'T is evident at first view That the two former of these three last mention'd Phaenomena are inconsistent with the Theorist's Hypothesis and on a little Consideration 't will be so of the last also For while the Poles of the Earth or World remain in being the same as depending on the same proper Axis of the Earth's own Diurnal Revolution 't is plain the Latitude of Places on the Earth or the Elevation of the Pole equal thereto remains invariable and so that Pole which to the Inhabitants of Paradise was elevated at the least 231 2 degrees could not be at the Horizon whatever right Position the Axis of the Earth might have with respect to the Ecliptick On the same account there could even in the Theorist's own Hypothesis be no new Elevation of the one or Depression of the other Pole at the Deluge nor inclination of the Courses of the Sun and Planets towards the South All that could on the Theorist's Principles be effected besides the Earth's Equator and Poles pointing to different fix'd Stars and its Consequences was only this that whereas before the Sun was always in the Equator or middle distance from any Climate it afterwards by turns came nearer to them as we commonly tho' carelessly express it in Summer and went farther from them in Winter than before which upon the whole was no more a bent or inclination to one part of the Heavens than to the other and so of the Planets also And the case is the same as to the Poles of the Ecliptick the Northern one being as much elevated above that of the World at one hour of the Day as depress'd beneath it at another All which is I think sufficient to shew That the Testimonies of Antiquity alledg'd by the Theorist for the peopetual Equinox or the right Position of the Earth's Axis till the Deluge and the oblique Position and different Seasons then acquir'd are sufficient of themselves alone to confute his and establish the present Hypothesis 5. All things consider'd such a Position as the Theorist contends for was more likely to incommode than be useful to Mankind Taking the Matter wholly as the Theorist puts it it would prevent the Peopling of the Southern Hemisphere by the scorching heat just under the Equator without the least Intermission at any time of the Year It would render the Earth utterly unserviceable both under the Equator and Poles and in the Climates adjoyning and so streighten the Capacity of the Earth in maintaining its numerous Inhabitants which were the whole inhabitable will appear but just sufficient to contain them It would by the Perpetuation of one and the same Season continually hinder the variety of Fruits and Vegetables of every Country and many other ways spoil the setled Course of Nature and be pernicious to Mankind 6. No mechanical and rational Cause of the Mutation of the Earth's Axis either has been or I believe can be afsign'd on the Theorist's Hypothesis or any others which should embrace the same Conclusion 7. Lastly to name no more Arguments The Testimonies of Diogenes and Anaxagoras are as express almost to the Time as to this Change it self The words being exceeding remarkable are these as Plutarch himself relates them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 'T was the Doctrine both of Diogenes and Anaxagoras That after the Creation or primary Constitution of the World and the Production of Animals out of the Earth the World as it were of its own accord was bent or inclin'd towards the South And truly 't is probable this Inclination was the Effect of Providence on purpose that some Parts of the World might become habitable and others uninhabitable by reason of the difference of the frigid torrid and temperate Climates thereof Which observable and most valuable Fragment of Antiquity ought to have been before mention'd but was on purpose reserv'd for this place where it not only fully attests the matter of fact the Inclination of the Heavens towards the South not only assigns the final Cause truly enough considering the uninhabitableness of the Torrid as well as of the Frigid Zones in the Opinion of those Ages the Distribution of the Earth into certain and fix'd Zones Torrid Temperate and Frigid but so accurately and nicely specifies the time also That succeeding the Creation agreeably to the present Hypothesis that were I to wish or chuse for a Testimony fully to my mind I could scarcely have desir'd or pitch'd upon a better To these five foregoing Arguments for the proof of my main Conclusion I shall by way of supernumerary ones or Appendages add one or two more and so leave the whole to the Consideration of the Impartial Reader 6. The State of Mankind without question and perhaps that of other Animals was before the Fall vastly different from the present and consequently requir'd a proportionably different State of external Nature of which without the Hypothesis before us no Account can be given or at least has not yet by any been attempted The World as to other things seems to have been at first in great measure put into the same Condition which we still enjoy and yet Reason as well as Scripture assures us That so different a condition of things in the Animal Rational and Moral must be suited with an agreeably different one in the Natural and Corporeal World Which being consider'd and that at the same time no remarkable difference has been or perhaps can be assign'd but what the Hypothesis before us and its consequences afford us and that withal a satisfactory account of the several Particulars is deducible from the same as I hope to make appear hereafter upon the whole I think this a very considerable Attestation to what has been before insisted on 'T is indeed possible that what I look on as an advantage to others may imagine to be a prejudice against the present Hypothesis as inferring among other things a half year of Night as well as a half year of Day which may be suppos'd too disproportionate to the State and Condition of Mankind and especially too inconvenient for so happy and easy a Life as that of Mankind in Paradise undoubtedly was without any consideration of the other Creatures But it ought to be consider'd as has been already remark'd that our judging of one Scheme or System of Nature by another is very fallacious and very unreasonable Almighty God adapts each particular State to such rational and animal Beings as are on purpose design'd for the same but by no means thereby confines his Power and Providence which can with the same ease adapt other Beings or the same in other Circumstances to a very different and clean contrary Condition The Days in Jupiter are not ten hours long those in the Moon near Seventy two times as long as they or a Month yet any one who should thence conclude that either Jupiter or the Moon if not both were uncapable
