of the Sun Moon and numberless Systems of Stars has only a poor single part allotted to it Must the expanding the Air between the Earth and the Clouds be thought to equal the disposal of all those Coelestial Bodies into their several Regions and the producing a few Fish and Fowl be a weightier concern and require more time than the replenishing all the other habitable Worlds with Beings suitable to their several Constitutions Will a wise Builder bestow twice as much time in decking and adorning of one Bycloset of inferior use and that only to some of the meanest Servants too as of the Royal Palace with all its stately Rooms and Apartments intended for the King himself and his Courtiers Should we hear of such strange Actions and disproportionate Procedure among Men we should not be able to induce our selves to give credit thereto But it seems Suppositions ten thousand times more disproportionate and unaccountable when ascrib'd to God Almighty are easily believ'd So far can Ignorance Prejudice and a misunderstanding of the Sacred Volumes carry the Faith nay the Zeal of Men and to such a mean Opinion of the most glorious and perfect of Beings are we thereby reduc'd that as if we were not content to think him such a one as our selves but intended to depress him below the very meanest of us we venture with confidence and eagerness to ascribe to him that disproportionate unequal and unaccountable disposal of the Works of Creation which the simplest Artificer could not bear the Imputation of It must here be confess'd That such Notions of the Mosaick Creation as I now oppose having begun or at least been chiefly establish'd and propagated when the Aristotelean Philosophy and Ptolomaick Astronomy were believ'd those who have embrac'd them till this Age were less absurd and nearer to some tolerable degree of probability For so long as the Earth with its adjoyning Elements was suppos'd the Center and Basis of all the World while the distance of the Heavenly Bodies was believ'd to be comparatively to what we now find very small and inconsiderable and all their Motions perform'd about us their proper and immovable Center while the whole Series of Spheres above tho' the several distinct ones mov'd the contrary way by their own peculiar Motions was in twenty four hours constantly hurried from East to West by the Primum Mobile on purpose to cause Day and Night to us below while Comets were esteem'd Exhalations from the Stars and sent only at certain Seasons to affright Mankind with their fiery Tails and then to be dissipated and vanish into Vapours again while the Sun and Stars in the Opinion of the Philosophers themselves were nourish'd by the Steams from our Earth and while the last named were either stuck in one Spherical Superficies as the fix'd Stars or fastned in their Solid Orbs like a Nail in a Cartwheel as the Planets and no other use imagin'd but to twinkle to us in Winter Evenings and by their Aspects to forebode what little Changes of Weather or other Accidents were to be expected below while no other habitable World was dream'd of than this Globe of Earth no other Animals once conjectur'd at besides those on the face thereof while Mankind was look'd on as the sole Lord of the Creation and Him for whose sake all other Creatures in the World were made and while 't was commonly granted that as all things the visible Heavens and Earth with their intire Furniture began with him so at the Conclusion of his Succession or the period of Humane Generations here must they for ever cease and be annihilated While all this I say was the current Philosophy 't is not very surprizing that the Mosaick History we are now upon was understood in the Vulgar Sense and seem'd not wholly disagreeable to the presumed Frame of Nature and 't was not hard to believe that this Earth and its Inhabitants in the Opinion of the World the main and principal concern of all and that to whose uses every thing else intirely serv'd had the principal care bestow'd upon it both in its Original Creation and its subsequent Changes and Revolutions But tho' such a Scheme and such an Apprehension were passable enough in the days of our Forefathers 't is by no means so now Those greater degrees of Knowledge which the Providence of God has in this Age afforded us make such Opinions intolerable in the present which were not so in the past Centuries 'T is now evident That every one of the Planets as well as that on which we live must have a right in its proportion to share in the care of Heaven and had therefore in all probability a suitable space or number of Days allow'd to its proper Formation much what the same Separations of Parts Digestions and Collections being no doubt to be suppos'd in the Original Formation of any other as in that particular Planet with which Moses was concern'd And if one or two on account of their smallness might be finish'd in less the rest on account of their bigness from a parity of Reason would take up much more than that six days time which was spent in our Earth's Formation And let the Reader judge if it be so impossible to reduce the Planets alone within the fourth days Work how much more so it will be in case we allow degrees of impossibilities to reduce thither that vast noble and useful Body the Fountain of our Light and Heat the Sun and still in a prodigious degree more so to include the immense and numberless Systems of the fixt Stars among whom when the Sun is but one and perhaps no bigger than the rest and consequently to have in reason but an equal portion of time with them allotted for its Origination It must tho' above Sixty thousand times as big as the Earth while the Earth takes up four intire ones be thrust into the Corner of a single Day Corner did I say rather Minute nay Moment of a Day and 't is uncertain whether even that pittance of time can fairly and separately be allow'd to it So that one need not fear to assert That he who should affirm the Divine Power to have spent four entire Days in the Formation of a Fly or Worm nay of a single Plant or Herb and but one in the Formation of the Terraqueous Globe with all its Parts Regions and Furniture would be less unreasonable than some Expositors now are and more observe Decorum Fitness Agreement and Proportion than they do in the Vulgar Interpretations of the Mosaick Creation And I need not be afraid to call all that Astronomy and Philosophy are Masters of to attest the fairness of such a Comparison And can any one who is sensible of this and entertains no other than great and worthy Thoughts of his Alwise Creator embrace so fond and so strange an Opinion And if the Reader will pardon a short Digression and give me leave to speak a great Truth
