CHAP. I. THE INTRODVCTION ; An Account of the whole Work ; of the Extent and general Order of it .

SINCE I was first inclin'd to the Contemplation of Nature , and took pleasure to trace out the Causes of Effects , and the dependance of one thing upon another in the visible Creation , I had always , methought , a particular curiosity to look back into the Sources and ORIGINAL of Things ; and to view in my Mind , so far as I was able , the Beginning and Progress of a RISING WORLD .

And after some Essays of this Nature , and , as I thought , not unsuccessful , I carried on my enquiries further , to try whether this Rising World , when form'd and finish'd , would continue always the same ; in the same form , structure , and consistency ; or what changes it would successively undergo , by the continued action of the same Causes that first produc'd it ; And , lastly , what would be its final Period and Consummation . This whole Series and compass of things taken together , I call'd a COURSE OF NATURE , or a SYSTEM OF NATURAL PROVIDENCE ; and thought there was nothing belonging to the External World more fit or more worthy our study and meditation , nor any thing that would conduce more to discover the ways of Divine Providence , and to shew us the grounds of all true knowledge concerning Nature . And therefore to clear up the several parts of this Theory , I was wiling to lay ▪ aside a great many other Speculations , and all those dry subtleties with which the Schools , and the Books of Philosophers are usually fill'd .

But when we speak of a Rising World , and the Contemplation of it , we do not mean this of the Great Universe ; for who can describe the Original of that vast Frame ? But we speak of the Sublundry World , This Earth and its dependencies , which rose out of a Chaos about six thousand years ago ; And seeing it hath faln to our lot to act upon this Stage , to have our present home and residence here , its seems most reasonable , and the place design'd by Providence , where we should first imploy our thoughts to understand the works of God and Nature . We have accordingly therefore design'd in this Work to give an account of the Original of the Earth , and of all the great and General Changes that it hath already undergone , or is hence forwards to undergo , till the Consummation of all Things . For if from those Principles we have here taken , and that Theory we have begun in these Two First Books , we can deduce with success and clearness the Origin of the Earth , and those States of it that are already past ; Following the same Thred , and by the conduct of the same Theory , we will pursue its Fate and History through future Ages , and mark all the great Changes and Conversions that attend it while Day and Night shall last ; that is , so long as it continues an Earth .

By the States of the Earth that are already past , we understand chiefly Paradise and the Deluge ; Names well known and as little known in their Nature . By the Future States we und●rstand the Conslagration , and what new Order of Nature may follow upon that , till the whole Circle of Time and Providence be compleated . As to the first and past States of the Earth , we shall have little help from the Ancients , or from any of the Philosophers , for the discovery or description of them ; We must often tread unbeaten paths , and make a way where we do not find one ; but it shall be always with a Light in our hand , that we may see our steps , and that those that follow us may not follow us blindly . There is no Sect of Philosophers that I know of , that ever gave an account of the Universal Deluge , or discover'd , from the Contemplation of the Earth , that there had been such a thing already in Nature . 'T is true , they often talk of an alternation of Deluges and Conflagrations in this Earth , but they speak of them as things to come ; at least they give no proof or argument of day that hath already destroyed the World . As to Paradise , it seems to be represented to us by the Golden Age ; whereof the Ancients tell many stories , sometimes very luxuriant ; and sometimes very defective : For they did not so well understand the difference betwixt the New-made Earth and the Present , as to see what were the just grounds of the Golden Age , or of Paradise : Tho' they had many broken Notions concerning those things , As to the Conslagration in particular , This hath always been reckon'd One amongst the Opinions or Dogmata of the Stoicks , That the World was to be destroy'd by Fire ; and their Books are full of this Notion ; but yet they do not tell us the Causes of the Conflagration , nor what preparations there are in Nature , or will be , towards that great Change . And we may generally observe this of the Ancients , that their Learning or Philosophy consisted more in Conclusions , than in Demonstrations ; They had many Truths among them , whereof they did not know themselves the Premisses or the Proofs : Which is an argument to me , that the knowledge they had , was not a thing of their own invention , or which they came to by fair Reasoning and observations upon Nature , but was delivered to them from others by Tradition and Ancient Fame , sometimes more publick , sometimes more secret : These Conclusions they kept in Mind , and communicated to those of their School , or Sect , or Posterity , without knowing , for the most part , the just grounds and reasons of them .

