bounds or Banks.

IF all the Mountains were pared off the Earth, and so the Surface of it
lay even, or in an equal Convexity every where, with the Surface of the
Sea, from this Surface of the Sea, let us suppose that the height of the
Mountains may be a Mile and a half; or that we may not seem at all to
favour our own Opinion or Calculation, let us take a Mile only for the
perpendicular height of the Mountains. Let us on the other side suppose
the Sea to cover half the Earth, as ’tis generally believ’d to do; and
the common Depth of it, taking one Place with another, to be about a
quarter of a Mile, or 250 Paces. I say, taking one Place with another,
for though the middle Channel of the great Ocean be far deeper, we may
observe, that there is commonly a Descent or Declivity from the Shore to
the middle Part of the Channel, so that one comes by Degrees into the
Depth of it; and those shory Parts are generally but some Fathoms deep.
Besides, in Arms of the Sea, in Straits and among Islands, there is
commonly no great Depth, and some Places are plain Shallows. So as upon
a moderate Computation, one Place compar’d with another, we may take a
quarter of a Mile, or about an hundred Fathoms, for the common Measure
of the Depth of the Sea, if we were cast into a Channel of an equal
Depth every where. This being suppos’d, there would need four Oceans to
lie upon this Ocean, to raise it up to the top of the Mountains, or so
high as the Waters of the Deluge rise; then four Oceans more to lie upon
the Land, that the Water there might swell to the same height; which
together make eight Oceans for the Proportion of the Water requir’d in
the Deluge.

’TIS true, there would not be altogether so much Water required for the
Land as for the Sea, to raise them to an equal height; because Mountains
and Hills would fill up part of that Space upon the Land, and so make
less Water requisite. But to compensate this, and confirm our
Computation, we must consider in the first Place, that we have taken a
much less height of the Mountains than is requisite, if we respect the
Mediterraneous Mountains, or those that are at a great distance from the
Sea; for their Height above the Surface of the Sea, computing the
Declivity of the Land all along from the Mountains to the Sea-side (and
that there is such a Declivity is manifest from the Course and Descent
of the Rivers) is far greater than the Proportion we have taken: The
height of Mountains is usually taken from the Foot of them, or from the
next Plain, which if it be far from the Sea, we may reasonably allow as
much for the Declension of the Land from that place to the Sea, as for
the immediate Height of the Mountain: So, for Instance, the Mountains of
the Moon in _Africa_, whence the _Nile_ flows, and after a long Course
falls into the Mediterranean Sea by _Egypt_, are so much higher than the
Surface of that Sea, first, as the Ascent of the Land is from the Sea to
the Foot of the Mountains, and then as the Height of the Mountains is
from the bottom to the top: For both these are to be computed when you
measure the Height of a Mountain, or of a mountainous Land, in respect
of the Sea: And the Height of Mountains to the Sea being thus computed,
there would be need of six or eight Oceans to raise the Sea alone as
high as the highest Inland Mountains: And this is more than enough to
compensate the less Quantity of Water that would be requisite upon the
Land. Besides, we must consider the Regions of the Air upwards to be
more capacious than a Region of the same Thickness in or near the Earth,
so as if an Ocean pour’d upon the Surface of the dry Land, supposing it
were all smooth, would rise to the Height of half a quarter of a Mile
every where; the like Quantity of Water pour’d again at the Height of
the Mountains would not have altogether the same effect, or would not
there raise the Mass half a quarter of a Mile higher; for the Surfaces
of a Globe, the farther they are from their Center, are the greater; and
so accordingly the Regions that belong to them. And, lastly, we must
consider, that there are some Countries or Valleys very low, and also
many Caverns or Cavities within the Earth, all which in this Case were
to be first fill’d with Water. These Things being compar’d and
estimated, we shall find, that notwithstanding the Room that Hills and
Mountains take up on the dry Land, there would be at least eight Oceans
required, or a Quantity of Water eight times as great as the Ocean, to
bring an Universal Deluge upon the Earth, as that Deluge is ordinarily
understood and explained.

THE Proportion of Water for the Deluge being thus stated, the next thing
to be done, is to enquire where this Water is to be found; if any part
of the Sublunary World will afford us so much: Eight Oceans floating in
the Air make a great Bulk of Water, I do not know what possible Sources
to draw it from. There are the Clouds above and the Deeps below, and in
the Bowels of the Earth; and these are all the Stores we have for Water;
and _Moses_ directs us to no other for the Causes of the Deluge. _The
Fountains (he saith) of the great Abyss were broken up, or burst
asunder_, and the Rain descended for Forty Days, the _Cataracts_, or
_Floodgates_ of Heaven being opened. And in these two, no doubt, are
contain’d the Causes of the great Deluge, as according to _Moses_, so
also according to Reason and Necessity; for our World affords no other
Treasures of Water. Let us therefore consider, how much this Rain of
Forty Days might amount to, and how much might flow out of the Abyss,
that so we may judge whether these two in conjunction would make up the
eight Oceans which we want.

AS for the Rains, they would not afford us one Ocean, nor half an Ocean,
nor the tenth part of an Ocean, if we may trust to the Observations made
by others concerning the Quantity of Water that falls in Rain.
_Mersennus_ gives us this Account of it, _Cog. Phys. Mech._ p. 221. “It
appears by our Observations, that a Cubical Vessel of Brass, whereof we
made use, is fill’d an Inch and an half in half an Hour’s Time; but
because that sucks up nothing of the Moisture as the Earth doth, let us
take an Inch for half an Hour’s Rain; whence it follows, that in the
Space of Forty Days and Nights Rain, the Waters in the Deluge wou’d
rise, at four Feet in 24 Hours, 160 Feet, if the Rains were constant and
equal to ours, and that it rain’d at once throughout the Face of the
whole Earth.” But the Rain of the Deluge, saith he, should have been 90
times greater than this, to cover, for Instance, the Mountains of
_Armenia_, or to reach 15 Cubits above them. So that according to his
Computation, the Forty Days Rain would supply little more than the
hundredth Part of the Water requisite to make the Deluge. ’Tis true, he
makes the Height of the Mountains higher than we do; but, however, if
you temper the Calculation on all Sides as much as you please, the Water
that came by this Rain would be a very inconsiderable part of what was
necessary for a Deluge. If it rain’d Forty Days and Forty Nights
throughout the Face of the whole Earth, in the Northern and Southern
Hemisphere all at once, it might be sufficient to lay all the lower
Grounds under Water, but it would signify very little as to the
overflowing of the Mountains. Whence another Author upon the same
Occasion hath this Passage, _Auct. cat. in_ Gen. 7. 4. “If the Deluge
had been made by Rains only, there would not have needed Forty Days, but
Forty Years Rain to have brought it to pass.” And if we should suppose
the whole middle Region condens’d into Water, it would not at all have
been sufficient for this Effect, according to that Proportion some make
betwixt Air and Water; for they say, Air turn’d into Water takes up a
hundred times less Room than it did before. The Truth is, we may
reasonably suppose, that all the Vapours of the middle Region were
turn’d into Water in this Forty Days and Forty Nights Rain, if we admit,
that this Rain was throughout the whole Earth at once, in either
Hemisphere, in every Zone, in every Climate, in every Country, in every
Province, in every Field; and yet we see what a small Proportion all
this would amount to.

HAVING done then with these superior Regions, we are next to examine the
inferior, and the Treasures of Water that may be had there. _Moses_
tells us, that the Fountains of the great Abyss were broke open, or
_clove asunder_, as the Word there us’d doth imply; and no doubt in this
lay the great Mystery of the Deluge, as will appear when it comes to be
rightly understood and explained; but we are here to consider what is
generally understood by the great _Abyss_, in the common Explication of
the Deluge; and ’tis commonly interpreted either to be the Sea, or
subterraneous Waters hid in the Bowels of the Earth: These, they say,
broke forth and rais’d the Waters, caus’d by the Rain, to such an
Height, that together they over-flowed the highest Mountains. But
whether, or how this could be deserves to be a little examined.

AND in the first Place, the Sea is not higher than the Land, as some
have formerly imagin’d, fancying the Sea stood, as it were, upon a heap,
higher than the Shore; and at the Deluge a Relaxation being made, it
overflow’d the Land. But this Conceit is so gross, and so much against
Reason and Experience, that none I think of late have ventured to make
use of it. And yet on the other Hand, if the Sea lie in an equal
Convexity with the Land, or lower generally than the Shore, and much
more than the Midland, as it is certainly known to do, what could the
Sea contribute to the Deluge? It would keep its Channel, as it doth now,
and take up the same Place: And so also the subterraneous Waters would
lie quiet in their Cells. Whatsoever Fountains or Passages you suppose,
these would not issue out upon the Earth, for Water doth not ascend,
unless by Force. But let’s imagine then that Force us’d and apply’d, and
the Waters both of the Sea and Caverns under Ground drawn out upon the
Surface of the Earth, we shall not be any whit the nearer for this; for
if you take these Waters out of their Places, those Places must be
fill’d again with other Waters in the Deluge; so as this turns to no
Account upon the whole. If you have two Vessels to fill, and you empty
one to fill the other, you gain nothing by that, there still remains one
Vessel empty, you cannot have these Waters both in the Sea and on the
Land, both above Ground and under; nor can you suppose the Channel of
the Sea would stand gaping without Water, when all the Earth was
overflow’d, and the tops of the Mountains cover’d. And so for
subterraneous Cavities, if you suppose the Water pumpt out, they would
suck it in again when the Earth came to be laid under Water; so that
upon the whole, if you thus understand the _Abyss_, or _great Deep_, and
the breaking open its _Fountains_ in this manner, it doth us no Service
as to the Deluge, and where we expected greatest Supply, there we find
none at all.

WHAT shall we do then? Whither shall we go to find more than seven
Oceans of Water that we still want? We have been above and below; we
have drained the whole middle Region, and we have examined the Deeps of
the Earth; they must want for themselves, they say, if they give us any;
and, besides, if the Earth should disgorge all the Water that it hath in
its Bowels, it would not amount to above half an Ocean, which would not
at all answer our Occasions. Must we not then conclude, that the common
Explication of the Deluge makes it impossible? There being no such
Quantity of Water in Nature as they make requisite for an universal
Deluge. Yet to give them all fair Play, having examined the Waters above
the Earth or in the Air, the Waters upon the Earth, and the Waters under
the Earth; let us also consider if there be not Waters above the
Heavens, and if those might not be drawn down for the Deluge. _Moses_
speaks of Waters _above the Firmament_, which though it be generally
understood of the middle Region of the Air, yet some have thought those
to be Waters plac’d above the highest Heavens, or _Super-celestial_
Waters; and have been willing to make use of them for a Supply, when
they could not find Materials enough under the Heavens to make up the
great Mass of the Deluge. But the Heavens, above, where these Waters
lay, are either solid or fluid; if solid, as Glass or Crystal, how could
the Waters get through them to descend upon the Earth? If fluid, as the
Air or Æther, how could the Waters rest upon them, for Water is heavier
than Air or Æther? So that I am afraid, those pure Regions will prove no
fit Place for that Element, upon any Account. But supposing these Waters
there, how imaginary soever, and that they were brought down to drown
the World in that vast Quantity that would be necessary, what became of
them, when the Deluge ceased? Seven or eight Oceans of Water, with the
Earth wrapt up in the middle of them, how did it ever get quit of them?
How could they be dispos’d of when the Earth was to be dry’d, and the
World renew’d? It would be a hard Task to lift them up again among the
Spheres, and we have no Room for them here below. The Truth is, I
mention this Opinion of the Heavenly Waters, because I would omit none
that had ever been made use of, to make good the common Explication of
the Deluge; but otherwise, I think, since the System of the World hath
been better known, and the Nature of the Heavens, there are none that
would seriously assert these _Super-celestial_ Waters, or, at least,
make use of them so extravagantly, as to bring them down hither for
Causes of the Deluge.

WE have now employ’d our last and utmost Endeavours to find out Waters
for the vulgar Deluge, or for the Deluge as commonly understood; and you
see with how little Success; we have left no Corner unsought, where
there was any Appearance or Report of Water to be found, and yet we have
not been able to collect the eighth part of what was necessary upon a
moderate Account. May we not then with Assurance conclude, that the
World hath taken wrong Measures hitherto, in their Notion and
Explication of the general Deluge? They make it impossible and
unintelligible upon a double Account, both in requiring more Water than
can be found, and more than can be dispos’d of if it was found; or could
any way be withdrawn from the Earth when the Deluge should cease. For if
the Earth was encompass’d with eight Oceans of Water heapt one upon
another, how these should retire into any Channels, or be drain’d off,
or the Earth any way disengag’d from them, is not intelligible; and that
in so short a time as some Months: For the Violence of the Deluge lasted
but four or five Months, and in as many Months after the Earth was dry
and habitable. So as upon the whole Enquiry, we can neither find Source
nor Issue, Beginning nor Ending, for such an excessive Mass of Waters as
the vulgar Deluge required; neither where to have them, nor if we had
them, how to get quit of them. And I think Men cannot do a greater
Injury or Injustice to Sacred History, than to give such Representations
of things recorded there, as make them unintelligible and incredible;
and on the other Hand, we cannot deserve better of Religion and
Providence, than by giving such fair Accounts of all things proposed by
them, or belonging to them, as may silence the Cavils of Atheists,
satisfy the Inquisitive, and recommend them to the Belief and Acceptance
of all reasonable Persons.




                               CHAP. III.


    _All Evasions answered; That there was no new Creation of Waters at
    the Deluge: And that it was not Particular or National, but extended
    throughout the whole Earth. A Prelude and Preparation to the true
    Account and Explication of it: The Method of the first Book._


THOUGH in the preceding Chapter we may seem to have given a fair Trial
to the common Opinion concerning the State of the Deluge, and might now
proceed to Sentence of Condemnation: Yet having heard of another Plea,
which some have us’d in its Behalf, and another way found out by
recourse to the Supream Power, to supply all Defects, and to make the
whole matter intelligible, we will proceed no farther ’till that be
consider’d; being very willing to examine whatsoever may be offer’d, in
that or any other way, for resolving that great Difficulty which we have
proposed, concerning _the Quantity of Water requisite for such a
Deluge_. And to this they say in short, that _God Almighty created
Waters on purpose to make the Deluge, and then annihilated them again
when the Deluge was to cease_; and this, in a few Words, is the whole
account of the Business. This is to cut the Knot when we cannot loose
it; they shew us the naked Arm of Omnipotency; such Arguments as these
come like Lightning, one doth not know what Armour to put on against
them, for they pierce the more, the more they are resisted: We will not
therefore oppose any thing to them that is hard and stubborn, but by a
soft Answer deaden their Force by degrees.

And I desire to mind those Persons, in the first Place, of what St.
_Austin_ hath said upon a like Occasion, speaking concerning those that
disproved the Opinion of Waters above the Heavens (which we mention’d
before) by natural Reasons. “We are not, saith he, to refute those
Persons, by saying, that according to the Omnipotence of God, to whom
all things, are possible, we ought to believe there are Waters there, as
heavy as we know and feel them here below; for our Business is now to
enquire according to his Scripture, how God hath constituted the Nature
of Things, and not what he could do or work in these Things by a Miracle
of Omnipotency.” I desire them to apply this to the present Argument for
the first Answer.

_Secondly_, LET them consider, that _Moses_ hath assign’d Causes of the
Deluge; _Forty Days Rain, and the Disruption of the Abyss_; and speaks
nothing of a new Creation of Water upon that Occasion. Those were Causes
in Nature which Providence had then dispos’d for this extraordinary
Effect, and those the Divine Historian refers us to, and not to any
Productions out of nothing. Besides, _Moses_ makes the Deluge increase
by degrees with the Rain, and accordingly makes it cease by degrees, and
that the Waters _going and returning_ as the Waves and great Commotions
of the Sea use to do, retir’d leisurely from the Face of the Earth, and
settled at length in their Channels. Now this manner of the Beginning or
Ceasing of the Deluge doth not at all agree with the instantaneous
Actions of Creation and Annihilation.

_Thirdly_, LET them consider, that Saint _Peter_ hath also assign’d
_Causes_ of the Deluge, _2 Pet. 3. 6._ namely the particular
Constitution of the Earth and Heavens before the Flood; by _reason
whereof_, he saith, _the World that was then perish’d in a Deluge of
Water_; and not by reason of a new Creation of Water. His Words are
these: “The Heavens and the Earth were of old, consisting of Water, and
by Water; whereby, or by reason whereof, the World that then was, being
overflowed with Water, perished.”

_Fourthly_, They are to consider, that as we are not rashly to have
recourse to the Divine Omnipotence upon any Account, so especially not
for new Creations; and least of all for the Creation of new Matter. The
Matter of the Universe was created many Ages before the Flood, and the
Universe being full, if any more was created, then there must be as much
annihilated at the same time to make Room for it; for Bodies cannot
penetrate one another’s Dimensions, nor be two or more within one and
the same Space. Then, on the other Hand, when the Deluge ceas’d, and
these Waters were annihilated, so much other Matter must be created
again to take up their Places. And methinks they make very bold with the
Deity, when they make him do and undo, go forward and backwards by such
countermarches and retractions, as we do not willingly impute to the
Wisdom of God Almighty.

LASTLY, I shall not think my Labour lost, if it be but acknowledg’d,
that we have so far clear’d the Way in this Controversy, as to have
brought it to this Issue; that either there must be new Waters created
on purpose to make a Deluge, or there could be no Deluge as it is
vulgarly explained; there not being Water sufficient in Nature to make a
Deluge of that kind. This, I say, is a great step, and, I think, will
satisfy all Parties, at least, all that are considerable; for those that
have recourse to a new Creation of Waters, are of two sorts, either such
as do it out of Laziness, and Ignorance, or such as do it out of
Necessity, seeing they cannot be had otherwise; as for the first, they
are not to be valued or gratified; and as for the second, I shall do a
thing very acceptable to them, if I free them and the Argument from that
Necessity; and shew a way of making the Deluge fairly intelligible, and
accountable without the Creation of new Waters; which is the Design of
this Treatise. For we do not tie this Knot with an Intention to puzzle
and perplex the Argument finally with it; but the harder it is ty’d, we
shall feel the Pleasure more sensibly when we come to loose it.

IT may be, when they are beaten from this new Creation of Water, they
will say, the Element of Air was chang’d into Water, and that was the
great Store-house for the Deluge. Forty Days Rain we allow, as _Moses_
does, but if they suppose any other Transelementation, it neither agrees
with _Moses_’s Philosophy, nor St. _Peter_’s; for then the _Opening of
the Abyss_ was needless, and the Form and Constitution of the
Antediluvian _Heavens_ and _Earth_, which St. _Peter_ refers the Deluge
to, bore no part in the Work; it might have been made, in that way,
indifferently under any Heavens, or Earth. Besides, they offend against
St. _Austin_’s Rule in this Method too; for I look upon it as no less a
Miracle to turn Air into Water, than to turn Water into Wine. _Air_, I
say: For Vapours indeed are but Water made volatile; but pure Air is a
Body of another Species, and cannot by any Compression or Condensation,
so far as is yet known, be chang’d into Water. And lastly, if the whole
Atmosphere was turn’d into Water, ’tis very probable it would make no
more than 34 Foot or thereabouts; for so much Air or Vapours as is of
the same weight with any certain Quantity of Water, ’tis likely, if it
was chang’d into Water, would also be of the same Bulk with it, or not
much more: Now according to the Doctrine of the Gravitation of the
Atmosphere, ’tis found, that 34 Foot of Water does counterballance a
proportionable Cylinder of Air reaching to the top of the Atmosphere;
and consequently, if the whole Atmosphere was converted into Water, it
would make no more than eleven or twelve Yards Water about the Earth;
which the Cavities of the Earth would be able in a good measure to suck
up, at least this is very inconsiderable as to our eight Oceans. And if
you would change the higher Regions into Water too, what must supply the
Place of that Air which you transform into Water, and bring down upon
the Earth? There would be little left but Fire and Æther betwixt us and
the Moon, and I am afraid it would endanger to suck down the Moon too
after it. In a Word, such an Explication as this is both purely
imaginary, and also very operose, and would affect a great part of the
Universe; and after all, they would be as hard put to it to get rid of
this Water, when the Deluge was to cease, as they were at first to
procure it.

HAVING now examin’d and answered all the Pleas, from first to last, for
the vulgar Deluge, or the old way of explaining it, we should proceed
immediately to propose another Method, and another Ground for an
universal Deluge, were it not that an Opinion hath been started by some
of late, that would in effect supplant both these Methods, old and new,
and take away in a great measure the Subject of the Question. Some
Modern Authors observing what straits they have been put to in all Ages,
to find out Water enough for _Noah_’s Flood, have ventur’d upon an
Expedient more brisk and bold than any of the Ancients durst venture
upon: They say, _Noah_’s Flood was not Universal, but a National
Inundation, confin’d to _Judea_, and those Countries thereabouts; and
consequently, there would not be so much Water necessary for the Cause
of it, as we have prov’d to be necessary for an Universal Deluge of that
kind. Their Inference is very true, they have avoided that Rock, but
they run upon another no less dangerous; to avoid an Objection from
Reason, they deny matter of Fact, and such matter of Fact as is well
attested by History, both Sacred and Prophane. I believe the Authors
that set up this Opinion were not themselves satisfy’d with it; but
seeing insuperable Difficulties in the old Way, they are the more
excusable in chusing, as they thought, of two Evils the less.

BUT the Choice, methinks, is as bad on this Hand, if all things be
considered; _Moses_ represents the Flood of _Noah_ as an Overthrow and
Destruction of the whole Earth; and who can imagine, that in sixteen or
seventeen hundred Years time, (taking the lower Chronology) that the
Earth had then stood, Mankind should be propagated no farther than
_Judea_, or some neighbouring Countries thereabouts? After the Flood,
when the World was renew’d again by eight Persons, they had made a far
greater Progress in _Asia_, _Europe_, and _Africa_, within the same
space of Years, and yet ’tis likely they were more fruitful in the first
Ages of the World, than after the Flood; and they liv’d six, seven,
eight, nine hundred Years a Piece, getting Sons and Daughters. Which
Longevity of the first Inhabitants of the Earth seems to have been
providentially design’d for the quicker Multiplication and Propagation
of Mankind; and Mankind thereby would become so numerous within sixteen
hundred Years, that there seems to me to be a greater Difficulty from
the Multitude of the People that would be before the Flood, than from
the want of People: For if we allow the first Couple at the End of one
hundred Years, or of the first Century, to have left ten Pair of
Breeders, which is no hard Supposition, there would arise from these, in
fifteen hundred Years, a greater Number than the Earth was capable of;
allowing every Pair to multiply in the same decuple Proportion the first
Pair did. But because this would rise far beyond the Capacities of this
Earth, let us suppose them to increase, in the following Centuries, in a
quintuple Proportion only, or, if you will, only in a quadruple; and
then the Table of the Multiplication of Mankind, from the Creation to
the Flood, would stand thus;

                        _Century_

                        1—                   10
                        2—                   40
                        3—                  160
                        4—                  640
                        5—                 2560
                        6—                10240
                        7—                40960
                        8—               163840
                        9—               655360
                        10—             2621440
                        11—            10485760
                        12—            41943040
                        13—           167772160
                        14—           671088640
                        15—          2684354560
                        16—         10737418240

This Product is too excessive high, if compar’d with the present number
of Men upon the Face of the Earth, which, I think, is commonly estimated
to be betwixt three and four hundred Millions; and yet this Proportion
of their Increase seems to be low enough, if we take one Proportion for
all the Centuries; for, in reality, the same Measure cannot run equally
through all the Ages, but we have taken this as moderate and reasonable
betwixt the highest and the lowest; but if we had taken only a tripple
Proportion, it would have been sufficient (all things consider’d) for
the Purpose. There are several other ways of computing this Number, and
some more particular and exact than this is, but which way soever you
try, you shall find the Product great enough for the Extent of this
Earth; and if you follow the Septuagint Chronology, it will still be far
higher. I have met with three or four different Calculations, in several
Authors, of the Number of Mankind before the Flood, and never met with
any yet, but what exceeded the Number of the People that are at present
upon the Face of the Earth. So as it seems to me a very groundless and
forc’d Conceit to imagine, that _Judea_ only, and some Parts about it in
_Asia_, were stor’d with People when the Deluge was brought upon the old
World. Besides, if the Deluge was confin’d to those Countries, I do not
see but the Borderers might have escap’d, shifting a little into the
adjoining Places where the Deluge did not reach. But especially what
needed so much ado to build an Ark to save _Noah_ and his Family, if he
might have sav’d himself and them, only by retiring into some
neighbouring Country; as _Lot_ and his Family sav’d themselves, by
withdrawing from _Sodom_, when the City was to be destroyed? Had not
this been a far easier thing, and more compendious, than the great
Preparations he made of a large Vessel, with Rooms, for the Reception
and Accommodation of Beasts and Birds? And now I mention Birds, why
could not they at least have flown into the next dry Country? They might
have pearch’d upon the Trees, and the tops of the Mountains by the way
to have rested themselves if they were weary, for the Waters did not all
of a sudden rise to the Mountains tops.

I cannot but look upon the Deluge as a much more considerable thing than
these Authors wou’d represent it, and as a kind of Dissolution of
Nature; _Moses_ calls it a destroying of the _Earth_, as well as of
Mankind, _Gen. 6. 13._ And the Bow was set in the Cloud to seal the
Covenant, _that he would destroy the Earth no more_, _Gen. 9. 11._ or
that there would be no more a Flood _to destroy the Earth_. And ’tis
said, _Verse 13._ That the Covenant was made between God and the Earth,
or this Frame of Nature, that it should perish no more by Water. And the
Rain-Bow, which was a Token and Pledge of this Covenant, appears not
only in _Judea_, or some other _Asiatick_ Provinces, but to all the
Regions of the Earth, who had an equal Share and Concern in it. _Moses_
saith also, the Fountains of the great _Abyss_ were burst asunder to
make the Deluge; and what means this _Abyss_, and the bursting of it, if
restrain’d to _Judea_, or some adjacent Countries? What Appearance is
there of this Disruption _there_, more than in other Places?
Furthermore, St. _Peter_ plainly implies, _2 Epist. c. 5. 6._ That the
Antediluvian Heavens and Earth perished in the Deluge; and opposeth the
present Earth and Heavens to them, as different and of another
Constitution; and saith, that these shall perish by Fire, as the other
perished by Water. So he compares the conflagration with the Deluge, as
two general Dissolutions of Nature, and one may as well say, that the
Conflagration shall be only National, and but two or three Countries
burnt in that last Fire, as to say, that the Deluge was so. I confess
that Discourse of St. _Peter_, concerning the several States of the
World, would sufficiently convince me, if there was nothing else, That
the Deluge was not a particular, or national Inundation, but a _mundane_
Change, that extended to the whole Earth, and both to the (lower)
Heavens and Earth.

ALL Antiquity, we know, hath spoke of these mundane Revolutions or
Periods, that the World should be successively destroyed by Water and
Fire; and I do not doubt, but that this Deluge of _Noah_’s, which
_Moses_ describes, was the first and leading Instance of this kind; and
accordingly we see that after this Period, and after the Flood, the
Blessing for Multiplication, and for replenishing the Earth with
Inhabitants, was as solemnly pronounc’d by God Almighty, as at the first
Creation of Man, _Gen. 9. 1._ with _Gen. 1. 28._ These Considerations, I
think, might be sufficient to give us Assurance from Divine Writ of the
Universality of the Deluge; and yet _Moses_ affords us another Argument
as demonstrative as any, when in the History of the Deluge, he saith,
_Gen. 7. 19._ _The Waters exceedingly prevail’d upon the Earth, and all
the high Hills that were under the whole Heavens were covered._ All the
high Hills, he saith, _under the whole Heavens_, then quite round the
Earth; and if the Mountains were covered quite round the Earth, sure the
Plains could not scape. But to argue with them upon their own Grounds:
Let us suppose only the _Asiatick_ and _Armenian_ Mountains covered with
these Waters, this they cannot deny; then unless there was a Miracle to
keep these Waters upon Heaps, they would flow throughout the Earth; for
these Mountains are high enough to make them fall every way, and make
them join with our Seas that environ the Continent. We cannot imagine
Hills and Mountains of Water to have hung about _Judea_, as if they were
congeal’d, or a Mass of Water to have stood upon the middle of the Earth
like one great Drop, or a trembling Jelly, and all the Places about it
dry and untouch’d. All liquid Bodies are diffusive; for their Parts
being in Motion have no Tie or Connexion one with another, but glide and
fall off any way, as Gravity and the Air presseth them; so the Surface
of Water doth always conform into a Spherical Convexity with the rest of
the Globe of the Earth, and every part of it falls as near to the Center
as it can; wherefore when these Waters began to rise at first, long
before they cou’d swell to the height of the Mountains, they would
diffuse themselves every way, and thereupon all the Valleys and Plains,
and lower Parts of the Earth would be filled throughout the whole Earth,
before they cou’d rise to the Tops of the Mountains in any Part of it:
And the Sea would be all raised to a considerable height before the
Mountains could be covered. For let us suppose, as they do, that this
Water fell not throughout the whole Earth, but in some particular
Country, and there made first a great Lake; this Lake when it begun to
swell would every way discharge it self by any Descents or Declivities
of the Ground, and these Issues and Derivations being once made and
supply’d with new Waters pushing them forwards, would continue their
Course ’till they arrived at the Sea, just as other Rivers do; for these
would be but so many Rivers rising out of this Lake, and would not be
considerably deeper and higher at the Fountain than in their Progress or
at the Sea, We may as well then expect that the _Leman_ Lake, for
instance, out of which the _Rhone_ runs, should swell to the Tops of the
_Alps_ on the one Hand, and the Mountains of _Switzerland_ and
_Burgundy_ on the other, and then stop, without overflowing the plainer
Countries that lie beyond them; as to suppose that this Diluvian Lake
should rise to the Mountains Tops in one Place, and not diffuse it self
equally into all Countries about, and upon the Surface of the Sea; in
Proportion to its Height and Depth in the Place where it first fell or
stood.

THUS much for Sacred History. The Universality of the Deluge is also
attested by Profane History; for the Fame of it is gone thro’ the Earth,
and there are Records or Traditions concerning it, in all Parts of this
and the new-found World. The _Americans_ do acknowledge and speak of it
in their Continent, as _Acosta_ witnesseth, and _Laet_ in their
Histories of them. _Mart._ The _Chineses_ have the Tradition of it,
which is the farthest part of our Continent; and the nearer and Western
part of _Asia_ is acknowledg’d the proper Seat of it. Not to mention
_Deucalion_’s Deluge in the _European_ Parts, which seems to be the same
under a disguise: So as you may trace the Deluge quite round the Globe
in profane History; and, which is remarkable, every one of these People
have a Tale to tell, some one way, some another, concerning the
Restauration of Mankind; which is an Argument that they thought all
Mankind destroy’d by that Deluge. In the old Dispute between the
_Scythians_ and the _Ægyptians_ for Antiquity, which _Justin_ mentions,
they refer to a former Destruction of the World by Water or Fire, and
argue, whether Nation first rose again, and was original to the other.
So the _Babylonians_, _Assyrians_, _Phœnicians_ and others, mention the
Deluge in their Stories. And we cannot without offering Violence to all
Records and Authority, Divine and Human, deny, that there hath been an
universal Deluge upon the Earth; and if there was an universal Deluge,
no question it was that of _Noah_’s, and that which _Moses_ describ’d,
and that which we treat of at present.

THESE Considerations, I think, are abundantly sufficient to silence that
Opinion, concerning the Limitation and Restriction of the Deluge to a
particular Country or Countries. It ought rather to be look’d upon as an
Evasion indeed, than Opinion, seeing the Authors do not offer any
positive Argument for the Proof of it, but depend only upon that
negative Argument, That an universal Deluge is a Thing unintelligible.
This Stumbling-stone we hope to take away for the future, and that Men
shall not be put to that unhappy Choice, either to deny Matter of Fact
well attested, or admit an Effect, whereof they cannot see any possible
Causes. And so having stated and proposed the whole Difficulty, and
try’d all ways offered by others, and found them ineffectual, let us now
apply our selves by degrees, to untie the Knot.

THE excessive Quantity of Water is the great Difficulty, and the Removal
of it afterwards. Those eight Oceans lay heavy upon my thoughts, and I
cast about every way, to find an Expedient, or to find some way, whereby
the same Effect might be brought to pass with less Water, and in such a
manner that that Water might afterwards conveniently be discharg’d. The
first Thought that came into my Mind upon that Occasion, was concerning
the Form of the Earth, which I imagin’d might possibly at that Time be
different from what it is at present, and come nearer to Plainness and
Equallity in the Surface of it, and so might the more easily be
overflow’d, and the Deluge perform’d with less Water. This Opinion
concerning the Plainness of the first Earth, I also found in Antiquity,
mention’d and refer’d to by several Interpreters in their Commentaries
upon _Genesis_, either upon Occasion of the Deluge, or of that Fountain
which is said, _Gen. 2. 6._ to have watered the Face of the whole Earth:
And a late eminent Person, the Honour of his Profession for Integrity
and Learning, in his Discourse concerning the _Origination of Mankind_,
hath made a like Judgment of the State of the Earth before the Deluge,
that the Face of it was more smooth and regular than it is now. But yet
upon second Thoughts, I easily see that this alone wou’d not be
sufficient to explain the Deluge, nor to give an Account of the present
Form of the Earth, unequal and mountainous as it is. ’Tis true this
would give a great Advantage to the Waters, and the Rains that fell for
Forty Days together would have a great Power over the Earth, being plain
and smooth; but how would these Waters be dispos’d of when the Deluge
ceas’d? Or how could it ever cease? Besides, what means the Disruption
of the great _Deep_, or the great _Abyss_, or what answers to it upon
this Supposition? This was assuredly of no less Consideration than the
Rains; nay, I believe, the Rains were but preparatory in some measure,
and that the Violence and Consummation of the Deluge depended upon the
Disruption of the great Abyss. Therefore I saw it necessary, to my first
Thought, concerning the Smoothness and Plainness of the Antediluvian
Earth, to add a second, concerning the Disruption and Dissolution of it;
for, as it often happens in Earthquakes, when the exterior Earth is
burst asunder, and a great Flood of Waters issues out, according to the
Quantity and Force of them, an Inundation is made in those Parts, more
or less; so I thought, if that _Abyss_ lay under Ground and round the
Earth, and we should suppose the Earth in this manner to be broken in
several Places at once, and as it were a general Dissolution made, we
might suppose that to make a general Deluge, as well as a particular
Dissolution often makes a particular. But I will not anticipate here the
Explication we intend to give of the Universal Deluge in the following
Chapters; only by this previous Intimation we may gather some Hopes, it
may be, that the Matter is not so desperate as the former Representation
might possibly make us fancy it.

GIVE me leave to add farther in this Place, that it hath been observ’d
by several, from the Contemplation of Mountains and Rocks and
Precipices, of the Channel of the Sea, and of Islands, and of
Subterraneous Caverns, that the Surface of the Earth, or the exterior
Region which we inhabit, hath been broke, and the parts of it
dislocated: And one might instance more particularly in several Parcels
of Nature, that retain still the evident Marks of Fraction and Ruin, and
by their present Form and Posture shew, that they have been once in
another State and Situation one to another. We shall have occasion
hereafter to give an Account of these _Phænomena_, from which several
have rightly argu’d, and concluded some general Rupture or Ruin in the
superficial Parts of the Earth. But this Ruin, it is true, they have
imagin’d and explain’d several ways, some thinking that it was made the
_third Day_ after the Foundation of the Earth; when they suppose the
Channel of the Sea to have been form’d, and Mountains and Caverns at the
same time, by a violent Depression of some Parts of the Earth, and an
Extrusion and Elevation of others to make them Room. Others suppose it
to have come not all at once, but by Degrees, at several Times, and in
several Ages, from particular and accidental Causes, as the Earth
falling in upon Fires under Ground, or Water eating away the lower
parts, or Vapours and Exhalations breaking out and tearing the Earth.
’Tis true, I am not of their Opinion in either of these Explications;
and we shall shew at large hereafter, when we have propos’d and stated
our own Theory, how incompetent such Causes are, to bring the Earth into
that Form and Condition we now find it in. But in the mean time, we may
so far make use of these Opinions in general, as not to be startled at
this Doctrine, concerning the Breaking or Dissolution of the Exterior
Earth; for in all Ages the Face of Nature hath provok’d Men to think of
and observe such a Thing. And who can do otherwise, to see the Elements
displac’d and disorder’d, as they seem to lie at present; the heaviest
and grossest Bodies in the highest Places, and the liquid and volatile
kept below; an huge Mass of Stone or Rock rear’d into the Air, and the
Water creeping at its Feet; whereas this is the more light and active
Body, and by the Law of Nature should take Place of Rocks and Stones? So
we see, by the like Disorder, the Air thrown down into Dungeons of the
Earth, and the Earth got up among the Clouds; for there are the tops of
the Mountains, and under their Roots in Holes and Caverns the Air is
often detained. By what regular Action of Nature can we suppose things
first produc’d in this Posture and Form? Not to mention how broke and
torn the inward Substance of the Earth is, which of it self is an
uniform Mass, close and compact; but in the Condition we see it, it lies
hollow in many places, with great Vacuities intercepted betwixt the
Portions of it; a Thing which we see happens in all Ruins more or less,
especially when the Parts of the Ruins are great and inflexible. Then
what can have more the Figure and Mien of a Ruin, than Crags, and Rocks,
and Cliffs, whether upon the Sea-shore, or upon the Sides of Mountains?
What can be more apparently broke, than they are? And those lesser
Rocks, or great bulky Stones that lie often scatter’d near the Feet of
the other, whether in the Sea, or upon the Land, are they not manifest
Fragments and pieces of these greater Masses? Besides, the Posture of
these Rocks, which is often leaning or recumbent, or prostrate, shews to
the Eye, that they have had a Fall, or some kind of Dislocation from
their natural Site. And the same thing may be observed in the Tracks and
Regions of the Earth, which very seldom for ten Miles together have any
regular Surface or Continuity one with another, but lie high and low,
and are variously inclin’d sometimes one way, sometimes another, without
any Rule or Order. Whereas I see no Reason but the Surface of the Land
should be as regular as that of the Water in the first Production of it;
and the Strata or Beds within lie as even. This I am sure of, that this
Disposition of the Elements, and the Parts of the Earth, outward and
inward, hath something irregular and unnatural in it, and manifestly
shews us the Marks, or Footsteps of some kind of Ruin and Dissolution;
which we shall shew you, in its due Place, happen’d in such a way, that
at the same time a general Flood of Waters wou’d necessarily over-run
the Face of the whole Earth. And by the same fatal Blow, the Earth fell
out of that regular Form, wherein it was produc’d at first, into all
these Irregularities which we see in its present Form and Composition;
so that we shall give thereby a double Satisfaction to the Mind, both to
shew it a fair and intelligible Account of the general Deluge, how the
Waters came upon the Earth, and how they return’d into their Channels
again, and left the Earth habitable; and likewise to shew it how the
Mountains were brought forth, and the Channel of the Sea discover’d: How
all those Inequalities came in the Body or Face of the Earth, and those
empty Vaults and Caverns in its Bowels; which things are no less matter
of Admiration than the Flood it self.

BUT I must beg leave to draw a Curtain before the Work for a while, and
to keep your Patience a little in suspence, till Materials are prepar’d,
and all things ready to represent and explain what we have propos’d. Yet
I hope, in the mean time, to entertain the Mind with Scenes no less
pleasing, tho’ of quite another Face and Order; for we must now return
to the Beginning of the World, and look upon the first Rudiments of
Nature, and that dark but fruitful Womb, out of which all things sprang,
I mean the _Chaos_: For this is the Matter which we must next work upon,
and it will be no unpleasing thing to observe, how that rude Mass will
shoot it self into several Forms one after another, ’till it comes at
length to make an habitable World. The steady Hand of Providence, which
keeps all things in Weight and Measure, being the invisible Guide of all
its Motions. These Motions we must examine from first to last, to find
out what was the Form of the Earth, and what was the Place or Situation
of the Ocean, or the great Abyss, in that first State of Nature: Which
two things being determined, we shall be able to make a certain
Judgment, what kind of Dissolution that Earth was capable of, and
whether from that Dissolution an Universal Deluge would follow, with all
the Consequences of it.

IN the mean time, for the Ease and Satisfaction of the Reader, we will
here mark the Order and Distribution of the first Book, which we divide
into three Sections; whereof the first is these three Chapters past: In
the second Section we will shew, that the Earth before the Deluge was of
a different Frame and Form from the present Earth; and particularly of
such a form as made it subject to a Dissolution and to such a
Dissolution, as did necessarily expose it to an Universal Deluge. And in
this Place we shall apply our Discourse particularly to the Explication
of _Noah_’s Flood, and that under all its Conditions, of the Height of
the Waters, of their Universality, of the Destruction of the World by
them, and of their retiring afterwards from the Earth; and this Section
will consist of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Chapters.
In the Third Section we prove the same Dissolution from the Effects and
Consequences of it, or from the Contemplation of the present Face of the
Earth: And here an Account is given of the Origin of Mountains, of
subterraneous Waters and Caverns, of the great Channel of the Sea, and
of the first Production of Islands; and those things are the Contents of
the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Chapters. Then, in the last Chapter, we
make a general Review of the whole Work, and a general Review of Nature;
that by comparing them together, their full Agreement and Correspondency
may appear. Here several collateral Arguments are given for Confirmation
of the preceding Theory, and some Reflections are made upon the State of
the other Planets compar’d with the Earth. And lastly, what Accounts
soever have been given by others of the present Form and Irregularities
of the Earth, are examin’d and shew’d insufficient. And this seemeth to
be all that is requisite upon this Subject.




                               CHAP. IV.


    _That the Earth and Mankind had an Original, and were not from
    Eternity: Prov’d against Aristotle. The first Proposition of our
    Theory laid down, viz. That the Antediluvian Earth was of a
    different Form and Construction from the present. This is prov’d by
    Divine Authority, and from the Nature and Form of the Chaos, out of
    which the Earth was made._


WE are now to enquire into the Original of the Earth, and in what Form
it was built at first, that we may lay our Foundation for the following
Theory deep and sure. It hath been the general Opinion and Content of
the Learned of all Nations, that the Earth arose from a Chaos. This is
attested by History, both Sacred and Profane; only _Aristotle_, whom so
great a Part of the Christian World have made their Oracle or Idol, hath
maintain’d the Eternity of the Earth, and the Eternity of Mankind; that
the Earth and the World were from Everlasting, and in that very Form
they are in now, with Men and Women and all living Creatures, Trees and
Fruit, Metals and Minerals, and whatsoever is of natural Production. We
say all these Things arose and had their first Existence or Production
not six thousand Years ago: He saith, they have subsisted thus for ever,
through an infinite Series of past Generations, and shall continue as
long, without first or last: And if so, there was neither Chaos, nor any
other Beginning to the Earth. This takes away the Subject of our
Discourse, and therefore we must first remove this Stone out of the way,
and prove that the Earth had an Original, and that from a Chaos, before
we shew how it arose from a Chaos, and what was the first habitable Form
that it settled into.

WE are assur’d by Divine Authority, that the Earth and Mankind had a
beginning: _Moses_ saith, _In the Beginning God made the Heavens and the
Earth_. Speaking it as of a certain Period or Term, from whence he
counts the Age of the World. And the same _Moses_ tells us, that _Adam_
was the first Man, and _Eve_ the first Woman, from whom sprung the Race
of Mankind; and this within the Compass of Six Thousand Years. We are
also assur’d from the Prophets, and our Christian Records, that the
World shall have an End, and that by a general Conflagration, when all
Mankind shall be destroyed, with the Form, and all the Furniture of the
Earth. And as this proves the second Part of _Aristotle_’s Doctrine to
be false immediately, so doth it the first, by a true Consequence; for
what hath an End had a Beginning, what is not Immortal, was not Eternal:
That which exists by the Strength of its own Nature at first, the same
Nature will enable to exist for ever; and indeed what exists of it self,
exists necessarily; and what exists necessarily, exists eternally.

HAVING this infallible Assurance of the Origin of the Earth and of
Mankind from Scripture, we proceed to refute the same Doctrine of
_Aristotle_’s by natural Reason. And we will first consider the Form of
the Earth, and then Mankind; and shew, from plain Evidence and
Observation, neither of them to have been Eternal. ’Tis natural to the
Mind of Man to consider that which is compound, as having been once more
simple; whether that Composition be a Mixture of many Ingredients, as
most Terrestrial Bodies are, or whether it be Organical; but especially
if it be Organical: For a Thing that consists of a multitude of Pieces
aptly join’d, we cannot but conceive to have had those Pieces, at one
time or another, put together. ’Twere hard to conceive an eternal Watch,
whose Pieces were never separate one from another, nor ever in any other
Form than that of a Watch. Or an eternal House, whose Materials were
never asunder, but always in the Form of an House. And ’tis as hard to
conceive an _Eternal Earth_, or an _Eternal World_: These are made up of
more various Substances, more Ingredients, and into a far greater
Composition; and the living Part of the World, Plants and Animals, have
much more Variety of Parts and multifarious Construction, than any
House, or any other artificial Thing: So that we are led as much by
Nature and Necessity, to conceive this great Machine of the World, or of
the Earth, to have been once in a State of greater Simplicity than now
it is, as to conceive a Watch, an House, or any other Structure, to have
been once in its first and simple Materials. This I speak without
Reference to immediate Creation, for _Aristotle_ did not own any such
thing, and therefore the Argument stands good against him, upon those
Grounds and Notions that he goes; yet I guess what Answer would be made
by him or his Followers to this Argumentation: They would say, there is
not the same Reason for Natural things, as for Artificial, though
equally compounded. Artificial Things could not be from Eternity,
because they suppose Man, by whose Art they were made, pre-existent to
them; the Workman must be before the Work, and whatsoever hath any thing
before it, is not Eternal. But may not the same thing be said of Natural
things? Do not most of them require the Action of the Sun, and the
Influence of the Heavens for their Production, and longer Preparations
than any Artificial things do? Some Years or Ages would be necessary for
the Concoction and Maturation of Metals and Minerals; Stones themselves,
at least some sorts of them, were once Liquors, or fluid Masses; and all
Vegetable Productions require the Heat of the Sun, to predispose and
excite the Earth and the Seeds. Nay, according to _Aristotle_, ’tis not
Man by himself that begets a Man, but the Sun is his Coadjutor. You see
then ’twas as necessary that the Sun, that great Workman of Nature,
should pre-exist to Natural things, produc’d in, or upon the Earth, as
that Man should pre-exist to Artificial. So that the Earth, under that
Form and Constitution it now hath, could no more be Eternal, than a
Statue or Temple, or any Work of Art.

BESIDES, that Form, which the Earth is under at present, is in some sort
preternatural, like a Statue made and broken again; and so hath still
the less Appearance or Pretence of being Eternal. If the Elements had
lain in that Order to one another, as _Aristotle_ hath dispos’d them,
and as seems to be their first Disposition; the Earth altogether in a
Mass in the middle, or towards the Centre; then the Water in a Spherical
Mass about that; the Air above the Water, and then a Sphere of Fire, as
he fancied, in the highest Circle of the Air: If they had lain, I say,
in this Posture, there might have been some Pretence that they had been
Eternally so; because that might seem to be their Original Posture, in
which Nature had first plac’d them. But the Form and Posture we find
them in at present is very different, and according to his Doctrine must
be look’d upon as unnatural and violent; and no violent State, by his
own Maxim, can be perpetual, or can have been so.

BUT there is still a more pressing Consideration against this Opinion.
If this present State and Form of the Earth had been from Eternity, it
would have long ere this destroy’d itself, and chang’d itself: The
Mountains sinking by degrees into the Valleys, and into the Sea, and the
Waters rising above the Earth; which Form it would certainly have come
into, sooner or later, and in it continu’d drowned and uninhabitable,
for all succeeding Generations. For ’tis certain, that the Mountains and
higher Parts of the Earth grow lesser and lesser from Age to Age; and
that from many Causes, sometimes the Roots of them are weaken’d, and
eaten by subterraneous Fires, and sometimes they are torn and tumbled
down by Earthquakes, and fall into those Caverns that are under them;
and tho’ those violent Causes are not constant, or universal, yet if the
Earth had stood from Eternity, there is not a Mountain would have
escaped this Fate in one Age or other. The Course of these Exhalations
or Fires would have reach’d them all sooner or later, if thro’ infinite
Ages they had stood exposed to them. But there are also other causes
that consume them insensibly, and make them sink by degrees; and those
are chiefly the Winds, Rains, and Storms, and Heat of the Sun without;
and within, the soaking of Water and Springs, with Streams and Currents
in their Veins and Crannies. These two sorts of Causes would certainly
reduce all the Mountains of the Earth, in tract of Time, to Equality; or
rather lay them all under Water: For whatsoever moulders, or is wash’d
away from them, is carried down into the lower Grounds, and into the
Sea, and nothing is ever brought back again by any Circulation: Their
Losses are not repair’d, nor any proportionable Recruits made from any
other parts of Nature. So as the higher parts of the Earth being
continually spending, and the lower continually gaining, they must of
necessity at length come to an Equality; and the Waters that lie in the
lower parts and in the Channels, those Channels and Valleys being fill’d
up with Earth, would be thrust out and rise every where upon the Surface
of the Earth; which new Post, when they had once seiz’d on it, they
would never quit nor would any thing be able to dispossess them; for
’tis their natural Place and Situation which they always tend to, and
from which there is no Progress nor Regress in a Course of Nature. So
that the Earth would have been, both now, and from innumerable
Generations before this, all under Water and uninhabitable; if it had
stood from Everlasting, and this Form of it had been its first Original
Form.

NOR can he doubt of this Argumentation, that considers the Coherence of
it, and will allow time enough for the Effect. I do not say the Earth
would be reduc’d to this uninhabitable Form in ten thousand Years time,
tho’ I believe it would: But take twenty, if you please, take an hundred
thousand, take a million, ’tis all one, for you may take the one as
easily as the other out of Eternity; and they make both equally against
their Supposition. Nor is it any matter how little you suppose the
mountains to decrease ’tis but taking more time, and the same Effect
still follows. Let them but waste as much as a Grain of Mustard-Seed
every Day, or a Foot in an Age, this would be more than enough in ten
thousand Ages to consume the tallest Mountain upon Earth. The Air alone,
and the little drops of Rain have defac’d the strongest and the proudest
Monuments of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_; and allow them but time enough,
and they will of themselves beat down the Rocks into the Sea, and the
Hills into the Valleys. But if we add to these all those other
foremention’d Causes that work with more Violence, and the Weight of the
Mountains themselves, which, upon any occasion offer’d, is ready to sink
them lower, we shall shorten the Time and make the Effect more sure.

WE need add no more here in particular against this _Aristotelian_
Doctrine, that makes the present Form of the Earth to have been from
Eternity; for the Truth is, this whole Book is one continued Argument
against that opinion; shewing that it hath _de facto_ chang’d its Form;
both in that we have prov’d that it was not capable of an universal
Deluge in this Form, and consequently was once under another; and also
in that we shall prove at large hereafter throughout the Third and
Fourth Sections, that it hath been broken and dissolv’d. We might also
add one Consideration more, that if it had stood always under this Form,
it would have been under Fire, if it had not been under Water; and the
Conflagration, which it is to undergo, would have overtaken it long ere
this. For St. _Peter_ saith, The Heavens and the Earth that are now, as
oppos’d to the Antediluvian, and consider’d in their present Form and
Constitution, are fitted to be consumed by Fire. And whosoever
understands the Progress and Revolutions of Nature, will see that
neither the present Form of the Earth, nor its first Form, were
permanent and immutable Forms, but transient and temporary by their own
Frame and Constitution; which the Author of Nature, after certain
Periods of Time, had design’d for Change and for Destruction.

THUS much for the Body of the Earth, that it could not have been from
Eternity, as _Aristotle_ pretended, in the Form it hath. Now let’s
consider the Origination of Mankind; and that we shall find could much
less be Eternal than the other; for whatsoever destroy’d the Form of the
Earth, would also destroy Mankind; and besides, there are many
particular Marks and Arguments, that the Generations of Men have not
been from Everlasting. All History, and all Monuments of Antiquity, of
what kind soever, are but of a few Thousand of Years date; we have still
the Memory of the Golden Age, of the first State of Nature, and how
Mortals liv’d then in Innocency and Simplicity. The Invention of Arts,
even those that are necessary or useful to Human Life, hath been within
the Knowledge of Men: How imperfect was the Geography of the Ancients,
how imperfect their Knowledge of the Earth, how imperfect their
Navigation? Can we imagine, if there had been Men from Everlasting, a
Sea as now, and all materials for shipping as much as we have, that Men
could have been so ignorant, both of the Land and of the Sea, as ’tis
manifest they have been till of late Ages? They had very different
Fancies concerning the Figure of the Earth. They knew no Land beyond our
Continent, and that very imperfectly too; and the Torrid Zone they
thought utterly uninhabitable. We think it strange, taking that short
Date of the World, which we give it, that Men should not have made more
Progress in the Knowledge of these Things; but how impossible is it
then, if you suppose them to have been from Everlasting? They had the
same Wit and Passions that we have, the same Motives that we have, can
we then imagine, that neither the Ambition of Princes, nor Interest or
Gain in private Persons, nor Curiosity and the Desire of Knowledge, nor
the Glory of Discoveries, nor any other Passion or Consideration could
ever move them in that endless time, to try their Fortunes upon the Sea,
and know something more of the World they inhabited? Though you should
suppose them generally stupid, which there is no Reason to do, yet in a
Course of infinite Generations, there would be some great Genii, some
extraordinary Persons that would attempt things above the rest. We have
done more within the compass of our little World, which we can but count
(as to this) from the general Deluge, than those Eternal Men had done in
their innumerable Ages foregoing.

YOU will say it may be, they had not the Advantages and Opportunities
for Navigation as we have, and for Discoveries; because the use of the
Loadstone, and the Mariners needle was not then known. But that’s the
Wonder, that either that Invention, or any other should not be brought
to light till t’other Day, if the World had stood from Eternity. I say
this or any other practical Invention; for such Things, when they are
once found out and known, are not easily lost again, because they are of
daily use. And ’tis in most other practical arts, as in Navigation, we
generally know their original and History; who the Inventors, and by
what degrees improv’d, and how few of them brought to any Perfection
till of late Ages. All the Artificial and Mechanical World is in a
manner new; and what you may call the _Civil_ World too is in a great
measure so. What relates to Government, and Laws; to Wars and
Discipline; we can trace these things to their Origin, or very near it.
The use of Money and of Coins, nay the Use of the very Elements; for
they tell us of the first Invention of fire by _Prometheus_, and the
employing of Wind or Water to turn the Mills, and grind their Corn was
scarce known before the _Romans_, _Plin. l. 7. c. 56._ And that we may
think nothing eternal here, they tell us the Ages and Genealogies of
their very Gods. The measures of Time for the common uses of Life, the
dividing it into Hours, with the Instruments for those Purposes, are not
of an unknown Date: Even the Arts for preparing Food and Cloathing,
Medicines and Medicaments, Building, Civil and Military, Letters and
Writing, which are the Foundations of the World Civil: These, with all
their Retinue of lesser Arts and Trades that belong to them, History and
Tradition tell us when they had their Beginning, or were very imperfect;
and how many of their Inventors and Inventresses were deify’d. The World
hath not stood so long but we can still run it up to those artless Ages,
when Mortals liv’d by plain Nature; when there was but one Trade in the
World, one Calling, to look to their Flocks; and afterwards to till the
Ground, when Nature grew less liberal: And may we not reasonably think
this the Beginning of Mankind, or very near it? If Man be a Creature,
both naturally sagacious to find out its own Conveniencies, and
naturally sociable and inclin’d to live in a Community, a little Time
would make them find out and furnish themselves with what was necessary
in these two kinds, for the Conveniencies of single Life, and the
Conveniencies of Societies; they would not have liv’d infinite Ages,
unprovided of them. If you say _Necessity_ is the Mother of Arts and
Inventions, and there was no Necessity before, and therefore these
things were so slowly invented; this is a good Answer upon our
Supposition, that the World began but some Ages before these were found
out, and was abundant with all Things at first; and Men not very
numerous, and therefore were not put so much to the use of their Wits,
to find out Ways for living commodiously. But this is no Answer upon
their Supposition; for if the World was eternal and Men too, there were
no first Ages, no new and fresh Earth; Men were never less numerous, nor
the Earth more fruitful; and consequently there was never less Necessity
at any time than is now. This also brings to Mind another Argument
against this Opinion, (_viz._) from the gradual Increase of Mankind.
’Tis certain the World was not so populous one or two thousand Years
since, as it is now, seeing ’tis observ’d in particular Nations, that
within the Space of two or three hundred Years, notwithstanding all
Casualties, the Number of Men doubles. If then the Earth had stood from
Everlasting, it had been overstock’d long ere this, and would not have
been capable to contain its Inhabitants many Ages and Millions of Ages
ago. Whereas we find the Earth is not yet sufficiently inhabited, and
there is still Room for some Millions. And we must not fly to universal
Deluges and Conflagrations to destroy Mankind; for besides that the
Earth was not capable of a Deluge in this present Form, nor would have
been in this Form after a Conflagration, _Aristotle_ doth not admit of
these universal Changes, nor any that hold the Form of the Earth to be
eternal. But to return to our Arts and Inventions.

WE have spoken of practical Arts and Inventions useful in human Life;
then for Theoretical Learning and Sciences, there is nothing yet
finish’d or compleat in these; and what is known hath been chiefly the
Production of latter Ages. How little hath been discover’d till of late,
either of our own Bodies, or of the Body of the Earth, and of the
Functions or Motions of Nature in either? What more obvious, one would
think, than the Circulation of the Blood? What can more excite our
Curiosity than the flowing and ebbing of the Sea? Than the Nature of
Metals and Minerals? These are either yet unknown, or were so at least
till this last Age; which seems to me, to have made a greater Progress
than all Ages before put together, since the beginning of the World. How
unlikely is it then that these Ages were Eternal? That the Eternal
Studies of our Fore-fathers could not effect so much as a few Years have
done of late? And the whole Mass of Knowledge in this Earth doth not
seem to be so great, but that a few Ages more, with two or three happy
Genius’s in them, may bring to light all that we are capable to
understand in this State of Mortality.

TO these Arguments concerning the Novelty of the Earth, and the Origin
of Mankind, I know there are some shuffling Excuses made, but they can
have little Effect upon those Instances we have chosen. And I would ask
those Eternalists one fair Question, What Mark is there that they could
expect or desire of the Novelty of a World, that is not found in this?
Or what Mark is there of Eternity that is found in this? If then their
Opinion be without any positive Argument, and against all Appearances in
Nature, it may be justly rejected as unreasonable upon all Accounts.
’Tis not the bold asserting of a Thing that makes it true, or that makes
it credible against Evidence. If one should assert that such an one had
liv’d from all Eternity, and I could bring Witnesses that knew him a
Sucking-child, and others that remembred him a School-boy, I think it
would be a fair Proof, that the Man was not Eternal. So if there be
Evidence, either in Reason or History, that it is not very many Ages
since Nature was in her Minority, as appears by all those Instances we
have given above; some whereof trace her down to her very Infancy: This,
I think, may be taken for a good Proof that she is not Eternal. And I do
not doubt, but if the History of the World was writ Philosophically,
giving an Account of the several States of Mankind in several Ages, and
by what Steps or Degrees they came from their first Rudeness or
Simplicity to that Order of Things, both Intellectual and Civil, which
the World is advanc’d to at present, That alone would be a full
Conviction, that the Earth and Mankind had a Beginning. As the Story of
_Rome_, how it rose from a mean Original, by what degrees it increas’d,
and how it chang’d its Form and Government till it came to its
Greatness, doth satisfy us very well, that the _Roman_ Empire was not
Eternal.

THUS much concerning the Temporal Original of the Earth. We are now to
consider the manner of it, and to shew how it rose from a Chaos. I do
not remember that any of the Ancients that acknowledge the Earth to have
had an Original, did deny that Original to have been from a Chaos. We
are assur’d of both from the Authority of _Moses_, who saith, that in
the Beginning the Earth was _Tohu Bohu_, without Form and Void; a fluid,
dark, confus’d Mass, without Distinction of Elements; and made up of all
Variety of Parts, but without Order, or any determinate Form; which is
the true Description of a Chaos: And so it is understood by the general
Consent of Interpreters both Hebrew and Christian. We need not therefore
spend any time here to prove, that the Origin of the Earth was from a
Chaos, seeing that it is agreed on by all that give it any Origin. But
we will proceed immediately to examine into what Form it first rose when
it came out of that Chaos; or what was the primæval Form of the Earth,
that continued till the Deluge, and how the Deluge depended upon it, and
upon its Dissolution.

And, that we may proceed in this Enquiry by such easy steps as any one
may readily follow, we will divide it into Three Propositions, whereof
the first is this in general; _that the Form of the Antediluvian Earth,
or of the Earth that rose first from the Chaos, was different from the
Form of the present Earth_. I say, _different in general_, without
specifying yet what its particular Form was, which shall be exprest in
the following Proposition.

THIS first Proposition we have in effect prov’d in the second Chapter;
where we have shewn, that if the Earth had been always in this Form, it
would not have been capable of a Deluge; seeing that could not have been
effected without such an infinite Mass of Water as could neither be
brought upon the Earth, nor afterward any way removed from it. But we
will not content our selves with that Proof only, but will prove it also
from the Nature of the Chaos, and the manifest Consequences of it. And
because this is a leading Proposition, we think it not improper to prove
it also from Divine Authority, there being a pregnant Passage to this
Purpose in the Writings of St. _Peter_. Where treating of this very
Subject, the Deluge, he manifestly puts a difference between the
Antediluvian Earth and the present Earth, as to their Form and
Constitution. The Discourse is in the second Epistle of St. _Peter_, the
third Chapter, where certain Deists, as they seem to have been, laught
at the Prophecy of the Day of Judgment, and of the Conflagration of the
World, using this Argument against it, _That since the Fathers fell
asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning_. All
External Nature hath continued the same without any remarkable Change or
Alteration, and why should we believe, say they, there will be any? What
Appearance, or what Foundation is there of such a Revolution, that all
Nature will be dissolved, and the Heavens and the Earth consum’d with
Fire, as your Prophecies pretend? So from the Permanency and
Immutability of Nature hitherto, they argu’d its Permanency and
Immutability for the future. To this the _Apostle_ answers, that they
are willing to forget, that the Heavens and the Earth of old had a
particular Form and Constitution as to Water, by reason whereof the
World, that then was, perish’d by a Deluge. And the Heavens and the
Earth that are now, or since the Deluge, have a particular Constitution
in reference to Fire, by reason whereof they are expos’d to another sort
of Destruction or Dissolution, namely by Fire, or by an universal
Conflagration. The Words of the Apostle, _Chap. iii. v. 5, 6, 7._ are
these; _For this they are willingly ignorant of, that by the Word of God
the Heavens were of old, and the Earth, consisting of Water, and by
Water_; or (as we render it) _standing out of the Water, and in the
Water; wherein the World that then was, being overflow’d with Water,
perish’d. But the Heavens and the Earth that are now, by the same Word
are kept in store, reserv’d unto Fire against the Day of Judgment_. We
shall have occasion, it may be, hereafter to give a full Illustration of
these Words; but at present we shall only take notice of this in
general, that the Apostle here doth plainly intimate some difference
that was between the old World and the present World, in their Form and
Constitution; or betwixt the Antediluvian and the present Earth, by
reason of which difference, that was subject to perish by a Deluge, as
this is subject to perish by Conflagration. And as this is the general
Air and Importance of this Discourse of the Apostle’s, which every one
at first sight would discover; so we may in several particular ways
prove from it our first Proposition, which now we must return to;
(_viz._) _That the Form and Constitution of the Antediluvian Earth was
different from that of the present Earth._ This may be inferr’d from the
Apostle’s Discourse, first, because he makes an opposition betwixt these
two Earths, or these two natural Worlds; and that not only in respect of
their Fate, the one perishing by Water, as the other will perish by
Fire, but also in respect of their different Disposition and
Constitution leading to this different Fate; for otherwise his _fifth
Verse_ is superfluous, and his Inference in the _sixth_ ungrounded; you
see he premiseth in the _fifth Verse_ as the Ground of his Discourse,
what the Constitution of the antediluvian Heavens and Earth was, and
then infers from it in the _sixth Verse_, that they therefore perish’d
in a Deluge of Water. Now if they had been the same with ours, there had
neither been any Ground for making an Opposition betwixt them, nor any
Ground of making a contrary Inference as to their Fate. Besides, in that
he implies that the Constitution of the antediluvian Earth was such, as
made it subject to a Deluge; he shews that it was different from the
Constitution of the present Earth; for the Form of that is such, as
makes it rather incapable of a Deluge, as we have shewn in the second
Chapter. Then we are to observe further, that when he saith (_v. 6._)
that the first World perish’d in a Deluge, or was destroy’d by it; this
is not to be understood of the animate World only, Men and living
Creatures, but of the natural world, and the Frame of it; for he had
describ’d it before by the Heavens and the Earth, which make the natural
World. And the Objection of the Atheists, or Deists rather, which he was
to answer, proceeded upon the natural World. And lastly, this perishing
of the world in a Deluge is set against, or compar’d with the perishing
of the World in the Conflagration, when the Frame of Nature will be
dissolv’d. We must therefore, according to the Tenor of the Apostle’s
arguing, suppose, that the natural World was destroy’d or perish’d in
the Deluge; and seeing it did not perish as to Matter and Substance, it
must be as to the Form, Frame and Composition of it, that it perish’d;
and consequently, the present Earth is of another Form and Frame from
what it had before the Deluge; which was the thing to be proved.

LASTLY, Let us consider what it is the Apostle tells these Scoffers that
they were ignorant of: Not that there was a Deluge, they could not be
ignorant of that; nor doth he tell them that they were. But he tells
them that they were ignorant that the Heavens and the Earth of old were
so and so constituted, after a different manner than they are now, and
that the State of Nature was chang’d at the Deluge; if they had known or
attended to this, they had made no such Objection, nor us’d any such
Argument as they did against the future Conflagration of the World. They
pretended that there had been no Change in Nature since the beginning,
and the Apostle in answer tells them, that they are willingly ignorant
of the first Constitution of the Heavens, and the Earth, and of that
Change and Dissolution that happen’d to them in the Deluge; and how the
present Heavens and Earth have another Constitution, whereby in like
manner they are expos’d, in God’s due time, to be consum’d or dissolv’d
by Fire. This is the plain, easy and natural Import of the Apostle’s
Discourse; thus all the Parts of it are coherent, and the Sense genuine
and apposite, and this is a full Confirmation of our first and general
Assertion, That _the antediluvian Earth was of another Form from the
present Earth_. This hath been observ’d formerly by some of the Ancients
from this Text, but that it hath not been generally observ’d, was partly
because they had no Theory to back such an Interpretation, and make it
intelligible; and partly because they did not observe, that the
Apostle’s Discourse here was an Argumentation, and not a bare
Affirmation, or simple Contradiction to those that rais’d the Scruple;
’tis an Answer upon a Ground taken, he premiseth, and then infers, in
the _fifth_ and _sixth_ Verses, concerning the Deluge; and in the
_seventh_, concerning the Conflagration. And when I had discover’d in my
Thoughts from the Consideration of the Deluge, and other natural
Reasons, that the Earth was certainly once in another Form, it was a
great Assurance and Confirmation to me, when I reflected on this place
of St. _Peter_’s; which seems to be so much directed and intended for
the same purpose, or to teach us the same Conclusion, that though I
design’d chiefly a Philosophical Theory of these Things, yet I should
not have thought we had been just to Providence, if we had neglected to
take Notice of this Passage and Sacred Evidence; which seems to have
been left us on purpose to excite our Enquiries, and strengthen our
Reasonings, concerning the first State of Things. Thus much from Divine
Authority: We proceed now to prove the same Proposition from Reason and
Philosophy, and the Contemplation of the Chaos, from whence the first
Earth arose.

WE need not upon this Occasion make a particular Description of the
Chaos, but only consider it as a fluid Mass, or a Mass of all sorts of
little Parts and Particles of Matter mix’d together, and floating in
Confusion, one with another. ’Tis impossible that the Surface of this
Mass should be of such a Form and Figure, as the Surface of our present
Earth is: Or that any Concretion or consistent State which this Mass
could flow into immediately, or first settle in, could be of such a Form
and Figure as our present Earth. The first of these Assertions is of
easy proof; for a fluid Body, we know, whether it be Water or any other
Liquor, always casts it self into a smooth and spherical Surface; and if
any Parts, by Chance, or by some Agitation, become higher than the rest,
they do not continue so, but glide down again every way into the lower
Places, till they all come to make a Surface of the same height, and of
the same distance every where from the Center of their Gravity. A
Mountain of Water is a thing impossible in Nature, and where there are
no Mountains there are no Valleys. So also a Den or Cave within the
Water, that hath no Walls but the liquid Element, is a Structure unknown
to Art or Nature; all things there must be full within, and even and
level without, unless some external Force keep them by Violence in
another Posture. But is this the Form of our Earth, which is neither
regularly made within nor without? The Surface and exterior Parts are
broken into all sorts of Inequalities, Hills and Dales, Mountains and
Valleys; and the plainer Tracts of it lie generally inclin’d or bending
one way or other, sometimes upon an easy Descent, and other times with a
more sensible and uneasy Steepness; and though the great Mountains of
the Earth were taken all away, the remaining parts would be more unequal
than the roughest Sea; whereas the Face of the Earth should resemble the
Face of the calmest Sea, if it was still in the Form of its first Mass.
But what shall we say then to the huge Mountains of the Earth, which lie
sometimes in Lumps or Clusters heapt up by one another, sometimes
extended in long Ridges or Chains, for many hundred Miles in length? And
’tis remarkable, that in every Continent, and in every ancient and
original Island, there is either such a Cluster, or such a Chain of
Mountains. And can there be any more palpable Demonstrations than these
are, that the Surface of the Earth is not in the same Form that the
Surface of the Chaos was, or that any fluid Mass can stand or hold it
self in?

THEN for the Form of the Earth within or under its Surface, ’tis no less
impossible for the Chaos to imitate that; for ’tis full of Cavities and
empty Places, of Dens and broken Holes, whereof some are open to the
Air, and others cover’d and enclos’d wholly within the Ground. These are
both of them unimitable in any liquid Substance, whose Parts will
necessarily flow together into one continued Mass, and cannot be divided
into Apartments and separate Rooms, nor have Vaults or Caverns made
within it; the Walls would sink, and the Roof fall in: For liquid Bodies
have nothing to sustain their Parts, nor any thing to cement them; they
are all loose and incoherent, and in a perpetual Flux: Even an heap of
Sand or fine Powder will suffer no Hollowness within them, though they
be dry Substances, and though the Parts of them being rough will hang
together a little and stand a little upon an Heap; but the Parts of
Liquors being glib, and continually in motion, they fall off from one
another, which way soever Gravity inclines them, and can neither have
any Hills or Eminencies on their Surface, nor any Hollowness within
their Substance.

