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
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
Times of revolving being to each other as the Cubes of their middle distances from him 't is hence certain That as before the force of their Attraction or Impulse towards the Sun is in a duplicate Proportion of their distances reciprocally Coroll 4. The Case being the same as to the Circumjovials about Jupiter and the Circumsaturnals about Saturn this last Corollary belongs equally to them also But the Moon being a single Planet revolving about the Earth is incapable of giving evidence in her Case Coroll 5. As before the Law of Gravitation being demonstrated from the Planets revolving in Ellipses about the central Bodies in one of the Foci the Proportion between the periodical Times compar'd with the distances from the central Bodies was deducible à priori so vice versâ the periodical Times compar'd with the distances demonstrating the Law of Gravitation thence the necessily of the Planets Revolution in Ellipses about the central Bodies in one of the Foci is à priori demonstrated also Coroll 6. 'T is certain That the Annual Motion belongs to the Earth about the Sun not to the Sun about the Earth For when from the Moon 's Orbit and the Planet's Orbits and periodical Times 't is certain That the Law of Gravitation towards the Earth and towards the Sun is the same and by consequence all the periodical Times of Bodies revolving about each of them in the same Proportion to one another compar'd with their several Distances from each of them On Which Hypothesis this Proportion suits the Phaenomena of Nature the same must be the true one and to be fully acquiesc'd in Now 't is known That on the Hypothesis of the Earth's Annual Motion her periodical Time exactly suits and is so between that of Venus and Mars as the Proportion observ'd through the whole System and demonstrable à priori withal exactly requires but on the other Hypothesis 't is enormously different For when the Moon undoubtedly and on this Hypothesis the Sun also revolves about our Earth and when the distance of the Sun is to that of the Moon as about 10000 to 46 and the Moon 's periodical Time less than 28 days the periodical Time of the Sun is by the Rule of Three discoverable thus As the Cube of the Moon 's distance 46 equal to 97336 to the Cube of the Sun 's 10000 equal to 1000000000000. or almost as 1 to 10000000 so must the Square of the Moon 's periodical Time 28 Days equal to 784. be to the Square of the Sun 's periodical Time 7840000000 whose square Root 88204 are Days also equal to 242 Years So that on the Hypothesis of the Sun's Revolution about the Earth its periodical Time must undoubtedly be 242 Years which all Experience attests to be but a single one So that at length the Controversy between the Ptolemaick and Pythagorean Systems of the World is to a Demonstration determin'd and the Earth's Annual Motion for ever unquestionably establish'd Coroll 7. 'T is certain those Opake Masses which sometimes appear at the Sun are not Planets revolving at any the least distance from him but Spots or Maculae adhering to him for whereas they revolve but once in about twenty six Days on Calculation it will appear that a Planet near the Sun's Surface as these must be cannot have three hours allow'd for its periodical Revolution which being so different from the foremention'd space of twenty six days quite decides that Controversy and demonstrates those Masses to be real Maculae adhering to the Body of the Sun as is here asserted XXIV If a Planet describe an Ellipsis about its central Body in the Focus thereof it will move fastest when 't is nearest to and slowest when 't is farthest from the said central Body or Focus and agreeably in the intermediate places For seeing wheresoever the revolving Body is the Area is still proportionable to the time as was before shew'd and so in equal times always equal 't is evident by how much the Distance is less and the Line from the Focus is shorter by so much must the Bodies motion be the swifter to compensate the same and vice versâ by how much the former is longer by so much must the latter be slower to allow for it XXV If the Planet B describe an Ellipsis about the central Body in the Focus H as the Area describ'd by the Line B H will be exactly uniform and proportional to the time of Description so the Angular Motion or Velocity of the Line from the other Focus B I will be proportional to the time and uniform also tho' not so Exactly and Geometrically XXVI The Law of Gravitation already explain'd being suppos'd if one Planet describe an Ellipsis about the central Body in the Focus H and another describe a Circle about the same in its Center If the Semidiameter of the Circle be equal to H E the middle distance in the Ellipsis from the same Center or Focus their periodical Times of revolving will be the same and when the Distances are equal their Velocity will be so too