BOOK II.

Of the Terraqueous Globe it self in general.

In the foregoing Book having dispatch’d the Out-works, let us take a Survey of the Principal Fabrick, viz. the Terraqueous Globe it self; a most stupendious Work in every particular of it, which doth no less aggrandize its Maker[a], than every curious, complete Work, doth its Workman. Let us cast our Eyes here and there, let us ransack all the Globe, let us with the greatest Accuracy inspect every part thereof, search out the inmost Secrets of any of the Creatures; let us examine them with all our Gauges, measure them with our nicest Rules, pry into them with our Microscopes, and most exquisite Instruments[b] still we find them to bear Testimony to their infinite Workman; and that they exceed all humane Skill so far, as that the most exquisite Copies and Imitations of the best Artists, are no other than rude bungling Pieces to them. And so far are we from being able to espy any Defect or Fault in them, that the better we know them, the more we admire them; and the farther we see into them, the more exquisite we find them to be.

And for a Demonstration of this; I shall,

I. Take a general Prospect of the Terraqueous Globe.

II. Survey its Particulars.

I. The Things which will fall under a general Prospect of the Globe, will be its Figure, Bulk, Motion, Place, Distribution into Earth and Waters, and the great Variety of all Things upon it and in it.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAP. I.

Of the Figure of the Terraqueous Globe.

This I suppose I may take for granted to be Spherical, or nearly so[a]. And this must be allowed to be the most commodious, apt Figure for a World on many Accounts; as it is most capacious, as its Surface is equi-distant from the Center, not only of the Globe, but at least (nearly) of Gravity and Motion too, and as some have thought, of the central Heat and Waters. But these, and divers other Things I shall pass over, and insist only upon two or three other Benefits of this globous Figure of the Earth and Waters.

1. This Figure is the most commodious in regard of Heat, and I may add of Light also in some measure. For by this means, those two great Benefits are uniformly and equally imparted to the World: They come harmoniously and gradually on, and as gradually go off again. So that the daily and yearly Returns of Light and Darkness, Cold and Heat, Moist and Dry, are Regular and Workman-like, (we may say,) which they would not be, especially the former, if the Mass of Earth and Waters were (as some fancied[b] it) a large Plain; or as others, like a large Hill in the midst of the Ocean; or of a multangular Figure; or such like.

2. This Figure is admirably adapted to the commodious and equal Distribution of the Waters in the Globe. For since, by the Laws of Gravity, the Waters will possess the lowest Place; therefore, if the Mass of the Earth was cubick, prismatick, or any other angular Figure, it would follow, that one (too vast a Part) would be drowned; and another be too dry. But being thus orbicular, the Waters are equally and commodiously distributed here and there, according as the Divine Providence saw most fit; of which I shall take notice by and by.

3. The orbicular Figure of our Globe, is far the most beneficial to the Winds and Motions of the Atmosphere. It is not to be doubted, if the Earth was of some other, or indeed any other Figure, but that the Currents of Air would be much retarded, if not wholly stopped. We find by Experience what Influence large and high Mountains, Bays, Capes, and Head-lands have upon the Winds; how they stop some, retard many, and divert and change (near the Shores) even the general and constant Winds[c], that blow round the Globe in the Torrid Zone. And therefore, since this is the effect of such little Excrescences, which have but little Proportion to our Globe, what would be the Consequences of much vaster Angles, which would equal a Quarter, Tenth, or but an Hundredth Part of the Globe’s Radius? Certainly these must be such a Barricade, as would greatly annoy, or rather absolutely stop the Currents of the Atmosphere, and thereby deprive the World of those salutiferous Gales that I have said keep it sweet and clean.

Thus the Figure of our Globe doth manifest it to be a Work of Contrivance, inasmuch as it is of the most commodious Figure; and all others would be liable to great and evident Inconveniences.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAP. II.

Of the Bulk of the Terraqueous Globe.

The next Thing remarkable in the Terraqueous Globe, is the prodigious Bulk thereof[a]. A Mass of above 260 Thousand Million of Miles solid Content. A Work too grand for any thing less than a God to make. To which in the next Place we may add,

FOOTNOTES:

CHAP. III.

