_Some new Dispositions towards the Conflagration, as to the Matter,
Form, and Situation of the Earth. Concerning miraculous Causes, and
how far the Ministry of Angels may be engaged in this Work._
We have given an Account, in the preceding Chapter, of the ordinary
Preparations of Nature for a general Fire; we now are to give an Account
of the extraordinary, or of any new Dispositions, which, towards the End
of the World, may be super-added to the ordinary State of Nature. I do
not, by these, mean Things openly miraculous and supernatural; but such
a Change wrought in Nature, as shall still have the Face of natural
Causes, and yet have a greater Tendency to the Conflagration. As, for
Example, suppose a great Drought, as we noted before, to precede this
Fate, or a general Heat and Dryness of the Air, and of the Earth;
because this happens sometimes in a Course of Nature, it will not be
look’d upon as prodigious. ’Tis true, some of the Antients speak of a
Drought of forty Years, that will be a Fore-runner of the Conflagration;
so that there will not be a watery Cloud, nor Rainbow seen in the
Heavens, for so long a Time. And this they impute to _Elias_, who at his
Coming, will stop the Rain, and shut up the Heavens to make way for the
last Fire. But these are excessive and ill-grounded Suppositions; for
half forty Years Drought will bring an universal Sterility upon the
Earth, and thereupon an universal Famine, with innumerable Diseases; so
that all Mankind would be destroyed, before the Conflagration could
overtake them.
But we will readily admit an extraordinary Drought and Desiccation of
all Bodies to usher in this great Fatality. And therefore, whatsoever we
read in natural History, concerning former Droughts, of their drying up
Fountains and Rivers, parching the Earth, and making the outward Turf
take Fire in several Places; filling the Air with fiery Impressions,
making the Woods and Forests ready Fewel, and sometimes to kindle by the
Heat of the Sun, or a Flash of Lightning: These and what other Effects
have come to pass in former Droughts, may come to pass again; and that
in an higher Measure, and so as to be of more general Extent. And we
must also allow, that by this means, a great degree of Inflammability,
or Easiness to be set on Fire, will be super-induc’d, both into the Body
of the Earth, and of all Things that grow upon it. The Heat of the Sun
will pierce deeper into its Bowels, when it gapes to receive his Beams,
and by Chinks and widened Pores makes way for their Passage to its very
Heart. And, on the other Hand, it is not improbable, but that upon this
general Relaxation, and Incalescency of the Body of the Earth, the
_Central Fire_ may have a freer Efflux, and diffuse itself in greater
abundance every Way; so as to affect even these exterior Regions of the
Earth, so far as to make them still more catching, and more combustible.
From this external and internal Heat acting upon the Body of the Earth,
all Minerals, that have the Seeds of Fire in them, will be open’d, and
exhale their Effluviums more copiously. As Spices, when warm’d are more
odoriferous, and fill the Air with their Perfumes; so the Particles of
Fire that are shut up in several Bodies, will easily fly abroad, when,
by a further degree of Relaxation, you shake off their Chains, and open
the Prison Doors. We cannot doubt, but there are many Sorts of Minerals,
and many Sorts of Fire-stones, and of Trees and Vegetables of this
Nature, which will sweat out their oily and sulphureous Atoms, when by a
general Heat and Dryness their Parts are loosen’d and agitated.
We have no Experience that will reach so far, as to give us a full
Account what the State of Nature will be at that Time; I mean, after
this Drought, towards the End of the World; but we may help our
Imagination, by comparing it with other Seasons and Temperaments of the
Air. As therefore in the Spring the Earth is fragrant, and the Fields
and Gardens are fill’d with the sweet Breathings of Herbs and Flowers;
especially after a gentle Rain; when their Bodies are softened, and the
Warmth of the Sun makes them evaporate more freely: So a greater degree
of Heat acting upon all the Bodies of the Earth, like a stronger Fire in
the Alembick, will extract another sort of Parts or Particles, more
deeply incorporated, and more difficult to be disintangled; I mean oily
Parts, and such undiscover’d Parcels of Fire, as lie fix’d and
imprison’d in hard Bodies: These, I imagine, will be in a great measure
set afloat, or drawn out into the Air, which will abound with hot and
dry Exhalations, more than with Vapours and Moisture in a wet Season;
and by this Means, all Elements and elementary Bodies will stand ready,
and in a proximate Disposition to be inflamed.