Corollary Tho' therefore the Planets revolve in Ellipses of several Species yet their periodical Times may be as well compar'd with one another and with their distances from the central Bodies as if they all revolv'd in compleat Circles as was above done XXVII If a Body revolve about a central Body as about A in a Circle as B e E b and another revolve about the same in the Focus of its Ellipsis B H F G so that the Semediameter of the Circle were equal to the nearest distance in the Ellipsis AB the Velocity of the Body at the nearest Point of the Ellipsis will be greater than the Velocity of the Body in the Circle and will be to it in half the Proportion of the Latus rectum of the Ellipsis pq to the Diameter of the Circle eb or as that Line p q to a middle proportional between it self and e b. XXVIII If one Body revolve round a central Body in a Circle and another about the same in its Focus describe so very Eccentrical an Ellipsis that it may pass for a Parabola the Velocity of the Body moving along the Ellipsis will be to that of the Body moving in the Circle the Point in the Ellipsis being as far from the central Body as the Circumference of the Circle very nearly as ten to seven XXIX If a central Body have many Bodies revolving about it 't is perfectly indifferent in it self and with regard to the central Body in what Plains soever or which way in those Plains soever they all or any of them move Corollary Hence arises a convincing Argument of the Interposition of Council and Providence in the Constitution of our System in which all the Planets revolve the same way from West to East and that in Plains almost coincident with one another and with that of the Ecliptick as Mr. Bentley hath also observ'd XXX The
the 11 th day of October 'T is evident from the Astronomical Tables of the Anticipation of the Equinox that in 4044 years the time since the beforemention'd Year the Equinoxes have anticipated 30 Days 9 Hours 'T is also evident That this Year 1696. the Vernal Equinox is on the 9 th of March and the Autumnal on the 12 th of September 't is farther evident That whereas now the Space from the Vernal to the Autumnal Equinox is eight or nine Days longer than from the Autumnal to the Vernal by reason of the Position of the Perihelion of the Earth's Orbit near the Winter Solstice at the time beforemention'd it was not above five or six Days so By the Anticipation therefore of the Equinoxes alone if the Position of the Perihelion had been always the same the Equinoxes at the time assigned had been on the 9 th of April in the Morning and on the 12 th of October in the Evening and the equaller Division of the Year allow'd for the Vernal Equinox was on the 10 th of April and the Autumnal on the 11 th of October as was to be prov'd XLII Comets are a Species of Planets or Bodies revolving about the Sun in Elliptical Orbits whose periodical Times and Motions are as constant certain and regular as those of the Planets tho' till very lately wholly unknown to the World XLIII These Elliptical Orbits of Comets are so very Oblong and Eccentrical that while they come within our Observation they are but little different from Parabola's and may accordingly be consider'd as such XLIV The Plains in which various Comets move are themselves exceeding various and at all imaginable Angles of Inclination with one another and with that of the Ecliptick XLV The course of Comets in their Orbits is not determin'd one way as is that of the Planets from West to East but indifferently some of them move one way and some another Corollary 1. From these two last Lemmata 't is evident that Comets move sometimes from East to West other times from West to East sometimes from North to South other times from South to North or obliquely between any of these ways according as the Situation of the Plains of their Orbits and the Directions of their Courses together determine them Coroll 2. Hence 't is certain That the heavenly Motions are not perform'd in corporeal Vortices when the Comets exactly observe the same Laws and Velocity of Motion whether they revolve with or against or cross to the Planets and the suppos'd stuid Matter of the Vortices XLVI Comets in their descent to and ascent from the Sun pass quite through the Planetary System as may be seen in the Frontispiece Corollary Hence we may observe a new possible Cause of vast Changes in the Planetary World by the access and approach of these vast and hitherto little known Bodies to any of the Planets XLVII If a Comet in its descent to or ascent from the Sun approach near to a Planet as it passes by and its Plain be different from that in which the Planets move by its attractive Power it will agreeably to the universal Law of Gravitation of Bodies draw it from the Plain in which it before mov'd and so cause it afterward to move in a new one inclin'd to the former but passing through the Sun as the former did Corollary Hence 't is supposable That tho' the Planets