the Idols of the Gentiles that can cause Rain or can the Heavens of themselves give Showers Art not thou he O Lord God The Old Jews express'd their Sentiment concerning it thus One of the Keys proper to God and kept in his own Hand is that of Rain thereby reckoning it a singular and immediate Gift of the Almighty And they used to join it with two other Keys viz. of giving Life and of Raising from the Dead which shews that they thought it peculiar to God alone And then the known Vsefulness of this Blessing is an Argument of its Author This is with great Elegancy set forth by the Inspired Poet Psal. 65.9 Thou visitest the Earth and waterest it thou greatly enrichest it with the River of God i. e. the Clouds or Rain which is full of Water thou preparest them Corn when thou hast so provided for it by vouchsafing seasonable Showers thou waterest the Ridges thereof abundantly thou settlest the Furrows thereof thou makest it soft with Showers thou blessest the Springing thereof thou crownest the Year with thy Goodness and thy Paths the Clouds wherein God is Poetically said to walk Psal. 18.9 drop Fatness They drop upon the Pastures of the Wilderness and the little Hills rejoice on every side The Pastures are clothed with Flocks the Valleys also are cover'd over with Corn they shout for Ioy they also sing This they do thus they behave themselves being as it were drunk with the Bottles of Heaven as the Clouds are call'd Iob 38.37 being abundantly satisfied with Ioresh and Malkosh the former and the latter Rain the first of which is necessary after the Seed is sown the second before Harvest to set it forward to fill the Ears Wherefore St. Paul proves a God from the Clouds Acts 14.17 He left not himself without Witness i. e. of his Divine Power and Providence in that he gave us Rain from Heaven and as the Consequent of that fruitful Seasons For it is this Celestial Water that makes the Ground fruitful it hath a peculiar Faculty to do it and no other Water doth the like Thence that Talmudick Saying Rain is the Husband of the Earth because it impregnates it and makes it fructify Therefore Showers are rightly call'd by Pliny the Food of Plants the Meat as well as the Drink of all Vegetables But this is effected by the Divine Blessing and is a singular Testimony of God's Care of the World Thus from the Earth we prove there is a God in Heaven even from the Grounds and Fields refresh'd with Rain and thereby made fertile we argue a Divine Benefactor And now when I am speaking of the Clouds I must not forget the Rain-bow which is a Party-colour'd Cloud whose fine and gay Paintings are the various Reflection and Refraction of the Sun's Beams in that watry Substance This gaudy Mixture of Light and Shade arises naturally from the Difference of the Superficies of those Parts that constitute the Cloud and therefore without doubt it appear'd before the Deluge though we find it not mention'd till afterwards when it was appointed to be set in the Skies as a Sign of a Covenant between God and Man and ever since it hath continued and shall so to the last Period of all things a visible Token and Assurance of God's good Will to Mankind Wherefore as often as we view this Cloud made so remarkable by the Diversity of its Colours the Variety of its Tinctures let us thence be confirm'd in our Belief of a God and look upon this Beautiful Spectacle as an illustrious Symbol of the Divine Mercy and Beneficence Or to speak in the Words of the Wise Son of Sirach Look upon the Rainbow and praise Him that made it Very beautiful it is in the Brightness thereof It compasseth the Heaven with a glorious Circle and the hands of the most High have bended it Ecclus. 43.12 To the Clouds belong Thunder and Lightning and therefore may pertinently be spoken of here for when a Cloud breaks asunder by reason of hot and dry sulphureous and nitrous Vapours enclos'd and compass'd about with cold ones and so set on Fire and consequently extending themselves and violently making their way the Noise caus'd by this Rupture is that which we call Thunder and the flashing out of the Fire is Lightning Both which are comprehended in those Words Psal. 29.7 The Voice of the Lord divides the Flames of Fire And the former of them is call'd the Voice of the Lord upon the Waters ver 3. This is no other than his Thundring in the Clouds which usually turn into Rain when they are broken and scattered And perhaps to this may refer ver 10. The Lord sitteth upon the Floods i. e. upon the Clouds which are justly stiled Floods because of the abundance of Water contain'd in them And as Thunder is bred by Fire and Water in the Clouds so the Effects of it are of the like Nature for Lightning and Rain generally accompany the Thunder Wherefore we find this particularly taken notice of by the Pious Observers of Providence He maketh Lightnings for the Rain Psal. 135.7 He maketh Lightnings with Rain Jer. 10.13 And this is mentioned in Iob 37.2 5. 