Constitution of the Bodies â— the Antediluvians was more firm and dâ—rable than that of their Posterity after thâ— Flood and that this Change of the Term of Life was not wholly to be attributed to Miracle may both be demonstrated from the gradual decrease of the Age of the Postdiluvians For had it been miraculous why should not the Age of the very first Generation after the Flood have been reduced to that Term And what account can we give of their holding out for some Generations against the inconveniencies of the Air or deteriority of Diet but the strength and firmness of their Constitutions which yet was originally owing to the Temperature of the Air or Quality of their Diet or both seeing a Change in these for there was no other visible Cause did by degrees prevail against and impair it What influence the lying so long of the Water upon the Earth might have upon the Air and Earth in changing them for the worse and rendring them more unfit for the maintenance and continuation of Humane Life I will not now dispute But whatever might be the Cause of the Longaevity of the Antediluvians and the contracting of the Age of the Postdiluvians it is manifest that the Age of these did at the last settle as I said at or about the Term of Threescore and Ten and hath there continued for Three Thousand Years without any diminution I proceed now to the Accidents which might possibly in process of Time infer a Dissolution of the World 1. The possibility of the Water in process of Time again overflowing and covering oâ— the Earth For First of all The Rains continually washing down and carrying away Earth from the Mountains it is necessary that as welâ— the height as the bulk of them should answerably decrease and that they do so iâ— evident in Experience For as I have else where noted I have been informed by a Gentleman of good Credit that whereas thâ— Steeple of Craich in the Peak of Derbyshire in the memory of some Old Men then living 1672. could not have been seeâ— from a certain Hill lying between Hopton anâ— Wirksworth now not only the Steeple buâ— a great part of the Body of the Church mayâ— from thence be seen which comes to pasâ— by the sinking of a Hill between the Church and place of view a parallel example where to the Learned Dr. Plot gives us in a Hill between Sibbertoft and Hasleby in Northamptonshire Hist Nat. Stafford p. 113. And thuâ— will they continue to do so long as there fallâ— any Rains and as they retain any declivity that is till they be levelled with the Plains 2. By reason of the abundance of Earth thus washed off the Mountains by Shots of Rain and carried down with the Floods to the Sea about the out-lets of the Rivers where the violent Motion of the Water ceases settling to the bottom and raising it up by degrees above the Surface of the Water the Land continually gains upon and drives back the Sea The Egyptian Pharos or Light-house of Old Time stood in an Island a good distance from Land which is now joyned to the Continent the interjacent Fretum having been filled up by the Sill brought down by the River Nilus in the time of the Flood subsiding there Indeed the Ancient Historians do truly make the whole Land of Egypt to have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Gift of the River and by this means gained from the Sea Seneca in the Sixth Book of his Nat. Quest chap. 26. gives this account Egyptus ex â—imo tota concrevit Tantum enim si Homero fides aberat à continenti Pharos quantum navis diurno cursu metiri plenis lata velis potest Sed continenti admota est Turbidus enim defluens Nilus multúmque secum limum trahens eum subinde apponens prioribus terris Aegyptum annuo incremento semper ultra tulit Inde pinguis limosi soli est nec ulla intervalla in se habet sed crevit in solidum arescente limo quo pressa erat cedens structura c. That is All Egypt is but a Concretion of Mud. For if Homer may be believed the Pharos was as far distanâ— from the Continent as a Ship with full saiâ— could run in a days time but now it is joyneâ— to it For Nilus flowing with troubled Waters brings down a great deal of mud and Silt and adding to it the old land carries oâ— Egypt further and further still by an annuaâ— increase Hence it is of a fat and muddâ— soil and hath no pores or cavities in it Aâ— this reason he gives why it is not troubled witâ— Earthquakes Thus by reason of the greâ— Rivers Po Athesis Brenta and others whicâ— empty themselves into the Lagune or Shaâ—lows about Venice in Italy and in times oâ— floods bring down thither great store â— earth those Lagune are in danger to be iâ— time atterrated and with the City situate iâ— the midst of them added to the firm Lanâ— Thus in the Carnarg or Isle that the Riveâ— Rhosne makes near Arles in Provence theâ— hath been so much lately gained from thâ— Sea that the Watch tower had in the memory of some Men been removed forwarâ— three times as we were there informed And it seems to me probable that the whoâ— Low Countreys were thus gained from thâ— Seâ— For Varenius in his Geography tel us That sinking a Well at Amsterdam aâ— near an hundred foot depth they met with a bed or floor of Sand and Cockle-shells whence it is evident one would think that of old time the bottom of the Sea lay so deep and that that hundred foot thickness of Earth above the Sand arose from the Sediments of the Waters of those great Rivers the Rhine Scheld Maes c. which thereabouts emptied themselves into the Sea and in times of Floods brought down with them abundance of Earth from the upper grounds The same Original doubtless had that great Level of the Fens running through the Isle of Ely Holland in Lincolnshire and Marshland in Norfolk That there hath been no small quantity of Earth thus brought down appears also in that along the Channels of most great Rivers as for example the Thames and Trent in England especially near their Mouths or Out-lets between the Mountains and higher grounds on each side there are large Levels and Plains which seem to have been originally part of the Sea raised up and atterrated by Earth and Silt brought down by those Rivers in great Floods Now the Rain thus continually washing away and carrying down Earth from the Mountains and higher Grounds and raising up the Vallies near the Sea as long as there is any descent for the Rivers so long will they continue to run carry forward the low ground and streighten the Sea which also by its working by reason of the declivity easily carries down the Earth towards the lower and middle part of its Channel alveus and by degrees
