20 A HISTORY OF 



and tlie^e could not mount again after the surface of the earth was 

 consolidated : they, therefore, surrounded the heavy first descending 

 parts, in the same manner as these surround the central globe. Thus 

 the entire body of the earth is composed internally of a great burn- 

 ing globe ; next which is placed a heavy terrene substance, that en- 

 compasses it ; round which also is circumfused a body of water. Up- 

 on this body of water, the crust of earth, which we inhabit, is placed : 

 so that, according to him, the globe is composed of a number of coats, 

 or shells, one within the other, all of different densities. The body 

 of the earth being thus formed, the air, which is the lightest substance 

 of all, surrounded its surface ; and the beams of the sun, darting 

 through, produced that light which, we are told, first obeyed the Cre- 

 ator's command. 



The whole economy of the creation being thus adjusted, it only re- 

 mained to account for the risings and depressions on the surface of the 

 earth, with the other seeming irregularities of its present appearance. 

 The hills and valleys are considered by him as formed by their press- 

 ing upon the internal fluid, which sustains the outward shell of earth, 

 with greater or less weight : those parts of the earth which are hea- 

 viest sink into the subjacent fluid more deeply, and become valleys : 

 those that are lightest, rise higher upon the earth's surface, and are 

 called mountains. 



Such was the face of nature before the deluge ; the earth was then 

 more fertile and populous than it is at present ; the life of man and 

 animals was extended to ten times its present duration ; and all these 

 advantages arose from the superior heat of the central globe, which 

 ever since has been cooling. As its heat was then in full power, the 

 genial principle was also much greater than at present ; vegetation 

 and animal increase were carried on with more vigour ; and all nature 

 seemed teeming with the seeds of life. But these physical advan- 

 tages were only productive of moral evil ; the warmth which invigo- 

 rated the body increased the passions and appetites of the mind ; and, 

 as man became more powerful he grew less innocent. It was found 

 necessary to punish this depravity ; and all living creatures were over- 

 whelmed by the deluge in universal destruction. 



This deluge, which simple believers are willing to ascribe to a mira- 

 cle, philosophers have long been desirous to account for by natural 

 causes : they have proved that the earth could never supply from 

 any reservoir towards its centre, nor the atmosphere by any dis- 

 charge from above, such a quantity of water as would cover the sur- 

 face of the globe to a certain depth over the tops of tmr highest 

 mountains. Where, therefore, was all this water to be found ? 

 Whiston has 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) involved 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 increas- 

 ing in proportion as it approached that great luminary. It was in this 



