takes up half of its surface and makes it unhabitable 'T is likely the Torrid Zone was unhabitable in that Earth but 't is probable the Poles or Polar parts were more habitable than they are now seeing they would have the Sun or rather Half-Sun perpetually in their Horizon And as to the temperate Climates as we call them they would be under such a gentle and constant warmth as would be more grateful to the Inhabitants and more proper and effectual for a continual Verdure and Vegetation than any region of the present Earth is now But this Objector does not consider on the other hand what an hard life they would lead in those days at least in many parts of the Earth if the seasons of the year were the same they are now and they confin'd to Herbs Fruits and Water for that was the Diet of Mankind till the Deluge Should we not think it an unmerciful imposition now to be interdicted the use of Flesh-meat all the year long Or rather is it possible that the life of Man could be supported by Herbs and Fruits and Water in the colder Climates where the Winters are so long and barren and the cold so vehement But if you suppose a perpetual Spring throughout the Earth the Heavens mild and the juices of Fruits and Plants more nutritive that Objection would cease and their longaevity be more intelligible We come now to the Causes of the change in the posture of the Earth where the Theorist hath set down his conjectures what he thought the most probable to be the occasion of it namely either some inequality in the libration of the Earth after it was dissolved and broken or a change in the Magnetism of its Body consequent upon its dissolution and the different situation of its parts But this Examiner will neither allow any change to have been made in the position of the Earth since the beginning of the World nor if there was a change that it could be made from such Causes The first of these points you see is matter of fact and so it must be prov'd partly by History and partly by Reason Some things are noted before which argue that the Antediluvian Earth was different from the present in its frame and constitution as also in reference to the Heavens and the places are referred to where that matter is treated more largely by the Theorist If it be granted that there was a permanent change made in the state of Nature at the Deluge or any other time but deny'd that it was made by a change of the situation of the Earth and the consequences of it then this Writer must assign some other change made which would have the same effects that is which will answer and agree with the Phenomena of the First Earth and also of the present When this is done if it be clear and convictive we must acquiesce in it But I do not see that it is so much as attempted by this Author This suppos'd change I say is matter of Fact and therefore we must consult History and Reason for the proof or disproof of it As to History the Theorist hath cited to this purpose Leucippus Anaxagoras Democritus Empedocles Plato and Diogenes These were the most renowned Philosophers amongst the Ancients and all these speak of an inclination of the Earth or the Poles which hath been made in former ages These one would think might be allow'd as good witnesses of a former Tradition concerning a change in the situation of the Earth when nothing is brought against them And this change is particularly call'd by Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a disharmony or disconcerting of the motions of the Heavens which he makes the source and origin of the present Evils and inconveniences of Nature Besides he dates this change from the expiration of the reign of Saturn or when Jupiter came to take the government upon him And this you know in the style of those times signifies the end of the Golden Age. Thus far Plato carries the Tradition Now the Poets tell us expresly that there was a perpetual Spring or a perpetual Equinox in the time of Saturn and that the inequality of the Year or the diversity of Seasons was first introduc'd by Jupiter The Authors and places are well known and noted by the Theorist I need not repeat them here You see what this evidence amounts to both that there hath been a change and such a change as alter'd the course of the Year and brought in a vicissitude of Seasons And this according to the Doctrines or Traditions remaining amongst the Heathens The Jews and Christians say the same thing but in another manner They do not speak of the Golden Age or of the reign of Saturn or Jupiter but of the state of Paradise or Gan-Eden and concerning that they say the same things which the Heathen Authors say in different words The Jews make a perpetual Equinox in Paradise the Christians a perpetual serenity a perpetual Spring And this cannot be without a different situation of the Earth from what it hath now He may see the citations if he please in the Theory or Archaeologiae It were to be wisht that this Examiner would look a little into Antiquity when he hath time It may be that would awaken him into new thoughts and a more favourable opinion of the Theory as to this particular Give me leave to mind him in his own way what some ancient Astronomers have said relating to this subject Baptista Mantuanus speaking of the longaevity