_Concerning the Time of the Conflagration, and the End of the World.
What the Astronomers say upon this Subject, and upon what they
ground their Calculations: The true Notion of the Great Year, or of
the Platonick Year, stated and explained._
Having, in this first Section, laid a sure Foundation, as to the Subject
of our Discourse; the Truth and Certainty of the _Conflagration_ whereof
we are to treat; we will now proceed to enquire after the _Time_,
_Causes_, and _Manner_ of it. We are naturally more inquisitive after
the End of the World, and the Time of that fatal Revolution, than after
the Causes of it: For these, we know, are irresistible, whensoever they
come, and therefore we are only solicitous that they should not overtake
us, or our near Posterity. The _Romans_ thought they had the Fates of
their Empire in the Books of the Sibyls, which were kept by the
Magistrates as a Sacred Treasure. We have also our Prophetical Books,
more sacred and more infallible than theirs, which contain the Fate of
all the Kingdoms of the Earth, and of that glorious Kingdom that is to
succeed. And of all Futurities, there is none can be of such Importance
to be enquired after, as this last Scene and Close of all human Affairs.
If I thought it possible to determine the Time of the _Conflagration_
from the bare Intuition of natural Causes, I would not treat of it in
this Place, but reserve it to the last; after we had brought into View
all those Causes, weigh’d their Force, and examin’d how and when they
would concur to produce this great Effect. But I am satisfied, that the
Excitation and Concourse of those Causes does not depend upon Nature
only; and tho’ the Causes may be sufficient, when all united, yet the
Union of them at such a Time, and in such a Manner, I look upon as the
Effect of a particular Providence; and therefore no Fore-sight of ours,
or Inspection into Nature, can discover to us the Time of this
Conjuncture. This Method, therefore, of Prediction from natural Causes
being laid aside as impracticable, all other Methods may be treated of
in this Place, as being independent upon any Thing that is to follow in
the Treatise; and it will be an Ease to the Argument to discharge it of
this Part, and clear the Way by Degrees to the principal Point, which
is, The _Causes_ and _Manner_ of the Conflagration.
Some have thought it a Kind of Impiety in a Christian, to enquire after
the End of the World; because of that Check which our Saviour gave his
Disciples, when, after his Resurrection, enquiring of him about the Time
of his Kingdom, he answer’d, _It is not for you to know the Times or the
Seasons, which the Father hath put in his own Power, Acts i. 7._ And
before his Death, when he was discoursing of the Consummation of all
Things, He told them expresly, that though there should be such and such
previous Signs as he had mention’d, yet, _Of that Day and Hour knoweth
no Man; no, not the Angels that are in Heaven, but my Father only, Matt.
xxiv. 36._ Be it so, that the Disciples deserv’d a Reprimand, for
desiring to know, by a particular Revelation from our Saviour, the State
of future Times; when many other Things were more necessary for their
Instruction, and for their Ministry. Be it also admitted, that the
Angels, at that Distance of Time, could not see thorow all Events to the
End of the World; it does not at all follow from thence, that they do
not know it now; when, in the Course of 1600 Years, many Things are come
to pass, that may be Marks and Directions to them to make a Judgment of
what remains, and of the last Period of all Things. However, there will
be no Danger in our Enquiries about this Matter, seeing they are not so
much to discover the Certainty, as the Uncertainty of that Period, as to
human Knowledge. Let us therefore consider what Methods have been used,
by those that have been curious and busy to measure the Duration of the
World.
The _Stoicks_ tell us, _When_ the Sun and the Stars have drunk up the
Sea, then the Earth shall be burnt. A very fair Prophecy! But, how long
will they be a drinking? For unless we can determine that, we cannot
determine when this Combustion will begin. Many of the Antients thought
that the Stars were nourish’d by the Vapours of the Ocean and of the
moist Earth, (_Cicer. de Nat. D. lib. 2._) and when that Nourishment was
spent, being of a fiery Nature, they would prey upon the Body of the
Earth it self, and consume that, after they had consum’d the Water. This
is old-fashion’d Philosophy, and now, that the Nature of those Bodies is
better known, will scarce pass for current. ’Tis true, we must expect
some Dispositions towards the Combustion of the World, from a great
Drought and Desiccation of the Earth: But this helps us nothing on our
Way; for the Question still returns, _When_ will this immoderate Drought
or Dryness happen? and that’s as ill to resolve as the former.
Therefore, as I said before, I have no Hopes of deciding the Question by
Physiology or Natural Causes; let us then look up from the Earth to the
Heavens, to the Astronomers and the Prophets: These think they can
define the Age and Duration of the World; the one by their Art, and the
other by Inspiration.
We begin with the Astronomers; whose Calculations are founded either
upon the Aspects and Configurations of the Planets, or upon the
Revolutions of the fixed Stars: or, lastly, upon that which they call
_Annus Magnus_, or the _Great Year_, whatsoever that Notion proves to be
when it is rightly interpreted. As to the Planets, _Berosus_ tells us,
the _Chaldeans_ suppose Deluges to proceed from a great Conjunction of
the Planets in _Capricorn_, (_Sen. Nat. qu. l. 3. c. 29._) And from a
like Conjunction in the opposite Sign of _Cancer_, the Conflagration
will ensue. So that if we compute by the Astronomical Tables how long it
will be to such a Conjunction, we find at the same Time how long it will
be to the _Conflagration_. This Doctrine of the _Chaldeans_ some
Christian Authors have owned, and followed the same Principles and
Method.
If these Authors would deal fairly with Mankind, they should shew us
some Connexion betwixt these Causes and the Effects which they make
consequent upon them. For ’tis an unreasonable Thing to require a Man’s
Assent to a Proposition, where he sees no Dependance or Connexion of
Terms; unless it come by Revelation, or from an infallible Authority. If
you say, the Conflagration will be at the first great Conjunction of the
Planets in _Cancer_, and I say it will be at the next Eclipse of the
Moon, if you shew no more Reason for your Assertion than I for mine, and
neither of us pretend to Revelation or Infallibility, we may justly
expect to be equally credited. Pray what Reason can you give why the
Planets, when they meet, should plot together to set on Fire their
Fellow-Planet, the Earth, who never did them any Harm? But now there is
a plausible Reason for my Opinion; for the Moon, when eclips’d, may
think herself affronted by the Earth interposing rudely betwixt her and
the Sun, and leaving her to grope her Way in the Dark: She therefore may
justly take her Revenge as she can. But you’ll say, ’tis not in the
Power of the Moon to set the Earth on Fire, if she had Malice enough to
do it. No, nor say I, is it in the Power of the other Planets that are
far more distant from the Earth than the Moon, and as stark dull Lumps
of Earth as she is. The plain Truth is, the Planets are so many Earths;
and our Earth is as much a Planet as the brightest of them. ’Tis carried
about the Sun with the same common Stream, and shines with as much
Lustre to them, as they do to us: Neither can they do any more Harm to
it, than it can do to them. ’Tis now well known, that the Planets are
dark opake Bodies, generally made up of Earth and Water, as our Globe
is; and have no Force or Action, but that of reverberating the Light
which the Sun casts upon them. This blind superstitious Fear or
Reverence for the Stars, had its Original from the antient Idolaters:
They thought them Gods, and that they had Domination over human Affairs.
We do not indeed worship them, as they did; but some Men retain still
the same Opinion of their Vertues, of their Rule and Influence upon us
and our Affairs, which was the Ground of their Worship. ’Tis full Time
now to sweep away these Cobwebs of Superstition, these Relicks of
Paganism. I do not see how we are any more concern’d in the Postures of
the Planets, than in the Postures of the Clouds; and you may as well
build an Art of Prediction and Divination, upon the one, as the other.
They must not know much of the Philosophy of the Heavens, or little
consider it, that think the Fate, either of single Persons, or of the
whole Earth, can depend upon the Aspects, or figur’d Dances of those
Bodies.
But you’ll say, it may be, Tho’ no Reason can be given for such Effects,
yet Experience does attest the Truth of them. In the first Place, I
answer, no Experience can be produced for this Effect we are speaking
of, the Conflagration of the World. Secondly, Experience fallaciously
recorded, or wholly in favour of one side, is no Proof. If a publick
Register was kept of all Astrological Predictions, and of all the Events
that followed upon them, right or wrong, agreeing or disagreeing, I
could willingly refer the Cause to the Determination of such a Register,
and such Experience: But that which they call Experience, is so stated,
that if one Prediction of ten hits right, or near right, it shall make
more Noise, and be more taken Notice of, than all the Nine that are
false. Just as in a Lottery, where many Blanks are drawn for one Prize,
yet these make all the Noise, and those are forgotten. If any one be so
lucky as to draw a good Lot, then the Trumpet sounds, and his Name is
register’d, and he tells his good Fortune to every Body he meets;
whereas those that lose, go silently away with empty Pockets, and are
asham’d to tell their Losses. Such a Thing is the Register of
Astrological Experiences; they record what makes for their Credit, but
drop all blank Instances, that would discover the Vanity or Cheat of
their Art.