Thus much concerning the last Drought, and the general Effects of it. In
the next Place, we must consider the Earthquakes that will precede the
Conflagration, and the Consequences of them. I noted before, that the
cavernous and broken Construction of the present Earth, was that which
made it obnoxious to be destroy’d by Fire; as its former Construction
over the Abyss, made it obnoxious to be destroy’d with Water. This
Hollowness of the Earth is most sensible in mountainous and hilly
Countries, which therefore I look upon as most subject to burning; but
the plain Countries may also be made hollow and hilly by Earthquakes,
when the Vapours, not finding an easy Vent, raise the Ground, and make a
forcible Eruption, as at the springing of a Mine. And tho’ plain
Countries are not so subject to Earthquakes as mountainous, because they
have not so many Cavities, and subterraneous Vaults, to lodge the
Vapours in; yet every Region hath more or less of them: And after this
Drought, the Vacuities of the Earth being every where enlarg’d, the
Quantity of Exhalations much increas’d, and the Motion of them more
strong and violent, they will have their Effects in many Places where
they never had any before. Yet I do not suppose that this will raise new
Ridges of Mountains, like the _Alps_, or _Pyreneans_, in those Countries
that are now plain, but that they will break and loosen the Ground, make
greater Inequalities in the Surface, and greater Cavities within, than
what are at present in those Places: and by this means the Fire will
creep under them, and find a Passage thorough them, with more Ease than
if they were compact, and every where continu’d and unbroken.
But you will say, it may be, How does it appear that there will be more
frequent Earthquakes towards the End of the World? If this precedent
Drought be admitted, ’tis plain that fiery Exhalation will abound every
where within the Earth, and will have a greater Agitation than ordinary;
and these being the Causes of Earthquakes, when they are rarified and
inflamed, ’tis reasonable to suppose, that in such a State of Nature,
they will more frequently happen, than at other Times. Besides,
Earthquakes are taken Notice of in Scripture, as Signs and Fore-runners
of the last Day, as they usually are of all great Changes and
Calamities. The Destruction of _Jerusalem_ was a Type of the Destruction
of the World, and the Evangelists always mention Earthquakes amongst the
ominous Prodigies that were to attend it. But these Earthquakes we are
speaking of at present are but the Beginnings of Sorrow, and not to be
compar’d with those that will follow afterwards, when Nature is
convuls’d in her last Agony, just as the Flames are seizing on her. Of
which we shall have Occasion to speak hereafter.
These Changes will happen as to the _Matter_ and _Form_ of the Earth,
before it is attack’d by the last Fire: There will be also another
Change as to the _Situation_ of it; for that will be rectified, and the
Earth restor’d to the Posture it had at first, namely, of a right
Aspect, and Conversion to the Sun. But because I cannot determine at
what Time this Restitution will be, whether at the Beginning, Middle, or
End of the Conflagration, I will not presume to lay any Stress upon it.
_Plato_ seems to have imputed the Conflagration to this only; which is
so far true, that the Revolution, call’d _the Great Year_, is this very
Revolution, or the Return of the Earth, and the Heavens to their first
Posture. But tho’ this may be contemporary with the last Fire, or some
way concomitant; yet it does not follow that it is the Cause of it, much
less the only Cause. It may be an Occasion of making the Fire reach more
easily towards the Poles, when by this Change of Situation their long
Nights, and long Winters shall be taken away.