The Motions of the Terraqueous Globe.

The Motions the Terraqueous Globe hath, are round its own Axis, and round its Fountain of Light and Heat, the Sun[a]. That so vast a Body as the Earth and Waters should be moved at all[b], that it should undergo two such different Motions, as the Diurnal and Annual are, and that these Motions should be so constantly and regularly[c] performed for near 6000 Years, without any the least Alteration ever heard of (except some Hours which we read of in Josh. x. 12, 13. and in Hezekiah’s Time, which, if they cannot be accounted for some other way, do greatly encrease the Wonder[d]; these Things, I say,) do manifestly argue some divine infinite Power to be concerned therein[e]: But especially, if to all this we add the wonderful Convenience, yea absolute Necessity of these Circumvolutions to the Inhabitants, yea all the Products of the Earth and Waters. For to one of these we owe the comfortable Changes of Day and Night; the one for Business, the other for Repose;[f] the one for Man, and most other Animals to gather and provide Food, Habitation, and other Necessaries of Life; the other to rest, refresh, and recruit their Spirits[g], wasted with the Labours of the Day. To the other of those Motions we owe the Seasons of Summer and Winter, Spring and Autumn, together with the beneficial Instances and Effects which these have on the Bodies and State of Animals, Vegetables, and all other Things, both in the Torrid, Temperate, and Frigid Zones.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAP. IV.

Of the Place and Situation of the Terraqueous Globe, in respect of the Heavenly Bodies.

Another Thing very considerable in our Globe, is its Place and Situation at a due Distance from the Sun[a], its Fountain of Light and Heat; and from its neighbouring Planets of the solar System, and from the fixt Stars. But these Things I have spoken more largely of in my Survey of the Heavens[b], and therefore only barely mention them now; to insist more largely upon,

FOOTNOTES:

CHAP. V.

The Distribution of the Earth and Waters.

The Distribution of the Waters and the dry Land, although it may seem rude and undesigned to a careless View, and is by some taxed as such[a], yet is admirably well adjusted to the Uses and Conveniences of our World.

For in the first Place, the Distribution is so well made, the Earth and Waters so handsomely, so Workman-like laid, every where all the World over, that there is a just æquipoise of the whole Globe. The Northern balanceth the Southern Ocean, the Atlantick the Pacifick Sea. The American dry Land, is a Counterpoise to the European, Asiatick and African.

In the next Place, the Earth and the Waters are so admirably well placed about in the Globe, as to be helpful to one another, to minister to one another’s Uses. The great Oceans, and the lesser Seas and Lakes, are so admirably well distributed throughout the Globe[b], as to afford sufficient Vapours[c] for Clouds and Rains, to temperate the Cold[c] of the Northern frozen Air, to cool and mitigate the Heats[d] of the Torrid Zone, and to refresh the Earth with fertile Showers; yea, in some measure to minister fresh Waters to the Fountains and Rivers. Nay, so abundant is this great Blessing, which the most indulgent Creator hath afforded us by means of this Distribution of the Waters I am speaking of, that there is more than a scanty, bare Provision, or mere Sufficiency; even a Plenty, a Surplusage of this useful Creature of God, (the fresh Waters) afforded to the World; and they so well ordered, as not to drown the Nations of the Earth, nor to stagnate, stink, and poison, or annoy them; but to be gently carried through convenient Chanels back again to their grand Fountain[e] the Sea; and many of them through such large Tracts of Land, and to such prodigious Distances, that it is a great Wonder the Fountains should be high enough[f], or the Seas low enough, ever to afford so long a Conveyance. Witness the Danube[g] and Wolga of Europe, the Nile[h] and the Niger[i] of Africk, the Ganges[k] and Euphrates of Asia, and the Amazons River[l] and Rio de la Plata of America, and many others which might be named; some of which are said to run above 5000 Miles, and some no less than 6000 from their Fountains to the Sea. And indeed such prodigious Conveyances of the Waters make it manifest, that no accidental Currents and Alterations of the Waters themselves, no Art or Power of Man, nothing less than the Fiat of the Almighty, could ever have made, or found, so long and commodious Declivities, and Chanels for the Passage of the Waters.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAP. VI.

