Chapter VI: Book III: Concerning the CONFLAGRATION (4)

But if an Augmentation is to be made of terrestrial Fire, or of such terrestrial Principles as contain it most, as Sulphur, Oyl, and such like, I am apt to believe, these will encrease of their own accord, upon a general Drought and Desiccation of the Earth. For I am far from the Opinion of some Chymists, that think these Principles immutable, and incapable of Diminution or Augmentation. I willingly admit that all such Particles may be broken and disfigur’d, and thereby lose their proper and specifick Virtue, and new ones may be generated to supply the Places of the former: Which Supplies, or new Productions being made in a less, or greater Measure, according to the general Dispositions of Nature; when Nature is heightened into a kind of Fever and Ebullition of all her Juices and Humours, as she will be at that Time, we must expect, that more Parts than ordinary, should be made inflammable, and those that are inflam’d should become more violent. Under these Circumstances, when all Causes lean that Way, a little Help from a superior Power will have a great Effect, and make a great Change in the State of the World. And as to the Power of Angels, I am of Opinion, that it is very great as to the Changes and Modifications of natural Bodies; that they can dissolve a Marble as easily as we can crumble Earth and Moulds, or fix any Liquor in a Moment, into a Substance as hard as Crystal: That they can either make Flames more vehement and irresistible to all Sorts of Bodies; or as harmless as lambent Fires, and as soft as Oyl. We see an Instance of this last, in _Nebuchadnezzar’s_ fiery Furnace, _Daniel iii. 28._ where the three Children walk’d unconcern’d in the midst of the Flames, under the Charge and Protection of an Angel: And the same Angel, if he had pleas’d, could have made the same Furnace seven times hotter than the Wrath of the Tyrant had made it.

We will therefore leave it to their Ministry to manage this great Furnace, when the Heavens and the Earth are on Fire: To conserve, increase, direct, or temper the Flames, according to Instructions given them, as they are to be _tutelary_ or _destroying_. Neither let any Body think it a Diminution of Providence, to put Things into the Hands of Angels; ’tis the true Rule and Method of it: For to imploy an Almighty Power where it is not necessary, is to debase it, and give it a Task fit for lower Beings. Some think it Devotion and Piety to have recourse immediately to the Arm of God to salve all things; this may be done sometimes with a good Intention, but commonly with little Judgment. God is as jealous of the Glory of his Wisdom, as of his Power; and Wisdom consists in the Conduct and Subordination of several Causes, to bring our Purposes to Effect; but what is dispatched by an immediate supreme Power, leaves no room for the Exercise of Wisdom. To conclude this Point, which I have touch’d upon more than once; We must not be partial to any of God’s Attributes, and Providence being a Complexion of many, Power, Wisdom, Justice, and Goodness, when we give due Place and Honour to all these, then we must honour DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

CHAP. IX.

_How the Sea will be diminish’d and consum’d. How the Rocks and
Mountains will be thrown down and melted, and the whole exterior
Frame of the Earth dissolv’d into a Deluge of Fire._

We have now taken a View of the Causes of the Conflagration, both ordinary and extraordinary: It remains to consider the Manner of it; how these Causes will operate, and bring to pass an Effect so great and so prodigious. We took Notice before, that the grand Obstruction would be from the Sea, and from the Mountains; we must therefore take these to Task in the first Place: and if we can remove them out of our Way, or overcome what Resistance and Opposition they are capable to make, the rest of the Work will not be uneasy to us.

The Ocean indeed is a vast Body of Waters; and we must use all our Art and Skill to dry it up, or consume it in a good measure, before we can pass our Design. I remember the Advice a Philosopher gave _Amasis_ King of _Ægypt_, when he had a Command sent him from the King of _Æthiopia_, _that he should drink up the Sea_. _Amasis_ being very anxious and solicitous what Answer he should make to this strange Command, the Philosopher _Bias_ advis’d him to make this round Answer to the King, _That he was ready to perform his Command, and to drink up the Sea, provided he would stop the Rivers from flowing into his Cup while he was drinking_. This Answer baffled the King, for he could not stop the Rivers; but this we must do, or we shall never be able to drink up the Sea, or burn up the Earth.

Neither will this be so impossible as it seems at first Sight, if we reflect upon those Preparations we have made towards it, by a general Drought all over the Earth. This, we suppose, will precede the Conflagration, and by drying up the Fountains and Rivers which daily feed the Sea, will by degrees starve that Monster, or reduce it to such a degree of Weakness, that it shall not be able to make any great Resistance. More than half an Ocean of Water flows into the Sea every Day, from the Rivers of the Earth, if you take them altogether. This I speak upon a moderate Computation. _Aristotle_ says, the Rivers carry more Water into the Sea in the Space of a Year, than would equal in Bulk the whole Globe of the Earth. Nay some have ventur’d to affirm this of one single River, the _Volga_, that runs into the _Caspian_ Sea. ’Tis a great River indeed, and hath seventy Mouths; and so it had need have, to disgorge a Mass of Water equal to the Body of the Earth, in a Year’s Time. But we need not take such high Measures; there are at least an hundred great Rivers that flow into the Sea from several Parts of the Earth, Islands and Continents, besides several thousands of lesser ones; let us suppose these, all together, to pour as much Water into the Sea-Channel every Day, as is equal to half the Ocean: And we shall be easily convinc’d of the Reasonableness of this Supposition, if we do but examine the daily Expence of one River, and by that make an Estimate of the rest. This we find calculated to our Hands in the River _Po_, in _Italy_; a River of much what the same Bigness with our _Thames_, and disburthens it self into the Gulpp of _Venice_. _Baptista Riccioli_ hath computed how much Water this River discharges in an Hour, _viz._ 18000000 cubical Paces of Water, and consequently 432000000 in a Day; which is scarce credible to those that do not distinctly compute it. Suppose then an hundred Rivers as great as this, or greater, to fall into the Sea from the Land; besides thousands of lesser, that pay their Tribute at the same Time into the great Receipt of the Ocean: These all taken together, are capable to renew the Sea twice every four and twenty Hours. Which Suppositions being admitted, if by a great and lasting Drought these Rivers were dried up, or the Fountains from whence they flow, what would then become of that vast Ocean, that before was so formidable to us?