38.25 26. and not without great Reason for herein the Goodness and Mercy of God are seen because Rain is serviceable to connect and qualify the Thunder and by its Moisture to prevent the Hurt which otherwise might be done by the scorching Flashes which attend it Who is not sensible that Thunder is the more signal Operation of a Divine Cause and therefore is so frequently call'd God's Voice as in Exod. 20.18 Psal. 18.13 77.18 Ier. 10.13 Yea no less than seven times in the 29 th Psalm it is call'd the Voice of the Lord Which may not only signify a Great and Loud Voice for the Voice or Noise of Thunder is such especially in some Regions of the World as in some Parts of Africa and in the Southern Countries of Asia and America where it is much more Terrible than it is among us yea as a Learned Gentleman observes it as much exceeds the Thunder of these Northern Climes as the Heat there exceeds that of these but it more particularly denotes the Wonderful Author of it viz. the Almighty Being Which was the very Apprehension of some Men of the deepest Philosophy among the Gentiles Even they acknowledg'd this Fierce Meteor to be the Effect of no less than an Extraordinary and Divine Power Plutarch informs us that some of the Best Philosophers made it the Matter of their Wonder and Astonishment that Flames should proceed from watry Clouds and that such a Harsh Noise should be the Product of that Soft Matter I find a Great Natural Philosopher taking notice of the falling down of the Lightning from Heaven as a Wonderful thing because Fire naturally ascends It seems he did not think that the Motion of it downwards is sufficiently solved by the Violence of the
more fine and tender Plants those which will not bear a Degree of Heat beyond that of April would be all burnt up and destroy'd by it whilest it could never reach the more lofty and robust nor would there be near Heat enough to ripen their Fruits and bring them to Perfection Nothing would sute and hit all and answer every End of Nature but such a Gradual Increase and Decrease of Heat as now there is He adds that if he should descend to the Animal World the Inconveniences there would be as many and as great as in the Vegetable and such a Situation of the Sun and Earth as that which the Theorist supposes is so far from being preferrable to this which at present obtains that this hath infinitely the Advantage of it in all Respects Thus the Learned Dr. Woodward Therefore the Perpetual Equinox of the Theorist is but a Fancy and we have ground to assert that the Situation of the Earth is the same that it was at first and that the Year had the same Seasons Changes and Revolutions that it hath now and that all these are Attestations of the Divine Wisdom in making the World The said Theorist tells us also that the Earth had no Inequalities on its Surface at first but was as smooth and plain as a Die only this is square and that was round And as for the Earth which we now have he declares that there is no Shape nor Beauty in it yea it is Rude Indigested Irregular Monstrous It is but the Rubbish of what was before In short he saith 't is nothing but Ugliness and Deformity It seems according to this Gentleman it is a Chaos again But all the Wise Heads in the World have had other Apprehensions of it The most accurate and nice Judges of Beauty never thought it was a Deformed Mishapen Lump They never dreamt that Sea and Rocks and Mountains rendred it Ugly and Monstrous as this Author positively avers They rather thought that the Variety of Mountains Plains and Valleys c. makes it more grateful and comely than if it were all even they thought that this Diversity of its Parts was Ornamental And so without doubt it is and consequently the Form of this present Earth whatever this Theorist suggests to the contrary is Proportionable and Comely He shews that he is no Judg of Beauty for according to him a Flat Face without a Nose Forehead Cheeks Eyebrows or any other Protuberancies would be handsom So in the Face of the Earth he requires a Perfect Equality which indeed would be a Deformity I deny not but by Length of Time some Parts of the Earth may be worn away or broken in and sunk down c. and so may look ragged and disorder'd but he is very effeminate and nice if he will not bear with these reverend Wrinkles these lesser Defects of Pulchritude in our Mother Earth which she hath contracted by her Old Age. But as to the main she bears her Years well and keeps her pristine Beauty That Mixture of Risings and Plains of Hills and Dales c. which we discover in her is an Ornament and renders her in the whole Uniform and Regular and therefore 't is not to be question'd but that she was not without these at first And particularly as for Mountains which he reckons among the Monstrosities of this Earth and as the Effect of the Desolating Flood it is as evident as a plain Place of Scripture can make it that the Earth before the Flood