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 'T is 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 Ante-diluvian 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 deducâ—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 might have some sensible matter to work upon Bare Idea's of things are lookt upon as Romantick till Effects be propos'd whereof they are to give an account 'T is 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 Long aevity 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 these in the first Ages of the World or in their Golden Age as they call it and I do not doubt but what they ascrib'd 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 't is 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 sence 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 besides 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 besides 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 primâ crescentis origine mundi Illuxisse dies aliumve habuisse tenorem Crediderim Ver illud erat Ver magnus agebat Orbis hybernis parcebant flatibus Euri. Such days the new-born Earth enjoy'd of old And the calm Heavens in this same tenour 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 sence with Ovid's Verses of the Golden Age Ver erat Aeternum placidÃque 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 Iupiter 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 Ante-diluvian 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 Iupiter 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 'T is 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 Iustin Martyr S. Basil Damascen Isidore Hispalensis 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 easie the Earth another situation
of it The method of the first Book 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 Ante-diluvian 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 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 rise 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 CHAP. VI. The dissolution of the First Earth The Deluge ensuing thereupon And the form of the present Earth rising from the Ruines of the First 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 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 of an Ordinary Providence and how far of an Extraordinary 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 CHAP. X. Concerning the Chanel of the Sea and the Original of it The causes of its irregular from and unequal depths As also of the Original of Islands their situation and other properties CHAP. XI Concerning the Mountains of the Earth their greatness and irregular Form their Situation Causes and Origin 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 THE SECOND BOOK CHAP. I. THE Introduction and Contents of the Second Book The general state of the Primaeval Earth and of Paradise 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 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 CHAP. IV. A Digression concerning the Natural Causes of Longaevity That the Machine of an Animal consists of Springs and which are the two principal The Age of the Ante-diluvians to be computed by Solar not Lunar Years 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 Post-diluvian Origin of the Rain-bow 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 CHAP. VII Concerning the place of Paradise It cannot be determin'd from the Theory only nor from Scripture only What the sence of Antiquity was concerning it as to the Iews and Heathens and especially as to the Christian Fathers That they generally plac'd it out of this Continent in the Southern Hemisphere 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 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 Iewish 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 Prâ—vidential conduct of Knowledge in the World A Recapitulation and state of the Theory CHAP. X. Concerning the AUTHOR of NATURE CHAP. XI Concerning Natural Providence Several misrepresentations of it and false methods of Contemplation Preparatives to the true Method 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 THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BOOK I. Concerning the Deluge and the Dissolution of the Earth CHAP. I. THE INTRODVCTION 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 wiling to lay aside a great many other Speculations and all those dry subtleties 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 Sublundry World This Earth and its dependencies which rose out of a Chaos about six thousand years ago And seeing it hath faln to our lot to act upon this Stage to have our present home and residence here its seems most reasonable and the place design'd by Providence where we should first imploy 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 Thred and by the conduct of the same Theory we will pursue its Fate and History through 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 undâ—rstand the Conslagration 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 'T is 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 day 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 Tho' they had many broken Notions concerning those things As to the Conslagration in particular This hath always been reckon'd One amongst the Opinions or Dogmata of the Stoicks That the World was to be destroy'd 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 Premisses 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 'T is 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 'T is true the Poets who were the most Ancient Writers amongst the Greeks and serv'd them both for Historians Divines and Philosophers have deliver'd 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 mixt 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 conserv'd in them the memory of things and times so remote as could not be retriev'd 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 rectifie 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 lookt upon as the Seeds of great knowledge or heads of Theories fixt 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 mixt 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 Oeconomy 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 intire World The obscurity of these things and their remoteness from common knowledge will be made an argument by some why we should not undertake
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-flow'd and destroy'd in a Deluge of Water Not a Deluge that was National only or over-run some particular Country or Region as Iudea or Greece or any other but it overspread 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 preserv'd 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 Abysse being quieted by degrees the Waters retir'd into their Chanels 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 ruines and remains of it This is a short story of the greatest thing that every yet hapned 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 extremely difficult if not impossible to give an account of the Waters that compos'd this Deluge whence they came or whither they went It 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 's 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 contin'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 't is huge and great but 't is 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 par'd 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 't is 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 Chanel 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 Chanel 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 Chanel 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 'T is true there would not be altogether so much Water requir'd 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
masses Besides the posture of these Rocks which is often leaning or recumbent or prostrate shows 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 Tracts 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 ruine 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 would 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 Chanels again and left the Earth habitable and likewise to shew it how the Mountains were brought forth and the Chanel 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 though 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 steddy 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 determin'd 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 Chanel 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 preceeding 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 consent 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 but 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 setled 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
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 exteriour Earth is as the Shell of the Aeolipile and the Abysse as the Water within it now when the heat of the Sun had pierced through the Shell and reach'd the Waters it began to rarefie 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 pen'd in by the exteriour 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 enclos'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 Aeolipile if the mouth of it be stopt that gives the vent the Water raresi'd 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 rarefi'd 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 consider'd 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 it 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 Abysse 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 Countires thus swallow'd up or overflow'd by an Earthquake and an Inundation arising upon it And according to the manner of their fall or ruine they either remain'd wholly under water and perpetually drown'd as Sodom and 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 Chanels 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 'T is true they would not so easily imagine this Dissolution because they did not understand the true from of the Ante-diluvian 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 accompany'd 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 exteriour 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 reacht this thought they might conclude both what the form of the Ante-diluvian 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 Chanels 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 could 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 't is both easie to be found and easily remov'd when the work is done When the exteriour Earth was broke and fell into the Abysse a good part of it was cover'd with Water by the meer depth of the Abysse it fell into and those parts of it that were higher than the Abysse was deep and consequently would stand above it in a calm Water were notwithstanding reacht and overtop'd by the waves during the agitation and violent commotion of the Abysse For it is not imaginable what the commotion of the Abysse 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 'T is 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 Abysse 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 rowling back again it would sweep down with it whatsoever it rusht upon Woods Building 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 tost 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 setled 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 Neither is it to be wonder'd 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 Abysse was extremely violent from the general fall of the Earth there were ever and anon some secondary ruines or some parts of the great ruine that were not well setled broke again and made new commotions And 't was 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 Abysse often fail'd either by the incumbent weight or the violent impulses of the water against them and so renew'd or continu'd the disorder and confusion of the Abysse 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 Abysse and the retiring of the Water into those Subterraneous Chanels for some time But at length when this Air had found a vent and left its place to the Water and the ruines both primary and secondary were setled and fix'd then the Waters of the Abysse 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 Abysse 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 Abysse 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 ruines 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 Abysse or dissolution of the primaeval Earth and its fall into the Abysse 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 Vniversal 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 Abysse 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 Abysse 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 though 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
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 show 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 Divûm Tangere ait Simul alta jubet discedere latè Flumina quà juvenis gressus inferret at illum Curvata in montis faciem circumstitit unda AccepÃtque sinu vasto misÃtque sub amnem Iámque domum â—mirans Genetricis humida regna Speluncisque lacos clausos lucósque sonantes Ibat ingenti motu stupâ—factus aquarum Omnia sub magnâ labentia slumina terrâ Spectabat diversa locis PhasÃmque Licúmque c. Et Thalami matris pendentia pumice tecta c. Come lead the Youth below bring him to me The Gods are pleas'd our Mansions he should see Streight she commands the floods to make him way They open their wide bosom and obey Soft is the path and easie is his tread A watry Arch hends 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 echoing 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 ruine 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 easie 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 't is 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 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 leasurely and by degrees it would flow 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 'T is 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 inaccountable say but that they are a Ruine 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 ruine of that nature And as for the Subterraneous waters seeing the Earth fell into the Abyss the pillars and foundations of the present exteriour 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 'T is 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 exteriour 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 bloud lies in the flesh and in the habit of the body sometimes in greater or lesser masses as the bloud 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 easie 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 Chanel 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 inaccountable from any other yet known As for the Ocean there are two things considerable in it the Water and the Chanel 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 Chanel 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 't is 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 't is easie to imagine how upon the dissolution of the primaeval Earth the Chanel 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-chanel 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 destroy'd the first World and subjected the Creation of 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 through 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-chanel again and the possible causes of it If we could imagine the Chanel of the Sea to have been made as we may imagine the Chanel of Rivers to have been by long and insensible attrition The Water wearing by degrees the ground under it by the â—orce it hath from its descent and course we should not wonder at its irregular form but 't is not possible this Chanel 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-chanel 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 jag'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 'T is 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 't is rais'd into banks and ramparts of Earth and in others 't is 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
be very irregular and diffuse till the Chanels were a little worn and hollowed and though that Earth was smooth and uniform yet 't is impossible upon an inclining surface but that Waters should find a way of creeping downwards as we see upon a smooth Table or a flagg'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 't is plain there was from the Poles towards the Aequator The Current indeed would be easie 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 through 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 whether 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 Aequinoctial 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 Semidiameters 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 Chanel 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 Chanel 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 refresht by no Rivers would become extremely dry and parch'd and be converted at length into a kind of sandy Desart so as all the Waters that were carried thus far and were not exhal'd and consum'd by the Sun would be suckt 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 Ante-diluvian 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 that 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 Ante-diluvian Rivers for they were greatest at their first setting out and the Current afterwards when it was more weak and the Chanel 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 divide 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 Book 2d. fig. 3. p. 158. 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 Primaeval 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 Eusciae of Iupiter so we suppose them to proceed from like causes if that Planet be in an Ante-diluvian 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 a like manner as is hero 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 Bloud is not lost in the habit of the flesh but strain'd thorough 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
that Vault did break as we have shown 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 overflow'd 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 Chanels 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 have thereby setled two great Points given a rational account of the Universal Deluge and shown the Causes of the irregular form of the present or Post-diluvian Earth This being done we have apply'd our selves in the Second Book to the description of the Primaeval Earth and the examination of its properties and this hath led us by an easie 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 finisht 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 And that Period of Nature and Providence being expir'd then follows the Consummation of all things or the General Apotheosts 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 THE 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 THE TWO LAST BOOKS Concerning the BURNING of the WORLD AND Concerning the NEW HEAVENS and NEW EARTH LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. TO THE QUEEN'S MOST Excellent Majesty MADAM HAVING had the honour to present the first part of this Theory to Your ROYAL UNCLE I presume to offer the Second to Your Majesty This part of the Subject I hope will be no less acceptable for certainly 't is of no less importance They both indeed agree in this That there is a WORLD made and destroy'd in either Treatise But we are more concern'd in what is to come than what is past And as the former Books represented to us the Rise and Fall of the First World so These give an account of the present Frame of Nature labouring under the last Flames and of the Resurrection of it in the New Heavens and New Earth which according to the Divine Promises we are to expect Cities that are burnt are commonly rebuilt more beautiful and regular than they were before And when this World is demolish'd by the last Fire He that undertakes to rear it up again will supply the defects if there were any of the former Fabrick This Theory supposes the present Earth to be little better than an Heap of Ruines where yet there is room enough for Sea and Land for Islands and Continents for several Countries and Dominions But when these are all melted down and refin'd in the general Fire they will be cast into a better mould and the Form and Qualities of the Earth will become Paradisiâ—cal But I fear it may be thought no very proper address to shew Your Majesty a World laid in ashes where You have so great an interest Your Self and Such fair Dominions and then to recompence the loss by giving a Reversion in a Future Earth But if that future Earth be a second Paradise to be enjoyed for a Thousand Years with Peace Innocency and constant health An Inheritance there will be an happy exchange for the best Crown in this World I confess I could never perswade my self that the Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints which the Scripture speaks of so frequently was design'd to be upon this present Earth But however upon all suppositions They that have done some eminent Good in this Life will be sharers in the happiness of that State To humble the Oppressors and rescue the Oppressed is a work of Generosity and Charity that cannot want its reward Yet MADAM They are the greatest Benefactors to Mankind that dispose the World to become Vertuous and by their example Influence and Authority retrieve that TRUTH and JUSTICE that have been lost amongst men for many Ages The School-Divines tell us Those that act or suffer great things for the Publick Good are distinguish'd in Heaven by a Circle of Gold about their Heads One would not willingly vouch for that but one may safely for what the Prophet says which is far greater namely that They shall shine like Stars in the Firmament that turn many to Righteousness Which is not to be understood so much of the Conversion of single Souls as of the turning of Nations and People the turning of the World to Righteousness They that lead on that great and happy Work
proceed In what manner the frame of the Earth will be dissolv'd and what will be the dreadful countenance of a Burning World These heads are set down more fully in the Argument of each Chapter and seem to be sufficient for the explication of this whole matter Taking in some additional discourses which in pursuing these heads enter of their own accord and make the work more even and entire In the Second Part we restore the World that we had destroy'd Build New Heavens and a New Earth wherein Righteousness shall dwell Establish that new order of things which is so often celebrated by the Prophets A Kingdom of Peace and of Justice where the Enemy of Mankind shall be bound and the Prince of Peace shall rule A Paradise without a Serpent and a Tree of Knowledge not to wound but to heal the Nations Where will be neither curse nor pain nor death nor disease Where all things are new all things are more perfect both the World it self and its Inhabitants Where the First-born from the Dead have the First-fruits of glory We dote upon this present World and the enjoyments of it and 't is not without pain and fear and reluctancy that we are torn from them as if our hopes lay all within the compass of this life Yet I know not by what good fate my thoughts have been always fixt upon things to come more than upon things present These I know by certain experience to be but trifles and if there be nothing more considerable to come the whole being of Man is no better than a trifle But there is room enough before us in that we call Eternity for great and Noble Scenes and the Mind of Man feels it self lessen'd and straiten'd in this low and narrow state wishes and waits to see something greater And if it could discern another World a coming on this side Eternal Life a beginning Glory the best that Earth can bear It would be a kind of Immortality to enâ—oy that prospect before-hand To see when this Theater is dissolv'd where we shall act next and what parts What Saints and Hero's if I may so say will appear upon that Stage and with what luster and excellency How easie would it be under a view of these futurities to despise the little pomps and honours and the momentany pleasures of a Mortal Life But I proceed to our Subâ—ect CHAP. II. The true state of the Question is Propos'd 'T is the general doctrine of the Ancients that the present World or the present frame of Nature is mutable and perishable To which the Sacred Books agree and Natural Reason can alledge nothing against it WHen we speak of the End or destruction of the World whether by Fire or otherwise â—Tis not to be imagin'd that we understand this of the Great Universe Sun Moon and Stars and the Highest Heavens as if these were to perish or be destroy'd some few years hence whether by Fire or any other way This Question is only to be understood of the Sublunary World of this Earth and its Furniture which had its original about six thousand years ago according to the History of Moses and hath once already been destroy'd when the Exteriour Region of it broke and the Abyss issuing forth as out of a womb overflow'd all the habitable Earth The next Deluge is that of Fire which will have the same bounds and overflow the Surface of the Earth muchâ—what in the same manner But the celestial Regions where the Stars and Angels inhabit are not concern'd in this fate Those are not made of combustible matter nor if they were cou'd our flames reach them Possibly those Bodies may have changes and revolutions peculiar to themselves but in ways unknown to us and after long and unknown periods of time Therefore when we speak of â—he Conflagration of the World These have no concern in the question nor any other part of the Universe than the Earth and its dependances As will evidently appear when we come to explain the Manner and Causes of the Conflagration And as this Conflagration can extend no further than to the Earth and its Elements so neither can it destroy the matter of the Earth but only the form and fashion of it as it is an habitable World Neither Fire nor any other Natural Agent can destroy Matter that is reduce it to nothing It may alter the modes and qualities of it but the substance will always remain And accordingly the Apostle when he speaks of the mutability of this World says only The figure or fashion of this World passes away This structure of the Earth and disposition of the Elements And all the works of the Earth as S. Peter says All its natural productions and all the works of art or humane industry these will perish melted or torn in pieces by the Fire but without an annihilation of the Matter any more than in the former Deluge And this will be further prov'd and illustrated in the beginning of the following Book The question being thus stated we are next to consider the sense of Antiquity upon these two Points First Whether this Sublunary World is mutable and perishable Secondly By the force and action of what causes and in what manner it will perish whether by Fire or otherwise Aristotle is very irregular in his Sentiments about the state of the World He allows it neither beginning not ending rise nor fall but wou'd have it eternal and immuâ—able And this he understand not only of the Great Universe but of this Sublunary World this Earth which we inhabit wherein he will not admit there ever have been or over will be either general Deluges or Conflagrations And as if he was ambitious to be thought singular in his opinion about the Eternity of the World He says All the Ancients before him gave some beginning or origin to the World But were not indeed so unanimous as â—o its 〈◊〉 fate Some believing it immutable or as the Philosophers call it incorruptible Others That it had its fatal times and Periods as lesser Bodies have and a term of age prefixt to it by Providence But before we examine this Point any further it will be necessary to reflect upon that which we noted before an ambiguity in the use of the word World which gives frequent occasion of mistakes in reading the Ancients when that which they speak of the great Universe we apply to the Sublunary World or on the contrary what they speak of this Earth we extend to the whole Universe And if some of them besides Aristotle made the World incorruptible they might mean that of the Great Universe which they thought would never be dissolv'd or perish as to its Mass and bulk But single parts and points of it and our Earth is no more may be variously transform'd and made habitable and unhabitable according to certain periods of time without any prâ—â—udiâ—d to their Philosophy So Plato for instance thinks this
Fiery Mountains burst out and discharge themselves in flames of fire tear up the roots of the Earth throw hot burning stones send out streams of flowing Metals and Minerals and all other sorts of ardent matter which Nature hath lodg'd in those Treasuries If all these Engines I say were to play at once the Heavens and the Earth would seem to be in a flame and the World in an universal combustion But we may reasonably presume that against that great Day of vengeance and execution not only all these will be employ'd but also new Volcano's will be open'd and new Mountains in every Region will break out into smoke and flame just as at the Deluge the Abyss broke out from the Womb of the Earth and from those hidden stores sent an immense quantity of water which it may be the Inhabitants of that World never thought of before So we must expect new Eruptions and also new sulphureous Lakes and Fountains of Oyl to boyl out of the ground And these all united with that Fewel that naturally grows upon the Surface of the Earth will be sufficient to give the first onset and to lay wast all the habitable World and the Furniture of it But we suppose the Conflagration will go lower pierce under-ground and dissolve the substance of the Earth to some considerable depth therefore besides these outward and visible preparations we must consider all the hidden invisible Materials within the Veins of the Earth Such are all Minerals or Mineral juices and concretions that are igniferous or capable of inflammation And these cannot easily be reckon'd up or estimated Some of the most common are Sulphur and all sulphureous bodies and Earths impregnated with Sulphur Bitumen and bituminous concretions inflammable Salts Coal and other fossiles that are ardent with innumerable mixtures and compositions of these kinds which being open'd by heat are unctuous and inflammable or by attrition discover the latent seeds of fire But besides consistent Bodies there is also much volatile fire within the Earth in fumes steams and exudations which will all contribute to this effect From these stores under-ground all Plants and Vegetables are fed and supply'd as to their oily and sulphureous parts And all hot Waters in Baths or Fountains must have their original from some of these some mixture or participation of them And as to the British Soyl there is so much Coal incorporated with it that when the Earth shall burn we have reason to apprehend no small danger from that subterraneous Enemy These dispositions and this Fewel we find in and upon the Earth towards the last Fire The third sort of Provision is in the Air All fiery Meteors and Exhalations engender'd and form'd in those Regions above and discharg'd upon the Earth in several ways I believe there were no fiery Meteors in the ante-diluvian Heavens which therefore St. Peter says were constituted of water had nothing in them but what was watery But he says the Heavens that are now have treasures of fire or are reserv'd for fire as things laid up in a store house for that purpose We have thunder and lightning and fiery tempests and there is nothing more vehement impetuous and irresistible where their force is directed It seems to me very remarkable that the Holy Writers describe the coming of the Lord and the destruction of the wicked in the nature of a tempest or a storm of fire Upon the wicked the Lord shall rain coals fire and brimstone and a burning tempest this shall be the portion of their cup. And in the lofty Song of David Psal. 18. which in my judgment respects both the past Deluge and the future Conflagration 't is said The Lord also thundred in the heavens and the Highest gave his voice hailstones and coals of fire Yea he sent forth his arrows and scattered them and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them Then the Chanels of waters were seen and the foundations of the World were discover'd at thy rebuke O Lord at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils And a like fiery coming is describ'd in the ninety seventh Psalm as also by Isaiah Daniel and S. Paul And lastly in the Apocalypse when the World draws to a conclusion as in the seventh Trumpet ch 11. 19. and the seventh Vial ch 16. 18. we have still mention made of this Fiery Tempest of Lightnings and Thunderings We may therefore reasonably suppose that before the Conflagration the Air will be surcharg'd every where by a precedent drought with hot and fiery exhalations And as against the Deluge those regions were burthened with water and moist vapours which were pour'd upon the Earth not in gentle showres but like rivers and cataracts from Heaven so they will now be fill'd with hot fumes and sulphureous clouds which will sometimes flow in streams and fiery impressions throgh the Air sometimes make Thunder and Lightnings and sometimes fall down upon the Earth in flouds of Fire In general there is a great analogy to be observed betwixt the two Deluges of Water and of Fire not only as to the bounds of them which were noted before but as to the general causes and sources upon which they depend from above and from below At the Floud the Windows of Heaven were opened above and the Abyss was opened below and the Waters of these two joyn'd together to overflow the World In like manner at the Conflagration God will rain down Fire from Heaven as he did once upon Sodom and at the same time the subterraneous store-houses of Fire will be broken open which answers to the disruption of the Abyss And these two meeting and mingling together will involve all the Heaven and Earth in flames This is a short account of the ordinary stores of Nature and the ordinary preparations for a general Fire And in contemplation of these Pliny the Naturalist said boldly It was one of the greatest wonders of the World that the World was not every day set on fire We will conclude this Chapter with his words in the second Book of his Natural History having given an account of some fiery Mountains and other parts of the Earth that are the seats and sources of Fire He makes this reflection Seeing this Element is so fruitful that it brings forth it self and multiplies and encreases from the least sparks what are we to expect from so many fires already kindled on the Earth How does nature feed and satisfie so devouring an Element and such a great voracity throughout all the World without loss or diminution of her self Add to these fires we have mentioned the Stars and the Great Sun then all the fires made for humane uses fire in stones in wood in the clouds and in thunder IT EXCEEDS ALL MIRACLES IN MY OPINION THAT ONE DAY SHOULD PASS WITHOUT SETTING THE WORLD ALL ON FIRE CHAP. VIII Some new dispositions towards the Conflagration as to the matter form and situation of the Earth
am bound to make good I said at first that our Hypothesis concerning the Deluge was more agreeable not only to Scripture in general but also to the particular History of the Flood left us by Moses I say more agreeable to it than any other Hypothesis that hath yet been propos'd This may be made good in a few words For in Moses's History of the Deluge there are two principal points The extent of the Deluge and the Causes of it and in both these we do fully agree with that sacred Author As to the extent of it He makes the Deluge universal All the high hills under the whole heaven were cover'd fifteen cubits upwards We also make it universal over the face of the whole Earth and in such a manner as must needs raise the waters above the top of the highest Hills every where As to the canses of it Moses makes them to be the disruption of the Abyss and the Rains and no more and in this also we exactly agree with him we know no other causes nor pretend to any other but those two Distinguishing therefore Moses his narration as to the substance and circumstances of it it must be allowed that these two points make the substance of it and that an Hypothesis that differs from it in either of these two differs from it more than Ours which at the worst can but differ in matter of circumstance Now seeing the great difficulty about the Deluge is the quantity of Water required for it there have been two explications proposed besides ours to remove or satisfie this difficulty One whereof makes the Deluge not to have been universal or to have reacht only Iudea and some neighbouring Countries and therefore less water would suffice The other owning the Deluge to be universal supplies it self with Water from the Divine Omnipotenty and says new Waters were created then for the nonce and again annihilated when the Deluge was to cease Both these explications you see and I know no more of note that are not obnoxious to the same exceptions differ from Moses in the substance or in one of the two substantial points and consequently more than ours doth The first changeth the Flood into a kind of national inundation and the second assigns other causes of it than Moses had assigned And as they both differ apparently from the Mosaical History so you may see them refuted upon other grounds also in the third Chapter of the First Book of the Theory This may be sufficient as to the History of the Flood by Moses But possibly it may be said the principal objection will arise from Moses his Six-days Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis where another sort of Earth than what we have form'd from the Chaos is represented to us namely a Terraqueous Globe such as our Earth is at present 'T is indeed very apparent that Moses hath accommodated his Six days Creation to the present form of the Earth or to that which was before the eyes of the people when he writ But it is a great question whether that was ever intended for a true Physical account of the origine of the Earth or whether Moses did either Philosophize or Astronomize in that description The ancient Fathers when they answer the Heathens and the adversaries of Christianity do generally deny it as I am ready to make good upon another occasion And the thing it self bears in it evident marks of an accommodation and condescention to the vulgar notions concerning the form of the World Those that think otherwise and would make it literally and physically true in all the parts of it I desire them without entring upon the strict merits of the cause to determine these Preliminaries First whether the whole universe rise from a Terrestrial Chaos Secondly what Systeme of the World this Six-days Creation proceeds upon whether it supposes the Earth or the Sun for the Center Thirdly Whether the Sun and Fixt Stars are of a later date and a later birth than this Globe of Earth And lastly Where is the Region of the Super-celestial Waters When they have determin'd these Fundamentals we will proceed to other observations upon the Six-days work which will further assure us that 't is a narration suited to the capacity of the people and not to the strict and physical nature of things Besides we are to remember that Moses must be so interpreted in the first Chapter of Genesis as not to interfere with himself in other parts of his History nor to interfere with S. Peter or the Prophet David or any other Sacred Authors when they treat of the same matter Nor lastly so as to be repugnant to clear and uncontested Science For in things that concern the natural World that must always be consulted With these precautions let them try if they can reduce that narrative of the Origine of the World to physical truth so as to be consistent both with Nature and with Divine Revelation every where It is easily reconcileable to both if we suppose it writ in a Vulgar style and to the conceptions of the People And we cannot deny that a Vulgar style is often made use of in the holy Writings How freely and unconcernedly does Scripture speak of God Almighty according to the opinions of the vulgar of his passions local motions parts and members of his body Which all are things that do not belong or are not compatible with the Divine Nature according to truth and Science And if this liberty be taken as to God himself much more may it be taken as to his works And accordingly we see what motion the Scripture gives to the Sun what figure to the Earth what figure to the Heavens All according to the appearance of sence and popular credulity without any remorse for having transgressed the rules of intellectual truth This vulgar style of Scripture in describing the natures of things hath been often mistaken for the real sence and so become a stumbling-block in the way of truth Thus the Anthropomorphites of old contended for the humane shape of God from the Letter of Scripture and brought many express Texts for their purpose but sound reason at length got the upper hand of Literal authority Then several of the Christian Fathers contended that there were no Antipodes and made that doctrine irreconcileable to Scripture But this also after a while went off and yielded to reason and experience Then the Motion of the Earth must by no means be allow'd as being contrary to Scripture for so it is indeed according to the Letter and Vulgar style But all intelligent Persons see thorough this Argument and depend upon it no more in this case than in the former Lastly The original of the Earth from a Chaos drawn according to the rules of Physiology will not be admitted because it does not agree with the Scheme of the Six-days Creation But why may not this be writ in a Vulgar style as well as the rest Certainly
G. Kneller Eques Pinxit R White Sculpsit Eâ—â—ies Authâ—ris The Sacred Theory of the EARTH THE 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 THE TWO FIRST BOOKS Concerning The DELVGE AND Concerning PARADISE The Third Edition review'd by the Author LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. TO THE KING'S MOST Excellent Majesty SIR NEW found Lands and Countreys accrew 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 'T will not enlarge Your Dominions 't is past and gone nor dare I say it will enlarge Your Thoughts But I hope it may gratifie 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 Ruines 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 â—â—shapen 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 Iudgment 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 Iudge in a Speculatitn 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 steddy 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 Mirrour 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 't is our Interest as well as Duty in Disquisitions of this Nature to Address our selves to Your Majesty as the Defender of our Philosophick Liberties against those that would usurp upon the Fundamental privilege and Birth-right of Mankind The Free use of Reason Your Majesty hath always appear'd the Royal Patron of Learning and the Sciences and 't is suitable to the Greatness of a Princely Spirit to favour and promote whatsoever tends to the enlargement of Humane Knowledge and the improvement of Humane 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 BVRNET 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 call'd 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 't is 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 Phaenomena 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 'T is 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 S. Austin who was unquestionably a Man of Parts and Learning but interposing in a controversie where his Talent did not lie show'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 ingag'd the Scripture in the Controversie would have the same reason to repent of their forwardness that S. Austin would have now if he was alive 'T
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 In-land 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 requir'd 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 Abysse were broken up or burst asunder and the Rain descended for forty days the Cataracts or Floodgates of Heaven being open'd 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 Abysse 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 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 hours time but because that sucks up noâ—hing of the moisture as the Earth doth let us take an inch for half an hours Rain whence it follows that in the space of 40 days and nights Rain the Waters in the Deluge would rise 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 40 days Rain would supply little more than the hundredth part of the Water requisite to make the Deluge 'T is true he makes the heighth 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 40 days and 40 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 signifie very little as to the over-flowing of the Mountains Whence another Author upon the same occasion hath this passage If the Deluge had been made by Rains only there would not have needed 40 days but 40 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 40 days and 40 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 Superiour Regions we are next to examine the Inferiour and the treasures of water that may be had there Moses tells us that the Fountains of the great Abysse 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 explain'd but we are here to consider what is generally understood by the great Abysse in the common explication of the Deluge and 't is 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 overflowed the highest Mountains But whether or how this could be deserves to be a little examin'd And in the first place the Sea is not higher than the Land as some have formerly imagin'd fansying 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 ventur'd 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 Chanel 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 le ts imagine then that force us'd and appli'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 Chanel 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 Abysse 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 the 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 drain'd the whole middle Region and we have examin'd 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 examin'd 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 'em to descend upon the Earth If fluid as the Air or Aether how could the waters rest upon them For Water is heavier than Air or Aether 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 ceas'd 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 dri'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 Chanels 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 requir'd 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 propos'd by them or belonging to them as may silence the Cavils of Atheists satisfie 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
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 Aether 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 't 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 Iudaea 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 satisfied 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 further than Iudae or some neighbouring Countries thereabouts After the Floo 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 't is 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 bâ—fore the Flood than from the want of people For if we aâ—low 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 triple proportion it would have been sufficient all things consider'd for 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 Hood 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 Iudaea 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 adjoyning places where the Deluge did not reach But especially what needed so much a-do 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 Countrey 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 would 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 should be no more a Flood to destroy the Earth And 't is 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 Iudaea 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 grear Abyss were burst asunder to make the Deluge and what means this Abyss and the bursting of it if restrain'd to Iudaea or some adjacent Countries What appearance is there of this Disruption there more than in other Places Furthermore S. Peter plainly implies that the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth perish'd 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 perish'd 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 S. 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 destroy'd 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 prevailed 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 coverâ—d 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 joyn with our Seas that environ the Continent We cannot imagine Hills and Mountains of water to have hung about Iudaea as if they were congeal'd or 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 dissusive for their parts being in motion have no tye 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 aud 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 could swell to the heighth 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 could rise to the tops of the Mountains in any part of it And the Sea would be all raised to a considerble heighth before the Mountains could be covered For let 's 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 supplied with new waters pushing them forwards would continue their course till they arriv'd 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 Alpes on the one hand aud 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 heighth 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 through 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 The Chineses have the Tradition of it which is the farthest part of our Continent and the nearer and Western parts of Asia is acknowledg'd the proper seat of it Not to mention Deucallon'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 Aegyptians for Antiquity which Iustin mentions they refer to a former destruction of the World by Water or Fire and argue whether Nation first rise again and was original to the other So the Babylonians Assyrians Phoenicians and others mention the Deluge in their stories And we cannot without offering violence to all Records and Authority Divine and Humane 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 lookt 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 propos'd the whole difficulty and try'd all ways offer'd by others and found them ineffectual let us now apply our selves by degrees to unty 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 equality 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 would not be sufficient to explain the Deluge nor to give an account of the present from of the Earth unequal and Mountainous as it is 'T is 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 Abysse 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 Abysse Therefore I saw it necessary to my first thought concerning the smoothness and plainness of the Ante-diluvian Earth to add a second concerning the disruption and dissolution of it for as it often happens in Earthquakes when the exteriour 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 Abysse 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 fansie 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 Chanel of the Sea and of Islands and of Subterraneous Caverns that the surface of the Earth or the exteriour 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 ruine and by their present form and posture show that they have been once in another state and situation one to another We shall have occasion hereafter to give an account of these Phaenomena from which several have rightly argu'd and concluded some general rupture or ruine in the superficial parts of the Earth But this ruine 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 Chanel 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 'T is true I am not of their opinion in either of these Explications and we shall show 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 exteriour 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 detain'd 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 ruines more or less especially when the parts of the ruines are great and inflexible Then what can have more the figure and meen of a ruine 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 those greater
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 assured 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 destroy'd 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 'T is 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 joyn'd we cannot but conceive to have had those pieces at one time or another put together 'T were 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 't is 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 work-man 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 't is not Man by himself that begets a Man but the Sun is his Coadjutor You see then 't was as necessary that the Sun that great Workman of Nature should pre-exist to Natural things producâ—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 preter-natural 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 fansied 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 it self and chang'd it self the Mountains sinking by degrees into the Vallies 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 drown'd and uninhabitable for all succeeding Generations For 't is 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 though those violent causes are not constant or universal yet if the Earth had stood from Eternity there is not a Mountain would have escap'd this fate in one Age or other The course of these exhalations or Fires would have reach'd them all sooner or later if through infinite Ages they had stood expos'd 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 washt 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