’Tis likely, you will say, these great Rivers cannot be dried up, tho’ the little ones may; and therefore we must not suppose such an universal Stop of Waters, or that they will all fail, by any Drought whatsoever. But great Rivers being made up of little ones, if these fail, those must be diminished, if not quit drain’d and exhausted. It may be, all Fountains and Springs do not proceed from the same Causes, or the same Original; and some are much more copious than others: For such Differences, we will allow what is due; but still the Dryness of the Air and of the Earth continuing, and all the Sources and Supplies of Moisture, both from above and from below, being lessen’d, or wholly discontinued, a general Decay of all Fountains and Rivers must necessarily follow, and consequently of the Sea, and of its Fulness, that depends upon them; and that’s enough for our present Purpose.

The first Step towards the Consumption of the Ocean, will be the Diminution or Suspension of the Rivers that run into it; the next will be an Evacuation by subterraneous Passages; and the last, by Eruptions of Fires in the very Channel of it, and in the midst of the Waters. As for subterraneous Evacuations, we cannot doubt but that the Sea hath Outlets at the Bottom of it, whereby it discharges that vast Quantity of Water that flows into it every Day; and that could not be discharg’d so fast as it comes from the wide Mouths of the Rivers, by Percolation, or Straining through the Sands. Seas also communicate with one another by these internal Passages; as is manifest from those particular Seas that have no external Outlet, or Issue, though they receive into them many great Rivers, and sometimes the Influx of other Seas. So the _Caspian_ Sea receives not only _Volga_, which we mentioned before, but several other Rivers, and yet hath no visible Issue for its Waters. The _Mediterranean_ Sea, besides all the Rivers it receives, hath a Current flowing into it, at either End, from other Seas; from the _Atlantick_ Ocean at the Streights of _Gibraltar_, and from the _Black Sea_ above _Constantinople_; and yet there is no Passage above Ground, or visible Derivation of the _Mediterranean_ Waters out of their Channel; which seeing they do not overfill, nor overflow the Banks, ’tis certain they must have some secret Conveyances into the Bowels of the Earth, or subterraneous Communication with other Seas. Lastly, from the Whirlpools of the Sea, that suck in Bodies that come within their Reach, it seems plainly to appear, by that Attraction and Absorption, that there is a Descent of Waters in those Places.

Wherefore when the Current of the Rivers into the Sea is stopp’d, or in a great Measure diminished; the Sea continuing to empty it self by these subterraneous Passages, and having little or none of those Supplies that it used to have from the Land, it must needs be sensibly lessen’d and both contract its Channel into a narrower Compass, and also have less Depth in the Waters that remain. And in the last Place, we must expect fiery Eruptions in several Parts of the Sea Channel, which will help to suck up, or evaporate the remaining Waters. In the present State of Nature there have been several Instances of such Eruptions of Fire from the Bottom of the Sea; and in that last State of Nature, when all Things are in a Tendency to Inflammation, and when Earthquakes and Eruptions will be more frequent every where, we must expect them also more frequently by Sea, as well as by Land. ’Tis true, neither Earthquakes nor Eruptions can happen in the middle of the great Ocean, or in the deepest Abyss, because there are no Cavities, or Mines below it, for the Vapours and Exhalations to lodge in: But it is not so much of the Sea-Chanel that is so deep; and in other Parts, especially in Streights, and near Islands, such Eruptions, like Sea-Vulcano’s, have frequently happened, and new Islands have been made by such fiery Matter thrown up from the Bottom of the Sea. Thus, they say, those Islands in the _Mediterranean_, call’d the _Vulcanian Islands_, had their Original, being Matter cast up from the Bottom of the Sea, by the Force of Fire, as new Mountains sometimes are raised upon the Earth. Another Island in the _Archipelago_ had the same Original; whereof _Strabo_ gives an Account, _Lib. 1._ _The Flames, he says, sprung up through the Waters four Days together, so as the whole Sea was hot and burning; and they rais’d by degrees, as with Engines, a Mass of Earth, which made a new Island, twelve Furlongs in Compass._ And in the same _Archipelago_, Flames and Smoke have several times, (particularly in the Year 1650) risen out of the Sea, and fill’d the Air with sulphureous Scents and Vapours. In like manner in the Island of St. _Michael_, one of the _Tercera’s_, there have been, of later Years, such Eructations of Fire and Flames, so strong and violent, that, at the Depth of a hundred and sixty Fathoms, they forc’d their Way through the midst of the Waters, from the Bottom of the Sea into the open Air, as has been related by those that were Eyewitnesses.

In these three Ways, I conceive, the great Force of the Sea will be broken, and the mighty Ocean reduced to a standing Pool of putrid Waters, without Vent, and without Recruits. But there will still remain, in the midst of the Channel, a great Mass of troubled Liquors, like Dregs in the Bottom of the Vessel; which will not be drunk up, ’till the Earth be all on Fire, and Torrents of melted and sulphureous Matter flow from the Land, and mingle with this dead Sea. But let us now leave the Sea in this humble Posture, and go on to attack the Rocks and Mountains, which stand next in our Way.

