elegant descriptions the Author gives the subject he treats of shew that he has a great command of Language His Rhetorical expressions may easily captivate any incautious reader and make him swallow down for truth what I am apt to think the Author himself from the sacred character he bears designed only for a Philosophical Romance seing that an ordinary examination thereof according to the laws of Mechanisme cannot but shew that he has acted the part of an Orator much better than he has done that of a Philosopher For in reality none of these wonderful effects which he indeavours to explain could have proceeded from the causes he assigns And to demonstrate this is the design of this small Treatise in which I will not inquire how far the Theory is agreeable to Holy Scriptures that being a work already done by others who I presume understand that Subject better than I do neither will I confine my self to follow the Author from Chapter to Chapter and find fault with every thing contain'd in the Theory least it should look more like spitefulness and ill nature than a diligent search after Truth My design therefore is to choose out some of the principal heads of the Theory and having shown them to be false and disagreeable to the laws of Mechanisme the rest must all fall to the ground of course CHAP. I. An Examination of the Theorists general Argument which he uses to prove the Truth of his Theory IN the second and third Chapters the Theorist makes way for an Argument which he alledges in his seventh to prove the truth of his Theory viz. that all other wayes for the explication of Noah's Flood are false and impossible and that he has given the only possible and consistent Idea of an universal flood and therefore it came to pass the way he has assigned and no other This Argument we see is founded upon two Propositions 1 st That no other way is possible and 2 dly That his own Theory is an intelligible and consistent explication of the universal flood This last Proposition I intend to examin in the following Chapter and the first in this The Theorist to prove all the common ways of explicating the universal deluge false and impossible Calculates the quantity of water which would be sufficient to cover the whole earth above the tops of the highest Mountains and finds that no less than eight Oceans of water could be sufficient for such a work Now it is certain says he that such a stock of waters could neither come from the Sea the Rain or subterraneous Caverns Channels of the earth there being no such quantity of water in nature as would be requisite for such a purpose and therefore the explication of the deluge from these causes is impossible Neither will he allow any supercelestial waters to make up the eight Oceans necessary for the deluge For if there were any such waters the Heavens above where they lay must be either solid or fluid If solid as Glass or Chrystal how could the waters get thro them to descend upon the earth If fluid as the Air or AEther how could the waters rest upon them it being heavier than Air But if you will suppose that waters were brought down from this imaginary region to drown the world in that vast quantity that would be necessary what became of them when the deluge ceased It would be a hard task to lift seven or eight Oceans of water up among the spheres and there is no room for them here below Thus the Theorist thinks that the vulgar makes the deluge impossible and unintelligible upon a double account both in requiring more water than can be found and more if found than can be dispos'd of This is the sum of the Theorist's Argument why all other methods and explications of the deluge are false and impossible which I have here related because I think it an evident demonstration of the impossibility of all Natural and Mechanical explications of the deluge whatsoever even his own not excepted as I shall shew in its due place it being impossible for Nature not assisted with extraordinary divine power to bring so much water upon the earth and if it were once brought it is as impossible to move it But all this does no way prove that the deluge might not have been brought upon the earth by the Almighty power of God Cannot he bring out the waters from the deep or the Abysse as from a Storehouse and sustain them from running down again with the same ease he made the waters of the red Sea stand on an heap while the Israelites passed through Is any thing of this nature too hard for the Almighty to perform Might not he if there were not enough in the abysse bring water on the earth from the Heavens above which might have been there from the Creation notwithstanding the Theorist's question How could they rest there Since the same power might keep them in their place that detains the Moon or any other of the Planets in their orbits and perhaps from some of these or from other places best known to the Divine wisdom some of this water was brought upon the earth and afterwards remov'd by the Omnipotent hand of God who only worketh great wonders Is not this a much easier and shorter account of the deluge than the Theorist's which is built upon false and precarious principles inconsequential conclusions which after all will not be sufficient to produce the desired effect But it seems the Theorist is not very willing to acknowledge that God Almighty had any hand in that great Catastrophe of the world tho' it be plainly told us in Scripture that he was the immediate Author thereof Gen. 6.17 Behold saith God I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the Earth Nor do I see any reason why he ought not to acknowledg the universal deluge of the world to be Miraculous as well as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was by raining of Fire and Brimstone since they were both sent