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.

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.

The great Difficulty propos’d, was to find Water sufficient to make an Universal Deluge, reaching to the Tops of the Mountains; and yet that this Water should be transient, and after some time should so return into its Channels, that the dry Land would appear, and the Earth become again habitable. There was that double Impossibility in the common Opinion, that the Quantity of Water necessary for such a Deluge was no where to be found, or could no way be brought upon the Earth; and then if it was brought, cou’d no way be remov’d again. Our Explication quite takes off the Edge of this Objection; for, performing the same Effect with a far less Quantity of Water, ’tis both easy to be found, and easily remov’d when the Work is done. When the exterior Earth was broke, and fell into the Abyss, a good part of it was cover’d with Water, by the meer Depth of the Abyss it fell into, and those Parts of it that were higher than the Abyss was deep, and consequently would stand above it in a calm Water, were notwithstanding reach’d and overtop’d by the Waves, during the Agitation and violent Commotion of the Abyss. For it is not imaginable what the Commotion of the Abyss would be upon this Dissolution of the Earth, nor to what Height its Waves would be thrown, when those prodigious Fragments were tumbled down into it. Suppose a Stone of ten thousand Weight taken up into the Air a Mile or two, and then let fall into the middle of the Ocean, I do not believe but that the dashing of the Water upon that Impression would rise as high as a Mountain. But suppose a mighty Rock, or heap of Rocks to fall from that Height, or a great Island, or a Continent; these would expel the Waters out of their Places with such a Force and Violence, as to fling them among the highest Clouds.

’Tis incredible to what Height sometimes great Stones and Cinders will be thrown, at the Eruptions of fiery Mountains; and the Pressure of a great Mass of Earth falling into the Abyss, though it be a Force of another kind, could not but impel the Water with so much Strength, as would carry it up to a great Height in the Air; and to the top of any thing that lay in its way, any Eminency, high Fragment, or new Mountain: And then rolling back again, it would sweep down with it whatsoever it rush’d upon, Woods, Buildings, living Creatures, and carry them all headlong into the great Gulph. Sometimes a Mass of Water would be quite struck off and separate from the rest, and toss’d through the Air like a flying River; but the common Motion of the Waves was to climb up the Hills or inclin’d Fragments; and then return into the Valleys and Deeps again, with a perpetual Fluctuation going and coming, ascending and descending, ’till the Violence of them being spent by degrees, they settled at last in the Places allotted for them; where Bounds are set that they cannot pass over, that they return not again to cover the Earth, Psalm. civ. 6, 7, 8, 9.

Neither is it to be wondred, that the great Tumult of the Waters, and the Extremity of the Deluge lasted for some Months; for besides, that the first Shock and Commotion of the Abyss was extreamly violent, from the general Fall of the Earth, there were ever and anon some secondary Ruins; or some Parts of the great Ruin, that were not well settled, broke again, and made new Commotions: And ’twas a considerable Time before the great Fragments that fell, and their lesser Dependencies could be so adjusted and fitted, as to rest in a firm and immoveable Posture: For the Props and Stays whereby they lean’d one upon another, or upon the Bottom of the Abyss, often fail’d, either by the incumbent Weight, or the violent Impulses of the Water against them; and so renewed, or continued the Disorder and Confusion of the Abyss. Besides, we are to observe, that these great Fragments falling hollow, they inclos’d and bore down with them under their concave Surface a great deal of Air; and while the Water compass’d these Fragments, and overflow’d them, the Air could not readily get out of those Prisons, but by degrees, as the Earth and Water above would give way; so as this would also hinder the Settlement of the Abyss, and the retiring of the Water into those subterraneous Channels, for some Time. But at length, when this Air had found a vent, and left its place to the Water, and the Ruins both primary and secondary were settled and fix’d then the Waters of the Abyss began to settle too, and the dry Land to appear; first the tops of the Mountains, then the high Grounds, then the Plains and the rest of the Earth. And this gradual Subsidency of the Abyss (which Moses also hath particularly noted) and Discovery of the several Parts of the Earth would also take up a considerable Time.