See how scornfully they look down upon us, and bid Defiance to all the Elements; they have born the Thunder and Lightning of Heaven, and all the Artillery of the Skies, for innumerable Ages; and do not fear the crackling of Thorns and of Shrubs that burn at their Feet: Let the Towns and Cities of the Earth, say they, be laid in Ashes; let the Woods and Forests blaze away, and the fat Soil of the Earth fry in its own Grease; these Things will not affect us; we can stand naked in the midst of a Sea of Fire, with our Roots as deep as the Foundations of the Earth, and our Heads above the Clouds of the Air. Thus they proudly defy Nature; and it must be confess’d, that these, being, as it were, the Bones of the Earth, when the Body is burning, will be the last consum’d; and I am apt to think, if they could keep in the same Posture they stand in now, and preserve themselves from falling, the Fire could never get an entire Power over them. But Mountains are generally hollow, and that makes them subject to a double Casualty; first, of Earthquakes; secondly, of having their Roots eaten away by Water or by Fire; but by Fire especially in this Case; For we suppose there will be innumerable subterraneous Fires smothering under Ground, before the general Fire breaks out; and these by corroding the Bowels of the Earth, will make it more hollow, and more ruinous; and when the Earth is so far dissolv’d, that the Cavities within the Mountains are fill’d with Lakes of Fire, then the Mountains will sink, and fall into those boiling Cauldrons, which in Time will dissolve them, though they were as hard as Adamant.

There is another Engine that will tear the Earth with great Violence, and rend in pieces whatsoever is above or about those Parts of it; and that is the Element of Water, so gentle in it self when undisturb’d: But ’tis found by Experience, that when Water falls into liquid Metals, it flies about with an incredible Impetuosity, and breaks or bears down every Thing that would stop its Motion and Expansion. This Force I take to come from the sudden and strong Rarefaction of its Parts, which make a kind of Explosion, when it is sudden and vehement; and this is one of the greatest Forces we know in Nature: Accordingly I am apt to think, that the marvellous Force of Vulcano’s, when they throw out Lumps of Rocks, great Fragments of the Earth, and other heavy Bodies, to such a vast Height and Distance, that it is done by this way of Explosion: And that Explosion made by the sudden Rarefaction of Sea Waters, that fall into Pans or Receptacles of molten Ore and ardent Liquors, within the Cavities of the Mountain; and thereupon follow the Noises, Roarings, and Eruptions of those Places. ’Tis observ’d, that Vulcano’s are in Mountains, and generally, if not always, near the Sea; and when its Waters, by subterraneous Passages, are driven under the Mountain, either by a particular Wind, or by a great Agitation of the Waves, they meet there with Metals and fiery Minerals, dissolv’d; and are immediately, according to our Supposition, rarified, and, by way of Explosion, fly out at the Mouth or Funnel of the Mountain, bearing before them whatsoever stands in their Way. Whether this be a true Account, or no, of the present Vulcano’s and their Eruptions, ’tis manifest, that such Cases as we have mention’d, will happen in the Conflagration of the Earth, and that such Eruptions or Disruptions of the Earth will follow thereupon: and that these will contribute very much to the sinking of Mountains, the splitting of Rocks, and the bringing of all strong Holds of Nature under the Power of the general Fire.

To conclude this Point: The Mountains will all be brought low, in that State of Nature either by Earthquakes, or subterraneous Fires; _Every Valley shall be exalted, and every Mountain and Hill shall be made low_, _Isa. xl. 4._ Which will be literally true at the second coming of our Saviour, as it was figuratively apply’d to his first coming, _Luke iii. 5._ Now, being once levell’d with the rest of the Earth, the Question will only be, how they shall be dissolv’d? But there is no terrestrial Body indissolvable to Fire, if it have a due Strength and Continuance; and this last Fire will have both, in the highest degrees; so that it cannot but be capable of dissolving all elementary Compositions, how hard or solid soever they be.

’Tis true, these Mountains and Rocks, as I said before, will have the Privilege to be the last destroy’d. These, with the deep Parts of the Sea, and the polar Regions of the Earth, will undergo a slower Fate, and be consum’d more leisurely. The Action of the last Fire may be distinguish’d into two Times, or two Assaults; the first Assault will carry off all Mankind, and all the Works of the Earth that are easily combustible; and this will be done with a quick and sudden Motion. But the second Assault, being employ’d about the Consumption of such Bodies, or such Materials, as are not so easily subjected to Fire, will be of long Continuance, and the Work of some Years. And ’tis fit it should be so; that this flaming World may be view’d and consider’d by the neighbouring Worlds about it, as a dreadful Spectacle, and Monument of God’s Wrath against disloyal, and disobedient Creatures. That by this Example, now before their Eyes, they may think of their own Fate, and what may befal them, as well as another Planet of the same Elements and Composition.

