duos zodiacos unum in nonâ sphaerâ alterum in octavâ quam Firmamentum vocant in initio rerum temporum sic à Deo fuisse dispositos ut Aries Arieti Taurus Tauro Geminis Gemini jungerentur amborum coeuntibus in unum viribus fortior in Terras fieret fluxus Unde herbas tunc salubriores fructus terrae meliores longiores vitas animantium fuisse affirmat Sed denuò illâ syderali dissolutâ ab invicem per motum societate totum ait inferiorem mundum aegrotare atque per decrementum claudicare coepisse This you see is Astronomy in an old fashion'd dress but you can easily take off the disguise and apply it to the true Systeme of the Heavens The same Author refers you for a more full explication of that matter to his Lectiones succisivae Dial prim which Book I have not yet had an opportunity to see I believe it is in his Opera Philologica printed in Octavo at Basil But since the first writing of the Theory there have been Aethiopick Antiquities produc'd from an Abyssine Philosopher and transmitted to us by Francisco Patricio in his Dialogues If that account he gives of the Aethiopian Archaeologiae be true and genuine they exceed all other upon this subject For they do not only mention this particular of the unity of seasons in the Primitive Earth but the other principal parts of the Theory As the Concussion and Fraction of the Earth that the face of it before was smooth and uniform and upon that disruption it came into another form with Mountains Rocks Sea and Islands These and other such characters are mentioned there whereof the Examiner may see an account if he please in the last edition of the English Theory The story indeed is surprising which way soever you take it whether it was the invention of that Abyssine Philosopher or a real Tradition deriv'd from the Aethiopian Gymnosophists However that be there are otherwise such conspicuous footsteps in Philosophick history and in what may be call'd Ecclesiastick amongst the Jews and Christians of some Revolution in the system of the world as must give occasion to any thinking man to suppose that there hath been a change made in the situation of the Earth This by some of the forementioned Authors is ascrib'd expresly to the Earth and what by others according to their hypothesis is ascrib'd to the higher heavens we know upon a just interpretation belongs to the Earth Those also that ascribe such Phaenomena to Paradise or the Golden Age as are not intelligible upon any other supposition must also be referr'd to this change of the site or posture of the Earth So that upon all accounts mediately or immediately the matter of fact That the Earth hath undergone such a change is testified by History Antiquity and Tradition It deserves also to be observ'd that there was a general Tradition amongst the Ancients concerning the Inhabitability of the Torrid zone which may be an argument or confirmation that there was a state of Nature at one time or other when this was true and that such a general opinion could not arise and be continued so long without some foundation So much for History to determine matter of fact Now as to Reason which we mentioned as the other head to prove or disprove this conclusion That form of the Primitive Earth which is assigned by the Theorist being suppos'd namely that it was regular uniform and had an equal libration it would naturally take an even and parallel position with the Axis of its Orbit or of the Ecliptick as is set down more at large in the Theory Nor can any reason be alledg'd to the contrary T is true this Examiner notwithstanding any Uniformity and Equilibration of that Earth pretends it would be indifferent to any Position or retain any Position given as a Sphere will do put in a Fluid This might be if that Sphere or Globe was resting but if it was turn'd about its Axis and the Axis of the Fluid which is the present case it would certainly take a Position parallel to the Axis of its Fluid if there was no other impediment The matter of fact being settled with the Cause of it what the Causes of the change were is more Problematical The Philosophers forecited gave their reason Aristarchus Samius gives another and a Comet by some is made the occasion of it The Theorist thinks that the Dissolution of the Earth was the fundamental cause and that the change came to pass at that time as many indications and arguments shew And as to the immediate cause or causes of it I know none more probable than what the Theorist hath proposed Either the change of its Center of Gravity or of its Magnetism The line of direction to those Magnetick particles and their passing through the Earth being so alter'd as to turn the Earth into another posture and hold it there As to those expressions that he seems to quarrel with of the Inclination of the Earth or the Pole towards the Sun 't is the expression of the Ancient Philosophers though I think it might more properly be called an Obliquation Then that the former state is called situs rectus is another expression which he finds fault with ' tho every one sees that a right situation in such places is opposed to an oblique or inclined position to the Axis of the Sun or Ecliptick and had been called parallel in several other places and which he himself sometimes as well as other Authors calls a right Position This is but trifling about words If he grant that the Primitive Earth being uniform and consequently equally pois'd its Axis would be parallel which for shortness