Order of the Heavenly Bodies in the Solar System is as follows First of all The vast and glorious Body of the Sun is plac'd in the middle very near the Center of Gravity of the intire System in the common Focus of every one of the Planetary Orbits Next to him Mercury describes his Ellipsis and that so near that we on Earth rarely obtain a distinct view of him Next to Mercury is the Elliptick Orbit of Venus our glorious Morning and Evening Star Next to Venus our Earth with its attendant the Moon perform a joint Course and Measure out the Annual Period Next to the Earth the fiery Star Mars alone without any visible Guard accompanying him revolves about the same Center Next to Mars tho' at a mighty distance from him the largest of the Planets Jupiter with his four remarkable Satellits and lastly Saturn with his five little Moons about him describe the farthest and most remote Orbits and compleat the intire Planetary Chorus as the Frontispiece of the Book represents them to the Contemplation of the Reader SCHOLIUM Besides the Planets whose Orbits are not very different from Circles there are another Species of Bodies revolving about the Sun in such Ellipses as may pass for Parabola's they are so exceeding Eccentrical but as regularly retaining their several Periods and Orbits as the Planets now mention'd But because these Bodies will be more distinctly consider'd hereafter I shall wave their farther Consideration at present and proceed XXXI The periodical Times of each Planet's Revolution about the Sun are as follow   Y. D. H. Mercury revolves about the Sun in the space of 00 088 00 Venus 00 224 18 The Earth 00 365 06 Mars 01 315 00 Jupiter 12 000 00 Saturn 30 000 00 XXXII The middle distances of the Planets from the Sun are as follow Mercury is distant from the Sun 020952000 Statute Miles each 5000 Paris Feet Venus 039096000 The Earth 054000000 Mars 082242000 Jupiter 280582000 Saturn 513540000 SCHOLIUM The Proportions of these Numbers are unquestionable But the Numbers themselves only within about a fourth part under or over The Reason of such uncertainty is That the Sun's Parallax or Angle which the Diameter of the Earth would subtend to an eye at the Sun on which the whole depends is not yet accurately determined by Astronomers so that between 24 and 40 Seconds no number can be certainly pitch'd upon till farther Observations put an end to our Doubts On which Account I have endeavour'd to come as near to Probability as possible and have suppos'd the Sun's Parallax 32 in a middle between the two foremention'd Extreams and from this Hypothesis made these and the following Calculations which therefore cannot well be above a fourth part under or over the truth but very probably are much nearer it XXXIII The quantity of Matter in such of the Heavenly Bodies as afford us means of determining the same is in the Proportions following The Sun 's 66690. Jupiter's 000601 2. Saturn's 000281 4. The Earth's 00001. The Moon 's 000001 26. SCHOLIUM Because the Solidity or Quantity of Matter in Bodies is in a triplicate Proportion of their Diameters that small uncertainty in the Sun's Parallax beforemention'd imports a great deal in the present Calculation I shall therefore give the Reader the Proportions of the Quantity of Matter in the Heavenly Bodies on the two extream Hypotheses as well as I have done on the middle one only informing him that the Hypothesis of 24 seems nearer the truth than the opposite extream of 40 as being nearest the accurate Observations of our great Astronomer Mr. Flamsteed The quantities of Matter therefore are as follow The Sun's 28700 If the Sun's Parallax be 40 The Sun's 136560 If the Sun's Parallax be 24 Jupiter's 000261 11 Jupiter's 0001241 7 Saturn 's 000121 6 Saturn 's 0000579 10 The Earth's 00001 The Earth's 000001 The Moon 's 000001 26 The Moon 's 0000001 26 Corollary The weight of Bodies at equal distances from the Sun and Planets being in the same Proportion with the Quantity of their Matter as has been Lem. 7 already said the same Numbers assign'd in the last priùs Lemma which explain the latter serve equally to explain the former also XXXIV The Diameters of the Sun and Planets are as follows The Sun's 494100 Statute Miles each 5000 Paris Feet Saturn's 043925 Jupiter's 052522 Mar's 002816 The Earth's 008202 The Moon 's 002223 Venus's 004941 Mercury's 002717 XXXV The weight of Bodies on the Surface of the Sun and those Planets mention'd in the 33 d Lemma before is as follows On the Surface of The Sun 10000. The Earth 012581 2 Jupiter 008041 2. The Moon 00630. Saturn 00536. XXXVI The Densities of the same whatever be the Sun's Parallax is as follows The Moon 's 700. The Earth's 387. The Sun 's 100. Jupiter's 076. Saturn's 060. XXXVII As the weight of Bodies without the Superficies of the Heavenly Bodies increases in a duplicate Proportion of their nearness to their Centers so within the same Superficies does it decrease in a simple Proportion thereof and is consequently greatest upon the Superficies themselves Thus a Body at 10000 Miles distance