originally revolv'd in the same common Plain yet by the subsequent Attraction of Comets their Plains may now be inclin'd to one another and different as 't is certain de facto they now are SCHOLIUM When the Law of Gravitation is universal and mutual 't is evident The Planet would draw the Comet from its Plain as well as the Comet would draw the Planet and so generally what effects soever the Comets could have on the Planets the latter would have correspondent ones on the former But as this Indication once given for all there is no necessity of taking notice of the changes in the Comets so accordingly in what follows I shall wholly omit the same and confine my self to such things as will be immediately useful in the following Theory XLVIII If a Comet revolving in the same Plain with a Planet whose Orbit is a perfect Circle as it passes by approach near it by accelerating or retarding the Velocity of the Planet it would render its Orbit Elliptical Thus if B were a Planet revolving about the Sun at the Center A in the circular Orbit Be Eb and a Comet either in its descent towards or ascent from the Sun should pass near it it would agreeably to the universal Law of Gravitation of Bodies accelerate it if concurring with or retard ing it if contradicting the Planet's own annual Motion along the Periphery of its Circle Whereupon the concentrical Orbit would become excentrical and the Planet would afterward revolve in an Ellipsis which on an Acceleration would be bigger and on a Retardation less than the Circle which it had till then describ'd the former represented by BHFG the latter by BKLI For when the original Velocity of B was exactly adjusted to the Sun's Power of Attraction and its Orbit thereupon a perfect Circle this new Acceleration or Retardation must render it afterward incommensurate and too great or too little for the same and accordingly the Orbit to be afterward agreeably to what has been formerly explain'd describ'd by the Planet must be an Ellipsis and bigger or less than the former Circle as the force was directed for or against the Planet's own Motion Corollary 1. In this Case the Sun would no longer be in the Center of the Figure but in one of the Foci viz. in the nearer Focus of the larger and the farther of the smaller Ellipsis Coroll 2. If B were the Earth moving circularly about the Sun from West to East i. e. from B by e Eb to B again and a Comet h in its descent towards the Sun should pass by before it or on the Eastside the annual Motion of the Earth would be accelerated and its circular Orbit degenerate into the larger Ellipsis BHFG about the Sun in its nearer Focus A. XLIX If a Comet in passing by as before accelerate the Planets Motion and so enlarge the Orbit the Planets periodical Time of revolving will be enlarg'd and become longer thereby In like manner if the Comet retard the Planets Motion and so diminish the Orbit the periodical Time of revolving will be lessen'd and become shorter And still the more considerable the Acceleration or Retardation is compar'd with the original Velocity of the Planet the greater will be the eccentricity and the greater difference between the former and latter Orbits and the former and latter periodical Times of revolving also Corollary 1. If in the foregoing Case the Semidiater of the ancient Circle with the middle Distance in the Ellipsis afterward describ'd be given as also the periodical Time of revolving in the latter
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
positive evidence for the Proposition before us yet setting aside prepossession I had an equal right and pretence to Truth with the Common Expositors I keeping equally close to the Letter of the Sacred History 2. This Hypothesis gives a rational account of the Scripture stile wherein a Day even in after Ages very frequently denotes a Year as is commonly taken notice of by Expositors Thus by Moses himself the Word Day is not only in the very recapitulation of the Creation us'd for the intire Six These are the Generations of the Heavens and of the Earth when they were Created in the Day that the Lord God made the Earth and the Heavens and every Plant of the Field before it was in the Earth and every Herb of the Field before it grew But in other places as it seems for the just space of a Year And at the end of Days or after some Years it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. The days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years and he died And so of the rest of the Genealogies in that Chapter Thus in others of the Holy Writers I will give thee ten shekels of Silver by the days i. e. per annâ—s by the years or every year Thus what in one place is Joshuah waxed Old and came into Days is in another Joshuah was old and stricken in years The like phrases we have of David the number of Days that David was King in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven Years and six months The Days that David reigned over