'T is the Sacred Writings of Scripture that are the best Monuments of Antiquity , and to those we are chiefly beholden for the History of the First Ages , whether Natural History or Civil . 'T is true , the Poets , who were the most Ancient Writers amongst the Greeks , and serv'd them both for Historians , Divines , and Philosophers , have deliver'd some things concerning the first Ages of the World , that have a fair resemblance of Truth , and some affinity with those accounts that are given of the same things by Sacred Authors , and these may be of use in due time and place ; but yet , lest any thing fabulous should be mixt with them , as commonly there is , we will never depend wholly upon their credit , nor assert any thing upon the authority of the Ancients which is not first prov'd by Natural Reason , or warranted by Scripture .

It seems to me very reasonable to believe , that besides the Precepts of Religion , which are the principal subject and design of the Books of Holy Scripture , there may be providentially conserv'd in them the memory of things and times so remote , as could not be retriev'd , either by History , or by the light of Nature ; and yet were of great importance to be known , both for their own excellency , and also to rectifie the knowledge of men in other things consequential to them : Such points may be , Our great Epocha or the Age of the Earth , The Origination of Mankind , The First and Paradisiacal State , The destruction of the Old World by an Universal Deluge , The Longevity of its Inhabitants , The manner of their preservation , and of their Peopling the Second Earth ; and lastly , The Fate and Changes it is to undergo . These I always lookt upon as the Seeds of great knowledge , or heads of Theories fixt on purpose to give us aim and direction how to pursue the rest that depend upon them . But these heads , you see , are of a mixt order , and we propose to our selves in this Work only such as belong to the Natural World ; upon which I believe the trains of Providence are generally laid ; And we must first consider how God hath order'd Nature , and then how the Oeconomy of the Intellectual World is adapted to it ; for of these two parts consist the full System of Providence . In the mean time , what subject can be more worthy the thoughts of any serious person , than to view and consider the Rise and Fall , and all the Revolutions , not of a Monarchy or an Empire , of the Grecian or Roman State , but of an intire World .

The obscurity of these things , and their remoteness from common knowledge will be made an argument by some , why we should not undertake them ; And by others , it may be , the very same thing will be made an argument why we should ; for my part I think There is nothing so secret that shall not be brought to Light , within the compass of Our World ; for we are not to understand that of the whole Universe , nor of all Eternity , our capacities do not extend so far ; But whatsoever concerns this Sublunary World in the whole extent of its duration , from the Chaos to the last period , this I believe Providence hath made us capable to understand , and will in its due time make it known . All I say , betwixt the first Chaos and the last Completion of Time and all things temporary , This was given to the disquisitions of men ; On either hand is Eternity , before the World and after , which is without our reach : But that little spot of ground that lies betwixt those two great Oceans , this we are to cultivate , this we are Masters of , herein we are to exercise our thoughts , to understand and lay open the Treasures of the Divine Wisdom and Goodness hid in this part of Nature and of Providence .

As for the difficult or obscurity of an argument , that does but add to the pleasure of contesting with it , when there are hopes of victory ; and success does more than recompence all the pains . For there is no sort of joy more greatful to the mind of Man , than that which ariseth from the invention of Truth ; especially when 't is hard to come by . Every Man hath a delight suited to his Genius , and as there is pleasure in the right exercise of any faculty , so especially in that of Right-reasoning ; which is still the greater , by how much the consequences are more clear , and the chains of them more long : There is no Chase so pleasant , methinks , as to drive a Thought , by good conduct , from one end of the World to the other ; and never to lose sight of it till it fall into Eternity , where all things are lost as to our knowledge .