YOU will acknowledge, it may be, that this is true, and that a liquid
Mass or Chaos, while it was liquid, was incapable of either the outward
or inward Form of the Earth; but when it came to a Concretion, to a
State of Consistency and Firmness, then it might go, you’ll say, into
any Form. No, not in its first Concretion, nor in its first State of
Consistence; for that would be of the same Form that the Surface of it
was when it was liquid, as Water when it congeals, the Surface of the
Ice is smooth and level, as the Surface of the Water was before; so
Metals, or any other Substances melted, or Liquors that of themselves
grow stiff and harden, always settle into the same Form which they had
when they were last liquid, and are always solid within, and smooth
without, unless they be cast in a Mould, that hinders the Motion and
Flux of the Parts. So that the first concrete State or consistent
Surface of the Chaos must be of the same Form or Figure with the last
liquid State it was in; for that is the Mould, as it were, upon which it
is cast; as the Shell of an Egg is of a like Form with the Surface of
the Liquor it lies upon. And therefore by Analogy with all other Liquors
and Concretions, the Form of the Chaos, whether liquid or concrete,
could not be the same with that of the present Earth, or like it: And
consequently, that Form of the first or primogenial Earth which rose
immediately out of the Chaos, was not the same, nor like to that of the
present Earth; which was the first and preparatory Proposition we laid
down to be prov’d. And this being prov’d by the Authority both of our
Reason and our Religion, we will now proceed to the second which is more
particular.




                                CHAP. V.


    _The Second Proposition is laid down, viz. That the Face of the
    Earth before the Deluge was smooth, regular, and uniform; without
    Mountains, and without a Sea. The Chaos out of which the World rose
    is fully examin’d, and all its Motions observ’d, and by what Steps
    it wrought it self into an habitable World. Some Things in Antiquity
    relating to the first State of the Earth are interpreted, and some
    Things in the Sacred Writings. The Divine Art and Geometry in the
    Construction of the first Earth is observ’d and celebrated._


WE have seen it prov’d, in the foregoing Chapter, That the Form of the
first or antediluvian Earth was not the same, nor like the Form of the
present Earth. This is our first Discovery at a distance, but ’tis only
general and negative, tells us what the Form of that Earth was not, but
tells us not expresly what it was; that must be our next Enquiry, and
advancing one step farther in our Theory, we lay down this second
Proposition: _That the Face of the Earth before the Deluge was smooth,
regular, and uniform; without Mountains, and without a Sea_. This is a
bold Step, and carries us into another World, which we have never seen,
nor ever yet heard any relation of; and a World, it seems, of very
different Scenes and Prospects from ours, or from any thing we have yet
known. An Earth without a Sea, and plain as the _Elysian_ Fields; if you
travel it all over, you will not meet with a Mountain or a Rock, yet
well provided of all requisite things for an habitable World; and the
same indeed with the Earth we still inhabit, only under another Form.
And this is the great Thing that now comes into debate, the great
Paradox which we offer to be examined, and which we affirm, That the
Earth, in its first Rise and Formation from a Chaos, was of the Form
here described, and so continued for many hundreds of Years.

TO examine and prove this, we must return to the beginning of the World,
and to that Chaos out of which the Earth and all sublunary things arose:
’Tis the Motions and Progress of this, which we must now consider, and
what Form it settled into when it first became an habitable World.

NEITHER is it perhaps such an intricate Thing as we imagine at first
Sight, to trace a Chaos into an habitable World; at least there is a
particular Pleasure to see things in their Origin, and by what Degrees
and successive Changes they rise into that Order and State we see them
in afterwards, when compleated. I am sure, if ever we would view the
Paths of Divine Wisdom, in the Works and in the Conduct of Nature, we
must not only consider how Things are, but how they came to be so. ’Tis
pleasant to look upon a Tree in the Summer, cover’d with its green
Leaves, deckt with Blossoms, or laden with Fruit, and casting a pleasing
Shade under its spreading Boughs; but to consider how this Tree with all
its Furniture sprang from a little Seed; how Nature shap’d it, and fed
it, in its Infancy and Growth; added new Parts, and still advanc’d it by
little and little, ’till it came to this Greatness and Perfection: This,
methinks, is another sort of Pleasure, more rational, less common, and
which is properly the Contemplation of Divine Wisdom in the Works of
Nature. So to view this Earth, and this sublunary World, as it is now
complete, distinguish’d into the several Orders of Bodies of which it
consists, every one perfect and admirable in its kind; this is truly
delightful, and a very good Entertainment of the Mind: But to see all
these in their first Seeds, as I may so say; to take in Pieces this
Frame of Nature, and melt it down into its first Principles; and then to
observe how the Divine Wisdom wrought all these Things out of Confusion
into Order, and out of Simplicity into that beautiful Composition we now
see them in; this, methinks, is another kind of Joy, which pierceth the
Mind more deep, and is more satisfactory. And to give our selves and
others this Satisfaction, we will first make a short Representation of
the Chaos, and then shew, how, according to Laws establish’d in Nature
by the Divine Power and Wisdom, it was wrought by degrees from one Form
into another, ’till it settled at length into an habitable Earth; and
that of such a Frame and Structure, as we have described in this second
Proposition.

BY the Chaos I understand the Matter of the Earth and Heavens, without
Form or Order; reduc’d into a fluid Mass, wherein are the Materials and
Ingredients of all Bodies, but mingled in Confusion one with another. As
if you should suppose all sorts of Metals, Gold, Silver, Lead, _&c._
melted down together in a common Mass, and so mingled, that the Parts of
no one Metal could be discern’d as distinct from the rest, this would be
a little Metallick Chaos: Suppose then, the Elements thus mingled, Air,
Water and Earth, which are the Principles of all Terrestrial Bodies;
mingled, I say, without any Order of higher or lower, heavier or
lighter, solid or volatile, in such a kind of confus’d Mass as is here
represented in the first Scheme.

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 1. A confused spherical Mass of matter.]

LET this then represent to us the Chaos; in which the first Change that
we should imagine to happen would be this, that the heaviest and
grossest Parts would sink down towards the middle of it, (for there we
suppose the Center of its Gravity) and the rest would float above. These
grosser Parts thus sunk down and compress’d more and more, would harden
by degrees, and constitute the interiour Parts of the Earth: The rest of
the Mass, which swims above, would be also divided by the same Principle
of Gravity into two Orders of Bodies, the one liquid like Water, the
other volatile like Air. For the more fine and active Parts
disentangling themselves by degrees from the rest would mount above
them; and having Motion enough to keep them upon the Wing, would play in
those open Places where they constitute that Body we call AIR. The other
Parts being grosser than these, and having a more languid Motion, could
not fly up separate from one another, as these did, but settled in a
Mass together, under the Air, upon the Body of the Earth, composing not
only Water strictly so called, but the whole Mass of Liquors, or liquid
Bodies, belonging to the Earth. And these first Separations being thus
made, the Body of the Chaos would stand in that Form which it is here
represented in by the second Scheme.

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 2. Concentric spheres of Matter, the
heaviest nearest the center.]

THE liquid Mass which encircled the Earth was not, as I noted before,
the mere Element of Water, but a Collection of all Liquors that belong
to the Earth: I mean of all that do originally belong to it. Now seeing
there are two chief kinds of Terrestrial Liquors, those that are fat,
oily and light; and those that are lean and more earthy, like common
Water; which two are generally found in compound Liquors; we cannot
doubt but there were of both sorts in this common Mass of Liquids. And
it being well known, that these two kinds mix’d together, if left to
themselves and the general Action of Nature, separate one from another
when they come to settle, as in Cream and thin Milk, Oil and Water, and
such like; we cannot but conclude, that the same Effect would follow
here, and the more oily and light Part of this Mass would get above the
other, and swim upon it. The whole Mass being divided into two lesser
Masses, and so the Globe would stand as we see it in the third Figure.

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 3. The concentric spheres with heavy matter
inner-most, with heavier and the lighter liquids in spheres above.]

HITHERTO the Changes of the Chaos are easy and unquestionable, and would
be dispatcht in a short time; we must now look over again these two
great Masses of the _Air_ and _Water_, and consider how their Impurities
or grosser Parts would be dispos’d of; for we cannot imagine but they
were both at first very muddy and impure: And as the Water would have
its Sediment, which we are not here concern’d to look after, so the
great Regions of the Air would certainly have their Sediment too; for
the Air was as yet thick, gross and dark, there being an abundance of
little Terrestrial Particles swimming in it still, after the grossest
were sunk down; which, by their Heaviness and lumpish Figure, made their
way more easily and speedily. The lesser and lighter which remain’d
would sink too, but more slowly, and in a longer time; so as in their
Descent they would meet with that oily Liquor upon the Face of the Deep,
or upon the watery Mass, which would entangle and stop them from passing
any further; whereupon mixing there with that unctuous Substance, they
compos’d a certain Slime, or fat, soft, and light Earth, spread upon the
Face of the Waters; as ’tis represented in the fourth Figure.

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 4. The liquid layers have rearranged by
heaviness and oilyness.]

THIS thin and tender Orb of Earth increas’d still more and more, as the
little earthy Parts that were detain’d in the Air could make their way
to it. Some having a long Journey from the upper Regions, and others
being very light would float up and down a good while, before they could
wholly disengage themselves and descend. But this was the general
Rendezvous, which sooner or later they all got to, and mingling more and
more with that oily Liquor, they suckt it all up at length, and were
wholly incorporate together, and so began to grow more stiff and firm,
making both but one Substance, which was the first Concretion, or firm
and consistent Substance that rose upon the Face of the Chaos. And the
whole Globe stood in this Posture, as in Figure the fifth.

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 5. The tiny Earthy parts from above have
settled down out of the Air, the rings marked 1, 2, and 3 from outside
to in.]

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 6. Another view of the Rings.]

IT may be, you will say, we take our Liberty, and our own time for the
Separation of these two Liquors, the oily and the earthy, the lighter
and the heavier; and suppose that done before the Air was clear’d of
earthy Particles, that so they might be catcht and stopt there in their
Descent. Whereas if all these Particles were fallen out of the Air
before that Separation was made in the liquid Mass, they would fall down
through the Water, as the first did, and so no Concretion would be made,
nor any earthy Crust form’d upon the Face of the Waters, as we here
suppose there was. ’Tis true, there could be no such Orb of Earth form’d
there, if the Air was wholly purg’d of all its earthy Parts before the
Mass of Liquids began to purify it self, and to separate the oily Parts
from the more heavy: But this is an unreasonable and incredible
Supposition, if we consider, the Mass of the Air was many thousand Times
greater than the Water, and would in Proportion require a greater Time
to be purify’d; the Particles that were in the Regions of the Air having
a long way to come before they reach’d the watery Mass, and far longer
than the oily Particles had to rise from any Part of that Mass to the
Surface of it. Besides, we may suppose a great many degrees of
Littleness and Lightness in these earthy Particles, so as many of them
might float in the Air a good while, like Exhalations before they fell
down. And lastly, We do not suppose the Separation of these two Liquors
wholly made and finish’d before the Purgation of the Air began, tho’ we
represent them so for Distinction sake: Let them begin to purify at the
same time, if you please, these Parts rising upwards, and those falling
downwards, they will meet in the middle, and unite and grow into one
Body, as we have describ’d. And this Body or new Concretion would be
increas’d daily, being fed and supply’d both from above and below; and
having done growing, it would become more dry by degrees, and of a
Temper of greater Consistency and Firmness, so as truly to resemble and
be fit to make an habitable Earth, such as Nature intended it for.

BUT you will further object, it may be, that such an Effect as this
would indeed be necessary in some Degree and Proportion, but not in such
a Proportion, and in such Quantity, as would be sufficient to make this
Crust or concrete Orb an habitable Earth. This I confess appear’d to me
at first a real Difficulty, till I consider’d better the great
disproportion there is betwixt the Regions of the Air and the
Circumference of the Earth, or of that exterior Orb of the Earth, we are
now a making; which being many thousand times less in Depth and Extent
than the Regions of the Air, taken as high as the Moon, tho’ these
earthy Particles we speak of were very thinly dispers’d thro’ those vast
Tracks of the Air, when they came to be collected and amass’d together
upon the Surface of a far lesser Sphere, they would constitute a Body of
a very considerable Thickness and Solidity. We see the Earth sometimes
cover’d with Snow two or three Feet deep, made up only of little Flakes
or Pieces of Ice, which falling from the middle Region of the Air, and
meeting with the Earth in their Descent, are there stop’d and heap’d up
one upon another. But if we should suppose little Particles of Earth to
shower down, not only from the middle Region, but from the whole
Capacity and Extent of those vast Spaces that are betwixt us and the
Moon, we could not imagine but these would constitute an Orb of Earth
some thousands of times deeper than the greatest Snow; which being
increas’d and swoln by that oily Liquor it fell into, and incorporated
with, it would be thick, strong, and great enough in all respects to
render it an habitable Earth.

WE cannot doubt therefore but such a Body as this would be form’d, and
would be sufficient in Quantity for an habitable Earth. Then for the
Quality of it, it will answer all the Purposes of a _Rising World_. What
can be a more proper Seminary for Plants and Animals, than a Soil of
this Temper and Composition? A finer and lighter sort of Earth, mix’d
with a benign Juice, easy and obedient to the Action of the Sun, or of
what other Causes were employ’d by the Author of Nature, for the
Production of Things in the new made Earth. What sort or disposition of
matter could be more fit and ready to catch Life from Heaven, and to be
drawn into all Forms than the Rudiments of Life, or the Bodies of living
Creatures would require? What Soil more proper for Vegetation than this
warm Moisture, which could have no Fault, unless it was too fertile and
luxuriant? And that is no Fault neither at the beginning of a World.
This I am sure of, that the Learned amongst the Ancients, both _Greeks_,
_Ægyptians_, _Phœnicians_, and others, have described the primogenial
Soil, Ἰλὺς πρωτογενὴς, or the Temper of the Earth, that was the first
Subject for the Generation and Origin of Plants and Animals, after such
a manner, as is truly express’d, and I think with Advantage, by this
Draught of the primogenial Earth.

THUS much concerning the Matter of the first Earth. Let us reflect a
little upon the Form of it also, whether external or internal; both
whereof do manifestly shew themselves from the manner of its Production
or Formation. As to the external Form, you see it is according to the
Proposition we were to prove, _smooth, regular and uniform, without
Mountains; and without a Sea_. And the Proof we have given of it is very
easy: The Globe of the Earth could not possibly rise immediately from a
Chaos into the irregular Form in which it is at present. The Chaos being
a fluid Mass, which we know doth necessarily fall into a Spherical
Surface, whose Parts are equi-distant from the Center, and consequently
in an equal and even Convexity one with another. And seeing upon the
Distinction of a Chaos and Separation into several Elementary Masses,
the Water would naturally have a superiour Place to the Earth, ’tis
manifest, that there could be no habitable Earth form’d out of the
Chaos, unless by some Concretion upon the Face of the Water. Then
lastly, seeing this concrete Orb of Earth upon the Face of the Water
would be of the same Form with the Surface of the Water it was spread
upon, there being no Causes, that we know of, to make any Inequality in
it, we must conclude it equal and uniform, and without Mountains, as
also without a Sea; for the Sea and all the Mass of Waters was enclos’d
within this exterior Earth which had no other Basis or Foundation to
rest upon.

THE Contemplation of these things, and of this Posture of the Earth upon
the Waters, doth so strongly bring to Mind certain Passages of
Scripture, (which will recur in another Place) that we cannot, without
Injury to Truth, pass them by here in silence. Passages that have such a
manifest Resemblance and Agreement to this Form and Situation of the
Earth, that they seem visibly to point at it: Such are those Expressions
of the Psalmist, _God hath founded the Earth upon the Seas_. And in
another Psalm, speaking of the Wisdom and Power of God in the Creation,
he saith, _To him who alone doth great wonders; to him that by Wisdom
made the Heavens; to him that extended or stretched out the Earth above
the Waters_. What can be more plain or proper to denote that Form of the
Earth that we have describ’d, and to express particularly the Inclosure
of the Waters within the Earth, as we have represented them? He saith in
another Place, _By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made; he shut
up the Waters of the Sea as in Bags_, (for so the Word is to be
render’d, and is render’d by all, except the _English_) _and laid up the
Abyss as in Store-houses._ This, you see, is very conformable to that
System of the Earth and Sea, which we have propos’d here. Yet there is
something more express than all this, in that remarkable place in the
_Proverbs_ of _Solomon_, where _Wisdom_ declaring her Antiquity and
Existence before the Foundation of the Earth, amongst other things
saith, _Prov. viii. 27._ _When he prepared the Heavens, I was there:
When he drew an Orb over the Surface of the Abyss_; or when he set an
Orb upon the Face of the Abyss. We render it in the _English_, a
_Compass_, or _Circle_, but ’tis more truly render’d an Orb or Sphere;
and what Orb or Spherical Body was this, which at the Formation of the
Earth was built and plac’d round about the Abyss, but that wonderful
Arch, whose Form and Production we have describ’d, encompassing the Mass
of Waters, which in Scripture is often call’d the Abyss or Deep? [_See
Fig. 5. p. 78._ This Orb is represented by the Circle 1. and the Abyss
by the Region 2.] Lastly, This Scheme of the first Earth gives Light to
that Place we mention’d before of St. _Peter_’s, where the first Earth
is said to _consist of Water, and by Water_; and by reason thereof was
obnoxious to a Deluge. The first Part of this Character is plain from
the Description now given; and the second will appear in the following
Chapter. In the mean time, concerning these Passages of Scripture, which
we have cited, we may truly and modestly say, that though they would
not, it may be, without a Theory premis’d, have been taken or
interpreted in this Sense; yet this Theory being premis’d, I dare appeal
to any unprejudic’d Person, if they have not a fairer and easier, a more
full and more emphatical Sense, when apply’d to that Form of the Earth
and Sea we are now speaking of, than to their present Form, or to any
other we can imagine.

THUS much concerning the external Form of the first Earth. Let us now
reflect a little upon the internal Form of it, which consists of several
Regions, involving one another like Orbs about the same Center, or of
the several Elements cast circularly about each other; as it appears in
the fourth and fifth Figure. And as we have noted the external Form of
this primæval Earth, to have been mark’d and celebrated in the Sacred
Writings; so likewise in the Philosophy and Learning of the Ancients,
there are several Remains and Indications of this internal Form and
Composition of it. For ’tis observable, that the Ancients in treating of
the Chaos, and in raising the World out of it, rang’d it into several
Regions or Masses, as we have done; and in that Order successively,
rising one from another, as if it was a Pedigree or Genealogy. And those
Parts and Regions of Nature, into which the Chaos was by degrees
divided, they signified commonly by dark and obscure Names; as the
_Night_, _Tartarus_, _Oceanus_, and such like, which we have express’d
in their plain and proper Terms. And whereas the Chaos, when it was
first set on Work, ran all into Divisions and Separations of one Element
from another, which afterwards were all in some Measure united and
associated in this primogenial Earth; the Ancients accordingly made
_Contention_ the Principle that reign’d in the Chaos at first, and then
_Love:_ The one to express the Divisions, and the other the Union of all
Parties in this middle and common Bond. These, and such like Notions,
which we find in the Writings of the Ancients figuratively and darkly
delivered, receive a clearer Light, when compar’d with this Theory of
the Chaos; which representing every thing plainly, and in its natural
Colours, is a Key to their Thoughts, and an Illustration of their
obscurer Philosophy, concerning the original of the world; as we have
shewn at large in the _Latin_ Treatise, _Lib. 2. chap. 7._

THERE is another Thing in Antiquity, relating to the Form and
Construction of the Earth, which is very remarkable, and hath obtain’d
throughout all learned Nations and Ages. And that is the Comparison or
Resemblance of the Earth to an _Egg_. And this is not so much for its
external Figure, tho’ that be true too, as for the inward Composition of
it; consisting of several Orbs, one including another, and in that
Order, as to answer the several Elementary Regions of which the new made
Earth was constituted. For if we admit for the _Yolk_ a Central Fire
(which tho’ very reasonable, we had no occasion to take Notice of in our
Theory of the Chaos) and suppose the Figure of the Earth _Oval_, and a
little extended towards the Poles, (as probably it was, seeing the
Vortex that contains it is so) those two Bodies do very naturally
represent one another, as in this Scheme, which represents the interior
Faces of both, a divided _Egg_, or Earth. Where, as the two inmost
Regions (A, B,) represent the Yolk and the Membrane that lies next above
it; so the exterior Region of the Earth (D) is as the Shell of the Egg,
and the Abyss (C) under it as the White that lies under the Shell. And
considering that this Notion of the _Mundane Egg_, or that the World was
_Oviform_, hath been the Sense and Language of all Antiquity, _Latins_,
_Greeks_, _Persians_, _Ægyptians_, and others, as we have shew’d
elsewhere, [_Tell. Theor. Sac. lib. 2. c. 10._] I thought it worthy our
Notice in this Place; seeing it receives such a clear and easy
Explication from that Origin and Fabrick we have given to the first
Earth, and also reflects Light upon the Theory it self, and confirms it
to be no Fiction: This Notion, which is a kind of Epitome, or Image of
it, having been conserv’d in the most Ancient Learning.

THUS much concerning the first Earth, its Production and Form; and
concerning our second Proposition relating to it; which being prov’d by
Reason, the Laws of Nature, and the Motions of the Chaos; then attested
by Antiquity, both as to the Matter and Form of it; and confirm’d by
Sacred Writers, we may take it now for a well establish’d Truth, and
proceed upon this Supposition, _That the antediluvian Earth was smooth
and uniform, without Mountains or Sea_, to the Explication of the
Universal Deluge.

GIVE me leave only, before we proceed any further, to annex here a short
Advertisement, concerning the Causes of this wonderful Structure of the
first Earth. ’Tis true, we have propos’d the natural Causes of it, and I
do not know wherein our Explication is false or defective; but in Things
of this kind we may easily be too credulous. And this Structure is so
marvellous, that it ought rather to be consider’d as a particular Effect
of the Divine Art, than as the Work of Nature. The whole Globe of the
Water vaulted over, and the exterior Earth hanging above the Deep,
sustain’d by nothing but its own Measures and Manner of Construction: A
Building without Foundation or Corner-stone. This seems to be a Piece of
Divine Geometry or Architecture; and to this, I think, is to be referr’d
that magnificent Challenge which God Almighty made to _Job_, _Job
xxxviii. 4, 5, 6, 7,_ &c. _Where wast thou when I laid the Foundations
of the Earth? Declare if thou hast Understanding. Who hath laid the
Measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the Line upon
it? Whereupon are the Foundations thereof fastned? Or who laid the
Corner-stone thereof? When the Morning Stars sang together, and all the
Sons of God shouted for Joy._ _Moses_ also, when he had describ’d the
Chaos, saith, _The Spirit of God mov’d upon_, or sat brooding upon, _the
Face of the Waters_; without all doubt to produce some Effects there.
And St. _Peter_, when he speaks of the Form of the antediluvian Earth,
how it stood in reference to the Waters, adds, _By the Word of God_, Τῷ
λόγῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, or by the Wisdom of God it was made so. And this same
_Wisdom_ of God, in the _Proverbs_, as we observed before, takes Notice
of this very piece of Work in the Formation of the Earth. _When he set
an Orb over the Face of the Deep, I was there_. And lastly, the ancient
Philosophers, or at least the best of them, to give them their due,
always brought in _Mens_ or _Amor_, Λόγος & Ἔρως, as a Supernatural
Principle to unite and consociate the parts of the Chaos; which was
first done in the Composition of this wonderful Arch of the Earth.
_Wherefore_ to the great Architect, who made the boundless Universe out
of nothing, and form’d the Earth out of a Chaos, let the Praise of the
whole Work, and particularly of this Masterpiece, for ever with all
Honour be given.




                               CHAP. VI.


    _The Dissolution of the first Earth: The Deluge ensuing thereupon.
    And the Form of the present Earth rising from the Ruins of the
    first._


WE have now brought to light the antediluvian Earth out of the dark Mass
of the Chaos; and not only described the Surface of it, [_See Fig. 5, &
6. pag. 78, & 87._] but laid open the inward parts, to shew in what
Order its Regions lay. Let us now close it up, and represent the Earth
entire, and in larger Propositions, more like an habitable World; as in
this Figure, where you see the smooth Convex of the Earth, and may
imagine the great Abyss spread under it; _as at the Aperture_, which two
are to be the only Subject of our further Contemplation.

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 7. The smooth Sphere of the Earth, with an
Aperture into it.]

IN this smooth Earth were the first Scenes of the World, and the first
Generations of Mankind; it had the Beauty of Youth and blooming Nature,
fresh and fruitful, and not a Wrinkle, Scar or Fracture in all its Body;
no Rocks nor Mountains, no hollow Caves, nor gaping Channels, but even
and uniform all over. And the Smoothness of the Earth made the Face of
the Heavens so too; the Air was calm and serene; none of those
tumultuary Motions and Conflicts of Vapours, which the Mountains and the
Winds cause in ours: ’Twas suited to a golden Age, and to the first
Innocency of Nature.

ALL this you’ll say is well, we are got into a pleasant World indeed,
but what’s this to the Purpose? What Appearance of a Deluge here, where
there is not so much as a Sea, nor half so much Water as we have in this
Earth? Or what Appearance of Mountains or Caverns, or other
Irregularities of the Earth, where all is level and united: So that
instead of loosing the Knot, this ties it the harder. You pretend to
shew us how the Deluge was made, and you lock up all the Waters within
the Womb of the Earth, and set Bars and Doors, and a Wall of
impenetrable Strength and Thickness to keep them there. And you pretend
to shew us the Original of Rocks and Mountains, and Caverns of the
Earth, and bring us to a wide and endless Plain, smooth as the calm Sea.

THIS is all true, and yet we are not so far from the Sight and Discovery
of those Things as you imagine; draw but the Curtain, and these Scenes
will appear, or something very like ’em. We must remember that St.
_Peter_ told us, that the antediluvian Earth perished, or was
demolished; and _Moses_ saith, the _great Abyss_ was broken open at the
Deluge. Let us then suppose, that at a Time appointed by Divine
Providence, and from Causes made ready to do that great Execution upon a
sinful World, that this _Abyss_ was open’d, or that the Frame of the
Earth broke and fell down into the _great Abyss_. At this one stroke all
Nature would be chang’d, and this single Action would have two great and
visible Effects: The one Transient, and the other Permanent. First, an
Universal Deluge would overflow all the Parts and Regions of the broken
Earth during the great Commotion and Agitation of the Abyss, by the
violent Fall of the Earth into it. This would be the first and
unquestionable Effect of this Dissolution, and all that World would be
destroy’d. Then when the Agitation of the Abyss was asswag’d, and the
Waters by degrees were retir’d into their Channels, and the dry Land
appear’d, you would see the true Image of the present Earth in the Ruins
of the first. The Surface of the Globe would be divided into Land and
Sea; the Land would consist of Plains and Valleys and Mountains,
according as the Pieces of this Ruin were plac’d and dispos’d: Upon the
Banks of the Sea would stand the Rocks, and near the Shore would be
Islands, or lesser Fragments of Earth compass’d round by Water. Then as
to subterraneous Waters, and all subterraneous Caverns and Hollownesses,
upon this Supposition those things cou’d not be otherwise; for the Parts
would fall hollow in many Places in this, as in all other Ruins: And
seeing the Earth fell into this Abyss, the Waters at a certain Height
would flow into all those hollow Places and Cavities; and wou’d also
sink and insinuate into many Parts of the solid Earth. And though these
subterraneous Vaults or Holes, whether dry or full of Water, would be
more or less in all Places, where the Parts fell hollow; yet they would
be found especially about the Roots of the Mountains, and the higher
Parts of the Earth; for there the Sides bearing up one against the
other, they could not lie so close at the Bottoms, but many Vacuities
would be intercepted. Nor are there any other Inequalities or
Irregularities observable in the present Form of the Earth; whether in
the Surface of it, or interior Construction, whereof this _Hypothesis_
doth give a ready, fair, and intelligible Account; and doth at one view
represent them all to us, with their Causes, as in a Glass: And whether
that Glass be true, and the Image answer to the Original, if you doubt
of it, we will hereafter examine them Piece by Piece. But in the first
Place, we must consider the general Deluge, how easily and truly this
Supposition represents and explains it, and answers all the Properties
and Conditions of it.

I THINK it will be easily allow’d, that such a Dissolution of the Earth
as we have propos’d, and Fall of it into the Abyss, would certainly make
an Universal Deluge; and effectually destroy the old World, which
perish’d in it. But we have not yet particularly prov’d this
Dissolution, and in what manner the Deluge follow’d upon it: And to
assert things in gross never makes that firm Impression upon our
Understandings, and upon our Belief, as to see them deduc’d with their
Causes and Circumstances; and therefore we must endeavour to shew what
Preparations there were in Nature for this great Dissolution, and after
what manner it came to pass, and the Deluge in Consequence of it.

WE have noted before, that _Moses_ imputed the Deluge to the Disruption
of the Abyss; and St. _Peter_, to the particular Constitution of that
Earth, which made it obnoxious to be absorpt in Water, so that our
Explication so far is justified. But it was below the Dignity of those
Sacred Pen-Men, or the Spirit of God that directed them, to shew us the
Causes of this Disruption, or of this Absorption; this is left to the
Enquiries of Men. For it was never the Design of Providence, to give
such particular Explications of natural Things, as should make us idle,
or the Use of Reason unnecessary; but on the contrary, by delivering
great Conclusions to us to excite our Curiosity and Inquisitiveness
after the Methods, by which such things were brought to pass: And it may
be there is no greater Trial or Instance of natural Wisdom, than to find
out the Channel, in which these great Revolutions of Nature, which we
treat on, flow and succeed one another.

LET us therefore resume that System of the antediluvian Earth, which we
have deduc’d from the Chaos, and which we find to answer St. _Peter_’s
Description, and _Moses_’s Account of the Deluge. This Earth could not
be obnoxious to a Deluge, as the Apostle supposeth it to have been, but
by a Dissolution; for the Abyss was enclos’d within its Bowels. And
_Moses_ doth in effect tell us, there was such a Dissolution; when he
saith, _The Fountains of the great Abyss were broken open_. For
Fountains are broken open no otherwise than by breaking up the Ground
that covers them. We must therefore here enquire in what Order, and from
what Causes the Frame of this exterior Earth was dissolved, and then we
shall soon see how, upon that Dissolution, the Deluge immediately
prevail’d and overflow’d all the Parts of it.

I DO not think it in the power of human Wit to determine how long this
Frame would stand, how many Years, or how many Ages; but one would soon
imagine, that this kind of Structure would not be perpetual, nor last
indeed many thousands of Years, if one consider the Effect that the Heat
of the Sun would have upon it, and the Waters under it; drying and
parching the one, and rarefying the other into Vapours. For we must
consider, that the Course of the Sun at that time, or the Posture of the
Earth to the Sun, was such, that there was no Diversity or Alternation
of Seasons in the Year, as there is now; by reason of which Alternation,
our Earth is kept in an Equality of Temper, the contrary Seasons
balancing one another; so as what Moisture the Heat of the Summer sucks
out of the Earth, ’tis repaid in the Rains of the next Winter; and what
Chaps were made in it, are fill’d up again, and the Earth reduc’d to its
former Constitution. But if we should imagine a continual Summer, the
Earth would proceed in Driness still more and more, and the Cracks would
be wider, and pierce deeper into the Substance of it: And such a
continual Summer there was, at least an Equality of Seasons in the
antediluvian Earth, as shall be prov’d in the following Book, concerning
_Paradise_. In the mean time, this being suppos’d, let us consider what
Effect it would have upon this Arch of the exterior Earth, and the
Waters under it.

WE cannot believe, but that the Heat of the Sun, within the Space of
some hundreds of Years, would have reduc’d this Earth to a considerable
degree of Driness in certain Parts; and also have much rarefied and
exhal’d the Waters beneath it: And considering the Structure of that
Globe, the exterior Crust, and the Waters lying round under it, both
expos’d to the Sun, we may fitly compare it to an _Æolipile_, or an
hollow Sphere with Water in it, which the Heat of the Fire rarefies and
turns into Vapours and Wind. The Sun here is as the Fire, and the
exterior Earth is as the Shell of the _Æolipile_, and the Abyss as the
water within it; now when the Heat of the Sun had pierced thro’ the
Shell and reach’d the Waters, it began to rarefy them, and raise them
into Vapours, which Rarefaction made them require more Space and Room
than they needed before, while they lay close and quiet. And finding
themselves pent in by the exterior Earth, they press’d with Violence
against that Arch, to make it yield and give way to their Dilatation and
Eruption. So we see all Vapours and Exhalations inclos’d within the
Earth, and agitated there, strive to break out, and often shake the
Ground with their Attempts to get loose. And in the Comparison we us’d
of an _Æolipile_, if the Mouth of it be stop’d that gives the Vent, the
Water rarefied will burst the Vessel with its Force: And the Resemblance
of the Earth to an Egg, which we us’d before, holds also in this
Respect; for when it heats before the Fire, the Moisture and Air within
being rarefied, makes it often burst the Shell. And I do the more
willingly mention this last Comparison, because I observe that some of
the Ancients, when they speak of the Doctrine of the _Mundane Egg_, say,
that after a certain Period of Time it was broken.

BUT there is yet another Thing to be considered in this Case; for as the
Heat of the Sun gave Force to these Vapours more and more, and made them
more strong and violent; so on the other Hand, it also weaken’d more and
more the Arch of the Earth, that was to resist them; sucking out the
Moisture that was the Cement of its parts, drying it immoderately, and
chapping it in sundry Places. And there being no Winter then to close up
and unite its Parts, and restore the Earth to its former Strength and
Compactness, yet grew more and more dispos’d to a Dissolution. And at
length, these Preparations in Nature being made on either side, the
Force of the Vapours increas’d, and the Walls weaken’d which should have
kept them in, when the appointed time was come, that All-wise Providence
had design’d for the Punishment of a sinful World, the whole Fabrick
brake, and the Frame of the Earth was torn in Pieces, as by an
Earthquake; and those great Portions or Fragments, into which it was
divided, fell down into the Abyss, some in one Posture, and some in
another.

THIS is a short and general Account how we may conceive the Dissolution
of the first Earth, and an Universal Deluge arising upon it. And this
manner of Dissolution hath so many Examples in Nature every Age, that we
need not insist farther upon the Explication of it. The generality of
Earthquakes arise from like Causes, and often end in a like Effect, a
partial Deluge or Inundation of the Place or Country where they happen;
and of these we have seen some Instances even in our own Times: But
whensoever it so happens that the Vapours and Exhalations shut up in the
Caverns of the Earth by Rarefaction or Compression come to be straitned,
they strive every way to set themselves at Liberty, and often break
their Prison, or the Cover of the Earth that kept them in; which Earth
upon that Disruption falls into the subterraneous Caverns that lie under
it: And if it so happens that those Caverns are full of Water, as
generally they are, if they be great or deep, that City or Tract of Land
is drown’d. And also the Fall of such a Mass of Earth, with its Weight
and Bulk, doth often force out the Water so impetuously, as to throw it
upon all the Country round about. There are innumerable Examples in
History (whereof we shall mention some hereafter) of Cities and
Countries thus swallowed up, or overflow’d, by an Earthquake, and an
Inundation arising upon it. And according to the manner of their Fall or
Ruin, they either remain’d wholly under Water, and perpetually drown’d
as _Sodom_ and _Gomorrha_, _Plato_’s _Atlantis_, _Bura_ and _Helice_,
and other Cities and Regions in _Greece_ and _Asia_; or they partly
emerg’d, and became dry Land again; when (their Situation being pretty
high) the Waters, after their violent Agitation was abated, retir’d into
the lower Places, and into their Channels.

NOW if we compare these Partial Dissolutions of the Earth with an
Universal Dissolution, we may as easily conceive an Universal Deluge
from an Universal Dissolution, as a Partial Deluge from a Partial. If we
can conceive a City, a Country, an Island, a Continent thus absorpt and
overflown; if we do but enlarge our Thought and Imagination a little, we
may conceive it as well of the whole Earth. And it seems strange to me,
that none of the Ancients should hit upon this way of explaining the
Universal Deluge; there being such frequent Instances in all Ages and
Countries of Inundations made in this manner, and never of any great
Inundation made otherwise, unless in maritime Countries, by the
Irruption of the Sea into Grounds that lie low. ’Tis true, they would
not so easily imagine this Dissolution, because they did not understand
the true Form of the antediluvian Earth; but, methinks, the Examination
of the Deluge should have led them to the Discovery of that: For
observing the Difficulty, or Impossibility of an Universal Deluge,
without the Dissolution of the Earth; as also frequent Instances of
these Dissolutions accompanied with Deluges, where the Ground was
hollow, and had subterraneous Waters; this, methinks, should have
prompted them to imagine, that those subterraneous Waters were universal
at that time, or extended quite round the Earth; so as a Dissolution of
the exterior Earth could not be made any where but it would fall into
Waters, and be more or less overflow’d. And when they had once reach’d
this Thought, they might conclude, both what the Form of the
antediluvian Earth was, and that the Deluge came to pass by the
Dissolution of it. But we reason with Ease about the finding out of
Things, when they are once found out; and there is but a thin Paper-wall
sometimes between the great Discoveries, and a perfect Ignorance of
them. Let us proceed now to consider, whether this Supposition will
answer all the Conditions of an Universal Deluge, and supply all the
Defects which we found in other Explications.

THE great Difficulty propos’d, was to find Water sufficient to make an
Universal Deluge, reaching to the Tops of the Mountains; and yet that
this Water should be transient, and after some time should so return
into its Channels, that the dry Land would appear, and the Earth become
again habitable. There was that double Impossibility in the common
Opinion, that the Quantity of Water necessary for such a Deluge was no
where to be found, or could no way be brought upon the Earth; and then
if it was brought, cou’d no way be remov’d again. Our Explication quite
takes off the Edge of this Objection; for, performing the same Effect
with a far less Quantity of Water, ’tis both easy to be found, and
easily remov’d when the Work is done. When the exterior Earth was broke,
and fell into the Abyss, a good part of it was cover’d with Water, by
the meer Depth of the Abyss it fell into, and those Parts of it that
were higher than the Abyss was deep, and consequently would stand above
it in a calm Water, were notwithstanding reach’d and overtop’d by the
Waves, during the Agitation and violent Commotion of the Abyss. For it
is not imaginable what the Commotion of the Abyss would be upon this
Dissolution of the Earth, nor to what Height its Waves would be thrown,
when those prodigious Fragments were tumbled down into it. Suppose a
Stone of ten thousand Weight taken up into the Air a Mile or two, and
then let fall into the middle of the Ocean, I do not believe but that
the dashing of the Water upon that Impression would rise as high as a
Mountain. But suppose a mighty Rock, or heap of Rocks to fall from that
Height, or a great Island, or a Continent; these would expel the Waters
out of their Places with such a Force and Violence, as to fling them
among the highest Clouds.

’TIS incredible to what Height sometimes great Stones and Cinders will
be thrown, at the Eruptions of fiery Mountains; and the Pressure of a
great Mass of Earth falling into the Abyss, though it be a Force of
another kind, could not but impel the Water with so much Strength, as
would carry it up to a great Height in the Air; and to the top of any
thing that lay in its way, any Eminency, high Fragment, or new Mountain:
And then rolling back again, it would sweep down with it whatsoever it
rush’d upon, Woods, Buildings, living Creatures, and carry them all
headlong into the great Gulph. Sometimes a Mass of Water would be quite
struck off and separate from the rest, and toss’d through the Air like a
flying River; but the common Motion of the Waves was to climb up the
Hills or inclin’d Fragments; and then return into the Valleys and Deeps
again, with a perpetual Fluctuation going and coming, ascending and
descending, ’till the Violence of them being spent by degrees, they
settled at last in the Places allotted for them; where _Bounds are set
that they cannot pass over, that they return not again to cover the
Earth, Psalm. civ. 6, 7, 8, 9._

NEITHER is it to be wondred, that the great Tumult of the Waters, and
the Extremity of the Deluge lasted for some Months; for besides, that
the first Shock and Commotion of the Abyss was extreamly violent, from
the general Fall of the Earth, there were ever and anon some secondary
Ruins; or some Parts of the great Ruin, that were not well settled,
broke again, and made new Commotions: And ’twas a considerable Time
before the great Fragments that fell, and their lesser Dependencies
could be so adjusted and fitted, as to rest in a firm and immoveable
Posture: For the Props and Stays whereby they lean’d one upon another,
or upon the Bottom of the Abyss, often fail’d, either by the incumbent
Weight, or the violent Impulses of the Water against them; and so
renewed, or continued the Disorder and Confusion of the Abyss. Besides,
we are to observe, that these great Fragments falling hollow, they
inclos’d and bore down with them under their concave Surface a great
deal of Air; and while the Water compass’d these Fragments, and
overflow’d them, the Air could not readily get out of those Prisons, but
by degrees, as the Earth and Water above would give way; so as this
would also hinder the Settlement of the Abyss, and the retiring of the
Water into those subterraneous Channels, for some Time. But at length,
when this Air had found a vent, and left its place to the Water, and the
Ruins both primary and secondary were settled and fix’d then the Waters
of the Abyss began to settle too, and the dry Land to appear; first the
tops of the Mountains, then the high Grounds, then the Plains and the
rest of the Earth. And this gradual Subsidency of the Abyss (which
_Moses_ also hath particularly noted) and Discovery of the several Parts
of the Earth would also take up a considerable Time.

THUS a new World appear’d, or the Earth put on its new Form, and became
divided into Sea and Land; and the Abyss, which from several Ages, even
from the beginning of the World, had lain hid in the Womb of the Earth,
was brought to light and discover’d; the greatest part of it
constituting our present Ocean, and the rest filling the lower Cavities
of the Earth: Upon the Land appear’d the Mountains and the Hills, and
the Islands in the Sea, and the Rocks upon the Shore. And so the Divine
Providence, having prepar’d Nature for so great a Change, at one stroke
dissolv’d the Frame of the old World, and made us a new one out of its
Ruins, which we now inhabit since the Deluge. All which Things being
thus explain’d, deduc’d, and stated, we now add and pronounce our Third
and last Proposition; _That the Disruption of the Abyss, or Dissolution
of the primæval Earth, and its Fall into the Abyss, was the Cause of the
Universal Deluge, and of the Destruction of the old World_.




                               CHAP. VII.


    _That the Explication we have given of an Universal Deluge is not an
    Idea only, but an Account of what really came to pass in this Earth,
    and the true Explication of Noah’s Flood; as is prov’d by Argument
    and from History. An Examination of Tehom Rabba, or the great Abyss,
    and that by it the Sea cannot be understood, nor the subterraneous
    Waters, as they are at present. What the true Notion and Form of it
    was, collected from Moses and other Sacred Writers; The frequent
    Allusions in Scripture to the opening and shutting the Abyss, and
    the particular Stile of Scripture in its Reflections on the Origin.
    And the Formation of the Earth. Observations on Deucalion’s Deluge._


WE have now given an Account of the first great Revolution of Nature,
and of the Universal Deluge, in a way that is intelligible, and from
Causes that answer the Greatness of the Effect: We have suppos’d nothing
but what is also prov’d, both as to the first Form of the Earth, and as
to the manner of its Dissolution; and how far from that would evidently
and necessarily arise a general Deluge; which was that, which put a
Period to the old World, and the first state of Things. And tho’ all
this hath been deduc’d in due Order, and with Connexion and Consequence
of one thing upon another, so far as I know, which is the true Evidence
of a Theory; yet it may not be sufficient to command the Assent and
Belief of some Persons, who will allow, it may be, and acknowledge, that
this is a fair _Idea_ of a possible Deluge in general, and of the
Destruction of a World by it; but this may be only an _Idea_, they’ll
say; we desire it may be prov’d from some collateral Arguments, taken
either from Sacred History, or from Observation, that this hath really
been exemplified upon the Earth, and that _Noah_’s Flood came to pass
this way. And seeing we have design’d this first Book chiefly for the
Explication of _Noah_’s Deluge, I am willing to add here a Chapter or
two extraordinary upon this occasion; to shew, that what we have
delivered is more than an _Idea_, and that it was in this very way that
_Noah_’s Deluge came to pass. But they who have not this Doubt, and have
a Mind to see the Issue of the Theory, may skip these two Chapters, if
they please, and proceed to the following, where the Order is continued.

TO satisfy then the Doubtful in this Particular, let us lay down in the
first place that Conclusion which they seem to admit, _viz._ That this
is a possible and consistent Explication of an Universal Deluge; and
let’s see how far this would go, if well consider’d, towards the Proof
of what they desire, or towards the Demonstration of _Noah_’s Deluge in
particular. It is granted on both Hands, that there hath been an
Universal Deluge upon the Earth, which was _Noah_’s Deluge; and it is
also granted, that we have given a possible and consistent _Idea_ of an
Universal Deluge: Now we have prov’d _Chap. II._ and _III._ that all
other ways hitherto assign’d for the Explication of _Noah_’s Flood are
incongruous or impossible; therefore it came to pass in that possible
and competent way which we have propos’d. And if we have truly prov’d,
in the foremention’d Chapters, the Impossibility or Unintelligibility of
it in all other ways, this Argumentation is undeniable. Besides, we may
argue thus, as it is granted that there hath been an Universal Deluge
upon the Earth; so I suppose it will be granted that there hath been but
one: Now the Dissolution of the Earth, whensoever it happen’d, would
make one Universal Deluge, and therefore the only one, and the same with
_Noah_’s. That such a Dissolution as we have describ’d would make an
Universal Deluge, I think, cannot be question’d; and that there hath
been such a Dissolution, besides what we have already alledg’d, shall be
prov’d at large from natural Observations upon the Form and Figure of
the present Earth, in the _Third_ Section and last _Chapter_ of this
Book; In the mean time we will proceed to History, both Sacred and
Prophane, and by comparing our Explication with those, give further
Assurance of its Truth and Reality.

IN the first Place, it agrees, which is most considerable, with
_Moses_’s Narration of the Deluge; both as to the Matter and Manner of
it. The Matter of the Deluge _Moses_ makes to be the Waters from above,
and the Waters from below; or he distinguishes the Causes of the Deluge,
as we do, into Superior and Inferior, _Gen. vii. 11._ and the Inferior
Causes he makes to be the Disruption of the Abyss, which is the
principal Part, and the great Hinge of our Explication. Then as to the
manner of the Deluge, the Beginning and the Ending, the Increase and
Decrease, he saith, _Verse 17, 18, 19, 20. Chap. viii. 3, 5._ it
increas’d gradually, and decreas’d gradually, by _going_ and _coming_;
that is, after many repeated Fluctuations and Reciprocations of the
Waves, the Waters of the Abyss began to be more compos’d, and to retire
into their Channels, whence they shall never return to cover the Earth
again. This agrees wholly with our Theory; we suppose the Abyss to have
been under an extream Commotion and Agitation by the Fall of the Earth
into it, and this at first encreas’d more and more, till the whole Earth
was fallen; then continuing for some time at the height of its Rage,
overwhelming the greatest Mountains, it afterwards decreas’d by the like
degrees, leaving first the Tops of the Mountains, then the Hills and the
Fields, ’till the Waters came to be wholly drawn off the Earth into
their Channels.

IT was no doubt a great Oversight in the Ancients, to fancy the Deluge
like a great standing Pool of Water, reaching from the Bottom of the
Valleys to the Tops of the Mountains, every where alike, with a level
and uniform Surface; by reason of which mistaken Notion of the Deluge,
they made more Water necessary to it than was possible to be had, or
being had, than it was possible to get quit of again; for there are no
Channels in the Earth that could hold so much Water, either to give it,
or to receive it. And the _Psalmist_, [_vid._ _St. Austin in loc._]
speaking of the Deluge, as it seems to me, notes this violent Commotion
of the Abyss, _Psal. civ. 8, 9._ _The Waters went up by the Mountains,
came down by the Valleys unto the Place which thou hast founded for
them_. I know some interpret that Passage of the State of the Waters in
the Beginning, when they cover’d the Face of the whole Earth, _Gen. i.
2._ but that cannot be, because of what follows in the next Verse; _Thou
hast set a Bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again
to cover the Earth_. Which is not true, if the preceding Words be
understood of the State of the Waters at the Beginning of the World; for
they did pass those Bounds, and did return since that time to cover the
Earth, namely at the Deluge: But if these Words be referr’d to the Time
of the Deluge, and the State of the Waters then, ’tis both a just
Description of the Motion of the Abyss, and certainly true, that the
Waters since that time are so settled in their Channels, that they shall
never overflow the Earth again. As we are assur’d by the Promise made to
_Noah_, and that illustrious Pledge and Confirmation of it, the
_Rainbow_, that the Heavens also shall never pour out so much Waters
again; their State being chang’d as well as that of the Earth, or Sea,
from what they were before the Deluge.

BUT before we leave _Moses_’s Narration of the Deluge, we must examine
further, what is, or can be understood by his _Tehom-Rabba_, or _great
Abyss_, which, he saith, was broken up at the Deluge, _Gen. vii. 11._
for this will help us to discover, whether our Explication be the same
with his, and of the same Flood. And first we must consider, whether by
the _Tehom-Rabba_, or Mosaical Abyss, can be understood the Sea or
Ocean, under that Form we see it in at present; and ’tis plain,
methinks, that the Sea cannot be understood by this great Abyss, both
because the Sea is not capable upon any Disruption to make such an
Universal Deluge; and because the Narration of _Moses_, and his
Expressions concerning this Abyss, do not agree to the Sea. Some of the
Ancients indeed did imagine, that the Waters of the Sea were much higher
than the Land, and stood, as it were, on a heap; so as when these Waters
were let loose, they overflow’d the Earth, and made a Deluge. But this
is known to be a gross Mistake; the Sea and the Land make one Globe, and
the Waters couch themselves, as close as may be, to the Center of this
Globe in a Spherical Convexity; so that if all the Mountains and Hills
were scal’d, and the Earth made even, the Waters would not overflow its
smooth Surface; much less could they overflow it in the Form that it is
now, where the Shores are higher than the Sea, the Inland Parts than the
Shores, and the Mountains still far above all: So as no Disruption of
the Sea could make an Universal Deluge, by reason of its Situation. But
besides that, the Quantity of Water contain’d in the Sea is no way
sufficient to make a Deluge in the present Form of the Earth; for we
have shewn before, _Chap. ii._ that eight such Oceans as ours would be
little enough for that Purpose. Then as to the Expressions of _Moses_
concerning this Abyss, if he had meant the Sea by it, and that the
Deluge was made by the Disruption of the Sea, why did he not say so?
There is no mention of the Sea in all the History of the Deluge: _Moses_
had mention’d the Sea before, _Gen. i. 10._ and us’d a Word that was
common, and known to signify the Sea; and if he had a Mind to express
the same thing here, why should he not use the same Word and the same
Term? In an Historical Relation we use Terms that are most proper and
best known; but instead of that he useth the same Term here that he did,
_Gen. i. 2._ when he saith, _Darkness was upon the Face of the Abyss, or
of the Deep_, as we render it; there the Abyss was open, or cover’d with
Darkness only, namely, before the exterior Earth was form’d; Here the
same Abyss is mention’d again, but cover’d, by the Formation of the
Earth upon it; and the covering of this Abyss was broken or _cloven
asunder_, and the Waters gush’d out that made the Deluge. This I am sure
is the most natural Interpretation or Signification of this Word,
according as it is us’d in _Moses_’s Writings. Furthermore, we must
observe what _Moses_ saith concerning this Abyss, and whether that will
agree with the Sea or no; he saith the _Fountains of the great Abyss
were broken open_; now if by the great Abyss you understand the Sea, how
are its Fountains broken open? To break open a Fountain, is to break
open the Ground that covers it, and what Ground covers the Sea? So that
upon all Considerations, either of the Word that _Moses_ here useth,
_Tehom-Rabba_, or of the thing affirmed concerning it, _breaking open
its Fountains_; or of the Effect following the breaking open its
Fountains, _drowning of the Earth_; from all these Heads it is manifest,
that the Sea cannot be understood by the great _Abyss_, whose Disruption
was the Cause of the Deluge.

AND as the _Mosaical_ Abyss cannot be the Sea, so neither can it be
those subterraneous Waters that are dispers’d in the Cells and Caverns
of the Earth; for as they are now lodg’d within the Earth, they are not
one _Abyss_, but several Cisterns and Receptacles of Water in several
Places, especially under the roots of Mountains and Hills, separate one
from another, sometimes by whole Regions and Countries interpos’d.
Besides, what Fountains, if they were broken up, could let out this
Water, or bring it upon the Face of the Earth? When we sink a Mine, or
dig a Well, the Waters, when uncover’d, do not leap out of their Places
out of those Cavities, or at least, do not flow upon the Earth; ’Tis not
as if you open’d a Vein, where the Blood spirts out, and riseth higher
than its Source; but as when you take off the Cover of a Vessel, the
Water doth not fly out for that: So if we should imagine all the
subterraneous Caverns of the Earth uncover’d, and the Waters laid bare,
there they would lie unmov’d in their Beds, if the Earth did not fall
into them to force them up. Furthermore, if these Waters were any way
extracted and laid upon the Surface of the Ground, nothing would be
gain’d, as to the Deluge, by that, for as much Water would run into
these Holes again when the Deluge begun to rise; so that this would be
but an useless Labour, and turn to no Account. And lastly, These Waters
are no way sufficient for Quantity to answer to the _Mosaical_ Abyss, or
to be the principal Cause of the Deluge, as that was.

NOW, seeing neither the Sea, as it is at present, nor the subterraneous
Waters, as they are at present, can answer to the _Mosaical_ Abyss, we
are sure there is nothing in this present Earth that can answer to it.
Let us then on the other Hand compare it with that subterraneous Abyss,
which we have found in the antediluvian Earth, represented; _Fig. 2. p.
77._ and examine their Characters and Correspondency: First, _Moses_’s
Abyss was cover’d, and subterraneous, for the Fountains of it are said
to have been cloven or burst open; then, it was vast and capacious; and
thirdly, it was so dispos’d, as to be capable of a Disruption, that
would cause an universal Deluge to the Earth. Our antediluvian Abyss
answers truly to all these Characters; it was in the Womb of the Earth;
the Earth was founded upon those Waters, as the _Psalmist_ saith; or
they were inclos’d within the Earth as in a Bag. Then for the Capacity
of it, it contained both all the Waters now in the Ocean, and all those
that are dispers’d in the Caverns of the Earth: And lastly, it is
manifest its Situation was such, that upon a Disruption or Dissolution
of the Earth which cover’d it, an universal Deluge would arise. Seeing
then this answers the Description, and all the Properties of the
_Mosaical_ Abyss, and nothing else will, how can we in Reason judge it
otherwise than the same, and the very Thing intended and propos’d in the
History of _Noah_’s Deluge under the Name of _Tehom-Rabba_, or the great
Abyss, at whose Disruption the World was over-flow’d? And as we do not
think it an unhappy Discovery to have found out, (with a moral
Certainty) the Seat of the _Mosaical_ Abyss, which hath been almost as
much sought for, and as much in vain, as the Seat of _Paradise_; so this
gives us a great Assurance, that the Theory we have given of a general
Deluge is not a mere Idea, but is to be appropriated to the Deluge of
_Noah_, as a true Explication of it.

AND to proceed now from _Moses_ to other divine Writers; That our
Description is a Reality, both as to the antediluvian Earth, and as to
the Deluge, we may further be convinc’d from St. _Peter_’s Discourse
concerning those two Things, _2 Epist. iii. 6._ St. _Peter_ saith, that
the Constitution of the antediluvian Earth was such, in reference to the
Waters, that by reason of that it was obnoxious to a Deluge; we say
these Waters were the great Abyss it stood upon, by reason whereof that
World was really expos’d to a Deluge, and overwhelm’d in it upon the
Disruption of this Abyss, as _Moses_ witnesses. ’Tis true, St. _Peter_
doth not specify what those Waters were, nor mention either the Sea or
the Abyss; but seeing _Moses_ tells us, that it was by the Waters of the
Abyss that the Earth was overwhelmed, St. _Peter_’s Waters must be
understood of the same Abyss, because he supposeth them the Cause of the
same Deluge. And, I think, the Apostle’s Discourse there cannot receive
a better Illustration, than from _Moses_’s History of the Deluge.
_Moses_ distinguishes the Causes of the Flood into those that belong to
the Heavens, and those that belong to the Earth; the Rains and the
Abyss: St. _Peter_ also distinguisheth the Causes of the Deluge into the
Constitution of the Heavens, in reference to its Waters; and the
Constitution of the Earth, in reference to its Waters; and no doubt they
both aim at the same Causes, as they refer to the same Effect; only
_Moses_ mentions the immediate Causes, the Rains and the Waters of the
Abyss; and St. _Peter_ mentions the more remote and fundamental Causes,
that Constitution of the Heavens, and that Constitution of the Earth, in
reference to their respective Waters, which made that World obnoxious to
a Deluge: And these two, speaking of _Noah_’s Deluge, and agreeing thus
with one another, and both with us, or with the Theory which we have
given of a general Deluge, we may safely conclude, that it is no
imaginary Idea, but a true Account of that ancient Flood, whereof
_Moses_ hath left us the History.

AND seeing the right understanding of the _Mosaical_ Abyss is sufficient
alone to prove all we have deliver’d concerning the Deluge, as also
concerning the Frame of the antediluvian Earth, give me leave to take
Notice here of some other Places of Scripture, which we mention’d
before, that seem manifestly to describe this same Form of the Abyss
with the Earth above it, _2 Esdr. xvi. 58._ _Psal. xxiv. 2._ _He founded
the Earth upon the Seas, and establish’d it upon the Floods._ And _Psal.
cxxxvi. 6._ _He stretch’d out the Earth above the Waters._ Now this
Foundation of the Earth upon the Waters, or Extension of it above the
Waters, _2 Esdr. c. vi._ doth most aptly agree to that Structure and
Situation of the Abyss and the antediluvian Earth, which we have
assign’d them, and which we have before describ’d; but very improperly
and forcedly to the present Form of the Earth and the Waters. In that
second Place of the _Psalmist_, the Word may be render’d either, he
stretch’d, as we read it, or he fix’d and consolidated the Earth above
the Waters, as the Vulgate and Septuagint translate it: For ’tis from
the same Word with that which is used for the Firmament, _Gen. i._ So
that as the Firmament was extended over and around the Earth, so was the
Earth extended over and about the Waters, in that first Constitution of
Things; and I remember some of the Ancients use this very Comparison of
the Firmament and Earth, to express the Situation of the Paradisiacal
Earth in reference to the Sea or Abyss.

THERE is another remarkable Place in the _Psalms_, to shew the
Disposition of the Waters in the first Earth; _Psal. xxxiii. 7._ _He
gathereth the Waters of the Sea as in a Bag, he layeth up the Abysses in
Store-houses._ This answers very fitly and naturally to the Place and
Disposition of the Abyss which it had before the Deluge, inclos’d within
the Vault of the Earth, as in a Bag, or in a Store-house. I know very
well what I render here in a Bag, is render’d in the _English_ as _an
Heap_; but that Translation of the Word seems to be grounded on the old
Error, that the Sea is higher than the Land, and so doth not make a true
Sense. Neither are the two Parts of the Verse so well suited and
consequent one to another, if the first express an high Situation of the
Waters, and the second a low one. And accordingly the Vulgate,
Septuagint, and Oriental Versions and Paraphrase, as also _Symmachus_,
St. _Jerom_, and _Basil_, render it as we do here, _in a Bag_, or by
Terms equivalent.

TO these Passages of the _Psalmist_, concerning the Form of the Abyss
and the first Earth, give me leave to add this general Remark, that they
are commonly usher’d in, or follow’d, with something of Admiration in
the Prophet. We observ’d before, that the Formation of the first Earth,
after such a wonderful Manner, being a Piece of divine Architecture,
when it was spoken of in Scripture, it was usually ascrib’d to a
particular Providence; and accordingly we see in these Places now
mentioned, that it is still made the Object of Praise and Admiration: In
the _cxxxvi. Palm_ ’tis reckon’d among the Wonders of God, _Verses 4, 5,
6._ _Give Praise to him who alone doth great Wonders: To him that by
Wisdom made the Heavens: To hime that stretched out the Earth above the
Waters_. And in like manner, in that _xxxiii. Ps._ ’tis join’d with the
Forming of the Heavens, and made the Subject of the Divine Power and
Wisdom: _Verses 6, 7, 8, 9._ _By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens
made, and all the Host of them by the Breath of his Mouth; He gathereth
the Waters of the Sea together, as in a Bag, he layeth up the Abyss in
Store-houses. Let all the Earth fear the Lord; Let all the Inhabitants
of the World stand in awe of him; For he spake, and it was; he
commanded, and it stood fast_. Namely, all Things stood in that
wonderful Posture in which the Word of his Power and Wisdom had
establish’d them. _David_ often made the Works of Nature, and the
external World, the Matter of his Meditations, and of his Praises and
Philosophical Devotions; reflecting sometimes upon the present Form of
the World, and sometimes upon the primitive Form of it: And tho’
poetical Expressions, as the _Psalms_ are, seldom are so determinate and
distinct, but that they may be interpreted more than one Way; yet, I
think, it cannot but be acknowledg’d, that those Expressions, and
Passages that we have instanc’d in, are more fairly and aptly understood
of the ancient Form of the Sea, or the Abyss, as it was inclos’d within
the Earth, than of the present Form of it in an open Channel.

THERE are also in the Book of _Job_ many noble Reflections upon the
Works of Nature, and upon the Formation of the Earth and the Abyss;
whereof that in _Chap. xxvi. 7._ _He stretcheth out the North over the
empty Places, and hangeth the Earth upon nothing_, seems to parallel the
Expression of _David_; _He stretched out the Earth upon the Waters_; for
the Word we render the _empty Place_ is TOHU, which is apply’d to the
Chaos and the first Abyss, _Gen. i. 2._ and the _hanging the Earth upon
nothing_ is much more wonderful, if it be understood of the first
habitable Earth, that hung over the Waters, sustain’d by nothing but its
own peculiar Form, and the Libration of its Parts, than if it be
understood of the present Earth, and the whole Body of it; for if it be
in its Center or proper Place, whither should it sink further, or
whither should it go? But this Passage, together with the foregoing and
following Verses, requires a more critical Examination than this
Discourse will easily bear.

THERE is another remarkable Discourse in _Job_, that contains many
Things to our present Purpose, ’tis _Chap. xxxviii._ where God
reproaches _Job_ with his Ignorance of what pass’d at the beginning of
the World, and the Formation of the Earth, _Verses 4, 5, 6._ _Where wast
thou when I laid the Foundations of the Earth? Declare if thou hast
Understanding. Who hath laid the Measures thereof, if thou knowest? or
who hath stretched the Line upon it? Whereupon are the Foundations
thereof fastned? or who laid the Corner-stone?_ All these Questions have
far more Force and Emphasis, more Propriety and Elegancy, if they be
understood of the first and antediluvian Form of the Earth, than if they
be understood of the present; for in the present Form of the Earth there
is no Architecture, no Structure, no more than in a Ruin; or at least
none comparatively to what was in the first Form of it. And that the
exterior and superficial Part of the Earth is here spoken of, appears by
the Rule and Line applied to it; but what Rule or Regularity is there in
the Surface of the present Earth? What Line was us’d to level its Parts?
But in its original Construction, when it lay smooth and regular in its
Surface, as if it had been drawn, by Rule and Line in every Part; and
when it hung pois’d upon the Deep, without Pillar or Foundation-Stone,
then just Proportions were taken, and every thing plac’d by Weight and
Measure: And this, I doubt not, was that artificial Structure here
alluded to; and when this Work was finish’d, then _The Morning Stars
sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy, Verse 7._

THUS far the Questions proceed upon the Form and Construction of the
first Earth; in the following _Verses_ (8, 9, 10, 11.) they proceed upon
the Demolition of that Earth, the opening the Abyss, and the present
State of both. _Or who shut up the Sea with Doors when it brake forth,
as if it had issu’d out of a Womb?_ Who can doubt but this was at the
breaking open the _Fountains of the Abyss_? _Gen. vii. 11._ when the
Waters gush’d out, as out of the great Womb of Nature; and by reason of
that Confusion and Perturbation of Air and Water that rose upon it, a
thick Mist and Darkness was round the Earth, and all Things as in a
second Chaos, _When I made the Cloud the Garment thereof, and thick
Darkness a Swadling-band for it, and brake up for it my decreed Place,
and made Bars and Doors_. Namely, (taking the Words as thus usually
render’d) the present Channel of the Sea was made when the Abyss was
broke up, and at the same Time were made the shory Rocks and Mountains,
which are the Bars and Boundaries of the Sea. _And said hitherto shalt
thou come, and no further; and here shall thy proud Waves be stay’d._
Which last Sentence shews, that this cannot be understood of the first
Disposition of the Waters, as they were before the Flood, for their
proud Waves broke those Bounds, whatsoever they were, when they
over-flow’d the Earth in the Deluge. And that the Womb which they broke
out of was the great Abyss, the _Chaldee_ Paraphrase in this Place doth
expresly mention; and what can be understood by חְהומה מן _the Womb of
the Earth_, but that subterraneous Capacity in which the Abyss lay? Then
that which followeth is a Description or Representation of the great
Deluge that ensued, and of that Disorder in Nature that was then, and
how the Waters were settled and bounded afterwards. Not unlike the
Description in _Psalm civ. ver. 6, 7, 8, 9._ And thus much for these
Places in the Book of _Job_.

THERE remains a remarkable Discourse in the _Proverbs of Solomon_,
relating to the _Mosaical_ Abyss, and not only to that, but to the
Origin of the Earth in general; where _Wisdom_ declares her Antiquity
and Pre-existence to all the Works of this Earth, _Chap. viii. Verse 23,
24, 25, 26, 27, 28._ _I was set up from Everlasting, from the Beginning
ere the Earth was. When there were no Deeps or Abysses, I was brought
forth; when no Fountains abounding with Water._ Then in the _27th
Verse_, _When he prepared the Heavens, I was there; when he set a
Compass upon the Face of the Deep or Abyss. When he established the
Clouds above, when he strengthned the Fountains of the Abyss._ Here is
mention made of the Abyss, and of the Fountains of the Abyss; and who
can question, but that the Fountains of the Abyss here are the same with
the Fountains of the Abyss which _Moses_ mentions, and were broken open,
as he tells us, at the Deluge? Let us observe therefore what Form
_Wisdom_ gives to this Abyss, and consequently to the _Mosaical_; And
here seem to be two Expressions that determine the Form of it, _Verse
28._ _He strengthned the Fountains of the Abyss_, that is, the cover of
those Fountains, for the Fountains could be strengthned no other Way
than by making a strong Cover or Arch over them. And that Arch is
express’d more fully and distinctly in the foregoing _Verse_, _When he
prepar’d the Heavens, I was there; when he set a Compass on the Face of
the Abyss_; we render it _Compass_, the Word signifies a Circle or
Circumference, or an Orb or Sphere. So there was in the Beginning of the
World a Sphere, Orb or Arch set round the Abyss, according to the
Testimony of _Wisdom_, who was then present. And this shews us both the
Form of the _Mosaical_ Abyss, which was included within this Vault: And
the Form of the habitable Earth, which was the outward Surface of this
Vault, or the Cover of the Abyss that was broke up at the Deluge.

AND thus much, I think, is sufficient to have noted out of Scripture,
concerning the _Mosaical_ Abyss, to discover the Form, Place, and
Situation of it; which I have done the more largely, because that being
determin’d, it will draw in easily all the rest of our Theory concerning
the Deluge. I will now only add one or two general Observations, and so
conclude this Discourse: The first Observation is concerning the Abyss;
namely, That the _opening and shutting of the Abyss_, is the great Hinge
upon which Nature turns in this Earth: This brings another Face of
things, other Scenes, and a new World upon the Stage: And accordingly it
is a thing often mention’d and alluded to in Scripture, sometimes in a
natural, sometimes in a moral or theological Sense; and in both Senses,
our Saviour shuts and opens it as he pleaseth. Our Saviour, who is both
Lord of Nature and of Grace, whose Dominion is both in Heaven and in
Earth, hath a double Key; that of the Abyss, whereby Death and Hell are
in his Power, and all the Revolutions of Nature are under his Conduct
and Providence; and the Key of _David_, whereby he admits or excludes
from the City of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven whom he pleaseth. _Job
xi. 10, 12, 14._ _Apoc. i. 18. xx. 1, 2, 3. xxi. 1._ _Apoc. iii. 7._
_Isa. xxii. 22._ Of those Places that refer to the shutting and opening
the Abyss in a natural Sense, I cannot but particularly take Notice of
that in _Job_, _Chap. xii. ver. 14, 15._ and _Chap. xi. 10._ _God
breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: He shutteth up Man, and
there can be no opening: Behold, he withholdeth the Waters, and they dry
up; also he sendeth them out and they overturn the Earth_. Tho’ these
Things be true of God in lesser and common Instances, yet to me it is
plain, that they principally refer to the Deluge, the opening and
shutting the Abyss, with the Dissolution or Subversion of the Earth
thereupon; and accordingly they are made the great Effects of the divine
Power and Wisdom in the _13th Verse_ of _Chap. xii._ _With God is Wisdom
and Strength, he hath Counsel and Understanding; Behold, he breaketh
down_, &c. And also in the Conclusion ’tis repeated again, _Verse 16._
_With him is Strength and Wisdom_; which Solemnity would scarce have
been us’d for common Instances of his Power. When God is said to build
or pull down, and no Body can build again, ’tis not to be understood of
an House or a Town. God builds and unbuilds Worlds; and who shall build
up that Arch that was broke down at the Deluge? Where shall they lay the
Foundation, or how shall the Mountains be rear’d up again to make Part
of the Roof? This is the Fabrick, which when God breaketh down, none can
build up again. _He withholdeth the Waters, and they dry up_: As we
shew’d the Earth to have been immoderately chap’d and parch’d before its
Dissolution. _He sendeth them forth, and they overturn the Earth_. What
can more properly express the breaking out of the Waters at the
Disruption of the Abyss, and the Subversion or Dissolution of the Earth
in consequence of it? ’Tis true, this last Passage may be applied to the
breaking out of Waters in an ordinary Earthquake, and the Subversion of
some Part of the Earth, which often follows upon it; but it must be
acknowledg’d, that the Sense is more weighty, if it be referr’d to the
great Deluge, and the great Earthquake which laid the World in Ruins and
in Water. And philosophical Descriptions in sacred Writings, like
Prophecies, have often a lesser and a greater Accomplishment and
Interpretation.

