Chapter V: Book I (3)

LASTLY, Let us consider what it is the Apostle tells these Scoffers that they were ignorant of: Not that there was a Deluge, they could not be ignorant of that; nor doth he tell them that they were. But he tells them that they were ignorant that the Heavens and the Earth of old were so and so constituted, after a different manner than they are now, and that the State of Nature was chang’d at the Deluge; if they had known or attended to this, they had made no such Objection, nor us’d any such Argument as they did against the future Conflagration of the World. They pretended that there had been no Change in Nature since the beginning, and the Apostle in answer tells them, that they are willingly ignorant of the first Constitution of the Heavens, and the Earth, and of that Change and Dissolution that happen’d to them in the Deluge; and how the present Heavens and Earth have another Constitution, whereby in like manner they are expos’d, in God’s due time, to be consum’d or dissolv’d by Fire. This is the plain, easy and natural Import of the Apostle’s Discourse; thus all the Parts of it are coherent, and the Sense genuine and apposite, and this is a full Confirmation of our first and general Assertion, That _the antediluvian Earth was of another Form from the present Earth_. This hath been observ’d formerly by some of the Ancients from this Text, but that it hath not been generally observ’d, was partly because they had no Theory to back such an Interpretation, and make it intelligible; and partly because they did not observe, that the Apostle’s Discourse here was an Argumentation, and not a bare Affirmation, or simple Contradiction to those that rais’d the Scruple; ’tis an Answer upon a Ground taken, he premiseth, and then infers, in the _fifth_ and _sixth_ Verses, concerning the Deluge; and in the _seventh_, concerning the Conflagration. And when I had discover’d in my Thoughts from the Consideration of the Deluge, and other natural Reasons, that the Earth was certainly once in another Form, it was a great Assurance and Confirmation to me, when I reflected on this place of St. _Peter_’s; which seems to be so much directed and intended for the same purpose, or to teach us the same Conclusion, that though I design’d chiefly a Philosophical Theory of these Things, yet I should not have thought we had been just to Providence, if we had neglected to take Notice of this Passage and Sacred Evidence; which seems to have been left us on purpose to excite our Enquiries, and strengthen our Reasonings, concerning the first State of Things. Thus much from Divine Authority: We proceed now to prove the same Proposition from Reason and Philosophy, and the Contemplation of the Chaos, from whence the first Earth arose.

WE need not upon this Occasion make a particular Description of the Chaos, but only consider it as a fluid Mass, or a Mass of all sorts of little Parts and Particles of Matter mix’d together, and floating in Confusion, one with another. ’Tis impossible that the Surface of this Mass should be of such a Form and Figure, as the Surface of our present Earth is: Or that any Concretion or consistent State which this Mass could flow into immediately, or first settle in, could be of such a Form and Figure as our present Earth. The first of these Assertions is of easy proof; for a fluid Body, we know, whether it be Water or any other Liquor, always casts it self into a smooth and spherical Surface; and if any Parts, by Chance, or by some Agitation, become higher than the rest, they do not continue so, but glide down again every way into the lower Places, till they all come to make a Surface of the same height, and of the same distance every where from the Center of their Gravity. A Mountain of Water is a thing impossible in Nature, and where there are no Mountains there are no Valleys. So also a Den or Cave within the Water, that hath no Walls but the liquid Element, is a Structure unknown to Art or Nature; all things there must be full within, and even and level without, unless some external Force keep them by Violence in another Posture. But is this the Form of our Earth, which is neither regularly made within nor without? The Surface and exterior Parts are broken into all sorts of Inequalities, Hills and Dales, Mountains and Valleys; and the plainer Tracts of it lie generally inclin’d or bending one way or other, sometimes upon an easy Descent, and other times with a more sensible and uneasy Steepness; and though the great Mountains of the Earth were taken all away, the remaining parts would be more unequal than the roughest Sea; whereas the Face of the Earth should resemble the Face of the calmest Sea, if it was still in the Form of its first Mass. But what shall we say then to the huge Mountains of the Earth, which lie sometimes in Lumps or Clusters heapt up by one another, sometimes extended in long Ridges or Chains, for many hundred Miles in length? And ’tis remarkable, that in every Continent, and in every ancient and original Island, there is either such a Cluster, or such a Chain of Mountains. And can there be any more palpable Demonstrations than these are, that the Surface of the Earth is not in the same Form that the Surface of the Chaos was, or that any fluid Mass can stand or hold it self in?

THEN for the Form of the Earth within or under its Surface, ’tis no less impossible for the Chaos to imitate that; for ’tis full of Cavities and empty Places, of Dens and broken Holes, whereof some are open to the Air, and others cover’d and enclos’d wholly within the Ground. These are both of them unimitable in any liquid Substance, whose Parts will necessarily flow together into one continued Mass, and cannot be divided into Apartments and separate Rooms, nor have Vaults or Caverns made within it; the Walls would sink, and the Roof fall in: For liquid Bodies have nothing to sustain their Parts, nor any thing to cement them; they are all loose and incoherent, and in a perpetual Flux: Even an heap of Sand or fine Powder will suffer no Hollowness within them, though they be dry Substances, and though the Parts of them being rough will hang together a little and stand a little upon an Heap; but the Parts of Liquors being glib, and continually in motion, they fall off from one another, which way soever Gravity inclines them, and can neither have any Hills or Eminencies on their Surface, nor any Hollowness within their Substance.