Israel were forty years So what was in the Law Bring your Tyths after three Years is in the Prophet Bring your Tyths after three Days Which ways of speaking with others that follow may seem alluded to and explain'd by these two tho' themselves somewhat of a different nature Your children says God to the Israelites shall wander in the Wilderness forty Years after the number of the Days in which ye searched the land even forty Days each Day for a Year shall you bear your iniquities even forty Years Lye thou says God to the Prophet Ezekiel on thy left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it according to the number of the Days that thou shalt lye upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity For I have laid upon thee the Years of their iniquity according to the Number of the Days three hundred and ninety Days so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel And when thou hast accomplish'd 'em lye again on thy right side and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty Days I have appointed thee a Day for a Year But what I mainly and principally intend here is that known frequent and solemn way in the Prophetick Writings of determining Years by Days the instances of which are very obvious some whereof I shall here barely quote for the Reader 's satisfaction and more in a case so notorious and remarkable need not be done How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the Sanctuary and the Host to be trodden under foot And he said unto me Unto two thousand three hundred Days then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate be set up there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety Days Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the one thousand three hundred five and thirty days But go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in thy Lot at the end of the days I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophecy one thousand two hundred and sixty days cloathed in sack-cloth The Woman fled into the Wilderness where she hath a place prepared her of God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days Agreeably whereto a Week consisting of seven days denotes seven years and a Month consisting of thirty days denotes thirty years in the same Prophetick Writings Thus in that most famous of all Prophecies concerning the death of the Messias Seventy Weeks are determin'd upon the people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting rightcousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and sixty and two weeks the street shall be built again and the wall even in a straight of times And after the sixty and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself The Holy City shall they tread undersoot forty and two months Power was given to the Beast to continue forty and two months All which expressions with others of the same nature are not accountable I mean there is no satisfactory reason can be given why a Day should so frequently denote a Year in the Sacred Writings on any other Hypothesis We usually indeed content our selves in these cases with the bare knowing the meaning of Scripture expressions as if they were chosen at a venture and so for instance finding a Day to represent a Year in the same Books we rest satisfi'd without enquiring why a Day rather than an Hour a Week or Month the two latter of which terms are yet us'd by these Authors were pitch'd upon to signifie the before-mention d space to us or why if the word Day must be made use of it must mean a determinate just Year rather than a Week a Month or a Thousand Years for which last it yet seems sometimes to be taken so frequently in the Sacred especially the Prophetick Writings But 't is very supposable that 't is our Ignorance or Unskilfulness in the Stile of Scripture and those things therein deliver'd not the Inaccuracy of the Writers themselves which occasions our so laxe and general Interpretations It will sure at least be allow'd me that wherever not only the Meaning of Phrases but the Original and Foundation of such their Meaning is naturally and easily assignable an account thereof is readily to be embrac'd And certainly the Primitive Years of the World being once suppos'd to have been Days also and call'd by that name in the History of the Creation this matter will be very easie the succeeding Stile of Scripture will appear only a continuation of the Primitive and fitted to hint to us a time wherein a Day and a Year were really the same And this without any diminution of the true designs