I COULD not pass by this Place without giving this short Explication of
it. We proceed now to the second Observation, which is concerning the
Style of Scripture, in most of those Places we have cited, and others
upon the same Subject. The Reflections that are made in several Parts of
the divine Writings, upon the Origin of the World, and the Formation of
the Earth, seem to me to be writ in a Style something approaching to the
Nature of a prophetical Style, and to have more of a divine Enthusiasm
and Elocution in them, than the ordinary Text of Scripture; the
Expressions are lofty, and sometimes abrupt, and often figurative and
disguis’d, as may be observed in most of those Places we have made use
of, and particularly in that Speech of _Wisdom_, _Prov. viii._ where the
_26th Verse_ is so obscure, that no two Versions that I have yet met
with, whether ancient or modern, agree in the Translation of that Verse.
And therefore, tho’ I fully believe that the Construction of the first
Earth is really intended in those Words; yet seeing it could not be made
out clear without a long and critical Discussion of them, I did not
think that proper to be insisted upon here. We may also observe, that
whereas there is a double Form or Composition of the Earth, that which
it had at first, or till the Deluge, and that which it hath since;
sometimes the one, and sometimes the other may be glanc’d upon in these
Scripture Phrases and Descriptions; and so there may be in the same
Discourse an Intermixture of both. And it commonly happens so in an
enthusiastick or prophetick Style, that by reason of the Eagerness and
Trembling of the Fancy, it doth not always regularly follow the same
even Thread of Discourse, but strikes many times upon some other Thing
that hath Relation to it, or lies under or near the same view. Of this
we have frequent Examples in the _Apocalypse_, and in that Prophecy of
our Saviour’s, _Matth. xxiv._ concerning the Destruction of _Jerusalem_,
and of the World. But notwithstanding any such Unevenness or
Indistinctness in the Style of those Places which we have cited
concerning the Origin and Form of the Earth, we may at least make this
Remark, that if there never was any other Form of the Earth but the
present, nor any other State of the Abyss, than what it is in now, ’tis
not imaginable what should give Occasion to all those Expressions and
Passages that we have cited; which being so strange in themselves and
paradoxical, should yet so much favour, and so fairly comply with our
Suppositions. What I have observ’d in another Place, _Tell. Theor. lib.
2. c. 6._ in treating of _Paradise_, that the Expressions of the ancient
Fathers were very extravagant, if _Paradise_ was nothing but a little
Plot of Ground in _Mesopotamia_, as many of late have fancied, may in
like Manner be observ’d concerning the ancient Earth and Abyss; if they
were in no other Form nor other State than what they are under now, the
Expressions of the sacred Writers concerning them are very strange and
unaccountable, without any sufficient Ground, that we know, or any just
Occasion for such uncouth Representations. If there was nothing intended
or referr’d to in those Descriptions, but the present Form and State of
the Earth, that is so well known, that in describing of it there would
be nothing dark or mysterious, nor any occasion for Obscurity in the
Style or Expression, whereof we find so much in those. So as, all Things
consider’d, what might otherwise be made an Exception to some of these
Texts alledg’d by us, _viz._ that they are too obscure, becomes an
Argument for us: As implying that there is something more intended by
them than the present and known Form of the Earth. And we having
propos’d another Form and Structure of the Earth, to which those
Characters suit and answer more easily; as this opens and gives Light to
those difficult Places, so it may be reasonably concluded to be the very
Sense and Notion intended by the holy Writers.

AND thus much, I think, is sufficient to have observ’d out of Scripture,
to verify our Explication of the Deluge, and our Application of it to
_Noah_’s Flood, both according to the _Mosaical_ History of the Flood,
and according to many occasional Reflections and Discourses dispers’d in
other Places of Scripture concerning the same Flood, or concerning the
Abyss and the first Form of the Earth. And though there may be some
other Passages of a different Aspect, they will be of no Force to
disprove our Conclusions, because they respect the present Form of the
Earth and Sea; and also, because Expressions that deviate more from the
common Opinion, are more remarkable and more proving; in that there is
nothing could give Occasion to such, but an Intention to express the
very Truth. So, for instance, if there was one Place in Scripture that
said _the Earth was mov’d_, and several that seem’d to imply, that the
_Sun_ was mov’d, we should have more regard to that one Place for the
Motion of the Earth, than to all the other that made against it; because
those others might be spoken and understood according to common Opinion
and common Belief, but that which affirm’d the Motion of the Earth,
could not be spoken upon any other Ground, but only for Truth and
Instruction-sake. I leave this to be apply’d to the present Subject.

THUS much for the sacred Writings. As to the History of the ancient
Heathens, we cannot expect an Account or Narration of _Noah_’s Flood,
under that Name and Notion; but it may be of use to observe two Things
out of that History. First, that the Inundations recorded there came
generally to pass in the Manner we have describ’d the universal Deluge;
namely, by Earthquakes and an Eruption of subterraneous Waters, the
Earth being broken and falling in: And of this we shall elsewhere give a
full Account out of their Authors. Secondly, that _Deucalion_’s Deluge
in particular, which is suppos’d by most of the ancient Fathers to
represent _Noah_’s Flood, is said to have been accompanied with a gaping
or Disruption of the Earth. _Apollodorus_ said, _Bibl. lib. 1._ that the
Mountains of _Thessaly_ were divided asunder, or separate one from
another at that time: And _Lucian_ (_De Dea Syria_) tells a very
remarkable Story to this purpose, concerning _Deucalion_’s Deluge, and a
Ceremony observ’d in the Temple of _Hieropolis_, in Commemoration of it;
which Ceremony seems to have been of that Nature, as imply’d that there
was an opening of the Earth at the Time of the Deluge, and that the
Waters subsided into that again when the Deluge ceas’d. He saith, that
this Temple at _Hieropolis_ was built upon a kind of Abyss, or had a
bottomless Pit, or gaping of the Earth in one Part of it; and the People
of _Arabia_ and _Syria_, and the Countries thereabouts, twice a Year
repair’d to this Temple, and brought with them every one a Vessel of
Water, which they pour’d out upon the Floor of the Temple, and made a
kind of an Inundation there in Memory of _Deucalion_’s Deluge; and this
Water sunk by Degrees into a Chasm or opening of a Rock, which the
Temple stood upon, and so left the Floor dry again. And this was a Rite
solemnly and religiously perform’d both by the Priests and by the
People. If _Moses_ had left such a religious Rite among the _Jews_, I
should not have doubted to have interpreted it concerning his Abyss, and
the retiring of the Waters into it; but the actual Disruption of the
Abyss could not well be represented by any Ceremony. And thus much
concerning the present Question, and the true Application of our Theory
to _Noah_’s Flood.




                              CHAP. VIII.


    _The particular History of Noah’s Flood is explained in all the
    material Parts and Circumstances of it, according to the preceding
    Theory. Any seeming Difficulties remov’d, and the whole Section
    concluded, with a Discourse how far the Deluge may be look’d upon as
    the Effect of an ordinary Providence, and how far of an
    extraordinary._


WE have now proved our Explication of the Deluge to be more than an
_Idea_, or to be a true Piece of natural History; and it may be the
greatest and most remarkable that hath yet been since the Beginning of
the World. We have shewn it to be the real Account of _Noah_’s Flood,
according to Authority both divine and human; and I would willingly
proceed one step further, and declare my Thoughts concerning the Manner
and Order wherein _Noah_’s Flood came to pass; in what Method all those
Things happen’d and succeeded one another, that make up the History of
it, as Causes or Effects, or other Parts or Circumstances: As how the
Ark was born upon the Waters, what Effect the Rains had, at what Time
the Earth broke, and the Abyss was open’d; and what the Condition of the
Earth was upon the ending of the Flood, and such like. But I desire to
propose my Thoughts concerning these Things only as Conjectures, which I
will ground as near as I can upon Scripture and Reason, and am very
willing they should be rectified where they happen to be amiss. I know
how subject we are to Mistakes in these great and remote Things, when we
descend to Particulars; but I am willing to expose the Theory to a full
Trial, and to shew the way for any to examine it, provided they do it
with Equity and Sincerity. I have no other Design than to contribute my
Endeavours to find out the Truth in a Subject of so great Importance,
and wherein the World hath hitherto had so little Satisfaction: And he
that in an obscure Argument proposeth an _Hypothesis_ that reacheth from
End to End, tho’ it be not exact in every Particular; ’tis not without a
good Effect; for it gives Aim to others to take their Measures better,
and opens their Invention in a matter which otherwise, it may be, would
have been impenetrable to them: As he that makes the first way thro’ a
thick Forest, tho’ it be not the streightest and shortest, deserves
better, and hath done more than he that makes it streighter and smoother
afterwards.

PROVIDENCE that ruleth all things and all Ages, after the Earth had
stood above sixteen hundred Years, thought fit to put a Period to that
World; and accordingly it was revealed to _Noah_, that for the
Wickedness and Degeneracy of Men, God would destroy Mankind with the
_Earth_, (_Gen. vi. 13._) in a Deluge of Water; whereupon he was
commanded, in order to the preserving of himself and Family, as a Stock
for the new World, to build a great Vessel or Ark, to float upon the
Waters, and had Instructions given him for the Building of it, both as
to the Matter, and as to the Form. _Noah_ believed the Word of God, tho’
against his Senses, and all external Appearances, and set himself to
work to build an Ark, according to the Directions given, which after
many Years Labour was finish’d; whilst the incredulous World, secure
enough, as they thought, against a Deluge, continued still in their
Excesses and Insolencies, and laught at the Admonition of _Noah_, and at
the Folly of his Design of building an extravagant Machine, a floating
House, to save himself from an imaginary Inundation; for they thought it
no less, seeing it was to be in an Earth where there was no Sea, nor any
Rain neither in those Parts, according to the ordinary Course of Nature;
as shall be shewn in the second Book of this Treatise.

BUT when the appointed Time was come, the Heavens began to melt, and the
Rains to fall, and these were the first surprizing Causes and
Preparatives to the Deluge: They fell, we suppose, (tho’ we do not know
how that could proceed from natural Causes) throughout the Face of the
whole Earth; which could not but have a considerable Effect on that
Earth, being even and smooth, without Hills and Eminencies, and might
lay it all under Water to some Depth; so as the Ark, if it could not
float upon those Rain-Waters, at least taking the Advantage of a River,
or of a Dock or Cistern made to receive them, it might be afloat before
the Abyss was broken open. For I do not suppose the Abyss broken open
before any Rain fell; and when the opening of the Abyss and of the
Flood-gates of Heaven are mention’d together, I am apt to think those
Flood-gates were distinct from the common Rain, and were something more
violent and impetuous. So that there might be preparatory Rains before
the Disruption of the Abyss: And I do not know but those Rains, so
covering up and enclosing the Earth on every side, might providentially
contribute to the Disruption of it; not only by softning and weakning
the Arch of the Earth in the bottom of those Cracks and Chasms which
were made by the Sun, and which the Rain would first run into, but
especially by stopping on a sudden all the Pores of the Earth, and all
Evaporation, which would make the Vapours within struggle more
violently, as we get a Fever by a Cold; and it may be in that struggle,
the Doors and the Bars were broke, and the great Abyss gush’d out, as
out of a Womb.

HOWEVER, when the Rains were fallen, we may suppose the Face of the
Earth cover’d over with Water; and whether it was these Waters that St.
_Peter_ refers to, or that of the Abyss afterwards, I cannot tell, when
he saith in his first Epistle, _Chap. iii. 20._ _Noah and his Family
were sav’d by Water_; so as the Water which destroyed the rest of the
World was an Instrument of their Conservation, in as much as it bore up
the Ark, and kept it from that impetuous Shock, which it would have had,
if either it had stood upon dry Land when the Earth fell, or if the
Earth had been dissolv’d without any Water on it or under it. However,
Things being thus prepar’d, let us suppose the great Frame of the
exterior Earth to have broke at this time, or the Fountains of the great
Abyss, as _Moses_ saith, to have been then open’d; from thence would
issue upon the Fall of the Earth, with an unspeakable Violence, such a
Flood of Waters as would over-run and overwhelm for a Time all those
Fragments which the Earth broke into, and bury in one common Grave all
Mankind, and all the Inhabitants of the Earth. Besides, if the
_Flood-gates_ of Heaven were any thing distinct from the Forty Days
Rain, their Effusion, ’tis likely, was at this same time when the Abyss
was broken open; for the sinking of the Earth would make an
extraordinary Convulsion of the Regions of the Air, and that Crack and
Noise that must be in the Falling World, and in the Collision of the
Earth and the Abyss, would make a great and universal Concussion above,
which things together must needs so shake, or so squeeze the Atmosphere,
as to bring down all the remaining Vapours; but the Force of these
Motions not being equal throughout the whole Air, but drawing or
pressing more in some Places than in other, where the Center of the
Convulsion was, there would be the chiefest collection, and there would
fall, not Showers of Rain, or single Drops, but great Spouts or Cascades
of Water; and this is that which _Moses_ seems to call, not improperly,
the _Cataracts_ of Heaven, or the _Windows of Heaven being set open_.

THUS the Flood came to its height; and ’tis not easy to represent to our
selves this strange Scene of Things, when the Deluge was in its Fury and
Extremity; when the Earth was broken and swallowed up in the Abyss,
whose raging Waters rise higher than the Mountains, and fill’d the Air
with broken Waves, with an universal Mist, and with thick Darkness, so
as Nature seem’d to be in a second Chaos; and upon this Chaos rid the
distress’d Ark, that bore the small Remains of Mankind. No Sea was ever
so tumultuous as this, nor is there any thing in present Nature to be
compar’d with the Disorder of these Waters; all the Poetry, and all the
Hyperboles that are used in the Description of Storms and raging Seas,
were literally true in this, if not beneath it. The Ark was really
carried to the Tops of the highest Mountains, and into the Places of the
Clouds, and thrown down again into the deepest Gulphs; and to this very
State of the Deluge and of the Ark, which was a Type of the Church in
this World, _David_ seems to have alluded in the name of the Church,
_Psal. xiii. 7._ _Abyss calls upon Abyss at the Noise of thy Cataracts
or Water-spouts; all thy Waves and Billows have gone over me_. It was no
doubt an extraordinary and miraculous Providence, that could make a
Vessel so ill mann’d, live upon such a Sea; that kept it from being
dash’d against the Hills, or overwhelm’d in the Deeps. That Abyss, which
had devoured and swallow’d up whole Forests of Woods, Cities and
Provinces, nay the whole Earth, when it had conquer’d all, and triumph’d
over all, could not destroy this single Ship. I remember in the Story of
the _Argonauticks_, _Dion. Argonaut. l. 1. v. 47._ when _Jason_ set out
to fetch the Golden Fleece, the Poet saith, all the Gods that Day look’d
down from Heaven to view the Ship; and the _Nymphs_ stood upon the
Mountain-tops to see the noble Youth of _Thessaly_ pulling at the Oars;
we may with more Reason suppose the Good Angels to have look’d down upon
this Ship of _Noah_’s; and that not out of Curiosity, as idle
Spectators, but with a passionate Concern for its Safety and
Deliverance. A Ship, whose Cargo was no less than a whole World; that
carry’d the Fortune and Hopes of all Posterity, and if this had
perish’d, the Earth for any thing we know had been nothing but a Desart,
a great Ruin, a dead heap of Rubbish, from the Deluge to the
Conflagration. But Death and Hell, the Grave and Destruction have their
Bounds. We may entertain our selves with the Consideration of the Face
of the Deluge, and of the broken and drown’d Earth, in this Scheme, with
the floating Ark, and the Guardian Angels.

[Illustration: Book 1 Figure 8. The Sphere of the Earth has developed
mountains and valleys.]

THUS much for the Beginning and Progress of the Deluge. It now remains
only that we consider it in its Decrease, and the State of the Earth
after the Waters were retir’d into their Channels, which makes the
present State of it. _Moses_ saith, God brought a Wind upon the Waters,
and the Tops of the Hills became bare, and then the lower Grounds and
Plains by degrees; the Waters being sunk into the Channels of the Sea,
and the Hollowness of the Earth, and the whole Globe appearing in the
Form it is now under. There needs nothing be added for Explication of
this, ’tis the genuine Consequence of the Theory we have given of the
Deluge; and whether this Wind was a descending Wind to depress and keep
down the Swellings and Inequalities of the Abyss, or whether it was only
to dry the Land as fast as it appear’d, or might have both Effects, I do
not know; but as nothing can be perpetual that is violent, so this
Commotion of the Abyss abated after a certain time, and the great Force
that impell’d the Waters decreasing, their natural Gravity began to take
Effect, and to reduce them into the lowest Places, at an equal Height,
and in an even Surface, and level one Part with another: That is, in
short, the Abyss became our Sea, fixt within its Channel, and bounded by
Rocks and Mountains: _Then was the decreed Place establish’d for it, and
Bars and Doors were set; then was it said, hitherto shalt thou come, and
no further, and here shall thy proud Waves be stopt_, _Job xxxviii. 10,
11._ And the Deluge being thus ended, and the Waters settled in their
Channels, the Earth took such a broken Figure as is represented in those
larger Schemes, _p. 100._ And this will be the Form and State of it till
its great Change comes in the Conflagration, when we expect _a new
Heaven and a new Earth_.

BUT to pursue this Prospect of Things a little further; we may easily
imagine, that for many Years after the Deluge ceas’d, the Face of the
Earth was very different from what it is now, and the Sea had other
Bounds than it hath at present. I do not doubt but the Sea reach’d much
further in-land, and clim’d higher upon the Sides of the Mountains; and
I have observ’d in many Places a Ridge of Mountains some Distance from
the Sea, and a Plain from their Roots to the Shore; which Plain no doubt
was formerly cover’d by the Sea, bounded against those Hills as its
first and natural Ramparts, or as the Ledges or Lips of its Vessel. And
it seems probable, that the Sea doth still grow narrower from Age to
Age, and sinks more within its Channel and the Bowels of the Earth,
according as it can make its Way into all those subterraneous Cavities,
and crowd the Air out of them. We see whole Countries of Land gain’d
from it, and by several Indications, as ancient Sea-ports left dry and
useless, old Sea-marks far within the Land, Pieces of Ships, Anchors,
_&c._ left at a great Distance from the present Shores; from these
Signs, and such like, we may conclude that the Sea reach’d many Places
formerly that now are dry Land, and at first I believe was generally
bound in on either Side with a Chain of Mountains. So I should easily
imagine the Mediterranean Sea, for instance, to have been bounded by the
Continuation of the _Alps_ through _Dauphine_ and _Languedoc_ to the
_Pyreneans_, and at the other End by the _Darmatick_ Mountains almost to
the Black Sea. Then _Atlas major_, which runs along with the
Mediterranean from _Ægypt_ to the _Atlantick_ Ocean, and now parts
_Barbary_ and _Numidia_, may possibly have been the ancient Barrier on
the _Africk_ Side. And in our own Island I could easily figure to my
self, in many Parts of it, other Sea-bounds than what it hath at
present; and the like may be observ’d in other Countries.

AND as the Sea had much larger Bounds for some Time after the Deluge, so
the Land had a different Face in many Respects to what it hath now; for
we suppose the Valleys and lower Grounds, where the Descent and
Derivation of the Water was not so easy, to have been full of Lakes and
Pools for a long Time; and these were often converted into Fens and
Bogs, where the Ground being spungy, suck’d up the Water, and the
loosen’d Earth swell’d into a soft and pappy Substance; which would
still continue so, if there was any Course of Water sensible or
insensible, above or within the Ground, that fed this moist Place: But
if the Water stood in a more firm Basin, or on a Soil, which for its
Heaviness or any other Reason would not mix with it, it made a Lake or
clear Pool. And we may easily imagine there were innumerable such Lakes,
and Bogs, and Fastnesses for many Years after the Deluge, till the World
begun to be pretty well stock’d with People, and human Industry cleansed
and drained those unfruitful and unhabitable Places. And those Countries
that have been later cultivated, or by a lazier People, retain still, in
Proportion to their Situation and Soil, a greater Number of them.

NEITHER is it at all incongruous or inconvenient to suppose, that the
Face of the Earth stood in this Manner for many Years after the Deluge;
for while Mankind was small and few, they needed but a little Ground for
their Seats or Sustenance; and as they grew more numerous, the Earth
proportionally grew more dry, and more Parts of it fit for Habitation. I
easily believe that _Plato_’s Observation or Tradition [_de Leg. li.
3._] is true, that Men at first, after the Flood, liv’d in the Up-lands
and Sides of the Mountains, and by Degrees sunk into the Plains and
lower Countries, when Nature had prepar’d them for their Use, and their
Numbers requir’d more Room. The History of _Moses_ _Gen. xi._ tells us,
that some Time after the Deluge, _Noah_ and his Posterity, his Sons and
his Grand-children, chang’d their Quarters, and fell down into the
Plains of _Shiner_, from the Sides of the Hills where the Ark had
rested; and in this Plain was the last general Rendezvous of Mankind; so
long they seem to have kept in a Body, and from thence they were divided
and broken into Companies, and dispers’d, first, into the neighbouring
Countries, and then by degrees throughout the whole Earth; the several
successive Generations, like the Waves of the Sea when it flows,
over-reaching one another, and striking out farther and farther upon the
Face of the Land. Not that the whole Earth was peopled by an uniform
Propagation of Mankind every Way, from one Place, as a common Center;
like the Swelling of a Lake upon a Plain: For sometimes they shot out in
length, like Rivers, and sometimes they flew into remote Countries in
Colonies, like Swarms from the Hive, and settled there, leaving many
Places uninhabited betwixt them and their first Home. Sea-shores and
Islands were generally the last Places inhabited; for while the Memory
or Story of the Deluge was fresh amongst them, they did not care for
coming so near their late Enemy; or at least, to be inclos’d and
surrounded by his Forces.

AND this may be sufficient to have discours’d concerning all the Parts
of the Deluge, and the Restitution of the Earth to an habitable Form,
for the further Union of our Theory with the History of _Moses_; there
rests only one Thing in that History to be taken notice of, which may be
thought possibly not to agree so well with our Account of the Deluge;
namely, that _Moses_ seems to shut up the Abyss again at the End of the
Deluge, which our Explication supposeth to continue open. But besides
that half the Abyss is still really cover’d, _Moses_ saith the same
Thing of the Windows of Heaven, that they were shut up too; and he
seemeth in both to express only the Cessation of the Effect which
proceeded from their opening: For as _Moses_ had ascrib’d the Deluge to
the opening of these two, so when it was to cease, he saith, these two
were shut up; as they were really put into such a Condition, both of
then, that they could not continue the Deluge any longer, nor ever be
the Occasion of a second; and therefore in that Sense, and as to that
Effect were for ever shut up. Some may possibly make that also an
Objection against us, that _Moses_ mentions and supposes the Mountains
at the Deluge, for he saith, the Waters reached fifteen Cubits above the
Tops of them; whereas we suppose the antediluvian Earth to have had a
plain and uniform Surface, without any Inequality of Hills and Valleys.
But this is easily answer’d, it was in the Height of the Deluge that
_Moses_ mention’d the Mountains, and we suppose them to have risen then,
or more towards the Beginning of it, when the Earth was broke; and these
Mountains continuing still upon the Face of the Earth, _Moses_ might
very well take them for a Standard to measure and express to Posterity
the Height of the Waters, though they were not upon the Earth when the
Deluge began. Neither is there any mention made, as is observ’d by some,
of Mountains in Scripture, or of Rain, till the Time of the Deluge.

WE have now finish’d our Account of _Noah_’s Flood, both generally and
particularly; and I have not wittingly omitted or conceal’d any
Difficulty that occurr’d to me, either from the History, or from
abstract Reason; our Theory, so far as I know, hath the Consent and
Authority of both: And how far it agrees and is demonstrable from
natural Observation, or from the Form and _Phænomena_ of this Earth, as
it lies at present, shall be the Subject of the remaining Part of this
first Book. In the mean time I do not know any Thing more to be added in
this Part, unless it be to conclude with an Advertisement to prevent any
Mistake or Misconstruction, as if this Theory, by explaining the Deluge
in a natural Way, in a great Measure, or, by natural Causes, did detract
from the Power of God, by which that great Judgment was brought upon the
World in a providential and miraculous Manner.

TO satisfy all reasonable and intelligent Persons in this Particular, I
answer and declare, first, That we are far from excluding divine
Providence, either ordinary or extraordinary, from the Causes and
Conduct of the Deluge. I know a Sparrow doth not fall to the Ground
without the Will of our Heavenly Father, much less doth the great World
fall in Pieces without his good Pleasure and Superintendency. In him all
Things live, move, and have their Being; Things that have Life and
Thought have it from him, he is the Fountain of both. Things that have
Motion only, without Thought, have it also from him: And what hath only
naked Being, without Thought or Motion, owe still that Being to him. And
these are not only derived from God at first, but every Moment continued
and conserv’d by him. So intimate and universal is the Dependance of all
Things upon the Divine Will and Power.

IN the second Place, they are guilty, in my Judgment, of a great Error
or Indiscretion, that oppose the Course of Nature to Providence. St.
_Paul_ says, (_Acts xiv. 17._) God hath not left us without Witness, in
that he gives us Rain from Heaven; yet Rains proceed from natural
Causes, and fall upon the Sea as well as upon the Land. In like manner,
our Saviour, _Mat. vi. 21._ makes those Things Instances of Divine
Providence, which yet come to pass in an ordinary Course of Nature; in
that Part of his excellent Sermon upon the Mount, _Luke xii. 24._ that
concerns Providence, he bids them _consider the Lilies how they grow,
they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet Solomon in all his Glory
was not array’d like one of these_: He bids them also _consider the
Ravens, they neither sow nor reap, neither have they Store-house nor
Barn, and God feedeth them_. The Lilies grow, and the Ravens are fed
according to the ordinary Course of Nature, and yet they are justly made
Arguments of Providence by our Saviour; nor are these Things less
providential, because constant and regular; on the contrary, such a
Disposition or Establishment of second Causes, as will in the best
Order, and for a long Succession, produce the most regular Effects,
assisted only with the ordinary Concourse of the first Cause, is a
greater Argument of Wisdom and Contrivance, than such a Disposition of
Causes as will not in so good an Order, or for so long a Time produce
regular Effects, without an extraordinary Concourse and Interposition of
the first Cause. This I think is clear to every Man’s Judgment. We think
him a better Artist that makes a Clock that strikes regularly at every
Hour from the Springs and Wheels which he puts in the Work, than he that
hath so made his Clock that he must put his Finger to it every Hour to
make it strike: And if one should contrive a Piece of Clock-work, so
that it should beat all the Hours, and make all its Motions regularly
for such a Time, and that Time being come, upon a Signal given, or a
Spring touch’d, it should of its own accord fall all to Pieces; would
not this be look’d upon as a Piece of greater Art than if the Workman
came at that Time prefix’d, and with a great Hammer beat it into pieces?
I use these Comparisons to convince us, that it is no Detraction from
divine Providence, that the Course of Nature is exact and regular, and
that even in its greatest Changes and Revolutions it should still
conspire and be prepar’d to answer the Ends and Purposes of the divine
Will in reference to the moral World. This seems to me to be the great
Art of divine Providence, so to adjust the two Worlds, human and
natural, material and intellectual, as seeing thro’ the Possibilities
and Futuritions of each, according to the first State and Circumstances
he puts them under, they should all along correspond and fit one
another, and especially in their great Crises and Periods.

THIRDLY, Besides the ordinary Providence of God in the ordinary Course
of Nature, there is doubtless an extraordinary Providence that doth
attend the greater Scenes and the greater Revolutions of Nature. This,
methinks, besides all other Proof from the Effects, is very rational and
necessary in itself; for it would be a Limitation of the divine Power
and Will so to be bound up to second Causes, as never to use, upon
Occasion, an extraordinary Influence or Direction: And ’tis manifest,
taking any System of natural Causes, if the best possible, that there
may be more and greater Things done, if to this, upon certain Occasions,
you join an extraordinary Conduct. And as we have taken Notice before,
that there was an extraordinary Providence in the Formation or
Composition of the first Earth, so I believe there was also in the
Dissolution of it: And I think it had been impossible for the Ark to
have liv’d upon the raging Abyss, or for _Noah_ and his Family to have
been preserv’d, if there had not been a miraculous Hand of Providence to
take care of them. But ’tis hard to separate and distinguish an ordinary
and extraordinary Providence in all Cases, and to mark just how far one
goes, and where the other begins. And writing a Theory of the Deluge
here, as we do, we were to exhibit a Series of Causes whereby it might
be made intelligible, or to shew the proximate natural Causes of it;
wherein we follow the Example both of _Moses_ and St. _Peter_; and with
the same Veneration of the divine Power and Wisdom in the Government of
Nature, by a constant ordinary Providence, and an occasional
extraordinary.

SO much for the Theory of the Deluge, and the second Section of this
Discourse.




                               CHAP. IX.


    _The second Part of this Discourse, proving the same Theory from the
    Effects and present Form of the Earth. First, by a general Scheme of
    what is most remarkable in this Globe, and then by a more particular
    Induction; beginning with an Account of subterraneous Cavities and
    subterraneous Waters._


WE have now finished our Explication of the universal Deluge, and given
an Account, not only of the Possibility of it, but (so far as our
Knowledge can reach) of its Causes; and of that Form and Structure of
the Earth, whereby the _Old World_ was subject to that sort of Fate. We
have not begged any principles or Suppositions for the Proof of this;
but taking that common Ground, which both _Moses_ and all Antiquity
present to us, _viz._ _That this Earth rose from a Chaos_: We have from
that deduc’d, by an easy Train of Consequences, what the first Form of
it would be; and from that Form, as from a nearer Ground, we have by a
second Train of Consequences made it appear, that at some Time or other
that first Earth would be subject to a Dissolution, and by that
Dissolution to a Deluge. And thus far we have proceeded only by the
Intuition of Causes, as is most proper to a Theory; but for the
Satisfaction of those that require more sensible Arguments, and to
compleat our Proofs on either hand, we will now argue from the Effects;
and from the present State of Nature, and the present Form of the Earth,
prove that it hath been broken, and undergone such a Dissolution as we
have already describ’d, and made the immediate Occasion of the Deluge.
And that we may do this more perspicuously and distinctly, we will lay
down this Proposition to be prov’d, _viz._ _That the present Form and
Structure of the Earth, both as to the Surface and as to the interior
Parts of it, so far as they are known and accessible to us, doth exactly
answer to our Theory concerning the Form and Dissolution of the first
Earth, and cannot be explain’d upon any other Hypothesis yet known._

ORATORS and Philosophers treat Nature after a very different Manner;
those represent her with all her Graces and Ornaments, and if there be
any Thing that is not capable of that, they dissemble it, or pass it
over slightly. But Philosophers view Nature with a more impartial Eye,
and without Favour or Prejudice give a just and free Account, how they
find all the Parts of the Universe, some more, some less perfect. And as
to this Earth in particular, if I was to describe it as an Orator, I
would suppose it a beautiful and regular Globe; and not only so, but
that the whole Universe was made for its sake; that it was the Darling
and Favourite of Heaven, that the Sun shin’d only to give it Light, to
ripen its Fruit, and make fresh its Flowers; and that the great Concave
of the Firmament, and all the Stars in their several Orbs, were design’d
only for a spangled Cabinet to keep this Jewel in. This _Idea_ I would
give of it as an Orator; but a Philosopher that overheard me would
either think me in Jest, or very injudicious, if I took the Earth for a
Body so regular in it self, or so considerable if compar’d with the rest
of the Universe. This, he would say, is to make the great World like one
of the Heathen Temples, a beautiful and magnificent Structure, and of
the richest Materials, yet built only for a little brute Idol, a Dog, or
a Crocodile, or some deformed Creature placed in a Corner of it.

WE must therefore be impartial where the Truth requires it, and describe
the Earth as it is really in it self; and though it be handsome and
regular enough to the Eye in certain Parts of it, single Tracks and
single Regions; yet if we consider the whole Surface of it, or the whole
exterior Region, ’tis as a broken and confus’d Heap of Bodies, plac’d in
no Order to one another, nor with any Correspondency or Regularity of
Parts: And such a Body as the Moon appears to us, when ’tis look’d upon
with a good Glass, rude and ragged; as it is also represented in the
modern Maps of the Moon; such a Thing would the Earth appear if it was
seen from the Moon. They are both in my Judgment the Image or Picture of
a great Ruin, and have the true Aspect of a World lying in its Rubbish.
_See Fig._ in _Chap. XI._

OUR Earth is first divided into Sea and Land, without any Regularity in
the Portions, either of the one or the other; in the Sea lie the
Islands, scatter’d like Limbs torn from the rest of the Body; great
Rocks stand rear’d up in the Waters; the Promontories and Capes shoot
into the Sea, and the Sinus’s and Creeks on the other hand run as much
into the Land; and these without any Order or Uniformity. Upon the other
Part of our Globe stand great Heaps of Earth or Stone, which we call
Mountains; and if these were all plac’d together, they would take up a
very considerable part of the dry Land: In the rest of it are lesser
Hills, Valleys, Plains, Lakes and Marshes, Sands and Desarts, _&c._ and
these also without any regular Disposition. Then the Inside of the
Earth, or inward Parts of it, are generally broken or hollow, especially
about the Mountains and high Lands, as also towards the Shores of the
Sea, and among the Rocks. How many Holes and Caverns, and strange
subterraneous Passages do we see in many Countries? And how many more
may we easily imagine, that are unknown and unaccessible to us?

THIS is the Pourtraicture of our Earth, drawn without Flattery; and as
oddly as it looks, it will not be at all surprizing to one that hath
consider’d the foregoing Theory: For ’tis manifest enough, that upon the
Dissolution of the first Earth, and its Fall into the Abyss, this very
Face and Posture of Things, which we have now describ’d, or something
extreamly like it, would immediately result. The Sea would be open’d,
and the Face of the Globe would be divided into Land and Water: And
according as the Fragments fell, some would make Islands or Rocks in the
Sea, others would make Mountains or Plains upon the Land; and the Earth
would generally be full of Caverns and Hollownesses, especially in the
mountainous Parts of it. And we see the Resemblance and Imitation of
this in lesser Ruins, when a Mountain sinks and falls into subterraneous
Water; or, which is more obvious, when the Arch of a Bridge is broken,
and falls into the Water, if the Water under it be not so deep as to
overflow and cover all its Parts, you may see there the Image of all
these things in little Continents, and Islands, and Rocks under Water:
And in the Parts that stand above the Water, you see Mountains, and
Precipices, and Plains, and most of the Varieties that we see and admire
in the Parts of the Earth. What need we then seek any further for the
Explication of these things? Let us suppose this Arch of the Bridge, as
the great Arch of the Earth, which once it had, and the Water under it
as the Abyss, and the Parts of this Ruin to represent the Parts of the
Earth: There will be scarce any Difference but of lesser and greater,
the same things appearing in both. But we have naturally that Weakness
or Prejudice, that we think great things are not to be explained from
easy and familiar Instances; we think there must be something difficult
and operose in the Explication of them, or else we are not satisfied;
whether it is that we are ashamed to see our Ignorance and Admiration to
have been so groundless, or whether we fancy there must be a Proportion
between the Difficulty of the Explication, and the Greatness of the
thing explain’d; but that is a very false Judgment, for let Things be
never so great, if they be simple, their Explication must be simple and
easy: And on the contrary, some things that are mean, common, and
ordinary, may depend upon Causes very difficult to find out; for the
Difficulty of explaining an Effect doth not depend upon its Greatness or
Littleness, but upon the Simplicity or Composition of its Causes. And
the Effects and _Phænomena_ we are here to explain, though great, yet
depending upon Causes very simple, you must not wonder if the
Explication, when found out, be familiar and very intelligible.

AND this is so intelligible, and so easily deducible from the
forementioned Causes, that a Man born blind, or brought up all his Life
in a Cave, that had never seen the Face of the Earth, nor ever heard any
Description of it, more than that it was a great Globe; having this
Theory propos’d to him, or being instructed what the Form of the first
Earth was, how it stood over the Waters, and then how it was broke and
fell into them, he would easily of his own accord foretel what Changes
would arise upon this Dissolution; and what the new Form of the Earth
would be. As in the first place he would tell you, that this second
Earth would be distinguish’d and checker’d into Land and Water; for the
Orb which fell being greater than the Circumference it fell upon, all
the Fragments could not fall flat and lie drown’d under Water; and those
that stood above would make the dry Land or habitable part of the Earth.
Then in the second Place, he would plainly discern that these Fragments
that made the dry Land could not lie all plain and smooth and equal, but
some would be higher and some lower, some in one Posture and some in
another; and consequently would make Mountains, Hills, Valleys and
Plains, and all other Varieties we have in the Situation of the Parts of
the Earth. And lastly, a blind Man would easily divine that such a great
Ruin could not happen but there would be a great many Holes and Cavities
amongst the Parts of it, a great many Intervals and empty Places in the
Rubbish, as I may so say; for this we see happens in all Ruins more or
less; and where the Fragments are great and hard, ’tis not possible they
should be so adjusted in their Fall, but that they would lie hollow in
many Places, and many unfill’d Spaces would be intercepted amongst them;
some gaping in the Surface of the Earth, and others hid within; so as
this would give occasion to all sorts of Fractures and Cavities either
in the Skin of the Earth, or within its Body. And these Cavities, that I
may add that in the last Place, would be often fill’d with subterraneous
Waters, at least at such a Depth; for the Foundations of the Earth
standing now within the Waters, so high as those Waters reach’d they
would more or less propagate themselves every way.

THUS far our blind Man could tell us what the new World would be, or the
Form of the Earth upon the great Dissolution; and we find his Reasonings
and Inferences very true, these are the chief Lineaments and Features of
our Earth; which appear indeed very irregular and very unaccountable
when they are look’d upon naked in themselves; but if we look upon them
through this Theory, we see as in a Glass all the Reasons and Causes of
them. There are different Genius’s of Men, and different Conceptions,
and every one is to be allow’d their Liberty as to things of this
Nature; I confess, for my own part, when I observe how easy and
naturally this _Hypothesis_ doth apply it self to the general Face of
this Earth, hits and falls in so luckily and surprizingly with all the
odd Postures of its Parts, I cannot, without Violence, bear off my Mind
from fully assenting to it: And the more odd and extravagant, as I may
so say, and the more diversify’d the Effects and Appearances are, to
which an _Hypothesis_ is to be apply’d, if it answers them all and with
Exactness, it comes the nearer to a moral Certitude and Infallibility.
As a Lock that consists of a great deal of Workmanship, many Wards, and
many odd Pieces and Contrivances, if you find a Key, that answers to
them all, and opens it readily, ’tis a thousand to one that ’tis the
true Key, and was made for that Purpose.

AN eminent Philosopher of this Age, _Monsier des Cartes_, hath made use
of the like _Hypothesis_ to explain the irregular Form of the present
Earth; though he never dream’d of the Deluge, nor thought that first
Orb, built over the Abyss, to have been any more than a transient Crust,
and not a real habitable World that lasted for more than sixteen hundred
Years, as we suppose it to have been. And though he hath, in my Opinion,
in the Formation of that first Orb, and upon the Dissolution of it,
committed some great Oversights, whereof we have given an Account in the
_Latin_ Treatise, _C. 7. & lib. 2. c. 4._ however he saw a Necessity of
such a Thing, and of the Disruption of it, to bring the Earth into that
Form and Posture wherein we now find it.

THUS far we have spoken in general, concerning the Agreement and
Congruity of our Supposition with the present Face of the Earth, and the
easy Account it gives of the Causes of it. And though I believe to
ingenuous Persons, that are not prejudic’d by the Forms and Opinions of
the Schools against every thing that looks like a Novelty or Invention,
thus much might be sufficient; yet for the Satisfaction of all, we will,
as a farther Proof of our Theory, or that part of it which concerns the
Dissolution of the Earth, descend to a particular Explication of three
or four of the most considerable and remarkable things that occur in the
Fabrick of this present Earth; namely, _The great Channel of the Ocean;
subterraneous Cavities and subterraneous Waters_; and lastly, _Mountains
and Rocks_. These are the Wonders of the Earth as to the visible Frame
of it; and who would not be pleas’d to see a rational Account of these,
of their Origin, and of their Properties? Or who would not approve of an
_Hypothesis_, when they see that Nature in her greatest and strongest
Works may easily be understood by it, and is in no other way, that we
know of, intelligible?

WE will speak first of subterraneous Cavities and Waters, because they
will be of easier Dispatch, and an Introduction to the rest.

THAT the Inside of the Earth is hollow and broken in many Places, and is
not one firm and united Mass, we have both the Testimony of Sense and of
easy Observations to prove: How many Caves and Dens and hollow Passages
into the Ground do we see in many Countries, especially amongst
Mountains and Rocks; and some of them endless and bottomless so far as
can be discover’d? We have many of these in our own Island, in
_Derbyshire_, _Somersetshire_, _Wales_, and other Counties, and in every
Continent or Island they abound more or less. These Hollownesses of the
Earth the Ancients made Prisons, or Store-houses for the Winds, and set
a God over them to confine them, or let them loose at his Pleasure. For
some Ages after the Flood, as all Antiquity tells us, these were the
first Houses Men had, at least in some Parts of the Earth; here rude
Mortals shelter’d themselves, as well as they could, from the Injuries
of the Air, till they were beaten out by wild Beasts that took
Possession of them. The ancient Oracles also us’d to be given out of
these Vaults and Recesses under Ground, the _Sibyls_ had their Caves,
and the _Delphick_ Oracle, and their Temples sometimes were built upon
an hollow Rock. Places that are strange and solemn strike an Awe into
us, and incline us to a kind of superstitious Timidity and Veneration,
and therefore they thought them fit for the Seats and Residences of
their Deities. They fancied also that Steams rise sometimes, or a sort
of Vapour in those hollow Places, that gave a kind of a divine Fury or
Inspiration. But all these Uses and Employments are now in a great
measure worn out, we know no Use of them but to make the Places talk’d
on where they are, to be the Wonders of the Country, to please our
Curiosity to gaze upon and admire; but we know not how they came, nor to
what purpose they were made at first.

IT would be very pleasant to read good Descriptions of these
subterraneous Places, and of all the strange Works of Nature there; how
she furnisheth these dark neglected Grotto’s; they have often a little
Brook runs murmuring thro’ them, and the Roof is commonly a kind of
petrefied Earth, or icy Fret-work, proper enough for such Rooms. But I
should be pleas’d especially to view the Sea-caves, or those hollow
Rocks that lie upon the Sea, where the Waves roll a great Way under
Ground, and wear the hard Rock into as many odd Shapes and Figures as we
see in the Clouds. ’Tis pleasant also to see a River in the Middle of
its Course throw itself into the Mouth of a Cave, or an Opening of the
Earth, and run under Ground sometimes many Miles; still pursuing its Way
thro’ the dark Pipes of the Earth, till at last it find an Out-let.
There are many of these Rivers taken Notice of in History in the several
Parts of the Earth, as the _Rhone_ in _France_, _Guadiana_ in _Spain_,
and several in _Greece_, _Alpheus_, _Lycus_, and _Erasinus_; then
_Niger_ in _Africa_, _Tygris_ in _Asia_, _&c._ And I believe if we could
turn _Derwent_, or any other River, into one of the Holes of the Peak,
it would groap its Way till it found an Issue, it may be, in some other
Country. These subterraneous Rivers that emerge again, shew us that the
Holes of the Earth are longer and reach further than we imagine, and if
we could see into the Ground, as we ride, or walk, we should be
affrighted to see so often Waters or Caverns under us.

BUT to return to our dry Caves; these commonly stand high, and are
sometimes of a prodigious Greatness: _Strabo_ [_Geo. l. 16._] mentions
some in the Mountains towards _Arabia_, that are capable to receive four
thousand Men at once. The Cave of _Engedi_ [_1 Sam. xxiv. 3, 4._] hid
_David_ and six hundred Men, so as _Saul_, when he was in the Mouth of
it, did not perceive them. In the Mountains of the _Traconites_ there
are many of these vast Dens and Recesses, and the People of that Country
defended themselves a long time in those strong Holds against _Herod_
and his Army: They are plac’d among such craggy Rocks and Precipices,
that, as _Josephus_ [_Ant. Jud. l. 14. ch. 27._] tells us, _Herod_ was
forced to make a sort of open Chests, and in those by Chains of Iron he
let down his Soldiers from the Top of the Mountains to go fight them in
their Dens. I need add no more Instances of this Kind: In the natural
History of all Countries, or the geographical Descriptions of them, you
find such Places taken notice of, more or less; yet if there was a good
Collection made of the chief of them in several Parts, it might be of
use, and would make us more sensible how broken and torn the Body of the
Earth is.

THERE are subterraneous Cavities of another Nature, and more remarkable,
which they call _Volcano_’s, or fiery Mountains; that belch out Flames
and Smoke and Ashes, and sometimes great Stones and broken Rocks, and
Lumps of Earth, or some metallick Mixture; and throw them to an
incredible Distance by the Force of the Eruption. These argue great
Vacuities in the Bowels of the Earth, and Magazines of combustible
Matter treasur’d up in them. And as the Exhalations within these Places
must be copious, so they must lie in long Mines or Trains to do so great
Execution, and to last so long. ’Tis scarce credible what is reported
concerning some Eruptions of _Vesuvius_ and _Ætna_. The Eruptions of
_Vesuvius_ seem to be more frequent and less violent of late; the Flame
and Smoke break out at the Top of the Mountain, where they have eaten
away the Ground and made a great Hollow, so as it looks at the Top, when
you stand upon the Brims of it, like an _Amphitheatre_, or like a great
Caldron, about a Mile in Circumference, and the burning Furnace lies
under it. The Outside of the Mountain is all spread with Ashes, but the
Inside much more; for you wade up to the Mid-leg in Ashes to go down to
the Bottom of the Cavity and ’tis extremely heavy and troublesome to get
up again. The Inside lies sloping, and one may safely go down, if it be
not in a raging Fit; but the middle Part of it, or Center, which is a
little rais’d like the Bottom of a Platter, is not to be ventur’d upon,
the Ground there lies false and hollow, there it always smoaks, and
there the Funnel is suppos’d to be; yet there is no visible Hole or
Gaping any where when it doth not rage. _Naples_ stands below in fear of
this fiery Mountain, which hath often cover’d its Streets and Palaces
with its Ashes; and in Sight of the Sea (which lies by the Side of them
both) and as it were in Defiance to it, threatens at one time or other
to burn that fair City. History tells us, that some Eruptions of
_Vesuvius_ have carry’d Cinders and Ashes as far as _Constantinople_;
this is attested both by _Greek_ and _Latin_ Authors; particularly, that
they were so affrighted with these Ashes and Darkness, that the Emperor
left the City, and there was a Day observ’d yearly for a Memorial of
this Calamity or Prodigy.

_ÆTNA_ is of greater Fame than _Vesuvius_, and of greater Fury, all
Antiquity speaks of it; not only the _Greeks_ and _Romans_, but as far
as History reacheth, either real or fabulous, there is something
recorded of the Fires of _Ætna_: The Figure of the Mountain is
inconstant, by reason of the great Consumptions and Ruins it is subject
to; the Fires and Æstuations of it are excellently describ’d by
_Virgil_, upon Occasion of _Æneas_’s passing by those Coasts.

              —— _Horrificis juxta tonat Ætna ruinis;
              Intendumque atram prorumpit ad ætheranubem,
              Turbine fumantem piceo & candente favilla;
              Attollitque globos flammarum & sydera lambit;
              Interdum scopulos, avulsaque viscera montis
              Erigit eructans, liquefactaque saxa sub auras
              Cum gemitu glomerat, fundoque exæstuat imo._

              _Fama est Enceladi semustum fulmine corpus
              Urgeri mole hac, ingentemque insuper Ætnam
              Impositam, ruptis flammam expirare caminis.
              Et fessum quoties mutet latus, intremere omnem
              Murmure Trinacriam & cœlum subtexere fumo._

              ——_Ætna, whose Ruins make a thunder;
              Sometimes black Clouds of Smoke, that rowl about
              Mingled with Flakes of Fire, it belches out:
              And sometimes Balls of Flame it darts on high,
              Or its torn Bowels flings into the Sky.
              Within deep Cells under the Earth, a Store
              Of Fire-materials, molten Stones, and Ore,
              It gathers, then spews out, and gathers more._

              _Enceladus, when Thunder-struck by Jove,
              Was bury’d here, and Ætna thrown above;
              And when, to change his wearied Side, he turns,
              The Island trembles and the Mountain burns._

NOT far from _Ætna_ lies _Strombolo_, and other adjacent Islands, where
there are also such Magazines of Fire; and throughout all Regions and
Countries in the _West-Indies_ and in the _East_, in the northern and
southern Parts of the Earth, there are some of these _Volcano_’s, which
are sensible Evidences that the Earth is incompact and full of Caverns;
besides, the roarings and bellowings that use to be heard before an
Eruption of these _Volcano_’s argue some dreadful Hollowness in the
Belly, or under the Roots of the Mountain, where the Exhalations
struggle before they can break their Prison.

THE subterraneous Cavities, that we have spoke of hitherto, are such as
are visible in the Surface of the Earth, and break the Skin by some
gaping Orifice; but the Miners and those that work under Ground meet
with many more in the Bowels of the Earth, that never reach to the Top
of it; Burrows and Channels, and Clifts and Caverns, that never had the
Comfort of one Beam of Light since the great Fall of the Earth. And
where we think the Ground is firm and solid, as upon Heaths and Downs,
it often betrays its Hollowness, by sounding under the Horses Feet and
the Chariot Wheels that pass over it. We do not know when and where we
stand upon good Ground, if it was examin’d deep enough; and to make us
further sensible of this, we will instance in two Things that argue the
Unsoundness and Hollowness of the Earth in the inward Recesses of it,
tho’ the Surface be intire and unbroken; these are _Earthquakes_ and the
Communication of _subterraneous Waters_ and _Seas_: Of which two we will
speak a little more particularly.

EARTHQUAKES are too evident Demonstrations of the Hollowness of the
Earth, being the dreadful Effects or Consequences of it; for if the Body
of the Earth was sound and compact, there would be no such thing in
Nature as an Earthquake. They are commonly accompanied with an heavy
dead Sound, like a dull Thunder which ariseth from the Vapours that are
striving in the Womb of Nature, when her Throws are coming upon her. And
that these Caverns where the Vapours lie are very large and capacious,
we are taught sometimes by sad Experience; for whole Cities and
Countries have been swallow’d up into them, as _Sodom_ and _Gomorrah_,
and the Region of _Pentapolis_, and several Cities in _Greece_, and in
_Asia_, and other Parts. Whole Islands also have been thus absorpt in an
Earthquake; the Pillars and Props they stood upon being broken, they
have sunk and fallen in as an House blown up. I am also of Opinion, that
those Islands that are made by Divulsion from a Continent, as _Sicily_
was broken off from _Italy_, and _Great-Britain_, as some think, from
_France_, have been made the same way; that is, the Isthmus or Necks of
Land, that join’d these Islands with their Continents before, have been
hollow, and being either worn by the Water, or shak’d by an Earthquake,
have sunk down, and so made Way for the Sea to overflow them, and of a
Promontory to make an Island. For it is not at all likely that the Neck
of Land continued standing, and the Sea overflow’d it, and so made an
Island; for then, all those Passages between such Islands, and their
respective Continents, would be extremely shallow and unnavigable, which
we do not find them to be. Nor is it any more Wonder if such a Neck of
Land should fall, than that a Mountain should sink, or any other Tract
of Land, and a Lake rise in its Place, which hath often happened.
_Plato_ supposeth his _Atlantis_ to have been greater than _Asia_ and
_Africa_ together, and yet to have sunk all into the Sea; whether that
be true or no, I do not think it impossible that some Arms of the Sea,
or Sinus’s, might have had such an Original as that; and I am very apt
to think, that for some Years after the Deluge, ’till the Fragments were
well settled and adjusted, great Alterations would happen as to the Face
of the Sea and the Land; many of the Fragments would change their
Posture, and many would sink into the Water, that stood out before, the
Props failing that bore them up, or the Joints and Corners whereby they
lean’d upon one another: And thereupon a new Face of Things would arise,
and a new Deluge for that part of the Earth. Such Removes and
Interchanges, I believe, would often happen in the first Ages after the
Flood; as we see in all other Ruins, there happen lesser and secondary
Ruins after the first, ’till the Parts be so well pois’d and settled,
that without some Violence they scarce change their Posture any more.

BUT to return to our Earthquakes, and to give an Instance or two of
their Extent and Violence: _Pliny_ mentions one in the Reign of
_Tiberius Cæsar_, that struck down twelve Cities of _Asia_ in one Night.
And _Fournier_ gives us an Account of one in _Peru_, that reach’d three
hundred Leagues along the Sea-shore, and seventy Leagues In-land; and
level’d the Mountains all along as it went, threw down the Cities,
turn’d the Rivers out of their Channels, and made an universal Havock
and Confusion: And all this, he saith, was done within the Space of
seven or eight Minutes. There must be dreadful Vaults and Mines under
that Continent that gave Passage to the Vapours, and Liberty to play for
Nine Hundred Miles in length, and above two Hundred in breadth. _Asia_
also hath been very subject to these Desolations by Earthquakes; and
many Parts in _Europe_, as _Greece_, _Italy_, and others. The Truth is,
our Cities are built upon Ruins, and our Fields and Countries stand upon
broken Arches and Vaults, and so does the greatest Part of the outward
Frame of the Earth, and therefore it is no Wonder if it be often shaken;
there being Quantities of Exhalations within these Mines, or cavernous
Passages, that are capable of Rarefaction and Inflammation; and, upon
such Occasions, requiring more Room, they shake or break the Ground that
covers them. And thus much concerning Earthquakes.

A second Observation that argues the Hollowness of the Earth, is the
Communication of the Seas and Lakes under Ground. The _Caspian_ and
_Mediterranean_ Seas, and several Lakes, receive into them great Rivers,
and yet have no visible Out-let: These must have subterraneous Out-lets,
by which they empty themselves, otherwise they would redound and
overflow the Brims of their Vessel. The _Mediterranean_ is most
remarkable in this Kind, because ’tis observ’d, that at one End the
great Ocean flows into it through the Straits of _Gibraltar_, with a
sensible Current, and towards the other End about _Constantinople_ the
_Pontus_ flows down into it with a Stream so strong, that Vessels have
much ado to stem it; and yet it neither hath any visible Evacuation or
Out-let, nor overflows its Banks. And besides that it is thus fed at
either End, it is fed by the Navel too, as I may so say; it sucks in, by
their Channels, several Rivers into its Belly, whereof the _Nile_ is one
very great and considerable. These Things have made it a great Problem,
_What becomes of the Water of the Mediterranean Sea?_ And for my Part, I
think the Solution is very easy, namely, that it is discharged by
subterraneous Passages, or convey’d by Channels under the Ground into
the Ocean. And this manner of Discharge or Conveyance is not peculiar to
the _Mediterranean_, but is common to it with the _Caspian_ Sea, and
other Seas and Lakes, that receive great Rivers into them, and have no
visible Issue.

I know there have been propos’d several other Ways to answer this
Difficulty concerning the Efflux or Consumption of the Waters of the
_Mediterranean_; some have suppos’d a double Current in the Strait of
_Gibraltar_, one that carry’d the Water in, and another that brought it
out; like the Arteries and Veins in our Body, the one exporting our
Blood from the Heart, and the other re-importing it: So they suppos’d
one Current upon the Surface, which carry’d the Water into the
_Mediterranean_, and under it at a certain Depth a Counter-Current,
which brought the Water back into the Ocean. But this hath neither Proof
nor Foundation; for unless it was included in Pipes, as our Blood is, or
consisted of Liquors very different, these cross Currents would mingle
and destroy one another. Others are of Opinion, that all the Water that
flows into the _Mediterranean_, or a Quantity equal to it, is consumed
in Exhalations every Day: This seems to be a bolder Supposition than the
other; for if so much be consumed in Vapours and Exhalations every Day
as flows into this Sea, what if this Sea had an Out-let and discharg’d
by that, every Day, as much as it receiv’d? In a few Days the Vapours
would have consumed all the rest; and yet we see many Lakes that have as
free an Out-let as an In-let, and are not consum’d, or sensibly
diminish’d by the Vapours. Besides, this Reason is a Summer Reason, and
would pass very ill in Winter, when the Heat of the Sun is much less
powerful: At least there would be a very sensible Difference betwixt the
Height of the Waters in Summer and Winter, if so much was consum’d every
Day, as this Explication supposeth. And the Truth is, this Want of a
visible Out-let is not a Property belonging only to the _Mediterranean_
Sea, as we noted before, but is also in other Seas and great Lakes, some
lying in one Climate and some in another, where there is no Reason to
suppose such excessive Exhalations; and tho’ ’tis true some Rivers in
_Africk_, and in other Parts of the Earth, are thus exhal’d and dry’d
up, without ever flowing into the Sea (as were all the Rivers in the
first Earth) yet this is where the Sands and parch’d Ground suck up a
great part of them; the heat of the Climate being excessively strong,
and the Channel of the River growing shallower by degrees, and it may
be, divided into lesser Branches and Rivulets; which are Causes that
take no Place here. And therefore we must return to our first Reason,
which is universal, for all Seasons of the Year and all Climates; and
seeing we are assur’d that there are subterraneous Channels and
Passages, for Rivers often fall into the Ground, and sometimes rise
again, and sometimes never return; why should we doubt to ascribe this
Effect to so obvious a Cause? Nay, I believe, the very Ocean doth
evacuate it self by subterraneous Out-lets; for considering what a
prodigious Mass of Water falls into it every Day from the wide Mouths of
all the Rivers of the Earth, it must have Out-lets proportionable; and
those _Syrtes_ or great Whirlpools, that are constant in certain Parts
or Sinus’s of the Sea, as upon the Coast of _Norway_ and of _Italy_,
arise probably from subterraneous Out-lets in those Places, whereby the
Water sinks, and turns, and draws into it whatsoever comes within such a
Compass; and if there was no Issue at the Bottom, tho’ it might by
contrary Currents turn Things round within its Sphere, yet there is no
Reason from that, why it should suck them down to the Bottom. Neither
does it seem improbable, that the Currents of the Sea are from these
In-draughts, and that there is always a submarine In-let in some part of
them, to make a Circulation of the Waters. But thus much for the
subterraneous Communication of Seas and Lakes.

AND thus much in general concerning subterraneous Cavities, and
concerning the hollow and broken Frame of the Earth. If I had now Magick
enough to shew you at one View all the Inside of the Earth, which we
have imperfectly describ’d; if we could go under the Roots of the
Mountains, and into the Sides of the broken Rocks; or could dive into
the Earth with one of those Rivers that sink under Ground, and follow
its Course and all its Windings till it rise again, or led us to the
Sea, we should have a much stronger and more effectual _Idea_ of the
broken Form of the Earth, than any we can excite by these faint
Descriptions collected from Reason. The Ancients I remember us’d to
represent these hollow Caves and subterraneous Regions in the Nature of
a _World_ under Ground, and suppos’d it inhabited by the _Nymphs_,
especially the _Nymphs_ of the Waters and the Sea-Goddesses; so
_Orpheus_ sung of old; and in Imitation of him _Virgil_ hath made a
Description of those Regions; feigning the Nymph _Cyrene_ to send for
her Son to come down to her, and make her a Visit in those Shades where
Mortals were not admitted.

           _Duc age, duc ad nos, fas illi limina Divum
           Tangere, ait: Simul alta jubet discedere late
           Flumina, qua juvenis gressus inferret, at illum
           Curvata in momis faciem circumstitit unda,
           Accepitque sinu vasto, misitque sub amnem.
           Jamq; domum mirans genetricis & humida regna,
           Speluncisque lacos clausos, lucosque sonantes,
           Ibat, & ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum
           Omnia sub magna labentia flumina terra
           Spectabat diversa locis; Phasimque Licumque,
           Et Thalami matris pendentia pumice tecta, &c._

           Virgil.

           _Come lead the Youth below, bring him to me,
           The Gods are pleas’d our Mansions he should see;
           Straight she commands the Floods to make him Way,
           They open their wide Bosom and obey;
           Soft is the Path, and easy is his Tread,
           A watry Arch bends o’er his dewy Head;
           And as he goes he wonders, and looks round,
           To see this new found Kingdom under Ground.
           The silent Lakes in hollow Caves he sees,
           And on their Banks an ecchoing Grove of Trees;
           The Fall of Waters ’mongst the Rocks below
           He hears, and sees the Rivers how they flow:
           All the great Rivers of the Earth are there,
           Prepar’d, as in a Womb, by Nature’s Care.
           Last, to his Mother’s Bed chamber he’s brought,
           Where the high Roof with Pumice-stone is wrought, &c._

If we now could open the Earth as this _Nymph_ did the Water, and go
down into the Bosom of it; see all the dark Chambers and Apartments
there, how ill contriv’d, and how ill kept; so many Holes and Corners,
some fill’d with Smoak and Fire, some with Water, and some with Vapours
and mouldy Air; how like a Ruin it lies gaping and torn in the Parts of
it; We should not easily believe that God created it into this Form
immediately out of nothing: It would have cost no more to have made
Things in better Order; nay, it had been more easy and more simple: And
accordingly we are assured that all Things were made at first in Beauty
and Proportion. And if we consider Nature and the Manner of the first
Formation of the Earth, ’tis evident that there could be no such Holes
and Caverns, nor broken Pieces, made then in the Body of it; for the
grosser Parts of the Chaos falling down towards the Center, they would
there compose a Mass of Earth uniform and compact, the Water swimming
above it; and this first Mass under the Water could have no Caverns or
Vacuities in it; for if it had any, the earthy Parts, while the Mass was
liquid or semi-liquid, would have sunk into them and fill’d them up,
expelling the Air or Water that was there; and when afterwards there
came to be a Crust or new Earth form’d upon the Face of the Waters,
there could be no Cavities, no Dens, no Fragments in it, no more than in
the other; and for the same general Reason, _that is_, passing from a
liquid Form into a concrete or solid, leisurely and by degrees, it would
slow and settle together in an entire Mass; there being nothing broken,
nor any Thing hard, to bear the Parts off from one another, or to
intercept any empty Spaces between them.

’TIS manifest then, that the Earth could not be in this cavernous Form
originally, by any Work of Nature, nor by any immediate Action of God,
seeing there is neither Use nor Beauty in this kind of Construction. Do
we not then, as reasonably, as aptly, ascribe it to that Desolation that
was brought upon the Earth in the general Deluge, when its outward Frame
was dissolv’d and fell into the great Abyss? How easily doth this answer
all that we have observ’d concerning the subterraneous Regions? That
hollow and broken Posture of Things under Ground, all those Caves and
Holes, and blind Recesses, that are otherwise so unaccountable, say but
that they are a _Ruin_, and you have in one Word explain’d them all. For
there is no sort of Cavities, interior or exterior, great or little,
open or shut, wet or dry, of what Form or Fashion soever, but we might
reasonably expect them in a Ruin of that Nature. And as for the
subterraneous Waters, seeing the Earth fell into the Abyss, the Pillars
and Foundations of the present (exterior) Earth must stand immers’d in
Water, and therefore at such a Depth from the Surface every where, there
must be Water found, if the Soil be of a Nature to admit it. ’Tis true,
all subterraneous Waters do not proceed from this Original, for many of
them are the Effects of Rains and melted Snows sunk into the Earth; but
that in digging any where you constantly come to Water at length, even
in the most solid Ground, this cannot proceed from these Rains or Snows,
but must come from below, and from a Cause as general as the Effect is;
which can be no other in my Judgment than this, that the Roots of the
exterior Earth stand within the old Abyss, whereof, as a great Part lies
open in the Sea, so the rest lies hid and cover’d among the Fragments of
the Earth; sometimes dispers’d and only moistning the Parts, as our
Blood lies in the Flesh, and in the Habit of the Body; sometimes in
greater or lesser Masses, as the Blood in our Vessels. And this I take
to be the true Account of subterraneous Waters, as distinguish’d from
Fountains and Rivers, and from the Matter and Causes of them.

THUS much we have spoke to give a general _Idea_ of the inward Parts of
the Earth, and an easy Explication of them by our _Hypothesis_; which
whether it be true or no, if you compare it impartially with Nature, you
will confess at least, that all these Things are just in such a Form and
Posture as if it was true.




                                CHAP. X.


    _Concerning the Channel of the Sea, and the Original of it; The
    Causes of its irregular Form and unequal Depths: As also of the
    Original of Islands, their Situation and other Properties._


We have hitherto given an Account of the subterraneous Regions, and of
their general Form; We now come above Ground to view the Surface of the
Globe, which we find _Terraqueous_, or divided into Sea and Land: These
we must survey, and what is remarkable in them as to their Frame and
Structure, we must give an Account of from our _Hypothesis_, and shew to
be unaccountable from any other yet known.

AS for the Ocean, there are two things considerable in it, the Water and
the Channel that contains it. The Water no doubt is as ancient as the
Earth, and cotemporary with it, and we suppose it to be part of the
great Abyss wherein the World was drown’d; the rest lying cover’d under
the Hollow Fragments of Continents and Islands. But that is not so much
the Subject of our present Discourse as the Channel of the Ocean, that
vast and prodigious Cavity that runs quite round the Globe, and
reacheth, for ought we know, from Pole to Pole, and in many Places is
unsearchably deep: When I present this great Gulf to my Imagination,
emptied of all its Waters, naked and gaping at the Sun, stretching its
Jaws from one End of the Earth to another, it appears to me the most
ghastly thing in Nature. What Hands or Instruments could work a Trench
in the Body of the Earth of this vastness, and lay Mountains and Rocks
on the side of it, as Ramparts to enclose it?

BUT as we justly admire its Greatness, so we cannot at all admire its
Beauty or Elegancy, for ’tis as deform’d and irregular as it is great.
And there appearing nothing of Order, or any regular Design in its
Parts, it seems reasonable to believe that it was not the Work of
Nature, according to her first Intention, or according to the first
Model that was drawn in Measure and Proportion by the Line and by the
Plummet, but a secondary Work, and the best that could be made of broken
Materials. And upon this Supposition ’tis easy to imagine, how upon the
Dissolution of the Primæval Earth, the Channel of the Sea was made, or
that huge Cavity that lies between the several Continents of the Earth;
which shall be more particularly explain’d after we have view’d a little
better the Form of it, and the Islands that lie scatter’d by its Shores.

THERE is no Cavity in the Earth, whether open or subterraneous, that is
comparably so great as that of the Ocean, nor would any appear of that
Deformity if we could see it empty. The Inside of a Cave is rough and
unsightly; the Beds of great Rivers and great Lakes, when they are laid
dry, look very raw and rude, the Valleys of the Earth, if they were
naked, without Trees and without Grass, nothing but bare Ground and bare
Stones, from the tops of their Mountains, would have a ghastly Aspect;
but the Sea-Channel is the Complex of all these; here Caves, empty
Lakes, naked Valleys are represented as in their Original, or rather far
exceeded and out-done as to all their Irregularities; for the Cavity of
the Ocean is universally irregular, both as to the Shores and Borders of
it; as to the uncertain Breadth and the uncertain Depth of its several
Parts, and as to its Ground and Bottom and the whole Mould: If the Sea
had been drawn round the Earth in regular Figures and Borders, it might
have been a great Beauty to our Globe, and we should reasonably have
concluded it a Work of the first Creation, or of Nature’s first
Production; but finding on the contrary all the Marks of Disorder and
Disproportion in it, we may as reasonably conclude, that it did not
belong to the first Order of Things, but was something succedaneous,
when the Degeneracy of Mankind, and the Judgments of God had destroyed
the first World, and subjected the Creation to some kind of Vanity.

NOR can it easily be imagin’d, if the Sea had been always, and the
Earth, in this _Terraqueous_ Form, broke into Continents and Islands,
how Mankind could have been propagated at first thro’ the Face of the
Earth, all from one Head and from one Place. For Navigation was not then
known, at least as to the Grand Ocean, or to pass from Continent to
Continent; and I believe _Noah_’s Ark was the first Ship, or Vessel of
Bulk, that ever was built in the World; how could then the Posterity of
_Adam_ overflow the Earth, and stock the several Parts of the World, if
they had been distant or separate then, as they are now, by the
Interposal of the great Ocean? But this Consideration we will insist
upon more largely in another Place; let us reflect upon the
Irregularities of the Sea-Channel again, and the possible Causes of it.

IF we could imagine the Channel of the Sea to have been made as we may
imagine the Channel of Rivers to have been, by long and insensible
Attrition, the Water wearing by degrees the Ground under it, by the
Force it hath from its Descent and Course, we should not wonder at its
irregular Form; but ’tis not possible this Channel should have had any
such Original; whence should its Water have descended, from what
Mountains, or from what Clouds? Where is the Spring-head of the Sea?
What Force could eat away half the Surface of the Earth; and wear it
hollow to an immeasurable Depth? This must not be from feeble and
lingring Causes, such as the Attrition of Waters, but from some great
Violence offer’d to Nature, such as we suppose to have been in the
general Deluge, when the Frame of the Earth was broken. And after we
have a little survey’d the Sea-Coast, and, so far as we can, the Form of
the Sea-Channel, we shall the more easily believe that they could have
no other Original than what we assign.

THE Shores and Coasts of the Sea are no way equal or uniform, but go in
a Line uncertainly crooked and broke; indented and jagg’d as a thing
torn, as you may see in the Maps of the Coasts and the Sea-charts; and
yet there are innumerable more Inequalities than are taken Notice of in
those Draughts; for they only mark the greater Promontories and Bays;
but there are besides those a Multitude of Creeks and Out-lets, Necks of
Land and Angles, which break the Evenness of the Shore in all manner of
Ways. Then the Height and Level of the Shore is as uncertain as the Line
of it; ’tis sometimes high and sometimes low, sometimes spread in sandy
Plains, as smooth as the Sea it self, and of such an equal Height with
it, that the Waves seem to have no Bounds, but the meer Figure and
Convexity of the Globe; in other Places ’tis rais’d into Banks and
Ramparts of Earth, and in others ’tis wall’d in with Rocks; and all this
without any Order that we can observe, or any other Reason than that
this is what might be expected in a Ruin.

AS to the Depths and Soundings of the Sea, they are under no Rule nor
Equality, any more than the Figures of the Shores; Shallows in some
Places, and Gulphs in others; Beds of Sands sometimes, and sometimes
Rocks under Water; as Navigators have learn’d by a long and dangerous
Experience: And tho’ we that are upon dry Land, are not much concern’d
how the Rocks and the Shelves lie in the Sea, yet a poor
Shipwreckt-Mariner, when he hath run his Vessel upon a Rock in the
middle of the Channel, expostulates bitterly with Nature, who it was
that plac’d that Rock there, and to what purpose? Was there not Room
enough, saith he, upon the Land, or the Shore, to lay your great Stones,
but they must be thrown into the middle of the Sea, as it were in spite
to Navigation? The best Apology that can be made for Nature in this
Case, so far as I know, is to confess, that the whole Business of the
Sea-Channel is but a Ruin, and in a Ruin Things tumble uncertainly, and
commonly lie in Confusion: Tho’ to speak the Truth, it seldom happens,
unless in narrow Seas, that Rocks, or Banks, or Islands, lie in the
middle of them, or very far from the Shores.