YOU will acknowledge, it may be, that this is true, and that a liquid Mass or Chaos, while it was liquid, was incapable of either the outward or inward Form of the Earth; but when it came to a Concretion, to a State of Consistency and Firmness, then it might go, you’ll say, into any Form. No, not in its first Concretion, nor in its first State of Consistence; for that would be of the same Form that the Surface of it was when it was liquid, as Water when it congeals, the Surface of the Ice is smooth and level, as the Surface of the Water was before; so Metals, or any other Substances melted, or Liquors that of themselves grow stiff and harden, always settle into the same Form which they had when they were last liquid, and are always solid within, and smooth without, unless they be cast in a Mould, that hinders the Motion and Flux of the Parts. So that the first concrete State or consistent Surface of the Chaos must be of the same Form or Figure with the last liquid State it was in; for that is the Mould, as it were, upon which it is cast; as the Shell of an Egg is of a like Form with the Surface of the Liquor it lies upon. And therefore by Analogy with all other Liquors and Concretions, the Form of the Chaos, whether liquid or concrete, could not be the same with that of the present Earth, or like it: And consequently, that Form of the first or primogenial Earth which rose immediately out of the Chaos, was not the same, nor like to that of the present Earth; which was the first and preparatory Proposition we laid down to be prov’d. And this being prov’d by the Authority both of our Reason and our Religion, we will now proceed to the second which is more particular.

CHAP. V.

_The Second Proposition is laid down, viz. That the Face of the
Earth before the Deluge was smooth, regular, and uniform; without
Mountains, and without a Sea. The Chaos out of which the World rose
is fully examin’d, and all its Motions observ’d, and by what Steps
it wrought it self into an habitable World. Some Things in Antiquity
relating to the first State of the Earth are interpreted, and some
Things in the Sacred Writings. The Divine Art and Geometry in the
Construction of the first Earth is observ’d and celebrated._

WE have seen it prov’d, in the foregoing Chapter, That the Form of the first or antediluvian Earth was not the same, nor like the Form of the present Earth. This is our first Discovery at a distance, but ’tis only general and negative, tells us what the Form of that Earth was not, but tells us not expresly what it was; that must be our next Enquiry, and advancing one step farther in our Theory, we lay down this second Proposition: _That the Face of the Earth before the Deluge was smooth, regular, and uniform; without Mountains, and without a Sea_. This is a bold Step, and carries us into another World, which we have never seen, nor ever yet heard any relation of; and a World, it seems, of very different Scenes and Prospects from ours, or from any thing we have yet known. An Earth without a Sea, and plain as the _Elysian_ Fields; if you travel it all over, you will not meet with a Mountain or a Rock, yet well provided of all requisite things for an habitable World; and the same indeed with the Earth we still inhabit, only under another Form. And this is the great Thing that now comes into debate, the great Paradox which we offer to be examined, and which we affirm, That the Earth, in its first Rise and Formation from a Chaos, was of the Form here described, and so continued for many hundreds of Years.

TO examine and prove this, we must return to the beginning of the World, and to that Chaos out of which the Earth and all sublunary things arose: ’Tis the Motions and Progress of this, which we must now consider, and what Form it settled into when it first became an habitable World.

NEITHER is it perhaps such an intricate Thing as we imagine at first Sight, to trace a Chaos into an habitable World; at least there is a particular Pleasure to see things in their Origin, and by what Degrees and successive Changes they rise into that Order and State we see them in afterwards, when compleated. I am sure, if ever we would view the Paths of Divine Wisdom, in the Works and in the Conduct of Nature, we must not only consider how Things are, but how they came to be so. ’Tis pleasant to look upon a Tree in the Summer, cover’d with its green Leaves, deckt with Blossoms, or laden with Fruit, and casting a pleasing Shade under its spreading Boughs; but to consider how this Tree with all its Furniture sprang from a little Seed; how Nature shap’d it, and fed it, in its Infancy and Growth; added new Parts, and still advanc’d it by little and little, ’till it came to this Greatness and Perfection: This, methinks, is another sort of Pleasure, more rational, less common, and which is properly the Contemplation of Divine Wisdom in the Works of Nature. So to view this Earth, and this sublunary World, as it is now complete, distinguish’d into the several Orders of Bodies of which it consists, every one perfect and admirable in its kind; this is truly delightful, and a very good Entertainment of the Mind: But to see all these in their first Seeds, as I may so say; to take in Pieces this Frame of Nature, and melt it down into its first Principles; and then to observe how the Divine Wisdom wrought all these Things out of Confusion into Order, and out of Simplicity into that beautiful Composition we now see them in; this, methinks, is another kind of Joy, which pierceth the Mind more deep, and is more satisfactory. And to give our selves and others this Satisfaction, we will first make a short Representation of the Chaos, and then shew, how, according to Laws establish’d in Nature by the Divine Power and Wisdom, it was wrought by degrees from one Form into another, ’till it settled at length into an habitable Earth; and that of such a Frame and Structure, as we have described in this second Proposition.

