peculiar and strange Effect of the most wise and sagacious Providence of God in this mighty Revolution But 8. Lastly to omit repeating some things before observ'd as we pass'd along The precise time of the passing by of the Comet and thereby of destroying the World is in the most peculiar manner and highest degree the result of the Divine Providence That exactly at a time which was fit and proper and in an Age that justly deserv'd so great a Judgment the Comet shou'd come by and over-whelm the World is very remarkably and extraordinarily the Finger of God himself That Omnilscient Being who foresaw when the degeneracy of Human Nature wou'd be arriv'd at an unsufferable degree of Wickedness the Iniquities of the World wou'd be compleatly full and when consequently his Vengeance ought to fall upon them praedisposed and praeadapted the Orbits and Motions of both the Comet and the Earth so that at that very time and only at that time the former shou'd pass close by the latter and bring that dreadful Punishment upon them Had not God Almighty on purpose thus adjusted the Moments and Courses of each 't were infinite odds that such a Conjunction or Coincidence of a Comet and a Planet wou'd never have happen'd during the whole space between the Creation and Conflagration of this World much more at such a critical Point of time when Mankind by their unparallell'd Wickedness were deserving of and only dispos'd for this unparallell'd Vengeance no less than almost an utter Excision And this I take to be the Secret of the Divine Providence in the Government of the World and that whereby the Rewards and Punishments of God's Mercy and Justice are distributed to his Rational Creatures without any disturbance of the setled Course of Nature or a miraculous interposition on every Occasion Our Imperfection is such that we can only act pro re natâ can never know before-hand the Behavious or Actions of Men neither can we foresee what Circumstances and Conjunctures will happen at any certain time hereafter and so we cannot provide for future Events nor praedispose things in such a manner that every one shall be dealt with or every thing done no otherwise than if we were then alive and present we shou'd think proper and reasonable and shou'd actually do But in the Divine Operation 't is quite otherwise God's Praescience enables him to act after a more sublime manner and by a constant Course of Nature and Chain of Mechanical Causes to do every thing so as it shall not be distinguishable from a particular Interposition of his Power nor be otherwise than on such a particular Interposition wou'd have been brought to pass He who has created all things and given them their several Powers and Faculties foresees the Effects of 'em all At once looks through the intire Train of future Causes Actions and Events and sees at what Periods and in what manner t will be necessary and expedient to bring about any changes bestow any Mercies or inflict any Punishments on the World Which being unquestionably true 't is evident he can as well provide and praedispose natural Causes for those Mutations Mercies or Judgments before-hand he can as easily put the Machin into such Motions as shall without a necessity of his mending or correcting it correspond to all these foreseen Events or Action as make way for such Alterations afterward by giving a random force to the whole And when these two ways are equally possible I need not say which is most agreeable to the Divine Perfections and most worthy of God So that when the Universal Course of Nature with all the Powers and Effects thereof were at first deriv'd from and are continually upheld by God and when nothing falls out any otherwise or at any other time than was determin'd by Divine Appointment in the Primitive Formation of the Universe To assign Physical and Mechanical causes for the Deluge or such mighty Judgments of God upon the Wicked is so far from taking away the Divine Providence therein that it supposes and demonstrates its Interest in a more Noble Wise and Divine manner than the bringing in a miraculous Power wou'd do Let us suppose a Fulmen or Thunderbolt originally and on purpose put into such a Motion as without any farther Interposition of Providence wou'd direct it to the Head of a Blasphemer and whilst he was cursing his Maker strike him dead upon the Spot which the Praescience and Power of God shew to be equally possible with a present Miracle I think such a violent Death wou'd be as properly extraordinary and a Divine Judgment as any other whatsoever Which I take to have been the very case of the Deluge which I am here peculiarly concern'd about Nature is God's Constitution and ever subservient to him and the state of the Natural is always accommodated to that of the Moral World What is done by Nature and second Causes is most properly done by God at last who is ultimately and really almost all we can mean by those Names Corollary What has been here said upon this Occasion if rightly understood and apply'd to all other Cases would clear our Minds from many of those Perplexities about the Divine Providence which are ready to disturb ' em For Instance We pray to God for fruitful Seasons for Health for Peace for the Success of our Endeavours for a Blessing on our Food and Physick and deprecate the contrary Miseries from us Yet at the same time we see the Seasons depend on the settled Course of the Sun or other natural and necessary Causes we find our Health or Sickness to be the proper Effects of our Diet and Regiment we observe Peace and War subject to the Intrigues of Princes and the plain Results of visible Conjunctures in Humane Affairs we know that Worldly Prudence and Cunning has a main Stroke in the Success of Mens Labours we feel the advantagious Effects of some Food and Physick and have Reason to believe the same does very much result from the Goodness of the Druggs the Fitness of the Proportion the Disposition of the Body and the Skill of the Physician and can frequently give a plain and mechanical Reason of the different Operations of all those things neither do we hope for the Exercise of a miraculous Power in these or the like Cases The Consideration and Comparison of all these things together frequently puzzles the Minds of good Men especially those that are more Contemplative and Philosophical and makes 'em wonder what Interest our Devotions or what Advantage our Prayers can have Second Causes will work according to their Natures let Mens Supplications be never so importunate And to expect a Miracle in answer to every Petition is more than the most Religious dare pretend to This Dilemma has had a contrary Effect upon the Minds of Men while the Philosopher was in Danger of doubting of the Success and so ready to grow cold in his Devotions and
the more unthinking yet not less religious Man rejected the Consideration of the Manner or the Operation of second Causes and more wisely look'd up only to God and imagin'd him immediately concern'd in every Occurrence and on that Principle doubted not the Effect of his Prayers But 't is methinks evident that neither of these were exactly in the Right and equally so that the due Consideration of what has been above-said would prevent the Dilemma and take away all reasonable Scruple 'T is true that Natural Causes will operate as usual 'T is also true that Miracles are not ordinarily to be expected But withal 't is as true that the same all-wise Creator who appointed that constant Course of Nature foresaw at the same time all those Dispositions of Men and in particular those Devotions of his Worshippers to which suitable Rewards were to be provided and suitable Answers returned and therefore so order'd the Series of Natural Causes as to make that very Provision for the same which otherwise he would have done by the miraculous Interposition of his Providence and which therefore is equally to be asscrib'd to him with the greatest Wonders 'T is true the Frame of Nature is now constant and settled But 't is true also that it was so settled on the Prospect of the moral Behaviour and in Correspondence to the good or bad Actions of Mankind foreseen and praesupposed in the Primitive Constitution of all and by Consequence whataever Benefits or Afflictions the constant Course of Nature and second Causes bring to us are equally capable to be the Matter of our Prayers or