Thus a new World appear’d, or the Earth put on its new Form, and became divided into Sea and Land; and the Abyss, which from several Ages, even from the beginning of the World, had lain hid in the Womb of the Earth, was brought to light and discover’d; the greatest part of it constituting our present Ocean, and the rest filling the lower Cavities of the Earth: Upon the Land appear’d the Mountains and the Hills, and the Islands in the Sea, and the Rocks upon the Shore. And so the Divine Providence, having prepar’d Nature for so great a Change, at one stroke dissolv’d the Frame of the old World, and made us a new one out of its Ruins, which we now inhabit since the Deluge. All which Things being thus explain’d, deduc’d, and stated, we now add and pronounce our Third and last Proposition; That the Disruption of the Abyss, or Dissolution of the primæval Earth, and its Fall into the Abyss, was the Cause of the Universal Deluge, and of the Destruction of the old World.

Chap. VII.

That the Explication we have given of an Universal Deluge is not an Idea only, but an Account of what really came to pass in this Earth, and the true Explication of Noah’s Flood; as is prov’d by Argument and from History. An Examination of Tehom Rabba, or the great Abyss, and that by it the Sea cannot be understood, nor the subterraneous Waters, as they are at present. What the true Notion and Form of it was, collected from Moses and other Sacred Writers; The frequent Allusions in Scripture to the opening and shutting the Abyss, and the particular Stile of Scripture in its Reflections on the Origin. And the Formation of the Earth. Observations on Deucalion’s Deluge.

We have now given an Account of the first great Revolution of Nature, and of the Universal Deluge, in a way that is intelligible, and from Causes that answer the Greatness of the Effect: We have suppos’d nothing but what is also prov’d, both as to the first Form of the Earth, and as to the manner of its Dissolution; and how far from that would evidently and necessarily arise a general Deluge; which was that, which put a Period to the old World, and the first state of Things. And tho’ all this hath been deduc’d in due Order, and with Connexion and Consequence of one thing upon another, so far as I know, which is the true Evidence of a Theory; yet it may not be sufficient to command the Assent and Belief of some Persons, who will allow, it may be, and acknowledge, that this is a fair Idea of a possible Deluge in general, and of the Destruction of a World by it; but this may be only an Idea, they’ll say; we desire it may be prov’d from some collateral Arguments, taken either from Sacred History, or from Observation, that this hath really been exemplified upon the Earth, and that Noah’s Flood came to pass this way. And seeing we have design’d this first Book chiefly for the Explication of Noah’s Deluge, I am willing to add here a Chapter or two extraordinary upon this occasion; to shew, that what we have delivered is more than an Idea, and that it was in this very way that Noah’s Deluge came to pass. But they who have not this Doubt, and have a Mind to see the Issue of the Theory, may skip these two Chapters, if they please, and proceed to the following, where the Order is continued.

To satisfy then the Doubtful in this Particular, let us lay down in the first place that Conclusion which they seem to admit, viz. That this is a possible and consistent Explication of an Universal Deluge; and let’s see how far this would go, if well consider’d, towards the Proof of what they desire, or towards the Demonstration of Noah’s Deluge in particular. It is granted on both Hands, that there hath been an Universal Deluge upon the Earth, which was Noah’s Deluge; and it is also granted, that we have given a possible and consistent Idea of an Universal Deluge: Now we have prov’d Chap. II. and III. that all other ways hitherto assign’d for the Explication of Noah’s Flood are incongruous or impossible; therefore it came to pass in that possible and competent way which we have propos’d. And if we have truly prov’d, in the foremention’d Chapters, the Impossibility or Unintelligibility of it in all other ways, this Argumentation is undeniable. Besides, we may argue thus, as it is granted that there hath been an Universal Deluge upon the Earth; so I suppose it will be granted that there hath been but one: Now the Dissolution of the Earth, whensoever it happen’d, would make one Universal Deluge, and therefore the only one, and the same with Noah’s. That such a Dissolution as we have describ’d would make an Universal Deluge, I think, cannot be question’d; and that there hath been such a Dissolution, besides what we have already alledg’d, shall be prov’d at large from natural Observations upon the Form and Figure of the present Earth, in the Third Section and last Chapter of this Book; In the mean time we will proceed to History, both Sacred and Prophane, and by comparing our Explication with those, give further Assurance of its Truth and Reality.