BY the Chaos I understand the Matter of the Earth and Heavens, without Form or Order; reduc’d into a fluid Mass, wherein are the Materials and Ingredients of all Bodies, but mingled in Confusion one with another. As if you should suppose all sorts of Metals, Gold, Silver, Lead, _&c._ melted down together in a common Mass, and so mingled, that the Parts of no one Metal could be discern’d as distinct from the rest, this would be a little Metallick Chaos: Suppose then, the Elements thus mingled, Air, Water and Earth, which are the Principles of all Terrestrial Bodies; mingled, I say, without any Order of higher or lower, heavier or lighter, solid or volatile, in such a kind of confus’d Mass as is here represented in the first Scheme.

LET this then represent to us the Chaos; in which the first Change that we should imagine to happen would be this, that the heaviest and grossest Parts would sink down towards the middle of it, (for there we suppose the Center of its Gravity) and the rest would float above. These grosser Parts thus sunk down and compress’d more and more, would harden by degrees, and constitute the interiour Parts of the Earth: The rest of the Mass, which swims above, would be also divided by the same Principle of Gravity into two Orders of Bodies, the one liquid like Water, the other volatile like Air. For the more fine and active Parts disentangling themselves by degrees from the rest would mount above them; and having Motion enough to keep them upon the Wing, would play in those open Places where they constitute that Body we call AIR. The other Parts being grosser than these, and having a more languid Motion, could not fly up separate from one another, as these did, but settled in a Mass together, under the Air, upon the Body of the Earth, composing not only Water strictly so called, but the whole Mass of Liquors, or liquid Bodies, belonging to the Earth. And these first Separations being thus made, the Body of the Chaos would stand in that Form which it is here represented in by the second Scheme.

THE liquid Mass which encircled the Earth was not, as I noted before, the mere Element of Water, but a Collection of all Liquors that belong to the Earth: I mean of all that do originally belong to it. Now seeing there are two chief kinds of Terrestrial Liquors, those that are fat, oily and light; and those that are lean and more earthy, like common Water; which two are generally found in compound Liquors; we cannot doubt but there were of both sorts in this common Mass of Liquids. And it being well known, that these two kinds mix’d together, if left to themselves and the general Action of Nature, separate one from another when they come to settle, as in Cream and thin Milk, Oil and Water, and such like; we cannot but conclude, that the same Effect would follow here, and the more oily and light Part of this Mass would get above the other, and swim upon it. The whole Mass being divided into two lesser Masses, and so the Globe would stand as we see it in the third Figure.

HITHERTO the Changes of the Chaos are easy and unquestionable, and would be dispatcht in a short time; we must now look over again these two great Masses of the _Air_ and _Water_, and consider how their Impurities or grosser Parts would be dispos’d of; for we cannot imagine but they were both at first very muddy and impure: And as the Water would have its Sediment, which we are not here concern’d to look after, so the great Regions of the Air would certainly have their Sediment too; for the Air was as yet thick, gross and dark, there being an abundance of little Terrestrial Particles swimming in it still, after the grossest were sunk down; which, by their Heaviness and lumpish Figure, made their way more easily and speedily. The lesser and lighter which remain’d would sink too, but more slowly, and in a longer time; so as in their Descent they would meet with that oily Liquor upon the Face of the Deep, or upon the watery Mass, which would entangle and stop them from passing any further; whereupon mixing there with that unctuous Substance, they compos’d a certain Slime, or fat, soft, and light Earth, spread upon the Face of the Waters; as ’tis represented in the fourth Figure.

THIS thin and tender Orb of Earth increas’d still more and more, as the little earthy Parts that were detain’d in the Air could make their way to it. Some having a long Journey from the upper Regions, and others being very light would float up and down a good while, before they could wholly disengage themselves and descend. But this was the general Rendezvous, which sooner or later they all got to, and mingling more and more with that oily Liquor, they suckt it all up at length, and were wholly incorporate together, and so began to grow more stiff and firm, making both but one Substance, which was the first Concretion, or firm and consistent Substance that rose upon the Face of the Chaos. And the whole Globe stood in this Posture, as in Figure the fifth.

IT may be, you will say, we take our Liberty, and our own time for the Separation of these two Liquors, the oily and the earthy, the lighter and the heavier; and suppose that done before the Air was clear’d of earthy Particles, that so they might be catcht and stopt there in their Descent. Whereas if all these Particles were fallen out of the Air before that Separation was made in the liquid Mass, they would fall down through the Water, as the first did, and so no Concretion would be made, nor any earthy Crust form’d upon the Face of the Waters, as we here suppose there was. ’Tis true, there could be no such Orb of Earth form’d there, if the Air was wholly purg’d of all its earthy Parts before the Mass of Liquids began to purify it self, and to separate the oily Parts from the more heavy: But this is an unreasonable and incredible Supposition, if we consider, the Mass of the Air was many thousand Times greater than the Water, and would in Proportion require a greater Time to be purify’d; the Particles that were in the Regions of the Air having a long way to come before they reach’d the watery Mass, and far longer than the oily Particles had to rise from any Part of that Mass to the Surface of it. Besides, we may suppose a great many degrees of Littleness and Lightness in these earthy Particles, so as many of them might float in the Air a good while, like Exhalations before they fell down. And lastly, We do not suppose the Separation of these two Liquors wholly made and finish’d before the Purgation of the Air began, tho’ we represent them so for Distinction sake: Let them begin to purify at the same time, if you please, these Parts rising upwards, and those falling downwards, they will meet in the middle, and unite and grow into one Body, as we have describ’d. And this Body or new Concretion would be increas’d daily, being fed and supply’d both from above and below; and having done growing, it would become more dry by degrees, and of a Temper of greater Consistency and Firmness, so as truly to resemble and be fit to make an habitable Earth, such as Nature intended it for.