Deprecations of our Humiliation or Gratitude before God as the immediate Effects of a miraculous Power and the Divine Providence no less to be acknowledg'd and address'd to in the former than in the latter Case But because our Imperfection is so great that the Consideration of the Priority of the future Actions Men to the Praescience of God in the Order of Nature and the Dependence of the latter on the former is too high for our Comprehension and tho' demonstrable by yet inscrutable to the Reason of Mankind and because we are therefore still ready to conceive what is foreknown by God to be necessary and inevitable let the moral Behaviour of Men be as it will Because I say this Praescience of God is too Divine a thing to be easily penetrated and aply'd by us to all Occasions I confess 't is the most obvious and the most prudent as well as the most Scriptural Way to keep within our Faculties and alway to suppose an immediate Exerting of a new Power in every new Turn in the World and without the troublesome Inquisition into the Nature and Design of the Primitive Constitution of the Material World to refer all things to an immediate Providence Into which every one must ultimately and originally be resolv'd and which has as well and as congruously taken care of all Events as if such a miraculous Efficiency were really concern'd on every individual Occasion Which whole Matter thus explain'd may be of Use to those who through the not understanding the Method of the Divine Providence and its Consistency with an uninterrupted Course of Nature have perplex'd their own Minds and endanger'd their Religion Which pernicious scruples true Philosophy when rightly understood is the only Means of dispelling and preventing Nothing being more true or momentous than this that 'T is as ever our Ignorance or Mistakes only that fully the Providence of God or diminish our Religious Affections to him LXXXVIII Tho' the Moon might perhaps undergo some such Changes at the Deluge as the Earth yet that Face or Hemisphere which is towards the Earth and which is alone expos'd to our View has not acquir'd any such gross Atmosphere or Clouds as our Earth has now about it and which are here suppos'd to have been acquir'd at the Deluge LXXXVIII Seing the Moon appears to be of a Constitution so like that of the Earth and seeing she is so near a Neighbour and constant Companion thereof she seems at first Sight liable to the same Catastrophe with the Earth at the Deluge But that we may consider how far the Comet could affect her we must remember that at the first Passage of the Comet Her Situation seems almost dipos'd to convey her just after the Earth along that large void Cylindrical Space whose Vapours the Earth had intercepted and born away before it as by comparing the 2d and 4th Figures is easie to understand Besides tho' she caught her Share of the Vapours from the Atmosphere and Tail of the Comet yet her Mountains are so much higher compar'd with those on Earth that at the most only an inconsiderable Inundation of Waters on one Hemisphere not an universal Deluge were to be suppos'd For lastly by Reason of the Slowness of her Diurnal Revolution those Vapours which were caught by one Hemisphere and indeed by very little more than one at the utmost would fall near the same Places in Rain which they at first fell upon when Vapour and still affect little more than a single Hemisphere thereof So that the most that can be suppos'd of the Moon 's Deluge is that the lower Grounds on one Hemisphere should be overflow'd especially if we except the second Passage through the Tail of the Comet after its Perihelium For it must be confess'd that those secondary and less principal Rains of about 97 Days Continuance which we before observ'd the Earth to have been liable to must needs be allow'd to have affected the Moon also and seeing from them the Impurities and Commotions of our Atmosphere appear to have been deriv'd it seems at first View necessary that the Moon should have acquir'd such a gross Atmosphere such Clouds and Meteors as we saw the Earth did at the same time which looks very unlike to her Phaenomena or the latter Part of this Proposition we are now upon But this Difficulty which at first sight seems so formidable will intirely vanish if we observe the then Position of the Moon and thence consider which Hemisphere would be affected therewith For as we before in Part observ'd the Moon wanted but two or three Days of the New when she with the Earth pass'd the second time thro' the Tail of the Comet and by Consequence the Vapours ascending from the Sun fell pretty exactly upon that Hemisphere of the Moon which is never expos'd to the Earth without Affecting that which we can observe and with which we are alone concern'd In a Word in this second Passage the Moon ought to have acquir'd a gross Atmosphere on the opposite Hemisphere and its bordering Parts the Limb of her Body while the visible Hemisphere retained its ancient Purity and Clearness The latter Part of which is known to be true and if the Reader consults the Right Reverend and Learned Author quoted in the Margent he may see reason to esteem the other very
thy hand 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 I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them And I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished This is the first resurrection Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years c. But so much has been said on this head to omit others by the Theorist that I shall refer the Reader thither for the other Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures and the unanimous consent of the most Primitive Fathers Both which he at large and to excellent purpose some particulars excepted has insisted on XCVI The state of Nature during the Millennium will be very different from that at present and more agreeable to the Antediluvian Primitive and Paradisiacal ones Whom the heavens must receive until the time of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began See more in the Theory Book 4. Chap. 9. and in the proofs of the former Proposition XCVII The Earth in the Millennium will be without a Sea or any large receptacle fill'd with mighty collections and quantities of Waters 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 XCVIII The Earth in the Millennium will have no succession of Light and Darkness Day and Night but a perpetual Day The gates of the new Jerusalem shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there And there shall be no night there XCIX The state of the Millennium will not stand in need of and so probably will be without the light and presence of the Sun and Moon And the City had no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it And they need no candle neither light of the sun C. At the conclusion of the Millennium the Final Judgment and Consummation of all things The Earth will desert its present Seat and Station in the World and be no longer found among the Planetary Chrous I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away and there was found no place for them BOOK IV. SOLUTIONS OR An Account of the foregoing Phaenomena from the Principles of Philosophy already laid down CHAP. 1. A Solution of the Phaenomena relating to the Mosaick Creation and the original Constitution of the Earth I. All those particular small Bodies of which our habitable Earth is now compos'd were originally in a mixed confused fluid and uncertain Condition without any order or regularilty It was an Earth without form and void had darkness spread over the face of its Abyss and in reality was what it has been ever stil'd A perfect Chaos I. THIS has been already sufficiently accounted for and need not be here again insisted on II. The Formation of this Earth or the Change of that Chaos into an habitable World was not a meer result from any necessary Laws of Mechanism independently on the Divine Power but was the proper effect of the Influence and Interposition and all along under the peculiar Care and Providence of God II. 