of the Antediluvians says Erant illis ut Astronomiâ experimento constat Coeli propitiores volunt namque Astronomi c. This he explains by an uniform and concentrical motion of the heavens and the Earth at that time To which he imputes the great vertue of their herbs and fruit and the long lives of their Animals Petrus Aponensis who liv'd above an Age before Mantuan gives us much what the same account For making an answer to this question utrum natura humana sit debilitata ab eo quod antiquitus necne He says Cum capita Zodiaci mobilis immobilis ordinatè directè concurrebant tunc virtus perfectiori modo à primo principio per medias causas taliter ordinatas fortiori modo imprimebatur in ista inferiora cum causae tunc sibi invicem correspondeant Propter quod concludendum est tunc naturam humanam illo tempore ut sic fortiorem longaeviorem extitisse I give it in his own words as they are in his Conciliator Differ 9. Georgius Pictorius or an Author under his name unto the same question about the longaevity of the Antediluvians gives a like answer from the same Astronomer in these words Petrus Aponensis adfert rationem pro vario cursu dispositione coelorum modò vitam humanam breviari modò produci scribit Ex Astronomiâ argumentum colligens cùm ait
rotation of the Earth and its gravity without supposing the Globe form'd into that shape before it came to be hardned before it came to be loaded and stifned by Rocks and stony Mountains Therefore upon both Hypotheses it must be allow'd that there was such a time such a state of the Earth when its tender Orb was capable of those impressions and modifications and that Orb must have lain above the Waters not under them nor radicated to the bottom of them for then such Causes could not have had such an effect upon it And in the last place This Concretion upon the Waters must have been throughout all the parts of the Earth or all the parts of the Land which are now rais'd above a Spherical Surface and no reason can be given as we noted before why the rest should not be cover'd as well as those So that in effect both the Hypotheses suppose that all the watery Globe was at first cover'd with an earthy Concretion Now this being admitted you have confirm'd the main point of the Theory namely That the Abyss was once or at first cover'd with a terrestrial Concretion or an Orb of Earth Grant this and we 'll compound for the rest let the Earth at present be of what Figure it will If there was such an original Earth that cover'd the Waters both the form and equilibration of that Earth may easily appear and how by a dissolution of it a Deluge might arise But as to the present Earth the Theorist never affirm'd that its Figure was Oval but he noted such observations made or to be made as he thought might be proper to determine its Figure and still desires that they may be pursued He added also that he would be glad to receive any new ones that would demonstrate the precise Figure of the Earth And accordingly he is willing to consider in this particular and all others the Arguments and Remarks of such Eminent Authors as have lately given a new light to the System of the World This may suffice to have spoken in general concerning these two spheroidical Figures of the Earth We must now consider what particular objections are made by the Examiner against its Oval Figure He says admitting the Oval Figure of that first Earth it would not be capable however to give a course to the Rivers from the Polar Parts towards the Equinoctial And his reason is this because the same Causes which cast the Abyss or the Ocean towards the Poles would also keep the Rivers from descending from the Poles But there is no parity of reason betwixt the Abyss or the Ocean and the Rivers We see in the flux and reflux of the Ocean let the Cause of it be what it will it hath not that effect upon Rivers nor upon Lakes nor upon lesser Seas Yet the circumrotation of the Earth continues the same And his confounding the Ocean and Rivers in the Antediluvian Earth is so much the worse seeing there never was an Ocean and Rivers together in that Earth While there was an open Ocean there were no Rivers and when there were Rivers there was no open Ocean but an inclos'd Abyss So ' tho he makes large Transcripts there and elsewhere out of the Theory he does not seem always to have well digested the method of it After this objection th' Examiner charges the Theorist with want of Skill in Logick but his charge is grounded upon another Misunderstanding or Misrepresentation He pretends there that the Theorist hath made such a Ratiocination as this All Bodies by reason of the Earths Diurnal Rotation do endeavour to recede from the Axis of their Motion but by reason of the Pressure of the Air and the Streightness of the Orb they cannot recede from the Axis of their Motiâ—n therefore they will move towards the Poles where they will come nearer to the Axis of their Motion These are the Examiner's Words in that place where he says he will put the Theorist's reasoning in other Words But I do not like that Method unless th' Examiner were a more judicious or faithful Paraphrast than he seems to be let every one be Tryed by their own Words and if there be any false Logick or nonsence in the forecited words