by Promethâ—us and the imploying of Wind or Water to turn the Mills and grind their Corn was scarce known before the Romans 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 Clothing 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 deifi'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 suppoâ—tion 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 'T is certain the World was not so populous one or two thousand years since as it is now seeing 't is 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 over-stockt 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 flie 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 humane 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 Bloud 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 Forefathers 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 'T is 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 rise 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 satisfie 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 rise 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 made up of all variety of parts but without Order or any determinate Form which is the true
constituted after a different manner than they are now and that the state of Nature was chang'd at the Deluge it 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 easie and natural import of the Apostle's discourse thus all the parts of it are coherent and the sence genuine and apposite and this is a full confirmation of our first and general assertion That the Ante-diluvian 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 't is 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 S. 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 mixt together and floating in confusion one with another 'T is 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 easie 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 exteriour 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 easie descent and other times with a more sensible and uneasie steepiness 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 't is 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 't is no less impossible for the Chaos to imitate that for 't is full of cavities and empty places of dens and broken holes whereof some are open to the Air and others cover'd and enclosed 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 primigenial Earth which rise 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 rise 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 Ante-diluvian Earth was not the same nor like the form of the present Earth this is our first discovery at a distance but 't is 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 further 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 reqnisite 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 examin'd and which we affirm That the Earth in its first rise and formation from a Chaos was of the form here describ'd and so continu'd 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 'T is the motions and progress of this which we must now consider and what form it setled 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 'T is 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 compleat distinguisht 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 establisht in Nature by the Divine Power and Wisdom it was wrought by degrees from one from into another till it setled at length into an habitable Earth and that of such a frame and structure as we have describ'd in this second Proposition By the Chaos I understand the matter of the Earth and Heavens without from 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 this first Scheme pag. 36 fig. 1 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 place 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 setled 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 pag. 37 fig 2. 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 mixt 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 this Third Figure pag 38. fig 3. Hitherto the changes of the Chaos are easie 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 unctious substance they compos'd a certain slime or fat soft and light Earth spread upon the face of the Waters as 't is represented in this fourth Figure pag. 39. fig 4. 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 rise upon the face of the Chaos And the whole Globe stood in this posture as in Figure the fifth pag 40. fig. 5. 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 'T is 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 purifie 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 purified the particles that were in the Regions of the Air having a long way to come before they reacht 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 finisht before the purgation of the Air began though we represent them so for distinction sake Let them begin to purifie 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 sed 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 exteriour 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 though these Earthy particles we speak of were very thinly dispers'd through those vast tracts 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 covered 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 stopt and heapt 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 mixt with a benign Juice easie 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 that 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 Egyptians Phoenicians and others have describ'd the primigenial soil 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 primigenial 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 easie 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 't is 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 exteriour 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 Abysse 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 When he prepared the Heavens I was there When he drew an Orb over the surface of the Abysse or when he set an Orb upon the face of the Abysse We render it in the English a Compass or Circle but 't is more truly rendred 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 Abysse or Deep Lastly This Scheme of the first Earth gives light to that place we mention'd before of S. 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 sence 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 sence 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 primaeâ—al Earth to have been markt 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 't is 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 primigenial 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 deliver'd 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 Fig 7. pag. 44. 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 establisht truth and proceed upon this supposition That the Ante-diluvian 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 'T is 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 exteriour 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 refer'd that magnificent challenge which God Almighty made to Iob 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 S. Peter when he speaks of the form of the Ante-diluvian Earth how it stood in reference to the Waters adds By the Word of God 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 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 Master-piece 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 Ruines of the First WE have now brought to light the Ante-diluvian Earth out of the dark mass of the Chaos and not only described the surface of it 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 large proportions more like an habitable World as in this Figure where you see the smooth convex of the Earth and may imagine the great Abysse spread under it which two are to be the only subject of our further contemplation Booke j st p. 46. 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 Chanels 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 'T was 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 them We must remember that S. Peter told us that the Ante-diluvian Earth perish'd or was demolish'd and Moses saith the great Abysse 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 Abysse was open'd or that the frame of the Earth broke and fell down into the Great Abysse 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 Abysse 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 destroyed Then when the agitation of the Abysse was asswag'd and the Waters by degrees were retir'd into their Chanels and the dry land appear'd you would see the true image of the present Earth in the ruines 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 ruine were plac'd and dispos'd Upon the banks of the Sea would stand the Rocks and near the shoar would be Islands or lesse fragments of Earth compass'd round by Water Then as to Subterraneous Waters and all Subterraneous Caverns and hollownesses upon this supposition those things could not be otherwise for the parts would fall hollow in many places in this as in all other ruines And seeing the Earth fell into this Abysse the Waters at a certain height would flow into all those hollow places and cavities and would 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 interiour construction whereof this hypothesis doth not 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 Abysse 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 S. Peter to the particular constitution of that Earth which made it obnoxious to be absorpt in Water so that our explication so far is justifi'd 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 Chanel in which these great revolutions of Nature which we treat on flow and succeed one another Let us therefore resume that System of the Ante-diluvian Earth which we have deduc'd from the Chaos and which we find to answer S. Peter's description and Moses his 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 Abysse 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 Abysse were borken open For Fountains are broken open no otherwise than by breaking up the ground that covers them We must therefore here inquire in what order and from what causes the frame of this exteriour Earth was dissolv'd 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 humane 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 raresying 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 't is 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 Ante-diluvian Earth as shall be prov'd in the follwing Book concerning Paradise In the mean time this being suppos'd let us consider what effect it would have upon this Arch of the exteriour 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 raresi'd and exhal'd the Waters beneath it And considering the structure of that Globe the exteriour crust and the Waters lying round under it both expos'd to the Sun we may fitly compare it to an Aeolipile or
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 deliver'd 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 satisfie 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 here 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 incongrous 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 Chap. of this Book In the mean time we will proceed to History both Sacred and Profane 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 Superiour and Inferiour and the Inferiour 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 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 Abysse began to be more compos'd and to retire into their Chanels whence they shall never return to cover the Earth again This agrees wholly with our Theory we suppose the Abysse 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 faln 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 Chanels It was no doubt a great oversight in the Ancients to fansie 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 Chanels in the Earth that could hold so much water either to give it or to receive it And the Psalmist speaking of the Deluge as it seems to me notes this violent commotion of the Abysse 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. 1. 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 refer'd to the time of the Deluge and the state of the waters then 't is both a just description of the motion of the Abysse and certainly true that the waters since that time are so setled in their Chanels that they shall never overflow the Earth again As we are assured 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 TEHOMRABBA or great Abysse which he saith was broken up at the Deluge 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 Abysse can be understood the Sea or Ocean under that form we see it in at present and 't is plain methinks that the Sea cannot be understood by this great Abysse 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 Abysse 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 an 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 in 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. 2. that Eight such Oceans as ours would be little enough for that purpose Then as to the expressions of Moses concerning this Abysse 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. 1. 10. and us'd a word that was common and known to signifie 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. 1. 2. when he saith Darkness was upon the face of the Abysse or of the Deep as we render it there the Abysse was open or cover'd with darkness only namely before the exterior Earth was form'd Here the same Abysse is mention'd again but cover'd by the formation of the Earth upon it and the covering of this Abysse was broken or cloven asunder and the Waters gusht 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 Abysse and whether that will agree with the Sea or no he saith the Fountains of the great Abysse were broken open now if by the great Abysse 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 Abysse whose disruption was the cause of the Deluge And as the Mosaical Abysse cannot be the Sea so neither can it be those Subterraneous waters that are disperst in the Cells and Caverns of the Earth for as they are now lodg'd within the Earth they are not one Abysse 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 'T is not as if you openâ—d a Vein where the Bloud 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 Abysse 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 Ante-diluvian Earth represented 5 Fig. 2. 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 Ante-diluvian Abyss answers truly to all these characters 't was in the womb of the Earth the Earth was founded upon those Waters as the Psalmist saith or they were enclos'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 Abysse 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 feat 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 meer 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 Ante-diluvian Earth and as to the Deluge we may further be convinc'd from S. Peter's discourse concerning those two things S. Peter saith that the constitution of the Ante-diluvian 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 Abysse 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 'T is true S. Peter doth not specifie what those waters were nor mention either the Sea or the Abyss but seeing
more critical examination than this Discourse will easily bear There is another remarkable Discourse in Iob that contains many things to our present purpose 't is Chap. 38. where God reproaches Iob with his ignorance of what pass'd at the beginning of the World and the formation of the Earth Vers. 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 elegacy if they be understood of the first and Ante-diluvian 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 ruine 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 appli'd 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 â—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 finisht then the morning Stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy 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 Abysse 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 of the Fountains of the Abysse Gen. 7. 11. when the waters gusht out as out of the great womb of Nature and by reason of that confusion and perturbation of Air and Water that rise 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 Chanel of the Sea was made when the Abysse 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 shows 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 overflow'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 the womb of the Farth but that Subterraneous capacity in which the Abyss lay Then that which followeth is a description or representation of the great Deluge that ensu'd and of that disorder in Nature that was then and how the Waters were setled and Bounded afterwards Not unlike the description in the 104 Psalm vers 6 7 8 9. and thus much for these places in the book of Iob. There remains a remarkable discourse in the Proverbs of Solomon relating to the Mosaical Abysse 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. 8. ver 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 27. verse When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass upon the face of the Deep or Abysse When he established the Clouds above when he strengthned the fountains of the Abysse Here is mention made of the Abysse and of the Fountains of the Abysse 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 vers 28. He strengthned the fountains of the Abysse 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 exprest 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 Abysse 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 restimony 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 Abysse 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 sence and in both sences 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 Of those places that refer to the shutting and
opening the Abyss in a natural sence I cannot but particularly take notice of that in Iob Chap. 12. ver 14 15. 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 Though 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 dissoluâ—ion or subversion of the Earth thereupon and accordingly they are made the great effects of the Divine Power and Wisdom in the foregoing Verse With God is wisdom and strength he hath counsel and understanding Behold he breaketh down c. And also in the conclusion 't is repeated again 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 't is 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 chapt and parcht 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 'T is 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 sence is more weighty if it be refer'd to the great Deluge and the great Earthquake which laid the World in ruines 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 stile 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 stile-something approaching to the nature of a Prophetical stile 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 observ'd in most of those places we have made use of and particularly in that speech of Wisdom Prov. 8. where the 26. 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 though 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 stile 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. 24. concerning the destruction of Ierusalem and of the World But notwithstanding any such unevenness or indistinctness in the stile 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 Abysse than what it is in now 't is 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 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 fansied may in like manner be observ'd concerning the ancient Earth and Abysse 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 inaccountable without any sufficient ground that we know or any just occasion for such uncouth representations If there was nothing intended or refer'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 stile 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 sence and notion intended by the holy Writers And thus much I think is sufficient to have observ'd out of Scripture to verifie 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 Abysse 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 of 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 spoke upon any other ground but only for truth and instruction sake I leave this to be appli'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 else-where 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 accompained with a gaping or disruption of the Earth Apollodorus saith that the Mountains of Thessaly were divided asunder or separate one from another at that time And Lucian de deâ Syriâ 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 impli'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 Abysse 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 the eabouts 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 Iews I should not have doubted to have interpreted it concerning his Abysse and the retiring of the waters into it but the actual disruption of the Abysse 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 explain'd in all the material parts and circumstances of it according to the preceding Theory Any seeming difficulties removed and the whole Section concluded with a Discourse how far the Deluge may be lookt 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 shown it to be the real account of Noah's Flood according to Authority both Divine and Humane 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 Abysse 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 rectifi'd 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 though it be not exact in every particular 't is 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 through a thick Forest though 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 reveal'd to Noah that for the wickedness and degeneracy of men God would destroy mankind with the Earth Gen. 6. 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 though 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 continu'd 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 shown 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 a Dock or Cistern made to receive them it might be a float before the Abysse was broken open For I do not suppose the Abysse broken open before any Rain fell And when the opening of the Abysse 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 Abysse 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 vapors 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 Abysse gusht out as out of a womb However when the Rains were faln we may suppose the face of the Earth cover'd over with water and whether it was these waters that S. Peter refers to or that of the Abysse afterwards I cannot tell when he saith in his first Epistle Chap. 3. 20. Noah and his Family were sav'd by water so as the water which destroy'd 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 exteriour 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 't is 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 caskades of water and this is that which Moses seems to call not improperly the Gataracts of Heaven or the Windows of Heaven being set open Thus the Flood came to its height and 't is not easie 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 swallow'd 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 distrest 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 us'd in the description of Storms and raging Seas were literally true in this if not beneath it The Ark was really carry'd to the tops of the highest Mountains and into the places of the Clouds and thrown down again into the deepest Gulfs 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. 42. 7. Abysse calls upon Abysse 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 man'd live upon such a Sea that kept it from being dasht against the Hills or overwhelm'd in the Deeps That Abyss which had devour'd 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 when Iason 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 couriosity 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 ruine 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 pag. 68. 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 Chanels 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 Chanels 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 't is 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 this 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 Chanel and bounded by Rocks and Mountains Then was the decreed place establisht 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 And the Deluge being thus ended and the waters setled in their Chanels 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 ceast 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 reacht much further in-land and climb'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 Chanel 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 Dauphiné and Languedock 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 Aegypt to the Atlantick Ocean and now parts Barbary and Numidia may possibly have been the Ancient Barriere 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 easie to have been full of Lakes and Pools for a long time and those were often converted into Fens and Bogs where the ground being spongy suckt 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 stockt with people and humane industry cleans'd and drain'd 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 proportionably grew more dry and more parts of it fit for habitation I easily believe that Plato's observation or tradition 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 tells us that sometime 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 disperst 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 further and further 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 shew into remote Countreys in Colonies like swarms from the Hive and setled 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 enclos'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 Abysse again at the end of the Deluge which our Explication supposeth to continue open But besides that half the Abysse 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
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 't is 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 S. 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 finisht 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 beg'd any Principles or Suppositions for the proof of this but taking that common ground which both Moses and all Antiquity presents to us viz. That this Earth rose from a Chaos We have from that deduc'd by an easie 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 Interiour 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 Oratours 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 Oratour 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 Oratour 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 plac'd 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 tracts and single Regions yet if we consider the whole surface of it or the whole Exteriour Region 't is 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 't is 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 Ruine and have the true aspect of a World lying in its rubbish 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 Marishes 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 surprising to one that hath consider'd the foregoing Theory For 't is 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 extremely 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 hollownesse especially in the Mountainous parts of it And we see the resemblance and imitation of this in lesser ruines 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 ruine 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 explain'd from easie 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 asham'd 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 easie 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 Phaenomena 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 ruine 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 ruines more or less and where the fragments are great and hard 't is 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 inaccountable when they are lookt 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 easily 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 iâ—s 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 't is a thousand to one that 't is the true Key and was made for that purpose An eminent Philosopher of this Age Monsteur 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 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 easie 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 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 Chanel 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 strangest 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 Sence and of easie 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 Derbishire 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 storehouses 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 fansied also that steams rise sometimes or a sort of Vapour in those hollow places that gave a kind of 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 talkt on where they are to be the wonders of the Countrey 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 Grottoes they have often a little Brook runs murmuring through 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 in a great way under ground and wear the hard Rock into as many odd shapes and figures as we see in the Clouds 'T is 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 through 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 Tigris 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 farther 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 mentions some in the Mountains towards Arabia that are capable to receive four thousand men at once The Cave of Engedi 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 Iosephus tells us Herod was forc'd to make a sort of open chests and in those by chains of Iron he let down his Souldiers 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 'T is scarce credible what is reported concerning some eruptions of Vesuvius and Aetna 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 brimes of it like an Amphitheater or like a great Caldron about a mile in circumference and the burning Furnace lies under it The outsides 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 't is 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 another 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 Aetna is of greater same 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 Aetna The Figure of the Mountain is inconstant by reason of the great consumptions and ruines it is subject to The Fires and Aestuations of it are excellently describ'd by Virgil upon occasion of Aeneas his passing by those Coasts Horrificis juxta tonat Aetna ruinis Interdumque atram prorumpit ad aethera nubem Turbine fumantem piceo candente favillâ AttollÃtque globos flammarum sydera lambit Interdum scopulos avolsáque viscera Montis Erigit eructans liquefactáque saxa sub auras Cum gemitu glomerat fundóque exaesluat into Fama est Enceladi semustum fulmine corpus Urgeri mole hâc ingentémque insuper Aetnam Impositam ruptis flammam expirare caminis Et fessum quoties mutet latus intremere omnem Murmure Trinacriam coelum subtexere fumo Aetna whose ruines make a thunder Sometimes black clouds of smoak 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 Iâ— gathers then spews out and gathers more Emceladus when thunder-struck by Jove Was buri'd here and Aetna thrown above And when to change his wearied side he turns The Island trembles and the Mountain burns Not far from Aetna lies Strâ—mbolo 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 Chanels and Clefts 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 though 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 found like a dull thunder which ariseth from the Vapours that are striving in the womb of Nature when her throes 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 Gomorrha and the Region of Pentapolis and several Cities in Greece and in Asia and other parts Whole Islands also have been thus absort in an Earthquake the pillars and props they stood upon being broken they have sunk and faln 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 joyn'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 continu'd 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 happen'd 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 setled 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 joynts 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 ruines there happen lesser and secondary ruines after the first till the parts be so well pois'd and setled 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 Caesar that struck down Twelve Cities of Asia in one night And Fournier gives us an account of one in Peru that reacht three hundred leagues along the Sea-shore and seventy leagues inland and level'd the Mountains all along as it went threw down the Cities turn'd the Rivers out of their Chanels 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 ruines 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 't is observ'd that at one end the great Ocean flows into it through the straits of Gibralter 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 over-flows its banks And besides that it is thus fed at either end it is sed by the navel too as I may so say it sucks in by their Chanels 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 easie namely that it is discharg'd by Subterraneous passages or convey'd by Chanels 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 eâ—flux or consumption of the waters of the Mediterranean some have suppos'd a double current in the strait of Gibralter 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 bloud 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 bloud 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 consum'd in Exhalations every day This seems to be a bolder supposition than the other for if so much be consum'd 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 consum'd 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 diminisht 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 though 't is true some Rivers in Africk and in others 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 Chanel 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 Chanels 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 though it might by contrary currents turn things round within in 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
expected in a ruine 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 though 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 Chanel 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-chanel is but a ruine and in a ruine things tumble uncertainly and commonly lie in confusion Though 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 Chanel 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 Iob saith 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 besides these 't is 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 Eddees and infamous Syrtes and Whirlpools that are in some Seas as the Baltick and the Mediterranean that suck into them and overwhelm whatever comes within their reach show 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 'T is 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 Idea's 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 lookt 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 inaccountable 't is another Chaos in its kind who can paint the Scenes of it Gulfs 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 streight 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 easie 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-chanel as if it was a sufficient account of them to say they were the effects of a ruine there are other things to be consider'd and explain'd besides 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 Chanel of the Sea it hath one general form which may though under many differences be observ'd 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 sleeper the Rocks are Also where the descent is more leisurely 't is 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 Chanel or deepest part and this in the deep Ocean is fathomless And such a deep Ocean and such a deep Chanel there is always between Continents This I think is a property as determinate as any we can pitch upon in the Chanel 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-chanel 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 this 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 Chanel of the great Ocean lying betwixt two Continents and the inclining sides shew the declivity of the Shores 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 Chanel 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 Chanel fig. 1. page 92. fig. 2. fig. 3. We must in the first place distinguish between Original Islands and Factitious Islands Those I call factitious 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 Aegaean 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-chanel But besides 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 Chanel 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 though 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 extemities 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 'T is ture besides 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-Indian shore and the Hesperides upon the Africk and there seldom happen to be any towards the middle of the Ocean though 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 't is 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-chanel 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 plaesure 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 ruines but such as show a certain magnificence in Nature as from old Temples and broken Amphitheaters 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 sence 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 Appennine 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 easie till I could give my self some tolerable account how that confusion came in Nature 'T is 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 't is 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 'T is 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 Iden and extend it to those parts of the Earth that we do not see and so fansie the whole Globe much more smooth and uniform than it is But suppose a man was carri'd 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 would think himself in an inchanted Country or carri'd into another World every thing would 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 easie to him to perswade 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 ruine-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 another These Alps we are speaking of are the greatest range of Mountains in Europe and 't is prodigious to see and to consider of what extent these heaps of Stones and Rubbish are one way they overspread Savoy and Dauphiné and reach through France to the Pyrenean Mountains and so to the Ocean The other way they run along the skirts of Germany through Stiria 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 Appennines strikes through 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 't is 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 and Mountains in it And all the dry Land and every Continent is but a kind of Mountain though 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 Aegypt parallel with the Mediterranean There also are the Mountains or 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 CÃ ucasus 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 't is 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 overwhelm'd one half of them and what remains are but the taller parts of a ruine 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 evor had been the Skeleton of the Earth as I may so say with the site 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 Marches 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 As this View of the multitude and greatness of them may help to rectifie our mistakes about the form of the Earth so before we proceed to examine their causes it will be good to observe farther that these Mountains are plac'd in no order on 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 'T is true they cannot look so ill now as they did at first a ruine that is fresh looks much worse than afterwards when the Earth grows discolour'd and skin'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 gastly and frightful After this general Survey of the Mountains of the Earth and their properties let us now reâ—lect 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 though admiration proceed 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 rise from a Chaos 't was impossible it should come immediately into this Mountainous form because a mass that is fluid as a Chaos is cannot liâ— 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 rise from a Châ—os which could not of it self or by any immediate concretion settle into a form of this nature as hath been shown 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 provâ—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 tracts 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 sadden 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 Chanel 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 large than the surface it fell upon 't is 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 exteriour Orb of the Earth was greater than the interiour which it fell upon and therefore it could not all fall flat and secondly because this exteriour 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 shewed before in explaining the Chanel of the Ocean it left a gaping in the middle or an Abyss-chanel as I should call it and the broader this Abyss-chanel 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 ruines 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 't is 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 ruine 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 joynts 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 to speak the Truth this Theory is something more than a bare Hypothesis because we are assur'd that the general ground that we go upon is true namely
That the Earth rise 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 Ante diluvian Earth and Heavens from the Post-diluvian as to their form and constitution And it will never be beaten out of my head but that S. Peter 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 alteâ—ations by humane industry 'T is 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 it self and as a Naturalist ought to conceive and consider it 'T is 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 though 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 Chanel 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 exprest 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-chanel 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 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 reflection 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 primaeval Form and how it came into its present Form The summ of our Hypothesis concerning the Universal Deluge was this That it came not to pass as was vulgarly believ'd by any 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-chanel of Islands of subterraneous Cavities Things which without this supposition are as unintelligible as the universal Flood it self 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 so 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 Chanel 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 tho 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 form'd 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 Pick 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 ruine 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 through the Air would have much what the same aspect and countenance as 't is represented with in the great Scheme 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 wish 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 helpt to repair some of the old breaches or fill them up besides the changes that have been made by Art and Humane 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 Desarts and Fields and hollow Valleys and a wide Sea Then secondly We must in our imagination empty this Chanel 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 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 fix'dly upon it and to pronounce what we think of this disfigur'd mass whether this Exteriour frame doth not seem to be shatter'd and whether it doth more aptly resemble a new-made World or the ruines 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 Ierusalem in its ruines when defac'd and sack'd by the Babylonians I could have perswaded 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 Chanel of the Sea was made The Elements naturally lie in regular forms one above another and now we find them mixt 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 Chanel 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 easie to be pleas'd Do the Sun and the Wind use to squeaze 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 rarifie 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 't is 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 encompast 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 oblig'd 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 drid 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-chanel in several Ages as it is without all proof or probability if he mean it of the Chanel of the great Ocean so 't is nothing to the purpose here for the question is not why the Chanel 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 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 dri'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 Aequator but suppose they were dri'd up in certain places that would make no Mountains no more than there are Mountains in our dri'd Marches And the places where they were not dri'd would not therefore become as deep and hollow as the Sea chanel and tear the Earth and Rocks in pieces If you should 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 it self 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 â—all 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 up-side 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 ruines and dissolutions of one sort or other but these ruines 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 factitious 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 ruines 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 Chanel of the Atlantick Ocean or of the Pacifick Ocean which is extended an hundred and fifty degrees under the Aequator 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 superiour nature or degree which their activity can by no means reach to Aetna 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 Chanel to the Sea though 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 'T is 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 Chanel 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 whoever heard of a new chain of Mountains made upon the Earth or a new Chanel 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 sensible excite admiration and great attention when they come to pass and would certainly have been remembred 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 prodigles 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 Chanel of the Sea or subterraneous Cavities Either they must take that form which we have assign'd it before thâ— Deluge or else they must suppose it cover'd with Water till the Sea-chanels were made and the Mountains brought forth as in that Fig. pag. 37. And no doubt it was once in this form both reason and the authority of Moses assures us of it and this is the Test which every opinion must be brought to how the Earth-emerg'd out of that watery 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 ruines 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 Chanel of the Sea And these Authors say God Almighty made them immediately when he made the World and so dispatcht 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 Cap. II. 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 S. Peter's distinction betwixt the present Earth and the Ante-diluvian 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 S. Peter confutes and upbraids them with ignorance or forgetfulness of the change that was brought upon Nature at the Deluge or that the Ante-diluvian 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 S. Peter's so rudely as Didymus Alexandrinus did an ancient Christian and one of S. Ierom's Masters he was of the same opinion with these Theological Authors and so fierce in it that seeing S. Peter's doctrine here to be contrary he said this Epistle of S. 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 Tâ—iform in success of time We acknowledge his Exposition of S. 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 ruines and dissolutions that have been on the Earth and which we have shown 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 Chanel 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 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 Chanel 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 Chanel 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 Chanel 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-chanel 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 Chanel was made for this Chanel 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 doubly 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 slung thorow 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 thorow 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 prest or taken out of the Chanel 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 continu'd mass And 't is 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 'T is all one frame or mass only broken and disjoynted in the parts of it To conclude 'T is 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 miles 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-chanel to make all those inequalities Or that Earthquakes have been in every County 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 ruine We have now finisht this first part of our Theory and all that concerns the Deluge or dissolution of the Earth and we have not only establisht 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 acknowledg'd 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 observed in them be their Waters or their Sea as they are in the Moon 't is 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 't is a remarkable passage that S. Austin 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 Iupiter 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 exteriour Earth of that Planet at its dissolution did not all fall in but the Polar parts sinking into the Abyss the middle or Aequinoctial 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 Iupiter that it is not wholly Sphaerical but a Sphaeroid protuberant in the Aequator and deprest 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 Aequator 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 Aequator 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 Phaenomena 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 rise 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 Phaenomenon hitherto observ'd concerning Saturn that does disprove this Hypothesis or conjecture As to Iupiter that Planet without doubt is also turned about its Axis otherwise how shou'd 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 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 Soâ—â—m and Gomorrha 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 Phaenomena 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 â—orm'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 mens 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 FINIS THE 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 Throughout the whole Course of its Duration THE SECOND BOOK Concerning the PRIMAEVAL EARTH AND Concerning PARADISE LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BOOK II. Concerning the Primaeval Earth and concerning Paradise CHAP. I. The Introduction and Contents of the Second Book The general state of the Primaeval 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 primaeval 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 Theater upon which Mortals appear'd and acted and continued 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 't is 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 't was 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 satisfie it what were the other properties of this World how were the Heavens how the Elements what accommodation for humane 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 aëry Idea to us and 't is certain that the more properties and particularâ—ties 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 â—ictitious 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