from the Earth's Center is four times so heavy as it would be at 20000. But within the Earth if a Body were twice as near its Center as 't is on the Surface it would be but half so heavy as 't is here if thrice as near it would be but a third part so heavy if four times as near it would be but a quarter so heavy and so for ever proportionably Gravity therefore is most considerable on the Surface decreasing both ways upward in a duplicate Proportion of the reciprocal Distance and downward in a simple direct Proportion thereof XXXVIII If the central Regions of a Globe contain a sphaerical Cavity within the same Bodies plac'd therein from the equality of Attraction on every side will not tend any way or gravitate at all but be as perfectly at liberty as if they were not affected by any such Law of Attraction or Gravitation XXXIX The Moon revolves about the Earth from West to East in 27 Days 7 Hours 43 Minutes and in the very same space of Time by a strange Correspondence and Harmony of the two Motions revolves the same way about its own Axis whereby one Motion as much converting it to as the other turns it from the Earth the same side is always expos'd to our sight XL. The Librations of the Moon 's Body which cause not exactly the same Hemisphere thereof to be perpetually expos'd to our sight arise from the Eccentricity of the Moon 's Orbit from the Perturbations by the Sun's Attraction and from the Obliquity of the Axis of the Diurnal Rotation to the Moon 's own Orbit without the knowledge of which Circumstances her Phoenomena were inexplicable but by the consideration of them are very demonstrable XLI In the 2365 th year of the Julian Period the Autumnal Equinox was on
present Elliptick Orbit be the effect of the Passing by of a Comet the time of such passing by must have been about three days after the New or Full Moon Let og represent a Section of the Eccliptick Periphery in which the Earth a is performing its annual course from West to East or from o towards g Let c be the Moon performing in like manner besides her menstrual revolution the same way from t by c towards s about the Earth her annual course with the same Velocity as the Earth from u towards w along her Periphery u w equidistant from the Eccliptick o g Let n m represent the trajectory of the Comet intersecting the Line passing through the Sun I i in the Angle m b i of 12 14 or 16 degrees more or less Let b be the Comet descending from n towards m in its approach towards it Perihelion From the Earth's Center from d and x the Line a x being drawn parallel to the Comets Trajectory n m let fall perpendiculars to the Trajectory a f d e x y. Now if while the Comet were passing from f to y the Moon stood still and did not proceed in her annual course along her Periphery u w she must have been at that Point x or not above one day past the new at t and so the nearest distances a f x y being equal the Attractions of the Earth by the Comet at f and of the Moon by the Comet at y would have been equal also and by consequence this position would have secur'd the future agreement and company of these two Planets and the time of the passing by of the Comet fix'd to a single day after the New Moon But by reason of the Moons progressive annual motion along her Periphery u w while the Comet descends from t towards y she must have been in that Point of her Menstrual Orbit c where c d is to cq or d a as her Velocity to the Comets or as 7 to 10 that so the Comet descending from its nearest distance to the Earth at f to its nearest distance to the Moon at e and the Moon arriving at the same time by her annual motion at the Point d the nearest distances a f d e may still be equal and the acceleration of the Earth and the Moon may still be the same Now this being the case the place of the Moon c must be about 41 43 or 45 degrees more or less past the Point t in its Menstrual Orbit or the Conjunction with the Sun or three days past the New Moon And the like will be demonstrated of three days past the Full Moon by the same figure and reasoning if we do but shift the Scene and let c represent the Earth and u w the Ecliptick Periphery a the Moon and o g its Periphery For all the rest remaining as above the Angle δ c a which the Moon a must have pass'd after the full at ζ being equal to the alternate c a t would require equal time to be describ'd and so the time proper for the situation of the Earth and Moon which is equally necessary in this as in the former case as the Figure represents it will be three days after the Full as this Corollary asserts Coroll If therefore in a given year a Comet in its descent towards the Sun Accelerated the Earth and Moon 's annual motions and thereby chang'd their Orbit from a Circle to an Ellipsis when the day of the year from the place of the Perihelion were pretty nearly determined by this last Lemma the very day is determined also from the Astronomical Tables of the Conjunctions of the Sun and Moon LVI If our Earth once revolv'd about the Sun in a circular Orbit whose Semidiameter were equal to the Earth's original distance from the Sun six degrees past its Perihelion the annual period was exactly equal to 12 Synodical or 13 Periodical Months 'T is evident that 12 Synodical or 13 Periodical Months equal to each other in the present case are 355 days 4 hours 19 minutes 'T is also evident that the Eccentricity of the Earth's or the distance between the Focus and Center of its Ellipsis was according to the ancient Astronomers Hipparchus and Ptolomy 21 1000 of the intire middle distance By the Moderns 't is found somewhat less and those who know Mr. Newton's Philosophy will easily allow of some diversity in different ages by Tycho 't was determin'd to be near 18 1000 by Cassini since 17 1000 and last of all by our most accurate Observer Mr. Flamsteed as he was pleas'd by Letter with great freedom to assure me 