^ fatter not eternal and uncaused. 367

^hat the manner of self~exijience must be im-mutable ; and that a self-existent Being canWe no accidents , or things not necessary inlt * And that there must be such a felf-exi-$ e nt Being t immaterial , the cause and authorMatter, is now evident, if what has been^id in this and the former Sections be dulyc °nsidered.

XII. It will be to no purpose, in order toe We the reasoning above, to say Matter wase *'tended andfigured eternally and without be-^ nning^ so that we are not to enquire how,^ "cohen, or by whom. This is to fay it wasfended, without being extended at anyil me ; or figured, without being figured byQn y cause: it is to allow it to be an ejseff,at the same time to deny it had a cause ,

s Gr above contingent existence, than contingent>ex~^ice is above utter non-existence. In short, this wholelesion taken together amounts to the following plain^ Ur dity. Being endued with the requisite powers may

matter either a necejfarily exijlent thing , or a contin-fitT tb ^ : for either of these two cannot be equally pos-

. ^ I 11 ^ — —■* - - c —— tic ic simnrvsVrl nv\1c*s%

>le w the nature of matter itself, as is supposed, unless^ ' Possible to some Being. I am the more express here^ way awaken men to a due sense of the infinite dis-re stce of th e s e two natures.