In the first Place, it agrees, which is most considerable, with Moses’s Narration of the Deluge; both as to the Matter and Manner of it. The Matter of the Deluge Moses makes to be the Waters from above, and the Waters from below; or he distinguishes the Causes of the Deluge, as we do, into Superior and Inferior, Gen. vii. 11. and the Inferior Causes he makes to be the Disruption of the Abyss, which is the principal Part, and the great Hinge of our Explication. Then as to the manner of the Deluge, the Beginning and the Ending, the Increase and Decrease, he saith, Verse 17, 18, 19, 20. Chap. viii. 3, 5. it increas’d gradually, and decreas’d gradually, by going and coming; that is, after many repeated Fluctuations and Reciprocations of the Waves, the Waters of the Abyss began to be more compos’d, and to retire into their Channels, whence they shall never return to cover the Earth again. This agrees wholly with our Theory; we suppose the Abyss to have been under an extream Commotion and Agitation by the Fall of the Earth into it, and this at first encreas’d more and more, till the whole Earth was fallen; then continuing for some time at the height of its Rage, overwhelming the greatest Mountains, it afterwards decreas’d by the like degrees, leaving first the Tops of the Mountains, then the Hills and the Fields, ’till the Waters came to be wholly drawn off the Earth into their Channels.

It was no doubt a great Oversight in the Ancients, to fancy the Deluge like a great standing Pool of Water, reaching from the Bottom of the Valleys to the Tops of the Mountains, every where alike, with a level and uniform Surface; by reason of which mistaken Notion of the Deluge, they made more Water necessary to it than was possible to be had, or being had, than it was possible to get quit of again; for there are no Channels in the Earth that could hold so much Water, either to give it, or to receive it. And the Psalmist, [vid. St. Austin in loc.] speaking of the Deluge, as it seems to me, notes this violent Commotion of the Abyss, Psal. civ. 8, 9. The Waters went up by the Mountains, came down by the Valleys unto the Place which thou hast founded for them. I know some interpret that Passage of the State of the Waters in the Beginning, when they cover’d the Face of the whole Earth, Gen. i. 2. but that cannot be, because of what follows in the next Verse; Thou hast set a Bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the Earth. Which is not true, if the preceding Words be understood of the State of the Waters at the Beginning of the World; for they did pass those Bounds, and did return since that time to cover the Earth, namely at the Deluge: But if these Words be referr’d to the Time of the Deluge, and the State of the Waters then, ’tis both a just Description of the Motion of the Abyss, and certainly true, that the Waters since that time are so settled in their Channels, that they shall never overflow the Earth again. As we are assur’d by the Promise made to Noah, and that illustrious Pledge and Confirmation of it, the Rainbow, that the Heavens also shall never pour out so much Waters again; their State being chang’d as well as that of the Earth, or Sea, from what they were before the Deluge.

But before we leave Moses’s Narration of the Deluge, we must examine further, what is, or can be understood by his Tehom-Rabba, or great Abyss, which, he saith, was broken up at the Deluge, Gen. vii. 11. for this will help us to discover, whether our Explication be the same with his, and of the same Flood. And first we must consider, whether by the Tehom-Rabba, or Mosaical Abyss, can be understood the Sea or Ocean, under that Form we see it in at present; and ’tis plain, methinks, that the Sea cannot be understood by this great Abyss, both because the Sea is not capable upon any Disruption to make such an Universal Deluge; and because the Narration of Moses, and his Expressions concerning this Abyss, do not agree to the Sea. Some of the Ancients indeed did imagine, that the Waters of the Sea were much higher than the Land, and stood, as it were, on a heap; so as when these Waters were let loose, they overflow’d the Earth, and made a Deluge. But this is known to be a gross Mistake; the Sea and the Land make one Globe, and the Waters couch themselves, as close as may be, to the Center of this Globe in a Spherical Convexity; so that if all the Mountains and Hills were scal’d, and the Earth made even, the Waters would not overflow its smooth Surface; much less could they overflow it in the Form that it is now, where the Shores are higher than the Sea, the Inland Parts than the Shores, and the Mountains still far above all: So as no Disruption of the Sea could make an Universal Deluge, by reason of its Situation. But besides that, the Quantity of Water contain’d in the Sea is no way sufficient to make a Deluge in the present Form of the Earth; for we have shewn before, Chap. ii. that eight such Oceans as ours would be little enough for that Purpose. Then as to the Expressions of Moses concerning this Abyss, if he had meant the Sea by it, and that the Deluge was made by the Disruption of the Sea, why did he not say so? There is no mention of the Sea in all the History of the Deluge: Moses had mention’d the Sea before, Gen. i. 10. and us’d a Word that was common, and known to signify the Sea; and if he had a Mind to express the same thing here, why should he not use the same Word and the same Term? In an Historical Relation we use Terms that are most proper and best known; but instead of that he useth the same Term here that he did, Gen. i. 2. when he saith, Darkness was upon the Face of the Abyss, or of the Deep, as we render it; there the Abyss was open, or cover’d with Darkness only, namely, before the exterior Earth was form’d; Here the same Abyss is mention’d again, but cover’d, by the Formation of the Earth upon it; and the covering of this Abyss was broken or cloven asunder, and the Waters gush’d out that made the Deluge. This I am sure is the most natural Interpretation or Signification of this Word, according as it is us’d in Moses’s Writings. Furthermore, we must observe what Moses saith concerning this Abyss, and whether that will agree with the Sea or no; he saith the Fountains of the great Abyss were broken open; now if by the great Abyss you understand the Sea, how are its Fountains broken open? To break open a Fountain, is to break open the Ground that covers it, and what Ground covers the Sea? So that upon all Considerations, either of the Word that Moses here useth, Tehom-Rabba, or of the thing affirmed concerning it, breaking open its Fountains; or of the Effect following the breaking open its Fountains, drowning of the Earth; from all these Heads it is manifest, that the Sea cannot be understood by the great Abyss, whose Disruption was the Cause of the Deluge.