was not destitute of these for it it said Gen. 7.19 The Waters prevail'd exceedingly on the Earth and all the high Hills that were under the whole Heaven were covered And further yet ver 20. to make it yet plainer fifteen Cubits upwards did the Waters prevail and the Mountains were covered Therefore it is undeniable that the Antediluvian Earth had high Hills and Mountains unless he will say that they were covered before they were And if they were before the Flood it is not to be question'd that they were the Product of the First Creation and were made by God himself It is probable this is intimated from that Epithet which is given them in Gen. 49.26 the everlasting Hills Gnolam here signifies the Antiquity of them viz. that they were made at first when the Earth was created and so are as it were perpetual or everlasting However if this be not meant it is rashly said by a very Learned Writer that it is an Idle Adjection Which appears further from Psal. 90.2 Before the Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God Where we see that the Production of the Mountains and the forming of the Earth and the World are synchronical which this Writer denies by saying they were produced a long time afterwards This is a Psalm of Moses which makes it the more remarkable for he that writ of the Creation and afterwards of the Flood and tells us the Waters of it cover'd the highest Hills and Mountains positively asserts here that these Hills and Mountains were created at the same time with the Earth and the World which confirms what he had said before And that Passage in Prov. 8.25 is very much to this purpose Before the Mountains were settled before the Hills was I brought forth for Solomon is there describing the Eternity of Wisdom and shewing that it existed before the Creation of the World and accordingly enumerates the principal Works of the Creation as the Depths the Sea the Fountains of Water the Heavens the Clouds the Earth and its Foundations and among these mentions the Mountains and Hills and asserts that before these and the other Parts of the Creation were produced Wisdom had an Existence Whence any Man of consistent Thoughts would infer that the Mountains as well as the Sea the Heavens the Fountains of Water c. were part of the first Creation for else they would not have been reckon'd up together with the rest as Parts of it We may conclude then that those Vast Swelling Protuberancies of the Earth were of the same Date with the World Though when I say this I do not deny but there might be some Hills rais'd afterwards by the Waters of the Deluge in Noah's time which as they threw down some Hills so they made some others by casting up great Heaps of Earth This I am not unwilling to grant as a thing Probable but what I have said before is Certain As to the manner of the Production of the First Hills and Mountains no Man can be positive It is likely they were rais'd by Subterraneous Fires and Flatus's saith Mr. Ray but I rather think that the Primitive Elevation of the Mountains was another thing and that those Fires were scarcely kindled or set on work so easily Some have guessed they were thus caus'd viz. whereas at first the Waters and Earth were both mix'd together God soon
and Happiness of the whole Race of Mankind that were to come after And which is yet more he proves that this Change this Dissolution of the Primitive Earth and the framing of another out of it is a great and singular Work and Argument of Providence of Counsel and Sagacity and he demonstrates in several Particulars that it is the Product of a Reasoning and Designing Agent We are come then at length to the Grand Matter which I was all along aiming at viz. the Proof of a Deity from the Make and Disposal of the Earth Thus that of the Psalmist is evinced to be true The Earth is full of thy Riches which he saith to convince us of the Wisdom of God in the Works of the Creation And now to close this part of my Discourse viz. concerning the Earth I will add a few Words concerning Earthquakes which are occasioned by those Spatious Cavities and Vaults which I have asserted before to be within the Bowels of the Earth Some of the old Philosophers imputed this Motion to Winds and Vapours bred in these hollow Places Others ascribe it to excessive Waters got into the Channels of the Earth by reason of excessive Rains and agitated there in those vast Caverns It was the Opinion of some of the Antients that this Motion was the Effect of the Sea 's beating on the Earth and powerfully moving and shaking it whence Neptune had the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Earth-shaker and he was call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Words are of the same import Others think it is caused wholly by the Subterraneous Fires and Sulphureous Matter in those Cavities Thus that Admirable Observer of the Works of Nature whom I have frequently cited attributes this Phaenomenon