'T is not very easy I confess in such mighty Turns and Changes of the World exactly to determine how far and in what particulars a supernatural or miraculous Interposition of the Divine Power is concern'd and how far the Laws of Nature or Mechanical Powers ought to be extended Nay indeed 't is difficult enough in several instances to determine what is the effect of a natural and ordinary and what of a supernatural and extraordinary Providence 'T is now evident That Gravity the most mechanical Affection of Bodies and which seems most natural depends entirely on the constant and efficacious and if you will the supernatural and miraculous Influence of Almighty God And I do not know whether the falling of a Stone to the Earth ought not more truly to be esteem'd a supernatural Effect or a Miracle than what we with the greatest surprize should so stile its remaining pendulous in the open Air since the former requires an active Influence in the first Cause while the latter supposes Non-annihilation only But besides this Tho' we were able exactly to distinguish in general the ordinary Concurrence of God from his extraordinary yet would the task before us be still sufciently difficult For those Events or Actions are in Holy Scripture attributed immediately to the Power and Providence of God which yet were to all outward appearance according to the constant course of things and would abstractedly from such Affirmations of the Holy Books have been esteem'd no more miraculous than the other common Effects of Nature or usual Accidents of Humane Affairs as those who have carefully consider'd these matters especially the Historical and Prophetical Parts of the Old Testament must be oblig'd to confess Neither is it unreasonable that all things should in that manner be ascribed to the Supream Being on several accounts 'T is from him every thing is ultimately deriv'd He conserves the Natures and continues the Powers of every Creature He not only at first produc'd but perpetually disposes and makes use of the whole Creation and every part thereof as the Instruments of his Providence He foresaw and foreadapted the intire Frame He determin'd his Co-operation or Permission to every Action He so order'd and appointed the whole System with every individual Branch of it as to Time Place Proportion and all other Circumstances that nothing should happen unseasonably unfitly disproportionately or otherwise than the Junctures of Affairs the demerits of his reasonable Creatures and the wise Intentions of his Providence did require In fine he so previously adjusted and contemper'd the Moral and Natural World to one another that the Marks and Tokens of his Providence should be in all Ages legible and conspicuous whatsoever the visible secondary Causes or Occasions might be Seeing then this is the true state of the Case and that consequently Almighty God has so constituted the World that no Body can tell wherein it differs from one where all were solely brought to pass by a miraculous Power 't is by no means untrue or improper in the Holy Books to refer all those things which bare Humane Authors would derive from
this extraordinary acceleration of natural causes to be tho' not impossible nor were there any intimation or necessity of its interposition from the Sacred History very improbable neither yet in the present case groundless unnecessary perplexing of the cause and by no means a sufficient solution in the present Affair Which being therefore thus answer'd the Argument remains in full force and the length of the days assign'd by the vulgar Hypothesis appears wholly disproportionate to the Works done therein of which farther notice will be taken hereafter 2. When the Works of each of the other Days are single distinct and of a sort the third Day has two quite different nay incompatible ones assigned to it This is plain from the History where the division of the Waters from the Earth or the distinction of the Terraqueous Globe into Seas and dry Land the first work on this Day is succeeded by that of the production of the intire Vegetable Kingdom contrary to the perpetual Tenor of the other periods of the Creation How this comes about or is accountable in the vulgar Scheme I know not and I believe the reason thereof is very little enquir'd into and less understood But because this whole difficulty will be urg'd against the shortness of days in the Vulgar Hypothesis and clear'd in Ours at their proper places hereafter I shall wave the farther insisting upon it here and proceed 3. But principally the Earth with its Furniture how inconsiderable a body soever it is takes up four intire days at least of those six which were allotted to the whole Creation when the Sun Moon and Stars those vastly greater and more considerable Bodies are crowded into one single day together Now in order to our passing a rational judgment in this matter I shall take leave to represent to the Reader 's view a short comparison or parallel between the Earth on one side and the rest of the World on the other and see what resemblance correspondence and proportion there is between the former and the latter either in its several parts or the whole taken together and this shall be done on such certain and undoubted grounds and principles as the late vast advancement of Natural Knowledge has afforded us and will be more at large explain'd in the following Pages This Earth then on which we live though it be in diameter more than 8000 miles and so a vast Globe if compar'd with those Bodies we daily see imagine and converse withal is yet one of the lesser of the primary Planets and with Jupiter Mars and the other her fellows revolves round the great Center of our System the Sun in a years time 'T is an Opake and Dark Body as they all are and in common with them borrows its light and heat from that glorious Body which we just now observ'd to obtain the center of their Orbits without which it as well as the intire Chorus of the other Planets must be soon reduc'd all to one dark heap of matter far beyond the description of the old caliginous and unprofitable Chaos and in no capacity of ever emerging out of that horrid and frightful state In dignity i four Earth expect not to come the last yet is she so exceeded in all things that might seem Characters thereof by several of the rest that there can be no manner of claim to the first Place If she have a secondary Planet the Moon for her attendant tho in truth she is at least as serviceable to that Planet as that Planet is to her Jupiter has certainly four and some good Glasses have discover'd five about Saturn who however is not wholly destitute as all Astronomers confess The density and place of the Earth is pretty near the middle of the Planets and as she exceeds and is higher than some so is she exceeded by and lower than others in those respects Her own Secondary Planet the Moon has an Air much more homogeneous pure and transparent than she at present enjoys and in all probability free from Winds Clouds Storms Tempests Thunder Lightning and such other irregular and pernicious Effects which render our Atmosphere so contagious and pestilent to the Inhabitants of the Earth In which circumstances the generality of the other Planets imitate the Moon and render our miserable Condition the more remarkable and sensible as appearing thereby almost singular Our days and nights are longer than those of some and shorter than those of others of the Planets The figure of the Earth is nearly sphaerical as is that also of the other Heavenly Bodies its surface unequal with Mountains and Valleys as well as that of the rest especially the Moon 's appears to be Only 't is observable that the last though much less in bigness has her Mountains higher than we on Earth The Sea and Land Mountains and Valleys and other such corresponding Phaenomena of the Moon shew that that small Planet is not nearer our Earth in place than in quality and disposition also If we compute the true magnitude or quantity of matter in the Earth it will appear that she is not the 60th part so big as Jupiter nor the 30th as Saturn nor the 60000th as the Sun So that she is very inconsiderable if compar'd with the rest of the Solar Vortex only but if with the intire Universe or Systems of the fixt Stars in the elegancy of the Prophetick Expressions as a drop of a Bucket as the small dust of the Balance yea less than nothing and vanity Insomuch that to all those remote Systems of the Heavenly Bodies this Earth with all its fellow Planets are no more visible than those which 't is probable revolve about any of them are to us in these our Planetary Regions And as we usually little think of those invisible Globes so any of their Inhabitants never once imagine that there is such a Planet as ours about which we make such a mighty stir in the whole World As to the main use of this Earth 't is to afford habitation to a sinful and lapsed Race of Creatures of small Abilities or Capacities at present but of great Vices and Wickedness and is esteemed as far as appears in its present constitution so peculiarly and solely sit for them that when they are gone or their Dispositions and Faculties reform'd and improv'd a better scence of Nature a new Heaven and a new Earth is to be introduc'd for such better and more noble Creatures The Old one which now obtains being it seems only a sort of Prison or Confinement which is to be our Lot whilst we are sinful and miserable but no longer And is this the only Darling of Nature the prime Object of the Creation and Providence of God Can such a Globe's original nay of the external and visible Parts of it only claim four parts of six of that entire space which the Wisdom of God allotted for the Formation of all things in the whole World while the Origin