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 at first were 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 Hony-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 ministery 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. 1. 24. compar'd with the 11. Vers. 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 requir'd 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 Aether 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 Females Eggs. Tum Pater Omnipotens foecundis imbribus Aether Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit In fruitful show'rs of Aether Jove did glide Into the bosom of his joyful Bride 'T is 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 Epicuruâ—'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 rise at first from one Head or single Man and 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 Aegyptians 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 Superiour Agents Thus much for the Preliminaries or three general Characters of Paradise which were common to it with the rest of the Primaeval 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 six 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 our enquiries after it otherwise we fail 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 remarkably 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 Humane 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 imploy'd in a great measure to preserve our selves from necessity or diseases or injuries of the Air or other inconveniencies to make one Man easie 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 easie liberality can scarce now be extorted from her Neither are the Heavens more favourable sometimes in one extreme 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 Aequinox in Paradise there was at the same time a perpetual Aequinox all the Earth over unless you place Paradise in the middle of the Torrid Zone So also the long-lives of the Ante-diluvians was an universal Effect and must have had an universal Cause 'T is 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 Ante-diluvian fore-fathers and that degree of longaevity which they have above the rest they owe to the calmness and tranquility 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 forementioned Characters more distinctly to show 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 Aequator or which is as easie perswade 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 't is 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 threds 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 finisht 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 cherish'd 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 Females womb and conserv'd in a fit temperature 'twixt heat and cold while the Causes that Providence hath imploy'd are busie at work fashioning and placing and joyning 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 'T is true some little Creatures that are of short dispatch in their formation and find nourishment enough wheresoever they are brâ—d 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 Joynts 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 courser 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 sufferâ—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 shown 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 nourisht upon any other supposition Longaeviâ—y 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 longaveity 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 't 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 vertue 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 longaevity decreast 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 Ante-diluvians 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 adaequate cause of their longaevity as will appear both from History and Reason Shem who was born before the Flood and had in his body all the vertue of the Ante-diluvian 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 proportionably 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 longaevity 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 â—ixt at length before David's time 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 happened 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 Ante-diluvian longaevity proceeded only from the Stamina or the meer strength of their bodies and would have been so under any constitution of the Heavens let them 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 satisfi'd that to understand the causes of that longaevity 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 from 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 Paradise 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 't is not above nor below in the Air or in the subterraneous Regions no doubtless 't was 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 perplext the Argument and our selves by showing 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 Ante-diluvian Earth where we pretend its seat was and show it capable of all those privileges which we have deny'd to the present in vertue of which privileges and of the order of Nature establisht 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 inferiour 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 mention'd was that of the right posture and situation of the Earth to the Sun for from this immediately follow'd a perpetual Aequinox all the Earth over or if you will a perpetual Spring and that was the great thing we found a wanting in the present Earth to make it Paradisiacal or capable of being so Wherefore this being now found and establisht in the Primitive Earth the other two properties of Longaevity and of Spontaneous and Vital fertility will be of more easie 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 't is 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 balanc'd 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 Aequator 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 fail about the Sun once a year or once in so many years whilst they are uniformly built and equally pois'd they keep steddy 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 shipwrackt 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 tho' 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 easie 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 Aequinox or Spring to all the World all the parts of the year had one and the same tenour 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 Aequator 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 establisht 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 show'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 mixt with unctuous juices and then afterwards refresh'd and diluted with the dews of Heaven all the year long and cherisht 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 Humane 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 'T is 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 Aether The Ancients both the Stoicks and Aristotle have suppos'd that there was something of an Aethereal Element in the Male-geniture from whence the vertue 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 fructifie 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 fructifie it and by the mediation of this active principle but the Ancients speak more plainly with express mention of this Aether and of the impregnation of the Earth by it as betwixt Male and Female As in the place before-cited Tum Pater omnipotens faecundis imbribus Aether Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit omnes Magnus alit magno commixtus corpore foetus Which notion I remember S. Austin saith 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 vertue 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 Aethereal 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 Male-geniture 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 LONGAEVITY This sprung from the same root in my opinion with the other though the connexion it may be is not so visible We show'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 expos'd to the same changes of Air and of Seasons that our Bodies are But taking a perpetual Aequinox 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 steddy and uniform A stabiâ—ity 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 Aether 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 fixt 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 Bloud 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 failing 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 moisten'd 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 steept 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 though they were built of Oak and that in a very short time in comparison of what they would last if they were always incompast 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 longaevity 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 Aequinox 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 Longaevity of the Ante-diluvian Patriarchs proceeded from a favourable Aspect and influence of the Heavens at that time which Aspect of the Heavens being rightly
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 strugling motions of the Air Nature was then a stranger to all those disorders But as for watery Meteors or those that rise from watery 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 storehouse of new Vapours But 't is 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 't is 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 easie 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 Aequinoctial 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 Climats 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 setled 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 reacht 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 't is 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 establisht order of Nature in that World this was the state of the Ante-diluvian 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 Chanel 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 slowing 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 Aereal River As may be easily apprehended from this Scheme of the Earth and Air. Book 2d. fig. 1st p. 155. 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 not 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 't is manifest the Polar parts are higher than the Aequinoctial 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 extreme 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 Booke 2d. fig. 2d. p. 156. 'T is true These derivations of the Waters at first would
Chanels 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 intanglement in their principles They suppos'd generally that Paradise was in the other Hemisphere as we shall have occasion to show hereafter and yet they believ'd that Tigris Euphrates Nile and Gunges 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 our 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 testifie 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 Rain-bow before were certainly of a constitution very different from ours And S. Peter doth formally and expresly tell us that the Old Heavens or the Ante-diluvian 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 Aereal 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 watery Meteors and therefore he says they consisted of Water And this shows 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 watery 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 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'd 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 Supercoelestial 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 mention'd 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. 9. 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 signifi'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 signified only by institution to make it significant in this sence it must be something new otherwise it could not signifie 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
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 Ancients call'd Antichthon the Opposite Earth or the Other World And this name and notion remain'd long after the reason of it had câ—ast 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 lookt upon as the first division of that Primaval 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 â—â—ve 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 fixt 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 Aequator 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 stopt 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 Desarts 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 Tracts of the Earth that were not refresht 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 Pyrrha 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 unlabour'd soil replenistht 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 〈◊〉 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 most 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 cover'd with Leaves and Fruit But we have occasionally spoken of these things in several places and may do again hereafter and therefore need not inlarge 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 courser 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 suppli'd by other ways These Subterraneous things Metals and metallick Minerals are Factitious not Original bodies coaeval 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 risâ—e from the lower Regions that lie under the Abyss as I am apt to think they do 〈◊〉 doth not seem probable that they could be drawn through 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 exteriour 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 see 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 Ante-diluvian World Let us now look upon Man and other living Creatures that make the Superiour and Animate part of Nature We have observ'd and sufficiently spoken to that difference betwixt the Men of the old World and those of the present in point of Longaevity 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 and see from first to last the entire course and period of a World We might add here with S. Austin 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 though they had been as high as the Aeâ—yptian 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 't is 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 and Moderns 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 â—That Allegorical description of the glory of Assyria in Ezekiel Chap. 31. 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 factory 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 Aequinox 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 iniuries of the Air in that state whereas now one great part of the affairs of life is to preserve our selves from those inconveniences by building and cloathing How many Hands and how many Trades are imploy'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 â—s 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 Ante-diluvian 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 suppli'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 Carnivoâ—us 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. 9. 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. 1. 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 lookt 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 affaiâ—â— 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 establisht But these things with many more ought to be the subject of a Philosophick History of the World which we mention'd before This is a short and general Scheme of the Primaeval World compar'd with the Modern yet these things did not equally run through 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 that Heavens and Earth till then also this Civil frame of things would stand in a great measure And though such a state of Nature and of Mankind when 't is propos'd crudely and without its grounds appear fabulous or imaginary yet 't is really in it self a state not only possible but more easie and natural than what the World is in at present And if one of the old Ante-diluvian Patriarchs should rise from the dead he would be more surpris'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 'T is we that have left the tract of Nature that are wrought and screw'd up into artifices that have disguis'd our selves and 't is in our World that the Scenes are chang'd and become more strange and Fantastical I will conclude this Discourse with an easie remark and without any particular Application of it 'T is 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 tenacicus of their petty opinions than they are nor more censorious even to bitterness and malice And 't is 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 determin'd from the Theory only nor from Scripture only What the sence of Antiquity was concerning it both as to the Iews 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 prepar'd our work for the last finishing stroaks describ'd 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 Primaeval Earth I say in that Primaeval 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 indispensable 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 'T is like seeking a perfect beauty in a mortal Body there are so many things requir'd 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 though never so well chosen in this present Earth But in the Primaeval Earth which we have describ'd 't is easie to find a Seat that had all those beauties and conveniences We have every where through 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 of 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 't is said to be in Eden or to be the Garden of Eden 't is 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. 2. ver 8 10. do in the same story render it twice as a common name signifying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pleasure Chap. 2. 15. and Chap. 3. 24. and so they do accordingly render it in Ezekiel Chap. 31. 9. 16 18. where this Garden of Eden is spoken of again Some have thought that the word Mekiddim Gen. 2. 8. was to be render'd in the East or Eastward as we read it and therefore determin'd the site of Paradise but 't is only the Septuagint Translate it so all the other Greek Versions and S. Ierome 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 determin'd by the four Rivers that are named as belonging to it and the Countries they ran thorough 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 'T is 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 Chanels 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 haveck or confusion in it and they that go that way are therefore the more oblig'd to show us still the Rivers of Paradise Several of the Ancients as we shall show 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 amongst themselves concerning these Rivers and the Countries they run thorough and we will undertake to show 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 Iews what the Heathens and what the Christian Fathers have said or determin'd concerning the Seat of Paradise The Iews and Hebrew Doctors place it in neither Hemisphere but betwixt both under the Aequinoctial as you may see plainly in Abravanel Manasses Ben-Israel Maimonides Aben Ezra and others But the reason why they carried it no further than the Line is because they suppos'd it certain as Aben 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 Aequinoctial But we have shown another method wherein that perpetual Aequinox 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 't is 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 feared 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 hath been much encouraged of late because it gave Men ease and rest as to further inquiries 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 fansied Paradise to have been at Ierusalem but 't was a meer fansie that no body regarded or pursu'd The controversie 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
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 Genealogie 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 Aether and the Earth The Earth conceiv'd by the influences of Aether and brought forth Man and all Animals This seems to be a Poetical fiction rather than Philosophy yet when 't is set in a true light and compar'd with our Theory of the Chaos 't will 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 show'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 off-spring 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 Aether so the earthy parts that were mixt with it dropt 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 disaffection 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 continued a good while which the Ancients after their Poetick or Moral way call'd the Reign of Eris or Contention of hatred flight 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 rise out of the Sea and receiv'd into her bosom and intangled into her imbraces the falling Aether viz. The parts of lighter earth which were mixt 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 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 primaeval Earth was or his Aethereal Earth mention'd in his Phaedo 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 easie 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 Aequator 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 Primaeval 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 shown 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 currant till observation and experience taught later Ages to correct it As the true miracles that were in the Christian Church at
was compriz'd and signified in their ancient doctrine of the Mundane Egg which hath been propagated through all the Learned Nations 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 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 though 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 though this account as to the Books and Learning of the Heathen may be lookt upon as reasonable yet we might expect however from the Iewish and Christian Authors a more full and satisfactory account of that Primitive Earth and of the Old World First as to the Iews 't is 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 had 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 Nehâ—miah 'T was 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 't is 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 't is thought of their Alphabet and Character too And if their Sacred Books were hardly preserv'd we may easily Believe all others perisht 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 ruine 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 besides the Bible so ancient as the destruction of Ierusalem These and other publick calamities of the Iewish Nation may reasonably be thought to have wasted their Records of ancient Learning if they had any for to speak truth the Iews 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 't is true of the Iewish Gabala 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 't is 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 and though the explication of them be uncertain the Inferiour Sephiroth in the Corporeal World cannot so well be appli'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 burnt down If the Prophecies of Enoch had been preserv'd and taken into the Canon by Eâ—ra 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 supposâ—d to have containâ—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 Iews As for Christian Authors their knowledge must be from some of these foremention'd Iews 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 site of the Primitive Earth where Paradise stood and doth seem plainly to refer to it being unintelligible upon any other supposition And 't was I believe this elevation of Paradise and the pensile 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 mens 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 perisht and are lost out of the World such as Ephrem Syrus de ortu rerum and Tertulâ—ian de Paradiso and that piece which is extant of 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 rectifi'd if compar'd with this Theory Of this nature also is that Tradition that is common both to Iews and Christians and which we have often mention'd before that there was a perpetual serenity and perpetual Equinox in Paradise which cannot be upon this Earth not so much as under the
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 Weiâ—ht 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 appli'd 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 Humane 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 Humane Society To these True Principles of Philosophy we must joyn 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's 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 very 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 fixt 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 shows 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 unperfect 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. 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. Iob also hath aptly exprest those first rudiments of the Body or that little Chaos out of which it riseth Hast thou not poured me out as Milk and crudled me like Cheese Thou hast cloathed me with Skin and Flesh and fenced me with Bones and Sinews Where he notes the first Matter and the last Form of his Body its compleat and most incompleat state According to those 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
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 from and state they are under at present of which sort of differences we have noted some amongst our Planets though 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 though they seem little draw after them innumerable others and so make a distinct face of Nature and a distinct World which still shows 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 thorough 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 as 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 though 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 Phaenomena 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 our 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 Superiour Beings so these little Systems are Compendium's 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 sence as respecting only the Material World and accordingly this part of Providence others and superintends the state of the Earth the great Vicissitudes and Mutations of it for we must not imagine 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 Fulnesses of Time and fixt Seasons either for some great Catastrophe or some great Instauration 'T is 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 Profane doth suppose and Natural Reason approve and confirm we have form'd the Earth from it But when we say the Earth rise 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 setled in Stone was once Earth and Earth was once Mud and Mud was once sluid And so other things may have another kind of progression from fluidity but all was once fluid at least all the exteriour 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 setled 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 Primaeval Earth gave occasion to the first Catastrophe of this World when it perisht in a Deluge of Water For
II. The Birth of the New Heavens and the New Earth from the second Chaos or the remains of the Old World The form order and qualities of the New Earth according to Reason and Scripture CHAP. III. Concerning the Inhabitants of the New Earth That natural reason cannot determine this point That according to Scripture The Sons of the first Resurrection or the heirs of the Millennium are to be the Inhabitants of the New Earth The Testimony of the Philosophers and of the Christian Fathers for the Renovation of the World The first Proposition laid down CHAP. IV. The Proof of a Millennium or of a blessed Age to come from Scripture A view of the Apocalypse and of the Prophecies of Daniel in reference to this Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints CHAP. V. A view of other places of Scripture concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ. In what sence all the Prophets have born Testimony concerning it CHAP. VI. The sence and testimony of the Primitive Church concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ from the times of the Apostles to the Nicene Council The second Proposition laid down When by what means and for what reasons that doctrine was afterwards neglected or discountenanc'd CHAP. VII The true state of the Millennium according to Characters taken from Scripture Some mistakes concerning it rectified CHAP. VIII The Third Proposition laid down concerning the Time and Place of the Millennium Several arguments us'd to prove that it cannot be till after the Conflagration and that the New Heavens and New Earth are the true Seat of the Blessed Millennium CHAP. IX The chief employment of the Millennium DEVOTION and CONTEMPLATION CHAP. X. Objections against the Millenniâ—m answer'd With some conjectures concerning the state of things after the Millennium and what will be the final Consummation of this World The Review of the whole Theory THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BOOK III. Concerning the Conflagration CHAP. I. The Introduction With the Contents and Order of this Work SEEING Providence hath planted in all Men a natural desire and curiosity of knowing things to come and such things especially as concern our particular Happiness or the general Fate of Mankind This Treatise may in both respects hope for a favourable reception amongst inquisitive persons seeing the design of it is to give an account of the greatest revolutions of Nature that are expected in future Ages and in the first place of the Conflagration of the World In which Universal Calamity when all Nature suffers every Man 's particular concern must needs be involv'd We see with what eagerness Men pry into the Stars to see if they can read there the Death of a King or the fall of an Empire 'T is not the fate of any single Prince or Potentate that we Calculate but of all Mankind Nor of this or that particular Kingdom or Empire but of the whole Earth Our enquiries must reach to that great period of Nature when all things are to be dissolv'd both humane affairs and the Stage whereon they are acted When the Heavens and the Earth will pass away and the Elements melt with fervent heat We desire if possible to know what will be the face of that Day that great and terrible Day when the Regions of the Air will be nothing but mingled Flame and Smoak and the habitable Earth turn'd into a Sea of molten Fire But we must not leave the World in this disorder and confusion without examining what will be the Issue and consequences of it Whether this will be the End of all Things and Nature by a sad fate lie eternally dissolv'd and desolate in this manner or whether we may hope for a Restauration New Heavens and a New Earth which the Holy Writings make mention of more pure and perfect than the former As if this was but as a Refiner's fire to purge out the dross and courser parts and then cast the Mass again into a new and better Mould These things with God's assistance shall be mattâ—r of our preâ—ent enquiry These make the genâ—ral â—â—bject of thiâ— Treatise and of the remaining parts of this Theory of â—he Earth Which now you see begins to be a kind of Prophecy or Prognostication of things to come as it hath been hitherto an History of things pass'd of such states and changes as Nature hath already undergone And if that account which we have given of the Origin of the Earth its first and Paradisiacal form and the dissolution of it at the Universal Deluge appear fair and reasonable The second dissolution by Fire and the renovation of it out of a Second Chaos I hope will be deduc'd from as clear grounds and suppositions And Scripture it self will be a more visible Guide to us in these following parts of the Theory than it was in the former In the mean time I take occasion to declare here again as I have done heretofore that neither this nor any other great revolutions of Nature are brought to pass by Causes purely Natural without the conduct of a particular Providence And 't is the Sacred Books of Scripture that are the records of this Providence both as to times past and times to come as to all the signal Changes either of the Natural World or of Mankind and the different Oeconomies of Religion In which respects these Books tho' they did not contain a Moral Law would notwithstanding be as the most mystical so also the most valuable Books in the World This Treatise you see will consist of Two Parts The former whereof is to give an account of the Conflagration and the latter of the New Heavens and New Earth following upon it together with the state of Mankind in those New Habitations As to the Conflagration we first enquire what the Antients thought concerning the present frame of this World whether it was to perish or no whether to be destroyed or to stand eternally in this posture Then in what manner they thought it would be destroy'd by what force or violence whether by Fire or other ways And with these opinions of the Antients we will compare the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles to discover and confirm the truth of them In the second place We will examine what Calculations or Conjectures have been made concerning the time of this great Catastrophe or of the end of this World Whether that period be defineable or no and whether by Natural Arguments or by Prophecies Thirdly We will consider the Signs of the approaching Conflagration Whether such as will be in Nature or in the state of Humane Affairs but especially such as are taken notice of and recorded in Scripture Fourthly Which is the principal point and yet that wherein the Ancients have been most silent What Causes there are in Nature what preparations for this Conflagration Where are the Seeds of this Universal Fire or fewel sufficient for the nourishing of it Lastly In what order and by what degrees the Conflagration will
to the chargeableness or perpetuity of the World But Ancient Learning is like Ancient Medals more esteemed for their rarity than their real use unless the Authority of a Prince make them currant So neither will these Testimonies be of any great effect unless they be made good and valuable by the Authority of Scripture We must therefore add the Testimonies of the Prophets and Apostles to these of the Greeks and Barbarians that the evidence may be full and undeniable That the Heavens and the Earth will perish or be chang'd into another form is sometimes plainly exprest sometimes suppos'd and alluded to in Scripture The Prophet David's testimony is express both for the beginning and ending of the World in the 102. Psalm Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the Earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy Years shall have no end The Prophet Esay's testimony is no less express to the same purpose Lift up your Eyes to the heavens and look upon the Earth beneath for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the Earth shall was old like a garment and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner These Texts are plain and explicite and in allusion to this day of the Lord and this destruction of the World the same Prophet often useth phrases that relate to it As the Concussion of the Heavens and the Earth The shaking of the foundations of the World The dissolution of the Host of Heaven And our Sacred Writers have expressions of the like force and relating to the same effect As the Hills melting like wax at the presence of the Lord Psal. 97. 5. Shattering once more all the parts of the Creation Hagg. 2. 6. Overturning the mountains and making the pillars of the Earth to tremble Job 9. 5 6. If you reflect upon the explication given of the Deluge in the first part of this Theory and attend to the manner of the Conflagration as it will be explain'd in the sequel of this Discourse you will see the justness and fitness of these expressions That they are not Poetical Hyperboles or random expressions of great and terrible things in general but a true account of what hath been or will be at that great day of the Lord. 'T is true the Prophets sometimes use such-like expressions figuratively for commotions in States and Kingdoms but that is only by way of Metaphor and accommodation the true basis they stand upon is that ruine overthrow and dissolution of the Natural World which was once at the Deluge and will be again after another manner at the general Conflagration As to the New Testament our Saviour says Heaven and Earth shall pass away but his words shall not pass away Matth. 24. 35. S. Paul says the Scheme of this World the fashion form and composition of it passeth away 1 Cor. 7. 31. And when mention is made of New Heavens and a New Earth which both the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostles S. Peter and S. Iohn mention 't is plainly imply'd that the old ones will be dissolv'd The same thing is also imply'd when our Saviour speaks of a Renascency or Regeneration Matt. 19. 28. and S. Peter of a Restitution of all things Act. 3. 21. For what is now must be abolish'd before any former order of things can be restor'd or reduc'd In a word If there was nothing in Scripture concerning this subject but that discourse of S. Peter's in his 2d Epistle and 3d. Chapter concerning the triple order and succession of the Heavens and the Earth past present and to come that alone wou'd be a conviction and demonstration to me that this present World will be dissolv'd You will say it may be in the last place we want still the testimony of Natural Reason and Philosophy to make the evidence compleat I answer 't is enough if They be silent and have nothing to say to the contrary Here are witnesses Humane and Divine and if none appear against them we have no reason to refuse their testimony or to distrust it Philosophy will very readily yield to this Doctrine that All material compositions are dissolvable and she will not wonder to see that die which she had seen born I mean this Terrestrial World She stood upon the Chaos and see it rowâ— it self with difficulty and after many struglings into the form of an habitable Earth And that form she see broken down again at the Deluge and can as little hope or expect now as then that it should be everlasting and immutable There would be nothing great or considerable in this Inferiour World if there were not such revolutions of Nature The Seasons of the Year and the fresh Productions of the Spring are pretty in their way But when the Great Year comes about with a new order of all things in the Heavens and on the Earth and a new dress of Nature throughout all her Regions far more goodly and beautiful than the fairest Spring This gives a new Life to the Creation and shows the greatness of its Author Besides These Fatal Catastrophes are always a punishment to degenerate Mankind that are overwhelm'd in the ruines of these perishing Worlds And to make Nature her self execute the Divine Vengeance against Rebellious Creatures argues both the Power and Wisdom of that Providence that governs all things here below These things Reason and Philosophy approve of but if you further require that they should shew a Necessity of this future destruction of the World from Natural Causes with the time and all other circumstances of this effect your demands are unreasonable seeing these things do not depend solely upon Nature But if you will content your self to know what dispositions there are in Nature towards such a change how it may begin proceed and be consummate under the conduct of Providence be pleased to read the following Discourse for your further satisfaction CHAP. III. That the World will be destroy'd by Fire is the doctrine of the Ancients especially of the Stoicks That the same doctrine is more ancient than the Greeks and deriv'd from the Barbarick Philosophy and That probably from Noah the Father of all Traditionary Learning The same doctrine expresly authoriz'd by Revelation and inroll'd into the Sacred Canon THAT the present World or the present frame of Nature will be destroy'd we have already shewn In what manner this destruction will be by what force or what kind of fate must be our next enquiry The Philosophers have always spoken of Fire and Water those two unruly Elements as the only Causes that can destroy the World and work our ruine and accordingly they say all the great and fatal Revolutions of Nature either past or to come depend upon the violence of these Two when
they get the mastery and overwhelm all the rest and the whole Earth in a Deluge or Conflagration But as they make these Two the Destroying Elements so they also make them the Purifying Elements And accordingly in their Lustrations or their rites and ceremonies for purging sin Fire and Water were chiefly made use of both amongst the Romans Greeks and Barbarians And when these Elements over run the World it is not they say for a final destruction of it but to purge Mankind and Nature from their impurities As for purgation by Fire and Water the stile of our Sacred Writings does very much accommodate it self to that sence and the Holy Ghost who is the great Purifier of Souls is compared in his operation upon us and in our regeneration to fire or water And as for the external world S. Peter makes the Flood to have been a kind of Baptziing or renovation of the World And S. Paul and the Prophet Malachy make the last Fire to be a purging and reâ—ining â—ire But to return to the Ancients The Stoicks especially of all other Sects amongst the Greeks have preserved the doctrine of the Conflagration and made it a considerable part of their Philosophy and almost a character of their order This is a thing so well known that I need not use any Citations to prove it But they cannot pretend to have been the first Authors of it neither For besides that amongst the Greeks themselves Heraclitus and Empedocles more ancient than Zeno the Master of the Stoicks taught this doctrine 't is plainly a branch of the Barbarick Philosophy and taken from thence by the Greeks For it is well known that the most ancient and mystick Learning amongst the Greeks was not originally their own but borrowed of the more Eastern Nations by Orpheus Pythagoras Plato and many more who travel'd thither and traded with the Priests for knowledge and Philosophy and when they got a competent stock returned home and set up a School or a Sect to instruct their Country-men But before we pass to the Eastern Nations let us if you please compare the Roman Philosophy upon this subject with that of the Greeks The Romans were a great people that made a shew of Learning but had little in reality more than Words and Rhetorick Their curiosity or emulation in Philosophical Studies was so little that it did not make different Sects and Schools amongst them as amongst the Greeks I remember no Philosophers they had but such as Tully Seneca and some of their Poets And of these Lucretius Lucan and Ovid have spoken openly of the Conflagration Ovid's Verses are well known Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur affore tempus Quo mare quo Tellus correptaque Regia Coeli Ardeat mundi moles operosa laboret A Time decreed by Fate at length will come When Heavens and Earth and Seas shall have their doâ—m A fiery doâ—m And Nature 's mighty frame Shall break and be dissolv'd into a flame We see Tully's sence upon this matter in Scipio's Dream When the old man speaks to his Nephew Africanus and shews him from the clouds this spot of Earth where we live He tells him tho' our actions should be great and fortune favour them with success yet there wou'd be no room for any lasting glory in this World for the World it self is transient and fugitive And a Deluge or a Conflagration which necessarily happen after certain periods of time sweep away all records of humane actions As for Seneca he being a profest Stoick we need not doubt of his opinion in this point We may add here if you please the Sibylline verses which were kept with great Religion in the Capitol at Rome and consulted with much ceremony upon solemn occasions These Sibyls were the Prophetesses of the Gentiles and tho' their Writings now have many spurious additions yet none doubt but that the Conflagration of the World was one of their original Prophecies Let us now proceed to the Eastern Nations As the Romans receiev'd the small skill they had in the Sciences from the Greeks so the Greeks receiv'd their chief Mystick Learning from the Barbarians that is from the Aegyptians Persians Phoenicians and other Eastern Nations For 't is not only the Western or Northern people that they called Barbarians but indeed all Nations besides themselves For that is commonly the vanity of great Empires to uncivilize in a manner all the rest of the World and to account all those People Barbarous that are not subject to their dominion These however whom they call'd so were the most ancient People and had the first Learning that was ever heard of after the Flood And amongst these the Aegyptians were as famous as any whose Sentiment in this particular of the Conflagration is well known For Plato who liv'd amongst them several years tell us in his Timaeus that it was the doctrine of their Priests that the fatal Catastrophes of the World were by Fire and Water In like manner the Persians made their beloved God Fire at length to consume all things that are capable of being consum'd For that is said to have been the doctrine of Hydaspes one of their great Magi or Wise Men. As to the Phoenicians I suspect very much that the Stoicks had their Philosophy from them and amongst other things the Conflagration We shall take notice of that hereafter But to comprehend the Arabians also and Indians give me leave to reflect a little upon the story of the Phoenix A story well known and related by some ancient Authors and is in short this The Phoenix they say is a Bird in Arabia India and those Eastern parts single in her kind never more than one at a time and very long-liv'd appearing only at the expiration of the Great Year as they call it And then she makes her self a Nest of Spices which being set on fire by the Sun or some other secret power she hovers upon it and consumes her self in the flames But which is most wonderful out of these ashes riseth a second Phoenix so that it is not so much a death as a renovation I do not doubt but the story is a fable as to any such kind of Bird single in her species living and dying and reviving in that manner But 't is an Apologue or a Fable with an interpretation and was intended as an Emblem of the World which after a long age will be consum'd in the last fire and from its ashes or remains will arise another World or a new-form'd Heavens and Earth This I think is the true mystery of the Phoenix under which Symbol the Eastern Nations preserv'd the doctrine of the Conflagration and Renovation of the World They tell somewhat a like story of the Eagle soaring a-loft so near the Sun that by his warmth and enlivening rays she renews her age and becomes young again To this the Psalmist is thought to allude Psal. 103. 5. Thy Youth shall be
nothing that I know of in Antiquity Sacred or prophane that gives a joynt testimony with it And those that set up these Pillars do not seem to me to have understood the Nature of the Deluge or Conflagration if they thought a Pillar either of Brick or Stone would be secure in those great dissolutions of the Earth But we have pursued this doctrine high enough without the help of these ante-diluvian Antiquities Namely to the earliest people and the first appearances of Wisdom after the Flood So that I think we may justly look upon it as the doctrine of Noah and of his immediate posterity And as that is the highest source of learning to the present World so we should endeavour to carry our Philosophical Traditions to that Original for I cannot perswade my self but that they had amongst them even in those early days the main strokes or conclusions of the best Philosophy or if I may so say a form of sound doctrine concerning Nature and Providence Of which matter if you will allow me a short digression I will speak my thoughts in a few words In those First Ages of the World after the Flood when Noah and his Children peopled the Earth again as he gave them Precepts of Morality and Piety for the conduct of their Manners which are usually call'd Praecepta Noachidarum the Precepts of Noah frequently mention'd both by the Jews and Christians So also he deliver'd to them at least if we judge aright certain Maxims or Conclusions about Providence the state of Nature and the fate of the World And these in proportion may be call'd Dogmata Noachidarum the Doctrines of Noah and his Children Which made a System of Philosophy or secret knowledge amongst them deliver'd by Tradition from Father to Son but especially preserv'd amongst their Priests and Sacred Persons or such others as were addicted to Contemplation This I take to be more ancient than Moses himself or the Iewish Nation But it would lead me too far out of my way to set down in this place the reasons of my judgment Let it be sufficient to have pointed only at this Fountain head of knowledge and so return to our Argument We have heard as it were a Cry of Fire throughout all Antiquity and throughout all the People of the Earth But those alarums are sometimes false or make a greater noise than the thing deserves For my part I never trust Antiquity barely upon its own account but always require a second witness either from Nature or from Scripture What the voice of Nature is we shall hear all along in the following Treatise Let us then examine at present what testimony the Prophets and Apostles give to this ancient doctrine of the Conflagration of the World The Prophets see the World a-fire at a distance and more imperfectly as a brightness in the Heavens rather than a burning flame but S. Peter describes it as if he had been standing by and seen the Heavens and Earth in a red fire heard the cracking flames and the tumbling Mountains 2 Pet. 3. 10. In the day of the Lord The Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat The Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up Then after a pious Ejaculation he adds Ver. 12. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat This is as lively as a Man could express it if he had the dreadful spectacle before his Eyes S. Peter had before taught the same doctrine ver 5 6 7. but in a more Philosophick way describing the double fate of the World by Water and Fire with relation to the Nature and Constitution of either World past or present The Heavens and the Earth were of old consisting of water and by water whereby the World that then was being overflow'd with water perish'd But the Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Iudgment and perdition of ungodly or Atheistical men This testimony of S. Peter being full direct and explicit will give light and strength to several other passages of Scripture where the same thing is exprest obscurely or by allusion As when S. Paul says The fire shall try every man's work in that day And our Saviour says The tares shall be burnt in the fire at the end of the World Accordingly it is said both by the Apostles and Prophets that God will come to judgment in Fire S. Paul to the Thessalonians promiseth the persecuted Righteous rest and ease When the Lord shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God c. And so to the Hebrews S. Paul says that for wilful Apostates there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries or enemies of God And in the 12th Chapter he alludes to the same thing when after he had spoken of shaking the Heavens and the Earth once more he exhorteth as S. Peter does upon the same occasion to reverence and godly fear For our God is a consuming Fire In like manner the Prophets when they speak of destroying the wicked and the Enemies of God and Christ at the end of the World represent it as a destruction by Fire Psalm the 11th 6. Upon the wicked the Lord shall rain coals fire and brimstone and a burning tempest This shall be the portion of their Cup. And Psal. 50. 3. Our God shall come and will not be slow A fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him And in the beginning of those two triumphal Psalms the sixty-eighth and ninety-seventh we see plain allusions to this coming of the Lord in fire The other Prophets speak in the same style of a fiery indignation against the wicked in the day of the Lord As in Isaiah 66. 15. For behold the Lord will come with fire and with his Chariots like a whirl-wind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire And in Daniel c. 7. 9 10. The Ancient of days is plac'd upon his Seat of Judgment cover'd in flames I beheld till the Thrones were set and the Ancient of days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool His Throne was like the fiery flame his wheels as burning fire A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him Thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him The judgment was set and the Books were opened The Prophet Malachy c. 4. 1. describes the Day of the Lord to the same effect and in like colours Behold the Day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all