The new Dispositions in our Earth which we expect before that great Day,
may be look’d upon as extraordinary, but not as miraculous, because they
may proceed from natural Causes. But now in the last Place, we are to
consider _miraculous Causes_: What Influence they may have, or what Part
they may bear, in this great Revolution of Nature. By _miraculous
Causes_ we understand either God’s immediate Omnipotency, or the
Ministry of Angels; and what may be perform’d by the latter, is very
improperly and undecently thrown upon the former. ’Tis a great Step to
Omnipotency: and ’tis hard to define what Miracles, on this side
Creation, require an infinite Power. We are sure that the Angels are
Ministring Spirits, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand about the
Throne of the Almighty, to receive his Commands and execute his
Judgments. That perfect Knowledge they have of the Powers of Nature, and
of conducting those Powers to the best Advantage, by adjusting Causes in
a fit Subordination one to another, makes them capable of performing,
not only things far above our Force, but even above our Imagination:
Besides, they have a radical inherent Power, belonging to the Excellency
of their Nature, of determining the Motions of Matter, within a far
greater Sphere than human Souls can pretend to. We can only command our
Spirits, and determine their Motions within the Compass of our own
Bodies; but their Activity and Empire is of far greater Extent, and the
outward World is much more subject to their Dominion than to ours. From
these Considerations it is reasonable to conclude, that the generality
of Miracles may be, and are perform’d by Angels; it being less decorous
to employ a sovereign Power, where a subaltern is sufficient; and when
we hastily cast Things upon God, for quick Dispatch, we consult our own
Ease more than the Honour of our Maker.
I take it for granted here, that what is done by an angelical Hand, is
truly providential, and of divine Administration; and also justly bears
the Character of a Miracle. Whatsoever may be done by pure material
Causes, or human Strength, we account natural; and whatsoever is above
these, we call supernatural and miraculous. Now what is supernatural and
miraculous, is either the Effect of an angelical Power, or of a
sovereign and infinite Power; and we ought not to confound these two, no
more than natural and supernatural; for there is a greater Difference
betwixt the highest angelical Power and Omnipotency, than betwixt an
human Power, and angelical. Therefore, as the first Rule concerning
Miracles is this, that we must not fly to Miracles, where Man and Nature
are sufficient; so the second Rule is this, that we must not fly to a
sovereign infinite Power, where an angelical is sufficient. And the
Reason in both Rules is the same, namely, because it argues a Defect of
Wisdom in all Oeconomies to employ more and greater Means than are
sufficient.
Now to make Application of this to our present Purpose, I think it
reasonable, and also sufficient, to admit the Ministry of Angels in the
future Conflagration of the World. If Nature will not lay violent Hands
upon her self, or is not sufficient to work her own Destruction, let us
allow _Destroying Angels_ to interest themselves in the Work, as the
Executioners of the Divine Justice and Vengeance upon a degenerate
World. We have Examples of this so frequently in sacred History, how the
Angels have executed God’s Judgments upon a Nation or a People, that it
cannot seem new or strange, that in this last Judgment, which by all the
Prophets is represented as the _Great Day of the Lord_, the Day of his
Wrath, and of his Fury, the same Angels should bear their Parts, and
conclude the last Scene of that Tragedy which they had acted in all
along. We read of the _Destroying Angel in Ægypt_, _Gen._ xii. 23. of
Angels that presided at the Destruction of _Sodom_, _Gen. xix. 13._
which was a Type of the future Destruction of the World, (_Jude vii._)
_2. Thess. i. 7, 8._ and of Angels that will accompany our Saviour when
he comes in Flames of Fire; not, we suppose, to be Spectators only, but
Actors and Superintendants in this great Catastrophe.