meerly Corporeal Machines III. All those single Corpuscles of which Bodies are compos'd do attract all other single Corpuscles of which other Bodies are compos'd and are alike mutually attracted by them If this Affection of the Parts of Bodies be consider'd with respect to those towards which the Motion is 't is call'd Attraction and they are said to draw all others But if it be consider'd with respect to those which are mov'd 't is call'd Gravitation or a Tendency in them towards others Thus in Magnetism we imagine a Power of Attraction belonging to the Loadstone and in the Iron a Tendency or as I may call it tho' somewhat improperly Gravitation towards it Tho'indeed by the way the Force or Affection being found to be mutual and equal on both sides the Terms might justly be so too and a Loadstone might as properly be said to tend or gravitate towards the Iron or Iron to attract the Loadstone as the contrary just as 't is in the Point before us This however will serve for an Illustration and explain our meaning in the present case where all the Parts of Bodies are endew'd with such a mutual Gravitation and Attraction with respect to all others SCHOLIUM That no prejudice nor misunderstanding may arise 't is to be observ'd That when we use the terms of Attraction or Gravitation we do not thereby determine the Physical Cause or Seat of any effects as if some innate Power or occult Quality were to be suppos'd in Bodies as will appear presently but only use such familiar Terms whereby our meaning may be easily understood and the Effects of Nature explain'd even where the last and proper efficient Cause is not mechanically assignable Thus we do and may say as before That the Loadstone attracts the Iron or the Iron tends or gravitates to the Loadstone not ascribing thereby any proper and positive Quality or Power to these Bodies but for ease of Expression and for supplying what we cannot otherwise readily explain relating to them Thus also we commonly say That Stones are heavy or tend towards the Center of the Earth and the Expressions rightly understood are true and natural Tho' perhaps in both cases the real cause of those Effects which we ascribe to such an Attraction Tendency or Gravitation is External and some continual Impulse from without not any inherent Power really Existent within is the Original of all But in such cases where the true Agent is invisible or unknown we must have leave to use those terms which the Matter will bear or Custom has rendred familiar without which uneasy and troublesome Circumlocutions will be unavoidable especially seeing that no Error can hereby creep into our Reasonings because 't is evident that all the Effects of Nature are exactly the very same in the World and not otherwise which they certainly would and must be if Bodies did really and properly by their own inherent Virtue or Quality attract and were attracted by all others IV. This Affection of mutual Attraction or Gravitation is universal in extent all Bodies in the whole World as far as we have any means of knowing wherefoever they are plac'd being in common subject thereto and concern'd therein V. This Affection is also universal as to the kinds of its Objects it belonging equally to all the Parts of Matter of what Sort or Form in what Figure or Condition soever they are the difference of Bodies as to Texture and Composition Fluidity and Firmness Motion and Rest Bigness and Subtily or any other such mutable Qualities not in the least diminishing the Influence thereof VI. This Affection is also universal and equable as to Time without all manner of intermission without any increase or diminution in different Ages VII The Quantity of the force of Attraction at equal distances is exactly proportionable to the Quantity of Matter in the attracting Body being in reality nothing but the Result or Summe of the united Forces of all those single Particles of which 't is compos'd Thus if A be double to i. e. has twice as much matter as B A will have a double force of Attraction also at equal distances from their Centers respectively If A represent the Earth B the Moon if B contain but the twenty sixth part of the matter in A as it really does contain no more and a Globe or Ball were plac'd at the same distance from the Center of B at which another equal to it were from that of A it would be but the twenty sixth part so heavy towards B as the other were towards A. VIII This mutual tendency of Bodies is greater or less according as the Bodies themselves are nearer to or farther from each other The same Body more forcibly attracting those which are near than those which are farther off So that Stone or Pillar which is with us very heavy would be comparatively very light if it were as far distant from us as the Moon IX The proportion of the Increase and Decrease of this Gravity of Bodies in their approach to or recess from each other is neither that of Similar Lines nor Solids but of Superficies or Plains The Force of Attraction in several distances being reciprocally in a Duplicate Proportion thereof Thus when the same Body without the Surface of the Earth is twice as near its Center as it was before 't is four times as heavy when thrice as near 't is nine times as heavy when four times as near 't is sixteen times as heavy as before In like manner the same strength which were able to sustain a Body of one hundred weight here would at twice our distance from the Earth's Center be equally able to sustain four hundred weight at three times our distance nine hundred weight at four times our distance sixteen hundred weight and so in infinitum at all other distances For as the Squares of the distances increase so does the Power of Attraction decrease and as the Squares of the distances decrease so does the Power of Attraction at the same time increase proportionably as will be prov'd presently from the known Phaenomena of Astronomy Corollary 1. From the Comparison of the two first Propositions with the seven last 't is evident That this universal force of mutual Attraction or Gravitation of Bodies is not a result from the Nature of Matter which being circumscrib'd within its own bounds being incapable of acting at a distance and besides being intirely passive in its very Essence cannot possibly draw others or tend towards them of it self Coroll 2. This universal force of Gravitation being so plainly above besides and contrary to the Nature of Matter on the formention'd Accounts must be the Effect of a Divine Power and Efficacy which governs the whole World and which is absolutely necessary to its Preservation Coroll 3. When the Divine Power is inseparable from the Essence of God 't is evident the latter is Omnipresent as well as the former and every where equally