same Which will be less wondred at when we consider in the next place 2. The Reason and Occasion of such ways of speaking And here I shall not content my self in general to observe that the design of Divine Revelation was of quite another nature than requir'd a nice Adjustment and Philosophick Explication of the Natural World that the Capacities of the People could not bear any such things that the Prophets and Holy Penmen themselves unless over-rul'd by that Spirit which spake by them being seldom or never Philosophers were not capable of representing these things otherwise than they with the Vulgar understood them That even still those who believe the true System of the World are forc'd among the Vulgar and in common Conversation to speak as they do and accommodate their Expressions to the Notions and Apprehensions of the generality of Mankind I shall not I say content my self with such Observations most of which are usually and with good reason insisted on in the present case but rather attempt to find out the true Origin and Source of such Notions and Expressions made use of as by most other Writers so especially by the Sacred Ones in the Holy Bible God has so fram'd the Eyes of Men that when the distance of Bodies and their proper Magnitude is very great they shall both be imperceptible to us There is every way from our Eye a spherical Distance or Superficies which terminates our distinct Perception of Objects and beyond which all Distances and Magnitudes absolutely considered are not by us distinguishable The Clouds tho' lying parallel to the Horizon they are so far as comes at once within our view almost in the same Plain yet to us they seem bent into a concave Figure or kind of Hemispherical Superficies equidistant almost on every side from its Center the Eye of the Spectator and so seem every way to touch the Ground at a Mile or two's distance from him And this happens by reason of the Imperfection of our Sight which distinguishing remote Objects but to a certain distance beyond which the Clouds are can have no other Idea of their Situation than small and like Objects at that Spherical Superficies would excite On which Principle 't is certain that till Geometrick and Philosophick Principles rectify mens Notions all Bodies whatsoever beyond the Clouds such as the Coelestial are must needs be esteem'd at the same equidistant Superficies with the Clouds and appear among them and by consequence 't would be on this account as possible for the Vulgar to be persuaded that the Clouds were vastly remote from and bear no relation to this Earth as that the Sun Moon and Stars were so and to them as strange to have found no account of the Formation of them with that of the other visible World as the omission of the Clouds would have been It being impossible that the Sun for instance tho' so many thousands of Miles distant should to us appear above one or two from us and alike impossible that his bigness tho' so many thousand Miles in Diameter should appear to be as many Feet to us on Earth As all who have any skill in Opticks very well know So that when these Heavenly Bodies are and must needs be to our Sight and Imagination at the same distance with the Clouds and consequently as to us are with them plac'd in our own Air when their visible Magnitude Situation Motion and Habitudes are all one with respect to us as if they really were light and fiery Balls rowling upon or among the Clouds when their apparent Changes Figures Colour Countenance Effects and Influences would be as far as Sense and vulgar Observation could determine on this Earth and to its Inhabitants the very same as were to be expected from such light and fiery Balls revolving at the presumed distance when all wise Men especially the Sacred Penmen in their Writings design'd for the Advantage and Instruction of all condescend still to the Apprehensions and Capacities of Men and speak of the Being of things as they constantly Appear of which the Bible is full of instances All these things consider'd 't is not to be wonder'd at that the Heavenly Bodies are accounted Appendages of our Earth and agreeably thereto made mention of in the Mosaick Creation 3. I shall explain what according to my Notion must be meant by the Creation or Production of these Heavenly Bodies in the History before us and demonstrate such a Construction to be agreeable to the Sacred Stile in other places Now 't is easy to tell what is meant by their Creation in the case before us when it has appear'd that their Production out of nothing was precedaneous to the six days Work and that they are wholly consider'd as belonging to our Earth and plac'd in our Air viz. their primary being so plac'd their first becoming visible to Men on Earth or in other words their original appearing to be there I mean in plain English Light is said then first to Be for it being an effect of the Heavenly Bodies not a distinct thing from them is not by Moses said to be made or created when the superior Regions of the Chaos were become so far clear and defecate that the Rays of the Sun in some