Page:The Philosophy of Earthquakes, Natural and Religious.djvu/85

Rh ground, to prevent ſuch a diſaſter. The marshy part of Lincolnſhire, being my native country, the adjacent fen, together with that in the iſle of Ely, I have been perfecly acquainted with; from one end to the other, ever ſince I knew any thing. This vaſt extent of fenny level, from near Cambridge in the ſouth, to near Horncaſtle in the north, is 70 miles in length. And when I perceiv’d, that it was, in whole, or in part, ſhaken by both the laſt earthquakes: I could not but ſee, that it was no leſs than a demonſtration againſt the old notion of their cauſe.

6ly, Earthquakes are truly moſt, violent, in a rocky country: becauſe the ſhock is proportionate to the ſolidity of the matter electrify’d. So that rocks, cliffs, quarries, old caſtle walls, and ſtrong buildings, are moſt obnoxious to the concuſſion. The iſle of Cerigo was more liable, and more rudely handled by the late earthquake; both becauſe it was an iſle, and becauſe it was rocky. So we muſt ſay of the late earthquake in Switzerland, that ſplit the mountain, and the old caſtle wall. Whence Mr. Johnſon in his ſecond letter, ſays, it cracked a very ſtrong brick-houſe in Goſberton by Spalding. Dr. Doderidge obſerves from Northampton, that Dr. Stonehouſe’s dwelling being a very ſtrong one, was moſt ſenſibly ſhaken. And throughout the whole compaſs of this great earthquake, we find, both the