BUT you will further object, it may be, that such an Effect as this would indeed be necessary in some Degree and Proportion, but not in such a Proportion, and in such Quantity, as would be sufficient to make this Crust or concrete Orb an habitable Earth. This I confess appear’d to me at first a real Difficulty, till I consider’d better the great disproportion there is betwixt the Regions of the Air and the Circumference of the Earth, or of that exterior Orb of the Earth, we are now a making; which being many thousand times less in Depth and Extent than the Regions of the Air, taken as high as the Moon, tho’ these earthy Particles we speak of were very thinly dispers’d thro’ those vast Tracks of the Air, when they came to be collected and amass’d together upon the Surface of a far lesser Sphere, they would constitute a Body of a very considerable Thickness and Solidity. We see the Earth sometimes cover’d with Snow two or three Feet deep, made up only of little Flakes or Pieces of Ice, which falling from the middle Region of the Air, and meeting with the Earth in their Descent, are there stop’d and heap’d up one upon another. But if we should suppose little Particles of Earth to shower down, not only from the middle Region, but from the whole Capacity and Extent of those vast Spaces that are betwixt us and the Moon, we could not imagine but these would constitute an Orb of Earth some thousands of times deeper than the greatest Snow; which being increas’d and swoln by that oily Liquor it fell into, and incorporated with, it would be thick, strong, and great enough in all respects to render it an habitable Earth.

WE cannot doubt therefore but such a Body as this would be form’d, and would be sufficient in Quantity for an habitable Earth. Then for the Quality of it, it will answer all the Purposes of a _Rising World_. What can be a more proper Seminary for Plants and Animals, than a Soil of this Temper and Composition? A finer and lighter sort of Earth, mix’d with a benign Juice, easy and obedient to the Action of the Sun, or of what other Causes were employ’d by the Author of Nature, for the Production of Things in the new made Earth. What sort or disposition of matter could be more fit and ready to catch Life from Heaven, and to be drawn into all Forms than the Rudiments of Life, or the Bodies of living Creatures would require? What Soil more proper for Vegetation than this warm Moisture, which could have no Fault, unless it was too fertile and luxuriant? And that is no Fault neither at the beginning of a World. This I am sure of, that the Learned amongst the Ancients, both _Greeks_, _Ægyptians_, _Phœnicians_, and others, have described the primogenial Soil, Ἰλὺς πρωτογενὴς, or the Temper of the Earth, that was the first Subject for the Generation and Origin of Plants and Animals, after such a manner, as is truly express’d, and I think with Advantage, by this Draught of the primogenial Earth.

THUS much concerning the Matter of the first Earth. Let us reflect a little upon the Form of it also, whether external or internal; both whereof do manifestly shew themselves from the manner of its Production or Formation. As to the external Form, you see it is according to the Proposition we were to prove, _smooth, regular and uniform, without Mountains; and without a Sea_. And the Proof we have given of it is very easy: The Globe of the Earth could not possibly rise immediately from a Chaos into the irregular Form in which it is at present. The Chaos being a fluid Mass, which we know doth necessarily fall into a Spherical Surface, whose Parts are equi-distant from the Center, and consequently in an equal and even Convexity one with another. And seeing upon the Distinction of a Chaos and Separation into several Elementary Masses, the Water would naturally have a superiour Place to the Earth, ’tis manifest, that there could be no habitable Earth form’d out of the Chaos, unless by some Concretion upon the Face of the Water. Then lastly, seeing this concrete Orb of Earth upon the Face of the Water would be of the same Form with the Surface of the Water it was spread upon, there being no Causes, that we know of, to make any Inequality in it, we must conclude it equal and uniform, and without Mountains, as also without a Sea; for the Sea and all the Mass of Waters was enclos’d within this exterior Earth which had no other Basis or Foundation to rest upon.

