SINCE I have resolv'd to be as short as possible in this Rejoinder, and have ever determin'd with my self to avoid all Heat and Passion; all Recriminations and per­sonal Reflections; which I look upon as Things unworthy of the Professors of the Peace­able and Charitable Religion of our Saviour; as Immoralities in Philosophers, and Crimes in Chri­stians: I shall therefore wave all things in Mr. Keill's Defence which might occasion any Reflections of that nature, and endeavour only to debate the Matters in dispute between us with all the Calmness and Fairness possible. And as wherever I am convinc'd by his Reasons, I shall freely own it; so it is but Equal that I expect the same of him upon the same Occasions. Only He must give me leave to say, That the Reason of my Surprize at His appearing in Publick against me, was not any Special Obligations I thought him under to me; but his having declar'd his Satis­faction with the principal Assertion, nay the main Foundation of my Theory, viz. That a [Page 2] Comet pass'd by the Earth at the Deluge. After which Concession I could not, I thought, ex­pect an Opposition in Print to my Book from him. I will repeat Mr. Keill's Words at large, in the beginning of his former Remarks, and Appeal to the Candid Reader, whether I had not some reason to be surpriz'd. ‘I cannot but acknowledge, says Mr. Keill, that the Author of the New Theory of the Earth, has made greater Discoveries, and proceeded on more Philosophical Principles, than all the Theorists before him have done. In his Theory there are some very strange Co-incidents, which make it indeed probable, That a Comet at the time of the Deluge pass'd by the Earth. It is surprizing to ob­serve the exact Correspondence between the Lunar and Solar Year, upon the Supposition of a Circular Orbit, in which the Earth mov'd before the Deluge. It cannot but raise admiration in us, when we consider, that the Earth at the Time of the Deluge was in its Perihelion, which would be the necessary Effect of a Comet that passed by at that time, in drawing it from a Circular to an Elliptical Orbit. This, together with the Considera­tion that the Moon was exactly in such a place of its Orbit at that time, as equally attracted with the Earth, when the Comet pass'd by, seems to be a very convincing Argument that a Comet really came very near, and pass'd by the Earth, on the day the Deluge began.’ But to leave this Preface, and to come to the Matters themselves in dispute between us.

[Page 3]In the First place therefore, because Moses at the beginning of the Six days Creation, says, That Darkness was upon the face of the Deep; whereas the Atmosphere of a Comet, which I suppose to be the Chaos here meant, is a transpa­rent Fluid while it is such: Mr. Keill argued, that this transparent Atmosphere could not be the dark Abyss of Moses. Now what I answer'd was, That Moses did not concern himself with the ancient State of the Chaos, but only with its State at the Commencing of his Creation: at which time it would be a dark Abyss in the pro­perest sense, and highest degree imaginable. Now all that Mr. Keill adds about this matter (whether as to the light and shining of the Cen­tral Solid, and his Calculations thereto relating: As to the Change from a Pellucid to an Opake Fluid: or as to the Restraint of the word Abyss to the Dense Fluid alone) might have been omit­ted, if he had first rightly understood and con­sider'd the Propositions in the New Theory, where these Matters were explain'd already. For certainly, though the Central Solid were as luminous as the Sun it self; yet to a Spectator, plac'd in so thick a Mist, there could no more of its Light from within, than of the Sun's from without, appear: Though truly the Calculations here suppose (1.) the Earth, when a Comet to have mov'd as near the Sun as the last; where­as perhaps no other ever did so besides. (2.) The Heat of its own Nucleus the main Cause of its Tail; which is utterly false, and never imagin'd by me. And (3.) The Spectator at only Ten Miles distance from the Nucleus, when he must have been as many Hundreds at least: and so are wholly groundless, and my Theory not at all [Page 4] concern'd in them. Besides; though All the Upper parts of the Atmosphere of a Comet, through which we see the Fix'd Stars, is Trans­parent; yet the Lowest part next the Nucleus, or Dense Body, seems Opake and Dark; like a very thick Mist; so as to hide the Nucleus it self from our sight, and cause Darkness upon the Face of the Deep. For the Changes which some ob­serve in the Nucleus of Comets, are to be sup­pos'd not in the Solid Body, but in the Cloudy Bottom of the Atmosphere, which next encom­passes the Nucleus. And this Darkness upon the Face of the Deep might continue till the Comet was grown Cold, and all the Denser part of the Atmosphere was Subsided: and be greatest while those Denser parts were in a State of Coagula­tion and Subsiding. 'Tis also evident in my Book that I ascribe the Changes of the Chaos to the Operations of the Spirit of God introducing such Laws of Bodies by which the Earth would first be form'd, and its Phaenomena ever after be go­vern'd. And 'tis sure no hard interpretation to include all that Fluid Region beneath the Earth's Future Surface under the term Abyss; though after the Separation of the Earthy Parts, and their Consolidation, the Dense Fluid may most properly go by that Name: And upon the Face of the Abyss there was at first Darkness, and that succeeded by Light, according to the exact De­scription of Moses; and according to the Solu­tion of the First Day's work in the New The­ory.

