1.2 CF THE SYSTEM OF Des CARTES.

to depend upon our inward conviction that sucha being actually is ; and from this absolute andcertain knowledge of the Deity, he attempts todeduce an explication of his wofks, that by thismeans, we may acquire the most perfect kindof science, which 'is that of deducing effectsfrom their causes.

From the veracity of the Deity, he infers thereality of material objects, which are representedto us, as existing without us; and, by placingthe essence of matter in extension, concludes,that there can be no such thing as a vacuum, orspace void of body or material substances; butthat all nature is absolutely replenished, andthat thbre must be an universal plenum.

All self-evident propositions and axioms, aremade to depend upon the mere will and arbi-trary choice of the Supreme Being; and, afterexplaining the formation of matter, and its divi-sion into different elements, he next proceeds toshew how the universe might have assumed itspresent form, and may be for ever preserved bymechanical principles.

To account for the motions of the celestialbodies, the fun is supposed to be placed in thecenter of a vast whirlpool of subtile matter,which extends to the utmost limits of the system;and the planets, being plunged into such partsof this vortex as are equal in density with them-selves, are continually dragged along with it,

and