power of the Omnipotent God and instrumentality of an inexplicable multitude of Clouds amassed together wherewith it was filled changed into Water so that the upper and lower Air might seem to be transmuted into an Ocean not by the strength of Nature but of him to whose Will and Power all things are subject And he is so confident that this Deluge in which the Water was raised fifteen Cubits above the highest Mountains was not nor could be effected by natural Causes but by the right hand of the Most High God only that he saith No man can deny it but he who doth not penetrate how far the power of Nature can extend and where it is limited To conclude this Hypothesis hath the Suffrages of most Learned Men. But because the Scripture assigning the Causes or Means of the Inundation makes no mention of any conversion of Air into Water but only of the breaking up the Fountains of the Great Deep and the opening of the Windows of Heaven I suppose those Causes may be sufficient to work the Effect and that we need not have recourse to such an Assistance As for those that make the Deluge Topical and restrain it to a narrow compass of Land their Opinion is I think sufficiently confuted by the fore-mentioned ingenious Author to whom therefore I refer the Reader I shall not undertake the Defence or Confutation of any other Hypothesis only tell you which at present seems to me most probable and that is theirs who for a partial cause of the Deluge assign either a change of the Center of the Earth or a violent depression of the Surface of the Ocean and a forcing the Waters up from the subterraneous Abysse through the Channels of the Fountains that were then broken up and opened First then let us consider what Causes the Scripture assigns of the Flood and they are two 1. The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep 2. The opening of the Windows of Heaven I shall first treat of this last By the opening of the Windows of Heaven is I suppose to be understood the causing of all the Water that was suspended in the Air to descend down in Rain upon the Earth the effect hereof here mentioned being a long continuing Rain of Forty nay perchance One Hundred and Fifty Days And that these Treasuries of the Air will afford no small quantity of Water may be made appear both by Scripture and Reason 1. By Scripture which opposes the Waters that are above the Heavens or Firmament to those that are under them which if they were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in some measure equal it would never do Gen. 1.6 God is said to make a Firmament in the midst of the Waters and to divide the Waters which were under the Firmament from the Waters which were above the Firmament And this was the work of a whole day and consequently no inconsiderable thing By the Heavens or Firmament in this place is to be understood the inferiour Region of the Air wherein the Fowls fly who Gen. 1.20 are said to fly above the Earth in the open Firmament of Heaven though elsewhere it be taken for the Celestial Regions wherein the Sun and Moon and Stars are placed 2. The same may be made appear by Reason grounded upon Experience I my self have observed a Thunder-Cloud in passage to have in less than two hours space powred down so much Water upon the Earth as besides what sunk into the parched and thirsty ground and filled all Ditches and Ponds caused a considerable Flood in the Rivers setting all the Meadows on flote And Dr. Wittie in his Scarborough Spaâ— tells us of great Spouts of Rain that ordinarily fall every year some time or other in Summer that set the whole Countrey in a Flood Now had this Cloud which might for ought I know have moved Forty Miles forward stood still and emptied all its Water upon the same spot of ground it first hung over what a sudden and incredible Deluge would it have made there and yet what depth or thickness of Vapours might remain uncondensed in the Air above this Cloud who knows Now it is to be considered that not only the Air above the Dry Land but also all that covers the whole Ocean is charged with Vapours which are nothing else but diffused Water all which was brought together by Winds or what other Means seem'd good to God and caused to distil down in Rain upon the Earth And you may easily guess that it was no small quantity of Water that was supplyed this way in that it sufficed for a Rain that lasted more than Forty Days as I shall afterwards shew if I understand the Text a right And that no ordinary Rain neither but Catarracts or Spouts of Water for so the Septuagint interprets the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Catarracts or Spouts of Heaven were opened I return now to the first Cause or Means of the Deluge assigned by the Scripture and that is the breaking up of all the fountains of the great Deep By the great Deep in this place I suppose is to be understood the Subterraneous Waters which do and must necessarily communicate with the Sea For we see that the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas to mention no others receive into themselves many and great Rivers and yet have no visible Out-lets nay this latter receives also abundance of Waters from the great Ocean running in at the Streights of Gibraltar and therefore by Subterraneous Passages must needs discharge their Waters into the Abyss of Waters under the Earth and by its intervention into the Ocean again By the breaking up of the Fountains of the Great Deep is I conceive meant the making great Issues and Apertures for these Subterraneous Waters to rush out You will say how could that be sith the Water keeps its level and cannot ascend to a greater height above the common Center than the Superficies of the Sea is much less force its way remove Obstacles and break open Passages I answer According to them that hold that all Rivers come from the Sea by Subterraneous Passages it is no more than daily happens For they must needs grant thaâ— the Water in the Subterraneous Channels is raised as far above the level of the Ocean as are the Heads and Fountains of great Rivers Which considering the height of their first Springs up the Mountains the length of their Courses and swiftness of their Streams for a great part of the way is very considerable a constant declivity being necessary to their descent And therefore 〈◊〉 can by no means assent to the Learned Doctor Plot if I understand him alright That the Valleys are as much below the Surface of the Sea as Mountains are above it For how then could Rivers descend down to the Sea through those Valleys the Sea would rather run into them and make Siâ—uses or else if they were enclosed the Water would stagnate there and make Pools