My next Answer was to Mr. Keill's Objection against the sudden Formation of the Earth in a few years time by the Laws of Mechanism. For since, says he, the Confusions of the Comet's [Page 5] Atmosphere seem to arise from the Violence of the Heat in its Perihelion; as that Heat gradu­ally decreas'd, (which would not be under ma­ny Hundreds, or perhaps Thousands of Years) the Confusions would cease also; and the Sub­sidence and Mechanical Formation be com­pleated proportionably in the same time, and not sooner; contrary to my Theory. My An­swer to this was, it seems, by me so obscurely express'd, that Mr. Keill could not apprehend my meaning: Which therefore I shall endea­vour to explain more distinctly thus. I deny that all the Confusions of a Comet's Atmosphere are owing to the Heat at the Perihelion; and I also affirm, That since Astronomers find by Ob­servation, that upon a Comet's return to the So­lar Regions, the Atmosphere does still return, and is not at all settled and formed like a Planet, I must have contradicted that Observation if I had ascrib'd the Formation of our Earth to such a gradual and tedious Operation. In short: My Chaos was a Comet's Atmosphere. Such an At­mosphere does not Subside in the Period about the Sun; and consequently Mr. Keill, who makes that an Objection against me, is mistaken, and the Formation of the Earth is to be ascribed to other Causes, and perfected by other Measures than he here imagines; and so for ought that appears, by those assign'd in my Theory. I had said,Vind. p. 4, 5. that All the same Laws, Properties, and Operations of Bodies, which we find establish'd here on Earth, do not so Universally obtain in the Atmo­sphere of Comets. Which Assertion Mr. Keill is surpriz'd at, and endeavours to Expose. Now in this Case I would desire Mr. Keill to shew how, according to the Laws of Bodies with us, [Page 6] that so Thin Atmosphere of a Comet can sustain, at the distance of so many Thousand Miles from its Center, such Clouds or Opake Masses as it frequently does. Nay, if we come to the Pla­nets, which appear to be Bodies so like to our Earth, as to require the same general Measures and Laws in them; we may find such a Ring about Saturn, as 'twill be hard to account for by the Mechanical Laws upon our Earth. Sure there is no reason to imagine that, because God has been pleas'd to fix several arbitrary Laws, and Powers of Bodies resulting from them, in our little System; that therefore he has confin'd himself to ordain no others in different ones. To give an instance: The Particles of our Ela­stical Fluid, or Air, may be preserv'd from coming close together, as Mr. Keill, Vid Newt. p. 301. I suppose, will not deny, by a Special Law directly oppo­site to that of Gravity; or by a particular vis centrifuga belonging alone to such Particles of Matter as the Air is composed of. Now I be­lieve Mr. Keill will hardly affirm this to be an Universal Law, obtaining all over the Universe, but confin'd to some parts of it at pleasure. And many such Laws there may be in the Opi­nion of that Great Man, whose very Name is enough to defend one (as Mr. Keill justly speaks:Vid. Verb. Newt. N.T. pag. 225. marg. p. 134.) upon which the particular Phaenomena among us do generally depend. Now though I believe such Laws as these various in various Systems, yet I never imagin'd that the Mechanical Pow­ers demonstrable from the Necessary Laws of Motion are at all so; whatsoever, for the diver­sion of his Readers, Mr. Keill is pleas'd to sup­pose.