is sometimes call'd right to the Axis of its Orbit and is now in a different and oblique posture This is all the Theorist desires as to matter of fact I conceive the whole matter thus When the Earth was in that even and parallel posture with the Axis of the Sun it had a perpetual Equinox and unity of Seasons the Equator and Ecliptick being coincident And as to the Heavens they with the fixt Stars mov'd or seem'd to move uniformly and concentrically with the Earth But when the Earth chang'd its posture to that which it hath now the Year became unequal and the Equator and Ecliptick became distinct circles or if you will a new circle arise from that distinction The Earth in the mean time continuing its annual course in the Ecliptick had the position of its Axis chang'd to a parallelism with the Axis of the Equator which it holds throughout the whole Year As to the Heavens They seem'd to turn upon another Axis or other Poles than they did before and different from those of the Sun or the Earth And this fundamental change in the Site of the Earth had a further chain of consequences as is noted by the Theorist in reference to the
takes up half of its surface and makes it unhabitable 'T is likely the Torrid Zone was unhabitable in that Earth but 't is probable the Poles or Polar parts were more habitable than they are now seeing they would have the Sun or rather Half-Sun perpetually in their Horizon And as to the temperate Climates as we call them they would be under such a gentle and constant warmth as would be more grateful to the Inhabitants and more proper and effectual for a continual Verdure and Vegetation than any region of the present Earth is now But this Objector does not consider on the other hand what an hard life they would lead in those days at least in many parts of the Earth if the seasons of the year were the same they are now and they confin'd to Herbs Fruits and Water for that was the Diet of Mankind till the Deluge Should we not think it an unmerciful imposition now to be interdicted the use of Flesh-meat all the year long Or rather is it possible that the life of Man could be supported by Herbs and Fruits and Water in the colder Climates where the Winters are so long and barren and the cold so vehement But if you suppose a perpetual Spring throughout the Earth the Heavens mild and the juices of Fruits and Plants more nutritive that Objection would cease and their longaevity be more intelligible We come now to the Causes of the change in the posture of the Earth where the Theorist hath set down his conjectures what he thought the most probable to be the occasion of it namely either some inequality in the libration of the Earth after it was dissolved and broken or a change in the Magnetism of its Body consequent upon its dissolution and the different situation of its parts But this Examiner will neither allow any change to have been made in the position of the Earth since the beginning of the World nor if there was a change that it could be made from such Causes The first of these points you see is matter of fact and so it must be prov'd partly by History and partly by Reason Some things are noted before which argue that the Antediluvian Earth was different from the present in its frame and constitution as also in reference to the Heavens and the places are referred to where that matter is treated more largely by the Theorist If it be granted that there was a permanent change made in the state of Nature at the Deluge or any other time but deny'd that it was made by a change of the situation of the Earth and the consequences of it then this Writer must assign some other change made which would have the same effects that is which will answer and agree with the Phenomena of the First Earth and also of the present When this is done if it be clear and convictive we must acquiesce in it But I do not see that it is so much as attempted by this Author This suppos'd change I say is matter of Fact and therefore we must consult History and Reason for the proof or disproof of it As to History the Theorist hath cited to this purpose Leucippus Anaxagoras Democritus Empedocles Plato and Diogenes These were the most renowned Philosophers amongst the Ancients and all these speak of an inclination of the Earth or the Poles which hath been made in former ages These one would think might be allow'd as good witnesses of a former Tradition concerning a change in the situation of the Earth when nothing is brought against them And this change is particularly call'd by Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a disharmony or disconcerting of the motions of the Heavens which he makes the source and origin of the present Evils and inconveniences of Nature Besides he dates this change from the expiration of the reign of Saturn or when Jupiter came to take the government upon him And this you know in the style of those times signifies the end of the Golden Age. Thus far Plato carries the Tradition Now the Poets tell us expresly that there was a perpetual Spring or a perpetual Equinox in the time of Saturn and that the inequality of the Year or the diversity of Seasons was first introduc'd by Jupiter The Authors and places are well known and noted by the Theorist I need not repeat them here You see what this evidence amounts to both that there hath been a change and such a change as alter'd the course of the Year and brought in a vicissitude of Seasons And this