Rotation of the Earth from West to East will shift continually from East to West and cause that Elevation and Depression of the Ocean twice each Revolution which we so wonder at and take so much notice of amongst us Corollary 1. When therefore the Vicinity of the Moon and the Vastness of the Sun's Body make their force considerable with regard to the Fluids of our Earth their several Attractions must produce two several double Protuberances Tides or Elevations of the Ocean and Atmosphere thereof whence must arise very remarkable Phaenomena relating thereto of which in the following Corollaries Coroll 2. The sensible Elevation or Tide would be only double as if it arose from one of the Luminaries but such as from the Composition of their attractive Power were to be expected Coroll 3. When therefore the Sun and Moon 's Forces unite or when they are situate in or near the same Line through the Center of the Earth which happens only at the New and Full Moon the Tides must be the greatest and when their Forces contradict each other or when they are situate in the middle between the New and Full at the Quadratures the Tides must be the least In the former case the visible Flux and Reflux arises from the Summe and in the latter from the Difference of their Attractions and so the Spring-Tides after the New and Full are the result of the Elevation and Depression of both the Sun and Moon conjoyntly but the Nepe-Tides after the Quadratures the result only of the prevailing Elevation and Depression of the Moon above those of the Sun and by consequence exactly agreeable to experience much less than the other Coroll 4. As if the Luminaries were situate in the Axis of the Earth the Diurnal Revolution would not more expose any places to their force one time than another and no Reciprocation of Flux and Reflux would arise so the nearer they are to such a Position the less must such a Reciprocation be and the farther from such a Position the greater On which account The Elevation or Tide must be greater after the Equinoxial New and Full Moon than after the Solstitial and the highest Spring-Tides be those about March 10. and September 12. as all Experience atlests them to be and the Situation of the Luminaries near the Equator of the Earth and farthest from the Poles does require Coroll 5. When by the Vicinity of the Moon the visible Tides follow her Influence and when withal our Earth in about 243 4 Hours recovers the same Situation with regard to her 't is evident That in the said space each Part of the Ocean must have twice been elevated and twice depress'd or had a double Flux and double Reflux of its Waters as all Observation assures us it really has LXXX The Elevations or Tides caused by two different Bodies at the same distance are always proportionable to the Quantity of Matter in the same attractive Bodies as from the force of Gravitation in general proportionable to the attracting Body will easily be understood Thus if a Comet or Planet whose Quantity of Matter were ten or twelve times as much as the Moon 's were at an equal distance with her from the Center of the Earth the Tides whether of the internal Abyss if such there be or external Air and Water would be ten or twelve times as high as those she is the cause of with us LXXXI The Elevations or Tides caused by the same or an equal Body at various distances are reciprocally in a triplicate Proportion of such distances Thus if the Moon should approach as near again to the Earth's Center as now she is the Tides would be eight times as high if thrice as near twenty seven times as high if four times as near sixty four times as high as those she at her present distance produces Corollary 1. Hence appears which Mr. Bentley has in part also observ'd a signal Instance of the Divine Providence respecting the Constitution of the World in placing the Heavenly Bodies at so vast a distance from each other and the greatest at the greatest distance that when we consider it we cannot but be amazed at it For had they been situate any whit near to one another they would have caus'd prodigious Disorders and in particular such destructive Tides whenever there was vast quantities of Fluids or a great Ocean that neither Plant nor Animal could have avoided its force or sustain'd its fury which by the wise placing the Heavenly Bodies at so vast a distance is intirely prevented Coroll 2. The same careful Providence is alike and on the like accounts conspicuous in the smallness of the secondary Planets whose nearness otherwise being so great must have been attended by the foremention'd Inconveniences but is now perfectly secure from them Thus for instance our secondary Planet the Moon which is so near to us is withal so small but the 26 th part so big as the Earth not the 700 th part so big as Saturn nor the 1400 th as Jupiter nor near the millioneth as the Sun that the Tides so caused are but of some few Feet in height very moderate not at all incommodicus nay in truth very advantagious to us which in the other secondary Planets is also no less true and no less remarkable LXXXII Of the two Protuberances produc'd by the presence of a Comet or other Coelestial Body that which is directly towards that Body as dbc is larger and higher than the opposite one dac This is à priori demonstrable and found agreeable to experience also LXXXIII If such a double Tide were very great and should on a sudden be produc'd in a subterraneous Abyss on whose Surface an Orb of Earth fix'd and consolidated together were situate it would raise or depress the Regions of that Orb as it self was rais'd or depress'd and by putting on the Figure of an Oblong Sphaeroid such as an Ellipsis revolving about its longer Axis would generate and thereby increasing its Surface so much that the Orb of Earth could not fit and enclose it Uniformly as before would strain and stretch the said Orb of Earth would crack and chap it and cause Fissures and Breaches quite through the same All which is easily understood from what has been already said of a Case very agreeable to this we are now upon and so can stand in need of no farther Explication here BOOK II. HYPOTHESES I. THE Ancient Chaos the Origin of our Earth was the Atmosphere of a Comet This Proposition however new and surprizing will I hope appear not improbable when I shall have shewn That the Atmosphere of a Comet has those several Properties which are recorded of the Ancient Chaos That it has such peculiar Properties besides as lay a rational Foundation for some of those Phaenomena of our Earth which can scarce otherwise be Philosophically explain'd and that no other Body or Mass of Bodies now known or ever heard of
Altitude were 1103 Feet Which quantity being twice acquir'd must be doubled and then will amount to a Cylinder whose Basis were the same as above and whose Altitude were double the others or 2206 Feet Now Archimedes has demonstrated that the intire Superficies of a Sphere or Globe is four times as large as the Area of one of its great Circles And by consequence the Column of Vapour before-mention'd when converted into Rain Water and spread upon the Face of the Earth would cover the Globe intirely round had there been no Dryland or Mountains extant above the Surface of the Plains and Seas a quarter of the height last assign'd or 5411 2 Feet every way Which being suppos'd and what was at the first Postulated of the Atmosphere's quota the whole Water afforded by the Comet-will cover the Earth intirely to the perpendicular height of the 541c1 2 Feet To which add by the Original Postulatum the equal quantity ascending from the Bowels of the Earth the Total amounts to 10821 Feet or above two Miles perpendicular Altitude Which when allowance is made for those large spaces taken up by the extant Dry Land and Mountains will approach very near that three Miles perpendicular height requir'd by the present Phaenomenon Corollary If the several particulars requisite to the nice adjustment of these Computations were more exactly enquir'd into some light on the present Hypothesis might be afforded to the Density of the Atmospheres and Tails of Comets which is hitherto undetermin'd the consideration of which matter must be refer'd to Astronomers LIX Whatever be the height of the Mountain Caucasus whereon the Ark rested now it was at that time the highest in the whole World LIX If we consult the Figure here refer'd to we shall easily apprehend the Reason of this otherwise strange Phicnomenon For seeing this Mountain was the highest in Asia or the middle Regions of our Continent and seeing withal that intire Continent and chiefly the middle Regions thereof were elevated by the greatest protuberance of the Abyss dbc above any other correspondent parts of the whole Globe the absolute or intire height of this Mountain arises not only from its proper Altitude above the neighbouring Plains but also from the Elevation of the whole Continent or peculiarly of