[Page 7]However, By this Answer I not only, it seems, have prevented all possible Objections against my Theory: [a thing, to be sure, I cannot but be very fond of:] But I have Granted Mr. Keill all he design'd to prove, viz. That the Earth was not form'd according to the known Laws of Mechanism, but by the Efficacy of the Divine Spi­rit, which moved on the Face of the Waters. Now I must here deny the Opposition, and affirm, That in my Opinion the Earth was form'd ac­cording to the known Laws of Mechanism, some of them introduc'd then by the Efficacy of the Divine Spi­rit, which mov'd on the Face of the Waters; and ever since continu'd among us. For Almighty God to introduce New and Regular Laws at the beginning of a New World, which are to be ever afterward observ'd in it, I take to be a Mi­raculous Interposition very worthy of God, and very accountable to our Reason. But to suppose him by a Multitude of Miracles acting so dis­proportionably and disorderly, as the common Scheme of the Creation obliges one to do, is to introduce Miracles sufficiently strange and unaccountable to me: and such as I can't be per­suaded of by such Reasonings as I have yet met with upon this Occasion. Though to Mr. Keill, Pag. 4, 5. who finds so little difficulty in this matter; and without Authority, can admit the Creation, and, I suppose, the Annihilation of the Waters of the Deluge; I little expect to shew that any Miracle can be strange and unaccountable.

As to the Internal Heat in the Earth, which is allow'd by Mr. Keill; and by reason of some Earthquakes, of a very large Compass deriv'd from it, can't but Reach downwards to a mighty Depth; It must be accounted for, whether it be [Page 8] a Cause of Fountains or not. And if Mr. Keill think it more easily ascrib'd to the Mixture of Sulphureous, Nitrous, and Mineral Principles, than to a Hot Central Solid; He must give me leave to retain my former Opinion, for these two Reasons: Viz. Because the Earth, at the Depth necessary for the Mixture, is too close and fast, and has no Caverns or Hollows requisite thereto: And Because such a Mixture it self sup­poses that Heat and Motion of Parts as Causes, which ought only to be the Effects thereof: Be­sides; I am still inclinable to ascribe the Origin of Springs in great part to the Vapors ascend­ing, and elevated by the Subterranean Heat, for this particular, and to me substantial Reason, among others, That the Springs break forth ex­traordinarily, and run the fastest in a Frost, as they ought to do in this Hypothesis: when the Vapors in the Air seem most at rest and quiet; as is commonly observ'd, and particularly in the great Frost,3. Disc. 2d Edit. p. 109. by the Excellent Mr. Ray. To some other of whose Reasonings also I refer him upon this Occasion.

As to my Receding, without Reason, from the Letter of Moses in the Fourth Day's work; Mr. Keill has so little still to say against those large Accounts I have given of that Matter, that I shall venture the Reasons I have already alledg'd with the Impartial and Considering, without any addition. Only his Argument against the Nature of the Hexaemeron, viz. that of an Historical Iournal, such as a Spectator on the Earth would have made: Because there was, in his Opinion, no such Spectator in being to make it; Is, I think, neither Conclusive, nor True. For though there were no real Spectator [Page 9] at first, yet the Nature of the History might, for good Reasons, be such as I assign notwithstand­ing. But, to tell him my Mind freely, I believe that the Messias was there actually present: That He made the Journal: that He deliver'd it after­wards to Moses on Mount Sinai: and, That from thence it appears in the Front of his Pentateuch at this day.