the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch And that nature her self and the Earth shall suffer in that fire the Prophet Zephany tells us c. 3. 8. All the Earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousie Lastly This consumption of the Earth by fire even to the foundations of it is exprest livelily by Moses in his Song Deut. 32. 22. A fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn unto the lowest Hell and shall consume the Earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the Mountains If we reflect upon these Witnesses and especially the first and last Moses and S. Peter at what a great distance of time they writ their Prophecies and yet how well they agree we must needs conclude that they were acted by the same Spirit and a Spirit that see thorough all the Ages of the World from the beginning to the end These Sacred Writers were so remote in time from one another that they could not confer together nor conspire either in a false testimony or to make the same prediction But being under one common influence and inspiration which is always consistent with it self they have dictated the same things tho' at two thousand years distance sometimes from one another This besides many other considerations makes their authority incontestable And upon the whole account you see that the doctrine of the future Conflagration of the World having run through all Ages and Nations is by the joynt consent of the Prophets and Apostles adopted into the Christian Faith CHAP. IV. Concerning the time of the Conflagration and the end of the World What the Astronomers say upon this Subject and upon what they ground their Calculations The true notion of the Great Year or of the Platonick Year stated and explained HAVING in this First Section laid a sure foundation as to the Subject of our Discourse the truth and certainty of the Conflagration whereof we are to treat we will now proceed to enquire after the Time Causes and Manner of it We are naturally more inquisitive after the End of the World and the Time of that Fatal Revolution than after the Causes of it For these we know are irresistible whensoever they come and therefore we are only sollicitous that they should not overtake us or our near posterity The Romans thought they had the fates of their Empire in the Books of the Sibyls which were kept by the Magistrates as a Sacred Treasure We have also our Prophetical Books more sacred and more infallible than theirs which contain the fate of all the Kingdoms of the Earth and of that glorious Kingdom that is to succeed And of all futurities there is none can be of such importance to be enquired after as this last scene and close of all humane affairs If I thought it possible to determine the time of the Conflagration from the bare intuition of Natural Causes I would not treat of it in this place but reserve it to the last after we had brought into view all those Causes weigh'd their force and examin'd how and when they would concur to produce this great effect But I am satisfied that the excitation and concourse of those Causes does not depend upon Nature only and tho' the Causes may be sufficient when all united yet the union of them at such a time and in such a manner I look upon as the effect of a particular Providence and therefore no foresight of ours or inspection into Nature can discover to us the time of this conjuncture This method therefore of Prediction from Natural Causes being laid aside as impracticable all other methods may be treated of in this place as being independent upon any thing that is to follow in the Treatise and it will be an ease to the Argument to discharge it of this part and clear the way by degrees to the principal point which is the Causes and Manner of the Conflagration Some have thought it a kind of impiety in a Christian to enquire after the End of the World because of that check which our Saviour gave his Disciples when after his Resurrection enquiring of him about the time of his Kingdom He answer'd It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power And before his death when he was discoursing of the Consummation of all things He told them expresly that tho' there should be such and such previous Signs as he had mention'd yet Of that day and hour knoweth no man No not the Angels that are in Heaven but my Father only Be it so that the Disciples deserv'd a reprimand for desiring to know by a particular revelation from our Saviour the state of future times when many other things were more necessary for their instruction and for their ministery Be it also admitted that the Angels at that distance of time could not see thorow all events to the End of the World it does not at all follow from thence that they do not know it now when in the course of Sixteen Hundred Years many things are come to pass that may be marks and directions to them to make a judgment of what remains and of the last period of all things However there will be no danger in our enquiries about this matter seeing they are not so much to discover the certainty as the uncertainty of that period as to humane knowledge Let us therefore consider what methods have been used by those that have been curious and busie to measure the duration of the World The Stoicks tell us When the Sun and the Stars have drunk up the Sea then the Earth shall be burnt A very fair Prophecy but how long will they be a drinking For unless we can determine that we cannot determine when this combustion will begin Many of the Ancients thought that the Stars were nourish'd by the vapours of the Ocean and of the moist Earth and when that nourishment was spent being of a fiery nature they would prey upon the Body of the Earth it self and consume that after they had consum'd the Water This is old-fashion'd Philosophy and now that the nature of those Bodies is better known will scarce pass for currant 'T is true we must expect some dispositions towards the combustion of the World from a great drought and desiccation of the Earth But this helps us nothing on our way for the question still returns When will this immoderate drought or dryness happen and that 's us ill to resolve as the former Therefore as I said before I have no hopes of deciding the question by Physiology or Natural Causes let us then look up from the Earth to the Heavens To the Astronomers and the Prophets These think they can define the age and duration of the World The one
by their Art and the other by Inspiration We begin with the Astronomers whose Calculations are founded either upon the Aspects and Configurations of the Planets or upon the Revolutions of the Fixt Stars Or lastly upon that which they call Annus Magnus or the Great Year whatsoever that Notion proves to be when it is rightly interpreted As to the Planets Beâ—sus tells us The Chaldeans suppose Deluges to proceed from a great conjunction of the Planets in Capricorn and from a like coniunction in the opposite Sign of Cancer the Conflagration will ensue So that if we compute by the Astronomical Tables how long it will be to such a Conjunction we find at the same time how long it will be to the Conflagration This doctrine of the Chaldeans some Christian Authors have owned and followed the same principles and method If these Authors would deal fairly with Mankind they should shew us some connexion betwixt these Causes and the Effects which they make consequent upon them For 't is an unreasonable thing to require a man's assent to a Proposition where he sees no dependence or connexion of Terms unless it come by Revelation or from an infallible Authority If you say The Conflagration will be at the first great Conjunction of the Planets in Cancer and I say it will be at the next Eclipse of the Moon if you shew no more reason for your assertion than I for mine and neither of us pretend to revelation or infallibility we may justly expect to be equally credited Pray what reason can you give why the Planets when they meet should plot together to set on Fire their Fellow-Planet the Earth who never did them any harm But now there is a plausible reason for my opinion for the Moon when Eclips'd may think herself affronted by the Earth interposing rudely betwixt her and the Sun and leaving her to grope her way in the dark She therefore may justly take her revenge as she can But you 'll say 't is not in the power of the Moon to set the Earth on Fire if she had malice enough to do it No nor say I is it in the power of the other Planets that are far more distant from the Earth than the Moon and as stark dull lumps of Earth as she is The plain truth is The Planets are so many Earths and our Earth is as much a Planet as the brightest of them 'T is carried about the Sun with the same common stream and shines with as much lustre to them as they do to us neither can they do any more harm to it than it can do to them 'T is now well known that the Planets are dark opake Bodies generally made up of Earth and Water as our Globe is and have no force or action but that of reverberating the light which the Sun casts upon them This blind superstitious fear or reverence for the Stars had its original from the ancient Idolaters They thought them Gods and that they had domination over humane affairs We do not indeed worship them as they did but some men retain still the same opinion of their vertues of their rule and influence upon us and our affairs which was the ground of their worship 'T is full time now to sweep away these cobwebs of superstition these reliques of Paganism I do not see how we are any more concern'd in the postures of the Planets than in the postures of the Clouds and you may as well build an art of prediction or divination upon the one as the other They must not know much of the Philosophy of the Heavens or little consider it that think the fate either of single persons or of the whole Earth can depend upon the aspects or figur'd dances of those Bodies But you 'll say it may be tho' no reason can be given for such effects yet experience does attest the truth of them In the first place I answer no experience can be produc'd for this effect we are speaking of the Conflagration of the World Secondly Experience fallaciously recorded or wholly in favour of one side is no proof If a publick Register was kept of all Astrological Predictions and of all the Events that followed upon them right or wrong agreeing or disagreeing I could willingly refer the cause to the determination of such a Register and such experience But that which they call experience is so stated that if One Prediction of Ten hits right or near right it shall make more noise and be more taken notice of than all the Nine that are false Just as in a Lottery where many Blanks are drawn for one Prize yet these make all the noise and those are forgotten If any one be so lucky as to draw a good Lot then the Trumpet sounds and his Name is register'd and he tells his good fortune to every body he meets whereas those that lose go silently away with empty Pockets and are asham'd to tell their losses Such a thing is the Register of Astrological experiences they record what makes for their credit but drop all blank instances that would discover the vanity or cheat of their Art So much for the Planets They have also a pretended calculation of the End of the World from the fixt Stars and the Firmament Which in short is this They suppose these Bodies besides the hurry of their Diurnal Motion from East to West quite round the Earth in four and twenty hours to have another retrograde Motion from West to East which is more slow and leisurely And when they have finish'd the Circle of this retrogradation and come up again to the same place from whence they started at the beginning of the World then this course of Nature will be at an end and either the Heavens will cease from all motion or a new set of motions will be put a foot and the World begin again This is a bundle of fictions tied up in a pretty knot in the first place there is no such thing as a solid Firmament in which the Stars are fixt as nails in a board The Heavens are as fluid as our Air and the higher we go the more thin and subtle is the ethereal matter Then the fixt Stars are not all in one Surface as they seem to us nor at an equal distance from the Earth but are plac'd in several Orbs higher and higher there being infinite room in the great Deep of the Heavens every way for innumerable Stars and Spheres behind one another to fill and beautify the immense spaces of the Universe Lastly The fixt Stars have no motion common to them all nor any motion singly unless upon their own Centres and therefore never leaving their stations they can never return to any common station which they would suppose them to have had at the beginning of the World So as this Period they speak of whereby they would measure the duration of the World is meerly imaginary and hath no foundation in the true Nature or
Motion of the Celestial Bodies But in the third place They speak of an ANNUS MAGNUS a Great Year A revolution so call'd whatsoever it is that is of the same extent with the length of the World This Notion I confess is more Ancient and Universal and therefore I am the more apt to believe that it is not altogether groundless But the difficulty is to find out the true notion of this Great Year what is to be understood by it and then of what length it is They all agree that it is a time of some grand insâ—auration of all things or a Restitution of the Heavens and the Earth to their former state that is to the state and posture they had at the beginning of the World such therefore as will reduce the Golden Age and that happy state of Nature wherein things were at first If so if these be the marks and properties of this Revolution which is call'd the Great Year we need not go so far to find the true notion and interpretation of it Those that have read the First Part of this Theory may remember that in the Second Book we gave an account what the posture of the Earth was at the beginning of the World and what were the consequences of that posture A perpetual Spring and Equinox throughout all the Earth And if the Earth was restor'd again to that posture and situation all that is imputed to the Great Year would immediately follow upon it without ever disturbing or moving the fix'd Stars Firmament or Planets and yet at the same time all these three would return or be restor'd to the same posture they had at the beginning of the World so as the whole character of the Great Year would be truly fulfill'd tho' not in that way which they imagin'd but in another more compendious and of easier conception My meaning is this If the Axis of the Earth was rectified and set parallel with the Axis of the Ecliptick upon which the Planets Firmament and fix'd Stars are suppos'd to move all things would be as they were at first a general harmony and conformity of all the motions of the Universe would presently appear such as they say was in the Golden Age before any disorder came into the Natural or Moral World As this is an easie so I do not doubt but it is a true account of that which was originally call'd the Great Year or the Great Instauration which Nature will bring to pass in this simple method by rectifying the Axis of the Earth without those operose revolutions which some Astronomers have fansied But however this account being admitted how will it help us to define what the Age and duration of the World will be 'T is true many have undertaken to tell us the length of this Great Year and consequently of the World but besides that their accounts are very different and generally of an extravagant length if we had the true account it would not assure us when the World would end because we do not know when it did begin or what progress we have already made in the line of Time For I am satisfied the Chronology of the World whether Sacred or Prophane is lost till Providence shall please to retrieve it by some new discovery As to Prophane Chronology or that of the Heathens the Greeks and the Romans knew nothing above the Olympiads which fell short many Ages of the Deluge much more of the beginning of the World And the Eastern Barbarous Nations as they disagreed amongst themselves so generally they run the Origin of the World to such a prodigious height as is neither agreeable to Faith nor Reason As to Sacred Chronology 't is well known that the difference there is betwixt the Greek Hebrew and Samaritan Copies of the Bible makes the Age of the World altogether undetermin'd And there is no way yet found out how we may certainly discover which of the three Copies is most Authentick and consequently what the Age of the World is upon a true computation Seeing therefore we have no assurance how long the World hath stood already neither could we be assur'd how long it hath to stand though by this Annus Magnus or any other way the total sum or whole term of its duration was truly known I am sorry to see the little success we have had in our first search after the End of the World from Astronomical Calculations But 't is an useful piece of Knowledge to know the bounds of our Knowledge that so we may not spend our time and thoughts about things that lie out of our reach I have little or no hopes of resolving this point by the Light of Nature and therefore it only remains now to enquire whether Providence hath made it known by any sort of Prophecy or Revelation Which shall be the Subject of the following Chapter CHAP. V. Concerning Prophecies that determine the end of the World Of what order soever Prophane or Sacred Iewish or Christian. That no certain judgment can be made from any of them at what distance we are now from the Conflagration THE bounds of humane knowledge are so narrow and the desire of knowing so vast and illimited that it often puts Mankind upon irregular methods of inlarging their knowledge This hath made them find out arts of commerce with evil Spirits to be instructed by them in such Events as they could not of themselves discover We meddle not with those mysteries of iniquity but what hath appear'd under the notion of Divine Prophecy relating to the Chronology of the World giving either the whole extent of it or certain marks of its expiration These we purpose to examine in this place How far any thing may or may not be concluded from them as to the resolution of our Problem How long the World will last Amongst the Heathens I do not remember any Prophecies of this nature except the Sibylline Oracles as they are usually call'd The Ancient Eastern Philosophers have left us no account that I can call to mind about the time of this fatality They say when the Phoenix returns we must expect the Conflagration to follow but the age of the Phoenix they make as various and uncertain as they do the computation of their Great Year which two things are indeed one and the same in effect Some of them I confess mention Six Thousand Years for the whole Age of the World which being the famous Prophecy of the Iews we shall speak to it largely hereafter and reduce to that head what broken Traditions remain amongst the Heathens of the same thing As to the Sibyline Oracles which were so much in reputation amongst the Greeks and Romans they have been tamper'd with so much and chang'd so often that they are become now of little authority They seem to have divided the duration of the World into Ten Ages and the last of these they make a Golden Age a state of Peace Righteousness and
answer to that difficulty Two suppos'd causes of the Conflagration by the Sun 's drawing nearer to the Earth or the Earth's throwing out the central fire examin'd and rejected WE have now made our way clear to the principal point The Causes of the Conflagration How the Heavens and the Earth will be set on fire what materials are prepar'd or what train of Causes for that purpose The Ancients who have kept us company pretty well thus far here quite desert us They deal more in Conclusions than Causes as is usual in all Traditional Learning And the Stoicks themselves who inculcate so much the doctrine of the Conflagration and make the strength of it such as to dissolve the Earth into a fiery Chaos are yet very short and superficial in their explications how this shall come to pass The latent seeds of fire they say shall every where be let loose and the Element will prevail over all the rest and transform every thing into its own nature But these are general things that give little satisfaction to inquisitive Persons Neither do the modern Authors that treat of the same subject relieve us in this particular They are willing to suppose the Conflagration a superficial effect that so they may excuse themselves the trouble of enquiring after causes 'T is no doubt in a sort supernatural and so the Deluge was yet Moses sets down the Causes of the Deluge the rains from above and the disruption of the Abyss So there must be treasures of fire provided against that day by whose eruption this second Deluge will be brought upon the Earth To state the case fairly we must first represent the difficulty of setting the Earth on Fire Tie the knot before we loose it that so we may the better judge whether the Causes that shall be brought into view may be sufficient to overcome so great opposition The difficulty no doubt will be chiefly from the great quantity of Water that is about our Globe whereby Nature seems to have made provision against any invasion by Fire and secur'd us from that enemy more than any other We see half of the Surface of the Earth cover'd with the Seas whose Chanel is of a vast depth and capacity Besides innumerable Rivers great and small that water the face of the dry Land and drench it with perpetual moisture Then within the bowels of the Earth there are Store-houses of subterraneous Waters which are as a reserve in case the Ocean and the Rivers should be overcome Neither is Water our only security for the hard Rocks and stony Mountains which no Fire can bite upon are set in long ranges upon the Continents and Islands and must needs give a stop to the progress of that furious Enemy in case he should attack us Lastly The Earth it self is not combustible in all its parts 'T is not every Soyl that is fit fewel for the Fire Clay and Mire and such like Soyls will rather choak and stifle it than help it on its way By these means one would think the Body of the Earth secur'd and tho' there may be partial fires or inuâ—â—lations of fire here and there in particular regions yet there cannot be an Universal Fire throughout the Earth At least one would hope for a safe retreat towards the Poles where there is nothing but Snow and Ice and bitter cold These regions sure are in no danger to be burnt whatsoever becomes of the other climates of the Earth This being the state and condition of the present Earth one would not imagine by these preparations 't was ever intended that it should perish by an Universal Fire But such is often the method of Providence that the exteriour face of things looks one way and the design lies another till at length touching a Spring as it were at a certain time all those affairs change posture and aspect and shew us which way Providence inclines We must therefore suppose before the Conflagration begins there will be dispositions and preparatives suitable to so great a work and all antiquity sacred and prophane does so far concur with us as to admit and suppose that a great drought will precede and an extraordinary heat and driness of the Air to usher in this fiery doom And these being things which often happen in a course of Nature we cannot disallow such easie preparations when Providence intends so great a consequence The Heavens will be shut up and the Clouds yield no rain and by this with an immoderate heat in the Air the Springs of Water will become dry the Earth chap'd and parch'd and the Woods and Trees made ready fewel for the Fire We have instances in History that there have been droughts and heats of this Nature to that degree that the Woods and Forests have taken fire and the outward Turf and Surface of the Earth without any other cause than the driness of the Season and the vehemency of the Sun And which is more considerable the Springs and Fountains being dry'd up the greater Rivers have been sensibly lessen'd and the lesser quite emptied and exhal'd These things which happen frequently in particular Countreys and Climates may at an appointed time by the disposition of Providence be more universal throughout the Earth and have the same effects every where that we see by experience they have had in certain places And by this means we may conceive it as feisible to set the whole Earth on fire in some little space of time as to burn up this or that Countrey after a great drought But I mean this with exception still to the main Body of the Sea which will indeed receive a greater diminution from these Causes than we easily imagine but the final consumption of it will depend upon other reasons whereof we must give an account in the following Chapters As to the Mountains and Rocks their lofty heads will sink when the Earthquakes begin to roar at the beginning of the Conflagration as we shall see hereafter And as to the Earth it self 't is true there are several sorts of Earth that are not proper fewel for fire but those Soils that are not so immediately as clayey Soils and such like may by the strength of Fire be converted into Brick or Stone or Earthen Metal and so melted down and vitrified For in conclusion there is no Terrestrial Body that does not finally yield to the force of Fire and may either be converted into flame incorporated fire or into a liquor more ardent than either of them Lastly As to the Polar Regions which you think will be a safe retreat and inaccessible to the fire 'T is true unless Providence hath laid subterraneous treasures of fire there unknown to us those parts of the Earth will be the last consum'd But it is to be observ'd that the cold of those regions proceeds from the length of their Winter and their distance from the Sun when he is beyond the Aequator and both these causes will be
remov'd at the Conflagration For we suppose the Earth will then return to its primitive situation which we have explain'd in the 2d Book of this Theory and will have the Sun always in its Aequator whereby the several Climates of the Earth will have a perpetual Equinox and those under the Poles a perpetual day And therefore all the excess of cold and all the consequences of it will soon be abated However the Earth will not be burnt in one day and those parts of the Earth being uninhabited there is no inconvenience that they should be more slowly consum'd than the rest This is a general answer to the difficulty propos'd about the possibility of the Conflagration and being general only the parts of it must be more fully explain'd and confirm'd in the sequel of this discourse We should now proceed directly to the causes of the Conflagration and show in what manner they do this great execution upon Nature But to be just and impartial in this enquiry we ought first to separate the spurious and pretended Causes from those that are real and genuine to make no false musters nor any show of being stronger than we are and if we can do our work with less force it will be more to our credit as a Victory is more honourable that is gain'd with fewer Men. There are two grand capital Causes which some Authors make use of as the chief Agents in this work the Sun and the Central Fire These two great Incendiaries they say will be let loose upon us at the Conflagration The one drawing nearer to the Earth and the other breaking out of its bowels into these upper regions These are potent Causes indeed more than enough to destroy this Earth if it was a thousand times bigger than it is But for that very reason I suspect they are not the true Causes for God and Nature do not use to employ unnecessary means to bring about their designs Disproportion and over-sufficiency is one sort of false measures and 't is a sign we do not thoroughly understand our work when we put more strength to it than the thing requires Men are forward to call in extraordinary powers to rid their hands of a troublesome argument and so make a short dispatch to save themselves the pains of further enquiries but such methods as they commonly have no proof so they give little satisfaction to an inquisitive mind This supposition of burning the Earth by the Sun drawing nearer and nearer to it seems to be made in imitation of the story of Phaeton who driving the Chariot of the Sun with an unsteddy hand came so near the Earth that he set it on fire But however we will not reject any pretensions without a fair trial Let us examine therefore what grounds they can have for either of these suppositions of the Approximation of the Sun to the Earth or the Eruption of the Central Fire As to the Sun I desire first to be satisfied in present matter of Fact whether by any instrument or observation it hath or can be discover'd that the Sun is nearer to the Earth now than he was in former ages or if by any reasoning or comparing calculations such a conclusion can be made If not this is but an imaginary cause and as easily deny'd as propos'd Astronomers do very little agree in their opinions about the distance of the Sun Ptolomy Albategnius Copernious Ticho Kepler and others more modern differ all in their calculations but not in such a manner or proportion as should make us believe that the Sun comes nearer to the Earth but rather goes further from it For the more modern of them make the distance greater than the more ancient do Kepler says the distance of the Sun from the Earth lies betwixt 700 and 2000 semidiameters of the Earth but Ricciolus makes it betwixt 700 and 7000. And Gottefrid Wendeline hath taken 14656. semidiameters for a middle proportion of the Sun's distance to which Kepler himself came very near in his later years So that you see how groundless our fears are from the approaches of an enemy that rather flies from us if he change posture at all And we have more reason to believe the report of the modern Astronomers than of the ancient in this matter both because the nature of the Heavens and of the celestial Bodies is now better known and also because they have found out better instruments and better methods to make their observations If the Sun and Earth were come nearer to one another either the circle of the Suns diurnal arch would be less and so the day shorter or the Orbit of the Earths annual course would be less and so the Year shorâ—er Neither of which we have any experience of And those that suppose us in the centre of the World need not be afraid till they see Mercury and Venus in a combustion for they lie betwixt us and danger and the Sun cannot come so readily at us with his fiery darts as at them who stand in his way Lastly this languishing death by the gradual approaches of the Sun and that irreparable ruine of the Earth which at last must follow from it do neither of them agree with that Idea of the Conflagration which the Scripture hath given us for it is to come suddenly and unexpectedly and take us off like a violent Feaver not as a lingring Consumption And the Earth is also so to be destroyed by Fire as not to take away all hopes of a Resurrection or Renovation For we are assur'd by Scripture that there will be new Heavens and a new Earth after these are burnt up But if the Sun should come so near us as to make the heavens pass away with a noise and melt the Elements with fervent heat and destroy the form and all the works of the Earth what hopes or possibility would there be of a Renovation while the Sun continued in this posture He would more and more consume and prey upon the Carcass of the Earth and convert it at length either into an heap of Ashes or a lump of vitrified metal So much for the Sun As to the Central Fire I am very well satisfied it is no imaginary thing All Antiquity hath preserv'd some sacred Monument of it The Vestal fire of the Romans which was so religiously attended The Prytoneia of the Greeks were to the same purpose and dedicated to Vesta and the Pyretheia of the Persians where fire was kept continually by the Magi. These all in my opinion had the same origine and the same signification And tho' I do not know any particular observation that does directly prove or demonstrate that there is such a mass of fire in the middle of the Earth yet the best accounts we have of the generation of a Planet do suppose it and 't is agreeable to the whole Oeconomy of Nature as a fire in the heart which gives life to her motions and productions But however the
question is not at present about the existence of this fire but the eruption of it and the effect of that Eruption which cannot be in my judgment such a Conflagration as is describ'd in Scripture This Central Fire must be enclos'd in a shell of great strength and firmness for being of it self the lightest and most active of all Bodies it would not be detained in that lowest prison without a strong guard upon it 'T is true we can make no certain judgment of what thickness this shell is but if we suppose this fire to have a twentieth part of the semidiameter of the Earth on either side the centre for its sphere which seems to be a fair allowance there would still remain nineteen parts for our safeguard and security And these nineteen parts of the semidiameter of the Earth will make 3268 miles for a partition-wall betwixt us and this Central Fire Who wou'd be afraid of an Enemy lock'd up in so strong a prison But you 'l say it may be tho' the Central Fire at the beginning of the World might have no more room or space than what is mentioned yet being of that activity that it is and corrosive nature it may in the space of some thousands of years have eaten deep into the sides of its prison and so come nearer to the surface of the Earth by some hundreds or thousands of miles than it was at first This would be a material exception if it could be made out But what Phaenomenon is there in Nature that proves this How does it appear by any observation that the Central Fire gains ground upon us Or is increased in quantity or come nearer to the surface of the Earth I know nothing that can be offered in proof of this and if there be no appearance of a change nor any sensible effect of it 't is an argument there is none or none considerable If the quantity of that fire was considerably increas'd it must needs besides other effects have made the Body of the Earth considerably lighter The Earth having by this conversion of its own substance into fire lost so much of its heaviest matter and got so much of the lightest and most active Element in stead of it and in both these respects its gravity would be manifestly lessen'd Which if it really was in any considerable degree it would discover it self by some change either as to the motion of the Earth or as to its place or station in the Heavens But there being no external change observable in this or any other respect 't is reasonable to presume that there is no considerable inward change or no great consumption of its inward parts and substance and consequently no great increase of the Central Fire But if we should admit both an encrease and eruption of this fire it would not have that effect which is pretended It might cause some confusion and disorder in those parts of the Earth where it broke out but it would not make an universal Conflagration such as is represented to us in Scripture Let us suppose the Earth to be open or burst in any place under the Pole for instance or under the Aequator and let it gape as low as the Central Fire At this chasm or rupture we suppose the fire would gush out and what then would be the consequence of this when it came to the surface of the Earth It would either be dissipated and lost in the air or fly still higher towards the Heavens in a mass of flame But what execution in the mean time would it do upon the Body of the Earth 'T is but like a flash of lightning or a flame issuing out of a pit that dies presently Besides this Central Fire is of that subtilty and tenuity that it is not able to inflame gross Bodies no morethan those Meteors we call Lambent Fires inflame the bodies to which they stick Lastly in explaining the manner of the Conflagration we must have regard principally to Scripture for the explications given there are more to the purpose than all that the Philosophers have said upon that subject Now as we noted before 't is manifest in Scripture that after the Conflagration there will be a Restauration New Heavens and a New Earth 'T is the express doctrine of S. Peter besides other Prophets We must therefore suppose the Earth reduc'd to such a Chaos by this last fire as will lay the foundation of a new World Which can never be if the inward frame of it be broke the Central Fire exhausted and the exterior region suck'd into those central vacuities This must needs make it lose its former poise and libration and it will thereupon be thrown into some other part of the Universe as the useless shell of a broken Granado or as a dead carkass and unprofitable matter These reasons may be sufficient why we should not depend upon those pretended causes of the Conflagration The Suns advance towards the Earth or such a rupture of the Earth as will let out the Central Fire These Causes I hope will appear superfluous when we shall have given an account of the Conflagration without them But young Philosophers like young Soldiers think they are never sufficiently armed and often take more weapons than they can make use of when they come to fight Not that we altogether reject the influence of the Sun or of the Central Fire especially the latter For in that great estuation of Nature the Body of the Earth will be much open'd and relaxated and when the pores are enlarg'd the steams of that fire will sweat out more plentifully into all its parts but still without any rupture in the vessels or in the skin And whereas these Authors suppose the very Veins burst and the vital blood to gush out as at openflood gates we only allow a more copious perspiration and think that sufficient for all purposes in this case CHAP. VII The true bounds of the Last Fire and how far it is fatal The natural Causes and Materials of it cast into three ranks First such as are exterior and visible upon the Earth where the Volcano's of the Earth and their effects are consider'd Secondly such materials as are within the Earth Thirdly such as are in the Air. AS we have in the preceding Chapter laid aside those Causes of the Conflagration which we thought too great and cumbersome so now we must in like manner examine the Effect and reduce that to its just measures and proportions that there may be nothing lest superfluous on either side Then by comparing the real powers with the work they are to do boâ—h being stated within their due bounds we may the better judge how they are proportion'd to one another We noted before that the Conflagration had nothing to do with the Stars and superiour Heavens but was wholly confin'd to this Sublunary World And this Deluge of Fire will have much what the same bounds that the Deluge of
Water had formerly This is according to St. Peter's doctrine for he makes the same parts of the Universe to be the subject of both namely the inferiour Heavens and the Earth The Heavens and the Earth which were then perish'd in a Deluge of Water But the Heavens and the Earth that are now are reserv'd to fire The present Heavens and Earth are substituted in the place of those that perish'd at the Deluge and these are to be over-run and destroy'd by fire as those were by water So that the Apostle takes the same Regions and the same space and compass for the one as for the other and makes their fate different according to their different constitution and the different order of Providence This is the sence St. Austin gives us of the Apostle's words and these are the bounds he sets to the last Fire whereof a modern Commentator is so well assur'd that he says They neither understand Divinity nor Philosophy that would make the Conflagration reach above the Elementary Heavens Let these be then its limits upwards the Clouds Air and Atmosphere of the Earth But the question seems more doubtful How far it will extend downwards into the bowels of the Earth I answer still to the same depth that the Waters of the Deluge reach'd To the lowest Abysses and the deepest Caverns within the ground And seeing no Caverns are deeper or lower at least according to our Theory than the bottom of the great Ocean to that depth I suppose the rage of this fire will peneâ—rate and devour all before it And therefore we must not imagine that only the outward turf and habitable surface of the Earth will be put into a flame and laid wast the whole exteriour region of the Earth to the depth of the deepest part of the Sea will suffer in this Fire and suffer to that degree as to be melted down and the frame of it dissolv'd For we are not to conceive that the Earth will be only scorcht or charkt in the last Fire there will be a sort of liquefaction and dissolution it will become a molten Sea mingled with fire according to the expression of Scripture And this dissolution may reasonably be suppos'd to reach as low as the Earth hath any hollownesses or can give 〈◊〉 to smoke and flame Wherefore taking these for the bounds and limits of the last great Fire the next thing to be enquir'd into are the Natural Causes of it How this strange fate will seize upon the Sublunary World and with an irresistible fury subdue all things to it self But when I say Natural Causes I would not be so understood as if I thought the Conflagration was a pure Natural Fatality as the Stoicks seem to do No 't is a mixt Fatality The Causes indeed are Natural but the administration of them is from an higher hand Fire is the Instrument or the executive power and hath no more force given it than what it hath naturally but the concurrence of these Causes or of these fiery powers at such a time and in such a manner and the conduct of them to carry on and compleat the whole work without cessation or interruption that I look upon as more than what material Nature could effect of it self or than could be brought to pass by such a government of matter as is the bare result of its own laws and determinations When a Ship fails gently before the Wind the Mariners may stand idle but to guide her in a storm all hands must be at work There are rules and measures to be observ'd even in these tumults and desolations of Nature in destroying a World as well as in making one and therefore in both it is reasonable to suppose a more than ordinary Providence to superintend the work Let us not therefore be too positive or presumptuous in our conjectures about these things for if there be an invisible hand Divine or Angelical that touches the Springs and Wheels it will not be easie for us to determine with certainty the order of their motions However 't is our duty to search into the ways and works of God as far as we can And we may without offence look into the Magazines of Nature see what provisions are made and what preparations for this great Day and in what method 't is most likely the design will be executed But before we proceed to mark out Materials for this Fire give me leave to observe one condition or property in the Form of this present Earth that makes it capable of Inflammation 'T is the manner of its construction in an hollow eavernous form By reason whereof containing much Air in its cavities and having many inlets and outlets 't is in most places capable of ventilation pervious and passable to the Winds and consequently to the Fire Those that have read the former part of this Theory know how the Earth came into this hollow and broken form from what causes and at what time namely at the Universal Deluge when there was a disruption of the exteriour Earth that fell into the Abyss and so for a time was overflow'd with Water These Ruines recover'd from the Water we inhabit and these Ruines only will be burnt up For being not only unequal in their Surface but also hollow loose and incompact within as ruines use to be they are made thereâ— by capable of a second fate by inflammation Thereby I say they are made combustible for if the exteriour Regions of this Earth were as close and compact in all their parts as we have reason to believe the interiour Regions of it to be the Fire could have little power over it nor ever reduce it to such a state as is requir'd in a compleat Conflagration such as ours is to be This being admitted that the Exteriour Region of the Earth stands hollow as a well set Fire to receive Air freely into its parts and hath issues for smoke and flame It remains to enquire what fewel or Materials Nature hath fitted to kindle this Pile and to continue it on Fire till it be consum'd or in plain words What are the Natural Causes and preparatives for a Conflagration The first and most obvious preparations that we see in Nature for this effect are the Burning Mountains or Volcano's of the Earth These are lesser Essays or preludes to the general Fire set on purpose by Providence to keep us awake and to mind us continually and forewarn us of what we are to expect at last The Earth you see is already kindled blow but the Coal and propagate the Fire and the work will go on Tophet is prepar'd of old and when the Day of Doom is come and the Date of the World expir'd the breath of the Lord shall make it burn But besides these Burning Mountains there are Lakes of pitch and brimstone and oily Liquors disperst in several parts of the Earth These are in enrage the Fire as it goes and to fortifie
should throw out so much fiery matter besides all the ashes that were disperst through the Air far and near and could be brought to no account 'T is true all this matter was not actually inflam'd or liquid fire But the rest that was sand stone and gravel might have run into glass or some melted liquor like to it is it had not been thrown out before the heat fully reacht it However sixty million paces of this matter as the same Author computes were liquid fire or came out of the mouth of the pit in that form This made a River of fire sometimes two miles broad according to his computation but according to the observation of others who also viewed it the Torrent of fire was six or seven miles broad and sometimes ten or fifteen fathoms deep and forc'd its way into the Sea near a mile preserving it self alive in the midst of the waters This is beyond all the infernal Lakes and Rivers Acheron Phlegeton Cocytus all that the Poets have talkt of Their greatest fictions about He I have not come up to the reality of one of our burning Mountains upon Earth Imagin then all our Volcano's raging at once in this manner But I will not pursue that supposition yet Give me leave only to add here what I mentioned in the second place The vast Burning Stones which this Mountain in the time of its rage and estuation threw inâ—o the Air with an incredible force This same Author tells us of a stone fifteen foot long that was slung out of the mouth of the pit to a miles distance And when it fell it came from such an height and with such a violence that it buried it self in the ground eight foot deep What trifles are our Mortar-pieces and Bombes when compar'd with these Engines of Nature When she flings out of the wide throat of a Volcano a broken Rock and twirles it in the air like a little bullet then lets it fall to do execution here below as Providence shall point and direct it It would be hard to give an account how so great an impulse can be given to a Body so ponderous But there 's no disputing against matter of fact and as the thoughts of God are not like our thoughts so neither are his works like our works Thus much for Aetna Let us now give an instance in Vesuvius another Burning Mountain upon the coast of the Mediterranean which hath as frequent Eruptions and some as terrible as those of Aetna Dion Cassius one of the best writers of the Roman History hath given us an account of one that happened in the time of Titus Vespatian and tho' he hath not set down particulars as the former Author did of the quantity of fiery matter thrown out at that time yet supposing that proportionable to its fierceness in other respects this seems to me as dreadful an Eruption as any we read of and was accompanied with such Prodigies and commotions in the Heavens and the Earth as made it look like the beginning of the last Conflagration As a prelude to this Tragedy He says there were strange sights in the air and after that followed an extraordinary drought Then the Earth begun to tremble and quake and the Concussions were so great that the ground seem'd to rise and boyl up in some places and in others the tops of the mountains sunk in or tumbled down At the same time were great noises and sounds heard some were subterraneous like thunder within the Earth others above ground like groans or bellowings The Sea roar'd The heavens ratled with a fearful noise and then came a sudden and mighty crack as if the frame of Nature had broke or all the mountains of the Earth had faln down at once At length Vesuvius burst and threw out of its womb first huge stones then a vast quantity of fire and smoke so as the air was â—all darkned and the Sun was hid as if he had been under a great Eclipse The day was turn'd into night and light into darkness and the frighted people thought the Gyants were making war against heaven and fansied they see the shapes and images of Gyants in the smoak and heard the sound of their trumpets Others thought the World was returning to its first Chaos or going to be all consum'd with fire In this general confusion and consternation they knew not where to be safe some run out of the fields into the houses others out of the house into the fields Those that were at Sea hasten'd to Land and those that were at Land endeavour'd to get to Sea still thinking every place safer than that where they were Besides grosser lumps of matter there was thrown out of the Mountain such a prodigious quantity of ashes as cover'd the Land and Sea and fill'd the Air so as besides other damages the Birds Beasts and Fishes with Men Women and Children were destroy'd within such a compass and two entire Cities Herculanium and Pompeios were overwhelm'd with a showre of ashes as the People were sitting in the Theater Nay these ashes were carried by the winds over the Mediterranean into Africk and into Aegypt and Syria And at Rome they choak'd the Air on a sudden so as to hid the face of the Sun Whereupon the People not knowing the cause as not having yet got the News from Campania of the Eruption of Vesuius could not imagine what the reason should be but thought the Heavens and the Earth were coming together The Sun coming down and the Earth going to take its place above Thus far the Historian You see what disorders in Nature and what an alarum the Eruption of one fiery Mountain is capable to make These things no doubt would have made strong impressions upon us if we had been eye-witnesses of them But I know representations made from dead history and at a distance though the testimony be never so credible have a much less effect upon us than what we see our selves and what our senses immediately inform us of I have only given you an account of two Volcano's and of a single Eruption in either of them These Mountains are not very far distant from one another Let us suppose two such Eruptions as I have mention'd to happen at the same time and both these Moutains to be raging at once in this manner By that violence you have seen in each of them singly you will easily imagine what a terrour and desolation they would carry round about by a conjunction of their fury and all their effects in the Air and on the Earth Then if to these two you should joyn two more the Sphere of their activity would still be enlarg'd and the Scenes become more dreadful But to compleat the supposition Let us imagine all the Volcano's of the whole Earth to be prepar'd and set to a certain time which time being come and a signal given by Providence all these Mines begin to play at once I mean All these