its middle Regions above the Ancient Surface of the Seas so that by this advantage of situation it was at the time here concern'd higher not only than its Neighbours which its own Elevation was sufficient for but than any other on the Face of the whole Earth Some of which otherwise it could I believe by no means have pretended to match much less to out-do in Altitude Now altho' the presence of the Comet which produc'd these Tides in the Abyss and elevated the intire Continents above their ancient level did not remain after the Disruption of the Fountains of the Deep on the first day of the Deluge yet the Effect thereof the Elevation of the Continents above their ancient Level would not so soon nay would scarce ever intirely cease We know by common observation that if a Solid or Setled Mass of Bodies be torn or pull'd in pieces 't is not easie to put every thing into its place and reduce the whole to the same fixed Position and within the same fixed limits it had before If a solid compacted mound of Earth were once shatter'd and divided were levell'd and remov'd tho' afterward every individual Dust of the former Earth were laid together again upon the very same Plot and Compass yet would individual Dust of the former Earth were laid together again upon the very same Plot and Compass yet would it not be immediately confin'd within its ancient dimensions its height would be at first considerably greater than before and tho' that in length of time would be by degrees diminish'd by the gradual setling and crouding together of the parts and so some approaches would be made thereby towards its ancient density and lesser elevation yet neither would be intirely attain'd in any moderate space of time at least And this is the very case before us That Oval Figure which the Orb of Earth was stretch'd to at the Deluge would remain for a considerable time and be many years in setling so close together that it might afterward remain fixt and firm for the following generations before which time 't is evident that the Regions near the Center of our Northern or Larger Continent were the highest and those at 90 degrees distance every where the lowest and by consequence at the time of the Arks resting the Mountain Caucasus near the Center of the Northern Continent was elevated above the rest and particularly above the Pike of Teneriff which seems to be at present the highest of all others And thus that terrible Phaenomenon is solv'd which the Reverend Mr. Warren was so puzzled with that even on the allowance of so much Miracle as the creation of the Waters of the Deluge and Annihilation of the same afterward yet could he not account for the Letter of Moses without a forc'd and ungrounded Supposition to the same purpose with the Proposition before us As you will find him and not without reason very emphatically expressing himself on this occasion Corollary 1. Here is a visible instance of the Divine Providence for the preservation of the Remains of the Old World by ordering the building of the Ark near that which would be the highest Mountain in the World that so upon the very first ceasing of the Rains and the beginning of the Winds and Storms it might immediately be safe on the top thereof Coroll 2. The same careful and wise providence is conspicuous in the so accurately adjusting all the circumstances of the Deluge that tho' it should be high enough to destroy the whole stock of the Dry-land Animals and yet but just so much above the Mountain Caucasus as permitted the Ark to rest at the very first decrease of the Waters and the commencing perturbations of the Air and the Waves necessarily ensuing which otherwise must still have destroy'd it notwithstanding the advantage of its situation before observ'd Coroll 3. Supposing the Truth of our first Postulatum of the Verity of the Letter of the Mosaick History as certain as is the greater height of the Pike of Teneriff or of any other Mountain in the World above that of Caucasus Now of which I suppose no body makes any question so certain is it bating unknown causes and a miraculous Power as is always in such cases to be suppos'd that a Comet was the cause of the Mosaick Deluge For 't is certain by the plainest deduction from the express words of Scripture that the Mountain on which the Ark rested was at that time the highest in the World 'T is therefore certain that the Continent or Basis on which Mount Caucasus stand was elevated higher at the Deluge than 't is at present and 't is also certain that no Body or Mass
compos'd in great part of the Earthy Corpuscles or Masses of a Chaos as well as the Primitive Earth was at the Mosaick Creation The very same reasons assignable for the coalescence and consolidation of the former are equally to be suppos'd in the present case and render it equally reasonable with the other And if the Dense Fluid or any parts or steams from that were instrumental to the Original Union of parts at the Primary Formation of the Earth 't is probable there was no want of it at the Deluge The Atmosphere of the Comet and the Fountains of the Deep being both capable of supplying sufficient quantities among the larger plenty of their Watery and Earthy Masses as is plain from what has been already said Neither in case some of it were acquir'd by the means aforemention'd is it to be expected that we ought to see it still on the Face of the Earth as we do the Ocean For seeing this Dense Fluid is much heavier than Water or Earth it would be at the very bottom of all and so either be inclosed in the Pores and Caverns at the bottom of the Sediment or transform'd into a different Body by its composition with the Earthy parts it was enclos'd withal and did consolidate LXXVIII These Strata of Stone of Chalk of Cole of Earth or whatever matter they consisted of lying thus each upon other appear now as if they had at first been parallel continued and not interrupted But as if after some time they had been dislocated and broken on all sides of the Globe had been elevated in some and depress'd in other places from whence the Fissures and Breaches the Caverns and Grotto's with many other irregularities within and upon our present Earth seem to be deriv'd LXXVIII When the Sediment setled down gradually upon the Surface of the Ancient Earth it would compose Strata or Layers as even continued and parallel as one could desire and as the said Surface did permit And had the said Surface been fix'd and unalterable this evenness and parallellism this uniformity and continuity of the Strata would have remain'd unalterable also to this day But since as we have formerly shewn the intire Orb of Earth was at the beginning of the Deluge crack'd chap'd and broken and for many years afterwards would by degrees settle and compose it self towards its former figure and rotundity again tho' the Series and Connexion of the Strata might before they were consolidated be as regular as you can imagine yet when the Basis or Foundation on which they rested and the Surface on which they were spread fail'd by degrees in several places and proportions by the rising of some Columns upwards and the setling of others downwards this Upper Orb or Crust where the Strata were not become intirely Solid like Stone and Marble must follow in great part the fate of the other and be dislocated elevated or depress'd in correspondence to that whereon it rested And have thereby a Set of Chaps and Fissures directly over-against those which were before in the Ancient Earth But as for such places where the new Strata were become Stony or Solid and incapable of a compliance with the under Earth by the settling downward or elevation of its immediate Basis the Primitive Earth those Caverns and Grotto's those Caves and Hollows which appear within the Earth or its Mountains would naturally arise while the Solid Strata like Beams or Arches sustain'd the impending Columns notwithstanding the sinking and failure of their immediate Foundations by which Causes the Surface and Upper Regions of the Earth would become very uneven and full of small irregularities such as the present Phaenomenon assures us of Corollary 1. Hence we see a plain Reason why Mountainous and Stony Countries are only or principally Hollow and Cavernous Some lesser Mountains being perhaps occasion'd by the subsidence of the neighbouring Columns and the Caverns they enclose thereby produc'd