degree could penetrate the same enough to render a sensible Distinction between Night and Day or that space the Sun was above and that it was beneath the Horizon And agreeably The Sun Moon and Stars are then said first to Be or to be made when afterwards the Air was rendred so very clear and transparent that those Luminaries became conspicuous and their Bodies distinctly visible as in a clear Day or Night they now appear to us That this Exposition is agreeable to the Scripture Stile is evident by this Observation That several things are there assirm'd to Be in any certain manner when only those effects we feel are such as they would be were they so indeed and 't is not unusual to assert the Being of any Cause when all those consequences are no otherwise in the World and with regard to Men than they must and would be upon its real Existence without any exacter niceness as to the truth of the same Thus God is said several times to repent of somewhat he has before done when his future Actions are the very same as would in Humane as well as Divine Affairs be the certain consequents of a proper Repentance Thus also God is said to be pleas'd or angry with Men and that in a very passionate and sensible manner when he confers such great Mercies or inflicts such great Judgments as were he really so he must naturally do Thus also Eyes and Ears are frequently suppos'd of God because he as certainly is conscious of all the Actions and Speeches of Men as if he really saw and heard the same In a different instance The Sun is said to stand still or move tho' in propriety of Speech as
said of the other Days works by recurring to the Divine miraculous Power which yet is here not only unnecessarily and without warrant from the Sacred History it self but sometimes very indecently done yet the numerous Works ascrib'd to the sixth Day plainly shew That a space much longer than we now call a Day must have been referr'd to in the Sacred History The business of the sixth Day includes evidently these following particulars 1. The Production of all the bruit dry-land Animals 2. The Consultation about and the actual Creation of the Body and Infusion of the Soul of Adam 3. The Charter or Donation of Dominion over all Creatures bestow'd on Adam 4. The Exercise of Part of that Dominion or the giving Names to all the dry-land Animals which sure suppos'd some acquir'd knowledge in Adam some Consideration of the Nature of each Species some skill in Language and the use of Words andwithal some proportionable Time for the gathering so great a number of Creatures together and for the distinct naming of every one 5. When on this review it appear'd that among all these Creatures there was not a Meet-help or suitable Companion for him God then cast him into a deep Sleep which 't is probable lasted more than a few minutes to deserve that Appellation took out one of his Ribs closed up the Flesh instead thereof and out of that Rib made the Woman 6. After this God brings this Woman to Adam he owns her Original gives her an agreeable Name takes her to Wife and they together receive that Benediction Increase and Multiply 7. God appoints them and their Fellow-Animals the Vegetables for Food and Sustenance All which to omit the Jews Tradition of the Fall of Man this sixth Day and such things presuppos'd thereto which must belong to it even by the Mosaick History it self put together is vastly more than is conceivable in the short space of one single Day in the vulgar Sense of it 'T is true God Almighty can do all things in what portions of Time he pleases But 't is also true as Bishop Patrick well observes in a like case that Man cannot He must have time allotted him in proportion to the business to be done or else 't is not to be expected of him And 't is plain That Adam and Eve were mainly concern'd in the latter Actions of this Day so that by a just and necessary consequence That Day in which they went through so many and different Scenes and perform'd so many Actions requiring at least no small part of a Year and that after themselves and all the dry-land Animals had been on the same Day produc'd was certainly such a Day as might be proportionate to such Operations and not shorter than a Year which the present Hypothesis allows in the case 7. If the History of the Fall of Man be either included in the sixth Day according to the Ancient Tradition of the Jews which I confess to be very improbable or belong to the seventh as might by coming as near as possible to such old Tradition more probably be allow'd On either of these Suppositions there is the greatest necessity imaginable of supposing such a Day much longer than is commonly done Which I think is of it self so plain that I need not aggravate the matter but leave it to the free Consideration of the Reader All which Arguments to me appear very satisfactory and evince that the first distinguishing and peculiar Character of such a primitive State of Nature as was before-mention'd did really belong to our Earth before the Fall and that then a Day and a Year were exactly one and the same space of Time 2. In the primitive State of the World the Sun and Planets rose in the West and set in the East contrary to what they have done ever since This may seem to have been the foundation of that Story in Herodotus who tells us That the Sun in the space of 10340 Years four times inverted his Course and rose in the West But what I mainly depend on is that Discourse in Plato who relating some very ancient Traditions about the primitive State of things and what a mighty and remarkable Change was effected by a certain mighty and remarkable Alteration in the Heavenly Motions which Alteration in general deserves also to be taken notice of as agreeing so well with the present Hypothesis the most surprizing and of the greatest consequence of all others and the cause of suitably surprizing and considerable Effects in the present State of