HAVING view’d the more visible Parts of the Channel of the Sea, we must
now descend to the Bottom of it, and see the Form and Contrivance of
that; but who shall guide us in our Journey, while we walk, as _Job_
saith, _Chap. xxxviii. 16._ in the search of the Deep? Or who can make a
Description of that which none hath seen? It is reasonable to believe,
that the Bottom of the Sea is much more rugged, broken and irregular
than the Face of the Land. There are Mountains, and Valleys, and Rocks,
and Ridges of Rocks, and all the common Inequalities we see upon Land;
beside these, ’tis very likely there are Caves under Water, and hollow
Passages into the Bowels of the Earth, by which the Seas circulate and
communicate one with another, and with subterraneous Waters; those great
_Eddies_ and infamous _Syrtes_ and Whirpools that are in some Seas, as
the _Baltick_ and the _Mediterranean_, that suck into them and overwhelm
whatever comes within their reach, shew that there is something below
that sucks from them in Proportion, and that drinks up the Sea, as the
Sea drinks up the Rivers. We ought also to imagine the Shores within the
Water to go inclin’d and sloping, but with great Inequality; there are
many Shelves in the way, and Chambers, and sharp Angles; and many broken
Rocks and great Stones lie rolled down to the Bottom.

’TIS true these things affect us little, because they are not expos’d to
our Senses; and we seldom give our selves the trouble to collect from
Reason what the Form of the invisible and inaccessible Parts of the
Earth is; or if we do sometimes, those _Ideas_ are faint and weak, and
make no lasting Impression upon our Imagination and Passions; but if we
should suppose the Ocean dry, and that we look’d down from the Top of
some high Cloud upon the empty Shell, how horridly and barbarously would
it look? And with what Amazement should we see it under us like an open
Hell, or a wide bottomless Pit? So deep, and hollow, and vast; so broken
and confus’d, so every way deform’d and monstrous. This would
effectually waken our Imagination, and make us enquire and wonder how
such a thing came in Nature; from what Causes, by what Force or Engines
could the Earth be torn in this prodigious manner? Did they dig the Sea
with Spades, and carry out the Molds in Hand-baskets? Where are the
Entrails laid? and how did they cleave the Rocks asunder? If as many
Pioneers as the Army of _Xerxes_ had been at Work ever since the
Beginning of the World, they could not have made a Ditch of this
Greatness. Nor is it the Greatness only, but that wild and multifarious
Confusion which we see in the Parts and Fashion of it, that makes it
strange and unaccountable; ’tis another Chaos in its kind; who can paint
the Scenes of it? Gulphs, and Precipices, and Cataracts; Pits within
Pits, and Rocks under Rocks, broken Mountains and ragged Islands, that
look as if they had been Countries pull’d up by the Roots, and planted
in the Sea.

IF we could make true and full Representations of these things to our
selves, I think we should not be so bold as to make them the immediate
Product of Divine Omnipotence; being destitute of all Appearance of Art
or Counsel. The first Orders of things are more perfect and regular; and
this _Decorum_ seems to be observ’d, that Nature doth not fall into
Disorder till Mankind be first degenerate and leads the way. Monsters
have been often made an Argument against Providence; if a Calf have two
Heads, or five Legs, straight there must not be a God in Heaven, or at
least not upon Earth; and yet this is but a Chance that happens once in
many Years, and is of no consequence at all to the rest of the World:
But if we make the standing Frame of Nature monstrous, or deform’d and
disproportion’d, and to have been so not by Corruption and Degeneracy,
but immediately by divine Creation or Formation, it would not be so easy
to answer that Objection against Providence. Let us therefore prevent
this Imputation; and supposing, according to our Theory, that these
Things were not originally thus, let us now explain more distinctly how
they came to pass at the Deluge, or upon the Dissolution of the first
Earth.

AND we will not content our selves with a general Answer to these
Observations concerning the Sea-Channel, as if it was a sufficient
Account of them to say they were the Effects of a Ruin; there are other
things to be consider’d and explain’d beside this Irregularity, as the
vast Hollowness of this Cavity, bigger incomparably than any other
belonging to the Earth; and also the Declivity of the Sides of it, which
lie shelving from Top to Bottom: For notwithstanding all the
Inequalities we have taken Notice of in the Channel of the Sea, it hath
one general Form, which may, though under many Differences, be observed
throughout, and that is, that the Shores and Sides within the Water lie
inclin’d, and you descend by degrees to the deepest Part which is
towards the Middle. This, I know, admits of many Exceptions; for
sometimes upon a rocky Shore, or among rocky Islands, the Sea is very
deep close to the Rocks, and the deeper, commonly the higher and steeper
the Rocks are. Also where the Descent is more leisurely, ’tis often
after a different Manner, in some Coasts more equal and uniform, in
others more broken and interrupted; but still there is a Descent to the
Channel or deepest Part, and this in the deep Ocean is fathomless; and
such a deep Ocean, and such a deep Channel there is always between
Continents. This, I think, is a Property as determinate as any we can
pitch upon in the Channel of the Sea, and with those other two
mention’d; its vast Cavity, and universal Irregularity, is all one can
desire an Account of, as to the Form of it; we will therefore from this
Ground take our Rise and first Measures for the Explication of the
Sea-Channel.

LET us suppose then in the Dissolution of the Earth, when it began to
fall, that it was divided only into three or four Fragments, according
to the Number of our Continents; but those Fragments being vastly great
could not descend at their full Breadth and Expansion, or at least could
not descend so fast in the Middle, as towards the Extremities; because
the Air about the Edges would yield and give Place easily, not having
far to go, to get out of the Way; but the Air that was under the Middle
of the Fragment could not without a very swift Motion get from under the
Concave of it, and consequently its Descent there would be more resisted
and suspended; but the Sides in the mean time would continually descend,
bending the Fragment with their Weight, and so making it of a lesser
Compass and Expansion than it was before: And by this Means there would
be an Interval and Distance made between the two falling Fragments, and
a good Part of the Abyss, after their Descent, would lie uncover’d in
the Middle betwixt them; as may be seen in the annex’d Figure, where the
Fragments A. B. bending downwards in their Extremities, separate as they
go, and after they are faln, leave a good Space in the Abyss betwixt
them altogether uncover’d: This Space is the main Channel of the great
Ocean, lying betwixt two Continents; and the inclining Sides shew the
Declivity of the Shores.

[Illustration: Fragments are starting to break into Continents.]

[Illustration: The Fragments have Fallen like double Doors.]

THIS we have represented here only in a Ring or Circle of the Earth, in
the first Figure; but it may be better represented in a broader Surface,
as in the second Figure, where the two Fragments A. B. that are to make
the two opposite Continents, fall in like double Doors, opening
downwards, the Hinges being towards the Land on either Side, so as at
the Bottom they leave in the Middle betwixt them a deep Channel of
Water, _a. a. a._ such as is betwixt all Continents; and the Water
reaching a good Height upon the Land on either Side, makes Sea there
too, but shallower, and by degrees you descend into the deepest Channel.

[Illustration: The great Disorder in the Chasm between the Fragments.]

THIS gives an Account of two Things that we mention’d to be consider’d
and explain’d as to the Sea, how the great Cavity of its Channel was
made, and how it was made in that general Form of Declivity in its Sides
from the Land: The third Thing was the Irregularities of it, both as to
its various Depths, and as to the Form of the Shores and of the Bottom.
And this is as easily and naturally explain’d from the same Supposition
as the former two; for tho’ we have hitherto represented the Fragments
A. B. as even and regular after their Fall, because that was most
simple, and there was no occasion then to represent them otherwise, yet
we must suppose, that as soon as in their Fall they hit upon the Top or
Bottom of the Abyss, that great Force and Weight with which they
descended broke off all the Edges and Extremities, and so made
innumerable Ruptures and Inequalities in the Shores, and as many within
the Sea, and at the Bottom; where the broken Rocks and Lumps of Earth
would lie in all imaginable Disorder; as you may conceive from the
_third Figure_. For when the Motion came on a sudden to be obstructed,
the Load of the Fragment still pressing it forwards, such a Concussion
arose, as made thousands of lesser Fragments, of all Shapes and
Magnitudes, and in all Postures and Forms, and most of them irregular.
And by these Fractions and secondary Ruins the Line of the Shores was
broken, and the Level of them too: In some Places they would stand high,
in others low, sometimes rough, and sometimes even, and generally
crooked, with Angles and In-lets, and uncertain Windings. The Bottom
also by the same Stroke was diversify’d into all Manner of Forms,
sometimes rocky with Pits and Gulphs, and sometimes spread in plain
Beds, sometimes shallow, and sometimes deep; for those Differences would
depend only upon the Situation of the secondary Fragments; and so it
might come to pass, that some Places near the Shore might be excessive
deep when a Rock or Rocks stood in a steep Posture, as (_Figure 3._) _b.
b. b._ and, on the contrary, sometimes Places much more advanc’d into
the Ocean might be less deep, where a Fragment of Earth lay under Water,
or one bore up another, as _c. c. c._ but these Cases would not be very
frequent. To conclude, There are no Properties of the Sea-channel, that
I know of, nor Differences or Irregularities in the Form of it, which
this _Hypothesis_ doth not give a fair Account of: And having thus far
open’d the Way and laid down the general Grounds for their Explication,
other things that are more minute, we leave to the Curiosity of
particular Genius’s; being unwilling to clog the Theory at first with
things that may seem unnecessary. We proceed now to the Consideration of
Islands.

WE must in the first Place distinguish between _Original_ Islands and
_Fictitious_ Islands: Those I call fictitious, that are not of the same
Date and Antiquity with the Sea, but have been made some at one time,
some at another, by accidental Causes, as the Aggestion of Sands and
Sand-beds, or the Sea leaving the Tops of some shallow Places that lie
high, and yet flowing about the lower Skirts of them; these make sandy
and plain Islands, that have no high Land in them, and are but
Mock-Islands in effect. Others are made by Divulsion from some
Continent, when an Isthmus, or the Neck of a Promontory running into the
Sea, sinks or falls in, by an Earthquake or otherwise, and the Sea
entring in at the Gap passeth through, and makes that Promontory or
Country become an Island. Thus the Island _Sicily_ is suppos’d to have
been made, and all _Africa_ might be an Island, if the Isthmus between
the _Mediterranean_ and the red Sea should sink down. And these Islands
may have Rocks and Mountains in them, if the Land had so before. Lastly,
There are Islands that have been said to rise from the Bottom of the
Sea; History mentions such in both the _Archipelago_’s, _Ægæan_ and
_Indian_; and this seems to argue that there are great Fragments or
Tracts of Earth that lie loose at the Bottom of the Sea, or that are not
incorporated with the Ground; which agrees very well with our
Explication of the Sea-Channel.

BUT beside these Islands, and the several Sorts of them, there are
others which I call _Original_; because they could not be produc’d in
any of the forementioned Ways, but are of the same Origin and Antiquity
with the Channel of the Sea; and such are the Generality of our Islands;
they were not made of Heaps of Sands, nor torn from any Continent, but
are as ancient as the Continents themselves, namely, ever since the
Deluge, the common Parent of them both. Nor is there any Difficulty to
understand how Islands were made at the Dissolution of the Earth, any
more than how Continents were made; for Islands are but lesser
Continents, or Continents greater Islands; and according as Continents
were made of greater Masses of Earth, or greater Fragments standing
above the Water, so Islands were made of less, but so big always, and in
such a Posture, as to bear their Tops above the Water. Yet tho’ they
agree thus far, there is a particular Difference to be taken notice of,
as to their Origin; for the Continents were made of those three or four
primary Masses into which the falling Orb of the Earth was divided, but
the Islands were made of the Fractures of these, and broken off by the
Fall, from the Skirts and Extremities of the Continents: We noted
before, that when those great Masses and primary Fragments came to dash
upon the Abyss in their Fall, the sudden Stop of the Motion, and the
weighty Bulk of the descending Fragment broke off all the Edges and
Extremities of it, which Edges and Extremities broken off made the
Islands; and accordingly we see that they generally lie scatter’d along
the Sides of the Continents, and are but Splinters, as it were, of those
greater Bodies. ’Tis true, beside these, there were an infinite Number
of other Pieces broke off that do not appear, some making Rocks under
Water, some Shallows and Banks in the Sea; but the greatest of them when
they fell either one upon another, or in such a Posture as to prop up
one another, their Heads and higher Parts would stand out of the Water
and make Islands.

THUS I conceive the Islands of the Sea were at first produc’d; we cannot
wonder therefore that they should be so numerous, or far more numerous
than the Continents; these are the Parents, and those are the Children;
nor can we wonder to see along the Sides of the Continents several
Islands, or Sets of Islands, sown, as it were, by Handfuls, or laid in
Trains; for the Manner of their Generation would lead us to think they
would be so plac’d. So the _American_ Islands lie scatter’d upon the
Coast of that Continent; the _Maldivian_ and _Philippine_ upon the
_East-India_ Shore, and the _Hesperides_ upon the _Africk_; and there
seldom happen to be any towards the Middle of the Ocean, tho’ by an
Accident, that also might come to pass. Lastly, It suits very well with
our Explication, that there should be Mountains and Rocks, sometimes in
Clusters, sometimes in long Chains, in all Islands; (as we find there
are in all that are true and original) for ’tis that makes them high
enough to appear above the Water, and strong enough to continue and
preserve themselves in that high Situation.

AND thus much may suffice for a summary Explication of the Causes of the
Sea-Channel and Islands, according to our _Hypothesis_.




                               CHAP. XI.


    _Concerning the Mountains of the Earth, their Greatness and
    irregular Form, their Situation, Causes, and Origin._


WE have been in the Hollows of the Earth, and the Chambers of the Deep,
amongst the Damps and Steams of those lower Regions; let us now go air
our selves on the Tops of the Mountains, where we shall have a more free
and large Horizon, and quite another Face of Things will present it self
to our Observation.

THE greatest Objects of Nature are, methinks, the most pleasing to
behold; and next to the great Concave of the Heavens, and those
boundless Regions where the Stars inhabit, there is nothing that I look
upon with more Pleasure than the wide Sea and the Mountains of the
Earth. There is something august and stately in the Air of these things,
that inspires the Mind with great Thoughts and Passions; we do
naturally, upon such Occasions, think of God and his Greatness: And
whatsoever hath but the Shadow and Appearance of INFINITE, as all Things
have that are too big for our Comprehension, they fill and over-bear the
Mind with their Excess, and cast it into a pleasing kind of Stupor and
Admiration.

AND yet these Mountains we are speaking of, to confess the Truth, are
nothing but great Ruins; but such as shew a certain Magnificence in
Nature; as from old Temples and broken Amphitheatres of the _Romans_ we
collect the Greatness of that People. But the Grandeur of a Nation is
less sensible to those that never see the Remains and Monuments they
have left; and those who never see the mountainous Parts of the Earth
scarce ever reflect upon the Causes of them, or what Power in Nature
could be sufficient to produce them. The Truth is, the Generality of
People have not Sense and Curiosity enough to raise a Question
concerning these things, or concerning the Original of them. You may
tell them that Mountains grow out of the Earth like Fuzz-balls, or that
there are Monsters under Ground, that throw up Mountains as Moles do
Mole-hills; they will scarce raise one Objection against your Doctrine.
Or if you would appear more Learned, tell them that the Earth is a great
Animal, and these are Wens that grow upon its Body; this would pass
current for Philosophy; so much is the World drown’d in Stupidity and
sensual Pleasures, and so little inquisitive into the Works of God and
Nature.

THERE is nothing doth more awaken our Thoughts, or excite our Minds to
enquire into the Causes of such Things, than the actual View of them; as
I have had Experience my self, when it was my Fortune to cross the
_Alps_ and _Apennine_ Mountains; for the Sight of those wild, vast, and
indigested Heaps of Stones and Earth did so deeply strike my Fancy, that
I was not easy ’till I could give my self some tolerable Account how
that Confusion came in Nature, ’Tis true, the Height of Mountains
compar’d with the Diameter of the Earth is not considerable, but the
Extent of them and the Ground they stand upon bears a considerable
Proportion to the Surface of the Earth; and if from _Europe_ we may take
our Measures for the rest, I easily believe, that the Mountains do at
least take up the Tenth Part of the dry Land. The Geographers are not
very careful to describe or note in their Charts the Multitude or
Situation of Mountains; They mark the Bounds of Countries, the Site of
Cities and Towns, and the Course of Rivers, because these are Things of
chief Use to Civil Affairs and Commerce, and that they design to serve,
and not Philosophy or natural History. But _Cluverius_, in his
Description of _Ancient Germany_, _Switzerland_, and _Italy_, hath given
Maps of those Countries more approaching to the natural Face of them,
and we have drawn (at the end of this Chapter) such a Map of either
Hemisphere, without marking Countries or Towns, or any such artificial
Things; distinguishing only Land and Sea, Islands and Continents,
Mountains and not Mountains; and ’tis very useful to imagine the Earth
in this Manner, and to look often upon such bare Draughts, as shew us
_Nature_ undrest; for then we are best able to judge what her true
Shapes and Proportions are.

’TIS certain that we naturally imagine the Surface of the Earth much
more regular than it is; for unless we be in some mountainous Parts,
there seldom occur any great Inequalities within so much Compass of
Ground as we can at once reach with our Eye; and to conceive the rest,
we multiply the same _Idea_, and extend it to those Parts of the Earth
that we do not see, and so fancy the whole Globe much more smooth and
uniform than it is. But suppose a Man was carried asleep out of a plain
Country amongst the _Alps_, and left there upon the Top of one of the
highest Mountains, when he wak’d and look’d about him, he wou’d think
himself in an inchanted Country, or carried into another World; every
Thing wou’d appear to him so different to what he had ever seen or
imagin’d before. To see on every Hand of him a Multitude of vast Bodies
thrown together in Confusion, as those Mountains are; Rocks standing
naked round about him; and the hollow Valleys gaping under him; and at
his Feet, it may be, an Heap of frozen Snow in the midst of Summer. He
would hear the Thunder come from below, and see the black Clouds hanging
beneath him; upon such a Prospect it would not be easy to him to
persuade himself that he was still upon the same Earth; but if he did,
he would be convinc’d, at least, that there are some Regions of it
strangely rude, and ruin-like, and very different from what he had ever
thought of before. But the Inhabitants of these wild Places are even
with us; for those that live amongst the _Alps_, and the great
Mountains, think that all the rest of the Earth is like their Country,
all broken into Mountains, and Valleys, and Precipices; they never see
other, and most People think of nothing but what they have seen at one
time or an other.

THESE _Alps_ we are speaking of are the greatest Range of Mountains in
_Europe_; and ’tis prodigious to see and to consider of what extent
these Heaps of Stones and Rubbish are; one way they over-spread _Savoy_
and _Dauphine_, and reach thro’ _France_ to the _Pyrenean_ Mountains,
and so to the Ocean. The other way they run along the Skirts of
_Germany_, thro’ _Styria_, _Pannonia_, and _Dalmatia_, as far as
_Thrace_ and the Black Sea. Then backwards they cover _Switzerland_ and
the Parts adjacent; and that Branch of them which we call the
_Apennines_ strikes thro’ _Italy_, and is, as it were, the Back-bone of
that Country. This must needs be a large Space of Ground which they
stand upon; yet ’tis not this Part of _Europe_ only that is laden with
Mountains, the Northern Part is as rough and rude in the Face of the
Country, as in the Manners of the People; _Bohemia_, _Silesia_,
_Denmark_, _Norway_, _Sweedland_, _Lapland_, and _Iseland_, and all the
Coasts of the _Baltick Sea_, are full of Clifts, and Rocks, and Crags of
Mountains: Besides the _Riphean_ Mountains in _Muscovy_, which the
Inhabitants there use to call the _Stone-girdle_, and believe that it
girds the Earth round about.

NOR are the other Parts of our Continent more free from Mountains than
_Europe_, nor other Parts of the Earth than our Continent; They are in
the New World as well as the Old; and if they could discover two or
three New Worlds or Continents more, they would still find them there.
Neither is there any Original Island upon the Earth, but is either all a
Rock, or hath Rocks of Mountains in it. And all the dry Land, and every
Continent, is but a kind of Mountain; tho’ that Mountain hath a
Multitude of lesser ones, and Valleys, and Plains, and Lakes, and
Marshes, and all Variety of Grounds.

IN _America_, the _Andes_, or a Ridge of Mountains so call’d, are
reported to be higher than any we have, reaching above a Thousand
Leagues in Length, and Twenty in Breadth, where they are the narrowest.
In _Africk_ the Mountain _Atlas_, that for its height was said to bear
the Heavens on its Back, runs all along from the Western Sea to the
Borders of _Ægypt_, parallel with the _Mediterranean_. There also are
the Mountains of the _Moon_, and many more, whereof we have but an
imperfect Account, as neither indeed of that Country in the remote and
inner Parts of it. _Asia_ is better known, and the Mountains thereof
better describ’d: _Taurus_, which is the principal, was adjudg’d by the
Ancient Geographers the greatest in the World. It divides _Asia_ into
two Parts, which have their Denomination from it: And there is an
_Anti-Taurus_ the greater and the less, which accordingly divide
_Armenia_ into greater and less. Then the _Cruciform_ Mountains of
_Imaus_, the famous _Caucasus_, the long Chains of _Tartary_ and
_China_, and the rocky and mountainous _Arabia_. If one could at once
have a Prospect of all these together, one would be easily satisfied,
that the Globe of the Earth is a more rude and indigested Body than ’tis
commonly imagin’d; if one could see, I say, all the Kingdoms and Regions
of the Earth at one view, how they lie in broken Heaps; the Sea hath
overwhelmed one half of them, and what remains are but the taller Parts
of a Ruin. Look upon those great Ranges of Mountains in _Europe_ or in
_Asia_, whereof we have given a short Survey; in what Confusion do they
lie? They have neither Form nor Beauty, nor Shape, nor Order, no more
than the Clouds in the Air. Then how barren, how desolate, how naked are
they? How they stand neglected by Nature? Neither the Rains can soften
them, nor the Dews from Heaven make them fruitful.

I have given this short Account of the Mountains of the Earth, to help
to remove that Prejudice we are apt to have, or that Conceit, that the
present Earth _is regularly form’d_. And to this Purpose I do not doubt
but that it would be of very good Use to have _natural_ Maps of the
Earth, as we noted before, as well as _civil_; and done with the same
Care and Judgment.

Our common Maps I call _Civil_, which note the Distinction of Countries
and of Cities, and represent the Artificial Earth as inhabited and
cultivated: But Natural Maps leave out all that, and represent the Earth
as it would be if there was not an Inhabitant upon it, nor ever had
been; the Skeleton of the Earth, as I may so say, with the sight of all
its Parts. Methinks also every Prince should have such a Draught of his
own Country and Dominions, to see how the Ground lies in the several
Parts of them, which highest, which lowest; what respect they have to
one another, and to the Sea; how the Rivers flow, and why; how the
Mountains stand; how the Heaths and how the Marshes are plac’d. Such a
Map or Survey would be useful both in time of War and Peace, and many
good Observations might be made by it, not only as to natural History
and Philosophy, but also in order to the perfect Improvement of a
Country. But to return to our Mountains.

AND this View of the Multitude and Greatness of them, may help to
rectify our Mistakes about the Form of the Earth; so before we proceed
to examine their Causes it will be good to observe further, that these
Mountains are plac’d in no Order one with another, that can either
respect Use or Beauty; and if you consider them singly, they do not
consist of any Proportion of Parts that is referable to any Design, or
that hath the least Footsteps of Art or Counsel. There is nothing in
Nature more shapeless and ill-figur’d than an old Rock or a Mountain,
and all that Variety that is among them, is but the various Modes of
Irregularity; so as you cannot make a better Character of them, in
short, than to say they are of all Forms and Figures except regular.
Then if you would go within these Mountains (for they are generally
hollow) you would find all things there more rude, if possible, than
without: And lastly, if you look upon an Heap of them together, or a
mountainous Country, they are the greatest Examples of Confusion that we
know in Nature; no Tempest or Earthquake puts Things into more Disorder.
’Tis true, they cannot look so ill now as they did at first; a Ruin that
is fresh, looks much worse than afterwards, when the Earth grows
discolour’d and skinn’d over. But I fancy, if we had seen the Mountains
when they were new born and raw, when the Earth was fresh broken, and
the Waters of the Deluge newly retir’d, the Fractions and Confusions of
them would have appear’d very ghastly and frightful.

AFTER this general Survey of the Mountains of the Earth and their
Properties, let us now reflect upon the Causes of them. There is a
double Pleasure in Philosophy; first, that of Admiration, whilst we
contemplate Things that are great and wonderful, and do not yet
understand their Causes; for tho’ Admiration proceeds from Ignorance,
yet there is a certain Charm and Sweetness in that Passion. Then the
second Pleasure is greater and more intellectual, which is that of
distinct Knowledge and Comprehension, when we come to have the Key that
unlocks those Secrets, and see the Methods wherein those Things come to
pass that we admir’d before: The Reasons why the World is so or so, and
from what Causes Nature, or any Part of Nature, came into such a State;
and this we are now to enquire after, as to the Mountains of the Earth,
what their Original was, how and when the Earth came into this strange
Frame and Structure? In the Beginning of our World, when the Earth rose
from a Chaos, ’twas impossible it should come immediately into this
mountainous Form; because a Mass that is fluid, as a Chaos is, cannot
lie in any other Figure than what is regular; for the constant Laws of
Nature do certainly bring all Liquors into that Form: And a Chaos is not
call’d so from any Confusion or Brokenness in the Form of it, but from a
Confusion and Mixture of all sorts of Ingredients in the Composition of
it. So we have already produc’d in the precedent Chapters, a double
Argument that the Earth was not originally in this Form, both because it
rose from a Chaos, which could not of it self, or by any immediate
Concretion, settle into a Form of this Nature, as hath been shewn in the
fourth and fifth Chapters; as also because if it had been originally
made thus, it could never have undergone a Deluge, as hath been prov’d
in the second and third Chapters. If this be then a secondary and
succedaneous Form, the great Question is, from what Causes it arises.

SOME have thought that Mountains, and all other Irregularities in the
Earth, have Rise from Earthquakes, and such like Causes; others have
thought that they came from the universal Deluge; yet not from any
Dissolution of the Earth that was then, but only from the great
Agitation of the Waters, which broke the Ground into this rude and
unequal Form. Both these Causes seem to me very incompetent and
insufficient. Earthquakes seldom make Mountains, they often take them
away, and sink them down into the Caverns that lie under them; besides,
Earthquakes are not in all Countries and Climates as Mountains are; for
as we have observ’d more than once, there is neither Island that is
Original, nor Continent any where in the Earth, in what Latitude soever,
but hath Mountains and Rocks in it. And lastly, what Probability is
there, or how is it credible, that those vast Tracks of Land which we
see fill’d with Mountains both in _Europe_, _Asia_ and _Africa_, were
rais’d by Earthquakes, or any Eruptions from below? In what Age of the
World was this done, and why not continu’d? As for the Deluge, which
they alledge as another Cause, I doubt not but Mountains were made in
the Time of the general Deluge, that great Change and Transformation of
the Earth happen’d then, but not from such Causes as are pretended, that
is, the bare rolling and agitation of the Waters; for if the Earth was
smooth and plain before the Flood, as they seem to suppose as well as we
do, the Waters could have little or no Power over a smooth Surface to
tear it any way in Pieces, no more than they do a Meadow or low Ground
when they lie upon it; for that which makes Torrents and Land floods
violent, is their Fall from the Mountains and high Lands, which our
Earth is now full of; but if the Rain fell upon even and level Ground,
it would only sodden and compress it; there is no possibility how it
should raise Mountains in it. And if we could imagine an universal
Deluge as the Earth is now constituted, it would rather throw down the
Hills and Mountains, than raise new ones; or by beating down their Tops
and loose Parts, help to fill the Valleys, and bring the Earth nearer to
Evenness and Plainness.

SEEING then there are no Hopes of explaining the Origin of Mountains,
either from particular Earthquakes, or from the general Deluge,
according to the common Notion and Explication of it; these not being
Causes answerable to such vast Effects: Let us try our _Hypothesis_
again; which hath made us a Channel large enough for the Sea, and Room
for all subterraneous Cavities, and I think will find us Materials
enough to raise all the Mountains of the Earth. We suppose the great
Arch or Circumference of the first Earth to have fallen into the Abyss
at the Deluge, and seeing that was larger than the Surface it fell upon,
’tis absolutely certain, that it could not all fall flat, or lie under
the Water: Now as all those Parts that stood above the Water made dry
Land, or the present habitable Earth, so such Parts of the dry Land as
stood higher than the rest, made Hills and Mountains; and this is the
first and general Account of them, and of all the Inequalities of the
Earth. But to consider these Things a little more particularly: There is
a double Cause and Necessity of Mountains, first this now mention’d,
because the exterior Orb of the Earth was greater than the interior,
which it fell upon, and therefore it could not all fall flat; and
secondly, because this exterior Orb did not fall so flat and large as it
might, or did not cover all the Bottom of the Abyss, as it was very
capable to do; but as we shew’d before in explaining the Channel of the
Ocean, it left a gaping in the Middle, or an _Abyss-channel_, as I
should call it; and the broader this Abyss-channel was, the more
Mountains there would be upon the dry Land; for there would be more
Earth, or more of the falling Orb left, and less Room to place it in,
and therefore it must stand more in Heaps.

IN what Parts of the Earth these Heaps would lie, and in what particular
manner, it cannot be expected that we should tell; but all that we have
hitherto observ’d concerning Mountains, how strange soever, and
otherwise unaccountable, may easily be explain’d and deduc’d from this
Original; we shall not wonder at their Greatness and Vastness, seeing
they are the Ruins of a broken World; and they would take up more or
less of the dry Land, according as the Ocean took up more or less Space
of our Globe: Then as to their Figure and Form, whether external or
internal, ’tis just such as answers our Expectation, and no more than
what the _Hypothesis_ leads us to; for you would easily believe that
these Heaps would be irregular in all manner of ways, whether consider’d
apart, or in their Situation to one another. And they would lie commonly
in Clusters and in Ridges, for those are two of the most general
Postures of the Parts of a Ruin, when they fall inwards. Lastly, We
cannot wonder that Mountains should be generally hollow; for great
Bodies falling together in Confusion, or bearing and leaning against one
another, must needs make a great many Hollownesses in them, and by their
unequal Applications empty Spaces will be intercepted. We see also from
the same Reason why mountainous Countries are subject to Earthquakes;
and why Mountains often sink and fall down into the Caverns that lie
under them; their Joints and Props being decayed and worn, they become
unable to bear their Weight. And all these Properties you see hang upon
one and the same String, and are just Consequences from our Supposition
concerning the Dissolution of the first Earth. And there is no surer
Mark of a good _Hypothesis_, than when it doth not only hit luckily in
one or two Particulars, but answers all that it is to be apply’d to, and
is adequate to Nature in her whole Extent.

But how fully or easily soever these things may answer Nature, you will
say, it may be, that all this is but an _Hypothesis_; that is, a kind of
Fiction or Supposition that Things were so and so at first, and by the
Coherence and Agreement of the Effects with such a Supposition, you
would argue and prove that they were really so. This I confess is true,
this is the Method, and if we would know any Thing in Nature further
than our Senses go, we can know it no otherwise than by an _Hypothesis_.
When Things are either too little for our Senses, or too remote and
inaccessible, we have no Way to know the inward Nature, and the Causes
of their sensible Properties, but by reasoning upon an _Hypothesis_. If
you would know, for Example, of what Parts Water, or any other Liquor
consists, they are too little to be discern’d by the Eye; you must
therefore take a Supposition concerning their invisible Figure and Form,
and if that agrees and gives the Reason of all their sensible Qualities,
you understand the Nature of Water. In like manner, if you would know
the Nature of a Comet, or of what Matter the Sun consists, which are
Things inaccessible to us, you can do this no otherwise than by an
_Hypothesis_; and if that _Hypothesis_ be easy and intelligible, and
answers all the _Phænomena_ of those two Bodies, you have done as much
as a _Philosopher_ or as _human Reason_ can do. And this is what we have
attempted concerning the Earth and concerning the Deluge. We have laid
down an _Hypothesis_ that is easy and perspicuous, consisting of a few
things, and those very intelligible, and from this we have given an
Account how the old World was destroy’d by a Deluge of Water, and how
the Earth came into this present Form, so distinguish’d and interrupted
with Sea and Land, Mountains and Valleys, and so broken in the Surface
and inward Parts of it.

BUT to speak the Truth, this Theory is something more than a bare
_Hypothesis_; because we are assured that the general Ground that we go
upon is true, namely, That the Earth rose at first from a Chaos; for
besides Reason and Antiquity, Scripture it self doth assure us of that;
and that one Point being granted, we have deduc’d from it all the rest
by a direct Chain of Consequences, which I think cannot be broken easily
in any Part or Link of it. Besides, the great Hinge of this Theory, upon
which all the rest turns, is the Distinction we make of the antediluvian
Earth and Heavens from the Postdiluvian, as to their Form and
Constitution. And it will never be beaten out of my Head, but that St.
_Peter_, _2 Epist. chap. iii. 5, 6._ hath made the same Distinction
sixteen hundred Years since, and to the very same purpose; so that we
have sure footing here again, and the Theory riseth above the Character
of a bare _Hypothesis_. And whereas an _Hypothesis_ that is clear and
proportion’d to Nature in every Respect, is accounted morally certain,
we must in Equity give more than a moral Certitude to this Theory. But I
mean this only as to the general Parts of it; for as to Particularities,
I look upon them only as problematical, and accordingly I affirm nothing
therein but with a Power of Revocation, and a Liberty to change my
Opinion when I shall be better inform’d. Neither do I know any Author
that hath treated a Matter new, remote, and consisting of a Multitude of
Particulars, who would not have had occasion, if he had liv’d to have
seen his _Hypothesis_ fully examin’d, to have chang’d his Mind and
Manner of explaining Things in many material Instances.

TO conclude both this Chapter and this Section, we have here added a Map
or Draught of the Earth, according to the natural Face of it, as it
would appear from the Moon, if we were a little nearer to her; or as it
was at first after the Deluge, before Cities were built, Distinctions of
Countries made, or any Alterations by human Industry. ’Tis chiefly to
expose more to view the Mountains of the Earth, and the Proportions of
Sea and Land; to shew it as it lies in itself, and as a Naturalist ought
to conceive and consider it. ’Tis true, there are far more Mountains
upon the Earth than what are here represented, for more could not
conveniently be plac’d in this narrow Scheme; but the best and most
effectual Way of representing the Body of the Earth as it is by Nature,
would be, not in plain Tables, but by a _rough Globe_, expressing all
the considerable Inequalities that are upon the Earth. The smooth Globes
that we use, do but nourish in us the Conceit of the Earth’s Regularity;
and tho’ they may be convenient enough for geographical Purposes, they
are not so proper for natural Science, nothing would be more useful in
this Respect, than a rough Globe of the largest Dimensions, wherein the
Channel of the Sea should be really hollow, as it is in Nature, with all
its unequal Depths according to the best Soundings, and the Shores
express’d both according to Matter and Form, little Rocks standing where
there are Rocks, and Sands and Beaches in the Places where they are
found; and all the Islands planted in the Sea-channel in a due Form, and
in their solid Dimensions. Then upon the Land should stand all the
Ranges of Mountains, in the same Order or Disorder that Nature hath set
them there: And the in-land Seas, and great Lakes, or rather the Beds
they lie in, should be duly represented; as also the vast Desarts of
Sand as they lie upon the Earth. And this being done with Care and due
Art, would be a true Epitome, or true Model of our Earth. Where we
should see, besides other Instructions, what a rude Lump our World is,
which we are so apt to dote upon.

[Illustration: The Eastern Hemisphere.]

[Illustration: The Western Hemisphere.]




                               CHAP. XII.


    _A short Review of what hath been already treated of, and in what
    Manner. The several Faces and Schemes under which the Earth would
    appear to a Stranger, that should view it first at a Distance, and
    then more closely, and the Application of them to our Subject. All
    Methods, whether Philosophical or Theological, that have been
    offer’d by others for the Explication of the Form of the Earth, are
    examin’d and disprov’d. A Conjecture concerning the other Planets,
    their natural Form and State compared with ours._


WE have finish’d the three Sections of this Book, and in this last
Chapter we will make a short Review and Reflexion upon what hath been
hitherto treated of, and add some further Confirmations of it. The
Explication of the universal Deluge was the first Proposal and Design of
this Discourse, to make that a Thing credible and intelligible to the
Mind of Man: And the full Explication of this drew in the whole Theory
of the Earth; Whose Original we have deduc’d from its first Source, and
shew’d both what was its primæval Form, and how it came into its present
Form. The Sum of our _Hypothesis_ concerning the universal Deluge was
this; That it came not to pass, as was vulgarly believ’d, by an Excess
of Rains, or any Inundation of the Sea, nor could ever be effected by a
meer Abundance of Waters; unless we suppose some Dissolution of the
Earth at the same time, namely, when the _Great Abyss_ was broken open.
And accordingly we shewed, that without such a Dissolution, or if the
Earth had been always in the same Form it is in now, no Mass of Water,
any where to be found in the World, could have equall’d the Height of
the Mountains, or made such an universal Deluge. Secondly, We shewed
that the Form of the Earth at first, and till the Deluge, was such as
made it capable and subject to a Dissolution: And thirdly, That such a
Dissolution being suppos’d, the Doctrine of the universal Deluge is very
reasonable and intelligible; and not only the Doctrine of the Deluge,
but the same Supposition is a Key to all Nature besides, shewing us how
our Globe became terraqueous, what was the Original of Mountains, of the
Sea-channel, of Islands, of subterraneous Cavities; things which without
this Supposition are as untelligible as the universal Flood itself. And
these things reciprocally confirming one another, our _Hypothesis_ of
the Deluge is arm’d, both Breast and Back, by the Causes and by the
Effects.

IT remains now, that, as to confirm our Explication of the Deluge, we
shew’d all other Accounts that had been given of it to be ineffectual or
impossible, to confirm our Doctrine concerning the Dissolution of the
Earth, and concerning the Original of Mountains, Seas, and all
Inequalities upon it, or within it, we must examine what Causes have
been assign’d by others, or what Accounts given of these things: That
seeing their Defectiveness, we may have the more Assurance and
Satisfaction in our own Method.

AND in order to this, let us observe first the general Forms under which
the Earth may be consider’d, or under which it doth appear accordingly
as we view it more nearly or remotely; and the first of these and the
most general is that of a _terraqueous Globe_. If a Philosopher should
come out of another World out of Curiosity to see our Earth, the first
Discovery or Observation he would make would be this, that it was a
terraqueous Globe: Thus much he might observe at a great Distance, when
he came but near the Borders of our World. This we discern in the Moon,
and most of the Planets, that they are divided into Sea and Land, and
how this Division came would be his first Remark and Inquiry concerning
our Earth; and how also those Subdivisions of Islands, or little Earths
which lie in the Water; how these were form’d, and that great Channel
that contains them both.

THE second Form that the Earth appears under, is that of an uneven and
_mountainous Globe_. When our Traveller had got below the Circle of the
Moon, he would discern the bald Tops of our Mountains, and the long
Ranges of them upon our Continents. We cannot from the Earth discern
Mountains and Valleys in the Moon directly, but from the Motion of the
Light and Shadows which we see there, we easily collect that there are
such Inequalities: And accordingly we suppose that our Mountains would
appear at a great Distance, and the shady Valleys lying under them; and
that this curious Person that came to view our Earth, would make that
his second Enquiry, how those Mountains were formed, and how our Globe
came to be so rude and irregular? For we may justly demand how any
Irregularity came into Nature, seeing all her first Motions and her
first Forms are regular, and whatsoever is not so, is but secondary, and
the Consequence of some Degeneracy, or of some Decay.

THE third visible Form of our Earth is that of a _broken Globe_; and
broken throughout, but in the outward Parts and Regions of it. This, it
may be, you will say, is not a visible Form; it doth not appear to the
Eye, without reasoning, that the Surface of the Earth is so broken.
Suppose our new Visitant had now pass’d the middle Region of the Air,
and was alighted upon the Top of _Pic Teneriffe_ for his first resting
Place, and that sitting there, he took a View of the great Rocks, the
wide Sea, and of the Shores of _Africk_ and _Europe_; for we’ll suppose
his piercing Eye to reach so far; I will not say that at first Sight he
would pronounce that the Surface of this Globe was broken, unless he
knew it to be so by Comparison with some other Planet like to it; but
the broken Form and Figure of many Parts of the Rocks, and the Posture
in which they lay, or great Portions of them, some inclin’d, some
prostrate, some erected, would naturally lead him to that Thought, that
they were a Ruin; he would see also the Islands tore from the
Continents, and both the Shores of the Continents and their Inland Parts
in the same Disorder and irregular Situation. Besides, he had this great
Advantage in viewing the Earth at a Distance, that he could see a whole
Hemisphere together, which, as he made his Approaches thro’ the Air,
would have much what the same aspect and countenance as ’tis represented
within the great Scheme, _p. 203._ And if any Man should accidentally
hit upon that Scheme, not knowing or thinking that it was the Earth, I
believe his first Thought of it would be, that it was some great broken
Body, or ruin’d Frame of Matter; and the Original, I am sure, is more
manifestly so. But we’ll leave our strange Philosopher to his own
Observations, and with him good Guides and Interpreters in his Survey of
the Earth, and that he would make a favourable Report at his Return
home, of our little dirty Planet.

IN the mean time let us pursue, in our own Way, this Third _Idea_ of the
Earth a little further, as it is _a broken Globe_. Nature I know hath
dissembled and cover’d this Form as much as may be, and Time hath help’d
to repair some of the old Breaches, or fill them up; besides, the
Changes that have been made by Art and human Industry, by Agriculture,
Planting, and Building Towns, hath made the Face of the Earth quite
another Thing from what it was in its naked Rudeness. As Mankind is much
alter’d from its pristine State, from what it was four thousand Years
ago, or towards the first Ages after the Flood, when the Nations liv’d
in Simplicity or Barbarousness; so is the Earth too, and both so
disguis’d and transform’d, that if one of those primitive Fathers should
rise from the Dead, he would scarce know this to be the same World which
he liv’d in before. But to discern the true Form of the Earth, whether
intire or broken, regular or disorder’d, we must in the first Place take
away all those Ornaments or Additions made by Art or Nature, and view
the bare Carcass of the Earth, as it hath nothing on it but Rocks and
Mountains, Deserts and Fields, and hollow Valleys, and a wide Sea. Then
secondly, We must in our Imagination empty this Channel of the Sea, take
out all the Waters that hinder the Sight of it, and look upon the dry
Ditch, measure the Depth and Breadth of it in our Mind, and observe the
Manner of its Construction, and in what a wild Posture all the Parts of
it lie; according as it hath been formerly represented, _Chap. 10._ And
lastly, we must take off the Cover of all subterraneous Places and deep
Caverns, to see the inside of the Earth; and lay bare the Roots of
Mountains, to look into those Holes and Vaults that are under them,
fill’d sometimes with Fire, sometimes with Water, and sometimes with
thick Air and Vapours. The Object being thus prepar’d, we are then to
look fixedly upon it, and to pronounce what we think of this disfigur’d
Mass, whether this exterior Frame doth not seem to be shatter’d; and
whether it doth more aptly resemble a new-made World, or the Ruins of
one broken. I confess when this _Idea_ of the Earth is present to my
Thoughts, I can no more believe that this was the Form wherein it was
first produc’d, than if I had seen the Temple of _Jerusalem_ in its
Ruins, when defac’d and sack’d by the _Babylonians_; I could have
persuaded my self, that it had never been in any other Posture, and that
_Solomon_ had given Orders for Building it so.

SO much for the Form of the Earth: It remains now that we examine what
Causes have been assign’d by others, of these Irregularities in the Form
of the Earth, which we explain by the Dissolution of it; what Accounts
any of the Ancients have given, or attempted to give, how the Earth
swell’d into Mountains in certain Places, and in others was depress’d
into low Valleys, how the Body of it was so broken, and how the Channel
of the Sea was made. The Elements naturally lie in regular Forms one
above another, and now we find them mix’d, confounded and transpos’d,
how comes this Disturbance and Disordination in Nature? The Explications
of these Things that have been given by others, may be reduc’d to two
general Sorts, _Philosophical_ or _Theological_, and we will try them
both for our Satisfaction.

OF Philosophers, none was more concern’d to give an Account of such
Things than _Epicurus_, both because he acknowledged the Origin of the
Earth to have been from a _Chaos_, and also admitted no Causes to act in
Nature but Matter and Motion: Yet all the Account we have from the
_Epicureans_ of the Form of the Earth, and the great Inequalities that
are in it, is so slight and trivial, that methinks it doth not deserve
the Name of a Philosophical Explication. They say that the Earth and
Water were mix’d at first, or rather, the Earth was above the Water, and
as the Earth was condens’d by the Heat of the Sun and the Winds, the
Water was squeez’d out in certain Places, which either it found hollow
or made so; and so was the Channel of the Sea made. Then as for
Mountains, while some Parts of the Earth shrunk and sunk in this Manner,
others would not sink; and these standing still while the others fell
lower, made the Mountains. How the subterraneous Cavities were made
according to them, I do not find.

THIS is all the Account that Monsieur _Gassendi_ (who seems to have made
it his Business, as well as his Pleasure, to embellish that Philosophy)
can help us to, out of the _Epicurean_ Authors how the Earth came into
this Form; and he that can content himself with this, is, in my Mind, of
an Humour very easy to be pleas’d. Do the Sun and the Wind use to
squeeze Pools of Water out of the Earth, and that in such a Quantity as
to make an Ocean? They dry the Earth, and the Waters too, and rarify
them into Vapours, but I never knew them to be the Causes of pressing
Water out of the Earth by Condensation. Could they compress the Earth
any otherwise, than by drying it and making it hard? And in Proportion,
as it was more dry, would it not the more imbibe and suck up the Water?
And how were the great Mountains of the Earth made in the North and in
the South, where the Influence of the Sun is not great? What sunk the
Earth there, and made the Flesh start from the Bones? But ’tis no Wonder
that _Epicurus_ should give such a mean Account of the Origin of the
Earth, and the Form of its Parts, who did not so much as understand the
general Figure of the Body of it, that it was in some Manner Spherical,
or that the Heavens encompass’d it round. One must have a blind Love for
that Philosophy, and for the Conclusions it drives at, not to see its
Lameness and Defects in those first and fundamental Parts.

_Aristotle_, though he was not concern’d to give an Account how the
Earth came into this present Form, as he suppos’d it Eternal; yet upon
another Consideration he seems obliged to give some Reason how the
Elements came into this Disorder; seeing he supposeth, that, according
to the Order of Nature, the Water should lie above the Earth in a
Sphere, as the Air doth above the Water, and his Fire above the Air.
This he toucheth upon in his Meteors, but so gently and fearfully, as if
he was handling hot Coals. He saith the Sea is to be consider’d as the
Element, or Body of Waters that belongs to this Earth, and that these
Waters change Places, and the Sea is some Ages in one Part of the Globe,
and some Ages in another; but that this is at such great Distances of
Time, that there can be no Memory or Record of it. And he seems willing
to suppose that the Water was once all over the Earth, but that it dry’d
up in certain Places, and continuing in others, it there made the Sea.

WHAT a miserable Account is this? As to his Change or Removal of the
Sea-channel in several Ages, as it is without all Proof or Probability,
if he mean it of the Channel of the great Ocean, so ’tis nothing to the
Purpose here; for the Question is not why the Channel of the Sea is in
such a Part of the Earth, rather than in another, but why there is any
such prodigious Cavity in or upon the Earth any where. And if we take
his Supposition, that the Element of Water was once higher than the
Earth, and lay in a Sphere about it, then let him tell us in plain Terms
how the Earth got above, or how the Cavity of the Ocean was made, and
how the Mountains rise; for this Elementary Earth which lay under the
Water, was, I suppose, equal and smooth when it lay there; and what
reason was there, that the Waters should be dry’d in one Part of it,
more than another, if they were every where of an equal Depth, and the
Ground equal under them? It was not the Climates made any Distinction,
for there is Sea towards the Poles, as well as under the Æquator; but
suppose they were dry’d up in certain Places, that would make no
Mountains, no more than there are Mountains in our dry’d Marshes: And
the Places where they were not dry’d, would not therefore become as deep
and hollow as the Sea-channel, and tear the Earth and Rocks in pieces.
If you would say that this very Elementary Earth, as it lay under the
Waters, was unequal, and was so originally form’d into Mountains and
Valleys and great Cavities; besides that the Supposition is altogether
irrational in itself, you must suppose a prodigious Mass of Water to
cover such an Earth; as much as we found requisite for the vulgar
Deluge, namely, eight Oceans; and what then is become of the other
seven? Upon the whole, I do not see that either in _Epicurus_’s way, who
seems to suppose that the Waters were at first within the Earth; nor in
_Aristotle_’s way, who seems to suppose them upon the Earth, any
rational or tolerable Account can be given of the present Form of the
Earth.

WHEREFORE some Modern Authors, dissatisfied, as very well they might be,
with these Explications given us by the Ancients concerning the Form of
the Earth, have pitch’d upon other Causes, more true indeed in their
kind, and in their degree, but that fall as much short of those Effects
to which they would apply them. They say that all the Irregularities of
the Body of the Earth have risen from Earthquakes in particular Places,
and from Torrents and Inundations, and from Eruptions of Fire, or such
like Causes, whereof we see some Instances more or less every Age; and
these have made that havock upon the Face of the Earth, and turn’d
things upside down, raising the Earth, in some Places, and making great
Cavities or Chasms in others, so as to have brought it at length into
that torn, broken, and disorderly Form in which we now see it.

THESE Authors do so far agree with us, as to acknowledge, That the
present irregular Form of the Earth must have proceeded from Ruins and
Dissolutions of one sort or other; but these Ruins they make to have
been partial only, in this or in that Country, by piece-meal, and in
several Ages, and from no other Causes, but such as still continue to
act in Nature, namely, accidental Earthquakes and Eruptions of Fires and
Waters. These Causes we acknowledge as readily as they do, but not as
capable to produce so great Effects as they would ascribe to them; the
Surface of the Earth may be a little changed by such Accidents as these,
but for the most part, they rather sink the Mountains, than raise new
Ones: As when Houses are blown up by Mines of Powder, they are not set
higher, but generally fall lower and flatter: Or suppose they do
sometimes raise an Hill, or a little Mount, what’s that to the great
Mountains of our World, to those long and vast Piles of Rocks and
Stones, which the Earth can scarce bear? What’s that to strong-backt
_Taurus_ or _Atlas_, to the _American Andes_, or to a Mountain that
reacheth from the _Pyreneans_ to the _Euxine_ Sea? There’s as much
Difference between these, and those factious Mountains they speak of, as
betwixt them and Mole-hills.

AND to answer more distinctly to this Opinion, as before in speaking of
Islands we distinguish’d betwixt factitious and original Islands, so, if
you please, we may distinguish here betwixt factitious and original
Mountains; and allowing some few, and those of the fifth or sixth
Magnitude, to have risen from such accidental Causes, we enquire
concerning the rest and the greatest, what was their Original? If we
should suppose that the seven Hills upon which _Rome_ stands, came from
Ruins or Eruptions, or any such Causes, it doth not follow that the
_Alps_ were made so too. And as for Mountains, so for the Cavities of
the Earth, I suppose there may be Disruptions sometimes made by
Earthquakes, and Holes worn by subterraneous Fires and Waters; but
what’s that to the Channel of the _Atlantick Ocean_, or of the _Pacifick
Ocean_, which is extended an hundred and fifty Degrees under the
Æquator, and towards the Poles still further? He that should derive such
mighty Things from no greater Causes, I should think him a very
credulous Philosopher. And we are too subject indeed to that Fault of
Credulity in Matter of Philosophizing: Many when they have found out
Causes that are proper for certain Effects within such a Compass, they
cannot keep them there, but they will make them do every Thing for them;
and extend them often to other Effects of a superior Nature or Degree,
which their Activity can by no Means reach to. _Ætna_ hath been a
burning Mountain ever since, and above the Memory of Man, yet it hath
not destroy’d that Island, nor made any new Channel to the Sea, tho’ it
stands so near it. Neither is _Vesuvius_ above two or three Miles
distant from the Sea-side, to the best of my Remembrance, and yet in so
many Ages it hath made no Passage to it, neither open nor subterraneous.
’Tis true, some _Isthmus’s_ have been thrown down by Earthquakes, and
some Lakes have been made in that Manner, but what’s this to a Ditch
nine thousand Miles broad? Such an one we have upon the Earth, and of a
Depth that is not measurable; what Proportion have these Causes to such
an Instance? And how many thousand Ages must be allow’d to them to do
their Work, more than the Chronology of our Earth will bear?

BESIDES, When were these great Earthquakes and Disruptions, that did
such great Execution upon the Body of the Earth? Was this before the
Flood or since? If before, then the old Difficulty returns, how could
there be a Flood, if the Earth was in this mountainous Form before that
Time? This, I think, is demonstrated impossible in the second and third
Chapters. If since the Flood, where were the Waters of the Earth before
these Earthquakes made a Channel for them? Besides, where is the History
or Tradition, that speaks of these strange Things, and of this great
Change of the Earth? Hath any writ of the Origins of the _Alps_? In what
Year of _Rome_, or what _Olympiad_ they were born? Or how they grew from
little ones? How the Earth groan’d when it brought them forth, when its
Bowels were torn by the ragged Rocks? Do the Chronicles of the Nations
mention these things, or ancient Fame, or ancient Fables? were they made
all at once, or in successive Ages? These Causes continue still in
Nature, we have still Earthquakes and subterraneous Fires and Waters,
why should they not still operate and have the same Effects? We often
hear of Cities thrown down by Earthquakes, or Countries swallow’d up;
but who ever heard of a new Chain of Mountains made upon the Earth, or a
new Channel made for the Ocean? We do not read that there hath been so
much as a new _Sinus_ of the Sea ever since the Memory of Man: Which is
far more feasible than what they pretend. And Things of this Nature
being both strange and feasible, excite Admiration and great Attention
when they come to pass, and would certainly have been remembered or
propagated in some Way or other, if they had ever happen’d since the
Deluge. They have recorded the Foundation of Cities and Monarchies, the
Appearance of Blazing Stars, the Eruptions of fiery Mountains, the most
remarkable Earthquakes and Inundations, the great Eclipses or
Obscurations of the Sun, and any thing that look’d strange or
Prodigy-like, whether in the Heavens or on Earth: And these, which would
have been the greatest Prodigies, and greatest Changes that ever
happen’d in Nature, would these have escap’d all Observation and Memory
of Men? That’s as incredible as the Things themselves are.

LASTLY, To comprehend all these Opinions together, both of the Ancient
and Modern Authors, they seem all to agree with us in this, _That_ the
Earth was once under another Form; otherwise why do they go about to
shew the Causes how it came into this Form? I desire then to know what
Form they suppose the Earth to have been under before the Mountains were
made, the Channel of the Sea, or subterraneous Cavities? Either they
must take that Form which we have assign’d it before the Deluge, or else
they must suppose it cover’d with Water, till the Sea-channels were
made, and the Mountains brought forth; as in _Fig. 2. p. 76._ And no
doubt it was once in this Form, both Reason and the Authority of _Moses_
assure us of it; and this is the Test which every Opinion must be
brought to, _how_ the Earth emerg’d out of that watry Form? And in
particular, as to that Opinion which we are now examining, the Question
is, _how_ by Earthquakes, and fiery Eruptions, subterraneous Waters, and
such like Causes, the Body of the Earth could be wrought from that Form
to this present Form? And the Thing is impossible at first Sight; for
such Causes as these could not take place in such an Earth. As for
subterraneous Waters, there could be none at that Time, for they were
all above Ground; and as for subterraneous Exhalations, whether fiery or
aery, there was no Place for them neither; for the Earth, when it lay
under the Water, was a solid uniform Mass, compact and close united in
its Parts, as we have shewn before upon several Occasions; no Mines or
hollow Vaults for the Vapours to be lodg’d in, no Store-houses of Fire;
nothing that could make Earthquakes, nor any sort of Ruins or Eruptions:
These are Engines that cannot Play but in an Earth already broken,
hollow and cavernous. Therefore the Authors of this Opinion do in effect
beg the Question; they assign such Causes of the present Form of the
Earth, as could not take Place, nor have any Activity until the Earth
was in this Form: These Causes may contribute something to increase the
Rudeness and Inequalities of the Earth in certain Places, but they could
not be the original Causes of it. And that not only because of their
Disproportion to such Effects, but also because of their Incapacity, or
Non-existence at that time, when these Effects were to be wrought.

THUS much concerning the Philosophical Opinions or the natural Causes
that have been assign’d for the irregular Form of this present Earth.
Let us now consider the Theological Opinions, how Mountains were made at
first, and the wonderful Channel of the Sea: And these Authors say, God
Almighty made them immediately when he made the World; and so dispatch’d
the Business in a few Words. This is a short Account indeed, but we must
take heed that we do not derogate from the Perfection of God, by
ascribing all Things promiscuously to his immediate Action. I have often
suggested that the first Order of Things is regular and simple,
according as the Divine Nature is; and continues so till there is some
Degeneracy in the moral World; I have also noted upon several Occasions,
especially in the _Lat. Treat. Chap. 11._ the deformity and
Incommodiousness of the present Earth; and from these two Considerations
we may reasonably infer, that the present State of the Earth was not
Original, but is a State of Subjection to Vanity, wherein it must
continue till the Redemption and Restitution of all Things.

BUT besides this general Consideration, there are many others, both
Natural and Theological, against this Opinion, which the Authors of it,
I believe, will find unanswerable. As first, St. _Peter_’s Distinction
betwixt the present Earth and the Antediluvian; _2 Ep. Chap. iii. 5, 6._
and that in Opposition to certain profane Persons, who seem to have been
of the same Opinion with these Authors, namely, That the Heavens and the
Earth were the same now that they had been from the beginning, and that
there had been no Change in Nature, either of late, or in former Ages;
These St. _Peter_ confutes and upbraids them with Ignorance or
Forgetfulness of the Change that was brought upon Nature at the Deluge,
or that the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth were of a different Form and
Constitution from the present, whereby that World was obnoxious to a
Deluge of Water, as the present is to a Deluge of Fire. Let these
Authors put themselves in the Place of those Objectors, and see what
Answer they can make to the Apostle, whom I leave to dispute the Case
with them. I hope they will not treat this Epistle of St. _Peter_’s so
rudely as _Didymus Alexandrinus_ did, an ancient Christian, and one of
St. _Jerome_’s Masters; he was of the same Opinion with these
Theological Authors, and so fierce in it, that seeing St. _Peter_’s
Doctrine here to be contrary, he said, this Epistle of St. _Peter_’s was
corrupted, and was not to be receiv’d into the Canon. And all this,
because it taught, that the Heavens and the Earth had chang’d their
Form, and would do so again at the Conflagration; so as the same World
would be triform in Success of Time. We acknowledge his Exposition of
St. _Peter_’s Words to be very true; but what he makes an Argument of
the Corruption of this Epistle, is rather, in my Mind, a peculiar
Argument of its Divine Inspiration. In the second Place, these Writers
dash upon the old Rock, the Impossibility of explaining the Deluge; if
there were Mountains from the Beginning, and the Earth then in the same
Form as it is in now. _Thirdly_, They make the State of _Paradise_ as
unintelligible as that of the Deluge; For those Properties that are
assign’d to _Paradise_ by the Ancients, are inconsistent with the
present Form of the Earth: As will appear in the Second Book. _Lastly_,
They must answer, and give an Account of all those Marks which we have
observ’d in Nature (both in this Chapter, and the Ninth, Tenth, and
Eleventh), of Fractions, Ruins, and Dissolutions that have been on the
Earth, and which we have shewn to be inexplicable, unless we admit that
the Earth was once in another Form.

THESE Arguments being premis’d, let us now bring their Opinion close to
the Test, and see in what manner these Mountains must have been made
according to them, and how the Channel of the Sea, and all other
Cavities of the Earth. Let us to this Purpose consider the Earth again
in that transient, incompleat Form which it had when the Abyss encompast
the whole Body of it, _Fig. 2. p. 77._ we both agree that the Earth was
once in this State, and they say, that it came immediately out of this
State into its present Form, there being made by a supernatural Power a
great Channel or Ditch in one Part of it, which drew off the Waters from
the rest, and the Earth which was squeez’d and forc’d out of this Ditch,
made the Mountains. So there is the Channel of the Sea made, and the
Mountains of the Earth; how the subterraneous Cavities were made
according to these Authors, I do not well know. This I confess seems to
me a very gross Thought, and a way of working very un-God like; but
however, let’s have Patience to examine it.

AND in the first Place, if the Mountains were taken out of the Channel
of the Sea, then they are equal to it, and would fill it up if they were
thrown in again. But these Proportions upon Examination will not agree;
for though the Mountains of the Earth be very great, yet they do not
equal by much the great Ocean. The Ocean extends to half the Surface of
the Earth; and if you suppose the greatest Depth of the Ocean to answer
the Height of the greatest Mountains and the middle Depth to the middle
sort of Mountains, the Mountains ought to cover all the dry Land to make
them answer to all the Capacity of the Ocean; whereas we suppos’d them
upon a reasonable Computation to cover but the tenth Part of the dry
Land; and consequently neither they nor the Sea-Channel could have been
produc’d in this manner, because of their great Disproportion to one
another. And the same thing appears, if we compare the Mountains with
the Abyss which cover’d the Earth before this Channel was made; for this
Channel being made great enough to contain all the Abyss, the Mountains
taken out of it must also be equal to all the Abyss; but the Aggregate
of the Mountains will not answer this by many Degrees; for suppose the
Abyss was but half as deep as the deep Ocean, to make this Calculus
answer, all the dry Land ought to be cover’d with Mountains, and with
Mountains as high as the Ocean is deep, or double high to the Depth of
the Abyss, because they are but upon one half of the Globe. And this is
the first Argument against the Reciprocal Production of Mountains and
the Sea, their Incongruency or Disproportion.

SECONDLY, we are to consider that a great many Mountains of the Earth
are far distant from any Seas, as the great In-land Mountains of
_Asia_ and of _Africk_, and the _Sarmatick_ Mountains, and others in
_Europe_; how were these great Bodies flung thorough the Air from
their respective Seas, whence they were taken, to those Places where
they stand? What Appearance is there in common Reason or Credibility,
that these huge Masses of Earth and Stone that stand in the middle of
Continents were dug out of any Seas? We think it strange, and very
deservedly, that a little Chapel should be transported from _Palestine_
to _Italy_ over Land and Sea, much more the Transportation of Mount
_Atlas_ or _Taurus_ thorough the Air, or of a Range of Mountains two
or three thousand Miles long, would surely upon all Accounts appear
incongruous and incredible: Besides, neither the hollow Form of
Mountains, nor the stony Matter whereof they commonly consist, agrees
with that Supposition, that they were press’d or taken out of the
Channel of the Sea.

LASTLY, we are to consider, that the Mountains are not barely laid upon
the Earth, as a Tomb-stone upon a Grave, nor stand as Statues do upon a
Pedestal, as this Opinion seems to suppose; but they are one continued
Substance with the Body of the Earth, and their Roots reach into the
Abyss; as the Rocks by the Sea-side go as deep as the Bottom of the Sea
in one continued Mass: And ’tis a ridiculous Thing to imagine the Earth
first a plain Surface, then all the Mountains set upon it, as Hay-cocks
in a Field, standing upon their flat Bottoms. There is no such common
Surface in Nature, nor consequently any such Super-additions: ’Tis all
one Frame or Mass, only broken and disjointed in the Parts of it. To
conclude, ’Tis not only the Mountains that make the Inequalities of the
Earth, or the Irregularity of its Surface, every Country, every
Province, every Field, hath an unequal and different Situation, higher
or lower inclin’d more or less, and sometimes one way sometimes another,
you can scarce take a Mile’s Compass in any Place where the Surface of
the Ground continues uniform; and can you imagine, that there were
Moulds or Stones brought from the Sea-channel to make all those
Inequalities? Or that Earthquakes have been in every Country and in
every Field? The inner Veins and Lares, the Beds or Strata of the Earth
are also broken as well as the Surface. These must proceed from
universal Causes; and all those that have been alledg’d, whether from
Philosophy or Theology, are but particular or topical. I am fully
satisfied, in Contemplation of these Things, and so I think every
unprejudic’d Person may be, that to such an irregular Variety of
Situation and Construction, as we see every where in the Parts of the
Earth, nothing could answer but some universal Concussion or
Dislocation, in the Nature of a general Ruin.

WE have now finish’d this first Part of our Theory, and all that
concerns the Deluge or Dissolution of the Earth; and we have not only
establish’d our own Hypothesis by positive Arguments, but also produc’d
and examin’d all Suppositions that have been offer’d by others, whether
Philosophical or Theological, for the Explication of the same things; so
as nothing seems now to remain further upon this Subject. For a
Conclusion of all, we will consider, if you please, the rest of the
Earths, or of the Planets within our Heavens, that appertain to the same
common Sun; to see, so far as we can go by rational Conjectures, if they
be not of the same Fabrick, and have undergone the like Fate, and Forms
with our Earth. It is now acknowledged by the generality of learned Men,
that the Planets are opake Bodies, and particularly our next Neighbour,
the Moon, is known to be a terraqueous Globe, consisting of Mountains
and Valleys as our Earth does; and we have no Reason to believe, but
that she came into that Form by a Dissolution, or from like Causes, as
our Earth did. _Mercury_ is so near the Sun, that we cannot well discern
his Face, whether spotted or no, nor make a Judgment of it. But as for
_Venus_ and _Mars_, if the Spots that be observ’d in them be their
Waters or their Sea, as they are in the Moon, ’tis likely they are also
terraqueous Globes, and in much what a like Form with the Moon, and the
Earth, and, for ought we know, from like Causes. Particularly as to
_Venus_, ’tis a remarkable Passage that St. _Austin_ (_De Civ. Dei, lib.
21. c. viii._) hath preserv’d out of _Varro_: He saith, That _about the
Time of the great Deluge there was a wonderful Alteration or Catastrophe
happen’d to the Planet Venus, and that she chang’d her Colour, Form,
Figure, and Magnitude_. This is a great Presumption that she suffer’d
her Dissolution about the same time that our Earth did. I do not know
that any such Thing is recorded concerning any of the other Planets, but
the Body of _Mars_ looks very rugged, broken, and much disorder’d.

_Saturn_ and _Jupiter_ deserve a distinct Consideration, as having
something particular and different from the rest of the Planets;
_Saturn_ is remarkable for his Hoop or Ring, which seems to stand off,
or higher than his Body, and would strongly induce one to believe, that
the exterior Earth of that Planet, at its Dissolution, did not all fall
in, but the polar Parts sinking into the Abyss, the middle or
equinoctial Parts still subsisted, and bore themselves up in the Nature
of an Arch about the Planet, or of a Bridge, as it were, built over the
Sea of _Saturn_. And as some have observ’d concerning the Figure of
_Jupiter_, that it is not wholly Spherical, but a Spheroid, protuberant
in the Equator, and depress’d towards the Poles: So I should suspect
_Saturn_ to have been much more so, before his Disruption: Namely, That
the Body of that Planet, in its first State, was more flat and low
towards the Poles, and also weaker and thinner; and about the Equator
higher, fuller and stronger built: By reason of which Figure and
Construction, the Polar Parts did more easily fall in, or were suckt in
(as Cupping Glasses draw in the Flesh) when the Abyss below grew more
empty. Whereas the middle Parts about the Equator, being a more just
Arch and strongly built, would not yield or sink, but stood firm and
unbroken, and continues still in its first Posture. Planets break in
different ways, according to the Quality of their Matter, the manner of
their Construction, and the Nature of the Causes that act upon them.
Their Dissolutions are sometimes total, as in our Earth, sometimes
partial; and both of these may be under great Variety. In partial
Dissolutions, the middle Parts sometimes stand, and the Polar are broke;
or the Polar stand and the Middle are broke. Or one Hemisphere, or part
of an Hemisphere may be sunk, the rest standing. There may be Causes and
Occasions for all these Varieties and many more, in diversifying the
Phænomena of an immense Universe. But to return to _Saturn_.

THAT this present uncouth Form of _Saturn_ was not its Original Form, I
am very well satisfied, if that Planet rose from a Chaos, as ours did.
And if this be an adventitious Form, I know no Account can be given of
it with more Probability, than by supposing it the Effect of some
Fraction or Disruption in the Polar Parts. Neither do I know any
Phænomenon hitherto observ’d concerning _Saturn_, that does disprove
this _Hypothesis_ or Conjecture.

AS to _Jupiter_, that Planet without doubt is also turn’d about its
Axis, otherwise how should its four Moons be carried round him? And this
is also collected from the Motion of that permanent Spot (if it be found
to be so) that is upon its Body. Which Spot I take to be either a Lake
or a Chasm and _Hiatus_ into the Abyss of the Planet: That is, part of
the Abyss open or uncover’d, like the Aperture we made in the Seventh
Figure, _C. 6. p. 184._ And this might either have been left so by
Providence, at first, for some Reasons and Causes fitting that Earth: Or
it may have fallen in afterwards, as _Plato_’s _Atlantis_, or as _Sodom_
and _Gomorrah_, for some Judgment upon part of that World.

TO conclude, seeing all the Planets that are plac’d in this Heaven, and
are the Foster-Children of this Sun, seem to have some Affinity one with
another, and have much what the same Countenance, and the same general
_Phænomena_; it seems probable, that they rise much what the same way,
and after the like manner as our Earth, each one from its respective
Chaos; and that they had the same Elementary Regions at first, and an
exteriour Orb form’d over their Abyss: and lastly, That every one of
them hath suffer’d, or is to suffer its Deluge, as our Earth hath done.
These, I say, are probable Conjectures according to the Analogy of
Reason and Nature, so far as we can judge concerning Things very remote
and inaccessible.

AND these things being thus, and our Theory of the Deluge, and the
Dissolution which brought it, having such a general Agreement both with
our Heavens and our Earth, I think there is nothing but the Uncouthness
of the Thing to some Men’s Understandings, the Custom of thinking
otherwise, and the Uneasiness of entring into a new set of Thoughts,
that can be a Bar or Hindrance to its Reception. But it may be improv’d,
I doubt not, in many Respects, and in some Particularities rectified.
The first Attempts in great Things are seldom or never perfect: Such is
the Weakness of our Understandings, and the want of a full Natural
History. And in assigning Causes of such great Effects, fair Conjectures
are to be allow’d, till they be displac’d by others more evident and
more certain. Accordingly I readily submit to these Terms, and leave
this, and all other Parts of the Theory, to further Examination and
Enquiries.




                        THE THEORY OF THE EARTH.
                                BOOK II.
       Concerning the Primæval Earth, and concerning _Paradise_.

                                CHAP. I.