Thus much for the Rocks and Mountains; which, you see, according to our Hypothesis, will be levell’d, and the whole Face of the Earth reduc’d to Plainness and Equality; nay, which is more, melted and dissolv’d into a Sea of liquid Fire. And because this may seem a Paradox, being more than is usually supposed, or taken notice of, in the Doctrine of the Conflagration, it will not be improper, in this Place, to give an Account, wherein our Idea of the Conflagration, and its Effects, differs from the common Opinion, and the usual Representation of it. ’Tis commonly supposed, that the Conflagration of the World is like the burning of a City, where the Walls and Materials of the Houses are not melted down, but scorch’d, inflam’d, demolish’d, and made uninhabitable: So they think in the burning of the World, such Bodies, or such Parts of Nature, as are fit Fewel for the Fire, will be inflam’d, and, it may be, consum’d, or reduc’d to Smoke and Ashes; but other Bodies, that are not capable of Inflammation, will only be scorch’d and defac’d, the Beauty and Furniture of the Earth spoil’d, and by that means, say they, it will be laid waste and become uninhabitable. This seems to me a very short and imperfect Idea of the Conflagration; neither agreeable to Scripture, nor to the Deductions that may be made from Scripture. We therefore suppose that this is but half the Work; this destroying of the outward Garniture of the Earth, is but the first Onset, and that the Conflagration will end in a Dissolution and Liquefaction of the Elements and all the exterior Region of the Earth; so as to become a true Deluge of Fire, or a Sea of Fire overspreading the whole Globe of the Earth. This State of the Conflagration, I think, may be plainly prov’d; partly by the Expressions of Scripture concerning it, and partly from the _Renovation_ of the Earth that is to follow upon it. Saint _Peter_, who is our chief Guide in the Doctrine of the Conflagration, says, _2 Pet. iii. 10, 11._ _The Elements will be melted with fervent Heat_; besides burning up the Works of the Earth. Then adds, _Seeing all these Things shall be dissolv’d_, &c. These Terms of _Liquefaction_ and _Dissolution_ cannot, without Violence, be restrained to simple Devastation, and superficial Scorching. Such Expressions carry the Work a great deal further, even to that full Sense which we propose. Besides, the Prophets often speak of the melting of the Earth, or of the Hills and Mountains, at the Presence of the Lord, in the Day of his Wrath, _Isa. xxxiv. 3, 4. & xliv. 1, 2._ _Nah. i. 5._ _Psal. xcvii. 5._ And Saint _John_ (_Apoc. xv. 2._) tells us of a _Sea of Glass, mingled with Fire_; where the Saints stood, singing the Song of _Moses_, and triumphing over their Enemies, the Spiritual _Pharaoh_ and his Host, that were swallowed up in it. The _Sea of Glass_, must be a Sea of _molten_ Glass; it must be fluid, not solid, if a Sea; neither can a solid Substance be said to be _mingled with Fire_, as this was. And to this answers the _Lake of Fire and Brimstone_, which the Beast and false Prophet were thrown into alive, _Apoc. xix. 20._ These all refer to the End of the World, and the last Fire, and also plainly imply, or express rather, that State of Liquefaction which we suppose and assert.

Furthermore, the _Renovation_ of the World, or the _New Heaven_ and _New Earth_, which St. _Peter_, out of the Prophets, tells us shall spring out of these that are burnt and dissolved, do suppose this Earth reduc’d into a fluid Chaos, that it may lay a Foundation for a second World. If you take such a Skeleton of an Earth, as your scorching Fire would leave behind it; where the Flesh is torn from the Bones, and the Rocks and Mountains stand naked, and staring upon you; the Sea, half empty, gaping at the Sun, and the Cities all in Ruins, and in Rubbish; how would you raise a new World from this? And a World fit to be an _Habitation for the Righteous_? For so St. _Peter_ makes that to be, which is to succeed after the Conflagration, _2 Pet. iii. 13._ And a World also _without a Sea_? So St. _John_ describes the new Earth he saw, _Apoc. xxi. 1._ As these Characters do not agree to the present Earth, so neither would they agree to _your_ future one; for if that dead Lump could revive and become habitable again, it would however retain all the Imperfections of the former Earth, besides some Scars, and Deformities of its own. Wherefore, if you would cast the Earth into a new, and better Mould, you must first melt it down; and the last Fire, being as a _Refiner_’s Fire, will make an Improvement in it, both as to Matter and Form. To conclude, it must be reduc’d into a fluid Mass, in the Nature of a Chaos, as it was at first; but this last will be a fiery Chaos, as that was watery; and from this State it will emerge again into a Paradisaical World. But this being the Subject of the following Book, we will discourse no more of it in this Place.

CHAP. X.

_Concerning the Beginning and Progress of the Conflagration, what
Part of the Earth will first be burnt. The Manner of the future
Destruction of Rome, according to prophetical Indications. The last
State and Consummation of the general Fire._

Having remov’d the chief Obstructions to our Design, and shew’d a Method for weakning the Strength of Nature, by draining the Trench, and beating down those Bulwarks, wherein she seems to place her greatest Confidence: We must now go to Work; making Choice of the weakest Part of Nature for our first Attack, where the Fire may be the easiest admitted, and the best maintain’d, and preserv’d.

And for our better Direction, it will be of Use to consider what we noted before, _viz._ That the Conflagration is not a pure _natural Fatality_, but a _mix’d Fatality_; or a divine Judgment supported by natural Causes. And if we can find some Part of the Earth, or of the Christian World, that hath more of these natural Dispositions to Inflammation than the rest; and is also represented by Scripture as a more peculiar Object of God’s Judgments at the coming of our Saviour, we may justly pitch upon that Part of the World, as first to be destroy’d: Nature and Providence conspiring to make that the first Sacrifice to this fiery Vengeance.