of the Heavens was uniform which thing was the cause and original of the Golden Age and of all that happiness which therein Mankind enjoy'd or external Nature partook of which how well it suits the present Hpothesis I need not say All that exceeding happy State of Nature which innocent Man enjoy'd beyond what he does since the Fall being therein owing to such a Constitution of the World as this Author intimates and I am now proving Which in the last place shall be confirm'd from Baptista Mantuanus who says relating the Opinion of the old Astonomers All the Coelestial Spheres were in the beginning of the World concentrical and uniform in their Motion and the Zodiack of the Primum Mobile and that of the Planets the Equator and Ecliptick were united and coincident by which means all sublunary Bodies were more vivid and vigorous at that time than in the present Ages of the World as the Theorist sums up the force of his Testimony very agreeably to the Hypothesis before us of the Astronomy in the primitive State of the Heavens 5. To the first Inhabitants of the Earth dwelling at the Intersection of the ancient Ecliptick with the present Northern Tropick of which hereafter the Poles of the World were neither elevated nor depress'd but at the Horizon But sometime after the Formation of things they suddenly chang'd their Situation the Northern Pole appear'd to be elevated above and the Southern depress'd below the Horizon and the Course of the Heavens seem'd bent or inclin'd to the Southern Parts of the World or in plain words there was a new Diurnal Rotation began about the present Axis of the Earth which I take to be the true and easy Exposition of the same Phaenomena This Matter is much insisted on by the Ancients and being so will fully confirm our Assertion and give light and strength to some of the former Testimonies Plutarch has a Chapter entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of the Inclination of the Earth in which he thus recites the Opinion of Leucippus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Earth fell or was enclin'd towards the Southern Regions by reason of the rareness of those Parts The Northern Regions being grown rigid and compact while the Southern were scorch'd or on fire Whose Opinion is also recited by Laertius in almost the same words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By reason of the failure in the Sun and Moon the Earth was bent or inclin'd towards the South But the Northern Regions grew rigid and inflexible by the snowy and cold Weather which ensued thereon To the same purpose is the Opinion of Democritus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That by reason of the Southern Ambient Air 's imbecillity or smaller Pressure the Earth in those Parts increas'd in bulk and so sunk and bent that way For the Northern Regions were ill temper'd but the Southern very well whereby the latter becoming fruitful waxed greater and by an over-weight preponderated and inclin'd the whole that way As express to the full is the Testimony of Empedocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The North by reason of the Air 's yielding to the Sun's force was bent from its former Position whereupon the Northern Regions were elevated and the Southern depress'd as together with them was the whole World To which agrees Anaxagoras in these words which immediately follow those just before quoted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But afterward the Pole receiv'd a turn or inclination These so many and so pregnant Testimonies of Antiquity as to the matters of fact foregoing for as to the several Reasons assign'd by them they being I suppose but the single Conjectures of the Authors must be uncertain and need not be farther consider'd or insisted on in the present case seem to me so weighty that I cannot but build and rely very much upon them How should such strange and surprizing Paradoxes run so universally through the eldest Antiquity if there were not some ground or foundation in earnest for them 'T would be hard wholly to reject what were so unanimously vouched by the old Sages of Learning and Philosophy even tho' there were no other evidence or reason for our belief But when all these Authors the only competent Witnesses in the Case do but confirm what on other Accounts as we have seen and shall farther see there is so good reason to believe and when so great light is thereby afforded to the primitive Constitution of Nature and the Sacred History of the State of Innocency their Attestations are the more credible and the more valuable and in the highest degree worthy of our serious Consideration What I can foresee of Objection deserving our notice against what has been advanc'd from the Testimonies of the old Philosophers is this That they seem to favour the perpetual Equinox before the Flood by the right Position of the present Axis of the Earth parallel to that of the Ecliptick as the Theorist imagines and its Inclination or oblique Position acquir'd at the Deluge as the same Author supposes rather than the original Absence and subsequent commencing of the Diurnal Rotation after the Fall of Man as I here apply them I answer I. The Parallelism of the Axis of a Diurnal to that of an Annual Revolution is as far as I find a perfect stranger to the System of the World there being I think not one