    _The Introduction and Contents of the Second Book. The general State
    of the Primæval Earth, and of Paradise._


We have already seen a World begin and perish; an Earth rais’d from the
Rudiments of a Chaos, and dissolv’d and destroy’d in an Universal
Deluge. We have given also an imperfect Description of that Primæval
Earth, so far as was necessary to shew the Causes and Manner of its
Dissolution. But we must not content our selves with this; seeing that
Earth was the first Theatre upon which Mortals appear’d and acted, and
continu’d so for above sixteen hundred Years; and that with Scenes, as
both Reason and History tell us, very extraordinary and very different
from these of our present Earth, ’tis reasonable we should endeavour to
make a more full Discovery and Description of it; especially seeing
_Paradise_ was there; that Seat of Pleasure which our first Parents
lost, and which all their Posterity have much ado to find again.

IN the First Book we so far describ’d this new-found World, as to shew
it very different in Form and Fabrick from the present Earth; there was
no Sea there, no Mountains, nor Rocks, nor broken Caves, ’twas all one
continued and regular Mass, smooth, simple and compleat, as the first
Works of Nature use to be. But to know thus much only, doth rather
excite our Curiosity than satisfy it; what were the other Properties of
this World? How were the Heavens, how the Elements? What Accommodation
for Human Life? Why was it more proper to be the Seat of _Paradise_ than
the present Earth? Unless we know these Things, you will say, it will
seem but an easy _Idea_ to us; and ’tis certain that the more Properties
and Particularities that we know concerning any thing, the more real it
appears to be.

AS it was our Chief Design therefore in the precedent Book, to give an
Account of the Universal Deluge, by way of a Theory; so we propose to
our selves chiefly in this Book, from the same Theory, to give an
Account of _Paradise_; and in performing of this, we shall be led into a
more full Examination and Display of that first Earth, and of its
Qualities. And if we be so happy, as, by the Conduct of the same
Principles and the same Method, to give as fair an Account, and as
intelligible of the State of _Paradise_ in that Original Earth, as we
have done of the Deluge by the Dissolution of it, and of the Form of
this Earth which succeeded, one must be very morose or melancholy to
imagine, that the Grounds we go upon, all this while, are wholly false
or fictitious. A Foundation which will bear the Weight of two Worlds
without sinking, must surely stand upon a firm Rock. And I am apt to
promise my self that this Theory of the Earth will find Acceptance and
Credit, more or less, with all but those that think it a sufficient
Answer to all Arguments, to say, _it is a Novelty_.

BUT to proceed in our Disquisition concerning _Paradise_, we may note in
the first Place, two Opinions to be avoided, being both extreams; one
that placeth _Paradise_ in the extra-mundane Regions, or in the Air, or
in the Moon; and the other that makes it so inconsiderable, as to be
confin’d to a little Spot of Ground in _Mesopotamia_ or some other
Country of _Asia_, the Earth being now as it was then. This offends as
much in the Defect, as the other in the Excess. For it is not any single
Region of the Earth that can be _Paradisiacal_, unless all Nature
conspire, and a certain Order of Things proper and peculiar for that
State. Nor is it of less Importance to find out this peculiar Order of
Things, than to find out the particular Seat of _Paradise_, but rather
pre-requisite to it: We will endeavour therefore to discover and
determine both, so far as a Theory can go, beginning with that which is
more general.

’TIS certain there were some Qualities and Conditions of _Paradise_ that
were not meerly topical, but common to all the rest of the Earth at that
Time; and these we must consider in the first Place, examine what they
were, and upon what they depended. History, both Sacred and Profane,
must tell us what they were, and our Theory must shew us upon what
Causes they depended. I had once, I confess, propos’d to my self another
Method, independent upon History or Effects; I thought to have continued
the Description of the Primitive or antediluvian Earth from the
Contemplation of its Causes only, and then left it to the Judgment of
others to determine, whether that was not the Earth where the Golden Age
was past, and where _Paradise_ stood. For I had observ’d three
Conditions or Characters of it, which I thought were sufficient to
answer all that we knew concerning that first State of Things, viz. _The
Regularity of its Surface; The Situation or Posture of its Body to the
Sun; and the Figure of it_: From these three general Causes I thought
might be deduc’d all the chief Differences of that Earth from the
present, and particularly those that made it more capable of being
_Paradisiacal_.

BUT upon second Thoughts I judg’d it more useful and expedient to lay
aside the Causes at present, and begin with the Effects, that we night
have some sensible Matter to work upon. Bare _Ideas_ of Things are
look’d upon as romantick till Effects be propos’d, whereof they are to
give an Account; ’Tis that makes us value the Causes when Necessity puts
us upon Enquiry after them; and the Reasons of Things are very
acceptable, when they ease the Mind, anxious and at a loss how to
understand Nature without their help. We will therefore, without more
ado, premise those Things that have been taken Notice of as
extraordinary and peculiar to the first Ages of the World, and to
_Paradise_, and which neither do, nor can, obtain in the present Earth;
whereof the first is a _perpetual Spring or Equinox_; the second, the
_Longævity of Animals_; and the third, _their Production out of the
Earth_, and the great Fertility of the Soil in all other Things.

THESE Difficulties guard the way to _Paradise_ like the flaming Sword,
and must be remov’d before we can enter; these are general Preliminaries
which we must explain before we proceed to enquire after the particular
Place of this Garden of Pleasure. The Ancients have taken Notice of all
those in the first Ages of the World, or in their _golden Age_, as they
call it; and I do not doubt but what they ascribe to the golden Age, was
more remarkably true of _Paradise_; yet was not so peculiar to it, but
that it did in a good measure extend to other Parts of the Earth at that
Time. And ’tis manifest that their golden Age was contemporary with our
_Paradise_; for they make it begin immediately after the Production and
Inhabitation of the Earth (which they, as well as _Moses_, raise from
the Chaos) and to degenerate by degrees till the Deluge; when the World
ended, and begun again.

THAT this Parallel may the better appear, we may observe, that as we say
that the whole Earth was, in some Sense, Paradisiacal in the first Ages
of the World, and that there was, besides, one Region or Portion of it
that was peculiarly so, and bore the Denomination of _Paradise_; So the
Ancients, beside their golden Age, which was common to all the Earth,
noted some Parts of it that were more golden, if I may so say, than the
rest, and which did more particularly answer to _Paradise_; as their
_Elysian_ Fields, Fortunate Islands, Gardens of _Hesperides_,
_Alcinous_, _&c._ these had a double Portion of Pleasantness, and,
beside the Advantages which they had common with the rest of the Earth
at that Time, had something proper and singular, which gave them a
distinct Consideration and Character from the rest.

HAVING made this Observation, let us proceed, and see what Antiquity
saith, concerning that first and Paradisiacal State of Things, upon
those three Heads forementioned; First, that there was a perpetual
Spring, and constant Serenity of the Air. This is often repeated by the
ancient Poets, in their Description of the golden Age.

             _Non alios prima crescentis origine mundi
             Iluxisse dies, aliumve habuisse tenorem,
             Crediderim: Ver illud erat, Ver magnus agebat
             Orbis, & hybernis parcebant flatibus Euri._

             Virgil.

             _Such Days the new-born Earth enjoy’d of old;
             And the calm Heavens in this same Tenor rowl’d:
             All the great World had then one constant Spring;
             No cold East-winds, such as our Winters bring._

For I interpret this in the same Sense with _Ovid_’s Verses of the
golden Age:

            _Ver erat Æternum: Placidiq; tepentibus auris
            Mulcebant Zephyri natos sine semine flores._

            _The Spring was constant, and soft Winds that blew,
            Rais’d without Seed, Flow’rs always sweet and new._

AND then upon the Expiration of the golden Age, he says,

              _Jupiter antiqui contraxit tempora Veris, &c._

              _When Jove begun to reign, he chang’d the Year,
              And for one Spring four Seasons made appear._

THE Ancients suppos’d, that in the Reign of _Saturn_, who was an
antediluvian God, as I may so call him, Time flow’d with a more even
Motion, and there was no Diversity of Seasons in the Year; but
_Jupiter_, they say, first introduc’d that, when he came to manage
Affairs. This is exprest after their way, who seldom give any severe and
philosophical Accounts of the Changes of Nature. And as they suppos’d
this perpetual Spring in the Golden Age, so they did also in their
particular _Elysiums_; as I could shew largely from their Authors, if it
would not multiply Citations too much. ’Tis true, their _Elysiums_
respected the new Heavens, and new Earth to come, rather than the past;
but they are both fram’d upon the same Model, and have common
Properties.

THE Christian Authors have no less celebrated the perpetual Spring and
Serenity of the Heavens in _Paradise_; such Expressions or Descriptions
you will find in _Justin Martyr_, _S. Basil_, _Damascen_, _Isidore
Hispalensis_, _De Grat. prim. hom._ and others, insomuch that
_Bellarmine_, I remember, reflecting upon those Characters of
_Paradise_, which many of the Fathers have given in these Respects,
saith, Such Things could not be, unless the Sun had then another Course
from what he hath now; or which is more easy, the Earth another
Situation. Which Conjecture will hereafter appear to have been well
grounded. In the mean Time, let us see the Christian Poetry upon this
Subject, as we have seen the _Roman_ upon the other. _Alcimus Avitus_
hath thus describ’d _Paradise_ in his Notes upon _Genesis_:

          _Non hic alterni succedit temporis unquam
          Bruma, nec æstivi redeunt post frigora Soles;
          Hic Ver assiduum Cæli clementia servat.
          Turbidus Auster abest, semperque sub aere sudo
          Nubila diffugiunt, jugi cessura sereno.
          Nec poscit Natura loci, quos non habet, imbres,
          Sed contenta suo dotantur gerrmina rore.
          Perpetuo viret omne solum, terræque benignæ
          Blanda nitet facies: Stant semper collibus herbæ,
          Arboribusque comæ, &c._

          _No Change of Seasons or Excess was there,
          No Winter chill’d, nor Summer scorch’d the Air,
          But with a constant Spring, Nature was fresh and fair.
          Rough Winds or Rains that Region never knew,
          Water’d with Rivers and the Morning Dew;
          The Heav’ns still clear, the Fields still green and gay,
          No Clouds above, nor on the Earth decay;
          Trees kept their Leaves and Verdure all the Year,
          And Fruits were never out of Season there._

And as the Christian Authors, so likewise the _Jewish_ have spoken of
_Paradise_ in the same manner; they tell us also that the Days there
were always of the same Length throughout the whole Year; and that made
’em fancy _Paradise_ to lie under the Equinoctial; as we shall see in
its due Place. ’Tis true, we do not find these Things mention’d expresly
in the Sacred Writings, but the Effects that flow’d from ’em are
recorded there, and we may reasonably suppose Providence to have
foreseen, that when those Effects came to be scan’d and narrowly look’d
into, they would lead us to a Discovery of the Causes, and particularly
of this great and general Cause, that _perpetual Equinox_ and Unity of
Seasons in the Year, till the Deluge. The Longevity of the Antediluvians
cannot be explain’d upon any other Supposition, as we shall have
Occasion to shew hereafter; and that you know is recorded carefully in
Scripture: As also that there was no _Rainbow_ before the Flood; which
goes upon the same Ground, that there was no Variety of Seasons, nor any
Rain: And this by many is thought to be understood by _Moses_’s Words,
_Gen. ii. 5, 6._ which he speaks of the first and Paradisiacal Earth.
Lastly, Seeing the Earth then brought forth the Principles of Life and
all living Creatures (Man excepted) according to _Moses_, _Gen. i. 24._
we must suppose that the State of the Heavens was such as favour’d these
Conceptions and Births, which could not possibly be brought to
Perfection, as the Seasons of the Year are at present. The first time
that we have mention made in Scripture of Summer and Winter, and the
Differences of Seasons, is at the ending of the Deluge, _Gen. viii. 22._
_Henceforward all the Days of the Earth, Seed-time and Harvest, Heat and
Cold, Summer and Winter, Day and Night shall not cease._ ’Tis true these
Words are so lax, that they may be understood either of a new Course of
Nature then instituted, or of an old one restor’d; but seeing it doth
appear from other Arguments and Considerations, that there was at that
time a new Course of Nature constituted, it is more reasonable to
interpret the Words in that Sense; which, as it is agreeable to Truth,
according to Reason and Antiquity so it renders that Remark of _Moses_
of far greater Importance, if it be understood as an Indication of a new
Order then settled in Nature, which should continue henceforwards so
long as the Earth endur’d. Nor do I at all wonder that such things
should not be expresly and positively declar’d in Scripture; for Natural
Mysteries in the Holy Writings, as well as Prophetical, are many times,
on set Purpose, incompleatly deliver’d, so as to awaken and excite our
Thoughts rather than fully resolve them: This being often more suitable
to the Designs of Providence in the Government of the World. But thus
much for this first common or general Character of the Golden Age, and
of _Paradise_, a _perpetual Serenity and perpetual Equinox_.

THE second Character is the Longevity of Men, and, as is probable, of
all other Animals in Proportion. This, methinks, is as strange and
surprising as the other, and I know no Difference betwixt the
Antediluvian World and the present, so apt to affect us, if we reflect
upon it, as this wonderful Disproportion in the Ages of Men; our
Forefathers and their Posterity: They liv’d seven, eight, nine hundred
Years and upwards, and ’tis a wonder now if a Man live to one hundred.
Our Oaks do not last so long as their Bodies did; Stone and Iron would
scarce outwear them. And this Property of the first Ages, or their
Inhabitants, how strange soever, is well attested, and beyond all
Exception, having the joint Consent of Sacred and Profane History. The
Scripture sets down the precise Age of a Series of Antediluvian
Patriarchs, and by that measures the Time from the beginning of the
World to the Deluge; so as all Sacred Chronology stands upon that
bottom. Yet I know some have thought this so improbable and incongruous
a Thing, that to save the Credit of _Moses_ and the Sacred History, they
interpret these Years of _Lunar_ Years or Months; and so the Ages of
these Patriarchs are reduc’d to much what the same measure with the
common Life of Man at this Time. It may be observ’d in this, as in many
other Instances, that for want of a Theory to make Things credible and
intelligible, Men of Wit and Parts have often deprest the Sense of
Scripture; and that not out of any ill Will to Scripture or Religion,
but because they could not otherwise, upon the Stock of their Notions,
give themselves a rational Account of Things recorded there. But I hope
when we come to explain the Causes of this Longevity, we shall shew that
it is altogether as strange a Thing that Men should have such short
Lives as they have now, as that they had such long Lives in the first
Ages of the World. In the mean time there are a great many collateral
Reasons to assure us that _Lunar_ Years cannot be here understood by
_Moses_, for all Antiquity gives the same Account of those first Ages of
the World, and of the first Men, that they were extreamly long-liv’d. We
meet with it generally in the Description of the Golden Age; and not
only so, but in their Topical _Paradises_ also they always suppos’d a
great Vivacity or Longevity in those that enjoy’d them. And _Josephus_,
speaking upon this Subject, _Book I. C. iv. Jew. Ant._ saith, the
Authors of all the learned Nations, _Greeks_, or _Barbarians_, bare
witness to _Moses_’s Doctrine in this Particular. And in the _Mosaical_
History it self, there are several Circumstances and Marks that discover
plainly, that the Years of the Patriarchs cannot be understood of
_Lunar_ Years; as we shall have Occasion to shew in another Place. We
proceed in the mean time to the third and last Character, The
extraordinary Fertility of the Soil, and the Production of Animals out
of the new made Earth.

THE first part of this Character is unquestionable; All Antiquity speaks
of the Plenty of the Golden Age, and of their _Paradises_, whether
Christian or Heathen. The Fruits of the Earth were at first spontaneous,
and the Ground, without being torn and tormented, satisfied the Wants or
Desires of Man. When Nature was fresh and full, all things flow’d from
her more easily and more pure, like the first running of the Grape, or
the Honey-comb; but now she must be prest and squeez’d, and her
Productions taste more of the Earth and of bitterness. The ancient Poets
have often pleas’d themselves in making Descriptions of this happy
State, and in admiring the Riches and Liberality of Nature at that Time;
but we need not transcribe their Poetry here, seeing this Point is not,
I think, contested by any. The second Part of this Character, concerning
the spontaneous Origin of living Creatures out of that first Earth, is
not so unquestionable; and as to Man, _Moses_ plainly implies, that
there was a particular Action or Ministry of Providence in the Formation
of his Body; but as to other Animals, he seems to suppose that the Earth
brought them forth as it did Herbs and Plants. (_Gen. i. 24._ compar’d
with the 11th Verse.) And the Truth is, there is no such great
Difference betwixt Vegetable and Animal Eggs, or betwixt the Seeds out
of which Plants rise, and the Eggs out of which all Animals rise, but
that we may conceive the one as well as the other in the first Earth;
And as some Warmth and Influence from the Sun is required for the
Vegetation of Seeds, so that Influence or Impregnation, which is
necessary to make Animal Eggs fruitful, was imputed by the Ancients to
the _Æther_, or to an active and pure Element which had the same Effect
upon our great Mother the Earth, as the Irradiation of the Male hath
upon the Female’s Eggs.

               _Tum Pater Omnipotens fœcundus imbribus Æther
               Conjugis in gremium lætæ descendit._

               _In fruitful Showers of Æther Jove did glide
               Into the Bosom of his joyful Bride._

’TIS true, this Opinion of the spontaneous Origin of Animals in the
first Earth hath lain under some _Odium_, because it was commonly
reckon’d to be _Epicurus_’s Opinion peculiarly; and he extended it not
only to all Brute Creatures, but to Mankind also, whom he suppos’d to
grow out of the Earth in great Numbers, in several Parts and Countries,
like other Animals; which is a Notion contrary to the Sacred Writings;
for they declare, that all Mankind, though diffus’d now through the
several Parts and Regions of the Earth, rose at first from one Head or
single Man or Woman; which is a Conclusion of great Importance, and that
could not, I think, by the Light of Nature, have ever been discover’d.
And this makes the _Epicurean_ Opinion the more improbable, for why
should two rise only, if they sprung from the Earth? Or how could they
rise in their full Growth and Perfection, as _Adam_ and _Eve_ did? But
as for the Opinion of Animals rising out of the Earth at first, that was
not at all peculiar to _Epicurus_: The _Stoicks_ were of the same Mind,
and the _Pythagoreans_ and the _Egyptians_, and I think, all that
suppos’d the Earth to rise from a Chaos. Neither do I know any harm in
that Opinion, if duly limited and stated; for what Inconvenience is it,
or what Diminution of Providence, that there should be the Principles of
Life, as well as the Principles of Vegetation, in the new Earth? And
unless you suppose all the first Animals, as well as the first Man, to
have been made at one Stroke, in their full Growth and Perfection, which
we have neither Reason nor Authority sufficient to believe; if they were
made young, little, and weak, as they come now into the World, there
seems to be no way for their Production more proper, and decorous, than
that they should spring from their great Mother the Earth. Lastly,
considering the innumerable little Creatures that are upon the Earth,
Insects and creeping Things; and that these were not created out of
nothing, but form’d out of the Ground; I think that an Office most
proper for Nature, that can set so many Hands to work at once; and that
hath Hands fit for all those little Operations or Manufactures, how
small soever, that would less become the Dignity of Superior Agents.

THUS much for the Preliminaries, or three general Characters of
_Paradise_, which were common to it with the rest of the Primæval Earth;
and were the chief Ingredients of the Golden Age, so much celebrated by
the Ancients. I know there were several other Differences betwixt that
Earth and this; but these are the Original; and such as are not
necessary to be premis’d for the general Explication of _Paradise_, we
reserve for another Place. We may in the mean time observe, how
preposterously they go to work, that set themselves immediately to find
out some pleasant Place of the Earth to fix _Paradise_ in, before they
have consider’d, or laid any Grounds, to explain the general Conditions
of it, wheresoever it was. These must be first known and determin’d, and
we must take our Aim and Directions from these, how to proceed further
in out Enquiries after it; otherwise we sail without a Compass, or seek
a Port and know not which way it lies. And as we should think him a very
unskilful Pilot that sought a Place in the new World, or _America_, that
really was in the old; so they commit no less an Error, that seek
_Paradise_ in the present Earth, as now constituted, which could only
belong to the former, and to the State of the first World: As will
appear more plainly in the following Chapter.




                               CHAP. II.


    _The great Change of the World since the Flood from what it was in
    the first Ages. The Earth under its present Form could not be
    Paradisiacal, nor any Part of it._


_THE Scheme of this World passeth away_, saith an Holy Author: the Mode
and Form both of the Natural and Civil World changeth continually more
or less, but most remarkable at certain Periods, when all Nature puts on
another Face; as it will do at the Conflagration, and hath done already
from the Time of the Deluge. We may imagine how different a Prospect the
first World would make from what we see now in the present State of
Things, if we consider only those Generals, by which we have describ’d
it in the foregoing Chapter, and what their Influence would be upon
Mankind and the rest of Nature. For every new State of Nature doth
introduce a new Civil Order, and a new Face and Oeconomy of Human
Affairs: And I am apt to think, that some two Planets, that are under
the same State or Period, do not so much differ from one another, as the
same Planet doth from it self in different Periods of its Duration. We
do not seem to inhabit the same World that our first Fore-fathers did,
nor scarce to be the same Race of Men. Our Life now is so short and
vain, as if we came into the World only to see it and leave it; by that
Time we begin to understand our selves a little, and to know where we
are, and how to act our part, we must leave the Stage, and give Place to
others as meer Novices as we were our selves at our first Entrance. And
this short Life is employ’d in a great Measure to preserve our selves
from Necessity, or Diseases, or Injuries of the Air, or other
Inconveniences; to make one Man easy, ten must work and do drudgery; The
Body takes up so much Time, we have little Leisure for Contemplation, or
to cultivate the Mind. The Earth doth not yield us Food, but with much
Labour and Industry; and what was her free-will Offering before, or an
easy Liberality, can scarce now be extorted from her. Neither are the
Heavens more favourable, sometimes in one Extream, sometimes in another;
The Air often impure or infectious, and, for a great Part of the Year,
Nature her self seems to be sick or dead. To this Vanity the external
Creation is made subject as well as Mankind, and so must continue till
the Restitution of all Things.

CAN we imagine, in those happy Times and Places we are treating of, that
Things stood in this same Posture? Are these the Fruits of the golden
Age and of _Paradise_, or consistent with their Happiness? And the
Remedies of these Evils must be so universal, you cannot give them to
one Place or Region of the Earth, but all must participate: For these
are Things that flow from the Course of the Heavens, or such general
Causes, as extend at once to all Nature. If there was a perpetual Spring
and perpetual Equinox in _Paradise_, there was at the same Time a
perpetual Equinox all the Earth over; unless you place _Paradise_ in the
middle of the Torrid Zone. So also the long Lives of the Antediluvians
was an universal Effect, and must have had an universal Cause. ’Tis
true, in some single Parts or Regions of the present Earth, the
Inhabitants live generally longer than in others, but do not approach in
any Measure the Age of their antediluvian Fore-fathers; and that degree
of Longevity which they have above the rest, they owe to the Calmness
and Tranquillity of their Heavens and Air; which is but an imperfect
Participation of that Cause which was once universal, and had its Effect
throughout the whole Earth. And as to the Fertility of this Earth,
though in some Spots it be eminently more fruitful than in others, and
more delicious; yet that of the first Earth was a Fertility of another
kind, being spontaneous, and extending to the Production of Animals,
which cannot be without a favourable Concourse from the Heavens also.

THUS much in general; we will now go over those three fore-mention’d
Characters more distinctly, to shew, by their Unsuitableness to the
present State of Nature, that neither the whole Earth, as it is now, nor
any Part of it, could be _Paradisiacal_. The perpetual Spring, which
belong’d to the golden Age, and to _Paradise_, is an Happiness this
present Earth cannot pretend to, nor is capable of, unless we could
transfer the Sun from the Ecliptick to the Equator, or, which is as
easy, persuade the Earth to change its Posture to the Sun. If
_Archimedes_ had found a Place to plant his Machines in for removing of
the Earth, all that I should have desir’d of him, would have been only
to have given it an Heave at one End, and set it a little to rights
again with the Sun, that we might have enjoy’d the Comfort of a
perpetual Spring, which we have lost by its Dislocation ever since the
Deluge. And there being nothing more indispensably necessary to a
_Paradisiacal_ State than this Unity and equality of Seasons, where that
cannot be, ’tis in vain to seek for the rest of _Paradise_.

THE spontaneous Fruitfulness of the Ground was a thing peculiar to the
Primigenial Soil, which was so temper’d, as made it more Luxuriant at
that time than it could ever be afterwards; and as that rich Temperament
was spent, so by degrees it grew less fertile. The Origin or Production
of Animals out of the Earth depended not only upon this vital
Constitution of the Soil at first, but also upon such a Posture and
Aspect of the Heavens, as favour’d, or at least permitted Nature, to
make her best Works out of this prepar’d Matter, and better than could
be made in that manner after the Flood. _Noah_, we see, had Orders given
him to preserve the Races of living Creatures in his Ark, when the old
World was destroy’d; which is an Argument to me, that Providence foresaw
that the Earth would not be capable to produce them under its new Form;
and that, not only for want of Fitness in the Soil, but because of the
Diversity of Seasons which were then to take place, whereby Nature would
be disturb’d in her Work, and the Subject to be wrought upon would not
continue long enough in the same due Temper. But this Part of the second
Character, concerning the Original of Animals, deserves to be further
examin’d and explain’d.

THE first Principles of Life must be tender and ductile, that they may
yield to all the Motions and gentle Touches of Nature; otherwise it is
not possible, that they should be wrought with that Curiosity, and drawn
into all those little fine Threads and Textures, that we see and admire
in some parts of the Bodies of Animals. And as the Matter must be so
constituted at first, so it must be kept in a due Temper till the Work
be finish’d, without any Excess of Heat or Cold; and accordingly we see
that Nature hath made Provision in all sorts of Creatures whether
Oviparous or Viviparous, that the first Rudiments of Life should be
preserv’d from all Injuries of the Air, and kept in a moderate Warmth.
Eggs are enclos’d in a Shell, or Film, and must be cherished with an
equal gentle heat, to begin Formation and continue it, otherwise the
Work miscarries: And in Viviparous Creatures, the Materials of Life are
safely lodg’d in the Female’s Womb, and conserv’d in a fit Temperature
’twixt heat and cold, while the Causes that Providence hath employ’d are
busy at work, fashioning and placing and joining the Parts in that due
Order which so wonderful a Fabrick requires.

LET us now compare these Things with the Birth of Animals in the
new-made World, when they first rose out of the Earth, to see what
Provision could be made there for their Safety and Nourishment, while
they were a making, and when newly made; and though we take all
Advantages we can, and suppose both the Heavens and the Earth
favourable, a fit Soil and a warm and constant Temper of the Air, all
will be little enough to make this way of Production feasible or
probable. But if we suppose there was then the same Inconstancy of the
Heavens that is now, the same Vicissitude of Seasons, and the same
inequality of Heat and Cold, I do not think it at all possible that they
could be so form’d, or, being new-form’d, preserv’d and nourish’d. ’Tis
true, some little Creatures that are of short Dispatch in their
Formation, and find Nourishment enough wheresoever they are bred, might
be produc’d and brought to Perfection in this way, notwithstanding any
Inequality of Seasons; because they are made all at a Heat, as I may so
say, begun and ended within the compass of one Season. But the great
Question is, concerning the more perfect kinds of Animals, that require
a long stay in the Womb, to make them capable to sustain and nourish
themselves when they first come into the World. Such Animals, being big
and strong, must have a pretty Hardness in their Bones, and Force and
Firmness in their Muscles and Joints, before they can bear their own
weight, and exercise the common Motions of their Body: And accordingly
we see Nature hath ordain’d for these a longer Time of Gestation, that
their Limbs and Members might have time to acquire Strength and
Solidity. Besides, the young ones of these Animals have commonly the
Milk of the Dam to nourish them after they are brought forth, which is a
very proper Nourishment, and like to that which they had before in the
Womb; and by this means their Stomachs are prepar’d by degrees for
coarser Food; Whereas our Terrigenous Animals must have been wean’d as
soon as they were born, or as soon as they were separated from their
Mother the Earth, and therefore must be allow’d a longer Time of
Continuing there.

THESE Things being consider’d, we cannot in Reason but suppose, that
these Terrigenous Animals were as long, or longer, a Perfecting, than
our Viviparous, and were not separated from the Body of the Earth for
ten, twelve, eighteen, or more Months, according as their Nature was;
and seeing in this Space of Time they must have suffer’d, upon the
common _Hypothesis_, all Vicissitudes and Variety of Seasons, and great
Excesses of Heat and Cold, which are Things incompatible with the tender
Principles of Life, and the Formation of living Creatures, as we have
shewn before; we may reasonably and safely conclude, that Nature had
not, when the World began, the same Course she hath now, or that the
Earth was not then in its present Posture and Constitution: Seeing, I
say, these first spontaneous Births, which both the Holy Writ, Reason
and Antiquity seem to allow, could not be finish’d and brought to
Maturity, nor afterwards preserv’d and nourish’d, upon any other
Supposition.

LONGEVITY is the last Character to be consider’d, and as inconsistent
with the present State of the Earth as any other. There are many Things
in the Story of the first Ages that seem strange, but nothing so
prodigy-like as the long Lives of those Men; that their Houses of Clay
should stand eight or nine hundred Years and upwards, and those we build
of the hardest Stone, or Marble, will not now last so long. This hath
excited the Curiosity of ingenious and learned Men in all Ages, to
enquire after the possible Causes of that Longevity; and if it had been
always in Conjunction with Innocency of Life and Manners, and expir’d
when that expir’d, we might have thought it some peculiar Blessing or
Reward attending that; but it was common to good and bad, and lasted
till the Deluge, whereas Mankind was degenerate long before. Amongst
Natural Causes, some have imputed it to the Sobriety and Simplicity of
their Diet and manner of Living in those Days, that they eat no Flesh,
and had not all those Provocations to Gluttony, which Wit and Vice have
since invented. This might have some Effect, but not possibly to that
Degree and Measure that we speak of. There are many Monastical Persons
now, that live Abstemiously all their Lives, and yet they think an
hundred Years a very great Age amongst them. Others have imputed it to
the Excellency of their Fruits, and some unknown Virtue in their Herbs
and Plants in those Days; but they may as well say nothing, as say that
which can neither be prov’d nor understood. It could not be either the
Quantity or Quality of their food that was the Cause of their long
Lives, for the Earth was said to be curst long before the Deluge, and
probably by that time was more barren and juiceless (for the generality)
than ours is now; yet we do not see that their Longevity decreas’d at
all, from the Beginning of the World to the Flood. _Methusalah_ was
_Noah_’s Grandfather but one intire Remove from the Deluge, and he liv’d
longer than any of his Fore-fathers. That Food that will nourish the
Parts, and keep us in Health, is also capable to keep us in long Life,
if there be no Impediments otherwise; for to continue Health is to
continue Life; as that Fewel that is fit to raise and nourish a Flame,
will preserve it as long as you please, if you add fresh Fewel, and no
external Causes hinder: Neither do we observe that in those Parts of the
present Earth, where People live longer than in others, that there is
any thing extraordinary in their Food; but that the Difference is
chiefly from the Air and the Temperateness of the Heavens; And if the
Antediluvians had not enjoy’d that Advantage in a peculiar manner, and
differently from what any Parts of the Earth do now, they would never
have seen seven, eight, or nine hundred Years go over their Heads,
though they had been nourish’d with _Nectar_ and _Ambrosia_.

OTHERS have thought that the long Lives of those Men of the old World
proceeded from the Strength of their _Stamina_, or first Principles of
their Bodies; which if they were now as strong in us, they think we
should still live as long as they did. This could not be the sole and
adequate Cause of their Longevity, as will appear both from History and
Reason. _Shem_, who was born before the Flood, and had in his Body all
the Virtue of the antediluvian _Stamina_ and Constitution, fell three
hundred Years short of the Age of his Fore-fathers, because the greatest
part of his Life was past after the Flood. That their _Stamina_ were
stronger than ours are, I am very ready to believe, and that their
Bodies were greater; and any Race of strong Men, living long in Health,
would have Children of a proportionable strong Constitution with
themselves; but then the Question is, how was this interrupted? We that
are their Posterity, why do not we inherit their long Lives? How was
this Constitution broken at the Deluge, and how did the _Stamina_ fail
so fast when that came? Why was there so great a _Crisis_ then and Turn
of Life, or why was that the Period of their Strength?

WE see this Longevity sunk half in half immediately after the Flood, and
after that it sunk by gentler degrees, but was still in Motion and
Declension till it was fixt at length before _David_’s time, _Psal. xc.
10._ (_call’d a Psalm of Moses_,) in that which hath been the common
Standard of Man’s Age ever since: As when some excellent Fruit is
transplanted into a worse Climate and Soil, it degenerates continually
till it comes to such a degree of Meanness as suits that Air and Soil,
and then it stands. That the Age of Man did not fall all on a sudden
from the Antediluvian Measure to the present, I impute it to the
remaining _Stamina_ of those first Ages, and the Strength of that
pristine Constitution which could not wear off but by degrees. We see
the _Blacks_ do not quit their Complexion immediately, by removing into
another Climate, but their Posterity changeth by little and little, and
after some Generations they become altogether like the People of the
Country where they are. Thus by the Change of Nature that happen’d at
the Flood, the unhappy Influence of the Air and unequal Seasons,
weaken’d by degrees the innate Strength of their Bodies, and the Vigour
of their Parts, which would have been capable to have lasted several
more hundreds of Years, if the Heavens had continued their Course as
formerly, or the Earth its Position. To conclude this particular, if any
think that the Antediluvian Longevity proceeded only from the _Stamina_,
or the meer Strength of their Bodies, and would have been so under any
Constitution of the Heavens, let ’em resolve themselves these Questions:
First, Why these _Stamina_, or this Strength of Constitution fail’d?
Secondly, Why did it fail so much and so remarkably at the Deluge?
Thirdly, Why in such Proportions as it hath done since the Deluge? And
lastly, Why it hath stood so long immovable, and without any further
Diminution? Within the compass of five hundred Years they sunk from nine
hundred to ninety; and in the compass of more than three thousand Years
since, they have not sunk ten Years, or scarce any thing at all. Who
considers the Reasons of these Things, and the true Resolution of these
Questions, will be satisfied, that to understand the Causes of that
Longevity, something more must be consider’d than the Make and Strength
of their Bodies; which though they had been made as strong as the
_Behemoth_ or _Leviathan_, could not have lasted so many Ages, if there
had not been a particular Concurrence of external Causes, such as the
present State of Nature doth not admit of.

By this short Review of the three general Characters of _Paradise_ and
the Golden Age, we may conclude how little consistent they are with the
present Form and Order of the Earth. Who can pretend to assign any Place
or Region in this terraqueous Globe, Island or Continent, that is
capable of these Conditions, or that agrees either with the Descriptions
given by the ancient Heathens of their _Paradises_, or by the Christian
Fathers of Scripture _Paradise_? But where then, will you say, must we
look for it, if not upon this Earth? This puts us more into Despair of
finding it than ever; ’tis not above nor below, in the Air or in the
subterraneous Regions; No, doubtless ’twas upon the Surface of the
Earth, but of the Primitive Earth, whose Form and Properties, as they
were different from this, so they were such as made it capable of being
truly _Paradisiacal_, both according to the forementioned Characters,
and all other Qualities, and Privileges reasonably ascrib’d to
_Paradise_.




                               CHAP. III.


    _The Original Differences of the Primitive Earth from the present or
    post-diluvian. The three Characters of Paradise and the Golden Age
    found in the Primitive Earth. A particular Explication of each
    Character._


WE have hitherto only perplex’d the Argument and our selves, by shewing
how inexplicable the State of _Paradise_ is, according to the present
Order of Things, and the present Condition of the Earth. We must now
therefore bring into View that Original and Antediluvian Earth, where we
pretend its Seat was, and shew it capable of all those Privileges which
we have deny’d to the present; in virtue of which Privileges, and of the
order of Nature establish’d there, that Primitive Earth might be truly
_Paradisiacal_, as in the Golden Age; and some Region of it might be
peculiarly so, according to the receiv’d _Idea_ of _Paradise_. And this,
I think, is all the Knowledge and Satisfaction that we can expect, or
that Providence hath allow’d us in this Argument.

THE Primigenial Earth, which in the first Book (_Chap. 5._) we rais’d
from a Chaos, and set up in an habitable Form, we must now survey again
with more Care, to observe its principal Differences from the present
Earth, and what Influence they will have upon the Question in Hand.
These Differences, as we have said before, were chiefly three; the Form
of it, which was smooth, even, and regular; the Posture and Situation of
it to the Sun, which was direct, and not as it is at present, inclin’d
and oblique; and the Figure of it, which was more apparently and
regularly Oval than it is now. From these three Differences flow’d a
great many more, inferior and subordinate; and which had a considerable
Influence upon the moral World at that Time, as well as the natural. But
we will only observe here, their more immediate Effects, and that in
reference to those general Characters or Properties of the Golden Age
and of _Paradise_, which we have instanc’d in, and whereof we are bound
to give an Account by our _Hypothesis_.

AND in this respect the most Fundamental of those three Differences we
mentioned, was that of the right Posture and Situation of the Earth to
the Sun; for from this immediately follow’d a perpetual Æquinox all the
Earth over, or, if you will, a perpetual Spring: And that was the great
Thing we found wanting in the present Earth to make it _Paradisiacal_,
or capable of being so. Wherefore this being now found and establish’d
in the Primitive Earth, the other two Properties of Longevity, and of
spontaneous and vital Fertility, will be of more easy Explication. In
the mean Time let us view a little the Reasons and Causes of that
regular Situation in the first Earth.

THE Truth is, one cannot so well require a Reason of the regular
Situation the Earth had then, for that was most simple and natural; as
of the irregular Situation it hath now, standing oblique and inclin’d to
the Sun or the Ecliptick: Whereby the Course of the Year is become
unequal, and we are cast into a great Diversity of Seasons. But however,
stating the first aright with its Circumstances, we shall have a better
Prospect upon the second, and see from what Causes, and in what Manner,
it came to pass. Let us therefore suppose the Earth, with the rest of
its fellow Planets, to be carried about the Sun in the Ecliptick, by the
Motion of the liquid Heavens; and being at that time perfectly uniform
and regular, having the same Center of its Magnitude and Gravity, it
would by the Equality of its Libration necessarily have its Axis
parallel to the Axis of the same Ecliptick, both its Poles being equally
inclin’d to the Sun. And this Posture I call a _right Situation_, as
oppos’d to oblique or inclin’d; or a _parallel_ Situation, if you
please. Now this is a Thing that needs no Proof besides its own
Evidence; for ’tis the immediate result and common Effect of Gravity or
Libration, that a Body, freely left to it self in a fluid _Medium_,
should settle in such a Posture as best answers to its Gravitation; and
this first Earth whereof we speak, being uniform, and every way equally
balanced, there was no Reason why it should incline at one End, more
than at the other, towards the Sun. As if you should suppose a Ship to
stand North and South under the Equator, if it was equally built and
equally ballasted, it would not incline to one Pole or other, but keep
its Axis parallel to the Axis of the Earth; but if the Ballast lay more
at one End, it would dip towards that Pole, and rise proportionably
higher towards the other. So those great Ships that sail about the Sun
once a Year, or once in so many Years, whilst they are uniformly built
and equally pois’d, they keep steady and even with the Axis of their
Orbit; but if they lose that Equality, and the Center of their Gravity
change, the heavier End will incline more towards the common Center of
their Motion, and the other End will recede from it. So particularly the
Earth, which makes one in that Aëry Fleet, when it scap’d so narrowly
from being Shipwreckt in the great Deluge, was however so broken and
disorder’d, that it lost its equal Poise, and thereupon the Center of
its Gravity changing, one Pole became more inclin’d towards the Sun, and
the other more remov’d from it, and so its right and parallel Situation
which it had before, to the Axis of the Ecliptick, was chang’d into an
Oblique; in which skew Posture it hath stood ever since, and is likely
so to do for some Ages to come. I instance in this, as the most obvious
Cause of the Change of the Situation of the Earth, though, it may be,
upon this followed a Change in its Magnetism, and that might also
contribute to the same Effect.

HOWEVER, this Change and Obliquity of the Earth’s Posture had a long
train of Consequences depending upon it; whereof that was the most
immediate, that it alter’d the Form of the Year, and brought in that
Inequality of Seasons, which hath since obtain’d: As, on the contrary,
while the Earth was in its first and natural Posture, in a more easy and
regular Disposition to the Sun, that had also another respective train
of Consequences, whereof one of the first, and that which we are most
concern’d in at present, was, that it made a perpetual Equinox or Spring
to all the World, all the Parts of the Year had one and the same Tenor,
Face and Temper; there was no Winter or Summer, Seed-Time or Harvest,
but a continual Temperature of the Air and Verdure of the Earth. And
this fully answers the first and fundamental Character of the Golden Age
and of _Paradise_; and what Antiquity, whether Heathen or Christian,
hath spoken concerning that perpetual Serenity and constant Spring that
reign’d there, which in the one was accounted Fabulous, and in the other
Hyperbolical, we see to have been really and philosophically true. Nor
is there any Wonder in the Thing, the wonder is rather on our side, that
the Earth should stand and continue in that forc’d Posture wherein it is
now, spinning Yearly about an Axis, I mean that of the Equator, that
doth not belong to the Orbit of its Motion; This, I say, is more strange
than that it once stood in a Posture that was streight and regular; as
we more justly admire the Tower at _Pisa_, that stands crook’d, than
twenty other streight Towers that are much higher.

HAVING got this Foundation to stand upon, the rest of our Work will go
on more easily; and the two other Characters which we mention’d, will
not be of very difficult Explication. The spontaneous Fertility of the
Earth, and its Production of Animals at that time, we have in some
measure explain’d before, supposing it to proceed partly from the
Richness of the primigenial Soil, and partly from this constant Spring
and Benignity of the Heavens, which we have now establish’d: These were
always ready to excite Nature, and put her upon Action, and never to
interrupt her in any of her Motions or Attempts. We have shew’d in the
fifth Chapter of the first Book, how this primigenial Soil was made, and
of what Ingredients; which were such as compose the richest and fattest
Soil, being a light Earth mix’d with unctuous Juices, and then
afterwards refresh’d and diluted with the Dews of Heaven all the Year
long, and cherish’d with a continual Warmth from the Sun. What more
hopeful Beginning of a World than this? You will grant, I believe, that
whatsoever degree, or whatsoever kind of Fruitfulness could be expected
from a Soil and a Sun, might be reasonably expected there. We see great
Woods and Forests of Trees rise spontaneously, and that since the Flood
(for who can imagine that the ancient Forests, whereof some were so
vastly great, were planted by the Hand of Man?) why should we not then
believe that Fruit-trees and Corn rose as spontaneously in that first
Earth? That which makes Husbandry and human Arts so necessary now for
the Fruits and Productions of the Earth, is partly indeed the Decay of
the Soil, but chiefly the Diversity of Seasons, whereby they perish, if
care be not taken of them; but when there was neither Heat nor Cold,
Winter nor Summer, every Season was a Seed-time to Nature, and every
Season an Harvest.

THIS, it may be, you will allow as to the Fruits of the Earth, but that
the same Earth should produce Animals also, will not be thought so
intelligible. Since it hath been discover’d, that the first Materials of
all Animals are Eggs, as Seeds are of Plants, it doth not seem so hard
to conceive, that these Eggs might be in the first Earth, as well as
those Seeds; for there is a great Analogy and Similitude betwixt them;
especially if you compare these Seeds first with the Eggs of Insects or
Fishes, and then with the Eggs of viviparous Animals. And as for those
Juices which the Eggs of viviparous Animals imbibe thorough their Coats
from the Womb, they might as well imbibe them, or something analogous to
them, from a conveniently temper’d Earth, as Plant-Eggs do; and these
Things being admitted, the Progress is much what the same in Seeds as
Eggs, and in one sort of Eggs as in another.

’TIS true, Animal-Eggs do not seem to be fruitful of themselves, without
the Influence of the Male; and this is not necessary in Plant-Eggs or
vegetable Seeds. But neither doth it seem necessary in all Animal-Eggs,
if there be any Animals _sponte orta_, as they call them, or bred
without Copulation. And, as we observ’d before, according to the best
Knowledge that we have of this Male influence, it is reasonable to
believe, that it may be supplied by the Heavens or _Æther_. The
Ancients, both the _Stoicks_ and _Aristotle_, have suppos’d that there
was something of an æthereal Element in the Malegeniture, from whence
the Virtue of it chiefly proceeded; and if so, why may we not suppose,
at that Time, some general Impression or Irradiation of that purer
Element to fructify the new made Earth? _Moses_ saith there was an
Incubation of the Spirit of God upon the Mass, and without all doubt
that was either to form or fructify it, and by the Mediation of this
active Principle; but the Ancients speak more plainly with express
mention of this _Æther_, and of the Impregnation of the Earth by it, as
betwixt Male and Female. As in the Place before cited;

               _Tum pater omnipotens fœcundis imbribus Æther
               Conjugis in gremium lætæ descendit; & omnes
               Magnus alit magno commixtus corpore fœtus._

Which Notion, I remember, St. _Austin_ saith, _De Civ. D. lib. iv. c.
10._ _Virgil_ did not take from the Fictions of the Poets, but out of
the Books of the Philosophers. Some of the gravest Authors amongst the
_Romans_ have reported, that this Virtue hath been convey’d into the
Wombs of some Animals by the Winds, or the _Zephyri_; and as I easily
believe that the first fresh Air was more impregnated with this æthereal
Principle than ours is, so I see no reason but those balmy Dews, that
fell every Night in the Primitive Earth, might be the Vehicle of it as
well as the Malegeniture is now; and from them the teeming Earth, and
those vital Seeds which it contain’d, were actuated, and receiv’d their
first Fruitfulness.

NOW this Principle, howsoever convey’d to those Rudiments of Life which
we call Eggs, is that which gives the first stroke towards Animation;
and this seems to be, by exciting a Ferment in those little Masses,
whereby the Parts are loosen’d, and dispos’d for that Formation which is
to follow afterwards. And I see nothing that hinders, but that we may
reasonably suppose that these Animal Productions might proceed thus far
in the Primigenial Earth. And as to their Progress and the Formation of
the Body, by what Agents or Principles soever that great Work is carried
on in the Womb of the Female, it might by the same be carried on there.
Neither would there be any Danger of miscarrying by Excess of Heat or
Cold, for the Air was always of an equal Temper and moderate Warmth; and
all other Impediments were remov’d, and all Principles ready, whether
active or passive; so as we may justly conclude, that as _Eve_ was the
Mother of all living, as to Mankind, so was the Earth the Great Mother
of all living Creatures besides.

THE third Character to be explain’d, and the most extraordinary in
Appearance, is that of Longevity. This sprung from the same Root in my
Opinion, with the other; though the Connexion, it may be, is not so
visible. We shew’d in the foregoing Chapter, that no Advantage of Diet,
or of strong Constitutions, could have carried their Lives, before the
Flood, to that wonderful Length, if they had been exposed to the same
Changes of Air and of Seasons that our Bodies are: But taking a
perpetual Equinox, and fixing the Heavens, you fix the Life of Man too;
which was not then in such a rapid Flux as it is now, but seem’d to
stand still as the Sun did once without Declension. There is no Question
but every thing upon Earth, and especially the Animate World, would be
much more permanent, if the general Course of Nature was more steady and
uniform; a Stability in the Heavens makes a Stability in all Things
below; and that Change and Contrariety of Qualities that we have in
these Regions, is the Fountain of Corruption, and suffers nothing to be
long in quiet: Either by intestine Motions and Fermentations excited
within, or by outward Impressions, Bodies are no sooner well
constituted, but they are tending again to Dissolution. The _Æther_ in
their little Pores and Chinks is unequally agitated, and differently
mov’d at different Times, and so is the Air in their greater, and the
Vapours and Atmosphere round about them: All these shake and unsettle
both the Texture and Continuity of Bodies. Whereas in a fix’d State of
Nature, where these Principles have always the same constant and uniform
Motion, when they are once suited to the Forms and Compositions of
Bodies, they give them no further Disturbance; they enjoy a long and
lasting Peace, without any Commotions or Violence within or without.

WE find our selves sensible Changes in our Bodies upon the Turn of the
Year, and the Change of Seasons; new Fermentations in the Blood and
Resolutions of the Humours; which if they do not amount to Diseases, at
least they disturb Nature, and have a bad Effect, not only upon the
fluid Parts, but also upon the more solid, upon the Springs and Fibres
in the Organs of the Body, to weaken them and unfit them by degrees for
their respective Functions. For though the Change is not sensible
immediately in these Parts, yet after many repeated Impressions every
Year, by unequal Heat and Cold, Driness and Moisture, contracting and
relaxing the Fibres, their Tone at length is in a great Measure
destroy’d, and brought to a manifest Debility; and the great Springs
falling, the lesser, that depend upon them, fall in Proportion, and all
the Symptoms of Decay and old Age follow. We see by daily Experience,
that Bodies are kept better in the same _Medium_, as we call it, than if
they often change their _Medium_, as sometimes in Air, sometimes in
Water, moistned and dry’d, heated and cool’d; these different states
weaken the Contexture of the Parts: But our Bodies, in the present State
of Nature, are put into an hundred different _Mediums_ in the Course of
a Year; sometimes we are steep’d in Water, or in a misty foggy Air, for
several Days together; sometimes we are almost frozen with Cold, then
fainting with Heat at another time of the Year; and the Winds are of a
different Nature, and the Air of a different Weight and Pressure,
according to the Weather and the Seasons: These Things would wear our
Bodies, tho’ they were built of Oak, and that in a very short Time, in
Comparison of what they would last, if they were always encompass’d with
one and the same _Medium_, under one and the same Temper, as it was in
the Primitive Earth.

THE Ancients seem to have been sensible of this, and of the true Causes
of those long Periods of Life; for wheresoever they assign’d a great
Longevity, as they did not only to their golden Age, but also to their
particular and topical _Paradises_, they also assign’d there a constant
Serenity and Equality of the Heavens, and sometimes expresly a constant
Equinox; as might be made appear from their Authors. And some of our
christian Authors have gone farther, and connected these two together,
as Cause and Effect, for they say that the Longevity of the Antediluvian
Patriarchs proceeded from a favourable Aspect and Influence of the
Heavens at that Time; which _Aspect_ of the Heavens, being rightly
interpreted, is the same thing that we call the position of the Heavens,
or the right Situation of the Sun and the Earth, from whence came a
perpetual Equinox. And if we consider the present Earth, I know no Place
where they live longer than in that little Island of the _Bermudas_,
where, according to the Proportion of Time they hold out there, after
they are arriv’d from other Parts, one may reasonably suppose, that the
Natives would live two hundred Years, and there’s nothing appears in
that Island that should give long Life above other Places, but the
extraordinary Steadiness of the Weather, and of the Temper of the Air
throughout the whole Year, so as there is scarce any considerable
Difference of Seasons.

BUT because it would take up too much Time to shew in this Place the
full and just Reasons why, and how these long Periods of Life depend
upon the Stability of the Heavens: And how on the contrary, from their
Inconstancy and Mutability these Periods are shorten’d, as in the
present Order of Nature; we will set apart the next Chapter to treat
upon that Subject; yet by way of Digression only, so as those that have
a mind may pass to the following, where the Thread of this Discourse is
continued. In the mean Time you see, we have prepar’d an Earth for
_Paradise_, and given a fair and intelligible Account of those three
general Characters, which, according to the Rules of Method, must be
determin’d before any further Progress can be made in this Argument. For
in the Doctrine of _Paradise_ there are two things to be consider’d, the
State of it and the Place of it; And as it is first in Order of Nature,
so it is much more material, to find out the State of it, than the
Region where it stood. We need not follow the Windings of Rivers, and
the Interpretation of hard Names, to discover this, we take more
faithful Guides: The unanimous Reports of Antiquity, sacred and profane,
supported by a regular Theory. Upon these Grounds we go, and have thus
far proceeded on our way; which we hope will grow more easy and
pleasant, the nearer we come to our Journey’s End.




                               CHAP. IV.


    _A Digression concerning the natural Causes of Longevity. That the
    Machine of an Animal consists of Springs, and which are the two
    principal. The Age of the Antediluvians to be computed by Solar, not
    Lunar Years._


TO confirm our Opinion concerning the Reasons of Longevity in the first
Inhabitants of the World, it will not be amiss to deduce more at large
the natural Causes of _long_, or _short Periods of Life_. And when we
speak of _long_ or _short Periods of Life_, we do not mean those little
Differences of ten, twenty, or forty Years, which we see amongst Men
now-a-days, according as they are of stronger or weaker Constitutions,
and govern themselves better or worse; but those grand and famous
Differences of several hundreds of Years, which we have Examples of in
the different Ages of the World, and particularly in those that liv’d
before and since the Flood. Neither do we think it peculiar to this
Earth to have such an Inequality in the Lives of Men; but the other
Planets, if they be inhabited, have the same Property, and the same
Difference in their different Periods: All Planets that are in their
Antediluvian State, and in their first and regular Situation to the Sun,
have long-liv’d Inhabitants; and those, that are in an oblique
Situation, have short-liv’d; unless there be some counter Causes that
hinder this general Rule of Nature from taking Place.

WE are now so us’d to a short Life, and to drop away after threescore or
fourscore Years, that when we compare our Lives with those of the
Antediluvians, we think the Wonder lies wholly on their Side, _why_ they
liv’d so long; And so it doth popularly speaking; but if we speak
Philosophically, the Wonder lies rather on our side, _why_ we live so
little, or so short a Time? For seeing our Bodies are such Machines as
have a Faculty of nourishing themselves, that is, of repairing their
lost or decay’d Parts, so long as they have good Nourishment to make Use
of, why should they not continue in good Plight, and always the same, as
a Flame does, so long as it is supplied with Fewel? And that we may the
better see on whether side the Wonder lies, and from what Causes it
proceeds, we will propose this Problem to be examin’d, _Why the Frame or
Machine of an human Body, or of another Animal, having that Constriction
of Parts, and those Faculties which it hath, lasts so short a Time?_ And
tho’ it fall into no Disease, nor have any unnatural Accident, within
the Space of eighty Years, more or less, fatally and inevitably, decays,
dies, and perisheth.

THAT the State and Difficulty of this Question may the better appear,
let us consider a Man in the Prime and Vigour of his Life, at the Age of
twenty or twenty four Years, of an healthful Constitution, and all his
Vitals sound; let him be nourished with good Food, use due Exercise, and
govern himself with Moderation in all other Things; the Question is, Why
this Body should not continue in the same Plight, and in the same
Strength, for some Ages? or at least, why it should decay so soon and so
fall as we see it does? We do not wonder at Things that happen daily,
though the Causes of them be never so hard to find out; we contrast a
certain Familiarity with common Events, and fancy we know as much of
them as can be known, though in Reality we know nothing of them, but
Matter of Fact; which the vulgar know as well as the Wise or the
Learned. We see daily Instances of the shortness of Man’s Life, how soon
his Race is run, and we do not wonder at it, because it is common; yet
if we examine the Composition of the Body, it will be very hard to find
any good Reasons why the Frame of it should decay so soon.

I know ’tis easy to give general and superficial Answers and Accounts of
these Things; but they are such, as being strictly examin’d, give no
Satisfaction to an inquisitive Mind; You would say, it may be, that the
Interiour Parts and Organs of the Body wear and decay by Degrees, so as
not performing so well their several Offices and Functions, for the
Digestion and Distribution of the Food and its Juices, all the other
Parts suffer by it, and draws on insensibly a Decay upon the whole Frame
of the Body. This is all true; but why, and how comes this to pass? From
what Causes? Where is the first Failure, and what are the Consequences
of it? The inward parts do not destroy themselves, and we suppose that
there is no want of good Food, nor any Disease, and we take the Body in
its full Strength and Vigour, why doth it not continue thus, as a Lamp
does, if you supply it with Oil? The Causes being the same, why doth not
the same Effect still follow? Why should not the Flame of Life, as well
as any other Flame, if you give it Fewel, continue in its Force without
Languishing or Decay.

YOU will say, it may be, the Case is not the same in a simple Body, such
as a Lamp or a Fire, and in an organical Body; which being variously
compounded of Multiplicity of Parts, and all those Parts put in
Connexion and Dependance one upon another, if any one fail, it will
disorder the whole Frame; and therefore it must needs be more difficult
for such a Body to continue long in the same State, than for a simple
Body, that hath no Variety of Parts or Operations. I acknowledge such a
Body is much more subject to Diseases and Accidents than a more simple;
but barring all Diseases and Accidents, as we do, it might be of as long
a Duration as any other, if it was supply’d with Nourishment adequately
to all its Parts: As this Lamp we speak of, if it consisted of twenty
Branches, and each of these Branches was to be fed with a different Oil,
and these Oils could be all mix’d together in some common Cistern,
whence they were to be distributed into the several Branches, either
according to their different Degrees of Lightness, one rising higher
than another; or according to the Capacity and Figure of the little
Pipes they were to pass thro’; such a compounded Lamp, made up of such
Artifices, would indeed be more subject to Accidents and to be out of
Order, by the Obstruction of some of the little Pipes, or some unfit
Qualities in the Oils; but all these Casualties and Disorders excepted,
as they are in our Case, if it was supply’d with convenient Liquors, it
would burn as long as any other, tho’ more plain and simple.

TO instance yet, for more Plainness, in another sort of Machine; suppose
a Mill, where the Water may represent the Nourishment and Humours in our
Body, and the Frame of Wood and Stone, the solid Parts; if we could
suppose this Mill to have a Power of nourishing itself by the Water it
receiv’d, and of repairing all the Parts that were worn away, whether of
the Wood-work or of the Stone, feed it but with a constant Stream, and
it would subsist and grind for ever. And ’tis the same Thing for all
other artificial Machines of this Nature, if they had a Faculty of
nourishing themselves, and repairing their Parts. And seeing those
natural Machines we are speaking of, the Body of Man, and of other
Animals, have and enjoy this Faculty, why should they not be able to
preserve themselves beyond that short Period of Time, which is now the
Measure of their Life?

THUS much we have said, to shew the Difficulty propos’d, and inforce it;
we must now consider the true Answer and Resolution of it; and to that
purpose bring into View again those Causes which we have assign’d, both
of the long Periods of Life before the Flood, and of the short ones
since. That there was a perpetual Equinox and Stability of the Heavens
before the Flood, we have shew’d both from History and Reason; neither
was there then any thing of Clouds, Rains, Winds, Storms, or unequal
Weather, as will appear in the following Chapter; and to this Steadiness
of Nature, and universal Calmness of the external World, we have imputed
those long Periods of Life which Men enjoy’d at that Time: As on the
contrary, when that great Change and Revolution happened to Nature at
the Deluge, and the Heavens and the Earth were cast in another Mould,
then was brought in, besides many other new Scenes, that Shortness and
Vanity in the Life of Man, and a general Instability in all sublunary
Things, but especially in the animate World.

IT is not necessary to shew more than we have done already, how that
primitive State of Nature contributed to long Life; neither is it
requir’d that it should actively contribute, but only be permissive, and
suffer our Bodies to act their Parts; for if they be not disturb’d, nor
any Harm done them by external Nature, they are built with Art and
Strength enough to last many hundreds of Years. And, as we observ’d
before, concerning the Posture of the Earth, that that which it had at
first, being simple and regular, was not so much to be accounted for, as
its present Posture, which is irregular; so likewise for the Life of
Man, the Difficulty is not why they liv’d so long in the old World; that
was their due and proper Course; but why our Bodies, being made after
the same manner, should endure so short a Time now. This is it
therefore, which we must now make our Business to give an Account of,
namely, how that Vicissitude of Seasons, Inconstancy of the Air, and
unequal Course of Nature, which came in at the Deluge, do shorten
_Life_; and indeed hasten the Dissolution of all Bodies, animate or
inanimate.

IN our Bodies we may consider three several Qualities or Dispositions,
and according to each whereof they suffer Decay: _First_, Their
Continuity; _Secondly_, That Disposition whereby they are capable of
receiving Nourishment, which we may call Nutribility; and _Thirdly_, The
Tone or tonick Disposition of the Organs, whereby they perform their
several Functions. In all these three respects they would decay in any
State of Nature, but far sooner and faster in the present State, than in
the Primæval. As for their Continuity, we have noted before that all
consistent Bodies must be less durable now, than under that first Order
of the World, because of the unequal and contrary Motions of the
Elements, or of the Air and Æther that penetrate and pervade them; and
’tis Part of that Vanity which all Things now are subject to, to be more
perishable than in their first Constitution. If we should consider our
Bodies only as breathing Statues, consisting of those Parts they do, and
of that Tenderness, the Air which we breathe, and wherewith we are
continually incompast, changing so often ’twixt moist and dry, hot and
cold, a slow and eager Motion, these different Actions and restless
Changes would sooner weaken and destroy the Union of the Parts, than if
they were always in a calm and quiet _Medium_.

BUT it is not the gross and visible Continuity of the Parts of our Body
that first decays; there are finer Textures that are spoil’d insensibly,
and draw on the Decay of the rest; such are those other two we
mention’d; that Disposition and Temper of the Parts whereby they are fit
to receive their full Nourishment; and especially that Construction and
Texture of the Organs that are preparatory to this Nutrition. The
Nutribility of the Body depends upon a certain Temperament in the Parts,
soft and yielding, which makes them open to the Blood and Juices in
their Circulation and Passage thro’ them, and mixing intimately and
universally, hold fast and retain many of their Particles; as muddy
Earth doth the Parts of the Water that runs into it and mixeth with it:
And when these nutritious Particles retain’d are more than the Body
spends, that Body is in its Growth; as when they are fewer, ’tis in its
Decay. And as we compar’d the Flesh and tender Parts, when they are
young, and in a growing Disposition, to a muddy Soil, that opens to the
Water, swells and incorporates with it; so when they become hard and
dry, they are like a sandy Earth, that suffers the Water to glide
through it, without incorporating or retaining many of its Parts; and
the sooner they come to this Temper, the sooner follows their Decay: For
the same Causes, that set Limits to our Growth, set also Limits to our
Life; and he that can resolve that Question, _why_ the Time of our
Growth is so short, will also be able to resolve the other in a good
Measure, _why_ the Time of our _Life_ is so short. In both Cases, that
which stops our Progress is external Nature, whose Course, while it was
even and steady, and the ambient Air mild and balmy, preserv’d the Body
much longer in a fresh and fit Temper to receive its full Nourishment,
and consequently gave larger Bounds both to our Growth and Life.

BUT the third thing we mention’d is the most considerable, the Decay of
the Organick Parts; and especially of the Organs preparatory to
Nutrition. This is the Point chiefly to be examin’d and explain’d, and
therefore we will endeavour to state it fully and distinctly. There are
several Functions in the Body of an Animal, and several Organs for the
Conduct of them; and I am of Opinion, that all the Organs of the Body
are in the Nature of Springs, and that their Action is tonical. The
Action of the Muscles is apparently so, and so is that of the Heart and
the Stomach; and as for those Parts, that make Secretions only, as the
_Glandules_ and _Parenchymata_, if they be any more than merely passive,
as Strainers, ’tis the Tone of the Parts, when distended, that performs
the Separation: And accordingly in all other active Organs, the Action
proceeds from a Tone in the Parts. And this seems to be easily prov’d,
both as to our Bodies, and all other Bodies; for no Matter that is not
fluid, hath any Motion or Action in it, but in Virtue of some Tone; if
Matter be fluid, its Parts are actually in Motion, and consequently may
impel or give Motion to other Bodies; but if it be solid or consistent,
the Parts are not separate or separately mov’d from one another, and
therefore cannot impel or give Motion to any other, but in virtue of
their Tone; they having no other Motion themselves. Accordingly we see
in Artificial Machines, there are but two general Sorts, those that move
by some fluid or volatile Matter, as Water, Wind, Air, or some active
Spirit; and those which move by Springs, or by the Tonick Disposition of
some Part that gives Motion to the rest: For as for such Machines as act
by Weights, ’tis not the Weight that is the active Principle, but the
Air or Æther that impels it. ’Tis true, the Body of an Animal is a kind
of mix’d Machine, and those Organs that are the primary Parts of it,
partake of both these Principles; for there are Spirits and Liquors that
do assist in the Motions of the Muscles, of the Heart, and of the
Stomach; but we have no occasion to consider them at present, but only
the Tone of the solid Organs.

THIS being observ’d in the first Place, wherein the Force of our Organs
consists, we might here immediately subjoin, how this Force is weaken’d
and destroy’d by the unequal Course of Nature which now obtains, and
consequently our Life shorten’d; for the whole State and Oeconomy of the
Body depends upon the Force and Action of these Organs. But to
understand the Business more distinctly, it will be worth our Time to
examine upon which of the Organs of the Body Life depends more
immediately, and the Prolongation of it; that so reducing our Inquiries
into a narrower Compass, we may manage them with more Ease and more
Certainty.

IN the Body of Man there are several _Compages_, or Sets of Parts, some
whereof need not be consider’d in this Question; there is that System
that serves for Sense and local Motion, which is commonly call’d the
Animal Compages; and that which serves for Generation, which is call’d
the Genital. These have no Influence upon long Life, being Parts
nourished, not nourishing, and that are fed from others, as Rivers from
their Fountain: Wherefore having laid these aside, there remain two
Compages more, the Natural and Vital, which consist of the Heart and
Stomach, with their Appendages. These are the Sources of Life, and these
are all that is absolutely necessary to the Constitution of a living
Creature; what Parts we find more, few or many of one sort or other,
according to the several kinds of Creatures, is accidental to our
Purpose: The Form of an Animal, as we are to consider it here, lies in
this little Compass, and what is superadded is for some new Purposes,
besides that of mere Life, as for Sense, Motion, Generation, and such
like. As in a Watch, beside the Movement which is made to tell you the
Hour of the Day, which constitutes a Watch; you may have a Fancy to have
an Alarm added, or a Minute-Motion, or that it should tell you the Day
of the Month; and this sometimes will require a new Spring, sometimes
only new Wheels; however, if you would examine the Nature of a Watch,
and upon what its Motion, or, if I may so say, its Life depends, you
must lay aside those secondary Movements, and observe the main Spring,
and the Wheels that immediately depend upon that, for all the rest is
accidental. So for the Life of an Animal, which is a piece of Nature’s
Clock-work, if we would examine upon what the Duration of it depends, we
must lay aside those additional Parts or Systems of Parts, which are for
other Purposes, and consider only the first Principles and Fountains of
Life, and the Causes of their natural and necessary Decay.

HAVING thus reduc’d our Inquiries to these two Organs, the Stomach and
the Heart, as the two Master-Springs in the Mechanism of an Animal, upon
which all the rest depend, let us now see what their Action is, and how
it will be more or less durable and constant, according to the different
States of external Nature. We determin’d before, that the Force and
Action of all Organs in the Body was tonical, and of none more
remarkably than of these two, the Heart and Stomach; for though it be
not clearly determined what the particular Structure of these Organs, or
of their Fibres is, that makes them tonical, yet ’tis manifest by their
Actions, that they are so. In the Stomach, besides a peculiar Ferment
that opens and dissolves the Parts of the Meat, and melts them into a
Fluor or Pulp; the Coats of it, or Fibres whereof they consist, have a
Motion proper to them, proceeding from their Tone, whereby they close
the Stomach, and compress the Meat when it is receiv’d, and when turn’d
into Chyle, press it forwards, and squeeze it into the Intestines; and
the Intestines also partaking of the same Motion, push and work it still
forwards into those little Veins that convey it towards the Heart. The
Heart hath the same general Motions with the Stomach, of opening and
shutting, and hath also a peculiar Ferment, which rarifies the Blood
that enters into it; and that Blood, by the Spring of the Heart, and the
particular Texture of its Fibres, is thrown out again to make its
Circulation thro’ the Body. This is, in short, the Action of both these
Organs; and indeed the Mystery of the Body of an Animal, and of its
Operations and Oeconomy, consists chiefly in Springs and Ferments; the
one for the solid Parts, the other in the fluid.

BUT to apply this Fabrick of the organick Parts to our Purpose, we may
observe and conclude, that whatsoever weakens the Tone or Spring of
these two Organs, which are the Bases of all Vitality, weaken the
Principle of Life, and shorten the natural Duration of it; and if of two
Orders or Courses of Nature, the one be favourable and easy to these
tonick Principles in the Body, and the other uneasy and prejudicial,
that Course of Nature will be attended with long Periods of Life, and
this with short. And we have shewn, that in the Primitive Earth the
Course of Nature was even, steady, and unchangeable, without either
different Qualities of the Air, or unequal Seasons of the Year, which
must needs be more easy to these Principles we speak of, and permit them
to continue longer in their Strength and Vigor, than they can possibly
do under all those Changes of the Air, of the Atmosphere, and of the
Heavens, which we now suffer yearly, monthly, and daily. And tho’ sacred
History had not acquainted us with the Longevity of the Antediluvian
Patriarchs, nor profane History with those of the Golden-Age, I should
have concluded from the Theory alone, and the Contemplation of that
State of Nature, that the Forms of all Things were much more permanent
in that World than in ours, and that the Lives of Men and all other
Animals had longer Periods.

I confess, I am of Opinion that ’tis this that makes not only these
living Springs or tonick Organs of the Body, but all artificial Springs
also, tho’ made of the hardest Metal, decay so fast. The different
Pressure of the Atmosphere, sometimes heavier, sometimes lighter, more
rare or more dense, moist or dry, and agitated with different Degrees of
Motion, and in different Manners! this must needs operate upon that
nicer Contexture of Bodies, which make them tonical or elastick;
altering the Figure or Minuteness of the Pores, and the Strength and
Order of the Fibres upon which that Propriety depends; bending and
unbending, closing and opening the Parts. There is a subtle and æthereal
Element that traverseth the Pores of all Bodies, and when ’tis
straiten’d and pent up there, or stopt in its usual Course and Passage,
its Motion is more quick and eager, as a Current of Water, when ’tis
obstructed, or runs thro’ a narrower Channel; and that Strife and those
Attempts which these little active Particles make to get free, and
follow the same Tracts they did before, do still press upon the Parts of
the Body that are chang’d, to redress and reduce them to their first and
natural Posture, and in this consists the Force of a Spring. Accordingly
we may observe, that there is no Body that is or will be tonical or
elastick, if it be left to it self, and to that Posture it would take
naturally; for then all the Parts are at ease, and the subtle Matter
moves freely and uninterruptedly within its Pores; but if by Distention,
or by Compression, or by Flexion or any other way, the situation of the
Parts and Pores be so alter’d, that the Air sometimes, but for the most
Part that subtiler Element, is uneasy and compress’d too much, it
causeth that Renitency or Tendency to Restitution, which we call the
Tone, or Spring of a Body. Now as this Disposition of Bodies doth far
more easily perish than their Continuity, so I think, there is nothing
that contributes more to its perishing (whether in natural or artificial
Springs) than the unequal Action and different Qualities of the Æther,
Air, and Atmosphere.