In the next place Mr. Keill endeavours to Vin­dicate his Assertion, That the Heat of the Sun for half the Second Day, or Year of the Crea­tion, could not elevate Vapors enow to fill the Seas of the Primitive Earth. I had told him that I did not suppose the Waters in the Small Seas and Lakes of the Primitive Earth much above the Thousandth part of those in the pre­sent Seas and Ocean; and so there was no need of the raising of so many Vapors that day as he imagin'd. Now to confute this, he says, that so little Water would necessarily render that Earth dry, barren, and unfruitful. For since the quantity of Vapor rais'd is proportionable to the Surface of those Waters from whence 'tis rais'd; and since the Thousandth part of the present Water must have only the Thousandth part of the present Surface (which he must say, or say nothing:) It will follow that the Rains and Dews before the Flood were but the Thou­sandth part of those at present in a year's time: And since by the Absence of the Ocean the dry Land then was near double to that now, and to be supply'd with only the Thousandth part of its Water, every Region would have in parti­cular little more than the Two thousandth part as much Moisture as it has at present. Now this looks like a very formidable Calculation, and [Page 10] sufficient to destroy a main Foundation of the New Theory. But for Answer: How comes it about that Mr. Keill, who knows it so well, should forget the different Proportions between Solids and Superficies? between the quantity of Water for Use, and the quantity of its Surface for Eva­poration? 'Tis certain, that though the Chan­nels of the Primitive Seas and Lakes were Simi­lar to those at present, yet a little more than a Thousandth part of the present Waters would have near an Eightieth part of the present Sur­face: Besides, 'Tis evident, that as our Ocean affords vast Quantities for Vapor, so the much greatest part of those Vapors return upon it self again, and are of no Use to the dry Land, espe­cially in the Middle parts; from whence the Clouds seldom or never march so far as is neces­sary for that purpose: Nay, I will venture to say, that near the Thousandth part of the Wa­ters of our present Ocean might be so dispos'd of in the Plains and smaller Valleys of our pre­sent Earth, as to afford not much less Surface, and so not much less Vapor than it does at pre­sent; if once all those Middle parts were away, whence little or nothing does accrue to the dry Land, which alone stands in need of it. Which things being suppos'd, as they are, I think, undeniably true; I answer thus; (1.) I never assign the Sun as the Sole Cause of the Ascent of the Vapors at the Time referr'd to. My Words are,N. T. p. 242. The Heat of the Sun, with the con­tinual Assistance of the Central Heat. From which Assistance Mr. Keill may imagin, that I believe vast Quantities of Vapors would be rais'd, at a time when it was really greater, and had a much freer passage; since I still derive so much [Page 11] of the Vapors of our present Rivers from it, even after its inclosure within the Crust of Earth consolidated together. (2.) I fear not to assert that a small part of the Water now rais'd in a year, when it fell regularly and constantly in equal Dews, and went not off in violent Rains and Torrents, not insufficient for the Antedilu­vian Earth. (3.) At a time when the Ground was every Night very wet with a mighty Dew, the Surface of the dry Land did afford much more Vapor than the present Surface; which is only sometimes wet with some uncertain Showers, and that in some particular places only. (4.) The Channels or Receptacles of the Waters would scarcely then be Similar to the Channel of the Ocean now, but more level and shallow; which would still make the Surface larger in proportion to the Solid Content; and so afford much more Vapor for the supply of the Earth proportiona­bly. (5.) If all my own Computations fail, I will for once beg one of Mr. Keill; which will certainly help us over this difficulty, [though it increase upon us by his next, which takes away Nine Tenths of our former quantity by the In­terposition of the Atmosphere:] And that is from his Assertion, which we shall come to by and by; That the Heat of the Sun, at the time assign'd, was several Hundreds of times as great as at present. Now though I shall shew anon that this Computation is much too great; yet let us allow but a small part of that, and it will set us over this difficulty. For if the Heat were but Twenty times as great, it would in the same Space elevate Twenty times as many Va­pors: which I hope will satisfy even Mr. Keill's own Expectations; and being from his own [Page 12] Assertion, will be allow'd as satisfactory in the present Case. But after all; Sure Mr. Keill has forgotten that Solution in my Theory, whence all this Objection is rais'd: Otherwise He would have seen, that the vast Quantity of Vapors in the Air, on the Second Day of the Creation, came thither in Ways very different from that of the Raising of them now by the Heat of the Sun upon the Surface of our present Ocean, at a time when neither its Surface nor itself was in being. Which therefore has little to do with all the Computations us'd by Mr. Keill upon this Occasion.