of th' Examiner let it fall upon their Author The Theorist said that Bodies by reason of the Earths Motion did conari à centro sui motus recedere These words this Translator renders endeavour to receed from the Axis of their motion and by changing the word Center into Axis whether carelesly or wilfully I know not of plain sence he hath made non-sence and then makes this Conclusion which follows indeed from his own words but not from those of the Theorist Because all Bodies do endeavour to recede from the Axis of their motion therefore they will endeavour to go to the Axis of their motion The Theorist's argumentation was plainly this Seeing in the rotation of the Earth Bodies tend from the Center of their motion if they meet with an impediment there they will move laterally in the next easiest and openest way and therefore the Waters under the Equator being stop'd in their first tendency would divert towards the Poles Wherein I think there is no false Logick That there was no impediment there he must prove by other Arguments than his own dictates or bare assertion which will not pass for a proof He proceeds now to discourse of the Centrifugal force and the effects of it together with gravity But he should have given us a better notion of the Centrifugal force than what he sets down there for he says p. 110. l. 24. A Centrifugal force is that force by which a Body is drawn towards the Center This is a strange signification of that word And in the next page l. 22. he says by this Centrifugal force Bodies endeavour to recede from the Center of their motion which is true but contrary to what he said just before I think 't is Gravity not Centrifugal force that brings Bodies towards the Center But to pass by this contradiction and to proceed What he says from other Authors about the proportions of the Centrifugal force and Gravity in Bodies turn'd round and particularly in Fluids how they would fly off more or less according to the Circles of their motion was always as hath been mention'd before suppos'd and allow'd by the Theorist if there was no restraint or pressure upon one part more than another of the fluid Globe So that he might have spared here six or seven pages In like manner he might have spar'd what he hath transcrib'd in his following Pages from those excellent Authors we referr'd to before about calculating the diminutions of Gravity made by the Centrifugal force in different Latitudes with other such excursions These I say might have been spar'd as needless upon this occasion or to the confutation of the Theory till the principal point upon which they depend
to note an instance of this himself and to subjoin his reasons for it We see dust saith he though specifically heavier than Oil yet not to sink when cast upon it And the reason is because all terrestrial Bodies tho fluid in their kind yet in some degree resist separation and consequently I add viscous liquors which have some sort of entanglement amongst themselves resist separation more than others Then he remarks further that according as Bodies are less they have more surface in proportion to their bulk and consequently that small Bodies whose weight or force to separate the parts of the Fluid is but very little may have a surface so large that they cannot overcome the resistance of the Fluid That is they cannot make way for their descent through the Fluid and therefore must swim upon the surface of it Be it so then the particles here mentioned by the Theorist being little and of large surfaces in proportion to their bulk would swim upon the surface of the Fluid or mix with it which is all the Theorist affirms or supposes And as this tender film grew into a crust and that into a solid Arch the parts of it would mutually support one another the concave superficies of the Orb overspreading and leaning upon the Waters And this also shews that his instance of a Solid Globe sinking in a Fluid is little to the purpose in this case But he hath a second Objection behind or another consideration to prove that those little particles would pierce and pass through this oily Liquid This consideration is the great height of the place from which they descended whereby he thinks they would acquire such a celerity and force in their descent that they must needs break through this orb of oily liquors when they came at it But this is to suppose that they descended without interruption or without having their course stopt and their force broken in several parts of their journey This is an arbitrary and groundless supposition For these floating particles did not fall like a stone or a ponderous body in one continued line but rather like fleaks of Snow hovering and playing in the Air their course being often interrupted and diverted and their force broken again and again before they came to the end of their journey so that this suggestion can be of no force or effect in the present case However if that will gratifie him we can allow that thousands and millions of these little particles might slip or creep thorough this clammy liquor yet there would enow of them be entangled there to make it first a gross liquid then a sort of concretion so as to stop the succeeding particles from passing thorough it I have done with all that is