SECT. LXVII. Sand ftops the Sea, and proceeds from it. Bur now, if any one goes farther, and has ever contemplated this dreadful Abyss in its wild Motions, when excited by Storms, or its Waves rifing to incredible Heigths, and threatening to inundate and fwallow the dry Land: Can he then think it is by Chance, that the mad Waves of this terrible Heap of Waters are to this Day contained within its Bounds? And he that has ever feriously and earneftly reflected upon the whole, muft he not entirely juftify the Difcourfe of the Great Creator of all Things, when he fharply rebukes the careless Ifraelites for their Blindness and Dullness in the following manner, by the Prophet Jeremiah, c. v. ver. 21, 22. Hear now this, O foolish People, and without Understanding, which have Eyes and fee not, which have Ears and hear not, fear ye not me? faith the Lord: Will ye not tremble at my Prefence, which have placed the Sand for the Bound of the Sea, by a perpetual Decree that it cannot pass it; and tho' the Waves thereof tofs themselves, yet can they not prevail; tho' they roar, yet can they not pass over. it. Shew any one that has seen a ftormy Sea rolling its Waves in its full Courfe, a handful of Sand; and tell him, that fuch fmall, fuch contemptible Bodies, which one may blow away with ones Mouth, can restrain the Rage of thofe watry Mountains; will he not look upon it as a Wonder: But tell him moreover, that the Sea itself does, according to all Probability, produce that Sand, and thereby becomes itself a Bridle to its own fearful Powers, according to the above-mention'd Experiment of Meffieurs Hook and Plot, where it is fhewn, that by the Evaporation of Salt-Water (which is continually Kk 2 tinually performed by the Heat of the Sun upon the Sea) a great Quantity of Sand is produced. Can he like wife think that a blind and ignorant Nature has bestowed this Property upon the SaltWater of the Sea, and thereby only preferved fuch flourishing Kingdoms and fo many Provinces from Inundations, with cafting up whole Mountains of Sand out of the Sea, in Places that otherwife, by reafon of their Flatnefs and Lownefs, might daily expect to be fwallowed up? Can he look upon the double Sand-banks placed along the Coasts, which are like fo many Walls and Bulwarks against the Incurfion of this all-deftroying Sea-Enemy? Can he observe the oblique Afcent of the Shoar, in order to break the Force of the Sea, or the Heighth of the Downs that lie behind, without being obliged to own, that a great and adorable Engineer has vouchfafed thereby to fortifie this Country against an Invader, powerful beyond Conception, and which affaults them continually? The rather, because one cannot imagine how it fhould be poffible that fuch loofe Heaps of Sand are not entirely fcatter'd by the Winds, when we see so often fuch great Quantities thereof raised up and carried thro' the Air. Again, will any one fay, that it is by mere Chance, that in these dry and barren Sands (which otherwise are hardly capable to produce any Plant) certain Herbs or Weeds do not only grow, but are likewife proper to be tranfplanted, by Means of which thefe Sand-banks are defended againft the fcattering Winds, and the Downs brought and continued in their Places where they can be moft ferviceable? SECT. SECT. LXVIII. The Sea-Weed the Support of Dykes. IN other Places, where the Sand is not in fo great Plenty as in the Zuider-Sea, which is fuppofed to be formed by an Inundation from the Ocean, and which is only bounded by Dykes; Experience fhews, that no better can be found for the making thereof, than that Sea-Weed which we call Wier. Now can any Body imagine, that the Hollanders, in this Cafe, fpeak without Reason or Grounds, when they fetch from thence a Proof of a GoD that preferves their Country? Forafmuch as they fee, that this Weed is produced even by the Sea, in great abundance, and the Dykes thereof are maintained by it. SECT. LXIX. The English Channel preferves YET more; Forafmuch as all this does hardly feem fufficient to fecure our Low-Countries from being buried under the Waters of the great Ocean, can any one imagine, that it is ordered by Chance that the Promontory of France, and that great and noble Island of Great Britain make between 'em a Streight or Channel, which is broad enough for a Fleet of Ships to pass thro', and yet narrow enough to hinder this dreadful Ocean, when it afcends in its Flux, from difcharging with full Strength his watry Mountains upon the Coast of Holland: Since either by wanting too much Time to pass thro' the Channel, it is carried back by a feasonable Ebbing, or, as others think, because the North-Sea growing continually wider on this Side, the Waters that flow thro' the Channel cannot continue at such a Height. Accordingly, Ex Kk 3 perien perience teaches us, that for this last Reason the Tide of Flood runs five or fix Times as high at Calils as in the North-Sea; which is obferved by Mr. Hartfoeker, in his Treatife of Natural Philofophy. SECT. LXX. The Caufe of Ebbing and Flowing omitted. WE fhall pass by the famous and great Motion of the Sea in its Flux and Reflux, or Ebbing and Flowing, as well as others that are not lefs wonderful; forafmuch, as the Caufes thereof feem to be kept among the infcrutable Secrets of the Creator; referring those that defire farther Informations, to the Opinion of the great Naturalifts, fome of which feem to carry along with them a great deal of Probability. This is certain, that the Waters of the Sea, under the Moon, or nearly under it, do on both fides of the Globe raise an exceeding great and convex Mountain, which daily furrounds the Earth. Now, that this cannot happen without disturbing the Sea, even in its deepest Cavities and Abyffes, is plain enough. Mr. Mariotte has fhewn (in his Book Du Movement des Eaux, p. 217, &c.) experimentally, that in running Waters, unless fome particular Occafion intervenes, the Water at or near the upper Superficies, runs much fwifter than that in the middle, or at the bottom; for which reafon, in great Depths of the Sea, notwithstanding the Currents and Motions that may prevail at Top, it is credible, that the loweft Waters are quite ftill, or move but very little; fo that the fame having ftagnated for fo many Ages, might eafily be corrupted. Now, Now, whether the Great Ruler does not likewife make use of thofe Motions and Toffing of the Waves, to preserve the Sea-Water from Čorruption, even to the very Bottom of them, to keep the Fishes and other Creatures alive, and the Air it felf pure and fweet, which might otherwife be infected thereby, we leave to the Judgment of the Learned At least 'tis well enough known, how very useful the Flowing and Ebbing of the Sea is to Mariners, particularly, when they fail out or into their Havens, where otherwise there might be great Danger. You will fee below, in Contemplation XXV. fomething more relating to this great Phænomenon. SECT. LXXI. Water beftowed in fuch great abundance, and for fo many Ages gratis, to Living Crea tures. BEFORE We quite leave this Subject, let us in the laft place, befeech all unhappy Philofophers, feriously to confider, that this Water, which brings along with it fo great and fo many Advantages, is to be found in fuch great Plenty, and to be procured by those that want it, almoft in all Places, for nothing. Cannot we fee herein the Goodness of the Giver! And he that knows not how fufficiently to value the Benefit, let him only reprefent to himself the exceeding Trouble and Concern that all Men are in when they apprehend a Scarcity thereof, as it happens fometimes in befieged Towns, and to the Ship's Company in a long Voyage. But befides this, does not the Wifdom of a Divine Direction appear herein, that this Water is always abounding, and never fails, notwithstanding that we might juftly fear, that confidering all the Occafions whereby the Water Kk 4 may |