And as the Mosaical Abyss cannot be the Sea, so neither can it be those subterraneous Waters that are dispers’d in the Cells and Caverns of the Earth; for as they are now lodg’d within the Earth, they are not one Abyss, but several Cisterns and Receptacles of Water in several Places, especially under the roots of Mountains and Hills, separate one from another, sometimes by whole Regions and Countries interpos’d. Besides, what Fountains, if they were broken up, could let out this Water, or bring it upon the Face of the Earth? When we sink a Mine, or dig a Well, the Waters, when uncover’d, do not leap out of their Places out of those Cavities, or at least, do not flow upon the Earth; ’Tis not as if you open’d a Vein, where the Blood spirts out, and riseth higher than its Source; but as when you take off the Cover of a Vessel, the Water doth not fly out for that: So if we should imagine all the subterraneous Caverns of the Earth uncover’d, and the Waters laid bare, there they would lie unmov’d in their Beds, if the Earth did not fall into them to force them up. Furthermore, if these Waters were any way extracted and laid upon the Surface of the Ground, nothing would be gain’d, as to the Deluge, by that, for as much Water would run into these Holes again when the Deluge begun to rise; so that this would be but an useless Labour, and turn to no Account. And lastly, These Waters are no way sufficient for Quantity to answer to the Mosaical Abyss, or to be the principal Cause of the Deluge, as that was.

Now, seeing neither the Sea, as it is at present, nor the subterraneous Waters, as they are at present, can answer to the Mosaical Abyss, we are sure there is nothing in this present Earth that can answer to it. Let us then on the other Hand compare it with that subterraneous Abyss, which we have found in the antediluvian Earth, represented; Fig. 2. p. 77. and examine their Characters and Correspondency: First, Moses’s Abyss was cover’d, and subterraneous, for the Fountains of it are said to have been cloven or burst open; then, it was vast and capacious; and thirdly, it was so dispos’d, as to be capable of a Disruption, that would cause an universal Deluge to the Earth. Our antediluvian Abyss answers truly to all these Characters; it was in the Womb of the Earth; the Earth was founded upon those Waters, as the Psalmist saith; or they were inclos’d within the Earth as in a Bag. Then for the Capacity of it, it contained both all the Waters now in the Ocean, and all those that are dispers’d in the Caverns of the Earth: And lastly, it is manifest its Situation was such, that upon a Disruption or Dissolution of the Earth which cover’d it, an universal Deluge would arise. Seeing then this answers the Description, and all the Properties of the Mosaical Abyss, and nothing else will, how can we in Reason judge it otherwise than the same, and the very Thing intended and propos’d in the History of Noah’s Deluge under the Name of Tehom-Rabba, or the great Abyss, at whose Disruption the World was over-flow’d? And as we do not think it an unhappy Discovery to have found out, (with a moral Certainty) the Seat of the Mosaical Abyss, which hath been almost as much sought for, and as much in vain, as the Seat of Paradise; so this gives us a great Assurance, that the Theory we have given of a general Deluge is not a mere Idea, but is to be appropriated to the Deluge of Noah, as a true Explication of it.