of the Heavenly Bodies Sun or Planet but has its own Axis oblique to the Orbit in which it moves 2. It will be farther evinc'd hereafter That de facto before the Flood the Axis of the Earth was Oblique to its Annual Orbit the Plain of the Ecliptick and the Year distinguish'd into the present Seasons Spring Summer Autumn and Winter 3. That equable and healthful Temper of the Air which the Theorist chiefly relied upon as necessary to the Longevity of the Antediluvians and fully prov'd by Antiquity shall be accounted for without such an Hypothesis 4. The Testimonies before alledg'd do not if rightly consider'd suit this Hypothesis nay in truth they fully confute it Of the five Characters before-mention'd under which we have reduc'd the main Testimonies there are two which are common to this and to the Theorist's Hypothesis viz. 1. The perpetual and universal Equinox 2. The coincidence of the Equator and Ecliptick tho' in somewhat a different manner So that the Testimonies for these two can neither establish the one nor the other as equally suiting them both The other three are peculiar to that Hypothesis we have been proving and by consequence at the same time establish that and confute the Theorist's Hypothesis And these three are 1. The Equality of a Day and a Year 2. The Sun and Planet's rising in the West and setting in the East 3. The Position of the Poles at the Horizon with the after Elevation of the Northern the Depression of the Southern Pole and the inclination or bending of the Heavenly Bodies Courses towards the South
'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
and Interstices thereof which Waters on the opening of the Fissures would from all sides ouze into and fill up the Inferiour parts of the same and rest upon the Face of the Abyss the Dense Fluid of the Abyss in its violent Ascent through the Fissures would carry before it and throw out at the tops of the said Fissures great quantities of the same and if its force were any where sufficient would cast it self also out at the same passages and by both or either ways would mightily add to the quantity of the Waters already on the Face of the Earth and become a fresh and a prodigious augmentation of that Deluge which began already to overwhelm and destroy the Inhabitants thereof For the better apprehension of this matter let us imagine the following Experiment were made Suppose a Cylinder of Stone or Marble fitted so exactly to a hollow Cylindrical Vessel that it may just Ascend or Descend freely within it Let the Cylinder of Stone or Marble have small holes bored quite through it parallel to the Axis thereof Let the Vessel be fill'd half full of Water and the Cylinder as gently as you please be put into the Vessel till it touch the Water Let then each of the holes through the Cylinder be fill'd in part with Oyl or any other Fluid lighter than the Water to Swim upon the Surface thereof Things being thus provided you have the very case of the Deluge before you and what effects you here in a lesser degree will observe are but the representations of those great and remarkable ones of which we are now speaking For as the weight of the Cylinder pressing upon the Surface of the Water would squeeze the Oyl upon its Surface through the holes and cast it out thereat with some violence and cast it self too out at the same passages if the holes were not too high in comparison to the quantity of the intire pressure upon the Surface of the Water just so the Weight of the Columns of Earth augmented by the additional Waters of the Comet would squeeze and press upon the Surface of the Abyss which being a Fluid Mass and incapable of sustaining a pressure in one part without equally communicating it to all the rest any way whatsoever must burst out wherever such pressure was wanting and throw it self up the Fissures carrying up before it and throwing out upon the Earth those Waters which like Oyl on the Water in the Experiment lay upon its Surface and for the altitude perhaps of some Miles cover'd the same and thereby mightily increasing the greatness of the Deluge and having a main stroke in that destruction which it brought upon the Earth All which I think gives us a clear easie and mechanical account of this hitherto inexplicable Secondary Cause of the Deluge the breaking up the Fountains of the Great Deep and thereat the elevating the Subterraneous Waters and bringing them out upon the Face of the Earth Corollary 1. These Chaps or Fissures at the Deluge would commonly be the same with those at the commencing of the Diurnal Rotation It being easier to break the Compages of the Earth where it had once been broken already and was never united well again than in other places where it was intire and continued And those parts which sustain'd the rather greater force at the former Convulsion would at least as well sustain this of which we are now speaking and preserve their former continuity still as they did before the