according to the Doctrines or Traditions remaining amongst the Heathens The Jews and Christians say the same thing but in another manner They do not speak of the Golden Age or of the reign of Saturn or Jupiter but of the state of Paradise or Gan-Eden and concerning that they say the same things which the Heathen Authors say in different words The Jews make a perpetual Equinox in Paradise the Christians a perpetual serenity a perpetual Spring And this cannot be without a different situation of the Earth from what it hath now He may see the citations if he please in the Theory or Archaeologiae It were to be wisht that this Examiner would look a little into Antiquity when he hath time It may be that would awaken him into new thoughts and a more favourable opinion of the Theory as to this particular Give me leave to mind him in his own way what some ancient Astronomers have said relating to this subject Baptista Mantuanus speaking of the longaevity of the Antediluvians says Erant illis ut Astronomiâ experimento constat Coeli propitiores volunt namque Astronomi c. This he explains by an uniform and concentrical motion of the heavens and the Earth at that time To which he imputes the great vertue of their herbs and fruit and the long lives of their Animals Petrus Aponensis who liv'd above an Age before Mantuan gives us much what the same account For making an answer to this question utrum natura humana sit debilitata ab eo quod antiquitus necne He says Cum capita Zodiaci mobilis immobilis ordinatè directè concurrebant tunc virtus perfectiori modo à primo principio per medias causas taliter ordinatas fortiori modo imprimebatur in ista inferiora cum causae tunc sibi invicem correspondeant Propter quod concludendum est tunc naturam humanam illo tempore ut sic fortiorem longaeviorem extitisse I give it in his own words as they are in his Conciliator Differ 9. Georgius Pictorius or an Author under his name unto the same question about the longaevity of the Antediluvians gives a like answer from the same Astronomer in these words Petrus Aponensis adfert rationem pro vario cursu dispositione coelorum modò vitam humanam breviari modò produci scribit Ex Astronomiâ argumentum colligens cùm ait
state both of the Animate and Inanimate World This is in short the state of the case which is sometimes express'd in different terms especially by the Ancients who generally followed another System of the Heavens and the Earth and were not always accurate in their expressions This Author would square and conform all the Planets to the model of the present Earth Whereas there is diversity of administrations in the Natural World as well as Spiritual yet the same Providence every where The Axes of the Planets are not all parallel to that of the Sun nor all oblique And those that are so have not all the same degree of obliquity yet we have reason to think them all habitable In some there are no different Seasons of the Year and in some they differ in another manner than ours and the periods of their Years are very different In like manner as to the Days in some they are longer in others shorter In the Moon a day lasts fourteen or fifteen of our Days and their Nights are proportionably longer than our Nights In Jupiter the Days are but of five hours and so the Nights that Planet being turned in ten hours about his Axis In Mercury we know little what the Seasons or Days are but its Year must be much shorter than ours As also is that of Venus And their heat from the Sun must be much greater Jupiter and Saturn are at vast distances from the Sun and must proportionably have less heat And Saturn must have a greater difference of Summer and Winter than we have by reason of his greater obliquity to the Sun These and such like observations show what vanity it is to make an universal standard from the state of our Earth Or to say This is best and to make things otherwise would be inconsistent with the infinite Wisdom of their Maker as this Examiner pretends to do But to return to his Objections This he suggests as one that in case of a perpetual Equinox the annual motion of the Earth about the Sun would be to no purpose Of this we are no competent-Judges no more than of the other differences formention'd in the conditions of the Planets Yet in that case a distinction and computation of Time might be made by their aspect to the different Signs of the Zodiack There may be for any thing we know in the extent of the Universe Planets or great opake Bodies that have no course about their Sun for reasons best known to their Maker And others that have no diurnal motion about their Axes Nor ought such states tho very different from ours be concluded incongruous If this Objection of his were of any force it would lie against Jupiter as well as against the Antediluvian Earth And this minds me of his objection taken from Saturn and Jupiter whose Axes he says are inclined to the Axis of the Ecliptick and yet according to the Theorist they have suffer'd no Deluge This is an unhappy Argument for I think it hath two errors in it But let us set down his words that there may be no mistake or misrepresentation Another argument which may be brought to convince the Theorist that the Axis of the Earth was at first inclined to the Plane of the Ecliptick is that it is certain by observation that Saturn and Jupiter whom the Theorist will allow to have suffered no Deluge as yet have their Axes not perpendicular but inclin'd