[ 4 + 3 
Received September 24, 1766. 
IV. An Attempt to account fo r the uni- 
verfal Deluge , by Edward King, Efq\ of 
Lincoln’s-Inn, F. R . S. 
t.f ■ * * - 1 
Read Jan. 22. FTER fo many conjectures as 
,767 ’ h ave ^ een already formed con- 
cerning the caufe of the univerfal deluge, it may 
perhaps appear both impertinent to attempt a new 
folution, and alfo ufelefs, as theories formed on 
mere hypothecs are always uncertain, and little to be 
depended upon. But if we give them no more weight 
than they deferve, and, ceniidering them only as fmall 
Steps towards the investigation of truth, do not defire 
any further affent to our conclufions than the proba- 
bility on which they are founded demands, even fuch 
kind of enquiries may be of Service, and open a door 
to new difcoveries. 
Where we cannot arrive at demonftration we mull 
be content with probability. Our defpair of attaining 
the one ought not to make us negleCt the other. 
And with regard to this remarkable event, the 
univerfal deluge, every degree of probability, even 
the fmalleft, that appears in an attempt to account for 
it philosophically, has its ufe* as it tends to remove 
thofe objections that are made to the truth of the SaCt, 
by perfons who may not think the mere relation of it 
in the Mofaic writings a Sufficient proof of the reality 
of it 4 or who may be led, from the difficulty there 
appears 