Neither has the next Objection any more weight in it: That the Waters in the Seas are call'd by Moses, Waters under the Firmament: and so are of a different Nature and Original from those in the Air, which are Waters above the Fir­mament: Whereas I derive the one from the other, and suppose the Seas to have once been Vapor, and so part of the other Waters. For certainly if Vapors in the Air, or Waters above the Firmament, fall down, become Water, and run into the Seas, they must be allow'd to change their Name, and become Waters below the Firma­ment. I am sure this Change is no new thing, but has been continual from the Creation till our Times. Every day Vapors become Rain, and run into the Seas; and the Seas are every day resolving into small Parts, and become Vapors: and so the Inferior and the Superior Waters still communicate with, and supply each other, and accordingly change their Denomination perpe­tually. And truly this, and the next Shadow of a Difficulty about the Appearance of the Dry Land, might have been so easily avoided by a [Page 13] little more careful perusal of a Solution or two in my Theory, that Mr. Keill need not have de­sir'd a farther Answer.

We are now come to the great Point of the In­conveniences which would arise from the long Days and Nights in my first Hypothesis; and how entirely they all vanish upon that Additio­nal one of the Elliptick Orbit till the Fall. Now though Mr. Keill does not disown that his for­mer Objections are of no force against me now; yet because this Additional Hypothesis did not appear before in my Theory, He thinks it not worth while to confute it: which is truly a short and easy way of Answering. Now for my part, I am far from thinking worse of any Discovery upon the account of the Time in which it was made: And if I can shew good Reason for this, as I think I can, I shall not be much concern'd at Mr. Keill's passing it over untouch'd. For the only thing he says,P. 181, 182. viz. That 'twill hardly be al­low'd that but one half of the Primitive Earth was Habitable before the Fall, seems to me too incon­siderable to be made an Objection. I should think it no great matter if all the Earth, except­ing the Regions about Paradise, were uninhabita­ble at a time when they were not to be inhabited. For to what great Purpose is it that all proper provision be made for the Entertainment of a Company of Guests at a Table, when 'tis cer­tainly known that not one Guest will be there? Providence does ever wonderfully provide for the Accommodation of his Creatures wherever it places them: But that a suitable Provision is made for them where they will never be plac'd, I see no reason to imagin. If I ever attempt another Edition of my Book, this Hypothesis, [Page 14] with several other Discoveries since made, will be inserted; and will, I believe, with fair and considering Persons, be thought far from spoiling the Beauty of the Theory; whatsoever Mr. Keill, who is no friend to Theories in general, may think to the contrary. But to proceed.