Heaven Let not then the presumption of a temporary Hell encourage thee to go on in sin for I fear such a Persuasion may have an ill influence on the manners of Men. Eternity is the very sting of Hell take that out and the Sinner will think it tractable enough The very thought of an eternal Hell intervening and it will often intrude it self strikes a cold damp to his very Heart in the midst of his Jollities end will much qualifie and allay all his Pleasures and Enjoyments Rid him of this fear and he will be apt to despise Hell and all its Torments be they never so grievous or lasting Take off this Bridle and as we hinted before he will rush into Sin as a Horse rusheth into the battel He will be ready thereupon thus to argue with himself What need I take so much pains to strive against Sin What need I swim against the Stream and resist the Tide and Eddy of my Passions my natural Appetites and Inclinations and the Solicitations of Company What need I maintain such a constant Watch and Ward against my spiritual Enemies the Devil the World and the Flesh If I fall into Hell at last that is no eternal State it lasteth but for a time and will come to an end I 'll venture it I hope I shall make a shift to rub through well enough Let me ask thee But how if thou shouldest find thy self mistaken If the Event ftustrate thy Hopes and fall out contrary to thy Expectation What a sad case wilt thou be in then How will the unexpectedness thereof double thy Misery Improvisa graviùs feriunt How wilt thou be strucken as it were with a Thunderbolt when the Almighty Judge shall fulminate against thee a dreadful indeed but by thee formerly undreaded Sentence adjudging thee to endless Punishments How wilt thou damn thine own Credulity who by a groundless Belief of a temporary Hell hast precipitated thy self into an eternal which otherwise thou mightest possibly have avoided Well but suppose there be some shadow of hope of the determination of the punishments of the Damned It is by all acknowledged to be a great piece of folly to leave matters of the highest moment and which most nearly concern us at uncertainties and a point of Wisdom to secure the main chance and to be provided against the worst that can come An eternal Heaven or state of compleat happiness is the main chance and is not to come into any competition or so much as to be put into the ballance against a few short transient sordid loathed and for the most part upon their own account repented pleasures To secure to our selves an interest in such a state is our greatest wisdom And as for being provided against the worst that may or can come What can be worse than an eternal Hell which there is I do not say a possibility but the greatest probability imaginable that it will be our portion if we persist in impenitency and dye in our sins But suppose the best should happen that we can hope or conceive that Hell should last only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Ages of Ages and at last determine do we think this a small matter If we do it is for want of consideration and experience of acute pains Should any of us be under the sense and suffering of a raging Paroxysm of the Stone or Gout or Collick I doubt not but rather than endure it for ten thousand years he would willingly part with all his expectation of a blessed estate after that term were expired yea and his being to boot But what are any of these pains to the torments and perpessions of Hell or the duration of ten thousand years to those Ages of Ages If thou makest light of all this and nothing can restrain thee from sin but the eternity of punishment thou art bound to thank God who hath used this only effectual means threatning an eternal Hell And it ill becomes thee to complain of his rigour and severity who wouldest have made so pernicious an use of his lenity and goodness But thou who hast entertained such an Opinion and abusest it to encourage thy self to go on in thy sins though others should escape with a temporary punishment surely thou hast no reason to expect any milder doom than to be sentenced to an eternal Vpon a Review of the Precedent Discourse some Things thought fit to be Added and Amended Pag. 51. Lin. 29. Add WHich is made one great Reason that such great Numbers even whole Woods of subterraneous Trees are frequently met with and dug up at vast Depths in the Spanish and Dutch Netherlands as well as in many places of this Island of Great Britan. Page 70. Those Words nay this latter the Mediterranean receives also abundance of Water from the great Ocean running in at the Streights of Gibraltar and therefore by subterraneous Passages must needs discharge their Waters into the Abyss of Waters under the Earth and by its intervention into the Ocean again were written without due Consideration in compliance with the common Opinion before I had seen Mr. Halley's Estimate of the Quantity of Vapour raised out of the Sea by the warmth of the Sun c. which upon second Thoughts I find reason to revoke For that the Mediterranean Sea doth not communicate with the Ocean by any subterraneous Passages nor thereby impart any Water to it or receive any from it may be demonstrated from that the Superficies of it is lower than the Superficies of the Ocean as appears from the Waters running in at the Streights of Gibraltar for if there were any such Communications the Water keeping its Level the Mediterranean being the lowest must by those Passages receive Waters from the Ocean and not the Ocean which is as we have proved the highest from the Mediterranean Hence it necessarily follows that the Mediterranean spends more in Vapour than it receives from the Rivers which is Mr. Halley's Conclusion tho in some of his Premises or Hypotheses he is I think mistaken as 1. In that he enumerates the Tyber amongst his nine great Rivers each of which may yield ten times as much Water as the Thames whereas I question whether that yields once so much and whereas he passes by all the rest of the Rivers as smaller than it there are two that I have seen in Italy it self whereof the one viz. the Arnus on which Florence and Pisa stand seemed to me not inferiour in bigness to the Tiber and the other viz. the Athesis on which Verona stands I could not guess to be less than twice as big 2. In that he thinks himself too liberal in allowing these nine Rivers to carry down each of them ten times so much Water as the Thames doth Whereas one of those nine and that none of the biggest neither viz. the River Po if Ricciolus his Hypotheses and Calculations be good affords more Water in an hour than Mr. Halley supposes the