Concerning miraculous Causes and how far the ministery of Angels may be engaged in this Work WE have given an account in the preceding Chapter of the ordinary preparatious of Nature for a general fire We now are to give an account of the extraordinary or of any new dispositions which towards the End of the World may be superadded to the ordinary state of Nature I do not by these mean things openly miraculous and supernatural but such a change wrought in Nature as shall still have the face of Natural Causes and yet have a greater tendency to the Conflagration As for example suppose a great Drought as we noted before to precede this fate or a general heat and dryness of the Air and of the Earth because this happens sometimes in a course of Nature it will not be lookt upon as prodigious 'T is true some of the Ancients speak of a Drought of Forty Years that will be a forerunner of the Conflagration so that there will not be a watery Cloud nor a Rainbow seen in the Heavens for so long time And this they impute to Elias who at his coming will stop the Rain and shut up the Heavens to make way for the last Fire But these are excessive and ill-grounded suppositions for half forty years drought will bring an universal sterility upon the Earth and thereupon an Universal Famine with innumerable diseases so that all mankind would be destroyed before the Conflagration could overtake them But we will readily admit an extraordinary drought and desiccation of all bodies to usher in this great fatality And therefore whatsoever we read in Natural History concerning former droughts of their drying up Fountains and Rivers parching the Earth and making the outward Turf take fire in several places filling the Air with fiery impressions making the Woods and Forests ready Fewel and sometimes to kindle by the heat of the Sun or a flash of Lightning These and what other effects have come to pass in former droughts may come to pass again and that in an higher measure and so as to be of more general extent And we must also allow that by this means a great degree of inflammability or easiness to be set on Fire will be superinduc'd both into the body of the Earth and of all things that grow upon it The heat of the Sun will pierce deeper into its bowels when it gapes to receive his beams and by chinks and widened pores makes way for their passage to its very heart And on the other hand it is not improbable but that upon this general relaxation and incalescency of the Body of the Earth the General Fire may have a freer efflux and diffuse it self in greater abundance every way so as to affect even these exteriour Regions of the Earth so far as to make them still more catching and more combustible From this external and internal heat acting upon the Body of the Earth all Minerals that have the seeds of fire in them will be open'd and exhale their effluvium's more copiously as Spices when warm'd are more odoriferous and fill the Air with their perfumes so the particles of fire that are shut up in several bodies will easily flie abroad when by a further degree of relaxation you shake off their chains and open the Prison-doors We cannot doubt but there are many sorts of Minerals and many sorts of Fire-stones and of Trees and Vegetables of this nature which will sweat out their oily and sulphureous atomes when by a general heat and driness their parts are loosen'd and agitated We have no experience that will reach so far as to give us a full account what the state of Nature will be at that time I mean after this drought towards the end of the world But we may help our imagination by comparing it with other seasons and temperaments of the Air. As therefore in the Spring the Earth is fragrant and the Fields and Gardens are fill'd with the sweet breathings of Herbs and Flowers especially after a gentle rain when their Bodies are softned and the warmth of the Sun makes them evaporate more freely So a greater degree of heat acting upon all the bodies of the Earth like a stronger fire in the Alembick will extract another sort of parts or particles more deeply incorporated and more difficult to be disintangled I mean oily parts and such undiscover'd parcels of fire as lie fix'd and imprison'd in hard bodies These I imagine will be in a great measure set a float on drawn out into the Air which will abound with hot and dry Exhalations more than with vapours and moisture in a wet season and by this means all Elements and elementary Bodies will stand ready and in a proximate disposition to be inflam'd Thus much concerning the last drought and the general effects of it In the next place we must consider the Earthquakes that will precede the Conflagration and the consequences of them I noted before that the cavernous and broken construction of the present Earth was that which made it obnoxious to be destroy'd by fire as its former construction over the Abyss made it obnoxious to be destroy'd with Water This hollowness of the Earth is most sensible in mountainous and hilly Countreys which therefore I look upon as most subject to burning but the plain Countreys may also be made hollow and hilly by Earth-quakes when the vapours not finding an easie vent raise the ground and make a forcible eruption as at the springing of a Mine And tho' plain Countreys are not so subject to Earthquakes as Mountainous because they have not so many cavities and subterraneous Vaults to lodge the vapours in yet every Region hath more or less of them And after this drought the vacuities of the Earth being every where enlarg'd the quantity of exhalations much encreas'd and the motion of them more strong and violent they will have their effects in many places where they never had any before Yet I do not suppose that this will raise new ridges of Mountains like the Alpes or Pyreneans in those Countreys that are now plain but that they will break and loosen the ground make greater inequalities in the surface and greater cavities within than what are at present in those places And by this means the fire will creep under them and find a passage thorow them with more ease than if they were compact and every where continued and unbroken But you will say it may be how does it appear that there will be more frequent Earth-quakes towards the end of the World If this precedent drought be admitted 't is plain that fiery exhalations will abound every where within the Earth and will have a greater agitation than ordinary and these being the causes of Earth-quakes when they are rarified or inflam'd 't is reasonable to suppose that in such a state of Nature they will more frequently happen than at other times Besides Earth-quakes are taken notice of in Scripture as signs
and forerunners of the last day as they usually are of all great changes and calamities The destruction of Ierusalem was a type of the destruction of the World and the Evangelists always mention Earth-quakes amongst the ominous Prodigies that were to attend it But these Earth-quakes we are speaking of at present are but the beginnings of sorrow and not to be compar'd with those that will follow afterwards when Nature is convulst in her last agony just as the flames are seizing on her Of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter These changes will happen as to the matter and form of the Earth before it is attack'd by the last fire There will be also another change as to the situation of it for that will be rectified and the Earth restor'd to the posture it had at first namely of a right aspect and conversion to the Sun But because I cannot determine at what time this restitution will be whether at the beginning middle or end of the Conflagration I will not presume to lay any stress upon it Plato seems to have imputed the Conflagration to this only which is so far true that the Revolution call'd The Great Year is this very Revolution or the return of the Earth and the Heavens to their first posture But tho' this may be contemporary with the last fire or some way concomitant yet it does not follow that it is the cause of it much less the only cause It may be an occasion of making the fire reach more easily towards the Poles when by this change of situation their long Nights and long Winters shall be taken away These new dispositions in our Earth which we expect before that great day may be look'd upon as extraordinary but not as Miraculous because they may proceed from Natural Causes But now in the last place we are to consider miraculous causes What influence they may have or what part they may bear in this great revolution of Nature By miraculous causes we understand either God's immediate Omnipotency or the Ministry of Angels and what may be perform'd by the latter is very improperly and undecently thrown upon the former 'T is a great step to Omnipotency and 't is hard to define what Miracles on this side Creation require an infinite power We are sure that the Angels are Ministring Spirits and ten thousand times ten thousand stand about the Throne of the Almighty to receive his commands and execute his judgments That perfect knowledge they have of the powers of nature and of conducting those powers to the best advantage by adjusting causes in a fit subordination one to another makes them capable of performing not only things far above our force but even above our imagination Besides they have a radical inherent power belonging to the excellency of their nature of determining the motions of matter within a far greater sphere than humane Souls can pretend to We can only command our spirits and determine their motions within the compass of our own Bodies but their activity and empire is of far greater extent and the outward World is much more subject to their dominion than to ours From these considerations it is reasonable to conclude that the generality of miracles may be and are perform'd by Angels It being less decorous to employ a Sovereign power where a subaltern is sufficient and when we hastily cast things upon God for quick dispatch we consult our own ease more than the honouor of our Maker I take it for granted here that what is done by an Angelical hand is truly providential and of divine administration and also justly bears the character of a miracle Whatsoever may be done by pure material causes or humane strength we account Natural and whatsoever is above these we call supernatural and miraculous Now what is supernatural and miraculous is either the effect of an Angelical power or of a Sovereign and Infinite power And we ought not to confound these two no more than Natural and Supernatural for there is a greater difference betwixt the highest Angelical power and Omnipotency than betwixt an Humane power and Angelical Therefore as the first Rule concerning miracles is this That we must not flie to miracles where Man and Nature are sufficient so the second Rule is this that we must not flie to a sovereign infinite power where an Angelical is sufficient And the reason in both Rules is the same namely because it argues a defect of Wisdom in all Oeconomiles to employ more and greater means than are sufficient Now to make application of this to our present purpose I think it reasonable and also sufficient to admit the ministery of Angels in the future Conflagration of the World If Nature will not lay violent hands upon her self or is not sufficient to work her own destruction Let us allow Destroying Angels to interest themselves in the work as the Executioners of the Divine Justice and Vengeance upon a degenerate World We have examples of this so frequently in Sacred History how the Angels have executed God's Judgments upon a Nation or a People that it cannot seem new or strange that in this last judgment which by all the Prophets is represented as the Great Day of the Lord the day of his Wrath and of his Fury the same Angels should bear their parts and conclude the last scene of that Tragedy which they had acted in all along We read of the Destroying Angel in Aegypt of Angels that presided at the destruction of Sodom which was a Type of the future destrution of the World Iude 7. and of Angels that will accompany our Saviour when he comes in flames of Fire Not we suppose to be Spectators only but Actors and Superintendants in this great Catastrophe This ministery of Angels may be either in ordering and conducting such Natural Causes as we have already given an account of or in adding new ones if occasion be I mean encreasing the quantity of Fire or of fiery materials in and about the Earth So as that Element shall be more abundant and more predominant and overbear all opposition that either Water or any other Body can make against it It is not material whether of these two Suppositions we follow provided we allow that the Conflagration is a work of Providence and not a pure Natural Fatality If it be necessary that there should be an augmentation made of Fiery Matter 't is not hard to conceive how that may be done either from the Heavens or from the Earth The Prophets sometimes speak of multiplying or strengthning the Light of the Sun and it may as easily be conceiv'd of his heat as of his light as if the Vial that was to be pour'd upon it and gave it a power to scorch men with fire had something of a Natural sence as well as Moral But there is another stream of Ethereal matter that flows from the Heavens and recruits the Central Fire with continual supplies
This may be encreas'd and strengthned and its effects convey'd throughout the whole Body of the Earth But if an augmentation is to be made of Terrestrial Fire or of such terrestrial principles as contain it most as Sulphur Oyl and such like I am apt to believe these will encrease of their own accord upon a general drought and desiccation of the Earth For I am far from the opinion of some Chymists that think these principles immutable and incapable of diminution or augmentation I willingly admit that all such particles may be broken and disfigur'd and thereby lose their proper and specifick virtue and new ones may be generated to supply the places of the former Which supplies or new productions being made in a less or greater measure according to the general dispositions of Nature when Nature is heightned into a kind of Feaver and Ebullition of all her juices and humours as she will be at that time we must expect that more parts than ordinary should be made inflammable and those that are inflam'd should become more violent Under these circumstances when all Causes lean that way a little help from a superior power will have a great effect and make a great change in the state of the World And as to the power of Angels I am of opinion that it is very great as to the Changes and Modifications of Natural Bodies that they can dissolve a Marble as easily as we can crumble Earth and Moulds or fix any liquor in a moment into a substance as hard as Crystal That they can either make flames more vehement and irresistible to all sorts of Bodies or as harmless as Lambent Fires and as soft as Oyl We see an instance of this last in Nebuchadnezzar's fiery Furnace where the three Children walk'd unconcern'd in the midst of the Flames under the charge and protection of an Angel And the same Angel if he had pleas'd could have made the same Furnace seven times hotter than the wrath of the Tyrant had made it We will therefore leave it to their ministery to manage this great Furnace when the Heavens and the Earth are on Fire To conserve encrease direct or temper the flames according to instructions given them as they are to be Tutelary or Destroying Neither let any body think it a diminution of Providence to put things into the hands of Angels 'T is the true rule and method of it For to employ an Almighty power where it is not necessary is to debase 〈◊〉 and give it a task fit for lower Beings Some think it devotion and piety to have recourse immediately to the arm of God to salve all things This may be done sometimes with a good intention but commonly with little judgment God is as jealous of the glory of his Wisdom as of his Power and Wisdom consists in the conduct and subordination of several causes to bring our purposes to effect but what is dispatched by an immediate Supreme Power leaves no room for the exercise of Wisdom To conclude this point which I have touch'd upon more than once We must not be partial to any of God's Attributes and Providence being a complexion of many Power Wisdom Justice and Goodness when we give due place and honour to all these then we most honour DIVINE PROVIDENCE CHAP. IX How the Sea will be diminish'd and consum'd How the Rocks and Mountains will be thrown down and melted and the whole exteriour frame of the Earth dissolv'd into a Deluge of Fire WE have now taken a view of the Causes of the Conflagration both ordinary and extraordinary It remains to consider the manner of it How these Causes will operate and bring to pass an effect so great and so prodigious We took notice before that the grand obstruction would be from the Sea and from the Mountains we must therefore take these to task in the first place and if we can remove them out of our way or overcome what resistance and opposition they are capable to make the rest of the work will not be uneasie to us The Ocean indeed is a vast Body of Waters and we must use all our art and skill to dry it up or consume it in a good measure before we can compass our design I remember the advice a Philosopher gave Amasis King of Egypt when he had a command sent him from the King of Aethiopia That he should drink up the Sea Amasis being very anxious and sollicitous what answer he should make to this strange command the Philosopher Bias advis'd him to make this round answer to the King That he was ready to perform his command and to drink up the Sea provided he would stop the rivers from flowing into his cup while he was drinking This answer baffled the King for he could not stop the rivers but this we must do or we shall never be able to drink up the Sea or burn up the Earth Neither will this be so impossible as it seems at first sight if we reflect upon those preparations we have made towards it by a general drought all over the Earth This we suppose will precede â—he Conflagration and by drying up the Fountains and Rivers which daily feed the Sea will by degrees starve that Monster or reduce it to such a degree of weakness that it shall not be able to make any great resistance More than half an Ocean of Water flows into the Sea every day from the Rivers of the Earth if you take them all together This I speak upon a moderate computation Aristotle says the Rivers carry more water into the Sea in the space of a year thâ—n would equal in bulk the whole Globe of the Earth Nay some have ventur'd to affirm this of one single River The Volga that runs into the Caspian Sea 'T is a great River indeed and hath seventy mouths and so it had need have to disgorge a mass of Water equal to the Body of the Earth in a years time But we need not take such high measures There are at least an hundred great Rivers that flow into the Sea from several parts of the Earth Islands and Continents besides several thousands of lesser ones Let us suppose these all together to pour as much water into the Sea-chanel every day as is equal to half the Ocean And we shall be easily convinc'd of the reasonableness of this supposition if we do but examine the daily expence of one River and by that make an estimate of the rest This we find calculated to our hands in the River Po in Italy a River of much what the same bigness with our Thames and disburthens it self into the Gulph of Venice Baptista Riccioli hath computed how much water this River discharges in an hour viz. 18000000. cubical paces of Water and consequently 432000000. in a day which is scarce credible to those that do not distinctly compute it Suppose then an hundred Rivers as great as this or greater to fall into the Sea from
is burning will be the last consum'd And I am apt to think if they could keep in the same posture they stand in now and preserve themselves from falling the fire could never get an entire power over them But Mountains are generally hollow and that makes them subject to a double casualty First Of Earth-quakes Secondly Of having their roots eaten away by Water or by Fire but by Fire especially in this case For we suppose there will be innumerable subterraneous Fires smothering under ground before the general Fire breaks out and these by corroding the bowels of the Earth will make it more hollow and more ruinous And when the Earth is so far dissolv'd that the cavities within the Mountains are fill'd with Lakes of Fire then the Mountains will sink and fall into those boyling Caldrons which in time will dissolve them tho' they were as hard as Adamant There is another Engine that will tear the Earth with great violence and rend in pieces whatsoever is above or about those parts of it And that is the Element of Water so gentle in it self when undisturb'd But 't is found by experience that when Water falls into liquid Metals it flies about with an incredible impetuosity and breaks or bears down every thing that wou'd stop its motion and expansion This force I take to come from the sudden and strong rarefaction of its parts which make a kind of explosion when it is sudden and vehement And this is one of the greatest forces we know in Nature Accordingly I am apt to think that the marvellous force of Volcano's when they throw out lumps of Rocks great fragments of Earth and other heavy Bodies to such a vast height and distance that it is done by this way of explosion And that explosion made by the sudden rarefaction of Sea-waters that fall into Pans or receptacles of molten Ore and ardent Liquors within the cavities of the Mountain and thereupon follow the noises roarings and eruptions of those places 'T is observ'd that Volcano's are in Mountains and generally if not always near the Sea And when its waters by subterraneous passages are driven under the Mountain either by a particular Wind or by a great agitation of the Waves they meet there with Metals and fiery Minerals dissolv'd and are immediately according to our supposition rarefied and by way of explosion fly out at the mouth or funnel of the Mountain bearing before then whatsoever stands in their way Whether this be a true account or no of the present Volcano's and their Eruptions 't is manifest that such cases as we have mention'd will happen in the Conflagration of the Earth and that such eruptions or disruptions of the Earth will follow thereupon and that these will contribute very much to the sinking of Mountains the splitting of Rocks and the bringing of all strong Holds of Nature under the power of the General Fire To conclude this point the Mountains will all be brought low in that state of Nature either by Earthquakes or subterraneous fires Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low Which will be literally true at the second coming of our Saviour as it was figuratively apply'd to his first coming Now being once level'd with the rest of the Earth the question will only be how they shall be dissolv'd But there is no Terrestrial Body indissolvable to Fire if it have a due strength and continuance and this last Fire will have both in the highest degrees So that it cannot but be capable of dissolving all Elementary compositions how hard or solid soever they be 'T is true these Mountains and Rocks as I said before will have the priviledge to be the last destroy'd These with the deep parts of the Sea and the Polar Regions of the Earth will undergo a flower fate and be consum'd more leisurely The action of the last Fire may be distinguish'd into two Times or two assaults The first assault will carry off all Mankind and all the works of the Earth that are easily combustible and this will be done with a quick and sudden motion But the second assault being employ'd about the consumption of such Bodies or such Materials as are not so easily subjected to fire will be of long continuance and the work of some years And 't is fit it should be so that this Flaming World may be view'd and consider'd by the neighbouring Worlds about it as a dreadful spectacle and monument of God's wrath against disloyal and disobedient Creatures That by this example now before their eyes they may think of their own fate and what may befal them as well as another Planet of the same Elements and composition Thus much for the Rocks and Mountains which you see according to our Hypothesis will be level'd and the whole face of the Earth reduc'd to plainness and equality nay which is more melted and dissolv'd into a Sea of liquid Fire And because this may seem a Paradox being more than is usually supposed or taken notice of in the doctrine of the Conflagration it will not be improper in this place to give an account wherein our Idea of the Conflagration and its effects differs from the common opinion and the usual representation of it 'T is commonly suppos'd that the Conflagration of the World is like the burning of a City where the Walls and materials of the Houses are not melted down but scorch'd inflam'd demolish'd and made unhabitable So they think in the Burning of the World such Bodies or such parts of Nature as are sit Fewel for the Fire will be inflam'd and it may be consum'd or reduc'd to smoke and ashes But other Bodies that are not capable of Inflammation will only be scorch'd and defac'd the beauty and furniture of the Earth spoil'd and by that means say they it will be laid wast and become unhabitable This seems to me a very short and imperfect Idea of the Conflagration neither agreeable to Scripture nor to the deductions that may be made from Scripture We therefore suppose that this is but half the work this destroying of the outward garniture of the Earth is but the first onset and that the Conflagration will end in a dissolution and liquefaction of the Elements and all the exteriour region of the Earth so as to become a true Deluge of Fire or a Sea of Fire overspreading the whole Globe of the Earth This state of the Conflagration I think may be plainly prov'd partly by the expressions of Scripture concerning it and partly from the Renovation of the Earth that is to follow upon it S. Peter who is our chief Guide in the doctrine of the Conflagration says The Elements will be melted with fervent heat besides burning up the works of the Earth Then adds Seeing all these things shall be dissolv'd c. These terms of Liquefaction and Dissolution cannot without violence be restrained to simple devastation and superficial scorching Such
being a work of Providence we may be sure such measures are taken as will effectually carry it on when once begun The Body of the Earth will be loosen'd and broken by Earth-quakes the more solid parts impregnated with sulphur and the cavities fill'd with unctuous fumes and exhalations so as the whole Mass will be but as one great funeral Pile ready built and wanting nothing but the hand of a destroying Angel to give it fire I will not take upon me to determine which way this devouring Enemy will steer his course from Italy or in what order he will advance and enter the several Regions of our Continent that would be an undertaking as uncertain as useless But we cannot doubt of his success which way soever he goes unless where the Chanel of the Ocean may chance to stop him But as to that we allow that different Continents may have different Fires not propagated from one another but of distinct sources and originals and so likewise in remote Islands and therefore no long passage or trajection will be requir'd from shore to shore And even the Ocean it self will at length be as Fiery as any part of the Land But that with its Rocks like Death will be the last thing subdued As to the Animate World the Fire will over-run it with a swift and rapid course and all living Creatures will be suffocated or consumed at the first assault And at the same time the beauty of the Fields and the external decorations of Nature will be defac'd Then the Cities and the Towns and all the works of man's hands will burn like stubble before the wind These will be soon dispatch'd but the great burthen of the Work still remains which is that Lâ—quefaction we mention'd before or a melting fire much more strong and vehement than these transient blazes which do but sweep the surface of the Earth This Liquefaction I say we prov'd before out of Scripture as the last state of the fiery Deluge And 't is this which at length will make the Sea it self a Lake of fire and brimstone When instead of Rivers of Waters which used to flow into it from the Land there come streams and rivulets of Sulphureous Liquors and purulent melted matter which following the tract of their natural gravity will fall into this great drain of the Earth Upon which mixture the remaining parts of sweet water will soon evaporate and the salt mingling with the Sulphur will make a Dead Sea an Asphaltites a Lake of Sodom a Cup of the dregs of the Wine of the fierceness of God's Wrath. We noted before two remarkable effects of the Burning Mountains which would contribute to the Conflagration of the World and gave instances of both in former Eruptions of Aetna and Vesuvius One was of those Balls or lumps of Fire which they throw about in the time of their rage and the other of those torrents of liquid Fire which rowl down their sides to the next Seas or Valleys In the first respect these Mountains are as so many Batteries planted by Providence in several parts of the Earth to fling those fiery Bombs into such places or such Cities as are marked out for destruction And in the second respect they are to dry up the Waters and the Rivers and the Sea it self when they fall into its Chanel T. Fazellus a Sicilian who writ the History of that Island tells us of such a River of fire upon an eruption of Aetna near twenty eight miles long reaching from the Mountain to Port Longina and might have been much longer if it had not been stopt by the Sea Many such as these and far greater we ought in reason to imagin when all the Earth begins to melt and to ripen towards a dissolution It will then be full of these Sulphureous juices as Grapes with Wine and these will be squeez'd out of the Earth into the Sea as out of a wine-press into the Receiver to fill up that Cup as we said before with the wine of the fierceness of God's wrath If we may be allow'd to bring Prophetical passages of Scripture to a natural sence as doubtless some of those must that respect the end of the World these phrases which we have now suggested of the Wine-press of the wrath of God Drinking the fierceness of his wine poured without mixture into the cup of his indignation with expressions of the like nature that occur sometimes in the old Prophets but especially in the Apocalypse These I say might receive a full and emphatical explication from this state of things which now lies before us I would not exclude any other explication of less force as that of alluding to the bitter cup or mixt potion that us'd to be given to malefactors but that methinks is a low sence when applyed to these places in the Apocalypse That these phrases signifie God's remarkable judgments all allow and here they plainly relate to the end of the World to the last Plagues and the last of the last Plagues chap. 16. 19. Besides The Angel that presided over this judgment is said to be an Angel that had power over fire And those who are to drink this potion are said to be tormented with fire and brimstone ch 14. 10. This presiding Angel seems to be our Saviour himself â— 19. 15. who when he comes to execute Divine Vengeance upon the Earth gives his orders in these words Gather the clusters of the Vine of the Earth for her grapes are fully ripe And thereupon the Destroying Angel thrust in his sickle into the Earth and gathered the Vine of the Earth and cast it into the great Wine-press of the Wrath of God And this made a potion compounded of several ingredients but not diluted with water ch 14. 10. and was indeed a potion of fire and brimstone and all burning materials mixt together The similitudes of Scripture are seldom nice and exact but rather bold noble and great and according to the circumstances which we have observ'd This Vineyard seems to be the Earth and this Vintage the end of the World The pressing of the Grapes into the cup or vessel that receives them the distillation of burning liquors from all parts of the Earth into the trough of the Sea and that lake of red Fire the bloud of those Grapes so flowing into it 'T is true This judgment of the Vintage and Wine-press and the effects of it seem to aim more especially at some particular region of the Earth â—h 14. 20. And I am not against that provided the substance of the explication be still retained and the universal Sea of Fire be that which follows in the next Chapter under the name of a Sea of Glass mingled with Fire This I think expresses the highest and compleat state of the Conflagration when the Mountains are fled away and not only so but the exterior region of the Earth quite dissolv'd like wax before the Sun
The Chanel of the Sea fill'd with a mass of fluid fire and the same fire overflowing all the Globe and covering the whole Earth as the Deluge or the first Abyss Then will the Triumphal Songs and Hallelujah's be sung for the Victories of the Lamb over all his Enemies and over Nature it self Great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty Iust and true are thy ways thou King of Saints Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorisie thy name for thou only art holy for all nations shall come and worship before thee for thy judgments are made manifest CHAP. XI An account of those extraordinary Phaenomena and Wonders in Nature that according to Scripture will precede the coming of Christ and the Conflagration of the World IF we reflect upon the History of Burning Mountains we cannot but observe that before their Eruptions there are usually some changes in the Earth or in the Air in the Sea or in the Sun it self as signs and forerunners of the ensuing storm We may then easily conclude that when the last great Storm is a coming and all the Volcano's of the Earth ready to burst and the frame of the World to be dissolv'd there will be prevlous signs in the Heavens and on the Earth to introduce this Tragical fate Nature cannot come to that extremity without some symptomes of her illness nor die silently without pangs or complaint But we are naturally heavy of belief as to Futurities and can scarce fancy any other Scenes or other state of Nature than what is present and continually before our eyes we will therefore to cure our unbelief take Scripture for our guide and keep within the limits of its Predictions The Scripture plainly tells us of Signs or Prodigies that will precede the coming of our Saviour and the end of the World both in the Heavens and on the Earth The Sun Moon and Stars will be disturb'd in their motion or aspect The Earth and the Sea will roar and tremble and the Mountains fall at his Presence These things both the Prophets and Evangelists have told us But what we do not understand we are flow to believe and therefore those that cannot apprehend how such Changes should come to pass in the Natural World chuse rather to allegorize all these expressions of Scripture and to make them signifie no more than political changes of Governments and Empires and the great confusions that will be amongst the People and Princes of the Earth towards the end of the World So that darkning of the Sun shaking of the Earth and such like phrases of Scripture according to these Interpreters are to be understood only in a moral sence And they think they have a warrant for this interpretation from the Prophetick style of the Old Testament where the destruction of Cities and Empires and great Princes is often describ'd by such Figures taken from the Natural World So much is true indeed as to the phrase of the old Prophets in some places but I take the true reason and design of that to be a typical adumbration of what was intended should literally come to pass in the great and universal destruction of the World whereof these partial destructions were only shadows and prefigurations But to determine this case Let us take the known and approved rule for interpreting Scripture Not to recede from the literal sence without necessity or where the nature of the subject will admit of a literal interpretation Now as to those cases in the Old Testament History and matter of fact do show that they did not come to pass literally therefore must not be so understood But as for those that concern the end of the World as they cannot be determin'd in that way seeing they are yet future So neither is there any Natural repugnancy or improbability that they should come literally to pass On the contrary from the intuition of that state of Nature one would rather conclude the probability or necessity of them That there may and must be such disorders in the external World before the general dissolution Besides If we admit Prodigies in any case or Providential indications of God's judgments to come there can be no case suppos'd wherein it will be more reasonable or proper to admit them than when they are to be the Messengers of an universal Vengeance and Destruction Let us therefore consider what signs Scripture hath taken notice of as destin'd to appear at that time to publish as it were and proclaim the approaching end of the World and how far they will admit of a natural explication according to those grounds we have already given in explaining the causes and manner of the Conflagration These Signs are chiefly Earth-quakes and extraordinary commotions of the Seas Then the darkness or bloudy colour of the Sun and Moon The shaking of the Powers of Heaven the fulgurations of the Air and the falling of Stars As to Earth-quakes we have upon several occasions shown that these will necessarily be multiplied towards the end of the World when by an excess of drought and heat exhalations will more abound within the Earth and from the same causes their inflammation also will be more frequent than in the ordinary state of Nature And as all Bodies when dry'd become more porous and full of Vacuities so the Body of the Earth will be at that time And the Mines or Cavities wherein the fumes and exhalations lodge will accordingly be of greater extent open into one another and continued through long tracts and regions By which means when an Earth-quake comes as the shock will be more strong and violent so it may reach to a vast compass of ground and whole Islands or Continents be shaken at once when these trains have taken fire The effects also of such concussions will not only affect Mankind but all the Elements and the Inhabitants of them I do not wonder therefore that frequent and great Earth-quakes should be made a sign of an approaching Conflagration and the highest expressions of the Prophets concerning the Day of the Lord may be understood in a literal sence if they be finally referr'd to the general destruction of the World and not terminated solely upon those particular Countries or People to whom they are at first directed Hear what Ezekiel says upon this subject For in my Iealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken surely in that Day there shall be a great shaking in the Land of Israel So that the Fishes of the Sea and the Fowls of the Heaven and the Beasts of the Field and all creeping things that creep upon the Earth and all the Men that are upon the face of the Earth shall shake at my presence and the Mountains shall be thrown down and the sâ—eep places shall fall and every wall shaâ—l fall to the ground And I will rain an over-flowing rain and great hail-stones fire and brimstone The Prophet Isaias describes these judgments in terms
as high and relating to the Natural World The Windows from on high are open and the foundations of the Earth do shake The Earth is utterly broken down the Earth is clean dissolv'd the Earth is moved exceedingly The Earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard and shall be removed like a Cottage and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it and it shall fall and not rise again To restrain all these things to Iudaea as their adequate and final object is to force both the words and the sence Here are manifest allusions and foot-steps of the destruction of the World and the dissolution of the Earth partly as it was in the Deluge and partly as it will be in its last ruine torn broken aâ—d shatter'd But most Men have fallen into that errour To fancy both the destructions of the World by Water and by Fire quiet noiseless things executed without any ruines or ruptures in Nature That the Deluge was but a great Pool of still Waters made by the rains and inundation of the Sea and the Conflagration will be only a superficial scorching of the Earth with a running fire These are false Idea's and unsuitable to Scripture for as the Deluge is there represented a Disruption of the Abyss and consequently of the then habitable Earth so the future combustion of it according to the representations of Scripture is to be usher'd in and accompanied with all sorts of violent impressions upon Nature and the chief instrument of these violences will be Earth-quakes These will tear the Body of the Earth and shake its foundations rend the Rocks and pull down the tall Mountains sometimes overturn and sometimes swallow up Towns and Cities disturb and disorder the Elements and make a general confusion in Nature Next to Earth-quakes we may consider the roarings of a troubled Sea This is another sign of a dying World S. Luke hath set down a great many of them together Let us hear his words And there shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars and upon the Earth distress of Nations with perplexity The Sea and the Waves roaring Mens hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory c. As some would allegorize these Signs which we noted before so others would confine them to the destruction of Ierusalem But 't is plain by this coming of the Son of man in the clouds and the redemption of the faithful and at the same time the sound of the last trumpet which all relate to the end of the World that something further is intended than the destruction of Ierusalem And though there were Prodigies at the destruction of that City and State yet not of this force nor with these circumstances 'T is true those partial destructions and calamities as we observ'd before of Babylon Ierusalem and the Roman Empire being types of an universal and final destruction of all Godâ—s Enemies have in the pictures of them some of the same strokes to show they are all from the same hand decreed by the same wisdom foretold by the same Spirit and the same power and Providence that have already wrought the one will also work the other in due time the former being still pledges as well as prefigurations of the latter Let us then proceed in our explication of this sign The roaring of the Sea and the Waves applying it to the end of the World I do not look upon this ominous noise of the Sea as the effect of a tempest for then it would not strike such a terror into the Inhabitants of the Earth nor make them apprehensive of some great evil coming upon the World as this will do what proceeds from visible causes and such as may happen in a common course of Nature does not so much amaze us nor affright us Therefore 't is more likely these disturbances of the Sea proceed from below partly by sympathy and revulsions from the Land by Earth-quakes there and exhausting the subterraneous cavities of Waters which will draw again from the Seas what supplies they can And partly by Earth-quakes in the very Sea it self with exhalations and fiery Eruptions from the bottom of it Things indeed that happen at other times more or less but at this conjuncture all causes conspiring they will break out with more violence and put the whole Body of the Waters into a tumultuary motion I do not see any occasion at this time for high Winds neither can think a superficial agitation of the Waves would answer this Phaenomenon but 't is rather from Contorsions in the bowels of the Ocean which make it roar as it were for pain Some Causes impelling the Waters one way and some another make intestine struglings and contrary motions from whence proceed unusual noises and such a troubled state of the Waters as does not only make the Sea innavigable but also strikes terror into all the Maritime Inhabitants that live within the view or sound of it So much for the Earth and the Sea The face of the Heavens also will be chang'd in divers respects The Sun and the Moon darkned or of a bloudy or pale countenance The Celestial Powers shaken and the Stars unsetled in their Orbs. As to the Sun and Moon their obscuration or change of colour is no more than what happens commonly before the Eruption of a fiery Mountain Dion Cassius you see hath taken notice of it in that Eruption of Aetna which he describes and others upon the like occasions in Vesuvius And 't is a thing of easie explication for according as the Atmosphere is more or less clear or turbid the Luminaries are more or less conspicuous and according to the nature of those fumes or exhalations that swim in the Air the face of the Sun is discolour'd sometimes one way sometimes another You see in an ordinary Experiment when we look upon one another through the fumes of Sulphur we appear pale like so many Ghosts and in some foggy days the Sun hangs in the Firmament as a lump of Bloud And botlâ— the Sun and Moon at their rising when their light comes to us through the thick vapours of the Earth are red and fiery These are not changes wrought in the substance of the Luminaries but in the modifications of their light as it flows to us For colours are but Light in a sort of disguise as it passes through Mediums of diffâ—rent qualities it takes different forms but the matter is still the same and returns to its simplicity when it comes again into a pure air Now the air may be changed and corrupted to a great degree tho' there appear no visible change to our eye This is manifest from infectious airs and the changes of the air before storms and rains which we feel
commonly sooner than we see and some other creatures perceive much sooner than we do 'T is no wonder then if before this mighty storm the dispositions of the Air be quite alter'd especially if we consider what we have so often noted before that there will be a great abundance of fumes and exhalations through the whole Atmosphere of the Earth before the last Fire breaks out whereby the Light of the Sun may be tinctur'd in several ways And lastly it may be so order'd providentially that the Body of the Sun may contract at that time some Spots or Maculae far greater than usual and by that means be really darkened not to us only but to all the neighbouring Planets And this will have a proportionable effect upon the Moon too for the diminution of her light So that upon all suppositions these Phaenomena are very intelligible if not necessary forerunners of the Conflagration The next Sign given us is that the powers of heaven will be shaken By the Heavens in this place is either understood the Planetary Heavens or that of the Fix'd Stars but this latter being vastly distant from the Earth cannot be really affected by the Conflagration Nor the powers of it that is its motions or the Bodies contain'd in it any way shaken or disorder'd But in appearance these celestial Bodies may seem to be shaken and their motions disorder'd as in a tempest by night when the ship is toss'd with contrary and uncertain motions the Heavens seem to fluctuate over our heads and the Stars to reel to and fro when the motion is only in our own Vessel So possibly the uncertain motions of the Atmosphere and sometimes of the Earth it self may so vary the sight and aspect of this starry Canopy that it may seem to shake and tremble But if we understand this of the Planetary Heavens They may really be shaken Providence either ordering some great changes in the other Planets previously to the Conflagration of our Planet as 't is probable there was a great change in Venus at the time of our Deluge Or the great shakings and concussions of our Globe at that time affecting some of the neighbouring Orbs at least that of the Moon may cause Anomalies and irregularities in their motions But the sence that I should pitch upon chiefly for explaining this phrase of shaking the powers of heaven comprehends in a good measure both these Heavens of the Fix'd Stars and of the Planets 'T is that change of situation in the Axis of the Earth which we have formerly mention'd whereby the Stars will seem to change their places and the whole Universe to take another posture This is sufficiently known to those that know the different consequences of a strait or oblique posture of the Earth And as the heavens and the earth were in this sence once shaken before namely at the Deluge when they lost their first situation so now they will be shaken again and thereby return to the posture they had before that first concussion And this I take to be the true literal sence of the Prophet Haggai repeated by S. Paul Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also heaven The last Sign we shall take notice of is that of Falling Stars And the Stars shall fall from Heaven says our Saviour Matt. 24. 29. We are sure from the nature of the thing that this cannot be understood either of fix'd Stars or Planets for if either of these should tumble from the Skies and reach the Earth they would break it all in pieces or swallow it up as the Sea does a sinking ship and at the same time would put all the inferiour universe into confusion It is necessary therefore by these Stars to understand either â—iery Meteors falling from the middle Region of the Air or Comets and Blazing Stars No doubt there will be all sorts of fiery Meteors at that time and amongst others those that are call'd Falling Stars which tho' they are not considerable singly yet if they were multiplied in great numbers falling as the Prophet says as leafs from the Vine or figs from the fig-tree they would make an astonishing fight But I think this expression does chiefly refer to Comets which are dead Stars and may truly be said to fall from heaven when they leave their seats above and those ethereal regions wherein they were fixt and sink into this lower World where they wander about with a blaze in their tail or a flame about their head as if they came on purpose to be the Messengers of some fiery Vengeance If numbers of these blazing Stars should fall into our heaven together they would make a dreadful and formidable appearance And I am apt to think that Providence hath so contriv'd the periods of their motion that there will be an unusual concourse of them at that time within the view of the Earth to be a prelude to this last and most Tragical Scene of the Sublunary World I do not know any more in Scripture relating to the last Fire that upon the grounds laid down in this discourse may not receive a satisfactory explication It reaches beyond the Signs before mention'd to the highest expressions of Scripture As Lakes of fire and brimstone a molten Sea mingled with fire the Liquefaction of Mountains and of the Earth it self We need not now look upon these things as Hyperbolical and Poetical strains but as barefac'd Prophecies and things that will literally come to pass as they are predicted One thing more will be expected in a just hypothesis or Theory of the Conflagration namely that it should answer not only all the conditions and characters belonging to the last Fire but should also make way and lay the foundation of another World to succeed this or of New Heavens and a New Earth For S. Peter hath taught this doctrine of the Renovation of the World as positively and expresly as that of its Conflagration And therefore they that so explain the destruction of the present World as to leave it afterwards in an eternal rubbish without any hopes of restoration do not answer the Christian Doctrine concerning it But as to our Hypothesis we are willing to stand this far ther trial and be accountable for the consequences of the Conflagration as well as the Antecedents and manner of it And we have accordingly in the following Book from the Ashes of this rais'd a New Earth which we leave to the enjoyment of the Readers In the mean time to close our discourse we will bid farewel to the present World in a short review of its last flames CHAP. XII An imperfect description of the Coming of our Saviour and of the World on Fire CErtainly there is nothing in the whole course of Nature or of Humane Affairs so great and so extraordinary as the two last Scenes of them THE COMING OF OUR SAVIOUR and the BURNING OF THE WORLD If we could draw in our minds the Pictures of these
in true and lively colours we should scarce be able to attend to any thing else or ever divert our imagination from these two objects For what can more affect us than the greatest Glory that ever was visible upon Earth and at the same time the greatest Terror A God descending in the Head of an Army of Angels and a Burning World under his feet These are things truly above expression and not only so but so different and remote from our ordinary thoughts and conceptions that he that comes nearest to a true description of them shall be look'd upon as the most extravagant 'T is our unhappiness to be so much used to little trifling things in this life that when any thing great is represented to us it appears phantastical An Idea made by some contemplative or melancholy person I will not venture therefore without premising some grounds out of Scripture to say any thing concerning This Glorious Appearance As to the Burning of the World I think we have already laid a foundation sufficient to support the highest description that can be made of it But the coming of our Saviour being wholly out of the way of Natural Causes it is reasonable we should take all directions we can from Scripture that we may give a more fitting and just account of that Sacred Pomp. I need not mention those places of Scripture that prove the second coming of our Saviour in general or his return to the Earth again at the end of the World no Christian can doubt of this 't is so often repeated in those Sacred Writings But the manner and circumstances of this Coming or of this Appearance are the things we now enquire into And in the first place we may observe that Scripture tells us our Saviour will come in Flaming Fire and with an Host of mighty Angels so says S. Paul to the Thessalonians The Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. In the second place our Saviour says himself The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels From which two places we may learn first that the appearance of our Saviour will be with flames of Fire Secondly With an Host of Angels Thirdly In the glory of his Father By which Glory of the Father I think is understood that Throne of Glory represented by Daniel for the Ancient of Days For our Saviour speaks here to the Iews and probably in a way intelligible to them And the Glory of the Father which they were most likely to understand would be either the Glory wherein God appeared at Mount Sinai upon the◠giving of the Law whereof the Apostle speaks largely to the Hebrews or that which Daniel represents Him in at the day of Judgment And this latter being more proper to the subject of our Saviour's discourse 't is more likely this expression refers to it Give me leave therefore to set down that description of the Glory of the Father upon his Throne from the Prophet Daniel ch 7. 9. And I beheld 〈◊〉 the Thrones were set and the Ancient of days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool His Throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him With this Throne of the Glory of the Father let us if you please compare the Throne of the Son of God as it was seen by S. Iohn in the Apocalypse ch 4. 2 c. And immediately I was in the Spirit and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the Throne And he that fat was to look upon like a Iasper and a Sardine Stone and there was a Rain-bow round about the Throne in appearance like unto an Emerald And out of the Throne proceeded Lightnings and Thunderings and Voices c. and before the Throne was a Sea of glass like unto Crystal In those representations you have some beams of the Glory of the Father and of the Son which may be partly a direction to us in conceiving the 〈◊〉 of our Saviour's appearance Let us further observe if you please how external Nature will be affected at the sight of God or of this approaching Glory The Scripture often takes notice of this and in terms very high and eloquent The Psalmist seems to have lov'd that subject above others to set out the greatness of the day of the Lord and the consternation of all Nature at that time He throws about his thunder and lightning makes the Hills to melt like wax at the presence of the Lord and the very foundations of the Earth to tremble as you may see in the 18th Psalm and the 97. and the 104. and several others which are too long to be here inserted So the Prophet Habakkuk in his Prophetick Prayer Chap. 3d. hath many Ejaculations to the like purpose And the Prophet Nahum says The mountains quake at him and the hills melt and the Earth is burnt at his presence yea the world and all that dwell therein But more particularly as to the face of Nature just before the coming of our Saviour that may be best collected from the signs of his coming mention'd in the precedent Chapter Those all meeting together help to prepare and make ready a Theater fit for an angry God to come down upon The countenance of the Heavens will be dark and gloomy and a Veil drawn over the face of the Sun The Earth in a disposition every where to break into open flames The tops of the Mountains smoaking the Rivers dry Earthquakes in several places the Sea sunk and retir'd into its deepest Chanel and roaring as against some mighty storm These things will make the day dead and melancholy but the Night-Scenes will have more of horrour in them When the Blazing Stars appear like so many Furies with their lighted Torches threatning to set all on fire For I do not doubt but the Comets will bear a part in this Tragedy and have something extraordinary in them at that time either as to number or bigness or nearness to the Earth Besides the Air will be full of flaming Meteors of unusual forms and magnitudes Balls of fire rowling in the Skie and pointed lightnings darted against the Earth mixt with claps of thunder and unusual noises from the Clouds The Moon and the Stars will be confus'd and irregular both in their light and motions as if the whole frame of the Heavens was out of order and all the laws of Nature were broken or expir'd When all things are in this languishing or dying posture and the Inhabitants of the Earth under the fears of their last end The Heavens will open on a sudden and the Glory of