And to proceed now from Moses to other divine Writers; That our Description is a Reality, both as to the antediluvian Earth, and as to the Deluge, we may further be convinc’d from St. Peter’s Discourse concerning those two Things, 2 Epist. iii. 6. St. Peter saith, that the Constitution of the antediluvian Earth was such, in reference to the Waters, that by reason of that it was obnoxious to a Deluge; we say these Waters were the great Abyss it stood upon, by reason whereof that World was really expos’d to a Deluge, and overwhelm’d in it upon the Disruption of this Abyss, as Moses witnesses. ’Tis true, St. Peter doth not specify what those Waters were, nor mention either the Sea or the Abyss; but seeing Moses tells us, that it was by the Waters of the Abyss that the Earth was overwhelmed, St. Peter’s Waters must be understood of the same Abyss, because he supposeth them the Cause of the same Deluge. And, I think, the Apostle’s Discourse there cannot receive a better Illustration, than from Moses’s History of the Deluge. Moses distinguishes the Causes of the Flood into those that belong to the Heavens, and those that belong to the Earth; the Rains and the Abyss: St. Peter also distinguisheth the Causes of the Deluge into the Constitution of the Heavens, in reference to its Waters; and the Constitution of the Earth, in reference to its Waters; and no doubt they both aim at the same Causes, as they refer to the same Effect; only Moses mentions the immediate Causes, the Rains and the Waters of the Abyss; and St. Peter mentions the more remote and fundamental Causes, that Constitution of the Heavens, and that Constitution of the Earth, in reference to their respective Waters, which made that World obnoxious to a Deluge: And these two, speaking of Noah’s Deluge, and agreeing thus with one another, and both with us, or with the Theory which we have given of a general Deluge, we may safely conclude, that it is no imaginary Idea, but a true Account of that ancient Flood, whereof Moses hath left us the History.

And seeing the right understanding of the Mosaical Abyss is sufficient alone to prove all we have deliver’d concerning the Deluge, as also concerning the Frame of the antediluvian Earth, give me leave to take Notice here of some other Places of Scripture, which we mention’d before, that seem manifestly to describe this same Form of the Abyss with the Earth above it, 2 Esdr. xvi. 58. Psal. xxiv. 2. He founded the Earth upon the Seas, and establish’d it upon the Floods. And Psal. cxxxvi. 6. He stretch’d out the Earth above the Waters. Now this Foundation of the Earth upon the Waters, or Extension of it above the Waters, 2 Esdr. c. vi. doth most aptly agree to that Structure and Situation of the Abyss and the antediluvian Earth, which we have assign’d them, and which we have before describ’d; but very improperly and forcedly to the present Form of the Earth and the Waters. In that second Place of the Psalmist, the Word may be render’d either, he stretch’d, as we read it, or he fix’d and consolidated the Earth above the Waters, as the Vulgate and Septuagint translate it: For ’tis from the same Word with that which is used for the Firmament, Gen. i. So that as the Firmament was extended over and around the Earth, so was the Earth extended over and about the Waters, in that first Constitution of Things; and I remember some of the Ancients use this very Comparison of the Firmament and Earth, to express the Situation of the Paradisiacal Earth in reference to the Sea or Abyss.

There is another remarkable Place in the Psalms, to shew the Disposition of the Waters in the first Earth; Psal. xxxiii. 7. He gathereth the Waters of the Sea as in a Bag, he layeth up the Abysses in Store-houses. This answers very fitly and naturally to the Place and Disposition of the Abyss which it had before the Deluge, inclos’d within the Vault of the Earth, as in a Bag, or in a Store-house. I know very well what I render here in a Bag, is render’d in the English as an Heap; but that Translation of the Word seems to be grounded on the old Error, that the Sea is higher than the Land, and so doth not make a true Sense. Neither are the two Parts of the Verse so well suited and consequent one to another, if the first express an high Situation of the Waters, and the second a low one. And accordingly the Vulgate, Septuagint, and Oriental Versions and Paraphrase, as also Symmachus, St. Jerom, and Basil, render it as we do here, in a Bag, or by Terms equivalent.