said the Waters prevailed so long upon the Earth that is as I understand it increased I now grant that it lasted but forty natural days because those words of God to Noah predicting the Continuance of the Rain Gen. 7.4 For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights c. seem to limit it to that term So that we must seek some other reason for the prevailing of the Water for one hundred and fifty days which probably might be the Continuance of the Emotion of the Center of the Earth for so long time THE CONTENTS THE Introduction concerning Prophecy Chap. 1. The Division of the Words 2 Peter 3.11 and Doctrine contained in them viz. I. Testimonies concerning the future Dissolution of the World 1. Of the Holy Scriptures 2. Of ancient Christian Writers 3. Of Heathen Philosophers and Sages II. Seven Quotations concerning the Dissolution proposed pag. 1.2 3 Chap. 2. The Testimonies of Scripture concerning the Dissolution Dr. Hammond's Expositions referring the most of them to the Destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem and the Period of the Jewish State and Polity considered and pleaded for p. 5 6 c. to 22 Chap. 3. Some Testimonies of the Ancient Fathers and Doctors of the Church concerning the Dissolution of the World p. 22 23 c. to 28. Chap. 4. The Testimonies of some Heathen Philosophers and other Writers concerning the Dissolution the Epicureans p. 28. The Stoicks who held certain Periods of Deluges and Conflagrations p. 29 to 34. That this Opinion of a future Conflagration was of far greater Antiquity than that Sect proved p. 34 35.36 The Antiquity and Vniversality of it argue it to have been derived from Noah and his Sons p. 37 38 Chap. 5. The first Question concerning the World's Dissolution Whether there be any thing in nature that may probably cause or argue a future Dissolution Three possible means propounded and discussed p. 39 Sect. 1. The first is the possibility of the Waters again naturally overflowing and covering the Earth p. 39.44 45 c. to 51 The old Argument for the World's Dissolution viz. it s daily Consenescency and Decay rejected p. 40 41 From the continual straitening of the Sea and lowring the Mountains and high Grounds by Floods washing away and carrying down Earth and from the Seas encroaching upon the Shores such an Overflowing shewn to be possible p. 44 45 c. to p. 50. An Objection against the Diminution and Depression of the Land answered p. 51 52 c. A Digression concerning the general Deluge in the Days of Noah p. 56 57 c. Testimonies of Heathen Writers and ancient Coins verifying the Scripture-History of the Deluge p. 56 57 c. to 63. That the Ancient Poets and Mythologists by Deucalion understood Noah and by Deucalion's Flood the general Deluge p. 60 61. That there have been other particular Deluges p. 63 The Opinion of those who held that the Deluge was caused by a miraculous Transmutation of the Element of Air into Water p. 64 65. That the Means assigned by the Scripture viz. A continual Rain of forty natural Days and the emptying the Subterraneous Abyss may suffice so that we need not have recourse to such an assistance p. 66. That all the Vapours suspended in the Air might contribute much towards the Flood proved p 67 68. Concerning the raising up the Waters out of the great Deep p. 69 70. An Occasional Discourse concerning the Original of Fountains p. 70 71 c. The Subterraneous Circulation and perpetual motion of the Water to the Author improbable p. 71. That the Preponderancy of the Earth and the Water lying upon an heap in the opposite Hemisphere cannot be the Cause of the Waters Ascent in Springs proved p 72 73. That Rains may suffice to feed the Springs and do feed the ordinary ones proved p. 74 75. That the Rain-Water sinks down and makes its way into the Earth more than ten or twenty or forty or an hundred foot proved by many Arguments and Experiments p. 76 77 c. to p. 82. Mr. Halley's Opinion that Springs and Rivers owe their Original to Vapours condensed on the sides of the Mountains propounded and approved as to hot and fervid Regions but disallowed as to the more temperate and cold ones yet the Vapours there not wholly excluded p. 82 83 c. to 91. Observations communicated by Dr. Robinson concerning the Original of Fountains dropping Trees c. p. 92 93. The Question further discussed and proved that Vapours are a partial Cause of Springs even in temperate and cold Regions Addit 251 252 Inferences upon the Supposition of the Rivers pouring into the Sea half an Ocean of Waters daily p. 95 96. The most probable Causes of the Deluge viz. The Emotion of the Center of the Earth or an extraordinary Depression of the Superficies of the Sea p. 99 100. The Effects of the Deluge 1. As. to the Superficial Parts of the Earth p. 102 103. 2. Particularly as to the bringing in of formed Stones or the Shells and Bones of some Sea-fishes dispersed all over the face of the Earth p. 104 c. A Discourse concerning the Nature and Original of those Bodies whether they were originally the real Shells and Bones of Fishes or Stones cast in such Molds or whether they be primitive Productions of Nature in imitation only of such Shells and Bones not owing their Figure to them The Arguments on both sides proposed and weighed p. 106 107 c. to 132 Sect. 2. The second possible Cause of the World's Destruction in a natural way the Extinction of the Sun p 133 Sect. 3. The third possible Cause of the World's Destruction the Eruption of the Central Fire p. 135. That the being of such a Fire is no way oppugnant either to Scripture or Reason p. 137 138 c. Sect. 4. The fourth possible Cause of the World's Destruction the Earths Dryness and Inflammability in the Torrid Zone and the Eruption of the Vulcano's p. 141. That the Inclination of the Ecliptick to the Equator doth not diminish p. 142. That tho there were such a drying and parching of the Earth in the Torrid Zone it would not probably infer a Conflagration p. 142 143 144. That there hath not yet been nor in the ordinary Course of Nature can be any such drying or parching of the Earth under the Torrid Zone p. 44 45 46. The possibility of the Desiccation of the Sea by natural Means denied p. 146 147. The Fixedness and Intransmutability of Principles secures the Vniverse from Dissolution Destruction of any present Species and Production of any new p. 148 149 A Second Digression concerning the Primitive Chaos and Creation of the World p. 150 What the Ancients understood by it ibid. 151. That probably God did at first create a certain number of Principles or simple Bodies naturally intransmutable and mingle them variously in the Earth and