as punishments for the sins of men neither of which without doubt had ever happened if man had continued in the state of Innocence The Scriptures give us an account of several Miracles wrought by the hand of Omnipotence upon occasions which did not so necessarily require them Why ought we then to deny this universal destruction of the earth to be miraculous Miracles are the great wonderful works of God by which he sheweth his Dominion and Power and that his Kingdom reacheth over all even Nature her self and that he does not confine himself to the ordinary methods of acting but can alter them according to his pleasure Were not they given us to convince us of the sacred truths contained in holy Scripture Was it not by the demonstrative force of Miracles that Moses and the Apostles proved their divine Mission beyond all that other Framers of Religions could pretend to And tho' our holy Faith
and consequently the one will descend when the other cannot As for example suppose a sphere of an inch diameter was put into an oily fluid whose resistance was just equal to the force of gravity in the descending body there being an aequilibrium the former would swim in the latter Now if another sphere of two inches diameter and of the same intensive gravity were put in the same fluid in gravity or force by which it would separate the particles of the fluid would be eight times greater than the descending force of the former sphere and if in resistance were also eight times greater it is plain that it also could not descend but the resistance being always as I noted before as the surface of the descending body is only in the present case four times greater which will not equal the force of its gravity and therefore the sphere must descend So in our present case tho' some small grains of dust or earth may swim upon the surface of Oil yet these when increas'd by the addition of a great many others which fall upon them augment their weight the same resistance continuing and must fall to the bottom Besides this the earthy particles falling from a great height some of them descending from places as high as the Moon as the Theorist will have them must needs in their descent â—â—â—â—ire a very considerable degree of velocity with which falling upon the surface of the oily Orb they will not only by that force descend themselves but also carry down with them and condense whatsoever bodies they met in their way or found swimming upon the surface of the oil Now that the force of a descending body is so great as to perform this effect I think is clear to any who considers that a heavy body runs down fifteen foot in a second and that the spaces thro' which it does move are always in duplicate proportion to its times as is demonstrated by Galileo and confirmed by the experiments of Riscioli from whence by calculation it will follow that a body would run down four thousand miles in the space of twenty three seconds abstracting from the resistance of the air But if we will suppose but the hundredth part of this space run thro' in that time allowing all the rest for the resistance of the Medium yet even in that case the velocity would far exceed that of the swiftest bullet that can be shot out of a Cannon Thus I think I have made it evident that the particles of earth after falling thro' the air could not rest upon the surface of the oily Orb to form there an hardened habitable 〈◊〉 not only upon the account of their greater gravity which the Theorist acknowledges and is also plain by experience common earth being near twice as heavy as water but also upon the account of the great force by which they must of necessity fall upon the liquid Orb which will carry them down towards the Center I hope now it will appear to any thinking man plainly impossible that either oil or water should sustain such an immense heavy Orb in which was not only the soft earth which in few places in ten foot deep but also a prodigious quantity of stones and minerals much heavier than water for it is certain that these great heavy bodies must have sunk to the bottom if they were left to themselves and yet these bodies make up the greatest part of our outward earth I know the Theorist does boldly affirm that there was neither Metals nor Minerals in the primitive earth but this is both contrary to reason and Scripture for the Holy Scriptures tell us that Tuhal Cain before the floud was an instructer of every Artificer in Brass and Iron and I would fain know how there could be such Artificers before the flood when according to him there was no such thing to be seen as Metals Besides 't is hardly possible to build an Ark that should contain all the terrestrial and aerial animals without Iron The Americans without any Iron made themselves small Cannoes of one solid piece of Timber which they hollowed by burning but it would be a strange Tree that was of the dimensions of the Ark and could contain so many animals as it did These things do in my judgement plainly show that the Theorists opinion in this point is utterly false From what I have already said I think it may be clearly demonstrated that the Fabrick of the 〈◊〉 can never be deduced from a Chaos by the sole help of Mechanical principles and Natural causes For it is evident to any one who has eyes tho there have been some wise Philosophers of another opinion that the Land is higher than the Water and it is also plainly experienced that common arable earth or clay is much heavier than water and if we descend into the Mines or Pits we shall find the matter there to be three or four times heavier than the earth above Now it is plain from what I have already proved that in a Chaos the true change that would follow from Mechanical principles and Natural causes is that if all were fluid the heaviest solidest Bodies