This Ministry of Angels may be either in ordering and conducting such
natural Causes as we have already given an Account of, or in adding new
ones, if Occasion be; I mean, increasing the Quantity of Fire, or of
fiery Materials, in and about the Earth; so as that Element shall be
more abundant and more predominant, and overbear all Opposition that
either Water, or any other Body, can make against it. It is not material
whether of these two Suppositions we follow, provided we allow that the
Conflagration is a Work of Providence, and not a pure natural Fatality.
If it be necessary that there should be an Augmentation made of fiery
Matter, ’tis not hard to conceive how that may be done, either from the
Heavens, or from the Earth, _Isa. xxx. 26._ The Prophets sometimes speak
of multiplying or strengthening the Light of the Sun, and it may as
easily be conceiv’d of his Heat as of his Light; as if the Vial that was
to be pour’d upon it, _Rev. xxvi. 8._ and _gave it a Power to scorch Men
with Fire_, had something of a natural Sense as well as moral. But there
is another Stream of ethereal Matter that flows from the Heavens, and
recruits the _Central Fire_ with continual Supplies; this may be
encreas’d and strengthened, and its Effects convey’d throughout the
whole Body of the Earth.
But if an Augmentation is to be made of terrestrial Fire, or of such
terrestrial Principles as contain it most, as Sulphur, Oyl, and such
like, I am apt to believe, these will encrease of their own accord, upon
a general Drought and Desiccation of the Earth. For I am far from the
Opinion of some Chymists, that think these Principles immutable, and
incapable of Diminution or Augmentation. I willingly admit that all such
Particles may be broken and disfigur’d, and thereby lose their proper
and specifick Virtue, and new ones may be generated to supply the Places
of the former: Which Supplies, or new Productions being made in a less,
or greater Measure, according to the general Dispositions of Nature;
when Nature is heightened into a kind of Fever and Ebullition of all her
Juices and Humours, as she will be at that Time, we must expect, that
more Parts than ordinary, should be made inflammable, and those that are
inflam’d should become more violent. Under these Circumstances, when all
Causes lean that Way, a little Help from a superior Power will have a
great Effect, and make a great Change in the State of the World. And as
to the Power of Angels, I am of Opinion, that it is very great as to the
Changes and Modifications of natural Bodies; that they can dissolve a
Marble as easily as we can crumble Earth and Moulds, or fix any Liquor
in a Moment, into a Substance as hard as Crystal: That they can either
make Flames more vehement and irresistible to all Sorts of Bodies; or as
harmless as lambent Fires, and as soft as Oyl. We see an Instance of
this last, in _Nebuchadnezzar’s_ fiery Furnace, _Daniel iii. 28._ where
the three Children walk’d unconcern’d in the midst of the Flames, under
the Charge and Protection of an Angel: And the same Angel, if he had
pleas’d, could have made the same Furnace seven times hotter than the
Wrath of the Tyrant had made it.
We will therefore leave it to their Ministry to manage this great
Furnace, when the Heavens and the Earth are on Fire: To conserve,
increase, direct, or temper the Flames, according to Instructions given
them, as they are to be _tutelary_ or _destroying_. Neither let any Body
think it a Diminution of Providence, to put Things into the Hands of
Angels; ’tis the true Rule and Method of it: For to imploy an Almighty
Power where it is not necessary, is to debase it, and give it a Task fit
for lower Beings. Some think it Devotion and Piety to have recourse
immediately to the Arm of God to salve all things; this may be done
sometimes with a good Intention, but commonly with little Judgment. God
is as jealous of the Glory of his Wisdom, as of his Power; and Wisdom
consists in the Conduct and Subordination of several Causes, to bring
our Purposes to Effect; but what is dispatched by an immediate supreme
Power, leaves no room for the Exercise of Wisdom. To conclude this
Point, which I have touch’d upon more than once; We must not be partial
to any of God’s Attributes, and Providence being a Complexion of many,
Power, Wisdom, Justice, and Goodness, when we give due Place and Honour
to all these, then we must honour DIVINE PROVIDENCE.