Now as to natural Dispositions, in any Country or Region of the Earth, to be set on Fire, they seem to be chiefly these two; Sulphureousness of the Soil, and, an hollow mountainous Construction of the Ground. Where these two Dispositions meet in the same Tract or Territory, (the one as to the Quality of the Matter, and the other as to the Form) it stands like a Pile of fit Materials, ready set to have the Fire put to it. And as to divine Indications where this general Fire will begin, the Scripture points to the Seat of Antichrist, wheresoever that is, for the Beginning of it. The Scripture, I say, points at this two Ways: First, In telling us that our Saviour at his coming _in Flames of Fire shall consume the wicked One, the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, with the Spirit of his Mouth, and shall destroy him with the Brightness of his Presence, 2 Thess. i. 7. chap. ii. 8._ Secondly, under the Name of _Mystical Babylon_; which is allowed by all to be the Seat of Antichrist, and by Scripture always condemn’d to the Fire. This we find in plain Words asserted by Saint _John_, in the xviiith _Chapter_ of his _Revelations_ (_Verses 8, 19._) and in the xixth (_Verse 3_) under the Name of the _Great Whore_; which is the same City, and the same Seat, according to the Interpretation of Scripture it self, (_Ch. xvii, xviii._) And the Prophet _Daniel_, when he had set the _Antient of Days_ upon his fiery Throne, says, _The Body of the Beast was given to the burning Flame, Dan. vii. 9, 10, 11._ Which I take to be the same Thing with what St. _John_ says afterwards, (_Apoc. xix. 20._) _The Beast and the false Prophet, were cast alive into a Lake of Fire, burning with Brimstone._ By these Places of Scripture it seems manifest, that Antichrist, and the Seat of Antichrist will be consum’d with Fire, at the coming of our Saviour. And ’tis very reasonable and decorous, that the grand Traytor and Head of the Apostacy, should be made the first Example of the divine Vengeance.

Thus much being allow’d from Scripture, let us now return to Nature again; to seek out that Part of the Christian World, that from its own Constitution is most subject to burning; by the Sulphureousness of its Soil, and its fiery Mountains and Caverns. This we shall easily find to be the _Roman Territory_, or the Country of _Italy_: Which, by all Accounts, antient and modern, is a Store-house of Fire; as if it was condemn’d to that Fate by God and Nature, and to be an Incendiary, as it were, to the rest of the World. And seeing _Mystical Babylon_, the Seat of Antichrist, is the same _Rome_, and its Territory, as it is understood by most Interpreters of former, and latter Ages; you see both our Lines meet in this Point; and, that there is Fairness, on both Hands, to conclude, that at the glorious Appearance of our Saviour, the Conflagration will begin at the City of _Rome_, and the _Roman_ Territory.

Nature hath sav’d us the Pains of kindling a Fire in those Parts of the Earth; for, since the Memory of Man, there have always been subterraneous Fires in _Italy_. And the _Romans_ did not preserve their _Vestal_ Fire with more Constancy, than Nature hath done her fiery Mountains in some Part or other of that Territory. Let us then suppose, when the fatal Time draws near, all these burning Mountains to be fill’d and replenish’d with fit Materials for such a Design; and when our Saviour appears in the Clouds, with an Host of Angels, that they all begin to play, as Fireworks, at the triumphal Entry of a Prince. Let _Vesuvius_, _Ætna_, _Strongyle_, and all the _Vulcanian_ Islands, break out into Flames; and by the Earthquakes, which then will rage, let us suppose new Eruptions, or new Mountains open’d in the _Apennines_, and near to _Rome_; and to vomit out Fire in the same Manner as the old _Vulcano_’s. Then let the sulphureous Ground take Fire; and seeing the Soil of that Country, in several Places, is so full of Brimstone, that the Steams and Smoke of it visibly rise out of the Earth; we may reasonably suppose, that it will burn openly, and be inflam’d, at that Time. Lastly, the Lightenings of the Air, and the flaming Streams of the melting Skies, will mingle and join with these Burnings of the Earth; and these three Causes meeting together, as they cannot but make a dreadful Scene, so they will easily destroy and consume whatsoever lies within the Compass of their Fury.

Thus you may suppose the Beginning of the general Fire: And it will be carried on by like Causes, though in lesser Degrees, in other Parts of the Earth: But as to _Rome_, there is still, in my Opinion, a more dreadful Fate that will attend it; namely, to absorp’d, or swallow’d up, in a Lake of Fire and Brimstone, after the Manner of _Sodom_ and _Gomorrah_. This, in my Judgment, will be the Fate and final Conclusion of _Mystical Babylon_, to sink as a great Mill-stone into the Sea, and never to appear more. Hear what the Prophet says, _A mighty Angel took up a Stone, like a great Mill stone, and cast it into the Sea, saying, Thus with Violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all, Apoc. xviii. 21._ Simply to be burnt, does not at all answer to this Description of its perishing, by _sinking like a Mill-stone into the Sea, and never appearing more_, nor of _not having its Place ever more found_; that is, leaving no Remains or Marks of it. A City that is only burnt, cannot be said to _fall like a Mill-stone into the Sea_; or, that it can _never more be found_; for after the Burning of a City, the Ruins stand, and its Place is well known: Wherefore, in both Respects, besides this exterior Burning, there must be an Absorption of this _Mystical Babylon_, the Seat of the Beast, and thereupon a total Disappearance of it. This also agrees with the Suddenness of the Judgment, which is a repeated Character of it, _Chap. xviii. 8, 10, 17, 19._ Now what kind of Absorption this will be, into what, and in what Manner, we may learn from what Saint _John_ says afterwards, _Chap. xix. 20._ _The Beast and the false Prophet were cast alive into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone._ You must not imagine, that they were bound Hand and Foot, and so thrown headlong into this Lake; but they were swallow’d up alive, they and theirs, as _Corah_ and his Company; or, to use a plainer Example, after the manner of _Sodom_ and _Gomorrah_, which perish’d by Fire, and at the same Time sunk into the _Dead Sea_, or a Lake of Brimstone.