would subside and fall to the Center every one taking place according to the specifick gravity so that the lighter Bodies would always be forced uppermost the earth therefore being heavier than the water must of necessary place it self nigher the Center and leave the water to cover the face of the whole Orb. Thus the surface of the World could never be inhabited by any other Animal than Fishes But in how much wiser order than this has the great Creator of the World plac'd all the Bodies of the earth so that notwithstanding the greater gravity of the Land it is raised higher than the Sea and thereby made fit and habitable both for man and beasts without the help of Natural and Mechanical causes which would have produc'd the contrary effect Several other arguments might be brought to demonstrate that the fâ—â—me of this World was the result of wisdom and counsel and not of the necessary and essential Laws of motion and gravitation which could never have either made or supported the World I always wonder'd at the wild and extravagant fancy of the Philosophers who thought that brute and stupid matter would by it self without some supreme and intelligent director fall into a regular and beautiful structure whose parts should be so extreamly well adapted to various uses as if they had been the result of wisdom and contrivance I will conclude this Chapter with a discourse of the Theorist in his 10 th Chap. lib. 2. In the construction of the Body of an Animal says he there is more of thought and contrivance more of exquisite invention and fit dispositions of parts than is in all the Temples Palaces Ships Theaters or any other pieces of Architecture the World ever yet saw and not Architecture only but all other Mechanism whatsoever Engines
contrivance that they demonstrate to us the admirable wisdome of their great maker who has thus formed them for so necessary ends If the earth were smooth regular and uniform water without doubt would stagnate and stink for how is it possible for water to run where there is no rising ground no upper land from which it is to descend to the lower and even parts of the earth I know the Theorist thinks that he has clearly solved that great difficulty by the oval figure of his Antediluvian earth in which he fancies that Rivers will run notwithstanding the earths regular and even surface But when I come to discuss that point I will shew that the earth has not nor ever had any such oval figure as he supposes and upon supposition it had yet even in that case there could be no current Water or Rivers and where there is no current waters there must be but uncomfortable living How many great parts of the world lie perfectly destitute of inhabitants for want of waters Travellers tell us fearful stories of the incredible extremities they have suffered in going thorough the Desarts of Arabia for want of fresh waters It is plain therefore that if the primitive earth was inhabitable there must be Mountains in it for I think I have already proved that in a smooth regular earth there could be no Rivers And the great advantages which Countries reap by being well furnished with Rivers is very evident for without them there could be no great Towns nor any converse with far inland Countries since without them it is almost impossible to supply a vast multitude of People with things necessary for life If we should suppose the Thames taken away from London or it's course diverted so as to be at a great distance from it there is no doubt but that City would quickly to its loss very much find the want of so great an advantage and from being one of the greatest in the space of some few hundred years it would come to be one of the least Cities of the Universe It cannot be said though Rivers are now in the present state of the world of great use and benefit to mankind that in the antediluvian earth there was no such necessity for them there being no such great traffick as now nor such a number of people to be maintain'd by it For this seeming objection is clearly solved by the Theorist himself in his third Chapter Book I. where he proves the number of the antediluvian people to have been at least as great as they are now and the world altogether as well peopled And if so since men lived then to a very great age some of them to nine hundred years they would be well taught by experience and understand most of those things which are useful and profitable for them as well as we do now But I need not go about to prove there were Antediluvian Rivers since it is plainly asserted by Moses that there were such in the second Chapter of Genesis whose authority I hope the Theorist will not deny For he himself acknowledges their existence before the Floud and endeavours to explain their rise without the help of mountains which explication in its due place I will prove to be false and impossible Since therefore it is plain from Reason from Scripture and the Theorist's own concessions that there were Rivers in the primitive Earth and seeing it is impossible for any such to be without Mountains without higher and lower grounds the Theorist's Oval-figured earth not being sufficient for such an effect From thence it does 〈◊〉 evidently follow that Mountains were before the floud And therefore his assertion that the primitive earth was smooth regular and uniforme is false and absurd CHAP. IV. Of the Perpendicular position of the Axis of the Earth to the plane of the Ecliptick AMong other Characters of the Golden Age with which the Theorist endows his primitive Earth one is a perpetual Spring which was then all the world over all the parts of the years being of one and the same tenour face and temper Then says he there was no Winter nor Summer Seed time or Harvest but a continual temperature of the Air and Verdure of