argumentative in this Chapter But this Writer is pleased to go sometimes out of his way of Philosophizing to make reflections of another kind Accordingly here and elsewhere he makes insinuations and suggestions as if the Theorist did not own the hand of Providence or of a particular and extraordinary Providence in the formation of the Earth Or as if all things in the great revolutions of the Natural World were carryed on solely by material and mechanical Causes This suggestion ought to be taken notice of as being contrary to the sence of the Theorist as it is exprest in several places In speaking of the motions of the Chaos the Theorist makes the steddy hand of Providence which keeps all things in weight and measure to be the invisible guide of all its motions And in concluding his discourse about the formation of the Earth chap. 5. p. 45. The Theorist says This structure is so marvellous that it ought rather to be consider'd as a particular effect of the Divine Art than as the work of Nature with many other remarks there to the same purpose Then as to the Dissolution of the Earth and the conduct of the Deluge 't is made miraculous also by the Theorist And upon that occasion an account is given of Providence both ordinary and extraordinary in reference to the government of Nature And that not only as to the Formation and Dissolution of the Earth but also as to its Conflagration and Renovation For the Theorist always puts those great revolutions under the particular conduct and moderation of Providence Lastly As to the whole Universe He is far from making that the product either of Chance or Necessity or of any purely material or mechanical Causes As you may see at large in the Two last Chapters of the Theory So that what this Author hath said rudely enough according to his way of Mr. Wotton That he either understands no Geometry or else that he never read D. C. his Principles may with a little change be apply'd to himself in this case That either he never read over or does not remember or which is still worse does wilfully misrepresent what the Theorist hath writ upon this subject The sum of all is this Deus non deficit in necessariis nec redundat in superfluis God is the God of Nature and the Laws of Nature are his Laws These we are to follow so far as they will go and where they fall short we must rise to higher Principles but we ought not to introduce a needless exercise of the divine Power for a cover to our ignorance To conclude this Chapter I will leave one Advertisement with the Examiner concerning the Chaos When he speaks of the World 's rising from the Mosaick Chaos if by World he understand the whole Universe as he seems to do not this inferiour World only but the fixt Stars also and all the Heavens If that I say be his meaning and opinion he will meet with other opponents besides the Theorist that will contest that point with him We come now to the Third Chapter concerning the Mountains of the Earth which is a subject indeed that deserves consideration seeing it reaches to the three fundamental Propositions before mentioned and the Form of the Antediluvian Earth Which Form the Examiner would have to be the same with that of the present Earth To have had Mountains and Rocks an open chanel of the Sea with all the cavities and irregularities within or without the surface of it as at present If he can prove this he needs go no farther he may spare his pains for the rest I 'll undertake that the Theorist shall make no farther defence of his Theory if the Examiner can make good proof of this one conclusion But on the other hand the Examiner ought to be so ingenuous as to acknowledge that all that he hath said besides till this be prov'd can be of little or no effect as to the substance of the Theory Let us then consider how he raises Mountains and Rocks and gives us an account of all the other inequalities that we find in the present form of the Earth by an immediate formation or deduction from the
them answer for themselves the Theorist is not concern'd Grant the first point That Mountains could not arise from any known Efficient Causes in the first concretion of the Chaos or in the first habitable Earth that rise from it the Theorist readily allows as appears fully in the two last Chapters of the Second Book the use of final causes in the contemplation of Nature as being great arguments of the Wisdom and Goodness of God But this ought not to exclude the Efficient Causes in a Theory otherwise it would be no Theory but a work of another Nature Though a man knew the Final Cause of a Watch or Clock namely to tell him the Hour of the Day yet if he did not know the construction of its parts what was the Spring of motion what the order of the Wheels and how they mov'd the Hand of the Dial he could not be said to understand that little Machine or at least not to understand it so well as he that knew the construction and dependance of all its parts in vertue whereof that effect was brought to pass In many cases we do not understand the Final Causes and in many we do not understand the Efficient but notwithstanding we must endeavour so far as we are able to joyn and understand them both the end and the means to it For by the one as well as the other the divine Power and Wisdom