Confect. 2.

fupra.

and rendring it more agreeable to the laps'd and frail State of Mankind. That this Change was not wrought by altering either the Form of the Earth, or its Pofition in refpect of the Sun, as was not long ago furmised by a Learned Man*, but by * Dr.BurDiffolving fit: by Reducing all the net Theory of the Matter of it to its first constituent Earth. Principles by Mingling, and Con- +Vid. founding them, the Vegetative with mineral Matter, and the different Kinds of mineral Matter with each other and by Retrenching a confi- * Part 4. derable Quantity of the vegetable Confect. 3. Matter, (which lay in fuch Plenty and Purity at the Surface of the Antediluvian Earth, and rendred it fo exuberantly fruitful) and Precipitating it, (at the Time of the Subfidence of the general Mafs of Earth *Vid. and other Bodyes, which were before raised up into the Water) to fuch a Depth as to bury it, leaving only fo much of it near the Surface as might juft fufficiently,fatisfy the Wants of bumane Nature, but little or no more; and even that not pure, not free from the Intermixture of meer fteril mineral Matter, and fuch as is

Confect. 3.

Jupra.

inno wife fit for the Nutrition of Vegetables; but fo that it should require Induftry and Labour to excite it, and not yield a competent Crop without Tillage and Manure. That, by this Means, a great Part of that Time, which the Inhabitants of the former Earth had to spare, and whereof they made fo ill Ufe, was employ'd, and taken up in Digging and Plowing, in making Provition for Bread, and for the Neceffities of Life: and that Excefs of Fertility, which contributed fo much to their Miscarriages, was retracted and cut off.

That had the Deluge been aimed only at Mankind, and its utmost Defign meerly to punish that Generation, and thereby to deterr Pofterity from the like Offenfes, this might have been brought about by Means much more compendious, and obvious too, and yet equaly terrifying and exemplary. Mankind, I fay, might have been taken off at a far cheaper Rate; without this Ranfacking of Nature, and Turning all Things topfie-turvy: without this Battering of the Earth, and Unbinging the whole Frame of the Globe. The Business

might have been done as effectualy by Wars; the Heart of every Man of them was in the Hand of God, and he could easily have made them Executioners of his Wrath upon one another. He had the Command of Famine, of Peftilence, and a thousand other Difafters, whereby he could have carry'd them off by Sholes, yea fwept them all clear away. Befides, he had the whole Artillery of the Sky in his Power, and might prefently have Thunder-ftruck them all, or deftroyed them by Fire from Heaven. But none of all these were ufed; though 'tis moft apparent that any of them would have been as fatal and pernicious to Man as the Deluge was. For the Defign lay a great deal deeper and thefe would have fallen fhort of it. Thefe would never have reach'd the Earth: nor affected that in the leaft. They could never have touch'd the Head: or ftopped the Source of thefe unhappy Mifdemeanours, for which the Punishment was fent. That was what nothing but a Deluge could reach; and as long as the Caufe remained: as long as the old Tempta H2

tion

8

tion was ftill behind, every Age would have lain under fresh Inducements to the fame Crimes and there would have been a new Neceffity to Punish and Reclaim the World: to Depopulate the Earth, and Reduce it again to a vaft Solitude, as conftantly as there fucceeded a new Age and Race of Men. For the Terror of the Calamity would not have extended it felf much farther than the Men which fuffer'd under theWeight of it and a few Tears would have worn out, in great meafure, the Impreffions it made. This we fee even from the Example of the Deluge it felf. As formidable as that was to thofe who lived at, or near the Time of it, who faw the prodigious Devaftations it had made, the horrible Methods by which 'twas brought about, and the Reason why 'twas inflicted: and to their Pofterity, for a few Generations 3 the Fright was not lafting: 'twas not long c'er the Sting of it was worn out. And though the Elder Ages knew full well that there had been fuch a Deluge and had fome Tradition of the cruel Defolation it made; yet by

Degrees

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Degrees the Particulars of it were drop'd, and the most frightful Paffages bore the leaft Share in the Relation; being probably fo ftrange as to be hardly credible: and carrying rather an Appearance of Figment and Invention, in thofe that handed down the Memory of it, than of Truth and Reality. So that upon the whole 'tis very plain that the Deluge was not fent only as an Executioner to Mankind: but that its prime Errand was to Re-form and New mold the Earth.

That therefore, as much Harfbness and Cruelty as this great Deftruction of Mankind feemingly carryes along with it as wild and extravagant a Thing as that Diffolution of the pri mitive Earth appear'd at firft Sight; all the Severity lay in the Punishment of that Generation, (which yet was; no more than what was highly just,. yea and neceffary too:) and the whole of the Tragedy terminated there. For the Deftruction of the Earth was not only an Act of the profoundest Wisdom and Forecast, but the most monumental Proof, that could ever poffibly have been

H'3

given,