the Earth The reason which he brings for this assertion is that at first the Axis of the Earth was parallel to the Axis of the Ecliptick and consequently the plane of the AEquator being coincident with the plane of the Ecliptick the Sun in its diurnal motion would seem to move always in the AEquator making equal Dayes and Nights throughout the year Notwithstanding this fine description of the Theorist's I hope to make it appear in this Chapter that the right position of the Earth as he calls it is so very far from being desirable as he imagins it is that it is one of the worst it could have and that therefore the Earth was never placed by God Almighty at the beginning of the world in such a position For I here lay it down as an axiom which I am confident the Theorist will allow that God at the beginning placed the Earth in such a position as was most advantageous to the whole and tho perhaps another position might have been fitter for some particular place yet the whole would have been the worse for it God by his infinite wisdome and goodness alwayes choosing such constitutions and positions of things as bring with them the greatest good and utility to the Universe Let us therefore consider whither this right position which the Theorist says was that of the primitive Earth was the best it could have and if after examination we find that no such Character as that of best belonged to it but rather the contrary it being by far more disadvantageous to the Earth than the present one we may confidently conclude from the above mentioned axiom that the Earth never had any such position That great and learned Astronomer Kepler who certainly had more than an ordinary penetration nay perhaps a divine impulse in discovering the works of Nature and Providence in his Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae has shewed that the present position of the earths Axis is by far preferable to any other especially to that of the perpendicular position to the plane of the Ecliptick for he tells us in his Lib. 3. Part 4. That if the Axis of the earth about which it turned stood at right angles with the plane of the Ecliptick and the earth in the mean time turned round the Sun as it does now that then indeed the Sun would seem to rise and set every day and make its circuit from West to East under the fixed stars in the space of a year but then there would be no division of the Ecliptick into halves quarters and signs no distinction of the year by its different qualities of heat and cold every night would be equal to every day there would be two places in the Earth to whose inhabitants more
Calculated that it would at least require eight Oceans of water to cover the face of the whole Earth and raise the waters to a height that would be requisite for drowning of the world Now there being but one Ocean of water in the Abyss how is it possible that any however violent agitation and force by which the waters were driven upwards should multiply this one Ocean of waters into eight Oceans this I am sure is a thing as impossible for him to explain as it is for me to believe it is plain indeed that the fall of the Crust especially if there were any considerable distance between the Abyss and it would raise the waters to the tops of the highest Mountains and would in some places produce a partial Deluge but it is evident that it is impossible in nature let the motion be never so violent that one Ocean should be sufficient to cover the whole Earth and that above the tops of the highest Mountains when eight Oceans are the least that can be required to perform such an effect The waters indeed at different times might have covered the whole Earth successively first by making a Deluge in one place and then in another but this could never have been brought to pass by the fall of the Crust at once Besides the Scriptures inform us that the whole Earth was under water at the same time that all the high Hills that were under the whole Heaven were covered now it is as impossible that one Ocean should suffice to drown the whole Earth and cover the tops of the highest Hills tho for the space of one moment as it is to make one pint of pure water fill a vessel which holds a Gallon This Argument which I have now used is the Theorists own which he has alledged in his 2 d and 3 d Chapters against all other wayes of destroying the Earth by a Deluge but he did not then observe that it concluded as strongly against his own Theory as it did against any other which pretends to explain the Deluge without the supposition of more water than what was Lodged in the Ocean or the Clouds But tho I should suppose that there was sufficient water in the Abyss to cover the face of the whole Earth at once yet I cannot conceive how such a flood of waters that was raised by the fall of the Crust could last for so long a time as the Scriptures inform us Noah's flood did which was an hundred and fifty dayes without abating on the face of the Earth We know that water driven with great violence upwards falls down again in a very short space of time and can we Imagin that the water which was raised by the fall of the Crust could last many dayes or indeed many hours without descending again to its ancient Channel But the Scriptures assure us that the water in Noah's Flood continually encreased and prevailed on the Earth for the space of one hundred and fifty dayes it is plain therefore that for this very reason the Flood of Noah could never be produced by the fall of this outward Crust of the Earth The Conclusion THERE are two sort of Arguments that may be brought against the Theory the one depends only on the principles of Reason and Philosophy and the other on the Authority of the writings of Moses but these which might be gathered from Moses would be of no force