are illustrated And seeing every effect hath its Efficient Cause if we cannot reach it we must acknowledge our Speculations to be so far imperfect After this excursion about Final Causes he concludes That it is impossible to subsist or live without Rocks and Mountains Consequently no Earth is habitable without Rocks and Mountains But how can he tell this Hath he been all over the Universe to make his Observations or hath he had a Revelation to tell him that there is no one habitable Planet throughout all the Works of God but what is of the same Form with our Earth as to Rocks and Mountains Who hath ever observ'd Mountains and Rocks in Jupiter or in the remains of Saturn I should think such a general assertion as he makes a bold and unwarrantable limitation of the Divine Omniscience and Omnipotency Who dares conclude that the infinite Wisdom and Power of God is confin'd to one single mode or fabrick of an habitable World We know there are many Planets about our Sun besides this Earth and of different positions and constructions Neither do we know but there be as many about other Suns or fixt Stars must we suppose that they are all cast in the same mould That they are all formed after the Model of our Earth with Mountains and Rocks and Gulphs and Caverns Urbem quam dicunt Romam Meliboee putavi Stultus ego huic nostrae similem This was the judgment of the Shepherd who could imagine nothing different or nothing better than his own Town or Village those may imitate him that please 'T is true Suum cuique pulchrum is an usual saying but we think that to proceed from fondness rather and self-conceit than from a true and impartial judgment of things In contemplating the Works of God we ought to have respect to his Almighty and infinite Wisdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multiformem sapientiam Dei rather than to the measures of our own experience and understanding We may remember how an Heathen hath upbraided and derided that narrowness of Spirit Quae tantae sunt animi angustiae ut si Seryphi natus esses nec unquam egressus ex Insulâ in quâ Lepusculos Vulpeculasque saepe vidisses non crederes Leones Pantheras esse cùm tibi quales essent diceretur Si verò de Elephanto quis diceret etiam rideri te putares We may as well say that there can be no Animals of another form from those we have upon this Earth as that there can be no Worlds or habitable Earths of another form and structure from the present Earth An quicquam tam puerile dici potest says the same Author quà m si ea genera belluarum quae in Rubro mari Indiâve gignantur nulla esse dicamus Atqui ne curiosissimi quidem homines exquirendo audire tam multa possunt quà m sunt multa quae Terrâ Mari paludibus fluminibus existunt quae negemus esse quia nunquam vidimus I mention such instances to shew that 't is rashness or folly to confine the varieties of Providence and Nature to the narrow compass of what we have seen or of what falls under our imagination This is a more strange and assuming boldness as he terms it than what he ascribes to the Theorist for saying We can observe no order in the situation of Mountains nor regularity in their form and shape If the Examiner knows any why does he not tell us what it is and wherein it consists Is it necessary that Mountains should be exact Pyramids or Cones or any of the Regular Bodies Or rang'd upon the Earth in rank and file or in a quincuncial order or like pretty garden-knots If they had been design'd for beauty this might have done well But providence seems on purpose to have left these irregularities in their Figure and Site as marks and signatures to us that they are the effects of a ruine But to shew further and more particularly the necessity of Mountains the Examiner says without them 't is impossible there should be Rivers or without Rivers an habitable world Neither of these propositions seem to me to be sure They run still upon impossibilities which is a nice Topick and lies much out of our reach I think Vapors may be condens'd other ways than by Mountains and an Earth might be so fram'd as to give a course to Rivers tho there were no particular Mountains if the general figure of it was higher in one part than another Then as to the absolute necessity of Rivers to make an Earth habitable that is questionable too We are told by good Authors of some Countries or Islands that have no rivers or springs and yet are habitable and fruitful being water'd by Dews This may give us an advertisement from a part to the whole that an Earth may be made habitable without rivers If at First vapours ascended and fell down in dews so as to water the whole face of the Earth God might if he had pleas'd have continued the same courfe of Nature And it is the opinion of many Interpreters and seems to have been an ancient tradition that there was no rain till the Deluge If there was no Rain-bow in the first Earth which I think the Theorist hath undeniably prov'd Theor. Book II. c. 5. it will be hard to prove that there were then any watery clouds in the habitable parts of the Earth And our best Observators will allow no clouds or rains in the Moon and some of them no Rivers yet will not suppose the