This Theory being chiefly Philosophical , Reason is to be our first Guide ; and where that falls short , or any other just occasion offers it self , we may receive further light and confirmation from the Sacred Writings . Both these are to be lookt upon as of Divine Original , God is the Author of both ; He that made the Scripture made also our Faculties , and t were a reflection upon the Divine Veracity , for the one or the other to be false when rightly us'd . We must therefore be careful and tender of opposing these to one another , because that is , in effect , to oppose God to himself . As for Antiquity and the Testimonies of the Ancients , we only make general reflections upon them , for illustration rather than proof of what we propose ; not thinking it proper for an English Treatise to multiply citations out of Greek or Latin Authors .

I am very sensible it will be much our interest , That the Reader of this Theory should be of an ingenuous and unprejudic'd Temper ; neither does it so much require Book-learning and Scholarship , as good natural sence to distinguish True and false , and to discern what is well prov'd , and what is not . It often happens that Scholastick Education , like a Trade , does so fix a Man in a particular way , that he is not fit to judge of any thing that lies out of that way ; and so his Learning becomes a clog to his natural parts , and makes him more indocile , and more incapable of new thoughts and new improvements , than those that have only the Talents of Nature . As Masters of exercise had rather take a Scholar that never learn'd before , than one that hath had a bad Master ; so generally one would rather chuse a Reader without art , than one ill-instructed ; with Learning , but opinionative and without judgment ; yet it is not necessary they should want either , and Learning well plac'd strengthens all the powers of the Mind . To conclude , just reasoning and a generous love of Truth , whether with or without Erudition , is that which makes us most competent Judges what is True ; and further than this , in the perusal and examination of This Work , as to the Author as much Candor as you please , but as to the Theory we require nothing but attention and impartiality .

CHAP. II. A general account of Noah's Flood ; A computation what quantity of Water would be necessary for the making of it ; that the common Opinion and Explication of that Flood is not intelligible .

'T IS now more than Five Thousand Years since our World was made , and though it would be a great pleasure to the Mind , to recollect and view at this distance those first Scenes of Nature : What the face of the Earth was when fresh and new , and how things differ'd from the state we now find them in , the speculation is so remote , that it seems to be hopeless , and beyond the reach of Humane Wit. We are almost the last Posterity of the First Men , and faln into the dying Age of the World ; by what footsteds or by what guide , can we trace back our way to those First Ages , and the first order of things ? And yet , methinks , it is reasonable to believe , that Divine Providence , which sees at once throughout all the Ages and Orders of the World , should not be willing to keep Mankind finally and fatally ignorant of that part of Nature and of the Universe , which is properly their Task and Province to manage and understand . We are the Inhabitants of the Earth , the Lords and Masters of it ; and we are endow'd with Reason and Understanding ; doth it not then properly belong to us to examine and unfold the Works of God in this part of the Universe , which is faln to our lot , which is our heritage and habitation ? And it will be found , it may be , upon a stricter Enquiry , that in the present form and constitution of the Earth , there are certain marks and Indications of its first State ; with which if we compare those things that are recorded in Sacred History , concerning the first Chaos , Paradise , and an Universal Deluge , we may discover , by the help of those Lights , what the Earth was in its first Original , and what Changes have since succeded in it .

And though we shall give a full account of the Origin of the Earth in this Treatise , yet that which we have propos'd particularly for the Title and Subject of it , is to give an account of the primaeval PARADISE , and of the Universal DELUGE , Those being the two most important things that are explain'd by the Theory we propose . And I must beg leave in treating of these two , to change the Order , and treat first of the Deluge , and then of Paradise : For though the State of Paradise doth precede that of the Flood in Sacred History , and in the nature of the thing , yet the explication of both will be more sensible , and more effectual , if we begin with the Deluge ; there being more Observations and Effects , and those better known to us , that may be refer'd to this , than to the other ; and the Deluge being once truly explain'd , we shall from thence know the Form and Quality of the Ante-diluvian Earth . Let us then proceed to the explication of that great and fatal Inundation , whose History is well known ; and according to Moses , the best of Historians , in a few words is this —