This was a lively Type of the Fate of _Rome_, or _Mystical Babylon: _And ’tis fit it should resemble _Sodom_, as well in its Punishment, as in its Crimes. Neither is it a hard Thing to conceive how such an Absorption may come to pass, that being a Thing so usual in Earthquakes, and Earthquakes being so frequent in that Region. And lastly, That this should be, after the Manner of _Sodom_, turn’d into a Lake of Fire, will not be at all strange, if we consider, that there will be many subterraneous Lakes of Fire at that Time, when the Bowels of the Earth begin to melt, and the Mountains spew out Streams of liquid Fire. The Ground therefore being hollow and rotten in those Parts, when it comes to be shaken with a mighty Earthquake, the Foundations will sink, and the whole Frame fall into an Abyss of Fire below, as a Mill-stone into the Sea. And this will give Occasion to that Cry, _Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen_, and shall never more be found.

This seems to be a probable Account, according to Scripture and Reason, of the Beginning of the general Fire, and of the particular Fate of _Rome_. But it may be propos’d here, as an Objection against this Hypothesis, that the _Mediterranean_ Sea, lying all along the Coast of _Italy_, must needs be a sufficient Guard to that Country against the Invasion of Fire, or at least must needs extinguish it, before it can do much Mischief there, or propagate itself into other Countries. I thought we had in a good measure prevented this Objection before, by shewing how the Ocean would be diminished before the Conflagration, and especially the Arms and _Sinus_’s of the Ocean; and of these none would be more subject to this Diminution, than the _Mediterranean_; for, receiving its Supplies from the _Ocean_ and the _Black Sea_, if these came to sink in their Channels they would not rise so high, as to be capable to flow into the _Mediterranean_ at either End; and these Supplies being cut off, it would soon empty itself so far, partly by Evaporation; and partly by subterraneous Passages, as to shrink from all its Shores, and become only a standing Pool of Water in the Middle of the Channel: Nay, ’tis possible, by Floods of Fire descending from the many Vulcano’s upon its Shores, it might itself be converted into a Lake of Fire, and rather help than obstruct the Progress of the Conflagration.

It may indeed be made a Question, Whether this fiery Vengeance upon the Seat of Antichrist will not precede the general Conflagration, at some Distance of Time, as a Fore-runner and Fore-warner to the World, that the rest of the People may have Space to repent; and particularly the _Jews_, being Spectators of this Tragedy, and of the miraculous Appearance of our Saviour, may see the Hand of God in it, and be convinc’d of the Truth and divine Authority of the Christian Religion: I say, this Supposition would leave Room for these and some other Prophetick Scenes, which we know not well where to place; but seeing _The Day of the Lord_ is represented in Scripture, as one entire Thing, without Interruption or Discontinuation, and that it is to begin with the Destruction of Antichrist, we have Warrant enough to pursue the rest of the Conflagration from this Beginning and Introduction.

Let us then suppose the same Preparations made in the other Parts of the Earth to continue the Fire; for the Conflagration of the World being a Work of Providence, we may be sure such Measures are taken, as will effectually carry it on, when once begun. The Body of the Earth will be loosen’d and broken by Earthquakes, the more solid Parts impregnated with Sulphur, and the Cavities fill’d with unctuous Fumes and Exhalations, so as the whole Mass will be but as one great Funeral-Pile, ready built, and wanting nothing but the Hand of a destroying Angel to give it Fire. I will not take upon me to determine which Way this devouring Enemy would steer his Course from _Italy_, or in what Order he will advance and enter the several Regions of our Continent; that would be an Undertaking as uncertain as useless: But we cannot doubt of his Success, which Way soever he goes; unless where the Channel of the Ocean may chance to stop him: But as to that, we allow, that different Continents may have different Fires: not propagated from one to another, but of distinct Sources and Originals; and so likewise in remote Islands; and therefore no long Passage, or Trajection, will be requir’d from Shore to Shore: And even the Ocean it self will, at length, be as fiery as any Part of the Land; but that, with its Rocks, like Death, will be the last Thing subdued.

As to the animate World, the Fire will over-run it with a swift and rapid Course, and all living Creatures will be suffocated, or consumed, at the first Assault; and at the same Time all the Beauty of the Fields, and the External Decorations of Nature will be defac’d: Then the Cities and the Towns, and all the Works of Man’s Hands, will burn like Stubble before the Wind. These will soon be dispatched; but the great Burthen of the Work still remains; which is, that _Liquefaction_ we mention’d before, or a _melting Fire_, much more strong and vehement than these transient Blazes, which do but sweep the Surface of the Earth: This Liquefaction, I say, we prov’d before out of Scripture, as the last State of the fiery Deluge, _Chap. IX._ And ’tis this which, at length will make the Sea itself a _Lake of Fire and Brimstone_; when, instead of Rivers of Waters which used to flow into it from the Land, there come Streams and Rivulets of sulphureous Liquors, and purulent melted Matter, which following the Tract of their natural Gravity, will fall into this great Drain of this Earth; upon which Mixture, the remaining Parts of sweet Water will soon evaporate, and the Salt mingling with the Sulphur, will make a Dead Sea, an _Asphaltites_, a Lake of _Sodom_, a Cup of the Dregs of the Wine of the Fierceness of God’s Wrath.