Nature makes it to be this change of the Way or Course of the Heavenly Bodies which is the consequence of the present Assertion For this grand thing of which he had spoken so highly is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Motion of the Universe sometimes revolves the same way that it does now and sometimes the contrary way Which Testimony is very plain and full to our present purpose 3. In the primitive State of Nature there was a perpetual Equinox or Equality of Day and Night through the World This Phaenomenon or such Effects as in part suppose it is usually by the Christian Fathers applied to the Paradisiacal State and by the Ancient Heathens to the Golden Age or the Reign of Saturn coincident 't is probable at least in part thereto For they all with one consent deny that the Sun's Course was oblique from one Tropick to another or that the difference and inequality of Seasons which must have followed therefrom did belong to that first and most happy State of the World as may at large be seen the places quoted in the Margin too long here to Transcribe to which therefore I refer the Reader and proceed 4. In the primitive State of the World there was no Equator distinct from the Ecliptick all Motions were perform'd about one invariable Axis that of the latter for the Plains of the Planet's Orbits I consider as nearly coincident with that of the Ecliptick without the Obliquity of one Circle or Motion to another Tho' this be somewhat related to the former particular yet I shall distinctly quote a Testimony or two directly belonging hereto and not so properly reducible to the other The first is that of Anaxagoras who says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Stars in their primitive State revolv'd in a Tholiform manner insomuch that the Pole appear'd perpetually at the Vertex of the Earth Whose meaning tho' somewhat obscure seems to be That the Motion of the Heavens was originally about one Center or Axis that of the Ecliptick whose Pole was continually over against the same Point of the Earth which on the Hypothesis before us is true but in the present Frame of Nature impossible The next Author whom I shall produce is Plato who in the foremention'd Discourse about the Ancient and Modern States of the World says That in the former of them the Motion
by all and uncontroulable 't is esteemed fully satisfactory tho' not absolutely certain in common Cases And Lastly To come closer to the Point the knowledge of Causes is deduc'd from their Effects Thus all Natural Philosophy i. e. the knowledge of the Causes of the several visible Phaenomena of the World is solely deriv'd from those Effects or Phaenomena themselves their accurate Correspondence to and necessary dependance on certain supposed Causes and their insolubility on any other Hypotheses with the coincidence of the particular Calculations of the Quantities of Motion Velocity Periods and Species of Figures to be every where accounted for On the Universal Conspiration and Correspondence of which with the impossibility of producing an instance to the contrary depends what may be truly stil'd a Physical Demonstration I mean Then and only Then is a Physical Cause to be esteem'd Demonstrated when all the Phaenomena of the World may be certainly shewn to be just so and no otherwise as they necessarily would and must be on supposition thereof This last method is that which our best of Philosophers has taken in his Demonstration of the Universal Affection or Property of Bodies which he calls Mutual Attraction or Gravitation and which accordingly he has establish'd beyond possibility of Contradiction and this is the sole way of bringing natural Knowledge to perfection and extricating it from the little Hypotheses which in defect of true Science the World has till lately been forc'd to be contented with In the Point before us there are only three possible ways of proving the truth of the Assertion here laid down The first that of Propositions in mixt Mathematicks by Calculation of the Motion of some Comet as we do of Planets from the Astronomical Tables and thence demonstrating the certainty thereof But besides the improbability of this Comet 's having ever return'd since the Deluge 't is plain the defect of old Observations and the so late discovery of the Laws and Orbits of their Motions do render such a way of Probation at least at present impossible The second way of Probation is that of Historical Relation that at the Deluge a Comet did so pass by of which there is directly none in the present Case Nor seeing the possibility of the same was not known nor the thing visible to the Inhabitants that out-liv'd the Flood as will hereafter appear is this kind of Evidence to be at all expected But the third and last way possible is the Being of such plain and sensible Effects as must be undoubted consequents of such an Assertion and without the supposal thereof were perfectly unaccountable which is the very method of Probation I shall here use and do wholly depend upon There are several degrees of evidence and kinds of proofs very different from those made use of in the Mathematicks which yet are little less satisfactory to the minds of wise Men and leave little more room for doubting than they Several sorts of Propositions must be evinc'd by several sorts of Arguments and whatever possible and easy Assertion has all the proofs which its nature requires or could justly be expected upon supposal of its real Existence ought to be admitted for true and evident Thus in that sort of things we are now upon if a certain Cause be assign'd which being suppos'd would necessarily infer several plain and visible Effects and occasion several sensible Phaenomena 't is plain if those Effects and Phaenomena be upon Examination found to be correspondent and as they must and would be on the real being of such a Cause the existence of that Cause is prov'd And as where the