Mr. Keill still asserts, that the Heat in my Hy­pothesis before the Fall, when the Sun was half a year at least above the Horizon at once, was several Hundred times greater than that with us at present. Now in answer to this, I alledg'd, That if we compute the Quantity of Heat from that of the Sun's Rays, it will be equal in both Cases, and so his Assertion must be a plain Er­ror. But it seems he meant quite otherwise than I imagin; viz. That the Degree of Heat, pro­duc'd by so long continuance of the Sun's pre­sence, would at last be several Hundred times as great as with us at present. I answer, That in this sense the Assertion is not much truer than in the other. The Heat produc'd by the Fire, or the Sun, for some time continually increases; and perhaps pretty nearly in proportion to the time. But this only for a while, till a suitable or competent Degree of Heat be produc'd; but no longer. Let us try this by Calculation. A piece of Wax will melt in a Second of Time, sup­pose, at the distance of an Inch from the Fire; because the Degree of Heat there is sufficient to dissolve its Texture immediately. Let us remove it to the Distance of a Hundred Inches, where the Heat is Ten Thousand times weaker; for Ten Thousand Seconds, or near Three Hours Space, the Quantity of Heat is therefore (as the Rectangle, contain'd betwixt the Sine of the An­gle of Incidence (the same in both Cases here) [Page 15] and the time of continuance) exactly equal to the former Heat; and must therefore have the same effect: Which yet, I presume, Mr. Keill does not believe it will. Thus let us compare the Heat of the Sun at the Equator, and near the Poles; where the Sines of the Sun's Angle of Incidence are as 10 to 1, [for the Day-time, or 12 Hours at the Equator; and for the 12 Hours at the Conclusion of the Half-year-day near the Poles] Which will, according to Mr. Keill, be as 10 + 12 to 1 + 4320; or as 120 to 4320; and so the Heat near the Pole 36 times as great as that at the Equator: Which, I presume, Experience does not attest. But af­ter all, This Objection, if it were true, only refers to the Circular Orbit before the Fall: But as my Theory stands at present, with the Hypo­thesis of an Elliptick Orbit, 'tis no way concern'd in it.

But now we are come to a Point of much greater Consequence, Whether the Dense Fluid, on the Approach of the Comet at the Deluge, would have force enough to burst the Earth, or that upper Crust which is situate upon the Sur­face of the Dense Fluid. For Mr. Keill, with no mean Appearance of Demonstration, urges, That since the first Impetus of the Dense Fluid is infinite­ly less than any succeeding Impetus acquir'd by Motion; and since here is no room for Actual Motion, here cannot be Impetus sufficient to break the Crust, which otherwise Mr. Keill owns it would easily do. In answer to this I say, That since Mr. Keill does not disown the first Original of the Earth's Fissures, and the break­ing of the Crust by the Diurnal Rotation; he ought much less to scruple it here. A Plank or [Page 16] Board, when once 'tis cut into several pieces, let the pieces be laid as true and close as possible, will be separated without any difficulty upon all Occasions. And just thus it is here. The Stra­ta having been formerly separated, and by the continuance of the Diurnal Motion not permit­ted to join or close afterward upon any Impetus of the Fluid below, they will open again; as I have asserted in the New Theory. But because Mr. Keill imagines that the Upper Crust of Earth would hinder the force of the Fluid below from breaking open its Fissures; let us compute the force of the Comet's attraction upon it self, and see whether even that alone, without the assi­stance of the Dense Fluid, would not be sufficient to break it in the manner I have assign'd. Mr. Keill may remember,Coroll. 8. post Hyp. 10. that I suppose the Co­met at the Deluge about half as big as the Earth; and the nearest distance of its Center to that of the Earth about 30000 Miles. Let us see what force this will afford towards breaking the Earth. At the nearest distance the Gravity of the Parts of our Earth nearest the Comet, towards the Comet's Center, would be near 1/100 of their Gra­vity towards the Center of the Earth; and the difference between the Gravity of those Parts to­wards the Comet, and of the Middle Parts or Center of our Earth towards the same, would be the difference of the Squares of their several Distances, or about a quarter of the former Force 1/400 So that the Parts nearest to the Comet, and farthest off it,New Theor. Fig. 7. [the Regions about b and a in my 7 Fig.] if the Crust be suppos'd 400 Miles thick, will have a Force upon them equal to the Weight of an entire Mile of Earth: and this sure will be more than sufficient to break and sepa­rate [Page 17] those Strata which are already broken and separated; and which therefore, at the first Im­pulse, would yield to that powerful Attraction which the Neighbourhood of so mighty a Body would occasion in the Case before us.