to the Elevation of the Water out of the Great Abyss which he supposes to be in the central Part of the Earth by the Virtue of this under-ground Fire He hath a Particular Notion of this Heat causing this Commotion and Disorder in the Earth But I conceive that All these are the Causes at one time or other nay it may be at the same time of Earthquakes strictly so call'd and Tremblings of the Earth which are Tendencies to them The Winds generated in the Entrails of the Earth may by extending the Parts in some Places cause a Tremour or by a sudden violent Eruption occasion a Greater Motion So by the immoderate Rains or by Inundations of the Sea the Meatus of the Earth may be washed and worn away and other adjacent Parts may give way and sink downwards and thereby cause a Motion above if with a subsiding in some of the extream Parts Also the Subterraneous Sulphury Matter of which there is great Quantity being inflamed may produce these Concussions by extraordinary Rarefaction which making more room must needs produce an unwonted Motion and sometimes a horrid Noise So that an Earthquake may be said to be a kind of a Subterranean Thunder This was Pliny's Notion of old Non aliud est in terrâ tremor quà m in nube tonitru Thus he speaks because of the Resemblance between the breaking of the Earth and of the Clouds and the Dreadful Shock that accompanies both But though Earthquakes are thus resolved into Physical Causes yet they are to be look'd upon as remarkable Testimonies of the Divine Power and Greatness We cannot but own and reverence these when we consider the Dreadful Effects of these Concussions Nay it is hardly to be solved by any of the forementioned Causes how there can be a trembling of the Earth at the same moment in Places that are so vastly distant from one another There was an Universal Shock almost all the World over in the Emperor Valentinian's time about the Year of our Lord 369. In the Year 1601 there was a shaking of the Earth in Asia Hungary Germany Italy France at the same time In Peru as Acosta relates this Tremor oftentimes reaches near six hundred Miles from North to South This must have an Extraordinary Cause and that Man must strain his Philosophy who undertakes to give a Satisfactory Account of it from Common Principles and the Natural Efficacy of Things This unusual Exertment of Divine Providence we of this Nation as well as others have lately felt with Surprise and Astonishment And I hope it will be thought no Digression if I here remind the Reader to reflect upon it with great Thoughtfulness and Seriousness and to consider and weigh the true Nature and Design of this amazing Event I know there are some Persons that slight all such Occurrences and tell us that they are from Natural Causes and therefore it is Weakness and Vanity to trouble our selves about them Men of Philosophy say they are acquainted with the Spring and Source of these Accidents and therefore are not possess'd with Fear and Dread and cannot be perswaded that Nature acting in its own way and according to its due Laws intends us any Mischief But the Reply to these Men is easy for though I most willingly grant that Earthquakes and the lesser Tendencies to them as Tremblings of the Earth are the Product of Natural Causes yet it is as true that the God of Nature when he is provoked by the Sinful Enormities of a People may and oftentimes doth turn these Natural Effects into Punishments and Iudgments So that both Philosophy and Divinity are concern'd here and they are very well consistent We may as Naturalists search into the physical Reasons of these Events but then as we are Students in Religion we are bound to make a farther Enquiry and to take notice of the Design of Heaven in these great and wonderful Effects that happen in the World With Philosophers and Physitians we are ready to grant that Scarcity and Famine Plague and Pestilence are naturally produced and yet we are ascertain'd from the Sacred and Infallible Records of Scripture that these were oftentimes inflicted by God on purpose as the Recompence of Mens heinous Sins So it is in the present Case which makes it very plain the Motion and Shaking of the Earth are to be attributed to Causes in Nature and I have before assigned what they are yet we must likewise acknowledg that there is a more than Ordinary Hand to be taken notice of in this Matter and as Understanding and Devout Christians we are to observe what the Purpose of Divine Providence is at such a Time Pursuant to this I offer these brief Remarks on that Signal and Stupendous Dispensation 1. The Antients have thought that this was ever attended with something that was Boding and Ominous Thus Socrates the Ecclesiastical Historian pronounces concerning the Earthquake which happen'd in the Days of the Emperors Valentinian and Valens that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain Sign of the Shakings and Convulsions which afterwards were in the Christian Churches And I could produce other very Grave Writers who speak to
