at that time, which to them was most agreeable, namely, that all things should be involved in types, and these types be reduced to an historical arrangement; and the more perfectly they cohered in a historical series, so much the more suitable was it to their genius; for in those ancient times, they did not apply themselves so much to the sciences as at this day, but to profound and deep thoughts, from whence such things were as an offspring: this was the wisdom of the ancients.
"606. That the flood, the ark, and consequently the things described concerning the flood and the ark, signify regeneration, and also the temptations which precede it, is known in some measure to the learned at this day, by whom regeneration and temptations are likewise compared to the waters of a flood."
Having thus endeavored to show that there is no evidence that the earth has ever been subjected to a general deluge since the creation of man, I will resume my former hypothesis, and give some further reasons for believing that the earth was finished before man was made, and that it is not hereafter liable to any general overturn of transformation. Of course there may continue to be, as there have been in ages past, occasional earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods; but these are only local disturbances of a limited extent, quite insufficient for the destruction of the earth, or of the human race. But I can find no good reason for believing that the interior structure of the earth is such as to indicate the probability of a great or general overturn. It will readily be seen that no such probability exists, if the interior portions of the globe be supposed to consist of a solid mass. For in that case the several parts of the earth, in obedience to the laws of attraction and cohesion, would continue to maintain a permanent position in relation to each other, and would, also, retain the external portions of land and water very nearly in their present relative positions.