To these Passages of the Psalmist, concerning the Form of the Abyss and the first Earth, give me leave to add this general Remark, that they are commonly usher’d in, or follow’d, with something of Admiration in the Prophet. We observ’d before, that the Formation of the first Earth, after such a wonderful Manner, being a Piece of divine Architecture, when it was spoken of in Scripture, it was usually ascrib’d to a particular Providence; and accordingly we see in these Places now mentioned, that it is still made the Object of Praise and Admiration: In the cxxxvi. Palm ’tis reckon’d among the Wonders of God, Verses 4, 5, 6. Give Praise to him who alone doth great Wonders: To him that by Wisdom made the Heavens: To hime that stretched out the Earth above the Waters. And in like manner, in that xxxiii. Ps. ’tis join’d with the Forming of the Heavens, and made the Subject of the Divine Power and Wisdom: Verses 6, 7, 8, 9. By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the Host of them by the Breath of his Mouth; He gathereth the Waters of the Sea together, as in a Bag, he layeth up the Abyss in Store-houses. Let all the Earth fear the Lord; Let all the Inhabitants of the World stand in awe of him; For he spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast. Namely, all Things stood in that wonderful Posture in which the Word of his Power and Wisdom had establish’d them. David often made the Works of Nature, and the external World, the Matter of his Meditations, and of his Praises and Philosophical Devotions; reflecting sometimes upon the present Form of the World, and sometimes upon the primitive Form of it: And tho’ poetical Expressions, as the Psalms are, seldom are so determinate and distinct, but that they may be interpreted more than one Way; yet, I think, it cannot but be acknowledg’d, that those Expressions, and Passages that we have instanc’d in, are more fairly and aptly understood of the ancient Form of the Sea, or the Abyss, as it was inclos’d within the Earth, than of the present Form of it in an open Channel.

There are also in the Book of Job many noble Reflections upon the Works of Nature, and upon the Formation of the Earth and the Abyss; whereof that in Chap. xxvi. 7. He stretcheth out the North over the empty Places, and hangeth the Earth upon nothing, seems to parallel the Expression of David; He stretched out the Earth upon the Waters; for the Word we render the empty Place is Tohu, which is apply’d to the Chaos and the first Abyss, Gen. i. 2. and the hanging the Earth upon nothing is much more wonderful, if it be understood of the first habitable Earth, that hung over the Waters, sustain’d by nothing but its own peculiar Form, and the Libration of its Parts, than if it be understood of the present Earth, and the whole Body of it; for if it be in its Center or proper Place, whither should it sink further, or whither should it go? But this Passage, together with the foregoing and following Verses, requires a more critical Examination than this Discourse will easily bear.

There is another remarkable Discourse in Job, that contains many Things to our present Purpose, ’tis Chap. xxxviii. where God reproaches Job with his Ignorance of what pass’d at the beginning of the World, and the Formation of the Earth, Verses 4, 5, 6. 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? All these Questions have far more Force and Emphasis, more Propriety and Elegancy, if they be understood of the first and antediluvian Form of the Earth, than if they be understood of the present; for in the present Form of the Earth there is no Architecture, no Structure, no more than in a Ruin; or at least none comparatively to what was in the first Form of it. And that the exterior and superficial Part of the Earth is here spoken of, appears by the Rule and Line applied to it; but what Rule or Regularity is there in the Surface of the present Earth? What Line was us’d to level its Parts? But in its original Construction, when it lay smooth and regular in its Surface, as if it had been drawn, by Rule and Line in every Part; and when it hung pois’d upon the Deep, without Pillar or Foundation-Stone, then just Proportions were taken, and every thing plac’d by Weight and Measure: And this, I doubt not, was that artificial Structure here alluded to; and when this Work was finish’d, then The Morning Stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy, Verse 7.

Thus far the Questions proceed upon the Form and Construction of the first Earth; in the following Verses (8, 9, 10, 11.) they proceed upon the Demolition of that Earth, the opening the Abyss, and the present State of both. Or who shut up the Sea with Doors when it brake forth, as if it had issu’d out of a Womb? Who can doubt but this was at the breaking open the Fountains of the Abyss? Gen. vii. 11. when the Waters gush’d out, as out of the great Womb of Nature; and by reason of that Confusion and Perturbation of Air and Water that rose upon it, a thick Mist and Darkness was round the Earth, and all Things as in a second Chaos, When I made the Cloud the Garment thereof, and thick Darkness a Swadling-band for it, and brake up for it my decreed Place, and made Bars and Doors. Namely, (taking the Words as thus usually render’d) the present Channel of the Sea was made when the Abyss was broke up, and at the same Time were made the shory Rocks and Mountains, which are the Bars and Boundaries of the Sea. And said hitherto shalt thou come, and no further; and here shall thy proud Waves be stay’d. Which last Sentence shews, that this cannot be understood of the first Disposition of the Waters, as they were before the Flood, for their proud Waves broke those Bounds, whatsoever they were, when they over-flow’d the Earth in the Deluge. And that the Womb which they broke out of was the great Abyss, the Chaldee Paraphrase in this Place doth expresly mention; and what can be understood by חְהומה מן the Womb of the Earth, but that subterraneous Capacity in which the Abyss lay? Then that which followeth is a Description or Representation of the great Deluge that ensued, and of that Disorder in Nature that was then, and how the Waters were settled and bounded afterwards. Not unlike the Description in Psalm civ. ver. 6, 7, 8, 9. And thus much for these Places in the Book of Job.