So much for the Planets. They have also a pretended Calculation of the
End of the World, from the fix’d Stars and the Firmament. Which, in
short, is this: They suppose these Bodies, besides the Hurry of their
Diurnal Motion from East to West, quite round the Earth in 24 Hours, to
have another retrograde Motion from West to East, which is more slow and
leisurely: And when they have finished the Circle of this
Retrogradation, and come up again to the same Place from whence they
started at the Beginning of the World, then this Course of Nature will
be at an End; and either the Heavens will cease from all Motion, or a
new Set of Motions will be put a-foot, and the World begin again. This
is a Bundle of Fictions tied up in a pretty Knot. In the first Place,
there is no such Thing as a solid Firmament, in which the Stars are
fix’d, as Nails in a Board. The Heavens are as fluid as our Air, and the
higher we go, the more thin and subtle is the ethereal Matter. Then, the
fix’d Stars are not all in one Surface, as they seem to us, not at an
equal Distance from the Earth, but are placed in several Orbs higher and
higher; there being infinite Room in the great Deep of the Heavens,
every Way, for innumerable Stars and Spheres behind one another, to fill
and beautify the immense Spaces of the Universe. Lastly, the fix’d Stars
have no Motion common to them all, nor any Motion singly, unless upon
their own Centres; and therefore, never leaving their Stations, they can
never return to any common Station, which they would suppose them to
have had at the Beginning of the World. So as this Period they speak of,
whereby they would measure the Duration of the World, is merely
imaginary, and hath no Foundation in the true Nature or Motion of the
cœlestial Bodies.
But in the third Place, they speak of an ANNUS MAGNUS, a _Great Year_: A
Revolution so call’d, whatsoever it is, that is of the same Extent with
the Length of the World. This Notion, I confess, is more antient and
universal, and therefore I am the more apt to believe that it is not
altogether groundless. But the Difficulty is, to find out the Notion of
this _Great Year_, what is to be understood by it, and then of what
Length it is. They all agree that it is a Time of some grand
Instauration of all Things, or a Restitution of the Heavens and the
Earth to their former State; that is, to the State and Posture they had
at the Beginning of the World; such therefore as will restore the Golden
Age, and that happy State of Nature wherein Things were at first. If so,
if these be the Marks and Properties of this Revolution, which is called
the _Great Year_, we need not go so far to find the true Notion and
Interpretation of it. Those that have read the _first Part_ of this
_Theory_, may remember, that in the _2d Book, Chap. 3._ we gave an
Account what the Posture of the Earth was at the Beginning of the World,
and what were the Consequences of that Posture, _a perpetual Spring_ and
Equinox throughout all the Earth: And if the Earth was restor’d again to
that Posture and Situation, all that is imputed to the _Great Year_,
would immediately follow upon it, without ever disturbing or moving the
fix’d Stars, Firmament, or Planets; and yet at the same Time all these
three would return, or be restored to the same Posture they had at the
Beginning of the World; so as the whole Character of the _Great Year_
would be truly fulfill’d, tho’ not in that Way which they imagin’d; but
in another, more compendious, and of easier Conception. My Meaning is
this, If the Axis of the Earth was rectified and set parallel with the
Axis of the Ecliptick, upon which the Planets, Firmament, and fix’d
Stars are suppos’d to move, all Things would be as they were at first; a
general Harmony and Conformity of all the Motions of the Universe would
presently appear, such as they say, was in the Golden Age, before any
Disorder came into the Natural or Moral World.
As this is an easy, so I do not doubt, but it is a true Account of that
which was originally call’d the _Great Year_, or the Great Instauration;
which Nature will bring to pass in this simple Method, by rectifying the
Axis of the Earth, without those operose Revolutions, which some
Astronomers have fancied. But however, this Account being admitted, how
will it help us to define what the Age and Duration of the World will
be? ’Tis true, many have undertaken to tell us the Length of this _Great
Year_, and consequently of the World; but, besides that their Accounts
are very different, and generally of an extravagant Length, if we had
the true Account, it would not assure us when the World would end;
because we do not know when it did begin, or what Progress we have
already made in the Line of Time. For I am satisfied, the Chronology of
the World, whether Sacred or Profane, is lost; till Providence shall
please to retrieve it by some new Discovery. As to profane Chronology,
or that of the _Heathens_, the _Greeks_, and the _Romans_ knew nothing
above the _Olympiads_; which fell short many Ages of the Deluge, much
more of the Beginning of the World. And the Eastern barbarous Nations,
as they disagreed amongst themselves, so generally they run the Origin
of the World to such a prodigious Height, as is neither agreeable to
Faith, nor Reason. As to sacred Chronology, ’tis well known, that the
Difference there is betwixt the _Greek_, _Hebrew_, and _Samaritan_
Copies of the Bible, make the Age of the World altogether undetermin’d:
And there is no Way yet found out, how we may certainly discover which
of the three Copies is most Authentick; and consequently, what the Age
of the World is, upon a true Computation. Seeing therefore we have no
Assurance how long the World hath stood already, neither could we be
assur’d how long it hath to stand, tho’ by this _Annus Magnus_, or any
other Way, the total Sum, or whole Term of its Duration was truly known;
I am sorry to see the little Success we have had in our first Search
after the End of the World, from Astronomical Calculations. But ’tis an
useful Piece of Knowledge to know the Bounds of our Knowledge; that so
we may not spend our Time and Thoughts about Things that lie out of our
Reach. I have little or no Hopes of resolving this Point by the Light of
Nature, and therefore it only remains now to enquire, whether Providence
hath made it known by any Sort of Prophecy or Revelation. Which shall be
the Subject of the following Chapter.