and the Solidity of the Strata being the proper Cause of such Caverns in other Cases Of which the softer more loose and pliable Earth was accordingly incapable Corollary 2. Tho' the Ancient Earth were setled and become uneven in the same degree and in the same places as the present is and that before the consolidation of the new Sediment yet the Series of the several Strata one under another on each side of any Fissure would in some measure correspond to one another as if the consimilar Strata had once been united and had afterwards been broken and sunk down unequally as is manifest from the consimilar situation and subsidence of the consimular Corpuscles whereby the like order and crassitude of each Stratum might be still preserv'd tho' not so exactly as if the sustaining Surface had been even and smooth when the Sediment compos'd those Strata and the Fissures had afterward been made through both Orbs at once and caus'd such inequality Coroll 3. Hence would arise mighty and numerous Receptacles of Water within the Earth especially in the Mountainous parts thereof For usually where a solid Stratum sustain'd the Earth above while the parts beneath sunk lower and thereby produc'd a Cavern the Waters would ouze and flow into it from all quarters and cause a conflux or inclosed Sea of Waters in the Bowels of the Earth Which Cavities might sometimes communicate with one another or with the Ocean and sometimes contain Restagnant Waters without any outlet All which are very agreeable to the present Phaenomena of the Earth Coroll 4. Hence appears the Reason of the raging of Earthquakes in Mountainous Countreys and of the bursting forth and continuation of Volcano's there For these Caverns which we have observ'd the Mountainous Countreys to be mainly liable to are fit to receive and contain together Nitrous and Explosive Sulphureous and Inflammable steams in great quantities and withal to admit the Air to fan and assist that Explosion or Inflammation which seems to be the occasion of those dreadful Phaenomena in our present Earth Coroll 5. If therefore there be no other Caverns than these accounted for just now and taking date from the Deluge 't is very probable there were few or no Volcano's or Earthquakes so much depending on them before the Flood Coroll 6. In case what has been or might farther be said be not found sufficient to account for some observations made concerning the inward parts of our Earth but Dr. Woodward's Hypothesis of the Disruption of the before united Strata by a general Earthquake or the explosive force of the Steams of Heat ascending from the Central parts be found necessary such a supposition will by no means disagree with the present Theory For when the Subterraneous ascending Steams were every way stop'd and their ordinary course from the Central to the Superficiary Parts obstructed by the new Sediment or Crust growing fast and setled and in some places Stony and Impenetrable they would be every where preternaturally assembled especially in the cracks breaches and fissures of
was involv'd in Darkness or excluded all advantages from him and thereby enduring a continual Night so far as natural Causes are here to be consider'd And that this Retardation of the Earth's Diurnal Rotation even without a recurring to the miraculous Power of its first Author is accountable from that passing by of a Comet which we assign for the occasision of the Conflagration is very easie and obvious For in case its Ascent and Passage by be on the East side or before the Earth and in case it approach so near as to rub against it 't is evident such an Impulse is contrary to the course of the Diurnal Rotation and is therefore capable the Proportions of every thing being adjusted by-Divine Providence of putting such a stop to the same as is necessary to the present Phaenomenon and so may put a Period to that constant Succession of Light and Darkness Day and Night which has obtain'd ever since the Fall of Man and withal distinguish the Surface of the Earth into two quite different and contrary Hemispheres near the Vertex of one of which the Sun it self and near that of the other its opposite Point in the Heavens will be always situate Corollary Seeing such a rub of the Comet wou'd affect the Annual Motion of the Earth as well as the Diurnal 't is possible it might retard the former as well as the latter and reduce the Elliptical Course and Orbit of the Earth to its ancient Circular one again XCIX The State of the Millennium will not stand in need of and so probably will be without the Light and Presence of the Sun and Moon XCIX Seeing the Earth wou'd be on the foregoing Supposition distinguish'd into two quite different Hemispheres the one of which wou'd be wholly destitute of the Light and presence of the Sun and as far as appears by St. John supply'd by a Supernatural Light fixt and permanent above its Horizon 't is clear that the first Branch of this Proposition is accountable thereby as far as this Physical Theory is concern'd therein And as to the Moon seeing 't was only a signal and peculiar Providence that caus'd her equal acceleration and consequent accompanying the Earth at the former passing by of the Comet and that no such Providence is again to be expected 't is evident that that Rub or Stoppage of the Earth's Annual Motion which retards the same and does not retard the Moon 's also will separate these Planets and procure their Orbits Courses and Periods to be quite different from one another's ever after according to the greatest rigour of the present Proposition C. At the Conclusion of the Millennium the Final Judgment and the Consummation of all things the Earth will desert its present Seat and Station in the World and be no longer found among the Planetary Chorus C. If any Comet instead of passing by or gently rubbing the Earth hit directly against it in its Course either towards or from the Sun it must desert its ancient Station and move in a quite different Elliptick Orbit and so of a Planet become again a Comet for the future Ages of the World COROLLARIES FROM THE WHOLE I. SEing the new and solid Improvements of Philosophy do all along give so rational Accounts of those Ancient Theorems which have been propagated down from the eldest Ages without being then either understood or intelligible to their Propagators 't is reasonable to trust and rely on such Ancient Traditions not only Sacred but prophane also in these or any other paralled Cases they being in all probability the most valuable Remains and most venerable Truths which the primitive Parents of the World deliver'd down to their Posterity in succeeding Generations II. Seeing most of these Ancient Theorems are very much beyond the distinct Knowledge of those who deliver them contrary to the common Opinion of Mankind judging usually by sensible Appearances and in themselves considering the low State of Natural Knowledge at the same times were highly improbable if not utterly incredible to inquisitive Minds and indeed several of them relating to the Chaos the Creation the primary Constitution and State of the World and the Deluge it self impossible to be discover'd without Supernatural Revelation and yet seeing after all they do now appear as agreeable to Reason and the most solid Mechanical Philosophy as any new Discoveries built on the exactest Observations of present Nature whatsoever 'T is apparent that these Ancient Accounts especially those contain'd in the Holy Scriptures were not originally deriv'd from the Natural Skill and Observation of the first Authors or any other meerly Humane Means but from the immediate and Supernatural Revelation of God Almighty who was therefore much more conversant with Mankind in the first than he has been in these last Ages of the World as the Old Testament-History assures us III. The Measure of our present Knowledge ought not to be esteem'd the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Test of Truth or to be oppos'd to the Accounts receiv'd from Profane Antiquity much less to the inspir'd Writings For notwithstanding that several Particulars relating to the Eldest Condition of the World and its great Catastrophe's examin'd and compar'd with so much Philosophy as was till lately known were plainly unaccountable and naturally speaking impossible yet we see now Nature is more fully more certainly and more substantially understood that the same things approve themselves to be plain easie and rational IV. 