40 A VIS INERTIAS

natus, or tendency to change it: so is this

resistance

immediate causation of the first cause, even by allow-,ing the intervention of this elastic fluid, unless we wouldbe openly absurd, and make a series of effects infinite,The first cause then must give the impulse to every oneof these elastic particles immediately: and therefore thissuperinduced mechanical cause of gravity would be amultiplying of principles needlessly. To suppose Godmoving one thing, and that thing another, iSc. for along train, saves the Deity no pains, (if I may speak so)and is more unphilofophical; only it agrees better without weakness, and therefore with our prejudices, whoare forced to help ourselves by the natural powers of mat-ter (as we call them). But what needs God help himself ly hisown powers ? And they are originally his powers , unless wewould incur direst atheism. We want power, and there-fore display all our art to help our selves the best waywe can : hence we think it is art in an infinitely pow-erful being to do as we do, though there is no parity.The wisdom of God discovers itself a thousand other■ways: but since it is a contradiction that motive pow-er should be lodged in matter, philosophy will not al-low us to seek a compend here.

Sir Isaac Newton’s own account of this fluid is as fol-lows. In the advertisement to the second edition of hisOptics, hg tells us, that at the end of the third book inthat edition, he had added some questions ; and to Jhewthat he did not take gravity for an essential property of bo-dies, he had added one question concerning it s cause , chus-ing to propose it ly zvay of a question , because he was notyet satisfied about it for tvant of experiments. The

question