IT will be objected to us, it may be, that in the beginning of the
Chapter we instanc’d in artificial Things, that would continue for ever,
if they had but the Power of nourishing themselves, as Lamps, Mills, and
such like; why then may not natural Machines that have that Power last
for ever? The Case is not the same as to the Bodies of Animals, and the
Things there instanc’d in, for those were springless Machines, that act
only by some external Cause, and not in Virtue of any Tone or interior
Temper of the Parts, as our Bodies do; and when that Tone or Temper is
destroy’d, no Nourishment can repair it. There is something, I say,
irreparable in the tonical Disposition of Matter, which when wholly lost
cannot be restor’d by Nutrition. Nutrition may answer to a bare
Consumption of Parts; but where the Parts are to be preserv’d in such a
Temperament, or in such a Degree of Humidity and Driness, Warmth, Rarity
or Density, to make them capable of that Nourishment, as well as of
their other Operations, as Organs, (which is the Case of our Bodies)
there the Heavens, the Air, and external Causes will change the
Qualities of the Matter in spite of all Nutrition; and the Qualities of
the Matter being chang’d, (in a Course of Nature, where the Cause cannot
be taken away) that is a Fault incorrigible, and irreparable by the
Nourishment that follows, being hindred of its Effect by the
Indisposition or Incapacity of the Recipient. And as they say, a Fault
in the first Concoction cannot be corrected in the second; so neither
can a Fault in the Prerequisites to all the Concoctions be corrected by
any of them.

I know the Ancients made the Decay and Term of Life to depend rather
upon the Humours of the Body, than the solid Parts, and suppos’d an
_Humidum radicale_ and a _Calidum innatum_, as they call them, a radical
Moisture and congenit Heat to be in every Body, from its Birth and first
Formation; and as these decay’d, Life decay’d. But who’s wiser for this
Account, what doth this instruct us in? We know there is Heat and
Moisture in the Body, and you may call the one _Radical_, and the other
_Innate_ if you please; this is but a sort of Cant, for we know no more
of the real physical Causes of that Effect we enquir’d into, than we did
before. What makes this Heat and Moisture fail, if the Nourishment be
good, and all the Organs in their due Strength and Temper? The first and
original Failure is not in the Fluid, but in the solid Parts, which if
they continued the same, the Humours would do so too. Besides, What
befel this radical Moisture and Heat at the Deluge, that it should decay
so fast afterwards, and last so long before? There is a certain Temper,
no doubt, of the Juices and Humours of the Body, which is more fit than
any other to conserve the Parts from Driness and Decay; but the Cause of
that Driness and Decay, or other Inability in the solid Parts, whence is
that, if not from external Nature? ’Tis thither we must come at length
in our Search of the Reasons of the natural Decay of our Bodies, we
follow the Fate and Laws of that: And I think, by those Causes, and in
that Order, that we have already describ’d and explain’d.

TO conclude this Discourse, we may collect from it what Judgment is to
be made of those Projectors of Immortality, or Undertakers to make Men
live to the Age of _Methusalah_, if they will use their Methods and
Medicines: There is but one Method for this, to put the Sun into his old
Course, or the Earth into its first Posture; there is no other Secret to
prolong Life; our Bodies will sympathize with the general Course of
Nature, nothing can guard us from it, no Elixir, no Specific, no
Philosopher’s Stone. But there are Enthusiasts in Philosophy, as well as
in Religion; Men that go by no Principles, but their own Conceit and
Fancy, and by a Light within, which shines very uncertainly, and for the
most Part leads them out of the Way of Truth. And so much for this
Disquisition, concerning the _Causes_ of _Longevity_, or of the long and
short Periods of Life in the different Periods of the World.


    _That the Age of the Antediluvian Patriarchs is to be computed by
    Solar or common Years, not by Lunar or Months._


HAVING made this Discourse of the unequal Periods of Life, only in
reference to the Antediluvians and their fam’d Longevity, lest we should
seem to have proceeded upon an ill-grounded and mistaken Supposition, we
are bound to take Notice of, and confute that Opinion which makes the
Years of the Antediluvian Patriarchs to have been _Lunar_, not _Solar_,
and so would bear us in Hand, that they liv’d only so many Months, as
Scripture saith they liv’d Years. Seeing there is nothing could drive
Men to this bold Interpretation but the Incredibility of the Thing, as
they fancied; they having no Motions or _Hypothesis_ whereby it could
appear intelligible or possible to them; and seeing we have taken away
that Stumbling-Stone, and shew’d it not only possible but necessary
according to the Constitution of that World, that the Periods of Life
should be far longer than in this; by removing the Ground or Occasion of
their Misinterpretation, we hope we have undeceiv’d them, and let them
see that there is no need of that Subterfuge, either to prevent an
Incongruity, or save the Credit of the Sacred Historian.

BUT as this Opinion is inconsistent with Nature, truly understood, so is
it also with common History; for besides, what I have already mention’d
in the first Chapter of this Book, _Josephus_ tells us, (_Lib. i. Jew.
Ant. Chap. iv._) that the Historians of all Nations, both _Greeks_ and
_Barbarians_, give the same account of the first Inhabitants of the
Earth; Manetho, _who writ the Story of the_ Ægyptians; Berosus, _who
writ the Chaldæan History, and those Authors that have given us an
Account of the Phœnician Antiquities, besides Molus and Hestiæus, and
Hieronymus the Ægyptian; and amongst the Greeks, Hesiodus, Hecateus,
Hellanicus, Acusialus, Ephorus and Nicolaus: We have the Suffrages of
all these, and their common Consent, that in the first Ages of the World
Men liv’d a thousand Years._ Now we cannot well suppose that all these
Historians meant _Lunar_ Years, or that they all conspir’d together to
make and propagate a Fable.

LASTLY, As Nature and profane History do disown and confute this
Opinion, so much more doth sacred History; not indeed in profess’d
Terms, for _Moses_ doth not say that he useth _Solar_ Years; but by
several Marks and Observations, or collateral Arguments, it may be
clearly collected, that he doth not use _Lunar_. As first, because he
distinguisheth _Months_ and _Years_ in the History of the Deluge, and of
the Life of _Noah_; for _Gen. vii. 11._ he saith in the six hundredth
Year of _Noah_’s Life, in the second Month, _&c._ It cannot be imagin’d
that in the same Verse and Sentence these two Terms of _Year_ and
_Month_ should be so confounded as to signify the same Thing; and
therefore _Noah_’s Years were not the same with Months, nor consequently
those of the other Patriarchs, for we have no Reason to make any
Difference. Besides, what ground was there, or how was it proper or
pertinent to reckon, as _Moses_ does there, first, second, third Month,
as so many going to a Year, if every one of them was a Year? And seeing
the Deluge begun in the six hundredth Year of _Noah_’s Life, and in the
second Month, and ended in the six hundredth and first Year, (_Chap.
viii. 13._) the first or second Month, all that was betwixt these two
Terms, or all the Duration of the Deluge, made but one Year in _Noah_’s
Life, or it may be not so much; and we know _Moses_ reckons a great many
Months in the Duration of the Deluge; so as this is a Demonstration,
that _Noah_’s Years are not to be understood of _Lunar_. And to imagine
that his Years are to be understood one way, and those of his
fellow-Patriarchs another, would be an unaccountable Fiction. This
argument therefore extends to all the Antediluvians, and _Noah_’s Life
will take in the Postdiluvians too; for you see Part of it runs amongst
them, and ties together the two Worlds: So that if we exclude _Lunar_
Years from his Life, we exclude them from all; those of his Fathers, and
those of his Children.

SECONDLY, If _Lunar_ Years were understood in the Ages of the
Antediluvian Patriarchs, the Interval betwixt the Creation and the
Deluge would be too short, and in many Respects incongruous. There would
be but 1656 Months from the Beginning of the World to the Flood; which
converted into common Years, make but 127 Years and five Months for that
Interval. This perverts all Chronology, and besides, makes the Number of
People so small and inconsiderable at the Time of the Deluge, that
destroying of the World then was not so much as destroying of a Country
Town would be now: For from one Couple you cannot well imagine there
could arise above five hundred Persons in so short a Time; but if there
were a thousand, ’tis not so many as we have sometimes in a good Country
Village. And were the Flood-gates of Heaven open’d, and the great Abyss
broken up to destroy such an handful of People, and the Waters rais’d
fifteen Cubits above the highest Mountains throughout the Face of the
Earth, to drown a Parish or two? Is not this more incredible than our
Age of the Patriarchs? Besides, This short Interval doth not leave Room
for ten Generations, which we find from _Adam_ to the Flood, nor allows
the Patriarchs Age enough at the Time when they are said to have got
Children. One hundred twenty-seven Years for ten Generations is very
strait; and of these you must take off forty-six Years for one
Generation only, or for _Noah_, for he liv’d six hundred Years before
the Flood, and if they were _Lunar_, they would come however to
forty-six of our Years; so that for the other nine Generations you would
have but eighty one Years, that is, nine Years a-piece; at which Age
they must all be suppos’d to have begun to get Children; which you
cannot but think a very absurd Supposition. Thus it would be, if you
divide the whole Time equally amongst the nine Generations; but if you
consider some single Instances; as they are set down by _Moses_, ’tis
still worse; for _Mahaleel_ and his Grandchild _Enoch_ are said to have
got Children at sixty five Years of Age, which if you suppose Months,
they were but five Years old at that time; now I appeal to any one,
whether it is more incredible that Men should live to the Age of nine
hundred Years, or that they should beget Children at the Age of five
Years.

YOU will say, it may be, ’tis true these Inconveniences follow, if our
_Hebrew_ Copies of the Old Testament be Authentick: But if the _Greek_
Translation by the _Septuagint_ be of better Authority, as some would
have it to be, that gives a little Relief in this Case; for the
_Septuagint_ makes the Distance from the Creation to the Flood six
hundred Years more than the _Hebrew_ Text does, and so give us a little
more Room for our ten Generations: And not only so, but they have so
conveniently dispos’d those additional Years, as to salve the other
Inconvenience too, of the Patriarchs having Children so young; for what
Patriarchs are found to have got Children sooner than the rest, and so
soon, that, upon a Computation by _Lunar_ Years, they would be but meer
Children themselves at that time? to these more Years are added, and
plac’d opportunely, before the time of their getting Children; so as one
can scarce forbear to think, that it was done on purpose to cure that
Inconvenience, and to favour and protect the Computation by _Lunar_
Years. The thing looks so like an Artifice, and as done to serve a Turn,
that one cannot but have a less Opinion of that Chronology for it.

BUT not to enter upon that Dispute at present, methinks they have not
wrought the Cure effectually enough; for with these six hundred _Lunar_
Years added, the Sum will be only one hundred seventy three common Years
and odd Months; and from these deducting, as we did before, for _Noah_,
forty six Years, and for _Adam_, or the first Generation, about
eighteen, (for he was two hundred and thirty Years old, according to the
_Septuagint_ when he begot _Seth_) there will remain but one hundred and
nine Years for eight Generations; which will be thirteen Years a piece
and odd Months; a low Age to get Children in, and to hold for eight
Generations together. Neither is the other Inconvenience, we mention’d,
well cur’d by the _Septuagint_ Account, namely, the small Number of
People that would be in the World at the Deluge; for the _Septuagint_
Account, if understood of _Lunar_ Years, adds but forty six common Years
to the _Hebrew_ Account, and to the Age of the World at the Deluge, in
which time there could be but a very small Accesion to the Number of
Mankind. So as both these Incongruities continue, though not in the same
degree, and stand good in either Account, if it be understood of _Lunar_
Years.

_Thirdly_, ’TIS manifest from other Texts of Scripture, and from other
Considerations, that our first Fathers liv’d very long, and considerably
longer than Men have done since, whereas if their Years be interpreted
_Lunar_, there is not one of them that liv’d to the Age that Men do now;
_Methusalah_ himself did not reach threescore and fifteen Years, upon
that Interpretation; which doth express them not only below those that
liv’d next to the Flood, but below all following Generations to this
Day; and those first Ages of the World which were always celebrated for
Strength and Vivacity, are made as weak and feeble as the last Dregs of
Nature. We may observe, that after the Flood for some Time, ’till the
pristine _Crasis_ of the Body was broken by the new Course of Nature,
they liv’d five, four, three, two hundred Years, and the Life of Men
shorten’d by Degrees; but before the Flood, when they liv’d longer,
there was no such Decrease or gradual Declension in their Lives. For
_Noah_, who was the last, liv’d longer than _Adam_; and _Methusalah_,
who was last but two, liv’d the longest of all: So that it was not
simply their Distance from the beginning of the World that made them
live a shorter Time, but some Change which happen’d in Nature after such
a Period of Time; namely at the Deluge, when the Declension begun. Let’s
set down the Table of both States.

_A TABLE of the Ages of the Antediluvian Fathers._

                          _Adam_           930
                          _Seth_           912
                          _Enos_           905
                          _Cainan_         910
                          _Mahaleel_       895
                          _Jared_          962
                          _Enoch_          365
                          _Methusalah_     969
                          _Lamech_         777
                          _Noah_           950

_A TABLE of the Ages of the Postdiluvian Fathers, from Shem to Joseph._

                          _Shem_           600
                          _Arphaxad_       438
                          _Salah_          433
                          _Eber_           464
                          _Peleg_          239
                          _Reu_            239
                          _Serug_          230
                          _Nahor_          148
                          _Terah_          205
                          _Abraham_        175
                          _Isaac_          180
                          _Jacob_          147
                          _Joseph_         110

From these Tables we see that Mens Lives were much longer before the
Flood, and next after it, than they are now; which also is confirm’d
undeniably by _Jacob_’s Complaint of the Shortness of his Life, in
Comparison of his Forefathers, when he had liv’d one hundred and thirty
Years, _Gen. xlvii. 9._ _The Days of the Years of my Pilgrimage are an
hundred and thirty Years; few and evil have the Days of the Years of my
Life been, and have not attained unto the Days of the Years of the Life
of my Fathers._ There were then, ’tis certain, long-liv’d Men in the
World before _Jacob_’s Time; when were they, before the Flood or after?
We say both, according as the Tables shew it. But if you count by
_Lunar_ Years, there never were any, either before or after, and
_Jacob_’s Complaint was unjust and false; for he was the oldest Man in
the World himself, or at least there was none of his Forefathers that
liv’d so long as he.

THE Patrons of this Opinion must needs find themselves at a loss, how or
where to break off the Account of _Lunar_ Years in sacred History, if
they once admit it. If they say that way of counting must only be
extended to the Flood, then they make the Postdiluvian Fathers longer
liv’d than the Antediluvian; did the Flood bring in Longevity? How could
that be the Cause of such an Effect? Besides, if they allow the
Postdiluvians to have lived six hundred (common) Years, that being
clearly beyond the Standard of our Lives, I should never stick at two or
three hundred Years more for the first Ages of the World. If they extend
their _Lunar_ Account to the Postdiluvians too, they will still be
intangled in worse Absurdities; for they must make their Lives miserably
short, and their Age of getting Children altogether incongruous and
impossible. _Nahor_, for Example, when he was but two Years and three
Months old must have begot _Terah_, _Abraham_’s Father: And all the rest
betwixt him and _Shem_ must have had Children before they were three
Years old: A pretty race of Pigmies. Then their Lives were
proportionably short, for this _Nahor_ liv’d but eleven Years and six
Months at this Rate; and his Grandchild _Abraham_, who is said to have
died _in a good old Age, and full of Years_, (_Gen. xxv. 8._) was not
fourteen Years old. What a ridiculous Account this gives of Scripture
Chronology and Genealogies? But you’ll say, it may be, these _Lunar_
Years are not to be carried so far as _Abraham_ neither; tell us then
where you’ll stop, and why you stop in such a Place rather than another.
If you once take in _Lunar_ Years, what Ground is there in the Text, or
in the History, that you should change your way of computing at such a
Time, or in such a Place? All our ancient Chronology is founded upon the
Books of _Moses_, where the Terms and Periods of Times are exprest by
Years, and often by Genealogies and the Lives of Men; Now if these Years
are sometimes to be interpreted _Lunar_, and sometimes _Solar_, without
any Distinction made in the Text, what Light or certain Rule have we to
go by? Let these Authors name to us the Parts and Places where, and only
where the _Lunar_ Years are to be understood, and I dare undertake to
shew, that their Method is not only arbitrary, but absurd and
incoherent.

TO conclude this Discourse, we cannot but repeat what we have partly
observ’d before, How necessary it is to understand Nature, if we would
rightly understand those Things in holy Writ that relate to the natural
World. For without this Knowledge, as we are apt to think some Things
consistent and credible, that are really impossible in Nature; so on the
other hand, we are apt to look upon other Things as incredible and
impossible that are really founded in Nature. And seeing every one is
willing so to expound Scripture, as it may be to them good Sense, and
consistent with their Notions in other Things, they are forc’d many
times to go against the easy and natural Importance of the Words, and to
invent other Interpretations more compliant with their Principles, and,
as they think, with the Nature of Things. We have, I say, a great
Instance of this before us in the Scripture-History, of the long Lives
of the Antediluvians, where, without any Ground or Shadow of Ground, in
the Narration, only to comply with a mistaken Philosophy, and their
Ignorance of the primitive World, many Men would beat down the Scripture
Account of Years into Months, and sink the Lives of those first Fathers
below the Rate of the worst of Ages. Whereby that great Monument, which
Providence hath left us of the first World, and of its Difference from
the second, would not only be defac’d, but wholly demolish’d. And all
this sprung only from the seeming Incredibility of the Thing; for they
cannot shew in any Part of Scripture, new or old, that these _Lunar_
Years are made use of, or that any Computation, literal or prophetical,
proceeds upon them: Nor that there is any Thing in the Text or Context
of that Place, that argues or intimates any such Account. We have
endeavour’d, upon this Occasion, effectully to prevent this
Misconstruction of sacred History for the future; both by shewing the
Incongruities that follow upon it, and also that there is no Necessity
from Nature, of any such Shift or Evasion, as that is: But rather on the
contrary, that we have just and necessary Reasons to conclude, That as
the Forms of all Things would be far more permanent and lasting in that
primitive State of the Heavens and the Earth, so particularly the Lives
of Men, and of other Animals.




                                CHAP. V.


    _Concerning the Waters of the primitive Earth: What the State of the
    Regions of the Air was then, and how all Waters proceeded from them;
    How the Rivers arose, what was their Course, and how they ended.
    Some Things in sacred Writ that confirms this Hydrography of the
    first Earth; especially the Origin of the Rainbow._


HAVING thus far clear’d our Way to _Paradise_, and given a rational
Account of its general Properties; before we proceed to discourse of the
Place of it, there is one Affair of Moment, concerning this primitive
Earth, that must first be stated and explain’d; and that is, _How_ it
was water’d; from what Causes, and in what Manner? How could Fountains
rise, or Rivers flow in an Earth of that Form and Nature? We have shut
up the Sea with thick Walls on every Side, and taken away all
Communication that could be ’twixt it and the external Earth; and we
have remov’d all the Hills and the Mountains where the Springs use to
rise; and whence the Rivers descend to water the Face of the Ground: And
lastly, we have left no Issue for these Rivers, no Ocean to receive
them, nor any other Place to disburden themselves into. So that our
new-found World is like to be a dry and barren Wilderness, and so far
from being _Paradisiacal_, that it would scarce be habitable.

I CONFESS there was nothing in this whole Theory that gave such a Stop
to my Thoughts, as this Part of it, concerning the Rivers of the first
Earth; how they rose, how they flow’d, and how they ended. It seem’d at
first, that we had wip’d away at once the Notion and whole Doctrine of
Rivers, we had turn’d the Earth so smooth, that there was not an Hill,
or Rising, for the Head of a Spring, nor any Fall or Descent for the
Course of a River: Besides, I had suck’d in the common Opinion of
Philosophers, That all Rivers rise from the Sea, and return to it again,
and both those Passages, I see, were stopt up in that Earth. This gave
me occasion to reflect upon the modern and more solid Opinion concerning
the Origin of Fountains and Rivers, That they rise chiefly from Rains
and melted Snows, and not from the Sea alone; and as soon as I had
demur’d in that Particular, I saw it was necessary to consider and
examine how the Rains fell in that first Earth, to understand what the
State of their Waters and Rivers would be.

AND I had no sooner apply’d my self to that Inquiry, but I easily
discover’d, that the Order of Nature in the Regions of the Air would be
then very different from what it is now, and the Meteorology of the
World was of another sort from that of the present. The Air was always
calm and equal, there could be no violent Meteors there, nor any that
proceeded from Extremity of Cold; as Ice, Snow, or Hail; nor Thunder
neither; for the Clouds could not be of a Quality and Consistency fit
for such an Effect, either by falling one upon another, or by their
Disruption. And as for Winds, they could not be either impetuous or
irregular in that Earth; seeing there were neither Mountains nor any
other Inequalities to obstruct the Course of the Vapours; nor any
unequal Seasons, or unequal Action of the Sun, nor any contrary and
struggling Motions of the Air: Nature was then a Stranger to all those
Disorders. But as for watry Meteors, or those that rise from watry
Vapours more immediately, as Dews and Rains, there could not but be
Plenty of these in some Part or other of that Earth; for the Action of
the Sun in raising Vapours was very strong and very constant, and the
Earth was at first moist and soft, and according as it grew more dry,
the Rays of the Sun would pierce more deep into it, and reach at length
the great Abyss which lay underneath, and was an unexhausted Store-house
of new Vapours. But, ’tis true, the same Heat, which extracted these
Vapours so copiously, would also hinder them from condensing into Clouds
or Rain in the warmer Parts of the Earth; and there being no Mountains
at that Time, nor contrary Winds, nor any such Causes to stop them, or
compress them, we must consider which way they would tend, and what
their Course would be, and whether they would any where meet with Causes
capable to change or condense them; for upon this, ’tis manifest, would
depend the Meteors of that Air, and the Waters of that Earth.

AND as the Heat of the Sun was chiefly towards the middle Parts of the
Earth, so the copious Vapours rais’d there, were most rarified and
agitated; and being once in the open Air, their Course would be that
Way, where they found least Resistance to their Motion; and that would
certainly be towards the Poles, and the colder Regions of the Earth. For
East and West they would meet with as warm an Air, and Vapours as much
agitated as themselves, which therefore would not yield to their
Progress that Way; but towards the North and the South, they would find
a more easy Passage, the Cold of those Parts attracting them, as we call
it, that is, making way to their Motion and Dilatation without much
Resistance, as Mountains and cold Places usually draw Vapours from the
warmer. So as the regular and constant Course of the Vapours of that
Earth, which were rais’d chiefly about the Equinoctial and middle Parts
of it, would be towards the extream Parts of it, or towards the Poles.

AND in consequence of this, when these Vapours were arriv’d in those
cooler Climates, and cooler Parts of the Air, they would be condens’d
into Rain; for wanting there the Cause of their Agitation, namely, the
Heat of the Sun, their Motion would soon begin to languish, and they
would fall closer to one another in the Form of Water. For the
Difference betwixt Vapours and Water is only gradual, and consists in
this, that Vapours are in a flying Motion, separate and distant each
from another; but the Parts of Water are in a creeping Motion, close to
one another; like a Swarm of Bees when they are settled; as Vapours
resemble the same Bees in the Air, before they settle together. Now
there is nothing puts these Vapours upon the Wing, or keeps them so, but
a strong Agitation by Heat; and when that fails, as it must do in all
colder Places and Regions, they necessarily return to Water again.
Accordingly therefore we must suppose they would soon, after they
reach’d these cold Regions, be condens’d, and fall down in a continual
Rain, or Dew, upon those Parts of the Earth. I say a _continual_ Rain;
for seeing the Action of the Sun, which rais’d the Vapours, was (at that
Time) always the same, and the State of the Air always alike, nor any
cross Winds, nor any thing else that could hinder the Course of the
Vapours towards the Poles, nor their Condensation when arriv’d there;
’tis manifest there would be a constant Source or Store-house of Waters
in those Parts of the Air, and in those Parts of the Earth.

AND this, I think, was the establish’d Order of Nature in that World,
this was the State of the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth; all their
Waters came from above, and that with a constant Supply and Circulation;
for when the Croud of Vapours rais’d about the middle Parts of the
Earth, found Vent and Issue this Way towards the Poles, the Passage
being once open’d, and the Channel made, the Current would be still
continued without Intermission; and as they were dissolv’d and spent
there, they would suck in more and more of those which followed, and
came in fresh Streams from the hotter Climates. _Aristotle_, I remember,
in his _Meteors_ speaking of the Course of the Vapours, saith, there is
a River in the Air, constantly flowing betwixt the Heavens and the
Earth, made by the ascending and descending Vapours: This was more
remarkably true in the primitive Earth, where the State of Nature was
more constant and regular; there was indeed an uninterrupted Flood of
Vapours rising in one Region of the Earth, and flowing to another, and
there continually distilling in Dews and Rain, which made this aerial
River. As may be easily apprehended from this Scheme of the Earth and
Air.

[Illustration: The Earth, with Clouds of Vapour Descending from Above.]

THUS we have found a Source for Waters in the first Earth, which had no
Communication with the Sea; and a Source that would never fail, neither
diminish or overflow, but feed the Earth with an equal Supply throughout
all the Parts of the Year. But there is a second Difficulty that appears
at the End of this, _how_ these Waters would flow upon the even Surface
of the Earth, or form themselves into Rivers; there being no Descent or
Declivity for their Course. There were no Hills, nor Mountains, nor high
Lands in the first Earth, and if these Rains fell in the Frigid Zones,
or towards the Poles, there they would stand in Lakes and Pools, having
no Descent one Way more than another; and so the rest of the Earth would
be no better for them. This, I confess, appear’d as great a Difficulty
as the former, and would be unanswerable for ought I know, if that first
Earth was not water’d by Dews only (as I believe some Worlds are) or had
been exactly Spherical; but we noted before, that it was Oval or Oblong;
and in such a Figure ’tis manifest the polar Parts are higher than the
equinoctial, that is, more remote from the Center, as appears to the Eye
in this Scheme. This affords us a present Remedy, and sets us free of
the second Difficulty; for by this Means the Waters, which fell about
the extream Parts of the Earth, would have a continual Descent towards
the middle Parts of it; this Figure gives them Motion and Distribution;
and many Rivers and Rivulets would flow from those Mother-Lakes, to
refresh the Face of the Earth, bending their Course still towards the
middle Parts of it.

’TIS true, These Derivations of the Waters at first would be very
irregular and diffuse, till the Channels were a little worn and
hollow’d; and tho’ that Earth was smooth and uniform, yet ’tis
impossible, upon an inclining Surface, but that Waters should find a Way
of creeping downwards, as we see upon a smooth Table, or a flag’d
Pavement; if there be the least Inclination, Water will flow from the
higher to the lower Parts of it, either directly, or winding to and fro:
So the Smoothness of that Earth would be no Hindrance to the Course of
the Rivers, provided there was a general Declivity in the Site and
Libration of it, as ’tis plain there was from the Poles towards the
Æquator. The Current indeed would be easy and gentle all along, and if
it chanc’d in some Places to rest, or be stopt, it would spread it self
into a pleasant Lake, till by fresh Supplies it had rais’d its Waters so
high as to overflow and break loose again; then it would pursue its Way,
with many other Rivers its Companions, thro’ all the temperate Climates
as far as the Torrid Zone.

BUT you’ll say, When they were got thither, what would become of them
then? _How_ would they end or finish their Course? This is the third
Difficulty _concerning_ the Ending of the Rivers in that Earth; what
Issue could they have when they were come to the middle Parts of it,
whither it seems they all tended? There was no Sea to lose themselves
in, as our Rivers do; nor any subterraneous Passages to throw themselves
into; how would they die, what would be their Fate at last? I answer,
The greater Rivers, when they were come towards those Parts of the
Earth, would be divided into many Branches, or a Multitude of Rivulets;
and those would be partly exhal’d by the Heat of the Sun, and partly
drunk up by the dry and sandy Earth. But how and in what Manner this
came to pass, requires a little further Explication.

WE must therefore observe in the first Place, that those Rivers, as they
drew nearer to the æquinoctial Parts, would find a less Declivity or
Descent of Ground than in the beginning, or former Part of their Course;
that is evident from the oval Figure of the Earth, for near the middle
Parts of an Oval, the Semi-diameters, as I may call them, are very
little shorter one than another; and for this Reason the Rivers, when
they were advanc’d towards the middle Parts of the Earth, would begin to
flow more slowly, and, by that Weakness of their Current, suffer
themselves easily to be divided and distracted into several lesser
Streams and Rivulets; or else having no Force to wear a Channel, would
lie shallow upon the Ground like a Plash of Water; and in both Cases
their Waters would be much more expos’d to the Action of the Sun, than
if they had kept together in a deeper Channel, as they were before.

SECONDLY, We must observe, that seeing these Waters could not reach to
the Middle of the Torrid Zone, for want of Descent; that Part of the
Earth having the Sun always perpendicular over it, and being refresh’d
by no Rivers, would become extreamly dry and parch’d, and be converted
at length into a kind of sandy Desert; so as all the Waters that were
carried thus far, and were not exhaled and consum’d by the Sun, would be
suck’d up, as in a Spunge, by these Sands of the Torrid Zone. This was
the common Grave wherein the Rivers of the first Earth were buried; and
this is nothing but what happens still in several Parts of the present
Earth; especially in _Africk_, where many Rivers never flow into the
Sea, but expire after the same Manner as these did, drunk up by the Sun
and the Sands. And one Arm of _Euphrates_ dies, as I remember, amongst
the Sands of _Arabia_, after the Manner of the Rivers of the first
Earth.

THUS we have conquer’d the greatest Difficulty, in my Apprehension, in
this whole Theory, _To_ find out the State of the Rivers in the
primitive and antediluvian Earth, their Origin, Course, and Period. We
have been forc’d to win our Ground by Inches, and have divided the
Difficulty into Parts, that we might encounter them single with more
Ease. The Rivers of the Earth, you see, were in most respects different,
and in some, contrary to ours; and if you could turn our Rivers
backwards, to run from the Sea towards their Fountain-heads, they would
more resemble the Course of those Antediluvian Rivers; for they were
greatest at their first setting out, and the Current afterwards, when it
was more weak, and the Channel more shallow, was divided into many
Branches and little Rivers; like the Arteries in our Body, that carry
the Blood; they are greatest at first, and the further they go from the
Heart, their Source, the less they grow, and divided into a Multitude of
little Branches, which lose themselves insensibly in the Habit of the
Flesh, as these little Floods did in the Sands of the Earth.

[Illustration: The Earth, with Zones near the Poles, and Rivers flowing
from there towards the Equator.]

BECAUSE it pleaseth more and makes a greater Impression upon us, to see
Things represented to the Eye, than to read their Description in Words,
we have ventur’d to give a Model of the Primæval Earth, with its Zones
or greater Climates, and the general Order and Tracts of its Rivers: Not
that we believe Things to have been in the very same Form as here
exhibited; but this may serve as a general _Idea_ of that Earth, which
may be wrought into more exactness, according as we are able to enlarge
or correct our Thoughts hereafter. And as the Zones here represented,
resemble the _Belts_ or _Fasciæ_ of _Jupiter_, so we suppose them to
proceed from like Causes, if that Planet be in an Antediluvian State, as
the Earth we here represent. As for the Polar Parts in that first Earth,
I can say very little of them, they would make a Scene by themselves,
and a very particular one; the Sun would be perpetually in their
Horizon, which makes me think the Rains would not fall so much there, as
in the other Parts of the Frigid Zones, where accordingly we have made
their chief Seat and Receptacle. That they flow’d from thence in such
like Manner as is here represented, we have already prov’d; and
sometimes in their Passage swelling into Lakes, and towards the End of
their Course parting into several Streams and Branches, they would water
those Parts of the Earth like a Garden.

WE have before compar’d the Branchings of these Rivers towards the End
of their Course, to the Ramifications of the Arteries in the Body, when
they are far from the Heart near the extream Parts; and some, it may be,
looking upon this Scheme, would carry the Comparison further, and
suppose, that as in the Body the Blood is not lost in the Habit of the
Flesh, but strain’d through it, and taken up again by the little
Branches of the Veins; so in that Earth the Waters were not lost in
those Sands of the Torrid Zone, but strain’d or percolated thorough
them, and receiv’d into the Channels of the other Hemisphere. This
indeed would in some Measure answer the Notion which several of the
ancient Fathers make use of, that the Rivers of _Paradise_ were
trajected out of the other Hemisphere into this, by subterraneous
Passages. But I confess I could never see it possible how such a
Trajection could be made, nor how they could have any Motion, being
arriv’d in another Hemisphere; and therefore I am apt to believe that
Doctrine amongst the Ancients arose from an Entanglement in their
Principles: They suppos’d generally, that _Paradise_ was in the other
Hemisphere, as we shall have occasion to shew hereafter; and yet they
believ’d that _Tygris_, _Euphrates_, _Nile_, and _Ganges_, were the
Rivers of _Paradise_, or came out of it; and these two Opinions they
could not reconcile, or make out, but by supposing that these four
Rivers had their Fountain-heads in the other Hemisphere, and by some
wonderful Trajection broke out again here. This was the Expedient they
found out to make their Opinions consistent one with another; but this
is a Method to me altogether unconceivable; and, for my part, I do not
love to be led out of my Depth, leaning only upon Antiquity. How there
could be any such Communication, either above Ground, or under Ground,
betwixt the two Hemispheres, does not appear; and therefore we must
still suppose the Torrid Zone to have been the Barrier betwixt them,
which nothing could pass either Way.

WE have now examin’d and determin’d the State of the Air, and of the
Waters in the Primitive Earth, by the Light and Consequences of Reason;
and we must not wonder to find them different from the present Order of
Nature; what things are said of them, or relating to them in Holy Writ,
do testify or imply as much; and it will be worth our time to make some
Reflection upon those Passages for our further Confirmation. _Moses_
tells us, that the _Rainbow_ was set in the Clouds after the Deluge;
those Heavens then, that never had a Rainbow before, were certainly of a
Constitution very different from ours. And St. _Peter_, _2 Epist. chap.
iii. v. 5._ doth formally and expresly tell us, that the _Old Heavens_,
or the Antediluvian Heavens had a different Constitution from ours, and
particularly, that they were compos’d or constituted of Water, which
Philosophy of the Apostle’s may be easily understood, if we attend to
two things, first, that the Heavens he speaks of were not the Starry
Heavens, but the aerial Heavens, or the Regions of our Air, where the
Meteors are: Secondly, that there were no Meteors in those Regions, or
in those Heavens, till the Deluge, but watry Meteors, and therefore, he
says, they consisted of Water. And this shews the Foundation upon which
that Description is made, how coherently the Apostle argues, and answers
the Objection there propos’d: How justly also he distinguisheth the
first Heavens from the present Heavens, or rather opposeth them one to
another; because as those were constituted of Water, and watry Meteors
only, so the present Heavens, he saith, have Treasures of Fire, fiery
Exhalations and Meteors, and a Disposition to become the Executioners of
the Divine Wrath and Decrees in the final Conflagration of the Earth.

THIS minds me also of the _Celestial Waters_, or the Waters above the
Firmaments, which, Scripture sometimes mentions, and which, methinks,
cannot be explain’d so fitly and emphatically upon any Supposition as
this of ours. Those who place them above the Starry Heavens, seem
neither to understand Astronomy nor Philosophy; and, on the other hand,
if nothing be understood by them, but the Clouds and the middle Region
of the Air, as it is at present, methinks that was no such eminent and
remarkable Thing, as to deserve a particular Commemoration by _Moses_ in
his six Days Work; but if we understand them, not as they are now, but
as they were then, the only Source of Waters, or the only Source of
Waters upon that Earth, (for they had not one Drop of Water but what was
Celestial,) this gives it a new Force and Emphasis: Besides the whole
middle Region having no other sort of Meteors but them, that made it
still the greater Singularity, and more worthy Commemoration. As for the
Rivers of _Paradise_, there is nothing said concerning their Source, or
their Issue, that is either contrary to this, or that is not agreeable
to the general Account we have given of the Waters and Rivers of the
first Earth. They are not said to rise from any Mountain, but from a
great River or a kind of a Lake in _Eden_, according to the Custom of
the Rivers of that Earth. And as for their End and Issue, _Moses_ doth
not say, that they disburthen themselves into this or that Sea, as they
usually do in the Description of great Rivers, but rather implies that
they spent themselves in compassing and watering certain Countries,
which falls in again very easily with our _Hypothesis_. But I say this
rather to comply with the Opinions of others, than of my _own_ Judgment:
For I think, that Suggestion about the Supercelestial Waters made by
_Moses_, was not so much according to the strict Nature and Speciality
of Causes, as for the Ease and Profit of the People, in their Belief and
Acknowledgment of Providence for so great a Benefit, by what Causes
soever it was brought to pass.

BUT to return to the Rainbow which we mentioned before, and is not to be
past over so slightly. This we say is a Creature of the modern World,
and was not seen nor known before the Flood. _Moses_ (_Gen. ix. 12,
13._) plainly intimates as much, or rather directly affirms it; for he
says, the Bow was set in the Clouds after the Deluge, as a Confirmation
of the Promise, or Covenant, which God made with _Noah_, that he would
drown the World no more with Water. And how could it be a Sign of this,
or given as a Pledge and Confirmation of such a Promise, if it was in
the Clouds before, and with no Regard to this Promise; and stood there,
it may be, when the World was going to be drown’d? This would have been
but cold Comfort to _Noah_, to have had such a Pledge of the Divine
Veracity. You’ll say, it may be, that it was not a Sign or Pledge, that
signified naturally, but voluntarily only, and by Divine Institution: I
am of Opinion, I confess, that it signify’d naturally, and by Connexion
with the Effect, importing thus much, that the State of Nature was
chang’d from what it was before, and so chang’d, that the Earth was no
more in a Condition to perish by Water. But however, let us grant that
it signifieth only by Institution, to make it significant in this Sense,
it must be something new, otherwise it could not signify any new thing,
or be the Confirmation of a new Promise. If God Almighty had said to
_Noah_, I make a Promise to you, and to all living Creatures, that the
World shall never be destroy’d by Water again, and for Confirmation of
this, Behold, _I set the Sun in the Firmament_: Would this have been any
strengthening of _Noah_’s Faith or any Satisfaction to his Mind? Why
says _Noah_, the Sun was in the Firmament when the Deluge came, and was
a Spectator of that sad Tragedy; why may it not be so again? What Sign
or Assurance is this against a second Deluge? When God gives a Sign in
the Heavens, or on the Earth, of any Prophecy or Promise to be
fulfill’d, it must be by something new, or by some Change wrought in
Nature; whereby God doth testify to us, that he is able and willing to
stand to his Promise. God says to _Ahaz_, Isai. vii. _Ask a Sign of the
Lord; ask it either in the Depth, or in the Height above_: And when
_Ahaz_ would ask no Sign, God gives one unask’d, _Behold a Virgin shall
conceive and bear a Son_. So when _Zachary_, _Luke 1._ was promis’d a
Son, he asketh for a Sign, _Whereby shall I know this? for I am old, and
my Wife well stricken in Years_, and the Sign given him was, that he
became dumb, and continued so till the Promise was fulfilled.
Accordingly, when _Abraham_ ask’d a Sign whereby he might be assured of
God’s Promise that his Seed should inherit the Land of _Canaan_, _Gen.
xv. 8._ ’Tis said (_ver. 17._) _When the Sun went down and it was dark,
behold a smoaking Furnace and a burning Lamp passed betwixt the Pieces_
of the Beasts that he had cut asunder. So in other Instances of Signs
given in external Nature, as the Sign given to King _Hezekiah_, _Isai.
xxxviii._ for his Recovery, and to _Gideon_ for his Victory; to confirm
the Promise made to _Hezekiah_, _Judge vii._ the Shadow went back ten
Degrees in _Ahaz_ Dial. And for _Gideon_, _his Fleece was wet, and all
the Ground about it dry_; and then to change the Trial, _it was dry, and
all the Ground about it wet_. These were all Signs very proper,
significant, and satisfactory, having something surprising and
extraordinary, yet these were Signs by Institution only; and to be such
they must have something new and strange, as a Mark of the Hand of God,
otherwise they can have no Force or Significancy. Accordingly we see,
_Moses_ himself in another Place, speaks this very Sense, when in the
Mutiny or Rebellion of _Corah_ and _Dathan_, he speaks thus to the
People, _If these Men die the common Death of Men, then the Lord hath
not sent me. But if the Lord make a new Thing and the Earth open her
Mouth and swallow them up, &c. then you shall understand that these Men
have provoked the Lord, Numb. xxvi. 29, 30._ So in the Case of _Noah_,
if God _created a new Creature_ (which are _Moses_’s Words in the
forecited Place) the Sign was effectual: But where every thing continues
to be as it was before, and the Face of Nature, in all its Parts, the
very same, it cannot signify any thing new, nor any new Intention in the
Author of Nature; and consequently, cannot be a Sign or Pledge, a Token
or Assurance of the Accomplishment of any new Covenant or Promise made
by him.

THIS, methinks, is plain to common Sense, and to every Man’s Reason; but
because it is a Thing of Importance, to prove that there was no Rainbow
before the Flood, and will confirm a considerable Part of this Theory,
by discovering what the state of the Air was in the old World, give me
leave to argue it a little further, and to remove some Prejudices that
may keep others from assenting to clear Reason. I know ’tis usually
said, that Signs like Words, signify any Thing by Institution, or may be
apply’d to any Thing by the Will of the Imposer; as hanging out a white
Flag is calling for Mercy; a Bush at the Door a Sign of Wine to be sold,
and such like. But these are Instances nothing to our Purpose, these are
Signs of something present, and that signify only by Use and repeated
Experience; we are speaking of Signs of another Nature given in
Confirmation of a Promise, or Threatning, or Prophecy, and given with
Design to cure our Unbelief, or to excite and beget in us faith in God,
in the Prophet, or in the Promiser; such Signs, I say, when they are
wrought in external Nature, must be some new Appearance, and must
thereby induce us to believe the Effect, or more to believe it, than if
there had been no Sign, but only the Affirmation of the Promiser; for
otherwise the pretended Sign is a mere Cypher and Superfluity. But a
Thing that obtain’d before, and in the same Manner, (even when that came
to pass, which we are now promis’d shall not come to pass again)
signifies no more, than if there had been no Sign at all: It can neither
signify another Course in Nature, nor another Purpose in God; and
therefore is perfectly insignificant. Some instance in the Sacraments,
Jewish or Christian, and make them Signs in such a Sense as the Rainbow
is: But those are rather Symbolical Representations or Commemorations;
and some of them Marks of Distinction and Consecration of our selves to
God in such a Religion; they were also new, and very particular when
first instituted; but all such Instances fall short, and do not reach
the Case before us; we are speaking of Signs confirmatory of a Promise;
when there is something affirm’d _de futuro_, and to give us a further
Argument of the Certainty of it, and of the Power and Veracity of the
Promiser, a Sign is given. This, we say, must indispensably be something
new, otherwise it cannot have the Nature, Virtue, and influence of a
Sign.

WE have seen how incongruous it would be to admit, that the Rainbow
appear’d before the Deluge, and how dead a Sign that would make it, how
forc’d, fruitless and ineffectual, as to the Promise it was to confirm:
Let us now on the other hand suppose, that it first appear’d to the
Inhabitants of the Earth after the Deluge, how proper, and how apposite
a Sign would this be for Providence to pitch upon, to confirm the
Promise made to _Noah_ and his Posterity, _That_ the World should be no
more destroy’d by Water? It hath a secret Connexion with the Effect it
self, and was so far a natural Sign; but however, appearing first after
the Deluge, and in a watery Cloud, there was, methinks, a great Easiness
and Propriety of Application for such a purpose. And if we suppose, that
while God Almighty was declaring his Promise to _Noah_, and the Sign of
it, there appeared at the same Time in the Clouds a fair Rainbow, that
marvellous and beautiful Meteor, which _Noah_ had never seen before; it
could not but make a most lively Impression upon him, quickning his
Faith, and giving him Comfort and Assurance, that God would be stedfast
to his Promise.

NOR ought we to wonder that Interpreters have commonly gone the other
Way, and suppos’d that the Rainbow was before the Flood: this, I say,
was no wonder in them, for they had no _Hypothesis_ that could answer to
any other Interpretation: And in the Interpretation of the Texts of
Scripture that concern natural Things, they commonly bring them down to
their own Philosophy and Notions: As we have a great Instance in that
Discourse of St. _Peter_’s (_2 Epist. c. iii. 5._) concerning the Deluge
and the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth, which, for want of a Theory,
they have been scarce able to make Sense of; for they have forcedly
apply’d to the present Earth, or the present Form of the Earth, what
plainly respected another. A like Instance we have in the _Mosaical_
Abyss, or _Tehom-Rabba_, by whose Disruption the Deluge was made; this
they knew not well what to make of, and so have generally interpreted it
of the Sea, or of our subterraneous Waters; without any Propriety either
as to the Word, or as to the Sense. A third Instance is this of the
Rainbow, where their Philosophy hath misguided them again; for to give
them their due, they do not alledge, nor pretend to alledge any Thing
from the Text, that should make them interpret thus, or think the
Rainbow was before the Flood; but they pretend to go by certain Reasons,
as that the Clouds were before the Flood, therefore the Rainbow; and if
the Rainbow was not before the Flood, then all things were not made
within the six Days Creation: To whom these Reasons are convictive, they
must be led into the same Belief with them, but not by any Thing in the
Text, nor in the true Theory, at least if ours be so; for by that you
see, that the Vapours were never condens’d into Drops, nor into Rain, in
the temperate and inhabited Climates of that Earth, and consequently
there could never be the Production or Appearance of this Bow in the
Clouds. Thus much concerning the Rainbow.

TO recollect our selves and conclude this Chapter, and the whole
Disquisition concerning the Waters of the primitive Earth; we seem to
have so well satisfied the Difficulties propos’d in the beginning of the
Chapter, that they have rather given us an Advantage; a better
Discovery, and such a new Prospect of that Earth, as makes it not only
habitable, but more fit to be _Paradisiacal_. The Pleasantness of the
Site of _Paradise_ is made to consist chiefly in two Things, its Waters,
and its Trees, (_Gen. ii._ and _Chap. xiii. 10._ _Ezek. xxxi. 8._) and
considering the Richness of that first Soil in the primitive Earth, it
could not but abound in Trees, as it did in Rivers and Rivulets; and be
wooded like a Grove, as it was water’d like a Garden, in the temperate
Climates of it; so as it would not be, methinks, so difficult to find
one _Paradise_ there, as not to find more than one.




                               CHAP. VI.


    _A Recollection and Review of what hath been said concerning the
    Primitive Earth: with a more full Survey of the State of the first
    World Natural and Civil, and the Comparison of it with the present
    World._


WE have now, in a good Measure, finish’d our Description of the first
and antediluvian Earth: And as Travellers, when they see strange
Countries, make it part of their Pleasure and Improvement to compare
them with their own, to observe the Differences, and wherein they excel,
or come short of one another: So it will not be unpleasant, nor
unuseful, it may be, having made a Discovery, not of a new Country, but
of a new World, and travell’d it over in our Thoughts and Fancy, now to
sit down and compare it with our own: And ’twill be no hard Task, from
the general Differences which we have taken Notice of already, to
observe what lesser would arise, and what the whole Face of Nature would
be.

’TIS also one Fruit of travelling, that by seeing Variety of Places, and
People, of Humours, Fashions, and Forms of Living, it frees us by
degrees, from that Pedantry and Littleness of Spirit, whereby we are apt
to censure every thing for absurd and ridiculous, that is not according
to our own Way, and the Mode of our own Country: But if, instead of
crossing the Seas, we could waft our selves over to our neighbouring
Planets, we should meet with such Varieties there, both in Nature and
Mankind, as would very much enlarge our Thoughts and Souls, and help to
cure those Diseases of little Minds, that make them troublesome to
others, as well as uneasy to themselves.

BUT seeing our heavy Bodies are not made for such Voyages, the best and
greatest thing we can do in this kind, is to make a Survey and
Reflection upon the antediluvian Earth, which in some Sense was another
World from this, and, it may be, as different as some two Planets are
from one another. We have declar’d already the general Grounds upon
which we must proceed, and must now trace the Consequences of them, and
drive them down into Particulars, which will shew us in most things,
wherein that Earth, or that World, differed from the present. The Form
of that Earth, and its Situation to the Sun, were two of its most
fundamental Differences from ours: As to the Form of it, ’twas all one
smooth Continent, one continued Surface of Earth, without any Sea, any
Mountains, or Rocks; any Holes, Dens, or Caverns: And the Situation of
it to the Sun was such as made a perpetual Æquinox. These two join’d
together, lay the Foundation of a new Astronomy, Meteorology,
Hydrography and Geography; such as were proper and peculiar to that
World. The Earth by this means having its Axis parallel to the Axis of
the Ecliptick, the Heavens would appear in another Posture; and their
diurnal Motion, which is imputed to the _Primum Mobile_, and supposed to
be upon the Poles of the Æquator, would then be upon the same Poles with
the second and periodical Motions of the Orbs and Planets, namely, upon
the Poles of the Ecliptick, by which Means the _Phænomena_ of the
Heavens would be more simple and regular, and much of that Entangledness
and Perplexity, which we find now in Astronomy, would be taken away.
Whether the Sun and Moon would suffer any Eclipses then, cannot well be
determin’d, unless one knew what the Course of the Moon was at that
time, or whether she was then come into our Neighbourhood: Her Presence
seems to have been less needful when there were no long Winter Nights,
nor the great Pool of the Sea to move or govern.

AS for the Regions of the Air and the Meteors, we have in the preceding
Chapter set down what the State of them would be, and in how much a
better Order, and more peaceable, that Kingdom was, till the Earth was
broken and displac’d, and the Course of Nature chang’d: Nothing violent,
nothing frightful, nothing troublesome or incommodious to Mankind, came
from above, but the Countenance of the Heavens was always smooth and
serene. I have often thought it a very desirable Piece of Power, if a
Man could but command a fair Day, when he had occasion for it, for
himself, or for his Friends; ’tis more than the greatest Prince or
Potentate upon Earth can do; yet they never wanted one in that World,
nor ever saw a foul one. Besides they had constant Breezes from the
Motion of the Earth, and the Course of the Vapours, which cool’d the
open Plains, and made the Weather temperate, as well as fair. But we
have spoken enough in other Places upon this Subject of the Air and the
Heavens, let us now descend to the Earth.

THE Earth was divided into two Hemispheres, separated by the Torrid
Zone, which at that time was uninhabitable, and utterly unpassable; so
as the two Hemispheres made two distinct Worlds, which, so far as we can
judge, had no manner of Commerce or Communication one with another. The
Southern Hemisphere the Antients call’d _Antichthon_, _the opposite
Earth_, or the _Other World_. And this Name and Notion remain’d long
after the Reason of it had ceas’d. Just as the Torrid Zone was generally
accounted uninhabitable by the Ancients, even in their Time, because it
really had been so once, and the Tradition remain’d uncorrected, when
the Causes were taken away; namely, when the Earth had chang’d its
Posture to the Sun, after the Deluge.

THIS may be look’d upon as the first Division of that primæval Earth,
into two Hemispheres, naturally sever’d and disunited: But it was also
divided into five Zones, two Frigid, two Temperate, and the Torrid
betwixt them. And this Distinction of the Globe into five Zones, I
think, did properly belong to that original Earth, and primitive
Geography, and improperly, and by Translation only, to the present. For
all the Zones of our Earth are habitable, and their Distinctions are in
a manner but imaginary, not fixed by Nature; whereas in that Earth where
the Rivers fail’d, and the Regions became uninhabitable, by reason of
Driness and Heat, there begun the Torrid Zone; and where the Regions
became uninhabitable by reason of Cold and Moisture, there begun the
Frigid Zone; and these being determin’d, they became Bounds on either
side to the Temperate. But all this was alter’d when the Posture of the
Earth was chang’d, and chang’d for that very purpose, as some of the
Ancients have said, _That the uninhabitable Parts of the Earth might
become habitable._ Yet though there was so much of the first Earth
uninhabitable, there remain’d as much to be inhabited, as we have now;
for the Sea, since the breaking up of the Abyss, hath taken away half of
the Earth from us, a great part whereof was to them good Land. Besides,
we are not to suppose, that the Torrid Zone was of that Extent we make
it now, twenty three Degrees and more on either side of the Æquator:
These Bounds are set only by the Tropicks, and the Tropicks by the
Obliquity of the Course of the Sun, or of the Posture of the Earth,
which was not in that World. Where the Rivers stop’d, there the Torrid
Zone would begin, but the Sun was directly perpendicular to no part of
it but the middle.

HOW the Rivers flow’d in the first Earth, we have before explain’d
sufficiently, and what Parts the Rivers did not reach, were turn’d into
Sands and Deserts by the Heat of the Sun; for I cannot easily imagine,
that the sandy Desarts of the Earth were made so at first, immediately
and from the beginning of the World; from what Causes should that be,
and to what purpose in that Age? But in those Tracks of the Earth that
were not refreshed with Rivers and Moisture, which cement the Parts, the
Ground would moulder and crumble into little Pieces, and then those
Pieces by the Heat of the Sun were bak’d into Stone. And this would come
to pass chiefly in the hot and scorch’d Regions of the Earth, though it
might happen sometimes where there was not that Extremity of Heat, if by
any Chance a Place wanted Rivers and Water to keep the Earth in due
Temper; but those Sands would not be so early or ancient as the other.
As for greater loose Stones, and rough Pebbles, there were none in that
Earth; _Deucalion_ and _Pyrrah_, when the Deluge was over, found new
made Stones to cast behind their Backs; the Bones of their Mother Earth,
which then were broken in Pieces, in that great Ruine.

AS for Plants and Trees, we cannot imagine but that they must needs
abound in the Primitive Earth, seeing it was so well water’d, and had a
Soil so fruitful; a new unlaboured Soil, replenish’d with the Seeds of
all Vegetables; and a warm Sun that would call upon Nature early for her
First-fruits, to be offer’d up at the beginning of her Course. Nature
had a wild Luxuriancy at first, which humane Industry by degrees gave
Form and Order to: The Waters flow’d with a constant and gentle Current,
and were easily led which way the Inhabitants had a Mind, for their Use,
or for their Pleasure; and shady Trees, which grow best in moist and
warm Countries, grac’d the Banks of their Rivers or Canals. But that
which was the Beauty and Crown of all, was their perpetual Spring, the
Fields always green, the Flowers always fresh, and the Trees always
covered with Leaves and Fruit: But we have occasionally spoken of these
things in several Places, and may do again hereafter, and therefore need
not enlarge upon them here.

AS for Subterraneous Things, Metals and Minerals, I believe they had
none in the first Earth; and the happier they; no Gold, nor Silver, nor
coarser Metals. The Use of these is either imaginary, or in such Works,
as, by the Constitution of their World, they had little Occasion for.
And Minerals are either for Medicine, which they had no need of further
than Herbs; or for Materials to certain Arts, which were not then in
use, or were supplied by other ways. These subterraneous things, Metals
and metallick Minerals, are fictitious, not original Bodies, coæval with
the Earth; but are made in Process of Time, after long Preparations and
Concoctions, by the Action of the Sun within the Bowels of the Earth.
And if the _Stamina_, or Principles of them rise from the lower Regions
that lie under the Abyss, as I am apt to think they do, it doth not seem
probable that they could be drawn thro’ such a Mass of Waters, or that
the Heat of the Sun could on a sudden penetrate so deep, and be able to
loosen them, and raise them into the exterior Earth. And as the first
Age of the World was call’d _Golden_, though it knew not what Gold was;
so the following Ages had their Names from several Metals, which lay
then asleep in the dark and deep Womb of Nature, and saw not the Sun
till many Years and Ages afterwards.

HAVING run through the several Regions of Nature, from Top to Bottom,
from the Heavens to the lower Parts of the Earth, and made some
Observations upon their Order in the antediluvian World; let us now look
upon Man and other living Creatures, that make up the superior and
animate Part of Nature. We have observed, and sufficiently spoken to
that Difference betwixt the Men of the old World, and those of the
present, in Point of Longevity, and given the Reasons of it; but we must
not imagine that this long Life was peculiar to Man, all other Animals
had their Share of it, and were in their Proportion longer-liv’d than
they are now. Nay, not only Animals, but also Vegetables; and the Forms
of all living Things were far more permanent: The Trees of the Field and
of the Forest, in all Probability, out-lasted the Lives of Men; and I do
not know but the first Groves of Pines and Cedars that grew out of the
Earth, or that were planted in the Garden of God, might be standing when
the Deluge came, (_Ezek. xxxi. 8._) and see from first to last, the
entire Course and Period of a World.

We might add here, with St. _Austin_, (_Civ. Dei, lib. 15. c. 9._)
another Observation, both concerning Men and other living Creatures in
the first World, that they were greater as well as longer-liv’d, than
they are at present: This seems to be a very reasonable Conjecture; for
the State of every Thing that hath Life is divided into the Time of its
Growth, its Consistency and its Decay; and when the whole Duration is
longer, every one of these Parts, though not always in like Proportions,
will be longer. We must suppose then, that the Growth both in Men and
other Animals lasted longer in that World than it doth now, and
consequently carried their Bodies both to a greater Height and Bulk. And
in like Manner, their Trees would be both taller, and every Way bigger
than ours; neither were they in any Danger there, to be blown down by
Winds and Storms, or struck with Thunder, tho’ they had been as high as
the _Ægyptian_ Pyramids; and whatsoever their Height was, if they had
Roots and Trunks proportionable, and were streight and well pois’d, they
would stand firm, and with a greater Majesty. _The Fowls of Heaven
making their Nests in their Boughs, and under their Shadow the Beasts of
the Field bringing forth their Young._ When Things are fairly possible
in their Causes, and possible in several Degrees, higher or lower, ’tis
Weakness of Spirit in us, to think there is nothing in Nature, but in
that one Way, or in that one Degree, that we are us’d to. And whosoever
believes those Accounts given us, both by the Ancients (_Plin. l. 7. c.
2._ _Strab. l. 17._) and Moderns, (_Hort. Malabar, vol. 3._) of the
_Indian_ Trees, will not think it strange that those of the first Earth
should much exceed any that we now see in this World. That allegorical
Description of the Glory of _Assyria_ in _Ezekiel_, _Chap._ xxxi. by
Allusion to Trees, and particularly to the Trees of _Paradise_, was
chiefly for the Greatness and Stateliness of them; and there is all
Fairness of Reason to believe, that in that first Earth, both the Birds
of the Air, and the Beasts of the Field, and the Trees and their Fruit,
were all in their several Kinds more large and goodly than Nature
produces any now.

SO much in short, concerning the natural World, inanimate or animate; we
should now take a Prospect of the moral World of that time, or of the
civil and artificial World; what the Order and Oeconomy of these was,
what the Manner of Living, and how the Scenes of humane Life were
different from ours at present. The Ancients, especially the Poets, in
their Description of the golden Age, exhibit to us an Order of Things,
and a Form of Life, very remote from any Thing we see in our Days; but
they are not to be trusted in all Particulars; many times they
exaggerate Matters on purpose, that they may seem more strange, or more
great, and by that Means move and please us more. A _Moral_ or
_Philosophick History_ of the World, well writ, would certainly be a
very useful Work, to observe and relate how the Scenes of humane Life
have chang’d in several Ages, the Modes and Forms of Living, in what
Simplicity Men begun at first, and by what Degrees they came out of that
Way, by Luxury, Ambition, Improvement, or Changes in Nature; then what
new Forms and Modifications were superadded by the Invention of Arts,
what by Religion, what by Superstition. This would be a View of Things
more instructive, and more satisfactory, than to know what Kings reign’d
in such an Age, and what Battles were fought, which common History
teacheth, and teacheth little more. Such Affairs are but the little
Under-plots in the Tragi comedy of the World; the main Design is of
another Nature, and of far greater Extent and Consequence. But to return
to the Subject.

As the animate World depends upon the inanimate, so the civil World
depends upon them both, and takes its Measures from them; Nature is the
Foundation still, and the Affairs of Mankind are a Superstructure that
will be always proportion’d to it. Therefore we must look back upon the
Model, or Picture, of their natural World, which we have drawn before,
to make our Conjectures, or Judgment, of the civil and artificial, that
were to accompany it. We observ’d from their perpetual Æquinox, and the
Smoothness of the Earth, that the Air would be always calm, and the
Heavens fair, no cold or violent Winds, Rains, or Storms, no Extremity
of Weather in any kind, and therefore they would need little Protection
from the Injuries of the Air, in that State; whereas now, one great Part
of the Affairs of Life is to preserve our selves from those
Inconveniencies, by Building and Cloathing. How many Hands, and how many
Trades are employ’d about these two Things? Which then were in a manner
needless, or at least in such Plainness and Simplicity, that every Man
might be his own Workman. Tents and Bowers would keep them from all
Incommodities of the Air and Weather, better than Stone Walls and strong
Roofs defend us now; and Men are apt to take the easiest Ways of Living,
till Necessity or Vice put them upon others that are more laborious, and
more artificial. We also observ’d and prov’d, that they had no Sea in
the primitive and antediluvian World, which makes a vast difference
’twixt us and them. This takes up half of our Globe, and a good part of
Mankind is busied with Sea Affairs and Navigation. They had little need
of merchandizing then, Nature supply’d them at Home with all
Necessaries, which were few, and they were not so greedy of
Superfluities as we are. We may add to these, what concern’d their Food
and Diet; Antiquity doth generally suppose, that Men were not
carnivorous in those Ages of the World, or did not feed upon Flesh, but
only upon Fruit and Herbs. And this seems to be plainly confirm’d by
Scripture; for after the Deluge, God Almighty gives _Noah_ and his
Posterity a Licence to eat Flesh, (_Gen._ ix. 2, 3.) _Every moving Thing
that liveth shall be Meat for you._ Whereas before, in the new-made
Earth, God had prescrib’d them Herbs and Fruit for their Diet, (_Gen._
i. 29.) _Behold I have given you every Herb bearing Seed, which is upon
the Face of all the Earth; and every Tree, in the which is the Fruit of
a Tree yielding Seed, to you it shall be for Meat._ And of this natural
Diet they would be provided to their Hands, without further Preparation,
as the Birds and the Beasts are.

UPON these general Grounds we may infer and conclude, that the civil
World then as well as the natural, had a very different Face and Aspect
from what it hath now; for of these Heads, Food and Cloathing, Building
and Traffick, with that Train of Arts, Trades and Manufactures that
attend them, the civil Order of Things is in a great Measure constituted
and compounded; These make the Business of Life, the several Occupations
of Men, the Noise and Hurry of the World; these fill our Cities, and our
Fairs, and our Havens and Ports; yet all these fine Things are but the
Effects of Indigency and Necessitousness, and were, for the most part,
needless and unknown in that first State of Nature. The Ancients have
told us the same Things in Effect; but telling us them without their
Grounds, which they themselves did not know, they look’d like poetical
Stories, and pleasant Fictions, and with most Men past for no better. We
have shewn them in another Light, with their Reasons and Causes, deduc’d
from the State of the natural World, which is the Basis upon which they
stand; and this doth not only give them a just and full Credibility, but
also lays a Foundation for After-thoughts, and further Deductions, when
they meet with Minds dispos’d to pursue Speculations of this Nature.

AS for Laws, Government, natural Religion, Military and Judicial
Affairs, with all their Equipage, which make an higher Order of Things
in the civil and moral World, to calculate these upon the Grounds given,
would be more difficult, and more uncertain; neither do they at all
belong to the present Theory. But from what we have already observ’d, we
may be able to make a better Judgment of those traditional Accounts
which the Ancients have left us concerning these Things, in the early
Ages of the World, and the primitive State of Nature. No doubt in these,
as in all other Particulars, there was a great Easiness and Simplicity,
in Comparison of what is now; we are in a more pompous, forc’d, and
artificial Method, which partly the Change of Nature, and partly the
Vices and Vanities of Men have introduc’d and establish’d. But these
things, with many more, ought to be the Subject of a _Philosophick
History_ of the World, which we mentioned before.

THIS is a short and general Scheme of the primæval World, compared with
the modern; yet these things did not equally run thro’ all the Parts and
Ages of it; there was a Declension and Degeneracy, both natural and
moral, by Degrees, and especially towards the latter End; but the
principal Form of Nature remaining till the Deluge and the Dissolution
of the Heavens and Earth, till then also this civil Frame of Things
would stand in a great Measure. And tho’ such a State of Nature, and of
Mankind, when ’tis propos’d crudely, and without its Grounds, appear
fabulous or imaginary, yet ’tis really in itself a State, not only
possible, but more easy and natural, than what the World is in at
present. And if one of the old antediluvian Patriarchs should rise from
the Dead, he would be more surpriz’d to see our World in that Posture it
is, than we can be by the Story and Description of his. As an _Indian_
hath more Reason to wonder at the _European_ Modes, than we have to
wonder at their plain Manner of Living. ’Tis we that have left the Track
of Nature, that are wrought and screw’d up into Artifices, that have
disguis’d ourselves; and ’tis in our World that the Scenes are chang’d,
and become more strange and fantastical.

I WILL conclude this Discourse with an easy Remark, and without any
particular Application of it. ’Tis a strange Power that Custom hath upon
weak and little Spirits, whose Thoughts reach no further than their
Senses; and what they have seen and been us’d to, they make the Standard
and Measure of Nature, of Reason, and of all _Decorum_. Neither are
there any Sort of Men more positive and tenacious of their petty
Opinions, than they are; nor more censorious, even to Bitterness and
Malice. And ’tis generally so, that those that have the least Evidence
for the Truth of their beloved Opinions, are most peevish and impatient
in the Defence of them. This sort of Men are the last that will be made
wise Men, if ever they be, for they have the worst of Diseases that
accompany Ignorance, and do not so much as know themselves to be sick.




                               CHAP. VII.


    _The Place of Paradise cannot be determined from the Theory only,
    nor from Scripture only. What the Sense of Antiquity was concerning
    it, both as to the Jews and Heathens, and especially as to the
    Christian Fathers. That they generally plac’d it out of this
    Continent, in the southern Hemisphere._


WE have now prepared our Work for the last finishing Strokes; described
the first Earth, and compar’d it with the present; and not only the two
Earths, but in a good Measure the whole State and Oeconomy of those two
Worlds. It remains only to determine the Place of _Paradise_ in that
primæval Earth; I say, in that primæval Earth, for we have driven the
Point so far already, that the Seat of it could not be in the present
Earth, whose Form, Site, and Air, are so dispos’d, as could not consist
with the first and most indispensible Properties of _Paradise_: And
accordingly, we see with what ill Success our modern Authors have rang’d
over the Earth, to find a fit Spot of Ground to plant _Paradise_ in;
some would set it on the Top of an high Mountain, that it might have
good Air and fair Weather, as being above the Clouds, and the middle
Region; but then they were at a Loss for Water, which made a great Part
of the Pleasure and Beauty of that Place. Others therefore would seat it
in a Plain, or in a River-Island, that they might have Water enough; but
then it would be subject to the Injuries of the Air, and foul Weather at
the Seasons of the Year; from which, both Reason and all Authority have
exempted _Paradise_. ’Tis like seeking a perfect Beauty in a mortal
Body, there are so many Things required to it, as to Complexion,
Features, Proportions and Air, that they never meet all together in one
Person; neither can all the Properties of a terrestrial _Paradise_ ever
meet together in one Place, tho’ never so well chosen, in this present
Earth.

BUT in the primæval Earth, which we have described, ’tis easy to find a
Seat that had all those Beauties and Conveniencies. We have every where
thro’ the temperate Climates, a clear and constant Air, a fruitful Soil,
pleasant Waters, and all the general Characters of _Paradise_; so that
the Trouble will be rather in that Competition, what Part or Region to
pitch upon in particular. But to come as near it as we can, we must
remember in the first Place, how that Earth was divided into two
Hemispheres, distant and separated from one another, not by an imaginary
Line, but by a real Boundary that could not be past; so as the first
Inquiry will be, in whether of these Hemispheres was the Seat of
_Paradise_. To answer this only according to our Theory, I confess, I
see no natural Reason or Occasion to place it in one Hemisphere more
than in another; I see no Ground of Difference or Pre-eminence, that one
had above the other; and I am apt to think, that depended rather upon
the Will of God, and the Series of Providence that was to follow in this
Earth, than upon any natural Incapacity in one of these two Regions more
than in the other, for planting in it the Garden of God. Neither doth
Scripture determine, with any Certainty, either Hemisphere for the Place
of it; for when ’tis said to be in _Eden_, or to be the Garden of
_Eden_, ’tis no more than the Garden of _Pleasure_ or _Delight_, as the
Word signifies: And even the _Septuagint_, who render this Word _Eden_,
as a proper Name twice, (_Gen._ ii. _ver._ 8, & 10.) do in the same
Story render it twice as a common Name, signifying τρυφὴ _Pleasure_,
(_Chap._ ii. 15. and _Chap._ iii. 24.) and so they do accordingly render
it in _Ezekiel_, (_Chap._ xxxi. 9, 16, 18.) where this Garden of _Eden_
is spoken of again. Some have thought that the Word _Mekiddim_, (_Gen._
ii. 8.) was to be render’d _in the East_, or _Eastward_, as we read it,
and therefore determin’d the Site of _Paradise_; but ’tis only the
_Septuagint_ translate it so; all the other _Greek_ Versions, and St.
_Jerome_, the _Vulgate_, the _Chaldee_ Paraphrase, and the _Syriack_
render it _from the Beginning_, or _in the Beginning_, or to that
Effect. And we that do not believe the _Septuagint_ to have been
infallible, or inspir’d, have no Reason to prefer their single Authority
above all the rest. Some also think the Place of _Paradise_ may be
determined by the four Rivers that are named, as belonging to it, and
the Countries they ran through; but the Names of those Rivers are to me
uncertain, and two of them altogether unintelligible. Where are there
four Rivers in our Continent that come from one Head, as these are said
to have done, either at the Entrance or Issue of the Garden? ’Tis true,
if you admit our _Hypothesis_, concerning the Fraction and Disruption of
the Earth at the Deluge, then we cannot expect to find Rivers now as
they were before; the general Source is chang’d, and their Channels are
all broke up; but if you do not admit such a Dissolution of the Earth,
but suppose the Deluge to have been only like a standing Pool, after it
had once cover’d the Surface of the Earth, I do not see why it should
make any great Havock or Confusion in it; and they that go that Way, are
therefore the more oblig’d to shew us still, the Rivers of _Paradise_.
Several of the Ancients, as we shall shew hereafter, suppos’d these four
Rivers to have their heads in the other Hemisphere; and if so, the Seat
of _Paradise_ might be there too. But let them first agree among
themselves concerning these Rivers, and the Countries they run thro’,
and we will undertake to shew that there cannot be any such in this
Continent.