lessened there could be no supply of Vapours from the Abyss seeing the heat of the Sun could not reach so far nor raise Vapours from it or at least not in a sufficient quantity As he pretends to prove hereafter But in the mean time he speaks of great cracks or pits whose dimensions and capacities he examines at pleasure and by these he makes the Theorist to suppose the Vapours to ascend Now I do not find that the Theorist makes any mention of these Pits nor any use of those cracks for that purpose The only question is Whether the heat of the Sun in that Earth would reach so low as the Abyss when the Earth was more dry'd and its pores enlarg'd So that this objection as he states it seems to refer to some other Author But now supposing the Vapours rais'd he considers what course they would take or which way they would move in the open Air. But before that be examin'd we must take notice how unfairly he deals with the Theorist when he seems to make him suppose that Mountains make way for the motion and dilatation of Vapours Which he never suppos'd nor is it possible he should suppose it in the First Earth where there were no Mountains Neither does the Theorist suppose as this Author would insinuate that Mountains or Cold dilate Vapours but on the contrary that they stop and compress them as the words are cited even by the Examiner a little before p. 86. Then as to the course of the Vapours when they are rais'd The Theorist supposes that would be towards the Poles and the coldest Climates But this Author says They would all move Westward or from East to West There being a continual wind blowing from the East to West according to the motion of the Sun Whether that Wind come from the motion of the Sun or of the Earth which is contrary is another question but however let them move at first to the West the question here is Where they would be condens'd or where they would fall And there is little probability that their condensation would be under the Equator where they are most agitated but rather by an impulse of new vapours they would soon divert towards the Poles And losing their agitation there would fall in Dews or Rains Which condensation being made and a passage open'd that way for new ones to supply their places there would be a continual draught of Vapours from the hotter to the colder parts of the Earth We proceed now to the Seventh Chapter which is in a good measure upon the same or a like subject with this namely concerning the penetration of the heat of the Sun into the Body of the Earth This he says cannot be to any considerable depth nor could it pass the exteriour Orb of the first Earth and affect the Abyss or raise vapours from it To prove this he supposes that exteriour Earth divided into so many surfaces as he pleases then supposing the heat diminish'd in every surface he concludes it could not possibly pass through so many Thus you may divide an Inch into an hundred or a thousand surfaces and prove from thence that no heat of the Sun could pierce through an Inch of Earth We must rather consider Pores than Surfaces in this case and whether those Pores were straight or oblique the motion would pass however ' tho not the Light And the heat of the Sun might have its effect by a direct or indirect motion to a great depth within the Earth notwithstanding the multitude of Surfaces that he imagines Those that think a Comet upon its nearer approach to the Sun would be pierc'd with its heat through and through and to such a degree as to become much hotter than red hot Iron will not think it strange that at our distance from the Sun its heat should have some proportionable effect upon the inward parts of the Earth And all those imaginary solid Surfaces do not hinder you see the Magnetick particles from running through the Body of the Earth and making the Globe one great Magnet But let those considerations have what effect they can this supposition however is nothing peculiar to the Theorist I know some learned men think the heat of the Sun does penetrate deep into the bowels of the Earth Others think it does not and either of them have their arguments These alledge the equal temper of Vaults and Mines at different seasons of the year The other say 't is true subterraneous places keep their equality of temper much better than the external Air and those differences that appear to us are in a great measure by comparison with the temper of our Bodies Then for their own opinion they take an argument from the generation of Metals and Minerals in the bowels of the Earth and other Subterraneous fossiles These we see are ripen'd by degrees in several ages and cannot as they think be brought to Maturity and raised into the exteriour Earth without the heat and influence of the Sun Of the same Sun that actuates all the Vegetable World that quickens Seeds and raises Juices into the roots of our deepest and tops of our highest Oakes and Cedars But let this remain a Problem I will instance in another remarkable Phaenomenon which is most for the present purpose I mean Earthquakes Let us consider the Causes of them and the Depths of them I think all agree that Earthquakes arise from the rarefaction of Vapours and Exhalations and that this rarefaction must be made by some heat and no other is yet prov'd to us by this Author than that of the Sun Then as to the depth