to be understood the Sibylline Oracles and to that purpose do alledge some Verses out of those extant under that Title as Lactantius in his Book De ira Dei cap. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in another place there is mention made of a River of Fire that shall descend from Heaven and burn up both Earth and Sea Tunc ardens fluvius caelo manabit ab alto Igneus atque locos consumet funditus omnes Terrámque Oceanúmque ingentem caerulâ— ponti Stagnáque tum fluvios fontes Ditémque severum Coelestémque polum coeli quoque lumina iâ— unum Fluxa ruent formâ deletâ prorsus eorum Astra cadent etenim de caelo cuncta revulsâ— From Heaven then shall flaming River flow And quite disorder all things here below The Whole shall melt into one single Mass All forms destroy'd into old Chaos pass Yet because the Verses now extant under the Name of Sibylline Oracles are all suspected to be false and pseudepigrapha and many of them may be demonstrated to be of no greater Antiquity than the Emperor Antoninus Pius his Reign and because it cannot be proved that there was any such thing in the Ancient genuine Sibylline Oracles I rather think as I said before that it was a Doctrine of Ancient Tradition handed down from the first Fathers and Patriarchs of the World Josephus in his Antiquities runs it up as high as Adam from whom Seth his Son received it his Father saith he fore telling him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That there should be a Destruction of the Universe once by the violence of Fire and again by the force and abundance of Water in consequence whereof he erected two Pillars one of Brick which might endure the Fire and another of Stone which would resist the Water and upon them engraved his Astronomical Observations that so they might remain to Posterity And one of these Pillars he saith continued in Syria until his days Whether this Relation be true or not it may thence be collected that this was an Universal Opinion received by Tradition both among Jews and Gentiles That the World should one day be consumed by Fire It may be proved by good Authority that the Ancient Gaules Chaldaeans and Indians had this Tradition among them which they could not receive from the Greek Philosophers or Poets with whom they had no entercourse but it must in alâ— probability be derived down to both from the same Fountain and Original that is from the first Restorers of Mankind Noaâ— and his Sons I now proceed to the Third Particular proposed in the beginning that is to give answer to the several Questions concerning the Dissolution of the World CHAP. V. â—he first Question concerning the World's Dissolution Whether there be any thing in Nature that may probably cause or argue a future Dissolution Three probable Means propounded and discussed SECT I. â—he Waters again naturally overflowing and covering the Earth THE First Question is Whether there be any thing in Nature which may â—ove and demonstrate or probably argue â—nd infer a future Dissolution To which I â—swer That I think there is nothing in â—ature which doth necessarily demonstrate future Dissolution but that Position of the â—eripatetick Schools may for ought I know â—e true Philosophy Posito ordinario Dei conâ—rsu mundus posset durare in aeternum Supâ—sing the ordinary concourse of God with â—econd Causes the World might endure for â—ver But though a future Dissolution by Natural Causes be not demonstrable yâ— some possible if not probable Accidents theâ— are which if they should happen might iâ—fer such a Dissolution Those are Four Tâ— Possibility of 1. The Waters again overflowing and â—vering the Earth 2. The Extinction of the Sun 3. The Eruption of the Central Fire â— closed in the Earth 4. The Dryness and Inflammability of tâ— Earth under the Torrid Zone and the Erâ—tion of all the Vulcano's at once But before I treat of these it will not amiss a little to consider the old Argumâ— for the Worlds Dissolution and that is daily Consenescence and Decay which if can be proved will in process of time â—cessarily infer a Dissolution For as the â—postle saith in another case That which â—cayeth and waxeth old is ready to vaâ— away Heb. 8.13 That which continuaâ— wastes will at last be quite consumeâ— that which daily grows weaker and weakâ— will in time lose all its force So the Aâ— and Stature and Strength of Man and â— other Animals every Generation decreasiâ— they will in the end come to nothing Aâ— that all these and all other things do sâ—cessively diminish and decay in all Nature Perfections and Qualities as well as Moral â—th been the received Opinion not only of â—e Vulgar but even of Philosophers â—emselves from Antiquity down to our â—es Plin. Nat. Hist lib. 7. c. 16. In pleâ—m autem cuncto mortalium generi minorem â—dies mensuram staturae propemodum observaâ—r rarosque patribus proceriores consumente â—ertatem seminum exustione in cujus vices â—nc vergat aevum Terra malos homines nunc educat atque pu sillos Juvenal Sat. â—nd Gellius Noct. Att. lib. 3. c. 10. Et â—nc quasi jam mundo senescente rerum atque â—ominum decrementa sunt I might accumuâ—te places out of the Ancients and Moderns â— this purpose but that hath been already â—one by others But this Opinion how general soever it â—as formerly was inconsiderately and withâ—ut sufficient ground taken up at first and â—fterwards without due examination embraâ—ed and followed as appears by Dr. Hakeâ—il's Apology wherein it is so fundamenâ—ally confuted that it hath since been reâ—ected by all considerate Persons For that Author hath at large demonstrated that neiâ—her the pretended decay of the Heavenly Bodies in regard of Motion Light Heat â— Influence or of any of the Elements nâ—ther the pretended decay of Animals aâ— particularly and especially of Mankind iâ— regard of Age and Duration of Strengâ— and Stature of Arts and Wits of Manneâ— and Conversation do necessarily infer aâ— decay in the World or any tendency to Dissolution The only Objection agaiâ— this Opinion is the Longaevity of the Anâ—diluvian Patriarchs and of some also I meâ— the first of the Postdiluvian For immedâ—ately after the Flood the Age of Man dâ— gradually decrease every Generation in greâ— proportions so that had it continued so to â— at that rate the Life of Man had soon caâ— to nothing Why it should at last settle â— Threescore and Ten Years as a mean Terâ— and there continue so many Ages withoâ—â— any further Change and Diminution is confess a Mystery too hard for me to reveaâ— However there must be a great and extrâ—ordinary Change at the time of the Flooâ— either in the Temperature of the Air â— Quality of the Food or in the Temper anâ— Constitution of the Body of Man which iâ—duced this decrement of Age. That thâ— Temper and