Sixteen Hundred and odd years after the Earth was made , and inhabited , it was over-flow'd , and destroy'd in a Deluge of Water . Not a Deluge that was National only , or over-run some particular Country or Region , as Iudea or Greece , or any other , but it overspread the face of the whole Earth , from Pole to Pole , and from East to West , and that in such excess , that the Floods over-reacht the Tops of the highest Mountains ; the Rains descending after an unusual manner , and the fountains of the Great Deep being broke open ; so as a general destruction and devastation was brought upon the Earth , and all things in it , Mankind and other living Creatures ; excepting only Noah and his Family , who by a special Providence of God was preserv'd in a certain Ark , or Vessel made like a Ship , and such kinds of living Creatures as he took in to him . After these Waters had rag'd for some time on the Earth , they began to lessen and shrink , and the great waves and fluctuations of this Deep or Abysse , being quieted by degrees , the Waters retir'd into their Chanels and Caverns within the Earth ; and the Mountains and Fields began to appear , and the whole habitable Earth in that form and shape wherein we now see it . Then the World began again , and from that little Remnant preserv'd in the Ark , the present race of Mankind , and of Animals , in the known parts of the Earth , were propagated . Thus perish'd the Old World , and the present arose from the ruines and remains of it .

This is a short story of the greatest thing that every yet hapned in the World , the greatest revolution and the greatest change in Nature ; and if we come to reflect seriously upon it , we shall find it extremely difficult , if not impossible , to give an account of the Waters that compos'd this Deluge , whence they came or whither they went . It it had been only the Inundation of a Country , or of a Province , or of the greatest part of a Continent , some proportionable causes perhaps might have been found out ; but a Deluge overflowing the whole Earth : the whole Circuit and whole Extent of it : burying all in Water , even the greatest Mountains : in any known parts of the Universe , to find Water sufficient for this Effect , as it is generally explained and understood , I think is impossible . And that we may the better judge of the whole matter let us first compute how much Water would be requisite for such a Deluge : or to lay the Earth , consider'd in its present form , and the highest Mountains , under Water . Then let 's consider whether such a quantity of Water can be had out of all the stores that we know in Nature : And from these two we will take our Ground and Rise , and begin to reflect , whether the World hath not been hitherto mistaken in the common opinion and explication of the general Deluge .

To discover how much Water would be requisite to make this Deluge , we must first suppose enough to cover the plain surface of the Earth , the Fields and lower Grounds ; then we must heap up so much more upon this , as will reach above the tops of the highest Mountains ; so as drawing a Circle over the tops of the highest Mountains quite round the Earth , suppose from Pole to Pole , and another to meet it round the middle of the Earth , all that space or capacity contin'd within these Circles is to be fill'd up with Water . This I confess will make a prodigious mass of Water , and it looks frightfully to the imagination ; 't is huge and great , but 't is extravagantly so , as a great Monster : It doth not look like the work of God or Nature : However let 's compute a little more particularly how much this will amount to , or how many Oceans of Water would be necessary to compose this great Ocean rowling in the Air , without bounds or banks .

If all the Mountains were par'd off the Earth , and so the surface of it lay even , or in an equal convexity every where with the surface of the Sea , from this surface of the Sea , let us suppose that the height of the Mountains may be a mile and a half ; or that we may not seem at all to favour our own opinion or calculation , let us take a mile only for the perpendicular height of the Mountains . Let us on the other side suppose the Sea to cover half the Earth , as 't is generally believ'd to do ; and the common depth of it , taking one place with another , to be about a quarter of a mile , or 250 paces . I say , taking one place with another , for though the middle Chanel of the great Ocean be far deeper , we may observe , that there is commonly a descent or declivity from the shore to the middle part of the Chanel , so that one comes by degrees into the depth of it ; and those shory parts are generally but some fathoms deep . Besides , in arms of the Sea , in Straits , and among Islands , there is commonly no great depth , and some places are plain shallows . So as upon a moderate computation , one place compar'd with another , we may take a quarter of a mile , or about an hundred fathoms , for the common measure of the depth of the Sea , if we were cast into a Chanel of an equal depth every where . This being suppos'd , there would need four Oceans to lie upon this Ocean , to raise it up to the top of the Mountains , or so high as the Waters of the Deluge rise ; then four Oceans more to lie upon the Land , that the Water there might swell to the same height ; which together make eight Oceans for the proportion of the Water requir'd in the Deluge .

