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is, that Monf. Des Cartes never thought of making the exterior Orb of oily liquids, which the Theorift afferts to be abfolutely neceffary towards the formation of the cruft. For if it were not, fays he, for the oily liquor which fwims upon the furface of the Abyss, the particles of earth which fell thro' the air had funk to the bottom, and had never formed the exterior Orb of earth.

But notwithstanding this, I believe it may be easily made evident (tho' neither of their Systems are true) that the Theorift's hypothefis is the worst of the two. Which I will prove from his own conceffions: for he has already own'd that the oily liquor is much lighter than the watery Orb. He has mentioned alfo that the terreftrial particles when falling from the air, if the Orb were only water, would fink to the bottom; and therefore those particles must be heavier than water. From thence, I think, it does neceffarily follow, that those terreftrial particles must also be heavier than the oily fluid which is lighter than water, and therefore they will more eafily defcend thro' it than they did thro' water, it being well known that there are several bodies which will fwim in water, but fink in oil.

But that which feems to have deceiv'd the Theorist in this point was, that he had obferved that small duft, tho' fpecifically heavier than oil, yet being thrown upon it, it did not fink, and therefore he concluded, that a great

deal

deal of it, if caft upon the Surface of oil, after the fame manner, would not defcend, but form a folid concrete fubftance upon the furface of the oil. But this confequence will foon appear to be falfe, if we confider the true reason why fome bodies, tho' fpecifically heavi er than the fluid in which they are put, do not fink, but fwim upon the furface: which is this; That there is scarce any liquid in nature which is abfolutely fluid, and whofe parts do not refift feparation one from another, and therefore will fomewhat hinder or retard the descent of bodies thro' them. Now this refiftance (all other things being alike) is always pro portional to the furface of the body defcending: fo that fmall bodies, whofe weight or force to move or feparate the parts of the fluid, is but very little, may have a furface fo large, that they cannot overcome the refiftance of the fluid; that is, they cannot make way for their defcent thro' the fluid, and therefore must swim upon the furface of it: but the furfaces of bodies not increafing in the fame proportion with their folidities or weights, fmall bodies will have a greater refiftance in proportion to their weight, than greater ones of the fame intenfive gravity, and confequently the one will defcend when the other cannot. As for example, fuppofe a fphere of an inch diameter was put into an oily fluid, whose refiftance was juft equal to the force of gravity in the descending body: there being an æqui

librium

or water fhould sustain such an immenfe heavy Orb, in which was not only the foft earth, which in few places is ten foot deep, but also

prodigious quantity of ftones and minerals much heavier than water: for it is certain that these great heavy bodies must have funk to the bottom if they were left to themselves, and yet even these bodies make up the greatest part of our outward earth. I know the Theorist does boldly affirm, that there was neither Metals nor Minerals in the primitive earth; but this is both contrary to reafon and Scripture, for the Holy Scriptures tell us, that Tubal Cain before the floud, was an inftructer of every Artificer in Brass and Iron: and I would fain know, how there could be fuch Artificers before the floud, when, according to him, there was no fuch thing to be feen as Metals. Befides, 'tis hardly poffible to build an Ark, that fhould contain all the terreftrial and aerial animals, without Iron. The Americans without any Iron made themselves fmall Cannoes of one folid piece of Timber which they hollowed by burning, but it would be a ftrange Tree that was of the dimenfions of the Ark, and could contain fo many animals as it did. These things do (in my judgment) plainly fhow, that the Theorist's opinion in this point is utterly falfe.

From what I have already faid, I think, it may be clearly demonftrated, that the Fabrick of the earth can never be deduced from a

Chaos,

Chaos, by the fole help of Mechanical principles and Natural caufes. For it is evident to any one who has eyes (tho' there have been fome wife Philofophers of another opinion) that the Land is higher than the Water; and it is alfo plainly experienced, that common arable earth or clay is much heavier than water and if we defcend into the Mines or Pits, we fhall find the matter there to be three or four times heavier than the earth above. Now it is plain from what I have already proved, that in a Chaos, the true change that would follow from Mechanical principles and Natural caufes, is, that if all were fluid, the heaviest and folideft Bodies would fubfide and fall to the Center, every one taking place according to the fpecifick gravity; fo that the lighter Bodies would always be forced uppermoft: the earth therefore being heavier than the water, muft of neceffity place it felf nigher the Center, and leave the water to cover the face of the whole Orb. Thus the fut face of the World could never be inhabited by any other Animal than Fishes. But in how much wifer order than this, has the great Creator of the World placed all the Bodies of the earth, so that notwithstanding the greater gravity of the Land, it is raifed higher than the Sea, and thereby made fit and habitable both for man and beafts, without the help of Natural and Mechanical caufes, which would have duc'd the contrary effect.

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Several

Several other arguments might be brought to demonstrate that the frame of this World was the refult of wisdom and counsel, and not of the neceffary and effential Laws of motion and gravitation, which could never have either made or fupported the World. I always wonder'd at the wild an extravagant fancy of the Philofophers, who thought that brute and stupid matter would by it felf, without fome fupreme and intelligent director, fall into a regular and beautiful ftructure, whofe parts fhould be fo extreamly well adapted to various ufes, as if they had been the refult of wifdom and contrivance. I will conclude this Chapter with a discourse of the Theorist in his 10th Chap. lib. 2.

"In the conftruction of the Body of an "Animal, (fays he) there is more of thought "and contrivance, more of exquifite inventi"on, and fit difpofitions of parts, than is in "all the Temples, Palaces, Ships, Theaters, or any other pieces of Architecture the World "ever yet faw, and not architecture only,

but all other Mechanifm whatsoever, En"gines, Clock-work, or any other is not "comparable to the Body of a living crea"ture. Seeing then we acknowledge thefe "artificial works wherefoever we meet with "them, to be the effects of wit, underftanding and reafon; is it not manifeft partiality or ftupidity rather, to deny the "works of nature, which excel these in all

degrees,

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