of Earthquakes we find they are deeper than the bottom of the Sea For besides that they communicate with different Countries divided by the Sea they are found sometimes to arise within the Sea and from the bottom of it at great depths This seems to prove that there may be a strong rarefaction of Vapours and Exhalations far within the bowels of the Earth and the Theorist desires no more If in the present constitution of the Earth there may be such Concussions and Subversions for a great extent we have no reason to believe but there might be at a time appointed by Providence an Universal Disruption as that Earth was constituted Finally Whatsoever the causes of this Disruption and Dissolution were 't is certain there was a Disruption of the Abyss and that Disruption Universal as the Deluge was which answers sufficiently the design of the Theory However if he have a mind to see how this agrees with History both Sacred and Prophane he may consult if he please what the Theorist hath noted upon that argument Archaeol l. 2. c. 4. besides other places But this Author says further That supposing such a Disruption of the Abyss and Dissolution of the Exterior Earth no Universal Deluge however could follow upon it because there could not be Water enough left in the Abyss to
be better prov'd I made bold to say they were transcrib'd from those Authors as any one may see that please to consult the Originals Newt Philos Nat. princ math l. 3. prop. 18 19 20. Hugens Discours de la cause de la Pesanteur p. 147 148 c. And this French Discourse of Monsieur Hugens he hath not so much as once nam'd tho he hath taken so much from it And after all when these things are determin'd in Speculation it will still be a question what the True Physical Causes of them are At last for a further confirmation of the broad Spheroidical Figure of the Earth he adds an Observation from the Planet Jupiter which is found to be of such a Figure And therefore he says We need not doubt but that the Earth which is a Planet like the rest and turns round its Axis as they do is of the same Figure He might as well conclude that every Planet as well as the Earth is of the same Figure And what reason can he give why all the Planets that have a Rotation upon their Axis are not broad Spheroids as well as those two which he supposes to be so If that be a sufficient Cause and be found in other Planets as well as those why hath it not the same effect Or he might as well conclude That the Earth hath a perpetual Equinox because Jupiter hath so This is the same fault which he hath so often committed of measuring all the Works of God by one or two If a Man was transported into the Moon the nearest Planet or into Mercury that is so near the Sun or into Saturn or any of his Satellites that is so remote from it would he not find think you a much different face and state of those Planets from what we have upon this Earth Inhabitants of a different constitution the furniture of every World different Animals Plants Waters and other Inanimate Things As also different vicissitudes of Days and Nights and the Seasons of the Year according to their different Positions Revolutions and Forms Therefore not without reason we noted before how much the narrowness of some Mens Spirits Thoughts and Observations confine them to a particular Pattern and Model not considering the infinite variety of the Divine Works whereof we are not competent Judges Now comes in his rude censure of Dr. Eisensmidius both for his Mathematicks and bad Logick or want of common Sence But to this we have spoken before He also in the same Paragraph wonders at the Theorist's strange Logick to make the Centrifugal force of Bodies upon the Earth to be the cause of its Oblong Figure That indeed would be strange Logick if it was made the proximate cause of it But that is not the Theorist's Logick but the Examiner's as it is distorted and misrepresented by him The Theorist suppos'd the pressure of that tumour of the Waters occasion'd by the Centrifugal force as its original Cause to be the immediate Cause of the Oblong Figure of the Earth and that pressure suppos'd there is nothing illogical in the inference He had formerly taken notice of this reason from the streightness of the Orb in that part when he gave the Theorist's account of that Figure but he thought fit to forget it now that his charge might not appear lame This Sir is a short account of this Author's Objections But there are some things so often repeated by him that we are forc'd to take notice of them more than once As that about Miracles and Final Causes He truly notes that to be a much easier and shorter way of giving an account of the Deluge or other Revolutions of Nature But the question is not which is the shortest and easiest way but which is the truest No Man in his sences can question the Divine Omnipotency God could do these things purely miraculously if he pleas'd but the thing to be consider'd is Whether according to the methods of Providence in the Changes and Revolutions of the Natural World the Course of Nature and of Natural Causes is not made use of so far as they will go Both Moses and S. Peter mention Material Causes but always including the Divine Word and Superintendency The Theorist does not think