[2] me into a Train of Thinking upon fo interesting a Subject. I believe I may be allow'd to call it the most interesting of all Subjects at this Juncture; fince an Earthquake, the most terrible of all Divine Judgments, may, in the smallest Space of Time, bury a whole People without Diftinction of Rank, Age, or Sex, in one promifcuous Ruin. If we caft our Eyes upon the Accounts which fucceffively and almost daily arrive, of Earthquakes ftill happening in different Parts along the Coafts of Spain, Portugal, and other Places, we fhall be tempted to think, that the dreadful Catastrophe of the unhappy City of Lisbon is but the Beginning of Sorrows: And when we reflect upon the Shock perceived the 17th of the fame Month in the County of Cumberland, which, by the Account we receiv'd of it, was more violent than any yet felt in this Ifland within the Period I mention'd, we shall be apt to fear, that God is about to revifit this Nation with a heavier Hand; both which Confiderations ought most certainly to awaken our Attention. NOR fhall I confine myself to the Subject of Earthquakes only. The numerous and uncommon luminous Appearances, whether as Meteors, or as Refemblances of what we term the Aurora Borealis, which have been observed within this Period of Time, together with the late furprising Hurricane in the Venetian Territories upon the Adriatick Gulph; and the late much more afto nishing nishing Account which we received from Denmark of the Thunder, Lightning, and uncommon warm Weather in fo high a Latitude as West Greenland, certainly merit our Regard; as they all evidently proceed from the fame Caufe, and all feem plainly to point to the fame End. OUR Philofophers have taken infinite Pains to find out what they call the Natural Causes of these Phenomena. They have vifited Etna and Vefuvius; they have explor'd the Depths of Mines; they have ranfack'd the very Bowels of the Earth, to know what Materials Nature makes Use of upon these Occafions, in which she seems fometimes to deviate from thofe Laws, which they themselves have been pleased to affign her. Chymistry has been tortur'd a thousand ways to explain the Mode of Operation which Nature is fuppofed to follow. The well known Experiment of the violent Explosion join'd with actual Fire, which arises from the Mixture of two actually cold Bodies, fuch as an Oil and Spirit, and the artificial Earthquake produc'd by a Mixture of Filings of Steel-fulphur and Water, gave them Hopes that their Researches were crown'd with Succefs; and the numerous Experiments lately made in Electricity, confirm'd them in the Opinion of their having trac'd Nature thro' her hitherto untrack'd Paths in the Clouds; vifited her aerial Magazines of Thunders and Lightnings, Storms and Tempefts, and penetrated into the very inmoft Receffes of that imaginary Being. B 2 Being. Hypothefes have been inventéd many Ages ago to account for all the various Operations of Nature, and fupported by all the Force of the most abftract and fubtile Reafonings. These have appear'd in a Kind of Succeffion, juft as the later Philofophers thought they faw much clearer into the Nature of Things, and confequently fancied themselves much wifer than their Predeceffors. Thus the Ariftotelian feems to have triumph'd over all which preceded it; that in great Measure gave Way to the Cartefian, and the Cartefian feems now to be almost wholly exploded by the Newtonian. Each Syftem had its zealous Partizans in its refpective Day; nor did the more novel Opinion prevail without the warmeft Oppofition. Even Religion was lugg'd in to fupport the Ariftotelian Philosophy; and national Prejudice frequently interfered in the Disputes between the Followers of Des Cartes and Newton, as each was jealous of the Honour of his refpective Country. Theories have been fram'd, and new ones are continually framing in different Branches of the fame System. Experiments are produc'd, and frequently ftrain'd as may best serve the Purpose of the Author of each Theory. Many inftances of this Kind might be given; but I fhall wave this Subject at prefent, as it would draw me off too much from my present Defign. IF then we examine the Writings of all the Naturalifts who have treated of this Subject, we fhall fhall find that they agree unanimoufly in this Point: That there is an actual Fire which pervades the whole Univerfe: That this Fire is the first, or principal Agent or Cause, not only of all luminous Appearances in the Atmosphere; but of all extraordinary Commotions in the three other Elements, whether denominated Earth, Air, or (if I may be allow'd the Term) Waterquakes. And that the different Effects obbservable on all thefe Occafions arife from the Quality and Quantity of the Materials, and the greater or lefs Oppofition the Fire meets with in its Line of Direction. Thus far our Philofophers are able to go, but no farther. Should they attempt to explain, How, or Why the Fire comes to be collected into a greater Body at one Time than another; at what Time we may expect fuch an Event; or which Way we may guard against the terrible Effects of this their chief Engineer, we fhould find them, if they depend upon their own Principles, as much at a Lofs as the moft illiterate of Mankind. You will naturally ask me, of what real Service therefore all their boafted Discoveries are to Mankind, with refpect to the prefent Subject? I must here confefs myself at a Loss for an Anfwer. Nay, I am apt to think the Knowledge of the poor Caribee Indians, who are abfolute Strangers to the very firft Rudiments of Learning, to be infinitely more useful. They, tho' totally ignorant of the Caufes of Hurricanes, can by certain Signs, which they have learn'd from the [6] the Experience of their Forefathers, not only prognofticate the Approach, but even (as I have been well affur'd) give a fhrewd Guefs at the Number of Hurricanes which will happen in a Seafon And, I remember, our Countrymen in that Part of the World fometimes apply to them for Information, as that Seafon approaches. I would by no means be thought to detract from the Merit of thofe great Men, who have dedicated their Time to these laborious Researches into Nature. I look upon them to be shining Ornaments of the respective Ages in which they lived. But when I see the generality of Mankind implicitly adopting their Opinions; refting fupinely on what they term Natural Causes, and flattering themselves with fallacious Calculations of the Odds, whether fuch or fuch an Event (an Earthquake, for Instance) may happen at fuch or fuch a Time, or in fuch or fuch a Country; according to its different Situation as to Climate, or the different Quantity or Quality of the component Particles of the mineral Strata with which it may abound: When I fee fuch Numbers lulling themselves into an ill-grounded Security from this kind of Reasoning, I cannot help thinking that we have need of an infinitely fuperior Philofophy to guide us in this Kind of Researches. The Philofophy I mean, as you are fenfible, can be no other than that of Mofes, The Mofaic Philofophy opens to us an inexhauftible Source of Knowledge. That, and that only, however ne 7 glected, |