God will appear A Glory surpassing the Sun in its greatest radiancy which tho' we cannot describe we may suppose it will bear some resemblance or proportion with those representations that are made in Scripture of God upon his Throne This wonder in the Heavens whatsoever its form may be will presently attract the eyes of all the Christian World Nothing can more affect them than an object so unusual and so illustrious and that probably brings along with it their last destiny and will put a period to all humane affairs Some of the Ancients have thought that this coming of our Saviour would be in the dead of the night and his first glorious appearance in the midst of darkness God is often describ'd in Scripture as Light or Fire with darkness round about him He bowed the Heavens and came down and darkness was under his feet He made darkness his secret place His pavilion round about him were dark Waters and thick Clouds of the Skies At the brightness that was before him the thick Clouds passed And when God appear'd upon Mount Sinai the Mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of Heaven with darkness clouds and thick darkness Or as the Apostle expresses it with blackness and darkness and tempest Light is never more glorious than when surrounded with darkness and it may be the Sun at that time will be so obscure as to make little distinction of Day and Night But however this Divine Light over-bears and distinguishes it self from common Light tho' it be at Mid-day 'T was about Noon that the Light shin'd from Heaven and surrounded St. Panl And 't was on the Day-time that St. Stephen saw the Heavens opened saw the glory of God and Iesus standing at the right hand of God This light which flows from a more vital source be it Day or Night will always be predominant That appearance of God upon Mount Sinai which we mention'd if we reflect upon it will help us a little to form an Idea of this last appearance When God had declar'd that he would come down in the sight of the People The Text says There were thunders and lightnings and a thick Cloud upon the Mount and the voice of the Trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the Camp trembled And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire And the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole Mount quaked greatly If we look upon this Mount as an Epitome of the Earth this appearance gives us an imperfect resemblance of that which is to come Here are the several parts or main strokes of it first the Heavens and the Earth in smoke and fire then the appearance of a Divine Glory and the sound of a Trumpet in the presence of Angels But as the second coming of our Saviour is a Triumph over his Enemies and an entrance into his Kingdom and is acted upon the Theater of the whole Earth so we are to suppose in proportion all the parts and circumstances of it more great and magnificent When therefore this mighty God returns again to that Earth where he had once been ill treated not Mount Sinai only but all the Mountains of the Earth and all the Inhabitants of the World will tremble at his presence At the first opening of the Heavens the brightness of his Person will scatter the dark Clouds and shoot streams of light throughout all the Air. But that first appearance being far from the Earth will seem to be only a great mass of light without any distinct form till by nearer approaches this bright Body shows it self to be an Army of Angels with this King of kings for their Leader Then you may imagine how guilty Mankind will tremble and be astonish'd and while they are gazing at this heavenly Host the Voice of the Archangel is heard the shrill sound of the Trumpet reaches their ears And this gives the general Alarum to all the World For he cometh for he cometh they cry to judge the Earth The crucified God is return'd in Glory to take Vengeance upon his Enemies Not only upon those that pierc'd his Sacred Body with Nails and with a Spear as Ierusalem but those also that pierce him every day by their prophaneness and hard speeches concerning his Person and his Religion Now they see that God whom they have mock'd or blasphem'd laugh't at his meanness or at his vain threats They see Him and are confounded with shame and fear and in the bitterness of their anguish and despair call for the Mountains to fall upon them Fly into the clefts of the Rocks and into the Caves of the Earth for fear of the Lord and the glory of his Majesâ—y when he ariseth to shake terribly the Earth As it is not possible for us to express or conceive the dread and majesty of this appearance so neither can we on the other hand express the passions and consternation of the People that behold it These things exceed the measures of humane affairs and of humane thoughts we have neither words nor comparisons to make them known by The greatest pomp and magnificence of the Emperors of the East in their Armies in their Triumphs in their Inaugurations is but like the sport and entertainment of Children if compar'd with this Solemnity When God condescends to an external glory with a visible Train and Equipage When from all the Provinces of his vast and boundless Empire he summons his Nobles as I may so say The several orders of Angels and Arch-Angels to attend his Person tho' we cannot tell the form or manner of this Appearance we know there is nothing in our experience or in the whole History of this World that can be a just representation of the least part of it No Armies so numerous as the Host of Heaven and in the midst of those bright Legions in a flaming Chariot will sit the Son of Man when he comes to be glorified in his Saints and triumph over his Enemies And instead of the wild noises of the rabble which makes a great part of our worldly state This blessed company will breath their Halleluiahs into the open Air and repeated acclamations of Salvation to God which sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb. Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. But I leave the rest to our silent devotion and admiration Only give me leave whilst this object is before our eyes to make a short reflection upon the wonderful history of our Saviour and the different states which that Sacred Person within the compass of our knowledge hath undergone We now see him coming in the Clouds in glory and triumph surrounded with innumerable Angels This is the same Person who so many hundred years ago enter'd Ierusalem with another sort of Equipage mounted upon an Ass's Colt while the
little people and the multitude cry'd Hosanna to the Son of David Nay This is the same Person that at his first comeing into this World was laid in a Manger instead of a Cradle A naked Babe dropt in a Crib at Bethlehem His poor Mother not having wherewithal to get her a better Lodging when she was to be deliver'd of this Sacred Burthen This helpless Infant that often wanted a little Milk to refresh it and support its weakness That hath often cry'd for the Breast with hunger and tears now appears to be the Lord of Heaven and Earth If this Divine Person had faln from the Clouds in a mortal Body cloath'd with Flesh and Bloud and spent his life here amongst sinners That alone had been an infinite condescension But as if it had not been enough to take upon him Humane Nature he was content for many months to live the life of an Animal or of a Plant in the dark Cell of a Womans Womb. This is the Lord 's doing it is marvellous in our eyes Neither is this all that is wonderful in the story of our Saviour If the manner of his death be compar'd with his present glory we shall think either the one or the other incredible Look up first into the Heavens see how they bow under him and receive a new light from the Glory of his Presence Then look down upon the Earth and see a naked Body hanging upon a cursed Tree in Golgotha â— Crucified betwixt Two Thieves wounded spit upon mock'd abus'd Is it possible to believe that one and the same person can act or suffer such different parts That he that is now Lord and Master of all Nature not only of Death and Hell and the powers of darkness but of all Principalities in heavenly places is the same Infant Jesus the same crucified Jesus of whose life and death the Christian records give us an account The History of this Person is the Wonder of this World and not of this World only but of the Angels above that desire to look into it Let us now return to our Subject We left the Earth in a languishing condition ready to be made a Burnt-offering to appease the wrath of its offended Lord. When Sodom was to be destroy'd Abraham interceded with God that he would spare it for the Righteous sake And David interceded to save his guiltless People from God's Judgments and the Destroying Angel But here is no Intercessor for Mankind in this last extremity None to interpose where the Mediator of our Peace is the party offended Shall then the righteous perish with the wicked Shall not the Iudge of all the Earth do right Or if the Righteous be translated and delivered from This Fire what shall become of innocent Children and Infants Must these all be given up to the merciless flames as a Sacrifice to Moloch and their tender flesh like burnt incense send up fumes to feed the nostrils of evil Spirits Can the God of Israel smell a sweet favour from such Sacrifices The greater half of Mankind is made up of Infants and Children and if the wicked be destroyed yet these Lambs what have they done Are there no bowels of compassion for such an harmless multitude But we leave them to their Guardian Angels and to that Providence which watches over all things It only remains therefore to let fall that Fire from Heaven which is to consume this Holocaust Imagine all Nature now standing in a silent expectation to receive its last doom The Tutelary and Destroying Angels to have their instructions Every thing to be ready for the fatal hour And then after a little silence all the Host of Heaven to raise their voice and sing aloud LET GOD ARISE Let his enemies be scatter'd As smoak is driven away so drive them away As wax melteth before the fire so LET the wicked perish at the presence of God And upon this as upon a signal given all the sublunary World breaks into Flames and all the Treasuries of Fire are open'd in Heaven and in Earth Thus the Conflagration begins If one should now go about to represent the World on Fire with all the confusions that necessarily must be in Nature and in Mankind upon that occasion it would seem to most Men a Romantick Scene yet we are sure there must be such a Scene The heavens will pass away with a noise and the Elements will melt with fervent heat and all the works of the Earth will be burm up And these things cannot come to pass without the greatest disorders imaginable both in the minds of Men and in external Nature and the â—addest spectacles that eye can behold We think it a great matter to see a single person burnt alive here are Millions shrieking in the flames at once 'T is frightful to us to look upon a great City in flames and to see the distractions and misery of the people here is an Universal Fire through all the Cities of the Earth and an Universal Massacre of their Inhabitants Whatsoever the Prophets foretold of the desolations of Iudea Ierusalem or Babylon in the highest strains is more than literally accomplinsn'd in this last and general Calamity And those only that are Spectators of it can make iâ—s History The disorders in Nature and the inanimate World will be no less nor less strange and unaccountable than those in Mankind Every Element and every Region so far as the bounds of this Fire extend will be in a tumult and a fury and the whole habitable World running into confusion A World is sooner destroyed than made and Nature relapses hastily into that Chaos-state ouâ— of which she came by slow and leisurely motions As an Army advances into the field by just and regular marches but when it is broken and routed it flies with precipitation and one cannot describe its posture Fire is a barbarous Enemy it gives no mercy there is nothing but fury and rage and ruine and destruction wheresoever it prevails A storm or Hurricano tho' it be but the force of Air makes a strange havock where it comes but devouring â—lames or exhalations set on Fire have still a far greater violence and carry more terror along with them â— Thunder and Earthquakes are the Sons of Fire and we know nothing in all Nature more impetuous or more irresistibly destructive than these two And accordingly in this last war of the Elements we may be sure they will bear theâ—â— parts and do great execution in the several regions of the World Earthquakes and Subterraneous Eruptions will tear the body and bowels of the Earth and Thunders and convulsive motions of the Air rend the Skies The waters of the Sea will boyl and struggle with streams of Sulphur that â—un into them which will make them fume and smoak and roar beyond all storms and tempests And these noises of the Sea will be answered again from the Land by falling Rocks and Mountains
This is a small part of the disorders of that day But 't is not possible from any station to have a full prospect of this last Scene of the Earth for 't is a mixture of fire and darkness This New Temple is fill'd with smoak while it is consecrating and none can enter into it But I am apt to think if we could look down upon this burning World from above the Clouds and have a full view of it in all its parts we should think it a lively representation of Hell it self For Fire and darkness are the two chief things by which that state or that place uses to be describ'd and they are both here mingled together with all other ingredients that make that Tophet that is prepar'd of old Here are Lakes of fire and brimstone Rivers of melted glowing matter Ten thousand Volcano's vomiting flames all at once Thick darkness and Pillars of smoak twisted about with wreaths of flame like fiery Snakes Mountains of Earth thrown up into the Air and the Heavens dropping down in lumps of fire These things will all be literally true concerning that day and that state of the Earth And if we suppose Beelzebub and his Apostate crew in the midst of this fiery furnace and I know not where they can be else It will be hard to find any part of the Universe or any state of things that answers to so many of the properties and characters of Hell as this which is now before us But if we suppose the storm over and that the fire hath got an entire victory over all other bodies and subdued every thing to it self the Conflagration will end in a Deluge of fire Or in a Sea of fire covering the whole Globe of the Earth For when the exterior region of the Earth is melted into a fluor like molten glass or running metal it will according to the nature of other Fluids fill all vacuities and depressions and fall into a regular surface at an equal distance every where from its center This Sea of fire like the first Abyss will cover the face of the whole Earth make a kind of second Chaos and leave a capacity for another World to rise from it But that is not our present business Let us only if you please to take leave of this subject reflect upon this occasion on the transient and 〈◊〉 glory of all this habitable World How by the force of one Element breaking loose upon the rest all the Varieties of Nature all the works of Art all the labours of Men are reduc'd to nothing All that we admir'd and ador'd before as great and magnificent is obliterated or vanish'd And another form and face of things plain simple and every where the same overspreads the whole Earth Where are now the great Empires of the World and their great Imperial Cities Their Pillars Tropheâ—s and Monuments of glory Show me where they stood read the Inscription tell me the Victorâ—s name What remains what impressions what difference or distinction do you see in this mass of fire Rome it self Eternal Rome the Great City the Empress of the World whose domination and superstition ancient and modern make a great part of the History of this Earth What is become of her now She laid her foundations deep and her Palaces were strong and sumptuous She glorified her self and liv'd deliciously and said in her heart I sit a Queen and shall see no sorrow But her hour is come she is wip'd away from the face of the Earth and buried in perpetual oblivion But 't is not Cities only and works of Men's hands but the everlasting Hills the Mountains and Rocks of the Earth are melted as Wax before the Sun and their place is no where found Here stood the Alpes a prodigious range of Stone the Load of the Earth that cover'd many Countries and reach'd their arms from the Ocean to the Black Sea This huge mass of Stone is soften'd and dissolv'd as a tender Cloud into rain Here stood the African Mountains and Atlas with his top above the Clouds There was frozen Caucasus and Taurus and Imaus and the Mountains of Asia And yonder towards the North stood the Riphaean Hills cloath'd in Ice and Snow All these are vanish'd dropt away as the Snow upon their heads and swallowed up in a red Sea of fire Great and marvellous are thy Works Lord God Almighty Iust and true are thy ways Thou King of Saints Hallelujah The CONCLVSION IF the Conflagration of the World be a reality as both by Scripture and Antiquity we are assur'd it is If we be fully perswaded and convinc'd of this 'T is a thing of that nature that we cannot keep it long in our thoughts without making some moral reflections upon it 'T is both great in it self and of universal concern to all Mankind Who can look upon such an Object A World in Flames without thinking with himself Whether shall I be in the midst of these â—lames or no What is my security that I shall not fall under this fiery vengeance which is the wrath of an angry God St. Peter when he had deliver'd the doctrine of the Conflagration makes this pious reflection upon it Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolv'd what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness The strength of his argument depends chiefly upon what he had said before in the 7th Verse where he told us that the present Heavens and Earth were reserv'd unto fire against the Day of Iudgment and the perdition of irreligious men We must avoid the crime then if we would escape the punishment But this expression of irreligious or ungodly men is still very general St. Paul when he speaks of this fiery indignation and the Persons it is to fall upon is more distinct in their characters He seems to mark out for this destruction three sorts of men chiefly The Atheists Infidels and the Tribe of Antichrist These are his words When the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. Then as for Antichrist and his adherents he says in the 2d Chapt. and 8th Verse The Lord shall consume that Wicked one with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming or of his Presence These you see all refer to the same time with St. Peter namely to the coming of our Saviour at the Conflagration and three sorts of Persons are characteriz'd as his Enemies and set out for destruction at that time First those that know not God that is that acknowledge not God that will not own the Deity Secondly those that hearken not to the Gospel that is that reject the Gospel and Christian Religion when they are preach'd and made known to them For you must not think that it is the poor barbarous and
Heaven with power and great glory and that will be to judge the World When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory And before him shall be gather'd all Nations and he will separate the good from the bad and to the wicked and unbelievers he will say Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels This is the same Coming and the same Fire with that which we mention'd before out of S. Paul As you will plainly see if you compare S. Matthew's words with S. Paul's which are these When the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that hearken not to the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from or by the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power This me thinks should be an awakening thought that there is such a threatning upon record by one who never yet fail'd in his word against those that do not believe his Testimony Those that reject him now as a Dupe or an Impostor run a hazard of seeing him hereafter coming in the Clouds to be their Judge And it will be too late then to correct their errour when the bright Armies of Angels fill the Air and the Earth begins to melt at the Presence of the Lord. Thus much concerning those three ranks of Men whom the Apostle S. Paul seems to point at principally and condemn to the flames But as I said before the rest of sinners and vitious Persons amongst the Professors of Christianity tho' they are not so directly the Enemies of God as these are yet being transgressors of his Law they must expect to be brought to Justice In every well-govern'd State not only Traitors and Rebels that offend more immediately against the Person of the Prince but all others that notoriously violate the Laws are brought to condign punishment according to the nature and degree of their crime So in this case The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is 'T is therefore the concern of every man to reflect often upon that Day and to consider what his fate and sentence is likely to be at that last Trial. The Iews have a Tradition that Elias sits in Heaven and keeps a Register of all Mens actions good or bad He hath his Under Secretaries for the several Nations of the World that take minutes of all that passes and so hath the History of every Man's life before him ready to be produc'd at the Day of Judgment I will not vouch for the literal truth of this but it is true in effect Every Man's fate shall be determin'd that Day according to the history of his Life according to the works done in the flesh whether good or bad And therefore it ought to have as much influence upon us as if every single action was formally register'd in Heaven If Men would learn to contemn this World it would cure a great many Vices at once And methinks S. Peter's argument from the approaching dissolution of all things should put us out of conceit with such perishing vanities Lust and Ambition are the two reigning Vices of great Men and those little fires might be soon extinguish'd if they would frequently and seriously meditate on this last and Universal Fire which will put an end to all Passions and all Contentions As to Ambition the Heathens themselves made use of this argument to abate and repress the vain affectation of glory and greatness in this World I told you before the lesson that was given to Scipio Africanus by his Uncle's Ghost upon this Subject And upon a like occasion and consideration Caesar hath a lesson given him by Lucan after the Battle of Pharsalia where Pompey lost the day and Rome its liberty The Poet says Caesar took pleasure in looking upon the dead Bodies and would not suffer them to be buried or which was their manner of burying to be burnt Whereupon he speaks to him in these words Hos Caesar populos si nunc non usserit Ignis Uret cum Terris uret cum gurgite Ponti Communis mundo superest Rogus Ossibus astra Misturus Quocunque Tuam Fortuna vocabit Hae quoque eunt Animae non altiùs ibis in auras Non meliore loco Stygiâ sub nocte jacebis Libera fortuna Mors est Capit omnia Tellus Quae genuit Coelo tegitur Qui non habet urnam Caesar If now these Bodies want their pile and urn At last with the whole Globe they 're sure to burn The World expects one general Fire and Thou Must go where these poor Sculs are wand'ring now Thou'l reach no higher in th' Ethereal Plain Nor 'mongst the Shades a better place obtain Death levels all And He that has not room To make a Grave Heaven's Vault shall be his Tomb. These are mortifying thoughts to ambitious Spirits And surely our own Mortality and the Mortality of the World it self may be enough to convince all considering Men That Vanity of Vanities all is vanity under the Sun any otherwise than as they relate to a better Life FINIS THE 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 THE FOURTH BOOK Concerning the NEW HEAVENS and NEW EARTH AND Concerning the CONSUMMATION of all Things LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. PREFACE TO THE READER YOU see it is still my lot to travel into New Worlds having never found any great satisfaction in this As an active people leaves their habitations in a barren soil to try if they can make their fortune better elsewhere I first lookt backwards and waded through the Deluge into the Primaeval World to see how they liv'd there and how Nature stood in that original constitution Now I am going forwards to view the New Heavens and New Earth that will be after the Conflagration But Gentle Reader let me not take you any further if you be weary I do not love a querulous Companion Unless your Genius therefore press you forwards chuse rather to rest here and be content with that part of the Theory which you have seen already Is it not fair to have followed Nature so far as to have seen her twice in her ruins Why should we still pursue her even after death and dissolution into dark and remote Futurities To whom therefore such disquisitions seem needless or over-curious let them rest here and leave the remainder of this Work which is a kind of PROPHECY concerning the STATE of things after the Conflagration to those that are of a disposition suited to such studies and enquiries Not that any part of this Theory
in the Theory of the Earth as to have seen the End of Two Worlds One destroy'd by Water and another by Fire It remains only to consider whether we be yet come to the final period of Nature The last Scene of all things and consequently the utmost bound of our enquiries Or whether Providence which is inexhausted in Wisdom and Goodness will raise up from this dead Mass New Heavens and a New Earth Another habitable World better and more perfect than that which was destroyed That as the first World began with a Paradise and a state of Innocency so the last may be a kind of Renovation of that happy state whose Inhabitants shall not die but be translated to a blessed Immortality I know 't is the opinion of some that this World will be annihilated or reduc'd to nothing at the Conflagration and that would put an end to all further enquiries But whence do they learn this from Scripture or Reason or their own imagination What instance or example can they give us of this they call Annihilation Or what place of Scripture can they produce that says the World in the last Fire shall be reduc'd to nothing If they have neither instance nor proof of what they affirm 't is an empty Imagination of their own neither agreeable to Philosophy nor Divinity Fire does not consume any substance It changes the form and qualities of it but the matter remains And if the design had been Annihilation the employing of fire would have been of no use or effect For smoak and ashes are at as great a distance from Nothing as the bodies themselves out of which they are made But these Authors seem to have but a small tincture of Philosophy and therefore it will be more proper to confute their opinion from the words of Scripture which hath left us sufficient evidence that another World will succeed after the Conflagration of that we now inhabit The Prophets both of the Old and New Testament have left us their predictions concerning New Heavens and a New Earth So says the Prophet Isaiah ch 65. 17. Behold I create New Heavens and a New Earth and the former shall not be remembred or come into mind As not worthy our thoughts in comparison of those that will arise when these pass away So the Prophet S. Iohn in his Apocalypse when he was come to the End of this World says And I saw a new heaven and a new earth For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Where he does not only give us an account of a New Heaven and a New Earth in general but also gives a distinctive character of the New Earth that it shall have no Sea And in the 5th ver He that sat upon the Throne says Behold I make all things New which consider'd with the antecedents and consequents cannot be otherwise understood than of a New World But some Men make evasions here as to the words of the Prophets and say they are to be understood in a figurate and allegorical sence and to be applyed to the times of the Gospel either at first or towards the latter end of the World So as this New Heaven and New Earth signifie only a great change in the moral World But how can that be seeing S. Iohn places them after the end of the World And the Prophet Isaiah connects such things with his New Heavens and New Earth as are not competible to the present state of Nature However to avoid all shuffling and tergiversation in this point let us appeal to S. Peter who uses a plain literal style and discourses down-right concerning the Natural World In his 2d Epist. and 3d. Chap when he had foretold and explain'd the Future Conflagration he adds But we expect New Heavens and a New Earth according to his promises These Promises were made by the Prophets and this gives us full authority to interpret their New Heavens and New Earth to be after the Conflagration S. Peter when he had describ'd the Dissolution of the World in the last Fire in full and emphatical terms as the passing away of the Heavens with a noise the melting of the Elements and burning up all the works of the Earth he subjoyns Nevertheless notwithstanding this total dissolution of the present World We according to his promises look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness As if the Apostle should have said Notwithstanding this strange and violent dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth which I have describ'd to you we do not at all distrust God's Promises concerning New Heavens and a New Earth that are to succeed these and to be the seat of the Righteous Here 's no room for Allegories or allegorical expositions unless you will make the Conflagration of the World an Allegory For as Heavens and Earth were destroy'd so Heavens and Earth are restored and if in the first place you understand the natural material World you must also understand it in the second place They are both Allegories or neither But to make the Conflagration an Allegory is not only to contradict S. Peter but all Antiquity Sacred or Prophane And I desire no more assurance that we shall have New Heavens and a New Earth in a literal Sence than we have that the present Heavens and Earth shall be destroyed in a literal Sence and by material Fire Let it therefore rest upon that issue as to this first evidence and argument from Scripture Some will fancy it may be that we shall have New Heavens and Earth and yet that these shall be annihilated They would have These first reduc'd to nothing and then others created spick and span New out of nothing But why so pray what 's the humour of that Lest Omnipotency should want employment you would have it do and undo and do again As if new-made Matter like new Clothes or new Furniture had a better Gloss and was more creditable Matter never wears as fine Gold melt it down never so often it loses nothing of its quantity The substance of the World is the same burnt or unburnt and is of the same Value and Virtue New or Old and we must not multiply the actions of Omnipotency without necessity God does not make or unmake things to try experiments He knows before hand the utmost capacities of every thing and does no vain or superfluous work Such imaginations as these proceed only from want of true Philosophy or the true knowledge of the Nature of God and of his Works which should always be carefully attended to in such Speculations as concern the Natural World But to proceed in our Subject If they suppose part of the World to be annihilated and to continue so they Philosophize still worse and worse How high shall this Annihilation reach Shall the Sun Moon and Stars be reduc'd to nothing but what have They done that they should undergo so hard a fate must
beloved City That Camp and that City therefore were upon the Earth And fire came down from Heaven and devoured them If it came down from Heaven it came upon the Earth Furthermore those Persons that are rais'd from the Dead are said to be Priests of God and of Christ and to reign with him a thousand years Now these must be the same Persons with the Priests and Kings mention'd in the Fifth Chapter which are there said expresly to reign upon Earth or that they should reign upon Earth It remains therefore only to determine What Earth this is where the Sons of the first Resurrection will live and reign It cannot be the present Earth in the same state and under the same circumstances it is now For what happiness or priviledge would that be to be call'd back into a mortal life under the necessities and inconveniences of sickly Bodies and an incommodious World such as the present state of mortality is and must continue to be till some change be made in Nature We may be sure therefore that a change will be made in Nature before that time and that the state they are rais'd into and the Earth they are to inhabit will be at least Paradisiacal And consequently can be no other than the New Heavens and New Earth which we are to expect after the Conflagration From these Considerations there is a great fairness to conclude both as to the Characters of the Perons and of the place or state that the Sons of the first Resurrection will be Inhabitants of the New Earth and reign there with Christ a thousand years But seeing this is one of the principal and peculiar Conclusions of this Discourse and bears a great part in this last Book of the Theory of the Earth it will deserve a more full explication and a more ample proof to make it out We must therefore take a greater compass in our discourse and give a full account of that State which is usually call'd the Millennium The Reign of the Saints a thousand years or the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth But before we enter upon this new Subject give me leave to close our present Argument about the Renovation of the World with some Testimonies of the Ancient Philosophers to that purpose 'T is plain to me that there were amongst the Ancients several Traditions or traditionary conclusions which they did not raise themselves by reason and observation but receiv'd them from an unknown Antiquity An instance of this is the Conflagration of the World A Doctrine as ancient for any thing I know as the World it self At least as ancient as we have any Records And yet none of those Ancients that tell us of it give any argument to prove it Neither is it any wonder for they did not invent it themselves but receiv'd it from others without proof by the sole authority of Tradition In like manner the Renovation of the World which we are now speaking of is an ancient Doctrine both amongst the Greeks and Eastern Philosophers But they shew us no method how the World may be renew'd nor make any proof of its future Renovation For it was not a discovery which they first made but receiv'd it with an implicite faith from their Masters and Ancestors And these Traditionary Doctrines were all fore-runners of that Light that was to shine more clearly at the opening of the Christian dispensation to give a more full account of the fate and revolutions of the Natural World as well as of the Moral The Iews 't is well known held the Renovation of the World and a Sabbath after six thousand years according to the Prophecy that was currant amongst them whereof we have given a larger account in the precedent Book ch 5. And that future state they call'd Olam Hava or the World to come which is the very same with St. Paul's Habitable Earth to come Heb. 2. 6. Neither can I easily believe that those constitutions of Moses that proceed so much upon a Septenary or the number Seven and have no ground or reason in the nature of the thing for that particular number I cannot easily believe I say that they are either accidental or humoursome without design or signification But that they are typical or representative of some Septenary state that does eminently deserve and bear that Character Moses in the History of the Creation makes six days work and then a Sabbath Then after six years he makes a Sabbath-year and after a Sabbath of years a year of Jubilee Levit. 25. All these lesser revolutions seem to me to point at the grand Revolution the great Sabbath or Iubilee after six Millenaries which as it answers the type in point of time so likewise in the nature and contents of it Being a state of Rest from all labour and trouble and servitude a state of joy and triumph and a state of Renovation when things are to return to their first condition and pristine order So much for the Iews The Heathen Philosophers both Greeks and Barbarians had the same doctrine of the Renovation of the World currant amongst them And that under several names and phrases as of the Great Year the Restauration the Mundane periods and such like They suppos'd stated and fix'd periods of time upon expiration whereof there would always follow some great revolution of the World and the face of Nature would be renew'd Particularly after the Conflagration the Stoicks always suppos'd a new World to succeed or another frame of Nature to be erected in the room of that which was destroy'd And they use the same words and phrases upon this occasion that Scripture useth Chrysippus calls it Apocatastalis as St. Peter does Act. 3. 21. Marcus Antoninus in his Meditations several times calls it Palingenesia as our Saviour does Mat. 19. 28. And Numenius hath two Scripture-words Resurrection and Restitution to express this renovation of the World Then as to the Platonicks that Revolution of all things hath commonly been call'd the Platonick year as if Plato had been the first author of that opinion But that 's a great mistake he receiv'd it from the Barbarick Philosophers and particularly from the Aegyptian Priests amongst whom he liv'd several years to be instructed in their learning But I do not take Plato neither to be the first that brought this doctrine into Greece for besides that the Sibylls whose antiquity we do not well know sung this Song of oâ—d as we see it copyed from them by Virgil in his fourth Eclogue Pythagoras taught it before Plato and Orpheus before them both And that 's as high as the Greek Philosophy reaches The Barbarick Philosophers were more ancient namely the Aegyptians Persians Chaldeans Indian Brackmans and other Eastern Nations Their Monuments indeed are in a great measure lost yet from the remains of them which the Greeks have transcrib'd and so preserv'd in their writings we see plainly they all had this doctrine of the
state And seeing in those places they plainly signified the Millennial state or the Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints they must here signifie the same in this promise of our Saviour to his suffering Followers And as to the word Palingenesia which is here translated Regeneration 't is very well known that both the Greek Philosophers and Greek Fathers use that very word for the Renovation of the World Which is to be as we shall hereafter make appear at or before the Millennial state Our Saviour also in his Divine Sermon upon the Mount makes this one of his Beatitudes Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth But how I pray or where or when do the Meek inherit the Earth neither at present I am sure nor in any past Ages 'T is the Great Ones of the World ambitious Princes and Tyrants that slice the Barth amongst them and those that can flatter them best or serve them in their interests or pleasures have the next best shares But a meek modest and humble Spirit is the most unqualified Person that can be for a Court or a Camp to scramble for Preferment or Plundâ—r Both He and his self-denying notions are ridicul'd as things of no use and proceeding from meanness and poorness of Spirit David who was a Person of an admirable devotion but of an unequal Spirit subject to great dejections as well as elevations of mind was so much affected with the prosperity of the wicked in this World that he could scarce forbear charging Providence with injustice You may see several touches of a repining Spirit in his Psalms and in the Seventy-third Psalm compos'd upon that Subject you have both the wound and the cure Now this Beaâ—itâ—de pronounc'd here by our Saviour was spoken before by David psal 37. 11. The same David that was always so sensible of the hard usage of the Just in this life Our Saviour also and his Apostles preach the Doctrine of the Cross every where and foretell the sufferings that shall attend the Righteous in this World Therefore neither David nor our Saviour could understand this inheritance of the Earth otherwise than of some future state or of a state yet to come But as it must be a future state so it must be a Terrestrial state for it could not be call'd the inheritance of the Earth if it was not so And 't is to be a state of peace as well as plenty according to the words of the Psalmist But the meek shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace It follows therefore from these premisses that both our Saviour and David must understand some future state of the Earth wherein the Meek will enjoy both peace and plenty And this will appear to be the future Kingdom of Christ when upon a fuller description we shall have given you the marks and characters of it In the mean time why should we not suppose this Earth which the Meek are to inherit to be that habitable Earth to come which St. Paul mentions Hebr. 2. 6. and represents as subject to our Saviour in a pecuilar manner at his disposal and under his Government as his Kingdom Why should not that Earth be the subject of this Beatitude The promis'd Land the Lot of the Righâ—eous This I am sure of that both this Text and the former deserve our serious thoughts and tho' they do not expresly and in terms prove the future Kingdom of our Saviour yet upon the fairest interpretations they imply such a state And it will be very uneasie to give a satisfactory account either of the Regeneration or Renovation when our Saviour and his Disciples shall sit upon Thrones Or of that Earth which the Meek shall inherit Or lastly of that Habitable World which is peculiarly subject to the dominion of Jesus Christ without supposing on this side Heaven some other reign of Christ and his Saints than what we see or what they enjoy at present But to proceed in this argument It will be necessary as I told you to set down some notes and characters of this Reign of Christ and of his Saints whereby it may be distinguish'd from the present state and present Kingdoms of the World And these characters are chiefly three Iustice Peace and Divine Presence or Conduct which uses to be called Theocrasie By these characters it is sufficiently distinguish'd from the Kingdoms of this World which are generally unjust in their titles or exercise stain'd with bloud and so far from being under a particular Divine Conduct that humane passions and humane vices are the Springs that commonly give motion to their greatest designs But more particularly and restrainedly the Government of Christ is opposed to the Kingdom and Government of Antichrist whose characters are diametrically opposite to these being Injustice cruelty and humane or diabolical artifices Upon this short view of the Kingdom of Christ let us make enquiry after it amongst the Prophets of the Old Testament And we shall find upon examination that there is scarce any of them greater or lesser but take notice of this mystical kingdom either expresly or under the types of Israel Sion Ierusalem and such like And therefore I am apt to think that when S. Peter in his Sermon to the Iews Act. 3. says All the holy Prophets spoke of The Restitution of all things he does not mean the Renovation of the World separately from the Kingdome of Christ but complexly as it may imply both For there are not many of the old Prophets that have spoken of the Renovation of the Natural World but a great many have spoken of the Renovation of the Moral in the Kingdom of Christ. These are S. Peter's words Act. 3. 19 20 21. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Iesus Christ which before was preached unto ye whom the heavens must receive until the times of RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS The Apostle here mentions three things The Times of refreshing The Second Coming of our Saviour And the Times of Restitution of all things And to the last of these he immediately subjoyns which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began This Restitution of all things I say must not be understood abstractly from the reign of Christ but as in conjunction with it and in that sence and no other it is the general subject of the Prophets To enter therefore into the Schools of the Prophets and enquire their sence concerning this Mystery let us first address our selves to the Prophet Isaiah and the Royal Prophet David who seem to have had many noble thoughts or inspirations upon this subject Isaiah in the 65th chap. from the 17th ver to the end treats upon this argument and joyns together the Renovation of the Natural and Moral World as S. Peter in the
time of Constantine's Empire But however the Fathers of that Council are themselves our witnesses in this point For in their Ecclesiastical Forms or Constitutions in the chapter about the Providence of God and about the World They speak thus The World was made meaner or less perfect providentially for God foresee that man would sin Wherefore we expect New Heavens and a New Earth according to the Holy Scriptures at the appearance and Kingdom of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. And then as Daniel says ch 7. 18. The Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom And the Earth shall be Pure Holy the Land of the Living not of the dead Which David foreseeing by the eye of Faith cryes out Ps. 27. 13. I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the Land of the Living Our Saviour says Happy are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth Matt. 5. 5. and the Prophet Isaiuh says chap. 26. 6. the feet of the meek and lowly shall tread upon it So you see according to the judgment of these Fathers there will be a Kingdom of Christ upon Earth and moreover that it will be in the New Heavens and the New Earth And in both these points they cite the Prophets and our Saviour in confirmation of them Thus we have discharg'd our promise and given you an account of the doctrine of the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ throughout the Three First Ages of the Church before any considerable corruptions were crept into the Christian Religion And those Authorities of single and successive Fathers we have seal'd up all together with the declaration of the Nicene Fathers in a Body Those that think Tradition a Rule of Faith or a considerable motive to it will find it hard to turn off the force of these Testimonies And those that do not go so far but yet have a reverence for Antiquity and the Primitive Church will not easily produce better Authorities more early more numerous or more uncontradicted for any Article that is not Fundamental Yet these are but Seconds to the Prophets and Apostles who are truly the Principals in this Cause I will leave them altogether to be examin'd and weigh'd by the Impartial Reader And because they seem to me to make a full and undeniable proof I will now at the foot of the account set down our second Proposition which is this That there is a Millennial State or a Future Kingdom of Christ and his Saints Prophesied of and Promised in the Old and New Testament and receiv'd by the Primitive Church as a Christian and Catholick Doctrine HAVING dispatch'd this main point To conclude the Chapter and this Head of our Discourse it will be some satisfaction possibly to see How a Doctrine so generally receiv'd and approv'd came to decay and almost wear out of the Church in following Ages The Christian Millenary Doctrine was not call'd into question so far as appears from History before the middle of the third Century when Dionysius Alexandrinus writ against Nepos an Aegyptian Bishop who had declar'd himself upon that subject But we do not find that this Book had any great effect for the declaration or constitution of the Nicene Fathers was after and in S. Ierome's time who writ towards the end of the fourth Century this Doctrine had so much Credit that He who was its greatest adversary yet durst not condemn it as he says himself Quae licet non sequamur tamen damnare non possumus quià multi Ecclesiasticorum virorum Martyres ista dixerunt Which things or doctrines speaking of the Millennium tho' we do not follow yet we cannot condemn Because many of our Church-men and Martyrs have affirmed these things And when Apollinarius replyed to that Book of Dionysius S. Ierome says that not only those of his own Sect but a great multitude of other Christians did agree with Apollinarius in that particular Ut praesagâ mente jam cernam quantorum in me rabies concitanda sit That I now foresee how many will be enrag'd against me for what I have spoken against the Millenary Doctrine We may therefore conclude that in S. Ierome's time the Millenaries made the greater party in the Church for a little matter would not have frighted him from censuring their opinion S. Ierome was a rough and rugged Saint and an unfair adversary that usually run down with heat and violence what stood in his way As to his unfairness he shews it sufficiently in this very cause for he generally represents the Millenary Doctrine after a Judaical rather than a Christian manner And in reckoning up the chief Patrons of it he always skips Iustin Martyr Who was not a Man so obscure as to be overâ—look'd and he was a Man that had declar'd himself sufficiently upon this point for he says both himself and all the Orthodox of his time were of that judgment and applyes both the Apocalypse of S. Iohn and the 65th chap. of Isaiah for the proof of it As we noted before As S. Ierome was an open enemy to this Doctrine so Eusebius was a back friend to it and represented every thing to its disadvantage so far as was tolerably consistent with the fairness of an Historian He gives a slight character of Papias without any authority for it and brings in one Gaius that makes Cerinthus to be the Author of the Apocalypse and of the Millennium and calls the Visions there monstrous stories He himself is willing to shuffle off that Book from Iohn the Evangelist to another Iohn a Presbyter and to shew his skill in the interpretation of it he makes the New Ierusalem in the 21th chap. to be Constantine's Ierusalem when he turn'd the Heathen Temples there into Christian. A wonderful invention As S. Ierome by his flouts so Eusebius by sinister insinuations endeavour'd to lessen the reputation of this Doctrine and the Art they both us'd was to misrepresentâ—â—â— as Iudaical But we must not cast off every doctrine which the Jews believ'd only for that reason for we have the same Oracles which they had and the same Prophets and they have collected from them same general doctrine that we have namely that There will be an happy and pacifick state of the Church in future times But as to the circumstances of this state we differ very much They suppose the Mosaical Law will be restor'd with all its pomp rites and ceremonies whereas we suppose the Christian Worship or something more perfect will then take place Yet S. Ierome has the confidence even there where he speaks of the many Christian Clergy and Martyrs that held this doctrine has the confidence I say to represent it as if they held that Circumcision Sacrifices and all the Judaical rites should then be restor'd Which seems to me to be a great slander and a great instance how far mens passions will carry them in misrepresenting an opinion which they have a mind to