as is sufficiently testified in several places that purely Material and Mechanical Causes guided only by the Laws of Motion could form this Earth and the furniture of it and does readily believe all Miracles recorded in Holy Writ or elsewhere well grounded But Miracles of our own making or imagining want Authority to support them Some Men when they are at a loss in the progress of their work call in a Miracle to relieve them in their distress You know what hath been noted both by Philosophers and others to that purpose As to Final Causes the Contemplation of them is very useful to moral purposes and of great satisfaction to the Mind where we can attain to them But we must not pretend to prove a thing to be so or so in Nature because we fancy it would be better so Nor deny it to be in such a manner because to our mind it would be better otherwise Almighty Power and Wisdom that have the whole complex and composition of the Universe in View take other measures than we can comprehend or account for Even in this small Earth that we inhabit there are several Plants and Animals which to us appear useless or noxious and yet no doubt would be found proper for this state if we had the whole prospect and Scheme of Providence As to Efficient Causes they must be either Material or Immaterial and whatsoever is prov'd to be the Immediate Effect of an Immaterial Cause is so much the more acceptable to the Theorist as it argues a Power above Matter But as to purely Material Causes they must be Mechanical There being no other Modes or Powers of Matter at least in the opinion of the Theorist but what are Mechanical And to explain Effects by such Causes is properly Natural Science We have taken notice before of this Author 's ambiguous use of words without declaring in what sence he uses them And he is no less ambiguous as to his opinions When he speaks of the Origin and Formation of the WORLD he does not tell us what he means by that word whether the great Compound of the Universe or that small part only where we reside His Centrifugal force he interprets in contrary sences or in contrary words and reserves the sence to himself Sometimes he speaks of the motion of the Sun and sometimes of the motion of the Earth and sticks to no System Neither does he tell us what he means by the Mosaical Abyss or Tehom Rabbah which the Theorist supposes to have been broken up at the Deluge We ought to know in what sence and signification he uses Words or Phrases at least if he use them in a different sence from that of the Theorist's I know Sir you will also take notice of his hard Words and course Language as That 's false that 's absurd that 's ridiculous This you will say is not usual Language amongst Gentlemen But we find it too usual with some Writers according to their particular temper and experience in the World For my part I think rudeness or disingenuity in examining the Writings of another Person fall more heavy in the construction of fair Readers upon him that uses them than upon him that suffers them I am Sir Your most humble Servant FINIS Engl. P. 37 38. P. 38 39. P. 40. P. 22. Note the pages are cited according to the 3d. Edit of the Engl. and the 2d of the Lat. Theor. Engl. Theor. ch 8. p. 71 c. Book II. Introd p. 15. P. 49. 51. P. 48. Ibid. P. 51. P. 50 51. P. 52. Eng. Theor. P. 54. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 1. P. 54. P. 55. and 61. Gen. 2. 6. Galil Syst Cos p. 133. Hugen Cosmoth l. 2. p. 115. P. 66. P. 76. P. 63. Ch. 3. P. 66. De Patien l. 2. c. 27. Quaest Phys par 3. quaest 74. P. 189. P. 83. Eng. Theor. p. 134. P. 71. * Perpetuò enim illic fruuntur Aequinoctio quoniam axem motûs diurni Jupiter rectum fermè habet ad planum itineris sui circa Solem nec ut Tellus obliquum Hugen Cosmoth p. 105. P. 66. Ibid. P. 76. Engl. p. 113 114. Lat. p. 107. Cosmoth p. 105. P. 87. P. 88. P. 94 95. P. 97. P. 148. P. 158. P. 66. 69 c. P. 140. 143. Geogr. l. 1. prop. 4. Ibid. proâ— 36. Ephemer par 2. ad An. 1624. Disc de la Pesant p. 145 c. Ibid p. 149. Ibid. p. 166. * M. Hugens de la pesant p. 152. Il est a croire que la Terre a pris cette figure lors qu' elle a esté assemblée par l'effect de la pesanteur sa matiere aiant dés lors le mouvement circulaire de 24 heures Lat. Theor. lib. 2. p. 185. p. 103 104 c. P. 107. Theor. lib. 2. c. 5. p. 186. p. 108. P. 11 137 138. P. 142. P. 102 103. P. 31. Plat. Cratyl â—n p. 425. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cùm rei alicujus angustiis haeâ—ent ad machinas confugiant Deos inducunt This is also remark'd and render'd in other words by Tully de nat Deor. l. 1. Cùm explicare argumenti exitum non potestis confugitis ad Deum S. Austin also speaking about the Supercelestial Waters hath noted this method and reprov'd it in these words Nec quisquam istos ita debet refellere ut dicat secundum omnipotentiam Dei cui cuncta sunt possibilia oportere nos credere aquas etiam tam graves quà m novimus atque sentimus coelesti corpori in quo sunt sydera superfusas Nunc enim quemadmodùm Deus instituerit naturas rerum secundum Scripturam ejuâ— nos quaerere convenit non autem quod ipse in iis vel ex iis ad miraculum omnipotentia suae velit operari l. 2. Gen. ad lit You see discretion and moderation is to be used in these and such like matters