THE Contemplation of these things, and of this Posture of the Earth upon the Waters, doth so strongly bring to Mind certain Passages of Scripture, (which will recur in another Place) that we cannot, without Injury to Truth, pass them by here in silence. Passages that have such a manifest Resemblance and Agreement to this Form and Situation of the Earth, that they seem visibly to point at it: Such are those Expressions of the Psalmist, _God hath founded the Earth upon the Seas_. And in another Psalm, speaking of the Wisdom and Power of God in the Creation, he saith, _To him who alone doth great wonders; to him that by Wisdom made the Heavens; to him that extended or stretched out the Earth above the Waters_. What can be more plain or proper to denote that Form of the Earth that we have describ’d, and to express particularly the Inclosure of the Waters within the Earth, as we have represented them? He saith in another Place, _By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made; he shut up the Waters of the Sea as in Bags_, (for so the Word is to be render’d, and is render’d by all, except the _English_) _and laid up the Abyss as in Store-houses._ This, you see, is very conformable to that System of the Earth and Sea, which we have propos’d here. Yet there is something more express than all this, in that remarkable place in the _Proverbs_ of _Solomon_, where _Wisdom_ declaring her Antiquity and Existence before the Foundation of the Earth, amongst other things saith, _Prov. viii. 27._ _When he prepared the Heavens, I was there: When he drew an Orb over the Surface of the Abyss_; or when he set an Orb upon the Face of the Abyss. We render it in the _English_, a _Compass_, or _Circle_, but ’tis more truly render’d an Orb or Sphere; and what Orb or Spherical Body was this, which at the Formation of the Earth was built and plac’d round about the Abyss, but that wonderful Arch, whose Form and Production we have describ’d, encompassing the Mass of Waters, which in Scripture is often call’d the Abyss or Deep? [_See Fig. 5. p. 78._ This Orb is represented by the Circle 1. and the Abyss by the Region 2.] Lastly, This Scheme of the first Earth gives Light to that Place we mention’d before of St. _Peter_’s, where the first Earth is said to _consist of Water, and by Water_; and by reason thereof was obnoxious to a Deluge. The first Part of this Character is plain from the Description now given; and the second will appear in the following Chapter. In the mean time, concerning these Passages of Scripture, which we have cited, we may truly and modestly say, that though they would not, it may be, without a Theory premis’d, have been taken or interpreted in this Sense; yet this Theory being premis’d, I dare appeal to any unprejudic’d Person, if they have not a fairer and easier, a more full and more emphatical Sense, when apply’d to that Form of the Earth and Sea we are now speaking of, than to their present Form, or to any other we can imagine.

THUS much concerning the external Form of the first Earth. Let us now reflect a little upon the internal Form of it, which consists of several Regions, involving one another like Orbs about the same Center, or of the several Elements cast circularly about each other; as it appears in the fourth and fifth Figure. And as we have noted the external Form of this primæval Earth, to have been mark’d and celebrated in the Sacred Writings; so likewise in the Philosophy and Learning of the Ancients, there are several Remains and Indications of this internal Form and Composition of it. For ’tis observable, that the Ancients in treating of the Chaos, and in raising the World out of it, rang’d it into several Regions or Masses, as we have done; and in that Order successively, rising one from another, as if it was a Pedigree or Genealogy. And those Parts and Regions of Nature, into which the Chaos was by degrees divided, they signified commonly by dark and obscure Names; as the _Night_, _Tartarus_, _Oceanus_, and such like, which we have express’d in their plain and proper Terms. And whereas the Chaos, when it was first set on Work, ran all into Divisions and Separations of one Element from another, which afterwards were all in some Measure united and associated in this primogenial Earth; the Ancients accordingly made _Contention_ the Principle that reign’d in the Chaos at first, and then _Love:_ The one to express the Divisions, and the other the Union of all Parties in this middle and common Bond. These, and such like Notions, which we find in the Writings of the Ancients figuratively and darkly delivered, receive a clearer Light, when compar’d with this Theory of the Chaos; which representing every thing plainly, and in its natural Colours, is a Key to their Thoughts, and an Illustration of their obscurer Philosophy, concerning the original of the world; as we have shewn at large in the _Latin_ Treatise, _Lib. 2. chap. 7._

THERE is another Thing in Antiquity, relating to the Form and Construction of the Earth, which is very remarkable, and hath obtain’d throughout all learned Nations and Ages. And that is the Comparison or Resemblance of the Earth to an _Egg_. And this is not so much for its external Figure, tho’ that be true too, as for the inward Composition of it; consisting of several Orbs, one including another, and in that Order, as to answer the several Elementary Regions of which the new made Earth was constituted. For if we admit for the _Yolk_ a Central Fire (which tho’ very reasonable, we had no occasion to take Notice of in our Theory of the Chaos) and suppose the Figure of the Earth _Oval_, and a little extended towards the Poles, (as probably it was, seeing the Vortex that contains it is so) those two Bodies do very naturally represent one another, as in this Scheme, which represents the interior Faces of both, a divided _Egg_, or Earth. Where, as the two inmost Regions (A, B,) represent the Yolk and the Membrane that lies next above it; so the exterior Region of the Earth (D) is as the Shell of the Egg, and the Abyss (C) under it as the White that lies under the Shell. And considering that this Notion of the _Mundane Egg_, or that the World was _Oviform_, hath been the Sense and Language of all Antiquity, _Latins_, _Greeks_, _Persians_, _Ægyptians_, and others, as we have shew’d elsewhere, [_Tell. Theor. Sac. lib. 2. c. 10._] I thought it worthy our Notice in this Place; seeing it receives such a clear and easy Explication from that Origin and Fabrick we have given to the first Earth, and also reflects Light upon the Theory it self, and confirms it to be no Fiction: This Notion, which is a kind of Epitome, or Image of it, having been conserv’d in the most Ancient Learning.

THUS much concerning the first Earth, its Production and Form; and concerning our second Proposition relating to it; which being prov’d by Reason, the Laws of Nature, and the Motions of the Chaos; then attested by Antiquity, both as to the Matter and Form of it; and confirm’d by Sacred Writers, we may take it now for a well establish’d Truth, and proceed upon this Supposition, _That the antediluvian Earth was smooth and uniform, without Mountains or Sea_, to the Explication of the Universal Deluge.