Flood Coroll 2. Hence if these Fissures are the occasion and source of Fountains as Dr. Woodward very probably asserts The Antediluvian and Postdiluvian Springs must be generally the very same as arising from the same Originals so far as the mutations at the Earth's Surface to be afterward explain'd would permit and allow in the case Coroll 3. Since we have before shew'd that the Mountainous Columns of the Earth are the loosest the least compacted and least solid of all others The Earth would be the most subject to the Fissures and Breaches in those parts and the generality of Springs and Rivers would now proceed from thence Unless the peculiar Stony or other firm Compages of the same prevented the Effects here mention'd as sometimes perhaps might happen in the present case Coroll 4. Hence 't is evident that there was no great Ocean but only smaller Lakes and Seas before the Flood For otherwise the Tule or Flux of the Ocean would have been so great and violent as to have superseded almost all the designs of the ensuing Deluge and have withal extremely endanger'd if not certainly destroy'd the Ark and all those Creatures which were entring into it Which the small Tides in the small Lakes and Seas would not at all affect or disturb XLIX All these Fountains of the great Deep were broken up on the very first day of the Deluge or the very first day when the Rains began XLIX This is very easily understood from the space of time that the Comet was near the Earth For the duration of this Disruption or breaking of the Orb of Earth occasion'd by the nearness of the Comet must be commensurate thereto which tho' we should take in all the space it was nearer than the Moon could not possibly as is easie to Calculate amount to Nine Hours which is indeed much more than need be allow'd and is yet sufficiently within that Days space which this Phaenomenon if occasion were could allow us to suppose and so fully satisfies the same L. Yet the very same day Noah his Family and all the Animals entred into the Ark. L. Tho' 't is otherwise not a little strange that the entry into the Ark should be defer'd till this Day yet 't is clear and easie on the present Hypothesis For as to the Fountains of the great Deep which were broken up this Day thereby the Earth and its Contents were only gradually and insensibly elevated but no other disturbance given to Noah in his Entry into the Ark at the same time The Fissures indeed were now made but till the weight of the Waters from the Comet could operate no Water would from thence arise to disturb him And tho' they had yet unless there were some of the great Fissures or Spouts just where he was no interruption could this day be given him therefrom As to the Rains themselves tho' they all fell first upon the Earth nearly within the compass of this Day and so must cause a most prodigious destruction and confusion upon the Earth where they so fell yet the peculiar situation of Mount Caucasus on or near which the Ark was did secure it this day tho' so outragious and destructive a one to the Inhabitants of the other parts of the Globe was yet here fair and calm as at other times Which is thus demonstrated 'T is evident that Mount Caucasus is ficuate pretty near the Center of our Northern Continent or indeed some 20 or 25 degrees Northeast
from the same that is as will hereafter appear pretty near the Point b or somewhat below it towards c Which Mountain Caucasus was directly expos'd therefore to the Comet at its nearest distance represented in the Figure When the Comet therefore was moving from E to F so soon as the Earth came within its Atmosphere and Tail a Cylindrical Column of Vapours would be intercepted and bore off by the Earth in its passage whose Basis were somewhat larger than a great Circle on the Earth and whose Direction or Axis from the compound Motion of the Comet and of the Earth were at about 45 degrees of Inclination with the Ecliptick or parallel to cd the lesser Axis of the Earth That is the first fall of the Vapours would affect one Hemisphere of the Earth at a time that namely which were properly expos'd to their descent and the other would be not at all affected therewith till the Earth's Diurnal Rotation by degrees expos'd the other parts in like manner and brought every one at last within the verge of that Hemisphere on which was the first and most violent descent of the Vapours Now this Hemisphere would be represented in the Figure by a d b and the opposite one which intirely escap'd at the same time by a c b. So that seeing the Ark or Mount Caucasus was below the Point b and by the Diurnal Rotation quickly got farther within the fair Hemisphere it would remain in the same during all the time of this first violent Fall of the Waters and have a calm and quiet day for the entry into the Ark while the other Regions of the Globe were subject to so violent a Storm and such fury of descending Vapours as no Age past or future had been or were