Matter not eternal and uncaused. 381

a nd the dependence is upon the Being im~P°fing that necessity. Now to extend this kindpf necessity over the first and supreme Beingslst iplies just this contradiction, That there isf°tne Being prior to the first , or superior tol he Supreme. This Being imposes a physical^cessity on all inanimate things in nature:l hat is, as we have seen in Sect. II. Vol. I.

' Wangle to have its angles equal to such a sum ?" Buta stswer, there is no parity between the two instancesEduced. That the three angles of a triangle should be^Ual to two right angles is an eternal truth which ob-* a ins by an absolute or metaphysical necessity, and dothtl °t concern any thing of existence: and truth is none ofl We things that can become dependent, or be created or^“de. How absurd would it sound to speak of creatingfi l h, or making more truth exist ? The sun , or opaque9 y contrarily, are substances existing, capable at least ofe ‘ n g made or created, and but simply possible in idea,^ absolutely or eternally necessary. Thus they cannote other than dependent. That a body should emit light,r efie£t it, rather than tranfinit it, is a positive institu-o '° tv °f some being so ordering it; and therefore a mark. ^ e Pendence, as I assert. There would be no propriety%ing A mathematical truth is a depending thing. In° rt 5 we must distinguish between ideas that were eter-a nd necessarily connected in an infinite Mind, fors e make eternal and absolute truths; and ideas thatso but only barely compatible in it eternally, which0ll stitute the natures of all created substances.

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