GIVE me leave only, before we proceed any further, to annex here a short Advertisement, concerning the Causes of this wonderful Structure of the first Earth. ’Tis true, we have propos’d the natural Causes of it, and I do not know wherein our Explication is false or defective; but in Things of this kind we may easily be too credulous. And this Structure is so marvellous, that it ought rather to be consider’d as a particular Effect of the Divine Art, than as the Work of Nature. The whole Globe of the Water vaulted over, and the exterior Earth hanging above the Deep, sustain’d by nothing but its own Measures and Manner of Construction: A Building without Foundation or Corner-stone. This seems to be a Piece of Divine Geometry or Architecture; and to this, I think, is to be referr’d that magnificent Challenge which God Almighty made to _Job_, _Job xxxviii. 4, 5, 6, 7,_ &c. _Where wast thou when I laid the Foundations of the Earth? Declare if thou hast Understanding. Who hath laid the Measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the Line upon it? Whereupon are the Foundations thereof fastned? Or who laid the Corner-stone thereof? When the Morning Stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy._ _Moses_ also, when he had describ’d the Chaos, saith, _The Spirit of God mov’d upon_, or sat brooding upon, _the Face of the Waters_; without all doubt to produce some Effects there. And St. _Peter_, when he speaks of the Form of the antediluvian Earth, how it stood in reference to the Waters, adds, _By the Word of God_, Τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, or by the Wisdom of God it was made so. And this same _Wisdom_ of God, in the _Proverbs_, as we observed before, takes Notice of this very piece of Work in the Formation of the Earth. _When he set an Orb over the Face of the Deep, I was there_. And lastly, the ancient Philosophers, or at least the best of them, to give them their due, always brought in _Mens_ or _Amor_, Λόγος & Ἔρως, as a Supernatural Principle to unite and consociate the parts of the Chaos; which was first done in the Composition of this wonderful Arch of the Earth. _Wherefore_ to the great Architect, who made the boundless Universe out of nothing, and form’d the Earth out of a Chaos, let the Praise of the whole Work, and particularly of this Masterpiece, for ever with all Honour be given.

CHAP. VI.

_The Dissolution of the first Earth: The Deluge ensuing thereupon.
And the Form of the present Earth rising from the Ruins of the
first._

WE have now brought to light the antediluvian Earth out of the dark Mass of the Chaos; and not only described the Surface of it, [_See Fig. 5, & 6. pag. 78, & 87._] but laid open the inward parts, to shew in what Order its Regions lay. Let us now close it up, and represent the Earth entire, and in larger Propositions, more like an habitable World; as in this Figure, where you see the smooth Convex of the Earth, and may imagine the great Abyss spread under it; _as at the Aperture_, which two are to be the only Subject of our further Contemplation.

IN this smooth Earth were the first Scenes of the World, and the first Generations of Mankind; it had the Beauty of Youth and blooming Nature, fresh and fruitful, and not a Wrinkle, Scar or Fracture in all its Body; no Rocks nor Mountains, no hollow Caves, nor gaping Channels, but even and uniform all over. And the Smoothness of the Earth made the Face of the Heavens so too; the Air was calm and serene; none of those tumultuary Motions and Conflicts of Vapours, which the Mountains and the Winds cause in ours: ’Twas suited to a golden Age, and to the first Innocency of Nature.

ALL this you’ll say is well, we are got into a pleasant World indeed, but what’s this to the Purpose? What Appearance of a Deluge here, where there is not so much as a Sea, nor half so much Water as we have in this Earth? Or what Appearance of Mountains or Caverns, or other Irregularities of the Earth, where all is level and united: So that instead of loosing the Knot, this ties it the harder. You pretend to shew us how the Deluge was made, and you lock up all the Waters within the Womb of the Earth, and set Bars and Doors, and a Wall of impenetrable Strength and Thickness to keep them there. And you pretend to shew us the Original of Rocks and Mountains, and Caverns of the Earth, and bring us to a wide and endless Plain, smooth as the calm Sea.