lie so open to the Moon as the Ocean yet notwithstanding this they should have some considerable Degrees of Flux and Reflux but they have not The same is observable in the Euxine Sea and in the Dead Sea in Asia nor is there any regular and due Motion in the Archipelago Yea in the Northern Ocean beyond Scotland toward Norway and Green-land the Exaltation and Depression of the Waters are scarcely sensible From which Instances we may gather that the Moon is not the compleat Efficient of the Agitation of the Sea for then all Seas would be affected with its Influence more or less The most that we can say is that where this Reciprocal Motion is it depends only in part on the Regency of the Moon Kepler attributes it to a Magnetick Virtue in the Moon but he hath not had the Fortune to gain any to his Opinion Others therefore attempt to solve it another way if the Moon can't effect this Reciprocation of the Sea's Motion the Sun shall Accordingly some imputed it to the Sun 's raising of Vapours and Exhalations from the Sea This was an old Opinion for Plutarch tells us that it was held by Aristotle and by Heraclitus but there seems to be little Foundation for it because Exhalations are rais'd in all Seas Lakes and great Waters but there is not a Flux and Reflux in them all as hath been already observ'd The Younger Vossius holds that this Motion is caus'd by that of the Sun which is from East to West and such is the Flux of the Sea And this seems to have been the Opinion of Pliny and Ptolomy long before But there is no ground at all for it for the Tides may as well be imputed to the Stars as the Sun seeing they as well as this move from the East Again 't is to be remembred that the Sea moves from West to East in the Ebbing and yet the Sun at the same time hath no such Motion But there are so many and easy Objections and those unanswerable against this Hypothesis that it would be lost time to insist on this any further But if neither Sun nor Moon can do the Work the Earth must according to Galilaeus and Dr. Wallis who make the Motion of the Earth the sole Cause of the Flux and Reflux of the Sea But first they must prove that the Earth moves which will be a hard Task though 't is so Modish a Piece of Philosophy among the Moderns and then they must render a Reason why Lakes Meres and Rivers do not flow and ebb as well as the Sea at least why they do not move in some small measure seeing they cannot but be affected somewhat with the Agitation of the Earth as well as the Broader Waters The Learned Lydiat and some others search lower for the Original of the Sea's Motion and impute it to Subterraneous Fires But this is very weak for if those Fires were able to give it Motion it would certainly give it Heat also and the lower Men dive the warmer they would feel the Waters to be but I never heard of any Man that pretended to prove this Wherefore the Insufficiency and Weakness of these several Accounts given by Learned Men concerning the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea encline me to resolve this Phaenomenon wholly into a Supernatural Cause viz. the Power of God Lest this should be thought to be a Piece of Philosophical Phanaticism I will give the Reader an Account of what I say I grant it is noble and worthy of our rational Faculties to search into the Natural Causes of things and Philosophically to unravel the Secrets of the most abstruse Effects But when we find our selves puzzled and non-pluss'd and are not able to trace the Effects to their Physical Causes we ought to look up higher and own the more Signal Finger of God And this is our present Case we can't apprehend any Second Causes wholly interested in the Matter that is before us after all our Searches we find that this Wonderful Phaenomenon is above the Efficiency of Natural Agents and 't is certain that it is worthy of the Almighty Creator that some should be so and that for an excellent Purpose viz. that we should have some Check to our Inquisitions that we should be sensible of the Weakness and Shallowness of our Conceptions that we should adore the Creator himself and that we might throughly be convinced that the Divine Power infinitely surpasses that of Natural Efficients For these and other Reasons which we know not of nor is it fit we should God sometimes acts absolutely and entirely without making use of the Natural Agency of Second Causes he manages and performs the whole Work himself without any Concurrence of theirs Thus by an immediate Act of his Power he every Day puts this vast Abyss of Waters into a vehement Motion all the World over And this Exertment of Power is accompanied with infinite Goodness for it is for the real Advantage and Welfare of the Universe that this Heap of Waters is thus forcibly shaken by him The alternate Motion of the Sea which is caused by this violent Concussion is