of a multitude of different Species of Bodies Mettals Minerals Stones and other Fossils Sand Clay Marle Chalk c. which do all agree in that they are consistent and solid more or less and are in that respect contradistinguished to Water and together compound one Mass which we call Earth Whether the interior parts of the Earth be made up of so great a variety of differenâ— Bodies is to us altogether unknown For tho it be observed by Colliers that the Beds of Coals lie one way and do always dip towards the East let them go never so deep so that would it quit cost and were it noâ— for the Water they say they might pursue the Bed of Coals to the very Center of the Earth the Coals never failing or coming to an end that way yet that is but a rash and ungrounded Conjecture For what is the depth of the profoundest Mines were they a Mile deep to the Semidiameter of the Earth not as one to four thousand Comparing this Observation of Dipping with my Notes about other Mines I find that the Veins or Beds of all generally run East and West and dip towards the East Of which what Account or Reason can we give but the motion of the Earth from West to East I know some say that the Veins for Example of Tin and Silver dip to the North tho they confess they run East and West which is I confess a thing I cannot understand the Veins of those Metals being narrow things Sr Tho. Willoughby in his forementioned Letter writes thus I have talked with some of my Colliers about the lying of the Coal and find that generally the Basset end as they call it lyes West and runs deeper toward the East allowing about twenty yards in length to gain one in depth but sometimes they decline a little from this Posture for mine lie almost South-West and North-East They always sink to the East more or less There may therefore for for ought we know be Fire about the Center of the Earth as well as any other Body if it can find a Pabulum or Fewel there to maintain it And why may it not since the Fires in those subterraneous Caverns of Aetna Vesuvius Stromboli Hecla and other burning Mountains or Vulcano's have found wherewith to feed them for thousands of years And as there are at some tho uncertain periods of time violent Eruptions of Fire from the Craters of those Mountains and mighty Streams of melted Materials poured forth from thence so why may not this Central Fire in the Earth if any such there be receiving accidentally extraordinary Supplies of convenient Fewel either from some inflammable Matter within or from without rend the thick exterior Cortex which imprisons it or finding some Vents and Issues break forth and overflow the whole Superficies of the Earth and burn up all things This is not impossible and we have seen some Phaenomena in nature which bid fair towards a Probability of it For what should be the reason of new Stars appearing and disappearing again as that noted one in Cassiopeia which at first shone with as great a lustre as Venus and then by degrees diminishing after some two years vanish'd quite away but that by great Supplies of combustible matter the internal Fire suddenly increasing in quantity and force either found or made its way through the Cracks or Vents of the maculae which inclosed it and in an instant as it were overflowed the whole Surface of the Star whence proceeded that illustrious Light which afterwards again gradually decayed its Supply failing Whereas other newly appearing Stars which either have a constant Supply of Matter or where the Fire hath quite dissolved the Maculae and made them comply with its motion have endured for a long time as that which now shines in the Neck of Cygnus which appears and disappears at certain Intervals But because it is not demonstrable that there is any such Central Fire in the Earth I propose the eruption thereof rather as a possible than probable means of a Conflagration and proceed to the last means whereby it may naturally be effected and that is SECT 4. The Fourth Natural Cause of the World's Dissolution the Earth's Dryness and Inflammability 4. The Dryness and Inflammability of the Earth under the Torrid Zone with the Eruption of the Vulcano's to set it on fire Those that hold the Inclination of the Equator to the Ecliptick daily to diminish so that after the Revolutions of some Ages they will â—ump and consent tell us that the Sun-beams lying perpendicularly and constantly on the parts under the Equator the Ground thereabout must needs be extremely parch'd and rendred apt for Inflammation But for my part I own no such Decrement of Inclination And the best Mathematicians of our Age deny that there hath been any since the eldest Observations that are come down to us For tho indeed Ptolomy and Hipparchus do make it more than we find it by above twenty minutes yet that Difference is not so considerable but that it may well be imputed to the Difference of Instruments or Observations in point of Exactness So that not having decreased for eighteen hundred years past there is not the least ground for Conjecture that it will alter in eighteen hundred years to come should the World last so long And yet if there were such a Diminution it would not conduce much so far as I can see to the bringing on of a Conflagration For tho the Earth would be extremely dried and perchance thereby rendred more inflammable yet the Air being by the same Heat as much rarified would contain but few nitrous Particles and so be inept to maintain the Fire which we see cannot live without them It being much deaded by the Sun shining upon it and burning very remisly in Summer time and hot Weather For thiâ—â—eason in Southern Countries in extraordinary hot Seasons the Air scarce sufficeth for Respiration To the clearing up of this let us a little consider what Fire is It seems to consist of three different sorts of parts 1. An extremely thin and subtil Body whose Particles are in a very vehement and rapid motion 2. A supposed nitrous Pabulum or Fewel which it receives from the Air. 3. A Sulphureous or unctuous Pabulum which it acts and preys upon passing generally by the Name of Fewel This forementioned subtil Body agitating the supposed nitrous Particles it receives from the Air doth by their help as by Wedges to use that rude similitude penetrate the unctuous Bodies upon which it acts and divide them into â—heir immediate component Particles and at length perchance into their first Principles which Operation is called the Chymical Anatomy of mix'd Bodies So we see Wood for Example divided by Fire into Spirit Oil Water Salt and Earth That Fire cannot live without those Particles it receives from the Air is manifest in that if you preclude the Access of all Air it is extinguished immediately