against the Theorist since he denyes the truth of his narrations which he imagines to be invented by that excellent Law-giver to please and amuse the Jews I have therefore in this Treatise only made use of Arguments which are drawn from Philosophy which he cannot refuse to admit since he appeals to them for the Truth of his own Hypothesis Because the Theorist tells us that all things were made according to the three Mathematical sciences of Arithmetick Staticks and Geometry and that to understand the manner of their composition we must proceed in the search of them by the same Principles and resolve them into these again I thought therefore I might fairly examin his Theory by the rules of those three Mathematical Sciences and I hope that I have shown that it is built on principles which are directly repugnant to each of them But because Arguments drawn from the Mathematicks are not easily understood by those that are unacquainted with that Science I have endeavoured to choose only those Arguments which are plain and obvious and which depend only on Arithmetick and the common principles of Hydrostaticks so that except in one or two places there is nothing in this Treatise but what may be easily understood by those who have a moderate knowledge in these Sciences The points I have examined according to these rules are First The Origination of the Earth from a Chaos which as it is delivered down to us by Moses must be undoubtedly owned by those who acknowledge the Divine Inspiration of that Writer But as the Theorists method of forming the World is not agreeable to the Mosaick History so I think I have shewed that it is repugnant also to the Laws of Nature and Gravitation which by his method could never have produced any habitable World 2 dly The form of the Antediluvian World which the Theorist sayes was smooth regular and uniform without mountains and without a Sea This he asserts to be a necessary consequence of its rise from a Chaos but I have proved that it is not so necessary that an Earth arising from a Chaos should be uniform and smooth as he supposes I have also shewed the great use of Mountains and how necessary they are for our subsistance in the present Earth and that they are so far from being placed here without design as the Theorist imagins that there is scarce any thing in nature that shews more of wisdom and contrivance than they do being absolutely necessary for the furnishing and maintaining Rivers with fresh waters which is a demonstration that they were in the primitive Earth as well as they are in ours 3 dly The right position of the Earths Axis which I have proved to be so far from being excellent and fitted for a Paradisiacal World that it would make the greatest part of the Earth not habitable I have also enquired into the great advantages we reap from the present position of the Earths Axis which is by far preferable to any other especially to the perpendicular position of the Axis of the Earth to the plane of the Ecliptick 4 thly The method the Theorist has found out to form the Antediluvian Rivers when there was no Sea to furnish them with waters or any Channel or Ocean to receive them This I have proved to be impossible on several accounts since the heat of the Sun could never bring up so much Vapour from the Abyss as would be necessary to furnish all the Rivers of the Earth with water and tho we should grant that Vapours were drawn
from the Abyss in places near the Equinoctial as he supposes yet it is impossible that it should ever reach the Poles there to form the Springs from which the Rivers were to run Or if Vapours were once brought to the Poles by whatever cause we can imagin yet it is impossible that they should ever run back from the Poles to the AEquator since according to him the Earth was perfectly smooth and uniform without any upper grounds from whence the water was to descend to the lower places of the Earth 5 thly The Figure of the Earth which the Theorist rightly affirms not to have been exactly Spherical because at the Commencement of the Diurnal rotation it being Fluid all the parts of it would endeavour to recede from the Axis of their motion but as he has guessed that it did settle into an Oblong Spheroidical or Oval Figure on no other account that I know of but because he thinks such a one would best answer his design so I think I have clearly enough demonstrated that the Earth has formed it self into a quite contrary Figure whose Axis is shorter than the Diameter of the AEquator and I have proved from Observations that the Earth is really of such a Figure 6 thly The causes the Theorist has assigned for the breaking of the outward Crust which he affirms to be done by the great heat of the Sun But this I have clearly proved to be a cause altogether insufficient for such an effect since the heat of the Sun could never reach so far into so thick a Crust as to be great enough to raise water into Vapours But lastly granting the Crust to have been broken and to have fallen down into the Abyss yet I have proved from the Theorists own Principles that there could follow no Universal Deluge there being not so much water in the Abyss as was sufficient to cover the face of the whole Earth Throughout the whole Examination I have observed the Theorists advice and have considered only the substance of the Theory without making any excursions upon things that are accidental and collateral which as he sayes do not destroy his Hypothesis These are the main foundations on which his Theory is built and since I have proved them all to be not only precarious but impossible his whole Hypothesis must fall with them Perhaps many of his Readers will be sorry to be undeceived for as I believe never any Book was fuller of Errors and Mistakes in Philosophy so none ever abounded