a long and delightful enjoyment of it: From the earth's being now condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles, may be concluded; either that these, and other noxious weeds and plants, did not origi nally make part of the vegetable creation; or elfe, that they were not defigned to grow and increase to any hurtful, or incommodious degree: If Adam was fen tenced to eat his bread in the sweat of his face; he would, had he kept his first state, been an entire ftranger to hard labour and fatigue; and would have reaped the bleffings of the earth, with eafe, and gladnefs of heart: And instead of drawing a hard fubfiftence out of the ground, it would have afforded him a plentiful, and pleasurable enjoyment of it.

4. Another inference may be drawn from the circumftance of there being no rain in the primitive earth, The Lord God had not caufed it to rain upon the earth. He had not thought fit to cause rain, either by an immediate exertion of his power;

power; or by ordaining any fecond caufes for the production of this meteor. No second caufe, that I know of, contributes more to this end, than the elevation of mountains: If therefore there had been mountains at this time, as all fecond causes operate naturally to their appointed ends, I do not fee how the earth could have been without rain. Rain there might have been without any mountains to generate it, as we know it often rains in champaign countries from other caufes: But that there fhould be fuch large ranges of high mountains, as we fee in the prefent earth, and yet no rain at all, I confefs is hot credible to me: Nor do I fee how the want of rain can otherwise be accounted for.

Eminences there were in the primeval earth; but none, it fhould feem, that reached the region of the clouds; which otherwife impinging against them, must needs have come down in rain. For there were waters above the firmament; and

had

had there been mountains, those waters would in part have been arrested, and condensed by them; or being otherwife collected into clouds, and driven by the winds against the fides of the mountains, would have defcended in rain, in the fame manner as we see they do at prefent. Even those mists and vapours, which the earth emitted fo copiously, now that it was just risen reeking wet out of the water thefe, had they met with any steep and high mountains, would not fail of being condenfed and conftipated by them, fo as to be converted into rain likewife: But mountains are not neceffary to the production of mists; this being a meteor that arises as freely and copiously out of the flat and champaign countries, other.

as any

On the other hand, we find the earth, at this time, was well fupplied with rivers; as no less than four, which afterwards proved very large ones, met in one fpot; though it is not very probable they

were

were fo foon become any thing confiderable

It may however be afked, how there could have been rivers, without mountains This I take to be very easy to conceive; because that, when the earth was feparated from the waters, on the third day, the dry land might appear in gradual rifings, as before intimated, above the feas, with fufficient inequalities and hollows in it for the running of rivers, without its being thrown up into mountains of fuch ftupendous heights, as we fee at present in it. And as there was mift and vapour, in fuch abundance, as was fufficient to ferve instead of rain for watering the whole face of the ground; fo the furplus of it might be fufficient likewife to answer the use of rain in fupplying water for filling the rivers; even upon fuppofition, that they are not fupplied by any other means; this mist being a provifion with which the new earth was furnished to ferve every use and purpose of rain whatsoever. E Whatever

Whatever other objections I can conceive may be made to this notion, they fhall be confidered hereafter, in a diftinct chapter, On the Theory of Mountains; when we come to the period in which I suppose they were formed.

I fhall only obferve farther here, that it doth not seem very probable, that the face of nature in its paradifiacal state, should exhibit fuch hideous fpectacles, and be fo deformed, as it appears at present: Nor in that state, which, from what hath been obferved, may be fuppofed its state of greatest fertility, doth it seem probable, it should be encumbered with fuch bleak and barren tracts of that large extent, as to occupy confiderable a part of the furface of the whole earth *.

fo

The antients had a tradition, that the primitive earth was more level, and in general nearer to a champaign, than it is at prefent. Thus, Rabanus Maurus, and Bede, as cited by Dr. Burnet, teftify. Sciendum eft, tunc in novitate rerum, fi non omnia, plura tamen plana fuiffe. Theor. lib. cap. 1o.

Dr. Burnet fuppofes the mountains make a tenth part of the dry land.

The