As to the sudden Condensation of the Vapors from the Comet, upon their first Fall, whether by the Air or Earth, were it never so evident and universal, 'tis of very small consequence to me; since, as Mr. Keill does not deny, their own Heat would ratify vast Quantities of them again, and occasion their Elevation into the Air imme­diately: which is all I desire of him. But still he urges, That then the first Violent Fall would it self do the Business of the Deluge, without any occasion for the great and long Rains: And so the Forty days Rain, which occasion'd the Flood in Moses, can't be accounted for, and is almost wholly superseded by us. In answer to which I say, That though the primary violent Fall of the Vapors were in less than a Day's time, as I have shewn in my Theory; yet because as ma­ny would immediately arise again as the Air could hold, here is a Fund abundantly sufficient for the most violent Forty days Rain imaginable. And though the Vapors did Originally fall in so short a time, and with such Violence, on that Hemisphere of the Earth exposed to them, as there to do the Business of the Deluge immedi­ately: Yet because the Regions near the Ark were not in that Hemisphere, their Deluge must arise from the Forty days Rain succeeding, and from the flowing in of the Waters from those other Parts of the Earth on which they first fell: according as this Matter is already stated in the New Theory; and, I think, need not be alter'd from any thing here suggested.

[Page 18]We are now got to the principal Thing con­siderable in Mr. Keill's Objections; and that is his Demonstrations, that the Pressure of the in­cumbent Fluid could not raise the Subterranean Waters to the Surface of the Earth. And I must own, that I see the force of his Demonstrations now, which I did not before. And I heartily thank Mr. Keill for correcting so considerable a mistake in the New Theory; and a mistake that before was the only Obstacle to as remarkable a Con­firmation of the main Parts of it, as perhaps any other whatsoever; which in due time shall ap­pear. All that Moses says relating to this matter,Gen. 7.11. & 8. 1. is, That the Fountains of the Great Deep were broken up at the beginning, and shut up at the Conclusion of the Deluge, without the least Af­firmation that any Waters issued out of them; as has hitherto been universally suppos'd, and as I accordingly believed also. Though, in truth, I am now so far from that Opinion, that I believe the use of that disruption of the Fissures was on­ly to drain off, and not at all to send out the Wa­ters of the Deluge, as will more distinctly be shewn upon a proper Occasion hereafter.

But if Mr. Keill's Reasoning under this last Head appear so strong, what follows, touching the Removing of the Waters of the Deluge, seems to me of a very different Character. For (1.) Let the Cracks and Fissures be full during the Deluge; nay, let the Waters be draining away by them continually into the Bowels of the Earth: Yet till this Drain took away more than the Rains and the Running in of the Wa­ters brought, the Flood would continually increase notwithstanding. (2.) I say still, Certainly the Pores and Interstices of 30 or 40, I might say of [Page 19] 60 or 80 Miles of dry Earth, or Earth that can still admit vast Quantities of Water, are capable of receiving 3, 4, or more Miles of Water into them. (3.) Mr. Keill's Assertion, That the inward Strata of the Earth are almost wholly compos'd of a tough Clay, common Stone, Whinstone, Coal, Metal­line Ores, and the like, uncapable of containing any Water considerable, is not generally true. I appeal to the following Table of the several Strata of a Well at Amsterdam, mention'd by Varenius, which is the best and deepest that I know where readily to meet with. And let the Reader judge whether all the Strata are such as will exclude Water or not, or such as Mr. Keill supposes the whole Body of the Earth below compos'd of.

Feet.

Garden-Mould

7

Varen. Greg. p. 46.