THIS is all true, and yet we are not so far from the Sight and Discovery of those Things as you imagine; draw but the Curtain, and these Scenes will appear, or something very like ’em. We must remember that St. _Peter_ told us, that the antediluvian Earth perished, or was demolished; and _Moses_ saith, the _great Abyss_ was broken open at the Deluge. Let us then suppose, that at a Time appointed by Divine Providence, and from Causes made ready to do that great Execution upon a sinful World, that this _Abyss_ was open’d, or that the Frame of the Earth broke and fell down into the _great Abyss_. At this one stroke all Nature would be chang’d, and this single Action would have two great and visible Effects: The one Transient, and the other Permanent. First, an Universal Deluge would overflow all the Parts and Regions of the broken Earth during the great Commotion and Agitation of the Abyss, by the violent Fall of the Earth into it. This would be the first and unquestionable Effect of this Dissolution, and all that World would be destroy’d. Then when the Agitation of the Abyss was asswag’d, and the Waters by degrees were retir’d into their Channels, and the dry Land appear’d, you would see the true Image of the present Earth in the Ruins of the first. The Surface of the Globe would be divided into Land and Sea; the Land would consist of Plains and Valleys and Mountains, according as the Pieces of this Ruin were plac’d and dispos’d: Upon the Banks of the Sea would stand the Rocks, and near the Shore would be Islands, or lesser Fragments of Earth compass’d round by Water. Then as to subterraneous Waters, and all subterraneous Caverns and Hollownesses, upon this Supposition those things cou’d not be otherwise; for the Parts would fall hollow in many Places in this, as in all other Ruins: And seeing the Earth fell into this Abyss, the Waters at a certain Height would flow into all those hollow Places and Cavities; and wou’d also sink and insinuate into many Parts of the solid Earth. And though these subterraneous Vaults or Holes, whether dry or full of Water, would be more or less in all Places, where the Parts fell hollow; yet they would be found especially about the Roots of the Mountains, and the higher Parts of the Earth; for there the Sides bearing up one against the other, they could not lie so close at the Bottoms, but many Vacuities would be intercepted. Nor are there any other Inequalities or Irregularities observable in the present Form of the Earth; whether in the Surface of it, or interior Construction, whereof this _Hypothesis_ doth give a ready, fair, and intelligible Account; and doth at one view represent them all to us, with their Causes, as in a Glass: And whether that Glass be true, and the Image answer to the Original, if you doubt of it, we will hereafter examine them Piece by Piece. But in the first Place, we must consider the general Deluge, how easily and truly this Supposition represents and explains it, and answers all the Properties and Conditions of it.

I THINK it will be easily allow’d, that such a Dissolution of the Earth as we have propos’d, and Fall of it into the Abyss, would certainly make an Universal Deluge; and effectually destroy the old World, which perish’d in it. But we have not yet particularly prov’d this Dissolution, and in what manner the Deluge follow’d upon it: And to assert things in gross never makes that firm Impression upon our Understandings, and upon our Belief, as to see them deduc’d with their Causes and Circumstances; and therefore we must endeavour to shew what Preparations there were in Nature for this great Dissolution, and after what manner it came to pass, and the Deluge in Consequence of it.

WE have noted before, that _Moses_ imputed the Deluge to the Disruption of the Abyss; and St. _Peter_, to the particular Constitution of that Earth, which made it obnoxious to be absorpt in Water, so that our Explication so far is justified. But it was below the Dignity of those Sacred Pen-Men, or the Spirit of God that directed them, to shew us the Causes of this Disruption, or of this Absorption; this is left to the Enquiries of Men. For it was never the Design of Providence, to give such particular Explications of natural Things, as should make us idle, or the Use of Reason unnecessary; but on the contrary, by delivering great Conclusions to us to excite our Curiosity and Inquisitiveness after the Methods, by which such things were brought to pass: And it may be there is no greater Trial or Instance of natural Wisdom, than to find out the Channel, in which these great Revolutions of Nature, which we treat on, flow and succeed one another.

LET us therefore resume that System of the antediluvian Earth, which we have deduc’d from the Chaos, and which we find to answer St. _Peter_’s Description, and _Moses_’s Account of the Deluge. This Earth could not be obnoxious to a Deluge, as the Apostle supposeth it to have been, but by a Dissolution; for the Abyss was enclos’d within its Bowels. And _Moses_ doth in effect tell us, there was such a Dissolution; when he saith, _The Fountains of the great Abyss were broken open_. For Fountains are broken open no otherwise than by breaking up the Ground that covers them. We must therefore here enquire in what Order, and from what Causes the Frame of this exterior Earth was dissolved, and then we shall soon see how, upon that Dissolution, the Deluge immediately prevail’d and overflow’d all the Parts of it.

I DO not think it in the power of human Wit to determine how long this Frame would stand, how many Years, or how many Ages; but one would soon imagine, that this kind of Structure would not be perpetual, nor last indeed many thousands of Years, if one consider the Effect that the Heat of the Sun would have upon it, and the Waters under it; drying and parching the one, and rarefying the other into Vapours. For we must consider, that the Course of the Sun at that time, or the Posture of the Earth to the Sun, was such, that there was no Diversity or Alternation of Seasons in the Year, as there is now; by reason of which Alternation, our Earth is kept in an Equality of Temper, the contrary Seasons balancing one another; so as what Moisture the Heat of the Summer sucks out of the Earth, ’tis repaid in the Rains of the next Winter; and what Chaps were made in it, are fill’d up again, and the Earth reduc’d to its former Constitution. But if we should imagine a continual Summer, the Earth would proceed in Driness still more and more, and the Cracks would be wider, and pierce deeper into the Substance of it: And such a continual Summer there was, at least an Equality of Seasons in the antediluvian Earth, as shall be prov’d in the following Book, concerning _Paradise_. In the mean time, this being suppos’d, let us consider what Effect it would have upon this Arch of the exterior Earth, and the Waters under it.