'T is true , there would not be altogether so much Water requir'd for the Land as for the Sea , to raise them to an equal height ; because Mountains and Hills would fill up part of that space upon the Land , and so make less Water requisite . But to compensate this , and confirm our computation , we must consider in the first place , that we have taken a much less height of the Mountains than is requisite , if we respect the Mediterraneous Mountains , or those that are at a great distance from the Sea ; For their height above the surface of the Sea , computing the declivity of the Land all along from the Mountains to the Sea-side ( and that there is such a declivity is manifest from the course and descent of the Rivers ) is far greater than the proportion we have taken : The height of Mountains is usually taken from the foot of them , or from the next Plain , which if it be far from the Sea , we may reasonably allow as much for the declension of the Land from that place to the Sea , as for the immediate height of the Mountain ; So , for instance , the Mountains of the Moon in Africa , whence the Nile flows , and after a long course falls into the Mediterranean Sea by Egypt , are so much higher than the surface of that Sea , first , as the Ascent of the Land is from the Sea to the foot of the Mountains , and then as the height of the Mountains is from the bottom to the top : For both these are to be computed when you measure the height of a Mountain , or of a mountainous Land , in respect of the Sea : And the height of Mountains to the Sea being thus computed , there would be need of six or eight Oceans to raise the Sea alone as high as the highest In-land Mountains ; And this is more than enough to compensate the less quantity of Water that would be requisite upon the Land . Besides , we must consider the Regions of the Air upwards to be more capacious than a Region of the same thickness in or near the Earth , so as if an Ocean pour'd upon the surface of the dry Land , supposing it were all smooth , would rise to the height of half a quarter of a mile every where ; the like quantity of Water pour'd again at the height of the Mountains , would not have altogether the same effect , or would not there raise the mass half a quarter of a mile higher ; for the surfaces of a Globe , the farther they are from their Center , are the greater ; and so accordingly the Regions that belong to them . And , lastly , we must consider that there are some Countries or Valleys very low , and also many Caverns or Cavities within the Earth , all which in this case were to be first fill'd with Water . These things being compar'd and estimated , we shall find that notwithstanding the room that Hills and Mountains take up on the dry Land , there would be at least eight Oceans requir'd , or a quantity of Water eight times as great as the Ocean , to bring an Universal Deluge upon the Earth , as that Deluge is ordinarily understood and explained .

The proportion of Water for the Deluge being thus stated , the next thing to be done , is to enquire where this Water is to be found ; if any part of the Sublunary World will afford us so much : Eight Oceans floating in the Air , make a great bulk of Water , I do not know what possible Sources to draw it from . There are the Clouds above , and the Deeps below and in the bowels of the Earth ; and these are all the stores we have for Water ; and Moses directs us to no other for the Causes of the Deluge . The Fountains ( he saith ) of the great Abysse were broken up , or burst asunder , and the Rain descended for forty days , the Cataracts or Floodgates of Heaven being open'd . And in these two , no doubt , are contain'd the causes of the great Deluge , as according to Moses , so also according to reason and necessity ; for our . World affords no other treasures of Water . Let us therefore consider how much this Rain of Forty Days might amount to , and how much might flow out of the Abysse , that so we may judge whether these two in conjunction would make up the Eight Oceans which we want .