to be exposed to This place could only be capable of some falling Vapours three or four hours after Sun-set in case the Earth were not at that time got clear of the Tail of the Comet in which it had been all the preceding day And consequently Noah had as fair and calm a time of entring into the Ark with all his Family and the other Animals as could be desir'd when no other parts of the Globe but those agreeing in such a peculiar situation with him could have permitted the same Which is I think not a meer Satisfactory but a very Surprizing account of the present Proposition Corollary 1. Hence the time of the breaking open of the Fountains of the Deep and of the beginning of the Rains very nearly coincident therewith is determin'd and that agreeably to the Mosaick History much nearer than to a Day with which exactness we have hitherto contented our selves in the case And indeed almost to an Hour For seeing all the Fountains of the great Deep were broken up on this day seeing the forty days Rain began on the same day seeing Noah with all his Family and all the other Creatures entred on this self-same day into the Ark all which certainly require very near an intire day and yet seem very incompatible there is no other way but to assert that tho' the breaking up of the Fountains of the Great Deep and the Fall of the Waters were coincident and upon the same day with the Entry into the Ark as the Text most expresly asserts yet the place where the Ark was escap'd the effects of the same till the Evening and while the rest of the Earth was abiding the fury of the same enjoy'd so calm fair and undisturb'd a day as permitted their regular and orderly going into the Ark before the Waters overtook them So that the Deluge must according to the Sacred History have commenc'd in the Morning and yet not reach'd the particular place where Noah was till the Evening or the coming on of the ensuing Night Which how exactly the present Hypothesis is correspondent to I shall leave the Reader to judge from what has been said under this last Proposition according to which 't is plain that the Comet pass'd by the Earth broke up the Fountains of the Deep and began the forty days Rains after Sun-rising about Eight or Nine a Clock in the Morning from which time till Eight or Nine a Clock at Night and long after Sun-set tho' the Waters fell with the greatest violence on the Earth yet they affected a single Hemisphere at a time only into which the Diurnal Rotation did not all that while convert the Regions near the Ark and this most nicely and wonderfully corresponds to the greatest accuracy of the present case and of the Mosaick History So that now we may agreeably both to the Sacred History and the Calculations from the present Hypothesis assert that the Deluge began at the Meridian of Mount Caucasus on Thursday the twenty seventh day of November in the year of the Julian Period 2365 between Eight and Nine a Clock in the Morning Which exactness of Solution wherein not only the Day but almost Hour assign'd from the Mosaick History is correspondent to the present Hypothesis how remarkable an Attestation it is to the same and how full a confirmation of the most accurate Verity of the Mosaick History I need not remark Such reflections when Just being very Natural with every careful Reader Corollary 2. Here is an instance of the peculiar Providence of God in the Preservation of the Ark by ordering the Situation so as to escape the Violence of the thick Vapours in their first precipitate fall which otherwise must probably have dash'd it to pieces For considering their Velocity of Motion which indeed was incredible no less than eight hundred Miles in the space of a Minute 't is not easy to suppose that any Building could sustain and preserve it self under the violence thereof which we see the Ark by the peculiar place of its Situation twenty or twenty five degrees North-East from the Center of our Northern Continent was wonderfully secured from while the other Regions of the Earth were exposed thereto and in great measure 't is probable destroy'd thereby Coroll 3. Hence 't is evident That the place of the Ark before assign'd at Mount Caucasus was its true one and not any Mountain in or near Armenia For had it been there seated it had been expos'd to the violence of the falling Vapours and instead of a quiet entry into the Ark on this first day of the Deluge the Ark it self with all the Creatures that were to be preserv'd in it would have utterly perish'd in the very beginning thereof Coroll 4. Hence the reason may easily be given why the History of the Deluge takes no notice of this passing by of the Comet viz. because none of those who surviv'd the Deluge could see or perceive the same For at the time of the approach of the Comet at first both the latter end of the Night-season when all were asleep and the Mists which according to the Nature of the Antediluvian Air were probably then upon the Earth and obscur'd