1692 100000 or near 17 1000 as Cassini had before determin'd All which consider'd we may very justly take the middle between the Ancient and the Modern Eccentricity 19 1000 for the true original one and about 185 10000 or more nicely 1816 100000 for the difference between the ancient Semidiameter of the circular Orbit and the middle distance in the present Elliptick one the point of acceleration being about 6 degrees past the Perihelion not just at it as is before prov'd Then by the Golden Rule as the Cube of 100000 the middle distance in the Ellipsis to the Cube of 98154 the Semidiameter of the Ancient Circle so is the square of 525949 the number of minutes in our present Solar year to the square of the number of Minutes in the ancient Solar year whose Root being 511459 minutes or 355 days 4 hours 19 minutes appears to be exactly and surprizingly equal to the Lunar year before mention'd Coroll Upon this Hypothesis the Ancient Solar and Lunar year were exactly commensurate and equal and 10 days 1 hour 30 minutes shorter than the present Solar year Which last number tho' it be not equal to the Lunar Epact at present is yet rightly assign'd each Synodical moth being by the quicker angular revolution of the Earth then so much longer as upon the whole adjusted the periods as is above stated which on calculation will easily appear LVII As Comets agree with Planets in a regular Motion about the Sun the common Center or Focus of our System so do they as to their bulk and magnitude being generally speaking about the bigness of Planets as the observations of Astronomers demonstrate LVIII Besides the Bodies of the Comets themselves which are solid compact and durable there is round about the same a vastly large thin pellucid Fluid containing withal great quantities of Opake or Earthy Particles constituting together a confused irregular unequally dispos'd and uncertainly agitated Mass of Bodies whose Diameter is 10 if not 15 times as long as that of the Body it self and this Mass is call'd the Atmosphere thereof LIX By reason of the mutual access and recess of the Comets to and from the Sun their Atmospheres are uncapable of attaining or at least least of long retaining any regular and orderly situation and disposition of parts according to the Law of Specifick Gravity
conjointly with the rest as satisfactory as I think the Nature of the thing is capable of But besides these particular correspondent Phaenomena of the Deluge and after the discovery of the most of them I found proofs of somewhat another nature which not only confirmed all that I had before observ'd but enabled me to determine the time when the Flood began to the greatest exactness possible which therefore I shall alone produce here reserving those other for their own places hereafter Now on the Hypothesis that a Comet pass'd by the Earth till then revolving circularly about the Sun at the time and in the manner assign'd by the Proposition the necessary Effects or Consequents of it are these Five 1. The circular Orbit of the Earth would be chang'd into that of an Ellipsis and the Sun which was before in the Center of the Circle would be afterward in that Focus of the Ellipsis which were nearest the place at which the Attraction of the Comet happen'd 2. The Year after such a passing by of the Comet would be increased ten Days one Hour thirty Minutes 3. The time of the passing by of the Comet or the beginning of the Deluge to be determin'd by the place of the Perihelion must be coincident with that assigned in the Mosaick History 4. The very day of the Comet 's passing by or of the beginning of the Deluge to be determin'd from the Astronomical Tables of the Conjunctions of the Sun and Moon must be conincident with the time determin'd by the said place of the Perihelion and with the very day assign'd in the Mosaick History 5. The quantity of Acceleration to be determin'd à Priori from the force of the Comet 's Attraction must correspond with that which the present Elliptick Orbit does require All which that they are de facto true and real I shall now prove 1. The Orbit of the Earth is now Elliptical and the Sun is in that Focus thereof which was nearest the place of the Earth when the Deluge began This Proposition is sufficiently known to Astronomers as to the former part of it And if it be consider'd That the Earth when the Deluge began was but just past that degree of the Ecliptick where the Perihelion was afterward as will presently appear the latter part will be equally evident with the former 2. The Year before the Flood was ten days or more nicely ten days one hour and thirty minutes shorter than the present In order to the proof of which I shall shew first in general that the Antediluvian Year was different from nay shorter than the present Year and afterwards determine the particular length thereof more exactly and shall comprise what reasons I have for these Assertions in the following Arguments 1. The true length of the Solar Year was so long unknown after the Deluge that there must have happen'd some mighty change and lengthening thereof at the Deluge or else no rational account can be assign'd of such gross and so lasting an ignorance 'T is not to be question'd but the Antediluvian Patriarchs were perfectly acquainted with the Antediluvian Year every one of those mention'd in Scripture having seen so many Summers and Winters or natural Solar Years that himself were able to ascertain their length and correct any mistake about them 'T is also not to be doubted but the Postdiluvians would have retain'd the same Year and determin'd it by the same number of Days as their Fore-fathers had they found it to agree with the Course of the Sun then as it did formerly But 't is evident from the Ancientest Authors that 't was many hundreds of Years after the Deluge e're the most Learned Nations rectifi'd their Year to the Sun's