As for the Rains , they would not afford us one Ocean , nor half an Ocean , nor the tenth part of an Ocean , if we may trust to the Observations made by others concerning the quantity of Water that falls in Rain . Cog. Phys. Mech . p. 221. Mersennus gives us this account of it . It appears by our Observations , that a Cubical Vessel of Brass , whereof we made use , is fill'd an inch and an half in half an hours time ; but because that sucks up no●hing of the moisture as the Earth doth , let us take an inch for half an hours Rain ; whence it follows , that in the space of 40 days and nights Rain , the Waters in the Deluge would rise 160 feet , At. 4 feet in 24 hours . if the Rains were constant and equal to ours , and that it rain'd at once throughout the face of the whole Earth . But the Rain of the Deluge , saith he , should have been 90 times greater than this , to cover , for instance , the Mountains of Armenia , or to reach 15 Cubits above them . So that according to his computation , the 40 days Rain would supply little more than the hundredth part of the Water requisite to make the Deluge . 'T is true , he makes the heighth of the Mountains higher than we do ; but , however , if you temper the Calculation on all sides as much as you please , the water that came by this Rain would be a very inconsiderable part of what was necessary for a Deluge . If it rain'd 40 days and 40 nights throughout the face of the whole Earth , in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere all at once , it might be sufficient to lay all the lower grounds under water , but it would signifie very little as to the over-flowing of the Mountains . Whence another Author upon the same occasion hath this passage . Auct . cat . in Gen. 7. 4. If the Deluge had been made by Rains only , there would not have needed 40 days , but 40 years Rain to have brought it to pass . And if we should suppose the whole middle Region condens'd into water , it would not at all have been sufficient for this effect , according to that proportion some make betwixt Air and Water ; for they say , Air turn'd into Water takes up a hundred times less room than it did before . The truth is , we may reasonably suppose , that all the vapours of the middle Region were turn'd into water in this 40 days and 40 nights Rain , if we admit , that this Rain was throughout the whole Earth at once , in either Hemisphere , in every Zone , in every Climate , in every Country , in every Province , in every Field ; and yet we see what a small proportion all this would amount to .

Having done then with these Superiour Regions , we are next to examine the Inferiour , and the treasures of water that may be had there . Moses tells us , that the Fountains of the great Abysse were broke open , or clove asunder , as the word there us'd doth , imply ; and no doubt in this lay the great mystery of the Deluge , as will appear when it comes to be rightly understood and explain'd ; but we are here to consider what is generally understood by the great Abysse , in the common explication of the Deluge ; and 't is commonly interpreted either to be the Sea , or Subterraneous waters hid in the bowels of the Earth : These , they say , broke forth and rais'd the waters , caus'd by the Rain , to such an height , that together they overflowed the highest Mountains . But whether or how this could be , deserves to be a little examin'd .

And in the first place ; the Sea is not higher than the Land , as some have formerly imagin'd ; fansying the Sea stood , as it were , upon a heap , higher than the shore ; and at the Deluge a relaxation being made , it overflow'd the Land . But this conceit is so gross , and so much against reason and experience , that none I think of late have ventur'd to make use of it . And yet on the other hand , if the Sea lie in an equal convexity with the Land , or lower generally than the shore , and much more than the midland , as it is certainly known to do , what could the Sea contribute to the Deluge ? It would keep its Chanel , as it doth now ; and take up the same place . And so also the Subterraneous waters would lie quiet in their Cells ? whatsoever Fountains or passages you suppose , these would not issue out upon the Earth , for water doth not ascend , unless by force . But le ts imagine then that force us'd and appli'd , and the waters both of the Sea and Caverns under ground drawn out upon the surface of the Earth , we shall not be any whit the nearer for this ; for if you take these waters out of their places , those places must be fill'd again with other waters in the Deluge ; so as this turns to no account upon the whole . If you have two Vessels to fill , and you empty one to fill the other , you gain nothing by that , there still remains one Vessel empty , you cannot have these waters both in the Sea and on the Land , both above ground and under ; nor can you suppose the Chanel of the Sea would stand gaping without water , when all the Earth was overflow'd , and the tops of the Mountains cover'd . And so for Subterraneous Cavities , if you suppose the water pumpt out , they would suck it in again when the Earth came to be laid under water ; so that upon the whole , if you thus understand the Abysse or great Deep , and the breaking open its Fountains in this manner , it doth us no service as to the Deluge , and where we expected the greatest supply , there we find none at all .