disagrace But as we have reason to blame the partiality of those that opposed this doctrine so on the other hand we cannot excuse the Patrons of it from all indiscretions I believe they might partly themselves make it obnoxious by mixing some things with it from pretended Traditions or the Books of the Sibylls or other private Authorities that had so sufficient warrant from Scripture and things sometimes that Nature would not easily bear Besides in later ages they seem to have dropt one half of the doctrine namely the Renovation of Nature which Irenaeus Iustin Martyr and the Ancients joyn inseparably with the Millennium And by this omission the doctrine hath been made less intelligible and one part of it inconsistent with another And when their pretensions were to reign upon this present Earth and in this present state of Nature it gave a jealousie to Temporal Princes and gave occasion likewise to many of Eanatical Spirits under the notion of Saints to aspire to dominion after a violent and tumultuary manner This I reckon as one great cause that brought the doctrine into discredit But I hope by reducing of it to the true state we shall cure this and other abuses for the future Lastly It never pleas'd the Church of Rome and so far as the influence and authority of that would go you may be sure it would be deprest and discountenanc'd I never yet met with a Popish Doctor that held the Millennium and Baron us would have it pass for an Heresie and Papias for the Inventor of it whereas if Irenaeus may be credited it was receiv'd from S. Iohn and by him from the mouth of our Saviour And neither S. Ierome nor his friend Pope Damasus durst ever condemnoit for an heresie It was always indeed uneasie and gave offence to the Church of Rome because it does not suit to that Scheme of Christianity which they have drawn They suppose Christ reigns already by his Vicar the Pope and treads upon the Necks of Emperors and Kings And if they could but suppress the Northern Heresie as they call it they do not know what a Millennium would signifie or how the Church could be in an happier condition than she is The Apocalypse of St. Iohn does suppose the true Church under hardship and persecution more or less for the greatest part of the Christian Ages namely for 1260 years while the Witnesses are in Sack cloth But the Church of Rome hath been in prosperity and greatness and the commanding Church in Christendom for so long or longer and hath rul'd the Nations with a Rod of Iron so as that mark of the true Church does not favour her at all And the Millennium being properly a reward and triumph for those that come out of Persecution such as have liv'd always in pomp and prosperity can pretend to no share in it or benefit by it This has made the Church of Rome have always an ill eye upon this Doctrine because it seem'd to have an ill eye upon her And as she grew in splendor and greatness she eclips'd and obscur'd it more and more so that it would have been lost out of the World as an obsolete errour if it had not been reviv'd by some of the Reformation CHAP. VII The true state of the Millennium according to Characters taken from Scripture some mistakes concerning it examin'd WE have made sufficient proof of a Millennial state from Scripture and Antiquity and upon that firm Basis have setled our second Proposition We should now determine the Time and Place of this future Kingdom of Christ Not whether it is to be in Heaven or upon Earth for that we suppose determin'd already but whether it is to be in the present Earth and under the present constitution of Nature or in the New Heavens and New Earth which are promis'd after the Conflagration This is to make our Third Proposition and I should have proceeded immediately to the examination of it but that I imagine it will give us some light in this affair if we enquire further into the true state of the Millennium before we determine its Time and Place We have already noted some moral Characters of the Millennial state And the great Natural Character of it is this in general That it will be Paradisiacal Free from all inconveniences either of external Nature or of our own Bodies For my part I do not understand how there can be any considerable degree of happiness without Indolency nor how there can be Indolency while we have such Bodies as we have now and such an external constitution of Nature And as there must be Indolency where there is happiness so there must not be Indigency or want of any due comforts of life For where there is Indigency there is sollicitude and distraction and uneasiness and fear Passions that do as naturally disquiet the Soul as pain does the Body Therefore Indolency and Plenty seem to be two essential Ingredients of every happy state and these two in conjunction make that state we call Paradisiacal Now the Scripture seems plainly to exempt the Sons of the New Ierusalem or of the Millennium from all pain or want in those words Apoc. 21. 4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes And there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away And the Lord of that Kingdom He that sate upon the Throne said Behold I make all things new ver 5. This Renovation is a restauration to some former state and I hope not to that state of indigency and misery and diseasedness which we languish under at present But to that pristine Paradisiacal state which was the blessing of the first Heavens and the first Earth As Health and Plenty are the Blessings of Nature so in Civil affairs Peace is the greatest blessing And this is inseparably annext to the Millennium an indelible character of the Kingdom of Christ. And by Peace we understand not onely freedom from Persecution upon religious accounts but that Nation shall not rise up against Nation upon any account whatsoever That bloody Monster War that hath devour'd so many Millions of the Sons of Adam is now at length to be chain'd up and the Furies that run throughout the Earth with their Snakes and Torches shall be thrown into the Abyss to sting and prey upon one another All evil and mischievous passions shall be extinguish'd and that not in men onely but even in Brute creatures according to the Prophets The Lamb and the Lyon shall lie down together and the sucking Child shall play with the Basilisk Happy days when not onely the Temple of Ianus shall be shut up for a thousand years and the Nations shall beat their swords into plow-shares but all enmities and antipathies shall cease all acts of hostility throughout all nature And this Universal Peace is a demonstration also of the former character Universal Plenty for where
about empty and useless in the wild Air. If you will not make it the seat and habitation of the Just in the blessed Millennium what will you make it How will it turn to account What hath Providence design'd it for We must not suppose New Worlds made without counsel or design And as on the one hand you cannot tell what to do with this New Creation if it be not thus employ'd so on the other hand it is every way fitted and suited to be an happy and Paradisiacal habitation and answers all the natural Characters of the Millennial state which is a great presumption that it is design'd for it But to argue this more closely upon Scripture-grounds S. Peter says the Righteous shall inhabit the New Heavens and the New Earth 2. Pet. 3. 13. Nevertheless according to his promise we look for New Heavens and New Earth WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS that is a Righteous People as we have shewn before But who are these Righteous People That 's the great question If you compare S. Peter's New Heavens and New Earth with S. Iohn's Apoc. 21. 1 2. it will go far towards the resolution of this question For S. Iohn seems plainly to make the Inhabitants of the New Ierusalem to be in this New Earth I saw says he New Heavens and a New Earth and the New Ierusalem descending from God out of Heaven therefore descending into this New Earth which he had mention'd immediately before And there the Tabernacle of God was with men ver 3. and there He that sat upon the Throne said Behold I make all things New Referring still to this New Heavens and New Earth as the Theatre where all these things are acted or all these Scenes exhibited from the first Verse to the eighth Now the New Jerusalem state being the same with the Millennial if the one be in the New Heavens and New Earth the other is there also And this interpretation of S. Iohn's word is confirm'd and fully assur'd to us by the Prophet Isaiah who also placeth the joy and rejoycing of the New Ierusalem in the New Heavens and New Earth Chap. 65. 17 18. For behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred but be you glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I create for behold I create Ierusalem a rejoycing and her people a joy Namely in that New Heavens and New Earth Which answers to S. Iohn's Vision of the New Ierusalem being let down upon the New Earth To these Reasons and deductions from Scripture we might add the testimony of several of the Fathers I mean of those that were Millenaries For we are speaking now to such as believe the Millennium but place it in the present Earth before the Renovation whereas the ancient Millenaries suppos'd the regeneration and renovation of the World before the Kingdom of Christ came As you may see in Irenaeus Iustin Martyr Tertullian Lactantius and the Author ad Orthodoxos And the neglect of this I look upon as one reason as we noted before that brought that doctrine into discredit and decay For when they plac'd the Kingdom of the Saints upon this Earth it becâ—me more capable of being abus'd by fanatical spirits to the disturbance of the World and the invasion of the rights of the Magistrate Civil or Ecclesiastical under that notion of Saints And made them also dream of sensual pleasures such as they see in this life Or at least gave an occasion and opportunity to those that had a mind to make the doctrine odious of charging it with these consequences All these abuses are cut off and these scandals prevented by placing the Millennium aright Namely not in this present Life or on this present Earth but in the New Creation where Peace and Righteousness will dwell And this is our first Argument why we place the Millennium in the New Heavens and New Earth and 't is taken partly you see from the reason of the thing it self the difficulty of assigning any other use of the New Earth and its fitness for this and partly from Scripture-evidence and partly from Antiquity The second argument for our opinion is this The present constitution of Nature will not bear that happiness that is promis'd in the Millennium or is not consistent with it The diseases of our Bodies the disorders of our Passions the incommodiousness of external Nature Indigency servility and the unpeaceableness of the World These are things inconsistent with the happiness that is promis'd in the Kingdom of Christ. But these are constant attendants upon this Life and inseparable from the present state of Nature Suppose the Millennium was to begin Nine or Ten Years hence as some pretend it will How shall this World all on a sudden be metamorphos'd into that happy state No more sorrow nor crying nor pain nor death says S. Iohn All former things are past away But how past away Shall we not have the same Bodies and the same external Nature and the same corruptions of the Air and the same excesses and intemperature of Seasons Will there not be the same baâ—â—enness of the ground the same number of People to be fed and must they not get their living by the sweat of their brows with servile labour and drudgery How then are all former evils past away And as to publick affairs while there are the same necessities of humane Life and a distinction of Nations those Nations sometimes will have contrary interests will clash and interfere one with another whence differences and contests and Wars will arise and the Thousand Years Truce I am afraid will be often broken We might add also that if our Bodies be not chang'd we shall be subject to the same appetites and the same passions and upon those vices will grow as bad fruit upon a bad Tree To conclude so long as our Bodies are the same external Nature the same The necessities of humane Life the same which things are the roots of evil you may call it a Millennium or what you please but there will be still diseases vices wars tears and cries pain and sorrow in this Millenuium and if so 't is a Millennium of your own making for that which the Prophets describe is quite another thing Furthermore if you suppose the Millennium will be upon this Earth and begin it may be ten or twenty years hence How will it be introduc'd how shall we know when we are in it or when we enter upon it If we continue the same and all Nature continue the same we shall not discern when we slip into the Millennium And as to the Moral state of it shall we all on a sudden become Kings and Priests to God wherein will that change consist and how will it be wrought St. Iohn makes the First Resurrection introduce the Millennium and that 's a conspicuous mark and boundary But as to the modern or vulgar Millennium I know
People and Nation When with their Palms in their hands they triumph over Sin and Death and Hell and all the Powers of Darkness can there be any thing on this side Heaven and a Quire of Angels more glorious or more joyful But why did I except Angels Why may not they be thought to be present at these Assemblies In a Society of Saints and purified Spirits Why should we think their converse impossible In the Golden Age the Gods were always represented as having freer intercourse with Men and before the Flood we may reasonably believe it so I cannot think Enoch was translated into Heaven without any converse with its Inhabitants before he went thither And seeing the Angels vouchsaf'd often in former Ages to visit the Patriarchs upon Earth we may with reason judge that they will much more converse with the same Patriarchs and holy Prophets now they are risen from the Dead and cleans'd from their sins and seated in the New Ierusalem I cannot but call to mind upon this occasion That representation which S. Paul makes to us of a glorious state and a glorious Assembly too high for this present Earth 'T is Hebr. 12. 22 c. in these words But you are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Ierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Iudge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect This I know several apply to the Times and state of the Gospel in opposition to that of the Law and it is introduc'd in that manner But here are several expressions too high for any present state of things They must respect a future state either of Heaven or of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. And to the later of these the expressions agree and have a peculiar fitness and applicability to it And what follows in the context ver 26 27 28. About shaking the Heavens and the Earth once more Removing the former Scenes and bringing on a New Kingdom that cannot be shaken All this I say answers to the Kingdom of Christ which is to be establish'd in the New Heavens and New Earth But to proceed in their Publick Devotions Suppose this August Assembly inflam'd with all Divine Passions met together to celebrate the Name of God with Angels intermixt to bear a part in this Holy Exercise And let this concourse be not in any Temple made with hands but under the great roof of Heaven the True Temple of the most High so as all the Air may be fill'd with the chearful harmony of their Hymns and Hallelujahs Then in the heighth of their Devotion as they sing Praises to the Lamb and to Him that sits upon the Throne suppose the Heavens to open and the Son of God to appear in his glory with Thousands and Ten Thousands of Angels round about him That their eyes may see him who for their sakes was crucified upon Earth now encircled with Light and Majesty This will raise them into as great transports as humane nature can bear They will wish to be dissolv'd they will strive to fly up to him in the clouds or to breath out their Souls in repeated doxologles of Blessing and honour and glory and power to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever But we cannot live always in the flames of Devotion The weakness of our Nature will not suffer us to continue long under such strong Passions and such intenseness of Mind The question is therefore What will be the ordinary employment of that Life How will they entertain their thoughts or spend their time For we suppose they will not have that multiplicity of frivolous business that we have now About our Bodies about our Children in Trades and Mechanicks in Traffick and Navigation or Wars by Sea or Land These things being swept away wholly or in a great measure what will come in their place how will they find work or entertainment for a long life If we consider who they are that will have a part in this first Resurrection and be Inhabitants of that World that is to come we may easily believe that the most constant employment of their life will be CONTEMPLATION Not that I exclude any innocent diversions as I said before The entertainments of friendship or ingenuous conversation but the great business and design of that life is Contemplation as preparatory to Heaven and eternal Glory Ui paulatim assuescant capere Deum as Irenaeus says That they may by degrees enlarge their capacities fit and accustom themselves to receive God Or as he says in another place That they may become capable of the glory of the Father that is capable of bearing the glory and presence of God capable of the highest enjoyment of him which is usually call'd the Beatifical Vision and is the condition of the Blessed in Heaven It cannot be deny'd that in such a Millennial state where we shall be freed from all the incumbrances of this life and provided of better Bodies and greater light of Mind It cannot be doubted I say but that we shall then be in a disposition to make great proficiency in the knowledge of all things Divine and Intellectual and consequently of making happy preparations for our entring upon a further state of glory For there is nothing certainly does more prepare the mind of man for the highest perfections than Contemplation with that Devotion which naturally flows from it as heat follows light And this Contemplation hath always a greater or less effect upon the mind according to the perfection of its object So as the Contemplation of the Divine Nature is of all others the most perfective in it self and to us according to our capacities and degree of abstraction An Immense Being does strangely fill the Soul and Omnipotency Omnisciency and Infinite Goodness do enlarge and dilate the Spirit while it fixtly looks upon them They raise strong passions of Love and Admiration which melt our Nature and transform it into the mould and image of that which we contemplate What the Scripture says of our Transformation into the Divine likeness what S. Iohn and the Platonists say of our Union with God And whatever is not Cant in the Mystical Theology when they tell us of being Deified all this must spring from these sources of Devotion and Contemplation They will change and raise us from perfection to perfection as from glory to glory into a greater similitude and nearer station to the Divine Nature The Contemplation of God and his Works comprehends all things For the one makes the uncreated World and the other the Created And as the Divine Essence and Attributes are the greatest object that the mind of man can set before it self so next to that are the effects and emanations of the Divinity or the Works of the Divine Goodness Wisdom
and Power in the Created World This hath a vast extent and variety and would be sufficient to entertain their time in that happy state much longer than a thousand years As you will easily grant if you allow me but to point at the several heads of those Speculations The Contemplation of the Created World divides it self into three parts that of the Intellectual World that of the Corporal And the Government and Administration of both which is usually call'd Providence These three drawn into one thought with the reasons and proportions that result from them compose that GRAND IDEA which is the treasury and comprehension of all Knowledge Whereof we have spoken more largely in the last Chapter of the Second Book of this Theory under the name of the Mundane Idea But at present we shall only mention such particulars as may be thought proper subjects for the meditations and enquiries of those who shall enjoy that happy state which we now treat of As to the Intellectual World excepting our own Souls we know little in this region of darkness where we are at present more than bare names We hear of Angels and Archangels of Cherubins and Seraphins of Principalities and Powers and Thrones and Dominions We hear the sound of these words with admiration but we know little of their natures wherein their general notion and wherein their distinction consists what peculiar excellencies they have what offices and employments of all this we are ignorant Only in general we cannot but suppose that there are more orders and degrees of Intellectual Beings betwixt us and the Almighty than there are kinds or species of living Creatures upon the face of the Earth betwixt Man their Lord and Master and the least worm that creeps upon the ground Nay than there are Stars in Heaven or Sands upon the Sea-shore For there is an infinite distance and interval betwixt us and God Almighty and all that is fill'd with created Beings of different degrees of perfection still approaching nearer and nearer to their Maker And when this invisible World shall be open'd to us when the Curtain is drawn and the Celestial Hierarchy set in order before our eyes we shall despise our selves and all the petty glories of a mortal life as the dirt under our feet As to the Corporeal Universe we have some share already in the Contemplation and knowledge of that tho' little in comparison of what will be then discover'd The doctrine of the Heavens fix'd Stars Planets and Comets both as to their matter motion and form will be then clearly demonstrated and what are mysteries to us now will become matter of ordinary conversation We shall be better acquainted with our neighbouring Worlds and make new discoveries as to the state of their affairs The Sun especially the Great Monarch of the Planetary Worlds whose Dominion reaches from Pole to Pole and the greatness of his Kingdom is under the whole Heaven Who sends his bright Messengers every day through all the regions of his vast Empire throwing his beams of light round about him swifter and further than a thought can follow This noble Creature I say will make a good part of their study in the succeeding World Eudoxus the Philosopher wish'd he might die like Phaeton in approaching too near to the Sun provided he could fly so near it and endure it so long till he had discover'd its beauty and perfection VVho can blame his curiosity who would not venture far to see the Court of so great a Prince who hath more VVorlds under his command than the Emperors of the Earth have Provinces or Principalities Neither does he make his Subjects slaves to his pleasure or tributaries to serve and supply his wants on the contrary They live upon him he nourishes and preserves them gives them fruits every year corn and wine and all the comforts of life This glorious Body which now we can only gaze upon and admire will be then better understood A mass of Light and Flame and Ethereal matter ten thousand times bigger than this Earth Enlightning and enlivening an Orb that exceeds the bulk of our Globe as much as that does the least sand upon the Sea-shore may reasonably be presum'd to have some great Being at the Centre of it But what that is we must leave to the enquiries of another life The Theory of the Earth will be a common lession there carried through all its vicissitudes and periods from first to last till its entire revolution be accomplish'd I told you in the Preface The Revolution of World was one of the greatest Speculations that we are capable of in this life and this little World where we are will be the first and easiest instance of it seeing we have Records Historical or Prophetical that reach from the Chaos to the end of the new Heavens and new Earth which course of time makes up the greatest part of the Circle or Revolution And as what was before the Chaos was but in my opinion the first remove from a Fixt Star so what is after the thousand years Renovation is but the last step to it again The Theory of humane Nature is also an useful and necessary speculation and will be carried on to perfection in that state Having fixt the true distinction betwixt Matter and Spirit betwixt the Soul and the Body and the true nature and laws of their union The original contract and the terms ratified by Providence at their first conjunction It will not be hard to discover the springs of action and passion how the thoughts of our mind and the motions of our body act in dependance one upon another What are the primary differences of Genius's and complexions and how our Intellectuals or Morals depend upon them What is the Root of Fatality and how far it extends By these lights they will see into their own and every Man's breast and trace the foot-steps of the Divine wisdom in that strange composition of Soul and Body This indeed is a mixt speculation as most others are and takes in something of both Worlds Intellectual and Corporeal and may also belong in part to the Third Head we mention'd Providence But there is no need of distinguishing these Heads so nicely provided we take in under some or other of them what may be thought best to deserve our knowledge now or in another World As to Providence what we intend chiefly by it here is the general oeconomy of our Religion and what is reveal'd to us in Scripture concerning God Angels and Mankind These Revelations as most in Sacred Writ are short and incompleat as being design'd for practice more than for speculation or to awaken and excite our thoughts rather than to satisfie them Accordingly we read in Scripture of a Triune Deity of God made flesh in the Womb of a Virgin Barbarously crucified by the Iews Descending into Hell rising again from the Dead visibly ascending into Heaven And sitting at the right hand of God the
Father above Angels and Arch-Angels These great things are imperfectly reveal'd to us in this life which we are to believe so far as they are reveal'd In hopes these mysteries will be made more intelligible in that happy state to come where Prophets Apostles and Angels will meet in conversation together In like manner how little is it we understand concerning the Holy Ghost That he descended like a Dove upon our Saviour Like cloven Tongues of fire upon the Apostles The Place being fill'd with a rushing mighty Wind That he over-shadowed the Blessed Virgin and begot the Holy Infant That He made the Apostles speak all sort of Tongues and Languages ex tempore and pour'd out strange Vertues and Miraculous Gifts upon the Primitive Christians These things we know as bare matter of fact but the method of these operations we do not at all understand Who can tell us now what that is which we call INSPIRATION VVhat change is wrought in the Brain and what in the Soul and how the effect follows VVho will give us the just definition of a Miracle VVhat the proximate Agent is above Man and whether they are all from the same power How the manner and process of those miraculous changes in matter may be conceiv'd These things we see darkly and hope they will be set in a clearer light and the Doctrines of our Religion more fully expounded to us in that Future VVorld For as several things obscurely exprest in the Old Testament are more clearly reveal'd in the New So the same mysteries in a succeeding state may still receive a further explication The History of the Angels Good or bad makes another part of this Providential Systeme Christian Religion gives us some notices of both kinds but very imperfect VVhat interest the Good Angels have in the Government of the VVorld and in ordering the affairs of this Earth and Mankind What subjection they have to our Saviour and what part in his Ministry Whether they are Guardians to particular Persons to Kingdoms to Empires All that we know at present concerning these things is but conectural And as to the bad Angels who will give us an account of their Fall and of their former condition I had rather know the History of Lucifer than of all the Babylonian and Persian Kings Nay than of all the Kings of the Earth What the Birth-right was of that mighty Prince what his Dominions where his Imperial Court and Residence How he was depos'd for what Crime and by what Power How he still wages War against Heaven in his exile What Confederates he hath What is his Power over Mankind and how limited What change or damage he suffer'd by the coming of Christ and how it alter'd the posture of his affairs Where he will be imprison'd in the Millennium and what will be his last fate and final doom whether he may ever hope for a Revolution or Restauration These things lie hid in the secret Records of Providence which then I hope will be open'd to us With the Revolution of Worlds we mention'd before the Revolution of Souls which is another great Circle of Providence to be studied hereafter We know little here either of the pre-existence or post-existence of our Souls VVe know not what they will be till the loud Trump awakes us and calls us again into the Corporeal VVorld VVho knows how many turns he shall take upon this stage of the Earth and how many trials he shall have before his doom will be finally concluded Who knows where or what is the state of Hell where the Souls of the wicked are said to be for ever What is the true state of Heaven What our Celestial Bodies and What that Sovereign Happiness that is call'd the Beatifical Vision Our knowledge and conceptions of these things are at present very general and superficial but in the future Kingdom of Christ which is introductory to Heaven it self these imperfections in a great measure will be done away and such preparations wrought both in the Will and Understanding as may fit us for the Life of Angels and the enjoyment of God in Eternal Glory Thus you see in general what will be the employment of the Saints in the blessed Millennium And tho' they have few of the trifling businesses of this life they will not want the best and noblest of diversions 'T is an happy thing when a Man's pleasure is also his perfection for most Men's pleasures are such as debase their nature We commonly gratifie our lower faculties our Passions and our Appetites and these do not improve but depress the Mind And besides they are so gross that the finest tempers are surfeited in a little time There is no lasting pleasure but Contemplation All others grow flat and insipid upon frequent use and when a Man hath run thorow a Sett of Vanities in the declension of his Age he knows not what to do with himself if he cannot Think He saunters about from one dull business to another to wear out time And hath no reason to value Life but because he 's afraid of Death But Contemplation is a continual spring of fresh pleasures Truth is inexhausted and when you are once in the right way the further you go the greater discoveries you make and with the greater joy We are sometimes highly pleas'd and even transported with little inventions in Mathematicks or Mechanicks or Natural Philosophy All these things will make part of their diversion and entertainment in that state All the doctrine of Sounds and Harmony Of Light Colours and Perspective will be known in perfection But these I call Diversions in comparison of their higher and more serious Speculations which will be the business and happiness of that Life Do but imagine that they will have the Scheme of all humane affairs lying before them from the Chaos to the last period The universal history and order of Times The whole oeconomy of the Christian Religion and of all Religions in the World The Plan of the undertaking of the Messiah with all other parts and ingredients of the Providence of this Earth Do but imagine this I say and you will easily allow that when they contemplate the Beauty Wisdom and Goodness of the whole design it must needs raise great and noble Passions and a far richer joy than either the pleasures or speculations of this Life can excite in us And this being the last Act and close of all humane affairs it ought to be the more exquisite and elaborate that it may crown the work satisfie the Spectators and end in a general applause The whole Theatre resounding with the praises of the great Dramatist and the wonderful Art and Order of the composition CHAP. X. Objections against the Millennium answer'd With some Conjectures concerning the state of things after the Millennium and what will be the final Consummation of this World YOU see how Nature and Providence have conspir'd to make the Millennium as happy
and so it speaks of the Coming of our Saviour without distinction of first or second yet it does not follow from that that there is but one Coming of our Saviour so neither that there is but one Resurrection And seeing there is one place of Scripture that speaks distinctly of two Resurrections namely the 20th chap. of the Apocalypse that is to us a sufficient warrant for asserting two As there are some things in one Evangelist that are not in another yet we think them Authentick if they be but in one There are also some things in Daniel concerning the Messiah and concerning the Resurrection that are not in the rest of the Prophets yet we look upon his single testimony as good authority S. Iohn writ the last of all the Apostles and as the whole series of his Prophecies is new reaching through the later times to the Consummation of all things so we cannot wonder if he had something more particular reveal'd to him concerning the Resurrection That which was spoken of before in general being distinguish'd now into First and Second or particular and universal in this last Prophet Some think S. Paul means no less when he makes an order in the Resurrection some rising sooner some later 1 Cor. 15. 23 24. 1 Thess. 4. 14 15 c. but whether that be so or no S. Iohn might have a more distinct revelation concerning it than S. Paul had or any one before him After these Objections a great many Queries and difficulties might be propos'd relating to the Millennium But that 's no more than what is found in all other matters remote from our knowledge Who can answer all the Queries that may be made concerning Heaven or Hell or Paradise When we know a thing as to the substance we are not to let go our hold tho' there remain some difficulties unresolv'd otherwise we should be eternally Sceptical in most matters of Knowledge Therefore tho' we cannot for example give a full account of the distinction of habitations and inhabitants in the Future Earth or of the order of the First Resurrection whether it be performed by degrees and successively or all the Inhabitants of the New Jerusalem rise at once and continue throughout the whole Millennium I say tho' we cannot give a distinct account of these or such like particulars we ought not therefore to deny or doubt whether there will be a New Earth or a First Resurrection For the Revelation goes clearly so far and the obscurity is only in the consequences and dependances of it Which Providence thought fit without further light to leave to our search and disquisition Scripture mentions one thing at the end of the Millennium which is a common difficulty to all and every one must contribute their best thoughts and conjectures towards the solution of it 'T is the strange doctrine of Gog and Magog which are to rise up in rebellion against the Saints and besiege the holy City and the holy Camp And this is to be upon the expiration of the thousand years when Satan is loosen'd For no sooner will his Chains be knock'd off but he will put himself in the head of this Army of Gyants or Sons of the Earth and attack Heaven and the Saints of the most High But with ill success for there will come down fire and lightning from Heaven and consume them This methinks hath a great affinity with the History of the Gyants rebelling and assaulting Heaven and struck down by thunder-bolts But that of setting mountains upon mountains or tossing them into the Skie that 's the Poetical part and we must not expect to find it in the Prophecy The Poets told their Fable as of a thing past and so it was a Fable But the Prophets speak of it as of a thing to come and so it will be a reality But how and in what sence it is to be understood and explain'd every one has the liberty to make the best judgment he can Ezekiel mentions Gog and Magog which I take to be only types and shadows of these which we are now speaking of and not yet exemplified no more than his Temple And seeing this People is to be at the end of the Millennium and in the same Earth with it We must according to our Hypothesis plant them in the Future Earth and therefore all former conjectures about the Turks or Scythians or other Barbarians are out of doors with us seeing the Scene of this action does not lie in the present Earth They are also represented by the Prophet as a People distinct and separate from the Saints not in their manners only but also in their seats and habitations For they are said to come up from the four corners of the Earth upon the breadth of the Earth and there to besiege the Camp of the Saints and the beloved City This makes it seem probable to me that there will be a double race of Mankind in that Future Earth very different one from another both as to their temper and disposition and as to their origine The one born from Heaven Sons of God and of the Resurrection who are the true Saints and heirs of the Millennium The others born of the Earth Sons of the Earth generated from the slime of the ground and the heat of the Sun as brute Creatures were at first This second Progeny or Generation of Men in the Future Earth I understand to be signified by the Prophet under these borrowed or feigned names of Gog and Magog And this Earth-born race encreasing and multiplying after the manner of Men by carnal propagation after a thousand years grew numerous as the Sand by the Sea and thereupon made an irruption or inundation upon the face of the Earth and upon the habitations of the Saints As the barbarous Nations did formerly upon Christendom Or as the Gyants are said to have made War against the Gods But they were soon confounded in their impious and sacrilegious design being struck and consum'd by fire from Heaven Some will think it may be that there was such a double race of Mankind in the first VVorld also The Sons of Adam and the Sons of God because it is said Gen. 6. When men began to multiply upon the face of the Earth that the SONS OF GOD SAW THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN that they were fair and they took them Wives of all that they lik'd And it is added presently ver 4. There were Gyants in the Earth in those days and also after that when the Sons of God came in unto the daughters of men and they bare children to them the same became mighty men which were of old men of renown Here seem to be two or three orders or races in this Ante-diluvian VVorld The Sons of God The Sons and Daughters of Adam and a third sort arising from the mixture and copulation of these which are call'd Mighty men of old or Hero's Besides here are Gyants mention'd and to which
Cor. 15. 54. But in the Eighth Chapter to the Romans He extends it to all Nature The Creation it self also shall be deliver'd from the bondage of Corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God And accordingly S. Iohn speaking of the same time with St. Paul in that place to the Corinthians namely of the general Resurrection and day of Judgment says Death and Hades which we render Hell were cast into the lake of fire This is their being swallowed up in victory which S. Paul speaks of when Death and Hades that is all the Region of mortality The Earth and all its dependances are absorpt into a mass of Fire and converted by a glorious Victory over the powers of darkness into a Luminous Body and a region of Light This great Issue and Period of the Earth and of all humane affairs tho' it seem to be founded in nature and supported by several expressions of Scripture yet we cannot for want of full instruction propose it otherwise than as a fair Conjecture The Heavens and the Earth shall flie away at the day of Judgment says the Text Apoc. 20. 11. And their place shall not be found This must be understood of our Heavens and our Earth And their flying away must be their removing to some other part of the Universe so as their place or residence shall not be found any more here below This is the easie and natural sence of the Words and this translation of the Earth will not be without some change preceding that makes it leave its place and with a lofty flight take its seat amongst the Stars There we leave it Having conducted it for the space of Seven Thousand Years through various changes from a dark Chaos to a bright Star FINIS A REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE EARTH And of its PROOFS ESPECIALLY IN REFERENCE TO SCRIPTURE LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. A REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE EARTH TO take a review of this Theory of the Earth which we have now finish'd We must consider first the extent of it and then the principal parts whereof it consists It reaches as you see from one end of the World to the other From the first Chaos to the last day and the Consummation of all things This probably will run the length of Seven Thousand Years which is a good competent space of time to exercise our Thoughts upon and to observe the several Scenes which Nature and Providence bring into View within the compass of so many Ages The matter and principal parts of this Theory are such things as are recorded in Scripture We do not feign a Subject and then descant upon it for diversion but endeavour to give an intelligible and rational account of such matters of Fact past or future as are there specifi'd and declar'd What it hath seem'd good to the Holy Ghost to communicate to us by History or Prophecy concerning the several States and general Changes of this Earth makes the Argument of our Discourse Therefore the things themselves must be taken for granted in one sence or other seeing besides all other proofs they have the Authority of a Revelation and our business is only to give such an explication of them as shall approve it self to the faculties of Man and be conformable to Scripture We will therefore first set down the things themselves that make the subject matter of this Theory and remind you of our explication of them Then recollect the general proofs of that explication from Reason and Nature but more fully and particularly shew how it is grounded upon Scripture The primary Phaenomena whereof we are to give an account are these Five or Six I. The Original of the Earth from a Chaos II. The state of Paradise and the Ante-diluvian World III. The Universal Deluge IV. The Universal Conflagration V. The Renovation of the World or the New Heavens and New Earth VI. The Consummation of all things These are unquestionably in Scripture and these all relate as you see to the several forms sâ—â—tes and revolutions of this Earth We are therefore oblig'd to give a clear and coherent account of these Phaeâ—oâ—ena in that orâ—er and consecution wherein tâ—ey stand to 〈◊〉 another There are also in Scripture some other things relating to the same Subjects that may be call'd the Secondary Ingredients of this Theory and are to be referr'd to their respective primary heads Such are for instance I. The Longevity of the Ante-diluvians II. The Rupture of the Great Abyss at the Deluge III. The appearing of the Rainbow after the Deluge as a sign that there neveâ—â—hould be a second Flood â—hese â—hings Scripâ—ure hath alâ—â— left upon â—â—cord as directions and indications how to understand the Ante-diluvian state and the Deluge it self Whosoever therefore shall undertake to write the Theory of the Earth must think himself bound to give us a just explication of these secondary Phaenomena as well as of the primary and that in such a dependance and connexion as to make them give and receive light from one another The former part of the Task is concerning the World behind us Times and Things past that are already come to light The later is concerning the World before us Times and Things to come That lie yet in the bosom of Providence and in the â—eeds of Nature And these are chiefly the Conflagration of the World and the Renovation of it When these are over and expir'd then comes the end as S. Paul says Then the Heavens and the Earth fly away as S. Iohn says Then is the Consummation of all things and the last period of this sublunary World whatsoever it is Thus â—ar the Theorist must go and pursue the motions of Nature till all things are brought to rest and silence And in this latter part of the Theory there is also a collateral Phaenomenon the Millennium or Thousand Years Reign of Christ and his Saints upon Earth to be consider'd For this according as it is represented in Scripture does imply a change in the Natural World as well as in the Moral and therefore must be accounted for in the Theory of the Earth At least it must be there determin'd whether that state of the World which is singular and extraordinary will be before or after the Confâ—agration These are the Principals and Incidents of this Theory of the Earth as to the Matter and Subject of it which you see is both impâ—rtant and wholly taken out of Scripture As to our explication of these points that is sufficiently known being set down at large in four Books of this Theory Therefore it remains only having seen the Matter of the Theory to examine the Form of it and the proofs of it for from these two things it must receive its censure As to the form the characters of a Regular Theory seem to be these three Few and easie Postulatums Union
of Parts and a Fitness to answer fully and clearly all the Phaenomend to which it is to be apply'd We think our Hypothesis does not want any of these Characters As to the First we take but one single Postulatum for the whole Theory and thaâ— an easie one warranted both by Scripture and Antiquity Namely That this Earth rise at first from a Chaos As to the second Union of Parts The whole Theory is but one Series of Causes and Effects from that first Chaos Besides you can scarce admit any one part of it first last or intermediate but you must in consequence of that admit all the rest Grant me but that the Deluge is truly explain'd and I 'le desire no more for proof of all the Theory Or if you begin at the other end and grant the New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration you will be led back again to the first Heavens and first Earth that were before the Flood For St. Iohn says that New Earth was without a Sea Apoc. 21. 1. And it was a Renovation or Restitution to some former state of things there was therefore some former Earth without a Sea which not being the present Earth it must be the Ante diluvian Besides both St. Iohn and the Prophet Isaias have represented the New Heavens and New Earth as Paradisiâ—cal According as is prov'd Book the 4th chap. 2. And having told us the form of the New future Earth that it will have no Sea it is a reasonable inference that there was no Sea in the Paradisiâ—cal Earth However from the form of this Future Earth which St. Iohn represents to us we may at least conclude That an Earth without a Sea is no Chimaera or impossibility but rather a fit seat and habitation for the Just and the Innocent Thus you see the parts of the Theory link and hold fast one another according to the second character And as to the third of being 〈◊〉 to the Phaenomena we must refer that to the next head of Proofs It may be tâ—â—ly said that bare coherence and union of parts is not a sufficient proof The parts of a â—able or Romance may hang aptly together and yet have no truth in them This is enough indeed to give the title of a just Composition to any work but not of a true one till it appear that the conclusions and expâ—tations are grounded upon good natural evidence or upon good Divine authority We must therefore proceed now to the third thing to be consider'd in a Theory What its Proofs are or the grounds upon which it stands whether Sacred or Natural According to Natural evidence things are proved from their Causes or their Effects And we think we have this double order of proofs for the truth of our Hypothesis As to the method of Causes we proceed from what is more simple to what is more compound and build all upon one foundation Go but to the Head of the Theory and you will see the Causes lying in a train before you from first to last And tho' you did not know the Natural History of the World past or future you might by intuition foretell it as to the grand revolutions and successive faces of Nature through a long series of Ages If we have given a true account of the motions of the Chaos we have also truly form'd the first habitable Earth And if that be truly form'd we have thereby given a true account of the state of Paradise and of all that depends upon it And not of that only but also of the universal Deluge Both these we have shewn in their causes The one from the Form of that Earth and the other from the Fall of it into the Abyss And tho' we had not been made acquainted with these things by Antiquity we might in contemplation of the Causes have truly conceiv'd them as properties or incidents to the First Earth But as to the Deluge I do not say that we might have calculated the Time manner and other circumstances of it These things were regulated by Providence in subordination to the Moral World But that there would be at one time or oâ—her a disruption of that Earth or of the Great Abyss and in consequence of it an universal Deluge So far I think the light of a Theory might carry us Furthermore In consequence of this disruption of the Primeval Earth at the Deluge the present Earth was made hollow and cavernous and by that means due preparations being used capable of Combustion or of perishing by an universal Fire Yet to speak ingenuously This is as hard a step to be made in vertue of Natural causes as any in the whole Theory But in recompence of that defect the Conflagration is so plainly and literally taught us in Scripture and avow'd by Antiquity that it can fall under no dispute as to the thing it self And as to a capacity or disposition to it in the present Earth that I think is sufficiently made out Then the Conflagration admitted in that way it is explain'd in the Third Book The Earth you see is by that fire reduc'd to a second Chaos A Chaos truly so call'd And from that as from the First arises another Creation or New Heavens and a New Earth By the same causes and in the same form with the Paradisiacal This is the Renovation of the World The Restitution of all things mentioned both by Scripture and Antiquity And by the Prophet Isaiah St. Peter and St. Iohn call'd the New Heaven and New Earth With this as the last period and most glorious Scene of all humane affairs our Theory concludes as to this method of Causes whereof we are now speaking I say here it ends as to the method of Causes For tho' we pursue the Earth still further even to its last Dissolution which is call'd the Consummation of all things yet all that we have superadded upon that occasion is but Problematical and may without prejudice to the Theory be argued and disputed on either hand I do not know but that our conjectures there may be well grounded but however not springing so directly from the same root or at least not by ways so clear and visible I leave that part undecided Especially seeing we pretend to write no more than the Theory of the Earth and therefore as we begin no higher than the Chaos so we are not obliged to go any further than to the last state of a Terrestrial consistency which is that of the New Heavens and the New Earth This is the first natural proof From the order of Causes The second is fâ—om the consideration of Effects Namely of such effects as are already in being And therefore this proof can extend only to that part of the Theory that explains the present and past form and Phaenomena of the Earth What is Future must be left to a further trial when the things come to pass and present themselves to be examin'd and compar'd