'T is therefore Folly in the highest degree to reject the Truth or Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures because we cannot give our Minds particular Satisfaction as to the manner nay or even possibility of some things therein asserted Since we have seen so many of those things which seem'd the most incredible in the whole Bible and gave the greatest Scruple and Scandal to Philosophick Minds so fully and particularly attested and next to demonstrated from certain Principles of Astronomy and Natural Knowledge 't is but reasonable to expect in due time a like Solution of the other Difficulties 'T is but just sure to depend upon the Veracity of those Holy Writers in other Assertions whose Fidelity is so intirely establish'd in these hitherto equally unaccountable ones V. The Obvious Plain or Literal Sense of the Sacred Scriptures ought not without great Reason to be eluded or laid aside Several of those very Places which seem'd very much to require the same hitherto appearing now to the minutest Circumstances true and rational according to the strictest and most Literal Interpretations of them VI. We may be under an Obligation to believe such things on the Authority of the Holy Scriptures as are properly Mysteries that is though not really Contradictory yet plainly Unaccountable to our present degree of Knowledge and Reason Thus the Sacred Histories of the Original Constitution and great Catastrophe's of the World have been in the past Ages the Objects of the Faith of Jews and Christians though the Divine Providence
of those Beings he has made That we ought to be very wary of Arguing from Man to God without due allowance for these considerations and consequently mighty cautious of affirming or denying whatever is ascrib'd to him from such a comparison In particular wherever a clear Revelation interposes we are bound to quit our fallible reasonings and fully to acquiesce in such a decision It being impossible for God to Lye but by no means so that we may be mistaken But then this necessary prudence and wariness is chiefly if not only concern'd in sublime and mysterious points concerning the incomprehensible Nature or unsearchable Providences of God which Doctrines sometimes are so much above the present Scene of things so remote from the notions and affairs of this World relate to and depend on such other Systems of Beings or circumstances of the Invisible World that we ought not rashly to pass our Judgment of them but wait till our Souls become so improv'd and our Understandings enlightened in a future state till our means of information and opportunities of looking through the whole Chain and System be so many more than now they are that we may justly be suppos'd more competent Judges and equal Arbitrators than at present the imperfection of our condition will permit us in reason to pretend to But this being again precaution'd to prevent any misconstruction or abuse of this reasoning I cannot but say that since 't will be hard to prove the case before us to be of so exalted a nature as to transcend our faculties and perhaps still harder to prove the plainness of the revelation on the side of the common exposition I am fully persuaded that while the Perfections of God are as to our assent deduc'd from their effects they may in good measure within certain bounds as was before discours'd be judg'd of by what is observable among Men. And as whatsoever is worthy good and valuable among our selves is rightly own'd as an efflux and gift of God so whatsoever is preposterous absurd or disorderly whatsoever is unworthy base or despicable in humane affairs cannot without great indignity be believed of him and where we have no other ways of determining such reasonings ought to be persuasive and decretory Now therefore all this being said by way of Introduction to this and some following Arguments let us apply it to the case before us and supposing which yet I need not allow that the matter were indifferent on all other considerations let us speak freely whether such a method such time and such proportion of the several parts as the Ordinary Scheme of the Creation sets before us be in any degree so well contriv'd and suitably dispos'd as I say not a Divine but a meer Humane Architect may be suppos'd the Author of I need not here give a particular account of the vulgar exposition of the first Chapter of Genesis 'T is sufficiently known as to the main parts of it But the disproportions I would take notice of in it under this Head are these three 1. The length of the Day usually assign'd is wholly disproportionate to the business done upon it 2. When the Works of each of the other Days are single distinct and of a sort the Third Day has two quite different nay incompatible Works assigned to it 3. And Principally the Earth with its furniture how inconsiderable a Body soever it is takes up four intire days at least of those six which were allotted to the whole Creation when the Sun Moon and Stars those vastly greater and more considerable bodies are crowded into one single day together 1. The Length of the Day usually assign'd of Twenty four Hours is wholly disproportionate to the business done upon it This plainly appears by the History it self where to omit other instances the whole train in the generation or first production of Animals has no longer a space afforded to it when yet all experience shews that a much longer is necessarily requir'd and has obtain'd in all the subsequent Ages Now I do not question but it will be confess'd by all that according to the constant process of Nature this time is utterly insufficient for this purpose But what will be said is that a Divine Power immediately interpos'd and either form'd every thing in its grown and mature state or at least accelerated and hasten'd the course of Nature so as to enable her to perfect each Creature in so short a space and that consequently no straitness of time ought to be alledg'd on this account In answer whereto I freely grant that God can produce all things in their most perfect state in a moment and if that could be prov'd to have been the method here this exception were of no validity But as on such a supposition 't is strange that six intire and successive days should be requisite to or pitch'd upon by an Infinite and Unlimited Agent when the instantaneous Creation of the whole appears more agreeable to the Dignity and Power of the Creator so I am pretty secure that this Hypothesis how common soever is repugnant to the Mosaick History The Sacred Penman does there ascribe indeed the Origin of every thing to the Divine Power yet no otherwise than the like would be and is done by the Holy Writers afterwards nay by every body at this day when yet the constant method of Generation is exactly observ'd If any of us were ask'd who made us We should soon answer God without the least imagination that we were excused from that nine months abode and gradual growth in our Mothers Womb which every one by the general Rule and Method of Nature is oblig'd to undergo Which appears in the present case to be the intention of the Holy Writer because he makes these very Animals productions of the Water and Earth as well as the proper effects of the Divine Power as has been observ'd already on another occasion And those who deny this gradual Generation according to the course of Nature must without reason recede from the Letter of Moses and that when by so doing they render this Sacred History more difficult and unintelligible than it really is But if instead of immediate Creation it be said that 't was only a supernatural acceleration of natural causes without any other alteration of the process which is I think the only probable evasion and the fairest supposition of all other I reply That this is gratis dictum without any foundation in the Scripture and so as easily denied as asserted it is introduc'd only to salve the shortness of time mention'd in the History which will be prov'd hereafter to stand in no need of it and it overthrows all attempts of accounting for this six days Creation in a rational and natural way for if a miraculous power be allow'd in a needless case we shall be ever at a loss how far to extend it and where mechanical causes ought to take place On which considerations I take