to the Planes of their Orbits and the position is true of all the other Planets as far as they can be observ'd And therefore c. First as to Saturn I 'm sure the Theorist never thought that Planet to be now in its original form but to be broken and to have already suffer'd a dissolution as you may see in both Theories English and Latin Then as to the position of Jupiter I know not whence he has this certain observation that its Axis is oblique to the Plane of its Orbit For Hugenius tells us just the contrary and that it hath a perpetual Equinox Let these things be examin'd and hereafter let us be cautious how we take things upon the Examiner's word if he be found to have committed two faults in one Objection Furthermore He intimates p. 94. that the Theorist hath no mind to the notion of Attraction I believe so too nor in Philosophy to any other notion that is unconceivable He must tell us how this Attraction differs from an Occult Quality Whether it is a Mechanical Principle or no And if not from what Principle it arises When he hath told us this we shall be better able to judge of it After all to conclude this Chapter The one grand question with the Theorist whatsoever there may be with other Authors is this Whether the Earth has chang'd its situation since the beginning of the World And that it has done so the Theorist does still positively maintain Having insisted more largely upon these Four First Chapters as being most Fundamental in the Controversie we shall dispatch more readily this 5th and the 7th leaving the 6th Chapter to a more particular disquisition in the last place This Fifth Chapter is designed against the Rivers of the Primitive Earth according to that origin and derivation that is given them by the Theorist But it is to be noted in the first place That supposing they had any other origin or course than what is there assign'd excepting only an origin from Mountains the Theory continues still in force For this point about the Waters of the First Earth and the explication of them is one of those explications that admit of latitude and variety and therefore as to the Theory the question is only this Whether an habitable Earth may have Rivers without Mountains For if any Earth may have them without Mountains why not the Primitive Earth Now it will be hard for the Examiner or any other to prove That in every World where there are Waters and Rivers there are Mountains also We intimated before that the general frame of an Earth might be such as would give a course to Waters without particular Mountains But we will leave that at present to a further consideration and observe now what his proofs are that there could be no Rivers in the Primitive Earth First he says According to the Theorist's own Hypothesis there could be no Rivers for a long time after the formation of the Earth Where is this said by the Theorist His Hypothesis supposes that the soft and moist Earth could not but afford store of Vapours at first as this Author in another place hath noted for the sence of the Theorist p. 86. and now he says the quite contrary The Chanels of the Rivers indeed would not be so deep and hollow at first as they are now their cavities being wrought by degrees but still there would not want Vapours to supply them Then he says when that first moisture of the Earth was
make or occasion such a Deluge For the Rivers of the Earth being then supply'd from the Abyss by such a time or before the time of the Deluge he says there would be no Water left in it Thus he goes from one extream to another Before he said the power of the Sun could not reach or affect the Abyss to draw out any Vapours from it now he would make the Evaporation so excessive that it would have emptied the great Abyss before the Deluge This is a great undertaking and to make it good he takes a great compass He pretends to show us what quantity of Water all the Rivers of the Earth throw into the Sea every day and beginning with the River Po and taking his measure from that he supposes there are such a certain number of equivalent Rivers upon the face of the whole Earth and if the Po casts so much Water into the Sea the rest will cast so much more and in conclusion so much as would empty the Abyss You will easily believe Sir there must be great uncertainties in this computation But if that was certain as it is far from it still he goes upon suppositions that are not allowed by the Theorist For first He supposes the waters of the present Sea to be equal to the Waters of the Great Abyss Whereas supposing them of the same depth there would be near twice as much Water in the Great Deep as is now in the Ocean seeing the Abyss was extended under the whole Earth and the Sea reaches but to half of it Secondly He should prove that the Rivers of the Antediluvian Earth were as many and as great as we have now The Torrid Zone then had none and much less would serve the Temperate Climates than is requisit now for the whole Earth Besides The Rivers of that Earth were not supply'd by Vapours only from the Abyss but also from all the Earth and all the Waters upon the Earth And when the Rivers were partly lost and spent in the Torrid Zone they were in a great measure exhal'd there and drawn into the Air by the heat of the Sun and would fall again in another place to make new Rains and a new supply to the Rivers So in like manner when he supposes the Rivers that were upon the Earth at the time of the disruption