Course or arriv'd at more than three hundred and sixty Days in their Accounts Which number accordingly was the Standard of a Year for many Ages The full proof of which and the clearing thereby of several Prophetick Periods that famous one of Daniel's Seventy Weeks especially is what we impatiently expect from a most Learned Prelate of our Church till Astronomical Observations forc'd Men to correct the same Now all this on the present Hypothesis is easie and natural That when the Antediluvian Year was but a few hours above three hundred and fifty five Days and at the Deluge was insensibly become some odd hours above three hundred and sixty five Days without the least knowledge or suspicion of any change therein 'T is I say very easie and natural in this case to suppose that upon their observing the seasons to be protracted and return still later every Year than other as on the retaining the Antediluvian Year must needs happen and consequently their Ancient Standard of three hundred and fifty five days to be too short for the Sun's Revolution that they should lengthen their accounts to thirty Days in every Month and the even number three hundred and sixty Days in the whole Year Which convenient and remarkable number three hundred and sixty being probably fixt at the time when Astronomy began to be improv'd or at least reviv'd after the Deluge and so become the division of the Ecliptick and of every Circle of the Sphere was not quickly chang'd but measur'd the Ancient Year among not a few Nations and that not a few Ages together As being also less observably different from the Sun's course and correspondent both to the degrees of a Circle and twelve even Months of thirty Days a-piece And indeed this adjustment of the Year and Months with the degrees of a Circle and of each Sign in the Ecliptick was found so easie ready and useful on all accounts that even when the odd five days were added afterward they were not inserted into the Months nor perhaps esteem'd part of the Year but look'd upon as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adventitious or odd days of a quite different denomination and character from all the rest However 't is still agreeable to the present Hypothesis that on the farther observation of the protraction of the Seasons and on the improvement of Astronomy still higher as the Year had been increas'd before from three hundred and fifty five to three hundred and sixty so afterward it should be increas'd from three hundred and sixty to three hundred and sixty five days and at last the Observations of the more Learned Astronomers enforcing it from three hundred sixty five to 3651 4 or the Julian Year which with us is retain'd to this very day All this is I think easie and natural in the present case upon that Hypothesis which is here defended but without it 't is very strange and unaccountable 'T is I say very strange and unaccountable either how the Antediluvian Patriarchs should not know the length of their own Year or that none of their Posterity who were destitute of Divine Revelation should retain the same afterwards but be forc'd to make use of one
passing by of the Comet or of the beginning of the Flood determin'd by the place of the Perihelion is exactly agreeable to that mention'd in the Mosaick History 'T is certain That the place of the Perihelion of the Earth's Orbit is now in the beginning of the eighth degree of Cancer And by Mr. Flamsteed's Astronomical Table of its Motion it goes forward in 4044 Years full 56 Degrees So that by going back to the time following the Deluge the Perihelion must then have been at the beginning of the 12 th Degree of Taurus It has also been before proved that the place of the Comets passing by must have been a few Degrees as five six or seven past the Perihelion that is on or near the 18 th Degree of Taurus Which in the Ancient Year beginning at the Autumnal Equinox will fall upon or near the 17 th Day of the Second Month On which very Day by the express Testimony of the Sacred Historian agreeing within a Day or two with the Corrected Testimonies of Abidenus and Berosus the Deluge began Which exactness of coincidence I look upon as so remarkable and surprizing that nothing can be more so and I need not fear to appeal to the Considering Reader if this be not the most peculiar and convincing Attestation to our Hypothesis which could easily be desir'd or in the least wish'd for That from it not only the several Phaenomena of the Deluge but the time of its commencing is so precisely determin'd also and that in the greatest Correspondence and Harmony with the Sacred History of the same thing imaginable 4. The very day of the Comets passing by or of the beginning of the Deluge determin'd from the Astronomical Tables of the Conjunctions of the Sun and Moon is exactly coincident with that before nearly determin'd by the place of the Perihelion and exactly by the Mosaick History It has been before prov'd that seeing the Moon still accompanies the Earth it must needs have been three Days past the New or Full at the passing by of the Comet It has also been before prov'd that the Flood began in the Year of the Julian Period 2365 or the 2349 th before the Christian AEra Now it appears by the Astronomical Tables of the Conjunctions of the Sun and Moon that the mean New Moon happen'd at the Meridian of Babylon just before Eleven a Clock in the Forenoon on the 24 th day of November in the Julian Year and so at Eleven a Clock on the 27 th of November 't was three days after the New Which being the 17 th day of the Second Month from the Autumnal Equinox is the very same pitched upon from the place of the Perihelion and expresly mention'd in the Sacred History And by so wonderfully corresponding therewith gives the highest Attestation to our Hypothesis that could for the completion and consummation of the foregoing Evidence be