There remains a remarkable Discourse in the Proverbs of Solomon, relating to the Mosaical Abyss, and not only to that, but to the Origin of the Earth in general; where Wisdom declares her Antiquity and Pre-existence to all the Works of this Earth, Chap. viii. Verse 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. I was set up from Everlasting, from the Beginning ere the Earth was. When there were no Deeps or Abysses, I was brought forth; when no Fountains abounding with Water. Then in the 27th Verse, When he prepared the Heavens, I was there; when he set a Compass upon the Face of the Deep or Abyss. When he established the Clouds above, when he strengthned the Fountains of the Abyss. Here is mention made of the Abyss, and of the Fountains of the Abyss; and who can question, but that the Fountains of the Abyss here are the same with the Fountains of the Abyss which Moses mentions, and were broken open, as he tells us, at the Deluge? Let us observe therefore what Form Wisdom gives to this Abyss, and consequently to the Mosaical; And here seem to be two Expressions that determine the Form of it, Verse 28. He strengthned the Fountains of the Abyss, that is, the cover of those Fountains, for the Fountains could be strengthned no other Way than by making a strong Cover or Arch over them. And that Arch is express’d more fully and distinctly in the foregoing Verse, When he prepar’d the Heavens, I was there; when he set a Compass on the Face of the Abyss; we render it Compass, the Word signifies a Circle or Circumference, or an Orb or Sphere. So there was in the Beginning of the World a Sphere, Orb or Arch set round the Abyss, according to the Testimony of Wisdom, who was then present. And this shews us both the Form of the Mosaical Abyss, which was included within this Vault: And the Form of the habitable Earth, which was the outward Surface of this Vault, or the Cover of the Abyss that was broke up at the Deluge.

And thus much, I think, is sufficient to have noted out of Scripture, concerning the Mosaical Abyss, to discover the Form, Place, and Situation of it; which I have done the more largely, because that being determin’d, it will draw in easily all the rest of our Theory concerning the Deluge. I will now only add one or two general Observations, and so conclude this Discourse: The first Observation is concerning the Abyss; namely, That the opening and shutting of the Abyss, is the great Hinge upon which Nature turns in this Earth: This brings another Face of things, other Scenes, and a new World upon the Stage: And accordingly it is a thing often mention’d and alluded to in Scripture, sometimes in a natural, sometimes in a moral or theological Sense; and in both Senses, our Saviour shuts and opens it as he pleaseth. Our Saviour, who is both Lord of Nature and of Grace, whose Dominion is both in Heaven and in Earth, hath a double Key; that of the Abyss, whereby Death and Hell are in his Power, and all the Revolutions of Nature are under his Conduct and Providence; and the Key of David, whereby he admits or excludes from the City of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven whom he pleaseth. Job xi. 10, 12, 14. Apoc. i. 18. xx. 1, 2, 3. xxi. 1. Apoc. iii. 7. Isa. xxii. 22. Of those Places that refer to the shutting and opening the Abyss in a natural Sense, I cannot but particularly take Notice of that in Job, Chap. xii. ver. 14, 15. and Chap. xi. 10. God breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: He shutteth up Man, and there can be no opening: Behold, he withholdeth the Waters, and they dry up; also he sendeth them out and they overturn the Earth. Tho’ these Things be true of God in lesser and common Instances, yet to me it is plain, that they principally refer to the Deluge, the opening and shutting the Abyss, with the Dissolution or Subversion of the Earth thereupon; and accordingly they are made the great Effects of the divine Power and Wisdom in the 13th Verse of Chap. xii. With God is Wisdom and Strength, he hath Counsel and Understanding; Behold, he breaketh down, &c. And also in the Conclusion ’tis repeated again, Verse 16. With him is Strength and Wisdom; which Solemnity would scarce have been us’d for common Instances of his Power. When God is said to build or pull down, and no Body can build again, ’tis not to be understood of an House or a Town. God builds and unbuilds Worlds; and who shall build up that Arch that was broke down at the Deluge? Where shall they lay the Foundation, or how shall the Mountains be rear’d up again to make Part of the Roof? This is the Fabrick, which when God breaketh down, none can build up again. He withholdeth the Waters, and they dry up: As we shew’d the Earth to have been immoderately chap’d and parch’d before its Dissolution. He sendeth them forth, and they overturn the Earth. What can more properly express the breaking out of the Waters at the Disruption of the Abyss, and the Subversion or Dissolution of the Earth in consequence of it? ’Tis true, this last Passage may be applied to the breaking out of Waters in an ordinary Earthquake, and the Subversion of some Part of the Earth, which often follows upon it; but it must be acknowledg’d, that the Sense is more weighty, if it be referr’d to the great Deluge, and the great Earthquake which laid the World in Ruins and in Water. And philosophical Descriptions in sacred Writings, like Prophecies, have often a lesser and a greater Accomplishment and Interpretation.

