20 HISTORY OF 



ried on with more vigour ; and all nature seemed 

 teeming with the seeds of life. But these physi- 

 cal advantages were only productive of moral 

 evil ; the warmth which invigorated the body in- 

 creased the passions and appetites of the mind ; 

 and, as a man became more powerful, he grew 

 less innocent. It was found necessary to punish 

 his depravity ; and all living creatures, except the 

 fishes, who, living in a cold element, were not sub- 

 ject to a similitude of guilt, were overwhelmed by 

 the deluge in universal destruction. 



This deluge, which simple believers are willing 

 to ascribe to a miracle, philosophers have long 

 been desirous to account for by natural causes : 

 they have proved that the earth could never sup- 

 ply from any reservoir towards its centre, nor the 

 atmosphere by any discharge from above, such a 

 quantity of water as would cover the surface of 

 the globe to a certain depth over the tops of our 

 highest mountains. Where, therefore, was all 

 this water to be found? Whistonhas found enough, 

 and more than a sufficiency, in the tail of a comet ; 

 for he seems to allot comets a very active part in 

 the great operations of nature. 



He calculates, with great seeming precision, 

 the year, the month, and the day of the week on 

 which this comet (which has paid the earth some 

 visits since, though at a kinder distance) involv- 

 ed our globe in its tail. The tail he supposed to 

 be a vaporous fluid substance, exhaled from the 

 body of the comet by the extreme heat of the 

 sun, and increasing in proportion as it approach- 

 ed that great luminary. It was in this that our 