WE cannot believe, but that the Heat of the Sun, within the Space of some hundreds of Years, would have reduc’d this Earth to a considerable degree of Driness in certain Parts; and also have much rarefied and exhal’d the Waters beneath it: And considering the Structure of that Globe, the exterior Crust, and the Waters lying round under it, both expos’d to the Sun, we may fitly compare it to an _Æolipile_, or an hollow Sphere with Water in it, which the Heat of the Fire rarefies and turns into Vapours and Wind. The Sun here is as the Fire, and the exterior Earth is as the Shell of the _Æolipile_, and the Abyss as the water within it; now when the Heat of the Sun had pierced thro’ the Shell and reach’d the Waters, it began to rarefy them, and raise them into Vapours, which Rarefaction made them require more Space and Room than they needed before, while they lay close and quiet. And finding themselves pent in by the exterior Earth, they press’d with Violence against that Arch, to make it yield and give way to their Dilatation and Eruption. So we see all Vapours and Exhalations inclos’d within the Earth, and agitated there, strive to break out, and often shake the Ground with their Attempts to get loose. And in the Comparison we us’d of an _Æolipile_, if the Mouth of it be stop’d that gives the Vent, the Water rarefied will burst the Vessel with its Force: And the Resemblance of the Earth to an Egg, which we us’d before, holds also in this Respect; for when it heats before the Fire, the Moisture and Air within being rarefied, makes it often burst the Shell. And I do the more willingly mention this last Comparison, because I observe that some of the Ancients, when they speak of the Doctrine of the _Mundane Egg_, say, that after a certain Period of Time it was broken.

BUT there is yet another Thing to be considered in this Case; for as the Heat of the Sun gave Force to these Vapours more and more, and made them more strong and violent; so on the other Hand, it also weaken’d more and more the Arch of the Earth, that was to resist them; sucking out the Moisture that was the Cement of its parts, drying it immoderately, and chapping it in sundry Places. And there being no Winter then to close up and unite its Parts, and restore the Earth to its former Strength and Compactness, yet grew more and more dispos’d to a Dissolution. And at length, these Preparations in Nature being made on either side, the Force of the Vapours increas’d, and the Walls weaken’d which should have kept them in, when the appointed time was come, that All-wise Providence had design’d for the Punishment of a sinful World, the whole Fabrick brake, and the Frame of the Earth was torn in Pieces, as by an Earthquake; and those great Portions or Fragments, into which it was divided, fell down into the Abyss, some in one Posture, and some in another.

THIS is a short and general Account how we may conceive the Dissolution of the first Earth, and an Universal Deluge arising upon it. And this manner of Dissolution hath so many Examples in Nature every Age, that we need not insist farther upon the Explication of it. The generality of Earthquakes arise from like Causes, and often end in a like Effect, a partial Deluge or Inundation of the Place or Country where they happen; and of these we have seen some Instances even in our own Times: But whensoever it so happens that the Vapours and Exhalations shut up in the Caverns of the Earth by Rarefaction or Compression come to be straitned, they strive every way to set themselves at Liberty, and often break their Prison, or the Cover of the Earth that kept them in; which Earth upon that Disruption falls into the subterraneous Caverns that lie under it: And if it so happens that those Caverns are full of Water, as generally they are, if they be great or deep, that City or Tract of Land is drown’d. And also the Fall of such a Mass of Earth, with its Weight and Bulk, doth often force out the Water so impetuously, as to throw it upon all the Country round about. There are innumerable Examples in History (whereof we shall mention some hereafter) of Cities and Countries thus swallowed up, or overflow’d, by an Earthquake, and an Inundation arising upon it. And according to the manner of their Fall or Ruin, they either remain’d wholly under Water, and perpetually drown’d as _Sodom_ and _Gomorrha_, _Plato_’s _Atlantis_, _Bura_ and _Helice_, and other Cities and Regions in _Greece_ and _Asia_; or they partly emerg’d, and became dry Land again; when (their Situation being pretty high) the Waters, after their violent Agitation was abated, retir’d into the lower Places, and into their Channels.

NOW if we compare these Partial Dissolutions of the Earth with an Universal Dissolution, we may as easily conceive an Universal Deluge from an Universal Dissolution, as a Partial Deluge from a Partial. If we can conceive a City, a Country, an Island, a Continent thus absorpt and overflown; if we do but enlarge our Thought and Imagination a little, we may conceive it as well of the whole Earth. And it seems strange to me, that none of the Ancients should hit upon this way of explaining the Universal Deluge; there being such frequent Instances in all Ages and Countries of Inundations made in this manner, and never of any great Inundation made otherwise, unless in maritime Countries, by the Irruption of the Sea into Grounds that lie low. ’Tis true, they would not so easily imagine this Dissolution, because they did not understand the true Form of the antediluvian Earth; but, methinks, the Examination of the Deluge should have led them to the Discovery of that: For observing the Difficulty, or Impossibility of an Universal Deluge, without the Dissolution of the Earth; as also frequent Instances of these Dissolutions accompanied with Deluges, where the Ground was hollow, and had subterraneous Waters; this, methinks, should have prompted them to imagine, that those subterraneous Waters were universal at that time, or extended quite round the Earth; so as a Dissolution of the exterior Earth could not be made any where but it would fall into Waters, and be more or less overflow’d. And when they had once reach’d this Thought, they might conclude, both what the Form of the antediluvian Earth was, and that the Deluge came to pass by the Dissolution of it. But we reason with Ease about the finding out of Things, when they are once found out; and there is but a thin Paper-wall sometimes between the great Discoveries, and a perfect Ignorance of them. Let us proceed now to consider, whether this Supposition will answer all the Conditions of an Universal Deluge, and supply all the Defects which we found in other Explications.