SEEING then neither the Theory doth determine, nor Scripture, where the
Place of _Paradise_ was, nor in whether Hemisphere, we must appeal to
Antiquity, or the Opinions of the Ancients; for I know no other Guide
but one of these three, Scripture, Reason, and ancient Tradition; and
where the two former are silent, it seems very reasonable to consult the
third. And that our Inquiries may be comprehensive enough, we will
consider what the _Jews_, what the _Heathens_, and what the _Christian_
Fathers have said, or determin’d, concerning the Seat of _Paradise_. The
_Jews_ and _Hebrew_ Doctors place it in neither Hemisphere, but betwixt
both, under the Æquinoctial, as you may see plainly in _Abravanel_,
_Manasses_, _Ben-Israel_, _Maimonides_, _Eben Ezra_, and others. But the
Reason why they carried it no further than the Line, is, because they
suppos’d it certain, as _Eben Ezra_ tells us, that the Days and Nights
were always equal in _Paradise_, and they did not know how that could
be, unless it stood under the Æquinoctial. But we have shewn another
Method, wherein that perpetual Equinox came to pass, and how it was
common to all the Parts and Climates of that Earth, which if they had
been aware of, and that the Torrid Zone at that time was utterly
uninhabitable, having remov’d their _Paradise_ thus far from Home, they
would probably have remov’d it a little further into the temperate
Climates of the other Hemisphere.

THE ancient Heathens, Poets and Philosophers, had the Notion of
_Paradise_, or rather of several _Paradises_ in the Earth; and ’tis
remarkable, that they plac’d them generally, if not all of them, out of
this Continent; in the Ocean, or beyond it, or in another Orb or
Hemisphere. The Garden of the _Hesperides_, the fortunate _Islands_, the
_Elysian Fields_, _Ogygia_ and _Toprabane_, as it is describ’d by
_Diodorus Siculus_, with others such like; which as they were all
characteriz’d like so many _Paradises_, so they were all seated out of
our Continent, by their Geography and Descriptions of them.

THUS far Antiquity seems to incline to the other Hemisphere, or to some
Place beyond the Bounds of our Continent for the Seat of _Paradise_: But
that which we are most to depend upon in this Affair, is Christian
Antiquity, the Judgment and Tradition of the Fathers upon this Argument.
And we may safely say in the first Place, negatively, that none of the
Christian Fathers, _Latin_ or _Greek_, ever plac’d _Paradise_ in
_Mesopotamia_; that is a Conceit and Invention of some modern Authors,
which have been much encourag’d of late, because it gave Men Ease and
Rest, as to further Enquiries, in an Argument they could not well
manage. _Secondly_, We may affirm, that none of the Christian Fathers
have plac’d _Paradise_ in any determinate Region of our Continent,
_Asia_, _Africk_, or _Europe_. I have read of one or two Authors, I
think, that fancied _Paradise_ to have been at _Jerusalem_; but ’twas a
mere Fancy, that no Body regarded or pursu’d. The Controversy amongst
the Fathers concerning _Paradise_ was quite another Thing from what it
is now of late: They disputed and controverted, whether _Paradise_ was
corporeal or intellectual only, and allegorical; this was the grand
Point amongst them. Then of those that thought it corporeal, some plac’d
it high in the Air, some inaccessible, by Desarts or Mountains, and many
beyond the Ocean, or in another World; and in these chiefly consisted
the Differences and Diversity of Opinions amongst them; nor do we find
that they nam’d any particular Place or Country in the known Parts of
the Earth for the Seat of _Paradise_, or that one contested for one Spot
of Ground, and another for another, which is the vain Temerity of modern
Authors; as if they could tell to an Acre of Land where _Paradise_
stood, or could set their Foot upon the Centre of the Garden. These have
corrupted and misrepresented the Notion of our _Paradise_, just as some
Modern Poets have the Notion of the _Elysian_ Fields, which _Homer_ and
the Ancients plac’d remote, on the Extremities of the Earth, and these
would make a little green Meadow in _Campania Felix_ to be the fam’d
_Elysium_.

Thus much concerning the Fathers, negatively; but to discover as far as
we can, what their positive Assertions were in this Argument, we may
observe, that tho’ their Opinions be differently exprest, they generally
concenter in this, that the _Southern Hemisphere_ was the Seat of
_Paradise_. This, I say, seems manifestly to be the Sense of Christian
Antiquity and Tradition, so far as there is anything definitive in the
Remains we have upon that Subject. Some of the Fathers did not believe
_Paradise_ to be corporeal and local, and those are to be laid aside in
the first Place, as to this Point; others that thought it local, did not
determine any thing (as most of them indeed did not) concerning the
particular Place of it; but the rest that did, tho’ they have exprest
themselves in various Ways, and under various Forms; yet, upon a due
Interpretation, they all meet in one common and general Conclusion, that
_Paradise_ was seated beyond the Æquinoctial, or in the other
Hemisphere.

AND to understand this aright, we must reflect in the first Place, upon
the Form of the primæval Earth, and of the two Hemispheres of which it
consisted, altogether incommunicable one with another, by reason of the
Torrid Zone betwixt them; so as those two Hemispheres were then as two
distinct Worlds, or distinct Earths, that had no Commerce with one
another. And this Notion, or Tradition, we find among Heathen Authors,
as well as Christian; this opposite Earth being called by them
_Antichthon_, and its Inhabitants _Antichthones_: For those Words
comprehend both the _Antepodes_ and _Anœci_, or all beyond the Line, as
is manifest from their best Authors, as _Achilles_, _Tatius_, and _Cæsar
Germanicus_, upon _Aratus_, _Probus Grammaticus_, _Censorinus_,
_Pomponius Mela_, and _Pliny_. And these were called another World, and
look’d upon as another Stock and Race of Mankind, as appears from
_Cicero_ and _Macrobius_, (_Somn. Scip._) But as the latter Part was
their Mistake, so the former is acknowledged by Christian Authors, as
well as others; and particularly St. _Clement_, in his Epistle to the
_Corinthians_, mentions a _World_, or _Worlds beyond the Ocean subject
to divine Providence, and the great Lord of Nature as well as ours_.
This Passage of St. _Clement_ is also cited by St. _Jerome_, in his
Commentary upon _Eph. ii. 2._ and by _Origen Periarchon_, (_Lib. 2. c.
3._) where the Inhabitants of that other World are call’d
_Antichthones_.

I MAKE this Remark in the first Place, that we may understand the true
Sense and Importance of those Phrases and Expressions amongst the
Ancients, when they say _Paradise_ was in _another World_. Which are not
to be so understood, as if they thought _Paradise_ was in the Moon, or
in _Jupiter_, or hung above like a Cloud or a Meteor, they were not so
extravagant; but that _Paradise_ was in another Hemisphere, which was
call’d _Antichthon_, another _Earth_, or another _World_ from ours; and
justly reputed so, because of an Impossibility of Commerce or
Intercourse betwixt their respective Inhabitants. And this Remark being
premis’d, we will now distribute the Christian Authors and Fathers, that
have deliver’d their Opinion concerning the Place of _Paradise_, into
three or four Ranks or Orders; and tho’ they express themselves
differently, you will see, when duly examin’d and expounded, they all
conspire and concur in the foremention’d Conclusion, _That_ the Seat of
_Paradise_ was in the other Hemisphere.

IN the first Rank then we will place and reckon those that have set
_Paradise_ in another _World_, or in another _Earth_; seeing, according
to the foregoing Explication, that is the same thing as to affirm it
seated beyond the Torrid Zone in the other Hemisphere. In this Number
are _Ephrem Syrus_, _Moses Bar Cepha_, _Tatianus_, and of latter Date,
_Jacobus de Valentia_. To these are to be added again such Authors as
say, that _Adam_, when he was turn’d out of _Paradise_, was brought into
_our Earth_, or into our Region of the Earth; for this is tantamount
with the former; and this seems to be the Sense of St. _Jerome_ in
several Places against _Joviniam_, as also of _Constantine_, in his
_Oration_ in _Eusebius_, and is positively asserted by _Sulpitius
Severus_. And lastly, Those Authors that represent _Paradise_ as remote
from our World, and inaccessible; so St. _Austin_, _Procopius Gazæus_,
_Beda_, _Strabus Fuldensis_, _Historia Scholiastica_, and others; these,
I say, pursue the same Notion of Antiquity; for what is remote from our
World, (that is, from our Continent, as we before explain’d it) is to be
understood to be that _Antichthon_, (Οἱκουμένη) or Anti-hemisphere,
which the Ancients oppos’d to ours.

ANOTHER Set of Authors, that interpret the _Flaming Sword_ that guarded
_Paradise_ to be the _Torrid Zone_, do plainly intimate, that _Paradise_
in their Opinion lay beyond the Torrid Zone, or in the Anti-hemisphere;
and thus _Tertullian_ interprets the Flaming Sword, and in such Words as
fully confirm our Sense: _Paradise_, he says, _by the Torrid Zone, as by
a Wall of Fire, was sever’d from the Communication and Knowledge of our
World_. It lay then on the other Side of this Zone. And St. _Cyprian_,
or the ancient Author that passeth under his Name, in his Comment upon
_Genesis_, expresseth himself to the same Effect; so also St. _Austin_
and _Isidore Hispalensis_ are thought to interpret it: And _Aquinas_,
who makes _Paradise_ inaccessible, gives this Reason for it, _Propter
vehementiam æstus in locis intermediis ex propinquitate Solis, & hoc
significatur per Flammeum Gladium_: _Because of that vehement Heat in
the Parts betwixt us and that, arising from the Nearness of the Sun, and
this is signified by the Flaming Sword_. And this Interpretation of the
_Flaming Sword_ receives a remarkable Force and Emphasis from our Theory
and Description of the primæval Earth, for there the Torrid Zone was as
a Wall of Fire indeed, or a Region of Flame, which none could pass or
subsist in, no more than in a Furnace.

THERE is another Form of Expression amongst the Ancients concerning
_Paradise_, which if decyphered, is of the same Force and Signification
with this we have already instanc’d in: They say sometimes, _Paradise_
was _beyond the Ocean_, or that the Rivers of _Paradise_ came from
beyond the Ocean. This is of the same Import with the former Head, and
points still at the other Hemisphere; for, as we noted before, some of
them fixt their _Antichthon_ and _Antichthones_ beyond the Ocean; that
is, since there was an Ocean; since the Form of the Earth was chang’d,
and the Torrid Zone became habitable, and consequently could not be a
Boundary or Separation, betwixt the two Worlds. Wherefore, as some run
still upon the old Division by the Torrid Zone, others took the new
Division by the Ocean. Which Ocean they suppos’d to lie from East to
West betwixt the Tropicks; as may be seen in ancient Authors, _Geminus_,
_Herodotus_, _Cicero de republica_, and _Clemens Romanus_, whom we cited
before. St. _Austin_ (_De Civ. Dei, lib. 16. c. 9._) also speaks upon
the same Supposition, when he would confute the Doctrine of the
_Antipodes_, or _Antichthones_; and _Macrobius_, I remember, makes it an
Argument of Providence, that the Sun and the Planets, in what Part of
their Course soever they are betwixt the two Tropicks, have still the
Ocean under them, that they may be cool’d and nourish’d by its Moisture.
They thought the Sea, like a Girdle, went round the Earth, and the
temperate Zones on either Side were the habitable Regions, whereof this
was called the _Oicoumene_, and the other _Antichthon_.

THIS being observ’d, ’tis not material whether their Notion was true or
false, it shews us what their Meaning was, and what Part of the Earth
they design’d, when they spoke of any Thing beyond the Ocean; namely,
that they meant beyond the Line, in the other Hemisphere or in the
_Antichthon_; and accordingly, when they say _Paradise_, or the
Fountains of its Rivers were beyond the Ocean, they say the same Thing
in other Terms with the rest of those Authors we have cited. In _Moses
Bar Cepha_ above-mention’d, we find a Chapter upon this Subject,
_Quomodo trajecerint Mortales inde ex Paradisi terra in hanc terram._
_How Mankind past out of that Earth or Continent, where Paradise was,
into that where we are_. Namely how they past the Ocean, _that lay
betwixt them_, as the Answer there given explains it. And so _Ephrem
Syrus_ is cited often in that Treatise, placing _Paradise_ beyond the
Ocean. The _Essenes_ also, who were the most Philosophick Sect of the
_Jews_, plac’d _Paradise_, according to _Josephus_, beyond the Ocean,
under a perfect Temperature of Air. And that Passage in _Eusebius_, in
the Oration of _Constantine_, being corrected and restor’d to the true
reading, represents _Paradise_, in like manner, as in another Continent,
from whence _Adam_ was brought after his Transgression, into this. And
lastly, there are some Authors, whose Testimony and Authority may
deserve to be consider’d, not for their own Antiquity, but because they
are professedly Transcribers of Antiquity and Traditions; such as
_Strabus_, _Comestor_, and the like, who are known to give this Account
or Report of _Paradise_ from the Ancients, that it was _interposito
Oceano ab Orbe nostro vel a Zona nostra habitabili secretus_, _separated
from our Orb or Hemisphere, by the Interposition of the Ocean_.

IT is also observable, that many of the Ancients that took _Tigris_,
_Euphrates_, _Nile_ and _Ganges_, for the Rivers of _Paradise_, said
that those Heads or Fountains of them, which we have in our Continent,
are but their _capita secunda_, their second Sources, and that their
first Sources were in another Orb where _Paradise_ was; and thus _Hugo
de Sancto Victore_ says, _Sanctos communiter sensisse_, That the Holy
Men of old were generally of that Opinion. To this Sense also _Moses Bar
Cepha_ often expresseth himself; as also _Epiphanius_, _Procopius
Gazæus_, and _Severianus_ in _Catena_. Which Notion amongst the
Ancients, concerning the Trajection or Passage of the paradisiacal
Rivers under Ground, or under Sea, from one Continent into another, is
to me, I confess, unintelligible, either in the first or second Earth;
but however it discovers their Sense and Opinion of the Seat of
_Paradise_, that it was not to be sought for in _Asia_ or in _Africa_,
where those Rivers rise to us; but in some remoter Parts of the World,
where they suppos’d their first Sources to be.

THIS is a short Account of what the Christian Fathers have left us
concerning the Seat of _Paradise_; and the Truth is, ’tis but a short
and broken account; yet ’tis no wonder it should be so, if we consider,
as we noted before, that several of them did not believe _Paradise_ to
be local and corporeal; others that did believe it so, yet did not offer
to determine the Place of it, but left that Matter wholly untouch’d and
undecided: and the rest that did speak to that Point, did it commonly
both in general Terms, and in Expressions that were disguis’d, and
needed Interpretation; but all these Differences and Obscurities of
Expression, you see, when duly stated and expounded, may signify one and
the same Thing, and terminate all in this common Conclusion, _That
Paradise_ was without our Continent, according to the general Opinion
and Tradition of Antiquity. And I do not doubt but the Tradition would
have been both more express and more universal, if the Ancients had
understood Geography better; for those of the Ancients that did not
admit or believe that there were _Antipodes_ or _Antichthones_, as
_Lactantius_, St. _Austin_, and some others; these could not join in the
common Opinion about the Place of _Paradise_, because they thought there
was no Land, nor any thing habitable ἔξω τὴς οἱκουμένες, or beside this
Continent. And yet St. _Austin_ was so cautious, that as he was bounded
on the one Hand by his false _Idea_ of the Earth, that he could not join
with Antiquity as to the Place of _Paradise_; so on the other Hand, he
had that Respect for it, that he would not say any thing to the
contrary; therefore being to give his Opinion, he says only, _Terrestrem
esse Paradisum, & locum ejus ab hominum cognitione esse remotissimum_:
_That it is somewhere upon the Earth, but the Place of it very remote
from the Knowledge of Men_.

AND as their Ignorance of the Globe of the Earth was one Reason why the
Doctrine of _Paradise_ was so broken and obscure, so another Reason why
it is much more so at present is, because the chief ancient Books writ
upon that Subject are lost. _Ephrem Syrus_ who liv’d in the fourth
Century, writ a Commentary _in Genesin sine de Ortu rerum_, concerning
the Origin of the Earth; and by those Remains that are cited from it, we
have reason to believe that it contained many Things remarkable
concerning the first Earth, and concerning _Paradise_. _Tertullian_ also
writ a Book _de Paradiso_, which is wholly lost; and we see to what
Effect it would have been, by his making the Torrid Zone to be the
_Flaming Sword_, and the Partition betwixt this Earth and _Paradise_,
which two Earths he more than once distinguisheth as very different from
one another, (_Cont. Marc. lib. 2. c. 2. c. 5._) The most ancient Author
that I know upon this Subject, at least of those that writ of it
literally, is _Moses Bar Cepha_ a _Syrian_ Bishop, who liv’d about 700
Years since, and his Book is translated into _Latin_ by that learned and
judicious Man _Andreas Masius_. _Bar Cepha_ writes upon the same Views
of _Paradise_ that we have here presented, that it was beyond the Ocean,
in another Track of Land, or another Continent from that which we
inhabit: As appears from the very Titles of his 8th, 10th, and 14th
Chapters. But we must allow him for his mistaken Notions about the Form
of the Earth; for he seems to have fancied the Earth plain, (not only as
oppos’d to rough and mountainous, for so it was plain; but as oppos’d to
spherical) and the Ocean to have divided it in two Parts, an interior,
and an exterior, and in that exterior Part was _Paradise_. Such
Allowances must often be made for Geographical Mistakes, in examining
and understanding the Writings of the Ancients. The rest of the _Syrian_
Fathers, as well as _Ephrem_ and _Bar Cepha_, incline to the same
Doctrine of _Paradise_, and seem to have retain’d more of the ancient
notions concerning it, than the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Fathers have; and
yet there is in all some Fragments of this Doctrine, and but Fragments
in the best.

WE might add in the last Place, that as the most ancient Treatises
concerning _Paradise_ are lost, so also the ancient _Glosses_ and
_Catenae_ upon Scripture, where we might have found the Traditions and
Opinions of the Ancients upon this Subject, are many of them either lost
or unpublish’d; and upon this Consideration, we did not think it
improper to cite some Authors of small Antiquity, but such as have
transcrib’d several Things out of ancient Manuscript-glosses into their
Commentaries. They living however before Printing was invented, or
Learning well restor’d, and before the Reformation. I add that also,
_before the Reformation_, for since that Time the Protestant Authors
having lessen’d the Authority of Traditions, the pontifical Doctors
content themselves to insist only upon such as they thought were useful
or necessary, left by multiplying others that were but Matter of
Curiosity, they should bring the first into Question, and render the
whole Doctrine of Traditions more dubious and exceptionable; and upon
this Account, there are some Authors that writ an Age or two before the
Reformation, that have with more Freedom told us the Tenets and
Traditions of the Ancients in these Speculations, that are but
collateral to Religion, than any have done since.

AND I must confess I am apt to think, that what remains concerning the
Doctrine of _Paradise_, and the primæval Earth, is in a good Measure
traditional; for one may observe, that those that treat upon these
Subjects, quote the true Opinions, and tell you some of the Ancients
held so and so; as that _Paradise_ was in another Earth, or higher than
this Earth; that there were no Mountains before the Flood, nor any Rain,
and such like; yet they do not name those ancient Authors that held
these Opinions; which makes me apt to believe, either that they were
convey’d by traditional Communication from one to another, or that there
were other Books extant upon those Subjects, or other Glosses, than what
are now known.

FINALLY, To conclude this Discourse concerning the Seat of _Paradise_,
we must mind you again upon what Basis it stands. We declar’d freely,
that we could not by our Theory alone determine the particular Place of
it, only by that we are assur’d, that it was in the primæval Earth, and
not in the present; but in what Region, or in whether Hemisphere of that
Earth it was seated, we cannot define from Speculation only. ’Tis true,
if we hold fast to that Scripture-conclusion, That all Mankind rose from
one Head, and from one and the same Stock and Lineage, (which doth not
seem to be according to the Sentiments of the Heathens) we must suppose
they were born in one Hemisphere, and after some Time translated into
the other, or a Colony of them: But this still doth not determine in
whether of the two they begun, and were first seated before their
Translation; and I am apt to think that depended rather, as we noted
before, upon the Divine Pleasure, and the Train of Affairs that was to
succeed, than upon natural Causes and Differences. Some of the Ancients,
I know, made both the Soil and the Stars more noble in the southern
Hemisphere, than in ours; but I do not see any Proof or Warrant for it;
wherefore, laying aside all natural Topicks, we are willing, in this
Particular, to refer our selves wholly to the Report and Majority of
Votes among the Ancients; who yet do not seem to me to lay much Stress
upon the Notion of a particular and topical Paradise, and therefore use
general and remote Expressions concerning it. And finding no Place for
it in this Continent, they are willing to quit their Hands of it, by
placing it in a Region somewhere far off, and inaccessible. This,
together with the old Tradition, that Paradise was in another Earth,
seems to me to give an Account of most of their Opinions concerning the
Seat of Paradise, and that they were generally very uncertain where to
fix it.




                              CHAP. VIII.


    _The Uses of this Theory for the Illustration of Antiquity; The
    ancient Chaos explain’d; The Inhabitability of the Torrid Zone; The
    Change of the Poles of the World; The Doctrine of the Mundane Egg;
    How America was first peopled; How Paradise within the Circle of the
    Moon._


WE have now dispatch’d the Theory of the primæval Earth, and reviv’d a
forgotten World. ’Tis pity the first and fairest Works of Nature should
be lost out of the Memory of Man, and that we should so much dote upon
the Ruins, as never to think upon the Original Structure. As the Modern
Artists, from some broken Pieces of an ancient Statue, make out all the
other Parts and Proportions; so from the broken and scatter’d Limbs of
the first World, we have shewn you how to raise the whole Fabrick again;
and renew the Prospect of those pleasant Scenes that first saw the
Light, and first entertain’d Man, when he came to act upon this
new-erected Stage.

WE have drawn this Theory chiefly to give an Account of the universal
Deluge, and of _Paradise_; but as when one lights a Candle to look for
one or two Things which they want, the Light will not confine it self to
those two Objects, but shews all the other in the Room; so, methinks, we
have unexpectedly cast a Light upon all Antiquity, in seeking after
these two Things, or in retrieving the Notion and Doctrine of the
primæval Earth, upon which they depended. For in ancient Learning, there
are many Discourses, and many Conclusions deliver’d to us, that are so
obscure and confus’d, and so remote from the present State of Things,
that one cannot well distinguish whether they are Fictions or Realities:
And there is no way to distinguish with Certainty, but by a clear Theory
upon the same Subject; which shewing us the Truth directly and
independently upon them, shews us also by Reflection, how far they are
true or false, and in what Sense they are to be interpreted and
understood. And the present Theory being of great extent, we shall find
it serviceable in many Things, for the Illustration of such dubious and
obscure Doctrines in Antiquity.

TO begin with their ancient CHAOS, what a dark Story have they made of
it, both their Philosophers and Poets; and how fabulous in Appearance?
’Tis deliver’d as confusedly as the Mass it self could be, and hath not
been reduc’d to Order, nor indeed made intelligible by any. They tell us
of _moral_ Principles in the Chaos, instead of _natural_, of _Strife_
and _Discord_, and _Division_ on the one Hand, and _Love_, _Friendship_,
and _Venus_ on the other; and, after a long Contest, Love got the better
of Discord, and united the disagreeing Principles: This is one Part of
their Story. Then they make the Forming of the World out of the Chaos a
kind of _Genealogy_ or Pedigree; _Chaos_ was the common Parent of all,
and from Chaos sprung first _Night_, and _Tartarus_, or _Oceanus_; Night
was a teeming Mother, and of her were born _Æther_ and the _Earth_; The
Earth conceiv’d by the Influences of Æther, and brought forth Man and
all Animals.

THIS seems to be a poetical Fiction rather than Philosophy; yet when
’tis set in a true Light, and compar’d with our Theory of the Chaos,
’twill appear a pretty regular Account, how the World was form’d at
first, or how the Chaos divided it self successively into several
Regions, rising one after another, and propagated one from another, as
Children and Posterity from a common Parent. We shew’d in the first
Book, _Chap. 5._ how the Chaos, from an uniform Mass, wrought it self
into several Regions or Elements; the grossest Part sinking to the
Center; upon this lay the Mass of Water, and over the Water was a Region
of dark, impure, caliginous Air; this impure caliginous Air is that
which the Ancients call _Night_, and the Mass of Water _Oceanus_ or
_Tartarus_; for those two Terms with them are often of the like Force,
_Tartarus_ being _Oceanus_ inclos’d and lock’d up: Thus we have the
first Offspring of the Chaos, or its first born Twins, _Nox_ and
_Oceanus_. Now this turbid Air purifying it self by degrees, as the more
subtle Parts flew upwards, and compos’d the Æther; so the earthy Parts
that were mix’d with it drop’d down upon the Surface of the Water, or
the liquid Mass; and that Mass on the other Hand sending up its lighter
and more oily Parts towards its Surface, these two incorporate there,
and by their Mixture and Union compose a Body of Earth quite round the
Mass of Waters: And this was the first habitable Earth, which, as it
was, you see, the Daughter of _Nox_ and _Oceanus_, so it was the Mother
of all other Things, and all living Creatures, which at the Beginning of
the World sprung out of its fruitful Womb.

THIS Doctrine of the Chaos, for the greater Pomp of the Business, the
Ancients call’d their _Theogonia_, or the Genealogy of the Gods; for
they gave their Gods, at least their terrestrial Gods, an Original and
Beginning; and all the Elements and greater Portions of Nature they made
Gods and Goddesses, or their Deities presided over them in such a
Manner, that the Names were us’d promiscuously for one another. We also
mention’d before some moral Principles which they plac’d in the Chaos,
_Eris_ and _Eros_; Strife, Discord, and Dissatisfaction, which prevail’d
at first; and afterward _Love_, _Kindness_ and _Union_ got the upper
Hand, and in spite of those factious and dividing Principles, gather’d
together the separated Elements, and united them into an habitable
World. This is all easily understood, if we do but look upon the Schemes
of the rising World, as we have set them down in that fifth Chapter; for
in the first Commotion of the Chaos, after an intestine Struggle of all
the Parts, the Elements separated from one another into so many distinct
Bodies or Masses; and in this State and Posture Things continu’d a good
while, which the Ancients, after their poetick or moral Way, call’d the
Reign of _Eris_ or Contention, of Hatred, Slight, and Disaffection; and
if Things had always continued in that System, we should never have had
an habitable World. But Love and good Nature conquer’d at length;
_Venus_ rose out of the Sea, and receiv’d into her Bosom, and intangled
into her Embraces, the falling Æther, _viz._ the Parts of lighter Earth,
which were mix’d with the Air in that first Separation, and gave it the
Name of _Night_: These, I say, fell down upon the oily Parts of the
Sea-mass, which lay floating upon the Surface of it, and by that Union
and Conjunction a new Body, and a new World was produc’d, which was the
first habitable Earth. This is the Interpretation of their mystical
Philosophy of the Chaos, and the Resolution of it into plain natural
History: Which you may see more fully discuss’d in the _Latin_ Treatise,
_Lib. 2. c. 7._

IN consequence of this, we have already explain’d, in several Places,
the _Golden Age_ of the Ancients, and laid down such Grounds as will
enable us to discern what is real, and what poetical, in the Reports and
Characters that Antiquity hath given of those first Ages of the World.
And if there be any Thing amongst the Ancients that refers to another
Earth, as _Plato_’s _Atlantis_, which, he says, was absorpt by an
Earthquake, and an Inundation, as the primæval Earth was; or his
_Æthereal_ Earth, mention’d in his _Phædo_, which he opposeth to this
broken hollow Earth; makes it to have long-liv’d Inhabitants, and to be
without Rains and Storms, as that first Earth was also; or the pendulous
_Gardens_ of _Alcinous_, or such like; to which nothing answers in
present Nature, by reflecting upon the State of the first Earth, we find
an easy Explication of them. We have also explain’d what the
_Antichthon_ and _Antichthones_ of the Ancients were, and what the true
Ground of that Distinction was. But nothing seems more remarkable, than
the _Inhabitability of the Torrid Zone_, if we consider what a general
Fame and Belief it had amongst the Ancients, and yet in the present Form
of the Earth, we find no such Thing, nor any Foundation for it. I cannot
believe that this was so universally receiv’d upon a slight Presumption
only, because it lay under the Course of the Sun, if the Sun had then
the same Latitude from the Æquator, in his Course and Motion, that he
hath now, and made the same Variety of Seasons; whereby even the hottest
Parts of the Earth have a Winter, or something equivalent to it. But if
we apply this to the primæval Earth, whose Posture was direct to the
Sun, standing always fixt in its Equinoctial, we shall easily believe,
that the Torrid Zone was then uninhabitable by Extremity of Heat, there
being no Difference of Seasons, nor any Change of Weather, the Sun
hanging always over Head at the same Distance, and in the same
Direction. Besides this, the Descent of the Rivers in that first Earth
was such, that they could never reach the Equinoctial Parts, as we have
shewn before; by which Means, and the want of Rain, that Region must
necessarily be turn’d into a dry Desart. Now this being really the State
of the first Earth, the Fame and general Belief that the Torrid Zone was
uninhabitable had this true Original, and continued still with Posterity
after the Deluge, though the Causes then were taken away; for they being
ignorant of the Change that was made in Nature at that Time, kept up
still the same Tradition and Opinion current, till Observation and
Experience taught later Ages to correct it. As the true Miracles that
were in the Christian Church at first, occasioned a Fame and Belief of
their Continuance long after they had really ceas’d.

THIS gives an easy Account, and, I think, the true Cause of that
Opinion, amongst the Ancients generally receiv’d, _That the Torrid Zone
was uninhabitable_. I say, generally receiv’d; for not only the Poets,
both _Greek_ and _Latin_, but their Philosophers, Astronomers and
Geographers, had the same Notion, and deliver’d the same Doctrine; as
_Aristotle_, _Cleomedes_, _Achilles_, _Tatius_, _Ptolomy_, _Cicero_,
_Strabo_, _Mela_, _Pliny_, _Macrobius_, _&c._ And to speak Truth, the
whole Doctrine of the Zones is calculated more properly for the first
Earth, than for the present; for the Divisions and Bounds of them now
are but arbitrary, being habitable all over, and having no visible
Distinction; whereas they were then determin’d by Nature, and the Globe
of the Earth was really divided into so many Regions of a very different
Aspect and Quality; which would have appear’d at a Distance, if they had
been look’d upon from the Clouds, or from the Moon, as _Jupiter_’s
Belts, or as so many Girdles or Swathing-bands about the Body of the
Earth: And so the Word imports, and so the Ancients use to call them
_Cinguli_ and _Fasciæ_. But in the present Form of the Earth, if it was
seen at a Distance, no such Distinction would appear in the Parts of it,
nor scarce any other but that of Land and Water, and of Mountains and
Valleys, which are nothing to the purpose of Zones. And to add this Note
further, When the Earth lay in this regular Form, divided into Regions
or Walks, if I may so call them, as this gave Occasion of its
Distinction by Zones; so if we might consider all that Earth as a
_Paradise_, and _Paradise_ as a Garden; (for it is always call’d so in
Scripture, and in _Jewish_ Authors.) And, as this Torrid Zone, bare of
Grass and Trees, made a kind of Gravel-walk in the Middle, so there was
a green Walk on either Hand of it, made by the temperate Zones; and
beyond those lay a Canal, which water’d the Garden from either Side.
(_See Fig. 3. c. 5._)

BUT to return to Antiquity; We may add under this Head another
Observation or Doctrine amongst the Ancients, strange enough in
Appearance, which yet receives an easy Explication from the preceding
Theory; They say, _The Poles_ of the World did once change their
Situation, and were at first in another Posture from what they are in
now, till that Inclination happen’d: This the ancient Philosophers often
make mention of, as _Anaxagoras_, _Empedocles_, _Diogenes_, _Leucippus_,
_Democritus_; (_See the Lat. Treat. 2. lib. 2. c. 10._) as may be seen
in _Laertius_, and in _Plutarch_; and the Stars, they say, at first were
carried about the Earth in a more uniform Manner. This is no more than
what we have observ’d and told you in other Words, namely, That the
Earth chang’d its Posture at the Deluge, and thereby made these seeming
Changes in the Heavens; its Poles before pointed to the Poles of the
Ecliptick, which now point to the Poles of the Equator, and its Axis is
become parallel with that Axis; and this is the Mystery and
Interpretation of what they say in other Terms; this makes the different
Aspect of the Heavens and of its Poles: And I am apt to think, that
those Changes in the Course of the Stars, which the Ancients sometimes
speak of, and especially the _Egyptians_, if they did not proceed from
Defects in their Calendar, had no other physical Account than this.

AND as they say the Poles of the World were in another Situation at
first, so at first they say, there was no Variety of Seasons in the
Year, as in their Golden Age. Which is very coherent with all the rest,
and still runs along with the Theory. And you may observe, that all
these Things we have instanc’d in hitherto, are but Links of the same
Chain, in Connexion and Dependance upon one another. When the primæval
Earth was made out of the Chaos, its Form and Posture was such, as of
Course brought on all those Scenes which Antiquity hath kept the
Remembrance of; tho’ now in another State of Nature they seem very
strange; especially being disguis’d, as some of them are, by their odd
Manner of representing them, _That_ the Poles of the World stood once in
another Posture; That the Year had no Diversity of Seasons: That the
Torrid Zone was uninhabitable; That the two Hemispheres had no
possibility of Intercourse, and such like: These all hang upon the same
String; or lean one upon another as Stones in the same Building; whereof
we have, by this Theory, laid the very Foundation bare, that you may see
what they all stand upon, and in what Order.

THERE is still one remarkable Notion or Doctrine among the Ancients
which we have not spoken to; ’tis partly symbolical, and the Propriety
of the Symbol, or of the Application of it, hath been little understood;
’tis their Doctrine of the _Mundane Egg_, or their comparing the World
to an Egg, and especially in the original Composition of it. This seems
to be a mean Comparison, the World and an Egg; what Proportion, or what
Resemblance betwixt these two Things? And yet I do not know any
symbolical Doctrine, or Conclusion, that hath been so universally
entertain’d by the _Mystæ_, or wise and learned of all Nations; as hath
been noted before in the fifth Chapter of the first Book, and at large
in the _Latin_ Treatise. (_Lib. 2. c. 10._) ’Tis certain, that by the
World in this Similitude, they do not mean the Great Universe, for that
hath neither Figure, nor any determinate Form of Composition, and it
would be a great Vanity and Rashness in any one to compare this to an
Egg: The Works of God are immense, as his Nature is infinite, and we
cannot make any Image or Resemblance of either of them; but this
Comparison is to be understood of the _Sublunary World_, or of the
_Earth_: And for a general Key to Antiquity upon this Argument, we may
lay this down as a Maxim or Canon, _That what the Ancients have said
concerning the Form and Figure of the World, or concerning the Original
of it from a Chaos, or about its Periods and Dissolution, are never to
be understood of the great Universe, but of our Earth, or of this
sublunary and terrestrial World_. And this Observation being made, do
but reflect upon our Theory of the Earth, the Manner of its Composition
at first, and the Figure of it, being compleated, and you will need no
other Interpreter to understand this Mystery. We have shew’d there,
(_Book 1. c. 5._) that the Figure of it, when finish’d, was Oval, and
the inward Form of it was a Frame of four Regions, encompassing one
another, where that of Fire lay in the Middle like the Yolk, and a Shell
of Earth inclos’d them all. This gives a Solution so easy and natural,
and shews such an Aptness and Elegancy in the Representation, that one
cannot doubt upon a View and Compare of Circumstances, but that we have
truly found out the Riddle of the Mundane Egg.

AMONGST other Difficulties arising from the Form of this present Earth,
that is one, How _America_ could be peopled, or any other Continent, or
Island remote from all Continents the Sea interposing. This Difficulty
does not hold in our Theory of the first Earth, where there was no Sea.
And after the Flood, when the Earth was broken and the Sea laid open,
the same Race of Men might continue there, if settled there before. For
I do not see any Necessity of deducing all Mankind from _Noah_ after the
Flood. If _America_ was peopled before, it might continue so; not but
that the Flood was universal. But when the great Frame of the Earth
broke at the Deluge, Providence foresaw into how many Continents it
would be divided after the ceasing of the Flood; and accordingly, as we
may reasonably suppose, made Provision to save a Remnant in every
Continent, that the Race of Mankind might not be quite extinct in any of
them. What Provision he made in our Continent we know from sacred
History; but as that takes Notice of no other Continent but ours, so
neither could it take Notice of any Method that was us’d there for
saving of a Remnant of Men; but ’twere great Presumption, methinks, to
imagine, that Providence had a Care of none but us, or could not find
out Ways of Preservation in other Places, as well as in that where our
Habitations were to be. _Asia_, _Africa_ and _Europe_, were repeopled by
the Sons of _Noah_, _Shem_, _Ham_, and _Japhet_; but we read nothing of
their going over into _America_, or sending any Colonies thither; and
that World, which is near as big as ours, must have stood long without
People, or any thing of humane Race in it, after the Flood, if it stood
so till this was full, or till Men navigated the Ocean, and by chance
discover’d it: It seems more reasonable to suppose, that there was a
Stock providentially reserv’d there, as well as here, out of which they
sprung again; but we do not pretend in an Argument of this Nature to
define or determine any Thing positively. To conclude, As this is but a
secondary Difficulty, and of no great Force, so neither is it any Thing
peculiar to us, or to our _Hypothesis_, but alike common to both; and if
they can propose any reasonable Way whereby the Sons of _Noah_ might be
transplanted into _America_, with all my Heart; but all the Ways that I
have met with hitherto, have seem’d to me mere Fictions, or mere
Presumptions. Besides, finding Birds and Beasts there, which are no
where upon our Continent, nor would live in our Countries if brought
hither; ’tis a fair Conjecture that they were not carried from us, but
originally bred and preserv’d there.

THUS much for the Illustration of Antiquity in some Points of human
Literature, by our Theory of the primæval Earth; there is also in
_Christian Antiquity_ a Tradition or Doctrine, that appears as obscure
and as much a Paradox as any of these, and better deserves an
Illustration, because it relates more closely and expresly to our
present Subject: ’Tis that Notion or Opinion amongst the Ancients
concerning _Paradise_, that it was seated as high as the Sphere of the
Moon, or _within the lunar Circle_. This looks very strange, and indeed
extravagantly at first Sight; but the Wonder will cease, if we
understand this not of _Paradise_ taken apart from the rest of the
Earth, but of the whole primæval Earth, wherein the Seat of _Paradise_
was; That was really seated much higher than the present Earth, and may
be reasonably suppos’d to have been as much elevated as the Tops of our
Mountains are now. And that Phrase of reaching to _the Sphere of the
Moon_, signifies no more than those other Expressions of _reaching to
Heaven_, or _reaching above the Clouds_; which are Phrases commonly us’d
to express the Height of Buildings, or of Mountains, and such like
Things: So the Builders of _Babel_ said, they would make a Tower should
reach to Heaven; _Olympus_ and _Parnassus_ are said by the Poets to
reach to Heaven, or to rise above the Clouds; and _Pliny_ and _Solinus_
use this very Expression of the _Lunar Circle_, when they describe the
Height of Mount _Atlas_, _Eductus in viciniam Lunaris Circuli_, (_Solin.
c. 17._) The Ancients, I believe, aim’d particularly by this Phrase, to
express an Height above the middle Region, or above our Atmosphere, that
_Paradise_ might be serene; and where our Atmosphere ended, they
reckon’d the Sphere of the Moon begun, and therefore said it reach’d to
the Sphere of the Moon. Many of the Christian Fathers exprest their
Opinion concerning the high Situation of _Paradise_ in plain and formal
Terms, as St. _Basil_, _Damascen_, _Moses Bar Cepha_, _&c._ but this
Phrase of reaching to the _Lunar Circle_ is repeated by several of them,
and said to be of great Antiquity. _Aquinas_, _Albertus_, and others,
ascribe it to _Bede_, but many to St. _Austin_; and therefore _Ambrosius
Catharinus_, (_Com. in Gen. c. 2._) is angry with their great Schoolman,
that he should derive it from _Bede_, seeing St. _Austin_ writing to
_Orosius_, deliver’d this Doctrine, which surely, says he, St. _Austin_
_neither feign’d nor dream’d only, but had receiv’d it from Antiquity_:
And from so great Antiquity, that it was no less than Apostolical, if we
credit _Albertus Magnus_, and the ancient Books he appeals to; (_Sum.
Theol. par. 2. tract. 13. q. 79._) for he says this Tradition was
deriv’d as high as from St. _Thomas_ the Apostle. His Words are these,
after he had deliver’d his own Opinion, _Hoc tamen dico, &c._ _But this
I say without Prejudice to the better Opinion, for I have found it in
some most ancient Books, that Thomas the Apostle was the Author of that
Opinion, which is usually attributed to Bede and Strabus, namely, That
Paradise was so high as to reach to the Lunar Circle._ But thus much
concerning this Opinion, and concerning Antiquity.

TO conclude all, we see this Theory, which was drawn only by a Thread of
Reason, and the Laws of Nature, abstractedly from all Antiquity,
notwithstanding casts a Light upon many Passages there, which were
otherwise accounted Fictions, or unintelligible Truths; and tho’ we do
not alledge these as Proofs of the Theory, for it carries its own Light
and Proof with it; yet, whether we will or no, they do mutually confirm,
as well as illustrate one another; and ’tis a Pleasure also, when one
hath wrought out Truth by a meer Dint of thinking, and Examination of
Causes, and propos’d it plainly and openly, to meet with it again among
the Ancients, disguis’d, and in an old fashion’d Dress; scarce to be
known or discover’d, but by those that beforehand knew it very well. And
it would be a further Pleasure and Satisfaction to have render’d those
Doctrines and Notions for the future, intelligible and useful to others,
as well as delightful to our selves.




                               CHAP. IX.


    _A general Objection against this Theory, viz. That if there had
    been such a Primitive Earth, as we pretend, the Fame of it would
    have sounded throughout all Antiquity. The Eastern and Western
    Learning consider’d. The most considerable Records of both are lost.
    What Footsteps remain relating to this Subject. The Jewish and
    Christian Learning consider’d; how far lost as to this Argument, and
    what Notes or Traditions remain. Lastly, how far the sacred Writings
    bear witness to it. The providential Conduct of Knowledge in the
    World. A Recapitulation and State of the Theory._


HAVING gone through the two first Parts, and the two first Books of this
Theory that concern the primitive World, the universal Deluge, and the
State of _Paradise_, we have leisure now to reflect a little, and
consider what may probably be objected against a Theory of this Nature.
I do not mean single Objections against single Parts, for those may be
many, and such as I cannot foresee; but what may be said against the
Body and Substance of the Theory, and the Credibility of it appearing
new and surprizing, and yet of great Extent and Importance. This, I
fancy, will induce many to say, surely this cannot be a Reality; for if
there had been such a primitive Earth, and such a primitive World as is
here represented, and so remarkably different from the present, it could
not have been so utterly forgotten, or lain hid for so many Ages; all
Antiquity would have rung of it; the Memory of it would have been kept
fresh by Books or Traditions. Can we imagine that it should lie buried
for some thousands of Years in deep Silence and Oblivion? And now only
when the second World is drawing to an End, we begin to discover that
there was a first, and that of another Make and Order from this.

TO satisfy this Objection, or Surmise rather, it will be convenient to
take a good large Scope and Compass in our Discourse; we must not
suppose that this primitive World hath been wholly lost out of the
Memory of Man, or out of History, for we have some History and
Chronology of it preserv’d by _Moses_, and likewise in the Monuments of
the Ancients, more or less; for they all suppos’d a World before the
Deluge. But ’tis the Philosophy of this primitive World that hath been
lost in a great Measure; what the State of Nature was then, and wherein
it differ’d from the present or postdiluvian order of Things. This, I
confess, hath been little taken notice of; it hath been generally
thought or presum’d, that the World before the Flood was of the same
Form and Constitution with the present World: This we do not deny, but
rather think it design’d and providential, that there should not remain
a clear and full Knowledge of that first State of Things; and we may
easily suppose how it might decay and perish, if we consider how little
of the remote Antiquities of the World have ever been brought down to
our Knowledge.

THE _Greeks_ and _Romans_ divided the Ages of the World into three
Periods or Intervals, whereof they call’d the first the _Obscure_
Period, the second the _Fabulous_, and the third _Historical_. The dark
and obscure Period was from the Beginning of the World to the Deluge;
what pass’d then, either in Nature, or amongst Men, they have no
Records, no Account, by their own Confession; all that Space of Time was
cover’d with Darkness and Oblivion; so that we ought rather to wonder at
those Remains they have, and those broken Notions of the Golden Age, and
the Conditions of it, how they were sav’d out of the common Ship-wrack,
than to expect from them the Philosophy of that World, and all its
Differences from the present. And as for the other Nations that pretend
to greater Antiquities, to more ancient History and Chronology, from
what is left of their Monuments, many will allow only this Difference,
that their fabulous Age begun more high, or that they had more ancient
Fables.

BUT besides that our Expectations cannot be great from the Learning of
the _Gentiles_, we have not the Means or Opportunity to inform our
selves well what Notions they did leave us concerning the primitive
World; for their Books and Monuments are generally lost, or lie hid
unknown to us. The Learning of the World may be divided into the Eastern
Learning and the Western; and I look upon the Eastern as far more
considerable for philosophical Antiquities, and philosophical
Conclusions; I say _Conclusions_, for I do not believe either of them
had any considerable Theory, or Contexture of Principles and Conclusions
together: But ’tis certain that in the East, from what Source soever it
came, humane or divine, they had some extraordinary Doctrines and
Notions disperst amongst them. Now as by the western Learning we
understand that of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_; so by the eastern that
which was amongst the _Egyptians_, _Phœnicians_, _Chaldæans_,
_Assyrians_, _Indians_, _Ethiopians_, and _Persians_; and of the
Learning of these Nations, how little have we now left? Except some
Fragments and Citations in _Greek_ Authors, what do we know of them? The
modern _Brackmans_, and the _Persees_, or _Pagan Persians_, have some
broken Remains of Traditions relating to the Origin and Changes of the
World: But if we had not only those Books entire, whereof we have now
the Gleanings and Reversions only; but all that have perish’d besides,
especially in that famous Library at _Alexandria_; if these, I say, were
all restor’d to the World again, we might promise our selves the
Satisfaction of seeing more of the Antiquities, and natural History of
the first World, than we have now left, or can reasonably expect. That
Library we speak of at _Alexandria_, was a Collection, beside _Greek_
Books, of _Egyptian_, _Chaldæan_, and all the Eastern Learning; and
_Cedrenus_ makes it to consist of an hundred thousand Volumes: But
_Josephus_ saith, when the Translation of the Bible by the _Septuagint_
was to be added to it, _Demetrius Phalerius_, (who was Keeper or
Governor of it) told the King then, that he had already two hundred
thousand Volumes, and that he hop’d to make them five hundred thousand;
and he was better than his Word, or his Successors for him; for
_Ammianus Marcellinus_, and other Authors, report them to have increas’d
to seven hundred thousand. This Library was unfortunately burnt in the
sacking of _Alexandria_ by _Cæsar_, and considering that all these were
ancient Books, and generally of the eastern Wisdom, ’twas an inestimable
and irreparable Loss to the Commonwealth of Learning. In like manner we
are told of a vast Library of Books of all Arts and Sciences in _China_,
burnt by the Command or Caprice of one of their Kings. Wherein the
_Chineses_, according to their Vanity, were us’d to say, greater Riches
were lost, than will be in the last Conflagration.

WE are told also of the _Abyssine_, or _Ethiopick_ Library, as something
very extraordinary. ’Twas formerly in great Reputation, but is now, I
suppose, embezzled and lost. But I was extreamly surpriz’d by a Treatise
brought to me some few Months since, wherein are mention’d some
_Ethiopick_ Antiquities relating to the primæval Earth and the Deluge:
To both which they give such Characters and Properties as are in Effect
the very same with those assign’d them in this Theory. They say the
first Earth was much greater than the present, higher and more advanc’d
into the Air: That it was smooth and regular in its Surface, without
Mountains or Valleys, but hollow within; and was spontaneously fruitful,
without plowing or sowing. This was its first State: but when Mankind
became degenerate and outragious with Pride and Violence, the angry
Gods, as they say, by Earthquakes and Concussions, broke the habitable
Orb of the Earth, and thereupon the subterraneous Waters gushing out,
drown’d it in a Deluge, and destroy’d Mankind. Upon this Fraction it
came into another Form, with a Sea, Lakes and Rivers, as we now have.
And those Parts of the broken Earth that stood above the Waters became
Mountains, Rocks, Islands, and so much of the Land as we now inhabit.
This Account is given us by _Barnardinus Ramazzinus_, (in his Treatise
_De Fontium Mutinensium Scaturigine_.[2]) Taken from a Book writ by
_Fransisco Patricio_, to whom this wonderful Tradition was deliver’d by
Persons of Credit, from an _Æthiopian_ Philosoper then in _Spain_. I
have not yet had the good Fortune to see that Book of _Francisco
Patricio_; ’twas writ in _Italian_ with this Title, _Della Rhetorica
degli Antichi_: Printed at _Venice_, 1562. This Story indeed deserves to
be enquired after, for we do not any where amongst the Ancients, meet
with such a full and explicit Narration of the State of the first and
second Earth. That which comes nearest to it are those Accounts we find
in _Plato_, from the _Ægyptian_ Antiquities, in his _Timæus_,
_Politicus_, and _Phœdo_, of another Earth, and another State of Nature
and Mankind. But none of them are so full and distinct as this
_Æthiopian_ Doctrine.

AS for the Western Learning, we may remember what the _Ægyptian_ Priest
says to _Solon_, in _Plato_’s _Timæus_, _You Greeks are always
Children_, and know nothing of Antiquity; and if the _Greeks_ were so,
much more the _Romans_, who came after them in time; and for so great a
People, and so much civiliz’d, never any had less Philosophy, and less
of the Sciences amongst them than the _Romans_ had: They studied only
the Art of Speaking, of Governing, and of Fighting; and left the rest to
the _Greeks_ and eastern Nations, as unprofitable. Yet we have Reason to
believe, that the best philosophical Antiquities that the _Romans_ had,
perish’d with the Books of _Varro_, of _Numa Pompilius_, and of the
ancient _Sibyls_, (_De Civ. Dei, lib. 6. Dion. Halic. Ant. Rom. lib.
4._) _Varro_ writ, as St. _Austin_ tells us, a Multitude of Volumes, and
of various Sorts, and I had rather retrieve his Works, than the Works of
any other _Roman_ Author; not his Etymologies and Criticisms, where we
see nothing admirable, but his _Theologia Physica_, and his
_Antiquitates_; which in all Probability would have given us more Light
into remote Times, and the natural History of the past World, than all
the _Latin_ Authors besides have done. He has left the foremention’d
Distinction of three Periods of Time; He had the Doctrine of the
_Mundane Egg_, as we see in _Probus Grammaticus_; and he gave us that
Observation of the Star _Venus_, concerning the great Change she
suffered about the Time of our Deluge.

_Numa Pompilius_ was doubtless a contemplative Man, and ’tis thought
that he understood the true System of the World, and represented the Sun
by his _Vestal Fire_; tho’, methinks, _Vesta_ does not so properly refer
to the Sun, as to the Earth, which hath a sacred Fire too, that is not
to be extinguish’d. He order’d his Books to be buried with him, which
were found in a Stone Chest by him, four hundred Years after his Death:
They were in all twenty-four, whereof twelve contain’d sacred Rites and
Ceremonies, and the other twelve the Philosophy and Wisdom of the
_Greeks_; the _Romans_ gave them to the _Prætor Petilius_ to peruse; and
to make his Report to the Senate, whether they were fit to be publish’d
or no: The _Prætor_ made a wise politick Report, that the Contents of
them might be of dangerous Consequence to the establish’d Laws and
Religion; and thereupon they were condemn’d to be burnt, and Posterity
was depriv’d of that ancient Treasure, whatsoever it was. What the nine
Books of the _Sibyl_ contain’d, that were offer’d to King _Tarquin_, we
little know; she valued them high, and the higher still, the more they
seem’d to slight or neglect them; which is a Piece of very natural
Indignation or Contempt, when one is satisfied of the Worth of what they
offer. ’Tis likely they respected, besides the Fate of _Rome_, the Fate
and several Periods of the World, both past and to come, and the most
mystical Passages of them. And in these Authors and Monuments are lost
the greatest Hopes of natural and philosophick Antiquities, that we
could have had from the _Romans_.

AND as to the _Greeks_, their best and sacred Learning was not
originally their own; they enrich’d themselves with the Spoils of the
East, and the Remains we have of that eastern Learning, is what we pick
out of the _Greeks_; whose Works, I believe, if they were intirely
extant, we should not need to go any further for Witnesses to confirm
all the principal Parts of this Theory. With what Regret does one read
in _Laertius_, _Suidas_, and others, the promising Titles of Books writ
by the _Greek_ Philosophers, Hundreds or Thousands, whereof there is not
one now extant; and those that are extant are generally but Fragments?
Those Authors also that have writ their Lives, or collected their
Opinions, have done it confusedly and injudiciously. I should hope for
as much Light and Instruction, as to the Original of the World, from
_Orpheus_ alone, if his Works had been preserv’d, as from all that is
extant now of the other _Greek_ Philosophers. We may see from what
remains of him, that he understood in a good Measure how the Earth rose
from a Chaos, what was its external Figure, and what the Form of its
inward Structure: The Opinion of the _Oval_ Figure of the Earth is
ascrib’d to _Orpheus_ and his Disciples; and the Doctrine of the
_Mundane Egg_ is so peculiarly his, that ’tis call’d by _Proclus_, the
_Orphick Egg_; not that he was the first Author of that Doctrine, but
the first that brought it into _Greece_.

THUS much concerning the Heathen Learning, Eastern and Western, and the
small Remains of it in Things Philosophical; ’tis no Wonder then if the
Account we have left us from them of the primitive Earth, and the
Antiquities of the natural World be very imperfect. And yet we have
trac’d, (in the precedent Chapter, and more largely in our _Latin_
Treatise) the Footsteps of several Parts of this Theory amongst the
Writings and Traditions of the Ancients, and even of those Parts that
seem the most strange and singular, and that are the Basis upon which
the rest stand. We have shewn there, that their Account of the Chaos,
tho’ it seem’d to many but a poetical Rhapsody, contain’d the true
Mystery of the Formation of the primitive Earth, (_Tell. Theor. lib. 2.
c. 7._) We have also shewn upon the same Occasion, that both the
external Figure and internal Form of that Earth were compriz’d and
signified in their ancient Doctrine of the Mundane Egg, which hath been
propagated through all the learned Nations, (_Ibid._ _cap. 10._) And
lastly, as to the Situation of that Earth, and the Change of its Posture
since, that the Memory of that has been kept up, we have brought several
Testimonies and Indications from the _Greek_ Philosophers, (_Ibid._) And
these were the three great and fundamental Properties of the primitive
Earth, upon which all the other depend, and all its Differences from the
present Order of Nature. You see then, tho’ Providence hath suffer’d the
ancient Heathen Learning and their Monuments, in a great Part, to
perish, yet we are not left wholly without Witnesses amongst them, in a
Speculation of this great Importance.

YOU will say, it may be, tho’ this Account, as to the Books and Learning
of the Heathen, may be look’d upon as reasonable, yet we might expect
however, from the _Jewish_ and _Christian_ Authors, a more full and
satisfactory Account of that primitive Earth, and of the old World.
First, as to the _Jews_, ’tis well known that they have no ancient
Learning, unless by Way of Tradition, amongst them. There is not a Book
extant in their Language excepting the Canon of the Old Testament, that
hath not been writ since our Saviour’s Time. They are very bad Masters
of Antiquity, and they may in some Measure be excus’d, because of their
several Captivities, Dispersions, and Desolations. In the _Babylonish_
Captivity their Temple was ransack’d, and they did not preserve, as is
thought, so much as the Autograph, or original Manuscript of the Law,
nor the Books of those of their Prophets that were then extant, and kept
in the Temple; and at their Return from the Captivity after seventy
Years, they seem to have forgot their native Language so much, that the
Law was to be interpreted to them in _Chaldee_, after it was read in
_Hebrew_; for so I understand that Interpretation in _Nehemiah_, (_Chap.
viii. 7, 8._) ’Twas a great Providence, methinks, that they should any
Way preserve their Law, and other Books of Scripture, in the Captivity,
for so long a Time; for ’tis likely they had not the Liberty of using
them in any publick Worship, seeing they return’d so ignorant of their
own Language, and, as ’tis thought, of their Alphabet and Character too.
And if their sacred Books were hardly preserv’d, we may easily believe
all others perish’d in that publick Desolation.

YET there was another Destruction of that Nation, and their Temple,
greater than this, by the _Romans_; and if there were any Remains of
Learning preserv’d in the former Ruin, or any Recruits made since that
Time, this second Desolation would sweep them all away. And accordingly
we see they have nothing left in their Tongue, beside the Bible, so
ancient as the Destruction of _Jerusalem_. These and other publick
Calamities of the _Jewish_ Nation may reasonably be thought to have
wasted their Records of ancient Learning, _if they had any_; for to
speak Truth, the _Jews_ are a People of little Curiosity, as to Sciences
and philosophical Enquiries: They were very tenacious of their own
Customs, and careful of those Traditions that did respect them, but were
not remarkable, that I know of, or thought great Proficients in any
other sort of Learning. There has been a great Fame, ’tis true, of the
_Jewish Cabala_, and of great Mysteries contain’d in it; and, I believe,
there was once a traditional Doctrine amongst some of them, that had
extraordinary Notions and Conclusions: But where is this now to be
found? The _Essenes_ were the likeliest Sect, one would think, to retain
such Doctrines; but ’tis probable they are now so mixt with Things
fabulous and fantastical, that what one should alledge from thence would
be of little or no Authority. One Head in this _Cabala_ was the Doctrine
of the _Sephiroth_, (_Vide Men. ben Isr. de Creat. prob. 28._) and tho’
the Explication of them be uncertain, the inferior _Sephiroth_ in the
corporeal World cannot so well be apply’d to any Thing, as to those
several Orbs and Regions, infolding one another, whereof the primigenial
Earth was compos’d. Yet such Conjectures and Applications, I know, are
of no Validity, but in Consort with better Arguments. I have often
thought also, that their first and second Temple represented the first
and second Earth or World; and that of _Ezekiel_’s, which is the third,
is still to be erected, the most beautiful of all, when this second
Temple of the World shall be burn’d down. If the Prophecies of _Enoch_
had been preserv’d, and taken into the Canon by _Ezra_, after their
Return from _Babylon_, when the Collection of their sacred Books is
suppos’d to have been made, we might probably have had a considerable
Account there, both of Times past and to come, of Antiquities and
Futuritions; for those Prophecies are generally suppos’d to have
contain’d both the first and second Fate of this Earth, and all the
Periods of it. But as this Book is lost to us, so I look upon all others
that pretend to be Ante-mosaical or Patriarchal, as spurious and
fabulous.

THUS much concerning the _Jews_. As for _Christian_ Authors, their
Knowledge must be from some of these foremention’d _Jews_ or _Heathens_;
or else by Apostolical Tradition: For the _Christian_ Fathers were not
very speculative, so as to raise a Theory from their own Thoughts and
Contemplations, concerning the Origin of the Earth. We have instanc’d,
in the last Chapter, in a _Christian_ Tradition concerning _Paradise_,
and the high Situation of it, which is fully consonant to the Scite of
the Primitive Earth, where _Paradise_ stood, and doth seem plainly to
refer to it, being unintelligible upon any other Supposition. And ’twas,
I believe, this Elevation of _Paradise_, and the Pencil Structure of
that _Paradisiacal_ Earth, that gave Occasion to _Celsus_, as we see by
_Origen_’s Answer, to say, that the _Christian Paradise_ was taken from
the pensile Gardens of _Alcinous:_ But we may see now what was the
Ground of such Expressions or Traditions amongst the Ancients, which
Providence left to keep Men’s Minds awake; not fully to instruct them,
but to confirm them in the Truth, when it should come to be made known
in other Methods. We have noted also above, that the ancient Books and
Authors amongst the _Christians_, that were most likely to inform us in
this Argument, have perish’d, and are lost out of the World, such as
_Ephrem Syrus de ortu rerum_, and _Tertullian de Paradiso_; and that
Piece, which is extant of _Moses Bar Cepha_’s upon this Subject,
receives more Light from our _Hypothesis_, than from any other I know;
for, correcting some Mistakes about the Figure of the Earth, which the
Ancients were often guilty of, the Obscurity or Confusion of that
Discourse in other Things may be easily rectified, if compar’d with this
Theory.

OF this Nature also is that Tradition that is common both to _Jews_ and
_Christians_, and which we have often mentioned before, that there was a
perpetual Serenity, and perpetual Equinox in _Paradise_; which cannot be
upon this Earth, not so much as under the Equinoctial; for they have a
Sort of Winter and Summer, there, a Course of Rains at certain times of
the Year, and great Inequalities of the Air, as to Heat and Cold,
Moisture and Drought. They had also Traditions amongst them, _That there
was no Rain from the Beginning of the World till the Deluge_, and _that
there were no Mountains till the Flood_, (Lat. Treat. Lib. 2. c. 10.)
and such like. These, you see, point directly at such an Earth, as we
have describ’d. And I call these _Traditions_, because we cannot find
the Original Authors of them; the ancient _ordinary Gloss_ (upon
_Genesis_) which some make eight hundred Years old, mentions both these
Opinions; so does _Historia Scholastica_, _Alcuinus_, _Rabanus Maurus_,
_Lyranus_, and such Collectors of Antiquity. _Bede_ also relates that of
the _Plainness_ or Smoothness of the _Antediluvian_ Earth. Yet these are
reported Traditionally, as it were, naming no Authors or Books from
whence they were taken: Nor can it be imagin’d that they feign’d them
themselves; to what End or Purpose? It serv’d no Interest; or upon what
Ground? Seeing they had no Theory that could lead them to such Notions
as these, or that could be strengthen’d and confirm’d by them. Those
Opinions also of the Fathers, which we recited in the seventh Chapter,
placing _Paradise_ beyond the Torrid Zone, and making it therefore
inaccessible, suit very well to the Form, Qualities, and Bipartition of
the Primæval Earth, and seem to be grounded upon them.

THUS much may serve for a short Survey of the ancient Learning, to give
us a reasonable Account, why the Memory and Knowledge of the Primitive
Earth should be so much lost out of the World; and what we retain of it
still; which would be far more, I do not doubt, if all Manuscripts were
brought to light, that are yet extant in publick or private Libraries.
The Truth is, one cannot judge with Certainty, neither what things have
been recorded and preserv’d in the Monuments of Learning, nor what are
still; nor what have been, because so many of those Monuments are lost:
The _Alexandrian_ Library, which we spoke of before, seems to have been
the greatest Collection that ever was made before Christianity, and the
_Constantinopolitan_ (begun by _Constantine_, and destroy’d in the fifth
Century, when it was rais’d to the Number, as is said, of one hundred
twenty thousand Volumes) the most valuable that was ever since, and both
these have been permitted by Providence to perish in the merciless
Flames. Beside those Devastations of Books and Libraries that have been
made in Christendom, by the _Northern_ barbarous Nations overflowing
_Europe_, and the _Saracens_ and _Turks_, great Parts of _Asia_ and
_Africk_. It is hard therefore to pronounce what Knowledge hath been in
the World, or what Accounts of Antiquity; neither can we well judge what
remain, or of what things the Memory may be still latently conserv’d:
For beside those Manuscripts that are yet unexamin’d in these Parts of
Christendom, there are many, doubtless, of good Value in other Parts;
beside those that be hid in the unchristianiz’d Dominions. The Library
of _Fez_ is said to contain thirty two thousand Volumes in _Arabick_;
and though the _Arabick_ Learning was most what _Western_, and therefore
of less Account, yet they did deal in _Eastern_ Learning too; for
_Avicenna_ writ a Book with that Title, _Philosophia Orientalis_. There
may be also in the _East_, Thousands of Manuscripts unknown to us, of
greater Value than most Books we have: And as to those Subjects we are
treating of, I should promise my self more Light and Confirmation from
the _Syriack_ Authors than from any others. These things being
consider’d, we can make but a very imperfect Estimate, what Evidences
are left us, and what Accounts of the primitive Earth; and if these
Deductions and Defalcations be made, both for what Books are wholly
lost, and for what lie asleep or dead, in Libraries, we have Reason to
be satisfied in a Theory of this Nature, to find so good Attestations as
we have produc’d for the several Parts of it; which we purpose to
enlarge upon considerably at another time and occasion.

BUT to carry this Objection as far as may be, let us suppose it to be
urg’d still in the last Place, that though these Humane Writings have
perish’d or be imperfect, yet in the Divine Writings at least, we might
expect that the Memory of the old World, and of the primitive Earth
should have been preserv’d. To this I answer in short, that we could not
expect in the Scriptures any natural Theory of that Earth, nor any
Account of it, but what was general; and this we have, both by the
_Tehom Rabba_ of _Moses_, and the Description of the same Abyss in other
Places of Scripture, as we have shewn at large in the first Book. _Chap.
vii._ And also by the Description which St. _Peter_ hath given of the
antediluvian Heavens and Earth, and their different Constitution from
the present; which is also prov’d by the Rainbow, not seen in the first
World. You will say, it may be, that that Place of St. _Peter_, _2 Pet.
iii. 5, 6_, _&c._ is capable of another Interpretation; so are most
Places of Scripture, if you speak of a bare Capacity, they are capable
of more than one Interpretation: But that which is most natural, proper,
and congruous, and suitable to the Words, suitable to the Argument, and
suitable to the Context, wherein is nothing superfluous or impertinent,
that we prefer and accept of as the most reasonable Interpretation.
Besides, in such Texts as relate to the natural World, if of two
Interpretations propos’d, one agrees better with the Theory of Nature
than the others, _cæteris paribus_, that ought to be prefer’d. And by
these two Rules we are willing to be try’d, in the Exposition of that
remarkable Discourse of St. _Peter_’s, and to stand to that Sense which
is found most agreeable to them.

GIVE me leave to conclude the whole Discourse with this general
Consideration: ’Tis reasonable to suppose, that there is a Providence in
the Conduct of _Knowledge_, as well as of other Affairs on the Earth;
and that it was not design’d that all the Mysteries of Nature and
Providence should be plainly and clearly understood throughout all the
Ages of the World; but that there is an Order establish’d for this, as
for other Things, and certain Periods and Seasons; and what was made
known to the Ancients only by broken Conclusions and Traditions will be
known (in the latter Ages of the World) in a more perfect way, by
Principles and Theories. The Increase of Knowledge being that which
changeth so much the Face of the World, and the State of humane Affairs,
I do not doubt but there is a particular Care and Superintendency for
the Conduct of it; by what Steps and Degrees it should come to light, at
what Seasons and in what Ages; what Evidence should be left, either in
Scripture, Reason, or Tradition, for the Grounds of it; how clear or
obscure, how dispers’d or united: All these things were weigh’d and
consider’d, and such Measures taken as best suit the Designs of
Providence, and the general Project and Method propos’d in the
Government of the World. And I make no Question but the State both of
the Old World, and of that which is to come, is exhibited to us in
Scripture in such a Measure and Proportion, as is fit for this
formentioned Purpose; not as the Articles of our Faith, or the Precepts
of a good Life, which he that runs may read; but to the attentive and
reflective, to those that are unprejudic’d, and to those who are
inquisitive, and have their Minds open and prepar’d for the Discernment
of Mysteries of such a Nature.

THUS much in Answer to that general Objection which might be made
against this Theory, _That_ it is not founded in Antiquity. I do not
doubt but there may be many particular Objections against Parts and
Sections of it, and the exposing it thus in our own Tongue may excite
some one or other, it may be, to make them; but if any be so minded, I
desire (if they be Scholars) that it may rather be in _Latin_, as being
more proper for a Subject of this Nature; and also that they would keep
themselves close to the Substance of the Theory, and wound that as much
as they can: But to make Excursions upon Things accidental or
collateral, that do not destroy the _Hypothesis_, is but to trouble the
World with Impertinencies. Now the Substance of the Theory is this, THAT
there was a _Primitive Earth_ of another Form from the present, and
inhabited by Mankind till the Deluge: That it had those Properties and
Conditions that we have ascrib’d to it, namely, a perpetual Equinox or
Spring, by reason of its _right_ Situation to the Sun; was of an oval
Figure, and the exterior Face of it smooth and uniform, without
Mountains or a Sea. That in this Earth stood _Paradise_; the Doctrine
whereof cannot be understood but upon Supposition of this primitive
Earth, and its Properties. Then that the Disruption and Fall of this
Earth into the Abyss, which lay under it, was that which made the
universal Deluge, and the Destruction of the old World; and that neither
_Noah_’s Flood, nor the present Form of the Earth, can be explain’d in
any other Method that is rational, nor by any other Causes that are
intelligible, at least, that have been hitherto propos’d to the World.
These are the Vitals of the Theory, and the primary Assertions, whereof
I do freely profess my full Belief; and whosoever by solid Reasons will
shew me in an Error, and undeceive me, I shall be very much oblig’d to
him. There are other lesser Conclusions which flow from these, and may
be call’d Secondary, as that the Longevity of the Ante-diluvians
depended upon their perpetual Equinox, and the perpetual Equality and
Serenity of the Air: That the Torrid Zone in the primitive Earth was
uninhabitable, and that all their Rivers flow’d from the extream Parts
of the Earth towards the Equinoctial; there being neither Rain nor
Rainbow in the temperate and habitable Regions of it: And lastly, That
the Place of _Paradise_, according to the Opinion of Antiquity, (for I
determine no Place by the Theory) was in the southern Hemisphere. These,
I think, are all truly deduc’d and prov’d in their several Ways, tho’
they be not such essential Parts of the Theory, as the former. There are
also besides, many particular Explications that are to be consider’d
with more Liberty and Latitude, and may be perhaps upon better Thoughts,
or better Observations, corrected without any Prejudice to the general
Theory. Those Places of Scripture, which we have cited, I think, are all
truly apply’d; and I have not mention’d _Moses_’s _Cosmopœia_, because I
thought it deliver’d by him as a Lawgiver, not as a Philosopher; which I
intend to shew at large in another Treatise, not thinking that
Discussion proper for the vulgar Tongue. Upon the whole, we are to
remember, that some Allowances are to be made for every _Hypothesis_
that is new propos’d and untry’d; and that we ought not, out of Levity
of Wit, or any private Design, discountenance free and fair Essays; nor
from any other Motive but the only Love and Concern of Truth.