We noted before two remarkable Effects of the _burning Mountains_, which would contribute to the Conflagration of the World, and gave Instances of both in former Eruptions of _Ætna_ and _Vesuvius_; one was, of those Balls, or Lumps of Fire, which they throw about in the Time of their Rage; and the other, of those Torrents of liquid Fire, which rowl down their Sides to the next Seas or Valleys. In the first Respect, these Mountains are as so many Batteries, planted, by Providence, in several Parts of the Earth, to fling those fiery Bombs into such Places, or such Cities, as are marked out for Destruction; and, in the second Respect, they are to dry up the Waters, and the Rivers, and the Sea it self, when they fall into its Channel, _Annal. Sic. dec. 1. l. 2. c. 4._ _T. Fazellas_, a _Sicilian_, who writ the History of that Island, tells us of such a River of Fire (upon an Eruption of _Ætna_) near twenty eight Miles long, reaching from the Mountain to Port _Longina_; and might have been much longer, if it had not been stopt by the Sea. Many such as these, and far greater, we ought in Reason to imagine, when all the Earth begins to melt, and to ripen towards a Dissolution: It will then be full of these sulphureous Juices, as Grapes with Wine; and these will be squeez’d out of the Earth into the Sea, as out of a Wine-press into the Receiver, to fill up that Cup, as we said before, _with the Wine of the Fierceness of God’s Wrath_.

If we may be allowed to bring prophetical Passages of Scripture to a natural Sense, as doubtless some of those must that respect the End of the World; these Phrases which we have now suggested, of the _Wine-press of the Wrath of God, Apoc. xiv. 10, 19._ _Ch. xvi. 19._ _Ch. xix. 15._ _Drinking the Fierceness of his Wine, poured, without Mixture, into the Cup of his Indignation_; with Expressions of the like Nature, that occur sometimes in the old Prophets, but especially in the _Apocalypse_: These, I say, might receive a full and emphatical Explication from this State of Things which now lies before us. I would not exclude any other Explication of less Force, as that of alluding to the _bitter Cup_, or _mixt Potion_, that us’d to be given to Malefactors: But that, methinks, is a low Sense, when applied to these Places in the _Apocalypse_. That these Phrases signify God’s remarkable Judgments, all allow; and here they plainly relate to the End of the World, to the last Plagues, and the last of the last Plagues, _Chap. xvi. 19._ Besides, the Angel that presided over this Judgment, is said to be an Angel that _had Power over Fire_; and those who are to drink this Potion are said to be _tormented with Fire and Brimstone, Chap. xiv. 10._ This presiding Angel seems to be our Saviour himself (_Chap. xix. 15._) who, when he comes to execute Divine Vengeance upon the Earth, gives his Orders in these Words, _Gather the Clusters of the Vine of the Earth, for her Grapes are fully ripe, Ch. xiv. 18, 19._ And thereupon the destroying Angel _thrust in his Sickle into the Earth, and gather’d the Vine of the Earth, and cast it into the great Wine-press of the Wrath of God_. And this made a Potion _compounded of several Ingredients, but not diluted with Water_; Τὸ κεκερασμένου ἀκράτου, (Ch. xiv. 10.) and was indeed a Potion of Fire and Brimstone, and all burning Materials mixt together. The Similitudes of Scripture are seldom nice and exact, but rather bold, noble and great; and according to the Circumstances which we have observed, this _Vineyard_ seems to be the _Earth_, and this _Vintage_ the End of the World; the pressing of the _Grapes_ into the Cup or Vessel that receives them, the Distillation of burning Liquors from all Parts of the Earth into the Trough of the Sea; and that Lake of red Fire, the Blood of those Grapes so flowing into it.

’Tis true, this Judgment of the Vintage and Wine-press, and the Effects of it, seem to aim more especially at some particular Region of the Earth, _Chap. xiv. 20._ And I am not against that, provided the Substance of the Explication be still retained, and the universal Sea of Fire be that which follows in the next Chapter, under the Name of a _Sea of Glass, mingled with Fire_, _Ch. xvi. 2._ This, I think, expresses the highest and complete State of the Conflagration; when the Mountains are fled away, and not only so, but the exterior Region of the Earth quite dissolv’d, like Wax before the Sun: The Channel of the Sea fill’d with a Mass of fluid Fire, and the same Fire overflowing all the Globe, and covering the whole Earth, as the Deluge, or the first Abyss. Then will the triumphal Songs and Hallelujahs be sung for the Victories of the Lamb over all his Enemies, and over Nature it self, _Apoc. xv. 3, 4._ _Great and marvellous are thy Works, Lord God Almighty: Just and true are thy Ways, thou King of Saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name? for thou only art holy: for all Nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy Judgments are made manifest._

CHAP. XI.

_An Account of those extraordinary Phœnomena and Wonders in Nature,
that, according to Scripture, will precede the coming of Christ, and
the Conflagration of the World._

If we reflect upon the History of burning Mountains, we cannot but observe, that, before their Eruptions, there are usually some Changes in the Earth, or in the Air, in the Sea, or in the Sun it self, as Signs and Forerunners of the ensuing Storm. We may then easily conclude that when the last great Storm is a coming, and all the Vulcano’s of the Earth ready to burst, and the Frame of the World to be dissolv’d, there will be previous Signs, in the Heavens, and on the Earth, to introduce this tragical Fate: Nature cannot come to that Extremity, without some Symptoms of her Illness, nor die silently without Pangs or Complaint. But we are naturally heavy of Belief, as to Futurities, and can scarce fancy any other Scenes, or other State of Nature, than what is present, and continually before our Eyes: We will therefore, to cure our Unbelief, take Scripture for our Guide, and keep within the Limits of its Predictions.