What shall we do then ? whither shall we go to find more than seven Oceans of water that we still want ? We have been above and below ; we have drain'd the whole middle Region , and we have examin'd the Deeps of the Earth ; they must want for themselves , they say , if they give us any ; And , besides , if the Earth should disgorge all the water that it hath in its bowels , it would not amount to above half an Ocean , which would not at all answer our occasions . Must we not then conclude , that the common explication of the Deluge makes it impossible ? there being no such quantity of water in Nature as they make requisite for an universal Deluge . Yet to give them all fair play , having examin'd the waters above the Earth or in the Air , the waters upon the Earth , and the waters under the Earth ; let us also consider if there be not waters above the Heavens , and if those might not be drawn down for the Deluge . Moses speaks of waters above the firmament , which though it be generally understood of the middle Region of the Air , yet some have thought those to be waters plac'd above the highest Heavens , or Super-celestial waters : and have been willing to make use of them for a supply , when they could not find materials enough under the Heavens to make up the great mass of the Deluge . But the Heavens above , where these waters lay , are either solid , or fluid ; if solid , as Glass or Crystal , how could the waters get through 'em to descend upon the Earth ? If fluid , as the Air or Aether , how could the waters rest upon them ? For Water is heavier than Air or Aether ; So that I am afraid those pure Regions will prove no fit place for that Element , upon any account . But supposing these waters there , how imaginary soever , and that they were brought down to drown the World in that vast quantity that would be necessary , what became of them , when the Deluge ceas'd ; Seven or eight Oceans of water , with the Earth wrapt up in the middle of them , how did it ever get quit of them ? how could they be dispos'd of when the Earth was to be dri'd , and the World renew'd ? It would be a hard task to lift them up again among the Spheres , and we have no room for them here below . The truth is , I mention this opinion of the Heavenly waters , because I would omit none that had ever been made use of to make good the common explication of the Deluge ; but otherwise , I think , since the System of the World hath been better known , and the Nature of the Heavens , there are none that would seriously assert these Super-celestial waters , or , at least , make use of them so extravagantly , as to bring them down hither for causes of the Deluge .

We have now employ'd our last and utmost endeavours to find out waters for the vulgar Deluge , or for the Deluge as commonly understood ; and you see with how little success ; we have left no corner unsought , where there was any appearance or report of water to be found , and yet we have not been able to collect the eighth part of what was necessary upon a moderate account . May we not then with assurance conclude , that the World hath taken wrong measures hitherto in their notion and explication of the general Deluge ? They make it impossible and unintelligible upon a double account , both in requiring more water than can be found , and more than can be dispos'd of , if it was found : or could any way be withdrawn from the Earth when the Deluge should cease . For if the Earth was encompass'd with eight Oceans of water heapt one upon another , how these should retire into any Chanels , or be drain'd off , or the Earth any way disengag'd from them , is not intelligible ; and that in so short a time as some months : For the violence of the Deluge lasted but four or five months , and in as many months after the Earth was dry and habitable . So as upon the whole enquiry , we can neither find source nor issue , beginning nor ending , for such an excessive mass of Waters as the Vulgar Deluge requir'd ; neither where to have them , nor if we had them , how to get quit of them . And I think men cannot do a greater injury or injustice to Sacred History , than to give such representations of things recorded there , as make them unintelligible and incredible ; And on the other hand , we cannot deserve better of Religion and Providence , than by giving such fair accounts of all things propos'd by them , or belonging to them , as may silence the Cavils of Atheists , satisfie the inquisitive , and recommend them to the belief and acceptance of all reasonable persons .