I could not pass by this Place without giving this short Explication of it. We proceed now to the second Observation, which is concerning the Style of Scripture, in most of those Places we have cited, and others upon the same Subject. The Reflections that are made in several Parts of the divine Writings, upon the Origin of the World, and the Formation of the Earth, seem to me to be writ in a Style something approaching to the Nature of a prophetical Style, and to have more of a divine Enthusiasm and Elocution in them, than the ordinary Text of Scripture; the Expressions are lofty, and sometimes abrupt, and often figurative and disguis’d, as may be observed in most of those Places we have made use of, and particularly in that Speech of Wisdom, Prov. viii. where the 26th Verse is so obscure, that no two Versions that I have yet met with, whether ancient or modern, agree in the Translation of that Verse. And therefore, tho’ I fully believe that the Construction of the first Earth is really intended in those Words; yet seeing it could not be made out clear without a long and critical Discussion of them, I did not think that proper to be insisted upon here. We may also observe, that whereas there is a double Form or Composition of the Earth, that which it had at first, or till the Deluge, and that which it hath since; sometimes the one, and sometimes the other may be glanc’d upon in these Scripture Phrases and Descriptions; and so there may be in the same Discourse an Intermixture of both. And it commonly happens so in an enthusiastick or prophetick Style, that by reason of the Eagerness and Trembling of the Fancy, it doth not always regularly follow the same even Thread of Discourse, but strikes many times upon some other Thing that hath Relation to it, or lies under or near the same view. Of this we have frequent Examples in the Apocalypse, and in that Prophecy of our Saviour’s, Matth. xxiv. concerning the Destruction of Jerusalem, and of the World. But notwithstanding any such Unevenness or Indistinctness in the Style of those Places which we have cited concerning the Origin and Form of the Earth, we may at least make this Remark, that if there never was any other Form of the Earth but the present, nor any other State of the Abyss, than what it is in now, ’tis not imaginable what should give Occasion to all those Expressions and Passages that we have cited; which being so strange in themselves and paradoxical, should yet so much favour, and so fairly comply with our Suppositions. What I have observ’d in another Place, Tell. Theor. lib. 2. c. 6. in treating of Paradise, that the Expressions of the ancient Fathers were very extravagant, if Paradise was nothing but a little Plot of Ground in Mesopotamia, as many of late have fancied, may in like Manner be observ’d concerning the ancient Earth and Abyss; if they were in no other Form nor other State than what they are under now, the Expressions of the sacred Writers concerning them are very strange and unaccountable, without any sufficient Ground, that we know, or any just Occasion for such uncouth Representations. If there was nothing intended or referr’d to in those Descriptions, but the present Form and State of the Earth, that is so well known, that in describing of it there would be nothing dark or mysterious, nor any occasion for Obscurity in the Style or Expression, whereof we find so much in those. So as, all Things consider’d, what might otherwise be made an Exception to some of these Texts alledg’d by us, viz. that they are too obscure, becomes an Argument for us: As implying that there is something more intended by them than the present and known Form of the Earth. And we having propos’d another Form and Structure of the Earth, to which those Characters suit and answer more easily; as this opens and gives Light to those difficult Places, so it may be reasonably concluded to be the very Sense and Notion intended by the holy Writers.