reasonably desir'd 5. The Quantity of Acceleration determin'd à priori from the force of the Comets Attraction does very well correspond with that which the present Elliptick Orbit does require Upon Calculation according to the Lemma quoted in the Margin the Velocity acquir'd by the Earth on its first change from a Circular to an Elliptick Orbit appears to have been about 1248 131250 of the intire Velocity or such as would carry it in three hours and a half 's time 1248 Miles 'T is also upon calculation evident from what has been already observ'd that in case the Comets nearest distance were a quarter of the Moons or sixty thousand Miles and it self of much the same bigness with the Earth two very probable and easie Hypotheses the time of the Comets Attraction to be solely consider'd is three hours and a half and the quantity of Velocity therein produc'd is the requisite quantity 1248 131250 of the intire Velocity or so much as carries a body 1248 Miles in the fore-mention'd space of three hours and a half And in case the Comets nearest distance were less if the Comet withal be supposed in the same proportion less also the effect will be the same and the fore-mention'd Velocity equal to what the former Calculation assign'd and the Elliptick Orbit of the Earth does exactly require Which accuracy of correspondence in the due quantity of Velocity added to the former Arguments cannot but be esteem'd a mighty Evidence for the reality of our Hypotheses All whose consequents are so surprizingly true and so fully bear Witness to one another Corollary 1. From what has been said under this Proposition we may pretty nearly determine the Constitution of the Antediluvian Year For when it consisted of three hundred and fifty five Days four Hours and nineteen Minutes and had for at least five Months together from the second to the sixth thirty Days to a Month or one hundred and fifty to five Months as we have seen it must in all probability have consisted of twelve Months The first seven whereof had thirty and the last five only twenty nine days apiece Or rather the first eleven Months had thirty and the twelfth only twenty five Days That as in the famous Egyptian Year or that of Nabonassar after the Deluge every Month had thirty Days a piece and the supernumerary five were added by themselves and stil'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so before the Deluge all the Months as near as possible had thirty days apiece also and the five deficient ones were taken from the last and might be denominated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And possibly might give occasion to that method of the before-mention'd Year in the following Ages How often the odd Hours and Minutes were intercalated and came to just even Days before the Deluge 't is not for a certain reason not here to be mention'd easie very exactly to determine nor perhaps of consequence that it should be so determined Only in general every sixth year at least one with another must be Leap-Year and have three hundred and fifty six days as every fourth is Leap-Year and has three hundred and sixty six days now among us Coroll 2 Every Antediluvian Year and Season Spring Summer Autumn and Winter began at Sunset following the Solar ingress into a Cardinal Point and the Full Moon It appears as has been before prov'd that the Autumnal Equinox preceding the Deluge happen'd on the 11 th day of October It also appears by the Astronomical Tables of the Conjunctions of the Sun and Moon that 't was Full Moon the same Day The Night succeeding which Day began the First Day of Autumn and the First Day of the Year also Which being suppos'd and that as we have prov'd the Solar Year was exactly coincident with twelve Synodical Months or the Lunar Year it must necessarily have been ever so And not only the other particular seasons but the Year it self began at the most remarkable time possible The Astronomers had a double coincidence to observe at the
confused fluid mass or congeries of heterogeneous Bodies suppose it were a Comets Atmosphere or any other such like irregular compositum of mingled corpuscles in its formation were subject only to an Annual motion about the Sun without any Diurnal Rotation about an Axis of its own the Figure thereof would be that of a perfect Sphere as from the uniform force of Gravity and consequent equilibration of parts on all sides is easily demonstrable But if during its Formation it had a Diurnal Rotation about an Axis of its own the Figure thereof by reason of the great velocity and consequent conatus recedendi à centro motus diminishing the force of Gravity at the Equatorial parts would be that of an oblate Sphaeroid such as an Ellipsis revolving about its lesser Axis would generate LXVIII If a Planet consisted in great measure of an Abyss or Dense Internal Fluid and a Crust or Shell of Earth plac'd on its Surface tho' the Diurnal Rotation were not begun at the Formation thereof from a Chaos and so its original figure were Sphaerical yet upon the commencing of the said Diurnal Rotation it would degenerate immediately into that of an oblate Sphaeroid and retain it afterward as well as if it had put on the same at its primary formation Corollary When therefore the greater quickness of the vibrations of the same Pendulum and the greater gravitation of Bodies near the Poles than the Equator consequent thereupon demonstrate the former Regions of the Earth to be nearer its Center than the latter and that consequently the Figure is that of an Oblate Sphaeroid 't is evident that either the Diurnal Motion commenc'd before the Orginal of its present constitution or that its internal parts are in some degree Fluid and so were pliable and alterable on the after commencing of such Diurnal Rotation And this Corollary extends equally if not more to Jupiter whose Diurnal Rotation is quicker than our Earth's