The great Variety and Quantity of all Things upon, and in the Terraqueous Globe, provided for the Uses of the World.

The last Remark I shall make about the Terraqueous Globe in general is, the great Variety of Kinds, or Tribes, as well as prodigious Number of Individuals of each various Tribe, there is of all Creatures[a]. There are so many Beasts, so many Birds, so many Insects, so many Reptiles, so many Trees, so many Plants upon the Land; so many Fishes, Sea-Plants, and other Creatures in the Waters; so many Minerals, Metals, and Fossiles in the Subterraneous Regions; so many Species of these Genera, so many Individuals of those Species, that there is nothing wanting to the Use of Man, or any other Creature of this lower World. If every Age doth change its Food, its way of Cloathing, its way of Building; if every Age[b] hath its Variety of Diseases; nay, if Man, or any other Animal, was minded to change these Things every Day, still the Creation would not be exhausted, still nothing would be wanting for Food, nothing for Physick, nothing for Building and Habitation, nothing for Cleanliness and Refreshment, yea, even for Recreation and Pleasure. But the Munificence of the Creator is such, that there is abundantly enough to supply the Wants, the Conveniencies, yea, almost the Extravagancies of all the Creatures, in all Places, all Ages, and upon all Occasions.

And this may serve to answer an Objection against the Excellency of, and Wisdom shewed in the Creation; namely, What need of so many Creatures[c]? Particularly of so many Insects, so many Plants, and so many other Things? And especially of some of them, that are so far from being useful, that they are very noxious; some by their Ferity, and others by their poisonous Nature, &c.?

To which I might answer, that in greater Variety, the greater Art is seen; that the fierce, poisonous, and noxious Creatures serve as Rods and Scourges to chastise us[d], as means to excite our Wisdom, Care, and Industry, with more to the same purpose. But these Things have been fully urged by others; and it is sufficient to say, that this great Variety is a most wise Provision for all the Uses of the World in all Ages and all Places. Some for Food, some for Physick[e], some for Habitation, some for Utensils, some for Tools and Instruments of Work, and some for Recreation and Pleasure, either to Man, or to some of the inferior Creatures themselves; even for which inferior Creatures, the liberal Creator hath provided all Things necessary, or any ways conducing to their happy, comfortable living in this World, as well as for Man.

And it is manifest, that all the Creatures of God, Beasts, Birds, Insects, Plants, and every other Genus have, or may have, their several Uses even among Men. For although in one Place many Things may lie neglected, and out of Use, yet in other Places they may be of great Use. So what hath seemed useless in one Age, hath been received in another; as all the new Discoveries in Physick, and all the Alterations in Diet do sufficiently witness. Many Things also there are which in one Form may be pernicious to Man; but in another, of great Use. There are many Plants[f], many Animals, many Minerals, which in one Form destroy, in another heal. The Cassada Plant unprepared poisoneth, but prepared, is the very Bread of the West-Indies[g]. Vipers and Scorpions, and many Minerals, as destructive as they are to Man, yet afford him some of his best Medicines.

Or if there be many Things of little, immediate Use to Man, in this, or any other Age; yet to other Creatures they may afford Food or Physick, or be of some necessary Use. How many Trees and Plants, nay, even the very Carcases of Animals, yea, the very Dust of the Earth[h], and the most refuse, contemptible Things to be met with; I say, how many such Things are either Food, or probably Medicine to many Creatures, afford them Retreat, are Places of Habitation, or Matrixes for their Generation, as shall be shewed in proper Place? The prodigious Swarms of Insects in the Air, and in the Waters, (many of which may be perhaps at present of no great Use to Man) yet are Food to Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects themselves, and other Creatures[i], for whose happy and comfortable Subsistence, I have said the bountiful Creator hath liberally provided, as well as for that of Man.

FOOTNOTES: