I shall only make one remark on this system, of which I have made a faithful abridgement: which is, whenever we are rash enough to attempt to explain theological truths by physical reasons, or interpret purely by human views, the divine text of holy writ, or that we endeavour to reason on the will of the Most High, and on the execution of his decrees, we consequently shall involve ourselves in the darkness and chaos of obscurity and confusion, like the author of this system, which, in defiance of its absurdities, has been received with great applause. He neither doubts the truth of the deluge, nor the authenticity of the sacred writ; but as he was less employed with it than with physic and astronomy, he has taken passages of the scripture for physical facts, and the results of astronomical observations; and has so strangely blended the divine knowledge with human science as to give birth to the most extraordinary system that possibly ever was or will be conceived. FOOTNOTES: [115:A] A New Theory of the Earth by William Whiston, 1708. ARTICLE III. FROM THE SYSTEM OF BURNET.[128:A] This author is the first who has treated this subject generally and in a systematical matter. He was possessed of much understanding, and was a person well acquainted with the _belles lettres_. His work acquired great reputation, and was criticised by many of the learned, among the rest by Mr. Keil, who has geometrically demonstrated the errors of Mr. Burnet, in a treatise called "Examination of the Theory of the Earth." Mr. Keil also refuted Whiston's system; but he treats the last author very different from the first, and seems even to be of his opinion in several cases, and looks upon the tail of a comet to be a very probable cause for the deluge. But, to return to Burnet, his book is elegantly written; he knew how to paint noble images and magnificent scenes. His plan is great, but the execution is deficient for want of proper materials: his reasoning is good, but his proofs are weak; yet his confidence in his writings is so great, that he frequently causes his readers to pass over his errors.