Turf

9

Soft Clay

9

Sand

8

Earth

4

Clay

10

Earth

4

Sand in which the Piles for the Amster­dam Buildings are fix'd

10

Clay

2

White Gravel

4

Dry Earth

5

Mud

1

Sand

14

Sandy Clay

3

Sand mix'd with Clay

5

Sand mix'd with Sea-shells

4

A Clayey Bottom

102

Gravel

31

In all

232

[Page 20](4.) I look upon his last Argument, viz. That these Fissures would not drain off the Wa­ters in half a year, nor indeed under several Hundred years; as so far from affecting me, that I heartily thank Mr. Keill for so considera­ble a Confirmation of my Conjecture to this purpose at the End of my former Vindication. For though I think his Computation of the Time much too long, because the Fissures were then very much more open than now; and be­cause the vast weight of the Waters, at first especially, would hasten the Velocity of their Descent: yet in general I am fully of his mind; that the Waters of the Deluge could not be Me­chanically drain'd off so soon as the common Opinion is;Vind. p. 46, 47,48. as he may see in the place referr'd to, which 'tis a little strange he should not dis­cover before, and so perceive that he was, by the last Computation, but confirming one of the Points I had observ'd since the publishing of the New Theory. In short; The Remarks and Objections Mr. Keill and Others have made against some Branches of the New Theory, have occasion'd me to correct some Parts, to confirm others, and to improve the whole. But so little do I esteem the principal Foundations of that Book destroy'd by all that has been hitherto said, (Though Mr. Keill is pleas'd to presume, that by those few Objections he before made against a few particulars in it; And this after he had granted me the principal Point of all, it was in general already confuted:) That I may venture to say, I am prepar'd, upon a Second Edition, more fully to confirm and establish the main Conclusions in it than ever; as I hope will ap­pear in due time.

[Page 21]I shall add no more: But because the two concluding Questions I put to Mr. Keill be­fore, are wholly past over in silence, I shall Reprint them here again; and if he make ano­ther Rejoinder, again desire his free and ingenu­ous Answer: and so take my Leave.

(1.) Since Mr. Keill grants that a Comet pass'd by at the Deluge, and yet contends that the Flood is not to be solv'd therefrom, but is to be believ'd wholly miraculous; To what purpose did the Comet so providentially pass by just at that time, if it had no relation to the Deluge? Does Mr. Keill imagine, That the same miraculous power which caus'd the Deluge, could not also, without the attraction of a Comet, make the Earth's Orbit Elliptical? A strange, unheard-of, and most surprizing Phaenomenon happens in the World! A Blazing Star, which we but seldom discover at a vast distance in the Heavens, descends hard by the body of our Earth: which without the greatest exactness in the Chain of Providence does not happen in thousands, nay millions of years: and as soon as ever 'tis pass'd by, a wonderful, and incredible Deluge of Waters overflows the whole Earth, and drowns all its Inhabitants without any other visible or imagi­nable occasion in the World: and yet, as it seems, the Comet only accidentally pass'd by, and had no hand at all in the Deluge! — Credat Iu­daeus Apella.

(2.) How could those effects I have men­tion'd be avoided upon the passing by of the Comet? We are not now in a Cartesian Vortex, where Fancy and Contrivance can introduce or hinder any effect at pleasure: But we are in Mechanical and Experimental Philosophy, which [Page 22] is an inflexible thing, and not at all subject to our inclinations. When the Comet therefore was just pass'd by us, I desire to know how the Earth could possibly avoid passing through its Atmosphere and Tail: If it could not, Pray what could prevent the acquiring that Column of Vapours I, by computation, find would fall on its Surface? And if such a Column of Va­pours was left on the Earth, what could hinder their becoming Water, and drowning the Earth? I shall not, though I easily might, carry on the Chain of Queries any longer. But if Mr. Keill can fairly Answer me these few leading Questions, I shall then believe him alike able to Answer the rest: and so I shall not pursue this particular any farther, but leave it and this whole matter to his and the Reader's leisure and consideration.

Lowestoft, Suffolk, Octob. 4. —99.