DEPRAVITY OF MAN. 



129 



laneum were completely overwhelmed and burie 1 

 uncier ground by an eruption of Vesuvius, and 

 the spots on which they stood remained unknown 

 for 1600 years. Since that period, about 40 

 eruptions have taken place, each of them pro- 

 ducincr the most dreadful ravages. But the 

 volcanoes of Asia and America are still more 

 terrible and destructive than those of Europe. 

 The voicanic mountain Pichinca, near Q,uito, 

 caused, on one occasion, the destruction of 

 55,000 inhabitants. In the year 1772, an erup 

 tion of a mountain in the island of Java destroyed 

 40 villages, and several thousands of the inhabit 

 ants ; and in October, 1822, eighty-eight ham 

 lets, and above 2000 persons, were destroyed in 

 the same island, by a sudden eruption from a 

 new volcano. The eruption of Tomboro, in the 

 island of Sumbawa, in 1815, was so dreadful, 

 that all the Moluccas, Java, Sumatra, and Bor 

 neo, to the distance of a thousand miles from 

 the mountain, felt tremulous motions, and heard 

 the report of explosions. In Java, at the dis 

 tance of 340 miles, the clouds of ashes from the 

 volcano produced utter darkness. 



Volcanoes are more numerous than is gene 

 rally imagined. They are to be found in every 

 quarter of the world, from the icy shores of 

 Kamtschatka to the mountains of Patagonia. 

 Humboldt enumerates 40 volcanoes constantly 

 burning, between Cotopaxi and the Pacific 

 ocean ; 20 have been observed in the chain of 

 mountains that stretches along Kamtschatka; 

 and many of them are to be seen in the Phillip- 

 pines, the Moluccas, the Cape de Verd, the 

 Sandwich, the Ladrone, and other islands in the 

 Indian and Pacific oceans. It is stated in vol. 

 6th of Sup. to Ency. Brit, lately published, that 

 about 205 volcanoes are known, including only 

 those which have been active within a period to 

 which history or tradition reaches. Europe 

 contains 14 ; and, of the whole number, it is 

 computed, that 107 are in islands and 98 on the 

 great continents. 



Can we then suppose, that so many engines 

 of terror and destruction, dispersed over every 

 quarter of the globe, are consistent with the con 

 duct of a benevolent Creator to wards an innocent 

 race of men ? If so, we must either admit that 

 the Creator had it not in his power, when ar 

 ranging our terrestrial system, to prevent the oc 

 casional action of these dreadful ravagers, or that 

 he is indifferent to the happiness of his innocent 

 offspring. The former admission is inconsistent 

 with the idea of his omnipotence, and the latter 

 with the idea of his universal benevolence. It 

 is not therefore, enthusiasm, but the fairest de 

 duction of reason to conclude, that they are in 

 dications of God s displeasure against a race of 

 transgressors who have apostatized from his 

 laws. 



S. The same reasoning will apply to the ra 

 vages produced by earthquakes. Next to volca 



noes, earthquakes are the most terrific phenome 

 na of nature, and are even far more destructive 

 to man, and to the labours of his hands. An 

 earthquake, which consists in a sudden motion 

 of the earth, is generally preceded DV a rum 

 bling sound, sometimes like that of a number of 

 carriages driving furiously along the pavement 

 of a street, sometimes like the rushing noise of a 

 mighty wind, and sometimes like the explosions 

 of artillery. Their effect on the surface of the 

 earth is various. Sometimes it is instanta 

 neously heaved up in a perpendicular direction, 

 and sometimes it assumes a kind of rolling mo 

 tion, from side to side. The ravages which 

 earthquakes have produced, are terrible beyond 

 description ; and are accomplished almost in a 

 moment. In 1692, the city of Port-Royal, in 

 Jamaica, was destroyed by an earthquake, in the 

 space of two minutes, and the houses sunk into 

 a gulf forty fathoms deep. In 1693, an earth 

 quake happened in Sicily, which either destroyed, 

 or greatly damaged, fifty-four cities, and an in 

 credible number of villages. The city of Cata 

 nia was utterly overthrown : the sea all of a sud 

 den began to roar ; mount ^Etna to send forth 

 immense spires of flame ; and immediately a 

 shock ensued, as if all the artillery in the world 

 had been discharged. The birds flew about as 

 tonished ; the sun was darkened ; the beasts ran 

 howling from the hills ; a dark cloud of dust 

 covered the air ; and, though the shock did not 

 last three minutes, yet nineteen thousand of the 

 inhabitants of the city perished in the ruins. 

 This shock extended to a circumference of 7000 

 miles. 



Earthquakes have been producing their ra 

 vages in various parts of the world, and in every 

 age. Pliny informs us, that 12 cities in Asia 

 Minor were swallowed up in one night. In 

 the year 115, the city of Antioch, and a great 

 part of the adjacent country, were buried by an 

 earthquake. About 300 years after, it was 

 again destroyed, along with 40,000 inhabitants ; 

 and, after an interval of only 60 years, it was a 

 third time overturned, with the loss of not less 

 than 60,000 souls. In 1755, Lisbon was de 

 stroyed by an earthquake, and it buried under its 

 ruins above 50,000 inhabitants. The effects of 

 this terrible earthquake were felt over the greater 

 part of Europe and Africa, and even in the 

 midst of the Atlantic ocean ; and are calculated 

 to have extended over a space of not less than 

 four millions of square miles. In August, 1822, 

 two-thirds of the city of Aleppo, which con 

 tained 40,000 houses, and 200,000 inhabitants, 

 were destroyed by an earthquake, and nearly 

 thirty thousand inhabitants were buried under 

 the ruins. To suppose that the human beings 

 who have been victims to the ravages of earth 

 quakes and volcanoes, &quot; were sinners above al. 

 those who dwelt around them,&quot; would be t 

 height of impiety and presumption. But, 