Effects are few ordinary otherwise accountable and incapable of Reduction to Calculation or accuracy of correspondence in the just Quantity and Proportion necessary the proof is weak and only probable and as where several of the consequents of that Cause agree well enough yet some others disagree the disagreement of one or two is a stronger Objection against than the coincidence of the rest an evidence for the same and the proof none at all So on the other side where a Cause is assigned whose certain consequent Effects must be very many very surprizing otherwise unaccountable correspondent on the greatest niceness of Calculation in the particular Quantity and Proportion of every Effect and where withal no disagreeing Phaenomenon can be urg'd to the contrary the evidence hence deriv'd of the reality of the assigned Cause tho' of a different nature and if you will degree too from Demonstration is yet little less satisfactory to the minds of wise and considering Men than what is esteem'd more strictly so Thus for instance Astronomers at this day find little more Inclination or Reason to doubt of the Annual and Diurnal Motions of the Earth than of any strictly demonstrated Proposition and as much in a manner take it for granted in all their Reasonings as they do the Propositions in Euclid tho' the evidence for the same be in its kind different from and inferior to the other And thus as I have before observ'd Mr. Newton has given sufficient evidence of the Universal Law of Mutual Attraction and Gravitation of Bodies which accordingly there is no more occasion to doubt of than of those common matters of Fact or History of which no wise Man ever made any question And thus it is that I hope to evince the truth and reality of that Cause assigned in this Proposition viz. by proving that those visible Effects or Phaenomena relating to the Universal Deluge which are very many very surprizing hitherto unaccountable several of which are capable of Calculation as to the particular Time Quantity and Proportion of the respective particulars are every one so and no otherwise as on supposal of the assigned Cause they either certainly must or at least probably would have been And as upon a Demonstration of the disagreement of any one Phaenomenon which were a necessary consequence of the same I must own the falseness of the Proposition before us so I hope if the universality of Correspondence even to the exactness of Calculation in proper cases be establish'd and no contradictory instance can be produc'd it will be allow'd that I have sufficiently evinc'd the reality and in a proper Sense certainty of the same Assertion This then being premis'd 't is plain that every one of the particular Phaenomena of the Deluge afterward accounted for is a proper Argument of this Proposition and might justly claim a place here on that account But because such an Enumeration of them before-hand would prevent their own more peculiar place hereafter and disturb the propos'd method of the ensuing Theory I shall leave them to their proper places tho' with this Premonition That several of them do singly so exactly sit the otherwise unaccountable Phaenomena of Nature and of the Deluge and determine the time and circumstances of the latter so nicely that their separate evidence is considerable but when taken
Country or Region with the same exactness determin'd by Geography XXXI The Earth in its Primitive State had only an Annual Motion about the Sun But since it has a Diurnal Rotation upon its own Axis also Whereby a vast difference arises in the several States of the World XXXI This has been at large explain'd and prov'dalr eady XXXII Upon the first commencing of this Diurnal Rotation after the Fall its Axis was oblique to the Plain of the Ecliptick as it still is or in other words the present Vicissitudes of Seasons Spring Summer Autumm and Winter arising from the Sun's access to and recess from the Tropicks have been ever since the Fall of Man XXXII This has in some measure been insisted on already in the Hypothesis last mention'd and needs no other direct and positive proof than the present Obliquity of the Earth's Axis It being evident that without a miraculous Power the same Situation or Inclination which it had originally would and must invariably remain for all succeeding Ages CHAP. III. A Solution of the Phaenomena relating to the Antediluvian State of the Earth XXXIII The Inhabitants of the Earth were before the Flood vastly more numerous than the present Earth either actually does or perhaps is capable to maintain and supply XXXIII THIS Proposition will not appear strange if we consider 1. The much greater fertility of the Antediluvian Earth to be presently accounted for whereby it was capable of maintaining a much greater number of Inhabitants than the present even on the same space of Ground 2. The Earth was more equally habitable all over before than since the Deluge For before the acquisition of those heterogeneous mixtures which the Deluge occasion'd and which I take to be the Causes of all our violent and pernicious Heat and Cold in the Torrid and Frigid Zones of our Earth 't is probable the Earth was pretty equally habitable all over by reason of the Vicinage of the Central Heat to the Polar Regions and the more direct Exposition of the middle Regions to that of the Sun I do not mean that the Frigid Zones were equally hot with the Torrid but that the Heat in the one and the Cold in the other were more kindly and the excesses of each much less considerable than at present since the Introduction of the before-mention'd Mixtures and particularly of such Sulphureous and Nitrous Effluvia as are now I believe become Calorifick and Frigorifick Particles in our Air the main occasions of the violence and pernicious Qualities of the Heat and Cold thereof and the most affecting to our Senses of all other So that 't is probable before the Acquisition of these