cm r 
determicd. proceeds to give fome account of the Changes that nave ha'ppcw ~ 
ned to the Earth fjnce the general De'uge, as, the breaking off cf feme 
Iflands former]) Jo)ncd to the Continent, fome Places gained from the Sea, 
others covcr'd by ic. Other Changes happening to the Earth, by the finking 
of Mountains, Changes by Earthquakes, where he touches upon that lately 
happening in Jamaica, &nd that in England in Sept. laft, of which he obferves 
the confiderable Circumfiances out of a Letter from Dr. Robinf>n, and as to 
Earthquakes in Er gland, that they have been very fhort, and finifht at one 
Explofion, an Argument that the Cavities wherein the eofiamed matter is 
contained are here very uarrow. Other Changes have been caufed in the- 
Earth by extraordinary Floods, from long and continual Rains, others by boi- 
flerous Winds, and the like, which with fome Remarks, that the Earth docs 
not proceed fo fa ft towards the levelling and general Inundation, as the force - 
of thefe Caufes feem to require : Concludes this fecood Difccurfe. 
The Third Difcourfe being more Theological, and lefs related to the defign 
of thefe Traffs, I (hall be the more brief in the account thereof, and waving 
the beginning thereof, (hall only obferve, that our Author, in order to prove 
his AlTertion of a general Dijfolution by Fire, befides Scripture-proofs, and the 
Opinions of the Primitive Fathers, brings feveral frcm the ancient Philosophers? 
whofe Opinions were, that the D-hTolution of the World fhould be by Water 
and Fire, alternately at certain Periods 5 the Gods themfelvcs not being free 
from thefe Cataftrophts. Coming in the next place to the Queftion, Whether 
there be any thing in Nature that may probably caufe or argue a future Di- 
lution i He grants to the -eripatetic^s, that fuppofihg the ordinary Ccncourfe 
of God with Second Caufes, the World might endure for ever, there being 
no fuch Decay in Nature as might argue the contrary. Proceeding to Par- 
ticulars, he examines the four probkhie Caufes of fuch a Diffolution ; firft, as 
to the pofTibility of the Water, in prccefs of time, overflowisg the Earth - 9 
from the Steeple of Craich, in the Pea^ of Derbyfhire, ( formerly not to be feenr 
at a certaindift.ance,but now vifible,by the finking of an iuterpofedHii],which 
theRains have gradually leflened and wafh'd dowa; with fome other Obfervati- 
ons of the like Nature) he argues, that the Waters may at Iaft level the whole 
Earth, and bring a total Subversion thereof , to which purpofc is inferted a 
large Quotation out of Joftpku Blanc &nu&. For a fecond caufe he aliedges 
the Extinction of the Sun, inftancing in fome Observations of unufudl defects • 
and palenefs or the Sun for a confiderable time, and thinks it not impoflible 
but the Matulce Sotares may fo far prevail, as wholly to rob us of his receflary 
Influence. For a third Caufe he brings the Eruption of the Central Fire, the 
pofTibility whereof he argues, particularly from new Stars appearing and dis- 
appearing, which Bhtnomemn he thinks may be fo folved. A fourth Caufe 
may be the dryness and inflammability of the Earth in the Torrid Sme, where 
by the way he explains what Fire is, and in the end rejscts this Caufe as fa. 
fufficienr. ' Coming to that Queftion, How this Di Ablution will be effected » 
-he anfwers, By Fire, and concludes it will be after a miraculous way, fudden- 
ly, &c. Redetermines not the Time, but allows it polTib'y at a great di- 
fiance, and thinks it likely, that it will be a Renovation, and not an utter 
Annihilation, which he proves frcm feveral old Writers, And fo much for 
the PhilofopiikaJ part of this Tnciifr 