of the Great Deep to have thrown themselves off the Land as if they were lost and makes a computation how much Waters all the Rivers of the Earth amount to This I say is a needless computation as to the present purpose For whatsoever mass of Waters they amounted to it would not be lost if they fell down and joyned with the Abyss they would increase its store and be thrown up again by the fall of the fragments making so much a greater mass to overflow the Earth So that nothing is gain'd by this Supposition the effect would be the same as to the Deluge Whether the Waters above the Earth and those under the Earth met together sooner or later when their forces were joyned they would still have the same effect as we said before of the Vapours And to conclude that point The whole summ of Waters or Vapours convertible into waters that were from the beginning or at any time would still be preserv'd above ground or under ground and that would turn to the same account as to the Flood These Waters and Vapours all collected the Theorist supposes sufficient upon a dissolution of the Earth to make the Deluge Not indeed in the nature of a standing Pool as it is usually conceiv'd A quiet Pool I say overtopping and standing calm over the heads of the highest Mountains but as a rushing Sea overflowing and sweeping them with its raging Waves and impetuous fluctuations when it was violently forc'd out of all its Chanels and the Vapours condens'd into Rain Such an inundation as this would be sufficient to destroy both Man and Beast and other Creatures those few excepted that were miraculously preserv'd in the Ark. This is the Theorist's Explication of the Deluge and I see nothing in this Argument that will destroy or weaken it Now this being the state of the Deluge according to the Theorist what this Author says in the next Paragraph p. 167. is either a misrepresentation or an equivocation For the Eight Oceans requir'd by the Theorist is the quantity of Water necessary for a Deluge in the way of a standing Pool whereas this Author represents it as if the Theorist required so much Water to make a Deluge upon his Hypothesis This I suppose upon reflection the Author cannot but see to be a mistake or a wilful misrepresentation This is the summ of his 7th Chapter There are besides some suggestions made which it may be were intended for objections by the Author As when he says p. 151. That the heat of the Sun would be intolerable upon the surface of the Earth if it could pierce and operate upon the Abyss We allow that its heat was intolerable in the Torrid Zone which thereby became unhabitable and there only the Sun was in its full strength and had its greatest effect upon the Abyss But in the other Climates the heat would be moderate enough nay so moderate that this Author says in another place it would not be sufficient to ripen fruits and in the whole of less force than it is now in the present constitution of the Earth So apt is contention to carry one out of one extream into another His last Objection is about the duration of the Flood That it could not last in its force 150 days if it had been made by a dissolution of the Earth and an Eruption of the Abyss But as this is affirm'd by him without proof so the contrary is sufficiently explain'd and made out both in the Lat. and English Theory p. 56. p. 52. I had forgot to tell him That he ought not to suppose as he seems to do when he is emptying the Abyss p. 165. That after the Torrid Zone was soak'd with Waters by the issues of the Rivers no more Waters or Vapours were drawn from it then than were before or consequently no less from the Abyss For when the middle parts of the Earth had drunk in those Waters the force of the Sun would be less upon the Abyss thorough those parts and the Vapours would be more and greater from them than before when they were dryer and in the same proportion there needed less supplies from the Abyss Chap. 6. Concerning the Figure of the Earth I deferr'd the consideration of This Chapter to the last because I thought it of more general concern and might deserve a fuller disquisition 'T is now you know become a common controversie or enquiry What the Figure of the Earth is Many think it not truly Spherical as it was imagin'd formerly but a Spheroid either oblong or oblate that is either extended in length toward the Poles like an
Moon unhabitable To conclude 't is a great vanity to say no worse for short-sighted Creatures and of narrow understandings to prescribe to Providence what is necessary and indispensable to the frame and order of an habitable World We proceed to his fourth Chapter which is to shew the inconveniences that would fall upon the inhabitants of the Earth in case it had such a posture as the Theorist hath assign'd to the Antediluvian Earth namely that its Axis was parallel to the Axis of the Ecliptick or Perpendicular to its Plane and not oblique as it stands now But will this Author vouch that there are no habitable Planets in the Universe or even about our Sun that have this posture which he blames so much Jupiter is known to have a perpetual Equinox and his Axis parallel to the Axis of the Ecliptick And Mars hath little or no obliquity that is observable And must this be a reflection upon Providence Or must we suppose that these Planets have no inhabitants or that their habitations are very bad and incommodious Jupiter is the noblest Planet we have in our Heaven whether you consider