Advensitious Masses the Antediluvian Air was every where sufficiently temperate to permit the comfortable Habitation of Mankind on all parts of the Globe and the Antediluvian Earth was by consequence capable of many more Inhabitants than the present is or can be as every one will readily grant who considers how few Inhabitants in comparison three of the five Zones of our present Earth do maintain 3. The dry Land or habitable Earth it self was by reason of the absence of the intire Ocean full as large and capacious again as the present For the Ocean I think takes up now at the least one half of the intire Globe but then afforded as large spacious and habitable Countries as the other parts of the Earth 4. The Mountains which are now generally bare and barren were before the Deluge so far as they were suppli'd with Water as fruitful as the Plains or Vallies and by reason of a larger Surface were capable of maintaining rather more Animals than the Plains on which they stand would otherwise have been The present defect of a fruitful Soil being owing to the Deluge and there being no good reason that I know of to be assign'd why on a primary Formation and in a calm and still State of the Air the higher Parts of the Earth should not be cover'd with a fruitful Soil or Mold as well as the level or lower adjoyning to them All which Accounts taken together will I think give reasonable Foundation for such vast numbers of Inhabitants as according to the Computation of this Proposition the Antediluvian World was replenish'd withal Corollary 1. Since by very reasonable Computations of the numbers of the Inhabitants of the Earth at the Deluge according to the Hebrew Chronology they appear to have been sufficient abundantly to replenish the intire Globe and as many as in reason the same could sustain The Septuagints addition of near six hundred Years in this Period of the World to the Hebrew Accounts is so far from clearing Difficulties thereto relating that it rather increases the same and enforces the allowance of more Inhabitants at the Deluge than we can well tell where they could live and be maintain'd Coroll 2. Since according to the Hebrew Chronology from the Deluge till the time of Abraham's going into Canaan was the intire space of 427 Years and the Lives of Men during that interval were in a mean three hundred Years long 't is easy on the Grounds proceeded upon in this Phaenomenon's Calculations to prove That there is no need to recede from that Account or introduce the additional Years of the Septuagint in this Period to produce the greatest Numbers of Men which in that or the immediately succeeding Ages any Authentick Histories of those Ancient Times do require us to suppose Coroll 3. The Deluge which destroy'd the whole Race of Mankind those only in the Ark excepted could not possibly be confin'd to one or more certain Regions of the Earth but was without question truly Universal Coroll 4. Seeing it appears That Mankind has a gradual increase and that in somewhat more than four thousand Years our Continent of Europe Asia and Africa has been so entirely Peopled from the Sons of Noah and seeing withal America is much less in extent and I suppose generally speaking was never so full of People In case we suppose that Famines Wars Pestilences and all such sad destroyers of Mankind have equally afflicted the several Continents of the Earth Some light might be afforded to the Peopling of America and about what Age since the Deluge the American's past first from this Continent thither which a more nice enquiry into the Particulars here to be consider'd might assist us in XXXIV The Bruit Animals whether belonging to the Water or Land were proportionably at least more in number before the Flood than they are since XXXIV That part of this Proposition which concerns the Dry-land Animals is sufficiently accounted for by what has been discours'd under the last Head which equally belongs to them as to Mankind And if we extend the other part concerning the Fishes to the Seas then in Being and their comparative Plenitude there will need no additional Solution It being not to be suppos'd that the absolute numbers of Fish before the Deluge should be greater than at
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
the former pretty well agreed upon among the latest Chronologers and capable of a much more satisfactory Proof than from so great Differences before thereto relating one would be ready to imagine as upon a little enquiry I easily found Indeed the Archbishop has made the matter so plain that one cannot but wonder how former Chronologers came so strangely to be mistaken and 't is perhaps one of the most difficult things to give a good account of that is readily to be pitch'd upon I once intended to have here not only given the Canon of the several Periods but confirm'd the same from the Scripture and answer'd the principal Objections made against any parts thereof as well from the said Archbishop's incomparable tho' imperfect Chronologia Sacra as from such other Observations as having been since made especially by the very Learned Sir John Marsham who has intirely and evidently clear'd what the Archbishop principally labour'd at without success the Chronology in the Book of Judges give farther light and strength to the same Accounts But this would perhaps be too much like a Digression and somewhat foreign to my main Design so I forbear and only set down the Chronological Canon according to which I reckon from the Creation to the present time as follows I. From the beginning of the Mosaick Creation till the Creation of Adam 291 2 Days to a Month till the Deluge Y. M. D. 0005 06 11 II. From the Creation of Adam till the day when the Earth began to be clear of the Waters or the Autumnal Equinox in the Year of the Deluge 1656 05 14 III. From the Autumnal Equinox in the Year of the Deluge till the departure of Abraham out of Haran 301 2 Days to a Month since the Deluge 0426 06 15 IV. From Abraham's departure out of Haran till the Exodus of the Children of Israel out of Egypt 0430 00 00 V. From the Exodus of the Children of Israel out of Egypt till the Foundation of Solomon's Temple 0479 00 17 VI. From the Foundation of Solomon's Temple till its Conflagration 0424 03 08 VII From the Conflagration of Solomon's Temple till the Kalends of January which began the Christian AEra 0587 04 25 VIII From the beginning of the Christian AEra till this Autumnal Equinox Anno Domini 1696. 