for the Preservation of that Element and the hindrance of its being corrupted And I impute the Saltness of these Waters to this for as for the Reasons which some give of this particular Property of the Sea-water as that it proceeds from the Rocks of fossile Salt which are at the Bottom of the Sea and sometimes upon its Shores as some would make us believe or that it is the Effect of the Subterraneous Bituminous Fires as Lydiat conceits or that it is caused by the Adustion of its Particles by the Sun as Aristotle thought and the like I look upon them as very imperfect and unsatisfactory Accounts It is true it hath been observ'd that the Ocean is salter in those Places which belong to the Torrid Zone than in those that are near the Poles or under them but this seems not to proceed from the Sun's Heat but from other Causes There is from the Ocean near the Equinoctial a greater Quantity of Water evaporated than from the more remote Seas and this is dissolv'd into Showers of fresh Water which fall generally in those Places which are at a great distance from the Equinoctial and qualify the Saltness of those Seas Besides fewer Rivers whose Water is void of Saltness discharge themselves into that Part of the Ocean which is near the Equinoctial than into that which is near the Poles and thence the former exceeds in this saline Quality These may be the Reasons why the Ocean between the Tropicks is salter than in the Temperate or Frigid Zones I say further if Saltness were produced by Heat then there might be an Experiment of turning fresh Water into that which is salt at least brackish by Fire but this was never yet done Yea I prove that Saltness is not from the Solar Heat because this on the contrary
changes the Nature of that Water which is salt and makes it fresh for the Water that is by the Heat of the Sun exhaled from the Sea and turn'd into Showers as was intimated before is not Salt Therefore the Heat of the Sun is not the Cause of the Salsitude of the Waters I am then of Varenius's mind in this that these salt Particles are coetaneous with the Ocean it self and therefore we ought no more to inquire into the Original of them than into the Original and Generation of the Sea it self or of the whole Earth But we may with some Satisfaction rest in the Final Cause of this Property which is that it may be serviceable to the same end that the Motion of this Element is viz. to preserve it from Putrefaction If the Ocean were either stagnated or had lost its saline Quality we should soon feel the dire Effects of it Fishes would die Navigation would be impossible because of the Corruption of that Element and the Inhabitants of the whole Earth would in a short time be infected and stifled with the noxious Steams of it Here then we cannot but own and with Reverence admire the Power Goodness and Wisdom of the Great Founder of the World that he was pleas'd thus to contrive the Ocean for the Good of Mankind and the Service of the Inhabitants of this lower World And these Divine Attributes are no less observable in the Bounding of this Vast Element For though it is true it is lodg'd in the more depress'd Parts of the Earth yet by its rapid and vehement Motion it is naturally apt to fly out of its proper Receptacles and Channels and in many Places it hath advanced it self and gained ground and is now in a Tendency to spread it self yet further and to enlarge its Dominions But the Overruling Arm of Heaven puts a stop to its Career and checks its enraged Waves and permits them to pass no further This that Pious Sufferer acknowledg'd when he was describing the infinite and unsearchable Power of God He hath compass'd the Waters with Bounds The Hebrew Verb here used is by Buxtorf rendred Circinavit and then the Elegancy of the Expression is very considerable He hath as with a pair of Compasses exactly described the Bounds of the Sea he hath with Divine Art and the most Accurate Skill and Wisdom terminated the boisterous Waves and raging Billows of the Ocean he has shut it in with Mountains Rocks and Commodious Shores This is taken notice of by another Inspired Author Thou hast set a Bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the Earth and to overwhelm the Inhabitants of it Especially those of the Islands of which We are a Part are concern'd to mention this with most thankful and hearty Resentments The Lord reigneth therefore as the same Devout Man saith let the Multitude of the Isles be glad thereof If He were not Lord and King if he did not rule and govern the World and particularly this Impetuous Element if he did not mercifully restrain and confine it it would unavoidably break in upon us and devour us It was unsufferable Presumption in Xerxes to attempt to fetter the Hellespont it was saucy Arrogance in King Canuâ—e to charge the Sea not to come in upon him And it is but a fond Superstition in the Venetian to think to espouse the Sea and marry the Adriatick