and in that where and when the Air is more charged with them as in cold Countries and cold Weather the Fire rages most That likewise it cannot be continued without an unctuous Pabulum or Fewel I appeal to the experience of all Men. Now then in the rarified Air in the Torrid Zone the nitrous Particles being proportionably scattered and thin set the Fire that might be kindled there would burn but very languidly and remissly as we said just now and so the Eruptions of Vulcano's if any such happened would not be like to do half the Execution there that they would do in cold Countries And yet I never read of any spreading Conflagration caused by the Eruptions of any Vulcano's either in hot Countries or in cold They usually cast out abundance of thick Smoak like Clouds darkening the Air and likewise Ashes and Stones sometimes of a vast Bigness and some of them as Vesuvius Floods of Water others as Aetna Rivers of melted Materials running down many Miles as for the Flames that issue out of their Mouths at such times they are but transient and mounting upwards seldom set any thing on Fire But not to insist upon this I do affirm that there hath not as yet been nor for the future can be any such drying or parching of the Earth under the Torrid Zone as some may imagine That there hath not yet been I appeal to Experience the Countries lying under the Course of the Sun being at this day as fertile as ever they were and wanting no more Moisture now than of old they did having as constant and plentiful Rains in their Seasons as they then had That they shall for the future suffer any more Drought than they have heretofore done there is no reason to believe or imagine the Face of the Earth being not altered nor naturally alterable as to the main more at present than it was heretofore I shall now add the Reason why I think there can be no such Exsiccation of the Earth in those parts It 's true indeed were there nothing to hinder them the Vapours exhaled by the Sun-beams in those hot Regions would be cast off to the North and to the South a great way and not fall down in Rain there but toward the Poles But the long and continued Ridges or Chains of exceeding high Mountains are so disposed by the great and wise Creator of the World as at least in our Continent to run East and West as Gassendus in the life of Peireskius well observes such are Atlas Taurus and the Alps to name no more They are I say thus disposed as if it were on purpose to obviate and stop the Evagation of the Vapours Northward and reflect them back again so that they must needs be condensed and fall upon the Countries out of which they were elevated And on the South Side being near the Sea it is likely that the Wind blowing for the most part from thence hinders their excursion that way This I speak by presumption because in our Countrey for at least three quarters of the year the Wind blows from the great Atlantick Ocean which was taken notice of by Julius Caesar in the fifth of his Commentaries De Bello Gallico Corus veâ—tus qui magnam partem omnis temporis in his locis flare consuevit As for any Desiccation of the Sea I hold that by mere natural Causes to be impossible unless we could suppose a Transmutation of Principles or simple Bodies which for Reasons alledged in a former Discourse I cannot allow I was then and am still of opinion that God Almighty did at first create a certain and determinate number of Principles or variously figured Corpuscles intransmutable by the force of any natural Agent even Fire it self which can only separate the parts of heterogeneous Bodies yet not an equal number of each kind of these Principles but of some abundantly more as of Water Earth Air Ether and of others fewer as of Oil Salt Metals Minerals c. Now that there may be some Bodies indivisible by Fire is I think demonstrable For how doth or can Fire be conceived to divide one can hardly imagine any other way than by its small parts by reason of their violent Agitation insinuating themselves into compound Bodies and separating their parts which allowing yet still there is a term of Magnitude below which it cannot divide viz. it cannot divide a Body into smaller parts than those whereof it self is compounded For taking suppose one least Part of Fire 't is clear that it cannot insinuate it self into a Body as little or less than it self and what is true of one is true of all I say we can imagine no other way than this unless perchance by a violent Stroke or Shock the parts of the Body to be divided may be put into so impetuous a motion as to fall in sunder of themselves into lesser Particles than those of the impellent Body are which I will not suppose at present Now it is possible that the Principles of some other simple Bodies may be as small as the Particles of Fire But however that be it is enough if the Principles of simple Bodies be by reason of their perfect Solidity naturally indivisible Such a simple Body I suppose Water separated from all Heterogeneous Mixtures to be and consequently the same quantity thereof that was at first created doth still remain and will continue always in despight of all natural Agents unless it pleases the Omnipotent Creator to dissolve it And therefore there can be no Desiccation of the Seas unless by turning all its Water into Vapour and suspending it in the Air which to do what an immense and long-continuing Fire would be requisite to the maintenance whereof all the inflammable Materials near the Superficies of the Earth would not afford Fewel enough The Sun we see is so far from doing it that it hath not made one step towards it these four thousand years there being in all likelyhood as great a quantity of Water in the Ocean now as was immediately after the Flood and consequently there would probably remain as much in it should the World last four thousand years longer This Fixedness and Intransmutability of Principles secures the Universe from Dissolution by the prevailing of one Element over another and turning it into its own Nature which otherwise it would be in continual danger of It secures likewise the perpetuity of all the Species in the World many of which if their Principles were transmutable might by such a change be quite lost And lastly bars the Production or Creation of any new Species as in the forementioned Treatise I have shewn The Mention of these Principles or Primitive Simple Bodies gives me a fair opportunity of making a second Digression to Discourse a little concerning the Primaeve Chaos and Creation of the World A Digression concerning the Primitive Chaos and Creation of the World WHich yet I should not have done had I not been