and by consequence its Figure farther from Sphaerical Thus by Mr. Newton's Calculation the Diameter of the Equator of the Earth is to the Axis thereof only as 692 to 689. But in Jupiter according to the same Mr. Newton's Calculation Corrected as about 8 to 7. Which is very considerable and sensible and accordingly attested to by the concurrent observstions of Cassini and Mr. Flamsteed LXIX If such an Upper Crust or Shell of Earth on the face of the Abyss were Fix'd and Consolidated before the Diurnal Rotation thereof commenc'd it would remain intire continued and united all the time of its Sphaerical Figure or all the time it had no other than an Annual revolution But by the beginning of the Diurnal Rotation which would make the surface of the Abyss and its sustained Orb of Earth put on the Figure of the Oblate Sphaeroid before-mention'd that Upper Orb must be stretch'd chap'd and crack'd and its parts divided by perpendicular Fissures For the Periphery of an Ellipsis being larger than that of a Circle where the Area is equal and the Superficies of a Sphaeroid generated by its circumvolution consequently larger than that of a Sphere generated by the like circumvolution of the Circle which is the present case that Orb of Earth 't is plain which exactly fitted and every way enclos'd the Abyss while it was a Sphere would be too little and straight for it when it after became a Sphaeroid and must therefore suffer such Breaches and Fissures as are here express'd LXX The state of Nature in a Planet constituted as above while it had only an Annual revolution would be as follows 1. By reason of the same face of the Planet's respecting continually the same Plaga of the Heavens or the same fixt Stars and its continual parallellism to it self all the apparent revolution of the Sun must depend on the Annual Motion and a Day and a Year be all one This is evident because as a Year is truly that space in which the Sun seemingly and the Earth really performs a single revolution round the Ecliptick so a Day is truly that space in which the Sun passes or appears to pass from any certain Semi-Meridian to the same again once Which spaces of time are here the very same and so the appellations themselves Year and Day may indifferently and promiscuously be appli'd thereto 2. The course of the Sun and Planets for the fixt Stars were then Fixt indeed having neither a Real nor Seeming motion must be contrary to what it has appear'd since Their Rising being then in the West and their Setting in the East Which from the way of the present Diurnal Rotation has since as all know been quite different 3. There must be a perpetual Equinox or equality of Day and Night through the whole Planet by reason of the Sun 's describing each revolution a great Circle about the same on which alone such an equality depends 4. The Ecliptick must supply the place of an Equator also and the Torrid Temperate and Frigid Zones be almost alike dispos'd with regard to that Circle as with us they are with regard to the real Equator 5. To such as liv'd under or near the said Ecliptick the Poles of the World or Ecliptick the only ones then in Being would be at the Horizon and so not elevated or depress'd to the Inhabitants there But upon the commencing of a quicker Diurnal Rotation the same way with the Annual The case would be in all these particulars quite different For 1. By reason of the quickness of the new Diurnal in comparison of the Ancient and Continued Annual Revolution Days and Years would be intirely distinct spaces of time The Sun returning to the same Semi-Meridian very often while from one Tropick to another and so to the same again he appear'd to have compleated his longer Annual period 2. By the Diurnal Rotation of the Planet from West to East the revolution of the Sun of the other Planets and of all the Heavenly Bodies would be from East to West and they would all Rise at the former and Set at the latter part of the Horizon 3. The perpetual Equinox would be confin'd to the Equatorial parts of the Planet and all other Countries would have longer Days in Summer and shorter in Winter as now obtains in the World When only March 10 and September 12 have Day and Night equal to each other through the whole Earth 4. The Ecliptick and Equator would be intirely different the latter a Real Circle or Line on the Planet equally distant from its own proper Poles The former confin'd to the Heavens and not with respect to the Planet easily to be taken notice of The Torrid Temperate and Frigid Zones would regard the new Equator and be from it distinguish'd and dispos'd almost in the same manner as before they were from the Ecliptick and that with greater niceness and more exact boundaries 5. The Poles of the World which before were to the Inhabitants at or near the ancient Ecliptick
and compare the States of External Nature before and after the Fall one with another and with those things which the Propositions we are now upon do assert concerning them 'T is evident then from what has been before laid down hereto relating that the Primitive state of things before the Fall was thus The Earth being newly form'd was scarcely as yet intirely consolidated and so pretty uniformly pervious to the warm Steams ascending from beneath It s Figure was perfectly Sphaerical and its Strata or Layers by consequence were even continued and join'd and so the Central Heat being equally distant from all the parts of the Earth's Surface did very equally diffuse it self and equally affect all the Climates of the Globe The Soil or Uppermost Stratum of the Earth was newly moisten'd by the descent of the Waters before they compos'd the Seas on the Third Day of the Creation and by the plenty of Moisture which it still receiv'd every Night The Air was perfectly Clear Homogeneous Transparent and Susceptive of the utmost Power of the Solar Heat The Seasons were