its magnitude or the number of its Attendants If then a Planet of that order and dignity have such a position and aspect to the Sun why might not our Earth have had the same proper to that state and agreeable to the Divine wisdom Yet he is so bold as to say or suppose That this cannâ—t well agree with the infinite Wisdom of its Maker as if he was able to make a measure or standard for all the Works of God 'T is a crude and injudicious thing from a few particulars the rest unknown to make an universal conclusion which forward wits are apt to do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ad pauca respiciens facilè pronuncias was Aristotle's observation of old and it holds in all Ages This Examiner censures the Theorist very rudely for making use of Phyfical Causes and not arguing from Final Causes which he says are the true Principles of Natural Philosophy But if this be the use he makes of Final Causes To tell God Almighty what is best to be done in this or that World I had rather content my self with Physical Causes to know what God hath done and conclude it to be the best and that we should judge it so if we had the same extent of thought and prospect its Maker had There are indeed some Final Causes that are so manifest that I should think it sottishness or obstinacy for a Man to deny them but I should also think that Man presumptuous that should pretend to draw the Scheme and Plan of every World from his Idea of Final Causes There are some men that mightily cry out against Reason yet none more fond of it than they are when they can get it on their side So some men inveigh against Physical Causes when others make use of them and yet as gladly as any make use of them themselves when they can make them serve their purpose And when they cannot reach them then they despise them and are all for Final Causes This Author says God always chuses such constitutions and positions of things as bring with them the greatest good and utility to the Universe Very true to the Universe But who made him judge what is best to the Universe Does he look upon this Earth as the Universe whereof it is but a small particle or an atome in comparison Must there be no variety in the numberless worlds which God hath made Must they all be one and the same thing repeated again and again That I 'm sure does not well agree with the infinite Wisdom and Power of God But suppose we did confine our Thoughts to this Earth We may be assur'd that it hath undergone and will undergo within the compass of its duration very different states and yet all accommodate to Providence Those that suppose the Heavens and the Earth never to have had any other constitution and construction than what they have now or that there hath never been any great change and revolution in our Natural World follow the very doctrine which S. Peter opposes and confutes in his 2d Epistle I mean the doctrine of those Scoffers as he calls them who said All things the Heavens and the Earth have remained in the same state they are in now from the beginning or from the Creation and are to continue so In confutation of this opinion S. Peter there minds them of the Change made at the Deluge and of the different constitution and construction of the Heavens and the Earth before and after the Deluge whereby they were dispos'd to undergo a different fate one by Water and the other by Fire And he tells us in the same place that after the Conflagration there will be New Heavens and a New Earth So that there is no one fixt and permanent state even of this Earth according to the Will and Wisdom of Providence But enough hath been said by the Theorist upon this subject Theor. Lat. l. 1. c. 1. 2. Review p. 160 c. Archaeol l. 2. c. 3 5 6. and if they will not consider the arguments propos'd there 't would be in vain to repeat them here These things premis'd Let 's consider what inconveniences are alledged or what Arguments against that equality of Seasons or the grand cause of them the Parallelism of the Axis of the Earth with the Axis of the Sun He says upon this supposition there is more heat now in the Climates of the Earth than could have been then And what if there be whether his computation which is aim'd against another Author be true or false 't is little to the Theory If the heat was equal and moderate in the temperate and habitable Climates who would desire the extream heats of Summer But he says That heat would not be sufficient for the generation of Vegetables How does that appear supposing that heat constant throughout the whole Year Does he think there are no Vegetables in Jupiter which hath still the same position the Theorist gave to the Antediluvian Earth And as to heat that Planet is at vastly a greater distance from the Sun than our Earth and consequently hath so much less heat yet I cannot believe that great Planet to be only a huge lump of bald and barren Earth As to our Antediluvian Earth 't is probable that the constitution of Plants and Animals was different then from what it is now as their longaevity was different to which any excesses of heat or cold are noxious and the frequency and multiplicity of generations and corruptions in the present Earth is part of that vanity to which it was subjected But this Examiner says moreover If the first Earth had that position the greatest part of it would not be habitable But how much less habitable would it be than the present Earth where the open Sea which was not then