as the Ibex and Rupicapra or Chamois among Quadrupeds and Lagopus among Birds 3. The Mountains are most proper for the putting forth of Plants yielding the greatest variety and the most luxuriant sort of Vegetables for the maintenance of the Animals proper to those places and for Medicinal Uses partly also for the Exercise and delight of such ingenious persons as are addicted to search out and collect those Rarities to contemplate and consider their Forms and Natures and to admire and celebrate the Wisdom of their Creator 4. All manner of Metals Minerals and Fossils if they could be generated in a level Earth of which there is some question yet should they be dug or mined for the Delfs must necessarily be so flown with Water which to drive and rid away no Adits or Soughs could be made and I much doubt whether Gins would suffice that it would â—e extremely difficult and chargeable if posâ—ible to work them at all 5. Neither are the very tops of the highâ—st Mountains barren of Grass for the feedâ—ng and fattening of Beasts For on the â—idges of the high Mountains of Jura and â—aleve near Geneva and those of Rhoetia or â—he Grisons Countrey which are the highest â—f all the Alps excepting the Vallesian and â—baudian there are Multitudes of Kine fed 〈◊〉 Summer time as I my self can witness â—aving in my Simpling Voyages on those of â—ra and Saleve observed Herds of Cattel here and many Dairy Houses built where I have been more than once refreshed by their Milk and Milk-Meats Nay there are but very few and those of the highest Summits of the Alps that keep Snow all Summer and I was told by the Inhabitants that one time or other in seven or eight years space for the most part there came a Summer that melted all the Snow that lay on them too 6. Anorher great use and necessity of Mountains and Hills is for the Generation and Maintenance of Rivers and Fountains which in our Hypothesis that all proceed from Rain-Water could not be without them or but rarely So we should have only Torrents which would fail in Summer-time or any dry Season and nothing to trust to but stagnating Water reserved in Pools and Cisterns Which how great an Inconvenience it would be I need not take pains to shew I say that Fountains and Rivers would be but rare were there no Mountains For upon serious consideration I find that I was too hasty in concluding because I had observed no Fountains springing up in Plains therefore there were oâ— could be absolutely none and do now granâ— that there is reason to believe the Relations made of such For the whole dry Land being but one continued Mountain and ascending all along from the Sea to the Midland as is undeniably proved by the Descent of Rivers even in plain Countries the Water sinking into the Earth may run under ground and according as the Vein leads it break out in the side of this Mountain tho the place as to outward appearance be a Plain But some may say Granting there be some use and benefit of moderate Hills and Risings what necessity is there of such extended Ridges of vast and towring Mountains hiding their Heads among the Clouds and seeming for Altitude to contend with the Skies I answer there is very great use of them for repelling the Vapours exhaled by the Sun-beams in the hot Regions and hindring their Evagations Northward as we have already shewn and shall not repeat I might add hereto 7. Those long Series and Chains of Mountains are of great use for Boundaries and Limits to the Territories of Princes or Commonwealths to secure them on those parts from sudden Incursions of Enemies As for the rudeness and confusion of Mountains their cragged and broken Rocks and Cliffs and whatever other Disorder there may be among them it may be accounted for from the manner of their first Generation and those other mutations they have been since obnoxious to by Earth-quakes Eruptions of Vulcano's foundering and falling in of their Props and Foundations and by time and weather too by which not only the Earth is washed away or blown off from the Stones but the very Stones and Rocks themselves corroded and dissolved as might easily be proved by Instances could I spare time to do it I should proceed now to say something concerning the rest of the Works of the Creation but that would be too great a Task and swell this Digression into a Volume I shall only add that to me it seems That the Almighty Creator did not only at first make the various Principles of all simple inanimate Bodies and scattered them throughout the upper Region of the Earth but also the Seminal Principles of Animate Ones too and disperst them also all over the Earth and Water and of these were the first Plants and Animals created by the Virtue of his Omnipotent Word and after all these were spent there remained no more Ability in those Elements to produce any Individuals but all since them owe their their Original to Generation God having given each Species power to procreate their like CHAP. VI. Containing an Answer to the Second Question Whether shall this Dissolution be effected by natural or by extraordinary means and what they shall be 2. AS to the Second Question Whether shall this Dissolution be brought about and effected by natural or by extraordinary means and Instruments and what those Means and Instruments shall be I answer in brief that the Instrumental Efficient of this Dissolution shall be natural For it is clear both by Scripture and Tradiâ—ion and agreed on all Hands that it shall be that Catholick Dissolvent Fire Now to the being and maintenance of Fire there are four things requisite 1. The active Prinâ—iple or Aether 2. Air or a nitrous Paâ—ulum received from it These two being â—ommixt together are every where at hand â— Fewel which considering the abundance of combustible Materials which are to be â—ound in all places upon or under the Surface of the Earth can no where be wanting 4. The Accension and the sudden and equal Diffusion of this Fire all the World over And this must be the Work of God extraordinary and miraculous Such a Dissolution of the World might indeed be effected by that natural Accident mentioned in the Answer to the precedent Question viz. The Eruption of the Central Fire But because it is doubtful whether there be any such Fire in the middle of the Earth or no and if there ever were it is hard to give an account how it could be maintained in that infernal Dungeon for want of Air and Fewel And because if it should break forth in the Consistency of a thin Flame it would in all likelyhood speedily like Lightening mount up to Heaven and quite vanish away unless we could suppose Floods nay Seas of melted Materials or liquid Fire enough to overflow the whole Earth to be poured forth of those Caverns For these