on Holy Thursdays It is the Almighty Providence of Heaven only that can give Laws and Rules to the Roaring Waves It is this only that can allay and moderate the Deep when it boils like a Pot it is this alone that can curb and master its Fury So the Almighty himself informs us He hath shut up the Sea with Doors and again He brake up for it his decreed Place and set Bars and Doors and said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud Waves be stayed And farther Proofs of this Divine Power we may take notice of in the Deep if we consider that God hath made this both the Source or Origine and also the Common Receptacle of Waters Fountains and Springs arise not only from the Great Abyss of Waters in the Center of the Earth as a late Worthy Writer hath rendred very probable but from the Ocean i. e. from condens'd Vapours or Waters themselves sent up from the Sea through the Earth and by the Subterraneous Fires exhaled up to Hills and Mountains and thereby the Cold condens'd into Waters which supply Rivers and are at last carried back to the Sea This admirable Contrivance is as I conceive meant in Psal. 104.8 They i. e. the Waters go up by the Mountains by advantage of Rise they climb up through secret Passages of the Earth they go down by the Valleys they thence fall by their natural Weight into those Places where they are most profitable for the Use of Men and so at last into the Place which thou hast founded for them they return to the Ocean their Great Repository There is a Continual Circulation of Water in the Earth as of Blood in the Bodies of Animals it constantly flows from Place to Place and never stands still From the Sea it passes to Spring-heads through Subterraneous Channels and sometimes Fish as well as Water is convey'd in these Passages if they be of any considerable largeness whence by the way I think may be given an account of Shell-fish and Bones of other Fish which are sometimes found in digging deep in the Ground it is probable they came from the Sea in these Pipes under ground from those Spring-heads the Water is derived to Rivers tho I grant these are partly supplied by Rains and Snows as when sudden Inundations happen and from the Rivers there is a Passage into the Sea again and thus the Waters run round as Blood in the Veins and Arteries of Living Creatures And the circular Motion of one is as necessary for the Good of the World in general as the other is for that of Animals in particular There is indeed a Late Ingenious Writer that fancies the Sea is a Blemish to the World and therefore he tells us that the First Earth was without any such thing But it is no wonder that he that dreams of an Earth without Clouds makes it wholly void of Seas Yet this is to be wondred at that any Man should aver with Confidence that the Antediluvian Earth was without Sea when we read in Gen. 1.21 that God created great Whales they must be Whales on the dry Land according to this Author for he allows no Sea for them nay when we expresly read that God gave Adam Dominion over the Fish of the Sea Gen. 1.26 28. Only here again our wonder must cease when we remember what the Author hath since divulged to the World viz. that the first Chapters of Genesis are not to be understood in a Literal but an
of what is said Iob 40.19 He is the chief of the Ways of God he is Reshith the Beginning the Top the Head the Principal of all the living Creatures made by God Here is as 't were a Complication of Animals here are many Beasts in one and thence he hath his Name or Behemoth i. e. as it were a Plurality of Beasts for such his extraordinary Greatness seems to include in it and thereby sets forth the Infinite Power of his Maker And in the all other Four-footed Animals of which we are speaking there are some Emanations of the Celestial Power and Virtue to be discern'd The fecundity of the Divine Goodness is seen in the Various Exertments of the Animal Life in these Creatures as the Strength of the Horse the Ox c. the Fierceness of the Lion Wolf Tigre Leopard the Greediness of the Swine the Mildness of the Ass and the Sheep the Salacity of the Goat the Swiftness of the Camel and Dromedary of the Horse the Hound the Hare c. the Sagacity of the Fox and Ape the docible Nature of the Elephant the domestick Faithfulness of the Dog and his Love to his Master and all the other different displayings of the Sensitive Nature in these Beasts For the Indulgent Creator would have all the various Species of Brutes enjoy their Essence in the way which is most agreeable to them The other Sort of Terrestrial Animals are those that are call'd Creeping Things as the groveling Serpent of which there are several kinds the slow-paced Snail Adders and Snakes and particularly the Rattle-snake which makes a Noise before it is seen and so gives warning of its being near and abundance of other Reptile Animals which proceed from the same Infinite Source and Author For 't is certain that