FOOTNOTES:
[78:A] Vide Newton, 2d edit. page 525.
[79:A] Vid. Newton, page 405.
[109:A] M. de Maupertuis' Figure of the Earth.
ARTICLE II.
FROM THE SYSTEM OF WHISTON[115:A].
This Author commences his treatise by a dissertation on the creation of the world; he says that the account of it given by Moses in the text of Genesis has not been rightly understood; that the translators have confined themselves too much to the letter and superficial views, without attending to nature, reason, and philosophy. The common notion of the world being made in six days, he says is absolutely false, and that the description given by Moses, is not an exact and philosophical narration of the creation and origin of the universe, but only an historical representation
of the terrestrial globe. The earth, according to him, existed in the chaos; and, at the time mentioned by Moses, received the form, situation and consistency necessary to be inhabited by the human race. I shall not enter into a detail of his proofs, nor undertake their refutation. The exposition we have just made, is sufficient to demonstrate the difference of his opinion with public facts, its contrariety with scripture, and consequently the insufficiency of his proofs. On the whole, he treats this matter as a theological controvertist, rather than as an enlightened philosopher.
Leaving these erroneous principles, he flies to ingenious suppositions, which, although extraordinary, yet have a degree of probability to those who, like him, incline to the enthusiasm of system. He says, that the ancient chaos, the origin of our earth, was the atmosphere of a comet: that the annual motion of the earth began at the time it took its new form, but that its diurnal motion began only when the first man fell. That the ecliptic cut the tropic of cancer, opposite to the terrestrial paradise, which was situated on the north-west side of the frontiers of Assyria: that before the deluge, the year began at the autumnal equinox:
that the orbits of the planets, and the earth were then perfect circles. That the deluge began the 18th of November, 2365 of the Julian period, or 2349 years before Christ. That the solar and lunar year were then the same, and that they exactly contained 360 days. That a comet descending in the plane of the ecliptic towards its perihelion, passed near the globe of the earth the same day as the deluge began: that there is a great heat in the internal part of the terrestrial globe, which constantly diffuses itself from the centre to the circumference; that the form of the earth is like that of an egg, the ancient emblem of the globe; that mountains are the lightest part of the earth, &c. He afterwards attributes all the alterations and changes which have happened to the earth, to the universal deluge; then blindly adopts the theory of Woodward, and indiscriminately makes use of all the observations of that author on the present state of the globe; but assumes originality when he speaks of its future state: according to him it will be consumed by fire, and its destruction will be preceded by terrible earthquakes, thunder, and frightful meteors; the Sun and Moon will have an hideous aspect, the heavens will appear to