with more beautiful Scenes and surprising Images of Nature but I write only to those who might perhaps expect to find a true Philosophy in it They who read it as an Ingenious Romance will still be pleased with their Entertainment FINIS SOME REMARKES ON M r. WHISTON'S Theory of the Earth THO' I think it impossible to give a True and Mechanical account of that great Deluge of waters which once overflowed the Face of the whole Earth it being a work not to be performed without the extraordinary contrivance of the Divine power yet I cannot but acknowledge that Mr. Whiston the Ingenious Author of this new Theory of the Earth has made greater discoveries and proceeded on more Philosophical Principles than all the Theorists before him have done In his Theory there are some very strange coincidents which make it indeed probable that a Comet at the time of the Deluge passed by the Earth It is surprizing to observe the exact correspondence between the Lunar and Solar year upon the supposition of a circular Orbit in which the Earth moved before the Deluge It cannot but raise admiration in us when we consider that the Earth at the time of the Deluge was in its Perihelion which would be the necessary effect of a Comet that passed by at that time in drawing it from a Circular to an Elliptical Orbit This together with the consideration that the Moon was exactly in such a place of its Orbit at that time as equally attracted with the Earth when the Comet passed by seems to be a very convincing Argument that a Comet really came very near and passed by the Earth on the day the Deluge began But notwithstanding this I believe it will be evident by the following considerations that a Comet could never have produced those various effects that Mr. Whiston has attributed to it and it will also further appear that the Deluge was the immediate work of the Divine power and that no secondary causes without the interposition of Omnipotence could have brought such an effect to pass But first I will make some Remarks on the Origin of the Primitive Earth and method by which Mr. Whiston supposes it was formed Mr. Whiston's first Hypothesis is that the antient Chaos the Origin of our Earth was the Atmosphere of a Comet but this supposition tho he endeavours to prove it by several Arguments doth not seem probable for the reasons following First the Scriptures represent the Primitive Antient Chaos as a very dark and obscure Body for they say that it was without form and Void and that Darkness was upon the face of the Deep this will further appear by the next verse where God is said to have made light upon the first day of the Creation which is a clear proof that there was none before that time but that the whole Chaos was originally a dark and confused heap of Bodies Now it is certain by the Testimonies of all those who have made any Observations about Comets that their Atmospheres are very bright and luminous Fluids through which the beams of the Sun diffuse themselves very freely and many of them are again reflected back to us and indeed if we consider their pellucidness and the vast quantity of Light which passes through them without reflection it is not easy to imagine how they should appear so lucid to our Eyes Nor do I believe that it is possible to find among all the pellucid Bodies of our Earth any one which being placed at the same distance from us as the Atmosphere of Comets are would appear so bright or reflect the light so strongly as they do For it is easy to be observed that diaphanous Bodies are not so luminous nor do they reflect light in such a quantity as it is reflected from opake Bodies It cannot be said that the light by which we perceive a Comet is only reflected from the top of its Atmosphere and that it doth not pass through the Body of it to illuminate all the other parts of it which are therefore involved in thick darkness for it is evident that light passes clearly through the whole Body of the Atmosphere and illuminates the central solid which strongly reflects the light to us back again I know Mr. Whiston supposes that this great darkness mentioned in the Scripture proceeded from the subsiding of the vast Dense and heavy Fluid or large Abyss which he sayes encompassed the central solid and was it self covered over
reasons that I cannot be induced to believe Mr. Whistons Hypothesis that the Earth had no diurnal rotation before the fall to be probable it seeming to be far more agreeable to the Laws of Nature and Philosophy that the Earth received both its annual and diurnal motions at the same time viz. when it was first Created These are the chief and principle Remarks that I have made on the Original State and Formation of the Earth I will now briefly consider his Theory of the Deluge which is in short thus He supposes that a Comet at the time of the Deluge came very near and passed by the Earth that the Comet when it came below the Moon would raise a vast and strong Tide both in the Seas that were then on the Surface and in the Abyss which was under the upper Crust of the Earth after the same manner as the Moon doth at present in the Ocean that this Tide would begin to rise and encrease all the time of the approach of the Comet would be at its greatest height when the Comet was at its least distance from the earth By this tide and the attraction of the Comet he supposes that the Abyss would put on an Elliptick or rather an exactly oval figure whose surface being much larger than the former spherical one the exterior crust of earth which lay upon it must conform it self to the same figure which it could not do as long as it remain'd solid and conjoin'd and therefore it must of necessity by the violent force of the tide be stretched and broken and have innumerable fissures made quite through it After this he supposes that the Comet in its descent towards the sun passing close by the body of the earth involved it in its Atmosphere and tail for a considerable time and left prodigious quantities of condensed and expanded vapours on its surface a great part of which being very much rarify'd after their primary fall would be immediatly drawn up into the Air again and afterwards descend in violent and outragious Rains upon the Earth and would be the canse of the forty dayes rain mentioned in Scripture The other great Rain which together with the former lasted an hundred and fifty dayes was occasioned as he thinks by the Earths being involved a second time in the Comets tail from which and from its Atmosphere he derives one half of the water which served for the Deluge The other half he supposes was deduced from the subterraneous Abyss the fluid whereof he says was forced upon the Surface of the Earth by the vast and prodigious pressure of the incumbent water that was derived from the Comets Atmosphere and Tail which he supposes would press downwards with a mighty force and endeavour to sink the outward Crust of the Earth into the Abyss by which vast quantities of the subterraneous fluid would be forced and raised upon the Surface of the Earth through the Cracks and Fissures that were made in the Crust by the violence of the Tide in the Abyss By these methods Mr. Whiston supposes that there was water enough brought on the Surface to cover the face of the whole Earth for the perpendicular height of three miles that is above the tops of the highest Mountains But he further supposes that neither that water which was derived from the Comet nor that which was forced up from the bowels of the Earth was pure Elementary water but rather a thick and muddy fluid which he sayes being heavier than water sunk to the bottom and covered the Earth for the depth of 166 feet After having thus formed the Deluge his next great work is to remove these waters which were brought on the Earth and this he supposes to be performed by a wind which dried up some and forced the rest through the Cracks and Fissures of the Earth into the Abyss in which a great part of them had been before and from whence they were derived These are the suppositions by which Mr. Whiston pretends to account for all the Phaenomena of the Deluge But tho I can easily allow the first Hypothesis to be true viz. That a Comet at the time of the Deluge came very near and passed by the Earth since its approach at that time is not only made possible but also very probable by him yet I cannot admit of the particular explications he has given of several of the Phaenomena of the Deluge a great many of them as he has explained them seeming to be no wayes agreeable to the Laws of Mechanicks and Philosophy For first tho it is certain that a Comet when it passed by the Earth would raise a very strong and prodigious Tide in the Seas that were then on the Surface yet I cannot perceive that such an effect would be produced in the Abyss which he supposes to be a dense and heavy fluid encompassed on all sides with a thick and solid Crust of Earth lying closely upon it For Tides being only a violent swelling and motion of the waters produced by the attraction of some great Bodies that come near them if we should suppose that the waters were every where shut up within a solid Orb lying on them so that there were no room or space left for them to move in it is plain that in such a case there could be no Tide or agitation of the waters but they would remain in the state they were in before nor could they press stronger on that Orb which inclosed them than Sand Gravel or any other firm and hard Bodies would do that could fill their place all Bodies whether firm or Fluid being equally attracted when the attracting Body is at the same distance from them This being then the true case of the Abyss which Mr. Whiston supposes to be enclosed by the thick solid and upper Crust of the Earth which pressing so close upon it as to leave no void space at least not such a one as would make room enough for any considerable commotion of the waters and because fluids are not more attracted than solids are it is plain that by the Tide of the Abyss and the attraction of the Comet there could never be produced any greater effect on the Crust which encompassed the subterraneous fluid than if the whole Earth had consisted of firm and solid matter without any Abyss It is certain therefore that since there was no tide in the Abyss there could be no cracks and fissures made in the Earth by it To explain the great rains which fell on the Earth during the time of the deluge Mr. Whiston assumes a proposition which I believe he can hardly prove viz. that after the Earth was involved in the Comet 's Atmosphere and tail and had acquired a prodigious quantity of condensed and expanded Vapours that fell on its surface a great part of them being much rarify'd would be drawn up again into the Air and afterwards descend in violent and outragious rains Now if we consider
the incredible velocity with which these Vapours descended which Mr. Whiston calculates to be so great that they descended eight hundred and sixty eight miles in a minute and the great resistance they met with in their descent through the Air and the force by which they fell on the ground we must necessarily acknowledge that they must have been condensed and turned into Water by such a resistance and fall For it is certain that when Vapours fall they must meet with a great check and resistance from the Air by which their parts will be pressed close together and as their velocity encreases so would the resistance and their density till at last their parts come to be as closely united as it is possible and then they 'd fall in the form of Water Thus it is without doubt when it rains for we must not imagine that rain drops have the same form and density in the Clouds with which they arrive at the ground for Water being of a greater intensive gravity than Air it is impossible that it should be sustained in it but when it is expanded into Vapour Now it is plain by observations on the Barescope that whenever the Vapours begin to descend the Air is lighter than it was before it therefore not being able to sustain them they must fall to the ground but in their way they meet with a great resistance and check from the Air and so must necessarily be condensed and fall in drops of Water on the ground And since the resistance of the medium is always as the square of the velocity with which the Body moves through it and because the velocity of vapour which fell from the Comet to the Earth must have been according to Mr. Whiston some thousands of times greater than the velocity with which common Vapour or Rain descends it must needs follow that the resistance the Vapour which was derived from the Comet met with was some millions of times greater than the resistance of common Vapour when it descends but the resistance of common Vapour when it descends is great enough to condense it into water it is evident therefore that all such Vapours as descended from the Comet must have been of necessity condensed into water long before they ever touched the Earth Seeing then they descended on the Earth in the form of water and seeing there was no sufficient cause that could immediatly raise and mount them up again the heat of the Sun not being great enough for such an effect it is plain that they could never rise up again to produce the forty Dayes Rain mentioned in Scripture Mr. Whiston having as he imagins explained the great Rains which fell on the Earth at the time of the Deluge doth in the next place proceed to shew how the waters of the Abyss were forced up to the Surface of the Earth and became a great cause of the Universal flood This he supposes to be performed by the vast quantity of waters that had descended from the Comet which he sayes being of a prodigious weight would press the Crust of the Earth downwards with a mighty force and endeavour to sink it deeper into the Abyss by this pressure the waters of the Abyss would be forced upwards through the Cracks and Fissures newly made by the violence of the Tide on the Surface of the Earth He endeavours to illustrate this method of Operation by the Example of a Stone or Marble Cylinder exactly fitted to a hollow Cylindrical vessel that it may just ascend or descend freely within it He supposes the Stone Cylinder to have holes bored in it quite through parallel to its Axis and let down in the hollow Cylinder which is half full of water till it touch the water then if each of the holes be filled with Oil or some other fluid lighter than water he says that the weight of the Cylinder pressing on the water would squeeze the Oil on its Surface through the holes and throw it out with some violence and this would be a just representation of the Deluge There is but one possible case wherein the pressure of the water could sink the Crust deeper into the Abyss and that is if the waters which lay on the Surface could not descend through the Cracks and Fissures of the Earth And tho I can see nothing that can hinder them from descending yet if I should suppose that they did not I can evidently prove by Calculation that such a pressure could never raise the Abyss above the Surface of the Crust To demonstrate this I assume the height of the water which was derived from the Comet to have been a tenth part of the thickness of the whole Crust tho doubtless this is much greater than in reality it can be allowed to have been and because according to Mr. Whiston the Columns of which the Crust is composed are about four times heavier than common water it follows that a Column of the same specifick gravity with the rest of the Crust whose base is equal to the base of the incumbent Column of water and one fourth part of its height will weigh as much or press the Crust as much downwards as the whole Column of water could do but the height of the water being a tenth part of the depth of the whole Crust the height of the additional Column that weighs as much as the water must be a fortieth part of the depth of the Crust From hence it follows that the height or thickness of the Crust before the additional Column is laid on is to its thickness after the additional Column is laid on as 40 is to 41. The whole problem then is plainly reduced to this Having two Cylinders or Columns of the same intensive gravity but of different heights that swim in any Fluid to find what proportion the parts or heights immerged bear to one another By a known proposition in Hydrostaticks the part immerged of each Cylinder bears the same proportion to the whole Cylinder that the intensive gravity of the Cylinder bears to the intensive gravity of the Fluid from thence it is evident that the parts immerged have the same proportion that their respective whole Cylinders have to one another which in the present case is as forty to forty one By this it is clear that the additional weight of the incumbent water would not sink the Crust above one fortieth part deeper into the Abyss than it was before and therefore it could never rise by such a pressure so high as the Surface of the Earth But if we should suppose that the pressure on the Crust should be so great as to press the Abyss upwards and the waters in it to the Surface of the Earth it is certain that in such a case when the waters in the Abyss had ascended to the Surface there must be a communication between the Abyss and it by this communication the waters on the Surface must necessarily descend and ly immediately on