The Scripture plainly tells us of Signs, of Prodigies, that will precede the Coming of our Saviour, and the End of the World: both in the Heavens, and on the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and Stars, will be disturb’d in their Motion, or Aspect; the Earth and the Sea will roar and tremble, and the Mountains fall at his Presence. These things both the Prophets and Evangelists have told us; but what we do not understand, we are slow to believe; and therefore those that cannot apprehend how such Changes should come to pass in the natural World, chuse rather to allegorize all these Expressions of Scripture, and to make them signify no more than political Changes of Governments, and Empires, and the great Confusions that will be amongst the People and Princes of the Earth, towards the End of the World. So that _darkening of the Sun_, _shaking of the Earth_, and such like Phrases of Scripture, according to these Interpreters, are to be understood only in a moral Sense.

And they think they have a Warrant for this Interpretation, from the prophetick Style of the Old Testament, where the Destruction of Cities, and Empires, and great Princes, is often describ’d by such Figures, taken from the natural World. So much is true indeed as to the Phrase of the old Prophets in some Places; but I take the true Reason and Design of that, to be a typical Adumbration of what was intended should literally come to pass in the great and universal Destruction of the World; whereof these partial Destructions were only Shadows and Prefigurations. But to determine this Case, let us take the known and approved Rule for interpreting Scripture, _Not to recede from the literal Sense without Necessity_, or where the Nature of the Subject will admit of a literal Interpretation. Now, as to those Cases in the _Old Testament_, History and Matter of Fact do shew, that they did not come to pass literally, therefore must not be so understood; but as for those that concern the End of the World, as they cannot be determin’d in that way, seeing they are yet _future_; so neither is there any natural Repugnancy or Improbability that they should come literally to pass: On the contrary, from the Intuition of that State of Nature, one would rather conclude the Probability or Necessity of them; that there may, and must be such Disorders in the external World, before the general Dissolution. Besides, if we admit Prodigies in any Case, or providential Indications of God’s Judgments to come there can be no Case suppos’d, wherein it will be more reasonable or proper to admit them, than when they are to be the Messengers of an universal Vengeance and Destruction.

Let us therefore consider what Signs Scripture hath taken notice of, as destin’d to appear at that Time, to publish, as it were, and proclaim the approaching End of the World; and how far they will admit of a natural Explication, according to those Grounds we have already given, in explaining the Causes and Manner of the Conflagration. These Signs are chiefly Earthquakes, and extraordinary Commotions of the Seas. Then the Darkness or bloody Colour of the Sun and Moon; the shaking of the Powers of Heaven, the Fulgurations of the Air, and the falling of Stars. As to Earthquakes, we have upon several Occasions shewn, that these will necessarily be multiplied towards the End of the World; when, by an Excess of Drought and Heat, Exhalations will more abound within the Earth; and, from the same Causes, their Inflammation also will be more frequent, than in the ordinary State of Nature. And as all Bodies, when dried, become more porous and full of Vacuities; so the Body of the Earth will be at that Time: And the Mines or Cavities wherein the Fumes and Exhalations lodge, will accordingly be of greater Extent, open into one another, and continued thro’ long Tracts and Regions; by which means, when an Earthquake comes, as the Shock will be more strong and violent, so it may reach to a vast Compass of Ground, and whole Islands or Continents be shaken at once, when these Trains have taken Fire. The Effects also of such Concussions, will not only affect Mankind, but all the Elements, and the Inhabitants of them.

I do not wonder that frequent and great Earthquakes should be made a Sign of an approaching Conflagration; and the highest Expressions of the Prophets concerning the _Day of the Lord_, may be understood in a literal Sense, if they be finally referr’d to the general Destruction of the World, and not terminated solely upon those particular Countries or People, to whom they are at first directed. Hear what _Ezekiel_ says upon this Subject, _Chap. xxxviii. 19, 20, 22._ _For in my Jealousy and in the Fire of my Wrath have I spoken; surely in that Day there shall be a great shaking in the Land of Israel: So that the Fishes of the Sea, and the Fowls of the Heaven, and the Beasts of the Field, and all creeping Things that creep upon the Earth; and all the Men that are upon the Face of the Earth, shall shake at my Presence; and the Mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep Places shall fall, and every Wall shall fall to the Ground.——And I will rain an overflowing Rain, and great Hail-stones, Fire and Brimstone._ The Prophet _Isaias_, (_Chap. xxiv. 18, 19, 20._) describes these Judgments in Terms as high, and relating to the natural World; _The Windows from on high are open, and the Foundations of the Earth do shake. The Earth is utterly broken down, the Earth is clean dissolved, the Earth is moved exceedingly. The Earth shall reel to and fro like a Drunkard, and shall be removed like a Cottage, and the Transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again._

To restrain all these things to _Judea_, as their adequate and final Object, is to force both the Words and the Sense. Here are manifest Allusions and Footsteps of the Destruction of the World, and the Dissolution of the Earth; partly as it was in the Deluge, and partly as it will be in its last Ruin, torn, broken, and shatter’d. But most Men have fallen into that Error, to fancy both the Destructions of the World by Water and Fire, quiet, noiseless Things; executed without any Ruins or Ruptures in Nature: That the Deluge was but a great Pool of still Waters made by the Rains, and Inundation of the Sea; and the Conflagration will be only a superficial Scorching of the Earth, with a running Fire. These are false Ideas, and unsuitable to Scripture: For as the Deluge is there represented a Disruption of the Abyss, and consequently of the then habitable Earth; so the future Combustion of it, according to the Representations of Scripture, is to be usher’d in and accompanied with all sorts of violent Impressions upon Nature; and the chief Instrument of these Violences will be Earthquakes. These will tear the Body of the Earth, and shake its Foundations; rend the Rocks, and pull down the tall Mountains; sometimes overturn, and sometimes swallow up Towns and Cities; disturb and disorder the Elements, and make a general Confusion in Nature.