1695 08 26 Sum of all 5705 00 00 From the first day of the Deluge till the 28 th of October in this same Year 1696. 4044 00 00 This Canon agrees with the Archbishop's in every thing but that for exactness I make use of Tropical or natural Solar Years instead of Julian ones to which accordingly I proportion the Months and Days I add those five Months fourteen Days which his Hypothesis forc'd him without ground to omit between the Creation and the Deluge and I give the primitive Years of the Creation their place which having been taken for short Days of twenty four Hours long were not hitherto suppos'd to deserve the same All which being observ'd I refer the Reader who desires farther satisfaction to the Archbishop himself where he may find the particulars of the several Periods clear'd to him X. A Comet descending in the Plain of the Ecliptick towards its Perihelion on the first Day of the Deluge past just before the Body of our Earth That such a Position of a Comet 's Orbit and such a passing by as is here suppos'd are in themselves possible and agreeable to the Phaenomena of Nature All competent Judges who are acquainted with the new and wonderful Discoveries in Astronomy according to the Lemmata hereto relating must freely grant But that it really did so at the time here specified is what I am now to prove 'T is true when upon a meer Supposition of such a passing by of a Comet I had in my own mind observ'd the Phaenomena relating to the Deluge to answer to admiration I was not a little surpriz'd and pleas'd at such a Discovery It gave me no small Satisfaction to see that upon a possible and easy Hypothesis I could give so clear an Account of those things which had hitherto prov'd so hard not to say inexplicable and could shew the exact coincidence of the particulars with the Sacred History and the Phaenomena of Nature I thought to be able to proceed so far was not only more than had been yet done more than was generally expected ever would be done but abundantly sufficient to the best of purposes to clear the Holy Scriptures from the Imputations of ill-disposed Men and demonstrate the Account of the Deluge to be in every part neither impossible nor unphilosophical But proceeding in some farther Thoughts and Calculations on the said Hypothesis I to my exceeding great Content and Admiration found all things to correspond so strangely and the time of the Year by several concurring ways so exactly fix'd agreeably to the Sacred History thereby that as I saw abundant Reason my self to rest satisfi'd of the reality as well as probability of what I before barely suppos'd so I thought the producing the Particulars I had discover'd might afford evidence to the minds of others and go a great way to the intire establishing the certainty of that of whose great probability the Correspondence of the several Phaenomena of the Deluge had before afforded sufficient satisfaction But before I come to the Arguments to be here made use of themselves give me leave by way of Preparation to shew what sort of evidence such Assertions as this before us when good and valid are capable of and how great or satisfactory it may be in any other and so may be expected to be in the present Case 'T is evident That all Truths are not capable of the same degree of evidence or manner of Probation First Notions are known by Intuition or so quick and clear a Perception that we scarce observe any Deduction or Ratiocination at all in our Assent to them Some principal Metaphysical Truths have so near a Connexion with these that the manner of reasoning or inferring is scarce to be trac'd or describ'd a few obvious and quick Reflections enforcing our hearty acquiescence Among which the best of Metaphysicians Mr. Lock in his Essay of Humane Understanding very rightly placesthe Being of God Purely Mathematical Propositions are demonstrated by a chain of deductions each of which is certain and unquestionable So that on a clear view of the truth and connexion of each Link or Member of the intire Argumentation the Evidence may still be look'd on as infallible Propositions in mixt Mathematicks as in Opticks Geography and Astronomy depending partly on abstract Mathematick Demonstrations and partly on the Observations of the Phaenomena of Nature tho' not arriving to the strict infallibility of the evidence with the former sort are yet justly in most cases allow'd to be truly certain and indubitable History is all that we commonly can have for matters of fact past and gone and where 't is agreed upon