equable or gently and gradually distinguish'd from one another by the Rising Setting Descending and Ascending Sun without any quick Interpositions of Day and Night to disturb them The Torrid Zone of the Earth as I may call those Regions near the Solar Course was very much Expos'd to the Sun and very much warm'd withal by its Vicinage to the Central Solid The Moon in twelve Revolutions equally measur'd out the Year and caus'd the most gentle easie and gradual Tides imaginable This with all its natural Consequents was the State of the Primitive World But as soon as Man had sinn'd and render'd that happy State too good for him or indeed rendred himself wholly uncapable thereof And as soon as God Almighty had pronounced a Curse on the Ground and its Productions presently the Earth began a new and strange Motion and revolv'd from West to East on its own Axis A single 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Revolution of Night and Day either immediately or by degrees according as the present Velocity of the Diurnal Rotation was suddenly or gradually acquir'd returned frequently and became no longer than 24 short Hours while the Annual Motion perform'd on a different Axis distinguish'd the Seasons and in Conjunction with the Diurnal describ'd the Equator and the Tropicks and by the access and recess of the Sun from the last named Circles caus'd it to visit the several Regions enclos'd thereby The Face of the Earth was really distinguish'd into Zones by the Tropicks and Polar Circles truly divided from one another with respect whereto the particular Regions of the Earth chang'd their Situation the Equator being that Circle with regard whereto they were now to be determin'd as they had been before with regard to the Ecliptick and so that Paradise which was before at the middle became the Northern boundary of the Torrid Zone The Figure of the Earth which was before truly Sphaerical degenerated into an Oblate Sphaeroid the Torrid Zone rising about 10 Miles upward and the Frigid one subsiding as much downwards The Compages of the Upper Earth and of its Strata became thereby chap'd broken and divided and so carried up the warm Steams from beneath to particular Conceptacles and Volcano's which before serv'd in a more equal and uniform manner to heat and invigorate the intire Earth and its productons The Tides lastly became frequenter and so more sudden and violent than before Which short Summary or Scheme of the States of Nature in our Hypothesis before and after the Fall ought to be all along born in mind and reflected on in order to the passing a right judgment on the accounts of those Phaenomena in the Solution whereof we are now engag'd And which otherwise might seem very odd and unaccountable to the Reader Which being thus dispatch'd I proceed XXIX The Primitive Earth was not equally Paradisiacal all over The Garden of Eden or Paradise being a peculiarly fruitful and happy soil and particularly furnish'd with all the necessaries and delights of an innocent and blessed life above the other Regions of the Earth XXIX That all the Primitive Earth could not be equally Paradisiacal and enjoy the same Priviledges and Conveniences beyond the Present is easily prov'd For seeing one of its principal causes of Fertility and other Prerogatives was the greater degree of Heat at the Paradisiacal Regions The Climates near the Solar Course being alone capable of such greater Heat must be alone capable of its Effects also and consequently we are to confine our enquiries for the Garden of Eden to the Countries not very remote from the Ancient Ecliptick Now that some peculiar Spot or Region thereabouts might beyond all the rest be Fertile Pleasant and Paradisiacal 't is not difficult to suppose At the present there is a mighty variety in Countries in the very same Hemisphere Climate and Parallel The particular Prerogatives of one Region beyond another do not intirely depend on the Sun or the Vicinage of the Central Heat But partly on the Nature and Temper of the Soil the kinds of Vegetables and Fossils thereto belonging the number qualities and conflux of Rivers he firmness or looseness of the inferior Strata hindring or freelier permitting the ascent of the Subterraneous Steams Juices and Effluvia From the coincidence of which and of other such things in a peculiar and advantagious manner order'd and dispos'd on purpose by the Divine Providence at the Mosaick Creation the extraordinary pleasantness and felicity of this Earthly Paradise or Garden of Pleasure is I suppose to be deduc'd and which being consider'd will I believe be sufficient to give satisfaction in the Proposition before us XXX The place of Paradise was where the united Rivers Tigris and Euphrates divided themselves into four Streams Pison Gihon Tigris and Euphrates XXX This Situation of Paradise has been already consider'd and need not here be reassum'd Only we may observe That no Scruples would ever have been rais'd about this Matter in case the foremention'd Rivers had still been visible their Course still agreeable to the Mosaick Description and the Metals and Minerals mention'd of the adjoyning Countries had been as evidently there to be found in ours as they appear to have been in those Primitive Times Seeing therefore the following Theory will so clearly assign the Cause of such Diversity that every Reader will be oblig'd to grant it much harder to have accounted for the Phaenomena of Paradise consistently with the other Phaenomena of Nature if all things were now as they were at first than almost any other of the Antediluvian World I may justly hope that this so disputed a Question of the Situation of the Garden of Eden or Primitive Paradise to those who embrace the other parts of the Theory will remain no longer so but be as fix'd and undoubted within at least the limits of that Hypothesis here referr'd to as any other