these despis'd Creatures are as beautiful in their kind in the Universe as Angels and Cherubims and they according to their Make and Nature extol their Creator as well as these Though we need not believe the Mahometans when they tell us that at the time when Abraham was cast into the Fire by the Chaldeans the Frogs came and spurted Water out of their Mouths upon him for which Reason these Animals are in great Esteem with them and must not be kill'd yet we may join with them when they say that The Coaxation of Frogs is Lauding of God The meanest Creature that creeps upon Earth speaks a God praises his Name and celebrates his Honour for besides that its very Being and Life are the Sole Gift of an Infinite and Omnipotent Author it is someways useful and profitable in the World and thereby conduces to the Divine Glory The next Rank of Animals are those which live wholly in the Waters viz. in the Sea or in Rivers as Fishes Of Living Creatures these were the first that were made then Birds and afterwards Four-footed Beasts because they exceed one another in their Make and Qualities for the Creation was Gradual and proceeded from what was less perfect to that which was more But though these Aquatiles be inferiour to other Animals as being destitute of several Bodily Parts which the others have yet in some respects they are equal to them and as to their Fruitfulness they exceed the greatest Part of all other Creatures These and Birds being Oviâ—arous have many young Ones at a time which is the Effect of that Blessing Be fruitful and multiply Gen. 1.22 which as we may observe was particularly and peculiarly spoken to Fish and Fowl though not exclusively of other Creatures Indeed it was congruous to Divine Providence that there should be a very great Number and Plenty of Fishes because this sort of Creatures above all the rest feed one upon another Of all Animals these are of the vastest Magnitude as the Whale and all Cetaceous Fish But especially Whales those Mountanous Fishes those Living Islands those Hyperboles of Nature exceed all other watry Animals in greatness Therefore the singular Power and Providence of God are set forth in the Description of the Leviathan Job 41. as well as in that of its Brother at Land the Elephant in the foregoing Chapter And there are other Fishes of a very large Size as the Crocodile which is so great that Bochart fancies it to be meant by the Leviathan and a late French Author attempts to prove that there are no other Dragons in Nature but Crocodiles the Dolphin a great lover of Men and Musick the Tuny the Saw-fish and several others which together with the lesser Inhabitants of this briny Element give Testimony to a Deity Even these Mute Animals proclaim the Divine Power and Wisdom It is to be observ'd to this purpose that though Fishes have some Parts common to them with other Animals yet they have several that are proper and peculiar to their kind which shews the distinguishing Providence of God in the Structure of their Bodies and making them serviceable to those ends which they were intended for None of them except the Cetaceous kind have any Ears or Ear-holes yet they hear if several credible Writers are to be believed nay it is plain from this that those who go about to take them do it Silently for they find that Noise affrights them from coming to the Bait or Net Fishes of the greater and more perfect kind have Lungs and Breath But to those of the ordinary kind and size their Gills serve instead of Lungs and with them they let in and out the Water which is to them in lieu of Air. Others who have been very Curious in their Enquieries are of opinion that they take in and emit the Air with their Gills and so these are of the same use to them that Lungs are to Quadrupeds and the Blood passes in its Circulation through the Gills as in Beasts through the Lungs For that Fishes have a kind of Respiration and breathe thrô these Organs is not to be doubted they say whatever the Aristotelians have said to the contrary Fishes have no Eye-lids as other Animals have and the reason is because they have no use of them Mr. Ray hath shew'd that their Bodies are purposely shaped for their more easy Swimming Their Fins answer to the Wings of Birds and cause their quick Motion Yea some of them have such long and large Fins that they serve them to fly with Not only Pliny mentions the Sea-swallow and other sorts of Fishes that fly above the Water and hover in the Air a considerable time but Rondeletius and our Purchas make mention of them and I do not see any reason to question their Credit This these Fishes are able to do by the extraordinary Strength of their Fins And the same Parts though not so strong in others are the necessary Instruments of their moving so nimbly And so are their Tails which are as 't were the Rudder to these Vessels And in most Fishes there is an Air-bladder which helps them to swim And from other Particulars which