of Bodies in the whole World can elevate or depress a Continent of the Earth but such as are capable of approaching the same or in other words but Comets and consequently a Comet did approach near the Earth at the time assigned and was the cause of the Deluge Which Chain or Connexion I take to be so strong that I believe 't will not be possible to evade its force and so what on other arguments has been already establish'd is fully confirm'd by this Coroll 4. 'T is equally dcmonstrable that the Upper Orb or Habitable Earth is founded on a Subterraneous Fluid denser and heavier than it self This circumstance being absolutely necessary to account for the Phaenomenon we are now upon For if the internal Regions of the Globe were firm and solid as is commonly suppos'd tho' wholly gratis and without ground Tho' the Comet had pass'd by yet there could have been no elevation of any Continent and the Proposition before us must still have remain'd Insoluble LX. As the Fountains of the great Deep were broken up at the very same time that the first Rains began so were they stopp'd the very same time that the last Rains ended on the seventeenth day of the seventh Month. LX. Tho' I cannot say that the Account of the Deluge now given can determine to a Day the time of the Subterraneous Waters ceasing to spout forth this stoppage of the Fountains of the Deep in Moses yet 't is evident that the time defin'd by the History is very agreeable to that which from the consideration of the thing it self one should naturally pitch upon For since the Ascent of the Subterraneous Waters depended on the Waters produc'd by the Rains as on the beginning of those Rains it began to ascend on the continuance thereof continued to do the like so at the ceasing probably enough might it cease also as this Proposition assures us it really did LXI The abatement and decrease of the Waters of the Deluge was first by a Wind which dried up some And secondly by their descent through those Fissures Chaps and Breaches at which part of them had before ascended into the Bowels of the Earth which received the rest To which latter also the Wind by hurrying the Waters up and down and so promoting their lighting into the before-mention'd Fissures was very much subservient LXI In order to the giving a satisfactory account of this Proposition and of the draining the Waters of the Deluge off the Surface of the Earth which to some has seem'd almost as difficult to solve as their first Introduction It must first be granted that the Air could receive and sustain but very inconsiderable quantities in comparison of the intire Mass which lay upon the Earth yet some it might and would naturally do which accordingly both the Wind here mentioned and the Sun also took away and turn'd into Vapour immediately after the ceasing of the latter Rains But as to all the rest there is no imaginable place for their Reception or whither their natural Gravity oblig'd them to retreat to excepting the Bowels of the Earth which must therefore be distinctly consider'd in this place Now we may remember from what has been formerly said that the quantity of Solids or earthy Parts in the upper Orbs primary Formation was very much greater than that of Fluids or watery Parts and consequently that the inward Regions of the Earth being generally dry and porous were capable of receiving mighty quantities of Waters without any swelling without any alteration of the external Figure or visible Bulk And indeed if we allow as we ought any considerable Crassitude to this upper Orb its interior Regions might easily contain a much greater quantity of Waters than what was upon the Earth at the Deluge especially when so great a part of them was before there and would only fill up their old places again So that all the difficulty is now reduc'd to this By what Pipes Canals or Passages these Waters could be convey'd into the Bowels of the Earth Which in truth can admit of no dispute nothing sure being to be conceiv'd more natural Inlets to these Waters than those very perpendicular Fissures which were the Outlets to so great a part of them before As soon therefore as the Waters ceas'd to ascend upwards through those Breaches they must to be sure descend downward's by the same and this descent is more natural than the prior ascent could be esteem'd to be which was a force upon them compelling them against their Natures to arise upwards when this retreat into the same Interstices is no other than their own proper Gravity requir'd and inclin'd them to The case here is in part like that of a Sive first by force press'd down into a Vessel of Water till it were fill'd therewith and then suffer'd to emerge again where through the very same Holes at which the Waters ascended into they afterward descended out of the Sive again and retreated into their own Element as before All that in particular deserves here to be farther noted is the Interest of the Wind or of the Agitations of the Waters goings and returnings in the Hebrew Phrase made mention of in this Proposition And these Commotions are in truth very useful and very necessary assistants to the draining of the Waters from off the Earth For when the most part of the Fissures were in the Mountains 't would have been a difficult thing to clear the Vallies and lower Grounds had there been a perfect Calm and every Collection of Waters remain'd quietly in its own place But when the Waters were so violently agitated and hurried from one place to another they would thereby very frequently light into the Fissures and Breaches and so descend as well as the rest into the heart of the Earth very agreeable to the Assertion of this Proposition Corollary 1. Seeing the most of the Fissures were in the Mountains the decrease and going off of the Waters would be greatest at first while the generality of the Mountains were under water and less and gentler afterwards Coroll 2. Several low Countries now bordering on the Seas might for many Years after the Deluge be under Water which by the descent of more of the Waters into the Bowels of the Earth might become Dry-land afterward and by their smoothness and equability shew their once having lain under and been made so plain by the Waters Instances of which are now very observable in the World In particular those parts of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire which border on the German Ocean appear very evidently to have originally been in the same case as any careful Observer will easily pronounce LXII The dry Land or habitable Part of the Globe is since the Deluge divided into two vast Continents almost opposite to one another and separated by a great Ocean interpos'd between them LXII The Figure in which the Comet left the Earth and which it would in some measure retain