Footnote 2:

  Page 41. _Franciscus Patricius, Vir eruditione sat clarus, in quodam
  libello suo de Antiquorum Rhetoricâ, Italico idiomate conscripto, ac
  Venetiis impresso per Franciscum Senensem, Dialogo primo satis lepidam
  narrationem habet, quam referi Julium Strozzam à Comite Balthasare
  Castilioneo audivisse, Illum verò à Philosopho quodam Abyssino in
  Hispaniâ accepisse. Narrabat ergo sapiens ille Abyssinus in
  antiquissimus Æthiopiæ Annalibus descriptam esse historiam perditionis
  humani generis & disruptionis totius Terræ. In Mundi scilicet
  primordiis fuisse Terram multo ampliorem quam nunc est, ac Cœlo
  proximiorem, perfectè rotundam, sine Montibus ac Vallibus, totam tamen
  intras cavernosam ad instar spongiæ, hominesque in illâ habitantes, ac
  æthere purissimo gaudentes, jucundum ævum duxisse, Terrâ inaratâ
  optimas fruges, & fructus ferente. Cum autem post diuturnum sæculorum
  fluxum homines superbiâ elati à priscâ illâ bonitate descivissent,
  Deos irates Terram adeo validè concussisse, ut major illius pars intra
  proprias externas deciderit, atque hoc pacto Aquam in latebræsis
  recessibus ante conclusam, expressam violenter fuisse, atque ita
  Fontes, Fiumina, Lacus & Mare ipsium ortum duxisse. Eam vero Terra
  portionem que intra has non deculisset, sed reliquâ elatior fluisset.
  Montium formam. Insulas porrò & scopulos in medio mari ad aliud esse
  nisi segmenta Terra cavernosa ab illo istius terrenæ milos præcipere
  casu superstitis._




                                CHAP. X.
                    Concerning the Author of Nature.


SEEING the Theory which we have propos’d in this Work is of that Extent
and Comprehension, that it begins with the first Foundation of this
World, and is to reach to the last Period of it, in one continued Series
or Chain of Nature; it will not be improper, before we conclude, to make
some Reflections and Remarks what _Nature_ is, and upon what superior
Causes she depends in all her Motions and Operations: And this will lead
us to the Discovery of the _Author_ of Nature, and to the true Notion
and State of _Natural Providence_, which seems to have been hitherto
very much neglected, or little understood in the World. And ’tis the
more reasonable and fitting that we should explain these Notions before
we shut up this Treatise, lest those natural Explications which we have
given of the Deluge, and other Things, should be mistaken or misapply’d;
seeing some are apt to run away with Pieces of a Discourse, which they
think applicable to their Purpose, or which they can maliciously
represent, without attending to the Scope or just Limitations of what is
spoken.

BY _Nature_ in general is understood all the Powers of finite Beings,
with the Laws establish’d for their Action and Conduct according to the
ordinary Course of Things. And this extends both to intellectual Beings
and corporeal; but seeing ’tis only the material World that hath been
the Subject of our Discourse, Nature, as to that, may be defin’d, the
Powers of _Matter_, with the Laws establish’d for their Action and
Conduct. Seeing also Matter hath no Action, whether from it self, or
imprest upon it, but Motion, as to the corporeal World, Nature is no
more than the Powers and Capacities of Matter, with the Laws that govern
the Motions of it. And this Definition is so plain and easy, that, I
believe, all Parties will agree in it; there will also be no great
Controversy what these Laws are. As that one Part of Matter cannot
penetrate another, nor be in several Places at once; That the greater
Body overcomes the less, and the swifter the slower; That all Motion is
in a right Line, till something obstruct it or divert it; which are
Points little disputed as to the Matter of Fact; but the Points
concerning which the Controversy ariseth, and which are to lead us to
the Author of Nature, are these; _Who_ or _what_ is the Author of these
_Laws_ of this _Motion_, and even of _Matter_ it self; and of all those
Modes and Forms of it which we see in Nature?

THE Question useth chiefly to be put concerning _Motion_, how it came
into the World; what the first Source of it is, or how Matter came at
first to be mov’d? For the simple Notion of Matter, not divided into
Parts, nor diversified, doth not imply Motion, but Extension only: ’Tis
true, from Extension there necessarily follows _Mobility_, or a Capacity
of being mov’d by an external Power, but not actual or necessary Motion,
springing from it self. For Dimensions, or Length, Breadth, and Depth,
which is the _Idea_ of Matter, or of a Body, do no Way include local
Motion, or Translation of Parts; on the contrary, we do more easily and
naturally conceive simple Extension as a Thing steady and fix’d; and if
we conceive Motion in it, or in its Parts, we must superadd something to
our first Thought, and something that does not flow from Extension. As
when we conceive a Figure, a Triangle, Square, or any other, we
naturally conceive it fix’d or quiescent; and if afterwards we imagine
it in Motion, that is purely accidental to the Figure; in like Manner it
is accidental to Matter, that there should be Motion in it, it hath no
inward Principle from whence that can flow, and its Nature is compleat
without it; wherefore, if we find Motion and Action in Matter, which is
of it self a dead inactive Mass; this should lead us immediately to the
Author of Nature, or to some external Power distinct from Matter, which
is the Cause of all Motion in the World.

IN single Bodies, and single Parts of Matter, we readily believe and
conclude, that they do not move, unless something move them, and why
should we not conclude the same Thing of the whole Mass? If a Rock or
Mountain cannot move it self, nor divide it self, either into great
Gobbets, or into small Powder, why should it not be as impossible for
the whole Mass of Matter to do so? ’Tis true, Matter is capable both of
Motion and Rest; yet to conceive it undivided, undiversified and
unmoved, is certainly a more simple Notion, than to conceive it divided
and mov’d; and this being first in Order of Nature, and an adequate
Conception too, we ought to enquire and give our selves an Account how
it came out of this State, and by what Causes, or, as we said before,
how _Motion came first into the World_.

IN the second Place, That Diversity which we see in Nature, both as to
the Qualities of Matter, and the Compositions of it, being one Step
further than bare Motion, ought also to be a further Indication of the
Author of Nature, and to put us upon Enquiry into the Causes of this
Diversity. There is nothing more uniform than simple Extension, nothing
more the same throughout, all of a Piece, and all of a Sort, similar,
and like to itself every where; yet we find the Matter of the Universe
diversified a thousand Ways, into Heavens and Earth, Air and Water,
Stars, Meteors, Light, Darkness, Stones, Wood, Animals, and all
terrestrial Bodies; These Diversifications are still further Removes
from the natural Unity and Identity of Matter, and a further Argument of
some external and superior Power that hath given these different Forms
to the several Portions of Matter, by the Intervention of Motion. For if
you exclude the Author of Nature, and suppose nothing but Matter in the
World, take whether _Hypothesis_ you will, either that Matter is without
Motion of it self, or that it is of it self in Motion, there could not
arise this Diversity, and these Compositions in it. If it was without
Motion, then the Case is plain, for it would be nothing but an hard
inflexible Lump of impenetrable Extension, without any Diversity at all.
And if you suppose it mov’d of it self, or to have an innate Motion,
that would certainly hinder all Sort of natural Concretions and
Compositions, and in Effect destroy all Continuity. For Motion, if it be
essential to Matter, it is essential to every Atom of it, and equally
diffus’d throughout all its Parts; and all those Parts or Atoms would be
equal to one another, and as little as possible; for if Matter was
divided into Parts by its own innate Motion, that would melt it down
into Parts as little as possible, and consequently all equal to one
another, there being no reason why you should stop those Divisions, or
the Effect of this innate _Impetus_ in any one Part sooner than in
another, or in any Part indeed, till it was divided as much as was
possible: wherefore upon this Principle, or in this Method, all the
Matter of the Universe would be one liquid or volatile Mass, smaller
than Pin-dust, nay, than Air or Æther; and there would be no Diversity
of Forms, only another sort of Identity from the former, when we
suppos’d it wholly without Motion. And so, upon the whole, you see, that
Matter, whether we allow it Motion, or no Motion, could not come into
that Variety of Tempers and Compositions in which we find it in the
World, without the Influence and Direction of a superior external Cause,
which we call the Author of Nature.

BUT there is still a further and stronger Argument from this Head, if we
consider not only the Diversity of Bodies that the Mass of Matter is cut
into, but also that that Diversity is _regular_, and in some Parts of it
admirably artful and ingenious. This will not only lead us to an Author
of Nature, but to such an Author as hath Wisdom as well as Power. Matter
is a brute Being, stupid and senseless; and tho’ we should suppose it to
have a Force to move it self, yet that it should be able to meditate and
consult, and take its Measures how to frame a World, a regular and
beautiful Structure, consisting of such and such Parts and Regions, and
adapted to such and such Purposes, this would be too extravagant to
imagine; to allow it not only Motion from it self, but Wit and Judgment
too; and that before it came into any organical or animate Composition.

YOU’ll say, it may be, the Frame of the World was not the Result of
Counsel and Consultation, but of _Necessity_; Matter being once in
Motion under the Conduct of those Laws that are essential to it, it
wrought it self by Degrees from one State into another, till at length
it came into the present Form which we call the World. These are Words
thrown out at Random, without any Pretence of Ground, only to see if
they can be confuted; and so they may easily be; for we have shewn
already, that if Matter had innate Motion, it would be so far from
running into the orderly and well dispos’d Frame of the World, that it
would run into no Frame at all, into no Forms or Compositions, or
Diversity of Bodies; but would either be all fluid, or all solid; either
every single Particle in a separate Motion, or all in one continued
Mass, with an universal Tremor, or Inclination to move without actual
Separation; and either of these two States is far from the Form of a
World. Secondly, As to the Laws of Motion, as some of them are essential
to Matter, so others are not demonstrable, but upon Supposition of an
Author of Nature. And thirdly, Tho’ all the Laws of Motion be admitted,
they cannot bring Matter into the Form of a World, unless some Measures
be taken at first by an intelligent Being; I say, some Measures be taken
to determine the primary Motions upon which the rest depend, and to put
them in a Way that leads to the Formation of a World. The Mass must be
divided into Regions, and Centers fixt, and Motions appropriated to
them; and it must be consider’d of what Magnitude the first Bodies, or
the first Divisions of Matter should be, and how mov’d: Besides, there
must be a determinate Proportion, and certain Degree of Motion imprest
upon the universal Matter, to qualify it for the Production of a World;
if the Dose was either too strong or too weak, the Work would miscarry;
and nothing but infinite Wisdom could see thro’ the Effects of every
Proportion, or every new degree of Motion, and discern which was best
for the Beginning, Progress, and Perfection of a World. So you see the
Author of Nature is no Way excluded, or made useless by the Laws of
Motion; nor if Matter was promiscuously mov’d, would these be sufficient
Causes of themselves to produce a World, or that regular Diversity of
Bodies that compose it.

BUT ’tis hard to satisfy Men against their Inclinations, or their
Interest: And as their Regularity of the Universe was always a great
Stumbling-stone to the _Epicureans_; so they have endeavour’d to make
Shifts of all Sorts to give an Account and Answer to it, without
Recourse to an intelligent Principle; and for their last Refuge, they
say, that Chance might bring that to pass, which Nature and Necessity
could not do; the Atoms might hit upon a lucky Set of Motions, which,
tho’ it were casual and fortuitous, might happily lead them to the
forming of a World. A lucky hit indeed, for Chance to frame a World: But
this is a mere Shuffle and Collusion; for if there was nothing in Nature
but Matter, there could be no such Thing as _Chance_, all would be pure
_Mechanical Necessity_; and so this Answer, tho’ it seem very different,
is the same in effect with the former, and _Epicurus_ with his
anatomists are oblig’d to give a just mechanical Account, how all the
Parts of Nature, the most compound and elaborate Parts not excepted,
rise from their Atoms by pure Necessity: There could be no accidental
Concourse or Coalition of them, every step, every motion, every
composition was fatal and necessary, and therefore ’tis Nonsense for an
_Epicurean_ to talk of Chance, as Chance is oppos’d to Necessity; and if
they oppose it to _Counsel_ and _Wisdom_, ’tis little better than
Nonsense, to say the World and all its Furniture rose by Chance, in that
Notion of it. But it will deserve our Patience a little, to give a more
full and distinct Answer to this, seeing it reacheth all their Pleas and
Evasions at once.

WHAT Proof or Demonstration of Wisdom and Counsel can be given, or can
be desir’d, that is not found in some Part of the World, animate or
inanimate? We know but a little Portion of the Universe, a mere Point in
Comparison, and a broken Point too; and yet in this broken Point, or
some small Parcels of it, there is more of Art, Counsel and Wisdom
shewn, than in all the Works of Men taken together, or than in all our
_Artificial_ World. In the Construction of the Body of an Animal, there
is more of Thought and Contrivance, more of exquisite Invention, and fit
Disposition of Parts, than is in all the Temples, Palaces, Ships,
Theatres, or any other Pieces of Architecture the World ever yet saw:
And not Architecture only, but all other Mechanism whatsoever, Engines,
Clock-work, or any other, is not comparable to the Body of a living
Creature. Seeing then we acknowledge these artificial Works, wheresoever
we meet with them, to be the Effects of Wit, Understanding and Reason,
is it not manifest Partiality, or Stupidity rather, to deny the Works of
Nature, which excel these in all Degrees, to proceed from an intelligent
Principle? Let them take any Piece of humane Art, or any Machine fram’d
by the Wit of Man, and compare it with the Body of an Animal, either for
Diversity and Multiplicity of Workmanship, or Curiosity in the minute
Parts, or just Connexion and Dependance of one Thing upon another, or
fit Subserviency to the Ends propos’d, of Life, Motion, Use and Ornament
to the Creature; and if in all these Respects they find it superior to
any Work of humane Production, (as they certainly must do) why should it
be thought to proceed from inferior and senseless Causes? Ought we not
in this, as well as in other Things, to proportion the Causes to the
Effect, and to speak Truth, and bring in an honest Verdict for Nature as
well as Art?

IN the Composition of a perfect Animal, there are four several Frames or
Compages join’d together, the natural, vital, animal and genital: Let
them examine anyone of these apart, and try if they can find any Thing
defective or superfluous, or any Way inept for Matter or Form. Let them
view the whole Compages of the Bones, and especially the admirable
Constitution, Texture, and Disposition of the Muscles, which are join’d
with them for moving the Body, or its Parts. Let them take an Account of
the little Pipes and Conduits for the Juices and the Liquors, of their
Form and Distribution; or let them take any single Organ to examine, as
the Eye, or the Ear, the Hand, or the Heart: In each of these they may
discover such Arguments of Wisdom, and of Art, as will either convince
them, or confound them; tho’ still they must leave greater undiscover’d.
We know little the insensible Form and Contexture of the Parts of the
Body, nor the just Method of their Action: We know not yet the Manner,
Order and Causes of the Motion of the Heart, which is the chief Spring
of the whole Machine; and with how little Exactness do we understand the
Brain, and the Parts belonging to it? Why of that Temper and of that
Form: How Motions are propagated there, and how conserv’d: How they
answer the several Operations of the Mind: Why such little Discomposures
of it disturb our Senses, and upon what little Differences in this the
great Differences of Wits and Genius’s depend. Yet seeing in all these
Organs, whose Make and Manner of Action we cannot discover, we see
however by the Effects, that they are truly fitted for those Offices to
which Nature hath design’d them, we ought in Reason to admire that Art
which we cannot penetrate. At least we cannot but judge it a Thing
absurd, that what we have not Wit enough to find out or comprehend, we
should not allow to be an Argument of Wit and Understanding in the
Author, or Inventor of it. This would be against all Logick, common
Sense, and common _Decorum_. Neither do I think it possible to the Mind
of Man, while we attend to Evidence, to believe that these, and such
like Works of Nature came by _Chance_, as they call it, or without
Providence, Forecast and Wisdom, either in the first Causes, or in the
proximate; in the Design, or in the Execution; in the Preparation to
them, or in the finishing of them.

WHEREFORE, in my Judgment, if any be of this Persuasion, it cannot be so
much the Effect of their Understanding, as of their Disposion and
Inclination; and in moral Things, Mens Opinions do as often spring from
the one, as from the other. For my Part, I do generally distinguish of
two Sorts of Opinions in all Men, _Inclination-opinions_, and
_Reason’d-opinions_; Opinions that grow upon Mens Complexions, and
Opinions that are the Results of their Reason; and I meet with very few
that are of a Temperament so equal, or a Constitution so even pois’d,
but that they incline to one Set of Opinions rather than another,
antecedently to all Proofs of Reason: And when they have espous’d their
Opinions from that secret Sympathy, then they find out as good Reasons
as they can, to maintain them, and say, nay think sometimes, that ’twas
for the sake of those Reasons that they first embrac’d them. We may
commonly distinguish these Inclination-opinions from the rational,
because we find them accompanied with more Heat than Light, a great deal
of Eagerness and Impatience in defending of them, and but slender
Arguments. One might give Instances of this, both in Sects of Religion
and Philosophy, in _Platonists_, _Stoicks,_ and _Epicureans_, that are
so by their Temper more than their Reason; but to our Purpose it will be
sufficient to instance in one hearty _Epicurean_, _Lucretius_, who is
manifestly such, more from his Inclination, and the Bent of his Spirit,
than from the Force of Argument. For tho’ his Suppositions be very
precarious, and his Reasonings all along very slight, he will many times
strut and triumph, as if he had rested the Thunder out of _Jove_’s right
Hand; and a Mathematician is not more confident of his Demonstration,
than he seems to be of the Truth of his shallow Philosophy. From such a
Principle of natural Complexion as this, I allow a Man may be
Athestical, but never from the calm Dictate of his Reason; yet he may be
as confident and as tenacious of his Conclusion, as if he had a clear
and distinct Evidence for it. For I take it to be a true Maxim in humane
Nature, that _a strong Inclination, with a little Evidence, is
equivalent to a strong Evidence_. And therefore we are not to be
surpriz’d if we find Men confident in their Opinions many times far
beyond the Degree of their Evidence, seeing there are other Things,
besides Evidence, that incline the Will to one Conclusion rather than
another. And as I have instanc’d in natural Complexion, so _Interest_
hath the same Effect upon humane Nature, because it always begets an
Inclination to those Opinions that favour our Interest, and a
Disinclination to the contrary: And this Principle may be another
Ingredient, and secret Persuasive to Atheism; for when Men have run
themselves so deep into Vice and Immorality, that they expect no Benefit
from a God, ’tis in a Manner necessary to their Quiet, and the Ease of
their Mind, that they should fancy there is none; for they are afraid,
if there be a God, that he will not stand neuter, and let them alone in
another World. This, I say, is necessary to the Quiet of their Mind,
unless they can attain that great Art, which many labour after, of
_Non-reflection_, or an _unthinking Faculty_, as to God and a World to
come. But to return to our Argument, after this short Digression——

AND as that regular Diversity which we see in the Forms of Nature, and
especially in the Bodies of Animals, could not be from any blind
Principle, either of Necessity or of Chance; so in the last Place, that
_Subordination_ which we see in the Parts of Nature, and Subserviency to
one another, the less Noble to the more Noble, the Inanimate to the
Animate, and all Things upon Earth unto Man, must needs have been the
Effect of some Being higher than Matter; that did wisely dispose all
Things so at first, and doth still conserve them in the same order. If
Man had been born into the World, and a numerous Host of Creatures,
without any Provision or Accommodation made for their Subsistence and
Conveniences, we might have suspected that they had come by Chance, and
therefore were so ill provided for: But which of them can complain?
Thro’ their various kinds and orders, what is there awanting? They are
all fitted to their several Elements, and their ways of living, Birds,
Beasts, and Fishes, both by the Form and Shape of their Bodies, the
manner of their Covering, and the Quality of their Food. Besides, they
are instructed in little Arts and Instincts for their Conservation; and
not only for their proper Conservation, but also to find a way to make
and bring up young ones, and leave behind them a Posterity: And all this
in so fit a Method, and by such a pretty Train of Actions, as is really
admirable.

MAN is the Master of all, and of him a double Care is taken; that he
should neither want what Nature can afford, nor what Art can supply. He
could not be provided of all Conveniences by Nature only, especially to
secure him against the Injuries of the Air; but in Recompence, Nature
hath provided Materials for all those Arts which she saw would be
needful in humane Life, as Building, Cloathing, Navigation, Agriculture,
_&c._ that so Mankind might have both wherewithal to answer their
Occasions, and also to employ their Time, and exercise their Ingenuity.
This Oeconomy of Nature, as I may call it, or well ordering of the great
Family of living Creatures, is an Argument both of Goodness and of
Wisdom, and is every way far above the Powers of Brute Matter. All
regular Administration we ascribe to Conduct and Judgment: If an Army of
Men be well provided for, in things necessary both for Food, Cloaths,
Arms, Lodging, Security and Defence, so as nothing is awanting in so
great a Multitude, we suppose it the Effect of Care and Forecast in
those Persons that had the Charge of it: They took their Measures at
first, computed and proportion’d one thing to another, made good
Regulations, and gave Orders for convenient Supplies. And can we suppose
the great Army of Creatures upon Earth, managed and provided for with
less Fore-thought and Providence, nay, with none at all, by mere Chance?
This is to recede from all Rules and Analogy of Reason, only to serve a
Turn, and gratify an unreasonable Humour.

TO conclude this Argument; there are two general Heads of things, if I
recollect aright, which we make the Marks and Characters of Wisdom and
Reason, Works of Art, and the Conduct of Affairs or Direction of Means
to an End; and wheresoever we meet, either with regular material Works,
or a regular Ordination of Affairs, we think we have a good Title and
Warrant to derive them from an intelligent Author: Now these two being
found in the natural World, and that in an eminent Degree, the one in
the Frame of it, and the other in the Oeconomy of it, we have all the
Evidence and Ground that can be, in arguing from Things visible to
Things invisible, that there is an Author of Nature, superior both to
humane Power and humane Wisdom.

BEFORE we proceed to give any further Proofs or Discoveries of the
Author of Nature, let us reflect a little upon those we have already
insisted upon; which have been taken wholly from the material World, and
from the common Course of Nature. The very Existence of Matter is a
Proof of a Deity, for the _Idea_ of it hath no Connexion with Existence,
as we shall shew hereafter; however we will take leave now to set it
down with the rest in Order as they follow one another.

    1. _The Existence of Matter._

    2. _The Motion of Matter._

    3. _The just Quantity and Degree of that Motion._

    4. _The first Form of the Universe upon Motion imprest; both as to
    the Divisions of Matter, and the Leading Motions._

    5. _The Laws for Communication and Regulation of that Motion._

    6. _The regular Effects of it, especially in the Animate World._

    7. _The Oeconomy of Nature, and fit Subordination of one part of the
    World to another._

_The_ five first of these Heads are Prerequisites and Preparatives to
the Formation of a World, and the two last are as the Image and
Character of its Maker, of his Power, Goodness and Wisdom, imprest upon
it. Every one of them might well deserve a Chapter to it self, if the
Subject was to be treated on at large; but this is only an occasional
Dissertation, to state the Powers of Matter, lest they should be thought
boundless, and the Author of Nature unnecessary, as the _Epicureans_
pretend; but notwithstanding their vain Confidence and Credulity, I defy
them, or any Man else, to make Sense of the material World, without
placing a God at the Center of it.

TO these Considerations, taken wholly from the corporeal World, give me
leave to add one of a mix’d Nature, concerning the _Union of our Soul
and Body_. This strange Effect, if rightly understood, doth as truly
discover the Author of Nature, as many Effects that are accounted more
supernatural. The Incarnation, as I may so say, of a spiritual Substance
is to me a kind of standing Miracle; that there should be such an Union
and Connexion reciprocally betwixt the Motions of the Body, and the
Actions and Passions of the Soul; betwixt a Substance intellectual, and
a Parcel of organiz’d Matter, can be no Effect of either of those
Substances; being wholly distinct in themselves, and remote in their
Natures from one another. For Instance, when my finger is cut, or when
’tis burnt, that my Soul thereupon should feel such a smart and violent
Pain, is no Consequence of Nature, or does not follow from any Connexion
there is betwixt the Motion or Division of that Piece of Matter, I call
my Finger, and the Passion of that Spirit I call my Soul; for these are
two distinct Essences, and in themselves independent upon one another,
as much as the Sun and my Body are independent; and there is no more
Reason in strict Nature, or in the essential Chain of Causes and
Effects, that my Soul should suffer, or be affected with this Motion in
the Finger, than that the Sun should be affected with it; nay, there is
less Reason, if less can be, for the Sun being corporeal, as the Finger
is, there is some remote Possibility that there might be Communication
of Motion betwixt them; but Motion cannot beget a Thought, or a Passion,
by its own Force; Motion can beget nothing but Motion, and if it should
produce a Thought, the Effect would be more noble than the Cause.
Wherefore this Union is not by any Necessity of Nature, but only from a
positive institution or Decree, establish’d by the Author of Nature,
that there should be such a Communication betwixt these two Substances
for a time, _viz._ during the Vitality of the Body.

’TIS true indeed, if Thought, Apprehension, and Reason, was nothing but
corporeal Motion, this Argument would be of no Force; but to suppose
this, is to admit an Absurdity to cure a Difficulty; to make a Thought
out of a local Motion is like making a God out of a Stock, or a Stone;
for these two are as remote in their Nature, and have as different
_Idea’s_ in the Mind, as any two desperate Things we can propose or
conceive; Number and Colour, a Triangle and Virtue, Free-will and a
Pyramid, are not more unlike, more distant, or of more different Forms,
than Thought and local Motion. Motion is nothing but a Body’s changing
its Place and Situation amongst other Bodies, and what Affinity or
Resemblance hath that to a _Thought_? How is that like to Pain, or to a
Doubt of the Mind? To Hope or to Desire? To the _Idea_ of God? To any
Act of the Will or Understanding, as judging, consenting, reasoning,
remembring, or any other? These are Things of several Orders that have
no Similitude, nor any Mixture of one another. And as this is the Nature
of Motion, so, on the other Hand, in a _Thought_ there are two Things,
_Consciousness_ and a _Representation_; Consciousness is in all Thoughts
indifferently, whether distinct or confus’d, for no Man thinks but he is
conscious that he thinks, nor perceives any Thing but he is conscious
that he perceives it; there is also in a Thought, especially if it be
distinct, a Representation; ’tis the Image of that we think upon, and
makes its Objects present to the Mind. Now what hath local Motion to do
with either of these two, Consciousness or Representativeness? How doth
it include either of them, or hold them any way affix’d to its Nature? I
think one may with as good Sense and Reason ask of what Colour a Thought
is, Green or Scarlet, as what Sort of Motion it is; for Motion of what
Sort soever can never be conscious, nor represent Things as our Thoughts
do. I have noted thus much in general, only to shew the different Nature
of Motion and Cogitation, that we may be the more sensible that they
have no mutual Connexion in us, nor in any other Creature, from their
Essence or essential Properties, but by a supervenient Power from the
Author of Nature, who hath thus united the Soul and the Body in their
Operations.

WE have hitherto only consider’d the ordinary Course of Nature, and what
Indications and Proofs of its Author, that affords us: There is another
remarkable Head of Arguments from Effects, extraordinary and
supernatural, such as Miracles, Prophecies, Inspirations, Prodigies,
Apparitions, Witchcraft, Sorceries, _&c._ These, at one Step, lead us to
something above Nature, and this is the shortest way and the most
Popular; several Arguments are suited to several Tempers, and God hath
not left himself without a proper Witness to every Temper that is not
willfully blind. Of these Witnesses we now speak of, the most
considerable are Miracles, and the most considerable Records of them are
the Books of Scripture; which if we consider only as an History, and as
having nothing sacred in them more than other good Histories, that is,
Truth in Matter of Fact, we cannot doubt but there have been Miracles in
the World: That _Moses_ and the Prophets, our Saviour and his Apostles,
wrought Miracles, I can no more question, than that _Cæsar_ and
_Alexander_ fought Battles, and took Cities. So also that there were
true Prophecies and Inspirations, we know from Scripture, only
consider’d as a true History. But as for other supernatural Effects that
are not recorded there, we have Reason to examine them more strictly
before we receive them, at least as to particular Instances; for I am
apt to think they are like Lotteries, where there are ten or twenty
Blanks for one Prize; but yet if there were no Prizes at all, the
Lottery would not have Credit to subsist, and would be cry’d down as a
perfect Cheat: So if amongst those many Stories of Prodigies,
Apparitions, and Witchcrafts, there were not some true, the very Fame
and Thought of them would die from amongst Men, and the first Broachers
of them would be hooted at as Cheats. As a false Religion, that hath
nothing true and solid mix’d with it, can scarce be fix’d upon Mankind;
but where there is a Mixture of true and false, the Strength of the one
supports the Weakness of the other. As for Sorcery, the Instances and
Examples of it are undeniable; not so much those few scatter’d Instances
that happen now and then among us, but such as are more constant, and in
a manner National, in some Countries, and amongst barbarous People.
Besides, the Oracles, and the Magick that was so frequent amongst the
Ancients, shew us that there have been always some Powers more than
Humane, tampering with the Affairs of Mankind. But this Topick from
Effects, extraordinary and supernatural, being in a great measure
Historical, and respecting evil Spirits as well as the Author of Nature,
is not so proper for this Place.

THERE is a third Set or Head of Arguments, that to some Tempers are more
cogent and convictive than any of these, namely, Arguments _Abstract_
and _Metaphysical_; And these do not only lead us to an Author of Nature
in general, but shew us more of his Properties and Perfections;
represent him to us as a supreme Deity, infinitely perfect, the Fountain
of all Being, and the steady Center of all Things. But Reasons of this
Order being of a finer Thread, require more Attention, and some
Preparation of Mind to make us discern them well and be duly sensible of
them. When a Man hath withdrawn himself from the Noise of this busy
World, lock’d up his Senses and his Passions, and every thing that would
unite him with it; commanded a general Silence in the Soul, and suffers
not a Thought to stir, but what looks inwards; let him then reflect
seriously, and ask himself, _What am I_, and _How came I into Being_? If
I was Author and Original to my self, surely I ought to feel that mighty
Power, and enjoy the Pleasure of it; but, alas, I am conscious of no
such Force or Virtue, nor of any thing in my Nature, that should give me
necessary Existence; it hath no Connexion with any part of me, nor any
Faculty in me, that I can discern. And now that I do exist, from what
Causes soever, _Can I secure my self in Being_? Now that I am in
Possession, am I sure to keep it? Am I certain that three Minutes hence
I shall still exist? I may or I may not, for ought I see; either seems
possible in it self; and either is contingent as to me; I find nothing
in my Nature that can warrant my Substance for one Day, for one Hour,
for one Moment longer. I am nothing but Thoughts, fleeting Thoughts,
that chase and extinguish one another; and my Being, for ought I know,
is successive, and as dying as they are, and renew’d to me every Moment.
This I am sure of, that so far as I know my self, and am conscious what
I am, there is no Principle of Immutability, or of necessary and
indefectible Existence in my Nature; and therefore I ought in Reason to
believe, that I stand or fall at the Mercy of other Causes, and not by
my own Will, or my own Sufficiency.

BESIDES, I am very sensible, and in this I cannot be mistaken, that my
Nature is in several Respects weak and imperfect, both as to Will and
Understanding. I _Will_ many Things in vain and without effect, and I
Wish often what I have no Ability to execute or obtain. And as to my
Understanding, how defective is it? How little or nothing do I know in
Comparison of what I am ignorant of? Almost all the intellectual World
is shut up to me, and the far greatest Part of the corporeal; and in
those Things that fall under my Cognizance, how often am I mistaken? I
am confin’d to a narrow Sphere, and yet within that Sphere I often err;
my Conceptions of Things are obscure and confus’d, my reason
short-sighted; I am forc’d often to correct my self, or to acknowledge
that I have judg’d false, and consented to an Error. In sum, all my
Powers I find are limited, and I can easily conceive the same kind of
Perfections in higher Degrees than I possess them, and consequently
there are Beings, or may be, greater and more excellent than my self,
and more able to subsist by their own Power, (Τὸ τέλειον πρότερον τῇ
Φύσει τοῦς ἀτελοῦς Arist.) Why should I not therefore believe that my
Original is from those Beings rather than from my self? For every
Nature, the more great and perfect it is, the nearer it approaches to
Necessity of Existence, and to a Power of producing other Things. Yet,
the Truth is, it must be acknowledg’d, that so long as the Perfection of
those other Beings are limited and finite, tho’ they be far superior to
us, there is no Necessity ariseth from their Nature that they should
exist; and the same Arguments that we have us’d against our selves, they
may, in Proportion, use against themselves; and therefore we must still
advance higher to find a self-originated Being, whose Existence must
flow immediately from his Essence, or have a necessary Connexion with
it.

AND indeed all these different Degrees of higher and higher Perfections,
lead us directly to an highest, or supreme Degree, which is infinite and
unlimited Perfection. As subordinate Causes lead to the first, so
Natures more perfect one than another lead us to a Nature infinitely
perfect, which is the Fountain of them all. Thither we must go, if we
will follow the Course of Reason, which cannot stop at one more than
another, till it arrive there; and being arriv’d there at that sovereign
and original Perfection, it finds a firm and immovable Ground to stand
upon; the steady Centre of all Being, wherein the Mind rests and is
satisfied. All the Scruples or Objections that we mov’d against our
selves, or other Creatures, take no Place here: This Being is conscious
of an Allsufficiency in it self, and of Immutability as to any Thing
else; including in it all the Causes of Existence, or, to speak more
properly, all Necessity of Existence. Besides, that _we exist our
selves_, notwithstanding the Imperfection and Insufficiency of our
Nature, is a just, collateral Proof of the Existence, of this supreme
Being; for such an Effect as this cannot be without its Cause, and it
can have no other competent Cause but what we mention. And as this Being
is its own Origin, so it must needs be capable of producing all
Creatures; for whatsoever is possible, must be possible to it; and that
Creatures or finite Beings are possible, we both see by Experience, and
may also discern by Reason; for those several Degrees of Perfection or
Limitations of it, which we mention’d before, are all consistent
Notions, and consequently make consistent Natures, and such as may
exist; but contingently indeed, and in Dependance upon the first Cause.

THUS we are come at length to a fair Resolution of that great Question,
_Whence we are_, and _how_ we continue in Being? And this hath led us by
an easy Ascent to the supreme Author of Nature, and the first Cause of
all things; and presents us also with such a Scheme and Draught of the
Universe, as is clear and rational; every thing in its Order, and in its
Place, according to the Dignity of its Nature, and the Strength of its
Principles. When the Mind hath rais’d it self into this View of a Being
infinitely perfect, ’tis in a Region of Light, hath a free Prospect
every Way, and sees all Things from Top to Bottom, as pervious and
transparent. Whereas without God and a first Cause, there is nothing but
Darkness and Confusion in the Mind, and in Nature; broken Views of
Things, short interrupted Glimpses of Light, nothing certain or
demonstrative, no Basis of Truth, no Extent of Thought, no Science, no
Contemplation.

YOU will say, it may be, ’tis true, something must be _eternal_, and of
_necessary Existence_, but why may not _Matter_ be this eternal
necessary Being? Then our Souls and all other Intellectual Things must
be Parts and Parcels of Matter; and what Pretensions can Matter have to
those Properties and Perfections that we find in our Souls, how limited
soever? Much less to _necessary Existence_, and those Perfections that
are the Foundation of it? What _exists_ eternally, and from it self, its
Existence must flow immediately from its Essence, as its Cause, Reason,
or Ground; for as Existence hath always something antecedent to it in
Order of Nature, so that which is antecedent to it, must infer it by a
necessary Connexion, and so may be call’d the Cause, Ground, or Reason
of it. And nothing can be such a Ground, but what is a Perfection; nor
every Perfection neither, it must be sovereign and infinite Perfection;
for from what else can necessary Existence flow, or be infer’d? Besides,
if that Being was not infinitely perfect, there might be another Being
more powerful than it, and consequently able to oppose and hinder its
Existence; and what may be hinder’d is contingent and arbitrary. Now
_Matter_ is so far from being a Nature infinitely perfect, that it hath
no Perfection at all, but that of bare _Substance_; neither Life, Sense,
Will or Understanding; nor so much as Motion from it self; as we have
shew’d before. And therefore this brute inactive Mass, which is but, as
it were, the Drudge of Nature, can have no Right or Title to that
sovereign Prerogative of Self-existence.

WE noted before, as a Thing agreed upon, _that something or other must
needs be Eternal_. For if ever there was a Time or State when there was
no being, there never could be any. Seeing _Nothing_ could not produce
_Something_. Therefore ’tis undeniably true on all Hands, that there was
some Being from Eternity. Now, according to our Understanding, _Truth_
is _Eternal_: Therefore, say we, some intellect or intelligent Being. So
also the Reasons of _Goodness_ and _Justice_ appear to us Eternal; and
therefore some good and just Being is Eternal. Thus much is plain, that
these Perfections which bear the Signatures of Eternity upon them, are
Things that have no Relation to _Matter_, but relate immediately to an
intellectual Being: Therefore some such Being, to whom they originally
belong, must be that _Eternal_. Besides, We cannot possibly but judge
such a Being more perfect than Matter. Now every Nature, the more
perfect it is, the more remote it is from _Nothing_; and the more remote
it is from Nothing, the more it approaches to Necessity of Existence,
and consequently to eternal Existence.

THUS we have made a short Survey, so far as the Bounds of a Chapter
would permit, of those Evidences and Assurances which we have from
abstract Reason and the external World, that there is an Author of
Nature; and that a Being infinitely perfect, which we call _God_. We may
add to these, in the last Place, that universal Consent of Mankind, or
natural Instinct of Religion which we see, more or less, throughout all
Nations, barbarous or civil. For tho’ this Argument, ’tis true, be more
disputable than the rest, yet having set down just Grounds already from
whence this natural Judgment or Persuasion might spring, we have more
Reason to impute it to some of those, and their insensible Influence
upon the Mind, than to the Artifices of Men, or to make it a Weakness,
Prejudice, or Error of our Nature. That there is such a Propension in
humane Nature, seems to be very plain; at least so far as to move us to
implore, and have recourse to invisible Powers in our Extremities.
Prayer is natural in certain Cases, and we do at the mere Motion of our
natural Spirit, and indeliberately, invoke God and Heaven, either in
case of extream Danger, to help and assist us; or in case of Injustice
and Oppression, to relieve or avenge us; or in case of false
Accusations, to vindicate our Innocency; and generally in all cases
desperate and remediless as to humane Power, we seem to appeal and
address our selves to something higher. And this we do by a sudden
Impulse of Nature, without Reflexion or Deliberation. Besides, as
Witnesses of our Faith and Veracity, we use to invoke the Gods, or
superior Powers, by Way of Imprecation upon our selves, if we be false
and perjur’d; and this hath been us’d in most Nations and Ages, if not
in all. These Things also argue, that there is a natural Conscience in
Man, and a Distinction of moral _Good_ and _Evil_; and that we look upon
those invisible Powers as the Guardians of Virtue and Honesty. There are
also few or no People upon the Earth but have something of external
Religion, true or false; and either of them is an Argument of this
natural Anticipation, or that they have an Opinion that there is
something above them, and above visible Nature; tho’ what that
_something_ was, they seldom were able to make a good Judgment. But to
pursue this Argument particularly, would require an historical Deduction
of Times and Places, which is not suitable to our present Design.

TO conclude this Chapter and this Subject; if we set Religion apart, and
consider the Deist and Atheist only as two Sects in Philosophy, or their
Doctrine as two different _Hypotheses_ propos’d for the Explication of
Nature, and in Competition with one another, whether should give the
more rational Account of the Universe, of its Origin and _Phænomena_? I
say if we consider them only thus, and make an impartial Estimate
whether System is more reasonable, more clear, and more satisfactory; to
me there seems to be no more Comparison than betwixt Light and Darkness.
The _Hypothesis_ of the Deist reacheth from Top to Bottom, both through
the intellectual and material World, with a clear and distinct Light
every where; is genuine, comprehensive, and satisfactory; hath nothing
forc’d, nothing confus’d, nothing precarious; whereas the _Hypothesis_
of the Atheist is strain’d and broken, dark and uneasy to the Mind,
commonly precarious; often incongruous and irrational, and sometimes
plainly ridiculous. And this Judgment I should make of them abstractly
from the Interest of Religion, considering them only as Matter of Reason
and Philosophy. _And_ I dare affirm with Assurance, if the Faculties of
our Souls be true, that no Man can have a System of Thoughts reaching
thorough Nature, coherent and confident in every Part, without a Deity
for the Basis of it.




                               CHAP. XI.


    _Several Incroachments upon natural Providence, or
    Misrepresentations of it, and false Methods of Contemplation. A true
    Method propos’d, and a true Representation of the Universe. The
    Mundane Idea, and the universal System of Providence. Several
    subordinate Systems. That of our Earth and sublunary World. The
    Course and Periods of it. How much of this is already treated of,
    and what remains. The Conclusion._


WE have set Bounds to Nature in the foregoing Chapter, and plac’d her
Author and Governor upon his Throne, to give Laws to her Motions, and to
direct and limit her Power in such Ways and Methods as are most for his
Honour. Let us now consider Nature under the Conduct of Providence, or
consider _Natural Providence_, and the Extent of it; and as we were
cautious before not to give too much Power or Greatness to Nature,
consider’d apart from Providence; so we must be careful now, under this
second Consideration, not to contract her Bounds too much; lest we
should, by too mean and narrow Thoughts of the Creation, eclipse the
Glory of its Author, whom we have so lately own’d as a Being infinitely
Perfect.

AND to use no further Introduction, in the _first Place_, we must not by
any Means admit or imagine, that all Nature, and this great Universe,
was made only for the sake of Man, the meanest of all intelligent
Creatures that we know of; nor that this little Planet, where we sojourn
for a few Days, is the only habitable Part of the Universe: These are
Thoughts so groundless and unreasonable in themselves, and also so
derogatory to the infinite Power, Wisdom and Goodness of the first
Cause, that as they are absurd in Reason, so they deserve far better to
be mark’d and censur’d for Heresies in Religion, than many Opinions that
have been censur’d for such in former Ages. How is it possible that it
should enter into the Thoughts of vain Man to believe himself the
principal Part of God’s Creation, or that all the rest was ordain’d for
him, for his Service or Pleasure? Man, whose Follies we laugh at every
Day, or else complain of them; whose Pleasures are Vanity, and his
Passions stronger than his Reason? who sees himself every Way weak and
impotent, hath no power over external Nature, little over himself;
cannot execute so much as his own good Resolutions, mutable, irregular,
prone to Evil. Surely, if we made the least Reflection upon our selves
with Impartiality, we should be asham’d of such an arrogant Thought. How
few of these Sons of Men, for whom, they say, all Things were made, are
the Sons of Wisdom? How few find the Paths of Life? They spend a few
Days in Folly and Sin, and then go down to the Regions of Death and
Misery. And is it possible to believe that all Nature, and all
Providence, are only or principally for their sake? Is it not a more
reasonable Character or Conclusion which the Prophet hath made, _Surely
every Man is Vanity_? Man that comes into the World at the Pleasure of
another, and goes out by an hundred Accidents; his Birth and Education
generally determine his Fate here, and neither of those are in his own
Power; his Wit also is as uncertain as his Fortune; he hath not the
moulding of his own Brain, however a Knock on the Head makes him a Fool,
stupid as the Beasts of the Field; and a little Excess of Passion or
Melancholy makes him worse, Mad and Frantick. In his best Senses he is
shallow, and of little Understanding; and in nothing more blind and
ignorant than in Things sacred and divine; he falls down before a Stock
or a Stone, and says, Thou art my God; he can believe Nonsense and
Contradictions, and make it his Religion to do so. And is this the great
Creature which God hath made _by the Might of his Power, and for the
Honour of his Majesty_? Upon whom all Things must wait, to whom all
Things must be subservient? Methinks we have noted Weaknesses and
Follies enough in the Nature of Man; this need not be added as the Top
and Accomplishment, _That with all these he is so vain as to think that
all the rest of the World was made for his sake._

AND as due Humility and the Consideration of our own Meanness ought to
secure us from any such vain Opinion of our selves, so the Perfection of
other Beings ought to give us more Respect and Honour for them. With
what Face can we pretend that Creatures far superior to us, and more
excellent both in Nature and Condition, should be made for our Sake and
Service? How preposterous would it be to ascribe such a thing to our
Maker, and how intolerable a Vanity in us to affect it? We that are next
to the Brutes that perish, by a sacrilegious Attempt would make our
selves more considerable than the highest Dignities. It is thought to
have been the Crime of _Lucifer_, who was thrown down from Heaven to
Hell, that he affected an Equality with the Almighty; and to affect to
be next to the Almighty is a Crime next to that. We have no Reason to
believe but that there are, at least, as many Orders of Beings above us,
as there are Ranks of Creatures below us; there is a greater Distance
sure betwixt us and God Almighty, than there is betwixt us and the
meanest Worm; and yet we should take it very ill, if the Worms of the
Earth should pretend that we were made for them. But to pass from the
invisible World to the visible and corporeal——

WAS that made only for our sake? King _David_ was more wise, and more
just both to God and Man, in his viiith _Psalm_, where he says, _He
wonders, when he considers the Heavens, that the Maker of them could
think on Man_. He truly supposes the celestial Bodies, and the
Inhabitants of them, much more considerable than we are, and reckons up
only terrestrial Things as put in subjection to Man. Can we then be so
fond as to imagine all the corporeal Universe made for our Use? ’Tis not
the millioneth Part of it that is known to us, much less useful; we can
neither reach with our Eye, nor our Imagination, those Armies of Stars
that lie far and deep in the boundless Heavens. If we take a good Glass,
we discover innumerable more Stars in the Firmament than we can with our
single Eye; and yet if you take a second Glass, better than the first,
that carries the Sight to a greater Distance, you see more still lying
beyond the other; and a third Glass that pierceth further, still makes
new Discoveries of Stars; and so forwards, indefinitely and
inexhaustedly for any Thing we know, according to the Immensity of the
divine Nature and Power. Who can reckon up the Stars of the Galaxy, or
direct us in the Use of them? And can we believe that those and all the
rest were made for us? Of those few Stars that we enjoy, or that are
visible to the Eye, there is not a tenth Part that is really useful to
Man; and no doubt if the principal End of them had been our Pleasure or
Conveniency, they would have been put in some better Order in respect of
the Earth. They lie carelessly scatter’d, as if they had been sown in
the Heaven, like seed, by handfuls; and not by a skilful Hand neither.
What a beautiful Hemisphere they would have made, if they had been
plac’d in Rank and Order; if they had been all dispos’d into regular
Figures, and the little ones set with due Regard to the greater, then
all finish’d and made up into one fair Piece or great Composition,
according to the Rules of Art and Symmetry; what a surprizing Beauty
this would have been to the Inhabitants of the Earth? What a lovely Roof
to our little World? This indeed might have given one some Temptation to
have thought that they had been all made for us; but lest any such vain
Imagination should now enter into our Thoughts, Providence (besides more
important Reasons) seems on Purpose to have left them under that
Negligence or Disorder, which they appear in to us.

THE second Part of this Opinion supposeth this Planet, where we live, to
be the only habitable Part of the Universe; and this is a natural
Consequence of the former: If all Things were made to serve us, why
should any more be made than what is useful to us? But ’tis only our
Ignorance of the System of the World, and of the Grandeur of the Works
of God, that betrays us to such narrow Thoughts. (_See the Lat. Treat.
lib. 1. c. 10. p. 108, 109_, _&c._) If we do but consider what this
Earth is, both for Littleness and Deformity, and what its Inhabitants
are, we shall not be apt to think that this miserable Atom hath
engross’d and exhausted all the divine Favours, and all the Riches of
his Goodness, and of his Providence. But we will not enlarge upon this
Part of the Opinion, lest it should carry us too far from the Subject,
and it will fall of its own Accord, with the former. Upon the whole we
may conclude, that it was only the sublunary World that was made for the
sake of Man, and not the great Creation, either material or
intellectual; and we cannot admit or affirm any more without manifest
Injury, Depression, and Misrepresentation of Providence, as we may be
easily convinc’d from these four Heads; _The_ Meanness of Man and of
this Earth; _The_ Excellency of other Beings; _The_ Immensity of the
Universe, and the infinite Perfection of the first Cause. Which I leave
to your further Meditation, and pass on to the second Rule concerning
natural Providence.

_In the second Place_, then, If we would have a fair View and right
Apprehensions of natural Providence, we must not cut the Chains of it
too short, by having recourse without Necessity, either to the first
Cause, in explaining the Origins of Things; or to Miracles, in
explaining particular Effects. This, I say, breaks the Chains of natural
Providence, when it is done without Necessity; that is, when Things are
otherwise intelligible from second Causes. Neither is any Thing gain’d
by it to God Almighty; for ’tis but as the Proverb says, _To rob Peter
to pay Paul_; to take so much from his ordinary Providence, and place it
to his extraordinary. When a new Religion is brought into the World,
’tis very reasonable and decorous that it should be usher’d in with
Miracles, as both the _Jewish_ and _Christian_ were, but afterwards
Things return into their Channel and do not change or overflow again but
upon extraordinary Occasions or Revolutions. The Power _Extraordinary_
of God is to be accounted very sacred, not to be touch’d or expos’d for
our Pleasure or Conveniency; but I am afraid we often make use of it
only to conceal our own Ignorance, or to save us the Trouble of
inquiring into natural Causes. Men are generally unwilling to appear
ignorant, especially those that make Profession of Knowledge; and when
they have not Skill enough to explain some particular Effect in a Way of
Reason, they throw it upon the first Cause, as able to bear all; and so
placing it to that Account, they excuse themselves, and save their
Credit; for all Men are equally wise, if you take away second Causes; as
we are all of the same Colour, if you take away the Light.

BUT to state this Matter, and see the Ground of this Rule more
distinctly, we must observe and consider, That _the Course of Nature is
truly the Will of God_; (_See Book 1. c. 8. at the End._) and, as I may
so say, his first Will; from which we are not to recede, but upon clear
Evidence and Necessity. And as in Matter of Religion, we are to follow
the known reveal’d Will of God, and not to trust to every Impulse or
Motion of Enthusiasm, as coming from the Divine Spirit, unless there be
evident Marks that it is supernatural, and cannot come from our own; so
neither are we, without Necessity, to quit the known and ordinary Will
and Power of God, establish’d in the Course of Nature, and fly to
supernatural Causes, or his extraordinary Will; for this is a kind of
Enthusiasm or Fanaticism, as well as the other: And no doubt that great
Prodigality and Waste of Miracles which some make, is no way to the
Honour of God or Religion. ’Tis true, the other Extream is worse than
this, for to deny all Miracles, is in effect to deny all Reveal’d
Religion; therefore due Measures are to be taken betwixt these two, so
as neither to make the Divine Power too mean and cheap, nor the Power of
Nature illimited and all-sufficient.

_In the third Place_, to make the Scenes of natural Providence
considerable, and the Knowledge of them satisfactory to the Mind, we
must take a true Philosophy, or the true Principles that govern Nature,
which are Geometrical and Mechanical. By these you discover the
Footsteps of the Divine Art and Wisdom, and trace the Progress of Nature
Step by Step, as distinctly as in artificial things, where we see how
the Motions depend upon one another, in what Order, and by what
Necessity. God made all Things in _Number_, _Weight_ and _Measure_,
which are Geometrical and Mechanical Principles; He is not said to have
made Things by _Forms_ and _Qualities_, or any Combination of Qualities,
but by these three Principles, which may be conceiv’d to express the
Subject of three Mathematical Sciences, Number, of _Arithmetick_;
Weight, of _Staticks_; and _Measure_ and Proportion, of _Geometry_: If
then all things were made according to these Principles, to understand
the Manner of their Construction and Composition, we must proceed in the
Search of them by the same Principles, and resolve them into these
again. Besides, the Nature of the Subject does direct us sufficiently;
for when we contemplate or treat of Bodies, and the material World, we
must proceed by the Modes of Bodies, and their real Properties, such as
can be represented either to Sense or Imagination, for these Faculties
are made for corporeal Things; but Logical Notions, when applied to
particular Bodies, are meer Shadows of them, without Light or Substance.
No Man can raise a Theory upon such Grounds, nor calculate any
Revolutions of Nature, nor render any Service, or invent any thing
useful in human Life. And accordingly we see, that for these many Ages,
that this dry Philosophy hath govern’d Christendom, it hath brought
forth no Fruit, produc’d nothing good to God or Man, to Religion or
human Society.

TO these true Principles of Philosophy, we must join also the true
System of the World. That gives Scope to our Thoughts, and rational
Grounds to work upon; but the vulgar System, or that which _Aristotle_
and others have propos’d, affords no Matter of Contemplation. All above
the Moon, according to him, is firm as Adamant, and as immutable; no
Change or Variation in the Universe, but in those little Removes that
happen here below, one Quality or Form shifting into another: There
would therefore be no great Exercise of Reason or Meditation in such a
World; no long Series of Providence: The Regions above being made of a
kind of immutable Matter, they would always remain in the same Form,
Structure, and Qualities: So as we might lock up that part of the
Universe as to any further Inquiries, and we should find it ten thousand
Years hence in the same Form and State wherein we left it. Then in this
sublunary World there would be but small Doings neither; Things would
lie in a narrow Compass, no great Revolution of Nature, no new Form of
the Earth, but a few Anniversary _Corruptions_ and _Generations_, and
that would be the short and the long of Nature, and of Providence,
according to _Aristotle_. But if we consider the Earth, as one of those
many Planets that move about the Sun, and the Sun as one of those
innumerable fix’d Stars that adorn the Universe, and are the Centers of
its greatest Motions; and all this subject to Fate and Change, to
Corruptions and Renovations: This opens a large Field for our Thoughts,
and gives a large Subject for the Exercise and Expansion of the Divine
Wisdom and Power, and for the Glory of his Providence.

_In the last Place_; Having thus prepar’d your Mind, and the Subject,
for the Contemplation of _Natural Providence_, do not content your self
to consider only the present Face of Nature, but look back into the
first _Sources_ of Things, into their more simple and original States;
and observe the Progress of Nature from one Form to another, through
various Modes and Compositions. For there is no single Effect, nor any
single State of Nature, how perfect soever, that can be such an Argument
and Demonstration of Providence, as a Period of Nature, or a Revolution
of several States consequential to one another; and in such an Order and
Dependance, that as they flow and succeed, they shall still be adjusted
to the Periods of the moral World; so as to be ready always to be
Ministers of the Divine Justice or Beneficence to Mankind. This shews
the manifold Riches of the Wisdom and Power of God in Nature. And this
may give us just Occasion to reflect again upon _Aristotle_’s System and
Method, which destroys natural Providence in this respect also; for he
takes the World as it is now, both for Matter and Form, and supposeth it
to have been in this Posture from all Eternity, and that it will
continue to Eternity in the same; so as all the great Turns of Nature,
and the principal Scenes of Providence in the natural World are quite
struck out; and we have but this one Scene for all, and a pitiful one
too, if compar’d with the infinite Wisdom of God, and the Depths of
Providence. We must take Things in their full Extent, and from their
Origins, to comprehend them well, and to discover the Mysteries of
Providence, both in the Causes and in the Conduct of them. That Method
which _David_ followed in the Contemplation of the Little World, or in
the Body of Man, we should also follow in the Great; take it in its
first Mass, in its tender Principles and Rudiments, and observe the
Progress of it to a compleat Form; in these first Stroaks of Nature are
the Secrets of her Art; the Eye must be plac’d in this Point to have a
right Prospect, and see her Works in a true Light. _David_ admires the
Wisdom of God in the Origin and Formation of his Body; _My Body_, says
he, _was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, curiously wrought
in the lower Parts of the Earth; thine Eyes did see my Substance being
yet imperfect, and in thy Book all my Members were written; which in
Continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them, or being
at first in no Form. How precious are thy Thoughts to me, O God! &c._
_Psal. cxxxix. 15, 16, 17._ This was the Subject of _David_’s,
Meditations, how his Body was wrought from a shapeless Mass into that
marvellous Composition which it had when fully fram’d; and this, he
says, was under the Eye of God all along, and the Model of it, as it
were, was design’d and delineated in the Book of Providence, according
to which, it was by Degrees fashion’d and wrought to Perfection. _Thine
Eyes did see my Substance yet being imperfect, in thy Book all my
Members were drawn, &c._ _Job_ also hath aptly express’d those first
Rudiments of the Body, or that little Chaos out of which it riseth;
_Hast thou not poured me out as Milk, and cruddled me like Cheese? Thou
hast cloathed me with Skin and Flesh, and fenced me with Bones and
Sinews, Job x. 10, 11._ Where he notes the first Matter and the last
Form of his Body, its compleat and most incompleat State. According to
these Examples we must likewise consider the greater Bodies of Nature,
the Earth and the sublunary World; we must go to the Origin of them, the
Seminal Mass, the Chaos out of which they rise; look upon the World
first as an Embryo World, without Form or Shape, and then consider how
its Members were fashion’d, how by degrees it was brought into that
Diversity of Parts and Regions which it consists of, with all their
Furniture, and with all their Ornaments. The _Idea_ of all which was
before-hand, according to _David_’s Expression, written in the Divine
Mind; and we partake of that Wisdom, according to our Capacity, in
seeing and admiring the Methods of it.

THESE seem to be necessary Preparatives or Directions to those that
would contemplate, with Profit, natural Providence, and the great Works
of God in the visible Creation. We consider’d Nature in the precedent
Chapter abstractly, and in her self; and now we consider her under the
Conduct of Providence, which we therefore call Natural Providence: And
as we have endeavour’d to remove those false Notions and Suppositions
that lay as Clouds upon her Face, so we must now endeavour to represent
her in a better Light, and in a fuller Beauty. By _Natural Providence_
therefore we understand, _the Form or Course of Universal Nature, as
actuated by the divine Power; with all the Changes, Periods, and
Vicissitudes that attend it, according to the Method and Establishment
made at first by the Author of it_. I said of _Universal Nature_,
through all the Orders of Beings in the intellectual World, and all the
Regions and Systems of Matter in the corporeal. For, having prov’d in
the foregoing Chapter, that there is an Author of Nature, a Being
infinitely perfect, by whose Power and Influence alone all finite
Natures exist and act, we have an assured Ground to conclude, that
nothing can come to pass, throughout the whole Creation, without the
Prescience and Permission of its Author; and as it is necessary to
suppose that there is an _Idea_ in the Divine Understanding of all the
Mass of Beings produc’d or created, according to the several Ranks and
Orders wherein they stand; so there is also an _Idea_ there, according
to which this great Frame moves, and all the Parts of it in Beauty and
Harmony.

AND these two Things, The _Essences_ of all Beings, and the Series of
their _Motions_, compose the MUNDANE IDEA, as I may so call it; or that
great all comprehensive Thought in the divine Understanding, which
contains the System of universal Providence, and the State of all Things
past, present, or to come. This glorious _Idea_ is the express Image of
the whole Creation, of all the Works of God, and the Disposition of
them: Here lie the Mysteries of Providence, as in their Original; the
successive Forms of all Nature; and herein, as in a Glass, may be view’d
all the Scenes of Time or Eternity. This is an Abyss of sacred Wisdom,
the exhausted Treasure of all Science, the Root of Truth, and Fountain
of intellectual Light; and in the clear and full Contemplation of this
is perfect Happiness, and a truly beatifick Vision.

BUT what concerns the intellectual World in this _Idea_, and the Orders
or Natures that compose it, is not our present Business to pursue; we
are to speak of the corporeal Universe, whereof we will make now a short
and general Survey, as it lies under Providence. The corporeal Universe,
how immense soever it be, and divided into innumerable Regions, may be
consider’d all as one System, made up of several subordinate Systems.
And there is also one immense Design of Providence co-extended with it,
that contains all the Fate, and all the Revolutions of this great Mass.
This, I say, is made up of several subordinate Systems, involving one
another, and comprehending one another, in greater and greater Orbs and
Compositions; and the Aggregate of all these is that which we call the
_Universe_. But what the Form of these Compositions is, and what the
Design of Providence that runs thro’ them all, and comprehends them all,
this is unsearchable, not only to humane Understanding, but even to
Angels and Archangels.

WHEREFORE leaving those greater Systems and Compositions of the
Universe, as Matter of our Admiration, rather than of our Knowledge;
there are two or three kinds of lesser Systems that are visible to us,
and bring us nearer to our Subject, and nearer home. _That_ of a fix’d
Star single; _That_ of a fix’d Star with its Planets, and _that_ of a
single Planet, primary or secondary. These three Systems we see and
enjoy more or less. No doubt there are fix’d Stars single, or that have
no Planets about them, as our Sun hath; nay ’tis probable, that at first
the whole Universe consisted only of such Globes of liquid Fire, with
Spheres about them, of pure Light and Æther: Earths are but the Dirt and
Skum of the Creation, and all Things were pure as they came at first out
of the Hands of God. But because we have nothing particular taught us,
either by the Light of Nature or Revelation, concerning the Providence
that governs these single Stars, of what Use they are to intellectual
Beings, how animated by them, what Diversity there is amongst those
æthereal Worlds, what Periods they have, what Changes or Vicissitudes
they are capable to undergo, because such Inquiries would seem too
remote, and carry us too far from our Subject, we leave these heavenly
Systems to the Enjoyment and Contemplation of higher and more noble
Creatures.

THE Sun, with all the Planets that move about him, and depend upon him,
make a good Sort of System; not considerable indeed, if compar’d with
the whole Universe, or some of the greater Compositions in it; but in
respect of us, the System of the Sun is of vast Extent: We cannot
measure the Greatness of his Kingdom, and his Dominion is without End.
The Distance from the highest Planet to the nearest fixt Star in the
Firmament is unmeasurable, and all this belongs to the Empire of the
Sun; besides the several Planets and their Orbs, which cast themselves
closer about his Body, that they may receive a warmer and stronger
Influence from him; for by him they may be said to _live_ and _move_.
But those vast Spaces that lie beyond these opaque Bodies, are Regions
of perpetual Light; one Planet may Eclipse the Sun to another, and one
Hemisphere of a Planet to the other Hemisphere makes Night and Darkness;
but nothing can eclipse the Sun, or intercept the Course of his Light to
these remote æthereal Regions; they are always luminous, and always pure
and serene. And if the worst and planetary Parts of his Dominions be
replenished with Inhabitants, we cannot suppose the better to lie as
Desarts unenjoy’d and uninhabited; his Subjects then must be numerous,
as well as his Dominions large; and in both respects this System of a
fixt Star, with its Planets, (of which kind we may imagin innumerable in
the Universe, besides this of the Sun, which is near and visible to us)
is of a noble Character and Order, being the Habitation of Angels and
glorified Spirits, as well as of mortal Men.

A planetary System is the last and lowest; and of these, no doubt, there
is great Variety, and great Differences; not only of primary and
secondary, or of the principal Planet, and its Moons or Attendants, but
also amongst Planets of the same Rank; for they may differ both in their
original Constitution, and according to the Form and State they are
under at present; of which sort of Differences we have noted some
amongst our Planets, (_Book. 1. chap. last, p. 113_, _&c._) tho’ they
seem to be all of much-what the same original Constitution. Besides,
according to external Circumstances, their Distance, Manner of Motion,
and Posture to the Sun, which is the Heart of the whole System, they
become different in many Things. And we may observe, that those leading
Differences, tho’ they seem little, draw after them innumerable others,
and so make a distinct Face of Nature, and a distinct World; which still
shews the Riches and Fecundity of divine Providence, and gives new
Matter of Contemplation to those that take Pleasure in studying the
Works and Ways of God. But leaving all other Planets, or planetary
Systems to our Meditations only, we must particularly consider our own.

HAVING therefore made this general Survey of the great Universe, run
through the boundless Regions of it, and with much ado found our Way
home to that little Planet where our Concerns lie, this Earth or
sublunary World, we must rest here at the End of our Course. And having
undertaken to give the general Theory of this Earth, to conclude the
present Treatise, we’ll reflect upon the whole Work, and observe what
Progress we have hitherto made in this Theory, and what remains to be
treated of hereafter. This Earth, tho’ it be a small Part or Particle of
the Universe, hath a distinct System of Providence belonging to it, or
an Order establisht by the Author of Nature for all its _Phænomena_
(natural or moral) throughout the whole Period of its Duration, and
every Interval of it; for, as there is nothing so great as to be above
the divine Care, so neither is there any thing so little as to be below
it. All the Changes of out World are fixt; How, or how often to be
destroy’d, and how renew’d; What different Faces of Nature, and what of
Mankind, in every Part of its Course; What new Scenes to adorn the
Stage, and what new Parts to be acted; What the Entrance, and what the
Consummation of all. Neither is there any sort of Knowledge more proper,
or of more importance to us that are the Inhabitants of this Earth, than
to understand this its natural and sacred History, as I may so call it,
both as to what is past, and what is to come. And as those greater
Volumes and Compositions of the Universe are proportion’d to the
Understanding of Angels and superior Beings, so these little Systems are
_Compendiums_ of the divine Wisdom more fitted to our Capacity and
Comprehension.

THE Providence of the Earth, as of all other Systems, consists of two
Parts, natural, and sacred or theological. I call that sacred or
theological that respects Religion, and the Dispensations of it; the
Government of the rational World, or of Mankind, whether under the Light
of Nature only, or of a Revelation? the Method and Terms of their
Happiness and Unhappiness in a future Life: The State, Oeconomy, and
Conduct of this, with all the Mysteries contain’d in it, we call
theological Providence; in the Head whereof stands the Soul of the
blessed _Messiah_, who is Lord of both Worlds, intellectual and
material. When we call the other Part of Providence _Natural_, we use
that Word in a restrain’d Sense, as respecting only the material World;
and accordingly this Part of Providence orders and superintends the
State of the Earth, the great Vicissitudes and Mutations of it; for we
must not imagin but that these are under the Eye of Providence, as well
as humane Affairs, or any Revolutions of States and Empires. Now seeing
both in the intellectual and corporeal World there are certain Periods,
Fulness of Time, and fixt Seasons, either for some great Catastrophe, or
some great Instauration; ’tis Providence that makes a due Harmony or
Synchronism betwixt these two, and measures out the concurrent Fates of
both Worlds, so as Nature may be always a faithful Minister of the
divine Pleasure, whether for Rewards or Punishments, according as the
State of Mankind may require. But theological Providence not being the
Subject of this Work, we shall only observe, as we said before, what
Account we have hitherto given of the natural State of the Earth, and
what remains to be handled in another Treatise, and so conclude.

I did not think it necessary to carry the Story and Original of the
Earth, higher than the Chaos, as _Zoroaster_ and _Orpheus_ seem to have
done; but taking that for our Foundation, which Antiquity sacred and
prophane doth suppose, and natural Reason approve and confirm, we have
form’d the Earth from it. But when we say the Earth rose from a fluid
Mass, it is not to be so crudely understood, as if a Rock of Marble,
suppose, was fluid immediately before it became Marble; no, Things had a
gradual Progression from one Form to another, and came at length to
those more permanent Forms they are now settled in: Stone was once
Earth, and Earth was once Mud, and Mud was once fluid. And so other
Things may have another kind of Progression from Fluidity; but all was
once Fluid, at least all the exterior Regions of this Earth. And even
those Stones and Rocks of Marble which we speak of, seem to confess they
were once soft or liquid, by those Mixtures we find in them of
heterogeneous Bodies, and those Spots and Veins disperst thorough their
Substance; for these Things could not happen to them after they were
hard and impenetrable, in the Form of Stone or Marble. And if we can
soften Rocks and Stones, and run them down into their first Liquors, as
these Observations seem to do, we may easily believe that other Bodies
also that compose the Earth were once in a fluid Mass, which is that we
call a Chaos.

WE therefore watch’d the Motions of that Chaos, and the several
Transformations of it, while it continued Fluid; and we found at length
what its first Concretion would be, and how it settled into the Form of
an habitable Earth. But that Form was very different from the present
Form of the Earth, which is not immediately deducible from a Chaos by
any known Laws of Nature, or by any Wit of Man; as every one, that will
have Patience to examine it, may easily be satisfied. That first Earth
was of a smooth, regular Surface, as the Concretions of Liquors are,
before they are disturb’d or broken; under that Surface lay the great
Abyss, which was ready to swallow up the World that hung over it, and
about it, whensoever God should give the Command, and the Vault should
break and this Constitution of the primæval Earth gave Occasion to the
first Catastrophe of this World, when it perish’d in a Deluge of Water.
For that Vault did break, as we have shewn at large, and by the
Dissolution and Fall of it, the great Deep was thrown out of its Bed,
forc’d upwards into the Air, and overflowed, in that impetuous
Commotion, the highest Tops of the Fragments of the ruin’d Earth, which
now we call its Mountains. And as this was the first great and fatal
Period of Nature; so upon the Issue of this, and the Return of the
Waters into their Channels, the second Face of Nature appear’d, or the
present broken Form of the Earth, as it is _Terraqueous_, _Mountainous_,
and _Cavernous_. These Things we have explain’d fully in the first Book,
and I have thereby settled two great Points, given a rational Account of
the _Universal Deluge_, and shewn the Causes of the irregular Form of
the present or _Postdiluvian Earth_. This being done, we have apply’d
our selves in the second Book, to the Description of the _Primæval
Earth_, and the Examination of its Properties; and this hath led us by
an easy Tract to the Discovery of _Paradise_, and of the true Notion and
Mystery of it; which is not so much a Spot of Ground where a fine Garden
stood, as a Course of Nature, or a peculiar State of the Earth;
_Paradisiacal_ in many Parts, but especially in one Region of it; which
Place or Region we have also endeavour’d to determine, though not so
much from the Theory, as from the Suffrages of Antiquity, if you will
take their Judgment.

THUS much is finish’d, and this contains the natural Theory of the Earth
till this present Time; for since the Deluge all Things have continued
in the same State, or without any remarkable Change. We are next to
enter upon new Matter and new Thoughts, and not only so, but upon a
Series of _Things and Times to come_, which is to make the second Part
of this Theory. Dividing the Duration of the World into two Parts, past
and future, we have dispatch’d the first and far greater Part, and come
better half of our Way; And if we make a Stand here, and look both Ways,
backwards to the Chaos and the Beginning of the World, and forwards to
the End and Consummation of all Things, though the first be a longer
Prospect, yet there are as many general Changes and Revolutions of
Nature in the remaining Part, as have already happen’d; and in the
Evening of this long Day the Scenes will change faster, and be more
bright and illustrious. From the Creation to this Age the Earth hath
undergone but one Catastrophe, and Nature hath had two different Faces.
The next Catastrophe is the CONFLAGRATION, to which a new Face of Nature
will accordingly succeed, _New Heavens_ and a _New Earth_, _Paradise_
renew’d, and so it is call’d the Restitution of Things, or
_Regeneration_ of the World, Ἀποκατάσασις Γαλιγ ἐνεσία. And that Period
of Nature and Providence being expir’d, then follows the _Consummation
of all Things_, or the general _Apothesis_; _when Death and Hell shall
be swallowed up in Victory_. When the great Circle of Time and Fate is
run; or according to the Language of Scripture, _When the Heavens and
the Earth shall pass away, and Time shall be no more._

                  *       *       *       *       *

_MAY we, in the mean time, by a true Love of God above all Things, and a
Contempt of this vain World which passeth away; by a careful Use of the
Gifts of God and Nature, the Light of Reason and Revelation, prepare our
selves, and the State of Things, for the great Coming of our Saviour._
To whom be Praise and Honour for evermore.

_FINIS._




 ● Transcriber’s Notes:
    ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
    ○ Footnotes have been moved to follow the sections in which they are
      referenced.



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