with the Hypothesis As to the present Form of the Earth we call all Nature to witness for us The Rocks and the Mountains the Hills and the Valleys the deep and wide Sea and the Caverns of the Ground Let these speak and tell their origine How the Body of the Earth came to be thus torn and mangled If this strange and irregular structure was not the effect of a ruine and of such a ruine as was universal over the face of the whole Globe But we have given such a full explication of this in the first part of the Theory from Chapt. the 9th to the end of that Treatise that we dare stand to the judgment of any that reads those four Chapters to determine if the Hypothesis does not answer all those Phaenomena easily and adequately The next Phaenomenon to be consider'd is the Deluge with its adjuncts This also is fully explain'd by our Hypothesis in the 2d 3d. and 6th Chapters of the first Book Where it is shewn that the Mosaical Deluge that is an universal Inundation of the whole Earth above the tops of the highest Mountains made by a breaking open of the Great Abyss for thus far Moses leads us is fully explain'd by this Hypothesis and cannot be conceiv'd in any other method hitherto propos'd There are no sources or stores of Water sufficient for such an effect that may be drawn upon the Earth and drawn off again but by supposing such an Abyss and such a Disruption of it as the Theory represents Lastly As to the Phaenomena of Paradise and the Ante-diluvian World we have set them down in order in the 2d Book and apply'd to each of them its proper explication from the same Hypothesis We have also given an account of that Character which Antiquity always assign'd to the first age of the World or the Golden Age as they call'd it namely Equality of Seasons throughout the Year or a perpetual Equinox We have also taken in all the adjuncts or concomitants of these States as they are mention'd in Scripture The Longevity of the Ante-diluvians and the declension of their age by degrees after the Flood As also that wonderful Phaenomenon the Rainbow which appear'd to Noah for a Sign that the Earth should never undergo a second Deluge And we have shewn wherein the force and propriety of that Sign consisted for confirming Noah's faith in the promise and in the divine veracity Thus far we have explain'd the past Phaenomena of the Natural World The rest are Futurities which still lie hid in their Causes and we cannot properly prove a Theory from effects that are not yet in being But so far as they are foretold in Scripture both as to substance and circumstance in prosecution of the same Principles we have ante dated their birth and shew'd how they will come to pass We may therefore I think reasonably conclude That this Theory has performed its task and answer'd its title having given an account of all the general changes of the Natural World as far as either Sacred History looks backwards or Sacred Prophecy looks forwards So far as the one tells us what is past in Nature and the other what is to come And if all this be nothing but an appearance of truth 't is a kind of fatality upon us to be deceiv'd SO much for Natural Evidence from the Causes or Effects We now proceed to Scripture which will make the greatest part of this Review The Sacred Basis upon which the whole Theory stands is the doctrine of S. Peter deliver'd in his Second Epistle and Third Chapter concerning the Triple Order and Succession of the Heavens and the Earth That comprehends the whole extent of our Theory which indeed is but a large Commentary upon S. Peter's Text. The Apostle sets out a threefold state of the Heavens and Earth with some general properties of each taken from their different Constitution and different Fate The Theory takes the same threefold state of the Heavens and the Earth and explains more partâ—cularly wherein their different Constitution consists and how under the conduct of Providence their different fate depends upon it Let us set down the Apostle's words with the occasion of them and their plain sence according to the most easie and natural explication Ver. 3. Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts 4. And saying Where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth consisting of water and by water 6. Whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished 7. But the heavens and the earth that are now by the sâ—me word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men 10. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 13. Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness This is the whole Discourse so far as relates to our Subject S Peter you see had met with some that scoff'd at the future destruction of the World and the coming of our Saviour and they were men it seems that pretended to Philosophy and Argument and they use this argument for their opinion Seeing there hath been no change in Nature or in the World from the beginning to this time why should we think there will be any change for the future The Apostle answers to this That they willingly forget or are ignorant that there were Heavens of old and an Earth so and so constituted consisting of Water and by Water by reason whereof that World or those Heavens and that Earth perish'd in a Deluge of Water But saith he the Heavens and the Earth that are now are of another constitution fitted and reserved to another fate namely to perish by Fire And after these are perish'd there will be New Heavens and a New Earth according to God's promise This is an easie Paraphrase and the plain and genuine sence of the Apostle's discourse and no body I think would ever look after any other sence if this did not carry them out of their usual road and point to conclusions which they did not fancy This sence you see hits the objections directly or the Cavil which these scoffers made and tells them that they vainly pretend that there hath been no change in the World since the beginning for there was one sort of Heavens and Earth before the Flood and another sort now the first having been destroy'd at the Deluge So that the Apostle's argument stands upon this Foundation That there
is a diversity betwixt the present Heavens and Earth and the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth take away that and you take away all the force of his Answer Then as to his New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration they must be material and natural in the same sence and signification with the former Heavens and Earth unless you will offer open violence to the Text. So that this Triplicity of the Heavens and the Earth is the first obvious plain sence of the Apostle's discourse which every one would readily accept if it did not draw after it a long train of Consequences and lead them into other Worlds than they ever thought of before or are willing to enter upon now But we shall have occasion by and by to examine this Text more fully in all its circumstances Give me leave in the mean time to observe That S. Paul also implyes that triple Creation which S. Peter expresses S. Paul I say in the 8th Chap. to the Rom. ver 20 21. tells us of a Creation that will be redeem'd from Vanity which are the New Heavens and New Earth to come A Creation in subjection to Vanity which is the present state of the World And a Creation that was subjected to Vanity in hopes of being restor'd which was the first Paradisiacal Creation And these are the Three States of the Natural World which make the subject of our Theory To these two places of S. Peter and S. Paul I might add that third in S. Iohn concerning the New Heavens and New Earth with that distinguishing Character that the Earth was without a Sea As this distinguisheth it from the present Earth so being a Restitution or Restauration as we noted before it must be the same with some former Earth and consequently it implies that there was another precedent state of the Natural World to which this is a Restitution These three places I alledge as comprehending and confirming the Theory in its full extent But we do not suppose them all of the same force and clearness S. Peter leads the way and gives light and strength to the other two When a Point is prov'd by one clear Text we allow others as auxiliaries that are not of the same clearness But being open'd receive light from the primary Text and reflect it upon the Argument So much for the Theory in general We will now take one or two principal heads of it which vertually contain all the rest and examine them more strictly and particularly in reference to their agreement with Scripture The two Heads we pitch upon shall be our Explication of the Deluge and our Explication of the New Heavens and New Earth We told you before these Two were as â—he Hinges upon which all the Theory moves and which hokâ— the parts of it in firm union one with another As to the Deluge if I have explain'd that aright by the Disruption of the Great Abyss and the Dissolution of the Earth that cover'd it all the rest follows in such a chain of Consequences as cannot be broken Wherefore in order to the proof of that Explication and of all that depends upon it I will make bold to lay down this Proposition That our Hypothesis concerning the Universal Deluge is not only more agreeable to Reason and Philosophy thaâ— any other yet propos'd to the World but is also more agreeable to Scripture Namely to such places of Scripture as reflect upon the Deluge the Abyss and the form of the first Earth And particularly to the History of Noah's Flood as recorded by Moses If I can make this good it will doubtless give satisfaction to all that are free and intelligent And I desire their patience if I proceed slowly and by several steps We will divide our task into parts and examine them separately First by Scripture in general and then by Moses his History and description of the Flood Our Hypothesis of the Deluge consists of Three Principal Heads or differs remarkably in Three things from the common Explication First In that we suppose the Ante diluvian Earth to have been of another Form and Constitution from the present Earth with the Abyss placed under it Secondly In that we suppose the Deluge to have been made not by any inunâ—ation of the Sea or overflowing of Fountains and Rivers nor principally by any excess of Rains but by a real dissolution of the Exteriour Earth and disruption of the Abyss which it cover'd These are the two principal points to which may be added as a Corollary Thirdly That the Deluge was not in the nature of a standing Pool The Waters lying every where level of an equal depth and with an uniform Surface But was made by a fluctuation and commotion of the Abyss upon the disruption Which commotion being over the Waters retired into their Chanels and let the dry Land appear These are the most material and fundamental parts of our Hypothesis and these being prov'd consonant to Scripture there can be no doubt of the rest We begin with the first That the Ante-diluvian Earth was of another form and constitution from the present Earth with the Abyss placed under it This is confirm'd in Scripture both by such places as assert a diversity in general and by other places that intimate to us wherein that diversity consisted and what was the form of the first Earth That discourse of S. Peter's which we have set before you concerning the past present and future Heavens and Earth is so full a proof of this diversity in general that you must either allow it or make the Apostle's argumentation of no effect He speaks plainly of the Natural World The Heavens and the Earth And he makes a plain distinction or rather opposition betwixt those before and after the Flood so that the least we can conclude from his words is a diversity betwixt them in answer to that Identity or Immutability of Nature which the Scoffers pretended to have been ever since the beginning But tho' the Apostle to me speaks plainly of the Natural World and distinguishes that which was before the Flood from the present Yet there are some that will allow neither of these to be contain'd in S. Peter's words and by that means would make this whole Discourse of little or no effect as to our purpose And seeing we on the contrary have made it the chief Scripture-basis of the whole Theory of the Earth we are oblig'd to free it from those false glosses or mis-interpretations that lessen the force of its testimony or make it wholly ineffectual These Interpreters say That S. Peter meant no more than to mind these Scoffers that the World was once destroy'd by a Deluge of Water meaning the Animate World Mankind and living Creatures And that it shall be destroy'd again by another Element namely by Fire So as there is no opposition or diversity betwixt the two Natural Worlds taught or intended by the Apostle but only in reference to their different
transibunt Mundus transit sed puto quod praeterit transit transibunt aliquantò mitiùs dicta sunt quà m peribunt In Epistolâ quoque Petri Apostoli ubi aquâ inundatus qui tum erat periisse dictus est Mundus satis clarum est quae pars mundi à toto significata est quatenùs periisse dicta sit qui coeli repositi igni reservandi This he explains more fully afterwards by subjoyning a caution which we cited before that we must not understand this passion of S. Peter's concerning the destruction of the Ante diluvian World to take in the whole Universe and the highest Heavens but only the aerial Heavens and the sublunary World In Apostolicâ illâ Epistolâ à toto parâ— accipitur quod Diluvie periisse dictus est 〈◊〉 quamvis solâ— ejus cum suâ—s coelis pars ima peâ—ierit In that Apostolical Epistle a part is signified by the whole when the World is said to have perish'd in the Deluge although the lower part of it only with the Heavens belonging to at perished that is The Earth with the regions of the Air that belong to it And consonant to this in his exposition of that hundred and first Psalm upon those words The Heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure This perishing of the Heavens he says S. Peter tells us hath been once done already namely at the Deluge Apeâ—â—e dixit hoc Apostolus Petrus Coeli erant olim Terra de aquâ per â—quam constituti Dei verbo per quod qui factus est mundus aquâ 〈…〉 Terra autem coeli qui nunc sunt 〈…〉 ergo dixit perisse coelos per Dilavium These places shew us that S. Austin understood S. Peter's discourse to aim at the Natural World and his periit or periisse ver 6. to be of the same force as 〈◊〉 in the Psalms when 't is said the Heavens shalt perishâ— and consequently that the Heavens and the Earth in this Father's opinion were as really chang'd and transform'd at the time of the Flood as they will be at the Conflagration But we must not expect from S. Austin or any of the Ancients a distinct account of this Apostolical Doctrine as if they knew and acknowledg'd the Theory of the Firsâ— World that does not at all appear but what they said was either from broken Tradition or extorted from them by the force of the Apostle's words and their own sincerity There are yet other places in S. Austin worthy our consideration upon this subject especially his exposition of this 3d. chap. of S. Peter as we find it â—n that same Treatise de Civ Dei There he compares again the destruction of the World at the Deluge with that which shall be at the Confâ—agration and supposeth both the Heavens and Earth to have perish'd Apostelus â—ominemorans factum ante Diluvium videtur admonâ—â—sse quodaminodo quatenus in fiâ—e hujus secuâ—â— mundum istum periturium esse credamus Nam illo tempore periisse dixit qui tunc erat mundum nec solum otbem terrae verùm etiam coelos Then giving his usual caution That the Stars and Starry Heavens should not be comprehended in that mundane destruction He goes on Atque hoc modo pene totus aer cum terra periorat cujus Terrae utÃque prior facies nempe ante-diluviana fuerat deleta Diluvio Qui autem nunc sunt coeli terra eodem verbo repâ—siti sunt igni reservandi Proinde qui coeli quae Terra id est qui mundus pro â—o mundo qui Diluvio periit ex eâdem aquâ reposâ—tus est ipse igni novissimo reservatur Here you see S. Austin's sence upon the whole matter which is this That the Natural World the Earth with the Heavens about it was destroyed and chang'd at the Deluge into the present Heavens and Earth which shall again in like manner be destroyed and chang'd by the last Fire Accordingly in another place to add no more he saith the figure of the subâ—â—nary World shall be chang'd at the Conflagration as it was chang'd at the Deluge Tunc figura huius mundi c. cap. 16. Thus you see we have S. Austin on our side in both parts of our interpretation that S. Peter's discourse is to be referr'd to the natural inanimate World and that the present Natural World is distinct and different from that which was before the Deluge And S. Austin having applyed this expresly to S. Peter's doctrine by way of Commentary it will free us from any crime or affectation of singularity in the exposition we have given of that place Venerable Bede hath â—ollowed S. Austin ' s footsteps in this doctrine for interpreting S. Peter ' s Original World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Peti 2. 5. he refers both that and this chap. 3. 6. to the natural inanimate World which he supposeth to have undergone a change at the Deluge His words are these Idem ipse mundus est nempe quoad materiam in quo nunc humanum genus habitat quem inhabitaverunt hi qui ante diluvium fuerunt fed tamen rectè Originalis Mundus quasi alius dicitur quia sicut in consequentibus bujus Epistolae â—â—riptum continetur Ille tunc mundus aquâ inundatus periâ—â— Coelis videlicet qui eranâ— prius id est cunctis aeris hujus turbulentâ— spaciis aquanum accrescentium altitudine consumptis ac Terrâ in alteram faciem excedentibus aquis immutatâ Nam etsi montes aliqui atque convalles ab initio facti creduntur non tament anti quanti nunc in orbe cernuntur universo T is the same World namely as to the matter and substance of it which mankind lives in now and did live in before the Flood but yet that is truly call'd the ORIGINAL WORLD being as it were another from the present For 't is said in the sequel of this Epistle that the World that was then perish'd in the Deluge namely The regions of the air were consumed by the height and excess of the waters and by the same waters the Earth was chang'd into another form or face For although some Mountains and Valleys are thought to have been made from the beginning yet not such great ones as now we see throughout the whole Earth You see this Author does not only own a change made at the Deluge but offers at a further explication wherein that change consisted viz. That the Mountains and inequalities of the Earth were made greater than they were before the Flood and so he makes the change or the difference betwixt the two Worlds gradual rather than specifical if I may so term it But we cannot wonder at that if he had no principles to carry it further or to make any other sort of change intelligible to him Bede also pursues the same sence and notion in his interpretation of that fountain Gen. 2. 5. that watered the
of the Scripture-Abyss The Mother-Abyss is no doubt that in the beginning of Genesis v. 2. which had nothing but darkness upon the face of it or a thick caliginous air The next news we hear of this Abyss is at the Deluge Gen. 7. 11. where 't is said to be broke open and the waters of it to have drowned the World It seems then this Abyss was clos'd up some time betwixt the Creation and the Deluge and had got another cover than that of darkness And if we will believe Wisdom Prov. 8. 27. who was there present at the formation of the Earth an Orb was set upon the face of the Abyss at the beginning of the World That these three places refer to the same Abyss I think cannot be questioned by any that will compare them and consider them That of the Deluge Moses calls there Tehom-Rabbah the Great Abyss and can there be any greater than the forementioned Mother-Abyss And WISDOME in that place in the Proverbs useth the same phrase and words with Moses Gen. 1. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the face of the Deep or of the Abyss changâ—ng darkness for that Orb of the exteriour Earth which was made afterwards to inclose it And in thâ—s vault it lay and under this cover when the Psalmist speaks of it in these words Psal. 33. 7. He gathereth the waters of the Sea as in a bag he layeth up the Abyss in store-houses Lastly we may observe that 't was this Mother-Abyss whose womb was burst at the Deluge when the Sea was born and broke forth as if it had issued out of a womb as God expresseth it to Iob ch 38. 8. in which place the Chaldee Paraphrase reads it when it broke forth coming out of the Abyss Which disruption at the Deluge seems also to be alluded to Iob 12. 14 15. and more plainly Prov. 3. 20. by his knowledge the Abysses are broken up Thus you have already a threefold state of the Abyss which makes a short History of it first Open at the beginning then covered till the Deluge Then broke open again as it is at present And we pursue the History of it no further but we are told Apoc. 20. 3. That it shall be shut up again and the great Dragon in it for a Thousand years In the mean time we may observe from this form and posture of the Ante diluvian Abyss how suitable it is and coherent with that form of the Ante-diluvian Earth which St. Peter and the Psalmist had describ'd sustain'd by the waters founded upon the waters stretcht above the waters for if it was the cover of this Abyss and it had some cover that was broke at the Deluge it was spread as a Crust or Ice upon the face of those waters and so made an Orbis Terrarum an habitable sphere of Earth about the Abyss SO much for the form of the Ante-diluvian Earth and Abyss which as they aptly correspond to one another so you see our Theory answers and is adjusted to both and I think so fitly that we have no reason hitherto to be displeas'd with the success we have had in the examination of it according to Scripture We have dispatch'd the two main points in question first to prove a diversity in general betwixt the two natural Worlds or betwixt the Heavens and the Earth before and after the Flood Secondly to prove wherein this diversity consisted or that the particular form of the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth was such according to Scripture as we have describ'd it in the Theory You 'l say then the work is done what needs more all the rest follows of course for if the Antediluvian Earth had such a â—orm as we have propos'd and prov'd it to have had there could be no Deluge in it but by a dissolution of its parts and exteriour frame And a Deluge so made would not be in the nature of a standing Pool but of a violent agitation and commotion of the Waters This is true These parts of the Theory are so cemented that you must grant all if you grant any However we will try if even these two particulars also may be prov'd out of Scripture That is if there be any marks or memorandums left there by the Spirit of God of such a fraction or dissolution of the Earth at the Deluge And also such characters of the Deluge it self as show it to have been by a fluctuation and impetuous commotion of the Waters To proceed then That there was a Fraction or Dissolution of the Earth at the Deluge the history of it by Moses gives us the first account seeing he tells us as the principol cause of the Flood That the Fountains of the Great Abyss were cloven or burst asunder and upon this disruption the waters gush'd out from the bowels of the Earth as from the widen'd mouths of so many Fountains I do not take Fountains there to signifie any more than Sources or Stores of Water noting also this manner of their eruption from below or out of the ground as Fountains do Accordingly in the Proverbs chap. 3. 20. 't is only said the Abysses were broken open I do not doubt but this refers to the Deluge as Bede and others understand it the very word being us'd here both in the Hebrew and Septuagint that express'd the disruption of the Abyss at the Deluge And this breaking up of the Earth at that time is elegantly exprest in Iob by the bursting of the Womb of Nature when the Sea was first brought to light when after many pangs and throes and dilacerations of her body Nature was delivered of a burthen which she had born in her Womb Sixteen Hundred Years These three places I take to be memorials and proofs of the disruption of the Earth or of the Abyss at the universal Deluge And to these we may add more out of the Prophets Iob and the Psalms by way of allusion commonly to the state of Nature at that time The Prophet Isaiah in describing the future destruction of the World chap. 24. 18 19. seems plainly to allude and have respect to the past destruction of it at the Deluge as appears by that leading expression the windows from an high are open 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken manifestly from Gen. 7. 11. Then see how the description goes on the windows from an high are open and the foundations of the Earth do shake The Earth is utterly broken down the Earth is quite dissolv'd the Earth is exceedingly moved Here are Concussions and Fractions and dissolutions as there were in the Mundane Earth-quake and Deluge which we had exprest before only by breaking open the Abyss By the Foundations of the Earth here and elsewhere I perceive many understand the Centre so by moving or shaking the foundations or putting them out of course must be understood a displacing of the Centre which was really done at the Deluge as we have shewn in its proper place
If we therefore remember that there was both a dislocation as I may so say and a fraction in the body of the Earth by that great fall a dislocation as to the Centre and a fraction as to the Surface and Exterior Region it will truly answer to all those expressions in the Prophet that seem so strange and extraordinary T is true this place of the Prophet respects also and foretels the future destruction of the World but that being by Fire when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat and the Earth with the works therein shall be burnt up these expressions of fractions and concussions seem to be taken originally from the manner of the World's first destruction and to be transferr'd by way of application to represent and signifie the second destruction of it though it may be not with the same exactness and propriety There are several other places that refer to the dissolution and subversion of the Earth at the Deluge Amos 9. 5 6. The Lord of Hosts is he that toucheth the Earth and it shall melt or be dissolv'd and it shall rise up wholly like a Flood and shall be drowned as by the Flood of Egypt By this and by the next verse the Prophet seems to allude to the Deluge and to the dissolution of the Earth that was then This in Iob seems to be call'd breaking down the Earth and overturning the Earth Chap. 12. 14 15. Behold he breaketh down and it cannot be built again He shâ—â—teth upon man and there can be no opening Behold he witholdeth the waters and they dry up also he â—endeth them out and they overturn the Earth Which place you may see paraphras'd Theor. Book 1. p. 91 92. We have already cited and shall hereafter cite other places out of Iob And as that Ancient Author who is thought to have liv'd before the Judaical Oeconoray and nearer to Noah than Moses seems to have had the Praecept a Noachidarum so also he seems to have had the Dogmata Noachidarum which were deliver'd by Noah to his Children and Posterity concerning the mysteries of Natural Providence the origine and fate of the World the Deluge and Ante-diluvian state c. and accordingly we find many strictures of these doctrines in the Book of Iob. Lastly In the Psalms there are Texts that mention the shaking of the Earth and the foundations of the World in reference to the Flood if we judge aright whereof we will speak under the next Head concerning the raging of the Waters in the Deluge These places of Scripture may be noted as left us to be remembrancers of that general ruine and disruption of the Earth at the time of the Deluge But I know it will be said of them That they are not strict proofs but allusions only Be it so yet what is the ground of those allusions something must be alluded to and something that hath past in Nature and that is recorded in Sacred History and what is that unless it be the Universal Deluge and that change and disturbance that was then in all Nature If others say that these and such like places are to be understood morally and allegorically I do not envy them their interpretations but when Nature and Reason will bear a literal sence the rule is that we should not recede from the Letter But I leave these things to every one's thoughts which the more calm they are and the more impartial the more easily they will feel the impressions of Truth In the mean time I proceed to the last particular mention'd The form of the Deluge it self This we suppose to have been not in the way of a standing Pool the Waters making an equal Surface and an equal heighth every where but that the extreme heighth of the Waters was made by the extreme agitation of them caus'd by the weight and force of great Masses or Regions of Earth falling at once into the Abyss by which means as the Waters in some places were prest out and thrown at an excessive height into the Air so they would also in certain places gape and lay bare even the bottom of the Abyss which would look as an open Grave ready to swallow up the Earth and all it bore Whilst the Ark in the mean time falling and rising by these gulphs and precipices sometimes above water and sometimes under was a true Type of the state of the Church in this World And to this time and state David alludes in the name of the Church Psal. 42. 7. Abyss calls unto Abyss at the noise of thy Cataracts or Water-spouts All thy waves and billows have gone over me And again Psal. 46. 2 3. In the name of the Church Therefore will not we fear tho' the Earth be removed and tho' the mountains be carried into the midst of the Seas The waters thereof roar and are troubled the mountains shake with the swelling thereof But there is no description more remarkable or more eloquent than of that Scene of things represented Psal. 18. 7 8 9 c. which still alludes in my opinion to the Deluge-scene and in the name of the Church We will set down the words at large Ver. 6. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God He heard my voice out of his Temple and my cry came before him into his ears 7. Then the Earth shook and trembled the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth 8. There went up a smoke from his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured Coals were kindled by it 9. He bowed the Heavens also and came down and darkness was under his feet 10. And he rode upon a Cherub and did flie he did flie upon the wings of the wind 11. He made darkness his secret place his pavilion round about him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skie 12. At the brightness before him the thick clouds passed hail and coals of fire 13. The Lord also thunder'd in the Heavens and the Highest gave his voice hail and coals of fire 14. Yea he sent out his arrows and scatter'd them and he shot out lightnings and discoinfited them 15. Then the Chanels of waters were seen and the foundations of the World were discovered at thy rebuke O Lord at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils He sent from above he took me he drew me out of great waters This I think is a rough* draught of the face of the Heavens and the Earth at the Deluge as the last Verses do intimate and 't is apply'd to express the dangers and deliverances of the Church The Expressions are far too high to be applyed to David in his Person and to his deliverance from Saul no such agonies or disorders of Nature as are here instanc'd in were made in David s time or upon his account but 't is a Scheme of the Church and of her fate particularly as represented by the Ark in that dismal distress
when all nature was in confusion And though there may be some things here intermixt to make up the Scene that are not so close to the subject as the rest or that may be referr'd to the future destruction of the World yet that is not unusual nor amiss in such descriptions if the great strokes be fit and rightly plac'd That there was Smoke and Fire and Water and Thunder and Darkness and Winds and Earth-quakes at the Deluge we cannot doubt if we consider the circumstances of it Waters dash'd and broken make a smoke and darkness and no Hurricano could be so violent as the motions of the Air at that time Then the Earth was torn in pieces and its Foundations shaken And as to Thunder and Lightning the encounters and collisions of the mighty Waves and the cracks of a falling World would make flashes and noises far greater and more terrible than any that can come from vapours and clouds There was an Universal Tempest a conflict and clashing of all the Elements and David seems to have represented it so with God Almighty in the midst of it ruling them all But I am apt to think some will say all this is Poetical in the Prophet and these are Hyperbolical and figurate expressions from which we cannot make any inference as to the Deluge and the Natural World 'T is true those that have no Idea of the Deluge that will answer to such a Scene of things as is here represented must give such a slight account of this Psalm But on the other hand if we have already an Idea of the Deluge that is rational and also consonant to Scripture upon other proofs and the description here made by the Prophet answer to that Idea whether then is it not more reasonable to think that it stands upon that ground than to think it a meer fancy and Poetical Scene of things This is the true state of the case and that which we must judge of Methinks 't is very harsh to suppose all this a bare fiction grounded upon no matter of fact upon no Sacred Story upon no appearance of God in Nature If you say it hath a moral signification so let it have we do not destroy that it hath reference no doubt to the dangers and deliverances of the Church but the question is whether the words and natural sence be a fancy only a bundle of randome hyperboles or whether they relate to the history of the Deluge and the state of the Ark there representing the Church This makes the Sence doubly rich Historically and Morally and grounds it upon Scripture and Reason as well as upon Fancy That violent eruption of the Sea out of the Womb of the Earth which Iob speaks of is in my judgment another description of the Deluge 'T is Chap. 38. 8 9 10 11. Who shut up the Sea with doors when it broke forth as if it had issued out of a Womb When I made the eloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling band for it And broke up for it my decreed place hitherto shalt thou come c. Here you see the birth and nativity of the Sea or of Oceanus describ'd how he broke out of the Womb and what his first garment and swadling cloaths were namely clouds and thick darkness This cannot refer to any thing that I know of but to the face of Nature at the Deluge when the Sea was born and wrapt up in clouds and broken waves and a dark impenetrable mist round the body of the Earth And this seems to be the very same that David had exprest in his description of the Deluge Psal. 18. 11. He made darkness his secret place his pavilion round about him were dâ—rk waters and thick clouds of the skies For this was truly the face of the World in the time of the Flood tho' we little reflect upon it And this dark confusion every where above and below arose from the violent and confus'd motion of the Abyss which was dasht in pieces by the falling Earth and flew into the air in misty drops as dust flies up in a great ruin But I am afraid we have stayed too long upon this particular the form of the Deluge seeing 'tis but a Corollary from the precedent article about the dissolution of the Earth However time is not ill spent about any thing that relates to natural Providence whereof the two most signal instances in our Sacred Writings are the Deluge and the Conflagration And seeing Iob and David do often reflect upon the works of God in the external creation and upon the administrations of Providence it cannot be imagin'd that they should never reflect upon the Deluge the most remarkable change of Nature that ever hath been and the most remarkable judgment upon mankind And if they have reflected upon it any where 't is I think in those places and those instances which I have noted and if those places do relate to the Deluge they are not capable in my judgment of any fairer or more natural interpretation than that which we have given them which you see how much it favours and confirms our Theory I have now finisht the heads I undertook to prove that I might shew our Theory to agree with Scripture in these three principal points first in that it supposeth a diversity and difference betwixt the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth and the present Heavens and Earth Secondly in assigning the particular form of the Ante-diluvian Earth and Abyss Thirdly in explaining the Deluge by a dissolution of that Earth and an eruption of the Abyss How far I have succeeded in this attempt as to others I cannot tell but I am sure I have convinc'd my self and am satisfied that my thoughts in that Theory have run in the same tract with the holy Writings with the true intent and spirit of them There are some persons that are wilfully ignorant in certain things and others that are willing to be ignorant as the Apostle phraseth it speaking of those Eternalists that denied the doctrine of the change and revolutions of the Natural World And 't is not to be expected but there are many still of the same humour and therefore may be called willingly ignorant that is they will not use that pains and attention that is necessary for the examination of such a doctrine nor impartiality in judging after examination they greedily lay hold on all evidence on one side and willingly forget or slightly pass over all evidence for the other this I think is the character of those that are willingly ignorant for I do not take it to be so deep as a down-right wilful ignorance where they are plainly conscious to themselves of that wilfulness but where an insensible mixture of humane passions inclines them one way and makes them averse to the other and in that method draws on all the consequences of a willing ignorance There remains still as I remember one Proposition that I
Ch. 24. 18 19 20. Ch. 21. 25 26 27. Ver. 28. Matt. 24. 31. Ch. 2. 6. Heb. 12. 26. Isa. 34. 4. Matt. 24. 30 31. Act. 1. 11. 3. 20 21. Apoc. 1. 7. Heb. 9. 28. 1 Ep. 1. 7. Matt. 16. 27. ch 12. 18 19 20 21. * 'T is ill render'd in the English cast down 2 Pet. 3. 10. Psal. 18. 9 11 12. Psal. 97. Deut. 4. 11. Hebr. 12. 18. Act. 22. 6. Act. 7. 55 56. Isa. 2. 19. Rev. 6. 16 17. Apoc. 7. 10. 12. 10. Luke 2. 12. 1 Pet. 1. 11 12. Gen. 18. 2 Sam. 24. 17. Matt. 18. 10. Isa. 24. Ier. 51. Lament Isa. 30. Revel 15. 3. 2 Epist. 3. 11. 2 Thess. 1. 7 8. Heb. 10 27. Matt. 24. 30. 25. 32 c. Ver. 41. 2 Thess. 1. 7 8 9. Joh. 3. 13. 6. 38. 62. 17. 5. Apoc. 21. 1. Ch. 65. Act. 3. ver 21. Matt. 19. 28 29. Psal. 102. 26. Ver. 21 22 23 24. Ch. 65. 17 18. Ver. 19. Apoc. 21. 3 4. Ch. 21. ch 23. T' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa. 9. 6. Ephes. 6. 12. ch 7. 13. 25 26. Hebr. 2. 8. 1 Cor. â—5 24 c. Isa. 45. 18. Apoc 21. 27. Apâ—c 20. Apoc. 20. 4. Ver. 9. Ver. 6. Ver. 1◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lact. l. 7. c. 23. Euseb. prap Ev. l. 7. c. 23. Chap. 9. Propos. â— Ver. 1 2 4 5 6. ver 5. ver 5. Book 3. ch 5. Ch. 11. 15 16 17 18. ch 15. 3. ch 16. 17. ch 15. 2. ch 20. 4. ch 19. 6 7. ch 1. 5 6. Ch. 2. 7. Ch. 2. 11. Ch. 2. 17. Ch. 2. 26 27. Ch. 3. 5. Ch. 7. 9 14. Ch. 3. 12. Ch. 3. 21. Ch. 2. v. 44. Ver. 34 35. Ver. 35. Ch. 7. 13. Ch. 7. 28. Ch. 12. 13. Mat. 20. 21. Mat. 19. 28. Dan. 7. 9. Apoc. 20. 4. Matâ— 20. 21. Luk. 23. 42. Isa. 65. Ver. 18. Ver. 32 c. Ps. 45. 3 4 6. Apoc. 19. 15 16. * Isaiah ch 11. ch 43. ch 49. 13 c. ch 66. Ezekiel ch 28. ch 37. Hos. ch 3. ch 14. Ioel 3. 18. Amos ch 9. Obad. ver 17 c. Mich. ch 4. ch 5. Zeph. 3. 14 c. Hag. ch 2. Zac. 2. 10 c. ch 9. 9 c. ch 14. Mal. ch 3. ch 4. Iren. Lib. 5. c. 33. Dial. with Tryphon the Iew. De Script Eccles Dogm Eccl. c. 55. De Script Eccles Vide Hieron Epist. 28. ad Lucinium Book 7. Propos. 2. Eccles. Hist. 3. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 3. 32. de vit Constan. Apoc. 5. 9 Ch. 7. 14. Ch. 14. 3 4. Ch. 21. 27. Apoc. 21. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maimon Mor. Nev. par 1. c. 25. ch 11. 1â— Propos. 3. 〈…〉 * Li. 5. ch 32 c. (a) Dial. cum Tryph. (b) Contra Marc. (c) Li. 7. (d) Quaest. respon 93. Apoc. 21. 4. Psal. 2. Psal. 72. Isa. 2. 2. Ver. 9 c. Ver. 26 c. Ver. 4. Isa. 65. 17 18. Apoc. 21. 3. Psal. 84. Psal. 87. Apoc. 5. 11. ch 5. 13. L. 5. c. 32. Mat. 3. 16. Act. 2. Matt. 1. 18. Luk. 1. 35. Luk. 18. 8. Act. 7. 55 5â— See Mr. Mede Apoc. 20. 8 9. Ch. 38. 39. Apoc. 20. 8 9 Râ—â— 8. 21. Ver. 23. Ver. 25. Ver. 21. Apoc. 20. 14. 1 Cor. 15. Apoc. 20. 〈…〉 Theor. Book 3. ch 7 8. Theor. Book 2. chap. 5. 2 Pet. 3. There was a Sect amongst the Iews that held this perpetuity and immutability of Nature and Maimonides himself was of this principle and gives the same reason for it with the Scoffers here in the Text Quod mundus retiâ—et sequitur consuetudinem suam And as to those of the Iews that were Aristoteleans it was very suitable to their principles to hold the incortuptibility of the World as their Master did Vid. Med. in loc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per quae Vulgat Quamobrem Beza Quâ de causâ— Grot. Nems interpretum reddidit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per quas subintelligendo aquas Hoc enim argumentationem Apostolicam tolleret supponeretque illussores illos ignorâsse quod olim fuerit 〈…〉 supponi non posse suprà oâ—tendimus * This phrase or manner of speech 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not unusual in Greek Authors and upon a like subject Plato saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but he that should translate Plato The World stands out of fire water c. would be thought neither Graecian nor Philosopher The same phrase is us'd in reciting Heraclitus his opinion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And also in Thales his which is still nearer to the subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Cicero renders ex aquâ dixit constare omnia So that it is easie to know the true importance of this phrase and how ill it is render'd in the English standing out of the water Book 2. c. 5. p. 233. Whether you refer the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 separately to the Heavens and the Earth or both to the Earth or both to both it will make no great difference as to our interpretation Theâ—r 1. Book c. 2. cap. 18. cap. 16. De 6. dier creat See Theor. Book 2. ch 5. * I know some would make this place of no effect by rendering the Hebrew particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 juxta by or near to so they would read it thus He hath founded the Earth by the Sea-side and establish'd it by the Floods What is there wonderful in this that the shores should lie by the Sea-side Where could they lie else What reason or argument is this why the Earth should be the Lord's The Earth is the Lord's for he hath founded it near the Seas Where is the consequence of this But if he founded it upon the Seas which could not be done by any other hand but his it shows both the Workman and the Master And accordingly in that other place Psal. 136. 6. if you render it he stretched out the Earth near the Waters How is that one of God's great wonders as it is there represented to be Because in some few places this particle is render'd otherwise where the sense will bear it must we therefore render it so when we please and where the sence will not bear it This being the most usual signification of it and there being no other word that signifies above more frequently or determinately than this does Why must it signifie otherwise in this place Men will 〈◊〉 any way to get from under the force of a Text that does not suit to their own Notions Book 1. p. 88. * This reading or translating is generally followed Theor. Book 1. p. 86. though the English Translation read on a heap unsuitably to the matter and to the sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ch 3â— Theor. book 2. p. 194 195. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Philo Iudaeus his description of the Deluge both as to the commotions of the Heavens and the fractions of the Earth In his first Treatise de Abrahamo mihi p. 279. * Uti comparatio praecedens Ver. 4 5 6. de ortu Telluris simitur ab aedificio ita haec altera de ortu maris sumitur à partuâ— exhibetur Oceanus primùm ut foetus inclusus in utero dein ut erumpens prodeuns denique ut fasciis primis suis pannis involutus Atque ex aperto Terrae utero prorupit aquarum moles ut proluvies illae quam simul cum foetu profundere soâ—et puerpera See Theor. Book 1. p. 99. 〈…〉 Isa. 65. 17. 2 Pet. 3. 11 12 13.
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 fore-see but what may be said against the body and substance of the Theory and the credibility of it appearing new and surprising 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 satisfie this obiection 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 't is 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 shipwrack 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 't is 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 Aegyptians Phoenicians Chaldaeans Assyrians Indians Aethiopians 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 Bracmans 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 intire whereof we have now the gleanings and reversions only but all that have perisht 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 besides Greek Books of Aegyptian Chaldaean and all the â—astern Learning and Cedrenus makes it to consist of an hundred thousand Volumes But Iosephus saith when the Translation of the Bible by the Septuagint was to be added to it Demetrius Phalerius who was Keeper or Governour 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 Liâ—brary was unfortunately burnt in the sacking of Alexandria by Caesar and considering that all these were ancient Books and generally of the Eastern Wisdom 't was 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 Aethiopick Library as something very extraordinary 'T was formerly in great reputation but is now I suppose embezil'd and lost But I was extremely surpriz'd by a Treatise brought to me some few months since wherein are mention'd some Aethiopick Antiquities relating to the Primaeval 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 Seaturigine Taken from a Book Writ by Francisco Patricio to whom this wonderful Tradition was deliver'd by persons of credit from an Aethiopian Philosopher then in Spain I have not yet had the good fortune to see that Book of Francisco Patricio 't is writ in Italian with this Title Della Retorica 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 Aegyptian Antiquities in his Timaeus Politicus and Phoedo of another Earth and another state of Nature and Mankind But none of them are so full and distinct as this Aethiopian Doctrine As for the Western Learning we may remember what the Aegyptian Priest says to Solon in Plato's Timaeus 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 perisht with the Books of Varro of Numa Pompilius and of the ancient Sibyls Varro writ as S. 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 suffer'd about the time of our Deluge Numa Pompilius was doubtless a contemplative Man and 't is thought that he understood the true System of the World and represented the Sun by his Vestal Fire though 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 extinguisht 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 Praetor Petilius to peruse and to make his report to the Senate whether they were fit to be publisht or no The Praetor made a wise politick report that the Contents of them might be of dangerous consequence to the establisht 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 'T is 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 enricht 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 confus'dly 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 rise 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 't is 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 't is 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 foot-steps 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 shown there that their account of the Chaos though it seem'd to many but a Poetical Rhapsody contain'd the true mystery of the formation of the Primitive Earth We have also shown upon the same occasion that both the External Figure and Internal Form of that Earth
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 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 Primaeval 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 not 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 Besides 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 besides those Manuscripts that are yet unexamin'd in these parts of Christendom there are many doubtless of good value in other parts Besides those that lie 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 mostwhat 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 â—nd 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 urgâ—d still in the last place that though these Humane Writings have perisht 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 shown at large in the First Book Chap. 7. And also by the description which S. Peter hath given of the Ante-diluvian 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 S. Peter 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 other caeteris 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 S. Peter's and to stand to that sence which is found most agreeable to them Give me leave to conclude the whole Discourse with this general Consideration 'T is 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 establisht 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 disperst or united all these things were weigh'd and consider'd and such measures taken as best suit the
expressions carry the work a great deal further even to that full sence which we propose Besides the Prophets often speak of the melting of the Earth or of the Hills and Mountains at the presence of the Lord in the day of his wrath And S. Iohn Apoc. 15. 2. tells us of a Sea of Glass mingled with Fire where the Saints stood singing the song of Moses and triumphing over their enemies the Spiritual Pharaoh and his host that were swallowed up in it The Sea of Glass must be a Sea of molten glass it must be fluid not solid if a Sea neither can a solid substance be said to be mingled with Fire as this was And to this answers the Lake of fire and brimstone which the Beast and false Prophet were thrown into alive Apoc. 19. 20. These all refer to the end of the World and the last Fire and also plainly imply or express rather that state of Liquefaction which we suppose and assert Furthermore The Renovation of the World or The New Heavenâ— and New Earth which S. Peter out of the Prophets tells us shall spring out of these that are burnt and dissolved do suppose this Earth reduc'd into a fluid Chaos that it may lay a foundation for a second World If you take such a Skeleton of an Earth as your scorching Fire would leave behind it where the flesh is â—orn from the bones and the Rocks and Mountains stand naked and staring upon you the Sea half empty gaping at the Sun and the Cities all in ruines and in rubbish How would you raise a New World from this and a World fit to be an habitation for the Righteous for so S. Peter makes that to be which is to succeed after the Conflagration And a VVorld also without a Sea so S. Iohn describes the New Earth he saw As these characters do not agree to the present Earth so neither would they agree to your Future one for if that dead lump could revive and become habitable again it would however retain all the imperfections of the former Earth besides some scars and deformities of its own VVherefore if you would cast the Earth into a new and better mould you must first melt it down and the last Fire being as a 〈◊〉 fire will make an improvement in it both as to matter and form To conclude it must be reduc'd into a fluid Mass in the nature of a Chaos as it was at first but this last will be a Fiery Chaos as that was Watery and from this state it will emerge again into a Paradisiacal World But this being the Subject of the following Book we will discourse no more of it in this place CHAP. X. Concerning the beginning and progress of the Conflagration what part of the Earth will first be Burnt The manner of the future destruction of Rome according to Prophetical Indications The last state and consummation of the general Fire HAving remov'd the chief obstructions to our design and show'd a method for weakning the strength of Nature by draining the Trench and beating down those Bulwarks wherein she seems to place her greatest confidence we must now go to work making choice of the weakest part of Nature for our first attack where the fire may be the easiest admitted and the best maintain'd and preserv'd And for our better direction it will be of use to consider what we noted before viz. That the Conflagration is not a pure Natural Fatality but a miâ—t Fatality or a Divine Judgment supported by Natural Causes And if we can find some part of the Earth or of the Christian World that hath more of these natural dispositions to Inflammation than the rest and is also represented by Scripture as a more peculiar object of God's Judgments at the coming of our Saviour we may justly pitch upon that part of the World as first to be destroyed Nature and Providence conspiring to make that the first Sacrifice to this Fiery Vengeance Now as to Natural dispositions 〈◊〉 any Country or Region of the Earth to be set on Fire They seem to be chiefly these two Sulphureousness of the Soil and an hollow mountainous construction of the ground Where these two dispositions meet in the same tract or territory the one as to the quality of the matter and the other as to the form it stands like a Pile of fit materials ready set to have the Fire put to it And as to Divine Indications where this General Fire will 〈◊〉 the Scripture points to the Seat of Antichrist wheresoever that is for the beginning of it The Scripture I say points at this two ways First in telling us that our Saviour at his coming in flames of Fire shall consume the wicked One. The Man of sin the Son of perdition with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy him with the brightness of his presence Secondly under the name of Mystical Babylon which is allowed by all to be the Seat of Antichrist and by Scripture always condemn'd to the Fire This we find in plain words asserted by S. Iohn in the 18th Chap. of his Revelations and in the 19th ver 3. under the name of the Great Whore which is the same City and the same Seat according to the interpretation of Scripture it self And the Prophet Daniel when he had set the Ancient of Days upon his fiery Throne says The Body of the Beast was given to the burning flame Which I take to be the same thing with what S. Iohn says afterwards Apoc. 19. 20. The Beast and the false Prophet were cast alive into a Lake of fire burning with brimstone By these places of Scripture it seems manifest that Antichrist and the Seat of Antichrist will be consumed with Fire at the coming of our Saviour And 't is very reasonable and decorous that the Grand Traitor and Head of the Apostasie should be made the first example of the divine vengeance Thus much being allow'd from Scripture let us now return to Nature again to seek out that part of the Christian World that from its own constitution is most subject to burning by the Sulphureousness of its Soil and its fiery Mountains and Caverns This we shall easily find to be the Roman Territory or the Countrey of Italy which by all accounts ancient and modern is a store-house of fire as if it was condemn'd to that fate by God and Nature and to be an Incendiary as it were to the rest of the VVorld And seeing Mystical Babylon the Seat of Antichrist is the same Rome and its Territory as it is understood by most Interpreters of former and later Ages you see both our lines meet in this point And that there is a fairness on both hands to conclude that at the glorious appearance of our Saviour the Conflagration will begin at the City of Rome and the Roman Territory Nature hath sav'd us the pains of kindling a fire in those parts of the Earth for